Iron Stars - chimera-autopsy

The bodies of the Ascendency marines Cicero claimed have been laid out in a small laboratory deep in the woods of Galatea, away from the various communities here. One member of each polity is present and the grails have allowed for the creation of medical and surgical gear for you to use. The building is quiet as you all suit up, making acquaintances and preparing for the hard work ahead

6

Jake enters the antechambers to the autopsy room in his almost black, dark grey suit, matching shirt and tie with a subtle, less dark grey GSC emblem on one lapel. He begins hanging that up to don the protective suit provided "Hello everyone. I'd offer the coffee I brought, but I'm told it'll have to wait until after we're out of the operating theater," he says as he looks around the room, looking for familiar faces, in the much different environment than his last meeting with his colleagues at the NFSS/Galatea/IA talks. "I'm Jake Carson, Greystar Confederation Envoy. It's good to see all of you. I'd like to thank each of you and the Iron Stars Federation for inviting us to participate and learn first hand of the Chimeran Ascendancy. Even though this threat is far away from the Confederacy, you, our friends, are not. I look forward to working together to find something significant in this exercise to keep our corner of the sector safe from their aggression."

Karros enters looking at the others, nodding politely towards the others as he follows suit in donning the protective gear. He looks shorter than the average Taros, and slightly pale, but healthy all the same. A recently sewn patch of the red CBBS emblem adorns his shoulder. "Karros Helsis, of the CBBS. I hope it will be a pleasure to work in this project, and that I am servicable in it's endevour."

A 5'6 woman with Short, Brown-hair and eyes like aged, unpolished Jade enters. She is bedecked in what amounts to an NMC Uniform that has been converted wholly to be a Lamplighter outfit. She has an Ornate Pistol on her hip. She removes the Lamplighter uniform and begins to don the protective gear supplied. The Woman has a rather extensive tattoo of a Phoenix exploding out of a tree, with sigils and runes of arcane significance etched into areas believed to be spiritually active nodes on the body. The Tattoo almost appears to shift gradually and move, as if breathing. The woman curiously does not. "Noel Hallewell, Representing the Lamplighter's Foundation." She smiles at everyone present in the room.

Cicero enters the room, dressed in plain, drab colored clothing, his bald head gleaming slightly in the sterile overhead light. The brown padded vest over his plain white cuffed shirt bears only the insignia of the New Moon Collective. He walks calmly to the gear rack and begins donning the provided suit in silence. When finished, he looks up and meets any searching eyes with a soft smile. "Thank you all for coming. I am Cicero Yamado. I suppose you can thank, or blame, me for us being here today. The Ascendancy have been operating far too close to my home for comfort. We are hoping this project will lead us to better knowledge of CA biology and technology, which will benefit us all." He makes one more glance around the room and notices @St. Lucia, his former NMC compatriot, smiles, and then proceeds to finish equipping himself to begin. (edited)

Dr. Truffles finishes convincing a stocky blue otter-like creature to wait outside the room and then enters. He is a heavy-set piggen covered in short, coarse brown fur, with a third, rhun covered cybernetic arm, and wearing an ocean blue robe lined with seashells. He smiles at the others as he walks in. "Howdy y'all, name's Dr. Truffles. I'm from the UNW. And we appreciate you bringing this Mr. Yamado. Better to know than not I reckon." He glances at the protective gear as he passes by it, then the rhuns on his cybernetic arm glow as a shimmering blue field envelops him briefly before compressing into his body. (Casting Personal Shielding Field for the vaccsuit properties and radiation blocking. Spells prepared: Energetic Construct Evocation * 1, Personal Shielding Field * 1, Void Slip * 1, Universal Translator Rubric * 2, Arcane Grounding * 1.)

( @Ivan Wyke | Yulia Wyke | Myuun I forgot to tag you )

(I think @Teucer wanted/offered to go - I was alluding to something else in my thread, but I can stick around if needed!)

(oh okay! I am dense!)

Karros looks over to Doctor Truffle's arm with interest before returning his attention towards Cicero. "How did you come across these bodies, if I can ask?"

Valentine

Karros looks over to Doctor Truffle's arm with interest before returning his attention towards Cicero. "How did you come across these bodies, if I can ask?"

