Mothership Gradient Descent Ep 7

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, Book of Random Tables Science Fiction

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. 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

Chaos Factor 5

Test the Scene d10=5 Altered Scene
Scene Adjustment Table d10=6 Add an Object. 
Roll on Object Table= Cute + Fancy. I have a vague idea how this might come into play, depending on if we get to the right place in the station.

In the last episode, the crew recovered some blueprints for an improved jump drive strapped to an EMP mine. Their first artifact! They still do not know what it is however. They also recovered a data chip that they do not know the contents of. In the kitchen area of the visitor’s floor, they came upon a security droid who left and came back with trouble.

A firefight ensured, in which ADA was injured, and two of the four security droids were killed. Monarch offered to escort the crew into the vacuum of space, but the crew respectfully declined. Denzel asked Terese to contact Arkady for pickup and that is where we are picking up on the story. Unbeknownst to them, 14 more security droids will arrive at their location in 40 minutes. Nevertheless, they know there will be more trouble if they don’t leave.

Terese frantically opened her comms link to the channel Arkady provided them. She heard his accented voice come over the radio. “Calling for pickup already? You only been there one hour.”

“Yes, we just got into a fight with some security androids. We’re mostly ok, ADA took a hit, but we need to get out of here.” Her vocalized voice whispered back.

The channel was silent for almost a minute before his response came over the radio. “This not good. You put me big risk if I docked when more security arrives. They on their way right now. You should find place to hide.”

“ARE YOU JOKING!?” Terese shouted into her comm unit. Denzel looked at her with worry. Terese turned to him, “Arkady said that there are more security droids on their way to this location and it isn’t safe for him to dock. He said we should find somewhere to hide instead!”

“Where could we possibly hide? They know this place better than we do!” Ollie shouted.

Terese relayed their concern to the First Diver. “I understand why you fear. Arkady will help you find place. Are you still on 1^st floor?” Terese acknowledged. “Good, if you go down steps from Reception room, pass through broken security checkpoint and hide in office cubicles. Many places to hide there. Other option, take lift to Eden, Floor 2. Security droids not as common there. But…still not safe. Nowhere really safe in Deep.”

“Perhaps we should seek shelter with the Minotaur in Eden?” ADA stood up with Ollie’s help.

Denzel shook his head. “From Noriko’s instructions, it might take us a while to find him. Let’s make our way to these cubicles and see if we can find somewhere to hide.”

“Should we grab the logic core of those dead droids?” Ollie asked.

“We don’t have time I’m afraid, we need to keep moving. Grab their SMGs and ammo though.”

How many magazines do they find on the androids 1d5=5

They decided to just take the magazines and leave the extra SMGs. They hustled back through the cafeteria and into the hallway outside of the reception area. The bulkhead door was still ajar as they left it, and they peeked through.

Encounter d100=60 None.

With no one in sight, they hurried through the reception area and rushed down the concrete stairs. At the foot of the stairs was an airlock door that they opened as quickly as possible. Inside the airlock, the checkpoint was in a state of complete carnage. A bulletproof glass box filled the center of the room with a general purpose machine gun in a bubble turret within. The box was completely blown apart and the machine gun was scrap metal. They cautiously approached to see a security android inside the box, also blown apart. Its head had been ripped open, presumably to get to the logic core. Across the airlock, a large metal security gate barred the way.

ADA pulled out her crowbar and began to pry at the gate as quickly as she could.

ADA STR check [+] with crowbar=13,74 vs 42 Save. 
Time passed 10 minutes. 30 minutes until the security androids arrive.

The gate creaked open wide enough for them to pass and they moved through the security checkpoint. Outside of the airlock, a long hallway stretched before them. Midway through, two office doors opened to the left and the right. Further down, the hallway branched to the left and right. They ran down the hallway according to Arkady’s instructions and passed the two doors. They could always check those rooms later. They turned left at the branching hallway and saw stairs going up ahead of them and a door to their right. Behind them was another lift. The security forces will presumably be coming from that lift, so they hustled into the office door, indicated by a sign stating Employees Only.

