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.
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