Iron Stars - skolli

Skolli. Are you awake?! Your shuttle leaves soon The words run vertically down the side of your screen, the faint black text on the pale ice blue background forming and fading as quickly as it is read

6

S'kolli jolts awake with a metallic squawk of surprise and blinks several times to allow his eyes to focus. The late morning light of Tsatsos is pouring in through the large open metal shades of his bedroom window. Late?? Today?? Of all days?? He gives a small snort of annoyance through his ventilator as he gets to his feet to get ready for the day. And it is a big day. Faint electronic wheezing sounds are the soundtrack to his rushed routine to make final preparations to leave. S'kolli fancies himself a tech builder, and maintains several of his own special augments to help make his life "easier." It's probably that stupid faulty sync process that messed with my haptic alarm again.... it keeps acting up on me! Need to look at that thing again... Can't be waking up late like this away from home, that's for sure. Today is the day that S'kolli leaves Tsatsos to make for Gudrun. More specifically, the psychic academy in Greenbriar. As he stops packing for a moment to take a look around his room, the travel checklist protocol begins anew in his augmented vision.

><backpack
><dataslab
><type_a_power_cell//qty-4
><toolkit
><metatool
<<CREDITS--DONT FORGET YOUR MONEY
<<ONE_WEEKS_CLOTHES--DONT FORGET THE LAUNDRY I FOLDED FOR YOU
><monoblade_knife
><protein_stims

Looks like Mom found the checklist...

12:44 AM

S'kolli finishes his packing as quickly as he can before dashing out the door. Normally, he would take the time to absorb some of the news and local happenings on his trip through the town, but today the overlays on his vision are all but forgotten. Partially due to tardiness, and partially due to nervousness. I can't even begin to imagine what it's like away from the servers.....

There is a lifter waiting in the square nearby, construction happening all around it, waiting to take you up into space. Food was the first thing to be put into place here on Tsatsos, with housing on the weatherless but incredibly harsh planet coming next.

(Pilots are human or AO?)

(AO)

S'kolli jogs the last bit up to the lifter and greets them with a chirp. To outsiders, the noises that Ashen Ones make to communicate are harsh and sometimes frightening. Between Ashen Ones, it is a more subtle and nuanced language. The translations roll across the AR screens of the pilot's goggles as they hear the excited screeches of S'kolli's voice, but the meaning is somewhere in between the literal words and the emotion in the rising and falling pitches of his damaged voice box. Hi! So sorry for being late! I had an, er, equipment failure this morning that, er, held me up. I'm ready now, though!

Strap in, we'll get you to orbit safely they caw back, with a diagram showing the proper way to fasten the seatbelts for a 4% greater chance of surviving a crash

Oh! Thanks for telling me the odds!

2:14 PM

S'kolli settles in for the jump to orbit, doing his best to hide his nervousness.

j

8:55 PM

Relax son

8:55 PM

one of them messages to you

I will! I will...
...
...
...It's going to be a long ways from home, is all. First big trip on my own. And I am afraid for what I find out about myself!...
...
... That's all.

(edited)

The orbital rocks, as it comes in to dock with the platform. and you see yet another swift passenger liner waiting on a docking ring to bring you to Gudrun. This will be as youve said, the furthest youve ever been from home, and the longest you'll be away from the AONET, but maybe, just maybe, it will be good for you, too.

S'kolli stands and makes his way off the shuttle with a chirp of gratitude for the pilot. He walks through the platform towards the liner, taking in the sights without the supplemental information he's so accustomed to. This isn't so bad, I guess...

8:14 AM

(Human pilots for the liner?)

(Yeah this time)

Even though he doesn't entirely feel it, S'kolli forces himself to cheer up as he gets to the ship. As he climbs aboard, he greets the pilots with a skip in his step and a nod. "eeeeEEEEaaa'aa'aaa'eeak!" Without waiting for a response, he continues in to get settled.

4

The ship moves away from the Tsatsos docking ring- and moves off to the system edge, for spike translation. "Ready back there?" the human pilot calls back

"eeeaaEEEP!" S'kolli eagerly watches out a window as the craft begins its journey into spike.

Once the journey is well underway, S'kolli posts up in a corner, pulls a glowbug out of his sleeve to stick to the wall above him, and begins fiddling with one of his latest projects on his lap with his wrist-mounted metatool. The small black metal disc embedded on the inside of his forearm pops a hatch open and he attempts to program the internal alarm clock to actually work for next time. What is that doing there? It clearly wouldn't work if your asynchronous commutator was in-line there....

9:54 PM

I wonder if I could integrate an astrocompass in this! That could be helpful since the AONet is gone......

You spend the trip handling and endlessly recalibrating your various enhancements, getting them set up to work properly on the planet ahead. The crew interacts with themselves but are unsure of how best to communicate with you. They are not unfriendly, but a bit distant

8:20 AM

You arrive over Gudrun, and are transferred via lighter service to the ground, in their large air/space port

( "work properly"... maybe lol)

(Maybe)

S'kolli squawks a "thank you" to the crew before disembarking with his small collection of personal effects. He stands in the spaceport for a long moment, taking in the sights and hoping that maybe, just maybe, his AONet gear will kick on and provide him with the deluge of often irrelevant information he's so used to. Well.... here goes nothing. S'kolli tunes his headgear in to the comm server spectrum to find an open line he can hopefully hop on to.

...connecting...
...
...
$$ERROR$$ - 502badgateway++305useproxy
...
...
retrying....

3:06 PM

He sighs before setting off to exit the spaceport. Looks like I have another thing to fix...

The exit is a small gate in the chain link fence, 2 soldiers are standing there checking documents

It is at this moment that S'kolli realizes how different he looks compared to the others around him. Short, small of build, and covered in various metal augments, he sticks out as an oddity even to the people who may have seen and Ashen One before. Upon this realization, he becomes truly frightened. Why is everyone looking at me? What if they don't let me through? What if they find out I have weird powers and have me locked away forever? What if I never see my family again? Poor S'kolli trembles as he walks slowly towards the gate, pulling out his identification given to him during the migration to Tsatsos. "AAAAeeeee......" he says, the pitch falling as his mood does.

They guards take your documentation and run it through some scans. "Welcome to Gudrun" one says. "If you need anything, please reach out to administration, or one of the patrols further in-city. Happy to help" one says, passing them back and giving you a soft pat on the shoulder

S'kolli continues into the city, relieved at getting through, but still feeling helpless at his situation overall. Not knowing where to go, he pulls out his dataslab and writes the word "ACADEMY WHERE?" as large as possible, hoping that people will point him in the right direction.

A kindly looking woman with a full shopping basket stops, and sees your sign. With a light laugh, she kneels and points you down the street to where you can just begin to make out its marble like exterior walls. she puts a warm loaf of bread wrapped in wax paper into your hands- a welcome relief from the chill in the air and the gentle snow

With a giddy hop, S'kolli thanks the woman with the least abrasive metal-on-metal screech he can manage before taking off quickly towards the academy. The mask over his mouth unhinges with a sound of depressurization to allow him to tear into the warm bread. It's not all bad here... he thinks cheerfully as he climbs the academy steps and finds his way into the warm interior.

There is an empty desk and an empty bird cage as you approach the academy's front office, and a small chime sounds as you cross the threshhold

1:15 PM

@Regulus/Grupp

A robot not much taller than you enters the room at the sound of the chime. "Ah, you must be our new electrokinetic. I am Regulus Fate, the headmaster of this academy. How was your trip?"

"EEEEP! AAA'aaa'keee! i'i'isk'aa!" S'kolli is so excited to unload all of his worries and troubles with the trip on Regulus. He is also particularly interested in his construction and feels much more at ease with the robot than any human.

"Ahem. My apologies young one, but I do not speak your language yet. That is something I'll need to change. But for now would you mind speaking through your compad?"

"ooooOOooo...." Crestfallen a bit, S'kolli pulls out his dataslab to begin writing.

I'm S'kolli!
It's really cold here! What's all the white stuff?
I think I might be psychic, but I don't know for sure.
Can you help me?

Regulus activates psychic tutelage and Skolli feels a warm comforting barrier in his mind. "You are psychic young one. The white precipitation is called 'snow', you may think of it as frozen rain. Can you show me what you can do? This is a safe space for you, you will need training to use your skills without harming yourself."

He looks uncertain for a moment like he's considering something before picking up the dataslab again.

I haven't really tried to do anything with it yet since I was afraid it would hurt me.
I'm not sure what I'm capable of, actually.

Nevertheless, S'kolli reaches into the place in his mind that allows him to see the electrical currents and stored energy around him. With this new vision, he looks around the room again before stopping to stare at Regulus' impressive mechanical frame. That's so.... intricate! I'd love to take him apart!

Regulus watches you intently. Your dataslab floats out of your hands and its power source disconnects, floating over to the bot while the dataslab comes back to you. "There is an unfathomable amount of energy generated within the metadimension. That is what powers this body and it is what you are able to harness."

He looks quizzically at the dataslab as it returns to his hands. His only form of communication is now unpowered. He looks up to Regulus, then down to the slab. Regulus, slab, Regulus, slab. Effort becomes visible on his face and posture as he tries to do... something... with the dataslab.

5:52 PM

For a long minute... nothing happens. S'kolli continues to stare at the dataslab in his hands, willing it to turn back on. After another long moment, a small arc of blue-white energy sparks around his hand and into the dataslab.

5:55 PM

S'kolli jumps up with excitement almost immediately, and then both hands are wreathed in electricity before a 'pop' comes from the slab. "ooooooOOooo...." The dataslab is now a fried piece of metal with some black scorch marks where S'kolli's hands are.

Regulus stands awkwardly for a moment before handing over his own compad so they can continue to talk, "So that's the basics of electrokinesis, channeling the electric power within the metadimension into objects. With practice you won't overload things unless you mean to. You'll need to stay here for a week for training so you do not injure yourself, afterwards you'll be best served by practicing your skills in the field."

So what's a metadimension and why do I have it now?

Regulus sighs, "The metadimension is what we travel through when we use spike. Your exposure to it on the way to Tsatsos is what awakened your latent abilities."

Kind of like being exposed to a flesh eating virus? I think I got it!

"Um. Sure. More mind eating if you want to get technical. That's what training is for though, to avoid going mad or dying from it.... eating your mind."

Well thanks then!
What do I do now?
I didn't find a place to stay yet...

"There is room here for you to stay if you wish. Other lodging is available around town for a cost if you would prefer that."

Don't have much money.
I can stay here?

"Of course, we have more rooms than students currently. You're welcome to stay as long as you need."

S'kolli hops with excitement and squawks his gratitude. Thank you! That's a big relief. I've never been so far from home before.

"This may be your home away from home, feel free to make yourself comfortable. Unfortunately many who live here are away for now, you'll have to make do with myself for company."

9:57 PM

(Not sure if Neko has plans for anything involving training or you can just skip a week)

(

)

(Up to you guys, if you want to continue to RP or montage it, we can, otherwise we can move on)

(I don't have anything else in particular I'd like to do besides hang out with my new robot friend)

The Ashen one and robot spend a week together learning the powers of EK , and studying them together in an environment where torching is not something to be concerned about.

One morning, after the week of training has passed, S'kolli wakes up in his usual chipper mood and finds Regulus within the academy. On his replacement dataslab, he says,

So what do I do now?
I'm not going to hurt myself anymore, right?

"Correct. You have completed the most basic of training and should no longer torch without the intent to do so. In fact you have been a surprisingly astute student. You may be inexperienced but I see great potential in you young Skolli. As for your future that is up to you. There's always something around here you could help with or go out and practice your craft amongst the stars."

I can help you?
You helped me!

"You practicing your craft and spreading the message of psychic goodwill will help me. Many of the planets previously owned by the remnant are in need of aid right now. Find some way to help, show them that we are not what their propaganda said we are."

"ooooooo....." he coos. Is it dangerous?

"It shouldn't be. Most will likely just be curious or not care, but be aware that some of them might be hostile towards you when they learn of your nature. I believe another young psychic has made strides on Chloe recently, they may be more accepting of you there."

I guess I'll go there! I've never been on an adventure before! Except this one to meet you!

8:48 PM

He gets visibly excited before continuing. Maybe they need some things zapped! I'm getting better!

Regulus chuckles a little, "You are getting better. If nothing else your persistence will get you far. Is there anything I can supply you with for your trip?" (I keep meaning to build a ship for the academy lol)

(Can you build a ship and do your last 3-4 faction turns?)

8:56 PM

(I hear there's a cool tool for that ship building thing)

I think you have helped a lot already! I don't suppose you know how I can get there, do you?
I don't have much money for travelling that far...

He springs up as another thought takes him. Is Robert Tanzer around here somewhere? He's practically a hero on Tsatsos!

"Mr. Tanzer is a good friend of mine but I'm afraid he's currently off planet scouting fleshshaper space. As for travel, the academy has a shuttle you could use. It's nothing fancy but should suffice." (If Neko's ok retconning that since I've been slacking on my faction duties)

(Sounds like you just need a good ol' spreadsheet. You could probably even say you started building the ship a few months ago when all the donations for dead Reg came in)

That is great! I need to pack! S'kolli dashes back to his room to pack up the few belongings he has. When he is ready, he comes back out to say bye to his friend.

Thanks for your help!
I'll come back to tell you all about my adventure!
I hope I have some new tricks to show you!

Regulus awkwardly pats him on the head, "I wish you luck. Stay safe."

With the dataslab already stowed, S'kolli responds with a quick "eeeEEka! ik'iska!" before heading towards the academy shuttle, and his first big adventure. (edited)

The shuttle is waiting at the orbital platform, and you're taken over to it after a brief flight into orbit. The pilots, to your relief, are both Ashen Ones

S'kolli chirps his greeting as he approaches the shuttle. The translations begin rolling vertically down the sides of their AR vision as he speaks.

Hi! I'm S'kolli! I'm, er, supposed to go to a planet called, er, Chloe! Or something...
I think I'm ready to go!...
I'm glad to see more of us so I can speak easier...

(edited)

We are happy to see you friend. Please make yourself comfortable and enjoy the AONET

8:43 AM

S'kolli is awash with news, sensation, and social media from home, on the whole, it looks like everyone is settling into their new home just fine. A few friends are even expecting now, and all are interested to see a new generation of Ashen One being born without the need for such crude augmenting technology. In future, technological adaption will be a choice, not a consequence of flesh gouging surgeries

S'kolli spends his time aboard and during travel immersed in the AONET as much as he can. The desire for it was somewhat forgotten during his week of training as he had new things to focus on, but being back in reminded him how much he appreciates the AR world.

9:16 AM

(Leveled up to 2: HP 3 -> 5 AB 0 -> 1 Focus: Psychic Training level 1 -> 2 3 SP to spend: INT 16 -> 18 1 Psychic SP to spend: Purchased lvl 1 technique Phase Coherence 1 Expert SP to spend: Know -1 -> 0) (edited)

9:19 AM

(5 SP per level isn't bad...)

(not at all!)

(I don't have any specific downtime activities for this trip.)

The voyage passes with you soaking in as much information as possible before the ship appears over Chloe. The planet below seems calm, security band traffic low and mostly routine aside from a few flashpoints- lower disorder than expected on an occupied world

(Man that Dax guy is a boss. Pacified a whole planet.)

This world probably won't eat your flesh one of the pilots transmits back

Where should we set down? I should probably tell someone I can help with electricity things. Maybe they'll have a job for me!

