Kintobor

So, hi, it's me again. Karie and Boomingham's dynamic worked for me because of the simple fact that we were both pretty transparent with each other, especially during Eternal Reaper. That and you, Zepher, had Lawrence cut Masson's hand off at a point that, story wise, ensured the party stuck together and actually killed that bastard known as the Regret. Part of that is also probably on Endgame, but I distinctly remember being let into some of the conversations you two had to ensure I was cool with all of it, and I was. Also, what was the quest you hosted, Debts? The one with Karie, Dyirc, and Thothwick? That quest felt A LOT like Mission 1, but almost kind of intentional in a way, where Mission 1 clearly wasn't meant to go off the rails, pun intended. I'm fine with heroes not getting along, even getting into fights! I think that stuff's riveting. Karie fought and argued with a lot of people in Heroica 1.0, I just think WBD walked into the perfect storm and had to weather it. I still had fun, so it's not the end of the world by any means. I think while it might be fun to go back and read through, it could get exhausting at times playing it, and as a player, that was the main issue I had. It was still fun, I would absolutely play with C_S again, and I imagine going back it will be fun to read, but the mission's structure unintentionally escalated the main issue I had, and it's not something I blame anyone for.

I’ll likely have more to say, but overall I had a lot of fun with Mission 1, WBD! I have some general thoughts, and then some stuff I want to say about my fellow PCs, but I’ll likely have more to add in the future. I had a feeling we missed a bunch of stuff, and I’m not surprised to see we missed some of it. I feel as if we got to a certain point and you realized you needed to kick things up in order to get things moving along as the explosion in the engineering car felt like it wasn’t what you initially planned to happen, and it unintentionally ratcheted some of the underlying tensions in the group. I know when designing the mission the cube was designed as a harder item to grab that landed more reward, but it unintentionally wound up splitting up the party’s approaches on how to handle the cube, or if it should even be snatched at all. I do not think you designed the mission this, and I don’t blame you for the fracturing. I don’t think you went about designing this mission with the thought of having party conflict. I just think the mission structure didn’t help in this regard. Pierce and Crunch are out there, and Zaria will have their heads. The blood must flow. Blood for the blood god. Speaking of, combat was tough as nails, but fair. Abam and Maba had some nasty combo abilities sharing the same square and the Blackguard fight was also rough, but also didn’t feel cheap. Now, our dice rolls were absolute utter garbage, how did we go something like six rounds without killing Slice? It can’t be helped, but wow. Needless to say, I always felt challenged in combat. There never felt like a time came when there was a single, optimal solution, but several move options that had their ups and downs. Combat was really good. Okay, this is such a niche criticism, but I don’t know what trains you’ve been on, WBD, but the initial confusion with the train layout from me came from knowing that a train’s baggage car sits closer to the front, usually behind the engine. In terms of how it affected my fun of the mission: it didn’t, but I couldn’t help as someone interested in trains finding it a little confusing at first. Typically the dining car is closer to first class than second, but I feel like with the train not having any sleepers the position of the dining car was fine logistically speaking. Sets looked good. It’s amazing how much you can get away with when your set is a single build and you switch out the furnishings depending on the car. It was fitting though, and I dug the overall tone of the mission when it wasn’t going completely to hell due to player infighting. Soren (Legonater) I actually quite like Soren. I understand it can be hard to step into a new voice after portraying another character for so long, but Soren’s blunt, matter-of-fact tone was fun to play off of. I enjoyed the dynamic that Zaria and Soren had where Zaria’s desire to do good and go get ‘im attitude clashed with Soren’s cynicism and view of the mission as just another job. I think Soren’s stunt at the end of the mission made Zaria realize that Soren wasn’t someone who she can trust, but perhaps was more akin to someone she could rely on considering circumstances. I don’t have much to say that WBD hasn’t already covered, so I’ll leave it at I had fun playing with