Iron Stars - noel

Noel awakens in her small apartment on Jagrati, her trusty weapon laid out on the bedside table, along with the spread of tools needed for maintaining it and the custom runeshots that come with it. birds caw outside, and the news report from the night before continues repeating itself on low volume- enough noise for sleep, without disturbing it. A handful of credits are all that remains of a once far more comfortable amount of money and new work is something you'll need to get a jump start on finding, today even.

Stretching for a moment, Noelle sighs... Then checks over her Thermal Pistol briefly to make sure she didn't leave any pieces out. A Habit she learned quickly. After confirming everything is fine, will finish her morning routine with washing up and then check her Mail, her Compad and anything else to find work.

(Your backstory isn’t loading for me but if you’ve got some general ideas I’ll get you vaguely pointed in the right direction )

(That's fine, it's very basic.)

(The thrust of what I’m saying is, what do you want to do, what does Noel care about) (edited)

(Ah! Sorry, I misread.) Not wanting to end up with a more mundane Job, And wanting to get on the track of her Missing Mentor as soon as possible, Noel begins trying to find work, either in dealing with Supernatural Threats or Bounties. If she fails to find any of those, The follow up would be to check in with the local government and see if they're looking for assistance with any ongoing projects.

Expeditions to Teucer's ringworld are being mounted, and that seems to be the closest thing you can find to an actual bounty or mysterious threat. Explorers willing to go are few and far between, though it seems like a small team has hung on, trying to document the mysterious megastructure and the sprawling ecosystem built over it,

Curiosity and need for finances pushing her more than anything, and the realization that without any other leads, that place is as good as any, she signs up.

The field exploration team is headed by a man named Horatio, and you'll be forwarded to him upon entry to the system. By then, it is expected they'll have a site for a defensive forward base by then to continue looking over the surface of the immense world. Transport leaves tonight, and your application to join is accepted

Noel spends the intervening time picking up a spare Type A Power Cell, a Survival Kit, and a pair of Binoculars, if Possible. Then she will head to the Transport, shortly before the appointed time.

The gear is available and you’re able to get your goods stocked away shortly before the transport arrives. The crew is quiet , eager to get this run to the very edge of cooperative space handled quickly before returning to safer space

Noel makes small talk when it's available but is also pretty much just eagerly waiting to see who or what awaits at the mission's start. (I'll post the shopping list when I get home. It's.. small.)

(more stuff? or just catching up what we did already)

(Just catching up what was already done.)

The trip out to Teucer is five days and you’re brought into a vast system

8:44 PM

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/iron-stars-nekosmash/a/teucer-location?preview=true

Teucer

Shopping List:
1 Type A Power Cell: 10c
1 Survival Kit:      60c
1 Pair binocs:       20c
Leftover funds:      25c

There is a small signal, from an ATV explorer on the ring itself, along with another from a base on the large asteroid most of the colonists from here recently evacuated. There is a skeleton crew left behind.

Content to follow mission parameters, The Newbie Gunslinger will check over her briefing to see if she has a way to contact this Horatio fellow, as she was strictly speaking, requested to report to him.

(Can write a message and tag him if you want. Probably the easiest way )

(Alrighty. In his thread, right?) (edited)

(please)

To Noel,
Welcome to the team Noel, we're currently surveying for the first outpost on the Ringwould, I find myself in the mountains at the coordinates inclosed in this message. If you want to get involved straight away we have a forest to my direct south west, I'd be much obliged if you'd go through it and survey it to see what's there of use to a potential colony effort, you can land south of the lake to the woodlands east. Once I'm done climbing this peak I'd be more than happy to RV with you.

Noel reads the message...Then looks around at the rest of the people who signed up for this job, to get a sort of mental head count as to who might be going with her if she goes into the forest-Region. "It appears as though they're still surveying." She states, trying to measure responses.

(I didn’t see this before I sent you right to him since his thread came first but we should probably do both together given how dangerous the ring is)

(Yes please... My defense isn't great against Natural critters. xP)

###Level up!!###
Level: 2
Focus: Blade Ward 2.
Gun Mage Art: Close Quarter Combat
Old Hp: 7
HP roll: 9
New Hp: 9
Skill points on Level up: 3
Con 14 to Con 15 for 1 Sp.
Know -1 to Know 0. (For 1 SP.)
Shoot -1 to shoot 0 (For 1 SP.)
Attack Bonus: 2

3:03 PM

(I apologise in advance for mistakes, am on phone.)

(don't see any mistakes here!)

(7 days downtime: 7/90 on Perform.)

[Blade Ward active vs. Projectile weaponry] (edited)

(Projectile )

(Thank you!)

(Theyre from the gear section of Suns of gold If you need a source. I think it’s page 60)

(Note to self: +3 Strain Tracked.) (edited)

(I am good for whatever comes next)

(Alrighty. I have two levels to piece through when I get home. Also, Noel joining CAST could be fun.)

(Alright, we'll work through the level ups and then we'll figure out where we are)

###Level up!!###
Level: 3
Foci: None.
Rune Shot: Banish Shadow
Old Hp: 9
HP Roll: 11
New HP: 11
Skill Points on level up: 3.
Str 9 to Str 10 for 2 Sp.
Bank other Skill Point: 1.
Attack Bonus: 2

(edited)

###Level up!! AGAIN##
Level: 4
Foci: None.
Gun Mage Art: Arcane Precision
Old HP: 11
HP Roll: 25
New HP: 25
Skill Points on Level up: 3.
Banked Skill Points: 1.
Total SP: 4.
Shoot 0 to Shoot 1 for 2 SP.
Use Magic 0 to Use Magic 1 for 2 SP.
Acquire: Vault of Shadows Veteran, +2 to Mental Saves vs. Shadows, +1 Free Level to Mental Skill of Choice (Know Magic -1 to Know Magic 0.)
Attack Bonus: 3

(edited)

1:12 AM

(Lemme know if there's something I need to fix.)

(Everything looks right to me)

During the trip home, Noel alternates between catching up on recent events within The NMC, and seeing if she can find any leads on the bracelet outside of what she already has.

No one you can find with a routine search seems to know anything about it

Failing to acquire any leads through the minimum effort, She will check to see if there's a way she can set up an expedition to explore the derelict Ships in the Teucer system, seeing as that that was where Mr. Moustache stated he had found the device.

Jagrati seems to be the best place ot organize from, you’ll need the support of either NMC science itself, or CAST, either organization seems best to lead this kind of expedition work

Noel hops an IMTS, Assuming one is in range, to Jagrati, and makes plans to Contact CAST.

(Iracus is in charge of it, we can pop a message into the faction channel so it doesnt get buried in quests)

To: Noel Hallewell, Vault of Shadows Veteran
From: Chief Executive Iracus Varanu of CAST
Subject: Ancient Civilizations at Meda and Teucer

Hello Noel, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance and to hear from a distinguished veteran such as yourself. I will be on Jagrati for a bit of time before the next adventure calls, we are currently quite busy trying to fill a number of positions for the new Applied Research Center and gear up for our expeditions to Meda next month. However, discussing potential additional expeditions to Teucer and it's derelict vessels sounds like an exciting change of pace. Why don't you come on down to our offices and we can talk this over in person? You can use the attached link to put some time on my calendar so just figure a time that works best for you. I look forward to meeting you in person and talking more of this.

-Regards, 

Iracus Varanu

The message contains an address of the office location and a link to automatically schedule the meeting.

She follows the link and will set up the meeting for the day after she arrives at Jagrati, to give herself time to buy supplies.

(It’s seven days from Acastus to Jagrati and we can meet up)

(Sounds good. I believe that gives me 7 more days on Perform Training? for a total of 14.) (edited)

(Yes that’s right.

###Shopping List###
Rune Shot Crafting Materials at 10 credits per:
2 Iron Rot              (20  Credits)
2 Banish Shadow         (20  Credits)
2 Heart Stopper         (20  Credits)
3 Type A E. Cell        (30  Credits)
60 Rounds Combat Rifle  (30  Credits)
1 Navcomp               (500 Credits)
1 Survey Scanner        (250 Credits)
Total:                  (870 Credits)

Following the recent news announcement, Noel will tentatively test her finances to make doubly sure that she can cover her expenses, and upon finding them still relatively secure will purchase the above equipment once she gets to Jagrati. (edited)

Everything is waiting for you in neat packages once you arrive. Everyone’s personal finances seem untouched. The Exchange isn’t out to hurt the general population, just factions and polities

She then ensures her apartment is still in order, if there are any messages of any sort, if she doesn't find anything of note, she will then see if there's work to be done on Jagrati while she awaits the appointed time for the interview. (edited)

(I don’t mind if it’s out of time just so it doesn’t hold you guys up)

(Alrighty~ sounds good to me.)

Once the time comes Noel will head to the appointed location (I assume it's alright to just have it happen here, in my thread, cause he's in the middle of stuffs, and all that jazz~?)

(Yes that’s fine)

(@Iracus | Rayan | Kaedon | Seyso whenever you're ready captain.)

The location is one of a standard office building that blends in with the multitude of others nearby. Upon entering the building you would find a fairly busy and slightly chaotic atmosphere with office workers hurriedly moving between meetings in light of the recent financial news. After checking in with the receptionist you would be led to a higher floor where a meeting room has been prepared including water and coffee on a nearby table. Sitting in the room is a man who you recognize as Iracus with exhaustion in his eyes, but upon seeing you he stands up and smiles as he goes to meet you offering a hand to shake "Noel, it is a pleasure to meet you face to face, please have a seat and feel free to grab some refreshments as you like."

She semi-awkwardly accepts the handshake, it seeming to be relatively new to her, but she goes for it nonetheless. "Uh, thank you!" After finishing the hand-shake she takes a seat, and sets a folder with paperwork on her lap. It's well organized, the folder has evidence of fairly recently removed sticker residue, but is otherwise pristine.

Closing the door behind her Iracus moves over to the refreshments to pour himself a cup of coffee and while doing so says, "So I must say you couldn't have contacted us at a better time. What with all this Exchange of Light mess and what have you, we can definitely use folks such as yourself." Moving to sit down opposite of Noel he continues, "I hope you were able to get some rest following Rana as should you find our line of work interesting there is definitely no shortage of work to be done." Iracus says as he goes to take a large sip of coffee (edited)

"That's good... I'm looking forward to something less... Uhm. Shooting horrific Nightmare flesh things, and more in line with improving the Sector at large through less destructive means." She shudders as she mentions the flesh monsters, the memory still clearly bothering her. "With the exchange hitting us... Er. CAST, is two expeditions something we can still do with minimal risk? I am open to assisting the Medan expedition and taking the more stable route of one at a time until everything is back with solid foundations...."

"I am with you on staying away from shooting hellish Nightmare flesh things and have few desires to bring CAST in such a direction," Iracus says, gently smiling as he notices Noel shudder at the mention and while thinking of his own experience shooting hellish screaming demon things "But while the Exchange has temporarily set us back, the Medan research expedition was going to be one of significant scale with numerous teams working in conjunction to better asses the planet since we had already seen proof of the alien deeps buried below the sands and kind of knew what to look for to support such an effort. However, I believe a smaller scale research and scouting mission to Tuecer would be a very beneficial in potentially helping to guide additional work on Meda, and being a more effective use of a focused team rather than the mass expedition approach that Meda requires." Iracus takes another sip as he asks, "But before we continue on, I am curious, but what has brought on your interest in exploring the region there? Not many people are willing to take on the potentially dangerous work of exploration of uncharted lands or derelict crafts." (edited)

"Originally I took a job as part of a Scouting operation, in order to pay rent. Then I got handed a piece of alien tech and that awakened my rather Vast curiosity... Besides, it's a better method to advance society than random Wars or anything like that." She smiles, she genuinely believes this.

Iracus's eyes light up at the mention of alien tech "A sentiment that I share, can't say I have ever read of a war that helped advanced scientific understanding of the world around us. But this alien device, can you describe it?"

"I can do you one better." She pulls it out and sets it on the desk. "We're not entirely sure to its function but it uses a battery type I've never seen before, mounts to your wrist and stuff. These two holes near the top appear to be some kind of projection apparatus, perhaps signifying it's a weapon of sorts!"

Iracus gently picks up the device while turning it over in his hands, inspecting it "Fascinating, I wonder if anyone in the xenoarchelology department at the university might have any clue of its function based on any similar finds...but if a power source could be recovered, well then that would help save quite some time trying to understand its purpose and reduce any risk inherent in attempting to construct a makeshift power source." he states as he hands the device back over to Noel "And this was found on one of the derelict crafts in the system?" (edited)

"Yes, I intend to pursue it and figure out every bit of it. If possible, and if it's decent enough, I want to see if I can figure out a way to get it to utilize A cells, and make it standardized... If it's some kind of Armor, even better!"

"And that is the exact kind of drive and energy we are looking for here at CAST. Much of our work here will start as little more than an abstract concept or idea, but by asking the right questions and following the right leads, we just might be able to do our part in helping the post-Scream recovery. Just think of the kind of questions that are raised by the simple fact that in our local galactic neighborhood there are not one, but two precursor civilizations adjacent to one another. The bladed beings from Meda and slug creatures from Teucer, or the alpha-aliens and beta-aliens as we are calling them internally. Were they both alive at the same time? Did they, like the Slyth, face off against the Fleshshapers? Not to mention the questions the ring world mega-structure brings up. It is so exciting to think of the questions that remain unanswered, but if you think you can help us answer these kinds of questions, then CAST would be happy to have you on the team and will happily support you as you seek the answers to your own questions related to that device, xeno-archaeology, or even archaeotech. So, if you want it, the job is all yours." (edited)

"I'm in! Any Ruins you need explored, you can count on me!" Her excitement causes a small voice crack, But Noel has a twinkle in her eye and the Echoes of the Flesh-monsters has faded for now.

Iracus smiles as he reaches over the table with an outstretched hand "Well then, congrats and welcome to the Cooperative for the Advancement of Science and Technology, Captain Noel Hallewell."

She once again Semi-awkwardly reciprocates the Hand-shake. "Thank you, Chief Executive. I look forward to working with everyone!"

"Please, call me Iracus. Now to discuss the matter of compensation and benefits" Iracus swipes up at his seat and a holographic image comes out from the desk, he then makes a few gestures and then a similar image shows up in front of Noel "Now as you can see we have a complete benefits package, pretty standard stuff, a 100,000 monthly salary. Access to an expense account for any mission related expenses. As you complete missions for us you will qualify for additional benefits such as access to some propriety research databases and personalized training as well as a 400,000 salary increase, to 500,000 monthly, upon your first rank attained beyond the base. In addition, we will be releasing some form of employee stock to share in the profits of the organization sometime soon, just need to sort of figure out if the Exchange is going to decide on any kinds restriction regarding that first... And on top of all of that, as the organization completes its milestone objectives, company wide bonuses will be issued. If you would like some time to review all the information please feel free, otherwise any immediate concerns?"

"Not particularly, It's more than I was expecting honestly... I suppose I am concerned about the Exchange of Light, as I mentioned we don't know exactly what their motives are and the fact that they can carry out these kinds of actions remotely and across the whole of the Iron Stars is frankly disheartening... My Teacher used to tell me that 'if you know something's dangerous but not how it's dangerous, don't go Pokin' it with your hand.' I think we know that they're dangerous, at least Economically, but not how they do what they do."

Iracus nods "Yes I imagine they will reveal themselves to be particular thorns in all our sides sooner rather than later, it is hard to not see their action as nothing more than a power play. It is quite convenient for them that their Yama Kings and agreements survived the effects of the Scream, while so many perished and reliant systems destroyed elsewhere in the galaxy. But at least we are all now protected under their watchful eye." he says sarcastically and then sighs "But regardless there are much larger fish than us that should attract their attention for the time being, it will be interesting to see how the Galetan Council decides to respond to their action. So until their motives are revealed or our situation changes, the best we can do is build back. Which is why missions such as yours will be so important, for they very well might provide us the edge we need to make it in this new world." (edited)

"Alright. Then I will put forth everything I can to ensure it's total success." She nods. "So is there any paperwork I need to sign? And when can I begin?" She chuckles slightly.

Iracus wirelessly sends over a packet of Standard Business Documents "Oh just the usual stuff, nothing of note and can submit it at your leisure. And well, you can begin as soon as you the ship you will be managing finishes construction." Iracus then pulls up some ship specs "But you will be assigned a ship and crew, unless you already have your own you prefer to use. Will be a fairly simple exploration craft for now with all the usual bells and whistles. Advanced survey suite, workshop, lifeboats, and it will also be equipped with a laboratory should you wish to conduct any sort of research or field study. I have no experience with arcanotech research, but imagine it could be used for that as well. Now while I can't imagine you will be put into a situation, at least around here, that might warrant ship combat, do note it is most certainly not an offensive ship, but it is a rather fast one so you should be able to avoid most dangerous situations."

3:47 PM

3:49 PM

"But unless anything about it strikes you or you feel other fittings might support you better, it should be done this month, in about 2 weeks time, just will need to submit it after this."

"I have never been in a Ship battle and I intend to keep it that way... I've... admittedly just been using the IMTS up until this point..." Noel fidgets a bit and looks over the data on the ship, giving a shaky sigh. "I don't think there's anything Dangerous to a ship kicking around Teucer though, so There's that." She tilts her head slightly, before righting it again, seeming to comfort herself.

"While work like this has an inherent dangerous element to it, I have little desire to place people into situations of direct violence, so I hope neither of us has to engage in any kind of ship battle soon. But, I will get this thing sent to the shipyards right away, so you are of course welcome to spend the next two weeks relaxing or whatever you wish. I'll send over crew files so you can get to know your team. Then from there, well, that is up to however you wish to accomplish our general goals. Just to help define them I think a few good top level things would be to first figure out what we can about the beta-aliens of Tuecer and see if we can't confirm their place of origin, be it that ring world or somewhere else, or hell even their names, such a find could lead to some good press, maybe even spur some donor interest. In addition, recovery of any kind of data, salvageable equipment to reverse engineer, or even recovery of intact specimens that you can find to bring back to our labs here would also be ideal. In terms of company development, I think a key avenue will be through the reverse engineering of recovered equipment and artifacts. But, beyond that, I'd say just let your curiosity drive you to ask the questions yet to be asked." Iracus says as he smiles at the prospect of CAST slowly, but surly growing in strength

Nekosmash pinned a message to this channel. 5/17/2021 10:23 PM

"Alright. Two weeks, huh?" She thinks about it for a bit. "Alright."

"Well Noel it has been a pleasure and I look forward to seeing what you end up discovering. If there is anything you need from me please do not hesitate to ask." Iracus says as he starts to stand up to get ready to personally escort Noel out as the meeting comes to a close (edited)

"I can only hope that my lack of hesitation doesn't prove burdensome." She states with a smile, standing up slightly after Iracus does.

