Iron Stars - talos

Talos Corda awakens in their small apartment on Tsatsos to a message chiming on the wall mounted compad. This late at night telemarketers aren't allowed to call, so this must be an emergency or something else of suitable importance. Outside the sky is bright as it always is on this world of lava and ash. You've made a home here, as have many many other members of your race. The UNW is a large polity and have been giving endless resources for the continued care of your people. Most have found gainful employment and you feel a rare sense of civic duty yourself, and had applied to many expeditions and government offerings over the past few months. The message pings again, a reminder that it is waiting, unopened.

1

Talos throws his legs over the edge of is bunk and pulls himself to his feet. He fiddles with his AR goggles as his tired eyes adjust to the light. Despite his time on Tsatsos, he still hasn't quite adjusted to the circadian rhythm (or lack thereof) of the world. He briefly considers adjusting the contrast on his overlay to account for the obnoxious glow in Tsatsos' nighttime sky as he shuffles across the room. Reaching the compad, he extends a metal laced finger and opens the message. (Do Ashen One's have another demonym or refer to themselves as something other than "Ashen One".? Do they have a common name for their AR goggles?)

1

(Neither of those things ever really came up, but some of the previous Ashen One players have called it AO Net and its been circulated a bit)

The message opens and begins scrolling. It is short, announcing that more details will be provided on scene. The UNW is planning to send a small technical team with attached security to an abandoned pre-scream ruin on the surface of this planet, Tsatsos. Most of the sites have been explored but this one is remote and has not, and they believe some insight into lost technologies might be there, or at least leads toward where some might be. There is a meeting being held come morning in the city administration center where those interested can attend and it is expected from there those selected will be dispatched to the wilds.

Talos reads through the message a second time, slowly waking up. He sighs, realizing that he needs to fall back to sleep to attend the meeting in the morning. "Some time of night to send a message…" Cranky, but excited, Talos spends some time organizing his pack for the morning. Reading the message to himself one final time: "...small technical team…" the irises of his AOnet lenses narrow. "...small technical team, and me, the doctor with no supplies. Best dig up something tomorrow." Talos winds down and attempts to sleep away the rest of the night. (Ready to head to the meeting in the morning, along the way Talos would like to purchase a medkit with his 200 credits)

9sounds good, that's available)

7:18 AM

THe morning meeting sees just ten people there, a mix of human and Ashen with the difference being in Ashen favor. A Tsatsos administrator is in front of the building standing at the top of the steps going through a data pad, and as you settle into the small group it looks like they're about to read, as a map of the planet is projected out of it for you to look at

7:18 AM

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

Tsatsos

7:22 AM

A site to the north of the Rare Metals Mining Camp has been identified as a place where power generation, colonial habitation, and evidence of defenses has been seen by a recon flight, almost at the northern pole of the planet. Instrumentation is difficult to keep working there due to the magnetism and it explains why people have been living here for so long without discovering such a sprawling site. With an influx of potential new refugees coming in the mission is twofold, determining if the colony could be quickly refurbished to support life, and if not, to take whatever is possible from the colony to service the people of Hephestus' Rest, in preparation for waves of new Ashen coming in.

Talos shoulders his way past the humans in the crowd to get a closer look at the projection. He studies the map, tapping his fingertips lightly on his metal scaled forearms. After a few moments he turns to the administor. "Quite a place to remain hidden in plane sight. Any evidence to it's original function? And how long it's been abandoned?" Pacing back and forth in front of the projected map, Talos continues his study as his AO goggles superimpose a rough map of the poles magnetic field lines. "One of the most irritating aspects of this planet -Besides the heat, constant light, ash rain, and risk of the continental plate capsizing, of course - is the magnetic flux. Wreaks havoc on tech. I guess it's no surprise something this large was hard to find. It's what we get for living on a giant ball of viscous iron. Will we be able to connect with AOnet that far out in that mess?" (edited)

“We know nothing about it. The magnetism at the pole prevents all scanning. Our recon flyer was lost and wandered into the area. It’s not even a normal patrol route. AO net might be fuzzy. We will load a comm server with a local@copy of it in the hopes the connection is better but you should be prepared to go without it “

"Well, there's probably not much left to discuss then." Talos steps forward and extends his hand to the administrator. "Talos Corda. I can provide technical and medical support, though I'm not fully supplied for medical duty. You can count me in" (edited)

"Your skill set is perfect for the job, thanks you for coming out and the quick reply. You'll be flown to the location via grav-flyer, and we're going to bring three others along, two for security, and one other specialist. We're looking for observation and information mostly, any large cargo moves can happen at a later time if city admin decides not to rehab the site for the incoming colonists"

(Ready to head out. Talos tries to get to know and assess the skills of the rest of the team on the grav flyer along the way.)

(Did you want to Roleplay that or would you just like a summary. I’m fine with either h

(Summary is fine)

Two of them are soldier types. They’re both human from the RCOE Planetary Defense Force , but seem friendly enough. The other is an ashen one expert. They’re also mechanically minded but their expertise leads more towards computers than engineering. The grav flyer is a boxy vehicle with four powerful vector thrust plate engines and a large crew and cargo bay. There’s enough room for tools and some spare parts but most of the flight is being sent empty to ensure anything portable found can be recovered if habitation of the site looks to be too difficult.

On the flight to the polar complex, Talos makes some small talk with the rest of the team, but mostly tries to catch up on the sleep he missed out on the night prior. (Ready to move to the mission)

(sounds good, I'll get you a colony map shortly!)

