The shuttle drifts quietly over the planet below for some time until the announcement is made that they are nearing the Kallian station and will be maneuvering for docking shortly. Some minutes later a short coughing roars of vectoring rockets are both felt and heard, propelling the shuttle in a somewhat disorienting series of course changes. Those looking out the window experience a harsh hit of vertigo to their stomach as the planet and stars spin one way and then the other. Luckily this does not last more than ten minutes and the shuttle stabilizes and slows.

From the windows they can begin to see the edges of the station, a gleaming series of interlocked rings. The immensity of the structure builds with each passing second as shuttle draws ever nearer, exposing more and more to the passengers. Soon those outer rings are barely visible through the various supporting spoke-like structures, until finally they are consumed by a cavernous room. Once in a soft shudder is felt from the bottom of the ship as it touches down, and a few moments later the force of gravity is once again felt dragging them comfortably downwards.

The captain once again comes of the speakers announcing their arrival at Killian Station. They are free to get up and move about the shuttle while they are loading some additional cargo and awaiting for the expedition members from the station to board. Due to quarantine protocols they are not allowed to exit the shuttle though.

Zelpuz gets up and starts moving around, trying to get a view out of every angle window and see what's going on here while stretching his legs.

The shuttle is parked in a large cargo bay of some sort, easily five or six times the size of the craft itself. A small team of people in full protective suits enter from a side entryway on a small wheeled conveyance and followed by a larger mech suit loader unit. After they approach the shuttle you can hear the mechanical latches of the cargo hatch open and the loading process begins. A few minutes later the rear door opens and two figures enter, dressed in similar suits to everyone else. Dr. Ulaar announces them as Dr. Salla Rezam and Dr. Carla Hyunzi of the Spacer Engineering Archives, and then they find a pair of empty seats to occupy.

The loading process proceeds for about 30 more minutes before the Captain's voice is heard once again that they will be departing shortly and everyone should return to their seats. A few minutes later, with the cargo hatches secure and the ground crew retreated back beyond the side gate, the shuttle engines start up. As the engine tones gradually wind up you notice the perspective outside the window changing as the entire ship is spun around until you are facing the opposite wall of the cargo bay. Then a slight pull sensation is experienced as the craft lifts up and holds for a moment until finally pushing forward slowly. It is not until they are well clear of the station that the rocket engines kick in and throw everyone into the back of their seats.

For another 45 minutes the shuttle drifts quietly above the planetary surface, heading to your destination you assume, though from this height it is impossible to tell. The first officer then comes on to announce they will be re-entering the atmosphere shortly and should be on the ground in approximately 32 minutes. Anyone who have thought the ride down would be much softer than the one going up is jolted from such misconception once the inky blackness of space is replaced by the blue glow of the planetary atmosphere. The atmospheric re-entry is a turbulent and violently colorful affair for some agonizingly long moments. Eventually the ride becomes a smooth glide across a pure blue sky. The last 15 minutes are spent in descent, racing through scattered clouds over an expanse of ocean as far as one can see.

The shuttle eventually sets down in an unusually flat and empty field some ways from a town you flew over. Aside from a slight pressure buildup in your ears it was a fairly smooth event. After a few minutes of the engine turning down the Captain announces your arrival and informs you that everyone will exit from the front of the shuttle and to keep your helmets on until you leave the craft.

The field outside appears to have been cleared sometime ago, or perhaps was an abandoned farm of sorts, and stretches for about 150m away from the shuttle in each direction. On the right border of the field you can see a road stretching back towards the town. Doctors Vaanhak and Ulaar take a quick headcount of everyone assembled outside as the shuttle crew begin to open the cargo bays. Teams are quickly formed to assist in the extraction and organization of the cargo. Dr. Ulaar announces she will be heading into town to meet and organize their transport, and she requests one of the grad students and one of the Freelancers to accompany.

Yuu disembarks, and removes his helmet when he sees others doing the same. He squints against the sunlight, shielding his eyes with a hand while looking around. He picks up his personal bags, and gathers with his companions as instructions are given.

Zelpuz follows Yuu who seems interested to go to the town, he nods in agreement. "Stay safe and keep the walkie talkie on."
Then he turns to Vanyra, "Let's help getting ready here and keep on a lookout just in case."

Yuu thumbs the walkie talkie on, and tests the device against the others. "Be safe." he says in return, before making his way over to Dr Ulaar.