(trying to get the map to pull up, one sec)

(I did all my work in Praxis Pranda as Dax)

12:43 PM

(If this helps)

New Croatia is the port of call, where the power plant was disabled during a brief stint of fighting. The outside of the building has been repaired, but some of the sensitive machinery within has been disabled, or otherwise out of alignment. Local repair crews are struggling to create enough of a charge, or bring in enough power, to get the large turbines running again

Once the craft sets down, S'kolli grabs his backpack of miscellaneous tools and things and heads out into the city. (Do I know where I'm supposed to be going/who to talk to yet?) (edited)

(THey'd have set you down near the power plant, so walking up, someone should be getting in touch with you. They knew you were coming

Knowing what's coming, S'kolli pulls out his dataslab and writes a message to accompany his greeting. He approaches the gate of the plant to talk to the attendant there. "EE'ii'ahk!" He offers his dataslab up so they can see it.

Hi, I'm S'kolli!
I can't speak your language but I understand your speaking.
This is how I have to communicate with you.
I'm really good at fixing and programming things and I heard you were looking for help?

“We are looking for some help! You’re from Gudrun? We heard they were sending out a specialist”

I might look funny, but I promise I can do my best!
I work on all of my own augments, you know!

As if on cue, a small hose running into his mask pops off with a hissing sound as the pressurized line empties itself of air. It takes him a minute to fumble with the small hose to reconnect it and tighten the clamp before he looks back up at them.

(Have a re roll that was amazing)

(Aww you're sweet)

“Well you’re more than welcome to poke about the control room and see if you can figure out why the turbines won’t start

With an affirmative squawk, he makes his way into the complex towards the control room, activating Energy Sensitivity on the way there to start looking around at how the cables and infrastructure is set up outside. (edited)

The cables and wires snake in simplex and complex patterns through the wall. There are dozens of disconnections that you can feel in hard to reach places in the walls. The turbine is also damaged

(I worked as an electrician for several years, so if this isn't 100% scientifically accurate you'll be hearing lots of mean things from me in DMs)

(You mean you'll be DMing others about how bad he is but not tell him)

(Yeah he's fine. No problems here.)

(Dear god)

8:00 PM

The engineers follow in behind you. "We're here to assist however you think we'd be best put to use"

Dax spins towards them as he sees some of the issues already. He excitedly types up a message and points to the walls as he shows them what he said.

It's broken!!
I see it!!

He spins again to walk towards the main control room before seeing their responses.

They are running after you, panting and wheezing as you all make your way there. “Alright. So what do we do?”

Do you have any access panels to these areas?
We can start there.

He points to some of the walls and ceilings.

He looks over at the side of the room, and pulls an access panel away. a human would have to crawl through it on hands and knees, but for your smaller stature , it would be somewhat comfortable

"Ki'kee! Isa'kee!" S'kolli drops his bag and scurries into the crawl space, metatool strapped to one wrist, and a glowbug clipped to his mask.

You feel energy in the Walls all around you as you dive after the faults and breaks in the transmission lines (I have no idea what im doing) It feels almost like a spiders web, with small segments in different areas cut

(Lol no worries. Let's make it interesting then) Lines like this don't just break for no reason... maybe something somewhere else in the facility broke and these lines couldn't handle the extra load. That would cause weak points to fail and break... He crawls further in to survey more damage. I wonder if any fighting took place here or if it was some kind of sabotage...

Finding the first breach in the system, it does not take much skill to see the line has been cleanly cut

10:10 AM

(I'm assuming somekind of an overload would have melted it rather than just snapped it)

(Without getting overly technical, yes and no. Sometimes lol)

10:21 AM

S'kolli pops his head back out.

Do you have splice kits for lines this size?
The line has been cut in here, so it doesn't look like an accident or malfunction.

One of them rushes off to get it and returns after a moment. You get the sense that they’re thinking about what you’ve just said but no one volunteers any information yet

(Need a fix/int roll for this first repair? I figure I could handle the major break and the other guys know how to fix the smaller ones)

(I feel like with your ek and whatnot you wouldn’t need to make one. It should be covered)

S'kolli spends his time getting the splices in place on the severed lines and preparing the infrastructure for power to be returned. He pops out of the access hole after a while and writes them a message. All of this work here won't mean much unless we get that turbine back online! Can you show me that?

The workmen help pull you out and you’re brought to a large ladder that heads down into the bowels of the power plant. It is large enough that a few people can use it at the same time. They grab a few bags of tools and parts with over the shoulder slings and make ready to head down with you. “It’s a bit of a climb. The turbines are deep within the plant. Most important part”

S'kolli nods his understanding and grabs his bag before taking off down the ladder into the belly of the power plant.

The area below is made of hissing pipes, groaning metal, and the lap of water trying to pass through the turbine housing, but being stopped by blockage.

1:40 PM

You emerge at the bottom of the ladder on a gantry overlooking the incredibly large turbine. It is a bank of three fan blade and spoked wheels, all arranged in a line straddling the span of the river the plant is built over. The turbines themselves look undamaged, but the mechanisms are clearly not functioning.

S'kolli makes a "Hrmm..." sound (like Minecraft villagers) before looking around for some kind of control panel for the turbines.

The panel is across the turbines on a gantry, stuck out in the middle of overhanging the three (its on rails that go from one side to the other)

2:18 PM

'We can't get it to come back toward us. Won't power up"

(Unless it's within 10m and can be powered by the equivalent of a Type A Power Cell, I can't do much with it where it is and I'll have to find some other way around this.)

(It's within 10m)

(

)

(That's like 30 feet so i mean, not an implausible distance for it to be out of their reach)

Without saying anything, S'kolli steps up to the edge of the platform and focuses on the panel for a moment, searching for wherever its power source comes from. Once he finds the spot that "feels right," he sends power into it to attempt to power it up. (0 Effort from Phase Coherence)

The platform's power system comes to life, and you can feel the controls that govern its motion responding to your connection to it. It feels like you have use over its motion as long as it remains within your area of control

S'kolli mimes pulling a tug-o-war rope as he attempts to gear up the motors to move the platform closer to himself.

In fits and jerking pulls you do indeed “lasso” and pull the platform in and it pushes up to the gantry you’re standing on with a clang. The workmen are awed at your abilities. “Well done little one. It’ll be a shame to send you back to the UNW. we could use twenty of you around this place”

9:47 PM

“Hard to believe we fought a war over something like this.” The other says. To himself more than anyone else

Not really knowing what to say to that, he gives a noncommittal shrug before stepping onto the platform and looks into the panel's programming. I don't know much about wars, and I hope I don't ever have to... He begins to skim the console, looking for any kind of diagnostic analysis available on the plant and turbines within. (edited)

Turbine 3 has a blockage, and the central rotation control mechanisms on turbines 1 and 2 are either damaged, or missing. Automated safety shutoff features are preventing them from spinning, since their revolutions cannot be controlled safely, and may overload the grid if switched on.

(Are the turbines physically accessible? Like we can climb around to reach them?)

(Yes, off the moving catwalk thing, which you can move now since you're on it)

(Yeeeeeee

)

The workmen lack the senses you have, and are unable to figure out the problem on their own

(You're good, I'm just busy)

Looks to me like turbine 3 has the simplest issue to fix!
Lets get in there and see if we can physically clear the blockage.

Moving out to 3 you see several bent pieces of metal, each a few meters long like crude spears have been edged into the shaft fan

6:36 PM

They are chewed heavily and you realize once they’re pulled out to a certain point it will start to spin

(So I have to try to remove debris stuck into turbines that span a moving river.... how hard could that be?)

(Exactly that)

(I don't have any good ideas, so I'm going to go with a bad one and see what happens.)

(Not sure exactly how close I can get the platform to the obstructions, so let me know if this is completely impossible) S'kolli stands and ponders for a moment, sizing up the situation below him. He perks up with an idea as a spark of electricity arcs above his head, almost like a literal idea lightbulb. He reaches down and pulls a small rod off of the outside of his leg and begins to fuss with it. Before long, the once small rod has become approximately 3 meters long and S'kolli attempts to position it in the grates or rails of the platform and force it in between a couple of the spear objects below. Using the leverage of the rod, he slowly moves the platform in the hopes that it can dislodge some of the debris clogging the turbine. (A bit of explanation. Using the Ashen One ability to just "have" a telescoping rod on me, which is worth less than the 50 credit maximum. The telescoping rod reaches 3 meters long and can "bear as much as a thousand kilograms of weight or serve as a makeshift club" according to its description. It's a long shot, but

)

(That’s a great idea)

9:40 PM

The metal obstruction groans as the rob begins forcing it apart the fan slowly beginning to churn, water around it frothing and bubbling. There’s a deeper rumble as the first of the large metal pieces begins to bend under the force of the freed turbine blades and after another few seconds it slides below the water, the other metal Stanchions jammed in falling behind it.

9:40 PM

The turbine begins to spin slowly, the light on the maintaining panel changing from red to green

(I feel like I just won something today)

9:40 PM

(pats self on back)

"He'cheeeee!!" S'kolli is simply ecstatic that his hare-brained idea actually worked. After spending another minute simply admiring the working turbine, he turns his attention to the task at hand. S'kolli moves the platform away from turbine 3 and back to the other 2, hoping to get a closer look at them for any possible visible damage.

(notice/wis)

(10)

The rotation controls for the turbine- a 'core' that fits in the center, weighted, to keep it from spinning too fast or slow, is cracked. You see drag marks and scrapes, from metal on metal hits, your keen insight has the damage about the same length and thickness as the pieces of metal you pushed out of the last turbine. This is more and more looking like a deliberate action.

I think those metal bits we dislodged in the other turbine were used to damage the rotary stabilizing core for this one.
Certainly not an accident.
How many people are affected by this power plant's outage?

“250,000 people are served by this plant and the power station that feeds into it. That’s most of the population of the main city here”

"ooooOOOOoooo...."

I don't know about this war stuff.
I thought this planet wasn't a part of the fighting?
Who and why would someone sabotage this place?

"I'm not sure" the foreman says "but we can answer that later.Right now we need to get this working again"

Looking the turbines over once more, he turns and begins writing again.

The issue with these are bigger than the last one.
The core piece is damaged and out of alignment, meaning that the turbine will exceed its lateral tolerance and damage the housing if it allowed to spin as-is.
Normally you can fine tune the rotation pattern on this console by moving the counterweights on the axle, but even that is not going to make up for your loss of the core.
You will need to replace the entire core, which is beyond my simple abilities, unfortunately.

"We have a storage depot in town with some replacement parts. Its in a bad neighborhood, if you can arrange a UNW escort for us, we should be able to get the replacement parts in over the next couple days"

10:45 AM

"They probably won't take the word of some Remnant engineers on their own"

I can try!
I don't have much pull with the UNW myself, I'm pretty new.
I'll help however I can.

(edited)

"THat's all we ask . You've saved us weeks of work already. THere's a comm-relay up in the control room. We'll give you some privacy while you call around, when you're done , we'll have dinner"

(So like, Chloe is not in range of the immediate communications back to UNW space. Please advise.)

(There’s a UNW Garrison on planet right now with 80,000 soldiers)

(Excellent point.)

S'kolli makes his way upstairs to find their comm relay. With the return of the 3rd turbine, some limited power is available to the console now. He patches his dataslab in to write a message.

Hi, I'm S'kolli!
I'm an Ashen One technician!
I'm at the broken power plant in New Croatia helping to get it working again.
There has been some sabotage of some sort here and they broke vital components of 2 turbines on site.
The replacement parts are in a warehouse in the city, but I am told that it is located in an unsafe part of the city and the engineers are requesting an escort to retrieve the parts safely.
This plant provides power for roughly 250,000 people, so it is quite important to get working again!
Please let me know if you can help!

He fires off the message towards the UNW Garrison and sits back to wait. Well... now what?

The message terminal hums, and there is an electronic chime 5 minutes later with a reply.

Citizen S'kolli, 

Your request has been approved. An escort will arrive at the plant tomorrow to bring yourself and the necessary engineering team into town, and then back to the plant to complete repairs. Please have your crew ready to leave at 0600

S'kolli stands up, pleased with himself, and goes to tell the engineers the plan, and hopefully get some grub.

The engineers are very pleased. "Would you be willing to be part of the engineering detail?" the foreman asks, as he places a bowl of steaming stew on the table in front of you. A few pieces of dense, thick bread are also served up with a rich herb butter- with this being an occupation, you ge t the sense what little luxury they were saving is being used for this meal

8:41 PM

(3xp, 5000 credits)

S'kolli makes a noise that can surely only be interpreted as an affirmative chirp before disengaging his mask to dig in to the food. (edited)

(Leveling up is a lot of stuff) HP from 5 to 9 3 SP used to train EK from 1 to 2 Shocking Assault free technique from leveling 1 Psy SP from focus used to train Static Thrusters 1 Expert SP to get Notice from -1 to 0

The meal is long, and everyone has a good time (if you want to RP here, we can, if not, we can cut to next morning)

( ⏩ is good)

The next morning, the engineers bring an 18 wheeled flatbed truck out from a secondary garage on the power plant complex. The cabin has enough room for 4 people, in 2 rows of seats. To your surprise, two of the engineers coming outside have shotguns and bandoleers of ammunition strapped over their sky blue and brown work coveralls. Four UNW vehicles, one armored personnel carrier, and three of the more nimble cougar pattern utility vehicles snake their way down toward the power plant complex. They are dusty from travel and their crews look tired, having driven all night to reach you.

1:04 PM

The first of the cougars pulsl into the complex while the rest turn and leave a gap in their formation for your own vehicle. A first lieutenant wearing a field combat uniform emerges, data slate in hand. "Hello. Good morning there everyone" he says, hand unconsciously on his gun, as he sees the engineers are armed. "We're...uh...we're here to bring you into the city, to get...something for the power plant. I'm looking for a Mr. Skolli?"

S'kolli hops forward. "Ki'ahkeee!!" He first pulls out and shows his UNW citizenship card before he gestures down at his data slab to write a message.

That's me!
I can't speak English but I understand you.
We are ready to go!
There are some parts to this plant damaged beyond repair. We have to replace them.

1:11 PM

He then looks around at the gathered vehicles and weaponry, suddenly unsure whether he wants to go.

We won't have to fight anyone, will we?
I don't like that...

"Just a precaution" he says, looking at your message "We're certainly not going into town with the intent to hurt anyone, but as you said, someone has an interest in this power plant remaining inactive"

"oooOOOooo...." S'kolli says in understanding. With a nod of his head, he heads back towards the big rig and climbs aboard for the ride into town.

The road back into town is winding and you pass a shot Up and burned out car on the road just six kilometers from the plant. There is a UNW patrol on scene as well and you can see the bodies pulled from the wreck were armed. “We think they might have been coming to cause trouble in your neck of the woods. Caught up to them and they didn’t even see us coming”

Harrowed, S'kolli says nothing. What have I gotten in to? I thought I was just here to fix stuff...

9:38 PM

He passes the time on the way into the city by taking in the landscape as it rolls by. I don't think I've ever seen this much green before. (edited)

The vehicles press on, and pass a checkpoint at the end of town, the soldiers quickly allowing you to pass. The city is a dirty whitewashed color, soot from fires and occasional bullet cracks scar some of the buildings. The streets themselves are very empty, though some are covered in garbage- civil service workers too afraid to come collect.

(I thought Dax solved all the problems here. Are you telling me he's not a miracle worker?)

10:40 AM

S'kolli pulls the laser pistol he's never used out of his bag as they approach their destination. Fidgeting with it, he removes the power cell and practices powering it up with his psychic ability. I hope I don't have to use this... I don't want to hurt anybody, he thinks sadly.

