RP: ISC Phoenix [Mission 8] Dawning Concerns

[Luca]

MISSION 8 - START!!

IN THE LAST EPISODE:
"So where the heck is Drift, anyway?" Was the question on most viewer's minds. Fortunately, John answered that question and lead the team there, with relative ease. However, being IN Drift was significantly harder than getting there, with a sudden NMX Mishhuvurthyar raid from within - that was barely contained, but the damage was kept to a relative minimum with the Phoenix Crew's presence.

Now, they head onwards, reimbursed by the generous Governor of Drift to go and pick up a new vessel. However, as always, things will get interesting for the Crew of the INTERSTELLAR SPACE CRUISER PHOENIX!!

Eventually, as the movie wound down and Galar leaving to oversee the minor reconstruction of Drift, the ISC Big Bird was free to leave whenever it wanted. With that in mind, John got the ship flying quietly, so as to maintain the festivity.

Luca was, for the most part, lounging in the cargo bay, with the makeshift living room. John had gotten himself some books and odd-shaped dice. There were some pencils and paper scattered about too.

"So lemme get this straight," Luca asked as he held up an icosahedron, "I roll this, and add the number?"
"Yeah, you add your Brawn bonus to it." John explained, hiding behind a large book labelled, 'Galaxy Adventure TTRPG', "Or, if you're using a gun, add your Reflex."

"Weird, can't I just do it for real?"
"No no no, the point is that you let the dice decide the outcome," John justified.
"I can shoot plenty fine," Luca shrugged, contemplating at the sheet in front of him, "Why can't my character?"

John sighed a little, "Your character is a character, he isn't you in terms of skills, but he's an extension of your personality," He explained, word from word from the book casually, "Or whatever personality you want to play as, get it?"

"I'm good at playing personalities," Hitori crept out of Luca's shadow, taking a look at a spare sheet and penning in details.
Luca couldn't get his head around how all this worked, resting his hand on his chin and sighing dejectedly.

 

[Scot]

Panther walked in hearing sounds of "dice" and "personalities" wondering what human traditions are going on. He wore a sleeveless blue shirt and baggy light brown pants while walking barefoot so each step made a light clicking sound of his claws tapping the metal. "Luca, I doubt you would roll an unfavorable number no matter the game," Panther stated while assuming whatever they were playing was a game of chance.

The Kohanian then took an unused chair and spun it around to sit in the reverse manner while his tail slowly curled left and right in has Nargul curiosity. His arms rested on the chair with his head on his arms resting and watching like a cat eying a ball of yarn.

 

[Nevaraon]

Robert walked into the room behind Panther silently seeing how long it would take the Kohonian to notice him. But he couldn't resist saying "Got an extra sheet for me? I've never played any game like this but might as well learn how too." he grinned as he had started off the sentence slightly louder than normal.

 

[Scot]

The Kohanian was intent on figuring out this human game when his tail hit something behind him, followed by a loud noise. Suddenly his eyes flared and he quickly pulled out one of his larger knives was pointed squarely at Robert's throat. If one observed, this motion also shifted the chair 90 degrees with his other hand ready to pull a second knife.

"If you want a sheet, go back to bed where there are plenty of, human," Panther replied in a very serious tone, cursing that he couldn't even let his guard down on home territory.

 

[Nevaraon]

Robert raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. He gave an easy smile as he backed up a step. "Chill out man. I was only playing with ya" he slide carefully around the angry Kohonian and sat down at the table silently marveling at the speed and presicion of Panther's reaction.

 

[Luca]

"Nah, I mean character sheet, fuzzball," John said, in the least patronising way possible to Panther, "It's a sheet of paper, but I suppose you could write it on a bedsheet if you were outta paper, and..." He rambled off on an unrelated tangent.

"Anyways, let's get this started, shall we?" Luca asked as he picked up a pair of twenty-sided dice and threw them. He came up with an 11 and a 15.

"I haven't even told you what you're doing," John said, "Why are you rolling?"
"Just testing my luck. How come you aren't flying the ship?" Luca asked back.
"Autopilot," He replied, "We've got friendly ships around us too, so no real cause for concern. Anyway..." He cleared his throat as he got his 'game master' voice on.

"You're standing in a vast plain, with your weapons ready, as you spot the gaping chasm of doom before you. You've heard that both vast riches and great danger lurk beneath the surface," John said, waggling his fingers.
"Oooh, real scary-like," Luca chuckled.

