(We actually decided to check out the delta up North since someone had already checked the SW area out.)

The area identified is where SCAF pioneers intend to explore, and butterfly harnesses have been handed out to those without- along with transport, which has now been moved from a small scout helicopter to a pair of them, with enough empty room to carry the expedition members and their supplies. Non-notable members have been booted, leaving just the pilots, along with Selgar, Hagen, Xavier, and Vukan.

The purple region in general is of great interest to climatologists, as long range scans and orbital images have been unable to determine what the makeup of that region might be

Xavier looks down on the terrain as he rides in the helicopter

Selgar is mostly silent on the ride over, trying desperately to go over An Idiot's Guide to Planetology on his compad.

Xavier laughs inside at his attempts to read an idiots guide

Hagen watches every satellite picture of that region available to him, and tries to gage the biome. He closes the images and approaches Selgar. "You said you are a scientist. What's you field of expertise?"

Below, the terrain passes by , and the helicopter is on approach for setting down at the edge of the Purple coated region. Rotors chop the dense air, and the vehicle levels out

Selgar briefly looks up from the compad as the chopper approaches the target landing zone. "Data scientist by education and profession, metaphysicist by a bit of serendipity. However different fields of science all have commonalities that make it much easier to learn about a new one if you are already familiar with one. Sort of how a soldier used to a laser weapon will more easily pick up using a magnetic particle weapon than someone who has no experience with any small armaments."

Vukan has spent most of the trip flexing his right fist, opening and closing it, then intently inspecting his open palm.

Xavier dismounts, and you can see the brand spanking new rocket launcher he has on his back

"Or how one machine is always similar to another one you have worked on, if you're a mechanic. I am confident that we all can put our experiences to work and learn something new on this expedition. Mr. Korda, is your hand okay?"

Vukan looks up, and holds his palm up, pointed towards Hagen. A small circle of flesh iris' open, revealing a small metal tube, with a dull red glow at the base of it.

"Just making sure I can always shoot."

(Yeah make sure that rocket launcher is either stowed or readied there bud. No more ghost 3 enc weapons)

(Stowed)

"I hope we don't need all that firepower, but I'm glad to have it with us"

The helicopters set down on the marshy soil, at the border of the green and purple zones, before the heavy blades begin chopping again and the now empty aircraft withdraw from the area.

Xavier hops out, ready to take on the weird purple delta

"I suggest we head from here towards the outer coast and see what we find on the way. Any objections?"

The area is windy and the long grass rustles. Even this far inland you’re getting a faint hint of salt from the sea , and the cries of circling birds overhead are likewise something nobody here has heard before. There are no signs of the masked figures so far, or any of their encampments , though little of the land on the flight over was easily surveyed from above due to the mountains and dense tree cover beyond

Vukan hops out of the helicopter, and begins to saunter in the direction Hagen indicated.

Hagen closes his eyes and inhales deeply, seeking more from the sea in the wind than just the hint of salt. He opens his eyes again, looking at the faces of his companions "Let's search for a river and follow it"

“Sure, why not”

Says Xavier, inspecting the ground. He’s going to take a sample if it’s purple

(It's not, you're at the hex outside the zone of interest, since you probably ddn't want to land in a possibly hostile biosphere)

If not, Xavier walks to the nearest water source

There is a small stream running 100m west of your landing zone, where moss covered rocks bask in the strained sunlight this far north. some collections of algae rest on the surface, caught in the swamp grasses at the shore's edge

Xavier picks up the moss and algae, and waves to the others to check them out

Selgar takes a few photos of the local environment with his compad as the group assembles after landing, as well as some brief audio recordings of the wildlife in the immediate area. As the group sets out for the flowing water and Xavier starts rustling in the muck he raises an eyebrow. "Oh, you are familiar with this flora?"

(physical effect save Xavier)

(Failure!)

Xavier feels his hand, and arm beginning to lock up as the algae's paralyzing toxin begins leaking in through the pores in his hand and arm

Xavier leaps back , hoping to regain feeling in his hands

The numbing sensation continues to spread, and you lose feeling entirely in your hands and arms

“It seems like those algae have paralyzing properties”

“And it’s spreading”

"Well, that answers your question, Selgar. Who is medically trained and can help?"

