NOTE: I wrote the recap here for the previous two episodes, but +Robert Ruthven wrote the actual AP, which he also has posted on his blog: http://wayofthezeppo.blogspot.com/.
It seems redundant for both of us to write APs, so I'm simply reposting what Robert wrote with a bit of reformatting and fixing the spelling on some of the names (Laurie instead of Lorrie and Lieke instead of Likay).
I also wrote a short preview for Episode 09 at the bottom and a few more things in the Director Commentary section. I've also included a YouTube link to Episode 08, which we recorded on G+ Hangouts on Air.
It seems redundant for both of us to write APs, so I'm simply reposting what Robert wrote with a bit of reformatting and fixing the spelling on some of the names (Laurie instead of Lorrie and Lieke instead of Likay).
I also wrote a short preview for Episode 09 at the bottom and a few more things in the Director Commentary section. I've also included a YouTube link to Episode 08, which we recorded on G+ Hangouts on Air.
Previously
Following the alarms of a Mayzor attack, Alpha Company was deployed to the city of New Alamo in the southeastern, United States Territories. Surprisingly, two Wormwoods landed at opposite ends of the city. The SAInt pilots' objectives were to assist the military and Preservation Forces Robbies in quelling the invasion by saving as many civilians as they could from the Swarm and driving the Locusts back while not spreading themselves too thin. Captain Kasherov (AK-47) over at Operations HQ kept in constant communication with Alpha Company, as they battled Brawlers, Soldiers, and Archers - a total of 20 Locusts altogether. Everything seemed to be going OK at first, and Bravo Company was to be deployed as backup, but a couple of hours into the battle, the SAInt pilots experienced a strange, static interference on the MetaTron. Soon, they lost communication with Operations altogether, though the MetaTron still worked fine amongst themselves.
Two Magnas appeared from the sky at the north and south ends of the city: the Principal ranked Magnas, Thammuz, and the Dominion ranked Beelzebub. Sarah took Thammuz on single-handedly in a grueling, close quarters match, while Rick and Jason worked together with Serena and Strudel in a harrowing battle against Beelzebub. During the fight, Rick and Jason took significant structural damage, an endangered Strudel was forced to evacuate his SAInt, and Sarah's brother, Allen, hailed Sarah on the MetaTron and told her to save their endangered parents in the northeastern sector of the city. Sarah rushed back, took down an Archer, and saved her parents, then rushed over to help Rick, Jason, and Serena take Beelzebub down in an act of inspiring bravery.
After their mission was over, Alpha Company returned to headquarters, where they learned that Bravo Company's deployment coordinates were screwed up, and they ended up in the West Coast instead. AK-47 gave them a lackluster answer as to why the MetaTron failed, but Rick, Sarah, and Jason all noticed a subtle smirk on Dr. Johnson's face during the debriefing. Finally, Billy revealed some ominous news about being sent on an errand and catching Dr. Johnson loitering in the Operations room by himself. Rick, Sarah, and Jason found the news highly unsettling. On top of that, AK-47 publicly called Serena to stay after with her and Dr. Johnson, which didn't sit too well with Rick.
Alpha Company decided then and there that they would need to break into Dr. Johnson's office to find out more, once they got the chance.
Thursday, August 14th 2031
Snooping on Dr Johnson
With summer term having just ended and finals out of the way, the pilots and their classmates are about to head to the Bahamas for a well-earned vacation. Unfortunately, during lunch at the cafeteria, Serena reveals that she has been told not to go, as she needs to stay on the Arx for some one-on-one training with Dr Johnson as part of her new training routine. While Rick is unhappy with this, he knows there’s little point in trying to convince his sister to go against orders. Sarah gives it a shot though, telling Serena she needs to have some fun and that summer vacation is no time to be doing training. Serena is persuaded by her argument and decides to go along and face whatever consequences may result, and Sarah’s spirits are lifted by Serena’s change of heart.
Suspicious of Dr Johnson after the Battle of New Alamo, Rick, Jason and Sarah head to his office to try and break in and see if they can dig up some dirt on him. Jason is able to bypass the thumb scan lock by using his Linc to take a picture of the greasy thumbprint on the scanner and using the captured image to trick the scanner. As he opens the door, Sarah hears someone walking down the hall and checks around the corner to see Dr Harris heading their way, probably on her way to her own office. Dr Harris hasn’t spotted them yet, so Sarah shoves everyone inside and shuts the door behind her as they enter.
