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Post by Lemunde on Jun 2, 2022 13:35:02 GMT
Background
Zephyr Keelan was raised in an abandoned outpost on a desolate, rocky world called Aphelion. His parents had managed to get the outpost operational after the ship they were passengers on had crashed there. Shortly after, his parents died in a tragic airlock accident. Zephyr was left alone to fend for himself.
The planet (the name of which he learned was called Aphelion) was plagued by spectral apparitions. Visions of alien entities would appear and disappear seemingly at random. While terrifying at first, Zephyr soon grew accustomed to them after realizing they didn't pose any physical threat. But between them and the isolation, he had trouble holding onto his sanity.
As the years passed, he used the outpost's computer library to teach himself the technical skills he would need to repair the crashed ship and eventually managed to get it functional enough to escape the planet's surface. He spent another three years scrounging for resources to get the eidolon-drive operational. He was into his late 20s before he managed to reach civilized space, after which he spent some time learning how to function in society.
He learned the hard way how people would try to take advantage of his ignorance and was constantly harassed by pirates and marauders. He soon found himself trading what few valuables he had brought with him for weapon enhancements for his ship as well as a long-ranged rifle which he carried slung on his shoulder whenever he disembarked.
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Post by Lemunde on Jun 2, 2022 13:36:22 GMT
Log Entry 1:
Zephyr Keelan had spent a few weeks trading and doing odd jobs for the people of Rhiannon, a settlement on the chaotic oceanic world of Horizon in the Takara system. He was speaking to Juliana Vayan, a representative of the local fisher's guild, when the attack came. Marauders known as the Ancient Jackals were attacking with aerospace fighters and dropping troops into the middle of the settlement.
With no time to stand on ceremony, Zephyr agreed to help defend the city from the attack. Touching the small iron pipe dangling from his belt, he swore a silent oath to see this through.
Shouts were coming from outside and he could hear gunfire coming from all around him. He needed to get to his ship to retrieve his exosuit, but he didn't know which direction would be safe. He asked Juliana if there was a path up to the roof. She shook her head but told him there was another exit in the back.
Zephyr drew his laser pistol and made his way to the back door. Opening it a crack he peaked outside to see if any hostiles were around. A lone marauder was proceeding down the alley, their assault rifle at the ready. Zephyr holstered his pistol and unslung his gauss rifle. Taking careful aim, he pulled the trigger.
The impact from the rifle slug left a gaping hole in the marauder's head, but the sound rang out into the streets and he could hear the sounds of gruff shouting and heavy boots heading in his direction. He searched around for a way to climb up to one of the nearby rooftops.
[Mark Progress: I will defend Rhiannon from the marauders currently attacking the settlement. :2 boxes]
Zephyr found a ladder welded to an adjacent building. He shouldered his rifle and began making his way up to the roof as quickly as he could. Unfortunately the marauders made good time and spotted him about halfway up.
Bullets ricocheted off the metal walls nearby and Zephyr began scrambling to get to the top before he got turned into switzed cheese. The marauders moved in to climb up after him.
A bullet struck him in the shoulder. He shrugged off the initial pain but then suddenly started feeling faint. The bullet must have had some kind of toxin in it. Zephyr mentally went over what his medkit contained which might neutralize it. Yes, he had a neutralizing agent but he would need to get out of this situation before he could apply it.
[Mark Progress: Combat: A group of marauders attacking from the ground while I'm trying to climb a ladder. Objective: Reach the roof :3 boxes] [Mark Progress: Combat: A group of marauders attacking from the ground while I'm trying to climb a ladder. Objective: Reach the roof :6 boxes]
Zephyr continued scrambling up the ladder. He was approaching the top when he took another hit to the shoulder. The toxin was beginning to work its way through is system and his vision was growing blurry. He shook it off as best he could and continued climbing upward.
[Mark Progress: Combat: A group of marauders attacking from the ground while I'm trying to climb a ladder. Objective: Reach the roof :9 boxes] [Progress Roll: Combat: A group of marauders attacking from the ground while I'm trying to climb a ladder. Objective: Reach the roof :Miss = 9 vs 9 | 9]
He had just began climbing over the top when another shot caught him in the back. He fell backward and hit the ground hard, the sounds of bone cracking on the damp metal street.
(Forsook vow, Tested relationship with Juliana, weak hit.)
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Post by Lemunde on Jun 2, 2022 13:37:15 GMT
Log Entry 2:
Zephyr woke a day later laying in the medbay aboard the Sparrow Hawk. Juliana had dragged him there and had been checking up on him periodically. She informed him that they were able to fight off the marauders. His climb up the ladder had made for a decent distraction and the local militia capitalized on it.
He had cracked several ribs in the fall and had three gunshot wounds. The rejuvenating fluid from the IV would accelerate his healing, but it would be at least another week before he was back on his feet.
Juliana had one request for letting his ship stay docked while he recovered. She was concerned the marauders would be returning soon in greater numbers and wanted him to take her adolescent son and several other noncombatants to a safe location. Zephyr immediately thought of his former home on Aphelion. Few people knew about it and it lacked any resources that anyone would care to take. It wasn't comfortable living but several people could survive there for an indefinite amount of time. Once Rhiannon had been better secured against the marauder assaults, they could return.
Zephyr agreed. Juliana handed him the iron pipe he always kept on him and he swore to see the people to safety. That being done, she left him to rest.
