SPACE JESUS: MASS EFFECT FAWTL

Game Master Freehold DM

Commander Shepard made the ultimate sacrifice to [red energy]DESTROY [/red energy] the Reapers. Eight years later, the survivors of the war seek to put the galaxy back together.


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"Sure? Why not? It's not like it's that far away."

She hops up with a surprising dexterity and energy, and guides you all through the protruding tubes and fuse boxes that denote the end of the mess and the beginning of engineering. It's not the biggest engineering section you have ever seen- Cerberus built things with redundant systems so that means a combination of less space/less work/less staff- but once you go round the last bend you find yourselves in a open office-like environment overlooking the drive core. If you aren't mistaken, you hear vague snatches of dialogue from the latest Blasto movie- something you all know is not on the extranet yet.

"Aww damn. He's already started movie night."

Officer Richards clears her throat loudly before picking up with a bs line, "So, *Captain Arpin*, what brings you to *Engineering* today?"

A flurry of quiet activity sees the pause of the movie, the beginnings of make-work-like noises, and an unmistakably quarian voice saying "No, we couldn't afford fba couplings, so that means daily maintenance and it's your turn today!"


Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

Hestia laughs aloud. "Good to see the performance levels of this crew. It should be easy to advance on this particular ship." She grins wolfishly.


Hestia Harper wrote:
Hestia laughs aloud. "Good to see the performance levels of this crew. It should be easy to advance on this particular ship." She grins wolfishly.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Officer Richards barks a laugh at that, "Don't flatter yourself kid. Celery is one of the best engineers in C-Def, and the best I've ever seen."

"Richards vas tasi! I should have known you were pulling my leg! At ease, Merriweather, we have somewhat less illustrious guests."

Now fully in view, a quarian and a human, both somehow looking equally flustered, are hastily putting away what looks to be a stash of confusing tools kept on hand in case someone interrupts the rather cobbled-together looking omni-tool display set up which seem to show the ubiquitous hanar with a gun in every tentacle emptying his ordinance into a clearly overly stereotypical vorcha instead of the settings on the drive system. The human, a husky man with a full beard, casually steps in front of the display before standing at attention and offering a salute, "Officer Archibald Merriweather and Specialist Cel'rayvay vas Dolphin nar Ulnay, Dolphin Engineering."

His report would be a lot more impressive if there was not a stray potato chip stuck in his beard.


Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

Biotics: 4d3 - 8 + 5 ⇒ (1, 1, 3, 1) - 8 + 5 = 3 To "overcome obstacles", i.e., move small objects. 3 shifts = 3 exchange durations (3 rounds?). Should be long enough to do what she wants.

"Officer Hestia Harper," Hestia replies, still smiling as a blue glow briefly envelops her form. The potato chip lifts lightly from Merriweather's beard and drifts to the nearest trash receptacle, where it drops as the blue fades. "RITS."

Belatedly, she remembers to salute in turn. The smile remains.


Male Salarian Engineer

Dern wanders into Engineering and is delighted to see familiar faces. "Ah! Fortunate to run into you all while I was exploring engineering. I only had a few hundred pages remaining of my book, so with that out of the way I thought I would use the rest of my time observing the mechanics of our new ship."

He turns to the engineers, "Specialist Zinnius Dern, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Dern tries to see what he can observe of the ship's engineering,

Engineering: 4d3 - 8 + 4 ⇒ (3, 2, 2, 2) - 8 + 4 = 5

Hope you don't mind my turning up. It worked out well - I had a busy couple of weeks. But I didn't want to hang back at the barracks too long!


Male Quarian

Gir was glad to be visiting engineering. Even if he wasn't the engineer his father was, he could still appreciate good workmanship. He was even willing to overlook it's likely creators, given the current ownership.

Engineering: 4d3 - 8 + 2 ⇒ (1, 2, 1, 1) - 8 + 2 = -1

Doubt I'll get as high as Zinnius, but Gir would make his own observations anyhow.

Post roll edit: Bahahahaha. Yeah, certainly not as good as Zinnius'. :P

He was every bit as pleased to see the relaxed environment here, and a fellow quarian in charge.

"Officer Gir'Rimas nar Mesa. Happy to be serving alongside you both. And always good to serve with a fellow pilgrim."

After the perfunctionary salutes, Gir extends his hand to Cel'rayvay to shake.


Hestia Harper wrote:

[dice=Biotics]4d3-8+5 To "overcome obstacles", i.e., move small objects. 3 shifts = 3 exchange durations (3 rounds?). Should be long enough to do what she wants.

