RPG: FTL

[Eevee]

IC

 

".... Colonel, they are these creatures.... They're magnificent. Like a mammoth and giraffe combined, beautiful." She said with a smile. She had always been fond of giraffes so seeing these creatures made her heart leap.

 

"However," Estelle continued, "they're standing on solid exposed rock in the middle of the forest..."

[Snelly]

IC: Ashley

 

"Oooo!" Ashley exclaimed as she observed the strange mammoth giraffe things. "Can we take one with us?"

[Alex Humva]

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."

[Eevee]

IC

 

"Roger, ma'am. I'm scanning now." She said to the Colonel as she flew the Falcon a bit closer. "And no, Landes. These are wild creatures not pets."

[Snelly]

IC: Ashley

 

"Drat." Ashley pouted, but cut the chatter as she began to scan a different section of the forest.

[Krayzikk]

OOC: Alright! I've been out of the loop for the past forty eight hours, so I apologize if I miss anything. XD

 

IC:

 

"Understood. Callisto, move out."

 

Daniels reached under his seat to grab the aforementioned device, and clipped it to his belt before standing in a single motion. Unlike the event on the station, the Weapons Officer had most certainly prepared for this mission. He had exchanged his standard duty uniform for the Kestrel's standard body armor, plate covered in matte kevlar-weave. His revolver was holstered at his side, while an assault rifle was slung across his body. His head was covered by a visor-equipped helmet, a gas filter ready to be engaged if needed. Perhaps he was a little over prepared, but frankly, experience had indicated that it was best to be prepared.

 

The Major exited the half-track quickly, turning to ensure that his team was with him. "Alright, anyone have anything they need to say, be it a suggestion or a complaint, do it now."

[Necro]

IC: "The first member of our party that suggests splitting up other than the major will receive a very large backhand to the forehead." Ovechkin said flatly. In addition to his standard crew armor, bandana around his neck, and his belt of personal firearms, the Rockman also carried his shotgun, as well as his tablet, on his back, and the gatling gun from the Engi in his hands. In addition to the standard protective gear, both knees were wrapped in braces of a similar material to the armor, as were both wrists. "Four in unfamiliar territory is already unenviable. Beyond that, none. Command as you see fit, captain."

[avmatoran]

IC:
"Before we all split into our separate groups, I have one thing to say," Gaven said. "Nobody comment on the mission's difficulty. Once you do, it becomes much harder.

[Constructelf]

IC Vincent

"Sir, nothing to share, sir. Ready whenever you are, sir." Vincent had equipped himself with a large submachine gun/small assault rifle/whatever, with three bullet mags and two FTL mags. Holding his toolbox, he nodded to the command officers.

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Devas)

 

After dropping off Daniels and his various subordinates, the half-track had continued onwards, dropping Devas and those assigned to his leadership to the designated target zone. Without little preamble, Devas exited the half-track, V-45 half raised. "Right then. You know the drill, or I hope you do. We'll be gathering the crystals for transport and trying not to die."

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"I will." The Weapons Officer replied quietly over his private comm, running a quick check over his equipment as he listened to his team sound off. His weapons were in functioning order, his comm array was working properly, and the communications relay was clipped to his belt, undamaged. Satisfied, he looked over the assembled team. Ovechkin was well-equipped, and based upon his statement, practical. As a Rockman, he was also decidedly more durable than the others. Vincent was well-equipped, but he wasn't normally a combatant. Best kept towards the rear of the fighting. The Adviser, unsurprisingly, had been quite quiet; but her abilities were known. "You take care of yourself. See you back on the ship."

 

Raising his voice, he addressed his group again. "Ovechkin makes a solid point. We stick together, splitting up is asking for trouble. We're securing the external communications station, as you know, and investigating the last transmissions made. I don't expect too much trouble, but we don't know... Anything, really, about what's here. So be careful. Liu, if there's fighting, I want you to keep away from the forefront. You're the technician, we need you at the objective. The Adviser and I will take part, but we also have to be more careful. Body armor only stops so much. Ovechkin, you're the heaviest hitter here, so you need to be prepared to fill that role."

