The Patina’s concerns are proved valid and Marathon takes a stand.
The Patina’s concerns are proved valid and Marathon takes a stand.
Cast:
- Marathon Messenger is played by Penn Van Batavia. She's an indie TTRPG designer who just launched a new game, Wasmannian, a solo RPG about bees, wasps, and otherness in a binary world. You can find Penn on Twitter at @acquiredchaste.
- Cassidy Shard is played by Sydney Whittington. She also edits the show. Find her on Twitter at @sydney_whitt.
- Emma Blackwood is played by Cameron Robertson. Find her on Twitter at @midnightmusic13 and on Instagram at @reading_and_dreaming. Cameron is also a player on Tabletop Squadron, a Star Wars Edge of the Empire actual play podcast.
- Birdie Foundling is played by Kit Adames. Find her on Twitter at @venusvultures. Kit is also a voice actor and writer on Elevator Pitch Podcast, a queer genre-hopping anthology podcast.
- Our GM and narrator is Nick Robertson. Find him on Twitter at @alias58. Nick is also the GM for Tabletop Squadron. Nick can also be found as a player on the Orpheus Protocol.
Music & Sound Credits:
- This podcast features the musical talents of Dora Violet and Arne Parrott. You can find Dora at facebook.com/doraviolett. You can find Arne at atptunes.com.
- old radio Channel search sound effect by Garuda1982. Link & License.
- natural area - central european - upland forest [4CH surround sound] » campfire in the woods front by craftcrest.Link & License.
- Motorcycle ride by roman_cgr. Link & License.
- Gravel » Pushing some gravel off a small hill by jorickhoofd. Link & License.
- Centerfire_Rifle_Gun_Shot_01.wav by MATRIXXX_. Link & License.
- Bird sing » Kacer suara syahdu....mp3 by Mirzalabali. Link & License.
- "Flag of No Country" by Julia Kent. Link & License.
- The Leopard by Julia Kent. Link & License.
- The Signals by Sergey Cheremisinov. Link & License.
Art Credits:
- The official artwork for this podcast was created by Rashed AlAkroka, who can be found on Instagram and Artstation @rashedjrs.
Find Us Online:
- Our Website
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A Knight of Shreds and Patches Transcript
Season 2 Episode 36: Nobody Innocent Out Here
Transcript by Cameron Robertson
Intro:
[hurdy gurdy music begins]
Nick: Welcome, listeners, to A Knight of Shreds and Patches. An immersive actual play podcast. This episode features the talents of –
Penn: Penn Van Batavia as Marathon Messenger.
Kit: Kit Adames as Birdie Foundling.
Cameron: Cameron Robertson as Emma Blackwood.
Sydney: Sydney Whittington as Cassidy Shard.
Nick: Nick Robertson as GM and Narrator.
Sydney: Hello listeners, this is your editor, Sydney, with today’s messages:
Thanks for being here! You are the stars in our night sky, the flowers in our fields, and the bioluminescent plankton in our oceans. Knowing you’re out there just brightens up our days and our nights. I realize I picked all visual metaphors and this is an audio-only medium, but the sentiment still stands. And if you need any more audio-only medium action, you could also consider backing our Patreon, which gives you access to bonus episodes, campfire conversations, and other fun rewards.
And with that, we wrap up today’s announcements and head into Season 2, Episode 36: Nobody Innocent Out Here. And so...
“Join us, for now our tale to yours attaches
To carry hope: a Knight of Shreds and Patches.”
[hurdy gurdy music ends]
[electronic beeping]
[robotic powerup noise begins]
Distorted Robotic Voice: Power restored. Systems online. Reconfiguring audio connection.
[robotic powerup noise fades to radio frequency static]
[over radio]
Penn (as Marathon): Last time on a Knight of shreds and patches, we're still set up with the Rust here following them around. They're paying us to keep with them. Well first job that they had us help out with was rustling up some bison or buffalo I don't know the difference - Emma does - but we were supposed to put them in a pen and you know the Rust's way of doing things is a little more reckless and I almost got crunched, but easy peasy. I just lost my new hat that was gonna be something cool that I had all the time but I guess I'm just not gonna be Stetson hat person.
Also, Felix, the greasy hair from the Rust team, shared some Arena Juice Ultra Black with me, which I'm very thankful for. But I'm not so thankful for the tips that he tried to give me on a flirting, I guess with Miss Cassidy. They were not successful. After she came back either having relations or looking at guns with Juliana from the Rust - I'm it's still a little unclear to me. I just know I kind of fumbled the bag there to use a term from the past. But uh, yeah, I wish I - I'm kind of venting this all on you because usually I have Birdie talk to you about this, but I just haven't, I don't know I haven't seen Birdie as much this last week or so. But you know, no, no, it's it's, it's a me thing. She's having fun with friends. That's - I don't need to - yeah, she's reunited with some of her old friends. Teno specifically who seems cool, you know? Keeps looking at my arms though, which is well, a little off but uh, yeah, they they're good friends. And um, I wish nothing but great for them. Hope to hang out with my bestie soon though.
But I did hear some not so choice things from Kelsey, the Rust leader. She was threatening the town that we were supposed to be safeguarding from bandits. She's threatened them for more money and um I haven't had the chance to tell anybody yet, but that doesn't seem like good behavior. I mean, I am actually that that is that sounds like something that's kind of vile. I'm just going to have to talk to Cassidy and Emma about that. I don't know how Birdie is going to take hearing about her friends doing this kind of stuff, but uh, yeah, it's kind of heinous. Anyway, anyway, anyway, we're back to the Patina teamed up with the Rust for a little bit. Hopefully not for too long. They're kind of scummy, but that's how things go. Like my papa always said, 'sometimes you got to deal with the scum when you're floating on the top.' So yeah, back to work.
[radio static]
Episode Start:
Nick: It's the morning of day 12 of the contract between the Rust and the Patina. There is mist rolling along the ground in the dawn light and the camp is filled with the gentle murmur of activity as both mercenary companies begin their day. Coffee is passed around campfires and generally everyone is moving slowly. Whether from hangovers or exhaustion varies from person to person, but the movement is slow as half asleep mercenaries prepare to leave, being in no hurry to get on the road but knowing that the journey must continue. How are the members of the Patina doing this morning?
Penn : Marathon is nervously awaiting everyone from the Patina to be coming out of their tent and in some form of finishing packing up so that she can start a conversation. She's already packed up and is nervously shifting from foot to foot next to the rig a little bit.
Nick: Did Marathon sleep at all last night?
Penn : She's got dark rings under her eyes. It's hard to tell. It may have been no sleep. It may have just been restless sleep. But either way, her canvas button up is looking pretty wrinkled.
Cameron: Emma is rustling around in the back of the rig where she's been sleeping to keep anyone else from getting up into the back and seeing anything, but had been working on a few projects and doing some stuff the previous night when she had trouble falling asleep so she's re-securing things in the back to be ready for when they eventually roll out. But when she finishes cleaning up the mess that she created for herself, she hops down and goes and sits by Marathon.
