Story of the Dagger Wielder

Tagline Here

Short Summary
Previously on Rollplay (Youtube Recap Video)

Detailed Summary
The date is December 27, 3200. There are five more days before the duel between Mr. Sicarian and Titan takes place.

Premise
The scene fades into a large metal auditorium filled with military folk of all types; some young, some old, some with cybernetic implants. Subtitles read, 'Briefing Room - Pfotenhauer Warship - Allsfaire'. The camera pans across the audience until it stops on Mr. Sicarian. Where everyone around him is goofing around, Mr. Sicarian is sitting still with his eyes fixed at the man on stage. After a few attempts to get everyone's attention, this man begins to run through a combat scenario that they are all about to engage in. As he talks, a hologram of Onintza appears behind the man and ships come into view, projecting arrows down onto the planet. The man looks at the crowd and says, "For some of you, this is old hat. For a few of you, [The man looks at Mr. Sicarian] this might be your first drop."

Once the presentation is over and people begin to leave, the man walks over to Mr. Sicarian. As the man comes closer, Mr. Sicarian can make out the name 'Titan' on his nameplate. Titan asks Mr. Sicarian if he is willing to fight for his home-planet and Mr. Sicarian tells him that he is willing to fight for whatever calls of him. Titan then asks for Mr. Sicarian to walk with him and Mr. Sicarian follows. As the two men walk through a large Pfotenhauer battleship, they pass by soldiers who are putting on armor and then getting loaded up into drop-ships. As Titan and Mr. Sicarian get fitted into their armor, Titan says that no matter what happens, he and the rest of his squad will have Mr. Sicarian's back. Titan then loads onto the drop-ship and Mr. Sicarian's visor lowers across his face as he follows.

Mr. Sicarian Joins the Crew (Flashback)
The camera pans across the beautiful blue ocean of Asa until it centers upon a floating tropical vista. The camera zooms into a nearby parking garage where Wilbur Higgins III can be seen looking at a data pad with Piani Pic. On the data pad is a list of crossed-off names and towards the bottom of the list is the name 'Mr. Sicarian'. The subtitles read, 'Sunbeam - Outgoing - Planet Asa - July 3199'. Higgins and Piani have been trying to find a mercenary who will join the crew but all of the ones they have found so far are either dead or not available for hire. The next man on the list, Mr. Sicarian, is one of their last hopes.

Higgins and Piani hear a knock on the door and the camera pans over to a younger, less-grizzled Mr. Sicarian. Mr. Sicarian then says,

Mr. Sicarian: Hello. I'm answering the ad. My name is Mr. Sicarian.

Higgins: Okay, what's your last name?

Mr. Sicarian: Sicarian.

Viktor Kovacs who is now in the room, walks over to Mr. Sicarian, shakes his hand, and asks him to explain a little bit about himself. Mr. Sicarian tells the group that he was previously in the honor guard for the Onintzan Republic and before that he was in a paramilitary group for a while. Viktor comes clean about the party having ties with crime and then asks Mr. Sicarian why he wants to join them and not some other, more-legitimate force. Mr. Sicarian explains that he tried that, that he had fought for a cause that he thought was good, but it ended up being corrupt. Now he wants to try a more personal approach in hopes that it will lead to different results. Mr. Sicarian and Higgins seal up the deal with a handshake and Viktor tells Piani that he has a good feeling about Mr. Sicarian.

An Explanation
It is December 27, 3200 and Higgins is in his room talking to a man who calls himself Mr. Catharsis. Catharsis explains to Higgins that Mr. Sicarian can't win the duel, that The Barricade says that Titan needs to stay where he is. He then explains to Higgins that he will be the one who needs to rig the duel because 'they' don't have the time and are dealing with other important matters. Higgins tells the man that if that's how it has to be then that's how it has to be.

