Aaand, the next person to post, gets a free icecream in game!

Admin Complex Class here to acquire complementary frozen dairy product.

Congrats, you are now promoted to Admin Confusion Class.

But where are the rest of my players with their witty banter!!

On a more serious note, on Sunday I have to go to the airport to meet someone, so I might have issues running, possibly not, but if the plane is delayed, then so will I be.

Ice Cream? 0.o Where?*looks around for Ice Cream.*

i took the week off from funny quips, i thought you guys got the memo? did my TPS reports at least go through?

And how dare you take time off from GMing to tend to RL concerns...how inconsiderate...

no prob, have fun at the airport when you there, those places are always a blast!

The below is a log of a chat between Ender and Steven on the way down to the planet; this is from the session about 2 weeks ago; it has a few good snippets regarding the history of the campaign, for anyone that feels a little out of the loop. I realize it's a little blah formatting, I'll work on that for the next post. [Added] I'm calling this a webisode, fwiw. Mostly because I find the idea of treating the game like a genuine series (as Bish has done multiple times) quite novel.


Steven: "We got the message you had a family matter come up...everything turn out well, Ender?"

Ender: "Actually there was an emergency back on my home world, an interplanetary war. I was recalled to train a contingent of warriors preparing to infiltrate enemy territory. Luckily, things went as well as they could and a settlement was reached before nuclear war was initiated."

Steven: "The Perion, right? We passed through one of the battles on the way here..."

Ender: "Yes, quite sad really. I felt powerless in my role as an instructor, so I'm glad to be back with the Armist group."

Steven nods "You might be pleased to know, the Star Bear and Nova that were repurposed for the Rider frame, those were Perion vessels." **

Ender: "Hah, well, I was wondering where you found the technology to use to propel your mech back into orbit. But ultimately, I don't much care about the war itself. Squabling, bickering... nothing changes. At least Armist can effect real change."

Steven: "More than you may think...We aren't the only ones, Ender. Remember what I said about descendants? We have enemies, they're known as the Primal Pantheon. They're Armists too. The founders of the Pantheon were gathered to stop the Diamant hatchling (an Ancient construct that was activated by accident on a moon, and destroyed several worlds) years ago. They are on a campaign to destroy all remaining Ancient remnants."

Ender sounds somewhat concerned, an unusual reaction to be sure, "Have you encountered them? How can they be Armists? I've been told very little about the organization... I wasn't aware of any such betrayers." **

Steven: "Armists aren't an organization. I have...a number of reasons to believe that everything happening today has been planned, orchestrated. Not perfectly, but like pieces on a game-board, we've been moved into place to do what we must and save life and civilization in this galaxy."

Steven: "Armists are /all/ the descendants of the Ancients. The Concordat special operative designation is either a coincidence, or intentional. As to the Pantheon...yes, we've encountered several... Kernunnos is a mecha jock piloting an enormous mecha, we encountered him on Askir.

Ender sighs, "I apologize for my ignorance. Much has been left unsaid. I still know very little about too much. But I won't let it affect my performance." (to the previous statement). **

Steven: "Another we encountered at Harkin Penitentiary...the station, and all inmates and staff, were destroyed shortly after we left in a failed effort to stop us... Two more, Hermes and Tiamat, were killed on Apis, our previous destination. Kernunnos is the only one I believe is a key member of the Pantheon, but even he is not one of the creators of the group..."

Steven: "You have no need to apologize, Ender. You were called away and will not be familiar with most of our actions since...but everything to this very moment has been vital."

Ender: "How deadly are these adversaries? We're all among the best in our fields. I can only imagine the fight they would put up."

Steven: "You never met Loki...he died in the assault on Zao's base, but was already dieing from exposure to an Ancient artifact... When we were on Askir, he confronted Kernunnos face-to-face in his mecha. His only recourse was to eject and activate his mecha's self destruct...even then, Kernunnos survived intact. Hermes I confronted in a power-suit race on Apis, with Loki's aid. As pilots, we would be equals. Tiamat was a powerful Psi user, she manipulated minds and enslaved skilled pilots to be used as pawns for Zao and the Pantheon... Seth, Airya and Anya, the latter two you have yet to meet, experienced that first-hand. Tiamat confronted Sam and...Well...Sam has the ability to generate fire. Tiamat fell from a power generation facility, dozens of stories, wreathed in flame."

Ender: "Another thing is this development of psi power, as you called it. I've never seen it first hand but apparently you all have it now? I've been raised on the power of my gun and the toughness of my armor, yet such magic goes well beyond that."

Steven: "We all have a talent...or multiple. I have sight...the ability to view the use of such abilities, to sense them directly, as well as moods. Sam, as I stated, can manipulate fire, though she /is/ still learning..."

Ender: "When did you develop such a gift? I've never felt anything, yet I possess such latent ability?"