A blade jumps from Vukan's arm, and he slowly reaches it down into the water where the algae was, looking to collect some of it on the blade. "No, but I think a sample is called for, no?"

“Oh yeah, just leave me here, huh.”

"I can cut the arms off if you really want me to."

Selgar's eyes light up as he sees the strange reaction. "Hell!" He approaches and closes his eyes, concentrating. (Effort for the day to use Psychic Succor and a second one to use Organic Purification Protocols, it says there's a roll required for really nasty stuff, this qualify?)

(this does qualify)

Vukan is able to get some strands of it into something like a test tube, and the cork slides into place with a small hiss as the last of the excess water and air is forced out

(Well it says the DC is 'at least 10' but I got a 7 so I fail either way, so I can't cure the toxin.) Selgar's face flushes slightly and a small amount of sweat begins to form as his mouth contorts into a grimace. "... I don't know what this is, but it's beyond my limited skill in biological modification to treat."

“Alrighty, can you stop the bleeding if someone cuts off my arm?” (edited)

(yeah its 10 in this case, if you have a re-roll token or anything we can burn one of those)

(but i didnt have it higher than the default)

(I don't have any, dice gods have spoken I guess.) "What?! Are you out of-" Selgar takes a deep breath to compose himself. "It's a terrible idea, but I could stop the bleeding. You'd need an actual biopsion if you wanted any hope of recovering the limbs, or be stuck with cyberware prosthetics. But I don't think it's a good idea..."

“It’s that or die”

“Besides, there are tons of cool prosthetics”

(xavier is going to be in no condition to continue adventuring once we remove his arms, the mission will be over for him at this point but the rest of you can continue)

(Is there any other way?)

"Cool? Cool!?" Selgar closes his eyes and curses under his breath. "Dammit to hell we deserve it all..."

(I try not to interfere with the missions too much here, but we sort of jumped from lets see if it goes away or stops spreading to lets suddenly cut your arms off because its 'cool' )

(I would say having no arms and the trauma of losing 50% of your limbs would make you ineligible to continue the adventure)

(Vukan was joking, because he has a really dark sense of humour, and no medical skill)

"How about we call the choppers back and fly you back home, Xavier? I can still almost hear them. It may also fade with time. Is it spreading further?"

(It could reach the heart)

“I’m not sure. I’ll at least try to go back home.”

Hagen nods, and he reaches out with his mind to request an emergency pickup from the pilot. "There is no way we cut off your arms. If that is necessary, you will be in a hospital in Mount Home for that. Chopper has a medbay, maybe they can do something, but if not, you will fly back"

“Alright. Thanks guys. I’ll be back”

One of the helicopters sets down, where medics take Xavier into the medbay, before lifting off to bring him back to Mount Home, leaving the rest of you to continue the mission

Hagen watches the chopper get more and more distant and small, before shaking his head. "Well, that was educational. Let's go" (following the stream to the coast)

The green waters lighten the closer you get to the coast, and as you pass out of the wasteland like scrubland, you climb a small hill. Below you, the large purple concentrations are massive moored patches of kelp, the same mysterious algae, and a mix of other marshland plants. The area is teeming with life, from bugs, to amphibians you can hear, to small animals moving through the very long grasses. The area is humid, and warm.

Vukan looks around, and shrugs. "Well, don't touch the algae. And maybe not the kelp."

distantly, arrayed on one of the large islands toward the middle of the formation, you see boxy shapes mostly obscured by seabourne mist. The tops are spiked, and they resemble walls.

Vukan whistles. "Looks like the Mishk are learning. No more small villages. Want me to check it out? Think I can move faster and quieter alone. I can get close enough to get a proper look with my eyes." Vukan taps his eyes, which iris close briefly and then open revealing a slightly different lens shape.

