# After Earth



## Blackrat (Aug 11, 2007)

You have just walked through the doors to the Black Hole. It is dimly litted as usual and you have to wait a second for your eyes to adjust. It's not as crowded as it normally is. There's a couple of guys in USF (Unity Security Force) uniforms playing pool at the far side of the bar. At one table a pilot is sipping from his cup and talking to a group of kids. Most likely telling stories of his heroic adventures. The sight reminds you of all the times you used to sit in the crowd, listening to one of these pilots. Now there's a new generation and soon you'll probably be the ones telling stories to the younglings. Damn, these kids were most likely born on Unity. You feel kind of lucky, at least you can still remember the skies of Earth. These kids have never even felt the wind on their skin. Not that your memories are too clear either.

You're supposed to meet Stevie here in half an hour.

Shrew is standing behind the counter, talking to some old drunk. When he sees you aproaching he smiles (a bit disturbing sight 'cause of his fangs) and greets you with a wave of his huge hand. What'll ye have kids? He asks with his deep, booming voice and accented english.

[sblock=OOC]This is your chance to introduce your characters and sosialize a bit before the actual adventuring begins. You may come in as a group or individually, its up to you. Remember, you are childhood friends with eachother. I suggest you check the rogues gallery as I posted some info on aliens there, including Shrew[/sblock]


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 12, 2007)

A bold man, Cnosos, entered the Black Hole tavern, followed by Dorb, his floating droid, which buzzed around him in some sort of random pattern. The man waves his hand at the alien, and approached the bar. "Hello Sherw. Just a glass of something fresh" Cnosos sit on one of the seats near the bar. After the giant bartender served the technician his drink, he ask "Did you see the guys today?" and move his head side to side, looking at the people present.


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## Rhun (Aug 12, 2007)

Damon Knight walks toward the bar, nodding a greeting at the brute behind the bar. "A Starduster would hit the spot," he says. Damon was dressed casually this evening, as was his norm. Combat boots, loose fatigue style pants in what would have once been called "urban" camo, and a tight shirt of shiny grey material...a shirt that clearly showed off his well-muscled torso.

Noticing Cnosos, Damon moves to join his old friend at the bar, taking a seat next to the mechanic and giving him a friendly slap on the shoulder.


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 12, 2007)

"Well dressed" Cnosos says as he drinks some juice. "As always He he" he continues after lowering his glass. He gives Damon a smile. "So, what have you been up to?" Cnosos cloths are the ones he uses under his working overall, and have several oil spills, and look worn. A black sweeter with tortoise neck, and a pair of grey pants is the simple outfit of the techinician.

OOC: Added a picture of Cnosos in the RG.


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## Mithran (Aug 12, 2007)

Faris entered the bar shortly after the others. Sporting, as usual, a t-shirt tucked into a pair of cargo pants, with a utility vest hanging over both, none of them straying far from the darker browns and greys.

His world-weary expression immediately lifted upon sight of his friends. Sitting down at the bar in the growing line of future privateers, he smiled in greeting at the others before ordering his drink. "Something with a little jolt to it. I need the wake up."


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## Shayuri (Aug 12, 2007)

Melara Richter ambles into the bar, clearly having just finished a shift. Her short brown hair is all mussed and spiky from being in a sweaty helmet for hours on end, and there's smudges under her eyes from the HUD goggles. Her olive green flight jumpsuit is unzipped a bit to cool off, showing a triangle of white T-shirt underneath. She's smiling sunnily though as she comes up to the bar and hops up onto a stool.

"Hey Shrew." She nods at the others there. "Give me one of those green...fizzy drinks with the little sour flakes in them, and make it cold. Today I drink to the end of my freelance contract, and to a nice payday...and a new job, with any luck."


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## Raylis (Aug 12, 2007)

Medpac hanging from its shoulder strap, pistol strapped on the left side of his belt-no effort made to conceal it - Micheal Cain walks into the bar. He's wearing cargo pants, a tan broicade style jacket over a vest holding several vials. and a black shirt. As always he looks like he has a day or twos facial hair growth on his face.  "Brandy."  he says curtly taking a seat at the bar.


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 12, 2007)

Cnosos looks at his old friends, none of them said anything in greeting, so he kept his mouth shout, then, addressing Damon "Don't you hate unpolited people?" For the situation, that sounded like a joke, but Cnosos face showed no clue of a smile, as usual. It was difficult to guess if the technician was joking, or if he was making an indirect critic.


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## Raylis (Aug 12, 2007)

"Cnosos, if you want politeness then you should find an ambassador or program that flying thing of yours to spout pleasentries."  Michael replies not bothering to look at Cnosos as he speaks.


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## Shayuri (Aug 12, 2007)

"Hoo!" Mel says from where she's nursing her drink. She grins at Michael.

"Someone had a bad day, and his name starts with an M and rhymes with 'ichael.'"

She chuckles and adds, "So what's bugging you?"


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## Raylis (Aug 12, 2007)

"Me? A bad day? _ Perish the thought _  Michael says, the latter thick with sarcasm,  "So who sold you the fake ID?"  as his drink is placed in front of him the doctor adds a drop of something from one of the numerous vials stored in his vest pocket.  "Or should I add a drop of this to your drink?" 

 OOC: if you've ever played NWN 2, his voice sounds like Sand's


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 12, 2007)

"As charming as always, good doctor. I think you need more than one Brandi." Cnosos replies. "And a girlfriend" showing a smile. A rare event.


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## Rhun (Aug 13, 2007)

"Don't let it bother you, Cnosis," says Damon, taking a hefty slug of his drink. "You know the doctor has no bedside manner. Or barside manner, as the case may be."


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## Mithran (Aug 13, 2007)

Faris chose to simply chuckle for a few moments as the humor flew around him. Then he said with a smile, "Come on guys, you know there's more rush to get drinks ordered than to greet old friends. Friends are forever, but the bar closes eventually, hey?"


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## Shayuri (Aug 13, 2007)

Mel gracefully lets the ID question slide, since technically she WAS one year shy of 21...not that it mattered anymore. But no one needed a reminder of why it didn't.

"What is that stuff?" she asks the doctor as she watches him drop the liquid in. "Does something to the alcohol content?"


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## Raylis (Aug 13, 2007)

"Charm is for those who actually care about their social politics or worry about getting a date, niether of which concern me. As for bedside manner, Damon, I have never seen the point of telling someone the stomach wound is anything but and not mention the amount of blood loss or pain they will experience; 

He takes the brandy in one drink,  "But I think I will take your suggestion of a second Brandy, Cnosos. As for the "stuff", dear Melara, it is a combination of cytochrome P450 oxidases, UDP-glucuronosyltransferasess, and glutathione S-transferases designed to influence the pharmacokinetics of the human body. Or in layman's terms antitox; while I do enjoy the taste of some of the finer alcohols with the same origin as ourselves I prefer to keep a clear head and not chance the same fate that befalls my father. Would you like some?


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## Shayuri (Aug 13, 2007)

"No thanks. Most people drink because they -want- to get buzzed. Who drinks for the taste?" She wrinkles her nose and polishes off the drink.

"Besides, I don't think there's actually alcohol in this." She peers into the glass as if that was discernible to the naked eye.


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## Raylis (Aug 13, 2007)

"Well there's one proven method to determine _that_. Another for her, Shrew.


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## Shayuri (Aug 13, 2007)

"Now there's a good bedside manner. Thanks, Doc!"


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## Rhun (Aug 13, 2007)

"Another for me as well, Shrew," says Damon, polishing off his own drink. "I can't let myself get out-drunk by our little girl here."


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## Blackrat (Aug 13, 2007)

Here yoo go kids. If yoo want it to truly have kick I will add some Csatr in it. Shrew says handing out your new round of drinks with a wink. Probably not a good idea. You've all seen what that stuff does to human metabolism. Some of the USF guys use it to polish their guns too.


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 13, 2007)

Not finished jet, Cnosos drink travel once again to his mouth. "I use it to dissolve plastic around the electric cables, to oil Dorb manipulators, and to polish my work once ended. So thanks but no thanks, keep that thing away of our glasses" the technician says.


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## Shayuri (Aug 13, 2007)

"Oh, little girl...never heard THAT one before," Mel snorts. She shakes her head at Shrew's offer.

"So any of you guys hear any specifics from Steve about what he's doing?"


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 13, 2007)

"I've been in the workbench all morning, and fixing some engines in the afternoon, so I haven't seen him today" Cnosos answer.


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## Raylis (Aug 13, 2007)

"I'd much rather _not_ have to purge someone's stomach, especially my own.  Michael says adding antitox to the new glass,  "I haven't heard a word from our illustrious patron since being asked to meet here.


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## Rhun (Aug 13, 2007)

"Ditto," agrees Damon, starting on his fresh drink.


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 14, 2007)

"Don't worry my friends, if he said he will be here, he will. So enjoy your poiso.. I mean drinks." says Cnosos


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## Raylis (Aug 14, 2007)

"You were right the first time."


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## Blackrat (Aug 14, 2007)

After a moment of chatting and enjoying your drinks the door opens and Stevie walks in, still wearing his grey flight-suit (which contrasts nicely the grey lines in his hair) 'though he is now a "respectable" businessman. Well at least he has trimmed his beard, which was quite a mess when you saw him yesterday. A small man you note once again, not much taller than Melara. Sorry kids, I had some business to attend to. So, you ready to meet "her" for the first time? He asks, referring to your new ship. Finish your drinks and follow me. He starts to lead you through the corridors towards the docks.


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## Shayuri (Aug 14, 2007)

Mel leaps off her stool and falls in right behind Stevie. It's clear she'd dart ahead of him if she thought she could get away with it.

"So this is serious, right?" she asks excitedly. "A real starship? For us? And it works?"


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 14, 2007)

Cnosos walks next to the old pilot, followed closely by Dorb "And how is the engine? Which's the computer module? And how about ... Never mind, I will check it myself anyway..." Dorb emits a soundly "Beep Dup"


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## Rhun (Aug 14, 2007)

Damon grins at Melara's remarks. "If it doesn't work, you know Cnosis will have her up and running in no time. Although, I'm sure he is going to expect my help."


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## Raylis (Aug 14, 2007)

"Is there an actual medical bay or will we have to gut a room, install some beds? If it's the latter then I need to make a few additional purposes before we- a pause  "Set out."  Michale says, leaving an empty glass and joining the others to follow Stevie


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 14, 2007)

Cnosos sigh "You know, after all these years, and you still call me Cnosis, I know you always do, but it's Cnosos, with 'O'. Now you will call me Cnosos, for about ... two days? then Cnsois again." addressing Damon. 
"Deep tup!" buzzed Dorb
"You shut up" pelies Cnosos.


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## Mithran (Aug 14, 2007)

Faris followed along, not really jockeying for position, but not falling behind either.  "Of course this is serious, and I'm sure the ship works fine. Stevie's a respectable business man now, don't ya know? But not _that_ kind of respectable."

"Now lets move on to the important stuff. Miss the old beard yet, Stevie?"


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 15, 2007)

[sblock]Could you change the color of your character? that blue will make my eyes fall in pieces =P[/sblock]


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## Blackrat (Aug 15, 2007)

Yes Mel, she's all for you. And she'll fly, though the engines can get a bit moody from time to time. Stevie laughs on his comment giving a nod at Cnosos. Sorry Michael. There was no room for an actual med-bay, but the bunks are modified cryo-units, so they have med-screens built in them. He laughs again at Faris's guestion. Yeah. But you know how it is. When you're doing business with men like mr. Angel, you're supposed to make a good impression.


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## Raylis (Aug 15, 2007)

"Wonderful, a challenge; I might have to convert some of the storage for medicinal purposes. " He puts on a pair of data glasses as they walk and plug them into the his miniature, wrist mounted computer.  "Might as well order a few other things-supplies to brew some medication when we're away from "home" and the supplies to do so. What was the Identification number and location of the vessel?"  there is an odd note of sincerity on his tone, as if Michael actually _liked_ the idea of not having a dedicated medical area.


