Count Down To Doomsday (TMNR) - Episode 6 Albino Brain Chiggers

After waiting for the Kingsman to arrive, the adventurers piloted the ship toward the derelict. Extending the boarding umbilical, Buzz tried his best to line the ships up neatly and safely, only to accidentally scrap the side of the derelict, thankfully not causing any lasting harm to either ship. With the umbilical attached, the crew headed into the derelict. 

Once through the airlock, the adventures were smeared with what could only be globs of blood that floated through the air. When they were fully on board, a holographic warning sprang to life, but the footage was of a man with a missing arm that had obviously been attacked by something, screaming and slamming an emergency button on the nearby wall.

Not unsettled by the blood or the screaming man, the adventurers continued to take stock of the room. Alex and Seraphina observed a grate covering a small raceway that carried environmental controls as well as cabling and other infrastructure through the ship. When they opened it and took a look inside, they saw the walls were covered in fine scratch marks, as if something had been scrabbling through the metal shaft. Not wanting to deal with whatever that was at their backs, Seraphina spent some time welding the hatch shut.

As they continued to look around, Seraphina observed that what was originally thought to be dust or sand in the air, was actively wriggling in the blood on the exterior of her helmet. Unsure if this was a trick of physics or if whatever this was that was floating around in the air was moving of its own accord, Seraphina did a quick check of the size of the micron filters they had installed in their air recyclers and did not like what she realized; if their suits were breached, whatever that was could easily move through their filters and air supply.

With the entry way thoroughly examined, Alex opened the only other door out of the entry area and was immediately assaulted by three RAM security robots. Alex shot one to pieces before the other two laid him down with a hail of Needle Gun fire. Max maladroitly attempted to enter the room, and managed to fling themselves into the room while shooting another of the robots, while Buzz lined up and shot the other. Seraphina acted quickly and sutured Alex’s wounds before cauterizing them. Alex, narrowly escaping death, zipped his suit back up and as it sealed itself from the various punctures from the needle gun, he went further into the room.

Alex headed to the next closest of 4 doors in the area they found themselves in, finding what appeared to be a lab. He took a brief look around, but since none of what he saw was remotely in his wheel house, he called out to Max and Seraphina to come look.

Max immediately hacked the terminal and tablet computer found there and discovered the logs of a man calling himself Dr. Williams. DR. Williams had stored a number of video logs here about his experimental combat gennies which he was working on, mentioning that they had “grass seed like burrowing nymphs”, which the ECGs shed which would turn anyone coming in contact with them, into a walking proximity mine. Dr. Williams’ last log indicated something was wrong with “Scott” and that the containment for his ECGs was broken. The last log showed him getting ready to record the warning hologram for any retrieval crews that RAM might send. 

As Max continued their research of the material on the terminal, Seraphina heard something click. In the nearby experiment area, which was full of chemicals and material used to do testing of various things, a lower cabinet had opened. Inside, Seraphina discovered the body of Dr Williams, who appeared to have crawled in before bleeding to death. With nothing more to be found in the lab, the group stepped back into the main hallway.

As the adventurers began to discuss where to go next, there was a power surge and all of the lights and systems came on momentarily, then the ship shook and looking out the window, Seraphina saw The Junker get obliterated by the derelict’s main gun. Hastily radioing to the Kingsman, the adventurers were distressed to hear that the Kingsman was disengaging because the derelict had fired upon them as well. The Kingsman did not want to return fire out of fear they would harm the adventures, and so they said they would come back once they received communication that it was safe and the ship was under NEO control.

With no escape route, something in the air, and yet to be seen creatures that may have murdered the crew, the adventurers decided they would check out engineering to see if they could get the ship working again. On their way through the gangway, they first found themselves on the weapons deck. When they stopped and looked into the weapons compartment, Alex saw something slithering around the controls. Not wanting to give the creature a chance to assault him, Alex shot the monsters, with Buzz and Max rushing into the room to help kill any others. 

Seraphina examined the dead creatures and determined that they could not be carbon based because they did not show up on the scans for life of the ship. Further, the creatures were small, covered in chitinous plates along with spines, and looked like nothing any of them had ever seen before. Seraphina then moved on to examining the weapons systems. She counted a number of pumped and beam lasers, along with a handful of missile mounts. Believing they would find who had fired upon their ship and the Kingsman, Seraphina and the others took to examining the weapon’s controls, only to find that the ship had been retrofitted with a remote fire system; someone on the bridge had to have fired these weapons. 

As a means of trying to make it safe for the Kingsman to come back, Seraphina took action to try and disable the weapon system. As Seraphina began her laborious work, Max heard a noise from across the ship. Looking into the hallway, they saw that another weapon system room was across the hall, because they could see through the open door that had more creatures crawling out from it. Max called to the others to get their attention quietly, and when Max looked back, they saw something much much larger moving out of the weapons room and heading toward the adventures. This caused Max to become very frightened and so they ran to the other side of the room. 

Buzz moved to stay out of sight, but got a peek at what was coming through the hall, and managed to not freak out as the extra large, many legged creature headed toward them. Buzz backed into the room and took a position to shoot the monster while Alex and Max went behind a corner to get a good position as well. As the creatures moved into the room, they were quickly dispatched with a significant amount of laser fire. 

Fifteen minutes later, Seraphina had finally managed to disable one missile mount. Knowing there were creepy crawly monsters on board and someone likely on the bridge, the adventurers decided that it was not a good idea to stay put and thought it better to try and make it to the bridge. 

The first thing they ran into was a floor that had a few more of the RAM security robots that had done them so much harm when they first entered the ship. Not waiting to repeat that experience, they continued on. As they moved up the floors toward the bridge through the airlocks on the gangway, the next thing they  passed was a galley which appeared to be where RAM forces security must have made their last stand. There were still no corpses, however there was a lot of debris and signs of carnage. Not wanting to linger, they continued to the bridge level of the ship. 

When they arrived, they found themselves in a very small gangway room, with two doors to the bridge. Max immediately attempted to pick the locks on the door closest to them, but was thwarted because the doors were locked with some kind of mechanical override that would not be lifted without intervention in the security room. The adventurers decided that the next best thing was to try and seal themselves into the gangway, and then cut through the door to the bridge.

As Seraphina began the laborious task of trying to weld the gangway airlock shut, Max looked through the small window into the bridge and saw a humanoid creature there. It seemed to notice Max as Max called out but turned its back on Max; as it did, there was a lot of noise from the gangway. 

Moments later, the unfinished weld that Seraphina had begun on the gangway airlock door was busted through as the airlock was flung open by two large creatures that vied for space through the doorway. One of the creatures grabbed Max and bound them to the floor while another grabbed Buzz and pulled on him trying to get him close enough to bite and scratch. Alex shot and killed the creature that was holding Max while Buzz shot and killed the monster that had ahold of his leg, but not before it got a good bite of him.