"We discovered signs of some activity, a beacon, coming from Vergopolis. I was sent to investigate. What I found was a Noctua refugee ship that had been taken over by an Ascendancy boarding team. We we able to secure the ship, save the refugees, and return with these bodies for study."

sluggish37

"We discovered signs of some activity, a beacon, coming from Vergopolis. I was sent to investigate. What I found was a Noctua refugee ship that had been taken over by an Ascendancy boarding team. We we able to secure the ship, save the refugees, and return with these bodies for study."

"Was there any equipment found on them or that they were carrying?" Karros asked as he looked around the room, seeing if anyone else had questions to ask as well.

"There should be some of their weapons, compads, and gear as well. " He surveys the room to see where gear storage and everything else from the expedition is and if it's accessible to inspect.

Dr. Truffles nods. "I got some mechanicanical know-how myself, happy to take a look at those while we're getting the body laid out."

(I was going to give you more once we heard from Teucer so EP wasn’t super behind )

"Same, maybe I could even learn a bit from you in the process." Noel smiles and nods at Truffles. "I'd prefer to work on the tech more than the bodies."

(But what was saved of their gear is here. I’m gonna tackle this one thing at a time so I’m not having parallel discussions about things. There’s unfortunately going to mean a little wait here and there for some people

4

Dr. Truffles looks a bit squeemishly at the body and chuckles. "Same, but I reckon unfortunately I got the skills for both."

"I'm a skilled technician, so I can also take a look at the equipment. But I will assist in whatever comes up with the bodies, I'm not willing to limit myself to simply metal and code."

There are six bodies in storage here, taken from the Noctua Ship, and one from Jaxton Ryder's companion who was recently hung for a jailhouse scuffle where six other inmates lost their lives. Keeping it alive for vivisection was a line nobody wanted to cross.

(apologies for the late entry) Teucer enters the autopsy chamber already wearing a set of scrubs from the anteroom. After a cursory glance at the living occupants of the room, his eyes focus on the dead. "Good Afternoon. I am Teucer, the Protectorate's representative in this endeavour. While not skilled with a knife, I am familiar with the human body and have an interest in seeing how best to kill these things."

"There are sure to be physical weaknesses we can learn to exploit, adaptations we can turn against them. I am interested in the relationship between the two brains and which one makes decisions. Did these bodies begin as regular Noctua and then were infected with something? or were they born this way?"

(Since I am not good at lab stuff, I was thinking of doing a skills contest for the autopsy, so it doesn't become the experts do everything while everyone else just waits to comment- and everyone can now participate)

"I'm curious to see if they can be separated, either way. We might be able to get Fast Allies if there's a way to do so." (Sounds good!)

Jake nods at Teucer and Dr. Truffles “Good seeing you folks again. I hope things have been treating you well. Noel, Cicero, Karros, nice meeting you.” “So I’m no biology expert, but it seems like it’s just a squishy machine with some software keeping it running….no? Should we start by documenting the anatomy of one of the bodies top to bottom? Once we get one body deconstructed, if we find something interesting, we’ve got others to explore in more detail if we mess up the first one.” (I’m happy with however you think it’ll work best Neko!)

(Skill contests are a hoot, I'm down

) (edited)

"Sounds like a plan, Mr. Carson, and a pleasure to meet all of you as well. I have an Argus Web that we can use to observe the entire Autopsy, if you want. It could catch things we might miss on the first pass."

"A squishy machine? That's a curious descriptor. And you said software is what it's running on? I hope you aren't being literal Mr. Carson. If so, I should be at least some help in that." (Contest away!)

(Each skill can only be used by the group once. You have to describe how you're using it. We can assume this is a standard operating theatre with scientific and medical equipment, and we'll do the gear after this)

(Are there any visible intentional markings or tattoos on the bodies?)

(nothing intentional, and no tattoos)

(do all the bodies look more or less the same? Thinking about general size or shape differences, limbs, shape of head, the basics more or less)

(this is information I'll be giving you when we do the skills contest, so it looks like you're trying to use notice here, or know, so lets get either one of those with wisdom)

(notice/wis: 5)

You're able to see some slight differences in the creatures, but what they might mean and the context for them eludes you thus far in the investigation. (Notice has been used. 0 successes, 1 failure so far)

(Would I be able to gather insight of their biology by comparing what I know about other species? Like a know check?)

