Iron Stars - clara

(just need to ready/stow your gear, otherwise everything looks good)

Clara Kepner looks up as the comms terminal in her small apartment in Jagrati City lights up. Its been a few months since her recovery from the Teucer system- on the frontier of NMC space, left for dead when it looked like the Shapers would invade the system while the noble overseeing things took his house guard and possessions and left the several thousand colonists there to fend for themselves. Back on Jagrati, although the concerns were valid, they were spoken a bit too loudly and a bit too often and a bit too much in front of the wrong people. Relegation to a reserve company, and then an inactive line unit was an insult to her warrior spirit, but it seems today things might finally be coming around. Sealed orders, marked by the office of the Monarch himself arrive in the mailbox.

Munching absently on a piece of bread, she reaches over to her compad lying where she had left it the night before; on top of a pile of dirty clothes. She brushes a strand of white hair away as she opens up the device, and notice the notification. A sense of excitement mixed with apprehension seizes her. She hesitates for a moment, but finally clicks on the icon, opening the orders.

Clara Kepner, by order of his majesty King Buchanan you are nearby recalled to active service. Report to the Deveers National Training Academy for details concerning your new posting. This operation should be considered classified and secret. Off world travel is expected. You are advised to make any arrangements necessary before reporting

After a long moment of silence, she puts down the commpad and resumes her breakfast. Her mind whirling with images of her last time on the front, unofficial as it was. She can't help but glance at the frame on the wall; her family whole and healthy smiling back. She shakes those thoughts away, there was no point reminiscing about the past right now. The next few minutes see her take a quick shower and grab a bag of essentials from under her bed; a habit she has taken to since...well, since that day. A quick look confirms that she's not missing anything, and she leaves her flat without a glance. A cap of the local sport team on her head, a light jacket and her backpack slung over one shoulder, she starts her trek to the Academy.

The soldiers at the gate of the base greet you as you approach, going through the formality of checking your ID and making some small talk while it takes a few moments for it to process and clear. Out behind the metal fence you can see platoons of the Kings army training. Some are down to PT clothes doing conditioning. Another unit is in its dress greens undergoing an inspection. The jackets are warm but the brass and brading are a stirring sight complete with drums and fifes. Musket like laser locks are shouldered. Another group spends time learning to cycle the charge of their power cells quickly and fire accurately to sustain a higher rate of fire. “Alright ma’am. Orders are to head to the hangars on the far west side of the base. 38 Bravo is the one you want. Someone’s waiting for you there”

"Thanks," she mutters. She shuffle her ID back into the breast pocket of her jacket, tips her hat to the security team, and then makes her way past the metal fence. She looks over to her fellow soldiers, bearing proudly the insignia and color of the NMC and can't help a small sneer that she quickly wipes off. Clara follows the direction given to her, heading toward the hangar 38B.

Inside the hangar lights are dim. It’s clear a shuttle is being worked on in here. Two figures wait near the doorway and rise to their feet from folding chairs to meet you at the door.

16:28

“Clara Kepner, thank you for coming so quickly. We had expected to be waiting a while longer. I’m sure you’re curious as to what’s all going on here “

Clara enters the hangar, removing her cap as she approaches the two. She shrugs her shoulders: "Didn't have much to prepare," she says defensively. She takes a quick glance at the hangar, the shuttle prominent. "The thought has crossed my mind," she says. "But the NMC called, and so here I am," she adds with some bite to her voice. "So what's this all about?"

“We are putting together a small unit. One that’s going to operate beyond the frontier of the New Moon Cooperative. This unit will contact those who have been out of contact, explore the borders of the polity , and serve as the Kings official un seen arm when deniability and secrecy are needed. We understand you’ve got something of a bone to pick with the Cooperative. The nobles and the people who left you for dead are in jail now or dead themselves. This is a chance for you to make a name for yourself and gain the comfortable life you want , while still furthering the polity cause- away from the center of power. There will be some cooperative oversight on these missions but largely you’ll be making your own field decisions. Those skills served you once already. We hope they do so again•

"I see," says Clara. "Well then, sounds like I have a lot of work ahead of me folks." She jerks her head in the direction of the shuttle and personnel tending to it. "Am I right in assuming that this is my transport then?" She asks. "And you said small unit. Are they here, yet?"