"Officer Hestia Harper," Hestia replies, still smiling as a blue glow briefly envelops her form. The potato chip lifts lightly from Merriweather's beard and drifts to the nearest trash receptacle, where it drops as the blue fades. "RITS."

Belatedly, she remembers to salute in turn. The smile remains.

The hefty officer is not upset in the slightest by the display of biotics, although he does have the grace to blush a bit at being caught with his proverbial pants down. He returns the smile and cocks his head as if hearing something for the first time. He turns around and the Blasto is no longer on the screen, with instead rather dry data about the drive core flittering about.

"Hnn. Seems like we're getting close to the mass effect relay. We should be dropping out soon."


Zinnius Dern wrote:

Dern wanders into Engineering and is delighted to see familiar faces. "Ah! Fortunate to run into you all while I was exploring engineering. I only had a few hundred pages remaining of my book, so with that out of the way I thought I would use the rest of my time observing the mechanics of our new ship."

He turns to the engineers, "Specialist Zinnius Dern, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Dern tries to see what he can observe of the ship's engineering,

[dice=Engineering]4d3-8+4

Hope you don't mind my turning up. It worked out well - I had a busy couple of weeks. But I didn't want to hang back at the barracks too long!

more than understandable, I know work and performances keep you busy this time of year

There's not much to see here to the untrained eye, but to those who work in the field this is a true engineering hub set up so that it can be run by one person. Redundant monitors means a full status check takes but a moment, and the ship seems to have gone through a recent overhaul that means everything is running quite smoothly. If you aren't mistaken, though, someone is watching the latest Blasto movie from a omni-tool based receiver and projecting it onto one or more screens, indicating no small level of skill with computers.

The officer greets you in turn, and shakes hands all around.

"We, ah, don't get much company back here. Thanks for coming to see how the other half lives, as it were."


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Gir'Rimas nar Mesa wrote:

Gir was glad to be visiting engineering. Even if he wasn't the engineer his father was, he could still appreciate good workmanship. He was even willing to overlook it's likely creators, given the current ownership.

[DICE=Engineering]4d3-8+2

Doubt I'll get as high as Zinnius, but Gir would make his own observations anyhow.

Post roll edit: Bahahahaha. Yeah, certainly not as good as Zinnius'. :P

He was every bit as pleased to see the relaxed environment here, and a fellow quarian in charge.

"Officer Gir'Rimas nar Mesa. Happy to be serving alongside you both. And always good to serve with a fellow pilgrim."

After the perfunctionary salutes, Gir extends his hand to Cel'rayvay to shake.

You're not 100% sure, but you think you may be in engineering.

"Greetings, Officer Gir'Rimas nar Mesa." Your fellow quarian is warm in his greeting, "Always good to see someone keeping to the old ways in light of recent developments! Ah! Excuse me one moment..."

As he excuses himself, a chime goes off signifying a communication from the bridge. Captain Arpin's unmistakable hollow rumble comes through clear as day.

"Sorry to interrupt what has to be a thrilling movie night Engineering, but we are about to head into our destination system. How are-"

"We are not just clean, but pristine, as Officer Merriweather would say, Captain Arpin," Specialist Cel'rayvay interrupts smoothly. "No problems here."

"Excellent. Bridge out." You hear a quiet chuckle before the com ends.

"Ah, Captain Arpin. Not what one expects at first glance, but he's a damn good captain. So, what brings RITS of all people to engineering? Did Officer Richards put you up to this?"


Male Salarian Engineer

"You sound surprised, Specialist," Dern says. "The real question is why wouldn't the RITS team want to see engineering? It is important to know one's ship, I have always believed. Have you worked on RITS assignments before, on this ship or others?" Dern is genuinely curious as to whether the crew has done this sort of thing.


Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

"Dern's right. Engineering is the most vital and fascinating part of any ship. Without it, where would we be?" Hestia chimes in, interested to hear the answer to Dern's assignment question.

Whatever else is going on, looks like we'll have to behave like a real RITS team. Best to know what's expected.


Officer Merriweather scratches the back of his neck nervously. "Welllllll, RITS are usually asleep around now. We are on vastly different schedules, after all, and as RITS are usually the only extra-vehicular/shore party on the ship outside of a few exceptions, we rarely see each other."

Specialist Cel'rayvay chimes in, "Indeed, RITS are...well, we usually call them...RITZ?" He looks to Officer Richards in confusion, who laughs.