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 15, 2007)

"I would like to see the ship now, if thats ok with you, we could do the chatting while we are on it." Cnosos says.
"Pip Tut" Buzzed Dorb
"Yes, of course I know, who is the technician again?" Cnosos reply to his droid. Dorb didn't make any noise. "Exactly" Cnosos says meditative:  _"Mother must have done some changes in his core..."_


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## Shayuri (Aug 15, 2007)

Mel emits a yelp of pure joy and jogs ahead a few steps before forcing herself to slow back down again. She doesn't say anything more, but anyone looking at the broad grin and slightly unfocused eyes can tell she's imagining the ship already...probably something plated in solid gold, with huge, carpeted crew quarters and that can cross half the galaxy in a heartbeat at a quarter throttle.


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## Blackrat (Aug 15, 2007)

After a short walk you arrive at the docks. Steve takes you to bay 14 which is now reserved to Far-Star ships. There's four ships currently docked there, all of different design. Steve stops at one walkway where some dockworkers have just finished loading the ships cargo. He changes a few words with the headman and then turns to you. "Here she is. Ain't she magnificant."
It's a junk. Looks more like a coffin than a spaceship. Colored with stained dark metallic green. It takes some imagination to even believe that this thing is capable of flying. But it's all yours. Your very first ship, even if you don't actually own it. 
"Mr. Rodriquez here tells me it's already packed and ready to go. So, your first job is to get this cargo to the Jap Empire Station 1. The main computer has the gate-cordinates you need. And here's your security codes." He says, handing a small PDA to Faris. "Oh. And there's no hurry with this cargo so you can take your time to get to know her." He gives a smile to Mel: "You look like you couldn't wait to get in and take her out for a spin. So I won't hold you any longer. Just remember to get a clearance from Flight Control before you burst out"

[sblock=OOC]Japanese Empire is an alliance of three colonies which are named Japanese Empire Station 1, 2 and 3. 
I'll upload a sketch of the ship and a floorplan later today.[/sblock]


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## Rhun (Aug 15, 2007)

Damon can only stand there and gape at the bucket of bolts. He hadn't expected much, but this was ridiculous. "This thing is a death trap, Stevie." Knight turns to regard their ship's mechanic. "Looks like you'll have your work cut out for you , CnoSIS," he says, emphasizing the "SIS" with a smile.


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## Shayuri (Aug 15, 2007)

The pilot gives Stevie a wry look. "I know what I'm doing."

She approaches the ship with a wary expression, as if half expecting it to jump out the airlock before she can get to it. As Damon complains, she walks around the hull, giving it a visual preflight checkup to see if, despite its age, the vital systems seem spaceworthy.


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## Raylis (Aug 15, 2007)

Michael stares at the ship, just stares dead in his tracks.  "_That_ is our ship? You must be kidding.  he begins to reach into the medpack at his side,  "Alright, who wants the first tetnis shot?"


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 15, 2007)

Cnosos stares at the pile of space metal that is supposed to make them "fly through the stars" with an open mouth. Dorb start buzzing and clicking around his master. "I'll have two Michael, 'this thing' will need some work. Some really hard work." the technician turns to Stevie quickly "I must have a workbench. Tell me it have one or i swear I'll take you with us" asks in a menacing tone.


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## Raylis (Aug 16, 2007)

"I actually wouldn't advise that  Michael says examining a vial from his bag,  "It's never wise to overmedicate and we will need you to be able to move instead of lying around like a limp- he pauses, his eyes darting towards his own skull for a second  "Fish."


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## Blackrat (Aug 16, 2007)

"Heh, I was flying her when you were still under Earth sky, so yeah. She's a getting a bit old. But she's a tough girl." As Mel inspects the hull she notices that despite it's looks, the ship is actually quite sturdy. And the engines are infact not of human origin. They are much more efficiently built, looks like a design of which humans originally copied their plans. Steve turns to Cnosos: "There's a workbench in the engineroom, so don't worry."

[sblock=OOC]those pics I promised will have to wait. I had some technical difficulties.[/sblock]


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## Shayuri (Aug 16, 2007)

"Jesus frying in a pan," Mel mutters as she gets to the engine pods.

She looks at the others and calls, "Stevie...are these things _Syrran?_ You have to be kidding me!"


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## Blackrat (Aug 16, 2007)

"Actually they are Mirp design. Earth Fleet bought them when they were making this line of ships. That was when we were still trying to figure out how to manufacture these ourself, and they are still better than our latest engines, despite their age. But now I have to run. I still have four meetings today. I'll see you when you get back. Have fun kids." Stevie says as he walks away.


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## Rhun (Aug 16, 2007)

"well, I guess we should should board her and run a few diagnostic routines." Damon smiles and runs a hand through his spikey hair. "After all, we have a job to do."


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 16, 2007)

_"Mirp or not, this relic still need some work on it"_ Cnosos think as he approaches the ship, searching in his backpack some of his tools.


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## Mithran (Aug 16, 2007)

Faris stood silently, fingering the data pad Stevie had given him as he listened to the reactions of his crew. 'Seasoned' and 'nice lines' were the terms that came his mind as he envisioned what the ship could be... eventually. But he decided the others wouldn't care to hear that just now.

"Alright, how about we quit complaining about how she's a bucket of bolts and get to work. Once we're done she'll at least be our own personalized bucket of bolts."

"Melara, you're in charge of pre-plotting us a course and running the computer through it's paces. Damon, you can help Melara. Cnosos, you've got repairs, of course. Steal Damon if you need an extra pair of hands. Doc? Lets take a look inside and talk about your medbay needs...

OOC: Hope that doesn't come off as improper. But it seemed like the captain ought to delegate a bit to get things moving as quickly as possible.


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## Shayuri (Aug 16, 2007)

Mel gives Faris a smirky grin and nods.

"C'mon Damon, you heard the man."

She clomps up the entrance ramp and into the ship itself. Once inside, she navigates the warrens of corridors up towards the bow, and after a quick foray into a storage bay by mistake, manages to find the bridge. Once there, the pilot station is pretty easy to work out by the controls, and she takes a seat and starts turning systems on.


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## Raylis (Aug 16, 2007)

"Or at least what I have to work with.  Michael says, enter the ship,  "An area to setup my supplies and a perhaps install a pharmacutial workbench would be ideal-but I'll work with what we have for now.


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 17, 2007)

"Call me if you need some help installing whatever. I'll be on the engine room. Come on Dorb" Cnosos walks inside the ship, and find his way through the corridors to the engines room.
His floating droid orbits his master, buzzing and clicking.


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## Blackrat (Aug 17, 2007)

You make your way through the cargohold. The hatch to the interior opens directly to the bridge. From there Cnosos continues through the ship. It is built along one central corridor. On one end there is the bridge and on the other is engineroom. Along the way there is the living quarters: One big room with eight cryo-units that heve been modified to serve as beds and a big "living room" along with a bathroom. There's also an airlock to the reactor which is underneath the main deck.
Mel swicthes the main computer on and it starts automatically running through the pre-flight diagnostics. Everything seems to be working properly.
As Michael and Faris inspect the ship they find a small storage-room that could easily be emptied and made in to a medical room. Not much, but better than nothing.

[sblock=OOC]Due to the mysteries of computer-world I lost most of my gaming-images, including the floorplan to your ship and all starmaps. So I need to take a couple of days off and redraw the most imminent of them. I will make this my #1 priority so hopefully we can continue on sunday.[/sblock]


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## Rhun (Aug 17, 2007)

After dropping his gear off in the living quarters and claiming a "bed" as his own, Damon follows Melara to the bridge, sliding behind the co-pilot's station. His hands fly over the console as he aids the pilot in her pre-flight checks, while simultaneously starting his own barrage of diagnostics on the ship's computer, communications and sensor systems.


*
Computer Use +7 to make sure all is well and there aren't any 'surprises' embedded in any systems that are going to cause us trouble.
*


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 17, 2007)

Cnosos leaves his backpack with his belongings liyng on the floor of the engines room. He quickly stats checking out the engines performance, searching for any needed repair and any upgrade possible. Dorb flies next to his master, with his tools ready.

OOC: I'm not sure about it bu I think a knowledge technology (+8) will be appropriate to find any missfunction and then  repair (+11) it. If there are no backup pieces Cnosos will try to create them at the workbench with Craft mechanical (+10)


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## Blackrat (Aug 20, 2007)

Damon gets the sensors on-line and checks trough the system. It seems the ship is eguipped with a sensor-jammer but there is some glitch in the programming. You can't however identify what it actually is.

Cnosos can now confirm that the engines are truly quite old. They have been jury-rigged from many places but currently they seem to be in working condition. There doesn't seem to be anything requiring repairs at the moment but that could change any time. There are well stocked cabins full of spare-parts in the engine-room.

[sblock=OOC]I have the necessary maps now drawn and will post them in ten hours when I get back home from work[/sblock]


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## Shayuri (Aug 20, 2007)

"This is your pilot speaking," Mel drawls laconically over the ship's intercom. "Preflight checks out. A couple of needles pushing the yellow, but nothing that'll keep us out of the black. We can take off anytime once we get clearance."


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 20, 2007)

"Engines online and working amazingly well after all the time they have seen. Cnosos out" reply the technician from the engines room. He turns off the communicator, and turns to his droid. "You stay here and check everything is going smooth, if anything happens call me" Cnosos explain to Dorb befor he makes his way to the cabin
Once there "So we are almost ready to leave the nest ah?" he asks Damon and Mel


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## Raylis (Aug 20, 2007)

"Well, for now we'll be fine. I can treat anyone in their bed, but we may want to consider dragging one in here. I took the liberty of ordering a pharmicutial and chemical concocting stations; while not immediatly necessary they will save us on cost of buying pre fabricated medicines.  Michael says, walking out of the storage room,  "Currently we will be fine as far as medicines go; but if you'll excuse me "captain", I'm going to familliarize myself with the layout of the ship in the likely event that I have to rush to the helm or the engine room to tend Cnosos and Mel."


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## Rhun (Aug 20, 2007)

Damon gives his crewmembers on the bridge status updates as he runs his diagnostic routines, never looking up from his console. "Sensors online. Communications systems activated. There seems to be a glitch in our jamming equipment, but I can't quite get a handle on just what the error is."


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## Shayuri (Aug 20, 2007)

"Looks that way, 'nosis," Mel replies absently as she inspects some recalcitrant gauges.

To Damon she asks, "Is it a problem?" Glitches ranged from merely irritating to catastrophically crippling, she well knew. "What subsystem? Just the jammer?"

She did a double take.

"We have a jammer?"


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## Blackrat (Aug 20, 2007)

[sblock=OOC]I added a floorplan to your ship in the rogues gallery. And here's a map of the human colonies. One square in the map equals 100 light-years so this map shows an area of 300 by 300 light-years, which is only a small portion of the Rebuplic. The red colour means there is a home-planet of a race in said system (Sol being red because humanity's used to be there       ). Blue is a system with human colony and green is just a link-gate. The green lines show safe jump-routes. If there's questions, do ask.[/sblock]

As Damon switches on the navigation console he gets on a holographic map of human colonies:


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## Rhun (Aug 20, 2007)

Damon glances at Melara and smiles. "Yeah, looks like it is just the jammer." He looks back down at his console. "Everything else is in the green." He taps a few keys, piping the nav display on to one of the forward screens. "Nav systems online and functioning within normal parameters; Nav display is up."


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 20, 2007)

"For the 56th time, it's CNOSOS god dammit! You two are going to get some real troubles here if you don't change your attitude." the technician replies severely, like a father scolding his child.
"Now let's check that jam then. Oh, where is it? I'm kind of lost here, didn't really know how did I get here..." Cnosos asks


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## Rhun (Aug 20, 2007)

"Hold a moment, Cnosis," says Damon, smiling at the man's outburst. He quickly calls up a schematic of the ship's systems, indicating the location of the jamming system. "I've got the schematics showing the jammer; piping them through to engineering now."


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## Shayuri (Aug 20, 2007)

"Damn," Mel comments, making sure it's not on the comm system. "He's sounding as old as this ship these days."

