23 DAYS UNTIL QANTARIATE INVASION

XP: You each receive 9 XP for the last segment of the Moraes and completion of the module. If you don't recall, I also gave out a total of 9 XP earlier throughout this mission (6 and 3 respectively), so your total XP haul is 18 XP for this adventure.

Orvo and Porter gear up, taking medical equipment just in case, and hop in the last remaining undamaged aircar to rescue Captain Marlboro and Engineer Innesti. The flight over the wilderness is a striking contrast to navigating it on foot and in rafts. It is almost peaceful and beautiful.

The problems start when they reach the crash site. The Captain and Engineer are missing. After a little looking around, it does not appear to be an attack by wildlife because there is no mess, no blood, and no equipment. The two were taken along with any useful equipment. Now they are nowhere to be seen.

The damaged equipment and the destroyed airship wreckage are all there.

DAY 3 on Mahg Mar, 6:30 p.m.

The sun is starting to go down.

OOC: Please check out updates on the Wiki here: http://wiki.rpol.net/?id=6687

I added entries for: 1) Moraes crew member details, 2) the Moraes, and 3) the planet Mahg Mar.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:08, Thu 10 Sept 2020.

OOC: The next adventure is a hybrid of Face of the Enemy module and an original one incorporating the Qantariate and Sathar storyline. Which one is tackled first depends on the actions of your characters, but they are intertwined. Finding that the captain and engineer are missing is part one of the Qantariate storyline. Part one of the Face of the Enemy begins once communications are reestablished on the next day.

I would also be remiss if I did not remind you of the injuries your characters have suffered and inability to receive biocort. There is plenty aboard, but most have received maximum doses for the day and need to wait until the next day for more.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:10, Thu 10 Sept 2020.

Porter turns to Orvo, "We are going to need to regroup before we can mount a rescue.  I am going to need some medical attention.  We will go back to the ship and get some more manpower, maybe leave in the morning."

As the biocort stimulus begins to wane, Bartja collects the last useful bits of robot and takes them to the engineering deck for repairs and reprogramming.  Mumbling to himself, he can be heard to say, "only one survivor and pretty low tech at that.  Still, it will serve as a good mule.  Maybe I can retrofit the hand controller and weapon systems from the survey robots...?"

In reply to Bartja Nemuco (msg # 4):
Desiraye will begin to make her tour of the ship and stops when she sees Bartja working.  "Make use of whatever you have available to give us any kind of edge.  Losing Hammer is going to hurt us going forward and who knows how long before we can count on any kind of help.

We seem to have some time to try some options here."
This message was last updated by the player at 22:14, Thu 10 Sept 2020.

Orvo agrees with Porter to go back but first investigates the area for additional clues or signs of what happened.

Porter agrees, "Let's take a quick look around."

BARTJA

While everyone is trying to repair and feel better, and while waiting for Porter to report back, Bartja collects Shemp and looks at the options.

One thing he realizes is that, because Hammer was a Mechanon, he can likely recover Hammer's personality and knowledge if he can upload it into the ship. It will take some time but could be a way to salvage the situation. It cannot be uploaded into the limited space of the robots (for now), and the ship is the only computer large enough to handle it. OOC: This will also give Bartja something to do while his player is on vacation and could lead to some unique interactions.

Bartja can also use parts to fully restore Shemp with a day or so of work.

He will have to recover the pieces from the nearby survey robot to see if he can repair them or use their parts. That will take time.

The utility robot has limited uses. It is a level 3 maintenance robot: https://starfrontiers.fandom.c...i/Maintenance_Robots

UTILITY MAINTENANCE ROBOT
LEVEL: 3
BODY TYPE: Standard
MOVEMENT: Standard
LIMBS: 3 standard manipulators
PROGRAMS: Maintenance, Computer link
BATIERY: Type 1
STAMINA: 100 points
WEAPONS: None

These robots can be programmed to perform a wide variety of tasks. Without a combat program they have a basic chance to hit of 0%. No appropriate combat programs
are available aboard the Moraes.

Shemp is also a Level 3 Maintenance robot but it has combat program installed that grants it a 50% chance base to hit.