Sydney: Cassidy is wrestling in the dried rations portion of the supplies looking for something that serves as breakfast food without the effort required to make breakfast. Makes a face to herself of 'eugh okay, this is close enough' and comes back with a couple of slices of smoked salmon and some more crackery type bread with a couple of condiments and starts handing it out to the other ones.
Kit: Birdie has been pretty still in the same spot for most of the morning. She's on her second cup of coffee, but she hasn't really said much all morning and is staring off into the remnants of last night's fire. And she looks like she's thinking a lot. And her coffee has gone cold. But she's there.
Penn : Marathon takes the cracker biscuit from Cassidy and nods a thank you before taking a furtive glance over at each of the Patina and coughing and clearing her throat.
Penn (as Marathon): [throat clearing] Um, uh Pa- I was wondering if I could request a Patina huddle? Um. Uh [nervous pause] Yeah, sorry, I just have some things I was hoping to share to the team.
Sydney: Cassidy looks back at Marathon with the attitude of a cow chewing is cud out in the field - just mechanically eating without a lot of higher level thought.
Penn (as Marathon): Um Birdie, would you mind joining us over here by the rig?
Kit: Birdie looks up when Marathon suggests the huddle and is already standing by the time that Marathon asks her over, so she's just nodding and drinking the rest of her cold coffee. But she makes a go on gesture to Marathon that she's ready to listen.
Penn (as Marathon): [so so nervous] Of course. Um. So [deep breath] um as as you all may know, we have been um, [clears throat] we've been with the Rust now for about 12 days um and uh, we've been taking jobs with them and we have felt different ways about how the jobs gone so far. They just work differently than us, right? Not not the same. Um I'm sorry. Uh do you guys remember the town we were protecting from bandits the, like it like a couple days ago?
Cameron (as Emma): Yeah.
Penn (as Marathon): Um remember, you remember how Kelsey told us like the payout was like a bit bigger than than what she originally thought?
Sydney (as Cassidy): Uh huh.
Penn (as Marathon): Um, so I was overhearing the the Rust on comms um, you know, and, and um - uh Birdie how close are you with with the Rust uh right now as of this moment?
Kit: Birdie looks up Marathon and raises an eyebrow and then looks away.
Kit (as Birdie): Uh, Not super close with all of the members, but I mean, I can't say [uncomfortable laugh] - I mean they have - my friend is there, but you know, I met them same time as you guys did.
Penn (as Marathon): Okay cool, because uh, well I was overhearing um, Kelsey say uh uh some - while I was overhearing Kelsey negotiating um with the town's folks, the person in charge of paying the Rust, um I heard her uh -
Nick: Marathon you are interrupted by the sound of galloping hooves and quickly you see Mr. Fitzgerald on his horse.
Penn (as Marathon): Uh Mr. Fitz- Mr. Fitzgerald, would you give us a moment please?
Nick: He goes galloping past the group almost without noticing and swings down off his horse and begins to loudly declare what he's found.
Sydney (as Mr. Fitzgerald): [slimy salesman voice] Good morning, Rust. I am excited to report that we've located a company of somewhat large size moving quickly to the northwest. They've got several mechanized vehicles. I didn't get a chance to take a close enough look to decisively determine the identity of the crew, but I dare say we may want to go take a look and see if it is someone with which we need to avenge any wrongs or make contact with, do some business. I'd be happy to do some business with them, but ultimately it's up to our beloved leader Kelsey,
Nick: Birdie, Cassidy, Emma and Marathon having heard this declaration, you see the Rust spring into action suddenly energized in the morning. The cook fire is extinguished with dirt kicked over it. Kelsey stands and makes a hand gesture and says
Nick (as Kelsey): Welp, that's uh exactly what we're looking for, so let's get going right now. What was the heading Mr. Fitzgerald, if you don't mind?
Sydney (as Mr. Fitzgerald): Northwest 320 degrees.
Nick (as Kelsey): Excellent. Thank you kindly for your scouting endeavors, sir.
Nick: And Kelsey spins in a low circle before pointing in the correct direction and says
Nick (as Kelsey): Rust, mount up.
Nick: Some of the group gets on to the tank some pile into the tank and Teno jumps on to one of the motorcycles leaving the sidecar clear. Birdie you can see Teno pat the sidecar in a friendly manner looking over at you and the Patina you see Kelsey look in your direction where you're slightly separated camp was set. She waves towards you all and says
Nick (as Kelsey): Patina you should mount up too. You're part of this crew for the next couple of days at least. Let's get moving.
Penn (as Marathon): [nervous stuttering] We're just finishing a conversation here.
Kit (as Birdie): [slightly quiet] Uh Marathon - how important is the conversation?
Penn (as Marathon): [slightly quiet] Oh, it's pretty important Birdie. So okay, so Kelsey, yeah, she was
Kit (as Birdie): I-
Penn (as Marathon): Uh - nope, sorry.
Cameron (as Teno): [obnoxiously chipper yelling] Baby Bird! Hurry up! Come hear!
Kit: Birdie is looking between Marathon and Teno.
Cameron (as Teno): [obnoxiously chipper yelling] Come ride with me~!
Kit: Birdie is looking between Marathon and Teno and her expression is a little bit more frantic. Her body language is obviously stressed out by a lot of things happening at once, but she just mumbles something under her breath about later and jogs off while grabbing her backpack from the campsite to join Teno.
Penn (as Marathon): Birdie no - Watch out - watch out for Kel-kels-Kelsey. Sorry. Uhh em. Sorry. [frustrated nervous noises]
Sydney (as Cassidy): Marathon you want to tell us in the truck while we're, follow after them?
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah. [slightly panicked breathing] I think Birdie was maybe the most important person to hear that but that's okay. Yeah, let's let's jump on.
Sydney: Cassidy folds a napkin over the rest of her salmon and biscuits and heads around to the driver's seat of the rig.
Cameron: [laughing] Emma walks to the front seat of the rig and gently pats Marathon on the shoulder in a comforting way as she goes past.
Penn (as Marathon): I just gotta get better at this.
Penn : And Marathon frantically scoots into the backseat into the middle where she can easily talk to Cassidy and Emma and sets down her untouched biscuit and salmon on the seat next to her.
Nick: As the rig rumbles to life and Cassidy urges it forward, through the windshield you all can see the tank cutting cross country off of the road that you were following heading directly towards the target indicated by Mr. Fitzgerald. The motorcycles also cutting off road, trying to stick to the tracks that are being dug by the tank treads. And the rig rumbles behind able to keep up with the other equipment even though they are setting a almost dangerously fast pace, eager to find whatever this group is. You all are still able to talk although the rattling of the rig over the rough ground does make it harder to stay focused.
Sydney (as Cassidy): [disapproving] They are setting a fast pace.
Penn (as Marathon): [nervous fast talking] Um Yeah, just because I - so we've not had - we've not trusted their jobs so far now that Birdie's not here, I guess. Um. They've kind of been messy and and stuff and um - I'd heard Kelsey threatening the town um that we were supposed to be protecting um, telling them bad things would happen if they didn't give her more money. And that's - that personally that seems very bad and not good to me and kind of bandit like almost. And um it was it just kind of makes me worried about what the what the Rust is gonna do. I don't know if I'm overreacting, but I was kind of I should have been quicker telling Birdie. But um, I don't know how do you tell your friend that their friend and their crush are like, maybe bad? But uh I don't know. I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I have been like stewing on how to say it right and I think I did it wrong. So I apologize.
