SPACE HORSE
SESSION SUMMARIES AND STORIES (148 - End)
<<< PART ONE (1-95) | <<< PART TWO (96-147)
Space Jammers Incorporated, as of Session #80. Art by Foxinshadow.
Following the leads left behind for them by Whisper Step, the Space Jammers finally tracked down the site of Sidewinder’s mysterious Project Snowdrop. What they discovered was shocking: a series of brutally invasive magical and technological experiments carried out on young unicorns. A ruthless and amoral attempt to bring back the powerful magic of the past.
The Jammers found more than just horror in Site One, however. They also encountered - and promptly rescued - Specimen Eleven, a teenage genius and star creation of Project Snowdrop. The young unicorn possessed incredible magical abilities, even power over time and space, and an insatiable desire to learn about the world beyond the gilded cage Sidewinder had kept her in. The syndicate, however, was unwilling to allow the pinnacle of their project to simply run free.
Following Eleven’s escape the Jammers were ruthlessly hunted by Cobra, a high-ranking Sidewinder agent, and Coatlicue, Specimen Six of Project Snowdrop turned daemon-possessed cybernetic attack dog. With Tundra critically injured and Whisper disgraced, the crew found themselves painfully short on reliable allies. Repeated encounters with the syndicate led to a number of brushes with death, kept at bay by luck, tenacity, and the occasional well-connected benefactor. Whisper returning to join the crew as a rogue agent was a great help, as was a series of enigmatic messages sent by Sunset Dreamer, an apparent Sidewinder insider.
At great risk, the Jammers set a trap and captured Coatlicue. Perhaps she too could be saved...
Campaign GMing and world design by Napalm Goat.
Stories credited individually. Session summaries by Snipehamster.
CONTENTS
Session #149 - Ball of Broken Glass
--- The Dame Vermillion Sting (Part 3) ---
Session #151 - What a Fucking Day
Session #152 - The Speed of ARRRGH
Minisession - New Look, New Plan
Session #153 - To Deceive a Daemon
Session #154 - Thanks and Farewell
--- The Daemon Within ---
Session #157 - A Harmless Pact
Session #159 - Blood and Darkness
Minisession - Denial and Bargaining
Session #162 - Green Hill Runner
--- The Transdimensional Engine ---
Session #163 - Leaf on the Wind
Session #164 - Not in Kansas Anymore
Session #167 - Eyes on the Sky
Minisession - Something to Live For
--- Nuclear Emergency ---
Minisession - Ripping Off the Bandaid
Session #171 - The Weight of Lives
--- The Battle of Port Medusa ---
Session #176 - Red in Hoof and Claw (Market Team)
Session #177 - Stag Do Unto Others (Park Team)
Minisession - The Door
Session #178 - Cobra’s New Fangs
--- The Fate of Specimen Eleven ---
Session #181 - A Monument to All Her Sins
Session #182 - One More Miracle
SESSION SUMMARIES
Session #148 - First Contact
An hour passes since Six got loose inside Claudia, and the Jammers make good on their decision to give her some quiet and space. Trigger wakes up at some point in the intervening time, though Smile remains unresponsive. On the bridge, Tami and Kerfuffle do their best to bring the captain up to speed on the situation. Tami’s worried about Six - terrifying magical test subject or not, she’s badly hurt and hasn’t had anything to eat or drink in over half a day. It’s likely to be a few more until they dock anywhere. Can Six even feed herself with that helmet on?
Kerfuffle approaches the subject more analytically, suggesting that from what’s been seen of her so far, Six has three ‘modes’:
The question remains, however: if this is correct, then this is the first time the Jammers have ever encountered the real Six. Aside from Sidewinder’s notes, there’s very little to inform them of what she’s actually like. Trigger, for the sake of easing the situation and never being one to shy away from meeting new people, decides to go and find out for herself.
So as not to crowd Six, the crew split up a little. Tami finally gives Trigger her hat back and heads downstairs to check on Whisper and Smile. Kerfuffle accompanies Trigger, but only as far as the door to the engine room. Eleven meets them there, having been pacing nervously back and forth around the ship. There’s been no sound or sign of movement from inside. Trigger passes Kerfuffle her weapons and asks him and Eleven to stay back for the moment - if something happens or she’s gone for too long, they can come and look for her.
Trigger enters the engine room carefully, announcing her peaceful intentions and that she’s both alone and unarmed. Eventually she spots Six watching her warily from behind the main reactor housing, but even after introducing herself there’s no response. She asks a few simple questions, like whether Six wants food or to have her helmet removed, but it’s like talking to a statue. Eventually, Trigger carefully offers Six a clipboard and asks her to write down what she’d like to be called. Six’s telekinesis grabs the clipboard clumsily but with overwhelming strength, and a few seconds later the captain gets her answer:
Meanwhile, Tami leaves a note on Trigger’s door and finds Whisper lightly napping at Smile’s bedside. She takes a little time to redress the agent’s wounds and ask how she’s doing. Whisper is clearly tense and exhausted, both physically and emotionally, and the pair eventually wind up sharing a much-needed hug as it becomes Tami’s turn to offer emotional support.
While they wait for Trigger, Kerfuffle asks how Eleven’s doing as well - she was clearly badly shaken by what happened planetside. Eleven is certain that the fact her magic almost killed Smile will cause the crystal pony to fear her from now on, and sees the whole unfortunate situation as proof that she’s too dangerous to be trusted. Kerfuffle tries his best to gently argue otherwise - Eleven was acting on Smile’s orders, and simply being dangerous doesn’t make a person bad or scary; intent matters just as much as action. Eleven reluctantly agrees and praises his judgment, resolving that she needs to learn better self-control. Ideally without hurting any more of her friends in the process.
Eventually, Trigger manages to make progress with Six. Her requirements are simple - food, water, a blanket, and no visitors aside from Trigger. The captain agrees, and is happy to provide. There is also one one other thing - Six wants “the voice” to go away. Trigger is hardly equipped or prepared to perform an exorcism, so that last one will have to wait. Once furnished with some basic supplies, Six struggles a little with the blanket. Her magic is so strong that she can’t wrap it around herself without tearing it. Trigger uses her weaker telekinesis to help, but receives only silent stoicism in response. Once she’s comfortable, Six makes it rather obvious she wants to be alone by shoving the small unicorn towards the door with her brutally strong telekinesis.
Though hardly friendly, Six’s mental state seems stable for now, so Trigger chalks their conversation up as positive progress and meets up with the rest of the crew to let them know where things stand. Eleven’s very eager to meet Six, but Trigger points out that probably won’t be an option for a while. In the meantime, their best chance to help Six is to try and get Rea to look at her. With any luck, Doctor Wirbelwind will be able to help Smile as well.
Disabling Six’s tracking device and whatever allows Cobra to control her seem like logical next steps. Aside from that, Tami suggests that perhaps Trigger could contact Tundra to solicit a little help with the daemon problem. It’s been quite some time since they’ve been able to speak - the perfect excuse to slip a request for assistance into more private correspondence. Directly contacting his superiors at the Æther Corps wouldn’t be ideal; Professor Jhaziea’s knowledge would no doubt be incredibly useful, but the Empire would probably try to take Six away for study.
Session #149 - Ball of Broken Glass
A short time later, Claudia arrives on the edge of the Saphiban system - just close enough for Whisper and Tami to use Regulus and send a tight-beam message to Port Medusa. While they work, Kerfuffle reiterates the importance of figuring out a way to disable Six’s control system for good. First the signal and tracker, then the daemon. Eventually the message is sent, asking Verbena to arrange a meeting with Midnight Haze, Doctor Wirbelwind and Rea in the Bashpat system if she can.
Eleven interrupts, arriving on the bridge to inform everyone that strange sounds are coming from the reactor room. Trigger goes to investigate and finds Six sitting on the floor with a collection of tiny glass shards held in her magic, repeatedly crushing them together and reforming them into geometric patterns. She stops immediately and looks up as the captain enters, but doesn’t seem to be causing any trouble. In fact, after a little coaxing she actually manages to hold a brief conversation using the notepad. She wants to know where she is, and asks after ‘the Voice’. Trigger does her best to answer, and asks Six if she’d prefer to have her own room rather than camping out in Engineering. After receiving the captain’s promise that nobody is going to hurt her, Six cautiously begins to follow. She brings the ball of broken glass along too.
While Trigger talks to Six, the others discuss amongst themselves. Eleven’s still very excited to meet one of her peers for the first time, but Kerfuffle recommends caution - Sidewinder may have treated Eleven relatively well, but by the look of things Six received much harsher treatment and might not welcome unwanted attention. Just then, the captain brings Six out into the corridor. There are tense, one-sided introductions. Six’s contribution is limited to standing very still and staring blankly with her faceless helmet.
Tami and Whisper sit on the bridge and speculate on the wider situation, particularly the yet-unsolved mystery of Akra, the magic-wielding “earth pony” back on Equestria’s moon. Tami wonders if she might be connected to the Wyrms, or perhaps part of some secret society dedicated to controlling the state of magic in the galaxy. There’s also the question of Project Snowdrop’s ultimate goals. Logically, Eleven is a ‘more advanced’ version of Six. But advanced in what ways and to what exact end? Whisper points out that Eleven is the crux of everything that’s going on - a magical and technological revolution in the body of a single teenage mare. Whoever controls her may well control the fate of the galaxy. Kerfuffle steps in to advise them that Six is on her way out of the engine room, putting their conspiracy talk to an abrupt stop.
Further introductions are made at the top of the stairs to the common room, though the crew wisely give Six plenty of space. Tami’s curious, while Whisper keeps out of sight. Eleven helpfully explains the ball of broken glass - lacking other means to express herself, Six’s magic is taking on the characteristics of her mood. Judging by the fact that she’s carrying dozens of tiny shards and idly crushing them together, that mood is pretty clear. She’s extremely tense.
Trigger leads Six downstairs to the last remaining bedroom, and Six asks - in her now normal manner of brutalizing a piece of paper - how long she’ll be made to stay there. It seems like she’s expecting to be imprisoned. She also asks after Cobra. Trigger says she’ll be free to come and go as she pleases, and that Cobra is - hopefully - too far away to matter. Apparently satisfied, Six shunts her out of the room and closes the door.
When Trigger rejoins the rest of the crew, Eleven thanks her profusely for going out of her way to help Six. Considering their past encounters, the Jammers have plenty of reasons to hate and fear her.
Just then, a message arrives on the bridge. It’s far too soon to be a reply from Verbena, so Tami opens it with some trepidation:
'You have her, you have the advantage. Help her. The denmother will send her chained dogs quickly. Stay on the move. Beware. S.D.'
The crew quickly figure out that ‘S.D.’ must refer to Sunset Dreamer, the mysterious Sidewinder insider who sent them the replica of Six’s helmet following their visit to Site Two. At first there are just more questions - who is Sunset Dreamer, and for that matter who is the denmother? Cobra, maybe, or whoever she answers to? Trigger points out that it’s probably worth taking the message’s advice and moving on quickly, but Tami decides to check something first.
Over the next few minutes, Tami and Kerfuffle jury-rig a modification to Claudia’s sensors that will temporarily boost their range and accuracy. The message had to have been sent from somewhere - somewhere relatively close - but they’re on the very verge of the Saphiban system. There’s nothing nearby that could have sent the message, or at least nothing that they can see.
Claudia sends out a powerful sensor burst and picks up... something. Unfortunately, the modification doesn’t function as planned; there’s simply not enough information to ascertain what or where the contact might be. Whoever Sunset Dreamer is, they seem dedicated to remaining hidden. Trigger insists on leaving - investigating further simply isn’t worth the risk. With nothing else for it, Tami keys in the ship’s next jump and they swiftly leave Saphiban behind...
Session #150 - Double Deer
Two and a half days later, Claudia arrives in the Bashpat system within the Zebrican border. Six keeps to herself for most of the trip, only straying from her room in the middle of the night to feed herself or use the bathroom. The helmet most likely has a mechanism that allows her to eat without removing it. There’s also no sign of the daemon returning - so long as Six’s helmet remains shut, it should stay suppressed for the moment. That’s the theory, at least.
Upon arrival, the Jammers are immediately hailed by the Dame Vermillion Sting. Verbena managed to arrange a meeting as requested. Tami is naturally excited to see Midnight again so soon, and prepares to dock with the larger ship.
Trigger informs Six that some friendly company will be arriving soon, and asks whether she’s given any thought to what she’d like the crew to call her, even temporarily. When no answers are forthcoming, Trigger suggests the name Coatie - a shortened, cuter derivative of her Sidewinder codename, Coatlicue. The helmeted mare seems to find this acceptable, so it sticks.
A short time later the docking process is complete. Midnight Haze and Doctor Wirbelwind meet the crew at the airlock, along with Rea. Or rather, a male Rea. And a rather stunning deer buck at that, with an impressive rack of antlers. Tami works it out first, and Rea smugly confirms - it isn’t technically her but rather an artificial body, controlled remotely from aboard the Dame. The real Rea is enjoying a bubble bath, operating her second body through her cybernetics. It’s a cutting edge prototype still in early testing, and a serious feat of technology.
While Tami and Eleven gawk at Rea 2.0, Doctor Wirbelwind gives Kerfuffle a brief check-up. The griffon’s still not flight-capable, but his back seems to be healing properly. He puts a brave face on and suggests to Eleven that perhaps they could go flying together sometime. With that out of the way the crew quickly direct Wirbelwind to Smile’s room. Though her condition seems to be stable, the crystal pony is still severely burned and hasn’t woken up in days. The doctor requests a little privacy and quiet so that he can examine her properly.
After a little more catching up, everyone gets down to business. Trigger takes Rea aside in the common room to introduce her to Coatie and explain the help she needs, while Tami eagerly takes Midnight on a tour of the ship. Naturally, that means a beeline for the bridge (which doubles as her quarters, no doubt by pure and total coincidence). While Coatie is naturally on guard about meeting somebody new, Trigger assures her that Rea is here to help, and after a little coaxing she appears to accept the offer.
The deer is initially shocked and incredulous at Trigger’s assertion that Coatie is possessed, but is more understanding when Trigger points out that for the moment, the help Coatie needs is strictly technical. Dealing with the tracker and control software will require a direct connection, just like with Eleven’s tracker previously.
Left to their own devices, Kerfuffle and Eleven head to the hold to take a look at what’s left of the abductor robot. Though most of its core systems have been completely gutted for Eleven’s own work, there’s plenty of high-quality armor plating and secondary parts left. The griffon starts to get all sorts of ideas about how the salvage could be used and the pair start to disassemble it. The two of them bond a little over the opportunity to work on a mutual project - ideally one that could benefit the crew and help keep them safe.
On the bridge, Tami introduces Midnight to her home and workplace. He’s suitably impressed at her commitment to her career and obvious love of space, and their conversation rapidly escalates into eager flirting and petting. Midnight admits that Tami’s been on his mind ever since she left, laying on the compliments heavily. Once the pair of them calm down a little, Tami probes about a potential favour; Midnight’s family’s business might have the resources to track down the place Eleven had a picture of in her cell at Site One. He agrees that it may be possible, but it’s something to discuss in detail later; Tami eagerly takes her turn to raise the room’s temperature.
Unfortunately, Trigger walks in on the pair of them starting to undress. Rea’s ready to begin interfacing with Coatie’s cybernetics, and she wants Tami on hand to help just like last time. Tami sheepishly puts her overalls back on and takes a moment to calm herself before everyone heads back downstairs, promising Midnight that they’ll be able to continue later.
In the common room, Rea and Tami connect to Coatie and get to work while Midnight and Trigger observe. The core software is similar to Eleven’s, but with an enormous suite of additional programs dedicated to sending and receiving information - no doubt the system that allows Cobra to control her remotely. It’s complicated stuff, clearly military-grade and more challenging than what Eleven had, but between their combined skills and the lessons learned last time, Tami and Rea defeat the onboard security with relative ease. Coatie sits in silence while the process takes place, with her now characteristic lack of emotional expression.
Eventually, the hack is a success. With both the tracking device and control mechanism disabled, Coatie is a step closer to freedom. As they begin to disconnect, however, Rea hesitates and asks Tami whether she downloaded anything. A moment later, her body acts entirely on its own and charges at the nearest person with hostile intent! Trigger is suddenly forced to defend herself as the large, fully artificial buck deer thrusts its carbon-fiber antlers in her direction...
Session #151 - What a Fucking Day
Trigger scrambles and dodges for her life as Rea’s second body attempts to gore her. Tami quickly realizes what’s wrong: a program in Coatie’s systems has counterhacked Rea and seized control. Tami does what she can to intervene with her own connection, recognising Asp’s signature on the software, but Rea’s systems resist her. Whisper is drawn by the commotion and soon ends up caught up in the struggle, both her and Trigger trying to restrain Rea with minimal success. Against the antlers and the deer’s sheer mechanical strength, it’s all they can do to avoid being slammed or skewered.
Midnight hurries into the cargo bay to fetch Kerfuffle and Eleven on Trigger’s order. The griffon joins the fray, attempting to leverage his greater size and strength to pin Rea down, but the deer bodily throws him off and the two of them soon end up struggling claw-to-antler. Coatie watches the entire debacle in silence with no apparent opinion.
Finally, Tami manages to break through and locate the foreign program that took control of Rea’s remote body. She isolates the virus and shuts the entire system down, putting the fight to an end. Nobody was seriously hurt and Rea’s second self seems to be completely immobilized, but Kerfuffle binds its legs just to be sure it can’t suddenly spring up and attack anyone.
Just then Rea - the actual, female, only mostly-mechanical Rea - hurries in, soaking wet and dressed in nothing but a towel. It’s an awkward scene. She’s aware of what happened and apologetic for her other body attacking the crew, but after a little manual interfacing she manages to purge the virus entirely and regain control. Without skipping a beat she reactivates her artificial proxy body and - showing off by finishing her own sentences with the other mouth - confirms that the procedure was a complete success. Sidewinder should no longer have access to Coatie’s cybernetics, either to track or control her. With the crisis averted, Whisper goes back to sleep.
Rea also thanks the Jammers for subduing her second body without damaging it; it wasn’t cheap to build, and she plans to present it at a prestigious cybernetics expo in Avalon. All being well it’s a revolutionary advance in the making, and any opportunity to field test it is welcome. The crew are impressed by how smoothly Rea manages to operate two bodies at once, not to mention adapt after a direct hack. Eventually the crew begin to peel off and return to their other tasks, but Trigger’s curiosity is piqued so she stays to inquire further.
Tami and Midnight return to the bridge to carry on where they left off. Midnight is nervous but also excited at having witnessed some of the drama Tami has to put up with on a frequent basis. Rogue android deer wrestling is a far cry from the sheltered life he usually lives. Tami awkwardly points out that what just happened ranks pretty low compared to what the crew normally go through. The two of them share a kiss, and then Tami shows him around the bridge properly now that they have more time to themselves.
Kerfuffle and Eleven carry on disassembling the abductor robot and begin to settle on plans for the parts. The outer plating can be repurposed into strong, lightweight inserts for body armor, and Kerfuffle floats the idea of turning the robot’s manipulators into armored gauntlets. Eleven suggests doing something with the sensors as well, and they eventually settle on experimenting with some kind of optical device - perhaps a customized rifle scope for Smile once she’s up and moving. Mention of Smile gets Eleven fretting again; she falls into guilt very easily. Kerfuffle reiterates that Eleven was acting under orders and doing her best to help, then gets a little more personal. He sheepishly admits that he really likes her because she genuinely wants to be a good person in spite of everything. A short bout of sniffling and hugs later, and Kerfuffle points out that these things take time and offers Tami as an example. A few months back, the hippogriff could barely fly the ship without having a panic attack at the slightest problem. Now she’s far more confident and secure in herself. The mood lightens, and the two of them settle back into more casual banter while they work.
Meanwhile, up on the bridge, said hippogriff is once again getting touchy-feely with her rich boyfriend. In between flirting and genuine heart to heart discussion, Midnight awkwardly admits that he loves her. It isn’t long before the two of them are back on the floor, pushing one another’s proverbial buttons. Before long they’re undressing again, and the duke makes a shocking and scandalous discovery: Tami is wearing lacy, form-fitting underwear, and has been the entire time.
With Midnight equal parts endeared and enticed by Tami pushing past her anxiety problems in a new way, things escalate from there. And this time, nobody stumbles in to interrupt...
Even Trigger isn’t spared a little emotional rush. Rea notices the captain’s interest in her body/ies and begins to playfully tease and flirt with her. Trigger doesn’t expect what happens next: Rea compliments her appearance, saying that Trigger’s body has its own charm. She might even be able to make it as a model with the right look. This drops the captain’s guard; Trigger isn’t used to thinking of herself as particularly attractive, much less in the eyes of someone else.
Even so, Trigger’s still committed to her relationship with Tundra and ends up having to restrain herself. The deer’s teasing is so effective that she eventually winds up retreating to her quarters to scream into her pillow. Rea takes her leave and returns to the Dame with a round of brief farewells - but not before leaving Trigger a cheeky souvenir: a photo of herself/selves making out on Claudia’s sofa. The screaming intensifies. The whole debacle is made even more embarrassing by the fact that Coatie also witnesses most of it, sitting by herself and silently judging. Maybe. She’s emotionless as ever.
Once Rea has gone and Trigger has gotten her swirling feelings and/or libido under control, she returns to the common room to check on Coatie. As a gift in celebration of Coatie’s new - if partial - freedom, Trigger gives her Orville, a small plush toy dragon that she was fond of as a foal. It’s very sentimental of her and perhaps not the ideal gift for an adult mare who happens to be a purpose-built killing machine, but Coatie accepts and appears to appreciate it. Coatie takes Orville into her quarters to cuddle up with him under her blanket. Done with social interaction for the day, she once again shunts Trigger out of her room using her magic and shuts the door.
A short time later, Doctor Wirbelwind emerges from Smile’s quarters (unfazed by the fight that took place in the adjoining room) to report on his examination. Kerfuffle and Eleven gather round, keen for news on their friend’s health. The doctor explains that while Smile’s chances of survival are good, crystal ponies are particularly vulnerable to burns. Between the lava and the magical lightning, Smile is likely to have received permanent damage. She needs specialist treatment at a burn clinic if she’s to recover properly, which means another visit to a planetside hospital. There’s such a facility in the system, so the doctor begins making preparations to leave shortly.
Session #152 - The Speed of ARRRGH
Half an hour later, Doctor Wirbelwind has Smile prepped for transport and prepares to take his leave. However, Whisper insists on accompanying them. The doctor is hesitant at first - Whisper clearly isn’t a medical professional - but she insists, and she is a professional spy. Forged IDs and false identities will get her in. One way or another she’s going, and she’s bringing Patch just for good measure. The doctor relents, so Trigger, Kerfuffle and Eleven see them all off at the airlock.
Up on the bridge, Tami and Midnight miss the others’ departure. They’re far too busy basking in one another’s embrace and the lingering feelings of some very personal time. Tami wonders if she’s being too impulsive lately - if she’s acting purely on what she wants rather than what’s best. If she’s straying too far from the cute, nervous Tami that first joined the Jammers and met Midnight on that beach months ago. The young duke is supportive, suggesting that Tami isn’t becoming a different person but simply learning to make good decisions under pressure.
Downstairs, Trigger can’t restrain her curiosity any longer and asks Eleven what her secret project is. Ever since boarding Claudia for the first time she’s been gathering all sorts of random parts and items to build something. Eleven is evasive at first, concerned that if she revealed her project early someone might try to stop her. That really gets Trigger’s attention. Concerned that Eleven’s project might be dangerous to the ship or crew, she insists, so Eleven reluctantly agrees to reveal what she’s been working on.
Trigger and Kerfuffle are both completely baffled by the device on display, so Eleven explains in layman’s terms. The device is a Transdimensional Engine (or TDE): a mechanism that would allow Eleven to connect her cybernetics - and by extension her brain - to Claudia’s FTL system.
If the TDE works as intended Eleven could expand her rift spell to encompass the entire ship, allowing it to jump unprecedented distances in almost no time at all.
With mixed feelings ranging from trepidation to confusion to concern to awe, Trigger and Kerfuffle have trouble wrapping their heads around Eleven’s insane invention. The TDE could turn the galaxy’s understanding of space travel on its head. It’s also completely untested, and Kerfuffle worries that directly interfacing with Claudia might put Eleven at risk. Eleven waves off their concerns - if she’s an expert in anything at all, it’s magical rifts. As a safety feature, the TDE can only be fully activated from the bridge. And besides, she intends to calibrate and test it extensively before even attempting a jump. What could possibly go wrong?
Kerfuffle’s trust in Eleven overrides his worries, and with Trigger’s permission he prepares to connect the device to Claudia’s M-space drive. It’s at this moment that Tami enters the hold, having redressed after her extended snuggle session with Midnight. The last thing she expected to see was a scrap metal horror movie torture chair being hooked up to the ship’s core systems.
Once Tami’s finished gawking and calmed down a little, the others explain. Still somewhat insecure in her emotions, Tami goes to Kerfuffle for a little hug and then agrees to help hook the TDE up to Claudia’s systems. If Eleven only wants to carry out a few minor tests, then surely that can’t be too bad. When she learns that Whisper accompanied Smile for her hospital visit, Tami completely misses the subtext and assumes Whisper simply went for the sake of security. Midnight arrives belatedly and offers to arrange brunch for the crew aboard the Dame, which they happily accept. In the meantime though, there are still things to do.
Eleven gets back to work on her invention, while Kerfuffle and Tami head up to the engine room to connect it to the ship properly. Trigger goes to her quarters to compose a message to Tundra Gem. It’s mostly the sort of suggestive, personal message one might expect between long-distance lovers, but Trigger also includes a subtle request for Tundra to contact her as a matter of urgency. That, and the lewd picture Rea sent her. She’s caught with her pants down (only in the figurative sense, thankfully) as Coatie peeks into her quarters, still carrying Orville. She offers the captain her toy back - attempting to socialize in her own stilted, silent way. Trigger asks if she’d like something to eat and helps her prepare some chopped fruit and veg. It turns out there’s a slot in the base of her helmet that lets her awkwardly eat and drink without removing it. Eventually Coatie returns to her quarters... but without shoving Trigger out of the way this time.
Up in engineering, Tami and Kerfuffle talk while they work. Tami continues to wonder whether she’s changing too much, too quickly, and Kerfuffle suggests that perhaps she’s simply looking at things from a whole new angle. Eventually the conversation reverses course and Tami asks how Kerfuffle’s doing. The griffon admits that with all that’s going on, he has no idea. He’s concerned for Eleven, so Tami asks whether it’s because she reminds him of his sister, someone in need of his help and protection. Kerfuffle agrees, but only in part; he has a lot of complicated feelings surrounding the young unicorn and isn’t sure of how to parse them properly. Tami recommends that the two of them take some time off and relax - after all the Dame’s right there, with its luxurious outfitting and hot tub.
Soon enough, Tundra gets back in contact with Trigger. It looks like he’s healing well - he’s up and about and even beginning to regrow his mane. He’s glad for Trigger’s message and promises to quietly forward the captain’s requests to the appropriate people. Unfortunately he’s in the middle of a lecture (and under Twilight’s surveillance) so he can’t talk long. The pair take a moment to mutually affirm their love, given that they have such a small window of time to speak. Before cutting off, he sternly requests that Trigger not do anything lewd with Rea. ...without taking pictures.
Tami eventually convinces Kerfuffle to invite Eleven to the Dame for some relaxation time, away from secret projects and possessed ponies and wounded friends. After awkwardly walking a very bashful griffon through the process of asking someone to join him in an activity that isn’t work, she hurries downstairs to inform Trigger of what she’s just done. The two of them watch quietly as Kerfuffle stumbles his way through inviting Eleven away from her project to unwind with him for a while on Midnight’s ship. Despite the awkwardness Eleven agrees, and Tami has a happy little matchmaker moment. It might not be a date, as Trigger first assumes, but Tami considers having gotten the two of them interacting more casually as friends to be a win.
For the first time in perhaps weeks, the Jammers’ spirits are pretty high.
Minisession - New Look, New Plan
A day later, Volatility Smile finally wakes up in a planetside hospital and finds herself in the care of Doctor Wirbelwind. The news is simple: the trauma she suffered back on Jhurope I was massive. Prompt intervention from Tami and Patch no doubt saved her life. Though a full recovery is likely, it’s all but certain that her burns will leave heavy and permanent scarring.
Two days later, Whisper Step (now supposedly a nurse, uniform included) manages to arrange for Smile to be allowed out of her depressing hospital room. The pair of them take a walk in the building’s adjoining gardens, with assistance from Patch and a temporary wheelchair.
It’s the first time since Jhurope that the two mares have had an opportunity to discuss their emotions, and both admit to feelings of irrational anger. Smile at herself for accidentally shooting Whisper, and Whisper at Trigger for arranging the whole ugly mess of a mission. Smile points out that anger is best used productively, but Whisper insists that she’d probably have fallen apart completely if Smile hadn’t made it. She’s tired of being angry and taking risks. With her ties to the Republic cut, there’s very little for her to fall back on in terms of civilian life, and Smile is important to her. The pair share a small kiss, and Smile does what she can to lighten the mood.
Just then, a young earth pony stallion approaches the pair. Smile’s never seen him before, but Whisper and the newcomer recognise one another immediately. The atmosphere suddenly becomes tense; the stallion, Sunrunner, is a member of the New Lunar Republic Intelligence Agency. As it happens he’s only there by chance, but he informs Whisper that she is, for all intents and purposes, public enemy number one in the NLR thanks to the terror attack she attempted to carry out on Crystal Heart.
Smile does her best to mediate and explains that things are far more complex than Sunrunner knows. Keeping light on the details for everyone’s sake, she tells him about Whisper’s capture by Sidewinder and the Republic’s conspicuous failure to rescue her. At the same time, she realizes that Whisper is going for a concealed weapon and subtly indicates for her to leave it alone. Gradually, she manages to defuse the situation and the two agents stand down.
Sunrunner eventually relents; he owes Whisper a favour, so he agrees not to act against her or report her to the agency - at least not right away. Whether or not he’s telling the truth, both mares agree that it would be best for them to leave as soon as possible. Smile, already thinking ahead, is actually quite eager to get back to Claudia. Inspired by the things she witnessed back at Site Two, she has plans for Coatie’s daemon...
Session #153 - To Deceive a Daemon
While Smile is in hospital, the crew take advantage of a few days’ relative calm. With Coatie and Eleven both now free of their tracking devices, it would be difficult indeed for Sidewinder to track the Jammers down. Coatie keeps to herself as usual, with no signs of her unwanted passenger returning for the moment.
Kerfuffle and Eleven split their time between working on the Transdimensional Engine, repurposing the abductor robot, and taking pilot-mandated breaks. The griffon also uses the opportunity to contact Doctor Clean Cut and inquire about his sister. As it turns out, Galena’s being treated on the moon itself and was permitted a limited tour of the Æther Corps facility. The treatment is proceeding slowly, but the doctor is confident that her condition will improve.
Tami and Midnight naturally make use of the free time together, taking the opportunity to spend a few uninterrupted days in one another’s company without time pressure or long distance to get in the way of their relationship. Even Rea shows up every so often, whether to socialize or try to sneak a peek at Coatie’s cybernetics.
One morning though, Trigger receives a message from Doctor Wirbelwind. Smile and Whisper insisted on returning to the ship immediately, and since Smile’s technically healthy enough to be discharged he’s shuttling them back to Claudia. The Jammers, plus Eleven of course, all eagerly gather round to meet the group at the airlock.
Though limping and still shaky on her hooves, Smile walks unaided. She looks focused and in good spirits, though her injuries have left her mark. Her mane had to be cut back heavily to make room for the necessary medical procedures, but what stands out the most is the scar. The crystal pony now has a deep, jagged electrical burn mark running much of the way down her side. More than anything though, the rest of the crew are overjoyed to see her relatively healthy again; Smile quickly finds herself receiving hugs of joy and relief from both Tami and Eleven.
Eleven is particularly worried about Smile’s health, so the crystal pony assures her that she’s fine and asks to talk in private later on. Doctor Wirbelwind confirms that so long as she limits herself to light activity, Smile should recover without much fuss.
Once the doctor takes his leave to check in with Midnight, the crew sit down in the common room to catch up on things over a little food. Kerfuffle pauses to ask Patch how he got on too.
Over a few snacks (actual fresh fruit, courtesy of Midnight), the crew tells Smile about what happened while she was unconscious. Coatie doesn’t make an appearance in person, still content to spend her time quietly in her room. For her part, Smile keeps the details on why she had to hurry back to the ship on the down low. More importantly, she swiftly moves the conversation on to her plan to get the daemon out of Coatie - and off Claudia.
