Megagame: Den of Wolves 4/22/2023

What follows is the Captain of the Dione's perspective of the running of Den of Wolves in Dallas, TX on 4/22/23.

Turn 1:

The Crew of the Dione (Left to Right: Chief Engineer Harrison, Captain Greg, First Officer Ian, Councilman Jacob). Image courtesy of Alex Moore.

I shoot awake to the sound of alarm klaxons bellowing down the halls of the Dione.

What…what time is it? What's happening? The Colony Fleet was supposed to leave today. Wait, why are my hands bound?

I utilize my FAS training and break free from my restraints, it was a haphazard knot. The growing pain from the back of my head tells me whoever did this wasn't expecting me to wake up.

I throw on my Dione uniform, still the festive attire from when the ship cruised the rich and famous across the galaxy, and dash from my room.

I dart down the halls of the Dione. Once filled with festive party goers, she's now home to the overwhelming majority of colonists who have embarked on this mission. As I approach the bridge, I pass our Councilman and Chief Engineer and they're escorting…. My dead body?

I'm not sure this day can get any stranger.

The looks on their faces when they see me standing there next to my lifeless body were, justifiably, baffled. The Security detail reaches for their sidearms.

“Lower your weapons,” I say, raising my hands. “It's me, your real Captain. The person you have there is the Wolf infiltrator who assaulted me last night and tied me up in my bunk. Praise be to those who quickly caught and dealt with the imposter before any real harm could be done.”

Councilman Jacob and Chief Engineer Harrison quickly recount that the imposter had planted a bomb in the Council Chambers on our ship. Once discovered, the imposter was taken into custody and killed himself with a cyanide pill. Harrison has found the bomb along with a Security team and had dealt with it before any problems arose.

(OOC context: I was approached by Control before the game to be a showcase for some new Wolf mechanics they were using for this game. I happily agreed and made a fun story moment out of it)

After completing his rounds for the cycle, our First Officer arrived from the shuttlebay and upon seeing me on the bridge pulled his side arm when he arrived on the bridge.

“Easy there, First Officer Ian,” I say. “The imposter has been dealt with.”

We recount the details of the arrest and begin debriefing the events of the first cycle. The Council votes on a Multifactor Authentication for any long range communications, so anything sent further than the fleet must be routed through the Aegis before it is sent. Additionally, a Religious Freedoms Act is passed. This is lucky because murmurs are starting to circulate around the Dione that the finding of the bomb was a divine act and the finders are being praised as prophets.

Turn 2:

The Dione is bombarded with requests for untrained crew. I start a recruitment drive so that any civilians can, of their own free will, volunteer to join the fleet's workforce. We are flooded with applicants who are eager to help the fleet.

As we send off our first batch of new crewmates, the fleet is assaulted by a Wolf ambush. Luckily, our fleet is lead by a hardened veteran leader and an apparent group of ‘Valkyries' on the Aegis, so the ambush is quickly repelled.

The admiral begins distributing jump coordinates and, after I jot them down, the Councilman from the Lucas bombards me with complaints about my Councilman being in the pocket of another country. I look at him confused and tell him I'll chat with my Councilman.

Elsewhere, there is buzz of voting out the President, an interest in introducing a currency and the implementation of a Prisoner Reformation Act. The Council is busy.

Turn 3:

Our Chief Engineer has become the figure head of the cult on the Dione. He found the bomb and is praised for his divine assistance in the success of our fleet. He is helping to train our untrained crew recruits and ensures they are distributed on other ships.

The news comes by and strangely accuses us of drugging the Lucas. I adamantly deny these allegations, the Lucas are the ones producing things.

After the news leaves, the fleet jumps and it's immediately attacked by Wolves. We've been betrayed.

My mind immediately begins to race as our valiant defenders fight off the attack. All long range transmissions had to run through the Aegis. There's a traitor on the military ship. I'm sure of it.

Once the attack is defeated, I find the fleet's Comms Officer and begin asking questions. After a few probing questions, I throw out my accusation. Because all long range transmissions must go through your ship, there's a traitor on your ship. She clams up immediately and tries to change the subject. I make my leave and start looking for further evidence. The crew of the Icebreaker is on my side but they don't have any evidence yet. I must find more.

Elsewhere in the fleet, there's an infectious outbreak fatiguing workers but it's being worked on by the Salvador and Endeavor. The Council passed the Living Wolf Interrogation Act, which I'm sure is important.

The CPA is trying to ouste the President and my Councilman nominated the Lucas’ Councilman. I guess their beef was quashed.

Turn 4

We immediately receive coordinates for another jump. If we get attacked again, I'll have my evidence. I ask the Endeavor to work on a Comms Analyzer so we can double check the Aegis, they say ‘they'll work on it' so I don't hold my breath.

The fleet recovers from a Wolf attack. Image courtesy of Solaros.

The President is ousted and the Lucas Councilman is brought into office. The former president asks to become a Councilman for the Aegis. Everyone is in an uproar over this. Apparently, the cure for the illness is coming soon.

Turn 5:

We jump and, shortly thereafter, are attacked again. I had made my way to the Quellon to talk to their First Officer so I was stuck aboard that ship during the attack. I overheard communications from their sister ship, the Vulcan, about a gameshow being played there? Strange thing to do during an attack but go on.

After the attack is repelled, I'm approached about joining another cult. I ask what I get from joining and am met with silence, so I pass on the offer.

I begin getting a plan together to arrest the Comms Officer during the next cycle. I have support from the Lucas and Icebreaker. It's time.

Turn 6:

The next cycle starts with the arrest and subsequent execution of the Refinery captain and a host of others as they are found to be Wolves. Among them? That dastardly Comms Officer. I knew it!

I can't get too cocky though, the news announced a threat of another attack.

Turn 7:

We do a short jump, just to get some space…and the Refinery and Star Alpha aren’t with us…and a Wolf fleet was spotted leaving the sector as we arrived?

There's a rustle of panic and fear amongst those of us who made it. We can't keep going without the Refinery. The Star Alpha is the symbolic heart of this voyage!

The Aegis sends the recently freed Comms Officer on a recon mission back to the old coordinates and brings them back. There's a big cheer when the fleet is back together.

There are talks of us falling into a trap. If we don't leave this location, we will fail. We must leave.

Turn 8:

A million things happen. There are strange signals coming from my ship, I'm pretty sure it's just our cult, the Followers of the Healing Heart, spreading the message. But I don't know.

We make one final jump and arrive to our first waypoint The Lighthouse. We did it. We are safe, for now. We'll hide here for a while, get the Wolves off our tail and then get back at it. It's a great day for humanity.

End game

This was the first game of a Dallas Megagames ‘Legacy’ Den of Wolves and it was so much fun! The Dione is such a fun puzzle because you have this huge civilian population but provide no other ‘goods’ for the fleet. We're purely a resource drain mechanically but, from a story perspective, one of the most valuable ships in the fleet. My shipmates were awesome. Jacob got a lot done in the council, Ian was an MVP Uber driver with the shuttle and Harrison crushed spreading our cult to almost every ship in the fleet and keeping our ship in great shape.

I'm so excited to see what's up next in this legacy run!