AP (ToaM) - Tales of the Arx Jericho - Season 1, Episode 07: Remember New Alamo! Part 2

Previously

A Mayzor raid in New Alamo disrupts the pilots' meals, and they gear up to deploy. Two Wormwoods have landed on opposite sides of the city, which is teeming with Swarms and Locusts, and Alpha Company must assist the military and Preservation Forces Robbies in driving them back and destroying them. Rick, Sarah, and Jason all focus on individual targets, blowing each one up one by one, while maintaining constant communication with AK-47 at HQ. Soon, however, the MetaTron begins exhibiting patterns of strange, static interference, until all communication with Operations is completely severed. Bravo Company should have arrived to the city by now to help out Alpha, but they're no where to be seen. Suddenly, two lightning bolts crash down from the heavens, and the Magnas Beelzebub and Thammuz are standing at the north and south ends of the city. Sarah gets caught in a boxing match with Thammuz, while Jason, Rick, Serena, and Strudel take on Beelzebub. Their last team attack fails, and Rick's and Jason's SAInts both take heavy structural damage. Strudel's SAInt is prone underneath Beelzebub's giant, ominous smog cloud, and he's in danger as it focuses its attention on him. Serena's SAInt takes damage too, but she's still up and ready to continue the fight. That's when she hears a familiar voice hailing her over MetaTron. It's still full of static, but Sarah can always recognize her brother, Allen, even by his telepathic voice. He's piloting a Robbie in the northeast sector and helping to fight off Beelzebub. He tells Sarah their parents are being chased by Swarm and urges her to come quickly and help. Sarah knows she has to finish Thammuz off quickly, but will she do it?

---

Thursday, July 3rd, 2031 

16:00

Sarah takes cover again and pops out to continue her martial sparring match against Thammuz. He has about the appropriate number of limbs left that a normal, humanoid-shaped alien should have, though a statement like that holds no merit when it concerns the Mayzor. 

Meanwhile, Jason leads a coordinated, team effort to take cover and shield Strudel from Beelzebub's beams. With Rick and Serena's help, Jason is able to protect Strudel from getting killed, but his SAInt is disabled, and Strudel, who's fainted, has been ejected from his suit. It parachutes directly over the northeast outskirts of the city. Rick and Jason take this opportunity to repair some of their SAInt's damage, but the bio-mechanical, self-repair systems come at the price of raising the SAInt's Id or inner drive for senseless violence, much like the Magnas their design is based off of.

Source: Evangelion
http://tinyurl.com/psmpa4w

Sarah delivers a series of knife thrusts and shield bashes in quick succession which eventually disables Thammuz and activates his self-destruct mechanism. The ensuing explosion leaves a gaping crater in the south of New Alamo, but Sarah is long gone and racing toward the northeast sector to find her parents.

Rick and Jason cheer Sarah on for her epic, one-on-one victory. "Take that Oopsie!" Jason says and then addresses Sarah, "Stop cheering and send that backup you promised!"  Rick tells his sister to go help Sarah's parents out, and she starts running east.

Several Mayzor Swarm continue to chase after Sarah's parents, and an Archer, perched high on top of a tall building, is firing deadly shots off at a building right next to them. All the windows are shattered, and there's a fire spreading inside. There's heavy smoke pervading the air, and the building looks like it's about to implode and crush the parents. Sarah engages the Archer at Firearms (FA) range with her Giant Killer and annihilates it in time to save her parents from the crumbling destruction.

Getting back to Beelzebub, Rick leads a team attack, this time, and tells Serena to double back and provide cover fire. Jason supports Rick by engaging the Magnas, and Rick fires off several rounds from his stone thrower at Beelzebub's back, penetrating the smog cloud. 

The entire battle is extremely taxing, and Rick and Jason struggle to keep going, as their Ego is nearly depleted. Sarah regroups with them after ensuring her parents are safe and scooping Strudel up off the ground, and into her SAInt, along the way. 

Several more rounds of high-impact violence and strategized, team assaults later, Beelzebub's smog finally dissipates and flood the streets in ichor, while the alien-robot wasps completely break down. "This is for Strudel, you bastard!" Rick screams, as the pilots land the final blow. The Magnas's self-destruct core is triggered, and Alpha Company scrambles get away as far as they can so as not to get caught in the biggest explosion New Alamo has seen since the Wormwoods landed.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/pwonqe2

While helping the military quell the rest of the Mayzor, Alpha Company actually disables the Wormwoods in time before they can jet off into space with their lightning strikes. The military focuses on freeing civilians, while the pilots suddenly hear AK-47's thoughts reemerge on the MetaTron. The telepathic connection seems to be working again.

AK-47 tells the pilots that they don't know what happened with the MetaTron, but Operations saw the entire Magnas battle and are greatly impressed with how Alpha Company fared. She says to wait on standby as they initiate the retrieval protocol. 

Debriefing

Back at HQ, Rick, Sarah, Jason, and Serena help carry Strudel, who's coming to his senses, and they see Billy, Joanne, and the rest of Bravo Company who all share a look of self-disappointment. They say that they were supposed to provide A Company with backup, but somehow their deployment coordinates got screwed up, and they ended up flying to the West Coast. 

When Rick, Sarah, and Jason mention the MetaTron static and severing connections with HQ, Billy replies that all of Bravo lost contact with Operations as well. They could still hear each others' thoughts perfectly fine.

During the formal debriefing, AK-47 gives the pilots the same, lackluster response she's been giving them as to what happened. The Preservation Forces Officers still don't know what caused the static interference or loss in communication, but it's become high priority, and they will get to the bottom of it.

As AK-47 debriefs, Rick, Sarah, and Jason all notice Dr. Johnson's face crack several, subtle smiles, and they work together to figure out what his expression means. His poker 'tell' reveals itself every time AK-47 mentions the static interference or disruption of the MetaTron. After mentioning it to Billy, he reacts by revealing some surprising information. He tells Rick, Sarah, and Jason that he was sent on an errand, about a week ago, to deliver a folder to a Preservation Forces officer at HQ. Heading toward the monitoring room, Billy suddenly hid when he saw Dr. Johnson walk out. The doctor was alone in there and kept peering over his shoulder, paranoid, as he skulked down the hall.

Neither Rick, Sarah, nor Jason like what's going on. They're also starting to become paranoid, and they decide they need to investigate Dr. Johnson to figure out what's going on. What makes matters worse is that at the end of the debriefing, AK-47 publicly asks Serena to see her and Dr. Johnson right after. The rest of Alpha, especially Rick, are incredibly concerned.

Friday, July 4th, 2031 

It's the Day of Independence in America, though by 2031, the United States' freedom is severely threatened by an enemy far worse than the country, continent, or world has ever seen before. Still, the people of the US Zone, or the United States Territories, celebrate July 4th in remembrance of what they once considered a great, powerful, and prosperous nation before the First Invasion.

Rick, Sarah, Jason, and all the other pilots of Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie Companies meet for an evening of barbecued burgers and hotdogs, apple cider and lemonade, and a fireworks display that doesn't do justice to the destruction they witnessed, and helped cause, in New Alamo. 

Jason and Opsie get into their usual fight, after she gloats that Operations was all set and ready to deploy her alone to support Alpha Company against the Magnas, but it looked like they were able to handle themselves OK. 

When Rick asks Serena what the meeting with AK-47 and Dr. Johnson was all about, she replies, "Nothing." She tells him she can't talk about it, even to him, and wants to drop the subject for now.