Sydney: At the point where Marathon said threatened, Cassidy grimaced and made eye contact with Emma before looking back at the road, but let Marathon keep going.
Penn (as Marathon): What do you what do you guys think? What would a game, reaction plan or none? Or was that fine that - what she did? I don't think it was but
Cameron (as Emma): I don't think that's fine.
Sydney (as Cassidy): No.
Cameron (as Emma): I'm not about that.
Sydney (as Cassidy): That makes sense I suppose.
Cameron (as Emma): [groan]
Penn (as Marathon): I don't know, are we off to - what are we, what do we do next? I don't, like are we threatening some-?
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah, we could be intercepting the group of bandits that's been pursuing them, optimistically. Uh we could be about to ambush some caravan of travelers.
Cameron (as Emma): Great.
Penn (as Marathon): They wouldn't go that far would they?
Cameron (as Emma): Well they - they were extorting a town, Marathon, so
Sydney: Cassidy blows a deep breath out.
Cameron (as Emma): If that's how Kelsey runs things, then
Sydney (as Cassidy): Having a lot of firepower does mean that you get a lot more freedom to just take, and it can be hard for people to resist that.
Cameron (as Emma): [sigh]
Penn (as Marathon): [relieved sigh that she wasn't wrong to be concerned]
Cameron (as Emma): I don't - I don't know if it would be a surprise to Birdie that it was something that the Rust was doing. I don't -
Penn (as Marathon): Is that something Birdie would even be concerned about?
Cameron (as Emma): I don't know how - I don't know which specific previous group she was in with Teno, but I do know that when she initially joined up with us, she thought we were weird mercenaries, so
Sydney (as Cassidy): It's weird having morals.
Cameron (as Emma): Mhm. So I -
Penn (as Marathon): She's just like been kind of different since like we've been with the- with the Rust.
Nick: We cut over to Birdie and the sidecar of the motorcycle being driven by Teno. Birdie your focus is fixated on Kelsey. She is sticking out of the hatch of the tank with field glasses stuck to her eyes surveying the horizon looking for any indication of the people you're looking for. Her mohawk is waving in the breeze and you can't help but admire the light and shadow of the early sunrise playing across her arm muscles.
Cameron: As Teno is driving, they clock Birdie perusing [laugh] Kelsey's appearance this morning and smirks slightly and looks back to where they are driving very fast. And is like
Cameron (as Teno): You know, baby bird, they do say that the early bird gets the worm, but I think you do have to talk to the worm if you want to get any.
Kit: Birdie glares up at Teno and shoves their arm knowing that they're steering the motorcycle, not really caring about it.
Cameron: Teno obviously does a very dramatic drift in the direction that Birdie pushes them with a bike.
Kit (as Birdie): Hey, I never gave you shit for not talking to Alejandro when we were in friggin' Perrito okay, we never - you you don't get to talk, okay?
Cameron (as Teno): [satisfied] I can talk if I want to.
Kit (as Birdie): Mmm.
Cameron (as Teno): It took me a while but I got there. So now -
Kit (as Birdie): [surprised] You got there? [instantly best friends talking about significant others at a sleep over] You got there?
Cameron (as Teno): Yeah.
Kit (as Birdie): [dump every sexual overtone you can find in there] Like you got there?
Cameron (as Teno): I don't, I don't kiss and tell, Birdie.
Kit (as Birdie): [gasp] Oh, you're terrible. [mock betrayal] You're so mean to me.
Cameron (as Teno): No! Never.
Kit (as Birdie): Here I thought we were friends.
Cameron (as Teno): No, we don't have bracelets yet.
Kit (as Birdie): I'm working on it!
Cameron (as Teno): [laugh]
Kit (as Birdie): At this point, I'm gonna steal something from Mr. Fitzgerald.
Cameron (as Teno): Well, I do not know we have the same taste in accessories, but
Kit (as Birdie): I don't know, he seems like someone who would have like a stock of jewelry somewhere. I don't know.
Cameron (as Teno): It's possible.
Kit (as Birdie): Like watches. He looks like he used to sell watches. Anyways, point being don't say [flustered noises realizing she's lost the thread of her argument] yeah.
Cameron (as Teno): Point being nothing's gonna happen if you don't go over and talk to her.
Kit (as Birdie): Nothing's gonna happen in the first place. It's not - it's - we're on the road with different groups. [sigh]
Cameron (as Teno): Uh huh... Shouldn't that make it easier? [laugh]
Kit (as Birdie): [doesn't sound like it's easier] Yeah. Yeah, sure.
Cameron (as Teno): You never seemed to have issues with the whole one night or several night stand, as it were.
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I don't know Marathon was being weird this morning. Something about just like talking -
Cameron (as Teno): Do you think she's jealous? I thought Marathon was into Cassidy.
Kit (as Birdie): She is. She totally is, oh my god. But no, she is like talking about Kelsey or something and she asked me how close I was with you guys - I don't know she's probably just being- no no she's probably just being weird. It's fine.
Cameron (as Teno): I'm hearing a lot of talk but no reason to not go after Kelsey, that's all I'm saying.
Kit (as Birdie): Mhm. Mhm. Mhm.
Cameron (as Teno): [teasing mimicking] Mhm. Mhm.
Kit (as Birdie): I've considered this. Mhm.
Cameron (as Teno): Mhm?
Kit (as Birdie): And when the moment is right, a moment is right. I cannot guarantee anything past that.
Nick: The motorcycle hits a large dip in the field, almost throwing Birdie out of the sidecar.
Kit: Birdie grabs on to the back of Teno's seat to steady herself. Her nerves are kind of shot after two cups of coffee and not great amounts of sleep and still working through a hangover, so she's a bit more jumpy than normal and she's just like,
Kit (as Birdie): [shudder noise] This thing go any faster?
Cameron: Teno slowly drifts their eyes over to Birdie.
Cameron (as Teno): I mean technically, yes, but I'm letting Kelsey stay in front.
Kit (as Birdie): Hm. Something there about -
Cameron (as Teno): [laughing] But also, if I hit another dip like that, and I'm going faster - how far are you going to fly?
Kit (as Birdie): Uh well that seems like -
Cameron (as Teno): You are not that type of baby bird.
Kit (as Birdie): Well, you know, it's it's a great time to experiment. I don't know. There's a joke in there about Kelsey needing to lead
Cameron (as Teno): With flying?
Kit (as Birdie): Ha ha ha ha ha
Cameron (as Teno): Ha ha...
Kit (as Birdie): I'm funny.
Cameron (as Teno): Indeed. Hilarious. Hilarious, baby bird. Yeah. Mhm.
Kit (as Birdie): Thank you. Thank you.
Cameron (as Teno): [so so smooth back to the important topic] Yup you should really get to tell Kelsey your jokes.