Two days pass and Higgins walks into Mr. Sicarian's room and locks the door. Getting right to the point, Higgins asks for Mr. Sicarian to explain himself with regards to Titan. Sicarian explains that he worked under Titan's command in the Pfotenhauer Society and quickly moved up the ranks. He eventually was able to lead his own company and their group quickly became highly revered. People then began to talk of Mr. Sicarian becoming one of the leaders and it was at this point that Mr. Sicarian believed Titan to be afraid of Mr. Sicarian taking his position. Mr. Sicarian then says that one day, his company was doing a mission off-world when Titan asked to speak with him privately. When Mr. Sicarian went to go see him, Titan shot him out of the ship, leaving him to fall down to the earth below. Titan then spread the word that Mr. Sicarian had been planning a coup to overthrow him and that he had done what was necessary to avoid that. Titan also removed Mr. Sicarian's closest unit members (such as Mr. Falcon) to make sure that no one would doubt his word. Mr. Sicarian then explains that he has always sought for what is best for humanity and that with Titan going against that, he will need to be dealt with. Once Mr. Sicarian's story is finished, Higgins asks him for any proof of his tale. Mr. Sicarian lifts up his shirt, revealing a burn-mark on his chest where Titan had shot him. Higgins then asks Mr. Sicarian what will happen if he wins the duel and Mr. Sicarian says that he'll have a good chance to work with the Pfotenhauer Society again and possibly be some kind of leader for them.

The Package
Mr. Sicarian opens a package from an unknown recipient and inside are three glass syringes filled with liquid and a data chip. Mr. Sicarian plugs the data chip into his comm-pad and it reads, "Hi Mr. Sicarian. I heard you were going to get into a fight. I didn't want you to lose the fight so I found this thing for you. It goes on your spacesuit. It'll make you feel greeeeaaat. Don't lose the fight! xoxo -H". [The message technically does not have spaces, I included them for clarity. It is also assumed that this message came from Howard.] Olaf Olafson (who came to the ship a couple of days ago and has since been sparring with Mr. Sicarian as practice for his duel) looks at the syringes and says to Mr. Sicarian that they are ancient artifacts that can't be synthesized anymore. He explains that they are able to keep the body alive for longer than expected so long as a small toll is paid on the body. Mr. Sicarian says to Olaf that he will only take them if necessary and to explain details about the toll at a later date.

The Ceremony
The camera fades onto Bazignos, a planet that is only habitable at its poles due to a previous war that left the planet burning. The scene fades into a blasted-out church. The church is large, but only bits and pieces are left standing from the war. Panes of glass along the walls are mostly broken, pieces of the ceiling have collapsed, and sand swirls on top of a broken concrete floor. The Swan Song crew feel out of place here as they are accompanied by ~20 people fully fitted in Pfotenhauer battle-gear. Among the crowd are the familiar faces of Ms. Fate, Ms. Whirlwind, and Titan.

A small ceremony takes place before the duel begins. One of the Pfotenhauer men walks up to a podium and tells the story of an ancient fight that took place and how ever since that fight, the Pfotenhauer Society has adopted this act of dueling as a sacred part of their beliefs. As the ceremony goes on, Mr. Sicarian stands silently and listens, he is the most at-peace that he has ever been seen. This was the reason why he had joined the crew in the first place; to eventually right the wrongs in the world, and this is the first step. The ceremony eventually comes to an end the two combatants of the duel step into the arena. On one end, Titan can be seen wearing ceremonial clothes. He has an eye-patch over one eye with a scar going across where the eye would be. On the opposite side of the arena, Mr. Sicarian feels his hands tighten as darkness begins to creep up inside of him. Mr. Sicarian takes a deep breath and walks forward. [The audience can see tendrils coming off of Mr. Sicarian which are invisible to everyone else. Also as he walks forward, a glimpse of his wife appears amongst the crowd.] As the two shake hands with each other, the foot-height advantage that Titan has over Mr. Sicarian can prominently be seen.

Titan: This has been a long time coming.

Mr. Sicarian: Yes it has Mr. Titan. In fact, I think it's been significantly longer than you thought it would take, is that correct?

Titan: I'll give you this Sicarian. You taught me a lesson once. I don't leave jobs unfinished anymore. Time to clean this one up.

Mr. Sicarian: In that, we agree.

