Previous Thread >>1057054
>>1066788
>Rolled 19

It’s the day after you upset your partner, Yrot. A message comes from the bridge, “Prepare to jump.” Your partner begins to break it down, “The warp core is going to activate and a warning to brace will come. If you don’t brace, you’ll be on the other side of the ship. Here in engineering there isn’t another side of the ship. The heat in the reactor will increase, so it’s our job to make sure it doesn’t. We remain at our posts as long as long as the jump lasts.” It sounds like Adams is getting the same spiel. When the warning to brace comes, you brace for your life. The space around you distorts, bends and you might have puked if you hadn’t tried to prepare. Then it stops, Yrot jumps up to check the reactor. It’s temperature is high, but not unmanageable. He gives a face of relief, “That could have been worse.” The jump is supposed to be just under a hash, which is a bit short of a day. Galactic basic has a weird base 12 system, so with a bit of calculation you estimate 20 hours.

The relatively cool reactor gives you time for a bit of talk, “Hey Yrot, would you rather be part of another crew?” He looks adamant, “This crew is strong.” When the jump ends, you’re told to brace again while space distorts. The Head Engineer calls everyone over for a briefing. “This is what we’re doing. The Hedar are paying us to raid Kumii supply lines,” you remember someone mentioning the Hedar as a insect race. “We’ll wait here for two days until the ship comes through. It’ll be unguarded, so it should be easy pickings.” After that, he dismisses you.

>Prepare for trap
>Get some food
>Rest after long shift
>Other?

>>1067960
>>Other?
discuss a possible escape plan with Adams, possibly by tampering with the warp core and escaping in a life pod before the next warp.

>>1067960
>Prepare for trap
We need to prove our worth. Maybe ask Yrot what can be done to pay off our worth the fastest?

>>1068072
>the warp core. "You are never to touch it. If you do, I'll take your hands." You somewhat believe him when he says it like that. It works by tearing a whole in space to another dimension he simply refers to as "Other Space." Apparently sarqs are the only ones with this technology, other races warp space or use negative mass. He also warns, "Never attempt to travel with a damaged warp core. Something always goes missing, sometimes the whole ship and sometimes only a room or two.

>Never attempt to travel with a damaged warp core. Something always goes missing, sometimes the whole ship and sometimes only a room or two.

>Never attempt to travel with a damaged warp core

>Never attempt to travel with a damaged warp core

>NEVER ATTEMPT TO TRAVEL WITH A DAMAGED WARP CORE

>>1068518
I shall back this. All of it.

>>1068518
>>NEVER ATTEMPT TO TRAVEL WITH A DAMAGED WARP CORE
Fucking exactly. Did you not read my entire post? I'm talking about escaping after sabotaging their ship.

You decide you should make your job last or at least pay it off. You ask Yrot, "What happens during raid?" He looks at you, "Usually we wait for the ship to stop for course correction before we hit it. After it's rammed, the airlocks open and the boarding party looks and scuttles the ship. We receive the loot. Some of the boarding looks are outside the ship when we ram it, they cut their way in and dislodge the ship. We can't move until they do it." He gets back to his shift.

The mess hall is fairly full after your shift. It's Cook's special today, roasted meat and sweet paste. The meat is ok, a bit too gamey. You eat with Adams and Vasquez, who's explaining the structure, "They're all numbers, the First, the Second, it goes on. If one person dies, the next person moves up. Best part is that they lead the boarding parties independently and they're vicious. Star Corp couldn't handle this, the sarqs unorganized structure would confuse them."

Something catches your eye, a couple of crew have stood up and are walking towards you. Vasquez mumbles, "God, it's Krikak and the Third." You remember him, he hates you. Krikak looks to the Third, "See? I told you that filth congregates." They laugh and the Third says, "I don't think filth deserves food." Two more sarqs have come up behind them and they reach for your food. Vasquez looks ready, Adams is angry.

>Let them
>Resist
>Fight (roll 1d20)
>Other?

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>1069263
>>Fight (roll 1d20)
for the record, it's better to roll after people have voted. Otherwise people will all vote for or against a choice based on the roll.