(this is a snapshot of it)

3:52 PM

Approaching from the south your attention is first turned to the site of a former Tenebrian Remnant listening post, meant to guard the southern approach to their former colony site. Checking the survey map, this location was not listed or spotted by the flyer.

Speaking the the rest of the crew "It may be wise to check out this outpost. It could give us some clue of what to expect in the larger colony before we get into the thick of it." Talos fixes his eyes on the outpost from the fliers small viewport, trying to see if there is any visible communications equipment at the site.

You do not see any transmission towers or antenna on any of the buildings, but you do see a garage with a ruined groundcar outside of it, couriers must have directly carried messages given the magnetic jamming (edited)

"Doesn't seem to be a connection to the colony proper. Still, Since we're not in rush, we might as well start to investigate here. What do the rest of you think?"

The team agrees and learning what can be learned where possible might make the expedition safer later. The ship prepares to set down in the shadow of the complex leaving you with a 100m walk up the earthen incline

Talos stands tall in the doorway of the flier and gazes out across the harsh landscape as he secures his mask and googles. Taking a step across the threshold, he gracelessly stumbles onto the ash-choked steppe - dropping one of his dangling pouches and scattering some old screws and other odds and ends across the ground. After spending a few seconds embarrassingly scratching up what he can and tucking it away in his billowing cloak he walks over to the waiting team, ready to move up to the outpost. Eyeing the armed security personnel, he asks "Anything in particular you worried about? Anything this one needs to know, hm?"

The local copy of AO net begins booting. There’s nothing known about this place so it hasn’t been overlaid with some of the tags, reviews and so on like the heart of the city but it might pick out some helpful information when you get closer. The security personnel aren’t sure what to make of this place. There might be automated security but if there is, for a listening post like this it’s not supposed to be heavy.

Nodding in the direction of the garage, Talos starts to treck up the slope. He focuses on the wrecked car as he approaches, trying to ascertain what has befallen the remenant machine.

(Notice /wis )

(7)

The vehicle has been left neglected. The harsh environment and it looks like a passing use as a nest by one of the local life forms did the vehicle in. The creature seems to have since moved off

Talos spends a long moment inspecting the car before making his way into the garage proper.

The large bay doors are closed, as well as the adjoining office door. The glass windows have been coated with dust and other windblown pollutants, keeping you from seeing much of the inside.

Taking a few strides to the ash caked building, Talos trys to open the office door.

The hinges look to be slightly warped or even fused due to the ambient heat. The door opens a crack, but otherwise is frozen in place.

Hmm, Best medicine for some heat fused hinges is the liberal application of more heat. With a sigh Talos sets down his bulky toolkit, rifling through it til he finds a scuffed looking plasma cutter. His googles darken in response to peircing point of light formed at the end of the tool as he gets to work attempting to cut the door from it's hinges.

The work takes about half an hour but you have everything on hand, and the hinges glow a cherry red as the door falls outward, quickly caught by other members of the team. The office beyond has four computers in it on desks. They are powered off, and there is an adjoining door leading into the garage proper.

After packing away his tools, Talos steps into the office. Gesturing to the computers, he addresses the Ashen One technician "This stuff might be more in your domain. I'll see what I can find the garage." Talos spends a few moments pacing through the office before trying the garage door. (Name for the other Ashen one technician?) (Talos is looking through the office mostly to figure out if the power is on / where it should be coming from)

(I generally only name NPCs if we end up seeing them a couple times, lest I end up with a legion to effective one offs keep track of)

1:38 PM

Power is off inside the garage now but hooking a type A up to a computer for an hour or two of irregular power is a trivial matter for you to handle given your other skills.

"No power, probably no power for quite a bit." Talos selects the most important looking computer (really, the one that appears to have accumulated the least amount of dust) and wires it to a fresh battery. "S'all yours. Now let's get into this garage". Talos tries the adjoining door.

The adjoining door opens without trouble since it has been inside and more protected from the elements. There is no power in the garage either but on the inside of the building you can see two more grav cars, and four grav bikes have been left inside in various states of being repaired for courier duty.

Talos begins to sort through the grav cars and bikes, looking specifically for data disks or paper messages that may have been left behind. His mechanical mind also can't help but generally assess the operational state of the machines as he works.

You think you can probably cannibalize parts from the other vehicles here to get one of the cars working without too much trouble. Dry rot has set in m but between everything you'll be able to find one of everything. Several dispatches on the wall detail colonization efforts, material demands for the Remnant push to Aslief (where they were later defeated by the local forces and pre-UNW Greenbriar Inc troopers/players) and some personal messages from Remnant families on other worlds to colonists that once lived here. This station looks to have been decommissioned at the height of Remnant power in the region based on the messages, and where they took place in history.

Talos spends a few minutes studying the personal messages, trying to see if there are any clues to the function of the polar colony

It looks as though the colony was meant to be a foothold of civilization here. Studying the magnetic field, mining heavy metals, and hunting the native wildlife to try to commercialize some of their unique properties were all things they thought might help anchor civilization here. Most of the messages just seem like your normal correspondence families or loved ones might hsare with one another.

Nodding to himself, Talos wanders back into the main office, settling in behind the ashen technician. "Odds and ends in the garage make it seem the polar settlement was or would have bene a full fledged colony. Good sign." Looking over the technicians shoulder, he asks "Anything of use in the computer system?"

“More or less confirming what you found in the garage from the sound of things. Got an access code for the garage door. Think you can get one of the cars working?”

(were we dropped off by our flier?)

