Iron Stars - drang

Drang Saigarn awakens on Saliv, in the city of Dremlas to the insistent beep of the wall holoscreen. It announces that a message is waiting for you and you can see by the icon next to it that it is an official notice from the Government. You put your application for service in weeks ago and have heard nothing since, until today. outside you can hear the neighbors across the street fighting again, and the faint smell of cigar smoke from the balcony upstairs wafts down. The apartment is hot, and perhaps a change of scenery might be a good thing. The message beeps again, waiting to be opened.

5

3

The diminutive Ashen One rises slowly with a grunted curse, directed towards his neighbors. Taking the time to equip his AR goggles, defunct as they are away from Tsatsos, and his worn traveling robes. The sight of a response to his application fills him with mixed excitement and worry; This planet is strange and dangerous, but his abilities are of great use here. What reward ever came without risk? Drang reads through the message.

The message is simple, and the few lines of text read as follows, translated into Ashen One for your convenience.

Good morning Mr. Saigarn. 

Your application for the Inheritor Alliance Exploration Corps has been APPROVED! We are excited to offer you this very good news. You have been given an assignment. Report to Southern Dremlas Landing fields TONIGHT! for transport to Saliv's ocean moon. We are supporting colony building efforts there. 

A survey aircraft crew have found what they believe might be ruins in the jungles of the landmass on the moon and a team is being assembled to trek there and document what is found. A significant performance bonus will be paid out upon mission completion

Relief is quickly followed by a flood of ideas and questions. Off world already? I guess I shouldn't complain about getting out of this apartment. Oh, I hope I won't have to swim much... Drang begins prepping immediately, gathering the materials he brought a scavenged already and disassembling the small scrap humanoid he toyed with over the week prior. He packs his laser pistol and it's holster in his robes and his underarmor similarly, hoping they won't come into use. It wasn't until midday did he feel the pang of hunger rising through his emotions and he took the time to eat and center himself. By that afternoon, Drang has stripped his apartment of his scarce belongings and begins looking for south-bound transportation to the landing fields.

There is a tram service that you're able to hop and after all the stops it takes about two hours to get to the southern landing fields. You can see the shuttle service there, loading supplies and personnel also heading toward the moon. The air is clear and tonight's takeoff is going to be safe from bad weather.

Drang looks for any personnel which might belong to the Exploration Corps to receive further direction and loading his things, taking care that they're properly bundled and secured.

There are two figures at the base of the ramp who look fairly official and like they know what’s going on. One has a data pad that they’re marking things off of as the corresponding crates are loaded onto the ship

Drang approaches them with a wave, "My name is Drang Saigarn. I'm with the Alliance Exploration Corps, newly, and was directed here. Is everything situated for launch?"

“Everything but you it seems. Happy to have you. The moon colony is a very exciting place , and if those ruins are what the scout aircraft thinks they are, our whole idea of the Saliv system is going to change. You’re going to see things no one else has ever seen up there. You’re very lucky “

"Is that so? Lets hope we're just as fortunate on the moon." Drang gestures skywards, "This system is full of surprises, isn't it?" Regardless, I'm ready to proceed once I finish with my belongings."

"Please, leave anything you can't carry here and porters will bring it aboard. Get settled and we will be off before you know it"

Drang thanks the officer and takes his leave, boarding the shuttle with this belongings.

(The moon map is on the right side of the World Anvil entry for Saliv, and I can post it here if you want)

11:42 AM

The journey to the moon is six hours, and you can feel the shuttle's engines begin to power up as a rumble begins spreading under your feet. The ramp is raised and everyone else finishes climbing into their seats and strapping in as the plane like vehicle taxis, sailign down the runway and picking up speed before circling, and taking off into the air, gently gaining altitude until the blue of the local sky is replaced with the black of the upper atmosphere.

(I see it, it's all good) Drang settles in, keeping to himself as the shuttle as it rockets into the void. He takes any opportunity to admire the stars and Saliv proper, shrinking behind him.

The Mosk colony on this ocean moon is in poor but growing condition. Right now things are done because they need to be done, not because they are the way they will stay. Verity "Sparks" is thanked for completing work on one of the power plants here and it is probably one of the nicest and most efficient structures here. Setting down on the hard pack that represents the airport for now, you are met by a few people equipped for a long journey traveling out into the bush. A few survival supplies have been laid out for you too, it seems, along with a Slingshot scout vehicle, meant to get you and some light gear out to the ruins without needing too many supplies to keep running. The shuttle sets down, ramp lowering, as dawn begins rising here on the moon.

(Is there anything of note in the survival supplies?)

(The survival kit is what it is in the book, but it comes with the rough guide of what we know about the moon so far, so we can skip some survive checks we otherwise would have to be making)

2

(Am I heading out independantly or are there others heading to the ruins now as well?)

(I was going to set that up once we got off the shuttle and whatnot)

3:45 PM

(and you got your gear, but no I was going to have the others introduce themselves) (edited)

(Ah, gotcha. I was just wondering how far I should proceed.) Drang gathers his things as he exits the shuttle and begins to pack onto the scouting vehicle. It isn't long before he gets lost poking through the internals and geting to know Saliv engineering standards, sinking back into a comfort place. His thoughts slip back to the here and now, This is certainly nothing like Tsatsos, so much could be hiding in the arbor. At least the colony is civilized... Or I hope it is anyways.

“Hello there!” One of the techs says, trying to avoid creeping but behind you. “Right to business eh?”

Drang tries to hide the fact that he still jumps at the disturbance, putting his things down to face the tech, "Yes, I'm just getting to know the equipment. I'm not familiar with Saliv's technology just yet." He says, adjusting his AR goggles. He pauses, then remembers, "I'm Drang, pleased to meet you. I'm new to the Alliance and this system."

“I’m Eve, it’s nice to meet you. The slingshot is an old vehicle, in use even before the scream out here on the frontier. It’ll get you where you’re going and it’s simple enough we can fix it in the field if we have trouble “

Drang gestures to his tools, "Fixing things is what I'm good at, I'm more concerned about the wilderness, myself. Have the other explorers gathered yet?"

"Everyone is here and ready to depart, you were the last to arrive"

7:28 AM

"Let's get everything loaded, and we can talk more on the way, dawn is almost here and we need to make the most of the daylight hours"

"Of course, I'll be finished in just a moment and I'll be ready to go. "

(did you want to do anything else then , or should I move us along, not sure if you were actually trying to build a pause in)

(No, I'm ready to go. Sorry, I wasn't certain on how to write out how to proceed.) (edited)

The crew of explorers consists of you, eve, a driver and two men who look to be more soldiery types as the jungle is full of unknown dangers. With everything loaded and all adjustments to the vehicle made , the vehicle sets off into the jungle for the first leg of the journey. (Roll a d10 for me. Let’s see what’s in this hex)

(1)

The light forest here seems to be primarily the domain of bugs, small primates, and birds in bright colors. Complex life has developed here a world apart from the strange landscape of Saliv's inhabited planet and it is a relief to everyone to be in an environment where worrying about breach is something you will not have to do. The bioscanners pick up several packs of animals moving away from the sounds of the vehicle. "What do you think everyone? " the driver asks. "Should we try to see what those might be? "

"I'd rather learn about them now than later, on it's terms. But let's keep our distance and just observe." Drang preps his gear for stealthy foot travel, if the others are in agreement. (edited)

It seems like your sentiment is more or less echoed among the group in so many words, one way or another. The vehicle is parked and with the noise no longer driving them off, the unseen but present biological contacts begin to settle a bit themselves. (sneak/dex or survive/wis for getting there quietly to observe, without spooking them)

(9 on survive/wis)

1:56 PM

(Drang commits effort to activate his Conduit technique, powering his laser pistol just in case)

Moving into the woods away from the vehicle you’re able to sneak up on the creatures.

6:52 PM

(Will get a picture up in a second)

6:55 PM

Purple in flesh with pale undersides they match the vegetation that exists on the forest floor and indeed to seem like they’re part of it on some symbiotic level. Roots that spread like veins slowly spread down their backs and flowering growths replace fur in some patches of skin

4

(Have I heard of these creatures before any where in the system?)

(No, they're entirely undocumented)

Drang mumbles with a low squawk, "Plant and animal in one creature... Let's document them and move on. If they're not aggressive, I see no reason to bother them." Drang puts his pistol away and takes out his dataslab to record the creatures briefly. Unless there's any issues that arise, he heads back to the vehicle afterwards.

(How long would you spend observing them? did you want to give them a name? )

(About 10 minutes. I would write them down as Arboreal Elk for now.)

2

(alright, ill get a page up for them and credit you with the find. Welcome to the World Anvil!)

1

4:01 PM

The creatures are docile, having run from the sound of the vehicle but their hearing is not sharp enough to hear you crawling through the woods. They are eating mostly plants from what you can tell though you can see the fawns working on some kind of rotten log to get to the bugs within. As sunlight warms clearing the leaves on their bodies turn to face the rays.

I wonder were the plant ends and the animal begins... I should probably get some training in xenobiology if I'm going to be on the frontier like this. He thinks to himself. Drang begins to pack up again and head back to his vehicle, leaving the creatures in peace. (edited)

(D10 for our next area. I’ll get an article up)

(9)

Moving into the next section of the woods, the forest becomes more dense and the life signs fade out. There is a large metallic contact 300m ahead behind a small vine covered hill , the survey scanners show starship grade metals but physically it is out of sight

(Are there any signs of a vehicle recently coming through the area? Disturbed canopy, tracks in the dirt, and the like?)

)no. There’s no sign of any vehicles that aren’t this one you’re in now)

"Let's not risk the vehicles with this." Drang hops out and prepares to quietly climb the hill and search for the pinged craft. Gear is prepped as last time.

You can see flowering treetops with new growth as you crest the hill and a jagged shard of rusted metal sticking out of the ground. It’s on a diagonal but clearly looks like it’s about 10m of Hull plating from something From here it’s hard to make out many details or get many identifying features of the scorched metal

(Can I tell if there's signs it's been here awhile? Any rust or foliage?)

(It’s been here a while. It’s got some slow rust on it in the places where it wasn’t burned )

Drang draws his pistol, signals to the others and moves forward towards the wreckage. He scans the hull for anything salvagable or anything that would signal this to be from before the Scream or otherwise notable.

This is a shard of metal fallen from a starship hull and there is nothing attached to it, but based on its composition, the time it has been out here and the damage to it, the wreckage is from before The Scream. The jungle has begun to regrow around it and has accepted this new object as something of a new resident. In time flowering vines will grow up this metal monolith and it will become just another casualty of the forest

Drang sighs and returns to the vehicles, noting the coordinates of the hull piece on his dataslab. "Lets keep a look out for more. That's just scrap, but a full wreckage could be worth investigating." He says to the others as he preps his Slingshot again. (edited)

As you return to the slingshot you can see with a sample of this metal more has been found in the jungle, forming something like a trail that ends close to the strange ruin site seen from space. It is beginning to look like this ruin might be one in the same with whatever left this wreckage behind.

This just got a bit more interesting. Hopefully I can prove my skills to the Alliance with this and see what their tech really used to be like. Drang is a bit more focused and confident as he speeds off towards the ruin with his team.

The pieces of ship become more frequent as you continue on. Approaching the site of the ruins you can see this isn’t a structure at all , but a crashed bulk freighter that’s spilled it’s contents all across the jungle. The bulk of the ship is covered in vines and nested in by trees as the jungle had grown around it to reclaim it. It’s configuration is unique. This ship is special and jumping inside will help you figure out why.

Drang takes the time to do a slow sweep around the main body of the wreckage on his Slingshot; looking out for entrances, hazards, and any potential markings on the hull.

1

(I’ll get a ship deck map up for you)

12:40 PM

(this would be the clearing as you roll up to it from the south- what was thought ot be ruins being the crashed and overgrown wreck of an alien ship)

Drang gathers with the others on the team and confirms the nature of the ruins, "We should probably search through the lesser ruins before entering the larger body. "There was some larger portions to the south here, they might have something of value or information to glean."

Nekosmash pinned a message to this channel. 11/8/2021 8:28 PM

They seem to agree and as the explorer comes to a halt the team begins exiting and spreading out to survey the area. Weapons are raised and so far nothing rises out of the wreckage to challenge you. That may not remain true

Drang joins them powering his laser pistol with his psychic energy. He heads towards the spot of wreckage south of the main ship, scanning for anything noteworthy that survived. (edited)

(know/int)

(11)

This smallest section at the southernmost part of the clearing looks like some kind of crew module that has broken off of the main ship. You can see two blackened lumps in the middle of the section that are not easy to identify, but if you had to guess they might be bodies.

Drang frowns and approaches, he keeps a few feet away as he tries to visually inspect the bodies and confirm the cause of death. The fear of disease keeps him from going any further.

They’ve been burned on re entry as the ship crumbled from what you can see. No bacteria would be able to survive those kinds of temperatures

Drang steps around them and does a once over of the section, looking for anything container or similar that might have retained it's seal throughout the ship's ordeal.

There is a small metal box that is blackened on the outside but otherwise seems to have maintained enough of its shape to keep whatever is inside protected.

Brushing it off, Drang inspects the container for any signs of a latch or opening mechanism that is (hopefully) intact. If there's any electronic interface, he still searches for a mechanical backup.

There is a mechanical lock on the box. It’s. A bit heat warped but you might be able to crack it with the tools you have on hand

Drang tries it with his metatool.

(Fix/int)

(8)

The latch is broken open very easy under your skilled tools and you find what looks to be dozens of metal puck like devices inside. It might have been what was used for currency by these creatures , whatever they were

Drang examines one and scoffs into his vocalizer, "Metal tokens? How primitive." He, however, pockets them for later record and moves on towards the central wreckage.

Looking at them, they’re made of what looks to be pure platinum.

8:05 AM

(There’s another little weird saucer thing out in the woods to the east too, did we want to check that last?)

(I forgot about that, let's head there instead)

The remains of some kind of escape pod that failed to separate have crashed here in the woods. The screw-door is bent and was unable to open when the pod hit the ground and there is no evidence that anyone who might be inside was able to get out.

Drang examines the pod for any exterior mechanisms that might help in opening it, as well as for any ports or other inlets he could spy through, doing so with whatever lights he has.

There are no ports on the outside to prevent any accidental damage upon exiting the parent ship or impact with the ground, but there is a lever next to the door that can be pulled to unlock the airlock from the outside

Poor folk... He thinks. Bracing for what he might find, Drang pulls the lever. (edited)

The pod opens and atmosphere vents. Six slug like aliens have been killed In their restraint harnesses. Their suits were damaged in the fall from space and impact with the ground was their likely killer. decay over indeterminate years has taken its toll

Slug folk... I don't think I've heard of these creatures. Drang covers his mouth and nose as he examines the interior. I don't think I can bring myself to move them, or if that would even be a good idea. Drang documents the creatures, decayed as they are, and their unfortunate demise. He does his best to close up the pod and reports this to his team.

(The NMC Has seen these before but no one else has )

(Like they've seen living ones about? If so, do I know the name of the species?)

(They have not seen living ones, but they've seen bodies and ship wreckage)

7:47 AM

(they've not been given a name)

(Ah, gotcha) Drang finds the rest of his teammates, "The eastern wreckage is an escape pod, a faulty one evidently. The crew were of a slug-like race. I resealed the pod, it might be best to leave it be and report it once we get back. This species presence in this part of space is new info, from what I understand, but the remains are old." "But for the time being, let's head into the main body of the ship. If any useful data survived, it's there."

The rear right fin of the ship has broken away and you're able to get inside from there into what looks like it was once a crew lounge these creatures used, with a galley and what originally was the docking ring for the escape pod

Drang once again charges his laser pistol and proceeds into the galley, taking a cursory glance across the broken room for anything of interest before heading forwards towards the front of the ship.

(Did you want to go room by room or you want to just head right for the bridge ?)

(Room by room. The bridge just seems the most promising, was my thought)

Moving from the galley along the right side of the wreck you next move forward through the only doors into some kind of briefing room. A number of chairs are turned towards a broken holographic projector where star maps, images of those communicating with the ship, and other important information would be displayed for ship officers to discuss.

Drang takes out his tools and tries to examine the projector system, testing if the it's data could be salvaged or if it networks elsewhere.

It looks like the projector itself is beyond saving, but the data drive within might be salvaged if you're careful. (since its alien tech I think we'd need a fix/int here, as its not a routine thing a technician would be doing like if this was a human made machine)

(Fair. 8 on the check)

You spend the better part of two hours carefully taking the machine apart and the data drive ejects. You find part of the power system still looks to be working too, and remove it carefully. (one unit of pretech for you)

2

4

Drang packs the drives away on his person, The hardware alone is valuable, getting the data off it could prove even more so if we can glean more about these slug-folk. He sighs to himself, If I can even interface with it as-is. Well, I've been meaning to get into programming soon anyways... But there's more tech to be found here first. Packing his tools away, Drang heads further into the ship.

The next room, just before the bridge looks to be the ship armory and locker. The weapons and equipment have largely been reduced to metal ruins from the impact of the crash , as have the doors leading into the bridge.

Hesitating in the doorway, Drang decides to poke around the remains of the armory. He doesn't spend much time, between the wreckage and alien nature of the weapons, just glances around for any energy cells or scrap which could be reused.

There are a few energy cells about the size of a type A you can probably scrap or get some life out of. The bridge doors are closed but the keypad opening them looks intact- although it is elongated with many more digits than a standard keypad, each of them carved with alien script.

Drang looks at the cells, and then to his own pistol as it's readouts glow with psychic electricity. Just type As, there're better uses for my packspace. He glances towards the door, which should lead to the front of the ship. Let's hope it's operational, or at least powered. Examining the alien scripture, he's dismayed. Drang takes out his dataslab to try and interface it with the pad. Guess we'll see if my tech talks with their's sooner than I thought.

([program/int)

(12)

You're able to complete the circuit with your compad and the help of some tools you have on hand. You cannot read the alien script but you can see how to complete the missing pieces of the device's route from power to door. The doors rattle open on damaged tracks, stopping with just enough room to squeeze in one at a time

"There we go. Not so hard with a little rewiring." He says to himself as he pokes his head through the doorway and into the bridge. (edited)

7:51 AM

(so think this, but ruined)

7:53 AM

(coming in from the back of the image, so you'd see the captains chair, the officers stations, and in front you'd see the main viewscreen to see outside and the navigator's station which would not be powered or working)

Drang steps into the room, taking a moment to survey the bridge from near the captain's chair. A damn shame this thing crashed. A few years ago, I could've spend days going through these systems... Drang begins poking through any maintanance hatches he and his team can find. His goal in doing so is primarily locating the ship's blackbox equivalent, alongside any working systems he could try and extract the data from. Both would solidly help his report on this crash site.

It looks like the ruins of the captain's chair might be a place to get into the command and control system.

If it looks like the controls are working, the Drang takes a seat and begins to investigate the alien consoles for ways to access the system.

Most of them have been destroyed by the collision. The ship will never fly again, that much is certain, but you may be able to find some way to bulk download the information here.

"Hmm..." Drang produces the drives he took out of the hologram projector and tries to see if he can download as much of it as he can on it and his datapad.

The download is going to take several long moments to complete and I. The meantime the team begins spreading out to explore the rest of the wreck , especially here in the bridge

Drang leave the download to proceed on it's own and heads towards the door leading to the port side of the ship.

You pass through the ready-room again and past the weapon scraps. Moving into the port side room beyhond you can see whats left of the workshop here that these creatures used, along with examples of their tools. Most of them look somewhat standard, but the handles or grips on them are very long, meant for more tentacle or slim type appendages rather than more sturdy humanoid arms

Drang searches around for any manuals or schema that might have survived. Pre-scream parts schematics could be useful. Otherwise, he continues on towards the last room (I believe there's one more if I'm following the map properly)

(Yep!) The last room is a strange array of machine but having seen starship manuals before you instantly recognize the teleport array, where it looks like five pads would have allowed an away team of ship members to beam down to a planet's surface. These models look far more inefficient than the ones in use on ships now, and likely would have taken far longer than the standard six-minute recharge time in use on ships today. Humanity has proven amazingly adaptable to metaspace and psionics and it seemed like these slug creatures had a much more difficult time- pioneering the technology for themselves but with more of the flaws that humanity was since able to overcome

Impressive work, especially given their strange physicality. Drang thinks to himself, poking around the system routing throughout the room and connecting it all together in his head. Drang reconsiders scavenging the room, given the inefficiencies in the hardware around him. He heads back to the bridge to check on the download. Another race struggling to make a place in the galaxy. Yet they seem to have died out or hid away somewhere the rest of us can't reach. I wonder... Drang diverts his path and exits the hull, looking at the exterior once again. Is it possible to tell if the wear and tear of nature on the ship lines up with the time of the Scream? (edited)

This ship crashed here before The Scream, though not long before. Saliv being a frontier world bitterly divided by internal politics meant its military and detection equipment were not what you would find in the core worlds and the intrusion into local space went unnoticed. The Scream however did not cause the ship to crash from what you can tell.

Any signs of what did? At least as far as outside interference?

There are scorch marks across the flanks of the craft, and many large dents. It looks like some kind of collision on the starboard side brought the craft down, possibly with a comet or rogue asteroid

Death by misfortune. Drang runs his hand along the damaged hull, Plenty of that to go around out here. Drang returns to the bridge to check on the database download, sitting down at the captain's station again.

The chair is surprisingly comfortable, and looks like it can be removed easily. The download dings that it is complete as you sit down in the chair.