 

A pause, and a nod. He turned in place, beginning to approach the station at a decent pace, moving cautiously. "Alright, if there are no further questions, let's get going."

[Necro]

IC: "Acknowledged, Captain. Any that attempt to pass me will experience a very unpleasant and quite literal type of out-of-body experience." Ovechkin followed close behind Daniels, eyes darting around as he scanned the horizon for any signs of life. Friend or foe, the last thing any mission needed was a surprise interloper.

[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.

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

The Major observed the video in complete silence, listening to every word conveyed. His eyes narrowed at the mention of the Engi, Ojeda had mentioned that there were Engi lifesigns on the planet, after all, but he almost seemed to scowl when the "reason" for their behavior was articulated. To say that he was familiar with the concept would be an understatement; it showed up in copious media, science fiction and fantasy in particular. The idea that digging too deep could unearth unimaginable horrors. Perhaps his unease was an overactive imagination, but seeing the idea echoed by an entirely separate species was eerie. Nor was it entirely groundless. This was, after all, an alien world, with its own distinct flora and fauna. God knows what could be found.

 

Pushing aside the anxiety, he switched on his comm. "Colonel, do you read?"

[Alex Humva]

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

 

"I read you." The Colonel's voice came with a crackle. "The computer's working on getting over this interference, solar flare's passing through. What's your situation?"

 

IC [Dorian]

 

Ashley. Dorian spoke up for the first time in a long time. Something down there... doesn't feel right. Like something just woke up. There's... presences, all over down there. Alien, so very alien.

 

IC [Palmira Ojeda]

 

"Major Walker," Ojeda's voice was distant as it came in over Estelle's comms. "I'm picking up a disturbance, two kilometers out, heading towards the facility. Check it out."

[Snelly]

IC: Ashley

 

Ashley had felt a pang of happiness when she heard Dorian's voice, she hadn't realised how much she'd missed being able to talk to him, he'd been silent for a good while. 

 

"Yeah...yeah I can feel it...it's like a very bad...vibe..." Ashley flipped a switch to open a channel to Estelle and the Colonel as well. "I'm feeling presences all over down there...it feels...alien." 

Edited June 28, 2014 by Princess Anna of Arendelle

[Silvan Haven]

Kenshin Harken

 

IC: In the flickering light cast out by the flare Harken could make out the floor of the shaft as the camera slowly drifted downwards. Off to one side the entrance to a tunnel glowed in the soft blue light of some sort of fungi. The camera came to a halt with barely a sound, the parachute floating off to one side and leaving the lens clear.

 

The commando stood up from where he had been crouching by the edge of the pit and spoke to the team.

 

"Looks like we are going to need to rappel down. I don't trust the crane over there and there is no other way down. I will go down first since I have a better chance of surviving anything nasty down there until help arrives than you two do. Taylor, you go second and Errogaven will take the rear. We will use the same positions once down there."

 

Pulling out a carbon nanotube rope from his pack, Harken tied the end on the the most secure piece of machinery he could find before dropping the rest off the edge. With a brief nod to the other two he jumped backwards off the edge and started repelling to the rock floor far below.

[Zhangku]

IC: Souper Saladd

 

It was odd to see a bunch of humans in cryotubes.  Especially given that the facility was abandoned and that there were...odd life signs nearby.  Deciding to figure out if these humans had minds left, Souper began to scan them all, attempting to figure out why they were cryogenically frozen in the first place.  At the very least before anything that was nearby could come and eat their group.  Xhe didn't feel like being eaten today, for now it was for the best to just scoop in and leave.

[Shadowhawk]

IC: [ Wulf Kharon ] - Group Ganymede / compound interior / cyrotube area

Wulf said nothing in particular; merely gave the inert tubes a careful once-over, dismissed them as at least temporarily non-threatening, despite the vaguely disturbing aura of mute eerie they projected, and began a methodical search of the rest of the room.