Iracus laughs "I like to think a bit of a lack of hesitation is a good thing for explorers. Just think if it wasn't for Dr. Crohn's lack of hesitation to take the first spike drill, who knows if we would even be here." As Iracus escorts Noel to the front of the building their walk is interrupted by some stressed looking people with compads and papers in their hands. After a brief chat he gives them the 'just give me a moment' hand gesture "Well it appears a few fun financial and regulation review meetings are in my future, but before then do you have anything final you'd like to say or any questions? They can wait a little longer." Iracus smiles as he looks over at them (edited)

"Well, at some point I intend to start training Gun-mages, and spreading that knowledge through the co-op, is there a way I could enlist CAST's assistance with finding apprentices and all that?"

"Increasing access to knowledge, both of our physical and metaphysical dimensions, is a foundational belief of ours, so I would say that we would most certainly help with that as best as we can. Access to such knowledge and ensuring its security for the future it is more important than ever."

"Fantastic!" Somehow this is the most excited she's been during the entire interview. "I'll get working on Teucer as soon as is possible!"

"Well again, welcome to the team and best of luck and fly safe." With that Iracus gives a final firm handshake before turning to go deal with the not-so-fun nor adventurous business meetings. Noel maybe even overhears him muttering something like '...all could have been an email...'

2:24 PM

(I think you can essentially take the ship whenever since it's less build time then the month, so unless I'm mistaken I think it's ready for you whenever you are ready for it. And then I think the crew would just be a general science team with maybe like a field tech, 2 pilots, engineer, and a security officer if that ever becomes relevant. So long as that makes sense to neko and you) (edited)

(works for me, and yeah it is M12 so the ship is done

Once the ship is completed, Noel will embark back to Teucer.

(going to assume a full crew, since it can only hold 6 people to begin with, and we need 3 to even fly it)

(and 5 days of downtime)

(Alrighty)! Noel will Request for the Course to be set for the Teucer Ringworld, and begin her investigations with the Derelicts that are drifting about in the Vacuum of space, after introducing herself to the Crew. (edited)

(d100, lets generate a wreck)

[83]

the wreck of a vessel that is yacht sized tumbles before you in the derelict heap. You can see where a few of the ships have been removed and repurposed by the inhabitants here already. There is a hissing of retro thrusters as the ship halts itself, and exterior lights shine on the outside of the wreck. It was lanced through by some type of dumbfire weapon. Pieces of the impaling harpoon like rod are still embedded in the craft's side. On a thin skinned vessel like this even a glancing hit is enough to grievously wound.

On the way to it, Noel will set her Blade Ward to Energy Weapons, and then don a Vaccsuit. "Well, Let's see what we can dig up."

The breach in the side seems to be the only way in that is not going to involve cutting something open. The team looks to see who you'll select, if anyone, to come aboard with you

She chooses the field tech and the Security officer, Figuring that the tech can help her with some of the technical things, and the Guard and her can handle anything threatening.

10:45 AM

Crossing over. You can decide between heading aft , or to the bridge

"We will first check The Bridge and everything on that side of the vessel, then swing to the...erm... Aft and handle that side." She gestures towards the parts as she talks about them. "Keep alert, we don't know much about what could be here." (edited)

Heading east, you first see the secondary cargo hold. The secure room has held itself together despite the utter destruction of the rest of the ship. The bunker deck has done its work well. Lockdown doors have slammed down over the access, keeping the contents from blowing out during those first few moments of de-pressurization. with pressure equalized now, there is no further risk of things getting away from you.

Noel will approach the door carefully, and check over it. Idly checking to see if there's a way to open it, without really anticipating there being any power being fed to the door.

There is a manual override on the wall in the form of a hydraulic flywheel, capable of lifting the security shutter. The door underneath will still need to be handled

She begins fussing with the Fly-wheel to get the shutter up, already thinking on the Door beneath as she does so.

The shutter racks into position, and you can see that the door has been damaged by the impact of whatver killed this vessel. The shutter stopped the contents from being sucked out into space, but otherwise did not manage to entirely seal off the storage room. it looks like it can be pushed open to get inside

Seeing this, Noel will do so, Carefully. Keeping her eyes peeled for anything that could cause harm to her Vacc suit.

Things seem to be as safe as a situation like this could allow, and reaching in there is a lever to open the door. It’s engaged and the door swings open revealing some equipment crates

She will inspect the Crates, checking locking mechanisms, and for any signs that they maybe volatile.

You can’t read the language theyre in. Nothing seems like it has extra protective measures taken with its containment. The locks are simple carry straps that seem ubiquitous to all cultures across the stars

Noel thinks on it for a moment, and looks to her two Companions "Do you think we should open them here, or on the ship? They use carry straps so it's unlikely that they're pressurized but still a vague possiblity."

“Our ship probably. Gravity and tools would make this easier. Probably. No risk of what’s in it floating away at any rate “

She nods "let's explore the whole ship, Catalogue what needs to be offloaded and then do so. No sense in making unnecessary trips."

Pushing towards the bridge you pass another storage room and a crew bunk. Neither of them have locked down , though their normal entry doors have closed

"Let's get these open, Catalog what's left." Noel states, already moving to get the first of the two doors open.

(which of the two?)

(Start with the crew bunk, then the storage.)

The bunk has been shaped into something like capsules, matching the slug like physiology of the aliens Horacio encountered on the vessel he searched some time ago.

She makes note of this, and steps in to see if there's any containers or storage units within.

Floating among the capsules, is a small rod, about the right size for one of the holes on the bracelet you've been trying to get identified somehow

Noel takes it and examines it impulsively, making note of a possible function. "Excellent!" Her voice cracks with excitement. She then continues her search through the bunks eagerly cataloguing what she finds.

(Notice/wis)

[6]

You find a second of the slender control rods stuffed into the torn fabric of a capsule's bed liner.

She scoops it up and nods to herself. "Let's keep looking, Picked up two tiny rods that might be associated with the bracelet discovered earlier in these wrecks. Hopefully we can find records or a way to power these things."

(we havent actually put them together and I missed it iirc, right?)

(Correct. Noel wants to put them together in a more controlled environment, namely planetside where if it fires off there's no chance of hitting anything that might explode or decompress.)

(makes sense)

2:58 PM

The crew bunks don't seem to have anything else of immediate value inside of them

Noel motions for them to move out and heads for the Storage room, keeping an eye out for symbols or markings to record.

The storage room, recently examined and reviewed, has crates being marked off for transport back to your ship. The only remaining area of interest on this half of the ship looks to be the bridge

After ensuring the team is still safe and things are progressing optimally, She heads to the Bridge.

(We only had a couple people aboard, so they're not really going to be doing anything with the ship until you say its safe, but there shouldn't be any complications once we get to that point) the bridge shutters are down, closing off the bulkhead door from the rest of the ship. This keypad seems to be working on whatever dregs of reserve power are present in the batteries

Noel will look over the keypad and the shutters with a deep frown.

Frowns don’t seem to make a difference for if the door opens or not

Lacking most technical expertises for such a task, She starts to look about to see if there's any overrides, or anything of that sort, and Failing that she'll first record what the keys look like, then try and dismantle the keypad and get in that way.

(Fix/int)

[5~]

The keypad is dismantled with no progress made on getting the shutters up. There doesn’t seem to be a way to get them open that doesn’t involve tens of hours of cutting now

"Frick... We're... going to have to cut through... the slow way." Noel states, with a disappointed huff. She takes a few more notes on what the guts of the keypad looks like, and sighs. "Let's get the rest of the stuff taken away, and see about setting up to cut through the Blast shutters."

Cutting through it will be an around the clock operation for at least a day. These shutters were designed to keep out boarders , and are not something that can be easily crossed.

Resigning herself to the day long operation, she organizes a set of shifts to ensure that the work is as evenly distributed as possible, Splitting the tasks of moving the things from the storage room and Cutting through the Shutters. During that time she'll check up on the Nearby Station and Ringworld colony via In-System Comms. "This is Noel Hallewell of NMC and CAST checking in on The Teucer Colony and the Ring-world Expeditions."

Everything seems to be going fine. They’re working to finish the research station on the ring where you and Horacio were once exploring.

Noel hunkers down for the long haul, not wanting to scout other wrecks while any crewmen are left cutting away at the shutters, and spends the time where she's not on duty trying to carve through or moving the items of interest talking with the field tech about the door panel and how he'd have approached it.

He would have tried connecting his data pad to it to see if he could coax an electronic over ride out of the pad , or figure out how to pull some kind of schematic so he could figure out what to cut if breaking it down became necessary

"Ah, I see... That makes sense... I kind of let my enthusiasm get the better of me haha.."

(I'm good to move up if you didn't have anything else)

(Sounds good to me~ ^_^)

the day passes as goods and supplies are loaded aboard your ship. No one has been able to open anything yet, preferring to do this on land instead per your orders. The background whine of the saws quiets now as there is finally a breach cut through the shutters

Noel rushes over basically as soon as she finds out about the situation, her excitement evident. "Anything out of the ordinary yet? Or is everything still smooth sailing?" (edited)

The bridge is open. They haven’t meddled any of the containers still since you’ve told them not to and the current situation hasn’t changed. There were no traps but nobody has gone through the cut hole in the bulkhead

Taking a deep breath in her Vaccsuit, She nods, Hoping that if there is anything dangerous, her ward will handle it. Rather than barging right in, however, she instead carefully tries to check around the opening, to make sure there's nothing waiting.

There is nothing waiting. It would have attacked the engineers. A wrecked starship bridge with tangled wires and melted crew consoles is your prize along with what looks to be a few floating bodies

"A-ah, all clear it looks like." Noel gives a respectful bow to the bodies, as if in reverence for their sacrifices, then steps into the wrecked Bridge. "What do you think? anything worthwhile here, outside of Historical analysis?"

"We're only just entering now. A few of the computers look like they'll support efforts to drain their data contents. We can check the bodies over too, even decayed like this they'll be the life's work of a xenobiologist somewhere. None of this is worthy of being overlooked"

"Excellent, we might be able to figure out if they have a home system or something similar, or at least figure out what they were doing here..."

(Depending on what your interests are I can detail things out but if youre spinning your wheels or just want to get to tinkering with the bracelet i can fast forward)

(I'm a very curious person, so I kinda do wanna learn everything I can... but Also, I understand that the over head on that would be... uh... Dramatic... and Don't want to create any undue burdens or anything like that... So I'm trying to balance out, cause I don't want to like... waste anyone's time or anything.)

(the only thing i care about is what you enjoy)

8:08 PM

They don't seem to have named themselves or their species in the records you have here. Some of the context is impossible to discern. These slug like creatures were around and active in the galaxy at the same time as the Slyth and seemed to have been something of a minor power. They traded with both sides of the conflict and were in this region of space trying to flee from the Slyth engineered plague that had mutated to spread among their species as well. Evidence suggests this mutation was unintentional, as it was in the Slyth race as well. This region was three sectors south of the slyth cluster and they thought they would be safe here. The last log details some sort of attack by Piggen pirate raiders, before the log registers a reactor breach and the computers collected no more data. It explains the breach and the massive decompression in the side of the vessel by which you entered. Life preservation protocols locked the ship down. Stranded out here with the entire refugee fleet damaged or destroyed in a similar manner they were forced to watch themselves expire as the life support gradually ran out

8:11 PM

(you also have a timeline event now)

8:13 PM

1

(Oh hey! Kickass!) "...Oh... how horrible... Hmm... We should dig around a bit more. We haven't turned up anything too conclusive about the Ring-world, and finding out more about The Factions that were active at that time might give us more leads. Plus we might be able to scrounge up a Schematic or something helpful to reverse engineer some of the tech around here... That's my thoughts anyways, what do you think?" She asks pretty much the entire team at this point, Slightly shakened by the thought of both an engineered plague, and also of suffocating in the Vacuum, but also eager to get more pieces of the many puzzles she has bouncing about.

If there was an engineering console it is slagged now and is unsuitable for getting navigational data, or schematics. Any experimentation will need to be done by the work of your own hands and brain for the moment.

"Well, that settles that I suppose. We can probably swing by the Base-camp that's being built on the ring world, piece together the parts we have for the bracelet, and then see if they need anything. If they don't, more wrecks to explore."

(3xp , 5000 credits )

6:04 AM

The base camp is easy to find as the only comm signal on the planet below. The titanic solar shades also put in place around the sun have the particular spot on the surface of the undergoing a night cycle right now

After landing on the ring-world, at the base camp, Noel will bring the bracelet and the two tiny rod-like things with her.

The camp is still primitive. There aren’t many people left in the system and exploring the ring world

7:22 AM

The lab is functional but crude

"Hopefully this will work..." Noel states as she heads towards the lab, greeting and nodding to anyone she recognizes as she heads towards the lab.

The items are laid out on a workbench once you get inside and there is a small hissing sound as static electricity in the room is neutralized. Gloves are provided as is a small work pad to ensure your tools do not become charged in any way

She smirks, and nods. Putting the gloves on and utilizing the work pad as she carefully begins working on putting the rods in the bracelet, carefully avoiding pointing it at herself or other people.

(fix/int)

[7]

The stabilization rods click into place and the bracelet begins to power up. A small status panel appears on the surface of the device and other inlaid circuitry likewise begins to glow from where it was microscopically carved within the alien metal. A small crackling energy field begins building , remaining small about the size of a plasma ball

"...W-Woah! Uh..." She looks about, pointing the device and the energy field towards the ground, away from anyone or anything important... and begins to try and fuss with the device, trying her damndest to not touch the energy field.

The field begins to scatter and contain itself back within the bracelet. With the bracelet loaded, a small pressure plate that sits above the wrist has extended. When you flick your hand downward, it will fire

Upon realizing this, Noel looks about for something to shoot with the bracelet, preferably something disposable or otherwise highly unimportant.

Someone's lunch is on one of the lab tables, there is also a piece of shjeet metal hanging up on the wall

Having a decent amount of respect for the etiquette of not fucking with people's Sandwich, Noel levels the bracelet at the sheet metal, and attempts to shoot the sheet.

The ball connects, scorching it. You've seen this pattern before in riot control Flop Rifles. It seems the item in your hand is akin to a pistol variant, an item highly sought across the Iron Stars

"...oh-hoho, We need to let the chief director know...." She looks at the bracelet and fusses with it to try and shut it off/power it down.

It seems that pushing your hand upwards activates some kind of safety catch, and the device clicks off into standby move. The moves for you are deliberate, there is not going to be a natural hand position you can make that will accidentally set the weapon off.

Noel then unhitches the bracelet, and with a massive grin heads to the ship to file the report on the results and findings of the expedition so far to CAST.

(we can post a report in the faction channel, which is probably best so its circulated. Right now you've got the only existing model of the technology)

(Sounds good.)

(3xp, 5000 credits )

###Level up###
Level: 5
Foci: Occult Resilience
Gun Mage Art: None.
Rune Shot: Detonator
Old HP: 25.
HP Roll: 23.
New HP: 26.
Skill Points on Level up: 3.
Fix -1 to Fix 0 for 1 SP, Know Magic 0 to Know Magic 1 for 2 SP.
Attack Bonus: 4.

(I'm good for whatever you want to do, ive got ideas if you dont)

[The only two I have are more wrecks, or helping the colony Acquire stuff. But I do generally like the missions you suggest]

(one of the big problems the NMC is having right now is enough people for its various holdings to begin with. Exploration of some other systems for them might be helpful)

(Sounds good! Its likely that Noel wants to begin heading North anyways, given the information from the wreck.)

(let me know your destination and we'll spon something up)

[Is it possible to jump straight to Plaus?]

(Yes it’s 3 away)

[Excellent] "We could try our luck with Plaus, it's within 3 systems and is north... Plus the NMC needs planets surveyed badly, so two birds, one stone."

(I'll get a report together)

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/iron-stars-nekosmash/a/plaus-location?preview=true?

Plaus

"...Oh my. Perhaps we can offer them help with whatever it is... with any luck we can convince them to join up with the Co-operative and then continue searching for the Ruins of either the Unnamed Slug-aliens or the Slyth." She states staring at the defensive installation and the general set up of the planet.

The planet does not seem to have the ability to communicate with spacecraft, or detect the presence of them.

"Let me send a message to the council and CAST, before we end up landing on a potentially hostile world and losing the ship." Noel says with a sigh.

(i saw you sent a message there, we'll see what shakes out of it)

(sounds like we're going for it)

(Yep, I'll post on my second break or when I get home~) (edited)

After conferring with the rest of the Polity, The Gun-Mage will decide to take a shuttle down. "Does Galatea have a First Contact policy, or are we just pretty much flying by the seat of our pants?"

The comms officer looks but There isn’t a policy they could get everyone to agree on , and therefore there is none. You’re here to succeed or fail by your own judgment (edited)

"Alright.. well, We should try and get into contact with the Planetary Government, assuming they're... unified. If not we'll reach out to the folks that are trying to contain the situation that's happening at the center of the planet. Which means locating those people and showing up in person. I think having Security onboard the shuttle in case of the locals being hostile would be good, and uhm... I'm not exactly an experienced pilot..." (edited)

(How close would you want to get to the center of the planet. Just so I can figure out what checks for roll or who would reasonably be aware that you’re landing )

(Close enough to be seen, but preferably in a way that is as unthreatening as possible. Like, if it were say Chicago, I'd try to land in a field within view of the skyline but not in the city proper.)

A site 5 kilometers from the outward defensive works is selected for a landing zone, and you are broadcasting your identity and name all the way down to the surface so the defenders are aware there is a vessel coming. They show restraint by not shooting and several helicopters are on their way to where you have touched down. this most outside layer of defenses looks to be the newest and right now is a series of earthworks, along with a gun tower every 50m

Noel steps off the ship, In an NMC Uniform, clearly not as comfortable with it as she is with her normal clothes, Watching the Helicopters approach with a large amount of eagerness and small amount of listlessness.

Two of the helicopters are gunships and they pass overhead quickly to circle the surrounding area. Two transport helicopters follow , their twin rotor design has them banking gently before they set down deploying their ramps. Dozens of soldiers begin emerging first to form a defensive ring around both the helicopters and your ship before a trio of army officers emerge into the sunlight. One of them stops for a moment to put on shades. Once they are clear, the transport helicopters lift off and begin to circle the area along with the gunships

The Gun-mage looks over to the Gentleman with the shades and gives a small smile and nods. Seeming to not really regard the gunships, but to still be slightly anxious anyways. She opts to move in closer, but stops about half-way away from the Shuttle to try and ease any tensions they may have.

"COoperative agent, why are you here?"

8:15 PM

He shouts as they move to within 5m of you. His security is anxious, unsure what to make of a random spaceship landing on the doorstep of a secure facility

"Two reasons, I'm a Xeno-Archaelogist looking for the remnants of a fallen ancient Civilization, The second is to offer to assist with the situation at the planet's heart." She doesn't bother to hide her surprise at being referred to as a Cooperative agent.. (edited)

"Assist? Has your group obtained any information about what might be going on here? We assume you have been watching with your space craft for some time before announcing yourself

"Not too much, honestly. We know that you're trying contain something, given the maze pattern and the towers, I assume it's something that uses mostly close quarter combat things. I also wasn't anticipating this world having something like this, I came this way to find the remnants of an unnamed Slug Alien species."