Kit (as Birdie): I don't - [shocked laughter and fumbling for a comeback] I'm gonna kill you.
Cameron (as Teno): I know. I'm hilarious, too.
Kit (as Birdie): Okay. You are. I'm still gonna have to kill you for it, though. [sigh]
Cameron (as Teno): I mean, you'd lose my very valuable advice and fantastic ideas, but
Kit (as Birdie): Mhm. Mhm.
Cameron (as Teno): Do what you must. It's fine.
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah, I'll show up in Kelsey's tent tonight with a rose between my teeth. That'll get the point across.
Cameron: I mean, do it. Yeah.
Kit (as Birdie): [was definitely not going to do it noises] I'm not going to do that.
Cameron (as Teno): I mean, it's not an issue unless you stay, in which case you may want to go about the romance in a more slower way.
Kit (as Birdie): We'll see.
Cameron (as Teno): But if you're leaving, just like, tap that, you know?
Kit (as Birdie): I [minor brain shut down] - I don't want to talk to you about what I'm tapping and what I'm not tapping and um~ slowburn, okay?
Cameron (as Teno): Why not?
Kit (as Birdie): That would be- [distress of awkward conversation noise] Drive.
Cameron (as Teno): [smug] I am.
Kit: Birdie is just bright red at this point.
Kit (as Birdie): Just focus on not hitting another bump so I don't fly out.
Cameron (as Teno): [sigh in wants to talk romance]
Kit (as Birdie): Then you can go faster, if you're not making fun of me.
Cameron (as Teno): Yes, ma'am.
Kit (as Birdie): Thank you.
Cameron (as Teno): I can drive fast and make fun of you at the same time.
Kit (as Birdie): [annoyed grunt]
Cameron (as Teno): But I'm not making fun! I'm just providing elder sibling guidance.
Kit (as Birdie): Mhm. Mhm.
Cameron (as Teno): Mhm.
Kit (as Birdie): I totally believe you.
Cameron (as Teno): Yeah, I take my role very seriously.
Kit (as Birdie): [soft laugh]
Nick: As this banter continues, the tank swings to the north based on something that Kelsey saw on the horizon and begins to weave its way, still at a high speed, in between some rolling hills before the engine is cut, and people begin to pile out of the equipment. The Patina as you park and cut the engine on the rig, you see that the entire Rust is staying low, Birdie amongst them, running up the side of a low rise before laying down at the top of the hill to scout into the distance.
Sydney: As they're getting out Cassidy goes
Sydney (as Cassidy): Right well, we want to go see what kind of groups we're about to attack?
Penn (as Marathon): Uh yeah.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Maybe it'll be easy. Maybe we'll we'll be attacking people who deserve it.
Penn (as Marathon): [thinking mmmm]
Cameron (as Emma): How do you how do you tell that immediately from looking down at someone?
Sydney (as Cassidy): Skulls on pikes.
Cameron (as Emma): Oh! Oh okay. Yeah.
Penn (as Marathon): Okay, I'm looking out for skulls. I can't believe I'm doing it, but I'm crossing my fingers for skulls on pikes.
Cameron (as Emma): Mmm okay~. [small laugh]
Sydney: They proceed up to a spot nearby but not so nearby to be overheard if they don't want to.
Nick: As you all, mimicking the posture of the Rust, climb this hill to get a better view of what they're looking at, the first thing you see is a plume of dust being kicked up by, like Mr. Fitzgerald said, multiple vehicles of some kind. And as you peek over the edge of this hill, you see in a shallow valley beneath your observation point, a caravan of some kind. There are several people riding on horses accompanied by two off road vehicles that look like stripped down jeeps and one larger truck that almost looks like the rig but longer. It's a flatbed truck with large balloon tires that is carrying something lumpy underneath a large tarp and peeking out of the back you can see bits of scrap metal and supplies. The caravan appears to be going about as fast as it can while staying together, but from your vantage point, they are very open to ambush and will be for the next few minutes.
The Rust is listening attentively to Kelsey. You can see that in a low voice she is giving orders to the different group gesturing towards different directions of attack. You can tell they've already decided to hit this caravan based on what they can see and their knowledge of the area and it's only a matter of time before they begin to ride out.
Sydney: Cassidy is going to using her spyglass look for anything indicative of potential doing of no good. So like heavily armed weapons in a way that is probably past civilian capabilities or skulls on pikes.
Nick: Go ahead and roll me a hard Perception check, Cassidy. Seeing this caravan isn't that difficult - they're in the clearing, but making out the details on moving targets for what you're looking for is a little bit more challenging.
Sydney: Can I have a blue die for my spyglass?
Nick: Yes, you can have a blue die for your spyglass.
Sydney: I am rolling two yellows, a green, and a blue against three purples.
[dice rolling]
Sydney: I have a triumph and three successes.
Nick: So with three successes, you notice quite a few details that are subtle, but give you a good handle on what this caravan's purpose is. The people riding the horses don't look like professional combatants. They are armed, but with what looked to be old swords that are not well kept and one of them has a rifle. You're able to get a clear look at one of their faces and the horse rider looks very young and nervous. And as you pan over the rest of this group, you see some of the people in the jeeps look like scavengers and merchants. The truck is driving as fast as it can under a heavy load, but you don't see any obvious armor or really any strong combat capabilities. This appears to be a group of people who found quite a bit of salvage and are hightailing it towards somewhere where they can sell it and make a living. You do not get a feeling that these are bandits or people who would attack innocents for no reason.
Sydney: With the triumph Cassidy, along with catching all these details of yes very likely civilian, also in sweeping over their biggest truck looking for markers of role, position, armament - she does catch what looks like a radio antenna, which is not super uncommon out here since people listen to the radio stations for news, but she files it away and has her tongue tucked into the side of her cheek as she gives the report to the two members of the Patina who are nearby.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah, I don't think this is - these look like civilians. There's almost kids down there, I don't know. They look like they're coming back with a scavenging haul to whatever town they're at. I don't think they'd be able to take anything by force with the- what they have on them. The swords and like one gun.
Cameron (as Emma): [shocked stammer] You only see one gun?
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah.
Cameron (as Emma): Golly...
Sydney (as Cassidy): I also don't think that if the Rust came down and told them they wanted the scrap that they'd be able to resist.
Penn : Marathon has not taken her eyes off of the Rust.
Penn (as Marathon): Is there any way you can like warn them or, like we can run down and tell them or - ?
Sydney (as Cassidy): I mean, well - and if we run down and tell them you don't think our -
Penn (as Marathon): That's true.
Sydney (as Cassidy): - friendly unethical allies are gonna let that happen? It looks like they have a radio receiver, so if we can talk to them on a frequency that's not the ones that the Rust use for their radios. Marathon, hopefully you remember which ones to avoid, maybe we can warn them at least, but I'm not sure - we caught up to them, so I'm not sure how much that's really gonna protect them at this point.
Cameron (as Emma): I don't think that big truck can go any faster than it's going. That that's pretty heavily weighed down.
