Iron Stars - cbss-scrap-smith-mission

From across the @CBSS , agents come together to meet in the sky over Vari to discuss an upcoming mission through the L-Gate, to re-gain momentum with the Scrap Smiths and see what might be necessary to secure the flow of pre-tech scrap through the gate to restore scientific industry on this world. The defense platform is quiet, manned by only a skeleton crew and there are many places on it make a private area for you all to talk amongst yourselves before heading planetside. (This mission is out of time, for all CBSS folks)

Styx finds a room not far outside of the hangar where his ship is docked and is shocked that he's the first to arrive. He goes back to his ship and pulls out some poster board from his crafts cubby. It's a weird hobby to have, but he enjoys it. He makes a sign that says, "CBSS MEETING ROOM" and grabs some tape and heads to the fridge. He retrieves a large, cellophane covered platter filled with crackers, cheeses and chocolates from the fridge and smiles. He loves a good team meeting. He returns to the room he discovered and tapes the sign next to the door, then he heads inside and sets the platter on the table. He looks at it for a moment before moving it about an inch to the left, and then he takes a seat and waits for his comrades to arrive. (edited)

Parsnips stands for a moment in front of the sign, admiring the craftsmanship behind it. "Whoever made this has a real passion for sign making!" His eyes find the tray of goodies as he enters the room. "Oooh! Snacks! The Party nevergives us snacks at these things!" "Oh, hey Styx! Excited to see what's on the other side of the gate?" The words are barely perseptable around a mouthful of cheese and crackers.

Dimitri is walking around just admiring the emptiness of the entire place. He eventually stumbles in front of the sign and the looks in. Seeing the others he heads in, “Oh comrades! Ya know, I was lost for a little bit exploring the station. Real weird seeing how empty it is.” He says grabbing a handful of cheese to snack on as he grabs stands off to the side.

"Welcome, welcome! Please enjoy the snacks, comrades. A little token of my appreciation for all that we do out there in the stars that don't even seem to have a number," he says as he pulls out a chair and points to it while looking at Dimitri. "I am excited, yes! I always relish the chance to see something new."

Vanon takes a few moments as he walks through the station to wistfully look over the planet through the viewports. Just as I left you He sees the homemade sign and smiles a bit. His smile grows wider seeing the plate of snacks. "Greetings comrades. Good to see you all."

"Thanks for bringing snacks, Styx! Makes these briefings go by a lot quicker. Vanon! Dmitri! I've been following the reports coming out of Angelos! You guys are really tearing it up out there!"

Vanon waves off the praise. "Nonsense, we just give nudges here and there to show the citizens there what's possible." He grins at Dimitri. "Though I suppose a few nudges have been more forceful than others."

Dimitri takes a seat and helps himself to the cheese, smiles as he slowly works his way through the plate are exchanged as others talk. Though at the mention of Angelos he can’t help but speak up, “Well when things are that bad, sometimes you need a bit more force in the push. And sometimes you press the wrong button and cause an APC to catch fire.”

Parsnips gives a hearty chuckle. "Happens to the best of us! But really, I am a huge fan of the work you're doing, inspiring workers to take what their bosses owe them!"

Konya wanders around the station, a little aimlessly never having been here before, until she sees the sign. Sighing gratefully, she heads in to the room cautiously until she spots the cheese. "Cheese!" she shouts, stealthily slipping her hand in to grab some before the stranger munching his way through the plate can finish it. "...and comrades. I don't think we've met before, I'm Konya." She clears her throat, and nibbles on her cheese, a little embarrassed. "Thanks to whoever brought the snacks."

"You're welcome! Oh, and nice to meet you too. I should have gotten more cheese apparently, but chocolates are my faves so... here we are," he gestures at the chocolates and then tosses one into his mouth. (edited)

Dimitri stops having put a dent in the plate, he smiles and gestures to it with a smile. “Dimitri, it’s a pleasure Konya. Feel free to have some more, I didn’t realize how hungry I was haha. Getting used to field rations makes regular food all the more satisfying.” He says leaning back. He looks at the assembled group and thinks for a second. “I’m curious, has anyone been across this Gate? It’s amazing some of the stories I’ve heard about the other side.”

