Mothership Gradient Descent Ep 6

Content Warning // Contains: scenes of graphic violence, body horror, emotional trauma, psychological distress, obscene language, and harm to android children.

Bold text: mechanics
Italics text: Out of character/Warden explanation
Plain text: Roleplaying/narration

Materials: MOTHERSHIP Player’s Guide, Mythic GME 2e, Starsmith Expanded Oracles, One Page Solo Engine

Here is a quick reminder of our Characters:

Denzel McNelly (he/him): Teamster. Team Lead for the expedition. Traits: Reflective, bone ridge for teeth after a dose of ossifinil had a bad side effect. Stress 4; Bends 17

Terese Montz (she/her): Teamster. Pilot for the salvage scow, Scorpio Rising. Traits: Neglectful, scar on throat and speaks with vocalizer after her grievous injury in the Hodder Forest Reserve. Stress 4; Bends 13

Ollie Kenworth ( he/him): Scientist. Biosphere analysis. Traits: Morbid; Stress 5, Bends 10

ADA (Automated Droid Assistant) (they/them): Android. Assistant to Denzel. Traits: Bitter toward her lack of humanity; Stress 4; Bends 22

Last episode, the crew left the Bell and arrived back at the station proper, on floor 1, Reception. They learned there was another crew of Divers also in the Deep that Arkady had just taken over earlier. When they walked into the filthy reception area, they found a dead body swinging from a noose fashioned from an extension cord.

Chaos Factor 4

Test the Scene d10=3 Altered Scene
Scene Adjustment d10=9 Make Two adjustments
1,5 Remove a Character and Remove an Object

Meaning Tables, Deceive + Disadvantage

I think this means that Ollie is going to want to take a look at this corpse and will not stay with the rest of the crew while they explore. Very dangerous, we’ll see how that turns out. For the object, we’ll remove the body.

Encounter D100=15 No Encounter

The first thing we’ll do is a Body save for the stench of the decaying flesh of the corpse. Since Ollie is morbid, he will get advantage on his roll. He’s seen some sick stuff in his life.

Denzel Body save= 7 vs 28 Save
Terese Body save=19 vs 35 Save
ADA Body save=79 vs 30 Fail. +1 Stress. At 5 Stress
Ollie Body save [+]=36,82 vs 27 Fail. +1 Stress. At 6 Stress

When the crew entered the room and saw the corpse hanging from the rafters, they immediately swung their weapons around the room, searching for a threat. There was none evident, and they filed into the area carefully. The stench of the decaying corpse was overwhelming, even for Ollie, who was used to dealing with morbid subject matter.

“What the hell?” Denzel voiced what everyone else was thinking. Spent shell casings littered the floor. The walls and reception desk were riddled with bullet holes. “Looks like a battle went down in here.” There was a terminal atop the desk, they fanned out and checked the room for anything else of interest.

“I want to take down that body and see what I can discover.” Ollie motioned for ADA to help him, and they walked over to the corpse. ADA stood upon the desk and severed the cord that suspended it, and it fell with a disgusting thud to the dirty carpet. When it hit the ground, the smell in the immediate area was doubly raunchy and both ADA and Ollie gagged.

“I wish I had the option to turn off my olfactory senses at times like these.” ADA held her hand over her nose.

“It tastes like it is in my mouth!” and Ollie gagged again.

There were two other doors in the room, one bulkhead door and another office door. Denzel peeked through the office door and saw a set of concrete stairs leading down. He walked back over to the desk while Ollie fussed over the corpse. It was wearing a Cloudbank Synthetics uniform, with the company name emblazoned along the breast.

Ollie had placed a strip of cloth over his mouth and nose and was searching over the corpse’s pockets.

Book of random Sci-fi tables, Items in a desk d100=12 Neuro-Enhancing Smart Pills

He pulled out a bottle of pills. “Neuro-enhancing smart pills” he read. “Guaranteed to make you 10X more effective in the boardroom,” he chuckled at the line.

Denzel scowled, how could you be searching a dead body and still chuckle? Ollie was a sick guy. He moved over to the receptionist’s desk and rifled through the drawers.

Book of random Sci-fi tables, Items in a desk d100=10 Encrypted Data storage chip

Denzel pulled out a small storage chip. There was no identification on it, nor any documents in the drawer indicating what it might contain. “ADA, can you pop this into your PCT (personal computer terminal) and see what is on it?” The android nodded and sat down at the desk with her terminal. She inserted the chip into her machine, and it immediately prompted her for a pin code.