The pilots search his desk and find several red folders containing progress reports on Serena and Opsie. The reports seem like classified documents that the CRC would keep to themselves, so it’s a little odd that he would have them. The reports are psychological evaluations and progress reports on how the two pilots are doing in their ‘P-Class’ training for the ‘Apostle Project’. The Apostle Project is something the pilots have heard mention about before, but these documents give them a little more information about it. It seems that they are trying to find and train better pilots for a new class of SAInt. These new SAInts are stripped of their Id, allowing for a deeper connection with their pilot. Rick is concerned for Serena because this means that if anything goes wrong she can be directly affected.
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| Image modified by me, but I take no credit for the picture. Original source: http://tinyurl.com/lokq4jw |
Even more troubling is the revelation that in order to expediate the zen-like state required to pilot the P-Class, some candidates are dosed with a drug called Americium Bromine Oxide 51A (or AmBrO51A). The drug doesn’t work immediately, it needs to be in the candidates system for months or even years, and both Serena and Opsie have been treated with it. This may explain Rick’s shared dream with Serena of her being injected with something by their father. In fact, he finds documents that state they were both treated with the drug in the few months before his father left home, which makes him a potential P-Class candidate. Sarah also seems to be listed as a candidate, but has not received any injections yet.
Jason hacks into Dr Johnson’s computer, with Sarah leaning over his shoulder and offering encouragement while Rick goes to keep watch by the doorway. He find several encrypted folders, containing text documents in some form of jumbled up code. He’s able to convert them into their proper form, revealing kanji-like symbols which are unlike any language he is aware of. He finds a master list of the symbols, which can help him translate them, but there’s not enough time to do that right now, so he copies the files to his Linc to try and decipher them later. The pilots then decide to scram before they get caught committing a federal felony.
Friday, August 15th 2031
Summer Vacation
Summer Vacation
The pilots and their classmates, chaperoned by Captain Kasherov (AK-47) and Dr Harris, fly out to the Bahamas, with Serena having snuck onboard with her fellow pilots. There’s a brief moment when AK 47 nearly spots Serena but Rick manages to warn her so she can duck into the bathroom and hide.
Along for the trip are a pair of twins, Bala and Lieke (pronounced Lee-kay), who are a pair of new pilots. Together they pilot the Mendicant-variant SAInt which is built for two pilots, allowing two pilots who are telepathically gifted but can’t pass the physical or academic classes for pilot candidates to cover for each others’ deficiencies. Jason and Rick are a bit creeped out by them, but Sarah makes an effort to befriend Likay, at least.
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| Image used without permission. I take no credit for this picture. Source: http://www.myoutislands.com/bahamas-resorts/bimini-map.cfm |
Everybody does their own thing; tanning on the beach, swimming, reading, and whatever else they feel like. Later there’s a volleyball game between the girls and boys, which Jason opts out of in favour of doing a bit of surfing on his hoverboard. He finds himself racing against Opsie, who has also decided to do some surfing instead of join the volleyball. She boasts that she was a champion surfer back in Sydney, and bets that she can surf better than he can. He mutters that he will not lose to the ‘Prima Donna from Galilee’. He manages to stay ahead of her and does some cool maneuvers, runs her into a huge wave that causes her to wipe out. She’s impressed, but disbelieving that he beat her. Alex, on his way to the volleyball game, sees this and cheers him on. Unfortunately, Alex is too easy to impress, and Jason is annoyed that Opsie made it into a competition, so he’s not as pleased with his victory as he could be.