“It’s been a long while since any of our people crossed the gate. I only know what I’ve read in the reports. Definitely exciting stuff.” Parsnips extends his hand to Konya. “Hello, comrade. Nice to finally meet you. I’m Parsnips.”

Konya takes his hand and shakes firmly. "Pleasure, I've heard of you of course." She glances around the room, "I've think I've heard of all of you in fact. Don't know much about this gate though." With that Konya gives her full attention back her cheese, surreptitiously grabbing a chocolate for after.

"Welcome." Vanon says, nodding at Konya. "I've seen some of your initial reports from Angelos and they look very promising. Glad to have you on the team." He tosses a cracker in his mouth. "But I think we're all here because we don't know enough about the gate or what's behind it, yes?"

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

Biputer

6:09 PM

(This is what we know about their world. This is on WA so all characters would know this or could look it up in universe easily )

"Remember that terrifying two headed killer robot looking thing that went viral on the net not too long ago? Pepperidge Farm remembers."

1

"If I'm reading the reports right, that two header killer robot is our contact over there. Apparently a pretty nice guy, according to the last field agents who went over there."

"Oh, I didn't actually read the article. Cool, cool, cool."

(May as well get into the business. The plan is to land there and go through, but there are many clans behind the gate, and we don't know what we might be walking into, some pre-planning might be smart)

Parsnips throws one last cheese-topped cracker into his mouth and sits down at the conference table, pulling up Biputer field data on the room's main console. "Ok, let's get into it. It's been a long while since anyone crossed the gate, but we know it's a dangerous spot. Environmental hazards as well as a state of near constant tribal war, fueled by brutal but advanced tech." Parsnips pauses for a breath, cracking his knuckles before continuing. "We're there for two reasons. One, re-establish relations with the Scrap Smiths, and two, acquire a shitload of pretech to rebuild our labs on Vari. We're going to need to be ready for a harsh environment, and an unstable, probably hostile greeting. We'll need backup. Heavy frigate can carry us and about 100 marines, might as well bring 'em all. Since we don't know what we're walking into, I suggest we send an advance team in first to scout it out, find a suitable base of operations, and bring in the rest. Then we try to make contact with the Smiths and go from there. Thoughts?"

Mobius, being the one closest to the gate somehow manages to be one of the last to arrive. Might be better to not ask him how. "Hey there, sorry I'm late..." He says with a shotgun in his back and duffel bag on each hand "...Did anyone say scouting ahead? I volunteer!." putting animosities aside, he looks around and see unfamiliar faces. "Oh, I'm Mobius btw. Your friendly-ish mosk err investigative journalist." He waves around politely before grabbing a seat.

Styx gives him a two fingered salute and a wink.

“Hi Mobius, good to meet you. Solid plan Parnsips. Do we know what they’re fighting over? If it’s resources we can get our hands on might be an idea to take some with us to earn some favours?”

Vanon nods at Konya. "Yes, perhaps an assortment of goods to showcase if we're thinking we might need to trade for the pretech."

"Likewise Konya." he replies before also winking back at Styx "I'm thankful and honored to have you legends here, joining forces helping stabilize the planetary situation. I have a couple questions and a suggestion. Regarding priorities: we have the pretech junk demands, but also a need for a research partnership of sorts, right? Would we also like to search for ways to help workers emancipate themselves in this planet, or is this a limited partnership only?" And he lights his 1st cigarette in a couple days, a new personal record "Either way I'd like to recommend we bring a team, or at least a couple, of Vari representatives. They may better express their needs and expectations in person.

"I'm all for helping to facilitate a direct relationship between our people on Vari and the Smiths, but I think it's a bad idea to bring them in now. We don't know what the situation even is over there. Let's establish a safe line of communication first, and then bring in a Vari team when we can be a little more certain they won't get blown up right away."

"Sounds good! Just wanted to double check what our priorities are."

“Just a thought, maybe don’t send the whole frigate over? Don’t want to give the impression of conquerors, and a massive ship may start some things. If the gate works keep it staged at the ready to go then jump on over if need be to provide backup, or whatever. Just my two credits, otherwise I like the plan.”

(I don't think a frigate could fit through the gate anyway. We're talking about a Stargate size, not an Expanse Ring. I was only suggesting we bring a frigate's worth of marine backup, not the whole ship. Sorry, I know what I wrote was a little confusing. I forgot we were already on Vari and was thinking we still needed to travel there)

(All good, I’ll be honest haha star gate seemed big enough lol so I ran with it. That actually clears things up a bit.)