"You've all decided to jump forwards and see if you can purloin some treasure from here, after some discussion and deliberation written down hastily on a barmat and fuelled by greed, alcohol and most importantly - ADVENTURE!" John continued, letting his voice raise slowly as he continued the litany.

"Now, can I get a look at everyone's character sheets, please?" He said before continuing, putting his hand forward from behind a privacy screen he'd erected.
"Paladin here," Luca said, putting his sheet forward and getting it examined, and handed back with a thumbs up.
"Yep, looks good to me."

Meanwhile, the ship continued its course at a steady pace, with other ships nearby on the same route. Sebastian was lying down on the couch, with Anna by his side, exchanging sweet nothings.

 

[Nevaraon]

"Naturally a thief here." Robert said as he quickly wrote up the character sheet. He handed it over to John. Then he smiled.

 

[Moogle]

Seiren was hard at work, making two batches of candy. One of which was probably the spiciest candies known to man- er. . . civilization. The other was another attempt at making the perfect sweets. Both were out to cool, however, the spicy ones were above the sweet ones.

"That'll show whoever stole them. . " He devilishly snickered, hiding around a corner.

 

[Gallant]

Naoko edged her way out from beneath a couch, and submitted for approval a signifigantly smaller character sheet, which had been sketched out on a peice of notepad paper.

It was a Wizard.

The small Nekovalkyrja had dressed herself more or less for the part - Naoko sported an embroidered robe and a jaunty little witch cap that she wore with the same natural grace as she would have worn more regular clothing. She pushed the hat back a little bit, to get a better look at the other players, who were considerably taller than she was.

"So, are we supposed to act drunk, or is that just backstory?"

 

[Scot]

The Kohanian kept on eye on the "thief" while setting his chair in the correct position. He began flipping though the manual to get a better handle on the "game" and figure out what character is best suited. With a chuckle he submitted a beastman warrior with duel wielding abilities.

"A game of chance sounds like an interesting challenge," Panther remarked as he handed his character page. He glanced over at Naoko and his ear twitched in curiosity to what she was wearing, wondering if she was getting ready for sleep.

 

[Luca]

"Okie dokie," John said as he showed off a picture of the chasm in the book he was reading from, "So assembled before the chasm is a Paladin, a Wizard and two Thieves. Correct?"
"Yeah, Paladin here," Luca raised his hand.

"Now, you do know that you have a code of conduct as a Paladin, right?" John leaned in towards the Captain.
Luca sighed, "Lemme guess..." He raised a finger, "Don't steal, don't cheat, adhere to law and good and all that yadda?"
"Essentially," He said.

"Drunk?" repeated the two-foot witch. "If I read correctly, paladins are supposed to not drink."

"I thought everyone was entitled to a drink, but not to be a drunkard," Luca tilted his head, "After all, just two beers couldn't affect your skills much. Twenty beers might."
"I dunno, let's see how your god likes that thought," The sound of a die rolling could be heard. The little witch stifled a quiet cackle.

"Well, you're off the hook for now, but do it again and you're smited," John said, tutting his finger. Luca sighed dejectedly.
"Now, Wizard, what spells have you prepared today?" John leaned in.

Naoko had a small selection of five 1st Level Spells, three 2nd level spells, and one 3rd Level spell. "Here," she said, proffering the sheet. "I think this is correct."

"Yep. Nothing wrong there," John said as he handed the sheet back, "So you see a stairway leading down to the first level of the chasm. You also spot a sign reading," He twiddled his fingers as he read the next line slowly and with an evil grin, "ABANDON ALL HOPE, ALL YE WHO ENTER!!" He chuckled a little at his show and coughed before continuing.

"The stench of sulphur emanates from chasm, and the stairs lead alongside it," He then looked up from his screen to the players, "What do you do?"

"Let the Paladin go first," chirped the miniature witch.

"Alrighty, I gaze down the chasm," Luca shrugged, "How deep does it look?"
"You think it'd be beyond reckoning, maybe a few miles," John pointed his finger to the sky and trailed it downwards, "You think jumping down it to make a hasty shortcut may be a poor idea," His finger hit the table.

"Alright then," Luca said, "Wizard, do you want to see if there's anything?"

"Anou," she mumbled, "I cast 'torch' on the other side of the chasm, to try to see if there's anything in the darkness."

"Well, you can see where you're going now, as your torch illuminates the stairs downwards and into the chasm," John proclaimed as he made a 'fvwishhh' to signify a light turning on.

"Do the two thieves wish to do anything?" John asked Robert and Panther.

 

[Nevaraon]

Robert shook his head "I'll just not go near the edge of the chasm and inspect the stairway."