"RITZZZZZZZ" She corrects.


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Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

"Oh, I don't think you'll find us to be like that. We're very active, um, people. In fact, I'll wager you ten credits you won't catch any of us hung over or sleeping in on this voyage. We can sleep when we're dead." Hestia wanders over to a nearby console and stabs a finger at a random button. "What's this do?"


Hestia Harper wrote:
"Oh, I don't think you'll find us to be like that. We're very active, um, people. In fact, I'll wager you ten credits you won't catch any of us hung over or sleeping in on this voyage. We can sleep when we're dead." Hestia wanders over to a nearby console and stabs a finger at a random button. "What's this do?"

The back cover of last year's award winning issue of Fortnax appears on screen, with a bass heavy song playing through all available speakers. An icon n the corner indicates that it has been read to completion and asks if Specialist Cel'rayvay would be interested in reading again.

"Ah...uh...not sure how that got in there..."

Cel'rayvay presses a button and it dissappears, replaces by the scowling visage of Lieutenant Vaws.

"RITS to the bridge. We are coming up on our destination. I repeat, RITS to the bridge."


Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

Hestia's snicker is cut off by Vaws' call. She jostles her way next to Grace as the team heads out the door. "Do you think we should suit up before reporting, Sarge? I've never done anything like this before," she admits quietly, suddenly looking exactly like an uncertain kid, all big eyes and crossed arms.


Female Human Soldier
Hestia Harper wrote:
Hestia's snicker is cut off by Vaws' call. She jostles her way next to Grace as the team heads out the door. "Do you think we should suit up before reporting, Sarge? I've never done anything like this before," she admits quietly, suddenly looking exactly like an uncertain kid, all big eyes and crossed arms.

"Depends on whether or not we'll have time after the briefing. When I was with the 7th, we pretty much lived in our hardsuits, but I don't really know how C-Def does it."


Male Salarian Engineer

"If the captain has summoned us to the bridge, we ought to go at once. If we were meant to gear up first, we would have been told to," Dern suggests, ever logical.

"Thank you for the tour," he says to the engineers. He then adds in a characteristic dead-pan, "and be sure not to miss the latest Fornax. I hear they have a spread of hanar/volus erotica that is not to be missed." His large eyes gleam as he observes Cel'rayvay's reaction after this dry remark.


The specialist's wordless and subtle tapping into his omni-tool could be his updating a subscription or making sure all is truly well in engineering as all screens switch back to mundane displays revealing that, yes, the ship is in the appropriate system. "Thank you for the visit, friends but I believe it is time for you to booger, as Officer Merriweather would say."

For his part, Merriweather does not correct him, instead collecting random tools. "If RITS is going to be bouncing then I better look at those couplings...

"The salarian has the right of it, bridge first, then quartermaster, then dropship. Off you go! I gotta check on some things myself." Officer Richards takes off at a jog.


Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

Hestia bogles slightly at Dern, then follows Richards to the bridge at a jog-trot.


The hum of the elevator as it takes everyone to their floor of choice is the only sound as professionalism sets in. The door hisses open and the bridge is a hive of activity, with the Captain and Lieutenant off to the side observing the map. "Ah, here we are." Captain Arpin's rumbling voice is as familiar as Vaws' scowl. Feros. You are to check on the mass effect relay and follow up on any leads you find there. Here's hoping you don't run into any trouble. I know you are all professionals, but please check with the quartermaster first to see about filling any gaps in your gear before the dropship. This-" he pauses to send a document to your omni tool "will give you permission to go extravehicular with anything we have on ship that you may need. Any questions?"


Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

"Is, uh... is the relay actually broken? Will we need to fix it?" Hestia glances at Gir and Dern. "Is that something you guys can do?"


The captain struggles to keep a laugh down, and then is all seriousness. "Dismissed."


Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

Hestia glares at the captain's back and huffily heads off to the quartermaster without looking at her teammates.

Feros wasn't one of the nasty environmental places, was it? Do we have carte blanche for equipment? :)


Male Salarian Engineer

We chose Feros because it was not an environmental hazard.

Dern makes his way back to the barracks to gather his gear. He plans to be ready for anything on this mission.


Once fully equipped, the RITS find themselves with the Quartermaster of the Dolphin, a salarian who most of you have met as a matter of course while becoming part of the crew but is only familiar to Zinnius. Once he sees you his chipper demeanor becomes only slightly restrained by his professionalism.

"Ah! Going to be touching down soon, I see. Is there anything you need for this particular journey? It seems that like most RITS teams you are already quite well supplied, but preparation is ever the bane of misfortune."


