Flight of the Kingfissher Ep 3 - "It's Never Over"

Flight of the Kingfissher Ep 3 – “It’s Never Over”

[The hum and crackle of a radio]

Radio Free Frontier DJ (Robert)
That last block of music was brought to you by the fine folks over at Astra Planetia Starships. Now I’m sure I don’t have to sing the praises of APS. I bet a good number of you listening are doing so from the comfort of one of their fine MX Starcutters. So this next one is for you, heroes of the frontier…

[Flight of the Kingfissher theme]

Robert
Alright, crew. When we left you last, you were actually divided up into two different groups. Captain Valentine and Esperanza Cruz were perched in the jungle, overlooking the ruins, trying to figure out how they could rescue the last three members of the archaeology team and their compatriot, Dr. Avery Swann. So I think this is a perfect time for you guys to Make a Plan.

When the crew have an open, freewheeling discussion about the solution to a problem, once they have gathered a number of Assets equal to at least half of the Problem’s complexity and reach a consensus, roll + the number of Assets incorporated into the plan or otherwise used, minus the plan’s complexity.

Just as a reminder, the problem you are trying to solve is that Camp Sophia is being held hostage by Commander Thade and his gunship. If you want to get paid for this transpo job, you need to escape with the dig team and the discoveries mostly intact.

And the Assets you have gathered so far are a strange device taken from the Precursor ruins, large enough to hide a person. Its purpose is unknown, but it has a hollow chamber in its center. A hidden chamber inside the ruins that provides an excellent view of the entire camp. A stash of recreational narcotics, which we have called Smooth. A native fruit that when crushed, gives off an overwhelmingly unpleasant odor. Broken pieces of Precursor tech that begin humming ominously and glowing when touched. A detailed survey of the ruins and surrounding jungle, with markers showing where other ruins might be buried. And a secret passage to the inner heart of the ruins.

Natalia
Okay, so here’s my pitch. We put me inside of the ten foot tall hollow structure thing…

[Everyone laughs]

Wes
A Trojan Cruz.

Natalia
Hey, you can’t start laughing at the first step, alright?

T.
Sorry, I’m listening – okay. I can’t wait to see what my reaction is to the second step.

Natalia
Then Valentine, you roll it down the ramp, through the secret passage to the inner heart of the Precursor ruin, okay?

Wes
Ala Princess Bride.

Natalia
When I get to the bottom, I help them with the stinky fruit, same way as I did previously. That was a test run.

T.
Mmhmm. Mmhmm…

Natalia
That gives me enough time to grab Avery, and we get to the hidden chamber at the top of the ruins. You come by with the ship, and you pick us up from the top of the temple. We keep the drugs as a reward.

[Everyone laughs]

T.
Uh-huh…

Natalia
Um, okay. I’m still missing how to use the Precursor tech, and what specifically the detailed map of the ruins is helpful for.

Wes
For the piece of Precursor tech or whatever, could that be potentially set off by Avery as…

T.
Yeah, I have it. And I feel like that’s a good way to disable Thade?

Natalia
Yeah.

Wes
Mmhmm.

T.
We’re not just trying to rescue me. We’re trying to everybody and the gear out.

Natalia
Well, yes. I mean, like, I grab you and the three people as well. I’m not leaving them behind, of course.

T.
For sure.

Wes
They are just Assets and not people to Zeta.

Natalia
Yeah. They’re part of the mission. They’re…

T.
Mmhmm.

Natalia
They’re lines on a page.

T.
Our prompt is to get the dig team and the find out mostly intact, and I think the “mostly intact” refers to both parts of that. The rest of the digging, we pretty much have figured out, right? Because you stink fruited the rest of the troops and they’re, like… They’re good to go?

Natalia
Basically, yeah. Anyone who is still here is at the temple and not the campsite.

T.
Yeah. I think the overview of the layout is a way for you to get into the heart of it, from the secret passageway. It’s a way for you to know where you’re going, without…

Wes
Mmhmm.

T.
Having been a part of the dig.

Natalia
I like it.

T.
So you’re not just, like, running around catacombs.

Wes
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Natalia
That covers everything, right? What are we using the Precursor tech for? That’s to take out Thade?

T.
I’m gonna use that to take out Thade.

Natalia
Alright, sick.

T.
Because it’s hot to the touch, and sometimes you don’t like things that are hot to the touch in your face.

Natalia
Not if it gives you burnt fingies. It’ll give you burnt face.

T.
And burnt bones.

Robert
Alright. Well, it sounds like you’ve managed to use all of the Assets, even if one of them is just, “I take this as a reward.” I think that still counts.

Natalia
I need to win something, here. I don’t care about the dig, so I need something.

