Iron Stars - chevy

Olar is a planet of mystery and is the perfect destination for an aspiring travel writer. The world has changed little since the UNW began to govern the place. Most of it is still the untamed wilderness it was in the days before The Scream. The natural phenomena here make it a wonderful place to begin working on your next great survival work.

2

19:51

(We can figure out a place to begin on the planet itself)

(how's about near the ruined airfield or radio station?)

4

(Want to do radio station?)

(Sounds good to me!)

The radio station looks much the same though now a small UNW crew is here working to facilitate communications between worlds that need to pass through Olar. Their equipment is more modern and things look to be a bit nicer here now than when the place was first discovered. There is also a small military presence here now given the sensitivity of the installation

Chevy admires the work thats been done in and around the radio station as he looks around the station. The tech isn't anything he hasn't seen before, but he recognizes the new equipment as a show of technical prowess on the UNW's part. He makes a mental note on that for when he's writing later, then looks around for a techie that has a few minutes of downtime to ask a couple of questions.

Two of them are outside smoking and are ready for business

He walks over toward them with a wave and a smile, saying "Hows it going, fellas? I don't think we've met before, the name's Chevy Atwell."

"Hello Chevy, what brings you to Olar, specifically the ass-end of it?"

"It's probably a stupid and crazy idea, but I'm gonna write a travel guide of every planet I visit! I'm on Olar to mark the beginning of my journey and my book. I was wondering if you fellas wouldn't mind answering some questions I have?"

One makes an expression as though he's waiting for the question .They're eager to talk to anyone whos not the same handful ofpeople who work here (edited)

"Awesome! One second..." He pulls off his backpack and roots around in it for about 30 seconds until he pulls out a dataslab. "Let's see... Notes, notes, notes... Hmm... Oh there we go! Ok, so this planet is under control and the protection of the United Nations of Worlds, and has been for about a year now. Are there any plans in place to raise the living standards for Olar's people?"

"We;re the last to get news here on the frontier, but theUNW passed the nationalization bill. President Harkoni has been good about following his campaign promises. We'll see something soon we hope"

"I hope so too, Olar seems like it could be a vibrant part of any polity its a part of, with a bit of elbow grease and luck. Have you guys had the manpower to explore and of these Points of Interest I'm seeing on the map? Only wondering because when I leave from here, I'm hoping to check each of them out, but I don't want to get in over my head doing so." (edited)

"Not really. The places where we h ave markings on the map are very safe and are modernizing. The countryside is another matter. "

20:22

"The wars out west have taken a lot of the military strength that I think they'd have to send"

"Understandable, war takes precedence over relatively safe territory. I assume this Joshua Collins fella I've read of has had a hand in the parts of Olar that are modernizing? Has he spent much time here as of late?"

"He still lives here in the planetary governor's mansion. He's doing what he can. The dissolution of Trivdei Tech and the capture of his fleet by what we now know is Phemno Mining Guild has been a hard thing for him to reconcile"

"I hope he continues his endeavors here on Olar, I can see a lot of potential here. Last question and I'll leave you guys to it: Is there any chance I could hitch a ride to the psychic academy or there abouts from one of your people?"

"There's a supply flight coming in tonight. The academy is bad to be hanging around. The locals are pretty nervous about being there even though the ghosts are gone"

Chevy gets an upset look on his face for a second before lightening up again. "Well, I'll just have to make a trip to Olar again when I have my own transport then! Could they perhaps bring me to the Mountain Keep, or Saltwich if not?"

“Saltwich could probably be arranged. You’re gonna have to hang out until the resupply flight though. You ok with that?”

"That'll be fine. I can start jotting down some ideas and doing a bit of of research where I can while I wait."

(I assume outside of the station there would be some forest or some kind of wilderness area?)

(Yep still is. We haven’t done any major work in the area )

"How long out is the resupply flight?"

"Just until tonight. A few hours at the most"

He nods "Thanks for the information, fellas. I'm gonna go investigate around the outside of the station, see if I can't find anything else interesting to write about." He gives them a wave and heads out of the radio station grounds and begins wandering, looking for any interesting natural phenomena. (Animal tracks, cool rocks, interesting trees, weird bugs, potential ore veins, that kind of stuff just so you know what I'm looking for)

(survive/wis)

(4)

There is a lot in the local area and as an offworlder you're not sure where to go without getting terribly lost. You document a few leaves and are able to sketch a few things but a deeper foray into the forest with your flight so close seems unwise. Droning engines break the silence as the plane extends its wheels and sets down on the short-takeoff runway

Disappointed but undeterred, he heads back, following the sounds of the engine toward the plane. He begins approaching it, looking for a crew member to speak to.

Two of the pilots and the crew chief are smoking with a couple of the radio techs near the entry to the bunker. The porters are too busy sweating and swearing at the heavy loads to be much for conversation right now.

He walks up to bunker and nods to the group standing there. "How's it going, fellas? I'm Chevy, a couple of guys here said I might be able to hitch a ride with you to Saltwich."

"They were just telling us. Said you're some kind a writer, was asking after the governor and all"

He grins. "I'm not any sort of big named writer, but I think there's a market for travel/survival books for all the different planets in our local arm of the galaxy. I'm hoping if I ask the right questions to the right people, someone out there will want to read what I wanna write."

"Hey your work might save lives. It will if you're using a place like this as the subject. We can get you to Saltwich, that's no problem at all"

"I hope so. One of my best friends nearly died in a place not too dissimilar here, so if I can prevent hardships like that, I'd be proud of my work. And that's great to hear! Is there anything I can do to help you guys as a thannks?"

