Gradient Descent - Session 002

28/05/2025

Our second session of Mothership had a total of 7 (!) players at one time, though 2 had to leave partway. A lot happened and it took me quite a while to finish the after-action report.

Crew manifest—additions

Photo	Crew member	Loadout
	Dr Jasone Petraitienė Surgeon (Scientist) Field Medicine Expert Computers, Zoology	Vaccsuit Flame Patch Flashlight, SCK Rigging Gun ○
	Sal Babineaux Teamster Psychology Expert IE, Linguistics, Zero-G	Standard Crew Attire “For Science!” Patch Dog Tags (Heirloom) Extension Cord (20m)
	EGLÉ-2 Android Hacking Expert Computers, Linguistics…	Standard Crew Attire Double Cherry Patch Leather Gloves (Xenomorph) Stun Baton
	K3-V1N Android Psychology Expert Computers, Linguistics…	Hazard Suit “SUCK IT UP” Patch “Against Human Simulacra” AED, FAK, Revolver ○○○○○○
	Yancy Lab Mouse (Organic) Owner: Dr Petraitienė BMT

Preface

The last session ended with Thomas about to detonate an explosive he'd placed on the sealed hatch to 33A. Unfortunately, his player couldn't make this session, but he was happy for us to continue without him on the condition that Thomas would somehow be "safe" for future sessions. After consulting the Hive Mind on Reddit, I have an idea for how to make this work. Of course, we'll have to wait to see whether and how precisely it plays out in a future session.

Aside from the 3 returning players, 1 new player had committed to the Wednesday evening, but at the last minute 3 (!) more decided to join us, including the new player's wife who happened to drop by the office. She and another player could only stay about half as long as the others, but their participation as pivotal to the way events unfolded! (She and her husband had some prior experience playing Mothership, though they found my style quite different.)

We laid a whiteboard face-up on the meeting room table and used it to establish where everyone was in relation to the Gym (33B), the Freezer (33C), and the corridor to 33A at the start of the session. I placed d20s of various colours on the whiteboard to represent the crew members, and a bunch of small red d6s to represent the patrol. PVT Minerva's player rolled 12 on 2d10 for the number of security androids in the patrol.

Biometrics

What happened

As the patrol files out of 33C on their way to 33B, Sal and Dr Jasone awaken from cryosleep with no memory of who they are or how they got there, exactly as the 4 crew members in the previous session. Sal and Dr Jasone fail their Body saves and awake Cryosick. EGLÉ-2 powers up in an empty cyropod beside them: his databanks are likewise void of personal memory engrams.

Dr Jasone, lacking Zero-G training, tumbles out of control as she emerges from her pod in the null-G environment. EGLÉ-2 tries to help her but fails a Body save and also tumbles out of control. Dr Jasone has a flashlight in her hand (because I forgot that otherwise it's completely dark, but never mind) and so at least can provide a small amount of illumination to the otherwise befuddled trio.

As the patrol march into the Gym on magnetic footpads, their right forearms fold in half to expose built-in SMGs, which PVT Minerva (Firearms Expert) immediately recognises as such. She believes they mean to employ deadly force on the crew members. Meanwhile, K3-V1N comes to standing directly behind the patrol. He cannot recall what he's doing there or why a bunch of security androids are facing away from him, looking like they're getting ready to shoot at something.

Sal, who has Zero-G training, helps Dr Jasone and EGLÉ-2 to right themselves, and the humans scramble to their lockers (designated by numbered tags attached to their ankles) to retreive their belongings. They dress quickly and don their gear, but Dr Jasone senses that she's missing an important personal item… a musical instrument… a ukelele? For some reason, this makes her feel extremely uneasy. EGLÉ-2 came online wearing standard crew attire, plus a pair of strange leather gloves; he has a stun baton in his pocket but nothing else of note.

💥 THERE IS A TREMEDOUS EXPLOSION 💥 from the corridor to 33A.

PVT Louis, who'd been hurrying to safety once he realised what Thomas was about to do, finds himself ejected with a gout of flame into the warehouse-size Gym. He suffers serious burns (+1 Wound, -9 Strength) and slams into the ceiling, floor, and walls at random, completely out of control. (His player rolled 99 on his Body save!)

Claxons sound, emergency amber lights strobe, and an automated voice warns everyone of the potential danger of decompression. Flames continue to spew from the corridor to 33A.

Panic checks for everyone in the Gym! Ears ringing, they somehow manage to keep their cool except for Dr Zahir, who acquires the Coward condition. (From now on, he must make a Fear save to engage in violence of any kind.)

I asked PVT Minerva's player to describe a brief memory suddenly flashing through her mind that is in some way meaningful to her. He described watching her commanding officer die in an explosion in the midst of a battle on some nameless world, arcing through the air very much as PVT Louis had just done.

Exasperated by the noise and confusion, K3-V1N loudly demands to know what is going on. Most of the patrol turn to face him, and one security android orders him to return to his charging station. He decides that it must be malfunctioning.

In the aftermath of the explosion, PVT Minerva and Dr Zahir take cover behind some gym equipment as 2 of the security androids approach their position. They open fire but to no effect. PVT Minerva returns fire with her shotgun (“Gavin”) as they come into range, destroying one and badly damaging the other.

After several unsuccessful attempts, PVT Louis regains some control, braces himself against a corner where the wall meets the ceiling, and carefully lines up shot on the damaged security android still moving in PVT Minerva's direction.