She then flicks her headset back on. "Looks like we're basically golden up here, Captain-sir. Are you gonna have us launch, or is this just a big tease?"

(Edit - Somewhere I started forgetting to use my color!)


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## Mithran (Aug 20, 2007)

Faris joins the others at the bridge "Alright, if you're all satisfied we're ready to go. Mel, you can take her out whenever you're ready. Just give the flight control boys a call first. Unless anyone can think of anything we really just can't do in flight."


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 20, 2007)

Cnosos study the schematics for a moment "Alright, I'll got it fix in a blink".

"I can hear you Mel! I don't walk that fast!" Cnosos shouts from a few meters behind th door.

The bold man stares at the jamming with a serious expression in his face, as usual. He take out his tools and start working.

OOC: Repair +11 I assume I can take 20, so its a 31


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## Shayuri (Aug 20, 2007)

To her credit, Mel blushes a bit, then waits for a moment, looking back over her shoulder before adding sotto voce to Damon, "And he moves really slow too."

She sits up and opens up a channel to the station.

"Unity control, this is Gold Greed, berth twenty-two, requesting clearance for departure, over."

All the joking and quipping vanished as soon as she was on with control, like flicking a switch to another person. The cycling hum of the engines started to conduct through the hull, spreading throughout the ship as she increased power to them in preparation for applying thrust.

On the internal intercom she says, "Hey, shouldn't someone throw a bottle of wine at us or something?"


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## Rhun (Aug 20, 2007)

Damon grimaces as a loud metallic ping sounds through the hull as Mel powers up the engines. "I'd rather they didn't throw anything at us...this thing might fall apart!"


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## Raylis (Aug 20, 2007)

"That was only for the ship's maiden voyage  Michael says over the intercom walking into engineering, his medbag still slung over his shoulder.

 "And this ship is _far_ from maidenhood."


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 20, 2007)

"Michael is right, besides, old Stev can afford just a juice tin to throw" adds Cnosos by the intercom, cleaning his hands of the black oil.


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## Blackrat (Aug 21, 2007)

[sblock=OOC]The glitch in sensor jammer is actually somekind of programming so it is more of computer use than repair, but taking 20 you actually locate it[/sblock]

Cnosos and Damon both work on the jammer for a while and eventually find the programming glitch. It seems to be some indepently working program in the jammer-system. It has a on-off function and currently it is turned off. You have however no idea what this extra program does.

Meanwhile Mel receives a transmission from Control: "This is Unity Control, you're cleared for take-off." Then changing to more informal tone the voice asks:"Say, isn't that Steve Blacks old ship? So you're the new kids he hired."


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## Rhun (Aug 21, 2007)

"I recommend leaving the jamming system off-line until Cnosos and I can figure out what this other program does," says Damon. "We can always chance it if we need it, but I've never really liked unidentified code."


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 21, 2007)

"Yes, we will have plenty of time in the space, now lets take off. I don't think it will give us much trouble now" Adds Cnosos. Then he stays meditative for a second, and speaks again. "Did you notice that when you speak to the others you call me by my name, and when you address me you call me Cnosis?" he remain silent, as he scratch his beard, thoughtful.


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## Shayuri (Aug 21, 2007)

"That's us," Mel replies jovially. "Just taking it out for a shakedown...see how bad he's stiffing us. Anything we ought to know? He isn't leaving us any docking charges or anything is he?"

She chuckles and switches to the intercom. "We've got clearance. If you're not sitting down, grab onto something."

There was a deep hiss as the air in the berth was sucked back into the station, which meant that the noise of the massive plate doors opening to space was reduced to what conducted through the floor and hull of the Gold Greed...not much, in other words. Outside the darkened berth was the starry expanse of space.

Inside the ship, the engines whined, and invisible forces tugged gently on the occupants as Melara eased the craft out of the berth doors with tiny pushes from the attitude jets.

"You strapped in, Damon?" she asked casually.


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## Rhun (Aug 21, 2007)

Damon checks the sensors, ensuring all is well as their pilot maneuvers the ship toward the outer bay doors. "Umbilicals detached. All outboard moorings are cleared." At Mel's words, he quickly secures his safety harness, and then flashes her a smile. "Ready when you are."


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## Mithran (Aug 21, 2007)

Faris straps into an empty chair in the cockpit, knowing he's just the next thing from useless, but wanting to be able to see all the same.


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 21, 2007)

Cnosos secure his belt into the seat he has chosen and behold the scene.


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## Raylis (Aug 21, 2007)

Michael takes a seat next to Cnosos,  "If you think the engines are about to explode...let me know. he says dryly strapping himself in.


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 21, 2007)

"Don't you worry, it is more probable that the entire fuselage crumbles down spontaneously, than the engines explode, that things seems as good as new. Of course I picture 50 years before they looked a lot better." Cnosos repies.


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## Raylis (Aug 21, 2007)

"Wonderful"  Michael says.


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## Blackrat (Aug 22, 2007)

Mel eases the ship out of the dock and into the open space without difficulties. You are finally on your way to the stars. It will be almost a days journey in normal space until you reach the Idar Jump Gate. The woman in Control laughs: "I'd bet there's a bunch of things Steve forgot to tell you, but nothing that serious hopefully. His memory just ain't too good. Godspeed on your journey."


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## Shayuri (Aug 23, 2007)

"See you soon, Unity. Out."

Melara settles her hand on the throttle to the main engines and pauses to savor the moment...then pushes the T-stick forward. Immediately the hum of the engines becomes a roar, carried by metal struts and superstructure from the thrusters themselves to the crew compartments. Clearly the ship's thermal cushioning and sound absorbers could use some work.

At the same moment as the roar came the pull. An inexorably force that felt exactly like gravity, only pulling everyone and everything on the ship back towards the rear rather than down towards the bottom. Add to that the fact that the moment the ship exited the berth and was in space, the artificial gravity of Unity station was gone. The net result was the bizarre feeling that the ship had suddenly spun ninety degrees, dumping everyone onto their backs. But it didn't stop there. The Mirp engines were capable of more than one gravity of acceleration, so the pull kept growing in strength, and growing.

And then, shockingly, it was gone. The noise. The shaking. The vicious pull. In its place were silence and stillness and the stomach-wrenching buoyancy of microgravity.

Mel's voice came back on over the intercom. "That's it for our first show, ladies and gentlemen. Come back in...twenty-one hours and forty-six minutes for the exciting conclusion. On course to Idar jumpgate."


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## Raylis (Aug 23, 2007)

Michael his the com  "Very funny, Melara. Next time do you want to shake this ship a _bit_ more, because I would so _love_ to suffer a cervical sprain."


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 23, 2007)

"Yes, it is great for digestion too. I must fix those noise dampeners...."


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## Rhun (Aug 23, 2007)

"Very nice, Mel," says Damon, smiling. "Now we wait."


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## Shayuri (Aug 23, 2007)

She leans back in her chair and sighs. "Don't let this get around, but like...ninety percent of a pilot's work could probably be done with a computer. It's just...do this amount of burn for this much time while pointing in this direction. It's only because of that other ten percent that I have a job at all."

Mel shrugs. "At least until someone invents a non-newtonian drive, that's pretty much how it'll be."


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## Rhun (Aug 23, 2007)

Damon smiles at the pilot. "Well, if we should find ourselves in a combat situation, I'll feel a lot better with you on the stick than some pre-programed code."


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## Mithran (Aug 23, 2007)

Faris smiles and flips on the comm so he's talking to everyone "Well guys, I'm disappointed. With all the complaints about Gold Greed's age I was expecting something more... spectacular. Anybody see any indicators that we're about to go out in a blaze of pretty colors yet?"


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## Rhun (Aug 23, 2007)

Damon turns his attention back to his console, checking both the external and internal monitors. "Oddly enough, everything seems to be functioning properly..."


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 23, 2007)

"I could search for any needed repair in the ship, what will take me a while, or you may just start using everything, malfunctions will show themselves faster that way." Cnosos says, reflectively. "So, I will be here if you need me" and closes his eyes.


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## Raylis (Aug 23, 2007)

"If the engines are fine Cnonos, how about giving me a hand moving one of the beds into the storage-er _medical_ bay. By my count there are eight beds and only five of us. It would be better to put a dying alien with its last words and galaxy altering mission in a place where everyone _doesn't_ sleep daily.  Michael says, unstrapping himself and heading toward the living area.


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 23, 2007)

"Alright, I see you have need of my extreme musculature to aid you in your quest" Cnosos says poetically, making a gesture with his arm, that shows his poorly developed muscles


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## Blackrat (Aug 24, 2007)

The space. It's big, cold and lonely place. During the first day of your journey you come to realize that this new job ain't exactly what you had dreamed off. Actually you knew it already but now it is finally at hand: No heroic adventures or fast-talking your way out of trouble every day. This is the part the pilots always left out of their stories: Most of your time will be spent flying from one place to another in this small tin can. Even through hyperspace it will take few days to the Unity Way Station and from there almost a week to the next colony.

Having flown the transports between Unity and Korg homeworld, Melara has experience with zero-grav but for the others it is a disturbing feeling. It seems to turn your stomach around every time you turn yourself, but after a while you start enjoying the weightlessnes. The ability to "fly" through the ship is thrilling at the least. Luckily the z-grav also makes it easy to move big objects around. So after unbolting it, Cnosos and Michael are able to move one of the beds to the new med-bay without too much effort.

The day goes by. You experiment with the systems and get to know the ship. Autopilot takes care of most of the flying so Mel too can relax. Just one person is needed on the bridge at any time to keep an eye out for troubles. Then finally you are within sight of the jumpgate. Compared to the huge beams of the gate, Gold Greed is like a tiny bug. Mel takes the helm again and Damon prepares to activate the gate but notices a disturbance in the sensors. There is something between you and the gate. At that exact moment the thing phases into sight. It could possibly be a ship, but you are not certain. It is disk-shaped and about one third the size of your ship. It looks as if it's made of liquid mercury, the surface seems to be gently rippling(sp?) (like water). Your sensors show that the ship scans you and then phases out again, and with that it is gone. Was it real or a mass hallucination?

[sblock=OOC]This was your traditional flying saucer .

Now has any of you *not* seen Babylon 5? The jumpgate is like those in the series (Although much bigger. The ships in D20 future are quite a bit bigger than those of B5). Works exactly the same way too .

I have decided to dump the rules about space-sickness because that would just hinder the fun. Whatever effect it has will be covered by description only (Which I already did ). no need to make it have any mechanical effect.[/sblock]


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## Rhun (Aug 24, 2007)

Damon double-checks the sensor logs, just to see if they have record of the small disc-like shape phasing in and out of normal space. "That was just odd," he says, shaking his head. Finally he shrugs and turns his head to Faris. "Should I activate the jump gate?"


[sblock=OOC]

I don't know, the Babylon 5 ships could get pretty big. I believe the Vorlon Planet-Killers were over three to four miles in diamter. Earth ships were pretty big, too. Omega Class destroyers are 1700 meters in length, and the explorer-class ships were over 6000 meters in length.

[/sblock]


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## Mithran (Aug 24, 2007)

"Sure. The space fairies don't seem to have blown us up, so presumably they're off on their merry way."


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## Shayuri (Aug 24, 2007)

Melara frowns as she waits for gate clearance.

"Don't think I've seen a ship like -that- before. Some kind of optical cloaking or something...did you see that distortion effect on its hull? We gotta get one of those."


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## Raylis (Aug 24, 2007)

"Get one of what?"  Micahael asks "stepping" onto the bridge. He looks up at the gate,  "I wonder if whoever built that was compensating for something.


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## Rhun (Aug 24, 2007)

Damon's hands fly over the control conole as he sends the commands to activate the jump gate. "Activating jump gate sequence now."


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## Shayuri (Aug 24, 2007)

"Some alien ship...agh, hold on!"

The Gold Greed shuddered again as the drives flared up. It surged forward into the vast skeletal cylinder of the jumpgate. As they passed the first third of it, the weightless feeling of freefall _shifted_ unnaturally forward as the gate rippled and space in front of the vessel compressed into a momentary singularity...then blossomed into the wild riot of eye-twisting colors-that-weren't-colors of jumpspace. 

