OOC: The party is now reunited. This will be the main thread. I am also opening up the secret thread with Bartja and S'krllk for public viewing on the assumption they tell everything that happened. There is some important information there after they met the Notui, so I suggest skimming through it for the info at least.

Desi, Porter and Orvo watch as another winged Notui exits the tent. He has a strange mask with Sathar writing on it.



Following him out of the tent are Bartja and S'krllk.

They all approach you, and Bartja and S'krllk introduce the Notui as "Beet Chest."

They then tell you what happened. (See newly opened thread.)

Porter will say to S'Krllk and Bartja, "We would have gotten here sooner, but we had some issues with an EMP, and a couple of Sathar before we ran into a dinosaur and then these folk.  You should have seen Orvo play the cowboy and put a hole in that dino.  Are we safe among these folk?" 

He keeps his weapons holstered and stowed.

Bartja nods in ascension while he taps a few buttons on his polyvox to sync it with Orvo's box.

"Safe is a relative term.  They would not kill us out of hatred or fear, but if they thought we were food..." he looks over at S'Krllk with a hint of concern; "they might kill us to feast.

They're no friends of the Sathar, however.  They eat worms."  As he finishes, his fleshy-eyebrow raises in a gesture of questioning.

"We were about to have a feast on one of those tooth-o-saurus'.  They hunt them also.  Might taste like chicken?"

"Might taste like Yazarian, for that matter."  He chuckles.  "Well, we worked hard to get here, might as well try the grub."

"By the way, any news on the location of the Sathar or the EMP?"

Bartja finished uploading the polyvox programming and puts his own back it's harness at his belt.

"They speak of a black pyramid of destruction that fell a few moons ago.  It destroys all it touches, or something of that nature, and appears to be at the center of this EMP pulse field we're experiencing.  The Sathar are somewhere between where we are now and the center of this EMP field.

I'm actually assuming the black pyramid is at the center of this, but it makes sense.  The Notui don't seem to have the technology or need to create an EMP device, but the Q do.  I've been thinking that over and it's possible that the EMP field is a byproduct of an alien power source that has a high EMF pulse.  Either that, or whomever landed this pyramid thing doesn't want anything that uses electricity to come close.

We've noticed that the EMP field pulses.  Some of our devices may still work within the field, but I wouldn't count on it.  The gyrojet rifle I carry still fired but I think there's a chance it may not be reliable.  My implants - and S'Krllk's as well - are affected but not as dramatically as the aircar was.  I would rely on any laser weapons or screens in this thing.  Might make battling a bit tougher."

Orvo says, "As I recall, the Blackness is part of the extradimensional aliens who are joining with the Sathar and this is the center of the battle to come. I wouldn't be surprised if the pyramid has something to do with them." Orvo was taking a shot in the dark, but it seemed to make sense to him.

He thanks Bartja for the polyvox upload and makes sure everyone's is up and running too.

Well, grenades and automatics don't rely on electricity, so I still have weapons.

"I'm thinking a hot meal and a little rest would do us all some good fight about now.  Does their info seem to be legit Bartja?"

Bartja indicates Beet-Chest when he answers, aware that the Polyvox is likely translating their speech back into the Notui language as well.

"I'm not very good with people, but I've seen no beguiling from these folks.  I don't believe lying, cheating, or deception are part of their culture - at least nowhere ingrained as it has become in ours.

From what I gather about the Pyramid, they don't go near it.  The worm people, or Sathar, are towards it somewhere so it could very well be that they're connected in some way.

I vote for some rest and giant-rooster meat!  We still haven't determined if there are any survivors of Dentins' crash but if there are, they're likely to need our help before the Sathar carry them off.  It seems the pyramid has been here awhile so I doubt that it's going anywhere soon.

Could always be wrong..."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:05, Tue 10 Nov 2020.

Put the latest map in map updates. Note that the Notui are about 3 hexes northwest of the Bartja/S'krllk crash site, right about where the circle and square intersect.

Here is the map again:



OOC: Some outstanding items to do:

1) Rescue Marlboro and the engineer/Find Sathar base up north

2) Rescue Dentin and his crew

3) Finish trying to integrate Hammer into Moraes

4) Decide what to do with Terry's stuff from footlockers (mechanical footlocker is at post #47); S'krllk needed more time and was interrupted before being able to open the lock of the other footlocker

5) Decide on any further inventory issues as per post 8 here: link to a message in this game

6) Find out more and visit with Notui

7) Investigate glint south of Bartja's crash

8) Repair Moraes (crew/LeGrange is currently doing this)

9) Return to site at river where you saw the shiny giant gleam below the water.

10) Investigate EMP/Pyramid

Personnel:

At Notui: Bartja, Desi, Orvo, S'krllk, Porter.

At Moraes: Mormord Massod (Moraes crew member), Brogod Omborg (Moraes crew member), Sporss Krekrek (Moraes crew member), LeGrange, Appleburg

Missing (north): Winston Marlboro (Moraes captain) and Pradi Innesti (Moraes engineer)

Missing (crash): Dentin and his crew.

22 DAYS UNTIL QANTARIATE INVASION

DAY 4 ON MAHG MAR

4:00 P.M.


The chief exits the tent on the right, introducing himself to the newcomers as "Stone Eye." Like the other leaders in this strange hierarchy, he has wings and flamboyant colors.


The Notui invite you for a feast of the dinosaur creature, various insect varieties, and vegetation. The meal will be ready at about 7:00 p.m., just before sunset.

You are not sure of the current whereabouts of Dentin or Marlboro, or their conditions.

We graciously accept the chief's offer.  Then Porter tells his companions, "We have a lot to do, folks, and we are better off not dividing our resources again.  I am going to recommend we go after Dentin and crew first, as they are nearest.  They can be taken to the Moraes for treatment and can then help with repairs.  It may be that we take care of the pyramid on the way, and hopefully some Sathar.  We can then check out that metal glint on the way back to the gondola.  After we take the crew to the ship, we can go look for the Captain and Pradi.  We will have still much to do after that, but with hope, maybe a few more to help do it?  I am open for other opinions and options."

Orvo says, "Okay, I think that's generally a good plan. But do we leave when it's dark after the feast or start out in the morning? I'm concerned about the welfare of both captains."

If we rest now until dinner, we could leave right after that.  We can do nothing for them if we can't do for ourselves.

Bartja prepares himself for Stone-Eyes unusual feast, although the dietary choices are not far from those of his home planet.

"I like it and agree we should find Dentin first and rescue any survivors.

Later, we can kill that EMP device - assuming it is at the pyramid - then we can use our aircar again and get things moving a bit faster.  Sure hate to have that interfering with out operations in the future."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:38, Wed 11 Nov 2020.

The Notui give you a nest to rest in and you rest for three hours until the feast. The dinosaur creature has been split into parts and put on a spit. The festivity is low key, without much talking/squawking due to the dangers of nearby predators, including the Sathar. Makeshift tables were set up in the center. You see a total of about 8 of the winged, colorful Notui, and about 30 of the wingless ones wearing more drab clothing.

They are excited to talk to you about where you came from and what happened to your beaks. They like Bartja the Yazirian's "wings" and marvel that a bug like S'krllk can be intelligent, given that their diet staple consists mostly of bugs.

If there is anything you want to discuss with them, now is the time to do so. Otherwise, we will advance to 9:00 p.m. and your desire to move forward.

If you want them to accompany you, then Beet-Chest will go along with three of the wingless Notui. If not, they wish you well and say you can return.

OOC: For those who arrived later, you will have been told and shown the two Sathar corpses in the tent on the left. That is where Beet-Chest obtained his Sathar marked mask. They found the bodies dead near the area where the "glint" just south of Bartja and S'krllk's aircar was grounded.

Things aren't seeming to go well for the Sathar here, let us hope we have better fortunes. 

Porter will decline the help from the Notui. "I would feel responsible if one of you got hurt.  We do hope to meet you again, and soon, but we have to save your world, and ourselves, before we can do that."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:45, Thu 12 Nov 2020.

Bartja is careful to eat only meat from the spits on which he witnessed the dinosaur being skewered.  He is not yet ready to add Sathar to his diet, no matter how much he likes these people.

"It is as important to have friends at our backs as it is to have weapons to charge forward with" Bartja adds to Porters' response.  He hopes the Notui will understand the refusal of assistance without being offended.

"When we search out this new star-ship wreckage, we will return with the survivors.  We may need your help then, provided we have a way to find you again."

The Notui nod appreciation at your concern and concede that they are not a fighting race and do not understand violence except to hunt or protect oneself.

You find that they love art and colorful crafts, such as the ornaments the priests adorn themselves with. They use anything available--clay pigments, flowers, colorful stones, bits of bone and sloughed off scales of the dinosaur creatures--and even the items retrieved from the Sathar. At one point, Chief Stone-Eye goes into a long lecture about their art, their love of colorful gifts, and colorful clothes.

They live a remarkably happy and comfortable existence--until recent events. There are no conflicts between tribes and food is abundant. There is a very strong resistance to change, and they are not normally very original or adventurous in nature. With recent events, they are realizing the importance of respecting non-traditional thought and behavior, but are very confused. They do not understand war or conflict between species, or why intelligent beings would kill other intelligent beings.

They do have fighting games, which some of the young show you during the feast as a competition, but there is no injury and it helps for training to hunt.

During the feast, the Notui expand on what has happened there.

Three months ago, a group of Notui were gathering decorative colored stones near the settlement. A young Notui got lost, and in looking for the group, met two new animals--the worm men. The scouts killed him for sport with laser fire. The remainder of the group discovered what had happened. They sought the Sathar but found them dead near the glint in the woods (which you suspect is some sort of transport or ship). They had apparently crashed in the vehicle. The two Sathar bodies were brought back here to the tent to be studied. They have been trying to carefully avoid contact with the Sathar since then.

It was about that same time that a repeating hum popped up every thirty seconds. The Notui were annoyed by it at first, but now have become used to it. They tracked the source of the hum to the black pyramid. (You don't hear the hum, but you suspect they have a stronger sense of hearing.)

One of the Notui, named Fire-Eye, seems more suspicious of you than the others. He says he does not trust you because you use the same lightning guns used by the worm men. He often stands at the back with his arms crossed, brooding silently. He is glad when you turn down the offer to help you and asks when you will take your leave. He is a younger of the priests, but is among the elite winged Notui.



Fire-Eye says, "On this morning, we see more fire descend from heavens. We go to investigate and see race like you. But worm men get there too. They all use lightning weapons. Such evil in their hearts." He shakes his head. "You may be different from worm men. But also same."