Hagen stands with a hand over his eyes, squinting at the shapes behind the fog. "Good idea, but I suggest closing some more distance together. We're still very far off, we can't even make out the size of that place"

He frowns and scratches his chin. "Might even be surrounded by water, with all that mist"

Vukan shrugs. "I'll be able to tell you when I get closer"

Selgar sighs, still recovering from his earlier exertion. "Well I guess that's a question worth going over, what exactly is the plan here? Looks like we'd have to cross water to actually get over there, not to mention a fair amount of what I can only assume is neurotoxic vegetation. Assuming it is a Mishk settlement of some kind I'm also to understand they may not appreciate our presence." (Based on what little we've seen is it clear whether the toxin is airborne or just on direct contact?)

Vukan shrugs. "Even if we think we know what Mishk are, they're still enemy, no? See what's there, pop a few, see what happens. Maybe get the helicopters to buzz it when we call them for the trip back. As for toxin, probably boats somewhere. Claim some, go across. Wish I had my bike. Get straight across with that."

(Just direct contact, everyone is breathing okay, and there are no sinus problems or anything)

(and Xavier was in the water for a bit without trouble, didnt start until he touched it)

"You should only kill the first one if necessary. They are mentally connected, they will know that someone is here as soon as the first gets hurt, or sees us, for that matter. But I think it's better to keep the advantage as long as possible. As to what our plan is... We are here to search for an obelisk or other signs of structures, and it seems like we found something. I can make us a raft if there are trees nearby if we need one. Also, our climatologists are very interested in this area as well, long range scanners can't pick something up, so any data we deliver will help our research teams" (edited)

"Do we actually need to fight them at all? If they're civilized I would think there's a chance for diplomacy, though I am not intimate with the history between them and SCAF. It's certainly possible there's irreconcialable ideological differences, I guess it's just not clear to me if that's been established or if each side simply saw the other and started shooting. Not that humans would ever do something like that."

"I appreciate you leaving the Taros out of that sweeping statement, but we both know thats not true. And from what I heard, they see us as enemies, trying to stop them. They're what, echoes? Silvano's dead foes brought to life to try to serve him? And incapable of not doing that?"

"That is what I have heard, that they are ghosts of sorts that have some kind of orders to attack SCAF. If they are sentient then presumably they have some level of free will, however they could also just truly be metaspace constructs. In any case I just wanted to ask the question before it was too late, it's not my job to decide how to deal with them or any other potential enemy of SCAF." Selgar looks over at Hagen. "Though I suppose it is yours."

Vukan scowls "He's leader cause he claimed they don't have free will, cause apparently Silvano is making them do this by accident. The order out is a kill-on-sight order, that's what we do." (edited)

Hagen stops, closes his eyes and held the bridge if his nose with his thumb and indes finger tips, head tilted down. this moron will get us all killed "No, that's not what we will be doing. Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"We know they are hostile. There is a standing kill order. If there's an obelisk and we have a shot of taking it down, we take it. That's what we've been doing. What's changed? A bunch of echoes with bows isn't exactly a threat to me."

Hagen had torn trainees, technicians and construction workers new assholes before, on construction sites and in machine shops, but he hadn't had a hard talk with a man ready to kill. He hesitates only for an instance before speaking in a strong, firm voice. "Certainly no threat for you, but you are not alone here. You can't treat this like a solo mission. We are a team, and we have to cover each other's weak spots. That's why I'm glad you're here as a skilled combatant, and that's why I'm telling you that it would be stupid to shoot on sight. As I just told you, the Mishk share their thoughts to some extend, and if you take one out that hadn't noticed us, they will know someone is here, regardless of what they are. Such a reckless action might not get you killed, but maybe Selgar or me. I'd like the Mishk to find out by themselves that we are here, I don't want you to announce us. If they know we're here, you can shoot on sight. If they don't, we try to keep it that way. Is that clear, Mr. Korda?" (edited)

Vukan looks at Hagen with a puzzled look on his face. "I must have missed something in speaking. Kill-on-sight order is to make clear to the doc here that if they see us, we're fighting. I'm going to shoot them if they're a threat, and if obelisk is vulnerable, destroy obelisk." Vukan pauses for a bit. "But if we get near their walls, they're going to see us. No cover, beyond mist. Best defensive position for controlling delta."

"In pre-space war"

"I'll take that as a yes", Hagen says while scratching his chin. "We'll see about those buildings once we're closer"

The shapes are clearly walls as you get a bit closer. They are wide enough for bodies to stand atop them, and you do see at least three Minsks on patrol, with long spears, and bows, occasionally stopping to look out over the marshlands, but it does not seem that they have seen you right now.