"Ah, good." Drang begins to back up his drives and cords into his bags and pockets. He pauses as sinks back into the chair, poking the soft armrest with his fingerThose Slugs know how to do uphostery, thats for sure... Is it worth taking this thing back off planet? He stands up, I doubt it's worth the effort, it's probably not very clean either, now that I think about it. Oh well. Drang finds the rest of his team, "I've gotten the data out of the ship's computer and salvaged some tech that's still good. I think we have the story of these 'ruins' laid out well enough to give a full report. There isn't much left to do I don't think, are you all about ready to leave?"

(3xp, 5000 credits )

3

4

8:08 PM

The team is ready to return and they’ve got enough data from the route here to make it back to the colony without getting lost. From there you can deliver your report, and pick up other assignments. It will be just after dark by time you return

Level Up
Level: 2
Focus: Psychic Training [Telekinesis]
Old HP: 7
HP Roll: 3 + 1 CON
New HP: 11
New Skills: Telekinesis-1 [via foci], Electrokinesis-1, programming-0,
New Psi Talents: Kinetic Transversal, Pressure Field [via foci], Energy Sensitivity
Current AB: +1

(edited)

Drang packs his things away and launches off. He recounts everything he can think of on the way to the colony and when he arrives, Drang starts a write-up on his dataslab to deliver in the morning, including the data found in the ship's drives and the documentation on the elk creatures he had encountered. (Should I prepare an actual write up for something like this or is this good?)

(If you want to let the group know about your mission you should do it in #inheritor-congress

4:49 PM

(What you did was fine but the fsct it’s alien wreckage would probably interest people )

(Okay, I'll get on that in a bit) Drang turns in his data and digital report to the colony authorities to be sent back to Dremlas and reports personally to see if there's any further duties for him on the moon. Else, Drang will pack up to head back to his place in Dremlas to look into personal projects.

(I'm up for whatever you had in mind)

(I'll head back to my place on Saliv. How can I go about buying things? I assume I'm able to find most TL4 stuff here?)

(Make me a list and I’ll let you know if something can’t be found. TL4 pharmacy and meds aren’t in the setting at all, we use frontier medicine )

Drang's looking to get a more serious weapon, a laser rifle or plasma projector particularly. Something energy-based so he can psionically power it. Also, looking into getting a comms server to get AR hosting for himself. He'll make inquiries about getting the proper data from Tsatsos, but at least see if he can purchase a server. Besides that, a data storage unit for the data he got from the ship and anything else he'll come up with.

10:57 PM

And some rope

(all that is available, just pick a weapon)

Drang purchases a plasma projector, a personal comms server, a data storage unit, and 20m of TL4 rope on Dremlas. Totaling 1940c

Drang sets up his newly purchased tech in his apartment, loading data into his storage unit and setting up security measures. He hides his laser pistol away familiarizes himself with the plasma projector, testing it's limits with his electrokinetic power. Could use a tune-up, perhaps the electronics from the slug's ship would make better conductors... Drang adjusted his AR goggles once more, being away from the networks of Tsatsos was still slightly disorienting. The gun could wait, he bought it as a backup to begin with, and the idea of working on a plasma emitter while away from his homely optical readouts wasn't very enticing. Drang spends some time looking into getting a copy of Tsatsos' Ashen One AR network. Beginning with trying to see if there's any other of his kind in Dremlas who have such a server and what they'd do to let him copy it.

2

It seems the Inheritor Academy has a copy as it was given to them as part of the ISF’s free movement of peoples laws. The prospect that Ashen Ones might make a home on this world entitles saliv to a copy of the original software , and then further coded for local uses

The Drang will head over to the Academy and go inside. Do they have a public archive or similar that I can look through and download it from?

(anything ooc format like this so i know what you're actually doing)

7:29 PM

The Academy has a public archive. Not everything the Academy or government is working on is accessible to the public, but what is available, can be found here.

(Gotcha, sorry) Drang'll try search through the public archive for the AR network data.

(admin/int)

(14)

The name of the Ashen One tech who brought this to Saliv has not been listed, but you're able to get a copy of the software for your own uses. It seems like it has not been altered from the original, and the open source data comes with it. (edited)

Thank you, universal info and standardization laws... He thinks to himself, starting the download from the archive. And whatever Ashen One pioneer brought the data all the way over here. Saved me, and plenty others, a lot of headaches. Drang copies it onto his personal hardware and heads out, back home. He'll spend some time re-familiarizing himself with the AR environment and adjusting settings to his new environment on Saliv. Drang locks the server to only operate with his personal compad. (Do I need a compad to use the AR network and lift the skill check penalties? The Ashen One focus doesn't specify, but I'll buy one regardless so I have it on hand.) (edited)

(yes you do, but they're 0 encumbrance so keeping it readied doesn't hurt you any)

(Gotcha. I'm kinda flush right now, so I'll buy a total of four compads to bundle so I can have comms in the field. Since it won't really hinder me.)

(Also, one of my goals was to set up AR hosting for myself. Is this considered done after I set up my comms server?)

(Yes it is!)

(Sweet! I'll get to that here soon)

Level Up
Level: 3
Focus: N/A
Old HP: 11
HP Roll: 7 + 3 CON
New HP: 11
New Skills: Know-0
Unspent Psi SP: 2
Current AB: +1

2

(Okay, so we've got a local copy of AO net, and you managed to take a look at those ruins that turned out to be an alien ship. Did you have a preference on a mission? )

(I'm pretty prepped for field work, I think. Is there any more aid I can give to the mosk moon colony?)

(something they're interested in doing is trying to find resources on the moon so they can get some local industry going and sustain themselves, so we could explore land or water to try to find some)

(That sounds good to me, land would be preferable).

Drang purchases a gravcar and integrated exploration fittings, named Sunchaser, for 50,000c (https://discord.com/channels/345912178072879106/750058536137916559/915811737356365834)

The vehicle is delivered to the Mosk Colony after about a day. It has the new car smell when you finally manage to pop the door and get inside. The plan now is to begin searching the nearby jungle for more resources that could help the Mosks establish some local industry, so they won't need to depend on shipments from the main planet anymore.

Drang, as with most things he owns, takes the time to scour the vehicle and set up his equipment inside. He wastes no time in popping open the new tool rack and seeing the fresh steel equipment. After half an hour of indulging in his new purchase, Drang activates the sensor systems and begins heading southwards, out of the settlement.

(d10 for me)

(10)

(I believe south is the ocean but we will@go southeast )

7:30 PM

A rare mineral begins reporting on the survey scanner. It’s unclear what it is. The return is faint and it must be buried or contained within something

Drang heads towards the scanned point, slowing his gravcar on the approach. He tries to look and scan for any notable landmark that might coincide with the mineral's position, hoping to gain some insight into the nature of what he may have come across before arriving.

There is a large stone karst rising out of the jungle ahead. You can see palms and other plants have clung to its sides and a large colony of sea birds has taken up residence here. It also seems to be the source of the survey scanner return.

Drang parks adjacent to the rock formation. (Does the scanner indicate if the mineral's above or below ground-level?)

(It does not. Just a general location so we would have to try to sample it somehow)

Drang exit's his gravcar, taking his plasma projector, and walks the perimeter of the karst. He scans for any oddities in the stone formations that would signal the presence of the mineral, as well as any signs of life beyond the nesting birds.

(Notice /wis)

(4)

You can rule out the mineral being at a high elevation, though the saturation of it in the lower reaches of the Karst, or exactly how to get to it elude you.

(Did the scanner detect the mineral based on any particular property? Like does the scan indicate if it is particularly magnetic or dense, or any other property I could use to locate or interact with it?)

(it is magnetic, so we could use that)

(Not sure if I can get it out with what I have on me, but can I use what I know from the survey scanner to identify what this is?)

(if it was a known mineral it would have told you, so we have an entirely new substance on our hands here)

2

Drang produces a handful of iron scrap and shavings (using my racial focus as an Ashen One, as much as 50 creds can justify) and patrols the karst, throwing small amounts up into the air to see if it catches in a magnetic field of the mineral that might be closer to the surface.

on the northern side of the Karst the shavings stick right to it, revealing a source of the mineral close to the surface of the rock formation. Your plan has worked, and it looks like some simple tools can move the intervening material away to let you sample what is within

Drang will do so, using his tools to try and gather magnetic material in what he's dug up

10:15 AM

A lump of the material falls out after some attention with your tools. It is rounded, with a faint green color to its surface. It glitters gently when exposed to sunlight and otherwise feels very dense.

Drang raises the chunk and examines over, I wonder what you could be used for... He'll take the chunk back to the Sunchaser and examine the mineral using whatever tools and sensors he has available, testing for any other pertinent properties now that he has his hands on it.

(Vogon, another PC is closeby, did you want to meet up? )

(Sure!)

@SirSiesta and his companion, a woman named "Knife" emerge from the bush nearby, drawn in by the sound of your vehicle and the tools as you worked on extracting some mineral samples from the Karst here. Vogon was also one of the explorers sent out into the moonscape here to try to find resources the Mosk colony could use to develop their own local industry, and it seems you were both hunting for the same thing.

Drang sets his tools down, back into the rack in the trunk of his gravcar. The Ashen One works the magnetic ore samples off the steel tooling and notices the pair approach the karst, "Morning! I didn't expect to see friendly faces outside the colony."

(If we don’t hear anything by this evening we can continue )

1

"Same here, but you're a welcome sight indeed." the man replies. "I'm Poke," motioning to the young lady "and my bodyguard here goes by Knife." He looks over the operation going on at the site. "What's the Alliance have you guys getting dirty doing?"

Drang raises a piece of the glittering mineral he's been working on, "Looking for resources to provide for the colony. There's a lode of this mineral under the karst there. It's pretty magnetic, I'm testing the rest of it's properties now." "I assume you're doing similar?"

"Yeah," Poke replies with a chuckle "they have us traipsing about the wilderness bird-watching." His eyes move to the karst. "Anything we can do to help?"

"I'm just testing to see how the mineral could be used by the colony. I'm not expecting to get much from my field tools, there's probably better equipment back in civilization... But you said you're bird watching?"

Poke laughs "Yeah, I guess that's the folksy version." He looks to his rugged companion, Knife. "What's the official directive? Something about a brochure, I recall." Looks back to the man with the rocks, an easy-going smile across his face; "I'm really just Hit-Girl's sidekick." (edited)

"Hm, I guess they have to grow the colony somehow." Drang pauses and realizes, "I didn't introduce myself before questioning you, apologies. I'm Drang Saigarn, I'm fairly new to the Saliv and the Alliance." He offers a handshake to each of his new-found allies.

Dropping his gear with a thud, Poke returns the man's handshake. "Yeah, after the past few years.." he sighs, recalling the recent struggles on Saliv before trying to brighten his tone. "But hey, things are looking up; us being out here is proof of that." Turning his attention to his pack, he takes a knee and begins digging for something to eat. "Hey you run into anything crazy out here?" Finding what he was looking for, he takes a seat. "We had a run-in with a pack of some kind of native wild... i guess, dogs?"

Drang packs his tools away, letting the magnetic ore stick to the toolrack's work area, joining Poke for and impromptu break, "Yes, but nothing predatory; There was some strange elk-like creatures with plant elements to them. Like a symbiosis." "Were those dogs anything like that? Foliage on their head and roots in their hide?" The Ashen One pantomimes protrusions from his neck and covered face as he speaks.

For more than a few silent moments Poke's sole focus is removing every bit of grime from his hands. Completing that task to satisfaction he returns his attention to his surroundings. "Sort of, they had a fire element to them." He takes a bite, chewing slowly while looking over the nearby karst. "With a big mane, like a fire pit full of embers. They came right at us." Nodding in the direction of Knife he continues, "We held our ground though. They scattered quickly after we took out the lead dog." Poke starts looking around the site, "You out here alone?"

"I am, but I not sure if I should be if elemental beasts are common out here." Drang pauses again, removing his gloves as he sits, "Maybe their biology could be useful to the colony here, or at least to researchers in Saliv proper. Were they very far from here?"

"Bit over an hour on foot, maybe less." Poke punctuates by lifting his chin in the direction of the vehicle.

"Hm. I'll have to keep that in mind. Now that I think on it, I don't know if I'm equipped for something like that. Even with my Sunchaser here." He taps the gravcar. "Tech is more my speed anyways. Alliance biologist can handle it, I'm sure."

"MmHmm." Poke acknowledges while chewing the last of his lunch. "I hear that, a bit out of my wheelhouse as well." Leans back with a big stretch.. "But you know what they say about a change in scenery and all." He locks his hands behind his head and closes his eyes for a long moment before gathering himself up and dusting himself off. "Where you heading after this, Dr Drang?"

Drang's mask hides a brief grin, "I'm no doctor, just a technician, but I appreciate the courtesy, Poke." He pauses before continuing, "Regardless, I don't have much in the way of plans here. Im new to this system, came in from Tsatsos not too long ago, so I'm trying to make headway in the Alliance ranks right now. That's most likely going to come in the form of helping with the terminals back on Saliv proper, if its as bad as I hear. How about you two?" (edited)

"Tsatsos?" Poke whistles, then a coy smile crosses his face. "I guess that explains.." he motions up and down at Drang's Ashen One get-up. "I just figured you were being overly cautious." he guffaws. Composing himself, but still with a friendly smile he adds, "Well, you are a looong way from home. Welcome to Saliv; if you don't see it, just ask." He chuckles then glances around, looking for Knife. "We're pretty much doing the same thing, just a bit closer to home. Trying to get.." he fades off a bit, and then quickly turns back to Drang. "Hey, Tsatsos!... must be doing okay then. Got you out here, and helping us. That'd be a good sign."

"Ah, well thank you! It was a long way, yes, but with the burgeoning psionics studies and... well, the general strangeness of Saliv, I couldn't ignore the opportunity to move. Even if it did, ah... use up all of my funds." Drang punctuates with a squawk-ish chuckle beneath his mask. Drang pauses a moment, acknowledging Poke's hesitation but not addressing it to his new-found friend, "But you should see Tsatsos, it's a very different place from here. Techtonic eruptions all the time, ash in the air. Equipment like this is a necessity there, regardless of physiology." Drang stands, "Well, I think I should get these samples back to the colony, see if they're of any use before I dig more out. I have room in my gravcar if you two want transport back."

"Now you're talking, pal." Poke stands and waves Knife over. "What do you think, ready to head back?"

"I'll be ready in a minute here." Drang begins to pack up his tools back into the trunk and stuffs the magnetic sample into the glovebox, for lack of a better space. Drang will take off towards the moon colony, unless there's any arguement.

(3xp and 5000 credits to both of you. Drang is in the group mission so he and I will continue there for now. Vogon, im good for whatever you want to do. This should@level you up)

Level Up (Post-Inheritor City Assault)
Level: 4
Focus: N/A
Old HP: 11
HP Roll: 16 + 4 CON
New HP: 20
New Skills: Telekinesis-2, Notice-0, 
New Psi Discipline: Thermokinesis
Unspent Psi SP: 0
Unspent Normal SP: 1
Current AB: +2

2

(Gonna spend do some downtime before hopping on anything else, spend money and look into personal goals. I'll start getting into it over the next few days, might be busy here soon.)

(sounds good, when you're shopping just make me a list, ill let you know if something can't be found

(Okay, here's what I'm looking to buy once I return to Dremlas. After that, how available are cybernetics here? And do we use any of the ones from Polychrome on the server?)

Combat Field Uniform
^Icarus Harness Upgrade
Low-Light Goggles
3x Instapanels
3 days of rations
Survey Scanner
2x Type-B Power cell (for my gravcar)

(We also have the butterfly harness if you want something a bit better than the icarus upgrade)

(Forgot to check over the stuff in the rules doc. Yeah, I'll go with the butterfly variant instead.)

(everything else here is great. The polychrome cybernetics are currently unavailable due to player actions/story, but any of the TL4 cyber can be installed from the core book. We also have a few of our own, and the Neural Overload Wiring TL5 cyberware from the core book has been discovered again)

(Gotcha, gotcha. I'm going to purchase everything I listed except the low-light goggles, totaling 5,515cred.) After gathering his purchases and rearranging his inventory, Drang will persue Panspectral Optics and Eelskin Capacitor Mesh cyberware surgery. Both should aid in his fieldwork and make him more prepared for the wilder parts of Saliv, as the events in Northfields gave him a very clear look into what this planet and these people are struggling with.

(both of those available too, we can add those to the sheet. As far as missions I can give you a list of some IA issues if you wanted to run those down instead of personal goals right now)

(Real quick, I'm gonna also spend time to mod my plasma projector and butterfly harness to have the Customized mod, costing 1,000cred each.) (Now I'll take a look at the IA missions)

(There is a settlement east of Dremlas with a big rocket scrapyard that hasn’t been visited in a while, but there’s a patrol boat wreck there that could be fixed , we can explore around Northfields, we can head off world work kror and Dali to support a rebellion on a neighboring planet , or we can tinker with that mineral you found)

(Let's finish with that mineral)

Taking some time to continue working with the mineral you discovered, you return to Dremlas proper to the Academy, where the more advanced scientific tools here would be more capable of learning more about it, what it can do, and what it might be useful for if applied to different polity needs. Safely secured in the basement of the academy where most of the workshops are kept, you've got a spread of equipment available,.

Drang ganders over the workshop equipment, sinking back into a comfort-zone from when his technician work was far more simple. Who would have thought I'd be digging ore out of the jungle and fighting terminal mutants. Have I gotten in over my head? He thinks, It's not like Tsatsos was exactly safe either... And I'm sure my work is going to a good cause, Saliv needs more hands on deck. He examines the green mineral again, still adjusting to the sights of his optical cyberware. I didn't want to waste away in a lab, but damn it's good to be back. Let's get started. Drang will begin a battery of tests with the lab equipment and his optical cyberware, starting with physical properties that could be of use which won't alter his sample. Testing for things like insulation potential, electrical & psychic conductivity, hardness, malleability, and testing the exact power of it's magnetism.

1

(this might be one big post or a couple smaller ones, ill let you know when its done done and we can go from there)

3:15 PM

(i never know when im going to get a work call so i might have to stop once i get going)

(Alrighty)

Insulation Potential- The mineral is an insulator more than a conductor. Electrical Conductivity the mineral is not very conductive. Running electrical charge through it does not seem to yield much of a charge. You use as much power as is safe to use in a residential setting and you're unable to run a current through it without massive waste or loss. Psychic Conductivity- Electrokinesis yields the same results as just using regular power. You repeat the same steps as previous and nothing additional happens. The mineral is able to be picked up and moved with telekinesis. It responds to your touch and much like other carried objects you're unable to rip it out of your own hands once you hold on to it and try to apply energy to it. Magnetism- The material is not magnetic. Hardness- The mineral ranks just below lab grown diamonds. You're not sure the process used to form this mineral but you know it is hard and about as durable as synthetics grown for industrial applications. Not knowing how it is formed or if this is something that can be renewable might limit its applications. Field tests might also hone in on what might be good uses for the material

4:02 PM

Malleability:

The material can be shaped easily once extracted from the raw rock components around it and formed into the core metal within. The metal needs to be heated to very high temperatures to make it pliable enough, but it remains durable and does not fracture easily once shaped. It does require tempering to keep it from becoming brittle , and ionized water seems to work the best at doing so.

4:02 PM

The mineral also needs a name.

(Just to certify, the material isn't magnetic? I believe I used it's magnetism to find the ore originally)

(It’s not magnetic now that it’s been removed from the karst, which is an interesting discovery )

A sub-vocal sigh escapes the Ashen One, his confusion morphing into curiosity as he stands over his notes. He absent-mindedly fiddles the unknown mineral like a toy, recalling the steel shavings he scattered and how they gathered by the karst on their own. He's certain he wasn't mistaken. It's resilience is noteworthy, but I'm clearly not getting the full picture here... Looks like I'm not done with my fieldwork on this. Drang makes a clear note of the change in his test results. Pausing, he jots down the name Salivite as a name for the mineral. A placeholder, I think. We'll see once I root out this discrepancy. Drang finishes and packs up his things, taking care to clean off any messes he might have made on academy equipment and providing any info on his findings to the academy, citing he'll likely be back in a few days. (I want to go back to that Karst and see where I might have missed something with my new survey scanner and optics enhancements. And collect more material too, if I can. Is it viable to find some better excavating machinery here? Something I can use solo and will fit in my gravcar, but better than a pick and shovel? Probably don't want to call in a crew quite yet.)

Nekosmash pinned a message to this channel. 1/18/2022 8:34 PM

(Just so I can go back and gather the base info for the eventual article )

8:35 PM

(The tool rack fitting has powered equipment like that)

8:35 PM

(Not sure if that’s on your car or not )

(Ah, I do. Then I'd skip that and start trying to get myself and my car a shuttle to the moon colony.)

Transport to the moon is easy to arrange especially now with your relative star on the rise. You are booked for the six hour passage to Saliv's moon and find yourself at the small landing field outside the growing Mosk colony here.

As he passes through the expanding little colony, Drang can't help but wonder what impact he's going to have on this place. I seem to come out here often enough, maybe I should stick around here and see what becomes of the place. However, a knot of worry keeps surfacing. As much as he preps for it, he's still out of his element out here. Nature on Saliv doesn't play by the rules he's used to. This salivite is no exception. Come to think of it, those arboreal-elk things... they come off as a bit more concerning now that I've seen actual termies up close. Regardless, Sunchaser is fully charged and it's time to set off. Drang heads to the southeast like he did once before, on the lookout for the karst and any signs of the path he took last time.