Smile theorizes that daemons are attracted to and feed upon sources of energy, as they saw in Site Two. With that in mind, if they were to open Coatie’s helmet in proximity to a sufficiently large power source such as a ship’s reactor, the daemon might leave her for the more tempting meal. After that, disposing of it would be as simple as letting the ‘trap’ drift off into deep space (or, as Whisper suggests, the nearest star), never to be seen again.
The rest of the crew are quick to point out a few holes in the plan. None of them besides Eleven know the faintest thing about magic, let alone daemonology. Though Smile’s idea would certainly rid them of the problem if successful, it runs on assumptions and carries all manner of risks. Tami argues that simply sealing the daemon in a random drifting ship just risks making it someone else’s problem. Kerfuffle is quick to point out that ultimately, Coatie ought to be involved in the planning. She knows the daemon best, and it would be unfair to put her in such a dangerous situation without her knowledge or consent. On the other hand, Smile points out that the daemon might be a victim just as much as Coatie; what if it wants to be released?
The crew adjourn for a few hours, going back to some semblance of normalcy until Trigger receives a communication from the Æther Corps. Tundra got through to Akra, who in turn forwarded the Jammers’ concerns to Professor Jhaziea. Apparently Akra has enough pull to keep the whole thing private, so Jhaziea offers her input with no strings attached. The Jammers explain the situation as best they can, along with the basics of Smile’s plan.
The professor is skeptical at first - victims of possession maintaining their autonomy is very rare, so it’s likely that the enchantment engraved on the inside of Coatie’s helmet keeps it tightly bound. If the daemon had any real control it would probably be exerting it by now. Jhaziea points out that daemons are complex, thinking beings; the one inside Coatie might simply be dormant for the moment, but it might also be biding its time. She stresses that many daemons are not inherently evil or destructive - though the Jammers’ previous encounters so far suggest that the one they’re dealing with probably is.
Smile’s plan is actually somewhat sound, at least in theory, but it comes with a number of potential issues. Firstly there’s a chance that the daemon, once freed, might feel secure enough in its host body to simply siphon the trap and grow stronger. As such, the crew would need to ensure that the trap is the only viable source of energy available by having Coatie exhaust herself first. Secondly, once the helmet’s off and the proverbial genie is out of its bottle, there’s no guarantee that it could ever be sealed away again. However if the Jammers are successful, Jhaziea would be willing to assist in disposing of the daemon with no questions asked.
Jhaziea wishes the Jammers well and signs off, leaving them to discuss their options. For the moment their financial situation is pretty good, so acquiring a cheap junker ship to serve as the trap wouldn’t be too difficult. After all, all that’s needed is something nominally mobile with a reactor that runs. Even so, there’s a lot of doubt. Trigger’s more or less on board, but Tami and Kerfuffle excuse themselves to confer privately.
Tami and Kerfuffle both have their reservations about the plan, given the inherent danger and number of unknowns. Tami cites the kidnapping debacle with Azure Myst as an example of a time when the two of them went along with something that contradicted their morals without speaking up, and doesn’t want to repeat that kind of situation. Kerfuffle is willing to go along with the plan for Coatie’s sake, but only if she’s informed well in advance and every measure is taken to ensure things go as intended - there’s no do-overs or trial runs. The pair agree to watch one another’s backs and only allow the plan to be carried out when everything is as certain as it can be. They settle down together on the sofa to do a little ship shopping.
Smile informs Trigger about the reason for her early return from hospital, adding that Sunrunner had no idea that Whisper was ever captured in the first place. It now seems all but certain that Sidewinder have some high level influence within the New Lunar Republic, and that’s bad news for everyone.
Volatility Smile (with scar), by Viralcosmos
Minisession - Doing Great
In between preliminary preparations for ridding Coatie of her daemon, Kerfuffle and Eleven’s secondary project of repurposing the abductor robot’s parts yields results. With Tami’s help, they rework the machine’s sophisticated optical system into a scope for Smile’s laser rifle. Unfortunately mistakes are made (big griffon + tiny fragile electronics + whoops) and the result, while capable of granting effective thermal vision, puts a lot of strain on the weapon’s batteries and is prone to malfunction. Reworking the robot’s plating proves more successful; Kerfuffle is able to put together a set of heavily armored gauntlets for his own use, along with a set of light but strong armour inserts. As a result, his own bulky gear becomes lighter and Tami’s is made significantly more resilient, with no downside in either case.
Later that evening, Eleven visits Smile in her quarters. Ostensibly, the crystal pony invited the young unicorn to discuss some of the finer details of her plan in private. She wonders whether Eleven’s magical knowledge would be useful in gathering information on the daemon once it’s released, and whether the unicorn would also be at risk of possession. Eleven is hesitant on both counts - her specialty’s arcane magic rather than daemonology, and it’s not like she’s formally trained. She isn’t even sure she knows how to properly exhaust her magic like the plan requires.
Smile wonders whether a trained magister like Tundra would be able to help, and asks whether Eleven received any direct magical training under Sidewinder. Eleven explains that no, most of her spells - including the bolts of magical lightning - came about by accident and limited practice. This swings the conversation back to Eleven’s guilt and fear over her own abilities. The lightning spell is difficult to modulate; it’s an all-or-nothing blast of raw energy that comes about almost on reflex. Smile sympathises, pointing out - with a little irony - that it’s important to know one’s limits. Practice and familiarity lead to control. Perhaps an opportunity to practice in a safe environment would help too. A greater understanding and grasp of her powers would be a boon to Eleven’s mental health, not to mention practical.
More importantly, Smile urges Eleven to stop selling herself short, guilt or no guilt. She spared Urutu, earned Kerfuffle’s admiration, and may be on the verge of revolutionising space travel with a device constructed from scrap. All things considered, she’s doing great. The two of them share a hug, glad that things are - at least for the most part - going okay and getting better. There’s no hard feelings at all.
Session #154 - Thanks and Farewell
The following evening, Midnight invites the crew to a semi-formal dinner aboard the Dame. They plan to leave the following day, so the least he can offer is a pleasant sendoff. There’s a round of thanks and well-wishes, particularly for Rea and Doctor Wirbelwind. The mood is positive, with good-natured gossip all round.
Trigger spares no opportunity to playfully tease Tami over her growing connection with Midnight, and the possibility that their relationship might well continue into the long term. While the others talk to Rea, Tami and Midnight leave the table on the pretense of fetching something to drink. Joking aside, Tami’s concerned that the Jammers’ ongoing conflict with Sidewinder still doesn’t have a clear end in sight. She floats an idea: the Solar Empire is an authoritarian nation with centralized propaganda; what if that could be harnessed against the syndicate? A forced, interstellar broadcast of all the evidence the Jammers have gathered so far that would be impossible to ignore? Midnight advises against it and Tami admits that the whole situation, with all the associated worries, is weighing on her hard. They move the conversation to less stressful topics after that.
Back at the table, Rea is the center of conversation at first. She explains that for her, the art of cybernetics comes ahead of her business interests. She went out of her way to help Eleven and Six because in a sense, they remind her of herself - people who suffered through no fault of their own. As it turns out, her heavy augmentation is just as much a matter of necessity as creativity.
Once Tami and Midnight return to the table with alcohol in tow, everyone loosens up a little. Rea advises Smile on how best to exploit the aesthetics of her new scar. Tami and Midnight chat about the future. Kerfuffle asks Eleven what she’d like to do once Sidewinder are no longer a threat, and she admits that she simply has no idea; she’d have to start a new life almost entirely from scratch. It’d be fun to go on a big holiday - explore the galaxy, maybe make a list of things to see and do. Kerfuffle presses on that, and they agree to start later that night. Claudia’s bridge will probably be free all evening.
Sure enough, it’s not long before Midnight spirits Tami away for a little private time in the Dame’s pool, with its fancy retractable roof that provides a beautiful view of the stars. Before long she’s eagerly telling him all about them, unlikely to return to Claudia until the morning. In a gesture of thankfulness and sympathy, she also books a fancy dinner for Trigger and Tundra, to be claimed whenever they get the time.
Back at the table, it doesn’t take long for Trigger to start getting fairly drunk, leading to much amusement from Rea and Smile. The deer takes her leave, but not before playfully flirting with the captain one last time. She invites her to have “a chat” in private if she feels up to it.
Whisper and Smile likewise head off, returning to the room they ‘used’ previously to spend the night together in comfort, injuries be damned. Rather than descending into lewdness though, the pair earnestly express their feelings for one another. Whisper admits that having Smile in her life has really helped… so the crystal pony makes a daring declaration.
Kerfuffle and Eleven return to Claudia to spend the evening as they planned: searching the Galanet for interesting places to visit once they have the opportunity to move freely. Eleven hasn’t the faintest idea of where to start, and Kerfuffle’s hardly a globetrotter either, but he spends a little time wondering “what would Tami do” and points out a few interesting nebulae. In the end he explains that in all honesty he doesn’t care where they go, so long as they’re together with the people they care about.
Back on the Dame, Trigger is left alone for the moment. That is until she receives a message from Rea, inviting her to have that “chat” they talked about. When she arrives at Rea’s room, the captain finds the deer - both of her - waiting for her with suggestive grins. Tundra did say it would be okay so long as she took pictures...
Session #155 - Strange Future
The following morning, the Jammers get underway. Everyone is exhausted after the previous evening, but for once it’s the good kind of tiredness. Tami and Smile manage to find a very cheap cargo vessel for sale, barely above scrap value, so the next order of business is to go and collect it. That and buying replacements for Trigger and Smile’s protective gear - there’s no repairing lava damage.
Tami and Trigger gossip on the bridge as they fly the ship, while Kerfuffle, Whisper and Smile turn their thoughts to the issue at hand: getting the daemon out of Coatie. Having heard about how Eleven transferred the magic directly from Regulus to Claudia after Taipan’s attack, the griffon wonders whether Eleven could similarly shunt her own magic into the trap. This would make the trap more attractive to the daemon and Eleven less so. Neither Whisper or Smile have any real idea, so he takes the question directly to Eleven instead. She isn’t sure - it might be possible in theory, but could also overload the reactor. This would be less than ideal. A safer option might be to have Coatie and Eleven exhaust their magic somewhere safe, like the middle of nowhere on some planet.
Once Claudia’s well underway, the crew all gather in the common room. Trigger visits Coatie’s room to inform her of the plan. She’s looking well, all things considered, still holding onto the plush toy and blanket Trigger gave her. The shards of broken glass she’s been carrying around in her magic have ground down to a fine powder by now. Coatie crushes the powder into a tiny, dense crystal, but pays close attention to what the captain has to say. Eventually Coatie ventures out of her room, wilfully joining the rest of the crew in the common room for the first time. Rather than greeting anyone, she moves around the room giving each member of the crew in turn a scrutinizing, faceless stare. Tami stammers nervously, Whisper stares Coatie down until a lightbulb explodes overhead, and Smile is friendly and accommodating even when the helmeted mare draws attention to her scar.
Kerfuffle is quietly, nervously polite when Coatie reaches him, but what really catches her attention is Eleven. Noticing that the younger mare’s cybernetics are similar to her own, Coatie asks Eleven if Sidewinder controls her and whether she hears “the voice” as well. Eleven sheepishly responds in the negative - the Jammers rescued her, and whatever Sidewinder did to her under Project Snowdrop doesn’t work that way.
Apparently satisfied with introductions, Coatie takes a mug of hot chocolate Tami offers her, then silently returns to her room and shuts the door. The crew agree that she seems relatively calm and polite, all things considered; she just values her privacy and personal space very highly. No surprises there.
Later that evening, with a new junker ship in tow, the Jammers set Claudia down on a hospitable planet several hundred kilometers away from the nearest settlement. With only a little effort they find a picturesque river waterfall basin with abundant shallows - not just a convenient open space for magical exertion, but a comfortable relaxation spot as well. Whisper wears what could only be a military-issue wetsuit, a decision Smile very much appreciates.
Given ample open space and the go-ahead from the others, Eleven starts blasting boulders with her lightning spell. To everyone’s surprise, Coatie joins her unprompted and begins lifting and crushing things with her powerful telekinesis. As the crew watch and call encouragement, the two unicorns begin making a game of it. Coatie lifts and throws rocks, then Eleven shoots them down. For the first time, she even manages a small, accurate blast of lightning.
Eventually playing turns into showing off; Coatie grabs a large quantity of water in her magic and compresses it until it boils. Eleven concentrates for a few seconds, then tears open a space-time rift like she did at Site One and disappears inside, closing it behind her. Coatie steps into the space the rift had just occupied, causing Eleven to reappear in the shallow river. Soaking wet and annoyed, Eleven exclaims that Coatie disrupted her spell on purpose. There’s no harm done, and to their shock the Jammers realize that the silent and taciturn Coatie just pulled a prank. The showboating continues.
Kerfuffle and Tami watch together from atop some rocks, agreeing that open space and the opportunity to cut loose is doing the two former test subjects a lot of good. It’s especially positive to see Eleven enjoying her magic rather than feeling fearful or guilty about it. Smile and Whisper snuggle up by the riverside, and Whisper comments that this sort of thing makes sense - Sidewinder stole Coatie and Eleven’s childhoods, so it’s only normal that they’d jump at the opportunity to compete and play, even as young adults. Smile quips that Trigger would probably adopt Coatie, given the opportunity.
Whatever happens, whether or not Coatie and Eleven get an opportunity to live ordinary lives, the future is going to be quite strange indeed...
Session #156 - Event Horizon
A few hours of magical exertion later, Eleven and Coatie are completely exhausted. The crew return to Claudia and tow their newly acquired junk heap of a ship into deep space, away from any populated areas or travel lanes. The trap ship is called the Void Slicker, an ancient freighter somewhat smaller and much older than the Pioneer, which isn’t exactly new in the first place. With the two ships connected by a simple umbilical, the crew board the Slicker and prepare to put their plan into action.
Tami and Kerfuffle do a last minute rundown of the Slicker’s systems. It is, to put it mildly, crap. Most of its computer systems are entirely nonfunctional, requiring everything to be run manually. Many of the internal mechanics, all the way down to some of the doors, are broken. The reactor should work, but likely wouldn’t stand up to long term use. Tami manages to rig a limited control connection between the two ships; once she’s done, the limited navigation functions the Slicker has can only be accessed from Claudia. Kerfuffle suggests bringing the spare Specimen Six helmet as a possible failsafe, and everyone gears up with their weapons and armor just in case.
Eventually, once everyone’s satisfied that they’re as ready as they’re likely to get, everyone gathers in the Slicker’s reactor room. The plan is simple: start the reactor, remove Coatie’s helmet, confirm that the daemon has jumped into the more attractive energy source, then return to Claudia and leave the Slicker to drift. All being well, Jhaziea and her people from the Corps should then be able to dispose of it safely with no questions asked.
Once everyone’s geared up, prepared and in position, Kerfuffle starts the Slicker’s reactor and gradually brings it up to full power. The process takes time, and several of the ship’s minor systems short out or simply melt in the process.
Eventually, the rickety old reactor is running at full capacity. Coatie stands patiently still as Trigger unlocks the series of clamps and connectors holding the helmet onto her head. For the first time, the Jammers see Coatie’s face without the daemon twisting it into a furious snarl - an otherwise charming young mare scarred by stress and trauma. Suddenly Coatie gasps, opening her eyes...
...and everything goes black.
***
The Jammers slowly come to their senses with splitting headaches, separated and spread out all over Claudia and the Void Slicker. Trigger finds herself on Claudia’s bridge, while Kerfuffle is downstairs in the shower. Tami and Smile are each in separate sections of the Slicker. Both ships are shrouded in unnatural darkness and silence, defying any attempts to turn the lights back on, and none of the usual communication methods seem to be working. As far as Claudia’s chronometer can be trusted, it’s been several hours since Coatie’s helmet was removed. Clearly, something has gone seriously wrong.
As the scattered crew begin to search for one another in the dark, they begin to hear things - the intercoms and their multibands question them in familiar, impossible voices. Tami’s voice asks Kerfuffle what he is. Tundra asks him what he wants. Tami’s mother asks her the same question. Trigger’s voice asks Trigger what she did. Sweet Alyssum asks Smile what she’s going to do, Blitz asks her why she did it, and so forth. Thoroughly perturbed, the crew try to hurry.
Tami is first to stumble across something that truly stands out. She comes across Patch lying deactivated on the floor of the Slicker’s reactor room. What looks like a vast being made of light is hovering above the reactor housing. A being like nothing she’s ever seen before, clearly predatory in aspect, staring directly at her. Gripped by terror, the hippogriff grabs the drone and flies for her life, heading for the umbilical back to Claudia.
Trigger, assuming the possibility of some kind of power failure, heads for Claudia’s engine room. Coincidentally Kerfuffle heads upstairs towards the bridge, but the pair miss one another in the unnatural darkness. It’s like everyone’s perception is limited to a tiny radius centered only on themselves. Each try communicating with the unnerving voices, but only Trigger gets anything resembling a constructive answer. The voices - Coatie’s daemon, no doubt - assert that they are trapped, just as they were within Coatie before. They want to be free. They speak cryptically, explaining that Coatie was “the fuel to their fire”.
Back on the Slicker, Smile is more confrontational. She demands that the daemon stop playing games, but to little avail. Wandering through the ship, she comes across Whisper slumped in a corner. The agent is deeply unconscious as though asleep, but doesn’t appear to have been harmed. Smile attempts to wake her up, but that doesn’t seem to work either.
Tami makes her way up to Claudia’s bridge, finally stumbling across Kerfuffle as he attempts to converse with the daemon. Talking is swiftly abandoned as the two of them share a big, shaky hug of relief.
But in Claudia’s engine room, Trigger comes across an unexpected sight - the great, terrifying being of light that Tami saw previously on the Slicker is also hovering over Claudia’s reactor. The daemon is in both ships. It asks, in its own terrifying fashion, whether it’s safe. When Trigger uneasily answers in the affirmative, light and sound finally, gradually, return to the two ships. Ships which now appear to be haunted or worse...
Session #157 - A Harmless Pact
Trigger questions the daemon, trying to get it to explain itself. No longer speaking cryptically through Claudia’s electronics, it’s surprisingly verbose and well-spoken. Trigger is caught off guard by its apparent intelligence and willingness to converse. From the crew’s prior experiences with Coatie, she expected something much more hateful and violent. The daemon explains that neither it nor Coatie wanted to be bound together. It fed upon the mare’s own pain and anger, granting her powerful and unstable magic in return in a monstrous feedback loop.
Back on the Slicker, Smile continues searching for the others and comes across the daemon in the reactor room. It informs her that the others are pacified but unharmed, then vanishes. Eleven enters the reactor room with Coatie slung over her shoulders, unconscious just like Whisper. The young unicorn is terrified - all she remembers is sudden and total darkness after Coatie’s helmet was removed. She found Coatie unconscious and then hid for hours, hoping that somebody would find them. Smile does what she can to calm her down, leading her through a brief breathing exercise.
Now that things seem to be back to something vaguely resembling normal, the crew manage to get in contact using their multibands. Trigger lets everyone know that the daemon is apparently on Claudia, so they decide that it would be best to meet back up in one place. Kerfuffle reactivates Patch and sends him to receive the group from the Slicker in the common room while Tami tentatively joins Trigger in the engine room.
Smile and Eleven drop off Whisper and Coatie in the common room, and Eleven volunteers to stay behind to keep an eye on them while Patch performs his analysis. Smile continues to try and encourage Eleven, getting her to drink something.
As Kerfuffle and Smile join the others upstairs, the daemon introduces itself - the crew may call it ‘Solar’. Solar points out that they have freed it from being trapped inside Coatie, only to trap it inside yet another prison. Claiming to desire true freedom, it proposes a deal. It wants a new host - this time a willing one - in which to rest and regain its strength. As a magic user, even a weak one, Trigger would do. In return for allowing Solar two or three decades of hibernation that she’d barely even notice, she would receive unimaginable, immeasurable power.
At least, that’s how Solar puts it.
Trigger isn’t impressed by the offer of raw power, but she’s willing to negotiate. She proposes an alternative - she’ll let Solar inside her for as long as it needs, so long as it harms nobody. The rest of the Jammers react with shock and surprise. Tami objects loudly - it’s far too much of a risk. Smile is incredulous that Trigger would consider something so rash, and even the socially naive Kerfuffle is concerned that Trigger’s showing far too much trust.
Solar, however, seems pleased. It offers a massive paw for Trigger to shake and seal the pact, but Tami holds her back for the moment, trying to talk her down. Even if Solar keeps its word, Trigger could be changed forever if she lets it possess her; Tami doesn’t want her closest friend to become a different person. Smile and Kerfuffle, on the other hand, both figure something out: if Solar was completely in control of the situation, it wouldn’t need to rely on making bargains or offers of power. It’s powerful enough to put the whole crew to sleep for hours, so why isn’t it dictating terms? The griffon suggests taking a step back to give the situation more thought.
Despite the objections, Trigger reaches out to shake Solar’s paw. Not for power or out of blind trust, but so that nobody else is at risk of taking on the burden. At the last second, Tami and Smile bodily wrestle her to the floor. The three mares struggle together on the deck, shouting and arguing. Kerfuffle tries - tries - to make the situation less awkward.
Solar pays the griffon no attention, instead watching the situation with mild impatience and disappointment. Trigger eventually relents and agrees not to commit to anything for the moment, so the daemon tells her to come back when she convinces the others, then vanishes.
Kerfuffle sheepishly suggests heading downstairs to check on the others and discuss things over drinks, and after the three of them calm down a little they quietly agree. Once everyone’s out of the engine room, the griffon makes a point of locking the door - just in case.
Down in the common room, the Jammers find that Eleven has fallen asleep on the sofa. Whisper and Coatie are likewise still out cold. With the benefit of a little quiet and time to think, they go over what they know. First, while things didn’t go exactly to plan, Solar is still trapped. It’s just not exactly where they expected. Jhaziea and the Æther Corps should still be on the way to collect the Slicker and ought to be able to help. Trigger tries to argue that Solar said a willing bond would be safe and symbiotic, but Tami counters that Jhaziea already told them that daemons are masters of deception. Nothing it says can be fully trusted. The problem is, when the Corps do arrive they’ll no longer be carrying out a simple pickup from a derelict ship. Things will be far more complicated with two ships and the entire crew involved. Trigger is concerned that they might take Coatie away on top of everything else. Maybe Eleven too, who knows?
Eventually it’s decided that the simplest course of action would be to simply call Jhaziea and ask for advice. The crew are even more out of their depth than when they started. Trigger and Tami fetch Tundra’s communication device, while Smile and Kerfuffle go to check on the state of the Slicker’s reactor. Nobody’s comfortable going anywhere alone.
Trigger and Tami explain the situation to Professor Jhaziea as best they can, and her response is naturally one of concern. The crew falling unconscious and scattering around the two ships was likely due to a defensive reflex on the daemon’s part. She also confirms that Solar’s claim about feeding on Coatie’s emotions and strengthening her magic in return is plausible. If Sidewinder can reliably replicate what they did to her, then they’re on the verge of surpassing even pre-Wyrm Wars magic users. Daemon-powered mages - a dangerous possibility.
As far as the professor is concerned, the Jammers’ best bet would be to hold out until she arrives in a few days’ time. She’s particularly startled by the claim that Trigger almost allowed herself to be possessed willingly, and stresses that this would be a worst case outcome. Ultimately, whatever happens, Solar - which most likely isn’t even its real name - must not be allowed to leave the ships under any circumstances. It’s time to start keeping a close eye out for any signs of daemonic influence amongst the crew - and thinking of contingency plans.
Once Jhaziea has wished the crew luck and signed off, Trigger begins to realize just how close she came to doing something very foolish, and how badly hurt Tami would have been if she’d gone ahead with it. They reconcile emotionally, and agree that Tami can share Trigger’s bed for a while rather than sleep alone on the bridge with the daemon just down the hall.
Aboard the Slicker, Solar appears once again in the reactor room, somewhat unhappy about the state of its new accommodation. While Kerfuffle does what he can to stabilize the ship’s power, Smile attempts to negotiate with Solar in her own way. Both parties want the same thing: for the daemon to go somewhere else. Solar attempts to manipulate her, feeding the crystal pony sensations that remind her of Whisper and offers of more, but she’s not having it. The daemon vanishes once again, laughing ominously and clearly confident in its ability to change people’s minds...
Session #158 - Back to Front
The following night is truly miserable. Everyone sleeps very poorly, no doubt a result of Solar toying with them. Whisper wakes up too, though she seems no better off than anyone else. Ironically, only Coatie seems to have gotten a peaceful rest.
The morning treats the crew no better than the night; something about Claudia’s interior layout seems wrong, like everything’s backwards. Tami and Trigger find dried blood on their pillows with no clear source. Kerfuffle goes to wash his face, only for the bathroom sink to offer muddy filth instead of water. Smile turns on the television and receives a barrage of audiovisual nonsense - one that doesn’t stop even when the power’s switched off or the device is unplugged entirely.
Weary and uneasy, the Jammers gather for breakfast and manage to brew up some coffee. Trigger finds a tiny ball of clay and pointy stones in hers. Smile refuses to be intimidated; as far as she’s concerned Solar is pulling small, annoying magic tricks because they’re the best it has. She floats the idea of shutting down the reactor and running Claudia entirely on emergency power. But who knows what the daemon might do then? And if weakening it were that simple, why didn’t the professor recommend that instead of simply waiting Solar out?
Just to be safe, Kerfuffle checks everyone’s rooms. Whisper and Coatie are still in bed, miserable and fast asleep respectively, but Eleven is nowhere to be found. The crew hastily start to look for her, but more of Solar’s pranks slow them down. Eventually they come across her in perhaps the worst possible place: the engine room. She’s sitting in front of the reactor, silently mouthing unreadable words, and ignores the others as if in a trance. It takes Trigger and Smile dragging her bodily out of the room to snap the young unicorn out of it. Eleven reacts with shock - the last thing she remembers was falling asleep the previous evening. She has no idea what she was doing, but seems unharmed...
Tami and Trigger quickly usher Eleven downstairs, but Smile lingers to confront the daemon. For safety’s sake, Kerfuffle accompanies her. A few sharp whacks on the reactor housing get Solar to reveal itself.
Smile demands an explanation for the strange happenings plaguing the ship, but Solar playfully dodges the question. Instead, with supernatural charm and guile, it reverses the conversation. It knows the Jammers have help coming, and claims that the Corps can only make things worse.
Solar raises a question: what motive do the Æther Corps have for coming to the Jammers’ aid? Do they really intend to just banish it out of the kindness of their hearts with no questions asked? There is always some form of deal to be made, even if the terms aren’t explicit. Smile retorts by asking for alternatives - willing possession is off the table, but as far as she’s concerned she just wants the daemon gone.
Solar’s new offer is simple: land on a planet and at a place of its own choosing, and release it there. If the Jammers were to do as instructed it would - allegedly - leave them alone for the rest of their lives. Smile’s not particularly impressed, but agrees to at least relay the offer to the others. In the meantime, as payback for Solar’s mischief earlier and during the night, she instructs Kerfuffle to reduce the reactor’s output by half. Impressed by Smile’s boldness, Solar tells her to be careful what she wishes for before vanishing once again. Kerfuffle does as he’s told, uneasy about the whole situation and perturbed by the thought of what Solar might have been trying to do with Eleven.
Downstairs, Trigger and Tami bring Eleven up to speed on what happened while she was asleep (or ‘sleepwalking’). To guard against something similar happening again, they decide to institute a new rule until Solar is gone: nobody sleeps or goes anywhere alone. From now on everyone will be sleeping on the floor of the common room, taking watch shifts two at a time. While they get started on moving mattresses around, Tami and Eleven do their best to take their minds off the ongoing strangeness with talk about what they might do when all this is over. Stress is already starting to get to people; Tami worries about whether or not she’s done enough, so it’s Eleven’s turn to try and reassure her.
Smile and Kerfuffle rejoin the rest of the crew and inform them of Solar’s new offer. Nobody’s willing to commit to it - it just sounds like they’d be inflicting the daemon on somebody else. The crew carry on to discuss other potential options, but nothing conclusive comes of it for the moment. Switching off the reactor entirely might weaken Solar, but it would also make it angry and could simply displace it somewhere even worse. If the Æther Corps show up, there’s a good chance that they’d want to take Coatie away. Tami suggests that perhaps something could be done with the escape pods aboard the Void Slicker, but they’re in poor condition just like the rest of the ship and questionably safe.
The situation is a mess, and one way or another Solar probably isn’t going to give the crew much of an opportunity to come up with a plan that doesn’t favor its own desires. At the very least the haunting of the ship seems to have died down for the moment. Small mercies.
Minisession - Cursive
A short time later the crew settle down for lunch, very carefully checking their food for tampering from Solar as they do so. Fortunately it looks like the daemon’s backed off for the moment. Tami makes a suggestion: Regulus is still docked to Claudia and its reactor is completely offline. Solar probably doesn’t have any influence over it. Could it be used as a sort of escape vessel ahead of the Æther Corps’ arrival? Whisper explains that while she’s managed to carry out some manual repairs and restored cockpit control, Regulus is only barely spaceworthy. It still lacks a canopy; anyone aboard would need to wear a spacesuit and jumping would be out of the question.
Kerfuffle, a little uncertain about everyone’s distrust of the Corps, suggests asking Coatie for her take on the situation. It’s her future that’s under discussion after all. Trigger agrees and goes to wake her up.
Without the helmet or - at last - the daemon, Coatie seems to have changed for the better. Though still mute and almost entirely expressionless, her writing has improved enormously. Instead of communicating with crude messages jaggedly scraped into the paper, she now writes in elegant, ordered cursive. On top of that she’s even gracious and polite, thanking Trigger for her concern and explaining that she’s fine, just tired.
Coatie helmetless, by Kalemon
Trigger decides to postpone the serious conversation for later. After such an awful night, everyone could use a little rest. For the next few hours, the crew take advantage of the peaceful period and take turns resting as much as they can. Kerfuffle also takes the opportunity to examine the Void Slicker’s escape pods. They’re in bad shape; only one is even functional, and that’s after the griffon cannibalizes parts from the other. The one working pod might last 48 hours at best - hardly a safe haven even in an emergency.
That evening, everyone meets back up in the common room - Coatie included - and they bring her up to speed on what’s been going on. How the trap failed, Solar’s demands and attempt at gaining Trigger as a host, and the half-finished plans to keep Coatie out of the Corps’ hooves. Trigger proposes having Coatie and Whisper hide aboard Regulus when the Corps arrive. Aside from keeping Coatie from being taken away, nobody wants to deal with the inevitable mess that would ensue if an imperial task force came across an NLR agent and her ship on top of everything else. Tami adds that jettisoning the functional escape pod could provide an excuse for Coatie’s absence.
For her part, Coatie is adamant that the Jammers made the correct choice in not trusting Solar. In her opinion, the daemon is merely a malevolent being that exists to cause misery and suffering. She’d destroy it herself if she knew how. Unfortunately she doesn’t have the expertise to propose a solution to the current problem, but in light of how the crew helped her so far she’s willing to trust that they will find one.
Session #159 - Blood and Darkness
The following night is just as unpleasant as the last. Even sleeping together on the common room floor, the entire crew suffer from restlessness and intense nightmares. In the early hours, Trigger and Smile suddenly wake up to the sound of something breaking in the distance. The ship is dark and quiet again - unnaturally so - but more worryingly, nobody seems to be standing watch (whose watch was it anyway?). Kerfuffle, Coatie and Eleven are all still asleep but Tami and Whisper are both missing.
Listening carefully, Trigger and Smile pick up a strange sound. Whispering, far too quiet to hear clearly, can be heard from the cargo hold. Leaving the others to their rest for the moment, the pair carefully investigate the noise and quickly discover a large, fresh-looking bloodstain on the far side of the door. Following it soon reveals a shocking sight…
Trigger and Smile try to drag Tami and Whisper out of the bloody ritual circle, but the circle itself lashes at them as if alive! Fluid tendrils strike out at them with unnatural force, pushing them back and splattering them with blood. Blood that arranges itself into insidious patterns similar to those covering Tami and Whisper.
Smile takes a step back to catch her breath and reconsider but, infuriated by the sight of her friends being manipulated, Trigger charges again and tries to bodily ram Whisper out of the circle. This accomplishes nothing but subjecting the captain to another barrage of attacks. By the time Smile drags her away from the danger Trigger is dazed and battered, fighting to stay conscious with bloody patterns all over her. Tami and Whisper continue their sinister chant as if nothing had happened.
Smile hurries to boot up Patch so that he can attend to Trigger’s injuries, then goes to wake up the others. She hastily explains the situation; whatever Solar’s trying to accomplish by puppeting Tami and Whisper, it needs to be stopped. Fast. By the time they return to the cargo bay, Trigger’s back on her hooves but Patch is oddly offline again.