Ignoring him, Beet-Chest and the chief, Stone-Eye, say, "We do not understand your ways and your violence, but we think you friends of Notui."

They wish you well. The Notui especially appreciate you telling them what you know about the Sathar, as they were completely baffled by the violent "worm men" who burned their people for no apparent reason.

It is now 9:00 p.m. as the feast winds down.

Wanting to get a start, and feeling rested, the team sets off in the direction indicated by the Notai. "Thank you for the meal, and the information.  In the end, we hope to show Fire-Eye that our intentions are noble and honorable.  Maybe the next time we meet, it will be more favorable to both."

Before they leave, Orvo asks if they can tell where the fireball this morning landed, hoping to be able to zero in on where Dentin and his crew crash landed.

"Sounds like Dentin's crew has already met with the Sathar.  We need to head over there and see who prevailed in that battle."

Turning to their friend Beet-Chest, he asks, "how many worm men are here do you estimate?"

To Orvo's question, they point to the southwest and indicate a half day's journey. You determine that it is probably in the hex marked with the "E" in Dentin.

To Bartja's question, they are not sure. "We see many," Beet-Chest says. "Not sure if same ones or different. We think at least ten."

OOC: Remember that it takes two hours per hex in the forest on foot. Also, as you leave the settlement, let me know which direction you are headed. The village is three hexes northwest of the Bartja/S'krllk crash.

Also, note that if the Notui accompany you, your travel time will be doubled because they know the fastest routes and can get you through more quickly.


This message was last edited by the GM at 05:55, Fri 13 Nov 2020.

Addressing Stone-Eye and Beet-Chest, Bartja asks, "If you're still willing, we could use a guide to lead us through your lands to the recently crashed ship.  If people are injured there, we want to help them.  As you also know, if the worm men found them, they will need our help even more.  A guide would definitely get is there faster, but we can't ask you to fight with us when that time comes."

Knowing that this is directly against Porters previous statements, Bartja addresses him directly also.  "Look.  They move twice as fast through these forests as we do and they know where all the traps and creatures are.  We watched them capture this giant chicken we're now eating also.  These people are brave and masters of this world.

I agree that they shouldn't fight our battles, but we'll move much faster with their guidance than without and we'll likely avoid the dangers of this world that we don't yet know."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:06, Mon 16 Nov 2020.

I don't think I am actually in charge, but your statement has merit, so I will acquiesce. 

The Notui agree to send you a guide and try to stay out of battle with the worm men. However, they always travel in groups of no fewer than three to ensure protection and witnesses to any events. Therefore, Beet-Chest and two of the wingless Notui will accompany you.

OOC: If I understand correctly, you will be heading to Dentin's crash first. If that is incorrect, let me know. The other options are the black pyramid and the glint of metal south of the Bartja/S'krllk crash.

As soon as you are ready to head out, we will move forward...

OOC
We will go to the crash site first.  The rest of the trip will depend on what we find there.  The presumption is Shiny toy next then big 4 sider next.

"In a tactical sense, I would defer to your training Sarge.  I do beleive though that this is a sound move we should make.  If you don't concur, I'd like to know up front."

I am not so stodgy that I cannot be convinced with logic.  I agree that this plan has merit.  I am "easy?"

Bartja's flesh and mechanical eyes move back and forth, watching the exchange between Porter and Lipost.  The subtleties of army rank and file interactions would probably forever escape him.  All he knew at the moment was that they might be in agreement this time.

"I agree with Sarge.  Crash first; shiny toys next; then the Pyramid if nothing we find changes our plans....  and there always seems to crop up something to change our plans."

In reply to Bartja Nemuco (msg # 30):
"I'm good with that order too!  Let's not delay any more then!"

You follow the three Notui out into the darkness and begin traveling. Along the way, they help stop you from encountering some of the dangerous flora and fauna you previously discovered, and they also hold you back to let some indigenous creatures pass in front of you.

After three hours of travel, you come upon a small clearing where Dentin's vehicle has obviously crashed. The ship is in bad shape. It is in several parts strewn across the field and it is all dark, indicating it has no power. The command capsule seems intact, though it too is dark.

On the far side, about 50 meters away, you see an explorer. The vehicle seems scratched and dented, but that's not what catches your attention. It is the light from behind it. It is a phosphorescent glow, not electric.

Suddenly, a glowing projectile flies in your direction, end over end in the air before falling at your feet and lighting you up. It is one of the industrial size glow sticks used for lighting in the ships.

Hit the deck! Porter will push one of the Notui to the ground.

Bartja dives for cover.

"Glow sticks aren't a Sathar weapon of choice.  I think there's a good chance that Dentin's crew taking cover behind that explorer" he says as he pulls the gyrojet rifle around, just as a precaution.

You hit the deck, ready for action.

After the glow stick lights you up, a voice calls out over the distance, "Is that a Dralasite? A Vrusk? Humans? And ostriches? You don't look like Sathar."

Dralasite steps out from behind the explorer and approach you. As Bartja indicated, it appears to be some from the crew of the Osprey, Dentin's now blown apart ship.

A Vrusk also scoots into view. Its lower limbs are bandaged and it cannot walk normally.

The Dralasite says, "I am Bogan Doorem, the cook of the Osprey. That there is M'Kix Rix'z, Jr. We just call him 'Junior.' He's the engineer. We got ambushed by Sathar just after landing. Being injured, Junior and I hid inside a cargo compartment while the Captain and crew fought the Sathar. We lost some fine men." He indicates a point in the darkness where you can vaguely see lumps of freshly dug graves. "The Sathar took the Captain and the remaining crew prisoner and went north."

He leads you back to the explorer. You can see as he walks that he does so with a limp, nursing an injury in his side. "Junior is trying to fix up the explorer so we can go rescue them, but we're not in good shape. Also, something is messing with our electrical systems. We can't figure out why the explorer won't work."

Junior nods hello but is generally silent. "There were at least 15 Sathar. We lost three out of our seventeen person crew in the crash, and we were totally surprised by the ambush. Because Bogan and I were hiding, we didn't see the battle so well."

Bartja swings the gyrojet rifle around him on the bandoleer to get it out of his way as they walk and review the damage of the Osprey and her crew.

"You're wasting your time on the explorer right now.  There's an alien device nearby that is producing an EMP pulse as best we can tell.  It's effing with our electronics.

You say there were fifteen Sathar that attacked?  How many were killed in the skirmish?

North is where I would have expected them to go.  Our ships Captain is north of here also and we've recovered a doctor who escaped a Sathar prison north of here."

Bartja realizes they won't likely have all the answers, but just talking things through helps him think while he's processing and recording the information as they review.

"I've got some medical training and a medkit.  Let me take a look at your wounds while the Sarge and Desi decide our fate."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:46, Thu 19 Nov 2020.

Porter apologizes to the Notui for knocking him down.

"Okay, folks, let's get the wounded mobile and then move on to the next objective.  I know that sounds cold, but our time is growing short and we have much to accomplish.  After we check out the shiny object, we can work on getting that EMP turned off."

"Bartja, give them a good look over before we move out.  Like the Sarge said, the time is short.  We need to get everyone safe and out of harm's way!"

Desi walks away from Brtja and the wounded and nods for Porter to follow her.  "I hate to even suggest this but, I don't think the cook and the wounded engineer are going to much use to us in a fight and will slow us down.  What if we pick their brains real fast for info on their crew so we're not going in blindly not knowing who were looking for when we find them?"

Porter responds, "Agreed.  We can get what info they have, then come back for them when we have that darn EMP off, or just direct them towards our ship."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:57, Thu 19 Nov 2020.

As he works on the crewmen, Bartja probes for additional information.

"So...got any robots that survived the crash with you?  Survey robots or Warbots perhaps?  This EMP will keep them disabled but I could sure use some parts to repair ours about now."

If there's time and opportunity, Bartja will scavenge the wreckage for any equipment that might be useful to the team.

Since Orvo is a medic, he will check them over and do what healing he can. He agrees a short salvage operation may be helpful. "Let's not forget about any spare parts we can use to help Hammer too," he suggests to Bartja.

How close is the explorer to the edge of the EMP? It looks pretty close

They respond that they have one utility robot that appears to have survived more or less intact. The Sathar did a quick scavenge of items, so there is not much left that isn't attached, but there are many parts of the ship, and much of its hull is intact as well. It is about three times as large as the Moraes, and is not a scout ship, so no survey bots or other such equipment.

Bartja and Orvo help their wounds. Bogan is doing fairly well afterward, but Junior's leg will leave him limping and slow for a time.

You realize that you are only a couple hundred yards away from the edge of the EMP. Junior and Bogan ask you to help them move the explorer to outside its range.

After about an hour, you have done some healing, scavenging, and pushing the explorer in neutral to the point where its electricity is operational again. Now Junior can do some repairs and get it running.

11:00 p.m.

You are now tired. It has been a full day. Continuing will subject you to fatigue. There are bivouac units and such left from the ship. A complete inventory has not been done, and it is completely dark with no access to electric lights near the ship.

Also, to protect you from the atmosphere of the planet, the command capsule would be a place you could rest. (Don't forget about the slightly toxic atmosphere and your constantly annoying breathing apparatus that you must wear when outside a contained environment.) Bogan and Junior are about to go get some sleep so they can get ready to rescue their captain and crew in the morning.

The Notui desire to return to their village to rest. They invite you or say you can return there at any time. They also offer to return in the morning to guide you somewhere else nearby if you wish.

We will stay here for the night so we can do a quick survey in the morning and then you can guide us to the pyramid.

Any guards or watches during the night? Random encounters are...random...and may include Sathar now that you are in this area.

We will do 2 hour watches, I will take the first one.

OOC:  I'll take a couple of hours to inventory the ships equipment that we might be able to scavenge and take the robot and heavier equipment to the explorer for recovery.

"We can't very well leave these two guys here for the Sathar to find.  Do we want to take them back to the Moraes in their explorer or have the Notui lead them back in the morning?

I would like to take the explorer around the EMP field and use it to winch our aircar out of the field as well.  We'll cover a lot more ground in the aircar than an explorer, although it probably draws the Sathar to us at the same time.

Of course the shiny object isn't that much further and once we know what that is, maybe we try to disable the EMP.  Can't forget or ignore those taken by the Sathar either."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:03, Fri 20 Nov 2020.

