FIREFLY RPG - Episode 0 - Prologue

"I'm not arguing", Christopher said calmly. "I'm merely pointing out the holes. I may have been an Independent sympathizer, and I might be defending the Alliance, but you're right: the war is over. I'm not partial to either now, because what's done is done."

"And this is all new to me. I never heard much about this sort of thing growing up in Bellerophon, nor while training at the academy," Nadra says with a polite shrug.

"Everyone's going to have different views of the 'verse, no matter which way you throw it," Kelly says. "I don't take stock in that 'hypnotized soldiers' gumf myself, but someone else might know it first hand."

Kelly shrugs.

"In any case, the most important thing to remember is... I want some noodle laksa, dammit."

-

Four hours pass by as Gan Ying races along through the black, and it is then that Phillip emerges from his private guest room and seeks out Captain Kelly. Shortly after, Kelly has called Harmony to the cockpit, if she is not already there. He is kicked back in the copilot chair, with Phillip standing nearby.

"Need your professional opinion," Kelly says. "We're closing in on Valentine. Our friend Phil here wants to send a message to his dear old sibling on Selene. We're still out of range for the Richtofen, yeah? Safe to shoot some messages back and forth?"

For everyone else, dinner is normally served around six o'clock; it is now about four o'clock. Some of you may still be discussing the finer points of Alliance brainwashing.

Harmony hasn't moved from the cockpit in those four hours. "We can make that call no problem, sir. I'll set up a Wave, if you've got his name or address. Shouldn't take more than a minute if your brother or sister answers right away.". She starts pulling up the wave on the Cortex, "I'll bounce it to your quarters so you can talk in private."

"Thanks much," Phillip says as he heads back to his quarters. Kelly just pats Harmony's arm as he heads out of the cockpit.

Another hour passes... and I want to know exactly where everyone is on the ship.

Except Alan. Kelly has called you to his quarters.

Nadra will still be in the common area, likely still bantering/bickering with Kenneth.

After Philip leaves to start the call, Harmony monitors it, seeing who he is calling, and making sure that the only data being streamed is audio and video, but not watching it. She relays the caller information to the Captain, and asks, "Should we eavesdrop, sir? Make sure he's on the level?"

(Harmony's location is usually the cockpit: best Cortex access there, for starters)

Christopher at the time would have gone to his quarters to lie down, if there was nothing else for him to do.

Alan will quietly make his way to Kelly's quarters, timidly knocking on the door before peering into the room.

"Y-You wanted something, sir?" Alan asks, confused and worried about being called to the captains quarters.

The audio/visual message is being sent to Selene, but Kelly will have cut you off there.

"It's not our business, Harmony," Kelly says. "Privacy means privacy, don't it? We don't ask questions, neither do they."

Kelly is a man who greatly appreciates his own privacy.

-

"Yeah, Alan, get in here," Kelly says. "You mentioned gettin' spare parts or whatnot. Anything you had in mind?"

"I was planning on getting smaller parts, just so that cargo space isn't wasted, exactly what parts though... I'd have to see whats available wherever we happen to be," Alan says, walking in. "Why? Do you have any preferences to what I should get?"

Vash will still be 'chilling' in the common room.

Marina will be in her room, I think.

Raven will be in the cargo bay doing a routine check.

Then that is where you all are when there is a horrific screeching of warping metal that resonates throughout the ship. There is a sudden jolt as Gan Ying rapidly decelerates, throwing many of you to the floor if you were not holding on to something.

The sensors are flashing emergency signals at you, Harmony. The ship is stopping!

Kelly and Alan end up on the floor in the midst of their discussion.

"What was that?" he asks you, Alan, knowing you might have some technological answer for him.

"Zen me le..." Kenneth groans, picking himself up off whatever he was thrown on top of, which happened to be Nadra. He stands and offers a hand to pull her up.

"Thank you..." Nadra says, taking Kenneth's hand and getting up off the ground. "Though don't be getting any ideas. What was that?"

"Trust me, it'd take more than a ship-stopping cataclysm to give me 'ideas'," the doctor replies, before heading up to the cockpit. "Captain! Harmony! What happened?"

Nadra just shakes her head as he runs off, before commenting quietly, "Some medic, just taking off before checking if everyone is okay..."

Harmony jumps, closing out of Spacebook, which she'd been wasting time on, and booting up a full automated diagnostic. She checks for vulnerable compartments and closes them off remotely, sealing bulkheads and venting their atmo unless sensors pick up lifesigns in them.

If no one is in immediate explodey danger when the Doctor arrives, she says, "Slightly busy finding that out!" while grabbing the headset. She then slams the shipwide intercomm, and says, "Captain, we've got a bit of a situation here..."

If someone IS in danger and the infirmary is safe, she says, "Get to the Infirmary: I'll have the wounded brought there!" instead of being snippy, and then grabs the intercomm, ordering everyone in a danger zone out, while sealing all the bulkheads she can without endangering anyone's life.