Sizing up the situation and thinking quickly, the crew formulate a plan to disrupt the ritual: an attack on multiple fronts. Eleven believes that she can directly disrupt the magic involved, Coatie’s powerful telekinesis can push Tami and Whisper out of the circle without anybody getting too close, and Kerfuffle can shut down Claudia’s reactor entirely to deprive Solar of power. With any luck, doing all three at the same time should break the spell. They’re all brute force solutions but at least one of them has to work, or at least that’s the hope.
Smile and Kerfuffle head upstairs to the engine room while the three unicorns remain in the cargo bay, preparing for their respective roles. There’s no sign of Solar in the reactor room and no time to waste with talk. Trigger and Smile coordinate the timing so that all three attacks take place simultaneously. Eleven’s magic breaks the bloody ritual circle, Coatie tosses Tami and Whisper clear, and Kerfuffle snuffs out the reactor entirely, dropping Claudia to emergency battery power. The plan appears to work as intended, but Tami and Whisper don’t simply snap out of their trance like Eleven did before...
The sound of screaming brings Smile and Kerfuffle hurrying back to the cargo hold, where the crew set about trying to revive the unconscious pair. Eleven and Coatie keep an awkward distance as Kerfuffle and Trigger try to rouse Tami. Smile and Patch attend to Whisper, who suddenly comes to and vomits a truly unreasonable amount of blood. Tami follows suit, quickly falling into a blind panic even as the others hold onto and try to calm her. Whisper’s reaction is more subdued, but Smile can tell she’s shaking terribly. Whatever magic kept the ritual going seems to have faded - the blood now liberally coating the floor and many of the crew has fallen inert.
After a few harrowing minutes, everybody manages to settle down enough to try and take stock of the situation. Like Eleven, neither Tami nor Whisper can recall what happened prior to waking up. Patch’s analysis returns bizarre results: though neither of the pair appear to be injured, the blood that was on and inside them doesn’t match that of anybody aboard. For the moment, there’s little to do but try and recover - though Tami and Whisper are clearly the worst off, everyone is badly shaken. It’s a small miracle that the shower is still working as it should.
Trigger and Tami shower first, and in the meantime Smile makes an emergency call to Professor Jhaziea to ask for advice. The zebra is still en route, and responds with absolute seriousness as she hears of the situation. Without a willing host to possess, Solar is attempting the next best thing: summoning itself into the material realm in physical form. It tried to do so subtly with Eleven, then more overtly with Tami and Whisper. This means it’s gaining in strength and confidence over time. Jhaziea points out in no uncertain terms that if Solar succeeds, everybody aboard the ship - and perhaps more besides - are utterly doomed. Until the Æther Corps arrive, the Jammers must do everything in their power to ensure this doesn’t happen, even if it means chaining themselves together or sabotaging Claudia.
The only other option, a last resort even for trained magisters, would be for a unicorn - one with powerful magic - to allow Solar to possess them and then resist the process through sheer force of will. This would weaken the daemon for some time if successful, but failure would be catastrophic. Smile promises that one way or another, Solar will not be allowed to leave the ship, so Jhaziea wishes to crew the best of luck and signs off.
For the moment, nobody’s in much of a fit state to commit to anything so drastic. Once Tami and Trigger finish a particularly thorough shower, Smile and Whisper take their turn.
The one bright light in the horrifying situation, ironically enough, is Coatie. She’s the only person aboard who completely kept her cool throughout the entire ordeal. Kerfuffle and Tami each take a moment to thank her for her help, and she responds graciously to each of them in turn. While Kerfuffle waits for his turn in the shower (Tami smeared and vomited blood all over him during the debacle in the hold), Coatie and the hippogriff manage to bond a little over some hot tea. Anything to take minds off the things happening around them...
Minisession - Contingency
Later that night, most of the crew return to uneasy rest. Aside from Claudia running purely on battery power now, everything appears ‘normal’. Disrupting the ritual seems to have pacified Solar for the moment. Trigger and Smile stay up to watch over the others; they pass the time with serious talk and a little strong alcohol.
Trigger brings up something that’s been bothering her. Solar said that a willing possession would be smooth and symbiotic, and Jhaziea confirmed that Coatie’s possession by Solar was what amplified her magical abilities. With those facts in mind, how do they know that Eleven, the star of Project Snowdrop and the most powerful unicorn around by far, doesn’t have a daemon inside her as well?
Smile is skeptical; justified issues aside, Eleven’s never come across as being under the control of something else. Tundra has magic and was never possessed, and even Three - though hardly well adjusted - didn’t come across as a raving force of destruction like Coatie did at first. Even so, they decide it couldn’t hurt to try and tease a little more information out of Jhaziea when she shows up.
That brings the conversation to the subject of what to do about contingency plans. How to make absolutely certain that no matter what happens, Solar cannot leave Claudia or the Void Slicker. That means immobilizing the ships, just in case the daemon manages to seize full control. Trigger floats the idea of sequestering everyone in their rooms and opening the remainder of the ship to open space. Smile considers the possibility of dumping the fuel reserves. Either way, disabling the ship is a mechanical problem best put by Kerfuffle and Tami once they’re up.
All that’s left until morning is drink and supportive company.
Session #160 - The Cavalry
The following morning, everyone wakes up for breakfast. After two stressful nights in a row with little to no proper rest, people are starting to show signs of serious fatigue. Kerfuffle is sleep-deprived and unusually irritable, and even Whisper’s stoic professionalism is starting to slip. Eleven and Coatie stand out as the only ones that managed to get some actual rest. Jhaziea is due to arrive in a matter of hours later that afternoon, so the crew set to discussing last minute plans.
The issue of keeping Whisper, Coatie and Regulus away from the Empire is relatively simple. The pair of them can get aboard Whisper’s fighter in space suits, perform a cold launch to get away from Claudia, then simply fly as normal to a safe distance where they can hide and wait for the all clear. In the meantime, the Void Slicker’s spare escape pod can be launched to serve as an excuse for why Coatie isn’t aboard. It would be easy enough to lie and say she jettisoned it herself in a desperate bid to get away while everyone else was still under Solar’s influence.
The contingency plan is trickier. Everyone agrees that something ought to be done just in case Solar makes a last ditch attempt to take control of the ship. Kerfuffle objects to Trigger’s idea of venting the ship - Solar already demonstrated that he can take control of the doors when he enthralled Eleven and got her into the locked engine room. Trapping the entire crew with only a single door between them and hard vacuum could end in disaster. Likewise, Tami shoots down Smile’s idea of dumping fuel. If Claudia’s fuel tanks are empty, they’ll be reliant on the Empire for transport and won’t be able to retrieve Whisper and Coatie.
Fortunately, Tami proposes a better solution. There are plenty of vital components that all ships carry spares of as standard. It should be easy enough to remove and jettison Claudia’s own, then request a replacement from Professor Jhaziea once she arrives and deals with Solar. Without the part in question, the ship would be immobilized even in the worst case scenario. Kerfuffle agrees that it could work, so Trigger gives the go-ahead.
Whisper heads to the cargo bay to prep Regulus for departure. Coatie elects to join her due to the buddy system. Meanwhile, Tami volunteers to go uninstall the necessary component from Claudia. Smile accompanies her to the bridge, leaving Trigger, Kerfuffle and Eleven to carry on talking amongst themselves. Trigger is a little concerned of what the Empire might think of the transdimensional engine that Eleven’s been building in the hold, but the young unicorn is confident that it’s far too advanced and obscure for them to figure out. More to the point - what’s next after Solar’s gone?
Kerfuffle suggests the crew carry on as they were before they got stuck dealing with Solar: keep a low profile, gather as much data on Sidewinder as possible, and then reveal their wrongdoings to the galaxy at large. Smile’s put together quite the dossier on the syndicate by now. Eleven’s looking forward to having time to test the TDE. When Kerfuffle recommends caution and points out that the device needs her safe and healthy in order to function, Eleven agrees that there’s only one of her and she likes it that way (though the thing Rea did was really cool).
Up on the bridge, Tami raises a question. Oblivious to their ongoing relationship, she’s started wondering if Smile and Whisper might make a good couple. Smile plays dumb, allowing Tami to indulge in thinking of herself as the pair’s future matchmaker. And tries very hard not to laugh.
Some time later, Claudia is crippled and Regulus has departed with Whisper and Coatie aboard. All that’s left is for everyone else to wait for Jhaziea’s arrival. Suddenly, the ship registers an approaching sensor ping. Tami and Trigger identify it - to their horror - as the Queen of Hearts. There’s a moment of abject panic as the crew scramble to get the ship running again, only for that same sensor contact to suddenly register as Fafnir instead. Then another contact - the Queen again. The Jammers grudgingly relax; Solar’s obviously playing games with them. If Cobra were really there, she’d be gloating already.
The sensor ping changes a few more times - Regulus, the Dame Vermillion Sting, a tiny fighter named Komet - even Port Medusa. When that doesn’t elicit a response, Claudia starts blaring alarms about incoming ordnance and impending collisions. Rattled as they are, the Jammers elect to wait it out. Finally a ship actually does appear, emerging from M-space within visual range, and it’s a familiar one. Jhaziea has arrived at last, and she brought the Fafnir with her.
The imperial destroyer makes contact, and the Jammers are glad to hear the voice of Commodore Corona Gleam hailing them. They’re less enthused by the fact that Corona has her ship train its heavy guns on Claudia - a fair precaution, but not exactly reassuring. A small shuttle promptly launches from the larger ship, so Trigger takes Kerfuffle and Smile to meet them in the cargo hold. Tami elects to stay on the bridge where it might be a little quieter, so Eleven volunteers to keep her company. Once the shuttle docks, Professor Jhaziea disembarks with Lieutenant Commander Vortex Twist and a large team of heavily armed marines led by Second Lieutenant Pinpoint. The soldiers immediately spread out, scanning for magical signatures.
Up on the bridge, Tami and Eleven talk quietly amongst themselves to try and pass the time. Eleven is concerned for Whisper and Coatie - Whisper looked none too happy when she left, but that could just have been the stress of the situation piling up. Tami points out that it can be hard to tell what Whisper’s thinking sometimes and redirects the conversation to something more positive: Coatie’s doing so much better now that Solar’s no longer controlling her.
There’s little time for pleasantries. As the soldiers do their work, Professor Jhaziea suggests the crew take a seat and tell her everything they know about Solar and the things it’s been doing. Trigger, Smile and Kerfuffle lead Vortex and Jhaziea through to the common room and recount what they can - with the notable omission of Regulus and the pair aboard. When the professor inevitably asks after the daemon’s original host, Smile and Trigger maintain their planned lie. They don’t know where Coatie is; while Solar was terrorizing the crew she panicked, took one of the escape pods and disappeared into space.
The ruse appears to work, at least well enough for the two imperials to take it at face value. They have Fafnir begin a scan for the pod, then quickly return to the conversation. Out of curiosity, Trigger asks what would happen to Coatie if the Corps did take her in. Jhaziea explains matter-of-factly: the Æther Corps is the best and only appropriate place for magically gifted unicorns in the galaxy. Without proper training in discipline and restraint, magic-capable unicorns always die young due to accidents involving their powers. Or so she claims.
This assertion immediately riles up Kerfuffle, who’s mostly been listening quietly so far. Jhaziea doesn’t know it, but to his perspective she’s just asserted that Eleven is doomed to die. As the zebra announces that she’s ready to begin dealing with Solar, the stressed, sleep-deprived and suddenly very disagreeable griffon across the table starts to seethe...
Minisession - Denial and Bargaining
Kerfuffle interjects and asks a pointed question. Solar’s been bombarding the crew with delusions and false information since the start - why should they trust that Jhaziea and Vortex are actually real? The professor admits that the question is pertinent, and asks whether the Jammers still have the illusion-detecting amulets given to them by Professor Razzmatazz. The amulets are designed to react to arcane magic such as that used by unicorns, even those with little to no inherent power, but shouldn’t respond to daemonic influence. Sure enough, the amulets vibrate softly when Trigger and Vortex pick them up.
Kerfuffle isn’t satisfied however, and starts to steer the conversation back towards what Jhaziea said about magically gifted unicorns dying young. Smile catches on quickly, realizing what the griffon’s getting at; he’s distraught and falling into denial. She reprimands him for talking out of turn and hastily attempts to steer things back to the main issue at hand: getting rid of the daemon. She promptly gets up and leaves to show Jhaziea the way to the Void Slicker’s reactor room, leaving Trigger, Kerfuffle and an increasingly nervous Vortex at the table.
Kerfuffle’s pent up frustration comes to a head and he asks Trigger to find him something to occupy his hands. The first thing that comes to her mind, for whatever reason, is the old motorcycle that the Jammers appropriated from Cascavel some time ago. The griffon lifts it up and looks ready to smash it over the pool table, but finally gets a grip when he realizes that the bike is one of the objects that Eleven’s been working on. He slowly settles, so Trigger does what she can to comfort him, and he eventually manages an apology.
Up on the bridge, Tami asks Eleven how she managed to sleep soundly despite Solar giving everyone such terrible nightmares. She shrugs - no idea. Eleven asks Tami why the crew are so leery about telling the Empire about Coatie, so Tami points out their history - even though the bulk of the Æther Corps seem like good people, they ultimately take their orders from Nightmare Star. Only a few decades ago, the terrible war Nightmare Star carried out against Princess-Regent Luna resulted in countless deaths and massive destruction. She can’t be trusted - certainly not with powerful magic - so the people working for her can’t be fully trusted either.
Over aboard the Void Slicker, Smile and Jhaziea are accompanied by Pinpoint and a group of her marines. They take up positions around the reactor, keeping watch as Jhaziea prepares. Smile wonders whether daemons can suffer. The professor answers in the negative, but what happens next suggests otherwise. After setting up the necessary items, Jhaziea begins performing a ritual similar to the one she carried out at Site Two. Solar appears, none too happy about the situation, and even less so as it realizes what’s happening - but the battle between daemon and exorcist is short and one-sided. After all it did to her and her friends, Smile enjoys watching the daemon squirm. Perhaps even a little too much.
At the ritual’s conclusion, Solar is compressed into a small sphere of churning magical energy which Jhaziea scoops into a purpose-made container. Smile questions this, but Jhaziea explains that all that’s left of the daemon is what she refers to as an ‘echo’. It’ll never bother the Jammers again. Smile offers to toss the container into the nearest star, but all of a sudden Jhaziea and the others are very eager to get the container back to the Fafnir. So much so that the search for Coatie is apparently forgotten.
While Kerfuffle wheels the motorbike back into Claudia’s cargo hold, Trigger apologizes to Vortex Twist and tries to cover for him. Everyone’s heavily stressed, and the thought of people dying young brings back painful thoughts of Galena’s situation. It’s close enough to the truth that Vortex seems to buy it.
Just then, Jhaziea re-emerges from the umbilical to the Void Slicker with Solar’s container in tow and announces to everyone that it’s time to leave. The daemon is dealt with, everything is safe, thanks for enduring several days of pain and suffering, et cetera et cetera. She eases the sharp departure ever so slightly with a large credit transfer to the Jammers’ company account, but she’s in such a hurry that the crew barely manage to ask her for the replacement part they need to get Claudia moving again. A minute later one of the imperial soldiers fetches the necessary component from their shuttle, and then Jhaziea, Vortex, Pinpoint and their entourage are off back to the Fafnir with barely a goodbye.
Smile meets up with Trigger and Kerfuffle in the cargo hold, disdainful of how Jhaziea essentially just paid them off for a magical superweapon, but ultimately everyone’s just relieved that the daemon is gone.
Smile apologises for snapping at Kerfuffle and points out that Jhaziea’s claim about magically gifted unicorns dying young is likely a partial truth. Eleven and Coatie aren’t just any unicorns, and more importantly they have the support and understanding of close friends. The entire crew are going to help and support them, for as long and as many times as it takes. Kerfuffle and Trigger take that more or less at face value and head upstairs to give Tami and Eleven the all clear. Smile, on the other hand, takes a few minutes to herself - perhaps for a much overdue release of tension, or perhaps because she isn’t quite as willing to buy her own ‘magic of friendship’ spiel.
Session #161 - Cry for Help
The Fafnir departs immediately, no doubt hurrying the professor and her new prize back to Equestria’s moon as quickly as possible. Some relatively simple work restores Claudia to normal functionality, and a couple of hours later they find Regulus still drifting on the course it departed on. Everyone hurries down to the cargo hold as it docks, ready to receive Whisper and Coatie after their sojourn in space. To everyone’s relief, they seem to have gotten along surprisingly well.
With relief as the prevailing emotion, the crew finally get a moment to breathe. Kerfuffle is immensely glad that Eleven and Coatie are safe, and Eleven insists that he take it easy and stop worrying. Tami picks up on a shared look between Whisper and Smile. Assuming that this means the pair really are meant for each other, the hippogriff eagerly shares suggestions for how Smile can get Whisper’s attention the moment the agent is out of earshot. With diagrams! She’s had a lot of time to think about these things and a lot to push out of her mind.
Some time later, the crew gather in the common room as Trigger prepares a meal. For a preciously short time there’s nothing to worry about - no Sidewinder tracking devices, no daemons, no prying government agencies. Naturally though, the calm is not to last. Tami receives a candid message from Verbena back at Port Medusa, and it doesn't sound good.
The Jammers largely react with skepticism, even Tami. Nobody wants a repeat of the encounter with Taipan, and such a short, terse message seems out of character for the usually peppy Verbena. On the other hand, a brief survey of the galactic news confirms that the NLR’s presence has continued to intensify around Port Medusa, to the point of practically occupying the station in full. If Verbena and Alyssum (not to mention Donner and Blitz) really were in trouble, it wouldn’t do to leave them hanging. Worse: it could be a two-pronged problem. What if the crisis is real but Sidewinder are waiting in ambush anyway? They could be waiting at Medusa itself or anywhere along the ro ute there.
The crew carefully discuss potential options. In the worst case, they might need to stage a rescue. For her part Eleven suggests using her TDE to jump directly to Medusa, but concedes that it’s still untested and may not be reliable. There’s all sorts of other problems - the Republic blockade, what to do about Regulus and Whisper, and the fact that no matter what they do, Cobra and the Queen of Hearts are stalking them. Coatie confirms this; though her knowledge of Sidewinder’s operations is limited, she clarifies that Cobra is actively hunting for the Jammers to reclaim Eleven. Once Eleven’s tracking device was deactivated Cobra started to get restless, perhaps even desperate. Her superiors are probably breathing down her neck by now.
Smile takes a different angle. She’s reasonably certain that the message from Verbena is another trap and proposes doing something Sidewinder won’t expect. She wants to go after Star Kisser, whom she flagged as suspect number one for Sidewinder - that is, leader of the Sidewinder Syndicate - all the way back at the Silver Dome. Cutting off the head of the snake, so to speak. Whisper proposes something similar: if Cobra’s waiting in ambush, what about triggering her trap on the crew’s own terms to take her out of the picture?
Ultimately though, everyone’s far too exhausted to take action immediately. As one last check for peace of mind’s sake, Smile has Eleven and Coatie carry out the test that Vortex and Trigger did earlier. The amulets react vigorously to the two unicorns’ magic, demonstrating - at least to the satisfaction of all present - that they’re themselves. Solar is gone, and thank goodness for that.
Session #162 - Green Hill Runner
The crew continue to discuss their options, and Tami suggests a stealthy approach. She and Smile could work together to hack Claudia’s IFF system and falsify their legal information, allowing them to approach Port Medusa quietly under a false identity and find out what’s happennig. But even that might not be enough - according to the news channels, the Saphiban system is under near-total lockdown. Between the Empire’s seizure of Isla del Dragon and the NLR’s blockade of Port Medusa, traffic and trade through the Periphery has slowed to a near-total standstill. Verbena, Alyssum, Donner and Blitz could be in any manner of danger, but delivering Eleven, Coatie and Whisper straight into the Republic’s hands wouldn’t help.
Whisper speculates that the Republic are making a power play - attempting to appear strong in the face of the Empire’s expansion even though the blockade hurts their own economy. Something’s stirred them up badly, and the two powers are drawing closer and closer to open conflict. Sidewinder likely have a hand in the matter, but who knows why, or how deep their influence goes?
There’s another option, however: Leopold, the arms dealer that operates out of Port Medusa. With any luck he’s still operating, and might give the Jammers an inroad to finding out what’s happening. Smile contacts him and sure enough, while business is difficult his associates are still making limited deliveries in and out of the station. Smile contracts him to have a package delivered to Verbena in person, to which he obliges. For a fee, of course. It’ll take a few days to get there and back, but that’s acceptable - caution seems to be the best approach.
In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to falsify Claudia’s identity anyway. Tami and Smile head up to the bridge to make a start. Meanwhile, Kerfuffle poses a question to Eleven and Coatie. If magic is influenced by emotions, could Eleven’s increasing restraint and control over her magic be a sign that she’s happier with the Jammers than when she was confined in Site One?
The answer seems to be yes. Even Coatie agrees - her control over her magic is better already.
The following day, the Jammers meet with Leopold’s contact and complete Claudia’s facelift. Along with changing the ship’s IFF data, Tami uses the opportunity to brainstorm a company logo - an old, old project that had been forgotten up until now. Choosing one is something for everybody to look forward to when - or if - things go back to normal. Further repairs are even made to Regulus, but without an entire new cockpit canopy it still won’t be jumping anywhere or engaging in any kind of combat. The meeting with the arms dealer also gives the crew an opportunity to stock back up on weapons, ammunition and medical supplies.
Thinking through ideas on how best to tackle Sidewinder’s assassin robots if they show up again, Tami puts a few thoughts by Whisper. She also cheekily asks if she could borrow the former agent’s stealth suit. Just in case.
Tami takes her ideas to Eleven, who responds much the same way - minus the tact and humor. Once all the giggling and hippogriff embarrassment has died down, Tami’s suggestions on anti-robot weaponry bear results. Eleven is pretty certain that, with a little time to work, she could modify some of Tami’s ammunition to cause an EMP effect. Effective against robots - and perhaps against cyborgs like Cobra if it ever comes to that.
Smile, Trigger and Kerfuffle discuss what Claudia’s fake name ought to be. A name that pokes fun at snakes is probably a bad idea, and Mongoose is right out. Eventually they settle on Green Hill Runner - much more innocent and uninteresting, and perfect for a small-time courier business that goes fast.
Session #163 - Leaf on the Wind
It takes several days for Leopold’s contact to get the Jammers’ message to Port Medusa, time the crew use for much-needed rest and recuperation. Whisper does what she can to repair her ship, Eleven continues work on the transdimensional engine, and Kerfuffle begins to get full, painless motion back in his wings. Eventually Claudia receives a simple two-way audio-only contact from Verbena, and the crew gather to speak to her.
The situation at Port Medusa is pretty much as bad as everyone feared - the New Lunar Republic navy has occupied it almost completely, even taking command of stationwide security. Verbena and Alyssum are both safe, as are Donner and Blitz; in fact, Donner is bodyguarding Verbena as they speak. But still, the situation is tense. Tense and scary.
The Jammers warn Verbena of the possible connection between Sidewinder and the Republic, and ask if she sent them the message Tami received the other day. It turns out that the crew’s suspicions were right: Verbena sent no such message. In fact the Jammers had been out of contact for so long that she was worried they’d been captured. At the news of Sidewinder’s involvement, Verbena brings Alyssum into the call. The director is clearly stressed, and demands to know all that the Jammers can tell her about what Sidewinder are up to on her station. All they can really do is tell her to be on the lookout for the Queen of Hearts, and offer what little assistance they might be able to provide. Alyssum flatly refuses the suggestion of rescue, but points out that if the Jammers really want to assist in person she still has enough influence to get them through the NLR blockade.
Just then, Trigger’s multiband receives a message:
'Run. S.D.'
The contact with Alyssum suddenly breaks off, and Sunset Dreamer’s warnings have always been accurate in the past, so the crew hurriedly scramble to get Claudia moving. Tami, Trigger and Smile arrive on the bridge and quickly recognise the problem: four ships are incoming - three fighters, along with a larger command ship. The newcomers’ IFFs broadcast their intentions clearly - they’re bounty hunters, and it only stands to reason that they’re after the money Sidewinder put on Eleven’s head.
Tami hastily detaches Claudia from the Void Slicker - the bounty hunters are almost right on top of them already, and it’d be impossible to run with a second ship attached. The problem is, even without the Slicker weighing her down there’s no way a freighter like Claudia could outrun dedicated combat ships. Even spooling up the M-space drive for a jump would take too long. Tami thinks on her feet and comes up with a daring plan. If she could get it working, Eleven’s transdimensional engine could jump them to safety in an instant. Meanwhile, even bounty hunters are bound by laws; could Smile slow them down with protocol and red tape?
Eleven confirms that she could give her invention a try, though with some trepidation. There’s a catch to the whole thing: the TDE will require a full redirect of the ship’s power. They’ll be sitting ducks while she prepares. Despite the risk, the Jammers elect to put their faith in Eleven and her invention. The only alternative is a fight they have little chance of winning.
It isn’t long before the bounty hunter ships surround Claudia and demand to be allowed to board. Smile does what she does best: bullshitting. There are rules and regulations to be followed even in the contractor profession, and the crystal mare’s familiar enough with the law to draw out the process and make it as slow and painful for the hunters as possible. It actually works - though they have Claudia encircled, the fighters hold position (and fire) for the moment.
Down in the cargo hold, Eleven straps herself into the TDE’s chair and plugs the Frankensteinian neural spike into the back of her head. Coatie stands silently in attendance while Eleven walks Kerfuffle through setting up the device. It’s the griffon’s job to redirect the ship’s power, while Tami sets the target and keys the final jump ignition. Kerfuffle’s concerned about the possible danger Eleven could be in and offers to shut the process down if it starts to harm her, but she stresses that under no circumstances should the jump be aborted once it’s begun.
Tami sets the jump target to anywhere within Confederate space, and as the TDE charges it looks like Eleven is casting a powerful spell. It’s also taking an enormous toll on both her and the ship - the young unicorn twitches and spasms in the chair, almost like she’s having a seizure, and all Kerfuffle and Coatie can do is try to hold her in place and keep her from hurting herself. Every single FTL-related warning blares on the bridge, even contradictory ones. The ship shudders and heaves, secondary systems falling inactive one after another. A rift opens - one unlike any M-space rift that any of the crew have seen before in their lives - and engulfs the ship in unnatural void and silence.
For a few tense seconds, Claudia is nowhere.
...and then, suddenly, bright daylight and a blue sky explode from the darkness as the jump completes. The ship is high above the clouds in the atmosphere of a terrestrial world. With no power. Caught by gravity, it begins to tumble into freefall. Whoops.
Kerfuffle unhooks Eleven from the TDE, finding her deeply unconscious, while Tami does what she can to try and get the ship running again. It’s no good - the jump completely overloaded Claudia’s reactor and sent it into an emergency shutdown. With no other options, Coatie and Patch take Eleven while the griffon hurries up to the engine room to try and restore power. Trigger joins him there. Between the two of them restarting the reactor manually is difficult, but possible. Whisper hurries aboard Regulus to make an emergency launch - if Claudia were to hit the ground, even in a controlled fashion, the fighter would be crushed into the larger ship’s belly and cause catastrophic damage.
Despite their best efforts, Kerfuffle and Trigger only restore a fraction of Claudia’s full power. With minimal stabilization and thrust Tami levels out the descent somewhat, but it’s just not enough; a crash landing is inevitable. Aboard Regulus, Whisper is able to get the lay of the land and guide the crippled frigate towards open ground. Most of the planet below is composed of rocky, vegetated hills, but she manages to locate a relatively level forested area for Tami - fighting panic and turbulence - to bring Claudia down. While the others do what they can to brace for impact, Coatie approaches Smile with an idea: she might be able to help with her magic. The pair head down to the cargo hold and Smile secures them both with lifelines, then opens the rear door. Everyone that isn’t strapped in already gets into the nearest emergency harness. All that’s left is to wait out the few dreadful seconds before the ship hits the ground.
Claudia crashes into the treeline at high speed and a low angle, bulldozing trees by the dozen. Coatie’s powerful telekinesis grips the ship’s back end and forces it downwards, increasing traction, but even with that the ship tears a deep, long gash into the landscape before finally settling to an uneasy stop. The power fails entirely and plunges the interior into darkness. Yet despite everything, Claudia is intact and everyone is still alive.
Shaken and disoriented by the crash, the Jammers attempt to get their bearings. Down in the hold, Smile notices a powerful and oddly significant smell coming through the open door: peaches. Claudia crashed in a peach orchard. As the rest of the crew stumble downstairs she recalls the words of Solemn Thought, the fortune-telling unicorn wizard back on Equestria’s moon: peaches mean safety. Bizarre, but it certainly beats dying...
Session #164 - Not in Kansas Anymore
In the aftermath of the crash, the crew survey the immediate damage and try to come to terms with delayed shock. Trigger and Smile help a very nauseous Tami outside for some fresh air, joined by a very curious Coatie. Once her head’s stopped spinning, Tami makes sure to thank and hug Coatie for her assistance in making the crash less severe. The response, as usual, is a blank stare. Meanwhile, Kerfuffle checks in with Patch to make sure Eleven’s doing okay. She’s still unconscious and likely to remain that way for some time, though Patch reports that she’s simply exhausted rather than hurt.
Though a proper examination will be needed to figure out the extent of the damage to Claudia, the ship seems pretty much intact. Smile climbs up onto the hull to try and get the lay of the land. From the neat rows of peach trees they’re obviously on someone’s agricultural land, and a tall plume of vapor in the far distance indicates what could be a small starport. With Claudia’s reactor dead, nobody has the network access they could use to ascertain their location beyond that.
A sound picks up in the distance - an approaching engine. A combustion engine, even. After a few minutes a truck approaches the crash site from amongst the trees, driven by a very big, unfamiliar earth pony mare with Whisper riding shotgun. They disembark and Whisper introduces the mare as Goodwill Tour, who works on the local farm. She’s very friendly, if a little slow. As it turns out, Whisper could see the farm building from the air and flew ahead to get help.
The Jammers apologize for crashing into Goodwill’s orchard, but she advises them to speak to her brother instead. He’s not around at the moment, but he runs the farm. She just works there. A few introductions later, Goodwill is able to clear up one of the crew’s burning questions - they’re on a moon in the Larissa system, on the far side of the Confederate core worlds. Tami’s mind is blown; the jump began in Zebraha, which means that Eleven’s TDE jumped Claudia clear across the galaxy. They skipped over the Periphery, the Republic and most of the Confederacy near-instantaneously, a journey that would normally have taken a couple of weeks.
Goodwill graciously offers to let the crew stay at the farm while they figure out what to do next. Claudia isn’t going anywhere - it’s not like Goodwill’s truck is going to tow her - but the farm has a limited network connection and there’s a town with a clinic close by. The Jammers politely accept, and Kerfuffle heads inside to fetch Eleven. He privately confides in Patch that what happened to Eleven while the TDE was running seriously scared him. She’s still fast asleep, but Patch confirms that it should be safe to move her.
An hour’s drive later and everyone arrives at the local farmhouse. It’s quaint, rustic and in the middle of nowhere, with a barn and a small warehouse. Regulus is parked behind the barn. Goodwill leads Kerfuffle indoors to find somewhere to set Eleven down while the others explore.
Kerfuffle and Goodwill have a pleasant conversation - they have a lot in common as simple working class types, despite his industrial background and her rural one. Once Eleven is situated comfortably on the sofa, the griffon offers to help out however he can to repay the hospitality. Goodwill doesn’t ask for much, just a bucket of water from the well outside, and gets started on preparing some lunch for everyone. She also introduces Trevor, the farm’s “dog” - he looks more like a four legged shark, but seems gentle enough.
The rest of the crew, minus Whisper, find the farm unfamiliar and fascinating. In fact, Whisper demonstrates an uncanny and surprising affinity for animals. Trigger comes across a massive tractor in the warehouse and learns what it feels like to be a (figurative) deer in headlights. Tami delights in the chickens and carefully introduces Coatie to them; the unicorn studies the strange creatures with her usual placid indifference.
Tami, ever the enthusiastic matchmaker, quietly approaches Whisper with a suggestion - has she considered that Smile might be attracted to her? Whisper, well aware of the running joke by now, decides to humor her. They have a lot in common, and that scar is so eye-catching… Whisper teases Tami by reversing the question; has Tami ever seen herself with another mare? Tami clarifies that she doesn’t swing that way. Generally. For the most part. Whisper gets the poor hippogriff stuck wrestling with her own imagination. Blushing and sputtering ensues.