(You did mostly, this is much smaller in scope than it was going to be)

(I just thought I was literally space Jesus with a magic sword)

You pass another few burned out cars in town itself, most civilians scattering before the armored and well armed convoy coming into town. you see an open backed ground truck shadowing you two blocks over, but once the personnel carrier rounds the corner and falls into line with you, it peels off, away from the convoy. The warehouse complex is ahead, with ruffians holding the doors. They have a strange symbol sewn into their overcoats or stamped onto combat armor.

As the convoy rolls to a stop, S'kolli gets out on the tails of the others, trying to hide in the background to watch the scene unfold.

(Dax would recognize this as the corngull brotherhood symbol but to skolli that wouldn't mean anything) "Good morning honored partners, we've taken the liberty of ensuring the complex is safe for you, your UNW overlords pay well for our services. The storage building with what you need has some additional security around it. We have not been inside, as promised, but the surrounding area has been sanitized"

(That's metagaming and that's bad)

"oooOOOooo... ki'ahi'sssseee'kat!"

Oh, so we're safe?
Great!
I'm S'kolli, psychic specialist!

He turns around the dataslab to show them what he said.

"Very clever" one of the strangely armored persons says, looking at the pad. "Head on in with your truck and the engineering team. Take two of the security detail too, just in case"

1:55 PM

"We'll keep an eye on the neighborhood"

S'kolli does as the man suggests and follows the crew inside as the driver backs the truck into the warehouse. Nervously, he activates his Energy Sensitivity more out of habit than an actual need to detect the electricity around him.

(What's that one do again? I forgot what means what anymore since its been redone)

(While this power is active, the psychic can detect electrical charges around them and easily find charged battery packs, active power cables, and powered cyberware. Power generation, such as fusion reactors, may overwhelm this sense. Success on a difficult Notice check allows sensing of faint electrical charges, such as depleted batteries, beings with nervous systems, or low-power radio emitters. This technique lasts as long as Effort is committed.)

You detect powered cyberware on the roof of the hangar.

3:12 PM

(Storage building, wrong word)

(It's not a significant range, only 10m at this level. Just fyi)

(thats still 30 feet, plenty of reach for where the person is)

"Ee'ee?" S'kolli points to the roof in the direction of the anomaly he senses with a questioning look at the others.

(They're going to take a notice) There is nothing there, when you look to the top of the corrugated metal roof, but you can feel the active surge of cyberware at work. It plays over the edge of your senses, drawing your attention to the roof. One of the workmen follows your gaze , and his eyes widen as h e sees some kind of displaced air heat smear on the roof

6:36 PM

"Shooter! Shooter!!" he yells, taking cover behind the truck door as a solid round sparks off it

(S'kolli didn't see the exact location of the shooter, did he?)

(You can feel it so you can probably see it)

7:56 PM

(Our sense where it should be)

(S'kolli is very much not Dax. He's scared lol) S'kolli jumps in fright and draws on his power without even realizing it. As he runs towards the building for cover, the air seems to be propelling his dash in a way he's never moved before. He feels the air tingling around him as he moves twice as fast as he ever has. (Activating Static Thrusters for double movement speed as he runs to hide.)

The UNW soldiers react with precision, getting the heavy machine gun of the first cougar firing on the roof of the building, while the others jockey for position to make some kind of a firing line. You feel the powered cyberware leave your perception as whatever is wearing it either is hit or moves away from the return fire

S'kolli is pressed up against the building, wheezing breaths filtering quickly through his ventilator. I don't like this! Not one bit! Once he's had a second to process the situation, he realizes something. But... What was that?! I just, like, used electricity to move like lightning or something! (Effort committed for the Scene for Static Thrusters) (edited)

The large caliber cannons pulverize the roof of the building, and the shooter has evidently left the area, not wishing to be butchered. "Good spot there friend!" the convoy leader calls out to you. "I saw you looking up there and followed your gaze. We'd be burying a man or two tonight without your help"

Not quite over the excitement yet, S'kolli coos and gives a nod to recognize the sentiment. As he starts to walk again, he feels almost like he's floating with how effortless the electrified gait is. He reluctantly lets his powers go and returns to normal old S'kolli.

9:02 PM

"Ki'ski akt'isk?" He gestures towards the warehouse as if to indicate he's ready to get on with the transfer. (edited)

They seem eager as well, and the UNW security team enters first. You don't hear any gunshots, and after a few moments one emerges to let you know its safe. "Get those bay doors open, we'll back the truck right in, and get the piece loaded. From there we make tracks out of here, back to the plant as quick as possible."

After taking a quick look around the storage building to see what kinds of odds and ends they have available, S'kolli attempts to find a way to lend a hand with the pieces. He soon realizes there is no way his small frame would help move them better than the larger, more physically capable individuals present. So, he waits around and thinks of odd uses for some of the parts laying around here. This is a tinkerer's playground!

No one seems to mind as you look around and examine the parts. "Go ahead and take whatever you can carry" one of the engineers says to you, noticing your interest "We're not coming back here if any of us can help it"

Hearing that, anything small, interesting, and bauble-like will likely find it's way onto S'kolli's person as he peruses the place. He finds his way back out to the truck and readies himself for the ride back. I'll have to try that 'lightning dash' again sometime...

(total salvage counts as four units of spare parts)

(I don't have anything for the ride back.)

The ride back is quick, the mystery cloaked shooter not making another appearance. Brotherhood sweep teams inform you they’ll be more diligent and will try to get some thermal imagers from the UNW liaison they’re working with to root out more incidents like this. The end of the troubles in creusa will likely mean things continue to stabilize here

(Is S'kolli going to be doing anything to help with the installation? I got the impression it was bigger than him)

The installation takes the better part of the day and they consult you a few times about if connections are done right or if there is a more efficient way to do something. You help where you can. Finally that evening, the mechanism is complete. “We just need someone to power it up. Would you do the honors?”

S'kolli makes an abrasive noise that sounds vaguely like a yes before hopping away towards the control room. He takes position behind the console and double checks the power readings coming from the turbines. Finding everything to his liking, he prepares to begin the power sequence. Largest first then work your way down. Don't want to slam the load on the system all at once. S'kolli initiates the large main breaker for each of the turbines in order. A combination mechanical and hydraulic system turns a giant mechanical switch for each as they are far too large to be engaged by man power. As the mains click in to position, S'kolli activates the next point in the chain, the sub mains. Finally, the branch circuits go live one at a time to give the system time to stabilize under each new load. Entire districts of the city come alight with each click of the console. When the deed is done, S'kolli stands up satisfied at a job well done. (edited)

There is a large humm and the entire plant seems to shake for a moment as power is restored. Down the hill, observed through cameras and monitors, sections of the city come back block by block, as the mighty turbines behind to spin. Loads, small to large, are slowly flipped on, and before long, the city is back to normal

8:28 PM

(3xp, 5000 credits)

(Up to you as far as what you want to get into next, I didn't have anything else of my own devising here) (edited)

@The Master Crafter As the power grid comes online, S'kolli's compad lights up with a message from Fermia. Who's this? Am I famous now? He thinks.

Hi! I'm S'kolli!
I just finished up fixing the power plant. I don't know where to go next, so sure! We can meet. I can come into the city. I'm outside of New Croatia right now.

O Joy! Congratulations on your momentous achievement. I shall meet you in New Croatia, but it might take me a few hrs to get there - still in orbit.

S'kolli finds the engineers to ask them a few questions.

Where would I be able to find transport into the city?
I need to meet someone and find new work.
Thanks for all the help, by the way!

“The army could take you in. Their area in city center is a green zone and a ride in is the least they owe you. These boys have their movies and video games again thanks to you and I’ll make sure they know there’s a hero in their midst”

4:32 PM

He heads off to speak to the Army squad closest to the operations center and before long you’re pulled out of the room being handed all manner of drinks, candy and smokes even though you likely have no plans for any of those things

(I'm good to fast forward through getting a ride to the city and what not. I don't have anything major to RP on the way there. S'kolli gives them a cheery farewell on his way out of the power plant.)

(This was going to be how you link up with FErmia, then, should we just jump to that?(

(I figured we were meeting in city, yeah.)

Fermia would be waiting leisurely, sitting outside a bar drinking the equivalent of a stovetop espresso with a small tiramisu or the like for a bite, ocasionally she would write and scribble sonething on a notebook. Next to her would be a black hoverbike parked not too far. (edited)

7:30 PM

(Fyi, cloak powers would be allways on and so would Mindtracing)

(Mindtrace is an active technique not passive by the way. You use it after you sense another ability being used then you can see through them)

(Just finished D&D) S'kolli is a short little person in basic rough brown clothing. As an Ashen One, he has various metallic objects on different parts of his body that look to be augments of some kind. You see him walk around the corner of the building looking slightly lost. He has a dataslab out in his hand that he seems to be referring to frequently. He walks over toward you, seeing that you seem to be waiting for someone. You are greeted by the abrasive sound of metal on metal as S'kolli chirps a greeting at you. "eeEE'kisk'ee!" (edited)

(I see what your saying Grupp, I guess what I wanted to say was that If I become aware of someone doing something through physic refinement I would, as an instant action, use Mindtracing, unless they are sneaky and I can't or fail to detect them) Fermia gives a wide smile and takes of her sunglasses "Hello, you must be S'kolli, please sit down. I am Fermia, looks like fate brought us together, haha." Fermia looks perfectly healthy and unburdened or unenhanced by any cybernetic enhancements whatsoever.

11:04 PM

If you sit she would give you a little strip of paper that readsDon't talk about psychics and then say "I am looking for talented individuals so that I may learn from them, and I am also interested in finding talented characters such as yourself for adventure and fostering positive technological advancements" (edited)

S'kolli sits and looks quizzically at the written note. "Taaa'ssitishk?" (In your currently incomplete study of Ashen One language, you would only get the gist of a few words S'kolli says, in this case, "you..... me?") "Ski'tisat'a seeeEEEee, er?" (Or .... write .... again?)

Fermia writes in ashen oneno speak then looks at her notes on her book after about 20 seconds "haa" and she writes psychic (edited)

11:32 PM

(can I do that with my limited ashen one knowledge? 17/30) (edited)

(Do you have the diplomat focus? Otherwise probably not)

Fermia realizes that she is not communicating very well and simply says "What languages do you speak read and write?"

S'kolli gives a small sigh before writing out a message on his dataslab.

I understand you.
I cannot speak English but I can write it and understand when it is spoken. I lack the proper parts to speak it myself.
I'm sorry, I thought maybe you would understand me.

(Theres no functional use of the language until after all required days of learning the skill have been completed otherwise why put a time limit on it at all)

"O ok then, I was just mentioning that we were in recently occupied remeneant territory. About the adventuring, I want to bring back pre-tech level medicine, and so do a lot of doctors at UNW. Unfortuneatly we lack the nano-technology requiered for it. But we know that that technology does exist, so its a simple matter of exploring untill one finds it. I'm in the very early phase of planning this, but I hope to have everything ready in a few months... If your intrested, reach out to me in Gudrun and I wont leave without you, if your not intrested no hard feelings"

Oh!
Well if the people here don't like psychics, I didn't notice it! They were very happy with me at the power plant. They said my powers saved them weeks on the repairs!
Anyways. I don't know the first thing about medicine, but I think I'd like to try exploring! I've never tried it before. This is my first trip away from home by myself.

"Well, the first thing you should know is that its potentially very dangerous but I can probably take care of any injuries." She would look at your robotic parts. "If you dont mind me asking, are you a cyborg?"

He gives a small laugh that sounds funny through his ventilator apparatus.

Not a cyborg, no!
Maybe if more parts of me start failing and need replaced.
Ashen Ones come from a planet that was trying to eat us!
An airborne pathogen contained some sort of flesh-eating virus. So all of us suffered from it in some way, which is why we replaced parts with metal!

"That dosent sound fun, the medical technology that I seek to bring back for mass production should be able to regenrate damage from the flesh-eating virus. But I am not sure if an entire planets airborbe pathogen could be removed." "Tell you what, if you let me learn from your abilities then when I have the capacity to do so, I will heal you, free of charge"

(The Ashen Ones moved off of the flesh eating planet, so there are not any new issues arising from it. The new Ashen Ones being born will be able to grow up without special augments. The current Ashen Ones' conditions are stable since they moved. The planet they came from is supposedly abandoned now.)

(O I see. I heard that a lot of ashen ones had their limbs removed and stuff like that..., does S'kolli have any risk of his organic parts failing or was he just joking?)

(Yeah, he is not at risk of anything falling off. Moving away and getting decontaminated was enough to stop it from getting worse.)

11:39 AM

Well I am always interested in new old technology! Maybe I can help sometime.

"Yes, perhaps you may; do you know what you'll do during the meantime untill I get all the ducks in line for my expedition? I plan to return to Gudrun soon, your wellcome to come with, the trip is lonely and im studing Ashen One. Also, my current employment at the Inteligence Agency will probably need me back, they pay well though, so I dont have too many conplaints."

I'm not quite sure!
So far, I've just been trying to help people since I can do things other people can't! Maybe I'll get back to tinkering and building things...

"That's fine, I'm sure people here and elsewhere will greatly benefit from it. But i must insist, could I study and learn from your abilities, I'm not as adept Reguls, so I would need to actually see you do it to sense what its like. I'd be willing to pay 200 credits per ability you demonstrate, it would only be fair, thats usally market rate" (Lifestyles, Employees and Servises page 77) (edited)

He gives you a puzzled look.

You want to learn from me?
I'm still figuring it out myself... I've only had these powers a couple weeks.
I guess I can try, but I don't feel right taking money from you.

She looks very happy "Yes, I do. We can do it later today at a more discrete location or tommorow after you get some rest. If you really don't want my money, is there anything you need? I might have some spare battery or electronics" (edited)

He gives another odd-sounding laugh. What would I need a Power Cell for? A small spark jumps between his hands as you read the message.

I don't need your money, since I can't promise any value for you.
I just like having new friends!

"To me It would be like listening to a maestro play a masterpiece, or reading a poem that prices the heart and burns memory with everlasting truth, it wouldnt just be valuable, it would be pricless" she stands up and looks like she is ready to hug you "Of course, id love to be your friend as well" and she extends her arms ready for a hug. (edited)

Not even 5 feet tall and slight of build, it looks like S'kolli would blow away at the slightest breeze. That doesn't stop him from getting up to give you a hesitant hug, however. He comes in close, and it almost feels like you could break him in half if you wanted to. "oooOOOooo..." I don't know about all that, I just make some electricity!

"Fascinating" (So, my idea was to just be present when you use some of your powers and disipline abilities, with phsycic refinement I can dected their use and with mindtracing I could sense what your powers are doing. Other than that though i would head back to Gudrun after having finished my goal to meet the Ashen One psychic with a new discipline and invting you to future advebtuers, I have nothing more.) "How much space do you need? We could go to some remote part outside town or rent a warehouse, or simply have the session at an apartment."

S'kolli shrugs. Where ever you want. I don't think you'll see much, since I'm still figuring this all out myself. I'll follow you.

Fermia, knowning that some of yhe population would still be frightended of psychics, and was previously governed by remnants, would look for some empty field free of prying eyes. She would open a compartment from her bike and take out a large drone and turn it on. "Alright, Hubble, get some elevation and let me know if you detect anyone near our vicinity." Then she would very excitedly look at S'kolli with her compad on notes mode. "Alright, I think we are good, do your thing!" Her eyes are wide open and very attentive.

