Of Loyalty and Parting Ships (Leviathan)

"Of Loyalty and Parting Ships" is the eleventh and last episode of the first season of Leviathan: Distant Stars.
== Summary ==
=== Finding the survivors ===
Klaariskees and the two guards with her lead Xe'anna and her crew to more survivors, which leaves them time to discuss their plans as well as the relations between Iratos and Andartans.
On their way along deserted corridors with pipes everywhere, Kika suddenly hears sounds that are not ship machinery or other background noises. Theea sneaks closer, steps on a body and hears voicesWhich, our heroes later reason, means they can't be Hollow.. As these are followed by approaching footsteps, Theea, a knife in her hand, slips behind a door so as to be hidden when the approaching unidentified group turns the corner.
Xe'anna still has time to ask Hexie What do friendly people say?Answer: We come in peace. and get the group to grab weapons and talk about turning HollowPrompting Hexie to remark that eating ships would be bad for her brand. before her crew and alliesMinus Theea, still hidden, now behind the newcomers find themselves faced by a five-strong group led by Omgar Trollo, the shark-like alien who had helped them beforeSee .. After agreeing to take them on board, Xe'anna orders that they keep moving toward Klaariskees's group. The tension is such that Xe'anna offers her hands to the Iratos and pledges: We will not let them hurt you.
On their way, Omgar introduces himself as a crime lord, and explains how he lost his ship in a mutiny fomented by a very persuasive second officer which left him stranded with just four loyal crew members.
Conrad draws on his Academy training in counseling to engage all in a team-building exercise: he will tell two truths and a lie about himself and the others will try to find which of the statements is the lie... They enter another hallway, Klaariskees briefly leaves them to check on her own group ahead while Hexie takes her turn at the game:I've never been in love, my parents are embarrassed about my career, I play the pianoWhich is not the lie, didn’t Conrad watch her video?. Klaariskees returns with news: they have refreshments, they had to kill one of their wounded and urges all to come. As Xe'anna stays out by the door, bringing up the back, the others enter a room with twenty people, six of them injured. They are mechanics, engineers, blue-collar employees; Humans, a Saleer or two, other races, no other Iratos...
They barely have time to offer the new arrivals food, before Omgar, who's also stayed out with his people, drops a grenade in the room, after bragging that he is going to steal the Bat'leth. 
Hexie and Conrad immediately react: Conrad, in accordance with military protocol, shouts Grenade!, flips Kika out of harm's way across the room, and leaps, with his backpack in front of him, on the grenade. Hexie, meanwile, uses thermokinesis and, as the grenade begins to explode, time dilates for her: water molecules slow down, the now cold air around the grenade freezes it and makes it implode instead. Disaster is averted, so much so that even Conrad remains unharmed and Hexie can meep-meep We're clear! to Xe'anna. 
Conrad pulls out a can of now cold , drinks it and prepares to kick the door of the room that was supposed to become his tomb; Claudia/Kika, who had taken a liking to Omgar's fin and generally cool attitude sighs that It was good while it lasted and starts mourning her soon-too-be murdified Mr. NovemberClaudia concluded this scene with a short tune: 🎶This is the finale, killing Shark Boy🎶. 
=== Running after Omgar ===
Omgar, meanwhile, raises up his rifle and shoots at Xe'anna. His 17 beats her AC 16 and she gets hit for 8 damage. Theea, slammed with the butt of a rifle by one of Omgar's goons and shot at by another, is hit for 4 damage, spits and says: Is that all you're gonna try? She then swings down her own rifle in a failed attempt to knock the two of their feet. Xe'anna's strike at Omgar is more successful, as it hits for 11 damage. A short dialogue ensues:Xe'anna: You will pay for that!Omgar, stumbling back, and displaying his rows of teeth in a smile: Not if I have your ship first.This, followed by a laconic order to his goons: Kill them!, as he himself uses Fighting Withdrawal to back down and starts booking it down the hallway.
