Beam Saber - MEKONG: Symphony for the Devil, Episode 9 [Chandrahasa]

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome, and welcome all to our penultimate episode of Queen Quartz Games. Beam Saber actual play Mekong, the space opera adventure set in a universe inspired by southeast asian history, culture, and myth. We're so glad you can join us in sticking with us as we dive into our last stretch of this campaign filled with political intrigue and passionate romance and epic battle mech battles and generational trauma. But you guys already knew that. Our story focuses on a group of people this universe calls the Tanong, a caste of mech pilots who operate uniquely powerful chassis called PC, say, selma Jiang pilots. That's what I'm talking about. Through their deeds, decisions, and dice rolls, they will shape their fates in the stars that make up the seven sectors of the Mekong constellation and grapple with the obligations that drove them to this line of work in the first place. My name is Jerry Law. I'll be your storyteller, game master, director, what have you. To these folks, I'm just a guy who's about to receive a very savage Danny's parking lot beat down after we're done filming. So first up, man's best friend's best friend, the squad's resident mech racer and envoy Klaxon Bulak lock. Say hello to Ryan Omega. [00:01:11] Speaker B: Hey, everybody. I'm Ryan. My pronouns are he, him, and I play Klaxon bulak lock, a mech racer dog lover, even though we haven't been really talking about dogs because we're dealing with the advent of war and spiritual things. So I'm excited to see our dogs again. But until then, this story second, our. [00:01:32] Speaker A: Beloved thespian turned smuggler turned ace pilot, playing rupiah Taiyang. We got Fuja. [00:01:37] Speaker C: Hello. [00:01:39] Speaker D: I am also excited to lay some WHOOP ass down on a bunch of the adversary. [00:01:48] Speaker A: Next up, onto his third mech of the campaign, nine episodes in the street fighting warhorse and old man of the party playing Roman. Max Lawn. We got Andrew. [00:01:57] Speaker E: What's up, everyone? Andrew Jalandy pronounced he him for both myself and Roman. Yes, ice cold cans of WHOOP ass for everyone this episode. [00:02:06] Speaker A: And finally, the princess without a kingdom but the queen of our hearts already vung, played by my dear friend and incredible producer, Queen's Court's own Clara. [00:02:14] Speaker C: Hello. We're about to do. I'm excited and scared and mostly scared. And Jerry knows that I know where he lives. [00:02:26] Speaker A: Come get some. As previously mentioned, we'll be playing Mekong using the Beam Saber RPG, a forged in the dark system written by Austin Ramsey with additional supply drop play books written by J. Lo Filohazard and Alfe Demille. Also, one more special shout out to our friend of the show, Arian Lee, for helping compile all the cultural, historical, and religious research that went into creating the Kong setting. We love you, Ariane. You can find links to the cast assorted social media accounts by sending exclamation point cast to the chat. And if you are interested in purchasing beam saber for yourself or your gaming group type exclamation point system, it's episode nine. We don't need any further deliberation or introductions here. Well, let's just get straight into the warnings. There will be themes that some viewers may find disturbing, with depictions of blood gore, dismemberment, body horror, drug and alcohol use, brutality, politically motivated violence, gang violence, warfare, sexual themes, teen angst, existential crises, excessive use of english and non english profanity, and as always, some good old fashioned intergenerational trauma. The cast and I have discussed our lines and veils and confirm that everyone here is comfortable playing, so. But if you're watching at home, we just want you to be safe as well. All right? Long ago, when the light of the stars flowed like a river across the heavens, after a long, harrowing journey, the four tandong fellowship known as Team Menagerie arrives at a world at the edge of known space Celadon. There, the combined forces of the Mekong empires DC armies fight a desperate battle to hold back the onslaught of gunmak creatures unleashed after Bokap Din broke free of the terraform prison built above her a thousand years ago. The scorpion demon pierced through the planet's surface and in the process killed the local matron deity overseeing the planet's geologic processes, throwing the entire world's ecosystem into such a chaos that it necessitated direct intervention from a bodhisattva themselves. The forces of chaos and order, darkness and light and heaven and hell, all gather at the edge of the universe to fight a cataclysmic battle. The mekongese imperial Defense army has been whittled down to four divisions, the Chow Phraya, exo Solar, the Bajak pirates known as the Lost Boys, the irregular Charia natives, and lastly, team Menagerie. The group has taken refuge in the ancient guild sanctuary of Dokbal Wat as it aligns with the massive gash in Celadong surface known only as the exit wound. For it is in this wound, team Menagerie's only hope for stopping Bokathin's reign of destruction can be found beyond the ethereal sound of a distant, haunting symphony, the sword of Ravana lies impaled in the scorpion demon's molted husk. Intelligent reports that the sword is guarded by a member of one of their own ranks, Commander Feng Hai minh, the maestro pilot of the conquered Maha Khali, now under bokapdins thrall. What turned the Huangdae emperors finest warrior into a conductor of this symphony of madness remains unknown. But only by getting past him can the four pilots of team Menagerie retrieve this mythic blade and put an end to their troubles once and for all. The symphony for the devil enters its final movements. This is the battle where heaven, earth and hell align. A clash between men, machines and monsters, between devas, sanghas and asuras. Will the tandong fight hard enough to see the world born anew? Or shall the cycles of suffering remain unbroken as the wheel of Samsara continues to turn? Find out this week on symphony for the devil. We open on a space station built into the side of an asteroid on the farthest side of the planet Nanyang's orbit. This station, a humble trading portion post operated by the Taiyang exports company, is also a hideout for its criminal operations. Rupiah, you just got out of jail and you have been brought forth here to your grandmother's criminal enterprise hideout, where you find yourself in the hangar. Copper pod is docked and several engineers and technicians begin working on her. Not 8 hours ago, you were in Hornet custody awaiting arraignment. That is, until the charges were suddenly dropped and you were released. As you step foot in the hangar, you look up and you see there's a long rectangular window overlooking this place where you see her familiar silhouette kind of looking down at you. And she turns and you see two of her hired muscles kind of come out and gesture that they're going to escort you up to see Dadaji. What's going through your mind right now as these two bulky men kind of walk you through the corridors of the space station up to face your grandmother for the first time at about, I'd say you had like a 90 day stint in the clink. [00:09:00] Speaker D: I think Rivia's still walking around with kind of a bit of a limp and a good, you know, 30 pounds lighter than when she went in. And it's like I'm still stiff, and I am so, so relieved, and I'm excited because I'm gonna be reunited with my family and I haven't seen them since everything went down. And I just. Part of me didn't necessarily believe that Dottie G. Would be able to get us out of this. [00:09:51] Speaker A: After going up a quiet turbolift ride to the floor, the deck where your grandmother is, the two hired muscles walk you up to the door. They open it. They kind of just like push you in and close the door behind you. And you see on the other side of the room, Dadaji is facing away with you in her arms. And her arms are held up in like a t pose. And you see a tailor fitting her for like a sari. There's like an elegant blue and gold scheme and her iconic cane with a scepter made of a dongsun honeybee cotton. Amber hangs on a rack nearby. And as she's getting fitted for this, there's two hollow screens playing in front of her. On the one to your left, it's a, like a cassette recording of, like, you at ten playing the lead role, and Sita sings the blues. And you even see, like, Devinder and Charaine's playing one of the, one of the back dancers. And you're kind of like, you know, in the middle of a musical number. And then on the color screen to the right, there's talking heads on a news program with b role playing of the carnage at new back war. You see copper pod zipping across Hornet, kisi kind of blasting behind you and several ships kind of getting torn apart and cell phone footage and that sort of thing. Daraji hears the door close. She doesn't look back at you. She just kind of continues letting the tailor do their thing. And. [00:12:06] Speaker D: Did she? [00:12:08] Speaker A: Yes. She turns to Taylor. Leave us. Taylor takes their tools and their fabrics and kind of walks off. And Dadaji puts on a. A suit jacket. You know, this. She still hasn't turned to face you yet. She's still kind of like, got her eyes passively looking at the screens before. And she says, you know this family loves you, right? [00:12:44] Speaker D: Of course. [00:12:47] Speaker A: And you love us back. And you reciprocate by doing well in all the things you do because, as I said, this family breeds excellence. Do you remember that? [00:12:57] Speaker D: Yes. Always. [00:12:59] Speaker A: So why is it I ask you to do something you've always done this one time and you can't? And she throws the cane across the room and it slams on the wall behind you, rattling, and it hits the ground. You can't perform. [00:13:17] Speaker D: And I like, as she throws the k and, like, I flinch, I think it's about to come at me. [00:13:27] Speaker C: Tatiji, where. [00:13:29] Speaker D: Where are Mama and Papa? [00:13:38] Speaker A: They told me to get you. They're doing. They've. The Ministry of Justice has sentenced them to five years. I had you tried as a minor, and the charges were dropped. Technically, you're 18 on Dongsan, with the way planetary rotations work. [00:14:09] Speaker D: Hey, G. Do you know what Mama told me before we went on this raid? [00:14:26] Speaker A: I know. I know what you're about to say. I know that you take off your mother and she's. What did she tell you? Please, enlighten me, child. She steps down off, like the podium, like, off, like this, elevated, like, there's a small set of stairs from where she was standing, and then kind of walks down. There's, like, a long table between you and her. [00:14:52] Speaker D: Mama told me that she had found a molecule in the organization. She told me that the new Bakur run, she didn't want to do it. Papa didn't want to do it. You see the footage? How many hornets do you think were waiting for us there? [00:15:27] Speaker A: And how many hornets have you outrun? I'm sure at least several sectors worth. And I knew this run was hard. I accepted the risk. And I also knew I put my faith in my grandchild that she could follow through. And you know what happened? She got distracted. [00:15:51] Speaker D: What the hell are you talking about? [00:15:53] Speaker A: You are too caught up in your dreams of Nanya Wood Tinseltown fantasies and not focused on what matters now. And that's the screen of your. Of Sita sings the blues back when you were about half your size cuts, leaving only the news footage playing behind her. You are. We have. I have been too lenient with you. And you know how much I lost when I was your age, when the Kunmak came and decimated our home? I started with nothing. She starts walking towards you past the table, and I gave everything to you. And she finally steps up in front of you and puts her hand on your sabah and, like, lifts it. Remember who gave you this sash, Rupiah? But no, you didn't. You didn't remember. You were. [00:17:14] Speaker D: You know, I always remember, daddy G. I have always been grateful. I have done everything you asked. And I am sorry that I am not superhuman. But I will not apologize for having a heart. And I will not apologize for caring more about this family than I do about the standing of this family. [00:17:46] Speaker A: I'm not. You think you said. You're telling me you care about this family, but I see you. How many hours you spend at that little theater of yours with your. Your what? [00:17:59] Speaker D: Art nurse? The people I want to spend the rest of my life with. [00:18:06] Speaker A: People like us don't get to dream, rupiah. We're too busy surviving. [00:18:12] Speaker D: You always told me that that's what. [00:18:14] Speaker B: It was for stop trying to tell. [00:18:17] Speaker A: Stories when we're still trying to survive. This one turns away and looks out at the copper pod. Get off my station. [00:18:51] Speaker C: What? [00:18:53] Speaker A: Go and take Durga