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>1069263
>Fight (roll 1d20)
Honestly, I just want to roll and see how the dice like this quest

>>1069365
Apparently they love it

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>1069263
Trollin'

You nod at Vasquez and he pulls Third onto the table. They weren't ready for it. Krikak over extends himself to get a shot at you but you've been in a couple of fights before. You pull him down between the bench and the table, disabling him with a well placed kick. Adams scrambles up to keep himself from getting in the way. The Third's lying still on the table while the two sarqs behind them try to pull Vasquez off of him. Everyone in the hall is watching as they take Vasquez and you help him. He viciously kicks one when the First walks in, "Stop, that's enough." They pull themselves off the ground and Vasquez motions you to stop fighting. "All of you," the First indicates the fighters, "back to your quarters. Third, you need to be reevaluated." Your group quietly leaves the mess hall and Krikak shoots you an angry face. His beak is cracked.

The silence in your quarters is thick and palpable. You never thought you could have that many feathers on you before the fight. But he got what was coming. The intercom opens the First speaks, "Come to the captain's." You have to pass through the bridge to get there. It's filled with consoles and sarqs, the only place in the ship with windows that isn't an airlock. The captain's office is a door off of that. The First opens the door to let you in. There's a set of chairs bolted to the floor, in one is a grizzled old sarq with a scarred face. "Crew doesn't fight crew. Explain yourselves," the First demands.

>What say?

>>1069927
"Where we come from, bullying - the use of power over another being to cause them harm, especially if that being has not wronged you - is frowned upon, and violence is often counted as an acceptable response. The Third was attempting to use his position over me to cause me harm. Therefore, I responded as my culture dictated I must - I defended myself."

>>1069927
Your crew member is of the mind that we are not, that we are filth. No one corrected him and thus he decided to bully us.

Adams is about to say something, but you cut him off, "Krikak thinks that we are filth. No one stopped him from doing what he did so we had to take to using force to correct him. When he-" there isn't quite the word for bully, you've been finding the language lacking emotionally, "tried to intimidated us, force was a valid answer. What's perceived as ill will or violence is answered likewise." You'd almost call it a rehearsed speech if it wasn't for your background. Negotiating always did come easy to you. The Captain hadn't moved, not through the whole thing. The First looked shifty, like he wanted to be out and done with this. There's a long silence before the Captain speaks, "The Third was weak. Weaklings don't breathe so well in space. Carry one." The First leads you out the door with relief, "You are fortunate. Captain does not always forgive so easily. Krikak has his punishment, his beak is cracked and that is shameful." You're left at your cabin door and it's a night of uneasy sleep.

It's the next day, raid day. The first half of the day is quiet in anticipation. The siren goes off, "Target spotted, brace for impact." You're nearly jerked off your feet with the acceleration but you brace yourself between the consoles. It's only seconds before the whole ship shakes to a stop. You're not thrown far from your place but you're sure you almost just had your arm torn from it's socket. Don't hold on next time, you think to yourself. A vast hiss flows through the hull of the ship, the airlocks are opening. If you remember correctly, Vasquez's group is on the outside of the ship. Yrot passes you a gun as you struggle your way up. You've seen them before, they fire a slug of ionized metal that's devastating. There's clamor for a time, over the coms, through the hull, but it soon goes silent. The Head Engineer is looking worried, something's not right and he turns to the engineers, "We've got to go fix something boys. Leave it to us to fix it and it'll get done." People start to make their way out and Adams shows up at your side.

>Go to bridge
>Go to airlocks (in enemy ship or outer space)
>Go to mess
>Go to quarters
>Other?

>>1072006
Let's throw ourselves into the breach!

>>1072006
>>Go to airlocks
Or at least to where the smaller ship departed, there should be cameras we can see what's going.

>>1072185
>>1072193
Inside the enemy ship or outside it?

>>1072824
Outside or better yet while still inside our ship.

You're not sure what's going on, but you grab Adams and head to the security station near the middle of the ship. It's a small room, smaller than your quarters but filled to the brim with lockers and monitors. You punch the key to bring up sensors. Dead, all of them. You're about to leave them when Adams speaks up, "Hold on, I think I may be able to fix this. Watch the door." He begins to disassemble the console while muttering something about internal jams or something. The hallway is barren, abandoned almost. Minutes pass by agonizingly slow. You jump when Adams says, "There we go, that should do it. I rerouted power from some of the monitors to boost the reception module. The sensors are fine, but the computer wouldn't receive them." He turns on a couple of monitors. The interiors sensors pick up enemies on the inside of the ship and fighting on the bridge, the First is there. Adams keys up another view, it's Vasquez on the outside of the ship. It looks like he's trying to dislodge them. Bodies are floating, friendly and enemy. The situation is looking grim, you've got to do something.