you again, especially considering Karie and Dyric hated each other’s guts for so long in Heroica 1.0 that it’ll be interesting to see where Zaria and Soren’s relationship will go. Yelana (Classic_Spaceman) Ho boy, I have lots to say and only so much time to actually write something. So, despite what you may perceive, I do have some good things to say about Yelana and your roleplaying. I feel as if a lot of the issues I’m going to bring up have a root cause, and that cause is New Player Syndrome. NPS is when you present someone absolutely, totally brand new to the concept of roleplaying and they fall into particular traps. Most of these are course correctable: through experience and time you begin to learn the dos and dont’s of roleplaying, as if you’re not used to roleplaying or acting it can take time to get the hang of it. So, in no real particular order, I am going to lend you some advice that will hopefully help in the future. I noticed a few times when you tried to barge in on scenes that were happening as characters were making checks or forcing Yelana into doing cool things: particularly Zaria picking the lock to the briefcase. You snagged the bottle opener and came into Zaria’s scene, seemingly with the intent to pick the lock for Zaria. This is generally considered poor sportsmanship in roleplaying. If another character is in the midst of an action or a scene, it’s usually best to let them try and perform said action or perform through said scene, even if it’s not the optimal choice. It is far more interesting watching the martial warrior struggle to pick a lock then the trained thief do it. Sure, the trained thief is more likely to succeed, but from the perspective of suspense and tension, the martial warrior being out of their element and forced to do something they have little faith in succeeding is way more tense. You cannot be everywhere at once: don’t force yourself to be. Making sub-optimal decisions is what makes RPGs fun! Let the spotlight fall on you naturally, as hogging the spotlight doesn’t allow your fellow players to also step into the spotlight. Now, if Zaria came along and asked Yelana for help, that would be a different story. Zaria is asking Yelana to lend a hand: she’s being asked to share the spotlight. I have a feeling you’re trying to play Yelana as “cool”. This is surprisingly super hard for early roleplayers, as there’s a difference in thinking you’re cool and proving you’re cool. You know what was cool? Making that shot on the canister. That was cool! It also goes back into spotlighting: you allowed Yelana to take the spotlight and do something cool. What isn’t cool is trying to do this again and again: you’re trying to spotlight steal now. So, another thing I want to touch on is Yelana’s hostility at certain points and lack of teamwork. There were a few times when you said that what Yelana was doing was “in-character conflict”. There is nothing wrong with getting angry with another player’s character or roleplaying an argument, but there were times it felt like you were being hostile for the sake of being hostile: trolling us to get a rise. I’m not saying you were, but the argument “this is what my character would do” stops being an argument when it’s harming other people’s fun. I threatened Yelana with Zaria’s sword: remove the gauntlet or I’m taking your hand off! I took a moment to think on it after I posted it and decided that despite being in character for Zaria to take her sword to Yelana’s hand, I decided against it as that wasn’t fun for you, C_S. Stealing the credits after both battles might have been in character for Yelana, but I’ll be perfectly honest, were infuriating as a player to deal with. If you had asked me if Yelana could steal them, I’d probably have said sure, go for it. Doing so as quickly as you did, especially the second time, when I didn’t have a chance to notice, was honestly pretty rude. Saying “that’s what my character would do” is not always a valid excuse, and if you’re ever not sure, ask the players you’re in a group with. If some of them feel like your decision would go too far, then think of a different solution, or don’t do the action at all. Your character can get angry and can hold grudges and do morally bad things: just realize that if that’s the case you need to be transparent with the player you’re getting into a beef with, and that your actions have consequences. I don’t know if you’ve ever played Fallout: New Vegas, but doing certain aggressive actions towards the Legion eventually causes them to send out assassin hit squads after you, and they do not megabluck around. It’s fine to steal, and it’s fine to be aggressive, but if you are going to be doing such actions