Iron Stars - wendel

Wendel awakens to a message on his compad. The job he applied for a few days ago through Ad-astra corporation has accepted his application. A few others have been assigned to the job, to investigate a deep space signal and report back or recover whatever may be out there. The expedition is expected to leave the following morning, the day today given over to any last minute life affairs you may need to attend to before leaving

He smiles at the compad with a renewed sense of excitement at this new adventure. He sits up and looks around the room. Piles of old broken tech and half finished projects adorn the room. He breathes in the smell of oil and rusted metal in the air; another smile coming across his face. With a spryness of a much younger man, he springs to his feet. Upon his landing, his socked feet slide out from under him on the smooth floor. He lays on the floor for a moment slightly confused about why he is now looking at the ceiling; scratching an itch on his belly through his rust colored long johns. He begins to laugh at himself as he rises a bit more cautiously this time. He dresses himself and proceeds to the bathroom. He examines his face in the the mirror for a moment, fiddling with his thick mustache, and running his tongue across the large gap between his front teeth. He opens the sink drawer and pulls out his container of mustache wax. He opens it up to find it empty. With a shocked expression throws the container down in a panic. He begins looking through every cabinet and drawer he could find. Becoming increasingly more panicked, he rushes back into his studio apartment and straight for a large trunk at the foot of his bed. He flings the lid open and stares inside. He sighs a sigh of relief as he gazes upon 25 neatly stacked canisters of unused mustache wax. "Hopefully that will be enough" he mutters to himself, removing a canister from the trunk. He proceeds back to the bathroom mirror, so that he can dress his mustache with his signature curl on each end. With his morning routine now complete he returns to his bed and grabs the compad. Safe in the knowledge he has enough wax for the length of this new job, he browses his favorite tech catalogs and technical schematics until he drifts off to sleep once again.

2

Morning finds you before long and you are brought to the Central air-space port by a hired car. Another member of your team, @Seung Whitaker (Severus/Marina) will be meeting you in space on the Trivedi Cloud orbital platform before setting off to rendezvous in space with the rest of the team

04:28

From there, you’ll be sent out to explore the mysterious deep space signal

Wendel walks through the air-space port on his way towards the shuttle that will take him to the Trivedi orbital platform. As he approaches the shuttle, he sees the shuttle pilot doing his pre-flight checks. Wendel excitedly waddles over to the man, "Hello there young man! I do say this is a fine little vessel you have here!" without giving the pilot a chance to respond he fires off with his next questions. "What are it's speed capabilities? Have you made any custom modifications? What are the protocols at a facility such as this for modifying spacecraft? Well don't be afraid son, speak up!" Wendel stands smiling at the man awaiting his response.

The pilot is clearly overwhelmed and relaxes as @Seung Whitaker (Severus/Marina) enters the hangar, giving you someone else to talk to. The other ad astra crew, three in total is behind him.

16:05

One of which, a taros female, has a large medial bag over her shoulder

Wendel, following the eyes of the pilot - sees the other members of the crew enter. Forgetting the pilot entirely, he excitedly shouts "Good show!" Excellent you have arrived!". Noticing the large bag one of them is carrying - "I say miss, what on earth do you have in there? Trying to bring your pet lope with you??" He releases a boisterous belly laugh - clearly amused by himself.

“Wow you sure talk odd, but are we really going to rise on this space ship? I’ve never been on one before! Are you the pilot? Do you have schematics for this? Do you know how fast it goes? My name is Severus by the way!” (This is going to be a treat.)

1

The pilots eyes begin to water behind his goggles as the barrage of questions commences once again, now with two of you instead of one

21:11

“I’m supposed to get you out to examine the deep space signal we picked up. I don’t suppose we could save the questions for that, could we?”

"Not now son! Can't you see proper introductions are in order?! Severus you say? Odd sort of name, but an excellent ring to it! Wendel is the name! Wendel Cadman. It's a pleasure!" He takes the beret off his head revealing the area it covered is almost entirely devoid of hair. He attempts to give a formal bow, but his large belly makes it difficult for him to remain upright and he stumbles a little before regaining his balance. (Ha! This is gonna be epic!)

“Nice to meet you Wendel! I’m Severus Thatcher from Atrovia here on Gudrun!” He stops doing his best to give a bow also stumbling slightly just copying Wendel. “It’s so awesome I get to work with humans and I’m so excited to go see new stuff and explore! I hope this signal is some cool tech!”

“ Haha! Good form Thatch! I see we are two birds of a feather! New tech indeed!” Wendel looks around at the other crew members, then to the pilot, then back to Severus. “I say does anyone happen to what exactly this trip will entail?”

As you board and take your seats, you see viewscreens on the backs of the seats in front of you. A countdown from thirty seconds is ticking away in the corner. “I think we are about to find out” the taros woman medic says. “I’m Raina. By the way”

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance! Wendel’s the name! Wendel Cadman! I dare say, this is all very exciting isn’t it!”

"It is" she nods. The countdown ends and a map is overlaid. A deep space signal has been discovered nearby, that is believed to be coming from a ship, but UNW command is not sure. Ad-Astra has volunteered to gather a team of specialists to go out and investigate, and provide aid if there is something there to help- as the UNW army is engaged on Rawhani, and the fleet is home recovering from damage

"I can't believe it I'm finally going to space! Not only that it might be a ship we've never seen before! I hope it's really cool and has stuff we've never seen before so I can take it apart!"

“Ha! That’s the spirit now lad! Just save some for the rest of us! I find I am rather worked up about all this! Tally ho!”

The ship is a small shuttle, meant to bring you out there to investigate and assist, rather than recover tons of cargo yourselves. The jump commences (We have three days of downtime if anyone wants to do anything with it)

(Downtime activities are listed in a handout on roll20)

(Severus is going to add customized to his armor.)

(I don’t think Wendel can afford anything lol. I guess he will just chill)

(Any training you want to do wendel?)

(Not at this time, he is too busy) Wendel pulls out a small mirror and mustache trimming kit, and proceeds to spend the entire time pruning and shaping his already glorious stache.

“Wow you sure spend a long time working on that mustache. I never knew someone could put so much care into their hair!”

"Son, perfection takes time and effort! Never stop striving - always remember that! HAHA! - Now, would anyone like to join me in a space shanty to pass the time?!"

The voyage passes peacefully and half an hour before expected exit from spike an alarm begins to chime gently , waking everyone up and alerting those awake that the mission will begin soon. The ship comes alive as gear is collected and put on. The ship rumbles for a moment as it exits spike and ahead the small shuttle is dwarfed by a trio of New Moon Cooperative exodus vessels Signals pass between them all, but so far nothing has been beamed to your small ship

"Aha! Good show! Let's contact these New Moonies ourselves if they are going to be shy!"

“Those ships are huge! I thought they lived far from us when I heard about them, but maybe they are coming to show us what cool stuff they have out there!”

"That's the spirit! Lets see what they are up to!" Wendel contacts the closest vessel -

Hello there chaps! Wendel's the name! Wendel Cadman! excellent to make your acquaintances! What are you lot up to out here?

A garbled transmission comes back , it sounds like someone is trying to talk but the words keep being swallowed up by static

"I wonder if we can some how clean up the signal? Can I have a hand at the radio for a moment?"

The pilot moves over as much as he can to let you get between him and the comms console

" HAHA! Now we are getting somewhere! Let me help you with that son!" Wendel getting very excited pushes his way to the comms console to sandwich his obtuse frame in the increasingly narrow space. On the way he puts his arm around Severus pulling him up to the comm station and squishing everyone into a very confined space "Now let's see what this is all about Thatch old boy!" (Hey I want him to try and clear up the signal - I rolled program/int and got a 12)

The signal chop goes away and you hear nothing but clear air. They don’t repeat their message, likely assuming it was heard the first time

"Perhaps they didn't get my original message! I shall send another one!"

Hellooo there chaps! Anyone at home? We had some garbledeegoop on our end, but it's all cleared up now! Wendel's the name! Wendel Cadman! Pleased to make your acquaintances! What are you lot up to out in these parts eh?