Porter and Orvo
Porter suggests going back to talk to the others and mount a rescue in the morning. The sun is going down, and Orvo suggests a quick investigation of the area while you have light left.

They find the following additional clues at the crash site:

In some of the soft dirt near the trees east of the crash site, you find tracks of what appears to be extremely large snakes. But with your experience, you think the tracks probably belong to Sathar. They appear to head east toward the river before disappearing in the shrubbery and rocks.

Near the tracks, you find a pocket tool. It is clearly UFP issued.

At about this time, Desi contacts them remotely for an update.

Back at the Moraes
Appleburg is tending to LeGrange and assisting with all wounds, including minor surgeries and injections.

OOC: For the sake of the game, we can say that everyone is healed to normal levels the next morning after a good rest.

S'krllk is making headway on the engines but is able to turn the work over to the crew so he can rest and join the group again.

Desi inventories what is on the Moraes, finding the following:

These will look familiar:

8 PERSONAL SURVIVAL KITS (used to be 14)

Each contains:
machete
everflame
allweather blanket
first aid pack
chronocom
8 survival ration packages
1 tangler grenade
1 compass
1 life jacket
10 vitasalt pills
1 pocket tool
1 flashlight
1 doze grenade
1 0-meter rope
toxyrad gauge
4 liters of water in water packs
1 pair sungoggles
1 environmental suit with breather
1 poly-vox
1 laser pistol with a 20 SEU clip

3 EMERGENCY BIVOUAC UNITS
(pressurized insulated tents) 3 x 3 meters in floor area. Air lock attached. Contains a mechanical air pump for pressure to support walls and roof. Filtration system provides safe air. Provides some temperature protection. 30 structural points (deflates after 10
points of damage. Fabric is water proof and air-tight. Sleeps 4

3 INFLATABLE RAFTS (new ones)
1.5 x 3 meters in area. Carries 4 passengers or 3 passengers with gear. 20 structural points
Inflated and deflated with cannisters of compressed C02.

4 INFRA-RED GOGGLES
10 FREEZE FIELD GENERATORS
2 LASER RIFLES
5 POWER BACKPACKS
8 COLD LIGHT LANTERNS (with internal
chemical power source)
1 TECHKIT
1 ROBCOMKIT
1 MEOKIT
1 ENVIRONKIT
1 TOPOGRAPHIC MAP (Map 1)
1 PLANETARY SURVEY DATA PACKET


The following will be new discoveries:

Grenades gathered from Terry's traps:
20 Frag grenades
15 Incendiary grenades
10 Tangler grenades
8  Doze grenades
5  Smoke grenades

Other Miscellaneous:
50 Fire extinguishers (spread throughout)
16 Vacuum suits (like the one LeGrange was wearing)
6  Radiation suits

Personal gear of live crew (which you respectfully do not get into)
Personal gear of dead/missing crew (Terry, Captain and Engineer) (If you want to get into their private items, let me know.)

In the Workshop:

2 Albedo Screens
6 Fully charged SEU Backpacks
5 Fully charged Power Beltpacks
2 Skeinsuits
Welding torch
1 Sonic Stunner

Vehicles:

1 Explorer
1 Airship
1 Survey airship gondola. (Upon inspection, you find that Terry stripped the second
airship gondola of its weapons and power supplies. The radio equipment in the
Robot Research Station that S'krllk is dismantling. It can be used to fix the communications system to relay a mayday. The crew starts on this. With a day of work, the second airship can be reequipped to fly again.)



Desi also finds two locked chests in the Explorer Bay. One is a personal footlocker marked "Terry's Stuff" and the other is a military locker marked "Experimental. Property of UFP. Top Secret." They appear to be some things he was hiding from Captain Marlboro.

Desi contacts Orvo and Porter at the top of the hour asking for a status update.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:11, Fri 11 Sept 2020.

OOC:

Please note I corrected one error after rereading the module. The Moraes actually carried two airship gondolas. You crashed one, so there is still one on the Moraes, though it was badly stripped by Terry for his ill conceived plans.