The two large dead creatures were pulled backward through the door by three smaller creatures that were also dispatched by Alex and the others. Looking down the gangway, it was obvious that more creatures were headed up the ship, but in the dim light and narrow frame of the gangway door, it was unclear how many, or how many floors down they were. Thinking the best option was to try and seal themselves into the gangway on the bridge and take their chances cutting through the door, they moved to close the door again. 

As they attempted to close the door, three more small creatures came up and sprayed the whole compartment with spines from their backs. This hurt everyone in the gangway turned kill box; they could not stay here. Almost dead a second time, Alex shot a couple of the creatures and Buzz shot the other. Then wounded and realizing that they were going to die if they stayed here. In the moment of peace that followed, it seemed the creatures had moved into the other floors or were otherwise hiding in the gangway. A large commotion from two floors down where the Security Robots were observed seemed to provide them with a window to move and so they headed back down to the ill fated galley, where RAM security forces had also made their last stand. 

Once inside, they slammed the gangway door shut and as everyone else retreated into the galley, Seraphina once again began to weld the gangway door shut to try and staunch the flow of creatures into their space. As Seraphina worked, the others hunkered down behind the tables that had been flipped onto their sides to make barriers. As Buzz watched the gangway door where Seraphina worked, he became aware that creatures were coming out of the raceway grate.

A creature sprang onto Max ripping and tearing at the wounds that the spines had caused, almost causing Max to fall down, but Alex managed to kill the creature. Another creature attacked Buzz and as Buzz struggled, Alex once again managed to shoot it. At this point, with the creatures coming in behind them, Seraphina gave up welding the door and began to try and open it again. Once the door opened, Buzz bolted down the gangway to the floor where the commotion had come from, while Alex and Seraphina, who was shouting at Buzz to not run away, managed to kill the creatures that were trying to kill them all. When the smoke cleared and the creatures stopped twitching, Max, Seraphina and Alex followed after Buzz, who was exclaiming that he had discovered the Medical Bay.

Seraphina was more than incensed at Buzz for running away, but everyone had a splitting headache and simply did not have the stamina to be properly angry at his cowardice. In the Medical bay, there was an auto doctor which appeared to have the remains of someone stuck inside it. The procedure that was being performed had not finished and was waiting for a prompt to be answered to continue. Max easily hacked the tablet connected to the Autodoc and found a video of its last procedure, identifying the remains as the body of one Dr. Concheitz. The tablet had a video log of the last procedure which indicated that the doctor was delirious and also was suffering symptoms from whatever was in the air. The last words of the doctor indicated that she wanted to die in the name of science, ordering the Autodoc to discover what had happened regardless of the outcome.

Seraphina reviewed the information the Autodoc had collected and determined the correct drug to fabricate to stop the brain parasites. Quickly fabricating the drug using the drug fabricator in the Medical Bay, Seraphina ordered the Autodoc to self clean and then put Buzz into the machine as the guinea pig. The procedure went splendidly and the Autodoc healed everyone and purged their bodies of the brain parasites. Now all they had to do was figure out how to get onto the bridge and take control of this ship.

 

Count Down to Doomsday (TMNR) - Episode 5 Pirates!

 In the aftermath of the attack, the officers rounded everyone up and medical aid was administered. Almost immediately, SAP ground forces showed up to try and understand why RAM had taken a direct military action on one of their facilities. As the facility spokespeople worked out the situation, the NEO officers and recruits emptied the place of anything that would identify it as an NEO facility. When all was said and done, the SAP higher ups and RAM agreed this was a case of mistaken identity. 

The adventurers were provided medical aid and quietly everyone was brought back to their living spaces to await instruction. A day later, Coop showed up to speak with the adventurers. Coop was brief in his instructions, explaining what he knew about the situation, and said that it was like a result of Tine being captured. There had already been a RAM counter intelligence operation taking place, but the murder of a pair of RAM officers who were meeting with murdered SAP officials that were providing RAM information about the facility, appeared to be the typing point and what triggered the assault on the facility. 

Coop went on to explain that the adventurers did extremely well and NEO still needed them in the operation. He provided the adventurers with travel tickets for passage on a starliner to Tycho. He did not explain what they were meant to do after that, but gave them two days to gather their belongings and say goodbye to Earth. 

Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Carm and Seraphina spent their time gathering shelf stable herbs and spices that they knew would be prohibitively expensive or impossible to purchase off world, while Buzz picked up a couple boxes of Twinkies and 20 lbs of Coffee. Max purchased some assorted food stuffs as well, while Alex simply gathered up his stashes and ensured that he had all the gear he needed. 

Two days later, they headed to a spaceport in the outskirts of Chicagorg. Wearing their space suits that NEO had provided them, and ladened down with their worldly possessions, the adventurers boarded the ship to leave Earth for the first time in their lives. 

As the Ship took off, Max suffered a minor panic attack. While Alex attempted to calm them down, other individuals on the flight seemed to be doing just as poorly. After a short 1 day trip between Earth and the Moon, the adventurers landed at Tycho and got their first true taste of less than Earth Gravity. Those packs that felt very heavy a bit ago, suddenly felt much more manageable. Standing in the port, attempting to take in all the splendor of Tycho, the group felt a bit dazed.

Alex continued to walk around in wonder, while Buzz did his best to flirt with a flight attendant that eventually had to go. Max was the only one who seemed to have their wits about them enough to try and figure out what they were supposed to do next. As the group of adventurers made their way toward customs to head into Tycho proper, they were stopped by a middle aged man who began asking some pointed questions. 

Somehow, the man knew the details of their travel and explained that they were meant to go with him to a different ship. The group did not have any means of validating this arrangement, but since he seemed to have knowledge that only an NEO coordinator could have, they decided that an overabundance of caution was not necessary, and followed the man to a different port, where along with a few other people that looked familiar, they crammed themselves onto an Astrover with a stripped down interior, which was retrofitted to have as much seating as could possibly be crammed into a ship this size.

As the men preparing the ship seemed to have an argument with the Tycho Spaceport police, everyone's gear was loaded and then very quickly, the ship left Tycho and headed off into space. The ship expertly navigated the debris field in the near Earth orbit, eventually coming to an obfuscated space station that was a short half day’s travel at some scary speeds. The captain of the tiny transport vessel announced a welcome to Salvation III and they docked. 

As their gear was unloaded, the group of people on the Astrover were brought to a conference room within the facility. Here they were all seated in front of a group of NEO uniformed officials. When the room settled down, a dark skinned man stood up and announced that he was Carlton Turabian and he was excited to welcome all the new comers from Chicagorg, regardless of the circumstances. 