“Well at least we can be glad it’s not an SOS if they’re not still sending it!” (edited)

The transmission repeats , it is a distress call, an automated loop from the ships bridge. It states that they’re refugees fleeing shaper attacks deep within NMC territory and their navigation computer had failed as they evacuated under fire

01:33

A random jump brought them far into deep space and they’ve been drifting for months

Severus visibly deflates. “Well there goes that idea...” He stays silent for a moment before continueing. “Then again maybe they had enough food and they’re all good in there! Captain are we able to board them maybe we can fix the computer and get them to Gudrun!”

“I’m going to set an approach. Both of you get everyone on their feet back there and get ready to hit the deck the minute we land”

“Ok I’ll be ready!”

“Haha! Good show! We must always help those in need! I shall be ready!”

A small rectangle of dirty yellow light pierces the blackness of space as a docking bay winches open. The shuttle moves closer and heads inside, side on , before landing and waiting for the bay door to close behind it. Once it does, an airlock on the distant east wall begins to cycle, allowing you entry to the ship

“Ok so who wants to go first! I can’t wait to see how excited they’ll be once we meet them!”

“I don’t mind taking point lad! Tally ho and so forth!” Wendel triumphantly throws his backpack over his shoulder and proceeds to exit the shuttle. “Come on out now team! The air is fine! Haha!”

The airlock opens as you exit the ship and there is a man in a tri corner hat and a handful of guards with elegant looking laser muskets are waiting

23:24

“Welcome aboard the Shared Hope, We we’re starting to run out of exactly that.”

"Aha! Good show chaps! Glad to seeing you lot looking fit! Wendel's the name. Wendel Cadman. Pleasure to make your acquaintances! What seems to be your troubles? Anything this strapping group of adventurers can assist you with?"

"Hi there!" Severus says on his tippy toes from behind Wendel. "My name is Severus and I'm here to help you too! Nice to meet you all!"

“I’ve never seen one of you before” the captain says to Severus, looking at his ears. “Our nav computer is shot , and the power is failing to the bridge and life support. We have had people starting to suffocate slowly already. The air scrubbers can’t keep up”

"I've never met one of you from the NMC either! I'm so excited to meet you!" Severus says not even thinking of the difference of species. "When it comes to your ship maybe we can take a look at what ever your power source is first or maybe even plug in our ship to at least take a little bit of the load off.

“I don’t think your little shuttle could do much to boost our power demands. The reactor though maybe you could do something about, and afterwards the navigation computer”

14:34

“These black box reactors are supposed to be cheap and easy to run. It’s a lot different than what the NMC normally uses. We had to outfit these ships in a hurry “

"Well we will find out soon enough! Let's roll up our sleeves and dig right in! Mind if we poke around your reactor a bit?"

(Sorry I didn’t mean for that last sentence to sound like ERP)

3

"Yes let's go fix it!"

The airlock cycles behind you and you’re led down packed hallways. You see into cargo bays to somber looking refugees. They’re all thin and most are dirty, ship water being saved for drinking. “We lost power to cold sleep too. It wasn’t so bad in the beginning, with some@of the refugees under , but we had to wake them up when power failed

13:16

Now life support is too taxed to handle them all”

“They all look so sad, it looks just like bad years back home so empty inside.” Severus says softly his smile he normally wears long gone. (edited)

“Chin up lad! That’s why we will do our very best to help this lot! We can get this reactor up and running and proceed to any other system that needs our attention! Let’s not waste time - onward ho!”

The small group moves through packed hallways and as you approach a large set of double blast doors you see some hazardous environment suits and air tanks hanging on the wall

00:16

“A precaution” the captain explains. “We can’t tell if there’s been a breach. The sniffing equipment was switched off to divert the power to life support , and now we can’t get either working properly”

Severus grabs a suit and begins putting it on over his clothes making sure to keep his gear on the outside. "So I've never worked on a reactor before? Is it like drones?"

Wendel grabs a suit as well - also leaving his gear on the outside. It takes him a little longer as he tries to make the suit fit over his rather large gut. After some struggling, he finishes getting his suit on - though it fits a bit snug in his mid region. After a quick mustache check - he is good to go. "Alright lad let's go! Once more unto the - possible - breach! HAHAHA!"

“Alright. These suits are rated for two hours before Youll need to change the power cell. Try to complete your survey and any needed work in that time. We don’t have many cells left. Are you both ready?”

"Of course! Into the unknown we march! Tally ho!"

“Yeah I think I’m ready.”

The doors winch open slowly and the small rad counters begin to climb Ahead, the reactor sits in a sunken pit in the floor. Most of the cables have been disconnected and moved away. The air is greasy with heat smear from the reactor, and the temperature readings are well past stressful (edited)

01:41

There is normally a large amount of water around the reactor to keep it cool. Most of it seems gone, for some reason

"Wendel I think we need to cool it some how. Look how far these needles are in the red! Maybe if we open it to space that might help. I doubt they have the water to spare or anything solid that would help." (edited)

"Excellent idea lad! That should also help us out with our radiation problem! Now the question is what is the best way to do that? Are we able vent the atmosphere of this room into space? Or do we need to do this the old fashioned way and punch a whole in the wall? HAHA! Whatever we do we should do it sooner rather than later!" Wendel activates the comm in the suit. "Helloooo there? Hatty can you hear me? Are you chaps systems currently capable of venting the atmosphere of this room into space?"

“The exchanger is damaged. We tried that already and haven’t been able to get it running”

“Then maybe we can get that working first and then plug back in the reactor. If we can get enough power to start the exchanger it’ll be able to cool it before there issue maybe!”

"Capital idea son! Stopping the reactor from reaching critical levels should most certainly be our first priority!"

(So they cant vent the compartment directly, Theyd have done that already, but you can either make a vent or make a work around for it)

(Ok cool - is the reactor usually in an inner part of the ship or does it fall on an outer wall somewhere?)

"Maybe let's take a look at the reactor first too. We might be able to cool it, but if it's not working in the first place we might make it worse." Severus says walking towards the reactor to look it over.

(Usually inner on a human ship since it’s a nuclear like reaction)

04:07

The power unit itself is working but the containment tank around it for the coolant and water has been breached. Trace amounts have been leaking out into other decks or directly into space for probably weeks now

04:07

In the right light, the dozens of hairline fractures are easy to see

"Wendel I think I found some cracks in the reactor. Maybe with some spare metal we can fix with with Metatools. Do you have those?" (edited)

(Do they have spare parts or do they have meta tools?)

"I have spare parts and Metatools! I think we can patch this old boy up!" Wendel begins pulling the necessary items from his bag.

“Alright let’s team up and get it fixed, then look at the cooling!”

(We can do a fix /int here at +2)

(Rolled an 11)

A complex series of cuts and welds makes a ventilation system for the reactor , and the radiation level begins to fall. The all clear is sounded and the ships chief engineer reboots it from the bridge. The ship shakes and judders, before the lights finally rise to their full luminosity

"Awesome we did it!" Severus says putting his hand up to his hand for a high five before almost immediately dropping it back to his face. "But wait we still gotta find out if they can move this to Gudrun! Hey Moonie guy who's been working with us. Can you hear me. The lights are on! Does that mean you can move too!?" (edited)

“Engines are going to take some time to build power. It won’t be fast but we can move. Now we just need the navigation computer fixed so we know where we are going”

“Well then Hatty - I think we need to head there next! What do you say Thatch? Up for some more fun?”

“Thatch? Who’s tha- oh! That’s me isn’t it?! Yeah I’m always ready to work on computers! I’d say it would be more my speciality even.”

“Most excellent! That’s the attitude! Alright then Hatty, lead the way old boy!”

The bridge is a twisted mess of barely working electronics. You can see less critical systems have been cut open and cannibalized to@keep the remaining computers running, but just barely. Only a few crewmen are on the bridge, hardly enough hands to run the ship

"Wow this is a lot of wires! Can you point out which computer even was navigation?"