"We're waiting on two, a weapons specialist and a mechanic. The other three members of the team are aboard. Its going to be a cramped ride, but if our initial operations go well we can justify a larger budget and so on. Every ounce of a soldier's cynicism you have is probably right on the money for this one"

"Well then, folks. I better get acquainted with my team." She dips her head slightly toward them both, before making her way to the shuttle.

The shuttle interior is reverberating with the sound of mag boots on deck plating and storage lockers being torn inside out in the never ending cycle of packing and re packing to find that perfect harmony between storage space and the ability to quickly get what’s needed in a combat situation. The ship locker and armory seem to be well stocked. Wherever you’re going there’s no shortage of supplies being carried with you. A Taros male and a human male are debating the finer points of eschewing explosives for this assignment due to the space travel involved. Interestingly even the taros is wearing a Cooperative military uniform- and must be a recent arrival from their homeworld of Gudrun within the UNW. (edited)

Clara approaches the two, removing her cap as she does so. Long hair, dyed a pale grey, flow freely no longer constrained by it. "Folks," she says with a nod, one hand extended to shake. "I'm told you're going to be part of my team for this mission. Pleasure ot meet you both."

"You're gonna be the boss then. Alright, I can work with this" The Taros male says. "I'm Luck. just Luck, the idiot trying to cram a sniper rifle into the storage locker here despite it being very clearly too big is Thud. Just nicknames here, no salutes, all that. Covert unit and all. I'm sure you understand"

"Fair enough," she says with a shrug. "I haven't given thought to a codename myself, I'll admit. Something I'll have to think over it seems." She tilt her head in the direction of Thud, giving him a brief nod of recognition when he's introduced, before turning her attention back to Luck. "Did they happen to give a debrief on the mission parameters yet, or are we still waiting on that?" She asks. "I'm afraid other than telling me I was going to lead and a broad overview of the type of activity we're aiming for, not much as been told."

"Skandalis, a world on the edge of Cooperative space now. We're not sure what's out there or if any remnants of our society have survived there somehow. We're going to be the first to set boots there since the Shapers were defeated and we have no idea what we're in for. The people there, fi there are any left, probably aren't even aware we exist still, and might not be so keen on rejoining us. We should be ready for anything"

Clara hums as she absently push a lock of hair behind her ear. Skandalis, the name was vaguely familiar like she had heard it before, a long time ago, but nothing came to mind immediately. She'll have to brush up on her astronomy. "Sounds like we have a lot of work ahead of us then," she says. "If you'll excuse me, I'll find the cramped space they pass off as quarters in this shuttle and put my stuff down." She hefts her bag on her shoulder and tips her head to Luck and Thud as she moves past them, in search of her quarters. Before she's out of earshot, she turns around, walking backward a few paces. "Oh, ping me when the other two members show up, yeah?" She grins at Luck, give a lazy salute, and resume her trek through the shuttle, the grin falling off her face and replaced with a frown. Back to work, and the first thing they do is send her to some war-ravaged world and try to reintegrate them back into the NMC fold, when she didn't even know if she wanted to stay herself. Irony at its finest, or perhaps a test. A way to gauge her dedication to the NMC with the new leadership. 'Bah, who knows,' she thinks. She'd deal with it when push came to shove. For now, she was still in need of credit to rebuild her life from scratch, and she'd do what she was paid to do. Didn't mean she'd do it happily, but no one would find fault in her work, that's for sure.

You spend about ten minutes getting your things organized for the journey when your pad gently buzzes on the room’s cot. Personal cabins on the shuttle is a welcome change from the troop barges of old. They look resplendent with their ironwood weave hulls and stately solar sails, but the conditions within were little better than prisons or animal stockades. Outside in the hangar two more figures have arrived. Both are human makes. One has a pendant around his neck marking him as a member of the psychic academy’s New Moon Cooperative branch. The other is the pilot, someone to plot the spike routed and handle some of the things the automated systems the ship has been fitted with cannot. The mission begins with a speech as everyone is circled up and the two previously unnamed agents who had been sitting at the table call attention. “Alright everyone, your mission as some of you already guessed is Skandalis. Frontier world even when the cooperative was strong and growing pre war. We don’t know what’s there or what’s become of the planet. All we know is we need to know what’s happening there. There aren’t many rules of engagement. If you fire in defense of yourself or your team, then the shooting is justified. Look for weapons, try to be judicious and avoid combat if possible. If you don’t get the choice I want to make sure everyone comes home alive “

