Introduction

In the words of Mr Grace "You've all done very well".  As I said in last weeks log, this is not a "Five Saves The Day" scenario just one in which she has a large part to play, and one we're not done with yet. As to whether everything ends in a large explosion you'll all just have to wait and see, but there are a few twists and turns before we get to the finale.

The Android was something of a predictable spot. I thought you might have got it sooner, but it wasn't easy unless you were already aware of the plot lines.

I also need to say something about the system EOS-7 is in and it's location, as this is another fast and loose "handy wavy" contradiction by the writers. It's supposed to be both "semi-remote" and central to the differing corporations and League of Autonomous Worlds. If you impose "realistic" transit times based on the notional story timescales this means that the EOS system has to be about 60ly from most Corporation HQ's giving, assuming a 5ly/day Cruiser, a 12 day transit time. There is another factor that comes into play in that it has to be a low mass dim star (probably a low mass K-type Red Dwarf) with a single planet with a breathable atmosphere, but the space station has to be at least 2AU from the star to support the Asanov Exclusion Field, or at least the orbiting array of satelites around it (7 light minutes == 0.84AU), and assuming that the planet is about 0.8AU from the star (at the edge the "habitable zone").
At maximum sub-light speed (359,751 ms-1) it would take the Razza 97 hours to cover this distance, which leaves another super massive hole in the plotline, which I currently have no idea what I'm going to do about, but certain things as they unfold in Season 3 Episode 1 just can't happen. More on this one we get past the Season 2 Finale.

I will add one thing about the Blink Drive. It's a device that can significantly tip the balance of power in favour of whom ever has it. It's one of the driving elements behind Two, Three, and Six wanting to keep it out of the hands of any of the Mega Corps, or the House of Ashieda for that matter.

There are a few more images in the log than I used in the session, partly because I forgot I had them.. my snapshots folder isn't necessarily all in time/date order, it's when I've chosen to revisit things and then taken a few more images in response.

But First we Save The Galaxy

We pick up with Truffault suggesting that "We need to talk!". Cue Two and Three taking a trip down to the Mikei HQ and a meeting with Truffault (Note I'm using the transcript from the series but Two and Three pretty much got most of the points in if not necessarily in quite the same order)
Truffault: "Well you certainly have a flair for the dramatic... you're lucky my people didn't blast you out of the sky."
Three "You think so?"
Two "We're here to talk about EOS-7"
Truffault: (exceptionately sarcastic) "Are We?" What about it?"
Three "It's all over the news, diplomatic summit, big wigs, from all the Corporations, are you going to be there?"
Truffault: "I will be a member of the Mikkei delegation. Yes."
Two: "EOS-7 is a pretty remote location... and I have to assume that's deliberate."
Truffault: "Let me explain something to you. The Council of Corporations has not held a face to face meeting in more than 10 years. Do you care to guess why?"
Three: "You don't trust each other."
Truffault: "You're not as dumb as you look."
Truffault: "Which leads me to wonder what could possibly make you think that I would divulge security measures about a rather historic meeting to 'a group of wanted criminals'"
Two: "You're going to want our help, because there is a significant probablity that the summit on EOS-7 will come under attack. The most likely scenario involves somekind of bomb. The station will be destroyed. Everyone on board will be killed and the result will be all out Corporate war."
Truffault: "And how do you know this?"

