Rebuilding

This transcript is machine-generated and may contain errors in names, terminology, or attribution.

[CLINKING] Peacocks. This summer, during the biggest sporting event of the year, Peacock turns to two broadcasting legends for the Olympics coverage you can't find anywhere else. I think they mean us. Oh, [BLEEP] Um-- [CLEARS THROAT] With an incredible duo sure to take home the comedy gold, Olympic highlights with Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson. New episodes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, only on Peacock. Coming to Apple TV+ on August 9th. You're the Marine? Yeah. You're the ex-con. Yeah, I did time, but you're only going to cast aspersions at me. From the director of Mr. and Mrs.

Smith and The Bourne Identity comes a new film. It's your first job? I know what I'm doing. It's a little late for a crit change. Starring Matt Damon. Everybody in New England is after us. And Casey Affleck. Go, go, go, go, go! What are you doing? Taking notes. Taking notes on a criminal conspiracy. The Instigators, rated R. Streaming August 9th on Apple TV+. Hi, this is Jen. I play Airlove on group three, Airlove Grimneth of the Brightport Grimnesses. And I would like to remind you now to follow us on Twitter, friend us, and watch us on Facebook, and keep up to date with everything that's going on.

And don't forget to rate us on iTunes and leave us a wonderful review because it helps get the word out there. And then the more fans we have, the more awesome content we can produce. So thanks again. Enjoy the show. Let's do that thing where we go around the table. I'm Jason. I'm the Dungeon Master going around the table, starting with Scott. Hello, I'm Scott. I play Marcus Santa, the human cleric. And Jen. Hi, I'm Jen. And I play Airlove Grimneth. And last but not least, Merlin. Hello, I'm Merlin. You remember me from before, right? That's about it. He's playing Bits and Pieces of-- --Daven-Dear Morning.

Oh, shit. What you didn't know was he was a T-1000. And-- [HUMMING] As soon as that fire-- --secretly ascension were forged. Um, that would be such a cop-out. That would be-- [LAUGHTER] I was just thinking. It's like, oh my god, that'd be a terrible cop-out. We should do that just like an April Fools type of thing. Go all Battlestar Galactica and-- Funnelers. --other ones, us or Cylons. Wait to post this episode until April 1st and then like leave a little gap there. [LAUGHTER] Dude, that's not that far away, actually. I know. We should do just a complete absolute Mindscrew episode and release it on April 1st and then tell everybody, no, that didn't count.

That wasn't canon. I was just fucking around. We're just flipping around. Really berenzle. Yeah. We're just having-- you know what? Whoever records around then, or if you're going to have-- if you can actually pull one towards released on April 1st, you should have everybody introduce themselves as a different character. Oh, dude, that-- [LAUGHTER] And my email exploded. Like, that would be-- [LAUGHTER] It would be awesome, though. Group four. Oh, no. [LAUGHTER] God's hour. There you go. And have a combination of all the other groups. That wouldn't be bad ass.

Could be funny. OK. To recap quickly what happened last time. Erolove had the worst first day of anyone starting a new job ever. [LAUGHTER] The group three essentially split in half with Fijetzi and Una choosing to help defend the elves and the Evergreen and more specifically that Titan and to try and get Gavin to stop marching into a death trap. Gavin, Erolove, and Marcus were not of that mindset and stayed with the Overwatch. And as a result, Gavin wanted to complete the mission at all costs. And to do that, he lit up the belt of explosives that he was carrying and charged at the Titan and gripped it for dear life as the explosives went off killing him and the Titan, destroying any chance of using that against the Overwatch in combat.

Now, before he exploded, he had everyone else retreat. And the combination of the explosive and the fire and the commotion there allowed you guys to get away pretty much unscathed. A few stray arrows flew by, but it wasn't the slaughter that it should have been because Gavin sacrificed. Now, here's the situation you guys face. And I'm going to pretty much tell it to you like I told the other three. Half of your group is-- more than half of your group is gone. You are kind of forced to go back to the Overwatch hat in hand and tell them, look, this is what happened.

Now, I don't know how exactly you would like to do this because it's pretty much just Marcus and Erolove right now. How would you like to handle this is my first question. You know, what exactly did we see there? What made him do that? Well, there were a number of things, but I think the fact that absolutely no one on his team except for you and I were listening to him. And he is really proud from what I've seen. And I don't think that the combination of all the things that have been happening, it sounds like, combined with the events where half his team defected, I think that that was probably the final straw.

Yeah, but that's a heck of a way to say you disagree with the situation. Well, I mean, can you think of another way that he could have completed the mission without sacrificing 500 boys? I didn't think he would go that far. I thought he was going to drop it and run back, or try and run back at least. I didn't think he'd hold on. I guess we better send the ditch diggers back to dig in their trench. I think that that is a good plan. We'll report back. All right. Poe's going to step forward. He-- as you were-- I imagine you're dropping these guys back off at Sergeant Baker's encampment.

Yes. Poe's going to want to pull you aside. OK. And you could tell he's trying to-- like he's trying to find the words he wants to say. Like it's very-- like he's pulled you aside, and it's like, OK, now I got your attention. Shit. Ah, he's trying to-- Is there something you wish to tell us before we depart? That guy totally just killed himself. That guy? You mean squad leader Dearborn? Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm-- I've never seen anybody do anything like that. I mean, he-- I mean, he did it to, I guess, save us from the fight? Yes. And you should remember that. Commanders put themselves on the line when need be.

And he's just going to give you this look of acknowledgment, OK? And he's going to go back to-- he's just going to fall back in line. But it's very much a look like it's like, all right, all right. And he's kind of going to back off a bit. He's chewing on it. Mm-hmm. Um, heading back to the city, who would like to give me a-- actually, both of you give me a perception roll, please. All righty. This is as you're approaching Commander Grace's office. I see nothing. I see that. I see all. Yes. OK. Evidently, I'm riding backwards on the horse this time. Wow, that is a crit one.

That's creepy. Turn around. Except we probably haven't grown horses this time since we're lacking in-- Yeah, there's-- yeah. Plenty of horses now. Yeah. We're leading the other horses behind us on tethers. Heading to Commander Grace's office, you're hearing two people argue loudly, as a matter of fact. One of these people is obviously Commander Grace. And the other is a voice you don't recognize. But they're arguing about logistics, and how the one man is telling Grace that he's leading good people to die, and for no reason. And that there are better ways of doing what he's trying to accomplish.