to other players, it’s wise to either let them know what’s going on, and why they want to do something. Another thing I noticed: you tended to spend a lot of time talking into that microphone of yours. Stop doing that. There are two other teammates with you who you can talk to. Talk to us. Please. I have zero interest in the secret mission you decided Yelana was on when you joined with us. We wanted to roleplay with you, and instead you would talk into that mic and speak to whoever was on the other end. Don’t do that. That is not fun for us, since we cannot interact. When you were just chatting with us you did pretty good. Asking about Zaria’s age was genuinely really cool, and her response just being “wow...” was great! That’s all you needed to get across that Yelana has experienced some form of astonishment. I thought that was cool. I guess I’ll open this can of worms: I have no idea where the sexual comments towards Zaria came from, but they felt... uncomfortable. I did not read any sexual tension at all from any scene Zaria and Yelana had together, but those comments felt weird coming out of Yelana since they just came out of nowhere. I should know: I played a sexually active character for nearly six years (Karie). There is a handful of characters who could feasibly respond to Zaria slamming them into a wall with “oooh, harder daddy”, and Yelana doesn't read as one of them. RPGs of this nature are games that rely on teamwork to succeed. Note how I didn’t say “win”, as you don’t really win an RPG. This isn’t a race to see who can make the most credits, or who can be the coolest character: you are working within a group to succeed at a mutual goal. You can have your own individual goals: getting better equipment, buying a certain item, but the best goals arise through roleplay: enact revenge on the scoundrel who robbed me, defend the prince from all who would harm him, that sort of stuff. One last thing before I wrap up: I noticed you tend to italicize a lot of your words. While I get that you're drawing out words or drawing attention to them, too much use of italics tends to make it confusing as to what's supposed to be important. As an example I'm going to use, you guessed it, Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog, but more specifically a couple of panels from the Knuckles mini-series: Besides this panel being confusing both in and out of context, notice how Ken Penders here uses italics way to often, to the point where they lose their effectiveness. If everything is italicized, nothing basically is. Using italics is fine, I would recommend being a bit more select with it in the future. So, did I enjoy playing with you? Yes, I did. I think you have room to grow, but I can tell you’re eager to play, and I think enthusiasm is one of the most important things to have. We all started roleplaying somewhere, and we all fell into the same pit traps as you at one point or another. I would go on another mission with you, C_S, I would just ask that you remember that you are in a group, and you need to let Yelana find herself come front and centre naturally instead of trying to push yourself to the front of the crowd. Zaria (Kintobor) I normally don’t write about myself, but I guess I’ll talk a little about how I feel playing Zaria. I enjoy her so far, and I think she contrasted with the other personalities well. Zaria’s monastic upbringing followed by one hundred years on the open road have left her a little out of the loop in terms of technology. She knows when something is technology vs. magic, but I don’t think she knows how a computer works, let alone how to operate one. A comment Legonater made stuck out with me, in that Zaria’s not one to start fights, but she will end them. She doesn’t view her weapon as something to flourish about with: it’s a tool to kill people, and she thinks she’s pretty good at doing so. Watching Vindsval last game has made me want to play a priest for awhile now, so it’s fun finally getting around to playing one. Zaria was originally going to be a group mom type, but then WBD brought in Valesia and I felt like two group mom’s would get a little too much, so I made some adjustments to her character and leaned into a “shonen-manga” protagonist aesthetic: constantly running into the fray, looking for challenges, and defending the weak. I think the fun for me comes from Zaria being over two hundred years old and occasionally getting to be condescending towards "the children." Ironically, the only person she can't do this to is Valesia. I can't wait to see those two go on a mission together. I think I’m still working on Zaria’s voice, but I’m having fun playing her. Thanks for the mission, WBD, I had fun!

Mission Master Note: I did actually make a mistake last round. I forgot to roll for Yissam♥'s Entropic Mending cast. The roll is a six, so Merei heals one wound this round as well. ROUND 4 Upper Hand Role Kirwin Piloting Proficiency Check: (5,5,6) Three Successes The Bikers Piloting Proficiency Check: (1,2,3,4) One Success Success: Attacks that miss Heroes do not have the potential to hit the Speeder Merei snatches Kidd from the air using Gravity Sink (-1 Spirit) Bers attempts to Intimidate the enemy(Intimidation vs. Insight Proficiency Check: (1,2,3,6) One Success vs. (1,6,6) Two Successes. Bikers are not intimidated) Kirwin moves to C4, Rams Robby (Ramming Attack: 2,4,5. Two Successes vs. 1,4. One Success. One damage taken). Defensive Driving activated. Yissam♥ fires her Prism Gauntlet at Cassidy (+1 Success) One Success vs. (1,4) One Success. Zero Damage Taken (+1 Vitality to Merei) Robby moves to E3, attacks Kirwin (3,5 +1 Success) Two Successes vs. (Auto Success) One Success. One damage taken. Cassidy Dashes, moves to E2 Board Reshuffles... The heroes' offensive dampens, as Bers' attempt at intimidating the bikers fails, their aggression not letting up. Kirwin pushes the Dragoon V4 into Robby's bike, but Robby's reflexes ensure minimal damage is taken, a wise move consider how beat up his speeder-cycle was getting. Yissam♥'s blast from her Prism Gauntlet goes wide as Merei successfully catches Kidd's unconscious body with the use of Gravity Sink, landing him on the hood of the speeder. Robby, his shotgun aimed at Merei, notices her saving Kidd from a most certain death. He changes targets, blasting another shell at Kirwin, hitting them instead. Cassidy's motor revs as she swerves around the speeder to back up Robby. Combat continues... THE HEROES Merei Teo Age 24 Female, Helioi-Touched Celestial (Born Menahi) Character Points: 1/11Vitality: 5/5Velocity: 2Strength: 1Skill: 2Smarts: 2Spirit: 0/3Proficiencies: Occult 1, Religion 1, Coding 1, Insight 1Known Spells: Healing Light, Solar Flare, Gravity SinkCredits: 0Equipment: Teo Family Pocket-Watch (Kinetic Weapon), Utility Belt (Grants +1 Engineering or Medicine Check Success) Inventory: Æther Brew, Essence of Intellect Designation: B3R5 - 3rk (Dutch Thriceman) Age: Unknown, Gender: Mechanical, Race: Adamite Character Points: 1 / 11 Vitality: 6 / 6 Velocity: 2 Strength: 3 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Intimidation 1, Athletics 1 Known Spells: None Credits: 10 Equipment: Chain-Greatsword (Standard Kinetic Weapon) Mecha-Plate (Standard Kinetic Armour), AV Rig Inventory: Shield Booster Kirwin (karmajay) *DRIVER*Age: Unknown, Gender: Unknown , Species: AdamiteCharacter Points: 2/11Vitality: 3/5Velocity: 1Strength: 1Skill: 1Smarts: 3Proficiencies: Coding 1, Culture 1, Engineering 2, Explosives 1, Technology 2 Credits: 0Equipment: Drone (Standard Long Range Elemental Weapon), Utility BeltInventory: (2) Hampering, Contained Elemental Grenades, Plasma Potion, Rusty Wrench (Standard Melee Kinetic Weapon) Yissam♥ (CMP) 141-year-old feminine Stratitarian Character Points: 1/11 Vitality: 5/5 Velocity: 1 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 2/3 Proficiencies: Coding 1, Culture 2, Occult 1, Performance 1 Known Spells: Entropic Mending, Spirit Ally, Tongues Credits: 10 Equipment: Prism Gauntlet (Standard long-range elemental weapon) Inventory: Essence of Glibness, Essence of Intellect Antony’s Haast Dragoon V4 Speeder Vitality: 24 *The Vehicle is considered in good condition when it has hit points remaining* Velocity: 3 Ram Attack: Three Dice Skill: 2 THE ENEMIES: Cassidy Vitality: 4/6 Velocity: 4 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/2 Proficiencies: Pilot 1, Long Range Weapons 1, Arcana 1 Known Spells: Sonic Sweep, Warding Bond Equipment: Modified Laser Blaster (Standard Energy Long Range Weapon) Inventory: 10 Credits, Aetherbrew Robby Vitality: 2/6 Velocity: 4 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Proficiencies: Pilot 1, Short Range Weapons 2, Engineering 1 Equipment: Sawn-off Shotgun (Standard Kinetic Short Range Weapon) Inventory: 10 Credits, Energy Cell Trait: Mounted- Enemies take up two squares to accommodate their speeder cycles.

ROUND THREE Upper Hand Role Kirwin Piloting Proficiency Check: (2,2,6) One Success The Bikers Piloting Proficiency Check: (3,4,4,5) Three Successes Failure: Attacks that miss Heroes have a potential to hit the Speeder Merei Defends Bers (+2 dice on Bers next defence roll) Bers attacks Kidd (1,2,5,6 +1 Success) Three Successes vs. (3) One Failure. Three Damage taken! Kirwin tosses grenade at D3, D4, E3, E4 (Three damage to Kidd, Three Damage to Robby.) Next Piloting Proficiency check receives one auto failure as the first die roll. Yissam♥ invokes Momentary Reversal (One Vitality Restored) Robby attacks Kirwin (1,3 +1 Success) One Success vs. (5) One Success. No damage taken. ATTACK ON SPEEDER (1,5 +1 Success) Two Successes vs. (1,6) One Success. Speeder takes one damage! Cassidy moves to E9, attacks Merei (5 +1 Success) Two Success vs (2,6) One Success. One Damage taken. The heroes take to the offensive as Merei defends Bers from any oncoming attacks. Bers, rallied earlier by Yissam♥, drives his great-chainsword into Kidd's motorcycle as fire erupts from the engine. Kirwin quickly responds by tossing a grenade by him which explodes in the air! Robby manages to steer away in time to avoid his speeder being hit by the brunt of the explosion, but Kidd is launched into the air, arms and legs flailing as he screams, scrambling to grab anything! "Kidd! Graah, damn it!" Yissam♥ takes a moment to mend Merei's wound, but another round of laser fire from Cassidy wounds the celestial again as Robby's shotgun blast misses Kirwin but leaves streaks in the paint job along the driver's side door. "That's it! You're not getting out of this city alive! You're dead, do you hear me?! DEAD!!" Combat continues as the speeder's swerve through the skylanes... THE HEROES Merei Teo Age 24 Female, Helioi-Touched Celestial (Born Menahi) Character Points: 1/11Vitality: 4/5Velocity: 2Strength: 1Skill: 2Smarts: 2Spirit: 1/3Proficiencies: Occult 1, Religion 1, Coding 1, Insight 1Known Spells: Healing Light, Solar Flare, Gravity SinkCredits: 0Equipment: Teo Family Pocket-Watch (Kinetic Weapon), Utility Belt (Grants +1 Engineering or Medicine Check Success) Inventory: Æther Brew, Essence of Intellect Designation: B3R5 - 3rk (Dutch Thriceman) Age: Unknown, Gender: Mechanical, Race: Adamite Character Points: 1 / 11 Vitality: 6 / 6 Velocity: 2 Strength: 3 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Intimidation 1, Athletics 1 Known Spells: None Credits: 10 Equipment: Chain-Greatsword (Standard Kinetic Weapon) Mecha-Plate (Standard Kinetic Armour), AV Rig Inventory: Shield Booster Kirwin (karmajay) *DRIVER*Age: Unknown, Gender: Unknown , Species: AdamiteCharacter Points: 2/11Vitality: 4/5Velocity: 1Strength: 1Skill: 1Smarts: 3Proficiencies: Coding 1, Culture 1, Engineering 2, Explosives 1, Technology 2 Credits: 0Equipment: Drone (Standard Long Range Elemental Weapon), Utility BeltInventory: (2) Hampering, Contained Elemental Grenades, Plasma Potion, Rusty Wrench (Standard Melee Kinetic Weapon) Yissam♥ (CMP) 141-year-old feminine Stratitarian Character Points: 1/11 Vitality: 5/5 Velocity: 1 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 2/3 Proficiencies: Coding 1, Culture 2, Occult 1, Performance 1 Known Spells: Entropic Mending, Spirit Ally, Tongues Credits: 10 Equipment: Prism Gauntlet (Standard long-range elemental weapon) Inventory: Essence of Glibness, Essence of Intellect Antony’s Haast Dragoon V4 Speeder Vitality: 25 *The Vehicle is considered in good condition when it has hit points remaining* Velocity: 3 Ram Attack: Three Dice Skill: 2 THE ENEMIES: Cassidy Vitality: 4/6 Velocity: 4 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/2 Proficiencies: Pilot 1, Long Range Weapons 1, Arcana 1 Known Spells: Sonic Sweep, Warding Bond Equipment: Modified Laser Blaster (Standard Energy Long Range Weapon) Inventory: 10 Credits, Aetherbrew Robby Vitality: 3/6 Velocity: 4 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Proficiencies: Pilot 1, Short Range Weapons 2, Engineering 1 Equipment: Sawn-off Shotgun (Standard Kinetic Short Range Weapon) Inventory: 10 Credits, Energy Cell Trait: Mounted- Enemies take up two squares to accommodate their speeder cycles.