This is where Two would have been coy about things, at least about the trip to the Alternate Dimension and the Blink Drive, if the series narrative didn't dictate otherwise. The tale of events from the Seers through to the trip to the Alternate Dimension and what was discovered there is implied in the next cut scene with Truffault. Again I'm using the transcript from the series, although again Two and Three responed similarly at a number of points.
Truffault: "Well that's quite a story. A ship filled with people who can predict the future. An Alternate Reality." (she giggles) "You certainly have interesting sources."
Three "It's all true."
Truffault: "Tell me a little bit more about this Blink Drive."
Two "You can't have it."
Truffault: (Getting up to leave) "Thankyou for your time. And I will take this information under advisement."
Two (Getting to her feet) "You think this is a joke? You know we have the drive. You've seen it work, and I assume you understand how powerful it is. We could be off getting fat and rich right now robbing this galaxy blind."
Three "That was my vote."
Two "But instead we came here. Why do you think that is?"
Truffault: "That is what I'm trying to figure out."
Two "We have nothing to gain and everything to lose, so you might want to start considering the possiblity that we are telling the truth."
Truffault: "The GA is handling the security, I'm sure they're perfectly capable."
Two "No! They're not! They'll make a mistake and everyone on that station will die."
Truffault (sitting back down) "Look at this from my point of view. This is not exactly the kind of story I can take to the board."
Two "So. Keep it between us."
Truffault: "And if I bring you in on this without Authorisation, well I'll be risking my career."
Three "Get on that station without us and you risk losing a hell of a whole lot more than that."
Two "Tell me everything's fine, that there's no risk of a corporate war, and we'll get right back on our ship, go on our merry way, and you'll never have to see us again."
Truffault looks at Three, who just looks back and smiles.
Truffault: "All right there may be a level of tension within the Council that goes beyond what the public is aware of."
            "And yes, if this Blink Drive works the way you say it does, you may well be in a unique position to help."

Again things get a little hand wavy by the writers at this point. The next cut scene is Truffault in the conference room on the Razza. Logically this is because if Truffault is running this as a clandestein operation, she's not going to risk anyone in Mekei overhearing things or potentially asking awkward questions, hence why she would come to the Razza alone with her briefing materials.

Truffault: "EOS-7 wasn't chosen by accident. It is one of the most secure facilities in the Galaxy. It is surrounded by a vast network of satellites at a distance of approximately 7 light minutes (0.84AU). Now working in concert these satellites can generate whats called an 'Asanov Exclusion Field', which for those of you who might not be aware.."
Two "Can disrupt an FTL window?"
Truffault: "That's right."
Two "So any ship trying to pass through the field will drop out."
Truffault: "Still hours away from the station at sublight speed. Which would give the GA ships which are patrolling the perimeter of the field plenty of time to react."
            "Once the delegates have arrived, the field will be activated and no-one will be allowed in or out for the duration of the conference."
Nyx "Except with the Blink Drive we could pass right through it. No one would ever notice."
Truffault: "And with all of their resources at the perimeter, they'll never know you're there."
Two "If we're going to find that bomb then we'll need access to all internal systems, sensors, camera feeds, everything they have."
Truffault: "That won't be that easy. Like I said it is a GA facility."
Six "Well if you can get one of us on the inside then we can tap in directly, like we did on Balada-9" [GM Note: see session logs 25 and 26]
Truffault: "Well, I suppose I could forge Mikkei credentials for one of you."
Five "I'll go."
Everyone turns around an looks puzzledly at Five.
Five "Well it's either me or the Android, and personally I'd rather have her here in case anything goes wrong."
Truffault: "No offence sweetheart but you're not exactly 'The Corporate Type'!"

Now there was actually quite a large discussion at this point primarily with Matt(Three) trying to find reasons why anyone other than Five should go. This all basically boils down to the fact that only 2 people are not on the GA's "Most Wanted List " with Two, Three, and Four in positions 3,4, and 5, Six as Griffen Jones at number 10, and Seven lurking way down at number 19. Whilst Five is, as she pointed out wanted by the GA, she's both a juvinile, and she is only wanted in connection with the Hyperion-8 escape. Kiva Ehrens (aka Lisa) is now wanted in connection with the data breach on Balada-9. This makes Five and Lisa the most suitable candidates and as Five points out and sort of insists on Lisa is better off on the Razza in case things go wrong. She can do multiple things at once when piloting the ship as she has demonstrated on a number of recent occasions.

Again at this point there is more "hand wavyness" by the writers because the next cut scene is Five preparing to board a Mekei ship. The inference is that this is before Truffault's cruiser makes the transit to EOS-7, a 12 day 60ly transit. This is somewhat illogical, as either the whole delegation would need to be in cryo sleep, or possibly Five only in cryo sleep to hide her from the rest of the delegation and avoid awkward questions. The logical scenario is as I outlined in the session. Truffault gives you a set of rendevous coordinates on the outer edge of the system say 100AU out, where nobody is likely to be looking. This gives you 12+ days of "downtime" before you need to Blink to the rendevous. Five can then transfer to the Mekei cruiser for the transit to the EOS-7 station.