(Clearly you haven't seen stargate, lol) "Let's go go talk to those scary robots and see what they want from us. I bet we can come to an understanding. What could scary robots even need? Oil? Bullets?" Styx gets lost in thought trying to think of everything a robot could need. "A good screw?" He giggles.

(If "like a stargate" is going to cause confusion, then just stick with about truck sized, so large ground vehicles could fit through, but star ships could not. Aircraft would have to be taken through in pieces and assembled on the other side)

"Ooh, what if we each got in a mech and pretended to be scary robots too?! No, that's stupid. That's stupid right?" Stys says, hoping it isn't.

Against his better judgement, Parsnips lets out a chuckle at Styx's musings, before screwing his professional demeanor back on. "Whatever size and shape the Smiths take, remember that they are, or at least were, our friends. We've made contact with them before, and they helped us out. We won't know what we can offer them in return until we re-establish contact. I like the idea of bringing some samples of things we have in abundance that we can offer in trade, but we should also be ready to offer them aid in bringing stability to their region."

"Yes." "To both the mech and the sampling ideas." he quickly adds pause "Dimitri, think that in a way the soldiers and hardware are also a showcase. There are resources like governance/coordination and military that they might be eager to trade for, more than the traditional natural ones." (edited)

He shrugs. “Fair enough, just don’t wanna make things more difficult for us. I think we’ll be ok, I mean hell I’m part machine haha.” He says tapping his hand with a metal ting it rings.

"Well, sounds like we are all nearly in agreement. Comrade, " he says, turning to Pansnips. "will you be assuming command of our forces? If hostilities are a possibility when we cross, we should make sure we are organized for our defense."

“No reason why I’d be in any more command than anyone else here. I think those of us in this room will form the central command of the mission. We’ll decide together how to proceed”

"I think he's talking about the enlisted soldiers awaiting our orders on the frigate, Parsnips. Should we need them, that is," He nods in Vanon's general direction and continues, "I do agree with Vanon here though. I think it's wise to have a contingent of soldiers positioned at the gate should this whole thing go south and a retreat is our only option. You don't know what scary robots plans are. They don't share that information with meat bags like us." (edited)

"Ok, so we're in agreement, then? Advance team goes in to scope out the situation and establish a base, then we send for the rest of the crew?"

“Agreed, let’s go step beyond the gate and see some crazy stuff.” He says with a smile.

"Agreed."

Konya jumps up from where she was harvesting the last of the cheese. "Agreed, I'm ready! Oh wait." She stops for a second, closes her eyes and appears to be in a trance. "Alright, now I'm ready." She stops again. "Actually, do we have any other psychics in the group?" (Fade active, 2/3 effort remaining)

(Lemme know when you’re all set !)

(I’m ready too)

(I’m set!)

A shuttle is prepared to bring you down to the surface first, to explore something of the temple and the portal within. Upon message from the advance team that things are safe, Sickle 1 will descend to the surface and will deploy its marine contingent to begin shoring up the site.

Parsnips gives the top of his helmet a few taps after it clicks into place. “Alright folks, look alive!”

Vanon adjusts a couple straps on his own gear and nods to Parsnips.

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun]

Konya jumps up from where she was harvesting the last of the cheese. "Agreed, I'm ready! Oh wait." She stops for a second, closes her eyes and appears to be in a trance. "Alright, now I'm ready." She stops again. "Actually, do we have any other psychics in the group?" (Fade active, 2/3 effort remaining)

Mobius discreetly winks at Konya. He doesn't like disclosing his limited powers, but from one psychic to another he would disclose some of his teleporting powers

The shuttle makes way to land, coming to a rest after twenty minutes of orbital transit on an island, west of the main continent. The island is small, only two square kilometers wide- and about as long. Loose trees have grown around the island and a small slope leads up to the crumbling complex of stone buildings that once formed a compound around the gate. Landing on the southern beach, the shuttle lowers its ramp and the salt smell of spray begins filling the interior- much more pleasant than the recycled air of a starship.