Carlton went on to briefly explain what happened at the facility and how it will unfortunately be sunset, but a new one would be made. Thankfully, the majority of the equipment, and the personnel that survived, had been moved off site and were safe. In all, thanks to the quick thinking and action on the part of the facility’s defenders, what should have been a tragedy, ended up being a success story. Carlton continued to explain what was expected of them from here and then dismissed everyone to their new operating groups. 

NEO officers entered the crowd and gathered people into units and then headed out of the room. Carlton asked the adventurers by name to stay behind and meet with him. Once the adventurers and Carlton were alone in the room, Carlton explained he was their commanding officer and that he came out of retirement to be their leader and point of contact. 

Carlton went on to personally thank them for their exemplary performance at the training facility, acknowledging that their actions were directly responsible for the preservation of a large number of lives and a large quantity of equipment. If it had not been for their leadership and quick restoration of the air defenses, the situation would have ended very differently. 

In recognition of their obvious ability, NEO provided the adventures with a 1000 credit bonus each and Carlton had arranged for them to immediately be put on a salvage ship of their own, jumping them past a lot of menial labor and climbing of ranks. Carlton explained that their work detail was one of the most desired and was the last step before becoming a full NEO agent; essentially they had been fast tracked.

Carlton explained that they would not be issued any more equipment, and that they would unfortunately be responsible for purchasing their ammunition and equipment from the stock within the station, or anywhere else they could come by it. This was just a reality of working for the most cash strapped guerilla terrorist organization in the solar system. Carlton gave them their living quarters assignments and told them they were expected in Zero G training the next day. Lastly, he provided them their first doses of Gravitol.

With all the administrative stuff out of the way, the adventures headed to their new living quarters to get settled in. The spaces were spacious enough, but lacked any furnishings that were not built into the walls or mounted. Given the facility was gravity free, this was a bit of a shock, but one that they took easily in stride. After getting their gear stowed, the group made their way to the Cantina to enjoy some refreshment before they got some rest.

In the Cantina, Max made quick friends with a Desert Runner named J’Zargo who had a mohawk and the tips of their ears dyed a bright blue. Max learned that J’Zargo was a victim of RAM genocide and was smuggled off Mars at a very young age. J’Zargo was then raised in the belt before finding a home among NEO as an agent. 

Alex ran into Ron “The Swan” Smith, who had been a constant rival of Buzz’s during training. Ron and Buzz traded records on the simulators for the entire time that the group was in training and now that Buzz made it to Salvation III “The Swan” seemed excited to continue their rivalry. 

Buzz encountered an old friend from the SAP military Rex “The Raptor” Hanson. Rex was glad to find a familiar face and the two sat drinking and trading war stories until Rex got overly excited and began a fight that was quickly stopped by NEO MPs. 

The following morning, the group woke when they were told and headed to Zero G training. Here Alex and Max showed an above average aptitude for the activity and gained more than a little skill. Buzz was adequate and they all were given the green light to start their work assignment. Later that day, they were loaded onto an Astrover affectionately labeled, the Junker. 

The first day was quite uneventful. The adventurers were able to gather a decent amount of salvage and spent a good amount of time observing the comings and goings of ships to Salvation III. That night, the group spent more time hanging out with their new friends and ran into Jana again. Jana explained that she was slotted to do water recycling, which she did understand, but she was excited to be a part of the organization and was glad to be off Earth. 

Over the next day or two, things went just as uneventfully. The adventurers learned the names of a few ships that came and went from Salvation III regularly. The first was the security vessel The Kingsman. This well armed and armored light cruiser was the first line of defense for Salvation III and could be called upon if anything threatened one of the salvage crews. Next was The Sysco which was a light freighter that made trips between Earth and the station daily to bring food and supplemental fresh water. Finally, the Mary Jane was a spy ship covered in RAM markings that came and went a few times over the course of a week. 

By their second week of service, the adventurers became quite comfortable in their routine. Max continued to foster their friendship with J’Zargo, spending lots of time sparring with the various martial arts clubs and learning more about combat in Zero G. Alex spent a lot of down time in the simulators with “The Swan” and in the ship combat sim, managed to achieve a high score that was so far and above anything on the leader board, that the two of them became instant legends. Buzz continued to pal around with “The Raptor” and flirt with anything that would give him the time of day. 

One afternoon, while the Crew of the Junker floated through the sunny side of Earth’s debris field, something caught Alex’s eye almost directly in front of the sun. The adventurers were not exactly caught flat footed, but were quite surprised when the object turned out to be a ship.

Buzz worked the console and determined that it was just another salvage freight of civilian manufacture, but when Max took a second look at the instrumentation, they showed Buzz that the transponder must have been messed with because the military vessel with a significant payload, was most certainly not a civilian vessel. 

The ship had been drifting toward them for some time unnoticed because their drive was not turned on, but when they got almost within range, they fired their engines and approached before the Junker had time to react. Alex quickly radioed Salvation III and The Kingsman, but no help was in close range. Buzz fired up the Junker’s engines, but just as they attempted to evade the incoming ship, they took two hits to the engines and were left drifting. 

The ship caught up to them quickly and matched speed and rotation while extending a boarding tube. Over the public channel, the crew of the Junker was informed that this was nothing more than a robbery. Close enough to touch, the ship was finally identified as belonging to one of the most cowardly bands of pirates in the solar system, un-affectionately known as the Trash Pirates, thought most people called them a much more derogatory name. 

The Trash Pirates continued their breaching efforts and assured the crew of the Junker that as long as they stayed out of the way, no one had to get hurt. Not willing to just roll over, the adventurers set themselves up in the cargo area near the airlock. As the pirates entered the cargo area, Alex, Max and Buzz started blasting them. Max threw a Dazzle grenade into the air lock, but it seemed to do nothing to the pirates. A quick exchange of laser fire caused a few of the armored pirates to go down, but before too long, the pirate’s sonic stunners knocked the crew unconscious. Hours later, with severe head aches, the adventurers woke up to find that what little personal money they had on them was stolen along with all of the salvage they had collected that day. 

The Kingsman arrived and the crew were able to patch the Junker’s engines up enough to get them back to Salvation III. Carlton assured the adventurers that this was not that uncommon, and that they conducted themselves well. Buzz decided that it was a good idea to try and find some grenades, and as quickly as he bought a Stun grenade and a Dazzle grenade, Max stole them and added the grenades to Max’s backpack. 

A day or two later, the Junker had a phenomenal day of salvage which included a couple weapons systems. The adventurers laid claim to some of the weapons and outfitted the Junker with its first set of guns. Feeling better prepared, the crew continued their work in the debris field.

