Brun: Word has reached you of a major tournament hosted by Baron Gehenmis of Callisto. Although the field will not be large, the prize is generous, and the lack of famed opponents stands you in good stead. The tournament will provide you with the opportunity to showcase your abilities and the gain the money to maintenance your armor which is, despite your considerable skills, in desperate need of retrofit.

---

Meara: Your Mother has thrust the mantle of your position on you more quickly than you would like, insisting that you attend and compete in a tournament on Callisto hosted by one of the Petty Titans, a Baron Gehenmis. She insists this is the perfect opportunity to showcase your abilities and secure allies both to your house and to the Realm's cause. To that end, she is sending you to Callisto along with a full retinue and great expectations.

---

Gwydion: "Gwydion, my boy, you're becoming an impressive knight," the King says, not without a hint of pride, as you climb out of the cockpit of your Armour after a particularly grueling training exercise. Once you're on the ground he tosses his arm around your shoulder as he would a close friend. There are some who say such a casual gesture is unkingly, but John Arthur has never relied on pomp and ceremony, rather his rule is based on understanding and equality, and those who follow him do so by choice alone. To most he is simply the King, but to you, he's also Uncle John, the closest thing to a father you've known since you were a small boy. "I'm proud of you my boy." He ruffles your hair like he used to do when you were little. A pair of female technicians giggle at the gesture. Arthur inclines his head at them as you two pass by, "Ladies."

Once the two of you have advanced down the corridor he continued, "As I said, you're becoming an impressive Knight, and Knights serve the Realm. I'm going to need you to do just that, Gwydion. Baron Gehenmis of Callisto, one of the major lords near Jupiter is hosting a tournament and has sent an invitation to Avaluna. As you know, securing the allegiances of Saturn and Jupiter are paramount to the security of the Realm.  Baron Gehenmis could prove to be a staunch ally if we could sway him to our cause. The tournament could prove the perfect opportunity to approach him. However...if I were to attend the tournament many of the other lords of Jupiter would see it as taking Baron Gehenmis's side in their petty squabbles. We would lose just as much support as we would stand to gain. Yet, if I don't attend Baron Gehenmis would see that as a slight, and we'd have lost a valuable ally. So it seems that I cannot do anything. Except to send you in my place. You will represent Avaluna, Gwydion. Baron Gehenmis will honored by the presence of Avaluna Court and the other petty lords can reason what they will about your presence instead of my own." The King shrugs, "Politics, what are you going to do?" He looks at his nephew, "I know you will make us all proud, nephew."

OOC: I'll leave you all the decide how you arrive at the Baron's Space station.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:59, Mon 10 July 2023.

Brun completed his latest disgnostic and listened quietly as the computer's voice triaged the latest list of maintenance issues, "Myoelectric Motivation Coil - Fifty percent efficiency and degrading...  Neocore pulse conduits - Thirty-five percent efficiency.  Reccomend replacement...  Replacement.... Replacement...  Rec...rec....rec..."

With a sigh, Brun leaned over to jostle the diagnostic console's wiring bundles till he found the loose connection.  "Ah, my lady...  I am ashamed.  I have brought no wealth to your estate.  In keeping me, your own coffers are drained.  I try to be careful with our finances, but I am a just a man.  As mother always said, I have no head for numbers and should marry rich..."

"Reccomend replacement."

Rolling his eyes, the poor knight muted the voice, "I fear if you could you would replace me, my love.  And you would be right to do so."  His eye strayed to the dataslate annoucing the tournament.  It was a risk, of course, to attempt it in less than perfect condition.  But that had never happened.  Like as not, it never would.  Needs must.  Needs always must.  "You win, my lady.  We will enter into this tournament and if we should win, the prize will allow us to, for a while, live the life we promised each other.  But..."  He placed his hands out carefully on the console and laid his head down gently, "Promise me you'll be careful.  I couldn't bear to lose you..."

---

Euryleia carried Brun and what few possessions he had across the vastness of space to Callisto.  Not the quickest way to travel.  Not the way a knight is meant to travel.  By fast squadron of ships; in elegance and glory.  But, Brun and Euryleia had grown used to travelling in this manner.  And quite used to ignoring any "looks" along the way.

Arriving at the field,  he was directed to his designated space amongst the other knights.  Even for a small tournament, the greater wealth of the others was evident with their portable garage structures and mobile domiciles.  Not to mention the crews of squires and workmen.

Once again, he and his lady would be left to take care of things themselves.  Though perhaps, if he was lucky, he could hire a few spare hands to assist....
This message was last edited by the player at 17:08, Thu 05 June 2014.

Gwydion's shuttle had arrived some time before Brun's, complete with the very same escort fighters that would have given the nearly-junked Armour the looks as though they'd seen someone just crawl out of the sewer. His mobile garage was modest, but had everything necessary for a traveling swordsman, including a crew of mechanics seeing to the machine's care and maintenance. One of Gwydion's crew informed him of an Edge Knight arriving, though didn't use such a kind term. It struck him as odd for a moment, before he rationalized to the crewmember that an open invitation would attract many looking for a way to prove themselves, or at least pay for a meant of survival.

Even so, the thought sat at the back of his mind until Brun and his Armour were given their designated place amidst the others. It took a few moments before recognition struck, and Gwydion began his way over with a wide smile.

"Brun! Welcome to Callisto, my friend!" He was likely the first to say so, and likely the last. The gesture was met with odd looks from those within earshot. The tournament itself hadn't even begun, and already Gwydion's attitudes were embarrassing Avaluna among the social elite.

[Perfectly willing to accept a compel related to my Transparent Principles aspect, if there's some way this can go horribly wrong.]

"How've you been? And your Armour, how is she?"

Brun stiffened a little at the call.  Too many pointless fights had started by another knight feigning friendliness....  But as he looked up from his workbench, he realized who it was.  The tension leaves quickly, feeling little to fear from /this/ knight.  "Gwydion, this is a happy meeting.  I have been...well.  And my lady..."  He casts an adoring look up to his ill-made, mismatched Armor, "Still as wondrous to me as the day her reaction generators first warmed up."  Looking back to Gwydion, "She should be quite the surprise to a few of the knights on this field.  And you?  Fairing well?  I am surprised the garrison of Avaluna could spare you for such a small event..."

"My Lady, you do not need to wear a filter mask.  The air is clean and of a proper mix."

"But it smells funny."

"A proper lady does not say 'it smells funny.'"

"But it doooooooooes."

Having docked, with the remaining retinue taking care of the Armour and equipment brought along to supply, maintain, and repair it, the young pilot and her much more proper, and perpetually exasperated, handmaiden were walking down the corridors to look at the Armours of the competition.  The handmaiden was doing an exceptionally good job of preventing further embarrassment for the household reputation by appearing noble, dutiful, and very, very restrained from making the facepalm she quite clearly wished to make whenever her young charge opened her mouth or did just about anything.

"Be that as it may, it is something you will need to get used to.  The air will not always smell like the flowers you so lovingly tend back home.  And on the ship.  And in the Armour.  Which your mother has requested time and time again that you stop doing."

Taking off her mouth and nose mask so she could make a proper pout, Meara spun around and puffed out her left cheek in mock anger to her caretaker and piloting instructor.  "It makes her prettier and I like lilacs!"  Before any further protest could be made, the young woman suddenly ran off excitedly as she saw someone she recognized as very high nobility talking to someone else, causing her to be instantly distracted.  While she was a very talented pilot and could make Brunhildr dance on a pin, she was not the most... focused of individuals.  One could quite easily describe her as childish, although the more polite term would be naive.  Being nobility, that was what she was consistently called, both behind her back and to her face.

"I never thought I would see someone like you here!" she said quite excitedly to Gwydion, acting as if they were both old friends and several years younger instead of a pair of very high class nobles with family reputations to uphold.  "Who's your-?" she immediately asked before either of them could reply, then was quickly distracted by the Armor clearly once based on a Venusian model.  Her face went from extremely happy to one of pity as she gazed upon it, feeling very, very sorry for the Armour.  Not that it was a Venusian frame being potentially piloted by a man - she'd never really cared about that sort of thing - but because it was clearly very battered, bruised, and maintained on a minimal budget, however lovingly it was maintained and kept operational.

Baron Gehenmis's household staff rush to great new arrivals on behalf of the Baron. They fawn over each guest, thanking them for attending, and complementing this or that. A man dressed in fine livery takes one look at Brun and Euryleia, scrunches his nose, and the Edge knight and his Armour are ignored entirely.

Gwydion's arrival causes quite the uproar. The party from Avaluna is surrounding by the Baron's retainers and hangerons led by his majordomo Derrol. He does his absolute best to ingratiate himself with Gwydion, “What a blessing that you should attend such a humble affair my Lord. The Baron will be so honored by your presence. Do you intend to enter the tournament my Lord? Surely, no one can hope to best the likes of you my Lord. Alas, the others shall be competing for the honor of second best.” It is quite a while before the Baron's greeting party departs, but there is no sign of the Baron himself.

”Lady Meara, how nice it--” The greeting party is just approaching the Duchess-to-be and her handmaiden when the young knight bolts off,  leaving her poor handmaiden to make apologies.

The majordomo watches the young heiress run off and suddenly becomes very interested in the Edge knight whom acts as though equal to the King's own nephew and the heiress to a major Venusian Duchy. He snaps his fingers twice and whispers something to an aid.

Smiling wide while trying to maintain some degree of decorum, Gwydion greeted the Baron's people kindly.

"It's a pleasure to be here, among such fine company. I've every intention of participating in this tournament as representative of Avaluna, for glory, goodwill, and good old fashioned fun. I'm sure there are others with more training and proper experience than I, and it will be my honor and privilege to test myself against their skill. Please send your lord my finest regards and thanks for orchestrating this gathering. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to meet a few of the competitors before things get started." With that, he headed off to go speak with a friend he'd just recognized.

"Brun! Welcome to Callisto, my friend!"

...

---

Gwydion grew a little more serious as his presence was questioned. His voice lowered to keep the tension in it from spreading too far out. This was supposed to be a pleasant affair, after all.

"Doing fine as ever, but a gathering like this is a political opportunity like few others. I'm here to gather support for the cause. The Emergent are still strengthening their forces, and with humanity divided as it is, there's little resistance we could truly put up. Sending me to this tournament is my uncle's way of trying to reach out to the others. You might consider returning with me when the event comes to an end, Brun. There's a place for all of humanity with us, you kn--"



His invite was interrupted by the approach of an excited and energetic young knight, and Gwydion's face brightened up again.

"Meara! The surprises just keep getting better today. This is--" Another interruption, this one the silence as Meara took notice of Brun's Armour. He followed her eyes to it, and cleared his throat, bringing his tones to something a bit more official and polite.

"Lady Meara, I'd like you to meet my friend, Brun. He lives on the Edge, and is a skilled pilot. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite have consistent access to proper facilities to maintain his partner. Though I was just about to offer the use of my mechanics to him, it may be more fitting of our respective stations were you to make the offer. I may be his friend, but the Armour is of Venusian make. All this, of course, dependent on whether Brun would like our help in the first place. What say you, Brun? Care for some extra hands?"

[Fully prepared to make a Household Create an Advantage roll to lend some mechanics to Brun, if he wants 'em. Or I could leave it to Meara, for both narrative's sake and the fact her Household is higher. :P]

GM edit: Fixed some messed up color tags.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:01, Tue 17 June 2014.

Brun nodded thoughtfully to Gwydion's notion of returning to Avaluna with him.  It was the reason he has returned from the Edge after all.  He might have offered a response, but that notion was quickly cut off by the arrival of Meara.  The excited and ubbly arrival of Meara.  The sight of a known face starts to bring another smile to his face, but...he quickly realizes that she doesn't recognize him...  Have I changed so much?  How must I look?   Brun suddenly felt very concious of his scruffiness.  The tattered state of his flightsuit.  His hair no doubt in desperate need of a trim.  How long ago did he last shave?  By the heavens...

Lost in his self-pitying thoughts, he missed much of the rest of the interaction.  Even the arrival of the Baron's majordomo and entourage.  Just as well, they didn't really notice him either.  The poor knight did manage to catch up when Gwydion offered extra help with the constant work of repair...  Brun then noticed the /looks/ that people were giving his lady.  His back straightened and the self-pity fell away, "I thank you for the offer, sir.  ..."  A quick glance to Meara, with a much more deferential bow of the head to the Venusian lady, "And to you as well, Dame Meara.  I am....loathe...to not accept your offer, but I and my lady Euryleia are quite fine.  Looks...can be decieving..."  The last is offered with a quick, almost pleading look to Gwydion.  Don't put me in debt...  Don't make me look weak...  Not now....
This message was last edited by the player at 04:35, Tue 17 June 2014.

Freyr has had many challenges to overcome in the past, almost all of them relating to properly raising Meara.  It was a new thing, however, for her to suddenly have to deal with her charge running off before the Baron's staff can even greet them.  Seeing as how the Baron himself was not present, likely due to being busy with other tasks to ensure the tournament ran properly and nobody saw any mistakes (because they either did not happen or they were properly covered up because "EVERYTHING IS FINE NOTHING IS WRONG HA HA HA HA THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO EXPLODE" was a very important skill for the aristocracy), she felt a bit more confident that majordomo would be more than familiar with the eccentricities of a noble youth and gave him an awkward, knowing smile as she made her apologies.

When she saw where everyone was looking, however, her face changed considerably.  She recognized parts of that Armour.  The crests were worn and nearly beyond recognition, and the machine was a patchwork of parts, but she could still make a rather educated guess of whose Armours were at the core of that craft's creation.  When she looked down at the pilot, she nearly had to put a hand to her mouth to prevent herself from gasping.

But she could not tell Meara who it was just yet.  Not before the tournament.  Meara had a difficult enough time focusing as it was, and that would be an unneeded distraction.  Still, the two of them were rather close, so she resolved to let Meara know her suspicions after the champion of the tournament was chosen.

In the meantime, she approached the trio and stood beside Meara, shaking her head.  "Edge Knights may not be known for courtly manners or chivalry, but they are not neglectful of their Armours.  Despite her appearance, she is well taken care of, My Lady," she explained for her charge, "Also, while it is always good to meet and mingle with the other participants, you should wait to be greeted before you run off like that.  Please?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:32, Tue 17 June 2014.

Between Gwydion, Brun, and Freyr, Meara managed to be convinced that Euryleia was properly cared for and not to be pitied for her condition.  She took a step back and looked down to her feet awkwardly as she replied, "Oh.  That makes sense.  I feel silly now."  It was then that the rest of Freyr's words sunk into her head and she realized who she had completely ditched upon entering.  With a slightly worried expression, she glanced around and asked, mostly to herself, "Mother's going to scold me when I get home again, isn't she?"

The fact that she was standing next to two rather handsome (each in their own way) men about her age, however, quickly got her out of her melancholy and she started to look towards Brun.  Before she could make eye contact, however, she felt a sharp pain on her head caused by Freyr chopping the top of her head with a hand while otherwise appearing as if nothing was happening at all and that she did not just strike high nobility.  Rubbing the top of her head, Meara gave Freyr a little pout as she said, "Okay, fine."

It seemed the two of them had an understanding about these things.

The hustle and bustle around the new arrivals continues as Knights and their entourages get their pavilions set up and make preparations for the tournament which will begin the following day.

Tonight, the Knights are informed, the Baron has prepared a grand reception to receive his guests. A banquet to make merry before tomorrow's contest. There is also to be a dance on the second night of the tournament. The final match between the two finalists will be fought on the third day of the tournament.

---

The banquet is extravagant, comprising seven courses in total. Fine wines are available on demand for all guests to enjoy. It is easy to see that the Baron has spared no expense. Guests are arranged around huge tables with the most honored guests seated at the table with the Baron and his family. Among these are Gwydion and Meara, who are both seated next to their hosts. Gwydion next to the Baron's oldest daughter Iliza and Meara next to his youngest Irina.

Iliza, does her very best to play the proper hostess. She's engaging and very curious about life at Avaluna court, “What are the grounds like, Sir Gwydion? Is it as wonderful as I have heard? It must be wonderful compared the this space station.”

Irina is much more subdued than her sister. Though the two are not far apart in age, they seem worlds apart apart in demeanor. Irina is quiet and shy, and not much of a conversationalist, and Meara spots a datapad with the heading “Advanced Fusion Reactor Dynamics” in her lap. Unfortunately for Irina, her mother spots it as well and snaps it up, giving her daughter a reproachful look. It is a look Meara has seen all too often.

Brun is seated farther away from the others, but in a place much higher than is normally dictated by his status. Apparently several other Knights have taken offense to his seating arrangement because they make several snide remarks about him and guffaw, but each is to cowardly to address him directly. He catches Derrol, the Baron's majordomo, watching him closely almost the entire time.
OOC: If there's anything you guys want to get done before the Banquet go ahead and do that. I just went ahead and posted up so that we wouldn't bog down again. Otherwise have fun.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:27, Wed 18 June 2014.

Unsure of whether it was the right decision, Gwydion still gave his friend a smile and accepted his choice.

"I meant no offence, my friend. I simply felt you might like an extra pair of hands for a while. She certainly is a fine machine, and I say that having seen her in action. I'll be honored to see how she fares against my Longsword. Assuming I last so long, of course."

---

As delicious as the feast itself was, Gwydion was enjoying the conversation just as much. Less for the topic, more for the attention. He'd quickly become rather comfortable with Iliza as she seemed so interested in him. Er, in his home.

"Avaluna? The land is green and lush, a true testament to the determination of life to flourish in the wake of such evil as the dread Emergent. We live and prosper together, happy to know humanity is spread indomitably across these worlds. I'm sure you'd find it as breathtaking as I find the very existence of such a marvel as this station. The command over nature herself that allows us to be dining in the cold void of space is truly magnificent. I see it as a symbol that mankind is the true unstoppable force." Ye olde ham. Of course, the young knight had been told to make connections with the Baron.

[Not really intending to do much with that mechanically, but it seemed like the perfect setup. I /could/ turn it into an Intrigue roll. A skill which I have at a whopping +0. :P]

Brun nods his quiet thanks to Freyr for her diplomacy.  Another for Gwydion recognizing his wish, "Of course.  My lady and I would be honored to cross blades in fair competition, sir."

---

A banquet.  Of course, Brun knew that he would have to face such social niceties again.  It went hand in hand with tournaments.  It was his Lady's job to win the day with blades and glorious battle.  It was his to win the more dangerous and subtle fighting of the evenings.  A banquet was never just a banquet.  If he wanted to earn respect for himself and his Lady, to see them through this tournament fairly...  He would have to polish off a set of skills he had had no use for in a long time.  Luckily, he had been trained very well.  Once a prince of Venus.  Always a prince.

In his baggage, he had maintained a selection of outfits for such occaisions.  He had updated them as need and opportunity provided.  For the banquet, he went with something as close to the current fashion as he could manage.  Understated.  He would save the best for the dance.  Of the two events it would carry more weight, but this banquet was the opportunity for first impressions.  Such impressions could make or break someone.

At the banquet, Brun carried himself with all the bearing he had been trained to demonstrate.  The remarks and guffaws were ignored with an air of complete disinterest.  The jabs found no target here.  To those seated nearby, he would engage in the polite banter of the table; wit and charm.  For the watchful majordomo, Derrol, Brun finds an opportune moment to offer a salute with his glass.  We're all friends here.

Create Advantage: Roll total - 0, Spend two fate points and tag "Renounced Prince" and "I Will Survive".  Total 4.  Create "Sharp Dressed Man"

I need to figure out some ways to generate some more FPs.  But this still felt like an appropriate spend.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:24, Tue 24 June 2014.

[On second thought, I think I will make a roll. Attempting Create an Advantage with Intrigue.

11:11, Today: Gwydion rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, 1, 0. Intrigue +0.

Woo, +1! Bossman, if I'm trying to impress the Lady Iliza with word of Avaluna, and flatter her with kind words about her father's own station, and generally be charming and such, what would the difficulty to that be? It doesn't seem she's much resisting, so I'm expecting a +1, but there may be factors involved I haven't thought of. I'm willing to succeed at a cost, and I'd expect that to be the baron pulling me into his own ambitions with this opportunity.]

Feeling sympathy for the poor woman who only wanted to read her dataslate on... something that went terribly over Meara's head, the Venusian noble gave Irina's hand a gentle squeeze while also giving her a reassuring smile before she looked over at Irina's mother and said, "Mother always told me that there is no such thing as too much knowledge, as such dutiful studying could only lead to good things.  While I may not be the best student, surely she could teach me a few things if she was allowed to continue her reading?"  Not even Meara knew where those words came from, but she felt, somehow, that it would help Irina get her reading material back, and perhaps also get her a new friend in the process.

Besides, she knew what it felt like to get that look.  Usually while doing cartwheels in the main hall, but still.

Also, seeing Freyr's shocked expression was pretty fun!

03:43, Today: Meara rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, 0, 0. Intrigue +0: "Politely" get the dataslate back.
How.  How did I do this.  Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow.

Iliza seems to hang on Gwydion's every word. "Sir Gwydion, you have a poet's heart. I hope that I might be able to see Avaluna one day. You're too kind about our fair station. While I love it, it's my home, but I'm not ignorant of the fact that it's only one tiny part of the world out there." She leans in conspiratorially close to Gwydion. "What do you call someone standing at the center of the universe? Jovian." She giggles at the small impropriety.

Lady Gehenmis looks at Meara, clearly conflicted between embarrassment and relief that her daughter's predilections might, for once, prove an advantage. "Of Course, Princess. Irina would be delighted to be of any help." Irina herself doesn't say anything but she gives Meara a big smile and her eyes express the thanks that she doesn't voice.

Brun makes quite the impression at his own table. His poise and aplomb seems to annoy the knights who don't enjoy his presence, but it does make him several other friends including Sir Jayson Dennic. Ser Dennic, a Jovian Knight in service to House Ballard, offers a toast to new friends and good fortune for the tournament. Brun catches several of the serving girls giving him significant looks and one even shoots him a wink.

Moments later, the noise of conversation suddenly drops to silence as everyone turns to watch a disagreement between two men. One is seated and, judging by his clothing, is a nobleman. The other, a knight by his attire, and of the Host's own Household , leans over him, his face flush.

“Or what?” smirks the noble. “Are you prepared to meet me in the field to settle this?” The knight seems about to reply, but pauses before  responding. “I will end this,” he seethes as his hand moves toward his sidearm, but suddenly Derrol and several guards intervene and take the knight from the hall.

“I apologize, your Lordship,” the nobleman says, rising and bowing toward the head table, “for the interruption. A dispute between old friends over a matter of honor. Consider it settled.”

The nobleman retakes his seat and festivities return to normal.

OOC:
Aspects in Play: Sharp-Dressed Man (Brun) two free invokes. Iliza's Favor (Gwydion) one free invoke
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:28, Sun 29 June 2014.

Brun returns Ser Dennic's toast good-naturedly, rather enjoying being in the midst of a social event again.  Its more comfortable and familiar than he thought it would be.  Of course, not everything about it is so comfortable.  He does his best to ignore the looks of the rather forward serving staff; its embarassing....

He was just about to engage Dennic, and a few others nearby, to see what he could learn about the other knights who would be taking the field, but the raised voices attract greater attention.  A tense moment.  Under the table, his own hand shifted towards his sidearm.  Sudden duels were a common threat amongst Edge pirates and one learned to be ready.

But, as things were calmed back down, Brun decided it did provide an opportunity.  To Dennic, "I don't think I recognize those gentlemen....  What could cause such?"  From there it should be easy to steer a conversation towards the greater information he seeks.

Rolled a -2.  Intrigue +2.  Balance of 0.  Free Invoke - Sharp Dressed Man +2.  +2 Final Total to Create Advantage - Know your Opponents!

Sir Dennic shrugs at Brun's question, "I am not entirely sure. The nobleman  is James Hyle, a nephew of Lord Tomas Hyle, the chiefest rival to House Gehenmis. His presence at the tourney is quite a surpise, I hear. The knight was Sir Alvin Kent, a knight in service to our host. I've fought beside him against the Emergent. Good man. It's no secret that there isn't any love lost between House Hyle and House Gehemis, but what could cause a man like Sir Alvin to nearly draw on an unarmed man who is the guest of his Lord? That I couldn't say. "

Sir Dennic finishes his drink and calls for another "Let's turn our attention to merrier topics, eh? How about we talk about how I'm going to spend the tourney prize once I win it? Oh, I'm not saying it'll be easy, mind you, why just looking at the guests here tells you that." He nods to the table behind you. "Over there is the one they call Liamont. He's a Martian, and one hell of a brawler, so I hear. Those two back there? Zimon Bell and Kevan Grouz, they aren't fancy as some of the others, but both men are proven knights. And see that woman there?" He points to a group of Saturinans sitting at the far end of the head table. "Her names Litivia Scipii. She's a senator's bodyguard. They say she's got reflexes like a cat. Uses that speed to her advantage." Next he indicates the center of the head table where the Baron's family sits, "The boy that looks so friendly with the Baron's daughter. He's John Arthur's nephew. I'm serious! They say he's a  good swordsman himself. But, the redhead on the otherside--the bored looking one playing with her wineglass. She's a Duchess from Venus or something, but they say she fights like Valerie LaGuin herself. It can't be true though. Look at her. I don't think I've ever seen someone look at a cocktail fork in fear before." Sir Dennic has a good chuckle before he finally turns back to Brun, "And what about you my friend? What's your story?"

At the headtable the Baron turns toward Gwydion and Iliza as they laugh at her joke, "What, might I ask, is so funny, my dear," he asks in a good-natured tone. Iliza just shakes her head lighty, "Oh nothing, Father." The Baron lets the subject drop with a small smile as he takes measure of the pair. "I thank you, Prince Gwydion for traveling such a long way for our humble tournament. It does us a great honor that Avaluna Court should send it's finest young knight. I regret that I could not meet you in person when you arrived. I do hope Derrol was adequate in my stead."

Meanwhile, Irina begins furiously entering data in her pad, pausing briefly here and there before continuing. She looks up once to give Meara a big smile, but returns to her work wordlessly. Freyr gives Meara a look that says she should try to engage her hostess more despite the distraction. Lady Gehenmis and the Handmaiden exchange a look of complete sympathy and understanding.

OOC: Brun, That gives you a success on Know Your Opponents! You'll get one free invoke on it and after that it'll cost a fate point per invoke. That'll last all the way through the tournament. Also, how about a compel on your high concept to tell Sir Dennic your story. You tell him and you get a Fate point. You can choose not to tell him, but it'll cost you a Fate point of your own.

Scene Aspects in Play:
Sharp-Dressed Man (1 free invoke left)
Know Your Opponents (1 free invoke left)
Iliza's Favor (1 free invoke left)
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:26, Sun 07 Sept 2014.

Brun listened carefully to Dennic's assessment of the near-duel and it's participants.  Sadly, that taste of information simply begged for more, but it could wait.  The naming of the tournament knights carried a more pressing weight.  He focused his attention, committing as much to memory as he could.  His lady carried a wealth of information in her datagrams, with these names and details he could look up quite a bit of potentially useful data.  The pirates had taught him this; know your targets before you ever face them.

Finally though, Dennic offered his personal inquiry for Brun's own story.  Fair trade really, dammit all.  Taking a drink, he gave himself a moment to consider before answering, "My story?  If only there was one...  I had a family name once, but after a loss....  I fell in with a rather bad sort of crowd out on the Edge.  A rather extreme bit of youthful rebelliousness, but there it is.  Cut me off.  Raised myself up from the muck eventually.  Decided to work towards respectability again." Another pause, another sip, "And you?  You never did say what you will do with your prize if...when you win the day?". The last is offered with a joking, knowing smile.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:10, Wed 02 July 2014.

While she did want to get to know Irina better, Meara honestly had no idea what she was doing or what she was reading and writing.  It honestly went completely over her head.

But that had never stopped her before!

"So, whatcha doooooin'?" she asked, leaning over a bit to try and get a better look at the (to her) completely incomprehensible contents of the dataslate and being about as subtle as an artillery barrage in her attempt to engage Irina on conversation.  Truly, a diplomat for the ages.

At the Baron's welcome, Gwydion turned his full attention to the man, all restrained excitement and unrestrained pride.

"No apologies needed, Lord Gehenmis, I understand you're a busy man with much to attend to. After all, here we are now, so all is well. I'm honored and proud to have the opportunity to participate in such an event, representing Avaluna. I've trained with my Armour for many years, and I only hope my skills serve as much of a challenge as I'll receive. If it isn't too much trouble, I'd like a moment of your time after the tournament to discuss some matters. It is nothing that cannot wait, of course."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:16, Sat 05 July 2014.