(yes)

Talos gently rubs a metal tipped finger against his burnished cheek as he thinks. "Yes, yes - I think I can. It will take a bit of work, but it might make the trek farther north a bit more bearable. It will be some time, perhaps you and one of these strapping humans could investigate the other building while I work?"

(if you want to skip over that we can. You're the only real fix expert here so if they run into a door or something they won't be able to do it without you)

8:08 PM

(but if you want to fix the car and leave we can do that too)

"On second thought, I'll head over to the other building as well. It doesn't look like you are equipped to deal with these fused hinges." (I'll go investigate the other building with the rest of the team)

The other homestead building looks like more of an operations center and communications hub for this listening post. The doors here aren’t jammed and the keypad meant to keep them locked shorted out a long time ago, keeping them open. It opens into the center of the building. A storage room is located to the north and the command center to the south

Talos shuffles his way across the clearing and into the building. After taking a cursory glance about the entranceway he heads north to scope out the storage room.

(d100!)

(49)

You manage to pick through the crates. Most of it is junk but you manage to pull a long box out of the back of the storage room- something that looks like it doesnt have the same amount of dust on it as everything else.

Talos mutters to himself as brushes through the almost fluffy volcanic ash dust covering most of the storage crates. "Blasted ash...blasted planet...how does it even get into a sealed room?" He spies a box with a slightly thinner layer of Tsatsos' detritus upon it. He furrows his brow, an old habit that only manages to slightly wiggle his mismatched forehead plates, and cocks his head to the the side. After a moment, he proceeds to open the box.

Roach Harness A close-fitting catsuit with intricately-worked gloves and boots, the roach harness is equipped with integral gravitic stabilizers. The units pull energy from the wearer’s motions, allowing them to move at their normal movement rate even up vertical surfaces or across ceilings. The stabilizers support much of the wearer’s weight, so even surfaces that could not normally bear them can be traversed without difficulty so long as the surface is a solid object. The harness does require a steady feed of input energy while in use, however, and so a user must move at least 10 meters each round they are on a wall or ceiling or else they will fall at the end of their turn.

Talos studies his find intently, allowing his AOnet googles to dance over the tech. He smiles as he realizes the potential of the harness - this might take some of the burden off of these old bones. Satisfied with his find, he packages up the device to carry out of the storage room. (Can Talos tell if this is Remenant tech or something else?) (I can't locate this item, still new here - can you point me to it / let me know the encumbrance?) (edited)

(it is from relics of the lost, but i will get it for you)

3:10 PM

( and it is pre-scream tech, from the Tenebrian Empire days and possibly even further back to the Second Age of Exploration)

3:11 PM

3:12 PM

(so it's street armor, with no encumbrance, and AC5 in original is AC 15 in revised)

3:12 PM

It looks like it will fit you. The armor is well made, and sliding into it looks very easy. It is surprisingly light given the advanced technologies packed into it.

Talos walks from the storeroom towards the command center doors, securing the container with the roach harness to the rest of his baggage - Time enough to try this on later. As he returns to the entranceway, he addresses the rest of the team "There is some serious tech around, even out here in the dust-forgotten outpost. I've got a good feeling that this colony is going to be useful to us." Crossing the room, he looks about the command center.

The command center is dominated by a wall of monitors and a large holo projector in the middle of the room. A set of controls and a communications terminal rounds out the western side of the room. Power is on standby for the moment.

Talos instructs his companion to start looking through the various consoles as he investigates turning on power to the room. (edited)

The reactor can be re-started with a canteen full of water, located down a small hatch in the floor. Power will not last for long, but it will be enough to get an idea of the facility and its contents

(if you have any questions for the data base too, I can have them relay you that information)

Talos works on opening and restarting the buildings reactor. Once power is flowing, he works with the Ashen One technician on efficiently querying the rooms systems.

7:15 PM

(Any specific information on special capabilities or special projects intended for the colony, Final records on the colony and this outpost which might shed light on when and why they were abandoned, and any information on security systems - particularly any automated security systems- which might be active in the colony proper)

There were no special projects being worked on here. The colony was too new. The advance of Greenbriar Inc (the group that was the pre UNW , early on in the game) and several serious losses in naval actions had the Remnant abandoning their frontier worlds to better protect Creusa and Parnika- both important planets to the now defeated polity , and currently worlds the UNW administrates. The main colony admin building has four man sized combat robots that patrol its halls. The city reactor was decommissioned and things like turrets and other automated defenses needing that power source will not function

Talos converses quietly with the technician as they scan the outposts computer system. Satisfied with their findings, he heads back to the garage, breaks out his toolkit, and gets to work putting together the bits and pieces of gravcar into what he hopes will be a servicable vehicle.

It takes close to an hour to cobble a working vehicle together. Six hours of battery life should be enough to get you there and back out into a place where the aircraft that brought you here can pick you back up. Its engine growls a bit louder than normal grav cars would, but it looks to be serviceable enough for now.

Completing his ad-hoc project gives Talos a glimmer of pride. After floating the jalopy from the garage he gives the rest of the team a mocking bow "Your chariot, sirs". As the contingent begins to stow their gear and load into the vehicle, Talos stretches his legs walking to the eastern overlook outside the garage. The Ashen one studies the weathered skeleton jutting from the dunes as he finishes his nearly reflexive ritual of buckling, knotting, and rearranging the various cords holding his packs in place. (Can someone else drive?) (Are the remains something familiar to Talos, or something he hasn't seen before?) (edited)

(Someone else can drive. The withered remains are a lava wurn which are common to Tsatsos)

10:11 PM

The team boards and begins stowing their gear. The grav plates seem to be holding and they’re waiting for your investigation of the remains to complete before heading north to the colony proper.