While fetching the water, Kerfuffle runs into Trigger by the well. The captain checks in to see how Eleven’s doing - and the griffon too, for that matter. Kerfuffle admits that he’s been under a lot of stress lately and having some peace and quiet and simple work to do is helping a lot. On the brighter side, he’s starting to feel like he might be able to fly again. A big open space like this would be perfect for practicing, and a little quiet time to relax would help everyone.
Session #165 - Clean Slate
A short time later, Goodwill invites everybody inside for a delicious lunch of farm-grown food and offers to help repair Claudia if she can. After eating, Coatie’s attention is drawn to the many pictures hung on the walls of the dining room. By the look of it, this farm has been in Goodwill’s family for a very long time; she must have many relatives.
Next arises the question of what to do next. The crew decide to leave their next move until later and use the afternoon to try and relax. Once Goodwill’s brother gets back from whatever he’s doing, they’ll need to speak to him about the damage to the farm. Also, they’ll have to make a proper analysis of the damage to Claudia and see whether repairs are viable. Smile and Whisper decide that they’ll take a visit to the nearby town to pick up supplies and local information. Goodwill informs everyone - with great regret and sadness - that if they’re intending to stay, they’ll need to sleep in the barn. The farm has no guest rooms. Luckily, nobody minds.
In the meantime, the crew try to make the best of the afternoon. Tami and Smile find a shady spot to try something that they’d discussed before - using Smile’s jagged scar as the basis for some painted flowers. Whisper watches. It’s a good opportunity for some much-welcome small talk and emotional decompression between the three of them.
Kerfuffle takes Trigger aside for a moment to ask some advice - if he managed to get himself flying again, would it be a fun surprise if he took Eleven up into the air after she woke up? Trigger is supportive, and agrees to keep an eye on him while he tries out a few basic flight exercises in the yard. Conveniently, Eleven (still fast asleep) is located right next to a large window that offers a clear view. It’s not exactly graceful, but after some warming up Kerfuffle does manage a few very short glides. After his injury and several weeks of barely moving his wings there’s still plenty of work to do, but it’s a start, and he’s motivated to relearn quickly.
Some time later, an SUV pulls up. Goodwill and Trevor hurry to meet it - the driver is clearly Clean Slate, Goodwill’s brother and owner of the farm. The crew slowly assemble to meet him, and are quickly struck by how unlike his sister he is. Slate is cold, blunt, and quite eager to learn how long it will be before the newcomers get off his property. He’s also a lot sharper, quickly picking up on several strange details amongst the crew and the circumstances of the crash.
Trigger and Smile do what they can to make excuses, covering up the more sensitive details like the TDE, the massive criminal syndicate hunting them, and the fact that Coatie and Eleven are both powerful, questionably stable magic users. Slate appears accommodating for the moment, but also skeptical; he obviously realises that the crew are hiding things from him.
Once Goodwill and Slate have headed indoors, Coatie raises a couple of curious observations. Firstly, Goodwill appears to have a significant scar on the back of her head, mostly hidden by her mane. Secondly, while the photos in the house suggest that Goodwill and Slate have a large family, why do the two of them live alone out here? Smile concurs - two ponies couldn’t possibly manage a farm of this size on their own all year round. They’d have to get outside help for the harvests - very inefficient. It’s all circumstantial speculation, but could it be that Goodwill and Slate are hiding things of their own? Is it possible that the farm conceals a dark secret that could put the Jammers in danger?
Kerfuffle suggests that the crew should mind their own business and concentrate on getting Claudia flying again. Just then, the door creaks - it’s as if someone’s leaning on the other side, listening in. Trigger makes a point of changing the direction of the conversation, but a moment later the door falls open and the eavesdropper is revealed - it’s just Trevor, the big friendly farm sharkdog. Apparently he’s smart enough to open doors, and is merely looking for attention. Nothing suspicious at all...
Session #166 - Who are You?
Later in the afternoon, Clean Slate drives Smile and Kerfuffle back to the crash site to appraise the damage dealt to both the ship and the orchard. He expects the Jammers to compensate for the damage to his property; insurance doesn’t cover cargo ships tumbling out of the sky and flattening his trees. Fortunately, the aftermath of the crash isn’t too bad. Slate’s down a few dozen unharvested peach trees, which will have to come out of the Jammers’ budget, but the damage to Claudia is mostly superficial. She’s still spaceworthy, though the stress placed on the reactor means that a slow and total reboot is needed. It’ll be safe to take off again after a day or two. Everyone returns to the farmhouse - it looks like they’ll be staying overnight after all.
After getting up to speed on the state of the ship, the Jammers gather in the yard to try and figure out how the bounty hunters found them. It’s most likely that Sidewinder have someone closely monitoring Port Medusa’s communications - their surreptitious call to Verbena and Alyssum could have been backtraced despite all the effort they put into keeping it on the down low. Sidewinder could have simply tipped off the hunters because they happened to be close to the Jammers’ location at the time. Uncertain, but it’s as good an explanation as any.
Just then, Slate emerges from behind the barn with Whisper in tow, both fiercely arguing. Slate just came across Regulus, and recognises it as a NLR black ops ship. He demands to know where it came from, how the Jammers got it, and how it ended up parked on his land. Thinking quickly, Trigger points out the state of the ship - the busted canopy and other lasting damage from the fight with Taipan - and lies that they found it drifting in the aftermath of a space battle. It’s useful salvage and probably worth a bit of money. Fortunately, the bluff seems to work and Slate’s confrontational attitude softens a little. He advises the captain that a ship like that raises questions and advises her to get rid of it quickly.
Off to one side, Whisper speaks to the others privately. Regulus is a highly classified model of ship - officially it doesn’t even exist. And yet, Clean Slate was able to identify it right down to its exact class. How is a Confederate peach farmer so familiar with the Republic’s cutting edge stealth fighters?
A little later, Smile joins Slate in his office to go over the finer paperwork regarding the crash. She uses the opportunity to pay close attention to him and the state of his business, trying to discern whether there’s more than meets the eye. For the most part, everything seems legitimate - the farm is above board and makes a modest profit, and despite his frosty attitude the stallion doesn’t seem to bear any ill intent towards the crew personally. On the other hand, he’s definitely hiding something. From the framed photos around the room, Smile gets the impression that Slate was much happier and friendlier several years ago; something must have changed.
The rest of the afternoon passes without incident. Tami spends some time with Coatie, teaching her how to play fetch with Trevor. As they play, Tami asks the unicorn how she manages to be so calm and composed all the time. Coatie speculates that Solar, “the Voice,” burned out all of her anger and other strong emotion. Nonetheless, she’s still willing to learn and soon gets the hang of tossing sticks for the sharkdog to catch. Kerfuffle and Whisper spend some time assisting Goodwill with menial work around the farm. Eventually evening arrives, and the crew head to the barn to get some rest. It’s hardly five star accommodation, but pleasant enough. Eleven stays where she is, still fast asleep on the sofa inside the farmhouse.
Sometime in the night, Coatie wakes Trigger up and ushers her over to the barn door. Peeking through the crack, Trigger sees Clean Slate emerge from the farmhouse’s basement carrying a large, sophisticated-looking rifle. Obviously a military-grade weapon. He takes it into the house and shuts the door, unaware that he’s being watched. This naturally sets off alarm bells in Trigger’s head, so she quickly wakes up the others to tell them what she just saw.
It isn’t clear what Slate’s up to, but whatever’s happening can’t be good. Kerfuffle is immediately concerned for Eleven - she’s alone and defenseless. Whisper wonders if he was spooked and is preparing to defend himself; it wouldn’t help to act rashly if that’s the case. A plan of action is hastily formed - Kerfuffle will go to the farmhouse and check on Eleven (being worried is a perfectly good excuse as far as he’s concerned, rifle or no) while Trigger and Whisper sneak across the yard to find out exactly what Slate’s got hidden in that basement.
Kerfuffle knocks at the farmhouse door, but there’s no response. The lights are all off, and Eleven’s no longer where they left her. He checks some of the windows, but there’s no sign of movement. Trigger and Whisper approach the basement door; the former agent descends the stairs while the captain stands outside to play lookout. Kerfuffle suddenly notices the door handle turning… but it’s just Trevor again. The sharkdog sniffs him once, then disappears quietly into the night.
A few minutes later, Whisper emerges from the basement carrying a sack and everyone returns to the barn. Her find is bizarre, to say the least. The sack had been hidden under a pile of sand, and contains several suits of advanced but well-worn combat armour. One of the suits even has a grisly-looking bullet hole in the chestplate. None of them have insignia or identifying markings. On top of that there’s also some kind of energy pistol, but its design is unlike anything the crew have ever seen. The weapon is obviously badly damaged - by the look of things its power source must have exploded, but beyond that it’s difficult to figure out anything about it. Even the materials are unfamiliar. Some kind of spy gear? This only raises more questions…
Ultimately, Slate and Goodwill’s dirty secrets are less of a priority than Eleven’s safety. Whisper agrees that it would be best to put the items back where she found them. Meanwhile, Kerfuffle’s going to have to be a little more assertive in checking on Eleven...
Session #167 - Eyes on the Sky
A new plan is called for. Smile opts to join Kerfuffle in returning to the farmhouse so that they can politely but firmly find out what’s become of Eleven. Meanwhile, Trigger and Whisper will return the things they found to the farmhouse’s basement. Tami and Coatie will stay behind in the barn and look up whatever information they can find on the farm on the Galanet, with a particular focus on things that may have changed in the past few years.
While Kerfuffle and Smile go ahead, Whisper shares a recent observation with Trigger. In her estimation, Kerfuffle is unsubtle but he’s surprisingly observant - and good at hiding his own feelings, too. There’s obviously been something weighing on his mind lately, and it would probably be wise to speak to him about it sooner rather than later.
Tami’s Galanet search doesn’t bring up anything particularly worrying, though something does stand out. Larissa is a relatively remote and uninteresting place, but up until roughly five years ago Goodwill Tour was a consistent high performer in various local agricultural events. Then, for a period of several months, she didn’t compete at all. After returning to frequent participation in the events, her results were far more mediocre. Evidently, something big happened in that period. Something that made Goodwill and her brother want to retreat to a simpler life?
While Trigger and Whisper put the strange armor and pistol back in the basement where they found them, Smile and Kerfuffle return to the farmhouse. The crystal pony knocks firmly and the pair enter. They’re met at the door to the main room by Goodwill Tour, who - aside from obviously having been disturbed from her sleep - seems as polite and accommodating as ever. Smile politely asks after Eleven, while Kerfuffle points out - correctly - that he and the others are worried. Goodwill courteously explains that they took Eleven in to sleep in the shared bedroom, where it’s warmer. Sure enough she’s right there, still fast asleep and unharmed. Slate is, or at least appears to be, fast asleep in the same room. There’s no sign of his big rifle.
Just to be safe, and for his own peace of mind so much as anything else, Kerfuffle asks if he’d be allowed to stay with Eleven overnight. He’s willing to stay quiet and sleep on the floor. There’s an uncomfortably long pause, but eventually Goodwill agrees. On her way back out of the farmhouse, Smile almost trips over Trevor - the sharkdog is back, napping just outside the door.
Meeting back up in the barn, the crew (minus Kerfuffle) take stock of things. Aside from the weapon and armour Whisper found earlier there doesn’t seem to be anything unusual about the cellar. No harm’s come to Eleven, and everything seems peaceful. There’s nothing to it but to try and sleep, then see what the morning brings...
The following morning, Kerfuffle wakes up to a surprise. Eleven is finally awake, and - finding herself in an unfamiliar place - urges him to get up too. Surprised and relieved, he briefly fills her in on what happened. She’s exhausted, magically and physically, and doesn’t remember anything from after activating the Transdimensional Engine. They share a little hug of relief, then go looking for the others.
Goodwill and Slate are already up and attending to their own business. Kerfuffle and Eleven find Goodwill in the kitchen, baking some buns. After a friendly introduction, the young unicorn’s attention quickly turns to the food - she’s ravenous after almost a full day asleep. It isn’t long before the rest of the crew show up and everyone begins to prepare for breakfast. Whisper and Smile plan to make a trip into town to fetch various components and the like that will assist in Claudia’s repairs.
Tami briefly catches Clean Slate attending to some insect hives elsewhere on the farm grounds. She plays it cool and tries to learn more about him, comparing his past achievements in farming to her own record-setting at the flight academy. Slate eventually relents a little, and admits that something beyond his control happened all of a sudden and changed his life. On top of that he quickly intuits that Tami can relate, touching on how everything suddenly went wrong for her.
In spite of everything though, the morning is shaping up to be a pleasant one. After breakfast, Whisper and Smile prepare to take Regulus to visit the local town as planned. Everyone else has a little more free time to socialize, relax or prepare for when Claudia is spaceworthy again.
(Note: At this stage, the game is very close to moving into its final arc. The player characters’ stats and skills have stopped advancing. The following sessions contain a lot of last minute wrapping up of minor character arcs and relationships, and as such there were a lot of back and forth timeskips involved in actual gameplay. The session order and certain events have been shuffled to present a more straightforward continuity.)
Minisession - The Heart
After breakfast, the crew disperse around the farm to attend to their own business. Tami catches Whisper preparing to leave for the nearby town with Smile, and manages to get her alone for a little conversation. The hippogriff mischievously reminds the former agent that she still has the hacking tool loaned to her back at Crystal Heart. It’s essentially a fancy laptop now.
Of course, this is merely an icebreaker and a front for what’s really on her mind. Tami’s been thinking a lot about what might happen when or if the crew ever find themselves free of Sidewinder’s pursuit. Kerfuffle has his family, Smile probably won’t want to stay small time (Tami remains entirely oblivious to Whisper and Smile’s relationship), and who knows what Eleven and Coatie will do? A vacation would certainly be nice, but what about after that? Tami wants to continue flying, and tells Whisper that if it suits her, there’s always going to be a place for her aboard Claudia too.
Whisper isn’t ready to commit to a specific answer just yet, so Tami settles down a little and explains that having Whisper around to look up to has really made a difference to her. Everyone on the crew has been a positive influence, but directly or indirectly, the challenges Whisper put in front of Tami made her a stronger, more confident and capable person. The agent brushes the compliment off a little, but it’s clear that she appreciates the sentiment.
Once Whisper’s done with her preparations and she and Smile have left, Tami finds Trigger and Kerfuffle under a gazebo in the farm grounds. They’re both taking a break - the griffon’s spent much of the morning relearning how to fly now that he can move his wings without them hurting. Trigger’s been running interference so that his recovery remains a surprise for Eleven.
Tami raises much the same question she did with Whisper - what’s next? Nobody knows what will happen once they get back into space. The relative safety and time to reflect offered by the current situation gives everyone an opportunity to settle unfinished things. She asks Kerfuffle if he’s received any more news about his sister, and,aware that his mood’s been rather strained lately, adds that he’s done a great job of helping both her and Eleven, even at great risk to himself.
Kerfuffle responds with his usual humility and a little self-deprecation, admitting that while the most recent news about Galena is good, he quite badly wants to see her and their parents again. He admits that the crew have been very good to him, particularly in putting up with the ways he’s not like other griffons. He perks up immediately when Tami points out that once Galena’s recovered, she might be able to fly and sing, and even travel the galaxy with them. It’d be a long way off, but it’s a bright possibility to consider. Regardless, the Jammers are like family to him, and their support and friendship kept desperation from taking him down a darker path.
A new idea arises: at some point, once things are back to normal, the whole crew should have a big family gathering. Something wholesome and positive to celebrate their friendship and all the good they’ve done. Trigger’s extended family is massive, they met Kerfuffle’s parents and sister only briefly, and of course - Tami has yet to introduce her dog Orbit to everyone in person. All three readily agree. It’s something to look forward to - a light at the end of a very long tunnel that surely can’t be far off now...
Minisession - Something to Live For
Whisper and Smile fly Regulus to the nearby town, claiming that they’ll be away for a few hours. Finding everything they need to buy takes only one, leaving plenty of time for just the two of them - just as planned. The town is quaint and comfortable, built adjacent to a small starport that serves the local agriculture.
With only one another’s company and a couple of hours to burn, the pair seize the opportunity to unwind and talk. Kissing and playful flirting ensues, at least at first, but it isn’t long before their true feelings come to the fore. Smile is still getting used to her scar, and even quietly struggled with it at first. She’s come to terms with it thanks to the crew’s acceptance and Whisper’s appreciation. For her part, Whisper admits that - in spite of everything falling apart for her - Smile’s affection has given her something to live for.
With spirits high, Smile and Whisper commit to enjoying their day and having fun while the opportunity lasts. First stop: ice cream. Peach, preferably.
Session #168 - Reality Check
Later that afternoon, all of the Jammers still at the farm receive an urgent message from Whisper. She and Smile are on their way back, and the reason why is clear: they’ve also forwarded an article of galactic news, and none of it is good.
Even though details are still slim, the implications are clear: the destruction of Isla del Dragon, the Solar Empire’s newest foothold of power in the Periphery, is likely to be blamed on the New Lunar Republic. The two nations are closer than ever to a return to open conflict - a second War of the Two Crowns that might claim billions of lives. And Port Medusa is right on the front line.
It isn’t long until Smile and Whisper get back to the farm, and the entire crew gathers to discuss this new development and how to respond. Priority one is to get Claudia flying again - that can be handled by the following morning. But after that? The old plan of discrediting Sidewinder in the eyes of the galactic authorities won’t work now - a criminal megacorp’s shady dealings are nothing next to a full scale interplanetary war. Going directly after the syndicate’s leader? Still incredibly difficult and not guaranteed to accomplish much, even in the best case scenario.
The only lead remaining - and it’s a tenuous one - is Sunset Dreamer. Whoever they are, it seems likely that they’re an insider of some kind within Sidewinder. But the crew have no clue how to contact them, let alone who they might be or how they could help. The best anyone can suggest is to send out coded messages that only Sunset would recognise and then await a response. Aside from that, the only real option is to stay on the run. The Confederacy’s still a relatively safe place - the minotaurs are unlikely to involve themselves in an equestrian war - but that doesn’t change much with Sidewinder still on the hunt. No matter what happens, the entire galaxy is about to get a whole lot more dangerous. Indeed, Whisper is soon seeking information through her own channels and confirms that the Republic’s navy is at its highest alert level. Could Sidewinder be involved in this too?
Goodwill Tour brings everyone drinks and a plate of crackers, putting the conversation on hold. The crew take five - there’s no use trying to make plans without more information.
Trigger takes Kerfuffle aside, following Whisper’s suggestion earlier, and asks whether there’s something on his mind. Kerfuffle’s still a little shaken up from the ordeal with Solar, particularly his own response to it, and admits that he doesn’t have much experience dealing with genuine, violent anger. Moreover, he doesn’t want to be angry in front of others - particularly Eleven. Trigger points out that there’s nothing wrong with being angry when someone you care about is in danger, and offers to give him a few tips on healthy outlets. In the meantime, this is probably going to be the last opportunity for what he’s been building up to over the past couple of days...
Smile checks in with Eleven. The young unicorn is feeling a little despondent about the whole situation, so the crystal mare tries to direct her mind to more practical things. Eleven confirms that she ought to recover fully soon, and more importantly, now that she’s had an opportunity to try the TDE, a little more work can make it far safer and more reliable. Talking about her pet project relights her spark very quickly.
Tami takes a minute to ‘speak’ with Coatie, and to thank her for her help. Coatie responds that it was because Tami was nice to her and that she’s never had the opportunity to help someone before. In a little flash of inspiration, Tami introduces the mute mare to the concept of superheroes - ponies who use their great power to help others - and even draws a quick sketch of her rearing up dramatically in a suitably fancy cape.
Smile goes to speak to Clean Slate and gauge his reaction to the news from the Periphery. Tragic as the events unfolding may be, they’re on the far side of the galaxy and between nations the Confederacy is unconcerned with. He isn’t worried in the slightest.
With mixed excitement and trepidation, Kerfuffle approaches Eleven and asks if she’d be willing to help him test something. Before long she’s up on his shoulders and - with a warning to hold tight - Kerfuffle breaks into a run and takes to the air. He’s hardly the fastest or most graceful of fliers even under ideal conditions, but he manages it all the same. Eleven is elated, both at the sudden surprise of being airborne and the fact that Kerfuffle’s finally healthy enough to fly again.
As they do a couple of slow loops around the farm grounds, Kerfuffle bashfully explains himself. He wanted it to be a pleasant surprise, specifically for her, because she’s been on his mind a lot recently. It takes a little rambling to finally spit it out - he’s wanted to find a way to make her genuinely, spontaneously happy; a question that’s been on his mind for a long time. He loves her.
Eleven’s response is a long, awkward silence and a quiet request to land. Kerfuffle lets her down amongst the peach trees a short distance from the farm buildings, but she’s quickly working herself into a mess of stress and indecision. As she points out, in between fighting tears, she doesn’t really understand how love feels or even what it is. After spending most of her life in a lab, how can she be sure she truly recognises his feelings or, for that matter, her own? She simply isn’t ready for that sort of commitment.
Kerfuffle tries to backtrack and explain that he wasn’t trying to pressure her, but the damage is done - Eleven runs off into the trees in tears, leaving the stammering and badly shaken griffon behind on his own.
Minisession - The Best
In the evening, unaware of the drama unfolding between other members of the crew, Tami and Trigger meet up at a quiet spot to talk privately. It’s a beautiful night for stargazing this far from civilization, but there’s a lot on their minds. The ever-looming threat of Sidewinder, the ironically mundane prospect that the galaxy’s biggest nations are about to go to war, and the uncertain future that lies ahead. But for the moment, Tami just wants to make clear that when, or if, things ever return to normal, she wants to carry on being Trigger’s pilot aboard Claudia.
The conversation soon turns more casual, and a little silly, and eventually the pair wind up grappling together like they did that one time back on the Night’s Bride. The hippogriff brings out all the assertiveness and feline killer instincts she picked up from Donner, lunging at her prey, and… Trigger wins. Twice. Best of three!
Settling back down, Tami thanks the captain for all she’s done, and - still blissfully ignorant - suggests that she might be setting up the beginnings of a relationship between Smile and Whisper. Trigger, who naturally already knows that they’ve been a thing for a while, deflects with humour.
Eventually though, the pilot and her captain are simply content to sit together and enjoy the quiet, beautiful evening with a long hug and a declaration of genuine, heartfelt companionship. Just a tiny bit closer than platonic friends.
Session #169 - Remorse
The night passes uneventfully, and by the morning Claudia’s reactor has finally recovered from the transdimensional jump. Some relatively minor repairs later, she’s ready to fly. Kerfuffle and Eleven are both unusually moody, avoiding one another and instead throwing themselves into their respective tasks. Kerfuffle spends more time talking to Claudia than anybody else, and Eleven engrosses herself in making the necessary adjustments to her incomprehensible TDE.
Once the ship is ready to go, the Jammers prepare to leave immediately. Goodwill Tour and Clean Slate come to see them off at the crash site, along with a hamper of goodies. Whatever secrets the two farmers were hiding remain undiscovered, but after a round of goodbyes and genuine well-wishes, even from Slate, it seems that perhaps that’s for the best.
Boarding the ship to prepare for takeoff, Kerfuffle and Eleven immediately split up again. It’s obvious to everyone that something’s wrong - even Coatie picks up on it and asks the others what the matter might be. The crew quickly agree to split up and talk to both of them privately once Claudia’s up and back in space. The launch goes smoothly, even in spite of Claudia being a little worse for wear. Tami, in her matchmaking wisdom, even has Smile check in with Whisper to make sure that Regulus is following them up.
Upon making orbit over Larissa’s moon, Claudia reconnects to the Galanet and begins to catch up on all the messages and notifications that have been pending since the crash. Nothing particularly stands out, save for a single anonymous message sent two days ago on an emergency channel. Tami plays the message for those on the bridge, but it soon becomes apparent that its content concerns everyone.
At first the message is audio only, heavily corrupted at the source. It’s impossible to make out the speaker by voice, but their words are legible enough: it’s Sunset Dreamer, attempting to inform the Jammers that Sidewinder are responsible for nuking Isla del Dragon. Furthermore, they have proof. But then, following a long blast of static, the message begins to clear up - and the secretive insider’s identity is revealed at last. It’s... Cobra. Some time ago, she says, she began to have doubts about Sidewinder and her role in things. First when the Jammers freed Specimen Eleven, and then again when they did the same with Specimen Six. She’s been trying to help the Jammers from the inside, but Sidewinder’s control of her is almost absolute. And now, everyone is running out of time. The message concludes with a warning - and a request.
An awkward silence follows; there’s a lot to take in. Eventually, the Jammers all gather on the bridge to try and make sense of it. First, there’s the obvious question: why trust even a single word that Cobra says? She was Cascavel’s direct superior, the one that ordered Whisper tortured, and spent weeks hunting the Jammers in order to recapture Eleven. It’s entirely possible that the real Sunset Dreamer was caught and Cobra’s using their identity as a honeypot to lure the crew into another trap. On top of that, Port Medusa is too far away to reach in time - at least, not without another transdimensional jump.
Whisper docks Regulus to Claudia and rejoins everyone, so Trigger calls an emergency meeting of the entire crew in the common room to replay and discuss Cobra’s message. Whisper pays close attention, while Eleven is clearly worried. Coatie appears dispassionate as usual. The crew try and work through the situation logically - if Cobra is lying, then their Sunset Dreamer lead is gone and they’re pretty much back to square one. If she’s telling the truth, then refusing to act would allow Sidewinder to trigger a war between the New Lunar Republic and the Solar Empire. To what end isn’t clear, but such a conflict could only result in an incredible number of lost lives. When questioned, Eleven points out that with her adjustments to the TDE, it would be possible to jump directly - and safely - to Port Medusa in just a few hours.
Eventually Trigger calls a vote. Smile, Tami, Whisper and Eleven all vote in favor of going - the risk to their friends aboard Port Medusa and the galaxy at large is just too high not to act. If she can be trusted, making contact with Cobra could save Port Medusa, bring down Sidewinder and prevent a devastating interstellar war all in one go.
Kerfuffle and Coatie both abstain, on the grounds that they’re unsure what the best decision would be. The griffon in particular is quick to leave the table once the decision is made. He heads straight back to the engine room, still visibly troubled. Likewise, Eleven hurries to the cargo bay to make the final adjustments to the TDE. It’s abundantly clear to everyone that the two of them have something weighing heavily on their minds. Trigger, Tami and Smile quickly decide that before they even think about rushing off to Port Medusa and the incredibly dangerous situation there, this problem needs to be addressed. Time is short, but not that short.
Whisper and Coatie wisely elect to stay out of the matter while Trigger takes Tami upstairs to check on Kerfuffle. At the same time, Smile goes to speak to Eleven. She finds the young unicorn working on her invention and breaks the ice with a little supportive talk, but quickly gets to the heart of the matter.
Eleven briefly explains what happened, and that while she considers Kerfuffle her best friend she simply isn’t confident enough in her own feelings or understanding of the world to make this kind of commitment. The idea of making such a leap into the unknown scares her. Smile is understanding, and firmly points out that Eleven doesn’t have to commit to anything she isn’t prepared for. Being honest about her feelings was the correct move, in spite of the difficulty.
Upstairs, Tami and Trigger find Kerfuffle zoning out in front of the reactor console. At first he tries to resist their well-meaning questions and make out that there’s more important things to deal with, but that doesn’t last. It isn’t long before he tearfully gives his side of the story. Ever since securing medical assistance for Galena, he’s been looking for a new purpose; eventually, he turned to trying to secure safety and peace of mind for Eleven. Detesting the way she’s been made to feel guilty and fearful about her own powers, he resolved to try and show that she’s recognized and appreciated as a whole person, not merely for what she is or what she can do.
Following their narrow escape from Urutu and her lackeys after Kerfuffle’s brush with death, that sense of responsibility began to develop into deeper and more personal feelings of attachment. After a lot of hard work and soul-searching, Kerfuffle shared those feelings with Eleven with the hope and expectation that doing so would make her happy. The fact that it had the opposite result - that she was confused and upset, perhaps even hurt - badly shook his sense of self-worth and faith in his own judgment.
Tami and Trigger do their best to be supportive. The hippogriff points out that even though things didn’t work out, Kerfuffle was trying to do something good and be honest about how he felt. One small communication breakdown doesn’t mean that their friendship is over, or even that Eleven rejects his feelings - she was simply surprised and overwhelmed and reacted accordingly. The situation is complicated, and perhaps time to step back will smooth the issue out.
The bottom line is that Kerfuffle and Eleven really ought to find a way to talk things over. They can’t continue simply avoiding one another, and leaving something this close to the heart unresolved before going on a risky mission just won’t do. The griffon trusts Trigger and Tami when they say that things will get sorted out one way or another, and resolves to try and find a way to apologize...
Minisession - Ripping Off the Bandaid
Eleven cheers up a little and thanks Smile for her advice and support, but is still very nervous. She worries that her rejection - if that’s truly what it is - might have hurt Kerfuffle and their friendship. Smile counters that the best answer to that is to speak to him directly and tell the truth; Kerfuffle ought to be strong enough to understand. In fact, the best time for that would be as soon as possible. As in, immediately.
Smile ushers the stammering, uncertain young unicorn up the stairs, then heads for the engine room where she gently relieves Tami and Trigger of looking after Kerfuffle. Though it’s obvious that he’d been crying, he’s at least a little more composed now. With some gentle coaxing, Smile gets him to join Eleven out in the corridor, then promptly leaves the pair of them to it. A little awkward shuffling later, they take their issue to the bridge to talk privately.
Fortunately, there’s no hard feelings. Kerfuffle apologizes and explains himself, and Eleven does likewise. There’s a long, close hug involved, and the big griffon promises to take a step back to avoid making her uncomfortable. Relationship or not, they’re still best friends.
More than anything, what’s needed is time. Eleven suggests that perhaps once the whole mess with Sidewinder is over with, they can take more time to do normal friend things together and see where their relationship goes from there. Her response to Kerfuffle’s feelings is neither a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ - it’s a ‘let’s wait and see’. Kerfuffle offers to dial back ‘I love you’ to ‘I trust you’, which is mutual and much more suitable as things stand at the moment. Even with emotions still running a little high, the pair can at least agree on that and embrace for as long as it’s comfortable.
Meanwhile, Smile heads back down to the common room to update Whisper and Coatie, explaining in brief what was going on. The problem isn’t solved per se, but at least Kerfuffle and Eleven are talking through their difficulties rather than avoiding one another. For her part, Whisper believes that there’ll be another chance for them.
Moving on to more dangerous topics, Smile asks for opinions on Cobra’s message. Both of the others seem to believe that Cobra’s honesty is at least plausible, though naturally Whisper advises extreme caution. Assuming she can be believed, Cobra’s in a tough spot - trying to appear the loyal Sidewinder agent while at the same time assisting the syndicate’s enemies? In a position like that, she must be desperate - and dangerous - even by her usual standards.
Coatie’s opinion is a little different. In part due to her own mistreatment under Sidewinder, she posits that perhaps Cobra feels trapped. Her own freedom - which at one point seemed impossible - might have given Cobra the glimmer of hope she needed to act against the syndicate more openly. Even after everything Cobra did to her (and forced her to do), the mute mare is willing to give her former master a chance at redemption. Smile cautions her against that kind of thinking, asserting that no matter what happens, she wants to make certain that Cobra will never be in a position to harm anyone again.
Surprisingly, it’s Whisper that offers the first counterpoint. She’s been driven by revenge and the desire to see those who wronged her brought down before. More than anyone aboard she’s seen where that road leads, and doesn’t want Smile to go the same way. She leaves Smile with her thoughts and Coatie soon does likewise, leaving behind a small message for the crystal mare.
Session #170 - Dark Alliance
Once people have had time to calm down, compose themselves and make final preparations, the crew prepare to engage the transdimensional engine once again. Eleven is confident that now she’s had an opportunity to work out the kinks in the system, the jump should be much smoother and safer for Claudia, and for her. Rather than jumping directly to Saphiban, the target is the adjacent system of Tissilum. Jumping there will allow them to stash Regulus somewhere out of sight, then make a normal - and less conspicuous - jump to Saphiban. Then it’s just a matter of reaching Port Medusa without being intercepted by the Republic fleet…
As predicted, the transdimensional jump goes much better than before. Just shy of twenty minutes later they arrive on target, Claudia remains fully functional, and Eleven - though extremely nauseous and in urgent need of a vomit cleanup once the jump is over - remains conscious and lucid. Once Regulus is stashed amongst the rings of a nearby moon, the crew quickly move on. The standard jump to Saphiban, just one system over, takes about an hour.