with you. Only the gods will watch over you now. See how merciful they are to artists. [00:19:19] Speaker D: You'll see. You'll see how merciful that everyone can be. Because I know what's important. And I am going to get mama and papa back. And nothing is more important to me then family. Not just the family that you dictate, but the family I choose for myself. [00:19:56] Speaker A: Are you still talking? [00:19:58] Speaker D: No. I turn around and like at that, like just as she says that I'm out the door, then just a door. [00:20:06] Speaker A: Close answers her and you make your way to the turbolift to get down to the hangar. You put your pilot suit back on and you get copper pod. What's going through your mind now? As you prepare the launch sequences? [00:20:28] Speaker D: If I can get to Dev and charaine, if we can go together, we can get my parents out, we can get my family. We don't need this. It could be easier out from under daddid's thumb. I just have to get to them. And there's nothing that the three of us can't do together. They were the people I thought about to get me through those months in custody. [00:21:10] Speaker A: We hold on this shot of rupiah in the copper Potts cockpit and we fade to two years later where you, present day rupiah, are in the copper pod. There's an alarm clocks and ringing. You are on the planet celadon. You are down one. Devinder Shireen is here and also fighting the same war that everybody else is. As all of you. You are all. As we left off, we were on Doc Wat, this large temple complex carved into an asteroid floating in the middle atmosphere of, uh, Celu dong. Just a moment ago, you were all inducted into the guild of the gilded order of the inevitable spring. You all have clean, monocolored, not copyright traded, trademarked, spanking new pilot suits. Before you is the calm before the battle that's about to occur. So all of you are in your cockpits at this point, making last minute preparations before you get out there. So before I make an engagement roll here, because we're just gonna get straight into the fighting. [00:22:45] Speaker D: As I think back to that moment when I bucked Dandi cheese yolk off of my shoulders and made the first stand I ever really took in my life, um, it hasn't been. It all seemed so easy. It's definitely not easy. But I remember who and what I was thinking about when I left for the first time. And I'm still doing it for them. I'm still doing it so that I can build my family, except now my family is also Roman and Kallaxin and Orty. [00:23:42] Speaker A: What's the cockpit ritual that you're kind of doing before the war? [00:23:50] Speaker D: They're all the little things that I do before I go perform on stage, except instead of Sally sells seashells by the seashore. It's like clenching and loosening muscles, and you can see copper pod go through those same motions. And Rupiah is like reciting a monologue to herself from one of the movies that we used to go to together. [00:24:38] Speaker A: If you listen close enough on the comm, you can also hear charain just further down the hangar bay. She is piloting a kinara type pc, meant to and much more slender build than the copper pod, with kind of, like, wing motifs on, like, the shoulders and the hip area. And she's wielding, um, twin chakram blades. But you kind of hear, like, she hears you doing that monologue, and she also is, like, saying it to herself just in a meditative cadence. Kalaxid, what's your pre race ritual, and how are you adapting it to combat? [00:25:24] Speaker B: So, for him, this is another race, which means his combat ritual is going to start off with just checking to see that everything is online and things are working. And then he goes, all right, hello, everyone. So I just wanted to tell you about baby back boosters. You've heard of them? And we're going to get into war, so we're going to see how well these boosters work when it comes to wartime, not just race time. And he makes a few more of those, and those advertisements aren't really going to those sponsors. It's because he realizes this is how he has to normalize everything, because he cannot stop overthinking about how big this is going to be. So as long as he's always on and always advertising, he's going to remain calm. So there's almost like a plastic. A plasticness to his voice, and there's this wide smile, and that wide smile is just him masking his nervousness. [00:26:33] Speaker A: Before you left Wonkaska, Armin did install a lycopod onto sparky. And as you like, you're smiling in the rearview mirror, you know, and you see, like, a little furry scamper in the lycopod, and you see kind of like, arg, like the footless but present ghost dog that you met that guided you to the Bodhisattva maitreya, Argo appear in the lycopod. And she's also trying to mimic your smile, but, like, in the way that, like, dogs do, where, like, all the fangs are out, like. And then she disappears. Just giving you that extra morale boost for the battle you're about to fight. That even here at the edge of the universe, you got a friend in the four legged creatures around here, even if they're not here. Here. You get what I mean? [00:27:47] Speaker B: So Klaxon looks back at the lycopod and immediately goes into sponsor mode. It's like. And in the back we have Argo. [00:27:58] Speaker A: There's nothing on the camera, argo. [00:28:01] Speaker B: And the. We have, uh, we have, we have the, like a pod, the, like a pod where. Where your pets can travel with you in these races and so that you won't miss them. And it's so important that you travel with companions and because the companions will remain with you wherever you go. Just like, just like my own team, like Roman and Rupiah and Ordi. And we're gonna go into this race and we're gonna come out swinging. And, and, and companions are very important to have, whether they're in these, like, a pods or in these mech erasers. And, and when we are done, we're going to celebrate. We're gonna celebrate with these mango lumpia that we've always wanted these flawed. And we're gonna get into dessert. [00:29:19] Speaker A: King bitch, this is Mohammed. You good, boss? [00:29:23] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Uh, sorry, I was in the middle record. Okay, let me cut. [00:29:28] Speaker A: We get mango lumpia. You better save some for the boys. [00:29:31] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. You know what? I know of a place that we can go to celebrate. I'm just, I'm just thinking way too early, you know? [00:29:42] Speaker A: We got your bag. [00:29:44] Speaker B: Well, well, you know what? I know you do. I know you do. And you got everybody I know, I know you got everybody else's back. I'm just a. Just going through my ritual right now and, yeah, we're gonna, we're gonna do this. Yeah. And Kalaxen just trails off and doesn't think of anything else at all. He already has over prepared, so all he has to wait is for someone to tell him it's go time and he's not thinking of anything until then. [00:30:21] Speaker A: Orady, I know I said everyone was at the cockpit. I want to say right now, just outside this kind of like, makeshift hangar, you are standing kind of like on the wall area at the edge of this kind of asteroid, looking down at this massive sinkhole beneath you that the locals and people around here are calling the exit wound. And you can hear the distant, bestial roars of the adversary, and you see their shapes moving, and there's kind of like a wind blowing across this wall. Your hair's flying in it. This is not your first battle with the kanmair, nor will it be your last. Or will it? It could be. Who knows? But what makes this battle different for her than the previous ones? [00:31:14] Speaker C: I'm standing, looking over the exit wound, and it feels so much like the night when I was looking over all of. When I was looking over at Ciao Freya so long ago. I want it to feel different, and I'm trying so hard to make it feel more significant, but the truth is that I, in my heart, know it's different, but everything feels the same. This feel nothing. I want to summon the gravitas, and I can't. And I think you can see. I think you can see as I'm standing and trying to go through my own ritual. I have headphones on, and I'm listening to. I was listening to. You know, I was listening to some death metal or whatever, the, like, accepted kind of Dan Nong. Everyone kind of listened to the same stuff. But it had. It's gone there to boys who cry, and it's gone there to something very different. A song comes on, and if anyone could hear it, it is the silliest sounding thing to anyone who is their age, because it's very, like, folksy sounding. [00:32:40] Speaker A: Some bolero kind of thing. [00:32:43] Speaker C: It's more lame music. It's the very traditional in Ciao Freya. And you can see her hands sort of doing this as she's trying to move to it in the way that her family showed her how to. [00:33:02] Speaker A: You feel the presence of someone step next to you. Um, and they remove your left earbud. Um, I immediately hit them, and you and Preeta, like, dodges the blow. And you see her holding. She's in the dragon Marshall lamellar space armor, but she's holding a cushion, and on top of the cushion, there's, like, a serving tray with a bottle of beer. Lao. And two, like, glasses like that. Hi. [00:33:43] Speaker C: Hey. [00:33:48] Speaker A: For your nerves. She, like, raises. [00:33:52] Speaker C: Uh, yeah, I'll take one. [00:33:55] Speaker A: It's bad luck for me to pull my own. [00:33:57] Speaker C: I got you. And I'll pour us both. [00:34:03] Speaker A: As you. As you take the bottle off, you see the cushion it has embroidered onto it is something depicting the Chung sisters, one of Mekong's ancient war heroes from way back in the day, you see them writing a large elephant mech. And Preeta looks at you and takes the glass and looks down at the cushion, and she says, um, do you remember when we were 18, at the last party, before everybody went to the front, and I did that shot with you to promise to bury the hatchet? But then I unburied the hatchet because I overthrew the king because my dad told me to. I don't want to die knowing that I broke a promise. So I'm going to repromise to. On on. On my honor of this last bottle of beer. [00:35:16] Speaker C: You know something? I have started doing more things for myself recently in the middle of this whole journey to find the sword or whatever. [00:35:27] Speaker A: Yeah. The one that's down there. [00:35:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:35:30] Speaker A: Behind the hundreds of evil space demons. Yeah, yeah. [00:35:34] Speaker C: I step. Really. I step forward and get closer to Preeta, and I lean in, and I wanted to do this for a while, and I feel like if I don't, I'm gonna regret it before we bury the hatchet. And then I punch Preeta in the face as hard as I can. [00:35:59] Speaker A: The beer fucking spills. [00:36:05] Speaker C: Damn, that feels good. [00:36:06] Speaker A: The entire base looks in the direction of the wall, as you heard. [00:36:15] Speaker C: All right, I think I can bury the hatchet. [00:36:18] Speaker A: She, like, recovers, and there's, like, a. There's, like, blood rushing down from one nostril, and she hits you back just, like, fucking clocks you up the jaw. [00:36:34] Speaker C: We good? [00:36:40] Speaker A: No, but I have a battle to command, so I think I have to be. [00:36:48] Speaker C: You came asking to bury the hatchet. [00:36:50] Speaker A: I know. [00:36:51] Speaker C: It's gonna take me a minute to. [00:36:53] Speaker A: Get over what I know. Okay. All right. I told you I was under duress. Okay? [00:37:00] Speaker C: I can imagine a lot of duress that does. [00:37:08] Speaker A: You know, I thought coming out here with the cushion, with the trunk, scissors on, it'd be all symbolic and stuff like that, but it wasn't, clearly, because he. Okay, all right. She picks up the bottle again. The glasses are shattered all over the wall. [00:37:31] Speaker C: Preeta. Orty, I'm willing to move forward with all of this because you are commanding as well. [00:37:39] Speaker A: We are both commanding. [00:37:41] Speaker C: I don't want to be afraid of you snapping or fucking leading another coup in the middle of a project like this. In the middle of something like this. [00:37:52] Speaker A: Not. Not anymore I'm not. Oh, no, look, I get it. I'm not. I'm done watching people our age die fighting wars for old, wealthy men back home. Like, I got this job thinking it would be all glitz and glamour, and I realized that you and I and them, we've all been kind, we've all been had. We've all traded our lives for a chance to get ahead of one rat, then the other. [00:38:39] Speaker C: Maybe. But this is different. This is not a rat race. This is bigger than that. And. [00:38:59] Speaker A: That'S what you told me when I came out to you drunk in the briefing room. And that was embarrassing. And I'm only taking ownership of that. [00:39:10] Speaker C: I'm not going to be okay with what happened for a while, but I. But we need to survive tomorrow. And I want to know that I can trust the people I'm with. And I trust my family here. So for what it's worth, I'm going to be okay in this moment. And then we'll figure out what the next one is. How does that sound? [00:39:55] Speaker A: I'll drink to that. The war sister turns and heads to the command center. [00:40:19] Speaker C: I put my headphones back on and just sort of stare back out at the. At the exit wound. And it takes a few minutes, but that emotion starts coming back. As she tried. I try to redo the thing that I've done my whole life, which is just be the most I can be for my people. [00:40:53] Speaker A: The camera pans down to the Concord. Malaika. Roman, you got some. You got. You got a killer new suit. Uh, sits in a nice, um. What color did you say it was? It was gold. Yeah, yeah. [00:41:11] Speaker E: Believe gold. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Roman sitting at the foot of the Malaya, just sitting against it. And he himself is flashing back to the time when he was still living it with. With hope. Hope was probably about six or seven years old. It's late at night, and when you watch tv and movies are on late at night, that they have to air on tv to fill contractual needs. But you never really watch them. You never really go out of your way. But this one seems to be special to Roman. Now, I'm assuming that Hope is asleep, of course, because she should be asleep. It's late at night, and it's the movie the replacement players, which stars Keanu roves and Gene Hockman. It's a story about them using replacement players for their sports team. And Gene Hockman, as the coach, is addressing his team. And it's a specific scene, and the scene has always stuck with Roman as long as he's lived. And Coach says, the truth is, you guys have been given something that every athlete dreams of, a second chance. And you're afraid of blowing it. We all are. But now our fear is shared, and we can overcome it together. And it's fun. That. That seems to be flashing back to. To Roman at this point, because this is about the time where he stood up because it was getting late. Turns off the tv, and all I can say is, I remember going into Hope's room. She should still be asleep and just keeping watch over her while she sleeps. And while she sleeps, Roman mentions a small little prayer over her. And I look over. I look over hope sleeping peacefully. Angels east, angels west, north, and south, just do your best to guard and protect her while she rests. Amen. And as I think back to where I'm sitting against the malaika, eyes closed, that's all I can think about right now. Angels east, angels west, north, and south, just do your best to guard and protect her while she rests. Amen. [00:44:32] Speaker A: When you say angels east under your breath, before you say angels west, you hear the other lost boys also. They, like, you say angels east. Then you hear them, like, a calm response. Angels west. And each of them, like, steps out from. And they, like, kind of like. And you say the line back, and they say the line, the next line after. And you see Muhammad step for up. Was like, coach, I love that movie. We all do. We watch that all the time on the ship. Wait, Devender loved it, too. [00:45:19] Speaker E: Wait, you were all fans of the replacement players? I thought I was the only one who watched that movie ever. [00:45:26] Speaker A: We just. [00:45:27] Speaker E: We. [00:45:27] Speaker A: Well, yeah, we just recited the thing to you as, like, a. Yeah, no wonder we get along, right? [00:45:36] Speaker E: Look, don't mind me, guys. It's. It's. I've never forgotten this movie in my entire life. I'm gonna stand up and address the lost boys. [00:45:53] Speaker A: Other pilots start joining in, too, because you are also with the chow fry exo solar, you and Francis's former unit. And they all. They're all, like, standing, like, on the shoulders of their mechs or, like, they're like. The cockpits are open. They're all kind of like. It suddenly becomes a. The old man is. The dad is talking, and all the kids have gathered to listen to the old man talk. [00:46:16] Speaker E: Listen, I I didn't expect that I would be back here having to fight alongside each and every single one of you. I thought my days of war were over. I thought I could live out a life in retirement or solitude, whatever you want to call it. But destiny, it seems, says I have one more ride at the very least. All I want to say is thank you. Each and every single one of you. I know we have the fate of the world, our existence as we know it. For me, this also means a chance to save the one person that means a lot. I, uh. So, again, I want to thank you all. Because without you, I, uh. I don't know if I would be able to do this. Had some of you heard me earlier? Nothing yet. But I'll again quote. I'll quote a movie that has been near and dear to me. The replacement players. I know it's not a movie that a lot of people have seen. I know had Keanu Rose in it. I know he had things that he was more important in and bigger movies. But this one just stuck out to me. But his co star, Gene Hockman, as the coach, again. And I can see it in some of you that we're afraid. We're not sure what's going to happen next. But the truth is, you guys have been given something that every warrior dreams of. A second chance. And you're afraid because you don't know what's going to happen. Whether we're going to live through this or not. We all are. I myself am, too. But I share this fear with you all. And because our fear is shared, we will overcome this together. So I promise you, come hell or high water, we're getting through this. We're going to see each other through this all. I believe in every one of you. And again, thank you for fighting alongside me. [00:48:58] Speaker A: Ever. You see a bunch of people raise their fists and they begin chanting, Seraph. Seraph. Seraph. And they start walking past you and kind of like putting their hand on your shoulder as they make their way to their mechs. And they nod. Each one makes eye contact with you. At nods. Shireen. Even Zhong Zi and his nieces. And everyone at this base, really. [00:49:40] Speaker E: So, as they. As they nod, I'm gonna nod back to them and acknowledge every single one, because every single warrior here deserves to be acknowledged. And just give them a nod, a pat on the shoulder. We're going to do it. Each and every single one of us. Come hell or high water, we get through this. [00:50:00] Speaker A: Hell or high water. All right. There's this distant sound of violins. And then, almost like the end is upon you, you hear the trumpets and the distant screams of the adversary, all clamoring to eat and feast on every single last one of you. So, um, your objective, as I've been saying this entire. This entire time, is to get chandrahasa is inside the exit wound at the bottom of this sinkhole. There are several kunma flooding out of it, and they're all going to be sieging the for the, uh, the sanctuary. The other two types of kunma that are opposing you are the shadow form wasps. So think of them as, like, big swarms of really ugly motherfuckers who will try to dig into your shit. And then lastly is pokong mera, which is based on a malaysian type of ghost. Basically, these are revenant GC. So basically, the battle on Celadon has been so bad that the army has not been able to retrieve everyone's bodies. People have been left in their cockpits for the karma to possess them and basically turn them into these ogre looking hybrids between machine and monster. So, yeah, those are the three that are going to be kind of like attacking the fortress on this first half of this mission. Do what you can to get past them. They got some tricks up their sleeves, but then once you get past them, then you're gonna face off with Maestro, the one who was commanding this army but kind of went insane. And now he's down there conducting weird european symphonies for some reason that seemed to. That the gunmas seemed to respond really well to. All right, folks, time for the big engagement roll. So I'm gonna ask the questions like I always do, and you can decide amongst yourself who's rolling this, okay? And it looks like it's been. I want it. Roman wants it. Roman? He gave the speech. Fuck yeah, dude. [00:52:31] Speaker C: All right, our independence day. [00:52:33] Speaker A: Yes. Is the mission pulled? Yes. So that's 1D. So, yeah, 2D, right now, is the mission complex. Not really. You're going. You're fighting some motherfuckers and you're going into a sinkhole to fight a bigger motherfucker. Cool. So you're stealth. 2D, do you have a tactic that exploits any vulnerabilities? I don't think this is discussed yet, so I must say no. Is the tactical. Do you have external support? You do you have the whole backing of all these NPC's here? Yes. Clara. [00:52:59] Speaker C: What? Talking to the Wukong people, that group, the scouts of Wukong, count as a tactic that exploits vulnerability. [00:53:09] Speaker A: That's true. They are more familiar with the land than you are. So that's rules. [00:53:13] Speaker C: Layering this shit. [00:53:14] Speaker E: That's 4d. [00:53:15] Speaker A: You guys have four d to roll for this mission. So as Doja. Cat says, let's get into it. Yeah, 4D. Roman, put her there, for crying out loud. [00:53:30] Speaker B: Dang. [00:53:31] Speaker A: All right, I had to refresh roll 20 because it was acting up on me. So there's going to be a little bit of a dramatic pause before I see the results of the. Oh, it's a three. Oh, it's a four. Okay. I think that puts you at risky consequences. So you're in a risky position, but it's not desperate, so. But it can get desperate if, you know, things go haywire. But we're starting off on risky, so good on you guys. All of you take your places in the cockpits. You begin your startup sequences, and just like in episode one, but this time you hear Preeta on the comms, like all wings. This is dragon Marshall Preeta dying. Check in. Check in. [00:54:17] Speaker B: King bitch checking in. [00:54:18] Speaker D: This is Diva. Got my call time, right? [00:54:22] Speaker A: For once, apparently, charain's like, this is Ripper. Don't rub it in. [00:54:28] Speaker E: Seraph's just taking a moment in the cockpit. Just taking one last moment to thank Francis, and he said to let you go, buddy. But if you're here with me one last time. Sure, use you. And then he finally turns on the comms. Seraph checking in. All systems go. [00:54:51] Speaker C: I just realized that my call sign is no longer valid. Huh. Nang tani checking in. [00:55:04] Speaker A: Let's do this. Hangar doors open. Everybody steps out and looks down. You see all these creatures snapping their jaws, and then finally you hear, all right, guys, pick your targets. Here they come, taking air superiority. The monongahel all kind of start flapping their wings, and all start flying up in kind of like a cone right towards the walls of the fortress. You see several of the chowfry exosolo kisi. They start, like, mounting up along the perimeter of the sanctuary, and they throw up their shields, each of them taking, like, holographic glowy shapes of different yantra seals and that sort of thing. And the monongal kind of, like, hit him like a bird hitting the glass, and they're trying to, like, claw through this. This first shield barrier, allowing the second rank to kind of come through and just start, like, poking at them with polearms. [00:56:18] Speaker D: I am gonna start by clearing is a tunnel. [00:56:21] Speaker A: Okay, how do you want to clear a tunnel? [00:56:23] Speaker D: So I'm gonna use my. So I'm gonna use my bow and arrow to clear, like, a path through the invading hordes. [00:56:32] Speaker A: Okay, cool. Go ahead and make a battle check at risky. [00:56:42] Speaker D: Okay, so that's three d, six for me, four. [00:56:47] Speaker A: The copper pod draws its bow, knocks an arrow. The arrow starts glowing, supercharges into a large plasma bolt, and you release it, and it flies past the heads of your allied kisi and into this crowd of monogamy, passes through the shield and explodes and sending a bunch of manananggal giblets. It's kind of, like, raining down on everyone. So there's, like, kind of, like a purple rain of onto the princess and everybody else, but mostly onto Ordi because I think she's kind of, like, towards the front of this line. And with that four, that purple rain starts burning on the Krasue's armor. Do you want to resist that? [00:57:50] Speaker C: Yeah, I've just got armor. I feel like I'll burn the point, like, a point or two just to get that use of that off. [00:57:56] Speaker A: So now you no longer have that armor. It was melted by monongahel guts, so now you know that they got acidic giblets. [00:58:04] Speaker C: Ew. [00:58:05] Speaker A: You have at least a bit of a tunnel there. Through the tunnel, though. Now that the monongal have kind of, like, cleared this path, several of these Hokkong mera possessed Gisi try to, like, jettison through to try to. And they start slashing through that first line of shield bearers. But the way that they fight is much uglier than a machine piloted by an alive tandong would. They're attacking without regard to self preservation or finesse. Instead, you