"Yes, you wouldn't want us poking around looking for it! Wouldn't want to accidentally connect the ventilation system with waste disposal now would we?? HAHAHA." Wendel, clearly overly amused at his own joke, lets out a huge belly laugh and slaps Severus on the back probably a little harder then he meant to. "Well then - point the way Hatty!"

You're brought to a side alcove in the main bridge bay, where the computer system looks the worst off. It has been several weeks but you can still smell burned plastek and wiring. "We don't even know where to begin. There are three computers here, one controls our fixed position in deep space. It helps keep us on a straight line in this three dimensional environment. The second one does the math and calculations necessary for orbit, spike jumps, or long range maneuvers across vast distances. the third is a backup, and we haven't been able to restore any of the programs to the previous two systems from it"

Severus walks up to the third computer. (Do any of them actaully work or are they all dead.)

(The third works but can’t connect to the first two. The first two are busted )

04:55

(But you might be able to do something to use the parts or cannibalize into something new

04:56

(It doesn’t habe to be a perfectly engineered solution. Give me something plausible and we can use checks to fill the gaps in knowledge)

"How about I try to route some of the wires to get the third one working possibly! Maybe I can get the data connected at least" (10 fix/int) (edited)

This seems to work in the sense that a connection is made physically between the terminals. An automatic system lock on the backup terminal prevents the program from being re activated

"Wendel I think I got them connected I think!." Severus says half his body in the computers. "Do you wanna see if you can get them working and if I need to change any of the wires." (edited)

(We can do a program/int Wendell)

"I say, of course I can son!" (rolled an 11)

There is a loud chime, and a sounds that is almost a zen chorus, as the navigation system powers back up

04:23

other lights in the bridge twinkle as the navigation system comes on

“Are those good noises Wendel?” Severus ask still half way in the console. “I don’t see anything sparking or any fires yet in here.”

“They are indeed Thatch my good lad! Come on out and hear this beautiful sound for yourself! HAHA”

There is a mighty cheer and someone begins joyously playing a small violin as the bridge systems come back to half life , one by one

15:41

“This is working!” The captain shouts, the displays on his chair firing for the first time in months

“Aha! Now this is more like it! Excellent spirit lads! Tally ho and so forth! Good show!”

(3xp, 5000 credits)

17:44

"We still need a course to Gudrun, which you can hopefully provide us with. Otherwise, I think we can limp it the rest of the way there"

“Of course we can there Hatty! Happy to oblige!”

Severus slides out sitting up. "Yeah! I'm glad we were able to help you and maybe we'll see each other on Gudrun! Maybe you'll even work with us in Ad Astra once you're settled!"

He takes off his tri corner hat and hands it to wendel. It’s a rich dark fabric, brushed with oils to keep out the rain and an elegant white feather is pinned to the front with a silver pin. A gold pocket watch, front carved in onyx and gold to represent a waxing crescent moon and hands it to Severus. “These are the only symbols of gratitude I can give you. We have the course from your shuttle now, and should see you in a few days. You’ve saved thousands of lives. Tens of thousands”

“Haha! I must say I have been admiring this hat for a while!” Wendel takes off his worn baret off and half hazardously puts it on his new friend’s now hatless head. Smiling he puts the tri corner hat on his own head beaming proudly. “Now I can still call you hatty! Hahahahaha. I am much obliged by this most posh gift! We are just happy to help old boy!”

“You don’t have to stick around if you have pressing business elsewhere. We expect the jump to take a few days. You’re welcome to spend it aboard if you like”

The group of ships enters spike space, exiting at Gudrun, after a nerve wracking journey. There is tangible relief aboard all vessels, and on the ground, outside Central the off-world quarantine and inspection camp is opening its doors for the first time in over a year

03:06

(nothing bad, they just process the new arrivals in batches, make sure theyre not sick and gets them assigned to housing/connected with work)

"So we did it! Where do you plan to go now Wendel? Maybe we'll get to work together again soon!"

“That would be most excellent! I haven’t the faintest where I’m off to next! Where the work takes me I imagine! How about yourself Thatch? What course do you set from here?”

"I don't really know. I guess I'll keep doing work for Ad Astra till I can go out and explore. I really wanna find some cool planets with cool civilizations, or maybe just cool stuff they left or found or made!" (edited)

(If you guys need some idea as to next thing let me know. I’m open to whatever)

(I mean Severus is just gunna jump on the next ship to where ever Ad Astra points him to.)

(Anything in mind for yourself wendel?)

(I have no idea, I would love some help lol)

Ad-Astra is offering more work. They have long sent water shipments to the desert planet of Asta, where the fractured human tribes wage war against a robot menace called the Alloy Host. Anti ship Ground based defenses have made further trade impossible, a stealth dropship would be made available to see how conditions are on the ground, and if possible send the robot defenses into disarray to re open trade. Alternatively, the endless junkyards of Musheera offer countless opportunities for salvage and discovery

Severus see's the work call out for Musheera and sends message asking to join the next group to go.

Wendel - also seeing the work call for Musheera sends a message to join as well!

(anyone need to get anything before we set out?)

(I think I’m good)

(Same.)

(9 days in spike space for downtime purposes. And 2 d100 from@each of you. Let’s generate a landing zone!)

(74 88)

(99,89)

A leveled stretch of pavement is to the north, with overturned slyth vehicles. They look rusted out and too gutted to be of use, but the area looks clean enough for the ship to set down. to the west, the ruins of a factory loom over the surround. Fallen power lines criss-cross the roof like a spiders web. to the south, a hardened blockhouse looks to have survived the passage of time and is relatively intact. The blast doors are shut. To the east, the ruins of the slyth equivalent of a breaker gun sit humbled, the elongated cannon tumbled, now sagging and the barrel has buried itself in the ground

"This all looks rather exciting doesn't it! I say Thatch, that blockhouse looks like it may have some things intact! Think we might be up to the task of getting that blast door open??"

"Sure! Let's try!" Severus says running off the shuttle towards the blockhouse.

(Not trying to tell you how to live your life, but now would be a good time to plan your equipment loadout as you venture off. You can read the scouting report on roll20 for more info, but basically Musheera is a huge radioactive planet of industrial ruins. It's assumed you would have vacc suits if you're spending time here, but if there's other general equipment you think you'll need, now is the time to declare that rather than in the middle of the mission.)

(Yeah. Just having the credits to buy it and actually having it are different )

(If wendel wants to stop to look back at the stuff I'll wait, but Severus isn't a seasoned adventurer it's part character reason as well.)

Wendel rushes to the ships locker, grabbing two hazardous environment suits. He throws his on as quickly as he can and runs out to meet Severus to present him with his suit. "I say! Thatch! You will want one of these here! You won't survive long without it due to this planet's corrosive atmosphere! It's a good thing there is still atmospheric pressure or you'd already be unconscious! HAHA Wouldn't want you to pass out now would we! HA!"

16:50

(I assume with a corrosive atmosphere there is still some kind of breathable atmosphere that would allow you to function for a bit without ill effects. If I need to change that up let me know)

(You can breathe for a while but eventually you’ll inhale enough contaminants that you’d be sick. Lots of aerosolized industrial waste and radioactive elements in the air from all the busted up factories.

(Ok sweet thnx)

The blockhouse remains unmoving, and its doors remain shut as you don the protective gear you need to begin your explorations of this world. Other groups have met with equal misfortune, and great wealth. RCoE, another UNW sub-faction has seen great promise in this world and their leader, Billy Rigers, has elected to create a sizeable base here some kilometers away from your landing zone. Black smoke from a recent attack still gently rises from the compound as crews work to contain the last of the chemical fires set during the raid.

Wendel approaches the blockhouse to search for a blast door override access point, or at least access to a circuit that connects to the blast doors.

A broken cable box hangs off the side of the building, the internal wires hanging out like sad rubber spaghetti, though the ends of the wires are corroded and may need to be snipped away

Wendel searches through his bag and pulls out his toolkit. He uses his tester to see if there is any current running through the wires.

There is a weak current, but enough for your purposes here

Wendel using his tools strips the wires and attempts to reconnect the circuit to activate the door opening (do I need to roll for this?)