“If you are furious with them then I am equally outraged, if not more so. Handling the Space Police would’ve been manageable under the circumstances prior to a rocket being fired at the train.” Zaria cursed under her breath in her native language, crossing her arms and glaring at the documents the party had handed over. This all felt off to her. She was all to used to violence, but thievery left her with a feeling of conflict within her. “I am fine taking the 50 credits and leaving, but if you, Soren, wish to negotiate, be my guest. Irgonstead, I hope in the future you come to Heroica for assistance. Unlike Blackguard, I can assure you we will not blow holes into the sides of trains when discrepancy is preferred.”

"Would you believe me if I told you that when Blackguard arrived to take the cube they blew a hole in the engineering car of the train?" Zaria exclaimed. Her hands hit the table with a loud thud. "Once the Space Police got involved after an explosive was set off on the train there was no way that cube was getting out of there, not with that much attention on it. If you are looking for someone to point a finger at for this nearly botched job, level it at them. You need not worry. We did not bring your company up during the discussions with the Space Police."

Zaria turned to look at Yelana, resting her hand on the table. Her tone was not malicious or condescending. "Second chances do not come easily. I did not step onboard this train looking to make enemies out of you or Soren. I put myself and my blade in front of many others to try and keep us safe. I understand you have plans, Yelana, but those plans mean nothing if you do not let others in on them." Zaria crosses her leg, looking pensive, hoping Yelana would listen. "Trust is the bedrock of working in this field. I do not know what sort of job you were engaged in prior to joining this organization, but when you are with a team, you need to cooperate and be open with your teammates. I apologize for trying to punch you earlier, I will admit it was out of line, but if you wish to prove that you are sorry, you need to do so with more than words."

For the sake of not making this more confusing than it needs to be, grenades work the same as if they hit the ground. Just assume your tossing the grenade later than usual after pulling the pin so it explodes mid-air.

Zaria smiled, shrugging. "I suppose I might. Part of me has always wanted to just... pilot my own ship and just go where I want to go with no need to rely on the schedule or manifest of some other captain, but for now I will just have to make do with my own two feet." "For someone who seemingly does not know me you are very keen on talking to me." Zaria replied. She sighs, exhausted, feeling sore. Heroica was more of a workout than she anticipated. "Despite your actions I vouched for you, you know?"

"One could say that." Zaria replied, taking a seat in front of Soren. "Ugh, I have had enough of trains. Give me another one hundred years and maybe I will ride one again." She let loose a small grin, admiring her own comment.

Zaria nods, respectfully giving the Sergeant the Varuth hand gesture of deference: her hand pointed towards the roof in a finger guns position. As she turns around, she stops and looks towards the Sergeant, remembering something. "Sir, I do not wish to tell you how to do your job, but if I may suggest having someone in the Engineering car to look over the reactor core and ensure no one else enters here, it would likely be in everyone's best interest." She turns back around and heads for the dining car.

Zaria rolled her eyes. "Sergeant, I have no idea what Ms. Fennix is trying to say here, but she's been with Soren and I this entire train trip, Soren can vouch for me, as will Bloeberis, the steward. We bought our tickets together and boarded the train together. I do not know what her issue is, but she has been lying almost habitually to Soren and I ever since we stepped onboard the train. The fact she would lie to an officer is disgraceful." Zaria brings her hands to the bridge of her nose, rubbing it. "Soren, Yelana and I were hired for a business opportunity in Con'Stap. Seeing as how we are on a gas giant, we took the Boreal Express to reach the city, as travelling on foot or by road is impossible. After handling the stowaway, the three of us felt the explosion in the engineering car, so we moved forward to see what was going on. We saw Blackguard agents standing in the breach they made in the train, and I took it as a threat to both the safety of the passengers and crew. As a priestess and faithful devotee of Varuth, to not defend the defenceless when I could would be akin to sacrilege." Zaria straightened her posture. "We managed to kill one of them, as you can see. They had the cube on them, which they pilfered from the reactor core. When Yelana and I went to inform the rest of the train's crew that the train was safe from danger, I returned to find the cube gone, and Soren injured. When I went to move the unconscious engineers out of here to someplace safer, it appears to have made its way back into the reactor core." Zaria puts her hands on her hips and let out a deep breath.

Zaria took a moment to register Soren's physical gestures before her gaze turned to Yelana.

Zaria gives Soren a quizzical look, but says nothing. She was more interested in how exactly the cube got there, or if this was another potential ruse.

"Of course. If you will follow me." Zaria leads the sergeant into the engineering car.