see them kind of, like, pull out whatever projectile weapons they have, and they start disarming. They start blasting people's arms off and legs to try to immobilize them. So whatever poor souls gets caught in that first fire, you see some kisi of your ally kisi kind of, like, fall, and these pokong mirrors start, like, ripping into the cockpit to try to eat some pilots. The other thing you note about these gargantuan ogre looking things is that they're all missing heads, and they all kind of, like, glow a red sort of thing. And whatever limbs that they were missing from previous battles have been replaced by a kind of, like, shadowy, biomechanical material, making them more reminiscent of an ogre than in a machine. And as they kind of draw in closer, you hear them broadcast on the open channels. Help me. Gosh, I'm so hungry. Like, the last. The last words of their pilots on repeat, kind of rattling. [00:59:44] Speaker C: I want to pop up and do a strafe along, like, the back of their heads, like, the back of the line, and just see if the superheated claws can get behind them. I'm more nimble than they are, so I want to just rake across everything and see if I can do maximum damage. [01:00:04] Speaker A: Sure. Do you want to roll battle? Check. [01:00:07] Speaker C: All right, hear me out. Okay. Hear me out. I am going to pop up. Krasue looks so much like the mononung gal that we've just seen flying around, and now I'm covered in guts. [01:00:25] Speaker A: Yes. [01:00:26] Speaker C: I think I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna burn the ominous appearance. [01:00:30] Speaker A: Okay. [01:00:31] Speaker C: Because I look gross. [01:00:34] Speaker A: Oh, hell yeah. [01:00:35] Speaker C: And just do a strafe along the back line. So burn the ominous appearance to get a change my position and then roll a battle to strafe the back line. [01:00:47] Speaker A: Okay. [01:00:48] Speaker C: With cross Sue's long, nasty nails. [01:00:54] Speaker A: Hell yeah. Get into it. [01:00:57] Speaker C: That gives me four D six or three. [01:01:00] Speaker A: It does? Yeah. [01:01:01] Speaker D: Cool. [01:01:01] Speaker A: And at controlled position, so. But if you fail this, I reserve the right to bump to make you re roll at risky. [01:01:09] Speaker C: That's fine. That's a six. [01:01:12] Speaker A: That's a six. All right, so how do you want to do this? [01:01:17] Speaker C: You see, she jumps up, and before anyone else can react, she says, I got you across all of the comms and the fastest her claws have ever superheated. There is a trail almost of dripping plasma as Krasue rakes across the back line a little bit like a person, just like bapping someone across the back of the head. [01:01:42] Speaker A: But playing the most violent game of duck, duck, goose you've ever played. [01:01:45] Speaker C: Absolutely. Just kid, kid dragging their hand, dragging their hands across a fence. Just bap with these plasma blades. [01:01:56] Speaker A: Basically, you slash into all of these frames and you see some of them like split in half on the way, like just cleaned all the way through some of the other ones for the first half of the line. Yeah, you split some of them in half. And the second half of this back line, you play dominoes and just bring them down. And you see your allies now that you've kind of set them up, they charge over this front line and they start kind of like stomping on this kama and stabbing downward. [01:02:32] Speaker C: You just hear a whoa. As Krasue lands again, and she's got the leg of one of them and she has another one. Just hits them together for a moment and throws them aside. [01:02:45] Speaker A: Fuck yeah. All right. That's a point. [01:02:48] Speaker C: I just wanted to hit a motherfucker. [01:02:49] Speaker B: With another motherfucker, knowing that there's manang nangal guts, like, floating around. And we know that they're acidic. What, what Klaxon is going to do is he's going to use sparky and space physics to kind of like, jet past them and move them in the direction that it starts hitting the enemy lines. Because assuming that they're acidic, they're going to be acidic towards, like, even those enemies. [01:03:21] Speaker A: Are you sure you want to do that? I know these are risky consequences, and what you're proposing could work. [01:03:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I know it could work. [01:03:37] Speaker A: But you don't know how far these things splatter. [01:03:40] Speaker B: Correct. I'm going to call on someone to help Jackie to help me navigate and just actually tell her, hey, this is my plan. I'm going to go past, and I'm going to go past a lot of these acidic guts and start maneuvering them by going really fast across them and getting them into the direction of the enemy lines. I want to just make sure that I have your eye on it to make sure that that makes sense. If it doesn't make sense, I will think of something else. [01:04:16] Speaker A: Nina is the one radioing back. [01:04:17] Speaker B: Oh, sorry. Yeah, Nina. [01:04:18] Speaker A: So, Nina in the cockpit of the marigold, she's like, you're trying to bait them. [01:04:24] Speaker B: No, I'm trying to take all of the guts that are acidic, that are just debris and remnants that are just now floating as a result of Rupiah's stabbing, and just move them in the direction of the lines almost basically, like. [01:04:43] Speaker A: So how are you gonna pick them up? No. [01:04:45] Speaker D: Giblet Tornado. [01:04:46] Speaker A: Giblet tornado. [01:04:47] Speaker C: Acid bombs. [01:04:48] Speaker B: Right. You know how you get a ship going past a certain area? [01:04:52] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [01:04:55] Speaker B: Yes. That's that. A debris wake is what I am going. [01:05:00] Speaker A: I like this plan. Let's do it. Okay, cool. Awesome. Go ahead. So the marigold maneuvers right next to you, and. And you. And you hear the engines of the marigold start to power up, just like. And inside the cockpit, you see Nina, like, putting the ship into high gear. Like, go, go fast, go fast. And Zung Zi's like, that's. Oh, we're going fast. We're putting a seatbelt on, helmet on. Okay, let's roll a maneuver check. [01:05:28] Speaker B: Yes. My highest stat. [01:05:30] Speaker A: Great. So that puts you at your still risky position, but with a. But with Nina's help, you will have greater effect. How's that sound? [01:05:41] Speaker B: Yes. [01:05:42] Speaker A: Cool. [01:05:42] Speaker B: Okay, so rolling a. Cross my fingers. Yes. [01:05:48] Speaker A: Excellent work. Excellent work. Okay, so starting on opposite ends of the line, you guys kind of just, like, fly past each other, creating this big wake of guts spraying all over. Uh, this kind of, like, the back line. Um, but the thing, you didn't. And it works. And you. The spray is magnificent. But the thing is, is when this. When the guts kind of hit the back of the monongal, they're. It's still the same creature, and they're still undead, and so you kind of just annoyed them. Like, it. So you. That six works it. They. But you've now drawn their attention. So several of them break off from the main group and just start going after you and Jack and you and Nina. But that clears the way a bit. So that finishes the clock. But now you have a lot of heat on you and you even hear Preeta get on the comm. Like doghouse. You have like 50 bogeys on your six. Yep. [01:06:56] Speaker B: And that sounds like I'm ready to race. [01:07:09] Speaker E: Look, keep them off the line thinning. So, all right, with the malaika, I would like to fly a little above where battle is going and take this nice little fine, heavy cannon to try to clear up even more of a hole. Will this help me avoid any of the debris of Manang Nangal guts flying at me? [01:07:33] Speaker A: Uh, yes. [01:07:37] Speaker E: Okay. [01:07:38] Speaker A: But again, it's still a risky position. And there are also other kunma still about like the. So you've only seen the Pokong mera and the Mananang gal for now. Okay. You did see in the intel there were wasps about, so there's a non zero chance they might get the signal that you're tasty. [01:07:59] Speaker E: I know I'm tasty. Look at me. [01:08:02] Speaker A: Yeah, you're gold, baby. [01:08:06] Speaker E: Now, that being said, so what do you want? [01:08:09] Speaker A: What action do you want to do that we. [01:08:11] Speaker E: I'm gonna fire on them with battle. Is that fine? Now, I understand that I have to take minus one dice because I still have level two harm on me. Is that correct? [01:08:20] Speaker A: That's only if you're using pilot skills. If you're using mech skills, you have no damage to the malaika right now. All right, then. Let's roll. Three. D six. Okay. At risky position, I take a five. That's a five. Okay, so tell me, so run it by me one more time. You use the fine, heavy cannon to just, like, widen the hole? Yes. [01:08:44] Speaker E: Okay, out of curiosity, what time of day is it right now? [01:08:47] Speaker A: It is midday. [01:08:49] Speaker E: Midday? So you see, as our. As the rest of the squadron is already engaged, you see, you see the malaika fly up and spread its wings and it's directly overhead as if the sun is at its back. [01:09:06] Speaker A: Hell yeah. [01:09:09] Speaker E: You see the malaika and it starts to point the fine, heavy cannon at the entire group of baddies, and it just starts unloading to try to widen the gap that rupiah has already created. [01:09:27] Speaker A: And you see these two magnificently exploded and kind of rock the entire side. It actually blows the whole whole wall out too. But you've created a wide enough, almost like tunnel in this formation that you see several of the wukongs start charging through as well as a couple of. And they start kind of, like, pincering that whatever. Monongahel are on this front line. So, yeah, you have a clear path into the sinkhole. Now, I'm gonna assume you charge at the sinkhole. Yeah. From there? Yeah. [01:10:03] Speaker E: I'm going in. [01:10:04] Speaker A: Okay. As you go in, you hear in your comms whispers, and the whispers get. They turn into a drone, a buzz. And then rising out from the ground, as you try to, like, make your way into the sinkhole, these hives kind of, like, rise out from these puddles of black goo, and they produce several clouds of black and yellow, mostly black wasps the size of, like, a football. But there's a swarm of them, and they go to you. They start landing on the arms and the chest of the malaika, and you can see they're trying to crawl in and try to bite off your armor, and you see them spitting, like, almost like a. Like a really messed up eldritch silk material to try to, like, gunk up your parts. How do you want to resist? [01:11:23] Speaker E: I'm depth one. Definitely resisting. What I would like to do. Hmm. Okay. What I would like to do is spread the wings of the malaika and begin to spin like a top, like, revert thrusters in reverse to try to use centrifugal force to throw the wasps off my. Off my mech. [01:11:43] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so we're gonna burn a quirk for that, I think. [01:11:46] Speaker E: Yes, I think we're probably gonna burn. Can I. Can I burn common parts for that? [01:11:51] Speaker A: Yes, you may. Yeah. This is a maneuver that several tendong have done with the parts that they have. And so you go ahead, you burn that quirk, and then, if so, you have to burn two quirks for this, because you only have points and two skills under expertise. [01:12:04] Speaker E: All right, then we will burn military workhorse as well. [01:12:09] Speaker A: Cool. And so, originally, I was going to give you a level two, like, immobilization from, like, bees and stuff like that. We could. We can negate that entirely, because you're at risky position. So your maneuver is successful. You start spinning like a top, and it throws a bunch of all these wasps off of you, and you kind of, like, rip, like, these little, like, stickiness out of your joints and toss them aside, and you come out unscathed. [01:12:40] Speaker E: Oh, I'm totally yelling at these wasps. I'm not your honeybee. [01:12:46] Speaker A: All right. You are the first to make your way into the sinkhole. As you descend, what you hear is what you see. You feel kind of. It's like the exit wound is what many tandem who have faced gunmat before is called avoid impact zone. So these kind of areas have strange properties because they've been exposed to the grima for so long. As you descend, you see that out of this single, it's not just rock, there's like, towering trees. They form walls of, like, a cataclysmic amphitheater. And the layered vines, they drape down like curtains. As the music around you gets louder and waves of mist start to form. As you get deeper and deeper, they remind you of fog machines you may have spent in passing nights on station clubs and that sort of thing. But as the mists get thick, you hear the screams of the dying, but they're not screams of agony. They form like a haunting choir of sorts for this cathedral of ignorance and self hatred. And they echo through, like these raft, these stratospheric rafters, heralding