Fiber

Star Wars: Shattered Galaxy Roleplay

Discord Link

They say that when Alderaan died 200 years ago that was the first time anyone alive had felt such a great disturbance in the force; that even the wisest struggled to understand what had happened. That was when a planet dying meant something, the days where names like Skywalker and Palpatine belonged to living people, instead of sitting alongside figures like Revan and Exar Kun in the domain of ill-remembered stories and legends. Now the galaxy has seen the Great War, the first war fought where all sides had mass produced superweapons with firepower once reserved for the Death Star or Starkiller Base. The opening salvo killed more people than the Clone Wars, the Galactic Civil War and the First Order/Resistance Conflict combined. Anyone who could listen said that it sounded like the force itself was screaming as countless worlds died and over half the galactic population perished. The intense fires of conflict became smoldering embers once the stockpiles were exhausted and what remained of the governments and industries that had built the superweapons lay shattered into a thousand pieces. The core worlds are all but gone, the inner rim is just as devastated, and what passes for civilization is scattered among the outer reaches of the galaxy. Even landscapes as hostile as the deserts of Tatooine and the icy wastes of Hoth are sought after in this era; many of the most recent generations have no home world, living a nomadic existence amid a fleet of ships and never even breathing the air of a real atmosphere.

Now the galaxy is dotted with warlords and bandits, commanding whatever forces they have and trying to carve their own slice of territory. They give their forces grandiose titles, there is no shortage of new empires, republics, orders, federations, but whatever they call themselves or whatever great heritage or ideology they claim means little. In the same manner Jedi and Sith have become empty words, adopted by any thug or mystical charlatan with a lightsaber and some half remembered teachings; a thousand disparate traditions clinging to old ideals. Few have time to think beyond the hardships of everyday life. To the those that open their mind to the force and listen to it, they hear something new amongst the ruins, something that has replaced the terror from the height of the war. They feel it growing weaker, straining more and more, and calling to them only for it to fade each time; as though the force itself is dying, and no one knows why.

---

This will be a Star Wars RP taking place long after the Sequel Trilogy, many years past established canon. I'm aiming for a mix of a dark,er post apocalyptic feel, typical star wars action and adventure, and hopefully some philosophical introspection about what the force is and what it means to individuals. shaking up the setting quite a bit. At the start of the RP the players will be on a ship in a refugee fleet, all have their own reasons for being there, and will find themselves thrown together to survive, leading to a galaxy spanning adventure. More details of the lore will be fleshed out as we go on.

Canon Policy
Disney Canon and Legends are both welcome and encouraged. Disney Canon takes precedence over Legends in the case of a conflict between them. Events between the Sequel Trilogy and the current time in the RP have been left vague intentionally to allow for the ability for players to fill in the details.

Timeline

179 Years After the Battle of Yavin: Things weren’t going well before the war. History is spotty, but something called the “Imperial Republic” was nominally in charge, and they had made a lot of enemies. They were fighting small conflicts for years, but in 179 ABY a coalition had formed, one that spanned the whole galaxy and had enough firepower to pose a serious challenge, including their own stockpile of superweapons with planet destroying power. Negotiations break down quickly when the coalition presents its demands and no compromise can be found, despite the efforts of the Jedi to find a peaceful solution. Every source seems to have a different idea of who was worse between the two sides, but both of them quickly decided to prepare for war. The last few rounds of negotiations were just stalling tactics meant to buy time for more war planning.


180 ABY: The bloodiest year in galactic history. The Great War begins with a series of explosive offensive maneuvers by both sides, employing superweapons to break through hard targets. This quickly leads to escalation, where each side adopting a scorched earth policy, opting to immediately destroy enemy worlds rather than lose precious time attempting slower tactics like sieges, bombardment, or ground invasion. Coruscant, Corellia, Kuat, and all of the other most prominent population and economic centers of the core worlds are destroyed. Force users begin to feel something called that will later be called the Cacophony, driving many mad or away from the force.