Nick: As you are having this conversation from your spot on the hill, you hear a bird call that's very loud. And Cassidy you would know for this area is out of season. And as you look over, Kelsey is gesturing for the three of you to join the group. You can see that the members of the Rust are preparing to run back down the hill towards their equipment and Kelsey appears to be wanting to give you all marching orders.
Sydney: Cassidy throws a glance towards Marathon and Emma and then starts heading over. She looks pretty grim.
Penn (as Marathon): [quietly] Well, let's go over. Any chance we can casually -
Penn : Marathon starts walking over in a slower tempo.
Penn (as Marathon): [quietly] Any chance we can just casually contact these people over the radio while we're walking over?
Cameron (as Emma): [quietly] It's gonna be a lot easier to do that from the one in the truck.
Penn (as Marathon): [quietly] [long exhale]
Cameron (as Emma): [quietly] Got a lot more control on that one.
Nick: As you all get within earshot, you hear Kelsey say to the Rust
Nick (as Kelsey): Well, you all have your orders. Wait for me to give the word and we'll all move it out at once. I want to make sure these ladies know what's coming up next. All right, Patina. We're going to be hitting that caravan. They've got a lot of goods. Uh-
Penn (as Marathon): We're hitting the caravan?
Nick (as Kelsey): [said like duh] Yeah. They, they don't have any business being out here and we would need those resources more than they would, so we're going to go -
Penn (as Marathon): [trying to interrupt]
Nick (as Kelsey): - and request that they share their goods, maybe if I put it that way.
Penn (as Marathon): Like like you requested the triangles from the town two days back?
Nick: Kelsey gives you a smile, Marathon, that looks very friendly, but you can see malice in her eyes as she says,
Nick (as Kelsey): Yeah, I negotiate all our contracts, Marathon. That's the gig. You may be fairly new to this whole mercenary thing, but our paydays get in the way we don't have a lot of time to talk about the past.
Penn (as Marathon): Okay, well, I don't think we should be talking about them like a payday anymore.
Sydney: Cassidy looks at Marathon alarmed but also still grim with a 'well if this is the path we're taking.'
Penn : You can tell through Marathon's body language that she's starting to tense up.
Kit: Birdie, who's been standing closer to Kelsey because she was waiting for the Patina to come over, is looking very obviously confused at Marathon and moves forward to almost put a hand between the two of them and says
Kit (as Birdie): Marathon, what are you -?
Penn (as Marathon): [barely restrained anger/anxiety] Birdie -
Penn: Marathon maneuvers, so she pushes Birdie's hand before it can reach her shoulder.
Penn (as Marathon): Birdie th- Kelsey has been like threatening - Kelsey's like a bandit. Basically. [panicked scrambling for words] Emma and Cassidy tell her! I can't say it right.
Kit (as Birdie): [confused] Uh, she's like a a - yeah, okay.
Penn: Marathon has not broken eye contact with Kelsey.
Nick: Kelsey is looking at the Patina. She appears very still and calm and gets her feet under her. She was seated with most of the Rust around her back below the crest of the hill and gets to her feet, putting her eye level with Marathon. She very much sounds polite as she says
Nick (as Kelsey): You all are still under contract, I believe. We have two more days of traveling together and you agreed to do jobs with us and this is the job.
Penn (as Marathon): Okay well I didn't agree to tax some innocent caravan and I'm willing to go back on that contract.
Nick (as Kelsey): [scoff] Innocent. There's nobody innocent out here Marathon. You didn't strike me as an idealist. Big strong girl like you, worried about roughing up somebody who have it coming to them? That's surprising.
Penn (as Marathon): Maybe I am an idealist, okay? And that's that's okay, you know, we we're - the Patina has morals! We - it's Owyn. It's about Owyn, and and [frustrated noise]
Sydney: Cassidy looks around to track where the rest of the Rust is.
Nick: They are scattered across this hill and they are all watching Kelsey to see what is going to happen here. She is staying very calm. You do notice Cassidy that they are all armed. They were geared up and ready to go from the top of this hill if need be. And Kelsey takes a deep breath.
Nick (as Kelsey): [sigh] Marathon, you're doing a lot of talking for the group right now. And it's just that - it's a group. I'm gonna give you all a shot here to not break a contract with us, to not do anything you might regret and work with us for mutual profitability, like we've been doing. I would hate-
Penn (as Marathon): [interrupting] Mutual profit this!
Penn: And Marathon is going to shove her over down the cliff.
Nick: All right, make me a Brawl roll. It will be at average difficulty. So I'm going to flip a GM story point, and Kelsey has Adversary two, so that actually means that average difficulty is two reds and a purple coming at you with the Story Point included.
Penn: Marathon, through being flustered and not having enough sleep and the stress of not feeling like she can communicate correctly, is overwhelming her in this moment of violence and she's activating her Berzerk talent, which will add a success and two advantages automatically, but also gives her opponent a success against her. And I am rolling four yellows, one green, against two reds and a purple.
[dice rolling]
Penn: Two successes and two advantages.
Nick: Yeah. You shove Kelsey and she seemed so confident in negotiating this that you take her by surprise and while she tries to deflect the shove, you hit her straight on and she trips over her heel and goes up over the crest of the hill that she was standing below and you hear thumping and cursing as she goes rolling down the hill into the shallow canyon where this caravan has just finished driving through. There is a frozen moment as the rest of the Rust look at the Patina and Birdie and back to the Patina and everyone's hands are on their weapons.
Sydney: Cassidy, in reaction to Kelsey getting thrown down the hill, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath and then yells in the direction of the Rust.,
Sydney (as Cassidy): Hey, Rust! You're not taking this job. We're not hitting these innocent civilians. Unfortunately, the Patina has morals and if you're working with us, you have to abide by them.
Kit: Birdie's eye is twitching. She's completely frozen for a few seconds until Cassidy finishes and then she goes a little stony faced and is just like,
Kit (as Birdie): [voice low and worried] Are we trying to get ourselves killed or what? Because if that's what you guys want, that's your prerogative.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Now this doesn't have to be a violent confrontation. Besides that, which has already taken place.
Kit (as Birdie): [voice shaking] This is now a violent confrontation.
Nick: Cassidy go ahead and roll me a daunting Coercion check.
Sydney: I'm gonna flip a Story Point two upgrade to a grand total of one yellow and one green against these four purples.
[dice rolling]
Sydney: Two failures and two threats.
Nick: Yeah, so Birdie you say this is already a violent confrontation, and it appears that the Rust stops chewing over the situation and decides to act. Juliana from her position slightly down the hill, whips her rifle off of her back and shoots at Cassidy attempting to end this fight before it starts.
Sydney: Cassidy is going to use Dodge and Cassidy has two Ranged Defense.
Nick: Okay, so she's medium distance. Juliana is doing a quick shot. She didn't get to aim or anything because she's just trying to end this fight, so it'll be three yellows and a green versus two reds and two black because of Cassidy's Ranged Defense and Dodge.
Cameron: All righty.
[dice rolling]
Cameron: Successes and two triumphs.
Nick: Oh, okay. So that is 10 damage coming at you Cassidy and a crit plus 10 because of the two triumphs coming at you as well.