"The aircar can wait, the EMP will always keep it at the same distance as it is until we deal with that EMP.  The shiny object, maybe, but it isn't going anywhere either.  We can give the two directions to the Moraes, as it isn't that difficult for them to get to, but the time we would spend there is not time well spent.  Just my opinion."

Note: The river will prevent the explorer from going to the Moraes since it can't cross the water. One reason I put the explorer here is so that you can use it, if needed, on this side of the river if any other transports don't work.

(OOC)
The aircar should work for them.  It is only down because of the EMP.  If we take them there, they can use it once the EMP is off.

I will do watch as Porter, Bartja, Orvo, Desi, S'krllk. That gives 8 hours sleep to each and will result in waking at 7:00 a.m. just after sunrise.  Any last minute preparations/actions before I start rolling random encounters, let me know...

Just before 5:00 a.m., during Desi's watch, she sees something and wakes everyone up.

You look out the cabin of ship and see the figures at the edge of the trees.  You watch, staying hidden behind the command module's window and computers.

They are Sathar. It appears there are 8, though who knows if more are in the trees. The 8 Sathar move in amongst the broken pieces of ship. They appear to be on a salvaging effort and are pulling items from the broken hull.

Then they move to the explorer. It appears they will attempt to steal it. They do not appear to have seen you.

Gear up, time to reduce the opposition, folks.

After Desiraye wakes everyone up as quietly as she can, she finds a position to where she can utilize the optics on her rifle.  She turns on the power for the IR option and begins to look for the leader of the group.



"Roger that Sarge.  Searching for their leader.  Stand by."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:40, Thu 26 Nov 2020.

Orvo suggests, "Maybe we hide in here? If they take the explorer, that's better than putting our lives at risk. If they come over here, we can ambush them when they come in the command module."

How about another option? I and one other hide near the ship entrance, and if they enter, we have them in a kill box.

"I'm not certain we have the firepower to destroy them, but maybe we can surprise them using doze and tangler grenades and take captives.  That would work especially well if we do the kill box.

What will we do with Sathar captives?  I'm not sure, exactly."

"Past practice for them does not allow them to be captured alive. I think our best bet is to take as many of them out as possible, and then deal with the rest."

They don't make good prisoners, and they would not hesitate to kill you.  Okay, who is will me?  He turns and heads to the door to set up at an angle to the door so he isn't shooting into it.  He will leave a couple of frag and tangler grenades with those staying behind.

Bartja loads his gyrojet rifle clips and makes sure he has a Tangler grenade on his belt.

"I'm with you and ready to rock!"

Everyone else, set up your defense in here as if your lives depend on it, because they might.

Porter and Bartja will head out to whatever cover is nearby, out of sight of the Sathar.

Desiraye tries to adjust and the controls of her scope and begins to feel frustrated.  She finally powers it off and checks her iron sights, queing her chronocom, "I'm not taking a chance with my optics here.  We're too close to the EMP and I don't want to risk it.  Call out targets as you see them!  Remember, they may retreat but, they will not surrender!  Good hunting."

Desiraye will take [1] of the Frags left behind by Porter and attach it to her gear so it is in easy reach if needed quickly.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:00, Sat 28 Nov 2020.

S'Krllk prepares to fire his needler, in the event something does get through to attack him. "If the universe is true to form, the Sathar will be shooting, as well. Best prepare personal defenses for that."

Since you moved the explorer, it is about 200 meters away, half obscured by trees. This allows you to sneak out as planned while the Sathar are exploring the explorer. But it also means the explorer is outside the EMP pulse.

Porter, Desi and Bartja get in place for their "kill box," while Orvo and S'krllk wait in the command module. (OOC: Wasn't sure about Desi, but that was the impression I got.) Porter and Bartja are at the base of a large tree (one north and one west of the command module); Desi is on her belly using some debris from the ship as cover southwest of the command module.

After a few minutes, four Sathar get in the explorer, start it up, and drive it north.

The remaining four Sathar begin heading back to the area where the ship crashed.

As they get closer, you spot that one of them has a device of some kind strapped to its chest. It blinks on and off with the EMP pulse. Another is wearing emblems showing that he is likely the leader.

You see the following on them:

Sathar 1 (strapper): A projectile rifle of some sort.
Sathar 2 (leader): Two pistols holstered, and a chest belt with grenades.
Sathar 3: A machete in hand, pistol holstered.
Sathar 4: Plasma rifle of some sort in hand, pistol holstered, long knife sheathed.

They are about 50 meters away...

We will wait for them to get in between us and then I will throw a frag grenade.

I thought Desi was taking a spot within the module, thinking that would be where they went and we would be attacking them from the rear.

That's fine too. Desi, please clarify. Any way we look at it, this creates a killbox scenario, and the main difference will be whether they are facing her or not and what happens after shooting starts, since they are approaching the crashed ship, and the others are to the side.

Please everyone state any details needed, such as SEU settings, or screens, etc.

Assuming you are going to attack by surprising them, let me know what your actions are and which targets you will take. Only those in the ship can communicate with each other, so whoever is outside the ship should state targets in a Private Line.

Desi was on watch so, she would more than likely be outside?  I think that's a fair assessment?  If not, wherever you see fit

As the Sathar get into range, S'Krllk turns on his albedo screen and prepares to shoot, using his anestetic needles. He whispers to Orvo, "I'm shooting that guy with the flashy lights. Maybe I can get him without damaging the mechanism."

Porter readies himself for the conflict.

Orvo nods to S'krllk and whispers back, "I'll shoot the leader." His laser rifle is set to SEU 10 and he takes careful aim, waiting for someone else to shoot first..

Porter will take action as soon as the Sathar are exposed to fire from inside the command center.

"I'll target the one with the plasma rifle," as she flips on her Albedo screen.

Ooc: Aiming her shot at the sathars center of mass holding the plasma rifle firing a Burst of Fire.

PUNCHING DAMAGE: 7
CURRENT STA: 62/62
Firing Burst: +20%

SKILLS:
Beam Weapons: 6 [DEX:30 + 60 = 90%]
Martial Arts: 3 [DEX:30 + 30 = 60%]
Melee Weapons: 2 [STR:32 + 20 = 52%]
Demolitions: 2
Gyrojet Weapons: 4  [DEX:30 + 40 = 70%]
Projectile Weapons: 3  [DEX:30 + 30 = 60%]
Thrown Weapons: 2  [DEX:30 + 20 = 50%]
Technician: 2

[1] Civilian Skeinsuit [26/50]
[1] Albedo Screen [90/100]

[1] Power Backpack  [50/50]
[1] Power Beltpack  [95/100]

[1] War-Tech GAR-10
- [11] 20 round GAR-10 mags  Current MAG: 15/20
- [1] Bandoleer Sling (holds x10 mags)
      Bandoleer: [1] MAG 2/20, [1] MAG 10/20
- [1] Muzzle Extender: Eliminates the Medium Range combat modifier and reduces the
   Long Range combat modifier from a -2 Column Shift to a -1 Column Shift
- [1] x3 Magnification scope w. Infrared optics
- [1] Rifle Holster
- [1] Power light  [1.5 kg]

WarTech GAR-10 Gyrojet Assault Rifle (#12 p.49)
Wgt: 5.5kg, Damage: 3d10/8d10,
Ammo: 20 rounds, Rate: 3(1), Defense: Inertia,
Range: -/5/75/150/300
This message was last edited by the player at 18:40, Wed 02 Dec 2020.

Bartja also flips on his Albedo Screen although he knows that Sathar tend to use sonic weapons.  He has the Gyrojet Rifle hanging from a bandoleer, ready to raise into action, but in his hand he holds a Tangler grenade as they wait for the first shot to be fired.

When the Sathar get within the crossfire range, you open fire...

ROUND 1 (Surprise attack)

Porter throws his frag grenade toward the leader and brings up his rifle...

S'krllk fires his anesthetic needles at the strapper...

Orvo fires his laser rifle at the leader...

Desi fires a burst at their center, roughly at the man with the plasma rifle...

Bartja throws his tangler grenade...

Porter's frag goes a bit wide but hits them with splash damage (12, 21, 23, 20 dmg).

S'krllk's needler jams (14:19, Today: GM Heath rolled 99 using 1d100. critical miss.) It is not operable until he takes time to take it apart and clean it.

Orvo, who is not a great shot, actually hits the leader with careful aim. (67 damage). The leader falls down dead.

Desi fires a burst, making a great shot in the center of mass. (18 damage to each of the remaining 3.)

Bartja throws his tangler grenade at the group. It goes wide but does capture one of them (machete) in its strands.

Seeing they are under attack, the two remaining mobile Sathar jump into action. The plasma rifle holding one jumps behind the strapper, using it as a human (Sathar?) shield and using the shoulder to steady the rifle.

The strapper begins running toward the ship with the plasma rifle Sathar following him. You see that what is strapped to his chest is actually some sort of bomb. His rifle is still at his side but he has a detonator in his other hand as he runs toward Orvo and S'krllk. The plasma rifle Sathar aims toward Porter.

Porter will shoot a full burst on an attempt to keep them from acting.

Bartja brings the gyrojet rifle around to bare and fires off all three shots in an attempt to drop the strapper after all.

S'Krllk chitters, but there are no Vrusk nearby to be suitably shocked at the curse. His needler is dropped and he begins to manipulate his cybernetic hand. "Ok, universe, all or nothing."
As soon as the bomb gets within ten yards, S'Krllk will try to hit it with an EMP pulse.

Orvo fires at the strapper, his laser rifle still set on SEU 10. He will then quickly try to move back into the cover of the inside of the command module to avoid the effects of any explosion.

Desiraye slightly adjusts her sights to the center of the 'Strapper' who isbeing used as a shield by the Sathar Plasma rifle user.  She steadies and then fires another burst at it.

PUNCHING DAMAGE: 7
CURRENT STA: 62/62
Firing Burst: +20%

SKILLS:
Beam Weapons: 6 [DEX:30 + 60 = 90%]
Martial Arts: 3 [DEX:30 + 30 = 60%]
Melee Weapons: 2 [STR:32 + 20 = 52%]
Demolitions: 2
Gyrojet Weapons: 4  [DEX:30 + 40 = 70%]
Projectile Weapons: 3  [DEX:30 + 30 = 60%]
Thrown Weapons: 2  [DEX:30 + 20 = 50%]
Technician: 2

[1] Civilian Skeinsuit [26/50]
[1] Albedo Screen [90/100]

[1] Power Backpack  [50/50]
[1] Power Beltpack  [95/100]

[1] War-Tech GAR-10
- [11] 20 round GAR-10 mags  Current MAG: 10/20
- [1] Bandoleer Sling (holds x10 mags)
      Bandoleer: [1] MAG 2/20, [1] MAG 10/20
- [1] Muzzle Extender: Eliminates the Medium Range combat modifier and reduces the
   Long Range combat modifier from a -2 Column Shift to a -1 Column Shift
- [1] x3 Magnification scope w. Infrared optics
- [1] Rifle Holster
- [1] Power light  [1.5 kg]

WarTech GAR-10 Gyrojet Assault Rifle (#12 p.49)
Wgt: 5.5kg, Damage: 3d10/8d10,
Ammo: 20 rounds, Rate: 3(1), Defense: Inertia,
Range: -/5/75/150/300
This message was last edited by the player at 14:57, Tue 08 Dec 2020.