Over the next week, he spent some time going over the sector star charts to try to find the best way to navigate to Aphelion. The only passage he knew of would take him directly through the Quint system, which he knew from experience was the home of the marauders. He would have to trailblaze a new route.
He found what looked like an ideal path. There were still many unknowns but he would have to deal with those as he encountered them.
The rejuvenating fluid did its work but he didn't have a lot of it to spare. He would need to replace what was used at the first opportunity.
Now that he was well enough to get around, he informed Juliana that he was ready to move the civilians. She gathered them all up and had them meet him at his ship. He saw her son for the first time, a sullen young boy who looked like he could hold his own against the marauders if it came to it.
There were about a dozen passengers total. He had them all embark and strap in in the lounge compartment. He took on some extra cargo; provisions and equipment for the civilians when they reached the abandoned outpost. He didn't have a lot of accommodations for passengers aboard the Sparrow Hawk, but they were used to hard living and some of them had brought hammocks and cots to make the trip a bit more comfortable.
Juliana kissed her son farewell and shook Zephyr's hand before disembarking. After a quick preflight, the Sparrow Hawk lifted off into the modest atmosphere and was soon sailing through the vacuum of space. He didn't waste any time tracking down a drift that would guide the ship to its destination. He then powered up the eidolon drive and with a flash of orange and blue light, the Sparrow Hawk was soon moving at relativistic speed through interstellar space.
The Shadow Hawk came to an instant halt as the e-drive spun down within a dense, black cloud of stellar vapor. The Shadow Hawk's sensors indicated that it had unusual properties, allowing electromagnetic radiation to enter, but not leave. This essentially meant that the sensors could see outside of it, but nothing outside could see in, making it an ideal hiding spot. Zephyr recorded the specific coordinates for future reference.
From a few thousand kilometers outside the cloud, the sensors detected another ship, apparently some kind of high capacity passenger transport. Strangely, his sensors were having a hard time pinpointing its exact trajectory, so he couldn't tell where it was going or where it had come from, or if like the Sparrow Hawk, it was simply waiting for its e-drive to recharge before proceeding on towards some distant destination.
He considered hailing them, but considering the safety of his passengers, he decided to err on the side of caution and just wait for his own e-drive to recharge before continuing on. He spent some time checking on his passengers, making sure they had everything they needed. Most were grateful for Zephyr's assistance in ferrying them to the abandoned outpost. Juro, Juliana's son, was talking everyone's ear off about how he hoped they would encounter the marauders with the notion that he would be fighting them.
An audible ping came over the intercom indicating that the e-drive was recharged. Zephyr returned to the cockpit and the Sparrow Hawk was soon on its way once more.
(Jovian world, planetside settlement, marginal atmosphere, intense gravity well, superheated atmosphere)
The Sparrow Hawk came to a stop near a massive gas giant planet. Alarms immediately began ringing out that the intense gravity was starting to pull the ship downward. Flames from entry were already beginning to appear just outside the windows and the hull rattled as the atmosphere began to slowly grow denser. Shouts of alarm came from the passengers in the lounge area, but Zephyr couldn't deal with them right now.
Zephyr quickly reacted to try to turn the ship towards an orbital axis before he could fire the sublight engines. He fought with the controls as the ship slowly turned towards the proper trajectory. When the ship was finally lined up, He fired the sublight engines and the Sparrow Hawk began gaining altitude. A minute later and the ship was back safely in the vacuum of space.
Zephyr programmed the autopilot to continue on to a safer orbit while he went back to check on his passengers. They were a bit shaken but otherwise unarmed. One of the passengers was tending to a frightened and crying Juro. Zephyr explained what had happened and assured them that the situation had been resolved. Once he was satisfied that everyone had calmed down enough, he returned to the cockpit to check the ship's sensors.
The planet they were over appeared to have a higher than normal gravity well, as well as a super heated atmosphere. If they had gone down, they would certainly have been in dire straights. Oddly, he also detected a settlement floating within the planet's atmosphere. How it survived these intense conditions was beyond him. Regardless, it would be impossible to investigate it without risking his ship and passengers.
The star the planet was orbiting was a newly formed one (relatively speaking). The molecular cloud it had been birthed in had yet to dissipate or accrete, which may have been contributing to the high temperatures of the planet.
Zephyr decided to spend his time using his ship's scanners to study the settlement below. A zoomed-in view of the structure revealed an emblem consisting of several worlds orbiting a silver sun. The logs he had acquired from Rhiannon revealed this to be a relatively new faction that was spreading across the Forge at a rapid pace. They appeared to be a fanatical religious group predicting that coordinates to a new and prosperous galaxy and the means to get there would soon be revealed. Zephyr wondered if they were searching for something down there, floating in the blazing winds of this deadly world.
Shaking his head at this odd mystery, the ping on the intercom sounded and the e-drive was charged up and ready to go. He informed his passengers to buckle up and once more set out for their final destination.
Several hours later, the Sparrow Hawk came to a jarring halt above the barren world of Aphelion. Zephyr cursed as he realized the inertial dampeners had been slightly damaged earlier and the less than gentle stop had caused a minor hull breach. He didn't waste any time grabbing the emergency repair kit and managed to fix it before there was any significant loss of atmosphere.
The inertial dampeners were a quick fix. One of the conduits had come loose and Zephyr fixed it back into place and taped it with a nonconducting adhesive strip for good measure. He then informed his passengers that they had arrived and would be descending down to the planet shortly.
