FIREFLY RPG - Episode 0 - Prologue

You are now receiving hull damage reports for the topside maintenance hatch, Harmony. And the thruster is not angled to hit whatever it is topside; the large object is attached to the top rear, not the actually back end.

-

The entirety of the crew is with you, Gabriel. You cannot see an obvious way to get at Phillip unarmed; you might have a chance with a firearm, but there is the possibility of shooting his hostage too.

"...They're cutting through the topside maintenance hatch. Get out of there: I'm sealing the area and venting coolant into that area's atmo." Harmony sets up the protocol, waits for confirmation that the Captain and Alan are out of the area, seals it, and then stops, unable to push the button. It takes her a few seconds to get her head back on, before she adjusts the amount of coolant to merely knock the pirates out after a few seconds of exposure.

"Now, now, Phillip. As you can see, you've rather angered several of us here," Nadra says, again completely ignoring the lunatic and gracefully seating herself in one of the chairs. "As should be no surprise. It really would be best for you to put away the gun and let Kenneth go. If you do, I'm sure I could ask these fine folks to leave you unharmed. If not...I can make you no guarantees."

She pauses for a moment, idly smoothing a wrinkle in her skirt as though there's nothing important going on, before continuing. "Really, though. This is ridiculous and the only outcome is going to be you getting hurt. Do the sensible thing and put down your weapon."

Marina is not putting down her pistol, keeping it trained on the stupid young boy who thinks he can waltz onto our ship and take hostages.

"Gonna give you 'til the count of three, kid," Marina says. "Listen to the nice lady or you'll have to deal with the not-so-nice lady with the gun."

"I'd really prefer bullets not flying near me..." Kenneth suggests.

Christopher had once again fallen on the floor when the ship decided to rock around again. However, he had stayed there quietly once Phil blew his cover, waiting for an oppertune moment to strike at him. He had learned that being a hero doesn't mean being an up and front fool. Besides, with how quiet he's been in the room so far, added with the fact he's behind Phil, he supposedly has an element of surprise on his side. Chances are everyone else forgot he was even in the room by now.

Alan had gotten straight to work on Harmony's plan and was busy working by the engines when her warning about the possible boarding party comes through.

Going pale he looks up at the Captain. "O-Orders, sir?"

Kelly pauses for a moment.

"Armory, now," Kelly says. "If anyone's boarding my ship, they're going to find that they're not welcome. I 'spose bullets would be the best way to indicate that."

-

Harmony, they have cut through into the maintenance hatch.

-

Nadra makes her Seduction roll... and gains not a single success! But her re-roll allows her to try again and she rolls three successes; against Phillip's Willpower, this is not enough to convince him to put down the gun, but it does stall him.

Christopher has his moment to act, and if Marina is going to take her shot, now is the time...

"Captain, they're through the outer hatch!" Panic rings in her voice, as she tries to tap into the airlock monitor (if there is one that she can access), and hoping that she'd bought the Captain and Alan some more time by venting the atmosphere inside the airlock earlier on. "Are you out of there? Should I gas them?"

Christopher took to the stall granted by Nadra and sprung up quickly and quietly as he could, using one arm to get Phil into a chokehold, and the other to grab his gun-holding hand by the wrist to get the weapon away from him.

And whether or not it works, he hopes the distraction gives Kenneth ample time to get away or for Marina to take her shot on Phil.

"Yes, sir," Alan says before making a move to the armory. "...Someone should tell the rest of the crew what's going on."

When Christopher acts, Kenneth uses the distraction as a chance to ram his elbow back directly into Phil's solar plexus and pull away.

Christopher goes for it. He has a Combat pool of five dice against Phillip, and he rolls two successes! The drifter springs off of the floor and manages to pull Phillip off of Kenneth. The Doctor tries to elbow the hijacker but he fails to roll any successes.

Phillip responds by making his own Combat check to get free from Christopher's grappling. Just one success is not enough to break out of the hold.

"Get off of me!" Phillip shouts.

At this point, Kelly hits the intercom after he and Alan get out of the engine room.

"We've got company, folks!" Kelly says over the comm. "Harm, do it now."

Harmony seals the doors to the engine room, maintenance hatch, and hallways, and starts venting coolant from the pulse drive into the atmosphere. "The boarding party is being gassed." Harmony says, responding over the intercom, "Suit up before entering the rear upper decks."

"Now why would any of us be inclined to let you go?" Nadra responds, her voice harsh again, the need for faked niceties over.

Marina will hold off shooting since Christopher seems to have a hold on him, but she will go forward and try to help him restrain the ruffian by smashing him over the head with her pistol.

Christopher will just keep Phil in his nice little chokehold until Marina knocks him unconscious. If he manages to take the hit, he'll give her a helping hand with some nonfatal strangling.

As long as he's close, Kenneth will try to relieve Phillip of his gun.

Christopher and Phillip make rolls against each other to see who is more successful, the grappler or the grappled. Christopher makes a good three successes, but Phillip trumps him with four and gets loose. He delivers a nasty kick to Christopher's shin and swings about to shoot him.

That is when Marina comes up behind him and swings her pistol down on his head. Because she's pistol-whipping, none of Marina's schticks are at work here, and she gets her five dice. In those five dice, she rolls four successes! The handle of the revolver cracks across the back of Phillip's head, inflicting six damage to the befuddled hijacker.

Kenneth tries to snatch away the revolver but that task has a Difficulty of three, and the one success he rolls isn't enough to wrestle the gun away from Phillip.

-

Harmony is gassing away! You are picking up life signs on the thermals in the airlock and they appear to be diminishing.

-

Alan, Kelly has produced the swipe key to the armory and opens it up.

"You already armed, son?" Kelly asks. "I want you to grab something big and unfriendly. Shotgun, AR, whatever."

As a reminder, Alan currently has an encumbrance of 7 as he still has the Machine Pistol, two clips, and his Trusty Pipe Wrench from earlier. The limit is 14.

"Will do," Alan says, entering the armory.

Alan will put the Machine Pistol away and grab a Shotgun (Large - 4) and 3 clips (Medium - 2 x 3 = 6). Along with his Trusty Wrench (Large - 4) gives him a total of 14.