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[IronyOwl]

Spoiler: Glass (click to show/hide)

You try to arrange a meeting with Starlight Shield to discuss potential employment opportunities.

She responds that she doesn't work for villains who skulk about behind the walls. Hrm. Maybe being discrete came off wrong.

Starfire and Aegis
The two of you travel with Gunboat to meet with Snowspark at an ice cream parlour.

Not terribly surprisingly, Snowspark is a slight girl, dressed all in frilly white, with frilly white hair and white eyes. She's also pouting and on the verge of tears.

"I'm SO sorry!" Gunboat repeats, sounding mortified and pushing another deluxe sundae on the white Idol.

"You shoved me into the rock crushe-he-he-heeeeeeer!" Snowspark sobs back.

So. This is an interesting meeting.

[Glass]

"..."

[Mumbling] "This is not anywhere near approaching my area of expertise."

"Ok, I can't claim to have any actual idea what happened between the two of you, and I am quite frankly no good at navigating these types of situations, so I'm simply going to try to do this as professionally as can be done. Snowspark, one of my coworkers - a certain Timantha Starfire - is looking into hiring an Idol, and they thought that you would be a good person for that. If you are interested, I would be happy to arrange a meeting with them for you.

Spoiler: GM (click to show/hide)

Subtlety is hardly the same thing as skulking. Regardless, I will respect her wishes.
If she decides that she does not wish to remain with Starfire - or even if she simply decides that it may be advantageous to have a second contract with a manager ("manager", heh) more inclined toward matters of research and development, she has an open invitation to have a formal and official meeting with me to discuss the topic of making a contract, which may be conducted whenever she wishes, and would be done with Starfire's knowledge.
I have no desire to be considered a villain, or do any villainous things. I simply recognize that my skills are better used in the background, to support those more capable of direct action.

[IronyOwl]

((Sorry everyone update soon.))

"..."

[Mumbling] "This is not anywhere near approaching my area of expertise."

"Ok, I can't claim to have any actual idea what happened between the two of you, and I am quite frankly no good at navigating these types of situations, so I'm simply going to try to do this as professionally as can be done. Snowspark, one of my coworkers - a certain Timantha Starfire - is looking into hiring an Idol, and they thought that you would be a good person for that. If you are interested, I would be happy to arrange a meeting with them for you.

((I assumed Starfire would be there.))

She sniffles and stares at you, before mumbling something about throwing allies into moving machinery with a pout. Gunboat frantically orders another expensive ice cream dish.

It would seem she has other things on her mind. You might need to resolve that or distract her with something shiny to get her on the more important topic.

[Glass]

*sigh*

Dariel sits down at the table. (Depending on what the current seating arrangement is, at a different place - across from Snowspark and Gunboat if they're sitting next to each other, at the head of the table if they're sitting across from each other, next to her if they're at a bar setup, etc.)

"I won't pretend to be any good at this, but I'm going to try anyway.
First off, Gunboat, stop trying to buy her off with ice cream. While I comprehend the sentiment, it's clearly not working.
Now. How about we actually take some time to talk through what happened and how to resolve the issue?"

[IronyOwl]

"I was so happy to have finally made a friend, and then this is what happened!"

Snowspark pulls out some kind of handheld screen and holds it out for you to see. It appears to be footage from the obstacle course, showing Gunboat and Snowspark running for the finish line, with other contestants approaching from different angles but at similar distances. Snowspark's expression seems to be unbridled joy, while Gunboat is glancing at the competition with obvious concern. As they near the final approach, Gunboat holds out a leg to trip Snowspark, gives her a light shove mid-air, and sprints hard. Snowspark, with an expression of confusion and betrayal, sails into the padded machinery of some kind of whirling foam death-thing, while Gunboat flies through the temporarily halted implements and straight into victory.

Gunboat quickly orders another ice cream against your orders. Snowspark stares at you with tear-filled eyes and a look of determination.

[Glass]

Dariel steepled his fingers against his face.