Zephyr returned to the cockpit and began scanning the outpost and the general vicinity for anything out of the ordinary. He detected an automated message coming from the outpost, apparently having been triggered from his scans. It appeared to be requesting some kind of clearance code.
Zephyr was momentarily confused. He hadn't encountered anything like this when he departed the first time. He reasoned that the system didn't concern itself with people leaving. He wasn't sure if he should risk further scans without responding. Frantically he began searching the ship's logs for the proper code.
He found a code and quickly responded. A moment later the automated system informed him that his code was outdated and to remain in orbit until his clearance could be verified by administrative personnel. Zephyr shook his head, knowing full well that no such personnel was residing there.
He decided he would have to risk scanning for any defensive systems. To his relief, the outpost didn't appear to have defensive weaponry. His scans triggered another automated response, asking again for a clearance code. Zephyr merely repeated the same code from before and was given the same instructions to remain in orbit.
To his surprise, his scans also revealed a small warehouse hidden by the terrain, a short walk from the outpost. He reasoned it would be worth investigating once his passengers were situated.
With there being apparently nothing to hinder his approach, he began his descent down to one of the landing platforms attached to the structure. The automated system repeatedly informed him that he wasn't cleared to land, but he cut his comms off and continued on without any further distractions.
He extended the landing struts and the Sparrow Hawk set down without issue. Now the problem was getting everyone inside. He had his own environment suit and a few spares, but none of the passengers had brought any with them, so he would have to bring them over in small groups.
But first he would need to make sure the security system hadn't locked him outside. As a precaution, he hopped into his powered exosuit and stepped out of the depressurized cargo bay to check things out. He approached the door to the nearby airlock.
He paused there for a few moments, mulling over the memory of the airlock malfunction that took the lives of his parents. It was not this particular airlock which malfunctioned, but he had little moments like this whenever he approached one. Finally shaking the past from his mind, he examined the nearby control panel by the door.
He opened up the exosuit and stepped out so he could have free use of his fingers. He punched in the familiar command which would depressurize the airlock and then unlock the lever which sealed the door shut. The panel flashed red and the display indicated that the outpost was on lockdown. Zephyr grunted in irritation and pulled out his toolkit to see what he could do to try to hack the system.
The hack took longer than he would have liked. He was still getting distracting thoughts about the death o f his parents. Fortunately he managed to shake it off and soon the panel lit up blue indicating that the lever mechanism had been unlocked. He pulled it and the double-doors of the airlock slid open. The inside was less secure and he was easily able to cycle the airlock to allow himself into the outpost proper. Pulling his laser pistol, he began to stealthily search around to make sure the outpost was secure.
His task was made more difficult by the spectral alien entities that faded in and out at random. He would have to warn his passengers about them, but they weren't a real threat, at least not physically. His sensors would most likely have detected anything dangerous, but he wanted to be sure.
Fortunately nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. The outpost was exactly as he had left it, near as he could tell. Finding the administration office, he got a full readout of the outpost's status. The environmental systems were still functioning within normal parameters. Warning messages flashed on the screen indicating the presence of an unauthorized craft on the landing pad. Zephyr cleared the alert and opened up access to the rest of the airlocks. He then left he office and began searching around for some extra environment suits.
He searched around all the airlocks and even in the storage compartments he knew of, but the few environment suits he could find were in too poor condition to be of any use. He would have to use the suits from his ship and bring them over in groups as he had originally planned.
It took over an hour but eventually everyone was inside the outpost and getting situated. Zephyr used his exosuit to move the extra supplies in through the cargo bay airlock. As everyone began settling down, Zephyr found his old room and sat down in his desk chair to take a few minutes to relax.
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Post by Lemunde on Jun 2, 2022 13:37:58 GMT
Log Entry 3:
After Zephyr had rested enough, he decided to go check in on Juro to see how he was doing. He found him following one of the spectral entities around the hallways, shouting at it and trying to get it to react. It merely faded away after a few seconds, appearing to not even acknowledge the child's presence.
Zephyr chuckled in spite of himself. The spectral entities were mysterious and off-putting, but he knew they never reacted in the slightest to the presence of people or even the outpost itself. He approached Juro and asked him how he was doing. Juro seemed to be in good spirits, all things considered, although he acknowledged that he missed his mom.
Zephyr led him to the living area and pulled out one of his favorite board games. The two spent the rest of the cycle playing. This distracted Juro for the most part and made him feel a little better. When it started to grow late, Zephyr sent the boy back to his quarters to rest. He then returned to his ship to sleep, preferring not to spend the night in the place he worked so hard to escape from.
The next morning he shared breakfast with the new residents of the outpost in the dining hall. They expressed their gratitude for bringing them there. Juro was in a bit of a sour mood. After they had finished eating, he approached Zephyr and insistently expressed his desire to go with him. Zephyr had to explain that it wouldn't be safe on his ship and that his promise to his mother wouldn't allow it. Juro ran off and refused to speak to him the rest of the cycle.
Before leaving, Zephyr hopped into his exosuit and made his way over to the warehouse his sensors had detected. It was tucked away inside one of the crystaline caves in the mountainside. It would be a bit treacherous traversing the short distance along the rocky incline, even in his exosuit.
[Mark Progress: Expedition: Abandoned outpost to hidden warehouse. :3 boxes]
He reached a spot where the terrain sloped sharply, forcing him to have to make a jump towards easier terrain. The powerful legs of his exosuit flung him into the near vacuum and he landed hard on the other side, sliding somewhat but keeping his balance. Alarms rang inside his suit indicating mild structural damage to the suit's left leg, but it was still fully functional.