(Fermia, you;re not intending to use this in lieu of the actual required psychic training are you? I just want to make sure this doesnt go too far if there's a misunderstanding)

S'kolli takes the dataslab out of his bag, makes a point to show that he is pulling the power cell out of the back of it, and then flips it back around to demonstrate it is turned off. He visibly concentrates for a moment and a small arc of blue-white electricity flashes on the back of his hands. Moments later, the data slab shows a white screen followed by a boot-up sequence. He then makes a showing of him setting it down on the ground and letting go of it as he stands up. The blue-white arc of electricity surrounding his hands now traces all the way down to the dataslab on the ground. S'kolli begins to back up, and you can see the stream of energy bridging them together stays connected at both ends. It looks fuzzy with small wild tendrils jumping off of it occasionally, and the bright arc of electricity resembles miniature lightning in a way as it wiggles and writhes through the air. S'kolli keeps backing up further and further until he reaches a point over 10 meters away where the energy fizzles out of existence suddenly, and the dataslab is unpowered once more.

(I dont just want to be aware that hes using a power, I want to know how it feels and what senses if any he benefits from it, with consent I woukd use Mindtracing, id porbably use up to 3 or 4 effort) (edited)

(You yourself cannot use any of the EK powers though without training, and obviously the skill point to gain the discipline, is what im saying. Even though we are RP'ing something, you're not going to walk away from this able to use EK powers)

Jumping in the air "That was electrifying!" "WOW!"

3:15 PM

(Ya I know, I need to spend skill points for that and get training)

3:15 PM

"Do you know any other abilities?"

(The first ability I showed was the core ability Conduit.) It's an awkward silent minute as S'kolli goes back over to his dataslab, powers it up, waits for it to turn on and load before he can type you a message to reply. I did figure something else out just yesterday. I somehow could sense static in the air to make myself go REALLY fast! S'kolli steps away to ready himself before activating Static Thrusters and takes off running as fast as he can. It almost appears that he is doing something between running and gliding as his short legs are carrying him much further than you would think is possible. (Doubles my movement speed so I can go 20m in a round.) After running for a few seconds and covering a lot of ground, S'kolli turns around to run back before making a massive leap from about 15m away that carries him the rest of the way back to you. It's hard to tell at a distance, but it almost looked like a burst of light flashed around his legs at the moment he pushed off of the ground. He hits the ground and plants his feet to stop his momentum of the jump, but it was way more than he expected. He tumbles to his face and a cloud of dust accompanies his crash as he hits the dirt.

Fermia rushes in to try and catch you! "You ok little one?" "If you want to stop we can, I think I can extrapolate from here and cross reference Regulus Fate's publications on the discipline to get a comprehensive understanding of it."

S'kolli sits up quickly and squawks something that resembles a yes.

I'm OK!
That's a new trick I didn't even know I could do!

Fermia would lean over just to make sure there are no scratches or anything. "You trully are unique. Your abilities manipulate the electrons in very controled and specific ways, its like you take EMS potential energy and can easily recharge eletrical potential with it. Somewhat related to Telekentics yet very diferent as well, I think. This could have shocking implications on possible applications in the energy industry. I think I will prepare a journal article for the academic society to peer review regarding this. ill keep you anonymous, of course" "Wanna call it a day? We can go see if the art district has any intresting shows before I leave? I owe you at least a dinner."

I think I'd like to stop there.
I've shown you all I know so far, anyways.
Are you sure this place has entertainment like that?
I thought this planet was still rebuilding since the war was only a month or two ago.

(I don't actually know if they do or don't, that would be a Neko thing)

"I dont have the slightest idea,... but worst case scenario, if your up for it,.... we could program a VR videogame with my ExplosiveCats.exe program it sinulates explosions, the GIS files of utilitiy corridors from a floting city and use the ghost driver software from redline??? It would be like a dodge explosions as you drive inside tunnels type of game I am imagining. Just an idea." (edited)

S'kolli's head cocks to one side. "uuuuuhhhhhh...." Even without speaking Ashen One, you know the sound of someone who has become completely confused at what you just said.

(They really don’t. Anyone operating entertainment would be a good shakedown target for gangs or less moral UNW officers right now. Occupation is still pretty fresh)

4:47 PM

(We don’t have people killing each other in the streets but life is definitely not back to normal)

4:49 PM

(As for the cat thing I have no idea in the slightest what’s going on there)

Fermia talks for a very long time about using multiple programs to make a new videogame, probably too quickly for anyone to make any sense of it. After w while she would say "its getting late lets just get dinner, i have to leave tommorow morning anyways."

4:51 PM

(ExplosiveCats.exe is the program I made after I almost exploded the resuce shuttle to smithereens.) (edited)

(OOC, I knew that)

4:52 PM

(In Character, you just confused the poor little guy lol)

(He's only 12 right? Lol. Everything must be new and confusing for him)

(Ashen One reach adulthood at 10, and live until about 40)

4:56 PM

(So an adult physically, but he doesn't have any life experience yet.)

4:57 PM

S'kolli nods along at the confusing tirade for a while and is quite thankful when you offer food.

I could do dinner.
I'll need to plan my next adventure!

Fermia would have a friendly dinner, probably at sone point start talking about quantum MES theory, and exchange contact info with S'kolli and get ready to leave early the next morning. (Well, unless theres anything you or the DM's woukd like to add in I'm besically done, Thank you, that was fun.) (edited)

(I don't have anything in particular.)

Fermia heads off, and S'kolli is left to his own devices once again. (if you had anything you want to dive into next, I'm game. The group mission with the CCE is on the table too, with all their tech and stuff)

@opscomm S'kolli begins scanning the news and other various posts thinking about what he'd like to do next. One in particular catches his eye.

Hi, I'm S'kolli!
I am an Ashen One and I'm ready for a new adventure!
I heard about the CCE and I love cool new technology! I hope you'll allow me to help you.
Thanks!

Zaahira messages back @Dax Withers Any additional help would be of great use. Welcome aboard.

(Is there something you'd like me to do/roll for the cyberware in between missions?)

(I think maybe research project like the rest of the stuff has been.

(Oh poo. So it'll never get done lol)

7:38 PM

(Do I pick the lab?)

(Yeah )

(Probably RCOE cause Ashen Ones)

(Yeah but they have a lot of projects already. Prime has unspent RP and no current projects )

7:44 PM

(I'm very invested in getting this one done lol)

(You can pick any of them. It’ll be available for everyone once complete. It’s going to be integral to people actually being able to play some of the aliens. Ecat

(Prime it is!)

(Level 4 S'kolli! HP 9 to 12 AB 1 to 2 3SP Shoot -1 to 0, Fix 0 to 1 1 Expert SP Pilot -1 to 0 1 Psychic SP Unspent)

S'kolli makes up his mind that he is going to get off Gudrun and go back home. It's been quite a long adventure! I miss the AONet pretty badly being away like this... I'll have to do something about that if I decide to leave home again! He steps off of Svenka's ship and makes for the Academy, hoping to see his favorite psychic robot friend before he leaves.

1

@Regulus/Grupp (You're just so popular)

(Sorry, had impromptu bath time. Trying to clean a poop covered baby with poop covered hands while trying to keep him from putting poopy feet in his mouth.)

(Oh jesus, youre good, just didnt expect you to look here normally)

(The joys of parenthood)

S'kolli climbs the familiar steps into the Academy, looking for Regbot.

Regulus is sitting at Crane's desk since she's off planet for now, reading a book as usual.

He practically skips over to the desk to announce himself. "EEEEEEE! Ka'isda'ee!"

He gives a sort of sigh that dampens his excitement as he pulls out the dataslab to translate.

"Ah, hello there little one. No need for the dataslab anymore friend. I've been studying."

He gives a strange inhalation sound that might resemble a gasp of surprise. "Di'si? Keed'a Ski'sko Se'baka'sk!"

"You do? I trust your trip to Chloe was successful then?"

"oooOOoo! Isa'kid Saan'dit'it MMMaa'ki'ti.... er, Sind'ati Tizz'ki'is I'sa EEE'sa Ska'ta'ki Sammm..." He takes a deep, wheezing breath before continuing. "Ika'kat Dass'tida'kim Tammm'adak, Id'ak BAAAKA!.... Di, Di'ska I'ka'kai sammmm'bak." (edited)

"Someone sabotaged the power plant? That could be someone from the UNW just as easily as someone unhappy with the new regime. The war is too fresh, there's too much resentment on both sides. Even with Chloe somewhat removed from the war, everyone felt the effects of it. I'm sorry they shot at you, I didn't think it would be that dangerous."

"I'ki Ka'ti. Isa'keen Sik'aaaaaa Di'din Sam! S'kolli backs up a few steps and activates his powers. Feeling the static in the air around him, he discharges a burst of electricity and leaps clear across the lobby of the Academy.

"Very impressive! I've learned a small amount of electrokinesis myself to better help you learn. So what's next for you? Are you wanting to help out here some more or have you larger plans?"

"I'sa Did'ak Ti'si MMMmm... SSssa'da E'ki To Di'di'kai."

Regulus nods, "Of course you miss your home. I'm sure your parents would be glad to see you. We should try to work something out so you have some sort of remote access to your AONet, though admittedly I'm not very good with such things."

"MMMmmmm... I'sa Ki'da'to Da'dak Too'wi! I'ki oooOO'sa To Di'dak."

"I look forward to it, perhaps sometime soon I'll come out on a mission with you. Hopefully one where neither of us get shot at, though that somehow always tends to happen to me."

S'kolli chuckles a bit. "I'sa Ki'kam Sss'tak Di To Si'ta! I'sa Ti'ki A Do'mmm!"

Regulus chuckles in return, "I have no doubt you could fix me, and hopefully I could fix you as well. Go have some fun at home now, you deserve it."

(This is too precious)

S'kolli runs up and gives Regulus a hug. "eeEE! I'sa Da'dim K'isa!" He turns and leaves the Academy to make the journey home to Tsatsos.

(reroll token for both of you this was so pure)

4

10:54 AM

The trip home to Tsatsos seems to take a long time, but its really jsut the longing and anticipation of returning to a place that holds good memories. Tsatsos is developing rapidly, when you come to land, with food production and housing already built and being remodeled. Defenses are being dug in now, though that's outside your normal stomping grounds. The surge of AOnet information is a comforting presence

S'kolli steps off the shuttle and revels in the information overload his AR view gives him. After a moment of basking, he begins the walk toward his home.

2:07 PM

Once there, he would take a few days to spend time with his parents and tinker on some old projects. At some point, he picks up a Comm Server for himself and prepares it for another journey off-world. I'm not going ANYWHERE without AONet next time! (edited)

Seeing you sign back on AOnet, youre contacted almost at once by a scholar friend of yours. She has been reading about the human settlers that once called Tsatsos home during the early first wave, and wants to pick through an abandoned city city for any trinkets or things to tinker with.

(Getting started with the girl troubles early, I see

)

3:10 PM

(Actually S'kolli is a charmer though)

(Nah, just happened to be a lady)

S'kolli gets excited at the chance to have another adventure, especially one this close to home.

(Totally cool lady's name),
Of course I'll go exploring with you! I love finding cool new/old technology! I'm ready to go as soon as I finish installing and calibrating a drone controller implant.

YOU HAVE A DRONE! I CANT WAIT TO SEE IT. I'll meet you as soon as you're ready she replies almost right away

(I'm spending 20,000 to get the Drone Control Link. I'm not sure how long the recovery time is, but whenever that is done I'll go exploring.)

(Just a couple days)

7:22 PM

It’s a few days but everyone on AO net seems to know everything e about everything so your friend is not troubled by your absence. When you’re feeling strong enough, control link and it’s firmware now part of your augmented reality package , you prepare to head back out into the Wild

S'kolli heads to the meeting point with his fancy new drone implant, ready for an adventure. Naturally, the drone is hovering noisily behind him. Some of the... "modifications" might have affected its generally quiet operation. (edited)

(WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER YOU MONSTER!?)

(S'kolli is "good" at "fixing" stuff)

The drone makes a loud buzz and you find your contact at the waiting at the edge of town (what's a good ashen one name? Be a trailblazer)

(Shoot this is a pretty big deal. How about.... Zia?)

(works for me!) Zia chirps happily as she sees you and squeals so loud her voicebox is overloaded for a few seconds when she sees the drone wobbly hovering behind you

He squawks back to her proudly. The ice blue translation characters run vertically down the side of her AR suite.

Isn't it cool??
I modified it myself!
We're all ready to go exploring!

I made us a special buggy to go scouting in. I think you'll like it! she sends back, and snaps her fingers, as a rickety ATV, that is open topped but covered in an awning pulls around the corner, its own ghost driver partially crushing a bench

(I love where this is going)

(That should have been Svenka!)

S'kolli tosses his old backpack into the ATV and climbs in.

I do like it!
Do you want to drive or should I?

(edited)

I'll drive, you fly the drone, keep it above us and we can get a better idea of what is around. Do you like the car? I made it myself. Kind of

The car is perfect!
Let me know if you ever want help working on it.
I have some ideas for handy modifications I think you might like!
I'm pretty good at fixing stuff, you know.

1:47 PM

He pilots the drone up several meters and tunes into its sensors to get a feel for the sight of it.

Woah!
This is
so
cool!
It's a much better idea for me to keep lookout like this, good thinking!

(You think with AO net he can probably see through the drone?)

(I think this one is your call, since the book only specifies sensors on the cyberware. Drone Control Link: Most often found among military bot wranglers, civilians can also get a drone con- trol link implanted to simplify the remote piloting of drones and other robotic units. Users of a link can issue commands to a drone as a Move action instead of a Main Action. A single drone can only receive one command per round, however. Aside from this ease of command, someone with an implanted rig can “look” through a piloted drone’s sensors as an Instant action, and a drone is never considered to be out of control even if the pilot doesn’t spend an action controlling it. A link can maintain a connection with one drone at a time, plus the user’s Program skill.)

2:19 PM

(I would lean on the side of saying he could rig it for a FPV sort of sight)

(that's what I was thinking too, okay if we agree lets do it)

2:20 PM

Tsatsos doesn't have any birds. If anything, the slowly growing drone flocks are the closest thing, and right now, driving away from the city, looking through the eyes of the drone, you feel as though you are one of them.

S'kolli admires the view from his virtual vantage point and follows the ATV as it treks across the landscape. He tries to look ahead to see if he can see anything about where they're headed.

There is a cluster of dark shapes on the horizon, it does not look like a far drive, but it's far enough from the city to mean it has not been picked over for scrap. It looks like there was originally some kind of rail yard planned here, but it never was completed

I see it ahead of us!
This is going to be fun!

It will be she says back, and you can sense her relief and happiness at being away from the city.

1:30 PM

Stormclouds over the lava sea, out to the west, begin to gather

(Do I need to do anything as we approach? I'm just watching things from the drone for now.)

(Lets get a notice/wis as you approach)

(2nd roll ever!)

2:38 PM

(I'm hyped)

2:43 PM

(Roll20 on mobile freaked out on me and rolled it 4 times lol. 3 of them were 9's and 1 is a 10.)

2:43 PM

(Notice/Wis 9)

It appears as though some sort of signaling mirror or light shutter is repeating something at the edge of the ruins, repeating the same pulses and pauses over and over again, as the explorer comes to within visible range of the settlement

Hey, do you see that?
There's lights or something flashing over there.
Maybe it's a message and someone needs our help!

