= Dark tales and bold choices =
= ◬NEBULA STORM ⓵.⓵◬ =
"After coming up with 10 different scenarios for our dark tales, I simply numbered then from 1 to 10, so we can assign a rolled number to one of those scenarios, allowing us to use the results of die rolls for our scenario selection."
"Let's do this!"
"Now here it comes!"
"Omega Roll #1: 3, 7, 8, 0"
"Omega Roll #2: 5"
"Nebula Storm"
"One of the biggest cargo ships of the world, the Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller Triple E Class, suddenly stops responding to the crew commands and starts sailing onto an unexpected direction on its own. A well-prepared support team consisting in one helicopter and two smaller boats is sent by the company that owns the cargo ship to assist the 19-member crew of the cargo ship to restore control. All communications with the cargo ship and the support crew is lost as soon as there is a confirmation of the support crew boarding the cargo ship. Our characters might be part of the original crew, the support/rescue team, or be someone illegally hidden in the cargo ship or it's containers."
= ◬NEBULA STORM ⓵.⓵◬ =
Over the noise of the helicopter’s rotors and blades, the 5-people support crew tries to communicate about what they are seeing in front of them.
Chas: “I don’t like this, Kathy, we should abort the mission.”
Everyone inside the flying motor vehicle turns their heads looking at each other in surprise. Charlie usually doesn’t complain about things and has a never-give-up attitude when it comes to goals, specially when it involves the whole team.
In theory, the current mission is the perfect match for their skill set: reach the ship, check on the crew health and safety, check why the cargo ship’s communications are unavailable, fix what they can, take notes and set steps to fix what they can’t fix immediately, write their reports and debrief at the headquarters. They were expecting that maybe there would be need for another trip back for mechanical parts or electrical components, but that is it. Worst case scenario, they would need to bring some poor injured soul with them, but that wasn’t really within the expectations for this specific “babysitting mission” (as Charlie himself described this mission before the crew set off towards the ship).
Scout, support, and rescue, that is what they do, and they are good at it. They have been through a lot together, and mostly succeeded, even in situations where misery was expected. Their team is also used to unexpected situations, as rescue missions might involve all sorts of environmental hazards.
Charlie has been known to always be calm and objective, often acting as the decision maker for physical tasks, as he has the innate ability to visualize multiple paths to a goal and assess if the other team members are able to put his plans in to action. The other way around doesn’t make sense, because whatever physical task is given to Charlie can usually be considered done, he is one of those CrossFit aficionados that eats physical exercise for breakfast.
Chas: “I can see you folks are shaking. You must be feeling it too.”
* puts the right hand forward, palm down, his hand is clearly shaking *
Zaida: “Well, f### me… mine are shaking too”
* also puts the right hand forward, palm down; hand shaking unusually *
“I thought that I was just feeling like s### because I didn’t sleep well”
Zaida’s comment is almost as unsettling as Charlie’s comment, because she is the definition of finesse in her peer’s eyes, they even joke about the fact that she is more precise than machinery. She is known to be a steady aim, and have a firm hand in tense situations; the team has seen Zaida picking locks while hanging upside down, dealing with sensitive explosive materials while balancing in a moving vehicle, walking on the tightrope just for fun… the list goes on.
Aidan, the Team's pilot, has said multiple times that he wishes that every aircraft was as reliable as Zaida’s balance; he even had a little song that he would repeat using the tones of the old Spider-Man cartoons: “...she doesn’t fail, she doesn’t flake, she doesn’t fall, she doesn’t shake. Look out…”
Kathy: “That is not good. Ok, I agree, that is not good at all.”
* after evaluating Zaida’s pupils, turns to Chas *
“But are you really suggesting that we abort the mission because we all had a bad night of sleep?”
Chas: “No. I am suggesting that we abort the mission because I slept like an angel, and wasn’t feeling bad at all until we saw that ship.”
* points to the ship in the distant background, as they continue to move closer to their destination *
“As soon as I set eyes on that, I started feeling… I don’t know… it is a weird feeling, it is getting stronger too. I feel like, I don’t know… can't really grasp the word here.”
Aidan: “It is fear, man. 100% fear, this feels terrible. My gosh dude, I am terrified like the first time I tried to ask a boy on a date. I feel like the outcome is going to be similar too.”
The pilot’s comment yet again raises the worry meter in the crew. Aidan is usually the joker, but his voice doesn’t sound the usual lighthearted self. Also, his first time asking a boy out on a date was a disaster.
Kathy: “What do you mean with I feel like? Are you all on drugs? Fear? Fear of what?
Aidan: “I am not sure, boss, but I am serious.”
Zaida: “Well, f### me one more time then, you are never serious.”