Orvo, Bartja, and Desi fire at the strapper, while Porter files a full burst and S'krllk begins prepping for an EMP burst.

The ambush is a complete success. The strapper falls about 15 meters from the command module while the other Sathar falls on top of him. Before you can tell how badly they are injured, the bomb strapped to the strapper's chest explodes. Those in the command module duck back and are protected from the blast. The others duck down and cover their heads...

...and also do not get hit with any shrapnel.

The bodies of the Sathar are almost unrecognizable piles of meat now. Nothing seems recoverable. There is a small crater where the explosion took place.

Porter rises and looks around.

"Okay, everyone ready to move in 5.  There won't be anything worth collecting from that hole in the ground, but you can bet that that explosion didn't go unnoticed.  I don't think it will be a good thing to head back to the Moraes right now.  We will need to treat what we can and move towards the EMP source.  Any other opinions, speak now."

Bartja rises from cover, ejects the clip and starts adding gyrojet rounds to it to fill it back up to a full clip.

"We've done what we can here.  I'm with you Sarge.  From now on, no more soloing for me!"

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 79):
Desiraye switches her weapon s safety to 'ON' and comes to her knees, finally standing when she sees that the right is over.  Following Bartja's lead, she drops he partially used magazine and begins to consolidate the other used mags into one.  Placing the now empty one's back into the sling carrier, she checks and reseats the magazine back into the magwell.

"Agreed.   We are short on personal already, we need to stick together as a group, we'll be more combat effective like that. Correct Sarge?"

[1] War-Tech GAR-10
- [11] 20 round GAR-10 mags  Current MAG: 17/20
- [1] Bandoleer Sling (holds x10 mags)
      Bandoleer: [3] MAG 0/20 + [7] MAG 20
- [1] Muzzle Extender: Eliminates the Medium Range combat modifier and reduces the
   Long Range combat modifier from a -2 Column Shift to a -1 Column Shift
- [1] x3 Magnification scope w. Infrared optics
- [1] Rifle Holster
- [1] Power light  [1.5 kg]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:41, Fri 18 Dec 2020.

The two injured you found, Bogan and Junior, say they will take the explorer (and the utilitay robot) around the EMP pulse to general vicinity where you left the aircar and meet up back there. If the EMP goes off, then they can get back to the ship, but they can't travel on foot as they are.

You gather your things together. The EMP pulse still hits you every 30 seconds or so.

After about two hours of travel, the sun has risen and you are making your way through the forest without incident toward the EMP pulse.

Just then, off to your left (east), you hear noises coming through the brush as though several creatures are moving in your general direction.

Knowing it could be either Notui, dinos or Sathar, Porter opts to draw his gun and hide in the brush.  Though he pays attention to what is behind, he is looking to the east.

Bartja reaches for his Tangler grenade and realizes that he's already used it.  Pulling the gyrojet rifle around and into position, he follows Porter into the brush, hiding as best he can.  If there's a tree nearby, he'll scramble into its heights and take cover among the branches.

"No Monkey jokes - any of you!"

At your scrambling, the noise stops. Then, after a moment, the Notui who escorted you last night come into view (Beet-Chest and two of the wingless Notui).

"You are louder than a Screethin flamping a Kerscotch," Beet-Chest says as he stops a little ways from you. "We hear you from far away like scampering Citherhoppens. We guide you if you wish, as far as we can. You go to black pyramid, yes?"

Rising and holstering the weapon, Porter says, "Yes, that is the next objective.  Thank you."

If his skin was fleshy and uncovered like a humans, Beet-Chest would be able to see the flush of embarrassment on Bartja's face as he slides back down the tree into which he'd scrambled.

"We could use some good guides who know how to not get eaten by the...Screethin?  Are those the giant lizards that keep trying to eat us?"

Desiraye Will lower her weapon and stand when she sees that it is the Notui approaching them.  She gives a welcome nod to them and waits for them to lead everyone to the pyramid.

With the Notui as guides, you are able to traverse the jungle in two hours instead of four.

21 DAYS UNTIL QANTARIATE INVASION

DAY 5 ON MAHG MAR

9:00 a.m. (4 hours awake)

Due to lack of sufficient sleep due to being interrupted, everyone is -10% to all rolls.

You see the pyramid through the trees from about 100 meters away. It stands about 20 meters tall and is stark black. A dense fog seems to emanate from the pyramid out almost to where you stand. The pyramid itself is black with a red, glowing pattern on it. What is strange about it is that its form seems to be less than solid--almost a shimmering substance--like it is a hologram or something not quite real.

It's almost as if it does not have solid edges or sides. It pulses with a blackness like you have seen before with the attacking Qantariate invasion.

At its top, a red glowing object slowly rotates. You recognize this as what is likely causing the EMP pulses.

About 50 meters in front of the pyramid (at each of the four sides) stands a 10 foot tall humanoid figure, almost completely black with glowing red with glowing red lines on it similar to the pyramid. At first, you think these might be some sort of alien creatures, yet they stand completely still and you realize they are statues or robots or some other artificial constructs of some kind.

All of this strikes you as very strange and otherworldly. This is likely not Sathar technology, and nothing local either. Your best guess is that this is Qantariate technology from their dimension.


This message was last edited by the GM at 11:33, Wed 30 Dec 2020.

Porter will draw back and ask the scientists their opinions.  If these are robots, can they be disabled?  Can they be blown up?  Can we even enter the structure, or shut it down?

Bartja studies the figures carefully from a distance, using his bionic eye to try and make out any additional details.  Talking quietly with the team, he shares his thoughts.

"They're like nothing we've worked with before, so our chances of being successful at manipulating them are lower than normal.  Couple that with the interference to our equipment and I'd say the chances aren't very good.

Seems to me that this race is hovering on the edge of our three dimensions - perhaps taking advantage of the same dimensions we use to jump in the Void for space travel.  I would like to know if we can damage them but at the same time, alerting them to our presence will likely initiate a response from all four guardians and possibly from the pyramid itself.

That said - the fact that the pyramid is using an EMP pulse for defense makes me think they're vulnerable to the EMF spectrum.  Lasers, electricity, and perhaps magnetism?"

Orvo muses, I wonder if we can shoot down the EMP disabler from a distance. I get a bad feeling about these robot things, whatever they are."

We could try from a distance to give us time to judge their reaction.

Desiraye looks at the weapons they have available as far as weapons and then says to Min, "Do we have enough with us to damage that thing you figure sarge?  Bartja?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:50, Sat 02 Jan 2021.

S'Krllk peers at the pyramid, and opines "those edges look fuzzy, as if made from that Qantariate substance. I doubt our weapons will have the expected effect. We'll need to know what those things are to know how to deal with them. Let me see what I can scan."
He tries to sneak up and scan the new Qantariate installation.

Orvo says, "I wasn't with you last time. What did you use to kill or damage them the last time?"

OOC: Not sure where you guys landed for next actions on this.

(OOC)
We need to know who has each weapon and we just attack with them.

You guys can split them up however you want. Any from now dead characters can be taken by the new ones.

Okay, I think it is time for those special weapons, folk.  I have the grenades and will throw 1 bat the pyramid on a three count as everyone else lets loose the pain.  Everyone ready?
This message was last edited by the player at 07:32, Thu 14 Jan 2021.

Bartja pulls around the XT-41 that he'd forgotten he carried and nods.  Speaking in low tones so as not to be overheard, he says "I'll target the turret on top of the pyramid and we'll see what happens with this damn EMP pulse."

I will target the nearest guard.

"I suggest we try to target the same guard for maximum effect?"

FYI, you currently stand about 120 meters from the top of the pyramid (100 meters out and 20 meters up).

The "guards" each stand about 50 meters in front of the pyramid. Let me know from what distance you will fire/attack--60 meters out from the pyramid, etc.

If I don't hear back, I will assume you close half the distance to the guards--i.e., 75 meters from the pyramid and 95 from top of pyramid. Range modifications will apply accordingly.

S'Krllk begins to prepare the XR-34 for use. "The best part about this is if I miss, it hits the actual universe itself. For a change, I get to shoot back."

Bartja turns to regard Desi, then nods again.  "The nearest guard it is, but I hope it doesn't cause that turret thingy to unleash the Universe on us before we have a chance to put a stop to it."

How about we all focus on the nearest guard and S'Krllk, you aim for the top of that pyramid?

"That sounds good Sarge.  Once we're able to get that first guard down, we work to the next closest guard and continue until they're all down!"

As they make final preparations, Desiraye begins to re-familiarize herself with the XM-92 Rifle Exometer rifle.

ROUND 1

S'krllk fires at the distant top of the pyramid while Desi, Bartja and Porter fire at the nearest guard (Porter throwing a grenade).

Everyone misses.

14:18, Today: GM Heath rolled 86 using 1d100.

14:18, Today: GM Heath rolled 95 using 1d100.

14:17, Today: GM Heath rolled 95 using 1d100.

14:20, Today: GM Heath rolled 65 using 1d100.

Luckly, Porter's grenade has a splash effect the hits the nearest guard with a blackish purplish gooey substance. The guard is already on the move, walking toward you. He does not appear to have any ranged weapons, but if your memory serves, coming into contact with the other dimension (i.e., touch) will essentially destroy the part of the body touched. You can see that by the nearby shrubbery and grass becoming black blobs.

The guard will reach you next round.

Porter throws another grenade at the oncoming guard.  "Fire at will!"


18:06, Today: Sgt. Porter Min rolled 46 using 1d100.  Throw grenade at guard.

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 110):
Desiraye is prepared to move away from the creature if it isn't stopped.  She yells out to the others, "CENTER OF MASS!  TARGET ITS CENTER OF MASS!"  She takes aim, and fires.