Meanwhile, at the volleyball game, Sarah formulates a game plan with her teammates – Serena, Joanne, Stephanie, Laurie and Lieke, among others – doing a group huddle and drawing a diagram in the sand, which intimidates the boys slightly since the girls seem to have a solid plan going in. Rick and Strudel do a coordinated maneuver, allowing Rick to spike the ball over Sarah’s head. Joanne tries to catch it but ends up eating sand and cursing his name. Raspberry loses them the next round because he’s paying more attention to Sarah in her bathing suit than to the game, and so he fumbles the ball and drops it. Rick – exercising his fledgling leadership skills as Alpha Company’s new team leader – rallies the boys’ team, and specifically Raspberry, telling them they can let the girls beat them that easily. This encouragement gets Raspberry to pick up his game, even as Joanne is trash talking him, and he scores another point with Stephanie landing in the sand this time. Jason shows up to watch with a nice cold drink, just as Sarah wins the game by blocking an attempted spike by Billy, smacking it back in his face and knocking him out cold. Serena, AK and Dr Harris all go to check on Billy, and the volleyball game breaks up.
It’s at this point that AK-47 notices that Serena is there, and she looks blankly at the girl who is supposed to be back at the Arx training with Dr Johnson. Sarah is able to read AK’s face a bit better, and even though she seems surprised that Serena has disobeyed orders to come on the trip, she actually seems pleased that she is here.
Later in the evening, the three companies compete to make the best campfire, but Alpha Company find all the best logs and big thick branches for their fire, and theirs ends up being the biggest one. The teens all congregate around Alpha’s campfire and tell scary stories.
Sarah tells a story about a creepy doll that was buried, but later turned up in a boy’s room. AK 47 tells the story of Baba Yaga. Rick and Serena tell the story of Lover’s Cove, where legend tells of two lovers – a fisherman and a woman from a rich family – who arranged to meet there. It ended badly for them, and their spirits now haunt the Cove, testing the love of any couples who visit there. They are aided by Alex, who goes ‘Boo’ at the right moment and causes Joanne to fall of her perch, which earns Rick a glare from her.
Jason finishes off with a story about when the Mayzor first started attacking, about people who figured out that the Mayzor don’t attack on water, got on boats and went out to sea. These people never returned to land, staying out at sea for about seven or eight years with low food and supplies. Every now and then they would come across islands, where people still live and start fires on the beach, thinking that they’re safe there. The city-folk aren’t great at catching fish, but they don’t need to when they have shotguns, and there’s a bunch of people sitting around a fire. He accompanies his story with sound effects from his Linc, which manages to freak Alex out. Which isn’t that hard, to be honest.
Sarah tells a story about a creepy doll that was buried, but later turned up in a boy’s room. AK 47 tells the story of Baba Yaga. Rick and Serena tell the story of Lover’s Cove, where legend tells of two lovers – a fisherman and a woman from a rich family – who arranged to meet there. It ended badly for them, and their spirits now haunt the Cove, testing the love of any couples who visit there. They are aided by Alex, who goes ‘Boo’ at the right moment and causes Joanne to fall of her perch, which earns Rick a glare from her.
Jason finishes off with a story about when the Mayzor first started attacking, about people who figured out that the Mayzor don’t attack on water, got on boats and went out to sea. These people never returned to land, staying out at sea for about seven or eight years with low food and supplies. Every now and then they would come across islands, where people still live and start fires on the beach, thinking that they’re safe there. The city-folk aren’t great at catching fish, but they don’t need to when they have shotguns, and there’s a bunch of people sitting around a fire. He accompanies his story with sound effects from his Linc, which manages to freak Alex out. Which isn’t that hard, to be honest.
Later that night, as he’s climbing into his hammock, Jason’s Linc beeps, alerting him that it has finished decrypting one of the files from Johnson’s computer. The file contains instructions for Johnson telling him to attach an object - that looks similar to a Mayzor Wormwood, only on a smaller scale – to the operations main computer system. This would have uploaded a virus to the MetaTron, which would account for the weird static, loss of communication and redirection of Bravo Company during the Battle of New Alamo. Whoever he received these orders from, it seems clear that Johnson does not have the Preservation Forces’ best interests in mind.
The session closes on Jason as he grumbles, “Awww, fu—“
NOTE: The following teaser for Episode 09 is written by me.
Next Time
Summer break week continues, and Jason has some ominous news to share with Rick and Sarah. At least there are plenty activities going on for the pilots to engage in, including a visit to the exotic, hot springs on Bimini Island! Seems like the perfect week, doesn't it? Hopefully the SAInt pilots won't have to face any invasions any time soon. After all, the Mayzor have never been known to attack from the water. Then again, they did manage to strike an Arx several months back. At the rate they're evolving, who knows what they'll be capable of? Are the Preservation Forces even prepared in the case of a sudden, navy assault?