the final gasps of an emaciated era of relative peace. And when you get to the bottom, there's all this noise. It's almost like rattling inside your helmet, right? But you know these tricks. You know what the grandma are capable of. You know how the things they try to do to get in your head. It's just strange that they would adopt music as an intimidation tactic, right? And on the far end, you see this titanic carapace of a scorpion stretching the length, the width of, like, a football stadium, right? What you presume to be Bockapton's shedded husk. There's a huge gash in the middle of the shell, and sticking out from that gash is this glowing beam saber. It's hilt is in the shape of a lotus, and on its. Yeah, yeah, it's a. Its cross guard is in the shape of a lotus, and its hilt has, like, several sanskrit carvings on it. And standing in front of this carapace is a Concord mahakali, the same one from 15 years ago that was there when Francis passed. It looks a little different now. It has. It's dark blue, it's gaunt, and its photoreceptors are like, sunken almost. And it wears across its chassis like a tiger skin sari. And around its neck is a garland of gisi heads, and each head is like, wrapped like a blindfold with a sabbay of the pilots that once commanded that machine, but now is just an ornament on this simulacra of one of Mekong's more intimidating deities. And you hear a voice kind of reverberate through the sinkhole. If the stars do not deceive me, they sent heaven's will himself. [01:17:05] Speaker E: Hmm. Heaven's will. That's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I don't know if it's heaven's will, to be truthfully honest, but what it is, it's the will of a father. It's the will of people who need to be saved. It's the will of a people who want peace. [01:17:27] Speaker A: Is that why you've come here? To save my soul? Angel? Seraph. [01:17:40] Speaker E: I don't know if I can save your soul. [01:17:45] Speaker A: Oh, don't. Oh, you don't need to. I don't need saving. And you look up, and you see in the raft, like on the trees, several mangled what looks to be bodies, but they're all carrying instruments, and they're playing them perfectly. You see lines of violins, violas. There's a horn section, there's a percussion. And hovering, just like in the middle of the air, with feet that go nowhere. You see this man. He's facing away from you. He's holding a conductor's rod, and he's directing each note, each movement. He wears a powdered wig, a tricorn hat, a long jacket with puffed accents. He looks ghostly, but he sound. But the way his voice sounds, it's not like the double layered voices that a kunma would speak. It sounds like he's just talking with really good acoustics. Yeah, the acoustics are great down here. Do you think the fight's worth it? He says, still kind of just going about his little flourishes. [01:19:21] Speaker E: After all this time. You should know the answer to that. The fight is everything. And it's even more worth it now, because I have something more to fight for. [01:19:37] Speaker A: Back up top. What would the three of you like to do? Are you still engaged with the onslaught, or. What's your plan here? [01:19:50] Speaker C: Once Roman went down, I want to check in with Rupiah and Kallaxon. Who? Kallaxon seems busy. [01:19:57] Speaker A: Yes. You see Kallaxin zipping back and forth between the spires of the temple with a flock of monarchical behind him. And they're also like he's just zipping, doing tricks. [01:20:13] Speaker D: I mean, we follow the plan, right? We opened. We opened the path. We go down, because the sooner we get the sword, the sooner we deal with all of this. [01:20:21] Speaker A: You hear charaing on the cops, I'm going down there with you. And you see her kind of take up your 05:00 ping. Bitch. [01:20:30] Speaker C: You good? [01:20:33] Speaker B: I'm good. I'm going back and forth. Question, is Nina with me also? [01:20:38] Speaker A: Nina's also zipping back and forth just, like, in a diff, like, in different directions. She's near you guys, basically. You ever been to the air show? And you see just two prop planes just kind of, like, bopping around? That's you and the marigold right now. [01:20:56] Speaker B: Oh, we're blue. Angel's ing it. [01:20:57] Speaker A: Yes. Nice. [01:21:00] Speaker B: So he's going to relay to Nina, hey, we're zipping back and forth. We need to. Let's split so that it confuses them. So, like, they're obviously following our pattern. And so if we split, it kind of like, what I want them to do is have them follow us, be confused enough for us to have them stall Ennis, attack, or have basically just have them confused. [01:21:30] Speaker A: Okay, cool. Go ahead. Roll a maneuver. Check. That's a five. [01:21:34] Speaker B: Five. [01:21:35] Speaker A: Okay, you successfully confused them. I'm gonna put. And so you've distracted them enough that they're not following anyone else into the sinkhole, thankfully, so. And, uh, with a five at risky position, uh, yeah, that that particular mover is successful. And they. They all, like, all the monogamy, all flock kind of just, like, looks back and forth. And to even add more insult to injury, uh, you see an anti material round, kind of, like, pass through one of them as Mohammed is, like, taking potshots while you're distracting them. And he's just, like, knocking them out one by one out of the sky. So, clearly, you and your companions have a really solid plan for keeping these guys busy. And for Mohammed, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. For you. You're just racing. And Nina gets to take part, too. This is the most. If battle was this fun, you should do it all the time. Right? But there's a five. You hear that, that drone on the comms, but then a drone to the buzz. And then you hear Nina shouting, wait, wait, wait. I got. They're on to me. And you see several swarms of shadow form wasp start landing on the marigold. And you even see, like, zoom zee pop out from one of the hatches and shoot and shooting them with a pistol. Like, a little help? [01:23:09] Speaker B: Uh, can I resist that? [01:23:11] Speaker A: Yes, you may. How do you want to help? How do you want to resist and help your. Your. Your NPC companions? [01:23:16] Speaker B: Um, so as soon as he sees that, uh, the marigold, um, is starting to get, uh, it's starting to get swarmed, he is going to. He's going to maneuver himself and kind of just almost, like, orbit the marigold by just continuing going in a very tight circle around the. Around the spaceship. And just having his lance kind of held out, almost like a rotating spike to just keep them away from the marigold. [01:23:58] Speaker A: Okay, cool. So you're gonna. You. All right, so let's go ahead, resist. So you're gonna use maneuver. You're gonna use expertise to resist? Yes. So that's gonna be one burn, one quirk. [01:24:15] Speaker B: I'm going to burn intense g forces because it's gonna be a ride to just keep doing that. [01:24:23] Speaker A: Your face presses up against the chair, and. But it's enough to kind of, like, using, like, the wake created by the spitting motion. It definitely also throws some of these wasps off the marigold and onto you. But, you know, it's better. Better that you're the one dealing with them than Nina, so. Okay, cool. You have resisted. [01:24:48] Speaker C: Yeah. I wanted to check in with Kallax, and it sounds like he's not coming with us. So, rupiah, let's go. I'll basically swan dive in. [01:25:04] Speaker A: You want to make a maneuver? Check for me. Let's do a group maneuver check. Since it's the three of you all going in together. Yeah, yeah. [01:25:12] Speaker C: And I'll be group leader. So I'll take the stress and our maneuver at a controlled position, correct? [01:25:19] Speaker A: Yep. You hear, as you roll, you hear the ripper goes like, all right, guys, I'm going in. And you have a four. Okay. All right. But nobody got below a three, so no one's taking any stress, I believe. But I'm gonna put a point on the Chandra hasa clock here before, with a four at controlled. All of you also land at Roman's flank. But you hear Shireen shout, hey. And she kind of, like, charges ahead because you hear a shout, master. Because somebody got taught. They call him Maestro because also he teaches. And some, his student, it's clearly his student has a personal mission to get him out of there. But you see the floating maestro conductor turn, and he has the visage of a kin man. He's just wearing this powdered wig and tricorn hat and everything like that. And his eyes already have the same pupil shape as Kanoa's did when you had that vision, right? Like one of being under Bawkapton's thrall. And Shireen shouts, you can't stay here. You have to come home, please. But she makes eye contact with him and gets void exposed. And there's a bit of a dialogue between him and charaine. He says, like. And something changes when he says, I'm sorry, student. When I was your age, when the Kanmai attacked, just like they did now. The emperor pivoted our culture towards one of strength and victory alone. There are no room for artists like you and me. It's best you choose this path, because at least down here, we can play as long as we want. And she kind of, like, freezes. [01:27:53] Speaker D: And I would like to resist this for charaine. [01:27:58] Speaker A: Okay, cool. How are you going to convince Charaine out of this? So go ahead. Roll d six to resist. [01:28:05] Speaker D: I roll two. D six, because that's how many points I haven't resolved. [01:28:08] Speaker A: Yes. Correct. [01:28:10] Speaker D: So three. So I take three points of stress. [01:28:12] Speaker A: You take three points of stress. And what are you saying to Shireen to kind of wrestle her back? [01:28:19] Speaker D: Shireen? He's not the first one. He won't be the last one. To tell us that there's no place here for us, that there's no room for artists, that everything must be war, that everything must be success. You and me and Devinder have always known better. You still know better, and I still know better. We'll get through this dance. [01:28:56] Speaker C: Together. [01:29:03] Speaker A: While that's happening, the Kali activates and begins to draw its weapons. So you see sword come out. It's got the same amount of arms as the Durga, and so the same amount of armaments here. The Kali is going to fire. It's going to open this combat by firing a blast from its eye, just like the Durga has. Right? And it shoots out. And I'll say, the resistance. You. You. Look, stop me if you. If you're not down with this, is that you shoot a beam back, and it's one of those, like. And that's. This is the dialogue that's being had while you're, like, having this tug of war between I beams, right? The maestro shoots back. He says, they tore my sheets and my cords away from me, and they honed me into the warrior I was meant to be. I fought their battles. I won their victories over and over and over again. But the monsters, they don't stop. They never stop. They will never be room for us. [01:30:10] Speaker D: Then we make room for ourselves. [01:30:14] Speaker A: That's what I did. I turned the battlefield into my concert hall, my tactical manuals into songbooks. But none of it matters. [01:30:23] Speaker D: Because you chose the wrong place. We make the room. We build the house that we want to live in. Is this where you want to live? It's not where I want to live. It's not where I want to live with my family. [01:30:49] Speaker A: The music crescendos around you. The beam does overpower you in that, because it's a concorde. And you're just piloting, like, a mass produced Durga, and it kind of launches you back into. And the Durga hits the back of this cavern. It knocks the wind out of you a bit. So your resistance bumps you down from a level two damage to a level one damage. [01:31:15] Speaker D: I'm gonna use a point of my armor for that. [01:31:17] Speaker A: Okay, cool. So you lose a point of your armor, you hit the back of this wall, and you slide down, but charaine looks to still be in it. She's, like, fighting off the void exposure right now. But you have. But the rest of you see? Yeah, the copper pod hit the back of the sinkhole, sink down, and show you kind of, like, how formidable faux Kali is here. [01:31:45] Speaker C: Is. Okay, so Kali is engaged with copperpod. [01:31:50] Speaker A: Kali is engaged with all of you. It's got arms for days. [01:31:53] Speaker C: Awesome possum. Well, it sounds like. Well, where's. And the sword is. [01:31:58] Speaker E: It's. [01:31:58] Speaker A: It's behind. Kali is guarding the sword. [01:32:00] Speaker C: Okay, already. And the Krasue are going to do what they do best. [01:32:04] Speaker A: Okay. [01:32:05] Speaker C: And I am going to dive right after Rupiah and Kali and get Kali, like. And I'd like to grapple Kali from behind, splitting the Krasue the way she does. [01:32:21] Speaker A: All right, let's go ahead. We're gonna roll battle, and it's gonna be cool, and you're gonna fuck it, do some shit. [01:32:34] Speaker C: I want to kiss a pretty girl, and this is done. Okay. Can I make this better for myself? This seems like a thing I should spend