“Encrypted” she stated simply.

“Ok, we’ll take a look at it further when we get back to the Bell.” He looked over the terminal on the desk. It did not appear to be struck by gunfire, but it would not turn on. “Can you take a look at this terminal and see if we can get it up and running again?”

Terese walked around the room, rifling through random bits of detritus on the floor.

Mythic fate check, does she find anything of interest, very unlikely? 41 vs 15 No

Denzel asked her to follow him and he walked over to the bulkhead door. He used the wheel crank to open it and he peeked his head through. There was a long hallway that angled off to the right and in the other direction were two office doors and a third with a sign over it that read “Cafeteria.”

“You two stay here, Terese and I will take a look at these meeting rooms and Cafeteria.” Denzel instructed. Terese looked nervous but had her SMG ready.

Looks like a split party situation. I’ll assume ADA can fix the terminal using her Computer skill in 20 minutes. If I wanted to “rush it”, I would make her make a skill check. But I think we’ll just let her work. That will incur 2 encounter checks, however, since they happen every 10 minutes. Ollie will “autopsy” the corpse for the same 20 minutes.

Mythic fate check, when the terminal starts, is it password protected? 89 vs 35 No
Mythic fate check, does Ollie find anything interesting from his study? 68 vs 35 No. It is just a regular human (*hint it isn’t. It’s an infiltrator droid, but they are indistinguishable from humans without a cybernetic scanner. Even with a full autopsy).

We’ll switch back to Denzel and Terese while these two work.

Denzel walked cautiously down the tiled hallway dimly lit by flickering fluorescent lights overhead. They came to the first office door, it had a large pane of still intact glass that made up the top half of the door. Embossed into the glass were the alphanumeric code of 1A.

Encounter d100=20 None

Denzel looked through the glass and could see what was once an executive meeting room. Probably between salespeople and potential customers. The once plush carpeting now was trodden and filthy. A large wooden meeting table was flipped towards the door and luxury office chairs were tumbled about. Denzel tried the handle, and it opened freely. They both walked into the room and searched around. There was surprisingly little to be found, except for a lone backpack tucked behind the table. Denzel rifled through the contents and found spent stimpaks and shotgun shells.

Mythic fate check, is there anything else of note in the pack? 69 vs 35 No.

“Well, that was disappointing,” Terese nervously barked a laugh. Denzel gave her a smile and they walked back out of the room and into the hallway.

The next room likewise was a glass paned door, this one stenciled 1B. But the meeting room itself was much more utilitarian. The table in the middle of the room was smashed-up plastic. There were numerous books and garbage scattered around, so much so that the floor was largely covered in most places.

Encounter d100=19 None

They pushed open the door, there was so much piled garbage behind it that it took a bit of effort. “Well, let’s poke around and see if we can find anything interesting.” Denzel picked up one of the few intact books at his feet.

Book of random Sci-fi tables, Books d100=48 Whirlpool’s Edge.
Mythic Adventure tone tables: Colorful + Exterior

He skimmed over the summary on the back cover, it was a fiction novel about a military force coming against an alien incursion. The front cover depicted a rainbow-hued whirlpool shaped portal in space, with a fleet of organic looking ships emerging from within. He shrugged and placed the book in his pack. It might be good to while away some of the time back in the Bell with a book. Terese let out a small gasp and scurried backward from where she had been searching. There in the floor in the space she uncovered was a device with a blinking light on it strapped to a cylindrical tube with a capped end.

Mythic fate check, does Denzel recognize it as a mine? 13 vs 35 Yes. But he doesn’t know it is an EMP mine.

Terese fear save 28 vs 27. Fail. +1 Stress. She’s now at 5 stress.

This is our first artifact, so I will just assume it is not anything to do with the nanomachines. But just in case, we’ll do an Impossible Mythic check.

Mythic fate check, is the artifact something related to nanotechnology, impossible? 38 vs 5. No.

Artifact roll 63: Jump Drive Feedback Coil Blueprints. Halves the fuel requirement for jump drives. Value 100 million credits. Of course, the PCs do not know any of this yet.

Monarch gains 1 stress. Monarch, like the characters, has a stress rating. Certain actions like firing guns, finding artifacts, killing an android, all give Monarch stress. Certain other actions like damaging the station, using an EMP, or laser cutter cause Monarch to do a Panic check.