And if Carter were here, he would tell him himself. So this guy's mouthing off to Grace. Like, he's pretty brash, pretty loud about it. All right. I will put a hand forward to-- I assume that Marcus is probably a step or two ahead of me. I will put my hand on his arm, and kind of make him pause, and motion to be quiet kind of thing. OK. Finger to mouth. All right, that much I can see. My hand up to my ear, like I'm listening. And kind of nod at the door. As this conversation drags on, you can hear that the other man-- he calls him by his name. And the other man in the room is Captain Tenbolt.

And this guy is none too pleased with Grace. And one of his biggest complaints is that he is constantly out in the field, and it feels like he's accomplishing nothing. Because the front they're choosing to concentrate on is the forest, and it means nothing if they're invading Winterhaven. It means nothing right now. And Tenbolt wants to take the bulk of their forces and just put them smack dab in White Wolf Valley, like right there. Just as a message to everyone, we're coming, and it's over. Just give them a chance to surrender, and that's it. Tenbolt is more-- actually, roll a history check on Tenbolt, please.

OK. I got a 16. No, 17. He got a 16. 17, 16. What you know about him is this guy is all about the Blitzkrieg Smackdown. This guy is all about the big win. Like, he wants to beat you and make it so thorough that-- it's not up for debate. You lost, and you lost to him. But they've got him stuck somewhere that isn't doing any real impact on the war? Is that what you're saying? In his opinion, that's what he's arguing about. OK. Got it. And after a few more minutes, they're kind of going-- Sorry. Can I roll an insight? Sure. To see a little more about what's going on behind the words 31? 31.

Jeez, that is a crit. Something in Tenbolt's voice makes this sound much more personal than just logistics. Like, perhaps they've had disagreements before, and it extends beyond-- that it extends beyond just battlefield tactics, or even just military stuff. Maybe these guys have some kind of personal history. It's deeply personal in his voice. I'm going to go ahead and knock on the door. I want to interrupt before things get too heated, because I don't want them to storm out and us just be standing there. Right, right, right. Yeah, that would suck. I'm trying to play my character's wisdom.

Just you leaning against the door when they open it. So as soon as you knock, the elevated talking at each other just stops. Wait patiently at attention. Grace gives this deep sigh. Come in. I will motion for markets to go on in. All right. And Grace is going to introduce you. I'd like to introduce you to Captain Chayden Tenbolt. And the way he says it is kind of like this dick. Like, he kind of-- like, he got emotions across the room. And Tenbolt has got his arms folded just like nods at you. Not a word spoken, just nod. I will salute and say it's a pleasure to meet you, sir.

I'll salute and say yes, sir. Likewise. I was hoping for great things from this group. Where are the rest of you? This is all that's left, sir. The mission to destroy the Titan has been a success. That's the only success we met with. Tenbolt's eyes go wide. Just-- are you fucking kidding? Really? All right. And Grace is much more upset. Tenbolt looks at that as more of a logistical loss. Commander Grace's daughter is in your team. And the way he just chose to interpret what you said is they're all dead. Well, one of our team, our field commander, Gavin Dearborn, sacrificed himself, along with the explosives, to make sure the Titan is non-functional.

And the way it could be any more non-functional, sirs, is if we took it back and melted it down. It is destroyed. The rest of our party, unfortunately-- and I'm going to put this as politely as I can, sir-- considering my emotions right now, they have defected. They have chosen not to fight on our side anymore. And yes, sir, that includes your daughter. I just stand, like, at attention, like staring at the wall or whatever is behind, you know, whoever's-- you know, are they kind of on the same side of the room? Oh, they're on opposite sides in the room.

Yeah, they could not be further apart. Then I will be staring at the wall that's, like, you know, perpendicular to them, like between them kind of thing. The only other good news I have, sirs, is that the men we requisitioned to invade with, most of them made it out alive. We used a diversion of the explosion to get out with what we could. I saw no point in attempting to assault that with the troops that we had. We would have been slaughtered, and you would have lost everyone. I-- I cannot believe this. What were the last things that were said? Why did-- why did they defect?

Our paladin, Una, evidently, when we thought she was dead and we were going back to return to get her body, was not dead. She entered into some sort of one-on-one elven combat, survived that without giving us all the details of how she survived it, and then, according to her, was released to come out and warn us that we were running into a trap. When we questioned her on how she got away and how the whole thing looked to our side, her answer was, we were fighting on the wrong side and needed to see that. How did she sway-- how did she sway Fie and Jadzia?

Fie, I-- she spoke to him in elven. So I do not know exactly what was said, but his words, if I remember correctly, sir, were, family sticks together. And he stuck with her over us. Jadzia had a bit of a confrontation where she accused Field Commander Dearborn of not being fit for command and also expressed great glee the fact that, evidently, the prisoner we had, one Brianna, is not only not dead, but Una set her free. And she is with the elves right now. Wait. Una set her free? Yes. She faked the death, took her out as if to bury her, and set her free.

Tenfold's going to speak up from the other side of the room. This wouldn't have happened if you just let me command them like I wanted to in the first place. Grace is going to look at him like this is not the goddamn time. Like, this is-- that is over the line. Just-- this is a disaster. I would also like to mention that although Una did tell us these things, there was definitely more to the story that she was not telling us. She was clearly being deceptive. You didn't-- you were with them every day. And he's looking at Marcus. You didn't see any of this coming.

I had issues with Una. Of this, I freely admit, we did not see eye to eye on many things. When it came down to it, I am completely and utterly surprised at Jadzia and Fi turning and walking away. I have a hunch as to part of the reason why Jadzia did it. But I do not wish to bring that up right now, sir. If you wish to discuss it in private, I will. Commander, are-- I would give him a look when he says that. Like, just a sharp look and then back to my attention position. And I'll nod at her, not understanding. Our field commander, Dearborn, the only thing I can think of is that everything that was said to him in the heat of arguing while we were going there made him feel like he was failing as a leader.

And he took that very hard. And he was going to show people that he will get the mission done no matter the cost. And unfortunately, that cost this time was his life, sir. May I do an insight to make sure that he's being totally 100% honest with what he actually feels and thinks? Sure. OK, thanks. 26. Yep. [LAUGHTER] All right, just checking. So Grace is just like head in hand, just like, this is a disaster. This is awful. Dearborn was young, but I figured he had a good head on his shoulders and he could handle the position. Apparently, the stress was just too much for him.

Sir, if I may? Go on. Commander Dearborn was an excellent leader. The circumstances were out of his control when Una came running out of the forest before we even made it to the clearing. That was not something that we could have planned for. If we had been able to proceed with our mission as originally intended, I don't think that the outcome would have been anywhere near the same. I place this solely on the shoulders of Una. I would agree with that, sir. I'd be forced to agree with you. She has lied to us, committed high treason, and helped escort a very dangerous prisoner out of the city.