Zephyr scanned the terrain to see if there was a better path forward. Nothing obvious jumped out at him and the orange sun was beginning grow lower in the black sky.
[Mark Progress: Expedition: Abandoned outpost to hidden warehouse. :6 boxes]
He came to a spot where several unmarked graves appeared to be hidden in shadow. It was then that one of the spectral alien entities passed directly through his exosuit from behind, startling him and causing him to stumble. He reacted quickly and managed to maintain his balance, but he was shaken by the sudden shock. The spectral entity disappeared into the terrain.
Curious, he approached the graves for a closer look. There were three graves total, and they were unlike any he had ever seen before. They were each elongated mounds of stacked stones set within a natural leveling in the terrain, and they were arranged so that each pointed inward. Smooth stones carved into a pyramid shape were set at the head of each. When he approached one of them to read the inscription, he found the writing to be in an indecipherable language.
He turned on his exosuit's audio/video recorder and made sure to get images of each one for later study. He wondered if this planet harbored more grave sites like this.
As he continued onward, his step faltered in the uneven terrain and the left leg of his exosuit buckled. His exosuit stopped dead in its tracks and refused to move, servos whining in distress whenever Zephyr tried to urge the suit forward. He spent a couple of minutes working the kinks out of the leg and finally managed to get it moving again.
[Mark Progress: Expedition: Abandoned outpost to hidden warehouse. :9 boxes] [Progress Roll: Expedition: Abandoned outpost to hidden warehouse. :Miss = 9 vs 10 | 10] (Debt or promise comes due, undermined by self doubt or vulnerabilities)
As Zephyr rounded the final bend, the crystaline cavern came into view. He stopped for a moment to survey the area when he suddenly heard a knocking sound coming from his right-hand side. It as Juro, suited up and waving.
Zephyr cursed his luck. On his comms he heard Juro's voice asking him what he was doing. Zephyr shouted back for him to go back to the outpost, but Juro refused, wanting to continue on with him. There was no way Zephyr was going to lead a child he promised to protect into such a dangerous situation. He only had one choice.
Reaching down, he picked up Juro and flung him over the exosuit's shoulder like a sack of potytes and the two began making their way back to the outpost. His exosuit stumbled several times trying to keep the struggling Juro from running off or falling and its leg took significantly more damage by the time they reached the outpost. It would need some serious repairs before he took it out again.
He parked his exosuit back on his ship and went back into the outpost to check on Juro. He scolded him and spoke to the other residents about his behavior. They promised they would do their best to keep him out of trouble.
He spent the rest of the cycle scavenging around for any supplies that could be spared from the outpost. He was interrupted by an angry Juro who was convinced he was trying to steal all of their supplies.
Zephyr was fed up with the boy's shit and told him that if he didn't go back to his room that he was going to tell the alien entities to start haunting him. Juro merely laughed in his face and ran off to tell the others. Zephyr followed after him. After listening to Juro rant and rave about Zephyr being a thief who wanted to leave them all hear to starve, Zephyr rolled his eyes and responded by indicating that the boy was just making up stories.
The other residents seemed to be on Zephyr's side, but indicated that it was probably best if he left as soon as possible. Zephyr begrudgingly agreed and made his way back to his ship. He would have to find additional supplies elsewhere. Firing up the sublight engines, the Shadow Hawk took to the sky and was soon in orbit. Zephyr radioed back one final farewell before powering up the e-drive to return to Rhiannon.
While he was en-route, he spent some time making repairs to his exosuit and managed to get it back up to functional capacity. He also took some time to get some much needed sleep and examine the video recording of the strange graves.
Unfortunately all of the footage was entirely out of focus and full of digital artifacts. He couldn't make out anything from it. Clearly the recording equipment on his exosuit would need to be completely replaced.
The Sparrow Hawk came out of the drift above Horizon and Zephyr immediately began scanning the area for any signs of trouble. It didn't look good. The settlement was holding up, but the marauders were approaching the planet and they had a bomber craft with them.
Zephyr radioed down to Juliana to inform her of the situation, but he couldn't get a response. He determined that the marauders were jamming all communications. There was nothing for it. He armed his forward vulcan cannons and punched the throttle towards the marauder fleet intent on taking out the bomber.
Several fighters broke off from the assault to defend the bomber. Zephyr pulled the firing trigger and immediately took out one of the fighters. He then noticed that his comms were no longer being jammed. He must have got a lucky hit on the ship that was doing the jamming. He immediately radioed down about the current situation, not waiting for a response.
[Mark Progress: Combat: Avoid the fighters defending the bomber. :3 boxes]
He maneuvered around at full speed dodging the attacks of the fighter craft, returning fire only when a clear opportunity presented itself. The Sparrow Hawk took a couple of hits to one of the sublight engines, but Zephyr managed to bypass the damage and keep it operational.
The fighters were laying down heavy fire now to try to stop him. Zephyr had to drastically alter his trajectory to keep from getting hit again. He was going to have to deal with these fighters. He cut the throttle back, flipped the Sparrow Hawk around, and took aim letting inertia carry the ship on towards the bomber.