Steven: "You have something within you as well, I am sure, Ender, though I cannot see it yet. If you would like my belief..." *A screen illuminates in front of his command seat indicating an autopilot setting as he turns and reveals his sidearm, appearing as little more than a D shaped hand-grip; as it activates a half-meter long blade of energy forms ahead, much like a Katar* "These, and these" *claps the chest of his armor* "Are tools. So are the abilities we inhereited from the Ancients."

Steven: "It happened on Askir, well before we met...I kept it quiet for some time. Sam's manifested much later. Seth can study objects and learn their past... Ici had the power to heal, and he never realized it until he had used the ability."

Ender nods, "Perhaps I'll learn of my own power soon enough... strange things lurk afoot in this sector. This... Macabre," he says that word with some strangeness to it, "Is nothing I've ever heard of before. I've fought animals, beasts, all humanoid races, but never such magical entities." **

Steven: *Lets the autopilot continue its course, set to simply match the movements of the shuttle* "Man...whether Human, Shishkenani, Dargonese, it does not matter...Man has always had stories of horrors in the night. These things move with the ebb and flow of time, it seems. A Macabre is so rare because to create one requires horrors that are rarely even seen in wars, but it was not always the case. The powers that are rare today were formerly numerous and common, and the energies that generated our current foe more readily produced. This is simply a new foe...hopefully we will never be called upon to battle one again."

Ender nods, "Well put. I suppose this is just another challenge to overcome, but the implications are startling. I can't even begin to imagine where such horror can exist. These... psi powers and now this space ghost. Quite amazing." **

Steven: "This one...*Sighs*This was created out of folly and hubris. Megaliths were created to blockade back-doors into Concordat space...when their creator and his lab was destroyed, all hope of keeping them under control was lost...but even before then, the forces that Golam sent to confront these stations were staggering. I told you the energies to create a Macabre are limited 'now', but this one had help. I cannot imagine what cargo was on the ship it was borne upon, but the ship's destruction released such energy that the suffering of the crew created both this Macabre, and gave birth to an actual Battleship comprised of pure horror." *On that forward screen an image appears, it appears to be from just upon the dorsal airlock of Phoenix, nearby the broken husk of a Golam Regency battleship is visible, as well as a hazed 'aura' of something inside it; ocasionally the two overlap, appearing to become a proper ship, then pull apart again, until the aura has wriggled free like a newborn pulling away from its egg* "I saw this with my talent. I know it is...nearly maddening to consider what happened to create it, but it exists, and it will be stopped."

Ender nods, "Well, all I can say is that I'll do my best to help Seraphim in this endeavor. It's good to be back." He flashes a fleeting smile and pats Steven's arm, "Good to be back, indeed." **

*Cue fade away*

This was the discussion with Rose after returning from the Macabre's escape pod. Much of it relates to her own past, but there are plans in their infancy toward the end. Webisode 2?

Steven has to take the long way down (ladder slide!) to the hangar deck, and in the biological equivalent of shoes formed by the bio-suit, he's relatively quiet as he approaches "It's not your only secret, is it Shar? But it's a big one. The Balus Sphere....did you actually work on that project for Golam, or is the Concordat doing its own research?" **

Rose: "I told you" she kicks the wall again "I didn't work on it. I was the fucking power source"

Steven: "Get up."

Rose: "I'm REALLY not in the mood. Do we have to do this?"

Steven: "Up."

Rose rolls over pushing herself to her feet. "What already?" **

Steven leans slightly to stare into her eyes and reaches out to grip her shoulder so she would meet his "I think the only reason I'm still here is I told myself I would do everything I could to make Yolan's death right, but I can't bring him back, I can't lessen his suffering. If you were truly at the heart of Gorgon, I can't change that past for you, either. But we'll destroy the horrors that were spawned from those wrong." **

Rose narrows her eyes "If you're going to say what I think you are, forget it. I've already resigned myself to this solution." **

Steven: "Resigned yourself to which solution, Shar?"

Rose: "I'm pretty sure you can already guess how we're going to draw it out. Now that we're all back the rest should be easy.."

Steven: " If that damn fool Skyth had come forward things may have been different, but I just learned all this, Shar. You're going to have to fill me in on your plan."

Rose narrows her eyes "He doesn't understand that part of the plan either...apparently I'm the only one who gets it" **

Rose groans and turns around squeezing the bridge of her nose. "Why am I the only one who gets this? It's so simple." **

Steven releases her shoulder and straightens "Tell me." **

Rose: "I'll put it in terms you understand. This thing is attracted to psi-energy, right? It won't be able to resist this...then we're pretty sure Kimiko can force it inside after it takes the bait. So, that means it'll need to be three people. Kimiko, a closer that also acts as a swapper, and finally the bait. Simple, isn't it?"

Steven: "If your solution is to get back inside one of those things, I have a problem with that."