For that, she should be put to death. And that is what's going to be done. But for now, we need to decide what we're going to do with you two. Give me one good reason why I should throw any more resources at this project. Sir, if I may speak freely? Please do. I don't think that I have had a fair chance. And I don't feel that the situation was accurately portrayed before I joined this elite task force of yours. What about you, Marcus? Well, to be honest, sir, I'm having second thoughts myself. But I will say that so far, we have accomplished every mission that has been set forward.

We have lost members, as any military unit would. But that's why it's a unit, is you can cycle people in and out as needed. We've already distracted the elves. That's where you have sent us. We retrieved the rubies that were required. We have done everything you have said. I am fully apologetic that we did not come back with our members. But we did not know we had traitors in our midst. Tenfold is going to speak up after you're talking about the missions you've accomplished. Why aren't they helping prepping the army? I thought the entire point of this group was to send them to places to prep where we can't get to.

Why are they in the forest? Why are they in underground caverns looking for rubies? That's something we could send cadets in to do. Why are we sending them? And Grace kind of gives them a look. And Tenfold kind of cuts off after a couple of seconds. The entire point was to test them in battle, see how well they worked as a team, have them report to me, and go from there. The first real mission I send them on. We lose 60% of your squad? Sir, have we followed-- Sorry, go ahead. We did also preserve the lives of 500 other soldiers. I would say Gavin did that more than anyone else.

But the problem is none of them can replace him in terms of his mind. What am I supposed to do for a new squad leader? I will take that answer. I will lead whatever army you give me. And you're sure you're ready for something like that? I'm the best option we have right now until something else comes along, sir. If somebody else proves themselves to be a better leader, I will gladly step aside and let that person take charge. You are correct. Gavin had potential. I had stated to members of our unit that I would have followed him until I could not breathe anymore.

And the least I can do is step in and take his place right now. I need to think about this. I'm going to give you the rest of the evening off. I want to reconvene in the morning, and we're going to talk about what exactly it is we're going to do with this unit and how we would restock it if-- if we're going to restock it. It's obviously we have some problems with loyalty. And maybe we need to do something to reinforce. We can't have people defecting, and there's no penalty for it. Agreed. Yes, sir. Take the rest of the evening off, and I hope you come in tomorrow with some ideas of how we can refresh your unit.

Thank you, sir. Dismissed. And he just kind of-- he just kind of nods his head at you. I will go ahead and salute anyway, and then I will turn and salute Captain Tenbolt as well. Once again, a pleasure meeting you, sir. And then turn and walk out with Marcus. OK. Tenbolt and Grace just resume where they left off when you-- when you came in. Just start yelling at each other again. Now for new reasons, though, because, yeah, that's a new thing to fight about. OK, once we get outside, I'd like to talk to Arilov and tell her what I was going to tell Commander Grace and may still tell him.

She deserves to know this, that Jedzia had, as you may have noticed in your introduction with her, a real problems with members of your race. Yes. And she had no clue what was going on, and I feel that may have pushed her towards the why am I being told this is one thing and now being asked to work with one of you. I can understand that. And I didn't want to bring that up in front of Captain Tenbolt because that's not necessarily his business. That is between Commander Grace and his daughter. Unfortunately, it affected our unit. That's why I didn't want to bring it up there.

All right. Insight check. Why? You could just ask. I'd tell you it's-- [LAUGHTER] Well, you know, I got to know if you're trying to-- what the nuances are. Basically, I'm-- I'm rolling insight checks so that I can get adjectives that I can use to figure out how my character is going to behave. OK. But yes, that's-- So 20. That's truth. Everything I just said was true. She had a problem with tieflings and-- Well, I'm not asking whether it's true or not. I'm asking about body language and things like that. I mean, is he being just totally like open book right now?

I mean, is he look relaxed and like, you know, that kind of thing? Yes. I see no-- with the fact that they're gone, I see no reason to hide anything from you about the situation. OK. I'm just checking because sometimes-- I don't know. Sometimes it's more subtle than just, yes, it's a lie or no, it's not. You know what I mean? Yeah. Thank you. I understand. Moving on. All right. Thank you for sharing this information with me. You're welcome. I deserve to know what happened and everything behind it. So I suppose I should address you as squad leader Santa now. Congratulations.

Yeah. Thanks, but I don't think the title is needed. I'm still-- it's going to take a while to get into that role, but I'll do my best. Thank you for staying near me. You could have just abandoned and said this group didn't deserve it. I don't think that was an option for me. OK. Do you have any cadets in mind that you think would be a welcome addition to this team? No, unfortunately, I haven't mixed with many of them. My formal training was with the clerics, so I don't know many of the military. All right, if I may, sir, one of the cadets that I have worked with in the past is here in the Overwatch right now.

He was with me on my last mission, as well as the one previous. And I know him to be a good soldier. He is a bit colorful, and you can hear the note of stress slightly enter into her voice as she says that, because it's not what fits with a good soldier in her mind. It's contrary to what she's already just said, so it's hard for her to say it. He is very good at doing what he is told, and I believe that he has physical skills that will help augment this team. OK, we can suggest that to Sergeant or to Commander Grace in the morning then. All right, thank you.

All right, should we fast forward to the next morning then? We can. What, you want to go through and have some more arguments between Commander Grace and Captain Tenbolt? That was entertaining. Come here, Jason, arguing with himself. Well, there may be something else that happens before we go to sleep and wake up. I mean, it's not like it's that late in the day yet, because we weren't gone that long. It's really not. So one of the big things that happens weekly is the ditch diggers are kind of exchanged and funneled out. So no one's out there for too long, and there's always a regiment ready to leave the city and join that.

That's part of the war effort. So a lot of the young kids that you took-- we're going to die-- actually get to-- they get to come back, and they get a day or so off, and someone else takes their place. And that is what happened today. So guys like Poe and everyone who was out there, most of them got to come back and were exchanged. Now, you've got a couple of different options. You can go out-- you guys can go out and get a drink or try to relax, something like that before-- Normally Marcus isn't much of a drinker, but today I'm going to have to go have one, I think, after watching my field commander blow himself up like that.

Oi, could use one. And Gavin was going to have a drink with them. Yeah. I'm going to pour one out for him. How's that? All right. One of the-- now, the person that Arrowlove knows-- Yes. --would you say he would be the type to frequent a bar? Fuck yes. OK, then. Is he? No, no. Fuck it, yeah. Whatever. So I wouldn't think that it's too far a stretch that you would run into him there at the bar. So we can join you guys at the Warren's and see where things go. Sounds good. All right. So again, pretty much a military bar. You know, a guard, things like that. Uniforms, that's mostly who hang out here.

