Iron Stars - carmen

Carmen rises for another day of work, though it promises to be more exciting. Some enterprising city salvagers were able to recover a wreck from the fields outside the developed urban area, and there is much speculation about the technology the natives of Herras use

She sits up, smacks her lips a bit, before grabbing her dataslab and reading the news about the salvage. This puts a big smile on her face as she starts to get out of bed. "SWEEET, new stuff to look aaaaaaaaTTTT." She says, as in her excitement she forgot to pull her legs out from underneath the sheets before trying to walk, getting tangled up and falling over onto the floor with a crash, having dragged quite a few of her tools off her bedside table with her. (edited)

They scatter across the floor, bringing down the bedside table, too. Occupants divided by the rubble wall complain at the sudden noise

She lays on the floor for a few seconds, softly moaning "ow..." Before getting up, cleaning up her things, and heading out to the workshop to find her boss, whistling softly as she does so. (edited)

There is only one workshop in town, and it is the only one because it is the only one with working power. Some of the machines are still prone to breaking down,a nd it isnt anywhere close to being able to make a vehicle with indigenous materials yet. The overseer is hard at work, doing what he can to coax just a bit more life from an aging CnC mill.

She walks up to him "Hey boss, need some help with that?"

"Nah, I'm alright I think" he says, throwing the power switch one more time, and he is rewarded with the ready lights changing from standby to POWER

"Sometimes a little love goes a long way." She says with a smile "Though, if that doesn't work, tearing its guts out and rebuilding it from scratch usually does. Anyway, I heard there was some salvage someone found that is from here? Can I go take a look at it? Please?" (edited)

"They left it down by the southern gate. Militia has the parts but they can't get it working. If you can repair it, they'll ride into town with you aboard it, and we can start breaking it down"

"SWEET!" She says, flashing a big smile before running out of the building doing fist-bumps in the air along with a few celebratory exclamations.

Carmen heads outside, to largely empty city streets at this hour of morning

She heads to the southern gate at a sprint, eventually settling into a nice jog.

You pass a number of people in the street as the city starts to wake up, especially around the market. The first of the sellers is beginning work for the day

She smiles and waves at the people she knows, picking up some breakfast, before continuing on her way to the gate.

500m down the path from the city’s southern gate, a wrecked personnel carrier is being picked through by the city militia. They have a handful of tools laid out and look to be dragging what handful of supplies remained intact from the inside

Carmen's eyes go wide with excitement before she walks up to the militia group leader with a slight skip in her step "Hi there, I'm Carmen, I'm here to help you all get this thing running." She says with a wave and a smile.

“Good. Because the junk traders who brought this to us couldn’t be bothered. We have the parts. We just need you to get them together and get this thing out of here” the squad officer says “It’s an eyesore and it’s blocking my road”

She flashes him another smile "Will be my pleasure."

8:06 AM

She walks around the apc, looking it over to familiarize herself with it a bit before getting to work on it, muttering to it like it is a sick puppy

(Those junk traders sound rude)

8:09 AM

(lazy bums)

(Lol)

You can see that the drive train has been destroyed but a replacement part was also recovered and provided by the traders. Some of the steering and suspension components are also broken and will make driving difficult

She cocks her head "Time has been very mean to you." She looks at the suspension and steering for any redundant parts, or any non-essential pieces of the APC she could jerry rig together to get the APC back to the workshop.

If there ever was anything redunant, its been used to get the vehicle into the current sad state it is in right now

She frowns then sets to work repairing the vehicle as nest she can, first replacing the engine then trying to do what she can for the steering.

(lets get a fix/int)

(11)

You’re able to replace the drivetrain without an issue but without parts and without anything to strip for replacing the steering there’s not much you can do right now

After getting the last bolt on to secure the engine she gets up in the driver's seat "Alright, time to start her up and see if she likes me." The engine sputters a few times before roaring to life, eliciting a few claps. Carmen jumps down, covered in grease, and walks over to the militia leader. "Well, its running, but steering it is going to be a nightmare and the suspension is all kinds of wrecked so its not going to be comfortable. If we can get it to the workshop I might be able to do something to fix that, or if nothing else take the working parts and repurpose them into something more fit for combat." (edited)

7:19 AM

(I'll set up some goals tonight, going to be on the road again today, might be one about rebuilding this APC into some kind if half track depending on what she can do at the work shop)

(There’s no one here but you. No driver. They just were told to dump the wreck)

(Ok, ill edit the message later)

2:12 PM

(Did the militia team just leave once she got there?)

(No they’re still guarding the wreck. They don’t really want to leave it alone until it’s actually out of the road)

She waits for them to hop in before setting off back to the workshop

The militia is guarding the road and can’t leave the post, but they do move out of the way as the vehicle comes to life

"Well, Have fun with all the guarding and stuff, toodles!" She says from the drivers seat with a wave before she sets off in a zig-zag pattern fighting the steering and suspension as she goes.

The vehicle makes it back through the crowded streets as people seek to get out of your way as quickly as possible. (3xp, 5000 credits) It comes to rest outside the only workshop in town with power. An Ashen one and two workers are hard at work on their own project, while other forge-wrights work to maintain the armor and weapons of the city's fighting forces

Carmen hops out of the driver's hatch with a big smile on her face and walks up to her boss "Hey boss, brought you a present." She says, thumbing behind her to the apc. Right as she does so the suspension and wheels on the side facing the entrance slowly fall off with a very loud metallic screech followed by an even louder reverberating crash. She winces at the end of it, rubbing the back of her head. "Yeah, everything but the body and the engine is pretty much scrap, I was wondering if you'd be fine with me taking it apart and repurposing the parts as a half-track of some sort. I can use the engine to power some of the equipment while I work so I don't use any of the power everyone else is using." (edited)

"whatever you can do to make it run, get sometihng out of it or the Regent will come down here and shoot both of us"

Her face turns to an upset look "I don't think he would do that, but I'll get to work anyway"

8:05 PM

She starts looking throughout the workshop for any scrap metal that can be used for a frame, replacement axels, stearing gear, etc along with any unpowered, unused tools she can get her hands on.

8:11 PM

(Specifically welding gear)

(i think it might be easier to just tell me what this is supposed to end up like)

(I'm thinking like a scrap version of an M3 half-track from world war 2 with some extra armor)

7:21 PM

(I can draw out something tomorrow if you want me to, ill have time)

7:21 PM

(Or tonight before bed)

(yeah actual desired stats would give me an idea of how to do this)

(Ill look, i didnt know how you wanted to do this)

(I didnt either but i thnk as clear as we can make it would be better since you're trying to actually do something with it)

(I'll take a look at the apc stats and the vehicles from the other book, see if I can find something thats balanced)

(What base frame would this be, tl3 tank?)

8:11 PM

(Or truck?)

(I feel like it would have to be a truck since she the old thing is going to be mostly scrap)

(It’ll be truck

(Could I make a roll to see if she finds anything special amongst the scrap they already have? Like parts for a medbay or something? Or roll to see if she can get the engine to boost without exploding?)

8:24 AM

(Otherwise I'm just going to take the tl3 truck from engines of babylon and add a tool rack, armor plating, hydrocarbon fueling, and a machine gun onto it. Leaves me with 2 power and 5 mass free, enough for the medbay. I cant get the engine boost after all.)

8:25 AM

(And adding extra durability doesn't make sense here)

(Work with the book.

(Medbay is in the book, but i wanted to know if we even have parts for it)

(no)

(Ok, then its just gonna have the parts listed above)

7:42 PM

(The armor plate, tool rack, machine gun, and hydrocarbon fueling.)

7:43 PM

(I can get you credit cost in a sec, super tired from moving shit around

(16,000 total credit cost for those modifications if it matters.)

(well, its something youre making for them, so in this case no, cost is good to know but not a huge deal)

(Want me to go ahead and roll to build it?)

(I’ve never made anyone else)

(Ok, I thought I would need to since she is building this from scratch pretty much)

Carmen spends a few days locating scrap metal pieces, making technical drawings, and cutting pieces before she spends the rest of her week welding pieces together until she has a completed half-track in front of her with full armor plate and a heavy machine gun in a small turret on top. She starts it up for the first time and gets a few belches of smoke from the exhaust before the engine turns over. She drives it around the city and some rough terrain just outside the walls to test the steering and suspension before parking it back in front of the workshop, a big smile on her grease and dirt covered face. (edited)

3:19 PM

She walks up to the workshop foreman "So, what do you think, pretty nice right?"

"It's not bad" he agrees "You did something with the not much you were given. I think the militia would make great use of a vehicle like that:

"Yeah, just wish I could build some more. If we had some more power we could maybe start fabricating some engines of our own. Has anyone made any progress on that at all?"

"We have the windmills, nothing new though. the windmills are very recent"

3:43 PM

(its only been about a week since Jenoa finished them)

"Yeah, but windmills arent going to give us power on demand, not unless we have some batteries or a backup generator of some kind. I could see about finding some people to go exploring with to find something like that."

3:48 PM

(I had a goal for building something workable out of the apc, but I feel like that is cheap xp for something that wasnt that difficult in the end once she got back.)

(yeah i was not planning on making it a giant thing)

3:48 PM

(sort of hard to make that into a whole mission)

(Yeah)

(Might go ahead and join bavid's mission)

(When you decide let me know then)

(Think I will, it makes sense)

8:33 PM

(We can let it develop naturally in rp first)

8:39 PM

Carmen looks at the message "Actually boss, I'll go ahead and help this guy, might be able to tie water and power together!" She says before grabbing a few rations then walking around to find the militia officer coming to pick up the vehicle (edited)

8:41 PM

(I'll grab *nine rations, will subtract the credits in a bit) (edited)

(Bring up to Bavi'd using hydro electronics to heat Frozen water from the distillery and we can run electricity on the same machine with dual purpose.) (edited)

(We'll see what we find)

When she finally gets back to Mytikas, Carmen first heads over to the Myrmidon barracks to see if any of her friends have made it back, and if not to pay her respects to them.

The handful of myrmidons either not in battle or evacuated as injured are in camp but the area is heavily guarded and you’re not permitted entry, especially so recently released from quarantine

Carmen heads over to the workshop to speak with the foreman about any work that needs doing or new salvage opportunities.

(Did you have any ideas or do you need an actual job)

(Need a job for now, don't have the money for her big RV project)

(She would want to see if she can scrounge together some parts for a battery system for the workshop though to prevent power from being wasted when the windmills are running but nobody is doing anything.)

12:16 PM

(If that works as an idea. Was in physical therapy when you messaged me earlier)

(You could go on a scavenging run for the parts. Might be a good way to see how things look at the edge of the garden too)

(Yeah, she'd want to look for her friends too, think we can rp her talking about it from here)

The foreman and his techs are busy with the amount of militia equipment they now need to make, as the myrmidon army has been confirmed killed in the field. He hardly looks up from a rack of cooling rifle actions

She walks up rather sheepishly. "Hey boss..."

He nods but continues working , focused on his tasks

"I was thinking of going on a scrap mission over by the garden, unless you guys need me here. I also want to see if I can find any remnant of my friends out there."

9:34 PM

"I think we could use a proper battery bank to try and smooth out our power consumption here."

“We have the help we need here. Can’t spare anyone to go with you though” he says tersely, making some minute adjustments to the temperature of the forge

"That's fine, I could use some time by myself anyway." She says, leaving the workshop to head to the market to get supplies.

10:16 AM

(I'll get you a list this afternoon, out atm)

She asks for an atmofilter, and tent (filter is 100, dunno what the regular tent is) along with seeing what kind if bows they have for sale (Looking for a conversion bow if they have one) (edited)

(50. It just won’t have the special features, they have a bow

(Just a regular compound bow?)

(Yes)

(TL3 one right?)

(Yes. There’s no working power or water so advanced manufacturing isn’t happening right now)

(Ok)

Carmen pays 110 credits for the bow, tent, and arrows, handing over her laser pistol and its remaining ammunition to pay for the atmofilter. She spends some time at the range getting used to the bow before heading out to the Garden on foot.