T.
And nothing says victory like heroin.

Natalia
That’s right!

Wes
There’s a lot you can do with that much…

Robert
Okay. Well that certainly sounds like a plan. Let’s see how workable it is. Who wants to roll for this?

Natalia
I’ll do one, if someone else wants to do one?

Wes
I’ll do it. I’m the guest in the house. I’ll put the responsibility on me. [Rolls dice]

T.
That’s Nat’s “I got a good roll face,” when she clutches her mouth and closes her eyes in pain…

Natalia
Yeah… Super, super, super good…

Wes
I got a 5.

Natalia
I got a 1.

Wes
That’s a 6, plus…

Robert
Plus 1! That is a 7. So it is a technically workable plan! But there might be some complications involved. I think the obvious complication here is that Avery Swann, posing as Dr. Kim for the moment, and the other three archaeologists have actually been separated. So in order to rescue them, they’re not going to all be in one space. So you might have to add an extra step into this.

T.
Put a counter at the bottom right hand corner: 0 out of 4 archaeologists.

Natalia
Just start picking them up.

Wes
We love an escort mission. I mean, there’s something to be said about us splitting off, me getting the other three, you getting Avery, y’all going up to the top, because you’ll have to deal with Thade, me getting the rest of them and being like, “Get the fuck out of here. We’ll get the ship. We’ll pick them up from the top.”

Natalia
Yeah.

T.
There’s also something to be said for a distraction. If one person goes in, that might allow the other to sneak by and get the other archaeologists.

Natalia
Yeah. I can definitely be the distraction with Avery, for sure.

T.
What’s distracting about this giant Precursor relic rolling down a ramp to split you open?

Natalia
Ca-cunk, ca-cunk, ca-cunk!

Wes
I am the Dread Pirate Zeta…

[Everyone laughs]

Robert
I think we’ll cut directly to the first moment of action, here. As we see this roughly 8 or 9 foot tall sort of rounded obelisk form with these odd designs on it that looks something between circuit patterns and veins carved into it, rolling down into the middle of the Precursor ruins, right in front of Captain Thade and our Dr. Avery Swann. This enormous stone-like construction crashes, bangs, and thuds its way down, bouncing around more than maybe it should, but making all sorts of ruckus. And then I’m going to let you guys take over.

Natalia
It comes to a stop in the middle of the floor of the temple. It’s kinda just… Nothing happens for a second. And then the top of it explodes off as Zeta kicks it from inside. She throws up a couple of the fruits from earlier. And as she was practicing earlier, shoots them out of the air.

They explode in this disgusting, smelly, pasty explosion, all over Thade and the men that are with them.

T.
I see it as like the squad with their assault rifles peeking up on the thing that’s landed still, only to [hisssss]…

Natalia
Yeah. The top of it takes one of them out fully.

T.
Yeah!

Wes
Also get a nice little color burst of the fruit.

Robert
Let’s see how effective that is. Zeta, this is going to be a Night Move using Composure, to see if you can keep your cool in this moment of extreme, extreme duress. But first, what are you afraid will happen if you fail?

Natalia
If I fail, I think the least convenient thing that I can think of is that I will somehow knock Avery unconscious, and then I’ll be trying to get out of the ruins with an unconscious human being, and not a functioning, helpful one.

Robert
It’s worse than that. Not only will the flying lid of this Precursor structure hit Avery and knock them out, you will entirely miss Commander Thade with your first round of firing, and he will get a chance to fire at you before you can react.

Natalia
Alright. That is a 10 + 1, 11.

T.
She ain’t gonna let that happen.

Robert
This first step of your plan works exactly as intended. The Precursor structure crashes into the middle of the few remaining guards here, stunning them briefly. The lid flies open. Zeta pops out, gun blasting, and just manages to take down a couple of guys almost instantly. Those who aren’t killed outright are stunned by this sudden appearance.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Time to go!

T.
I’m like groggy, basically still unconscious. And blinking my way open, trying to find my bearings. I look pale, worse for wear. And the trigeminal nerve on the right side of my face has been scarred into my flesh, so there’s like this lightning bolt pattern on the side of my face.

Natalia
Zeta takes a little bit of the Smooth and just sticks it in your mouth, and starts shaking you.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Get up! We have to go! This is it! This is the signal! We have to go!

T.
You look as my eyes open. My pupils dilate as the Smooth enters my bloodstream. But also, you can see my iris is no longer a perfect circle. It is spiraling like a hurricane cloud.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Don’t have time for this. Don’t have time for this! Get up!

Robert
Commander Thade and his remaining guards are starting to recover from their immediate shock.

Natalia
Oh god. I hoist Avery on my shoulder and I start getting out of here.