Knowing the route and having it saved in the vehicle;s memory makes the trip a lot easier. You find it again before mid-day and the birds roosting here scatter as the Sunchaser makes its way into the clearing again.

Drang stands up and out of the car, wrapping around to the trunk he arms himself with his new equipment. With survey scanner in hand and his panoptics in full swing, Drang tries to get a better read on the karst and how much Salivite is present using his new knowledge of it's detectable properties.

10:12 AM

Also anything which might have changed since his first visit.

(notice/wis)

(11)

Things seem quiet here since your last arrival. The karst is showing a bit of erosion from the wind where you pulled the original ingot out, but the area otherwise seems quiet. Upon looking at the spot again, some type of darker stone is underneath where you pulled the ingot out, two alloys in one

Drang frowns, kneelling down next to the small hole. He takes out his hand tools and taps the darker ore with the steel end, seeing if that's the magnetism he registered. Regardless if it's magnetic or not, Drang'll begin to dig out what he can.

The darker core of the karst is magnetic, it seems when the two minerals come in contact with one another this temporary magnetism is achieved.

Huh... Well that could be useful. Drang clacks together the two cores again, examining the strength of the pull. Drang stands up, going to his Sunchaser to retrieve his tools from the rack, Best be thorough, he thinks, making a third trip out here would just be embarrassing. And he sets about digging out the hole he first made, making sure he didn't miss anything else in the immediate area.

You're able to extract a solid sample of the core. The two minerals together are highly magnetic and are unable to be pulled apart from one another easily.

Drang takes the two cores and puts them away in his vehicle for now. He returns to his car's scanners. (With the samples removed, has the signature that lead me to the karst originally diminished? I'm trying to get a read on how much of this stuff might be here.)

(I would say it has diminished a little bit, but we've got a moderate amount of material here of both types)

1:59 PM

(if we decided to spend time and mine this whole thing down, if there was any signal left it would be residual and very weak, since we're not going to get every little flake.

(Gotcha, just wanted to get a read on how much is here in case I want to come back to get the rest of this excavated.) (Now that I've got the second sample out, does it look like a darker version of the green one I dug out?)

Drang takes a moment and examines the karst formation itself. (To my knowledge, does it seem natural for a karst to form here or is something else at work?)

(This nmever lit up im sorry)

3:16 PM

THe second sample is darker in color and more crystaline than the first.

3:17 PM

(you can't see any more in sight right now, but we dont know much about the moon)

3:17 PM

(so there might be more deeper in the jungle)

(Gotcha, It's all good.) Sighing, Drang packs his things up, If this is normal stuff for geologists out here, then I picked the wrong career path. Placing the two stuck-together samples to into the back seats, away from the tools and electronics, Drang heads back to the moon colony.

1

The moon colony is a large and growing. Your work here might allow it to grow still further as the mosks begin mining and forestry and fishing. Industry is the last thing needed to make this colony sustainable and free up 22 million from the monthly inheritor budget

As Drang navigates the colony streets, his thoughts wander back to the wilderness and what little of the fauna he's seen. He takes a detour from his geological mission and asks some of the colonists and consults whatever records are available; He's looking for any reports of Terminals, Nullbreaches, or anything similar to the strangness on Saliv proper happening on the moon. (edited)

The moon seems to be a safe area so far. A resonator has been constructed in the city just in case, but the arcane components for more are not available right now given the pace of Inheritor expansion on the surface of Saliv itself. The moon was entirely uninhabited at the time of The Scream, and there were no people here to be changed into terminals

The information puts Drang more at ease. The knowledge that at least part of this system is free from this plague, as Dr. Artemis once put it, is a comfort and all the more reason to finish his job here. Drang tickets the next shuttle back to Dremlas, heading for the academy once again. He begins his work with the same tests he performed previously, now on his new sample. He's looking to find what makes it different than the first.

nsulation Potential- The mineral is an insulator more than a conductor. Electrical Conductivity the mineral is not very conductive. Running electrical charge through it does not seem to yield much of a charge. You use as much power as is safe to use in a residential setting and you're unable to run a current through it without massive waste or loss. Psychic Conductivity- Electrokinesis yields the same results as just using regular power. You repeat the same steps as previous and nothing additional happens. The mineral is able to be picked up and moved with telekinesis. It responds to your touch and much like other carried objects you're unable to rip it out of your own hands once you hold on to it and try to apply energy to it. Magnetism- The material is not magnetic. Hardness- The mineral ranks just below lab grown diamonds. You're not sure the process used to form this mineral but you know it is hard and about as durable as synthetics grown for industrial applications. Not knowing how it is formed or if this is something that can be renewable might limit its applications. Field tests might also hone in on what might be good uses for the material [5:02 PM] Malleability:

The material can be shaped easily once extracted from the raw rock components around it and formed into the core metal within. The metal needs to be heated to very high temperatures to make it pliable enough, but it remains durable and does not fracture easily once shaped. It does require tempering to keep it from becoming brittle , and ionized water seems to work the best at doing so.

1:43 PM

(gonna put new info in bold, just wanted to copy the placeholder)

The mineral is an insulator more than a conductor. Electrical Conductivity the mineral is not very conductive. Running electrical charge through it does not seem to yield much of a charge. You use as much power as is safe to use in a residential setting and you're unable to run a current through it without massive waste or loss. There is no change when exposed to the second element from the Karst Psychic Conductivity- Electrokinesis yields the same results as just using regular power. You repeat the same steps as previous and nothing additional happens. The mineral is able to be picked up and moved with telekinesis. It responds to your touch and much like other carried objects you're unable to rip it out of your own hands once you hold on to it and try to apply energy to it. When paired and shaped into a single alloy bar with the Karst element the material becomes very psionic conductive. The forging process is incredibly difficult and the temperature has to be maintained perfectly or the bar will become brittle and flake away Magnetism- The material is not magnetic. The material becomes very magnetic in the presence of the Karst element. This seems to be the only element that is an attractor for Salivite, conventional magnets have thus far not worked Hardness- The mineral ranks just below lab grown diamonds. You're not sure the process used to form this mineral but you know it is hard and about as durable as synthetics grown for industrial applications. Not knowing how it is formed or if this is something that can be renewable might limit its applications. Field tests might also hone in on what might be good uses for the material There is no information to add other than what is above (edited)

3:36 PM

The material can be shaped easily once extracted from the raw rock components around it and formed into the core metal within. The metal needs to be heated to very high temperatures to make it pliable enough, but it remains durable and does not fracture easily once shaped. It does require tempering to keep it from becoming brittle , and ionized water seems to work the best at doing so. The material becomes hard to work with if a constant 3200C Temperature is not maintained during the forging process when combined with the Karst element. It becomes very conductive material if tempering conditions are met

4

(Okay, I'm getting a lot of ideas right now. I did want to clarify for my own thoughts, is this stuff like a mineral or a metal? I might have been confused since I found it raw.)

(Also, how does that 3200 degrees you mentioned compare to our sci-fi forges?) (edited)

(I imagined part of the testing would be refining it so we can see what it does or how it behaves in those conditions )

5:53 PM

(It would need to be a specially made forge )

5:53 PM

(I guess read that as a projection. )

(Gotcha!) Writing down his findings, Drang's mind begins buzzing over the findings. Very durable, exclusive magnetism, and psionic potential... If I can find a reliable way to locate these deposits, get a good about of it, this could be used in a lot of ways. He begins to collect his things and clean off his testing equipment, Let's not get ahead of myself! I'm getting out of my depth, scouring the moon alone. Drang finalizes his notes and updated them to label the green substance as Salivite Positive and the black as Salivite Negative, citing their strange magnetism as the inspiration. Once he's cleaned up, Drang will submit the findings to the academy for public record, if their willing to host it, to help the information on this new spread to other researchers. And then prepare to inform the Alliance of the news.

1

(With the info I have now, is it feasible to do some larger-scale prospecting for more deposits?)

(I would say so, we can explore that jungle for more)

(BTW, does giving my research to the academy help with my reputation with them? I have a goal to improve my reputation with Saliv's psychic academies.)

(It does. So this counts as two missions toward that between finding the material and then examining its properties )

7:52 PM

(I’d say the city mission probably counts too since it’s helping to push back a metaspace problem , so that’s 3 right there and should be a reward )

4

(I got XP for finding the material already, if memory serves. After I finished talking with Poke.)

(You did )

7:59 PM

(I meant for psychic academy rewards )

(Ahh, I misunderstood)

Level Up
Level: 5
Focus: Specialist (Fix)
Old HP: 20
HP Roll: 23 + 5 CON
New HP: 28
New Skills: Fix-2 (via focus), Electrokinesis-2
New Psi Discipline: Shocking Assault
Unspent Psi SP: 0
Unspent Normal SP: 1 (From lvl 4)
Current AB: +2

(you also get a free EK 2 technique for getting a rank within the academy)

(Oh, cool. Forgot to look into that. I'd like to take static thrusters, the level 1 technique, if that's fine.)

(sure!)

10:46 AM

(Being an Adjunct with the academy gets you access to some other things, I'll PM you)

2

(Okay, that's all settled. Based on my experience with it so far, would I have any trouble getting Goblin's atmoflyer on a moon-bound shuttle?)

(We'd need a bigger ship, but the steelhead is home, that is a free merchant and has enough empty tonnage to carry it)

Drang will head to the Steelheads dock and try to coordinate a trip with the crew, then. As well as transport for loading the Pelican, if need be.

(no issues or extra cost here, did we want to head for the colony or did you have another idea in mind? )

Drang heads to the mosk colony, taking the Pelican outside the colony itself to get used to the controls. After a quick test flight and linking the ghost driver system to his comms, just in case, he flies eastward in search of similar magnetic signals to what the Karst gave off. (I'm mainly looking for signs of other salivite deposits, but I'd still investigate anything of interest I notice. My goal is to get a better understanding on how/where the ore can be found before excavating what we already located. My thought is that having the info to reliably prospect this will give the colony long-term income through mining and the Alliance a good source of salivite for the future. Just to clear up what I'm attempting.)

(Sounds good. Let’s get a D10)

(4)

The region to the north of the original Karst is a region of thick trees but your narrow band search reveals no minerals here. A few foothills rise from the dense canopy of jungle but otherwise the region is quiet. The Mosks thought to make fire watch towers on these hills to keep an eye on the countryside but aren’t sure of the exact conditions on landing

Drang looks down, across the canopy, So much greenery, looks fairly untouched too. Taking an aircraft was the right choice here. Still, some ground reconnaissance could prove fruitful... I'll keep that in mind for next time. Drang will move on, keeping the same heading for the time being. (I assumed you want another d10, I rolled a 3.)

Close to the mountains, north of the foothills you just discovered you see another three Karsts rising out of the jungle. They are moss covered and once again homes to colonies of birds, just like you'd seen them before.

"Huh... Might as well check." Drang murmurs, peering down at it over the side of the viewport. He looks for a clearing to set down and approaches the karsts, searching for movement in the jungle around him as he goes.

1

The jungle is quiet as your vehicle sets down, the engine noise keeping the creatures away. The birds nesting on the Karst have also fled for the moment though will likely return soon once things seem safe. You're confident you've a few hours to work in peace before anything capable of harm starts stalking the area again.

Drang takes a minute, just to take in the quiet of the jungle. He kneels and checks the readings on his survey scanner. Looking at the magnetics reading in particular, like last time.

The magnetic readings this time seem to be the same as when you encountered the very first Karst close to the colony.

Looks like ore is able to cause geographical effects. Perfect. Drang stands, his mind flashes back to the birds his craft scared off. It doesn't affect the ecosystem too, does it? It is psychically conductive, after all. There's trees all over, yet birds nest in the karst consistently too. Drang collects a sample of the soil around the karst and the moss as well, just in case. Then he sets about digging for any near-surface samples he may be able to take again, using thrown iron fillings as a guide. (edited)

You’re able to find a small amount Close to the surface by scattering the shavings. You pile up a fist size of nuggets and shavings that you’ll need to purify later.

Drang packs away the ores and marks the site's coordinates in his dataslab. A spot of pride grows as he looks the karsts over, an advancement for Saliv and other psychics like himself could be born from this. A spottable source, which hopefully remains consistant. Just what we need. Drang heads back to the Pelican flyer, satisfied with the samples and info he's obtained. His destination is the colony, back west.

1

(landing there wouldn't be an issue. Are you planning on heading back to the planet? or excavating more material? )

(I'd like to inform the local powers of what I've found. See if the colony has the means of excavating and prospecting more on their own, now that we have some info. If not, then that would be my next concern.)

(They’d have some local direct admin type folks but the macro level planning of holdings comes from the Alliance itself. We have a faction turn coming up so building a production center here could get the Mosks mining the stuff

(Very well, then I'll consider my prospecting work done. I want to go back to Dremlas and run some quick tests on the soil and moss samples I took from the karst. Just check and see if there's anything strange about them, or if they react to the salivite in some way. Covering my bases.)

(sounds good, ill leave you a report here shortly about all that, assuming you'd put those materials through the same tests)

(More or less. I want to see if the ore has affected it or vice versa.)

The moss and other organic matter growing on the Karsts has trace amounts of the ore in it but not enough to trigger any kind of special properties. The moss itself seems common to the jungle and when boiled makes a weak painkiller and antiseptic

(Good to know. I'm not too sure of what else I can do to aid our salivite production without assistance from the alliance. Is beginning the research on the forge idea feasible right now or should I wait?)

(I'll stay on Dremlas in preperation for research with other inheritors. I might look into some other things in the meantime, once I can look at my character sheet later today.)

1

(Alright, if you pass through your sheet and nothing comes up let me know)

(We can always explore more north on Saliv, to try to see what might be in our path to theL-gate

(Got kinda busy over the last few days, sorry. Yeah, let's go north.)

(Sounds good. Need anything before we step off?)

(Not that I can think of. I've returned goblin's Pelican and I'll take my gravcar.)

(Note that you can still use the Pelican if you wish.

)

(sounds good, oh! if you wanted, Lance and Dr. Artemis are at Northfields, where we'd be stepping off from)

8:09 AM

(if you wanted to get a group mission i n, they could use another skilled ste of hands)

(That sounds like a good idea. I do have a goal for learning about arcane resonators.)

1

Level Up (Arcane Resonator Info Goal)
Level: 6
Old HP: 28
HP Roll: 20 + 6 CON
New HP: 28
New Skills: Survive-0, Know-1
New Psi Discipline: -
Unspent Psi SP: 1
Unspent Normal SP: 0
Current AB: +3

(And we're back, after almost 6 months) (First thing Drang's gonna do once he's back to safety is start working with the gift he's received, no doubt about it. Do I know if there's a special procedure to activate the little crystal?)

1

(I think first thing's first is we find a nice spot on the Saliv map, somewhere in the sea, to deploy it)

7:31 PM

(More or less we were told bring it to where you want to go , and throw it into the sea, and things will happen from there)

(I'll take a look, not sure how far I want it from civilization. Relatedly, do I know how mobile it is? Or is it anchored in some way?)

(It would be anchored within a hex but can move the entire 200km within it)

(What about here?)

(sure! and what do we want to name it?)

(Definitely need to think on that. I'd also like to learn more on its nature, to make the name fitting. From what I can tell, is it meant to house people or is it more like a facility with a purpose?)

(It's going to be an outpost that floats on the methane sea. You can give it whatever purpose you'd like, but people to live there and run it are going to be needed no matter what we decide)

(Alright. I think we should name it Stratus Outpost, after the genus of low-hanging clouds. Apropos, I think.) (I'd want to focus on it being a forward base for northern exploration from Dremlas. Listening for termie activity, supply point IA members and Hilltop, etc. As well as my own ventures.) (edited)

3

(Sounds good. I'll get you a copy of the beta omnibuilder with the outpost creator on it)

8:02 PM

4

(Alrighty, let me know when you want to proceed)

(Maybe setting it up down off the coast? Did you want to play that out?)

(I can write something for that. I was thinking about the omnibuilder, is the outpost the same as the sanctum? How do you want to proceed with that?)

(It is not. We have a beta for outposts. I’ll get you a copy)

(Outpost built. Wasn't sure if there's a channel for outposts yet, so I'll put it here. Still have some spare power and workspace for any future additions. Let me know if there's any issues with it.)

(The farm technically needs 12 acres l but I think the interior and lower spire of the city is probably enough space. )

7:21 PM

(Everything else looks great )

(Alrighty, I can replace the hydroponics with micro-green houses in that case. The hydroponics overproduces anyways) (Edit: Added one more greenhouse.) (edited)

Stratus Outpost (edited)

(Works for me!)

11:19 AM

(Did you wanna write something or did you want me to)

(I'll write something up here this afternoon)

With the business on Hauvis concluded, and the construction of the Soularium underway, Drang has turned his thoughts away from the greater events of theAlliance and towards his gift from the Waterclan: The Stratus Outpost. The dome-topped structure float just above Saliv's methane-suffused seas. The tiered design tapers off towards the ground, like a lenticular cloud over the gulf in which it resides. Drang can hardly contain his awe, walking through the structure for the first time and already remising over his experience on Hauvis. The foreign designs of the Waterclan and their people's intrinsic connection with their world was expressed through the Outpost wordlessly; Efficiently packed greenhouses, wide arrays of solar panels across the dome, and included facilities to maintain onboard personnel and equipment without taking more from their surroundings than what's necessary. Summarily self-sufficient and secure above the seas. After hours of just learning and familiarizing himself with the massive structure, Drang is still buzzing about everything that's been happening. I was reserved about the Waterclan at first, but I can't deny that we could learn a few things from them. This business with the *Soulariumthough... I don't know. I find it hard to think something like that could be real. Manipulating matter or electromagnetics is one thing, but a soul? I just don't know...* He looks out to sea for a moment, near the top deck of the outpost. Hope that Goblin's doing well... Drang eventually returns to Dremlas to settle his affairs there, closing the lease on his apartment, formalizing Stratus with the Alliance, and posting a search for workers to help get the facilities up and running. (attached visual ref for Stratus Outpost, for later)

2

(we have a few things we can do here, either trying to recruit folks from the established alliance cities, trying to bring some folks in from less well off planets around us, or trying to recover new pockets of people here on Saliv to bring them to a safer place)

(Recovering new folks seems the most productive.) (And, I want to check before we set off, I have a goal to "own a workshop or start merchant trading." Would this Outpost qualify as one of those?)

(sure does!)

(Sweet. That levels me up. I'll handle that this evening)

1

Level Up
Level: 7
Old HP: 28
HP Roll: 23 + 7 CON
New HP: 30
New Skills: Telekinesis-3 (Psy Disc. SPs), Shoot-1, Psi Eng-0,
New Focus: Psychic Discipline lvl 2 (Telekinesis)
New Psi Discipline: Tangible Force Construct (TK lvl up), Telekinetic Ram (Psy Disc. SPs), Transmute (Psi Eng lvl up),
Unspent Psi SP: 0 (-1)
Unspent Normal SP: 1 (+1)
Current AB: +3

(Alrighty, that should be that. I'm going to restock a couple grenades again and I should be good to go. I remember seeing some signs of a group with Jasper and Lance, not that far north of the Outpost? I'd look there or take any other directions the Alliance has, if that's been dealt with.) (edited)

(there are some folks out there with a settlement, right now they're in a useful position since they're keeping watch around the gate)

(Fair enough. Can I search around Dremlas for any rumors or solid info on where suspected groups might be? )

(We know Northfields is one such place, we would have to explore and try to spot any other new places)

(Okay, let's start there. I should be ready to head out.)

(did you want to do something solo or did you want to hang with Jasper and Oron? I know you've done a lot of group stuff lately)

(Lets go solo for a little bit)

A patrol south of Northfield is already being organized by other members of the IA inner circle and you think that any termies not caught in the dragnet might make their way north instead. You choose to set your picket here in the woodlands north of the city, where you might catch one of the foe. The land here is rolling and undulant, and you might be able to use northfields and the dangerous countryside to find any moving groups of people, or find places where the termies instinctually do not go.

Drang takes his gravcar slowly through the woods, hoping the engine might scare off anything primative. He keeps an eye out for any signs of human activity in the landscape; chopped trees, footpaths, cleared land, anything which says he might be in the right general area.

(survive/wis)

(6 total)

You find tracks heading northeast, away from thw woods and the ruins of the cities and you see two thin ruts that might resemble a cart being pulled by some kind of beast of burden

Drang exits the gravcar and examines the wheel tracks closely. (Do the tracks seem to lead from Northfields itself? And does it seem like they've traveled here frequently? I'm trying to get a gauge on why they went through here)

(from the west, and they skirted around the city)

8:14 AM

(Looks to be within the last week or so, its not super fresh, but there hasn't been enough wind and rain to make the ground featureless again, but the hard edges and shallowest parts of the tread marks are gone)

Drang gets back in his vehicle and follows the tracks northeast.

Heading northeast, you see the tracks coming into more definition, this looks to be slow moving convoy made of multiple vehicles traveling in single file.

2:42 PM

A clearing is ahead, about two kilometers from here and it looks like there might be a large fire burning there.

The sight of the smoke and fire unnerves Drang a little bit, This is either pretty good or really bad. Might as well be cautious. He slows his car somewhat, keeping an eye out for anything on the road or if it comes to an end. He'll stop to observe once he can make out any details on what's ahead.

There is a battle playing out ahead of you. A small force of settlers is doing what they can to protect their vehicles though one of the three mass conveyor vehicles they are operating has been set aflame. Fifty or so terminals fight half that number of organized settlers, and the remaining vehicles are doing their best to form a defensive ring to protect those who have dismounted from the oncoming attack.