"Zelpuz and Vanyra will provide security here. I'll join you into town."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:46, Sat 11 Apr 2020.

Each of them is feeling a bit woozy after the orbital journey, with experience of weightlessness and re-entry putting them a bit off their game. Judging by the reactions of many of the team members they are in the same boat. While Yuu Jin heads into town Zelpuz and Vanyra set about offloading and arranging the equipment that was stored in the cargo holds with other members of the expedition, and quickly discover how surprisingly large and full the cargo hold was. It is somewhat tedious work, but given how they feel they are welcome for its simplicity.

During Yuu's journey into town with Dr. Ulaar and grad student Grenon, the expedition leader explains they will meet their guide contact near the outskirts and there should be a number of wagons prepared to take them back to the landing zone. The flyover was the signal of their arrival so she's hoping there was enough time to get things ready. The terrain and climate remind Yuu quite a bit of home with dense foliage rising up quickly from either sides of the road and a cacophony of bird and animal calls emanating from within.

As they draw near the scattered buildings marking the edge of town a series of wagons and animals are soon spotted. An Atherian steps out from one wagon, waives them and strides forth to meet them. he introduces himself as Vashilli, and introductions are exchanged. With a clap and a high pitched whistle the wagon crew quickly organizes themselves and they set out for the shuttle.

By the time the wagon train arrives about 2/3rd of the cargo has been extracted and sorted. With the additional help it does not take long to finish unloading the ship and transferring everything to the wagons. As the first set of wagons is loaded they set off back to town. Due to the number of people and cargo two trips are made to get everything to their staging point, a mid-sized warehouse on the edge of town not far from where they met Vashilli. By the time everything is unloaded the team is quite exhausted, and Vashilli shows them to the sea-side inn they will be staying at while a pair of his people stay behind to lock up the warehouse and stand guard.

Vanyra nods. "I'll take a look around," she adds before starting a walk around the ship.

Once everything is locked up, Zelpuz suggests to Vanyra and Yuu to scout out this area, too. "With the guards in place, I am not expecting any surprises, but just to be safe, maybe we should take turns to join the guards? Or we could find another good point to keep an eye out."

The group does a basic sweep of the area in town and feels things are pretty secure, after which they turn in for the night since tomorrow will be another long day.

The morning starts early for expedition as all the equipment is sorted with purpose and users in mind. A loading plan is devised with the help of the Freelancer trio with the idea of storing basic survival essentials on the passenger wagons and the remainder of the gear on the pure cargo wagons. After consulting with the guides and the expedition leaders a plan for the wagon train is devised that attempts to provide maximum protection in case of a bandit attack.

The entire morning is taken up readying the gear and packing the wagons, and it is decided a short rest is in order before setting our for the duration of afternoon. Four hours later the expedition begins to move and it doesn't take long to get out of town since the warehouse was on the outskirts, allowing them to bypass the busy central core. Vanyra takes a forward reconnaissance position 1~2km ahead of the lead wagon, with Yuu and Zelpuz taking up positions in the center and rear wagons respectively.

Traffic on the road is light in both directions but not sparse, a medley of riders, wagons and foot traffic going to and fro. Though they got a late start they made good time on the road, with the well rested greeshin showing no signs of fatigue as the sun began to set. The decision is made to stop before it gets too dark, especially it being the first evening of camping on the road. The camp is setup in as defensible manner as possible given their surroundings, with the forest to the right of one line of wagons and the left line of wagons blocking the center area from the road. While camp was being setup Zelpuz and Yuu attempted to get the perimeter sensors up and running but to no avail; the tech is more advanced than they have previously encountered and the range may prove an obstacle. Both agree to keep working on the issue to hopefully have it sorted by the time they reach the basecamp area, the utility of the sensor with the wagon camp would have been limited anyways.

As night descends and the evening meal is prepared a watch order is drawn up with 3 person per shift across 3 shifts of 4 hrs each. The first shift will be headed by Yuu, followed by Zelpuz and then Vanyra.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:51, Fri 01 May 2020.

The night passes without event. The forests obnoxious cacophony of sounds gradually become a lulling background song, like the crashing of waves or the patter of rain drops on a roof, and in fact the quiet just before dawn serves as an alarm for many of the group. As the group prepares to breakfast and then break camp Zelpuz and Yuu do a quick check of the wagons to ensure nothing is amiss, and Vanyra attempts to get a few extra hours of rest before resuming her scouting.