Stay tuned this Thursday to find out what happens, when I run Episode 09 on G+ Hangouts on Air.
NOTE: The following teaser for Episode 09 is written by me.
Next Time
Summer break week continues, and Jason has some ominous news to share with Rick and Sarah. At least there are plenty activities going on for the pilots to engage in, including a visit to the exotic, hot springs on Bimini Island! Seems like the perfect week, doesn't it? Hopefully the SAInt pilots won't have to face any invasions any time soon. After all, the Mayzor have never been known to attack from the water. Then again, they did manage to strike an Arx several months back. At the rate they're evolving, who knows what they'll be capable of? Are the Preservation Forces even prepared in the case of a sudden, navy assault?
Stay tuned this Thursday to find out what happens, when I run Episode 09 on G+ Hangouts on Air.
End of Episode 08
Director Commentary
Up to the midseason, we played this game on normal Google Hangouts, but now we've decided to take our game sessions live on Google Hangouts on Air. From now on, you can catch us playing live or view the recorded episodes on my YouTube channel.
Here's Episode 08:
Before we went live, the players went around and spent AP (advancement points) that their PCs had acquired. Rick spent 1 AP to elevate Opsie to a supporting character and 4 AP to elevate his Empathy Proficiency from 1 to 2, Jason spent 9 AP to increase his Spirit Talent from 2 to 3 (which he really needed), and Sarah spent a whopping 15 AP to increase her Spirit Talent from 4 to 5.
Prior to the scene in Dr. Johnson's office, I spent a half hour asking the players questions about their characters, relationships, events going on, and how the AP they spent translated into the fiction.
First, I asked about summer finals, since that seemed pretty important and I was curious. Rick said he did OK and only just started taking his schoolwork seriously. He wasn't sure exactly how he did, but he was confident he didn't fail. Sarah and Jason seemed fairly confident as well. I asked them about their increased spirits, and while they mainly attributed it to the way they handled the Magnas Thammuz and Beelzebub in the last episode, I'm pretty sure that it spilled into their test-taking abilities as well.
In terms of other characters and relationships, I started with Opsie, since Rick elevated her to a supporting character. Rick sees Opsie as a colleague, but he's not necessarily chummy with her. Sarah's relationship with Opsie continues to improve, while Jason still can't stand her but knows she's not going away any time soon.
Rick and Joanne have hung out a few times, especially at the after-school Kendo club, and she even apologized to Rick in private for publicly dumping her tray of gravy over his head in the cafeteria. Their relationship is still awkward as ever before, as Joanne continues to tease and throw jabs at Rick in other ways.
According to Rick, Serena seems better about herself, but she's still incredibly private. He's gotten a lot better at prying information out of her (hence the increase in Empathy), confirming her private meetings with AK-47 and Dr. Johnson, but unfortunately, Serena hasn't been able to disclose any exact details, even to her own brother.
AK-47 has been helping Rick improve his team management skills by offering pointers about staying connected to the team. Since being promoted to Alpha Company Team Leader, Rick has been taking the position a lot more seriously. All of this further helps explain his rise in Empathy.
Sarah is partly responsible for bringing Serena out of her depression as well. She's less pushy with Serena and continuously tries to make her feel better and simply have fun! This actually stemmed into the very first action of Episode 08, where Sarah convinces Serena to shirk her responsibilities and come along on the trip.
Since the New Alamo invasion, Sarah has talked to her parents once to touch base and check up on them, but they're still shaken up from the attack and Sarah didn't get to talk too much with them.
Sarah also had a birthday during the latter month of July and is now 15 years old!
Jason and Billy's rivalry seems to be mellowing out as much as Billy and Serena's relationship. Being on two separate teams and not seeing each other as much, Jason doesn't consider Billy much of a rival anymore, though Opsie might replace him. In terms of Serena, Billy still seems to have some lingering, puppy love left for her, but they haven't been seeing each other as much and their relationship has died down significantly.