Xe'anna and Theea and the four goons have at it for a few rounds, with little success on both sides. Xe'anna still finds time to give Oxana her orders: Oxana, disembark!Really?Yes, now!It's been nice knowing you, Captain ... Releasing dock clamps.Don't go out of comms range!Yes, ma'am.Two thugs also disengage, and take off after Omgar. The remaining two shoot and hit, inflicting 11 damage to both Xe'anna and Theea. The latter will, like, hit the ground and her head will bounce, and then when she comes back up, she's gonna like have a hard time focusing. Xe'anna and Theea are down to 4 HP and 7 HP respectively and Theea spits again. 
This is the moment when Conrad kicks the door open, and charges down the hall after Shark Guy as fast as he can. Between the Lieutenant and his mark, ten to twenty meters ahead, are two of Omgar's thugs, and the boss, who has a full turn's head start, is not in visual range. 
Kika, as soon as she comes back to her senses, also exits the room and starts running in the opposite direction, looking for the station's coreAnd Claudia breaks into a short song: 🎵Splitting the party, season finale🎵.
Hexie understands the urgency of the situation, shouts No!, grabs Xe'anna's shoulders and casts Psychic Succor again, healing her for 10 HP, which prompts the following remarks:Liz/Xe'anna: It's gonna be a really long back rub.Lauren: Two hands, two feet!Theea, putting a hand against the wall, tries to shake off the cobwebs. There is no way she'll let Kika go alone: I'm coming with you!, she says in a slurred voice, and spits againThis episode kicked off a series of LotR references, from cast and chat.. She is decidedly not in tip-top shape, seeing kind of two Kika’s, and leaving a trail of blood from her fingertips, with which she wiped the blood out after the first hit
Xe'anna is in a tight spot of her own and her next attack end with a resounding Fuck! She's going to die, unless... She re-rolls: Natural 20! She slams down her mark, who is not killed but tries to flee. Xe'anna misses her opportunity attack, and the guy starts running.
Because of the curves in the circular hallway, Conrad doesn't have line of sight on Omgar. He books past the two running thugs, has to slow down and hesitates when confronted with a fork in the paths but assumes Omgar is going to the ship and goes in that direction. By this time, flush with the Dew, he has used much adrenalin with the grenade.
Still running in the opposite direction, Kika takes stock of Theea's condition, and manages to slap a patch on Theea. It was already established that Kika's mouth, which is involved in the procedure, is cleanBut, as Dan remarked, it's not sterile.. Theea recovers 8 HP, gets 1 strain, and thanks Kika. Hexie, realizing how wounded Theea is and how much strain she can still take, remote repairs her for 7 before she runs awayAt this point, Hexie has a lot of shit going on. But, as Lauren points out to Cheryl: you're good at multitasking.. As they keep running toward the core, Theea and Kika soon find themselves out of combat.
Klaariskees leaps through the doorway, dives at the guy Xe'anna has already hurt, rips into him, and pulls back, eviscerating his throatLauren's explanation: She knows how to go for the weak link.. With one baddie down, four, including Omgar, are running away, presumably to steal the Bat'leth. Hexie takes a shot at the laggard, and misses.
Xe'anna's short dialogue with the Lieutenant:
What are you doing? I told Oxana to disembark.
Beep beep. Can't talk, Captain. Solving a problem.
gives way to another talk between Xe'anna and Hexie about Conrad's addiction. Meanwhile, Conrad keeps running, retracing their path back to where their ship was originally docked.
Xe'anna then turns to Hexie: she wants her to follow Theea and Kika because if they run into any Hollow, there is nothing that will protect them from being shredded. Clara and Sarah retort that can protect themselves, that they have a bow and a rifleTo which Dan added that they have Lembas bread, and Sarah that: One of us has a ring somewhere. Another LotR-inspired sequence ensued..
After a strong scene, where they hugWhich gives Hexie an opportunity to heal Xe'anna for another 6 HP. and exchange vows to be reunited later, Hexie and Xe'anna run in opposite directionsHere is the clip. NftE: Look at Lauren's priceless reaction!, Xe'anna, with Klaariskees, back toward the ship, and Hexie toward the core. Answering a question from Klaariskees about the other survivors, Xe'anna also tasks Hexie with corralling the injured on her way back. 