(your fix is good enough where youre just naturally skilled to do it without peoblem)

20:27

There is a whine as the doors grind open. They have not been lubricated in a very long time. Lights click on, very faintly inside to reveal the slyth equivalent of a light utility landspeeder (gravcar for chassis purposes) , though other than a tool rack it seems like most of it has been stripped down

There is a gentle shift as the speeder frame creaks on the chains holding it aloft in the machine shop. It looks like with some time, and enough scavenging of the nearby ruins, this thing might be able to be repaired

"Wow you did a great job Wendel! Does it look like it'll work?" Severus says peering inside.

The engine is there, along with the gravity plates, but a few of the smaller parts are either missing or too corroded to work anymore

"Looks like it might need some work. To bad no one left schematics laying around for it! We might have to play around with it. Maybe if we're lucky though there is one with the parts around here!" Severus says throwing his drone out. "I'll try to see from above!" He says using his cybernetic enhancement to have the drone fly up and connecting to it's sensors.

Connected to the drone, Severeus sees a whole new perspective of the endless junk field. Some sort of Slyth car park or vehicle storage lot looks to be about a kilometer hike away, the hulls resting there seem to be in better than average condition, compared to everything else around you. The actual area itself is too densely packed with other junk to land the ship it. You'll have to hike.

"I say! Excellent idea there Thatch! Perhaps we can find the parts we need old boy!"

20:34

(Sorry I have been absent. I got pneumonia and was kind of useless for a bit there. Feeling a bit better now!)

2

(You're fine man. I worked myself half to death so I was gone for a bit too.) "I think I see some more vehicles out in the distance! They might have parts or at least some rusted examples! We're gunna have to hoof it though I don't see any way for us to get dropped near it but it can't be that far!"

“Well then pull up your bootstraps and lets get to a steady march! Haha!”

Tracking through the junk field you see endless piles of what could be worthless scrap, or what could In the right hands be billions of credits worth of advanced machinery. It is too impossible to say. A large utility pole has fallen and crushed the fence on the west side of the vehicle park, allowing you to casually step over the flattened fence section and go inside

Severus looks over the space trying to judge which wreck may be best to start with.

There is a truck close to the fence, that has the engine compartment looking fairly intact

Severus claps his hands together. “Wendel let’s check that truck out! It might have the parts we need.” Severus runs over metatool in hand.

The hood is easily snapped off, though the engine is frozen with rust. Some of the components look like they can be cleaned and made to work again if they're extracted carefully.

03:14

The idea of pulling cylinders out reminds you of a dentist pulling teeth

"Alright Wendel Let's see what we can get out!" Severus using his meta tool attempts to pull several of the parts out using it's cutting function when needed.

(Your fix is what, 1? That or higher and we can ignore a check here)

(yes it's 1) (edited)

There is a wrench, and a pull, and the cylinders come out- one of the parts needed to keep the landspeeder you found running

"I found some cylinders that I think should fit! Although it looks like we might need to try a few more vehicles before we're finished." Severus says looking around.

The rest of the yard is a mixture of farming equipment, construction excavators, soil preparing tractors, and a broken down military vehicle resembling a tank at the end of the yard. The engine on the tank is externally mounted, it looks like it was only half finished before whatever happened here stopped work

"Oooh! That vehicle over there looks interesting! Looks like they only got part way through so the parts might be easy to get!" Severus heads over towards the tank like vehicle.

The battle tank is wide, doubly so, the large turret bent and barrel broken. It looks to have been damaged in some previous engagement, and was brought here for repairs that never were completed

“Man I wish we could drive this thing! Not that I’d want the gun fixed but, I bet we could drive over all the scrap! Well... then we might break something valuable so maybe not. Either way let’s see what it’s got that’s still good!” Severus scrambles up the side of the tank to get a better look at the engine and what’s usable.

Some combustion components that were in bad shape on the other vehicle are good on this one, but it looks like a small electrical anti-tampering system is squatting on top of the unfinished vehicle engine. It will need to be disabled to safely remove anything

"What's this thing." Wendel says looking around it. "I'll have to take it off it it seems! More fun with all this tech!" Wendel attempts to get the system off without harming himself. (edited)

(This one will need a fix/int)

20:20

(Or dex. Dealers choice)

(11)

There is a slight click and you feel the electrical current keeping you from touching the device free of harm begin to fade out. There is a gentle click and the anti tampering device snaps off

"Hey it came off!" Severus exclaims starting to pull the good parts. "I wonder if we're near having enough parts yet! Maybe we should go check!" (edited)

With this latest bounty of pieces in hand, you can get the landspeeder to run

Severus jumps down and starts heading back. "Come on Wendel let's go check and see!"

The trek back to the landspeeder is easier now that you know the route, and nothing has come by to disturb your landing zone or find since you have been gone. The ship itself has come in for landing now, and the security detail is idling nearby, casting binocular glances out across the never ending fields of junk

Severus walks up to the land speeder setting down his gear and the new found tech. "Let's see if we can't get this thing working!" He exclaims picking up parts and trying to match pieces to others.

You've brought back a good spread of parts, and those that don't fit right away are encouraged to fit with just a little bit of work. Musheera's sun begins to set as you have the final piece locked into place

Severus wipes the sweat off his brow. "Wow that was fun! I really hope this works, but man I really wanna go get more parts and try again too!" Severus goes around to the main body. "Now I wonder what button or switch turns this thing on? I know! I'll just guess!" Severus puts his hand into the vehicle and hits a random button on the dash.

There is a gentle hum and the vehicle lifts to a half meter off the ground. The grav plates spark for just a second before they finally settle into a comfortable hover

00:40

The grav speeder now works and is capable of motion. The tool rack status panel mounted on the baxk also reports power is flowing

"Awesome! We have a vehicle so now we can get around without having to walk everywhere! Man I was so good at driving back home in the VR Games I can't wait to try here! Now where next where next..." Severus taps his brow for a moment. "Let's go to the factory! Maybe we'll find some cool stuff to take home with us like our car!" (Is this a gravcar or a grav bike?)

(Counts as Gravcar)

Severus opens the door and hops into the gravcar. "Alright so here's the wheel, and the button that turned it on, I think these are the peddles. Perfect! Now I just have to get it over without hitting any rubble or the ship. That can't be to hard!" Severus turns the wheel and spins the craft into the direction of the factory and heads in that direction.

The gravcar, with both of you aboard, bobs gently as the anti-grav field races over loose piles of junk and other organic debris. A pack of tiny scavenging creatures is scattered as the speeder passes by the factory is a large square building, fallen power cables and chimneys blanket the building like a spiders web, though they have long ago lost any kind of power or conductivity- now just forming a thick rubber and metal barrier covering large segments of the building exterior .

Severus jumps up from the seat scrambling to the hood of the speeder putting his hand to his forehead and looking around. “Wow that’s a big building! I wonder what they were making inside! Let’s look around and see if he can’t find a door or a hole!” Severus jumps off the speeder and begins walking left around the building.

Wendel awkwardly climbs out of the vehicle squeezing his gut through the door “I say son! Wait for me!” Wendel waddle runs around the building to meet up with Severus. (Sorry guys - just got out of the hospital the other day. My pneumonia did not get better before lol. All gone now though!)

There is a broken window 2m off the ground, glass carpets the ground, and the vine/wires do not drape down this part of the building. A dull hum of electronic machinery comes from inside

“I do believe I hear something still operating inside! What do you say Thatch? Want to take a peek? I’ll give you a boost!”

“Don’t worry I’ll have my drone check for us!” Severus pulls out his drone letting it fly off his hand taking control with his cybernetics he brings it to the window to look inside.

A large electric hammer and presses are gently clacking together as their automated processes continue directing them, even though there are no more metal products to process. Overturned ore carts, most filled, some empty have nuggets of metal and debris scattered all over the floor.

“Wow! Some of the machines still have power! I don’t know if they’re able to process anything though it looks like what ever was bringing them material stopped or something happened. There is a bunch of unprocessed metal scattered around.” (Is the hole big enough for the drone?)