"Here we go..." Mel said with the anticipation of someone looking down from the top of a hill on a roller coaster as the ride inched inexorably closer to the great fall...

Wholly unnecessary commentary, as the sudden sensation of enormous velocity gripped the ship and its crew...again, only for an instant before vanishing as abruptly as it came. Then there was only the calm of zero-gee, and scintillating non-space outside.


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## Raylis (Aug 24, 2007)

"A little warning, perhaps a 'you should sit down' - and time enough to _do_ so -would have been appreciated.  Michael's voice sounds from the com once the ship reaches the other side of the gate.


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## Shayuri (Aug 24, 2007)

"Sorry, Doc. When the light turns green you have to jackrabbit, or you can lose your place in line. Best policy when on approach for jump is to strap in and stay that way until you're through."


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## Rhun (Aug 24, 2007)

Damon smiles at Melara's comments. "You'll get 'em trained soon enough," he says.


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 25, 2007)

Cnosos was jointing the bed in the medical bay floor, when the hiperspace jump took place. He flew ofer the bed, hit the wall, and fall on the bed. 
"I hate you Mel..." he says by the comm, as he steps up.


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## Rhun (Aug 25, 2007)

Damon's laughter at Cnosos' comment echoes through the intercom, before he manages to mute his own unit. He continues to chuckle at his console as he again checks the sensor system for anything odd.


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## Blackrat (Aug 25, 2007)

Damon goes through sensor-recordings to confirm their sighting and true enough, there it is. You have quality video-material of the strange ship. Who is it and where did it come from, you have no idea though. But the design of the ship seems to match many of the sightings of pre-Burn Earth. This is some of the "knowledge" that persists even in the colonies; Aliens are still imagined as little green/gray men in flying saucers. But you have plenty of time to speculate the meaning of this, the jump to Unity Way Station will take about four days. The sight on your main screen is magnificant. The color outside looks a bit like red, but then again it looks as if there's no colors at all. Human mind wasn't meant to witness these kind of things. Also there seems to be a bit of gravitic pull to where-ever one considers down. It is not much, (you can still "fly") but it disorients you again after you almost got used to z-grav.

[sblock=OOC]Seems you were right Rhun. I had to do some research but it looks like they're actually almost same size. I must have confused it with some other scifi-series.

But to other matters. I will cut to the next gate soon. Nothing special happens during this jump. But I will give you some time to interact with eachother before I do that.[/sblock]


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## Raylis (Aug 28, 2007)

"So is it safe to come up and actually do what I had intended or should I keep to this bulkhead, as much as I do _love_ being slammed into immovable objects, I've had my fill for the day.


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## Shayuri (Aug 28, 2007)

Melara chuckles as she undoes the security web and comms, "Yeah, I'll give you all a -warning- next time...since you're all so soft. Sheesh." 

Then to Damon, "I think I'm gonna check the galley. Want anything?"


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## Rhun (Aug 28, 2007)

"We'll be lucky if the galley is stocked at all," replies Damon, "But if there is something resembling coffee, I could sure go for a cup. Even if it happens to be synthetic or alien in orgin."


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## Mithran (Aug 28, 2007)

"Some food sounds good. I think I'll join you." Faris flicks on the comm "Since we haven't had a lot of time to do anything but jump at this opportunity to get a ship, it seems like it might be a good idea to have a little get together and chat about how we want to run this operation now that we've got some time on our hands. I'm proposing we all meet in the living area in say... an hour. Sound good?"


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## Shayuri (Aug 28, 2007)

"Sure thing, though someone should stay up here and keep an eye on things," Mel says as she glides towards the door to the bridge.

She gives Damon a nod. "Coffee. We'll see how lucky we are."


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## Rhun (Aug 28, 2007)

Damon shrugs as Melara leaves the bridge. "I can stay here. Or, I can set the sensor systems to sound an alarm if they detect anything out of the ordinary."


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## Raylis (Aug 28, 2007)

"Doesn't this thing come with some sort of auto pilot or computer?"  Michael says once again "stepping" onto the bridge, this time grabbing the doorframe as he does so.


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## Rhun (Aug 28, 2007)

"Of course it does," answers Damon to Michael's question. "It just isn't a very good one."


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 29, 2007)

"We ain't crashing with anything anyway" Cnosos says by the comm "See you in an hour"


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## Blackrat (Aug 29, 2007)

The food prosessor does only one kind of food: Porridge. It is nutricious, good on proteins and has added vitamins in it. And doesn't taste anything. But you have gotten used to it since it is the most usual food on colonies. Luckily it does better on drinks and it actually makes pretty decent synthetic coffee.


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## Blackrat (Aug 30, 2007)

An hour later you convene in the mess (#6 in the map) to discuss about your plans. Steve gave you almost free hands in deciding what to do with Gold Greed. He has ofcourse legal jobs for you if you want to fly cargo, but as long as you bring profit to the company he doesn't care how you do it (actually as other means mostly brings more money, he'd prefer those).

The mess has 7 chairs and a long table which is inlayd with touch-screen computer displays. Your have access to Unity's database which contains all the data of human colonies and everything humans have on different alien species. Also history and other records of earth. (Essentially an internet, so if you want to find out anything specific it's a research check)

The food processor can't make anything but tasteless porridge and something that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea (It could also probably be called synthetic coffee), but checking through the storage-cabins you find that one has a good suply of actual food. Cryo-preserved vegetables, mostly of alien origin but even some rare earth stuff like potatoes. And meat, also of some alien origin.

[sblock=OOC]Earth-originated foods are rare these days as not much were taken aboard. Grains were easy to transport and therefore colonies have hydroponic farms groving them (If, by any whim or such, you would be interested in over-details it is Triticale). Most have few other vegetables/fruits in their greenhouses also but their products are rare and carry a hefty prize on the market. So it's either the tasteless porridge with synthetic vitamins or alien foods (which tend to be on the prizey side too, those that actually go well with human digestation. ). Earth animals are even more rare. There is actually one dog in the Unity, almost worshipped animal who is unfortunatily going to die soon because of his age.

Also: Bump   

Wow. Were already going on the fourth page of this. I'm totally excited[/sblock]

EDIT: Props on Douglas Adams. Couldn't resist quoting.


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 30, 2007)

OOC: Why took triticale if you got triticum and other more palatable grains? There's no pasta if you don't have some good ol' _Trticum candeale_!


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## Mithran (Aug 30, 2007)

Faris had finished his porridge and made sure to be seated as soon as possible. He greeted the others in his usual friendly manner as they came in.


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## Rhun (Aug 30, 2007)

Damon pours himself a cup of the coffee-like drink, sniffing at it as he does so. Then, he shrugs his shoulders and takes a sip, moving to take a seat near Faris.


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## Shayuri (Aug 30, 2007)

Mel leans back in her seat and rests her thermos on her stomach, looking quite comfortable as she waits for someone to get things started.


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## Rhun (Aug 31, 2007)

Damon looks a Faris. "So, what do you think Cap?"


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## Mithran (Aug 31, 2007)

"Well, I think the first point to settle is just what sort of work we want to be doing. We've got a pretty free hand here, and I personally think we might want to take advantage of that. But I want to hear from you guys first how much and what sort of work you want to do. Then we can start working towards organizing our efforts towards that."


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## Rhun (Aug 31, 2007)

Damon leans back and takes a long draught off his mug of coffee. He sighs deeply, and then shrugs his shoulders. "You know I'm up for just about anything. As they say, the higher the risk, the greater the profits."


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## Voda Vosa (Aug 31, 2007)

Cnosos who had just finished his potage, makes the dish a side, and crosses his arms in front of his torso, leaning back in his seat. "And what are you suggesting then? "High risks" doesn't involve anything in particular, as you may see" says the technician with his deep voice, the tone he uses when speaking seriously.


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## Raylis (Aug 31, 2007)

"If I am not mistaken, I do believe that we were given license to act as privateers. Being a cargo vessel does make my services readily needed.  Michael says, leaning against the doorframe.


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## Mithran (Sep 2, 2007)

"Oh come on, wouldn't you rather be aboard just to treat colds and the occasional case of space dementia?"


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## Blackrat (Sep 3, 2007)

[sblock=OOC]I wouldn't want to interrupt this conversation just yet but you have been awake for some time. So if you would go through the last sentences before retiring to beds (So we could jump to the end of jump and to get some action). Unless there is something you still really want to do before that. One person should stay at least half-awake to respond to any emergency that might come.[/sblock]


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 3, 2007)

"I don't know you, but I'm in need of some rest, so if you need me, I'll be sleeping." Cnosos says, as he gets up, and goes to the room. Walking, he use the comm to contact his droid "Keep an eye on the engines Dorb, and the general ship status too. Make me know if theres anything wrong"


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## Shayuri (Sep 3, 2007)

At length, Melara says, "You know, I see where all this is going, Cap. I'm thinking we should just look at the jobs that come, and see what happens. We can make all the plans in the world, and it won't mean anything if we don't get the jobs we think we will."

She gets up and brushes herself off.

"I'm gonna turn in. I'll sleep on the bridge, so if there's any alerts it'll wake me up."

With that she saunters out (unless anyone has anything more to say to her ).


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## Rhun (Sep 4, 2007)

Damon finishes his drink and stands to leave. "As stated, I'm ready for anything. If there is money to be made, I'm up for making it." With that, Damon heads for his bunk.


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## Mithran (Sep 4, 2007)

Faris gave the group a somewhat bewildered look, then made to start leaving himself. "Uhh, yeah. Good talk everybody. Sorry I delayed nap time."


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## Blackrat (Sep 4, 2007)

Decided that you see what opportunities present themself, you retire to sleep. The next three days goes by without incidents. Time seems to prove that the ship is actually in way better condition than its age and looks would imply. It is a boring journey through hyperspace.

Jumping a bit forward:

It is anymore only half an hour to the gate PXR-363, also known as Unity Way Station and as you learnt from the last jump you are now all on the bridge, seated and belted to avoid the accidents and preparing for the jump. Suddenly you get a hailing signal of unknown origin. Communication in hyperspace is tricky unless ships are in relatively close proximity to each other, but the sensors don't detect any ships in range. The only thing in comm-range is the gate itself. It is ofcourse possible that someone would try to use the gate to relay a message but that would require that they knew exactly where you are.

The message you're getting is badly distorted: "***ou copy*********boost***"

[sblock=OOC]The *'s are static as everyone probably deciphered

And so it begins. The action that is 

Sorry if I hurry a bit too much  [/sblock]


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## Rhun (Sep 4, 2007)

"Picking up a signal...it is badly distorted. I'll try cleaning it up." Damon's hands tap keys as he attempts to clear up the static.


*Computer Use +7*


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 5, 2007)

"Try using a distortion node as a pattern, then erase it from the message" suggest Cnosos, trying to help Damon. "Dorb, give us a hand"

OoC: Cnosos will help Damon. Computer use +7 
Dorb will try as well. Computer use +4


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## Blackrat (Sep 5, 2007)

You manage to get the signal clearer. "Gold Greed, thisss*** Unity Control. D* you copy. Damnit sir, I'm using all we got to boost this signal already. We can only wait for them to get close enough. Gold Greed, this is Unity Control, please respond." It goes on like this. Some argumenting going on in the background and the comm-officer trying to hail you. He sounds a bit distressed.


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## Shayuri (Sep 5, 2007)

"It's the station," Mel says unnecessarily. "Can we get a signal back to them?"


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 5, 2007)

"If we empower our signal with the ship's emergency energy, and resend it to Unity, we may have something that sounds as their first message. What do you think Damon?" Suggests Cnosos to Damon, with an inquiring look.


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## Rhun (Sep 5, 2007)

Damon nods as he continues to work his controls. "It is worth a shot. Diverting auxillary power to the tranceiver array. Attempting to boost our signal to establish two way communication."


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## Raylis (Sep 5, 2007)

"Why would the station be hailing us?  Michael muses out loud,  "Trouble on the other side??