(Ready to proceed to the colony, on the drive in Talos will try to change into the roach harness)

10:35 AM

From above quick imagery of the colony is supplied to you before the shuttle is forced out of range. The colony is built into the side of what looks like a mountain formation, and your scanners begin to bug out and crackle before shutting down from the interference all together.

Almost as soon as the group embarks, Talos unfurls the the sophisticated harness recovered from the storehouse. The construction of the garment is incredible, inspection of the matte black polymer which makes up the bulk of the suit reveals a network of micron thick piezoelectric strands which serve to imperceptivity harvest kinetic energy from the wearer's movements. The same strands stiffen and cross-link when an external voltage is applied, allowing the the material to support the wearers limbs to scale vertical or even inverted surfaces. The dense network of stranding converges on the palms, elbows, knees, and soles of the garment - Talos superimposes his perception of the system of fibers over the suit in his AO googles - the network is clearly modeled after human musculature. It is quite simply a masterpiece of biomimetics. At the joints and points of convergence in the suit, groups of hexagonal wafers are fed by the labyrinth of strands. Talos has to restrain himself from attempting to dissect the structures - These must be gravitic diodes - If I open them up I will probably never get them back together. He frowns behind his mask At least for now. He hesitantly begins to change into the harness. Responding to the movement, his body heat, or something else entirely the suit contorts and shrinks to match his small stature. The interwoven muscle group analogues twist and writhe until they nestle smoothly against his body. Where he had long ago stripped his flesh and replaced it with the patchwork metal raiment endemic to his people, the strands adopt more angular structures, almost gripping the interstices of the plates. The man sits in shocked silence as the suit adapts itself to his body, and for sometime after.

7:32 PM

Out of grim necessity, the fleshsmiths of Akhlaqi had become quite adept at their trade. The merging of metal and flesh was a skill Talos has practiced his entire life, drawing on generations of collective understanding. This - this was something else entirely. We are mere apprentices - there is so much more than can be done Approaching the colony, Talos studies the crude mapping provided by the scout shuttle . (Talos likes his new digs) (Where can the gravcar approach from ? The south or the west entrance?) (edited)

(The south. We wouldn’t be able to get to that west road from the ground )

3:18 PM

The southern gatehouse is a half completed structure and you can see it was intended to be some kind of divider between the hostile country outside and the island of civilization inside. Half finished gun towers sit open to the sky and the portico meant to hold large metal leaf doors never had them raised into place

Eyeing the gun towers as the car approaches, Talos recalls what they had discovered in the outposts database. "None of the guns should be online, but we need to avoid the administration building until we have a solution for the security bots". It isn't clear exactly what building this is, but Talos figures it will probably look important enough to recognize once they are inside. Looking at the towers and back to the map, Talos taps his metal tipped fingers on the display. "I think we should make our way to the engineering area first. We can probably get a good idea of the condition of the colony from there. Perhaps we can turn on the power and co-opt the facilities security system from there as well". (Ready to head in - assuming we need to ditch the grav car?) (edited)

(Nope we can get right to most of the buildings. There might be a couple places where things are kind of tight but the car can at least get you close)

7:01 PM

(notice/wis, as well)

(7)

There is a loud bang over near the administration building that sounds like something has crumbled or some kind of blast. You're not sure what. The engineering section of the city is ahead where the reactor is kept. The building is one of the most secure and protected, with armored casement sides to contain a blast in the event of a meltdown.

Talos directs the team to approach the entrance to the engineering section. He finds himself on edge, nearly shaking in his seat. His hand rests on one of his more recent acquisitions, a simple laser pistol, as the car moves into the city.

The car stops outside the rector building. It’s armored doors haven’t been opened. It seems like the reactor might be running or at least in standby based on the thin plume of white vapor smoke exiting it’s smokestack.

9:36 PM

There is a small keypad by the doors but otherwise the streets and colony at large seem quiet aside from the vermin that have come to live where the humans that lived here once did

Talos steps out of car, and after making sure is well covered by the security personnel, moves to inspect the door and keypad to see if there will be an easy way in. He also scans the outside of the building, looking to see if there is any signs of a potential entrance above street level or on the roof.

The building was a secure building in life and remains so in this death of sorts it has suffered. A climb to an upper office window well above Street level is possible , as is trying to charm the lock somehow so the blast doors open

The blast doors enclosing the engineering compound are significantly thicker and more rugged than the outer doors at the outpost Talos investigated earlier. He grumbles to himself as he traces the nearly invisible seam in the concrete wall where the heavy doors are seated. He tests his the palm of his roach harness against the wall - the gravitic diodes respond to the surface, pulling his hand against the wall - but the force decays nearly as rapidly as it is engaged. He cranes his neck upward, his narrow snout peeking from beneath his hood, and he studies the upper reaches of the building. Finally, he turns back to the rest of the team. "No cutting through this, at least if we want to finish up this year." Motioning to the ashen one technician, "Come-on, lets see if you get into the keypad, or even better get directly to the analog door controls. I am going to see if I can go up and around, and deal with it from the other side. I want us to get off this street sooner rather than later." Without waiting for a response, Talos attempts to scale the wall to the office window.

(They'll work on it while you're inside)

1:07 PM

You manage to climb up to the window you saw and peer into what looks to be an abandoned office of some sort of former middle management here. You can see a computer, some loose papers, and evidence of someone getting out of here in a hurry. A coat of dust on everything shows no one has been here in some time.