"Slug aliens? Nothing like what we're dealing with here then. Count yourself lucky it is not happening to your planets"

"Could you elaborate? I know I stated I was a Xeno-Archaelogist, but I also happen to be a Gun-Mage. I might be able to set up something to assist or more directly assist in this myself."

"There is a factory in the middle of this giant defensive work. We're not sure what happened. It used to make robots and drones and five years ago the operators there went crazy, along with the AI at the installation's heart. Monsters and war machines come out of there now. Hordes of them every day.

2:42 PM

"We're doing everything we can to stop them, but they're getting more inventive, more powerful, and they're sporting things we've never seen before"

"Ah... There was a galaxy wide event that caused... Not identical, but fairly similar events across a wide array of worlds... I wish I could say I was relieved, but That AI needs to be killed." She looks about and exhales sharply. "Well, do you know if they use energy weapons yet?"

"something like caged lightning that they direct like whips. "

2:52 PM

"It's a feature of some of the war machines that come out of the factory. They still like flames, high caliber guns and infantry crushers and those are mostly what we encounter"

"A mix... Troubling but expected. Do you have any plans to take out the AI and the factory itself? I'm going to have my men on the shuttle send a message about the rogue AI, but ideally, with help, we can solve this with what we have already."

"Getting close enough to probe for weaknesses isn't something we have been able to manage"

"...ah. I don't know how long it'll take for support to arrive. I can assist with the skirmishes, and maybe help you guys with tech, such as thermal pistols in the meantime? If you have people who are have MES I can try to assist them as well. My ship is uh.. an explorer craft predominantly." She jerks her thumb towards the shuttle, Concern flooding her facial expression as she looks towards the elaborate maze structure. (edited)

"it's to keep them from making a beeline to the countryside. They've got to duel with the defenders, navigate the obstacles in there, and so on. Elaborate, but useful. The cage is a horrific waste of resources but we all agree we would rather fight them in there than out on the plains"

"Fair enough. Let me send a message to the Cooperative, and to CAST. I'll see if I can help alleviate your resource expenditure and maybe help set up a way for you guys to get the equipment we need to hit that AI and take it down."

"Should we wait here while you do this?"

"Yes, I'm not leaving the system, my ship can pass me the messages I receive after I send the initial report. I'll be back down as soon as possible."

They don’t have anything to add and can only wait to see what you do after the report is sent

Noel bids them Adieu, and heads towards the shuttle back to the Enigma, Giving an affirming nod to the Soldiers as she steps aboard the shuttle, Assuming nothing interrupts her, she will head up... and Send a message to the New Moon Parliament.

(NMC channel didn't have anything there yet about this other than you reporting it so far IIRC)

(Alrighty.)

After a bit of back and forth, Noel removes the Flop Pistol, and tucks it in a drawer in the Captain's quarters of the Enigma. Checks over her gear, and makes sure to grab two power cells and ammo for her rifle. She then steps out and looks to the Crew. "We're kind of here for the long haul. I'm going to be providing them support where I can on the ground, but we need to get supplies and assistance to this planet. Chief Executive Varanu will be bringing assistance with him when his Diplomatic mission finishes. If any of you have suggestions on what supplies to get, I'm all ears."

"Mobility gear for the soldiers here. Butterfly harnesses, climbing equipment and so on. Trying to attack vehicles from above where the armor is thinner has made a difference in many wars"

"That makes sense, I'll confirm with them on the scale, and we'll get a shopping list. This, Plus what Max and Iracus were suggesting should give us the edge we need to get in there and hopefully put this AI down... Hopefully the things they need won't be outside my budget, haha." She states, already laying a course for the previous landing zone. (edited)

Your liaisons are already waiting as your ship comes back down, though with fewer soldiers now that they know you do not have hostile intent

This time, Noel approaches with significantly less hesitation. "I've got news, some of it requires speaking with your leaders. The Cooperative has a few plans, but we don't want to do anything without a greater understanding of the situation. Oh, and I apologize, I've forgotten my manners... I am Noel Hallewell." She gives a bow.

"Our leaders? Can you give us some kind of idea of what you are proposing? They're going to ask us, and the'yre not going to want to hear it from you"

"Well, it hinges on whether your leaders are okay with us bringing in reinforcements or not. There was talk of constructing a Large ECM tower to cut down the range of the enemy drones. At the very least we have setting of an Expert on the way to assist with taking it on." She takes a breath, looking towards the Maze-Structure. "We want to hit it as decisively and swiftly as possible. Without giving it an opportunity to adapt the tech we're bringing."

“And ECM may do that for a time. I feel any kind of jamming solution is going to be short lived. The enemy will react in time" (edited)

"The Jammer would be solely to give our forces time enough to breach deeper into the enemy's lair, to Maximize the distance that myself and the other forces arrayed can plunge in. This combined with improved Combat armor, and weaponry should aid our Kill Team in getting to the Enemy." She takes a brief moment to formulate the rest of her thoughts, before continuing. My crew has suggested Mobility gear, such as Butterfly harnesses, Climbing equipment, and the like. Things to hit the enemy from angles where their armor is thinner, with heavier weapons then they're anticipating. The troubling part is that it's going to be a bit before the team and the equipment can arrive. during that time, I would like to set up some training... I may be able to teach them some techniques and abilities to further push the odds in our favor." (edited)

(You don’t have metapsionics so im not sure what you’d be doing as far as mes training )

(Does Gun-Mage stuff not fall under MES? If it's not I'll revise~, I just, have no idea how that stuff works) (edited)

(Even if you’re a psychic you need metapsionics to keep untrained psychics from torching and to instruct psychics , Thats RAW, from the book. A gun mage is not a psychic, nor do you have metapsionics)

(Ah. Alrighty. Revised it) (edited)

“We can try to round up some of the more novice army units we have in the area to learn some things , but that’s about all we can spare. Containment of this issue is paramount and takes all the strength we can muster

"I understand. I don't know how much help it'll be, But any edge we can get is worth at least discussing." She states.

(What would you be showing them then. I’m confused as to what this is supposed to be doing or where to go with this)

(Gun Mage stuff, if possible.)

(We covered this. That’s not a possible Avenue )

(Ah, sorry, I misinterpreted it then)

It seems as though nothing other than physical training drills can really be passed on, and with the soldiers of this world already getting more than enough PT, all that remains is to follow you into the maze to see what damage can be done to the robotics within before more sophisticated supplies and technology arrive from back home

Noel will Lead the team towards the labyrinth, clearly nervous at the prospect of fighting against enemies that necessitate such defenses, but keeping up a smile solely to try and comfort herself and those around.

Noel has been given command of a platoon of 40 soldiers for a probe into the maze. The distant rumble of cannons and small arms fire from further advance units signal the factory has completed its batch of horrors for the day. The comm net inside the metal maze is unreliable and the waves bounce strangely, effectively reducing unit officers to making decisions on their own without a chain of command. 4 soldiers have rocker launchers and reloads. 4 soldiers have grenade launchers with a mix of incendiary and high explosive rounds.

After taking stock, The Gun Mage will introduce herself to the troops and then lead them towards the massive Maze.

(d10, we'll do this procedurally)

(2)

The opening of the maze lacks the trappings of battle. An iron gate is pulled aside for you to enter the maze and for the first two hundred meters Youre actually following the path of a road that used to be here. The path ahead bends right and the group makes its first turn, passing a defensive line of automated quad heavy machine guns

(Just for clarity's sake, the machine guns are allied or hostile?)

(Allied)

Noel eyes the guns for a moment before working past them, comforted that they're on her side.

You can hear the sounds of combat distantly along with the repeating snap hiss of powered legs. Something clangs like a warped bell and you can feel heat wash sweeping over the top of this large metal maze. Moving ahead, you can see another allied defensive line ahead of you. The guns blink click and recognize yuou are friendly, they power down to let you pass. Rounding another corner ahead you pass one of the destroyed enemy walkers. Six of its eight legs have been shattered and it tried to crawl forward on its two forward pinions. The drone rack in its thorax lies broken open like a wilting flower, most of its suicide bomb drones had not been given the chance to deploy before the walker was destroyed.

She pauses staring at the drones, and looks about. "Cover me, I want to get an idea for what we're dealing with here."

(know/int)

(4)

You're not sure about what the robotics specifically do or how they're controlled. The bomb drones look to have managed themselves once fired but you are not sure how this was accomplished either, or what their payloads might have been

Turning to the platoon, Noel asks,"I don't recognize any of this... Do the drones explode when you shoot them? Or do they arm just before impact?" She begins walking towards them while speaking, occasionally looking over her shoulder to make sure the damn thing doesn't suddenly find the energy to disgorge it's horrors.

It seems liek the drones arm just before impact, but the delivery mechanism for the bomb is the drone

"Hmm. Alright, I suppose." She looks towards the soldiers. "Have you folks tried reverse engineering the Drones or their weapons?" She then makes notes on it in her compad.

"There's some kinda tech failsafe. We have dragged them out of the maze before and they melt down before anyone with a proper toolkit has time to look them over"

1:30 PM

"Field team within the maze here doesnt get much time to check things over before they get attacked"

"...Hmm. Interesting." She adds that to the notes. "Let's keep moving, then. We have to see how deep we can get before they fall upon us."

(d10 for the next region of the mazeeee)

[9]

You can hear weapons fire ahead and it is much closer this time. There is a buzzing in the air like a flock of thousands of angry bees. Wrecks of armored vehicles ahead, slain by robotic weapons, make the best available cover for the platoon right now as something from the factory of nightmares draws close.

Noel motions for them to take position, even though they're undoubtedly already doing so, as she herself rushes into a covered position. She draws her Plasma Pistol and waits nervously.

From 30m away the stomping war-bot rounds the corner.

7:39 PM

The enemy scout walker is chasing the mauled remnants of a human squad no doubt sent into the maze ahead of you. It's chaingun sends a sawing blast into the rear of the running mob, scying down their radio operator

7:39 PM

(initiative)

[4, I need to stop trying to use the mobile stuff to do things...] (edited)

(7 for the bot)

1:01 PM

The warbot spends a moment looking over the group b efore stabilizers in its legs deploy, anchoring it to the ground. Machine gun feeds rattle as more bullets are fed into the gun and it looks like a secondary set of arms is fishing a pair of more hand-held anti-material rifles off its back unit. (main action is bracing for heavy weapon use. You are up)

Hoping to buy the Squad more time to pelt the Walker with Munitions, Noel slaps on a Heartstopper and Fires off a Shot. [16/5, Six rune shots remaining] (edited)

(save has failed, loses main action for 2 rounds, but it remains braced)

12:21 PM

The soldiers begin firing up at the robot, several shots damage it and destroy some sensor systems,b ut ti remains standing and defiant despite the hails of small arms (its disabled so back to you)

Lining up a shot, She calls out to the squad, "Take it down while it's stunned!" [11/3]

Two more shots from the local guard manage to knock out electronics and break plates of metal. Your own shot sparks off the side of the heavily modified robot. There is a hiss of steam as the sunning shot begins wearing off, and it re-braces itself to fire

10:32 AM

(this was the second of its two stunned turns)

Noel levels a shot at it, sucking air through her teeth and exhaling to steady her shot [24/7]

|The combined fire of you and your guardians manages to inflict death by a thousand tiny metal cuts. The robot is cut apart by the close range burst fire as dozens of empty magazines clatter into the ground. The bot wobbles, smoke trailing from dozens of wounds as it topples into the side of the maze. Its size keeps it from falling down entirely and it remains pinned against the side of the maze, powered down.

"YES!" She cheers, then immediately reigns herself in and looks to the soldiers. "...Everyone okay?"

The robot was unable to fire but the squad has used about 1/3 of its ammunition. The squad has not fired its heavy weapons just yet so it retains the bulk of its offensive punch

"My thoughts are to push deeper, but try and be conservative with ammunition so that if we need to retreat, we can successfully do so, and not risk just being helpless targets... but If any of you have any advice or suggestions I'm open to them. I don't want any unnecessary risks." Noel states, looking to the soldiers.

The maze and what churns out of the factory is ever changing and it is hard to consider anyone an expert on anything. Trying to cannibalize things from bots they bring down in order to ensure enough weapons are on hand to move forward seems like the most solid plan anyone can agree on

She nods, and sees about helping them harvest munitions from the fallen drone.

(fix/int)

[7]

You're able to make some of the projectile ammunition work from the robot's point defense weapon. It helps re-fill a half mag for most of the troopers here, though they hope the ammunition situation will not get that serious where they'll need to use it.

Taking a deep breath, Noel continues with the squad.

A shot up medical carrier is your view once you round the next corner of the maze. The APC has been torn to pieces as dozens of shots have hit its flank. Blood and transmission fluid pool as the ground has not yet absorbed them.

7:54 PM

You hear a soft banging from inside the wreck. It is rhythmic and its intensity is not constant

"There might be someone trapped in there, we need to see if we can get them out!" She calls out, jogging over to it. "Uh... Cover me though, could be a trap?"

It looks like the doors need to be cut or pried aside somehow to get into the wrecked interior of the vehicle

Noel looks for hinges on the doors that she could shoot with her Plasma pistol to make opening them easier.

(Its not a matter of the door being jammed, its a matter of like, it being a car accident basically so things are all smashed up)

(Ah...)

Putting a few holes in it when you're not sure where the people trapped inside might be seems like a poor idea if you intend to try to save anyone

To: Noel Hallewell
From: Theta Eastmarch

Noel,
I don't think we've met. I'm Theta Eastmarch, the director of Nebula Enterprises, the sector's best when it comes to maltech.

I heard that you had encountered a rogue AI on Plaus. I'm very interested in learning more about it, and about helping you and the NMC eliminate the threat.

We should meet. Delay when dealing with AIs is dangerous. Let me know if you're interested. If you think NMC can handle it on your own, I'd at least appreciate an update about what you find, for research.

Theta Eastmarch
Director, Nebula Enterprises and Governor of Asta

(Gonna respond either when Noel gets out of the maze, I think, cause I don't know how good comms are on this planet) She looks about quickly trying to find something to pry the door open with... "Try and find something to help them... Cutting implements that can shear metal or something we can use as an impromptu crowbar.."

(comms are fine since your ship is here, and getting an answer means he isnt stuck in a dead thread)

(oh, alrighty. In that case. ^_^;) (edited)

(I’m gonna move this into a group mission since iracus and theta are on the way)

1

Jagrati Shopping List
2 Iron Rot Rune Shots:     20 Credits.
1 Arcane Force Rune Shots: 10 Credits.
2 Heartstopper Rune Shots: 20 Credits.
2 Power Cell Type A:       20 Credits.
1 Climbing Harness:        50 Credits.
1 Rope, 20 meters long:    40 Credits.
Total Bill:               160 Credits.

(all good)

###Level up###
Level: 6
Foci: None.
Gun Mage Art: Arcane Tinker
Rune Shot: None
Old HP: 26.
HP Roll: 34.
New HP: 34.
Skill Points on Level up: 3.
Program -1 to Program 0 for 1 SP, Fix 0 to Fix 1 for 2 SP.
Attack Bonus: 5.

(Looks great! I know we had a few loose discussions. Shall we push north to shores unknown?)

(Aye, All Noel has is more or less a Farewell to Write. Which I will drop in the Relevant chat)

(I won’t change permissions for a day or two yet so everyone got time to see and you can reply if needed )

1

(Aright, so we're in the sky over Meda, with a full tank of gas and plenty of stuff to do)

"Well, we did a lot of good on Plaus, Let's see what Juroli has going on! After we get a good feel for their Spike-Neighbors, we can maybe check up on Plaus and see how they're doing as well. But I'd like to get a feel for Juroli, Nur, and Popolos first."

(system report coming)

9:00 PM

(Juroli first?)

(Yes!)

(making the report now)

6:47 PM

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

Juroli

Noel stares at the report, mouthing the words, 'living metal biosphere?' before looking to her crew as if to check if they are seeing it as well.

The report is reading the same to all of them, and whatever metals exist on the planet below they are drowning out any kind of scanner return, painting the surface as a confused smear of different polarities.

"Okay, So we check out the Research station, see if there's any data we can secure from it... and then... Uh. We're gonna see some weird stuff on the planet's surface. Make sense?"

The team is prepared for this, and wait for any final instructions before bringing the explorer in to dock

"Given the use of lifeboats to escape, we should be a bit cautious. Bring Extra Vaccsuits if we have them, Eyes and ears peeled, Other than that, stick close to the group till we know it's safe."

(program.int, and we'll set out)

[9]

The station has no power and no gravity within it, but you can see a dockyard built into its lower rings. There are no ships there, but it is intact. The cranes and lifts seem to work even from this distance if you can find some way to power them.

"We might be able to get the Cranes and Lifts working again, if we can figure out how to get the Power back on. After that, loading anything we find onto and off of the station could be very useful. Given it's a Research Station, it might have some near-finished projects we can scalp, or better yet, we could bring the station back online and use the facilities ourselves. Let's see about getting the power back on."

7:08 PM

(Coming in at the airlock at the southeast. That long tunnel )

7:12 PM

The airlock opens and you feel the zero g inside , along with the lack of power. The air is chilled but you do not see any floating bodies in the airlock itself

Noel enters the airlock, carefully keeping near hand-holds, she gives a slight sigh of relief that there's no bodies or horrible things in this particular airlock. She moves to the interior door, before looking back to make sure her team is Alright.

The team is moving forward in tandem with you before coming to the bulkhead separating the airlock from the rest of the station. A simple fly wheel keeps the seal from releasing but it looks to be in decent repair.

She attempts to turn it once everyone is in place, bracing herself on the offchance there's any form of pressure differential when the thing finally opens.

(notice.wis)

[11]

There is a dull scrape on the other side of the door that you almost miss hearing , and it is gone after a short half second.

She pauses and looks at the rest of the crew, sighs and motions to ready their weapons, waiting for her crew to be ready before continuing to open the door.

The door opens and you catch a flash of something mechanical diving into the vents above, before it scampers away from your path. Two long drag marks occupy the back of the door almost like parallel claw marks.

7:38 AM

This wing looks to be for habitation, you can see two zero gee squash courts along with more luxury housings are in this section ,likely for the station captain and its senior officers in better days.

"Oh... Oh gosh." She turns. "Weapons up, stick close together, eyes peeled. We have potential enemies..." Shuddering Noel takes a careful step inside.

Whatever it was, it does not return for right now, and the team begins slowly moving into the habitation area. You see no bodies, and it looks like power can be temporarily restored to this section.

Noel messages the ship to close their doors, and seal them to keep everyone onboard safe. She or one of the team members will message when things are clear to be reopened. (edited)

They confirm your order and wait to see how things proceed

10:22 PM

(Rigjt nor we are here)

She checks over some of the systems and devices to see how easily the power could be brought back on in this section, saying quietly as she approaches "Cover me, and each other."