Clara nods to both new members, before taking her seat and listening to the brief. It was nothing new really; pretty much what Luck had said earlier if only in a bit more details. "Sounds simple enough," she begins. "Why do I get the impression it's not going to be as easy as that?" She adds with a grin to the rest of the crew, before returning her attention to the speaker. "Anything of note we should know about the place?"

“That’s just it, and answers your question. The reports we had are out of date. We don’t know if the planet has changed, how it’s changed , or how the people there of changed if anyone’s even left. We are quite literally sailing into the unknown. Nothing about this will be as simple as it sounds “

"Well then, we better get to work." She stands up, and look toward the pilot. "Let's chart the course."

(I've got 6 days of downtime using the most efficient spike route, I think we've done all that makes sense to do until we get there)

(Yep, ready to advance to the planet itself if you want to)

The team is loaded, gear is checked, and those with relations here send their final messages from the ship's comms terminal as the shuttle exits the hangar and blasts into space. Exiting the Jagrati system, a route is plotted across the NMC owned space- stopping at a few planets along the way to refuel before exiting at your destination. Seven days pass in spike as you ping-pong across polity systems, stopping only for fuel, depositing of trash, and onloading of new reserves of food, water, and fuel. A communications blackout is ordered for the final jump. (we have rules for downtime in the book if you wanted to spend the seven days on something)

(god, my skills are shit. I'll spend the 7 days on training Know -1 to +0 by studying the events of the Shaper's War, and the pre-war information we have on various polity that have been touched during the war, I'll have an actual post after lunch in RP) (edited)

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/iron-stars-nekosmash/a/skandalis-location

Skandalis

02:31

(system report, this is what will generate upon entering the system. I need to draw the map still)

(thanks for waiting, here we are

Clara spends most of her time in the lounge, sprawled across the floor with multiple commpads stewed around her filled with official military reports of the Shapers' conflict in Skandalis and its neighboring systems. When not busy with work, she spends some time getting to know her crew a bit better by organizing some card games or training session — she wrestles and spars with each of them, getting a feel for their ability — every so often. On the seventh day of travel, as the ship drops from metadimensional space and drifts toward the planet, Clara gathers her crew in the lounge and pass around the brief she's been working on for the past hours. On the wall, a holographic display shows the surface of Skandalis according to the NMC database; lush greenery and pasturage extend as far as the eye can see. "Alright folks," she begins with a clipped voice. "Seems like Skandalis had a rough time; the main sources of fresh water has been drained by the Shapers during the conflict, the biosphere is degrading fast due to weapon discharge and global warming; according to our scans, and extrapolating from its results, they probably have a few years before the planet becomes a dustball only good for mining corps." She flicks a finger and the beautiful landscape of Skandalis is replaced with the hellish nightmare that it has become; burnt out husk of trees and rocks, grass replaced with sand and ash. "We've got a population of in the ten of thousands who are in dire need of help, and who don't trust the NMC to provide it or even know if the NMC can provide it." She moves her hand, zooming on the map of Skandalis to focus on Henge, the most popular settlement according to data. "This is our target," she says. "We'll mix in with the locals, get a pulse of the population's needs and thinking. Proceed with caution, and don't bring too much attention to yourself; we don't have a time frame for this mission." She looks each of them, one by one. "We're all professional, and we do have the flexibility of time being on our side for this. We'll land in the countryside, ideally someplace we can hide the ship, and make way to Henge as if we were part of the mass exodus that is bound to be happening right now." "Any questions, comments or suggestions folks?"