In contrast to the nearly supernatural grace with which he scaled the wall, Talos rolls over the windowsill and into the room in an undignified crash, sending up a small puff of dust. Standing up and brushing himself off, he takes a cursory look over some of the paperwork and looks for the exit of the room.

The office has a door presumably leading out into a hallway with more plant offices like this one for the admin side of operations here. The top paper is a dust covered evacuation order, issued by Remnant authorities.

Talos pulls his cloak tight and peeks out the door. He tries to ascertain the best way back down to to the blast doors from his location.

You have to go down, that much is clear. A stairwell at the end of the hallway to your right seems to head down to that floor. (edited)

The Ashen One slips out the door and begins to make his way down the hallway to right, moving as stealthily as his rattling gait allows.

(sneak/dex)

(6)

You make your way down the short flight of stairs and barely miss the bipedal security robot that rounds the corner just as you make your way down. You can hear the stomp of its foot pads as it makes its way on its unending patrol route

Talos trys to calm his racing heart as he narrowly avoids the security robot. Gritting his teeth, he scans his surroundings on the lower level. This time, he is careful to check the ground for signs of patrol as he makes his way to the blast doors.

The path is well worn into the metal decking. The bot looks to come this way often, but you've got plenty of time to mvoe for now. It looks like the actual plant floor is on this level, and you can see the EXIT signs pointing right, likely leading to the blast doors you saw from the street.

Talos follows the exit signs, making his way to the door.

From this side you can see the door has an emergency flywheel meant to open the bulkhead at street level in the event of power failure or some other emergency where the automated systems don't open it already. You give it a practice turn and it looks like there is some pressure behind its mechanisms. It should open the door if youre quick enough

Nodding in satisfaction, Talos begins to work the blast door open.

There is a large grinding sound as the flywheel releases and begins to winch the doors open. The soldiers make their way inside and level weapons just as the security bot rounds the corner to investigate- and several beams of energy cut it to pieces before it has a chance to react.

(will the gravcar fit through the blast doors?)

(No) (edited)

Talos motions the rest of the team inside. After the the car his inside he closes the blast doors and surveys the room.

Aside from the robot wreckage it looks like you can follow this hallway down and to the left , where you’ll eventually be taken to the control room. Emergency lighting is on, and many of the floor tiles have been corroded but they’ll hold for now

After inventorying his pouches - Talos has found that the more intensely he scurries the more likely it is he will wind up dropping that one spare wirenut he needs - he begins to lead the team down the hallway and toward the control room.

The control room is a large space of computers, readout panels, levers, and buttons. Most of it is dark but you can see a heavy book has been chained to the wall in here, and includes a flash light so it can be read even in low/no power situations

Talos gets to work rifling through what he assumes is an emergency procedure manual - he is looking for diagnostics, information on restarting the colonies reactor, and any information on interfacing with / subverting the automatic security protocols.

This manual looks to strictly deal with the reactor. It was shut down with a moderate fuel load and can be restarted from this control room, bringing some additional functionality to the colony and the computer systems here

After his review of the manual, Talos turns to his security contingent "Right - so I'm going to power this place up. I'm not sure sure what the status of the automatic security system is, but you two should bar the doors and keep sharp." Turning to his Ashen one companion "be ready to try to override anything we don't like. Worst case I'll attempt to manually disconnect as much as I can sort out." After issuing his instructions, Talos stretches his fingers over his head, winces at the audible pop that issues when one of his corroded finger joints reseats itself, and gets to work restarting the reactor.

(Program/int)

(5, expert re-roll to 8)

1

The startup process is largely automated after the first two hours as you follow the manual. Lights and power begin to appear across the colony.

As the lights return and more and more of the colonies systems begin to boot up, Talos gets to work identifying the power and data lines associated with the automated defense systems. He looks for any mechanism to take control or override the automated turrets. Barring that, he starts to map out where he might manually cut power to make the facility safe for further operations.

(our program check from before is good enough, you'll be able to rout power away from the defenses if we want to from here)

Talos systematically works through the piping and instrumentation diagram associated with the colony reactor, disconnecting or rerouting power and control signals associated with the facilities automated defense systems. After checking, and re-checking his work, he plots down into a dust covered chair. "I should have made safe the majority of the automated security systems." Pausing, and raising a finger to his cheek "Well, except for those autonomous bots - We counted 4 from the records at the outpost, so 3 are still unaccounted for." Recalling the rough overhead map from the flier: "I guess we know the status of the colonies power station. Let's, see, to make a full report-" The Ashen one counts each item on his fingers "life support, medical, water treatment, agriculture. Plus, we should try to get an idea on what good might be warehoused here. They seem to have left in a hurry, all the better for us." Though the list is logical, Talos is still puzzled - Why site what appears to be a completely run of the mill colony directly on top of such a problematic magnetic pole? On such an already damn-problematic planet? While waiting for a response from the rest of the team, he takes a look through the colony schematics to see if there are any other out of the ordinary facilities that might warrant a closer look.

(3xp, 5000 credits )

7:21 PM

(We can do the level up and if you want to take a deeper look you can. You’ve made the area possible to be explored and charted which was the basic goal of things. I don’t want to trap you here unless you want to be here )

(I'll need to get to the level up tomorrow - Talos is sick of being cooped up in his apartment and is generally interested in the mystery of this place. If he has found anything else that piques his interest or seems out of the ordinary he would want to stay and investigate)

The settlement here does indeed serve a dual purpose as you suspected. The Remnant were looking into starship shielding technology here, and a small lab situated in the colony right on top of the pole was meant for this dangerous work. There are no local networks to connect to and you'd need to venture there personally and overcome its own security measures to see if they were successful, or if not, why their experiments failed.