Now I omitted this particular cutscene in the session, just posting the image of "Corporate Five" but it's sort of useful to post the transcript here. Note after Five transfers to the Mekei cruiser and the Mekei delegation arrive at the conference, then once the Mekei cruiser is clear the Assanov Field is activated, the Razza "Blinks" in below the station.

At this point I ran things marginally differently to the series. Most people are on the bridge when the Razza blinks under the station.
Lisa and Two on the Bridge
Lisa "We're in position"
Two "Any sign they detected us"
Lisa "Negative"
Two "Alright now we just wait for Five."
Now in the series there is another conversation element that occurs at this point but I deferred it to when it was actually more relavent and handled it in a slightly different manner.

We now cut to the Mekei delegation, well at least Truffault and Five making their way down to the main conference plazza.

Truffault greets another delegate.
Five is looking at her feet and avoiding other people's attention.
Truffault greets a number of other delegates then turns to Five.
Truffault: "If you're going to pretend to be a member of my team then act the part, stand up straight, look people in the eye."
           "Anyway you're the least famous member of your crew, no-one's going to recognise you."
Commander Niehman approaches accompanied by Arrian.
Niehman: "Commander Truffault"
Truffault: "Commander Niehman"
Niehman: "We meet again."
Truffault: "Yes we do. This is my assistant, Kassandra."
Niehman: "We need to talk."
         "Now!"
Truffault: "Well how about a drink then?"
Niehman follows Truffault leaving Five and his Assistant behind.

Arrian "Sorry about that. Normally he's"
Five "A really nice guy?"
Arrian (pauses and grins) "No, No, not really?"
       (he then stutters as if struggling and nervous) "Arrian, I'm with the Ferrous delegation."
Five "Yeah I got that"
pregnant pause as Arrian struggles with how to continue..
Arrian "Do you want to grab a drink?"
Five "Ah no thanks, there's something I've got to do. Would you excuse me."
Five heads off and Arrian watches her go.

Cut scene Five in one of the lower level corridors, approaching a restricted access.
When she's sure it's clear she activate the door code breaker she's carrying and opens the door, moving inside.
She then makes her way to the Comm Link Router.
Switching several of the cables around, she then substitutes her "Remote Comm Relay Interface" with the on-board unit.

Cut scene back to the Bridge of the Razza, crew on the bridge [GM Note: this is the bit I rearranged from before]
Two "She's in. We've got internal sensors and camera feeds"
Lisa "Are they scanning for Terrarium?"
Two "Only in the docking bays."
Nyx "Why Terrarium"
Lisa "I found evidence in the Alternate reality, a single report that suggested that the bomb may have been some kind of Terrarium device"
Nyx "That doesn't make sense. I've been around spaceports long enough to know that they always scan for Terrarium, where ever ships are docking."
Lisa "Correct its a precaution against malfunctioning drives."
Nyx "Well if it is a Terrarium bomb then how the hell would they get it in?"
Lisa "Unknown"

Cut back to the Conference Foyer. Five has returned and approaches Arrian

Five "Hey."
Arrian (turning around) "Your back."
Five "What did I miss?"
Arrian "Small talk. Everyone's waiting for the new delegation from the League of Autonomous Worlds to make an appearance."
Five "What do you mean, the new delegation?"
Arrian "Apparently there was a last minute change."
Five "Where are they from?"
Arrian (indicating) "Zairon"

Arrian (seeing Five suddenly apparently concearned/nervous) "Something wrong?"
Five "No, no, everything's fine." (turning back to Arrian) "They're carrying weapons."
Arrian "Daggers, supposedly ceremonial so they get to keep them. I mean what are they going to do," (laughing) "Slit everyone's throats?"
Five looks even more apprehensive.
Arrian "Are you sure you're okay."
Five "Um yeah of course, um, um, I'll see you later." (Decides she needs to contact the Razza.)
Arrian "There she goes again."
Five keeps her head down, tucks in behind one of the waitresses and heads for the stairs.
As she gets to the stairs she turns to look back, just a Ryo looks in her direction.

Cut scene to the Razza Brigde. Two and Lisa watching the screens, Three and Six arrive.
Three "What the hell happened? How'd he get onboard?"
Lisa "Apparently he's an official represenatative from the League of Autonomous Worlds."
Three "If he spots Five, he's going to rat her out."
Two "We don't know that for sure."
Six "We have to get her out of there."
Two "She's got her comm. If she thinks she's in trouble she'll let us know."