Xe'anna and Klaariskees then catch up with Omgar's closest grunt. After a brief struggle, his throat finds itself under Xe'anna's boot. His interrogation devolves into a discussion about loyalty until he subtly requests euthanasia by spitting in Xe'anna's face, promptly gets his death wish granted and finally relinquishes the communication device she was after. This allows Xe'anna to start a conversation with Omgar. She gets confirmation that he is no altruist, realizes that he doesn’t seem to exert himself, but keeps talking, in the hope that it will slow him down and help Conrad catch up. Omgar, though, soon turns of the comm, but only after remarking: You are as dumb as you look.
With Conrad seeing neither a shark fin nor even just footprints and on his way toward Xe'anna, Xe'anna, her crew and Klaariskees try to guess whether Omgar, who has perfect knowledge of the station, took another path to the ship; is going to have a go at hacking it; may opt for a space walk because Oxana still has to stay very close lest she attract the giant ship-eating monster's attention; unless... Xe'anna has barely asked: Oxana, has anything launched from the space station? when Oxana sees that there is several fighter pods being jettisoned right now.
Xe'anna starts cursing, a stream of profanities in Andartan, but definitely not because Oxana's evasive maneuvers close to the station may damage the Bat'leth's paint job. Contad announces he is headed back to the ship's original docking place, where he may hop on a fighter to bring Oxana the support she requests.
Theea and Kika are still on their way toward the computer at the central core, aiming both to manipulate the docking clamps so as to prevent the Raze from leaving and to cause the station do degenerate its orbit so as to eventually crash into the star at the center of the system when Hexie caches up with them and sees Kika carried by Theea and practicing jumping on Theea's back while she is running. Hexie, showing off the sparkles of her glittering telekinetic armory quickly takes the lead of the herd of cats and sets them on a jog by humming Conrad's piloting song.
After a few minutes of going up and a bit further in through a corridor really thick with wiring, they reach a small room where several corridors converge, one of several hubs of the station, where significant controls can be managed fromThe group settled on the name Central Operating Room for this place. The suggestion to add Empanada at the end to make it a C.O.R.E didn't stick.. Hexie uses telekinetic manipulation to get the panels of the shut, keypad-equipped but otherwise handleless door that separates them from the room, to slide open. They enter, cautiously, and manage to see, in the dim, bluish teal lighting, several arcs of computer equipment and consoles meant for several operators to operate simultaneously, as well as large servers at the center, to which things connect. There is nothing moving. Theea estimates she will need three line shuntsThanks to Tom W. for providing the following details in the Discord: There are rules / full description of them on p54 of the free revised edition pdf, in the Hacking section. "A line shunt is a TL4 piece of black-market tech designed to tap into a data line and spoof the contents in concert with a hacking attempt." to, essentially, get control of the entire space station and immediately sets out to attach them with help from Kika. Hexie, meanwhile, goes to a spare terminal to familiarize herself with the station. She peruses damage reports, pulls up a map and locates a spoke that goes from their current location to the outside. She then spends the time it takes to memorize the itinerary.
After Kika estimates that they have no more than 30 minutesWhich leads, later, to an explanation that Kika can just hear time (Clip by Iffrithiel). and Lauren signals that Hacking takes time, and especially getting the station to do something it is not designed for, such as self-harm, Theea and Kika engage in four-hand hacking (a.k.a. Sp'hacking). The system is unresponsive at first but eventually, docking clamps are activated in sequence and they hear a deep resonance within the system as these large mechanical parts move in a direction they're probably not supposed moving. Several tiny clamps begin to latch on to portions of the station.
Theea and Conrad both roll a 20 on a mental saving throw. A chill runs downs the back of the former and that's all. The latter hears a whisper in the back of his mind; there is nothing more and it's gone. Then Conrad's infected shoulder stings a little bit, almost like it's stiff, like maybe there is more fluid than it's supposed to have. <Rolls a 3 on his physical saving throw, which results in 11 total with a +5 bonus> He lurches over... Maybe there is some color that wasn't there beforeSee this clip.. While the Lieutenant thinks there must be something with the ship's atmosphere, the more experienced recognizes a symptom of the Hollow infection spreading: We have very limited time.