[Mark Progress: Combat: Avoid the fighters defending the bomber. :6 boxes] [Mark Progress: Combat: Avoid the fighters defending the bomber. :9 boxes] [Progress Roll: Combat: Avoid the fighters defending the bomber. :Strong Hit = 9 vs 6 | 4]
Death sprayed out from the vulcan cannons and within moments all of the fighters were either destroyed or too heavily damaged to continue pursuit. Zephyr flipped the Sparrow Hawk back around and jammed the throttle once more towards the bomber.
The bomber's defensive turret fired back at him, but he dodged easily and maintained his trajectory. He closed into optimal firing range and fired the forward cannons.
His shots went wide as the bomber's turret fire grew too close for comfort. He was forced to break off the attack to avoid being hit and try to come around for another pass.
The Sparrow Hawk took a few more hits, but Zephyr managed to maneuver so that they didn't hit anything vital. He turned to try to find an opening through the turret fire.
[Mark Progress: Combat: Destroy the bomber. :3 boxes] [Mark Progress: Combat: Destroy the bomber. :6 boxes]
He found it and jammed the throttle once more and firing the forward cannons, shredding significant portions of the bomber's hull. The bomber's turret was desperately returning fire to ward the Sparrow Hawk away. Zephyr maneuvered in for hopefully one final pass.
[Mark Progress: Combat: Destroy the bomber. :9 boxes] [Mark Progress: Combat: Destroy the bomber. :10 boxes] [Progress Roll: Combat: Destroy the bomber. :Strong Hit = 10 vs 2 | 4]
The Sparrow Hawk danced through the onslaught of turret fire and filled the bomber's interior with round after round through the already shredded hull. A vital component was struck as one explosion triggered another, then another, until one final massive burst left nothing but debris which would soon be burning up in Horizon's atmosphere.
Zephyr breathed a sigh of relief as he radioed down to inform Juliana that the attack had been thwarted. Juliana's voice echoed his own sense of relief and she thanked him for his assistance.
[Mark Progress: Connection :6 boxes]
Zephyr informed her that the battle had severely damaged his ship (knowing full well that the damage was minor) and that he could really use some repairs. She saw right through his lie and told him that if he needed repairs then he'd have to work for it. She cleared him to land at his convenience, but he decided he would first return to the wreckage of the fighters to see what he could salvage from them.
In addition to raw materials and components he could use for repairs, the fighters also carried with them survival kits which (among other things) included medical supplies. He was also able to recover one of the ships' nav computers.
After stowing away the supplies, he plugged in the nav computer and discovered data on a route to an unusual planet. It was unnamed and the description was simply flagged as "HAUNTED". Zephyr was at a loss as to why the marauders would be interested in such a place. He wondered if it had the same spectral entities roaming the surface as Aphelion.
Setting this aside for now, he returned to the cockpit and strapped himself in for landing. When the Sparrow Hawk's engines had shut down and Zephyr had opened the cargo ramp to disembark, he found Juliana, with her environmental mask in-place, waiting there for him. She was none too happy about his attempt at deception over comms.
Juliana knew of Zephyr's upbringing, and was willing to let this slight against her slide because of his social ignorance. But she wanted to teach him a lesson about her way of life and possibly a lesson in humility. She invited him out on one of their "fishing" expeditions. If he could help defend the hover-boat from the dangers of the high seas while the fishermen did their jobs, she would forgive him.
Zephyr reluctantly agreed, swearing on the iron pipe dangling from his belt.
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Post by Lemunde on Jun 2, 2022 13:38:42 GMT
Log Entry 4:
The expedition wasn't for another couple of days, so Zephyr spent most of his time resting and recuperating from his previous injuries. He wished he could have spent his time better preparing, but he wanted to be in top shape for whatever lied ahead. He did, however, take some time to speak with Juliana about what he should expect on this fishing trip. But instead of telling him anything useful, she merely put him to work helping to prep the hover-boat.
Zephyr felt bad that Juliana was giving him the silent treatment, but he set himself to work prepping the boat as quickly as he could. Not knowing what he was in for, he brought his exosuit along but kept it stowed away, not wanting to risk falling into the water and having no way to keep himself buoyant. He also made sure to bring his gauss rifle, suspecting that some heavy firepower was going to be in order.
The crew consisted of himself, Juliana, and about half a dozen others. Juliana instructed Zephyr to stay in the back and keep an eye out for trouble. He was more than happy to oblige, knowing little of how to operate vessels such as this. Given the size of the boat, he suspected it could hold quite a lot of fish. But the boat hands were coming equipped with harpoons and rifles, not fishing rods and nets.
The boat heaved up and down over the rough waves, mostly keeping a few feet above it, but sometimes a wave would lap the underside. This wasn't uncommon on this world. The seas were always rough and Zephyr knew this would be as much a challenge to his constitution as it would be to his observational skills and fighting prowess.
After everyone had settled into their predesignated positions on the boat, Juliana took the helm and they were soon underway, leaving the steel stilted settlement of Rhiannon behind them.
[Mark Progress: Escort the fishing boat to its destination on the high seas. :3 boxes] (Charge, Love, medium amorphous crustacean, distinctive markings, compound eyes)
A few minutes into their voyage, Zephyr noticed several strange creatures hovering several feet above the water and approaching the hover-boat at great speed. He called out to Juliana, drawing her attention to them. She appeared to know what they were, identifying them as crabols, shapeless masses of shell and eyes. They were known to mistake hover-boats for potential mates. Juliana increased the throttle and Zephyr took aim to try to ward them away.