Vukan looks at the water, seeing how much of the algae appears to be in there.

It is relatively clear close to the settlement, likely because the water is disturbed to often to allow it to form

It is waist deep in most places, though occasionally deeper

(think like with a pool, how if you leave it alone for a long time it gets super gross, since no ones making it move)

Vukan points, and tilts his head. "I can get closer, see if I can get up the walls? See what's inside."

"Well if you can see inside keep an eye out for an obelisk, if there's not one on the premises it might not make sense for us to try to even get inside."

Vukan begins removing his weapons, handing over his Sheer Rifle, Mag Pistols and equipment. He then removes his Butterfly Harness. "Don't want to get muck on this, not after Hagen there went to so much difficulty getting it."

(how loud is the butterfly harness? Maybe flying close to the wall is an option if its not that audible in operation)

(I thought it only gave a jump, not true flight?)

(A great jump, but still a jump)

(It’s not that loud and it’s a jump )

Vukan flips to thermal vision, and checks the water infront of him, checking for anything that looks big and angry. "I'll go in, slip the patrols, shimmy up the wall, see what's inside, then come back. If you hear shooting, feel free to drain the cells on the sheer rifle covering me." (edited)

(Out of curiosity, do the Mishk show up on thermals?)

(Play and find out. No ones tried)

(That's what I'm doing now. My eyes have Thermal vision, and telescopic. So as the Patrol moves around, I should be able to pick them out)

Vukan also glances at the shoreline, seeing if he can pick out the Mishk (edited)

"We'll cover you to the best of our abilities. Don't forget that we have a psychic network of our own, just reach out and we can talk, well, think to each other. Good luck"

Shifting through vision modes, the masked do not appear on thermal vision, but with your normal eyes you are able to make out a patrol of 4 walking along the base of the wall, from east to west, toward what looks like a dock, near the town gates

"No body heat."

"Shame. Won't be able to spy them from below the water."

Vukan slips into the water, and begins to stealthily move towards the island, checking below him occasionally for hostile life, and checking the shore for Mishk patrols.

Selgar stands for a moment holding the large rifle. "Er, don't suppose you know how to use one of these? I know which end to point away from me, but that's about it."

Vukan surfaces briefly, a dark grin on his face. "You already know the most important part. You'll do fine."

The water is empty of major lifeforms, none of the things in here are larger than you, and those that are close seem to be fish digging for undersea treats at the bottom of the makeshift lake here. It seems there is a four minsk patrol on each side of the wall at a given time, as a nother group rounds the corner to take the place of the one that just vanished toward the gate

Vukan waits till the patrol passes his entrance, before intending to move to the wall and up the wall, to look inside, intending on hiding against the top of the wall. (edited)

(sneak/dex)

(14)

you are not spotted leaping from the water and clinging to the wall, getting above the patrol before they are close enough to notice. They do not look up

Crouching atop the wall, Vukan looks inside the enclosure

(The obelisk is in the forested area in the middle)

Pinned a message.

Vukan drops down the wall, and huddles against the wall of the nearest building.

He then communes with Hagen and Selgar "Full village here. Buildings, multi-storied, obelisk in the middle. Weird tower too. Get rid of the obelisk, we should have a ready made settlement no?"

"Going to make my way back."

Checking that he hasn't been seen, and that no movement towards him from inside the village has been made, Vukan steps up the wall enough to check where the patrol is, and prepares to make the dash to the water, planning to slip into the water, and swim underwater as much as he can to return to Selgar and Hagen.

(previous roll was good enough to remain unseen)

(Vukan's a fookin ninja)

Vukan slides out of the water next to Selgar, and checks himself over for any algae or similar plants, before flicking his hair back, out of his face.

"So. That's disturbing to find out. From roving bands of tribals to full villages and buildings in less than half a year."

"Well if there's an obelisk there then we've come to the right place... Just a question of how to inspect it. How populated was it, is a stealthy entrance remotely possible?"