There is an exception here or there. You know, there's just people you just don't fuck with. There are people who have earned a place there or whatever. So I'm going to leave you guys to it. You are at the Warren's now. May I ask a question first? Sure, go ahead. Do we reconvene after a short period of time, or do we just go straight to the bar? That's up to you. How do you guys want to play it? I would say reconvene because we've been out on missions and stuff. We probably need to take a hot bath and change clothing and things like that. I need to do my makeup, yeah.

I picture Marcus as the kind of guy who wears eyeliner. Yeah, just eyeliner. He's got a fresh makeup. Eyeliner. Makes him look Egyptian. OK, so you've gotten cleaned up. That is one of the major benefits of living in a big city like this. It's totally not hard to find hot running water and so OK, go ahead. You've had a break. You're at the Warren's. Awesome, thank you. So did Marcus and I discuss meeting up there together, or is this something where we just both happen to be there? No, we would have talked about getting together and having a drink. All right, I would have accepted-- Celebrating Commander Gavin's life.

Yes. Did he have any family that we should notify? If so, he never talked about them. I don't know. I suppose we could go get his military records and find out. Perhaps tomorrow morning we can ask Commander Grace while we're having our meeting. I'm debating on what to tell Fi's mom. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Fi's mom. But if-- because I'm new to the team, I'll understand if you want to handle that yourself. But if you'd like me to accompany you, it may help to have a female present. Well, being in the cleric hood, I was taught to handle people in grief.

So that's not an issue. It's just I don't know what to tell her. Her son was-- she was so proud. He was a member of the Overwatch that he had joined up. She was terrified that something was going to happen to him. And right now, I don't even have a body to return to her this time. Let's just say right now he's missing in action. I hate being dishonest to somebody who-- That's not dishonest. He is missing. And we were on a mission. Yes, but if she asks what happened, I don't want to tell her he ran off with the elves. That's just not something I want to bring up to her.

I'll sleep on it. Maybe we'll come up with something tomorrow. Just tell her that three of our members-- we were split up and three of our members did not return yet. You know what? I'm not-- it just dawned on me, we're not going to have to say anything. They are all going to be declared traitors, and there's going to be wanted posters up. But she's going to see it via that. Do you maybe want to give her some advance warning of that? It probably would be easier coming from me than having everybody question her all of a sudden. Yeah. All right. We can do that tomorrow morning before we go to Commander Grace, if you would like.

That way we'll be fresh, and it'll likely be before they have a chance to paint up any posters. Yeah. Let's do that in the morning. I need to collect my thoughts and figure out exactly what I'm going to say to her. Certainly, sir. Drop the "sir" a bit. I'll be honest with you, we're the same rank. Unless we're in the field and I'm issuing orders in combat, it's Marcus. All right, then, Marcus. Thank you. So who is this new-- this other person you have in mind? His name is Mason Darktree. And as I said, we were on a couple of assignments together. He is from here originally.

I don't think that he necessarily had his family living here a long time. I don't know if they joined during the troubles or if they joined a few generations back. I'm not sure. But he is very good with a blade. A rather large blade. So I think that will be a good benefit. As I said, he is quite colorful with his vocabulary. But that's a product of his upbringing, I'm sure. Well, he can't spew out anything that I haven't heard from Una before. So I'm sure it's going to be fine. So when do you think we can-- is there any chance we can meet him beforehand? I'd like to get an idea of who I'm dealing with instead of just having him pop up tomorrow.

Yes. In fact, I believe he often spends time here. I haven't. This is my first time here. So-- Do me a favor and roll a perception check, please. Sure. I'll look around the room. Almost a correct miss. 15. I think it's the alcohol sir. [LAUGHTER] Man, that was quick. We didn't eat dinner. We just came straight to the bar after we got bathed and everything. So I'm lightheaded from the hot water and drinking booze when I don't normally and haven't eaten anything. It's awesome. I'm not doing that out of character, I promise. So it doesn't take a very high perception to see that you are being eyeballed like crazy in this bar.

Oh. Yeah. That whole tiefling thing? Yeah. That whole thing. A lot of these people look like they're about two seconds away from walking over and asking, what the fuck it is you think you're doing here? And I'm not wearing my uniform because I just went and took a bath and put it all to be cleaned and everything. And the weird thing is the only thing stopping all these people is the fact that no one else has done it yet. This is a lynching scenario. The first guy who gets up, let's hang the bitch. And it's like, OK, finally, someone rational. OK. They figure, well, she got to the gates.

And the guards didn't beat the shit out of her. And they didn't imprison her. So I guess she's OK. But how the fuck is she OK? It's one of those things. No one knows why you're sitting there. Except for one person who might be in the bar. Right. That's the other thing. You do see Mason in the bar. OK. Is he the one person not looking at me? Probably. Yeah, probably. Wouldn't really care. So I guess you'd call out to him or something like that. Actually, it appears that that is him over at the bar. And I'll point. And would you like me to go and see if he'd like to join us?

At the table, I mean? Why don't you motion him over here? OK. He's not looking this way. I'm going to go talk to him. I don't want to yell across the room. I think that people are not exactly comfortable with my presence right now. So I think I should stay a little quieter than that. OK. Why don't I walk with you then if you're concerned? Oh, I'm not afraid. I'm just saying that if I'm yelling across the room, I don't want to get anyone too excited. All right. Go ahead and grab him. I'll be right back then. And I will pick up my half-finished drink and take it with me.

And I will walk up to Mason from behind. I'm assuming-- is he paying attention, or is he talking to a pretty girl or talking to the bartender or something? Think of the bartender thing. I will tap him on the shoulder. Marcus is chatting with the bartender. That's when I brought up the blade, and I looked him in the eye and said, I'm going to kill a motherfucker. And, oh, hey. Hey, I haven't seen you in forever. How the hell are you doing? She would smile really big. She likes this guy clearly. He's like one of the only friends that she has right now. So she's not giving him a hug or anything.

She's definitely still very military because he's a coworker. So I've been better, but I'm all right. And she motions with the drink. I'm sitting with my squad leader, and I was hoping that you would come and talk with us because if things go well, I am going to be asking our commanding officer if you can join our team. Hell yeah. This beats the hell out of front line work. Yeah. Is that him over there? Hell yeah. I'm going to pick this up and go on over there. All right. Next time, I'll keep. So I will lead him back to the table where Marcus is sitting, and I will introduce them before I sit down.