Upon arrival at Saphiban, it quickly becomes clear that the situation hasn’t improved. A substantial NLR task force surrounds Port Medusa, no doubt preparing for a potential attack. If the station were to be bombed as Cobra claims it will, the Republic fleet would suffer significant losses. It isn’t long before the occupation force hails Claudia, but for the moment the ship’s falsified IFF and “Green Hill Runner” pseudonym avert undue attention. They’re permitted to dock at the station, with the caveat that an inspection will be performed immediately upon arrival. Verbena contacts the ship privately, shocked that the Jammers actually came to the station in spite of the danger. Tami explains that they’re bringing critically important news, so Verbena agrees to pull some strings with Alyssum and Gerhard to make the docking process as painless as possible.
At first the crew hurry to hide the more incriminating things aboard, like the various questionably legal weapons and tools they’ve picked up over time. Coatie and Eleven both wear baggy hoodies to conceal their cybernetics, relying on fake identity papers hastily put together by Whisper and Smile to hopefully avoid notice. Upon docking, Claudia is met by a number of armed Republic soldiers, along with Verbena and Gerhard. Thankfully, the pair have enough pull to keep the soldiers from looking too closely. Just to be safe, Whisper stays concealed and avoids them entirely.
Following Gerhard’s advice, the crew bag up their equipment to bring with them, plus Patch. Amidst a tense and quiet atmosphere, Gerhard and Verbena lead the crew to a nearby elevator.
As it turns out, Alyssum has a crisis command center at the very top of the station. On the ride there, Gerhard explains that Alyssum brought in certain allies in response to the ongoing situation. Of particular interest is an old friend - Countess Karmelita - who survived the destruction of Isla del Dragon. Though Alyssum and Karmelita have never seen eye to eye, circumstances now force them to work together.
The command center itself is at the very apex of the station, with a domed transparent roof that offers an impressive view of the surrounding space. Waiting for the crew are several familiar faces: Donner, Blitz, Sweet Alyssum, the Countess, and more unexpectedly, Azure Myst. The pirate queen watches the Jammers warily, looking far less healthy than she did the last time they saw her, but Azure Myst looks good - even satisfied to be there. Donner and Blitz offer their usual terse greetings, plus a smile for Tami and a small, brief wing hug for Trigger.
The seriousness of the situation prompts Trigger to quickly share the message and information that the Jammers received from Cobra: at some point within the next two days, the Solar Empire will attempt to seize the station. While the two fleets do battle, Sidewinder will detonate a high-yield nuclear weapon within the station just as they did at Isla del Dragon, destroying it and doing catastrophic damage to the surrounding ships. This in turn will lead both sides to blame one another, prompting a full scale war between the Republic and the Empire.
Reactions are mixed. Karmelita is furious that the destruction of her station was a frame job, but Alyssum - already stressed and laser focused on finding a solution to her station’s occupation - has other ideas. The impending imperial attack was already expected - in fact Alyssum’s own plans are counting on it - but the nuclear bomb? That’s new. Trigger points out that if they can secure the proof that incriminates Sidewinder from Cobra, they can send it to both sides and stop the conflict before it starts. The director, however, has other ideas.
In joining forces with Karmelita, Alyssum now has a motley fleet of pirate ships at her disposal. Her plan is to allow the Republic and Empire to bloody one another, then rout both with a surgical strike from their own fleet and declare the Periphery an independent state. If successful, this would create a buffer between the Republic and the Empire, make further conflict too expensive and diplomatically risky for either of them to commit to, and protect the region from further intrusion by either side. Azure is particularly supportive of the plan - he seems to have been elevated to the position of Karmelita’s advisor.
Tami and Kerfuffle are leery about Alyssum’s plan, but Smile points out that no matter what, preventing the bombing of the station needs to be everyone’s top priority. The next move can be debated once the threat of nuclear annihilation isn’t hanging over everyone’s heads. Alyssum and Gerhard go to begin a quiet, low-key evacuation of the station’s civilian population. Eventually the crew are left alone with Donner and Blitz, given the opportunity to contemplate their next move. Trigger takes the opportunity to introduce Coatie to the two big cats.
With little time to waste on pleasantries, it’s time to get to work. Three things need to be done: preventing Sidewinder from getting the nuke aboard, getting back into contact with Cobra, and keeping Coatie and Eleven safe. If Sidewinder were to find out that the pair of them are aboard the station, it’s more than likely that they’d attempt to capture them again. As the local tech and spreadsheet experts, Tami, Smile and Whisper get to work seeing what they can do on the first two objectives.
Kerfuffle and Trigger briefly go to one side with Coatie and Eleven to discuss the situation. Unfortunately, the two former specimens’ knowledge of how Sidewinder works is too limited to be of much use. Kerfuffle wonders whether Sidewinder would even be willing to blow up the station if they knew that the two of them are on board, but that’s hardly a sure thing at this point. Ultimately, while the situation is worrisome for everyone, it seems that the best course of action is to tentatively trust Cobra. With the evidence stored in her cybernetics, the Empire and Republic could both be turned on Sidewinder rather than one another.
At least, that’s the hope...
Session #171 - The Weight of Lives
Two hours pass quickly, during which Tami and Whisper do their best to try and figure out how to contact Cobra. The Republic soldiers occupying the station have beefed up the local cybersecurity, enough that it’s impossible to say for sure whether she’s aboard. With Smile’s help, the three of them also hastily create a false product ad to be periodically displayed on the station’s monitors. It contains enough coded language and hints that Cobra ought to recognise it if she sees it. The contact details point to one of Medusa’s hangars - the one in which they attempted to apprehend Cascavel several months ago.
The next issue is a more straightforward one: if Sidewinder intend to nuke the station, where would they put the device for maximum effect? Kerfuffle surmises that the most likely spots would be close to the station’s main load-bearing structures, perhaps near to the power systems in order to cause secondary explosions. He’s no demolitionist however, and Medusa is so big that the possible locations are only narrowed down so much. Whisper points out that the device could be of various sizes - a small bomb would be easier to smuggle aboard and hide, but a larger one would do more damage. In either case, it’s fair to assume that Sidewinder will have robotic assets protecting it as well.
Alyssum and Karmelita return to the command center, and Smile quietly ensures that Patch is recording the following conversation. A pertinent point is raised - it’s possible that the bomb could be aboard the station already. Donner, Blitz and Whisper are designated to an urgent search of the most likely places, along with Gerhard and whoever he can spare.
Kerfuffle and Tami - especially Tami - once again call Alyssum’s plan into question. Even if Sidewinder are stopped cleanly and quickly, she’s banking on the Empire and Republic getting into a pitched battle. Lives will be lost, and the possibility of a second full-blown war between the two nations threatens countless more. The director and the countess are firm in their convictions however - the Empire and Republic have been looking for excuses to go to war for years, and the current political tensions are entirely their fault. The Empire were the ones that took over Isla del Dragon in the first place, and the Republic moved in on Medusa in response. By routing both of them and establishing the Periphery as a sovereign state, a large buffer will be created that makes war between the two sides difficult if not impossible. Alyssum is confident that a bid for independence would be supported by Avalon and Zebraha, lending her even greater legitimacy and - if necessary - military deterrent.
Surprisingly, Trigger appears to side with Alyssum. To her mind, the cost of a single battle is worth stopping an interstellar war before it begins. Tami is visibly disgusted that such a thing is even being discussed. Alyssum is counting on the Empire and Republic fighting one another just like Sidewinder, except she’s treating their conflict as if it’s inevitable in order to justify trying to start it herself.
Even if Alyssum’s plan does work in the short term, it invites the wrath of two heavily armed nations on the Periphery, which by Alyssum’s own admission is in no state to defend itself in a protracted conflict. Even worse - if Avalon and Zebraha intervene on the Periphery’s behalf as Alyssum expects, the scope of the conflict only expands. Alyssum’s grab for power risks lighting the fuse on a galactic war, one in which weapons of mass destruction are already in use. The potential for death and destruction is absolutely catastrophic.
Unfortunately, neither side is willing to budge and the discussion soon hits a stalemate. Once again, it’s up to Smile to get things back on track and refocus on the bomb. As it happens, the director has a task along those lines.
The NLR’s occupation force has taken over Medusa’s primary communication and sensor suite and placed it under heavy guard. If Verbena, Tami and Eleven could get access to that equipment it could be turned to multiple purposes: jamming fleet communications and performing in-depth scans of the station to search for the bomb. Two birds with one stone. When the Jammers object to attacking NLR soldiers, Verbena points out that they don’t need to assault the control station directly - there’s a lightly guarded substation nearby that could be turned to the same purpose. All the crew need to do is seize control of it without raising the alarm.
There’s still roughly a day left to go until the Empire are expected to attack the station, so Alyssum recommends that the Jammers take the opportunity to get some rest first. The following day is certain to be extremely difficult. Tami walks away from the rest of the group, still fuming, followed by Kerfuffle and Eleven.
Trigger and Smile take a minute to talk to the Countess and Azure Myst. Last time they saw them, the Jammers were double-crossing and kidnapping them respectively. Given the scale of recent happenings and the impending nuclear threat, neither has particularly hard feelings - though Karmelita is certainly curious about exactly when and why the crew sold her out. Trigger explains that they were right under the noses of Imperial Intelligence at the Silver Dome - they didn’t really have a choice. Azure Myst, in hindsight, doesn’t regret being kidnapped at all; working for Karmelita is far more interesting and fulfilling than his former life in legitimate business. Trigger’s not entirely sure what to make of that. Smile finds it hilarious.
When the two of them inquire about Karmelita’s obviously declining health, she explains that she suffers from a long-term genetic disorder and is slowly dying. Years ago, she stole her father’s fortune and fled to the Periphery to spend what time she had living a hedonistic life of piracy. There isn’t much sympathy for her, but in an attempt to bury the hatchet a little Smile gives her Rea’s contact information. It’s a long shot, but who knows?
Over by the window, Tami, Kerfuffle and Eleven confer privately about their own perspective on the situation. None of them are happy about the impending battle - Eleven is worried and Tami is frustrated that despite everything the Empire, the Republic, Sidewinder and now Alyssum seem dead set on bloodshed. Kerfuffle, still unsure in his own convictions, tries to take a sympathetic but moderate position - the crew aren’t responsible for the actions of ancient alicorns and interstellar governments. Their only priority for the moment should be staying safe.
Once Karmelita and Azure return to their own business, the crew reconvene. Smile cheekily explains to the others that she had Patch record the entire conversation - in theory, they could disseminate that recording along with Cobra’s evidence. It would show the Republic and Empire that they’re being played and put an end to Alyssum’s plans. On the other hand, it would also burn every bridge between the Jammers and Medusa. Nobody’s entirely certain of the correct choice of action yet, but having another potential tool in the arsenal can’t hurt.
With the nuclear threat still looming and the mission to secure the station’s communication suite scheduled for the morning, there’s nothing left to do but catch one last opportunity to rest and hope Cobra responds to their message...
Session #172 - Sunset Dreamer
That night - the last chance for rest before the various factions are expected to put their plans into motion - the crew put out their secretive message to Cobra. They head to the hangar where they once fought Cascavel and, hoping for a response, do their best to bed down and get some sleep while they can.
It’s Kerfuffle’s turn on watch when, in the middle of the night, one of Medusa’s security drones wanders into the supposedly abandoned hangar. It isn’t clear what the drone is up to, but the griffon wakes up the others just to be safe. While they get their bearings and take defensive positions just in case, he goes to investigate. The drone briefly scans him, identifies him as an associate of Hair Trigger’s, and states that it has a private message for her. Disregarding the request for privacy, Trigger elects to accept the message in full view of the others.
It quickly becomes apparent that the drone is hacked - it displays a patchy real-time image of Cobra, who’s using it to contact the Jammers remotely in real time. For the first time, the crew have an opportunity to talk with their until-recent nemesis face to face. Cobra explains that she doesn’t have much time, and doesn’t expect the crew to offer her much sympathy, but appreciates the opportunity to talk all the same. She admits that the Jammers have no reason to trust her, but reiterates what she has to offer: in-depth information on Sidewinder’s plans for Port Medusa and much more. The bulk of the information is heavily encrypted - only Sidewinder devices like her own cybernetics can access it properly. In other words, she needs to meet up with the crew in person to transfer it through a direct hardware connection.
Suspicious of Cobra’s motives, Trigger asks what, specifically, she wants in return for this information. Cobra explains that Sidewinder, ultimately, is all about controlling people - they offer them what they want or need, then use that to secure their loyalty through dependency, willing or otherwise. In short, she’s had enough and wants out.
Some of the crew, particularly Tami and Smile, express skepticism. Nonetheless, Cobra shares what she knows about the ongoing Medusa operation. Firstly, the bomb is already aboard the station. Secondly, there is at least one other Sidewinder agent present, operating without direct oversight. Lastly, the Queen of Hearts (which Cobra is currently still aboard), is going to move in and detonate the bomb remotely at the opportune time. Should that fail for whatever reason, the ship will resort to more forceful measures. Cobra stresses that the Jammers should not come looking for her aboard the Queen, but before she can elaborate further the transmission suddenly cuts out.
The image and voice of Cobra are replaced by a spinning snake insignia and an unfamiliar speaker whose voice is electronically masked. From the context however, their identity is obvious: it’s Sidewinder, leader of the Sidewinder Syndicate, and they’ve had about enough of their wayward agent leaking information.
Kerfuffle cuts in to ask Sidewinder what the point of this whole mess is, and the response is simple: it’s all for the sake of power. Aside from that one glib answer, Sidewinder is in no mood to chat. They sign off, mockingly adding a little snake-like hissing right at the end, and the drone promptly self-destructs with a little anticlimactic pop.
The crew do their best to process the new information. If Sidewinder knows that Cobra betrayed them, then getting to her will be near-impossible. To make matters worse, the nuke is already aboard Port Medusa and the syndicate have some level of influence over the station’s security network. The bottom line is that there’s no time to waste: the bomb has to be found and neutralized soon as possible. Disarmed, deactivated, thrown into space, anything will do.
The crew hurry back to the command center for an emergency meeting with Alyssum and Karmelita, sharing much of the information they just received. The director points out that no newcomers have arrived on the station in days - if Sidewinder really have gotten a bomb aboard then they must have insiders; this is something they’ve been planning well in advance. It would be possible to have the bomb carried clear of the station aboard an automated ship, but that would first require locating it. That means the immediate priority is to take control of the comms substation from the NLR.
Azure Myst has been doing a little research and provides the Jammers with some tools to assist in their task: a set of short range radios for private communication, a floorplan of the substation, and a rundown of what to expect there: two lightly armed NLR soldiers and a handful of combat drones on guard duty. All the Jammers need to do is take control of the station without the NLR realizing and hold onto it while Tami, Verbena and Eleven rig the systems for communications jamming and radioactivity scanning. With that done, they ought to be able to find the bomb and be prepared for when the imperial fleet arrives.
With no time to spare, the crew gear up. Verbena gives Alyssum a shock by revealing that she “borrowed” their mother’s gun for self-defense. Whisper and the two big cats are still elsewhere searching for the bomb, so taking the comm relay falls to the Jammers, plus Eleven, Coatie and Verbena. The seven of them share a long, nervous elevator ride down to the relevant level of the station...
Session #173 - Eyes and Ears
The elevator delivers the crew close to the comms substation, so they quietly go over the schematics for the area and try to come up with a plan. The corridor they’re in passes directly through the substation, which is separated into two parts: a server room on one side and the local control center, a series of smaller rooms, on the other. There’s vent access either side of the main control center, and another that runs the length of the corridor and emerges on the far side.
Trigger and Smile keep a close eye on the corridor while Kerfuffle gives Tami a lift up to the closest vent. The hippogriff crawls in and through, catching a glimpse of the server room through a grating. Inside is an NLR soldier, preoccupied with his tablet and looking exceptionally bored. Once she’s all the way through and has eyes on the corridor from the other end, they’re able to confirm that two drones armed with shotguns are patrolling the hallway. Despite a couple of near misses and false alarms, it appears that they haven’t noticed the crew yet.
Trigger follows Tami through the vent to watch her back - assisted by a terrifyingly powerful but surprisingly gentle telekinetic boost from Coatie. Now that the drones are pincered from both sides, destroying them with a sneak attack is relatively easy. Using their radios to coordinate, Tami and Kerfuffle quietly dispatch the drones with EMP grenades. And a shot from Smile’s laser rifle just for good measure.
With the corridor clear, it’s time to move on to the control room. The crew decide that it would be best to sneak in through the vents - Tami and Trigger on one side, Smile on the other. Kerfuffle’s left to watch out for the others and make sure nobody gets the chance to run for it and raise the alarm. Tami also disables another elevator on the way, just to be safe. From their elevated positions in the vents, they can see that the control center is filled with large computer banks and patrolled by a pair of additional drones. Tami and Smile quietly coordinate their shots. Another accurate snipe from the crystal pony’s rifle downs a drone, while the modified EMP ammo that Eleven crafted for her lets Tami shut the other down quickly and silently. All that’s left - as far as they can tell - is another yet-unaware NLR soldier in the adjoining break room, so they and Trigger slip out of the vents and take up positions.
Out in the corridor, Kerfuffle and Coatie keep watch over the door to the server room while Eleven and Verbena hang back. The griffon stresses that if anyone comes running their goal is to capture and disable, not to kill. Coatie’s perspective on things is difficult to parse as usual, but she quietly takes up a position and joins him in waiting. They don’t have to wait long - the door to the server room creaks open. Seeing one of the disabled drones on the floor of the corridor, the NLR soldier goes for his service pistol. Kerfuffle attempts to grab him, but too slow; the shocked pony manages to dodge aside. Fortunately for the griffon, Coatie’s on hand to cover for him. Before the soldier can fire his weapon or call for help he’s grabbed in a full-body telekinetic field and held still. Completely still. Too still to even breathe.
Luckily for the unfortunate pony, Kerfuffle and Coatie quickly recognise that she may have gone a little far. The soldier is released and promptly disarmed, too paralyzed by shock and fear to offer any resistance. For what it’s worth, Kerfuffle puts him back in his chair and offers a mumbled apology.
Hurried along by Kerfuffle reporting what just happened, Tami locates the second NLR soldier in the break room and incapacitates him with a flashbang. Just to make sure (and perhaps unnecessarily) Trigger tosses a concussion grenade in afterwards. The break room is wrecked and the soldier soon finds himself in no fit state to raise the alarm.
With the substation secured, Smile heads for the corridor to fetch the others, particularly Patch so that the injured pony can be treated. She fails to notice a drone that the crew had missed until the last second, as it levels a double-barrelled shotgun at her point blank...
...and narrowly misses. Smile’s return fire, on the other hand, finds its mark and disables the machine without difficulty. Swearing is also involved.
Now that the substation is actually secured, the crew meet back up in the control room so that their tech specialists can get to work. Despite the scare, nobody was injured and the alarm wasn’t raised; the raid on the substation is a success so far. The two NLR soldiers, one unconscious and the other paralyzed with terror, are placed in Patch’s care. After a little rummaging Trigger finds some duct tape to ensure they don’t cause any trouble. Tami, Verbena and Eleven get to work on modifying the comm substation’s computer systems. With enough jury-rigged modifications and unintended uses of system functions, they should be able to get Medusa’s equipment doing what they need.
Trigger catches Coatie staring out of a window into space, and she comments on how beautiful and peaceful the stars are. Trigger responds that people often take things for granted. Coatie, unwilling to do any such thing, takes the opportunity to sincerely thank the captain. By saving her from Solar, as well as Sidewinder, the Jammers gave her freedom and free will - things she once thought she’d never have again.
While they work, Tami tries to talk Verbena out of following her big sister’s plan. The young mare isn’t as strong in her convictions as Alyssum, but remains resistant all the same. Tami argues that Alyssum’s plan risks putting the Periphery and everyone that lives there in peril, but Verbena sticks to her guns. If all goes to plan, Alyssum’s goal of a united, independent Periphery could secure the safety and freedom of thousands of people. She’s convinced of Alyssum’s own logic: the Periphery is too insignificant for either of the two major powers to bother themselves with in the long term. Eventually the hippogriff relents, but leaves the room to work quietly on her own for a while.
Kerfuffle and Smile gather up what’s left of the drones from the corridor and control room. Some of them are potentially fixable, but not with the parts currently on hand. The griffon dismantles the most damaged ones - for scrap metal and shotgun ammo, if nothing else - and the two of them talk to pass the time. The subject of Cobra comes up, and Smile admits that she’s not entirely certain how she feels. It’s hard to look past everything that Cobra’s done. Kerfuffle, to the crystal mare’s surprise, expresses some sympathy. Considering what Cobra said earlier, it sounds to him like Sidewinder bought her loyalty with a vital service, then slowly forced her to do more heinous things over time. He wonders whether he might have been sent down a similar path if his mission to save Galena had gone differently. Smile retorts that the thought of Kerfuffle ending up as cruel and amoral as Cobra is ridiculous, and they quietly change the subject.
Smile points out that whatever happens, she refuses to make the Empire and Republic’s animosity her problem. She’s in this to defeat Sidewinder, so that the crew can finally have their lives back. Kerfuffle’s sentiment is similar, but he worries how another War of the Two Crowns might affect the others. Eleven in particular, but also Tami as well, would be crushed if they missed out on the opportunity to stop a war - particularly one of that scale. Eleven is already struggling with feelings of guilt, and the Periphery as it is now represents the free, open frontier that gave Tami a chance to fly.
For the moment, the only option is to hope that a peaceful resolution can be reached… eventually.
Session #174 - The Line
Two hours pass, and despite the crew standing guard there’s no sign that the NLR realize they’ve lost the comm substation. Tami, Verbena and Eleven work as hard as they can, but while they successfully reconfigure the station’s communication system to act as a giant jammer, the sensors fail to find any sign of a bomb aboard the station. Eleven posits that she can continue tweaking the sensor software for greater accuracy, but doing so will take even more time.
Alyssum contacts the Jammers for an update, and with some surprising news. There’s somebody unexpected hoping to see Trigger at the command center: Tundra Gem. She recommends that the Jammers come back up to meet him - Whisper and Gerhard are on their way to take over the defense of the substation.
There’s a few lingering concerns about splitting up. Kerfuffle and Tami make a point of asking Eleven and Verbena respectively to stay safe, but finding the bomb is still priority one, so the Jammers elect to leave the pair of them to carry on working while they find out what Tundra has to say. Whisper and Gerhard ought to keep them safe, and Verbena asserts that she has enough control over the station’s systems to lock down the entire area if necessary.
Upon arriving back at the command center, Trigger is delighted to see that Tundra is indeed there and no less happy to see her. He’s looking much healthier, finally fully recovered from the injuries he suffered back at Site One.
Tundra is less enthusiastic to see Coatie, however, and freezes at the sight of her. The Jammers gently assert that she’s no longer the monster that he fought back at Site One, and Coatie gently touches her horn to his. After a moment, Tundra explains that the two of them have a lingering magical connection left over from their mental battle - through it, he can tell that she’s truly herself - and sincerely sorry. All the same, there’s still some lingering trauma. The two of them quickly separate, uncomfortable to be around one another. Reconciliation will have to wait; there are more urgent issues at stake.
Tundra explains that he had a hunch the Jammers would be right in the middle of the situation at Port Medusa, and begged Blood Moon to send him back out under the pretense of continuing his investigation into Project Snowdrop. He’s there to investigate - and to help, hopefully.
Trigger explains the crew’s recent discoveries regarding Cobra and Sidewinder’s plan to bomb the station, but Tundra replies that there’s little he can do. The impending attack by the imperial navy is well known, but the Æther Corps don’t have the authority to influence them. With that said, Corona Gleam is going to be accompanying the task force with the Fafnir in an observational role. Tami suggests streaming every available piece of information directly to her - if Tundra doesn’t have the authority to call off the attack, then the commodore might.
Alyssum cuts in angrily even in spite of Tundra’s presence, accusing Tami of wanting to throw away the Periphery’s chance at independence. The conflict quickly escalates into another argument, which only peters out when Trigger and Smile tacitly take Alyssum’s side. Trigger agrees with the plan, while Smile maintains that galactic politics are none of the Jammers’ business. Every effort needs to be on finding the bomb before it’s too late.
Tami excuses herself from the conversation, hurt and disgusted, and Kerfuffle follows her. Citing the promise that they made to watch one another’s backs when things get difficult, the griffon quietly explains that he agrees with her perspective; the problem is that nobody can see a better way. It’s a giant, complicated, messy and frankly terrifying situation that’s way over their heads. At the end of the day, everything comes down to getting Cobra’s information and making it public. An idea strikes: if Port Medusa’s communication systems can be reconfigured to act as a giant jamming array, then surely they could also work as an aggressive transmitter? One that could send out all of Sidewinder’s dirty secrets for the galaxy to see. Again, it all comes down to somehow making contact with Cobra. There are too many uncertainties to make a solid plan, but Kerfuffle assures Tami that she’s got a good sense of what’s right. It’s worth a try.
Left with nothing to do for a moment, Tundra and Trigger steal the opportunity to have a close moment together for the first time in weeks.
Smile checks in with Verbena and Eleven, who have now been joined by Whisper and Gerhard. The jamming system is ready and the quiet evacuation of the civilian population is going well, but they’re still not finding any signs of a bomb aboard the station. Even in spite of Eleven’s ongoing modifications, it’s as if there’s nothing at all. It’s possible that Sidewinder are cloaking or otherwise concealing it somehow, but if that’s the case it could be practically anywhere...
Suddenly, Coatie draws everyone’s attention to the sensor readouts above the command table. Not that it’s necessary - the source of the new readings is visible through the window. Ships are arriving from M-space. Dozens of ships. The Empire’s task force has arrived, and it quickly begins to assume a battle formation as the NLR fleet does likewise. Time is running out.
Session #175 - Serpent Strike
The two fleets square off, obviously ready to fight but not committing - yet. Kerfuffle, considering a desperate solution, calls Eleven and asks whether her time rift spell could buy more time, but she responds with an apology - it simply isn’t possible under these conditions. Tundra manages to get the control center in touch with Corona Gleam aboard the Fafnir, and they hurriedly attempt to warn her that the whole situation is a setup being orchestrated by Sidewinder. She’s skeptical at first, until Smile forwards her the message they received from Cobra back in Larissa. It’s not the proof Cobra promised, but it’s something.
However, Corona never gets the time to view it. With a sudden alarm, several cruise missiles launch from Port Medusa towards the imperial fleet. Corona cuts off the communication, forced to dedicate her full attention to captaining her ship. Countermeasures aboard the fleet shoot the missiles down, but the damage is already done; imperial ships begin to return fire at the NLR vessels, and the standoff swiftly escalates into a full scale engagement.
Tami rounds on Sweet Alyssum, but the director denies all involvement. She didn’t order a missile strike - and neither did the NLR occupation force, most likely. Medusa shouldn’t even have missiles. It’s probably another move by Sidewinder. Regardless, she orders Verbena to activate the modifications she made to the comm system and jam the fleets’ communications. It doesn’t make a visible difference to the battle, but there’s little to no chance of it stopping now. The Countess arrives at the control station late, stating that the pirate fleet is standing by.
To make matters worse, Verbena reports another sensor contact. The Queen of Hearts has arrived, keeping clear of the main battle, and is beaming some kind of data package towards the station. The Jammers press for more information, but Verbena suddenly cries out - there’s sounds of a brief struggle and the contact suddenly cuts off. Alyssum tries to get into contact with Gerhard, but there’s no response. Whatever just happened, Verbena, Eleven and Whisper are clearly in danger.
The rest of the crew hurry back to the elevator with Tundra in tow and ride it back down to the comm substation, only to immediately find themselves under fire from one of Port Medusa’s security drones. A snap shot from Smile disables it handily, and Kerfuffle supposes that Sidewinder must have taken full control of the station’s security systems. They hurry into the substation to find a worrying sight: Verbena is slumped over her console, barely conscious with a tranquilizer dart in her neck. There’s no sign of anybody else.
Tami and Patch quickly attend to Verbena, while Smile accesses the local security camera logs. A nasty surprise awaits: Gerhard, perhaps prompted by whatever signal Sidewinder sent, turned on Verbena and Eleven with some kind of dart pistol, then grabbed Eleven and ran. Verbena states much the same thing. Suddenly it’s clear that Gerhard is working for Sidewinder, not Alyssum. His betrayal couldn’t have come at a worse time, as the ongoing fleet engagement outside the window attests.
With the help of a stimulant shot, Verbena gradually begins to recover and urges the Jammers to rescue Eleven. Tami insists that Verbena head back up to the command center to rejoin her sister, but she refuses; from her place in the comm relay, she can access a number of the station’s systems and track Gerhard down before he can escape.
Kerfuffle finds Whisper locked inside the server room, the door jammed shut from the outside with a crowbar. The agent is furious but unharmed; Gerhard locked her in when her back was turned before going after Verbena and Eleven.
Despite her questionable level of consciousness, Verbena manages to locate Gerhard. The older griffon is moving through the station with Eleven slung over his back, but he’s not heading for any of the hangars to make an escape. Instead, he’s heading for… the reactor level? A tremor of unease passes through the crew, and Trigger’s the first to say it out loud: there’s an uncomfortable similarity to the situation they found Knowledge Base in at Site Two. A space station with a possessed Project Snowdrop specimen trapped in the reactor? The state of that place, before even considering the level of death and destruction Eleven caused when pressed aboard the Starweaver? If Sidewinder are planning on causing something similar - but worse - they don’t even need a bomb...
Tami lingers momentarily, trying to convince Verbena to get somewhere safe, but she insists on staying to assist the crew using her access to the station’s computer systems. Whatever Sidewinder are trying to do, they’re taking over more and more of Port Medusa’s systems. Someone has to stay and try to counteract what they’re doing. They settle on Verbena running for the nearest method of evacuation immediately if Tami prompts her to do so, and the two promise to meet up again once the emergency is over. Smile is likewise relieved to see that Whisper is okay, but there’s no time to rest.
The Jammers, plus Whisper, Tundra and Coatie, hurry after Gerhard. The elevators aren’t responding, so it’s a mad dash down the stairs to reach the reactor level. They catch sight of him at a large crossroads… just in time for a massive blast door to slam shut in their way.
An increasingly agitated Kerfuffle looks for ways to open the door, but the controls are ruined beyond either his skills or Tami’s and the doors are far, far too large to force open by hand. Verbena contacts them by radio - she can’t access the door controls remotely, either. She starts looking for alternative routes - hacking the door would take too long.
To the Jammers’ shock, a nearby elevator door suddenly bursts open. Fortunately, what emerges isn’t a killer robot sent by Sidewinder but a much more welcome sight - Donner and Blitz. Alyssum dispatched them to assist, and not a moment too soon. Trigger briefly fills them in on the situation, and they’re none too pleased by the news.
Verbena gets back on the radio and explains that there are multiple routes between the Jammers’ current location and the next junction, where they could cut Gerhard off before he reaches the reactor. One goes west through a market area, one goes east through a park, and the other is a maintenance tunnel - with air but no gravity - one floor down. Donner, Blitz and Coatie quickly volunteer to cover the latter route. The cats’ claws and wings, plus Coatie’s powerful telekinesis, ought to make the lack of gravity less of a problem. This leaves the market and the park.
Smile quickly volunteers herself and Whisper to go via the park - it’s likely to be an open area, well suited to long range fighting if it comes to that. Tami tags along to offer the team extra mobility, along with her first aid skills. That leaves Trigger, Kerfuffle and Tundra to tackle the closer quarters of the market. Patch is assigned to join them, just in case.
There’s no opportunity for rousing speeches or last minute planning, though Tami does take one last opportunity to demonstrate to Donner that her confidence has improved.
The three teams share hasty wishes of good luck, hurrying down their respective paths...
Session #176 - Red in Hoof and Claw (Market Team)
As Trigger, Kerfuffle and Tundra approach the market area, Verbena keeps them updated on the state of the station. None of the news is good - whatever Sidewinder are doing to Port Medusa’s computer systems, it’s cutting her off from more and more of the station. Entire sections are blacking out. Security drones are running rampant, not only those linked to the station’s own network but also those brought aboard by the NLR’s occupation force.
The team arrives at another wide open intersection, where the republic soldiers apparently set up a defensive position against possible imperial boarding. Judging by the scattered corpses, the security drones took them by surprise instead. Two drones are visible hovering nearby, and there’s no time to verify whether or not they’re compromised. Trigger downs one with a quick shot from her pistol, while Kerfuffle - now much faster thanks to his working wings - swats the other from the air before it can react. A third drone buzzes out from behind a cargo container and lays into Trigger with twin shotguns. This one’s a heavier military grade model, and handily soaks up her return fire.