Traveling through the dark side of Earth this time, the crew was having another great day of salvage. Now that they were on alert for new threats, the crew of the Junker was prepared when another ship drifted toward them at high speed. It was a bit easier to spot this time and once again, the crew radioed to Salvation III and the Kingsman, with the same result as last time; help was nowhere near them.

As soon as the ship was within range, Alex and Max manned the guns and put a few shots into the pirate ship’s engines. The situation changed dramatically, as the Trash Pirate’s ship realized that this was no defenseless salvage boat, and with damaged engines, began to retreat. Buzz pulled a 180 and pursued the now fleeing aggressors. After a few more minutes of shooting, the Trash Pirates made a hasty retreat. Back at Salvation III, Carlton was ecstatic that they had done so well defending themselves. And so it went for a few more days. The Trash pirates did not show back up, and the crew of the Junker continued to gather excellent quality salvage.  

A few days later, while drifting in the closest Earth orbit they could, the crew of the Junker noticed something very odd; A fully intact Light Cruiser with no markings and a disabled transponder. Initial scans indicated that no life was on board and nothing but emergency power was enabled. It looked like someone had just abandoned the ship to drift for some reason. 

Not wanting to trust this as simply good luck, the Crew radioed in the anomaly and summoned The Kingsman. Carlton told them to board the ship and try to find out what had happened. If it truly was derelict, what an amazing find this would be.

Count Down To Doomsday (TMNR) - Episode 4 Murder and Discovery

 As the adventurers entered the bar, the thing that struck them first was that there was armed security. RAM does not condone the armament of civilian security forces, so this was a bit odd and implied that this business must not be owned by someone under the jurisdiction of RAM or the SAP. Jana and Tine seemed to know the place well and so the adventurers discarded their hesitation and headed into the bar.

As they rounded the corner the music was loud and had an excellent beat. The dance floor was covered in people, all of which were clean and well dressed. At the end of the hallway, there was a person sitting behind a desk through a small window in the wall. With another armed security guard watching, the woman behind the desk asked if they wanted to check anything before they went in. The group looked around at one another and agreed they did not. 

Under the heavy beat of the music, Tine and Jana brought the group to the bar and they settled in. Alex purchased the largest container of Beer that rode the line between cheap and good, and as he showed no signs of sharing, everyone else purchased something similar to enjoy. 

Buzz decided to dance a bit and so headed to the dance floor. Here Buzz attempted to break dance, but ultimately was only able to clear a small area of people who were afraid his flailing would cause them injury if they stayed too close to him. When he was done trying to dance, he found his way back to the bar with the others.

Jana and Tine made small talk, asking about Carm and Duskberg. Seraphina shared her news with them and congratulations were given all around. Then when Seraphina shared that the Diner and her Bakery were burned to the ground, Tine and Jana commiserated with her. 

As the evening wore on, the music did not let up, it intensified. As the conversation about Carm turned to a discussion about the cafeteria and the elevation of the food therein, Alex felt comfortable sharing that he enjoyed the prepared food from a local eatery near where they lived. Jana this time admonished Alex for sharing too many details about where they were living, reminding him that he is not supposed to share details about where he lives so that if captured, RAM could not pull the information out of anyone and eliminate more than one cell at a time. As if on cue, while Tine said you could never be too sure who was listening, a Pair of Terrines along with two important looking RAM officials entered the bar. As the RAM officials crossed the dance floor, the dancers parted, creating what looked like a wake in water as a speed boat passes; no one wanted to be near these RAM agents or their muscular Terrine security guards. Tine and Jana watched the RAM agents with a laser-like focus.

The RAM agents made their way up a small set of stairs to one of the private rooms along the side of the club. The door to the room slid open and the four people stepped inside, briefly giving everyone a chance to see that two other people were in the room as well. 

As the group passed, The adventurers noticed that the female RAM agent looked very familiar and they were certain she was a member of the group of RAM agents that had been in Duskberg. The people in the room also look familiar, but no one was able to place where from. 

No sooner did the door close, than Jana and Tine left the bar and headed toward the room. The adventurers watched from the bar as Jana and Tine stopped near the stairs and spoke with a security guard. The music, being louder than life, made it impossible to hear anything that the guard and the two NEO agents discussed, but after a few moments, the security guard moved across the room and spoke to another guard. The two guards found their way to the opposite side of the club and took up positions that left the stairs and the private rooms unguarded.

With no armed resistance close by, Tine and Jana made their way to the private room, and after drawing laser pistols, slide the door open and darted inside as it closed behind them. Not a minute later, a man burst from the room clutching his bleeding throat and then fell over the railing into the dance area. The closest security guard on the dance floor rushed to his aid, but the man appeared to be dead. 

Tine was next to come out of the room following the path of the man, sporting an ugly wound in his leg. After Tine, the female RAM agent came rushing out with a bloody wound on her neck and shoulder. The female RAM agent ran down the stairs past Tine and down to the dancefloor. This is when the music finally subsided as the woman who was on stage appeared to notice the commotion and began to back away from the edge of the stage. The crowd began an exodus trying to avoid the bleeding woman fleeing the private room. Jana came out of the room and gave chase to the female RAM agent. 

The adventurers sat at the bar calmly watching the entire scene unfold. Only as the bloody RAM woman got close to the bar and it looked as though Jana and Tine were not going to be able to catch her, did Buzz move from the bar. As the wounded woman looked back at her pursuers, Buzz planted his feet and waited for her to be too close to avoid him before throwing a straight arm out, knocking her to the ground in spectacular fashion. Jana know quickly caught up and while she starred the woman in the eyes, calmly ended her life with a large knife to the already wounded neck. 

Security was more concerned with getting everyone to safety than stopping the assault, so once the RAM agents were dead, it was easy for the group to act like all the other patrons and flee the scene. Outside the club, sirens of the SAP police force could be heard not very far away and the club security seemed to be trying to find whoever started the conflict. 

The adventurers gave one look back as they headed back to their residences and noticed that the man they saw at the graduation ceremony that they were certain was from the RAM contingent in Duskberg, was once again present here and was talking with the security guards. Tine and Jana seemed overjoyed at their ambush and with high spirits bade farewell to the adventures with a promise that they would see them the following day for graduation. 

The rest of the night went uneventfully and everyone got some rest. When the morning came, the group gathered up some of their belongings and headed to the SAP training facility with Jarred. Jarred was happy to see them and explained that he was excited for them to be heading off the planet for basic space training. Jarred explained it was an exciting opportunity and demonstrated NEO’s confidence in them. 