They quickly open a door to the next docking bay. Conrad, confident he's still fit to pilot, says:I won't let you down.Xe'anna agrees:I know you won't.The two then hop onto 1-seater "Tie Fighter" ships and roll to hotwire them. Xe'anna's 11 means that she fonzies it openCue the 🎶Happy Days🎵 tune. Turns out Lauren knew that show when she was on the Pound side of the Pond.. Conrad's 9 translates into him struggling with his ICA moral because, obviously, hotwiring is illegal.
Back to the C.O.R. It took the hacking duo (or duet) 15 minutes to get the clamps. On to the Send the station into the Sun part of the plan. Kika ponders deactivating an engine, High-powering another. Hexie, having studied the schematics of the station, pulls the plug on this idea: there are no classic engines here, only basic thrusters. Kika's next idea: throw half the spaceship away and use the reaction to push the ship the other way...Lauren: ... And then you reverse the polarity.Kika: [...] Reversing the polarity might actually work.The conversation then turns to blowing up the station instead. Theea finds that she could overload power cells right from the C.O.R. Hexie locates a big source of flammable material: the primary refueling station, on a dock not too far away. She also suggests that they leave the space station before it blows up, maybe by setting a fifteen-minute timer like in the movies. The plan that takes shape is that Theea overload the batteries so that they blow upTheea didn't agree with the GM that she could only have a rough approximation of how long it would take the batteries to overload and blow up: We'll know exactly how long it's gonna take. It can't be ... Look, I've done this before. Chaos immediately ensued.. Hexie would detonate the fuel as a last resort.
Theea, not willing to spend even more than the fifteen minutes she's already spent hacking the docking clamps, is ready to rush this new job and enlist Kika againSee @Fractaleye's réaction in chat: time, much like rails, is not regarded well in this game.. Theea and Kika roll Program & Intelligence, and Kika, who gets the higher score again, does backseat programming again:Kika: I can hear what each button you're pressing is doing, and it's not ...Lauren: The blind bat is ... <Facepalm>Xe'anna tries to keep up with everything, with relative success:
* Exhibit 1:
Xe'anna: What's the status of the evacuation?Lauren: You have no idea!
* Exhibit 2:
Xe'anna: We're trying to stop Omgar.Conrad: Beep beep! We're stopping him, not trying to stop!
* Exhibit 3:
Hexie: We're very close to blowing up the station.Xe'anna: We're blowing up the station?Meanwhile, Hexie has found and intercom and prepares to give instructions to Klaariskees's group. Xe'anna acknowledges Xe'anna's order that they make time to get Oxana to dock and evacuate them, though I can do a lot of things with my mind but I can't turn back time!Here Lauren echoed: 🎵Turn back time🎵 Kika starts saying We're pretty sure it's gonna explode in like ... when a worried Dan intervenes.
Theea is worried about Salmon Bars' health. Despite his reassuring I've never been better! she doesn't know how to answer Kika's own worried Is that the blue goop, is he turning blue? because I don't have seeing powers!
Hexie then messages Klaariskees over the intercom to Bong bong! [...] Please remain calm and head to the evacuation dock [...] Bong Bong! It doesn't matter to her if the Raze can hear. Right after this comment, and possibly inired by it, Theea brings a look of gleeful wonder on Lauren's faceAnd prompts this comment from the same: You're gonna yell at the Raze, a higher living ship... Cool, go for it! when she tries to scream at the Raze, in her brain. She rolls 7 on Lead & Charisma. GM'S verdict: You didn't fail ... She's trying to dominate the alpha ship.