Tundra’s magic comes in handy - he’s not a battle mage, but he can still project a shield that protects him and Trigger from the drone’s second shot. It circles around in search of an opening, but Kerfuffle manages to shoot it down before it can break through. The first hit left Trigger with a nasty bruise under her armor, but it’s not severe enough to slow her down much.
Verbena’s signal becomes more and more erratic as the station’s systems grow increasingly compromised, but there’s no time to stop and try to parse her patchy messages. The team moves forward into the market, where the passage swiftly narrows and branches between a number of shops. Drones patrol the streets, a mix of Medusa’s standard model and their beefier NLR counterparts. Trigger recommends taking advantage of the fact they haven’t been spotted yet and circling around wherever possible - the area is a maze of alleyways, storefronts and backrooms.
Like the intersection, the market is littered with bodies. Some are NLR soldiers, others unfortunate civilians that didn’t evacuate yet. Oddly, some of the bodies aren’t the result of gunshot wounds. Kerfuffle takes a moment to examine one - the corpse is mostly unmarked, save for a large amount of blood having leaked from its mouth. It’s as if the unfortunate pony had been smashed across the room by brute force. Not something a security drone could have done. The griffon almost gets himself spotted for his trouble, and the team quickly duck into a diner to evade the drones - a worrying find, but murder mysteries will have to wait.
Observing that the drones seem to be following rigid patrol patterns rather than actively searching, Trigger tries to lead the group through the market undetected. They pass through the diner into a small nightclub, narrowly avoiding the attention of an armored drone and many shards of broken glass littering the floor. Trigger emerges into a backstreet - and straight into the path of another of Medusa’s drones.
Trigger panics and shoots the drone dead on reflex. Three more respond to the sound, converging from different directions. One comes crashing through the nightclub window. Tundra gets tagged by a stun gun but manages to catch the worst of the incoming fire with his shield spell, giving the other two an opportunity to shoot back; the fragile drones don’t last long.
The group hurry onwards before more drones can close in, and Trigger tosses an EMP grenade around the corner ahead in case more are lurking. Fortunately, the way ahead is clear and any pursuit is easy to shake. They duck into an alley that leads around the back of another store. The alley is blocked by a large cargo container, but nothing that a little climbing can’t overcome.
Pausing to allow another drone patrol to move past, the three speculate on Gerhard’s intentions and motives. There’s no clear conclusion, save that he needs to be stopped.
A little further, and the group emerges from the market area into another primary intersection. Kerfuffle asks the others to stop - something isn’t right. The open area is littered with corpses and abandoned cargo boxes. A faint. glowing purple mist lingers in the unnaturally still air, accompanied by a distant, unnerving wet sound.
Kerfuffle recalls to Trigger and Tundra his experience back at the hospital morgue in Marid. Whatever’s happening here, it’s probably the work of Urutu, the magic-wielding zebra Sidewinder sent after him and Eleven. From the griffon’s account, Tundra identifies what’s going on - Urutu is a necromancer, a forbidden discipline among the Aether Corps. In an environment with so many dead bodies, she’s all the more dangerous.
Sure enough, as the group advance into the intersection Urutu comes into view on the far side of a large container, performing some kind of unspeakable ritual on a corpse. She looks different, as well - the foreleg that was badly burned by Eleven’s magic seems no better off, but is now wrapped in bizarre glowing runes. She notices the group immediately, particularly Kerfuffle, and expresses manic glee at the prospect of a rematch. There’s none of the cold, calculating ruthlessness she expressed back at the hospital - only madness and lust for violent revenge.
Trigger, entirely unwilling to put up with the mad zebra’s ranting, tosses an incendiary grenade at her. A momentary shriek of pain turns to unnerving laughter as Urutu magically extinguishes herself and runs for cover. The various corpses scattered nearby begin to rise and advance, and Kerfuffle is forced to hastily defend himself as a dead batpony lunges at him with fangs bared. Another comes at the captain, stumbling blindly through the flames left behind by her grenade. She shoots its leg clean off with a well-placed shot and tries to get some distance but the maimed, burning body carries on crawling after her.
Tundra’s magic comes in handy once again, momentarily stunning the batpony that’s trying to gnaw on Kerfuffle’s arm and then dispelling the magic that animates it entirely. He points out that destroying the risen bodies won’t accomplish anything - they need to go after the one controlling them. Easier said than done; Urutu has already vanished into the glowing mist, giggling maniacally as she goes. Kerfuffle puts down another of the dead with his shotgun, loudly challenging the zebra to come face him directly.
Trigger fails to get far enough from the corpse chasing her, and while it lacks the strength to get through her armor the fire is still a serious threat in close quarters. Kerfuffle moves to try and get it away from the captain - which gives Urutu her opportunity. The zebra emerges from her concealment in the magical mist, lashing out at the griffon with a flurry of powerful blows. He lunges aside and manages to score a glancing hit with his claws, but if anything the zebra is merely encouraged by the pain and keeps up the offensive.
Fortunately, Trigger’s intervention brings the brawl to a momentary close - she decapitates the corpse attacking her with a point blank shot and then fires on Urutu, nailing her shoulder.
Urutu makes a hasty retreat, the dead rising once again. To make matters worse, half a dozen more risen bodies batter their way out of the cargo container their master was previously concealed behind. At this rate it’s only a matter of time before the group is overwhelmed - a fact that Tundra is quick to remind the others of. Though his magic can’t harm Urutu or her minions directly, Tundra concludes that the purple mist is the source of the zebra’s power. He asks the others to defend him while he dispels it and immediately sets to work, leaving himself vulnerable.
With little alternative, Kerfuffle and Trigger employ grenades against the small horde of risen dead pouring out of the cargo container. The results are predictably messy - not to mention horrifying - but it keeps the dead at bay for just a little longer. The captain also finds herself once again dumping ammunition into the burning, mangled corpse that’s hounded her for the entire fight until it finally falls still - hopefully for the last time.
Urutu emerges from the mist a second time, forgoing the opportunity to attack Tundra in favor of her fixation on Kerfuffle. This time he’s too slow to move aside, and despite a split-second’s warning the zebra manages to stab him in the back with her wand, draining some of his strength to mend her own wounds. She follows up with another flurry of blows, this time landing them all with punishing force. Bruised and winded, Kerfuffle swings for the zebra’s head, narrowly misses and then steps back, trying to disengage and catch his breath.
Tundra’s assumption pays off; his own magic dispels a portion of the mist and Urutu flinches with a hiss, as if suddenly in pain. Trigger follows up with a volley of shots from her pistol, several finding their mark in Urutu’s torso and knocking the zebra off her hooves - for a moment.
Despite injuries that ought to be fatal, Urutu rushes at Trigger swinging and kicking with strength and tenacity that only dark magic can grant. Though she attempts to dodge, the captain suffers a powerful kick directly to her chestplate, unable to keep up with the insane zebra’s raw speed.
In spite of his weakened state Kerfuffle joins the ugly, messy melee once more, trying to get his arms around Urutu to finally pin her down. When that doesn’t work, a last ditch punch does; the griffon’s armoured gauntlet finally connects with the zebra’s sternum. Struggling for breath, Urutu slowly crumples to the deck, physically unable to fight any longer.
And yet, suddenly, something changes. Despite her terrible injuries something changes in Urutu’s demeanor - the violent madness leaves her eyes. It’s as if she’s a different person. Barely able to move, she weakly beckons Kerfuffle closer and tries to speak.
Tundra finishes clearing the last of the purple mist, and Trigger’s caught catching her breath after the vicious kick she just took. Still badly beaten and wired on adrenaline, it takes a moment for Kerfuffle to carefully inch closer and hear what the zebra has to say.
Her request for death makes a terrible amount of sense. It’s been well established by now that Sidewinder uses daemonic possession to boost the abilities of its magic users. Whether Urutu was possessed only recently or all along isn’t clear, but the extensive injuries inflicted on her body must have forced the daemon back into dormancy, just as it was with Coatie back on Jhurope I. The zebra is using her moment of lucidity to beg for an end to things - ironically the opposite of what Kerfuffle argued for back when she was at Eleven’s mercy in the morgue.
This time though, things are different. Kerfuffle shakily informs the others, but Trigger can’t bring herself to intervene and Tundra elects to remain neutral. The griffon hesitates at the request, torn by indecision - but there’s no daemonologist like Jhaziea around to help, and simply no time to look for alternatives. After an agonizing delay and a mumbled half-apology at how unfair the situation is for all involved, Kerfuffle grants Urutu’s request, takes her in his hands, and breaks her neck.
A long, regretful silence follows, until Tundra speaks up to remind Trigger and Kerfuffle that there’s no time to stop. Eleven and all of Port Medusa are still in danger, and there’s nothing left to do but keep moving…
Session #177 - Stag Do Unto Others (Park Team)
While the other team fights through the market and the horrors waiting there, Tami, Smile and Whisper hurry down the opposite route towards one of Port Medusa’s indoor parks. Tami bemoans the fact that she just had to go with the group that has a spy and an athlete in it; she’s not built for long runs.
Verbena does her best to keep the group updated - the Queen of Hearts is moving closer to the station, and between their ongoing battle and the communications interference, neither the Republic nor the Empire are paying it much attention. If Sidewinder manage to pick Gerhard and Eleven up, getting the young unicorn back will be all but impossible.
As suspected, the park is a wide open area that adjoins the primary corridor, with only sparse and scattered foliage to block lines of sight. Complicating things is the fact that this section of the station has suffered damage from the ongoing battle. Though still airtight and pressurized, the park area is littered with debris that has broken loose from the station’s superstructure. Here and there, small fires are burning. To make matters worse, roughly half a dozen of Medusa’s security drones can be clearly seen patrolling the area. Verbena radios in again, saying something about the Queen launching a boarding pod, but the signal breaks up completely soon after.
Tami and Smile waste no time and begin to clear the way, coordinating their shots to bring down a pair of security drones at long range. As they move forward into the outskirts of the park the amulets given to them by Professor Razzmatazz begin to quiver, putting them on alert for hidden enemies. Whisper elects to watch the others’ backs as they advance. The park is practically swarming with drones, so Tami and Smile prepare to repeat the process with another pair-
-except at the last second, Whisper yells out a warning. A familiar model of dog-like assassin robot decloaks and lunges at Tami from behind! She barely ducks out of the way in time to avoid its claws. The machine skids to a halt on the deck and skilfully dodges a panicked burst of fire from the hippogriff, but concentrated shooting from Whisper and Smile brings it down before it can attack again. Evidently there’s more to worry about here than simple drones.
Smile sweeps the area with her thermal scope to look for more cloaked robots and sees the hazy impression of one moving through the park, but the fires conceal it well; she quickly loses track amongst the mess of heat signatures.
The group carefully advances into the park, picking off the short-sighted local security drones as they go. At first they try to skirt around the outer edge, away from foliage and other blockages, but the fires are more intense there and before long Tami’s struggling to breathe thanks to the heat and smoke. They double back, taking a longer route, though Whisper reminds the others that they’re racing the clock.
Another pair of drones falls as easily as the previous, and Tami is shocked when Whisper compliments Smile’s shot and calls her ’sweetie’. Are they really flirting? Already? Here? Now? Smile sending Tami a cheeky wink just confuses her further. The poor hippogriff needs a moment to try and re-evaluate her friends’ view of one another. If nothing else, it’s a welcome distraction from thinking about the present situation for a moment.
As the group advances through the park a second assassin robot takes the opportunity to strike, pouncing from among some bushes and catching Whisper off guard. The former agent finds herself pinned, the machine’s bladed tail digging into her shoulder. Luckily Tami’s on hand to repay the favour from earlier, peppering the robot with EMP ammo until it collapses. Despite the scare, Whisper grumbles as the others wrestle the dead robot off her and insists that it’s only a flesh wound. While Tami performs some quick first aid, Smile spots a third robot’s heat signature prowling out of sight in the distance.
Moving forward once again, holding their breath to pass through another flaming area, the group emerges into a small plaza on the far side of the park. There’s a number of tents set up there - a small field base set up by the NLR occupation force - but no sign of any soldiers. Instead they catch a glimpse of something unexpected: a lone, familiar deer. It’s Asp, Sidewinder’s expert hacker, moving between the tents engrossed in a datapad. He disappears into one of the tents, oblivious to the three mares.
The group confers for a moment. On one hand, they could skirt around and hurry after Gerhard with Asp none the wiser. On the other, the deer is likely the one responsible for seizing control of the station’s security network. Undoing Sidewinder’s hacking would make things easier for everyone. Furthermore, Asp isn’t a soldier - he’s a software nerd. He could have vital information on the syndicate’s plans. Despite the fact that it’s a detour from their main objective, the group elect to try and capture him.
Tami would be asking Smile and Whisper some very pointed questions if not for the fact that there are bigger issues at stake. Coordinating their movements, the group advances on Asp’s tent. Smile’s scope confirms that he’s alone, aside from a number of smaller heat signatures given off by his computer equipment. Smile and Tami rush in through the front with weapons at the ready while Whisper slices open the back of the tent and grabs Asp before he can react. As predicted, he’s no fighter - it takes only a brief, easy struggle to subdue and disarm him.
With Whisper’s knife at his neck and two guns aimed at him, Asp quickly surrenders. Smile demands that he stop all of the interference being carried out on the station’s systems, but he asserts that that’s impossible - the Queen of Hearts is hacking Medusa’s systems directly, he’s just coordinating the process. He’s not controlling the security drones directly either, their erratic and aggressive behavior is the result of a virus that he slipped into their systems. The assassin robots? Almost fully autonomous.
Tami and Smile insist that he do what he can, but Asp refuses out of fear. Sidewinder would kill him if they found out he’d turned against them. Whisper is quite happy to extend the same threat - there’s nothing to stop them from killing him on the spot if he doesn’t cooperate. Tami takes a different angle, though she doesn’t exactly play good cop either. She berates Asp for having the nerve to beg for his life after all he’s done in the past - hacking Claudia with lethal intent, intercepting the Jammers’ correspondence, and no doubt many other examples of similar acts throughout his career. If he helps, then he can at least live long enough to be arrested.
Finally, Asp relents and asks for access to his computer. The group refuses of course - Tami can do the work, Asp can just sit where he is and tell her what to do. With Smile’s hoof on his neck, just to ensure that he behaves. While it’s not possible to simply undo the hacking that’s already taken place, it is possible to counterhack the Queen of Hearts and disrupt the signal it’s beaming to the station. With little choice in the matter, Asp talks Tami through the process of clandestinely hacking the Queen using his own computer systems. Progress is slow and difficult at first, with several near misses thanks to the deer’s heavily customized and counterintuitive system interface.
After enough frustrating work on Tami’s end, some more “gentle persuasion” from Smile and a few extra hacking pointers from Whisper, the hack is finally complete. The program will take time to run - fifteen to twenty minutes at least - but if successful it should disrupt the Queen’s control over Port Medusa.
Suddenly, Asp’s datapad loudly registers an incoming call - no doubt his boss looking for an update. Keeping their weapons trained on the deer, the group back up away from the device and order him to give them the all clear. Asp picks up, and sure enough, the voice on the other end of the line is the same electronically masked one that interrupted Cobra’s transmission that morning. The Sidewinder. To his credit, Asp plays along and reports that all is normal. Sidewinder informs him that transport off the station for him and ‘the asset’ (whom is assumed from context to be Gerhard) will arrive shortly, and asks for news on the Jammers’ activities.
Asp plays dumb, apparently sincere in trying to dupe his boss. Inadvertently or not though, something in his response tips Sidewinder off. The call abruptly terminates - then, after barely a moment to register what’s happened - automatic fire shreds through the walls of the tent!
The group hits the ground, Smile dragging Asp down with her, as bullets obliterate the computer equipment all around them. They scramble outside, straight into a group of three more assassin robots that have surrounded them and abandoned all pretense of stealth. The machines attack indiscriminately, registering Asp as a valid target. Scrambling for whatever limited cover the NLR camp offers, Tami and Smile fire wildly at the robots to minimal effect. Asp tries to make a run for it and takes a bullet for his trouble, so Whisper hauls the unarmed (and genuinely terrified) deer into the back of a small cargo vehicle and attempts to bunker down.
One of the robots starts hounding Tami, chasing her from cover to cover. The hippogriff’s frantic movements keep her from taking hits, ducking around tents and scattered equipment out of terror more than skill. Even with the EMP rounds her return fire only slows the pursuer down at first. It takes several bursts and a well-placed grenade to finally bring the attacker to a halt. Smile finds herself trading fire with two of the robots from cover, remaining unharmed for the moment thanks to quick reflexes and a little luck. Between a grenade of her own, several laser rifle shots and some covering fire from Whisper, another of the canine machines falls.
A fourth robot tears its way through the tent the group just vacated, firing on Whisper’s position. The former agent remains unharmed for the moment, but the deer isn’t so lucky and screams in pain at another hit. The robot refocuses, leaping at Tami and lashing her armor with its tail. Concentrated and/or panicked shooting from Tami and Whisper bring it down before it can do more harm, but Asp’s prone in a pool of his own blood and clearly close to death. Tami hurries to stabilize the Sidewinder agent (noting the irony) while Smile and Whisper keep the final robot at bay. It attempts to move around for a flanking attack on Smile’s position, but well-placed laser fire finishes it off. Finally there’s a moment to breathe - that seems to have been the last of them.
Asp’s wounds are serious, but with Tami’s help the bleeding is stopped and he’s left barely able to walk. Helping him to his hooves, the hippogriff points out the obvious - Sidewinder was willing to get rid of him the second he stopped being useful. In return for his life he’s willing to loosen his tongue a little, but his knowledge of the greater operation remains frustratingly limited. Everything’s on a need-to-know basis. Asp’s role in things was to breach Port Medusa’s security for the Queen’s attack and send the security drones haywire, but beyond that he’s in the dark.
In spite of Asp’s injuries, there’s no time to stop. Setting off across the plaza once again with their prisoner in tow, Tami and Smile try to talk whatever else they can out of him. Asp’s real name turns out to be Teagmháil Mhór, or ‘Tea’ for short. His injuries preclude any rough handling, but Tami still repeatedly baps him over the head with her wing - for hurting Claudia, for spying on her messages to Midnight, and for scaring her back at the coffee stand on Crystal Heart. Eventually she threatens to take after Donner and simply sit on him if he acts up.
This threat prompts an amused Smile to comment on Tami's attitude change, playfully revealing a little information that both she and Whisper have been waiting for the right moment to drop.
Minisession - The Door
A few minutes later, both groups arrive at the next major intersection at roughly the same time… but seconds too late to intercept Gerhard. Medusa’s traitorous head of security slips through another massive security door just as it closes, with the unconscious Eleven still slung over his back. And he shoots out the door controls as he goes, just for good measure. Kerfuffle is furious, but repairing the panel is well beyond his ability.
A few seconds later Donner, Blitz and Coatie arrive as well - unharmed, but also too late. The crew start trying to think of ways around the door - alternate routes, maintenance access, even ventilation. Asp’s limited knowledge of Sidewinder’s plans offers no help, earning him no small number of angry glares.
Suddenly, Verbena’s voice cuts through the static. Whatever the Queen of Hearts has been doing to disrupt the station’s communications is weakening, likely thanks to Tami’s hacking. The crew inform her of the situation and ask for ways around the door - but there are none. The door leads to a storage facility for the station’s primary reactor; that whole sector is purposefully isolated from the rest of the station for safety reasons. She offers to try and hack the door, but that would take even more time, time that nobody can spare. Unwilling to sit and wait, Coatie and Kerfuffle propose the simplest possible solution: brute force.
Coatie steps forward, and everyone else takes a cautious step back as her immensely powerful telekinesis engulfs the door. The air fills with the sound of straining metal, but even her strength is taxed by the effort. Verbena interrupts the spectacle with a warning - there are heat signatures converging on the crew’s position. Dozens of them. Soon enough the new threat reveals itself: From the direction of the park, a small army of security drones and assassin robots is marching towards them. There’s even a heavy Sidewinder security mech at the back. And from the direction of the market, a horde of animated dead. Whatever magic controls them apparently didn’t die with Urutu - her own corpse is among them, as mindless as the rest.
Everyone scrambles to take defensive positions and buy Coatie time, but Donner and Blitz have other ideas. There’s simply too many enemies to stand and fight while Coatie forces the door alone. Kerfuffle and the two big cats dig their claws into whatever gaps and ridges they can find in the armored door, pulling with all their strength to force it open faster. Tundra joins them, contributing his own magic to the massive effort.
Trigger, Tami, Smile and Whisper waste no time opening fire on the approaching enemies, creating a rough half-circle to protect the others using scattered cover. Asp cowers next to Tami, not in a fit state to contribute much of anything. There’s no careful aiming or strategic targeting here - just a constant stream of bullets, beams and grenades to slow down an endless tide of targets. Little more than distance and the attackers’ slow advance stands between the group and being totally overwhelmed.
As the seconds crawl by, the giant security door gradually begins to move as the combined force being exerted on it starts to overcome its mechanisms. Among a cacophony of protesting metal and snapping components, a tiny gap opens - not enough to pass through, but a niche for Kerfuffle, Donner and Blitz to hook their claws into. For the moment, it’s just not enough - the group begins to collapse away from cover, backs to the door, as the hordes draw ever closer. Smile’s rifle shorts out from overuse, and she grabs Asp by the antlers to drag him along towards the only hope of safety.
With one final burst of desperate power, the door is forced partway open. Trigger stops shooting and rushes to check on Coatie, shocked to hear her screaming (or really, making any noise at all). She’s tired, but still going.
Tami hurries through the door, followed by Whisper, Smile, Asp and Tundra. The gap’s barely large enough for Kerfuffle, who makes it through with some wiggling and a little help from Donner. But after that, there’s a moment of terrible realization: the gap in the door is still far too small for either of the cats to fit through.
With their usual bravado and one of Donner’s trademark toothy smiles, the pair volunteer to stay behind and hold off the horde. Trigger is reluctant to leave them, but Blitz assures her that they have no intention of dying. After all, fighting is what they were made for. What really hurts the captain’s heart, though, is that Coatie volunteers to stay behind as well. Donner and Blitz won’t make it alone, she writes; she wants to help them, just as the Jammers helped her.
Despite the emotion, there’s little time for heartfelt goodbyes. Trigger joins the others on the far side of the door. Tami tells the two cats to ‘give them hell’ in their native tongue, (which she just looked up on the fly) eliciting another grin from Donner, and points out that while Coatie might not have a cape, she still looks like a superhero. Kerfuffle shakily promises that they’ll be back for the three of them. Smile, in terse fashion, simply tells them to “fuck ‘em up”. Donner and Blitz respond simply - get Eleven back and make Sidewinder pay for what they’ve done. With great difficulty the Jammers, alongside Tundra and Whisper, leave the three to their bloody battle.
On the far side of the security door is a second one, thankfully open, leading into a large open area filled with large cargo containers. Catwalks rise either side, connected by a bridge. The warehouse area Verbena mentioned, filled with supplies for the station’s power systems. Only one exit is visible - another door on the far side, leading to Port Medusa’s primary fusion reactor.
Except, of course, the fun isn’t over yet. As the crew cross the threshold into the storage area, the inner door suddenly begins to rapidly close. Kerfuffle and Tami narrowly avoid being caught between the massive doors, but Asp isn’t so lucky. The deer is caught lagging behind and the door slams in his face, cutting him off from the others. Trapped in the warehouse, all that greets the shrinking group is an unwelcomely familiar voice...
Session #178 - Cobra’s New Fangs
In spite of the obvious fact that they’re walking into a trap, the crew press on into the warehouse. The door on the far side is the only way Gerhard could have taken Eleven. They fan out amongst the large cargo containers; Tami and Kerfuffle fly up high while Smile and Tundra mount the catwalks. They advance slowly, careful of whatever might be lying in ambush, but the warehouse appears to be empty. Sidewinder, naturally, takes the opportunity to taunt them. Feigned shock at the Jammers having made it so far and done so much damage, mocking sarcasm over Cobra’s uncertain fate, and contempt at Hair Trigger having the audacity to judge the syndicate’s actions.
The conversation, such as it is, predictably goes nowhere. That is, until Smile plays a card she’s been holding onto for a long time. She calls Sidewinder out by name - Star Kisser, head of the Manehattan Galactic Archeological Society, host of the high class charity ball the Jammers attended at the Silver Dome months back.
Amused, Sidewinder drops the voice masking. She is Star Kisser indeed, and backhandedly praises Smile’s intelligence for having figured out her real identity. She goes so far as to offer the crystal mare a job; after all, the syndicate’s lost a few operatives recently. Tami shoots back that they’ve seen how she treats the people who work for her - they’re abused, exploited, and thrown away the moment they’re no longer useful. To an organization that experiments on foals, no less. Kerfuffle asks what Sidewinder/Star Kisser’s plans for Eleven are, but no answer is forthcoming.
As if to illustrate Tami’s point, Star Kisser quips that bringing Cobra back under control was as simple as flipping a switch. With that she cuts communications - and the warehouse lights. From somewhere near the center of the room, there’s a sudden and foreboding sound of tearing, crumpling metal…
It quickly becomes clear that there’s something big moving through the darkened warehouse - something with heavy, disturbingly fast footsteps. The overhead catwalk creaks as the unseen stalker leaps up, closing in on Smile. The crystal pony hurriedly sends a laser shot and EMP grenade at the hazy thermal signature moving towards her, before vaulting off the catwalk to the containers below. It isn’t clear whether her attacks actually accomplish much.
Tundra attempts to cast a ball of light and reveal the unseen assailant, but it deftly ducks aside and turns its attention on him instead. Crossing the catwalk in a single massive lunge, it crashes into him with audible force - extinguishing his light and shrugging off a shot from Trigger as it goes. A moment later, Tundra emerges from the darkness - flying at high speed directly towards Tami! The pair fall in a bruised, crumpled heap atop one of the cargo containers, scrambling to get back upright as their attacker closes in.
Verbena’s voice cuts in through the crew’s headsets - she’s managed to gain limited control over the warehouse. One by one the lights slowly turn back on. Perched atop an adjacent container, bearing down on the hippogriff and unicorn with malicious intent, is Cobra - but a Cobra unlike how the Jammers have ever seen her before. Integrated into a massive armored frame that resembles an assassin robot but far, far larger, the pegasus has none of her usual smugness or sass. She stares blankly, completely emotionless, just as Coatie did when Cobra deployed her against the Jammers. Merely a war machine under Sidewinder’s direct control.
(Note: Cobra’s speed isn’t purely a matter of stats. She actively defies the standard turn order.)
Understandably, Tami panics. She tosses an EMP grenade, grabs Tundra and flies for her life while the rest of the crew start shooting. Cobra doesn’t seem fazed; she hops back off the container and into cover, out of the line of fire. A moment later there’s a whining discharge of energy, followed by a loud bang as she fires through the container; her new body comes with mounted railguns! The supersonic projectile digs a hole in the deck where Trigger was standing just a moment earlier.
Cobra 2.0, by Kalemon
Attempting to prevent Cobra from taking the initiative, Kerfuffle flies up to the catwalk overhead and fires down at her with his shotgun from an angle the container doesn’t cover. No luck - the mechanical monster dodges the griffon’s shots with almost nonchalant ease and leaps up to meet him. The vaguely canine head issues forth a massive jet of flame, forcing him to lunge awkwardly off his elevated position and take to the air.
The crew keep on shooting from multiple angles, but Cobra’s speed makes landing effective hits difficult - and what does make contact is mitigated handily by her heavy armour. Tundra raises his shield spell to protect Tami and Smile; a second shot from the railgun passes so close to Trigger that her clothes ignite for a split second. Kerfuffle takes advantage of his close range to aim for the railgun itself, but buckshot just doesn’t have the necessary penetrating power.
Verbena’s voice cuts in over the fighting with an update on the battle outside. Both fleets are badly damaged, but the Republic ships are disengaging and apparently abandoning the station. An imperial ship - which she confirms is the Fafnir - is now approaching. Could reinforcements be on the way? Tami asks Verbena if there’s anything she can do to assist in the fight with Cobra, which is a far more immediate issue. Verbena informs Tami that the warehouse has a large overhead gantry crane; she can disable its security lock, but the hippogriff would have to hack it locally in order to operate it.
Kerfuffle retreats to the limited cover of a wooden crate atop one of the cargo containers, with Cobra in pursuit. It quickly becomes apparent that she has more tricks - one of her wings bends at an unnatural angle, swiping at the griffon with the energy blade mounted along its leading edge. It’s a glancing blow - one that could have been much worse, as the crate sliding neatly into two pieces attests. With Kerfuffle on the back foot, Cobra presses her attack; she lashes out with her new body’s prehensile tail, grabbing him around the middle with the pronged clamp on the end and lifting him bodily into the air.
Suddenly the rest of the crew have a new problem - any shot aimed at Cobra risks hitting Kerfuffle instead. Thinking quickly, Tundra relocates his shield spell and uses it like a giant wedge to shove the cargo container Cobra’s standing on. She loses her balance and drops to the floor, giving Kerfuffle the opportunity he needs to squirm free and get distance. The others take advantage of Cobra’s prone state with more shooting, and Trigger manages to score actual visible damage on one of the railguns. Even so, Cobra doesn’t stay down for long - she scrambles to her feet, bringing the deadly weapons to bear for another shot that narrowly misses Smile and Patch.
Tami follows Verbena’s advice and attempts to gain control of the overhead cargo crane using Whisper’s hacking tool. It’s a tricky task to perform under pressure, but she manages. Hoping that the others can keep Cobra still for long enough, she directs it to pick up one of the massive cargo containers and lift it into the air.
Cobra, naturally, isn’t interested in standing still. She leaps back up to the overhead catwalk, using the high angle to turn her flamethrower on Trigger and Kerfuffle at once! The captain scrambles clear, but the griffon isn’t so lucky - and quickly finds himself on fire. While Kerfuffle struggles to put himself out, the cyborg leaps back down to ground level, menacing Trigger and Whisper at close range. Smile takes a carefully aimed shot at Cobra’s head, assuming that the visor she’s wearing may be part of a control mechanism similar to Coatie’s helmet, but the beam goes wide.
Fortunately for Tami, Cobra doesn’t seem to have noticed that the warehouse crane is moving. The hippogriff seizes the opportunity - and drops the heavy cargo container directly on top of her!
Now that Cobra is pinned by the crane, the crew have an opportunity to get several good hits in (except Kerfuffle, who is busy being on fire). A particularly well-aimed shot from Trigger even takes one of the railguns out of commission for good. In spite of this Cobra carries on fighting, and in a massive mechanical exertion, finally tears the crushing container into pieces. But suddenly, something changes…
Just as Smile suspected, Cobra isn’t acting of her own free will. She takes a second attempt at shooting Cobra’s visor - and nails it. Cobra stumbles awkwardly, attempting to control her own mechanical parts with only limited success, and yells desperately for the Jammers to kill the machine part of her. It’s finally beginning to show signs of damage. Verbena chimes in to confirm that Cobra’s original body and new combat frame are falling out of sync. Her movements are becoming uncoordinated, and her software may be vulnerable to remote hacking.
Tami does her best, but the damage to Cobra’s systems and the fact that her mechanical and biological functions are vying for control make the task complicated and difficult. There’s little success at first, and Cobra’s losing the battle to control herself. Kerfuffle and Tundra take shelter under the magister’s shield as Cobra bashes on it with her wingblades and claws. It’s all they can do to aim at the machine’s legs, trying to buy Tami time.
Smile, ever the one to make reckless plans on the fly, suggests hacking through a direct rather than remote connection. Tami confirms that it might work, so the crystal mare leaps onto Cobra’s back while she’s busy trying to break through Tundra’s shield. Fortunately, it turns out that Cobra’s cyberware has things in common with Eleven and Coatie’s - Smile finds a universal port with relative ease and jacks in. Using Smile’s multiband as a relay point, Tami manages to find a foothold in Cobra’s cybernetics. Whisper joins Smile on Cobra’s back, doing what she can to offer martial - and moral - support.
Digging through Cobra’s software, which is as much of a warzone as the warehouse, Tami finds the confidential files on Sidewinder that Cobra promised the Jammers in exchange for her freedom. She starts a download - one that will take time.
Cobra’s murderous mechanical half doesn’t intend to give anyone time to do anything. It rears up and smashes down on Tundra’s shield, shattering it. Kerfuffle hauls Tundra clear, just in time to avoid a point blank blast from the flamethrower. The prehensile tail turns and grabs at Smile and Whisper; the crystal mare dodges fast enough to avoid harm, but the clamps lock around Whisper’s midsection and lift her into the air. The former agent cries out in pain as the robotic appendage begins to squeeze with crushing force!
