It's a Paranoia death.  What do you expect?

Such coolness.

Hmm.  I wonder if anybody has ever made a Kazari ghoul?  Man, talk about your necromancer life goals!

I may post todayish to move the game forward slightly.  As always, if you haven't yet had a chance to post - feel free to backpost.  Keep the time/date stuff straight, and life is good. 

I just don't want things to stagnate; I think that it's important to keep a positive flow.

Crowe - understand that Drake's reaction (and his behavior in the upcoming post) are not in any way negative towards you as a player.  Drake is a bit of a hardass, and I'm just playing him as such.  I thought that your post was very creative, and it gives us a lot of RP fodder to use in the future.  The best, most interesting characters make mistakes and have flaws; this makes them so much more relatable and fun to follow as they grow.  Realistically, all junior officers get to learn things the hard way.

Yeah, I saw that in your last post.  I had assumed at the time that you'd be standing and fighting, so I'd figured you'd go falcata+dagger for the time being.  When the plan changed to "retreat", I figured I'd better tell you so as to save a round of posting.

Here's the thing.  If Ch'dau is carrying Kith, I'm going to assume that he's going to get to the "safety" of the camp as quickly as possible, so as to be able to return to fighting form right away. 

If you guys are doing a figthing withdrawal, you can only move a limited distance per round (so as to avoid giving the enemies a free shot at your backs as you run away).  It took several rounds for the group to reach Kith, despite moving as quickly as they could move.  Ch'dau is going to get separated in the process unless he very consciously moves at half or less pace so as to not outdistance you.  That's not me being a jerk, that's simple movement rates.

Oh yes, fun little piece of trivia I had alluded to but not fully explained - Ch'dau's blade is currently stuck in the tree trunk.  I had him in what amounted to a berserker fury, and he drove the blade deep into the wood before tearing that ghoul up with his claws and fangs.  Cool, cinematic moment... but on the miinus side, the blade is stuck.  He can spend a round trying to free it, or he can leave it and come back for it later - Eol needs to choose. 

Okay, you might say that one is me being a jerk. 

So, KDX, you're wanting to join us right before the TPK?  Cool. 

Yup.  It was tough to dodge.  Not much y'all could do. 

Fantastic!  Have her PM me, or post here, or SOMETHING. 

Anybody?

I don't need a seasoned veteran, I just need somebody willing to give the game a shot.  We have a full, dynamic, fun party of players - we just need a player for the mage!

How sweet! 

By my count, that puts a couple of you on clone three.

Capricious GM... such is Paranoia.

The good thing is that you don't have to bother seeking real medical care (that first aid kit wasn't going to fix Steam).  Your new clones are completely hale and hearty. 

...if you weren't, it would be boring, no? 

Me???

Why, I'm a kind and friendly GM, as everyone will tell you. 

I'm just saying that an evil GM might do things like that.  An evil GM might scoff at the idea of safety by the river, and figure that you'd had one free chance of wandering alone in the undead woods, that he had every right to do awful things since you sort of already had a warning. 

But I'm not evil, not hardly! 

Well, maybe a teensy bit.  It comes from my mother's side, I think. 

Anyway, I think that you have a solid, well considered plan, and that you should always follow your heart.  Don't let anyone take your dreams!

After efficiently dividing the exsperimental equipment, the team gathers the necessary paperwork and takes their leave.

Brighte is the first to vomit - rather profusely, as a matter of fact.  Steam glances back to Ammpe, to see if Team Leader might have any insight... and wonders exactly when Team Leader developed those blisters on his face.  With a start, the military clone notices the same blisters on his arms. 

And all over the other team members.

Blowz runs his fingers through his hair nervously, and a huge hunk of it comes out in his hands.  Brighte backs away, eyes wide.

Mercifully, the radiation sickness his hard and fast, and the entire team is dead within the span of a few minutes.  It does, however, take nearly an hour to decontaminate the area, the equipment, and Jackie the Jackobot properly.  Hopefully, Friend computer will not hold this inefficency against everyone's replacement clones. 

The entirely new team shows up together, assumes the equipment of their earlier-sequenced six pack mates, and Jackie leads the team out to the Friendliness Hoverbot. 

"BEE-DEE-BEE-DEE-BEEP.  Welcome, new superior human troubleshooters," Jackie speaks.  "I sincerely hope that none of you meet a similar fate as your old team, as radiation poisoning is apparently rather unpleasant.  Our next stop is to return to the cafeteria where you orignially assembled.  Are you up to the task, oh fleshy overlords?"