The physical components needed to turn power back on are present but it the command needs to come from the bridge to turn things back on it seems.

"Looks like we need to head to the Bridge to get power back on." She checks to see if there's an indication of where the Bridge is, or if the team has to check every room.

The bridge is in the center of the space station, but there are a few modules to pass through on the way there from how it seems

"We should see about getting Power back on first and foremost, then we can use Security to locate threats and assess them. From there we can plan out how best to deal with them."

You can see the bridge doors from here as the transit hallway is long, and it looks like they are heavy duty of a sort. Not military grade, but thick enough to stop anyone with a passing curiosity from getting in.

Thinking for a moment, Noel perks up, and checks to see if she can send information from the Argus Web to The Ship, so that there are extra eyes on her team's backs, regardless of the outcome, she keeps it active so she can get a feel for if the Creature from before is actively hunting them.

The feed seems to be working, the comms department calls its other members in from sleeping or secondary watch to ensure as many eyes as possible are on you.

"We should be able to make it to the Command Center, let's head out."

Approaching the bridge doors you can see the flywheel is working and the keypad is intact. It beeps as it senses someone approach.

the first thing she does is check to see if it's unlocked.

The bridge doors are not sealed, and can be mechanically raised for the moment.

She sets about raising them, looking about as she does so curiously.

You now have access to the bridge. Upon opening the inside you can see it looks like some explosion of metal has happened within. The floor, walls, computers and even the bodies have all been coated in some chrome like metal

Noel enters and frowns at the Chrome like metal. "Alright, let's make sure this stuff isn't dangerous before we start interacting with things." She begins to break out the Survey scanner, looking behind her and pondering where the creature might be.

The metal is starship grade steel and now that the doors are open you can see it creeping toward like spreading ice , slowly transforming everything it touches

"Oh...oh gosh. Don't touch the liquid metal. Or anything affected by it..." She states with a fair bit of alarm. "Uh..." Turning she then calls out to the rest of the station. "Excuse me?! I don't know if you can understand me, but were you perhaps a researcher here?!"

You hear the station shifting and creaking in answer, but nothing indicating whatever that being was is closeby, or ready to make itself known again. You can see the tide of liquid metal continuing to gently flow toward you. It is slow but inexorable, like molasses or a thick syrup.

Noel Sighs "Alright, Let's get the Station back to Operational status, then we can see if we can counter this Steel-Slime stuff. If we make headway we maybe able to help our Hopefully Friendly Resident. There's a decent chance they've been turned into something against their will and if we can... alleviate that, we maybe able to get a bit more insight into what happened." She states and nods, as she begins to try and work around the Quicksilver Steel.

The doors have been opened on every side of the bridge with your opening of the doors on this side and the liquid is beginning to slowly spread and change the station around it in all directions.

"...And we need to hurry." She says, trying to power on the station, without touching the goo.

(Youd have to advance into it to get to the bridge equipment )

Not seeing a way to get the station back online without marching through the goo, Noel sighs, and readies the Bracelet. "What do you guys think? Hit it with the Bracelet, or just push through and activate the station?"

They're not sure how it might react to being shot, and if you think that creature might have been a forcible transformed worker, they're not too keen on touching it either.

10:57 AM

going over it somehow seems to be a safe bet, and there is a floater ruck in the ship locker. One person could be carried in lieu of cargo on a grav assisted sled, so long as they are careful to balance it and keep it powered.

"Sounds like a better plan, Let's do it to it!" Noel will grab the Floater Ruck, and check it over to make sure it has appropriate power before attempting to Cross.

(pilot/dex or int)

[6]

You're able to skirt over the rolling tide of living metal to the center of the bridge where the power controls are, right next to the captain's seat.

Quickly, she attempts to return power to the station, in the hopes that she can find a way to deal with the Living Metal.

The locker can be opened from here and ship stores have instapanels in them. You'd be able to set them up to slow things down, giving you time to pick through other parts of the station. You can see as the liquid passes over other parts of the station it transforms them into the same living chrome of what was detected on the planet below.

Noel sets up what she can, unlocking the locker and checking quickly to see if there's a computer or databank she can access and where it might be, Checking over her shoulder briefly to make sure her crew is alright despite the Active Web watching every angle.

You're able tro flash download the contents of the database for later review, and the tide of the metal continues spreading. Evacuation within the next few moments seems wise to ensure it does not spread to your vessel.

With that in mind, Noel proceeds towards Evacuation, not wanting to risk her Crew or her ship for something they maybe able to recover later or from an alternative source.

THere is a hiss as both airlocks are explosively disengaged from one another, and your ship retreats to a safe distance. The download reports as complete, and it is a staggering amount of data.

"Alright, we're going to rest here for a bit, to give those whose sleep schedules were interrupted a chance to catch up, and to sift through this data. I'm hesitant to drop Planetside until we know more about the situation as admittedly I'm pretty preferential to not being turned into a Starship Hull Entity." She states, as she begins to sit and sift through data, Starting off by Skimreading and indexing it. (edited)

(Know/int)

[12]

1

It looks like from what you can catalogue in short order that some experiment with regenerative armor, a blend of metal composite and fast growing organic cell cultures was being looked at in a research station over this world. The intent was for battle damage to be something that heals over time away from a shipyard just like an organic body could heal itself in time, using materials taken in with a ship's fuel scoops as building blocks. The reaction in what the researchers deemed here was the final test was too efficient, too fast growing, and fed with enough organic material it could transmute things into this living metal synthesis at an incredibly efficient rate. The test broke through the controls and safeguards set into place aboard the station and as the escape pods fired it seemed not even those were secure enough to keep a sample of the reagent from reaching the surface of the planet and beginning the same process with the plants and animals that live here natively.

"Oh my." The Gun mage sighs, looking over the statement again very briefly. After confirming what she read, she'll check on the crew members that are still awake. "They were working on a Regenerative Hull technology, trying to get it to where Their Starships could recover from battle damage over time The way Biological things recover from wounds. Apparently, though, they made it too Aggressive... and despite their best efforts, some of it got onto the planet below. If there was a weakness that the researchers knew about, it likely wouldn't have survived long planetside, so our current best bet is to head down to the planet's surface and talk to the people down there." Noel states, thinking. "We need to be careful, though. I don't want to spread it to more Planets or stations... So until we can confirm that the Enigma is safe or we have a way to combat this thing we need to quarantine a bit. So Let's head down and see what the Surface situation is."

(I will get you a map!)

(Didn’t forget about you. I couldn’t get to inkarnate today but im@hoping I get a few minutes tomorrow )

(That's okay~, I figured as much ^_^; You mentioned before that you're usually busy on the weekends so it's fine.)

(drawin now)

(good enough to start with I think)

"There appear to be three settlements, let's head down and see if we can pick up radio chatter. Failing that we'll head to the North-eastern Settlement, and see what's going on with the world."

1

(Program:/int)

10:50 PM

(Gotta scoop their comms )

[9]

(alright, we're in, i can answer any questions you might have)

The Immediate questions I can think of:
1. Is the Hull-conversion Goo on the planet a threat to Organic Life?
2. Is there any information in regards to what happens to an individual who gets Converted?
3. Are any of the Settlements equipped to handle Off-Worlders?
4. Are there any pressing concerns that the Settlements have that are more immediate than the slow encroachment of the Goo?

Organic life seems to be melding with it , as a new ecosystem gradually begins replacing the old. The goo has different effects on people. Some are entirely unaffected, others are consumed by it as their tissue struggled to function once it’s been converted to metal. There is no clear answer on settlement equipped to handle off worlders. The crew isn’t sure what information to pass on to you there The goo is their main concern

"Then let's stick to the Original plan and try and interact with the North-Eastern Settlement. We need to find a place to Land that won't risk the Crew, or we could just drop me off and you guys can wait in orbit for any Communications. I'm not sure which you'd prefer."

"It might be best not to risk the ship. We might inadvertently carry this to other worlds if we are not careful about what we're doing"

"Alright, in that case We will drop me off, I'll see if I can find a solution for the planet, or at the very least prevent those infected with it from spreading it, and we will work from there. On the chance of the Ship already being contaminated, remain in orbit and avoid contact with others. Float them a comms message about the risk and make sure that no matter what we keep this to as few... really anything as possible." She states, breaking her general stillness by inhaling, and then exhaling. "I'm going to get ready. Hopefully they recognize the Lamplighters or are open to receiving Travelers."

(Do yoiu want to take anything from the armory or locker before we land? )

(Oh, Yeah! Two more power cells definitely. I didn't realize I only had the one. Outside of that, Putting the Ropes in and bringing the Rune Crafting kit on the offchance that this goes on long enough that I exhaust my Rune Shots.)

(Set with that? )

(I kinda have to be, I don't have a lot of Carrying Capacity at the moment. Thankfully I have a foci that treats me as always having an active Vaccsuit, so yeah.)

(Sounds good)

6:56 PM

Settling down 3km from@the settlement on the plains you see the scrap salvage city ahead on a fortified hilltop as the tide of mechanical goo works hard to transform the nearby forest into a living metal amalgamation

Noel looks to the ship, and gives them the nod to depart then states, "Keep in touch. If I go Silent for more than two days, Send word to the LLF. If the ship is compromised by the goo, Land and we will all work with the Settlements." She then takes a short breath and starts walking towards the settlement.

You can see a small jeep like vehicle begins moving out toward your landing site. There are four men inside including the driver, and none of them look armed.

She watches them approach for a moment before looking behind for a split second. As she waits for them to approach, she straightens out her Lamplighter uniform and starts walking towards them, giving a wave to greet them.

The jeep comes to a halt 15m from you and the inhabitants get out “Welcome to Juroli. Who are you? We haven’t had ship traffic here in so long “

"I am Noel Hallewell of the Lamplighter Foundation... My vessel and I stumbled upon an abandoned station in orbit and noticed it had a peculiarity. We managed to avoid said peculiarity and extract the research data, and landed to see if I could help you with the situation enveloping the planet..." She states, giving a formal bow. "To our knowledge none of us has been... affected by the metal... but we're basically quarantining here till we can solve it just in case."

“Have you seen it first hand? “ he asks

"On the station, when we opened the Command deck. Also there was a creature on the station, but it fled from us and hid. We didn't run any real decisive tests at the time, as we figured the data from the station would have covered a lot of that. I figure having the data and working with your scientists will be better than retreading a path that's already been researched?" She looks over at the woods nearby and back to the gentlemen. "Besides, I'm not comfortable risking the rest of my crew if I don't have to."

“Looking forward to stopping it is something we have been working towards too. Most of our research has hit dead ends “

"Alright, well, do you have copies of what was on the Station's Database? and Let's hit the labs. Figure some stuff out. As far as the people who happen to survive the situation, are there any common things about them?"

"Depends on their level of exposure. We know limbs transmute to metal but if they get a long exposure and it hits the internal organs, the results are almost always terminal. We're not sure why the reaction stops, someone thought maybe the body's immune system slows the reaction down to the point where it can't sustain itself, but we don't know how to replicate that in the environment

"A-ah... What happens when the afflicted Material is removed from the Body, is it Inert, or does it suddenly reactivate?"

“We aren’t sure. No one has survived the procedure for long”

"Alright. Well, Let's see what we can dig up. There's a lot of uncertainties and we need to clear them up and figure out exactly what's going on before we try anything that might cause unwanted results. Do you have a lab set up for this?" She asks, chewing her lip and looking about. (edited)

1

"A lab is generous. We have some equipment we were able to salvage but nothing like a full workup"

"Alright, Well, I have a Navcomp, a Survey Scanner, and a Compad... Anything outside of what you have and those things, we will have to make." She states "As far as a Location, do we have one? One that is preferentially easy to secure but not important outside of that?"

“We have a small building at the edge of town , not sure how we would secure it if something happened but the locals would at least get time to run0

"Well, That'll have to do. Also, uhm... was there someone or something alive left on the station?"

"Maybe. The evacuation was haphazard. It was hard to tell who was missing and who was dead when that thing escaped containment. We wrote everyone off who didn't make it to the ground as killed in service"

"I see. Well, Let's work on saving the planet before we think about recovering the station." She starts walking towards the village. "Anything else that might be important to note? And do the locals have any customs or anything I should be aware of?"

“Nothing like that. We have bigger problems and they’ve been welcoming enough of us. I think everyone jsut wants to stop whatever the hell has gone wrong here “

"Alright, then Let's begin and sort this out." Noel nods, and smiles reassuringly. (edited)

)how do you wanna tackle this?)

(Well, Probably assign someone to go over the research notes from the station, as there maybe useful information in there, then we start trying to Isolate what about living tissue inhibits the Goo. Which means figuring out how it's affecting the Wild-life and seeing if any animals appear to either survive the process, are immune, or otherwise have a peculiar resistance to it.)

(So we're going to be collecting some samples from how things sound, while the notes are skimmed through)

(Yeppers!)

Other than vac suits or something that presents a layer between yourself and the outside the team is unsure of what sensible protective measures might be. They’re happy to provide them, and know that the forest north of town has its northern border beginning to change. Fresh samples can be taken from those areas.

"Sounds good, Thinking about it, yeah a Vaccsuit is probably best. I keep falling into the Trap of being too confident in my Wards... Thanks. Let's get changed and see what samples we can get." She states, thinking about it.

You’re suited up and heading north you’re taken into the woods. You see a half transformed bird that reminds you of the glitter moths on Anisah, back in cooperative space. It struggled to fly with one side far heavier than the other

"Oh, honey..." Noel's shoulders slump, and she frowns... But nonetheless this is a sample the team can use. She heads over to try and catch the grounded bird.

(Survive /dex )

[8]

You’re able to scoop it up deftly without touching the warping metal. The net is firm and seems to be changing a bit itself on initial inspection .

She makes a note of this, activating her argus web to record everything that happens so that if she does fail, at least the next person will have detailed visual information and Noel's own musings on the matter. As for the Bird, she will look to see if the Goo is still spreading on the bird or if it has stopped.

It is still spreading. The change is slow but fast enough for the web to notice

Noel will take the bird back, collecting any feathers that appear to have been shed so she can run them through a Survey Scanner and get multiple analyses on different parts of the bird, to check what inhibits the Goo, and makes a mental note to check the footage from the Argus web to determine if the rate of spread is faster in plant matter or comparable.

The speed is slower than in plant matter. One of the fellow researchers has been working on a hypothesis that the body's immune system might help slow the spread of the living metal.

Remembering this, She will try and get a set of samples from the bird that can be studied with the Survey scanner, One of regular tissue/blood far away from the affliction, and one nearby that hopefully is afflicted but not enough to display the affliction.

(the bio scanner can do the normal meat bits)

9:47 AM

(if you've got one)

(I do not, sadly.)

(you'd be able to collect samples then, but we'd need to return to analyze anything)

After gathering the Samples, Noel debates bringing the bird back with her, and decides to bring it so that there's at least a chance she can save it. Barring that, she can monitor it's status and collect more samples.

1

Returning to the lab you're able to hook it up to all manner of scanners. It looks like although the metal is spreading, the immune system of the bird is slowing the advance of the metal, blocking it off from bonding and transforming new cells, by entirely enclosing the metal cells.

8:57 AM

(think like how bees swarm and smother a predator)

"Alright, Interesting." She will find the other researchers and confirm the theory that the Immune System seems to suppress it, and adds how it does so. "...Do any of you know what was originally supposed to stop the Goo from Spreading, and is that something that would be in the Notes? We might be able to use a Biological Trigger to take control over the Hostile Terraforming Process... Barring that I'd need to request some other information from the Lamplighters that might help."

They're not sure what was supposed to stop it other than cutting off the supply of biomass it is converting.

9:16 AM

(so starving it out rather than actually stopping it by spraying it with somrthing)

"Ah... Was... Was this intended to be used as a weapon?" Her face looks slightly puzzled, and Noel shrugs after a brief moment. "Well, I'm going to send the information to my ship and request access to fairly recent terraforming research documents that were being worked on. Outside of that, we can try making something that saturates the Goo with low Value bodies that cost it more to convert than it can get out of."

This is more information than they'd been working with this entire time. Their equipment is lacking, and they don't have a ship, so for the moment, they're at the mercy of you and whatever you decide to do,

"We'll try both, starting with the Saturation approach and if that fails we will approach with a more drastic method. Either way I need to send a message to the ship and request some information."

(They wouldn't have an issue with that, but I don't really have a way to move things forward until we see what youre requesting or what you want)

(More or less, trying to acquire the following: 1.) A method to produce and rapidly distribute things that function as white blood-cells en-masse, and/or 2.) The Terraforming Research, Results, and methodologies used when the Shaper Brain Research was concluded and used on Meda, As it could provide intel and clues as to how to distribute #1 and/or Countermand the Goo.)

1) They don't have the manufacturing capacity for the amount you'd need artificially. Dense plant material seems to be the thing that yields the biggest net loss for the goo. Ironwood trees or acastus mushroom stalks are two variants noted. 2) This was handled via research points. There is no methodology known to us and I don't feel creating an in depth lore reason is worth our time since we won't need it ever again.

(Ah! Sorry. Alright, hmm. Ironwood would be closer, I believe, so I suppose I should see about acquiring a bunch of that? I apologize for being somewhat bad at the whole scientific approach).

(no you're good! Yes, we can look into getting some)

2:28 PM

(its a traded good, so we can try to buy some, or we can try to forcibly aquire some)

1

Noel's primary concern is stopping the spread of the Goo, and as fast as she possibly can, with that in mind, she looks over her options... (Do I know which of these would be the swiftest method of getting these people the help they need?)

(Proximity wise NMC is closer, speed sort of depends on buying it or stealing it, stealing it probably being longer since now we have to execute some kind of heist, but is also free-fifty, my favorite price. ) (edited)

(Mmm... Free-fifty is tempting, but I think Noel's priority is Saving the planet as fast as humanly possible. So we're gonna go with the purchase option unless Noel comes up short on cash xP)

(its 3 days to meda where we can access an NMC market, things won't move that fast while you're gone

12:59 PM

(iron wood is 5000 a ton, so we can buy it as is, or do a mission for a better deal, depending on what you want)

(Alright, I can currently buy around 1000 tons. I suspect I'm going to need more than that to get the Situation resolved, so let's do a mission to make the price cheaper.)

|(want to help Glimmer with her road? )

(Sure!)

(okay, returning here. I think we'd say we have enough for a region's worth of handling the trouble on Juroli. )

Staring at the amount she acquired, checking her finances, and pursing her lips, Noel does some numbers and sighs. "Guys, we've got a minor situation. I... Can think of a solution to it... But I want to run it by you first."

They’re eager to hear what you think, unsure where this is going.