Once Titan has dawned all of his armor, he stands about 9 feet tall and 5 feet wide, much larger than anyone the crew has ever seen. Along his armor is the flow of etchings written in an ancient language that has been lost to humanity for centuries. In one hand he wields a monofilament axe, and in the other, a large shield. On the other side of arena, Mr. Sicarian is wearing his newly upgraded power armor. Even though this armor is much bulkier than Mr. Sicarian's previous set, it still dwarfs in comparison to Titan's. Before the duel begins, Mr. Sicarian touches his forehead to Olaf's and says that if he doesn't see him soon, he will see him in Valhalla soon enough. He then turns to the crew and tells them that if this is the end, it was an honor serving them. Just before the battle begins, Higgins leaves back to the Swan Song [and ends up drinking and crying on Pi's lap] and Erik Fretheim activates an anti-psychic field around the arena as to nullify any potential psychic interference with the duel.

The Duel
Mr. Sicarian notices an aerosol spray go off in Titan's helmet. His visor then falls which bounces red light off it's surface. Mr. Sicarian then closes his visor, reflecting the usual black hue. The Pfotenhauer crowd of ~20 dismantle their cloaks and hold up their swords as they begin to chant. The duel officially begins.

Titan bangs his shield and axe together as he charges at Mr. Sicarian. Mr. Sicarian quickly barrel rolls out of the way and swings his monoblade at an opening between Titan's armor and his leg. His sword is met with flesh as the first blood of the duel is drawn. Furious, Titan over-head swings his axe down at Mr. Sicarian, but is too slow as Mr. Sicarian barrel rolls out of the way for a second time. Using the barrel roll as momentum, Mr. Sicarian stands up and side-ways swings at Titan's elbow, causing another spurt of blood to spill out of Titan's armor. The crowd hears Titan roar from within his suit as he turns, bashes Mr. Sicarian with his shield, and then follows it up with a swing of his axe. Only Mr. Sicarian notices this, but as Titan's axe swings one way, it all of a sudden stops in mid-swing and heads in a slightly different direction, something that a normal human would not be able to do. This causes Titan's axe to slash across Mr. Sicarian's shoulder. Stunned, Mr. Sicarian takes a sloppy swing at Titan that is easily deflected by Titan's shield. Titan then brings his axe down, in what looks like from the audience's perspective, to cleave Mr. Sicarian's collar-bone, but Mr. Sicarian moves inhumanly fast to the side and the axe misses him by just a hair. Mr. Sicarian then goes to attack Titan and just like Titan had done to him, Mr. Sicarian feigns his sword in one direction but actually swings it a different direction, causing Mr. Sicarian's sword to meet flesh for a third time.

Invigorated, Titan swings at Mr. Sicarian twice in the time that it would take a normal human to only be able to swing once. Equally as impressive, Mr. Sicarian backs up just in time to dodge both attacks. When Mr. Sicarian goes to attack Titan again, Titan uses his shield to block Mr. Sicarian's attack, and then uses an open opportunity to swing at Mr. Sicarian which ends up finding its mark. In pain, Mr. Sicarian uses one of the three syringes in his suit which instantly makes him feel much better. With this surge of energy, Mr. Sicarian twirls his sword in a manner that looks like it should cleave Titan's arm clear off, but Titan again moves at super-human speed and brings up his axe, stopping Mr. Sicarian's sword in its tracks. Titan then uses his axe and shield to push Mr. Sicarian away. He then charges at Mr. Sicarian with an over-head swing to Mr. Sicarian's left side. Mr. Sicarian dodges to the right but then notices that the axe is now coming from the right-hand side. He dodges to the left as quickly as he can, but not before Titan's axe is able to completely shatter Mr. Sicarian's visor. Personally unscathed by the attack, Mr. Sicarian lashes out at Titan's ankles. Titan sees the attack coming, steps around Mr. Sicarian, and buries his axe into Mr. Sicarian's chest. He then uses his momentum to follow through with his axe in a 180 degree turn and throw Mr. Sicarian into one of the church's pews. Mr. Sicarian activates the second syringe in his armor.