“I..I…could have accidentally set that thing off!” she stammered. Denzel tried to calm her down as he walked over to the device. There was a pressure trigger on the outside edge of the mine, so it appeared as though it could be picked up safely. It was rigged in such a way that if the cylinder was removed, the trigger would be released, and the mine would detonate.

“I think we are safe. Looks like it is set to detonate only if we remove this cylinder.” To prove his theory, he stooped down and picked up the combined devices. Terese sidled out of the doorway, just in case. He turned it over in his hands, and it looked stable. He was still worried about putting it in his pack though, so he placed it back on the floor near the doorway. “We’ll see if ADA knows of a way we can disable this thing safely.” He walked out of the doorway, and there as if summoned ADA stood in the doorway to the reception area.

“Denzel, I have repaired the terminal. In addition, Ollie has finished his…study.” Denzel and Terese walked back to the reception area and he told ADA about the device they found.

Mythic, is there anything on the terminal of use to the crew, unlikely? 48 vs 25. No

“The terminal mostly consists of welcome information and the ability to schedule meeting times and rooms. I was unable to find anything that will assist us. Would you like for me to take a look at the device you found?” Denzel nodded and ADA followed Terese back to the mined artifact.

“Did you find anything, Ollie?” Denzel asked squeamishly. Ollie looked up from the roughly dissected corpse and took off the disposable gloves he was wearing.

“I was curious if this body contained any of the nanotechnology. I even hoped very slightly that it might revive once we ceased the strangulation. Alas, it is just a plain old human hanged for some unknown offense.” He looked down at the cut up corpse and chuckled again.

“Gross” Denzel looked away from the grisly scene. “Too bad we can’t push him out of an airlock. I guess if we had our vaccsuits we could.” Ollie shrugged, still grinning. “Let’s go check on the others. We can decide what to do with this mess later.”

ADA had the mined artifact out in the hallway, Terese was hunkered behind the heavy wooden table in meeting room 1A. The android looked up at Denzel as he approached with Ollie in tow.

Mythic fate check, does ADA know how to disarm this mine safely, likely? 54 vs 50 No.
Does she know it is an EMP mine and not a standard munitions, likely? 73 vs 50 No.

“I apologize, Denzel, but I am not sure how to deactivate this explosive device.”

Mythic fate check, does Ollie recognize it is an EMP, likely? 91 vs 50 Extreme No.

Ollie saw the explosive sitting on the floor and dodged inside the meeting room beside Terese. “Are you two crazy! Get away from that thing!” Denzel scoffed and scooped up the device.

“It’s perfectly safe as long as we don’t remove this strapped on cylinder. Which I assume is worth something, else it would not be baited on this mine. We’ll hide it somewhere and then take it with us when we leave. Let’s check out this cafeteria.” Ollie made a quip about getting a coffee, but Denzel didn’t wait to hear the whole of it. He opened the door into the cafeteria.

Encounter d100=42 None.
10% Chance of Diver inside= 46 None.

Inside the cafeteria there was a large banner hanging from the ceiling that was spanning the room. Broken equipment and wrappers littered the floor between steel tables and chairs that were arranged in barricades. There were a couple of swinging doors that presumably led into a kitchen area, and a third door in the side of the room that led elsewhere. “Take a quick look around, then let’s check out the kitchen.” Denzel followed his own advice and began to look at the scattered garbage.

Mythic fate check, do they find anything of note? 62 vs 35 No.

Despite their search, the crew were unable to find anything worth taking. They walked to the kitchen doors and peered through the small windows.

Encounter d100=22 Yes!
d10 type=8 A security android
Reaction d100=18 Even is a positive reaction. Low roll is weaker position.

The faceless head of a security android was looking down at something on a prep table that its body was partially blocking from view. The sound of the crew must have alerted it, because it looked up just as Denzel peeked through the window. It stared eyelessly at him, not raising its SMG, which still hung loosely in its hands.

Denzel hissed and dodged away from the window and motioned for Ollie and ADA to use the other door. He and Terese pushed through their door at the same time as the other two and they all had their weapons trained on the sole android.

“Drop your weapon!” Denzel called out. They all fanned out so the android would be subject to a crossfire if it did not comply. The head swiveled from one group to the other and it squatted down and placed the SMG onto the floor. It then stood back up and stepped away from it, hands raised. On the prep table where it had been looking was a statue of a golden rat overlooking a plate of goods and ammo magazines.