"We're going to need a lot more Iron Wood Stuff to Save Juroli. A Region is not enough, I can save maybe one more with my personal Finances. That's... Not quite half the planet saved, and a Half Measure is a Temporary Measure in this instance. We need a Bigger Ship, and More Iron Wood or that Planet is doomed... We're already in the Cooperative space... we should be able to track down a Trade Vessel and... well, Convince them... to help us Save Juroli."

Looking at the star calendar the nav officer looks concerned. "Our hold is full right now, either way we need to drop this off and get an idea of the situation there. New routes should be dispatched soon this close to the end of the month. We can haunt the area around that planet and see if any ships decide to depart. We can give chase once they jump into the next system after Anisah"

"Excellent. Let's do that... Hopefully they see the necessity of the Situation and choose to help." Noel sighs. "...Or at least let me on the ship so I can convince them."

(I’ve got seven days to juroli by my count)

(May I spend that week Tinkering with the Bracelet-gun?)

(we know how it works and that it's a flop pistol at this point, reverse engineering it is going to take probably another couple examples of it, and a dedicated lab to doing so. Probably one of the first things that will happen once we set roots down on Juroli)

(Alrighty, in that case I'll spend the Downtime on Perform)

Returning to Juroli, from space it does not seem that the tide of the living metal has advanced much, but it still might be several hundred meters or more once you get down to the surface. The system remains quiet other than the entry of your ship- another world isolated and alone, floundering in the wake of The Scream.

Noel rests a hand on the viewport briefly, rolling her shoulders to ease her anxiety over what she knows is happening on the planet below. "Let's deliver the products, save one of the Regions and depart again... I hope my bird friend is still alive, but I have my doubts." She puts on a Vacc-Suit, and begins helping the Crew with preparations to land and distribute the Ironwood Byproducts. (edited)

(did you want to check in with those researchers? or is this mostly a dump and run)

(I will check in with them, they might have more information, and besides that, giving them piece of mind that we're still out there getting resources will alleviate morale issues.)

The ground station you had done work with previously begins to signal. Your ship is hailed, and they're eager to hear how the results of your voyage elsewhere went.

Once she lands, Noel gives them a briefing "Basically, we spent a good deal of effort and managed to secure enough supplies to save a Region tops. In light of that, I've elected to try and get my hands on a larger shipment, one that will... also require a larger ship. We're depositing the Ironwood Byproducts that we already have first, and then I'm going to intercept a New Moon Trade Vessel and Motivate it to aid us. Hopefully they see the need to do so, either way I promise you I will do everything I can to save this planet."

"We'll begin moving the supplies out to the frontier so we can try to stop this where it stands. What system do you expect you'll be going to? "

"Well, we need to intercept a Trade ship leaving the Cooperative, And hopefully nearby. So we can divert it to here as soon as possible... uh... Also, The Bird I was examining, is it still with us? Or has it... passed away...?" (edited)

"The metal continued to spread. We haven't disposed of it yet, we're going to keep running tests on it"

"Alright... Well. Keep me posted on that front. Once all this is offloaded and distributed I'll be heading back out to get more supplies... If we wanted to continue the Research on Regenerating Hulls, we still do have a fall-back insofar as that Station is still up there. I don't know how long it is, but it is."

"We'll need to seed the insides with the same" the head researcher says. "I think we need to stop the crisis here first- and once it;s been handled to our liking we can try to re-occupy the place. From there, we can go about getting the planet working together again and trying to finish the work that;s been started"

"I agree, and Once this place is stable, I think I know of another place that might be able to help us make use of Inert Hull Matter, we'd just have to convince them to work with or join us. So Let's get to saving More of the planet." She gives the researcher a smile and a nod, and begins helping remove the Ironwood Byproduct from the ship.

(I think haunting anisah is probably a good place to run into a ship, not sure how keen you are to get out there)

(Haunting Anisah sounds good, especially because us having been there once already basically without problems gives us a reason to return. It was also where my First-Mate said that there was likely to be shipments departing from around there. I'm super keen to get into this.)

(its 13 days of downtime if we skirt NMC territory)

(Alrighty)

(program.int as we enter the system)

[8]

(okay, we have no other stealth fittings on the Enigmatic Explorer so for being frigate sized we get a +2, for a total of 10. The crew of the Indus Valley got an 11) "Greetings Explorer!" the captain of the Indus Valley calls out as you enter Anisah. "Glad to see you in the neighborhood! The patrol isn't scheduled to get here for another six hours or so and space was getting a bit lonely" (edited)

"Greetings to you as well, Indus Valley! I wish I could match your enthusiasm, however I am here in a pretty dire situation. I require a frankly vast amount of Ironwood Byproduct in a very small amount of time. I was wondering if I could convince you to part with some or, preferentially, all of the Ironwood you have as an act of Goodwill towards said Planet." Noel states with a sigh.

"Which plant are we talking about Enigmatic? " the captain says. You can hear the click of armrest keys on his side of the link has he begins sifting through Cooperative shipping orders and any standing naval transport rules

"Juroli. It's a Straight-Shot North of Meda about three hexes. It's a thing that spreads quickly but kills slowly. The only method we have for treatment is choking it with matter it can't convert efficiently... Ironwood being one of the two best candidates we have on hand."

"I don't see Juroli on any dispatches I've got here Enigmatic, Can't help you I'm afraid, this product is needed at the Jagrati shipyard. We've got quite a fleet to rebuild after that disaster at Brizeno. Besides, I'd lose my rank if I just lost this tonnage of cargo because the Lamplighter Foundation needed it more" (edited)

8:28 AM

Their captain is still clicking away on some keys and the ship is beginning to break orbit.

"Wait! Please? Millions of lives are at stake. If you're worried about your rank, you tell them Pirates stole from you... Even tell them I'm a pirate. I need that lumber so much! And Conflict is not likely to hit the Cooperative's space anytime soon! I'm begging you..." Her voice cracks, and she shudders.

"Everything we do is logged. You know that, I'm sure the Lamplighters use something similar. I'd love to help you Enigmatic, but you're going to have to use the galactic market like everyone else"

She checks to see what armaments the Merchant Vessel has, knowing that she has six hours before system patrol arrives while motioning for her pilot to keep near the merchant vessel. "Sir, Please. I don't think you understand how badly I need this Lumber."

1

(There is no way to scan for what fittings a ship has passively, you can go active but they'd know they're being scanned since the programmer gets a chance to try to scramble it. That said, you used to be part of the NMC and were involved with the talks about a new fleet, so you'd know the Indus Valley is not armed, You're both in free merchants, so its going to be a pretty scrappy fight when we get to boarding)

(Yeah, I have to disable it with a Sand-thrower, but It's worth a shot.)

(Thinking about it, Do I need to still disable their engines to board, or is there a way to go right to boarding?)

(If you had boarding shuttles you could skip it but you’ve got to disable them in your case )

4:25 PM

(You also don’t have to do this. You could try to not make this heist with the deck so stacked against you)

(That's fair. I need to think about things, and weigh options.)

(sounds good, I'll wait to hear from you before I continue anything)

(I think the best course of action, at least until I get a Bigger Ship/More Crew, is probably just to float a message to Iracus and see if he'd be willing to help save another planet insofar as just floating us some Ironwood Byproduct or a Resource thing. It's the boring option but sometimes the boring the Option is the best.)

(sounds good to me, lets get that message out)

Noel,

That sounds like quite the situation you have over there. While we do have a fairly large supply of excess Ironwood available, the main issue in assisting Juroli will be tying up ship resources for an extended period of time in order to deliver out there. However, if the people produce or have access to some sort of rare or unique resource, I think we could possibly negotiate a deal between the NMC and Juroli for a favorable bulk price on a per ton basis of the ironwood along with delivery of the product unless the people of Juroli have the means to transport the material themselves.

In the meantime, I will arrange for my personal foundation to secure and transport 1,000,000 credits worth of ironwood material. It will be delivered by the MSVF Soteria and the pilot will be instructed to meet you in the system of Juroli. This will hopefully provide a buffer for any populated regions with the encroaching ‘goo’ until a more sizable amount can be secured.

Once you believe you have secured a proposal of trade from the people of Juroli I can bring it to the attention of the Assembly for a vote.

Best of luck,

Iracus

1

She smiles to herself as she reads the message... "Alright, Let's get some byproducts of our own, and meet the Soteria over Juroli, and figure out exactly what we need to do and what supplies will accomplish this."

1

(3xp, 5000 credits)

12:50 PM

(its a much shorter route back without skirting NMC territory, so we're looking at 6 days there)

###Level Up###
Level: 7
Foci:  Star Captain [Increases Lead 1 to Lead 2]
Gun Mage Art: None.
Rune Shot: Freeze Fire.
Old HP:  34.
HP Roll: 35.
New HP:  35.
Skill Points on Level up: 3.
Shoot 1 to Shoot 2 for 3 SP.
Attack Bonus: 5

4:34 PM

(Lemme know if that's correct and what to change if it's not)

(Everything looks right to me! )

Once the Enigma exits into the Juroli System, Noel checks to see if there are other ships in sensor range, to see if the NMC Ship has arrived already or not.

The Cooperative Vessel must have arrived just an hour before you did, slowly steaming into the system from the jump point

She hails the Cooperative Vessel... "This is Captain Noel Hallewell of the Enigmatic Explorer, and this is the Current state of Juroli." She sends the data on what's happening planetside. "We have already supplied the Northeastern settlement with enough Ironwood to handle their immediate region. Which leaves the Western and Southern cities."

1

“Any special orders in hitting the ground?” The crew asks

"Wear Vaccsuits that you're prepared to lose, Don't touch anything that looks like Starship Hull, If you do, Douse yourself with a bunch of Ironwood Stardust. I'll land first, and find a safe spot for you guys to land so that you don't encounter the Goo too directly." She says, with a sigh.

They’re willing to follow your lead and will loiter in orbit until it’s ready to be tasked. They’ll get to work turning their cargo into dust with the workshop they have on board

In-order to make sure she's not running into anything too hectic, Noel will check scanners and comms chatter for the Southern City. If the chatter doesn't indicate Hostility to Outsiders, she'll direct the Enigmatic to Land in a Clear spot near the city.

The city is dealing with many of its own problems and doesn't seem to be aware outsiders have come to this planet. You're not sure what their reception will be to an unannounced cargo ship landing outside of town, or how dangerous that would be for the crewmen. The Scream has made people do desperate things.

Thinking about this, she tells the Co-Op Vessel to remain in orbit for the time being, and has the Enigmatic Alert the city via fly over, the same way they did with Plaus, and drop her off, so that Neither Ship is in danger of being seized.

(How far away from civilization would you wanna be?)

(Close enough that they'd see us come down, but far enough to where the Enigmatic has about 2 Ship-Combat Turns to get it's butt off the ground and go.) (edited)

(okay so thirty minutes. That's about 3km or so, or close enough to)

9:11 AM

You've undoubtedly been seen by anyone in the area as your ship makes it to the ground, but no one is waiting for you upon landing. The forest and plains around you seem empty and otherwise quiet. Wildlife has scattered and the engines power down to reveal silence.

She watches the nearby city carefully, starting to walk towards it but otherwise waiting for signs of people coming over to her. (Also, for the record, Noel is in her Vaccsuit and not her CFU, as I have to basically choose one or the other for Carrying Capacity's sake, and she'd prioritize not being infected by the Goo over direct combat in this situation.)

(Makes sense to me)

7:23 PM

(Notice /wis)

[3~]

You sense nothing as you begin making your way toward the settlement and walk for about fifteen minutes from the ship before you hear the sound of a click. A rifle hammer has just been pulled back from the woods in front of you - and they wanted you to hear it. "That's close enough. Who are you and what do you want? "

"Captain Noel Hallewell of the Lamplighter Foundation, I am here to assist in Stopping the Hull Metal Conversion process and stopping the Death of this planet." Noel makes no sudden moves, instead slowly moving her hands up and away from her weapons, she remains... Mostly calm.

"You came down in a ship" the voice in the woods says with some relief. "We assumed you were from that station. Hung the others for causing all this. Didn't wanna go through that again" he says casually

2:57 PM

"but you can help" The man is grizzled, he reminds you of a trapper for some kind of frontier community and looks to be doing his part out here trying to cultivate food from the wilderness. The woods are ever shrinking as the hull metal rampages on.

"I can. We found the Hull metal stuff can be stopped by suffocating on more dense materials, and I'm formerly of a Polity that has such things in large quantities. We already assisted the North-Eastern City and intend to help the whole planet."

He sighs. “Lamplighters eh? Knew the scream didn’t wipe you guys out. Happy to see something if the old world survived “

"Yeah, It's about one of the only groups that I felt welcome in, and you can't beat saving planets and making the galaxy better for everyone."

"Can you come with me back to town? The others are going to want to hear this. If you n eed help, that might be a good way to get some bodies onto this"

"Absolutely. I need to see what each of the cities and regions need to get this crisis under control. We have another Ship in Orbit that has a few Tons of Ironwood Byproducts to help contain the... the goo." She begins to follow him (edited)

“The goo. That’s a good name for it. Forgot what those science types said it was but it didn’t stop us from feeding them to it “

She almost trips... almost. Pausing for the briefest moment and thinking. "Mmm... Right, Well, There are a few up North who saved me a lot of precious time by assisting my research into how to stop this. I'm not going to ask you to forgive them or anything like that, but I would like to point out that some of them at least understand that wrong was done here, and have been doing things to make amends to the best of their ability. Whatever comes of it, those that I've met have done what they can to undo some of the Harm they've caused, and I would like to think that they will continue to try and improve the lives of folks here on Juroli given the chance... Just... an Outsider's perspective I suppose."

"I can promise you, but I can't speak for anyone else. When this is over it might be a good idea to get them out of here" He says as he helps you onto the long logging road that leads to come. "the goo is a good ways south of here, but the changes in the wilderness, its causing us problems already. I don't want to think about how this place is going to look when its just a few kilometers down the road"

"Well, with any luck we will stop it from reaching that point." She pulls out her compad and sends a message to the Engimatic, telling them that they may have to onboard the researchers and bring them somewhere else to shield them from the backlash of what's happened here. "Are there any individuals who have become infected with the Goo? We should prioritize their treatment for now, then we can work on discovering how much Ironwood Dust we will need."

"We fed them to the goo to keep it from spreading. We never saw anyone come out. "

"Ah. Well, We have a way to stop it now, so Let's pick up the pace and prevent any unnecessary deaths!" She nods, the brief look of worry passing momentarily as she accepts that desperate times call for desperate measures.

Arriving in town you see a few hundred people live here and everyone is eager to see what the stranger is doing here. Everyone looks thin and disturbed by worry. The land around them is beginning to turn against them and their calm lives have been disturbed by the spreading goo

She pauses and takes in each of their faces, and chews on her lip for a moment. "Do you have any experts or government officials heading this place that I could speak to? Or shall I just address everyone in the town?" Noel asks her current guide, turning to face him.

“You probably want to just talk to everyone. Don’t trust someone else to speak for you”

"Fair enough, do you have an assembly room or a place where I can reach as many people as possible?"

'Town square, I can ring the bell and you can probably get on top of the fountain's roof, if you think that might be a good place"

She nods, and heads over to the Town-Square, working her way onto the Fountain's roof carefully. Once the bell is rung she will wait a moment for the Crowd to Gather.

The town begins turning out upon hearing the bell and there are at least a few hundred people living here coming to hear what the Summons is about

7:29 PM

They all look terrible in one form or another. Too little to eat. Clothing just barely rags hanging to them and so on

"Greetings, My name is Noel Hallewell of the Lamplighter Foundation. I bring news: I have been working with the City to the North-East, and we have found a method for defeating the Goo that is devouring the planet. We have begun to implement the fix, with that region being mostly solved. The Goo that turns things into Metal can effectively be starved out by feeding it High-Density Materials which I've been procuring. If anyone is afflicted with it we can stop it's spread and then start researching a cure... Once the Goo has been sorted out, I would like to help you further, I believe we can use the sudden abundance of the metal to Make something of Juroli, use it to make ships for trade, trade it for supplies... use those supplies to improve the lives of the people here. But for now, I need some assistance. I need Researchers, and help with offloading the Iron-wood byproducts from my ship, and a team to assist me in distributing the Powdered wood on the Goo so that the Planet is saved. I understand hesitation, I will not be forcing anyone to participate, I only ask for Volunteers, and time."

(lead/cha (edited)

8:50 AM

(At +2)

[11]

1

(I'll summarize for you here)

There are no researchers left, as you've been told but now the rumors are confirmed
The entire town is willing to be porters and generalized labor for unloading and distributing the ironwood products, only if we can start with the goo near here

Noel agrees, and after finding a clear spot large enough for the operation, signals for the NMC Vessel to land. She also assists the Village with spreading the Ironwood Byproducts, as much as she possibly can.

The work goes on for almost a week between milling down the products, distributing it, and slowly chipping away at the calcified remains of the goo once the reaction stops. Long term clean up in the region is going to take months if not longer, and the biosphere will take even longer to regenerate. A reserve supply has been left in the region, just in case the reaction somehow begins again when cleanup efforts reach the center of the mass. (6xp, 50,000 credits)

Knowing the state the citizenry of this town are in, and the amount of time it will take for them to be able to get sufficient, meaningful food to mitigate the starvation... and not wanting to leave them hungry, Noel will check her stores, and invite the MSV Foundation crew as well, asking them if they're willing to spare anything. Her goal: To more or less make a Large-soup to feed the people of the town, and she'll even throw in that mysterious Turkey Leg she acquired.

The foundation has completed its mission and is planning on returning to its other duties but your offer is appreciated. The captain lets you know that next time he will take you up on it. The town is only too happy to have a feast even if it’s something like communal soup. The land will heal. The goo has been stopped and adding the mysterious Turkey leg has the locals feeling full. Color and some heartiness seems to return to everyone from just this one meal alone and a vigor these people lacked has been restored to them

She bids them adieu, and will head back to the Enigmatic to discuss plans, this time deciding on checking in on the Last City or Village before acquiring the supplies...

(I'll get us an official surface map)

9:15 AM

(we've got the forge type place in the far southwest

9:15 AM

(thats all thats left)

(Alrighty.) She lays In a course for the Far Southwestern city, trying to find a safe place to land to check on the area and following the same procedure she has done before for new cities.

The city is large and you can see several smoke stacks sending their excrement into the sky from the industry happening below. The city is the largest of the settlements you’ve seen and it looks like they’re doing what they can to try to impede the spread of goo which is now very close to the city

Noel lands the ship in a Clear area that is not currently being Consumed by the goo, and turns to her Crew "Last City that needs to be saved, And it's fairly close to succumbing... let's be quick here." She begins heading to the city, certain that they likely saw her land.

THey seem to have indeed and a strong patrol of ten soldiers stops you a kilometer from town, weapons lowered and ready, unsure of your intentions and knowing only that you came from space- the same place the goo came from

Noel puts her hands up and nods at them. "I am Noel Hallewell of the Lamplighter Foundation. I've been assisting the other Settlements with subduing the Hull-Conversion Goo. We have shut-down most of it by them, and I would like to assist your city as well."