Marcus, this is the soldier that I was referring to you. His name is Mason Darktree. And Mason, this is my squad leader, Marcus Santa. Greetings. Pleasure to meet you. Good to meet you too. And yeah, he shakes your hand. And he's not a very imposing looking person. He's only 5 foot 8 himself. Kind of wide, not terribly so. He's more of a whipcord type muscle, like Bruce Lee, but darker of skin. And just seems fairly pleased with himself, holds himself confidently. Pleasure to meet you. Abs on abs. Yeah. Pleasure to meet you. Come on, sit down and have a drink with us.

Don't mind if I do. We've had a bit of a rough day today. And could use another drinking partner here. While they start talking, I'm going to look around the room, see if people are still staring at me, or if that whole interaction made them calm down a little. Because clearly, there's another person here that's OK with me. Yeah, OK, go ahead and roll a perception check. 33. That's a crit. OK. I think it more reinforces the idea of like, OK, who the fuck is she? How does she know anyone here? How is she-- It actually makes the problem worse. I think it's not-- it's just more questions.

It's not necessarily like they're going to be violent about it. It's more like-- most people are just like, OK, seriously, who is that? Like, why is she cool? You are the only non-human in the Overwatch right now. At least they know of. And you're in a military bar, and you're hanging-- it's like, OK, seriously, does anyone know? If anyone makes eye contact with me during that time while they're chatting or in that brief moment when I glance around or whatever, I won't like, try to break eye contact right away or anything. And I'll give them a nod. OK. So, Arilov informs me that you may be good material for our group.

Yeah, you need somebody killed? That's-- I'm pretty good at that. That might be what we need, but I'm more concerned with the fact of where your loyalties lie and if you can follow orders. We seem to have had an issue with that with our group. Oh, hell, see, you need somebody straight motherfuckers out. That's why I'm good for that too. Good. Good to hear it. That's what I need. So if Arilov pouches for you and she has been placed into this team, then as far as I'm concerned, that will be good enough. We will clear it with Commander Grace in the morning, provided he is still in charge of us.

You're welcome, Commander Grace. That's pretty up there, huh? Yeah. We're actually supposed to have been working with Captain Tenbolt, but it seems to be a little bit of a misunderstanding between the two of them. Whatever their problems are, we just need to know what our next mission is. We may want to save a discussion of that for a more private location. We don't know what our next mission is yet. No, I meant the previous comment, sorry. Well-- While talking about your commanding officers. My character's like, um, are you supposed to be saying that kind of attitude?

Like, what did you just say? That's like going around telling your school friends that your parents are fighting. [LAUGHTER] Um, the-- so also in the bar, among the people looking at you-- Captain Tenbolt, he heard the whole thing. Yes. You're fired. No. From a cannon into the sun. No. The-- Poe. Poe is there. Now, he sees you in this bar, and that could be dismissed as, OK, you guys just need a drink after a long day. Then he sees someone new sit down to the table with you. Now, Poe's not incredibly bright, but he can put two and two together. Come up with five.

Uh, that's four? Pretty close. He can get really close to four, like really close. Right in the neighborhood. And he's going to approach your table, and he's just going to kind of speak up. Again, it doesn't occur to him to say, oh, like you're higher ranking than him. He doesn't-- it's like you beat a dog for pissing on your carpet, and he just keeps doing it. He's not putting it together. It's like, when I do this, I get hit. He's not getting it. Maybe not next time, though. Yeah, exactly. Let me-- 10 or 12 more times-- Wait, why did you hit me? I don't understand.

So Poe's going to walk up to your table. You're still going, aren't you? You're getting new people for the group. Can I help you? Yeah, I want in. I think that would probably be something that you would take up with Commander Grace, yes? Normally, yes. And he's going to pull a chair out and just sit down. Like, unasked, like, just-- he's going to sit down. Here's my thing. I know way more about you guys than I probably should. Now, I could be a real use to you guys. I'm going to down the rest of my drink all at once. [LAUGHTER] Marcus is going to consider just-- well, he's going to continue just staring and listening at him.

Like, what is this guy talking about? Go on. Continue. You need someone you can trust, right? That's been your big issue. Yes. I know you guys had this whole family, blah, blah, blah, bullshit, whatever. OK. Una's OK. She's a good girl. But she's too pigheaded. You can't tell her anything. Trust me, I know. Trust me. I can take orders. You tell me what to do, I'll go do it. But the big thing is trust. You don't have to worry about me defecting. You don't have to worry about me trying to go behind your back or over your head. Just give me out of the ditch digging thing, man.

Come on. You do realize, Poe, that you are both the cause of this entire situation and a major problem for us? The last words I remember you saying were, who the fuck are you to my companion here? I do recall that. Also 28 on insight. For Poe. Um, everything he just said pretty much rings true. He's a bit opportunistic, but-- But he is loyal. Yeah. For the most part, yeah. Like he really wants out of this ditch digging thing, though. That manual labor is not for Poe. OK. This is true. And he turns to He turns to heir love and kind of sticks his hand out. I'm truly sorry.

And he sticks his hand out for her to shake. She will go ahead and almost hesitantly, but not quite, shake his hand. Like there's that last moment of hesitation right before their hands touch. And then she'll say, I love grimness. And he's going to kind of cock his head like, grimness? Yes. Of the Brightport grimnesses. No, no, no. I know which ones, sweetie. I know which grimnesses. Yeah, I'm sorry. It was-- you got to see that was a bit of a shock, though. Certainly, of course. Take your time. Poe Tootilla. And he kind of squeezes your hand. Look, I imagine-- Una slandered me up and down.

So you figure I'm a real piece of shit. I get it. But where is she? And where am I? I do understand what you're saying. And I actually don't think I've heard a whole lot about you. Probably Marcus has heard quite a bit more than I. Yeah. Seems to have a pretty bad problem with impulse control. Let's just say. Hmm. Poe, I will give this consideration. I will talk to Commander Grace about this. But let me make one thing clear, because evidently, she didn't hear this. I hear you refer to any member of this group as sweetie. You will not be digging a ditch. You will be under one.

Is that clear? She'll kind of smirk a little. He kind of recoils. He's nodding his head along with you. And then when he gets the end, his head just keeps coming back and back. Oh. Sure. No problem. Sorry. So do you think you can control your impulses? Absolutely. Like I said, I'm 100% yours to command. All right. She'll hand him her empty glass. Go ahead and get me another drink. That's-- Well played. So he's just kind of biting his bum, like, huh. Uh-huh. OK. Let me get the-- She'll smile. A nice smile. Get the tiefling girl a drink. I'll be right back. And he kind of pushes away.