"Ok. Gunboat, we need to talk about this.
I understand that you wanted to win that competition, and that it was intended to make you look good. But listen.
That did not make you look good at all.
Did it show you to be capable? Certainly, otherwise you wouldn't have made it to the end.
But it also showed people that you would be ruthless, and put others down if it would help you. That's not the image that people should have of those who are supposed to protect them, and it's certainly not the sort of behavior that I want those Idols signed to me to have.
Remember, you are not just a celebrity, out to look impressive. Your job is to fight the good fight, to protect people, and to raise people's hope in trying times such as these.
If you saw somebody who was sworn to protect you do this, what would you think of them? Would you trust them to have your best interests at heart?
And another thing, which I've learned from working behind the scenes for a long time. People work better together. Yes, it takes extra work from everyone involved in collaboration; you can't just be doing what works best for you, you have to do your work in a way that meshes with everyone else's efforts. But the final product is more than just the sum of what each person could do on their own; people synergize, their skills complement each other, they can focus more on what they're good at when others can handle the other parts.
That is what teamwork is. It's not a bunch of people working at the same task; it's multiple people - even just two - working at a task together, doing the work that the other cannot, so that everyone involved comes out the better for it. And they do not betray each other. It isn't worthwhile to work with somebody who betrays their partners.
If you had an option of partners to work with at a task - one not quite as good as you are, but ceaselessly loyal, while the other complements you perfectly, but will certainly betray you when it will advantage them - who would you pick?
What you did in that video, Gunboat, can and will get you a reputation for betrayal. The details will fade, but the memory of that scene will remain for a long time.
We need to fix that. We can't afford to have somebody who can't work with teammates helping to defend people from attack."

(I'm so sorry for the wall of text .-. )

[Naturegirl1999]

(I don’t think it is a wall)

[IronyOwl]

"But there's no point if you don't win!" Gunboat insists. "There's tons of people who mean well, heroes are the ones who get it done! And I knew it wouldn't hurt her or anything, it just- uh-"

"It did hurt! It hurt my feelings!" Snowspark bawls in retort.

"DOUBLE LARGE ZAGABERRY DELIGHT!" she shouts frantically to the servers.

She nervously pounds the table, leaning towards you.

"For the record," she whispers insistently, "I'd pick the teammate who completes the mission. Otherwise we shouldn't have been out there in the first place!"

[Glass]

“You could have - and likely would have - won without doing what you did. You merely would have had to be a bit more careful. You can’t just act on impulse all the time, Gunboat. We will talk about training in that regard at a later time.
And about “completing the mission”. If you want that, then you choose the person that you know will stick by your side the whole time.
Waiters, stop accepting orders from this table, please.”

[TricMagic]

Tim goes to speak with Starfire in private for this month's Gigs.

Spoiler: GM Only (click to show/hide)

"So, gathered a few things. The known missions."
Tim pulls out the sheets.

Ochyr-VII
Settlement: Ochyr-VII, [Grim] Drug Synthesis Enclave
Target: Solstice-Class anomaly predicted to land near the colony this month. Solstices are the weakest of the three classes, generally expected to be around 3 times as strong as one of your standard mechs. Note that this is a rough prediction and wild discrepancies are common.
Bounty: 1000 Credits, divided evenly among defenders
Bonus Objective: The colony is willing to sell ownership shares in exchagne for lucrative parts from the enemy with which to develop miracle drugs. Taking the creature out without damaging it too much, and donating the remaining parts to the colony, will net you investments in the colony.
Description: The Council has decided to fund a demonstrative defense of a small manufacturing colony named Ochyr-VII. Target has yet to make impact but reports are confident of its time and place of arrival, so only its class can be discerned so far.

"Annoyingly, we don't have the ability to pull this mission off. No one else is thinking of taking it either, so.."

"For the other known gigs. 'Heartbeat Hedonist Donation Drive' is very much not your thing, and others are taking it, for some reason."