Stepping off the ramp and onto the sandy soil beneath, Parsnips flips his visor up to get a stronger whiff of the air. "That smell always makes me want taffy. Maybe we can find some when we get back." His visor still flipped up, he takes a few steps forward to get a better look around. (shit, I just realized I totally forgot about my henches.)

Mobius tentatively follows after the legendary Parsnip, his specialist exo-skeleton still new to his spatial awareness

(If you want them to be here they can)

Styx, looking around at everyone fidgeting with their gear, makes sure his fly is zipped up. It wasn't.

Vanon steps off to the side as they make landfall and sifts some sand through his hands. His first homecoming in a while. He takes but a brief moment before joining the rest of the group and starts heading up the slope. "We're going to need to do some renovations once we get this gate back into regular service, technology like this deserves good housing."

Konya blinks rapidly against the bright light, takes a deep breath and sighs contentedly. "This is a nice change, Angelos was freaking cold." Catching the tail end of Vanon's comment she nods as she looks around, "It could definitely use some love."

(thanks, Neko! Hench intro post incoming): Two more figures rush down the ramp toward Parsnips. One is taller, with a close cropped haircut, field combat uniform in impeccable order, laser rifle slung over their shoulder. They are more or less dragging a shorter man down the ramp. He is disheveled, still struggling with the straps of his armor. Digitally enhanced tattoos make lewd gestures as they climb up and down his arms. The taller one reaches Parsnips first. "Sorry, boss. This one wasn't ready yet, as usual." Parsnips nods and turns toward the rest of crew. "I don't think I've introduced my team yet." He gestures toward the taller of the two. "This is Lennox. They joined up during the liberation of Solus. The other one's Case. He's...also here." (edited)

The mosk with an exo skeleton over his exo skeleton nods and waves at the two (edited)

Styx laughs and says, "Also here. Classic Case."

The buildings on the hilltop ahead look to be undisturbed, and no one has been here for quite some time. The reports seem accurate thus far at least. Aboard the ship the marine contingent is mustering and will begin digging in once you’re through

Parsnips takes a deep breath in and out before flipping his visor back down and heading up the hill. “Just visiting old friends, is all.” He sounds like he’s trying to convince himself as much as the rest of the team.

Styx summons his goat companion and tells him to run up and scout ahead for us. "That's Boots. He's going to go check things out up there. I see what he sees."

The site is empty except for you. The gate is active. Nothing had come through in the absence of CBSS personnel here.

"Hey, that sounds really cool, Styx."

“Alright then, no time like the present, right?” Parsnips steps up to the gate and presses through

(oh we haven't crossed yet) Mobius follows behind

Konya nods at the new arrivals, stretches her shoulders and follows through the gate.

Moving to the other side you emerge into a large cave built into a mountainside. A long and winding path that sharply doubles back on itself a few times descends to the wasteland floor below where it looks like a group of scavengers is picking through the bodies and wreckage left behind from a nearby battle.

6:38 AM

Blackened vehicles are being worked over by about a dozen locals, themselves a mix of organic and machine though the mechanical seems to be the majority.

"We should probably wait until they clear out before heading out any further. Don't want to risk getting into a firefight so soon after crossing." As he speaks, Parsnips hands his binoculars over to Lennox so they can get a closer look at the scavengers

Vanon emerges from the gate and joins the group at the mouth of the cave. "Yes, we should take care not to be spotted for now too. They might not know about this gate, and it's probably best to keep it that way."

Konya pulls out her own binoculars, flicking to the low-light setting and having a look for herself. She holds them out for anyone else who wants to look. "I can try and sneak a bit closer and see if I can pick up any of what they're saying? Might be useful information."

(I thought for sure we had already crossed lol) Styx passes through, and after a few moments of disorientation, he listens to the conversing of the others and surveys the scene. He turns to the group and says, "Well, not much of a welcome, but I suppose we didn't tell anyone that we were coming. I expected someone to be watching the gate at least though. If they spot you, Konya, we'd be in for a fight for sure, and you'd be particularly exposed. I'm sure you can handle yourself," he says looking at her bladed weapons, "but it seems an unnecessary risk considering our primary mission here."