Bartja is stunned he could miss such an easy shot.  This being an unfamiliar weapon however, he finds it easy to forgive himself.  He fires a second shot at the center of the approaching sentry.

"We need to find the matter that will damage these anti-matter goons!"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:14, Mon 25 Jan 2021.

S'Krllk, seeing the dilemma they're in, switches target and fires at the lead guard.

Orvo has given away his Blackness weapon so he instead has his medic kit and healing items ready in case anyone is injured. He will stay in the back, look around for any other potential dangers, and relay them to those in the fight.

This time, everyone hits!
19:14, Today: GM Heath rolled 53 using 1d100.

19:14, Today: GM Heath rolled 39 using 1d100.

19:14, Today: GM Heath rolled 26 using 1d100.

19:14, Today: GM Heath rolled 9 using 1d100.

As the discharged rifles and the grenade hit the sentry, it seems to warble in space time like a pebble dropped in a pond. (37 interdimensional damage caused; 13 points remaining.) The sentry pauses at the solid hit but then solidifies and with sudden speed rushes...S'krllk, going from 2 miles per hour to about 35 miles per hour in half a second.

Its fists pound down...(RS check failed)...and S'krllk feels the blob-like substance (rather than the firm rock-like surface he expected) crash onto his shoulders. (10 STA dmg.) S'krllk then feels the burning and realizes he must immediately discard everything he wears above his waist to avoid the Blackness seeping through like acid. (If he makes Dex check, he gets it off in time, continuing to suffer only 1d10 dmg per round until removed. If he fails, it is 2d10.)

The sentry, seemingly now disinterested in S'krllk, turns its head as if searching for its next target.

Porter looks to see what the other sentries are doing.

With the Sentry able to move that quickly, Bartja realizes that there's no escape now.  He must hit and kill this thing if they're to survive this.

The other sentries are walking steadily but slowly in your direction.

"Looks like they only hurry when hurt.  We need to use a retreating attack, move back, attack only one and deal with it before attacking another."

Orvo says, "Why don't we take down the pyramid first? Aim at the top and see what happens." He moves over to see if he can administer aid to S'krllk.

S'Krllk whips off his gear, including his bodycomp though the latter might have been safe, and returns to the tripod. He aims it, again, at the top of the pyramid. "I'm going back to shooting the building. I don't need any more of those guards touching me."
Then he unleashes at the top of the pyramid, as fast as the tripod gun can manage.

Desiraye makes herself mobile as she continues to fire on the injured one.

In reply to Bartja Nemuco (msg # 118):

"It's as if they have trouble seeing us in our dimensions.  I think you've got a point Porter.  If we don't get their attention by attacking, they should be easy to evade."  This said, Bartja finishes aiming carefully and attacking the injured sentry.

S'krllk begins taking off anything that might be in contact with the sentry's touch. (It takes him one complete round to get off the items and he takes only 3 STA damage.)

Orvo is there to give a hypo spray if S'krllk needs it.

Desi and Bartja hit the injured sentry, and it dissolve down into a pile of black goo. It is a pure black not reflecting any light, just like the Blackness you encountered before.

Beyond the trees, you see the two other sentries walking toward you at about the pace of 5 meters per second.

They are currently about 60 meters away and will reach you in 12 seconds (two combat rounds).

S'krllk aims at the top of the pyramid 120 meters away. It is a long shot. He takes careful aim, takes a deep breath...and fires. His shot is true, and the spinning red thing at its top begins to warble and dissolve. The entire 20 meter tall pyramid shudders for a moment.

Your electronic devices start to turn on. The EMP pulse has been stopped, though the pyramid and at least two sentries still stand. Make that three. There had been a sentry on the far side of the pyramid who is also now rounding the corner and coming your way, though he is farther behind than the other two.

"Let's concentrate fire on the one on the right.  We need to do it in one shot."

Bartja nods in agreement and takes careful and considered aim at the sentry coming from their right.  Once settled and targeted, he carefully fires the XT-41 at the creature of Blackness.

"Nice job on that pyramid S'Krllk.  Now my implants should start working as designed!"

Porter throws a grenade on the right side of the one on the right, trying to avoid hitting the other one.

Desiraye switches her fire to the right, carefully taking an aimed shot, if she can.

Orvo heals S'krllk after stating, "Nice shot, especially for an engineer!"

Everyone fires at the Qantariate Sentry on the right. Everyone except S'krllk hits, including the grenade. (44 total Blackness damage. 6 remaining.)

The Sentry, once hit, immediately turns quick again, as if the Blackness damage feeds it speed while also harming it. Even as you prepare your next attacks, it is upon you, bearing its fists down upon...Desi. Desi turns to avoid the blow, luckily only takes 4 points of damage as the blow lands on her back, but the Blackness goo is eating through her backpack quickly, and she will need to remove it or suffer continuing damage as well as ruination of her items.

The Sentry next turns its attention to...Porter.

Orvo is attending to S'krllk but needs to wait until S'krllk is not firing before giving him the shot.

Porter, having no short range weapon against this menace, will work to evade its grasp.

Orvo sees the danger and also has no offensive weapon. "Maybe we just kill off the fast one and run from the slow one. If it can't catch up, we can outrun it, especially now that we've taken down the EMP pulse."

S'Krllk doesn't say anything, instead turning his weapon back on the pyramid to see if he can do more damage.

Relieved that the Sentry hasn't noticed him yet, Bartja takes careful aim at the extra-dimensional construct.

"Not a bad idea Orvo.  We can always come back and finish the other Sentries later... like shortly after we give that shadow the slip but before they can repair their pyramid."

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 131):
Knowing that she doesn't have a lot of time, Desi shrugs off her backpack to the ground.  'All that stuff can be replaced,' she thinks to herself as she looks to get a shot on the one that is threatening Porter.

The thing is moving very fast now...but somehow Porter manages to evade its grasp.

Desi is peeling off her backpack...

Bartja makes an incredible shot, missing Porter, and hitting the sentry in the head. It collapses over in the dirt and dissolves into a pool of the Blackness goo that does not reflect light or cast a shadow.

S'krllk fires at the pyramid. He hits the body of the pyramid, and though it seems to swirl and absorb the shot, you are not sure if it did any actual damage.

You follow Orvo's advice to start retreating. You see that the other two sentries (because another has appeared from the far side of the pyramid) stop following you after you retreat about 100 meters.

Once it is clear the Sentries have lost their scent, Bartja drops his medkit on the ground and opens it to begin helping Orvo treat wounds.  He keeps the XT-41 close by in case the black-sentries decide to move out of their protective sphere of influence.

"It seems clear that they may have a harder time observing us in our dimensions than we have of observing them.  Do we want to disable the remaining two sentries and see what we can learn of the Pyramid while we're here?"

"Once we get ready we get range on the nearest sentry so that we can get in a couple attacks before it can close the distance and we take them out one at a time."

Desiraye nods, "Agreed Sarge.

Everyone else agree or are there any other thoughts?  We know we can hurt them and they die.  I just don't want to lose any more of my gear.  We're not exactly in a spot where we can run to the store and buy what we need.

If we're good then, make sure we're still locked and loaded."

Orvo and Bartja set to helping with the wounds. Desi recovers 3 STA and S'krllk recovers 7.

As you watch, the other two sentries walk up to the point where the last of the sentries was "killed" ("dissolved?"), stop for a moment, and then slowly begin returning to the pyramid.

OOC: Not sure if you want to still attack them. They seem to have lost interest in you, and you have depleting ammo. Not to metagame, but you fulfilled the purpose here (to destroy the EMP emission), and taking down the sentries is not necessary. You may return here later after obtaining further information and supplies for as yet undisclosed purpose. If you kill the sentries now, that will be two less in the future, but either way is fine.

You begin returning to the aircar and meet the Notui along the way. They have been waiting for you and watching from a distance. They agree to lead you back to the aircar to avoid difficulty. Whenever asked about the black pyramid, they just dismiss it as some alien magic and talk about the Sathar as the evil worm invaders who inexplicably love violence, a concept they cannot grasp.

It is late afternoon by the time you get to the aircars, get them up and running, and get back to communications.

From the Eleanor Moraes, they appear relieved to talk to you again. They are continuing with the repairs but have received a distress call from those trying to reach the Moraes. Apparently those two survivors you sent in the Explorer could not cross the river and are stuck, needing aircar support to get them across.

You are at the S'krllk/Bartja crash site.

In the south region, you have not yet:
1) Investigated the glint to the south
2) Investigated the shiny object under the river
3) Completed assisting the two survivors of the ship (Bogan Doorem, the Dralasite cook of the Osprey and M'Kix Rix'z, Jr. "Junior," the engineer). They are are currently stuck at hex 1A. (Also, you will recall that the Sathar took the captain and remaining surviving crew hostage to the north--probably to the same place where they took your captain and engineer. The other crew members either died in the crash or were slaughtered by the Sathar.)

As you talk, you think you hear the Moraes state that there were four survivors in the explorer. You ask them to repeat that, and they confirm that there are, in fact, four survivors of the Osprey needing rescue at A1.

Bartja looks at S'Krllk and frowns as they test the aircar systems in preparation for takeoff.  His flesh-half-face screws up in concentration as he pulls up his memory of sending Denton's survivors off in the explorer.

"Four?  The air on this planet must be fogging up my brain.  I swear I counted only two, but then again, we didn't really search the vehicle out.

We'll have to find a way to free up that explorer.  I don't believe the aircar can carry that many passengers and it's a good idea to stick together on this planet."

Agreed.  To many would have us not succeed.

FYI, the survivors are only a few kilometers from the Moraes, so ferrying them will probably be fairly risk free. You can meet up with them first, if desired, to discuss.

Moving this along...

It takes the rest of the afternoon, but you get the survivors from the explorer, leave it for use if needed, and ferry everyone back to the Moraes.

Sure enough, the dralasite and Vrusk survivors found two more survivors from their ship as they traveled back in the explorer, so there are four survivors rescued so far. These two new ones escaped the Sathar taking them somewhere north. When they escaped, five crew members were in the Sathar possession, including their captain. They take some supplies from the Moraes and everyone needs some time to refresh and get some rest.

It will be evening soon.

You have two aircars available. The Moraes is still under repair and will be for quite a few more days given the lack of materials.

Your own captain and engineer, plus 5 of the crew from the crashed ship appear to have been captured by the Sathar and taken to the experimentation facility up north where Dr. Appleburg apparently escaped from.