>Grab a suit and head out to Vasquez
>Go to the bridge, help the first
>Other?

>>1073390
>>Grab a suit and head out to Vasquez
the guys can ping the bridge, or try to reroute coms

>>1073390
Suit

>>1073390
>>Grab a suit and head out to Vasquez

"Adams, I'm gonna go help Vasquez. The sooner we get out, the sooner we're safe. Try to restore the ship in the mean time." He looks at you and smiles, "You got it, boss." You head through the door to your quarters, you can hear the fighting from here. One of the benefits of engineering is you got access to the fabricator on your first day to make a space suit that fits. The suit conforms to your body fairly well but offers little protection from weapons. One hit and you might just be out for good. Leaving your room, you make your way to the airlock. A hull plate is bent upwards in front of the airlock, giving you cover while it decompresses. You open the coms on your radio. It's too weak to go far, but you can talk to Vasquez when you get to him. From your vantage point just above the impact point, you can see enemies in the debris field firing toward the base of the ship.

>Take shots from here
>Go toward Vasquez
>Get into the debris field
>Other?

>>1074943

>Take shots from here

>>1074943
>Go toward Vasquez

>>1076001
Supporting

Joining space battles by hopping out of your ship is risky as you'll have a chance of being left behind if your crew retreats by making a jump.

Someone roll a d20

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>1077937

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>1077937

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>1077937

>>1078088
>>1078304
>10 - 5 (for crit fail) = 5


Best try to take shots from here, your not trained for zero g combat like Vasquez. Messages start to come through you radio, distances, conditions, targets but cease with a rapid decompression. "Vasquez," you say, "I'm here. What do you need me to do?" He lets out a sigh of relief, "Thank god. Except for Three, me and you are the only ones left out here. But Three just bought it, so I need you to cover me. I just need these last couple plates." Sounds easy enough. You raise your gun, about the size and dimension of an SMG, and fire off a couple of shots towards where you saw some come from. It's dark, you're too far from a star to have much light but it's manageable. A few more shots and there's a puff of gas and a flailing body. Shots ping the hull plate in front of you as you dive back into the airlock. Every pause in fire lets you take shots at them. A torrent of slugs heats the plate to near glowing hot and you hear a bodily thump next to the airlock. The hunched figure storms into the airlock and knocks your gun aside. There's a knife it it's hand.

Roll 1d20 for melee

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>1078424

Hopefully our daddy didn't skimp on the lessons for this

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>1078424

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>1078424
There's no leverage in space - a quick swipe to the O2 tube should do well, force a retreat-or-die situation.

>>1078556
We be martial artists apparently

>>1078556
>>1078629
Added to headcanon - as part of our "noble" standing, we took a lot of fencing/swordfighting classes and practices.

>>1078443
>>1078556
17 + 5 (super crit) = 22


Your gun's gone, not much you can do now but hope to win this fight. He thrusts his knife into your suit, or at least he tries. You catch his hand and spin him over you. With a kick he sails into the back wall of the airlock. You're able to grab your guns and fire a volley into his suit. The speaker in your helmet crackles to life. "This is Adams, coms are up again. The First has almost forced them off the ship. Vasquez, how you doin?" Another burst leaves your rifle, cutting of Vasquez, "-last plate. I'm coming up now." A few moments of intense fire go between you and the debris field before Vasquez crawls into the airlock. You close the door, sound begins to return. A quick looks at Vasquez shows you he's worse for wear, his suit is burned in various places and heavily on his gloves. The both of you begin to strip your suits when the ship begins to move and gravity reengages. His eyes gaze at you earnestly, "Thanks, sir. This isn't going to be easy but we'll get home." The brace alarm sounds and space begins to distort.

Everyone is in the mess hall, some still injured from the fight. It should be near full but slightly more than half the crew was lost. The First stands on a table and addresses everyone, "The Captain is dead. His weakness did not see the trap and he is dead by it's hand. As the First, I inherit the place of Captain. If any would test their strength against me, do it now." Silence covers the room. "Good. The Fifth's weakness lead him to split his party and he was crushed for it. In his place and last alive,
Asquez will command. As senior most engineer, Yrot is now Head Engineer. The Second is dead, Akar is now Second. Tarit is now the First, second only to me. Four hash shore leave at next port. Dismissed." As you leave, Adams and Vasquez wave you over to them. You greet them, "So Fifth, huh? That's quite a responsibility." His eyes gleam, "Yeah yeah, whatever. Hit us up at the port, we should see what it's like. We also get something like 400 credits after each mission, however much that is." You leave him and the rest of the jump is quiet. By the time you wake up next morning, the gravity feels different. It's slightly lighter. You look out an airlock and your on a planet.