(sure, we could do know/int)

(12)

(1 success, 1 failure, notice and know used)

11:15 AM

The Chimeran Ascendency is comprised of a composite species, the titular Chimera. Separately, a Chysyk is simply a large bipedal insectoid species and Justarii is a species of fungus; neither capable of achieving sentience on their own.

11:15 AM

Yet when an adult Chysyk drone plays host to large enough growth of Justarii, sentience is achieved and a Chimeran individual is “born”

Jake, knowing he doesn’t have a talent with the direct examination of the body, uses his leadership skills to bring those that do to a systematic and thorough plan of approach to autopsy, bringing the strengths of the group to bear on the task at hand. (Lead/11) (edited, fat fingered the wrong number) (edited)

(2 successes, 1 failure, Notice, Lead, and Know have been used so far)

11:26 AM

The lifespan of a Chysyk is approximately 25 human years, with only around 20 of which considered optimal conditions for symbiosis. A culture of Justarii can outlive multiple generations of Chysyk, spanning around 120 human years. All Chimeran individuals possess a body mass of approximately 65% Chysyk and 35% Justarii (give or take 5% in either direction) – with the Chysyk forming the “skeleton” and a Justarii culture as the “meat/shell”. Both contribute to brain capacity. Chimeran individuals do not experience pain from piercing or bludgeoning, but experience heightened pain levels from burns.

11:27 AM

(I'm going to pull all this into a world anvil article too, but this is you IC getting the info)

Teucer proves true to his words when he takes a knife to one of the bodies intending on separating the 2 organisms. More used to working on deer and greengil, the resulting mess doesn't reveal much. (5 for survival)

(2 success , 2 failures , lead, notice, talk and survive have been used )

Dr. Truffles focuses his MES energy on the pathways of the creatures' brains, trying to trace the patterns to gain a more complete understanding of the dual consciousness (Biopsi/WIS 7, from a 6 with the re-roll token, womp womp.)

(3 success, 2 failures, lead, notice, talk, survive, and biopsi have been used)

6:43 AM

(Once we get Noel, everyone has gone once so we can start a new round)

(Would I be able to use Int/Wis + Shoot to determine Key weakpoints? The Know Skill was also used, I believe. Outside of that I have The Use and Know Magic Skills... To determine if They're capable of Supernatural abilities)

(Either one of those could work,

9:15 AM

(Jsut let me know what you settle on

(Gonna go with Know magic, got an 8)

(4 success, 2 failures. Lead , notice , talk, survive , know magic and biopsi have been used )

(Since it's a telepathic bond between two creatures would gaiapsi be valid?)

(I think gaiapsi could determine the nature of the connection)

Dr. Truffles feel's Knock's presence waiting impatiently outside of the room, and focuses on the pathways between their minds, looking for similar pathways within the symbiosis. (Gaiapsi/WIS 9)

(Could I use str/exert to test the strength of the joints as I put pressure on the limbs? Or other parts of the body? I would use program or fix but I can't see how I would use those here.)

(We have got enough successes with Truffs. I’ll post the summary when I’m back to a computer )

Chimeran reproduction is markedly dissimilar from most galactic races. Modern Chysyk pupae are hatched from eggs in House-sponsored birthing creches. Justarii are capable of both sexual and asexual fertilization, but most simply choose asexual reproduction as a matter of efficiency. In both cases, a new culture of Justarii simply buds off from the parent and is mentally distinct. A culture of Justarii is capable of surviving without a host for up to two weeks without memory degradation and up to a month (depending on culture size) until complete death. A single culture of Justarii is capable of being hosted by two or more Chysyk bodies, but the effect is detrimental to the Justarii: simply being hosted by two bodies rapidly causes insanity, while three or more bodies causes greatly diminished intellectual capacity that becomes exponentially worse as the number of hosts increases. As such, inhabiting two or more hosts is a serious cultural taboo, going as far as to consider it a capital offense. Being as they are a composite species that share a brain between two organisms, Chimeras are highly resistant to mind-affecting abilities. As such, it is also very rare for a Chimera to exhibit MES sensitivity. Those that do possess unusually potent abilities and are highly honored members of society, holding specialized intelligence and SpecOps positions within the military hierarchy.