(its a couple days journey on foot, fyi)

(And there are bad monsters everywhere at night right?)

(so far that's been your experience)

After walking to the gate, she remembers the monsters and instead goes to look for any scavengers or militia trucks heading towards the garden area

The militia is remaining at home, due to the fact that the myrmidons have been destroyed in the field, and there is no other force protecting the city right now. The scavengers have not been seen for a few days, and though unsanctioned parties from the city are forbidden from going out, there is clear evidence at least some unauthorized expeditions are getting through the ruins

(Shes been authorized right?)

(All im@saying is Theres groups going out there so if you want a group you can try to find one)

Carmen starts looking around for any secret ways out of rhe city people might be using.

)notice or connect with wis or cha)

(Notice/wis, 7)

you notice @Lethargick in the marketplace looking to be doing the same thing you are, along with a group of three figures standing near the market edge, casting furtive glances out at the edge of the city

Carmen walks over to @Lethargick "Hey, how are you doing?"

"Hey, just trying to figure out how to get some scrap."

"Yeah, me too. Trying to keep my mind off things. You had any luck finding anyone heading out?"

"I've noticed some scrappers still bringing in scrap, but I'm unsure that I would agree with the way they are getting in and out."

"Yeah. I don't want to get in trouble with the militia, being quarantined was scary enough."

"Maybe we can pay one of then for the scrap? I want to prepare for the water pump station again." (edited)

"The bigger issue is getting there in something we can actually live in without being worried about dying to monsters. I have this idea for a big armored RV type thing with some guns on it, but it would take a lot more scrap and money than I have."

"Then again, if we bring something back that can help the city, we should be alright. It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission right?"

"I don't know, I was told I could have what I needed to do this project, but after a massive failure I doubt it stretches too far."

She pats him on the shoulder "Don't blame yourself, I was the one who started that fire that got us all sick. I think we just needed a better plan and some actual equipment, that's all. Who told you you could have what you needed anyway? Maybe they will still help us." (edited)

"The vice regent, but she is a bit under pressure right now."

"I remember meeting her once, back on our home planet. She stopped by to check on my friends and I was there working on their equipment. She was nice to us all. She's been under pressure before and come through, I'm sure she will come through for us all now."

"After losing a husband and everything else going on I refuse to be part of asking for favors."

"I mean, what else are we going to do?"

"I don't know, to be honest, but I cannot take advantage of a woman in a desperate and vulnerable situation."

"We aren't taking advantage of her, we are helping her. The better she can make lives here the easier her job will be."

"No, she has enough on her plate, and a number of delegates pleading for help. We figure this out for we wait."

6:13 PM

"What if we went to the mines and requested enough ore to build it?"

"To build what?"

"Rebuild the water pumps and the truck you wanted." (edited)

"We'd still need to scrounge up some rubber for tires or tracks, along with some wiring, and maybe some guns, and some glass. I want this truck to be sealed inside, but that will probably have to come later."

"We can likely make wires guns and glass very easily" (edited)

"This is a lot of time we would need in the workshop, and they are really busy right now."

"Let's go see if we can get some time first then work on getting the raw materials."

Carmen leads the way to the workshop to talk to the foreman.

Bavi'd nods and follows her. (We should probably let Neko catch up before going further.)

(Yeah, just wanted to make it sure what we were doing next for him)

1

The foreman is still busy but does not send you away when he sees both of you coming. Metal ore is beginning to come in again but power for his main bellows is still spotty

"Well guess they don't mind us being here at least, and there's ore again. Why don't we work on refining some of the ore into a frame for this armored truck, with beds would be cool, you wanted to make."

"Yeah, let's get started I guess."

9:36 PM

(Is there any way to generate the power manually, like a bike or something?)

(No, not enough for what they need)

(Are there storms on this planet that have lightning involved?)

(Yeah there are. Especially now out near the garden)

(We are gojng to do a skills contest for you guys making a vehicle. 5 successes before three failures. Can’t repeat a skill)

(We can start with Talk/Cha or something for gathering supplies)

9:42 AM

(What do you think @Lethargick )

(That’s fine. Only one of you can take the check and talk can’t be used again either way)

(Carmen has a straight roll on this, how's Bavi'd on this?)

(This is kind of metagaming a little.)

(OK, well bavi'd isn't super social, but carmen is so carmen talking seems more likely. [srry neko]) (edited)

1:11 PM

(If it's ok i'll run repair/int exert/str and carmen, you can run the other 3? you good with that?)

Carmen let'a Bavid get to work on forging the metal plates and frame pieces while she goes out to try and scrounge up some supplies.

1:19 PM

(Talk/Cha, 10)

([12 fix/int] [7exert/str]) (edited)

1:22 PM

(Maybe a preform/int and a connect/cha would help convince the people we need the supplies?)

1:26 PM

(The way it works is i have to drop the lowest die out of 3d6)

(Talk is successful. So is fix. Exert fails)

1:35 PM

(And you’re reasoning for the other things is almost the same as what we did for talk, so can’t use that reason at least)

Carmen brings back a bunch of glass shards, copper wires, and other bits and pieces used to build electronic bits and the engine before walking over to inspect the plates and stuff Bavi'd has worked on so far.

(Ok so i can reroll as an expert for my exert right?)

(Yes)

(Notice/Wis, 8)

(3-1 pass/fail)

(Nvm lol i got a 4)

"These aren't level, I need to find someone here who will help us out with this."

1:38 PM

Carmen goes around the workshop, trying to call in a favor or two from one of the more bulky engineers to help hammer out the pieces

1:39 PM

(Connect/Cha, 5, rerolling)

1:39 PM

(4, ugh)

(So 3 fails 2 success oof)

1:41 PM

(oh nvm neko said we got 3 pass)

Being unable to find anyone who is willing to set aside their already pressing work to help, Carmen sits down and studies the machinery they have access to, drawing upon her knowledge of such things

1:41 PM

(Know/int, 7, so thats three fails)

(I’ll tell you. It’s 4-2)

(Oh, yay!)

(Different skills have different thresholds. )

After a few hours of work, putting together the rough pieces, attaching wheels and treads, Carmen gets ready to take the base of the vehicle for a test drive to see if the engine runs and the chassis can deal with the rough ground in its current state before they put the RV part and the gun turret on.

1:45 PM

(Pilot/Dex, 3)

(whats the roll lol?) (edited)

(A 3)

I guess i better look it over before we use it. (Notice/int?)

2:27 PM

(If so it's 11)

(I already rolled and used notice earlier)

2:28 PM

(I rolled pilot/dex and got a 3)

(OHHH OOf)

(Yeah. Test was failed)

3:09 PM

The vehicle rattles itself apart on the test track, the suspension giving away underneath the demands of the heavy armor

3:09 PM

Thick smoke billows out from the blown engine

Carmen falls out of the truck as it splits apart at the joints, rolling across the dirt, coming to rest at Bavi'd's feet. "We are asking the regent for help, this isn't something we can do ourselves." She says as she gets up, covered in mud. "Or at the very least someone who has some resources."

I'm telling you she is overburdened as is. but yes, some help would be advised.

"Well, let's at least go talk to Jeonia, maybe she knows someone who can help us out, or at the very least let us take a salvaging party out that is legal and larger than five people."

"First I need a shower though." *She says, shaking mud off her arms and hands before walking to the workshop showersn. "I'll meet you at her office in an hour."

alright

(Bavid, anything to do before going to see Jeonia?)

(No, I would likely just be ready to get something done.)

An hour later, you arrive at the palace where jeonia has a small office, coordinating city projects. The regents plans have been scrapped as needlessly divisive and resource intensive

Carmen knocks on the door, poking her head around if the door is open

12:30 PM

(Does Jeonia have a title like director or anything?)

(No)

"Hello, Jeonia? Could my friend and I talk to you for a second?"

Bavi'd stands behind carmen, a little nervous about haing to ask for help again.

“Alright. Make your case. I’ve got a tour of the inner city and temple surround in a few moments” she says with more stern tones than she’s usually known to give off

"We want permission to go out and scavenge and a vehicle base we can modify into some kind of RV. We want to finish setting up the water pump and look for parts we can use to suppliment the workshop power grid but we need something that we can hide inside from the monsters and disease that they seem to carry."

“Alright. There was an incident at the test track I heard. I saw the requisition reports. That was you two I assume?”

"Yes, we tried to be proactive and build something ourselves instead of taking something already built snd modifying it but it, just didn't work. At all. It fell apart and caught fire at the same time." She says, voice trailing off at the end, looking dissapointed in herself.

“I’ll fix that one up for you. But that’s the best I can do” she says

"Are we allowed to head out of the city then?" She says with anticipation.

“Yes. But help won’t be coming if you get into trouble again”

"We will be careful, thank you so much!" She says with a big smile on her face, trying to disguise her excitement and failing.

Bavi'd calms down a bit, though notices that the lady is very intense and makes it a plan not to get on her badside.

Carmen heads outside and sets to work on the armored RV again.

Bavi'd follows ready to fix the mistake that cost them 2 lives.

Jeonia and her team have wasted no time repairing your ride and fixing the mistakes made during the build. A pass to leave the city is also handed out to both of you affixed with her deal

7:17 AM

Seal*

"Well, now we have some proper accomidations, let's get going."

9:02 AM

She says to Bavi'd

9:03 AM

(This thing has a machine gun as well right?)

(Yeah it’s pretty much a copy of the old one

(Cept with beds this time)

(Okay sure)

"Alright let's go."

"Do you have an atmofilter with you this time?"

"No, but I figured we could avoid cooking any foreign substances this time."

"Let's get you one just in case. If we aren't getting any help we need to be extra careful, especially considering your weaknesses."

3:55 PM

"Vulnerabilities rather."

3:57 PM

(Would we have any way to detect radiation or anything like that)

(I have a datapad)

5:18 PM

"Fair enough let's go grab one real quickly."

(There’s an actual survey scanner that would. A datapad doesn’t do that iirc

"We can grab a survey scanner too now that I'm thinking about it, radiation might be a problem depending on where we go. We can get some extra power cells and rations at the same time, and this time not get the eggplant or bugs."

(They’re available for book price. Limit on 4 more power cells though since charging them is so hard)

(Would we be able to charge them in the car while we drive at all?)

(Also does this thing meet her goal of building an RV?)

(Not in the car no , and yes it counts for the gla)

11:48 AM

(Goal)

11:48 AM

(The vehicles are running on gas. Not power. No fusion reactors or things like that

She drives them to the market on the way out of town. Carmen spends 390 on the four power cells, the survey scanner, and 20 rations, placing them in the truck. (edited)

(Alright. Deduct credits but unless bavid has anything I think we are good)

(I think he was getting an atmofilter. I forgot to deduct the credits earlier, will take care of it when im back at my computer later.)

(I am buying an atmofilter yes, srry been a busy day)

7:11 PM

Alright let's get going. Bavi'd said excitedly.

Carmen heads back into the truck and turns to Bavi'd "So where are we heading to first? The river?"

Bavi'd nods

"Wait, did we ever have pipes for this?"

yes we did, we can hope it's still out there.

"I doubt anything has touched it unless the scavengers went that way. Lets head out."

9:00 PM

She drives them to the river

(Back to the build site?)

(Yeah)

The build site is untouched. The pipes are a bit dirty and wet from a week and more unattended in the woods but nothing that will make them less effective. The small channel dam that has been dug is sagging in the sides

(What do you mean by sagging?)

(Means we could lose it due to the lack of structural integrity) bavi'd collects the materials from last trip and starts to repair the dam.

Carmen helps him.

(It was just a dirt channel you guys dug. It’s rained a few times and been windy so it’s eroding and sort of filling in)

1:16 PM

(The infection happened before you could do anything else)

They work on digging out the mudslides and setting up the wooden sides of the channel.