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## Blackrat (Sep 6, 2007)

You are pretty certain that you should be able to establish two-way communication now that they have managed to get through to you. After all, it is easier to send to a stationary receiver than to a moving one.


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## Blackrat (Sep 10, 2007)

"Gold Greed, this is Unity Control. If you can hear us, please respond."


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## Shayuri (Sep 10, 2007)

Melara looks back at the Captain, then shrugs and takes the comm.

"This is Gold Greed, we did not read your previous message. Repeat, the previous communication was garbled and we did not read. Please repeat, over."


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## Blackrat (Sep 12, 2007)

"Thank God!" comes a yelp from the comm. "You have no idea what we had to rig up to get to you. There's been an emer..." The voice is cut off by a gruff sounding male. "Now listen up and listen good. This is Admiral Nelson of Unity Defence Fleet. I know you're not military but you're the only one we got close enough. Three hours ago we received a distress signal from the way-station. It is still emitting and that is all we know. We assume they were attacked. You guys are the only ones within two days of the station. Go there, take a look and report back."

Looks like Michael was right. Trouble at the other side.


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## Rhun (Sep 12, 2007)

Damon can only shake his head as the orders come over the comm. Then he shrugs. "Might as well check it out," he says. "Sounds more exciting than this milk run at any rate."


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## Shayuri (Sep 12, 2007)

Mel looks back at Faris.

"Orders?" she asks.


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 12, 2007)

"It may give us some profit, the gratitude of Unity is better than its dislike I guess" Cnosos says lightly


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## Raylis (Sep 12, 2007)

"And should there be an attacking force then what will _we_ do? Grapple one ship while the others blast us. While I am forced to agree that it would certanly be more interesting then dropping off cargo, like the good commander said we are _not_ Military and are under no obligation to follow those orders. 

In the very least we should be given compensation for our side trip, good favor doesn't supply us with meals or fuel.


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## Mithran (Sep 15, 2007)

Faris seems lost in thought for a minute or so, then he replies to Melara. "Do as the the nice admiral says." Then he flicks on the comm to reply to the Admiral Nelson himself "Captain Faris Namir speaking, Admiral. We're diverting course as ordered."

"While we're still in communications range lets take a moment and consider the fact that my crew is about to risk life and limb in a potentially hazardous situation in a ship that really isn't built for it. I have to consider my crew's needs as well as those of Unity personnel. I would like to request that we recieve salvage rights on all forces involved in this emergency, whether we do anything more than scout or not, save Unity vessels that can be refitted to working order.


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## Shayuri (Sep 15, 2007)

Mel exchanges a glance with Damon and nods.

"Setting course for the way station," she says. "Would this be a good time to ask if this bucket is armed?"


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## Raylis (Sep 15, 2007)

"Good move, "Captain"; I'll go prepare the medical area.  Michael says, unbelting and drifting toward the converted med bay.


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 15, 2007)

At Melaras question, Cnosos blinks "If it does have some sort of defenses I could possibly do some upgrades on them. You know, just for shoot something that can actually do some damage"


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## Rhun (Sep 16, 2007)

Damon taps the control consoles, bringing up schematics and diagrams as he brings the ship's weapon systems online. "Looks like we've got a pair of fire-linked needle drivers. Schematics indicate simple vanadium armor plating, though she does have a magnetic shielding system. All systems are operating within normal parameters. She ain't a warship, but I guess she'll have to do."


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## Shayuri (Sep 16, 2007)

"Better then slingshots. Heat 'em up, cuz we're heading in."


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## Blackrat (Sep 17, 2007)

The admirals voice booms from the comm. "Salvage rights! I knew it would be bad idea to give out privateer rights. Okay son. Since you don't officially exist you can take what you want. But if there's any of our folk alive, their safety is the first priority. And be careful out there."

The weaponry can be accessed from the two hatches in the bridge. It is possible for two to man both the stations and shoot at separate targets or for one to man one station and link the guns to work in unison. You are nearing the jump-point to the Way-station. Better to buckle up.


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## Rhun (Sep 17, 2007)

Damon double checks his safety harness and turns his attention back to his controls. "Weapons and targeting systems primed and online."


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 17, 2007)

OOC: Cnosos will check if he can make any upgrade or repair to the weapons or ship shields.


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## Blackrat (Sep 17, 2007)

Voda Vosa said:
			
		

> OOC: Cnosos will check if he can make any upgrade or repair to the weapons or ship shields.




[sblock=OOC]From the inside it would be impossible. He needs to wait until they're docked to make anything useful to those  .[/sblock]


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## Shayuri (Sep 17, 2007)

"We're approaching the exit point. If you're not at a seat, grab onto something," Mel warns into the comm.


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## Mithran (Sep 18, 2007)

"Thank you, Admiral. We'll be in touch" Faris strapped himself into one of the weapons control areas, smiling all the way. Every now and then you had to remind high ups that you really don't get something for nothing. He set both weapons to be under his console's control, and waited for exit.


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## Rhun (Sep 18, 2007)

"Synching targeting system with your firing controls now, Faris," says Damon through the intercom as he makes sure the weapons are at full operational readiness.


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## Blackrat (Sep 19, 2007)

As Mel takes the ship through the jump sequence you are now all prepared for the sudden gravity-bang, first pulling you forward, then backward and then ceasing completely. All in the matter of milliseconds. Immediatily as you return to the normal space your comm-array lights up. "This is lieutenant Rothemd of Unity way station. We are under attack, I repeat we are under attack! They have breached the hull! Anybody, please send help!" The message keeps repeating over and over again, obviously rigged to automatic sending. The station is only few thousand miles from the gate. Sitting on a moon of a gas-giant. It won't take more than ten minutes to fly there.


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 19, 2007)

"For the hair that I don't have! This is getting ugly... What do you think we should do? Will it be safe to approach and take a look?" Cnosos ask, dubitatibe


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## Rhun (Sep 19, 2007)

"The distress signal seems to be set to auto-repeat," says Damon. "Trying to establish contact now, but my guess is that whatever happened here is over..."


*Damon will attempt to contact the base and get a response other than the automated signal.*


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## Blackrat (Sep 19, 2007)

Rhun said:
			
		

> *Damon will attempt to contact the base and get a response other than the automated signal.*




No succes. It just keeps sending the same.


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## Rhun (Sep 19, 2007)

Damon shakes his head slowly. "No response from the way station. I'd say we missed the party."


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## Shayuri (Sep 19, 2007)

"Yeah, but whoever attacked the base obviously doesn't mind letting the message broadcast," Melara points out darkly. "Maybe they're waiting for it to lure someone else in. Any sensor contacts?"


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## Rhun (Sep 19, 2007)

"Initiating full sensor sweep. If anything is out there, I'll find it."


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## Blackrat (Sep 24, 2007)

The sensors don't register any ships in vicinity. Not even traces of anything so it has had to been at least couple of days since anyone has been here. Which makes the distress signal a bit strange since it started only a few hours ago. The hull of the station seems to be intact which also contradicts with the signal. From outside everything seems to be ok except for the fact that no-one answers for hailing.


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## Rhun (Sep 24, 2007)

Damon sighs as his scans turn up nothing. Things always had to be complicated. He again activates the intercom so he can inform his companions of the sensor results. "This region is clean. There are no ships or other threats in the area. I'm not picking up any debris, either. The station's hull appears to be intact, no weapons damage."


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 24, 2007)

"Can you scan the area for any engine trace? May be a shuttle, or something carrying whatever attacked the station..." Cnosos asks by the com channel


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## Shayuri (Sep 24, 2007)

Melara frowns as she brings the Gold Greed slowly closer to the station.

"That doesn't match the distress beacon," she mutters. "which probably means this is some kind of trap."

She thinks for a second, then asks. "Damon...is there anything around here a ship could hide behind, but still get here in a short amount of time? Moon maybe, or planetoid? Radiation fields... I'm gonna bring us in closer and circle the station once so we can see all of it."

Then, with a chuckle, she adds, "If anyone's got a telescope, you could try to see into the station's windows as we pass."


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## Blackrat (Sep 26, 2007)

The station sits on a very small moon, orbiting a gas-giant. So it is possible that someone could be hiding on the other side of the moon. As Mel brings you closer it becomes clear that there is indeed nothing wrong on the outside. Unfortunately your sensors aren't good enough to determine life-signatures aboard the station.

[sblock=OOC]Does Mel circle around the moon or just close in with the station?[/sblock]


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## Shayuri (Sep 26, 2007)

(oops! I assumed a free orbiting station. My bad )

"You want to go right in or do an orbit of the moon first?" Melara asks Faris. "Another thirty seconds and we'll be past the orbit window...meaning we'll either have to waste a bunch of fuel boosting out to orbit height again, or land."


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 26, 2007)

Noticing no one heard him, Cnosos scratch his bold head, then repeats.
"You should clean your ears: I repeat, did you find any fuel traces? O activity of any engine?"


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## Mithran (Sep 26, 2007)

"Lets do an orbit, and look for Cnosos' fuel traces. Don't want anything sneaking up on us if we can avoid it."


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## Rhun (Sep 26, 2007)

Damon continues to man the scanners. "Scanning for traces of fuel, energy or other emissions."


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## Shayuri (Sep 26, 2007)

"You got it."

The engines light up again, and the crew feels the tug of acceleration as Melara urges the Gold Greed into a low, fast orbit around the moon's equator. She watches for any signs of navigational hazards and ships, leaving the detail sensor work to Damon.


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## Raylis (Sep 26, 2007)

"Have you found anything yet? The "med bay" is setup to recieved the injured. Michael asks by way of comm.


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## Blackrat (Sep 27, 2007)

No trace of any ships. Either no-one has been here recently or they hide darn well. As you near the opposite side of the moon though, Damon notices something hidden. Not a ship. Another station, or to be exact, more like a small base. It has some kind of cloaking mechanism and only because of Damon's competence and active searching he is able to find it at all. It is sitting on the dark side of the moon.


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## Rhun (Sep 27, 2007)

Damon's eyes widen in surprise as he scans the dark side of the moon, not having expected to find anything at all. "Guys, I'm picking up some kind of hidden base on the dark side of the moon. It is...cloaked; I've never seen a cloaking system quite like this before."


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## Mithran (Sep 27, 2007)

"Hmm, glad we made the trip. What can you tell me about this base? Look like it has any weapons. Say... charging up and getting ready to blow us out of the sky?"


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## Blackrat (Sep 28, 2007)

[sblock=Damon]It does have two fusion beams but they are completely inert. In fact, from outside it seems as if this base too is abondoned. No short range transmissions, no movement outside, minimal energy-signature (maybe just enough to sustain life-support)[/sblock]


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## Rhun (Sep 28, 2007)

Damon shakes his head. "The base has a pair of fusion beam weapons, but they are inactive. In fact, this base seems abandon as well. No transmissions, no movement outside, and minimal energy readings."


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## Shayuri (Sep 28, 2007)

"Yeah, lets see how long they stay inactive if we try to land near it," Mel mutters darkly. "Is it big enough to hold a ship?"


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## Blackrat (Sep 28, 2007)

Closing in Mel can see that there is a landing platform near the main base. The base is too small to even have a docking bay. So to get in the base you must first don your spacesuits and walk outside to the airlock. But during the years living on a rock you all have become used to spacewalks so it's not a big deal. The weapons don't seem to react for your closing.


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## Rhun (Sep 28, 2007)

Damon grins. "Don't worry, Mel. I'll pick it up on the scanners if the weapon systems begin to power up, and you can get us the hell out of here before they fire."


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## Shayuri (Sep 28, 2007)

Melara nods at that and adds, "It's got a platform, and so far no reaction. Take her down?"


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## Mithran (Sep 28, 2007)

"Yep, lets go in and see what this place is about. Cnosos, Michael, grab your sidearms and lets get suited up." Faris headed to the weapons locker and retrieved his shotgun and body armor. 

He headed for the airlock, flicking his comm on along the way "Sorry to bore you Melara and Damon, but somebody's got to watch the ship. We'll try not to be too long." Then he flicked off and got down to getting himself into one of the ship's space suits.


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## Voda Vosa (Sep 28, 2007)

"Alright then, Dorb, come with us." Cnosos says as he grab his laser gun, and headed to the airlock as well.


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## Rhun (Sep 28, 2007)

Damon shrugs as Faris' words come over the intercom. "Fine by me; if you get yourself killed in there, I get an immediate promotion." The tone of his voice leaves you wondering if he was joking or being serious.


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## Raylis (Sep 29, 2007)

Michael straps on his medical bag as he heads towards the airlock,  "I think that would be debatable, Damon.  he says dryly,  "Anyhow both Faris and Cnosos will be fine. The only people that are in any danger of dying are those who are stupid enough to attack us.


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## Shayuri (Sep 29, 2007)

"Yeah, well, I'll keep the Greed running hot, if you don't mind. Just in case you guys come out running and shooting."

With that, Mel guides the ship down for a gentle landing, making sure to position the ship so its weapons are pointing towards the base. Just in case.


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## Mithran (Sep 30, 2007)

Once everyone is suited up, Faris heads out across the moon's surface towards the cloaked base. He flicks on the suit comm as the trio gets a little closer to the station "Cnosos, you'll probably have to get us in. You ever heard of Unity building anything like this?"


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## Blackrat (Oct 1, 2007)

Visually the base looks like normal human-built bunker. It has an airlock that is big enough to take some small cargo through. As you close to the airlock you notice that there are tracks leading from the base. Looks like some sort of surface-vehicle. Taking a moment to assert directions you come to the conclusion that they lead towards the way-station. The airlock is open which means that whoever left here, did not even bother to take the few seconds to switch on the the security-codes.


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 1, 2007)

"Have never heard of it, and I was pretty aware of things like this one back in Unity." Cnosos replys by the com. 
When he looks at the tracks, he instinctively rise his hand to scratch his head, but he couldn't. "Hm... I don't think we encounter much company inside, whoever could be here, seems to run of quite fast. Thinking it a second time, have your weapons loaded, if the people that were here have to run away so quickly, we may find some nasty things in there" Cnosos turns to Dorb and orders "Open the airlock Dorb" as he ready his weapon and aim it to the airlock entrance.


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## Blackrat (Oct 4, 2007)

Faris, Michael and Cnosos stand in the airlock as the outer doors close and a moment later the inner doors open. Immediatily you are met with grizzly sight. There is a man in lab-coat lying on the floor. He has been shot a few times in his chest and once to the head. As you step in, the communications console next to the airlock reacts. "You have... one new message"


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## Rhun (Oct 4, 2007)

"So, Mel," says Damon, "You got a deck of cards?"


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 4, 2007)

"Damn! A dead guy!" said Cnosos surprised. "What? a new message? what should we do captain?"


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## Shayuri (Oct 5, 2007)

Melara yawns and stretches in her chair, reaching back up behind her head and lacing her fingers together. There's a few decent cracking noises, and she sighs happily. Then she spins in the seat to face Damon, eying him speculatively.

"Depends. What are we betting?" she asks.


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## Raylis (Oct 5, 2007)

Michael pulls out his medical scanner and bends down near the corpse,  "Twice in the stomach, once in the head.  he vocalizes, closing the man's eyes if they weren't already.


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## Blackrat (Oct 5, 2007)

Michael kneels next to the dead scientist and takes a better look. The minimal amount of bloodloss seems to suggest that the man was dead long before he was shot. But then again the wounds seem to have been inflicted in a way that suggests the man was standing when he was shot. Very puzzling. It's as if he was dead but still walking. Sounds like a bad Zombie-movie.

[sblock=OOC]I rolled you a nat 20 with treat injury. [/sblock]


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## Raylis (Oct 5, 2007)

Michael's brows furrow as he looks over the readings and then at the man's wounds. He produces a syringe,  "Would one of you please train a weapon on this man's cervical as I take a blood sample?  his voice is even, like he asked someone to hold a bandage instead of train a weapon on a corpse. 

 "He wasn't shot to death, but he _was_ standing when he was shot. So either his assailant stood him up and shot him to make one think that this man was indeed shot to death, or he became host to some kind of xenomorph that took his body for a ride before being subsequently shot. 

He pulls the top off the syringe,  "Either way, I'd like a sample."


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## Rhun (Oct 5, 2007)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> "Depends. What are we betting?" she asks.





Damon grins and shrugs. "Clothing?"


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 5, 2007)

"Well I'll do it" Cnosos says a proceeds.


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## Mithran (Oct 5, 2007)

"Hitchhiking xenomorphs. See... I don't like that. I hope your test results come back 'crazy guy that likes shooting dead people,' doc." Faris steps over to the message console and turns it on, then looks around a bit, shotgun in hand, at other exits and gear in the room while the message plays.


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## Raylis (Oct 5, 2007)

Mithran said:
			
		

> "Hitchhiking xenomorphs. See... I don't like that. I hope your test results come back 'crazy guy that likes shooting dead people,' doc." Faris steps over to the message console and turns it on, then looks around a bit, shotgun in hand, at other exits and gear in the room while the message plays.




 "I concur, venomently so...though the prospect is fascinating. Michael says as he tears off the scientest's sleeve and puts the syringe into the dead man's arm.


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## Blackrat (Oct 6, 2007)

Michael finds no trace of alien organisms, but the man has had injections that have mutated the his muscle-tissue. His muscles are much too well developed for normal human.

Faris checks the message on the comm and a face of an Unity officer comes into view. With a trembling voice he speaks:
"The scientists have gone mad. They came from the main lab and attacked lieutenant Strindberg ripping his head off with bare hands. We fought back but they seem oblivious to wounds and pain. We believe we managed to kill them all but both sergeant Heinonen and captain Ashdowne got severely wounded. We will evacuate to the Way Station to get them to medical care. Commander Nelson out."


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## Shayuri (Oct 6, 2007)

Mel blinks, then looks out the cockpit window towards the base. If Damon didn't know better, he'd say she was actually considering it.

"You know, I hate to back down from a challenge," she decides, "but I don't think we're going to have time for poker. How long's it been since they checked in?"


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## Rhun (Oct 6, 2007)

Damon glances at the time display on his console. "Not long. They should be checking in any time now, though."


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## Mithran (Oct 6, 2007)

Faris flips on his comm says "Hey. Miss us yet? Here's the situation so far. We've got a dead guy on the floor, and a message about scientists going crazy and an evac back to the main station. Sounds like they were screwing around with something they didn't understand." then flicks off his transmit.

"Talk to me, doc. What were these guys on?"

OOC
[sblock]No other rooms or interesting looking consoles/gear in this place?[/sblock]


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## Raylis (Oct 6, 2007)

"If I were to venture a guess, soley on what that message said and the increased muscle density that his man displays I would suspect it would by some time of performance enhancining chemical, simular to steroids or Boost. Without a thorough chemical analysis I can't be certain.  he caps the sample, placing it in his medical bag. 

 "I would like to see what they were working on in their main lab. Go over their notes and determine exactly what happened. If there are any salvagable chemical analizers or synthisizers we could use our 'salvage' rights to bring them onboard. So in addition to solving this little mystery I could concoct additional medical supplies.


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## Shayuri (Oct 6, 2007)

Mithran said:
			
		

> Faris flips on his comm says "Hey. Miss us yet? Here's the situation so far. We've got a dead guy on the floor, and a message about scientists going crazy and an evac back to the main station. Sounds like they were screwing around with something they didn't understand." then flicks off his transmit.




"Speak of the devil. Hey Captain if they evaced then maybe we should..."

The comm clicks off again, and Mel scowls.

"...or not."


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## Rhun (Oct 6, 2007)

"I just hope he keeps an eye out for anything valuable," says Damon, leaning back in his seat. "After all, if we are putting our lives at risk, we might as well reap some reward for our efforts."


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## Blackrat (Oct 6, 2007)

The room you three are in is a large storage room. Mostly filled with life-support eguipment and foodstuff. There are doors to the other parts of the facility on the opposite wall of the airlock.

[sblock=OOC]







			
				Mithran said:
			
		

> No other rooms or interesting looking consoles/gear in this place?



Sorry. Mind botch.

Rhun & Shayuri, don't worry, there's some action for you too soon enough.[/sblock]


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 7, 2007)

"Then we should find our way into the lab. I might find some interesting mechanical devices here as well, Dorb, open the middle door" Cnosos orders, aiming to the entrance with his weapon.


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## Mithran (Oct 7, 2007)

Faris didn't really have time to question the wisdom behind the little drone's work, so he simply crouched behind, and steadied his shotgun on, whatever cover was most convenient.


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## Blackrat (Oct 10, 2007)

The doors slide open with a hiss and you are ready to confront any threat emerging from the other side. To your relief nothing comes through. There's a corridor with doors leading to other rooms and two more bodies like the one before. These too have been shot few times. You start searching through the base for anything salvageable?

At the same time aboard the 'Greed: Damon and Mel try to pass the time and discuss the possibility of a round of poker when the sensor computer blips. It seems that someone has just activeted the gate sequence. Unfortunatily you are too far away to get more knowledge yet as to who or what has come through. But whoever it is, it will have at least five minutes of flying before it reaches the station. Possibly even longer. Fortunately for you, you are within the stealth-field of the base, so if this newcomer doesn't know about the secret base there's a good chance he won't notice you.


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## Rhun (Oct 10, 2007)

Damon continues to monitor the newcomer, using only the ship's passive sensors. There was no reason to give away their position by conducting an active scan. He switches on the radio. "We've just had a ship come through the gate. Unknown configuration and destination. I'm continuing to monitor."


*Damon will do his best to determine any information about the ship and its destination.*


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 10, 2007)

Keeping and eye over the closed doors, Cnosos knee near the bodies, looking for anything he could give a use


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## Shayuri (Oct 11, 2007)

Rhun said:
			
		

> Damon continues to monitor the newcomer, using only the ship's passive sensors. There was no reason to give away their position by conducting an active scan. He switches on the radio. "We've just had a ship come through the gate. Unknown configuration and destination. I'm continuing to monitor."]




Mel sits up from the reclined position she'd tilted her seat back into and checks her own displays. Immediately she flips a few switches.

"I'm prepping for a quick dustoff," she says to Damon. "Just in case they see us and aren't happy we're here. I'll wait to kick the power up though to keep a low profile."


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## Raylis (Oct 11, 2007)

Upon seeing the two bodies Michael frowns, drawing his weapon,  "Cnosos, can you hack into the Personel Log of this facility and determine the number of scientests that worked here? It might be prudent to keep a body count of how many there were vs. how many of their corpses we find."  he steps over the bodies and then pauses,  "Faris, I intend to take one of the cadavers back to the ship for a full and thorough autopsy.


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## Mithran (Oct 11, 2007)

"Great, Michael. Bag him or whatever you need to do. Cnosos, go for a map of the facility first and I'll start looking that over. Then we can go looking for salvage and a pack-mule of some kind if this ship that just came in-system is reasonable. Do not separate." Faris flips on his comm to the ship "Ok. Keep me posted on where it's going. We're staying near the entrance for now and will be on the bounce if you think it's necessary. Looks like there could be something of value in here, though, so I'd rather not leave unless we have to."


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 11, 2007)

*"Understood" *replies Cnosos, as he approaches the nearest console, and tries to hack the system to get a map of the base.

OOC: Computer use +7 (I think) I take 20... I guess I can =)


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## Blackrat (Oct 11, 2007)

Cnosos gets the lay of the base on the console. The corridor leads to a control center and after that to the labs. Along the corridor is barracs, a mess, recreation area, and three private rooms. One for the commander of military-personnel and two for the head-scientists. He also manages to pull up personnel file which indicates that there were seven scientists working on the station, and ten soldiers stationed here.


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 11, 2007)

*"Seven scientist and ten soldiers cap, I have the maps, and will start trying to access the camera system" * Cnosos says, distracted, with his eyes focused in the console in front of him.


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## Mithran (Oct 12, 2007)

Faris waits for Cnosos to get the camera feeds if he can, then starts looking for the most salvageable items unless he hears from Damon about the unidentified craft.