Dr. Truffles looks over the report. "This'll be good info to pass back to the federation I reckon. Limited MES ability might be one place where we got an edge."

(I’m going to make a world anvil with all this as well)

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

Chimeran

7:18 AM

(we can move into gear next, the recent history stuff was 3 more pages of Jax jerking himself off, so its easier to make semi new lore than edit that. I think what we have is still pretty comprehensive)

(interested in the weapons, can I use shoot to learn about the guns, their mechanism of action, etc.? )

(Yep, new check for the weapons, but same skills contest, we can use shoot with int for that, since you're calling on your knowledge rather than making a judgement)

(6)

(Can I use fix/int to go over how the equipment was built, and try to reverse engineer it?)

(We wouldn;'t be able to revers engineer from one example, but we can try to get a better understanding of it with fix)

11:09 AM

(1 success, with shoot being used so far )

(I want to use Lead/Wis to direct the research of the weaponry, coordinating those that are best suited to each task)

11:43 AM

(10 for lead/Wis, 9 for any other attribute)

(2 success, 0 failures, lead and shoot used)

(Fix/int 12)

(Just going back to the bio segment of the autopsy for a minute) “ we need to be wary of justarii infections of hosts other than chysyk. We have no idea if it is possible but I would like to know if it is. I have no desire to be shot in the back by friends turned into foes”

(3 success, 0 failure, fix, shoot, and lead have been used. Good work so far everyone)

Dr. Truffles examines the equipment for any sort of magical runes or other signs of MES enhancement. (Know Magic / INT 13, and I managed to use Roll20 on mobile without ruining an entire polity's worth of character sheets

)

2

1

Jake correlates and combines all the information gathered so far into a computer simulation creating the chimeran tech to be disassembled and experienced/used virtually without risk of destroying them. (Program/int: 12) The simulation pulls the entire group in and they spend more time than strictly necessary in virtual combat and exploration scenarios. Experimenting with tactics and the uses of the hardware they’ve been documenting. Noel, Dr. Truffles, Karros, Cicero and Jake rotate teams through missions set up by Teucer’s imagination using the various tech present to aid or hamper the ‘Research’ objectives in various scenes. (edited)

1

9:06 AM

(Xcom: Chimeran Ascendency, all rights reserved. VR/AR solo, co-op, multiplayer with campaign and zombie modes. New DLC will be available for download once beta testing is complete. Many pots of coffee, undisclosed amounts of liquor and beer, and a few chimeran bodies were not harmed in the making of this experience. The Chimerans were already dead.)

(this finishes with a success, ill get something written up!)

9:52 AM

The simulation concludes. Chimeran Technology uses a lot of "local varieties" when it comes to living and unliving materials. They are Mandate Tech Level 4 in their own way and indeed due to being visited by Mandate officials Pre-Scream and even pre fall of the Mandate, they were able to base some of their own technological advancements off human design. What could not be manufactured seems to be grown- for example power cells have metal caps but the filaments inside are something like jellyfish fronds rather than copper wire for conductivity. Everything follows a technological design or blueprint humans and others would find recognizable, but purpose grown plants or micro-organisms are used in place of chemicals, catalysts, energy sources, and so on. Their armor is purpose grown Chitin, fastened over thin sheets of metal to keep the shape, and so on. The only thing that looks entirely inorganic is the air systems for their space suits- due to the unique challenges to life hard void presents. The truly unique thing about them seems to be their anatomy and the connection between the vehicle organism and the mind- something far more pronounced than what is seen in other sentient species even though on an abstract enough level, the mind and body are different entities with the mind in control.

9:53 AM

(there are only so many ways you can skin X D X damage with a weapon, and I don't think adding another thing doing 1d6 or 1d8 or whatever is especially useful homebrew, but we've gotten some insights here, and maybe some ideas for unique projects down the road)

(I’ll leave this up for a couple more days if anyone wants to make notes or anything else

(also, everyone, I blanked on this entire,y, 3xp, and 50,000 credits for helping here)

4

(Does this fulfill my goal of "Go on a team mission, and not be a hinderance while also contributing."?)

(Yes, if you level wait until after your current mission)

(roger) (edited)