Drang stomps on the brake and fumbles for his plasma gun and grenades in the other seat, cursing under his breath. He leans out the window, shouts, and fires towards the back of the terminal crowd, trying to drawn some attention towards his vehicle. (10/14 for the shot if you want an attack roll)

(That actually would have been a hit if it was just a pinch higher )

7:04 AM

The shot is loud and some of the terminals begin to look toward you, beginning to turn and charge at the new threat. The settlers are using the breathing room to organize a defense and it looks like one of them is trying to wave you over and get some vehicles moved to make a hole for you

(It's there enough room for my car to try and get through the crowd?)

(Yes)

Drang backs up, gripping the wheel tightly, and tries to speed around the crowd, towards the hole in the vehicle ring.

The group of people here allow you in before the ring closes again. Incoming fire sparks off armor plating and the closest of the pioneers gather around the car, trying to see who you are and how you might be able to help.

Drang steps out of the car and addresses the nearest settlers over the commotion, "I don't think we have much time to chat, but I'm Drang, from the Alliance. What happened?" (Looking at the group now, how many look armed? Trying to see what I'm working with.)

(of the pioneers, half are armed with old pattern laser rifles or rimworld semi auto rifles)

8:02 PM

(The rest are non-combatants)

(I currently have Telekinesis-3, is that enough force to pull one of these trees down on some termies?)

(I would say so given the weight you can manipulate)

Drang reaches a hand up towards a tree outside the ring of vehicles, focusing his mind on it, and yanks it down towards the crowding termies. (5/6 effort) "Don't let up now! Make some room for those guns!"

One of the trees falls, crushing a few and scattering the rest. You can see several more are cut down by gunfire as they're forced to move from their covered position. The attack is wavering, but has not broken just yet.

Drang pulls a grenade off his belt, shouting out to take cover, and hurls it towards the scattering termies, keeping his target good distance away from the trucks. (I'm using the bang more than the blast; aiming far enough that there's no real chance of hurting the settlers, even if it won't do much to the termies.)

(we can throw it like 40m I think, so we can probably still effect a hit on the closest if you wanted to try)

(Missed AC 10 on the throw. 7m off target for 6 damage. Probably aimed like 18-20m away?)

(works for me!)

10:09 AM

The grenade airbursts, damaging nothing but sends up a clod of dirt and smoke into the sky. No one on either side is bothered by the blast very much, as it exploded outside the main areas of contact.

Drang shields his face from the clearing smoke, Fuck, not doing that again. Instead, he summons a spark of electrokinesis into his off hand and flicks it towards two of the pioneers with laser weapons and energizes their arms. (Conduit & Shocking Assault, 3/6 effort for the scene). Drang raises his own rifle, "Lay into 'em!"

(We could power more if you wanted to commit more, up to you, combat is kinda loose right now)

(Alrighty, I'll spend another two effort and power up two more. 1 effort remaining for the scene)

Around you, some of the energy weapons grow with more intensity, their blasts setting small fires and destroying terminal bodies. Morale among the terminal horde breaks, and for now the explorers seem safe as the mutants flee into the woods.

Drang lowers his rifle as the tension fades. He releases the electrokinesis on the settlers' guns and turns back towards their group, "Alright, now that we have a moment to talk, why are you all out here?"

"We have been on the move for years now, everything went to shit and we never felt safe anywhere we went.

"Can't fault you for that, but there's a growing group far to the south that'd welcome you. More of a nation than a group, I should say, pushing north up the continent. The Inheritor's Alliance, based out of Dremlas."

"You're the first proof we have had that others survived The Scream .What's life there like? " settlers begin moving closer to hear, those with weapons at the outside of the group, casting nervous eyes over barricades in the event the enemy returns.

"Well, It's more normal than being on the road. We have a few arcane resonators to keep everything stable, and most people live normally. There's a few urban areas on land, and a... sea-platform of sorts which I oversee. 'No termies out there on the ocean."

"food, water? Enough to go around, all that stuff?" the caravan leader asks, looking at the sorry state of his traveling companions and their vehicles.

"Fairly, yeah. The outpost can only take forty to fifty, it has greenhouses and purifiers and all that. It's better than living on the road, I'm sure. There's work to be done for the supplies, of course, but nothing dangerous." Drang points southwest, towards the distant shore, "That aways, off the coastline. Dremlas is much farther south."

"That's about how many we have here...Won't need the vehicles anymore I suppose. What do you think for getting there, best route and all that. You seem well traveled"

"Those trucks could be useful, better than walking. We can follow the way I came from out of the woods, then it's southwest to the ocean. Let's just keep clear of Northfields."

(are you taking them back personally, or just dropping like the equivalent of a map pin for them?)

(I'll go back with them myself)

Returning to the coast, you are able to arrange transport for them- and by evening the first citizens of your new outpost look to be trying to settle in to what will be their new home.

3

11:58 AM

(3xp, 5000 credits)

(Okay, given the new situation with the Outpost, I think I have the need for a better vehicle. I'll make use of the vehicle shop for it. Can I get much for selling my gravcar?)

(whatever its worth is, you'd just get the full value on a sell)

Okay, built up a helicopter with more fittings. My gravcar was 50k and my vehicle shop reduces the new price to 64.6k, so I'm down 14,600c. I'll drop it in the garage channel if it's all clear.

(please do! it looks great though!)

(Alrighty, done. As for what next, I don't have any personal goals that strike me right now. Is there opportunity for progress on that Salivite/psychic forge idea from a while back?)

(there is! We learned a few things about the metal, I think the next thing would be designing the facility, finding a site, and a quest to find a psionic anchorpoint to make the heart of the forge which is probably a couple quests as well )

2

(Excellent. Could Stratus Outpost serve as the facility? I have 8 points of spare power and workspace each. Else, I'd look to make it somewhere in or around Dremlas, for the infrastructure and security.)

(We'd need more than Stratus Outpost could provide right now)

(Fair enough, then buying out a plot near Dremlas would be the next thing I'd look into. What's needed of me to get this underway?)

(We can say it’s near or within the city. Even at the academy site itself. I think adventure wise we should try to find the psionic anchor point for its core first so we will need to explore and find some leads )

(I'll buy a plot within the city to get started.)

(Sounds good. That’s not anything we need to rp really, the real adventure now is trying to get some rumors or leads of where an anchor point might be

In order to gain a foundation for his search, Drang heads to the Dremlas Academy to consult their library on the nature of psionic anchors and how they form.

(connect/cha or know/int, your call. FIgured its either talking to professors or doing research in books)

(Hitting the books, Int/Know for 8)

There were rumors of a psionic anchorpoint on one of the worlds surrounding Saliv, where originally pre-scream Alliance members were planning an expedition. The anchorpoint was supposed to allow the psychics attached to the expedition a way to communicate home, and the equipment is thought to be lost on one of the surrounding worlds. Reclaimed, and repurposed, it would provide a fitting core of your forge.

1

Drang keeps looking, if he can, shifting his focus towards these expeditions and their goals, to see how he might trace their steps to find them.

(The only hint we have right now is its on one of the worlds within a spike 3 of Saliv)

(Fair enough. That's a lot of area to cover. Can anything else be done to learn about recognizing an anchorpoint before I head out?) (edited)

(we got the best lead we can here but with the way I do adventures you'll always get a lead somewhere)

Drang wracks his brain over the worlds near Saliv, Psalairon is closest, I might as well start there. The people there aren't in a good situation either, from what I've heard. I need to make sure I'm prepared. Leaving the academy, Drang sets out to gather some gear for the venture. And find transport out of the system for him and his heli.

1x Grenade - 25c
3x Rations -15c
1x Spare Parts - 50c
9x Trade Goods - 450c
Total: 540 credits

(I'm doubting Psalairon respects credits, so I'm buying some trade goods just in case I need a bribe or something with some of the less advanced folk. Just so we're on the same page.) (edited)

(I think that is a very smart idea )

8:17 AM

(I know IA has the Steelhead, or we can take one of our warships if you like now that we have a few)

(One of the Warships I guess, I'm all ready to set out)

(did you want me to send you some stats and you can pick?)

(I might as well get the stats for 'em, yeah)

(I'd say the nautulus or one of the condors is probably an easy pick, I don't think our flagship would be something you'd want to pull from defending Saliv)

4:33 PM

(Yeah, one of the condors will do. Don't think I need anything too big.)

(sounds good. Did we want to travel with a full crew compliment ? )

(I don't think a full crew is necessary, no)

(alright, whats our destination? )

(IA has worked with the rebels on Psalairon before, I believe. Let's start with their encampment and see what they might know.)

(lance is there right now actually too. five days of downtime to get there)

1:26 PM

(one day**, and lance is on a different world haha my bad)

(All good. I'll put the downtime into trainung Stab-0, practing with the weapons in the ship's armory.)

The fight seems to still be raging and you can see black smears on the planet around the swamp region where the Rebels have made their holdfast, and last stand. Months ago. Thia Nightbreeze helped lead a rebel scouting expedition that bought the locals time, but the tide of resistance is once again turning against them as the Empire has dispatched more legions to the area. Thus far, both sides have been cordial with the Inheritor Alliance, as those who have seen your involvement with the rebels have not lived to tell the tale.

Drang starts gathering his gear and addresses the pilot, "Set down where you can and we'll walk the rest of the way, landing a ship in their camp won't make a good first impression anyways."

There is a field outside the woods used for this purpose and on cue three rebel scouts emerge from the fens to investigate , now used to ships landing in the area from the alliance.

Drang exits once they touch down, calmly waving towards the scouts, "Greetings from Saliv! Does your leadership have time to speak with a stranger?"

“They do. Get your ship back into space before the empire sees it, and then you and whoever you want to come with you should come with us”

Drang will do so, returning to the ship. He'll request a few of the crew to gear up and come with, if they're willing to.

(how many we thinking, 3 ish?)

(Yeah, that works)

Three of the ship's security detail are assigned to come with you, kitted out in laser rifles and combat armor. The frigate pulls away, heading back into the safety of orbit so you can avoid detection. Moving with the scouts, you're taken a half hours walk through the swamp on a combination of tree platforms, ropes, and a small barge crossing the stinking and fetid water. The rebel council is made up of five men and women of various ages- all of them coming from a low build wooden bunker to speak with you.

Drang gives them a small bow, "My name is Drang, from the Inheritor's Alliance. I'm here to track down an Alliance vessel which likely came through Psalairon and might still be here. If you have any info I could use, I'd be happy to bargain for it."

(talk/cha)

(4)

'no leads on that unfortunately, but while you're here maybe you'd be willing to help us anyway?"

The view of the landscape on entry to the planet floats in Drang's mind, They're way worse off than I thought. And the ship left years ago, its not gonna go anywhere in the next few days. "Well, I'm not exactly in a rush here, what do you have?"

"Do you know how to drive? or how to create explosives? We're going to raid one of the Empire's garrisons nearby, and try to push them back from the swamp. Your friend Thia helped us a great deal a few months ago, and we've been able to keep most of the containing fortifications back- we want to buy ourselves even more breathing room"

"Explosives I can do, I have a few with me too. Do you have materials on hand?"

"We do, and can get more, but we do not have the expertise to make something out of the odds and ends we've gathered. That is where we thought maybe you could come in"

"Alright, I'll see what I can do." Drang turns to his compatriots, "This is more of a personal matter than what we came here seeking. If any of you want to call back the ship, I won't stop you, but I'm certain your help would be appreciated here as well."

Their job is to help you, and they plan to stick around. They can also take some time to appraise the rebels of the wider universe, and observe some training to correct any issues theymight be seeing.

(Very well. If that's settled, I'll follow through with the rebel leaders and see what I'm working with.)

The rebels have a hodgepodge amount of gear and goods on them to work with , and it seems as though you are going to be responsible for working something of a miracle with the loose odds and ends they have, most of the chemicals are well past their use by date, which will make for unpredictable reactions .The casings and packings look little better- as amateur home bomb makers have done what they can to try to make devices, but most look to be incredibly dangerous and the work of amateurs who know just enough to be dangerous,

Drang sets about organizing the camp's supplies to the best of his ability, throwing out the worst of their supplies and emphasizing the need for certainty when working with explosives. "A potential dud could be worse than having nothing at all" The bulk of Drang's time actually crafting bombs is done to demonstrate to the rebel sappers techniques in effectively shaping an explosive charge. To utilize their decent casing and packaging material in order to maximize the power of the shoddy accelerants.

(Fix/int or lead/cha, your pick)

(10 for Fix/Int)

It looks as though you're going to be able to make some explosives from whats here and train a few of the rebels in doing so. Their plan is to use them on an Empire motor pool near the edge of the woods, hopefully hampering the flow of supplies and troops into the region.

11:43 AM

Thus far, the rebels have been on the defensive the entire war.

Drang will guide them until the rebels gain confidence in their plan, if they weren't already. He'll donate the two grenades Drang brought and the TL4 trade supplies to the rebels, and express that he's willing to lend more backline assistance. But he's hesitant to do anything that that'll let the Empire know IA its helping the rebellion, especially when he's here of his own accord.

(even support from a distance is more than they hav,e if you want to join the raiding party)

(Yeah, I'll join in for this)

Six rebel scouts have been assembled for the task, with you making the seventh member of the team providing more longer range and material support. The target is a large garrison north of the wood where vehicles are being assembled to cut the trees down. Previous attempts to surround the swamps, and attempts to pump it out have both been halted, and this looks to be a last ditch effort by the Empire to reign in a troublesome region.

Drang does his best to insulate himself from the swamp with his clothing and armor, fearing what the bog water might hold, and overlays some cloth from the camp in a makeshift cloak. Hopefully appearing more like the Rebel than a foreigner, from a distance at least. He approaches the other scouts, "I'm all set over here. So, how do we want to approach this? Laying a trap for them or straight sabotage?"

"We don't want those machines to get close to the woods, even if it means drawing them into a trap and trashing them. If we can burn then at their staging grounds,and take out some of the people responsible for fixing or driving them, I think that sets us up well for future success"

"Alright, let's head for the depot then."

(this didn't light for me, my bad)

1:25 PM

(sneak/dex )

(It's all good, 9 on the check)

You make it to the edge of the wood and are not detected by the sentries the Empire has placed at the edge of the wood. They're armed with a mix of weapons, half of them do not have guns at all, and the ones that do are using old model Rimworlder weapons, or what look to be family weapons passed down from a time where hunting was more common. You can see the depot ahead, 500m away just beyond the edge of the forest. It is not walled, but the flat dirt lot is being looked over by a guard tower where two marksmen keep an eye on the long grass between the wood and this place.

(How do the vehicles look? Do they have any guns on them?)

(They're standard looking construction vehicles. Cutting machines and stuff, not military variants)

Drang keeps low amongst the grass and readies a one of the charges, "I'll try an distract those two in the watch tower." he whispers to the other scouts, "I'm not sure how long it'll last, so set the charges where you can." (Okay, I have a couple ideas to form a distraction. For one, am I able to jump start one of these vehicles using Conduit? Just to pull the guard's attention for a bit, not actually moving the thing.)

(if conduit gives you te equivalent of a Type B , yes)

(That I do, EK-2 right now.) Sneaking closer to the depot, Drang toys over his idea in his head and prays the vehicles aren't too strangely constructed. Once in range, Drang reaches his arm out towards a parked vehicle and makes a quick flick of his wrist, forcing electrical current out of the battery. (5/6 effort)

There is a blast of machine noise and black smoke begins to vent from the roof of the vehicle. The smoke stack vibrates gently. There is attention turning inwards now, as everyone is surprised by the machine turning on all of the sudden and without an operator.

Drang creeps up to one of the vehicles nearest to the edge and begins to plant an explosive, keeping an eye on the two guards and if they take action.

(sneak/dex)

(7)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6-1] Roll: [2, 2] Result: 3

You’re not seen sneaking into the motorpool , the guards busy with trying to figure out why things are suddenly turning on.

(Are the guards up at the vehicle in question?)

(Still in their guard tower, haven't come down just yet)

6:50 PM

(They didnt notice you, so they haven't been alarmed to the point where they'd abandon their post to check it out)

Drang takes a moment to mentally debate himself, If they see me, they'll shoot. If I take them out, it'll be loud. Last think I need is more coming out of the swamp behind us. Damn it all. After a second, an idea comes to him. Drang peaks past some of the vehicles, towards the tower, and begins to drawing a simple shape in the air with his fingers. (I'd like to try using Tangible Force Construct to box in the top of the watch tower. A literal box outside the entrance and windows, just incase they try to leave or shoot me. Keeping it invisible. I'll use multiple effort if it's beyond 3m^3.)

(We would need two effort if that’s available for you)

(Alright. 3 effort remaining. I'm just gonna keep setting the bombs a this point)

(How many do you have? There are four machines in total here, one has been rigged already)

(I don't think we specified if I have the bombs we made or the other scouts do. Either way, I'm continuing or waving the others up to help.)

(I think we would have asked for them if you were th eonly one sneaking forward)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6] Roll: [5, 2] Result: 7

You are not spotted as you plant the second charge, and even if you were, the force construct would prevent the tower guards from shooting you. Thus far they are paying attention to the first vehicle, seeming to run on its own, but doing little else.

(I guess I'm gonna keep sneaking around for as long as it works. Another check?)

(One more )

(As soon as I say that, I roll a 4)

As you go to plant the last charge you are spotted by one of the guards in the tower. They go to fire, their shots hitting the force construct and not you, but the sound can be heard for a great distance around, and the alarm is being raised.

Drang breaks into a run towards the last two vehicles, cursing under his breath all the while. He begins setting the 3rd charge as he prays for the barriers to hold.

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d12+2] Roll: [6] Result: 8

The shots spark into the barrier, cracking it but not breaching it just yet as you slide and plant your third charge.

That's not gonna hold long enough, damn it. Drang stands up, not wasting another moment thinking, and faces the tower. The gunfire rings out, everyone knows that this can't go smoothly anymore, and adrenaline builds. Drang gathers his building, panicked energy into his closed fist. Preparing to unleash it on the scout tower. (Starting Telekinetic Ram on the tower. Dropping the box after next round, if it's still up ofc.)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d12+2] Roll: [12] Result: 14

The construct falls, the shots ripping away the last of its telekinetic projection, but you are unhurt as you slide into position. The tower will be slammed by a wave of psychic energy in a few seconds,and the guards will not get out in time, even if they were to jump.

Drang keeps on towards his final target, without a moment to spare nor the wish to see the men get crushed. (Shall I roll damage on the ram or is it handled? Two effort left also, I forgot to say it yesterday.)

(Tower might endure the hit if we roll low)

11:46 AM

(So we should roll the damage)

(20 dmg on the roll)

The tower's base is still standing as your ram smashes into it. Wood and metal fly everywhere as do the bodies of the troopers within before hitting the ground.

Drang keeps his head low and he works on the final charge and, once placed, begins to run back towards the scouts and the swamp. He isn't able to bring himself to investigate the bodies, nor does he want to waste the time. Jogging back into the grasses, Drang keeps an eye and ear out for any signs of alarm from the swamp.

(The charges can be timed or remote.

4:06 PM

(Up to you when you go out )

(Let's do timed, with a decently long timer, say 15 minutes. Better not pull too much attention while I'm so close.) (edited)

(Bump)

(Thanks, this didn't light for me)

12:38 PM

(I think the timer would more or less go off upon you getting the treeline)

(That works for me. I'm going to find the rest of the scouts and start our exit)

(sneak/dex)

(3)

There is a shout from one of the responding guards and you see him yelling something into a radio before the charges blow, destroying the motorpool and the guards sent to secure the area when your intrusion was detected. The Empire has been dealt a serious blow in the region.

2

1

7:13 PM

(3xp, 5000 credits)

Drang journeys back to the rebel encampment, trying (and failing, evidently) to keep his head down. Once he reports in, if nothing else takes his notice, Drang will hail the IA ship for pick up.

(We knew our original mission did not end here, but the rebels are happy for IA help, and if they one day win the planet will no doubt look fondly on a partnership of some kind)

(Duvisildi seems to be our next stop. The world anvil puts them as TL3, do I know how much exposure they've gotten to off-planet civilizations? Just wanna know what I'm walking into.)

(we've passed through the system , no one has landed on the surface to the recollection of my notes)

(Damn. And after that, Amphe doesn't look to have much and Afta-Al doesn't come up on the world anvil, so I assume no one's visited it?)

(Correct. No scouting report means no one has ever gone)

(Understood, Let's head on to Duvisildi. I'll do stab-0 for downtime again.)

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/iron-stars-nekosmash/a/duvisildi-location (You got it. They can’t talk to space so it’s up to you how you’d want to go about landing and contacting anyone , or if you even want to attempt that )

Duvisildi

(Not too keen on making first contact yet. That wreckage and landmass in the northeast seems interesting. Let's start there.)

(Which of the two did we want to check out? Or did you mean those dark mountains the wreckage is around)

(The latter, sorry. The wreckage of the Winterstar.) (edited)

(d10 on landing! Lets do this!)

(big 7)

The mountains are rugged and dark as your ship comes down to land. The stone is almost black and is wreathed in what looks to be a thick fog that never burns away. A ruined battleship fallen from orbit has plowed its own grave into the side of the mountain here, shedding wreckage and hull plating across the landscape. Nature has begun reclaiming it, as have flocks of sea birds coming to nest in the ruins.

7:41 AM

It looks like once some sort of colonial effort had been attempted using the wreck of the ship as a bootstrap shelter. Those efforts have since been abandoned.

