Gilded Sands 01 — Torn Pages

TORN PAGES was the first session of Gilded Sands, played on 27 August 2020. It was Dodeka Graft's first mission.

Cast

 * Iskra Garomedon, a disgraced noble. (she/her)
 * Nandi Tin, a discarded soldier. (she/her)
 * Skoryy Feldspar, a brutal streetracer. (she/her)
 * Olenka Electrum, a showboating wrestler.
 * Zoya Gabbro, a newly-free jailbird. (she/her)
 * Kladi Demos, a put-upon supervisor. (they/them)
 * Kaleidos Green, a desperate interceptor. (he/they)
 * Stem Tromara, a solemn defector. (she/her)
 * Kelp Idrotas, a stern genetic researcher. (he/him)

Briefing
The squad is woken up by an alarm and summoned to a meeting about a new mission. Kelp Idrotas, a stern Narkissos Branch researcher, calls in to request Dodeka's help with a new mission: stop The Scholars-Errant from reaching Pesok Station with Stem Tromara, a kidnapped Narkissos scientist.

They are given two rules of engagement: do not enter Pesok Station, and do not engage Nadezhdan forces.

Legwork
As the squad takes the morning and afternoon to prepare, Olenka calls in a favour with a contact in Pesok Station named Koshka, setting up a last-ditch hurdle for the Scholars-Errant should it be needed. Skoryy grills Didi for more intel with the help of Olenka, while Iskra tries in vain to find more information on the Alexei units set to be accompanying the target. Meanwhile, Nandi and Zoya head to set up an ambush along the road; Nandi finds a vantage point for a long-range attack, while Zoya buries the Mimic in the sand just to the side of the road and waits. Eventually, the rest of the squad joins the ambush too.

Ambush
The target—an armoured van—eventually appears along with three Alexei units guarding it. The squad springs their ambush: Skoryy sets off a cyan-coloured smoke bomb with the Ripshaw, as Zoya in the Mimic leaps from hiding to grab the van and drag it off the road, eventually bringing it to a halt by tearing off its wheels. Olenka in the Firebird topples an Alexei as Iskra in the One-Winged Hussar charges in with her lance, while Nandi in Mama provides long-range support. One of the Alexei pilots, an ace, retaliates the best they can, but is destroyed by cannon-fire from Nandi.

In the chaos, as the van has been stopped, its five passengers get out and run, but Skoryy intercepts them in the Ripshaw, and threatens them at gunpoint to give up Tromara. When Tromara refuses to come peacefully, Skoryy shoots one of the Scholars-Errant, and she gives up; Tromara is stuffed in the back of the Ripshaw to be taken back to base. Olenka suggests hearing her out, but in the end, the squad decides to take Tromara.

Kaleidos Green
Before they can get away, a humanoid, seemingly Dodonan mech appears. It is equipped with a beam-saber and mech-scale gun, and is piloted by Kaleidos Green, who can't forgive what the squad is doing to Tromara. The squad debates running away, but in the end, everyone but Skoryy stays to provide a distraction while she escapes, safely returning to base and handing Tromara (who was a defector, not a hostage) over to the Iris.

In the ensuing battle, Olenka wrestles Kaleidos to the ground, and almost has the arm of the Firebird sliced off by Kaleidos' saber. Nandi realises that Kaleidos' mech - a prototype Kappadokkios class - is built to interface with his nervous system and mirror his actual body, and concludes that it must have the same acupuncture points as a human. She pinpoints their locations to the rest of the squad, and Iskra delivers a devastating blow to its 'kidneys' with the Hussar's telescopic lance. Finally, Zoya grapples onto the Kappadokkios' saber-wielding arm, latches the Mimic onto its wrist, and squeezes it hard enough to detach the hand entirely. In pain and despair, Kaleidos makes his escape.

The mission succeeds, and the squad heads home with heavy hearts.

Mechanical Notes

 * +1 tick to the faction goal (up to 1/4).
 * +4 trust with the Dodonan Tribunal.
 * Status with Narkissos Branch advanced to +2 ("useful").
 * Status with The Scholars-Errant advanced to –1 ("dupes").
 * Status with Kaleidos Green advanced to –2 ("villains").
 * +3 REP.
 * +3 supply.
 * +2 materiel.