Female Human Soldier

Sorry for the late posting here:

While Hestia heads straight for the quartermaster, Grace accompanies Dern back to the barracks. In short order, with ease born of long practice, she strips down and dons her impressively-battered hardsuit. Grace cuts a tall and imposing figure, clad head to toe in black and gray urban camouflage heavy armor, which makes it somewhat amusing to hear her chipper Yorkshire accent issuing forth from her Reaper War-vintage "Death's Head"-style helmet.

"Ready for a little adventure, eh Dern? Just a nice old-fashioned mission. No harvesters swooping down on you, no slavers to chase, just some good old exploring and investigating. Refreshing, innit?"

She gestures to her salarian teammate, then taps the side of her helmet with a gauntleted finger.

"Never leave your bone dome at the barracks. Learned that one the hard way back on Illium." She laughs briefly to herself, then retrieves her rifle from its case.

Unlike Grace's Alliance-issue armor, the rifle is both non-standard-issue and in pristine condition. It appears to have originally been a factory-standard M-96 Mattock, but is now nearly unrecognizable, with an extended barrel, asari-manufactured aftermarket scope, and a custom paint job. After checking the safety, scope, and magazine, she gives Dern a mock salute, then removes her helmet, tucking it under her arm and grinning.

"Ready to go when you are, Specialist."


Female Human Soldier
Who is that masked DM? wrote:
"Ah! Going to be touching down soon, I see. Is there anything you need for this particular journey? It seems that like most RITS teams you are already quite well supplied, but preparation is ever the bane of misfortune."

Grace shrugs.

"I don't know about the rest of the team, but you can never go wrong with spare medi-gel and grenades. Aside from that, will the Dolphin be making any supply drops, or is this a pack-in, pack-out operation? Never can be too sure, eh?"


Grace Wright wrote:
Who is that masked DM? wrote:
"Ah! Going to be touching down soon, I see. Is there anything you need for this particular journey? It seems that like most RITS teams you are already quite well supplied, but preparation is ever the bane of misfortune."

Grace shrugs.

"I don't know about the rest of the team, but you can never go wrong with spare medi-gel and grenades. Aside from that, will the Dolphin be making any supply drops, or is this a pack-in, pack-out operation? Never can be too sure, eh?"

"Very well. Two concussion grenades for the team leader, and one for everyone else, the same with the medi-gel applications. And no, no supply drops, RITS teams rarely encounter that kind of trouble, but we are always a communication away."


Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

"Ooh, concussion grenades!" Hestia grabs one and stashes it in her belt pouch.


Female Human Soldier
Hestia Harper wrote:
"Ooh, concussion grenades!" Hestia grabs one and stashes it in her belt pouch.

"Now, make sure you save it for when you absolutely need it. You've only got the one."


"What about the rest of you? Anything else you might need? If not, then I suggest you introduce yourselves to the dropship and continue with your mission."


Male Salarian Engineer

You mentioned the quartermaster is familiar to Dern. How, exactly? Are they acquainted?

"Let's see," Dern says. "A few rounds for the grenade launcher, plus my turret supplies..." He packs up his tech and ordnance in efficient fashion. He then looks up at the quartermaster. "I hear Feros has a verran problem."


Female Human Soldier
Zinnius Dern wrote:

You mentioned the quartermaster is familiar to Dern. How, exactly? Are they acquainted?

"Let's see," Dern says. "A few rounds for the grenade launcher, plus my turret supplies..." He packs up his tech and ordnance in efficient fashion. He then looks up at the quartermaster. "I hear Feros has a varren problem."

Grace gives the salarian a playful nudge to the shoulder.

"Nothing the four of us can't handle, though, right?"


Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

"They won't be a problem," Hestia growls, scowling. A scowl is apparently her game face, as well as her waking up face and casual conversation face. She bounces slightly on her toes. "Come on, let's get going."


Zinnius Dern wrote:

You mentioned the quartermaster is familiar to Dern. How, exactly? Are they acquainted?

"Let's see," Dern says. "A few rounds for the grenade launcher, plus my turret supplies..." He packs up his tech and ordnance in efficient fashion. He then looks up at the quartermaster. "I hear Feros has a verran problem."

as per the earlier post, he is familiar with you from your pre-game exploits saving your friends at the research center


Male Salarian Engineer

That's right.

"I am ready," Dern says. He waits expectantly for something to happen.