Drang gathers his gear and the security detail, and departs towards the wreckage. Scanning over the surroundings with his enhanced optics, the dark landscape keeps him on edge.

(notice/wis )

(10)

You begin looking around the area and notice that this has been abandoned for some time. The inhabitants of this former colony were most certainly human, and would have only occupied the site for a half year at the most. The time since abandonment has been years as opposed to months.

With no signs of immediate danger in the area, Drang leads the group towards an entrance to the wreckage and peering inside.

(I'll get you a ship floorplan. )

(Where would we be entering from? Somewhere on the sides I assume)

(The bottom side, either the two wings or the airlock area, you;d get to take your pick)

Drang leads the group through the fore-wing, examining the hull up close to check for any obvious signs of what took it out of the sky.

(We can make it to the bridge the easiest from here, did we want to try to hit that first?)

(That's what I was thinking, yeah)

Entering the vessel through the forewing, it looks as though you have a straight shot to one of the bunker decks where the crew would have sheltered in the event of a battle or crash. From there, the bridge is to the eastern side of the vessel.

(As we're entering, is there any sign of battle damage or whatever else might have crashed this thing? )

There do not seem to be signs of battle damage on the ship, but there is damage in some of the interior compartments you pass before getting to the cafeteria. Whatever happened, it came from within.

Drang readies his plasma projector, growing tense at the signs of combat, and heads down the hall towards the bridge.

The bridge doors are unlocked, a sign that the ship was not in the midst of a space battle when it came here to wreck. The bridge space is vast, copper handrails lead down into a crew pit where the hundred strong bridge crew would have been split among five different departments. There is signs of damage here, though there are no bodies. The damage looks as though once again this was done internally. You see no evidence of gunfire.

Drang walks the breadth of the bridge, whistling admiratively at the size of the place, Here's hoping whoever smashed this place is long gone. His attention focuses on the control consoles. Internal damage, and not from combat- not a firefight, anyways. Was this some kind of mutiny? An animal? Drang looks around for any of consoles that might work, or at least be repairable.

The captain's console looks to be repairable, but it will be in need of power upon fixing it.

(Is conduit at EK2 enough to power it?)

(yes)

Drang opens his toolbox and gets to work on the console. He pulls out the power cables and grasps the severed ends, completing the circuit in his hands as he draws power into it and tests the displays.

(we can ask questions to the database)

Drang searches through the console for evidence of what caused so much damage to the Wynterstar.

The ship went down in the immediate wake of The Scream. There is talk of the "psionic core" being jettisoned over the ocean as the vessel came down, and the psychic crew members on board this once powerful warship going feral and destroying vital systems, and killing their crewmates indiscriminately. Upon hitting the atmosphere, all focus became on getting the ship to crash flat like a piece of paper, and not plunging into the ocean like a spear, as it would have killed everyone aboard.

10:10 AM

Once the ship had crashed and the survivors had settled, kill-teams of surviving ship marines began working through the decks, gradually eliminating the ferals. The work took close to a week before the last was subdued. From there, it was evident this ship was not getting into space again, and that no one was out there listening. The crew elected to try to make whatever life they could in these dangerous highlands, but now, there is no evidence of them.

Feral psychics, of course. Why didn't I think of that? Drang sits down in the captain's chair, leaning back and staring at the battered room as he thinks. And the anchor's off ship; sunk or maybe floating, or picked up by the locals. My lucky day... Drang tries to collect info from the reports and schematics to learn about the psychic anchor itself; If it or it's housing would be able to float on the water, or if it could have survived the fall at all.

(program/int, because that info would be heavily encrypted)

(9)

Based on the last recorded telemetry, the core was ejected into the ocean near the lone mountainous island in the planet's southeast. Seawyche, a settlement built onto an overland coral reef is the closest point of interest.

Well, that's a start. Drang continues to dig through the files before wrapping. He searches for any records on the ship's cargo and documents from after the crash, to see if there's anything left worth salvaging here.

The ship was a military vessel and most of its stores were limited to the immediate food, water, and air needs of its crew, as well as assorted small arms for the marines on board. Given the evidence of a colonization project here you would imagine most of said cargo was consumed, or was carried off by wherever the crew vanished to.

Drang gathers his tool up and heads back to the ship to inform the rest of the crew of the developments. On take off, Drang asks for a quick scan over this island for any signs of ruins or camps. If there are still remains of Alliance soldiers, it may be possible to still take them back to their home for a proper burial.

(I know we just did a program/int, but we'll need one for the sensors on the shuttle and we'll see what kind of ground picture we can paint)

(6)

The mountains defeat scans after a few meters of rock. Everything else is quiet here, and dark, and it does not look like there is any sign of life on this mountainous highland aside from yourself, and your crew.

With a tinge of guilt, Drang orders the crew on towards the coordinates of Seawyche.

(did you want to land at the settlement or are we going to try to explore where we think the anchorpoint is? I know there was some hesitation on meeting the locals at first)

(Let's see try and explore a bit first)

Seawyche is a settlement built over the entirety of a coral reef island poking over the surface of the ocean here. There is not a hint of ground that has not been developed in some way. A sea wall surrounds the settlement to help give it some resilience against the tides, and numerous industrial sized pumps around the settlement help ensure it stays above water. Several thousand people look to live both in the city, and on the carnival of houseboats moored at the series of docks and piers surrounding the city.

(Would the ship's sensors be able to help scan the area? Do I know if the anchor emits anything we can detect?)

(We know its not at the city, its on the mountainous island near it , or around there, but as far as giving off signals, it's probably unpowered, so conventional scans would not do anything here)

(I see. I think I misunderstood your initial description of its location. Apologies.) Drang guides the ship over to the lone mountain to the west, and to land if it looks clear. Any signs of impact or disturbance on the rocks would be their prime target.

You can see a trail of micro impacts that lead from the mountain peak, down the western face of the mountain, and down the rocky beach into the ocean. Shards of metal and cabling also make up parts of this impact trail, letting you know it did come from a ship.

Drang asks the pilot to set down for a closer look. Guessing at the state of the core would be helpful, moving forward.

Setting down on the beach the pilot begins the normal checks now that you're on the ground. It looks like you're the only living thing on this island aside from sea birds nesting in the higher reaches of the rocky mountain that dominates this landmass.

Drang gets out towards the beach and picks over the pieces remaining around the impact site, looking out for any signs the anchor survived impact.

The wreckage close to the beach looks to be thicker and more well put together. You will need to dive off the coast of the island to find the rest.

(Damn, we don't have equipment for that on the ship, do we?)

(you could be underwater with a vacc suit, as far as something to lift it, the ship could probably hover and try to raise it, there would be some checks involved for sure, but its possible)

(We might have to go with that.) Drang retreats to grab pressurized equipment, securing it over his cybernetic sections as thoroughly as possible. He wades into the water and begins searching for the anchor's housing.

Entering the water , visibility is good. There is a steady 200m gradual descent, and you can see the object at the end of a large drag in the sediment. There is a large eel coiled around the anchorpoint.

7:09 AM

Drang weighs the situation for a moment, looking over the alien fauna. (How large is large here, btw? Do I have any estimate of its length? )

(the picture is to scale, so it would be about the size of a starship reactor)

8:06 AM

(it is certainly a large object, i would say the anchor point would be the size of a small car)

(I'm sorry, I should have clarified. How big is the eel?)

The eel is a thinner member of its species, it is about seven meters long, with sharp teeth

Drang swims back, for good clearance from the eel. Drang concentrates on a point in the water 10m or so above the anchor and forms a node of explosive force in the space. Drang prays that the shockwave scared off the beast. (Telekinetic Ram, 5/6 effort left)

(it takes a full turn in between using it, and and its effect. I would say the disturbance gets its attention, so lets roll initiative)

(6 for initiative)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d8] Roll: [1] Result: 1

(I'm imagining you've cast it, then we've jumped into initiative, but for the sake of timing, you can do something else now, the eel will go, and then the ram will go off)

Drang backs up, clumsily distancing himself underwater. Then, he wisks his hand infront on him quickly, as if slamming a door. A telekinetic barrier manifests itself in front of him, just in case the eel is more vicious than he thought. (Tangible Force Contruct, invisible panel right in front of me. 4/6 effort left. Backed up my full movement.)

Like a torpedo the long eel fires forward and slams into the barrier, stunned and unsure of where it is, or w hat has happened, just as the telekinetic ram connects with its rear section. Stunned and then knocked out, the eel begins to float away.

As the water settles around him, Drang returns to shore and informs the crew. Positioning them and the ship to try and pull the anchor out of the sea bed. Drang returns to the water afterwards to guide the operation at the source.

(fix.int, for hooking things up)

(12 total)

You connect the four anchor points as best you are able. Returning to the surface, everything looks to be in order.

Drang retreats to a safe distance and signals for the ship to do it's thing, fighting off his anxiety over the psi-tech machine.

Your connections look to have been done perfectly. The dark shape of the core begins to rise from the depths, a slowly growing dark ripple, before it splashes through the surface in a wall of white water. Engineers aboard announce things look to be undamaged ,aside from what the initial impact with the sea did to it. The Alliance can likely troubleshoot the device from here. (6xp, 100,000 credits)

12:43 PM

(Excellent work!)

3

(Thank you! That xp levels me up, I'll get that sorted this evening. I guess Drang will just start heading back to Saliv for the time being.)

Level Up
Level: 8
Old HP: 30
HP Roll: 35 + 8 CON
New HP: 43
New Skills: Fix-3
Unspent Psi SP: 1 (+1 Psy-Training)
Unspent Normal SP: 0 (-1)
Current AB: +4

(edited)

(I was talking toJasper about an out of time misison for everyone to get the forge built and running, I'll finish hammering out those details today)

(Gotcha. Definitely interested in that)

( looks like we've done what we can do on the forge for now, and that was sort of the culmination of this last set of adventures, so I'm good to get into whatever you want to do next)

(I think I'm in need of a better weapon, my plasma projector's range is less than stellar. Can I set about making a mastercraft breach rifle? I know they're TL5, but IA exclusive, so I don't know if that's outside the bounds for me to just buy.)

(You can buy a breach rifle. Mastercrafting allows you to mount a mod, and not have to maintain it. 10x cost and any pretech if the mod calls for it would still apply)

(Alright. I want to save on my maint score and I have credits to blow. So, I'll sell my plasma projector take the time to mastercraft the following)

MC Dremlas Breach Rifle - 8,500c
Boosted (Inherent MC Mod. +2 dmg, 2 Maint) - 2,000c
Customized (+1 atk for me only, 2 Maint) - 1,000c
Autotargeting (+1 atk, 1 Maint) - 4,000c
Total: 15,500c & 3 maint.

(okay, we have in the future room to add 1 to hit bonus and 1 to damage before its capped on those particular stats)

(Okay, I have a goal to mastercraft an item that I'll mark off as well. I have a goal to find a pretech toolkit and then some others to try and craft various high-tier stuff. Especially with the forge up and running, I think I want to try and get my hands on better tools, if that's possible.)

(It would run sort of similarly to how we looked for the anchorpoint, looking for a lead, and then following it, probably stopping at a planet or two on our hunt and getting involved in little things there)

(I'm down with that. Should the search begin on Saliv or should I start looking at other systems?.)

(I think we can check out another system first, the other IA planet was former perimeter agency, we could start there to see if they know anything since during Mandate and then Tenebrian Empire times they were the stewards of high technology)

(Usrixeesma? Sounds good to me.)

(Yep! its three days of downtime and we'll kick that off!)

(Alrighty, continuing my Stab-0 training. 6/90 days.)

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/iron-stars-nekosmash/a/usrixeesma-location Arriving in system, it looks as though the former base is the only location with a Alliance transponder code coming from it. Dr. Bottas is doing what he can here to try to recover those he can from the countryside and get them to the safety of the bastion he is creating, but the country side is lawless, full of bandits, and contingents of marooned Rachk raiders.

Usrixeesma

(That power plant seems a good target to find tools. From a flyby, can I tell how much damage it's sustained?)

(no one's actually been there before! I'll get something together!)

10:08 AM

(lets get a program/int on flyby for sensors)

(12 on the check)

Passing over the power plant, it looks as though 50% of the structure has been entirely destroyed. Only one of the coolant stacks is still functional along with its attached reactor bank. Its transformers, battery banks, and other power transmission equipment need to be entirely overhauled. It also looks as though the undersea tables that bring current across the continent to the Perimeter agency base have been cut. This power plant once handled the burden for almost the entire planet based on its scale, as settlements were few and far between.

(Any indications on the scanners if if radiation's going to be an issue?)

(just in the coolant stack area where the reactor itself is, not the entire site)

Drang guides the ship to set down on the outskirts of the plant's grounds, grabs his equipment and sets on out to survey. Damn, what a mess... Wonder who'd have thought this was worth the effort to destroy. (Do I know if Lance's mission includes restoring this place at all? I doubt it's in reach for me to do, especially with the undersea cables, but I can see what it'll take.)

(Lance hung out on the landmass with the base at it, and has been exclusively trying to rescue people from the little hamlets over there so you're actually the first person who has looked beyond that central area)

Drang proceeds forward, heading towards the largest still-standing sections. He strolled around the perimeter first, visually inspecting the building's integrity and looking for any signs of life on the inside.

There is a pack of squatters here. They look to be human and not a Rachk war party taking cover here. There are between twenty and thirty survivors taking shelter here in the crumbling dorm stacks

Drang considers the crumbling dorms, Sneaking around their home's only going to get me shot at, probably. Not that I'd blame them, they probably need help. Let's hope their amiable. Drang approaches the dorm stack, weapon slung over his back, and tries to get the squatter's attention.

One of the squatters notices you approaching and calls out to the others. The sounds inside are others moving around and three armed human squatters come out the ground side door. They’re armed with battered rimworlder semi auto rifles though they’re held low.

Drang hides his reaction to the strange squatters and continues his approach, "You all stuck here?" He hollers, "I'm not looking for a fight."

“Well not looking for a fight. This is our home now. She’s not much to look at, but we aren’t stuck”

"I see, I'm sorry for intruding then." Drang continues, moving the subject away from the state of their home, "I came looking for tools, special ones for pretech artefacts like that reactor. If you folk have seen any around the power plant, I didn't bring much to trade, but I'm sure we can work something out."

"Tools eh? something fancy? Won't find it here so much, but there's plenty of ruins around. We saw plenty of engineering wreckage in the area"

8:42 AM

"We can make you a map, but we're going to want something in return"

Drang nods emphatically towards the strangers, "That'd be useful to me. Didn't bring much to offer, but I know my way around machines and facilities like this. Anything you want fixed or found around here?" He gestures to the infrastructure around them.

One of them nods to the group inside the building and after a moment of silence a pair of battered primitive drones are brought out. "We found both of them in the woods nearby. No one here has the skill to fly them, as you can see. We tried. You know anything about drones? Or how to fix them?"

The Ashen One grunts, "Not my specialty, but let me see what I can do. I have some spare parts on me." Drang steps forward to inspect one of the drones.

Both of the drones are mangled and will need several hours of workshop time to get into flying shape again. Three spare parts are also going to be needed for each model.

Drang takes the scrappy drones and opens up the housing, "Really crashed these things... I can fix it, just need some time and a place to work." (I have enough scrap with me to fix up one, and I'll use the Ashen One feature to scrounge a few more spare parts from the ruined sections of the plant, if that works.)

(Sure! I think that is perfect, and your exploration ship will have a workshop on it)

(Alrighty, is a roll needed for this?)

(nope! you're naturally skilled enough, and we have the parts and the facilities for it)

Drang brings the remnants of the drones back onto the ship and to the workshop, setting them down as he contemplates the squatters. Old drones, old rifles, and a crumbling hideout. Well, if they're content then who am I to complain? he thinks to himself, as he gets to work, They probably just didn't trust me. We'll see if that turns around.

The two drones are repaired after several hours. The workshop has what you need in it and the sun is low in the sky when you return to the locals that are hiding here. They are less heavily armed this time and seem impressed at the quality of the repair work

Drang hands them the drones, "Repaired, try them if you wish. Do you have the locations of the wreckages?"

"A promise for a promise" the local working as spokeman agrees. A crumbling soccer arena to the north, a bombed out vehicle workshop to the east, and the half sunken wreck of a surface warship to the south are the likely places the locals have picked out

Drang nods, looking over the coordinates, "These'll do, thank you." He looks over at the crumbling power plant, "You know, there's a haven being built in the old Perimeter Agency site far south of here, across the water. Inheritor Alliance forces are conducting it, It's far safer than out here."

"News hadn't come out here yet. Safer eh? Know anything else about it?" their spokesman asks.

"Haven't been there myself yet, I planned on going out there if looking here fell through." Drang says, recording the coords in his dataslab, "But IA is trying to get everyone out of the countryside. Safety through numbers... and defensible infrastructure." He puts his equipment away, "What did happened to Usrixeema anyways? Everything I've seen so far looks like it's been hit hard. The Rachk I take it?"

"The Scream, and then the Rachk. Their ship left, but there's thousands of them on the planet still. They're making a real good time of it. We fled here, trying to lay low. Haven't had any encounters yet, but it'll happen before long. World is getting more dangerous by the day"

"Sounds like the Rachk. Well, we could drop you all off at the Bastion. It'd be a quick trip in a ship. I can come back after poking around those sites."

"We'll think about it. You're askign us to give up our home and our freedom. At least out here, we all know what tomorrow will bring, and make our own luck. Why don't you check those places out first and we'll see about leaving after that. We'll need time to pack anyway if we decide to leave"

8:16 AM

(Also lance is here, and back, if you wanted to meet up for some exploring together)

1

"I understand, I'll check back in the coming days." Drang takes his leave. (Yeah, a tag up sounds cool.)

Upon looking at your comms station back on your ship you see that @Rey (Shriven) is also on the planet, taking ownership of an enclave nearby on the central continent. The former perimeter agency soldiers under his command have raised a safe fastness for several hundred people , and the work has been completed this month. Lance has once again made himself available for tasking, now that this leg of the project is self sustaining and safe from the marauding Rachk in the countryside.

Drang hooks his dataslab up to the comms station and types up a message for transmission to the fortress, addressed to Lance.

Dr. Bottas,

It's good to see a fellow Alliance member out here. My name is Drang, the pleasure is mine. I've gotten coordinates from some locals about a handful of sites I planned on exploring; A stadium, a vehicle shop, and the remains of a warship. They might have some useful resources for the bastion, I'm just here for any pretech tools I can find. 

If these sites interest you, we can go as a team. Safety in numbers, after all. If one piques your interest, let me know and I'll meet you there.

- Drang Saigarn

Drang, that sounds wonderful! I would rather not have to take my shuttle there mins picking me up?

Not at all. I'll head right there. Drang preps for take off towards the southern continent.

(up to you if you want to describe your compound Lance, or if you don't have the spoons yet, I can too. Up to you)

As you fly towards the compound you see a tank rolling down the road with a squad sitting on top. Then as you crest the hill you see a basic starport next to a compound with a oddly flowing wall around the outside. The compound is large enough that it could almost be a small town. Complete with a district of housing, Medical clinic, multiple armories and in the center of it all a large restored satellite dish houses what is obviously a communications hub. As you get closer you notice that right behind the walls there are a series of odd protrusions that from the sky you see are a series of antipersonnel emplacements. Over the raidio you hear, "Velcome to Espoir, the hope of Usrixeesma." The voice becomes muffled like the head has turned away from the microphone, "No I said disable the stinger battery not enable, sacre bleu do you not understand vhat I am saying?" Then the voice refocuses, "I vill meet you at the starport and again Velcome."

Drang pauses, hoping he he didn't hear what he thought he heard, "Right, thank you. I'll set down ASAP." He follows through with his word and sets down in the spaceport. The diminutive ashen one sets down the IA vessel and steps out to examine the massive bastion around him.

Lance, a large man in a white lab coat walks towards the landing pad. He has a large blade next to his hip and a backpack on. “Hello, I’m Lance, are you Drang? It is a pleasure to meet you here. This has been a long effort of love. Vhat do you think?”

Drang is an ashen one, heavily cybernetic and covered head to toe in traveling gear and satchels of equipment, including an entire comms unit worn like a backpack. He extends his arm up to Lance for a handshake, "Indeed. I was told this was a bastion, there seems no better word for it. I'm impressed at the scope of the defenses. Do the Rachk cause much trouble out here?"

Lance shakes his hand. “Ve had some trouble a few months ago but having a tank and such strong defense is a strong reason to leave us alone.” Lance drops the handshake, “Vell let’s get down to business, I don’t know vhat you know about me but I’m a psychic vho usually uses blades. I can heal and build or repair stuff rather quickly. If I vere to choose vhich ve vould go to I vould choose the varship.” Lance says with his French accent coming through strongly.

"I've no issue with that. I'm psychically capable as well, particularly through telekinesis, but engineering is my forte. It's good to know you're good with a blade, I'd rather stay in the back with a rifle." Drang turns back to the towards the IA ship, "I'm ready to head out if you are. The warship is half-sunk to my knowledge, some survivors squatting in the power plant to the north told me. They were considering coming to Espoir, a few dozen of them."

“Vell ve have the room. Ve are currently at 300 and can probably fit over double that before ve have issues.” Lance chuckles as he walks towards the ship. “Honestly I just vant to get out there and see vhat has happened. It has been a long 9 months of building. Are you ready or do you need something?”

"No, let's get going." Drang walks with Lance back to the ship and prepares to take off, heading for the warship's coordinates.