Cameron: So luckily, I rolled a 29, so with the 10 we're at 39 which is Stinger: increase the difficulty of the targets next check by 1.
Sydney: And Cassidy has soak 2 so she only takes 8 damage. Cassidy takes this bullet just inside of her left shoulder, the spray of blood shooting out behind her, but she stays standing. Her riffle is still slung over her back. She is right handed and this should be reasonable still to shoot, but definitely her range of motion is down and also bullet injuries hurt. She drops to her knees, also trying to get her silhouette out of the open air and start working on getting her rifle out.
Nick: And at that note, I need everyone to roll Initiative please.
[dice rolling]
Kit: I rolled two greens and I got a success and an advantage.
Sydney: I rolled two greens and I got a success.
Penn: I rolled one green and I got a success.
Cameron: I rolled two yellows and got two successes and an advantage.
Nick: Okay, so Birdie, I am going to keep you in your own initiative slot since you're not really on either team necessarily right now. Besides that, Felix is a yellow and a green if you could roll that for me, please.
[dice rolling]
Cameron: Two successes, two advantages.
Nick: Juliana is two yellows and a green.
[dice rolling]
Cameron: A success and three advantages.
Nick: And then Teno is one green.
[dice rolling]
Cameron: One success.
Nick: And then Kelsey is a yellow and a green too.
[dice rolling]
Cameron: A success, a advantage, and a triumph.
Nick: So there's a PC slot, two NPC slots, then Birdie, then Kelsey, then two more PC slots, and then the last NPC slot. So as we drop into initiative, you all are mostly arrayed along the side of this long hill. Marathon you are standing up towards the crest of the hill with Birdie straight across from you. Birdie had been trying to separate you and Kelsey, but all of that failed after you shoved Kelsey down the hill where you can still hear her rolling amongst the echoes of the gunfire. Cassidy and Emma, you are closer towards the base of the hill, but near Marathon and then across from you in a scattered group - Felix is closest to Birdie and then Juliana and Teno are further down the hill near Felix. And then Jorb and Deathstalker are closest to the bottom of the hill, closest to the tank and the motorcycles. Mr. Fitzgerald is nowhere to be seen and when you think back on it, he didn't try to keep up with everybody as they were driving to this location. Seems like his priority was not to get into a fight at this point. And up first, after Cassidy has been shot, we have a PC slot.
Cameron: So I think since when they were initially climbing up the hill, if this was a battle that they were actually going to be participating in against the caravan, Emma was assuming that they were going to be heading back to the rig. So she has a baseball bat on her but was not wearing her sword because she was gonna go back and get it whenever she got in the exosuit, so she's just armed with her baseball bat at the moment. And when Marathon first pushed Kelsey, she had started forward like she was headed to the top of the hill to look down and check on Kelsey, and then Cassidy got shot, so she stopped next to Cassidy. And I think seeing that Cassidy is still up and Juliana still has a rifle pointed in their direction, Emma is going to take off back down the hill towards the rig to, one get in between the rig and the Rust so that no one can get to it, but is also trying to make her way to the Rust's tank.
Nick: Okay, so you were running down the hill towards the tank?
Cameron: Towards the rig. She is not wanting to make it look like to the Rust of that she is running towards their shit. She's running towards her stuff, but then since they're down at the same level, once she gets closer to the rig, she'll change paths - not getting too close to the Rust, not seeming immediately threatening as she's just holding a baseball bat, but running towards all of the machinery.
Nick: Okay. So Emma as you begin to run down the hill away from your group and the gunfight that is rapidly breaking out here, you notice that across the hill from you, Jorb and Deathstalker are also running down the hill keeping pace with you. They appear to be trying to get out of the line of fire of both groups. Neither of them look like they're trying to do anything strategic. Are you trying to appear the same, like you are just leaving the fight, and you're not a threat, or are you focused on speed and look like you're moving with some sort of combat purpose?
Cameron: Moving at speed, but not with combat purpose. [laugh] So far from what the Rust has seen, it's - the only time they've seen Emma in combat is when she walked up after the fight in the exosuit, so I think she is leaning on the fact that they know she's a mechanic and will not find her threatening if she's not in the giant mechanical suit.
Nick: Right. So for that, could you go ahead and roll me a hard Deception check, but you have two blue die because no one is really trying to read your motivations while they're getting shot at. And then you can also have another blue die because of your advantage from your Initiative roll.
Cameron: So for a Deception roll, I will be rolling three greens, three blues, and three purples.
[dice rolling]
Cameron: Three successes.
Nick: All right. You are running as quickly as you can. You're making your way down the hill, it's going to take a minute to get to the rig. It would take a little longer to get to the tank, if that's your end goal, but you very much appear to be panicking and fleeing more than anything else and you have not made yourself a target, so that's good.
Cameron: She's wanting to get far enough away that the people who are actively participating in the fighting don't notice what she's doing because they're more focused on the actual threatening people of the Patina. But since Deathstalker and Jorb are also running towards the tank, she doesn't want to head that way immediately because she wants to see what they're doing to not have to hurt either of them. [laugh]
Nick: Okay. So up next is Felix and Felix has no qualms about shooting people, but he's probably going to shoot at Cassidy because Birdie is on their side right now and Emma ran away very convincingly and Felix and Marathon have a backstory right now.
Sydney: So I will upgrade the attack roll twice and add two black dice.
Nick: Felix is rolling a yellow and two greens against two reds and two blacks plus an additional black because he's got a shotgun at not close range.
[dice rolling]
Cameron: Just one failure.
Nick: Oh, okay. So with one failure, Cassidy you see Felix take aim at you. You have a thought about the fact that his shotgun shouldn't really be able to hurt you from the distance he's standing at, and then you remember that in the previous fight you saw him shooting up into the trees up in the ravine when the Rust was originally ambushed. And as you jump out of the way, you see a large chunk of turf in the hill behind you torn up and you remember that Felix's shotgun is loaded with slugs and that would have been really bad, but you were able to dodge. And up next is another NPC slot which will be Teno. Teno has a very large pistol. It flashes in the light. Birdie as you are reacting to the situation around you, you see your old friend aiming a gun at your new friends.
Kit: Birdie catches the glint of Teno's pistol in the sun, and her gaze shoots over to them. Birdie is not normally a very authoritative person, but when she recognizes that Teno might do what she thinks they're about to do, despite knowing that Teno is not usually someone to jump into violence, usually due to apathy, she will raise her voice at them from the point where she's standing, and she'd just bellows
Kit (as Birdie): [yelling] Teno no!
Cameron: Teno jumped slightly when Birdie yells, because Birdie doesn't really yell and that is surprising. Makes eye contact with Birdie quickly and then their eyes jump to their left where Juliana is standing still with a gun pointed at Cassidy from where she just shot her. Teno's eyes jump back to Birdie and they take a step back to get slightly out of Juliana's peripheral vision and give Birdie a reassuring look, and then raise their pistol and shoot slightly into the sky like in between Birdie and Marathon, so not aiming to hit anybody but still close enough to Marathon and Cassidy that they totally could have just missed and like they're totally participating in this fight on the Rust's side.