Level Up Level: 2 Focus: Healer 1 Old HP: 7 HP Roll: 2d6+2 [9] New HP: 9 New Skills: Fix 1 (2 SP), Program 0 (1 SP), Sneak 0 (1 SP) Current AB: 1

7:53 PM

(Will I still have the help of the security team / technician I am with now?)

(Yeah if we aren’t leaving the team will stick around)

As Talos continues his study of the restored colonies systems, he stumbles across the location of a lab, directly and on the pole. Portions of the lab would be subjected to some of highest magnetic flux density on the planet. Given the dynamo at the core of Tsatsos, this could be some of the most intense natural magnetism present on a habitable planet for light years. The Ashen One can barely contain his glee as he describes his findings to the rest of the team.

8:06 PM

"There might be some really novel tech sealed up in this lab, eh? UNW will for sure be interested, might as well be us that gets the first look" Talos directs the team to pack up as he tries to determine the best course to the lab sector.

8:06 PM

(Will take the car with it makes sense to do so)

(Sure can!)

8:35 AM

The lab is close to the center of the city and you pass uncounted now deactivated turrets that would have made the approach a death trap had you not taken the actions you did. The building is stone, and you can see has been lined with inert materials to help shield what is inside. Most of it seems to be underground aside from this access area, the lobby beyond, nd judging by the machinery you can see on the roof some kind of industrial grade lift.

Talos steps out of the gravcar and trudges trudges toward the entrance, kicking up a swirl of the Tsatsos' omnipresent ash along the way. Motioning for the rest of the team to follow, he wastes no time trying to find his way into the structure.

1

The doors are the security models you're familiar with by now, but There is also some kind of scanner that goes with it, needing a handprint or eye scan to allow entry.

Talos inspects the door and scanner system, and attempts to bypass the lock.

It looks like@you’ll need to spoof at least one of the biometrics to get in, but you don’t need to have both thanks to the rudimentary electronic workaround you’re able to create (edited)

Satisfied that he is at least somewhat capable of dealing with door, Talos takes a step back to more thoroughly inspect the structure and the surroundings. Maybe I can find some...uh...spare parts in medical

You did notice a hospital on the map a few blocks back. It might be a place to get what you need.

Nodding to himself, Talos beckons to the rest of his team and makes his way through the colony to the hospital.

(I'll get you an interior map)

(coming in from the right where those elevator looking doors are)

The ER Floor / ICU Hospital Battle Map : r/cyberpunk2020

Nekosmash pinned a message to this channel. 1/12/2022 10:00 AM

The space is suspiciously clean upon entering. Lights and power are also still working here and you can hear many machines still giving signals showing they’re active

Talos enters building expecting another ash strewn vault, but is taken aback by the relatively clean state of the facility. Scanning the room, he takes in the alien yet familiar implements of medicine. Could almost be a clinic back on Akhlaqi - Well, maybe if it there was a lathe and some more metal bits about He takes a moment to take in the sights and sounds of space. He listens closely to the beeps and groans of machinery, as well as for any of the metal-on-metal clacks which might betray another security bot.

The only foot steps you here are your own. The other sounds are more system status indicators, letting doctors and other staff know the machines are working so they do not have to look.

8:21 AM

The hospital being one of the more important places within the colony, effort has been made to keep it clean and protected.

The Ashen one adjusts lowers his hood and makes his way into the hospital. He looks about the room for a map or a directory, and then for the morgue.

The elevators look to have power and can bring you to the basement where the morgue is located. A small placard advises cold weather gear might be needed for a longer term stay down there, as they've had to compensate for the natural heat of the planet with industrial grade refrigeration.

Talos mutters to himself "This planet is too damn hot anyway" as he enters the elevator and descends toward the morgue.

The morgue is a simple place of stainless steel and freezing temperatures. There are thirty shelves with doors for bodies on the left wall and a small incinerator on the back wall where the bodies would be burned after autopsy. There is a clean and currently empty autopsy table to the right with a basic set of tools.

5:39 AM

It seems like several of the shelves are still occupied

Steeling himself for what are likely some old corpses, Talos walks past the occupied slabs. He inspects the slabs for tags or paperwork which might provide some clue to their forgotten occupents. Someone or security, or perhaps a scientist who might have been attached to the lab

You’re able to find both a security trooper and a lab intern down here. The chillers have been working this whole time and you do not notice any smell in the air. The units chug and cough as they breathe more chilled air into the space. If it’s this cold you might be able to harvest the bio data you need for the lock. (edited)

1

Talos works quickly, bringing the intern to the autopsy tabel. After inspecting the body to ascertain their cause of death, he removes an eye to spoof the labs security system.

(would be a heal/int for the cause but the grisly work of removing the eye is routine enough where you can do this without damaging it or otherwise failing to do so. )

(heal/int 8)

You can see that the patient was in good health at the time they died up until it actually happened. They died suddenly by a clot in the heart they never knew about that dislodged and traveled up to their brain. It was Like suddenly turning off a light switch

8:40 PM

You’re able to harvest as much organic material as you need to bypass the locks

Packing away the technicians bits and peices, Talos heads back to the laboratory entrance to gain access.

1

1

The grisly trophies do their intended job and there is a loud chime as they secure system is disarmed. The airlocks open and they reveal a reception area , with a locker room attached. A decontamination chamber leads into the lab proper

Noticing the decontamination airlock, Talos searches through the locker room for PPE or any information on the setup and potential hazards of the laboratory.