 

[Scot]

With everyone so intent on overlooking the imaginary chasm, Panther decided to take the obvious route, "I shall walk down the stairs."

 

[TeslaTornado]

Vincent grunted with exertion as he managed to limp through the doorway, cradling his chest - and his still-healing ribs - in one massive arm. The mercenary settled into an easy chair he had pulled from one side of the room with his unoccupied arm, turned it around and settled his massive girth into it. The chair groaned under the weight of its new occupant, but Vincent ignored the obvious danger sign in favor of the comfort the plushy chair offered his aching torso.

"What's all the paper about?" Vincent grunted. "All this nonsense about torches and paladins and wizards? Are we planning some sort of strange, bizarre raid or something?"

 

[Nevaraon]

Robert looked up as Vincent sat. "We sure are. We're going on a treasure hunt for long lost gold. You wanta help us raid the stash?" he asked with a slight ironic smile.

 

[Gallant]

"It's a game," explained the small nekovalkyrja, still holding the brim of her witch hat, "Maybe, if you are feeling better, you could play."

The small witch smiled warmly at the Nepleslian.

 

[TeslaTornado]

Vincent's expression was stony. He looked first to Robert, then to the penny-eater dressed up as... Something. Vincent's flash-taught schoolings hadn't included Nepleslian popular culture and folklore, so he could not define Naoko as a "witch", as the others could. So Vincent shrugged. The action hurt his ribs, which caused his left eyebrow to twitch and the corner of his mouth to twist into a slightly pained grimace. He lowered his shoulders slowly and the pain receded.

"Never played before, but I suppose I can learn," The mercenary grunted. "I'll join."

 

[Lamb]

"I suggests makin' a character whats knows the arts of dodgin'." chimed Enzo. The criminal was entering the room clad in his pajama bottoms and a tank top. He had placed a band-aid over his tattoo, which had received a minor scrape during his Mishu tustle. In his hand was a white towel, which he was using to scrub his hair dry. His face was freshly shaved and he was emitting the pleasant odor of public shower soap.

The grizzled vagabond took his own seat next to the table and cracked his knuckles. "Lessee..." he began, idly pondering over the characters and their situation. "I don't thinks I'll be in for this ones, but here's a little present for yous."

Enzo took the dice in his hands and and called out, "Yous guys gets attacked by seven Dire Cobalt Vampires. Yous rolls for initiative, it's an impossible roll, they strikes first, using their ability Mortals Strike. One of thems casts Cone of Cold on the party. Lemme roll for them... 15,16,14,19,17,19,20. I thinks yous guys are all dead now. Thanks me later."

With that, Enzo lept over the back of his chair and whistled himself a jaunty tune back to his nook in the cargo bay, where he would change back into his crew shirt and cargo pants. He also donned his boots and holstered his revolver.

 

[Gallant]

Naoko very patiently removed her witch hat, turning it slowly by the brim as if examining it. It was black. It had a little ribbon around the conical bit, and turned pointy and a little droopy near the end - rakishly so. That sort of thing was traditional.

It had been in the little trunk of clothing that Enzo had bought her.

A lot of things had been in the little trunk that Enzo had bought her.

"What are Cobalt Vampires?" she asked after Enzo left, posing the question that was no doubt on everyone's mind anyway.

 

[ShotJon]

Zeta awakened. She must have been sleeping for some time. Someone was nice enough to take WIND armour of her, treat her and put her to bed. Got to find out who that was and thank him or her. She wasn't seriously injured so she wasn't in medbay but on her bed. She sit on the side of her bed and rubbed her face. Her body stil ached adn she some bruises and scratches on her body.

She picked up some clean clothes and went to get a shower. She felt every part of her body while hot water poured on her. But she was okay. She was alive, and everybody else was alive too. That was good. That was perfect. She did her job all right at least once. She won't be kicked out again. At least for now.

When she get out of shower she was too lazy to creat her usualy haird and just combed her haid in the back, and used a littge gel so it would stay that way. Her face in the mirror didn't look all that well. She had ripped corner of her mouth and a nasty black eye. Those zombies knew how to threw a punch. Well it is not like she was a miss Neplesila anyway.

She walked out refreshed and in clean khaki t-shirt and pants. With that she walked to where others were and listened leaned upon the doorway. It looked like everything was fine. Naoko fit in the group. Oh wait. Naoko was bigger. How could she get bigger? Zeta just shook her head and walked in. "Hello everybody, what are you playin?" she asked and walked to the John. "Hey Johny, could I borrow one of you shades for a while?" she aked and pointed to her black eye.