Not all clues, after all, would be located in computer databanks, and in a sealed room, even subtle footprints and gunpowder residue would have been preserved to some extent. In theory. In any case, it wouldn't hurt to look.

[Alex Humva]

IC [Group Io]

 

It was a long repel down; Harken's kilometer long rope was nearly at its end when he reached the bottom. Crouching down, the captain was able to see further down the tunnel... and pick up faint lifesigns with his suit's sensors. The tunnel would be trip, though: in his bulky armor, it'd be a tight fit to get through, though from what he could tell it did open up to a more spacious surrounding.

 

IC [Dorian]

 

It's not even reaching out and... I can feel it. It's in our mind. Entered without us even knowing. It's not doing anything, it's just... staring. Everyone could be in danger. 

 

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

 

"I copy, Landes." The Colonel flicked on to the team-wide frequency. "Watch your step folks. Landes is sensing presences, and that means something at least close to sapience is down there."

 

IC [Team Ganymede]

 

Souper found xhemself unable to access their minds; cyrotubes put a human into a deep state of hibernation, the brain simply wasn't active enough to be accessed psionically. Kharon had a better success, though, as he found that the room wasn't quite as sealed as he thought. Dust had obviously been stirred up, as well as a variety of Engi footprints wandering around, as well as some footprints he couldn't immediately identify.

[Zhangku]

IC: Souper Saladd

 

Odd.  Well, xhe supposed that might be the case.  However, it seemed Wulf had seen some rather odd footprints here...now what could those be.  Turning to the rest of the group, xhe asked a question that pretty much all of them probably wanted to answer, "Should we un-cryofreeze one of them to see what is going on, exactly?  I would advise, for now, not to unfreeze all of them at once.  We should determine what exactly is going on here before we go as thoroughly as that.  For all we know they might be test-subjects." xhe said, aware of something apparently probing their mind,"And be on the lookout. You don't know what else we might find here."

[Silvan Haven]

Kenshin Harken

 

IC: Harken grabbed the shotgun from its holder on his back while he waited for the rest of his team to finish the long downward climb. He was not looking to working his way back up, especially if they were chased.

[Shadowhawk]

IC: [ Wulf Kharon ] - Group Ganymede / compound interior / cyrotube area

Wulf bent down and began painstakingly examining one of the more clearly imprinted 'unusual footprints', sifting through his not-at-all-insignificant mental store of combat and survival knowledge for possible matches.

OOC:

La de da dum... this feels just like D&D. Roll d20, add Intelligence modifier, repeat as permitted!

[Alex Humva]

IC [Group Ganymede]

 

Even Kharon's extensive knowledge of the sector's more hostile fauna fell short; this was a remote world, likely with it's own naturally-evolved life, and probably undocumented. While he couldn't make out any specific species, the tracks reminded him of a creature he had once seen on Poseidon Prime; something that looked like a large cuttlefish, and could surface on land, wiggling along the beach to capture slow-moving crabs. This thing certainly had tentacles, at any rate.

[Burnmad]

IC - Kelezaag:
 

The Mantis sidled up beside the slightly puzzled-looking pirate. A quick glance gave her the same knowledge that staring at the print for minutes had given Kharon; a significantly less impressive feat when that knowledge consisted only of 'It has tentacles.' She decided to speak up at this moment. "Exciting, isn't it? If we're lucky, we just might get to make groundbreaking discoveries in the art of slaughter. Kill where no man has killed before, and all that."

[Eevee]

IC

 

"Roger, ma'am." Estelle replied to the Colonel as she and her fighters headed toward the area. The closer they got, the more the hair on the back of her neck rose.

 

"... I can feel it too. That something isn't right I mean. Probably not as much as you but... The fact that I feel it, worries me."

[avmatoran]

IC:
As Gaven slowly crawled down the cable, constantly looking everywhere and on the alert, he asked the other two, "Anyone else getting that creepy feeling, or is that just me?"

 

OOC:
Humva, any update on my request?

[Silvan Haven]

Kenshin Harken

 

IC: "You are not the only one. There is something wrong about this planet and I expect this will finish with us making a very hasty fallback to the ship."

 

Once the other two had reached the bottom Harken made his way in to the smaller tunnel, his shotgun ready to blast anything the might try to ambush them.

[Shadowhawk]

IC: [ Wulf Kharon ] - Group Ganymede / compound interior / cyrotube area

"Aye, Miss Mantis." rumbled the privateer, mildly amused. But not amused enough to break the sudden icy focus that had settled in his ruthless tawny eyes. The look of a killer aroused, the wolf that lifts his muzzle to the wind... and hunts. Or fights for the lifeblood of the pack, as the case may be.

For the sake of his teammates, who might not be as well-versed as he and Kelezaag were in the art of tracking, he added, "Odd prints here. Definitely tentacles. Fairly large; brings to mind some sort of amphibious cuttlefish."

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"We found the last transmission, ma'am." Daniels replied, checking the now-unlocked records to see if he could find anything else relevant. He glanced over his shoulder at his group, making sure everyone was accounted for, and nothing was approaching, Paranoid, perhaps, but after that log... Nothing seemed innocuous anymore. "The Engis here went nuts. Something about the drilling, they seemed to think there were demons. They killed the CO, but the doctor here convinced them that a ritual would keep the demons away, and thus, they went into cryo."

 

"Cliche as it is, they seem to believe that the scientists dug too deep. Found something that shouldn't have been found."

[Alex Humva]

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

 

"Affirmative. Dug too deep, demons, killing, seems to be right there in the list of things that happen to far-flung frontier outposts." The Colonel glanced at the map, frowning as she noted the fighters breaking off. "Major, why are you breaking off your patrol pattern?"

 

IC [Group Io]

 

It was a short crawl through the tunnel before the posse broke through a wall of fungal growth and into a rather large cavern. The walls were covered in the glowing mushrooms, illuminating the whole cave a dim blue light. After a short slide down the side of the cliff they'd surfaced on, the group found themselves looking at a massive underground lake, crystal clear water allowing Harken to see all the way to the bottom... and notice the prone figures resting at the bottom. They were too distant to make out any shape, but his sensors confirmed they were alive, and giving off readings like nothing he'd seen before.

 

IC [Group Ganymede]

 

The group's discussion on the frozen humans and the tracks of the aliens was cut short by the door hissing open, an Engi staggering in. Its visor was gone, revealing two frantic, human-like eyes, while the rest of its body was obviously in a state of disrepair. Muscle fiber was exposed to the air, its mechanical parts where in varying states of deterioration, and its unhuman face was contorted in an expression of fear and shock.

 

"[They walk again!]" It screeched in an Engi dialect, the visors translating it and putting it up as text for those who hadn't learned it over their years in space. "[Thirty years they slept, now they walk again! Slithering, they slither into your mind! You can't stop their invasions, only the chosen can stop the demons!]" The Engi turned to the Mantis, rushing to it, some of its grayish blood rubbing onto her shell as the Engi grabbed the Mantis' shoulders. "[You are not chosen! You must flee! You must all flee! Only the chosen can stop the demons!]"

[Eevee]

IC

 

"Ma'am... You ordered us to go check out this one location..." The hairs' were now completely up and her heart rate has increased dramatically.

 

"... That was you, was it not?"

[Shadowhawk]

IC: [ Wulf Kharon ] - Group Ganymede / compound interior / cyrotube area

Well, that explains things. That explains a lot of things, in fact. The symbols, the tracks... but we'll get to that later.

Wulf eyed the demented Engi warily, preparing to split open its biomechanical skull with the butt of his assault rifle if it so much as twitched in a threatening manner. But when he spoke, his voice was a surprisingly gentle growl in his chest. Almost soothing, in a pirate-y sort of way.

"Easy there, steel-brother. Steady on, steady. What are these 'demons' you speak of? Why can't we stop them?"

[Alex Humva]

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

 

"Blank your mind Major." The Colonel rubbed her temples, increasingly aware of something in the back of her own head. "Remember your training and keep your wits. Computer, what's causing this?"

 

"I'm uncertain, Colonel." The computer seemed to have a twinge of doubt in its voice. "EM frequencies are clear, I'm detecting no surges in brain activity for the crew aboard the vessel. Captain Harken's suit is registering his brain activity normal as well."

 

"Landes, try and sweep the area, see if you can-" The Colonel stopped, realizing something. "What's the status of the EM frequencies, computer?"

 

"Clear, Colonel."

 

"What's the status of the communications?"

 

"Disrupted, Colonel."

 

The Colonel looked at the map blankly for a moment, then at the console. Quietly tapping on it, she began to write up a lengthy piece on tactics while she zoned her mind out, a very clear thought being sent out. Landes or Souper should have been able to pick it up. Senses compromised. Operate independently.

 

It was going be a difficult mission.

 

IC [insane Engi]

 

"[Demons of the Earth! Demons of the water! Cursed children of the Creator!]" The Engi did seem to calm slightly at Kharon's voice, as it looked the man over. It was still quite deranged. "[You, you are not chosen. You can't stop this! The demons can only be stopped by the chosen!]"

Edited June 29, 2014 by Engineer Alexandra Humva

[Eevee]

IC

 

Right... Clear my mind... She took a deep breath and pushed everything she could out of her mind. Finally, after a bit of effort, all that was in her mind was white, pure, and blissful nothingness.

 

"Should we go back to our original course, colonel?"

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"Ma'am," William's voice carried over the comm line again, as he sat back in the chair, eyes fixed on no point in particular as he concentrated on his conversation. "Orders for Callisto? We've accomplished our initial directive. No sign of any hostiles within the relay station."

 

"Shall we return to the ship, or move to another objective?"

[Silvan Haven]

Kenshin Harken

 

IC: This was unexpected.

 

Keying his comm unit Kenshin tried to open a line to the ship.

 

"Ma'am I have found something very odd down here. I am sending my sensor feed now."

[Snelly]

IC: Ashley

 

Understood. Ashley attempted to relay the Colonel's mental message to Estelle telepathically, then she decided to do a little 'poking around' so to speak with her mind. Whatever it was she felt it's intentions were ominous at best. 

Edited June 29, 2014 by Princess Anna of Arendelle

[Burnmad]

IC - Kelezaag:

 

The very irritated Mantis shrugged off the insane Engi's bloody grip, but resisted the urge to run it through. "Get a hold of yourself, grease monkey. If we're not 'Chosen', then who is? And your answer better not be circular."

[Alex Humva]

IC [Colonel Ojeda]

 

Something's playing with us... but this is inconsistent. Something's not right about this not being right. The Colonel turned her comms back on, hoping whatever was messing with them was distracted. "Keep the skies clear Walker, don't leave our area." And then Daniels. "Daniels, try and salvage what you can from prior messages, logs or somesuch. Something's going on and surely it didn't start five minutes before they sent out the emergency hail." And then to Harken. "A lot of things are odd right now Captain, give me details." She pulled the sensor feed up, blinking as her vision blurred for a moment. "Very lovely underground spring, with some residents I see. Are they hibernating?"

 

IC [insane Engi]

 

"[Chosen by the Creator. Chosen to slay the demons. You aren't chosen! You don't bare the mark! They do.]" The Engi pointed to the cyrotubes. "[They bear the mark!]"

 

IC [Ominous Presence]

 

The presence, as Ashley soon found, wasn't in her mind; it was outside, but so imposing it had appeared to be in her mind already. She could sense... higher thought, but a totally alien kind. Something so different that she just could not grasp the exact nature of it. Slugs and humans differed, but even they were understandable to each other. This was simply alien.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Engineer Alexandra Humva