Hexie gives more instructions on the intercom, and then the fighters start fighting. Xe'anna and Conrad manage to pilot, and they only see three small enemy ships when in combat range. Oxana has stayed so close to the station that the ship is nicked through Bat'leth and the flame on the sideHere are a few comments to this piece of news: Theea: Nooooo! And in chat: @Galforc: The flames! It'll never go as fast now! / @Fractaleye: Red God taketh away.. While Oxana performs evasive maneuvers, Xe'anna and Conrad take down all the enemy ships one by one. The fight is not particularly close or dramatic. Conrad finishes off the first ship after Xe'anna deals the first blow. But what happens to the second ship, Omgar's, could have happened to Xe'anna's or Conrad's as well: Omgar's ship is torn open and explodes after one single blast from Xe'anna's flak cannon that deals exactly the right damage (10, 8 for HP and 2 for armor) on a natural 20. Conrad's clumsy cannon immediately dispatches the last ship, also on a natural 20And Lauren (jokingly) wants to jail the dice that have been so successful while hers have only managed to land one paltry but for 3 damage on Xe'anna's ship.. The lieutenant ends the combat with a dramatic monologueNftE: Wrong game, I know, but still true.:Truth: I'm having a bad day. Truth: You shouldn't have betrayed us. Lie: You're making it out of here alive.See the clip here.
Meanwhile, an alert shows Theea and Kika they have successfully overloaded the power level to critical. Hexie hits the intercom again:Bong bong! This is your security officer. Evacuation is now mandatory. You have two minutes to get down to the dock. This is your final warning. Have a nice day. Bong bong!This inspired several comments in chat, such as @TetsuRose's: pop up on the screen "there are singles in your area". 
Xe'anna immediately asks Oxana, who has docked, to let the Iratos in with her people. Oxana, surprised, replies with her unsurprising usual sass. She continues even after her captain says: You know, I’m already feeling sore enough about it without you needing to rub it in by reminding her of the Iratos protocol that may need disabling.Xe'anna proceeds to explain that this plays a pitch only the Iratos can hear and that pitches messes with their heads, but there are no secret protocols (or, as @twystedcures put it in chat: The first rule about secret protocols is there are no secret protocols).
Hexie and Theea, who carries Kika on her back, start running, because there are REALLY two minutes left. Xe'anna orders Conrad to return directly to Tsarin. Lauren replies to Kika's question about how much time has passed only with It's been a quantity of time. Theea trips. Hexie meep-meeps Find us! to Xe'anna before blowing a hole in the wall with telekinetic manipulation and extending her pressure field, like an invisible vac suite, to the party around her. She pushes off to exit the station, and keeps talking to her panicked companions: It's cold and safe anyway so it should be easy to chill.
Xe'anna, still on her tiny ship, notices the small explosion caused by Hexie why making sure that Klaariskees and her group have embarked. Oxana activates the impulse drive, and the Bat'leth does a handbrake turn as the docking bay opens. Hexie, still deifting with her party, throws a piece of debris to get a little momentum and land in the Bat'leth. The door closes, crew and cast get thrown about, and the Bat'leth tears it’s way through space right before Gennus Landing erupts in an explosion.
With Oxana, following orders, recording everything, a large blast rips through the Raze, which is still attached to the space station: It appears to be very significantly destroyed.
Oxana greets Hexie's group and congratulated them for surviving. While Hexie talks to the other survivors, Theea contacts Conrad, who's still on his small fighter ship, makes sure he's fine, but is interrupted by Kika who talks about the choice he has to make and makes an emotional plea for him to enter their family.Which elicited this comment from @Demmalition1: Kika's the heart of the crew. NftE: +1.
[[File:Conrad_be_me_well_dipper.jpg|thumb|320px|I don't want to stop being me.Picture posted on twitter by well_dipper.]]The following bit of dialogue at the end of Kika's speech is very revealing of the characters' characters:Kika: And I just don't want you to be blue.Theea: Don't die, you asshole!Kika: Then, that.Conrad: Kika, if I'm gonna go through with this, will you be there with me?Kika: Yeah.Conrad: I'm really scared of it. I don't want to stop being me. I tried to be someone else and it didn't work. I'm Conrad. I don't know who I'm gonna be when I wake up from this.Kika: Conrad.Conrad: I hope so.
At this point, the Bat'leth and Xe'anna's fighter, as well as Conrad's converge towards Tsarin. Hexie suggests she may space walk to Xe'anna's one-seater ship, which move Lauren endorses, despite Xe'anna's My heart can't take any more.Lauren: Do it, do it! [...] They're probably not spacewalk close because they've got two ships flying ... But I'll make it spacewalk close.NftE: Good call, if I may.