It takes into the late afternoon to fix and stabilize what had been done previously, but it looks solid now, and more permanent structures can be put into place later. The woods have been active during your work period, and though you haven't seen any animals, you've heard evidence of their passing close.

"Right, let's get in the RV, turn on all the lights, and button up. Maybe even sleep with the atmofilters on or something."

Sounds like a plan. Bavi'd hops in.

Carmen takes first watch at the turret, looking around for monsters using the searchlight on the turret.

Carmen’s shift passes without incident, the spotlight finding nothing beyond the camp but trees and darkness

She wakes Bavi'd up for his shift, then heads to sleep.

Bavi'd wakes up and takes his shift looking for any sign of the beasts that attacked before.

The air feels thick as night drags on and the forest goes very silent. The insects and small rodents you’d been hearing scamper through the brush all go quiet, but this time the hunting calls of the winged beasts that anguished you before are likewise not being heard

Bavid keeps an eye on the woodline.

(Notice/wis)

(6)

4:54 PM

(Reroll)

4:54 PM

(8)

You notice two shambling figures barely illuminated by the light. They’re almost insubstantial against the gloomy and smoky background. They’re not making a special effort to keep out of the light, but it seems to be partially going through them. It illuminates a face, the ravaged features of one of the work crew. His body still has the what should have been mortal wounds if animal feeding

10:19 AM

(So he physically should be dead. But he’s not

Bavi'd is horrified, attempting t keep his cool knowing a noise could cause an unnecessary attack.

The forms continue shuffling forward In your direction though their pace is jerky and slow

Bavid considers waking carmen, but fears her shouting like last time. (Is there a light on this truck?)

( Carmen added some I do believe )

(Yeah, she added at least one proper searchlight next to the machine gun in the turret)

Bavi'd turns on the spotlight beaming it at the "husk like" creatures (edited)

You can make out that these bodies were or perhaps are the workmen that had been killed a week and a half ago. Their chests and abdomens have been pulled apart and the organs devoured

(Does the light bother them?)

(They’re not squinting or trying to shy away from it if that’s helps

Bavid taps on Carmen's shoulder, ready to muffle her yell if she shouts.

Carmen moans softly as she rolls over. "What?" She mutters quietly with her eyes closed. (edited)

"We have a problem." He points off in the distance

She sits up, rubs her eyes, and looks out the window at the, things, eyes wide in both surprise and tension. "We need to get rid of these things. I'll go ahead and take some shots with my bow, see if I can take them down." She hops up into the turret and takes aim first. (How far are these things?)

"Good plan, best to not draw extra attention" (edited)

(50m right now)

Carmen fires off an arrow at the first one.

6:03 PM

(14/1)

The arrow hits home, but impacts the abdomen. It seems to not bother the creature and it continues lumbering forward

Carmen gulps "Drive us away slowly, I'll keep putting arrows into them."

7:55 PM

"Or you shoot, and I'll drive."

(do they appear slow?)

(Theyre very slow. Recently reanimated)

6:03 AM

(Like. You don’t even need to drive and take the to hit negative right now)

Bavi'd thinks for a moment and pulls out his laser pistol aiming at the other husk. pulling the trigger. (0/2)

1

The loud laser shot breaks the otherwise subdued stillness of the night and the shot goes wide, skipping into the ground a few meters before its feet. Their shambling advance takes them to 40m of the vehicle.

Carmen reloads her bow

The arrow nocks cleanly into the bow as bavid weighs his options

(Can I use my racial ability to scrap together something similair to an explosive from a power cell type a?)

5:11 PM

(Gernades are 25)

(Yeah you can do that)

5:14 PM

(Or your just happened to have a grenade per your ability

(ok I'll add one to inventory and toss it.)

5:26 PM

(14/5)

The grenade bounces towards both of them, sailing the great distance. The grenade pops with a muffled boom and showers the two revenants with shrapnel. They collapse , and you hear the forest around you begin waking up

5:34 PM

(We are out of initiative for the moment)

Carmen blinks a bit and shakes her head because of the noise and light. "Why did you do that?! Now those things are going to come back." She starts looking around for any sign of the monsters.

I thought this truck was designed to deal with them.

Distantly , so faint you can barley hear it, you hear the first of the piecing hunting calls

Shit!

The sound of rubber tires crunching brush draws your attention as a more silent vehicle pulls up next to you, Eli at the driver controls

Being startled Bavi'd grabs the turret swinging it around towards Eli.

Eli makes sure the vehicle is parked then looks up, seeing the turret swiveled at him he raises his hands. "Wait, don't shoot. It's me Eli, I came out here to see if you needed any help and if the pumps were working yet."

Shit, Eli! Why would you show up in the middle of the night!?

"Well, I was trying to get some chestnutatoes, and apparently the trollboars like them more than you do. Wait as sec. " Eli bends down and comes back up holding a large troll boar tusk. "One of them tried to charge me, luckily he didn't do much more than knock me down, and he let me get away so that's good right? I think I'm going to find them again once I find some more appetizing plants to try and feed them. When I got done with all that and got here it was darker than I thought."

Maybe we could trap and breed the trollboars for meat with the "Chestnutatoes"!

"I guess, but they have a farm though, I wanted some trained for combat mounts, those things are pretty tough and they know the place better than we do. Besides I need the Chesnutatos™ to distill into chestnutato alcohol. You haven't seen any more of those bugs have you, I was going to try to cook one in here, do it right this time, but I brought some suits just in case."

(Trsade marked huh XDXDXD)

No but the friends we lost last time paid us a visit. Maybe theres some kind of reanimation spores or something but they weren't supposed to be alive.

Almost on cue, another hunting call goes out, a bit closer but not much

Shit, Eli you ready for this again? Looking over. Carmen?

Eli goes to hop on the turret of his vehicle, making sure to grab and turn on his night vision goggles. "You didn't bring out any more laborers this time did you?" (edited)

No, we are going to rely on the truck this time.

Eli nods trying to turn his own turret towards where the bug calls are coming from and starts casting. (I'm not sure how that would work since we weren't in combat yet I think, but I was planning on using consecrated arms early so we get the +1 to hit and damage fighting them?)

(Assuming you do fight them. Depends what you guys do)

Carmen gets a smile on her face when she sees Eli, then looks back to the forest to try and spot how many they are dealing with.

6:24 PM

(Also, just realized we are fighting the crysalids from xcom)

So, Fight or hide in the trucks?

"Depends on how many there are. We can always drive and kite them around when they start getting close."

We can try the light too.

"Yeah."

6:31 PM

"Shine the light around, let's see what we can see."

Bavi'd shines the light across the tree line.

The light reaches out into the smoky forest and you get glimpses of about a dozen as far as you can tell of the winged creatures darting from tree to tree

6:57 PM

They’re 50m, at the edge of the light

"Oh shit. Are we fighting or leaving?" Carmen asks.

"Well I can't do both really."

(Are they stopping at the edge of the light or trying to come through it?)

Lets try keeping the light on them for now.

(theyre coming you just cant see them until they hit the light)

"Just spray down the trees!" She says, launching another arrow.

9:41 PM

(1/3)

This arrow sails wide and is lost to darkness

10:18 PM

(Bavid, Eli)

(since they're still behind the trees that would that make suppressive fire not do any damage?)

(Only to the ones who pass the evasion savd)

(Suppressing fire is different than the book in that it's half of your ammo capacity instead of twice the usual rounds, correct?)

(How do I roll for a manned gun on a truck? I cannot find it in the book.)

(yeah, ima spray and pray)

(You’re asking how you suppress?)

(yes, do i roll dmg?)

(Yes and I roll saves for them

(13/0)

6:55 AM

(Srry i am an idiot and messed it up, eli helped me fix it. (1/9) (edited)

(13/10 also suppressing fire.)

The two heavy machine guns criss cross the night with their tracers, red streaks soaking into the darkness with every third shot. Six of the creatures are pulped between the fire lanes of the interlocking kill box, the other half of the pack sheltered behind trunks or the dense boughs of treetop

2:17 PM

They sail forward cutting through cover fo close within 25m of the truck, hunt calls piercing the night

Carmen nocks another arrow and looks around them to see if any others are getting close from other sides.

All you notice are the six not killed by the machine gun fire

2:05 PM

(Eli and bavid)

Eli nods to Bavid opening up on the bugs again letting loose the rest of his rounds.(Suppressing fire again with the rest of the ammo in the hmg.) (edited)

2:16 PM

(10/12)

(Bavid next, and ill let you know what's left)

Bavi'd follows suit, attempting again to supress the fiends. (7/11)

Twin machine guns bark, killing four more and knocking branches from trees. They topple to the ground along with chewed up bodies of the flying creatures. The belts on both guns run dry, as the remaining quarter of the pack begins to turn tail and run

Carmen cheers, giving Bavi'd a hug

Bavi'd ackwardly accepts the hug

"Nice job guys!"

"We did it, so you think that's the last of em'?"

for now

"So, I'm supposed to be figuring out how to cook these things, do you guys have suits or something? I figure with 10 bodies we should be able to try different methods and scan for toxicity, try to avoid anything that looks like a liver if nothing else." (edited)

"We have atmofilters. This truck can button up tighter than the last one too. I don't know if eating these is a good idea without a full dissection and test."

"Well we're going to be here a while hopefully we've got time for that, some of the equipment in the atv works, and rest I can magic back into working. Between that and the equipment I brought should be good enough to at least determine if it's edible or will be toxic again before and after it's cooked, and more comfortably livable than the ruins if nothing else."

Maybe we should disect one, find out if there's a toxic gland or organ, then remove that before cooking.

"Either of you good at this kind of stuff dissection or used to wearing vacc suits?"

"I'm used to vaccines suits, but only have a little experience with disection."

(Unless you have vac suits already you won’t be able to get them. More can’t be made right now and what we do have is for first responders and the space personnel) (edited)

(ok then I guess I have an atmofilter and vac refresher? I didn't know I'll take it off the sheet since it would have been added when I got the atv.) (edited)

(Sounds good. Alright. Glad we clarified)

1

"I've never dissected anything, so I'm not doing it."

"Don't worry it's my mission, and I have the most medical knowledge I'll be doing it."

"Well" She says with a yawn. "I'm going back to sleep. You have a bed in there eli?"

"Yeah there are a few cabins in there, a little cramped, but your welcome to one if you want it."

"Oh, I was going to offer you a bed in here. I guess we have plenty of places to sleep then." She says with a laugh "No more sleeping on ration boxes."

"Yeah, no wonder the bugs came after us."

4:42 PM

"Hey before you two go to bed, I just thought if these things ate some of the laborers should we be eating them?"

"Speaking of laborers, they came back." She points to the bits where the grenade landed.

"I thought they were dead? Before you blew them up, I mean."

"So did we."

"What were they like when they came back, not too friendly I guess?"

"Like, husks. Lifeless, robotic, husks."

"Weird, I'll make sure to be extra careful looking into the bugs, don't want to end up like that myself."

"Make sure you don't, I like exploring stuff with you. Exploring with your dead husk wouldn't be the same."

"Probably a worse conversationalist as a husk, but it might improve my dancing."

She laughs. "I like your dancing, its funny."

8:21 PM

"But, anyway, we should get to resting, lots of work still to be done here."

"You're right. They should still be here in the morning, and it wouldn't be good to get caught out by myself if something is attracted by the corpses. Well, good night then." Eli waves to them both, then heads into one of the cabins in the atv and tries to get some sleep.

Carmen heads back to sleep until her turn to watch again.

Bavid stands watch the rest of the night, smiling occasionally, proud that they survived this. Then frowning as he remembered the workers he killed.

2:58 AM

Once early morning hit, bavid started his excersizes.

(No attacks during the night. Not sure what you guys are getting into now that it’s light)

After daily excersizes, Bavi'd calls out to the others. Carmen, Eli, Lets get a move on. After which he proceeds to set up the pumps at the bottom, approximately 6 inches off the ground using scrap to make a metal "box" to keep it mounted on.