T.
I reach into my pocket and take out the Precursor shards. They float in my hand, above my fingers, and I blow on them. And they [zip] lightning out, peppering the necks of the guards.

Robert
Avery, if you could roll me a Night Move with Sensitivity as you try to control this alien technology. And you’re going to be doing this at disadvantage, because your fingers are still slightly burnt. So what are you afraid will happen if you fail this roll?

T.
I’m afraid nothing will happen. That in my mind I have this telekinetic ability, shooting this machinery forward. But really, it’s just the effects of the drugs and whatever’s happening internally. And I’m just gonna be blowing on hot metal that’s burning my hand.

Robert
Oh, it’s worse than that.

T.
Wh-why, though?

Robert
The Precursor tech that you have stashed in your pocket will actually interact weirdly with your recently Precursor-changed body. And these pieces will actually get absorbed into your skin, changing you further.

T.
You know? I’m okay with that negative consequence, if it’s a negative consequence. Let’s go. I’m gonna roll with disadvantage…

Natalia
Oh, goodness…

T.
2 and 3 is 5, +0 is 5…

Robert
You reach into your pocket, pull out those pieces of Precursor tech. And you’re right, they do float above your hand for just a moment. And then immediately, much more quickly, dart into your hand…

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
Ah!

Robert
…Embedding themselves inside of it. More of those strange, lightning and circuitboard-like patterns start arcing out from your fingertips, down your arm. And you are in immense pain.

T.
I cry out.

Robert
Take the Condition: Not Quite Human Anymore.

T.
Yikes.

Natalia
At the scream from Avery, Zeta turns around to see if anyone is coming from behind, shooting at the two of us.

Robert
You don’t see anyone right away, but you do hear the sound and smell the acrid ozone-like smell of lasfire echoing and ricocheting down the hallway towards you. You also hear the heavy footsteps of military boots, running towards you.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Ooooh kay. Time to go! Time to go!

Natalia
Hefts Avery up a little bit higher, and just keeps running.

Robert
Meanwhile, Captain Valentine, what are you doing?

Wes
I think, completely juxtaposed to the loud opening that Zeta gave for this event, the next we see of the captain is post pushing the cart down the ramp and everything. And immediately just creeping along, and trying to creep along the edge, to make his way down further into the tunnels, to get to where the other folks are being kept, to get them out. Back to the ship. To kind of double back, so we can grab the ship.

So he’s very, like… Kinda creeping. Not quite, like, crouch walking. But like creeping, staying close to the walls… But cannot help but, like, being alone and like tapping, a little bit. And humming a little bit of, like… We’ll call it, like, “Do Re Mi” By Woody Guthrie, or something.

Natalia
[Snorts]

Wes
That’s just like very… Kinda a little country western. And then stopping and being like…

Capt Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
Shut it! Shut it!

Wes
Have to remind himself. And then keep going.

Robert
Luckily for you, the noise that your coworkers are making has managed to distract most of the guards. And several of these raiders who were guarding the archaeologists break off from their packs. So by the time you see them, there’s only four of them guarding the three archaeologists in this somewhat flooded, must encrusted final chamber that they were digging out.

Wes
I don’t have it as a personal item, but can we just say that there is a six cylinder laspistol or whatever that the Captain has on the holster? The Captain’s gonna, like, peer around the corner. See that there’s four of them around a table or like interacting with each other, watching over these scientists. And he’s gonna reach in, grab that photo of the young woman – who we now know is his daughter. Kiss it for good luck, tuck it back into a pocket.

And is then going to try and whip around, and then shoot the light, and then shoot the four dudes. Trying to use the blast flare as trying to keep track of them. It’s very, very risky maneuver. But I’m just trying to do a little bit of, like… I wanna be a little bit cool! Let me show off, like I have a story to tell Zeta later, or something like that. That will probably go wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.

Robert
This does sound incredibly risky, so this is going to be another Night Move, this time again with Composure.

T.
I love that we have laser technology, but we’re still like, “No, a six shooter is cool, so…”

Wes
Yeah, yeah. Exactly.

Robert
It’s got like six batteries in it.

[Everyone laughs]

Wes
Exactly, exactly.

T.
Power cells, Robert.

Robert
Right, right. Space batteries.

Wes
It’s not a clip, it’s a magazine. It’s not a battery, it’s a power cell… [Chuckles] Perfect. I love it. Great, okay.

Robert
So Valentine, what are you afraid will happen if you fail this roll?

Wes
Uh, I’m afraid that I’m going to miss everybody spectacularly. Like I’m going to miss the light, I’m going to miss all four of them, and it’s just gonna be that awkward moment of checking for holes, and there’s none there, and… There we go.