Aidan: “The f### you, darling, this time I really am serious.”
Zaida: * moves slightly towards the pilot, touches his shoulder *
“Are you for real? What is going on?”
Zaida notices that the touch makes Aidan flinch a bit, like he is already on the edge waiting for something bad to happen.
Aidan: “Look, I am sorry, maybe it is just a shitty day, but I never felt anything like this. Since I've set eyes on that damn ship there is like… like… there is this impending doom, I don’t know, it feels pretty terrible. And the more I look at it, the worst it gets.”
Kathy: “Then stop looking at it, god-damn it. We are here for a simple scout, maybe rescue mission. We checked the logs, there is no Uber danger on that ship’s inventory manifest, these are not dangerous waters, the weather is decent, the crew is proportionally small and well-trained… guys, this is an easy one.”
The unusual discussion goes like this for a bit, and Kathleen starts getting worried about her crew. She is not feeling any of that bad mojo or whatever it is that the others are trying to describe. Kathleen is even considering going back and aborting the mission, because she trusts them, and she is always going on about trusting your own guts and things like that. Her guts are not telling her anything at the moment, but 3 out of her 4 companions are being vocal beyond their usual selves regarding abandoning a task, which is also not like their usual selves.
Kathy: “Ok, ok, ok, just… jeez, I don’t know what you guys are talking about, this is ridiculous. Now, let's say that we do go back, then what am I going to say to the guys upstairs? Oh, sorry, we got scared of the big ship?
Chas: “No. I am not scared of the big ship.”
Kathy: “Then what are you scared of”?
Chas: “I just am.”
Zaida: “Same.”
Aidan: * keeps nodding in affirmation *
Kathy: * lets out a huge sigh *
“Ok. You little devils, I've never seen you like that, this is absolutely ridiculous… but I trusted you with my life multiple times, so I guess I should trust you all on this one too.”
Kathy pauses for a second to look at the ship, which is getting closer by the moment; there is absolutely nothing ominous about it as far as she is concerned. Just a big a## ship floating in a big a## body of water. She is worried too, but just because all involved take their jobs very seriously, there must be something that she is missing here. They would never be this emphatic about something for no reason. And she knows her own, they are all indeed looking and acting like they are worried about their lives.
All, except for Angelina, which is still sitting quiet behind her dark glasses, calmly looking at a book.
Kathy: “So what is the plan, Angie? If these babies want to go back, what are we going to tell the real bosses upstairs?"
* switches back to addressing the whole crew, looking at every one of them as if they are all going mad *
“Reports have to be made, folks, you know the drill, we never, ever, ever aborted a mission just because. Nor should we. This is very serious. I don’t even know why I am considering this…”
* notices that Angie is unresponsive and nudges her *
“Come on, Angie, get your eyes off of that book. Help us figure out what to write in the reports and what to tell the headquarters, or at least help me put some sense into the heads of these goofs, so we can just do our jobs and…”
Angelina interrupts Kathleen, her voice cracking like she is about to cry.
Angie: “Oh, you don’t see it, do you?”
* creepiest of smiles starts to take over Angie’s face *
Kathy: * about to say something, then realizes that there is something wrong with Angie; her mouth opens, but no words come out at first *
“Angie, are you ok?”
At this point, Zaida and Charlie are also noticing that something is wrong with their friend.
Angie: “Oh, you don’t see it, do you?”
* creepiest of smiles completely took over Angie’s face *
* Angie lets go of her book and rest both hands on her lap, while staring a Kathy *
Kathy: “Angie, whatever it is you want me to see, please stop this nonsense and just show me. I won’t lie, you are freaking me out a bit.”
Angie: “Oh, I will show you”
* Angie slowly puts both hands on the sides of her dark sunglasses and slowly takes them off *
Zaida: “F###!”
Chas: * eyes wide open in disbelief *
Kathy: “What the…”
Aidan: “What is going on back the…”
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Omega Roll #3 - First time our characters get exposed to Horror
- I will roll 2d20 for each character in the helicopter. The lower result will decide how badly they are physically affected by what is about to happen, the highest result will define how badly they were mentally affected by what is about to happen.
- Kathy has +7 on the rolls.
- Charlie and Zaida both have +5 on the rolls.
- Aidan has +3 on the rolls.
- Angelina +1 on the rolls.
Omega Roll #3:
- Kathleen: Physical roll result (17), Mental roll result (21)
- Charlie: Physical roll result (12), Mental roll result (18)
- Zaida: Physical roll result (11), Mental roll result (18)
- Aidan: Physical roll result (19), Mental roll result (14)
- Angelina: Physical roll result (12), Mental roll result (6)
- Omega Roll #3 Results