(yeah for sure, they're pretty big windows)

22:36

(you two would fit in too if you can find a way up, but not the car)

Severus sends the drone in. “I’m going to see if there is an entrance I can find.”

“Excellent Idea lad!”

The drone finds a door, as it pans around the room, but on the outside, the heavy utility cables are draped over it, and are difficult to move by hand

"Hmm I found a door but it's behind those cables." Severus points towards them. "Do you think we have a way to cut them or maybe get them out of the way?" (edited)

(They could be cut since your car has power tools now)

"Let's check the tool rack on the car maybe it'll have a grinder or a saw?"

The tool rack does have a power saw with a sharp blade, and a grindstone meant for sharpening blades or other tools

“Wendel do you wanna try to cut the wires? I’m no good at stuff like that. I’d more likely cut myself.” He says with a frown.

“I say! You want me to use a potentially dangerous tool?! Of course I will! Hahahaha!” Wendel rushes to the saw and fires it up laughing even harder as he makes the motor of the power saw rev.

(you guys combined have an excellent chance of success so no roll needed here) Wendel fires up the saw and you are both bathed in sparks as the heavy cables are cut away, and pulled back from the doorway into the ore processing plant floor.

“Haha! Good show lad! We are in!”

"Yes we are!" Severus says excited pushing the door open to greet his drone. "Do you wanna take the first steps in since I've already seen inside?"

“Don’t mind if I do son!” Wendel walls through the door and looks around - taking it all in.

The ore carts are spilled and it looks like this was once a large foudry space for stamped metal products. Large plates of steel that were awaiting pressing into components now rust on wall racks

Severus passes Wendel into the building. “So where do you wanna start! What about the machines that are still working?”

“Absolutely son! I would love to get in and starting fiddling around with some of these goodies!”

A power box on the wall has a small amount of charge in it, and looks to be connected in some way to most of the machines in this room

"Alright so let's see..." Severus looks at the machines following the wires. "It looks like they may be powered from here." Severus opens the box looking in side at the wiring.

The box and switch are thrown and there is a hiss in the rafters of the room. The machines begin to try to ignite and several of the furnaces do, their interiors beginning to glow a pleasant Orange.

21:46

Control panels begin to light up for the hydraulic hammers

21:46

The status panel is red for the ore carts , citing many are not responding and that there are obstructions m on the tracks

"It looks like if we can get the ore carts moving agian we can find out what they were making here. Might be a good idea maybe it was something really cool!"

“Absolutely! Let’s go inspect the cars and the tracks to see if we can get them up and running again!”

The ore carts are little more than mining carts with a small motor on them to keep them moving at regular intervals. On their own, the two of you can turn them over, but only if they've been emptied of their content

“I say son! Let’s find one that is the emptiest and finish clearing it out! Then we can give it a good flip and poke around it’s underside!! Haha!”

"Sounds like a good idea!" Severus looks to see which is most empty and begins to shovel ore out with his hands.

Wendel enthusiastically joins in. “We need a good cart emptying song! Ha!”

Once the cart is emptied and set on the tracks, the status light on the bottom turns from red to green, and the matching indicator on the status panel flips to match

“Haha! Success lad! I can’t wait to see what this was working on!”

“Wendel I think we have to fill it back up now.” Severus says with a slight frown sitting on the ground with fresh dust and dirt lightly coating him from the work. Severus get’s up starting to fill back up the cart.

“Haha! Quite right! Tally ho!” Wendel - still energetically somehow - begins helping fill up the cart.

As the cart registers full It begins to trundle down the track, the bed tilts sideways and empties it’s load into the furnace. Sensing objects within, it begins to heat

05:20

A small readout shows how full it is, more carts can fit

"Alright lad! Let's roll up our sleeves and empty some more carts! Then we can fix these birds up, fill 'em back up, and send them on their way! I must say, I am rather excited about the mystery behind this facility! Let's see what these old boys were up to!" Wendel scurries over to the nearest cart and begins to empty it of its contents.

“Alright! Maybe if we’re lucky it’ll finish one of what ever it’s making while we work on the carts!” Severus moves to help wendel.

As the material storage and heat both charge up to 100%, another terminal comes online. TEMPLATE STORAGE DECK EMPTY. PLEASE PROVIDE A SCHEMATIC

“Oh. Well that’s kinda sad. I guess we’ll have to find some schematics to build something from the people that used to be here. Unless we could put anything in!” Severus perks up. “Do you have any schematics Wendel?”

(It could be anything you’ve seen before. Doesnt Severus have the train schematics too?)

22:29

(Back when you were traveling with Raina)

(True) “I have schematics for a train but I don’t know if it’ll build all of it. Do you wanna try them!”

“Of course! I haven’t been able to fiddle with a train yet! I would love the opportunity!”

“Alright then.” Severus pulls out his comm pad pulling up the schematics and tapping the pad to the machine. “So think there is a word to make it go?”

“I have always enjoyed ENGAGE as a go command! Perhaps that? Haha!”

22:38

(I am a total Trekkie and I am mega nerding out that I got to say that!

)

There is a loud bang and something resembling a physicians eye test machine comes down from the ceiling though it has been largely up scaled. Dozens of micro lasers begin measuring the room@and mapping the layout of the train engine. There is a grind in the furnaces and molten storage hoppers. It seems that between what was there and what you loaded, there is enough material

05:07

The lens device gets almost to the floor , before a gentle hiss and thick coils of white steam billow off the machine. It begins to print the Train engine

05:08

(This building was a matter compiler , basically the facility version of the trivedi tech mobile fordge)

"It's doing it! We're buidling a train! We have a train now! But we'll need tracks! I wonder if there is any on planet. Maybe the shuttle can move the train there. I wonder what els-" Severus cut's short his eyes widening. "We have to learn how this works! Wendel we could use this to make so much! Drones, Building supplies... Space ships! It might not make a whole big ship, but it could make the parts for them quickly! Maybe if we had enough metal we could make another shuttle too!"

"Well slap a dress on me an call me Wendy! I can't say I imagined this is what this was! The possibilities are near endless! I wonder if there is a data port or some version of that here with some more information on this old boy! If not, we could always go poking around! My mustache is quivering with excitement son!"

1

The machine had no data or loaded schematics before, and currently only has the train schematic from Severus loaded on its database

17:08

(Storage is working, just was empty )

(gotcha) "Well lad, it looks like we are gonna go about this the old fashioned way! we poke around and make our own drawings of how this baby works! What do you think Thatch old boy??"

"That... Sounds amazing! This is perfect! let's learn everything about it! I'll get my drone to take some pictures so I can start to diagram and get good measures!" Severus has his drone take off again focusing on it for a moment before starting to list measurements on his commpad. "Do you wanna see if we can get more in there too and see if we can make something up and get it to make it?" (edited)

“Absolutely! We have to test it’s capabilities after all! Ha!” Wendel pulls out his compad and begins walking around taking notes and measurements.

(What did you guys want to try)

00:22

The train continues printing and so far looks perfect in its re creation. The matter hoppers are beginning to decline as material is used up

(I have no idea. I haven’t seen a whole lot in game yet lol.)

(There’s cars and stuff close by you guys were digging through. Or your car)

(Ooooh good idea) “Say Thatch old boy, we could always make another vehicle! Then we would have one for each of us! Haha!”

"That sounds great! But I think we should wait to see how much metal is left. As much as I wanna make so much with it, I don't think that metal will last long so far. It's a big train, and that was a little cart. Maybe let's get the rest of crew from the ship to come help shovel some more into carts, or wait to see how much is left and judge what we can make from there."

The train is 50% complete when the hoppers begin signaling they are running short of materials, and more is needed. One of the large furnace like pits at the southern end of the room opens. From there, anything shoveled inside is broken down into its separate components, and held in different storage bays below for later printing into new forms

Severus walks to door. "I'm going to go get more people from the ship to help us with moving the metals. Do you wanna keep taking down what you find?"

"Of course! I shall man the fort!" Wendel delivers a strong over the top salute.