With the RITS team fully equipped, the next, final, and most crucial stop is the dropship. Upon reaching the egress, however, there is no pilot waiting to greet you- simply and open bug-out door with seating for the passengers. A passing crewman nods in your direction and mentions in passing that this is one of the new Cortez dropships, complete with a shackled AI for a pilot, just tell it where you want to go.


Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

Hestia swings into the ship and plops into a seat. "Hello, Ship. I'm Hestia. What is your name?" She buckles into the harness and brings up the Feros site information on her Omnitool, reviewing the particulars.


Hestia Harper wrote:
Hestia swings into the ship and plops into a seat. "Hello, Ship. I'm Hestia. What is your name?" She buckles into the harness and brings up the Feros site information on her Omnitool, reviewing the particulars.

A soft-voiced male-sculpted VI wearing a very neutral outfit complete with a wildly outdated skycap appears in the pilot's seat with a genial smile.

"Hello Officer (switch to Hestia's voice) Hestia. (switch back to normal voice). My name is Kody. I am pleased to meet you.

(harsh, computer voice)Accessing file, please wait.

(normal voice)I'm sorry, but it seems you are not of sufficient rank to give commands as I technically outrank you in all but the most dire of situations. I apologize for the inconvenience and I do hope we can still work together in a friendly capacity."

He offers a smile and a shrug.


Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of trying to give you orders. That's the Sergeant's job. I was just introducing myself, Kody," Hestia smiles, "But could you please clarify for me precisely what dire situations would allow me to issue orders to you?" She sets her omnitool to record.


Female Human Soldier

Grace checks the action on her rifle and adjusts her grenade belt, then addresses the squad.

"Before we go planetside, is everyone ready to go? The QM says no supply drops, so all we have is what we've got with us. Any questions?"


Human, Genetically Engineered Shields: 4 ☺ ☺ ☻ ☻ Armor: 1 ☺ Stress: 6 ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ Fate Points: 3

Hestia looks up from her Omnitool as Grace speaks and shakes her head, apparently in answer to "any questions". "Ready, Sarge."


Male Salarian Engineer

Dern takes his seat with efficiency and purpose. "If I may... What exactly is your rank... erm, Kody?" he asks, unsure how he is supposed to address the Virtual Intelligence.


Hestia Harper wrote:
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of trying to give you orders. That's the Sergeant's job. I was just introducing myself, Kody," Hestia smiles, "But could you please clarify for me precisely what dire situations would allow me to issue orders to you?" She sets her omnitool to record.

"Certainly! Were all officers that outrank (Hestia's voice)Hestia {Normal voice) incapacitated to the point of incommunicability on-site, you would be able to give the order for the dropship to return to the (Captain Arpin's voice) Dolphin.


Zinnius Dern wrote:
Dern takes his seat with efficiency and purpose. "If I may... What exactly is your rank... erm, Kody?" he asks, unsure how he is supposed to address the Virtual Intelligence.

"I am considered to be a Specialist, considering I am the pilot for a dropship, nothing more and nothing less."


The VI slouches in his chair a bit, "If there is a command officer present, they are going to need to state the nature of this planetside excursion before we can leave the Captain Arpin's voice Dolphin."


Male Salarian Engineer

"What instruction have you been given for this mission... Kody? Dern asks, still feeling awkward about starting his relationship with the VI on a first name basis. This is going to be a challenge if we are being piloted by a VI that thinks we are really inspecting relays, he thinks to himself.


Female Human Soldier

"I'd assumed that the, er, ship would have been briefed beforehand. No worries, though, we're just going planetside for a little reconnaissance mission. Right everyone?"

Grace gives the squad the thumbs-up sign.


Zinnius Dern wrote:
"What instruction have you been given for this mission... Kody? Dern asks, still feeling awkward about starting his relationship with the VI on a first name basis. This is going to be a challenge if we are being piloted by a VI that thinks we are really inspecting relays, he thinks to himself.

"As I am only a VI, I only receive instructions from the officer in charge of the Relay Inspection Team. Logs can only be viewed by Lieutenant Vaws' voice(sounding even testier than usual) Lieutenant. Vaws. return to normal voice or Captain Arpin's voice Captain Arpin".


Grace Wright wrote:

"I'd assumed that the, er, ship would have been briefed beforehand. No worries, though, we're just going planetside for a little reconnaissance mission. Right everyone?"

Grace gives the squad the thumbs-up sign.

"Hello harsh, computer voiceUNNAMED C-DEF OFFICER, returns to normal voiceplease state your name for the log as well as for identification purposes."

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