[Mark Progress: Ward the crabols away from the hover-boat. :3 boxes] [Mark Progress: Ward the crabols away from the hover-boat. :6 boxes]
Two precise shots with his gauss rifle sent one of the crabols crashing into the wildly shifting waters below. The crabols slowed but continued pursuing the craft. Zephyr called to Juliana to keep the hover-boat's speed up. She called back confused, apparently not hearing a word he was saying. The crabols regained their enthusiasm and began to close in.
Zephyr cursed and continued firing. [Mark Progress: Ward the crabols away from the hover-boat. :9 boxes]
His shots were landing but the crabols were continuing to close in. Zephyr wasn't sure exactly what they would do when they reached the craft, but he figured it would be better not to find out and kept firing.
[Mark Progress: Ward the crabols away from the hover-boat. :10 boxes] [Progress Roll: Ward the crabols away from the hover-boat. :Weak Hit = 10 vs 10 | 1]
Zephyr kept firing, shots glancing off the hard shells of the floating crabols. It was no use. Before he knew it they were altering their shapes and latching themselves onto the craft. Juliana cursed in outrage as she watched the creatures violate her boat, leaving heavy dents and tears in the metal hull. After the crabols were... satisfied... they left the craft and plunged back into the raging waters below.
The damage was mostly cosmetic, but several internal systems were now exposed and one of the hover emitters was damaged, forcing the other emitters to increase power to compensate. Zephyr and the other boat hands tasked themselves with repairing what they could. He made up for his failing to sufficiently protect the craft by managing to get the damaged hover emitter working and the rest managed to patch up most of the hull damage. It would never look the same again, but it was at least fully functional again.
(Research, Creation)
They had intended on continuing on from there, but one of the boat hands noticed something moving on the hull. Zephyr looked and to his horror realized the crabols must reproduced asexually, as more of them began to form like huge barnacles on the hull. Zephyr hopped into his exosuit to use its strength to try to remove them before they could fully form.
One by one, Zephyr ripped the juvenile crabols off the hull and tossed them into the sea. He noticed as he did so that they left a residue on the hull that quickly hardened. He chuckled, imagining that somehow they had managed to increase the hover-boat's integrity. When he brought this up to Juliana, she was less than amused and resolved to have her boat sterilized the moment they returned to Rhiannon.
(Summon, Destiny)
The boat continued on but after only a few minutes the hover-boat's reactor began to overheat. Juliana concluded that the stress of the high-speed pursuit had been too much for it and they would need to stop and wait for it to cool down before they could repair it and continue any further. Until then they were sitting ducks. Zephyr would need to be extra vigilant. He pulled out his gauss rifle and scanned the horizon through the scope.
(Protect, Culture)
He spotted what looked like some kind of whale-like creature escorting some smaller creatures on a course away from the craft, but didn't notice anything else. A few minutes later one of the boat hands was putting fresh coolant into the reactor and after closing the protective hatch in the floor covering it they were ready to go.
[Mark Progress: Escort the fishing boat to its destination on the high seas. :6 boxes]
They continued on at an increased speed to make up for lost time, but not so much as to stress the reactor any further. The constant up and down motion of the boat was beginning to make Zephyr sick to his stomach, but he found something in his medkit to help settle it down.
[Mark Progress: Escort the fishing boat to its destination on the high seas. :9 boxes] (Locate, Price)
After a couple of hours, Juliana pulled the craft to a hovering stop. She looked out over the horizon, apparently trying to spot something. When Zephyr asked what she was looking for, she responded saying there was a buoy somewhere around here that marked their preferred fishing spot. Zephyr pulled out his rifle and looked through the scope. A few moments later he pointed to a spot off towards starboard where something artificial was floating and flashing in the turbulent water. Juliana motioned for Zephyr to return to his spot in the back and the craft began making its way towards the buoy.
[Progress Roll: Escort the fishing boat to its destination on the high seas. :Weak Hit = 9 vs 1 | 10] [Mark Progress: I will defend the hover-boat on the high seas during the fishing expedition. :2 boxes] [Mark Progress: I will defend the hover-boat on the high seas during the fishing expedition. :4 boxes] (Search, Hardship)
They made it to the buoy without incident and after setting the craft to maintain a stationary hovering position, all of the boat hands began scanning the waters intently. Zephyr kept to his part of the job and continuously scanned the horizon for any signs of trouble. After several minutes Juliana broke the silence, cursing and indicating that what they were looking for wasn't here. Zephyr, growing frustrated by all the secrecy behind their quarry, went over to Juliana to try to convince her to spill the beanits.
(Distract, Danger, creature: large, spider / web-weaver, long-limbed, builder)
She finally gave in and told him about the giant sea-spider they often harvested its precious silk from. However it appeared to have moved on from this area. She knew of another nearby, but it was a somewhat younger creature and much more dangerous. If they continued, she would need Zephyr to serve as a distraction while they harvested the silk from its cave-like web. She would lend him some diving equipment and he would need to lead the sea-spider away and keep it distracted for a few minutes. Under no circumstances should he kill the creature.
Zephyr reluctantly agreed and they continued on towards the next buoy. They reached it after a few minutes. Juliana spotted movement deep beneath the waters through her optical gear, confirming the presence of the sea-spider, and they all began putting on their diving gear. Zephyr wished his exosuit was more suited for use in the water, but as it stood he would have to leave it behind and rely on his own physical abilities to out-maneuver the creature. After going over the plan one last time, Zephyr dived into the turbulent waters.
