Iron Stars - lyuba

Lyuba has been traveling south for days, departing swordbreak, on a route for the crashed battleship that was and still is the seat of Communist authority on the planet. CBSS soldiers have been given the respect and attention of the freedom fighters, coming to rescue them when the workers rebellion stood on the knife edge. The danger thus far has been from the snow, and the conditions. The crashed ship will be in sight in a few moments, just over a hill you're about to climb. From there, it is hoped the Communist leaders there will resupply you for your trek into the mountains, to the village of Frostford, where locals are trying to explore the geothermal caves their settlement has been built atop. There are reports of things in the darkness of the tunnels that run from light, and when called out- and anyone with an ounce of scouting potential has been called there to assist.

14:31

Naturally, this makes it a perfect job for a CBSS scout pioneer, left behind in the administrative chaos of a withdrawal from a combat zone

Public bio: Lyuba was born on Vadhat during the bad old capitalist days. He was raised by his parents in a small hab unit with 4 other siblings. His parents were loyal to the old ways, seeming a loss of individualism even though they were at the bottom of the rung. Lyuna, living in the old times, was eager to improve his family's standing by joining the army and making a name for himself. But one thing that never changes between powers is logistics and getting caught up in clerical errors. Stuck on this lame duck planet of no glory Lyuba looks to make some of his own. (edited)

20:29

Day 1:

20:31

Lyuba begins his day dressing for his morning scouting of the area when the official notice of scouts being needed comes down the chain. Immediately, he goes off to find the lead officer of his unit to get clearance for this mission (edited)

(is it Lyuba or Lyuna? the character sheet says Lyuba, so its what Ive named everything else. Do i Need to fix that?)

20:32

(also, you're already on this mission, you're about to get to the crashed ship at the base of the mountain, no need to sign up for it, since its already going on)

(sorry I made that way too late and just copy pasted it ill fix that. As for mission okay understood)

20:47

Luyba begins buying some glowbugs to see in the dark then begins to move on out to the troublesome caves

(I;m good to do it either way, i just dont want to mis-use your name the entire time)

You make it to the crashed ship, a battleship once, now a large salvaged wreck, forever bound to the surface of this world. You're permitted aboard, and the crew who turned into its live-in villagers sell you ten of them, now that their supply lines are free of getting raided by corporate soldiers. THe fighting here has been over for a few months now, and their bastion overlooks both the mountain pass you need to take, and the surrounding, much flatter countryside.

Lyuba then remebers he likes to eat and tries to get a weeks worth of rations from the cook before he ventures out. He looks at his planetary map and goes on foot to the countryside and towards the caves.

They’ll likewise provide provisions. They’re not going to be enjoyable but if it’s eat them or die, eating them seems to be a kinder fate. North of the wreck is the mountain pass you need to take to reach frostford, a human town built next to the caves you need to access. The climb itself to get there is expected to take about a day.

01:21

(Survive/wis)

(11)

You climb as best you can, avoiding possible sites of avalanche, sites of rock falls, and the tracks of predatory wildlife over the course of your day of travel. As night begins to fall upon the mountainside, you can barely make out the backlit ice and metal walls of Frostford ahead of you. Human sentries patrol the walls, and near the gate to get in- you can only see their shadowy outlines with the strong, setting sunlight behind them

Lyuba turns his glowbug on its brightest setting and approaches making it clear hes there so as not to spook the sentries and show off his CBSS ensignia. Asking for entry into town.

"You're out late for someone coming from the base of the mountain. What is your business in town?"

"Just some rest Sir. I'm on mission to check out some caves full of supposed cave dwellers."

He looks at the emblem on your jacket, and nods. "Alright, might want to wait for morning, bunkhouse is empty though, and should be warm. Emblem will get you a meal for tonight"

14:40

(probably makes sense to get some rumors from the locals anyway about what might be in the caves aside from your quarry)

(exactly my thought) "Thanks," Lyuba begins to follow Emblem and starting some small talk "So Emblem is it? I am Lyuba but I'm not from this world. Do you know much about these caves and what is inside them?"

(he means the emblem on your jacket, likt it will be free since youre CBSS)

(gotcha.) Lubya looks around trying to decern soldiers from locals and to speak to an older looking local.