"Can any of you see any faction markings? Parsnips, could you recognize friendly faction emblems, or any marking at all?" He raises one arm to the side, at shoulder level. Slowly his holographic skin changes its natural crustacean appearance to a metallic one, like the scavengers'. "If yes, we could try some diplomacy. I even brought gifts!" He adds, pulling a few cigarettes and dataslabs, a mix of the usual industrial waste grade tobacco and harmless logic bombs and other data some VIs might find fun. (edited)

(We haven’t spent enough time here to know any faction markings aside from your previous hosts, who are not the scavengers out in the dunes that we can see )

1

Styx tries to see if there's a well used path leading away from the cave entrance.

THe only path leads down onto the plains where the scavengers are working,. The group could slip by if they are sufficiently sneaky, it seems.

"We don't know how much longer they're going to be, and don't want to be stuck in this cave after dark. If we stay low and quiet, I'll think they'll be too distracted with their loot to notice us."

"Agreed. I can go first and try and pick out a path for you all to follow?"

"That works for me, Konya. Thank you." Parsnips uncouples his shear rifle from his suit's energy port, leaving it to the side as he slots in the receiver for his stingray. "I'll take up the rear and hold down an overwatch, just in case."

"Well, they probably know that the gate is here then. Following you, Konya," he says and readies his magpistol just in case. Boots is huddled up behind him, shivering as he feels the group tense as they move out of the cave.

"May I suggest we get ready to incapacitate them in case they detect us? One of us could cause a distraction elsewhere to improve our chances. It's just that it seems too important to just count on our luck" He says, already missing his cigarrete

"setting off a distraction will alert them to our presence, which could also mean they start snooping around the gate. I think it's better that we follow Konya's lead and get past them."

Mobius nods and positions himself as the last on the line

"Agreed. I doubt the scavengers are looking for a fight in any case but..." Vanon shrugs and preps his laser rifle and follows behind Konya.

Konya heads down the path. As she nears the entrance, she slows her movements, keeping low and trying to find as much cover for everyone as she can. She silently points out obstacles and good cover as she goes.

(Sneak/dex, Konya for the group. They’ll follow her lead )

!roll 3d6d1+2 !roll 1 fade

Roll set must be between 2-20

!roll 3d6d1+2 ! roll 1 fade

Kila Stosk | Konya Roll: [6, 3, 2] Result: 11 Reason: roll 1 fade

!roll 3d6d1+2 ! roll 2 fade

Kila Stosk | Konya Roll: [6, 4, 3] Result: 12 Reason: roll 2 fade

(12)

You're not detected as you lead the group out of the cave and down onto the wastelands plains below. The hour passes hiding behind rocks, carefully minding footfalls to not kick loose gravel, and so on. There is a sense of secrecy about you and the scavengers continue their work, picking through the remains of wars past without noticing you sneaking off

Once clear of the potential threat, Parsnips pulls the field reports from the last CBSS team through the gate up on his compad, looking for any information on where or how to find the Smiths

The Scrap Smiths have a large mountain home to the west of this mountain range where their citadel and the impressive cave networks below expand out in relative security. A special signal transmitted via compad has been provided by the last expedition so future ones can approach without triggering the automated howitzers and other security. (edited)

Parsnips flicks the data to everyone's compad. "Ok, looks like we're heading west." (edited)

Styx looks to what he thinks is the west. "You mean before that mountain right? We're not climbing down this mountain to climb up that one are we?" He asks with complaint in his voice.

"my guess is they'll spot us before then, and they'll get our signal"

"Okay, cool. Sorry for complaining, I think I probably should have eaten some of that cheese and crackers before walking through the gate... Oops," he says with a shrug.

Vanon shades his eyes with his hand and looks west to see what the terrain will be like for their travel before turning back to the group. "Since it looks like we made through undetected, are we going to hold off on calling in the rest of the troops to secure the gate?"

Mobius is visibly relieved his newbie mech skills didn't jeopardize the group, but also beacause he didn't have to use his precious and secret teleporting abilities, and that this opportunity of working together with such cool comrades started with the right leg.

The Scrap Smiths have a large castle on a hill close by, about a half days walk from here. The sunset backlights the impressive towers and causeways, all made from local stone and reinforced with metal and defensive works where possible. The complex is impressive, and looks to have withstood several sieges over various points in its long past. The signal compad issued to you begins to vibrate gently, trying to make contact with its base station within the palace.