Furious, Smile presses her laser rifle to the base of the tail and fires multiple times. One even punches all the way through, but it’s not enough. Something breaks with a disturbing crack, and the agent falls limp. Tami frantically scours Cobra’s software for a way to deactivate the tail and meets only partial success; Cobra’s legs give out, but the crushing grip doesn’t let up. The data download completes, but for the moment everyone’s attention is on saving Whisper. Kerfuffle throws himself on Cobra’s tail, gripping the clamps and trying to force them apart by hand. Whisper’s still trapped, but at least has the opportunity to breathe.
With Cobra immobilized, Trigger moves in close for a killing shot. Even with its legs disabled, its tail pinned and its railguns out of commission, the new part of her carries on thrashing wildly; the captain’s first shot goes wide, but the second finds its mark. She shoots the vaguely canine head of Cobra’s cybernetic frame at point blank, right in its central eye. The blast penetrates deeply, triggering a small internal explosion, and Cobra - at last - falls limp as the war machine she’s integrated into shuts down completely. The fight is over.
Smile and Tami hurry to Whisper’s side, pulling her free of Cobra’s tail and assigning Patch to administer aid. Whisper’s alive and conscious, but has a number of broken bones and severe internal injuries. Still, she has the strength left to reach for Smile (who takes her hoof and kisses her, modesty be damned). It looks like she’ll live, but she’s no longer fit to walk, let alone fight.
Kerfuffle and Trigger turn their attention to Cobra. She’s battered, bloody and unconscious, but alive. A little examination reveals emergency detachment points for her cybernetics, and they pull her free. Even with a hole in its head, nobody is about to trust the giant combat frame to simply stay down. Unfortunately for Cobra this leaves her without legs, and the Jammers lay her down on the deck to receive medical attention once Whisper’s stable. The moment she wakes up she begins thrashing and screaming hysterically - not that anybody can really blame her.
As she works, Tami attempts to lighten the mood. Under other circumstances she’d be very upset with Whisper and Smile for leading her on about their relationship. She insists on remaining their “relationship officer” in future, helping them plan and so on. With a questionable number of ribs still intact, Whisper’s not exactly in a position to refuse.
Once Whisper is stable, everyone’s attention turns to Cobra. Some painkillers from Patch and a little encouragement from Trigger slowly calm her down. The crew confirm that they got the data she set aside for them, but more importantly, Kerfuffle asks just what Gerhard is intending to do with Eleven at Port Medusa’s reactor. As they talk, Verbena gets to work on remotely hacking the final security door.
Cobra explains to the best of her ability: all along, Project Snowdrop’s goal was to find and secure an alternate power source for unicorn magic. That source: the daemons. Back at Site Two, Knowledge Base was supposed to use the reactor as a power source to create a dimensional fold - a permanent portal to the daemon realm. Sidewinder’s intentions for Eleven are much the same; she’s the greatest and last remaining specimen of Project Snowdrop. And with the power of Port Medusa’s massive fusion reactor behind her, there’s little her magic couldn’t do. If Eleven opens a portal as Sidewinder hopes, then Project Snowdrop is a success - a definitive proof of concept and an infinite source of daemons to make more like her and Coatie. Daemon-powered, cybernetically controlled unicorns on a military-industrial scale.
Why? Because the Republic and Empire stand on the brink of war - a war Sidewinder was happy to encourage - and demand for effective magic users couldn’t possibly be higher. Star Kisser’s words from earlier ring true; it’s all for the sake of power. Cobra points out that there are already buyers ready and waiting.
Tundra confirms that Cobra’s claims are plausible, and adds that all manner of things could come through such a portal. Things that Sidewinder (or anyone else) has little chance of harnessing. The Jammers, particularly Tami, decry Sidewinder’s plan as insane. Kerfuffle argues that there must be more to it - Eleven would never commit to such a thing willingly.
Verbena finally gets the door to the reactor room open but reports that there are massive, unstable energy readings coming from inside. Gerhard must have gotten Eleven to the reactor by now. Tundra urges the Jammers to keep moving, but with Whisper crushed and Cobra legless there’s no choice but to leave them behind. Just in case, Tami attaches her remaining EMP grenade to Cobra and keys the trigger to Whisper’s multiband. Even so, and for what it’s worth, Cobra - Sunset Dreamer - takes the time to thank Trigger for her help.
Whisper passes Tami what’s left of her ammunition and shares one last kiss with Smile. There’s barely enough time for a goodbye, and another promise that they’ll be back, before the Jammers hurry through the security door with Tundra in tow.
Towards Port Medusa’s main reactor, and whatever’s become of Eleven…
Session #179 - Singularity
Tundra and the Jammers hurry down one final corridor as Verbena reports escalating power outages throughout Port Medusa. The reason becomes clear the moment they reach the reactor chamber: Eleven is suspended in midair above the reactor itself at the center of a massive purple storm of energy, her eyes glowing solid white. Strange crystal growths litter the walls and equipment, and a collection of larger ones orbit the unicorn herself. This isn’t a weak, starving pony magically sustaining themself off the dregs of a near-dead reactor like at Site Two. Eleven is siphoning directly from an active power source big enough to feed a city.
Off to one side, crumpled in a heap, is Gerhard’s charred and mangled corpse. It’s unlikely he ever had the faintest idea what sort of thing he was messing with. All eyes are on Eleven, however. Whatever’s happening to her has to be stopped before it’s too late.
The entire station suddenly shakes, highlighting the need for urgency. Verbena reports that entire sections of Port Medusa are going dark, including critical systems like the stabilizers that keep the station in a stable orbit. If this keeps up, the entire thing could tumble into the gas giant below - not to mention whatever Eleven might do when she uses all of that power. Verbena can’t access the reactor controls and Tundra’s lost for solutions for the moment - this is far beyond even his experience. The Jammers hastily begin to look for ways to shut the reactor down, but its controls seem to be elsewhere.
Kerfuffle calls out to Eleven in desperation, but what responds… isn’t her. At least, not exactly.
Eleven - or whatever’s speaking through her - asserts that she and it are one now, and proclaims her intent to leave the present reality. When the gate is opened, they will be free to escape from pain and suffering, from Sidewinder, the Empire, the Republic and everything else. The Jammers attempt to talk her down - to explain that this is just what Sidewinder wants (and certainly not what Eleven would want) but the daemon - or whatever combination of her and it is in control now - isn’t interested in debate. It explains, in vague terms, that it and Eleven have a deal. In a sense, the Jammers could consider it to be Solar’s elder sibling.
Tundra does what he can to analyze the magic taking place, and comes to two conclusions: first, simply shutting down the reactor while Eleven is drawing from it would likely kill her. Second, the floating crystals that surround her are the focal point of her spell. The unstable nature of the spell works in the Jammers’ favour - for just a moment, Eleven gets control of herself and calls to Kerfuffle for help. She draws the Jammers’ attention to the crystals, but abruptly cuts off as she loses herself again. That’s all the prompting anyone needs..
Of course, the malevolent intelligence directing Eleven isn’t going to simply sit and let its spell be disrupted. Rifts open around the reactor chamber and strange apparitions step forth - vague, featureless outlines of half a dozen ponies. Two more, larger than the others and with fearsome-looking horns, join them momentarily. The entire group quickly advances on the Jammers with clear hostile intent.
Tami takes to the air, firing at the nearest crystal, while Kerfuffle blasts two of the smaller thralls as they advance to close range. The vague pony-like outlines break up into shards of magic, which retreat and merge with the closest larger one. It changes from purple to blue, apparently unfazed, simply raising its horn and summoning two more. Smile narrowly ducks aside as the other large apparition launches a bolt of magic her way, returning fire but with minimal effect, and further damages the nearest crystal with a well-placed grenade.
The crystals begin to rapidly rotate around the reactor, becoming harder to keep track of and hit. Tundra does his best to avoid the fight, instead continuing his analysis. He concludes that the crystals need to be broken in a specific sequence - purple, blue, green, yellow, orange. A spectrum. Simply blasting away at them won’t be enough.
The smaller apparitions advance on Tundra, lashing out at him with their hooves. It isn’t clear if they’re even fully corporeal, but their strikes hurt all the same. Trigger fires several shots to try and get them off him, downing one (promptly absorbed like those before it), but mostly just gets the entire group of them to come for her instead.
Using her wings to quickly navigate the large chamber, Tami chases down the purple crystal and shatters it with a well-placed volley of fire from her Tsunami. The thralls silently scream, turning from purple to blue. And growing stronger. Kerfuffle joins Tami in the air, strafing the blue crystal next. Down on the ground, Trigger does her best to cover Tundra as the smaller thralls begin to descend upon the pair of them.
The large thralls don’t let up, supporting their smaller brethren at range with powerful beams of magic. One burns a smoking hole in Smile’s armour; the other consumes a smaller thrall of its own accord, switching from blue to green - and gaining a new ability. With a flash it suddenly teleports, switching places with Tami - perfectly placed for a close range flanking shot on Kerfuffle. The griffon tumbles in midair, badly hurt by a direct hit. Patch offers him a stimulant shot, but the griffon turns it down - he’s already running on drugs and adrenaline. If he overdoses on stims like Smile and Trigger have in the past, that’s the end of it.
Trigger blasts away at the small thralls at point blank range, dodging and scrambling as they try to pin her down. Two of them fall, so much as that means anything, but the others carry on advancing. Tami comes to Trigger’s rescue, clearing a path with a short burst from her SMG before swooping down to grab the unicorn and carry her into the air. Meanwhile, Kerfuffle remains on the offensive in spite of encroaching unconsciousness. The second crystal shatters, and a followup grenade breaks up the thralls that had been attacking Trigger a moment ago. Tundra makes progress as well; focusing his own magic, he manages to stop the remaining three crystals from rotating - suddenly, they’re easier targets.
Even so, the more damage the Jammers do, the stronger the thralls get. A large thrall turns yellow as its smaller companions fall, only to simply summon more! It turns and unleashes another new ability on Smile - a wave of crystal growths smashes through the deck in a straight line, colliding with enough force to throw her clean off her hooves. The other thrall follows suit and then keeps up the magical barrage, this time turning its sights on Tami and Trigger. A well-aimed blast strikes true - and burns a hole straight through Tami’s wing! The hippogriff tumbles to the deck with a scream, suddenly unable to fly at all let alone carry Trigger through the air, and the pair of them crash-land in a heap.
As the battle goes on, Port Medusa’s systems continue to fail one after another. The entire room shakes and begins to tilt as the station’s orbit becomes unstable.
Smile takes a deep breath and steels herself against the pain of her wounds, running to get distance on the large thralls while laying into the green crystal with her laser rifle. At the same time, she dispatches Patch to do what he can do for Tami.
The hippogriff is in a lot of pain - it doesn’t take a doctor to tell that her wing will require surgery at the very least - but a quick injection lets her keep moving. Trigger scrambles to her hooves and finishes off the green crystal with a well-aimed shot, in spite of the lesser thralls trying to move in and finish her off. Kerfuffle staggers towards the yellow crystal, barely awake in spite of his accumulated injuries and singlemindedly focused on freeing Eleven. It’s damaged, but holds. A large thrall is uncomfortably close, so he tosses a smoke grenade to try and obscure its vision.
For a magical projection, the thrall proves to be quite devious. Rather than try to fight through the smoke it simply casts the swap teleport spell again, changing places with Smile. The crystal mare suddenly finds herself in the middle of a choking cloud. From its new position, the thrall fires a beam of magic at Trigger and strikes the captain square in her side.
Recognising that the crew are close to being overrun, Tundra tries a desperate tactic. He plunges his horn into the body of one of the larger thralls, using his magic to paralyze it - but also himself. It’s up to Trigger and Tami, neither of whom are in good shape to carry on fighting, to cover him. At the very least, it puts one of the big hitters out of the fight. Patch does what he can to keep them both on their hooves as they fire away at the smaller thralls attempting to mob them.
In spite of her unfortunate position, Smile forces herself clear of the smoke cloud and lays into both remaining crystals with her rifle. The yellow one breaks apart, leaving only the orange one. The thralls change colour to match, growing even deadlier. Trigger guns down two of the smaller ones, buying Tami an opportunity to shoot the final crystal. It too breaks apart, and the magical storm surrounding Eleven finally shifts to a glaring red. The smaller thralls vanish… but even as the spell animating them fails and their bodies begin to disintegrate, the large thrall that Tundra didn’t paralyze carries on attacking!
Tami yelps and ducks clear as beams of burning magic erupt close to her. Another wave of crystals rushes at Trigger and Patch, narrowly clipping the unicorn but smashing into the drone at full force. Patch tumbles to the ground with his rotors badly mangled, completely immobilized. Kerfuffle tries to reach the others and help, but stumbles and then finally collapses, overcome by pain and exhaustion.
Verbena’s voice cuts in once more as the station shudders and the unpleasant tilt grows even sharper. The Jammers’ efforts aren’t enough - Port Medusa is crippled and on course to fall into the gas giant. There’s barely half an hour before it hits the atmosphere. Tami insists that Verbena evacuate, recalling the promise they made after Gerhard’s betrayal. Verbena agrees to fetch Sweet Alyssum and go - but the Jammers aren’t leaving while there’s still a chance for Eleven.
Even with the crystals destroyed and its spell supposedly disrupted, Eleven’s other self continues to argue that it knows her best. That deep down, this is what she wants: an end to all the pain and fear, trapped in an unwilling bond with an equally unwilling partner. Fighting for their lives, the Jammers argue back. Tami points out that ‘deep down’ doesn’t always know what’s best for you. Smile calls the daemon a hypocrite - if it simply wants to be free, it knows that there are ways that a pony and a daemon can be separated. Trigger refuses to abandon Eleven - situations like this are when someone needs those that care about them the most.
Suddenly, the final thrall halts. There’s a subtle but visible change in Eleven’s demeanor. She suggests that perhaps it would be simpler to discuss things with the crew “face to face”. The red glow begins to brighten, filling the room. Tami hurries to Kerfuffle and frantically shakes him, trying to wake him up to try and get through to Eleven, but within seconds the glow is all-encompassing...
***
The Jammers suddenly find themselves in a strange place. The reactor room, but also not. An impossible location in close orbit of a star. Everyone is inexplicably healthy - unharmed even - and wide awake, but Tundra is nowhere to be seen and Eleven is no longer alone in her place hovering above the reactor. Alongside her is a strange and sinister being, no doubt the daemon that’s been quietly living inside her all along.
To the crew’s surprise, the daemon politely introduces itself...
Session #180 - Helios
Eleven herself continues to float above the reactor, still and quiet as if fast asleep, and the Jammers listen warily as Helios - her daemon - introduces itself. It’s an oddly lithe and graceful creature that vaguely resembles a tall stallion, but with all manner of alien features that set it clearly apart. Helios explains that this is a safe place, and it wishes the Jammers no harm. When Smile accuses it of stalling for time, it points out that time flows differently - the world they came from moves slowly in relation to this one. Time is the one thing they don’t lack.
Kerfuffle wonders aloud if the situation is like Tundra’s haywire spell back aboard the Lady of the Lake, all taking place in the crew’s heads. Helios corrects that he’s only half-right. More accurately, it has brought the Jammers into Eleven’s head. The place they inhabit now is, to simplify, a magical representation of her psyche. It’s the best, safest way to make contact.
Naturally the Jammers doubt everything Helios says, but the daemon seems committed to speaking politely rather than attacking. It’s aloof and difficult to read, but straightforward and matter-of-fact - a disarming change from Solar’s condescending arrogance. Surmising that the daemon has something to say, Smile urges it to get straight to the point. Helios descends from the reactor, conjuring a comically small tea set and mat so that it can settle down and relax.
Nobody else feels like having tea. Tami accuses Helios of acting far too friendly for someone that just tried to kill everyone. The daemon disagrees however - it’s not the one responsible - but to explain, it would be best to start from the beginning. The crew carefully gather round to at least hear Helios out, save for Kerfuffle who approaches the reactor and tries to get through to Eleven. There’s no response; it’s like the young unicorn is completely cut off from them.
Helios begins by explaining what the Jammers already figured out: like Solar and Coatie, it and Eleven were forcefully joined by Sidewinder as part of Project Snowdrop. As with Coatie, Helios’ role was to amplify Eleven’s latent spellcasting abilities - a magical battery. The difference, however, is that Solar and Coatie never stopped fighting one another. Helios and Eleven instead came to a mutual understanding. Their state of possession slowly changed from an unwilling bond to something they both accepted - in Site One, they had nothing but one another.
The daemon even manages to prompt an awkward moment of levity. The reason Eleven likes pineapple on pizza? Not daemonic influence, as Trigger suggests, but because that was her first proper meal after gaining her freedom.
Kerfuffle impatiently points out that Eleven was freed from Site One weeks ago. How did she get from enjoying pineapple pizza to trying to tear a hole in reality, if not through Helios’ manipulation? Eleven’s control over her magic was improving, and there were several occasions where she could have lashed out but chose not to. Helios agrees - Eleven’s restraint and concern for others were fostered in large part by him and the rest of the Jammers finally offering her some measure of peace. But at the same time, whenever she did lash out - obliterated the guards at Site One, maimed Urutu, scarred Smile, wiped out the crew of the Starweaver - she blamed herself. The guilt, fear and shame accumulated and grew stronger over time.
The battle surrounding Port Medusa, Helios explains, was the final straw. Another mass death that Eleven blames herself for. That guilt, combined with Helios’ raw magical power and Eleven’s own prodigal abilities, took on a life of its own: a living nightmare. And now, like a cancer, it threatens to overwhelm and destroy her completely. The floating figures surrounding the platform, eerily similar to the ones the Jammers just fought in the reactor chamber, are literal embodiments of Eleven’s guilt, given life through raw and unstable magic. They are the malevolent force driving her to attack the Jammers and destroy Port Medusa, not the daemon.
At last, Helios reaches its proposal. If the Jammers were to assist in purging the Embodied Guilt from Eleven’s psyche, it would be able to pull the plug on her spell back in the real world. Everyone would benefit: Eleven would return to her normal self, while Helios and the Jammers have a chance to save themselves and her from the doomed station.
Smile is immediately skeptical. There’s no compelling reason to take Helios’ claims at face value. For all the Jammers know, it simply conjured the spectral figures and ‘embodied guilt’ story from nothing as a last ditch stalling tactic or deception. Even so, Helios appears to regard the apparitions with something approaching genuine fear. Kerfuffle expresses frustration - all of this information would be a lot more credible if it were coming directly from Eleven. Wouldn’t fighting against a piece of her own mind risk hurting her?
Tami asks why Eleven never mentioned anything like this before - or about Helios itself. The daemon replies that she wanted to. She even came close after Coatie was freed from Solar, but the doubts and worries about what the crew might think or do if they learned that she was possessed always stopped her. Helios never exerted control over Eleven as Solar did over Coatie, merely provided her with surges of magical power whenever she called upon them.
With its argument made, Helios takes a step back and returns to its perch alongside Eleven above the reactor, allowing the Jammers to confer amongst themselves. Feelings are mixed, but Smile sums up the situation succinctly. The Jammers have three choices:
None of the options are particularly attractive. Helios might not be trustworthy, but facing Eleven directly in her current state might force the crew to kill her. Taking Helios out of the picture would weaken Eleven’s magic, but if the daemon is telling the truth then they’d be fighting a potential ally instead of the true enemy. And Helios is closely tied to Eleven on a fundamental level. Who knows what kind of damage striking at it might cause?
Kerfuffle tries to get through to Eleven one more time, hoping for some kind of response, but she isn’t in a fit state to reply. Helios points out that she can at least hear what’s being said - for all the good that apparently does.
Eventually, and with no small amount of trepidation, the Jammers relent. They’ll accept Helios’ deal: their assistance in destroying the Embodiment of Guilt, in exchange for it ending Eleven’s magical surge and freeing her from Port Medusa’s reactor.
Helios cautions that because it’s so closely connected to Eleven, it can’t assist in the Jammers’ efforts directly. Furthermore, the Guilt is an amalgamation of negative emotion animated by a mix of unicorn and daemonic magic - the extent of its powers and capabilities is unknown. All that Helios can do is alert the Guilt to the intruders within “its” host and force a confrontation.
Though still deeply suspicious of Helios, the Jammers unanimously agree that the deal is the least worst option available. Trigger shakes Helios’ hoof on behalf of everyone, sealing the pact as she almost - but not quite - did with Solar days ago. Helios steps back and turns its attention on the dozens of eerie figures surrounding them, advising the Jammers to prepare themselves...
Session #181 - A Monument to All Her Sins
The Jammers pause for a few last minute clarifications - though the place they’re about to fight in isn’t physical or even strictly real, their usual weapons should suffice to battle the Guilt. Furthermore, “dying” there carries consequences in the form of severe magical feedback. Helios draws a direct comparison to what happened to Tundra Gem during his battle with Coatie back at Site One, adding that this is the reason he didn’t bring Tundra into the mental world along with the others. Considering that Tundra was hospitalized for months despite prompt cutting edge treatment, the prospect of death is still very immediate.
Since even Helios doesn’t know what the Guilt will do, the Jammers plan for the possibility of it attacking Eleven - or at least her mental representation - rather than them. Kerfuffle gives Tami one last hug for reassurance and then they spread out around the reactor, hoping to cover every angle. Helios perches - somewhat protectively - alongside the unconscious young unicorn. Despite Smile’s prodding, the daemon refuses to interfere in what’s about to happen.
When the Jammers are prepared, Helios lights its horns and, with a sound like a distant roar of thunder, the army of shadowy apparitions surrounding the Jammers suddenly takes notice. Step by step, the dozens of malevolent figures begin to advance. The Jammers ready their weapons, expecting a mass charge, but as the silhouettes get closer they slowly dissolve into swirling, erratic points of light - and then they begin to merge.
The collective apparitions swirl and spin wildly about the room, forming a single, enormous point of light that eventually comes to a stop. From that point emerges a single massive creature, the likes of which the Jammers have never seen nor imagined: a faceless alicorn made of light, with far too many wings and countless eyes dotted about its body. The creature moves with uncanny grace, aloof in bearing, but the eyes twitch madly as they focus on all four of the Jammers at once with malevolent, furious intent. All of Eleven’s guilt and sorrow, made manifest and given a life of its own through a monstrous fusion of unicorn and daemon magic. A creature born from suffering, existing beyond control and reason with no purpose except to destroy.
Trigger immediately begins firing her pistol at it.
The Embodiment of Guilt barely flinches in spite of several hits, the tiny dark wounds closing almost immediately. It advances towards the Jammers, lighting its horn. A massive wall of solid light forms between Tami and Trigger, cutting the hippogriff off. Kerfuffle is blown off his feet by a burning, unnatural wind as the Guilt flaps its multitude of wings with tremendous force, tumbling back to land close to Trigger. A moment later, a thin line of light appears connecting the griffon and unicorn together. Oddly, nothing else appears to happen…
Smile and Tami maneuver to get line of sight around the reactor and the light wall, pelting the guilt with bullets, beams and a flashbang grenade for good measure (it does have a lot of eyes). None of that seems to bother it much. Meanwhile, Kerfuffle gets to his feet and offers Trigger a lift - if they’re bound together, might as well use it to their advantage. Trigger climbs up onto Kerfuffle’s back and continues shooting, this time aiming directly for the Guilt’s eyes. A good hit blacks out an eye entirely, causing the creature to recoil in pain. There’s no time to take advantage - the burning wall of light cutting them off from Tami’s side of the room is rotating towards them about the reactor; Kerfuffle scrambles to take off and get clear before it can make contact.
The Guilt continues attacking, sending a concentrated beam of magic in Smile’s direction. It’s a solid hit, causing the crystal mare to stumble with a new hole burned clean through her armour. Before she can return fire a second wall of light erupts into being, bisecting the room and creating an opaque barrier between them. Tami hurries to Smile’s aid, flying over to grab and pull the crystal mare out of danger before the Guilt can attack again. Not wanting to simply stand around while Tami treats her injury, Smile drags the hippogriff along with her in search of a better shooting angle.
Kerfuffle gets airborne and circles the Guilt at close range, taking potshots with his shotgun while Trigger plays turret up on his shoulders. Several more eyes black out, and the Guilt launches another blast of hot wind to try and push them away and into one of the burning walls. A quick change in course keeps the pair from being hit, and they keep up their offensive.
Suddenly, the Jammers become aware of a strange, distant sound. After a moment they realize they’re hearing Tundra Gem’s voice, but slowed down so much as to be unintelligible. From its perch on the reactor, Helios reminds the crew that time flows differently in this place - the ‘real world’ is slow by comparison. Though it can’t interfere in the battle, it may be able to slow down the mental realm, equalize the rate at which time is moving, and make Tundra intelligible. The downside? Time is sorely limited - Port Medusa is still plummeting into the gas giant.
Smile snaps at Helios to make itself useful and try to figure out what Tundra’s saying without messing with the flow of time, just as the Guilt nonchalantly walks through the nearest light wall, once again turning its attention on her and Tami.
Tami jabs Smile with a stimshot and the pair open fire once again, taking out another two eyes. The Guilt responds by shackling them together with a beam of light just as it did with Trigger and Kerfuffle. Persistent pillars of light burst from the ground in several locations - new hazards in the already dangerous space. The Guilt steps into one and instantly translocates to another, out of harm’s way.
Tami asks Helios to go ahead and make Tundra legible - this doesn’t look like a fight that the Jammers can win without information and assistance. It does so, and the sounds of the real world come into focus along with Tundra’s voice.
With no assistance or new information immediately forthcoming, the Jammers have no choice but to carry on fighting. Kerfuffle lands and lets Trigger down, the pair finding themselves completely cut off from the Guilt by the walls of light. Both of them shout at it and hurl insults, trying to draw its attention… with a predictable and total lack of success.
The Guilt advances once again, blasting Tami with a hot gust from its wings. The hippogriff tumbles back, and as she passes a few feet’s distance from Smile the magical shackles suddenly flare brightly, painful for both of them. Stepping back into the light pillar, the Guilt relocates and takes Kerfuffle by surprise with a devastating beam of magic! The griffon stumbles, badly burned but still in the fight - just about.
Smile makes a new suggestion: as powerful as the Guilt is, it’s still ultimately a product of Eleven’s psyche. She must have some level of influence over it, if only subconsciously. Helios assents that this is a reasonable assumption, so the Jammers change tactics. Somewhat. Kerfuffle charges at the Guilt, calling out to Eleven as he claws at the monster’s eyes.
Smile appeals to Eleven directly, taking a serious - though heartfelt - tough love approach.
Trigger angrily advances on the Guilt alongside Kerfuffle, punctuating her words with pistol shots. The Guilt actually flinches, jerking painfully as more and more of its eyes black out. All of a sudden it’s barely attempting to defend itself, let alone attack. A new sound cuts through the air - appealing to Eleven is working!
Eleven’s screaming disorients the Jammers, but the Embodiment gets the worst of it. It staggers and drops to its knees, stunned, its many eyes losing focus and flicking their gazes madly in all directions. The walls of light and other magical hazards it generated flicker and dissipate. Tami uses the opportunity of free movement to fly up to the reactor, doing her best to get through to the young mare.
The Jammers press the attack as a group, both literally against the Guilt with their weapons and figuratively, by insisting on Eleven’s personal strength, good character and inherent worth.
Finally, the disruptive scream comes to a halt and the Eleven within the mental world finally opens her eyes. There’s an unusual sound in the background - chanting in a foreign language, spoken by a familiar voice, but everyone’s attention is on the young unicorn with a mix of satisfaction, happiness and desperate relief.
Eleven explains that she heard the Jammers’ voices, then turns to Helios - it’s her first time meeting the daemon “in person”. She quickly recognizes him, however - the voice in her head. The one who helped her when she was all alone. It appears that Helios was telling the truth after all. The two of them appear to be friends, of a sort.
Helios nods, and explains that Eleven no longer needs its power. She has the strength and support she needs to live without it. Sensing the Jammers’ unease at the situation, Eleven explains that the daemon never controlled her. The Guilt ultimately came to exist because there was never anybody but herself to blame for her actions. The demon points out that there are only two things left to do - Eleven must wake up and release the Jammers from her mental world, and the Embodiment of Guilt must be destroyed, finally, once and for all.
As for Helios, the daemon pledges to remain, guarding Eleven - and by extension itself - until her life eventually ends and it is able to move on. Such is the way of things. It touches its horns to Eleven’s own and she disappears, beginning to wake back up in reality. The Jammers approach the Guilt, now weak and helpless, with weapons at the ready.
To everyone’s surprise, strange creatures begin to appear around the Guilt. Not more apparitions, but the same odd beings that Professor Jhaziea summoned while banishing the daemon that had possessed Knowledge Base. The Jammers are getting some outside help after all. The creatures descend upon the Guilt, clawing at it and holding it still. Needing no further prompting, the Jammers unload on it with every weapon they have - until it dims and shrivels away, leaving nothing behind.
Helios congratulates the Jammers; Eleven is safe now, thanks to them. It reiterates that daemons aren’t all bad - for better or worse, they always stick to the deals they make. Whatever happens, they won’t be seeing it again. Trigger takes a moment to thank Helios for looking after Eleven, and Kerfuffle asks for reassurance that the daemon is only sticking around in Eleven’s head with her consent. A few short, awkward goodbyes take place, followed by a short jolt-
***
-and the Jammers reawaken in Port Medusa’s reactor room, tired and sore, gathered in front of the reactor itself. Also present are Tundra, Professor Jhaziea, Vortex Twist and Pinpoint, along with a full squad of Solar Empire soldiers. Whisper and Cobra are nearby too, under watch from two of the soldiers and their drone. And of course, Eleven is there as well. She runs at Kerfuffle with a squeal of joy, bowling him over in an enormous hug. The crew are overjoyed to see her safe and well, out of the reactor and free from the Guilt’s control.
Reunions must wait - the station is still falling towards the gas giant. There’s precious little time left, and no way to arrest the decaying orbit. Jhaziea secures a swirling wisp of magic she extracted from the battle with the Guilt in a runed container, and Vortex urges everyone to get moving. The imperials’ shuttle is docked nearby. But what about Donner and Blitz? Coatie? Even Asp? Did Sweet Alyssum and Verbena make it out? What about Claudia, still in the hangar...?
Session #182 - One More Miracle
Everyone prepares to make a hasty escape. Smile helps Whisper to her hooves, directing the imperial soldiers to take Cobra. Tami grabs the immobilized Patch, a jolt of shock and pain reminding her that here in reality, her wing still has a large hole in it. Vortex invites the Jammers to join them aboard their shuttle, but the crew hesitate - Donner, Blitz and Coatie are still unaccounted for. Claudia’s still in the hangar - maybe there’s time to double back?
Verbena’s voice cuts in over the radio. She’s still on the station in spite of her promise to Tami, explaining that Alyssum was injured on the way to their own evacuation route. Alyssum’s voice speaks over her, urging Verbena and the Jammers to just get moving. Tami checks the station’s schematics and crunches some rough numbers - Alyssum and Verbena are many floors above them, practically on the far side of the station. With less than eight minutes before Port Medusa hits the atmosphere there simply isn’t enough time to pick up the two of them on the way back to the hangar.
Jhaziea and the imperials quickly move out, taking Cobra with them. Tundra, however, refuses to leave the Jammers. Vortex in turn also refuses to leave, but urges haste - whether on Claudia or the imperial shuttle, they have to evacuate now. There’s no time to stop and save anybody else. Unless… The Jammers turn to Eleven: the young unicorn whose prodigal magic controls space and time. Free, fully in control, and strong enough to force guilt and doubt aside.
As Smile points out, their proximity to the reactor means there’s no shortage of power available. Eleven approaches it, advising the others to stay back, and lights her horn. Channeling the power of the reactor, she begins to open a new rift - a massive one. Tundra, Trigger and Vortex all step up to contribute whatever power they can to the spell while the rest of the crew look on in awe. The rift gradually expands, but then stops. Flickering, unstable. Eleven calls out; she needs more magic! Helios’ voice echoes through everyone’s minds, urging Eleven to use its power and save the Jammers just as they saved her. Her magic surges anew - but still not enough!
As if on cue, the door that the Jammers entered the reactor chamber through is torn open by a massive telekinetic force. Coatie enters, covered in blood and an array of injuries that would put most ponies in a hospital. Carried behind her are Donner and Blitz, likewise sorely wounded and unconscious - but still breathing. Asp is also there.