Once they arrived, they were given new space suits and a regular laser pistol. They were asked to return their smart suits, but were allowed to keep whatever gear they bright from their residence. The space suits were nicely made and of new construction. The adventurers were given time to change into the suits before being assembled for the graduation ceremony. 

By mid day, the ceremony had ended and the group was given a few minutes to say their goodbyes. All of the graduates were then arranged in units that would be getting onto a shuttle together to head to Salvation III, NEO’s orbital base. Under the light of the Astrovers launching from the air field, the group headed from the assembly room to their own Astrover.

On the concrete of the walkway, the adventurers became aware of a lot of noise around and above them. Trucks were arriving outside the facility and the unmistakable scream of light cruisers overhead drew their attention to the sky.

As they watched, the field of Astrovers ahead of them were lit with laser fire and the buildings beside them were hit with other munitions. The world rattled with the explosions of multiple craft and a couple buildings. As they watched, the fire suppression and fuel control buildings were demolished by munitions from cruisers overhead. Something was terribly wrong; RAM had either discovered the base or finally understood what it really was. 

Our adventurers took stock of their situation, finding they had a number of other star bound NEO proto-agents with them who were uninjured; it was up to them to save the base if it could be saved. The adventurers ran back down the concrete path hoping to avoid the next strafing run of the ships only to hear chaos of laser and small arms fire within the educational facility they were headed back toward. As they reached the door, three Terrines stepped out, eager to end their lives as well.

One of the Terrines savagely fired their laser rifles to try and force the adventurers and their companions to take cover, while another of them lobbed a Dazzle grenade into the middle of the fledgling soldiers. Bewildered and partially blinded, the group scattered and returned fire, not hitting anything. As the Terrine that sprayed them with laser fire reloaded the capacitor clip on its rifle, and the others readied their own rifles, Alex drew both pistols he was carrying and between him and Buzz, they put down the Terrines in short order. Carm and Seraphina, along with the other NEO soldiers shot wildly, but with the effects of the Dazzle grenade and the suppressive fire, it was very challenging to hit anything.

Wasting no time they regrouped and headed through the door they had very recently come out of. Not entirely sure of the layout of the facility they started trying to go room to room. The first door they came to was the equipment room and the individual there told them he had it covered and that someone needed to reactivate the air defenses. Apparently the facility had surface to air weaponry for just such an occasion, but obviously something had happened to it. The man in the equipment room urged them to find out what. 

As they made their way down the hallway through the building the adventurers found themselves in the general assembly room they had just left. It looked as though Terrines had broken the windows and infiltrated the front and sides of the building. The adventurers and the NEO agents quickly killed the remaining Terrines in the assembly room and moved to Admin. As they rounded the corner to Admin, they saw there were a group of Terrines down the hall. 

The NEO agents, Carm and Seraphina, headed into admin to kill off the Terrines there while Alex and Buzz shot most of the Terrines leaving one alive to flee into the women’s bathroom. As the group of adventurers moved out of Admin, back into the hallway, Alex investigated the bathroom. Momentarily he was surprised by a pair of Terrines before shooting them both with his dual laser pistols. Meanwhile, Carm, Buzz and a group of NEO trainees burst into the officer’s lounge to find a group of officers securing the area. The Officers told them to move on and continue to clear the base, as they had work to do here, and Alex made a number of comments disparaging the Officer’s bravery. 

As the Adventurers made their way down the hall further, always heading toward the end of the building where the air defenses were, they came across the medical offices. Here Carm and some NEO agents entered to find a group of dead and dying soldiers. Carm observed a bomb on one of the corpses, and Seraphine ran in to defuse it, recovering some explosives. A few moments later, Seraphina defused another bomb before making sure that the Medical offices were finally safe.

Alex and Buzz entered a storage area and were ambushed, but ultimately killed the Terrines there. Alex continued down the hallway as Seraphina killed a number of Terrines with the NEO agents. As they reached the air defenses room, Alex once again burst in to try and kill the RAm agents. Unfortunately this time, the RAM soldiers had taken defensive positions and were ready for the adventurers. 

As Alex burst in, he was immediately shot by three Terrines and a Technician. Almost dead, Carm pushed Alex from the doorway while Buzz, Serahina and the others made their way up from the bottom of the room. Quickly, the adventurers killed the Terrines and Seraphina shot the Technician. Cruelly, the Technician laughed as he died and released an explosive grenade directly in front of the console that controlled the air defenses.

Seraphina, thinking quickly, threw the body of one of the dead Terrines on top of the grenade. When the grenade detonated, the body of the Terrines absorbed the majority of the shrapnel and explosion, ensuring that none of the adventurers or their allies suffered any damage. 

Moments later, Seraphina repaired the console and the sound of Air Defense lasers started to blare through the sky. The base was saved, and everyone was mostly OK.

Count Down To Doomsday (TMNR) - Episode 3 Burn Baby Burn

 The day after the Terrines arrived, the town became more under the influence of RAM than ever before. The new Terrines were accompanied by a small contingent of RAM officers, who at first seemed to want to befriend the townsfolk; unfortunately their friendliness would not last. 

By Monday morning, the true intention of the RAM occupiers became clear. Before the first light of the day, the Terrines had positioned one of their numbers at the end of every road leading out of town, while smaller groups led by singular RAM officers went door to door harassing everyone. Terrines stalked the streets stopping anyone moving around to question them about their actions, and who might be in the town that is willing to resist RAM. By the time the sun went down on Monday, the entire town had been searched and there was more than one person with broken bones and injuries from the inquisition. 

As Carm helped Seraphina and Max close Ashes 2 Ashes, the conversation turned toward the wisdom of trying to open “The Dinner” on a day like today, but Carm was adamant that he would not allow RAMs terror campaign to stop him from feeding the people of the town. Everyone agreed that they shouldn’t let RAM win, and so they headed to “The Dinner” together.

After opening, The Dinner was patronized only by the handful of people who had no other options. Carm reiterated that he would not have enough money to keep buying food and stay open if this continued. The silence in the normally well populated and comfortable eatery, was heavy and oppressive. It was as if the air itself was aware of how wrong the situation was and worked to cover the people trying to hang onto whatever sense of normalcy it could. 

As Tuesday came around, Alex decided he needed to know more about what RAM had been doing in town and so spent some time pressing the normal rabble rousers for information. Eventually he found someone who had seen Richard being detained by RAM and allowed curiosity to win out over wisdom, following the Terrines and RAm soldiers back to the barracks.

Apparently Richard had been questioned about last Friday night and was more than willing to throw everyone under the bus.The RAM agents seemed convinced that they had to do something about the disturbance and did not seem to believe the town’s story about rabble rousers who attacked and moved on. 

