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).