Ooutside the boarding house w here you've been permitted to stay for the night, a few of the older folks in the town seem to have gathered to smoke pipes and talk about the events of the day, and are enjoying a quiet night

Lyuba approaches them "Greetings, my name is Lyuba. Can I bum a smoke off of you?" (edited)

One of them removes a cigarette from a silver case he keeps in a chest pocket, and hands it to you

16:42

"Nice night for a walk. You already look out of breath though"

"Ah yes, I came from that old battleship by foot actually. Im supposed to go do some surveys tomorrow." Lyuba sparks up and takes a small drag "Oh this is kinda good compared to the stuff in the barracks. So yeah I am headed out to these old caves supposedly. Know if I need to worry about much out there?"

"Vision, for the most obvious thing. The other is a way to mark or track your route. Don't want you getting lost in the dark down there. Those caves twist and turn, and intersect one another."

"I've a knife to mark on walls easy enough and a supply of glowbugs for at least two days I think. But all said and done that is some good advice" (edited)

“A knife and glowbugs won’t get you far for long. Do you have a nav-comp?” (edited)

"No, not really. The unit was usually just having us rely on our own skill... Maybe I can find one to request." (edited)

“I know the mayor has one. Probably won’t part with it for free though. Only thing that’s gonna keep you on the right path down there “

"where's this mayor live. Maybe I can do something while out for them."

"Back of town, near the rear wall. Look for the leaning smokestack, that is his house, he was one of the first"

"thank you for your wealth of knowlage and such a relaxing smoke sir. May we all be better for it. I should be on my way to the mayor less you need anything from me?"

They do not have anything else to offer, other than wishes for a safe exploration if you do decide to make the trip

Lyuba thanks them and heads off towards the barracks and sleeps the night away and will try and speak to the mayor in more reasonable hours before his trip out

20:10

Once the sun is shining Lyuba knocks on the mayors door.

His aide answers the door, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Good morning, I am Lyuba of the CBSS and would like to make a request of the mayor here. Are they awake at this time?' (edited)

“He nods and steps aside, bringing you into the simple kitchen where the mayor is finishing his morning cup of tea.

15:04

“Ah good morning. Don’t recognize you as one of the townsfolk can I help you with somethinf?”

"You have sharp eyes sir. I am Lyuba Lebedeva of the CBSS scouts. My current mission is to investigate the cave systems that keep giving us strange readings. I seemed to have come unprepared though. You see my unit didnt have a nav-comp and your villagers say its more intense than marking walls down there. They also mentioned you have one. As the truth of thr CBSS is we all should work together to become better I would like to offer my services to you if you can find a need for them to utilize your needed asset."

“If you’re planning to go into the cave there is one thing. There’s no doubt the bodies of other scouts down there. If you find anything you could bring back to the families, I’ll lend you the nav computer.

"It would be my honor sir. The families deserve it."

“I am glad you see it that way” His aide enters with the nav comp. it’s an old machine but reliable and it will do the job you need of it

"Thank you for this opportunity. I will be off right away then to the caves." Lyuba salutes and begins his early morning march to the caves.

(I will get a map posted. I think that’s going to be the best way to track our route )

22:30

(I’ll be back at a computer I hope tonight)

(sounds great. See ya then)

14:15

(This isn’t the whole cave but this is where we will start , ar the bottom left)

Original message was deleted or could not be loaded.

Pinned a message.

14:19

The sound and gentle glow of distant magma is the first thing you notice as you step onto the cave. This far in humans have traveled and you see signs warning you about the hazards

Lyuba whispers a brief luck saying and taps the warning signs. "The risk of business is worth the payout. 'Sigh' May your old capitalist sayings protect me this day." (Do the signs warn of any Hazzard in particular?)

(Just the lava right now)

(Excellent) Lyuba moves through the cave activating their Glowbug and checking their lazer pistol charge. Briefly investigating the entrance area before moving up to the bridge over the lava.

(Specifically the area to the left of the entrance.)

A small carin has been made here by the locals, memorializing people who have gone into the depths and never returned. There are at least 20 names here and small piles of stones have been left in front of them

Lyuba tries to memorize the names and takes a photo on his com-pad as he pushes forward to the bridge. Investigating the bridge for its safety to use and over the edges to see if he can spot any lost souls or something.

This close to the surface, the townsfolk likely would have recovered any bodies themselves. THe bridge looks safe, the slate planks warm but not hot from the running magma below. The other side is in darkness just beyond the far bridge posts, but you can hear bats and other native life stirring.