It looks like this is designed to get any sort of static and dirt from outside off you so it does not hurt the environment inside the lab proper. There is a static proof set of gloves and boots but nothing indicating a deadly virus is inside

Talos nods to himself as he looks through the supplies and the airlock. Typical clean room gear. Must have been building something pretty sophisticated down there As the Ashen one prepares to enter the decontamination airlock, he looks down at his body. As is the case for anyone who spends more than a few minutes in the planets atmosphere, his outer clothing is completely riddled with volcanic ash. He spends a few moments knocking himself to clean to make the decontamination chamber's job just a little bit easier before cycling the airlock.

The airlock cycles and you emerge on the other side. TENEBRIAN REMNANT APPLIED RESEARCH- YOU ARE THE DIFFERENCE! a faded morale poster say, hanging from the wall on slack metal cording. You see several work stations have been set up in this room and four of them look operable. Each has a work bench, a 3D printer, and a computer system running at full power attached to it.

Talos circles the room with a measured pace, circling the room and taking a look at the workstations and printers before stopping at one and attempting to log into the computer. (Talos will stop at a workbench if something appears to be in the 3D printer, otherwise just the one nearest the door)

None of the benches have active prints right now. They are connected to modeling computers though and as you get close to one it powers up, sensing proximity of someone the security system has marked as authorized.

Talos sits down in front of the workstation, sighing as his chafed knee joints slide apart. He makes a mental note to clean them out - Damned dusty planet as he begins to explore the workstations active computer.

8:09 PM

(Been a bit busy the past few weeks, hopefully should be able to get on the computer every day again)

(no worries! You can ask this computer questions and we can get some data from it)

Talos queries the remnant workstation: "What is the purpose of this facility?"

This facility was working on ship energy shielding as an alternative for the metal plate armors in use by ships today (edited)

"What is the level of completion of the project?"

The project is only a quarter of the way complete. Experiments with types of energy being used, polarity, and the types of projectors used to maintain the energy screen have all been met with mixed results and none have proved satisfactory for a combat situation.

"Are there any hypothesized non-combat uses for the technology in it's current state?"

This facility did not look into those types of applications for the project, and did not blunder on to any accidentally with their current progress.

(okay, so we're back on Tsatsos, looking into that Remnant facility where they were working on some shielding tech)

Talos looks through the computer system, looking for a way to download relevant data from the project. If there are any prototype files he will see if he can send something to the attached print.

9:09 PM

(I'm assuming I should add the XP / credits from the other story after this thread is complete?)

(we can do it now, im not worried aobut it)

(Can help you with it if you are leveling, just let me know)

Level Up Level: 3 Focus: - Old HP: 9 HP Roll: 13 New HP: 13 New Skills: Know 0 (1 skill point) Heal 2 (3 skill points) Current AB: +1

(okay, now we can get a program/int, to see what we can access)

(Program/Int 11)

There is a testing pylon array you're able to download, what the scientists here were using to try to project the energies they were experimenting with, but nothing further could be developed since the basic building blocks of the project had not yet been worked out.

Talos studies the schematics, simultaneously scrolling through the remnant display as his AO googles expand and supplement the information. Though some concepts of physics connect to his experiences, after a few minutes he leans back from the console. This is clearly important, but incomprehensible to me. Someone back in the city will make better use of it for sure. Talos copies the files into his dataslab, and makes his way out of the laboratory. A crease in his cheek plates and slight upturn of the remains of a lip which might constitute a frown in a more comprehensible face follows him from the clean lab to the bright, ash caked Tsatsos daylight. This tech was important to the remnant; important enough to build this colony, and they just left it. Didn't even both to destroy the lab. Strange. Exhausted and somewhat fried from the nearly cycle long daylight this close to the poles, Talos makes his way back to the rest of the team to begin preparations for his return to Hephaestus Rest. (edited)

(3xp, 5000 credits. I'm good for anything you want to dive into. We'd have done the Chloe mission in itme after this, so you'd be returning to wherever we're going as something of a hero)

Level Up Level: 4 Focus: - Old HP: 13 HP Roll: 20 New HP: 20 New Skills: Wisdom +1 (1 skill point) Fix 2 (3 skill points) Current AB: +2

(any idea what we might want to get into next? )

(not hyper specific, but. I'm thinking Talos is a little self conscious about his lack of formal medical training - Ashen one chop shop isn't really equivalent to a full on UNW doctor. Perhaps looking for an assignment with some medical detail where he could learn some more and maybe solve some problems along the way. Maybe an assignment under a ships medical officer ala star trek?)

(Actually, Iumi was about to reach out to you for some possible help curing a zombie plague . Interested? )

12:58 PM

(this is kind of a half way, I think)

(Yea let's go for it!)

2

After seeing off Iumi, Talos reports to the commander of the city encampment to check if everything is in place for the production and distribution of the vaccine. In parallel, he reports his findings to UNW command and enquires about the possibility of bringing a secured sample of the virus off world for further study.

(Would you want to focus on finding more places to distribute the cure to, or study off world?)

(I'm ready to move on from the planet, would be interested in finding another hotspot where Talos might contribute - Eventually interested in joining a ship where might be able to work on the virus more while in transit etc. Trying to suss out where to go from the federation hall posts at the moment)

(Roach Harness has been added to your sheet! Enjoy!)

(There's a lot of border worlds, and a few fed issues we can contribute to if you need some info)

(how about looking into possible Ashen One survivors? )

(sure! Is there a specific thread I should check to get caught up on anything?)