By the end, most of the pilots' Egos are pretty low, though Rick's is surprisingly high, despite the alarm about his sister. It's about time for a summer vacation, and the pilots look forward to the end of the summer term and a week-long break next month.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/kuqknsv

Next Time

End of the summer term equals a whole week of summer break! Two, new SAInt pilots join Charlie Company, making it a full, five-person team, only these pilots come in a dual package. The pilots pack their sunscreen and bathing suits, as they head for the beach! Check out the soothing, hot springs and warm, gentle sand; the salty aroma of the blue, wide ocean; and what the hell is that island doing rising up like that? What? That's not an island! Too bad Opsie's not here to show off her top-notch pilot skills, although one, freshly recruited duo came prepared for action. Whatever you do, just don't ever say you MendiCANT.

End of Episode 07

---

Director's Commentary

Part 2 of the Mayzor raid in New Alamo went really well, and there was a lot of cheering at the end when Thammuz and Beelzebub were finally destroyed.
Edit: I added a snapshot of the New Alamo battlefield map from our game that I drew.

Battlefield map I drew with an irrelevant
dice tower doodle to the far left. 

I got a reply from +Russell Collins  concerning the question I posed about Engage vs. Change Distance in battle, and he gave a really great response, which I'll just quote directly from the ToaM Community. +Robert Ruthven, who plays Rick, has it down as well:

Robert:   

Change distance, if I understand correctly, only lets you shift by one range increment. Engage, on the other hand, allows you to maneuver to the range of your choice. 

Russell: 

Robert has it right.
If it helps to compare to other systems, Engage is the "initiative" roll, when the player takes control of the situation trying to give herself the advantage. It's used to begin combat against an enemy but once they are exchanging fire or blows, it isn't rolled again, until she picks a new target. Remember, she can immediately Attack an enemy without an Engage action but has to leap into their preferred range. Engage lets her avoid the danger zone.
Change Range actions are for when the pilot is in the thick of it and needs to maneuver to deprive her foe of the advantage; backing away to a safe range or charging in to use a more powerful weapon. Because the enemy is already "locked on" the pilot can only move by one range increment with each action. Since she has to roll for it, you could compare it to "attacks of opportunity" in D&D. Everyone is running around all the time but to make a significant change in position she's got to exposure herself to attack.
I had considered rules for hiding out from a foe. Changing range to HB and then Take Cover to break off the engagement but it got boring when I tested it. (Everyone kept Engaging, running away, coming back, running away, etc.) You can try that in a more strategic, cat-and-mouse combat if you like but its not the way that Locust or Magnas "think." Maybe against human enemies . . .
Now I'm thinking about submarine battles.

Anyway, suffice it to say, I shouldn't run into any more problems with Mayzor battles. Introducing a Mendicant and a potential, Mayzor navy battle are a whole different story!

That submarine thing was just coincidental, right?

Thus, we've hit the middle of the season. Many relationships have developed over the course of the past, several months; seasoned pilots have died, new pilots have joined, ranks have switched, and companies have been promoted; Rick still hasn't seen his father; we're learning more and more about the Apostle Project, the P-Class Saint, and Opsie's connection to all of it; AK-47, the CRC scientists, and Dr. Johnson especially are all hiding something important; Serena's being pulled into the chaos; Jason's mother has been abducted; Sarah's were almost killed; and we'll meet some new extras tomorrow who will bring a whole, new equation to the mix.

Perhaps I'm throwing too much out at once? :) In all seriousness, this entire campaign started out as a play test, and I've become much more engrossed in it than I ever imagined. I'm purposely trying to explore as many different things this game has to offer as I can, while we're all still able to meet on occasional Thursdays to tell a story of a really fun and awesome anime series. 

+Robert Ruthven, +David Andrews, +Wolfie Fang, I enjoy running this game for you all, so thank you so much for playing, and I greatly look forward to the second half of the season!

+Russell Collins, many thanks to you as well for writing this game. It's definitely been a enjoyable ride, so far. If you still plan on running your own Hangout campaign, save a slot for me, please. I'd love to see how you run it.

AP (ToaM) - Tales of the Arx Jericho - Season 1, Episode 06: Remember New Alamo! Part 1

Previously

It's been less than a month since our young heroes first met Opsie Wessel, Sarah's cousin from Germany and a SAInt pilot who's received more attention in a single month than any other new student Rick, Sarah, or Jason have ever known. Nearly all the boys are obsessed with, Strudel included, and almost every girl despises her out of petty jealousy. Sarah is probably the only teenager who considers Opsie a legitimate friend. They are cousins and roommates, after all! Serena likes her a little more than Jason, who tolerates Opsie's presence at best. Rick notices that Opsie seems to think piloting is all a game, which he doesn't find cool at all.

Some relationships have improved, while others are still developing. Jason has never been a kid with too many friends, but he's working on it and hopes to greatly improve his relationship with Laurie in the coming months. Meanwhile, Sarah and Rick have made some progress on their relationships with Raspberry and AK-47.

Sarah and Raspberry have been hanging out a lot more lately, playing video games and doing other, fun activities. While he may have a crush on her, he's still only 12, and Sarah sees him as more of a younger brother and definitely a potential, good friend.

Rick has always looked up at AK-47 as a mentor and a friend, and their relationship has been slowly flourishing over the past year. The past couple of weeks, Rick has been fortunate enough to get a lot of face-time with AK-47, as she's been helping him with his firearms training. Since seeing her talking with the CRC scientists and Dr. Johnson, Rick had been hesitant to ask her about his dad, but when he finally did, she told him he the truth - that Rafe is alive and safe, but she couldn't disclose any more information. 

Either way, Rick definitely's solidified his friendship with AK-47, and she'll be more inclined to mentor Rick in the coming months, especially with all the Mayzor raids that have been happening.

Speaking of the Mayzor raids, the Wormwood that landed aboard the Arx Galilee, above Sydney, Australia, had retreated back to space after being driven off by the SAInt company who'd returned from their mission in the city below.  There were a  good number of casualties on both ends, and a good portion of the Arx has been destroyed. Still, the Preservation Forces of the Western Pacific Division prevailed and safeguarded the citizens they were sworn to protect.

---

Thursday, July 3rd, 2031
Deployment at 14:00

The SAInt pilots are having lunch late in the afternoon, when the alarms suddenly blare from the loudspeakers, alerting everyone on the Arx Jericho that a Mayzor raid is commencing. 

The pilots of Alpha Company quickly report to Operations, where they suit up to enter their SAInts and receive their mission briefing once they're secured inside and online. AK-47 projects several screens in front of the pilots over the MetaTron, which they see in their minds with absolute clarity. There's a breaking news story covering a Mayzor raid in New Alamo, Southeastern United States Territory, where two Wormwood have landed on opposite sides of the city. Another screen displays blueprints and various maps of the city, while several other screens reveal important, tactical information regarding the position of the Wormwoods and the Swarm and Locusts spreading throughout the city.

Source: Gunparade March
http://tinyurl.com/ozhatnp

The mission objectives are fairly straightforward:

1. Assist the military and the Preservation Forces' Robbies in pushing the Mayzor Locusts back toward the Wormwoods.

2. Protect and save as many civilians as possible from the Mayzor Swarm.

3. Defend New Alamo and prevent both Wormwoods from escaping into space with Earth civilians, but don't spread out too thin.

There are 20 Locusts total: 10 soldiers, grouped in pairs around the city; 5 Brawlers, 1 at each Wormwood and 3 spread out in the inner city; and 5 Archers, 1 at each Wormwood and 3 spread out at the edge of the city.

Bravo Company is set to deploy immediately following Alpha Company in order to provide backup.

At a speed of Mach 3, it takes Alpha Company almost no time to reach New Alamo. Once they hit their deployment point, the Jehu's Bow detaches, the wing shaped array of fins and directional verniers that make up the SAInts' Angel Wings help parachute them to the ground, and the Alpha Company SAInts direct themselves to land, more or less, in the center of the city.