The morning's journey mirrors late afternoon of the previous day, relatively quiet and with few travelers. When encountered the travelers are always mounted or on wagons, typically wagons hauling raw materials of sorts, lumber, metals, fine metallic powder, etc. Vanyra's advance patrolling has not encountered anything of concern near the road, though the occasional large predator (at least she assumes they are predatory) is seen further back into the forest, keeping their distance.

Near midday the order is given for a prolonged rest, which is welcomed by all. While comfortable enough sleeping in the wagon camp and pulling guard shifts at night is not conducive to a restful state. During the 4~5 hour stop a meal is had, Zelpuz and Yuu continue working with the sensors and making a bit of progress but not enough, and Vanyra takes a well deserved catnap after her meal.

The afternoon journey allows everyone to better take in their surroundings and the oncoming traffic is almost non-existent. The distance between forks in the road is becoming ever more distant as they travel further towards the foothills, which they can now see ahead, and far beyond them the reaching peaks of the Zhen Falas mountains. The final destination lies just beyond the first set of foothills, in the shadow of the mountains, a remote area indeed judging by the current population density.

The same routine is performed as the sun begins its dive towards the western horizon. The sensors continue to present troubles to Zelpus and Yuu, though just before the start of watch shift they believe they have an idea to try tomorrow.

After discussing the security equipment, and the ideas to try for the next evening, Yuu meets up with two sentries for the first shift. He goes over some basics, including communication routines, then watches them set up on the central wagon. The young mage begins to circle the camp, checking perimeter sensors, and keeping an eye for anything out of sorts. There is still noise and activity in the camp, but it's clearly winding down as people eat and prepare for the night.

The 2nd night also passes uneventfully. This morning passes a bit more smoothly than the last, with everyone beginning to understand what needs be done and how. The expedition breaks camp a good 30minutes quicker than yesterday.

While the morning's journey is pleasant enough a front of dark clouds appears over the mountains to the East, no doubt they'll be upon you by nightfall if not sooner. During the midday break the guides and a number of the crew go about securing the wagons and equipment against the possibility of rain and wind. The rest period is welcome, but the threat of the storm makes it a fitful one at best.

Yuu and Zelpuz take the time to deal with the sensors rather than get some rest, thinking it would be much better to deal with this while dry than in a night storm. Whether it was the threat of the storm, their lack of sleep or a combination of the two, they weren't sure but Zelpuz and Yuu figured out a way to boost the sensors' power using a small nether battery. By doing so they were also able to configure the sensor to provide an overlapping 3D mesh network, which should not only alert to a presence but also be able to triangulate the location of it. The next part of the puzzle will be to figure out some way to identify the expedition members from non-members, but for now this is a massive win.

As the caravan gets moving it certainly seems the storm will be upon them before they usually stop for the night.

After consulting with Dr. Vaanhaak and Ulaar, and the two guides who suggest the storm may involve hail and sleet given the time of year, the decision is made to stop early. A plan is drawn up to have the wagons are drawn up close to the treeline to act as a barrier, with the trees providing overhead cover and shelter for the animals. The group moves quickly under the direction of the PC's and the guides to clear an area of underbrush for a camp space. The most sensitive equipment is secured in storage lockers in the wagons while the exposed gear is moved into the trees. Once it is all done it is not a long wait for the storm to come on, it turns from day to night within moments, followed by gusts of wind with spits of heavy rain drops. With each passing moment the gusts and rain increase until it is a cyclone of wind and water, forcing everyone to hunker down. A short burst of hail comes suddenly, but luckily the stones are the size of peas only and passes after 20 minutes.

Within the hour the storm passes over and day returns. It is quite shocking, especially to the Spacers, how quickly the weather changes. For Yuu, who is accustomed to multi-day typhoons, such a short storm is bizarrely refreshing. As the expedition begins to assess any damages the question of if the group should push on for a few more hours comes up, as there is definitely enough daylight left. The guides bring up a concern of the road conditions following the storm, which may be very muddy and treacherous. It is suggested Vanyra perform a long recon of the road ahead and report back rather than gamble with packing up the camp. They are in a good position now and the extra time would be a good time check some equipment again and review the mission plan.