Stop Terrordome's Rampage!
Signing Bonus: Commemorative Plushy
Payout: +2 FAME, +2 GLORY
[Heroic] <- Idols with a [Heroic] Creed will gain an additional point to spend on a reward track, just as if they had a relevant Specialty
Description: Oh no! Terrordome, the nefarious Nemesis ne'er-do-well, has struck again! Can you defeat his terrible Dome of Terror and do away with this dastardly trouble? All participants get a free limited edition plushy of the vile villain himself!

"This Gig would be good for your image, but doesn't really save anyone And 'Vacuum Accident Solutions' Emergency Everything's Fine Sales Pitch!'is very much a No."


For the rest, I have some basic jobs, and one other.

Beat Terrible People
Signing Bonus: None
Payout: -1 FAME, +1 GLORY
Description: There's some really just awful people doing awful things in back alleys and Smoke-filled rooms everywhere. Going over and punching them would be admirable but nobody would hear about it.

Destroy Contraband
Signing Bonus: None
Payout: -1 FORTUNE, +1 GLORY
Description: Lots of people smuggle lots of highly illegal, and more importantly highly immoral, stuff every day. Going over and punching it is noble but sends a message that you're wasteful and opposed to commerce.

Punch Criminals
Signing Bonus: None
Payout: None
Description: Going around punching people who really deserve it doesn't really accomplish anything, but it might make your feel better.

"These three are usually available should you want to."

"Which brings to the last Gig. It isn't going to go away, but you might want to read the files yourself and decide if you want to do it. Just felt I'd give you the option."
Tim hands her the files.

Black Sun Eclipse
Signing Bonus: Unknown, high possibility of confiscating illicit swag
Payout: -5 GLORY, +10 FAME
Description: Somebody attractive needs to create lewd media in order to gain access to and shut down a facility that creates and then murders people constantly. Also hatches adorable ducklings. Related?! Insufficient intel to determine at this time.

"I can guess why they haven't been shut down yet. No way in, civilian cover, and people just saying bad things happening to bad species and people is fine. But this isn't something that should be done to anyone..."

"Anyway, there they are. We can also use the Recording Studio this month."
... "I am someone who would like to put an end to that operation, but it is a big thing to decide without consulting you first."

[IronyOwl]

“You could have - and likely would have - won without doing what you did. You merely would have had to be a bit more careful. You can’t just act on impulse all the time, Gunboat. We will talk about training in that regard at a later time.
And about “completing the mission”. If you want that, then you choose the person that you know will stick by your side the whole time.
Waiters, stop accepting orders from this table, please.”

"I wouldn't have, though! They were ahead of me! I knew I had to make a call, and... uh..."

Snowspark sniffles very loudly and indignantly.

"Strawberry Caramel Snow Slide," Gunboat whispers insistently to the staff. They ignore your orders in favor of enabling her unhealthy addiction.

Tim goes to speak with Starfire in private for this month's Gigs.

Spoiler: Starfire Only (click to show/hide)

She eyes the final mission warily.

"While I don't approve, these are villains in the clutches of other villains. My efforts might be better suited to sending Terrordome and his ilk a message.

That said, I believe I have a manager for a reason. I'll let you make the call and then judge you for it later."

[Glass]

Dariel gives Gunboat a very displeased look, then turns to Snowspark.
"I apologize for the behavior of Gunboat. Hopefully, I will have managed to drill into her why this sort of behavior is unacceptable within the month. In the meantime, what can I do to help you? Not including ice cream."

[TricMagic]

Spoiler: GM/Starfire|+Call now that that bit of business is done. (click to show/hide)

"Fair enough. Jumping right into this mission without any info doesn't sit right with me."

"Well, I'll set up the Terrordome mission for you this month."

Finish the meeting and set that Mission up.


"Now.."

Tim looks for Dariel's Number to see how the whole Snowspark situation is going. Not enough time in the day. Call Dariel.

Code: (Dariel convo) [Select]

"Hello. sorry I couldn't quite make it. I had to go over some details with Starfire. How goes your talk with her?"

[Naturegirl1999]

(Is it too late to advise a mission for Q?)

[IronyOwl]

(Is it too late to advise a mission for Q?)

((No, feel free.))