182 ABY: Command structures for all sides completely break down; there is effectively no more civilian government to direct the military efforts. Holonet has ceases to function, and communication across the galaxy is severed. Countless records and valuable knowledge are lost during the destruction. After two years of fighting the galactic core is a desolate region, virtually every target of value destroyed. Fighting moves on to the inner rim and the colonies. Officers no longer look at maps of what territory their forces control, only what enemy targets are not destroyed. All large scale organization amongst both Jedi and Sith has collapsed from losses in war and the on effects of the Cacophony. Many splinter sects are formed, as the forces upholding rigid doctrine and preventing heresy are no longer present and apocryphal stories mix with what remains of holy scripture. These new groups have no shortage of adherents, finding many among those looking to understand all the tragedy around them.


185 ABY: Desertions and splintering becomes have become rampant on all sides, as old loyalties mean little and commanders begin to use their forces to carve out their own empires and win their own fortunes. Hyperspace travel is tougher as the busiest trade routes are the scene of intense fighting, and many planets along them are also targeted. The Inner Rim is now looking as empty as the core worlds, and the center of the fighting spills into the expansion region and the mid rim. With few dense population centers left, any world with a temperate climate, significant industry, or a good location on a trade route is now a prime target.

190 ABY: The year of the last recorded planet destructions. All known superlaser equipped vessels have been destroyed, and the all stockpiles of Baradium Fission, Resonance, and Particle Disintegration warheads have been exhausted after years of fighting. The vast mining operations and factory worlds that allowed the weapons to be built in the first place now lie in ruins. Life signs are rare in the Core and Inner Rim. Warlords and refugees alike begin to focus on the Outer Rim, where fighting has been more limited in scope. The Cacophony has stopped, leading to an eerie period of calm in the force.


192 ABY: Refugees remain rampant, with few habitable worlds left; they form massive fleets, making their endless journey from system to system in search of a home. They are easy prey for any warlord or criminal organization that needs disposable manpower. First rumors begin to circulate about a group known as the Nameless Fleet, based in the unknown regions with occasional incursions into the rest of the galaxy. All reported encounters with them are hostile, and few survive. Astute force users start to notice a change in the force, a feeling of weakness and uncertainty that was not there before. It’s little discussed; out of the dozens of traditions and interpretations almost none know how to explain it. The wisest among them talk about in hushed tones, as they feel that something is wrong with the force itself.

194 ABY: The Hutts establish an agreement that ends virtually all large scale conflicts inside their space, facilitated through an elaborate system of tributes and taxation. All except those at the very top must pay, and Hutt Space becomes the Galaxy’s greatest marketplace for goods, whether benign or morally dubious. Crime and the slave trade are commonplace, but war stays at its borders.

200 ABY: Current Year. Reported sightings of the Nameless Fleet grow more frequent in Galactic South, some even report losing entire star systems to them. Little other details are available. A confederation of warlords in the Galactic North signs the Dubrillon Accords, establishing a tentative system to choose a ruler among them. Whether this establishes any lasting peace is yet to be seen. The Galactic South remains as chaotic as ever. The strange feeling of the force has only grown since eight years ago, and now even less experienced force users have begun to feel the weakness. No one has been able to prove their theory on its meaning, but more and more people fear that the force itself may fade away.

Galaxy Map

Credit to reddit.com/user/_DarthSyphilis_ for the map.
Please note: A planet is listed does not mean intact. Many of the locations on this map are destroyed

The core of the galaxy is easy to get lost in. Some scavengers try to look for treasure here, and pirate pick off many who do, but aside from that there is little traffic here. Even those looking make a shortcut on trade runs stay out of here unless they are extremely brave or foolish.

The Unknown Regions are just as mysterious as they have always been. The war has seen more fleeing into them; oftentimes vanishing without a trace in the uncharted depths. The Nameless Fleet is theorized to use somewhere in this area as their base of operations.

Forces fighting in the Galactic North had less desertion issues in the war, and even to this day the region is less fragmented. Dozens of small-time dictators and warlords still run this place, but they tend to prefer larger and more formal alliances as opposed to the utter chaos of the South. There’s still war, and horrifically huge battles, but recent events like the Dubrillon Accords and the buffer zone between them and Hutt Space may be the first steps in rebuilding some kind of order.