Quickly taking in the situation, Coatie leaves Donner and Blitz in Tami’s care and steps up to contribute her own immense power to Eleven’s spell. The rift continues to expand, encompassing the reactor - then the surrounding deck. It grows even further, consuming the group of unicorns. Kerfuffle urges Eleven on, Whisper and Smile share a last second kiss-
-and with a final surge of magic the rift explodes in size, encompassing everyone and plunging them into darkness. A place without time, without space, without even the boundaries that separate individuals from one another. For a brief moment - or an eternity, it’s impossible to tell - everyone present feels their deepest thoughts and emotions laid bare. All the courage, hope, perseverance and indeed love that brought them to this point-
*** FLASH ***
-and in an instant, it’s over. The Jammers find themselves lying on the deck of the reactor chamber with acute headaches. But more importantly, the station is no longer shaking. The alerts have stopped. Everything appears stable. Eleven is flat on her back, absolutely exhausted, and mumbles that she thinks her spell worked. Kerfuffle gathers her up and carefully asks the question on everyone’s minds: what did she do? Eleven’s too tired to explain, but fortunately Corona Gleam’s voice cuts in to demand a report from Vortex, and an explanation for how Port Medusa suddenly relocated two whole AU from the planet it used to orbit. Eleven just performed a transdimensional jump with the entire station. The battle, it seems, is well and truly over.
In a matter of seconds, Eleven begins to pass out from the exertion. Kerfuffle maintains the hug, crying openly with happiness and relief. At least she’s got somewhere warm and soft to pass out. Trigger likewise hugs Tundra, and Smile… smiles, genuinely, from her place at Whisper’s side. Meanwhile, Tami approaches Coatie and playfully demands to know where her cape is. At last, the crew are finally safe, and can take a precious moment to simply rest and breathe...
***
Two days later, the Jammers gather at the table in Claudia’s common room. Whisper and Tundra are present as well, while Coatie and Eleven share the couch, absorbed in something they’re viewing on the Galanet through Eleven’s multiband. Donner and Blitz are in the hold, still badly wounded but recovering at uncanny speed, loading a number of heavy cargo crates into the ship. Most of those present are a mess of bandages and recently treated injuries, not to mention strong signs of exhaustion from just about everyone, but spirits are high. There’s a little good-natured banter about Tami’s wing; it wouldn’t have been a Space Jammers™ mission if their pilot wasn’t recovering from a serious injury afterwards. Another story to tell Midnight.
Tundra speaks up: the crates - a gift from Sweet Alyssum - are almost loaded, and Fafnir and the imperial fleet have returned to the Empire. He needs to report back to the Æther Corps as well, and is rather hoping that the Jammers can offer him a lift. There’s also the matter of disseminating the data the Jammers secured from Cobra. Smile agrees, noting with great satisfaction that the Æther Corps won’t be the only ones receiving that data. Several hundred galactic news agencies will be learning all about Sidewinder’s dirty secrets soon enough.
The Jammers hash out a rough idea of where they’d like to go on the way to take Tundra home. With so many injured and the worst apparently behind them, most of the crew favor a long, scenic trip. In a quiet moment, Coatie approaches Trigger with an important question.
It isn’t long before Eleven joins in, declaring Trigger to be the best (only!) captain she’s ever had.
Suddenly, there’s a buzz from the main airlock. Smile goes to answer and finds Verbena and Alyssum at the door. The director is walking with some assistance from her younger sister, having injured her hind legs quite badly during the battle, and expresses a desire to speak to the entire crew. They welcome her into the common room, curious to see what she has to say.
Alyssum explains that in spite of all the risks, the situation has turned out much as she’d planned. Better, even. The Republic and Empire bloodied one another badly enough that Karmelita’s fleet was unnecessary, and under her leadership the Periphery is well on its way to becoming its own state, a physical barrier between the two powers. Avalon and Zebraha are officially backing the push for independence, and it seems likely that the League will do so as well. Smile quips that they may be calling Alyssum ‘President’ next time they meet. All being well, the Periphery will officially become the CPS - Coalition of Periphery Systems - very soon.
More immediately, Alyssum offers the Jammers her appreciation for saving her station in spite of their previous disagreements. Their debt to her is cleared, and the crates of valuable minerals currently being loaded into Claudia’s hold are intended as a reward by way of thanks. Very valuable minerals, actually. Tami quickly calculates their total value as approaching a quarter of a billion credits and promptly has a tiny panic attack because that is a lot of money. Naturally, Alyssum advises the Jammers not to think too carefully about where such a haul might have come from. In addition, they can rest assured that they will always have a close ally in the CPS.
Alyssum’s visit is cut short by an urgent message on her multiband. The whole nation building business has her extremely busy, so she politely takes her leave. Verbena sticks around to be with Tami and the rest of the crew while they’re still on the station. Smile escorts the director to the airlock, and Alyssum has a tiny bit of advice to give on the way: the information that the Jammers are planning to release could completely destroy Sidewinder as a business entity. If they played the stock market correctly, the money the crew are liable to make from her gift of rare minerals would look like pocket change. When Smile playfully points out that this would be insider trading, the director replies that the CPS technically doesn’t have laws yet. More seriously, the director points out that she’s going to need ponies like Smile for her new government. The crystal mare agrees to at least keep the offer in mind.
Once Alyssum has left, Smile checks in with Donner and Blitz. In a rare admission, the two of them point out that without Coatie’s help, they most likely would have died. Once they’ve healed, they’d like to stay with Sweet Alyssum; the would-be national leader will have no small need for bodyguards. In the meantime though, they’d like to simply travel and enjoy their new freedom.
Back in the common room, the others try to get their heads around what they might possibly do with a quarter of a billion credits. An overhaul for Claudia would be a start - Tami’s already noting down ideas. Trigger points out that it might be an idea to expand the ship’s crew capacity, since it seems like Eleven and Coatie plan to stay on for good. Kerfuffle remarks that he’d like to set some aside for his parents as well - after everything the crew have been through their families must be worried sick. Patch is going to need extensive repairs, too.
Since Port Medusa is still more or less devoid of people, Verbena cheekily suggests that she and Tami have a girls’ night in the evening. With copious alcohol, of course. Surely Sweet Alyssum would be willing to cover any ‘expenses’. Eleven perks up and asks to join in, and to everyone’s surprise so does Coatie. What could possibly go wrong?
Before people can start splitting up and returning to their own business, Tami and Trigger implement a cunning but important plan that’s been in the making for months. The hippogriff asks Whisper to grab something from a high shelf, then uses that as an excuse to grab and hug her. Trigger joins in and, catching on, so do Smile and Kerfuffle. It isn’t long before Tundra, Coatie and Eleven pile on as well. Tami prepares to take a photo of everyone gathered together…
...except just then, Donner pokes her head into the common room to see what all the commotion is about. Moments later, the two big cats pounce (literally, in Donner’s case) on the opportunity to be included in the group hug too.
EPILOGUE
Somewhere in the NLR core worlds
Verbena Mint finally arrives back home, a comfortable suburban mansion, and walks in on her mother watching the news. The older mare welcomes her daughter home, gently admonishing her for not calling more often. Verbena brushes it off - she was having so much fun that it just kind of slipped her mind. Just then, the television switches to a broadcast that clues her mother in to what Verbena and her elder half-sister have actually been up to....
***
An unremarkable diner, somewhere in an unremarkable town
Whisper Step arrives at the diner alone, makes an order and pays. She sits quietly at a table, making a show of being absorbed in her tablet while she subtly sizes up everyone else that comes in for quite some time. Eventually a lone stallion enters: Sunrunner, the NLR agent that Whisper and Smile ran into while Smile was being treated for her burns.
Sunrunner sits down with Whisper, explaining that the agency sent him to deliver a message. Whisper appreciates that he came alone and agrees to hear him out, idly playing with what’s left of her food. Sunrunner explains that NLR Intelligence carried out an internal investigation and discovered that Sidewinder have had two agents planted within their ranks for some time, specifically targeting Whisper and feeding the agency false information in order to cover for Project Snowdrop.
In other words, Whisper has been completely vindicated. Sunrunner excitedly invites Whisper to rejoin the agency, reclaim her former rank and settle back into her career as a spy for the NLR. She could even step back from field duty and take a comfortable position training rookies, then retire on a big fat military pension.
Whisper’s reply is blunt and decisive to say the least, and not what Sunrunner was expecting...
Fafnir, undergoing repairs above Equestria
Tundra sits nervously with Corona Gleam in the latter’s office. The commodore lost a foreleg in the battle of Port Medusa but also earned a promotion; she’s a rear admiral now. Corona is dictating her report on the battle - a report based on Tundra and Vortex’s not-entirely-truthful accounts of what happened aboard the station. As the report would have it, Coatie and Eleven both died in the process of translocating Port Medusa out of orbit.
The pair look up as Vortex Twist enters, himself recently promoted to Corona’s former position. He’s nervous and agitated by the new responsibility, and reports that Blood Moon is requesting transport to Avalon once the Fafnir is repaired. He also asks after Corona’s health. Corona assures Vortex that she’s fine - a replacement leg will be on the way within a few weeks - and to stop worrying so much. The Fafnir is his now. The new commodore hurries off to continue his duties, and Tundra gets up to make himself scarce as well.
Before the magister can scurry away however, Corona stops him. She’s onto his little ruse…
***
Somewhere in the suburbs, Vigilance V
Jelly Biscuit is dropped off for his first day at a new school by Creamy Cookie and Roly Poly, who have settled comfortably into raising him. The colt is happy and eager, trading juvenile banter with his uncle (who gives as good as he gets). Roly breaks them up; Jelly’s going to be late if the two of them carry on bickering all morning, and the colt gets going - pulling out a familiar cap to wear as he goes.
Creamy and Roly drive away, lightheartedly betting on whether Jelly’s teachers will be calling them in for a talk by the end of the month, or within the week...
Private medical facility, somewhere in Avalon
Sunset Dreamer, formerly Cobra, lies sleeping in a medical bed within a high-tech facility. Her extensive cybernetics have been almost entirely removed, leaving the pegasus in a sorry state - legless, with large patches of her body covered only by the thinnest coating of barely-regrown fur. Her formerly armored torso at least has the dignity of a simple shirt.
A deer doctor enters the room and sits beside Sunset’s bed, pointing out that the pegasus is only pretending to sleep and asking politely to speak with her. Sunset gripes that she doesn’t feel much like talking, so the deer explains that virtually all of her cybernetics have been removed. An extensive process, one that required large scale reconstruction of her body. Prototype replacements for what’s still missing should be ready soon, including lab-grown replacements for her legs.
Sunset reacts sharply to that last point. She’s fine with mechanical legs but no more - Sidewinder didn’t take the originals from her in the first place, and something simple that allows her to walk would be fine. The doctor raises an eyebrow but agrees, advising Sunset to simply rest and relax. She’ll be starting a physiotherapy programme in two days.
As the doctor gets up to leave, Sunset asks whether any of this has actually helped. The doctor nods; removing and studying the cutting edge military-grade hardware that was installed in Sunset’s body has already revealed a swath of useful information that will be used to help people in need. Thousands could be healed, even saved, by the technology that will result from her having volunteered herself for study.
Sunset bitterly points out that she didn’t volunteer. Rea, who owns the secure facility she’s being kept in, managed to negotiate a lighter sentence from the imperial courts in exchange for the opportunity to study her cybernetics. She’s still effectively a prisoner, just as a specimen rather than an inmate.
The doctor apologizes for her ignorance, but points out that regardless of what Sunset did in the past she still has a right to ethical treatment. The situation isn’t ideal, but at the very least some good may come of it in the end...
Æther Corps School for Gifted Unicorns, The Moon.
Professors Jhaziea and Solemn Thought sit together in a small, comfortable room. The zebra is tuning a strange stringed instrument, while the unicorn is paying close attention to an intricate set of tarot cards. Solemn perks up as she draws another card, prompting Jhaziea to ask what she’s got.
Solemn responds that there is a great, momentous event on the horizon. Something that will affect the entire galaxy. Something positive. Jhaziea wonders whether this relates to Knowledge Base’s recovery - the dean is getting better by the day - but Solemn disagrees and points out a specific card that changes things. After a little thought, Jhaziea speculates that the Space Jammers might be involved. Perhaps not directly, but it’s possible that their actions may have set in motion a massive chain of events that will extend far into the future...
Manehattan, Equestria
Hibiscus Flow, face of the Imperial News Network, is hosting a live broadcast of Looking Glass, the most popular talk show in the entire Solar Empire. Her guest, immaculately composed and wearing the sweetest of smiles, is Star Kisser, head of the Manehattan Geological Society.
For the benefit of her viewers, Hibiscus lays out a little context for her next question. The recent release of the so-called ‘Snowdrop Papers’ has sent ripples throughout the world of galactic business and brought the Sidewinder Conglomerate under intense scrutiny. Evidence has come to light implicating them in embezzlement, fraud, insider trading, national-scale crimes in both the Republic and Empire - and that’s just the start. Investors are liquidating their assets at an unprecedented rate, and the entire megacorp looks like it will be going under in record time. Even the Manehattan Geological Society, a nonprofit merely associated with the Conglomerate, lost its backing. Hibiscus asks Star Kisser whether Sidewinder has a chance to recover and if so how.
Star Kisser happily asserts that while the recent news is shocking, Sidewinder has existed for over a century. It’s one of the largest and most robust megacorps in the entire galaxy; getting broken up over a single scandal is almost unthinkable, and-
The mare’s answer is cut short as an entire squad of heavily armed imperial soldiers force their way into the studio from every entrance. Within seconds, everyone present is either pacified or cowering in terror. Two soldiers make a beeline for Star Kisser, who is apprehended and restrained so quickly that there’s not even enough time for her to react.
In charge of the arrest are Commandant Spearhead (who the Jammers briefly met at the Silver Dome) and Professor Razzmatazz. As the no-longer-secret leader of the Sidewinder Syndicate is hastily led out of the studio in cuffs, the commandant assures Hibiscus that she’s in no danger. Star Kisser, on the other hand, is being arrested for high treason against the Solar Empire and will soon be transported directly to a secure facility.
Ever the professional journalist, Hibiscus asks for more information. Spearhead curtly responds that once details are made public the INN will be the first to know, and the soldiers promptly leave to deliver their new capture to Nightmare Star’s brand of justice...
Caravel's Landing, Faith II
From high up in a domed observation tower, Eleven looks out at a barren, dusty red plain on the surface of an airless planet. The view is beautiful, in the raw and gripping way only an inhospitable natural environment can be. She turns to Kerfuffle and his sister Galena, both sitting close by. The younger griffon looks much healthier, finally breathing freely without the help of medical apparatus thanks to the Æther Corps’ cutting edge treatment.
Eleven hesitantly announces that this is it - the view she distantly remembers from before her time in Project Snowdrop. The vista she painted and hung on the wall in her cell at Site One. They finally found it. But now, seeing it in person, she realizes that she never actually needed it. On the contrary - like her original name, it’s a relic of a life she’s left behind. She’s comfortable with who she is now, and doesn’t want to cling to the past any more.
Kerfuffle is happy for her, but Galena’s new lease on life has made her much more talkative and a bit of a contrarian. She argues that even though this place might not mean anything now, it’s still what ultimately prompted Eleven to escape from Site One. Reaching it at last is an important achievement. Eleven agrees, and admits that with everything that happened since then, she... kind of forgot about it. Taking Kerfuffle’s hand, she says that after everything he and the others did for her, she has everything she needs aboard Claudia.
Looking up into Kerfuffle’s eyes, Eleven wonders whether, now that the whole ugly business with Sidewinder is behind them, the two of them could try again. Slowly, of course…
Kerfuffle agrees and the pair share a long, tearful and heartfelt embrace, to the point that Galena wonders aloud whether she should leave and give them some privacy. Eleven and Kerfuffle bashfully shush her, but the young griffon doubles down; if the scene goes on any longer, the concentrated cuteness might start turning her into a pony.
Eleven puts her hoof down and ends the banter with a simple decree. She’s deciding where they’ll be getting lunch, has a hankering for something with pineapple, and has her eye on a particular pizza place just downstairs...
Twenty kilometers outside New Trotonto, Saudade III
Volatility Smile and Whisper Step disembark from a taxi near to a large farm, and hike together through massive wheat fields until they arrive at a country house. Whisper has dropped her alias entirely and now goes by her real name, Wheat Seed. She’s visibly nervous, and confesses to Smile that she hasn’t met her father in a long time. After her mother died he was furious at her decision to join the military; anger born of fear that he’d lose his only daughter as well. She’s scared of how badly a reunion might go.
Smile comforts Wheat a little and offers to stay behind if she’d rather meet her father in private. Wheat shakes her head, so the pair share a small kiss and Smile promises to support her if necessary. As they reach the farmhouse, they’re approached in turn by an aging stallion that can only be the former agent’s dad. Contrary to Wheat’s fears, he hurries to embrace her without a word. It doesn’t take long before both of them are in tears from the emotion of it all.
Eventually Wheat and her father calm themselves a little and state aloud just how happy they are to see one another again. Smile stands patiently off to one side until Wheat’s father asks after her. Not one to mince words, Wheat introduces Smile, who conducts herself very politely, and informs her dad that the two of them are in love. Playful banter ensues, and it isn’t long before Wheat’s father invites the pair inside for dinner.
The older stallion goes ahead, but the two mares linger on the doorstep a moment. Smile stops Wheat before she can head inside - the crystal mare has something to say…
The two mares share a long, passionate kiss. Once it finally breaks, Wheat smugly reminds Smile that next week, they’ll be visiting her parents.
Rijekograd Old Town, Equestria
Tami and Midnight Haze sit together on the terrace of an upper class riverside restaurant. It’s late in the evening, quiet and peaceful, and the two of them are simply enjoying one another’s company after a five star meal and a long day of sightseeing. Midnight hopes that Tami enjoyed her day, and the hippogriff happily points out that the best thing about it was not having to worry about time constraints or responsibilities. And there’s still an entire fortnight of holiday time to go, assuming that they don’t simply elect to make it a whole month instead.
Midnight raises the question of what Tami plans to do next - in the long term, that is. After a little nervous thought, the hippogriff replies that before she found Claudia and the Jammers, she almost lost everything. Her failure at VIP Flight Academy threatened to ruin her life in more ways than one. She wants to stay on with the rest of the crew… but at the same time, she wants her relationship with Midnight to work too. Midnight floats the possibility that the Jammers could become subcontractors to his father’s company. It wouldn’t be as exciting as freelance adventures, but it would pay the bills and allow them to see one another more often. Tami is uncertain but also intrigued, and agrees to bring up the subject with Trigger and Smile next time she sees them. Provided that Smile isn’t running half of the Periphery by that point, at least.
Hesitantly, Midnight raises another subject. Calling back to when he and Tami first met on the beach, he asserts that that was when he met the real Tami for the first time - the cute, fun-loving, playful hippogriff that he fell in love with. Truly, genuinely in love with. Whenever she was away fighting Sidewinder and adventuring with the rest of the crew, he felt jealous of her. But now, Sidewinder are gone. There’s nothing to keep them apart. Presenting a small but beautiful ring, Midnight asks Tami if she’d like to be with him forever.
Tami chokes up in a mess of complex and conflicting emotion, breathing heavily as she struggles to marshal her racing thoughts…
Despite her hesitance to commit to something so big so soon, Tami assures Midnight that she’s not ruling out the possibility. With everything that’s happened - her last-chance return to space and the whole conflict with Sidewinder - she needs time to recover and settle back into something resembling a normal life before making such a big commitment. She wants to keep what they have, to stay with him, but also to take things a little more slowly.
Midnight puts the ring away and hesitantly admits that he might have been a bit too hasty, joining her by the terrace railing. Tami doesn’t want to spoil the mood of the evening and asks whether he thinks the waiter will mind if they just kiss for a bit. And kiss they do, leaning back against the railing beneath the stars, long and passionate into the quiet, intimate evening. Hesitating to tie the knot has done nothing to quell the flames of romance, it seems…
Loch Airgid Settlement, Galahad III
Trigger and Tundra arrive at an opulent hotel apartment - the big fancy holiday Tami booked for them weeks ago. The pair’s attention is quickly drawn to the jacuzzi, the glass-walled terrace with a gorgeous top-floor view, and the absolute mountain of a bed.
The two unicorns sit down together with drinks, thankful for the opportunity to relax. Trigger points out that after all they’ve been through, it’s hard to believe that everything turned out so well. Tundra agrees, pointing out that while Corona’s report on the Battle of Port Medusa was one thing, Blood Moon had full authority to investigate further. And yet she didn’t. By the look of things, the Jammers and their friends are safe from further interference - from the Solar Empire, at the very least. This raises the question of what’s next for Trigger, and for both of them.
Trigger deflects the question with flirting at first, but eventually explains that she wants to carry on captaining Claudia. Spacing is in her blood, and the newly nationalized Periphery is certain to offer all manner of new opportunities. After that though, she isn’t sure. With some uncertainty, Tundra wonders what that might mean for their relationship. For better or worse, his role in the Æther Corps isn’t simply a job - it’s his life. He couldn’t simply quit, even if he wanted to. Maintaining a relationship under those circumstances would be extremely difficult, and he’s concerned that Trigger might be better off with someone more reliable.
To the magister’s surprise, Trigger says that she’s entirely fine with what they have now. As far as she’s concerned, long periods apart just makes the time they do have together more valuable. She’s happy to carry on with the present state of things and see where it goes. The two of them share a small, intimate kiss - only to be interrupted by a buzz at the door.
As it turns out, Tundra arranged a surprise for Trigger. Unsure of what to expect, the small unicorn composes herself and answers the door. Rea - both of her - is waiting outside wearing nothing but suggestive grins. Tundra reacts with shock; he’d arranged for Rea to show up, but hasn’t actually met her in person. He didn’t expect the cybernetic doe to bring her remote-controlled male twin along, either. The deer - both of her - cheekily kisses Trigger’s cheeks and announces that she has a problem. Her own room is directly below, but the bed is simply too small. Oh no! If only she had a friend with a huge bed that was willing to share!
Tundra offers the deer a drink, and Trigger jokingly points out that Rea, like him, is full of surprises; she did leave her flustered when they last met. Accepting the invitation, Rea replies that she’ll make sure to do more than that this time...
Location Unknown
Blood Moon and another aged unicorn mare stand quietly in a darkened room, lit only by faint lamps and the starlight entering through a nearby window. Before them, on a large stone table, are three containers filled with swirling energy: magical essences that Professor Jhaziea extracted from the daemons within Knowledge Base, Coatie and Eleven.
The other unicorn asks Blood Moon if she’s certain that Æther Corps won’t notice that the essences are gone. With a little trepidation, Blood Moon explains that it will still be a matter of months until Knowledge Base is healthy enough to return to duty. Until then, she is the only one authorized to access them. Even if the Corps do realize that the essences are missing, they’ll have no way to track who took them or where they went.
Apparently satisfied, the unicorn raises her voice for the benefit of a third party; with these, they finally have what they need to begin preparations. A third mare steps out of the shadows - tall, regal, bearing wings as well as a horn: Princess-Regent Luna, leader of the New Lunar Republic and sister to Empress Nightmare Star. Luna asks the unicorn, whom she addresses as Silent Boreal, how long it will be until things are ready.
Boreal estimates that thoroughly researching the essences will take twenty, perhaps thirty months. Luna instructs her to begin immediately, dedicating all available resources. Boreal bows and takes her leave, as does Blood Moon after Luna gives her a tiny, thankful nod.
Now alone, Luna approaches the window and gazes out into space…
THE END
TRIVIA
Interesting facts about the campaign and ‘what if’ scenarios, gleaned from conversations with the GM after the campaign and presented in no particular order.
Total Kills
(Confirmed fatalities only - robots, drones and wild animals don’t count)
Rather ironic that the crew’s resident pragmatist and designated sharpshooter was the only player character not to kill anyone...
Akra’s Identity
Tami’s wild speculation about Akra was actually pretty accurate! The enigmatic earth pony wasn’t an earth pony at all but a dragon named Akrahashir, disguised by magic. Following the Wyrm Wars the wyrms installed ambassadors in each galactic nation, to keep track of their development and ensure that the circumstances which triggered the Wyrm Wars never occur again. She therefore had a vested interest in Eleven not falling into the Empire’s hooves.
Goodwill Tour and Clean Slate’s Secret
Clean Slate was actually a changeling. The existence of changelings in the setting largely acted as a red herring, but they nonetheless still had a place in the background lore. A team of changeling infiltrators horribly botched a mission on Larissa, in which Goodwill Tour and the original Clean Slate were critically wounded and killed, respectively. Guilty that they’d ruined the lives of two innocents by accident, one of the changelings chose to stay on Larissa. He took on Slate’s identity so that Goodwill - who had permanent brain damage - wouldn’t have to live by herself. Though paranoid and distrustful, Slate ultimately just wanted to be left alone.
The Hidden Safe Aboard Claudia
The safe was never particularly important. The combination to open it was hidden deep in the code of Claudia’s core programming (hence the ‘core code’ clue). As the stakes of the campaign became more serious it was eventually forgotten about. The safe contained a collection of memorabilia left behind by Claudia’s previous crew, who were predominantly griffons - photos, letters and such. A reminder that Claudia had her own history before the Jammers came along.
Solar’s Deal
Consequences were planned in case Trigger chose to become Solar’s host. If she had completed the pact, Solar would have remained dormant and peaceful inside her as promised, offering powerful magical abilities in return. However Trigger’s existing anger issues would have grown worse and worse over time as a result of Solar’s influence, ultimately escalating to outright berserk rage and bloodlust. Unless the rest of the crew found a way to help her she would eventually have gone violently and irrevocably insane, likely to the point of death. Naturally, this course of events would have had serious repercussions for the crew’s relationships with Eleven, Coatie and Professor Jhaziea.
Autism
Kerfuffle and Eleven were both designed, independently, to exhibit various signs of Aspergers Syndrome or high-functioning Autism. Social awkwardness, literal-mindedness, highly focused interests, and so on. No surprise that they wound up finding so much in common. Neither condition was ever referenced or described in-game, leaving specifics up to interpretation. Eleven's earliest concept had much more extreme and overt neurodivergence, but this was quickly scrapped because it risked making her a tokenized gimmick character.
Specimen Eleven’s earliest (and not entirely serious) concept, by Frecklesfanatic
Eleven’s Conceptual Origin
Though it’s easy to compare Eleven to similar characters like Mass Effect’s Subject Zero, Firefly’s River Tam or Stranger Things’ Eleven (coincidence!), her primary inspiration was Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite.
Donner and Blitz
Donner and Blitz were originally slated to accompany the Jammers to Site Two, where they would have held the line against Coatlicue and the assassin robots in place of Pinpoint’s squad. To accentuate Coatlicue’s raw power and cruelty, both of them would have died in the process. The Jammers chose not to pick them up en route and the events of Without the Masters We’ve Always Had took place instead.
There was a scrapped subplot in which Donner and Blitz would have asked the Jammers for help in finding their lost sister, who was far more docile and friendly.
Blitz always wears his mask because his face was horribly burned at some point in the past. The pair’s uncanny regeneration abilities don’t apply to severe burn wounds.
Despite being lab-grown artificial lifeforms rather than natural-born sphinxes, Donner and Blitz are actually among the oldest non-magical beings in the entire setting.
Timeline Divergence
Space Horse does not follow the canon events of Friendship is Magic directly, the biggest and most obvious split being that Twilight Sparkle never became an alicorn and most likely died naturally of old age. The beginning of the campaign predated the movie and later seasons, so some additions to the world such as the kirin and Mount Aris’ transforming seapony/hippogriffs are completely absent. The lore surrounding less prominent races like the minotaurs and deer was either entirely original or based loosely on common fan concepts.
Hypothetical showtyle Tami, by Rustlerustle
Corona Gleam Boss Fight
If the Jammers had taken a more hostile stance towards the Solar Empire, Corona and the Fafnir would eventually have been dispatched to capture Eleven. A potential fight with the commodore was planned, in which she’d wield a number of swords in her telekinesis - a reference to the fighting style of General Grievous in the Star Wars prequels. Though not a member of the Æther Corps, intense training and practice put her magic well above that of an average unicorn.
The Final Battle Is Won With the Magic of Friendship
Because of course it is! The penultimate fight against the apparitions and crystals cycling through a spectrum of colours also references the rainbow imagery common to that often used in FiM’s season finales, except the monster used it against the heroes in this case.
Urutu’s Possession
Urutu wasn’t possessed, at least not in the same sense as the Project Snowdrop specimens. When Eleven maimed her at the hospital, she also inadvertently ‘infected’ the zebra with a fragment of the nascent Embodiment of Guilt, which was in turn derived from and empowered by Helios’ magic. This, combined with Urutu’s existing lust for power, was enough to drive her violently insane. Sidewinder made use of her vendetta against Kerfuffle and deployed her as an obstacle to put in the Jammers’ path.
Though there was no way for the characters to be certain at the time, it’s very unlikely that Urutu could have been saved. Her death was a merciful one… even though the gentle griffon might have difficulty seeing it that way.
Three’s Daemon
Like the other Snowdrop specimens, Three also had a daemon inside him. However, the process of his possession was badly flawed and essentially prevented the daemon from manifesting in any meaningful way. Three’s powerful magical abilities, bizarre mane and tail, and mental instability were additional side effects stemming from the imperfect merge.
Potential Deaths
It was entirely possible for a number of major NPCs to have been killed in the course of the campaign, including Whisper, Tundra and Cobra. For example, if the battle against Cobra had gone on for too long Star Kisser would have activated a killswitch built into her cybernetics, forcing the Jammers to face a number of extremely difficult medical and hacking tests if they wished to save her. Potential epilogue scenes were planned, such as Blood Moon mourning Tundra and Coatie using her magic to compress Cobra’s body to dust for a space burial.
Unused Halloween Session Concept
Sessions #86 and #87 were a sort of ‘halloween special’. Another was planned, but didn’t get used because it never lined up with a convenient point in the campaign. The Jammers would have been stranded in deep space by an FTL malfunction, close to an ancient derelict ship. Boarding the ship to search for salvage to repair Claudia, they’d have found themselves in an unsettling situation - the ship would have been partially functional, various systems operating autonomously even without any sign of crew, as if the ship had a mind of its own. Eventually they’d have discovered that the ship’s hold was full of dormant automata left over from the Wyrm Wars, and the creepy automation was the result of a damaged AI.
The AI - not malicious, simply attempting to carry out its mission from centuries ago - would have offered the Jammers assistance in repairing Claudia in return for their assistance in repairing its own ship. A dilemma would ensue: returning the derelict to full functionality would allow it to return to civilized space, inevitably resulting in the priceless and impossibly advanced war machines inside falling into the hands of a government. Or worse. Openly defying the AI would bring them into direct conflict with said war machines - a hopeless battle. The Jammers would have been forced to choose between helping the AI and risking the consequences, or tricking it into repairing Claudia before leaving it stranded and betrayed.
Project Snowdrop in a Nutshell
What could possibly go wrong?
Medusa’s Bomb?
There was never a nuclear weapon aboard Port Medusa. The false claim was passed on to Cobra by Star Kisser, with the expectation that she’d expose herself as a traitor and attract the Jammers, plus Eleven, to the station by alerting them. That part of the plan worked perfectly. When Eleven was brought to the reactor, the expectation was that Helios would seize control and use the reactor’s power to open a dimensional fold in order to return to its place of origin. Instead, Helios remained dormant; Eleven was already falling under the control of the Embodiment of Guilt - something unexpected, well outside of Sidewinder’s control, and much worse than a (relatively) cooperative daemon.
Embodiment of Guilt, unused concept by Kalemon
FINAL WORDS
Phew. This whole thing turned out to be much more massive than expected - the session summaries project, the campaign itself, and the mass of extra media surrounding both. With that said, I can safely say that all the time and effort involved paid off in spades. Though the adventures of Space Jammers Incorporated and their friends may be over, the ride - as they say - never ends. I’m going to continue making tweaks and improvements to this series of documents for some time, particularly to raise the standard of the earliest entries, and as of this writing there’s at least two or three more stories set in the Space Horse universe on the way.
Regardless, this is as close to a final conclusion as this project is likely to see, so I’d like to take this opportunity to extend my thanks and appreciation to all involved. In particular:
Long Man (Hair Trigger) - for bringing a unique and ever-entertaining blend of humour, heartwarming and horny presented in a tiny an efficient package. Best (only!) captain.
Fuzzy (Tammani) - for creating the cutest yet surprisingly complex friend-shaped hippogriff in the galaxy, and for raising the campaign’s overall depth and quality both in and out of character.
Aanok (Volatility Smile) - for the fast-talking, crack-shooting businessmare that single-handedly kept the party from going broke, and the campaign’s most unexpectedly wholesome romance.
Koops (Aela) and Reginier (Nikomachos) - for contributing in your own ways, in spite of having to leave before the campaign’s conclusion.
And especially Napalm Goat - for your tireless GMing. More than anything else, this campaign was the result of hundreds if not thousands of hours’ work on your part, and that fact should not go unrecognized. Take a good long break - you’ve earned it and more.
Space Potatoes, various edits by Snipehamster and TheLongMan
Going to have to find somewhere else to put this...