Eli wakes up feeling better for having slept in a room. He gets dressed putting on then activating his atmo filter, donning some gloves and taking equipment for the dissections then goes over to the nearest bug corpse trying to scan it and get an idea of which parts need to be cut out or might be edible or useful if processed for other things. Making a recording of the process.

Carmen gets up, heats up some rations for herself and anyone else who is hungry, then goes to help Bavi'd set the pump. She uses some of the wood to make some additional protection for the pump itself from any high-speed water still coming through.

(Let’s get a fix from both bavid and Carmen for their scrap projects)

10:38 AM

The bioscanner has no additional information than it had in the previous attempts to scan one of the corpses. This looks to be all the information Eli can count on before actually opening one up

(Would I have been able to get a scalpel or something, or would that even cut through or would I be more using the survival knife? Sorry, I was keeping descriptions somewhat general so I didn't mention having things I wouldn't or if that didn't make sense.)

10:42 AM

Eli takes a breath through the filter then starts with a large vertical incision down the middle of the bug.

(11, sorry for the 5 luck saves, mobile is being an ass)

(8)

12:12 PM

(rerolling that i think)

12:12 PM

(14)

(Survival knife)

1:17 PM

The black shell splits open down the middle to light ochre meat underneath. It is slimy and sheathed in a thick coating of fat. You haven’t cut deep enough to expose any organs yey

Eli slices some cuts of the meat to try different methods of cooking it later.

You manage four Filets of decent size with the first layer, and as you peel the meat out you find the first of several dense organ clusters. They’re dense, sheathed in something like chitin armor, but the knot like organs are irregularly shaped

Eli attempts to sever the flesh around the chitinous clusters and remove them whole.

(Let’s get a survive or heal with dex)

9:17 PM

The building projects continue on as Eli begins his work on the first carcass.

(6 I used heal.)

The knife slips and you score one of the organs deeply. A milky black fluid begins to contaminate the meat on the right side of the splayed chest and abdomen

"Agh damn it. You guys have your atmo filters on right?" Eli drops the knife and steps back from the bug.

The oily mixture spreads into the meat , ruining this corpse for further exploration

"So any ideas on how to get rid of this corpse or sterilize the knife? We know fire would probably be a bad idea."

"I'd suggest bagging the other corpses and waiting till we return, but other than fire and sealing it to be safe I dont." (edited)

"Could you two make something like that a sealed burn room or something? Might be useful." (edited)

If it's seeled it won't burn, though likely we can make a quick chimney to make the smoke disperse away from us

11:26 AM

I meant seeling the knife away after burning it clean.

"Oh well, I don't think it should have a problem heating up it's a thermal knife. I just didn't want to release anything airborne like last time, especially if you all weren't ready."

Do it downwind, and away from everyone. cover your face with wet cloth, covered in alcohol, that should keep you safe.

"I have an atmofilter, you think I need that too?"

Couldn't hurt.

"Okay, I'll get that ready and clean off the knife and my hands You mind bringing those cuts of bug meat to the atv? I don't want to touch them until I've sterilized everything."

Sure thing. Bavi'd wrinses his hands in the water and does as he was requested.

Eli takes of the gloves then wipes down his hands and knife with some alcohol before using some to wet some gauze putting it over his nose and mouth under the mask and trying to find a place downwind to sterilize the knife.

(I'm assuming our work lasts all day right?)

(With the scale of what you’re doing id say most of the day

12:24 PM

(But it might not be done depending on who does what with Eli’s work going on

(ok)

(would I have enough time to try cooking some of the bug meat? )

(they’re technically further ahead in time than you Eli since they’re working while you do dissection and science

2:15 PM

(Them stopping their labors to talk with you for a minute isn’t going to change anything but they might not get as far if you guys change direction or do something else)

(I don't think I wasn't going to do anything besides cleaning, dissecting, analyzing and trying to cook the bugs. Look at their claws and shell and other parts, sciency seeming things like that?)

(You’ve got plenty of time then but let’s take it step by step)

1

After Eli and the knife are cleaned and disinfected and he's put on another pair of gloves, Eli moves to a second corpse, this one he examines more externally first. (edited)

The fur is ruddy, and patchy, there are places where the ash grey skin underneath is exposed. where you can see it, it is stretched and taunt, even in the slackness of death. A large chunk of this one's chest has been torn away by the passage of a high caliber round. It must have been a tracer, because the edges of the hole are cauterized, though whatever organs were behind it are long gone now.

Eli checks the meat to see if it was tainted when it was shot. (edited)

It does not look like any of those sac like organs were hit by the weapons fire in this body

With this bug he tries to avoid the organs completely at first, looking at the various layers to see how and if they cooked through the hole and which might have edible meat.

There is enough to make some cutlets from the chest cavity. The legs and arms look likewise to be free of any contaminant sources but the abdomen and guts of the creature present the most risk based on your assessment so far

Eli takes what he can from the bug, avoiding the guts and abdomen, not wanting to risk contamination.

You have four thick cuts to work with at the moment. For bavid and Carmen, their projects continue smoothly while you work

(That's 8 total with the ones I took from the first bug before contaminating the rest of that one right?)

(yes)

1

Eli puts the bug meat into the fridge in the atv's kitchen then moves onto the next one.

(I think at this point you’ve got all you need to safely cut and butcher these. It’s just a matter of cooking them@now. We can move to evening so the others are free to assist with this

1

After a long day driving wood into mud, Carmen comes over to Eli's truck. "Hey chef, got dinner ready? I'll take mine without the side of horrible death and botulism if thats possible."

"Uh I guess we'll see, I was kind of hoping we could have a cook off, see which method tastes the best."

"I'd rather we just get it cooked safely." She looks at the meat with a wrinkled nose. "Do we even know if this part is safe to eat?"

"According to the scanner it should provide the required nutrition and not be toxic. That's a little different than appetizing though."

"We can test it tonight. I'll stay in here just in case I get sick, that way Bavi'd will be okay if something happens."

10:19 AM

"Do you have any spices we could use? What are we having with it?"

"Wish we had some bacon, everything goes well with bacon."

"I mean there are troll boars, but I'm not going to try hunting them. They're a mixture of cute and tough that makes me happier to see them alive than on a plate."

"You've been eating them for weeks though."

"Yeah, but I didn't have to catch kill, and butcher those ones."

She shrugs.

Eli smiles. "Ice water in your veins, huh?, or maybe I'm just too soft. Probably why they tried to trample me and take the rations hunger can be motivation, I guess I'll get cooking then, any way you'd prefer them prepared besides spiced and not deadly?"

"I don't think you're soft, I just never thought of it that way. And yeah, in whatever way won't kill me would be preferable."

"Yeah, while it's cooking I'm going to keep the atmo filter on, you should probably wear one too just in case."

She pulls her atmofilter out and turns it on. "Make sure you get your atmofilter on Bavi'd! Chef Eli is preparing the house special!" She calls out to Bavi'd.

(what kind of roll would this be, to cook tip sized steaks in various ways and to varying degrees, starting with well done since I don't know if rare bug would be safe? and the kitchen probably has some kind of spices right. Since most of them were chewed on I was going to leave the chestnutatoes to hopefully sprout and be replanted, so I think it'd be rations or nothing for side dishes.)

Bavi'd puts his atmofilter on and gets a lot of distance.

(I wasn't sure if going dish by dish would be too much like varying steaks, some kind of stew, a roast, pan fried, bug loaf, bug burgers stuff like that?) (edited)

(Not really much in the way of spices. Not really a priority for a military endeavor. I don’t really think there’s a roll needed here)

6:17 AM

(Not unless you’re doing something absolutely nuts or risking it being a rare cut)

(Not mainly would a pate be too risky? I'm pretty sure those are still cooked.)

(Those are still cooked )

1

(Yeah, its usually cooked meat mashed into a paste with some other things.)

After a couple hours spent cooking some of the bug steaks and cleaning up the kitchen Eli offers several bug meat based dishes to the others. Bug stew, bug steak, roast bug, bug burgers, bugloaf, shredded bug, and bug pate with one small chesnutato leaf on top.

Carmen makes up a plate with a little bit of everything and takes a very small bite of the most cooked option presented first.

10:58 AM

(What does this stuff smell like cooked anyway?)

(It actually smells like steak but fatty steak so a bit of a burn with it

(Does it taste good at least?)

(I don’t know what your characters would think tastes good)

12:31 PM

(That seems like a you decision)

Eli munches on some roast bug happily sparing a look to the others. "So what do you think? It'll only get better once I get some spices at the market, but I thought I should see if it was edible and all before buying random things, and I didn't want to be casually shopping while you guys might need help."

Bavid sits down "well if you're alive in the morning I guess I can try some."

"Hey, it's not that bad, but fine you can have it reheated."

"The texture is weird and it is slightly burned, but its no worse than the rations at least. Get some kind of root vegetable with it and you could maybe even call it edible." She pats Eli on the shoulder. "Good job."

"Thanks, a decent start. I wonder if we'll find anything else out here. So those pumps seem ready, it'll be nice to take an actual shower with water, fill up some tanks for the atv."

"More worried about my immune system holding up."

5:26 PM

"Yeah, just need to make the purifier, and run pipes."

"That's the easy part. I've moved enough wood to last me a lifetime."

"Great to know!"

"At least I think it would be easy."

"You two would know better than I would, so you thinking of building anything here besides the pump house?"

"Fencing would be smart I supposed"

"Maybe a little outpost here, what do you think about this as a place for a stationary lab and brewery maybe a tower or something to help with defenses? Seems like it'd be convenient for it to be close to the water and power. Probably need to get some materials and laborers from town though. Definitely more ammo for the guns if we could buy any. If pearl's mission goes well, maybe we could even start trade back and forth might need a boat for that though."

"I was talking about that a few weeks ago, it'a a good idea."

Carmen finishes up her food and starts looking over the bunks to see which one she wants.

"Take whichever one, they're pretty similar. I'm going to go see if the lake water is okay to wash in on it's own maybe boil it or something I don't want to sleep still smelling like bug guts."

"Don't you know, ladies love a man covered in bug guts."

7:36 PM

She says as she lays down to relax for a bit

"Really? You're messing with me aren't you. Though we did all have to live together during that quarantine, and that was because of the bugs. She's messing with me right Bavi'd?"

She doesn't respond as she stares at the ceiling with a smile on her face.

(Up to you guys when to change scene)

(I'm ready whenever)

8:17 PM

"Let me know when the shower is ready, I haven't had a long hot shower in forever."

(same I just wasn't sure if Bavi'd wanted to say something first. Probably just a bunch of confused sleeping.) "Sure, I guess that's up to you all set up the purifier tomorrow? I think I'm just going to go to bed."

Having killed the local predator pack, you are not disturbed during the night. Dawn finds its way to you, the sky going from a pale black to a milky gray as the sun begins coming up

Carmen wakes up, takes in a deep breath, and immediately starts gagging at the smell in the van. "Eli, you actually went to sleep like that?! Go take a shower, you smell like a broken diesel engine running on vomit."

8:37 PM

She hurries out of the van to start gathering water to boil for showers.

(3xp snd 5000 credits for what we did already )

(Yay level 4!)

(5 for me, I'll put the details in my own thread though so I don't post too much in yours.)

(I'll figure out exactly what im doing tomorrow when i visit the library)

8:44 PM

(And can edit stuff on my laptop)

(Sorry guys i was asleep.)

(no worries, I was going to hold off on posting until Carmen added their level also.)

(Hp increased to 11, Dex increased from 12 to 14, connect increased from -1 to 0)

Bavi'd gets up, starting his morning excersizes, ready to lay the pipe, and excited to have possible water.

(Your truck has jerry cans right eli?)

(Did you mean for fuel or water, I had extra barrels and I think some type of built in tanks for water, with the atv, and it has it's own powerplant.) (edited)

(For water)

"So Carmen was messing with me, also my sense of smell might be off after butchering and cooking all those bugs. Can you smell anything trough that ventilator?"