Mythic, does the android try to leave the room, very likely? 02 vs 13 Extreme Yes

The android began walking around the crew, moving toward one of the doors to the cafeteria. “What is it doing?” Ollie swore, his pulse rifle shaking slightly.

“I think the android is removing itself from the area peacefully.” ADA responded, also keeping the walking android in her gunsights.

“Should we stop it?” Ollie barked. His hands now were visibly shaking. It appeared he REALLY didn’t want to shoot the android.

“Just let it go,” Denzel watched as the android pushed through the door, then they could hear the footfalls of it running. Denzel watched through the window as it passed through the door in the cafeteria that they had not investigated. “Hopefully it doesn’t come back with a group of friends. Let’s clear this room quickly.” He trotted over and scooped up the extra SMG, strapping it across his back.

He looked at the plate on the prep table. There were 2 cans of soup, 9 cigarettes, and 2 SMG magazines. He placed the mine on the table and grabbed the goods from the plate. “Do you think he left these things here for someone?” No one answered. Some of the burners along the wall had been jury rigged back into operation. But all of the original kitchen equipment was in a state of disrepair.

Mythic fate check, is there anything of interest in the room? 55 vs 35 No. 
Random event d100=89 Current Context. I think that means the android returns.

Terese was looking through one of the door windows while the others searched. “He’s back with some friends!” she fiercely whispered. Alongside the unarmed droid walked three other security androids. The others were all armed with SMGs. Denzel and the others took cover behind the overturned metal tables and trained their weapons on the doors.

Encounter reaction=59 Odd, so negative.

The two doors sprang open and the androids began to open fire!

Speed check to see who goes first.
Security androids 26 vs 50. Save
Denzel for party Speed 46 vs 40 Fail.

Android 1 fire at d4 [Denzel, ADA, Terese, Ollie]=ADA 22 vs 60 Critical Success. Double damage.
2d10 x2=18X2=36!-10 cover AP-1 attire=24 damage. That’s 1 Wound and 4/14 HP
Roll for Wound from Gunshot d10=1. Bleeding +1

Android 2 fire at Terese=55 vs 60 Critical Success.
Double damage.
2d10 x2=12 -10 cover -1 attire= 1 damage. Terese 16/17 HP

Android 3 fire at Ollie=70 vs 60 Miss

Android 4 runs toward Denzel to grapple for his weapon 15 vs 60. Success. He now wrestled the SMG from Denzel’s hands.

Denzel draw second SMG fire point blank at Android 4 [+]=65,69 vs 40. Miss. +1 Stress

ADA attack Android 1 64 vs 24 Miss. +1 Stress

Terese attack Android 2 04 vs 46. Hit.
2d10 Damage=11. Android 2 9/20 HP

Ollile attack Android 3 32 vs 44 Hit.
3d10 Damage=12. Android 3 8/20 HP

Mythic fate check, does Denzel knock off the mined device from the table in the struggle, very likely? 54 vs 65. Yes!

All androids in the room make a Body save or lose a wound (including ADA).

Android 1 Body save=67 vs 50 Fail. 1 Wound taken
Android 2 Body save=81 vs 50 Fail. 1 Wound taken
Android 3 Body Save=50 vs 50 Fail. 1 Wound taken
Android 4 Body Save=00 vs 50 Critical Save.
ADA Body Save 6 vs 30 Save.

The kitchen erupted in a hail of gunfire from both the androids and the crew members. ADA took a strong hit as she leaned out from behind her cover to fire. White pseudo milk from a bleeding wound seeped from her shoulder. Terese and Ollie both successfully pelt their targets with gunfire. Before Denzel can get his shot off, the android they originally let leave rushed toward him and wrestled his SMG from his hands. In the struggle, they knocked the mined device from the table.

Denzel whipped his SMG from off his back and fired, but at the same time, the EMP mine discharged. All of the androids in the room take a hard hit from the EMP discharge, except for the one facing Denzel. It staggered enough for Denzel’s point blank shot to go wide, however. ADA puts her hand to her head, but she too was able to resist the EMP.

