"We don't have the means to rebuild this refinery. We could leave information with these survivors if they prove to not be murderous cannibals. Staying for too long is risky. If the conspiracy we're uncovering catches wind of us we will become a target."

Brent shook his head; "Conspiracy?  What do you mean?"

Joxe and Malcolm stopped what they were doing to listen as Gareth spoke.

"The planet's we've come across. The system we're from. All of it. Someone has spent centuries destroying access to warp technology. For what purpose I'm not sure, but when we are discovered by whoever is capable of this we will probaly be killed."

Brent listened carefully.  "Do you think that this is an aftermath of the war?  That some one or some group has gone through and destroyed the technological infrastructure?  Either way we'll have to continue to be extremely careful.  This ship, Joxe's ship is a priceless thing."

"I think everything we've seen was done long ago," Joxe puts in.

"Maybe. That doesn't mean they aren't still around enjoying their work."

Brent nodded.  "Certainly a lot of this destruction was done carefully and with the intent to destroy.  They may still be out there or may not but we have to treat everyone with the utmost caution."

"So, what do we do?" Joxe asks quietly. "We can't go back to Egg, not without something to offer besides our ship."

"I think we need to find where this man came from and contact his friends.  He's obviously part of a settled community."

"My parents said they were planning to come here, too," Joxe says. "Of course, they're long gone now." She takes a breath and smiles weakly at Brent. "Sorry. It's only been a few weeks since I last saw them for me."

Brent gives Joxe a brief, firm hug.  "Did they say where on the planet they might settle?  We could try a more specific location. "

Joxe brings up the letter on the holo display and reads it again:

My dearest daughter,

I hope this letter finds you well. Your mother and I have been helping to keep our town's domes running since the attack.

We lost nearly all of our space based infrastructure, and most of the cities and towns were destroyed. Somehow, we survived.
I hope that you and your cousins made it through to Montezuma, although we heard later that the war had come to them, too.
Hopefully, you're reading this after being able to come back here with the Concordia and your cousins.

Joxe, we have to move away from here, as the raiders have gotten more and more bold. Some friends have offered to let us come with
them to Execute, as they say the navy squadrons didn't do that much damage in that system. When you come, be careful about the raiders.
We heard that they are operating out of Kiepes. That doesn't surprise me, as that whole planet is one big mess.

Anyway, we are packing up to leave. Your mother and I both love you very much. We hope to see you soon.

Brent keeps his arm around Joxe as she reads the letter.   "I'm afraid that doesn't give us much to go on other than worrying about Kiepes." He shook his head. "I can't beleive that this guy walked any distance through this jungle with just the gear he has or that if he were with others that they would have left his body behind."

The lift door opens, revealing Naimh and Victoria. "I have a cause of death," Naimh announces without preamble as she crosses the compartment to the commissary unit. "He died of a broken neck from a fall precipitated by an epileptic seizure." The doctor completes her request, and the machine dispenses a soup in a large cup. "I'll need to finish the autopsy after lunch."

Victoria steps up and places her order, and extracts a burrito on a small plate. "He seems to be in good physical condition, and he definitely wasn't undernourished."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:52, Sun 10 Feb 2019.

Brent nods. "Thank you for the quick work Naimh, that at least gives us another data point." He turned to the others.  "He wasn't on an extended mission through the jungle.  There is no way he would be in as good of a condition or out alone.  I'm guessing that he had some form of transportation concealed nearby."

"I've started reading through his journal," Joxe puts in, and he hadn't mentioned anyone else being with him in the first twenty or so entries I've read."

"Does he say anything about how he traveled?"

"So far, he walked."

"From where?"

"I'll have to read through his journal in more detail," Joxe says. "You can help, if you'd like."

"She needs to read the journal," Malcolm puts in, "and Naimh needs to finish the autopsy. The rest of us can help with checking his weapons and other gear more closely. Maybe we can take the afternoon, and meet to discuss things at dinner time?"

"Let's do a bit of research then.  I'll help Joxe with the journal as the technical stuff is beyond my pay grade."

12/VI/1402 1700 hours

By dinnertime, the three teams have determined the following:

1. The young man, approximately 24 years old, died from a fracture of the C2 vertebra as a result of falling approximately ten meters, and landing on his head. The cause of the fall was a grand mal seizure secondary to epilepsy. He was otherwise in excellent health and was well nourished, with no sign of malnutrition or prior injuries other than a broken forearm that had been expertly managed, probably from when he was an early teen. Genetically, he is from typical Imperial stock, though he is unrelated to anyone present.

2. His journal, written in a dialect of Galanglic that is mostly familiar, records his journey to explore the area west of his home. He recorded the flora and fauna he encountered, as well drawing detailed maps of his travels. Using the planetary maps and other data, Joxe and Brent determined that he had been traveling for a month, and had covered about 150km from his home.

3. Digging into Wanderer's database, Joxe finds that Execute's population was spread over the planet in small groups who attended the automated farming equipment and, as at their current location, small mining operations. The next nearest farm was just about 150km east, located in a river valley some 100km northwest of the nearest seacoast.

4. The 7mm rifle and knife the man had were standard Imperial civilian models, although the rifle had been restocked at some point. The rifle is in excellent condition, and the ammunition appears to be hand loaded, as the powder and primer composition is chemically different than the standard factory loads.

5. Most of the clothing and other gear is hand sewn, but the fabric is definitely from a mechanical loom, being too tight and regular a weave to be handmade. Some of the stitching is also mechanically produced, probably from a single needle sewing machine that was hand guided (tight, regular stitches in imperfect lines). The rope, thread and twine found likewise was produced with a machine of some type, with fibers from local plants, according to the DNA analysis. The other items found (paper, pencils, cookware, etc.) show evidence of hand manufacture with some mechanical assistance.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:15, Fri 08 Feb 2019.

Brent regards the findings.  "It seems that the locals have retained a basic mechanical technology although considerably lower than what they had before.  That's good though as we should be able to deal with them on a high level basis assuming they don't consider us pirates or worse.  Let's bring the body back with respect and see if we can't make some contact.  I'd say that this settlement to the east is the one we want to visit first."

Malcolm looks up from his seat on the sofa, dinner tray balanced on his lap. "Maybe we should do a flyover later tonight and check the place over from high altitude. If we fly at above ten thousand meters and don't exceed the speed of sound, they shouldn't detect us."