Robert
Oh, it’s worse than that. You will miss the light. You will miss the guards. But you will hit a piece of Precursor tech that will react very unusually.

Natalia
[Groans]

Robert
In unexpected, possibly explosive way, to being fired upon by lasfire.

Wes
You know, that’s so fair. That’s fair that you say that. It’s hanging fruit. It’s right there. And I’m marking my photo of a young woman to get advantage on that roll.

[Rolls dice] I rolled a 2 + 4, which is 6. But I have a +2 to Composure, which brings it to an 8.

Robert
We cut back to another part of the ruins, where our other two heroes are running as fast as they can, away from these guards.

You hear the loud, heavy boots coming closer and closer. Because Zeta, you are basically having to drag Avery at this point. Avery, you are in so much pain as your am is just no longer under your control, it feels like. You don’t know exactly what is happening to you.

T.
I’m pinching my arm just above the elbow, as if trying to tourniquet the blood flow, as I’m watching my veins darken and creep closer and closer.

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
[Panting] Zeta… Hurry…

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Avery, I’ve been where you’ve been. You have to muscle through it, okay?

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
Oh, yes. That’s my forte, muscle. That’s why I hired you.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Use your mind. Mind your way through it! You just have to keep going, okay?

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
Alright. The birds dove into the river…

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Uh huh. Okay.

Natalia
…God. I don’t know what to do. My heart is literally pounding right now! I wanna collapse the tunnel behind us. I wanna stop their advance towards us.

Robert
Okay. How will you do this?

Natalia
As I’m dragging Avery, we get into a larger chamber. We pass through a doorway. And I want to buckle the support of the doorway, so that it folds in on itself. Shooting my lasfire pistol at the base of it.

Robert
Luckily for you, these ruins are pretty overgrown with vines, and whatnot. The stone that they are constructed out of has been crumbling from the damp and the encroaching flora. So this isn’t impossible, but it is quite challenging. This is going to be another Night Move.

Natalia
Mmhm…

Robert
And I think this time, because you’re trying to figure out exactly where you are shooting to do the most damage, this is going to be a Night Move with Reason. What are you afraid will happen if you fail?

Natalia
I’m afraid that not only will it collapse the tunnel behind us, it’ll collapse this room that we’re in, and we’ll get stuck in here.

Robert
It’s worse than that. The room will collapse partially. And Zeta, you will be buried alive. But Avery will still be around for the raiders to take prisoner. And perhaps experiment upon, to find out exactly what these Precursor ruins are doing to them.

T.
I don’t wanna be a mouse…

Natalia
I know! I know!

Natalia
Okay, so that is a 2 and 2, which is a 4. And I don’t add anything to my Reason! So that’s… just gonna be a 4.

T.
Is there like a Help action I can do?

Robert
[Chuckles] Well, we’ll see exactly what this looks like in just a moment, but we’re going to cut back to Captain Valentine.

[Tense music]

Robert
You pull out your lasfire six shooter, fire off a few rounds in a way that you’re pretty sure would make Zeta proud of you. The lights go out, you hear a thump, a thump, and a third thump, as three of the four guards hit the ground. But now it’s dark. And there’s still a fourth raider, somewhere in this room with you and the three archaeologists.

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
Okay, cowpoke…

Wes
And I’m gonna move.

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
You can get on out of here with your skin intact…

Wes
I’m gonna move again.

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
I’ll let you walk out.

Wes
I’ll move again.

Robert
You hear lasfire hit where you were just a few moments ago.

Natalia
I just picture you, like rolling… [Chuckles]

Wes
It’s like Splinter Cell.

T.
It’s a very rolling forward episode.

Wes
Absolutely.

T.
This is how we roll.

Wes
As soon as he fires off, I’m like…

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
Have it your way!

Wes
And I’m gonna try to pummel. I’m gonna try to dive for where that blaster, like, went off from. To try and tussle, I guess. It’s dark. I’m not shooting this guy. I’m gonna hit somebody, or something. So let’s tussle.

Robert
That sounds like a Night Move with Vitality, in order to tackle this guy to the ground. What are you afraid will happen if you fail?

Wes
He’s gonna shoot me in the gut.

Robert
It’s worse than that. You will get shot in the gut. But then they’ll start executing the other archaeologists in the room with you one by one. So as you’re laying on the floor, bleeding out, you will see their bodies fall around you.

Wes
[Rolls dice] That’s an 8! I’ve got 0 Vitality. I’m a little string bean. But I’ve got 4 and 4 on the die.

Robert
That’s a success. We’ll see what that means in just a moment.