Severus heads out, through the parking lot type area, and on his way back to the ship. The machines continue to rattle and clank, and some warnings keep sounding showing that the material compilers are out of matter to print with

20:42

(Not sure what your long term goals are here, but we can absolutely develop this area into some kind of base for your future explorations and general use)

(Wendel do you wanna finish the train up first then explore more or try to work on taking this tech with us? Or do you got any other ideas bud.) (edited)

(Idk man, I think it would be pretty sweet to develop this area into a base of operations though!)

(Oh! It would be cool to build an atmo dome around it and scrub the radiation from everything!)

16:11

(Oh! It would be cool to build an atmo dome around it and scrub the radiation from everything!)

(So for materials, we have tons of cars outside, and a bunch of rubble/junk piles around the plant. You could also cut most of the crap off the outside of the building and get your own power, or trace the power to where it goes and handle that too)

16:40

(most of the factory is still a complete dump, but the matter compiler is running, the only rule is it cant make another one of itself)

16:40

(or replicate its own technology, so you cant miniaturize this one either)

(You're gonna need some industrial strength Rad-Away ™ for this mess) (edited)

1

(Gotcha. This is gonna be epic.) Wendel finishes taking his last notes about the compiler. He decides the first thing he wants to do is trace down the power source for the factory. He finds the nearest power conduit and begins to trace it backwards.

The cables run through the wall, and from what you remember outside, most of them were severed somehow. Several do run outside, south across the manufacturing complex, and look to go underground, before-re-emerging at a large reinforced building at the southern edge of this strange, cleared zone

Wendel follows the path to the reinforced building - he begins to inspect the building for entrances and access panels

There is a sealed door, that looks heavy, but the keypad is showing a green entry light right now , most likely in response to the factory beginning to run

Wendel accesses the keypad to open the door

The three tone beep of an accepted password has the door retract into the ceiling housing. Inside, a water fed reactor chugs steadily, the reserve tanks below the factory complex showing half full, but feeding steadily into the factory and compiler now that it is functional

(So, for this part - is this thing producing enough power for what I'll need - or do I need to find a way to boost the reactor output or something?)

(was mostly getting eyes on it, and following the correct power lines from it, to the factory, so you know what ones you can cut away)

(Gotcha) Wendel documents what he has seen in his compad, and proceeds back to the factory. Upon his arrival he decides to begin cutting away the junk on the outside of the building to use as building materials for the atmo dome. There is a glimmer in his eye as he starts up the power saw, and he laughs again as he starts cutting away the debris.

The debris falls, and crewmen from the ground haul the cut away scraps inside, to be fed to the matter hopper, and the printer levels begin filling up again, the train engine finished by night of the first day, around the time youre able to cut the power cable spider web off the building

"Excellent job lads! Look at this beauty! Why don't you lot take a break while I scout out some more materials lying around outside that we can use for our dome!" Wendel happily waddles outside to start tagging debris to be used for dome materials while the crew rests up a bit.

“Wendel!” Severus says from the group moving supplies. “As much as I like it before we move on maybe we should remelt the train. I don’t think there is any tracks for us to use here that it would fit on, and it we could plan out some panels to build something for us to live in maybe. I don’t think living in the shuttle is going to work out so well if they have to leave since it’s not ours.”

“That’s fine with me lad! We shall continue to push forward til our goal is achieved! Hahaha!”

The train begins deconstructing, and the matter hoppers begin to refill as the constituent parts are reclaimed. In several hours the entire train will be completely erased,and the compiler will be ready for a different job.

Severus let's his drone into the air. "I'm going to scout again and see what's around here." Severus has his drone fly as high as possible and scouts to see what other buildings or places are in the area.

A crashed starship is nearby to the north, it’s iron bones rust under the suns heat, but the top decks still look to be relatively intact

"Oh my gosh Wendel! I think there's another space ship out there!" (edited)

(Aside from that, we had the ruins of a different power plant and that large vehicle staging area, which I'd say by now about 25% of the wrecks, probably the easiest to move, have been either fed to the furnace, or are in place to be fed next)

The ship looks quiet and inert. No security robots seem to be patrolling around it, and the reactor no longer reads as an energy source. Any elevated radiation seems to have bled away by now

“I say Thatch old boy - we should go and investigate that beauty!”

“Yes! Let’s jump in the speeder and go!”

The ship is a beached carrier like vessel named simply Pride. It’s hangar bays have spilled open, vomiting fighter wrecks onto the surrounding landscape. It’s side is breached , forming a sloped entryway leading into the upper decks of the vessel from its own wreckage. Pipes and cables hang down like metallic vines, some of them hosting growths of local vegetation or strains from the ships own hydroponics left to grow wild over hundreds of years

"This little thing is a beaut, isn't it lad! What do you say? Want to go poking around inside?"

"Isn't that why we came in the first place? Of course! Let's head into that hole in the hull up there."

(3xp, and 5000 credits for what we did so far)

21:07

(and once we get those level ups if any in, or any gear, we can move into the ship)

(That gets Wendel to 3, if I'm not mistaken.)

A loud rumble of engine noise announces the presence of a new spaceship entering your area and a message lights up your compads. Hi! It looks like you're trying to explore alien ruins and spaceships! Do you want help with that?

I'm S'kolli the Ashen One! I just came here to visit the Engineer's base and saw explorers out here, and I decided to come look!

The ship finishes landing in a cleared zone before you have time to fire a message back.

(Yep! I'm level 3 now!)

21:48

Wendel excitedly pulls out his compad to respond. "Helloooo there Ashy Boy! This is Wendel, Wendel Cadman. Pleased to make your acquaintance! If you have an adventurous spirit, and a love for all things mechanical, then you are more than welcome! Also, I haven't yet been able to meet one of your kind! I look forward to seeing all of your lovely body augmentations! If you are super polite I'll let you caress my dear mustache! Haha!" (edited)

The cargo hatch of the LWSS Avius opens to reveal an 8 foot tall cobbled-together suit mech that looks like it has seen years of abuse despite being relatively new. It hovers about a foot or two off of the ground as S'kolli pilots it over towards the two of you. Nipping at his hovering heels is a brilliantly shiny chrome dog with flapping mechanical ears that bounce with every bound. Arcs of electricity spark across the mech's surface every few seconds as S'kolli gets close enough for you to make out details. "eeeeEEEEEGHGHGKK!!" He says creepi-happily once he gets close enough to be in comfortable speaking distance.

"HA! What a greeting son! I have have to admit that I haven't the faintest idea what you are try to say though! No matter! It looks like your suit mech is a little worse for wearer there son! You've gotta repair those every once in a while! HA HA. And look at this little poochie. C'mere laddie! Who's a good robo pup!" Wendel leans over and pats his knee calling the robo dog laughing to himself.

Barlo the doggo happily comes over for ear scritches while S'kolli produces a dataslab that words begin to appear on as he holds it for you to see.

I can't speak English, sorry! It sounds a bit screechy, I'm told. But, I can understand you. I'll just have to talk like this.

"ooooOOOOOoooo....." S'kolli admires the new discovery, Pride.

You found cool crashed ships? I just found one of those at my last planet too! Even older than the ships on this place! And they had DINOSAURS!!

"Hi there!" Severus says waving at S'kolli. "You have a really cool ship! And a really cool Dog! Is it some kind of drone?" Severus beams slightly bouncing up and down at the new encounter.

"Did you say dinosaurs lad?? That sounds most exciting! Thatch old boy - I think Ash here would be an excellent adventuring partner! He has the spirit for it, eh? HA! Not to mention this adorable little robopup!"

Oh, Barlo? He's not a drone, he's my best friend! These robot AI people called the Technocracy gave him to me after we became friends. He's a very good boy.

Oh! I do have a drone though, you want to see? It's my special STEALTH drone! Modded it myself. A sound like a coughing chainsaw engine chokes a few times before revving up into a loud leafblower sound. Wobbling out of the ship's hold comes a hairy-wired mess of a scrappy drone that matches the suit mech's aesthetic almost perfectly. Check it out! I do custom models like this back on Tsatsos all the time!