Engaging the Locusts

As soon as Alpha Company lands, AK-47 wastes no time alerting Rick, Sarah, and Jason of the three Brawlers within Firearms (FA) range of each of them. They're spread out in an equilateral triangle surrounding the center of the city. Tall edifices crumble to rubble, as the hard-shelled Locusts smash into them relentlessly. Shattered glass rains down from above, as people in the streets scatter for cover in sheer pandemonium. The Brawlers use their massive claws to fling vehicles across the air, most of which crash through a series of lamp poles and windows, while others catch fire and explode. Thick smoke billows up toward the dismal sky, and the asphalt splits apart under the Brawlers' torrential destruction. 

Rick, Sarah, and Jason focus on each of the three Brawlers separately, while Serena and Strudel help the military squash the Swarm, literally, that's slithering through the city streets and kidnapping civilians to take back to the Wormwoods.

Sarah has never been so serious and focused for an engagement in her entire life. It certainly has something to do with the fact that she's back in her hometown of New Alamo, for real this time, and that she remembers what happened to her brother and parents in the 'foreshadowed' dream. With her Ego maxed out, she engages a crab-like Brawler to the south, moving into FA range and positioning herself around a half-ruined building, ready to lay into it with her SAInt's L'roi David (RDav) Combat Rifle, nicknamed the "Giant Killer." It's a standard issue weapon that's carried over the shoulder and features internal barrels which fire off synchronized bursts of grouped, armor piercing shells.

Source: Neon Genesis Evangelion
http://tinyurl.com/owlvmgx

"Alright, Sarah, you have a clear shot, now take it!" AK-47 gives Sarah the order over the MetaTron. Sarah shoots the crab-like Brawler and destroys it in an explosion. Her game face changes, and she's suddenly pumped and having fun again. "Great job, Sarah!" AK-47 compliments her. Serena does the same.

Jason engages the northeast Brawler, which resembles a Hercules beetle, and takes position behind a highway bridge at High Ballistics (HB) range, resting his EZK-L Particle Beam on the bridge itself. The EZK-L is an experimental, energy weapon designed to fire off the same type of beams the Mayzor use, though unfortunately it has a much longer cool down period in between shots. Jason takes aim down a long, strip of road, and locks onto the ravaging Brawler.

"Excellent positioning Jason," AK-47's thoughts travel across the MetaTron, "You've got the shot. Go! Fire, now!" Jason's particle beam flies through several windows of overturned cars and buses and hits his target dead in the center. Another explosion ensues and Jason hears Billy's thoughts communicating with Joanne, "Jeez, I can't believe that dweeb actually nailed that shot!" Jason also hears Strudel's racing thoughts: "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, that was sooo coool! Holy cow, that was a crazy good shot, Jason!"

Rick engages the northwest, dung beetle Brawler by running forward and performing a set of parkour moves off some half-standing buildings. He lands on top of another tall building, still in tact, with his Levic Flechette out and ready at FA range. Nicknamed the "stone thrower," the Levic Flechette is a standard issued shotgun that fires off mixed clusters of EMP explosives and shards of diamond hard ceramics. Targets are easier to hit,  and it can be used in FA and Close Quarters (CQ) range, but the trade off is its overall effectiveness. Rick cocks the stone thrower like an old school Winchester and takes aim at Brawler crawling down below.

Rick fires off several blasts, and the dung beetle explodes. "Very good, Rick! Just like I taught you!" AK-47 says telepathically. Even with the compliment, Rick's Ego doesn't change, and his SAInt's Id grows hungry for violence.

Rick targets a pair of scorpion-like Soldiers down below and sheaths his stone thrower to draw his Arc Sword and Arc Knife. Both are CQ range weapons, and the knife is a smaller version of the sword with roughly the same, destructive power. The Arc Sword is named for St. Joan and made of carbon plates keened to a razor edge and reciprocating motors within the handle that cause the blade to vibrate hundreds of times per second. Also, the capacitors in the base of the blade discharge with every impact of the edge and release a deadly, electrical surge. Rick jumps off the building with both weapons out and surprises both Soldiers, as he lands in between them.

AK-47 alerts Jason and Sarah to the pairs of Soldiers in their vicinity. Jason takes cover behind a smoking building to reload his rifle, while Sarah's already in threat range of two, different pairs of Soldiers. She attacks the ones to the south and fires her Giant Killer, destroying them in a dual explosion.

Serena and Strudel are still taking care of the Mayzor Swarm, as Jason lines up another shot across the city. Situated on top of a warehouse, he takes aim through a window, and lines his scope up with a petrol tanker in between both Locusts. He fires the particle beam through both Soldiers and the petrol tank, creating the most spectacular explosion yet which lights the sky like fireworks.

Sarah turns and lays into the other pair of Soldiers, annihilating them both. 

Rick shoves his Arc Sword and Knife into both Soldiers, shanking them and slicing across with the two, vibrating blades. Rick minces them into jagged debris as they explode and obliterate to ash and soot.

MetaTron Static

As AK-47 compliments Rick, Sarah, and Jason, they struggle to hear her thoughts due to the static. Static interference in the MetaTron comes in the form of other thoughts and voices creeping in from the surrounding area. The more static there is, the louder the voices are, as they start to drown out the important ones. AK-47 warns them to watch out for the Archers on the outskirts of the city, and Rick, Sarah, and Jason all take position.

Jason takes cover to reload again. Strudel asks if he needs any assistance, but Jason specifically tells him not to come over; he doesn't want to endanger Strudel. 

Rick asks Serena and Strudel to stay by his side, as he engages the northwest Archer near the two Soldiers he just destroyed. They provide cover fire as a distraction, while Rick sneaks around the Archer, which is perched on top of a warehouse, and engages it in CQ range.

Similarly, Sarah engages the Archer to the south in CQ range by also sneaking around behind it.

Jason fires his particle beam and destroys his target Archer in yet another, vivid display.

Rick jumps up onto the warehouse and stabs his Archer in the back, slicing its tail off and decapitating it.

Sarah uses her Arc Knife bayonet and Sam-L Shield to cut and batter the Archer from behind, destroying it. The Sam-L Shield is Sarah's specialty. It's a defensive plate of layered, ablative ceramics and alloys that generates a magnetic field, like the SAInt's armor, to absorb or deflect weapons fire. 

Rick barely hears Joanne's thoughts with all the static. She mutters some compliment about his form to Billy and then Rick hears AK-47's voice, but the growing interference is drowning out her words. Suddenly, the static ceases, and the pilots can't hear any telepathic voices coming from HQ. They can't hear anyone on the MetaTron, except for themselves

Strudel starts freaking out, and the others confirm it's not just him.

"Great. We've lost communication with them," Jason grumbles..

By this point, Bravo Company should have long been here by now. What's taking them so long?

For a brief moment, the pilots ponder how the MetaTron can even have static interference or lose communication entirely, but it's neither the place nor the time for that now, because two, ivory bursts of lightning suddenly shoot down from the heavens and hit the ground at the north and south ends of the city.

A Tale of Two Magnas

The Dominion class Magnas, Beelzebub, stands over 150 feet tall at the northern end of the city. It hovers over the ground with a giant, hunched shell like a scarab beetle, concealed by a dense cloud of black smog, with insect wings and small, alien-robot wasps which cling to its shell. He's in HB range of Rick, Serena, and Strudel and FA range of Jason.

Meanwhile, the Principal class Magnas, Thammuz, stands between 100 and 150 feet at the southern end of the city. With its two heads, four arms, and four wings growing out of its twisted but nimble, humanoid body, it's reflexes are exceptionally sharp, and it leaps from one target to another, swinging punches like a boxer.

Locusts continue to ravage, as they retreating to the Wormwoods, while the Swarm continues to take as many civilians as they can in the process. The Magnas, however, are a much dire threat, and Alpha Company certainly has their work cut out for them. Not only have they never faced a pair of Magnas before, their communications with Operations have been completely severed.