"Our city? You came from space. Are you one of them?" their captain asks, looking on cautiously, even coldly.

"One of who? I am not one of the Researchers from that station, The vast majority of them have..." She sighs "well... died. Some of them assisted me in figuring out how we can stop the Goo from spreading, even neutralize it. It can be choked or starved out by feeding High-Density Materials that offer it little of what it needs to reproduce. Namely things like Ironwood."

"That is what we wanted to know. If you were responsible for this we were going to be sending you packing right about now. Do you have a way to stop this now? "

"We have a method, yes. It'll take time for us to get the Ironwood, a week or two specifically. We recommend evacuating areas that will be affected by the Goo in the meantime, and I am here to offer support in evacuating the citizens and then I will depart to assist in eliminating the goo."

"Evacuate? To where? I dont think anyone's going to be willing to give up their home just on your word"

"That's... fair... I just don't want anyone to get afflicted with the goo in the meantime. I also need to figure out how much of the Ironwood we need..." She sighs.

“And you need us to do that? You’re the one that came in on a ship”

8:50 PM

The guard captain seems to be every bit as bitter as you’d expect the survivors of this to be, and then some

"I was here to offer help, mostly to ensure I wouldn't be turned away after I got the Ironwood, I apologize if it seems like I'm asking you to foot something like this. I just find letting people know that help is on the way and what the plan is is better than springing a surprise on them... Besides, you seemed pretty ready to shoot me when I walked up, I couldn't necessarily just show up in your city and start checking on the goo without that hurdle, right?"

"Suppose not" he laughs, realizing they didn't leave you with many options. "You're right. I don't think there's much to say until you get a look at things then. We';ll let the maynor know someone came by so he is aware when you come back"

She nods, and briskly checks on the goo's spread, to get a ballpark estimate of how much more Ironwood she's going to need while also passively looking over the citizenry to make sure they're alright as well. The Aftermath and clean-up will be easier to deal with if she knows what she's in for, she figures.

You will need another shipment of equivalent size to entirely stabilize the planet, while leaving enough in reserve to handle any latent reactions

After figuring that out, Noel will head back to the ship. If she sees the soldiers again, she'll pass word to them that things should be handled as soon as she returns with the Neutralization stuff. Noel will then attempt to ply contacts to see if she can find anyone who would be willing to part with either the Acastus Fungus or the Ironwood Byproducts in return for assistance with a mission, similar to her first mission for Juroli.

(did you want me to roll some contacts or is this something you want to reach out to players about yourself? )

(Noel's primary Greystar contact ATM is Svenka, and it looks like she's not in a mission ATM, and same for Iracus of the NMC, which leaves Scott who has a buddy already. I suppose I'll roll contacts unless they need an extra.)

(them bneing in a mission doesn't preclude them from answering a message, if that changes things)

(Fair. It's more that Svenka is in the retirement area, it seems. I'll fire out messages as soon as my spine stops hurting)

(you can put a message in #tig for them if you want)

After sending the messages out, She will stand up. Noel turns to her crew and speaks up, "Alright, so a couple things. The researchers in the first settlement we encountered need to be evacuated before the other two settlements discover them. Their insight into the goo has saved lives here, and helped us out. Plus, now that we have something we can use to eliminate the goo, we can begin to bring that project to completion and I would like their help." "Secondly, we should see whether the settlements have a Planetary Government set up, and if they don't we should arrange that as well quick-transport between the three settlements so that if another Outbreak occurs proper procedures can be taken immediately. Unifying the three should also mitigate the food-scarcity issue that smaller settlement is facing, and we could possibly even lean on the Emergency reserves of the first two to stall out the third's ongoing Goo Crisis until the support we requisitioned from Svenka arrives." (edited)

(I don't think anyone among the crew would find any of this objectionable. They'll follow your lead, they don't make command decisions_

She will lay in a course for the first settlement she assisted, and head into the Village to speak with them.

You see things here are better for the few days you've been away and a crowd begins to gather as you make your way into town.

Noel pauses for a moment, but continues walking forward and waves at the crowd before speaking, "Greetings! Currently the mission to save the planet is reaching it's final phase, we have the final shipment needed to save the final city on the way. However, it may take time to arrive, and I was wondering if I could ask to borrow some of the reserves from here in the meantime to slow the spread they are experiencing. I was also wondering if there was a planetary government in place?"

There is no planetary government that they know about. Order broke down when the goo began spreading and several containment measures failed. A combination of minor overthrows of local governments , and a lack of confidence in any shard of order that was left saw communities going their own way. The locals are hesitant when the time comes to try to take their reserves. Several of them hold their weapons a bit tighter at the thought of their only defense against any goo re ignition being taken from them.

"It isn't a Mandatory thing. I am merely asking if you would be willing to aid the last settlement. I don't readily believe in forcing people to do something against their will."

Their will seems to be safeguarding the health of their own community before giving anything to help someone else. There is a deep seated fear of some kind of spontaneous goo re-ignition and even if their reserves are never used, having them on hand is letting everyone sleep at night knowing the giant in their backyard can be lulled back into quiet.

"That's fair, More resources are coming, I also plan on researching the goo further to figure out more counter-measures, and also possibly ways to convert it into something beneficial for society. To that end, are the researchers still here? I would like to speak with them."

“They’re staying well away from places with people if they know what’s good for them. Drove them out a while ago and they ran south”

"Ah, Alright. Is there anything you need help with, now that the goo situation is under control? And do you have any considerations that you want as far as Re-establishing a planetary government?"

It seems like they want something that is going to provide for the major needs of life like infrastructure , defense , and major projects outside the scope of what a village or region can accomplish on their own. Most of these people are simple frontier settlers and do not have the education for an elaborate discourse about government and the ethics and ethos of leadership it seems as you tour the village and speak with everyone you can

"Alright, well, I will see about handling the major needs while we figure out the intricacies of setting up a government. I'm going to swing by the other settlements and see what they need, I know one of them needs Food, how are your food stores? And lastly, but importantly, Do you have any material needs?" (edited)

(I think it might be almost better for me to just give you a master list when this is over as opposed to chopping it up into several pieces between different posts)

(Sounds good to me, Noel's basically just checking on communities and getting what they need while she awaits the resources to quell the Hull-Goo, and to make sure that Juroli's citizens are as taken care of as she can get them.)

It seems like massive amounts of logistical support are going to be needed to fix the planet, far more goods than any one polity would be able to contribute for a people not their own.

Realizing this, Noel will spend the time waiting for the Shipment from Greystar to arrive scouring for Neutral planets that can assist or whom could be motivated to ally with or otherwise lend aid to Juroli in a meaningful way. Especially planets with a Reputation for Industrial resources and Manufacturing.

(We have no data on anything around you, but we can just fast foward to the shipment getting there)

(Alrighty.)

A week or so passes by time you speak with every settlement and tally up their needs. A signal from orbit announces the ship with the requested goods has arrived in the system, and is waiting for contact and instructions from the surfac.

Noel will meet with the Greystar Vessel, hailing it and giving it landing instructions. Ensuring that the area is safe by landing first, and she will then Organize and Assist in the Distribution of the Byproduct to defeat the Goo.

(They’ll disperse it/drop it off and leave unless you’re planning something devilish

(I think they enjoy their Paintjob being intact is conducive to the CFR surviving the end of the year, and they probably have a much bigger gun than I. Besides, They helped with very little request for anything in return, so~.)

(Alright, sounds good, 3xp, 5000 credits)

"I'm not sure I want to get enmired in another world's situations before we fully resolve the issues facing Juroli, but we may need to. Looking at things, we know Plaus is nearby and have been there before, and we know that they likely have some amount of Industrial assets given their war against the hostile AI. I don't know what state those are in, or anything going on with Plaus since our departure... We could swing by there and check on them to find out though. Conversely, we could take a shot in the dark and try and find Allies who could provide some amount of Military support so that we can build up without having to worry about someone just coming in and declaring us apart of their situation right as we get the infrastructure off the ground..."

(Did we want to get moving toward polychrome to meet the others ?)

(I think so, as much as I want to see what's happening on Nur, We need to first get some form of Stability and Presence that doesn't scream, 'Free Real Estate in the North!')

The crew doesn’t think much of the ideas right now. There is reach and there’s is over reach and without more ships and better equipment you won’t be able to manage either. There are rumors that Polychrome had a robust fleet of system ships. More than enough to keep pirates and alien raiders away, they’re no latch for even a marginally equipped spike ship

"Well, I suppose rumors will have to do for now, let's see what this polychrome is about and if we can motivate them to Join us. And let's hope they don't have any Parasite god's, Renegade AI, or a Planet Consuming Goo~, and if they do, well at least we'll be fighting something we've experienced before." She beams a smile at the crew and Begins checking the route to Polychrome.

3:37 PM

(I'll need to check over the route when I get home, I believe I need someone's or a bunch of someone's permissions to pass through their territory? Hopefully I can also do some shopping and replenish my Rune shots.)

(Technically CFR isn't a thing yet. I'm trying to get you back to establish that, so if we're using LLF credentials like we would be IC right now, we wouldn't need permission)

(Awesome).

(okay, ill total up downtime and we can talk about a few things in the planning chat)

(I've got 24 days moving through various polity spaces so we can use shipyards to replenish food and fuel)

(Assuming I can do some shopping in-transit:)

Shopping List:
Starting Total: 5,482,995
5 Detonator Rune Shots: 50 Credits.
1 Spike Thrower: 600 Credits.
Consecration Ritual Components and Ritual: 1000 Credits.
Ending Total: 5,481,345

(If Not, then that's fine too.~) (edited)

(Yep, this list is all solid)

[oop! I just realized I need to buy Ammo for the Spike Thrower... xP]

2:26 PM

Spike Thrower Ammo: 4 sets of 20: 40 Credits.
New Credit Total: 5,481,305

[23 of the Downtime days were spent on Perform, 1 was spent Consecrating a Spike Thrower.]

!roll 8d6+8 ! Hit Point Roll

Noel [Aminatah] Roll: [6, 6, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2, 1] Result: 36 Reason: Hit Point Roll

###Level Up###
Level: 8
Foci: None.
Gun-Mage Art: Return Fire (Was going to pick Spell-Shot, but like, I haven't used Arcane Tinker yet and don't want to keep grabbing arts I'm going to forget about)
Rune Shot: None.
Old HP: 35.
HP Roll: 36.
New HP: 36.
Skill Points on Level up: 3.
Use Magic 1 to Use Magic 2 for 3 SP.
Attack Bonus: 6.

Noel heads to the Space Elevator, sending a message to her crew that she's returning to the ship and to prepare to return to Juroli.

(I’ll figure out how many days of downtime. Did you plan to stop anywhere along the way?)

(No real plans, no, aside from maybe seeing about getting the Power Armor repaired [Unless Tig kept that? I'm fine with it either way.])

(All yours)

(Awesome, then yeah, Unless Odd transmission messages come up it's back to Juroli to finalize the trade route and then Probably/Maybe to Nur or Plaus.)

(I count 23 days back of downtime using the most direct route)

(Alrighty, How many of those do I need to use to get the armor up?)

(I’d say ten given the extent of the damage and needing to make a helmet for it)

(Sounds good!)

Returning to Juroli, you can see nothing has changed much in your absence. The goo has stopped growing, but things on the ground still seem to be cool, if not outright cold, as the people here remain incredibly distrustful of anything that has come from the stars.

Realizing that at least some amount of this needs to change for the world to begin recovering, and for her own goals to be reached... Noel will begin reaching out to The Leadership of each of the Cities on the Planet to set up a meeting with all of them.

Since you come from space and thus far the outside world has only brought them pain, you are given appreciation for the time spent , and though you have saved the world the prevailing attitude here is that the populace has used their get out of jail free card , and doesn’t wish to invite another catastrophe

As this dawns on her, she sighs... and lays in a course for the Village that was starving due to the Starmetal Goo devouring most of their food stores, to try and talk to them directly, and get at least one of the Settlements on board.

Approaching in much the same way, this time ten of the local police and the mayor meet your ship as it lands a kilometer or so away from the city. They are tired looking, and their weapons and armor look solid, and prepared for use if necessary.

Noel will approach, cautiously, trying to appear as peaceful as possible, having chosen not to wear her New Armor or bring her Spike Thrower. "Greetings. You seem exhausted, is there a way I can help you with that before we talk about things that might be stressful?"

“We don’t want you here. You can help by leaving. You’ve stopped the goo and we appreciate it but we want to get back to our lives now. The stars bring trouble”

"...Perhaps they do, but that's the problem, isn't it? If you hide away here you're just waiting for the Someone else to show up. I can't guarantee they won't just land and start stealing from you. Your planet is right between Two Empires and has a vast supply of a resource both want a lot of, and I don't know that they'll be in an 'Asking' mood, or that they'll respect your wishes. Instead I think it would be better if You could defend yourselves, and if you could leverage that horrid metal out there to bring prosperity to yourselves and your future generations." The Lamplighter states, as calmly as she can. (edited)

"and what are you getting out of all this? Which of those two empires do you come here representing? We saw your ship, we intercept broadcasts from time to time. We aren't ignorant of w hat is out there"

"I represent neither of them... I left the ISF when it was formed because I didn't believe in the ideologies being spilled out. As for what I get out of this... I genuinely feel for those that are in situations like yours. If you're intercepting broadcasts, have you heard of what happened with Plaus? Outside of that... I honestly am looking for a place to belong, somewhere to call home and fill the void that was created when I realized I didn't quite fit with The Two Federal Empires to the Galactic North and South of you." (edited)

“Are you a fugitive from them then? You’re not painting a rosy picture of things” the mayor asks, looking up at the sky and likely feeling quite small right now.

"I'm not a fugitive, No. And I'd rather paint an honest or cautious picture than tell you a pretty lie. There is a silver lining, one that I think we can use to get what you want, I think if we enter into a deal with a handful of other unaffiliated planets, We can set it up to where the giants leave us alone. We just need enough of a presence to make it not worth the effort to Stake out us or our allies."

"you say We like you live here. You don't. This world owes you gratitude, but there's nothing you can do for us to owe you to the point where we become game pieces in whatever political aspirations you have. We just want to be left alone, without trouble. "

"Ah, I apologize for implying that I am welcome here, then... But you need to be able to defend yourselves if you want to be left alone. I have no aspirations to Govern, Ideally you'd be able to continue as you are with the sole exception of trading with allies and maybe supplying ships with repairs so they can defend the planets that are willing to join in such an Alliance." She pauses and sighs, adding in... "Worrying about the next threat to drop from the sky, but not doing something about it... not preparing for it, is just inviting it to happen. You need to be able to stand up, and defend yourself or they will just take what they want... I know it's scary, believe me. I have seen it... But you can't let the fear control you. You can't let yourself be at it's mercy. You have to be able to stand up." (edited)

"An alliance? How could we be part of an alliance if you're promising we won't be part of the troubles that come from the stars. You've walked back on yourself several times during this, and I don't think we can trust you"

"That goes off the presumption that Everything to do with the stars is trouble, and also that all Alliances are forced to fully aid in every military endeavor... Which ignores Free-trade agreements and Non-aggression Pacts... What are you going to do when Something else from the stars shows up? You don't want anyone who can solve those problems here, and you also don't seem willing to take the steps to get to where you can solve them yourselves anytime soon." (edited)

(They've been broadcasting pretty hard that they're isolationist, and have no desire to be anything but isolationist. All the things you're bringing up require them to not be isolationist anymore and they don't trust you enough to make that kind of societal change. this approach isn’t going to work. They don’t trust you. They don’t want you here. You’re going to have to either try a different approach to gain their trust or move on)

(Fair, I really don't know how to get people who don't want anything to do with me to trust me, cause I don't know how to find out about any problems they're having without pissing them off more.)

(You haven't really asked them about their problems, you've just sort of tried to sell them on your whatever it is you're trying to integrate them into and they know you're not here strictly out of the goodness of your own heart. Exploring and just finding the problems on your own without being told about them is a thing you can do too. )

(Fair..) "Well, you know what I'm about, my current goals. Outside of that, is there anything I can help you with before I go elsewhere?"

"You stopped the goo, and hopefully in time the countryside is clean of what is left. We can start growing food and hunting again once that takes shape"

"Hmm... I can scout it out for you. Get soil samples and put down any remaining pockets of the goo. How are your current food stores? Will they last long enough for you to make it to the end of the next growing season?"

"Probably not. We just don't have the tech or th emanpower to clear and re-plant all the metal changed land. It's going to be the work of a generation to fix the biosphere here"

"Alright. Lemme find the closest spot that should be sustainable, after that, I can see about getting a shipment or two of food and bringing it back here so you have the time you need, if you're okay with it?"

"We'll talk about it if you do what you say you're going to do, off worlder" The mayor says, this seeming to be where he plans on leaving the conversation for the moment.

"Alright, Thank you." Noel gives a polite bow, turns and starts heading back to the ship. Once she's back at the Enigma, she'll have the crew begin scanning and scouting the area around the village, gradually expanding the Radius of the scan until something workable is found.

(program/int)

[8]

Five kilometers from the settlement you find a place where the metal is calm and dormant once again, but old surveys of the planet had this place as fertile land. It is a bit too far for the locals to regularly come out this way since they are limited to being on foot.

She sets the ship down and begins trying to find areas where the Metal is thin so she can get a decent enough updated soil sample. Trying to figure out a way to easily punch through the metal and remove it as well.

(Know/int)

[8]

Around the edges of the large living metal blob you find places most accepting of a probe, and the touch of the edge of the shovel, using the fracture planes previously discovered in the metal to break it up more efficiently than using simple brute force. (edited)

Noel and her team begin breaking apart the blob, and testing the Soil in various places. Picking it apart as much as possible.

THe soil itself after the first meter or so seems to be clean, the goo did not quite penetrate that depth of soil, and if the upper layers can be scraped away and disposed of somehow, you think food can be grown here again but heavy machinery is going to be needed to get anywhere enough land cleared in time to prevent a food crisis using only native supplies.

"Let's report back to them, see if we can source the machinery from one of the other settlements and if not, Work out how we're going to minimize outsider presence here while helping the locals survive."

(This workd doesn’t have anything like that. It’s all been destroyed trying to fight the goo)

(Fair, Still going to tell the villagers about the situation though, as I get the impression that doing anything without their knowledge will be a gross overstep at this stage) The Gun-Mage brings her crew back to the Village to report on the field, realizing that it's likely they're not going to have the farming equipment in-Transit due to the Nature of the Goo and general situation of the planet.

You can sense they’re wariness and they wonder what this is going to cost them in the long run, materially or what portion of their planet’s soul they’re going to have to break off to pay the bill when it comes due, but they have no way of stopping you from doing this.

Noel will send a message to the Lamplighter Foundation to check on if they have any Farming Equipment they can spare nearby Juroli, in order to stop an oncoming potential Famine caused by the recent Semi-Apocalypse.