Sir Dennic grins, “What will I do with money? I suspect the Missus will have something to say about that.  He chuckles, falls silent for a moment, shrugs, and raises his drink again in a new toast, “To you, Brun. Respectability, there and back again.”

Irina looks up from her work, studies Meara for a moment, then turns the datapad toward her. It takes Meara a moment to realize what she's looking at, but soon it becomes apparent. It's a mockup of her own armour, Brunhildr. ”I studied the station's sensor readings from when you arrived. More specifically, the energy output of your Armour. You've got a lovely Armour, but frankly the dynamics of the...” The girl continues speaking but after that she might as well be honking  like a Venusian goose for all Meara understands. Irina continues on for a while longer before Meara picks back up on what she's saying, “...but the good news is that with just a little tweaking we can have the reactor working at least 15% more efficiently before the start of the tournament tomorrow. What do you think?”

“Yes,” the Baron smiles, “Of course, Sir Gwydion. A treaty from your Uncle, no doubt. I expect we will have much to discuss after the tournament's close. But before then, I have no doubt you will acquit yourself with honor on the tournament field.”

OOC: Gwydion, how would you like a Fate point? I'm compelling  your Transparent Principles aspect. The Baron knows exactly why you're here and he's taking your measure. Taking the Fate point is going to cause an aspect to be put on the scene, but I'm not telling you what it is yet. >:). Otherwise pony up ye olde fate point. Your choice.

Brun lifts his glass in salute as well to Sir Dennic's friendly toast. Then when an appropriate pause for a sip is through, Brun lifts his glass to return a toast.  Having gained the attention of his target and, hopefully, a few others nearby who might be coming round to friendliness, "And to you, Sir Dennic....

Here’s to you, as good as you are,
And here’s to me, as bad as I am;
But as good as you are, and as bad as I am,
I am as good as you are, as bad as I am."

Brun finishes it with a respectful bow of the head and an oh-so-clever, friendly grin.  It was a risk, of course, such a joke.  But, Dennic seemed a good natured sort who appreciated such things.  And what's life without a little risk....

All the technical details fly so far over Meara's head she may as well be at the bottom of a mine shaft.  However, she can tell Irina's enthusiastic about it, and that enthusiasm is what she focuses on to hold her interest and try to decipher what is being said.  It takes a few long, awkward seconds for Meara to reply to Irina's offer, but when she finally understands the general purpose of what is being said and offered, she sits upright with a happy smile.

"I think that would be wonderful!  I am a little ashamed to admit that while I am very skilled at piloting Brunhildr, I am not very well versed in her more technical aspects.  Perhaps watching you work will help me understand her better."

[Kaching! Fate Point cashed, consider me Compelled. :P]

"I'm glad to hear it, Lord, and I'll do the best I can to give a proper display of the might Avaluna has to offer."

With a smile and as much of a bow as he can offer while seated, Gwydion accepts the Baron's understanding and turns to Iliza, taking his wine glass in hand again.

"I think we're in for the most fun three days we've seen in a long time."

Sir Dennic laughs loud and long at Brun's toast, as does the rest of the table. Even the knights who had earlier made disparaging comments about Brun find themselves laughing at the witty toast despite themselves. It seems that House Kotta has missed out on a fine diplomat.

”Let's go right now,” Irina says enthusiastically and begins to stand before getting a surprised look on her face and dropping back into her seat. She turns toward her mother and asks, “Might we be excused?” Lady Gehenmis nods, knowing that if she doesn't allow it Irina would spent the rest of the dinner squirming in her seat like an impatient child.

Iliza smiles at Sir Gwydion, a light flush on her cheeks, “Yes, I'm certain you are right.”

OOC: Have a fate point all! Great job all three of you. Haters gonna hate, but Brun is so smooth they can't, Gwydion is making wonderful headway with his mission, and Meara has met a friend that is going to pimp her armor. Meara, I've decided that I'd treat your earlier overcome action as a create advantage instead so you now have the Hyper-efficient Reactor aspect with a free invoke for the duration of the tournament if you let Irina work on your armor.

To recap all the Aspects in play here:
Brun: Sharp-dressed Man, Know your Opponents (1 free invoke each)
Gwydion: Iliza's Favor (1 free invoke)
Meara: Hyper-efficient Reactor (1 free invoke)

Anything else you guys want to accomplish in this scene?

Meara and Irina excuse themselves and work to improve Brunhildr's reactor output. Fortunately, Irina works quickly and it doesn't take long to make the necessary adjustments.

The rest of the banquet is fairly uneventful, though the remaining courses are as delicious as the initial ones. The hosts retire and eventually so do most of the guests, though a few are bold enough to drink late into the night despite the early start of the tournament in the morning.

---

The next morning is the Presentation Ceremony. The Assembly Hall is packed full of enthusiastic spectators despite the hour. Indeed many of them camped out overnight to ensure a prime spot from which to watch the tournament. The entire hall (and indeed the entire station as you noticed on your walk here) is full of huge viewing screens. The Armour duels will be fought in space and broadcast back to the viewing screens back on the station. Baron Gehenmis and his family sit on a dais at the front of the room.

Each knight is announced in turn and enters the hall to great fanfare while their personal heraldry is displayed on the view screens.

Gwydion is announced first and enters the Hall to thunderous applause and cheers. Many are eager and excited to see if the young Prince from Avaluna will live up to expectations. He is, after all, the heir to the man who would be King of all Humanity. From her spot on the dais Iliza waves to Gwydion, a fact that the crowd does not miss. Someone shouts from the crowd, “A Tourney and a Wedding? Huzzah!” and more cheers go up at that. Iliza turns bright pink.

Meara is announced next and the cheers for her are just as enthusiastic as those for Gwydion. Once they die away murmuring can be heard from all over the crowd as they discuss the Venusian Princess. ”Are you sure that's her?” “Yes, I'm sure. I heard from my cousin's ex-roommate's courier friend that he saw that very Armour destroy at least ten Emergent in a firefight over Venus.” “Rubbish” ”It's true!”

Both Zimon Bell, the Resounding Knight, and Kevan Grouz, called the Shrike, get loud welcomes as local favorites both in service to Houses allied with House Gehenmis.

Brun is the very last knight to enter and the response is every bit as enthusiastic as it was at the beginning of the ceremony. There are loud cheers and spectators waving patchwork flags all over the hall. There are more than a few wolf whistles and cat calls from the female members of the audience. Brun seems to have acquired himself quite a fan club since arriving on the station.

As the cheers fade, Baron Gehenmis rises to his feet and raises a hand. Soon all the muttering in the hall dies away, and he begins to speak, “Brave Knights, I thank you all for coming here to Callisto Station. Before me stand some of the most formidable warriors that humanity has to offer. You have come from all across the solar system, from each of Humanity's far flung homes. You are Humanity's protectors and it's shield against the Enemy that threatens us with Annihilation. This tournament is in honor of you. It is a showcase of your formidable skills for your honor and glory, and, of course, a prize for those of you who distinguish yourself from you fellows. I wish you all luck. Let the Tournament begin! The crowd gives a great cheer.

On the view screens around the room each knight's heraldry is shown then shuffled around before finally being grouped into pairs and sets showing which knights will face which in the first round.

For the first match, Gwydion is to face Sir Padrig Sturm.

The fourth match features Meara vs. Sir Ein Illodo

The fifth match will see Brun face Sir Zimon Bell

OOC:
Thus begins the tournament. I'm going to give each of you a combat thread for your match. The other two knights should feel free to post in that thread as well with their reactions as they watch on the viewing screen if they want to do so.

On a side note I gave myself a terrible fit of the giggles while I wrote the above. I couldn't stop thinking of Brun walking into the assembly hall to the theme of ZZ Top's Sharp-dressed man. It was hilarious to me for some reason. Now my sides hurt. Brun, have a  fate point for causing your GM pain.

It is a long day of competition and by the end of it, the Tournament's competitors are reduced by half.

The tournament begins with Sir Gwydion, the gallant young knight from Avaluna, soundly defeating his opponent Sir Padrig Sturm. But that is far from the quickest bout of the day. Sir L1-4MNT defeats his opponent, Sir Falco Prys, in only two blows, a truly impressive showing. Bets are quickly placed favoring Sir L1-4MNT to win the tournament.

Sir Kevan Grouz advances to the next round after a hard-fought victory over Sir Odo Webb. Dame Litivia Scipii handily defeats Sir Tyris Tine. It is clearly from the footage of the match that she far outpaced the younger knight in skill, but she delighted in toying with him before eventually claiming victory.

The young Venusian Princess Meara bests Sir Ein Illodo and the mysterious and very handsome Edge Knight Brun scores an upset over Sir Zimon Bell. Sir Jayson Dennic and Sir Tyris Veld both overcome their opponents leaving the total number of combatants at eight.

By the time all the matches have concluded it is early evening. There is a party atmosphere in the air all over the station with people celebrating and reveling in the occasion. Though there are no formal events planned for this evening there are more than a few social gatherings all over the station.

Tomorrow will see the remaining knights face another round of competition. Those that win their first bout will then fight a second. The winner of those matches will face each other on the third day of the tournament to see who is Grand Champion.

OOC:
Do you guys have anything in particular you'd like to do right now? If not, I've got stuff planned, but I wanted to give you the opportunity to do anything you might have thought up on your own.

Based on the bracket randomly chosen at the beginning of the tournament, tomorrow's match-ups are:

Sir Gywdion vs. Sir L1-4MNT
Sir Kevan Grouz vs. Dame Scipii

Dame Meara vs. Sir Brun
Sir Jayson Dennic vs. Sir Tyris Veld

The winner of the initial bout will face the winner of the other bout in their pairing.

Barring any plans other people have made for Gwydion, his plans were to attend some of the night's revelry (naturally, being so public a figure made that a necessity), followed by spending some time studying the recording of Sir L1-4MNT's admittedly short match with Sir Prys. He'd need a plan if he was to battle such a skilled opponent without the element of surprise he had over Sir Sturm.

But first, the party!

[Not really sure what to be doing at any given party, or who'd like to participate, or how long such a scene should last, but I've got three related plans:

1. Totally willing to take a compel on Arthur's Nephew so his own plans get pushed aside as people make him show up here and there and kissing babies and signing autographs and generally being put in a social blender.

2. Hoping to Create an Advantage to either renew Iliza's Favor or make a new aspect.

3. Hoping to Create an Advantage based on reviewing Liamont's fight.

I am preeeeeetty sure I'll only be able to do one of these things, since it really feels like they're mutually exclusive. The compel would eat up all Gwydion's time, Iliza would likely keep him from getting a chance to review the fight, or at least if he does get to study the fight, he'd be distracted anyway.

Whacha think, boss? Plenty of options, and I like 'em all.]

The impromptu party atmosphere has nearly completely taken over the station. Life on a space station isn't always easy and it's clear the residents of Callisto Station are taking full advantage of the tournament to have a little fun.

As you move through the hallways of the station you're greeted by many smiling and often drunken faces. They laugh and cheer and raise their drinks in toast. As you pass through the Arboretum, several of the partiers call out to you, "Sir Gwydion! Sir Brun! Join us, won't you?!" Before you know it drinks are being pressed into your hands and questions are coming at both you rapid fire.

"What's it like on Avaluna? Is it really made of cheese? Is the King really ten feet tall?"

An attractive woman sidles up to Brun, "How'd you get an armor like yours put together from so many spare parts? She runs like a dream. You sure gave Sir Bell a trouncing and he's no slouch." "Are you married," she asks, "Do you want to be?"

OOC:
Gwydion and Brun you both get a fate point if you join in the festivities.

Gwydion grinned as he and his friend were drawn into the celebrations. It /had/ been a pretty amazing day, and these people /were/ the ones whose hearts and minds he needed to influence. Besides, they'd be hurt if he just dropped the drink and walked away, right?

"Cheese? It'd be hard to walk around, wouldn't it? But we can /get/ amazing cheeses from all over the system. King Arthur? He's always seemed ten feet tall to me, but I couldn't say for sure." He only hoped Brun was having as much fun with his questions.

Brun was never really trained for /this/ sort of social event.  Society parties?  Certainly.  A ball?  Of course.  But a pushy, inebriated celebratory mob?  Just never came up in the tutelage.  The drink was accepted with as good a nature as he could muster and he watched Gwydion for cues as to just how to deal with this.  His fellow Knight seemed to take it all in stride.  Brun was envious of the ease of that stride, but he did his best.  Trying to hide his discomfort behind his mug of ale.

Until the...lady...began her questioning.  As it was about Euryleia, he began to happily answer.  Then she continued...on a completely different and much more embarrassing tack.  Instead, his answer came somewhat haltingly, "No...  No..  I mean not married...  No.  Maybe one day, but there are no plans....or anything..."  He took another sip to stop himself from continuing to babble.  Lowering his mug, he offered the only question he could think of, "And you?  Married then?"

A drunken older man slurs, "Well, ten-feet tall or no, if y'r Uncle fights like you do and is 'alf the man you are, then I say we join up. Y'two are the only knights we've seen tonight who were willin' to 'ave a drink with us." Gwydion's answers go over well with the rest of the crowd too and this only invites more questions, some of them are rather pointed, "Is the Baron prepared to ally himself with the King? Is that why you're here? If so how's that to be any different than now? The Baron and his family do right by us. Who's to say a King will, especially one who is worlds away?"

"Nope," the woman answers casually to Brun's question. "That's a shame, but I'll see what I can do to change your plans," she says with a wink. "My name's Rose by the way. So, c'mon tell us about that Armour."

The next round of questions caught Gwydion in the middle of a mouthful of whatever it was they'd handed him. He gave a grunt through his nose while he downed what he'd had and passed off the glass.

"Mm. Yeah, I'm here for a few reasons. Important diplomatic talks are at the top of the list, of course, but I'm also here to have a good time and test myself against the rest of the system's knights. Maybe test them against me, too. But I don't know what the Baron's thoughts are, and don't presume to say. I just know... oh that stuff's good." The young knight shot a glance at his empty glass, grinning a little. Another? Maybe that was enough.

"Ahem. I know Uncle John is a good king, and more importantly a good man. No idea how things will change if the Baron signs on with him, though. That's stuff I've never really been able to see too well. I just know that's the plan, and if you'd met my uncle, you'd trust him as much as I do. He's got a... a way about him, y'know? This great combination of honesty and confidence. He tells me humanity can beat the Emergent if we band together, so here I am, out here banding us together. With enough cooperation, we can make the system safe for our families again. One day, the only people us Knights'll have to fight are criminals and tournament opponents. That's the future I'm here for."

[Gonna roll to create a new advantage: The People's Champion!

16:18, Today: Gwydion rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, 0, 0. Chivalry +3.

Total +3. Assuming that's gonna be good enough for an aspect.]
This message was last edited by the player at 23:18, Thu 07 Aug 2014.

Brun's brows creased a little as he tried to figure out exactly what she might mean by "change his plans."  It had been a very long time since he felt marriage able and even then it wasn't as thought he was ever going to have much of a choice in the matter.  A family duty after all.  Luckily, she also asked about his Lady and that was a much easier topic, "My Lady.  My Euryleia.  She is completely unique.  Forged together from the best parts I have come across.  She is at all times a work in motion and progress.  Ever changing.  Always full of surprises...."

Gwydion's speech goes over very well with the crowd. He can see in their faces that they believe him and what he says. He's actually gathered a small crowd around him. No sooner than he's finished his speech, another full drink is pressed into his hands and someone calls out a toast, "To the Baron and the King!"

Rose ignores the impromptu speech given by Gwydion, keeping her attention focused solely on Brun, "Unique, is it," she asks in a sultry voice, "It's really funny you say that because I recognize the defense matrix energy shield you've got installed on her. I recognize it because I helped install it on my Brother's armour. He was one of the Baron's men, you know. He was killed by bandits last year. How was it that you came across it, exactly?" By now her tone is deadly serious and not at all the flirty tone she used before.

OOC: Gwydion that result gives you a success with on free invoke.

Brun nearly chokes on a sip of...whatever the heck this was he was given.  He stared at her over the rim of his glass for a moment, before lowering it down.  The change in her tone, that icy edge, snapped him out of the confusion of moments before.  Straightening, he did his best to meet her gaze with a level eye contact, "I am sorry for the loss of your, no doubt, valiant brother.  I found the defensive matrix amongst many salvaged parts being traded on a station in the Edge."  He paused a moment before adding, gently, "May I know his name?"

While the others mingle with beautiful women and manly men, Meara quite happily sits at a table near the food and nibbles on the little cheese crackers nobility seems so fond of snacking on.  From her position of stuffing food in her mouth so she doesn't have to talk to anyone, she engages one of her favorite hobbies: people watching.  At the moment, she's mostly watching Gwydion, although Brun's also got her attention a bit.

Much to Freyr's delight, Meara is not allowing a single crumb to fall to the floor, nor let anything spill onto her clothing or stick to her face.

Gwydion drinks with the crowd and Meara enjoys her people watching and crackers.

Rose regards Brun with a discerning look trying to determine whether he is telling her the truth or not. There are several tense moments before she says, "His name was Alon." The tension is gone from her voice, "I'm sorry. I just thought...you know as well as I do that many so called Edge Knights aren't much more than bandits. I wondered if you were the same. But I don't think you are. Maybe you can put that Defense Matrix to good use. Allon would have wanted that."

"Alon," Brun offers back with a respectful bow of the head, "Thank you."  He had spoken in truth about where he had found the matrix.  The detail he had chosen to leave out was that he was, and always would be, acutely aware where the parts for sale in such Edge bazaars came from.  He was never able to lie to himself well enough to cover up that truth.  He himself had taken part in some raids, but he had tried to only commit to actions against other Edge factions.  But, lines were always...uncertain on the Edge.  He pushed the reverie away.  Returned himself to the here and now.  He was trying to escape that past, "I and my Lady will do our best to honor that wish.  If...  If it would be alright, I would know more of your brother....and how you and he had designed such a system?"

Rose considers Brun's request and nods. She pauses for a moment before she begins, "Alon was always..."

The party continues on with drinking, merriment, and even reminiscing about the past and those loved ones that have been lost. It continues late into the night, or rather, early in the morning with people arriving and departing all the time.

OOC: This seems like a good place to end the scene and move forward. Is everybody okay with that?

The Second Day of the Tournament begins earlier, and excitement has no waned in the slightest. People still crowd around view screens and eagerly discuss and bet on the days outcomes.

OOC: I'll have the next set up combat threads up soon.

The match between the Edge-Knight Brun and the Venusian Princess Meara has the populace of Callisto Station deeply divided as many root for the handsome Edge-Knight and others root for the spunky Valkyrie. Cheers are accompanied by gasps and cries of anguish as each exchange occurs. Each second seems to be an eternity as men, women, and children are completely captivated by the duel between the two knights. Finally, it ends. There is a stunned silence as technicians and barkeeps, old folks and children, nobles and roustabouts all look at each other. Then they cheer as one.

Like Gwydion before them, Meara and Brun are mobbed as soon as they dismount their  respective Armours. "Huzzah! This is the best tourney in the history of tourneys!" "And its only the second round!" The crowd attempts to sweep Meara and Brun along with them as they continue their festivities.

As she exits her armor, Meara wants nothing more than to grab Freyr and hit the market to shop off some frustration.  However, it seems as if she's not going to be able to get that chance.  Not being the biggest of people (although not being altogether tiny, either), she soon finds herself being quite literally carried off in the crowd.

"Eep!  Hands!  Hands!  Watch where you put your hands!" she meekly protests, her piloting suit showing off her figure quite well and not exactly having much in the way of extra hand holds.  Still, it is the most well-earned victory she's ever had before, and that means something.

If she finds herself suddenly placed next to Brun, however, she figures she'll just turn a brilliant shade of red and cease to function altogether for one reason or another.

Brun was unable to offer much more response at the end of the duel.  Polite, but detached.  On the short journey back to the station, he listened, shamed, as Euryleia listed off the damage report.  He longed to begin the work, to heal the scars, but the best he could manage just then was triaging the repairwork.  Being out of the tournament should provide him the time, but funding would be an issue.  He had turned down the volume on the feed from the station, being in no mood to hear the jeers at his loss.  He could only assume that would be the case at any rate.

Once docked, Brun cycled through the dismounting procedure.  He wanted to see the damage outside.  The roaring cheers as his hatch opened surprised him so much that he slipped.  Luckily there were many hands willing to catch him.  Some very eager ( his suit being as form fitting as Meara's and thus lacking in polite handholds.  He made some vain attempt to point of that he lost the match, but no one was listening.  In all the hustle and bustle, he catches of good clear view back to his Lady.  The sight wrenched his heart.  He found himself murmuring apologies.

Which might sound very strange as he is settled back to his feet on a dais next to Meara.  Who might be curious as to why he is apologizing to her.... and why he is referring to her as his lady...

[Bolt
Head: Snapfire Targeting Computer (When you succeed with style on an Armour defense, you may inflict a 2-stress hit on the attacker instead of getting a boost)
Front: Compressed Cryo Tanks (+2 to Blast when creating advantages involving covering fire)
Back: Multi-Phase Emitter Dish (Good Skulking/Average Mark)
Arms: Dual Laser Pistols (Good Blast/Average Zeal)
Legs: Rocket Boots (+2 to Armour to defend vs. Blast attacks)]

Due to a number of factors, mainly involving the quality of the previous day's celebrations and partially from some technical problems, it was decided that the tournament would be continued the next day. No one seemed to mind, least of all the mechanics. The extra time gave everyone a chance to ready themselves for what was coming.

Gwydion's beloved Longsword was back in its rightful condition, though there were still some dents in the shield that would take more time to fix. It was functional, at least. He could see that his opponent's armor was in much better shape. It was hard to tell if it had seen any combat at all. The yellow armor itself had several heraldic symbols on it, and the computer matched them to a number of Saturnine mercantile companies, each owned by Senator Claudius. It wasn't hard to guess why the machine was in such perfect shape. Throw enough money at something and it'll always look pristine. Unfortunately she'd made it this far, meaning Dame Scipii wasn't all show. He'd be sure to keep his guard up. From the look of the armor, it had sharp sensors, a pair of laser pistols, and enhanced thrusters. That meant he'd have to get in close. Plan made, he just needed to put it into action. It was odd, but he felt like he could see his opponent grinning smugly at him through the armour. He shook the feeling and readied himself.

"It's an honor to face you, Dame Scipii."

"Saturn sends its regards, Earth boy. Don't get too cozy after beating the Martian." Not one for pleasantries, then. Her voice came through the comm like hot steel, detached enough to stay professional but eager to chalk up another victory.

"Ladies and gentlemen, after a duet of devastating days deciding daring duels, welcome to the semi-finals! These two warriors, separated by no less than three planets, have come together today to find out who will be moving on to the final round. Hailing from Terra herself, nephew to the one and only John Arthur, you've seen him pull victory from the jaws of defeat, Sir Gwydion of Earth! Representing Senator Caius Claudius from the beautiful ringed world of Saturn, this equally lovely pilot has cut her way through impossible opposition, Dame Scipii of Saturn! Knights, DUEL!" The audience exploded with cheers and applause for each of the warriors, and doubled it at the duel's opening.

The moment the fight began, Gwydion's Longsword burst straight for his enemy, gunblade prepared for a quick slash. She didn't move away, which he thought was odd, but instead raised her pistols. One aimed at the gunblade's edge, the other for the robotic hand bearing it. The Longsword's primary weapon missed its mark and immediately lost power. She'd fried the main power conduit that supplied it! A moment later the Bolt armour kicked off Gwydion's shield to open the distance again, and rained down weak pistol shots on his position. The ones that didn't miss outright were blocked easily enough by the shield, and defending gave the Longsword's self-repair pack a chance to reroute power and bring the energy gunblade back online.

The instant the shots stopped, Gwydion dropped the shield and struck out with a shot from his sword. The long slash went right through a blue-white cloud of ice, splitting it apart to reveal...nothing. That wasn't good. After a moment of scanning the battlefield, Gwydion's cockpit lurched forward as his sensors blared damage reports from the sudden strike! The head had been blasted clean through, leaving his more precise sensors offline!

"You look confused. Didn't watch the vidfeed of my last wins? Sloppy, Earth boy." He still had his standard camera array, and now he'd have to rely on it instead of targeting data. Before she could tear him apart, Gwydion surged forward, presumably away from her, and spun around. A yellow glimmer was there in front of him for the briefest of moments before disappearing again in a burst of speed. Rather than waiting for another blast to finish him off, the young knight moved right into the spot she'd just left and turned in time to see her close in on his former position. Taking the moment, he rushed her and swung his blade just too slow for her to react.

"You're a slippery one..." Once again beginning to turn and try to keep his eyes on the aptly-named Bolt armour, the woman's condescending voice came over the comm again.

"Not that slippery for you, kid. Just better." Did she just...? In the middle of...?

"Gwydion, keep her talking. Follow her voice." The third voice came over a private channel, encrypted to the Longsword. Brun was giving the best help he could without being on the field. Another shot rang out and nicked his armour's leg. Cold laughter followed over the comm. This was not going well. It took a moment to figure out what Brun had meant, but then Gwydion understood.

"I, uh...I have no idea what you're talking about." As more shots started to rain down on him, he started moving and trying to pin down Scipii's location. He had a vague idea of where she was, but with all that fire, he couldn't get in close. The only thing to do was move her, so he sent an energized blade of cutting force at her, and suddenly the pistol fire stopped.

"I'm sure the Lady Iliza has an education in mind for you." It was getting hard to think through the heat on his cheeks, and he was glad only the audio was being transmitted out. Unfortunately, the Bolt armour had disappeared again, no longer leaving a bullet trail to follow. Gwydion stayed still, slowly turning around to try and pick her up again with just his visual and audio sensors.

"You have got quite a mouth on you, Dame Scipii." The words made him wince as soon as they escaped his lips, but he picked up a blip on his sensors as she took the terrible bait.

"You can only imagine. Time to go home, little boy." As her comm cut out, the sound of metal separating metal replaced her voice, and the fight was over. The Longsword's blade had been turned to a reverse grip and thrust straight back, through the Bolt's chest and into the emitter dish on its back. Her attempt to sneak up behind Gwydion was ruined. If he withdrew his weapon, the cockpit would surely be exposed to the hard vacuum it was meant to protect her from.

"Hello there." Now his was the armor you could see the smug grin on.

"How...?" The pilot's shock was as much a pleasure to Gwydion as her survival. He hadn't been sure precisely where her body was, but he'd certainly intended to disable the armour without killing her.

"How's your cockpit? Nevermind, terrible question. Are we still fighting?"

"...I...I yield."

"Thank you, Dame Scipii. You may keep the gunblade until we're safely off the field, of course." With that, he gently helped guide her wounded armour back toward the hangars, relying on her sensors for more precise direction when they got close.

Victory: Sir Gwydion.

Princess Meara vs. Sir Jayson Dennic

By Mimi, Age 7

Mommy and Daddy took me to see the turnament today.  They said a ~*prinsess*~ wood be there and that I shud see how she acts so I can be more liek a propor lady.  I did not leik the fiting very much, but then the prinsess got to fite and Mommy said to watch so I cud see a propor lady.

The furst thing she did was what Daddy sayd was "lost her sheet", and she must have been very upset at losing her sheet because once the other person made fun of her, she jumped on him and started beeting on his head.  She did not even use her soard at first.  Daddy sayd she must have furgoton she had it.

I wanted to hear what they were seying, but Mommy covered my ears before I could lern what Prinsess Meyara was seying.  She sounded very angry.  The man with the shiny snake armor must have taken her blankie.

Evenshuly she stoped pounding on his head and started trying to stab him, and the silver snake man keeped trying to shoot at her but it keeped bowncing off her armor or missing bekaws she was so fast.  Daddy sayd she was a crazy beach and Mommy hit him Daddy the head for seying a bad word.  I did not understand which word was bad, but I did not want to ask and get in trubl, so I will ask my teecher at skuul.

The fite ended when Prinsess Meyara choped off the shiny snake mans arm and he gave up.

I want to be a propor lady like Prinsess Meyara when I grow up.

AND THE WINNER IS: PRINCESS MEARA
This message was last edited by the player at 01:12, Fri 20 Feb 2015.

The Tournament has nearly reached it's conclusion, the field has been reduced to two, Prince Gwydion of Avaluna and Princess Meara of Chonaill. But their showdown must wait, for tonight the Baron had invited all his honored guests to attend a Ball.

The Assembly Hall has been temporarily converted into a ball room. It is decorated beautifully, if not as ornately as the halls of Venusian royalty or as regally as the court at Avaluna. A band of live musicians plays though, at the moment, no one is dancing.