Feeling the vibration on the compad, Parsnips checks for an alert. “Looks like the signal is trying to go through. Probably best for us to hold up until we’re confirmed. Don’t want to get howitzered due to a spotty connection” (edited to fix typo) (edited)

“Wow, nice castle.” Konya whistles. “I was definitely expecting something more…cobbled together than this.” She shields her eyes from the sun with her hand and continues to ogle the architecture, standing a little ways off the group.

"Wow indeed, artillery traps, reinforced castles. Crazy retro vibes going on here." he nods to himself, also happy that the mech suit he's in did most of the half day walk job.

"Oooh, a castle. That probably means we're in for a feast later. That's nice. Or we'll be drawn and quartered. Not so great."

There is a beep and a pulsing green light signaling the code has been accepted and you see a sleek looking black aircraft rise from within castle grounds, slowly making a circle before descending gently to your position.

Parsnips makes sure his weapons are stowed, and waves at the oncoming aircraft.

"Oh we're safe now?" Styx puts his pistol in it's holster.

Following Parsnip’s lead Konya tucks her knife away in her sleeve lining but she stands tense and alert as the craft lands.

The flyer is the most put together vehicle you've seen among the Scrap-smith arsenal, and might have even been locally built for uses like this. There are no pilots or crewmen inside, just a ramp that lowers revealing a droid brain handling flight ops and an empty cargo bay for you to enter.

Dimitri who’s been in the back silently taking in the new place. He speaks up seeing the shuttle and it’s operator, “Seems like they have our ride, though I can’t help but say I’m impressed. Giving us the valet treatment and everything.” He says before taking a step to climb towards it, confidant but wanting to test it first just in case.

(No traps or danger, just your ride)

Familiar with automated flights, as his own ship is, the mosk mindlessly hops in.

As everyone piles on, the vehicle lifts skyward and begins moving toward the castle, setting down in the courtyard where the skeletal frameworks of Scrap Smith Ajax and his son are waiting , flanked by robed and oil stained warriors and engineers.

There is a hiss of decompression and a click as Parsnips removes his helmet before stepping forward. “Thank you for accepting our signal and sending the aircraft, it’s much appreciated. I know it’s been too long since anyone from our side of the gate paid a visit, but we are hoping to remedy that, and re-establish our relationship. My name is Parsnips, I’ll allow the rest of our crew to introduce themselves now”

"Truly a privilege." Vanon says, staring somewhat impolitely at the new arrivals, as though trying to determine their mechanical workings just by sight. "I'm Vanon Talenar. Thank you for meeting with us."

"Konya." She pauses, then remembering herself, attempts to be polite, "Uh, it's a pleasure."

Dimitri steps off undoing the clasps on his helmet and it’s mask to show his face. Despite the augmentations to his face complete shock and awe at the people in front of him is apparent. “Dimitri Tucachavski, I’m glad to meet you. Earlier reports were lacking in details of the impressive machinery you all operate and ughh use.”

"Mobius, humbled to be here."

"Oil. Nice. So advanced. I'm Styx. Thanks for having us," Styx announces and bows deeply. He actually doesn't sound sarcastic.

"Greetings, friends from the Communist Brotherhood. I do not recognize any of you, but I recognize the device Alek had been given if any of you desired to come back and speak with us again. I hope my friend on your side of the gate is well. So, you've come. What has brought so many CBSS agents to be received within our walls? Is there trouble on your side of the gate, or are you here as a curiosity?" he asks, his voice-recorder working to carefully modulate his words, inflecting tone artificially.

“I apologize for the long gap in time since our last visit. Things on our side of the gate have been…hectic. We are hoping first and foremost to restore the friendship between our peoples. There is, unfortunately, something we do need your help with beyond that. Vari, the planet on our side of the gate, has research labs that were at one time some of the most advanced in the sector. Poor maintenance and political strife has allowed them to fall into disrepair. You may have a supply of the materials we need to restore them. We, of course, have no intention of asking something this large of you without offering something in return. But we don’t know exactly what you might need or want from us. We’ve brought samples of some supplies that we have in abundance that we could offer in trade, we are also willing to contribute however we can to the continued prosperity of your people.”

Styx kind of moves his hands around the supplies as if he were introducing a prize on a game show.