"Didn't hang around to count, after all, I'm checking it out. But you see this?" Vukan communes a mental image of the village again "Maybe 20 houses? All capable of having multiple people? As for stealthy entrance, for me sure. For you? Probably not."

"So you plan to infiltrate this village?" Hagen nods towards the rifle in Selgars hands. "We can't even give you the minimal sniping support you had until now if you are behind those walls. Let's assume all goes according to plan and you manage to sneak in and you reach the obelisk unseen, what's the next step? Xavier was our demolition asset for this mission, but he's incapacitated and in Mount Home. Can you realistically do much except scouting?" Hagen speaks in a serious tone, indicating he is not questioning Vukans abilities, but pointing out possible complications.

"Did I say I was going to do that? No. I said I'm certain you can't. But give me enough charges, and I can destroy the obelisk, no problem."

(if this ends up turning into an extended scout/demo mission, and Selgar and hagen want to branch off into something else, we can do that. I don't want anyone sidelined)

"Xavier had the explosives. As far as I know, we have no charges with us, that's why I'm asking what you think is realistically achieveable by you alone inside that settlement, to assess what to do next. Even if we call it a day here, we have found an obelisk, and can prepare a larger scale operation for bringing it down"

Vukan shrugs. "Fair enough. Though we could call the helicopters in, and strafe the place."

Hagen nods, and scratches his chin. "Do you think you going in and taking a closer look at things might be beneficial, or would it be an unnecessary risk? You know your abilities better than I do, so I want you to judge this, and make a decision"

"Honestly, don't know what we'd get from looking at them more. Didn't see anything like better weapons than we know they have. But if you want more information, I'll go in. My array is charged, so I can self extract no problem. I can do it, no problem, but not sure what I'd be looking for. I could probably fight my way to the obelisk, if needed." (edited)

"But not sure I've the ammo to get out if I do that."

Hagen idly kicks a pebble away. "Yeah", he says slowly "That's what I'd call an unnecessary risk" He smiles at Vukan, and nods. "A good decision" He turns to Selgar "You are a data specialist, right? I suggest we tackle the climatologists request. The long range scanners can't skim this region, any ideas on how to give them some data to work with?"

"One thing I would like to do is find some high ground within 2k of here. Anti-vehicle laser should have no problem annihilating obelisk from there."

"Swamps are pretty flat, but maybe you're lucky", Hagen says slowly, while turning around his own axis, hand over his eyes, looking for an elevated place

The swamps and river deltas for kilometers around you in all directions are flat lands barely above sea level. Meant to imitate the buildup of hundreds or thousands of years of sediment and river carried debris, there is nothing around that goes more than a few meters out of the dark waters

"I agree that going in alone without the appropriate firepower is probably not worth the risk, and as much as I'd like to inspect the obelisk I can appreciate the difficulty in making that happen. As far as data collection, give me a moment to review the notes." (Based on what's been noted by climatologists is there anything productive we can do out here without any specialized equipment, besides maybe bringing back some samples of the flora?)

(Well we know what the purple area is now. Samples are always good. Setting up a survey scanner to get readings while you’re gone would be good. Can also just ignore this settlement for now and try to explore some other delta areas

"Well it looks like if we can find a better location out here and fly in a survey scanner that would probably be as much as anyone could ask for without having actual specialists with the right equipment. Also might be worth scouting around to see if there are any other settlements like this one in the area, given how quickly we found this one it's not out of the question that there are more..."

Vukan grins. "Not just a pretty face."

Vukan pulls out his survey scanner and hands it to Selgar. "If I could get my guns back?"

Selgar clumsily hands the rifle back in exchange for the scanner, and spends a brief moment checking the device. "Aside from not being so close to unfriendly locals it would be good to station it on relatively stable elevated ground so it doesn't wind up getting washed away with a rise in water level. We can check for a good location while scouting more of the delta, if we're all agreed on that course of action."

"Maybe head back towards the entrance of the delta? The source? Set up there on a bank, or small island?"

"Going up the delta would be smart since someone has to come and collect it, that's easier if it's nearer. Somewhere with shrubbery, to cover it a bit, so the Mishk don't spot and destroy it. We can then decide on heading back or on checking out the coast line"

(I'm caught up)

(looks like we're just waitigng on a group agreement)

(What kind of range does the survey scanner have, in hexes? If it's at the opening of the delta my only concern is whether it is less useful.)