The nobles and knights who have traveled to Callisto station for the tournament are all in attendance, though it is clear than many wish to have nothing to do with each other. The mercurial and cutthroat nature of Jovian politics rarely leaves one with many friends, and certainly none to whom one would expose one's back. At the banquet this state of affairs could be covered up by a clever seating arrangement, but here in an open hall, the divisive nature of the Petty Titans is clear. The guests seem to be enjoying themselves well enough, even if they are in scattered groups.

The Baron and his wife dutifully move from group to group engaging in polite conversation. Currently they are talking to Senator Claudius and his retinue. Dame Scipii is never more than an arm length away from him. Lady Irina is clearly bored out of her mind and the look on her face tells you she wishes she was anywhere but here. Lady Iliza is nowhere to be found.

The young nobleman that was involved in the quarrel at the welcoming banquet stands near the front of the hall. Brun remembers Sir Dennic giving his name as James Hyle. He laughs along with a large group of other guests. Sir Ein Illodo is amongst their number.

Sir L1-4MNT stands against the wall near the band sipping from a wine glass. There is no one within ten feet of him. Perhaps no one has courage enough to speak to the imposing Martian.

Kevan Grouz and Zimon Bell stand at the rear of the hall near the refreshment table chatting with a pair of ladies.

Various other knights and nobles stand in small clumps here and there. If you search for somebody in particular you should be able to find them easily enough.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:58, Sat 31 Jan 2015.

Gwydion has dressed up quite nicely for the ball, and arrived with his small entourage. They're mostly there to make sure he doesn't make a complete fool of himself again by parting too much with the locals, and occasionally keep him moving in the expected directions. Mingling, schmoozing, generally getting in good with as many important people as is possible in the short time available. Also they've decided it best to chaperone him in case he almost gets chances to be alone with Lady Iliza, which is simply not acceptable.

Regardless, the young Knight looks happy enough to be present. Nothing has made him lose any of his pleasant attitude about the whole event, and he confidently walks among those present and gives polite greetings as he passes by. All the while he's keeping his eyes open for any sign of Iliza. One of the servants pointedly clears his throat as a way of pointing out how obvious Gwydion is being, which earns a sheepish smile and a nod. Instead, he decides to make his way over to L1-4MNT, a way which requirs some maneuvering to steer well away from the Saturnine Knight. That last encounter was too long lasting and not long ago enough.

"Sir Liamont! I'd like to say again how grateful I am to have been set against you. Your skill and honor both leave me humbled. It's my hope that I did my people justice in your eyes as well."

Sir L1-4MNT stands free of the wall and faces Gwydion, his full stature brought to bear. He gives Prince Gwydion a deferential nod of the head, "Kind words, Prince Gwydion. I thank you. For my part, I must say that you have impressed me and I am not a man easily impressed. The honor was mine."

Brun weathered the storm of cheering fans as best he could after his bout with.....the princess.  She was lost into the crowds quickly after their moment on the stand.  Likely best.  Surely she was happy to get away from such a one as quickly as possible.  He smiled and thanked those who proclaimed themselves fans; commiserating politely over the loss and agreeing just as politely over what should have happened.  When escape was finally possible, he disappeared and returned to his lady.

Euryleia stood silently in the bay that had become their temporary home.  She was battered, badly in some cases, but overall she remained unbroken.  He found his belt of tools and shoulder the work bag.  He had many amends to make to his lady.  He only hoped he would be able to complete the important ones before the tournament ended and he was officially evicted.

---

In the midst of his repairwork, he forced himself to spare the time to watch Gwydion's bout.  It became quickly apparent that the Saturnine knight was throwing the young Avalunan knight into rash action.  Getting inside his decision loop, one old pirate had told him.  He wasn't used to facing such and Dame Scipii was not about to relent.

Working quickly, Brun spliced wires and rerouted power, bringing Euryleia's comm systems back online.  He did what he could to mask his signal, to cut straight through to Gwydion.  It wouldn't take much.  Just something to anchor him.  A chance to refocus and see through the trickery.

It worked.

A small victory, but it lifted the Edge knight's waterlogged spirits.  At least a little.  Before his patchwork wiring overloaded and plunged the cockpit into silent darkness.  With a sigh, he groped around for his torchlight, "Apologies, my love...  You are right.  I should not get distracted.  Too much to do."

---

Brun had hoped to find some way to skip the ball.  Some polite reason to not have to step into that "melee".  She would be there, of course.  Why shouldn't she?  Victors have little to be ashamed of.  Especially her...  Brun was quickly growing tired of shaking thoughts of Meara out of his head.  He had hoped the work would solve it, but it never quite did.  The work....  There was so much.  He was very good at making do, but that can only ever get you so far.  He needed assistance.  His lady needed it.  More hands.  More tools.  More time.

More money.

All of which, Brun was quickly running out of.  There was a chance, however.  But, it would require him to do the one thing he dreaded right now.  To go to the one place he dared not tread.  The ball.  Brun's father had always taught him that such an event was a means to an end.  Queens and princesses found glory on the field of battle.  Kings and princes shaped those fields on the ballroom floor.  If Brun could negotiate that floor, he might secure a patron for himself and his lady.  It would provide the means to see her truly repaired the once.  To shine as she deserves.  He had already failed her as a warrior.  Perhaps he could still manage some good through his other skills.

But, to do so, Brun would have to face Meara again.  The very thought caused h his practiced confidence to crumble.

There was no other option though.  He would once more don the arms and armament of the social scene.  To match wit and to dance.  Normally, a field he felt comfortable in.  This time though, he felt as though he was stepping back onto the dueling field to stand once more against one with the proven skill to defeat him....

---

Brun arrived with little fanfare.  He had been the ghost of the tournament since his loss, but now he appeared again.  His outfit was the same, but a few skillful alterations of cut and line, a few well chosen accessories, made it seem completely new.  Another skill he was happy to find had not completely rusted away.

He scanned the room quickly, formulating his plan of attack.  Seeking where to begin his battle for a patron.  And, wherever Meara might be.  Just so he didn't stumble on her unawares of course.  From the passing that of a waiter, he secured a glass of wine.  He needed all the help he could get.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"A smack down.  He said horrible things about Mother and now we are going to go buy lots of things until I calm down."

Freyr was at a loss for words.  First, Meara took the most undignified and reckless method of fighting her opponent possible, and then won a decisive victory through sheer... something, and now she wanted to go SHOPPING.  And heaven help her, she was going to indulge her student and ward in some shopping immediately after such a wanton display of rage.  However, Meara was not going to get off entirely scot-free for her performance in the ring of honor.

"Okay.  Okay, fine.  But please refrain from shouting such words on an open broadcast frequency.  There are children in the audience!  Not to mention nobility from all parts of the system!  Think of how this is going to affect your family's reputation!" she scolded as the two of them moved at a quick pace towards the retail hub of the station.

Unbeknownst to them, but beknownst to us, a little girl was watching them with intense interest.

---

Freyr and Meara walked into the ball having partaken in a great deal of retail therapy, possibly boosting the economy of the station a significant amount all on their own.  Following closely beside Meara was an adorable, excited little girl who looked to be no older than seven years of age.  This little girl was holding on to Meara's rather impressive golden gown in a tiny matching one of her own.  Freyr's gown was much less elaborate, but no less flattering, being in a silvery dress that matched her hair.  All three had elegantly styled hair, although both Meara and Freyr looked like they could move around quite a bit and not lose their hairstyle too much, reflecting their martial attitudes.

Not seen was the massive amounts of purchases made by Meara (and Freyr, although she will not readily admit to it in current company), which they had conveniently placed in their suite.

Meara's first action upon entering was, of course, to do the least ladylike thing possible.  She scooped up the little girl, walked straight over to Irina, and said quite enthusiastically, "Hey, Irina!  Look, I have a fan!  Say hello to Lady Irina, Mimi!"

"Hello, Lady Irina!" the small child named Mimi said obediently and cheerfully.

Freyr rushed after the two of them with the most horrified, apologetic expression of her career yet.  Even though she secretly thought it was hilarious.

Sir L1-4MNT gestures toward Meara's entrance as he and Prince Gwydion talk shop, "Ah, there's your opponent now. She has an...odd manner, but none can deny she is a fierce fighter."

Brun's search for a patron is simply a matter of calling his shot and then taking it. The Ball is rife with Nobles and their retinues. There are many that he doesn't recognize, but a few that he does: Lord Corso Welsey-the patriarch of minor Jovian house from Ganymede. Lord Pryce Duxell- a rival family to House Welsey. Lord and Lady Arbcoeur, stewards of a small station near Thebe.

Stumbling into Meara unawares would be no problem for Brun. Between her shining gold dress, the scene she made with her entrance, and the guest she had brought, Meara effectively broadcast her position.

"Hello, Mimi. It's very nice to meet you," Irina smiles, looking very relieved at the arrival of the Princess, her Handmaiden, and her new companion, "Your dresses are very shiny."

OOC:
Aspects still in Play
Sharp-Dressed Man (Brun, 1 Free Invoke left, IIRC)
Iliza's Favor (Gwydion)
The People's Champion (Gwydion)

Gwydion is, of course, among those who turn to see Meara's entrance. At first he doesn't remember to keep the amusement off his face, and he brings up a fist to laugh into it. Once his eyes open again, he glances to L1-4MNT with a wide smile and nods.

"My cousin. She's certainly different. A breath of fresh air, I think. Most of the nobility tends to be too formal and stuffy. Too much posturing, not enough living. I'm hoping she'll set a good example for them. You don't strike me as the type to be offended by such honesty."

Sir L1-4MNT gives a slight shake of the head, "Oh, I'm not. It's as you say...a breath of fresh air. Though judging from her face, your cousin's Handmaiden may not appreciate it as much. A pity to see such a pretty face so contrite. Perhaps she'll appreciate company and a glass of wine to forget her troubles. If you'll excuse me, Prince Gwydion." Sir L1-4MNT sweeps up a glass from a passing drink tray and makes his way over to Freyr.

Brun, very nearly, chokes on his wine at Meara's entrance.  It is only through keenly honed social reflexes that he manages to avoid it and to avoid any more outward expression than amused surprise.  The truth was she, as usual, stormed into his thoughts as she stormed into the party.  Why did she command so much of his attention?

No.  Focus.  There is work to do.

But maybe that distraction can be used to his advantage.  He spotted Lady Arbcouer stifling a chuckle at the scene and decided to use it to make his opening.  Stepping closer, Brun offered, with a respectful bow of the head, "She certainly knows how to make an entrance doesn't she?" A mild feint, just to test defenses.

“Yes, quite the entrance,” Lady Arbcoeur replies to Brun, though he tone makes it quite apparent that she does not approve of Meara's behavior. She and her husband turn to regard Brun cooly, “You are the Edge Knight, Brun, are you not? We have not had the pleasure of your acquaintance.” She offers her hand to Brun.

---

Irina chats amiably with Meara and Mimi about Meara's match and her subsequent shopping trip. Irina's eyes seem to bulge from her head when Meara reveals just how much she purchased. Freyr tries to dissuade Meara from revealing the details of just how much she spent, but it's no use.

“You seem as though you could use this,” Sir L1-4MNT says as he offers Freyr a glass of champagne. He's now holding on to one of his own.

---

Just a Gwydion is left alone and realizes that he'll have to find someone else to talk to, a steward raises his voice, ”LORDS AND LADIES, I PRESENT TO YOU LADY ILIZA GEHENMIS.”

A moment later Iliza enters. She is wearing a deep purple gown, ornate, but not flashy. He hair is pinned up in a simple style that causes soft ringlets to fall and frame her face. She moves into the room a few steps and curtseys to the assembled guests. Her entrance is not as flashy or scandalous as Meara's, but all eyes are on her nevertheless. Her eyes are on Gwydion.

OOC: Yo, Gwydion. Roll a Will Defense.

Nah, I'm just kidding. ;p

Gwydion watches with a smile and a sip of wine as the Martian Knight goes off with an interest in Freyr. He can't help but think that if it had been Meara who'd caught his attention like that, there may have to be another battle between them. She's like his sister, after all. Then again, she can certainly handle herself. Then again again, he hasn't seen her handle herself in this particular field of battle.

The announcement of Iliza's arrival interrupts Gwydion's ridiculous train of thought, and he immediately turned to look the right way. Either a long few seconds or a very short few weeks pass by before he takes another sip of his wine and sets the glass down to smooth the wrinkles that haven't actually surfaced on his clothes yet. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite manage to smooth out the ridiculous grin to something a little less silly.

Brun accepts the offered hand with the appropriate bow and brushing kiss, followed by a respectful bow to the Lord as well, "I am he.  A pleasure to meet you both."  Straightening, he mentally noted to avoid further commentary on Meara.  Find an in.  "Sadly, the tournament has kept me too distracted to personally make many acquaintance.  It has been quite the show, from both within and without, wouldn't you agree?"

Iliza slowly makes her way to Gwydion, stopping here and there to exchange a polite few words with the guests, but she cannot help sneak a look or two in the Prince's direction. If her entrance seemed a few weeks in length to Gwydion, then the time that passed before she stood before him felt like a life in exile. She, too, cannot help but smile. “Prince Gwydion, you look most handsome,” she says. As if on cue (indeed, a well-timed nod from the Baron) the musicians begin the play a soft, sweet tune. Iliza looks up at Gwydion expectantly, the purple of her dress bringing out the deep color of her eyes.

---

Most people would have a difficult time reading the practiced neutral expressions of Lord and Lady Arbcoeur, but Brun is an expert when it comes to socializing with the nobility. He can tell he is making quite a good impression on the Lord and Lady.

“I would,” says the Lady Arbcoeur, “It has been the most fun I have had in ages.”

“And to think we almost did not attend,” Lord Arbcoeur adds, “We would have missed out on so much,”

“True,” his wife replies. Lady Arbcoeur regards the Baron's daughter and John Arthur's heir, “But, I think it is our host who has the most to gain.”

OOC:
Brun, you can attempt to put one Advantage on Lord and Lady Arbcoeur, but the actual roll which can secure their patronage will be an Overcome. I'll leave the difficulty total for that a secret for the moment, but feel free to make both rolls.

Meara, I assume you are still chatting with Irina. Did you want to post for Freyr? If not do you have a general idea of what you want to happen there, or should I just roll with it?

The sound Gwydion makes when Iliza speaks to him is something between a choke and a giggle. After a quick clearing of his throat and setting down his half-empty wine glass, he manages some words.

"Not half as handsome as you are beautiful, Lady Iliza, but I do my best to be worth dancing with. Would you care to?" With that and a smile, he offers her a hand.

A blush rises on Iliza's cheeks at Gwydion's compliment, "You are too kind, Prince Gwydion." She takes Gwydion's hand and allows herself to be led to the dance floor.

Iliza skillfully follows Gwydion's lead and her eyes never leave his as the two of them dance.

Brun looks politely intrigued by the comment.   It was true that the host stood to gain quite a bit by that match-up.   And, for once,  it was nice to see a match that was politically useful but seemed genuinely born of romance.   Not easy that.   A small smile crossed his features on behalf of his fortunate friend before Brun returned to creating a fine first impression.   His own Lady needed him to be so lucky now.   "Quite so,"  he offered politely,  "A nice surprise addition to his fine tournament.   And I am glad to hear that decided to attend.   The running of a station must keep you both quite busy."

Total - 2 to  CA: Good First Impression
Tagged  Euryleia is my everything,  as he is doing all this for her upkeep

13:37, Today: Brun rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, -1, -1. Create  Advantage -  Intrigue +2, FP Burn +2
This message was last edited by the player at 19:11, Sun 15 Mar 2015.

All eyes are on the Prince and the Lady as they dance oblivious to all the attention upon them.

The Baron and Baroness watch their daughter with a mixture of pride and happiness.

Even Irina turns to watch the couple. "He's all she's talked about since he got here," Irina says to Meara. "She gets these big dopey eyes, 'Prince Gwydion is so brave and noble. Prince Gwydion is so handsome. Prince Gwydion is a perfect gentleman. Prince Gwydion baked a mud pie in the Arboretum and it had worms in it. It was sooooo delicious,'" Irina mocks her sister.

She leans in toward Meara conspiratorially, "He brought her back drunk yesterday. The pair of them could hardly walk. They had to lean on each other for support. Prince Gwydion apologized and my mother wasn't cross with Iliza at all. But, I got an hour long lecture about how it isn't lady-like to critize the power distribution relay matrix in Sir Kevan Grouz's Armour in public and I got stuck helping my mother inform the guests that the Ball would be delayed because of the repairs. Meanwhile Iliza sleeps away the whole afternoon even though she was supposed to be the one helping Mother to begin with. Ugh. So unfair." Irina sighs heavily. "She does seem really happy though."

---

Lord Arbcoeur nods, "Yes, it is not always easy. Our station is not quite so big as this, but managing it does take some skill. Y-"

"Speaking of which," Lady Arbcoeur suddenly interjects having anticipated one of her Husband's long winded anecdotes about Jovian trade. "You have quite the skill-at-arms, Sir Brun. How is it that you don't serv any House?"

OOC:
That will do it Brun. Stanard success.

That gives you:
Sharp Dressed Man (1 free invoke)
Good First Impression (1 free invoke)
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:03, Sun 15 Mar 2015.

Because I fell  in with pirates and my family disowned me.

Brun waved off the compliment  in a show of respectful humility,  "Spent years as a free-lance fighting along the Edge.   I suppose you could say I was drawn in by the romance and adventure of it all."   True,  of course,  but not by choice.   And romance was a bit too kind a description for many of his experiences.   "Though I have decided to come back to civilized space.   I have heard the call for Knights,  even out there.  It is time I put my skills to better use."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:32, Mon 16 Mar 2015.

Meara listens to Irina, nodding in sympathy.   After all, she has also been scolded many, many times for not being lady-like.  If it was okay for men to punch one another in the shoulder casually, why couldn't she do it?  So unfair!

"She did not get in any trouble at all, but you did?  That isn't right.  I mean, it is because of your skills that I've managed to stay in the tournament for so long.  Getting that extra bit of power out of Brunhildr has totally made the difference!  I would think it would be an honor to have you point out what's not optimal in an armor," Meara insists before looking over at Iliza and Gwydion with a smirk and saying, "They do look rather cute together.  She has her handsome prince and he has someone willing to put up with is incredibly awkward flirting.  Really, he's just an adorable goober when he fancies someone."  Her smile turns conspiratorial as she adds, "He's just much better at hiding it now."

The entire time, Freyr has been looking at Sir L1-4MNT and trying to form words, unable to seek help from the nearby ladies.  Finally, unable to see one of her new bestest friends squirm, Mimi tugs at Freyr's dress and says, "I think you should take the drink from the nice, patient man."  This causes Freyr to finally reach up a hand and very awkwardly accept the wine before shotgunning it for a dose of liquid courage.  Seeing the one charged with teaching Meara how to be a proper princess suddenly chug a glass of wine is one thing, but seeing just how nervous she was in the presence of a gentleman simply offering her a glass of wine to try and open a conversation is hilarious to Meara.  At least, it would be if she was paying attention.

"Thank you, Mimi-" Mimi beams happily up at the speaking Freyr, glad to have been of assistance, and thank you, Sir, for the drink.  I am sorry, I am just... it has been quite some time since I have done anything but... run interference, I think is the polite term, for the Princess.  It is... Sir L1-4MNT, correct?  I am Lady Freyr Aegisdottir, handmaiden to Princess Meara."  Freyr seems a bit more relaxed now, and feels rather tempted to keep Mimi with her for conversational assistance, such as prompting her to speak when asked a question or to accept offered drinks without leaving the poor person waiting for several seconds and just staring blankly at them with flushed cheeks, but at the same time, she does not want to make Sir L1-4MNT feel as if he cannot talk to her directly, either.

Mimi, however, makes the decision for Freyr by moving back to Meara and mimicking the princess' movements.  After all, that will clearly teach her how to be a proper lady.

"Ah, so you've spent time fighting in the Wreck have you? No wonder you are so skilled. If it's not the Emergent, it's the brigands. No shortage of trouble comes out of that place," Lord Arbcoeur shakes his head.

The Lady Arbcoeur seems impressed, "A noble quest and a very noble sentiment, Sir Brun. A very noble sentiment."

---

A small smile crosses Sir L1-4MNT's face as Freyr downs her glass and he gives young Mimi a friend wink as thanks for the assist. "You are correct. I am called Sir L1-4MNT. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Lady Freyr Aegisdottir." He cuts right to the point, "Would you care to dance?"

"Yes.  Yes, that would be lovely," Freyr replies as she sets down the empty glass on the nearest surface before taking a few nervous steps towards L1-4MNT with an awkward smile.  "I... I think dancing would do me well right now," she says as she offers him her hand so that he may lead her onto the floor.  If Irina and Mimi can keep Meara out of too much trouble, she just might be able to enjoy the evening on her own!

Sir L1-4MNT is surprisingly light on his feet for one with such an imposing figure. He and Freyr move about the dance floor with skill and grace. He does his best to put Freyr at ease, waltzing past Meara and Mimi a few times so that the handmaiden can see that her young charge is perfectly fine without her for the moment. Once she relaxes he picks up the pace knowing that his partner can easily keep up.

Brun bowed his head humbly this time rather than waving off the compliment,  "Thank you."  Not that he could recall much of his time in the Wreck being anything close to "noble".  "It was an exciting life,  to be sure" he offered politely,  not wanting to burst the idea of the noble quest, " And,  as you said,  a very good training ground.   But,  I have heard that such troubles are spreading through the system of late.   How have your station and your own Knights fared against such threats?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:51, Wed 18 Mar 2015.

Lord Arbcoeur takes on a grim countenance, "You have heard true. We have held the Emergent at bay well enough, but the cost in lives is often high. I expect you'll find that to be the case all around Jupiter."

Brun matches the grim expression, shaking his head slightly, "I had hoped the truth was not as bad as the rumor.  What of the Jovian council?  Is there a unified effort or are the stations being left to fend for themselves?"  He knew something of the fractious nature of the Jovian holdings, but had never been clear on exactly how they all worked together.  Besides which, he needed to know the lay of the land if he was to decide.

Lord Arbcoeur looks surprised at the optimism in Brun's question,"There's too much infighting between the Jovian Lords to come to a consensus. As such the defense of Jovian space goes on as it always has, each House defends it's own holdings and, perhaps, it's nearby neighbors assuming there's no bad blood there. If there is, well, then chances are your neighbors are just as bad as the Emergent. Our host called for a more unified system of defense, but his plan was not well received. This tournament was his attempt to garner favor with the other Lords for such a plan, but you see many have not attended at all. I do not hold much hope for a favorable outcome."

---

The pair of couples on the dance floor encourage others to join them and soon the floor is filled with dancers, even if they cluster together in like-minded groups.

Soon two young men approach Meara at the same time. One bears the Coat-of-arms of House Welsey, the other House Duxell, both minor Jovian houses.

They begin to speak simultaneously:

"Good evening, Princess Meara. My name is Torran Welsey and I wondering if I might have the honor of a dance?"

"Princess Meara, you look lovely if you don't mind my saying. I am Kieran Duxell and I would be most honored if you would do me the courtesy of dancing with me."

They each hold out an upturned hand to Meara, eyeing the other fiercely.

---

Gwydion is dancing with Iliza who stares up at him adoringly when he feels an insistent tapping on his shoulder. He turns to find James Hyle standing beside him. The young nobleman regards the Prince cooly, then after a moment ask with annoyance,"May I cut in?"

The Edge knight considered, taking a sip of wine to cover the thoughtful pause.  The fact that they had come could lead one to believe that the Lord and Lady were pro-unified defense and, therefore, a progressive sort that might prove more welcoming to an Edge knight.  True or not, it certainly made Brun more hopeful, "Many may not have attended, but many have.  Perhaps it is a start?  Something to...get the asteroid accelerating.  May I ask why you chose to attend?"

"A fair point, sir," Lord Arbcoeur acknowledges, "Perhaps you are right."

"The same reason anyone does anything at court, Jovian or otherwise," Lady Arbcoeur answers as though Brun should know the answer, "Politics." Beyond that she does not say.

With the other man asking to cut in, Gwydion lets his surprised face shift to a more comfortable casual smile as he glances to Iliza, then back to Hyle.

"Why certainly. It would be unkind of me to monopolize the lady's time." The prince offers a bow to the young lady. "Lady Iliza, a pleasure as always." After that, he steps aside and gesturs Hyle into his place, with a lingering look at Lady Iliza. It's deliberately lingering, in fact, as he waits to gauge both her reaction and this James Hyle's behavior toward himself and Iliza.

It will help him determine how impolite he'd have to be toward Hyle.

Once he has what he's looking for, Gwydion decides to head over to see how Meara is doing. Naturally, he stops short in some measure of surprise upon seeing the two clear rivals for his cousin's dance. And, inexplicably, a little girl shadowing her. Well. This is certainly the most unusual ball he's been to since they were children.

Iliza gives Gwydion a subtle nod to let him know that she's okay with the situation. "Prince Gwydion," she says as she returns his bow with a curtsy. She takes Hyle's hand after a moment and the two begin to dance, though she doesn't dance nearly as close to Hyle as she had with Gwydion.

As Gwydion hesitates approaching Meara, Baron Gehemis approaches him, "Prince Gwydion, I trust you are enjoying yourself? Excellent. Might I have a moment of your time? I promise I won't keep you from the festivities for long."

Freyr is quite good on the dance floor, and is quite visibly relaxed once the two of them begin to dance.  Seeing that there is no trouble with the trio (mostly because Meara is being kept in check by a little girl and a noble engineer), she gives Sir L1-4MNT a thankful smile for his efforts to ensure she is at ease.  "You truly are a gentleman, Sir.  I regret we did not meet sooner," she says with an honest smile.

*****

Meara, on the other hand, has her own grace, and it usually comes from her lack of social grace being more than compensated for by her incredible physical grace.  In this case, it shows itself by her taking the hands of both gentlemen with a smile and saying, "Of course I would love to dance with the two of you."  Then, before either of them can respond, she pulls them onto the floor and begins to dance with them, managing to handle them both as dance partners at the same time.  For those watching, it is difficult to see if Meara is leading the two of them or if they are actually passing her between them as two skilled leads.

For her part, Meara is clearly enjoying the attention.

Mimi, meanwhile, starts writing horribly misspelled, handwritten notes on a pad already filled with her scribbles.

00:50, Today: Meara rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, -1, 0. +3 Zeal (♫♪You can dance if you want to, you can leave your friends behind♫♪)
Successes: 3 Attempting to Create Advantage: Graceful Dancer

The sound of Barom Gehemnis's voice stops Gwydion, and it strikes him that this entire gathering is more than just fun. There's business to attend. Seeing Meara handling herself just fine, and glancing back to Iliza appearing well-treated for the moment, the young Knight gives the Baron his full attention.

"Certainly, Lord Gehemnis. Shall we talk someplace a bit more quiet?"

Sir L1-4MNT gives Freyr a smile, “But my lady Freyr, every warrior knows that life is far too short for regrets. We must simply enjoy beauty where we encounter it and strive to find it even in adversity. I did not have to look very long tonight.”

---

Meara proves to be a truly impressive dancer as she leads her two partners around the dance floor in what seems to all the onlookers as an incredibly well choreographed peace. Her two partners are clearly surprised at first, but each does his best to keep up with the talented Venusian Princess.

The display easily recaptures the attention of all of the room's onlookers and some couples even stop dancing just to watch the show.

---

“A good idea,” Baron Gehenmis says to Gwydion. He leads the Prince out of the Assembly Hall through a side corridor to a quieter area. Once the two of them have escaped from the prying ears of guests and begin to climb a flight of stairs, he speaks. “Prince Gwydion, you have a reputation as a forthright and honest knight and in the very short time I have known you I have seen that your reputation is well founded. So, I hope you will not mind if I speak frankly with you. We both know that you did not come here to Callisto Station simply to compete in the tournament. Your Uncle is a shrewd man. The invitation was meant for him, but he sent you in his place. He knew that to come himself would invite only ire and resentment from some of Jupiter's Nobles, but to stay away would alienate a potential ally. Everyone knows that John Arthur means to unite Humanity under one banner and that is as noble an aspiration as any if undertaken for the right reasons. I too have aspirations of uniting people, not as a means to power, but as a necessity for our continued survival.” As he says this you reach Callisto Station's main observation deck. From this room you can see the station's huge form stretching out below you.

“I am responsible for the lives of twenty-four thousand people on this station and it's surrounding holdings. It is a responsibility that I take incredibly seriously, as I am sure you can imagine. I want what is best for these people, and I think that a fractured Humanity will only result in our ruin. But not all agree, and some disagree so vehemently that I have doubts that such a unification is even possible at all.