"This is a mighty display, but there is one thing you have that I want. " He says, looking at the suit mech Mobius is inside. "Suits like this. 200 of them should do, enough to conquer my immediate rival on the other peak and consolidate my hold over this region. That would include the gate- you'd have a safe transit corridor coming in and out and the convoys of supplies we would release to you would not need as heavy of an escort"

8:23 AM

"We would of course not ask you to fight with us yourselves, merely to provide the war material capable of doing so"

“We’ll need a moment to discuss amongst ourselves, if you don’t mind”

"Of course. Feel free to use the bay of the gunship for a meeting place, we will withdraw a respectful distance"

Parsnips thanks their host, and heads back toward the gunship, gesturing for the others to follow

Konya follows, her eyebrows raised in surprise. She eyes Mobius's suit curiously. Not exactly sure what it is, but pretty sure they're not cheap and probably not widely available. Once on the ship, she turns to the others. "This seems...unrealistic, unless we have resources I don't know about?"

(The quickest way to do it would be to pull the mechs from the staging ground at Brizeno, and then just beach the carrier for a few months until replacements can me manufactured)

(how long would it take to build 200 new suit mechs?)

"This seems above all...dangerous." Vanon says, also evaluating Mobius's suit. "Let us not forget, they have a direct path to one of our core planets, my homeworld. I'm willing to assume their continued friendship, but it's still a risk. At the least, I would think we've learned on this trip that our side of the gate could use some additional fortifications."

"We can trust the Scrapsmiths. If anything it benefits us for them to be able to secure things on their side. Personally, I don't worry about them having this sort of tech. I'm just not sure how we get it to them without abandoning our commitments in Brizeno."

Dimitri thinks for a little bit eying the mech suit for a bit. “Maybe we start the process and offer some help. I don’t know how useful I can be but I’m sure some help would go a long way to make up for a lack of suits.”

"I don't really know the politics here, but I'm not really cool with funding a massacre. Does anyone else feel like that's what we'd be doing here by giving them these things?"

(Each suit takes 2 days to complete)

10:05 AM

(we can split construction of those 250 mechs across the four shipyard factories)

10:05 AM

(comes to 125 days to replace the entire force, by my count)

with the deliberate, cautious steps of someone about to deliver bad news, Parsnips enters the chambers where the Scrap Smiths are waiting for their answer. "Unfortunately, we just don't have the mechs on hand to fulfill your full demand. If we built them, even if we started production today, it would take almost 5 months for us to produce them in the numbers you've asked for. But while we were discussing, we had a thought that I think might solve your problem in another way. You want the mechs to end the fighting. To give you and your people a rest from the constant uncertainty and pain that comes from living under constant threat. It's something each one of us can sympathize with deeply, because we've been there too. Let us try to broker a peace, end the fighting without the need for one side or the other to be eradicated. It won't be my first time walking into enemy territory and leaving with trusted partners. If they won't agree to a good faith discussion, we'll help you end the fight the old fashioned way."

"That's just it. I want your involvement in this to remain quiet. If you're captured, or if the enemy recovers any of your bodies- or even sees them, they'll know we have off world help. They'll go looking and we might not be able to hold the gate from a concentrated attack. This is something we have to do ourselves "

"That's a reasonable concern, and we obviously wouldn't want to risk the gate being discovered either. But is that as much of a risk if we're just playing the role of neutral arbiter?"

"It announces that there is a link between worlds. We could disguise you, perhaps"

"That could work! And worth the risk for a chance at bringing you some real stability, and security for the gate without losing any more of your people. As a show of good faith, we will start production on suit mechs as well. Let us know what specifications you are looking for. We can produce about 60 per month, which seems like a good place to start."

"I think this is something we will re-visit when your envoy meeting ends. We have enough to cobble together a suitable disguise for a few of you, the rest, I am not sure"

9:43 AM

Ajax looks at the sky above the citadel, with sand blowing overhead carried by the wind.

Parsnips glances up as well, reflexively hunching to brace from the wind despite the double protection of shelter and heavy armor. Realizing how silly he must look a beat too late, he stands upright and takes a step toward Ajax. "Of course. We will be happy to discuss and to accommodate as best we can. Now, with that business out of the way for now, if you don't mind I know we'd love to hear how things have been for the Scrapsmiths since the last time our emissaries crossed the gate"

"Fighting is ongoing in ebbs and flows. We're having some trouble creating enough rain to keep the green belts functional. No one is crazy enough to attack one or fight within one of the green zones but it doesn't mean the weather machines there aren't breaking down. Trying to get to one though is dealing with raiding clans and the bad weather around them, surface to sky sand squalls, lightning, you name it"

"Sounds like this is something we can potentially leverage in negotiations. Everyone here will benefit from the machines being repaired."