I do see that. Try flying the drone in closer, see if we can get a better look before we walk into something

S'kolli does just that.

approaching closer the signal looks to be generated by some kind of simple machine, rhythmically opening and closing a shade over a solar powered light. The components look as new as its possible to look for something left out in the elements. recent work, if you had to venture a guess

It's kind of weird.
It reminds me of... what were those called... er, um... a lighthouse!
Have you ever heard of those before?
They used to build these big lights next to water to attract... something?
I don't remember. The most water I've ever seen was on Gudrun!

Its artificial. We should be careful. someone here did this, on purpose. Do you think we should proceed?

He makes a puzzled sound before responding.

Why wouldn't we?
Do you think it's not safe?
...I can look through the drone again.
Maybe I'll see more now that we're close.

Lets, just to be safe. We don't know what else might be lurking out here waiting for tasty morsels like us

He gives a wheezing laugh.

Tasty?
Maybe if you pick around all of the metal parts!
...
...
I'll look around.

4:37 PM

(Need any rolls for drone looking?)

(Yeah lets get another notice

(Int or Wis?)

5:34 PM

(10 Wis) (11 Int)

It looks like some kind of glider has crashed in the town square , it’s bright blue wings crumbled and the cab smashed. The automated signal is just a handful of meters from it, Dust and the planets inconsistent light look to have previously hidden the wreckage

It looks like someone crashed in there!
We should go help them!

S'kolli hurries his way in towards the wreckage without waiting to see if he's being followed.

S'kolli heads off as the explorer comes to a halt, running fast and free across the uneven, rubble filled ground. Rock crunches underfoot, as he heads to the crumpled remains of the plane. The cockpit door on the passenger side has been wedged open, and a thick streak of blood stains the window. The rest of the body is likewise damaged, the tail twisted up at a sharp angle that would never allow for flight. A few small cargo boxes have dumped out from the ruptured hold, resting on the ground in a disorganized pile

Oh no! S'kolli goes to investigate the cockpit, fearing the worst.

There is an Ashen one trapped inside the cockpit. He looks to be unconscious, and the twisted control column is keeping his legs pinned to the inside. He lost a lot of blood, though the controls seem to have embedded themselves and helped clot the wounds

With a panicked screech, S'kolli scans the AONet for any information about the downed craft or missing persons that may match what he sees. (Is it possible to send an alert of some kind over the network? S'kolli isn't a medical professional by any means.)

(Yeah he can do that for sure)

There is a small conversation going on from air traffic control, mostly keeping track of all the system traffic in space, rather than on the ground. It doesn't appear theyve noticed this thing is off their radar

S'kolli pings the emergency services band on his integrated AONet.

Send help!!
There's a crash out here and the pilot looks very hurt!!
(Attached coordinates)
He looks unconscious but I don't know any more than that!

another text window opens up in your vision, with a tag that is reserved for AO emergency services- Help is coming. Is there only one victim? Emergency response should be there in half an hour

(Did it look like a single man sized flyer?)

2:54 PM

(Like only a small space for crew and I already saw the whole cockpit)

(one to three people max, like a glider. There is at least a second person because the copilot door was open and blood streaked, and someone set up the SOS beacon)

2:55 PM

(But they're not here at the moment so far)

(Ah, got it now.)

He's the only one I found so far!
Maybe there's more but they aren't right here.
Oh, thank you!

They send a confirmation code, acknowledging your message, and a small timer appears counting down from 32 minutes, when the rescue flyer is going to arrive

The town square around you is quiet, but the clocktower on the north end starts to toll, even though the time is not one where it should be chiming

I should just move on.... I can't help him, anyways. But... maybe I can try to figure out what happened. S'kolli activates his Energy Sensitivity to help locate spots on the plane that could possibly power up the computer systems. He attempts to pump electricity into the craft using Conduit to boot up... anything, really. Footage from before the crash... flight logs... voice recordings... anything could help figure out why this fell out of the sky... (edited)

You feel that the connections inside are all working perfectly, and are able to locate the flight data recorder, the reinforced compartment in the front is not crushed, as per its design. It shows that as the plane entered airspace over the town, all its instruments and power failed at once, with no warning. The pilot was flying too low to set up any kind of a glide slope or engage in any other kind of crash-avoidance

9:49 AM

He was either supremely confident in his abilities, or very inexperienced

9:50 AM

(and you could tell through your senses there is no mechanical reason a failure should have occurred)

That's... weird... S'kolli decides to leave the craft alone and heads back to Zia before striking out further into the city.

Hey!
I found the crashed plane and called in help for the pilot.
He looked very hurt...

S'kolli coos sadly.

I think there might be more of them in the city somewhere!
It looked like someone got out after the crash to set up the signal.
Let's go!

(edited)

11:59 AM

He fires his drone back up to move in the direction of the clocktower.

The clocktower doors have been opened by someone, and have not closed behind their last visitor. Dust falls from above in gentle downpours, and canvas and rope covered walkways criss cross the intricate clockworks above. Something stirs in the darkness

S'kolli stands at the doorway and calls out into the darkness.

Hello??
....Anyone in here??

Something up above stamps the rotting boards three times , each beat exactly two seconds apart. Dust falls from@above in a heavier sheet

Hello!
I'm a friend!
Do you need help?

There is a stamp again, still two seconds apart, but once

I'm coming in! S'kolli steps in trepidatiously and brings the drone buzzing behind him.

Something plunges from the top of the clock tower, its leathery wings snapping from its back like sails catching a breeze. Bloodstained, sharp fangs jut from its jaws, and it roars

11:13 AM

(art coming)

11:14 AM

(Thanks. I hate it.)

"EEEEEEEEE!!" He screeches. S'kolli takes off back outside the door and instinctively grasps for his Electrokinesis powers, the drone forgotten for the moment.

You feel the surge of energy flood through you, ready for action, and the beast roars inside as it takes stock of its surroundings

He gets a fair distance away from the door before remembering the drone inside. He turns and flies it back out with him.

Zia!!!
Not safe!!!

Zia brings the explorer around, crunching rock and other debris under the treads of the vehicle. Not safe in orbit either, something is coming. we need to get back to the city right away!

(Shoot I forgot where S'kolli was lol. I guess that's a thing now.)

(sure is!)

1:40 PM

An emergency band broadcast begins warning civilians on the surface to get to shelter immediately, and any capable of manning the orbital guns to report to battle stations. Most of the ground defenses have not been completed yet, or are even close, but there is a plasma beam cannon closeby, near where you'd departed the city, that seems to be operational

Maybe I can help!
I've got special powers, so maybe they can be put to good use!
Take me over to that cannon, please!

Zia revs the vehicle into high gear leaving the creature behind. You see four emergency service flyers zoom overhead. It looks to be a capable force. Ahead the complex for the surface to space plasma beam is rising out of the rocky plain. The walls around it have not been built but you see the greenish blue glow of the reactor coils and the focusing lens. The gun itself is 20m long at least with an incredibly powerful computing system in a bunker at its base

(And no one is there manning it that I can see?)

(No one seems to have arrived yet that you can see)

S'kolli hops out of the explorer and takes off with urgency towards the cannon. Yelling back to Zia,

I'm going to go help!
First I need to see what we're up against!

9:11 AM

He makes for the big computing system to see if he can interface with it and figure out what exactly is in the system.

(lets get a program int!)

1

(Oh look, something I'm good at!)

11:55 AM

(14

)

The picture resolves, showing three large organic/metal asteriods heading for the planet. The Tsatsos defense fleet is doing its best to destroy the pieces individually, causing severe structural failure to one already, but they continue to hurtle toward the planet and pick up speed. You can hear through the cross-fleet comms that there is a great concern about them hitting the ground, though its expected to miss the planet's sole population center

Oh.... No.... S'kolli is terrified, but perseveres. I've got to help! He begins the sequence to bring the cannon to bear on one of the undamaged asteroids.

The cannon begins to swivel, massive gimbal mount swinging the large barrel skywards, azimuth adjusting as it turns. Zia runs in and begins working the power controls, harnessing and building the energy needed for an orbital shot

(How's this work in time with our Lord Admiral Buffness?)

(You can fire, and ill describe what happens here and up there. Its his turn right now anyway so timing wise it works out great)

S'kolli is nervously holding on to his powers while he waits for the gun to come into alignment. Blue-white arcs of energy jump harmlessly around his skin and augments. When the asteroid lines up in its sights, he fires at the ball of death hurtling towards the planet.

(It's the same stats as a plasma beam from the starships weapon part of the core book) The asteriod comes into alignment, and the consoles all go from a cooling blue to an angry red, as a lock is gained. Zia is hard at work keeping the barrel focused on the target (+2 to hit for her acting as a spotter, of sorts)

(Never fired a starship weapon before. So AB + Shoot + Att (Int?) + 2)

8:58 AM

(I figured Int might apply because there's calculations involved in tracking the projectile and predicting it, or because Int is used for pilot sometimes too

)

1

(It’s still dex I believe.)

(ssshhhh I'm special)

10:18 AM

(Oh the AC is 18 anyways. I'm nowhere close with a natural 9. Shoot/dex +2 is only 13)

The bolt fires, and you see it has gone a bit wide of the target Sorry! I got the axis controlls backwards!

10:51 AM

It looks as though the fleet is moving positions to compensate for the groundfire, Try again!

(15 minutes or so later...)

11:13 AM

(Nat 15 + 0 shoot + 0 dex + 2 AB + 2 help =19)

11:15 AM

(3d6 AP 10... rolled a 9)

The volley of shots from the ship, and this time, accurate fire from the ground combine to form a cone of destructive energy, destroying one of the pieces, leaving only one remaining, speeding up as it closes it on the atmosphere. It seems ot be doing everything it can to zig-zag, erratically change course, and generally frustrated additional targeting attempts

12:13 PM

The interior of the gun platform is very warm, the steam, heat, and discharge from two firings of weapon are not subtle.

We're doing it!!
One more is gone!!

S'kolli readies another shot and trains the cannon on the last target. (Ready to roll?)

(You may fire when ready)

(That's going to be a no for me, dawg.) (Big ol' 7)

(Alright, we'll see what the fleet does, and I'll tie it all together)

The last fragment breaks apart as a spear of light from the ground defense platform narrowly misses the tumbling rock and sludge conglomerate again. It begins to burn as it’s much smaller pieces hit atmo. On the ground, the all clear alert chimes

We did it!
I totally nailed it with that last one!

S'kolli skips over to Zia and gives her a big hug. We're totally heroes now!!!

A message comes through to each of your visors that the governor is requesting to see you as soon as you’re available

S'kolli makes a strange inhalation noise similar to a gasp.

We ARE heroes!!
Let's go!

3

As you step away from the planetary defense gun, an armored groundcar pulls up to drive you to RCOE Towers in the Center of New Hephaestus. A human in a standard RCOE uniform and aviators is driving. Approaching the towers, they seem to be build of giant uneven gears stacked together like a gearbox to a groundcar. The man leads you in to a central elevator and once inside uses his metatool to remove the front panel, reach into the interior mechanism and pull down on an unused breaker and enters a code. Upon placing everything back together, the elevator brings you to the top floor, opening into a wide office with one way windows overlooking New Hephaestus. At the window, stands Governor Rigers, hands folded behind his back and a high tech drone peering directly at you.

2

S'kolli steps off the elevator with a similarly "high tech" drone following closely behind him. It's buzzing loudly and bobbing up and down slightly with alignment issues prevalent. A few loose wires are sticking out of its frame in a disconcerting way. S'kolli himself is a diminutive Ashen One that stands a few inches short of 5 feet tall. His clothes are simple brown and he has a dusty backpack with some odds and ends sticking out as if he's carrying half a workshop on his person. "Ee'ee I'ska?"

Govenor Rigers keeps his back to you “Two of you did what is meant for five... Reckless. Activating the gun before it was properly inspected could have ended up backfiring. You could have been injured. Impulsive. Potentially destructive. Potentially setting us back weeks in building our defense. Commandeering and activating a government planetary weapon. Zero respect for authority. Criminal... He pauses to glance at you behind him. “Come here and look at this city. All of it could have been gone today.” He snaps his fingers. “Everything we’ve built. Gone...” “Tell me. What do you have to say for yourself... forgive me, I have not learned your language yet. You’ll have to use this compad.”

The drone falls to the floor with a crash and fizzles out. Crestfallen, he lets out a sad coo. "OOoooo...." He produces his own dataslab and types a quick message.

I just wanted to help...
I'm sorry...

His shoulders begin quaking as he types the last sentence. Am I in trouble now?He offers the dataslab up for inspection and wrings his hands nervously. (edited)

2

A twinkle appears in The Govenor’s eye as he kneels to be eye level. “Skolli, you are in the opposite of trouble. You are a hero. I need you. As a matter of fact, I have just lost a very important member of my organization as he has gone off to his own endeavors. I see myself in your actions today.... I would not be here today without the help of those in higher positions than me and I think you are worth of the same aid I had. Skolli, I would like to invite you to be an official member of the Rigers Corps Of Engineers. I think you embody everything I am looking for in a VP. You don’t have to answer right now, but in any case, I need you to take this.” Billy hands over a cred stick with one hand and reaches for the poor drone in the other. “This is impressive work.” He says in a vain attempt to act nonchalant in taking in Skolli’s reaction.

The 180 in conversation takes him completely by surprise. He gets so excited that he types back on the dataslab faster than his fingers can handle.

Mme.?
An Engcineer!?
That'ds so ciool`!
I am reaally good at fixng stuff yku know!
You see,. I even modifid the drone myselv!

He has another realization. "ooooOOOO..." he says before arcs of blue-white electricity begin jumping over his skin around his arms and augments. He pulls the battery out of the dataslab and tosses it across the room. A tether of fuzzy energy connects his hand to the dataslab he is holding and the screen remains lit, powered by S'kolli himself.

Billy breaks into a wide smile. “That is amazing! I haven’t seen anyone with that skill yet. Your modifications are quite interesting. You’re certainly capable, have the talent and the temperament to be a great addition to my team. Those things I listed earlier, each of us, me, Hailey, Grupp, even Robert, we’ve all been called crazy. What matters is that you do what you think is right and act in a way that shows that you care. And I see that in you. I want you to show me your modifications and other abilities, but first, that stick is 1 million credits to the hero of Tsatsos. You also have the personal coms to my own mentors, Seung Whitaker and The Shriven Of Ad Astra. Both of them gave me more than I ever deserved and now I’d like to pay that forward. What do you say? Would you like to help me save the galaxy?”

It's hard to read facial expressions on someone whose face is mostly covered by the ubiquitous augmented reality headwear of the Ashen Ones as well as specialized breathing apparatus. But, you gather from his frozen posture that he hasn't had the time yet to process the magnitude of what he's being offered. The dataslab screen goes black and the visible electricity on S'kolli dissipates. For a long moment, the only sound he makes is the rattling wheezy breaths he rapidly takes. He looks down at the cred stick in his hand. It's orders of magnitude more money than he's ever had in his life. I could work with real life heros... I could really help people... He thinks. He slowly nods yes to Billy, obviously still shell shocked by the experience.

“So this is what I looked like.” Billy says, studying the young Ashen One before him. “I need you to say yes so I can work on getting you clearances and contacts. You’ll have your own office here Of course if for some reason you wish to use it and use of available ships vehicles and equipment owned by RCOE and you will of course receive monthly dividends. If you take a look at the endeavors list you can see some of our current goals. They will help us to grow our faction but you are under no obligation to complete them. Our biggest concern right now of course is defense against the fleshshapers who you helped to shoot down just now. Their numbers are countless and unknown. We can not afford to sit here shellshocked for long. Understand?”