2

“Did you say stealth?” Severus says loudly trying to talk over the sound. “It doesn’t seem very stealthy but it looks cool!” Severus gives a thumbs up. “I think you should join us too!”

Oh, the drone isn't stealthy. But WE will be stealthy coming in behind it because they'll never hear us coming!

5

Ahead, the ramp of wreckage leads into the side of the damaged ship, and the wind gently blows the cable-vines, almost enticing you to enter in a strange way

"Well lads - as they say, never look a gift ramp in the mouth! HA! I say we move forward! Tally ho and whatnot!"

“Alright let’s go!”

Original message was deleted or could not be loaded.

Pinned a message.

16:30

(coming in at south center airlock)

16:30

The inside of the ship is dark but opens into a wide access hallway. The interior of the ship seems largely open concept, something almost unheard of on human origin vessels, and it does make this feel more like a metal cavern than an actual void ship

"Wow this is big! A lot bigger then the shuttle we took. It looks like we have a left or a right. Do you guys wanna split up or maybe me and S'Kolli can send our drones separately the other way and explore both!" (edited)

(Would there be enough room for a slightly smaller than average suit mech in here?)

(in this case yes, since the ship is up sized)

22:11

(but not normally inside a normal ship)

"That's using your noggin Thatch old boy! I say we use the drones! Assuming of course that Ashy's drone can make it that far! HA!"

Bet you mine's faster! S'kolli takes the challenge and sends his drone off to the left to see what he can see in his integrated AR vision.

20:50

(If we came in at the red dot on the bottom, that's where I'd like to send the ol' drone)

(thats where you came in yes.) The drone passes a rack of ejected escape pods on the left, though one is still left in its docking cradle. The door is open and it was never engaged when this ship began to fall out of the sky. It looks like the starboard gunnery station is just beyond also on the left. To the right, the hallway is more contained, with a ship status panel and wall giving way to something resembling a crew lounge, those most of the furniture there is scorched beyond recognition.

S'kolli gives a running commentary as the drone continues through. Boring. Boring. Still kinda boring. It's just like a normal ship! The last one I found was way cooler!

21:24

(Will probably stop the drone in here to look around and let us catch up.)

Severus’ drone follows the same path. “Way cooler?” Severus says quietly his eyes wide at the current one. “Man I wish that ship was here! It looks a lot like who ever had this ship crashed though and maybe some people didn’t make it off.”

"These chaps left us something to rummage through! They shall live on through what they have left us! Even if it's all just scrap we shall recycle it into something new!" Wendel take off his tri-corner hat and places it over his heart. He begins to tear up. "The life cycle of tech is so beautiful."

2

The drones end up in the crew lounge, with the bridge to the left, and the cargo elevator leading downstairs into the hold to the right. The mechanical extending legs and gears of the elevator look cracked, and generally just out of place due to the impact of the ship hitting the ground

"Wow they have a whole area for storage, and so much area to live in! It's like a house, in space! So much bigger then the shuttle we took."

Looks safe over here to me! There's even a cargo elevator and stuff. You think we should go see what was in their hold? Maybe they were carrying something cool!

Wendel sniffles as he blots his eyes and calms a little. "Of course we should lad! I'm sure this old girl won't mind if we poke around her cargo hold! Ha! It's been a while for her, eh? HAHA"

(The elevator would need to be fixed, which we can do with a fix/int)

I'm good at fixing stuff! I can help you get the elevator going if you want!

"I appreciate the help lad! I like your spirit! Together we can get this elie-baby fixed! Ha!"

16:01

(Just rolled a fix/int with the + 2 modifier for a roll of 14)

The work takes a few hours, taking parts from outside, fabricating a few back at the base and running them out here, and finally scrapping a few more damaged components here. It likely won't hold up for heavy cargo lifting, but it seems capable of raising and lowering the group of you

Severus wipes his brow. “We did it! Man that machine really came in handy making these parts! Now Let hurry and see what these guys were hauling!” Severus excitedly exclaims jumping onto the elevator.

"That's the spirit lad! That's the spirit! Forward ho gents! Trudge forth into the unknown eh? HA!" Wendel also hustles over to the elevator.

The elevator creaks and rattles, slowly lowering you into the deep hold below the vessel. It brings you into the large hold of the vessel, where crates and boxes have overturned. There are a number of large barrels that have been caught in a ceiling spanning cargo net, a steady trickle of what looks like oil drips from a few of them that were breached when the ship plummeted back into the ground

"Wow those barrels still have stuff in them after all these years! I hope it isn't something radioactive. Who wants to open the first crate?"

Without responding, S'kolli floats over in his mech and kicks at the lid of one of the unopened crates in an awkward attempt to open it. Barlo the robo-doggo skitters in with sensors out and begins "sniffing" around for anomalies.

The crate lid buckles under the foot of the mech, the contents inside shifting. As they shift, it sounds like some kind of fragile container inside is crunching or cracking

"oooOOO?" S'kolli signals to the others.

Something kinda... CRUNCHY is in there! I don't think the mech is very delicate with breakable things. Can somebody with hands take a look?

Severus runs up to the crate digging in. "Me me! I got it!"

Opening the crate, it appears that it has been packed with housewares. Glass stemware, Crystal decanters, and bottles of spirits have been packed into the dense layers of air pocket packaging

Severus pulls back breathing in sharply. "Ouch! I think I might have cut myself. It looks like it's full of glass and bottles of some kind. I think you broke a bunch of it though. Maybe me and Wendel should open the next one."

"HA! That's alright lad! I appreciate your gumption! Alright Thatch old boy, let's roll up our sleeves and see what we can do with the next one eh?"

The next crate is packed the same though the things inside it are in better shape and are in better condition. They are packed with more housewares and bottles of fine slyth alcohol that have aged well, those that survived impact with the ground

A small alert on everyone's communication devices pings, showing @Stev Andisom and the Pillar of Salt have made their way into the system

“Greetings to the crew of Wendel, Severus and Skolli. Anywhere down there I can park a lighter and make off with some refurbished tech?”

Oh, hello. This is S'kolli. There's stuff EVERYWHERE down here! There aren't enough ships in the galaxy to haul all the treasure off! Just start digging and you'll find all sorts of things!

“That’s good to know. Thanks! Good luck to you folks with whatever you’re hunting.”

18:18

Stev cuts the connection.

Severus looks over to S'kolli. "But what if he gets the good stuff first! We're going to have to get through here faster so we can explore some more." Severus moves on to several more crates opening them to explore what's inside.

The crates here are all largely the same as those opened before, though in better conditions

"Nonsense lad! the more the merrier! We are all just sparkling energetic explorers applying our joined curiosity for the betterment of all! HA!" Wendel pulls out his compad. "Hello there Stevie Boy! Wendel here, Wendel Cadman - at your service! I say explore away lad! If you end up wanting to have a chat, just let us know and we can meet up somewhere eh? Perhaps share a cuppa?Assuming you have some anyways - 'fraid I'm fresh out! HAHA" @Stev Andisom

(There is enough in good condition in the hold here for about 200 tons of far trade goods each, its just a matter of getting it transported out)

"S'Kolli does your ship have enough room for us to move this all? Or maybe we can ask Ad Astra to do it since we work for them?"

(100 tons of cargo space and an External Fighter Housing)

(so everyone could abscond with 33 tons right now, which is a healthy nest egg to store somewhere for now)

(or can be sold on the market yourself for some quick credits)

(Could we just sell it all at once then?)

(however you guys want to do it, but you have a lot more goods here than you have capacity to move right now)

“S’kolli would you like to buy all my part. I really don’t know where I could take this nor does it interest me unless there is some hidden electronics in there.” Severus ask scratching the back of his head. “I really don’t know how much it’s all worth either so I mean what ever you wanna pay I just want to go find cool stuff.”

Me? Sure! I'll buy it! Billy just told me that I'm actually getting PAID to be in the Rigers Corps of Engineers! Can you believe that? Said I was bajillionaire or something and didn't have to worry about money anymore! I don't know how much any of this is worth, so how about I just give you money! That's how trading works, right?

