@DJCT asked for a die roll:
2d20: 19 + 16 = 35
Sheesh …… 1 success … the hip flask is gripped tighter.
Zin: “Computer, can you give us a summary of the research team’s last status report?”
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One success was all you need! @WolfeRJ Your roll is now Difficulty 1 Task, since Dr. Simpson is helping you by laying out some of the groundwork for your search.
(Majel Barret Voice) “The research team on Xerxes IV has sent three status updates since their arrival eleven months, three weeks, and two days ago. Each status report is identical. ‘Situation normal, research proceeding according to schedule.’ The next status update is scheduled for two weeks, six days from now.”
(This is not unusual for remote Federation research outposts. Often times the risk of communications being intercepted outweighs the perceived gains of keeping Starfleet in the loop)
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Tray tucks a large indelible marker pen into one of the pockets of her uniform.
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@WolfeRJ asked for a die roll:
Okay. Thank you all!
Rad listens along in rapt horror of the computers descriptions of the myriad types of flora and fauna that could be on Xerxes IV modifying a number of his computer queries from just how to survive a dirt scape with inconvenient atmospheric pressure and humidity and temperature problems to include what to do about the poor creatures that had to spend eons figuring out how to live there by trial and error. Rad will idly also refill Dr Simpson’s hip flask and have the replicator stock two refills for the Doc’s pack.
2d20: 14 + 19 = 33
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Ah, this is on me: there’s no “Computers” as an Attribute to add to your “Security” Discipline. Sorry, mentally I was reading “Control,” but I’m not sure that’s what you meant.
Which of the 6 Attributes (Control, Reason, Insight, Fitness, Daring, or Presence) did you want to use along with Security for the check?
EDIT: Unless you meant you want to use the Ship’s stats. In which case the Ship will assist (the ship is always a secondary character, it’s never the “main” roller for anything) using Computers + Security (which would be 12, but you’ll have to reroll since you can only use 1 die). You’d still need to use your own combination of Attribute + Discipline as the major Task-doer (I’m sure there’s a technical name for that).
Does that make sense?
I think that makes sense. I’d misunderstood using the ship as a character. It feels like this has to be insight and security which I think makes that a failure.
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No worries whatsoever, Torlent. I didn’t do a very thorough explanation of the rules, after all. I’ve never run an RPG by post before, so I’m sure I’ll stumble more than a few times before we’re done!
That stated, in order to keep the story moving, we’ll say that there just isn’t enough information about Xerxes IV to make much more than educated guesses, and the Away Team has prepared everything you can in the time allocated to you.
“Shuttle Kidinnu, you are clear for launch. Good luck out there.”
We see the shuttle launch from the Migizi, swirling clouds of orange and red, roiling like water in a kettle, surrounding both the mighty Nova-class ship, and the delicate Type-7 shuttle.
With the thrum of impossible-to-hear-sound-in-space of the warp nacelles, the Migizi stretches and disappears in a flash of light. Flashes of plasma-lightning streak in the distance, and the twisting of the ion storm curl behind the shuttle like eddies behind a paddle.
Within moments, the Kidinnu is tossed around, not violently but consistently. But the clouds grow darker, tinged with maroons and purples
(OOG: Okay, @WolfeRJ, Torlent is at the Conn. The suggested combination of skills to land on Xerxes IV is Daring or Control + Conn, but as always I’m open to suggestions of what you feel would be appropriate. This is a Difficulty 2 Task, so you may wish to consider buying a die with that one Momentum the party has. Additionally, @RogerBW, Keli’i can assist in whatever way you think makes the most narrative sense: perhaps Control + Engineering to keep the shuttle’s systems working, or Reason + Science to locate the safest path through the ion storm… or Daring + Security to keep the shields up… or whatever! A reminder that if you are assisting, you will roll 1d20 against your Attribute+Discipline of choice, and add that success to Torlent’s piloting efforts)
(While we’re waiting for Torlent and Keli’i, @RossM, Cee sees a shape in the clouds that he finds amusing. What is it? @DJCT, Simpson strikes up a jaunty tune to pass the time. What song is he singing? And @Snobbydolphin, Zin waits until Simpson is done singing and then tells an ancient Bajoran ghost story… or at least you think it’s an ancient Bajoran ghost story? Your parents told you it was, but as you’re retelling it you suddenly become unsure… what’s the moral the story is supposed to tell?)
(That she finds amusing.)
It’s a rearing horse, ready to trample the shuttle at any moment.
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In an effort to stiffen the team’s resolve, Dr Simpson starts into a jaunty rendition of the Skye Boat Song. He uses the swell of the shuddering movement of the shuttle as his upbeat, leading to changes in the pace of the song as the shuttle sways back and forward.
[Like this, but in a deeper male voice, and faster: Stream The Skye Boat Song by Scottish Book Trust | Listen online for free on SoundCloud ]
Do the lyrics stir emotions in anyone else?