He nods again and makes his best effort to say something that sounds almost like English. "Ee'essss." He looks back to his dataslab and jolts electricity back into it to boot up.

I'll do my best!
I already have a project in mind to help all of the Ashen Ones!
It would help fix the problem I'm having right now: communication.

S'kolli pulls up the plans for the upgraded AR suite that include more advanced somatic controls and subvocal translation. (Have a research project for this cooking in the Prime lab back on Gudrun) (edited)

(How much rp?)

(Level 1 is being researched)

11:35 PM

(600 needed)

11:35 PM

(It's the only project in lab in Prime and there's 396 unused RP right now) (edited)

(I believe RCOE can donate the rest needed for that.)

(Dax did donate quite a bit to you guys....)

(Yeah If you want. I think we have quite a bit. Our target research things are like 4k

(Yeah y'all are crazy. Sounds good though. Back to IC chat!)

“Feel Free to use RCOE lab resources for your endeavor. That is a Nobel goal for everyone.”

11:43 PM

“I must apologize though, I do have a planet to run, so I should get back to that. I do believe this arrangement will work our well for us. I can’t thank you enough.”

He gives a nervous totally-not-creepy, abrasive, screechy laugh.

Thank me?
You just changed everything for me!
I can't thank YOU enough!
I'm sure you are very busy.
I will go!

He begins to turn towards the door before an idea takes hold and he writes another message. Do you think I will get to meet Robert Tanzer some day? He's a real hero!

Billy laughs. “Yes of course. You’re taking his position. I will make sure a driver has the directions to his HQ and I’ll give you a handshake in if you wish to go meet him. He is building the Void Wardens as we speak. We will be working very closely with them, I’m sure.”

Maybe some time!
I've had more excitement today than I think I can handle though.
I'm going to go home and tell my parents!
Thank you so much!

“Though to tell you the truth, I’m not 100% sure where he is at the moment.”

11:53 PM

“It was nice to meet you Skolli.”

With a skip in his step, he collects his "custom" drone and leaves Billy to get back to his Billy things.

1

11:54 PM

(Thanks man! Good stuff there)

Skolli leaves the office with the custom drone hovering softly behind him. Zia is waiting in the lobby downstairs, though the explorer she was using has evidently been driven or taken elsewhere

10:06 AM

How did it go?? are we in trouble??

Oh!
I thought for sure I was at first!
I got to meet THE Billy Rigers!
At first he was all mad at me about how reckless it was to take over a cannon without a full crew and all sorts of stuff, but then he said we were heroes!
He even offered me a job with the Engineers!!
What's better is that now I can use Engineer ships and I can use their resources to finish my AR upgrade project!
Oh! You are going to love it!

Im sure I will! she coos both in the chat and out loud. we should report on that thing you saw in the ruins. Or at least see what happened to the first responders

Oh!
I can't believe I forgot about that!
Let's do that right away!

8:27 PM

(Who do I actually need to report to?)

(Mostly just check the news. I feel like every single ashen one is probably within easy contact )

S'kolli dives in to the AONet and scans the recent reports to check in on how the pilot he found earlier is doing.

The pilot you found was dead but two other ashen ones in hiding were recovered from the crash of the Survey plane. They’d taken shelter from the beast nearby in the ruins after it ambushed them

6:34 AM

The security team managed to overwhelm it with no casualties

I didn't think the ruins would be that dangerous...
It's kind of scary to think of what else we might have run into there.
So what's next?....
I think if I have the help of the Engineers, I had better put it to use!
I should go back to Gudrun and finish the AR upgrade project!

She agrees and wants to know if she is welcome to come along. Working with you has been something she has enjoyed. Although she wasn’t directly given an offer by the engineers, her geolocation has shown her as being present at the orbital gun, and she is likewise being lauded on AOnet right now for her contributions

(Yeah what gives, Billy? I wasn't working alone!)

Of course you can!
You can be an early adopter of the best new tech!
We can leave first thing tomorrow.
What do you think?

I would be honored. We can leave tomorrow? that soon? That is so exciting. Any world that does not have the life eater is good with me

Yeah... I need to go tell my parents all the good news!... And then probably crash after all the excitement today.
I'll meet you tomorrow to fly out!

With that, S'kolli makes his way to his parents' house to tell them all about his adventures today and get equipped for another off world adventure.

They are both returning from their work building, the city defenses in other parts of the slowly growing urban scape are also being constructed. They look fine but perhaps a bit mentally rattled from the events earlier today

Mom! Dad! You'll never guess what I did today!
It was the craziest thing!
So I went out with Zia to go explore the ruins to find treasure and we totally saw a plane crash with people that needed our help! After we got help on the way, we saw this clock tower that we wanted to check out and there was this REALLY scary winged creature thing that tried to get me but I was way too fast! And then, when we jumped back in the explorer is when all of the alarms started going off for the crazy attack in the sky! And on the way back to town I saw the orbital cannon didn't have anyone using it, so I got Zia to help me get it up and running and we totally BLASTED the thing out of the sky! AND THEN, the governor Billy Rigers HIMSELF invited me up to the headquarters and at first I thought I was totally in trouble but then he said we were heroes of Tsatsos and he even offered me a job with the Engineers! So now I want to go back to Gudrun and finish my AR project with their help! I think we can really do it this time!!.......
.....
.....
So that's what I did today!

They communicate on a private channel for a few moments , you can tell due to their marking icons flickering as they transmit information to each other. Alright S’kolli. You’re an adult now. It’s time to let you be one. Just be safe out there and remember to call home when you can

++Encrypted: Svenka Vilnovha++
We are preparing to meet and potentially negotiate with the Technocracy on Miriam - please let me know if you will be coming along - we will meet in the Hub and coordinate from there.

He beams with pride for a moment before running up to give them both a hug. I will! As much as I can!

2:28 PM

S'kolli spends the rest of his time prepping his gear for the journey ahead and relaxing with his family.

2:29 PM

The next morning, he leaves for the starport to meet Zia with his bag of goodies and freshly updated comm server.

2:30 PM

(If I want to go with Svenka, do I have time to go to Gudrun and finish the research project? Do I need to RP through that?)

(I’ve got two options in mind depending on if you want it before or after the technocracy mission. Answer that for me first if you can)

(I totally want it as soon as I can get it lol

)

(We dont need to RP it, We have enough to complete it, can just do it on the way)

(Yaaa buddy)

The ship jumps into spike space and both you and Zia hurry to the small workspace aboard, information from other labs being beamed to the ship to speed the work along. Zia is a blur, running between different machines, carefully modulating power, and skillfully handling tools, with more care than your own work

Wow!
I'm really good at fixing stuff, but you're REALLY good at fixing stuff! I should be YOUR assistant!
Maybe I can help power some things up for you... I've gotten better at controlling it!

She has the prototype assembled 31 hours later, and neither of you have stopped for rest, so excited to see your idea coming together. "Ready to power it up?"

(Prime lab: 396 RP) (RCoE: 104 RP) (Direct Interface Lvl 1: 500/500)

Oh, yes!
This is so cool!

(Refresh me on what this does, again?)

Dax Withers 8/5/2019 10:55 AM

(In the AO case, I think maybe it would just allow for easier and finer control over their AONet devices. In S'kolli's case, now he wouldn't have to manually type out messages on a dataslab to talk to others if he can directly manipulate it with the cyberware.)

10:58 AM

(Your call on the finer details of mechanics. But it seemed like a natural extension and upgrade of the AO tech already.)

(oh for sure, okay this is similar to a 40k thing so yeah rock on, i know what to do with this)

1

you feel a new wealth of haptic power and Zia connects the new chipset to your AO ware. Holographic keyboards, screens, and other projections from your visor, visible to only you, and manipulated by haptic inputs now active in your fingers, allow you to control the data and rearrange windows at will, effortlessly

"oooooOOOoooo....." S'kolli gapes in wonder at the new view. Instead of talking, he tests out the subvocal translation and sends a message over to Zia's screen.Testing? Out loud he says, Did you get that?

Loud and clear friend!

2:50 PM

The message returns cleanly, with no iterference and a strong connection to other devices you have permission to access

2:50 PM

(so your stuff, anything you'd have the code or whatnot for, you cant access for example, Zia's gear, unless she lets you, or you hack it)

(If it's within the realm of possibility to "screen share" of a sort, S'kolli would like to share what he's seeing with her)

(you can do that, she'd still have to give permission,b ut obviously in this case, shes game for it)

S'kolli shares the full view of the new interface with her as he manipulates his way around it.

This is so cool!
We need to get these into production for everyone!
....After we check it for bugs, of course.

(Not sure if this needed finished or if Zia was tagging along on the mission or whatever. I'm not really sure if there was room for her or a reason for her to come along.)

(Theres life support space on the ships there as a whole. I don't know whos landing or doing what in the actual mission thread yet)

11:32 AM

(might be more constrained depending on how its gone about)

S'kolli returns to Tsatsos after the Unity Meeting, excited to tell his parents about all of the crazy adventures he's had. He hurriedly returns to his single bedroom/workshop and begins on a new project: His first spaceship. Maybe I'll just stay here at home for a while until I'm ready for another adventure! He thinks. (edited)

(Working in plans for his new ship maybe? Hahaha)

@Robert S'kolli sits through the entirety of his first Unity Council with curious patience until it's over. As the other attendees gather their things to leave, S'kolli begins to get nervous as the chance to meet the famous Robert Tanzer is upon him. He waits for his opportunity as Robert walks out to get his attention and introduce himself. "EEEeee... I'Iska Dak'Isoo??"

Robert pauses, and turns to the small Ashen One with a smile. "I don't believe we've met. Robert Tanzer." He extends a gloved hand out in greeting.

S'kolli reaches up to shake his hand in return. "S'kolli See Ti'ka I'sa. Do'dirrrr'a! Tamm'ak Do Kikid?"

"I do, young friend. I spent some time studying your language, I wanted to be able to advocate for your people if it ever came to it, but you've settled in far better than I could have imagined."

If an Ashen One could blush, S'kolli definitely would be. "I'sa Do Gaa'ka Di'si Mmmmee... Ta'ka I Sammm Li'ter I'ika RRRoop!"

Robert laughs. "You're doing better than me then. I wasn't much more than a wanderer when I was your age. Speaking of fixing things, have you met Governor Rigers yet? He's always on the lookout for handy people like yourself."

"OOOOoooo.... I'sa, uuuuhhh... I'sa Tammm... I'ki Doo RCOE, Sat'i Trrrrak Da'ka Gol'doo, Ki'sa..." he says, a bit awkwardly.

Robert laughs even harder. "I'd heard that I'd been replaced by an Ashen One, I just didn't realise I'd be meeting you so quickly! I'm glad that the prestigious office of VP of Exploration and Forward Diplomacy is in good hands. Billy will treat you right, he's basically funding the Void Wardens himself right now." Robert pulls out his pipe and begins his usual smoking ritual. "If you'd like to work with me sometime I'd appreciate the help. I'm a middling engineer myself, I could use someone who actually knows his way around a machine."

("Knows his way around a machine"... Just let me show you his poor drone sometime)

"I'kaki Sa'bi! Dooo Ga Ko'ka Ma'di San!"

"I'm not a hero, I'm just someone who was lucky enough to fail upwards. That and I get bored easily. What about you? Surely you've been up to something in the RCOE so far? Never a dull moment with them."

"OOOO! I'ska Da Di'da Sik Gi'da'mok! Timm Ka'isa Dooo... Ak I'ska Da Di'da Gi'da'mok Di Si'ko Ki'kima Ak Loorrrrr Da BOOM!"

"Its always worth trying to talk first I find. It's a shame it doesn't work more often. Still, it sounds like you're living up to the job title pretty handily. I'm starting to miss that job already."

"I'sa Ki'dim Do'di Ki Saa." S'kolli feels boldened by the kind words and steps into to embrace Robert in a hug. "I'ki Sat Dru'im Ki A'da Sto'tok Sama."

Robert returns the hug. "I've enjoyed meeting you, S'kolli. Let me know if you ever want to come work with me sometime."

Dax Withers 9/3/2019 2:56 PM

(Have you found art?)

(For the ship? Not yet.)

(is your friend going to be on the crew?)

(Dude idk this character is going on a pause basically right now)

2

After being shown the error of my ways, I have revised the S'kolli ship design. This is it for real now. LWSS Avius

(Alright. Time for skolli. Let me check rcoe endeavors since you asked)

7:36 PM

(Exploring to find a unique resource on tsatsos?)

(Sounds exactly like a S'kolli sort of thing to do)

Massive amounts of ship construction has caused shortages of major metals and conduction materials , especially those used in spike drives. The latest order from the wardens, although completed, has the ashen one factory foremen very concerned. Something must be done to explore and understand more of the strange planet you all find yourselves on. A lode of conductive materials found will do much to ease the industrial strain

(Posting for posterity)

Dax Withers pinned a message to this channel. 3/8/2020 8:09 PM

Skolli's Free Merchant: LWSS Avius

9:26 PM

Skolli's Free Merchant: LWSS Avius

Dax Withers pinned a message to this channel. 3/8/2020 9:26 PM

Skolli, still considered a hero after his brave action at the orbital defense cannon months ago is widely recommended for this job

S'kolli the Ashen One, the VP of Exploration and Forward Diplomacy for Riger's Corps of Engineers, has had an industrious several months on Tsatsos since his last exploring adventure. He may be doing the Engineers a disservice by shirking the duties of his post, but there are just so many things to build! A forgotten cred stick with months' worth of pay collects dust in the corner of his small home workshop as he spends his time working on his newfound passion, drone mods. He has managed to develop quite a name for himself in his neighborhood as the place to go to get your drone "fixed" by the famous hero of Tsatsos. Similar to the prestige your motorcycles' noisy pipes can bring you, S'kolli's backfiring leafblower sounding drones have started a bit of a craze in the area as more and more Ashen Ones want their drones to sound just like S'kolli's. In the midst of all the work he's had, S'kolli himself hasn't even been able to take his new spaceship out for a test drive yet. One day, in the final tweaking phases of a new drone prototype, he sits up and puts his tools down as the message chimes in his AONet augmented reality vision from the factory foreman. They need exploring done?... He stretches out as he thinks to himself. It's been a while since I got away from here... Maybe it's time for another adventure! I'll see if Zia wants to go with me! He pings back to the job posting. Count me in! I can start tomorrow! Where should I go first?

There is a small wait and a message comes back with an attached map, showing the defense gun outside the city is selected as a meeting place due to its relative privacy

With that in order, S'kolli decides to send a message out to his friend Zia.

Zia! Remember that time we went to explore some stuff and a really scary monster chased us? Well I got a job to go explore more things that has (hopefully) less scary things! Do you want to come with me? We leave tomorrow!

Zia sends back her acceptance and confirms the time with you. It’s been several long months of being cooped up in the city and there’s some eagerness to be off on your own again. Two others, both ashen ones , have also been assigned to the investigation

S'kolli spends the remainder of his day off packing his bag full of definitely not useless stuff and making other preparations for an adventure. The next day, S'kolli double checks all of his augments, loads up his trusty drone, and leaves the house to the cacophony of dozens of "modded" drones flitting about "gracefully." He makes the trek to the defense platform to meet his friend and hopefully make some new ones.