Mr. Sicarian gets up from the pews and swings at Titan's side, but his sword clinks off Titan's armor. Titan then uses his shield to bash Mr. Sicarian away and then brings his axe down in an over-head swing, again at super-human speed. In slow motion, Mr. Sicarian moves back and watches the axe miss his helmet by a hairs-breadth before crashing into the cement. With Titan being over-extended, Mr. Sicarian uses the opportunity to grab ahold of his monoblade with two hands and swing it like a baseball bat at Titan's face. The blade catches Titan's faceplate and rips clean through it, causing the upper-half of Titan's head to fall to the ground, and the rest of him soon after. The duel is over. The crowd that has been holding their swords in the air this whole time finally sheathes them.

The Aftermath
Once the duel is over and Mr. Sicarian's wounds are mostly taken care of, a woman walks up to him and introduces herself as Ms. Pool. She explains that things in the Pfotenhauer Society haven't been great as of late and that it was about time that they had a new change of command. Mr. Sicarian then stands up in front of everyone and gives a speech about how Titan was once an honorable leader but that power had caused him to become corrupt. Mr. Sicarian goes on to say about how he would never betray the Pfotenhauer Society and that it was Titan that had made him look like a bad guy. He then says that he would be willing to act honorably as the Pfotenhauer leader if they would accept him for that role. Ms. Pool tells him that they were hoping he would say something like that. Mr. Sicarian explains that he'd like to talk to his crew about it first and then everyone goes back to their respective ships.

Privately in his room, Higgins calls Ms. Whirlwind. When the two connect, Ms. Whirlwind asks him what the fuck he is doing. That he was supposed to interfere and that it wasn't supposed to be this way. Higgins asks if the two of them are okay and Ms. Whirlwind tells Higgins that she didn't want him in the Luminary in the first place and that the only reason as to why she has to put up with him is because of who his family is. Ms. Whirlwind then abruptly hangs up.

Thinking that the conversation went better than expected, Higgins meets with Mr. Sicarian and asks him what he wants to do. Mr. Sicarian tells him that the Pfotenhauer Society has offered him Titan's position and that he couldn't see himself doing anything else. Now that Titan is dead, he can finally go after his dream. Erik seems happy about Mr. Sicarian taking what he believes to be Mr. Sicarian's rightful place. Piani tells Mr. Sicarian that she doesn't want him to go. Pi asks Mr. Sicarian where he feels home is and Mr. Sicarian responds that even though he wants to join back with the Pfotenhauer Society, he feels that his home is with the Swan Song. Pi then tells him that they believe home is somewhere people can leave, but forever come back to. Mr. Sicarian then tells everyone that if he didn't take this opportunity, then he would always look back regretting that decision.

Higgins gives Mr. Sicarian a handshake and tells him that it's been good having him on the ship. Mr. Sicarian responds back that Higgins is unconventional, and probably drinks too much, but that he is a good captain and that it has been an honor serving him. Mr. Sicarian then goes over to Erik and tells him to remember that the people on the ship are his people now and that he needs to rise up and be strong. Erik tells Mr. Sicarian that he will always remember him and that he has been an inspiration. Mr. Sicarian goes over to Pi and asks for them to watch over the crew and make sure that they are okay. Pi tells Mr. Sicarian that if he ever sees the Warmind, to send him their regards. Mr. Sicarian says that he will and finally walks over to Piani. He gives her a bloody kiss on the cheek and tells her that she is the best person here. Angry with tears and barely able to speak, Piani tells Mr. Sicarian that all she is going to do from now on is smuggle Blue Fever. Mr. Sicarian hugs her and after a few seconds of resisting, Piani gives in and hugs Mr. Sicarian back. Mr. Sicarian then turns to Olaf and tells him that he was there when Mr. Sicarian needed him most and that as soon as he gets reinstated, Olaf will have him at his disposal. Olaf turns to Mr. Sicarian and says, "What are you doing saying goodbye to me? I am coming with you! I don't have anything to do right now anyway." Mr. Sicarian reaches out his hand and says, "Mr. Olafson, good to meet you." Olaf shakes his hand.

Crew Status

 * XP Earned: Mr Sicarian 12,500
 * Mr Sicarian left the crew

Ship Status

 * Hull Integrity:

Criminal Activities

 * New Crime:

Business

 * Credits Acquired:
 * Credits Spent:
 * Jobs In Progress:
 * Jobs Completed:
 * Debt Increased:
 * Debt Paid Off On Swan Song:
 * Current Debt On Swan Song: