Alex Humva

IC [Group Callisto] Fifteen minutes prior... The group moved with the military precision one'd expect; covering ground quickly, they arrived at the communications outpost, a spacious installation, obviously being used as a garage as well. The door was rusted shut, but a quick punch from the Rockman and it wasn't a problem anymore. Rifle-mounted flashlights on, the group emerged into the communications room, a chamber filled with monitors and consoles, stacks upon states of data bricks littering the room. After a little bit of searching, Daniel's found a plugin, slotting the relay into it and turning the computer on. When it didn't come to life, he signaled Liu, pulling a battery out of the man's pack and getting the computer plugged into it. The machine quietly whirled to life, and soon Dave's voice could be heard in the building's speakers. "I am in their system, what parts of it are powered, anyways. I am encountering encryptions I do not have the keys to, however. I estimate fifteen minutes to crack them. In the mean time, I request maintenance on their generator; assuming it was not damaged, it should be a simple matter of manually resetting it." IC [Group Ganymede] Present "Breach!" By now, Skinter's group had made its way into the compound, and to the sealed section where lifesigns were detected. One small crystal detonator later and they were in, flashlights on while their visors automatically faded into infrared in the darker areas. Also displayed where the position of the lifesigns, forty meters ahead. Advancing slowly, they burned their way through three more doors, until finally, they reached the room the lifesigns were housed in. Giving a count, they burst in, Kharon whipping around the corner and instantly in position for a fight. What they found was not so much threatening as it was confusing; seven humans, all in cyrotubes, the sort that hadn't been used since before light travel, on missions to the outer edges of the solar system. Silently, they looked them over; sensors confirmed they were alive, though the medical readings suggested that they were within a year or two of their expiration date. The strangest feature of all was the fact that each cyrotube had a marking scrawled on it with black paint; an Engi dialect, Kharon remembered. What exactly, he wasn't sure. The computer would know though, no doubt. IC [Group Io] Io had made their way through the facility with relative ease, finding nothing but dust and alien cobwebs along the way. Within short order they arrived at the center of the complex, a large and open room with mining equipment littered around it, and what appeared to be a covered skylight over them. Pulling a panel off the wall and slotting a battery in it, Harken flipped a switch, dim lights turning on to reveal the general outline of the room, and the giant hole in the center of it. Peering down, Harken popped a flare out from his belt, dropping it and watching it fade into the darkness. He followed it with a small camera, attached to a little parachute, dropping it and watching it too sink into the pit. It'd feed back to his visor, give a better look at what was at the bottom. IC [Group Europa] The halftrack was gone, Geist driving it back as Au and Devas piled crystals onto another pallet in preparation. Devas' eye was caught as he carried a particularly large crystal out, though. Towards the forest's edge, there was a figure... a figure his visor said had no lifesigns. It didn't take the warrior long to realize who it was; one of his comrades, lost during the Mantis attack. He couldn't remember the name, but he remembered the face. The figure turned, vanishing into the woods, and leaving Devas to wonder if he had begun hallucinating. IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Colonel Ojeda, I'm detecting interference from the sun." Dave's voice came in over Ojeda's earpiece. "A solar flare is hitting the planet, it'll be interfering with our communications." "Unfortunate timing on our part. Wasn't this star stable when we surveyed it?" "Our sensors must have been in error Colonel, we only had a few hours to watch the star, it was not the most scientific of studies." "Boost the comms, switch to a higher frequency. Don't let us lose contact, boost it through the comm relay on this planet if you need to." "I will do my best, Colonel." IC [Group Callisto] "I've broken the encryption." By now, the group had restored some power, the ancient generator whirring with life in the background as the computers churned away. "I've recovered the last message sent by the installation, a video log. Displaying now." The screen blinked on, revealing a woman, sitting in the very chair Daniels currently was in. Her insignia was Confederate, a captain in the Planetary Forces. Her face was bruised, left eye wandering, and her arm was in a splint. "This is ca-aptain Julia Victorson, acting command officer of the... research facility TER 6. I'm sending this out in the hopes of a passing ship receiving it, I don't know how long our -oh god-... our generator will last... if anyone does get this message, the Engi, they're gone crazy. I don't know... why or how but they killed Major Davis, they killed him and all the poker crew... they're screaming about demons, about the demons in the earth. Something about our drilling... it just set them off. Doctor Stevens, he says he knows how to survive. We're going freeze ourselves, he's going do some sort of ritual... it's backwater myth but the Engi, they seem to believe it. Says they won't touch us, says we'll be safe until help comes. Please, if you are seeing this, we need rescue." A door slammed open in the video, frantic calls to the captain to come now. The captain gave one last look at the camera, and then the screen blinked off, leaving the assembled to chew on it for a bit.