"Those porters look like they're going to be spitting on our in flight dinner before they're done unloading. We're fine, but you can give them a hand if you'd like"

He nods and heads over to the porters. "I'm hitching a ride to Saltwich with you fellas, so I thought I'd see if I could lend a helping hand."

'Take some boxes , stack them up over there. We leave as soon as we're done" the crates inside are marked with UNW seals, showing they are rations of food, water, cleaning supplies, a few luxuries, and some personal items the locals here ordered for their own use. Essentially this is a giant mail call for them as the polity tries to keep this remote listening post running and in good morale.

He starts grabbing boxes, taking what he feels he can carry without too much strain, and stacking where they pointed. He notices the contents but doesn't think much of it, other than a slight bit of pity at the trouble these people go through for the basics.

An hour passes before the vehicle is empty. A few sacks of return mail and some other small sundries are taken on board, before the pilots open the crew cabin for everyone to come and sit down, situated between the cockpit and the cargo bay. It is at least heated and pressurized. Engines begin to spool up and a headset is passed over to you with a microphone attached to one of the earpieces

He takes the headset as he grabs a seat. He looks over the outside for a second before putting it on and adjusting it appropriately. "How long is the flight to Saltwich?"

"Two hours since we can go as the Crow Flies, should not be a long flight"

19:21

"We can answer some questions for you if you need it"

He pulls up his notes app on his dataslab. "All right. First question: has anyone you know of had any run ins with any animals on Olar?"

"Animals? all the time. There's a pretty serious pack of Flicker Wolves where we just pulled you out from. They'll eat anything that gets too deep into the woods"

"Flicker wolves? Sounds interesting, maybe something I could look into another time. Glad I didn't go too much deeper in the woods. What's the story with Saltwich? Is it where the Olar natives live?"

"Yeah good collection of folks there, built around the ruins of an old knighthold. Knights aren't there anymore, but the stones are. Keeps the city safe"

"Keeps them safe? From animals? Or other people?"

"Animals , the local weather , bandits. The usual dangers on a frontier world like this. Things remain the same no matter where you go sometimes i think"

"I see. Have there been any signs of the former Worldgov of pre Scream times?"

"Some rumors mostly, random sightings in the woods of people in old pattern armor, things like that, but whenever the army goes out they never find anyone;'

"Interesting... Was Mountain Keep their headquarters before the Scream?"

"Developed area, had a presence there like any normal govement, not big from what i remember" the pilot thinks, a native to this world. "Nothing we normal folk knew much about at least"

"Hmm..." He sit there for a minute, typing up some more notes. "Do you know if Olar had any important exports and imports before the Scream? Or were you guys seemingly isolated?"

"This was the extreme frontier. We had little. Formal exploration never happened, or if it did, the records are gone now"

"That's unfortunate. Hopefully that can be rectified, eventually. Does Olar have any history of natural disasters, such as tornados, wildfires, or landslides?"

“The climate itself is pretty stable. Storms and whatnot like other worlds but nothing devastating “

"Mhmm... I see. Pretty standard stuff. Well, I think you've helped me set my baseline for what to expect while I'm on Olar, so thank you for that. Since I've just bombarded you with questions, it only seems fair if I ask if you have any questions for me?

“What about you, where are you from and what’s it like?”

(Is it possible to have a character from Earth?)

(No)

00:20

(Sol Defense grid is active and is slagging everything in and out

"Well, to be honest, as early as I can remember, I've always been traveling, never any real home anywhere. After the Scream, I spent a little while on Miriam, so that's probably the closest thing I have to a home. It's a cold, frozen wasteland for the most part, but the people are hardy, and I've heard it's gotten a bit easier since Charles Trivedi helped shut down the machine that apparently caused it to freeze. I'd say Olar reminds me of it in that the people who make a live here are seemingly of another breed, as they work everyday to make things easier for those around them."

They nod, listening to the story as they have information relayed to them from ground control.

03:38

The city of Saltwich is a peasant village sprawling from the ruins of a knighthold. The people here seem to have helped themselves to some of the stones in the attempt to reinforce their own homes. A simple airstrip has been paved over a patch of soil unfit for farming, but otherwise the settlement does not seem to have advanced much

He notes down the small, but potentially vital improvements the people have made. As they prepare to land, he wonders what their lives would look like on a TL-3 or even a TL-4 world, curious what improvements they would make. (edited)

Setting down in the shadow of the ruined knighthold, the pilots look relaxed and get ready to leave the aircraft. No one really seems to be paying special attention to the landing of the small bush grav-flyer, its coming and going seems to be a normal occurrence for them.

He gathers his belongings and places his headset onto his seat for the next persons use. He files off the flyer along with the pilots when the doors open. Outside the flyer, he begins to walk one way, turns another, then stops dead in his tracks and turns toward the pilots. "Is there a village elder or someone who could answer some questions for me?"

"Elder is inside the knighthold. This time of night probably enjoying a relaxing after dinner walk there. If you smell eggs, he's probably close. He's going to make a lot of jokes about getting the digestion moving"

"Thank you for all your help!" He looks around, spotting the knighthold, and begins walking toward it.

(notice/wis)

(11)

You can smell the rotten egg stench before you get close. The elder is noticeably inside and seems to be fussing with himself about something. You can hear the sounds of him talking to himself, or rehearsing.

He straightens up his clothes in a quick once over, then begins approaching the elder.

THe elder is sitting in a corner of the tower on a small step stool, back facing away from you. He mutters something to the corner of the room which for some reason looks much darker than the surrounding shadows.

They seem to vanish as you approach and he senses you and the smell begins to recede. Slowly the old man turns around and flashes the most disarming smile he can muster

(archiving)