Nick: I think Teno has a reputation as the worst shot and that may not be deserved.
Cameron: I think Teno cultivates that reputation for situations like this where they don't really want to participate.
Nick: So Teno fires at nobody whilst still looking like a threat to anyone who isn't looking directly at them and up next is Birdie.
Kit: Birdie doesn't like confrontation between people she knows, so she's very agitated at the moment but she does relax a fraction when Teno averts their aim from her friends, and she assesses the situation and then makes a face and turns. Has Marathon done anything to react at this point?
Penn: Marathon, since pushing Kelsey over and the gunshot, has regained her footing and has made furious eye contact with Juliana having shot at Cassidy. Maybe even almost bumping Birdie with her shoulder, starts sprinting towards Juliana.
Kit: Just before Marathon takes off and nudges Birdie, Birdie is sort of at her wit's end, so she will snap at Marathon before taking off the opposite side of the hill down to where Kelsey is.
Kit (as Birdie): Look at what you've done. This is your fucking fault.
Kit: And she goes to find Kelsey to try and hopefully talk her out of the situation.
Nick: Yeah, so you go running down the hill. Kelsey is up next in the initiative, so this can be kind of a joint action here. With Kelsey's triumph in initiative, she did not roll all the way down the hill. She rolled 15 or 20 yards, but then jammed her hand into a crevasse and stopped and has already regained her feet and is running back up the hill and you intercept her before she makes the crest.
Kit: Birdie is going to try out her shiny new talent and is going to once she gets close enough to Kelsey will try and slow her path at the very least and say,
Kit (as Birdie): [stressed] , it's it's not worth it. Okay? There doesn't need to be any of this if you can just focus on getting what you came here for anyways. We're not as well equipped, as you guys are. Just if you call everyone off, it doesn't have to be anything. There doesn't have to be any losses. Any more losses, I guess.
Kit: Birdie has her hand on Kelsey's bicep and is very lightly squeezing it. It's not much give.
Nick: As you were making this point, Birdie, you can see that there is murder in Kelsey's eyes and she says
Nick (as Kelsey): They're already shooting.
Nick: Go ahead and make that roll. And what is your talent do?
Kit (as Birdie): It's an opposed Charisma roll versus a Discipline, and the talent comes with specifics for if I succeed.
Nick: So that is only against two purples then using your Can We Talk About This Talent.
Kit: Can I add a blue die because I've been flirting with her for 12 days? [laugh]
Nick: Yes, you may have a blue die because you have been laying the groundwork of your persuasiveness for 12 days.
Kit: So I'm going to be rolling three yellows, one blue, and two purple. Two successes and one triumph. On the success, Kelsey won't at least attack me until Kelsey's next turn, but my triumph can extend the benefit to my allies.
Nick: Well, that was lucky. So with those, Kelsey is not going to attack and I think she is very interested in calling off this fight because she has bigger things to do. That being said she is still down the hill. Kelsey, you can tell takes pause for the gentle touch on her bicep, and you see most of the anger fade as she listens to what you're saying and gives a nod and starts to run up the hill to where she can see what's going on and call a stop to the fight. But that is going to take a second. So Kelsey begins to run up the hill to try and call off this group and Birdie goes with her. Marathon it is your turn. You are running towards Juliana and you can hear Kelsey and Birdie running back up the hill but they haven't made it up yet.
Penn: Marathon is just locked on Juliana. There have been gunshots so far, but this is the only person to have hit anybody and they've hit Cassidy. And so as she's bolting, she gives a quick hop up without losing momentum and presses the buttons on the heels of her grav skates to build up speed and is launching herself towards Juliana.
Nick: That sounds like a Brawl check. It'll be average difficulty - two purples.
Penn: Can I spend a Story Point?
Nick: Yeah, I think you have two left?
Cameron: We had three, now we have two.
Penn: Cool. So then with the Story Point, I'm rolling five yellow against two purple.
[dice rolling]
Penn: Two successes and eight advantages.
Nick: Are you wearing your brass knuckles?
Penn: Yes. She's always got them tucked into her sleeve, easy to drop them into her hand.
Nick: Okay so you can either do Disorient 6, which would add a black die to every action for 6 actions, or you could do two Crits, which would turn into a Crit plus 10.
Penn: I want to do the Crits plus 10.
Nick: Okay, so your damage will be your Brawn plus the damage of the brass knuckles, plus two, so seven damage and a Crit coming at Juliana.
[dice rolling]
Cameron: So that would be a 108, uh which is [laugh] a Horrific Injury: roll 1 d10 to determine which of the targets Characteristics is affected.
[die rolling]
Cameron: That is an 8 which it is for Cunning, so until this Critical Injury is healed, treat that Characteristic as one point lower, so she loses a point in Cunning.
Nick: Describe how you beat on this person to the point where her statistics are impacted without a doctor?
Penn: As Marathon is rushing towards Juliana, in a very quick and aggressive motion she lifts up the barrel of Juliana's gun so that it's no longer pointing towards any of the Patina and with her other fist, with the brass knuckles, just punches into Juliana's face, and almost instantly, it comes away with blood as Juliana stumbles back and Marathon, baring her teeth growls,
Penn (as Marathon): [growling] Inspect these guns.
Penn: As she follows through with this punch and Juliana goes flying backward, bloody from this punch. Her wide brimmed hat stays flying in the air where she was and Marathon just catches it out of the air and puts it on her own head.
Penn (as Marathon): And I'm taking a Stetson.
Kit (as Juliana): [mumbled and pained] It's not a Stetson.
Kit: She's probably on the verge of passing out just from pain. If she is mustering anything, it's that she's curling in on herself, holding her face and just cursing very intensely under her breath. Like it's the kind of pain that you can only either say ow or curse in reaction to. It's a little comical because her nose is probably broken. So it's like a
Kit (as Juliana): [mumbled] Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Penn: Marathon immediately turns her gaze, fiery and unwavering in anger, over to Teno.
Nick: And at this point, Kelsey and Birdie have made it back to the crest of the hill. Kelsey is standing silhouetted with the sunrise behind her as she barks out to the Rust.
Nick (as Kelsey): All right, everybody, we're leaving. Stand down. No more shooting, no more fighting. If these so called mercenaries don't want to make a profit than that's on them. Consider our contract null and void. Let's get out of here.
Nick: And Kelsey waits to make sure that Felix and Teno lower their guns. Juliana is on her back holding her face right now and it's Cassidy's turn.
Sydney: Cassidy is going to, even with being shot, she is in cold action mode and not hot, thoughtless mode. She had swung her rifle around to aim at Felix at the point where Juliana went down as the other one who shot at her, but is holding her shot waiting to see that they are going to leave and if they do anything that does not look like leaving, Cassidy will very likely shoot. But right now she's waiting to see, hearing that Kelsey has told them to leave.
Nick: So as you are watching to see how they react, Emma, you have made your roundabout way down the hill and over to where the Rust parked the tank and the motorcycles. What are you doing over there? What was your objective?