Beelzebub starts firing off laser beams, and Jason immediately gets into cover behind a crumbling building to reload. Serena and Strudel once again provide cover for Rick, at his behest, who engages Beelzebub at CQ range and crouches behind him with both blades out and ready.

Beelzebub generates one of its wasps which hides itself inside the smog.

Sarah is already in Thammuz's threat range when he lands, and with her bayonet and shield already out, she stabs Thammuz at CQ range, landing the first blow.

At the north end of the city, Jason leads a coordinated, team attack against Beelzebub. He fires a particle beam directly through the 'front' of the smog cloud, while Strudel and Serena provide cover fire from the left and right. At the same time, Rick stabs upwards and impales Beelzebub's body right through the smog cloud.

Source: Neon Genesis Evangelion
http://tinyurl.com/o3wlofr

Sarah attempts another CQ attack, but Thammuz lands a barrage of punches, injuring her SAInt pretty badly and forcing her to take first blood amidst A Company. Sarah takes cover behind several, ruined department stores and begins playing cat and mouse with Thammuz. She attempts another attack and successfully shears off several more arms and wings from the Magnas's body. Sarah can tell it's well on its way to being defeated real soon.

Meanwhile, Rick takes the lead and continues shoving the blade into Beelzebub's hidden body, while Serena and Strudel continue to fire. Jason helps distract Beelzebub by firing off his Levic Pistol. A quick note about the SAInt standard issue Levic Pistol, it fires rocket propelled, explosive tipped rounds and is versatile enough for both CQ and FA ranges. Unfortunately, Rick's attempt at leading the team attack fails this time, Beelzebub seems to have gotten stronger. It shoots lasers back at Jason, while a wasp blows up in Rick's face, and both SAInts take a hefty amount of structural damage. Strudel's SAInt has fallen prone and is endangered by the Magnas and one of the remaining Archers in view. Serena is relatively fine and readies herself for her next action.

There is still no word from Operations over the MetaTron, however Sarah suddenly a familiar thought voice being transferred. It's her brother, Allen. He's currently piloting a Robbie and engaging Beelzebub and tells Sarah to come quick, as their parents are endangered as well! The Mayzor Swarm is closing in on them in the northeast sector of the city. Sarah's heart starts pounding, and she knows she has to act fast.

To be continued.

END OF EPISODE 06

Credit for all the weapon and Mayzor descriptions go to Russell Collins, as taken from Tears of the Machine (pages 110-113 PDF for the weapon descriptions and pages 177-180 PDF for the Mayzor). I used direct quotes in some places, paraphrased others, and tweaked or added minor descriptions in certain places, like the various beetle/crab forms of the Brawlers, but it's all directly from Tears of the Machine.

---

Director Commentary

I mentioned in last episode's commentary that it was, perhaps, my least favorite episode to run. Episode 06, on the other hand, has been one of my favorites. The entire episode was action-packed and battle-oriented and filled with tons of surprises. New relationships triggered motivations and plenty of Spirit checks. We finally had the rules down this time, and since the PCs ended the last episode with high amounts of Ego, it meant we could jump straight into the action.

The reason I chose two Wormwoods and two Magnas was mainly to surprise the players and deviate a little from what's historically been written in the setting. Last episode, a Wormwood attacked an Arx for the first time, which is really significant. This time, two Wormwoods land in New Alamo, followed by two Magnas. It's different, and it's a lot of fun. The MetaTron static and losing complete communication with Operations was another evil surprise I threw in for the players. When I started describing the static, one of the players said, "But it's telepathic, how can there be static?" so I asked them, "What does telepathic static noise sound like?" We took a brief moment to discuss it, and the players all came to an agreement about it. I'm pretty sure nothing in the rulebook states whether or not the MetaTron can have telepathic static interference or stop working inside the SAInts altogether (Russell, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), but part of why I went there is for an idea I've been developing since Episode 02. I won't spoil it, but you'll learn what actually caused the MetaTron to have static and failure in the next episode.

In Tears of a Machine, PCs earn XP in the form of advancement points (AP) in three ways: reaching 5 (max) Ego in an episode, reaching 0 Ego in an episode, and completing an episode. Thus, every PC earns a minimum of 1 AP per session to a maximum of 3.

Rick and Sarah both spent one AP each to elevate two of the Director characters, or NPCs: Sarah elevated Raspberry from an extra to a supporting character, and Rick added AK-47 as his friend. It makes complete sense in the fiction, and by doing this, Raspberry can now have stats and become a more integral part to the story, while AK-47 can now trigger Rick's motivations, giving him more chances to earn Spirit checks. This is especially useful during a Mayzor battle, since the pilots are in constant communication with AK-47 over the MetaTron.

Concerning the overall, battle rules, we realize we hadn't been conducting our battles correctly, and as the Director, I feel I should have had them down pat by now. I scrutinized them again on the day before our Hangout session, and I finally understood what the engagement action is all about.

Basically, to sum it up, there are four actions SAInts can perform in battle: Engage, Change Distance, Take Cover, and Attack. I understood Take Cover and Attack, but I didn't fully get the difference between Engage and Change Distance as well as what the enemies' threat ranges were really all about. I probably still don't fully grasp the differences, but I do get the general gist.

I forgot that it said, "Locust robots are supporting characters and do not initiate combat with a SAInt" (Tears of a Machine, pp. 94 PDF), and so pilots have two options if they want to go after it. If they're already in the enemy's threat range and they can attack with their weapon in that range, then they can simply execute the Attack action. If, on the other hand, they want to attack the enemy at a different range, they need to figure out a way around the enemy's threat range by Engaging. This sort of reminds me of the Defy Danger move from Dungeon World.

Another battle action is Change Distance. The book states, "If the pilot is at the wrong range to engage a foe, such as having the wrong weapon or being caught at a Locust's Threat Range, she may move to Change Range between herself and the enemy unit" (Tears of a Machine, pp. 95 PDF). On the surface, it's very similar to Engage, because it's about changing range and getting into the best range to fire, however, I think fictionally it's different, and that's what it's about. Engage uses the pilot's Observe action against the enemy's Focus. It's all about finding the best tactical advantage and taking advantage of it, whereas Change Distance uses the pilot's Athletics vs. the enemy's vigor. It's more about reflexes, speed, and dexterity and only lets the pilot advance one range scale (CQ to FA or FA to HB or vice versa).

Both seem like they'd achieve the same effect, getting into the range the pilot wants, but they each use different skills and are fictionally quite different.

Otherwise, pilots can choose to Engage or Change Distance to get in the right placement for their attacks, correct?

Russell, if by chance you're reading, feel free to comment. I'll bring it up in the G+ Community too.

AP (ToaM) - Tales of the Arx Jericho - Season 1, Episode 05: Tests, Secrets, and Summer Drama

Previously

Charlie Company has been resurrected. Two new, SAInt pilots are undergoing training, while the pilots of Alpha and Bravo Companies climb into individual, isolated, deprivation tanks as part of a group, SAInt interface test. Individual and shared dreams reveal skewed, surrealistic realities depicting past, present, and future events and culminating with a precognitive, Mayzor battle in New Alamo. A blond hair, blue eyed girl, who Sarah recognizes is her cousin from Germany, Opsie Wessel, appears in Rick's, Sarah's, and Jason's dream. After the interface test is over, the pilots return to learn that a Mayzor raid has hit Sydney, Australia and, for the first time in human history, a Wormwood has landed on the Arx Galilee, hovering directly above it. Jason saw a Magnas attack the Arx Galilee in his dream. AK-47 tells the pilots not to worry. There's a new student arriving at the dorms, which AK-47 wants them all to greet and show around. A and B Company head to the dorms, discussing their recent dreams along the way. When they arrive to meet the new student, Sarah's mouth drops. It's Opsie Wessel, the girl from their dreams. Rick and Jason are both equally surprised. 