Zaria stands from her seat in the dining car, having taken a moment to herself to reflect on the current situation. She respectfully nods her head towards the sergeant as he approaches. "Sergeant Myron. A pleasure. My name is Zaria Karana. I am a follower of Varuth. I suppose there is some explaining to do, so if you will lend me your ear I would appreciate it. The disturbance in the luggage car is partially my doing. My compatriots and I were asked by a member of the staff to investigate a noise in the luggage car, and found a stowaway who was acting violently. When they pulled weapons on us, we defended ourselves, and in in the fight I took one of the heads off of stowaway, not before they managed to nick me in a gap in my armour. I do not know what the procedure is in such an instance, but I take responsibility for his death. I believed the stowaways to be a threat to the passengers and crew of the train and did what I felt was necessary to keep myself and others safe. As for the hole in the engineering room, the train was attacked by, seemingly, three agents from Blackguard. We made our way to the engineering car in an attempt to stop the attackers, unsure if they were a threat to passengers and crew, however two managed to escape, although not without a fight. One of them was shot dead, having grabbed an item from what I assume to be the train's engine. You will have to excuse me, my knowledge of mechanical engineering is not very good. Based on a discussion we had prior with the engineers, we were informed that the cube stolen from the engine has a sonic and radioactive frequency. However, it seemingly disappeared between the fight with the Blackguard agents and informing the train's crew that the threat had passed. Considering myself and my two associates are the only ones I am aware of who have handled the cube prior to its disappearance, I am requesting you scan the three of us to determine who among us potentially has it. I do not tolerate banditry. I will gladly submit myself to a search with equipment that can pick up either radioactive energy or sonic frequency to prove my innocence in the matter."

ROUND TWO Upper Hand Role Kirwin Piloting Proficiency Check: (4,5,5) Three Successes The Bikers Piloting Proficiency Check: (2,2,3,3) Four Failures Success: Attacks that miss Heroes do not hit the Speeder Merei invokes Pulling Point (5 One Success) One damage dealt to Cassidy. Moved to D10 Bers attacks Kidd (1,1 +1 Success) One Success vs. (4) One Success. No Damage Kirwin Activates Defensive Driving Yissam Rallies Bers (+2 Dice to Bers’ next attack) Kidd Rallies Robby (+1 Die to Robby’s next attack) Robby attacks Bers (1,1,4 +1 Success) Two Successes vs. (Auto Success, 3) One Success. One damage taken. Cassidy invokes Distracting Frequency on Merei (4 Success) One damage dealt to Merei. Merei Silenced for one round. Combat continues as the heroes manage to deter the bikers. Merei continues to push back Cassidy's advances while Bers' chainsword swings and misses Kidd. Kirwin continues their driving style, focusing on defence, while Yissam♥ rallies Bers for his next attack. Kidd follows suit, rallying Robby as his shotgun is levelled in Bers' direction, a blast of metal pellets striking him. Cassidy shouts into the night sky in frustration. "You wanna play with magic, you one eyed weirdo? Fine! Take a load of this!" The elf hurls a spell which blasts Merei, the energy rippling through her and drying out her vocal chords. Casting spells in this condition was nearly impossible. Combat continued as the vehicles continued to picked up speed and acceleration, zipping through the skylanes. THE HEROES Merei Teo *Silenced! 1 Round Remaining* Age 24 Female, Helioi-Touched Celestial (Born Menahi) Character Points: 1/11Vitality: 4/5Velocity: 2Strength: 1Skill: 2Smarts: 2Spirit: 1/3Proficiencies: Occult 1, Religion 1, Coding 1, Insight 1Known Spells: Healing Light, Solar Flare, Gravity SinkCredits: 0Equipment: Teo Family Pocket-Watch (Kinetic Weapon), Utility Belt (Grants +1 Engineering or Medicine Check Success) Inventory: Æther Brew, Essence of Intellect Designation: B3R5 - 3rk (Dutch Thriceman) Age: Unknown, Gender: Mechanical, Race: Adamite Character Points: 1 / 11 Vitality: 6 / 6 Velocity: 2 Strength: 3 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Intimidation 1, Athletics 1 Known Spells: None Credits: 10 Equipment: Chain-Greatsword (Standard Kinetic Weapon) Mecha-Plate (Standard Kinetic Armour), AV Rig Inventory: Shield Booster Kirwin (karmajay) *DRIVER*Age: Unknown, Gender: Unknown , Species: AdamiteCharacter Points: 2/11Vitality: 4/5Velocity: 1Strength: 1Skill: 1Smarts: 3Proficiencies: Coding 1, Culture 1, Engineering 2, Explosives 1, Technology 2 Credits: 0Equipment: Drone (Standard Long Range Elemental Weapon), Utility BeltInventory: (2) Hampering, Contained Elemental Grenades, Plasma Potion, Rusty Wrench (Standard Melee Kinetic Weapon) Yissam♥ (CMP) 141-year-old feminine Stratitarian Character Points: 1/11 Vitality: 5/5 Velocity: 1 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 3/3 Proficiencies: Coding 1, Culture 2, Occult 1, Performance 1 Known Spells: Entropic Mending, Spirit Ally, Tongues Credits: 10 Equipment: Prism Gauntlet (Standard long-range elemental weapon) Inventory: Essence of Glibness, Essence of Intellect Antony’s Haast Dragoon V4 Speeder Vitality: 25 *The Vehicle is considered in good condition when it has hit points remaining* Velocity: 3 Ram Attack: Three Dice Skill: 2 THE ENEMIES: Kidd Vitality: 5/7 Velocity: 4 Strength: 2 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Proficiencies: Pilot 1, Melee Weapons 2, Engineering 1 Equipment: Wire-Wrapped Astro-Ball Bat (Standard Kinetic Melee Weapon), Road Leathers (Standard Kinetic Armour) Inventory: 10 Credits Cassidy Vitality: 4/6 Velocity: 4 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/2 Proficiencies: Pilot 1, Long Range Weapons 1, Arcana 1 Known Spells: Sonic Sweep, Warding Bond Equipment: Modified Laser Blaster (Standard Energy Long Range Weapon) Inventory: 10 Credits, Aetherbrew Robby Vitality: 6/6 Velocity: 4 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Proficiencies: Pilot 1, Short Range Weapons 2, Engineering 1 Equipment: Sawn-off Shotgun (Standard Kinetic Short Range Weapon) Inventory: 10 Credits, Energy Cell Trait: Mounted- Enemies take up two squares to accommodate their speeder cycles.