(there isn't a character thing to catch up on. just an old thread I was goping you;d resurrect!) (edited)

(there is a group of possible Ashen One renegades on the planet you all were saved from, and they have some kind of orbital weapon that microwaves ships coming too close. Robert met them once and they wanted to be left alone,but he was a human)

(ok, yes I recall that thread - Talos would be interested in checking in on home)

(going back in Robert's thread and doing a search would probably reveal some loose threads, but thats a few years ago IRL at this point)

9:10 AM

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

Akhlaqi

Nekosmash

(going back in Robert's thread and doing a search would probably reveal some loose threads, but thats a few years ago IRL at this point)

(ok I'm in!)

(I believe we're looking at 7 days downtime from Draemea to there, if you want to shop we can do so now)

(I will install bubbleseal onto my roach harness during the travel time and purchase a bioscanner for $5,300 total) After saying his goodbyes on Draemea, Talos returns to fold of the UNW. Looking for a new assignment, he comes across recent reports from Akhlaqi and arranges transport to his former home.

Entering orbit over the planet a week later you see the wreckages of the once proud colony ships on the surface. Additionally, you see the object mentioned in Robert's report, the Palance, where his first ever ship was shot down by the microwave weapons fitted into its battlements. The ship was able to limp back to Terezinho, but by then the microfractures were irreparable and the ship was never able to sail again. It was rumored that there might be more of the Ashen One people inside, though their intentions seemed more hostile or insular than the rest of the eager refugees agreeing to the initial extraction on the surface of the planet.

Talos stares down from orbit at the steaming planet where he was born. The last image of Akhlaqi he took in was from the same point of view, aboard a UNW rescue ship, leaving the system so many years before. Talos instructs the crew of the ship to send a transmission to the Palace. He settles into the sharp dialect of old Akhlaqi - the Ashen one language of Tsastos had already begun to diverge from that of the old world, softened in part by the exposure and adoption of all manner of foreign by the diaspora. "Salutations - this is Talos Cords of Akhlaqi. I bring goodwill, supplies, and medical support aboard this vessel. My kin, we have been spared the indignity of the pale death and returned to our place amongst the community of the stars. I seek to understand your continued presence here. Awaiting your response. Live and rust." His transmission finished, Talos lets out a deep breath and looks about the bridge of the vessel. Hopefully their response is in a conventional frequency

You can see that the signal is received. It does not bounce back or dissipate into the ground like a signal that is not run through a receptor does. Someone is down there listening, but does not reply for the moment.

From the soft glow of the bridge Talos stares down at the surface. Well, at least they didn't try to microwave us Cocking his head to the side, the doctor addresses the crew. "Unless anyone has any better ideas, I suppose I should walk up and knock?"

"Maybe land outside the range and try to take a boat over? better than getting cooked- what do you think?" one of the crew asks.

"I will be quite... exposed on the water." Talos looks down and fidgets, metal fingers spinning the UNW icon on his lapel. "But I guess being direct and approaching without any show of force is what we should be doing. Very well, let's head to the surface."

(Which side of the lake did you want to set down at? )

(near crash site 2)

(;ets get a notice./wis as we set down)

Talos Corda

used /roll

Error: + is not between two numbers!

Talos Corda

used /roll

Talos Corda Request: [2d6+1] Roll: [2, 2] Result: 5

You don't see anything on the opposite bank or in the shadow of the fortress watching you. The water looks to be crisp and clear and your visor begins scrolling with the familiar warnings you remmeber from your time when this planet was home. Viral levels are normal here, but even normal is enough to re-infect any living tissue with the horrible flesh eating illness.

Talos processes the deceptive calm of the water as he lands. He shivers, memories of the agony of the plague taking more and more of his flesh as a young man bubbling to the forefront of his mind. That pain was quickly replaced by the seeping horror and disbelief of seeing more and more his body being replaced by vaguely ordered bits of spare parts and as the illness progressed. Eventually, Talos came to see the beauty of the work, a grim necessity of his continued existence. There was a macabre creativity that came with the art - and the Doctor took some pride in the solutions he had implemented when times were tight. Still, he shudders This old body, doesn't have much more flesh give up he muses, as he decides to hold off on engaging his suits newly devised bubble seal. Things might get worse later on Talos continues survey the landing site, and tries to discern the easiest path to the fortressm

The lake looks to be the shallowest around the southern shore, though there does not seem to be a way to get to it without crossing the water. The builders of this mighty place chose that location for a reason, it seems.

Searching through his dataslate, and stirring through his old memories of his homeworld, Talos looks to identify a site where he might find some scrap to turn into a boat - an old settlement or ruin of a colony ship might work.

You think there might be an old listening post on the south shore that might have something at it that you can use

Talos sets off for the listening post, continuously monitoring the viral levels as he travels.

(notice/wis)

Talos Corda

used /roll

Error: + is not between two numbers!

Talos Corda

used /roll

Talos Corda Request: [2d6 + 1] Roll: [6, 2] Result: 9 Reason: notice/wis

You see nothing observing you and the viral level for now is holding, but it is still not a pleasant place to be. The listening post is a broken down shack made of thin metal and electronics where once radio and signal traffic would be listened for and decoded among the various crash sites. A sense of tribalism among the various isolated communities had begun to develop as resources dwindled and rescue looked impossible. Many had taken up military like missions and endeavors to protect themselves, and rescue had come at almost the perfect time.

(archiving for now, until you're ready to pick back up)