My daughter Iliza, however, seeks to persuade me otherwise. She speaks most highly of you Prince Gwydion and of your cause. I must admit I was skeptical until I saw your match with Sir L1-4MNT and then again when you fought Dame Scipii. You have true courage and conviction for one so young. You also have a way with the people--they have taken you to heart as one of their own Prince, but you have been here only a few days. You are John Arthur's sister son, are you not? But they say he has raised you as he would his very own. If you are a true reflection of your Uncle, and I think you are, then he is a man I would entrust with the well-being of my people.

I would be willing to become a vassal of Avaluna. In return we would receive the protection of the Crown and the resources we need to defend ourselves. I also have many allies here in Jovian space and I am confident that I could persuade them to John Arthur's banner as well.

I do not expect you to merely take my word for it. I hope I do not speak out of turn when I say that a certain fondness has developed between you and my eldest daughter.  I propose an alliance between our Houses. You would wed my daughter Iliza and I would bring several major Jovian Houses to  the King's cause. What say you, Prince Gwydion?”

OOC:
Did anybody NOT see that coming?

Meara you create your aspect with a success with style you get two free invokes.

Scene Aspects in Play
Sharp-dressed (Bun, 1 free invoke)
Good First Impression (Brun, 1 free invoke)
Graceful Dancer (Meara, 2 free invokes)
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:55, Sat 21 Mar 2015.

The question hung in the air, but before Gwydion could answer the station's lights went dark. It wasn't just the observation deck. All down the length of the station the power cut out. Back up generators kicked in, but then they too went out. The station went dead. The rotational gravity vanished. Out the window, Gwydion could see ripples of color oscillating among the stars. What was that? Then suddenly he knew. Weapons fire. Callisto Station was under attack!

---

One moment the Assembly Hall was filled with guests having a wonderful time and the next it was filled with chaos and confusion. Pitch black (not even emergency lighting), and then like the light, gravity too disappeared.  Guests shrieked as they began to float upward in an inky void. Seconds later, it got even worse. Much worse.

The entire station rocked violently once, and then again a few seconds later. Guests were flung about the room slamming into walls and each other. Glass shatters. A third violent rocking and this time something explodes down a side corridor. Screams. Distant flames light up the dark with a soft glow. Callisto Station was being attack. Why had there been no warning?

---

Gwydion and the Baron are flung violently about the observation deck as the weapons fire connects all along the station's length. The Baron slams hard into the transparisteel windows and is knocked out cold. Explosions ripple from below. Outside Gwydion catches a glimpse of their attackers. Emergent Combat Forms. There are dozens or more. They begin to swarm about the station taking out it's inactive defense turrets and perimeter defense satellites.

OOC: Everybody roll Zeal as a Defense vs. 4 to avoid getting hurt from being flung around.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:07, Tue 24 Mar 2015.

[Athletics is Zeal here, right?

12:53, Today: Gwydion rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, 1, 0. Zeal +2.

That's +3, meaning one point of physical stress.]

Thoughts went running through his head, and Gwydion paused to think. His life was about to change drastically, and his next words would dictate the course of it. Or they would have, until fate intervened. Explosions and chaos erupted all at once, and the young Knight could see through the observation windows that it was station-wide. The adrenaline came. The fear and determination joined it. Spots filled his eyes as the violent shudder combined with the sudden lack of gravity to send him slamming into the wall opposite. The Emergent were coming.

Immediately, Gwydion went for his communicator. He knew it would be useless for its purpose without the station's communications tower active, but he checked the screen anyway. That part was working. Good. Using the communicator to light his way, he rushed to Baron Gehemnis and immediately grabbed him and began heading back for the party they'd just left. There would be people there. A lot of people. Some would be helpless. Some would be driven to take care of the Baron. And some would be ready to stand against the intruders.

The corridor that Gwydion and the Baron had come through from the party is now impassable. It is filled with smoke, debris, and personnel trying to contain a fire without the station's automated systems to help. There's no way Gwydion will reach the Assembly Hall from this direction at the moment.

Burn FP and tag I will Survive

Total 4

23:30, Today: Brun rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 1, -1. Zeal +1 vs 4.

Plunged into blackness.

The decking heaving under assault.

The failure of the artificial gravity,  stripping away even the surety of up and down.

Brun wished this was the first time he had been through this.   He bit down the rising panic of painful memory and the entirely real fear of the situation itself.   He fell... Who knows in what direction.   He hit someone,  careening away wildly.   Somehow,  he managed to fend himself away from slamming into anything too harshly.

Not again.   He was not some defenseless prince this time.

He needed a wall.   Follow that to an access panel or a door.    Something he could work with.   Some way to help.

If it wasn't for the fact that her spin was slowly floating her off the ground into darkness, Meara might not have noticed the fact that the station was under attack.  Well, okay, she would have noticed, but she still doesn't look like the sudden lack of gravity is affecting her.  The distant fires weren't hardly enough light to properly see and maneuver by, so Meara reached into the top of her dress and pulled out what seemed to be a belt made entirely of LED cloth, which she quickly wrapped around herself and activated.

"Sirs, please help the guests evacuate.  I have to get to my armor," Meara says bluntly as she gives the two of them a two-fingered salute (not the offensive kind) before throwing her shoes away to give herself enough momentum to reach the floor and kick herself off towards a doorway.  Along the way, she catches Mimi and holds the little girl tightly, shushing her. "I have you, Mimi.  I will not let you come to harm."

Freyr, meanwhile, pulls a tiny device from her ample bosom and holds it out towards the nearest surface, clicking a button and firing a sticky nub into the surface with a long, very thin cord attached.  She then pulls L1-4MNT against her and gives the cord a tug, pulling them along to what likely used to be the floor and then using the cord to hold them in place.

She looks at L1-4MNT and asks, "Can you make it from here?  I have to help Princess Meara, but we also clearly need all available pilots in their armors, and that's probably where she's heading."

---

00:30, Today: Meara rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, 1, 0. +3 Zeal (Eat it, Gravity!).
Using both free invoke on Graceful Dancer, because SPACE DANCING and also CATCHING MIMI while still making it to the door.
Total: 8, winning with style
00:34, Today: Meara rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, 0, 1. +3 Household (Did she buy the thing?  WHO KNOWS).
Total: 4
Creating advantage Neat Things I Have to justify having the things she and Freyr have.  Mostly Freyr, really.

Meara reaches the main entryway to the Assembly hall with frightened Mimi clutching to her tightly. Sir L1-4MNT manages to maneuver in zero-g well enough, but Freyr is an expert even without the use of her grapnel. She catches up to Meara easily. Sir L1-4MNT is not far behind them.

The state of the main corridors of Callisto Station is a shock. Bodies, whether dead or merely knocked out, and debris fill the corridors as do the screams of those wounded or trapped by the explosions that rocked the station. Moments ago what had been a place filled with celebration, joy, and revelry is now a disaster zone.

---

Lady Iliza's voice rings out in the hall as she takes charge. She tries to keep everyone calm and also to organize the guards present help the guests.

A small female form slams into Brun at high velocity and then suddenly latches on, “Please, something's wrong. Something's very wrong,” she kept repeating as though it wasn't incredibly obvious already. Brun had just enough light to realize that the young noble woman who had collided with him was the Baron's youngest daughter Irina, “Please, you have to help me. This shouldn't be happening. The Emergency generators shouldn't go offline like this. They are on isolated systems. But they are offline. Don't you understand? Life support is gone. Between all the people and the fires oxygen will be at a premium very soon. If we can't get it back online, we'll all suffocate. Please. I need your help. I need to get  to central control to find out what is happening.”

OOC: Guys feel free to be proactive. Roll what you think would be appropriate for whatever it is you want to do. I set up the chaos, now it's up to you guys to try and fix it however you please.

Meara have a fate point for a compel on your trouble. Also, Freyr and Sir L1-4MNT are yours to control.

Same for you Brun. You managed to stop being Adrift in the room and now Irina is asking you for help.

Gwydion needs help. He can't drag the Baron with him around the whole station, especially with killer robots on the prowl. By that same token, he has no idea how to actually help him any, since all of his training is on courtly politeness (which he has dumped out the mental window) and how to handle a sword (which he has taken to like a bird to flight).

Leaving the Baron for a moment, Gwydion moves to a nearby doorway and, after making sure there are no Emergent hiding on the other side, uses his comlink to display a glowing hologram of his family crest in hopes of quietly attracting the notice of another human being. Perhaps people will be more likely to come to Prince Gwydion's flag than to someone else. He'd feel dishonest flying the Baron's banner.

[Woo! Finally an excuse to roll my Lineage! :D

18:36, Today: Gwydion rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, -1, 0. Lineage +4.

+5! This was Create Advantage or Overcome roll, not entirely sure. Either way, I hopefully nailed it. :P

EDIT: Success with Style on Create Advantage! Now there's Saturnine Rescue in play with two free invokes.]

There are a few tense minutes of no response, and Gwydion has to put the banner away once when he spots one of the far off Emergent turn its sensors in his direction. His heart nearly skips a beat when forms rush into the room, and nearly jumps out his throat when he sees who it is.

"Dame Scipii, Senator Claudius, good to see you both." If he's going to start lying to politicians, now is good a time as any. Plus it's half true. The senator and his pet Knight have a pair of bodyguards with them, and while the senator himself is in quite a state, the lady Knight is much more composed. There are a number of reasons why she scares Gwydion.

Fortunately, his guards also seem versed in basic first aid, and are capable of tending to the Baron's injuries.

[Invoking the aspect to make sure Baron Gehemnis is alright, more or less a +2 on a Lore (Medicine) check. Also going to suggest a compel: the Senator and Baron finding a place to hide while the Knights go off to handle the situation together. Alone. Because there's no trouble like girl trouble like no trouble I know.]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:00, Fri 27 Mar 2015.

"The Baron will recover. Nothing major is broken and the head trauma doesn't seem to be life threatening," one of the Saturine aides reports. The station rocks again.

"The situation, however, is life threatening. This Station is going to come apart if something isn't done." Senator Claudius says urgently, clutching at his side. It seems he too has been wounded. "Lativia, go with the Prince. We will stay here and find a safe place to take cover from these damnable Emergent drones. We would only slow you down."

With Irina's added momentum,  Brun found himself finding the wall of the ballroom quite quickly.  He managed told hold onto her,  as well as a convenient handhold.   Thereby arresting their movement,  for the moment.  He knew she was absolutely right on all counts.  "I will do everything that I can.   Hold tight to me."  A glance around the ballroom revealed little of use,  though he did spot a brightly lit Meara escaping through another door.  That's something anyway.   Another explosion rocked the room,  knocking open another door nearby.   Spark and fire revealed it.

Brun pulled them both along to it,  took a quick look.... Then decided to risk it.  He kept his eye out for any threats as they moved into the corridors,  "Which way?  And,  if there were an Armoury along the way,  being able to defend ourselves might be very handy."   He did his best to sound unconcerned and upbeat.   They needed each other and panic wouldn't help anyone.

Mark Overcome to find safe routes/avoid enemy -  Total +1

11:56, Today: Brun rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, 0, 1. Mark +2 - Overcome

Irina's face is grateful and she grips Brun tightly. "This way is as good as any. There is a barracks four corridors that way. It would be a detour, but you could probably get armed there. Why?" Irina's voice suddenly trembles with fear, "You don't think someone is on the station do you?"

The corridors are filled with damage, wounded, and those people trying to attend to both, but it isn't easy with only the scattered light sources available and the starlight filtering in from viewports.

Reaching the barracks requires a pair of detours, but you finally get there. It is empty. The household guards are presumably attending to the attack. There are enough weapons for you to arm the two of you however you see fit.

In answer to Irina's question, Brun decided to answer with the hard truth, "I do, m'lady.  Many of these explosions feel like impacts from without.  I have sadly had personal experience in this matter."

He quickly checked over the weapons available.  For himself, he belted on a militia dirk and took up a blast pistol, checking its capacitors with practiced ease.  He then selected another pistol and, after checking it, turned it over to Irina.  If she hesitated, he would insist, "I may be wrong about intruders, but your guardsman have already armed themselves.  So we must be equally cautious.  Have you ever fired one before?"  He hated having to press a weapon into her hands.  Press her into the service.  He knew what she must be feeling.  He had been there.

"I haven't..." Irina says as she takes the pistol from Brun, "But I can learn."

"We must hurry. Central Control is still three sections away."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:20, Mon 30 Mar 2015.

Brun blinked in surprise at her willingness to take up arms.  He tried to cover it, but it would have been easy to catch.  Though the station breaking apart around them might have distracted.  Things are easier to miss in such times.

He had not found taking up arms so easy.  But, perhaps, he did not have the good reasons that she does.  Home and heart.

Brun nodded once, tying back his hair to keep it out of the way if it came to a hard fight, "Let's to it then."  He turned, with pistol ready, to lead the way.  He fought the desire to rush.  They still had no real idea of what they might face.  He opted for caution.  Rushing when able, slowing to check corners and passages before continuing on the path as Irina directed. It felt like it was taking forever.  Hopefully, it didn't take too long...

Create Advantage - Careful Approach - Total - +1

15:46, Yesterday: Brun rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, -1, 1. Skulking +1 Create Advantage - Careful Approach.

Brun and Irina don't get far before Brun's intruder hypothesis is confirmed. They spy an Emergent Drone crawling along the ceiling, moving slowly as though it is searching for something. Fortunately, the spider-like drone hasn't spotted them.

OOC:
That result will give you a Boost, Brun.

Meara holds Mimi against her chest tightly, wanting to keep her safe not only from immediate physical danger, but also from the sights and sounds of the horrors before them.  It is not only Mimi she is trying to convince this was not happening, however.  It is also herself.  And it isn't working.  For Mimi's sake, she puts on a strong face and turns to Freyr and Sir L1-4MNT as they approach.  "Freyr.  Look after Mimi.  I have to get to my armor," she says, waiting for her handmaiden to accept the child, which doesn't happen immediately.

"Freyr!"

"I will not allow you to run off and get yourself killed out of some blind sense of justice!" Freyr retorts harshly, causing Meara to startle a bit.  She had not expected such a reply to her orders, and it makes her think more about what is going on than she wants.  "You cannot run away from what is happening by climbing into Brunhildr.  There is no honor in war.  It is not the glorious thing the tales claim.  Good people die.  Innocents suffer," Freyr says, staring directly into Meara's eyes, her sheer will holding the princess' gaze, "However, as much as I wish to deny it, you are the better pilot, while I am better on foot.  It is not safe here, and it is likely not safe out there, but right now, the safest place for this little girl is with you.  Sir L1-4MNT and I will come with you to get to the hangar.  I will help you both launch.  He will have to be your partner in this.  I know you can do this."

Freyr pulls Meara (and thus Mimi) into a tight hug, being much more familiar with Meara than her station allows, and not caring one bit.  "We are Valkyries.  We never fall in battle.  Now let's move.  Sir, follow my lead.  Her Highness can handle herself now.  Let's go."

Without waiting, Freyr moves forward to make herself useful as a scout and, if necessary, a distraction so that the two pilots and their precious cargo can follow more safely, with Sir L1-4MNT following as quickly as he is able.

Before Meara moves after them, she tells Mimi to hold on tightly and reaches out to grab a piece of debris floating in the air, then uses it to regretfully cut at her gown.  She had hoped to bring it home, but right now, it is only getting in the way.  With a few loud tears, her legs are free to move about, and she starts pushing off parts of the station in order to follow along with the others, heading in what she hopes is the direction of the hangar.

Mimi, for her part, holds on tightly and keeps her eyes tightly closed.

---

16:01, Today: Meara rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, -1, -1. +3 Zeal (Cat's Grace) - rapid, stealthy movement through the station to reach the hangar.
Total: 2

The route to the Armour Hangar takes the group through the Promenade where Meara, Freyr, and Mimi had gone on their shopping spree. The skylight that looks out upon the moon of Callisto and the massive figure of Jupiter looming in the distance allows in enough light to survey the damage. It is not at all like they remember. Shops are blown out or otherwise ruined and the beginnings of a makeshift triage center are taking shape.

The elevator to the lower levels is disabled as expected, but Freyr is able to scout your route down to the Hangar two levels below. You manage to reach it without much trouble. What you find there, however, is exactly that. The Hangar bay is under assault by Emergent drones. Knights and technicians alike exchange fire with the spider-like drones, nicknamed Widowmakers both as a nod to their form and their deadliness especially in large groups, while they try to prepare their Armours for launch.

OOC:
It's up to you how you want to proceed. You can engage the drones, try to sneak aboard, or any other idea that you have.

Mer-GN-W (Widowmaker Drone Brood)
Deadly Infiltrators
Stress: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Gwydion is obviously less than pleased about this arrangement, a terrible situation made worse. After the shock wears off and his dinnerplate eyes go back to normal size, he gives the senator a nod and looks to "Lativia". For her part, she regards him with a look of cool dispassion and pulls up the hem of her elegant dress, seemingly just to see the look of terror come back to his face. While the prince blushes furiously and with utter confusion, the Dame draws a small blaster from a holster on her thigh, getting an even more flustered look from him.

"Y-you brought a gun to a ball? It's a party! There's celebration and drinking and dancing and fun times! Why did you bring a weapon?" Lativia raises an eyebrow at his outburst. The others seem to try and ignore the commotion just a bit, though at least one of the aides had no qualms watching her draw the weapon.

"In case there was trouble. I've shown you mine. Where's your weapon, Earth boy?" While Gwydion sputters, she practically glides out of the room and into the hallway. One of the aides nods to him.

"Go on, your highness, we'll handle things here." The task ahead of him, Gwydion heads out after that horrible woman.

"Do you know what happened to...to the ballroom? There were a lot of good Knights in there, maybe we can contact them to mount a defense." He sets aside his worry over Iliza while moving down the corridor. It isn't right to worry about one life among so many here.

"No, I have no idea what happened to 'the ballroom.' I'm sure she's fine. We were discussing mercantile routes with Ambassador Milano. He's dead, though. In case it was important to you." There isn't a conversation this woman can't ruin.

"That's terrible, but it'll get worse if we can't stop these machines from taking the station apart. We just need to get to our Armours--"

"--to your Armour, Earth boy. Mine's no good after what you did to it. Either I stay on foot or we'll have to get real cozy in yours. But I'm sure you've other plans for that tight space, hm?" The whole situation has the blood draining from Gwydion's face, but every time Dame Scipii speaks, she seems to be putting it back. He gains another blush and makes sure not to look at her, focusing on their destination down the hallway.

"Fine. First we get to my Longsword, then I can provide you escort to...someplace. Power generators are likely hard to reach without protective gear by now, and my suit may not provide enough power to power the communications tower again..." He trails off as they turn another corner, and she picks up after a moment of silence.

"...Get me into the comm tower. I have an idea." Those words never come with an explanation that fills Gwydion with confidence. On the other hand, any idea is better than no idea at all.

[Trying to stealthily make his way to the Armour hangar. Presuming an Overcome roll, but could be Create Advantage if that's what we're doin'.

00:50, Today: Gwydion rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, -1, 0. Zeal +2.

+1 total!]

Gwydion and Dame Scipii find nearly all of the main corridors blocked or otherwise impassable, but they eventually locate a maintenance tunnel that runs down to the level of the Armour hangar. It's fairly cramped and made all the worse by the company and the occasional violent jarring of the station from the continuing attack.

Sounds of blaster fire grow louder as the Prince and the Saturnian get closer to the hangar. Another explosion rocks the station as Gwydion is opening the access hatch to exit the tunnel. Lativia Scipii slams into him and the two end up pressed together provocatively against the wall across from the maintenance hatch. "Maybe I should do Iliza the favor of breaking you in."

To make matters worse to Gwydion's right is a firefight in the hangar bay and not a dozen feet to his left stand Meara, Freyr, Mimi, and Sir L1-4MNT.

Emergent...

Brun had hoped for pirates;  them he understood.    Maybe even rogue Jovians out to splinter any unification attempts.  But,  Emergent...   That is something else entirely.   People can be bargained with.   Quarter may be asked and given.   But not from the machines.  This was now to the death.

He had faced them before,  in the Wreck.   They were brutal.   They were relentless.   But,  they were also predictable. Brun motioned for Irina to stay back and keep quiet.   The corridor was full of debris from the repeated assaults.   He found a good-sized chunk.   Tested its weight.  He then eyed the Drone again.   If he could get it to turn at just the right moment....

He threw the chunk.   It skittering and bounceddsudden noisily down the corridor across from them.  Brun immediately ducked back,  pressing himself into the wall.   The drone's sensor stalks snapped to alertness and it skittered quickly forward.   The sensor lightbeams swept every crevice as it dashed forward and turned towards the noise.

Predictable.

Brun quickly took aim at the less armored charging coupler at the rear of the drone as it was presented.

Create Advantage -  Literally The Oldest Trick In The Book - Total +4.

I went ahead assumed that would be enough to get at least one use.

Attack -  Blast Total +4.  I am willing to burn Fate as needed to one shot the drone.

23:49, Today: Brun rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, 0, 0. Attack -  Blast +1, +2 Boost,  +2 CA.
23:40, Today: Brun rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, -1, -1. Create Advantage -  Cunning +3, +2 Dirty Tricks

Brun's shot strikes the coupler and vaporizes the rear half of the drone. What remains of it releases from the ceiling and floats lifelessly in the corridor.

"There it is," Irina says a few minutes later as you reach the Central Control. The rest of the trek was, thankfully, drone free.

Irina produces a badge that she waves across a sensor, but the panel only issues an angry chime. She tries again. Once again the panel conveys its dissatisfaction with a harsh chime. She places her hand on the panel. Bnrrt. She types in an access code. Bnrrt. "Why isn't this working? It won't accept my credentials or my access code...uh don't tell Mother I have an access code." She tries entering the code again. Bnrrt."Apparently had an access code. We must get in."

OOC:
That will definitely pop the drone without need for a Fate Point. You spent your boost and your free invoke from the advantage, but the Dirty Tricks aspect will remain in play of course.

While Freyr and Sir L1-4MNT are warriors who used their heads and keep their wits about them for the purposes of analyzing combat and coming up with a tactical approach, Meara never was one for thinking too hard about, well, anything.  Instead, she does the first thing that comes into her head, which is usually crazy.  Doubly so as she's currently holding Mimi to her chest tightly with both arms.

So, as Freyr and Sir L1-4MNT move to support the technicians and aid them in repelling the drones, Meara uses her right arm to pull Mimi to her body more tightly as she grabs a piece of metal debris that has been blown free from the battle, pushes against the floor with all her might with both legs, and then dives headfirst into the battle full of projectiles, debris, and sharp pointy mechanical legs with hydraulic strength to move directly towards Brunhildr, do not pass Go, do not collect $200, instead use the debris to turn a drone from an unfeeling killing machine into a very non-functional machine that is perfect for pushing off of towards her armor in zero gravity.

All while screaming inappropriate battle cries such as "PSYCHO PRINCESS PROWESS!" and "GET BENT YOU WANKER!" and other such things that once Mimi processes the situation and recovers from the shock of the situation will quite want to write in her diary and later look up in the dictionary.

Freyr, for her part, grabs a blaster and does everything she can to keep Meara and Mimi alive, despite Meara's best efforts to the contrary.

---

23:35, Today: Meara rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, -1, 1. +3 Zeal (Create Advantage).  Using a fate point to activate Berserker Aspect
Total: 6 to Create Advantage - Psycho Princess Prowess
23:30, Today: Meara rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, 1, 0. +2 Melee (Pretty Princess SMASH).
Use boost from Advantage
Total: 4 to PRETTY PRINCESS SMASH

Meara delivers several heavy blows to the drones she passes, but none of them do more than merely stun the drones long enough for she and Mimi to sail by on their way to Brunhilder.

OOC:
09:13, Today: MerLN rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, 0, -1. Drone Defense vs. Meara. Zeal +1. Total: 2. Meara gets a boost.

You create your advantage with two free invokes.

You move one zone closer to Brunhilder, which is located on the far left side of the hangar.

         Left Near > Middle > Far (BH)
Entrance-|   (M&M)
 (Gw)    Right Near > Middle > Far (LS)

Brun kept an eye on the corridor as she made her attempt.   Knowing the Emergent were behind this had started his thoughts straying back to Euryleia.   The chaos of the initial assault had distracted him.   Irina's request had given him focus.   A light in a storm.   But now,  as more blasts ripped through the station,  he feared for her.   He longed to run to her, but he gave his word...

BNNRT

He snapped back to the now and tried to focus. He smiled,  just a bit as she asked him to not tell her mother.   "I will keep your secret,"  he offered,  tucking his blaster into his belt,  "If you will keep mine.  Watch the hall?" He took a breath and push down the rising fear for his Lady.  Do this.   Here and now.  Brun took a close look at the door panel,  brushing fingers along its seams.   There.   He pulled sharply and the panel popped free,  allowing him to get at its workings....

Burned FP to Reroll,  tagging Renounced Prince on the Edge.
Larceny Overcome - +2

23:44, Yesterday: Brun rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, 1, -1. Burn FP -  Reroll .
23:40, Yesterday: Brun rolled -3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, -1, -1. Overcome - Larceny +2.

This message was last edited by the player at 21:00, Wed 08 Apr 2015.

"This is the one place where the security systems are still working...and not to our benefit," Irina comments as she watches the corridor.

It takes Brun a few moments to work his magic, but soon the security door chimes its acceptance and opens. Open it will stay, since Brun's hasty hot wiring required him to force the security system to think that the door remains closed.

Irina taps Brun on the shoulder. "Uh, Sir Brun..."

Four drones are approaching down the corridor using their magnetic legs to move rapidly, ignoring the lack of gravity.

Central Control is filled with Holoscreens and several terminals that monitor the status of all the various sections and systems of Callisto Station.

A female technician--Rose the woman Brun met at a celebration a few nights before-- floats up to the Edge Knight and young Lady. "Oh think God. What's going on? I couldn't get out of here or into any of the systems. Everything has gone completely haywire. One moment everything was normal and the next, nothing. I've tried everything and I'm still locked out." An energy bolt from one of the drones flashes down the corridor. "Today is not a good day."

OOC:
Brun, you now have an incoming group of drones. Thankfully much fewer than in the hangar.

Mer-GN-W (Widowmaker Drone Brood)
Deadly Infiltrators
Stress: [ ] [ ]

"No,  it really isn't, " offers Brun as he urges Irina into the room as he turns to take cover by the door, " But,  perhaps the two of you could work on something to brighten the day?"  Another energy bolt flashes past,  forcing him to duck out of reflex.   He returns fire without giving much thought to aim,  just trying to force them to slow their advance.   "Anything would be great..."   He fires wildly again,  sparing a look into the hall,  "You are both brilliant... And our only hope at the moment... No pressure. "  He caught sight of a damaged relay junction in the path of the drones.   If he could hold out and let them get closer...

+4 To create Damaged Power Relay

23:49, Today: Brun rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, -1, 1. Create Advantage - Smithy +4 - Damaged Power Relay.

The drones continue advancing and while they aren't heavily armed the lack of gravity at the moment makes it all the more difficult to avoid their blaster fire

OOC:
Brun that's a success with style so you create Damaged Power Relay with two free invokes.

Drones move up one zone.

09:08, Today: MerLN rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, 1, 1. Widowmaker Drones Blast +1. Total: 3.

I don't think we need a map of the corridor since it's so simple, but the drones are now one zone away from you.
This message was last updated by the GM at 01:21, Fri 24 Apr 2015.

Almost there...

Brun continued to wait till the drones were in the right place,  scattering defensive fire back as he could.   Not that it did much versus the implacable drones.   They cared not at all for their own safety and skittering forward undaunted.   A rippling blast of fire managed to catch the Edge Knight before he could duck back into the hatchway's cover.   Burning tracks slashed across his side,  dragging a strangled cry of pain.   The blaster bolts seared the flesh neatly shut,  of course,  but the pain was tremendous.  Already his torn muscles tightened.

Hissing out his breath between clenched teeth,  he forced himself to brave the blaster fire again.  Cowering wouldn't save him.   Wouldn't save the others.  He knew his target.   He could only hope that they were close enough.  He squeezed the trigger...

Zeal Defense : -1,  4 point hit.   Soak with moderate consequence,  Blaster Burned (Burned FP to Reroll original Zeal roll,  Invoking Bulkhead Cover as he is taking cover and all.)

Blast Attack Roll : +1; +2 for free invoke,  +2 for Invoking I Will Survive Total : +5

21:26, Today: Brun rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, 0, 0. Attack -  Blast +1.
21:20, Today: Brun rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, 0, -1. Burn Fate -  Reroll.
21:19, Today: Brun rolled -4 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, -1, -1. Zeal +1 vs.  3.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:13, Thu 23 Apr 2015.

Brun's retaliating blaster fire strikes its mark and turns it into smoldering scrap. The rest continue rushing toward him undeterred, rearranging their formation in an attempt to overwhelm the Edge Knight.