spark on, so I'm gonna do that. [01:32:46] Speaker A: Okay, sure. [01:32:48] Speaker C: All right. I'm gonna spend my spark, and I'm gonna do some battle about it. And that will be three dice, and hopefully that'll be enough to save my new girlfriend. And it was excellent. So we're not at that stage yet. [01:33:00] Speaker A: But I don't wanna put labels. I don't wanna put a labels on it. [01:33:04] Speaker C: Your girlfriend, your ex, is, like, right over there. [01:33:06] Speaker E: It's a thing in progress. [01:33:08] Speaker A: It's a thing in progress, but yes, yes. Okay, so with a six, describe to me what damage you put into Kali here. [01:33:17] Speaker C: Kali and copper pod hit the wall and are grappling, fighting whatever they're doing. [01:33:23] Speaker D: And he blasted me into the wall with his third eye beam. [01:33:28] Speaker C: Ah, okay, well, that's not a great place to be. So Krasue just swoops in and starts by grabbing from behind. I've only got two arms. It's not quite the same, but grabs from behind. [01:33:46] Speaker A: Kali spins to meet you, and then it becomes like an exchange of blow for blows, right? [01:33:52] Speaker C: Except the difference between a grappler and a fencer or a person who's using a weapon is once you get under their. Once you get under their range, they can't do as much to you. [01:34:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:34:08] Speaker C: So the cross, who gets in as close as she can. And while she's engaged with Colley, from the front, you see her. It looks as if she's dancing around, trying to make the collie move and, like, twist, but her legs are actually staying where they are. As crossing maneuvers around to. To the side to get in a place where she can wrap herself around her. [01:34:35] Speaker A: You do, and you. And you kind of lock. And in this grapple Krasue, kind of, like, locks down kali for a bit here, right? Jaw unhinges. Big, big old chomp, right? And Kali, there's a bit of struggle here. Like, you're trying to chomp down through, like, the armor plating on this mech. And the kalio with its extra arms also kind of, like, tries to wrap around you, and it becomes like a wrestling. Like a wrestling engagement there, right? You hear the voice of Lady Tida try to play mind games with you in the middle of this grapple, right? Kali starts projecting voices of every auntie and uncle you've ever met and every comparison they've ever made and every little side comment about school, your body, your habits, your friends, whatever the fuck, right? But I assume you respond back, truly. [01:35:43] Speaker C: Just honey badger, don't give a shit. Levels of grapple where I've anchored myself, wherever I can, these plasma claws. And the Krasue pulls its head from what looks very much like a vampire like attack. And you see it turn as if it's responding, because already I so in my body at this point, they're the same thing. And she looks at. We look at the Kali. At Kali, and just go, there's nothing you can say to me that I have not told myself. You cannot hurt me with this anymore. And just. It goes back in for another bite. [01:36:34] Speaker A: It's a mess of, like, hydraulic fluid and oil just kind of, like, spraying all over the place, right? And the symphony is, like, matching the energy of the sea. Roman, you have an opening. You can try to go for the sword from here. [01:36:49] Speaker E: Yeah, I was about to ask if there's an opening. I would like to. Can I deploy my shield, though, as I try to make a run for the sword? [01:37:01] Speaker A: Yeah, you can? [01:37:03] Speaker E: Okay. [01:37:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:37:03] Speaker E: Then I would like to go after the sword. [01:37:05] Speaker A: Okay. You draw your shield out. You hold it in front of you and Malaika starts kind of like, running towards the carrot is cool. [01:37:15] Speaker E: Do I need to roll maneuver? [01:37:17] Speaker A: Yeah, you can roll maneuver. [01:37:20] Speaker E: Tis a four. [01:37:21] Speaker A: That's a four. You get up to the bottom of this, the fallen scorpion. When you get to, I guess, like, when you're, like, face to face with, like, the head of this discarded, massive, coliseum sized carapace where the eyes of this characterist would be, they flash, and you get the full brunt of it, of this flashing light before you can even climb up to go get the sword, right? And you see a ghostly apparition appear in your cockpit of hope, and with a knife, try and it tries to stab you inside the cockpit. Okay. Yeah. [01:38:14] Speaker E: So can I resist this by reminding myself this isn't hope? Am I able to. [01:38:26] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you would be. That would, again be at a. And a. Resolve resistance. Two points of resolve. So go ahead, roll two. D six. That's a six. You don't take any stress because you are. You got. You got some spanking new gold fucking guild uniforms. You just. You got a gift from the Buddha. Like, you ain't taking nothing from these apparitions. [01:38:51] Speaker E: So as the apparition goes to, I hate you. There's this wave of calm that comes over me, and I know this isn't the truth. This isn't my daughter. So no matter what this is, this can't hurt me, because this is not my daughter talking. This is not my daughter. [01:39:16] Speaker A: Here. You feel like there's pain in your chest. It feels like you're getting stabbed, right? But you know it's not real. You know that the qunar just playing tricks on you and pushing through you begin to climb up the carapace limb by limb, even though this ghastly spirit just keeps jabbing the knife into your sternum, into your solar plexus, over and over. And you can feel that pain, like resistance, resounding through you. But you are Zen, brother. You are. You're a tannong, and you keep climbing. [01:39:58] Speaker E: More than I'm a tandong. I'm a father. And I can tell that each of these stabs might represent sometimes that hope may have felt like I've been a rough dad. Maybe this is something that I didn't pick attention to as a father. These are the things that I might have to bear, but it's worth it for my daughter. And I'm going to remain as Zen as possible, because any good parent is going to do that for their child, and I'm going to keep going. [01:40:40] Speaker A: Wow. Goddamn. Sorry. I'm, like, speechless as a game master. [01:40:51] Speaker C: I'm like, yo, oh, my God. Roman is the dad we all want our dads to be. [01:40:56] Speaker A: Kali's head turns towards, like, looks towards the carapace and sees Malaika climbing up, and he shouts. You hear maestro shout? It doesn't matter. The symphony's almost over. It's all going to burn. There's no point. You can't stop her. This black act, did she kill the God? What makes you think you can do any better? [01:41:21] Speaker C: I don't know what makes us better, but we gotta do something. [01:41:24] Speaker D: Alone. We may not be, but together. [01:41:28] Speaker E: The best part about music is that you create it with whoever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want. [01:41:39] Speaker B: Am I hearing all of this? [01:41:40] Speaker A: You are. Yeah. And it's rallying every tanong up top. Two. You hear them shout every battle cry. Across the seven sectors, you hear Bhuta Mahana Yantra, like, literally soul carrying machines. You hear tsunade, which means, like, spring is here. Cause you are the guild of the inevitable spring. And this is the end of a long winter. [01:42:04] Speaker B: And do you know what music sounds like when it's all alone? [01:42:09] Speaker C: Love in you is easy. Cause you're. I don't do that now. [01:42:20] Speaker A: Ow. Ow. [01:42:24] Speaker D: I literally didn't think anyone could be worse at singing than defender, but I was wrong. [01:42:31] Speaker E: Out of. Out of curiosity, would Klaxon's singing have interrupted the level of concordance with the symphony in the. [01:42:44] Speaker A: Yes. [01:42:45] Speaker B: That's the aim. [01:42:46] Speaker A: That's the aim. Yeah. So. But I'm trying to figure out what skill that would be. [01:42:57] Speaker B: So I'm gonna say that I have the skill of Rook's gambit. I can use anything as long as they take two stress. [01:43:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:43:09] Speaker B: So that is his version of maneuvering into the maestro's head. I will take two stress. He tries to disrupt the maestro. [01:43:19] Speaker A: Okay, you do go ahead and roll maneuver. Amazing. [01:43:28] Speaker C: Oh, my God. I'm crying for a different reason. Now. [01:43:32] Speaker B: I purposely also didn't sing the song exactly in order to avoid copyright. [01:43:39] Speaker C: I promise you. I don't think anyone's gonna be able to tell. That was so good. [01:43:45] Speaker A: All right, roll 46, bro. 46. Yeah, I'm just. I'm just. Let me just finish the clock. That finishes the clock. Dude, that was. That's too glorious not to finish the clock. I had a whole monologue written. I'm gonna throw that out. Fuck that. You heard that? Indiana Jones shoots totally was like. You like, you see this ghostly apparition of a dude with a powdered wig, and you're like, what? And you even and Kali also kind of, like, starts, like, freezing up in crosses grasp, giving Roman enough time to reach the sword. You reach out, you place Malaika's hand on the hilt. And I know I said beam saber earlier. That was kind of a spoiler. It looks like a regular sword at first, but as you pull out, it snaps off like this golden blade, but it ignites a golden beam out from the hilt that glows so bright that it basically flash bangs the entire sinkhole. You hear a pinging in your ears. And that's where we're gonna go to our break, guys. Thank you for watching Mekong symphony for the devil. We'll be right back after these messages. Welcome back, everybody. You're tuned into the second half of episode nine of Symphony for the devil. Wow. What a demon. Swords crazy big flash. What a karaoke. Saving the day with. Oh, man. I know. It's like a stereotype about, like, every Filipino knows how to sing, right? But, Ryan, I'm so glad that we are stereotypes today here on our show, to be fair. [01:46:25] Speaker B: Klaxon breaks stereotypes Ryan just knew to try to sing off key. Way off key. [01:46:32] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you for sharing that with us. I feel my life is better as the person. [01:46:40] Speaker C: Sorry. As the person who's worried about copyright strikes. Thank you. [01:46:43] Speaker A: Yes. [01:46:44] Speaker B: Purposely screwing up my own song. [01:46:48] Speaker D: Because. [01:46:48] Speaker B: I knew what I was singing, and I realized, uh, nope. Gotta maneuver aboard a formation in the middle of it. [01:46:56] Speaker A: So, um, you are all engulfed with, like, a blinding white light, and there's a loud pinging in your ears for those of you in the sinkhole. All three of you kind of, like, come to outside of your mix. And you are the three of you. So Roman, rupiah, and oridy. And you are surrounded by white, just empty nothingness. You're in your pilot suits. You're in your mono colored guild suits, your savai and everything. You kind of, like, look around. [01:47:44] Speaker C: And. [01:47:44] Speaker A: Then a pig runs by you just, like, trotting along. You know that? It was explained to you before that there are three poisons, three tethers that keep bock up into this plane, each representing a cause of suffering. The pig, as you recognize, is ignorance. And as you see it, run along. What do you do? [01:48:22] Speaker D: Time for some pork belly. [01:48:25] Speaker A: You just, like, fall. Okay, so you walk. You fall after the pig. Rupiah. And I guess your two companions, not knowing what to do, kind of just, like, take after you, right? And you follow after this pig for what feels like about a minute or so until you come across a trail of papers. Right? And you start and you see that there's these sheets of parchment with sheet music on them. The pig walks over them, right? And it crumples it beneath their little trotters. And you hear, you follow this trail of sheet music, and that becomes, you pick one up and you see that it's handwritten and it has Roman. You see, it's signed, it says funghaimen. The name of your commander, the name of Maestro, is not call sign, his actual legal government name. And you keep following the sheet music, and then you see that the sheet music begins to. There's blood on them, right? And the bloody sheet music becomes a long cloth sash that kind of just rolls along and then, until it gets to the end and there's a piano and it's destroyed. It's like crushed in. And there is a twelve year old gin boy sitting on the bench in front of his piano. And he's like, he's hanging his head. All the keys are like, tossed to the side. And you see there's like, there's more sheet music surrounding him, but much of it is either covered in blood or it's burnt to a crisp. Like, as you step on it, it like, crumbles into ash. So he's just hanging his head there. [01:50:36] Speaker E: Hey. Hey, kid, you alright? [01:50:47] Speaker A: Told me I had all the time in the world in here. [01:50:53] Speaker E: Who told you that? [01:50:54] Speaker A: Yasura. She said. She said she liked my music. And I have all the time in the universe in here. I can play for eternity. I can write all the music that ever was and ever will be. And that because you know music, you know. Did you know that in string theory, between every tiny little particle in the universe, there are strings and they're vibrating and they're playing songs everywhere. The universe is singing. And I get to play it forever in here. Away from all that. I don't have to kill anyone anymore. I don't have to. You're not going to take me away from here, are you? [01:51:46] Speaker E: The kid's sitting right? [01:51:47] Speaker A: Yeah, he's on the. He's on the piano bench, it looks like. And his piano is just absolutely demolished. [01:51:57] Speaker E: I'm going to sit next to the kid. You can keep playing for as long as you want now, you understand that. But if there's one thing I've learned about music from my friends and family, there's usually an ending to every song or fade out or whatnot. That doesn't mean that you can't play anymore. It just means you'll get to start something new. And the good thing about that is you can take your music wherever you want to go. [01:52:36] Speaker A: That's. That's not what they told me. They told me if I wanted to play, I had to get at the robot. And then I have to fight, and I have to have to fight, and so we can survive. So we can live. And I don't want to do that. It's so hard. [01:52:55] Speaker D: I'll come up and put my leg, rub his back as he crouches over. You know, they told me the same thing. [01:53:05] Speaker A: What did you do? [01:53:10] Speaker D: I found the people that I could surround myself with and I could act with, and they could dance with me, and we could fight and make art together. Because as wonderful as it is. As wonderful as it is to play your music for yourself, it's that much better when you play it for the people that you love and play it. [01:53:48] Speaker C: With the people that you love. [01:53:53] Speaker A: I don't have anybody. [01:54:00] Speaker D: I think you do. [01:54:05] Speaker C: Not in here, you don't. [01:54:09] Speaker A: But if you take me away from here, they'll hate me because I wasn't good enough. [01:54:16] Speaker D: No. [01:54:21] Speaker C: If you're not good enough for people, they're not your people. You need to be good enough for yourself. That's the only people you actually have to answer to. [01:54:39] Speaker A: Let's roll sway. Check. This will be a group openly weeping. [01:54:47] Speaker C: Excuse me. [01:54:49] Speaker A: So we're just like we established before. We're all gonna roll sway. We'll take the highest, and then the leader will take the stress of whoever rolls below a three. Before you roll roll man. He looks up at you, but the second he looks up, he is now adult maestro again. And he's sitting in the bench next to you. This older man. He's about, like, 15 years or senior now in his pilot suit. Weathered, a little broken. When he looks at you, you don't resent me for the things I did. I know you lost someone close to you that day. And. [01:55:41] Speaker E: If there's one thing we learn as soldiers, each of us is responsible for their own destiny. You made a choice. Francis made a choice. I made a choice. I can't go back and change that. But what matters most is what I do in moving forward. If I live with resentment for you, I'll never move forward. [01:56:16] Speaker A: Feel free to roll your dice. [01:56:18] Speaker E: Two, four. [01:56:20] Speaker A: That's a four. So you guys. You guys get a four. I've seen the strings strumming and vibrating since the beginning of time. All of space, matter and antimatter, they're always playing a concerto. And for a brief moment, I was the conductor. [01:56:41] Speaker E: How did it feel to be the conductor for a change and to create something instead of have to destroy. [01:56:51] Speaker A: It's not a privilege many of us get. It's a shame that I had to take it from the adversary. We're all grown. [01:57:02] Speaker E: We made our decisions. We made our choices. But for what it's worth, sir. [01:57:13] Speaker A: It. [01:57:14] Speaker E: Was still an honor to serve under you, despite how this all turned out. You did teach me a lot. And, wow. I hope you find whatever peace you can find. [01:57:35] Speaker A: He looks away, and you see the pig kind of walk towards in the whiteness, like a golden door, kind of just, like, materializes. And he stands up, and the pig starts walking in towards it, and he looks back at all of you, and he says, in another life, I'll do better. And he starts to walk towards the door. And as it closes, the white light in the sinkhole, from, like, from the outside of the sinkhole, you see this bright white. It's, like, shimmering and shining. And then it suddenly. And all the other kisi and tae nang, like, they're. They're still mopping up the rest of the khmer. But the creatures begin to beat a retreat almost as the music stops, just a resounding, like. And the sounds of the jungle returns. [01:58:56] Speaker B: Hey, teams, it looks like the team. Looks like the enemies are starting to go back into sinkhole. Just be prepared. [01:59:09] Speaker A: As for the other, as for the three of you, you return to consciousness, right? And you see Kali kind of just like Ordi. You feel like in your cockpit, you feel like the tightness on your controls loosen as Kali goes limp in Krasue's grasp. And Rukia, you hear shireen go, no, no, no, no, and rush over to the Kali. You see her cockpit disengaged, and she, like, climbs out, and she rushes over to this chassis. And Roman, it feels like an echo of 15 years ago as she runs up, tries to undo the hatch to retrieve her fallen teacher. [02:00:20] Speaker D: I'm gonna get out and go to Shireen. [02:00:26] Speaker A: She, like, rips her helmet off. She, like, throws it off to the side. She grabs it onto the manual release and starts pulling it out, starts turning it, and her hands are burning, but she doesn't care. And you see, like, tears are just, like, just waterfalls, and she's, like, sniffling, and it's cockpit seal flips up. She flips it up, and his. His body in his pilot suit, she, like, cradles it in her arms, but, yeah, rupiah, you are before your companion, your old triad mate. As she's cradling her teacher in her hands. [02:01:27] Speaker D: It may not mean anything now, but in the end, he was at peace. And he knew that he wasn't hated by everyone. He knew that he. He knew that you loved him. [02:02:18] Speaker A: Help me bring him back to the base. Of course, the rest of the tanon begin celebrating. Everybody raises their weapons, and they're cheering as the battle is won. People, like, throwing their, like, yeah, yeah. People are, yeah. You see a bunch of kisi raised in her arms. Like, even back on the command center, like, preeta, like, wipes some sweat off her brown zhongzi is like, finally, Nina, slow down the ship. Good. Good gods. Roman, you look in Malaika, you look down at Chandrahasa in your hand on the lotus cross guard. You see there are three seals on it. One for a pig, one for a snake, and one for a bird. And you see the pig just kind of, like, crumble into sand, leaving two tethers left. [02:03:30] Speaker E: I'm gonna put the sword at my side and just salute. He we may have been on opposite sides in the very end. You were still my teacher. You were still my superior. I hope wherever you are, you get to compose some kick ass music. Maybe I'll hear your symphony someday. [02:04:08] Speaker C: I watch rupiah and romance, and I look around at the space that we're in. [02:04:21] Speaker A: All the instruments are gone now. All the spirits have also all passed on with maestro leaving just an amphitheater that nature has made. [02:04:37] Speaker C: I look, I kind of disengage from the Krasues, from the Krasues controls for a moment and dig around my cockpit until I can find a piece of candy, and I'll pop the cockpit open and hop out. And at the center of the amphitheater, where the maestro's spirit was, I want to leave the thing that I have left, which is an offering in this space where people have died, because even if it doesn't work, I want to try. I want to do that respect. And I kind of look at the mech behind me that has. Is still sort of smoldering. And I'm like, it kind of counts as a joss stick. And just before climbing back in and radioing up to Kallaxin, we got it. [02:06:09] Speaker B: Is everyone okay? [02:06:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I think so. [02:06:18] Speaker B: Do you need me to get. Get to where you are? Are you going to come back to the marigold? [02:06:24] Speaker C: I think we're coming to you. [02:06:27] Speaker B: Copy that. [02:06:29] Speaker A: You are now. Or you can add to your inventory Chandrahasa, the sword of Ravana. But, yeah. All of you, ascend out of the sinkhole one by one back to the marigold. And back to docbal Watt. Um, let's say we'll cut to that evening where Tandong do what Tandong do every time they fucking win a battle and they get fucking crunk. So the char, like, the scouts of Wukong, bring in all sorts of, like, local fermented liquors from the. And there's that mango lumpia going around as everybody celebrates a battle well fought with minimal casualties. But the four of you, as well as Jackie and Shireen, while everybody else is partying, you are cremating Maestro's body, watching the flames dance in the night window as distant jungle creatures cry and birds chirp, as nature kind of, like, returns to dominance over the battlefield. It's kind of like a traditional ten non kind of like, funeral empire, where, like, there's almost like your gisi are, like, lined up in parallel also in respect. While Jackie goes about dismantling Kali respectfully as well, Zhong Zi steps in after the more quiet, somber parts of the ceremony are completed with his hands in his pocket. He's not in his traditional robes. He's more like in a more fitted mouse suit kind of thing for a bureaucrat in the field with his hands in his pockets. And he says, all right, that's one down, two tethers to go. Not to interrupt the party or anything. It does look like you guys are partying, that's for sure. [02:08:56] Speaker C: Do we know where the other two are? Do we know where the other two are? [02:09:05] Speaker A: Who do you think they are? [02:09:08] Speaker C: I can guess at one. And I look at Raman, maybe another. [02:09:18] Speaker E: I look back at Orady, just quietly nod. [02:09:28] Speaker D: We're not going to lose her, Roman. [02:09:35] Speaker E: I know. I know. And it just so happens that Roman has a glass in one hand and a bottle of something, more than likely some sort of whiskey. We're not gonna lose any more of them. Not a single one. [02:10:09] Speaker A: It's a long way back to ja'al fraya, Eli. Ever he looks up at the night sky. [02:10:19] Speaker E: And. [02:10:20] Speaker A: Or you also look up and you know where home is, right? You see that star burning in the distance? Fight is not over. But I understand that now that we have the sword, I'm sure some of you may want to disembark here, and I want to give you the option. I understand that noble politics and such and such might not be. [02:11:12] Speaker B: Why are you trying to cut us out right now? [02:11:14] Speaker A: I'm not trying to cut you out. I'm just giving you the option because now that you've finished, like you finished the retrieval part. [02:11:22] Speaker B: You think we're going to stop now. Like, I'm going to go. Okay, we got the sword. Bye. And not care about the rest of the crew and the fact that, you know, we have at least. Okay, we can at least have a little hope. Pun intended. At least. [02:11:46] Speaker A: Then we finish it. Yeah. [02:11:48] Speaker B: And then we'll celebrate by having a few new racers for the new combined Armin law bulak lock. I know we have racing co op. [02:11:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, the racing co op. [02:12:00] Speaker B: Yes, yes, yes. [02:12:02] Speaker A: Precisely. [02:12:03] Speaker B: And then we can make sure that every one of you has all the promotions you need. Rupiah, we will get you starring roles, because after this, you know, your. Your fame is gonna be so high that you're gonna be cast in so many things. And I will make sure you're casting things. Angelina's a great agent. Yeah. [02:12:27] Speaker D: Thanks, Cole. Axon. [02:12:29] Speaker B: You're welcome. [02:12:31] Speaker D: And, you know, can't just leave your asshole brother on that throne. [02:12:40] Speaker C: I can't do it. [02:12:41] Speaker B: We know. [02:12:43] Speaker C: We know. [02:12:44] Speaker D: Like, I. I can't even pretend. [02:12:47] Speaker A: Okay, so it sounds like we're overthrowing your brother. [02:12:53] Speaker C: We're not. [02:12:54] Speaker D: Rowing implies legitimacy. [02:12:58] Speaker A: Well, I do have some bad news. It's not that he is legitimate, but I'll let the paper speak for itself. And Zung Zi digs into his pocket and pulls out last week's paper from Chef Rock. Because that's the amount of time it takes for information to get out here, right? And he