I put the Moraes equipment on the Wiki here: http://wiki.rpol.net/?edit=6687/ship_equipment

This message was last edited by the GM at 03:16, Fri 11 Sept 2020.

After assembling all the bits and pieces and considering their options, Bartja rejoins the team for dinner followed by a night of rest.  During "mess", he explains to the team what he intends to do while they're stranded here.

"My little service android Shemp is badly damaged as are most of the other robots that took care of this ship.  We've rendered all the survey or security robots practically useless but have at least one maintenance bot left and I believe I can get Shemp back to work.  They won't help us much in combat but will serve as mules when and where we need them.

You all know of my need to use bionics now, even though I don't fully understand what the Eorna did to make it all work.  We have here a fascinating opportunity to learn from our friend Hammer.  I believe with a little effort, I can save Hammer - at least his personality and intelligence.  If I can successfully upload him to the ships mainframe, he should live on - albeit in a new "body".  I won't do it without consensus, however.

The risk I see is that Hammer is beyond any technical skill I have.  He seemed to be self-aware and self-programming.  In school, we would have said he was an AI robot, but he might be even more advanced than we can fathom.  The risk in doing this is that the ship becomes self-aware and self-programming as Hammer - a true Artificial Intelligent ship.  As a friend, I believe Hammer taking over the ships systems wouldn't be a bad thing, but if he's had some kind of mental breakdown he would literally hold our lives in his hands.  He would control our life support systems for example.

My goal in uploading him would be to save him until we can find a suitable replacement body.  It might take us back to Vulturnus to consult with other Mechanons.  I suspect they can build him a new body if we can save his intellect.  Meanwhile, the maintenance robot and Shemp can be linked to the ship.  With Hammer uploaded, the ship would become a true Robot Brain and Hammer would effectively live on through the control of one or both of our remaining bots.

Shemp has a basic combat program installed, although it wasn't built for battle.  If the Ship-Hammer-Robot-Brain were in place, he could control Shemp and any other linked robots as long as we are within range of the Moraes.  This would almost give him the autonomy of the Hammer we know, using my little android as a proxy body.  I believe I can also retrofit Shemp to carry one of the Heavy Lasers or Autorifles from the Survey Robots as well.  This would give us a robot controlled by Hammer that is not quite as heavy duty as the former Hammer but more omniscient.  Hammer would have access to all the ships security and defense systems and would be able to remotely operate our robots as needed."

Wounds closed and healing nicely, he gets to work the next morning on projects he perceives will be most helpful to the team.  He works diligently on repairing Shemp while running system scans on the ships computer and removing un-needed files to create space for a potential Hammer upload.

"Let me know if you want me to convert our ship into a cyber-Hammer spacecraft with robotic servants and I'll get to work!"

After the report of probable Sathar having taken the Captain, Bartja comments "Obviously from what we've seen, what Appleburg has told us, and now the missing captain, we're not alone here.  We could try to track the abductors or head straight back to where Appleburg was held.  Before we move, I would like to see what the "new" LeGrange has to say."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:48, Fri 11 Sept 2020.

S'Krllk nods to Bartja, "it wouldn't be the first time I worked on him. We learned a lot from the mechanons, so I'm sure I can help you get him up and going. But if we can't reload his memory, so he's not the Hammer we know. We should just put the Hammer down."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Just imagine how long I waited to turn that phrase.

---

Porter and Orvo report back their findings via radio to Desi.

Bartja gets to work and is ready to move forward.

OOC: It looks like Bartja and S'krllk are ready. I can advance the day but didn't know if Porter/Orvo want to do anything else, or if Desi wants them to do anything, before they come back to rest.

I will advance it tomorrow if no one else is doing anything during this day cycle.

Porter and Orvo will return for some healing and rest.  We know where to start if we are going to search for the missing captain.

As long as they did a recon of the area, That's all.  Report back to base

Porter and Orvo return and report. Everyone gets some much needed R&R overnight while taking full use of the medical facilities...not to mention showers...on the Moraes. Orvo and Appleburg work together as doctors to stitch everyone up. It goes much faster with facilities and two doctors to assist each other than out in the field.