Alex was not sure what to make of the information, but after discussing it with the rest of the group, it was decided from Tuesday night forward that Alex would start spending his evenings in the Dinner to make sure that if RAM tried something, he would be there to be a first responder. 

It did not take long for RAM to show their intentions, as that night, a pair of Terrines entered the Dinner and started to make mischief. The Terrines just asked people about why they were there and after everyone answered what questions were asked of them, the Terrines went out to the front of the building and stood around, like they were waiting for something. 

BimJob was the first to finish his meal and leave the diner. As BimJob left, the two Terrines followed him closely. Alex did not like where this was going, and so started to follow the soldiers and BimJob. As Alex attempted to not be noticed, he accidentally tripped over some trash cans, and the Terrines abandoned following BimJob and turned their attention to Alex.

Alex attempted to act inebriated and the Terrines seemed to believe him, but still wanted to ‘talk’ to him, which resulted in one of them going behind him and the other getting right in his face. Alex tried to dismiss and insult them, which only strengthened their resolve to give him a hard time. 

What seemed to be the lead Terrine smacked Alex hard in the face while the other forced him to one knee from behind. The Terrines said they were investigating an act of terror in the Diner last Friday and were insistent that he knew something about it. Alex continued to insult them and as the lead Terrine tried in vain to question him. As the lead Terrine leaned in close, Alex leapt and buried his combat knife in the creature’s chest. 

The Terrine behind Alex was too shocked to realize what was going on, so Alex was able to take a shot at the Terrine with his laser pistol, before it was able to squeeze off a shot. Alex wasted no time quickly killing the second Terrine and then radioing the rest of the adventurers to help him dispose of the bodies. 

Seraphina and Max showed up quickly with large potato sacks, which they attempted to stuff the Terrine bodies in, but they were not overly successful because the body of a Terrine is rather large. As they attempted to avoid the roaming Terrines that were currently terrorizing Duskberg, they had the unfortunate necessity to walk directly between the apartment buildings. It was risky as the towers had a lot of eyes in them, but they decided it would be better to risk being seen by a tenant of the apartments, than running headlong into a Terrine patrol. After winding their way through the town, they made it into the wilderness, where they disposed of the bodies somewhere that they would not easily be discovered, before making their way back to town.  

Wednesday saw a significant increase in the pressure that the RAM soldiers placed on the town again. The loss of two more soldiers did not go unnoticed, and RAM was intent on finding the guilty parties and punishing them. Terrine patrols increased and instead of asking questions, the soldiers took to accosting anyone they saw moving around the town and attacking them openly. By the end of the night, only the adventurers and those other people who knew how to avoid the Terrines dared leave their homes. 

Seraphine decided it was a good idea to close early and convinced Carm that he should not open, instead he should take the food he prepared and go door to door distributing it. With the town being scared to leave their homes, the food was very welcome when the adventurers sneaked around and handed it out. A few townsfolk had the misfortune to be stuck in their homes due to injuries inflicted by the Terrines.

Thursday, early in the morning, Max woke to open the bakery with Seraphina and was startled because a group of Terrines were hiding around the Dinner with a few of them openly seeming to guard the entrance; Max alerted everyone to this fact. All in all, there were 8 Terrines watching the Dinner. 

The day was mostly uneventful, with no one patronizing the bakery for the most part. RAM appeared to have achieved their goal; everyone was too afraid to leave their homes. Business in Duskberg had come to a complete halt. By mid day, a pair of RAM officers came into the bakery and ordered food, while talking loudly about the Dinner. One expressed their distaste for the awful food and the other laughed it off saying it would not be a problem soon. This made the adventurers even more concerned. 

Once again, when it was time for the bakery to close, Seraphina tried to convince Carm to just stay closed for the night. Carm was not letting RAM win, he said it was more important this evening than any other in recent history to make sure that he opened. The rest of the group was determined to support him, and so they all headed to the Dinner as a one unit. They had to walk past the group of Terrines to get in, receiving more than one mischievous and malicious stare. 

As the evening got underway, the only patrons were two townsfolk who had no other source of food and BimJob, who wanted a meal as well as to discuss a delivery of chickens. After a short hour of relative peace, the Terrines who were out front decided it was time to do whatever it was they had been planning to do since the early morning. A pair of the monstrous shock troopers entered the establishment and then moved to the counter to accost Seraphina and the others.

A massive Terrine, slightly taller than 6 feet and easily three feet wide at the shoulder, seemed to be the leader. The Terrine was more grizzled than most and his armor had a duller finish suggesting it had been well used. One of the long pointed ears of the creature had a notch cut out of it near the top and he had a small mark on his face that could only have been the result of an attempt on his life.  

The Terrine leader asked pointed questions about Tuesday night, and then Richard walked in with two more Terrines. The RAM soldiers explained that two “Peace Keepers” had gone missing and Richard had said he saw their bodies being carried out of town by Max, Serahina, and Alex. Max immediately denied this and started explaining that they were moving potatoes, not bodies; Richard was mistaken. 

Richard argued that they were lying and the adventurers argued that Richard was lying; they had reached an impasse. One of the three patrons in the Dinner got up to leave, and the lead Terrine shot the patron dead as he rose to leave. 

Realizing they were going to have to do more convincing, Max explained that the potatoes were moved in large sacks and could easily be mistaken for bodies, especially in low light. Max convinced the leader that Max could prove this, by going to get a sack from Ashes 2 Ashes. The grizzled Terrine, casually stepped up onto and then over the counter to put an arm around Carm and a saber to his throat. The Grizzled Terrine nicked Carm’s chin with the blade as he told Max to quickly get what evidence they were going to present. 

Max headed to the bakery and gathered up a sack, filling it with what potatoes they had along with onions and anything else that would make the sack full and bulky. Then Max grabbed an assortment of the pot pies and other food items they made with Potatoes before heading back to the Dinner as fast as they could. 

When Max arrived back at the Dinner, they found the scene exactly as they had left it. Everyone was staying very still and no one was saying much. When Max showed the Terrines how it was easy to confuse the bulky sack for a body, Max also explained that Richard was so high up and the light was not good; basically Richard was an idiot and mistaken. The Terrines traded significant looks and agreed with Max that Richard was an idiot, but they had no idea who to believe about the bodies. Richard became fed up with the conversation and left in a huff.

The Terrine closest to Max told Max to pick him up. Max made a show of trying to comply but pretending that they did not have the strength to lift the bulky creature. As Max did this, they managed to steal the Terrine’s money pouch. The Terrine laughed and told his leader that there was no way this little person could lift him.

The grizzled leader contemplated for a few minutes. After shaking his head, he said he believed all things were best done in pairs, and proceeded to casually stab Carm through the chest before stepping up over the counter and leaving. With the Terrines gone, Seraphina threw herself over the counter to Carm’s side. He was losing a lot of blood so she quickly opened her first aid kit and sutured the internal wound, before going on to suture his chest. 