Not a lot, to be honest. it purifies most scents.

Carmen comes back with some jerry cans full of water and hands them to Eli. "Here, put this on to boil, I'll get some more." (edited)

8:50 AM

(Figure we have to have something for carrying water for rations)

Eli starts pouring the water into pots and boiling it.

Carmen continues until there is enough hot water for everyone to get cleaned up.

(Yeah there’s jerry cans and whatnot so there’s plenty)

11:09 AM

(I don’t think we need to get into anything further for the bathing situation than we have

"So, how do we want to handle laying these pipes? Do we want to bury them or just leave them above ground or elevate them?"

"Burying them seems the appropriate action for the sake of them not being broken by wild animals or anything."

"Alright. You want to start laying them down while I get the pump and filter running?"

3:05 PM

(Actually, serious question, how are we powering this pump?)

(I put a motor in the pump, and once we have a lightning storm I plan to make an electromagnet to create a generator.) I'll start digging, but given the hostile nature of the area, i don't want to go far.

(Running pipes all the way back to the city with nothing in the receiving end being ready for this is a big issue and probably beyond the scope of what the three of you can do without spending literal weeks. Let’s say powering the pump and letting Cole know things are ready is what we need to get water going )

2

(Okay)

3:58 PM

(I wasnt sure about laying all the piping ourselves, that would take way more truck space than we have atm.)

(And time. I think we can simplify this especially given the whiff attempts we have had before. Time to move on)

(So it's a set of faucets/pumps? tapped into the river with a wooden fence around it?) (edited)

(Something like that I guess)

4:07 PM

Once they get the pump set up Carmen calls over to Eli. "Hey, we are all setup here, you want to head back to town with us or are you going to stay out?"

"No I'll go with you, I'll probably need some help and materials to build any permanent structures, should I report back to the regent it worked and were coming back?"

"We might as well all go talk to her at once, right? If we are going?"

Sounds like a plan, let's go home guys and gals, we done good.

Carmen nods, getting into their truck to drive back to Mytikas.

Eli follows behind in the atv.

Mytikas is still on lockdown when you return to the city, though this time the militia at the gate lets you pass without incident. with so few people allowed to leave the city, its assumed anyone coming in has been vetted in at least some way. You pass through the main gate and into the town square, under heavy watch by the militia and a handful of the now very few surviving myrmidons

Carmen parks up at the workshop then leads the group to report in.

10:01 PM

(I think Cole would have met carmen maybe once before in passing while they were all still on Asleif, but thats up to you Neko)

(you've probably seen each other but idk about talked)

(I imagine it was more Cole was talking to the actual soldiers who became myrmidons that Carmen was friends with/mechanic for and maybe was told her name at most)

(Okay )

The group enters the temple (I'm not sure how you wanted to go about this since wew ere getting so specific)

"So do you think we should talk to Regent Cole, or go to Jeonia?"

I don't think it matters, so long as they get the information.

"Well, maybe I should check in with the reagent, I never was able to give her a debrief about my new powers, and it might be better to get all of that done while we're on the tail end of some successful missions. Brighten her thoughts a little if we can?"

Sounds good.

Carmen follows along

You spend a fre moments taking with the guards at the bottom of the stairs, before being taken up to regent coles office.

"So, you want to do the talking Bavi'd? Or should I?" Carmen asks as they follow the guards up.

you are welcome to, i'm not a big people person.

"Alright." Carmen says, somewhat nervously. (edited)

"You'll do fine."

Carmen smiles at Eli, still nervous, before walking into Cole's office.

Eli follows her into Cole's office.

Bavi'd stands at the back

Cole looks up from her datapad as you enter the room. “You’re back. Good. Let’s hear it then” she says curtly.

"Well, so, we have the side channel dug and the pump all setup, just need to get the pipes laid and a power source attached. We could maybe set up an outpost there once everything gets going. These two killed quite a number of the insect creatures the first night we were there, so having a small permanent presence would be a good idea to stop things messing with the machinery, but thats just a suggestion, not a demand or anything like that..." She kind of trails off, looking at Eli.

"Seems like a decent place for one, and with a good deal of the bugs dead it should be more safe for a construction team to get some walls and structures up. I was thinking depending on how Pearl did with relations maybe we could get some equipment from Haephestia, set up a lab, brewery and purification there close to the water. Get clean water and power on a larger scale?" (edited)

“We will habe to see how things go. I couldn’t possibly answer that right now. For now we will ensure there is a reservoir dug to the city and appropriate work put in at both ends.

12:33 PM

“You’ve all done well”

Carmen smiles for a second before getting a serious face. "Um, I don't suppose I could ask a favor? I came here from Asleif originally along with a squad of troops who became myrmidons, and, I just want to know if any of them made it."

12:43 PM

"I don't know if they are all still on lockdown or if I can go looking for them."

She looks through her datapad as you read off their names. A red KIA appears next to each of them and her face gets a bit more sad in time with yours as each search results comes back

5:07 PM

“Im Sorry Carmen. I really am. We have all lost people we care dearly about during that operation. Foolhardy as it was”

Carmen's face just evaporates of color as she sits down in one of the chairs, stunned, not quite completing a word to respond.

Eli softly touches her shoulder. "How are you feeling, would you like some water?" (edited)

Carmen looks up and gives him a small smile. "No, I just, I just had hope. When I'd heard some survived and we saw those few on the wall." She says, doing her best to not to cry in front of Cole.

6:35 PM

"I thought for certain they were okay."

“The tides of war are cruel” she says sadly, but does not commiserate any further

"Perhaps this would be a good time to show you my new abilities, lighten the tone a little. I think some of these will have useful applications in the field."

Carmen nods at him, recomposing herself a bit.

Bavi'd stands quietly, not unfamiliar to loss, he is aware words will never fill that hole.

(Everyone gets a re roll token)

(Time to part ways now?)

(Fine with me unless we want to rp eli magics)

(I'll leave that up to Neko, I don't know how much he wants me to re hash it, and I'm not sure if using my new powers to bug the higher ups or you guys and pearl would be a good idea or too meta. Also I'm not sure which people I've met would accept a random telepathic link coming in like a collect call.)

(We can split

9:00 AM

(No sense tying everyone up

Carmen waves bye to Eli and Bavi'd after leaving Cole's office before heading to the workshop to see the foreman.

Thanks for the backup Eli, you are a good man. Bavi'd heads out towards his workshop/home to rest.

Carmen heads to see the foreman at the shop, working hard on making many, many more pipes both for the remaining route back to the city, and the enormous network needed here to ensure water and waste disposal to all of the new homes

7:53 PM

you can already see that this is going to use up most of the metal coming into the city for some time, unless another deposit is found

She walks up to the foreman. "I'm going to look at the windmills, see if there is any way for me to fit some kind of battery bank in or something. I need some kind of project to work on, got some things I'd rather I kept my mind off right now."

“Jeonia completed the windmills a few weeks ago. They’re generating power but we could use more of them, or more power somehow. You could try looking into that”

"That's what I was planning on doing, figuring out how we can achieve higher powered uptime for the few working machines we still have. Have there been any new reports of salvage coming in since I left?" (edited)

“The scrappers are sown by the South Gate. I heard their rust buckets misfiring a little while ago when the forge was quiet. Probably still there.

"Alright, I'll go see what they have, maybe I can trade some repairs for battery parts or a backup engine or two." Or maybe a location with more scrap, she thinks. She heads over to the south gate to see what is there for sale.

5:44 PM

On the way there she can't help but think about her friends, laughing to herself as she remembers some of the terrible jokes they would tell, remembering how they were like the big siblings she never had. This place was horrible, but she was going to make it better. If for no other reason than to make their deaths by the order of that betrayer of a leader mean not in vain.

When she gets to the south gate she starts looking for generators or electrical components.

The scrapers are there with their two trucks and an assortment of random trash and nonsense laid out. They have random scraps of different vehicles and large metal sheeting pulled off more well built vehicles. They have some loose wires and a handful of components for engines of different sizes but nothing like a full generator

"Do you guys have anything special you might have found at all?"

3:55 AM

"Maybe something I could do a favor for you to see?"

“Anything special? That could mean a lot of things. What did you have in mind?” One of the scavengers asks. His skin is pale, eyes hidden below glare goggles. His skin is caked with greenish mud, the kind found in the first few soil layers in the garden

"Batteries, anything that can be made into batteries, intact electrical components. I'm trying to get the power to the workshop here running more consistently."

"You guys seem to be having some problems with your trucks, I could fix then for you in exchange for any of thise things, or maybe some information about a salvage site you haven't been able to get into yet or something like that."

“The trucks are fine, but we do have some batteries. We took them frok@some of the wrecks out there. Your leader really fucked us as far as salvage with that stunt he pulled out in the garden”

She looks at him deadpan. "His stupidity killed my best friends, but I'm so sorry for your lost scrap. What do you want for the batteries?"

(Bump)

"2500 credits for the battery bank then, and we'll call it a day" the scrappers says shrugging

(How many batteried are we talking here?)

(You said you wanted something to make more consistent power for the workshop. This is just something I made up to do that )

(Okay)

9:31 PM

"Alright, you've got a deal." She says, handing over the credits and taking the batteries back to the workshop to get them setup.

@Lethargick drives up as you return to your workshop, a rusty and somewhat pitted, but functional grav cycle under him

Carmen look what i fixed!

Carmen looks at him in shock, almost dropping the batteries before setting them down on a desk. "Where did you get that? It's awesome!!!"

A scrapper had a fair price on a simple fix, it isnt the best but now i've got a sick ride!

5:49 PM

Any chance you have the Where-with-all to get some fittings on this?

"You must've gotten there just before I did, or I would totally have bought this!"

5:52 PM

"But, yeah, I'll totally help you with this, just as soon as I get these batteries installed."

Alright, then, how about I leave it with you for now and after the batteries, if thats ok, you fix it up and bring it back?

"Why don't you want to fix it? I thought you would be all over this?"

5:55 PM

"I thought you'd want to do this together, it'd be fun." She says with a smile.

We could do it together, I just don't have the resources at my little scrap yard.

"I'm sure we could find something. There are a whole bunch of electrical components and stuff the scrappers still have for sale." She pauses for a second. "I'm not talking to those guys again today though, bunch of greedy snakes."

Bavid laughs

6:02 PM

I'll pay if it's not too ridiculous

"That wasn't meant to be a joke Bavi'd. To them all those people who died at the garden matter less than the scrap they could have profited off of."

6:03 PM

She sighs. "Anyway, what are you looking at for this thing."

I'm unsure exactly. some extra protection of some sort. Shields or guns i suppose.

"Like, energy shields?"

6:05 PM

She says, raising an eyebrow.

That would be great!

"Well, that isn't going to happen anytime soon, even the UNW didn't have that technology. I don't have any clue how to make that stuff here, I'd need like a lab or something."

Damned, getting my hopes up.

"And honestly, guns really don't make sense for this thing. I mean, you'd need a built in computer targeting system and some kind of gimballed mount for any machune guns if you wanted to track anything you arent pointing directly at. These things are built to look cool and go fast, not to fight."

6:13 PM

"I can try, but its going to be really hard, I'd have to take the whole thing apart and rebuild the internals from scratch, not that thats a bad idea."

What about a rotating turret mounted to the cack with a computer chip in it to target and track hostiles? even just stun bullets or tranguilizers would be good. I just don't want to get killed outside the gates.

"You'd have to write the code, I don't do that."

Hmm maybe if you are capable of helping me mount and prepare it I can find someone to help code it.

"Well, give me a few hours to install these batteries, you go look for parts and a coder."

Bavid nods

6:33 PM

Bavid goes to search for eli in Hope's he will know someone

Carmen gets back to the batteries, setting them up to draw on excess power and take over power delivery when the current gets too low. (edited)

The battery bank is installed, but a far as actually generating more power, work still needs to be done

She gets herself cleaned up and heads over to the recently called town meeting

After the town meeting, Carmen heads back to the workshop to start putting together the mechanical part of the turret for Bavi'd's bike.