Zia is waiting there along with the other two ashen one security members. An open topped truck is waiting there, one of the security troopers is fiddling with the navigation system

10:57 PM

The truck itself is painted in a camo pattern of orange, brown, and black

S'kolli approaches the assembly with his noisy drone announcing his presence. Another... odd device is in tow, also. A small little bipedal robot stutter-skips its way along the ground and is adorned with a small bow made out of springs on its head. "Zia! I made you something!" S'kolli beams with pride.

11:35 AM

🤖 Model: Primitive Drone
🔧 Fittings: Stationkeeping
🛡️ AC: 12
👜 Enc: 2
❤️ HP: 1
📶 Range: 500m

2

Zia screeches with delight as the bot rattle clanks over to her. “You didn’t have to do this!” She messages In your HUD. “This is so nice of you. Does it have a name?”

He looks a little perplexed for a moment. "Name? Yeah! A name! It's... uh... Pim!" S'kolli pulls out the remote controller for Pim and hands it over to her. After a brief moment of concentration, he desyncs from the little bot in his drone controller implant to allow her control. "There you go! Are we all ready to explore?"

"I think so!" she says back. "Do we know where we're going? Did they give you directions?"

"Uhh... no, they didn't. I just came here because they said to." S'kolli directs his next screeching question to the other Ashen Ones in the truck. "Hi, I'm S'kolli! Do you know where we're supposed to go?"

(I just have to check the map and make sure what I’m thinking of is the direction it is)

"East. The Remant failed to make a colony on this planet. They chose the site for a reason and we're going to see if maybe some of the materials we need might be in the local area"

"Oh, great! Let's get to it then; there's an adventure to have!" S'kolli climbs in the back of the truck and has his drone fly over and land/crash into his lap.

It whirrs as one of its many wires shorts out, but the function seems to be much the same without it. The droid you made for Zia curls up in the cargo compartment, keeping to its station keeping program

As S'kolli settles in for the drive, he asks one of the others, "Do you know how far away it is? I can't wait to find new stuff!"

"A half day drive or so, not many roads going out that way. People are keeping away from the site. Lots of rumors going around about the place, but we know the Remnant set down there for a reason. there must be something useful nearby"

"Oh. Great!" S'kolli pulls out his dataslab and begins making alterations to a bit of programming he's been working on recently, a farming macro for Dabloonscape for maximum gains. (Good to skip to the place)

Youre jostled from your deep connection to AO net when you finally arrive, early in the afternoon. The Remnant colony is a dozen premade buildings in various states of assembly, though most are just skeletons of metal. A large transmission and data spike has been sunk into the ground, and mostly assembled. It was not entirely finished.

9:22 PM

"I think we get that running, we get a proper scan of the area. Alright whiz kids, lets take it slow"

"That thing? Should be easy! I'm really good at this!... um... Did you guys bring a crane? We might need to get some stuff lifted up there." S'kolli begins walking towards the spike without waiting for their response, calculations already running in his visor.

A small cherry-picker like bucket extends from the back of the truck. The arm supporting it is not very tall, but should be of some help none the less. The truck, Zia, and the robotic companion all begin moving into the abandoned village after you, covering your approach to the tower, but it seems to be deserted except for you

S'kolli gets closer before he activates his Conduit ability and a blue-white arc of electricity jumps out of his hand towards the data spike. He probes the machine with varying and increasing levels of voltage to test its continuity, following traces of power with his Energy Sensitivity.

The current flowing through the device shows it is incomplete. There are three places where the circuits simply do not finish connecting. Boxes of parts are nearby, left behind during the assembly process

S'kolli sends a quick AONet message to the others to bring the cherry picker around to speed the process of fixing along. How exciting! I bet if there's any leftover parts I could find other uses for them.... He begins digging through the crates like boxes of Lego to find components that look like they slot in to the spike. (Fix/Int?)

(Yes please)

(10)

(Bump?)

(Thanks)

7:43 PM

It’s a trivial matter to finish the transmission machinery and a smaller local map appears. Three sites are highlighted

7:45 PM

One is north of here, a few kilometers by drive. It’s the easier of the routes to use but the deposit there has wildlife around it of unknown temperament. To the East, the terrain is tougher and there are a few natural hazards on the way. The deposit there is thought to be richer. The most promising deposit is to the south, the furthest out. Remnant icons show a small cohort of battle robots left to defend the site. If they’re active after all this time, there is no indication (edited)

"I say we head for the close one first! It's just a bit north." S'kolli squawk-messages to Zia. "I can send my stealth drone ahead to make sure it's safe when we get a bit closer! Ready?" He begins climbing back into the truck to make ready to leave.

Heading toward the site, the drone sees a pack of four creatures below, the size of a terran bear.

6:24 PM

Two of them tumble into the ashen, ground, locked in combat with one another, firing spines from their backs as they charge

6:24 PM

The other two look on at the combatants, hunched and circling

"ooooOOOOooo... Stop!" S'kolli looks on, frightened. "Don't get close... maybe we should wait this out."

There is an eventual loser to the conflict , as the drone continues to watch. Howling in unison , the strange creatures tear into the vanquished, gorging themselves on their companion before racing off into the ashen wastes

(Does it match any known wildlife on the planet from AONet? Or is this novel?)

(This is newly discovered )

Like a lawnmower engine sputtering from biting into wet grass that's grown too thick, S'kolli's stealth drone coughs its way back to the truck, bouncing off the fender once before landing in the bed. "I think the coast is clear now." S'kolli screen-shares the shaky footage from his drone of the battle with the others so they can relish in the discovery with him. "It's so cool how we're already finding new stuff!.... Even if it's scary. We really need to get out and discover more of our own planet, don't you think?" He asks no one in particular while waiting for the truck to continue its trek.

2

The pack of wild animals has scattered, and the truck pulls into the area you had just scouted with the drone. Red stained bones and a scattering of uneaten viscera covers the ground where the loser of the pack battle had been devoured and carried off

S'kolli peers over the edge of the truck bed as it gets close, but immediately ducks back in when he sees the gore. "Aaagh! That's just... AGH!" His respirator emits a few garbled wheezing sounds. "I do hope there aren't more of those things where we're headed... Best be safe." S'kolli revs up the drone again and sends it ahead of the truck towards the site of interest.

The truck comes to a halt, following the gore trail though it seems the dog like creatures are far away now. this is a likely location for ore, and the merc accompaniment begins panning their weapons around the site. "Alright, looks clear. Grab the scanner and lets try to find those rare minerals or whatever it is we're supposed to be doing"

(Program/Int for scanning with the surveying tool?)

(that works!)

(That's a 13, there.) Who even uses DB-9's anymore? Crazy machine... S'kolli pulls the device out and fills it with MES-fueled electricity to start it up while small arcs of power dance around the outsides of his hands. He snaps the RS-432 data cable into place into his integrated direct interface cyberware to pull up the readings right on his AR vision. He begins making sweeps of the nearby area to search for the deposits. (edited)

The deposit seems to be right under the probe, but the previous operators were not skilled enough in operating the machinery to find that for themselves. It seems rich, and well apportioned, but some heavy digging will be needed to get down to it.

"oooOOOoooo! Zia! Come look! I found it! Bring the, uh, the uh, the... Just come here!" S'kolli takes a moment in his excitement to mark his coordinates to relay them later along with the other surveying information. "See, that wasn't so bad, right? Nothing scary chasing us this time!"

The wind picks up slightly, as you finish your statement, carrying with it a howl as the dog like creatures finish their hunt. Right now, you are downwind of them, but they are close enough to be heard

"Maybe we should hurry... and... well we've seen everything we need to see now, right? I got the deposit marked and that's all! Let's get back before we find out if the scary dogs like the taste of metal augments!" S'kolli moves at double time to get back into the truck and once he's seated, sends his drone straight up into the air to keep an eye out.

(3xp, 5,000 credits) The dogs return just as you and zia make it up the ramp of the armored truck. The creatures seem to be able to sense that getting a meal out of the situation is now something that is going to cost them a great deal, and choose not to engage with you any further. A small download overlay shows the address from Governor Rigers beginning, along with a secondary panel showing the city is getting the navigation data from you

(What did S'kolli uncover? Do the beasts and the deposit material have a name?)

(The beasts do not, I am debating between making this rare ingots or making a new good, since theres some trade sheet lifting and needing a planet to want to buy it)

9:16 PM

(Beasts are in the almanac, but do not have a name)

(How about Eolodon or "Dawn Tooth"?) As the broadcast from the Governor comes in, S'kolli's heart sinks into his feet when he hears that the hero of the Ashen Ones has been killed. Robert.... gone? But... But he was so nice!... Who would do that?...Why woul- S'kolli thinks back fondly to the one and only time he met Robert: a quick conversation in his native Ashen One after Unity Council. It may not have meant much to Robert, but to S'kolli it was a day he'll never forget. Robert's unending kindness and warm embrace were as good as he'd ever heard. I... I don't understand. But I don't like it. S'kolli chooses to spend the remainder of the trip sitting quietly with his thoughts, preserving Robert's memory in his mind.

(we can do dawn tooth@

(Sorry, I meant those are the same word. Greek name for Dawn Tooth is Eolodon. Like a dinosaur name.)

Arriving back in town, The address has just finished, and the people are celebrating in kind. Many Ashen One clans who had grudged with one another are making peace, shaking hands and exchanging AO net contact information. Some have made hats from scrap

11:34 AM

(i'll change the name)

"Bye Zia, thanks for coming along! Enjoy the little bot Pim!" S'kolli hops out and makes his way home, freezing in his tracks as he turns the last street corner and sees what's stacked up outside his door. The AONet vision has already analyzed it and given him the answer before the question even fully forms in his head: What's that? Hunched and folded over outside his door is a gift from RCoE: his very own suit mech. It's just an empty frame at this point, but to S'kolli it's a blank canvas with which to create his modded masterpiece. Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy! S'kolli jumps into gear and dashes over to begin pulling the parts inside to get to work immediately. I'm gonna make the best mech! (The mech is from the endeavor reward. Everybody in RCoE already has one so it went to S'kolli. I'll get that designed in a little bit, then I'd like to go back to Miriam if that's OK.)

(works for me!)

S'kolli Specialist Suit Mech: Proto-Strider

Dax Withers pinned a message to this channel. 4/15/2020 2:30 PM

The week is spent in the workshop as the mech gets up to speed and several tests are done to endure everything is working properly. After some void and land speed tests everything works as well as the young ashen one can hope for

S'kolli's Free Merchant: LWSS Avius

Dax Withers pinned a message to this channel. 4/15/2020 3:00 PM

(Beautiful)

(Art's going to have to come later. I can't find anything good for a S'kolli mech.) Like a mad scientist penned up in his lab, S'kolli spends the whole week practicing social distancing by working night and day on his fitting his new mech with all sorts of modifications. The suit frame was a bit too shiny out of the box, but he took care of that part pretty quickly. He had to scale down the size of the mech to fit his diminutive body, but that was pretty easy too. First things first, he just chopped the suit's legs off at the knee and replaced the feet with unwieldy anti-grav nodes. The floor is literally lava sometimes around here, may as well just fly all the time! Considering his fragile constitution, S'kolli decided to upgrade the mech with a comprehensive set of seals and scrubbers to make sure he could keep breathing in any environment. And... while he's at it, may as well make it void-capable. OOOOoooo... I should make it like... like a mobile tool set! S'kolli integrates a metatool into a hatch on one of the suit's arms and decides to upgrade all of the internal sensors and scanner to overlay on his own AONet vision. A couple dataports get installed in strategic locations to plug right in to S'kolli's Direct Interface cyberware, and he's all set with a full complement of polyspectral enhancements. While he's working, he removes a panel that he hadn't noticed was removable yet. Battery compartment? Why would I need that? S'kolli immediately pulls out the power cell and snips all the connectors off, chucking it aside unceremoniously. He puts a hinge and latch on the compartment door that almost matches up with the frame to make a haphazard trunk for gear. There! Storage space for my tools! Stepping back to admire his work finally, he wheeze-laughs in delight at the creation. This is. The. BEST!

4

Time to take it for a test drive! S'kolli summons forth his MES energy to his hands in the form of electricity, activating Conduit. The familiar sparks of power jump across his limbs, mirroring his excitement to try out the new toy. He carefully climbs into the mech, making sure to plug in his data cables to himself as he does so. Once he's settled, he sends his energy into the mech itself, powering it entirely with his own Effort. It springs to life and the anti-grav nodes immediately shoot him into the ceiling of his bedroom-workshop (like the scene from the first Ironman movie). Ow! Maybe... less power at first. Righting himself carefully, he ramps up the thrusters until he's hovering at a manageable height. Hee HEE!! It WORKS! S'kolli crashes his way through to get to the front door and take it for a real test drive outside, spending several hours flying around New Hephaestus with the drone swarms until he feels comfortable with the controls. After the first flight comes to an end, S'kolli comes back home to begin prep for his next journey: the Technocracy on Miriam. It's about time I take my own space ship on its first adventure! Probably need to get some crew, though....

1

(The cargo space on the mech is definitely like a butt flap that opens on the back side like a Mr. Potato Head. S'kolli's got junk in the trunk.)

(I believe its a 4 day trip between Tsatsos and Mariam

12:43 PM

(Zia is game to go as always, not sure if you wanted to RP out the rest of the crew or not)

(No, that's ok. I can take up to 6 including S'kolli on a Free Merchant. I'll just fill them with generic AO NPCs)

12:46 PM

(S'kolli, Zia, and 4 randos)

The Ashen One crew is eager to be off on a first mission away from Tsatsos. They are adapting well to their new home, but the wanderlust is starting to get to some, going from contained on one planet to now living on another. The trip to Mariam is short, with no space hazards, and you arrive in system to the shipyard platform, overlooking the planet below. The ice world will never thaw, but life clings to the surface- not all of it organic

Gathering the crew, he briefs them on the upcoming plan. "Alright guys, last time I was here with the cool robot guys, there was too much talking and not enough listening and they kicked us out. So, I've decided I want to go in alone. They weren't mean, but they weren't really... welcoming, either. Just keep the ship warmed up for me, OK?" S'kolli mounts up into his new mech suit with his typical loadout of handheld gear in the cargo hatch before activating the LWSS Avius's teleportation pad to beam himself down to the surface just outside the broadcast range of the Technocracy. Using the gravitic thrusters, he begins flying slowly and predictably into the radio zone of the Technocracy. After about a minute, he sends out a wideband broadcast. Hello robot people, it's me, S'kolli the Ashen One! I have come alone, and I would like to talk to you again!

There is a strange hiss of static, followed by a return.

Ashen One. You were with the visitors months ago? We seem to have you recorded as a previous traveler. Do you come alone?

Just me! I'm in my super cool new mech so I can fly! But don't worry, there's no weapons on it. I'm unarmed. Can I come talk? There's some stuff I want to tell you!

Approach the tunnel, and power down your mech inside. A battle escort will lead you inside when you are here

S'kolli putters along hovering above the ground a few meters until he gets to their entrance, then doing as requested. The mech slumps as S'kolli the living battery removes power from it, and awkwardly disconnects his Direct Interface cables that somehow managed to get tangled around his appendages inside the mech. Once that's sorted, he walks around and bangs the backside of the mech a couple times until the cargo hatch pops open and he can take his tattered leather backpack out to bring inside with him. (Contents: Dataslab, Metatool, Comm Server, and some spare junk parts).

Two hulking war frames emerge from the heavy tunnel blast doors , where the Mariam technocracy has made their home. The doors remain open and it seems like they are waiting to escort you to the dim route that leads back to the main core

"oooOOOOoooo...." S'kolli greets them in his native tongue as he steps forward to follow them back. "Hello! I'm S'kolli!"