Unlike the rest of the floor, this area was not lit by fluorescent lights, but instead red emergency lighting illuminated the large room. It was filled with hundreds of cubicles, some of them covered by tarps, some decorated, some completely empty. The smell of smoke and burnt trash filled the room, and they could see it rising from a smoldering campfire in the center of the room.

10% chance of a diver d100=81 None.
Encounter d100=60 None.

They desperately begin looking through the more covered cubicles and find 4 that were close together and all covered from sight. They all squeezed in under the desks in their respective cubicles, weapons at the ready. Ollie reached behind him; grabbing at something he was sitting on. Strangely, it was an intricately sewn stuffed teddy bear. He put it in his lap for comfort (this is the Cute +Fancy I rolled earlier).

20 more minutes pass. 10 minutes until the androids arrive. The crew have now been in the Deep for 2 hours.

Encounter roll x 2 = None

Even through the adjoining walls, the large group of security droids could be heard marching down the hallway from the lift. There was a pause in the sound, then the crew could hear the door open to the cubicle offices. It sounded as though the group separated and several went in multiple directions.

How many stayed in the cube farm? D6=2
Mythic fate check, do they systematically check every cube, unlikely? 14 vs 35. Yes. Dammit.

The crew could hear what sounded like only a pair of androids moving down the rows of cubicles, looking into each one individually. They were still a good distance from the crew’s hiding location. Ollie decided to take a chance and threw the teddy bear as hard as he could against the opposite wall. There was a locked airlock door in that wall, and he hoped they would think someone went through it. The two androids hurried over to the airlock and while they were distracted, the crew slipped out of their hiding places and moved back into the hallway as quietly as they could manage.

Mythic fate check, can they sneak out unnoticed, very likely? 87 vs 75 No.

One of the androids saw them pass through the door and they could hear footsteps running behind them in pursuit.

Mythic fate check, is the lift still open on this floor? 42 vs 50 Yes.

The open doors of the lift beckoned directly in front of them, and they raced to get inside. Just as they jumped into the lift, the security androids emerged from the cubicle farm and opened fire.

Android1 attack 70 vs 60 miss.
Android2 attack 81 vs 60 miss.

The bullets pinged inside the elevator, but the doors slid shut before they could do any significant damage to the lift or the crew. Denzel desperately punched the buttons for the different floors. There were two options, and he pressed them both. Floor 4 and Floor 6. They turned around and on the back of the lift wass a smiley face with a single tear in its left eye painted crudely in graffiti. Underneath it read, “Welcome to HEL!”

After 30 minutes of travel inside the lift, the doors opened up into a lobby. There was a coating of grime over what was once a clinical break area. There were coffee and snack machines lining the walls, and in the ceiling, 8 transparent domes each containing a security android watching the lift and other entrances. “NOPE!” Denzel said as he saw the androids and he pressed the button to close the doors frantically.

Mythic fate check, do these security androids take any action? 09 vs 50 Extreme Yes

When the androids saw the crew, they must have been in communication with Monarch and the others, because the domes opened an iris and the droids dropped to the floor. They began rushing toward the elevator, but the doors closed just as they arrived. One of the androids fingers was smashed in the doors, and the lift began to move further down into the station, slicing the fingers from the android’s hands. The digits fell to the floor with a clatter.

Denzel Fear save [-]=92,96 vs 38 Fail. +1 Stress. 6 Stress
ADA Fear save= 54 vs 81 Pass. 
Terese Fear save [-]=8,89 vs 27 Fail. +1 Stress. 6 Stress
Ollie Fear save [-]=21,46 vs 29 Fail. +1 Stress. 10 Stress

The elevator takes another 20 minutes to arrive at Floor 6.

End of Scene

Chaos Factor +1=6

That’s it for another episode of Gradient Descent! The crew are definitely on the run at this point. There is a distinct possibility they will encounter the other divers down here on Floor 6. Maybe there will be safety in numbers?

See you next time!