(You'd have to post a message in the channel. Keep in mind from here to Tece we're also waiting about two months for the message to get there and then come back)

(Ah, I was hoping they'd have a closer base I could reach out to... Two months just for the messages would Put a serious dent in whatever help we could get these folks...)

(Yep. Normally the starhab is closer but it’s out in ascendency territory. The lamplighters don’t really have much beyond medical clinics on the other worlds and that’s not really gonna do anything for you)

(With that in mind, I think that I will still send the message asking for food as well, but also swing over by Plaus to see if they have anything that can either do the job or be Jury-Rigged into doing the job in an effort to perhaps build something between the two Planets, if that makes sense?) (edited)

(That;s fine, so Grim will get the message in Y5M12, and his reply, whatever it is, won't be known until Y6M1. You may have solved the issue by then, and there's always the option to fulfill the trope we want and boost a food shipment or a parts shipment)

(Alrighty~, should I send the message now?) The Gun Mage heads back to the Enigma, and announces to the Crew that they will be heading to Plaus to see if any industrial equipment can be acquired, a Message will be sent to the Lamplighters first so that way on the chance that no solutions are forthcoming, there's at least a back-up plan.

(Lets send it now just to get it off our collective plate)

(Alright, I know Grim is looking into the logistics, so we're within time. I believe Plaus is just a day of downtime away)

(Alrighty, 77/90 on Perform.) Once over Plaus, Noel will Follow her standard operating Procedure of landing nearish the Largest settlement and waiting for the people of Plaus to arrive to talk to them.

currently the largest concentration of activity looks to be outside the maze where you had once helped fight the rogue AI here as part of the New Moon Cooperative and the Lamplighter Foundation respectively. Your ship is given permission to land by ground control and a small diplomatic vehicle with two envoys is waiting once your ship sets down.

Leaving the ship, The gun-mage waves to the group, and waits for them to arrive. "Greetings, how have things been recently?"

"We're tearing down the defenses as you can see, thanks especially to you. Things are certainly getting better"

"I'm glad to hear it. I was wondering if there was anything I can do to work some deal to get a shipment of Tractors and heavy Farming equipment. Your nearest Neighbor, Juroli, has a settlement on the verge of Famine, and I could use the help to get them on their feet again."

"You've come at a bad time for us unfortunately. Everything we have is being used to tear this maze down, and get the resources handed out to struggling communities that need them. We'd love to help, but we don't have anything to spare from the de-construction project here"

"There a way I can help with the Deconstruction to free up some of the equipment? Or anything else I can do to help out?" Noel asks, and looks around. "Even if you can't spare anything I'd like to help out."

"We're trying to get the curtain walls torn down so they can be hauled off to the scrapyard and recycled. From there, they'll get smelted down into raw materials again"

"Have you already used Controlled Explosives and the like? And my Ship can also probably help transport some of the Materials to the Scrapyard fairly fast."

"We have. Nothing is going to replace the heavy lift capabilities needed to load those materials to your ship, or drag those panels to the scrapyard ourselves. It's an unavoidable part of logistics unfortunately"

"Well, Hmm... Lemme see how much I might be able to help, though what I need the equipment for is a bit time sensitive." She chews her lip as she thinks... "What's the best estimate on how long the demolition might take?"

"Weeks, maybe months. We spent years putting it up trying to contain that factory. Breaking it down is faster, but the amount of materials is still the same" (edited)

"Could we perhaps repurpose some of the War-bots, turn them into Pilotable mechs to help with the deconstruction of the wall?"

"They're not designed for people, not even close, it would almost be more time consuming than building new ones from scratch and we don't have the parts of facilities for something like that. It would take even longer to get this cleaned up, and take even more away from the people"

"Ah, alright... Hmm... Is there anything you need that I could get to help out here?" She shrugs and looks about.

(they said that already)

7:27 PM

(if you want to help them break things down you can, but it might not necessarily lead to more machinery)

(Ah, my apologies.) More than willing to just help out, Noel will spend 2 weeks aiding the Deconstruction Efforts however she can... Whether it's Keeping morale up, abusing Her ability to never need sleep, or just using the ship to expedite the transport of the Rubble...

By the end of the two weeks it looks as though about half the maze is taken down. The locals are happy for the help and the amount of work in front of them is a bit less daunting now.

(IF we really push the Enigmatic, could we finish tearing down the maze in the remaining 2 weeks before that shipment arrives?)

(We've done really what we can do in terms of the heavy lift, its the recycling part now)

Before she departs, Noel will approach someone she knows to be in a leadership position among the locals, to talk to about one of her current goals. Chewing her lip as she works her way toward them.

They look to be coordinating the complicated process of moving large slabs of maze wall from the disassembly stockpile to the smelter using several large tractors and lifts, but can be spoken to as the work goes on (edited)

"I was wondering if Plaus would be willing to join a sort of alliance of independent systems and planets... through this establishing trade with the independent planets and making use of each one's strong-suits to help each other out without damaging each other's Autonomy." (edited)

"How would an alliance give us autonomy? Wouldn't that make us connected to whoever else is in this alliance, so we'd have to consider them when making choices?"

"Only decisions that would affect the rest of the planets. as for the 'Gaining' Autonomy part I more meant that we could help each other out without interfering with how each of the allied planets are being run. So more or less helping to maintain fleets for mutual defense, attached to a free-trade agreement. Any problems arise that you would need outside help with, like a Rogue AI or a Planet-eating Monster or anything like that we could send Agents, such as myself, to handle."

3

"This doesn't feel much different than what the United Nations of Worlds of the Greystar Confederation, or any of them are doing. We get Galnet broadcasts sometimes and I think if we felt like we needed off-world help, we'd ask someone like them. You've helped our planet immensely, nothing is going to change your status as a folk hero here, but I don't think the people are ready for an experiment like yours so soon after getting through the crisis we just got through"

"That's fair... And they are more or less the model I have to work with... Do you have a way to send messages to people off-world? I'm probably going to be relatively nearby for quite a while, and I still enjoy helping out where I can." She states, with a warm smile.

"We have communications. You'll be waiting some time depending on how far away from us you are, but we can send and receive "

"Alright. I'm mostly going to be in the area around Juroli. Probably going to swing by Nur and Popolos and make sure they're okay. It's more or less your extended Galactic Neighborhood."

"Indeed they are. If you're approaching them with the same tactic, you have to remember we were all under control of a stellar empire just a few years ago. We were ignored at best back then, and right now we're not bound by any kind of obligations to anyone but ourselves. You're asking us to give up quite a bit without anything but words to show for it"

"I get that. It's the getting that part started that's been the hardest. I appreciate the honesty and openness to talk about it though. All that aside, I still really need Farming supplies, and I understand not wanting to cost the citizens here anything more due to the heavy loss you've all faced. Would you be willing to sell them to me instead? Or perhaps something of a Trade?"

“A trade ? We could do a trade. What did you have in mind?”

"Would Starship Hull Metal work?"

“I’m not really sure what we could do with it. We have more than enough metal being reclaimed from the maze as it is”

"That's fair. Juroli's basically coated in Metal at the moment, so it was worth the ask. Outside of metal, all I have is money and a fast ship... What sort of supplies are you lacking?"

"We;ve got the basics for survival here. We're lucky in the sense our world is temperate and well off with basic minerals. That's just it though, we survive, we don't thrive. Hard to justify the luxuries when everything you do is under the threat of robotic annihilation."

"I'll see what I can do, but that might take a bit of time while we get Polychroniou set up and get Juroli out of Danger."

They shrug, not desperate for what you bring, and uncaring of the challenges of the other worlds when they have their own.

Noel will bid the individual adieu, and Return to Juroli, to see what the other two settlements might need. Starting with the Settlement that she first interacted with, with the old scout/hunter fellow.

(one day of downtime in between)

Following her S.O.P. for Settlements, she'll land the ship near-ish by, enough that they know she's there.

No one seems to be venturing out after waiting for half an hour, by now familiar with your ship and having dismissed you as a threat to the safety of the community here.

After the Half an hour, Noel will head to the village to check up on them, leaving her Armor and most of her weapons save the thermal pistol and the Bracelet back on the ship.

life goes on here as best it can. They're doing their best to chip away at the now lifeless blob of all consuming metal, and carts of it have been dumped far away from the village where it perceivably can't hurt anyone if it decides to go active again. Work has been done to try to clear some forest for planting, though the plants are going to be a long time in coming to turn into something useful, A few small animals have been strung up for processing, and a lone hunter at the edge of the village is washing his knife in a stream before going to do just that. More people are outside than when you were here last, and it looks like some of the trees felled for this farmland are being used to raise wooden fortifications.

Noel will continue her approach, waving and smiling at the hunter and whomever else is about.

(Are you looking for someone specific? I think they're largely just going to go about their life otherwise)

(If possible, either the leader of the Community or the Hunter guy that came out when I first landed on Juroli.)

The hunter you are looking for seems to be the one at the edge of the community here, and he nods once as you approach. There is a squelching sound as his knife bites into the first of the animals here.

"Hiya!" She says as she waves. "How fares the reconstruction situation?"

“Simulation? What we are doing is very real. You’re back though. Why is that?”

"Er... no Uhm... I wanted to check up on all the settlements here. Make sure that everything is fine, and see if I can help out." Her face betrays slight discomfort briefly, but she bounces back. "...And uhm... Situation is like, The Current state of everything in a general sense."

“It’s the same as it was last time you were here except for the goo. If you don’t have food or the stuff to help us plant or make it we don’t really have much to talk about”

"A-ah. Fair enough... I just wanted to check and see if you needed something different from the Southern Village... I imagine the City is going to need much the same as well?"

“We all just need food. The biosphere here is broken and it’s hard to think of much else when you’re starving to death”

Chewing on her lip as she thinks, Noel nods. "I'll handle it, I don't know how long it'll take but I'll be back as soon as I can." She looks about and sighs, and then says her goodbyes to the man. Now slightly frowning.

(He doesn't have anything else to say, I'll move the scene however you need once you have an idea of what you wanna do)

(I presume the one Shipment of Food and Farming equipment isn't going to be enough for the whole ass planet, considering There's an active city on here?)

(Even with a bulk freighter or capital ship a single run wouldn’t be enough but you’ve got to start somewhere )

(Fair enough, I think Sending an Addendum to the Lamplighters asking for multiple shipments and then going and acquiring the resources one way or another to keep the settlements up and running till they arrive is what I've settled on.)

1

(alright , well I'm ready to move this forward once you know what the another way is going to be, That sounds like our next adventure)\

Once Noel returns to her ship, she Emits a sigh, closes her eyes and attempts to focus her resolve. The gun-mage goes through the motions of framing the retrieval of food as a Mission, one that she has already accepted. She shudders and stretches. "Alright. Lay in a course for 2N2819 Halane. Be ready for a fight. We've run out of options and we're Taking the Food."

(I'll total up downtime for you once I'm back to a computer proper tonight)

(Sorry for the delay, we're looking at 5 days by my count)

8:20 AM

(Doesn't look like we have a scouting report for this world either so thats my next job)

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

Halane

10:21 AM

(I still have to draw, going to do that next)

(okay, we have art! the article should show it now)

(I imagine the Survey Sensor Array isn't strong enough to just Scan their Ports for Large quantities of what would likely be Food Storage, right?)

(Nope, its general details about a planet, its not precise enough to hone in on specific buildings or things that small from space)

After seeing the Estimated Tech Level of the World, Noel Shifts her Blade ward to Swords and Physical Projectiles, On the off chance they divest her of her armor. She also spends a small amount of time psyching herself up, to get into the mindset of this being effectively a Mission she must succeed at. Once finished, The Erstwhile Pirate Captain makes a decision. "We need to find which City has the largest stockpile of Food. I want to get our Cargo as full as possible. While they are low on tech, we don't know if they have any supernatural capabilities, so I suppose we will attempt some Recon. We will land near or in the Northwestern Ruins, check to make sure it's safe to lay low in that area. If it is, we will use it as our base of Operations and then work on Finding which Settlement is our most likely Source of Food. That make sense?"

(The recon on the ground will have to be in person, due to the survey scanners thing, Just a matter of who we're sending down)

Noel volunteers herself, being as that she has the highest survivability rate currently. Even if there is a massive Tech Disparity, she wants to make sure the survivability rate of the mission is as high as possible.

(only you? or did you want some crew)

(I think, this time I'll bring two others with me, If possible the two most well versed with the Piggen Language on the off chance I have someone like that on staff with the like... 5 guys I have.)

(You can also get a translator torc from the locker if that helps, just for your own ability to say things )

(That's fair. I feel like I don't let my guys off the ship much, so I want them to have some time outside the can so to speak. I suppose I could let them sort that out on their own and go in with the translator torc.)

(either one, just so you can talk too)

(Gonna let them sort out their own Shore leave and just take the Torc. I don't want any of my crew being dragged into fights.)

(all I need is a landing area now that Halane has a map, and we're good to go)

(Let's go with the beach north of the North-Eastern Settlement.)

(d10)

St. Lucia

used /roll

Noel [Aminatah] Roll: [3] Result: 3 Request: [1d10]

You land on the beach and find it empty for the moment. There is evidence the locals were here somewhat recently judging by the few cast off large bones and bloody sand on the beach. Some large animal had evidently been captured and harvested to supplement supplies, and almost nothing from the kill has been wasted (edited)

Noel chews her lip, thinking about this. Leaving no scraps can be a sign of food scarcity. Either way, she heads towards the settlement, translator torc on hand. (As a side note, just for clarity, I'm also in my assault suit with the helm disengaged, as I don't know how kindly the locals will be, and I'm not exactly here to make friends today. Though Noel being Noel, I shall if I can~) (edited)

(alright, so we won't have the vision modes available unless youve also got pan spectral optics, but you'll still get the power for a type A weapon, and the AC benefits, as well as the comms because to me that's really just an ear piece)

(Roger Roger.) The Would-be Raider approaches cautiously. Eyes of aged Jade carefully look for signs of potential conflict or duress as she walks towards the Piggen settlement.

you see no evidence of conflict here other than whatever strength it took to drag the creature to shore and butcher it. The Piggen settlement is on the opposite side of some thin woods, and you'll likely encounter hunters or trappers of some kind before you get there as they work the forest for food.

Noel follows whatever paths she can through the forest, Carefully watching more for traps then for people or animals that might lash at her.

(notice/wis)

(3)

There is a sharp snap as the ground below you gives way. Inside your armor the wooden stakes have no chance at hurting you, but you are now 5m below ground on your back inside of a tiger pit.

Staring up at the sky, The Gun Mage reflected on her own hubris. The notion that the power armor has already saved her life where her wards would not have crosses her mind... She lets out a sigh as she peals herself up off the dirt. (edited)

(Can you refresh me on what classes of weapons you've decided to immuinze yourself from? )

(Swords, and Physical Projectiles.)

(swords as in primitive weapons or advanced weapons? I'll note projectile weapons)

(From what I understand, when I choose Melee weapons it's By the specific Weapon. For a melee weapon, it must be a general class of weapon, like “swords” or “knives” or “clubs”, and applies to both TL3 and TL4+ versions of those weapons. So Melee is like, my Giant weakness.) (edited)

(Okay. I’ll have to re read it)

(okay, you're right, so swords and I guess whatever the projectile weapon of choice around here is)

9:30 AM

You stand, still down in the pit but the rocky and root covered sides look like they can be climbed easily.

Seeing this, Noel will attempt to climb out, keeping wary of any attacks that come her way as she gets near the top of the hole.

You climb to the top, and though you are not struck by anything you can see five Piggen hunters are beginning to make their way into the forest.

(are they moving towards me, or away from me?)

(Toward you)

Unsure of whether there are more traps ahead of her, The Armored Gun Mage simply gives herself a small amount of space from the pit to move, and watches the approaching Piggen Carefully.

They seem to have heard their deadfall trap and the enormous amount of noise falling into the hole has made, and are approaching the area quickly but quietly. (If you're trying to avoid notice, we would need a sneak/dex)

(Nah, I'm not fully trying to avoid them. I want to see what their reaction to an offworlder is, try and gauge how much food they have.. and assassinating or ambushing them seems counter productive.) Noel waits out in the open, watching them approach and keeping her hand resting on her thermal pistol.

As they see you, they begin to slow, their hands also resting on weapons mirroring the gesture you are making yourself. Each group is watching the other, not wanting to make the first hostile move, but prepared for it, in case. (edited)

She briefly chews her lip, thinking on this. As she comes to a decision, The gun mage rolls her shoulders and puts her faith in the translator torc. "Greetings. I found your pit trap the hard way, though I think in the end I bested it..." She gives a warm smile hoping they find the humor in her words. (edited)

"You aren't what we try to trap out here" The lead Piggen hunter says in return, still unsure about where the conversation is going to be going from here. Their 'ready' posture has not changed at all as the words start to flow. "what are you doing on our land, outsider?"

"I'm here to acquire food for my people. I need quite a lot, and went ahead of them to try and figure out where we could acquire it from." Noel says, in measured tone. Her eyes move from piggen to piggen, trying to gauge their reactions.

"The land here is land we own. You won't be getting it from us, especially not with winter coming"

8:25 AM

There is tension once again, though no one has yet drawn a weapon. A fight means families losing relatives, and this is a choice they seem to only want to make if forced.

"I'll be honest with you, targeting smaller settlements and folk isn't exactly what I'm about. I was wondering if you'd be willing to tell me about the larger cities and factions. I need a lot of food, and taking from those that have plenty is a lot more palatable than taking from folk who are barely getting by."

"You should speak with the chief" one of the hunter says finally. "Will you be peaceful within our walls?"

"I will be peaceful unless I can save more lives by not being peaceful, if that's acceptable? By that, I mean, If someone in your village is being hurt or attacked, I would like to be able to help." (edited)

(They just want to know if you're going to cause trouble or start shooting people for no reason inside, tongue in cheek, they're also warning you against essentially doing just that once inside)

(Fair enough, Noel isn't too interested in causing trouble for trouble's sake.) Noel removes her hand from her pistol, and relaxes slightly.

They do the same, leading you through the woods to a fortified village on a hill, and the longhouse where their chief and law speaker make their Residence to lead the tribe

3:50 PM

Two guards block your way in before the locals explain what is happening, and you’re permitted an audience with the chief in the main room of the large hall. Twenty warriors stand around the hall, and what passes as local wealthy and nobility are here feasting on several long tables below the elevated throne platform

3:50 PM

They look to have very much food indeed

Noel's Eyes take in the volume of food, as well as the amount of warriors in the long house. She awaits for the leaders to address her in the hopes that their etiquette is similar to the Nobility of The NMC.

"Outsider" the chief growls, your torc taking a moment to put things together,"You are in my hall, and I cannot decide if this is a good thing, or a bad one. What are you doing here? "

"I am here to acquire food for people that I care about. I had wondered if you had enough or not, as I require right around 40 tons." She pauses, and rolls her shoulders. "Do you, perhaps, have enough to cover that?"