[Jumpy, anxious music]

Robert
Zeta, you lower your pistol at the base of the door, where you see a crack running through the stone.

T.
As I go…

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
The corner…

Robert
Fire it, and an explosion of stone shards fly out. The doorway, unfortunately, remains intact. But one of those stone shards hits a spot in the ceiling above you. And after just a moment of rumbling, the entire ceiling collapses, crushing you underneath it. Leaving Avery a little bit closer to the doorway as Commander Thade runs into the room, a couple of his raiders with him, guns drawn.

Commander Thade (Robert)
Well, it seems like they did our job for us.

Natalia
Do I get to read my Mask, please? So that… I wanna read a Shade of the Past so that doesn’t happen, please.

Robert
Okay. Read the prompt, and go ahead and narrate.

Natalia
A flashback 10 to 15 years ago to a battle in the Stellar War that had lasting effects on your life, even if you were not there.

The images of that terrible outcome flash through Zeta’s mind as she levels the gun at the other corner of the door, and shoots again. And in that flash of the lasfire pistol…

[Industrial, rumbling sounds. Machinery beeping]

Natalia
She flashes back even further, to a moment. She barrels around the corner and up the next flight of stairs, red lights pulsing on and off. Theo is illuminated in flashes of strobe lightning, his locks tossing back and forth stutteringly. His arms and legs shifting unseen in the inbetween darkness. She can barely hear the slamming of heavy boots below them, over the wailing siren that vibrates something deep in her ears.

“Run, Z. Come on!” He swings himself around the door lock and starts pulling wires from within the control panel. He’s always been too smart for her. Too kind. Too handsome. Too…

Stupid. She focuses on him and his perfect face for too long, miscounts the steps, and kicks straight into the riser. She slams into the landing, smashing her chin, and the journal goes flying out of her hands.

“Got it!” Theo looks up at her as the door starts to shut. But she’s not up, she’s down.

Shit. The notebook. Z.

The thundering steps are closing in. The door is sliding shut. Unstoppably shut.

“Get up!” Zeta is scrabbling for the journal and gets on her feet, but it’s late. It’s too late. The door is closing too quickly. Theo starts punching at the panel as Z shoves her body through the gap.

He breathes a sigh of relief, and she screams.

[Sorrowful ambience]

Natalia
The metal door, the thing that’s supposed to be saving them, is crushing down on her arm, just between her wrist and her elbow. She turns to Theo, and for once, lets him see her cry.

“Go.”

“What? No!”

“Go now. I will hold them off.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Take this.” Pain spiking up her arm, she shoves the notebook at him and aims her pistol through the crack in the doorway, at the approaching armada. Her hand is shaking.

He starts messing with the wires again, undoing everything he just did. For her.

She can’t let him.

“Theo, please. Don’t make me point this at you.”

“There has to be another way.”

She’s not listening. Now she’s thinking. She points the gun at herself. Theo is lunging at her, but she’s always been too fast for him. She roars as she shoots the lasfire straight into her forearm.

At least it’s cauterizing the wound.

[Jumpy, anxious music]

Robert
Remembering that moment from the war and hearing Dr. Avery weakly say, “The corner,” you raise your lasfire pistol up from the bottom of the doorframe where you had it aimed, to a top corner, and fire. The door collapses. The walls collapse. But the ceiling holds true.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
[Sighs in relief]

Robert
You hear the footsteps stop on the other side of this rubble. And you hear Commander Thade shout out…

Commander Thade (Robert)
Clear this! We need to get through.

Robert
And the lasfire increases. The stonework that is now blocking the doorway starts to glow softly, as it heats up.

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
Lentil… London… London… We have to go. I’m sorry I can’t be much help.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
You’re doing fine. You’re doing fine. Just hold on, okay?

T.
I grab your hand, as you’re saying, “hold on.”

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
You don’t have to take me with you, Betty.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
That’s okay. I’m going to.

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
If it’s the difference between you getting out of here or not, choose alive.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Um, I choose both.

Natalia
And I just scoop Avery like a baby in my arms. Start making our way to the rendezvous.

Robert
You do start making your way to the rendezvous point, with the knowledge that while you have delayed Commander Thade and his forces, you haven’t stopped them entirely. They are still on your heels, and will probably be catching up to you shortly.

[Tense music]

Robert
However, one of Commander Thade’s men is in a bit more of a dramatic situation, as he and Captain Valentine tussle on the ground, locked in each other’s arms. Fighting, punching, kicking… Valentine, you do manage to take this guy down, but he gets one good shot in on you. How does he hurt you?