The massive sea-spider spotted him and was on him in mere moments. Zephyr maneuvered around to try to gain some distance from it. The creature appeared insistent on defending its home and refused to give chase after a short distance.
In addition to the diving gear, Zephyr was given a pistol designed for use in the water. It wouldn't do much to hurt the spider but Zephyr figured it would get its attention. As he pulled it out, he noticed that the pistol was of a very ancient design. He suspected this may have been one of the first weapons produced after the exodus from the remains of the first ships.
He would have to examine it more closely later. For now he took aim and fired a shot at the sea-spider. The shot glanced off one of its long, spindly legs and the now enraged creature finally gave chase. Zephyr could see his comrades dive in behind it, beginning the harvesting part of the operation. Zephyr turned and began swimming away from the pursuing monstrosity.
He managed to keep pace away from the creature just enough to keep it chasing him. This went on for several minutes as he led the spider around the perimeter of the webbed cave-like structure. Periodically he would glance back to keep track of the harvesting process through the infrared optical gear. Eventually he saw Juliana giving him the thumbs up, indicating that they were nearly done with the harvesting. Zephyr could see some of his crew mates swimming back up to the surface carrying huge bundles of the sticky, stringy substance.
Zephyr was determined to give them as much time as possible, so he kept up the chase for a bit longer. Finally, after everyone else had gotten themselves safely back to the hoverboat, Zephyr made his way back. The sea-spider continued giving chase, apparently being a very capable swimmer. But Zephyr outmatched it in speed and was soon climbing up the chain ladder back onto the hoverboat, the angry sea-spider thrashing on the surface of the waters to try to reach him but to no avail. It soon gave up and returned back to repair its nest.
Zephyr's crewmates gave him a clap on the back and Juliana smiled and nodded approvingly. After stowing the bundles of webbing away under a heavy tarp, the Juliana began piloting the hoverboat back to Rhiannon. [Mark Progress: Connection :8 boxes] [Mark Progress: I will defend the hover-boat on the high seas during the fishing expedition. :8 boxes]
The boat reached the pier a few hours later and Zephyr stood guard, watching to ensure their haul made it safely off the boat.
[Progress Roll: I will defend the hover-boat on the high seas during the fishing expedition. :Strong Hit = 8 vs 1 | 4]
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Post by Lemunde on Jun 16, 2022 16:20:55 GMT
Log Entry 5:
Zephyr and Juliana spent the rest of the night drinking screamer (a potent beverage similar to vodka) at the local cantina and laughing about the events of the day. (Raid, Faction) Zephyr indicated that he would be leaving again in a couple of days after he had rested up a bit and made some repairs to his ship. Juliana told him that they were planning to take the fight to the Ancient Jackals soon and that he was welcome to join them when the time came.
She also allowed him to keep the pistol she gave him as a memento of his first fishing expedition. This was a significant gesture. Relics from the founder vessels were never traded, but passed down to descendants or given as a sign of friendship. Zephyr thanked her and told her he would be coming back this way soon.
Zephyr stumbled his way back to his ship and slept soundly for the rest of the cycle. He had a slight hangover when he awoke and after drinking some water and taking some pain meds, he sat down and studied his nav computer. The "haunted" planet he discovered from the fighter's nav computer was in this sector, but he would have to find his own route to get there. He had no idea what he would find. He was more curious than anything, but if the Ancient Jackals were interested in it, then it had to have some kind of importance.
Zephyr was well rested after another cycle and after bidding Juliana farewell over comms the Sparrow Hawk lifted off towards the drift that would take him in the direction of the system with the haunted planet.
After a few hours the Sparrow Hawk came to a stop near a frozen planet orbiting a glowing orange star. Zephyr scanned the planet for anything interesting. Marginal atmosphere, no life or settlements to speak of. He could see a massive canyon nearly encircling the entire planet. Much of the surface was spiderwebbed with fissures that spewed out liquid nitrogen onto its surface.
Zephyr decided it wouldn't be worth investigating any further and logged the planet into the ship's navigational database. He spent his time waiting getting a snack from the galley and sat watching the stars and listening to music. Once the eidolon drive was ready, he maneuvered the Sparrow Hawk towards another drift and continued on.
This time the Sparrow Hawk found itself in high orbit above the remains of a devastated planet. Misshapen chunks of the world were still in the centuries-long process of crumbling into smaller bits of debris as they orbited the exposed molten core at extreme speeds. Zephyr immediately set his scanners to work, wondering what might have caused such devastation.
Unsurprisingly there were no settlements and no atmosphere to speak of. There were indications that life probably once flourished here, but nothing could survive this level of destruction. The planet was being bathed in extreme solar radiation. However there appeared to be a perfectly in-tact moon still orbiting what was left of the world some distance away.
Zephyr turned his attention towards the moon. It was almost as bad. While it was all in one piece, the surface was all ash covered terrain with rivers and lakes of molten rock. Fissures crisscrossed across the entire surface. Oddly it appeared to have a breathable atmosphere, but no man-made structures.
Zephyr's curiosity got the better of him and he decided to take the Sparrow Hawk down for a better look. He scanned the surface for an ideal spot away from any lava lakes or other hazards. He found a spot where the ash appeared to have lain long enough to form into something closer to rock. There were indications of what used to be a network of lava rivers in the area, but they had long since cooled into solid stone.
The Shadow Hawk's hull creaked and rattled as it entered the moon's atmosphere. Even though this was a cooler biome, the heat could still be seen in distorted waves coming from the ground. Zephyr took great care in landing the ship. A shrill beeping and flashing indicator showed that the ground was not nearly as stable as he had hoped, with cracks forming under the landing struts. He quickly increased the ship's landing thrusters and moved it to a more solid-looking location. This time, the ship landed without issue.
Zephyr hopped into his exosuit and set the power on the environmental systems to max. He then lowered the cargo ramp, letting in a blast of hot air. He scouted around the exterior of the ship, using his exosuit's scanners to try to figure out what was making the atmosphere breathable. (Change, Supply)
He discovered that the unusual radiation coming from the local star was stripping the carbon from the CO2 being emitted from the planet's volcanoes. Finding nothing else of interest, he returned to the Sparrow Hawk to log his findings, the cargo ramp closing shut behind him before the environmental systems kicked in to exchange the moon's hot atmosphere for cool recycled air.
The Sparrow Hawk lifted off and within a couple of minutes was back in orbit around the moon. Zephyr set his scanners towards finding the drift that would hopefully carry the ship on towards its final destination. The eidolon drive made an unnerving whining noise the whole way and Zephyr figured the heat from the moon may have been a bit much for it. He took some readings and determined it would hold up for now but he would have to affect repairs once it was spooled down and he had some extra time to spare.
[Progress Roll: Expedition to the "haunted" planet. :Weak Hit = 10 vs 8 | 10] (Finish, Family) (small space creature, jellyfish, many eyes, extra limbs, prey behavior)
The Shadow Hawk came out of the drift near a swarm of strange space creatures. They resembled jellyfish, but with much longer tentacles and hundreds of black eyes all over the main part of their bodies. They scattered in fear as soon as the ship appeared. The ship itself wasn't near any planet so Zephyr began doing some long-range scans.
His scans were interrupted by the appearance of another ship, a small aerospace fighter, coming out of the same drift he followed to get here. The ship hailed him, the frantic voice clearly that of Juliana. She was very distraught and told him that the marauders learned that it was him who foiled their attack days earlier. They found out where he had taken her son and had taken him hostage. A courier informed her that they would exchange her son for Zephyr. They would make the exchange at a neutral location, that being the abandoned outpost on Aphelion.
Zephyr cursed. The haunted planet would have to wait. However there was no way he was going to let himself fall into the hands of the Ancient Jackals, knowing full well what they likely had in store for him. Zephyr offered to help rescue her son if she agreed not to make the trade. (Compel, miss with a match, hide weakness)
Without warning, Juliana opened fire, targeting the Sparrow Hawk's eidolon drive. Zephyr realized she must have detected the drive's already weakened state and was taking advantage of it. Zephyr punched the throttle up to maneuver out of the line of fire, calling back over comms to try to reason with her.
The hull took several hits but Zephyr managed to avoid the worst of it. Juliana was ignoring everything he said. Zephyr figured she had probably shut off her comms. He maneuvered the Sparrow Hawk around and reluctantly returned fire.
[Mark Progress: Combat with Juliana. :2 boxes] [Mark Progress: Combat with Juliana. :4 boxes] (Research, Time)
Shots splashed across the fighter's hull dealing serious damage. Zephyr noticed her ship was running particularly hot. He wondered if she had been pushing her reactor hard to catch up to him faster? Zephyr jammed the throttle hard to try to outrun her. He figured if he could get her to overcook her reactor then she would have no choice but to shut it down and stop the pursuit.
[Mark Progress: Combat with Juliana. :6 boxes]
She took the bait, increasing her throttle to match his speed. Her heat signature was beginning to grow even hotter. Shots rang out against the Shadow Hawk's hull. Alarms began to ring out indicating a hit to the e-drive. Zephyr was forced to slow down to return fire.
His shots went wide as Juliana continued to batter the Shadow Hawk's hull relentlessly. This was bad. Alarms were ringing out left and right and Zephyr could smell smoke coming from the e-drive and his own reactor. He had no choice but to continue firing or die.
[Mark Progress: Combat with Juliana. :8 boxes] [Mark Progress: Combat with Juliana. :10 boxes]
Desperately Zephyr fired his vulcans at the fighter, crying out in a mix of relief and frustration as the shots rang true.
[Progress Roll: Combat with Juliana. :Weak Hit = 10 vs 10 | 3]
Zephyr truely hoped he could manage to only disable her ship, but in his desperate fight for survival he didn't have the privilege of calling his shots. An maddening cry over his comms was cut off suddenly as the aerospace fighter's reactor detonated, leaving no chance of survival for its occupant.
Zephyr gazed out the window of his cockpit for several minutes as alarms and smoke kept building inside the cabin. Finally shaking himself from the devastating realization that he had just killed the closest person he had to a friend, he forced himself up and went to try to deal with the damage.
(Surrender, Burden)
The damage was severe, and the ship was becoming too dangerous to remain on board. Reluctantly, Zephyr rushed to the cargo bay and jumped inside his exosuit before opening up the cargo bay and ejecting himself out into space. Moments later, Zephyr watched as the ship's reactor exploded, cleaving the Shadow Hawk in half and sending each spinning off slowly into space.
Zephyr took several minutes to soak in what all had just happened, fighting back the tears and desperately trying to keep himself together before maneuvering the suit's mechanical hand over to the console on the suit's other arm to activate the distress beacon.
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