“Skolli of the UNW. You have been here before. You’ve come to speak with the Prime Function?”

"Uh... sure! I have some good news for you guys. Whoever you want me to talk to is fine. I also wanted to see your super cool techno-stuff!"

They say nothing else but their weapon arms relax enough for you to notice. You're brought through a wide chamber, more like a garage, where dozens of combat vehicles are parked in a herringbone formation. Close to 100 war frames of various sizes are working on them, and performing a dozen other smaller tasks in the workspace. There is a slight hiss as you walk through the door into the next room, which is not the technocracy core, but the meeting room where the group had spoken last time. A small eye-stalk like object, ended in an ocular sensor begins to unfurl from the ceiling, and the war-frames move outside the room.

S'kolli distractedly follows along, eyes darting back and forth trying to absorb all of the vehicle designs and cool robots on his way to the meeting. The techy inside him is having the time of his life, while the rest of him is admittedly getting a bit nervous. As the war-frames begin to leave, he asks, "Where are you goi-? Oh, okay! See you later then!" Spinning back around to see the eye-stalk, S'kolli stands silently, unsure what to do with himself.

the voice sounds a bit far away, but comes through clear. "I remember you" The Prime Function says. "You came with the group from the UNW. You were the happiest and least demanding of the group. Are you here on your own? or on their behalf?"

"I'm here just by myself because I wanted to come back and see this place again. Nobody asked me to. And... well, thanks! There's no reason not to be happy!" He stops and looks around ponderously before remembering why he's actually here. "Oh, yeah! I wanted to tell you that the fleshshapers are all gone now! I know that last time we were here my friends tried to tell you about them and stuff. I figured you should know the galaxy is safe again!"

"The changers of flesh are no more? " the machine pauses for a moment and you hear something that almost smells like it processing. "The last time a group was here, there was boasting of what each interest group could offer, and it was things we do not need help with. What makes this negotiation different?"

S'kolli's head cocks slightly to one side in confusion. "Negotiation? I'm not sure that I... Do you need a trade? I didn't know, or, or I could've brought a present! Or, or... Hmmm. Actually, I don't even need anything from you in a trade anyways!" His confusion turns into resolution and he puffs up a little before continuing. "Where I come from, we believe in community. Life was hard enough for us already that it simply wouldn't do to make life harder for our neighbors. You do what's right because it's right, not for personal gain. That's why I'm here: to help a neighbor. You should all know that the flesh shapers were destroyed, along with the Scream beast controlling them. The universe is finally at peace. I don't want to negotiate, just to help."

If a machine can relax, or has the potential to, you sense it here. "To help, that is what the technocracy started as. We worked hard with the original inhabitants of this planet (slyth and their precursors) to ensure life was comfortable and able to continue in peace. The same thing happened time and again- growing too large to support, and guttering out into the night. When your friends came here, speaking of the same thing- individual gain and personal opportunity, rather than a continuing and self improving collective- it was calculated to follow the same pattern all over again"

The smile on S'kolli's face can't be seen, but it's heard through his shrill Ashen One squawks as he continues. "I think everyone wants to work together to make a safer galaxy now! There's going to be a big all-polity meeting starting up soon to usher in a new age of cooperation between people of ALLLL kinds! Anyways. I suppose that doesn't matter much to you guys, but I thought you should know." He looks around and takes stock of his surroundings. "So... Is there anything you need help with? I'm really good at fixing stuff! I guess you guys are already full of really cool tech though... Hm."

"The Technocracy takes care of itself. Our borders have been respected, and we have the resources we need. The offer is noted, and the sentiment is accepted"

The sound of S'kolli's wheezing breath is the only sound for a few long moments. "So... is that it? Do I leave now? Are we friends?"

"You, Skolli, and the Technocracy, are friends, and we have a gift for you."

8:02 AM

A small cart comes from an armored door, at the back of the reception room, with a container on it, about your size.

S'kolli involuntarily squeals with delight as it's brought in. "oooOOOOooo! What is it? What is it?!"

"Open it" the machine intones gently

S'kolli unintentionally grasps his EK power and little sparks of electricity jump across his arms while he opens the container.

A small cyber-dog bounds from the crate, the craftsmanship finer than anything the Ashen ones have , in every way. "This belonged to the original human inhabitants of this place, before the recent settlement, and before the freeze. We kept it safe, tried to study it, and then found out it was more of a toy or meant for companionship. The technocracy has no such needs, but humanoids enjoy companionship. this is a mark of our companionship with you"

2

(Not that this really makes any mechanical difference, but for my own vanity I'm curious to know if this is a TL4, Mastercrafted, or TL5 doggo.)

(tl5)

3

(Would it be considered inhumane to make S'kolli modifications on a dog? Asking for a friend.)

(its basically the jimmy neutron dog but not shitty, entirely mechanical, so you 'modifying' it wouldn;t be vivisecting a living creature)

3:23 PM

(if that helps you come to a decision)

(More of a joke than anything. S'kolli will not attempt to "improve" the doggo.)

3:24 PM

(If it's not living, can it still be a Good Boy?)

(all bois are good bois)

4

S'kolli makes a frightening noise as he gasps sharply in surprise. "F-f-f-for ME?! I LOVE it! OOOOOOoooo thank you thank you thank you!" S'kolli stoops down to introduce himself to the cyber-dog and holds out a sparking hand towards it. "Hi, I'm S'kolli! I love you!"

5

The dog nuzzles your hand, and imitates rolling over to expose its stomach, like a real dog would

8:36 AM

its metal tail sparks the floor a small amount where it wags

(I imagine a little Wall-E like spark between them when they touch.) "OOOoooo he is a good dog! He's gonna be my friend forever!" S'kolli sends out a ping to test a wireless connection with the dog.

The connection is strong, and solid. The dog barks happily at the contact

S'kolli laughs with glee for a moment before remembering where he is. He resumes standing and turns to face his host once more. "Thank you for everything. So much. I am glad I came to see you! I understand you are self-reliant, but if you ever need an ally on the outside, I'll be there for you! For now though, I think the universe is a much safer place than the last time I saw you."

(They're not integrated right now, but so far they havent done anyhing outwardly hostile to the UNW)

(It sounds to me like they still have no interest in anything beyond their borders, but S'kolli is on friendly terms now. That was my takeaway)

(Right. Suited to be a future ambassador. They're hinting at they'd like to see the UNW cooperate more and its planets work together before they consider joining, because right now they'd be providing a lot of backbone to things for very little in return)

3:51 PM

(they're viewing their situation as better alone)

(Understood.)

"It may be, young S'kolli. You are welcome to return any time you wish. You are a friend of the technocracy. Thank you for bringing us this news"

"You're very welcome, friend." S'kolli gives a happy nod and turns to begin walking out with his new best friend at his heels. Before he reaches the threshold, he turns to say one last thing. "I don't know the old peoples you're referring to, the ones you tried to help before, but I do know my people now. There might be some bad ones out there, selfish ones, sure. But there are good people out there too, and it's good people that destroyed the fleshshapers to defend their homes and families. It's good people that scattered the Scream Beast into the void. People like Robert Tanzer, who gave my whole race a home when we had been stuck on a planet that ate us alive. A man who gave his life defending hated criminals as equally as he defended his loyal friends. People like Headmaster Regulus, who give and give and give all that they have, freely, just to protect young psychics like myself." He lets out a squeaky sigh. "You don't have any reason to believe me, I know. But, things are different out there now. You will see. I hope someday you will join me in the stars. Goodbye, Techno-friends."

2

The mech suit is waiting for you upon your return, and the machines have not done anything to it. The doors close behind you, gently this time, not with a slam like when the last group had left. The war frames do not escort you out past the armored doors leading in from their traffic tunnel entry way, as you are now a trusted friend. (3xp, 5000 credits)

S'kolli stashes his gear back into the trunk and climbs into the mech, carefully reconnecting the interface cables back up. When he's all settles he gives a little pat on his lap to beckon the dog to join him in the cockpit. "I hope you like flying, cause this thing goes fast!" He flies the Proto-Strider suit mech back outside of the Technocracy's range and calls out to his ship. "I got a new friend! And new friends! Beam me up!"

There is a blinding light as the mech is grabbed, and teleported back inside Skolli's ship. The crew of Ashen Ones expertly powers down the teleporter array, which they've absolutely refused Skolli making any kinds of modifications to in any way.

3

(I’ve got a couple things if skolli doesn’t have any ideas)

(Just haven't gotten to this yet. The weather has been perfect so I've been working outside all day yesterday and today. I'm up for ideas, but I also thought maybe I could do something to work towards a RCoE or Academy endeavor.)

10:50 AM

(Possibly joining a group mission if any of the timing/goals align.)

(Yeah I could use ideas.)

(Nobody has been to asta to see how things are going against the alloy host in a long time)

(I've never heard of 'em)

(The water war )

(Oooooooo)

(They had space defenses on most of the planet and the humans were raiding alloy host outposts but the momentum was on the knifes edge)

(That's a possibility. What's ol' Regulus up to these days? S'kolli hasn't seen him since the beginning)

(could join with the current UNW patrol if you want to, with Venser and Prosecus)

9:29 AM

(i think everyone else is still busy or gone)

S'kolli disembarks from his mech suit and the yet-unnamed puppy hops down to the ground next to him. "Look guys, I made friends with the cool Technocracy and they gave me this doggy!" He beams. For added effect, the dog happily barks quite convincingly. "This has been a really good adventure, but I think we're just getting started! The Avius is barely even broken in yet! We should go find more stuff to do with it. I wonder what my robot friend Regulus is doing. He was great!" He decides to send a message while they sit in Miriam system space.

Hi Regulus,

It's me, S'kolli!

I've been busy recently and now I'm out exploring in my really cool new spaceship! I was wondering what you're doing and if you need me to go fix more stuff somewhere or something. I'm really good at that!

Oh yeah, I also made new friends on Miriam. They're called a Technocracy!

- S'kolli

(Didn't realize the personal goal of making friends with the Technocracy was 6xp, that means S'kolli just hit level 8) S'kolli Level 7 -> 8 HP 23 -> 28 AB 3 -> 4 Previous Banked SP: 2 (Regular) + 1 (Psychic) Fix 2 -> 3 (4SP = -3 SP, -1 Expert SP) Banked SP: 2 Regular, 2 Psychic

S'kolli,
It is a pleasure to hear from you after some time young friend. I am currently on Galatea somewhat overloaded with administrative duties. There is always much to do around here if you wish to visit. Alternately our comrades of the newly founded CBSS do not currently have an academy branch established there. I suspect new psychics will have begun to appear there after their journeys through spike travel. I need someone to meet with their precognative council on how they wish to proceed and if aid is needed. I applaud your success in meeting with the technocracy, I had read that other attempts had been less well received. If you choose to go to Pelasgon I would suggest taking miss Crane, she has been aiding in the establishment of new branches across three polities now and is somewhat of an expert. 
I wish you well and would enjoy seeing you soon,
Headmaster Regulus Fate

Hm... Maybe. Seems interesting, at least. It's been a while since I've heard from Svenka. I wonder what she's doing? Maybe we can go on another adventure together! I bet she'd love my ship!

Hi Svenka,

It's me, S'kolli! I hope you're doing great! I wanted to say thank you again for that really cool drone you gave me! I started my own little business modifying drones back on Tsatsos because of your nice gift to me.

Anyways, I just got done talking to the Technocracy on Miriam and we're friends now! They even gave me a doggy!

Now I'm just in my new spaceship looking for the next cool adventure, and thought you might want to go somewhere with me! It could be like old times, but better than old times!

- S'kolli

@Svenka [Tig/M’Ranni]

To: S’kolli
From: Svenka Vilnovha

Hello S’kolli. I hope you are well. I am glad things worked out on Miriam for you. I thought they could be reasoned with and I am glad you were able to do it.

Congrats on your business and dog, I’m sure that is very nice for you.

I was planning to look to the north to see to some Greystar-related business, but it would be nice to see you. What did you have in mind?

- Svenka Vilnovha.

(edited)

(There weren't nearly enough bitter tears in that message)

(

To: S’kolli
From: Svenka Vilnovha 

Hey S’kolli, you kind of interrupted me thinking about sucking on the barrel of a pistol, you havent exactly changed my mind on that front, but I guess you are kind of a diversion. I still remember you almost getting killed when we were last on Miriam. Boy that was some fun.

I look forward to going on an ‘adventure’ with you and probably watching you die horribly, thereby snuffing out another one of the truly bright lights that I have met in my existence.

I would be drinking heavily right now, but I don’t keep alcohol on my ship anymore!

LETS HAVE AN ADVENTURE!

That better?)

3

(So much)

Business stuff isn't very promising... we'll see. He writes back to Svenka. Uhh... is it fun business stuff? I like exploring things and helping people and fixing stuff!

No - It is more likely to be picking through battlefields and if terribly lucky, finding survivors. If we aren’t, a lot of corpses. 

I know you like those things. They are good things to like. 

Are you sure you want to see me? Where do you want to meet?

Well I can definitely help with that! I would like to see you again. My ship is SUPER fast, I can meet you just about anywhere! I'll start heading towards Greystar space and you tell me when you're ready and we'll go somewhere new!

"That settles it, guys! Let's go explore more stuff with my friend Svenka! She's really nice."

1

On the journey towards Acastus, S'kolli spends time with his Ashen One friends and his new dog. One day in the ship's common area, S'kolli is just idly sitting and talking to the dog about anything that comes to mind, like the latest content patch for Dabloonscape, the merits of different drone mods, or stories from days past. The robot companion is a perfect listener. He sits with a cocked head and raised ears like a good boy while S'kolli goes on and on. "... And THAT'S how I got my Platinum Parrot! We even set a server record, you know. Anyways, where was I?..." He trails off and looks at the dog. After a second's thought, S'kolli gasps, and then breaks into a hacking cough from gasping too quickly. "I haven't given you a name yet! How did I not realize it??" He gives a pondering scratch of his respirator-chin. "BARLO! Cause it's like 'Bark,' but it's not! Whadd'ya think?" Like a perfect good boy, Barlo gives a bark of joy. "You got any neat tricks, Barlo?" As if just waiting to be asked, the companion dog-bot shoots over an overload of data to S'kolli's integrated AR vision. S'kolli does his best to keep up with the torrent. "... increased carry capacity... omni-sensor passive observation... solar and thermal recharging... and... medical support?" To punctuate the last bit, a small hydraulic hiss accompanies a small hatch opening on Barlos torso loaded with doses of stims and even a few Lazerus Patches. "ooooOOOOOooooo! You're the best dog ever, Barlo! You're going to come on EVERY adventure!" S'kolli drops to the floor as Barlo stands up on his back legs to give a doggy-hug to S'kolli.

11:16 AM

Barlo the doggo: Pax Drone Frame
🖥️ Tech Level: 5
❤️ HP: 20
🛡️ AC: 16
🦾 1: Heavy Lift
⚕️ 2: Medical Support
📡 3: Observation Suite
🔋 4: Environmental Power

4

Dax Withers pinned a message to this channel. 4/28/2020 11:16 AM

(this is so precious)

(I do my best)

(where were you and Svenka meeting?)

11:24 AM

(did we ever figure that out?)

(nope, I just started flying towards Greystar. My ship has Spike 5, so I could get anywhere she wants pretty easily.)

Academy Endeavor Reward (to take effect after current mission) Level 3 Electrokinesis Technique: Lightning Arc