So is there anything you guys would like to do in the bar before the next day? Drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink. OK. I would imagine. Everyone roll endurance checks. OK. 17. 22. I can't. There's Marcus. Where's Marcus? He can't for some reason. He passed out. Let's see. Yeah. He's too passed out to roll an endurance check. 23. I'm fine. Hey. We're all fine. I got a spare liver. Oh, god. What is Poe's endurance? Let me look this up. Not incredible. Not a tough guy, as it were. 13. He's going to look like shit tomorrow. Poe's got quite a headache.

He's not as spry as he could be. He's not looking incredible. Maybe he needed to cope with the fact he's got to kiss your ass a bit to even be considered for this. Now, OK. Going into Commander Grace's office, are you taking Mason and Poe? Or is this a thing where you're just telling them, hey, we got a couple of guys we might be able to-- We're just going to talk to him first. Yeah. I don't think we bring along and say, hey, we found our guys. Right. Commander. A little presumptuous. OK. We could totally do that. So showing up to Grace's office, this time it's just him there.

OK. As expected. Right. Yes. Instead of there being a full-fledged argument between an old married couple. So Grace is going to see you. Come in. Come in. And again, he seems to be either as frustrated as he was the day before, or he just resumed his level of frustration when he made sight with you. Yeah. He just made eye contact. It's like, oh, this shit again. All right. Good morning, sir. Good morning. And he kind of gives this salute. Oh, I'm sorry. Weren't we going to go talk to Feith's mom? That can wait. Let's find out what this is now. OK. Right after this? OK.

Depending on how this goes, yes. I may need more of a disaster in my life. OK. So we'll talk to Commander Grace right now. Sorry. I trust you got some rest. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you. That's probably a good thing. You're going to need it. You met Captain Tenbolt yesterday. What did you-- what were your initial thoughts of the man? Very gung ho. He's a proud man, sir. That doesn't mean that his pride is not misplaced. I, of course, have not seen his military record or seen him in combat. But he seems to speak with an authority that is much needed in a leader.

He's accomplished much. I'm not trying to take that away from him. The problem is that there is a reason he was never elevated above the rank of captain. He is absolutely battle tested and hardened. But not every problem can be solved with a fist. That is why I wanted this group to succeed. You were Tenbolt's idea, but I'm beginning to think that it was more of a new challenge for him. He wanted to start the group. He wants to lead it. But your success is almost a byproduct, if that makes any sense to you. Yes. Perfectly clear, sir. I, on the other hand, truly think that you can do some good.

I have a few ideas of what we can do with you. But first, treachery will not be tolerated within the city. And we need to take care of the ones that split from your group. And it pains me to say this, but if you were to capture them and bring them back, the only option is to hang them in the public square. And the fact that my daughter is among them is incredibly troubling. We will do everything we can to spare you to that embarrassment, sir. She has had a troubled past with tieflings. And I hope you don't take that personally. But many people in the city feel that they have as well.

Perhaps if you captured them and brought them back, I can make some sort of plea on her behalf. Perhaps if I had a chance to speak with her privately. As for Eun and Phi, I don't see any way that there'd be extenuating circumstances for them. An example will have to be made, and Eun will be the first on the block to either be decapitated or hung. But it will be a public spectacle. In the meantime, I have made arrangements to detain Phi's mother. She will be questioned, and we'll find out everything we can about his defection. Sir, she did not know anything about it.

His defection appeared to be a very spur of the moment. I choose to side with Eun. I have no reason to believe that she would have known anything or had been any part of this. Sir, may I-- Correct me if I'm wrong, but the scion appeared to be dead, didn't she? She did, but I don't know that she wasn't that way before he got in the room. Well, that's what we're going to find out. All right. May I request, sir, that Commander-- I'm sorry, not Commander. Squad leader, Santa and I be allowed to bring her in quietly? As long as it's done quickly, yes. All right, we can go as soon as we are done here, sir.

We have pumped a lot of time, effort, and quite frankly, resources into this group. I'm running out of ways to explain this to people. And the fact that we have to both resupply and regarison this unit is-- it may be the straw. I'm not sure what His Highness is going to say when he returns to the city. But for now, I'm going to choose to forge ahead with this. Thank you, sir. But be aware that if this-- if the Crimson Shield project gets shut down, there's nothing I can do about it. Of course, sir. As for-- as for new members, I have some people that I could be-- I could have considered.

Do you have anyone that you know that you can vouch for personally? Their loyalty is unquestionable. Yes, sir. Go on. First of all, sir, Mason Darktree, as you know, he's been on a few missions with me, and I do trust him. And he follows orders very well, sir. All right. That brings you back up to three. You'll need at least one more. I'll look to Marcus. You may remember, sir, a rather eager individual by the name of Po-Tor-Tillo. Grace's eyes are just going to narrow. I do. We met with him last night, and he wishes to join our group. That is to say, he approached us, sir.

That doesn't surprise me. Well, perhaps he wasn't as eager as we thought. The scion was still alive. Do you think he can bring anything to your team? Well, he is-- I will say that I have seen him in partial action, and he is very hard to damage. Very hard to hit. So if nothing else, he will bring loyalty. And he has said he will listen to commands given, which is something we need. All right. Is there any way I can meet this Mason? Yes, sir. I can bring him to see you as soon as we are done bringing in Fi's mother, if you would like. Sure, that would be fine.

Bring Po with you as well. We might as well see how all of you are in one room. Sir-- He-- he knew Una personally, didn't he? Yes, sir. Do you think that would be any problem? It seems to have solidified his resolve. All right. Go take care of that, and come back here, and we'll see what we can do. Yes, sir. Dismissed. And he just kind of waves you away. All right. So I suppose that we will go visit Fi's mom. God. This poor woman. Didn't expect me to go there, did you, Jason? No, I-- just I'm so sad for this poor woman like this. I know. Your son's dead. Now he's alive.

Now he's a traitor. Now he's going to be dead. It's like, oh, Jesus. Ready for this? All right. Yep. Knocking on the door. Super quick break, sorry. No, go ahead. Go, go, go, go. Actually, you know what? Let me go grab my dog, because it's going to start raining soon. All right, so give me a minute. I'll hang out with you, though, unless you have to step away. Yeah, I'm just remaining quiet. It's-- It's weird, isn't it? Yes, yes it is. It's a hell of a thing. Yeah, we got to get the band back together, man. Yeah, I feel you. It's like echo and hollow, and I'm expecting certain personalities to jump in, and they're not there no more.