Rose: "I already have all the needed holes and it's repenting for something that I failed to do. Had I succeeded then this wouldn't have happened."

Steven: "Nobody would have expected you to stop what was done, Rose."

Rose: "I know. That's because I didn't want to. Funny how that comes back to haunt us, doesn't it?"

Steven stops and considers... "You were the power core of the Gorgon...a Golam Regency battleship." As much a statement as a question **

Rose: "For a time, yes. The ones who wouldn't break were put in there, you know? That was their last resort after everything."

Rose: "You said there's something about my brain and I always tell you you're lying...take a guess why that is?"

Steven: "I don't know, Shar. That was a century ago."

Rose: "It was reactivated. It's not the same time"

Steven: "Which do you believe, Shar? That you were drained of ability, or that you were trained to suppress it?"
Rose: "Neither. It's by choice."

Steven: "You weren't the cause of this, that abomination was."

Rose: "I know. But do you really think that I can actually make up for anything in any real sense? Everything that happened after I escaped is my fault and there's absolutely nothing I can do to fix that. I can fix this though. Do you get what that means?"

Steven: "I don't and would never blame you for anything that's happened here, Shar. But if it means a degree of peace for yourself....Pick your team. Pick who /you/ trust to do the job they need to, and make sure they're ready for the task."

Rose: "I don't care who. Like I said, I need three people. One person makes sure I'm in and out and makes sure it's closed when it needs to be. The other person gets it in there. I don't care how, but I'm pretty sure it's possible. If it isn't, then Plan B. I assume you have a plan B, right?"

Rose: "Just make sure I don't have a weapon...."

Steven: "Plan B is Kim, now. I'd still rather that than what you have in mind, but that's not how this is going to work, Shar. If you're set on this solution, you're in charge of it. You pick the team, you inform them of what's required. You know more about this device than any of us, so it's your mission to put it to a good use for once. If that's even possible."

Rose: "It isn't. But that's beside the point. I'll deal with it. If all else fails we'll probably be killed anyway, so that's some form of solace I suppose. However, we need to make sure it's destroyed if we fail...we can't let this thing have it."

Steven: "After what I've seen today, I agree. As for destroying it...Well, we have Ferrudon. We won't fail, though. You don't have to believe me, just like before, but it's truth."

Rose: "I have no idea what that is. I'm just saying we need to come up with a contingency"

Steven: "Ferrudon is the Dargonese weapon left on the planet from the last century. If we drop out of contact, I'll be
leaving orders for her to level the mountain. Maybe the Macabre will survive it, I don't know, but it will be buried in glass."

Rose: "That's good enough then. Though I can see a rather bad consequence in that case. Enough to make a girl have second thoughts...but I don't think it will come to that.

Steven: "It won't."

Rose: "then that's all I need to know. As far as people go, who isn't a good choice? That would be good to know"

Steven: "Despite all our flaws and failings, Shar, there isn't a single member of this team or crew who I wouldn't trust to the task. If you're looking for a recommendation, since Seth has worked on the project and may be able to help with a transfer of energies from Kim to yourself to start the process, I'd recommend him... I'd also recommend Chard to provide cover from any opposition."

Rose: "I'll think about it."

Steven: "Just tell me who you want for the task."

Rose leans against the wall "Like I said, I haven't decided yet. I'll think about it. Cause if that's all, I think I still have some planning left to do"(I'm honestly not sure myself by the way) **

Steven: "I understand..." *Pause* "I've wracked my memory...since we first encountered this thing, the only solutions the Ancients had when one of these things was created was to create another, they feed off each other and rip each other apart at the same time....But I'm not willing to take that step if it's possible to avoid. I was hoping Kim's ability to drain Psi energies could be used to siphon away its energy, bleed it out, so to speak. But I don't know how that will affect her, and she could only drain so much without some form of release."

Rose: "I know. Don't worry. The way this thing works, it shouldn't be able to recover. In this state humans will keep generating psi energy, but this thing needs to feed. As such, it'll be sucked dry. It shouldn't be a problem."

Steven nods "Think about it, but get some rest. I need everyone in top form...If there's anything else on your mind?" **

Rose: "Nah, I just need to knock off some steam...not much you could do to help with that."

Steven: "Well...I wouldn't recommend the punching bag. If you need a sparring partner, though, I'm up to the task."

Steven: "If you need something else. Good luck"

Rose: "Yeah, the last one. I'll see ya around..."she says walking off rather quickly

Steven doesn't make any gesture to stop her, instead turning his attention to Drache and surveying the newly-received damage for the first time. **

Char *steps out of the common room doing up his pants, and goes to start sparring.*

Seriously though, both Rose and Steven, Im giving you both an extra 3 IP for some good Roleplay there.

*waves*

Wish I had the time and focus to come back and see you guys on sundays!