Five heading for lower levels, Cargo storage.
She enters one of the cargo storage rooms and pulls out her comm to make a call.
As she's about to place it in her ear the door opens and 2 Ashieda guards walk in.
Guard "The Emperor would like to speak with you."
Five "Sorry I'm a little busy right now."

Guard draws his dagger. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist."
The pair of Guards approach
2nd Guard "What's in your hand?"
Five "Nothing."
2nd Guard grabs her hand.
Five (resisting) "Hey"
1st Guard raises his dagger towards her face.
2nd Guard opens her hand revealing the comm unit.
2nd Guard "A communication device. She's a spy."
Five "I'm not a spy, I'm a member of the Mikkei delegation. Now let me go."
Arrian entering through the open door "Is there a problem here?"
Five looks apprehensive. Arrian walks forward "You looked upset so I thought I'd check on you."
1st guard lowering the dagger behind his back "She's fine."
Both guards now turn to face Arrian.
1st Guard "Now unless you want a diplomatic incident on your hands, I suggest you go on your way."
Arrian  looks at Five, who tenses and is still obviously apprehensive/fearful.
Arrian turns as if to leave then spins around grabs the 1st guard's wrist, shakes the dagger out of his hand, then flat handed shoves him across the room.
The second guard doges Arrian's parry repost, and manages to catch him across the side of the face with the tip of his dagger.
Arrian raises his left hand to his face whilst grabbing the Guards wrist with his right. He then twists the arm breaking it, causing the guard to drop the dagger, he then elbows the guard in the face, before grabbing hold of him and throwing him across the room where his impact with a cargo container causes the side to buckle.
[GM Note: this all takes about 10 seconds. As also noted in the Introduction when Arrian takes the guards apart in the manner he does everybody realised he was an Android]
Five "You're hurt."
Arrian shaking his head. "No I'm all right."
Five reaches up to look at the wound. "Don't be stupid. Let me see."
Arrian lets her remove his hand.
Five (realising Arrian's true nature) "Oh my god, you're an Android."
Arrian now looks nervous.

Cut scene back on the Razza bridge.
Lisa "I've found something. It's one of the secondary docking bays. Someone has tampered with the camera feed. It's on a loop."
Three "How can you tell?"
Lisa "It's inperceptable to the human eye, but the shadows cast by the starlight reset every 10 minutes."
Nyx "Who's shuttle is that?"
Lisa "Ferrous Corp"
Six "That's their way off the station without being detected. You were right."
Two "It's also our way in. Suit up."

Cut scene back to cargo room.
Five finishing binding up Zairon guards with duct tape.
Five "That will hold them for a while."
Arrian still holding his face.
Five "Lets take a look."
The wound has almost completely closed and his nanites are in the process of repairing the skin layer.
Five "Your nanites will have it closed up pretty soon, but in the meantime you'd better stay out of sight."
Arrian "Are you going to turn me in?"
Five "No."
Arrian "Why not?"
Five "You're running an illegal software upgrade. It's the only way you could have gotten on board without anybody noticing."
Arrian "Niehman gave it to me."
Five "Why"
Arrian "He said he wanted protection.A body guard."
Five "Well if they find out, they won't just kick you out of the conference, they'll have you destroyed."
     "Besides, I owe you one."
Arrian "I don't understand you're with Mikkei. You could use this information to your advantage."
Five "I'm not surprised you would think that. All I can tell you is that we're not all like Niehman. Goodluck."
Five exits leaving Arrian behind.

Cut scene back on the Razza. Nyx in the corridor, Two, Three, and Six enter from the side.
Nyx "Well, don't you three look very corporate."
Three "This is ridiculous. I look Ridiculous."
Two "You look fine."
Three "I didn't even want to do this stupid job in the first place."
Two "Look when we're done I promise you we'll pull a heist, okay?
Three "Seriously?"
Two "Yeah, you can even choose the target, bank job, jewels, whatever. But first we save the galaxy. Got it!"
Three "Fine."
Two (to Nyx) "You've got the bridge. Hopefully we're in and out without anyone noticing, but if things go sideways, we'll need a show of force."
Nyx "We'll be ready."