Yep. Yeah. Yep. How many voices can we get Chase to do in one room? All right, so we're knocking on P's Monster. Flo. What's their last name? Foley. Larva. Mrs. Larva? Mrs. Larva, yeah. It's a-- it's an Eastern European name. OK. They're fitting for a changeling. I never thought of it that way. Wow, that's true, actually. I never thought of that. Does she have a different last name because she adopted him? Didn't she-- she-- Well, I think he took-- I think he took their last name. OK. All right, I'm ready. I'm pretty sure. I don't know if that's his actual last name. I don't know.

I'll have to ask-- I'll have to ask Kat. So I'll just call her Flo because-- is that what it was? Yeah, that's her name. Because that's probably what Scott called her. Or Marcus called her at some point. Phee's mom. Phee's mom allowed him to call her. That's how we always call her. OK, I'll just call her Phee's mom. I'll introduce her as Flo. It's OK. It's OK. So Phee-- Phee's going to open the door. Hi, guys. [LAUGHTER] That would be crazy. Okey-dokey. It's Mom. Okey-dokey, everyone. Flo is going to answer the door and see Marcus. Hi. How have you been? I've been better, but we need to discuss something real quick.

She immediately starts looking around for Phee and doesn't see him. It's not that again. I promise you. I'm not coming with that news today. And she lets the assistants like, oh, God, thank you. OK. OK. You scared me to death. That was not my intent. I apologized for that. It's fine. It's fine. Come on in. Come in. Come in. OK. And then she makes-- she makes eye contact with Erroloth. And I give her a sweet smile. She gives you a look of complete shock. And I give her a respectful nod. I don't like stick my hand out or anything, just a nod. It takes a few seconds for her to kind of like snap at it.

It's like, oh, I'm so sorry. That's-- that's rude of me. Oh, no, no. And she holds out her hand. I understand completely. You were not expecting to see me. What's-- what's this about? And she turns back to Marcus. We're actually going to need you to come with us. Our superior officers have some questions they need to ask you about Fee. There's been an incident where Fee has left the party. We-- we split the party in two separate groups. And his party hasn't returned. And they're concerned. We don't know exactly where they are right now. How long has he been gone?

Just one day. We just got back into town yesterday. That's-- that's kind of odd, isn't it? I mean, the-- It is. That's why they're concerned. They want to talk to you about places he might be, things like that. I don't understand. Is he missing in combat, or you just can't find him? A little of both. We're not sure what happened because there was a huge explosion. It's possible he could have gotten knocked out somewhere. And when he came to, we don't know what kind of condition he was in. I'm sorry, could you explain exactly what's going on? I-- I don't understand.

Of course, ma'am. Why don't we go ahead and come in as you suggested and sit down? And she backs away from the door and just kind of does that hand motion, like, come on in. What's this about an explosion? Fee could be hurt? He was not very close to the blast. So we're hoping that it's only, like, concussive damage. We-- we were sent to blow something up, essentially. And when the explosion went off, we were in separate parts of the clearing. So we had to escape as quickly as we could because there were still enemies around. And we had already agreed up front that if we're split up, we do what we can to take care of the people we're with.

And so Marcus and I took care of each other. And he's helping to take care of Jadzia and Una. Gavin, unfortunately, did not make it back. And she'll actually seem to almost, like, stop talking there for a second, like, it's a moment thing. I'm-- I'm so sorry. I-- he-- he was a nice boy. I-- anything I can do, just please let me know. Yes. Commander Grace would like you to come in with us. I don't know how much help I'll be, but of course. Yes, please. Let's go. Thank you. You are taking this woman into custody, just to be-- just to be very clear. We're taking her to be taken into custody.

Well, you are essentially-- you are responsible for her at this point. You have picked her up from her house. This is a-- if she were to go missing at this point, this would be on you. So you are taking her into custody. All right. And on top of that, this isn't like, we just want to ask you a few friendly questions. So before we leave the house, I'm going to tell her, is there anything you want to bring with you? How-- how long is this going to be? I'm not certain. Commander Grace was not very clear exactly how long the questioning would last. And there's a look that comes over her face that's, oh, this is questioning now.

This is-- like, she is-- she's more of a suspect than-- than-- She's a witness. Yeah, that's-- She's a character witness. Right. She's a person of interest. Yes. So yeah, that-- she is like, oh. If it were to come to a matter of determining guilt or not, your words would be very important. Fee's in a lot of trouble, isn't he? Yes, ma'am. OK. I thank you for your cooperation. I don't want this to be difficult. I-- I understand. And she-- I'll give her an apologetic smile, very sincere. She's just going to kind of relinquish herself to you guys and let her lead you on.

And did you want to bring anything with you? No, I'm fine. At least a shawl. It's cold in the dungeon. Oh. Excuse me. Oh. Yeah, she's going to grab-- she's going to-- she's going to grab, like, a wrap off of-- OK. --off of one of the chairs. A pashmina. [LAUGHTER] Um, that's terrible. This-- this poor woman. I tried to be as gentle as I could be. No, you did. You did. I-- But I didn't want to deceive her either. Yeah, those bluff checks would have been awful. Um, all right. I have a plus four. No, no, no. I mean, just the fact that, like, you got to lie to this. Oh, yeah.

Did I have to make them? Yeah. No, that would be terrible. I would not feel comfortable with that. So, OK. You've taken-- you've taken Flo into custody, and you've-- Fucking Scott. Yeah! [LAUGHTER] They have to tell him. Yeah, you do. You got to-- I so wanted to just tell Fi's mom. I'm sorry. Fi has gone rogue. [LAUGHTER] Well, yes. Yes, he is. No, no, ma'am. Oh, man. OK. So we take her to Commander Grace's office. Well, this is more taking her into custody. Like, this is someone-- um, yeah, this is-- I mean, this is-- you don't need to take it right to the top.

Like, you know, he just needs to know that it's done and that it'll be-- Oh, I see what you're saying. OK. Yeah. So we just turn her over. We killed this guy, just like you said. You bring his head back and drop it on his desk. Like newbies. Right. Boom, boom, boom. See? See what I did? Group one. Yeah. Wow, they have actually brought someone's head back. Yes, they have. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, group one. I get to play with them tomorrow again. I know. That's awesome. So cool. I love you, Enward's tweet. Our union mandatory-- 30 days off. --30-day coffee break. Yeah. [LAUGHTER] That is totally not a joke anymore. [LAUGHTER] They're taking it seriously.