The derelict vessel is the size of a cruiser and has washed up abeam of the beach. The hole in its side below the waterline that forced the captain to beach her shows signs of fighting in the form of projectile round damage and laser burns. There are no bodies here but Lance and his long history with the Rachk tells the story that the marauding aliens tried to force their way inside after the ship beached.

“Looks like the Rachk have brought us this derelict. Anything you need to do before ve go diving in?”

"I'm ready, I'll land close by. Do you think the Rackh would have left much if they got to it first?"

“From my limited interactions they seemed more interested in people than things. But obvious shiny things are likely not be be missed I think.”

"Good to know, lets be cautious then. Hopefully they'll have dealt with any defenses for us." (edited)

(notice/wis. each of you)

/roll 2d6 force override to a 1

3

(11 total for me)

Rey (Shriven)

used /roll

Lance | Rey (Shriven) Request: [2d6] Roll: [4, 2] Result: 6

A gossamer thin tripwire is stretched across the breach in the hull at shin level. Drang notices the light catching the mono-line,ever so slightly before the sun and shade changes position and the wire is lost again.

Drang puts his hand up, then points, "The Rackh left a present. Tripwire, there in the entrance." He turns to Lance, "I may be able to deal with it from a distance, unless you have any ideas." (edited)

"Not that ve both can use. Give it a shot." (edited)

Drang looks for some cover, just in case, and beckons Lance to follow. Raising his hand towards the hull breach, Drang attempts to thermokinetically melt and break the monowire. (Thermokinesis use, 5/6 effort)

Lance watches right behind Drang enamored.

There is a brief flash of red as the wire heats and then the wire snaps. The trap is not engaged since no tension was placed on the wire

"The trap is still armed, but the tripwire is dealt with." Drang stands, "Let me see what we're dealing with. I promise I won't blow up." Drang approaches the breach and, without touching anything, looks around for what the tripwire would have set off.

A magma grenade had been nestled just inside the bulkhead. It is oversized , a Rachk version of the chemical incendiary device, but is otherwise safe. The lack of tension on the line has the pin and grenade spoon still in place, so the device can be handled.

Drang carefully takes the grenade and beckons to Lance, "All clear!"

(Stats wise, should we decide to use it, same as a regular magma grenade just with an extra damage dice due to its thick payload)

Lance walks forward trying to keep his wits after seeing a trap that he likely would have walked i to.

The hull of the ship is opened to an engineering compartment. When the vessel was afloat this was the main engine room where power from the reactor elsewhere turned two large crank shafts that spun two propellers with independent rudders on the back of the vessel. Most of the wiring has been stripped from the walls and ceiling along with the pipe work. Several bodies of the human crew have been left behind to go to bone within the scraps of their once smart looking uniforms.

Lance walks over to the reactor trying to gage how catastrophic the damage was and if there is any chance of getting part of the ship running to help with the salvage.

The ship can be repaired if the wiring and piping are replaced. The hole in the hull is also below the waterline and will need to be plugged before it can be floated again. The reactor itself is undamaged.

Drang follows Lance, "Do you think the ship is worth repairing?"

“Vell I think that it could likely help vith the issues on the planet. Also it could save us a pretty penny rather than having to build it ourselves. Vant to give it a go after ve search the place?”

"I don't see why not. It seems like the ship's vitals systems aren't too bad. Let's see what the rest of it's like." Drang is ready to head further into the ship, keeping a sharp eye out for any more potential traps.

(From here we can go left to the crew bunks, or right to the engine room itself where the mechanics of the props and stuff would be. There's no access to the upper decks from this room)

(It seems like the engine room is what we want.)

(Agreed)

The engine room has another two bodies who have gone to rot in their uniforms. One of the Rachk raiders have been left here as well and have likewise gone to bone. Their combat armor has been peeled away and scavenged by whoever has come through the area later. Two banks of powerless controls would have shown the status of the props and would have distributed power to the reactor to them. They could also control the heading of the ship from this room in the event the bridge was disabled or otherwise not functioning. The props and the myriad of pressure values controlling them in this room look to be more intact than the reactor room.

"Looks like we're the third round of scavenging this ship has seen. I doubt I'll be finding good tools, but the ships in an okay state." Drang takes a gander around the room, notably avoiding the bodies, "I've never worked on a beached ship, though. Do you think we should head for the bridge? Getting the reactor online could get us a better picture of the task, if that's still possible."

“I think getting the pipes vorking for the reactor to vork vould be a long affair. Ve should look for anything of note before ve start that. The bridge is as good a place as any.

(Deck access would be through the bunks which we can check out if you'd like to, or we can move past them. Up to you)

(Might as well check it out)

(D100 from each of you for a trinket!)

(27)

Amid the wreckage of the bunk rooms one of the people here must havre been some kind of engineer. You find 1/3 of the high tech tools that would be needed to form a pre-tech tool kit among the debris, loose personal effects, and scars of battle.

Rey (Shriven)

used /roll

Lance | Rey (Shriven) Request: [1d100] Roll: [79] Result: 79

A long bo-staff that has indents on the side is found among the debris. The pull of a lever allows swept glider wings to unfold from its sides. It looks strong enough to carry even a large man like Lance, though it can only glide and does not seem to have its own power.

Drang gathers his findings, "Looks like you're right about the Rackh; they left some things behind." He rejoins Lance, looking inquisitively at his score, "Is that some kind of staff?"

Lance looks at it and presses the lever. Seeing them pop out he turns like an oversized child. “No it is a glider a huge glider I vonder if it has something to help with the gravity something so small to be able to have such lift. I miss the days before the scream.” Lance sighs as he points to the door and says, “I think this is all here. Should ve keep going?”

'Yes, lets." Drang pauses, "By the way Lance, earlier, when you said the Rackh are mostly interested in people and not things, what did you mean?"

“It seemed like they have been more interested in taking slaves than pillaging for vealth. Maybe I’m mistaken but it seems like they have been trying to take people not kill.” Lance says off handledly

The Ashen One grumbles, "I was afraid of that. Let's keep moving.'

The ladder in this level brings you to the mid deck allowing you access to the mess hall, the weapons magazine for the ship's cannon and vertical launch missile cells, the armory, the officer's cabins, and the backup bridge in the event the original was destroyed or otherwise rendered inoperable. The hallway is long and wide, traveling the entire length of the ship. More Rachk and human bodies are piled in the hallways where the invaders and ship's crew fought one another in a series of running battles through the ship- and from this hallway you have access to all the rooms on this deck.

Lance looks at Drang, “Vant to check the armory then the backup bridge?”

Drang nods, "Just what I was thinking."

Lance turns and heads to the armory with Drang, playing with his glider staff.

The armory has been looted but only half way. Most of the weapons here are void carbines as shots would not punch through walls, ceilings, or floors to injure anyone upon missing. There are two large heavy machine guns here with more traditional ammo that have adapters, allowing them to be mounted onto the deck rails of the ship to provide extra fire to an angle where it is needed most. A pair of demo charges and a large box of fragmentation grenades are also among the remains of the armory.

"I'm surprised so many weapons are still here." Concerned, Drang takes visual sweep around the room for anything out of place or indicative of a trap.

There is no evidence of a trap in this room. The weapons here are human scale and would have been no use to the Rachk, but you can see that almost all of the ammunition has been taken.

“Looks like the guns vere left behind as they had plenty just needed the ammo.” Lance walks over to the demo charges and grabs a block.

"All the better for us then." Drang takes the other demo charge. "Let's take the weapons back once the ship is cleared, yes?"

"Yes, Until then i think ve just continue." Lance says as he grabs another charge and stuffs it into his lab coat pockets.

Nekosmash pinned a message to this channel. 2/9/2023 3:26 PM

(just gonna pin so we don't lose the list of rooms. Let me know where we want to go next and I can tell you what's inside!)

Drang turns to Lance, "Do you think we should check the officers' quarters? I don't know if the Rackh would have picked it over."

“Yes and then after that the back up bridge.”

The ship officer quarters is worked into the stern of this floor, with a pair of portholes overlooking the ocean view behind you. The windows are made of an armored glass and heavily reinforced porthole. A bunk for the officer in residence has been left unmade, and also consists of several shelves for trinkets and a small working desk.

Drang checks the shelves and desk for any documents or paraphernalia that relate to running the ship. As well as anything else of note.

The desk has a thick binder tucked against one of the shelves that has the procedures for the ship. Almost everything is included but the power plant is the territory of specialists and aside from procedures to start it from the bridge, the actual fueling and maintaining of it are not part of the documentation. Everything else looks to be included here along with a massive 30 page double sided parts list of everything that makes the ship run when it is in ideal condition .

Drang flips through the binder before handing it to Lance, "This should be handy for the repair project, here."

“It definitely vill. Hopefully half of those parts are still somewhere so ve don’t have to make as many.”

There is a sihp log written in a journal in this room, and a shelf has several trinkets on it, namely skeletons of interesting fish caught in the waters on this planet by the ship crew.

Drang will take a gander at the ship log, hoping for more insight on the ship itself.

Lance reviews the log as well hoping to find the reason the ship was caught and boarded.

The log shows the ship was struck by the close impact of an orbital munition. The resulting massive wave breached the side of the ship and caused the captain to beach it, thinking he could save the crew. Rachk raiding parties landed nearby and exploited the hole in the bottom of the ship to rampage through the decks, taking prisoners, looting equipment, and carrying off anything of perceived value that would fit in one of their raiding shuttles.

Drang replaces the logbook, "Hm, it looks like the Rackh were responsible for beaching the ship too. Unless someone else would have dropped munitions from orbit."

(the munitions were crude so we know it was the Rachk just doing hoodlum things from orbit)

Drang turns to Lance, "To the back up bridge then?"

“Sounds like a plan.” (Sick wife and kids so I’m out for the next 24 hours.)

The bridge is accessible and you are able to get inside after pushing a Rachk skeleton out of the way. It falls off to the side in a tumble of rotten bones. Most of the control stations have been shot at least once in the resulting gunbattle. The human skeletons here have been left behind as have those of two more Rachk raiders inside. Personal arms have been taken from the dead by the victorious Rachk . The ship's wheel and engineering station look to the the only bridge systems here with no damage on them whatsoever.

(Any of the control stations look like I could repair them with what I have on hand? Just to try and get a better survey of the ship)

The fire control system for the main front cannon and the early warning radar both look like they can be repaired with a mix of the spare parts and tools you have on hand, the psionic skills you can harness, and the other qualifications you have. The second third of the pre-tech tool kit looks to be bundled under the fire control station as techs labored to get this working even in the final seconds of the ship being boarded.

"The Rackh really shot everything up," Drang mutters to himself, "But it's not too bad of a state. The main bridge might've been a bigger target." Drang will take the time to gather the tools and get to work on the repairable systems. Then activate the radar system, just in case.

Lance walks over to the radar and begins working as well.

(fix/int. one of you can, the other will provide a +2 for the help)

(15 total)

Rey (Shriven)

used /roll

Lance | Rey (Shriven) Request: [2d6+3 for the assist] Roll: [6, 6] Result: 15

You are able to get the fire control radar and early warning systems working again. You are alone here in the cove but there are more shipwrecks outside of it from when the rachk dropped orbital munitions on the defense fleet. The fleet was taken entirely off guard and the captain's maneuvers bought the ship only a few extra hours of survival compared to that of his comrades. The mountains in the area block some of the signal, but the modules themselves are in good repair and can be recovered or removed with the proper heavy lift equipment.

"Radar says it's all quiet on the coast, but also more shipwrecks that might be salvagable." Drang thinks for a moment, "I think the mess hall and ship weapons are all that's left on the middeck. Think they're worth looking at, Lance?"

"Yeah i really do. Ve might even be able to cobble together a strong ship from all these vrecks around." Lance says gazing off into the radar.

(I'm good to check out any of those rooms, just lemme know what we want to focus on next)

(I'd like to see what's left of the ship weapons.)

“Let’s go and check out the veapons. Likely there von’t be much left.”

The fire control room has the controls for the weapon systems of the vessel. The small, close in anti air and anti missile rolling airframe missiles are working, as is the port side torpedo array ,but with the ship beached as it is the torpedoes will not be of much use.

9:50 AM

The vessel's forward mounted main cannon, and its vertical launch cells for bigger missiles are offline. Most of the vertically launched missiles were used in defense of the fleet and on the panicked flight to shore keeping Rachk drop ships at bay,

Drang will investigate what he can in the control room to see why the larger weapon systems are offline

They need more power, and some of the sensitive electronics in the ship that would be required to track and fire the weapons have been disabled as a result of the crash.

"Looks like most of this'll have to wait until the reactor's fully online again."

“Back to the reactor then?”

"The engineering compartment was stripped out. I don't have a lot of materials on me, it'll probably need a repair crew. At least the weapon systems themselves aren't destroyed."

"Think it's time to head to the top deck?"

“Yes, but the engineering compartment may be salvageable. I can transmute some materials for us to repair with if you are interested in trying to get this bucket a little functional before we call in aid.”

"Sure, we might as well try it."

(I think it would be two changes to patch the hull and to create the parts to fix the reactor)

(That's fine with me. If we're still capable of fixing it, I'm down to try.)

(With transmog we would have a chance here)

(Yeah I’m a level 4 in it so that shouldn’t be an issue.)

"Should we clear the top deck before heading back to the reactor room?"

(I'd prefer to clear the ship before proceeding with repairs)

(I'm good with that if you want to keep rolling Drang)

9:25 AM

(the citadel cuts the top deck into two parts, so did you want to check the bow or stern first)

(Let's try the bow first)

Lance rebalances his backpack and then begins walking towards the bow. “Let’s get going before ve find ourselves under vater on this project.” Lance chuckles at his own joke.

The front of the vessel is dominated by the large surface to surface cannon that this vessel would have used to fight others of its kind or bombard enemy shores. The turret has been broken into, and it looks like the Rachk have looted the ammunition for it. A conveyor belt into the magazine room in the ship would have fed more ammo to the gun during battles as the small amounts kept in the turret were used,

"Another target for the repair project. I don't think there's much to do here."

Lance nods, “Looks like we have a good solution for problems once we have this fixed.”

"Very true, to the stern then."

The stern is the larger of the above deck sections of the ship. There are bodies here from the boarding action of both man and Rachk and most of them have fallen in piles from the grisly combat on the deck. One of the Rachk has a large energy rifle of a pattern both none of you have seen before.

"Looks like they left one." Drang tries to kick the rifle away from the corpse and examine it.

the weapon is bulky. It is rifle sized with an oversized power pack that is worn over Rachk sized shoulders. Armored power cables lead to an intake port on the bottom, and a pair of focusing barrels direct the beams of energy from the weapon out its barrel.

Drang does his best to heft up the energy weapon and begins to poke around the power pack, "No wonder they took the ship so quickly with guns like this. I wonder if I can find a good use for this..." Drang bundles up the weapon system to take. (I have a few points of encumbrance free, how much does it weigh?)

(Its akin to a heavy weapon, so it would be 3)

“That looks interesting, I vonder if ve could copy the design for our soldiers.” Lance says looking over the weapon.

Drang shuffles around his things to fit the weapon and power pack somewhere safe in his bags, "That's about what I was thinking. I'd like to look it over back on Dremlas, unless you'd like to take it?"

(We can just say its in our general backpack for now if we want tomove on)

9:16 AM

(and divy things out later)

(What else is there in the stern section?)

(the gun was the big find. The vertical launch system for the missiles is back here in terms of the hatch doors , and you could see into the silos of the missiles launched already, but the magazine and launch cells themselves are under the deck)

“Go ahead and take it. Are ve ready to start the repairs of the piping and reactor. See vhat has been really broken around here?”

"I think so yes. Let's get started."

(I don't think we need checks given Drang's excellent fix skills and transmog from Lance allowing us to have access to the materials we need. My plan was to skip ahead several hours and narrate how things went if that's good for you both)

(That's fine with me.)

(Sounds good onward to the problems

)

Hours pass and the setting sun casts a brilliant golden reflection across the deck. The hole in the deck has been repaired and rudimentary electronics have been restored.The ship can operate under 1/3rd power, and with the number of automated systems aboard, you both can drive it on your own, but you will need many more bodies to access the defense systems and weapons, along with the radars. More work will need to be done. The ship will be drydocked for close to a month w herever you decide to take it, and a crew will need to be found, but the vessel will float again and will prove to be a powerful asset. The reactor charge shows a blinking red light letting you know the fuel is still low, but you have an estimated thirty hours left before it will be entirely dead in the water .

Drang gestures to the main controls, "All yours, Dr. Bottas."

(Do we have anywhere that is harborish?)

(not as things stand, best we could do is beaching it somewhat close to your encampment. We'd be looking at a decent overland hike back home to your camp)

"I think ve should take it near the encampment. It is a ways away but it is the closest to somevhere safe that ve have right now for this. Vhat do you think?"

"I don't know the area well, but that sounds like the best option to me."

(Pilot/dex from whoever is sailing)

Rey (Shriven)

used /roll

Lance | Rey (Shriven) Request: [2d6] Roll: [1, 1] Result: 2

“Vell here ve go. Vhich one of these is the throttle again?” Lance says as he begins to pilot the ship.

1

(did you have a re roll or plot point or anything available?)

(Oh good point. Plot point to the rescue! )

Lance feels the ship begin to shift the wrong way and he uses his psi tech creation to get a general sense of the ship almost connecting to it but it is just out of reach of being able to do anything with other than being aware of the eddys the ship is feeling. Using this piloting the ship feels almost second nature. Lance knows it won’t last however. “Ahhh that’s better.” Lance says as the ship coasts along.

Drang grips the railing inside the ship tightly, getting his first taste of the rocking of a sea vessel, "I'll find somewhere to sit down while you do your thing."

There is a flybridge out front with several sets of powerful binoculars welded to fixed poles that move on a track. They are TL 4 and have several levels of zoom to them, allowing you to see out from the bridge in several different directions. The water is likewise easy to see the bottom of here, and the ship glides over the wreck of a merchant trawler that was sunk in one of the past ages of this planet. Dr. Bottas gets the ship anchored 500m from shore, just at the cut off where the water would become too shallow during low tide to float the ship. From here, small motorized launches would be needed to traverse from ship to shore. There is a quarter day overland hike by foot, and a half hour overland drive by vehicle from the settlement Lance is turning into a bastion, to the cove where the ship is located. (edited)

Lance turns to Drang, “Do you vant to go get men to hold down the fort or do you vant me to? It looks like it would be most of a day. I vish i could figure out this whole teleportation thing better. I know I’m just on the cusp of being able to zip around and get to where I need quickly. Oh Vell. So vhat do you vant to do?”

"Teleportation? Sounds handy. But yes, if you could. I'd like to stay and do a final sweep for pretech; I have most of the tools I need, but a few critical things are missing."

“Very Vell, I vill head out and be back as soon as I can. Remember this ship isn’t vorth your life. If they come to investigate just flee.”

(so the plan is for lance to poof back to the settlement and grab a skeleton crew for the boat?)

(Yeah Lance doesn’t have the range yet so it’s going to be a hike.)

(You're at the 100m per effort phase and we're looking at a 10km or so hike. How much did we want to spend? )

(5 effort is my plan and saving them for either rough patches or trouble.)

(Okay! Let’s get a d10 for overland encounters and we will be off!)

Rey (Shriven)

used /roll

Lance | Rey (Shriven) Request: [1d10] Roll: [3] Result: 3

The walk back to the encampment takes several hours. There is no sign of Rachk in these woods, and it seems most of them have migrated further north or west in search of softer settlements, as news of stiffening resistance in this area has surely circulated. You find the first friendly patrol a kilometer out from home, and you notice two faces from recently rescued volunteers among them, suited up in combat equipment that looks ill fitting on them.

Lance waves his hands above his head. “Hey, I need a lift. Ve have a new ship that ve need to crew. Can I get a ride back to the village?”

They are on foot but you are welcomed to return to the village with them . You return to the home compound to something of a heroes welcome, but that is cut short upon learning of the ship ,and on Drang being there alone. A motor rifle squad is quickly drafted , using one of the only trucks the settlement has to quickly ferry them out to the coast. The ship is impressive and the sun is setting behind it as the truck pulls onto the beach, dropping the men off near the small rubberized launch Dr. Bottas left behind earlier. Reinforcements are going to show up in the morning, along with a more official engineering crew to begin working on the bumps and bruises that you were unable to repair.

1

10:39 AM

(6xp, 10,000 credits to each of you

10:40 AM

With the arrival of the scouts to help crew the ship, the team has a final gift for you made from the somewhat working nano foundries in the base Dr. Bottas is operating from, t he remaining third of Drang's new pre tech tool kit.

Lance hands the last parts to Drang, “Hope this helps with your adventures. Now I’m off to go find some more survivors and see vhat can be done to help them.”

"Thank you, and best of luck to you and everyone else out here." Drang takes the tools and resists the urge to start tinkering with them immediately. "If I encounter anyone else, I'll be sure to send them your way, Dr. Bottas." With a small bow, Drang will take his leave.

(We can split back up here if we want to . I know drang was primarily looking for the tool kit which we have now, so I'm up for whatever you would like to do)

(Taking XP for my goal for the pretech toolkit as well. Probably best to split for now, I'm going to be unavailable for the next few days.)

(sounds good to me. Lets figure out a new mission when you're back)

(Okay, I'd like to take the time to investigate that energy weapon we scavenged before moving on to a new mission. Is this a weapon already in the sheet or something new?)