While Vanyra is out surveying the road Zelpuz, Yuu and the guides discuss the impact of the stop. Given that they already have a camp partially setup trying to gain additional ground today may provide little gains. They can plan to leave earlier tomorrow and gain some time as well. The guides remark that the storm probably had a bigger impact on the trails in the foothills than here in the lowlands, so leaving more time for those to dry-up would also be advantageous.

Eventually Vanyra returns and reports that while the roads appear in good shape for the most part she did come across a few travelers struggling with carts in places. Lighter traffic may be able to traverse the road without much trouble, but heavier cargo will not.

The decision is made to hold position for the rest of the day and continue the journey at the usual time in the morning. The expedition leaders agree there is no sense risking issues further down the road and a half-day's time won't be the difference between success and failure. With that the team sets about performing a more thorough check of their equipment and Yuu and Zelpuz think they've perfected the sensor mesh array, setting a perimeter just beyond where the animals are sequestered. A minimal nether charge is applied to each cell to gauge the power draw. After that the group settles into the usual evening routine.

Zelpuz is on mid-night watch with Beral Hughn, one of the mechanical techs, and Seri Jonsen, one of the undergrad researchers, with each patrolling an separate section of the camp. Things have been typically quiet for almost three hours into the shift when the perimeter sensor remote begins to blink and vibrate with an alarm. As he brings it up to his face to check the alarm status the mass of red dots on the edge of the screen are all he needs to see.

As Zelpuz heads towards the edge of the camp to get a better view he begins to hear a panicked crooning from the pack animals nearby and a whisper-like chattering that echoes through the canopy of trees. He cannot make out shapes in the darkness but he does catch a few mid-sized forms leaping from tree to tree, roughly the size of a dog. It is quite likely whatever these things are they are scaring the pack animals, and given the numbers indicated by the sensor array they could certainly be a problem.

Zelpuz radios the other guards: "Guys, watch out, lots of movement in the trees, probably several dozen of creatures, scaring our pack animals. Seri, wake up Vanyra and Yuu, Beral cover me, I am on top of the central wagon."
With that, he takes out a fare and throws it at trees where he sees the most movement, shouting "AAAAA GO AWAY CREATURES!" with his rifle following the light as it flies towards the tree tops.

Both Beral and Seri confirm the orders. Zelpuz's flare arcs into the trees just enough to illuminate a scattering of reptilian monkey-like creatures clinging onto branches above him. They certainly do not look too friendly, but the burst of red flare light has frightened them momentarily. He has a clear shot to a couple, but only time for one shot.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:57, Wed 20 May 2020.

Yuu rolls over in his sleeping bag, scratches his belly and continues snoring soundly.

Zelpuz takes aim at a nearby branch on which 2 of the creatures are perched and fires a low powered fire bolt. A shaft of concentrated naplam-like fire strikes the branch in the center providing a brief explosion of illumination followed by a sharp crack as the far end of begins to fracture. The two creature leap away in fear and several panicked cries ring out from the shadows. Shortly thereafter Beral arrives to Zelpuz's location.

Meanwhile back in the camp proper Seri finds Yuu and shakes him awake with some urgency, "Yuu, we've got a situation on the edge of the camp. Zelpuz is already there."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:03, Sat 23 May 2020.

Yuu blinks the sleep out of his eyes and the dream fuzz from his head, and looks up at Seri. The words of the researcher take a moment to register, and Yuu is out of bed and rushing towards the exploding firebloom and the Mespah perched atop the central wagon.

Yuu and Seri round the outer wagon in time to see Zelpuz fire off a fire bolt into the jungle and a cry of alarm from some sort of creatures hiding beyond their sight. Moments later they come up short as Zelpuz and Beral scan the woods in the direction of the shot.

Zelpuz quickly locks a mental grip on the nearest creature to the fractured branch and gains a sense of fear and trepidation as it seeks some sort of reinforcement from its neighbours. Using the mental link to the creature's sight the Mespah is able find another nearby creature and quickly scans its mind. While there is a similar sense of hesitation a wave of blood lust and hunger is rising with each moment giving Zelpuz the impression this creature is not done.

Yuu reaches into his satchel for the mystic goggle. "What do we have?" the mage asks Zelpuz.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:34, Mon 25 May 2020.

"Looks like a lot of monkey like reptiles in the trees scaring our animals, not quite sure, I only could see a couple when the fire flashed. They seem to be hungry, I tried scaring them off, but I guess my blast was too weak, only scared a few for a short time."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:05, Thu 28 May 2020.