With the Terrines gone and Carm safe, Max took a moment to look through the pouch that they had stolen. Inside was 6 Newrubles and a Dazzle grenade; more than any Terrine would normally carry and certainty unexpected.

Pitifully, sitting in a puddle of his own blood, Carm looked to Seraphina with tears in his eyes. Carm stumbled a bit but then explained to her that he was no stranger to near death encounters. The world was full of easy ways to die and Carm was a student of many of them. Carm stared at the woman who had just saved his life, covered in his blood sitting on the floor of his diner and he said he realized, for the first time ever, that he was not ok with dying. As many times as he had come close, he had never cared before; but that was no longer the case. Further, he had no stronger desire than to make sure that he was by her side when he did finally go. 

A moment passed where Carm caught his breath and then with as much courage as he could muster, he looked her right in the eyes and asked her to marry him. Not soon, not in a while, right now. Marry him here and now covered in his blood. Seraphine, without even a hint of hesitation said yes.

Max and Alex went to fetch MiMa; as the town eldar, she was who normally acknowledged and recorded this kind of thing. When MiMa arrived, Seraphina helped Carm to his feet and they greeted her. She made noise again about Alex and Max marrying, which they laughed off and then asked if they had any religious rights that they wanted her to perform. When Carm and Seraphina said no, MiMa announced they were married.

Carm was elated. He hollered and yelled about his happiness and his new wife. He went to the cupboards and pulled out Venusian Chocolates and wines from far off vineyards. The group of adventurers let their ambitions to change the world around them vanish for a few hours while they spent the evening enjoying one another’s company and forgetting they were in the middle of a town being actively oppressed. The night went on, and everyone consumed more than they should. As Max and Alex walked MiMa home, she once again implied that they should settle down and have kids, to which Max explained how ludicrous that sounded since they were basically siblings. 

That night, as Max tried to sleep, they awoke realizing that the Diner was on fire. Not a small fire like something had been left on thoughtlessly, but thoroughly consumed and covered in a fire that was intentional and barbaric. With nothing much to be done, Max alerted everyone. The following morning, they regrouped in Ashes 2 Ashes, not knowing what to do about the loss of The Dinner. 

By midday Friday, the wreckage of the Dinner had cooled to the point that it could be looked through. Carm spent some time sifting though and collecting a few things he could keep as momentos, leaving the rest to fade away. 

Alex was upset and decided to find out what he could about the situation. He spent the day throwing his influence around and forcing information about the fire out of the more undesirable members of the community. Alex was successful in forcing one of the most rowdy young men in town, who admitted to being out in the quiet hours of the early morning, to tell Alex what the young man had seen. 

The young man explained that somewhere around 3 AM, Terrines surrounded the building and one of them, carrying a very large weapon attached to a backpack, sprayed fiery destruction all over the Dinner, setting it so thoroughly ablaze. From the description, Alex believed it was some kind of heavy weapon, likely a plasma thrower of some kind. Back at the Ashes to Ashes, Alex relayed the information in time for Max to decide to try and infiltrate the barracks to see what they could find out. 

When Max arrived, they observed that there was a new truck at the Barracks. Inside there were more soldiers than before and outside there were 6 Terrines watching the place. Max sneaked up to the windows in the back and listened inside. A group of Terrines was actively cleaning their equipment, including one with a large Plasma Launcher; Max realised this was certainly the weapon used to destroy the Dinner. 

Fortuitously, Max caught the end of a conversation where the officers were planning on some kind of assault. Through the bit of the conversation that Max heard, it sounded a lot like RAM intended to incarcerate the majority of the town and burn down Ashes 2 Ashes. Max hurried back to the group with the new information, making sure to stay hidden. 

Everyone was aware that Coop was headed back to meet up with them potentially that evening, but they did not know what to do. It was obvious that their time here was coming to a close and that RAM was intent on rooting them out, having realized that there was some kind of organization working against them in Duskberg. Seraphina packed what she could and made peace with her bakery while they waited for Coop; unfortunately he never showed. 

They all went to bed that night aware that RAM was going to implement their plan on Saturday. In the early hours of the morning once more, everyone woke when the Ashes 2 Ashes was attacked. With no ability to stop the flames, and RAM attacking anyone who even tried, the group surreptitiously made their way to MiMa’s house. 

For the rest of Saturday, RAM soldiers and Terrines made their way around the town stealing people out of their homes and moving them to the apartment buildings, which they turned into a concentration camp. When the soldiers pounded on MiMa’s door, Alex bravely answered and convinced them that it was just him and MiMa. The soldiers explained that he was a person of interest in a number of crimes in the town and he needed to come with them. Alex complied and so managed to get the soldiers to leave the others alone. 

At the Barracks, a RAM officer put Alex in a chair and attempted to get him to drink something of his own will. When Alex would not comply and instead began to insult them, three Terrines held Alex down while the officer poured something into his mouth. The drugs quickly took effect and Alex began to feel light headed and dreamy. The interrogation went on a bit longer, but through the strength of Alex’s body and his desire to not tell them anything, Alex managed to resist the effects of the drugs and continue to insult them. Eventually the officer either got bored or realized that Alex was not going to tell them anything, so the officer ordered Alex to be beaten and then taken back to his home. 

When Alex was deposited at MiMa’s house, MiMa produced a high grade medical kit that she used in expert fashion to put Alex back together. The group realized they could not hide forever and needed help, so their best bet was to see if they could find Coop. Alex and Max headed out to the wreckage of the Ashes to Ashes. 

A couple of Terrines noticed Alex, but after they tried to intimidate him, and realized he was the guy they had recently beaten half to death, they appeared to respect him as a warrior and left him alone. Max stayed hidden and as the two of them surveyed the ashes 2 Ashes remains, Alex noticed someone was hiding nearby and went to investigate. Not surprisingly, it was Coop who had been hiding.

Coop explained what he knew and asked the others if there was a safe place they could meet. The group decided it was best not to go back to MiMa’s house, so they went to Carm and Seraphina’s house. Once inside, they related the last month’s events to him. Coop was very impressed with what they had accomplished and offered them an opportunity to get out of their community. 

Coop explained that if the adventurers stayed, RAM would destroy Duskberg searching for them. Not wanting this to happen, and wanting to be able to help as many people as they could, the adventurers decided it was as good a time as any to leave town. Coop explained he would arrange to have their bodies found to satisfy RAM and take the pressure off Duskberg. 