On the bright side, the replacement clone bodies are at full health!

You know, an evil GM would look at this and see yet another instance of a PC running off essentially by themselves into the dark woods.  An evil GM might have a couple more gigglers lying in wait.  Man, Ch'dau would probably be really mad if he were, say, paralyzed and got a front row seat to another rapeghoul finishing the job on Kith while his own innards get slowly munched away. 

Just sayin'...

Okay, let me make sure that I have the plan straight.

1) Cedric is casting CLW on Kith.
2) Ch'dau is picking Kith up so that he can turn tail and flee.
3) Gib and Cedric will turn undead.
4) The rest of the party will fight at a disadvantage while ineffectively backing up in the dark... er, will TACTICALLY WITHDRAW, to the camp.
5) ...profit?

Sound about right?

lol... that would be a great line.

Yep, that's exactly what XOs are for. 

You may have noticed a bit of a "Horatio Hornblower" flavor to my Trek, which is intentional.

Note that Drake's line - "My regards to Commander Zai, and will he please ensure that you spend plenty of time in the holosuites on an appropriate range of simulations to help further your education" - is not an intended offence against Zai, nor should it be perceived that way.  This is simply an observation that the junior officer in question is deficient in his duties, and needs to see his superior office regarding improvement.  

Were we to go seriously old school, a truly out of line enlinsted or cadet that didn't warrant an actual NJP might be the recipient of something like "my regards to the First Officer, and will he please cane you for your insolence."

It's sort of a formal way of "say hi to your boss for me when he fixes the crap you are doing wrong."

I * think* that Eol and I are on the same page in reference to this sort of thing, but not everyone may be familiar with it.

Man, yes.  I needed some good Trek postage! 

Nice job, loved the read.

Sweet!

This is the kind of thing that can kill goodwill towards captains (hard ass, etc).  I anticipate at least some of that.

I had him acting on his own here, to be honest.  Tal suggesting the drills, he took a look at the roster and figured to throw Garner into the deep end - start at the potential weakest point of the chain, go fromt here.

And here, I was afraid that I was being super transparent with what I was doing.

Post is up.  Respond as you see fit, backpost if you like.  I'll move things along by early next week.

Stardate 2365.02.21
USS Peregrine, Bridge - 0411

The ready room hatch hissed open, and Captain Drake strode purposefully onto the bridge, PADD in his left hand.  Casting his gaze at the various tense expressions, Drake frowned.  "Ensign Garner," he asked in an acid tone, "exactly what in the hell are you doing to my ship?"

OOC: any answer...

A glance at the viewscreen caused Silas to gape.  "Are you..." he paused for a moment, "...are you running from Bindi pirates?"

"Shields are down," T'Darrin reported neutrally.  "Sir, they..."

Silas held up a hand.  "Stop."

With a sideways glance at the Ensign, he barked out.  "Computer, end simulation.  Authorization, Drake alpha three-niner."

=/=Simulation ended. =/= came the feminine reply. 

The attacking ships vanished from the viewscreen.

"Cancel red alert, " the Captain ordered.  Instantly, the klaxons stopped blaring, and the lighting returned to normal. 

=/=What in the name of all that is holy is going on up there?=/= came the angry voice of Chief Davis over the comm.

"Belay that, Chief," replied Drake.  "The situation is under control."

Not waiting for the acid reply that was sure to follow - and feeling the tiniest amount of pity for the engineering personnel that would be within range of the Chief's inevitable tirade - the Captain keyed his commbadge.

"Now hear this, " Silas spoke in a firm tone, "this emergency has been a drill to test our combat readiness.  To put it bluntly, we failed.  Expect to be in touch with your department heads regarding areas of improvement.  Drake out."

"Mister Garner," the Captain spoke, "this was perhaps not the most fair of tests.  The last time that I checked, however, our enemies have little intention of concerning themselves over concepts such as fairness.  While I am aware that you are new to these sorts of responsibilities, the fact is that you do have them, and you must be capable of handling them.

My regards to Commander Zai, and will he please ensure that you spend plenty of time in the holosuites on an appropriate range of simulations to help further your education.

Ah... and please, Mister Garner, come and see me in my Ready Room at oh eight thirty."

OOC: any reply

Drake pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment.  "Very well.  Resume our previous heading and speed.  I believe that I will go catch a short nap before I complete these assessments."

Lieutenant Tal wanted drills; I'll be interested to see what she thinks of this.

With that, the Captain spun and strode to the now perfectly functioning turbolift.