Wes
I think that there’s, like, that moment of, like Valentine’s on top. And then just dropping fist after fist, and, like, it’s not doing a lot of damage. And is like, “Okay, let me use my elbow, then.” And he takes that moment to hook the elbow. Like, Valentine’s elbow. And the soldier, like, wrenches up, trying to lift, like, get Valentine off. And it dislocates Valentine’s shoulder. And so Valentine has to roll off, and is like immediately just, like, trying to get it back into place and everything, quickly. And even if it does get back into place, it’s fucked.

Robert
Go ahead and take the Condition: Dislocated Shoulder.

T.
That’s a Survivor evac-worthy injury, you be careful.

Wes
Yeah. I think there’s that moment of, like, you hear that pop, and there is a cry in pain. And then there’s like a headbutt from Valentine, or whatever. So the guy, like, lets go. And Valentine like rolls over and kicks his boots on the ground, and then looks over towards the people that are imprisoned, is like…

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
Get the fuck out of here! What are you doing? Get to the ship! Go op… Go opposite of the gunfire!

Wes
And then is, like, going to, like, look around at the wall and just, like, slam his shoulder back into the wall, into the other way, so that he can still use it. And is going to do that whole, like, the hat’s off. There’s like a bloody nose, and everything. Is gonna look at the guy, and go…

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
Come on… Come the fuck on…

Wes
[Chuckles] And I’m gong to try to, like, feint. Look like I’m scooping for the guy’s legs so that he goes low. And then I’m gonna try to go around him and hook his neck, and then just wrench him down. And try to do what I can, just full back control on this soldier.

Absolutely. You do that. It hurts you, immensely. But you are able to take this soldier down.

[Distant jungle ambience]

Robert
You and the archaeologists that you came to rescue flee from the room, heading towards the evacuation point where you meet up with Zeta and Avery. The three of you and the three archaeologists that you were escorting drag your broken and battered bodies up a narrow, winding flight of stairs. Up the spire, to the room that overlooks the camp, give you best the view that you can see the evacuation point that you had earlier set with Daredevil.

[The quiet rumble of a far away ship]

Robert
And you do see the Kingfissher flying towards you, but it’s not quite there yet. Diana “Daredevil” Chapman was until this day an archaeologist, not a pilot. And she’s doing her best to dodge the incoming heaving weapons of the Azure Dragon flying above her and make her way to the rendezvous point, but she won’t make it in time. If things keep going the way they look like they are, Commander Thade and his men will reach you long before then. You need to buy yourself and Chapman some time. What do you do?

T.
Let me know if this is too cartoon. I would like to take Z’s lasfire pistol out from her holster, lean over the edge, and shoot a keystone. So that the entire tower topples towards her, and then we have to jump and get the plane as it flies by.

Natalia
That’s so sick!

Wes
That’s amazing.

Natalia
I love that.

Wes
That’s amazing.

Robert
Absolutely. Yeah, the sort of makeshift climbing rope that had been dragging off the back of the Kingfissher to allow the archaeologists to get up there is still dragging off the back of it. You do see a possible escape route, but it is incredibly risky.

Let’s make one last Night Move with Composure, to see if you can keep a cool head, hit the right spot, and make the tower fall in exactly the right way. Before you roll, though, what are you afraid will happen if you fail?

T.
That it won’t work. That I’ll just look like an idiot. I’ll be shooting a building and it won’t move, like when you shoot a building.

Robert
Oh, it’s worse than that.

T.
[Laughs]

Robert
It will work, but not quite in the way you intended. The tower will collapse, but not towards the Kingfissher. But rather, towards the ruins themselves. Destroying what is left of them, crushing you all… And shards of it will fly up and hit the Kingfissher, disabling that, and making it an easier target for the Azure Dragon.

T.
Are you going to put this at disadvantage, you son of a bitch?

Robert
I am going to put this at disadvantage. It is hard to fire a gun when you’ve got burnt fingers and you’re not entirely human.

T.
Okay. I’m going to invoke my unfinished sheet music. The pieces of paper that I took, forsaking my manuscript and research and leaving that all behind.

[Tonal, ethereal music]

T.
I’ve been trying to finish this movement, have its climax be something that feels like a proper ending. And I’ve been trying notes and chords and rehashing the theme, and bringing it in. I have a moment and realize… Sometimes you just need rest.

[Silence]

T.
You need the moment of silence, before the crash, to emphasize it.

[Music fades back in]

T.
I’m gonna mark that Personal Quarters item to roll this normally.

[Rolls dice] 3 + 3 is 6, +1 is 7.

Natalia
Thank god.

Wes
[Laughs incredulously]

Natalia
Yeesh. Some close calls today!

T.
Very much so.

Wes
By the skin of your teeth!

Robert
Avery, music playing in your head, you take Zeta’s pistol…

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Hey!