unfurls it and shows you the front page, and it says, guivung Kanua declares himself chakra of Artin or and Devaraja, God of kings. [02:13:43] Speaker E: Uh. [02:13:45] Speaker D: Old man, have you ever in your life delivered good news? [02:13:51] Speaker A: He flips it around and shows, like, um. I thought the comic section was really funny. Uh, look, there's. There's a little, uh. Look, and he show. It's like a little bit of bureaucrat office humor. There's like, a space Dilbert thing going on, you know? And. And it's like a joke, only he gets. [02:14:08] Speaker B: I don't get it. What? Why. Why is this. [02:14:12] Speaker A: It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. [02:14:14] Speaker C: I don't understand the significance of a Monday. [02:14:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:14:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:14:18] Speaker C: Okay. [02:14:18] Speaker A: Okay. So your brother has declared himself. [02:14:20] Speaker D: Mondays are for pizza. [02:14:23] Speaker A: What's a pizza? [02:14:24] Speaker B: Oh. Oh, I've heard. Isn't that pizza? Isn't that kind of like a pie with. With, like, tomatoes and bread and just random meats? [02:14:35] Speaker A: Yeah, like a rose. [02:14:36] Speaker C: Like a. [02:14:36] Speaker D: It's like a nun with stuff on it. [02:14:39] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [02:14:40] Speaker C: Okay. [02:14:41] Speaker D: Oh, I would have, instead of inside of it, it's on top of it. [02:14:45] Speaker A: Anyway, yeah, he's declared himself Devaraja. And also there's. The army has been disbanded, and it is all dark angels now. And you see the photo, and there's, like, you thought one Morningstar was a really tough fight back on Lancashire, but you see, he's, like, giving a speech in front of several dozen rows of these evil, dark looking, not supposed, like, you see, gunma hybrids. He's not very subtle about it at all. And your sister's standing next to him and everything, as well as the Archduke Saravon. He's like, so I hope we all have a plan. [02:15:38] Speaker C: I'll think of something. Kanawa was always so bad at naming things. [02:15:44] Speaker D: And it's a good thing we just freed up an army of our own. [02:15:49] Speaker B: Zhongzhi. Do you know what the nice part about newspaper headlines are? [02:15:55] Speaker A: What. [02:15:57] Speaker B: Is that? Tomorrow, you have a whole new headline. [02:16:03] Speaker A: And the emperor is taking a very long time to make a decision, whether he's cool with it or not. So it kind of is left up to. [02:16:11] Speaker B: I mean, it sounds like we have to make that decision for him. [02:16:16] Speaker A: Sounds like it. And I'll just look over here while you guys make that decision and, you know, assemble an army to go. I'll just, you know, I'm not endorsing anything, by any means. No, not at all. [02:16:28] Speaker B: Oh, not at all. [02:16:30] Speaker D: Official mission. [02:16:31] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh. [02:16:31] Speaker A: That's true. That's true. Yeah, yeah. But. [02:16:35] Speaker B: Oh, look over there. Look over there. [02:16:37] Speaker A: Look at shiny. [02:16:39] Speaker B: It's so shiny. [02:16:40] Speaker C: So shiny. [02:16:43] Speaker D: Look, I think Nina's flirting with a boy. [02:16:46] Speaker A: Oh, no. Oh, no. I better go down. Do that while you guys cook up a plan to go and do nothing. Do it. Yeah. Do you guys do nothing? [02:16:58] Speaker B: Yeah, just eat these. Mango lumpia. [02:17:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Cool. And if tomorrow someone steals my ship and goes and does a thing with it, that would be crazy. That would be insane. I would definitely have to include that in my report. And, you know, and it would be so awful. [02:17:22] Speaker C: So terrible. [02:17:23] Speaker A: It would be terrible, terrible, terrible. So I'm gonna go check up on my niece, and you guys keep fighting the good fight without my endorsement, and he runs off, leaving all of you there. Perhaps you have some time you can. You have. People are having. Are partying and raging all around the fortress right now. So you have tonight to at least blow off some steam. And then in the morning, and on the journey back, you can determine what fate awaits. Ciao, freya. [02:18:14] Speaker B: Well. [02:18:18] Speaker D: Does anyone else feel like a bad omen? [02:18:21] Speaker C: Just left a little bit. [02:18:24] Speaker D: You know what's crazy? [02:18:26] Speaker C: I think Zhong. I think Zhong Zi leaves the codes and keys to the marigold in the ship. [02:18:42] Speaker B: Observe it. [02:18:44] Speaker D: Yeah. [02:18:45] Speaker B: So careless. [02:18:46] Speaker C: So careless. We should probably check on those right now, right? [02:18:49] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. Test them to make sure that they're. To make sure that we remind Zing Z that, hey, you just left this around. After we make sure that they work, right? [02:19:02] Speaker E: We should totally make sure they don't fall into anyone else's hands, because heaven forbids Evan. [02:19:09] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, and, you know, if there are emergency overrides that just happen to be written in this crossword puzzle, that'd be crazy. Like, hold up the newspaper. [02:19:24] Speaker C: Yeah. And one other thing is Preeta around. [02:19:34] Speaker A: Frida is you can go off to look for her if you'd like. [02:19:39] Speaker C: I want to, like, send her a message. Not, like, go. Not something that she can see tomorrow. [02:19:45] Speaker A: Uh huh. You find her slumped in, like, a beach chair. Like, her armor is, like, next to her, and she's just, like, in a tank and, like, cargo pants and boots, and she's just, like, splayed out with a flask in her hand. [02:20:07] Speaker C: Is she awake? [02:20:10] Speaker A: Hello? [02:20:11] Speaker C: Hey. Apropos of nothing, are you gonna punch me again? No, because we just want to battle together. [02:20:18] Speaker A: That'd be like. [02:20:18] Speaker C: We did. However, we're not done yet. [02:20:22] Speaker A: Okay. [02:20:25] Speaker C: Someone's gonna stay, steal a ship tonight, and it's terrible. [02:20:29] Speaker A: Yes. That sounds awful. [02:20:31] Speaker C: You should probably mobilize tomorrow when you discover that and bring everybody. Everybody. [02:20:41] Speaker A: That does sound pretty awful. [02:20:43] Speaker C: That sounds awful. [02:20:44] Speaker A: Would you happen to know where these ship thieves, their trajectory would be? [02:20:48] Speaker C: Oh, man, it sounds like chow, friar. [02:20:51] Speaker A: Oh, that sounds serious. [02:20:53] Speaker C: Yeah, but tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow. [02:20:57] Speaker A: Yeah. So you're telling me they're planning on stealing tomorrow? [02:20:59] Speaker C: Okay, yeah, they're definitely gonna steal it. [02:21:01] Speaker A: Me and. Me and the fellas here, we're going to be on the lookout for any ship thieves tomorrow, and then we will make chase and meet them at. [02:21:10] Speaker C: Ciao, Friar. [02:21:18] Speaker A: I do have some beef with my dad for pressuring me into overthrowing your dad, so. [02:21:25] Speaker C: Yeah, I think we can call it square. [02:21:28] Speaker A: We can? Yeah. So, ship thieves tomorrow, I'm going to catch. We're going to catch. [02:21:35] Speaker C: Absolutely. They suck. [02:21:37] Speaker A: I'm going to mobilize the entire. I'm going to mobilize this entire warship. Right? She points out the alacrity. This massive, titanic fucking carrier's like, yeah, and we'll definitely flag them down. We're going to engage them in a chat. Okay, yeah, sure. [02:21:48] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. [02:21:49] Speaker A: Absolutely. I'll, um. You want to sit. [02:21:53] Speaker C: I'm okay. I have some packing to do. [02:21:56] Speaker A: Okay. Um, enjoy the party. I'm gonna lay here. [02:22:01] Speaker C: Yeah. Have fun. [02:22:03] Speaker A: Oh, an ord. [02:22:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:22:06] Speaker A: You got a good right hook. [02:22:10] Speaker C: Thanks. You too. [02:22:15] Speaker A: You all party for the rest of the night. Reasonably responsibly, I hope, because I cut to the. We cut to the next morning. And as you are stealing the miracle, the four of you, or Klaxon rupiah, roman, you all head up the landing ramp. Even Nina is like, oh, no. Not the rare gold, but yeah. As you're about to board and begin launch protocols for your theft, you feel a presence behind you, a glowing one like you see in your peripheral, like that kind of sparkle of divinity. And you stop and you turn, and there's a bodhisattva, kind of just standing in the tree. Kind of looks like that statue of Guanyin in the backyard at the palace. But her visage seems very familiar. [02:23:46] Speaker C: I'm gonna wave. [02:23:49] Speaker A: And she. She does love these. [02:23:50] Speaker C: I'm gonna say it more. I don't think she can hear me, but I'm going to say it anyway. I. I'm going to finish this so that the next time around, everyone gets to do exactly what they want to do. If this world is suffering, we're going to make it so that there are the moments that are sweeter by comparison. [02:24:32] Speaker A: She spirals, ramp closes. The marigold begins to lift off, and several dogs run past the bodhisattva's feet and start chasing after the ship as it starts cruising out into atmosphere. And then everybody else at base is like, oh, no, not the Marigold. We better get after them. But they take their damn time out into space again. And, Gordy, you head back up to the cockpit, where Nina's like, oh, no, I'm being held hostage to fly this ship. What are we gonna do? But, yeah, you look out and you see the stars, and you see where the Vianchan sector's burning. Daystar all the way out there, and you know the way home. It's the second star to the right and straight on till morning. Thank you for tuning into Mekong symphony for the devil. Guys, this has been episode nine. I'm Jerry Law. I've been. It's. I've been privileged and honored to be your storyteller for this game. Be sure to join us again for episode ten, our final installment of this adventure. So, everybody put your hands together for our lovely cast. This is your time to shout out your socials, projects, other work you got going on. [02:26:02] Speaker B: All right? Hi, my name is Ryan Omega. You have seen me play Kallaxon. You could find me on social medias under Ryan Omega or Ryan Omga or my YouTube channel. My newest YouTube channel, Geek Public, which is a series of different panels that were inspired by convention panels but made and filmed for YouTube, meant to be accessible. If you are any kind of a geek who likes discussion or wants to learn things like content creation, I bring many people onto the panel who will break this down for you so that you too can be inspired to make content. [02:26:44] Speaker D: Hi, I am Pooja. I've been playing rupiah taeyang. This is Salvador. He has been playing so cute and you can find me on the Internet as forgotten saves. If you want to hear me play more ttrpgs, you can find me on Happyjack's rpg network and the back catalog of twelve sided stories. [02:27:07] Speaker E: I shall jump in next. What's up everyone? Andrew J and Landy. I play everyone's space dad, Roman Maxilla. Pronouns he, him. You can find me Instagram and Twitter. Andrew Jalandy. Also on Bluesky as Duralath, which is my gamer tag for when I play Street Fighter. Play Street fighter incessantly. Would love to talk with you, but anyway, follow me there for any updates that are going on. Got more to announce in the upcoming days ahead. So again, thank you all for tuning in, watching and enjoying this space opera with us. This has been nothing but a treat and a pleasure to share with this cast and you, the wonderful viewers. So again, thank you and bless you all. [02:27:50] Speaker C: I'm Clara. I've been playing Ori Vong, the exile playbook from this series from Beam Saber. Oh my God. Thank you everyone. We're almost done. Ah, I'm all over the Internet as clearly golden, unless you're into mermaids, in which case it's mermaid clarity on Instagram and clearly golden underscore over on Blue sky. I'm here at QCG. I'm over at happy Jacks playing games. Keep your eyes peeled on both. I'm a producer on both ends, so I might have things coming down the pike in the next few months. We will see. I just gotta finish editing these episodes, I guess when you watch this, I'll have been done. [02:28:41] Speaker A: Thank God that's true. Yeah. [02:28:43] Speaker C: Cool. [02:28:44] Speaker A: Thanks again for tuning into Mekong. If you like this game, please be sure to check out beam saber on itch IO. If you like us and want to see more, be sure to follow queen support games on all the socials. And on Patreon, I'm Jerry Law. It's been an honor and a privilege. Fare thee well. Stay hydrated. Tell someone you care about you love them, and you can follow and you can also follow me on Instagram and X and whatever. Twitter, whatever. Ijerielmore. Okay. Tell somebody you care about you love them. Peace. It.