(Feel free to jump in if anyone else has a comment, he's speaking to all of you)

“Maybe we can provide some way to help with the weather machines while we have people here. Your technology is advanced and different but it doesn’t mean we can’t learn it. I personally find your technology fascinating.” Points to the augmentations visible on his head. “The fusion of metal and man is something I’ve thought is only inevitable.”

"I've always been opposed to metal fusing with me, personally, but I mostly mean I don't want to get shot. Know what I'm saying?" he asks, hypothetically. "If you need us to go clean up some raider troubles in the green zone and help you repair your weather machines, well, then I think we can help you out with that. What do we think, comrades?" (edited)

Vanon's eyes light up at the mention of the weather machines. "Hell, getting to tinker with those weather machines...I can't imagine what kind of mechanical workings we might find in there. I'd do that for free. Does each clan have it's own or is the green belt a communal space?"

Mobius shifts his appearance from Mosk to scrapper and back in a moment. As display that he may not need disguise, helping another person join the effort. Then as they continue discussing he wonders about the struggle, both physical and cultural of this people in such convulsing planet. A planet they're barely keeping alive after pulling the trigger.

9:30 PM

Team's private comms: "I wonder if the creation of a new faction, one led by CBSS ideals, could tip the scales of this planet. Such a fascinating place, the environment is clearly begging for better treatment. And I'm sure workers here (both synthetic and organic) could benefit from some emancipatory help as well"

(no more sub factions)

1

7:43 AM

"The green belts are things we work communally, we have no choice, no one clan can muster the diplomatic, or resource needs to maintain all of them on their own- and I do not think the others would stand for it either. It does not take much for one clan to obtain most of them and turn it into some kind of doomsday weapon, or something worse. You can see how this might look to the outside"

Konya pipes up for the first time in this discussion, somewhat shyly. "That doesn't sound good. Wouldn't we increase that risk if we helped repair the weather machines? Maybe we should focus on some more traditional peace agreements like exchange of resources, hell even marriage."

"They need to be working if we're going to maintain whatever greenery we have left, simply put, we need them, but no one should control all of them"

9:49 AM

"there is a delicate web that needs to be maintained, and the greediest of the spiders are the ones that tend to get plucked from the web first. "

“This is a problem that impacts everyone here in equal measure. Maybe that’s our in to form a lasting peace? We try to create a joint task force of all the tribes, working together to maintain the machines and keep the belts functioning. Nothing brings people together quite like a shared existential threat.”

1

“For a time. Then the threat leaves and old grudges prevail. It’s something we have been through many times “

"I agree, but I have never once in my life or anyone else's heard an entire planet agreeing on anything. If our goal is planetwide cooperation, then our choice is almost assuredly impossible by means that wouldn't take several of our lifetimes... Tell us, Ajax (is that his name?), what do you need from us?"

“Ive given you several things to think on that might help my people already, if these are goals you are unable to assist with we will certainly not think less of you, but we also cannot provide the resources you need since they’ll be committed to those projects and not freed up”

“We’re committed to helping out however we can, and don’t intend on leaving until we’ve made something better for you. Let’s try our plan to broker a peace, focused on working together to fix and protect the green spaces.”

Konya steps closer to Parsnips as a show of solidarity and nods. "We will help." Turning to Parsnips she says, "Let's do it. What should we do about disguises and assignments if we can't all go?"

(if we want to break into two smaller teams- one to handle the nearby green belt weather station and one to be disguised negotiators, we can do that)

1

(That makes sense to me)

(I'm down for that as well!)

(So it looks like negotiations is Parsnips, Konya and Mobius, and Vanon/Dimitri/Styx heading for the weather station?)

(That looks right to me)

(Indeed.)

(I'll make threads)

4

Nekosmash started a thread. 4/25/2022 9:01 AM [Open Thread]

Nekosmash started a thread. 4/25/2022 9:04 AM [Open Thread]