Dr Jasone, Sal, and EGLÉ-2 peek from behind the lockers in 33C to see K3-V1N arguing vociferously with the patrol. Dr Jasone yells at K3-V1N to take cover and fires her rigging gun at the security androids, destroying 2 outright. (Her player rolled 00 on her Combat check!) The rest become entangled in the microfilament mesh: 2 remain attached to deck while the rest float in a loose spheroid. Several suffer further damage as they struggle to free themselves over the following rounds, 2 more thusly rendering themselves inoperable.

PVT Louis eliminates the remaining android threatening PVT Minerva with a single round from his GPMG, but sends himself into another tumble in the process. Meanwhile, PVT Minerva pushes off from the gym equipment in hopes of finding a clear line of fire on the entangled androids. Dr Zahir tries to assist her with the tricky manoeuvre but finds himself paralysed with fear. PVT Minerva's player botches the Body check and she tumbles toward PVT Louis, losing her chance of a clean shot.

Dr Jasone, Sal, EGLÉ-2, and K3-V1N enter the Gym and clamber from handhold to handhold. They take cover behind some equipment as the security androids open fire. Identifying him as the greatest threat, the majority focus on PVT Louis. His heavy armour absorbs most of their shots but he suffers minor injuries anyway. The flames from the corridor to 33A finally begin to die down, the fire suppression systems apparently taking effect at long last.

Meanwhile, 2 security androids open fire on the newcomers: a bullet grazes Dr Jasone, who instantly falls into shock. Sal tries to reach her as she tumbles toward the upper SE corner of the Gym, but apertures in the wall open and robotic arms grab both humans, pulling them into service tubes reminiscent of those found in 36A. (Their players had to go and this was the best I could think of to remove these characters from play without summarily killing them. The veteran players informed the newcomers that the arms aren't without precedented; I was pleased that it didn't feel overly contrived.)

Losing patience with the clearly defective security androids, K3-V1N pulls out a revolver and shoots 2, destroying them. PVT Louis catches PVT Minerva as she reaches his position. They immediately brace and open fire on the remaining androids, reducing them to floating mannequin parts.

The foregoing took no more than a few minutes of in-game time. Total security android "kills" were 3 for PVT Louis, 3 for PVT Minerva, 2 for K3-V1N, and 4 (including 2 collateral) for Dr Jasone, making the Surgeon's player MVP for this session.

Hostilities over, Dr Zahir launches himself across the Gym to help the marines. He grabs a severed security android arm along the way, which I decide I'm happy for him to use as a makeshift SMG, and helps them both to the nearby handholds.

K3-V1N and EGLÉ-2 approach, offering aid. After a few tense moments, the marines allow K3-V1N to dress PVT Louis's burns with the FAK he carries. Dr Zahir examines K3-V1N and remarks on its apparently high-end logic core (for such and otherwise basic model) and high-fidelity human-like behaviour patterns. K3-V1N has no idea what he's talking about, since he's clearly a regular human being!

Abruptly, the claxons and emergency lights stop, the standard ceiling lights come on, and artificial gravity slowly reactivates. The group drift to the floor and find themselves standing in a gentle 0.2G, which gradually increases to perhaps 0.5G over the next few minutes.

By now, the station's fire supression systems have apparently extinguished the fire started by the explosion, so the group decide to investigate the corridor. It is very badly damaged, covered in fire-retardant foam and with emergency plating in place, but traversable. There is no sign of Thomas. The hatch at the end of the corridor has been blown open, but partially covered in rubble. The crew members squeeze through one at a time into the clean, clinically white room beyond. Aside from the ruined hatch through which they've entered, there are two others of similar configuration, plus a kind of airlock.

A chipper, friendly voice greets the 5 crew members as they enter. Silus introduces themself, exclaiming how happy they are to have visitors after so long, and begins plying them with questions about current events. (Who won the Cosmovision competition? Which teams made it to the Null-G Sportball Playoffs?) The crew, of course, are unable to answer.

Unperturbed, Silus offers them tea, which arrives in a dumbwaiter next to the airlock. Only K3-V1N partakes. Silus offers to give the crew a tour of the Farms, though he explains that because they are filthy, they must leave they gear in a locker, undergo decontamination ("it doesn't hurt… well, not much"), and change into cleanroom suits before he will let them in. The crew politely decline the offer and instead open the door to 32F.

EGLÉ-2 investigates the four lockers in the storage space and dons one of the industrial vaccsuits hanging in each. He also finds and takes the Heavy Bolt Driver and 20 bolts. The crew explore the corridor beyond. They see the reinforced security door to 32C at the end, but pause when they feel heat radiating through the side hatch to 32B (Gas Cook-Off). Opening it very carefully, they see the globes of burning gas drifting "up" the chimney and feel the hot air burning their lungs before deciding to close it again and retreat back to 33A.

Silas bids the crew a plaintive farewell as they exit the hatch leading to a corridor connecting to 33D. The hatch immediately seals behind them and Monarch addresses them for the first time, its warm, precise, synthesized voice deeply menacing. It makes plain its extreme displeasure with the damage their missing crewmate has done to the station, though it is willing to allow that Thomas may have acted independently of the others.

Monarch offers them a single opportunity to leave the station if they lay down their arms (literally in the case of Dr Zahir). PVT Minerva stonewalls, demanding to know why they are there in the first place and why they cannot remember anything. Coldly, Monarch replies that such information is classified and they have 60 seconds to decide whether to accept its offer.

To expediate matters, Monarch remarks that it will allow the crew to keep their weapons if they unload them and leave all of their ammunition behind. Reluctantly, the crew agree (though Monarch seems unconcerned with the bolts EGLÉ-2 retains), and the session ends with a small robotic drone arriving to guide them to the exit where, Monarch promises, a ship is waiting for them.

End-of-session vitals

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#after-action-report