Lyuba cracks one of their glowbugs and tosses it into the dark hopefully seeing/drawing out whatever is ahead

A flock of bats scatters at the sudden light, flying overhead, as you reach the other side of the bridge. A small chamber to the left, and right, are both present, but you can also continue forward

Lyuba would check the left side first picking up his tossed glowbug again to gain sight

There is a body here, missing one of its legs. It’s a skeleton now, covered in gray ash. It’s kit is unrecognizable slag

"Damn" lyuba thinks to himself. He marks the location down in his compad. As well he as carefully as he can takes his knife and takes some bone shavings. Maybe they can identify them this way. Lyuba takes a cursory peak around for anything eyecatchig before heading out to the room on the right. (edited)

(unless they have like a name tag or sum identify thing) (edited)

(It would be a useless ruin like the rest so what you did is probably the best way to go about this. Good thinking)

00:55

(Notice/wis)

(4)

It seems like you’ve got everything there is to see in here. The bone shavings Will hopefully be able to have some identification attached to them once you return to the settlement.

(good stuff) Lyuba moves onto the other room

Small crystal growths extend from the walls in this room. They shine with the reflected light of the lava nearby , though are a smoky gray rather than the more traditional colors of gemstones you have seen before. Abandoned mining tools are scattered around the base of the veins here

Lyuba makes note of them for possible mining for the CBSS but otherwise rummages through the room before heading down towards thr bend in the Map

(All you would have immediately seen is what is there, if you are planning on moving on quickly then we won't be stopping to investigate)

(fair point. Lyuba is here to investigate) As he is about to leave but thinks better of it and goes into the room proper to look around.

The crystals in the wall aside from their odd color, seem to have some sort of vapor, or smoke under their crystal shells. You're not sure what might be suspended inside. The mining tools are fairly new, and hardly show the signs of hard use. There is no sign of the miners

At this discovery of the crystal shells Lyuba would pull out his survey scanner and begin investigating what they could be.

Nothing appears in the database, meaning this is an entirely new discovery. Metaspace sensors have now been worked into most scanning devices, and it registers faintly on that spectrum, but the machine is unable to discern more.

"Huh..." Lyuba thinks to himself. And puts the scanner away. He then sits down trying to remember all the techniques he learned from his brief observation at the trials before the CBSS came. Focusing inwards and trying to ignore all else besides thr crystal he expends effort to try and glimpse if this thing has any kind of thought for itself and uses lvl 0 telepathy to see if it has emotions.

It does not seem to have emotions. It is like projecting into a featureless surface.

Sweat beading down his face he takes a deep breath and notes down these crystals for his mission log. Without a medic nearby it would be too risky to interact just yet with these strange stones. He packs up and moves on to the bend.

The site is marked in the navcomp, and polity records will be updated. Sometime down the road, you or others can figure out what might be happening there. Around the bend, the light from your glowbug is having trouble slicing through the incredibly dense gloom. You can see another rich vein with these same crystals in it, though on the walls it looks like there are drag marks, like someone or something has been carried away

Lyuba considers the marks on the ground. Before he investigates further he pulls out his Lazer pistol and knife attaching the glow bug to the gun. He then would attempt to see what tracks were left in the drag marks. (I was thinking on using my survival kit on this if there was a check if thats applicable?)

(Just so I understand, you're trying to identify the drag marks?)

(more like if a stray footprint was left behind or something to give me a guess what it could be that's dragging things around here.)

(alright, looking at the description of a survival kit, i dont think anything in there at face value would be of a benefit to the point where a bonus can be applied)

20:37

(the whole reason you're here is because of an unknown danger or dangers, so a book on known dangers on top of a bunch of not tracking/hunting related tools doesn't really seem like it would do anything)

(good good also out of curiosity in your universe do Lazer weapons have a stun setting? If not do any besides a stun buton?) After going through all the possibilities he can feasibly think of lyubas stress rises. It seems to be time for first contact. And he tries to follow the drag marks as far as he can. Weapons readied but no held actions. (edited)

(they do not have a stun setting. Flop rifles are our only ranged based stun solution right now) (edited)

20:51

(There's also unarmed damage)

(Awesome found it under updates.) After passing through the bend following the drag marks Lyuba would check out that little camp looking area.