Meanwhile, a Preservation Forces officer of the Western Pacific Division approaches Jason for a private word. The officer delivers a shocking and unfortunate report from Jason's father which states that Jason's mother was captured by a Mayzor swarm during the recent attack on Sydney. Jason is left in complete shock.

---

Friday, June 13, 2031

This episode begins right where the last one ended. Jason is still in shock, and Opsie and Sarah continue to stare blankly at one another before finally meeting each other half way. The other pilots follow. Opsie gives Sarah a wide, bright smile and embraces her with a warm hug, shouting, "HI CUZ!" Sarah returns the greeting and introduces everyone. Opsie is obnoxiously loud and overly friendly while greeting everyone and comments out loud that she finds Jason cute. This irritates Laurie, who's standing right there, as well as Jason who immediately finds Opsie annoying. Strudel's eyes start ogling her, and Stephanie notices and crosses her arms in anger. As they head inside the dormitory, Opsie's snobby nature emerges, and she immediately begins criticizing everything around her. She blabs on about how much larger and more lavish her dorm was on the Arx Galilee. Sarah doesn't mind Opsie. Rick doesn't particularly like her, but he doesn't mind her all that much, either. Jason, on the other hand, feels like vomiting every time Opsie speaks.

Jason heads to his dorm room to sulk over the news regarding his mother, while Rick heads off with Serena to her room so that they can have a private conversation. Sarah and Opsie head to the girls' dorms as well. 

On the way, Sarah and Serena are both stopped by Dr. Harris who asks one of them to be Opsie's roommate. Serena immediately replies, "Not me," and Sarah tells Dr. Harris she doesn't mind if her cousin moves into her room.

Billy and Joanne head to their respective dorms, while Alex and Raspberry follow the girls to their dorms in order to stealthily spy on Opsie and Sarah.

Dormitory Drama

Sarah takes Opsie on a tour around the dorms and listens to her gloat and drone on and on about how her dorms are better, how the Arx Galilee was better, how she was the best SAInt pilot on the Arx, top of her class, extra special, and awesome at video games, especially Shinobi Knights 5. Sarah just smiles, listens, and nods her head throughout, but when Opsie mentions SK5, Sarah's ears really perk up. She challenges Opsie to a match, and they both start playing. It's a close match. No, sorry, that's a joke. Sarah wins by a landslide and looks over to see a shadow in the doorway. AK-47 is standing there, watching, and giving them a stern look. Sarah smiles. AK-47 advises her to quit playing video games and catch Opsie up on where they are in math class. After all, there's a pop quiz tomorrow. Sarah and Opsie are the only ones who know, but they don't heed AK-47's advice. Instead, they resume laughing and playing video games.

Meanwhile, in Serena's room, Rick takes a seat next to his sister on the edge of her bed. He asks her if everything's OK and then about the dreams they shared. At first, Serena doesn't want to talk, but Rick manages to convince her with some soothing words. When Rick asks her about the needle that Rafe plunged into her neck, Serena breaks out into tears. She places her hand over her neck, her arms shaking. She confesses that a flood of painful and repressed memories have resurfaced in her mind, overwhelming her, and she doesn't understand how she could have forgotten them in the first place. Serena is absolutely terrified, and all Rick can do is embrace her and comfort her. He mentions that he, too, has repressed memories coming back and that it'll all be OK.

Jason is back in his dorm room, which he shares with Rick. Sitting quietly alone, Jason calls his mother on his Linc but gets no response. He tries again. Still nothing. Jason continues this for a good hour or so, when he hears a knock on the door. It's Laurie, wanting to come in. Even though Jason just wants to be left alone, he still opens the door for her, and she enters, carrying a small handle of vodka and two plastic cups in one hand and a carton of orange juice in the other. She asks Jason if he wants a drink, and Jason, in his depressed state, doesn't refuse. Laurie smiles, pours them both drinks and sits next to Jason to comfort him.

Back in Sarah's room, the girls spend a bit more time playing video games, and Sarah suddenly notices a shadow moving across their their open doorway. Curious, she decides to follow it and sees someone down the hall, turning around a corner. Sarah enters the elevator lobby and looks around for whoever that was. She checks out a trash can in the corner and peers behind it but finds nothing. Sarah then peeks inside and notices an outstretched newspaper and two, shaking hands nervously gripping it. Raspberry slowly lowers the newspaper, and his face is as red as a tomato. Sarah asks him what he's doing, but he's too embarrassed to talk. Sarah convinces him to tell her the truth, and Raspberry replies that he was spying on her and Opsie and that he's truly sorry. Sarah just goes, "Awww," and tells him he doesn't need to spy on her; he's free to join them anytime he wants. Raspberry's face turns even brighter, and he quickly climbs out of the trashcan. His fingers are rapidly pressing the elevator button in hopes of it hurrying up so that he can get away. Sarah spares him further embarrassment and leaves. She spots Strudel across the perpendicular hallway, past the elevator lobby, as she walks back to her room. 

Sarah grabs Opsie and heads to Serena's room, knocking on the door. Rick asks Serena if they can come in, and she silently nods her head yes. "Come in," Rick says, and Sarah tells them they should all go check up on Jason. As they all head out, Strudel randomly joins them in the hallway and follows them to Rick and Jason's room.

Outside his door, Rick presses his thumb on a sensor pad, and it slides opens. All five pilots standing in the hallway suddenly see Laurie on top of Jason, straddling and kissing him. The drinks are out and clearly visible. Rick immediately closes the door, while Opsie grins the entire time. She quickly reaches for his hand, and, after Rick fails to pull it away fast enough enough,  Opsie presses his thumb to the sensor pad and the door opens once again. Laurie continues kissing Jason for a moment, and then they both stop to stare at everyone. Laurie and Opsie exchange vague looks, which Sarah and the others discern, together, as looks of jealousy. Laurie eventually gets off of Jason and leaves the room. Rick turns on the sink in the bathroom. Jason is clearly past drunk at this point, and Rick takes his head and douses it under the sink in attempt to sober him up. There's a knock on the door at the same time.

Sarah quickly hides the liquor bottle, and Rick opens the door to see Billy. "What are you doing here?" Rick asks. Billy walks in complaining about the upcoming test tomorrow. He says AK-47 stopped by his room and told him to go to bed early. Sarah already mentioned the news about the pop quiz in math to everyone else, and when Rick tells Billy he knows about it, Billy's eyes go wide. Billy had no idea about a math quiz! He's talking about a simulation test tomorrow. Jason's stupidly laughing at him the entire time, and Billy starts heating up and threatening him.

Rick moves in to restrain Billy, but Billy resists. Sarah helps Rick restrain Billy's arm, while Serena yells at him. The pilots work together to break down Billy's resolve, and while Rick continues to hold him, Serena slaps him across the face. Rick tells him to calm down and leave. With his wounded pride and his scarlet face, Billy quickly tucks his tail and leaves. 

Sarah, Opsie, Serena, and Strudel all stay with Rick to help him sober Jason up. Afterwards, they run out to grab a late night snack before heading to their dorms to get to bed.

Saturday, June 14, 2031

Despite it being Saturday, the SAInt pilots have a full day of classes and tests, including a pop quiz, which a number of students already knew about. Rick actually spent the remainder of the previous night studying, and he earns a fairly good grade. He does better than Joanne and Billy, for sure. Jason, despite his hangover, doesn't do so bad and even manages to get a better grade than Billy! Strudel is clearly impressed, especially since Jason does better than him too. Sarah cheats off Serena again, who surprisingly doesn't notice, though Sarah has to hide her paper more from AK-47's wandering eyes, and she doesn't get to write down all the answers she want. At least she still manages to get away with a passing grade.