Once a year, they have to get 30 days off. On my lunch, I like to patrol the parking lot at the DNR studios and chase interns. I know. I was cracking up at work today. Not that I tweet at work. I was on my break. No, of course. Of course. OK. Of course. Man, Grace hates the sight of you guys. Do you know that? No one-- he probably doesn't interact with anyone else more than he interacts with you. And it's-- We're going to go get Poe and Marcus, right? Before-- Yes. I would imagine. OK. Or, yeah, Mason. I mean, sorry. Two M names. I'll try to be careful. All in a name of confusion.

Yes. [LAUGHTER] Yay. So you're-- I guess the new Crimson Shield is assembled. Yes. And you're going to meet Commander Grace. All right. So are you both ready to meet Commander Grace? Poe's just like, fuck yeah. Just like shaking his head. Let's do it. All right. What kind of a protocol are we looking at? He is our commander's officer. Be very respectful. He is actually above our technical commanding officer, because we are Captain Tenbolt's team. But Captain Tenbolt reports to Commander Grace and has command of us while Captain Tenbolt is not available. All right.

So walking to Commander Grace-- I get so tired of saying that. Like, I feel like we need a new way of saying that. Because you guys are in Commander Grace's office a lot. I feel frustrated for the man. Back to the office. Just call him the principal. Yeah, it does-- it's like, you're in here again every day, Timothy. We're just the commander. Yeah, well, yeah. I mean, yeah. Seeing you again, he waves you in. And he's kind of-- you can see him looking over the two new people. Poe, he's met before, obviously. Mason is new to him. And he's going to kind of stand up and regard both of you.

I regard both of you. I talked about Poe like he's a different person. Yes. I will stand to the side just at attention, or at ease, hands behind my back, that kind of thing, keeping my tail to myself. Mason will give a respectful chest-to-heart salute and boots together sharply when those loud claps and full-on just-- the kind of salute that they generally give in the trenches. He kind of puts his hand up like, relax. It's fine. Then he looks over at Poe, who did nothing. Poe just kind of walked in with you guys like, all right. Let's-- he didn't salute or anything.

And he kind of glares at Poe like, really? Nothing? You're not going to do anything? And then Poe just like, oh, shit. Like, he kind of snaps out of it and does a little salute type of thing. Commander Grace doesn't seem to like Poe all that much. No one seems to like Poe all that much. And with good reason. Yeah. And he's going to speak to Mason first. What is it you could bring to this team? Sir, I am an accomplished soldier of the Overwatch military. There is nobody who can kill better than I can. Sir. So Grace is kind of like shaking his head, OK. And you, what exactly is it that you bring?

And he just almost-- like, he waits till the end of the sentence to turn his head and even look at Poe. I can take orders really well. I know we had a little bit of a miscommunication with the prisoner thing, the interrogation. But in my defense, I did really well at hitting her. Really well. Like, he's trying to pitch that as like a plus. If I may, sir. Go ahead. At the bar last night, immediately upon agreeing to join our team, I handed him my empty glass and he quite happily refilled it for me. A tiefling in the middle of a human bar. There's going to be this wide smile that comes over Grace's face.

Really? How did that feel? Poe just kind of like kind of looks down. It was fine, sir. But real, real like real kind of like scolded dog. Just fine. Like he really just biting his tongue. All right. And you two don't have any objections over this? No, sir. We are in agreement, sir. Squad leader, do you think that you can accomplish missions that I send you on with this team? Depending on the mission, sir, yes. I seem to have much more of a group that is forward toward the attack than sneaking around potentially. But we will adjust our tactics according to the mission.

And speak for yourself, man. It kind of quiets down after that. Actually, Mason is rather good at sneaking around, sir. Don't let that giant sword fool you. I'm not concerned about the giant sword. I'm more concerned about the giant mouth. He's really good at getting information that is sometimes hard to find. Good. What's our first mission, sir? Correct me if I'm wrong. One of Gavin's last acts was to sign your team up for the Tournament of Champions, correct? I lost a brow at that, having never heard about that particular event being-- coming up and everything.

Right, that was never brought up to you. Well, you were kind of brought into the team as-- you didn't get a lot of time to chit chat about-- Oh, yeah, totally. Arthas is the only one who would know this. I would just kind of like loft my brow like, what? That is correct, sir. If I may, that would be an excellent way to work out any kinks that your new squad might have in battle. I would agree, sir. Thank you, sir. Well, the tournament is in two days. I would suggest that you get ready. Yes, sir. Oh, hell yeah. Poe looks worried at that. Like, that is a big deal.

The Tournament of Champions is pretty much-- the last one to be held was 17 years ago. And after the entire event kind of was tarnished by the name of Malchus Grimnus and then all the stuff that transpired after that, they discontinued the event. It is pretty famous, however, for throwing giant vicious monsters and all kinds of oddities and crazy shit at people, all in an effort to-- well, to murder them. Erlo's brain is like in high gear right now because of the impact that that sentence had on her. And her perception of those whole events and everything.

So she might have some thoughts about that later. Commander Grace? Commander Grace? Yes. Are we expected to complete the entire event, or may I look at this as a training exercise for our group? Meaning if we finish one round and I feel that we cannot handle the next, may I pull us out? That's entirely up to your judgment. I would suggest that you go as far as you can. I want to see what your team can do, and it would be an excellent opportunity to test your mettle. On the other hand, there's no need to push yourself into a suicidal position. There's nothing to be gained beyond working out the kinks and garnering some fame.

And some respect, sir. And he didn't think about that part of it. And it's like, I suppose that would, actually. And he's kind of nodding at air, love. Beyond that, I would take a couple of days, get your affairs in order, and make sure that you're fully prepared. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. And as Marcus and the others are leaving, I'm going to stay back for just a second. OK. Is there something you need? When we brought in Fi's mother, Flo, I was very gentle with her, sir. She wants to be helpful, and she understands that Fi is in trouble. But she understands also that she is in custody, and that once I turned her over to custody, I no longer had control of the outcome, sir.

Believe me, I don't want another T'Tillo situation on my hands. I don't want to hurt this woman any more than anyone else does. Certainly, sir. On the other hand, I do need to find out if there's any information. Of course. If I feel that she's being truthful, then there's absolutely no reason to worry. Of course. Does that sound fair? Yes, thank you. All right. Good evening, sir. I think that's pretty much a good time for us to stop. We got the next session set up, and yeah, you guys are going to be fighting crazy-ass oddities and creatures and interesting stuff.

Yay. So situation normal, in other words. Pretty much, yes.