>Meet up with Vasquez and Adams
>Stay on the ship
>Other?

>>1078783
>>Meet up with Vasquez and Adams
Try to get a star chart with Sol and our current location, maybe we could find a way to get back home.

>>1078783
>Meet up with Vasquez and Adams

If we've got a good way to track them down, wouldn't do good to get waylaid on our first alien planet

>>1078783
Meet up with V&A

We could maybe find some smuggler willing to take us back to Sol.

Adams and Vasquez are waiting for you just outside the ship. A guard hands you a chit on the way out, "It's got 400 credits on it. It's your first time on an alien world, watch out and don't eat anything a sarq wouldn't" The air is warm and moist. It smells almost like Earth but there's a hint of foreignness and pollution. Around you is a city, the architecture is alien and off putting to you. Angles are wrong, you tell yourself. You begin your walk into the city with Adams and Vasquez, "You guys think we could get a star map and find Sol?" Adams looks at you hesitantly, "We were discussing it earlier. We might be able to find it, problem is that we don't know if it's on any charts. Sol could be just another backwater star that no one knows. It might be on the chart but no one cares to stop at it. Or-" Vasquez cuts him off, "We'll find it."

There's crowds on the streets, aliens you've never seen before and are sure you'll never see again. A sign catches your attention, "Sarq's Place" it says or something like that. Galactic basic frustrates you sometimes, it's too basic and has little meaning. "That could be what we're looking for. Someone has to have been to Earth before," Adams says when you point it out. You remember seeing lots of sarqs at the port too, they could know. But you also passed several markets on your way through.

>Hit up Sarq's Place
>Go back to port, chat some people up
>See if there's something valuable at the markets
>Other?

>>1079081
>>Hit up Sarq's Place
the ship should have the location of sol in its database, we should be able to get it from there.
Maybe we'll be lucky to find something that explain the working of the galaxy at large and the more techniqual stuff like the engines and medicals, if we ever go back with those we'd be leagues ahead of anything manmade.

>>1079081
Let's not waste our money on baubles. We can save for our freedom. Just sit and chat, maybe ask a bartender a few questions, like "is slavery legal in this part of the universe?"

"Alright, let's go there," everyone agrees. The guard at the door stops with question, "Ship? Bio-compatibility? Decontamination?" You're halfway baffled when Vasquez speaks up, "Sarak's ship, Fifth. Yes and yes." The guard stands a bit taller, "Welcome, sir. The command section is open to you." He steps aside and let's you through. A familiar scent catches your nose, alcohol. The music sounds almost like drums and flutes, it's odd but they fit together. Vasquez leaves you with a promise of telling you what's in the command section. You and Adams take a seat on stools at the main bar. A screech and a packet flies over your head, the sarq behind you catches it and opens it. The scene almost reminds you of an old fish market you once saw in a movie. A tender approaches you, "Don't see many of your kind around here. Where'd they get you from?" The tender looks honest, intrigued. You answer for Adams, "From Sol, or that's what we call it. Boarded our ship and dragged us away. Are they allowed to do that? Take us?" The tender lets out a good laugh before he says, "Why not? Nothing to stop them. Besides, it looks like they got a good catch, compatible and intelligent. How many systems do you have?" You scratch your head, "One." The tender stops laughing and looks around to see if anyone's watching before he says, "Don't tell people that. Before you know it, they'll find it. The planets, the systems, they won't care. But the crews will pick you clean." Adams counters, "Why not?" The tender sets down some strong smelling drinks, "Listen closely. Governments aren't big out here like they might on your planet, primitive. Anything more than a few systems and it breaks from it's own weaknesses. The biggest I know is only 49 and there's probably bigger on the other side of the galaxy. Find yourself a crew you can trust. Now, that's 10 credits for the drinks." Adams sighs and pays up with his.

>Start drinking
>Press more information out of people
>Get a hold of Vasquez
Other?

>>1080041
>>Press more information out of people
Could risk a drink for an info with the bartender.