Max made their way to BimJob’s farm to say goodbye, and BimJob was upset but understood. They parted amicably and BimJob told Max that he believed in Max and thought that this was the best thing for them. Alex made sure that Coop would assure MiMa was taken care of, and Coop said that a new cell would move into Duskberg, parts of which would take care of MiMa. Carm and Seraphina said goodbye to the wreckage of their eateries, and then everyone gathered their belongings before getting some rest. 

The following morning, the group sneaked to Max’s house to get picked up. Shortly after, a RAM vehicle pulled up in front of it, and Coop hopped out dressed as an officer. Some people dressed as Terrines unloaded some bodies into Max’s house while the adventurers got into the back of the vehicle. From the back of the vehicle the adventurers watched as the ‘Terrines’ fired upon Max’s house before setting it ablaze.

The trip north to Chicagorg was long. While they rode, Coop introduced the Venusian man driving as Jarred. Everyone made small talk and as they hit the suburbs of Chicagorg, they eventually pulled into an underground garage. Here there were a number of Solar Alliance Protectorate vehicles parked with a bunch of RAM vehicles as well.

Coop walked them to a building nearby and a few floors up, they were shown to what he explained was their new apartment. He told them to settle in because at 7 AM the next day, they would start their training. As Coop and Jarred left, Coop invited the adventurers to dinner. The group agreed and planned to have a meal of Venusian food later that night. 

In the intervening hours, the group discovered that they had clothes marked up like Solar Alliance protectorate officers inside their closets. Alex felt the furnishings were entirely too lavish and proceeded to remove the majority of the furniture from his apartment. When Coop arrived later to take them to dinner, he was confused but didn’t force Alex to put the furniture back. 

Together they walked through the city taking the foreign place in. None of them had ever been in such a place and were a bit overwhelmed, but once they sat down in the restaurant and began eating, all of their awkwardness was gone. Carm was amazed with the strange new food and flavors and everyone once again was able to forget their situation and enjoy the company of new and close friends alike. The owner of the establishment even made a point of going out and talking shop with Seraphina and Carm. It was a lovely evening. 

The next morning, dressed as SAP officers, the group was picked up by Jarred in a small van. As they traveled to the facility they were going to train in, Jarred explained that they needed to make sure that they did not share their address with anyone. Jarred explained that this was going to be explained again during orientation, but he wanted to make sure they understood how important it was. 

When they arrived, they saw they were not the only ones here. The facility was massive, no one tried to count, but it seemed more than a hundred people were here to train when they sat together in orientation. As the day went on, they were given data pads to do their work on. Here was the only time it was obvious that they were actually NEO agents. The self guided training videos explained the basics and then they were split off into groups to get some basic training.

The rest of the first week went a lot like this. The adventurers were given some training in each of the core aspects of NEO agent jobs as well as some comprehensive training on what it was to live in the modern world. Near the end of Friday, they were given aptitude tests to see what they would be best at studying in the effort to work with NEO. 

Seraphina showed an aptitude for mathematics and cleverly related her baking experience to the application of geometry through examination of her appliances. She also showed aptitude in first aid, so when it came time to decide what she was going to do, they offered her to be a Medic or an Engineer. Seraphina decided she wanted to continue to pursue mathematics and thought she would be better suited fixing things than people, so she chose Engineering. 

Max immediately began to try and crack the data pad the test was being administered on, which the system seemed to be ready for. Showing a desire to bypass the security and an inclination toward electronics, very quickly the system recommended that Max be put on track to become a Rogue. 

Alex showed an immediate aptitude for hand to hand combat as well as being able to hit every target with any weapon they put in his hands. The way he answered the questions demonstrated his ability to make quick, harsh decisions and so he was offered training in the Warrior leadership program. 

Buzz was caught hitting on more than one of the instructors through the week and when they put him in the flight simulator, he didn’t crash as most trainees do; he actually did very well. Coupled with his basic knowledge of the solar system acquired during his time in the SAP army, he was put on track to become a Rocket Jock. 

When the testing wrapped, Coop met everyone and handed them their earnings for the week. Seraphina, and Max expressed an interest in working in the cafeteria and he said he would arrange it. That weekend, the group spent some of their money eating nice food and enjoying the local entertainment. As they walked through the grocery they saw the Martian Gladiatorial pit on a television; it was a bit mind blowing. 

The rest of the month, the group spent their time working in their chosen profession. Through the weeks Seraphina developed skills to fix just about anything. Max was learning to crack modern security and old fashioned locks, as well as how to ingratiate themselves with nobility from the various planets. Alex was trained with units of people to learn how to handle them and given access to more weapons than he had ever seen before. Buzz spent countless hours in the flight simulator and the rest of them cavorting with any lady that would tolerate his antics. 

By the end of the month, Carm was running the cafeteria with Max and Seraphina as seconds in command. The food quality had vastly improved and the place was very happy to have them. Carm managed to train a small crew of people as well, so that when Seraphina and Max could not be there, the place could still do just as well. When Thursday of the last week in the month arrived, Coop explained that Friday would be a day off as it was reserved for final exams to become NEO agents. When Coop delivered their pay, he told them that he believed that they would pass their final exams and absolutely be graduating Saturday.

Friday came with little fanfare and the group went to their exams. Seraphina wowed the judges by using the fusion exhaust from an engine she was repairing to bake cupcakes. Max demonstrated an amazing grasp of the technologies they were introduced to and was first in their class to crack the encoding they were given as an exam. Alex was taken to the range and his accuracy with every weapon was the best that the instructors had ever seen. Buzz backed a simulated space freighter into  a simulated asteroid slip that was almost too small for it without colliding with anything. All in all, they did indeed impress everyone. 

As the exams closed, all the recent enrollees were brought back to the meeting room. Here Alex noticed that one of the enrollees was familiar. When he pointed the man out to Max, Max identified him as one of the RAM officers from the town. When the ceremony was over, they brought this to Coop’s attention. Coop said he would look into it, but it was not uncommon for counter intelligence to try and get into the program. 

That night, when they arrived at home, Coop told them to go out on the town. Coop said he had found some people they would be graduating with that they most certainly would want to meet. 

Alex asked Coop about Duskberg, and Coop explained that their ruse had worked. RAM had almost completely withdrawn from the town when they discovered that the NEO cell had been killed. MiMa was doing well and being taken care of by the new cell and the place was rebuilding. Satisfied with how Duskberg was doing, the adventurers agreed to go to a bar and meet the people Coop mentioned. 

When they arrived at a trendy bar and night club named The Interstellar, Tine and Jana were waiting for them. Tine had grown in bulk and muscle and looked very healthy. Jana had also gained weight and muscle, and now sported the names of her children on her cheek bones under her eyes. After exchanging pleasantries, the group decided to go in and enjoy what could be their last night on Earth for a while.