The Hutts control the Galactic East, although control is a loose term. In their case, it means that they collect a portion of the proceeds of the commerce and can pay people to keep them in power, actual governance is left to individual gangs and pirate fleets who hold territory. Due to the Hutts negotiations during the war this region was spared from the worst of the fighting and as a result boasts some of the best remaining infrastructure and has become the hub of galactic trade. All of the boasting about Nar Shadaa’s skyline hasn’t washed away the questionable reputation of the region; a popular saying around Hutt Space is that nothing is illegal as long as you’re paying enough money to the right people. Beside them is the DMZ, a buffer zone built up to establish a definitive border with the north, and run by some of the most fearsome mercenaries in the galaxy. They lack numbers but the pay attracts the most experienced, it’s a badge of honor to serve with them. Whether this will be enough to prevent aggressive incursions from a larger force is yet to be seen.

The Galactic South had the richest trade routes in the outer rim before the war, perhaps that’s why it ended up seeing so much fighting and so many chose to flee to it. This is still the most chaotic region, alliances and territory shift on a daily basis as everyone with ambition tries to seize whatever space or riches they can. It’s hard to even get a sense of the whole region; whatever can’t be confirmed first hand is the domain of rumors and wild propaganda. The one thing it offers is hope to the daring, if someone dreams of commanding their own fleet or finally finding a safe haven forgotten by the rest of the galaxy, the south is the best place for them.

Rules

1. Be kind to everyone. If you have a dispute, work it out in a civil way.
2. Respect the bounds of the RP. Remember the general rules about not godmoding, controlling others characters, making characters that are overpowered/setting breaking, or contradicting what’s been established for RP. There’s plenty of room to work with others and incorporate ideas, just try to talk it through first.
3. Be part of a group. Try to work with people to make the RP happen, give people the opportunity to decide where the plot goes. Also, if you end up leaving the RP, it's all fine, just let us know if you can.

Star Wars: Shattered Galaxy

Hey everybody, happy to have more. Working on the OOC now, and I don't want to set a hard deadline, but I expect to have it ready tomorrow or Saturday, so keep an eye out for that. Now, to answer some questions.

This looks very promising and a fresh take on Star Wars, are you still accepting applicants?

@High Moon

Yes, still accepting, I don't have a hard limit on group size in mind.

Are you utilizing Disney Canon exclusively?

@Starboard Watch

Not exclusively. The exact details are being worked out, but the general rule I'm going with is Legends is allowed if it doesn't have major contradictions with Disney canon. So, for example, most of the Legends stuff after the Battle of Endor is contradicted by the sequel trilogy, but something like KOTOR 2 should be fair game. If you have questions about specific elements, feel free to ask me directly.

So will we all be starting off on the same ship?

@Hyyde322

Ooh, I like the idea! Colour me interested. Are you thinking of splitting us off in groups or throwing us all together?

@Catharyn

Answering these together, I'm going to try and keep people together at the start at least. We may split up into groups later, if people want to and if it makes sense for the RP.

Star Wars: Shattered Galaxy

I think there's enough interest for me to start working on an OOC. Hopefully I'll have something ready later this week.

So I was really curious how you did the gradient with the text, so I looked at the Raws and uh



What the Hell.

@Yam I Am

Yup, gradients are tricky, and I used this tool to make it happen: stuffbydavid.com/textcolorizer . Initially I wanted to do an even more complex gradient that would start from the center, to make it look even more like a lightsaber but I decided it wouldn't be worth the time it would take to code my own script to make that happen even assuming I wouldn't run into some issue involving text spacing.

Star Wars: Shattered Galaxy

Thank you all for your interest so far! Glad to see this idea is getting some traction.

@Fiber What kind of characters are you hoping to have in this game?

@Rezin

I'm going to try and allow a broad variety of characters, especially creative concepts that might have a harder time fitting in another Star Wars RP. Characters with morality on both the dark and the light side are welcome, as are ones that don't fit the dichotomy. All that I really ask is the usual stuff about not making anything too overpowered or setting breaking, and that the character has room to grow as the RP goes on.

I kinda like the post apocalyptic feel.

I almost feel like making a Mandalorian scavenger for this one. <3 Hard maybe.

@AnnaBeth

That like a cool idea for a character.

Star Wars: Shattered Galaxy

They say that when Alderaan died 200 years ago that was the first time anyone alive had felt such a great disturbance in the force; that even the wisest struggled to understand what had happened. That was when a planet dying meant something, the days where names like Skywalker and Palpatine belonged to living people, instead of sitting alongside figures like Revan and Exar Kun in the domain of ill-remembered stories and legends. Now the galaxy has seen the Great War, the first war fought where all sides had mass produced superweapons with firepower once reserved for the Death Star or Starkiller Base. The opening salvo killed more people than the Clone Wars, the Galactic Civil War and the First Order/Resistance Conflict combined. Anyone who could listen said that it sounded like the force itself was screaming as countless worlds died and over half the galactic population perished. The intense fires of conflict became smoldering embers once the stockpiles were exhausted and what remained of the governments and industries that had built the superweapons lay shattered into a thousand pieces. The core worlds are all but gone, the inner rim is just as devastated, and what passes for civilization is scattered among the outer reaches of the galaxy. Even landscapes as hostile as the deserts of Tatooine and the icy wastes of Hoth are sought after in this era; many of the most recent generations have no home world, living a nomadic existence amid a fleet of ships and never even breathing the air of a real atmosphere.

Now the galaxy is dotted with warlords and bandits, commanding whatever forces they have and trying to carve their own slice of territory. They give their forces grandiose titles, there is no shortage of new empires, republics, orders, federations, but whatever they call themselves or whatever great heritage or ideology they claim means little. In the same manner Jedi and Sith have become empty words, adopted by any thug or mystical charlatan with a lightsaber and some half remembered teachings; a thousand disparate traditions clinging to old ideals. Few have time to think beyond the hardships of everyday life. To the those that open their mind to the force and listen to it, they hear something new amongst the ruins, something that has replaced the terror from the height of the war. They feel it growing weaker, straining more and more, and calling to them only for it to fade each time; as though the force itself is dying, and no one knows why.

---

Thank you for reading, this RP is an idea for a different take on a Star Wars RP, shaking up the setting quite a bit. Looking for a group of players who start out just trying to survive, stumble into an galaxy-spanning journey, and end up probing some of the most profound mysteries of the force.
More details of the lore will be fleshed out as we go on. Elements from both the Legends canon and the current canon will be allowed.

What to expect

☄️ A dark, post-apocalyptic feel brought to Star Wars
☄️ Epic adventures and action
☄️ A collaborative approach to world-building
☄️ More freedom from canon than typical of a star wars RP
☄️Interesting philosophical takes on the force

Emerald Darkness (Private)

PCs

Known NPCs

_______________________________________________ Bradford | 170 | Vampire (Ventrue)

Information ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Paranoid old hand. He has the inflated ego typical of a Ventrue clan vampire but pairs it with introversion, which leads to him delegating nothing and spending enormous amounts of time inside his mansion, away from the rest. His public appearances are affairs that he does only when absolutely necessary. There he’s always got a field of suck-ups eager to curry favor with him. It’s also where he shows off his rare generous acts, where the public can see. Ruthless acts are the ones he keeps hidden. He’s gotten power over the years, never enough to rule the city like he would hope, but he is a patient man. His many cunning moves and maneuverings have left him with the biggest book of favors owed of any vampire in the city. Shame that none of that will make people actually like him. They say he amassed a fortune while he was still living by being the most ruthless of the mill owners from the heyday of Seattle’s timber industry, the history books talk about how he left his wife on her deathbed when he had a business deal to close, and that he set was responsible for a fire that killed a half dozen workers who threaten to go on strike. That is who he was, and while his focus has changed since becoming a vampire, his morals have not. He’s left a trail of bodies behind him, mostly a result of his curse that limits which blood can sustain him. Only blood from violent wounds will satiate him, and he has kept himself quite full off of the bodies of those he deems unimportant. All of this happens inside the basement of his Mercer Island mansion, hidden from the eyes of the mundane authorities.