OOC: 21:28, Today: MerLN rolled 3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 1, 1. Zeal +0 to avoid Brun's Blast. Total:3. Two Stress hit.

The drones move one zone into the zone with Brun and the damaged power relay.

21:52, Today: MerLN rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, 1, 0. Zeal +0. Create Advantage--Surrounded. Total: 1

Brun roll your defense against the CA then take your action.

Mer-GN-W (Widowmaker Drone Brood)
Deadly Infiltrators
Stress: [ ] [x]

Brun continued to use the hatchway for cover,  switching sides to keep up his defensive fire. It kept them from surrounding him anyway.    He gritted his teeth as he thudded into the bulkhead again,  trying to present the smallest target possible.   Their maneuvering bunched them up nicely though,  right near the relay.   He raised the blaster again,  taking a few quick snapshots.   Then settling on the relay with an aimed blast....

Defend total 2, grants me the free invoke off their CA attempt.

Attack roll (After rerolling,  invoking I Will Survive again)  -  0, +2 from free Power Relay invoke,  +2 from Bunched Up (From their failed CA),  +2 from invoking One Man's Junk... ,  because he knows exactly how damaged relays can get set off explosively due to painful experience.

Final Attack Total - +6

Can you hit more than one?   How does that work?

23:12, Today: Brun rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, 1, -1. Burn Fate -  Reroll.
23:11, Today: Brun rolled -3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, -1, 0. Attack -  Blast +1.
23:10, Today: Brun rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, 1, 0. Defend - Zeal +1 vs 1.

Brun's shot causes a huge overload of the damaged relay and the bunched up infiltrator drones are caught in the arc of electricity and plasma as the relay explodes. The remaining drones in the corridor are reduced to glowing slag.

Just as though it looks like the Widowmakers have been dealt with a small vent cover shoots away from the wall and spins across the gravity absent control room. Three more drones scurry out of the hole. One of them launches itself toward Irina and Rose while the other two turn toward Sir Brun.

OOC:
09:41, Today: MerLN rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, 1, -1. Zeal +0. Defense vs. Damaged Relay. Total: 1. 5-shifts of damage. 1-shift stress box. Moderate Consequence.


Mer-GN-W (Widowmaker Drone Brood)
Deadly Infiltrators
Stress: [x] [x]
Consequence: Reduced Numbers (Moderate)

10:04, Today: MerLN rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, 1, -1. Skulking +1. Create Advantage.  Fate Point to Invoke Deadly Infiltrators. Total: 3 Drone Interference.

Brun, you'll get a defense vs. that.

The drones are trying to prevent Irina and Rose's repair efforts while stopping Brun from helping them.

"Irina!"

Brun shouted the warning as he pushed up from the doorway.   He limped as quickly as he could,  throwing himself between the drones and the women.  He could see they were trying to stop them from resetting the systems.    He didn't matter.  Irina and Rose did.   They could save the station.    But,  he could give them as much time as he could before....   He blasted.   As fast he could manage.  Trying to keep them back.   Too many...

Defense Total - 4,  so the Created Advantage goes to me?  Call it Uncoordinated?
Attack Total - 5 (rolled 3, +2 for free invoke of Uncoordinated

As he is a Renounced Prince,  he feels he doesn't matter and will therefore throw himself into harm's way to keep them away from Rose and Irina.  Is that a Compel kind of thing?   How do we do that?

11:31, Today: Brun rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, 1, 0. Attack -  Blast +1.
11:25, Today: Brun rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, -1, 1. Defense -  Mark +2.

This message was last edited by the player at 15:48, Tue 05 May 2015.

Irina turns and tries to raise her blaster, but it is clear that she won't be able to get a shot off before the Emergent reaches her. Brun flings himself through the room despite his injury and blasts the drone in mid-leap before it can reach it's target. He turns and fires on the other two drones as they close on him. Sputtering and sparking drone wreckage tumbles through the gravity-less central control room.

"Thank you, Sir Brun," Irina says clearly a bit shaken, but returns to work.

"I don't understand," she shouts after a few more moments of entering things into the console. There is a some sort of encryption locking her out of the computer system. She is trying to break the encryption using various mathematical functions, but nothing is working. And it won't, Brun realizes. This cypher isn't one based on mathematics. It's visual. It's an old pirate trick, the cypher is based not on a mathematical algorithm, but rather the understanding of certain points of reference based upon a user's understanding a particular holoimage, the crest of a particular pirate band, for instance. Easy to solve as long as you know what holoimage was used to create the cypher, nearly impossible if you don't. But Emergent don't use this encryption technique, which means...

OOC:
Yea, we'll say you get the Uncoordinated aspect against the drones. One free invoke, which you used.

Definitely a compel thing. Have a Fate point. We'll say that Brun has drawn the full attention of all the drones and they'll attack him instead.

11:57, Today: MerLN rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, -1, 1. Zeal +0. Defend vs. Brun's Attack. Difference of 5. They could take a severe consequence, but they're all but defeated anyway, so I think Brun has taken them out. Great Job!


Brun, roll Smithy vs. 4 to crack the cypher.

"Think nothing of it..."

Brun tries to sound non-chalant as he kicks away the last twitching drone.  A useless gesture which only earned him a new stab of pain.  At Irina's frustration, he limps closer and tries to get a look at her work.  The answer comes easy to his ill-trained eye.  Worse, the pain and rush of battle conspire to make him more honest about his past than he usually is.

"Its an image based encryption.  That's why your breakers aren't working.  Which is exactly why we used them on the Shadow King.  May I?"  It barely registers that he just admitted to having been aboard a notorious pirate vessel, but also indicated he may have been a part of that scurrilous collective.  He steps to the computer and begins running back trace filters, trying to build a composite of the code image from the transmission buffers.  As he works, he adds, "I've also never heard of the Emergent using such cyphers..."

Overcome result - 4; a tie, which is succeed at cost. Which I accept.

I am also hoping for another compel making Brun's problems worse by his brief piracy slip.  Either off Renounced Prince or Blaster Burned

01:29, Today: Brun rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, 0, 1. Overcome - Smithy +4 vs 4.

Brun manages to crack the encryption and an image resolves itself briefly on the screen before flickering out. The Crest of House Hyle.

Irina is completely shocked. "That's...those Cowards." There's no time to dwell on it, however, as the computer lockout ceases and dozens of warnings flood the holoscreen. Irina begins working and within moments there is a thrum as emergency lights come back online.

Brun's slip seems to have been lost on Irina as she works to do what she can to bring systems back online and begin damage control. Rose's demeanor, however, has shifted dramatically. She regards Brun coldly, jaw set.

"There's so much damage. I've got life support back, and the anti-fire measures, but no gravity yet. Main power is only as 37%. Severed conduits everywhere. Auxilary generators still all offline. Station defenses at 11%. Almost entirely gone. Internal sensors are largely undamaged and should gi--" Irina falls silent. The holoscreen displays a bevy of information regarding the station, and though the system has a few blind spots where damage is most severe it gives a good idea of the station's current situation. "That...no...no...it can't be..."

It only takes Brun's discerning attention a moment to find what has shaken Irina so badly.

APPROX POP: 18000

Callisto station and its surrounding holding have a population closer to 25,000, and that's not counting the influx of people on the station for the tournament.

OOC:
Oh, that's definitely a compel for sure. Have a fate point.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:27, Tue 12 May 2015.

Still very much on a blind, unwavering path to her armor, Meara continues to use aggressively percussive assistance in her zero gravity movement along the corridor.  With her eyes on the prize, as it were, she pushes off the railing and goes into a free drift towards the front entrance hatch to Brundhildr.  All she cares about is making it to her armor and getting in, unconsciously trusting Freyr and the others to give her proper cover so she can safely make it past the drones.

Freyr and Sir L1-4MNT, for their parts, take a much wiser approach and continue assisting the techs in fighting back against the drones.  L1-4MNT moves over to what little cover the techs have managed to find in order to render what assistance he can to them, while Freyr finally notes the appearance of Gwydion and Scipii.  Not wanting the two of them to get hit before they can take any actions, she calls out, "Get behind cover!"  Seeing their expressions and positions, she momentarily blushes before she quickly adds, "Your Highness, if you are even half as crazy as she is, there won't be a better time than now to get to your armor.  Madame, if you could be so kind as to assist me in providing covering fire, we just may get through this after all."

OOC:
Meara (and by extention, Mimi) is moving - and moving, and moving, and moving.  And also hopefully not getting shot and/or stabbed by drones.
Using the boost and 1 free invoke of Psycho Princess Prowess
03:21, Today: Meara rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, -1, -1. +3 Zeal, +2 Psycho Princess Prowess, +2 Boost (Zoom zoom!).
Uh... Fate point reroll!
03:21, Today: Meara rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, 0, -1. +3 Zeal, +2 Psycho Princess Prowess, +2 Boost (Zoom zoom!).
Wow.  WOW.
Total: +6

Advantages:
Psycho Princess Prowess (1 free invoke)

The pair slams into the ground and bounce right off. Still no gravity. Gwydion can barely process all that's going on; flashing lights are probably weapons, yelling is certainly survivors, and...oh damn. Scipii's voice somehow manages to pierce through the haze and sink directly into his brain, jarring him back to full awareness. He has enough presence of mind to push her away without letting her go, since sending her floating helplessly in some random direction will likely get her killed, and he couldn't have that on his conscience, even if she doesn't have one of those herself.

"Freyr!" That makes it both better and worse. Maybe she saw things the way he did. Maybe she didn't. "Meara's here?"

A quick glance around shows him a glimpse of the blur that is his cousin, and he can't decide whether to smile or panic. She's either going to clear the hangar without a scratch or get herself killed. Either way she needs backup. With a quick nod to Freyr, Gwydion turns to the Knight with him. There isn't anything else to push off of at the moment, and he needs to get moving towards his Armour.

"Cover me, we're getting you to that comm tower." The look on Lativia's face alone when she realizes he's about to use her as a stepping stone makes the situation a little more bearable, and she goes flying into the wall behind her while Gwydion flies into danger.

[Zeal, either Overcome or Defense to get to the armour without incident.

16:13, Today: Gwydion rolled -3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, -1, 0. Zeal +2.

Ha. Oh die roller, you so crazy. Fate Point, invoking Louder Than Words for a reroll.

16:14, Today: Gwydion rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, -1, 0. Zeal +2, Reroll.

...Yep. Gonna spend another Fate Point to invoke Saturn's Sexy Striker representing cover. That brings me to +1. Not doing quite as well as Meara. :P]

Dame Scipii's cold demeanor breaks into a flash of anger, which immediately cools back down to address Freyr.

"I can't stay, we have a different plan." She pushes off the wall to follow after the prince. As she zig-zags to solid surfaces, she lets off bursts of gunfire while braced, preventing the shots from careening her out of control.

Oh no...

Brun read the figures again,  as though it would help.   Nothing changed.   So many gone.  He pulled himself back from the hotels edge and rounded on Irina,  trying to make eye contact.   Make her listen.   "Irina,  focus.   There are still people who need us.   Defenses are down.   We need to buy time for everyone who can to evacuate.   What can we do to give them that time?"   He glanced quickly to Rose,  hoping for her expert opinion as well.

Thanks to the percussive propulsion of laying waste to any drones that come within reach and Freyr's precsion covering fire that deflects or outright fries any drones that the Princess doesn't manage to hit, Meara and Mimi reach Brunhildr unharmed. And not a moment too soon—the gravity comes back online. Had it been even a few seconds quicker, the princess and her young charge would have fallen a distance of amost two stories. Moments later, lights come on, but they are dim at best.

Brunhildr recognizes her Knight and the cockpitch hatch opens automatically. The stand-by systems come online and welcome Meara.

---

Irina tries to compose herself and considers Brun's suggestion, "And send them where, Sir Brun? The Station is swarmed with Emergent Combat Forms. All the docked vessels have been crippled or destroyed and any we launch will meet the same fate. I agree our only hope is evacuation, but that would require that we first clear out the Emergent, yet there's no hope of that without defenses or deploying our forces. The Armour bay is currently under attack by Infiltrators. No Armours have been launched though most of them seem to be intact. Lets pray the same can be said of their Knights. I cannot get out a message for aid. The long-range communications arrays must be damaged or destroyed."

Rose speaks up,"We could try to reconfigure the navigational beacons to allow us to send a message in the local system. But, even if I could get a message out, would aid reach us in time?"

---

The Comms tower awaits in a compartment just above the Armour bay. This particular tower usually functions as the control station for Callisto station's local ship traffic. After a hard kick off of a wall it is rapidly rushing closer to Prince Gwydion, but then it suddenly recedes. Gwydion is falling. A walkway breaks his fall, but thankfully not his bones. Dame Scipii manages to land a little more gracefully, right on top of the Prince. The second compromising position in less than two minutes. "A chance to change your mind. My, aren't you a lucky one?" Without rising off of Gwydion she raises her weapon and blasts a drone.

A battle rages all around the two of them. The Comms tower waits above, but from here on they'll need to travel on foot.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:41, Thu 01 Oct 2015.

Once again,  Brun is caught off guard by Irina's ability to weather the storm. He gave a single nod,  "Easy choice then.  We fight."   To Rose,  he adds,  "Keep that in mind,  but our first priority needs to be the Armors."  His Lady flashed to mind.   The bay under attack.  Euryleia was there.   She needed him.   Brun blinked,  trying to clear his head and get back to the task.   He hoped the two women wouldn't notice the sudden break in thought.   He turned towards the screens,  trying to think,  "They must be there...   If they could get there,  they'll be there.   Let's assume the Knights are there and trying to get the Armors into the fight.  Can we bring up the bay?  Reinitialze defenses there?   I remember some maintenance drones...   Anything."  He began to attack the controls and hoped the others would join in.

Smithy roll is a 3.  Dunno if this is Overcome to bring things online or Create Advantage for the Bay or what.  He is trying to focus on helpingthe Armor Bay,  if possible. e   Will tag Euryleia is my Everything to add +2.

Total -  +5

01:29, Today: Brun rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, -1, 0. Smithy +4.

This message was last edited by the player at 05:32, Thu 28 May 2015.

At this point Gwydion is almost getting used to this, and he seems a bit more frustrated with her than as shy as he had earlier. He looks in the direction of her target, then glances down at the ground beneath the catwalk. He'd completely overshot the Longsword, and there's no getting back there now. They'll have to press on without the Armour for protection. If gravity's coming back online, maybe power is returning to the comm system! But that means...

"Come on, we have to move. They'll be converging on the comm tower once they realize power's coming back up, keep us from calling for help. Whatever your plan is, we don't have time to play your games." Scipii casts a frown down at him and easily shifts off of him, reaching out a hand to pull him to his feet. As she does, she shoots a look down at his pristine Armour, too fast for Gwydion to notice.

"Fine. I was going to need your Armour's power core to send a burst transmission, but this will be much easier now." She turns and continues on toward the comm center.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:30, Thu 28 May 2015.

Landing as if she'd always known the gravity was going to come back on, Freyr quickly dashes to cover and continues to fire, waving Gwydion and Scipii over to her position of cover.  "She's made it, so I can cover you now!  Just give me a heads up before you- NOW IS NOT THE TIME!" she calls over, glancing in their direction just in time to see the compromising position once again but not quite being able to hear their talk over the sounds of battle.

Further along the path to the tower, Sir L1-4MNT lets out a curse as he falls onto a catwalk and sprains one of his arms, not having the time to readjust himself properly.

Meanwhile, Meara tosses aside the metal pole she'd ben using as a weapon and quickly climbs in the cockpit and closes the hatch.  She sits down in the pilot's seat and hesitating when she remembers that she's still holding Mimi.  The restraints for the armor are designed specifically for just the pilot, and the inertial dampeners can still only do so much.

But there's no time for that.

"Mimi, I'm going to need you to listen to me and do as I say, okay?" she says, gently holding the sides of Mimi's head and making sure they maintain eye contact, "I am going to strap myself in and start up my armor.  You need to sit in my lap after I strap in and pull the center strap over your lap so I can at least keep you in place when I launch.  After that, I'm going to need you to grab hold of my shoulder straps and hold on as best you can.  We're going to take out the enemy in here so that everyone else can launch, then take the fight outside the station and destroy all the evil monsters we can.  Can you do that?"

Mimi nods, and the two of them quickly go about strapping in and running the pre-flight checks to launch Brunhildr.

Outside, Brunhildr's head lifts up and her external gravity emitters begin to glow, signalling that she's finally activating and the counterattack can begin.

This starts with her thrusting out her arm to impale a drone on the freshly extended Lævateinn Blade.

OOC:
01:22, Today: Meara rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, -1, 0. +4 Armor (Emergency Startup).
Total: 3
01:22, Today: Meara rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, -1, 0. +4 Mark (Let's kick some butt).
Total: 4 (for initiative purposes)
01:23, Today: Meara rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, 0, -1. +2 Melee, +2 Lævateinn Blade (+4).
Total: 3 (or 1 if they're fast enough) to utterly demolish a drone that can be fought on foot with an armor-grade weapon

Advantages:
Psycho Princess Prowess (1 free invoke)

Rose points to a console near Brun, "That one there should allow you to key in on the Armour Bay's systems and see what is online and what isn't. You could probably patch in to the Maintenance Bots and teleoperate one."

While Brun works, Irina brings up the feed from the Armour Bay onto the Central Screen "Look There! The Princess Meara has reached her armour. And there! Prince Gwydion is fighting his way to...the traffic comm relay. Apparently, he's had the same idea. Perhaps with can get a message through to him."

OOC: That roll there will definitely let you take advantage of the Maintenance Bots. What would you like to do with them?

---

Mimi nods and follows Meara's instructions to the letter. She sits in Meara's lap as the Knight pulls her neurohelm on and prepares for combat.

She lashes out with her blade with surgical precision, catching the Infiltrators while sparing men and equipment. She clears a path and Knights board Armours while technicians continue to get the read to launch.

OOC: You caught on quick. There's going to be a -2 penalty to hit the drones in the Armour Bay with your Armour. For one thing they are very small compared to your armor, which is three stories tall. They drones are only the size of a medium-sized dog. Also, you can't really go all-out and either because there are a lot of people in here whom you could hurt. You could ignore that to remove the penalty, but you'd do collateral damage.

That said, because your weapons are so big any hit is going to do extra shifts of damage, representing you taking them out in swaths if you can hit them.

12:16, Today: MerLN rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, 0, -1. Drones Zeal +0 vs. Meara. -1 vs. 1

Meara hit by 2-shifts after the penalty. She would normally deal 2 stress, but instead deals four

---

The communicator on Gwydion's belt crackles "Pr...dion...sis Irina...can..ear me?"

It takes several seconds for the garbled transmission to resolve itself, all the while Emergent Drones turn their attentions toward the Prince and the Saturnine Bodyguard.

"Prince Gwydion, this is Irina. Can you hear me? Prince Gwydion, we are unable to send a message for aid from here. We think we may be able to reconfigure the navigation beacons to send out a short range transmission. We need you to reach the Traffic Comm Tower near the armour bay. Can you do it?"


It might be best to represent them this way for the sake of ease:
Armour Bay Emergent Forces
[x] [x] [x] [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
When the shifts are gone, they are gone. These won't take consequences. Meara will deal double the normal number of shifts in damage if she hits, but is at a -2 for purposes of determining if she does hit. She hit by two shifts that time which is doubled to four.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:43, Wed 19 Aug 2015.

In the Armor Bay,  suddenly,  maintenance drones activate and begin hurling themselves at the Emergent forces.  Automated gantries and cargo carts begin moving as well.   Everything seems to be pushing and blockading the Emergent drones to some overall plan.

Static cuts through Brunhildr's comms and slowly resolves into a voice,  "Princ... Prin... Me..  Era.  This is Brun.  I have control of the automated Bay systems and an attempting to herd some targets together for you.   Targeting data coming through."   Brun feeds the Venusian Armor his tactical readout,  displaying the likeliest and safest groups to face the fury of an Armor Awakened.

Meara - Free invokes to you.   Knock 'em down.

 Brun starts to work at creating more mayhem,  but catches sight of his own Armor.   He takes time he doesn't have to scan her and look her over.   He has to make sure she has been left alone...

Give up action for Brun to check on his beloved.   Euryleia is my Everything.

Gwydion reaches for his communicator as the pair hurry down the catwalk toward the comm center. Down below, the fight rages on, and he's noticed that there are Emergent forces close by who've taken notice of the easier prey.

"Irina! So glad to hear your voice. Dame Scipii and I are on our way there now. She has a plan, but won't tell me what it is. I'll see about sending out the call for help, but it won't do much good if we can't hold them off for some time. Hours, maybe. Does your father have allies nearby who aren't on the station itself?" Scipii blasts a nearby killer robot on an adjoining catwalk, and the pair rush past it. She's an astoundingly good shot; rather than destroying them, which would take considerable firepower, she's merely slowing them down enough to remove their immediate threat. Taking out a leg here or a sensor there has been keeping their path relatively clear.

They head out of the hangar, with Gwydion taking one last glance at his Armour behind him. The door closes on the grasping pincer of an Emergent drone, and Scipii blasts the grasping appendage apart so the door can seal properly.

"Keep moving, we can't help from here." The halls are lit again, but that's little comfort. As they pass by doors and hallways, they each check around corners to keep surprises to a minimum.

"Lady Irina suggests we can reconfigure the nav beacons to send a distress call. I don't suppose that was the idea all along?" The question earns no response. With a frustrated sigh, he decides it's better to move in silence rather than risk summoning the monsters.

Finally, the pair reaches the comm tower. From what they can gather, the Emergent are starting to head for it. Apparently they picked up the plan with Irina, or maybe they just guessed it would be the logical destination for the humans once power was restored. Either way, Scipii tossed her gun to the prince.

"I'm setting up a burst message packet to disrupt the Emergent network. Keep 'em off me until I'm done." Gwydion catches the weapon and watches blankly as the other Knight turns and quickly starts adjusting things on the console. That sentence didn't make any sense. A few seconds to process the thought, and the prince takes a step toward her.

"You're going to do what? We need help, and you're--" "--Stopping the Emergent dead in their tracks so our forces can rally, rather than having to hold out against them for hours at full force. If we call for help, we won't need it. By the time it arrives, we'll be dead or victorious. What we need is an edge, and this is it. They're almost here, get shooting."

That is hard logic for Gwydion to argue with, as much as he wants to, if only out of spite. After burning into the back of her head with a vicious glare for a few more seconds, Gwydion turned to slow down the advancing drones. He grabbed the communicator again.

"Lady Irina, Gwydion here. We're not calling for help. We're going to knock out the Emergent. Some backup would be lovely, if possible."

[01:44, Today: Gwydion rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, 1, 1. Blast +0.

End result of +2! :D If I need more, I'll spend a Fate Point to invoke Louder Than Words, as Gwydion faces Pretty Much Certain Death with just a pistol, rather than arguing the point.]

With Brun feeding her telemetry Meara continues targeting the drones in the armour bay. Brunhildr crushes those she contacts, but they are small and agile. It is a testament to Meara's ability as a pilot that she is able to strike them with such precision.

A contingent of drones takes notice of Gwydion and Lativia and turn their attentions toward them. Gwydion makes short work of them with his borrowed blaster.

Brun uses the maintenance bots to funnel the emergent into a tight kill box allowing Brunhildr's point defense system and blaster fire from Gwydion, Sir L1-4MNT, Freyr, and others to shred the remaining drones. The Technicians and Knights of House Gehenmis work swiftly to get their Armours' online.

OOC:
Brun have a Fate point for playing up your aspect.

23:45, Today: MerLN rolled -3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, -1, -1. Defense Zeal  +0 vs. Gwydion. Five shifts.

Brun, I'm giving your invokes to Gwydion instead. That'll fry them all. So seven shifts.

Armour Bay Emergent Forces
[x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

You bought Dame Scipii the time she needed alright.

Knock out the Emergent?

Brun tried very hard to understand quite what they might mean by that as he continued to coordinate the robotic systems through the mop-up phase in the Armory.  He glanced at Irina to see if she had any idea what that might mean.  Clicking on the communicator, he repeated, "Knock out the Emergent from the comm tower?  All of them?  How..."  He cut himself off.  Now was not really the time to go second guessing someones plan.  If it worked, great.  If it didn't, it wasn't like he had any better ideas now.  "Right.  Rerouting power to you to boost the signal.  Try to narrow the frequency modulation to the nth-bands and utilize these code tags..."  He began rattling off alphanumerics to allow their burst to utilize the broken cipher.  It would be easier with a direct connection, but one made do.  He glanced again to Irina as he set to work on the damaged systems, "I don't know what we still have, but let's get them whatever we can.  A plan like this...sounds like a one-off."

  So, I got a 3 Total for my part in the skill challenge.  Is that enough?  Willing to burn some Fate to see it through!

12:57, Today: Brun rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, 0, 1. Smithy +4 to Overcome(?).

As he looked over at Irina and Rose, Brun realized that they were still trapped in this control room.  Sooner or later, more drones would be coming.  After the pulse, they wouldn't be much use here.

He needed his Lady...  And she needed him.

Brun quickly began setting up remote access and bringing Euryleia online.  He keyed the comm over to Meara's channel again, "Meara...  I assume you are about to make your exit and take the fight outside?  I'm bringing my Lady online now.  I can fly her to me, but she will need an escort.  Thereafter, we would be glad to join your battle."

The hallways on both sides were slowly filling with approaching Emergent drones. Behind Gwydion, Dame Scipii was rapidly typing into various consoles, plugging away with some sort of arcane codes the Prince didn't recognize, and combining that with telemetry data from Brun and his companions. All Gwydion had to do was buy time. He wasn't nearly as good a shot as he was with a blade, but this was no duel. This was war.

A series of blaster shots fired off into the wall of shifting steel, and some of the metal monstrosities slowed down while others took their place. A few were taken out, but ten more approached. And then there were the ones coming from the other side. This was quickly becoming insurmountable. Panic began to set in, and his brain started racing for something else to try.

A couple of quick shots sparked off of the door they'd come out of on the path from the hangar, and the doorway melted enough for the drones on the other side to burst through, right into their allies in the hallway. That bought a few seconds while they tried to untangle from each other. On the other side, Gwydion shot close enough to the ceiling for the fire suppression systems to activate, drizzling the hallway in a light downpour of water. It wouldn't help much in the way of killing the drones, but Gwydion took the opportunity to blast the ground a few times and sent up a wall of steam that would impair their visual sensors. Another few moments bought.

"I hope you're almost ready, Scipii, because we are just about out of time!"

"Focus, your highness." Even without adding her attitude, she could still make that sentence sound like an insult. The Prince took his frustration and fired another wall of blaster shots into the closer of the two groups of Emergent, taking out a few before one from the other group appeared out of the steam right beside him. There was no way he could stop that one, and he simply stuck his blaster into its sensor module as it brought up a clawed appendage to rip him open.

The lights went out, all of them at once. Even the red lights on the Emergent "heads". The drone about to kill him slowly sank to the ground. The sprinklers trickled to a stop, and all was silent for a brief moment. Then the lights came back up and Gwydion immediately unloaded a few blaster rounds into the Emergents' head. It hadn't started moving, but he was jumpy. The others weren't moving, either. Just the station's power.

Lativia came up behind him and pointed to a doorway.

"Come on, flyboy. Let's get you back to your Armour before these things wake up." Now behind her, Gwydion had started breathing again.

"How did you--?" "It won't last long, get moving!" She was way ahead of him, and he started moving to catch up. They'd need to take a different route back, but at least nothing was actively trying to kill them anymore.

“What just...?” Rose begins to ask when the remaining power surges, but the strain must have been too much for the damaged conduits, all of the monitoring and input consoles cease responding.

”This cannot be happening,” Irina says incredulously. She had only just triggered the evacuation alert. She is silent for a moment as she surveys the state of the now inoperable consoles, ”There's nothing more we can do from here. If the people aboard this station are to have a chance to survive this, we must act quickly. We must evacuate the station. I will do what I can to coordinate the evacuation from aboard your armour, Sir Brun.”

Euryleia comes online at Brun's command and accepts the autopilot coordinates for the docking ring closest to central command, which somehow has remained intact.

The remaining Emergent lying on the ground twitch spasmatically, stunned  but not completely destroyed. They offer no resistance to the Prince and his Saturnine companion, and quick blaster shots put an end to them before they can recover.

Gwydion finds his Longsword more or less in the state he had left it. It is clear that his technicians had been working to repair it before they had been forced into a firefight for their lives.

All around the Bay, Armours begin to come to life. The remaining Knights of House Gehenmis and even those contestants in the tournament board their Armours and prepare to do what they can to defend Callisto Station.

Brunhildr and Euryleia approach one of the still functioning airlocks and after a tense few moments the lock cycles and the two launch into the darkness of space.