Cameron: I am trying to take the gun of this tank out of commission by stealing a necessary piece off of it.
Nick: Okay. That is something you would have to do from the inside, but the hatch is open. It's just going to be a difficult thing to do quickly before anyone notices that you're fiddling with it, so I think it'll be a hard Mechanics check with a black die because you're trying to work very fast.
Cameron: I have a Knack For Mechanics, so I'm going to remove the black die. So I am going to flip a Story Point to add a green die to my pool. That puts me at three yellows, a green, and three purples.
[dice rolling]
Cameron: Two successes, a threat, and a triumph.
Nick: [laugh in DM at the chaos of player characters] Go ahead and describe how you very effectively disarm this tank.
Cameron: All right, so Emma had been making her way back towards the rig and as soon as she sees Deathstalker and Jorb go off to the side to not head directly into the tank and motorcycle area, but just farther away from the fighting, she changes her path to direct her over towards the far side of the tank to where the people on the hill won't be able to look down and see her. And she leans her baseball bat against the tread that she had previously fixed, and climbs up to where the hatch is open on the top and quickly drops down into the tank, and then tries to very quickly [laughing] familiarize herself with the inside of this tank she's never been in and identify where the connections and the controls for the gun seem to be, and will take out her mini toolkit and start detaching things from there, looking for something that is small that she could pocket, but something that this gun will not work if it is not there, so it's potentially like some of the wiring that would actually send the power to it to fire or the firing pin or,
Nick: Yeah, I think with how successful you are, you pull some of the wiring so it doesn't have power and take the firing pin so that when they realize it's not going to fire, there are multiple things wrong which is going to make it take a lot longer to fix. And then finding a firing pin for a tank is going to be extremely difficult to do and machining one will be nearly impossible, so this was extremely successful. And as you hop back off the tank, you can hear already that the sound of fighting has stopped. You were head first in the tank when Kelsey yelled at them to disengage, so you couldn't hear the details of what was being said, but you do lock eyes with Jorb for a second as you pull out of the tank and you see the evaluation in his eyes as he looks to the materials in your hands and then looks away and makes himself busy loading up equipment onto the motorcycle appearing to have disregarded what was happening. Did you have something for the triumph?
Cameron: Yeah I would like for no one besides Jorb to have known that anything happened. So both Emma is able to reattach whatever she had to remove within the inside of the tank to take the things that she took so that when you're sitting in the tank it's not obvious that sabotage has occurred. And then while Kelsey is still directing people up top to stop fighting, she can make it back over towards the rig to where she is not seen by anyone else anywhere near their tank.
Nick: Yeah, I think a triumph definitely covers up any evidence of your work, except for Jorb as a witness and you get the impression he's not going to say anything to anyone, and you're able to run back over to the rig and in cover without anyone else noticing. Deathstalker included - while Jorb stopped by the motorcycles, she kept running back along the way they came and is only now coming to a stop several hundred yards from the fight. And backup on top of the hill, Cassidy and Marathon, you see Felix drop his gun. Teno holsters their gun without a pause. And Kelsey looks to you Cassidy and Marathon, puts up a hand and says
Nick (as Kelsey): All right, I guess we're done. I wish you the best.
Nick: And she starts to walk down the hill towards the tank and the rest of the Rust starts to follow. Felix has looped his arms under Juliana's armpits and his dragging her down the hill.
Kit: Birdie is realizing what's happening here and realizing the divergence that's about to occur and that she has to make a decision right now, and it has put her in a deer in headlights place. So she's looking at the rig and then she looks back at Kelsey.
Sydney: Cassidy has lifted her eye out of her scope and is watching the members of the Rust leave and then throws a glance up towards Birdie.
Kit: Birdie is gonna look at Cassidy after she looks at Kelsey and will try and read her expression.
Sydney: If anything, all you're getting is pain. Most of that is probably just from the hole that is currently bleeding through her shoulder. It would be hard to say what she's thinking at this point.
Kit: Birdie is going to look at Marathon instead.
Penn: Marathon had been watching Juliana with heavy breaths as Felix was taking her away and then flips her eyes between Cassidy and Birdie and starts rushing over to Cassidy.
Penn (as Marathon): You - you going to help?
Kit: Birdie clenches her jaw a few times and continues down towards the rig. She doesn't know quite what her plan is going to be when she gets there, but at this point she is moving towards the rig.
Nick: Birdie as you hesitate. Kelsey calls up the hill.
Nick (as Kelsey): Well, Birdie you comin' with? You're always welcome with the Rust. You seem to fit in better with us than these contract breakers.
Kit: Birdie has her back turned a little bit to both of them but she leans into the back of the rig and gets her backpack and her bed roll and without looking at any member of the Patina, straightens up and walks towards the Rust and their tank.
Cameron: As Birdie's walking away, Emma is rushing the other direction, back up the hill towards Cassidy and Marathon holding a bunch of medical supplies she just gathered from the rig.
Nick: As Emma and Marathon work to bandage up Cassidy on this hill, we see the Rust pulling away,Birdie with them, as they leave this battleground and the Patina has one less member.
[hurdy gurdy music swells]
Outro:
Penn (as Marathon): Welcome back to MTR 1153, that was just the end of today’s broadcast and we’ll be right back to the music after this little break. The particulars of the subsequent can be found in the show notes.
This has been A Knight of Shreds and Patches, an actual play podcast using the Genesys game system from Fantasy Flight Games. The show is edited by Sydney Whittington, and features the talents of:
Kit Adames as Birdie. Kit can be found on Twitter and Instagram @ venusvultures. Kit is also a voice actor for Elevator Pitch Podcast, a queer genre-hopping anthology podcast that can be accessed on Spotify and YouTube.
Penn Van Batavia as Marathon. She can be found on Twitter @ acquiredchaste. Penn is an indie TTRPG designer whose most recent work includes Wasmannian, a prompt game about gender and wasps. Check out faer other work at pennharper.itch.io.
Sydney Whittington as Cassidy. Sydney can be found on our Discord server, which is linked in the show notes, and on Twitter @ sydney_whitt. She’s also a contributing editor for the Orpheus Protocol, a cosmic horror espionage actual play podcast..
Cameron Robertson as Emma. Cameron can be found on Twitter @ midnightmusic13 and on Instagram @ reading_and_dreaming. Cameron is also a player on Tabletop Squadron, a Star Wars Edge of the Empire actual play podcast.
And Nick Robertson as narrator. Nick can be found on Twitter @ alias58. Nick is also the GM for Tabletop Squadron. Nick can also be found as a player on the Orpheus Protocol.
This podcast features the musical talents of Dora Violet and Arne Parrott. You can find Dora at facebook.com/doraviolett. You can find Arne at atptunes.com.
The official artwork for this podcast was created by Rashed AlAkroka, who can be found on Instagram and Artstation @ rashedjrs.
You can follow the Patina on Twitter @ akosap_podcast or visit the website: www.akosap.com. To further support the show, consider joining the Patreon at www.patreon.com/AKoSaP, where we’ll be bringing you weekly content including bonus episodes, campfire conversations, and other fun rewards.
Until next time…
…Signing Off