Still livid and upset about his mother's abduction by the Mayzor in Sydney, Jason hasn't spoken to his step father since the attack on the Arx Galilee. Jason is angry but doesn't know why. He knows he probably shouldn't be angry, but he's still a young, moody teenager after all.
That's pretty much it on Q&A. I won't be asking as many questions next episode, since we don't have an entire month that passes in between.
Two of my favorite quotes right after Sarah convinces Serena to come with them on vacation:
JASON: "What are we fighting for?"
SARAH: "Fighting for our right to party!"
Spirits have lifted indeed!
Up to the midseason, we played this game on normal Google Hangouts, but now we've decided to take our game sessions live on Google Hangouts on Air. From now on, you can catch us playing live or view the recorded episodes on my YouTube channel.
Here's Episode 08:
Before we went live, the players went around and spent AP (advancement points) that their PCs had acquired. Rick spent 1 AP to elevate Opsie to a supporting character and 4 AP to elevate his Empathy Proficiency from 1 to 2, Jason spent 9 AP to increase his Spirit Talent from 2 to 3 (which he really needed), and Sarah spent a whopping 15 AP to increase her Spirit Talent from 4 to 5.
Prior to the scene in Dr. Johnson's office, I spent a half hour asking the players questions about their characters, relationships, events going on, and how the AP they spent translated into the fiction.
First, I asked about summer finals, since that seemed pretty important and I was curious. Rick said he did OK and only just started taking his schoolwork seriously. He wasn't sure exactly how he did, but he was confident he didn't fail. Sarah and Jason seemed fairly confident as well. I asked them about their increased spirits, and while they mainly attributed it to the way they handled the Magnas Thammuz and Beelzebub in the last episode, I'm pretty sure that it spilled into their test-taking abilities as well.
In terms of other characters and relationships, I started with Opsie, since Rick elevated her to a supporting character. Rick sees Opsie as a colleague, but he's not necessarily chummy with her. Sarah's relationship with Opsie continues to improve, while Jason still can't stand her but knows she's not going away any time soon.
Rick and Joanne have hung out a few times, especially at the after-school Kendo club, and she even apologized to Rick in private for publicly dumping her tray of gravy over his head in the cafeteria. Their relationship is still awkward as ever before, as Joanne continues to tease and throw jabs at Rick in other ways.
According to Rick, Serena seems better about herself, but she's still incredibly private. He's gotten a lot better at prying information out of her (hence the increase in Empathy), confirming her private meetings with AK-47 and Dr. Johnson, but unfortunately, Serena hasn't been able to disclose any exact details, even to her own brother.
AK-47 has been helping Rick improve his team management skills by offering pointers about staying connected to the team. Since being promoted to Alpha Company Team Leader, Rick has been taking the position a lot more seriously. All of this further helps explain his rise in Empathy.
Sarah is partly responsible for bringing Serena out of her depression as well. She's less pushy with Serena and continuously tries to make her feel better and simply have fun! This actually stemmed into the very first action of Episode 08, where Sarah convinces Serena to shirk her responsibilities and come along on the trip.
Since the New Alamo invasion, Sarah has talked to her parents once to touch base and check up on them, but they're still shaken up from the attack and Sarah didn't get to talk too much with them.
Sarah also had a birthday during the latter month of July and is now 15 years old!
Jason and Billy's rivalry seems to be mellowing out as much as Billy and Serena's relationship. Being on two separate teams and not seeing each other as much, Jason doesn't consider Billy much of a rival anymore, though Opsie might replace him. In terms of Serena, Billy still seems to have some lingering, puppy love left for her, but they haven't been seeing each other as much and their relationship has died down significantly.
Still livid and upset about his mother's abduction by the Mayzor in Sydney, Jason hasn't spoken to his step father since the attack on the Arx Galilee. Jason is angry but doesn't know why. He knows he probably shouldn't be angry, but he's still a young, moody teenager after all.
That's pretty much it on Q&A. I won't be asking as many questions next episode, since we don't have an entire month that passes in between.
Two of my favorite quotes right after Sarah convinces Serena to come with them on vacation:
JASON: "What are we fighting for?"
SARAH: "Fighting for our right to party!"
Spirits have lifted indeed!
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