Mass Effect: IC-342 (Ironsworn: Starforged) Session 13

 

Tucking the diskette into a pocket on my vacc suit, I tab the comms in my helmet.

“Talk to me, MISO.”

“I have detected a ship on a vector for our position moving at approximately forty-one point seven kilometers per second. Its size, shape and profile matches that of a Geth Dropship.”

Every hair I have goes on end as the words sink in. I don’t think, I don’t linger. I only stow my rifle and run.

Move: Finish An Expedition (Forge Flier)

Compare 8 Progress to challenge dice: 7 & 9 (Weak Hit)

        Mark discoveries legacy track (1 tick - now 1 box and 1 tick.)

        Peril: Automated systems target you.

    The static shock of geth turrets coming to life and firing at the Forge Flier answers any questions I might have about how close the ship is. Realizing that running in magnetic boots isn’t going to get me to the Ulysses fast enough, I shove off the frame of a door and hurl myself down the length of the ship to the hole in the hull.

    Move: Face Danger

    Roll: (Agility) Edge: 3 + Roll 3 = 6 vs. 5 & 8 (Weak Hit)

    Spirit -1 (now 4)

    Move: Endure Stress

    Roll: Spirit (4) + Roll 4 = 8 vs 8 & 8 (Miss / Match)

    Worse than you thought: Lose momentum -2 (now 4)

    I try to keep my eyes on the Ulysses, but all I can see is the way MISO is already pulling the Ulysses away from the derelict, the way the geth dropship is hammering the husk of the Forge Flier all around me. Chunks of burning steel explode through the void around me, pelt my helmet, my arms, my sides. I scream as I launch myself at my ship, barely manage to seize the handles near the door and drag myself into the open airlock. I’m shaking, wide-eyed as MISO repressurizes the airlock and puts the derelict between us and the geth ship, initiates a hard burn and jets us out of there so fast that it nearly throws me against the nearest wall. Bracing myself, I try to get my head back in the game, try to find focus, but all I manage to do is to keep myself from hyperventilating.

    “MISO,” I gasp, tearing my helmet off and shoving it into its alcove. “Report!”

    “Resuming course for Devil’s Rest, Commander,” MISO says simply, and I shake my head at how casual it sounds.

    “Is that all!?” I shout back, yanking off my gloves, my boots. “What about the Geth?”

    “The Geth do not appear to be pursuing us, commander.”

    “And the ship? Any damage?”

    “I was able to disengage and keep an orbit of the derelict that prevented the Ulysses from taking fire,” MISO says.

    I take a long, deep breath, considering my words, but in the end, all I can find is gratitude. I’m alive. We’re both alive, and I only have a few scratches and rattled nerves coming out of it. All told, it could have been a lot worse.

    Pulling the diskette I recovered from the Forge Flier, I put it in a lead-lined specimen compartment in the airlock, tell myself that I need to make a full report on what I’ve seen. With a little luck, the diskette might shed some much needed light on what happened, maybe even how the geth got to IC-342.

    Move: Undertake an Expedition (Devil’s Rest Survey Mission - Outlands)

    Roll: Move At Speed (Edge) 3 + 2 (5) vs. 2 & 8 (Weak Hit)

    Peril: Primary drive malfunctions.

    Move: Reach a Milestone - Vow (+1 box on track [2 of 10] )

    Mark Progress on Expedition (+1 box on track [2 of 10])