Unknown NPCs

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Emerald Darkness (Private)

Character Sheet Template

_______________________________________________ CHARACTER NAME | CHARACTER AGE | TYPE OF SUPERNATURAL	Personality ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Describe your character's personality here ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Biography ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ (Talk about their biography) Abilities ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ (List their abilities, eg disciplines, spheres, edges. Also mundane skills if they might be relevent) NPCs ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ (List characters they know and have some kind of relationship with) Character: Relationship

Emerald Darkness (Private)

Seattle is a city where every resident thinks it would be a better place if half of the people in it stopped existing. Which half? Now that is something no one can agree on, and that is why the city has so many grudges that need settling. This type of anger isn’t the thing that goes off half-cocked, it’s the kind that simmers slowly, building up and making elaborate plans while taking every precaution to avoid tipping anyone off before its time. That’s the way things are in the Seattle that lurks in darkness, the deep currents that flow underneath and drive the city the average citizen knows, only rarely seeping up to the surface.

The vampires are the most numerous of the nightfolk in Seattle, and have the most elaborate history and society in the area. The Camarilla’s grip is tight, controlling most of the region, but not without areas of weakness. Challenges are mounting from the rebellious Anarchs of Seattle proper and the growing, violent bands of the Sabbat in Renton, in addition to the smaller factions with their own agendas. The local Werewolf packs are seeing a growing rift between the urban dwellers among them and those who hide in the wilds surrounding the city, rejecting the trappings of modern civilization. The aerospace and tech industries have given the Technocracy a strong powerbase in their war against the mages of the Traditions, who struggle to survive and hide in a city they see changing around them. All of this is inseparable, woven together like a grand tapestry. Just like a tapestry, all it takes to unravel is for someone fed up with it all to find one thread and never stop pulling. No one knows who that person will be. No one knows what Seattle will look like after them.

Our Final Nights: A World of Darkness Roleplay

Collab featuring @Ezekiel, @Hellion and Tanderbolt

With the noise suppression system active the helicopter was practically silent, floating through the sky like it was suspended on invisible strings. It flew in and out of the clouds of smoke, punching holes through them that shifted and filled in as it passed. Grace and Julie spent the time looking at the screens in the cockpit, reading through chemical analysis of the smoke and the records of energy signatures detected. They were mundane, extremely mundane, enough to rule out suspects like the Verbena and the Nephandi, the speed with which the fire had spread indicated it wasn’t natural, but there was nothing else they could discern about it. Julie had started to drum he fingers on the console to numb the boredom, until Grace started to speak

“Perhaps there is something we can do besides survey the damage.”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to get involved” Julie said

“We shouldn’t get involved just because some release of chemicals inside the brain triggers a million year old instinct for empathy. We have more sophisticated tools to guide us, including an algorithm appropriate for this situation. It’s running right now, and will tell us where our efforts have the most impact.”

“How does it do that?”

“It’s too complicated for us to understand, if it stayed within the bounds of human cognition it would never be able to perform as well as it does. What we need to know is its accuracy, which was around the four sigma mark last time it was tested.”

The algorithm told them to focus on one area near the hills, close to the edge where the slope got too steep for dense development. Grace turned on the helicopter's searchlight and swept the area, flittering rapidly from point to point.

As the light from the flare began to trail and die, Henry barely surpressed the urge to swear loudly. He had no particular feelings against such, but remaining calm would likely assist in his efforts to keep a certain Kindred from giving in to the curse of her blood. His concerns were but to rest a moment later when a spotlight blazed into life in the night sky, from a point he was very much sure a helicopter hadn't occuped a moment before, or the noise would have been rather clear. With the flare gun spent, all he could do was wave, atop the landing pad as they were all ready. For a moment he considered uncovering Nicole, but decided it probably wasn't the strangest thing anyone might do with a fire racing towards them.

With the attention of the rescue craft hopefully drawn, his focus moved back to the onrushing fire, peering into the darkness that lay between the scouring motes of light. His expression pulled into a frown, it wasn't clear, even for him, but he certinly felt like he had percieved larger shapes moving among the darkness, pressing just behind, and somehow within, the approaching wall of fire.

"Best land soon..." He muttered to himself, feeling the rush of air begin to play across his back from the closing distance of the helicopter.

Nicole had been in many life-threatening situations as a Los Angeles police officer, from being caught up in the crossfire of city block rival gang wars, to highspeed car chases on the Interstate. And while such cases could never be forgotten, it seemed as though her experiences as one being reborn into a supernatural were rought with nightmarish scenarios. This time around had been no different, and she felt as helpless as a child.