OOC: Correct. That was a blunder on my part. Fixed. I'll have the round up in a bit.

Zaria audibly huffed as Yelana leaned in, disinterested in whatever Yelana had to say. "I doubt you believe in anything you just said, considering how often you have lied to me." Zaria began carrying the unconscious engineer out of the car. She speaks to Yelana with her back turned to her. "I have nothing to hide from the Space Police, Yelana. Will you?" She turns back to look at Soren. Despite being disappointed in him, she trusted him more than Yelana. "Soren, if she moves from where she currently stands, tell me. Neither of you are to attempt to hide anything. I do not work with petty bandits."

"You forget, Soren: the cube is radioactive. It also emits a sonic frequency. All it takes is for the Space Police to check our persons with equipment that can pick up either. Of course, that person will also have to explain to the Space Police why they have the cube on their person." Zaria picks up one of the engineers and prepares to see them brought to someone with medical expertise. "Stay. Put. Both of you. No moving around the car, at all."

Zaria took a deep breath. Was cutting this child's arm off really the appropriate measure? She meditated on the issue for a moment. Bloodshed would not fix this... but a wrong had to be made right. A lesson had to be taught. Zaria was the group leader, and insubordination would bring them to ruin. "If either of you have the cube, an investigation by the Space Police will reveal it on your person. The three of us were here and present when it was found on the Blackguard agent's corpse, and due to the properties of the cube it will be found. I am going to take the engineers to the staff of the train. You two are going to remain here and watch each other. Then, the three of us will comply to a search from the Space Police, specifically for the cube. Do I make myself clear?" Zaria sighed. She looked disapprovingly at Soren, and more so at Yelana. "Unless one of you wishes to provide it now."

"I find that very hard to believe that your suit is nano-whatever." Zaria replies. "You are either going to find a way to remove that gauntlet now, or I will provide the solution." Zaria removes her khopesh from her back, but does not unsheathe it to emphasis her point.

Zaria closed her eyes, a welling sense of anger growing within her, boiling, roiling over like water in a heated pot. All she could see was red. The red gauntlet and the red of blood. Clenching her hand into a fist, she opened her eyes, approached Yelana and threw a haymaker at her. Rage flared in her eyes. "You... absolute utter imbecile! <You weaselly little liar! You snake in the grass!> I told you, explicitly, to not take that gauntlet from the briefcase. I told you that doing so would endanger our mission, and you disobeyed me! When this mission started you elected me as group leader. What do you take me as? Some patsy you pawn off to the authorities if your plan fell through? You speak of classified information but not who told you it. You claim to know so much but you say so little." The urge to draw her khopesh rushed through her body. Zaria reached out her hand. "No more second chances. Give me the gauntlet. Now."

OOC: Is this damage visible to everyone present?

"That I can do. We will be back with the engineers shortly." Zaria replies. She motions for Yelana to follow her as she makes her way back to engineering.