>>1080041
>Press more information out of people

Hours and about 50 credits later, you've wiggled enough information out of people to things in perspective. Apparently the galaxy is split into thousand of states that control maybe five or ten systems each. Some are formed around the home planets of various species, others formed rebels that split, and a few newly settled. You learn much about the Sarq. They're a bird people from a planet with light gravity compared to Earth. Sarqa they call it, a heavily forested and dangerous planet. About 1300 years ago, they were uplifted from tribes. Sarq organization mirrors this with crews. They value strength and cunning greatly and follow the strongest. Leaders are only replaced in death. Sarq biology is strange combination of bird and mammals. Females are indistinguishable from males and give birth prematurely compared to humans. They learn to live outside the womb and are abandoned after they're self sufficient. Death rates are extraordinarily high, most dying in combat. When Vasquez comes back from the command section he says, "It's all business over there. Not my cup of tea, just a bunch of captains looking for jobs. They'll do almost anything if you hire them for it."

By the time you leave Sarq's Place, the sun is rising. You check your watch, 7pm. The streets are as busy as ever. On the way back to the ship you say, "We could probably find Earth on the star charts on the ship." Adams is inebriated too much to hear you, but Vasquez caught it. "I'll see if I can get access to the bridge, usually only bride crew are allowed up there." The rest of the way back to the ship is quiet. You check in with the guard and head to your quarters for some sleep. It comes easy to you, no doubt thanks to a moderate amount of alcohol. Your head aches a bit in the morning, but it's not the worst hangover you've ever had.

>Go back to the bar
>Shop at the markets
>Get Vasquez on the bridge
>Hang around the ship
>Other?
*The next post will be in a new thread, about 12 hours from now. Post what you want to do in this thread and I'll carry it over. How do you like the quest so far? Thought/Concerns?*

>>1080516
Hmmm. Seeing as they evolved in a relatively low-grav environment, the Sarqs should be weaker and frailer than humans.

I like the quest - not what I was expecting at all, although you need to be cautious about railroading. It's a mistake a lot of new DMs/QMs make, pressing their players down a path they have planned out.

My advice - the best experiences in RPGs come from unexpected twists in the narrative via the players' actions. Don't be afraid to go in a direction you don't have planned out. Also - get a discord. It's free, pretty easy to use, and provides a great channel for Q&A.

So far - good quest. Got potential. Will be following.

>>1080041
Glad that bartender told it like it is, so I don't have to feel paranoid.

>>1078783
Where does it say we were promoted to 5th?

>>1080516
I'm interested, tho the title in the first thread was confusing.

>Shop at the markets
Try and get some useful electronics.

>>1080516
>*The next post will be in a new thread, about 12 hours from now. Post what you want to do in this thread and I'll carry it over. How do you like the quest so far? Thought/Concerns?*

why will it be in a new thread?

The quest's neat for now, but the creative and inticing ideas (of which there are enough) are a bit buried in the walls of texts. I think more formating would help, with surprising discoveries clearly isolated by line breaks.

Another formating thing that makes it more difficult to easily scimm is that you make no difference in the text between thoughts and narration, so we can't pick out what we 'think' from what's happening at a first glance. Same with stuff ike the background information we got from passerbys and narration.

Also, don't be afraid to just openy explain the advantages/disadvantages of the options in the last paragraph.

Like "You could go to the market now, as you still need XYZ, or relax at the bar..."

stuff like that.

I vote for going to the market anyway and shop around.

>>1080569
I feel like if I railroad, it's a leftover from when I'd DM. Players wouldn't have any ambition so I had to throw something their way.

>>1080581
I changed the title in the second thread. Instead of just 7 (an arbitrary number, along with the 9 in my name), I put the year it's taking place. The Captain made Vasquez 5th when everyone else died >>1078783 and as another anon mention, the formatting doesn't help.

>>1080583
I noticed the formatting too. It's a habit I've got to break. And this thread is gonna start auto sageing by the time I'll be able get to it next. I usually do this after work and late night.

>>1080607
>And this thread is gonna start auto sageing by the time I'll be able get to it next.

It's gonna take days for that.

>>1080628
>Automatic permasage after 72 hours

It's already been 2 and a half days

>>1080607
Oh, I thought we made 5th.

>>1080516
>Shop at the markets
Technical stuff such as the drive engines and anything military/medical, anything industrial as well.

>>1080516
>Shop at the markets

Let's see what kind of stuff we can find

New Thread: >>1081529

>>1081582
Was just gonna post that.