All the woman knew about the escalating emergency was that there had a been a large fire, which apparently was heading toward the Sunset. The thick comforter from the hotel room -throat over her entire body and doused with water by Henry- had cut her off from most of her surroundings, leaving only sound and scent to guide her anxious mind. The sounds of screams, the scent of burning timber, and the rising feeling of dread all seemed to hit her at once.

What was this about? If she'd had a living heart, it would most certainly be pumping at an extreme rate. But what had replaced it was a fear unknown, and flashes of memories she couldn't understand. Memories that were not her own, but perhaps...

Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of the rotary engine on what sounded like a helicopter hovering overhead. She wanted to say something. Anything. But the right words wouldn't surface. Nicole simply knelt down, keeping her body covered as instructed, and putting as much faith as could be mustered into the one known as Henry Locke.

The flare was exactly the kind of signal Grace had been looking for. It came from the roof of a building that she had visited before, but Sunset was not a place she knew well or was fond of. The searchlight panned over the roof for a quick inspection, seeing one figure standing up and another indistinct one beside him. No need to sift through a crowd to find who to evacuate. More lights on the helicopter turned on as it pivoted and began its approach to land. These were not so much for illuminating the surrounding as letting people know where not to stand.

As it descended lower the force of the rotors began to buffet the building, blowing dust and smoke particles around the rooftop. Unlike the skyscrapers downtown, landing on this narrow rooftop was a tricky matter. Thanks to computer assistance and focusing her attention to level bordering on a trance, Grace was able to guide the helicopter down to the roof. The rotors themselves never stopped moving, just in case they needed to make a hasty exit, but once the helicopter was resting solidly on its landing gear, it’s pitch black, unmarked airframe illuminated by the glow coming from the distance, the door to the passenger compartment opened. Behind the darkened windows of the cockpit, Grace spoke over the loudspeaker. “Hello. Are you in need of evacuation?”

"Ticket for one please, conductor." Henry spoke with more humour than he felt, guiding Nicole over to the vehicle, which couldn't be any more 'Men-In-Black' if it tried. He made sure to keep her turned away from the fire as best he could, but it likely wouldn't be long before it would become impossible to do so. "Most of everyone else has got out of here, but I'll attend to that, if you can get her safe, then call, or have her call, this number." Henry waggled a simplistic business card, before slotting it, somewhat condescendingly, into one of the prominent folds of the blanket held over Nicole, assisting her up as best she could, when it became evident these new arrivals weren't about to just lure them in to blast them away. "If there's a matter of payment, the lady on the other end will square that away." He spoke hurridly, less careful than he would like to be with someone who he'd promised to keep safe, but he could feel the tension building. Something beyond the fire was rushing towards them, and he wanted them all gone before it struck.

Henry Locke took a few steps back from the craft, giving it room to lift away without fear of blasting him back, before the roof itself seemed to shudder. It wasn't the fire, that was still a fair few minutes from reaching the structure. Something had bounded out of the darkness, leaping over the flames to land atop the roof on the otherside of the rooftop lounge. It's form was huge, still obscured by darkness, but the growl building in its throat gave it away to those who had experienced one before.

"Ah...fuck my life." He spoke with a resigned sigh, swinging his long bag to the ground, pulling the rifle within as his spatial awareness caught sight of other such shapes prowling closer in the darkness below. "Get in the air!" He called back to the darkened vehicle behind him, before aiming the sights of his weapon across to the Garou as it prepared to lunge.

"Chew on this, you jumped up poodle."

The scent and sound of everything around her swirled into a cacophony of elements she couldn't decipher in her mind, as the literal shroud of darkness kept her safe -allegedly- from the external terrors. Shit that could bring a fledgling vampire to the bring of destroying oneself...or others. She had heard enough about it from Eva during their time together. It was the Frenzy, that wild and untamed creature luring just under the skin, ready to strike at a moments notice if it wasn't for the immense willpower Kindred had to grasp in order to maintain their cover.

Nicole did what she had to do in order to keep the beast at bay, and lucky for her, anxiety of the unknown seemed to be the only real issue at the moment. Not seeing the doom-to-come helped to an extent, but as Henry continued ushering her toward the helicopter entry, she knew there was precious little time before the ugly would emerge.