(The range you specified is about what it would be, probably interrupted by the mountains as a boundary long the south there)

(since its on sea level ground)

(but you're not really focusing on that direction anyway)

(Seems good to me then. Probably the best place for it.)

"The opening seems reasonable given the range of the device."

"Great. You can keep the scanner. Not sure I'll need it. Once we've got the data back, I'll see about organising a strike against that village. Do you want the obelisk intact?" Vukan says, looking at Hagen and Selgar. (edited)

Hagen scratches his chin "I don't know. I kinda want one at least intact because it's a curiosity, however you look at it, and who knows what knowledge we can get if we keenly investigate one. If we plan to take the settlement, it's obelisk would be perfect for such a study, since it already has a lot of structural support, is reinforceable, and has a huge ass wall" He glances at Vukan. "Depends on how clean your command could take it", he says with a challenging smirk, and an amused tone in his voice. (edited)

Vukan grins. "Well, there won't be any bodies. Lots of masks though."

"Let's say secondary objective. Non-essential to preserve obelisk."

Hagen returns the smile. "No bodies, you say? If you are that confident, I'm willing to attach a bonus to this mission. 5k if you don't lose a member of your strike team, and 5k if no buildings get destroyed" He extends his hand towards the other man.

Vukan grin widens. "Sure. I've got the lamplighter data to look over first, and some gear to get, but shouldn't be a problem." Vukan pauses. "Also, not 100% certain buildings won't get damaged, but shouldn't destroy anything."

"Also guessing you want me to wait till the data has been gathered? Or I can swing by and pick it up."

"A reasonable amount of bullet holes and scorch marks is expected on a battlefield", Hagen nods in agreement. "Well, I assumed we pick the data up in a few days. If you want to wait here for a day or two and guard the scanner, feel free, it wouldn't hurt. I don't know how much planning you can do here, but maybe you could use the time to recon the area, get a better feel for your battlefield. It's up to you" (are you shaking hands? Not sure if you missed that I had that in mind, I wasn't clear about that)

(No I got it, Vukan was just clarifying.)

Vukan retracts both his weapons, and shakes Hagen's hand (edited)

Hagen shakes hands with Vukan, meeting his eyes. Hagens handshake is accompanied by a serious expression, and one brief respectful nod at the exact moment both hands reach the lowest point of their intertwined movement.

Vukan's handshake is somewhat robotic, though his eyes are glittering with mirth.

"Are we getting a lift for two or for three?"

"I'll swing by as I go to deal with the settlement. That'll give me all the scouting info I'll need."

"Broadcast data back."

"Well then, onwards to the rim of this delta"

(Okay I'm confused, we're setting up the scanner and then attacking the settlement? Or watching Vukan attack it?)

(I palnned to set up the scanner, then come back as a later mission)

(Oh I see, okay so as a group we're setting up the scanner and then that's the end of the mission for us?)

(I think? Unless you can think of anything?)

(Makes sense to me.)

(Cause I need my gravflyer gunboat before I come back) (edited)

(yeah I'd say that's it, unless you want to check out the coast)

(We can do that once we've cleared the Mishk)

(my thoughts as well but the coast got suggested IC and then it got buried in other stuff, that's why I'm bringing it up. I'm good though, I'm all for setting up the scanner and returning to Mt home)

(I'm gonna get a gravflyer with 2 anti-personel lasers, and come back with a squad)

(I’m caught up but it sounds like there’s some debate about what we do next )

(if Selgar doesn't want to check the coast/ocean out, we are ready to place the scanner and return home)

(Alright. I’ve got an ending either way I just want to do the one that makes sense)

(Yeah let's just set the scanner up and RTB, scouting in general is less safe with a fortress here.)

It takes some trekking away from the settlement to get to the region where the scanner is best employed. The terrain is an endless flat expanse of swampland broken up by the occasional rock or grove of dense trees. With a beep the scanner deploys on its tripod, and it begins extending the antenna and other data transmission spikes needed

(6xp, 10,000 credits)