(edited)

“Yes! I mean that’s what I meant too! So how much money do you want to give for it? Maybe I can use it to find stuff or buy cool tech to learn from!” (edited)

Billy gave me about... 54 million? ... I need to check what I have left though. I bought all the DLC for Dabloonscape. I mean ALL of it!

"That's a lot son! Would you like to buy mine as well? Mustache cream is expensive you know! HAHA!"

Sure! How about I take the whole haul, and give everyone 5,000 per ton! So that's 165,000 for both of you! Fair?

"I'm not much of a trader, but that sounds good to me lad!"

There is a short ping, as the credits are transferred. there are a few other crates down here that look to be filled with mostly the same thing. A large drum, bolted to the deck, sits against the wall of the hold

"Wait... You mean these are all my credits? Thank you S'Kolli!" Severus jumps up. "I don't think I know anyone with this much money and now I might really be able to go out there and explore with this!"

"Aye Lad! Most appreciated! My Mustache shall keep its perfection for many years to come! HA!" Wendel looks around the room a bit. "Hey lads - do you see that drum that's bolted down? That looks a bit different does it not?? What do you say we take a poke at it eh?"

The drum makes a noise like something inside is bubbling, almost like a pot left to simmer.

S'kolli activates Energy Sensitivity while looking at the drum, hoping to find the source of the simmer.

The barrel is nuclear in nature, and some sort of slow but sustained reaction seems to be occurring within its shielded inside

"S'Kolli I don't know if we'll be able to open it unless you have a crowbar. Why don't you try to open it with your mech?"

"Excellent idea lad! When you have large metal extremities, you may as well use them! HA!"

.... But what if it explodes? It's probably shielded for a reason.

"Where is your sense of adventure lad? Crack that baby open! HA! Unless of course you know of some other way we can ascertain her secrets!"

... OK. I'll be careful. S'kolli attempts to open the lid of the barrel as carefully as his augments will allow.

The barrel hisses and bubbles, as a captive nuclear reaction takes place within. There is a core of metal within, like a fat dark slug deep within the bubbling mixture. It gleams in the half light

.... I'm going to touch it. Hoping the environmental seals on the mech hold, S'kolli reaches in to pull out the metal core, lifting it slowly out.

"Careful lad! That being said, I like your gumption! You sir have bollocks of steel! I knew we made the right decision inviting you to join this adventuring band of misfits and miscreants! HAHA!"

The object is small, and looks to be the source of the heat itself. Some kind of eternal reaction is taking place within the squad rod

15:37

(so it can be either an eternal reactor for a ship, or that power unit for a vehicle that makes it endless too, i forget the name)

5

(Hot)

It's incredible! It must have like, UNLIMITED POWER! It's still going after all these years!... I bet you could power a whole space ship with this!

(Thinking about what to do with this. An Eternal Reactor mod is really valuable since it's 2 Pretech per hull class on a ship, not to mention the 5% of hull cost to add to a ship. 2 pretech for a fighter class, 4 for a frigate, 6 for a cruiser... There's only one of these so I'm not sure quite how to handle it.)

"Wow! That's so cool! I think we found some amazingly good tech this time! I wonder where this ship was taking it. Maybe there is more out there!"

(It could also be wired to handle power for the base you guys are making too)

04:17

(if you want something more reliable than just hoping the slyth stuff holds together)

"Well lads, I personally would love to have this sweet baby to power our new base, but what do you think? We can show you it when we are done here Ashy boy!"

The ship groans a bit as a strong gust of wind from outside rocks it gently, and it seems like the rest of the hold is either too damaged or too decayed to be of any use

(3xp, 5000 credits)

Oh, yeah! That works too. It could probably power the base for like, EVER!

"Yeah! Let's head over there and show the guys! Maybe we can use it and the machine to make some lights and to finish up the walls and make it a real building!"

"Sounds like an excellent idea lads! Tally ho and so forth! HA!"

(At this point it's up to you what you want to do with this place. Give Neko some ideas/direction for what you want to accomplish and we'll make something interesting out of it.)

As you head back to the base, a trio of cargo lighters fly over the constructing dome, and land at the edge of the wide open area you're slowly making into a base. Each of them has a white field, with a red diamond and a roaring dragons head painted onto them

From the south, beyond the landing lighters, Stev and a squad of soldiers approaches.

"Uh, Hi there! Can we help you?" Severus ask nervously looking at the weapons.

“Haha! Hello there chaps! The names Wendel. Wendel Cadman. Pleased to make your aqua instances! Welcome! You must be that Stevie boy we spoke to earlier!” Wendel waddles over enthusiastically and tips his tri-corner hat with one hand, while extending the other out for a handshake.

Stev takes his hand and smiles.

07:55

“Yeah, I’m Stev. Nice to meet you outside the confines of the council meeting room.”

07:55

He gestures to the soldiers, who are alert but not clutching their weapons or pointing them at anything.

07:56

“Don’t worry about them, they’re not a threat to you or your team. We encountered a couple of robots in that ship down south so we’re taking precautions.”

"Wait robots?! There is robots out here!" Severus exclaims bouncing in place. "Welcome to the base we're building, but I'd love to hear more about the robots!"

“Yeah, little spheres that seemed to be protecting the interior of the ship. One opened fire on my squad, wounded someone before we could contain it.”

08:09

He follows wherever directed.

"Do you have one? Did you bring one with you!"

“Well, we’ve got the remains of them.”

08:45

Stev motions to one of the soldiers who digs into a pouch on his uniform and brings out the laser-scored shell and mostly destroyed interior of one of the spheres.

08:45

“The only way we could stop them was to use force. Hoping we can get a glimpse of whatever made it work so we can make our own.”

“Could I have it? I’d be willing to pay for it!”

The robot is damaged, but with a few units of spare parts and a bit of credits for what they dont cover, Severus can probably get it working again

"Sure, we can work something out."

00:20

"In fact, I've come to trade for wiring. The ship where we found the sphere needs all of it replaced."

"Hmmm. Wiring? What kind of wiring we might be able to help. As long as you agree Wendel since it would take from the base possibly."

“My right-hand, back on the Pillar, mentioned you might have some sort of compiler that can be used to make the wiring. As for the type, I’ll have to get one of the engineers to give you the exact specs. I’m learning the trade myself but this is still way out of my league.”

“Don’t be silly lad! Of course you can use our compiler to get what you need! We are brothers under the banner after all! Ha! No trade necessary, however if you have any nifty little techno-babies, you wouldn’t mind parting with - we are always interested in poking around them! Haha!”

“I’m happy to trade. Don’t want to put out your interests here without paying something for the delay. In fact, that sphere there is yours to keep without issue and I’ve ordered one of the mechs we captured in combat on Rawhani to be brought down on the lighters to be offered in trade as well.”

"Wait did you just say a mech? A whole mech! Did you bring us a mech for some wire!? Wendel how do we split it!?"

“Well son, I think the only fair way would be to put it in tip top shape, and then using its designs, make another in the compiler! What do you say to that lad?”

“It’s still beat up, from where we had to shoot it out of commission, but for enough wire to refit the ship you can have it.”

“Also, let me just stress this point... I don’t just need some wire, I need to replace every damn scrap of wire in the ship. Some sort of EMP burnout thing.”

"Well, I think that is still perfectly do-able! If we end up not having enough raw materials to be melted down and what not, perhaps some of your strapping lads over there could help us round up some more from all the junk around here eh? HA!"

(basically Stev, they throw wrecks and other materials into the forge of this thing, and it renders it down into base materials, and recompiles it in desired shapes)

14:39

(Also, this is the land speeder thing you guys found a while ago, now restored)

3

(Fancy!!)

"oooOOOOooo...."

Do you need any other modifications done while we're at it? I'm REALLY good at fixing stuff! I make my own custom drones! You've probably seen some if you ever go to Tsatsos.

"That's the spirit lad! That's the spirit! Always available to help! Good show!! I knew it was a good idea to keep you gents around! I knew you were both kindred spirits! We are always willing to help with some techno-babies!" Wendel wipes the happy tears from his eyes.

Stev beckons an engineer forward from one of the lighters.