Now that he is no longer under the Sathar implant control, LeGrange is more normal, even if a bit cynical and racist against Vrusk still--thanks to his upbringing on Kraatar. Yet the genius you need to interpret the Qantariate codes and communicate back with them appears to need you to retrieve either the sphere you lost back on Kraatar or something similar for him to tap into, something with an energy source that can span both dimensions. He is still working on the data you have taken so far, so he has much work to do, but that will be necessary.

Junior (the Vrusk from Dentin's crew) also shows you one other item they scavenged and brought back from their ship. It looks like a mechanical coffin. However, the doctors recognize it as a Recombinant Regeneration Tube ("RRT"), used for fast healing through DNA reconstruction, nanobots, and other chemicals. It can only be used twice per day, but covers the body with a gelatinous substance and in about 12 hours, heals almost any wounds (except poisons and mutations). You manage to move the thing to the Moraes. (OOC: Anyone who needs healing overnight can use it and also receives the benefit of rest.)

As darkness will be here soon, you settle down for dinner to decide your next plans.


21 DAYS UNTIL QANTARIATE INVASION

DAY 5 ON MAHG MAR

6:00 P.M.

Some things to consider doing/goals:

1) Rescue Marlboro and the engineer/Find Sathar base up north

2) Rescue Dentin and his remaining crew

3) Finish trying to integrate Hammer into Moraes

4) Decide what to do with Terry's stuff from footlockers (mechanical footlocker is at post #47 in last thread); S'krllk needed more time and was interrupted before being able to open the lock of the other footlocker

5) Decide on any further inventory issues. Discuss weapons against Qantariate.

6) Find out more and visit with Notui (optional, only if desired)

7) Investigate glint south of Bartja's crash

8) Repair Moraes (crew/LeGrange is currently doing this)

9) Return to site at river where you saw the shiny giant gleam below the water.

10) Investigate EMP/Pyramid further and its sentries (2 remaining)

11) Figure out how to repel Qantariate invasion and find the Sphere or something like it for LeGrange to analyze.

Personnel:

At Moraes: Bartja, Desi, Orvo, S'krllk, Porter. Four members from Dentin's crew on the crashed ship.

At Moraes: Mormord Massod (Moraes crew member), Brogod Omborg (Moraes crew member), Sporss Krekrek (Moraes crew member), LeGrange, Dr. Appleburg

Missing (north): Winston Marlboro (Moraes captain) and Pradi Innesti (Moraes engineer)

Missing (crash): Dentin and 4 more of his crew. Found: 4 of his crew.

This message was last edited by the GM at 06:11, Wed 03 Mar 2021.

As the group discusses the options, Bartja quips "Sure could have used this Regeneration box when I was on Volturnus."

The fleshy half of his face frowns for a few seconds, then he lightens back up.  "But I'm pretty happy with the changes made of my life!  Can't bemoan the past when there's nothing to be done that will change it."

"I'm very curious what the glints we've seen are and suspect they're other craft that have landed or crashed here.  But before my curiosity gets us in trouble, I believe we need to get our peoples back from the Sathar before they all end up implanted.  That should include our Captain and Captain Dentin.  I suspect they're all to be found in the same Sathar compound.  It seems most pressing to get them before they're worm-tools."

"Just happy to still have you around old friend!

I think everyone should agree that we get our people back first and then take the fight to the Sathar and investigate what else is going on here.  What do you think Sarge?

Everyone else?"

"Thank you all for the pick up. I was starting to get worried. I would like to assist in any way I can."

The dralisite explorer wore a civilian skeinsuit, explorer vest and boots along with a utility gauntlet and pauldron which was slotted with a motion tracker as well as several other enviroscanners. He carried a helmet which was clearly outfitted with comms and imaging equipment.

Since the landing and with everything that had happened he carried also a power backpack, albedo screen, laser pistol and a vibroknife. Across his body he wore an array of satchels, pouches and hard cases which likely contained what survival gear he had been able to acquire.

Junior looks up from the control panel of the RTT. "I think I've patched it into the main controls of the Mores. I'm not a medic or doctor but it looks like they designed these units to interface with most Frontier tech. Forward thinking."

His antenna continue to twitch in agitation, though less so than when he and Gregor were discovered. He is dressed in overalls and has found a home for the supplies he scavenged from the crashed ship.

"My gratitude for your intervention. I don't expect we'd survive very long without your aid."

Junior introduces Gregor as well as a human, Vadim. They were both from Dentin's ship that crashed in the rescue and that were found along the way.

OOC: This will introduce three new players to the game (and a fourth NPC for now who will stay with the ship). Feel free to brief them and give them information as new to the group. They have never met the group and know little about their experiences. They were simply here to rescue you from the crash, secure LeGrange (which is already done), and then take orders from Dentin from there.

With Dentin captured, they will naturally be keen on rescuing him from the Sathar. But you may also want to consider whether to do some short investigations of the other items first to see if you get additional helpful information. That's purely optional, though. The only mandatory task would be to recover the crew and stop the invasion in time.

You sit around eating dinner and discussing the situation.

Suddenly, Porter does not feel very well. He seems pale and shakes his head as if to clear it. After a moment, he leans over and vomits all over the floor, just before collapsing unconscious.

7:00 p.m.

21 DAYS UNTIL QANTARIATE INVASION

DAY 5 ON MAHG MAR

Vadim nods and offers a smile in grateful agreement as Gregor offers his thanks to the Moraes team.  He fidgets a little and gives a friendly smile on occasion between bites trying to keep his hunger from diverting too much attention from the dinner table conversation.

He does interject with a question the moment when the Yazirian mentions Volturnus, "You've been to Volturnus?  What is it like?"

However, when grizzled looking man vomits and collapses, Vadim's look of curiosity quickly shifts to concern as he stands and moves to assist.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:21, Fri 05 Mar 2021.

Orvo jumps in surprise at Porter's sudden collapse. As a dralasite, he had been ready to introduce himself more thoroughly, but now his medic instincts kick in. "Everybody back! This may be a quarantine situation. We are on a hostile alien planet with an atmosphere that's dangerous and plants we don't know."

His blobbish body moves to push everyone back and check the symptoms from a distance. He calls out to have a quarantined spot prepared on the hospital deck and checks to make sure Porter is still alive, administering safely whatever help he can.

M'Kix Rix'z backs away hurriedly and looks quickly around to see if anyone appears to know what's going on.

"Is it the rations?" he clicks antenna returning to a very twitchy state.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:35, Sat 06 Mar 2021.

Gregor rises and moves to offer any assistance he can but does not interfere in anyway with the medic lending aid.

Bartja bolts into action, moving into the ship to secure a sick bay for Porter.  He returns once he has the lights on and monitoring equipment ready to receive the unconscious human.  Looking around the assembled group, his mechanical eye glints as he examines each character in turn.

"Might have been poisoned.  We just don't know yet.  There are some here that were ... corrupted by the Sathar.  We assume we removed the implants and all is well again, but how much do we really know about the worms and their technology?  If they're working with these other aliens found here, what other tech might they have we know nothing about?"

Before she can shout any orders out, Desi sees that Orvo and Bartja are already jumping into action.  "The rest of you, find some gloves and get ready to move him to medical when Orvo says to!"

Gregor follows orders without question.

You are able to get Porter to medical and start diagnostics. Something is poisoning him, and quickly. The computers cannot tell what it is, except that it is alien and toxic, eating at his biochemical processes, especially attacking his digestion, respiratory, and circulatory systems. The med unit is required to put him under medically supervised coma while it runs analysis. Porter will be out of commission for a bit.

After that drama, everyone returns to the now cold dinner table in silent brooding and contemplation over the dangers of this alien world. You think of the masks you must wear constantly to avoid headaches and eventual death in the atmosphere. You think of the many hostile creatures you have encountered. All of the sudden, the Moraes seems like an Eden of a refuge.

But things eventually return to normal and you are left to consider your further introductions and next steps.

8:15 p.m.

Vadim returns to the mess and finishes up his dinner as the others regroup.  Finishing his last bite of cold proteins and carbohydrates he looks up to check the quorum.  "So...uh...what's going on and what can we do to help?" he carefully drawls.

Bartja regards his new shipmates over a warm herbal beverage, looking them over with his natural eye and mechanical eye.  He's carrying a console through which he has been monitoring the upload (integration) of Hammer to the ships computers. He takes a deep breath of the teas rising vapors, savoring that he can still smell and doesn't need to wear the breather here on the ship.


"Well, we just lost the Sarge for all intents and purposes, but we still have Desi who can use any weapon better than anyone I've seen.  I think our Captains; Marlboro and Dentin and our engineer are probably held at the Sathar base.  The rest of your crew was probably taken there as well.  If we're going to get them back before they get implanted and become tools of the worms, we need to head there soon.

If S'krllk can figure out the tech Terry has brought with us, we may be able to use it against the Darkness creatures - or it may turn out to be handy even against the Sathar.  There's some kind of regenerative box he was experimenting with.  I'm thinking right now about using it on Porter.  His tissues are dissolving from some alien protein or virus and without some miraculous intervention, he's probably not long on this world."


"If this upload of Hammer goes well and we have time, I would like to take some time with S'Krllk and look over these Qantariate-based weapons.  We need to know what they're using for ammunition base that can damage the Darkness.  Maybe Legrange will help us.  He's our best chance of understanding what we're up against; how it works; and what we need to fight it.  Right now he's repairing the ship, but if we get our crews back, they can work on the ship and Legrange can work on the Qantariate problem.  If only he would lose his fear of the Vrusk."

Bartja shakes his head slowly has he ponders why so many seemingly intelligent beings have these irrational fears of other intelligent beings just because their appearance is different.  That leads him into a somber moment of reflecting how much his own appearance has changed and the alienation it has caused him among most people.

"When we get our people back, I would like to stop and visit with the Notui and see if they know what these other shiny objects around here are.  There was one close to where our aircar crashed and another in the river.  I'm guessing they've already investigated and can share their wisdom with us.

For that matter, once we recon the Sathar base, we may need the Notui to help us take them out."

In reply to Bartja Nemuco (msg # 161):

Vadim runs his hand over his short bristly hair as he tries to suss out what Bartja tells him.  He glances at Gregor before turning his attention back to the Yazirian, "Well...I only caught a little bit of that.  I know about my shippies and the Captain, though they got your Captain too?  And that something is making your Sergeant Porter extremely sick.  I think my grandpa would tell my cousins and I to keep our mouths shut and appear stupid rather than to open them and remove all doubt just to get some peace at the dinner table...but could you break the rest of that down like I'm slow-addled compy?"

