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.
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.
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Source: Ranma ½, Ramna Wikia
http://tinyurl.com/mouysbu
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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.
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.
| 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.
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.
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