Source: Ranma ½, Ramna Wikia

http://tinyurl.com/mouysbu

After the pilots receive their scores, they compare their grades at the cafeteria. There's a small crowd around Opsie who's gloating about her perfect score. Rick notices that Serena looks extremely bummed. He asks her what's wrong, but, as usual, she doesn't want to talk about it. Rick convinces her to spill the beans. Serena is always used to getting perfect scores and says she studied and only got a 99% on the quiz, whereas Opsie scored perfectly after spending the whole night playing video games. Rick consoles his sister as best as he can, while Opsie continues to gloat. She and Jason get into a tiff, which culminates in him saying some harsh words about why she abandoned the Arx Galilee, which is still under attack, when she's such a 'gifted' pilot. Opsie replies she was just following orders and leaves the cafeteria after almost breaking into tears. Jason walks away, too, to eat alone. 

Jason nearly spills his drink over his Linc, accidentally, and Strudel comes over to ask him how he's doing. Jason grumbles and then Strudel asks him if he can fix his broken Linc. Jason grumbles some more and looks at it to fix it. Strudel, giddy and impressed, thanks him. Laurie happens to walk by and gives Jason a wink. She saw what he did and is really impressed as well.

Back at the other table, Joanne passes by Rick and stops to ask him what grade he got on the quiz. When he tells her, she gapes in disbelief and asks him to see his paper. Her expression turns to anger. She violently throws the paper back at him and proceeds to dump her leftover mashed potatoes and gravy all over his head. "What the hell?" Rick yells and chases after Joanne, as she leaves the cafeteria. Sarah follows, so she can go find Opsie.

Outside, in the hallway, Rick asks Joanne why she did that. Joanne cheerfully smiles and laughs at him then puts on a serious, scowling look again and says it's because he got a better grade than her and that she finds him annoying. Rick sighs as Joanne walks off and realizes Opsie is at standing the other end of the hallway. They both blink and don't say much. Sarah comes out and heads off with Opsie. Rick also leaves to go wash himself off.

Whispers in the Garden

Later that day, Alpha Company decides to meet up in a secluded garden, before their simulation test, where Strudel once picked out flowers out for Ryoko and continues to do so for Stephanie. It's a large, open square flush with greenery and surrounded by urban buildings and alleyways. While hanging out, they're suddenly caught off guard as they see AK-47, Dr. Johnson, and a couple of CRC scientists talking amongst themselves while entering the garden.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/pgk4khc
http://tinyurl.com/m44frgq

The teenagers quickly hide. Jason hops into a patch of bushes. Serena hides in some tall plants. Rick, Sarah, and Strudel quickly climb up a tree and onto the closest rooftop within earshot. Together, Alpha Company closely observes the conversation with their ears perked.

AK-47 says the Preservation Forces need Opsie to remain team leader of Charlie Company at the present moment. The CRC scientists demand that Opsie reports to Dr. Hunter immediately. The scientists say she's only ran simulation tests for the P-Class SAInt and has to practice piloting it for real. They also demand that Opsie's communication with the other pilots be kept at an absolute minimum, if not severed entirely. AK-47 greatly protests, but Dr. Johnson sides with the CRC scientists and explains that constant isolation will help her strengthen her mind while preventing the other pilots from influencing her or interfering with her progress. He mentions the 'Apostle Project' several times. AK-47 doesn't waver and tells them they're wrong. She says Opsie needs to foster strong relationships with the other pilots and that, for now, she's best suited to be team leader of Charlie Company and might even supersede Serena as team leader of Alpha Company, one day. AK-47 tells the scientists that Opsie can meet with Dr. Hunter, simultaneously, for her special training. The CRC scientists begrudgingly accept her terms, while Dr. Johnson scowls, and they all leave the garden.

Alpha Company comes out of hiding and has a brief conversation amongst themselves about what they just overheard before heading to the simulation testing facility.

Trash-talking and Solo Test

Alpha Company meets up with Bravo and Charlie Company at the vending machines in the main lobby. Billy and Joanne start throwing out insults at A Company, calling them Aardvarks. Together, Rick, Sarah, Jason, Serena, and Strudel rally everyone else, as they throw back insults and find themselves in a trash-talk showdown. A Company gets the better of B Company, and everyone laughs at Billy and Joanne, including Stephanie, Laurie, and Raspberry!

When it comes time for the actual simulation test to start, the pilots are directed to show off their best skills and that they would be performing individually. Each pilot, in their simulated SAInt, goes head to head with a powerful Magnas without actually defeating it.

Rick gets into Close Quarters (CQ) range with his Arc Sword and Arc Knife, slashing and cutting away at the Magnas. Joanne's peeved that he does better than her, again, but at least his sister is impressed. Rick actually does better than her, and Serena realizes she's been seriously off her game since Opsie's arrival.

Jason utilizes his suberb, sniping skills at High Ballistics (HB) range and takes cover amongst the buildings, reloading and repeatedly delivering clear, precise shots at the Magnas. Once again, he outshines Billy and impresses Strudel as well as AK-47 and the other pilots.

Sarah takes her time with the Magnas. She stays back and observes its movements before moving in at the perfect opportunity. She repeats this strategy several times, and lands a few, well-timed blows on the Magnas, surprising AK-47 and leaving Serena smiling.

Opsie surpasses Serena once again, and she looks like she's slowly starting to fall into depression. 

The rest of the month flies by, as the summer semester goes on.

Next Time

New Alamo is under attack! Two wormwoods, what? The swarms are capturing all the civilians. Some of them are chasing Sarah's parents! Oh no! This is shaping out to be like the interface test dream!

Alpha Company is deployed southeast and is forced to face one of their most brutal battles yet. Bravo Company is being sent in as backup, but something goes wrong. 

A Magnas descends from the heavens, followed by another. WHAT? There's two of them? This isn't like the dream anymore, what's going on?!

Stay tuned!

End of Episode 05

---

Director Commentary

As I read over the AP, this episode actually turned out quite eventful, but it honestly hasn't been my favorite episode to run. Some of the scenes felt recycled, and I ran into a few moments where I didn't know where to go with the episode, but at least it was chock full of social drama which provided plenty of actions which triggered motivations that gave the PCs lots of opportunities for Spirit checks and earning Ego. The PCs learned some new information, as well.

The pop math quiz, the quarrel with Billy, and overhearing AK-47 and the scientists in the garden are just a few examples of recycled scenes used in this episode that I wasn't entirely happy with. Even though they weren't the same as previous episodes, I guess I was simply out of ideas for this episode and just wanted to present opportunities for social conflict, so that's why I recycled them. I do admit, the Billy quarrel played out really well this time, but I need to figure out other ideas for social trials and meaningful actions.

If anyone has any cool ideas, I'm all ears, please! I should probably ask the players as well.

AP (ToaM) - Tales of the Arx Jericho - Season 1, Episode 04: Revelations

Previously
Following a surprise pop quiz on his 14th birthday, just before Mother's Day and family weekend, Jason's blown away, when Rick and Sarah throw him a surprise birthday party with the pilots from Bravo and Charlie Company. Joanne and Stephanie, from Kendo Club with Rick, are the new SAInt pilots in B Company. Young romance fills the air during the party, affecting most, if not all, of the pilots. Rick comes out of his depression and defends his sister's honor against Billy. Two days later, the pilots undergo a teamwork, SAInt simulation test on Mother's Day. Serena and Billy switch companies, at the behest of AK-47, and based on Charlie Company's exemplary performance, AK-47 keeps Serena as the new team leader of Charlie Company which is further promoted to Alpha Company. Billy becomes the new team leader of Bravo Company.

---

Friday, June 13, 2031

A month has passed since Jason's birthday. Jason hoped and prayed that he wasn't going to get stuck with Billy and was fortunate to learn he'd be Rick's new roommate. Billy's new roommate is Kazuhiro Masaki (16), one of the newest SAInt pilots of the freshly renewed Charlie Company. Strudel also has a new roommate at the foster home, Miguel Rodriguez (11). Coincidentally, Miguel also happens to be one of the newest SAInt pilots for C Company and actually younger than Strudel! He seems surprisingly young for a SAInt pilot..