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## Blackrat (Oct 15, 2007)

The loading bay console hasn't any cam-feed. Just as Cnosos is about to point this out there comes a loud thud from the door at the end of the corridor. Like someone had pounded it with a fist. Then another, and another. It sounds almost as if someone is trying to punch his way through the door, not having any progress though 'cause the door is few inch thick metal.

On the Greed: Damon continues to monitor the sensors and after few minutes the newcomer comes to sensor range. It is a fighter sized craft, silhuette matching to an old earth model. It flies towards the Way Station and disappears to the other side of the moon. Probably landed to the station.


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## Raylis (Oct 15, 2007)

Michael pulls his pistol and aims it toward the door,  "It looks like there was a survivor. I suggest that should it break through to aim for the kneecaps to eliminate its mobility then aim for the cervical, the base of the neck. If we're lucky we can fully immobolize him and see exactly what is happening to him.


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 15, 2007)

The sounds make Cnosos look at the door, then he turns to the console again.*"Lets first get the cameras shall we? we could look him hitting the solid metal. It will be fun"* Cnosos grims as he keeps working


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## Rhun (Oct 15, 2007)

Damon again activates the communications system. "Incoming ship appears to be an old model earth fighter. It looks to have landed at the way station."


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## Blackrat (Oct 18, 2007)

Voda Vosa said:
			
		

> The sounds make Cnosos look at the door, then he turns to the console again.*"Lets first get the cameras shall we? we could look him hitting the solid metal. It will be fun"* Cnosos grims as he keeps working



Can't access the cameras from this console. The slamming continues, but whatever it is, is obviously not smart enough to push the open-button.

As Damon reports about the unidentified ship there comes a loud bang from the starboard side of Greed, as if something had hit the hull. Then it is silent again.


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## Shayuri (Oct 18, 2007)

Mel sits up straight from where she'd been slouching ever since hearing that the ship wasn't coming towards them.

"Damon, did you hear that?" she demands.


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## Rhun (Oct 18, 2007)

Damon raises an eyebrow quizzically as he looks at Mel. "What am I? Hard of hearing?" Turning back to the console, he attempts to focus the Greed's proximity sensors on the ship's hull and immediate surroundings to attempt to find out what is making the sound.

*Blackrat, are the ship's sensor's capable of doing this?*


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## Blackrat (Oct 18, 2007)

Rhun said:
			
		

> Blackrat, are the ship's sensor's capable of doing this?



Yeah, had you been flying the sensors would have automatically detected any incoming objects but on ground those are offline. Checking through them you notice there is some solid object standing against the hull of greed. Roughly 1,5-2 meters in height. It is completely still.


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## Rhun (Oct 18, 2007)

"Well, whatever it is, it is about the size of a human," says Damon as he reads the sensor results. "It appears to be a solid mass. What say we go take a look?" Without waiting for Mel to answer, he gets up and heads toward the airlock, stopping only long enough to grab his weapons from his bag and strap them on.


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 18, 2007)

*"Damn console, looks we will have to make some nice holes in that door, I will rather shoot first and ask questions later. It will probably be one of this decerebrated scientists, I suggest we open fire to that door, after the sounds of knocking stop, we open the door." *Cnosos suggest, coldly, as he aim his blaster pistol.


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## Raylis (Oct 18, 2007)

Michael frowns,  "So the door cannot be opened at all?"  he glances at Cnosos and Faris,  "We may want to try and override the door, if that's possible. Melara and Damon did mention another ship; we may not have the luxury of time to blast through a door and end our chemically induced raging scientest. 

He gives a shake of his head  "Honestly scientests, you'd never see someone with any medical training whatsoever inject _himself_ with an unknown chemical.


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 19, 2007)

*"I wont consider wise to open that door, if a mutant undead scientist is there, waiting to chop our heads of if we give him time. Lets blast him first through the door, and the open it. I think it will be better this way."*


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## Raylis (Oct 19, 2007)

"Cnosos, what is the door composed of? I don't know about you but the only weapon I brought was a pistol designed to put holes in people, not doors.  Michael says,  "Or would could count our losses, and bring the cadaver back to the ship.


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## Mithran (Oct 19, 2007)

"If you think the laser pistols can go through the door, that's fine. My flechette rifle here is designed specifically so it doesn't go through hull metal and leave you breathing vacuum, though. I think we can probably take him between the three of us. Especially if we stand back and somebody presses the button and runs. Door probably has  little delay at least"


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 19, 2007)

*""Sounds fair enough, Dorb can open the door when you order."* Cnosos adds.


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## Mithran (Oct 20, 2007)

"Great. Do it as soon as you've picked a spot to shoot from." Faris backs up to the wall opposite the door and levels his shotgun at the door, prepared to fire.


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## Raylis (Oct 20, 2007)

Michael levels his blaster lower on the door,  "Keep in mind if this is an equivilent chemical to boost then we want to rob him of his mobility first and foremost.


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 21, 2007)

*"If he came near me, I will blast his damn head off. I am my most precious belonging." *Cnosos says as he blinks, then he get back, next to the opposite door,aim, and command *"Open the middle door Dorb, then fly next to me at maximum speed."*


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## Blackrat (Oct 22, 2007)

On station: The little droid opens the door and quickly flies back to Cnosos. From the other side emerges a wounded soldier. From small scratches it seems as if he has been bitten and clawed by humans dozens of time. He has a crazed look in his eyes and he looks at you all hastily.

[sblock=OOC]You can fire your readied shots and then roll for init. Use invisible castle.[/sblock]

On ship: Mel and Damon heads to the airlock and gears up to go see what's up outside. They circle the ship to the other side and as they come to the starboard side they see a figure standing next to Greed. You are still about 30' away from it and in the darkness it's hard to see but it looks like a humanoid figure standing only inch away from your ship.


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## Raylis (Oct 22, 2007)

Attack 13 

Damage 4 

Init 19


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 22, 2007)

Cnosos pulls the trigger, unleashing his blaster energy upon the threatening soldier.

OOC:
Attack: 24 Critical threat roll: 24  (I still can't believe it...) 
Damage done: 9 x2 = 18
Initiative: http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1329173

Cnosos is surprised by his gun potential, so he reacts late.


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## Rhun (Oct 22, 2007)

Damon brings his laser pistol up, sighting in on the humanoid standing near the _Greed_. He steadies the weapon, and switches on the attached illuminator. The specialized flashlight flares to life, illuminating the target before him.


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## Shayuri (Oct 22, 2007)

Melara stays a bit farther back towards the Greed's entrance ramp, and aims her own weapon at the silhouetted intruder.

"You! Stay where you are! Keep your hands where we can see them!" she barks.


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## Mithran (Oct 23, 2007)

Attack 9, Damage 11 

Init 4

[sblock]Glad my rolls probably don't matter since Cnosos already nailed the guy pretty good.   [/sblock]


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## Rhun (Oct 23, 2007)

*You guys are assuming the zombie-thing is vulnerable to critical hits! *


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 23, 2007)

_If he is alive he is indeed vulnerable to them. _


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## Blackrat (Oct 24, 2007)

Station: Michael tries to gripple the man and manages to scratch him to the pelvis. Faris's shot goes way out. Cnosos aims at the soldiers shoulder also intending to gripple him but his hands shake a bit and he hits the man straight to the forehead dropping him down on the floor.

Greed: Damon turns on his flashlight and you can now see that it is indeed a humanoid, but not human. It's proportions are a bit off with longer arms and legs than humans and with completely white skin. It is obviously in bad condition with his right arm hanging from the shoulder as if it was dislocated. It stands completely still but when Mel commands it to stay, it yels to you in dah (which both of you can understand): "You shall all die for what you did, we shall never yield, we won't be conguered!" But it doesn't move at all, not even a twitch.

[sblock=OOC]The battle on the station is over. Cnosos killed him.[/sblock]


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 24, 2007)

*"Well... I do reduced his mobility ... He can't move anymore."* Cnosos comments, avoiding to tell the fact that he aimed the shoulder.* "He he"*


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## Raylis (Oct 24, 2007)

Michael bends down reaching into his medbag at the same time,  "A fresh cadavar is ususally better then an old one for these sort of things...though a live specimen would trump both. 

OOC: probably redundant but Treat Injury 12 wow that was a bad roll


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## Rhun (Oct 24, 2007)

Damon clicks on his communicator. "Guys, we've got a live one out here. A live one what, I'm not rightly sure. Its making verbal threats...requesting orders. What do you want me to do?" He continues to hold his pistol trained on the humanoid, ready to fire.


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## Shayuri (Oct 25, 2007)

"It's saying we did something to it...accusing us of trying to conquer them or something," Melara says, shaking her head.

She calls in dah to it, "Human beings haven't conquered anyone, or even tried to! What are you doing here?"


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## Mithran (Oct 25, 2007)

Faris says over the comm "Well clearly we haven't tried to conquer anything. Try to talk him down, maybe let him know we aren't military, but if he tries anything fire at will. Give him a separate comm signal from the one we're using if you get stuck and I'll give it a go. We're still trying to finish up here."


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## Blackrat (Oct 26, 2007)

Station: Michael checks the new corpse and makes a disturbing observation. There's no bleeding. It's blood has already dried. Which means it couldn't have been alive when it came through the door. There's only two possible explanitions you can have. Either it was post mortem reflexes that made the body move, which sounds far-fetched since it was actually walking! Or it was a zombie or such, which is almost impossible for a scientific mind like you to accept.

Greed: The creature still stands against the Greed, facing it only inch away from the hull. It doesn't even turn it's head while conversing with you: "We shall never become slaves to the Areq'dah, you will..." Suddenly it emits a loud screetch and falls silent, there comes a puff of smoke from it's knee-joint. You know well the name Areq'dah, they are the ones who destroyed Earth. But the Areq'dah empire fell to their own civil war. They are all but extinct now.


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## Shayuri (Oct 26, 2007)

"The hell? Is it a robot?" Mel asks. She doesn't wait for an answer before clicking on her comm.

"Captain, the one out here was delusional. He was talking like we were...well, as if he thought we were Areq'dah. Saying he'd never be a slave...and then he screamed or something, and smoke came out of his knee. He's quiet now, and he never moved once."

"Frankly, this is creeping the hell out of me. What's your status?"


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 26, 2007)

*"Creeping you out? You should see this guy I've just killed. Thats scary, not a simple mad droid. Anyway, I suggest you take it on board, secure it, and I will take a look at it when we are back. Be sure of securing him, he could be playing dead."* Cnosos suggest, looking to Faris for approval.


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## Rhun (Oct 26, 2007)

"Cover me, Mel," says Damon, holstering his pistol. He moves toward the humanoid, approaching carefully to investigate just what the being is.


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## Mithran (Oct 28, 2007)

"Alright, lets bag the stiff and the crazy... droid is it? And then we'll get out of here and see what that fighter is. See anything good we can grab on our way out, we'll do that too."


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## Shayuri (Oct 28, 2007)

"I'm not sure it's a machine," Mel calls, raising her gun to cover Damon as he cautiously gets closer.

"I don't know WHAT it is. Damon's trying to get a better look."


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 28, 2007)

*"Don't want to keep searching the base?"* Cnosos asks


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## Mithran (Oct 28, 2007)

"Just letting everyone know the plan is basically the same. Unless the weird stuff we're finding gets too much for us one way or other."


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## Raylis (Oct 29, 2007)

"We need to get the notes of whatever drug these people had ingested...This man was dead before he came through this door.  Michael says as he stands.  "Whatever it is... he shakes his head, not finishing the sentence.


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 29, 2007)

*"Already dead? Dead things do not move doc..."* Cnosos says, sceptically. He search Dorb with his eyes, and command the little droid *"Go to the room, if you see anyone, come back here as fast as you can. If no one is there, just bip."*


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## Raylis (Oct 29, 2007)

"Exactly. Whatever they've used has to have something in it that is still allowing the brain to send signals down the nervous system to induce locomotion. However that doesn't explain its actions."  Michael draws his weapon again,  "If anyone who had taken this chemical left the station it would be wise to get their notes and a sample if we can.