The plan is a reasonable one so long as you can manage to find some local dress. You can see evidence of the exodus from the countryside underway as you observe from orbit. Many columns are moving toward Henge from all over this continent. There no doubt are many bodies along the way of those who did not make it, a possible place for disguise if you think reasonable. Copses of dead trees provide a helpful place to hide the ship, reinforced with camo netting available in the ships stores

Once the ship is secured, they make their way toward Henge with caution. They scan the surrounding countryside for bodies of fallen travelers in hope of assembling some makeshift disguise for each of them — nothing amazing, but at the very least replacing their more "Keep your sidearm, but put those rifles away," she says as they march. "Don't want any trouble with law enforcement."

15:59

(Do you want me to make any test?)

(lets get a notice/wis)

You're able to find the wreckage of some kind of caravan that didnt make it along the road with no one around.

16:44

The pack animals have all raced off somewhere and their bodies are not present, but there is enough here to get something makeshift together for everyone, concealing enough to keep whats under the loose traveling robes hidden. Wide hats or dust masks with goggles conceal the rest. It seems if there is any kind of law enforcement left, its contained to the outskirts of Henge, and not here on the roads

(Can you just confirm for me, who's actually with Clara right now?)

(You and the five team members, we met a few earlier )

17:15

(Unless you want to leave a few with the ship)

17:15

(Whoever you take there’s enough material here for all)

They shrug on the loose and dusty poncho, grab goggles and masks, and set off toward Henge. The trek is unpleasant, with the sun beating upon their back, and Clara is mighty glad that she did bring a cap to protect her head from it; no doubt she would've had a sunburn by then.

Security as it were seems to be relegated to a rag-tag unit of planetary defense troopers wearing gear as battered and dusty as that you've just commandeered for yourself. Proud NMC las-locks have long been abandoned for more serviceable and rugged looking Rimworlder Semi-Auto rifles, assorted combat rifles, and a few shotguns for those responsible for moving through the line of people looking for entry to Henge. The guards seem tired and ragged, doing their best to keep weapons from entering the city, and doing their best to keep anyone they know with any kind of criminal record out.

15:10

Taking your place in line, you estimate you've got about an hour to observe before they're going to be ready to question you or your companions

Clara observes the proceeding with attention: did they let anyone armed passed, or all were searched? If yes, then who were they? When she wasn't busy looking at the troopers, she looked to the surroundings to see if there was anyway to bypass the chokepoint without giving themselves away.

It does not seem that hardly anyone is getting to keep their weapons. There are two men who identify as hunters and trackers and they are allowed to keep theirs, and another who identifies as a bounty hunter, but he is forced to check everything but his sidearm in at the gate, To the west of the gate there is a small river bed where the dried up river once flowed. It creates a dip that can be followed to circle around to the north end of Henge. You're not sure if the security situation will be different there, and you;ll have to stay low and move slow to get there

Clara whispers instructions to her team: "Pass off as hunters and trackers," she says nodding toward a group to just passed the checkpoint.

"Should we split up and try to enter individually? LEss attention maybe" Luck asks

She ponders this for a moment, but nods briefly and watches as they scatter through the mass of refugees, before she makes her way forward.

Luck nods, and begins passing orders down the column. He is the only one who remains with you, as the rest split off to therparts of the city outskirts, trying to find their own ways in. When its safe, compad messages can be exchanged to meet up inside. Approaching the guards two of them wave you and luck forward. Their gear is battered and one of them has a set of cracked dust goggles. His eyes are red from their failure to keep the contamination out. "Good morning travelers. Anything to declare on coming into the city?"

Clara shrugs. "Had a run in with some criminals down the road, but they certainly didn't expect me to be armed," she says while patting her sidearm. "Was out hunting, but no luck. Everything's pretty much driven off the land, eh?" (edited)

“Yeah just about. Someone said something about a green belt south of the mountains , but if that’s the case I don’t know why everyone’s coming here. You see where those folk you were hunting ran to? “

She jerks her thumbs over her shoulder with a shrug. "Didn't think to take note of it, but somewhere back there," she says. "Was kinda busy shooting at them, and making sure they weren't shooting at me, if you catch my drift," she adds with a chuckle.

“Right. Anything bigger than a handgun on you?”

"Got myself some of their gear in my pack," she says with a shrug. "Figure I could get a couple of credits out of it for my trouble."

“Alright. I got a feeling if I try to take that away from you I’m going to have fewer fingers than I woke up with. Get inside. Keep it hidden and don’t cause trouble “

She grins back to the guy, and give him a quick nod, before passing by. Once inside, she clicks her comm open. "I'm in. Over."