Robert
Aim it perfectly out one of the windows, and fire.

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
Get ready to jump.

Robert
Nothing happens for a moment.

[Rumbling stone]

Robert
And then you feel a deep rumble, as the stones begin to shift. As the tower that you are standing in begins to wobble very slightly. And then you feel the movement. The ground shifts out from under you. The tower collapses, heading right towards the Kingfissher.

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
Oh great, we’re doing a math thing! Okay. You’re doing a math thing!

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Oh, leave it to you to do science at a time like this…

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
It’s not math.

Natalia
I scoop Avery so I have one arm across my shoulder, just bolstering them.

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
Can’t you hear the thunder? It’s weather.

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
What did you do to them?

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
I didn’t do anything! They came to me like this!

Robert
The tower begins to fall. You hear screams from below as a few of Thade’s men are crushed in this collapsing ruins. And as the landscape outside of your vantage point tilts and shifts, you see the Kingfissher fly by…

[The ship zooms]

Robert
The cord and nets driving behind it, moving right in front of your escape route.

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
Alright, folks. One foot in front of the other. Just right… It’s… It’s a gangplank. Just imagine it as a gangplank. You’re going onto a cruise! It’s a wonderful cruise!

Wes
Just pushing the scientists. Like, “move, move…”

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Run!

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
Fly.

Robert
Adrenaline coursing through them, you manage to get the archaeologists onto the ropes, onto the netting, climbing up the way… The tower crumbles and collapses, knocking another spire down with it. And like a chain of dominoes, the entire ruins explode out in a giant cloud of dust.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Do you think we’re getting paid?

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
They hopefully got insurance on all of that. Y’all got insurance, right?

[The rumble of the ship’s engine]

Robert
This moment of triumph doesn’t last long, as a bolt of heavy lasfire from the Azure Dragon hits the side of the Kingfissher, sending all of you shaking just a little bit.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Valentine, I think you are needed at the front. I think you are very needed at the front.

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
Yeah, okay. Everybody find a seat, strap yourself in. We’re gonna do something funky. Okay…

Wes
Gonna go all the way up to the helm, gonna slide into the chair and everything. Not even worrying about putting on the harness or anything like that. As Dr. Chapman’s probably standing up and everything, and I’m like…

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
You did great. You did great, Doc. You’ve got a real future in this, if the doctor thing doesn’t work out.

Wes
And I’m gonna go ahead and start hitting buttons. I’m gonna try to hail the Azure Dragon on comms, and everything like that. And I’m going to slow down, enough so, like, the guns that were training on us have to recalibrate. But I wanna slow down enough so that they get right up on our ass, so I can blast them with exhaust and flames and everything like that, when I hit the throttle to go faster, and everything like that. So I can scramble their systems or something like that, I guess.

But I’ll call up and hail them on the comms, and be like…

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
Fade? Thade? Whatever your name is. I just wanna let you know it’s not personal or anything, buddy. I mean you stepped on our doorstep and you made a big old mess, but no harsh feelings or anything like that, pal. But you just go ahead. If there’s any damage or you need anything taken care of, you can go ahead and just… forwarding address, go ahead and send it to the Kingfissher. We’ll take care of all of it for you, buddy, alright?

Wes
And then immediately slow down.

Robert
Your maneuvering works. You dodge some of the heavy fire coming out of the gunship. On the radio you had just used, a voice crackles…

[The hum and crackle of a radio]

Commander Thade (Robert)
You have made your last mistake. You have made a grave enemy today. I will ensure that even if you live through today, the Kingfissher will fall.

Capt. Valentine “Shuffle” Dekk (Wes)
Take a number, pal. Get in line!

Wes
And I’m gonna turn the comms off.

T.
[Chuckles]

Natalia
I’m strapping Avery into their seat, just checking vitals. Trying to figure out what’s going on.

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
I’m alright, I’m alright. Stop fussing.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Uh, you are not. You are not alright. You are weird. Moreso than usual.

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
Well that’s the pot calling the kettle black, if I’ve ever heard it.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Okay.

Natalia
Take the gun back, put it in my holster.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
This is… You don’t get to use this.

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
Would you do me a favor and get me my accordion?

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
I cannot – I cannot listen to your music right now, I really can’t.

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
I have an idea, and I need to get it down.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
[Sighs]

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
Well hand me the papers, at least.

Esperanza “Zeta” Cruz (Natalia)
Fine. Only because… Maybe it will help. I love you. Don’t move.

Natalia
I go get the accordion and the music. And just check in on all of the archaeologists. Make sure they’re all buckled in too.

T.
When she’s out of earshot…

Dr. Avery Swann (T.)
I love you too.

