Episode 1: A Wretched Hive Report
General Summary
Our story begins with the crew under blaster fire, trapped in a hallway in the heart of the Praxeum Institute. With Switch providing covering fire to help keep some Institute guards from closing in on them, Levi worked to hack the security system in the corridor to close a blast door between the crew and the guards. Fitzy and Sally were pinned down and waiting for their opportunity to get into the fight. Despite the constant heckling from his companion drone S.I.R.I., Levi is able to easily close the blaster doors. This gives the crew a moment to regroup and reflect on their current job.
The Job is simple: Locate an ancient Precursor artifact located in the Archeological section of the Praxeum Institute. The crew was hired by an intermediary contact of theirs for an unspecified client.
During this quiet moment, Switch retrieves an archaic physical copy of the Institute (from which we flashback to a scene of chaotic planning where Switch is desperately trying to get the rest of the crew to pay attention) and directs everyone down into a series of underground maintenance tunnels to bypass further notice and security. After Levi is able to hack some biometric locks, the crew moves down a couple of levels to the tunnels. Safely away from the guards, after some time moving through the tunnels they become aware that they're not alone. Gigantic furry quadrupeds known as Forodens (and who look like gigantic crocodiles) can be heard issuing their mating call in the tunnels. As the crew moves deeper into the tunnels, the mating calls keep getting closer and closer.
When the crew finally locates the door to take them back up a couple of levels into the archeological section, the Forodens arrive from two different directions in their attempt to mate. With the same level of skill he used to close the blast doors, Levi hacks the biometric lock on the door to lead them out of the tunnels. Believing that they don't have enough time to escape the hungry and mating Forodens, Switch reaches for a detonator on his belt to give them some cover. However, as he flips the switch and attempts to make the throw, the detonator snags on his pants and he can't let it go. Thinking fast, he drops his pants and throws the entire bundle out the door while closing it shut on the blast. A big boom later and they're on their way... but they know the guards now have a good idea where they are.
Moving into the Archeological section, the crew find themselves facing an Area 51 style warehouse. Switch and Levi take a moment to assess the situation in the warehouse: Switch discovers that it's fully automated and discovers a terminal with direct access to the inventory system and Levi discovers that while it appears to be no security, it turns out that every bit of the room is covered in surveillance for every spectrum of light and sound imaginable. When they realize there is no way for them to actively hide their presence from the security system, they switch tactics and work to hack the surveillance data out of existence.
Meanwhile, Fitzy and Sally tag team their skill sets to actively locate the Precursor artifact in the warehouse. While Sally sciences the shit out of it, Fitzy reaches out into the Way with his own Precursor artifact via a sort of "second sight". Sally's thingamajig with LED status lights and weird wand-like protrusions indicates a deep purple status located in the direction of the center of the room. For Fitzy, his vision expands to include various auras that are generated by life in the Way and he is able to see the object as a deep purple cube. Moving in, they make their way to the cube's location.
Levi is at it again, hacking and cracking and taking down security systems like a boss... until he trips a security watchdog program. Thinking fast, he shims a virtual facade in front of the watchdog program and tricks it into thinking everything is fine. And while he's at it, he locates the container with the object using a subroutine and has an automated robot unit retrieve it for him. Right out of the hands of Fitzy as he was about to open the containing storage crate.
But time has run out. The Guards are at the locked door of the warehouse and have begun to forcefully blast their way in. Thinking fast, the crew cheese it and follow an exit plan Switch came up with to get them back to the "Glory", the ship that Switch and Levi own before they're caught. Running across the tarmac, away from 4 squads of guards at this point, the crew is able to board the ship and get it launched. Thinking that they could just punch the afterburner to get their escape, the nav computer warns them otherwise. It turns out that Nightfall has 13 moons, with various gravity wells making it difficult for a starship to have an easy escape. As they continue their escape and wait for the navigation computations to complete, three fast-moving fighters move into position and demand that the Glory turns around and set down for inspection. While Switch attempts to tell them to hold them off verbally, Levi attempts to hack false credentials into the planetary registry giving them clearance to leave. It's Fitzy that steps up and claims he can get them outta here quickly. He reaches into the Way and seeks to find the right time to punch it as the screen cuts to black.
Missions/Quests Completed
The Crew was able to successfully steal the object they were looking for, though haven't escaped the planet Nightfall yet.
Character(s) interacted with
SIRI is kind of a bitch to Levi.
Created Content
The Foroden, Auras in the Way.
Notes
Flashback: Switch has a planning meeting with the crew on the ship, where he made sure to acquire a physical copy of the plans for the Praxeum Institute.
Devil's Bargains: Ur's Artifact will affect one of the characters.
Devil's Bargain: Levi's Hacker footprint will be left in the Educational Institution's High-End Security System.
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