The next day dawns bright and hopeful. (Everyone back up to normal STA.)

22 DAYS UNTIL QANTARIATE INVASION

The first thing that is fixed in the morning is communications. After what you hear, you almost wish it hadn't been.

You are surprised that the transmission is so fast. It only takes a few seconds' delay between transmissions, meaning the ship is close. You send them your Mayday, but before you can give any details, the communications officer cuts you off:

"Crew of the Moraes. We were sent as a rescue operation, to recover LeGrange, and to deal with the local threat. We are the UPF Cruiser Ridley Weyland. We have been--"

His voice suddenly cuts off with a loud explosive sound behind him. He picks up again:

"We have been ambushed by a Sathar Destroyer of unknown origin that seems to be guarding this territory. Our engines are out. The Captain has ordered everyone to abandon ship. The smaller ships and escape pods are loading for escape. We have called in for a rescue team but the nearest ships are three weeks out. I need to get to my escape--" He pauses, gasps, and when he speaks, he may have forgotten his comm unit is still on. "Dear God, what is that? Another one?"

You hear another person in the distance respond to the question. "That's a Sathar mothership. Obsolete. Small but highly weaponized Class D destroyer."

Another voice, presumably the captain: "Abandon ship. Get to your escape pods. Their cannons are trained on--"


Then the transmission abruptly stops.


Soon after, LeGrange is starting to come to. He is groggy and has very little memory of anything has happened in the past few months. "We were helping people at the Sanitorium," he says. "There was an infiltration. Agents of the KLC. They took us captive. Everything after that is a haze. I had been a member of the KLC in my youth but left them when I realized they would go to violent extremes against the Vrusk on Kraatar. Once they started bomb attacks and sabotage, I left the group, but not before being exiled after winning the Fulbourn-McCoy prize for research." He chuckles to himself as he rubs his head. "I guess they found a way to recruit me back in. I really don't have anything against the Vrusk, only the RIK Vrusk on Kraatar. Anyway, I'm babbling. Finally feel like myself again. But it's still too bad you had to kill my pet cats."


This message was last edited by the GM at 01:12, Tue 15 Sept 2020.

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 15):
"Some rescue mission my ass!  Looks like we're the ones doing the rescuing!  OK, let's see if we can start tracking the destroyers escape pods.  Sarge, you want rescue duty or coordinate Ops from here?  Take Appleburg and someone else, if you're going.  Orvo can monitor LeGrange for the time being.

Bartja, S'Kriik, who's doing what?  One of you should go unless you think otherwise?"

Desiraye will turn to address LeGrange after assignments are handed out.  "Well, we're glad you're feeling more like yourself.  Do you think you're capable of helping us in any way without trying to kill us all?  Asking for a friend Jack.  We've got a ton of trouble and we don't need to be looking over our shoulders wondering what you're going to try and pull.

You'll excuse me if I'm blunt but, we've got a pretty frackin' bad situation developing before us."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:57, Tue 15 Sept 2020.

I will be on the ground, thanks.  It will put off the other rescue mission, but priorities must be evaluated.  Let's get into position before they land, if possible.:

"Roger. We'll coordinate with you and your 'away team' from here.  Keep in contact, we'll do the same as we get information.  I wish we had one more vehicle to operate.  I'm not very sure about the other gondola.  Bartja, thoughts?"

OOC: if one of the PC's would rather go with Porter, please volunteer!

FYI, you have no idea yet if any escape pods made it out, if they managed to land on the planet, or even what side of the planet they might be on. You have access to only one small part of the planet, so I wouldn't recommend planning around rescuing people yet. You will receive a new development soon which will develop that line of thinking.

OOC

But, we can try to track them from the ship and have the people in the aircar ready to go and headed towards where we think they might land.

If they come within 500 km, then yes, since an aircar has a 1000 km range.

That is kind of what I wanted to do, be proactive to it in case there are any ships or escape pods that made it off we would already be on the move and ready to help them sooner rather than later.

Could we carry the second parabattery in the aircar to get more range?  Just trying to think outside of the box.