The young Truaneor smiles self-deprecatingly, "Darkness creatures, Qantariate problem?  They some sort of Sathar client species or constructs?"

"I take it Hammer is some sort of attack program?" he shrugs apologetically.  "The Notui are the friendly bird-people right?  Shiny objects?  Given context I take it they're big shiny objects?  I know the Sathar and my shipmates are further north of here but are these things closer and are the Sathar after or connected to these shiny objects somehow...that they're other spacecraft?"

OOC
I've read through your threads and don't expect even a reader's digest condensed version.  Just some immediate definitions\overall mission or potential targets or tasks before Vadim figures out IC how he can offer to help (besides an extra body to shoot at).

I think IC wise the what the Osprey crew would know would be that they were on a rescue/relief mission for the Moraes and that there is heavy Sathar involvement.  Dentin may have known more but that would almost certainly be above Vadim's paygrade (at least as a pre-mission briefing).

Not sure if Vadim saw any Notui during his rescue, but figure he may have heard mention of the relatively friendly primitive locals.

In reply to Bartja Nemuco (msg # 161):
Desiraye gathers everyone together in the biggest, reasonably comfortable place they can find and sits them down for a briefing.  "For those of you who I haven't formally introduced myself, or ourselves, My name is Desiraye Lipost.  Everyone just usually calls me Desi.  I don't hold any formal rank and the structure of our team is very casual.  Sgt Minh is that exception.  I am an investigator working for the UPF.  Nothing fancy, we're a diverse team of specialists who have been mostly successful thus far.  Setbacks?  Everyone has them and this seems to be one both of our groups are sharing!

It seems that we both have people missing in the field and we're pretty sure we know who took them.  I'm suggesting that we combine our forces, get our people back from the Sathar, and stick it right up their worm arses!  We need to figure out logistics, a location of the camp and finally, a plan of attack.

Tell me what you guys can bring to the table and blend with my people so this goes smooth and quick.  I'm going to say that we don't have a lot of time to waste after what we've seen the worms do to some of their captures.  Since we might not have Porter, that makes me the de facto weapons specialist

How are you equipped and/or, what do you need?  Or, have?

We could sure use the Sarge if we have to attack the Sathar camp to get our people back.  Bartja, if you can figure it out and make it work for us, do it!"

Desiraye turns to Vadim, "It's a little complicated but, Hammer was one of our team members who we're trying to install in the ships system as like an A.I.?  Sound right Bart?  S'Krllk?"t
This message was last edited by the player at 02:51, Thu 11 Mar 2021.

After the hubbub dies down, Porter is stabilized and everyone gets back to cleaning up dinner, Orvo says, "I'm a dralasite medic. I joined the group back on Kraatar at the science labs when they were taking the Sphere to be examined. I was abducted by someone working with the Sathar and stuffed into a cabinet in the lab. My dralasite form just made me squarish. I've also been getting more skilled at beam weapons lately."

Orvo looks over the options and suggests doing whatever can be done here at the ship before setting out the next morning. That footlocker looks to be something they should look into if anyone can pick the electronic lock.

Vadim glances at the mention of 'the Sphere' as he raises an eyebrow.  He suppresses a sardonic grin, "I hate to add to the list of questions, so I won't.  For now."

He shrugs as he turns back to answer Desiraye's question, "I've used sonic stunners on aggressive crodlu cocks, and lasers on Rexes a few times.  I didn't escape with much from the Worms, just a machete.  If you have a enviro or tool kit, I could use one, but considering there are Sathar to kill I'd appreciate something from your weapons locker more."

He smiles sheepishly "Shipside, I'm the greenhorn on the Osprey I know how to use a wrench (and a mop) but I'm a bit more experienced on the ground...landnav, survival, wrangling, and a bit of planetary sciences to go with it.  I'm from New Pale and she's not too friendly, the Hotback region even less so."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:08, Thu 11 Mar 2021.

There are kits of every variety on the ship. There are also laser weapons and related SEU ammo belts and backpacks. Those from the Osprey are assumed to have been able to salvage their stuff (and those who were temporarily prisoners had their stuff stowed on the explorer by the two who avoided capture).

Its difficult to assess his emotions because well he is a blob. But his "head" protrusion seems to lean in slightly giving the impression that he is paying deep attention to the weapons specialist and the technical assessment of the situation. He politely waits to speak.

"Seems like you guys have been working this problem for awhile so I expect there is a lot to know. Ill leave it to you to tell me what I need to know, what to do and when to do it. Personally, planet side Im a trained enviro and psycho-sociologist so I very curious regarding the unique characteristics of the planet and its inhabitants. I have a particular hatred for the Sathar who have plagued us for years now, including my own family. I can handle a blaster and was able to recover a survival kit so I have one. But, if there is a beam weapon with better range that is available I would rather have the standoff. I want to get our people back and if that is where we are going I would say, the sooner the better. I was also able to acquire an albedo screen but if you think something else would be better, knowing the specific threat, I an all ears." Two small bumps rise and fall on the sides of his "head."

OOC: I have also read alot of the earlier threads but not for details because Gregor wouldnt know them. Instead I have read specifically for the environmental tone of the planet etc. And for how I got here.

]

Orvo extends his third gelatinous appendage to give a friendly wave and says, "It's nice to have another Dralasite on board. It's been very lonely being the only lie detector around." He chuckles softly.

Gregor waves back. "Yes well. It is a skill I hope to cultivate over the next several years. I find myself to be too trusting. This is my first real job so I hope to not disappoint. You know the saying "To many dralasites and pretty much everyone is lying."

Bartja takes time to elaborate for the new crew before they head back into the field to look for the Sathar encampment.

"Hammer was our...Hammer in a fight.  Other than that, he was a Mechanon from Vulturnous.  He was destroyed by our mutineers combat bot, but I believe I can save his consciousness by uploading him into the ships mainframe.  Once things settle down, S'Krllk and I will work on how to repair his unique structure and get it back to where we can download him back into ... himself.

Not really sure that makes a lot of sense and I'm sure we're overlooking for psychological problems associated with this.  I just hope that if Hammer does upload, that he's still sane and won't take over the entire ship as a hostile AI while we're aboard."

Now that he's spoken it, Bartja frowns with his fleshy half-face as he stares at the table pondering the implications.

M'Kix cocks his head as Bartja explains what they are attempting to do with Hammer.

"How do you plan on interfacing the mainframe with the Mechanon? I don't think that has yet been done with the sort of completeness required. They could very well be unstable."

Reading the air in the room, Jr quickly follows up. "That said, this ship does seem do have some unique qualities. For example, the majority of the components used in the computer's core come from the Trilunian Manufactory. Their engineering, as of the last few years has been reflective of a deeper look at how the Mechanon's process information. This might work, actually. If it does, it will happen fast. Maybe there should be some sort of information dump that happens as they come online. This could be shocking if they don't know what to expect..."

Looking to the others again.

"I'm sorry. I tend to do that. Think out loud that is. If you need my hands while you do this, I might be able to help. I was Computer Tech on the Ken’Zah before joining the crew of the Osprey, in a temporary fashion."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:43, Sun 14 Mar 2021.

In reply to M'Kix Rix'z, Jr. (msg # 171):

"There's no need to apologize, as you're quite likely to be correct. But, if the universe doesn't try to beat us down once in a while, we'll think it doesn't care, anymore. So we try these things anyway."

In reply to M'Kix Rix'z, Jr. (msg # 171):
"Maybe because they're both machines and maybe, just maybe, they can be interfaced.  That's how I see it M'Kix and I definitely not the go to person to do it."

OOC: Desiraye is not trying to come off as sarcastic so don't read her reply the wrong way!

"OK everyone!  Kit up and grab some weapons that your able to safely handle, and some ammo.  Weapons on safe until we leave camp!  Grab a suit and a screen for protection.  If you're going to be in support mode and there's not enough to go around, let the assault team have preference please.  However, we ALL might be in assault mode due to our circumstances.  We need our people back and we're going to need to fight like hell!

Half hour we meet back here and try to crunch some statistics, Intelligence, and form a plan of attack.

Have at it!  We don't have a lot of time."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:20, Sun 14 Mar 2021.

Vadim glances at Gregor and pushes away from the table to make ready to move out with the others.

M'Kix looks around at the seemingly well prepared survivors.

"Yes, about the suits and weapons. There wouldn't happen to be any extras? Vrusk compatible, obviously. I'd hate to be any more of a hinderance out there, unless you'd prefer me to help out with 'Hammer'?"

Gregor goes into the ship where he grabs a laser rifle with a sling , a handful of powers cells  and a few of the smoke and tangler grenades . He secures a cold light lantern and downloads the planetary survey data into his computer. Lastly, he makes sure that his environmental suit and breather are in good order.

He carries the laser rifle clumsily as if he has never handled one before. "Im ready when you are."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:36, Tue 16 Mar 2021.

"Take a look around.  If you don't see something, S'Krllk can possibly help you find something.  You may have to stick with a screen if we don't have a suit to fit you."

Desiraye will wait for everyone to re-assemble.  "OK.  Anyone with a tech. robotics, and or a computer background, youre going to be with Bartja and S'Krllk.  Medical background, see Orvo.  Enviro or military training, see me.  If you don't fit one of those categories, get in where you fit in!  We still have a ship to fix and, we need to get our crews back!

Bartja & S'Krllk, heavy weapons, vehicles, maps or anything that can be used against this camp.  Quick hitting and quick ex-filtration out of the target area.  You guys are going to be our support team with the bigger weapons and vehicles in case we get into trouble.

Orvo, first aid and immediate care and supplies.  We're bound to get hurt and/or the people we're going to rescue are going to be injured.  We may have to move them in a hurry!

Me and whoever is left, we're the main assault group.  I want a rundown of gear, on a squad level, that we can carry and use for the assault.  Enviro people, let's see if we can get some maos and an avenue of approach once we get a location of the Sathar camp.

Listen, these aren't ideal conditions so we need to work efficiently together and as quickly as we can.  Some of us know what the worms are capable of once they get their hands on test subjects."

In reply to Desiraye Lipost (msg # 177):

Vadim nods and checks in with the Eleanor's stores and then returns to Desiraye.

Bartja nods and checks the progress of Hammer.  The Vrusk has made some valid points about the psychology of the Mechanon that he'd not considered, but he wasn't yet ready to give up the sentient being as permanently lost.

"If you give us a couple of hours, we might be able to patch up one of those heavy combot robots using some spare parts" he suggests to Desi.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:44, Thu 18 Mar 2021.