(its not on the sheet, this is something entirely new. Are we testing here, or are we heading back to Saliv? (

(Sorry, let's go back to Saliv. Training Stab-0 during downtime)

Returning to Saliv your ship is welcomed home as a hero for helping the distant colony world. You are invited to land near Dremlas, and your floating settlement also has its landing beacon on, allowing you to set down there.

Drang returns to Stratus Outpost and the familiarity of his personal quarters after such an extended adventure. Once settled and recovered, Drang will take the time to test the Rackh beam weapon as-is on makeshift test dummies and pieces of scrap from the vehicle bay, in order to get a baseline of the weapon's capability.

(shoot/int)

(10)

You test the weapon and learn three facts about it, the first is that once repaired it is a powerful weapon that fires a crescent of energy. The second fact is that the beam is intense and powerful enough to melt vehicle armor and the sides of structures, classifying it as a heavy weapon. The third is that it is very short ranged, analogous to a heavy weapon version of thermal weapons.

1

Drang sets the weapon down and contemplates how to proceed. (Can I speculate any details on its damage? Does it perform similarly to the HMG I used in the past?)

(I think as an analogy, it is a thermal version of the anti vehicle laser. The energy is contained in a plasmic ball like thermal weapons do, and consequently have a shorter range ,but a higher damage since more energy is being contained)

(Understood) Drang turns his attention to the oversized backpack. Using his electrokinetic and technical specialties, Drang examines and picks apart the power supply to determine just how hefty the supply is. As well as it's compatibility with standardized power cells. (edited)

You believe that a Type B cell will inefficiently run the weapon. Advancements in a lost pre-scream technology known as a juicebox might be able to power the weapon for more sustained fire over longer periods of time. Those modules come in several varieties, between large backpack mounted units with thick cables that plug into a weapon, to more lightweight versions as seen in the NFSS that somehow harness wireless power transfer.

(Interesting. Would downsizing the weapon help the power issue or is this already considering it at man-portable size?)

(Its 3 enc right now which is akin to other heavy weapons, and I think that's a nice balance. )

(Fair enough. I kind of glossed over it with the testing, but do I have to mount or support the weapon when firing? Since it's heavy. This is the last of my questions, I have a direction to take this now.) (edited)

(It does have the round of set up time like man portable heavy weapons have except for the rocket launcher)

Drang will gear up and head to Dremlas in his personal vehicle, his destination is the local academy to gain some info on the pretech that could help him.

(Like looking for pretech components or hints about a juice box?)

(Hints and details on its nature, someplace to start)

The first day of research is spent combing through books and datapads, and whatever fragments of pre scream information have survived. You are able to narrow down the function of a juicebox into some definite terms and it sounds like it will work for your weapon. juicebox” is the generic name for one of several varieties of oversized battery pack worn as part of a soldier’s harness. An armored conduit cable locks into a standard power cell slot, providing a steady power feed far beyond the capacity of an ordinary Type A cell. A fully-charged juicebox is equal to thirty Type A cells or four Type B cells, and takes six hours to recharge off ship’s power or a functioning local power grid. Plugging a juicebox into a weapon takes one action. While juiceboxes are extremely popular with laser armies, they have one major drawback; the armored cabling has an unpleasant tendency to catch on obstacles. Veterans soon learn to strap the cabling as closely as possible to their body in order to limit the risk of getting hung up, but the battlefield is perversely ingenious in finding ways to catch the cable.

Drang takes close notes on the juicebox's form and functionality and continues his research, now shifting his focus to the NFSS and their version of the tech. Specifically searching for any states or systems which are mentioned as a heavy user or manufacturer of their juiceboxes.

(I don't think we;'d know that information without visiting them, the NFSS has been notoriously tight when it comes to border controls and communications )

(Fair enough, that probably wouldn't end well for an IA agent after advanced tech. I'd switch to a more miscellaneous route and look for any other notable makers/users from before the scream. I'm just trying to identify a lead on the juicebox, I might look for other options if that's not working out.)

(We can visit them and see if they'd want to work something out certainly, its up to you)

(Could I try designing a salivite-based power cell, and combine it with my EK-2 conduit skill? I have a goal to try using salivite in weaponry, that would be more in my wheelhouse than going to the NFSS.)

(That sort of sidesteps the length of time/ amount of investment I would require for developing something like this. Our options are visiting the NFSS or scavenger hunt across some planets for info)

(Alright, let's try the NFSS.)

(They've got a few factions, thinking Irradiated Republic might be a good stop since they'd be kind of closer to you in terms of interest?)

(Agreed, especially if there's Ashen Ones there.)

(Ive got 16 days of downtime which basically circles the polity and comes in on the north side to the first of the IR planets. If that all sounds fine to you I can put a report together)

(Okay. After that downtime, I'm at 24/90 for stab-0 skill.)

(I'll get a report together)

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/iron-stars-nekosmash/a/cikaphus-location

Cikaphus

9:52 AM

(give me the weekend to draw the surface but this should be enough to get started)

(Cikaphus' orbital shipyard seems like a good place to start asking questions.)

At the edge of the system just as you exit spike space and return to the physical universe your vessel is hailed by the system patrol and the planet itself. The system is not in a state of security alert yet, but it could be soon depending on your name, and your answers to their questions. Most importantly although your ship is transmitting its transponder code, the NFSS would like to know who you are, and why you are visiting.

Drang is open with his questioner, stating his name and origin from the IA, but visiting for personal business with the intent to trade and connect with other Ashen Ones

(Talk/cha)

(Big ol' 2)

1

The Ashen Ones of this planet welcome you, and you are given permission to land in the visitor's complex outside the industrial center of this planet. You are not permitted to have weapons or any armor above street level when a guest of the Irradiated on this world. You are permitted vac suits up to armored in level if you find yourself sensitive to the radiation on this world.

Drang proceeds with his armored undersuit and leaves his weapons behind. He enters the industrial, doing his damnedest to impress the locals with his technical knowledge to score any connections into local tech circles. Hopefully gaining some names or places of anyone who would possess the tech he's looking for.

Landing at the edge of the industrial grounds, the NFSS does not seem keen to let you wander alone, especially with the recent declaration of political independence for the Inheritor Alliance. A large Ashen One in something that resembles a Jack frame, but not in the way the few Ashen One in the ISF and southern polities are using them. This version is more cybernetic than outright digital transferrence, and everything about the Ashen One before you seems to indicate a propensity for industrial work, back breaking labor, and otherwise a complete investment in the heavy industry of Cikaphus. Forgemaster Bellicose, as he is known, greets you heartily, happy to see another Ashen One even though you come from different sides of the political tracks.

Drang returns his greetings, "It's a pleasure to connect with Ashen One AR nets again, it's been some time since I've been amongst . I hope my visit isn't too much of a bother, Forgemaster. I'm here as a client, I'm in need of help with some specialized power issues in a personal project, something I'm sure your industrial base is capable of solving."

"A specialized client. I see" the Forgemaster says. And Our net is enriched by your presence. We are greatly empowered and our understanding is enhanced by off world perspectives you offer. Tell me more about this project you are working on. I will do everything in my power to assist you"

"I've recently acquired some technology from the Rachk warband that've been plaguing Usrixeema for some time now, I understand the NFSS has encountered them in the past as well. Their designs are effective, but strange and, frankly, quite large. I'm looking for a portable power source for it that's much denser than a typical Type-B cell, but still compatible with standardized power grids. I've heard that the NFSS is capable of producing such a thing with pre-scream technologies, is that correct?"

"Our industrial base has some limitations , this is something we might be able to produce for you for personal use. The NFSS is protective of its technologies and anytihng we create for you is going to be done on two conditions. The first is something will need to be done to benefit the NFSS in kind. The second, is that we will install anti tampering measures within the technology to prevent easy reverse engineering. This is not my persona policy, but as a member nation of the Northern Free State Singularity I must abide by the treaty we have signed with one another"

"I expected as much, we both have obligations to meet." Drang shifts his weight to one foot as he thinks, "But your first condition, I assume technology like this is beyond simple payment. Did you have something in mind? I'm experienced with engineering and psychic disciplines, would my skills be useful to you?"

4:26 PM

"Perhaps you would be willing to accompany me from here to the Climate Engineering zone. The machinery there is sensitive as you can imagine, someone who has a way to detect electrical currents as easily as you can might be what we need to accomplish stabilizing the climate machinery there. We appealed to the NFSS Academy for some time now, but no specialists have become available"

"I see. Yes, I'll see what I can do, Forgemaster. I take it the Climate Engineering Zone is radioactive? There should be some vacc suits I could get on my ship before we leave."

"THere should be. You actually might be able to assist me with a new invention of mine while we're there. I'll be wearing one too. I've been working on something like an exosuit for climate emergencies such as this "

"Well, I'll grab a vac suit and I'll be ready to leave. We can talk more on the way." And Drang will do so.

(notice/wis as we enter their equipment room )

(7)

There is a small piece of metal above the door .It looks like it was made from starship hull material and you see that the forgemaster is a Crash Site 5 survivor, and must have been picked up at some point by the NFSS after the pre-UNW Greenbriar Inc confirmed there were survivors on that world.

(Where is crash site 5? I take it that was from after the Scream.)

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/iron-stars-nekosmash/a/akhlaqi-article

Akhlaqi

8:54 AM

(would have been north of the palace, but not reflected on this map since it wasn't there when UNW explorers got to the planet)

(Gotcha, I think.) Drang grabs a sizable suit and returns to the forgemaster, "I'm ready to move when you are.... I couldn't help but notice some memorabilia in the equipment room, are you from Akhlaqi, Forgemaster?" (edited)

"Yes. The Northern Free States found us right before the Shaper War started. The various factions that make up the Singularity now were still negotiating, but they rescued as many of us as they could. Ended up being tens of millions and we expanded, became what we are today. The virus left a mark on us though. The children born now, they carry the marks of the virus. Born with malformed limbs, with flesh eating disease, and so on. This looks to be how our species is now"

9:26 AM

"The shaper war prevented any of our ships from ever getting back to Akhlaqi, and for a long time we wondered if any of our other people had survived"

Drang chuckes, "Funny, I didn't know that there were Ashen One this far in the galactic north. I grew up on Tsatsos, working the lava-forges. There are a great deal of Ashen One, as well as humans. But I haven't been to Akhlaqi, nor have I been home in a long time." He sighs, "But yes, the plague still marks us. Jack shells are the prime solution it seems." Drang continues, with some uncertainty in his voice, "They're being adopted down south too, from what I hear. Although, I understand they're more digital in design."

"We have been on the hunt for information about them. As you said, the prime solution to save our people , so it would seem, but that is something each of us needs to decide for themselves. "

"Yes, I've been thinking about it myself, but I don't know much about it. Your own augmentations are impressive, though, I have to say. "

"Do you think if given the chance you'd take the plunge and slot yourself into a jack?" The forgemaster asks as he bids you to follow. There is a large cargo elevator worked into the eastern wall of the mighty facility, and as you both step on it , it begins to rise through a hatch opening far above in the ceiling.

Drang is initially silent as he gathers his words, "I think I would, yes. It's quite the plunge, and I've been fortunate to have a hardy constitution already, but Im not opposed to it."

"I think of the benefits" The Forgemaster says as the elevator reaches the top of the building where an advanced looking craft is waiting for the both of you. "Something that would allow me to work more precisely, tirelessly and to see things I cannot see in the condition I am in now. This craft here, the razorbeak, it is one of my own creation"

1:40 PM

(art incoming)

1:40 PM

"What a design!" Drang's gaze snaps onto the craft as he walks its perimeter, "It must be rather lightweight for its size with those wing-panels, no? What's its designed for? Long range flight?"

"Long range flight , passing through the bleeding edge of the atmosphere between the planet and space. The wing panels are made with a secret blend of alloys to provide strength, but keep it light. Strength is especially important since there is an emergency scramjet system on the back that can be used if there is a need to escape danger quickly. The Northern Free State government was quite upset when I told them I had no plans to weaponize the craft. I suspect the plans will be stolen from me somehow in the near future, but I'm glad I get to share the design with someone who appreciate her as she is, not as the beast they can turn her into"

Drang's mind can't help but wander back to his own achievements, he sighs, "That's the curse of progress, isn't it? It's always driven by war; by the fear of loss or the ambition to win."

"Civilian advancements often come from military improvements. The military gets something first, and it is adapted for civilian use. Maybe one day my flyers here will bring people from one end of the planet in record time"

2:11 PM

With a beep the ramp lowers, and the forgemaster indicates you have the honor of getting into the cavernous troop bay first.

"Very true, very true..." Drang takes the lead into the ship bay and lets the conversation lull. "Now, can you tell me more about the exosuits you're working on? What should I expect in the Climate Engineering Zone?" (edited)

(Talk/cha)

(6)

"I'll let you in on a secret" he says, "We're going to be dealing with what you'd consider monsters out in that exclusion zone. We're going to calbirate some machinery and once it is working correctly, their ecosystem is going to be a thing of the past. They sense this, and they're going to do what it takes to try to stop it from happening. The exosuits I'm going to begin unpacking were the precursors to the assault suits and storm armors in use today- though while those were modified with warfare and boarding actions in mind, I've taken this in a different direction. I've decided to use mine for construction and survey purposes. Aside from the lifesaving equipment, I've added supports for enhanced strength, additional sensors, and several important heads up display settings to make undertaking projects easier. "

Drang is quieter after his explaination, "How do you mean 'monsters?' Are they native to Cikaphus?"

"They were once, and then have been changed into something else. monsters. Similar to your breach creatures, but in this case the creatures have been changed and transformed by radiation and pollution as opposed to the stuff of raw metaspace. The suits I'm unpacking will allow us to traverse the zone safely. Hold out your arm please so I can assign one of these suits to your gene code. Consider it a gift for your help"

Drang abides and uncovers his arm, "I see, thank you." He decides against pushing the topic further before they arrive.

There is a pinch as your gene code is sampled and is keyed to one of the powerful machines that a nanite assembly begins putting together.

2

Drang watches the machine assemble before him, taken aback at the promptness, "You've certainly got the manufacturing methods developed, I can't say I'm not impressed. Are suits like this very common in the NFSS?"

"For what we are going to be doing it is considered part of the standard kit. This wouldn't be widespread on other worlds, but only because there is no need for it, not becxause we refuse to share the technology. The manufacturing methods are old, pre-Scream, Pre-tech even, and its a combination of both luck and skill for us that we've been able to continue building these,and maintain the ones we had in storage already. "

"All the more reason to thank you for helping me." Drang circles the suit mid-construction, as the nanites do their work. "I've never used a mech interface before. I need some time to adjust, but I'll be ready to head out otherwise."

"If you've used power armor before you

8:11 AM

will find the movement is much the same way. You'll adjust your gait to compensate for the additional weight. The fiber muscles should do most of the work though, you'll just have to get used to rocking back and forth. " The light turns from amber to green as the engines flare and the agile and fast landing ship begins to bank,s ettling down on the ground with a thick crunch of landing gears.

8:12 AM

"No time like the present" The Forgemaster says as they hit the button to lower the ramp to the dusty ground beyond. A domed building that has seen better days is 500m from you, and looks like both time and the conditions here have made their mark on it.

Slowly at first, Drang takes a few steps as he adjusts to his new perspective before finding some momentum to keep pace with Forgemaster Bellicose. (edited)

1:39 PM

Distant rad lightning flashes and the Forgemaster begins to increase their pace. With the other hand, he signals the ghost driver on the flyer to take off and get far enough away where it will not be damaged by the weather that is coming. The facility is large, a distant crown of dark, rigid shapes that are at odds with the more natural shapes of the mountains around them. The gatehouse has a single light on, and it looks like you will narrowly be able to make your way inside before the storm breaks.

Drang looks out over the horizon before catching up, "What caused all this?"

"this world was in a bad way, even before The Scream. That disaster made it worse. This whole area used to be a sea so radioactive the land was glowing. We were able to reduce that so suits like this will bring their occupants through it without any lingering problems. This has become something of a pet project to both myslef, and to the NFSS as a whole, because there are thousands of worlds out there in states like this. If we fix this planet, if we make something grow here again, if we fix the land, then the entire universe is ours"

Drang, askew at the ambitiousness, doesn't respond. He simply turns his attention to learning the motions of the exosuit and trying not to step in any holes as the storm approaches.

"So as to what we're doing here. You seem to know your way around tools and sensitive systems. We need to make some repairs and get the climate machinery running again. I don't know why it stopped. It might have been a raid by Gors. I';m not sure. They've been known to go after some of the stuff in there for their own crazy projects. The NFSS is still debating the merits of ...handling that situation, somehow"

"Hmm. Do you think these 'Gors' might be waiting for someone to come and investigate? What else could have done it?"

"Any time we get close to them they attack. They're a lot like us, they were us, once, before the Radiation rotted their minds. They're little more than beasts now"

Drang steels himself; The reality of the danger has begun to weigh on him, "Better be ready then."

(We might not use the wqhole facility but this is how it looks inside)

Nekosmash pinned a message to this channel. 5/2/2023 11:10 AM

The climate control facility is a combination of weather station , automated military outpost, and scientific facility. The automated turrets meant to watch the western doors- which seems to be the preferred facility access have both been smashed and their ammunition belts have been looted by what is presumed to be the Gors the Forgemaster mentioned earlier. The airlock door has also been battered down, and there are signs some sort of rampaging force had pushed beyond the doors into the deeper reaches of the facility. Lighting and more rain begin to peal overhead, announcing a rare life giving shower for this dry and desolate region. "We should be careful from here on in, more than we thought. I didnt expect those creatures to get in. We're going to be reaching a security station first, we'll try to get cameras and some of the guns up and running first"

11:12 AM

"I'm going to do a review of the climate machinery. We'll need to split up to cover the ground"

"Roger, I'll check over the integrity of the building, see if there's other breaches we need to worry about." (I really should ask, did they give me my weapons back after leaving the industrial grounds?)

(OH! yes, they did)

4:31 PM

(youd have been able to stop at your ship to get what you need)

(Okay, good) Drang readies his breach rifle and follows the Forgemaster inside, examining the state of the structure.

(know/int)

(11 total)

The facility was built in the golden age of technology , long before the fall of the mandate, the rise of the Tenebrian Empire, the shattering civil war that came after it, and the deathblow to polite society that was The Scream. Modern replacement materials have been brought in to replace failing systems, and this bootstrap configuration is less and less efficient. Several key facility functions are occuring at shadows of their former selves now, and this is made even worse by the opportunistic looting of the got beasts. In the first large chamber east of the airlock , the Forgemaster sets you down behind the security desk. "Here are my credentials, see what you can do to get lights and cameras back up, I need to head for the core of the facility to ensure the processing machinery is still working. "

"On it." Drang does as he's told. He'll take the opportunity to use the cameras to check over the building once he finds himself situated in the system. (edited)

There are four camera banks once you sit down at the computer .The monitor is currently a number of neatly stacked black cells, where images of the video feeds will be displayed instead once the cameras are on. Bank 1: Security Center Bank 2: Climate Machinery Room Bank 3: Engineering and Power Bank 4: Researchers Quarters.

Drang will turn his attention back to trying to activate the cameras and lights

The level of power in the facility will only allow you to access one camera bank at a time, and you have a switch at the desk allowing you to power your choice of camera bank , from 1 to 4.

Drang will flick to bank 2 and bank 3 to see what the Forgemaster is heading towards.

Flcking on Bank 2 keeps the power from entering 3, but in the Climate Machinery Room you can see four Gors, happily stripping wires from a bank of computers. The Gors are misshapen and falling apart Ashen Ones, those twisted by the radiation and the sickness of their former homes, who were unwilling to accept cybernetics. Several of them have extra arms or an extra leg.

8:46 AM

(the cameras are basically Five Nights at Nekos. So if we look at one, we can't look at the others, basically diverting power to one at a time)

(Yeah, I gotcha) Drang stares at the monitor and the twisted creatures beyond it before returning to his senses. He calls to Bellicose, "There's still... mutants in here. They're tearing up the computers."

There is a bang to your left coming from a corridor leading north into the facility. Coming along with it, you can hear two twisted sounding voices drawing closer in the darkness. There is a switch for the security door , but it will open the one on the right while closing the one on the left where you can hear the voices.

(For my context, did the forgemaster already go deeper in?)

(They’re heading for the climate room and comms are spotty so it’s unclear if they got your warning or not)

Drang keeps his panic under control and switches the security door to close on the left. He readies his rifle and turns the right right corridor, prepared to fire.

You can only see the first of the Gors rushing toward you. The mutants have been twisted, leaning more into the faux avian heritage the Ashen One might have evolved into had they spent more time on their homeworld. Its blue balefire eye vanishes as the security door slams down in their face. The right door hallway is clear for the moment and power flickers on, letting you see the hallway beyond. You can venture further into the facility from here, to link up with the Forgemaster.

Drang, not trustful of the building's power grid, sticks a glowbug to his chest and proceeds slowly, listening for where anymore creatures might be coming from.

Heading east you enter a large room with a circular cistern in it. This cistern is connected to a Black Box reactor and you can see on the intake pipe deep within the now dry reactor pit, that debris and trash have clogged the power intake. This prevents the cistern from filling, and the reactor from using that water as simple fusion fuel. It looks like the trash was piled here intentionally.

Drang stops near the intake, "They seem to know what they're doing, to some degree at least." He kneels by the intake and begins to clear channel enough to get a flow going. He watches the pit fill and taps into his Energy Sensitivity psychic training to see if the reactor stirs.