The door shut automatically as Nicole got on board, leaving the passenger compartment dark inside. Grace waited until the helicopter was off the ground and several hundred feet clear of the building before she left pilot seat. From what she could see was happening on the rooftop, it looked like they had left just in time. The helicopter continued on its path, autopilot did a decent job of taking them towards an uncrowded part of the airspace and maintaining a holding pattern. If anything more difficult came up, Grace was still plugged in to take care of it.

Grace sat still in a seat facing whoever was underneath that hotel comforter. She said nothing, just watching and waiting for her passenger to reveal herself. As far as she knew there was nothing imminently dangerous aboard, yet there were few other details she could tell. A business card that had fallen to the floor when boarding provided a hint, and Grace studied the details, trying to cross-reference and see if it was a familiar design. Behind her ever-present sunglasses, Grace was staring so intently one wondered if she was trying to burn a hole through the floor with vision alone.

Into the heart of chopper, a new scent was revealed. Her surroundings seemed newer, sterile even, as though walking into a big-box electronics store and being assaulted by the smell of technology. Nicole sighed, and slid the comforter off enough to peek her head out, before sliding the rest off as it fell in the seat next to her. She said nothing for a few moments, rubbing the dark stubble on the top of her shaven head, and allowing her eyes to dart around the small space until they fell onto the mysterious woman with the dark shades. The Gangrel was no empath, at least not from any supernatural standpoint, but she didn't get as uneasy a feeling from the woman across from her as one would think.

"So..." She bit lightly on the side of her lip. "Who're you?"

Sure, it was a direct question and part of her felt the slight sense of guilt for not even thanking her "savior" for the quick escape, but her mind continued to race enough that perhaps gratitude would need to wait. She needed answers. It sucked being in the dark.

After seeing Nicole, Grace searched her memories. She had seen her, but they hadn't interacted. The readings of the vital signs showed that Nicole had undergone some profound changes. While looking to see if there was more, Grace said

"Someone you've met before, back when you still had a normal heartbeat. I gave counterterrorism briefing at your precinct. I believe you were in the back, seldom looking at the presentation. You may not remember me, I have a way of making myself particularly unmemorable."

The Gangrel arched an inquisitive eyebrow, silent for a moment while pondering the other's words. "Ah, unfortunately I don't remember you, but there have also been countless meetings and presentations." She allowed a slight snicker, as though that were about the only humorous moment that evening.

"Anyway." Nicole sighed. "I-uh, probably should thank you for the pick up." She leaned her head against the leather seat. "So yeah. Thanks." The woman smiled only slightly, closing her eyes if only for a brief moment. "Although I wish I knew just what the fuck was going on in this city."

Grace looked down and reach for the floor, picking up the plain looking piece of cardstock by Nicole. With an even tone in her voice, she said
"Don't we all. That is a large question, I would like to focus on something smaller in scope"

She held the card up with her outstretched hand and said

"Who this business card belongs to..."

Our Final Nights: A World of Darkness Roleplay

On a night like this the normal hum of electronic communications in Los Angeles was cluttered with violent and chaotic bursts of terror. It was easy to witness this from the basement of the switching station, 27 stories of wiring and interconnections, a great river of data just waiting for someone to drink from it. In Grace’s case the noise interrupted the normal lessons she was trying to teach Julie, an overwhelming force she tuned out while sampling the datastream. All of the circuits were at their maximum, but alternate channels let Grace get the calls she needed to make through. News of the fire was spreading fast, and with her subordinate in tow Grace headed out of the basement and to the street outside.

They walked to the skyscraper at the end of the block, a mass of steel, glass and the basic geometric forms of the international style. Grace’s card got them past security and through the white marble lobby, completely deserted except for security guards that time of night. Once they made it to bank of elevators at the back, Grace began to talk.
“It’s almost calming to have something in the present to deal with, a break from unlimited worries of the future.”

Julie answered “Very true. My father used to wake us up in the middle of the night and time how long it took us to get to the fallout shelter. He kept rankings of me and all of my siblings, telling us which of us would make and which of us wouldn’t when the bombs fell. I spent so much time worrying about that it felt weird when the government was at our door, because it was one of the only times that something else was on my mind.”