The team seems to be gravitating toward the fountain in the middle of camp. Two of the crew are still in line on the north side of town, but two others have made it inside. You and luck make 2/3rds of the force now inside the settlement to have a look around.

Clara nods as the crew gathers. "I'll find us a place to crash," she says. "Everyone else, stay on comms, and let's take a look around this place. I want to know what's happening, what's the current political climate, etc. I don't think I have to remind you to keep everything on the down low." With that being said, Clara readjust her backpack, strides away from her team in search a suitable establishment for their needs.

(Connect/cha)

(don't feel like you have to screen shot the roll. Appreciate the extra effort though)

There is a large tavern in town that seems to be the focal point of a lot of the influx of persons coming in. There is a large barn that has been converted into additional lodgings, and its grounds have been converted into something like a makeshift refugee camp for those coming in as well, as most other homes here in town are privately owned. Residents and squatters fight constantly as every day brings in more strange heads from the countryside

Clara grimaces, but tries to find a suitable spot within the building; perhaps at the top of the barn where they can be away from prying ears.

The boarding house keeper is an elder man and his wife who do their best to cook and keep the place running. Everyone here seems to respect them for the most part, and he informs you that renting the entire upper floor is going to displace many people but he would be willing to kick them out for 100 credits.

That would be the total sum of money she had on hand; she shakes her hand and instead asks for a hot meal and a place for her crew.

"I can do that for ten, covers everyone. We've got the best hot food in the entire city, and it might be the only hot food. How are things out in the countryside? Not good I bet with all the new people coming in"

"Sure thing," she says. She hands out the credits. "I'll take a hot meal while I wait for my friends," she adds as she settles on one of the table. "Not good is one way to put it, how are you handling things in the city?"

"lots of desperate people close together packed into the city. Lots of crime, robbery, murder. People living out the death throes of the planet before things finally just burn out. No way any of us are getting out of here, and this planet is dead, we can't stay"

"Government not doing anything to evacuate, then?"

"Government!? " she laughs the mirthless laugh of an older woman who has seen too much. "Cooperative left this place a long time ago. There are no ships here. We're a bunch of snakes in a burlap sack, striking and biting, trapped in place until we suffocate" (edited)

"What about the mayor or its like?" She asks. "Surely they're trying to figure something out?"

"Trying to, he needs to relocate people. That is the only thing that is going to help, and it is the one thing they cannot do"

18:06

"Anything we plant dies, there is almost no easy water anywhere but under this town, the countryside is lawless. "

Clara scoffs. "Want to bet they're trying to relocate rich people first?"

"Nobody's getting relocated I don't think. There haven't been any ships comin by, guess if there ever was, they'd go first though" She says. She's clearly unhappy about being trapped here herself, as you expect most people are. An evacuation would ease a lot of hearts, and bring able bodied people back to the more well off Cooperative territories.

Clara nods in understanding. "Well, seems like a bit of a pickle to me." She takes a mouthful from her meal and gives a smile to the woman. "Thanks."

She has little griping otherwise on the issue here, and goes back to her logbooks of the various events of the day

(just waiting for my folks at this point, I think)

The rest of the team comes in closer to nightfall, having spent most of the day in line, and sneaking around to see if there were any other ways in. The smuggling path to get in you knew about already seems to be the only way that isn't well observed. The feeling around the city seems to be the same. Staying here is a bad situation for everyone. The planet is dying, slower than others the shapers have touched, but dying all the same.

(So, I'm a bit confused about the mission objective so I just want to take a moment to clarify. The whole "secret agent" thing from Luck threw me off I think. We are expected to see how the planet is faring and then establish a plan to integrate it back into the NMC, right?)