A recap of the current companies (names and pilots):
• Alpha Company: Serena Hunter (Team Leader), Rick Hunter, Sarah Werner, Jason Reyes, Alex 'Strudel' Struder
• Bravo Company: Billy Henderson (Team Leader), Joanne Klein, Stephanie Yuzuki, Laurie Bach, Leo 'Raspberry' Heyes
• Charlie Company: Kazuhiro Masaki, Miguel Rodriguez

Relationships have grown all around the past month. Serena and Billy have been pretty OK, and there haven't been any more outbursts on Billy's part. Jason and Laurie have gotten closer together as have Stephanie and Strudel. Raspberry still has a crush on Sarah, and she knows, but they just hang out and play video games a lot in their spare time. Rick finds Joanne as confusing as ever before. All in all, both companies seem to have a pretty good camaraderie.

---

The actual episode opens up to the interface testing facility - a collection of giant warehouses filled with mechanized, solitary, deprivation tanks that are connected to each pilot's SAInt for the purpose of interface testing. The tanks are spread out far enough and lined up in two, even rows, five tanks a piece. There are enough tanks for two, full companies. While the two new pilots of Charlie Company are off training elsewhere, the pilots of Alpha and Bravo Companies enter the warehouse and climb into the tanks that they're instructed to enter. 

Commander Yamasuka, Captain Kasherov, Dr. Harris, and Dr. Johnson are only some of the notable, Preservation Forces personnel hidden behind the thick, unbreakable glass of the monitoring room. It's piled to the ceiling with computers, machines, and display screens for the purpose of monitoring the pilots' vitals and recording pertinent data relating to the interface tests. 

The MetaTron is momentarily active inside the tanks, and the SAInt pilots are telepathically instructed to close their eyes and relax but not fall asleep. They start wondering how that's even possible, when the interface test begins. Before too long, Rick, Sarah, and Jason all fall asleep simultaneously; the other pilots fall asleep as well. Slowly, every pilot starts having individual dreams, but, little by little, the dreams start to bleed together and create a shared dreamscape with the other pilots' minds.

Rick's Dream

Rick and Serena are back at the outskirts of the new fortress city of Metro Scotia, where they evacuated to with their mother after the initial Mayzor raids on their hometown. Rick and his family were amongst the unlucky ones who were refused secure refuge inside, and they had to settle in one of the towns on the outskirts of the city. The dream changes and speeds up several months. The Mayzor have struck outside the Metro Scotia defensive barrier! A Mayzor swarm captures Rick's mother, Meredith. Rick tries to go back for her, but Serena holds him back. Their mother screams at them, "Run!" and Serena quickly drags Rick away from the shelter. Rick's heart is pounding and racing. He hears Serena's scream echo from a distance. Rick turns and sees her right next to him, dragging his body and not saying a word. He continues to hear her echoing scream and, like an ink cloud underwater, the dream disperses and a cold, dimly lit, laboratory room emerges from the darkness.

Serena is strapped to a cot. There are heavy buckles tightly fastened around her arms and legs. Rick sees a silhouette - the back of a man. He looks familiar. Rick moves forward to see who it is, but he just finds himself moving further and further away. Rick tries a different approach and climbs under a nearby table to peer through a peep hole in order to get a better look at him. Rick sees that the mysterious man is holding a syringe with a long needle in his hand. Serena's face is full of fear. She violently thrashes in place and screams in pain, as the man plunges the needle into her neck. Suddenly, for just a quick moment, the man turns just long enough for Rick to spot who it is. It's the one person Rick feared most he would see. Rafe stares past him and then turns back to the needle in his hand.

Reference image for Rafe Hunter
Source: Unknown :(

Serena is still screaming, and Rick is powerless to stop Rafe or do anything to help. Suddenly, Rick sees a different woman strapped to a cot. She has blond hair and blue eyes. The screaming stops, and Rick is in a sort of auditorium or meeting chamber, witnessing masked, CRC scientists congregated in a large, semicircle. He recognizes German writing on various signs and lettering around him, but he doesn't understand what it means. Rick hears Serena's scream echo once again. It grows exponentially louder and he finds himself back in the dark room, seeing her face and wide, fearful eyes with constricting pupils as his estranged father plunges the long needle into her neck. She screams bloody murder. She and Rick stand together in a dark room. Dr. Johnson is closing in on them, and Billy's right in between them, holding a gun up to Dr. Johnson's face. Rick, once again, sees Rafe plunge the needle into Serena's neck, while she continues to scream.

CUT TO:

Jason's Dream

Jason is hoverboarding in the streets of the Arx Jericho, when Billy, riding a skateboard, challenges him to a race down a long, steep hill. All the other SAInt pilots and classmates have gathered to watch, minus Rick, Sarah, and Serena. Jason and Billy start the race, and Billy actually starts out ahead, but Jason takes a shortcut over a fountain pool and soaks Billy in water, as he takes the lead and wins. Stephanie and Strudel both cheer for Jason, and Laurie gives him a kiss in front of everyone.

In the midst of all the cheering, alarms start to blare, warning of a Mayzor raid. Jason hears disembodied voices from news channels reporting that there's been a Mayzor raid on Sydney, Australia. The dream changes, and Jason finds himself in the middle of Sydney. He's standing in the streets. Civilians around him are in pandemonium. Mayzor swarms rush through from all directions, swiping people up and paralyzing them before carrying them away. Everyone seems to be ignoring Jason, including them, but then he makes eye contact with his mother, Monica, who turns to run from an impeding swarm. Jason starts running after her, but the swarm scoops Monica up, and Jason stops cold, frozen and in shock. He hears his father voice, he blinks.

Source: World War Z (film)
http://tinyurl.com/mpcccal

Jason finds himself aboard the Arx Galilee, over Sydney, in the command room. His father is barking off orders to the Preservation Forces officers around him. The SAInts have been deployed down to Sydney to quell the Mayzor situation, however, for the first time in human history, a Magnas has landed on Arx Galilee itself! As Jason peers out of a window, he suddenly has an entirely different vantage point that reveals the Magnas all too clearly. It's incredibly huge, demonic, and one of the largest and most terrifying creatures that Jason had ever seen before. What's truly surprising, however, is that Jason sees a SAInt hovering next to the Magnas, attacking it in Close Quarters (CQ) range in mid-air! It's not any normal SAInt that Jason is used to seeing. It looks far too different and advanced, and it's power is absolutely staggering.

CUT TO:

Sarah's Dream

Source: Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes (PS3)
http://tinyurl.com/oe6m4xc

Sarah is alone and traveling down an abandoned, cobbled, stone road in ancient, feudal Japan. She's garbed in a suit of samurai armor from the Muromachi period and equipped with an early signature katana and wakizashi. She realizes she's in her favorite video game, Shinobi Knights 5, as a masked samurai challenger approaches. Sarah enters into a close combat duel with the samurai and prevails, slaying her opponent with an awesome combo finish. Sarah bends down to unmask her fallen opponent and discovers it's her brother, Allen, who she just killed. Sarah, in somewhat of a shock, gazes across at a mysterious girl who's also wearing a masked, samurai outfit and facing her direction. The girl seems to have blond hair and looks somewhat familiar to Sarah. A group of samurai warriors suddenly appear and surround her. Sarah moves in to help, but she finds herself moving further and further away with each step. It's actually alright, as Sarah quickly sees the girl doesn't need any help. The mysterious, blond stranger takes out all the opposing samurai single-handedly with a set of exquisite, meticulous, and fluid movements.