Meara finally gets a sense of just how many emergent are present as her HUD fills with enemy IFF tags. Whatever Gwydion and his Saturnine friend had done left the Emergent unresponsive, at least for the moment, but very much alive.

OoC: Okay guys, the Emergent are effective stunned for a bit, but they aren't down indefinitely. It's all you.

Assume that Meara and Euryleia are able to rendezvous with Brun et al without problem so that we can get rolling.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:17, Thu 01 Oct 2015.

As the airlock is greenlit, Brun cracks it and leads the way into the cramped cockpit of his Armor.  He moves quickly to stow tools he had left out and secure opened panels.  He hated for his Lady to be seen in such a state, but such is war.  As Rose and Irina stepped in, an alarm blared and a small defensive blaster swung to take aim.

Euryleia's computerized voice intoned, "UNAUTHORIZED LIFE FORMS DETECTED.  DEFENSIVE MEASURES ENGAGED."

Brun spun around, "No!  My darling, stand down.  They are our guests.  Rose, Irina, this is Euryleia.  Please greet them politely."

The blaster swung back into its compartment, "Acknowledged.  Defensive measures disengaged.

Brun rolled his eyes a little and began pulling off the outer layers of his now ragged party outfit, "Excuse her.  She does not like strangers.  Now, we don't often have guests so find what space you can and try to hold on."  With no flight suit ready, he would need to remove even his undershirt to allow the neural link-ups to attach.  He did his best to ignore the fact that he was now mostly naked in a very cramped room with two women who were still relative strangers.

As always, needs must.

Into the control armatures he went, pulling down the flight visor and stepping into the leg harnesses.  As he got rigged, he ordered, "Euryleia.  Take a scan and begin prioritizing our target field.  We have a lot of work to do."

Total of 4 to Create Advantage Marked Targets

15:25, Today: Brun rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, 0, 0.  Create Advantage- Marked Targets - Mark +2.

Gwydion had never been happier to see his Longsword, and didn't notice Scipii's cold stare as he entered and powered up the Armour. She, meanwhile, had no such engine of destruction of her own to enter, thanks to the Prince's rough treatment of hers during their match.

"I'll make sure you have a place to dock when you're done." Without another word, the Knight went off to help the technicians secure the hangar. Gwydion took his opportunity and started plotting a route back to where he'd left the Baron. Top priority was making sure the station's leader was alive and well. After that, he'd find his way back to Iliza. Last he saw her, she'd been in a room full of some of the most capable Knights in the system. Gwydion held onto that source of hope as he moved out in a burst of speed.

The Longsword's energized blade cut through as many drones as he could as he came across them without slowing down. He didn't know how long they would be inoperative, and couldn't risk stopping to destroy each one. The least he could do before reaching his destination was to thin their numbers to something more manageable and press on.

[If it's possible to travel through the station's corridors, Gwydion's doing that. If not, he's making his way to the airlock and finding a way back into the station closer to the Baron and the ballroom.

13:56, Today: Gwydion rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, -1, 0.  Attack, Melee +3.

Ew. Alright, spending Fate Points! Invoking Young Knight of Avaluna, Louder Than Words, and Energy Gunblade (everything's an aspect, after all) for +6 to the roll, bringing me to +4 total with 4 FP left. Yeesh.]
This message was last edited by the player at 21:00, Tue 22 Sept 2015.

Euryleia flashes up dozens of target designations and begins to prioritize them first by proximity and then by combat role. Each target is an Emergent combat form. Most are of the serpentine Mer-GN-B “Basilisk” designation though a small portion are the heavier Mer-GN-C “Cerberus” designation. One thing is clear, there are enough Emergent to wipe out Callisto Station, and with the station's defenses all but gone, and the station itself critically damaged, why hadn't they? Euryleia's IFF indicator blips as Gwydion's Longsword streaks through the darkness, but it is heading along the station rather than toward the enemy.

From outside the station it is easy for both Gwydion and Brun to see just how badly the station has been damage. Whole sections have been exposed to space and bodies tumble lifelessly in the void. Sensors indicate that a few small fires still burn inside where the countermeasures had been too damaged to deal with them.

Gwydion cuts through a Basilisk which had been unlucky enough to drift into his flight path once it had been stunned.   It's death throes noiselessly light up the void as the Longsword passes.

The Longsword's sensors are able to locate an operable airlock near the main observation deck. Assuming Senator Claudius and his retinue hadn't gone far with the Baron this would be the best place to search for them.

OOC:
Brun, you get a free invoke on Marked Targets.

Gwydion you killed an emergent combat form on the way to your destination.

Meara, if you want to jump back in, now presents an excellent time.

Brun settled the out-dated, patched neurohelm onto his head.  He closed his eyes for a moment as the link initialized.  When his eyes reopened, he took in the view around the station through his lady's eyes.  Targeting priorities lit up the sky.

Euryleia/Brun's head turned to watch Gwydion's Longsword sweep by as the ill-made Armor disconnected from the lock with a sudden lurch.  His friend had a mission, best leave him to it.  Once clear of the station, Euryleia's disruption foils snapped into position.

"My lady.  Let's dance."

Brun and his lady whirled into a furious melee, seeking to do as much damage as possible before the enemy recovered.  Foils rose and slashed.  The Quiverpack swiveled as targets were assessed, sending missiles screaming into the void.

Attack! +4 Total; burned free invoke, spent FP to tag I Will Survive

00:20, Today: Brun rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, -1, 1.  Attack!  Melee +1.

"Brun, good to see you back in the fight where we belong. I've got to get to the dignitaries and make sure they're safe. You and your lady coordinate Knights out here, okay?" It didn't occur to Gwydion that many Knights might not listen to Brun on account of his status. All that mattered was he'd had the most information on the station's current situation. For his part, Gwydion zoomed by and moved to the airlock closest to the Senator and Baron's last known location. His biggest concern was that he might have to leave the relative safety of his Armour to get back into the station. That wasn't as important as making sure the others were safe, though. Besides, now the Knights had a real chance of fighting back, and more of them were getting their Armours launched. This was the best he could have hoped for.

[Creating an Advantage for Brun using Chivalry. Acknowledging the other Knight's capability, regardless of status, should hopefully give him some confidence. And perhaps someone else caught the comm and was impressed as well.

23:25, Today: Gwydion rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, 1, 0.  Create Advantage, Chivalry +3.

Total +3]

Brun and his Lady dance the dance of death into the enemy ranks. Euryleia's disruption foils pierce the enemies' thick armored skin and her quiver pack rains destruction on them. Targets indicators flicker out as pilot and armour do their work.

Meara and Brunhilder join the fray, and soon other armours launch from the crippled station. Knights of House Gehenmis and even those nights who competed in the tournament whose armours are still combat-ready. Freyr and even Sir L1-4MNT are among them. Target indicators begin to wink out with increased speed.

A nearby Gladius suddenly explodes. The Cerebus combat form that destroyed it turns it's sights on Euryleia. Warnings flash on Brun's HUD. The Emergent are beginning to shake off their paralyzed state and turn their weapons toward the attackers.

"We follow your lead, Sir." Sir L1-4MNT broadcasts over an open channel.

OOC:

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem (Two free invokes for Brun)

---

The interior of the station is still littered with debris, but most of the fires are out and artificial gravity is still functioning. Gwydion finds the Senator's party under attack by Infiltrators. Crouched behind cover, the Senator and the Baron, now awake, are both alive and firing weapons, though the group is without two of the aides that Gwydion remembers when he left them.

The space was cramped. This was no place for Armour. Even so, Gwydion was at an advantage in the larger machine than he'd be on foot trying to fight off the newly awakened Emergent. With little room for a proper fight, the Prince had to come up with a less traditional means of attack.

He set his shield on the ground and rested his sword's blade on the top of it, like sighting a rifle. Energy charge from his power core flowed through the gunblade and lashed out as focused beams at the attacking combat forms.

[Using my Energy Gunblade to allow Melee to be used in place of Blast at such a close range. Pew pew pew! Paint my Armour green and call me Link.

14:25, Today: Gwydion rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, 0, -1.  Attack, Melee +3.

Total +3]

Brun's eyes widened behind the neurohelm's visor as he tried to process the Prince's words.  Coordinate the Knight's out here?  Who'd follow me?  Only to have Sir L1-4MNT answer the unsaid question.

Thinking as quickly as he can manage, he dances his Lady nimbly around the charging Cerebus.  The foils dive and strike as it roars past, tearing long gashes in its armor.  By the time it can manage to turn back, Euryleia has sprinted off deeper into the fray.

"My Lady, transmit our "Wraith" countermeasure to the other Knight's systems.  Modulate it to the Z-band, along with..."  Brun rattles off code commands, even as he pilots through the hell storm erupting outside.  The Warding Matrix on his Armor flashes and flares at it absorbs or re-directs hits that manage to slip past their guard.

"Knights!  I am sending you new ECM protocols that should play merry hell with the enemy's sensors.  They may outnumber us, but they will see the reverse.  Tournament Knights, try to lead the fight away from the station.  House Guard, pick off the stragglers and try to clear the evacuation points."

The ECM protocol was one he had often used to create multiple sensor ghosts to confound enemies.  Modifying it to use the exploit he and Irina had discovered should make it that much more effective.  At least, Brun hoped so.  His Lady brandished her foils and spiralled into the fray as her sensor ghosts began splitting off all around her.

I know I know.  Another Create Advantage.  I'll start rolling attacks next round.  Promise!  But, I needed to have a "plan" and give commands and stuff.  So there.

Create Advantage - A Ghost of a Chance - Cunning - Total 5

Everything is going wrong.

Bodies of the innocent floated in space, their expressions of horror frozen upon their faces forever.  Places that should have been full of revelers are open to the vacuum of space.  There are so many dead.

So many dead who could not fight back.  Who had no chance to fight back.

There is no glory in this.  No glory at all.

As Meara finally allows herself to gaze upon the scene before her, now full of Knights and Emergent in mass combat, she feels herself try to retreat from everything.  But she can't do it.  Not now.  Not with Mimi watching.

Mimi.

The little girl who was supposed to be having the best day of her life is instead having the worst.

Meara's blood starts to boil.  With Mimi clutching her tightly, Meara can feel her tiny heart beating faster and faster, full of fear and despair.  It can't end this way.  It won't end this way.

They will pay.

With a blood curtling scream that echoes over every single channel at once, Brunhildr dashes forward at incredible speeds, her blade glistening with power as she buries her arm into the core of a Cerberus before yanking it back out, her fist full of important looking components.

Freyr, piloting her own Armour, curses to herself and boosts out to support Brunhildr, fending off the Cerberus' supporting Armours with her twin blades.  While Brunhildr moves with a beautiful, ruthless efficiency, it is clear that Freyr is not as good a pilot as Meara... but she clearly makes up for it with her skill with the blade.

OOC:
23:12, Today: Meara rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, 1, -1.  +2 Melee, +2 Lævateinn Blade (+4).
Using free invoke of Psycho Princess Prowess
Spending a fate point to invoke Berserker
Total: 10

I RETURN IN GLORIOUS PSYCHOVISION

The knights follow Brun's orders without hesitation, clusters of tournament knights and their retinues break off to draw the Emergent away while those knights in service to House Gehenmis begin to cordon off the evacuation corridor that Brun outlines. The countermeasure Brun provides are clearly effective. Burst of Emergent weapons fire off in the darkness intended for targets that aren't there. The fire begins to intensify as the last of the combat forms begin to come back online.

Lady Irina works frantically at a monitor in a cramped corner of the cockpit to raise anyone on Callisto Station. After a few moments a message crackles through, "..ir Kent. *garble* -ou, Lady. This is Sir Kent, we read you, Lady."

Irina is clearly relieved to receive a response, "Alvin! Where are you? You are with others? I sounded the evacuation before we were forced to abandon Central control. You must take as many as you can and board any of the remaining vessels docked still docked to the station. The station doesn't have much time left."

There is a long wait with no response. "Sir Kent? Sir Kent? Do you still--"

"Forgive me, Lady Irina. Swarm of buggers. I'm near one of the docking moors, escorting those I can to safety. Your sister, Lady Iliza took charge of the rescue efforts nearly as soon as the first wave of explosions died down. When the evacuation sounded, she tasked us with getting as many people as we could walk onto ships and lifeboats and clearing the way for the more seriously injured. That is assuming any ships remain."

---

Meara's berserk charge carries her deep into the Emergent swarm, but the destruction she reaps on the enemy is impressive. Furious explosions ripple in Brunhildr's wake like the trail of a wild comet whose only portent is death.

Freyr's own armour, Grazyna, follows behind engaging targets as they come and trying to prevent the enraged princess from being completely surrounded.

Mimi clutches to Meara tightly staring wide-eyed at the sights that appear before her.

---

The infiltrators swarming the Senator and the Baron are all destroyed by the Longsword's blast. Both men look shocked, but grateful for the Prince's daring maneuver.

The Longsword's collision alarms are blaring. There's clearly no going any farther aboard the armour.

Senator Claudius emerges from his hiding place and shouts up to the armour, "Ah! Prince Gwydion, Lativia you have returned and none too soon. We had thought the Emergent dead and began making our way to the Currum. They were not as dead as we believed." You can make out his words, just barely, over the dueling klaxons of your armour's collision alarms and the station's own evacuation alerts.

The senator's retinue help the Baron along. He is awake, but undoubtedly in a bad way.

OOC:
Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem (Two free invokes for Brun)
A Ghost of a Chance (Two free invokes for Anybody)



               L2
             a, b, c
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
               |         x₁        x₂      x₃ x₄
               |
               |
               L1
             e, f, g

That's the map.
L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

a-g= These are groups of ships, mostly civilian, that are being loaded with occupants of the station. Most of these ships are heavily damaged so, once loaded, they can only move one zone per round. They have these stats:

Transport
Crippled
Capacity: [] []
Damage:   [] []

The way they fill is going to be based on Gwydion's successes since he is actually inside the station. Gwydion acts normally, but in addition to accomplishing your goals your roll will also count as an attack vs. TN 1. Each shift will mark off a Box on the ship's capacity track. Extra shifts will inflict "Consequences" on the ship which represents squeezing more people into the ships. These ships will then launch toward the Wrym Gate moving a rate of one zone per turn as mention before. The goal is to get a many people off Callisto Station as possible.

Each x is a group of combat forms. Their stats are here:

Emergent Combat Form Swarm
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [] []

The Emergent can only attack the transports if they are in the same zone as the transport. It is assumed the remnants of Baron Gehemis's House Guard are screening any ranged attacks like Brun Ordered.

Brun, Meara, pick which zone you start in except JWG. This is the last round that the Emergent cannot act so make it count.

There were originally going to be five groups of Emergent, but you guys succeeded so well while they were down you took out a whole group. ;)
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:04, Thu 01 Oct 2015.

With the enemy gone for the moment, the energy gunblade carefully returns to its enormous sheath, oddly smooth considering the Armour is crouched in a hallway just over half its size. The Longsword's cockpit lets out a hiss as it opens up to the atmosphere in the station, then opens to let the Prince leap down to the ground, having taken the spare blaster and man-scale longsword he kept in the cockpit for emergencies. This certainly counted.

"Senator. Lord Gehemnis, I'm glad to see you're still alive. Dame Scipii stayed behind to keep the enemy out of the hangar while the other Knights took off. The Emergent were merely knocked out for a bit, hopefully long enough to turn the tide. Now we have to leave. This station is overwhelmed, and while we have forces in the fight, all they can do is clear a path. Sir Brun is coordinating the external defenses. I can escort you to the evacuation ships, then return to my Armour and help keep the Emergent off of you."

With that, Gwydion began to lead the group toward the nearest transport ship, weapons at the ready.

[Creating an Advantage with Chivalry to take charge of the situation in the station itself. Planning to use it in future rolls to load the ships.

13:32, Today: Gwydion rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, 1, 1.  Create Advantage, Chivalry +3.

Total +5]

Between bursts and explosions, Brun noticed the Valkyrie's reckless charging across the battlespace.  Keying the comms, he fired a long burst on the maneuvering jets trying to chase after, "Meara! Pull back!"   A withering burst of fire from combat forms forces him to break off.  It was further obvious that the Valkyrie was not going to be pulling back.  In fact, she was making quite a bit of headway.  He checked his displays as he came about, "Sir L1-4MNT, Sir Bell! Move up to support Dame Meara's breakthrough. Everyone else, clear the corridor starting here!"

He spun his Lady about and began jetting off in a spiral towards a group of Cerebus armors trying to form up.  The Prince chose him to lead the charge and he could not let him down.  Foils brandished, the ill-made Armor dove to the attack!

Brun is starting on E1. Burning one of the Prince's Esteem invokes.  Total +6  CHARGE!

01:25, Today: Brun rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, 1, 1.  Attack! Melee +2 vs. Group at E1.

Sir L1-4MNT and Sir Bell acknowledge Brun's order and speed toward the Berserk Valkyrie and her handmaiden.

The rest of the knights form a three-dimensional battle line anchored by Brun and attempt to clear a corridor.

Brun's spiral maneuver slips past the guard of a Cerberus and Eurleia's left disruption foil deftly removes the emergent's energy mace from the rest of it's body, before the second foil drives straight into the Cerberus's center head from underneath. The victory is short lived however as two more Cerberuses rush to attack Euryleia.

---

Gwydion leads the group toward the station's docking pylons where many of the ships visiting for the tournament had moored. Along the way they meet up with others, groups of refugees led by the occasional house guard.

"Hurry along. As fast as you can now," one of the guards says as he tries to keep people moving down the corridor. He looks surprised and visibly relieved when he spots the Prince leading the party. He rushes to help the injured Baron. "We must get you to safety, my Lord. This way."

The Baron allows the knight to help him along,"Any word of my family, Sir Kent?"

"The Baroness is already aboard one of the intact vessels, my Lord. She was wounded during the attack, but she is fine. We've had word that Lady Irina is with one of the tournament knights, Sir Brun. She is the one who reactivated many of the stations systems before being force to abandon Central Control. Lady Iliza is coordinating the rescue and evacuation efforts. She refuses to abandon the station while there are those she can still help."

"My daughter had the right of it. Our duty is to the people of this station before ourselves. We must ensure we get as many people off of this station as possible."

Sir Kent lowers his voice, but Gwydion is able to hear him. "My lord, many ships have been destroyed. There are not enough ships remaining to carry everyone to safety. We are loading as many on each vessel as possible, but even with every ship that remain Spaceworthy, there are simply not enough to get everyone to safety."

OOC:
Success with Style for Gwydion

In addition Gwydion fills up the stress track on group A and inflicts an additional 3-stress. The Transport group takes the Moderate Consequence Fully Loaded. It will launch at the beginning of the round.

13:58, Today: MerLN rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, -1, 0.  Emergent Defense vs. Brun. Fair Melee. +2. Total: 1. Brun deals a 5-stress hit.

14:09, Today: MerLN rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, 0, -1.  Emergent Attack vs. Brun. Fair Melee. +2. Total: 1. Brun roll a defense vs. 1.

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem (One free invokes for Brun)
A Ghost of a Chance (Two free invokes for Anybody)
The Baron Lives! (Two Free Invokes)



               L2
             a, b, c
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
               |         x₁        x₂      x₃ x₄
               |         Br       M
               |
               |
               L1
             e, f, g

L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

Transport Group A
Crippled
Fully Loaded
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group B
Crippled
Capacity: [] []
Damage:   [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #1
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #2
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [] []
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:28, Wed 14 Oct 2015.

Meara's voice finally runs dry as tears streak down her face, her comms falling silent over everyone's channels.  Not even her blinding rage will prevent her from crying, and if it was not for the fact that her life and that of her passenger were in immediate danger, she would stop fighting right then and there to cry herself asleep.  However, the noble heart within her still beats strong, and she will not rest until either everyone that can possibly be saved from the station is saved, or she is forcibly made to stop fighting for their safety.

As such, she starts moving around on pure instinct, the lessons beaten into her time and time again by Freyr bringing themselves to the surface as her blade dances through the void to cleave through yet more Emergent.  Brunhildr is being pushed to her limits and beyond, and if it was not for Irina's earlier improvements, it is quite likely that the reactor would have burned out by now.

OOC:
Burning a Fate Point to invoke Hyper-Efficient Reactor

01:58, Today: Meara rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, 1, 0. +2 Melee, +2 Lævateinn Blade. +2 Reactor (+6)
Total: 8

Not even soul-crushing despair will prevent Meara from turning her opponents into julienne fries.

Aspects:
Hyper-Efficient Reactor

Driven by her emotions, the Venusian princess continues to wreak havoc amongst the Emergent lines, but she and her handmaiden have pushed so far that they have become surrounded. They clash tête a tête with several of the vicious Cerberus forms and emerge victorious only to be attacked by more and a torrent of blaster fire from a distance. There are enemies on all sides.

Two more contacts light up on Meara's HUD, but thankfully these are friendly--Executioner and Bellan. Sir L1-4MNT and Sir Bell are fighting their way toward the two surrounded armours.

"I thought we might finish that dance," Sir L1-4MNT says over the Comm as Executioner positions to cover Grazyna's back.

Sir Bell's own armour takes postion on Brunhildr's flank.

OOC:
08:19, Today: MerLN rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, 0, -1. Emergent X2 Defense vs. Meara Fair Melee +2. Total: 1. 7-stress hit. Check off the 5-stress box and shutdown Life Form Scanner.

08:22, Today: MerLN rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, 1, 0.  Emergent X2 Attack vs. Meara Fair Melee +2. Total: 3. Roll Defense vs. 3.

08:23, Today: MerLN rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, 1, -1.  Emergent X3 Attack vs. Meara. Fair Blast +2. Total: 1. Roll Defense vs. 3.

08:24, Today: MerLN rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, 0, -1.  Emergent X4 Attack vs. Meara. Fair Blast +2. Total: 3. Roll defense vs. 3.

That's three defenses to roll, Meara. Thankfully none are high.

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem (One free invokes for Brun)
A Ghost of a Chance (Two free invokes for Anybody)
The Baron Lives! (Two Free Invokes)
Hyper Efficient Reactor



               L2
             b, c
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
               a         x₁       x₂      x₃ x₄
               |         Br       M
               |
               |
               L1
             e, f, g

L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

Transport Group A
Crippled
Fully Loaded
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group B
Crippled
Capacity: [] []
Damage:   [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #1
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #2
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [] [x]

Brun turns Euryleia towards the onrushing Emergent and throws the thrusters to full.  His Lady rockets straight into the enemy charge.  They turn at the last second, pirouetting at just the right moment to catch the brunt of their attacks on the shielding matrix.  Her foils raise to brush aside the deflected maces, following through with a flurry of diving slashes at their flanks.  Made all the more difficult to defend against as their sensors show Euryleia's swarming all around, attacking from every direction.  The other knights sweep after the Lady, attempting to break the charge and turn the Emergent back on their heels again. Brun knew if they lost momentum, the Emergent would reform in greater numbers...

Defend total 3.  Attack Total - 5; 1, +2 from Ghost invoke, +2 from Prince's Esteem.

12:31, Today: Brun rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, -1, 1.  Attack! Melee +2 vs. Group at E1.
12:18, Today: Brun rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, -1, -1.  Defend - Melee +2, Matrix +2.

Gwydion did his best to hide the sinking feeling from Sir Kent's explanation to the Baron. That wasn't information for his ears. He had a job to do, and figuring out how best to serve his people was the Baron's duty.

"My Lord, you should be safe now. I can serve best by securing the transports. We don't know how many Emergent are still active aboard the station." With a bow to the Baron and a nod to the others, Gwydion went to do several tasks. First, he hoped to quell fears and get people moving more efficiently. The face of Arthur's nephew giving them the good news of the Baron's survival would help that aim. Secondly, he planned to organize teams of the station's guards to sweep the nearest hallways for signs of lost survivors or Emergent forces, then seal them off once it was clear.

[Alright! Using Lineage for this. My line of thinking is that who Gwydion is is currently more important to the task than how he handles courtly drama (Intrigue).

20:46, Today: Gwydion rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, -1, 1.  Overcome, Lineage +4.

Total: +5]

While Meara is still effectively broken, her knight's spirit continues to battle onward.  Using her opponents' attacks against one another, she evades in such a way to make the first lunge against her interrupt the second so that she has time to dodge that attack as well, then boosts through the blasts aiming at her in a risky, but well rewarded maneuver as she slashes through everything she can reach.  Once again, Irina's reactor efficiency boost is put to the test.  With how much Meara is pushing the limits of Brunhildr, it is a testament to Irina's skills that nothing has given out.

Regardless, Brunhildr is going to need a great deal of maintenance after this battle no matter the outcome.  Being effectively overclocked for this long is going to require the replacement of several key components throughout the Armour.

As one expects, Freyr's Armour continues to support Meara, attacking those focusing on Brunhildr with opportunistic and, one might say, dishonourable strikes.  However, no matter the opponent, Freyr will do anything in order to protect Meara.

OOC
00:25, Today: Meara rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, -1, 0.  +4 Armor (Evade #1).
Total: 5
Beat by one step, get a free invoke
00:26, Today: Meara rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, 1, -1.  +4 Armor (Evade #2).
Uh.  Immediately use free invoke for a +2.
Total: 4
Success, but no bonuses to either side
00:27, Today: Meara rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, 0, -1.  +4 Armor (Evade #3).
FATE POOOOOOINT
00:27, Today: Meara rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, 1, 0.  +4 Armor (Evade #3) (Reroll).
Are you kidding me?  ANOTHER FATE POINT TO INVOKE MY REACTOR.
Total: 5
HAH FREE INVOKE IT WAS WORTH IT.  Maybe.  Haven't rolled for my attack yet.  Could be hilaribad.
00:29, Today: Meara rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, 0, 1.  +2 Melee, +2 Lævateinn Blade. +2 Reactor, +2 Free Invoke (+8).
Or not.
Total: 9
I only used three fate points in one round.  Not bad.  Eh?  Eh?

Brun's charge is successful and he and his party drive the Emergent back creating a corridor that vessels can use to reach Jupiter's Wyrmgate. The flight is far from safe, but a chance is certainly better than none at all.

"Sir," a message from one of House Gehenmis's knights, "the first group of transports are outbound toward the Wyrmgate. Whatever it is you are doing, keep doing it. We'll protect the transports."

Just as all seems to be going according to plan, a group of Emergent on the periphery of Brun's scanners redeploy to counter the widening breach that has been created in the Emergent formation.

---

Meara continues to savage the Emergent, but her attack draws she and her retinue deeper into the Emergent. Even her remarkable skills are put to the test as she and her friends must defend themselves against attack after attack.

Brunhildr's sensors indicate that another Emergent group is approaching, but they soon veer off in the direction of the station.

Princess Meara, Freyr, Sir L1-4MNT, and Sir Bell are forced closer together as they try to defend themselves from the onslaught of nearly ten remaining emergent.

---

Inside the station Gwydion helps keep the evacuation orderly and ensure the crews fit as many as possible onto the ships that are still space worthy.

Another shockwave ripples through the station. People scream, but other than being shaken, no one is harmed.

One of the guards tries to communicates with a counterpart via the comms. The reply is frantic. The guard hangs his head. "There's been a hull breach on the upper levels. The only route down is now blocked. All those people are trapped."

OOC:
11:16, Today: MerLN rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, 0, 1.  X1 Defense vs. Brun. Melee Fair +2. Total: 3. Brun deals 2-stress hit. 2-stress box marked off.

11:20, Today: MerLN rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, 1, -1.  Emergent X1 attack vs. Brun. Melee Fair +2. Brun roll defense vs. 1.

Meara, the Emergent create the Boost Surrounded from your defense rolls. They spend a Fate point to bring Lifeform Scanner back online.

11:24, Today: MerLN rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, -1, -1.  Emergent Defense vs. Meara. Melee Fair +2. Total: 2. Your total would be 7 since you didn't have a free invoke, meaning you would beat them by 5. They take a hit on their four stress box and shut down a system. You broke their Lifeform Scanner--again.

11:36, Today: MerLN rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, 0, -1.  Emergent X2 Attack vs. Meara. Melee Fair +2. +2 Surrounded Boost. Total: 3. Roll Defense vs. 3.

11:45, Today: MerLN rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, 1, 1.  X3 to move two zones. Zeal +2. TN:2 because Meara is going crazy up in E2. X3 is going to reinforce the line at E1. Total: 3. They make it.

11:47, Today: MerLN rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, 1, 0.  X4 Armour. Armour +3. Total: 4. Creating Block to keep ships from reaching the Gate. So there's now a Block of Strength 4 that must be overcome for ships to cross between E2 and JWG.

Gwydion helps fill another group of transports. They will launch next round! Your first group of Transports is on the way!