Julie bit her lip, and then said “If I’m slowing you down, I can do something else. Just tell me how I can help, I know it’s a weird night and I don’t want to be burden”

Grace said “It’s fine, this is an opportunity for some direct experience. If it wasn’t for the fire I’d probably be over at JPL or Vandenberg doing readiness checks right now because that’s where I always end up when something far away makes the high command nervous.”
After the elevator there were stairs to climb, up to the rooftop, above the massive glowing Deloitte sign.

Julie asked “Where are we going?”

“The Helipad.” Grace said.

“There’s a helipad on this building?”

“Forty years ago one of us snuck a line in the fire code that required helipads on top of all the skyscrapers in the city. That’s proven to be useful to us, it may make the buildings look boxier but that is the least of our concerns. So much of this city’s history has been shaped by the hands of someone who fancies themselves an aesthete I’m surprised we were able to slip it in the first place.”

One flight of metal stairs brought them to the helipad where their vehicle was waiting for them It was painted pitch black, and looked close but not identical to civilian models, having dozen of modifications to harden it against electronic warfare, give it a suite of stealth technologies and other technocracy additions. Near silent and invisible to conventional radar, the usual methods of helicopter detection would write it off as no more than an urban myth while it flew through the air. Despite its aptitude for evading normal technology, the files were had a laundry list of incidents where their enemies had managed to use exotic means to spot them, ranging from dowsing rods to divine revelations, conjured spirits and jury rigged tv antennas, a frustrating reminder of the variety of reality deviant threats they faced.

The pilot’s seat was empty until Grace got in. She fished around for a thin cable and plugged it into a socket in the back of her head, giving her full access to the helicopter’s systems. Julie talked as she found her place in the co-pilot chair “I didn’t know we still used these. I thought we went all drone.”

Grace said “We keep a few of these around just in case. Truth be told this could be done with them, but I believe some firsthand experience would help you.” The aircraft rose off the ground with so little sound and a smoothness that made it look like it was being pull into the air by invisible strings. They gained altitude and kept a low flight pattern, just above the rooftops of the skyscrapers as they headed towards the fire in the hills.

The orange glow of the fire filled the sky. Pillars of smoke rose in the Hollywood Hills, a beacon for where they were going. The helicopter glided above the streets, seeing the cars and streetlights like they little shining specks in a tight grid pattern. Grace flew it without lights, relying on the GPS, IR, inertial guidance, and other means to find her way. With all of the data feeding in through the port in the back of her head, she didn’t even need to open her eyes to guide it.

In just a few moments they were flying towards the cloud of smoke. Julie was quiet, absorbing it all and hearing the noise of dozens of fire engines below. Grace said

“You’ll have to address this tomorrow, you know. It’s topical.”

Julie said “Yeah. What do I say? I can’t talk about fire science the whole time.”

“Do what you always do, explain, but do it in a way that will make them feel safe, let them know we have a system and it’s in control.”

“And then what?”

“Then you offer our solution. You give them something new for them to support. A new government office, a new forest management practice or investment in the electrical grid; I’ll have a menu of policies for you in the morning. This is how we get them on our side. Fear drives people, because it’s something they can’t ignore, so offer them a choice between our safe options and only darkness outside it.”
They were flying low to get images of the site of the fire and the smoke was all around. Grace wasn’t bothered thanks to her own enhancements, but when Julie started to cough from it, she turned on the filters to spare her. After she could be breathe clearly, Julie said

“Are we going to try and put it out?”

Grace said “That’s what the fire department is for.”

“But we can help”

“We help by making institutions like fire departments, like intelligence agencies, corporations. If we didn’t trust them then we wouldn’t have invested in them.”

“It’s hard to ignore people being burnt alive down there.”

“It’s what we must do. It’s a tragedy, but not a new one. How many billions died in misery before them, and how many more would’ve if not for our work? At the end of the day we’ll count up the damage, but it will be so that we can move forward. Once this fire is out there’ll be federal redevelopment projects, new policies to push on the politicians, so much work to be done. You have to see the big picture.”

“What you’re saying is that we can’t save everyone”

“Not yet. But some day, we’ll be able to. We have to believe in the plan, believe in the goal, because that is what makes this all worthwhile.”

The helicopter continued on its route, circling in the dark of the night and the light of the flames below, passing over the site of the Sunset Lounge.