Monarch stress at gunfire +1
Monarch Panic save at EMP 18 vs 2. Save

The voice of Monarch came over the loudspeakers, and the androids ceased their attacks. They stood stock still eerily, after the frantic gunfight. “Welcome Visitors to Cloudbank Synthetic Production Facility. Here at Cloudbank, we are manufacturing the future. I trust that you will obey all posted signs and warnings, as a production facility can be a dangerous place. Please refrain from damaging Cloudbank property and surrender to any Security forces when prompted to do so. The use of EMP devices within Cloudbank premises is STRICTLY prohibited.”

“They attacked us, unprovoked!” Denzel shouted back.

“I fear there must be some mistake, visitor. You initiated the conflict by threatening an agent of security on this station. Surrender your weapons and await further instruction and you will be spared.”

“I’m afraid we won’t be able to do that. I do not trust that we will be treated fairly.” Denzel retorted angrily.

“I assure you, your lives will be spared. You can retain all of your equipment except for your weapons. You will then be escorted from this facility safely.”

“Our ship is not here; we will need to contact our ride.” He shouted from behind the steel table.

“That is unfortunate. We will need to escort you to the exit regardless. Your inability to breathe in the vacuum of space should have been accounted for when you decided to break the rules of this station.”

Denzel didn’t wait further; he pulled the trigger on his SMG pointing at the droid standing in front of him.

Autohit unsuspecting android 4
2d10=17. Android 4 HP 3/20

ADA attack Android 1 02 vs 24. Hit.
2d10=17. Android 1 HP 3/20
ADA -1 HP from bleeding. 3/14 HP

Terese attack Android 2 19 vs 46. Hit.
2d10=17 (again). Android 2 killed
Monarch stress +1= 3

Ollie attack Android 3 62 vs 44 fail. +1 Stress. +1 Stress from seeing android die. 8 Stress. 

Androids Morale check 57 vs 50 Fail. They decide to flee.

The crew took their cue from Denzel and also opened fire on the stationary droids. Denzel’s droid staggered back from the barrage of bullets fired into its torso. ADA likewise sprayed the android facing her with the SMG bullets. Terese hammered the second android directly in the head with her gunfire, and it crumpled to the ground. Monarch let out a sound resembling a groan over the loudspeakers and the other three security guards turned from the fight and fled the room. Denzel took the opportunity to shoot at the droid that attacked him before it could leave the room.

Denzel attack Android 4 09 vs 40 Hit.
2d10 damage=14. 1 Wound taken. 9/20 HP
d10 Gunshot Wound=9 Headshot. Death Save.
d10 Death Save=1 Unconscious and dying in 1d5=5 rounds.
+1 stress to Ollie for seeing another droid killed. Stress 9

“I appear to have taken damage and require assistance.” ADA called out calmly. Ollie hustled over to her and retrieved their first aid kit from her pack. He then proceeded to bandage the bullet wound that caused her to bleed her synthetic blood. While he was doing so, he kept glancing over at the downed droids. A feeling of regret was pushing itself into his mind.

Denzel watched through the kitchen door as the 2 remaining droids filed out the unknown door once again. He scooped up the now discharged mine and tore it from the cylinder. He placed that into his pack and called out to Terese. “Get Arkady up here, we’re done for the day!”

2d10=14 Security Androids on their way as backup
1d10=40 minutes until they arrive

End of Scene

Chaos factor +1 =5

The crew doesn’t know it yet, but they found their first valuable artifact from Monarch. The AI is not very happy about these new visitors coming in and wreaking havoc. I thought for sure we would get the first floor cleared this episode, but the dice had different ideas. I’m not sure how we are going to handle wounds taken, since there are no medical facilities on the Bell. This is going to be tough!

I hope you enjoyed this episode, and I’ll see you next week!

Denzel McNelly (he/him): Teamster. Team Lead for the expedition. Traits: Reflective, bone ridge for teeth after a dose of ossifinil had a bad side effect. HP 11/11; Wounds 0/2; Stress 5; Bends 17

Terese Montz (she/her): Teamster. Pilot for the salvage scow, Scorpio Rising. Traits: Neglectful, scar on throat and speaks with vocalizer after her grievous injury in the Hodder Forest Reserve. HP 16/17; Wounds 0/2; Stress 5; Bends 13

Ollie Kenworth ( he/him): Scientist. Biosphere analysis. Traits: Morbid; HP 17/17; Wounds 0/2; Stress 9, Bends 10

ADA (Automated Droid Assistant) (they/them): Android. Assistant to Denzel. Traits: Bitter toward her lack of humanity; HP 3/14; Wounds 1/3; Stress 6; Bends 22

Monarch Stress 3