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem (One free invoke for Brun)
A Ghost of a Chance (Two free invokes for Anybody)
The Baron Lives! (Two Free Invokes)
Hyper Efficient Reactor



               L2
               c
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
               b       x₁ x₃      x₂      x₄
               |         Br(a)    M
               |
               |
               L1
             e, f, g

L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

Transport Group A
Crippled
Fully Loaded
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group B
Crippled
Fully Loaded
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group C
Crippled
Capacity: [] []
Damage:   [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #1
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [x] [] [] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #2
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [x] [x]

Euryleia spun past another Emergent warform.  Its crackling mace bounced away from the defense matrix pulse; the opening was quickly exploited.  Disruption foils ripped and tore into the Armor.

Brun took note of the new swarm moving in, as well as the alert from the transport sentinels.  Thinking quickly, he signaled the rest of his attack squadron, "Form a new defensive perimeter around those transports.  Flares and blaster fire on an oscillating cycle at midrange.  Fill the sky with stars, do not let them target those transports."

He turned his Lady back towards the new position, boosters burning a blazing trail.  Hatches popped open along her outer armor, releasing a cloud of plasma flares.  The trajectories cycle through, hopefully creating a disruptive swarm of sensor static to ward the transports from being targetted.

Defend Total +2, burning FP to tag I Will Survive.  Total now +4.  +3 over is With Style?  Disruption Foil effect activates, 2-stress hit on Emergent Group 1.

Create Advantage Total +7 - Swarm of Stars (To ward the transports)

00:21, Today: Brun rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, -1, 1.  Create Advantage - Transport Warding - Cunning +3, +2 Win or Die.
00:11, Today: Brun rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, -1, -1.  Defend - Melee +2, Matrix +2.

In.  Out.  In.  Out.  Thrust.  Slice.  Evade.

Meara's movements are finally showing her emotional turmoil, and her earlier prowess is dying rapidly.  Brunhildr is overheating and will not be able to continue this level of output, and the strain, while not immediate, is going to slow Meara's combat effectiveness down rather harshly in the near future.  With the assistance of her allies, she manages to continue to evade any hits, but with her environment becoming less and less target rich as the Emergent move towards the station, her blade is appearing to falter from its previous magnificence.

Then again, even with things seeming to turn against her, Brunhildr's blade is still proving to be very effective.

OOC:
01:11, Today: Meara rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, 0, 0.  +4 Armor (Evade).
Total: 5 - Not with style, but a solid defense.

01:09, Today: Meara rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, 0, -1.  +2 Melee, +2 Lævateinn Blade. +2 Reactor (+6).
01:10, Today: Meara rolled -3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, -1, 0.  +2 Melee, +2 Lævateinn Blade. +2 Reactor (+6) (Reroll).
01:11, Today: Meara rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, -1, -1.  I WILL KILL YOU WITH FIRE YOU STUPID DICE ROLLER
Total: 4  After spending three fate points.  That just doesn't seem right.

Hundreds of people were trapped. Sending the team to find individual stragglers wasn't nearly going to help that amount of people. Without hesitation, Gwydion looked to the station crew.

"Can you repair the breach?"

"What? I-I suppose, but we'd have to go out--" The situation was certainly bad enough to warrant the man's stammering reply, but the young Knight didn't let the situation slow him down.

"I'll handle the Emergent. You seal the station. I want a team of four with me, take whatever equipment you need. We're getting those people out of there." As he began a fast pace back toward his Longsword, Gwydion switched on the comm.

"Brun, there are people trapped in a section of the station. I'm taking a team to repair the breach so they can reach the transports, but we may need help. Can you spare anyone?"

[Gonna be creating another aspect to pile on. Rolling Zeal to try and make it back to the Longsword in a hurry. The faster we get out there, the better.

12:05, Today: Gwydion rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, -1, 0.  Zeal +2.

Total: +3

Also, Brun! Gwydion asked if you could spare anybody. That could work a couple ways: either lend us an NPC Knight to help fight off Emergent, or Brun and his mad jury-rigging skills. Or just not have anyone to spare, and increasing dramatic tension. :P]

Brun's plan works masterfully and his Sea of Stars keeps the Emergent from getting anywhere near the transports. Another transmission comes over the comm:



"He's right," Irina says from behind Brun. "The station has suffered a hull collapse that's preventing those in the upper levels from reaching any of the functioning docking rings or the evacuation ships. Best case scenario those people are trapped and will suffocate slowly if something isn't done. But...the hull is weak. It's possible too much strain may cause other bulkheads to give way."

---

Meara continues to go at the Emergent, but for the first time her Blade fails to do any significant damage while the Emergent continue to assault her party. Sir L1-4MNT is taking the brunt of the damage since his armour is still damage from his fight with Gwydion, but he makes a good account of himself as do Freyr and Sir Bell.

Freyr's face appears in the corner of Meara's HUD, "Princess, there are Transport ships approaching loaded with refugees from the station. We must not let the Emergent reach them."

---

Gwydion and makes good time to his Longsword and mounts up before Rendezvousing with the repair crews in their EVA maintenance pods.

"Wait, his armour doesn't have a name? I thought Jenkins was kidding when he said that. What kind of Knight pilots an armour with no name?" The young tech suddenly realizes his radio is transmitting to Gwydion as well. "Uh, oh, I...beggin' your pardon your grace."

OOC:
Brun, if it's okay I'm going to treat your Create Advantage as passive resistance vs. the Emergent? They'll have to Overcome that 7 if they want to attack any of the transports due to the knights, countermeasures. etc. Each time they succeed at the overcome, subsequent attempts to overcome will reduce the difficulty by 1. Is that okay with you? I figured it'd be much harder for them to beat 7 than two free invokes would be good. We can keep it as CA if you want though.

They had to check off their 3-box in response to your defense.

Gwydion, I am calling your aspect Repair Crew Enroute.

15:47, Today: MerLN rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, -1, 1.  EX3 vs. Brun. Melee +2. Total: 4.

15:46, Today: MerLN rolled -3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, -1, 0.  EX1 vs. Brun. Melee +2. Total: -1. That's free stress for you to give them pretty much, Brun. Do your thing.

15:37, Today: MerLN rolled 3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, 0, 1.  Emergent Defense vs. Meara. Melee Fair +2. Total: 5. Emergent take no damage.

15:40, Today: MerLN rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 0, 0.  Emergent X2 Attack vs. Meara. Melee Fair +2. Total: 3. You know what to do Meara.

X4 continues to lay in wait for the Transports.

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem (One free invoke for Brun)
A Ghost of a Chance (Two free invokes for Anybody)
The Baron Lives! (Two Free Invokes)
Repair Crew Enroute (One Free invoke)
Hyper Efficient Reactor



               L2
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
               c       x₁ x₃      x₂      x₄
               |         Br(b)    M(a)
               |
               |
               L1
             e, f, g

L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

Transport Group A
Crippled
Fully Loaded
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group B
Crippled
Fully Loaded
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group C
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #1
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [x] [x] [] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #2
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [x] [x]
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:03, Tue 27 Oct 2015.

Brun tried to focus on the task at hand.  Boosters flaring, Euryleia skated up and over a clumsy mace swing.  Now upside down, relative to the Cerberus, the disruption foils dive in a flurry of strikes at its head and shoulders before the Lady sprints away again.

It was working...

The defensive perimeter seemed to be keeping them back from the transports.  But there were still so many Emergent and so few of them.  Then Gwydion made his request and Irina offered her analysis.

He instantly knew the best answer.  The probabilities were so clear.  So hatefully clear.  The harsh, cold mathematics he had learned on the Edge.  But he hated it.  Hated thinking it.  Hated having to be the one to make this call.  His only saving grace was that, with the neurohelm on, he at least did not have to look anyone in the eyes.  He keyed a private channel to the Prince, though it would not prevent Irina and Rose from hearing...

"Prince.  I have no one to spare.  We are so few.  Our analysis indicates the hull has been severely compromised and may give way at any moment."

He gritted his teeth and tried to harden his heart like the pirates he had lived with for so long.

"The transports should be our priority.  Because of you we have saved so many... /They/ need your sword now."  Brun left unsaid the clear implication that the ones who were trapped would not need the Prince's help for much longer anyway.

Brun's disgust with himself must have distracted him as he did not see the pair of Emergent sweeping up suddenly on his flank.  Luckily, another Knight had spotted the attack and swept in to help the Edge Knight fend the attack off.  For now, he still had their esteem and respect.

He turned his disgust into anger and let it fly towards the enemy.  Boosters flared again and Euryleia flew headlong towards the foe, ghost Armors flickering around her confounding the Emergent's ability to defend...

  Defend vs. X1 Total 4 - With style, 2 stress riposte.
Defend vs. X3 Total 2, using last free invoke of Prince's Esteem to get an ally to assist - New Total 4

Attack E1 (if its still around?) with a 1+2 (Ghost of a Chance) for a total of 3.

I would also like to ask if Brun's decision here is a good enough self-compel against Renounced Prince on the Edge?  I feel like it is, but...

23:44, Today: Brun rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, -1, 0.  Attack! Melee +2 vs. Group at E1.
23:36, Today: Brun rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, -1, -1.  Defend - Melee +2, Matrix +2 vs. EX3.
22:37, Today: Brun rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, 0, 0.  Defend - Melee +2, Matrix +2.

Despite clearly being pressed, Meara is able to prevent herself from taking any hits.  At all.  Even with the assistance of Freyr and the others, she should be at least struck bu a glancing blow in a melee this chaotic, but no such thing has happened.  With the chatter finally registering in her (only partially) broken (and slowly getting better!) mind, the princess of battle starts to formulate a plan.

As everyone knows, plans formed in the head of battle while under severe stress are often crazy, stupid, and either pay off big or fail horribly.  Slowing her breathing so she can focus, Meara looks down at Mimi momentarily and says, "We are going to make sure all of those people make it through.  It will be dangerous, and scary, but those transports will make it through.  Together, we can make sure of it."  She then opens up her comm to do something besides scream and says openly, "Someone go back and help the repair crew.  I have this."

Mimi, who has been spending the entire battle scared out of her precious, innocent mind, manages to stop shaking long enough to glance up at Meara and clutch her more tightly.  Even she somehow knows that this is going to be very, very crazy.

Suddenly, Brunhildr dashed through the Emergent lines with reckless abandon, stopping in front of enemy Armors just long enough to do the Armor equivalent of sticking out its tongue before zooming off again.  With the aid of the Ellida Boosters and Sleipnir Thrusters, Brunhildr is able to dance through the enemy lines around the gate and where Freyr and the others are currently engaged, not taking any offensive actions but managing to be even more annoying and distracting than if she was.

OOC:
20:56, Today: Meara rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 0, -1.  +4 Armor (Evade).
Total: 4  Yay, they missed me again!
21:03, Today: Meara rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, 1, 0.  +4 Armor (NOTICE MEEEEEEEEEEE).  Spending my last Fate Point to get a +2 from Hyper Efficient Reactor.  Taking one free invoke from Ghost of a Chance for another +2.
Total: 7 to create a condition that makes the emergent think I'm a higher priority target than the juicy, delicious transports.
Thanks to my abilities, I can (hopefully) move between both E2 and JWG effectively at will for the purposes of making a distraction.  If all goes well, no Emergent will attack the transports.

Instead they'll go after me.

This is going to hurt.

But it is totally worth it.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:47, Fri 30 Oct 2015.

Sir Brun and the men and women under his command are indeed hard pressed to hold off the Emergent that are hell bent on reaching the transport vessels. Even so, the objections to Brun's decision are numerous especially inside Euryleia's own cockpit.

“You can't just leave them! There are so many people still left inside, Irina protests.

“You heartless bastard. Why try when there's nothing you can gain from it, is that it? Just a bloody brigand after all.” The venom in Rose's voice is back to what it was before Brun had won her over at the celebration in the arboretum.

As if to cement Brun's point, the Emergent make another charge for the transports, almost suicidal in their attempt to reach the civilians. Four of House Gehenmis's retainers are lost before the knights are able to halt the charge.  But halt them they do thanks to Brun's leadership and tactics.

---

Freyr's concerned shouts for Meara's safety echo in the cockpit, but there's little she can do to stop the impulsive princess while she is busy fending off emergent of her own.  As Brunhildr boosts forward toward the formation blocking the way to the Wyrm Gate, the Emergent immediately redeploy to target the valkyrie-piloted armour. Alarms blare inside Brunhildr's cockpit as Meara redlines the reactor output and buzzes by her robotic assailants scant meters from colliding with one of them, intent on pulling their attention onto her and away from the transports. Perhaps she has inflicted such damage upon them that the Emergent now view her as a too dangerous a threat to let live? It's impossible to know their reasons, but whatever they are, they are important enough that the emergent guarding the Jovian Wyrm Gate abandon their posts in favor of pursuing her.

“Ah, very good Princess Meara of Chonaill,” an elderly male voice says, “I might have known you'd try something so reckless. In fact, I did, which is, of course, the reason you have a few dozen combat forms pursuing you at the moment. I've modified Brunhildr's transponder signal to make her appear as a class nine transport, fully loaded.” MerLN, the Keeper of the Wyrmgates. The massive purple Dragon Head of the Wrymgate looms ever closer.“Noble though it may be, I do wish you had thought of a better way to clear a way for those transports. Tsk tsk. Why is it that the young think themselves impervious to harm? It only makes for heartbroken parents, you know. Why couldn't you come up with a more clever plan, hmm? Something like the pulse that knocked the Emergent offline momentarily. Now that was clever. Who did that?” MerLN continues to ramble on oblivious to the mortal danger that Meara is currently in.

I have something else to tell you. What was it? Something else...something else. Ah, yes! A warhost is on it's away from Avaluna. I notified the King and the surrounding Jovian Lords as soon as I detected the Emergent attack. The other Jovian Lords declined to commit their own forces when the realized the size of the threat. Petty Titans, indeed. Hrmph. As you know, the trip from Avaluna to Jupiter takes a few hours, so the majority of the force is still some distance away.

The Emergent assault is savage. Blaster fire pours in from all directions and energy maces strike at Brunhildr mercilessly.

---

The repair crew set to work in their pods in a attempt to seal the least damaged sections of the station's hull. Their work isn't intended to be a lasting repair job, but instead an effort to create a small corridor that will allow the people still trapped in those areas to escape while there is still time. They work at a blistering pace and under fire at a task that would be difficult under the most accommodating circumstances.

OOC:
17:50, Today: MerLN rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, -1, 1.  X1 Defense vs. Brun. Melee Fair +2. Brun deals 1-stress hit.

Your auto-stress from Disruption Foil will fill in their only remaining box. It's all shutdowns and consequences from here.

17:55, Today: MerLN rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, 1, 1.  X1 reach Transports C. Armour +4. TN 7. Total: 6. Not enough to reach them.

17:54, Today: MerLN rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 1, 0.  X3 reach Transports C. Armour +4. TN 7. Total: 6 again. Nope.
Meara, I've decided to rule your maneuver a Create Advantage that effectively works on behalf of the Emergent. You created the Priority Alpha advantage for the Emergent to use against you with two free invokes. In addition, you'll negate the block they created to prevent the transports from being able to reach the warp gate. Take an additional Fate point. You are going to need it.

X2 follows you away from E2 into JWG and attacks. X4 also attacks. Each will take a free invoke from Priority Alpha.

17:48, Today: MerLN rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, -1, -1.  Emergent X4 Attack vs. Meara Fair Melee +2. +2 Priority Alpha. +2 to compel Meara's Berserker Aspect. Defense vs. 4. Have a Fate Point.

17:47, Today: MerLN rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, 1, 1.  Emergent X2 Attack vs. Meara Fair Melee +2. +2 Priority Alpha. +2 to compel Meara's Berserker Aspect. Defense vs. 6. Have another fate point.

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem
A Ghost of a Chance (One free invoke)
The Baron Lives! (Two Free Invokes)
Repair Crew Enroute (One Free invoke)
Hyper Efficient Reactor
Priority Alpha (Two free invokes for the Emergent)


               L2
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
                       x₁ x₃                x₂x₄
               |         Br(c)    (b)      M(a)
               |
               |
               L1
             e, f, g

L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

Transport Group A
Crippled
Fully Loaded
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group B
Crippled
Fully Loaded
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group C
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #1
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #2
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [x] [x]
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 03:15, Wed 04 Nov 2015.

The lump in Gwydion's stomach rises up through his head and into his throat, then drops down again like a boulder. He knew that would be the most likely response. He had, somewhere in his mind, hoped it. Anything else might lead to disaster. A hole in the armor between those transports and the enemy, and this whole evacuation would be moot. That doesn't make hearing it any easier. After a few tense moments, the Prince's voice comes quietly through the private channel.

"I know in my head you're right, but I can't leave them to fate. I'll join you soon." And he continues on with the repair crew.

"The transports are being kept safe. Now all we need to do is make sure these people can reach them. I'll give you all the cover I can, and you let those people inside know when it's safe to move. They're depending on you, as is Baron Gehemnis. Make us all proud, friends."



For his part, Gwydion does his best to draw the enemy's fire and blast back at opposing forces. As the only combat unit available, it's up to him to buy time.

Awright, making an Armour roll to keep these guys safe while they do their duty.

21:13, Today: Gwydion rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, -1, 0.  Armour +2.

So that comes to +0. Not low enough to warrant a Fate Point reroll, but definitely all the invokes ever. So let's get to that, shall we?

Repair Crew Enroute - Using free invoke to get us there fast enough to start quickly. +2
The Baron Lives! Using two free invokes to boost the morale of the workers, going for speed and bravery. +4
Louder Than Words - 1 FP invoke to lead by example, putting myself in the fray for others because I must. +2
Ghost of a Chance - 1 FP invoke (leaving the free invoke for Meara, my goodness) to give us that lucky edge because we're the good guys and being underdogs is what we do best! +2
Iliza's Favor - 1 FP invoke even though it doesn't show on the board, because Gwydion can't let Iliza down when her people need him. +2

Total: +12
Costs: 3 FP

How's that? :D]

Brun did his best to ignore the tirade coming at him from within the small cockpit.  They had every right.  He would never deny deserving their scorn.   So, he let them vent their disgust at him with no reply.  He was too busy.  Could not let it reach him.  But, he gritted his teeth grindingly tight as Gwydion sent his refusal, "As you say, your Grace.  I will see you on the field."  He spun Euryleia away from a new attacker, slashing offhandedly and boosting back into the formation.  Let us hope there is a field left to receive you....  But that was Brun's job.  To hold the line.

Something in Rose's hateful words gave him inspiration though.  He had been a brigand to be sure.  A very well trained one in fact.  It was time to make use of that.  He keyed the comm to the knight nearest him, "Sir Sturm.  I am transmitting tactical data and ECM protocols to you.  An....unorthodox close range tactic.  Turn to vector 2-9.  I will play the bait on the first pass...."   The Shadow Gambit was a tactic favored by the reckless adventurers on the Shadow King it involved putting one Armor in close contact with an enemy Armor and hooking them into a chase.  A spiraling weave and a linked burst of ECM protocols allowed the wingman to swing in on the enemy through a suddenly blind vector.

A dishonorable pirate's trick, to be sure.  But, in a desperate fight versus overwhelming forces....  They had to do more to thin the horde before they shattered the lines.  Offense was needed.

As he maneuvered his Lady into position, he spotted the change in Meara's transponder and the shift in the enemy focus, "No no no no no...." But there was nothing he could do from here.

Feel like I need to give Brun a little more boost to really try and crack into that Emergent group with a big hit.  So.  CA - Shadow Gambit total 8.  In the words of Captain Jack. "Pirate!"

22:36, Today: Brun rolled 3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, 1, 1.  Create Advantage - Shadow Gambit - Cunning, +3, Win or Die +2.

Brun's gambit pays off in a big way as the defenders manage to encircle trap the emergent between those Armours closest to the transports and an outer ring of defenders. Taking fire from both sides not even the Emergents' vast computational capabilities allow them to escape all of the incoming fire. The trasports continue their flight to the gate unharmed.

---

Meara is viciously hounded by the Emergent at her heels. Thankfully, Freyr, and Sir L1-4MNT trail behind picking off as many emergent as they can. Meara trails away from the Wyrmgate to draw the Emergent away from the gate long enough for the incoming transports to escape.  There is a bright flash as the Wyrmgate spools up and the first transport disappears.

"The first transport is outbound for Avaluna," MerLN notifies Meara as she pulls a High-G turn and loops Brunhildr back around to avoid getting caught in the Emergents' crossfire. Mimi shrieks as it happens, but manages to stay conscious.

As Meara loops back around toward the massive purple Wyrmgate, MerLN speaks again, "Alert. Please clear the disembarkation zone. You'll recall that I said the majority of the Warhost was some distance away? One knight should be arriving...now. Left. Left! LEFT!"

Meara holds her course and jinks at the very last second as an Armour carrier materializes out of nowhere. It's markings clearly identify it as Martian and as soon as materializes its cannons begin blazing. Strike craft disengage from it's hull and begin to thin out the Emergent behind Meara as well. The carrier's bay opens up and an Amour with Cryoblaster Emerges. As such close range the first batch of Emergent are frozen solid and the carrier's light cannons easily pick them apart.

"Princess Meara of Chonaill, might I introduce Sir RHY-S32 of Mars."

---

Gwydion fights like a man possessed while defending the station's repair crews. Not a single stray bolt of blaster fire gets past Gwydion and he even manages to take down a few emergent who are foolish enough to get too close. The repair crew themselves do admirable work. It's certainly not the prettiest repair you've ever seen, but it looks sturdy at least. "That's as good as we can get it, given the circumstances. It'll hold for a bit, but those people need to get out of there as quickly as they can."

Another voice crackles over Gwydion's comm, this one familiar and accompanied by rapid, panicked, blaster fire. "Gwydion, can you hear me?" It is Lady Iliza. Her voice is strained. "Gwydion there are swarms of infiltrators here. Nearly all of our men-at-arms have already fallen. There are not enough left to help the more grievously wounded let alone fight off this attack. I am going to stay behind and buy them what time that I can. They will never make it to the transports otherwise. Once all of my people are safely through the exit corridor, I want you to seal off their route so that they cannot be followed." More panicked blaster fire. Iliza is breathing heavily when she speaks again, "I know what that means. Please, Gwydion. Do this for me. I..." Her voice thickens, but this time with something other than adrenaline, "...only wish we had had more time together. I know we haven't known each other long, but I thought that perhaps we..." Blaster fire cuts off her words. When she comes back she speaks again quickly, "Please, care for my people and my family, Gwydion. And tell them that I love them. And you Gwydion, I l---" The transmission ends suddenly.

OOC:
The first transport is away! I repeat: The first transport is away! One Fate Point for All.

Brun you establish your Aspect with two free Invokes.

X1 & X3 follow the transports, but since the defenders have them so covered up I'm ruling that's all the can do.

11:53, Today: MerLN rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 0, -1.  Emergent X2 Attack vs. Meara Fair Melee +2. 1FP to invoke Priority Alpha. Total: 4.

11:55, Today: MerLN rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, 0, 0.  Emergent X4 Attack vs. Meara Fair Melee +2. 1FP to invoke Priority Alpha. Total: 2.

Roll your defenses, Meara.

Holy heck, Gwydion. That'll do it. Breach is fixed and one transport is about to get filled off of that. I thought that overcome would take a few turns. I was wrong. Wooow....

Also, why didn't anybody tell me I was missing a Transport D? I have been driving myself crazy trying to figure out what I did with it and I realized it was just omitted when I decided to use six transports instead of eight for the scenario. ;p

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem
A Ghost of a Chance (One Free Invoke)
Shadow Gambit (Two Free Invokes)
The Baron Lives!
Repair Crew Enroute
Hyper Efficient Reactor
Priority Alpha


               L2
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
               e                 x₁ x₃      x₂x₄
               |         Br()    (c)      M(b)
               |
               |
               L1
             f, g

L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

Transport Group A
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group B
Crippled
Fully Loaded
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group C
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group E
Who's Hand Is That?
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #1
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #2
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [x] [x]
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:16, Tue 17 Nov 2015.

Too much. Too many things going on at once. Gwydion had seen his share of battles before, but they were usually far more straightforward: the enemy was in front, and the explody ends of weaponry pointed that way. Done. He continued keeping the Emergent warriors at bay, hesitating only for a brief moment. Then he opened a channel to the repair crew.

"Good work, boys. Get back to the station, you're getting on shuttles and leaving. Top speed." As he escorted the repair crew back toward the station, another message went to Brun and Meara.

"You've been amazing, and I wish I could join you out there, but there's one more thing I have to do first. I'll be fine, don't worry." It was hard to say who that last bit was directed to.

[Rolling Zeal to Create an Advantage, getting back to the station pronto.

18:27, Today: Gwydion rolled 3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 1, 1.  Zeal +2.

Total: +5.]

Another Emergent combat form exploded to the side and Euryleia danced away, disruptor foils trailing bits of wreckage from her former enemy.  It was working, the knights were making use of the pirate tactics and bringing the hammer down on the drones.  For a brief moment, Brun actually felt a measure of pride that his time on the Edge provided just the right skill for this time and place.

But, he had to keep it brief.  The war was not over and the enemy still too numerous.  Thrusters blazing, Euryleia dove back into the attack pattern at just the right time.  Another Emergent getting lead off into the waiting trap of his allied knights.

He spared a glance to the scanners for how Meara fared and took heart that she was still there.  She's absolutely mad...  But one hell of a knight.  I only hope that madness can keep her fighting long enough....  His thoughts trailed off as new contacts registered.  Fear gripped his heard at the idea of yet more enemies joining the fray, but no.  The transponder codes were.  He keyed open the comms, "Brun to all points.  Allies have arrived at the gate.  We are not alone!"

His Lady slashed through another Combat Form, disruptor foils blazing with lightning as they wreaked their havoc.

Gwydion's hail caught him in his moment of triumph, "Thank you, sir.  We may yet win this battle...."  He trailed off as his mind parsed through the Prince's message, "No! Don't! Gwydion, please.  Wait.  Allies are arriving even now.  Whatever you are thinking do not risk it!"

So, if I understood what Gwydion said...  I can use both free invokes right now, eh?

So... Rolled 4, +2 Melee, +4 for Invokes....  Total 10.  If that doesn't do it, I am willing to burn an Extra 2 Fate Points for another +4 (Prince's Esteem and Renounced Prince on the Edge)

01:01, Today: Brun rolled 4 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, 1, 1.  Attack! Melee +2 vs. Group at E1.

I didn't want to be made a target of the entire Emergent fleet.  I just wanted to be a distraction.

Then MerLN comes along and goes HEY I MADE YOU THE HIGHEST PRIORITY TARGET HAVE FUN TRYING TO SURVIVE NOW also there's people coming I hope you like having the glory stolen as well as potentially your life I mean it's no big deal right I am so done with-

Meara's thoughts of frustration and rage are interrupted by several Emergent attempting to slice her, Mimi, and Brunhildr into tiny pieces.  Alternately, crush them into paste, or do some horrible combination of the two.  It is all she can do to stay alive and deflect any attacks that would actually hit.  She really wants to relay the information she was given, but she's really too busy trying to not die now that everything on the enemy's side wants a piece of hot sexy redheaded princess.

Maybe that last blow that got past her defenses is starting to make her a bit delusional, or maybe that's all the adrenaline overload finally wearing off.

00:44, Today: Meara rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, -1, 1.  00:44, Today: Meara rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, 0, -1.  +2 Melee, +2 Lævatein, +2 Hyper Efficient Reactor (Berzerker aspect invoked).
Total: 4 - tie
00:44, Today: Meara rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, 0, -1.  +2 Melee, +2 Lævateinn Blade,  +2 Hyper Efficient Reactor (Berzerker aspect invoked).
Total: 4 - tie
So that's 2 fate points spent for the previous turn's evasion.  So they have some boosts.  Yay me.
00:46, Today: Meara rolled -3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, -1, -1.  +4 Armor (Evade).
No.
00:47, Today: Meara rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, 1, 0.  +4 Armor (HELLO FATE POINT REROLL).
Total: 4 - tie
00:47, Today: Meara rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, 0, 1.  +4 Armor (Evade #2).
Total: 4 - fail by two steps.  YAY I GOT HIT WOO!
So I rolled five times and never got a positive result.  Seems legit.  Also no point in boosting since they're either going to get boosts or use them to hit me if I match them.  Either way I'm kind of hosed, so I'll just take it on the chin!  Get some nice battle scars.

I don't like it when I'm the one in pain.

A cheer goes through the defenders at Brun's announcement, but they quickly regain their composure and press their advantage. Led by Brun, the ragtag and haggard band of tournament knights pursue the Emergent. Trapped as they are between the transport's defenders, thanks to Brun's gambit, the Emergent suffer many losses and their combat strength is drastically reduced.