(I think jeonia was doing that

(Shes doing the software for it)

(I just work here) You make the turret for the bike after a few hours worth of work. The process is fairly easy.

She sits down, surprised at how easy it turned out to be. She spends the time waiting for Bavi'd to starting a design for a new vehicle she wants to build later.

8:52 PM

(Shes totally not going to try and build a SWN version of the turbo tank from star wars, at some point down the line at least.)

(Not sure where to go from here since he’s doing something totally different at the moment)

(Thats what all that talking about exploring with the help of some imagery for new supplies was for. Everyone else is off doing stuff, so maybe having her go and explore a bit on her own wouldn't be terrible.)

Carmen gets a call from Bavi'd.

She hangs up and gets her things ready before meeting Bavi'd.

(Added some new goals)

(Will update tonigjt

(Do I get the goal for workshop power or do we need to do some more work to get all that stuff ready?)

(Also, I think I will hold off on the next foci a bit, cause I want to have a story reason to pick one of them. Right now none of them fit her skillset and it feels weird to just have her get better at hacking or whatever out of the blue)

1:09 PM

(Otherwise hp to 18 from 11, pilot 0 to 1, know -1 to 0, program -1 to 0)

Carmen spends the rest of the day reading a copy of coding for dummies she found lying around. Once night starts to fall, she starts thinking about some cool things she could make if she had a scrap bag like Bavi'd, and starts to assemble one.

(So this is borrowing that ashen one trait as your foci pick?)

(Yeah)

Carmen makes her way up to the bridge, finding the seat she occupied the day before. She sits down, hoping those books will help her be better about this than she was the previous day.

As Bavid begins disconnecting power lines down below, in preparation to connect them to city power, Carmen sees core temperatures begin to rise as the reactor charge begins rising. Several switches and lights begin to glow, belonging to various venting mechanisms (Program/int)

(9)

The venting begins at your command, and you see power levels beginning to stabilize

Carmen sighs, still not used to dealing with computers, and wishes she had paid more attention to the basic computer training class she had to attend during her initiation into the Elysium Initiative instead of toying with an RC car under her desk.

Suddenly, down below the energy levels spike into critical. The damage control station lights up with dozens of warnings and fire alerts

"SHIT! @@Lethargick WHAT HAPPENED?!? WE HAVE FIRES EVERYWHERE!" She frantically tries to activate the fire suppression system and see how the reactor is doing.

Apparently, I didn't realize ships were made out of metal, and the ground outside was made out of dirt. So i tried to ground the electricity into the ship causing a feedback loop blowing most if not all of the electronics.

1:43 AM

Bavi'd looks over his burns and sits, trying to cope with the electrocution.

"Well, hang on there, I'm going to try and fix these fires."

1:53 PM

(Would that be another program/int, or do I need to try and use fix to manually activate them because the system is fried?)

(It would be Fix, he’s destroyed everything down there)

(okay)

2:50 PM

(15)

The computer systems for fire control are u nresponsive and no one has heard from Jeonia since it happened. Carmen races to the damage control station and manually activates the first of the flame retardant dispensers she can find

"Why did I agree to this, I could've been building a new car or making some arrowheads, or SLEEPING, sleeping would've been nice." She mutters to herself while poking around in an exposed panel. She gets everything working but is unable to move before a foam dispenser goes off in her face. She spits out some from her mouth before continuing on, trying to get Jeonia on her compad in the meantime. (edited)

You see some of the firefighting systems have triggered and at least made the rest of the reactor deck a place you can navigate ahain. On camera you see Kayden enter the room and bavid down on the floor

(Do we need a vacc suit to enter the reactor chamber?)

(Probably now yeah, to do so comfortably)

(Okay)

5:06 PM

Carmen starts making her way to the reactor deck, keeping an eye out for a vacc suit anywhere nearby.

There is an emergency supplies box on the wall as you leave engineering and prepare to head down to the reactor. A vac suit isn’t among the contents but you do find an atmofilter that is still in the original packaging

She sighs and grabs the clean atmofilter, putting it on, before continuing on to the chamber next to the reactor, on the lookout for any more fire suppression switches that need to be activated or other emergency measures.

She messages Bavi'd about her plans

(Would her dataslab detect radiation at all?)

(No it wouldn’t )

Carmen looks at the other two as the leave the reactor control room, then goes peeking into the reactor chamber area itself to see if things look alright. She thinks to herself that this is a really stupid idea, but better than the reactor melting down without anyone knowing. (edited)

There are still a handful of deck fires raging, fed by scrap and chemical spills on the floor. You also still haven’t been able to locate Jeonia

Carmen heads inside and looks for another fire suppression switch.

(Notice wis

(7, reroll was lower)

You find the switch and through a break in the smoke, you see Jeonia , face down on the metal decking

2

Carmen flips the switch, then runs over to Jeonia and lifts her up to take her out of the reactor chamber (edited)

Rolling her over you can see that her front has been badly burned. She is breathing but it is shallow. Moving her may kill her

"Shit shit SHIT!" Carmen calls Bavi'd

(We can do a heal/int at -1 if you want. She does need to be stabilized but she’s been left for a bit)

(Welp, Carmen has 0 knowledge of medicine besides using band-aids, so this will be interesting.)

5:17 PM

Carmen sets her compad on speaker mode and tries to stabilize Jeonia as gently as possible, putting the new atmofilter on Jeonia while grabbing her older one.

5:17 PM

(8)

5:18 PM

(Dice gods were kind to me there, ended as a straight 2d6 roll)

Whatever you do during your untrained and out of synch chest compressions, you feel something snap in her chest and she begins breathing again

Carmen breathes a big sigh of relief before turning back to her dataslab, screaming. "DAMNIT BAVI'D! ANSWER THE FUCKING CALL!" (edited)

5:24 PM

(I assume she is still not in a state to be moved?)

5:26 PM

(Also could I use my foci to fashion a lift syringe, somehow? It's exactly 50 credits, but its also medicine)

5:27 PM

(nvm, carmen wouldnt know how to use it anyway)

(Yeah you’ve got to have heal 1 I think. And she’s stable so you can move her now but alone and without an easy way to carry her it will take time)

(Okay, I'll wait a bit for those two to catch up, you want to do the call mesaage or should I when they do get caught up?) (edited)

(Lets give it a few hours and you can add a tag after that

(Works for me)

While she is on the phone, Carmen looks around to check if the fire suppression is working and for something to carry Jeonia on.

(Could Carmen just pick her up?)

(Yeah we can do that. You’ve stabilized her but you’ll be heavily encumbered as you try to carry her away)

Carmen decides not to waste time looking and picks up Jeonia, slowly moving out of the reactor chamber.

2:35 PM

She looks for some kind of radio on Jeonia's person to call in a medical lifter to take her to the orbital station.

Jeonias equipment has fried in the explosion and blast wave after it. Pieces of the reactor chamber ceiling begin to fall (exert/dex at -2)

(1)

3:34 PM

(This is gonna hurt)

(20 damage) a large piece of ceiling panel comes down , kicking the back of the deck plate Youre on upwards (like it hit the back of a see saw). You and Jeonia are both catapulted through the air , tumbling end over end and landing 20m away in the next room, close to the exit

(Unconcious)

3:37 PM

(She has 18 hp max, was at full hp at least)

3:37 PM

(Before that)

(We need to see how the other side of the mission goes , you’ve taken damage , so you’re bleeding out , it wasn’t non lethal)

3:38 PM

(They’ve got some time to find you)

(Okay)

(Is there a medical place in town or is it just on the station? If there is one in Mytikas, Carmen will head there, otherwise she will head to her bunk at the workshop and go to sleep for like 18 hours) (edited)

(There’s a field station but it’s just basic first aid )

Carmen heads to the field station, gets her head wound cleaned properly, then heads to her bunk, sleeping well past her usual 8 hours. The next day she heads back to Cole's office to speak with her.

Cole is waiting behind her desk when you arrive, now in as close to civilian clothes as she owns. She sets down an electric pen and slate and looks up. “Carmen. Have a seat please. No need to be nervous.”

Carmen walks up and has a seat, trying her best not to be nervous at all. "Sorry, I'm just not used to being in an office like this unless something wrong happened."

“Something wrong did happen , but in those moments of something wrong you did as much as you could do right. I’m not going to repeat myself at length from yesterday I trust you ears were working fine during our meeting. What I do need now is someone to fill Jeonia’s rather large shoes”

2:18 PM

“Her passing is sad and the city will have its day of mourning, but projects around the city will need to continue , and on that end I have a few pieces of good news”

Carmen puts aside her surprise at actually being given Jeonia's job, focusing on the task at hand for the moment. "Does this have to do with all those landers flying around yesterday?"

“It does.Eli and Andra had success in the north and discovered some kind of storage bunker in the mountains.

6:01 AM

“We have construction vehicles now. Some food. Medicine. Building materials. It’s not going to replace setting up our own collection camps but it’s a nice boost

"Ok, so, I'm being put in charge of all these people and pieces of equipment." She exhales sharply, scratching the back of her head. "Right, well, this will be a new experience. I've never been put in charge of people like this. I don't want to seem ungrateful, but I build things, I've never been good at dealing with people or authority figures, this just seems like combining the two. I don't want to let you down by not being good at the job." (edited)

“You’re still going to build things. You know how to build things, and now you can ask people to assist you. All you’re doing is keeping things organized. You just have a lot more help now”

"Okay." Carmen says, trying not to think about all the ways she can fuck this up, taking a breath "Thank you for this, I think, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I never expected to be in this position a few months ago. Working a bit higher up in the workshop maybe, but not working for the person I look up to the most." Carmen rambles on, realizing what she said just afterwards and looking a bit embarrassed because of it. "I'd, uh, better get to work, where do you want me to start?"

“We will have power soon, a team is working on that. We have water already. Truly what we need is for the core city defensive ring to be finished. I’m scrapping the four circles plan cyrus had. Walls that expansive are going to contain our growth, these core walls will provide a safe fallback for the civilians if we ever do have foes marching on us

"I've actually already had some ideas just walking around the city for walls and things. Do you want them just rebuilt or can I put in some futureproofing, like places to mount weapons, barracks, all that kind of stuff built into them? I know we are low on resources, but if we are only building one set of walls we might as well do it right."

“Future proof. I agree with you. Measure twice cut once. Already feel better about you being in the lead of some of this”

Carmen smiles a bit, making some notes on a quick sketch. "Great, I'll get started on that." Carmen starts to get up "Before I go, whats going to happen with Bavi'd?"

"He's been offered a choice. I won't do him the disservice of divulging what fates he can select from before he makes that decision. If he dies, it will be because he chose it"

Carmen's smile evaporates and she stammers for a bit. "I, um, I mean.." She sighs "I'm going to go get to work. Maybe this place will eventually be worth all the friends I keep losing. Thanks for the promotion Regent, I'll give you a report when we start construction."

6:36 PM

She heads out the door and makes her way to the city gates, trying not to think about Bavi'd. (edited)

She says nothing in reply to your statement, and simply gets back to work, listening for the door to her office to close

Carmen starts surveying the wall remnants, seeing what can be salvaged and what needs to be completely replaced.

(Notice wis)

(9, used reroll)

6:07 PM

(Also does she get the xp for her goal to power the workshop?)

(Yes, whatever it was for its value on the sheet)

(Okay, cools, 3xp away from level 6 now)

(Could the survey scanner be used for survey measurements or anything like that?)

(That’s exactly what it’s used for)

(Okay, forgot she had one)

You notice several defects in the walls and a few areas where faults in the ground below will tumble anything that’s built here. Entire sections of the fortifications will need to be redrawn and probably re voted on by the General town meeting. A whole new city plan will need to be drawn with everyone , of that you can tell

5:57 PM

(Unless you guys like the four ring city. I don’t want you guys to get stuck with Cyrus idea unless you want it too)

Carmen takes her measurements, has her dataslab start making a 3d map of the walls, before she heads to meet the construction team.