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@RogerBW asked for a die roll:
Did somebody say Control and Engineering? Keli’i is steady enough that you might think he hadn’t noticed the danger, until you see just how quickly he’s fine-tuning the shuttle’s warp bubble and shields to slip through the storm with a minimum of interaction.
Control 12 + Engineering 5 = target 17
d20: 14
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Emotions may be happening later, but there’s a tenor humming in harmony from the right seat.
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@WolfeRJ asked for a die roll:
Rad sings along with a bit less gusto than he might in the Battering Ram but with rising energy as he gets a feel for the controls. Rad pushes the Kidinnu up to speed quickly and cuts a course for Xerxes IV that stirs the Ion clouds to a froth as we go.
Daring 11 + Conn 4 = target 15
2d20: 18 + 7 = 25
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I think that makes 2 with the assist.
As the song gets towards the end Rad says with a puzzled look “Charlie seems like an odd name. What was it before this was localized from Klingon?”
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Dr Simpson : "Ah well, that is a long story my friend, of heartbreak and betrayal, religion and war. Share a drink with me some time and I’ll tell you more. I have a whole holodeck module on the Jacobites. I call it ‘Outlandish’ …
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Tray spends some time scanning the ion storm for her own interest.
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Zin: “Heartbreak and betrayal? Reminds me of an old Bajoran story my parents used to tell me as a child about a man whose love was lost on a journey in deep space. He started to see them in his dreams where his love’s spirit tells him they could be together. So, he starts searching for a way to go into a state of stasis while maintaining a low level of brain function to… Well, long story short, it was really just a psychic parasite that ended up feeding on him, but the moral is basically that not letting go of things can kill you.”
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(Amazing! You folks are really good at this!)
(Two successes was all you needed, albeit by the narrowest of margins… let’s see where that lands our heroes…)
For almost fifteen excruciating minutes, the shuttle is tossed like a toy in a child’s hands. Torlent, eyes steady and hands flying across the dashboard, manages to keep his nerves steady, and Keli’i fluctuates shields, modulates warp bubbles, and redirects the plasma more times than most engineers do in a lifetime.
And then you see it. Xerxes IV, a blue-green oasis in a typhoon of angry reds and purples.
The shuttle lurches violently, struck by an ion stream that formed seemingly out of nowhere. Shields drop precipitously before disappearing completely. The ship’s alarms blare, but you almost can’t hear them over the sound of rattling, shaking, and teeth clattering.
“Navigation is out!” Keli’i grunts. “We took a hit to the–”
“Everybody hang on to something!” somebody shouts as the shuttle plummets into the atmosphere. Like a comet, it streaks downwards.
“That ground is approaching awfully fast…”
Torlent lets out a stream of curses that would make a Vulcan blush, and hammers the controls like they owed him fifty bucks for three years.
There is a crash, the world turns upside down for a moment, and then the sound of metal-on-dirt and the splintering of wood. A moment later, silence descends… you realize that it’s not actually silence, as the pop-pop sound of metal cooling and the occasional spark snaps around you, but it’s very quiet compared to moments ago.
The shuttle has landed, more-or-less intact, in a rocky expanse that looks somewhat like the wilderness of southern California, or perhaps British Columbia. An ugly gash caused by the deceleration across the ground is black on the grey rock, and a dozen or so trees smoulder softly along the path. The smell is the pleasant odor of wood fires mixed with the metallic tang of leaking plasma coolant, tinged with the unmistakable scent of plant-life. Otherwise, the area is a lightly forested area near the foothills of some unremarkable elevated terrain… not “mountains,” but more than “speedbumps.” The sky is fluctuating wildly… imagine the Northern Lights, but the colours shift across the entire spectrum as the ion storm hammers the atmosphere and ionosphere. Not dangerous, but it is still having an impact on the planet, even down here where it is unquestionably safer.
“We’ve landed about three kilometers from the station,” Zin says, wiping a sleeve across his forehead. “Should be about an hour, maybe two, depending on how rough the route is.”
“The shuttle is damaged, but nothing serious,” Keli’i adds. “A twisted photonic inverter, and I’m pretty sure we burned out the antimatter positronic stabilizer, but those are both pretty common parts. The station should have plenty of parts we can use to replace those.”
With a final sputter, the shuttle powers down, and the inside is dark.
“Did anyone else hear that?” Torlent asks as he stands.
“Hear what?”
A soft sound… perhaps grunting? Maybe the groaning of trees? Heck, it might just be your imagination, since nobody else seems to have heard it…
(OOG: Okay dokey smokey. Let me know what you folks would like to know/do before you start your trek towards the station. No rush… well, probably no rush. I mean, those sounds I mentioned are probably nothing… right?)
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Ah, I missed this earlier. The ion storm is somewhat unusual: higher concentration of some very exotic charged particles, and certainly the strongest storm that’s hit the sector in… well, definitely decades, possibly centuries.