The Scout Ship
After Orvo's failure, Bartja takes a crack at opening the sophisticated electronic locker left by Terry before his death. (Success.) Bartja successfully manages to open the lock with his toolkit. What you find inside raises your eyebrows. It is nothing short of a weapon cache.
You find the following:
3 XT-41 experimental rifles (used against the Blackness) with 10 shots each
3 XT-4P experimental pistols (same) with 10 shots each
12 XP-12 Portable Singularities (the Blackness grenades)
1 XT-SW (a sheathed weapon like a katana, but when turned on, its blade disappears or turns black depending on the setting)
1 XT-50 (a larger, heavier experimental rifle with bipod) (with 20 shots)
6 X-11 Shield Generation Flux vests. (These are like kevlar vests to protect against the Blackness)
As you will not need the Blackness weapons right now, I will move us along to the next morning, and you can divvy it up later.
Appleburg is still trying to remember details to sketch out a map of the compound.
The next morning dawns. Everyone is set and ready to go.
Desi, Gregor, Orvo, and Vadim set out to explore the shiny glint in the river that was seen on the trip down to stop Terry two days ago. Bartja, S'krllk and M'Kix stay at the ship to work on their projects. But everyone has radio and visual contact and can participate remotely if not with physical interaction.
After some searching, you find the spot where the glint was at. Looking down into the river for closer examination, you see that it is some kind of ship--not large but also not a UPF ship. The only visible sign of it above water is a large metal cable that appears to tether the airlock of the ship to a tree along the bank.
You notice as you get near that your equipment, particularly compasses and some electronics, start to go haywire--not an EMP but some sort of interference.
The river is 500 meters across and drops quickly to a depth of 20 meters. The current is 5 km/hour. The ship itself is 20 meters long and rests on the bottom in the middle of the channel.
Your first challenge will be to figure out how to reach the ship. You realize two things right away: it is too far and the current is too fast to easily swim to, and your breathers are not meant for underwater use. Your equipment also will not remain dry without proper precautions.
9:00 a.m.
20 DAYS UNTIL QANTARIATE INVASION
DAY 6 ON MAHG MAR