(I'm assuming there are parts of the existing wall that will need to be torn down regardless right?)

(yes)

(Okay, cools)

The construction team is over 200 strong now, with heavy vehicles supporting their efforts thanks to exploration work up north. Many of them still have plastic over some of the gauges and dials, rolling right from the storage bunker, onto a transport, and back off directly at the construction site. Several pairs of eyes are upon you, as they await what you have to say

Carmen starts to freak out a bit internally, looking for the person in charge for a bit before realizing that, yes, it really is her in charge of all these people. She clears her throat a bit first. "Right, so, my name is Carmen, I'm the new boss I suppose. It's my job to make sure the city defenses are completed sooner rather than later. The regent and I both are of the mindset that constructing multiple walls is going to be a waste of time a resources, so we are going to focus on the main wall instead. Once we have a final design and layout ready everyone will know, but for now we are going to focus on removing the portions of the existing wall that are going to fall apart anyway. Anyone have any questions?"

“What should we do with what we remove? Some of the wall remains and ruins could make good cement for future use”

"I figured it would be good for something. Keep what we can use, once we have water coming in regularly we can make it into cement. The new construction is going to be more elaborate than anything that exists right now, with barracks included and places for us to station heavy weapons, maybe even some turrets. We don't have those right now, but with the workshop powerplant upgraaAAAOOW." Carmen says this as her dataslab starts overheating in her pocket, causing her to take it out and drop it on the ground, sparks flying out of it in places. "Ow, damnit. I guess that thing didn't take being thrown across the room better than me." (edited)

The workmen take what you’re saying into account and you hear some of them break away to begin getting some kind of concrete mixing operation set up. “We have loggers heading out tomorrow as well” one of the foremen says. “The lack of raw materials is hampering our efforts more than anything else”

"Okay. Do you know who is leading that expedition?"

10:31 PM

"I might come along, just for an extra hand, and maybe for the extra vehicle in case some creatures show up."

“New arrival. Goes by Kayden. He’s taking them out tomorrow morning.”

"I've met him. He saved my life when I failed to rescue Jeonia. I'll go talk to him and see if he wants some help. The faster we can get the wood the faster we can at the very least get some molds done for once the wall plans get the okay at the town hall." She turns down to her sparking datapad, now trying to play some very obnoxious rap music, much to Carmen's confusion. She sighs, picks it back up and turns it off. "If you need me, send a runner over to the workshop, I'll most likely be there fixing this damn thing."

(We can tag him when you’ve got a message for him. I know he’s looking at getting some gear together)

(Yeah, ill figure something out in a bit)

Carmen heads back to the workshop and spends a few hours working on her dataslab, mending a crack in the metal casing, repairing some broken wires, and fixing the heatsink. Once she gets done she sends a message to @GIlouth "Hey, I heard you were leading a forestry expedition tomorrow. If you need an extra hand I can get my truck ready to go and head out with you. Never hurts to have an extra gun out there."

(I'd get some meds, but carmen still is at a -1 in heal)

Walking back in his new place and setting up his compad, he sees the message from Carmen. A truck did seem nice to have, all things considered, as well as someone who knew what they were doing. He quickly types out a reply, deleting and editing it repeatedly. He always was terrible at talking to people. Ironically enough, his mercenary act helped with that somewhat. "I'd be glad to have you along. We're leaving from the town square around mid-day tomorrow. Meet us there if you want to tag along. You need anything to help you get underway just let me know."

Carmen gets the message, along with more bad rap music that she can't figure out where it came from or why it's playing as her ringtone. "I don't think there is anything else. The truck has an HMG turret on the roof along with a few beds to sleep in in case we are out there for a few days. I'll see you tomorrow."

7:34 PM

(Does the workshop count as TL4 here?)

(it counts as one now since power and water are going yes)

(Does that mean the TL4 bow would be available for purchase then?)

(yes, but we need to talk about arrows before we start whipping out custom ones)

(Okay, im fine with leaving those alone for now)

7:40 PM

(And just using the bow with normal book mods)

7:41 PM

(She's going to head out and pick up a few things along with trying to make some modifications to her bow and armor before they meet the next day. Buying and storing in truck: Lazarus Patch x3 90 credits Grenade x6 150 credits Buying for herself: Conversion Bow: 500 credits Binoculars, pref tl4 200 credits Bow Mods (Total of +2 to hit and damage rolls): Autotargeting: 4000 credits Boosted: 2000 credits Customized: 1000 credits Armor Mods (Total of +1 AC): Customized: 1000 credits)

7:41 PM

(Or at least set aside parts for modding, since 4 mods in one night is a bit extreme)

(you need pretech salvage for mods of which you have none)

(None of these mods do, they require at most fix-2)

7:43 PM

(But if you say they do, thats fine with me)

(youre good, none of these do)

(Okay. I'll set aside the money for them and have her start them later, since the book says its a week for each mod)

(it takes a week of work to build and install a mod though)

7:45 PM

(so you wont be rolling out with Kayden if you want to put them on now)

(No, I'll mark down this stuff in my notes and deal with that later, I just wanted to clear it with you now while I was looking at the book)

7:46 PM

(But everything else is available?)

(2 grenades. The're being rationed)

7:53 PM

(otherwise yes)

(Alright)

7:54 PM

Carmen grabs her supplies as well as the things she will need to modify her equipment later, then heads to bed for the night, meeting Kayden in her half-track the next morning.

(His thread?)

(yeah)

Howdy Carmen, hope you're doing okay on your mission with Kayden.  Good luck with the construction.  I was sorry to hear about Jeonia, but I'm glad, you're alight.  Don't worry too much about me, neither of us can die before our big fight anyway right?  I'll try to snag you some candy, hope butterscotch is okay, and maybe one of those laser bows?  Anyway good luck and stay safe.  -Eli

(Level up to 6. Hp 18->19, Shoot -1->0, Program 0->1, one skillpoint banked) (edited)

(Not sure what you wanna pick up with but I’m good whenever )

(Ill figure it out after dinner)

After getting herself checked out, Carmen heads over to check out what's left of the temple and meet the new regent. (edited)

The temple is essentially leveled. So little of it is left that a repair would already look like a rebuild. The actual remaining structure has not been pulled down or moved yet. The Regent is being kept in the local garrison for the inner city district and there are dozens of troopers just on the street. Your fairly new credentials as chief engineer keep all but the actual gate guards from asking questions

Carmen presents her credentials to the gate guards. "I would like to speak to the regent. I want to discuss temple reconstruction and a few other things."

They scan your pass and you’re permitted entry. The regent elect is sitting at the back of the room, reading some reports and trying to get a handle on the haphazard filing system his previous holder of the position used

"Uh, hi there. I'm Carmen, I just got back from the woods camp." She says, limping a bit from the arrow wound. "I figured we had a lot to talk about."

He says nothing but gestures for you to sit. “Speak. Please”

She sits down, still wincing a bit. "First off, I wanted to know your opinion on how we should be rebuilding the temple. I figured that since we have to start from scratch we might as well make the most of it and treat it less like a temple and more like a proper seat of government. Offices, meeting chambers, massive bunker in the basement that can tank a spaceship falling onto it, that sort of thing."

“I always felt like the temple was us refusing to adapt to the planet in our own way, or trying to be something we weren’t. This is a good chance to wash the past away”

She smiles. "Right, well, the next question is whether we finish the wall first or start on that. I know others would discuss how the wall is useless, but we do need some kind of heavy weapons platforms on the surface, assuming we can find any weapons to put up. Either that or have all incoming ships dock at the station and shoot at anyone who tries to bypass it."

8:32 PM

"I know im just a blockmonkey, but it's my job to schedule all this and allocate what resources we have. If the wall and its defenses aren't top priority, I want to make sure someone else picks up the slack."

“Why do we have to pick. We should do both of those things”

"We can do both, it will just take more time to finish them both. I didn't know if you wanted us to focus on one first then do the other."

“We should work both. They’re both important and useless without the other”

She nods. "Okay. There was something else I had been meaning to bring up before to Cole, but I never got around to it. I want to get some kind of proper exploration vehicle built. Something we can use to explore the garden and maybe as a prototype for transporting soldiers or supplies through the hostile wildlife safely. I think it will likely take a large amount of resources to finish, but I wanted permission to try and start tinkering with it for now anyway. I have some partial blueprints drawn up, and maybe I can use some of the bits from the wrecked ship to build it."

Carmen gets the message from Eli, shooting off a quick response while the new Regent thinks.

“You can try to salvage whatever was pulled out of the temple ruins. I’m not sure what is useable”

"Alright. I'll go ahead and draw up some plans. Thanks for your time." She says, getting up and heading out to meet Eli.

After meeting Eli, Carmen heads over to the wall to check and see how it is progressing, with as much skip in her step as a person recovering from an arrow wound in one of them can have. After checking she heads back over for the meeting. (edited)

(Actually, as an aside, would she have a few weeks before their ship gets back to do some mod work?)

(A few weeks? We didn’t skip that much time for you. You were at the logging camp for a good amount of the time they were gone)

5:43 AM

(They left for the armored car robbery world whe. You and Kayden left. Id say maybe a week)

(Thats enough for one mod at least)

(I think we can settle on that then)

(Customized her armor then)

(How was the wall progressing?)

(The production center finished this morning and you drove back to town for the council, so it will begin as the month goes on)

11:09 AM

(Even pouring cement you need wood moulds)

(Okay. I imagine most of the equipment and workers were taken to start excavating the temple to check for survivors and whatnot too.)

(There are a number of good explanations for it. With the absence of anything else to do right now for them, that’s a safe bet)

Carmen sends a message to Andra as she is walking then heads to the engineering office to try and set up a work schedule for the next few weeks.

When she sees the message from Andra, she heads over to the temple ruins quickly first.

Carmen eventually arrives at the engineering office and calls all the foremen into a meeting room or office to talk over the schedule.

(I don’t really know what’s going on with all the skipping around without me. What are you trying to get from them)

(Sorry, keeping hopping around for rp stuff. Shes trying to set up equipment use to be as efficient as she can while she isnt here so there wont be arguements between the foremen)

(There haven’t been any now)

(I know, shes trying to make sure there is a set schedule so there won't be anything that requires her input)

The foremen gather for the meeting, waiting to hear what you have to say

"Alright everyone. The regent wants us to spread our focus between rebuilsing the temple into a more suitable government building and the wall construction. I'm going to be heading out of town to explore the garden, see if I can find us more stuff to work with, and I want to make sure you all are able to stagger your equipment use so there aren't any arguments." She pauses for a second to upload some basic blueprints for the new government building. "These blueprints are subject to change, but since they call for underground construction I want some exploration done under the city to ensure it will support this kind of construction. Does anyone have any input at this time?"

None of them have anything to offer right now but will radio with anything that needs your attention if it comes up

"Alright. My partner assures me we will still be reachable, but in case I am not, priority goes towards wall construction. If nobody has any problems, I'll see you in a week or two."

They have none and get back to work

She bids them good day before heading back to the food truck to start working on the radio. On the way she messages the regent of their intent to explore the garden.

(Idk if you two wanna do this here or in his thread. Wherever we go I’m game to start)

(I assume the radio is an easy fix for Carmen then, and ill go to his)

(Level up to 7. HP 19->30, Took Gunslinger 1 for foci bringing shoot to 1, Fix 2->3, Heal -1->0)

Carmen walks from their new house with a skip in her step over to the temple area to see how construction is going, checking in on the wall afterwards.

Everything is going according to plan.

She smiles to herself, happy that everything is going well, before walking back over to the workshop to grab her things, taking a more sequitious route than usual. (Hailey and I talked and we were both fine with Carmen and her just running into each other at some point.)