Robert
The archaeologists are all strapped in. Your ship, with its proper captain back at the helm, nimbly dodging the fire of this much larger, more unwieldy gunship. You break through the atmosphere, leaving this planet behind.

The Kingfissher still flies, but you’ve made a grave enemy today. Something that I’m sure will come back when you least expect it, and when it’s most inconvenient.

[The ship zooms away]

Robert
The end!

Natalia
Yay!

Robert
Since we have finished our adventure, let’s do our advancements.

T.
Oh, shit! Oh, yeah, we’re still playing.

Natalia
Oh my gosh!

Wes
Oh, wow!

Robert
Yeah. The game is still technically going. We’ve got a little bit of wrap up work to do.

Natalia
It’s never over!

T.
This is like when you can shoot the names in the credits.

Robert
First of all, the question that you always have marked: did you solve the problem and keep your starcutter flying?

Natalia
Yeah!

T.
Yes!

Wes
Check.

Robert
Yeah, I would say so. You got all of the archaeologists and most of what they had dug up.

Natalia
[Chuckles]

Robert
So let’s go through your individual end of adventure questions. Nat, what did you mark?

Natalia
I marked, “Did you put yourself in danger to save someone else?” I definitely did that, for Avery. And, “Did you leap before you looked?” I mean, we literally…

T.
That’s the literal…

Natalia
We literally leaped off of a falling tower, trusting that Avery knew what they were doing! So…

Wes
Sounds about right.

Natalia
Yeah.

Robert
T., what did you mark?

T.
“Did you share a moment of vulnerability?” And, “Did you make the frontier a little more free?” The latter I don’t think I did, unfortunately…

Robert
You left a big threat to the frontier sort of alive and with a grudge against you, so…

T.
Yeah, but he’s focused on us, now! So everybody else…

Robert
[Chuckles]

T.
I think I shared a vulnerable moment when I told Zeta to save herself, if she couldn’t save me.

Robert
That sounds right to me. Wes, what did you mark?

Wes
My two that I marked were, “Did you put on a big show?” And, “Did you make the selfish choice?” Now, the first one, did you put on a big show… [Snorts] Obviously. The fly by…

T.
That’s your life.

Wes
Yeah, that’s just… You know, if you stay on stage, you don’t have to get back on stage, you know?

Natalia
[Snorts]

Wes
And, “Did you make the selfish choice?” I don’t think that’s… I like end of adventure questions where it’s almost like you have to ask another person. And so I will go to my fellow crewmembers. Do you think there was a choice that was selfish that Valentine made during the adventure?

T.
I don’t think so. I think you were pretty much, like, here for the team in this one.

Natalia
I will argue that you left the ship, which is your job, in order to become involved in the adventure. And that is selfish.

Wes
That is true! I did leave our starcutter in the hands of an unpracticed doctor, just so I can get boots on the ground, to make myself feel better. Because I felt like I wasn’t doing anything. That is a good point! That is a good point.

Natalia
Which, like, overall was helpful. But I do think it was the selfish choice.

T.
And you are being kind of inherently selfish, leaving your family behind to fly and continue to be a little pirate.

Wes
That’s true, yeah. Instead of just getting a job as like a short order cook on a station with my daughter. It’s like… Yeah.

T.
Which I wouldn’t give you for a freebie for every session, if I was GMing…

[Everyone laughs]

T.
But because you had a flashback where it was revealed this adventure.

Wes
It’s like the avant garde risque fashion question for The Undeniable.

T.
[Laughs] The forever yes.

Wes
Always have it marked.

Natalia
Just always do it one time.

Robert
Okay, well, unfortunately after just one adventure, none of you are going to have enough XP to mark an advancement, so I think we’ll end the session there.

Natalia
I’m gonna miss these characters. I wanna play these all the time.

T.
I know. This was fun.

Robert
Who knows what adventures lay in store for the crew of the Kingfissher? Who knows when we will see them again? And who knows if Thade will ever get his revenge?

T.
…You do. You’re the one who knows.

Natalia
Yes. He knows.

Wes
You’re the one that knows.

Natalia
You’re aware.

T.
[Laughs]

[Flight of the Kingfissher theme]

Kim
Flight of the Kingfissher is a Kitten Marlowe production. This episode was edited and produced by Kim Dalton, and featured a theme song by Jason Myers. You can find out more about us by visiting KittenMarlowe.com, signing up for our newsletter, or following us on socials. For Discord access, exclusive cast talkbacks, ttrpg materials, and more, visit Patreon.com/KittenMarlowe and join the folks on the frontier, our Kitten Marlowe patrons, in supporting artist-driven storytelling. Thanks for listening.