The Bat'leth zigzags and pulls up alongside Xe’anna's fighter. Hexie goes into the airlock this time, wearing a vac suiteAnd Lauren can say: Ship happens.. So, Hexie, floating in her pressure bubble, opens Xe'anna's ship's airlock, and tries to convince the captain to join her. But Xe'anna is too afraid:Xe'anna: I can't handle watching you float in space right now. I need to pilot this ship. Please, just go back inside.Hexie: Okay.Xe'anna: Just be there. Just be there when I get back. Just be there, alright?Hexie: Okay.Xe'anna: Just be there and safe, alright?Hexie: Okay. But only if you are also safe.Xe'anna: I am here. I am safe and I am here.Hexie: Okay. Have fun, though.Xe'anna: You're going to kill me, Hexie.This sceneNftE: And what a scene! It's been a month now and I'm almost tearing up looking at my notes. concludes, and it's back to Conrad. He is the first to dock with Tsarin. He is met by Ary, who stands there awkwardly. They speak in gestures, Conrad point to his shoulder, Ary replies in her language, Conrad says: English! Ary wants to take him to the med bay, he just says KikaNftE: So much emotion behind this one word... Awesome., Ary understands and stays there, waitingLauren added: I guess we'll wait..
Oxana docks the Bat'leth. It bounces a little bit. Kika And Theea just bolt. Theea stays a little back, as if she doesn't really care. After a short talk with Ary, Kika takes Conrad's hand; Theea walks on the other side, doesn't grab Conrad's other hand.
Ary inquires about Klaariskees's group of survivors and then:
The lid of Xe’anna's ship pops open.Xe'anna practically leaps the fuck out of it, hits the floor hard, looks around, locates Hexie, runs to Hexie, sweeps her up in her arms, and kisses her, and holds her face, and "Don't ever do that to me again."Hexie: Which part?Xe'anna: Oh my god!and just wraps her arms...NftE: Here is the clip I made. It's not just me saying Lizzie's awesome performance is worth watching and watching again. It's also the reactions on everybody's faces. <3.
Lauren sums up and concludes the scene:They have a moment.They have a beautiful moment.
Back to the med bay. The moment Conrad had dreaded for a long time has come.
Ary has him take off his glove and his armor off, and takes his hand. Kika explains, again, that It's not like you lose yourself and proceeds to describe what the bond he is going to partake means to her, and that Theea is, like, the drum set to my guitar.
Conrad is ready, even though I can never go home if I do this [...] because if I'm in any way psionic there is no chance they'll let me back. My father would never consider meInterestingly, Lauren didn't seem to agree: Maybe his dad is psionic.. The discussion goes on, and ends with Conrad'sI always had a path for me. I knew where I was going. I'm just so lost. It's okay, I'll be fine.
It is really time for Ary to act because:You see, up his neck, the skin kind of is that blue and metallic, and along the shoulder all the way down.
He also has perfect abs, eight on one side and just six on the other, which leads to one last joke from Conrad:Are you sure we wanna go through with this if my abs are so perfect? and Theea’s reply:I don't know, man, I can't answer that one.NftE: I kinda think of this Salmon Brone ship as a stealth submarine. Ary does her thing, he feels a soothing coolness, and understands her welcoming speech:Welcome aboard Tsarin. I hope it's not as terrible as you thought it was going to be.
Everything is fine now, it looks like the season is all wrapped up, but the GM announces:We all quietly will have a moment because I'll leave us with a small hook for season 2.They are being hailed by an ICA vessel. Turns out that Lt. Wendy Santiago has tracked them, and she's here to place Conrad under arrest. He's being court-martialed for being AWOL. Theea doesn't take Lt. Santiago's Please immediately surrender him all too well:Come and get him, you bitch!which, fortunately, doesn't go through on comms.
And thus end both an amazing episode and a great season.
== More on hacking ==
Here are two more hilarious hacking-related clips:
* Backseat hacking
* Reset The LANs
== Notes ==
Category:Leviathan