At the market stall, a woman with colored hair finishes putting an auto-chess set into her bag, looking around furtively @Hailey Clements (Mylonite)

9:47 AM

(there haha)

(Working 11 to 7)

As she wanders around Carmen sees her grab a little wind up you from another one of the vendors, and pick out some spare parts with a trained eye. She’ll occasionally fight with a pair of red blades on her back, adjusting the straps.

Carmen cocks her head a bit, before realizing who it is and walking up to her. "Uh, excuse me, but are you Hailey Clements?" She asks timidly

She turns her head and raises her eyebrows. “Hey look at that I can come to a completely new planet and still get recognized. Trick is what I’m being recognized for.” (edited)

Carmen's demeanor turns from shy to massively excitement she is trying her best to hide and failing miserably at it. "Oh, I, um, I know you from your TV and stuff but mostly from your awesome mechanical stuff, I read about all the stuff you built in the news and really wanted to meet you because you are a super awesome engineer and you build really cool stuff and yeah!" She pauses and takes a breath to calm herself before sticking her hand out. "I'm Carmen, I'm the chief engineer here."

Her eyes light up as she’s recognized for something she likes being recognized for. “Really?! Not bad for a kid. Oh, I can tell we’re going to be friends. Let me buy you a drink. Cmon Peter.” As small robot spider scurries out from the crowd, Carmen can hear one of the vendors shout “Hey!!!” along with something falling. Hailey begins walking towards the bar, assuming Carmen will follow.

Carmen follows. "Heading to the bar? My, I guess boyfriend at this point, owns it."

Carmen looks behind them to see the robot following Hailey. "WOW! THAT'S SO COOL!!!" She says, stopping in her tracks to look at Peter, going over his construction, commenting on a whole bunch of techno-babble for a solid two minutes without pause like a small child opening a new lego set on Christmas. "-and those legs are super great, how did you get that much...oh, sorry, I really should ask before, uh, yeah. I can't wait to build something like him, he is super awesome!" (edited)

"You're boyfriend runs the tavern? That's cool. A bit cooler than a politician hahah." As Peter catches Carmen's eye, Hailey turns back. "Huh? OH! Yeah this is Peter! Built him myself, well mostly." Hailey follows her techno-bable perfectly. "Yeah he's got an autoadapting malprogramer, a gecko grips, some piloting processors, super complex blackblox learning, and eight eyes for full area scanning and locational structuring! I'll help you if you like. This little guy could use for an upgrade too anyhoo." Peter leans away as he's inspected, like someone trying to dodge a friend who gets just a bit to close.

"Yeah, we, well, don't really have any of that stuff here, or the ability to make any of it. I've been wanting to build this exploration craft slash tank, thing, for a while now, even have some plans built up. We just don't have the tech at all here." Carmen notices how Peter is leaning away. "Oh, sorry little guy, I didn't mean to get that hands-on, hope that wasn't too uncomfortable for you." She says to him before standing back up. "But, yeah, he owns the tavern. Runs is a strong word since I don't think he actually knows what he is doing so much. He's a bit of a goofy buffoon sometimes but that just makes him all the more endearing, you know? He's also cute, which helps."

“Eh, don’t mind him. Peter quit being a grouch. You should feel flattered.” Hailey turns back to Carmen. “Oh, that’s right. It’s like the Stone Age here. Well as much as I’d like to dump in outside tech for you, that probably wouldn’t be a good idea.” She orders a pair of drinks and hands one to Carmen before taking a sip of her own.

"Well, I mean, It's not like we don't have outside tech, we just can't make it ourselves. I guess the stuff I'm talking about is like microfusion powerplants and stuff like that. Everything else is easy."

“Gotcha. Well, if I ever need an extra pair of hands with tech stuff, besides what Pete here and my drones can offer, I’ll grab you. You seem to know your stuff.”

Carmen gets a big smile "That means a lot coming from you. Hopefully someday I'll get this thing built. I'd send you the designs for it, but some projects you have to do yourself otherwise it doesn't feel right, you know? Maybe I'll get some inspiration from those Draconis guys, they use big stompy mechs right?" (edited)

“Oh, I get that, trust me. Yeah they do. Fought alongside one of em recently. In fact I think he’s here on planet matter of fact. But yeah, they use a variety, including heavies. I prefer something more a tad more low key, not that it can’t— Well why don’t I just show you. I’ve got a mech in my ship at the docks.”

Carmen's eyes go wider than would seem humanly possible, her jumping up from the seat she was sitting on. "REALLY?! SWEET!" She shouts, clapping her hands together and doing small hops of joy for a second before composing herself slightly, though still very excited. (edited)

“Keep it together until you see the thing kid. You’re gonna love it. I do,” Hailey says excitedly at the chance to show off her favorite toy.

1:17 AM

“Lead the way to the docks,” she adds, not wanting to admit she’s already forgotten how to get there.

Carmen excitedly leads her to the docks, calling to reserve a spot on a lifter as soon as they leave the bar.

As they approach Hailey’s ship, she presents it in a grand manner, waving her arms. “There it is! The Shadow’s Bounty!!!” Carmen sees a beautiful, well crafted, eye catching ship, clearly designed by an expert.

Carmen looks at it with excitement. "Woooooow. I've never seen a ship as nice as this one. How did they get the metal so sleek? You can't even see the joints."

A moment later, the ship takes off, revealing a jury rigged hunk of junk that was behind it, with “Shadow’s Bounty” spray painted on the side and “not the Fate” in smaller text below it. She looks at it happily before clearing her throat. “Yep....It’s beauties lies deep, deep within, but she’s essentially undetectable.”

(Assuming this is in a hangar right?)

(Might as well be)

Carmen walks up to it, trying to find out where the active holographic emitters are and how they tie together, then moving on to some of the jury-rigging, trying to figure out how one of the landing struts is still functional despite not actually being connected properly. She continues on like this for a good 5 minutes before remembering Hailey still had more to show her. "Sorry, I got a bit carried away there looking at all this stuff. I'm really impressed with how this thing is still functional given all the modifications that should have fallen off numerous times in spike drive."

(You’ve got the perfect idea.) “Yeah, I guess I should’ve let Billy be in charge. But, like you said, some things are just more satisfying when you do them yourself. But like I said, this baby’s more or less a ghost!” Hailey slaps the hull, and a random part sticking out falls off. She quickly grabs it an stuffs it in her pocket. “That wasn’t important anyways.”

Carmen can't help but chuckle at that.

“Come on though, let’s head in.” Hailey triggers the hatch and the ship opens up, letting the two inside. The inside is far more polished, but still rather chaotic, with a table covered in board games and a random mish-mash of half dead plants. Hailey sets down the auto-chess set on a coffee table and tosses the wind up dragon onto her bed in her quarters.

2:04 AM

“Welcome aboard”

Carmen just looks around. "This is way different than I imagined it would be. The last ship I was on was when we were on our way to Cruesa though..." She says with a bit of a pause afterwards, her excitement fading as an old memory comes back to the front of her mind, assembling an assault suit blindfolded as a bet for one of her long-dead myrmidon friends.

“Well at least Crusea’s a lot better off now, with Rob– Oh, right. I mean, yea...” She takes a swig of a half empties drink of the counter and shakes her head aggressively. She snaps and lets sparks fly, saying “I was going to show you the Dragonfly, my mech.”

"Yeah, all those people are dead now thanks to a massive egotistical jackass." She says, wiping a few tears. "Let's go do that."

“Oh. Him.” Hailey comments.

"Yeah, him."

“I’m not to good with the words, but for what it’s worth, I could totally kick his ass if I wanted. He wasn’t that great. I know a lot of people who could and would.”

Carmen shrugs. "Rather not talk about it anymore, but I appreciate the sentiment. I could complain about him for a long time but it wouldn't do me any good in the long run."

“I find shopping your problems away or shooting things to be much more effective than complaining,” she jokes. (edited)

Carmen chuckles. "I'll have to try shooting some more, it used to terrify me. That seems to have changed a bit though, maybe it was blowing away the trollboar my boyfriend tried to tame by walking up to it and getting trampled."

Hailey busts out laughing, “wait, a trollboar?!? I like this ‘boyfriend’ dude, hahaha!” She smacks Carmen on the back, “cmon, let’s go.” Leading to the back of the ship, she heads towards the hatch into the ship’s cargo bay, which doubles as the Dragonfly’s nest.

(Caught up,)

Carmen follows her, eyes going wide when she see's Hailey's mechs, before settling on her newest one. "Wooooow."She says, voice trailing off at the end.

On cork boards around the room, Carmen sees blueprints of mech fittings and mechs, all pinned one on top of the other with the most recent on top, the Mk.10 Dragonfly. The same mech hovers gently in the center of the room, circular wings folded down behind it and glowing softly with a white energy. Every once in a while, hexagons seems to ripple across its surface.

2:43 PM

“I give you, my baby, the Dragonfly mech.”

Carmen just stares at it as it circles in front of her, mouth agape, struck by the conbination of technology and art on display. "I have to make myself something like this." She says, thinking out loud.

“It’s the best thing of its scale. More pretech than posttech. It’s by no means perfect, but all my tech is always a work in progress.”

"Where did you get all the parts for this? It's like the kinds of stuff my uncle told me stories about..." Carmen says without taking her eyes off it. (edited)

“Huh. ‘Stuff of legend’? I like how that sounds. I’ve been saving up pretech parts for months. This is the best it’s been for a long time and probably will be for a while.” Hailey smiles at the praise.

Carmen finally manages to pry her eyes away from it, walking back up to Hailey. "So, what brought you here to Heras, because I know it wasn't for our amazing leadership or salvage opportunities."

"Honestly, personal interest. A baby polity, a breakaway from the UNW, homeworld of the gods, chaos, it just sounded like a fun trip to me, and frankly I need a fun trip. Plus, it seems to promise adventure. I like that."

"Adventure is always fun, and chaos this planet has in boatloads. Find anything in particular so far?"

“Not really. Didn’t get here too long ago. But I plan to be here a bit longer. What’s been going on around here? I get the news, but anything they don’t really cover?”

"Um, nothing important I can really think of too be honest. Pretty much everything that happens here has been on the news, well, everything we are allowed to talk about anyway."

10:18 AM

"We just got back from scouting for a railroad, if that sounds important. We found a nice iron deposit but some asshole noble from another city drove out with some goons and claimed it."

"That sounds annoying. Whenever goons are trouble tends to follow. Or, maybe its the other way around." Hailey raises her eyebrows. "And what about things your not allowed to talk about?"

"Well, um, just stuff, like classified secrets and things that could really mess up our position here if they got out. Not that I don't trust you, I just don't want to break that rule at all and open the door for it to happen again."

Hailey smirks and shrugs. "Fair enough. I get it. Was going to offer to help, not spout secrets, but I don't want to ruin your groove here. EP has its own things going on and I guess it is better I leave you to it."

"I mean, the only real thing is buried underneath another one of the cities, and even we don't know what to do about it."

12:09 AM

"I know there are for sure some things that need to be looked into if you wanted something more to do than just walk around looking at lots of ruined patch-work repaired buildings. Those people making the green drink is one of them, my boyfriend wants to just supplant them with something new but that stuff is dangerous, I'm sure of it."

Hailey stores the idea of something buried under another city away in her head for later. “Oh yeah. I was having one of Pete’s drones follow a couple of those goons with it. Let’s do it, let’s go take them down. Steal their supply away!” Hailey gets excited at the idea of the op. (If you’re busy and don’t want to no pressure. If nothing else I can go drag Eli into it. I did want to meet him too)

(Either one works. We can pick up that thread with whoever’s gojng.

10:37 AM

I just don’t want to leave anyone out)

(Sounds cool I just didn't want to ditch my new nekopc bartender/manager, but im hanging out there you know out of time bars make my head hurt lol.)

"Yeah, let's go!"

Ooh a mystery guest? Alright I'll meet you there should I bring the truck? (edited)