(Right, and now that you're on the ground its becoming apparent the shaper damage went deeper than anyone thought, and there might not be a way to save the planet, but something needs to be done to save the people) (edited)

17:18

(We also didnt know how the NMC would be received, which due to your conversations so far, we now know if you were able to get people out, you'd be begrudging saviors and not "attack on sight" )

17:19

(People harbored a lot of resentment against the NMC and nobles on other worlds and its been some fight on sight type of thing, so staying quiet about it until we knew how safe you'd be was what Luck was going for, and I think we're putting some answers together on that now)

(Perfect, that makes sense. So I wouldn't be going completely out of bound of the mission by organizing a meeting with the mayor of the city as a NMC representative, let's say)

(Not at all, that's a great next step)

Clara and her crew spend the night in this fine establishment before she gathers everyone and head to the Town Hall where she attempts to see the mayor and establish a rapport between the NMC and the government in charge.

The mayor is a portly man who seems to wear the same utterly filthy yellow suit every day though he can hardly be blamed for not cleaning it. His attendant and two guards wait at the entry of town hall to triage who is coming in and determine what’s worth sending through to the mayor. The two guards both have shotguns, held at rest.

Clara approaches the security desk with purposeful stride. She is accompanied by the rest of her team. As she reaches the desk, she nods. "Clara Kepner, NMC representative to Skandalis requesting a meeting with the mayor." She reaches for her weapons, slowly. "I am armed, and will now divest myself of these weapons, as will the rest of my team."

"Youll get them back on leaving, we'll make sure. One of you can stay outside to watch if you want..." the guard says, clearly taken aback by the up front and decisive nature of what you're saying. "Head inside, up the stairs and the first door on the right. I'll radio ahead and he'll clear any meetings he has. We...we thought you were all dead. We thought we were the only people left"

Clara's eyes soften and she mutters: "For a time, I thought I was too." She then proceeds to head to the mayor's office. (edited)

After handing over your weapons you're brought into a room where many people are leaving and look to be doing so suddenly. You get curious glances on your way into the chamber where a portly man sits in a crumbling office. His suit is stained with the day's sweat and you can see papers have been recycled dozens of times over to try to maintain some level of administrative function. "Welcome!" he says, trying to muster more enthusiasm than he feels. "The guards radioed ahead and told me what you said to them. I hope this is not some trick. Hope is almost a dangerous thing on this world"

Clara's lips stretch into a thin smile. "No trick, Mr. Mayor. My name is Clara Kepner, and I'm a representative of the NMC sent to assess the current situation on Skandalis." She fishes through her pockets for her credentials, passing them over to the man and waiting politely for him to examine them.

“Holy shit…” he exclaims. “These are real?! You really are from the NMC. You’re not from here then, so I’m interested in what’s happening out there and what the cooperative wants with us” (edited)

Clara gestures to the seats, eyebrow raised. As the mayor nods, she takes a seat, back straight.

20:10

"Excuse my language, but the state of things is a clusterfuck," she says with a small grimace. "The NMC was hit hard by the enemy, and we're still trying to re-establish contact with those worlds that got hit the hardest. That's why we're here, today. The NMC wants to help in anyway it can, but until now we had no idea of the situation on planet." She leans forward. "So tell me, Mr. Mayor, how is it that we can help?"

1

"I don't think there is anything we can do for this planet. The world is dying. The shapers may not have cleansed the life from this world , but they did more than enoughto make sure nothing would live here if they couldn;t have the world. It's been almost impossible to find new sources of fresh water, more and more of the soil turns into sand, and so on. Refugees pour in every day and its creating tension with the people who already live here as resources dwindle faster and faster"

Clara sighs and leans back. "I had feared as much from what little information we had gathered yesterday. We need to organize an evacuation then, and find a suitable planet for it. I presume you do not have access to any ship to transmit message to the NMC." "We could use our own, but we better have a plan ready before we send for reinforcement from the core worlds."

14:56

(I'm thinking we figure out the requirements of the evacuation + try to find a suitable uninhabited planet (or low pop one) within NMC border to support the influx of refugees. Then we send the pilot + 1 crew back with the request for transports while we prep the world for the evacuation)

(We can bring up some ideas of where they can go in #nmc-public-assembly probably. The others might know some places they can go)

"How much population are we looking to take in?"

"About 45,000. There will be more streaming in from the countryside for some time yet, best to estimate 50"

"What do we have in term of supplies?" She asked while looking through files on her pad. "I may have a solution, but it will require hardwork even after the resettlement."

"Not much. Enough for a month, two if we enact strict rationing, but after that we're going to start eyeing up the local cats and dogs"

1