The dream changes rapidly, and Sarah is back in her hometown of New Alamo. She's in the midst of a Mayzor raid, and her parents are currently running away from a Mayzor swarm. Sarah's heart is pounding. She looks over and sees a Magnas that's larger and more terrifying than anything she's ever seen before. There's a Robbie next to its feet, firing up at it. Allen is inside. The Magnas suddenly lifts its mighty leg and stomps down on Allen and the Robbie, crushing it to pieces in a fiery explosion.

Team Cognizance in the Dreamscape

All the individual dreamscapes quickly flow together, like streams connecting to a rushing river, and Rick, Sarah, and Jason soon find themselves inside their SAInts and on the dreamscape streets of New Alamo. There are two Wormwoods on opposite sides of the city. Bravo Company is taking care of the Locusts and Swarms guarding one of the Wormwoods, while Alpha Company finishes taking care of the other while trying to deal with an extremely strong and terrifying Magnas with volcanic flames erupting from its body and surrounding it with thick, dark smoke. Jason fires off a great first shot at High Ballistics (HB) range, reloads, and struggles with his next one due to all the smoke of the fiery Magnas. Strudel doesn't stick with Jason this time but instead rushes in at full speed to attack the Magnas at Close Quarters (CQ) range, after Serena, Rick, and Sarah close in at Firearms (FA) range to deliver their attacks. Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah sees her parents on the street, running from a Mayzor swarm. Sarah abandons Rick and Serena to go help them. Meanwhile, Rick and Serena continue firing at the Magnas, and Jason snipes it from afar again as well. Sarah successfully shoots down the swarm going after her parents and returns to find Strudel in CQ range of the Magnas. He's taking damage from the intense heat its giving off, and Sarah also spots a Robbie at the Magnas's feet as well. She hears Allen's thoughts over the MetaTron and sees that he's inside. Afterwards, she looks up and catches a glimpse of the blond hair, blue eyed girl on the roof of a skyscraper. She's literally floating above one of the corners and staring into the eyes of Sarah's SAInt, directly at her, with a zen-line expression on her face. It's the same, masked girl that wore the samurai armor and fought off the horde of opponents. Sarah suddenly realizes why she's so familiar. It's her cousin, Opsie Wessel (15) from Germany!

Rick and Jason rush forward together to help Strudel. Meanwhile, Serena and Sarah stay at FA range to help Allen out. Rick and Jason close in to surround Strudel and help him, but they both suffer setback from the intense heat that the Magnas gives off. They slowly start dragging Strudel's SAInt away while firing back at the Magnas, and, with Sarah and Serena's help, they're successful in completely disabling the Magnas just as it was about to crush Allen with its foot. It falls backwards into the ground, and Allen is able to quickly get away before Magnas's core self detonates in a massive, mushroom cloud explosion that takes a good chunk out of New Alamo and covers the SAInts in debris.

Everyone's individual dreams, memories, and revelations come funneling to the surface once more toward the end, and Rick, Sarah, and Jason are once again back in New Alamo, aboard their SAInts, having just finished off the demonic, hellfire Magnas. They all hear a helicopter and look up to see one hovering nearby. There's something, no, someone hovering above it. It's a teenage girl with blond hair and blue eyes. She's hovering above the copter's propellors in a zen-like state. Rick, Sarah, and Jason are bewildered.

The shared dreamscape turns ink black as the interface test is over, and the pilots emerge in their dark, isolated tanks.

Inspiration/reference image for Opsie Wessel in a zen-like state
Source: http://tinyurl.com/lo9mvsb

Revelations

The SAInt pilots rejoin the Preservation Forces officers in the monitoring room and find them all silently watching several monitors tuned to live news stories reporting a tragedy that had just recently occurred: an actual Mayzor raid has struck Sydney, Australia, and, for the first time in human history, a Wormwood has landed on the Arx Galilee. Rick, Sarah, and Jason are all in shock. AK-47 takes them aside and assures them that everything will be alright and not to worry. Furthermore, she says they all have a new student joining them who's being flown in by helicopter. AK-47 tells them that she's a SAInt pilot who will be joining Charlie Company and orders Alpha and Bravo Companies to go greet her at the dorms and show her around.

Rick, Sarah, Jason, and the other pilots all head to the dorms, discussing most of their dreams and the shared, dreamscape battle amongst themselves. Rick desperately wants to talk to Serena, in private, who looks incredibly off her game. Jason still trying to fathom seeing Sydney getting attacked in his dream and waking up to find out it's the current reality. Rick mentions seeing a girl with blond hair and blue eyes, and Sarah says she saw her as well - multiple times in fact. Of course, they all saw her together, when she hovered above the helicopter like an alien zen master. Sarah mentions that was her cousin from Germany, and Rick strongly warns Sarah not to tempt fate.

When they arrive to the dorms, Rick, Sarah, and Jason see a group of Preservation Forces soldiers and officers from the Western Pacific Division. A blond hair, blue eyed girl steps out from between them. It's the same girl they all saw in their dreams during the interface test. Opsie Wessel stares across at Sarah, her mouth gaping. Sarah can't help but do the same. "What's that about tempting fate did I warn you about?" Rick asks.

One of the Preservation Forces officers suddenly approaches Jason and pulls him aside for a private word. The officer says he has a message for Jason directly his father, Air Commodore Martin Reyes. The officer regrets to inform Jason that reports have confirmed that his mother has been taken by a Mayzor swarm during the Sydney raid. The officer offers his condolences, and Jason chokes on his words, not knowing how to respond. He's in utter shock. 

Rick, Sarah, and Opsie are all still in shock, as well.

Everyone seems to be in shock.

To be continued.

END OF EPISODE 04

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Director Commentary

This episode has been one of my all time personal favorites so far, especially for its surrealistic plot building, even though it was also the hardest episode to run without simply railroading the PCs from dream scene to dream scene.

For the entire, first half of the episode, I struggled with ways to offer PCs opportunities to roll actions. Most of the time, it felt like I was simply delivering one monologue after another; it's a good thing I actually did some prep on what I generally wanted to include in the dream scenes, even though I came up with some of the exact details on the spot. Jason's scene had the hoverboard contest and not much else, and the extent of Sarah's actions was mainly the melee fight against her masked, samurai brother. Rick's scene was especially difficult to set up for an Observe action, and I felt like I was sort of railroading him when he couldn't get to the silhouette to turn its shoulder and kept going back further and further. In hindsight, I don't particularly like how I handled the sequence, but it did offer Rick an opportunity for an Observe action to see it was, indeed, his father.

You know, it's funny, in writing, this episode turned out really entertaining and suspenseful in some places, whereas in the live, Hangouts game the suspense wasn't all there. Perhaps it was my fault, perhaps some things were too expected, but that's OK. Everyone still had fun, and it was a greatly entertaining episode.

The Magnas battle at the end, like the simulated trial in the previous episode, was another 'phony' battle, but its real purpose, aside from providing the PCs with their big bad, end-of-episode, Mecha battle, is to foreshadow the real New Alamo Mayzor raid, and potential Magnas battle, that I had planned for a future episode.

This episode has a past, present, future theme going for it. During the interface test, we start off with Rick's dream in the past. He sees past memories of his mother, repressed memories he's seeing in Sarah's dreams, which are bleeding in, and repressed memories from his own mind, perhaps. Jason witnesses a Mayzor raid on Sydney and the Arx Galilee from different perspectives. While this takes place in the present, it is of course a skewed, mirrored reflection of what really occurs. Finally, Sarah sees a Mayzor raid in New Alamo which hasn't occurred yet. It becomes the shared dreamscape for all three PCs and, similar to Jason's dream, presents a skewed version, or just one possibility, of how the New Alamo invasion could turn out.

Note, I'm writing these commentaries after running the seventh episode, which was Part 2 of the New Alamo invasion. Suffice to say, the actual New Alamo battle does turn out a little different than the dreamscape, although there are still many similarities.