Was it a pistol? Because in all my experience shooting guns, it ain't your fingers that hurt afterwards. Wrist, shoulder, arms, one time the gut when I didn't brace myself right... never the fingers though.

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Hmm. Keep an eye on them, and relay a scan of the rocks to the ship for investigation. It could have something to do with the research that was going on here."

IC [The narrator] Gazing down at the forest below, Walker could spot some very distinct shapes; large creatures, standing up and peacefully eating the leaves of the trees. From what she could make out, they were some cross between a mammoth and a giraffe, though they seemed relatively docile. Perhaps odder was the ground they stood on; splotches of solid stone could be seen, an unusual thing to say the least in a dense forest. More unusual was the fact that it looked like it was obsidian, with no volcanoes in sight. IC [The Computer] "Now arriving the comm station," Dave's voice came on over the speakers. "Major Daniels, you'll find a communications relay under seat five, please plug it in so that I can enter the computer systems of this base."

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Walker, I'm getting some odd readings from your sensors, location appearing on your HUD now. Looks like a cluster of lifesigns in a clearing, give it a slow flyby and see what's going on."

IC [Colonel Ojeda] The meeting had been dismissed, everyone going to collect their gear while the pilots suited up. As the Kestrel began its descent, the three fighters dropped out of the ship, hitting the atmosphere and beginning to bleed speed as the Kestrel entered a trajectory for the landing zone. Within thirty minutes the craft had landed, the Colonel stationed out in the sensor room while everyone loaded into the halftrack. Devas was at the wheel, as usual, and it began its trek towards the facility at a moderate pace. "Good luck," the Colonel's voice came over the comms. "I'll be in touch, watching the sensors for any movement; Captain Harken's armor will provide signal amplification in the event that something attempts to jam our comms. Search quickly and efficiently and we'll be out of here before sundown."

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "We just went over this spaceman, if the halftrack isn't there to haul you back to the ship, you drop everything you don't need and you run like the devil himself is chasing you."

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "We're hoping they haven't progressed to that stage of madness yet, dear Mantis."

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "We will be landing two hours after dawn; the time schedules have been drawn up for your visor links. We will have approximately seven hours to work before sunset; as for your tablet, there should be an appropriately sized one in storage."

Well, depends on your definition of fun. But yeah this is a more plot-centered episode and due to the fact that the ten lifesigns down on the planet have been there for a long while, it's not conducive to introducing PCs. Secondary characters will probably come up next time skip, though first people need to get their profiles in order. Still working on your concept, incidentally Av, I'll figure something up soonish.

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Truly, the Zoltan influence knows no boundaries." The Colonel momentarily passed over Souper, though the slug could probably pick up a focused stream of thoughts from the Colonel, translating to leave it to the scholars to figure out. "What sort of supplies, Mr. Zhanar? Anything we could make use of?"

1)not a space station 2)probably don't want these to be your characters, unless you want a significant chance of them being space happy.

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Our pilots will definitely keep an eye on the ground below. Hate for some alien lizard to make a surprise appearance on us." And again to Souper. "Your contract will be paid by Confederate authorities if we don't return, don't worry." And to Zhanar, "Our charts identify this world as Kepler 1077d. I don't believe it has a proper name."

Plasma or kinetic is decided by what clips you put into the rifle, so it's really personal choice. We have assault rifles, shotguns, submachine guns, and of course swords because honorable melee is a thing in the future.

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "The teleporter can be used in an emergency, aye." The Colonel turned to Souper. "I'm not asking you to cure insanity. Your empathy still works, does it not? You can provide some level of comfort. Having you present to avoid ambush is my top reason, however. If there's something lurking down there, I want to know it the moment you do. You can also broadcast updates to the fireteams, if communications go out."

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Point noted; you'll go with group Europa, Mr. Zhanar." The Colonel turned to Souper. "Your psychic abilities are very handy, Mr. Souper. Foreseeing ambushes is just one of the many ways you can be of use on the ground. I suspect these individuals will be traumatized from their time on the ground, you'll be there to give them relief." Then she turned to Harken. "The Kestrel will be four hundred meters away from the facility. If the halftrack isn't present for protection, call in air support and run like it's graduation day at boot camp."