"40 tons!?" he laughs, and so do the rest of the gathered inhabitants between feasting. "We get by, but 40 tons! Thats all of this winter's feasts. No, we cannot do this, I am sorry"

Her eyes look over the gathered food, and her characteristic smile dwindles slightly. "Oh? I see. Do you perhaps know of somewhere that does have such stores of food?"

"You could try one of the mainland settlements, they might have more thsan we do, and you will be helping us get rid of a rival"

Noel looks to the servants, and the Hunters who brought her here... (Do they look well fed, or is it just the Chief and his retinue?)

(no one is on the verge of dying from what you can tell, but the Chief and his cronies are the best of the bunch by a comfortable margin) (edited)

She thinks for a long moment, worried that the Translator torc might misconstrue some of what she's about to say. "Ah, where are my manners... You may call me Elle, And I am from another world. A..." A thought pops into her head... "...Celestial."

(are you trying to mislead them into thinking you're a diety? )

(Not exactly, She's trying to describe herself as something that has some context to them.)

(I am trying to establish what context you're trying to establish)

10:54 AM

(I don't know how to make them react without knowing exactly what you are trying to say)

(She's trying to tell them that she's from Space, without using the word space as saying, "I'm from Nothing." Doesn't seem useful at the moment.)

"From the stars. I can tell, you don't look or smell like us. It is nice to meet you Elle, I am Chief Braytak. You are a guest in my hold and so long as you respect our laws no harm will come to you while you are within this settlement"

"I appreciate your Hospitality, Chief Braytak. I don't know a lot about your world, Or your people, admittedly. I do know that Other worlds host people similar to yours, and they make use of Rhuns and Magic, is that true here as well?"

"The ways of the Rhun have been lost to us, though there are some in the other settlements who claim to be able to work in the old ways. Those bloodlines sadly have been taken from our society, but we do know of what you are speaking"

Noel nods, thinking about this. "Last three questions I have, Who are your biggest rivals, have there been any other people from the stars, and what do you know of the Ruins to the north? My apologies for having so many questions for you... But success is often easier with knowledge."

Their biggest rivals are on the largest landmass, living in the settlements there. They are all part of a confederation. The ruins to the north are haunted and no one goes there. It is the lair of witches and evil, and they just stay away. This has kept them safe, and whatever is lurking there does not seem to have any interest in town, so all is well. No one from the stars has been here in the living historical records of the tribe, but their records do say they came from the stars once themselves . (edited)

"Thank you, as a sign of Trust I'll answer any questions you might have of me or my own." She gives a humble bow.

"As for why you're here, as long as its' not to hurt my tribe, I don't really care. We have a good life here, and I'm not sure we want to get too close to whatever you seem to be planning"

Noel nods, and then Smirks. "Is there anything you would like me to pick up for you from there? And if it's okay with you I might let my men Stretch their legs a bit here."

"Better you just leave after you do what you're doing. Don't bring trouble home"

"A-ah, as you wish..." She takes two steps back, gives a polite bow and leaves, sending a message to the ship requesting transit to the Larger Landmass, and to ready for a fight.

(how close would you want to get? )

(For pick up I'll do whatever the nearest open field that's outside the village and not filled with livestock is. For the Drop-off/Raid? I'm thinking Shock and Awe is best, so do a fly over and then See if there's anything resembling large scale food storage and just pulling up right to it.)

(notice/wis)

(5)

You don't see anyone gathering on the ground yet, though they're surely coming. Unfamiliar with Piggen architecture or city planning, you're not sure where exactly the food storage might be but you do not see any buildings outside the walls of the settlement other than a few small farmsteads.

Not having an idea for where the storage facility could be, Noel will direct the ship to hover close enough to any large, squat buildings that are clearly not a part of castle fortifications. The intent is to have the easiest hop she can have onto the most likely structure in her mind to at least be near food storage.

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d100] Roll: [45] Result: 45

(so you're just hopping out of the airlock onto a roof? )

(Yeah, Especially if the Squat building is near something resembling a market. I also will put on my Helmet for this. Keep the Ship hovering within View.)

You land on the solid wooden roof of the first flat building you come to. The beams are thatched and are solid trunks of the surrounding trees, with no clear way to see what is inside. For the first handful of seconds the settlement looks on in stunned silence, though you expect the most foolhardly or most calm will begin acting soon, and in doing so will rally their fellow.s (edited)

Noel stares for but a moment before speaking, as loudly and clearly as possible, hoping the Translator torc can match her volume. she is practically Shouting. "I am Elle, A witch from the Stars, and I will have Forty tons of food or I will have Forty tons of your corpses." (edited)

1

Whatever hesitation there was before, there is none now as the town begins to react. You expect resistance will begin in a few moments as war leaders reach their warbands and weapons are handed out.

(Cruel as it is, Would I be able to shoot one of the leaders as he's passing out weapons to try and further intimidate or demoralize them into complying, or does it seem past that point?)

(They’re going to be resisting since you’ve already threatened to kill them all)

(Alrighty, Initiative then?)

(It would depend on what weapon you’re trying to shoot them with. Right now if all you’ve got is a pistol weapon neither of you can hit the other quite yet. We also don’t know if this building even has what you need in it

(Fair.)

(Let me know what you’re shooting then when you know so I can figure out ranges or if we need to do initiative )

(The best I've got on me is the Thermal Pistol, cause it's that or the Spike Thrower. There anyway to get into the building I'm standing on without hopping into the Street?)

(I don’t know what items you have on you or what ideas you might have. It’s a wood and thatch roof so that itself is solid but it’s not unobtanium. The spike thrower would still be out of range of any visible warriors )

Noel looks over the edge, to see if there's any easily accessible windows or openings near the top of the building that she could climb down to.

The building doesn’t have a skylight but there is a meter long gap between the walls and ceiling beams to allow for venting. You see furs drying inside along with cold vats of chemicals the locals would use to carrot the furs or tan the hides for later use.

The Self-Proclaimed Space Witch will attempt to get through the Meter long Gap between the Walls, Forcing the Piggen to have to either wait for her to emerge or Charge into a Choke point.

(How long would you wait?)

(Maybe a couple minutes tops, long enough to send a message to the ship to say, "Fight's on, Support how/if you can", Then Pull out my Spike Thrower and head out to them.)

The doors are thrown open two minutes later as twenty piggen warriors form a shield wall, blocking the warehouse door. The front rank is armed with axes and shields, while the back rank likewise overlap their shields but depend on long spears to fight over their brethren’s shoulders. From 20m away they begin to chant, eager to defend their homes. (Initiative )

9:02 PM

(I’ve asked about crew a couple times and this came up with Vere too. I’m not actually sure who we have on board. There’s room for six problem. You being one, and the two pilots and comms officer absolutely necessary for spike travel probably are not folks we want to risk, leaving us with at most two others to join the fight. They’d be on the roof in some fashion with where we are in the scene) (edited)

(Fair enough, It's more a request than orders admittedly, and if there's not enough Or if It's more sensible that they're non-combatants atm that's fine. I know I forget things like this a lot and I apologize~)

(Two would be the most we could have supporting somehow , if we decided not to risk key crew members )

(Alrighty, Two is fine. Once again Apologies~ [5 Initiative]) (edited)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d8] Roll: [3] Result: 3

(You’re first )

Quickly leveling the Spike Thrower at the Shield wall, Noel loads up her only Detonator and blasts the center most Piggen in the Front line of the Shield wall with her Runic Shot. (17/16, with an AoE Fire damage of 1.) (edited)

St. Lucia

used /roll

Noel/Radka Request: [1d20+10] Roll: [7] Result: 17

St. Lucia

used /roll

Noel/Radka Request: [3d8+1d6] Roll: [8, 6, 2][1] Result: 17 Reason: 1d6 is AoE Damage

The figure in the center of the front shield wall is killed instantly. Smoke and fire pour over the rest of the piggen but they all look mostly unharmed. (1 damage each to the rest of them)

6:13 AM

The 19 remaining piggen move forward in formation, rapidly covering ground as a unit to crash into you. (Move and main to double move. You’re in melee with them but they cannot attack this round )

Focusing purely on her mission, The Star Witch fluidly draws her readied Thermal pistol and attempts to blast one of the piggen in the chest with it. [30/5]

1

They are wounded, close to death but not quite. (1 HD is 8, you did one damage with the detonator shot, and 5 here) The piggen swarm over you, the five actually directly touching your person somewhere all trying to grab the pistol from your hand. (edited)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6+2] Rolls: [6, 4] Result: 12 [2, 1] Result: 5 [3, 1] Result: 6 [3, 2] Result: 7 [6, 1] Result: 9

(It’s an opposed exert/str or dex. You get a +3 since you’re holding the weapon )

6:50 AM

(You’re in power armor iirc so even the weapons that get through blade ward can’t hurt you, we will assume there’s some spear thrusts and cuts but mechanically there’s no point rolling them) (edited)

[11...]

The thermal pistol is wrenched from your grip by the swarm of Piggen warriors.

10:31 AM

(thats all they can do, its a main action to even attempt this)

Ever thankful that her helmet hides the dumb look of shock and anxiety that plays across her face, Noel levels her Spike thrower at the Piggen with the Thermal Pistol (I have the Close Quarters Combatant Gun Mage Art that lets me shoot in melee with rifle sized weapons at a -4.) [23/12] "Yield, There is no Honor dying pointlessly." (edited)

(this would be a talk check , which would be a main action , and right now their morale is going to hold, so if we want to try next round, we can) One of the Piggen warriors is felled, shot through at close range. The wounded one, and the others surge in around you, likewise trying to remove the spike thrower from your grip

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6+2] Rolls: [6, 1] Result: 9 [5, 1] Result: 8 [4, 1] Result: 7 [5, 4] Result: 11 [4, 4] Result: 10

[10]

(We would beat the first three, tie the 10, but then not beat the 11) the spike thrower is torn from your grip as well, vanishing into the horde of foes as they seek to relieve you of ways to harm them.

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6-1] Roll: [5, 2] Result: 6

On the roof, the morale of your companions wavers, and they seem to be reluctant to drop down into the exact situation you're dealing with. They would have to climb through the gap between wall and roof to venture down here to get shots with their rifles, and neither of your crewmen seem to be interested in sharing your fate.

(Are there any weapons I can scoop up? Or are they quickly whisked away as soon as they drop?)

(they disarmed you, so I mean they very firmly have your guns)

11:49 AM

(There would probably be a couple discarded swords around from the front line guys you killed, it would be a full action to pick it up )

"Surrender or I'll have the Ship use it's Weapons to destroy your city." Noel Says, gritting her teeth and lamenting that she never followed up on learning basic physical fitness.

11:58 AM

[I know it's going to be Harder now that they've disarmed me, but I'd like to attempt to talk them into surrendering.]

(talk/cha)

[5]

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6] Roll: [5, 1] Result: 6

(Their morale holds, they will press on. They're going to seek to goad enemy movement next, which means they must hit you with punch attacks, and then we make an exert/str. If failed, you will be knocked prone)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d20+3] Rolls: [17] Result: 20 [9] Result: 12 [1] Result: 4 [18] Result: 21 [16] Result: 19

(I've got 3 hits assuming normal assault suit armor of 18)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6+2] Rolls: [5, 4] Result: 11 [1, 1] Result: 4 [6, 2] Result: 10

(the two with your guns are going to shoot them after this resolves, since they won't need hit rolls if you're prone)

[2]

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [3d8] Roll: [8, 5, 2] Result: 15

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6] Roll: [5, 1] Result: 6

(6 from the thermal pistol and 15 from the spike thrower) Noel is knocked to the ground under the surging piggen spear wall, and the weapons taken from her look to be simple enough to operate that the warriors here can figure them out- not all that different to the crossbows some of the wall sentries use. Sharp pains and alerts from the assault suit's inbuilt systems advise the damage is approaching a worrisome level.

12:47 PM

(Back to Noel)

Noel sends a message to her ship telling them to Use the Sand thrower on a Building nearby to the One she's in, And asking the men on the roof to try and Help her escape.

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6-1] Roll: [5, 2] Result: 6

(their morale will still not let them)

Realizing Aid is not coming, and the situation she's in, Noel changes tact and breaks down a bit. "I-I surrender! I'll give you whatever you want please don't kill me or my men..." She puts her hands up to the best of her ability.

You have threatened to burn this village and salt the earth with their dead. To let you live will be to invite a greater threat later

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [3d8] Roll: [6, 3, 2] Result: 11

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6] Roll: [6, 3] Result: 9

The weapons fire again, The piggen deciding to take no chances with their welfare, or the lives of their families.

(I'd like to do that, and try and book it asap). (edited)

(You're prone, standing up is a whole move action, but you could use your main to move if you wish. You'd get 10m , and would still be in sight of the gunmen, but now they'd have to at least aim)

(Doing that, then.)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d20-1] Roll: [15] Result: 14

The spike thrower fires again, sending shots wicking past your head.

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d20-1] Roll: [4] Result: 3

The thermal projector also barks, setting part of the building door alight.

Noel's only goal at this point is to get as far away from the weapons she used to own as she can, Double moving or if she's prone standing up and moving.

The piggen follow, emerging at the warehouse door as you begin surging down the street, down the muddy road that makes up what passes for a thoroughfare here. You hear the bark of your weapons again as you continue running straight ahead toward what looks to be a circular town square, around a fountain.

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d20-1] Roll: [7] Result: 6

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d20-1] Roll: [4] Result: 3

The rounds streak by, failing to hit. You don't see any other warriors in the empty square ahead, but that may change soon.

Her nerves slowly creeping back into normalcy, Noel will vocally contact her ship while Running into the Square. "Where should I head for pick up? We're leaving as soon as we can get everyone back on the ship."

The two guards on the roof have been picked up, and the ship identifies a clearing 500m away, on the western side of down where they can set down outside the walls out of weapon range.

The Gun Mage will Head that way, Focusing more on Speed than Cover, seeing as that the Power armor should protect her against anything other than the Guns she is leaving behind.

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d20-1] Roll: [12] Result: 11

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d20-1] Roll: [4] Result: 3

You hear the sound of your weapons being fired again, missing you as you continue moving forward. Entering the circleand looking west as promised you can see the gates to the settlement are closing, and five Piggen warriors stand 40m away, doing their best to block the gate as it winches slowly closed.

Noel enters into a Dead Sprint towards the Gate, Trying everything she can to get through before They close.

at 20m from the guards, you hear the sounds of arrows being loosed from the towers on each side of the gate. There is a clatter as they break against your plate armor. The Piggen close ranks, forming a wall of pork blocking your way forward. The gate looks to be big enough to escape, though you must do so in the next 10 or so seconds

(What would it be to Juke or Feint The Piggen into Blocking the wrong direction while I squirrel past? I'm trying to Not have to roll exert at a -1 xP)

(I think it would still be exert since its an act of physicality, but I could see rolling it with dex)

(Dex and Strength are at the same spot, Sadly. Attribute mod of 0, Skill Mod of -1, Thankfully the Thermal Pistol is either Empty or about to be empty.) (edited)

(yep! Mag is five, you shot one, they shot 3. So if that's what you wanna do, you'd need to roll that check. From there we can figure it out)

[5 Dex-Exert, As Hopefully they're less Dextrous than they are Strong]

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6+1] Rolls: [6, 2] Result: 9 [4, 1] Result: 6

Slamming into the wall of pork, their stout bodies manage to cover enough area where you're unable to get around or under them in time. You feel two sets of firm Piggen arms close around you. The shooters are still around the corner, and for the moment it does not seem like you'll be shot with your own guns. The gate continues winching closed, leaving just a sliver of the outside to try to force your way through now.

3:24 PM

(as it stands, the gate is about to close, our shooters will round the corner with a move action in this upcoming round)

(Assume another Dex+Exert?)

(if you're trying the same thing, if you're not, we'll figure out what it should be based on what you pitch)

(It would be two main actions minimum to get the Christmas Gift out and use it, I imagine. Outside of that, Could I Eject/Slip out of the Assault suit suddenly to slip from their grasp?)

(I don't see any rules in the book about time to doff armor, but the assault suit doesn't say it has an ejection system, and again, SWN is very literal. If your xmas gift is in your bag and stowed, it is a main action to pull it out. I'd imagine it would be several rounds to doff armor)

3:34 PM

(in the past we've ruled one minute per point of encumbrance)

(What about my Back-Pack? Just vent all my Stowed Items to get another shot at sliding under the gate?)

(dropping sometihng is a free action, we'd still have to take the check but I'd give you a +2 for it)

(K, doing that.) Writhing with everything she has and shrugging off the Back-Pack to get even more leverage out of the grasping hands, Noel makes one more lunge at the gate (8).

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6+1] Rolls: [2, 2] Result: 5 [4, 4] Result: 9

You manage to slip the grabbing paw-fingers of one of the Piggen warriors, but the other manages to catch you and arrest your sliding move. The backpack hits the dust a second later, and you fall next to it. The shooters round the corner .

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [3d8] Roll: [3, 2, 1] Result: 6

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6] Roll: [4, 3] Result: 7

(13 total for the shots)

(I'm at 13 The Spike thrower didn't pierce the 16 DR I have towards consecrated Physical Projectiles., that's the last thermal shot, right?) Noel Continues to try and break free from the grab, Wracking her brain for a way to escape.

(that's the last thermal shot. The gate is closed, your ship isn't going to be able to land without destroying itself in collisions with buildings)

(Alright, well, It's Dex-Exert to break free? Or did they let go to avoid getting hit by the gunners?)

(you're prone, so it would be move to stand, and yeah, have to beat their check to break free. If you go prone again the 30 strong mob is going to be on top of you, and there's no way out)

3:49 PM

(we'd have to beat the two Piggen you've been trying to shove past. The rest are holding formation)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6+1] Rolls: [5, 2] Result: 8 [2, 1] Result: 4

[6...]

The warriors catch up as you’re pinned to the ground. The Piggen are merciless in their beatings and armor is torn away. Blades find armor joints and when knives are ineffective axes are used instead. The sheer amount of power pressing down on Noel is enough to stop any hope of movement before the first of the weapons find home between ribs and into joints. The sky is a blood red of evening and you can see the engines of the Enigmatic Explorer firing as the crew is recovered and makes their escape. They’ll declare their message of your fall until reaching civilization , where it will be circulated to those who need to know. The end comes quickly and Noel does not suffer for long under the primitive Piggen. She has long departed her body by nightfall as the now crucified body is stuck into the ground as a warning by the western gate of the village. Of the armor and weapons once carried, many of the war chiefs among the settlement carried themselves and their soldiers well during the battle, and perhaps in time ways will be found to make the ornate and exotic weapons work again. Tales of the sky warrior who came to the village to bring blood and death, and was beaten back by the heroic Piggen are sung in the mead hall that night , and will be for many weeks and months beyond. (edited)

8

7