Euryleia computerized voice speaks, "The second transport has transitioned through the Wyrmgate."

Another cheer goes up at that. Irina and Rose embrace out of joy.

More good news, "The Prince has succeeded. The repair crews have created a temporary bridge between damage sections. Those trapped in the upper sections are on their way to the remaining transports."

Gwydion's message and Brun's reply alarms Lady Irina, "The Prince...why does he sound so desperate? What's wrong?"

There is no time to answer her as the Emergent attack once again.

---

Meara continues to desperately elude her Emergent Pursuers while Freyr, Sir L1-4MNT, and now Sir RHY-S32 and his retinue continue to thin their numbers.

Despite the attacks against them and their declining numbers the Emergent focus recklessly on pursuing Brunhildr, ignoring the actual transports and allowing them to escape.

---

Gwydion escorts the repair crew safely back to the embarkation point and they join the stream of refugees loading onto the transports. "Thank you, Prince. You really should consider naming that Armour of yours."

Gwydion, however, has other priorities. Namely, reaching Lady Iliza before it is too late.

OOC:
The second transport is away!

10:36, Today: MerLN rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, -1, 1.  X1 Defense vs. Brun. Melee Fair +2. Total: 2. Brun deals 8-stress. 6 can be absorbed by armour, leaving two unaccounted for. Kaboom. Emergent X1 destroyed.

09:13, Today: MerLN rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, -1, 0.  x3 Attack vs. Brun. Melee +2. Total: 0

Okay, Meara, we're going to assume that you used full defense on all the turns you skipped. So those defenses will get boosted to 6. That means they all miss except one which generates a Boost. We'll call that Boost Hot on Your Heels, which they'll use this round. You also get two defensive boosts of your own. I'll just call that Elusive Target.

I'm going to Roll an attack vs. both Emergent Swarms following you to represent your support peeling them off of you.

08:56, Today: MerLN rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, 0, -1.  Knights vs. X4. Melee +3. Total: 1.

08:56, Today: MerLN rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 1, 0.  X4 Defense vs. Knights. Melee +2. Total: 4. No hit. Emergent earn a defense boost.

08:55, Today: MerLN rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, -1, 1.  Knights vs. X2. Melee +3. Total: 1.

08:55, Today: MerLN rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, 0, -1.  X2 Defense vs. Knights. Melee +2. Total: 0. 1-stress hit.

09:01, Today: MerLN rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, 1, 0.  X2 Attack vs. Meara. Melee +2. Using Boost +2. Total: 5

09:02, Today: MerLN rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, 1, -1.  X4 Attack vs. Meara. Melee +2. Total: 1

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem
A Ghost of a Chance (One Free Invoke)
Shadow Gambit
The Baron Lives!
Repair Crew Successful!
Damsel Distress Policy (One Free Invoke)
Hyper Efficient Reactor
Priority Alpha
Elusive Target (Boost, 2 uses)


               L2
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
               f                  x₃      x₂x₄
               |         (e)    Br()      M(c)
               |
               |
               L1
               g

L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

Transport Group A
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group B
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group C
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group E
Who's Hand Is That?
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group F
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #1
Destroyed

Stress: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #2
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [x] [] [x] [x] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #3
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #4
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [] []

Without hesitation, Gwydion took to the void again as soon as the repair crew were safe. He headed straight for the hangar Iliza's message had come from, where the transport ships were taking off. There was no reason he couldn't go the other way, dangerous as it was.

[Another Zeal roll, this time to actually arrive. Also to arrive without being shot out of the sky, considering he doesn't have time to fight anything on the way.

13:58, Today: Gwydion rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 0, 1.  Zeal +2.

Total 2

If I need to, I'll use the free invoke from Damsel Distress Policy. Otherwise I'll use that in whatever action it takes to move her to safety. I'm assuming all three of us are going to have people in our Armours by the time we're done here. :P]

Euryleia spun and dove, boosters flaring as she lead the charge on the Emergent still threatening the transports route to the gate.  The Emergent responded like the cold, calculating, powerful hammer that they were and smashed into the onrushing Knights.  Swords flashed.  Missles roared.  Energy maces crackled and whirled in the black of space.

Dodging one such mace, Brun lead his Lady in a bursting thrust-roll that allowed them to end in a perfect position to lash another Combat Form with a rapid series of disruptor foil strikes.  The assault allowed another Knight the momentary breathing room he needed to safely disengage.

"Keep your heads!  The transports are making it through and more allies will soon arrive.  But, the Emergent do not relent.  Neither should we!  Once more, knights!  Lay on!"

The Ill-made Armor's thrusters burned again, pushing her wherever fighting is thickest.  Her foils trail the space behind her as she speeds through the glittering black.

Defend - Total 5 vs. 0.  Success with Style.  2-stress Hit.
Attack Total - +3, burning FP to bring in the Shadow Gambit again for +5 total.

22:32, Today: Brun rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, 1, 1.  Attack! Melee +2 vs. x3.
22:31, Today: Brun rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 1, -1.  Defense vs. x3 - +2 Melee, +2 Warding Matrix.

Euryleia makes short work of a pair of Emergent making a run for the Transports and the other knights are not far behind urged on by Brun's Encouragements. Weariness and fatigue grip the defenders as the battle streches on against tireless machines, but none give in to it. They continue to lay into the Emergent despite the cost, knowing that they are the only defense for the thousands of lives aboard the makeshift refugee flotilla.

---

Gwydion reaches the upper section of the station once again and the Longsword's sensors detect the presence of swarming Emergent infiltrators in the section that held the trapped citizens of Callisto station minutes ago. The sensors show that a mass of people are a few sections away now and heading for the transport ships, but just a predicted the Infiltrators will overtake them if something is not done. If Iliza is still in the compromised section, the Longsword is unable to detect her amongst all the Emergent.

---

Another transport escapes as Meara keeps the Emergent away from the Wrymgate. Their numbers are thinning, but they mindlessly pursue Meara above their own preservation. What is it that they want?

OOC:
The third transport is away!

08:48, Today: MerLN rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 1, -1.  X3 Defense vs. Brun. +2 Melee. Total: 3. Takes a two-stress hit which rolls up to 3.

08:52, Today: MerLN rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, 1, 1.  X3 tries to reach Transport Group F. Zeal +2. Total: 4. Fail.

08:55, Today: MerLN rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 1, 0.  X4 attack vs. Meara. +2 Melee. Total: 4.

08:55, Today: MerLN rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, -1, 1.  X2 Attack vs. Meara. Melee +2. Total: 3.

Meara, you're in Full Defense so don't forget to add +2 to your defense rolls.

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem
A Ghost of a Chance (One Free Invoke)
Shadow Gambit
The Baron Lives!
Repair Crew Successful!
Damsel Distress Policy (One Free Invoke)
Hyper Efficient Reactor
Priority Alpha


               L2
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
               g                  x₃      x₂x₄
               |         (f)    Br(e)      M()
               |
               |
               L1


L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

Transport Group A
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group B
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group C
Escaped

Transport Group E
Who's Hand Is That?
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group F
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group G
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #1
Destroyed

Stress: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #2
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #3
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [x] [x] [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #4
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [] []

The Longsword dashed through cramped hallways and corridors, bashing its way through passages too small for it by ramming with the shield out front. He knew there was only so much these bulkheads could take, but he was trying to be careful to keep the damage facing internally. There wasn't time for better than that. Along the way, he charged as much energy has he could from the power core into the blade beam systems.

Once he'd gained line of sight to the Emergent forces pinning Iliza and her people, Gwydion swiped his sword before him, shooting a thin line of white-red energy across the enemy forces even as he closed in on them to take the fight closer. Even with barely any space to maneuver, he could at least take their attention away from the much less protected people, and his sword could thin their numbers. Even his shield could crush, and barring those he could always begin ripping with the Armour's bare hands. This was no time to sit on dueling formality. It was time to get brutal.

[Attacking with Melee, because screw these guys!

21:09, Today: Gwydion rolled -3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, -1, -1.  Melee +3.

...I said SCREW THESE GUYS. Invoking Damsel Distress Policy for reroll.

21:10, Today: Gwydion rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, 0, 1.  Melee +3.

Much better. Total +3

I've got 3 Fate Points to blow invoking aspects if necessary, and plenty of ways to do that. Also plenty of ways to compel me right now if need be. :D]

Brun continued to lead his ragged band of defenders against the Emergent forces.  They were concentrating on the transports and all but ignoring them.  "Close ranks around the transport line.  They are intensifying their strikes!  Drive them back."  Another flurry of sensor flares erupted from Euryleia to add tot he cloud disrupting the Emergent targetting.  Disruption foils crackled as they blasted towards the next formation...

Attack total +2

14:38, Today: Brun rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, 0, 0.  Attack! Melee +2 vs. x3.

Brun's forces continue to attack before notices something odd on the tactical display. One of the larger transports is drifting away from the pack. The defenders are forced to spread their already meager numbers even thinner in order to compensate. Had Brun and the knights under his command not reduced the Emergent numbers considerably then the House Gehenmis guard would have been quickly overwhelmed. As it stands they are barely holding their formation together. Several of Brun's knights are forced to break off from the attack to keep them from being overwhelmed. Rose speaks up from the rear of the cockpit. Her voice is tight and business-like. “Sir Brun, there's a problem. One of the transports is suffering engine failure. She's adrift.”

To make matters worse Euryleia's system readouts are already showing signs of problems. Patch-work though she is, Euryleia is a fine armour, but there had hardly been any time (not the mention funds) after the duel with Meara to affect proper repairs. Now, he had been redlining her already taxed systems in a effort to preserve lives, both others' and his own. This battle was taking a toil on Brun's Lady.

---

Gwydion finds his route devoid of any refugees. They have managed to make it out of the damaged sections thanks to the technicians' hard work and Iliza's efforts in holding back the Emergent. He doesn't encounter any Emergent flooding down the corridor either, rather, the all seem to be massed ahead of him.

As Gwydion gets closer, he finally detects one human life sign, very faint. Finally he spots Iliza surrounded by Infiltrators. She's clearly wounded and the Infiltrators seems to be toying with her. That is not a behavior that Gwydion has ever seen them exhibit.

The Longsword's weapon cut a huge swathe from the swarm, but the actions along with the armour's movements to reach this point, destabilize the already weak structure and it finally gives away completely venting into space.

OOC: Have a Fate point, Brun. Can't have things go too smoothly.

Same for you Gwydion.

14:03, Today: MerLN rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, 1, -1.  X3 Defense vs. Brun. Melee +2. Total: 2. Brun gets a Boost.

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem
A Ghost of a Chance (One Free Invoke)
Shadow Gambit
The Baron Lives!
Repair Crew Successful!
Damsel Distress Policy (One Free Invoke)
Hyper Efficient Reactor
Priority Alpha
Brun's unnamed boost



               L2
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
                                 x₃      x₂x₄
               |         (g)    Br(f)      M(e)
               |
               |
               L1


L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

Transport Group A
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group B
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group C
Escaped

Transport Group E
Who's Hand Is That?
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group F
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group G
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #1
Destroyed

Stress: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #2
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #3
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [x] [x] [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #4
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [] []
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:25, Tue 29 Dec 2015.

Some part of Gwydion's mind marks the Emergents' behavior as odd, but as the subject of their quirk is Iliza, that isn't something he's willing to investigate just now. The energy blade cuts the air, and is quickly followed by the physical sword as a follow-up strike. He spins, smashing his shield into those still standing, and each motion wears away at the hull in addition to the Infiltrators.

An awful creak fills the room, but doesn't register with Gwydion. Sword flashing, shield pinning enemies down, he clears a space for Iliza to run, but that creak turns to the sick sound of metal twisting and breaking. A section of the hull flies off into the black, and Emergent parts go with it, along with Iliza. There's a split second where the Prince just stares in horror, but then he starts moving without thinking. Nothing about how terrible an idea this is goes through his mind. Nothing about whether or not he can actually pull it off.

The Armour's cockpit opens to the hard vacuum while there's still air to equalize with, and his body is pulled towards the gaping hole in the station. He's strapped in, keeping him from going anywhere, but it's not exactly comfortable. Gwydion exhales as he charges forward, dropping the sword and shield to give himself hands. He's got one chance: catch Iliza and pull her into the cockpit, then seal it before they either freeze or suffocate.

[11:22, Today: Gwydion rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, 0, 0.  Armour +2.

Total 0. ...wat. Invoking Damsel Distress Policy, Louder Than Words, and if necessary Young Knight of Avaluna. All for +2.

Total +4 (or +6), -2 (or -3) FP.]

Brun cursed quietly beneath his visor at this news, even as he danced ith his Lady through another salvo of blasts from the Emergent foe.  Their numbers may have been thinned, but when you are so outnumbered to start with it is hard to tell.  Warning lights were dancing across his visor displays in increasing number and severity.  He had quietly disabled Euryleia's cockpit voice; there was no sense in adding further trouble to his passengers already weighty load.  Besides, his Lady deserved to have her suffering be private.  They need not know what she was sacrificing for them.  For him.

They had come so far.  Saved so many.  How much longer could they last?  The choice to leave those on the station to their fate had been so easy.  So logical.  To lose a transport here....  No.  Not this close.  These he could save.

Come, my Lady....  One more dance...

Ignoring the alerts, Brun angled into a new trajectory heading for the crippled transport, "Rose, alert them of our approach and get me a detailed scan of their engine trouble."  He switched over to the squadron battle-comm, "We have come this far and I do not intend to lose a transport now.  I am disengaging and moving in to assist.   Defense patterns rearrange accordingly."

Not really sure what to roll yet....  So maybe it compelled a loss of action this round as he had to disengage from the fight and booster over to the transport?

Brun's defense cordon rearranges to account for his absence and a few moments later Rose calls out, "Coming through now." A schematic of the damaged engine pops up besides Brun's tactical display. It is an absolute mess. The ship, a large Jovian transport freighter called Thames, was lucky to even manage to limp away from the station. The Emergent surprise attack did a number on her. Her crew must have done several hasty repairs to get her flying.

Lady Irina is suddenly by Brun's side looking the schematic over with a scrunched up face. Even her intellect is having trouble sorting out the issue. "That's all wrong. What did they do? It'll take days to sort that out." Fortunately for those aboard the Thames, Brun has had more than his fair share of experience with unorthodox repairs.

---

Gwydion's bold and reckless rescue attempt succeeds. The young prince exhales before opening the cockpit to equalize the pressure in between lungs and the new created vacuum outside. Exposed to space a fierce biting cold like none he has ever felt strikes the prince's skin. He nearly blacks out from the experience, but the solid weight of Lady Iliza's body slamming into him brings him back to himself and he closes and repressurizes the cockpit.

Lady Iliza is barely conscious and blood is pouring from a wound in her side. Her once elegant ball gown is ripped, torn, and burnt. She reaches up to touch Gwydion's face, trailing a finger down his cheek and toward his lips. She mouths something he cannot quite understand as she stares at him like something out of a dream.

OOC: Good Use of your compel Brun!

Gwydion the four ties the Overcome's difficulty, so you succeed at a minor cost. Take two stress.

Transport group E escapes!

Brun, give me a smithy roll to diagnose the problem.

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem
A Ghost of a Chance (One Free Invoke)
Shadow Gambit
The Baron Lives!
Repair Crew Successful!
Damsel Distress Policy
Hyper Efficient Reactor
Priority Alpha
Brun's unnamed boost



               L2
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
                                 x₃      x₂x₄
               |         ()    Br(f, g)      M()
               |
               |
               L1


L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

Transport Group A
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group B
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group C
Escaped

Transport Group E
Who's Hand Is That?
Escaped

Transport Group F
Crippled
Adrift
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group G
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #1
Destroyed

Stress: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #2
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #3
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [x] [x] [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #4
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [] []

Brun quickly began to review the readouts as Euryleia swooped through the void.  To Irina, he offered, "It looks as though they had to make some very quick repairs to even get this far....  Patchwork can only hold so long no matter how good you are."  He scanned through, zooming in on a few areas, pointing out some things he'd noticed, "Maybe with our fresh eyes we can get them limping again. "  He knew she had more skill than she realized with these things, but had never been pushed to apply them to unorthdox repairs....

Smithy Overcome total 6.  If not enough to succeed with style, I will activate One Man's Junk with a FP.  Perfectly fitting moment for that Aspect.

11:37, Today: Brun rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 0, 1.  Overcome! Smithy +4.

Meara is unable to do much of anything besides dodge for her life, even with the help of her companions, as having two battle groups believe you to be a delicious, juicy transport full of civilians is not exactly helpful to one's survival.  However, being fully automated, the Emergent have patterns one can exploit if they look, and Meara's battle instincts are, while untempered, still incredibly sharp.  Utilizing every single advantage she can, she flies around and around until she gets a nice grouping of Emergent following behind her and making it difficult for them to evade a last-ditch, crazy counterattack.

The Venusian Princess is more than happy to oblige when given such an open invitation.  Brunhildr suddenly turns around and charges her Ichaival Blaster well within optimal range.  Most anyone else in her position would use Brunhildr's blade at this range.

They are not Meara.

"Get-" Meara begins to shout as the sides of Brunhildr explode with arcing energy, sending dozens upon dozens of beams into the following Emergent, "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENT!"

Mimi is too overwhelmed at this point to react to just about anything, which is probably for the best.

OOC:
20:07, Today: Meara rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, 0, 1.  +4 Armor (Evade #1).
Total: 6 (Free Boost)
20:07, Today: Meara rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, -1, -1.  +4 Armor (Evade #2).
Total: 4 (Immediately used boost)
20:08, Today: Meara rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 0, 0, 0.  +4 Armor (Evade #3).
Total: 3
20:08, Today: Meara rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 1, 0, 1.  +4 Armor (Evade #4).
Total: 6 (Free Boost)
20:08, Today: Meara rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 0, -1, -1.  +4 Armor (Evade #5).
Total: 3
20:13, Today: Meara rolled 2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, 1, 1.  +1 Blast, +2 Boost, +2 Reactor (Fate Point).
Total: 7
Mr. Torgue would be proud. *sniffs*

It takes Brun only a few moments to spot the problem. A blown relay in the ship's secondary systems (probably related to it's cargo pod loader) had gone out completely. Ordinarily this would have had no effect on the engines whatsoever, but with all of the hasty repairs made to the ship, at least part of the power flow to the engines was traveling this route. The power flow had clearly been too much for the relay and overloaded it. This was good news, at least. It wasn't a failure on the part of the engines, which meant that they ship could get back up and running provided the crew could locate a working power conduit that didn't travel through that relay. Brun found one. It would be another temporary fix, but with any luck it would hold long enough to get the Thames through the Wyrmgate.

The Emergent were not interested in waiting for the repairs to happen however, they take advantage of the stalled ship and it's thinly spread defenders and attack from several directions at once. Brun's defenders are hard pressed to keep the Emergent back, especially since they, like him, are fighting in damaged or partially repaired armors. Sir Dennic, in particular, having fought the entire battle with only one arm on his armour thanks to his bout with Meara.

“Sir, more incoming from the direction of the gate!”

---

Iliza's fingers fall from Gwydion's lips as her eyes flutter closed. She loses consciousness in the Prince's arms. She continues to lose blood from the deep wound in her right side. The blood not smeared on Gwydion's forearm forms crimson globules that float through the cockpit and mingle with the twinkling ice crystals of the frozen moisture from their breath. Heat quickly returns to the cockpit as the atmosphere levels out, but Iliza's skin remains cool to the touch.

Sharp pain suddenly strikes Gwydion's limbs and joints. He knows exactly why. The rapid decompression and recompression of his body has caused the nitrogen in his blood to come out of solution and form bubbles. A pressurized flight suit normal protects a knight from this, but his formal attire certainly didn't have the same effect.

The Longsword's high alert alarms go off inside the cockpit. This section of the station is further destabilizing as bulkheads bent and stressed by the damage of the attack and strain of the explosive decompression begin to sheer off. A collapse is imminent.

Suddenly Baron Gehenmis's panicked voice echoes through the cockpit,"Prince Gwydion, can you hear me? My daughter Iliza is still on the station. She didn't board the transports and those that saw her last claimed she stayed behind to...hold back the Emergent. You must find her. Callisto Station...it's breaking apart."

---

Meara turns the tide on her attackers, having finally had enough of being chased around. With Freyr, Sir L1-4MNT, and Sir RHY-S32 in support and corralling her foes they have nowhere to go and many are ripped to shreds by the fully charged Ichavial Blaster. What remains of their number breaks off their pursuit and heads back towards the station.

There is complete silence for several moments save for Meara's heavy breathing.

MerLN's grandfatherly voice breaks the silence, “Well done, Princess. Another group of transports will be entering the gate momentarily. The final group is making it's approach, but one of their number has stalled. The Emergent seem to be heading right for it.”

OOC:
Brun the 6 is a success with style dead on the money, though if you do still want to spend a Fate point, I'd be willing for the boost you create to become a Full Scene aspect.

The Thames will take one round to get repaired before it can move again.

16:26, Today: MerLN rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, 1, 1, -1.  Emergent vs. Thames Tranport. Armour +4. TN: 7. 1FP to invoke Crippled.

Total: 6 They almost got it that time.

Gwydion, any piloting rolls you make are at -2 for the Bends and having a dying girl in your cockpit.

16:37, Today: MerLN rolled -3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of -1, -1, 0, -1.  Emergent defense vs. Meara's blast. Zeal +5. Total: -1

That gives Meara 8 shifts of damage. Well, X2 just took it deep. That swarm is gone too.

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem
A Ghost of a Chance (One Free Invoke)
Shadow Gambit
The Baron Lives!
Repair Crew Successful!
Damsel Distress Policy
Hyper Efficient Reactor
Priority Alpha
Brun's unnamed boost



               L2
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
                                 x₃x₄
               |         ()    Br(f)      M(g)
               |
               |
               L1


L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

Transport Group A
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group B
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group C
Escaped

Transport Group E
Who's Hand Is That?
Escaped

Transport Group F
Crippled
Adrift
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group G
Crippled
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #1
Destroyed

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #2
Destroyed

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #3
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [x] [x] [] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #4
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [] []

Gwydion smiled down at the sight of Iliza alive and moving, if only faintly. The whole ordeal had him gasping for breath, but even that halted for a moment as he tried to move his Armour away from the station. His vision went blurry, pain seared his skull. Oh, right. It didn't help that as his vision cleared for a brief moment, he could see blood. His? No, Iliza's! She was still dying, even safe with him he hadn't done anything but slowed the process. Blurs returned, and the pilot quickly tried to see through the pain to plot a course.



Speech was harder than he'd expected, but the Prince answered.

"I h-have her, my lord! Sh-she's alive, but not...aaahw...not well. I was stupid, forgot I was not dressed for battle...suffering from rapid recompression, sir, we need...she needs medical attention, my lord, she's w-wounded. We're heading for the Wyrmgate. Wish us luck. Also backup." As he spoke, Gwydion did his best to operate the Armour's sensors and read them, but was having trouble. Instead he simply oriented himself in the direction of the explosions, flashes of thruster flare, and the brightest point of light in the sky. That was the Wyrmgate, he was sure of it. At least facing the right direction, the Longsword closed its sword and shield over one another as Gwydion himself pulled Iliza tightly to him. This was going to be uncomfortable enough, and he didn't need the laws of physics making things worse: full thrusters forward!

[Making a Zeal roll to cross multiple Zones, heading for the Wyrmgate! Looking to get at least as far as E2, hopefully to the Gate itself. Taking the -2 to Zeal from the Bends.

13:08, Today: Gwydion rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, -1, -1.  Zeal +2.

-2 from the Bends comes to -2. Well. Gonna drop some shiny FP to invoke Damsel Distress Policy, because nope to this, and another for Young Knight of Avaluna, because also nope.

Total +2

And that brings me to 1 Fate Point. Oh dear.]
This message was last edited by the player at 01:10, Fri 15 Jan 2016.

"No no.  This one goes here, that one goes there.  Have you got it?"

Brun highlighted the particulars in the schematic and transmitted it back.  He hoped it would hold the Thames's overworked power system long enough.  It was a fast and dirty repair.  Sequencing relays from a handful of minor systems to bridge the damaged relay was dangerous on many levels.  But, hopefully, less dangerous than the Emergent catching hold of the transport.  He had been ignoring the proximity alerts and warnings coming through regarding the newest driving assault of the enemy.  But, now that the crew of the Thames were getting the repairs underway, Brun could return his full attention to the battle.

Euryleia spun back towards the closest approaching clutch of Emergent.  Brun blinked against a sudden explosion, then spun up the thrusters, "Knights!  Thames will be under way shortly!  They only need a few moments more to get their drives online!  This is the last!  Close ranks!  We make for the Gate!"  The Knights knew their parts at this point.  They just needed something to inspire the last full measure.

Warning lights and damage readouts would have to wait.  "I am sorry, my love," muttered Brun as he fired thrusters and hurled his lady back into the fray...

Attack Total - +7 (Used Boost - Just a little more time and spending a Fate Point to activate The Prince's Esteem, as Brun is banking on whatever cache he has earned as a battle leader here)

12:28, Today: Brun rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, 0, 0, 1.  Attack! - Melee +2, +2 for Boost.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:17, Wed 20 Jan 2016.

Yet another group of transports disappears into the Wyrmgate in a flash of light. The Knights' task is nearly done!

“You did it,” Irina says as the Thames's drives come online. She gives Brun an admiring look before she turns back to her borrowed monitor. The hobbling Thames catches up to the others in it's transport group.

“We are with you, Commander,” comes the reply over the comm as Brun's ragtag band of knights close ranks with Euryleia in the lead. They drive the Emergent forces before them whilst what is left of the House Gehenmis guards shield the transports following the line of the advancing knights. Soon Brun's line meets with the forces defending the gate and the Emergent are trapped between them.

Seeing that they are trapped without hope of escape, they launch an all out suicide attack on the remaining transports.

---

The floating droplets of Iliza's blood splatter against the interior of the cockpit as the gravity generators reinitialize and the inertial dampeners kick in for powered flight. With boosters at maximum the Longsword rockets out of the collapsing station just in time. The entire section sheers sending huge pieces of station-shrapnel hurtling toward the moon Callisto.

Inside Euryleia's cockpit Irina gasps at Gwydion's message, “Nooo....”

The Baron's voice answers a moment later. Restrained relief is apparent in his voice, “Please, Prince, do what you can to save her.”

OOC:
Total: 1. Brun achieves 6-shifts on his attack. The Emergent Group checks it 4 Stress Box and shuts down a system.

Brun you also gain an Aspect. I also moved you to JWG along with the transport since that's what your post made it seem like you wanted to do.

Gwydion, that roll will be success at a minor cost. You move two zones: Offscreen-->Station-->E1. Just to speed things up we'll say you take 1-stress hit as your condition takes it's toil.

15:15, Today: MerLN rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, -1, -1, 0.  X4 vs. Transports Armour +4. Total: 3. Whiff.

15:15, Today: MerLN rolled 3 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 1, 1, 0, 1.  X3 vs. Transports Armour +4. Total: 7. Ties Brun's passive block at a cost. That cost will be that it can attack the transports freely, but not until next turn.

ONE MORE ROUND!

Aspects in Play
Marked Targets
The Prince's Esteem
A Ghost of a Chance (One Free Invoke)
Shadow Gambit
The Baron Lives!
Repair Crew Successful!
Damsel Distress Policy
Hyper Efficient Reactor
Priority Alpha
Brun's Aspect



               L2
               |
               |
               |
            Station- - - E1 - - - E2 - - - JWG
                                          x₃x₄
               |         G()       ()      BR M(f)
               |
               |
               L1


L1= Load/Launch Area 1
L2= Load/Launch Area 2
E1= Escape Route 1
E2= Escape Route 2
JWG= Jovian Wyrm Gate-- aka Escape

Transport Group A
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group B
Escaped
Fully Loaded

Transport Group C
Escaped

Transport Group E
Who's Hand Is That?
Escaped

Transport Group F
Crippled
Repaired
Capacity: [x] [x]
Damage:   [] []

Transport Group G
Crippled
Escaped

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #1
Destroyed

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #2
Destroyed

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #3
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [x] [x] [x] []

Emergent Combat Form Swarm #4
Head: Life-Form Scanner (Great Mark)
Head: Self-Repair (Once per scene, spend a fate point to reactivate a System that’s been shut down)
Torso: Double Grav Field (Once per scene, you may reduce the severity of one of your consequences by one step)
Legs: Energy Mace (Fair Melee/Fair Daunt)
Legs: Hyper-Kinetic Transmotors (Gain a boost with two free invocations when you defend with Armour and succeed with style)

Stress: [] [] [] [] []
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:00, Mon 18 Jan 2016.