As water begins trickling into the reservoir, the reactor begins to sputter to life. There are two false starts as the reactor chokes on not enough fuel to sustain a reaction, but as the flow of water increases debris from further up the tunnel is washed out, and the water begins filling the cistern even faster. Lights begin coming online and through your remote link you can see that other camera banks and some of the automated defenses are coming online. Distant gunfire and the pained screams of Gors let you know this has been successful. You can see that the Forgemaster's comm signal has also been restored.

Drang pings Forgemaster Belicose, "Lights're on. Guns too, by the sound of it. The gors only did superficial damage from what I see. How's it on your end?"

"Could use a hand! " he shouts through radio static. It sounds like he is engaged in combat, and the Gors he is fighting have some kind of ranged weapons set up.

"On it!" Drang starts running deeper into the facility in the direction Bellicose, keeping an ear out for gunfire.

There is gunfire to the east, and you can hear the stomping sounds of the Forgemaster's suit in the distance. You pass through several dark rooms illuminated only by the spotlights of your suit passing over the shot apart bodies of Gors, and a larger form of the twisted creature that looks like it was designed more for labor . Passing into the main climate control room it looks like several of the machine stations have been looted or were destroyed in the skirmish that concluded here a moment ago. Several smoking Gor bodies near the northern door mark a brief intermission in the conflict

Startled by the hulking remains, laying forgotten in the dark, Drang doesn't dwell here for long, continuing east. He keeps his breathing steady, in anticipation for combat.

you arrive in the climate control banks, to see the Forgemaster and his damaged suit. He looks to have been fighting for some time, and he nods appreciatively as you catch up with him. There is a stomping sound from the door as a massively swollen Gor enters the room . Their muscles have been increased to proportions neither Ashen One nor Gor were ever meant to have. This has been further bulked out by a series of scratch built and misfiring combat cybernetics. One of the Gor's eyes remains, and within it you can see nothing but rage. It is 50m away from you and the forgemaster, and with a rattle it brings one arm, ending in a chain cannon to bear. (initiative) (edited)

(5 for initiative)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [d8] Roll: [7] Result: 7

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [d8] Roll: [3] Result: 3

(Forgemaster, Drang, Gor) There is a heavy thump as empty power packs and broken belt feeds are jettisoned from the various weapon attachments across the Forgemaster's suit. New ones are plugged into place, and begin cycling into the waiting maws of multiple weapons. (reloading as a main action) The forgemaster begins to move, advancing 10m to partially cover behind a row of broken computers.

Drang immediately raises his breach rifle, flooding it with electrokinetic power, and fires dead-center at the massive gor. (15 for 13 dmg, with shocking assault's reroll) Drang breaks off in the other direction to Bellicose to split its attention, taking cover if possible.

Sparks and flesh fly from the Gor as your shot connects. It roars in pain and anger, and the chemical smell of pain suppressants and combat stims being pumped into its body is unmistakable even through the low grade filters of the powerful exosuit. Its rotary cannon spins as it advances 10m toward you, sending fat cauldrons of high explosive shots through the room. (evasion save. If you pass you won't take any damage since you're behind hard cover)

(Success, rolled 18)

(did you wanna do the forgemaster? He's got an anti vehicle laser and a heavy machine gun, both are braced since he spent a prior turn doing it. He hits at a +5)

(Heavy weapons? Don't mind if I do!) (I said to myself, before rolling a 1 on the attack. It was the anti-vehicle laser if it matters. I don't see a reason for him to move, so that'll be it.) (edited)

(he can fire the HMG as well)

9:24 AM

(mechs can fire all their weapons on a turn, the only catch with them that doesn't really apply here in this case since there's only one target, is you have to designate what weapons you're firing at who at the start of the turn, since mech weapons are generally very powerful, there's some action economy in trying not to overkill but still ensure the threat is downed)

(Gotcha, forgot about that. 17/13dmg on the HMG.)

The Gor is wounded and several pieces of flesh and metal fall from the creature. It snarls a challenge, far from dead.

After the forgemaster's barrage, Drang follows up with his own. (18/14)

The Gor war beast's eyes roll back and several empty stims are jettisoned from infected looking ports across its body. The weapon fires as it springs forward, other hand holding a massive battleaxe that extends from a mag locked compartment on its back. (it is 20m from you)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [d20+5] Roll: [8] Result: 13

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [3d8] Roll: [6, 2, 2] Result: 10

Shots fly from the forgemaster's armor, its integrity holding amid the onslaught of heavy shells.

(It's not in melee with the forgemaster yet, is it?)

(no, he will be after this round though if its still alive)

Bellicose stands his ground and guns down the charging mutant (19/14 & 22/7 for the laser & HMG respectively.)

The Gor begins shouting some ancestral war cry before the sheer number of heavy weapon impacts tear it into a steaming pile of burned meat and spilled gore. Sparks catch its matted fur, burning the remains in a spreading but contained electrical fire that will fizzle out once there is no more organic material to burn. "Well done" the Forgemaster says. "Now I know what they've been spending the salvage they're taking from here on. Happy you caught up. You fight well" Bellicose says as the pneumatic braces release and he takes a ponderous step foward.

"Same to you!" Drang joins him, "That thing looked far from stable, but it was certainly capable. If they're capable of this, then they're able to make better iterations, I'm sure. How much of the processing machinery survived?"

"About half. I'll be able to stop the storms , but I won't be able to do anything to bring the rains. Not in this condition. The Gor infestation got far worse than I imagined"

"Well, the remaining defenses are back online, but it won't hold. Can repair supplies get out here with the rain still falling?"

"The storms will pass soon. Repair supplies will be able to land by time they're dispatched. You helped, more than you know. You got here at the perfect time"

"Excellent. I'm glad to help. The situation here is more akin to our struggles on Saliv than I'd wish." Drang looks to the smoking remains, "These gors were all ashen ones?"

"Once- changed by the radiation and the conditions here. They don't really resemble our people anymore, there's no scrap of civilization left in them. This is what we would have become if we stayed at our home and were not rescued. I see what could have been every time I look into one of their eyes. I need you to understand, I fight to defend what we're creating. I take no pleasure in killing them, but I choose myself when it comes to deciding the victor of any struggle between us and our beastial kin"

"I know, I don't blame you in the slightest. It's just so... strange to see something like this. A different outcome, a worse one." Drang pauses, looking over the destruction they wrought, "It's probably best we get going then, before the gors regroup and get revenge on their mind."

(did you have interest in a skills contest with the forgemaster to get the security system running again, and then we can leave knowing this place is secure?)

(Oh, yes let's do that.)

(okay, so the situation is the climate control facility is partly occupied by the Gor, has several critical systems damaged, and those that are working need to be calibrated, so we can sort of start working through a handful of those problems during this skill contest) (edited)

Drang will pick through the broken down climate systems and juryrig what he can with scavenged supplies. (Trying int/fix, rolled 13)

(1 success, 0 failures, fix has been used) Several of the computers are broken down entirely and are scrapped. The climate station will have limited functionality as a result , but will have perfect control over the limited number of functions it has access to.

Drang follows up with shoring up the defenses and blocking off any gor-made entrypoints with telekinesis, moving rubble and heavy machinery to block the way. (Wis/Telekinesis, rolled 9)

There is only one way into the building now, the route that you and the Forgemaster took to come in. Machinery and scrap has blocked the other tunnels.

Drang will try to locate the damage in critical infrastructure by tracing the power flow throughout the facility via his electrokineitc sensitivity. Repairing the damaged machinery to continue the circuit where he can, and marking anything he can't for the repair crews later. (Do you think this would work? Should I roll EK or maybe Notice?)

(I think based on your description EK sounds more appropriate)

(14 total for Electrokinesis) (edited)

(success! 3 passes, 0 fails with fix, tk and EK used) Passages are blocked, remaining equipment is repaired, and the flow of power through the facility is redirected to various points within the still working machinery. Lights and sensor panels begin coming online, allowing more information about the climate outside to come in.

With the facility pitched up for the time being, Drang begins to flush out the remaining Gors and engage any stragglers before they can begin tearing apart the base again. (Dex/shoot for 8)

The Gor packs are large in some areas, and the Forgemaster is forced to seal off those sections of the station where resistance is just too heavy. It is more corridors than either of you thought. (3 successes, 1 failure, fix, tk, ek, and shoot used)

With the Gors sealed in and grouped, Drang desperately tries to use the facilities remaining powered systems offensively. Remotely herding them into turret line of fire, overloading exposed equipment, starting controlled electrical fires, and closing security doors on them as they pass. Dirty tactics to break their morale down, not something Drang is proud of doing. (Tried int/program for a 10)

(4 success, 1 failure, with fix, tk, ek, shoot, and program used, ) The Gors look to be fleeing the facility en masse now with control over it almost fully in your grasp. The storm outside is beginning to break up, and the elevated radiation levels that come with the ion bolt strikes on the surface is beginning to fall back to normal background levels.

As the tension winds down, Drang will take a stock of the facility as it stands, from defenses to power supply metics, and form a sit-rep for the incoming NFSS team and to identify anything urgent or dangerous that remains. (Trying int/admin, rolled 10)

(success) By evening the bulky supply flyer, with additional security bots of the Forgemaster's design arrive. The climate station is under control again, the storms have broken up, and there is a gentle rain outside that will one day wash the irradiated soil away. The Forgemaster is pleased with the assistance , and as payment for the services rendered here is willing to allow you to keep the exosuit. "I can give you the first generation juicebox plans. They've got the cables, and the rubberized contacts, but they'll suffice for what you're trying to do. You're still going to need to set the industrial base up at home to start making them, they use large amounts of metal -especially conductive metals. I wish I could do more, but the contactless juice box...the NFSS would hang me if I let those plans get away"

Drang looks on at the droids doing their work, "I understand, I'm grateful for what you've given me, Forgemaster. I've learned a lot from coming here, I needed the perspective." Drang offers his hand to shake, "I hope we can work together again in the future, perhaps without polity hands in it."

"Ashen One need to work together regardless of country of residence. We are a strong people, and we benefit the places we go, but we must look to ourselves first when it comes to survival, and in making the worlds we live on better places. A rising tide, led by the Ashen Ones, will buoy all ships"

"Indeed, we are stronger together. You've given me enough to occupy me for a good while, but if you want to work together more in the future, don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you again, Forgemaster." Drang will ready his things to head back to the industrial sector and his ship.

(6xp, 50,000 credits, we have the blueprints for a crude juicebox, and the suit mech- you can refit it however you wish but just so you know what chassis it is, its a specialist suit) (edited)

2

1

Level Up
Level: 9
Old HP: 43
HP Roll: 39 + 9 CON
New HP: 48
New Skills: Telekinesis-4 (Psy Training + Unspent pts)
New Techniques: Force Puppetry
Unspent Psi SP: 0 (-1)
Unspent Normal SP: 0
Current AB: +4

(Gotcha, updated the mech with a few more attachments.)

1

(You'd need void thrusters to actrually fly in space. Not sure what your mass/power requirements are looking like, but if you dropped some of the cargo space you might be able to fit it. Mechs can carry your personal gear in the cockpit with you already, so you wouldn't need to account for it if that's what the cargo space it for. Just wanted to bring up that slight rule technicallity. As is, you can drop from a ship to a planet, but you can't actually zoom around in space)

(I gotcha. I don't have a specific design intent with the suit right now, but going all in on 0G capability seems useful. I'm keeping some other modules just in case, I think the cargo capacity might come in handy.)

(I think void thrusters is the space one if you were specifically looking for 0 g)

(You're right. Switched that around. Should be good to go now)

(thanks, didnt want to be pedantic but I didn't want a gotcha moment later either) You are escorted back to your ship for the sixteen day journey home to Saliv, with the plans and new gear aboard. The forgemaster is silent on their flight back to your ship, their nimble bird like plane travelng at high speed through the upper atmosphere.

Drang will try and inquire the Forgemaster for advice on producing the juiceboxes and concentrate on familiarizing himself with the schema on the flight back. (I'd like to get an idea of how much it will take to produce a juicebox with these plans. Do I need much more than a workshop and my pretech tools/|?)

(For you personally you could build one for yourself with your workshop and tools. If your intention is to unlock the item for mass IA production, we would need a factory to produce the materials, so we'd need to explore to find a site for IA to build a production center for rare ingots, and probably a few missions to test and refine the product from its crude rp version to the Juicebox as it behaves in Starvation Cheap)

(Okay. I think the game plan is to make a prototype version for myself for the moment and hold off on full scale production. I'm looking to head to one of the broken resonators with Rurr between then, call it a test run. Do you think that'll work?)

(Sure! I think it would take a week or so to build , so we can spend seven days of our downtime on the way back to Saliv building it, and then you'd have 9 days to spend on a skill)

12:35 PM

(We can cut over to Rurr's thread from there)

(Okay. I'll continue my stab-0 training for those 9 days. Once the juice box is built and hooked up to the Rahk weapon, do I have the stats for it?)

Rachk Destructor Rifle 300/600 Range D12*+2 (Can burst) Mag: Special Enc 3 Since this weapon is powered by the crude juicebox it does not have a magazine capacity. Though not a true havy weapon, the Rachk Destructor Rifle ignores the first two points of vehicle armor. Man sized targets killed by the Rachk Destructor Rifle count as slain by a heavy weapon. This weapon does not require the main action of setup time required by heavy weapons.

2

Nekosmash pinned a message to this channel. 6/10/2023 10:18 AM

(Sweet. How can I add this onto my sheet?)

(I'll have to figure that out with Eish, stats wise you could use a combat rifle and put +2 in the hit and damage mod box next to it. ) (edited)

(I think I need some time to concentrate on irl things. Maybe we can pick up with developing production on the juice boxes in a week or two.)

(sounds good. we can certainly do that. We'll return to Saliv and we can look into pumping some juiceboxes out!)

(Okay, I'm ready to continue. Where should we begin with setting up production? I haven't really tested the rifle yet either, I don't know how well the design holds up.)

(Welcome back! We don't know if there's a misfire chance on the weapon, so we could test out prolonged used to see if there is one, that would honestly just be a couple posts back and forth though since the time character drang spends doing it is going to primarily happen off screen while me and player Drang talk about it, so maybe we could dovetail that with trying to bring in materials, and find a site in your floating city type area? )

(Alrighty, so this is mostly centered around clearing some land and transporting materials for the infrastructure, I take it?)

(I would say also there could be a mission in establishing a mine for materials too) \

(Makes sense to me. How should we go about it post-wise? I'm not sure how to start.)

Returning to Saliv after a long flight home from the NFSS you've only been able to get a rudimentary study completed in the nature of th Destructor rifle. Being aboard a ship does not allow you the safety to fire the device often, and upon returning to the planet you quickly make tracks for your floating city where a lab space is set up for you. The demands for producing a weapon like this are many, materials will need to be gathered before anything else can happen, and two options present themselves as the area around Old Forresthal, or the moon where the Mosk colonists have many of their number looking for work.

While farther away, the Mosk Colony looks to be the better long term option. Both to support the colony's development and for potential scalability, should production need to be ramped up. Drang will set about traveling to Saliv's ocean moon and talk with the colonists to see what they make of the project needs. If they have some ideas on where local resources I need are plentiful, then that will be where he begins. (edited)

The trip to the moon takes six hours and the Mosk colony's ground control projects a landing vector to your ship. It is directed to settle on thw western side of the colony where a colony government representative, and a few members of the ground crew wait to meet you.

(Just read back and realized something; Are we pursuing production for the destructor rifles over all or the juice boxes specifically first?)

(the materials will serve both, right now we're just trying to get the stuff we need to make both)

Drang gives a light bow towards the representative, "I hope things have been well for the colony! I'd like to speak with you over some potential industry that could be brought to the colony. I'm looking to establish production for an energy weapon design I've been working on for the Alliance."

"And how can our humble colony assist these efforts?" he asks, returning the bow and looking at the impressive shuttlecraft you've landed in. "We have all number of Mosk ready to work, but I would know what sorts of tasks you forsee them doing"

"This is to begin production from the ground up; Everything from mining and synthisizing to assembly and testing. The quality of the power pack is of particular concern, its the most advanced component involved." "I have the schematics and can pull a bill of materials for your people to look over. I also have a prototype design completed. But it still needs some testing..." Drang pulls out his design resources for inspection.

"That;s quite impressive. The Alliance spared no expense in helping our colony become established, our people would be honored to work on this project by way of giving back. Tell us where you'd like to begin, and you'll have our support"

Drang sighs, "Well, beyond the prototype, it's still something of a pipe dream. The biggest issues, and what I need your help for, is finding the resource to use in production. I'm hoping you have some survey information on what metals and minerals we can find in the area. And of course, building the needed facilities."

(We have your survey data from last time. We found those metal rich Karsts in the jungle we could try to mine if you want to organize an expedition to it)

(If they might have what we need, then yeah let's go with that.)

(okay! maybe a good mission set up here then would be leading a preliminary team into the Karsts to try to set up some facilities and deal with the hazards o the region?)

(Okay, should we continue the scene with the reps or move on to that?)

(up to you, if you have anything specific you d like them to do while you're done wqe can establish that- if not we can move on)

(Besides preparing for the facilities to be built, I think we're good.)

The expedition team is a mixed team of humans and mosks numbering ten, with a truck to carry mining gear and a few shelters for the expedition. The materials in the karsts are known to be industrially valuable, but raw, and their exact concentratons are not known. Setting up a working mine to extract the ore, and purify it before being shipped to the manufacturing end you control. It is mid morning when the group is prepared to roll, with you at their head. Some of the route to the Karsts has been explored, but the truck is much larger and heavier than the bike you had initially used, and some alternate paths may need to be charted.

Drang takes to the front and tries to guide the group to the best of his memory, explaining to the group on their goal and what they should be looking for to identify the karsts on approach.

(D10)

(6)

There is a slight detour as you are forced to pick a different route through the jungle and rocky lands around the mineral rich stacks. The expedition has enough tools and Mosk-power among its numbers to make short workof cutting a path through the thick vines, and in moving the large rocks in the jungle path out of the way, but the exertion has the group not arriving at the first of the Karsts until early afternoon. There is thunder on the horizon and the air is humid as a storm blows in off the southern ocean so soon saturate the jungle region with a downpour.

Drang looks out over the horizon and the darkening clouds, then to the colonists, "How bad do the storms get out here? 'Think we'll be breaking ground with that coming out way?"

"We might be" one of the Mosk scouts says, looking at the clouds "This one will bring wind, and rain. We won't get swept away, but it will not be pleasant outside of shelter. We're all going to get very wet , though I think we might enjoy that more than you"

"I won't argue with you there... Lets see what we can get done then. And pray it passes quick." Drang redoubles his pace and encourages his company to do the same.

(Exert/str)

(8)

You help the work crew quickly set up a few pressure tents, anchoring them to the ground, and you position the vehicle to serve as a windbreak in the direction you think most of the wind is going to come from. THe camp is secure as the storm hits, and the wind and rain lashes the camp for a few hours. The mosks seem not to mind, feeling in their element as the water refreshes them and improves their senses to as though they were submerged in water. They begin working, heedless of the conditions, and as the storm breaks the first of the stone Karsts is felled, to be broken up ,and its ores gathered.

Drang picks through the ore, looking for more pure or exposed metals, and scans them over with his survey scanner. Comparing them to his schematics all the while.

The veins are well defined, and there is some chunks of worthless rock that can be pulled away. There is a trace of Dark Salivite within the rock, along with iron that is of a high quality. That iron can be turned into another of different alloys.

Drang shakes the rainwater from his equipment. He shouts out to the team in general, "Quality stuff so far! Let's keep it up as best we can. Lets hope the noise scares the wildlife away, but keep an eye out none the less!" Drang will oversee the karst demolition personally, now that the weather has calmed.

(Your exosuit could fell one of these probably by it’s own strength. Do you have that with you?)

(I think so. We would have needed to take the wide path anyways with the trucks. Might as well try out both of my new tools.)

Assisted with your powerful suit, one of the Karsts is felled on your own. Mosk miners quickly begin chipping away at the rock with your assistance, doing what they can to separate the worthless rust-orange stone from the streaks and veins of valuable minerals inside. After felling a few of the large stone formations , you see that sorting the materials is taking the lions share of the time here, as most of this is being done with actual manpower, not technology.

Drang surveys a moment, looking over their impromptu operation. His psychic abilities might help here, but it won't help once production is established and he isn't present. He exits his suit and joins the Mosks and gathers examples of the present materials, loudly giving pointers on how to differentiate the ferrite and salivites from stone. Differences in densities and their magnetic properites, which might save some effort and be useful in building sorting machines later.

(know/int)

(11)

You are able to determine that the Salivte is not magnetic, and magnets can sort out th eiron based metals. You think you might be able to rig up a facility here given more parts and more help, and a mobile source of power.

Once the team has some momentum with gathering materials, Drang will reenter his suit and begin clearing out the land around the karsts from any large brush, stone, or trees that might get in the way of operations.

(how long would you want to spend doing that? We have about a half day to dark, would you push on after the sun goes down? )

(If I can get some progress before sundown, I'd stop then.)

With the assistance of the mech suit you are asble to clear some paths for traveling and walking. You are able to move some thin trees and roll large stones out of the way so you are able to get vehicles in more easily and more efficiently. By nightfall you've made solid trails around the Karsts themselves , and have made an area where a mining camp could be established. The land will still need to be leveled, and graded so drainage happens correctly, but as the sunet comes, you have made a good start.

Drang will take stock of the found ore and how the sorting has finished

A kilogram of useable ore has been sorted by the end of the night. The veins have excess material in and around then and with hand tools and eyes the process does not move quickly. The raw ore will still need to be refined for use.