"I don't want to rush this so,make it happen.  We need to be ready to move when your work is done!"

S'Krllk bobs his head, which looks nothing like a human nod no matter how hard he tries, "With Rix'z help, I'm certain we could do so. I've got the projit to build command sequences so that it won't need to be remote operated, as well."

In reply to S'Krllk (msg # 181):

"Yes, yes, if there is a Combot available let's get that online. It'll be new to me but I've listened to some of Professor Lingto's lectures on field changes. What series? I'd love to look inside a Sindar-54 at some point but really, anything would be a welcome challenge. Best get at it, then. I'll follow."

His antennae have calmed slightly but he is no less fidgety.

When you are ready to move forward, let me know. I've been just waiting for everyone to get acquainted.

Gregor stands by waiting for orders. He politely asks Desi to give a look at his kit to make sure everything is in order.

"Ground team, make sure you have at least a suit, screen or both!  Belt or power back packs for screens and weapons, power clips for everything else your using.  Grendes are good against fixed positions.  Smoke for cover.  Any kind of stun, sleep, or tangler grenades of the worms are close to our people.  Solvaway if we use tanglers."

Gregor waits for the weapons tech to give her instructions and then moves to get some Solvaway which he had completely forgotten.

Bartja leaves the Hammer upload running, hoping that there will not be any trauma created in the resulting AI it should create.


"I'm letting Hammer continue uploading to the mainframe but want to repair Shemp to assist us.  I think it will take about a day to get the android operational again.  It's a maintenance bot, an android, but I've got a combat progit in it so it can assist us in the ground battle.

As my service bot, Shemp carries the bulk of my toolkits and supplies.  He's not a great combatant, but he can hold his own.  It will help even the odds if we're out-numbered and out-gunned."

Provided there's consent to this plan, Bartja uses a vehicle to salvage the bots damaged when the Moraes was re-taken.  Then using the parts available, he gets to work on putting Shemp back into working condition.

S'Krllk would like to point out that if there were a survey 'bot available, it could be used to do recon on the camp.

If we have that robot available to do a survey of the area, I suggest we do it. With the skill levels we have here we're going to need every advantage we can get to stay one up on the worms

"We did a pretty good job of destroying the survey robots when Terry attacked us with them and also took over our bot.  Bartja did salvage the heavy laser from them, and I thought we'd mounted it to the aircar when we went in search of the crash.  However, if Bartja can get Shemp running again, it can not only carry gear but has an Attack/Defense progit installed that would let it use the Heavy Laser as well.  At least that's my plan!"

After repairs are completed, you figure you will have two aircars operational, plus the explorer that is landlocked on the other side of the river. Shemp's repairs should be complete by morning.

Each aircar holds up to 4 people, so you will have to decide whether to shuttle people back and forth (if you want more than 8) or if you want to limit your group to 8 or fewer. (Shemp and combat robots count as one passenger each.)


Bartja tinkers with fixing Shemp. Some of the other crewmembers work on getting the two aircars in working order, and checking on Hammer reveals that it will still be some work but that there are no major problems yet with integrating him into the ship.

A vehicular turret can be mounted to each aircar, but it will take a day for your engineer crew members to accomplish that. This would be done by the heavy laser Bartja mentions.

ROBOT SITUATION:
After inspecting the robot parts, you find that you can reassemble one complete combat robot, but it will take about 6 hours of concentred work, plus 8 for Shemp done by a robotic expert, assuming a repair robot check is made. (Each failed check costs 2 hours of extra time.)

Hammer requires more time to upload into the mainframe.

S'krllk's suggestion about the survey bot reveals that such a bot can be repaired and assembled from parts with 5 hours' robotic work (with same checks/penalties as above). You also need 4 hours to take aircars to the various locations to salvage the parts from the destroyed survey bots.

You are all geared up and ready to make your next decision on what to do next. Night is falling over the sky and a new day is ending. Make sure to update your character weapons and gear in the appropriate thread and in your character sheets.

Gregor speaks up. "If its alright Ma'am. Ill go speak with Appleburg and debrief him for what he knows about the Sathar facility. Ive done this type of thing before. I should be able to create a rough layout of the facility as well as security from what he remembers."

Orvo agrees with Gregor. While he's doing that, Orvo will take a try at opening the security locker that hasn't been opened yet. "It must be something important and secret if he had it locked up so well."

"Please do!  Anything we can gain before we strike is going to help us.  A platoon of Clarion Marines would be helpful but, I think we're a bit past that idea."

"I can help dismantle and collect parts for the survey bot. I'm not nearly as skilled as Bartja or S'Krlk, but if you can give me a list of the parts we need I should have no problem identifying and retrieving those pieces."

He has a laser rifle and three power cells in a bandelier.

If someone is willing escort me, I believe the experts can be well underway on Shemp and the combot.

"I do hope Lt. Dentin is still alive. He showed me a kindness I'd like to repay."

Orvo says, "The more I think about it, the more I would like to investigate the glint in the river first. It's nearby and might give us some more clues before our frontal assault on the Sathar base. Maybe we do that first thing in the morning?"

Vadim nods, "Considering the Sathar and those...extradimensional invaders...are planning on using this planet as their jump off point for their invasion, checking out the river first is a wise move.  At the very least I don't like the idea of possibly leaving a threat behind us and so close to the Moraes if we tackle the Sathar camp to the north first."

In reply to Orvo (msg # 196):

Bartja focus' on Shemp as it is the most difficult of all the bots to repair.  "I agree with you Orvo.  Not only can we eliminate that glint in the river as a potential threat, it might prove to be useful.  Also, if needed, I believe we left the Explorer near there and could retrieve it for those who can afford to move at a slower pace towards the Sathar base."

"I concur but, we're spread pretty thin here with all of the work going on.  I don't want to send an under strength team to check out a potential threat and lose them before this rescue mission.  I will listen to good, solid options though Vadim,  Orvo.  Bartja.

If we agree that should be done first, let's put together a team to investigate it and get the explorer?  It will give time to make the other necessary preparations for the rescue mission."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:12, Wed 31 Mar 2021.

"Well, with that in mind, I'll need to forgoe my curiosity and finish these robots for the rescue mission.  If you can leave us techs an aircar, we can stay in communication and come running if we're needed.  If not...

Well, if not... I just hope we aren't needed."

M'Kix steps in behind Bartja offering to carry any gear.

After hearing her trusted friends' take on the current situation, Desiraye speaks up.  "OK, it sounds like we're going to check out the shiny thing in the water.  This is also a good opportunity for the ground team to get to know each other and get to know each other.  Orvo, Vadim, myself and, whoever else wants to take a trip while our techs get ready for the rescue mission.  Volunteers?"

"I'll stay and keep working on these things. There's something about the jungle that makes me feel, um, appetizing."

Grego steps up. "I would like to come along if there is room in the aircar."

"Yeah, I understand that S'Krllk.  Not looking to run into one of those things, again."

Unless anyone has any other ideas, I will proceed as follows:
1) Orvo tries to open the storage locker while Bartja and S'krllk work on robots, ship and Hammer; Appleburg gets questioned closely about what he remembers of the Sathar prison camp.

2) In the morning, a group goes to the glint in the river. Those at the base/ship may still participate remotely through video and audio but not interact, so choose what you want.

3) the party will tentatively plan to go the following day to the Sathar base to rescue the prisoners.

Did I get it right?

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 206):

OOC
M'Kix is staying behind with the other techs.

Okay, so I have Bartja, S'krllk and M'Kix staying at the ship. I will assume all other PCs are going to investigate: Desi, Gregor, Orvo, Vadim. Porter is still in sick bay, and Appleburg will stay with the crew unless you want him to go.

That looks correct Heath!

OOC:Let's start with this:

Orvo attempts to unlock the electronic footlocker from Terry but fails. (He has very low tech scores so someone else could try.)

Meanwhile, Shemp gets up and running. The combat robot will have to be attempted the next day.

Appleberg begins getting his thoughts together. He promises to get a sketch together on the next day and some thoughts for helping your infiltration of the Sathar outpost.

Anyone else trying to open the locker, or should we close out the day?

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 210):
My Tech level is low as well but, Desi could attempt if the others are busy

Desi= Tech:2

Quite pleased to have Shemp back in service, Bartja arms it with a Laser Rifle from the armory.  Hearing of the trouble the team is having opening the Locker, Bartja takes a short detour to see if this is something in his purview.

In reply to Bartja Nemuco (msg # 212):
Entering the room with the locker, M'Kix is following Bartja.

"I must say that was some fairly extraordinary work back on the... "Shemp". How long have you had it in your service? I couldn't help but notice the wear on the surface. There are some new coats specifically built for industrial activities."

The vrusk is carrying anything the Yazarian will let him.

[OOC] When rolling M'Kix's personality one of the traits was Keen. This would be obvious to the crew and anyone spending more than half a day around him. Let me know if it gets to be too much. Also, feel free to have fun with it and take advantage of the bug.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:42, Wed 07 Apr 2021.

Bartja hands M'Kix a medkit, then drops his Techkit on the floor and opens it.  He looks over the locker to see what tool he might start working on it with first.

"I wish I could say he was my creation, but we co-opted him from a group of pirates.  I think it's an experimental bot.  As you can see, three legs and two or three arms in an anthropomorphic body is pretty unusual.  Kind of like a robotic Dralasite."

Bartja selects a scope and turns to the locker that has so far foiled S'Krllk's best efforts.

"Shemps not the toughest bot by any stretch, but it has a powerful processor and a lot of expansion slots.  I've added a few progits and it hasn't slowed him down a bit.  In fact, the AI seems to be getting faster, if anything.

I've added a Restrain progit; self defense, search and destroy, and a computer link that let's me use him remotely in most cases.

I believe there are some restrictions built into his AI, but I haven't been able to crack him completely yet.  I believe he could function better than any robot AI commercially available, but I haven't been able to unlock all of his potential."

Its clear that M'Kix has shown an interest in one of Bartja's favorite subjects...

Vadim restlessly wanders the Moraes, fretting over the fate of his captured captain and crew before finally ducking into the crew berth to find either an unused or unoccupied bed.  Tired from a long day, exhaustion wins over decorum as any empty space he picks very likely is a dead man's rack given the small crew compliment of a scout ship.

OOC
Given the week since the last post, I don't think anybody has much to add before we move on.

This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 10:17, Wed 14 Apr 2021.

OOC: Fair assessment!  I think we're ready to proceed then?