IC [Colonel Ojeda] Four days later... The collective crew of the Kestrel, minus the pilot, stood in the hanger bay, huddled around a central holoprojector the Colonel had wheeled out. It was a rare sight to see everyone awake on the same shift, but the times called for it. The Colonel appeared through the crowd, walking up to the projecter, Major Daniels by her side. She gave a quick glance around, then tapped the table, the lights dimming and the projector coming on. "As some of you are aware," she began, "we have entered orbit around the fourth planet in this solar system. The reason for this is that we've picked up an old Confederate transponder, an outdated model that hasn't been used for nearly thirty years. It's coming from what appears to be an abandoned facility," the map appeared on the projection, "presumably some sort of old research outpost. More importantly, though, there's lifesigns; seven human, three Engi. We've also picked up an FTL crystal stockpile, something we could dearly use on this mission." The projection zoomed out, revealing an open plateau and some surrounding mountains. "The climate of this planet is temperate, but we've been picking up anomalous lifesigns in the forests. The computer says they're sleeping, meaning that we shouldn't be in any danger during the day. Due to the amount of the complex we need to cover, and the amount of material we need to move, the Kestrel will be making an atmospheric landing. Major Walker, you, Spaceman Landes, and Warrant Deuce will be running cover for the Kestrel while she's grounded. If we have any Mantis company, I want to actually be able to leave the planet in one piece. "The ground team will be split into four groups: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Group Io, you'll be headed by Captain Harken, with Spaceman Errogaven and Spaceman Taylor accompanying. You'll be searching the inner room of the facility; we've detected anomalous readings, what looks like a mining shaft. It may lead to an underground facility, so be thorough for any entrances. Group Europa, you'll be headed by Captain Sindorin, with Spaceman Geist and Spaceman Au accompanying. You'll be handing the transfer of FTL crystals in the south section of the facility. Group Ganymede will be headed by Lieutenant Skinter, with Sergeant Kharon, Spaceman Kelezagg, and Mr. Souper accompanying. You'll be looking for the lifesigns, in the north-west portion of the facility. Group Callisto will be headed by Major Daniels, with Captain Overchkin, Adviser Halik, Lieutenant Sarany, and Spaceman Liu accompanying. You'll be investigating an external communications station, try and figure out what the last broadcast these people sent out was. "You'll all be riding in on the half-track, but it'll be making frequent trips back to haul the FTL crystals. A map of the complex has been uploaded to all your visor profiles, and your weapons are ready in the armory. Any questions?" OOC A little idea of what the complex is shaped like.

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "You know what you've done, Adviser? I'm going to have to keep these two Rockman in the mess freezer, just in case I need to thaw one out next jump as a sacrificial offering, all because some wise-cracking Vendarian thought it'd be a good idea to tempt the Lord and make Him have some Rock god try to eat our ship." The Colonel raised an eyebrow. "Laser surgery should get your foot back in working order. Worst case scenario, we have to give you a new one."

Hooray for plot movement. So I think I'm going have another brief time skip, to get everyone back in fighting shape. I promise to stop time skipping so much at some point, don't want to use up the entirety of this six month mission in time skips after all, but we do need breathers for people in-game to recover. This next mission should be a lot more involving, though, on everyone's part.

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Right. I'll need to work up a demerit list, figure out who deserves to scrub this mess up. If you would please, get Halik to medbay and then haul these corpses to the hanger to be spaced with the rest of their comrades." The Colonel grimanced. "Hopefully our next jump is less eventful."

IC [Rockman pirate] The Rockman's fate was unceremonious and very bloody; headbutted and stabbed in the eye, it thrashed about as the Vendarian continued to jab inward towards the brain, until both eyes were gone and the creature fell backwards, unable to cope with the botched lobotomy anymore. This did have the unfortunate effect of several hundred pounds of Rock falling on Halik; her reflexes were deft, but her boot was still caught, crushing her foot until Harken pulled the mass off. Probably need some micro-surgery. The bulkheads slid open to reveal the Colonel, and a wounded Spaceman Taylor being hauled off. Looking around at the mess, Ojeda raised an eyebrow. "Harken, in the future, we should install bolts on our airlocks. You know, just buy a steel bar or something, stick it in there, keep people from coming in unless we want them to. Injuries?"

I would suggest thirty, that's about the median age on this boat and wouldn't be that abnormal for an Engi.

While I could see an old Engi fighter pilot, I think for the purposes of in-game rank you're not going get higher than thirty before we start wondering why it's an underling and not the commander.

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "For once, I'd like to go a jump without someone getting put out of action. Run a physical on Landes, make sure there hasn't been any head trauma or such. I want her back in fighting shape within three days, her presence was missed out on the battlefield. Same time frame for Skinter." With that, the Colonel walked out, her pistols drawn as she began heading down to see how the fight between Harken and the Rockman was progressing.

IC [Colonel Ojeda] The woman had walked off the bridge, cringing at the bloody mess on the floor involving a Mantis and a Rockman, and walked into the medbay, giving a quick glance around. "Doctor, status of your two patients?"