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## Blackrat (Oct 29, 2007)

Station: The door through which the soldier came leads to command center of this station. On one console there you can see camera-feeds of various parts of the station. And from this room you can also access the labs.

Greed: Damon carefully approaches the creature. It remains completely stationary. Only by touching it, it becomes apparent that it really is a machine with rubbery "skin" that makes it look organic. The thing is badly damaged and looks like it just "crashed" with Greed, which damaged it even more. Now it has shut down.


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## Rhun (Oct 29, 2007)

Damon clicks on the intercom. "Yeah, it is some kind of android. Looks like synthetic skin over a mechanical frame. If nobody has an issue, I'm going to drag it onto the _Greed_ for analysis..."

Assuming nobody objects, Damon grabs the thing and begins to drag it toward the airlock.


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## Voda Vosa (Oct 29, 2007)

*"Please, I want to examine it when we come back."* Cnosos say to Damon


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## Mithran (Oct 30, 2007)

Faris moves over and looks through the camera feeds, doing a cursory look for movement on anything that doesn't look like the lab feed, but stopping to examine any feed he can find for the lab, since that's where the group is trying to head next.


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## Blackrat (Oct 31, 2007)

[sblock=OOC]Just letting you know I'm still here. I need to take couple of days. I'll update the day after tomorrow, hopefully  .[/sblock]


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## Blackrat (Nov 1, 2007)

Greed: Damon and Mel take the android inside and after taking off their spacesuits can get a better view of the thing. It is badly damaged and has obviously been in quite a few firefights. It has taken many shots from both ballistic and energy weapons and its right arm hangs from the shoulder only by few wires. You don't recognise the species it emulates, but it's obvious it isn't supposed to be human by its facial-features and elongated arms and legs.

Station: One of the smaller labs give only static from camera but otherwise there's nothing strange in the camera feeds. Except for all the bodies you see scattered leading from the mainlab. You can actually count the bodies and realize there's only one scientist missing. There's also a couple of dead soldiers, one with his head ripped off. If you wanted, you could probably acces the camera records.

[sblock=OOC]Wohoo. Managed to sort a few things out a lot faster than I anticipated.[/sblock]


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## Rhun (Nov 1, 2007)

"We'll store it here until Cnosos can take a look at it," says Damon to Mel. "I'm going to go back up to the bridge and take a look at the sensors...make sure nothing else is going to surprise us." With a smile, he heads back to his console, hanging his weapon belt from the back of his chair as he takes his seat and begins checking the sensor system.


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 1, 2007)

Cnosos tries to access the camera records. *"Lets try from this console."*


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## Raylis (Nov 1, 2007)

"They're all dead...and by count one missing. There may be a possible survivor"  Michael muses, looking at the screen.


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 2, 2007)

*"Or another zombie..."* Cnosos ads as he finishes with the cameras.


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## Raylis (Nov 2, 2007)

Michael rolls his eyes,  "Please tell me that you're jesting. A scientific mind such as yours cannot possibly fathom that the body of a person can sponatanously animate with muderous intent and a desire for crainal matter. The entire concept of a zombie is obsurd..." Michael goes into a brief, highly medical rant about the improbability of zombies,  "However we did meet that once dead scientest at the door, if we include him in our count does that match the manifest?


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## Shayuri (Nov 2, 2007)

Rhun said:
			
		

> "We'll store it here until Cnosos can take a look at it," says Damon to Mel. "I'm going to go back up to the bridge and take a look at the sensors...make sure nothing else is going to surprise us." With a smile, he heads back to his console, hanging his weapon belt from the back of his chair as he takes his seat and begins checking the sensor system.




"Alright...I guess I'll stay here and watch the thing then," Mel says resignedly.

"Be sure and call me if anything happens."


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 2, 2007)

*"I do not believe in undeads or the such, just used that word instead of 'Apparently dead inexplicably walking mad scientist'. It is indeed shorter."* Cnosos says distractedly.


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## Raylis (Nov 2, 2007)

"Since we don't see anyone moving in the main lab, I'm going to see what I can find while you look over the records"  Michael says moving towards the door,  "Unless there are any objections?"  he adds, looking back at Faris and Cnosos


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## Blackrat (Nov 5, 2007)

[sblock=OOC]I meant counting the bodies you have found and those in the cameras you still miss one scientist, and the "zombie" you shot was a soldier if you missed that.[/sblock]
Cnosos and Faris manage to get the records up and find the timeline of the base's troubles. You see that the head scientist was working with couple of pretty big insect-like creatures (at least 1 foot long) in a side-lab, suddenly he jumps up and grabs the camera. After that the sidelab camera gives only static. From the cam in the mainlab you see that a few seconds later he runs to the mainlab and hits his fist through a sealed research cabinet. The other scientists try to stop him but as the fumes from the cabinet start to spread they collaps to the floor and a moment later get up and start their rampage through the facility. They come through the first door and rip the head of from the first soldier they meet. The soldiers fight back but two more fall to the "zombies", one of them the one you fought at the door. Eventually it seems that the soldiers manage to kill all of the scientists but couple of them are badly wounded as they evacuate the station.

You almost missed it but Faris notices that the scientist who started this, retreats back to the side-lab when the other scientists start rampaging at the station.


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## Blackrat (Nov 6, 2007)

Greed: Your ship computer's database is pretty extencive and if you wanted, you could try to find about the species this android emulates, or maybe about the strange ship you encountered right before you jumped to hyperspace.[Sblock]Just bumping and trying to pull up something for Mel and Damon to do [/sblock]


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## Raylis (Nov 6, 2007)

Not recieving any contrary remarks to his actions, Michael leaves Cnosos and Faris to study the survellience feed and heads to the main lab, pistol drawn just in case.


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## Blackrat (Nov 6, 2007)

Michael gets to the main lab and the most notable thing (aside for all the top-notch lab-equipment that makes Michael's spine tingle) is a smashed glovebox (It would require tremendous strenght for anyone to smash the cabinet.) full of test-tubes. You are gratefull that you are still wearing your "NASA-suit".


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## Mithran (Nov 6, 2007)

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Scientist-man plays with bugs, then proceeds to go crazy and cause the zombie-things... but has the smarts to go back and hide with his bugs again when the bloody bit starts? I think we need to seriously consider killing that loon dead. Did anybody bring grenades or a way we could seal him in that lab?"


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## Rhun (Nov 6, 2007)

With the sensors clear, Damon turns his attention to accessing the Greed's database, trying to come up with a match for the species the android emulates, and any information about the fighter they had spotted earlier.


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## Blackrat (Nov 6, 2007)

[sblock=OOC]Oh com'on Rhun. Those were really just a suggestion  . I meant you could get some info about any parts of the setting, just specify if there's anything you'd like to know  . But yeah, I'll pull you something about those two by tomorrow  .[/sblock]


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## Rhun (Nov 6, 2007)

[sblock=OOC]
I've learned from years and years of roleplaying that when the DM makes a suggestion, it is always a good bet to follow-up on said suggestion. 
[/sblock]


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 6, 2007)

Cnosos eyes wide as he watches the play* "Yep, I've seen what you have seen. And I would rather get Michael, before this parasited scientist rip his head off. Or worse."* Cnosos download the record to his datapad, and start searching Michael


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## Mithran (Nov 6, 2007)

"Well... yeah. That too. But you know the government boys will botch the job and try to study him or something instead of inflicting trauma until he stops twitching and then burning what's left." Faris follows Cnosos in search of Michael.


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 6, 2007)

As he walks, Cnosos speaks again* "We can always leave and blast this base with the ship weapons I think."*


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## Raylis (Nov 6, 2007)

Looking around the room for signs of movement, Michael moves over to the glovebox,  "Note to self; should any unfriendlys appear do not engage them in hand to hand combat."  if any vials are intact he will take them and put them into his medical bag and then begin to see if there is a console available to gain the scientest's notes.


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## Rhun (Nov 6, 2007)

While the computer system works to call up the information on the android and the fighter, Damon starts another search as well. Perhaps the databases contain information on they waystation, this lab, and maps of either for future reference.


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## Shayuri (Nov 6, 2007)

After pacing for a few minutes, Mel gets a bit bored guarding the apparently dead android and pokes at it cautiously with the barrel of her pistol. When it doesn't respond, she pokes it with a hand, then feels its face to see how lifelike it is. Then she pries the torn covering of its knee so she can see the inner structure...assuming the damage is that extensive.

(Basically, Mel checks out the android to see if the tech involved is possibly human in origin.)


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## Blackrat (Nov 7, 2007)

Michael: The vials are all intact but none of them has a stopper. Whatever was in them has evaporated. You find the science-console and easily pull up the notes. They had been doing many different researches here for the last five years. Mostly creation of new weapons techs and genetic engineering. You find the notes of the latest project. They had created a virus that was supposed to force evolution on living creatures. They had tested it on Griikhas (a small alien animal that are used as lab-rats by humans since rats are extinct) and had had good results. It had increased their physical strenght to ten times that of normal and given them extraordinary regenerative abilities. One test subject had actully regrown a severed limb but they were unable to reproduce this result in other subjects. The last entry tells that the head scientist was going to try the virus on earth-originated organism and inject it to a pair of scorpions that was saved from the destruction of Earth. He was going to do it in the side-lab C. (You spot a door on one wall of the room that has a big letter C painted on it. There are also doors A, B, D and E on the other walls.)

Faris and Cnosos: You find Michael in the main-lab reading a console.

Mel: It is very organic-like in appearance and is almost impossible to identify as a machine just by looking at it. But the synthetic skin it has is completely dry and feels like rubber. The best spot to get a looksee inside would perhaps be the shoulder which is hanging from the joint with only few wires. You peel some of the skin and plating off to see better. The technology used to build it looks like something humans might have invented but you doubt humans could have build such a sophisticated robot, at least not without help from some more advanced race.

Damon: You enter a search by describing the android and get a result. The computer give an entry of a race called Segdiiri. The picture is exactly the same looking as the android you found. They are technologically in about the same phase as humans are with fusion energy and Ion-engined space-ships. They are a member world of the Republic. What's strange is that you find no mention of their home-world except for it's location and a warning that no outsider is welcome on the planet.
The search for the strange ship yelds very little. There are few reports of same kind of sightings in the Rim-side space of human area (The left-most column in the starmap on the second page).
Of the secret base you find nothing but of the Way-station you find much information. The gate itself was built to make jumps between Unity and Jap 3 safer about a year after the Unity was built and few months later the station was completed to give the travelers a place to relax between jumps. It is manned by a military personnel of 20-30 and has about 50 civilians onboad at all times. There is a cantina where one can find nourishment and entertainment. You find a map of the station.


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 7, 2007)

*"My friend, we got some problems... uh science stuff... what were this people investigating?"* Cnosos says intrigued, then shakes his head. *"First the first, theres still a scientist around. We think its the first one, from what we saw in the tape, he was working with some bugs and suddenly he jumped and rip the camera. And then smashed this globebox, releasing what it was in there, and the vapors seem to morph the other scientist into this walking dead. He flee to the side labs when the 'party' began."*


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## Raylis (Nov 7, 2007)

"Arachnids; while they appear to be insects with their multiple legs and exoskeleton, Scorpions are of the class arachnea, shared by mites and spiders"  Michael says absently re-reading the data. 

 "It appears that they were working on a virus designed to increase the rate of cell adaptation and change, in layman's terms, evolution, on living creatures. Apparently they had success on several Griikhas, increasing both muscle mass, density and greatly increasing the iokane levels their bodies produced.  

He pauses again looking at Cnosos and Faris,  "The increase in iokane gave them cellular reconstruction abilities-one such creature even managed to regrow a leg. They were unsuccesful in repeating the limb regeneration in other subjects, however. 

 "Their lead scientest intended to try the virus on a pair of scorpions he had; how he managed to keep the creatures alive is unknown to me, but the oppertunity to study a pair of earth creatures would be fascinating. He was going to conduct his experiment in laboratory "C"." 

He taps the control panel a few times,  "If possible I want to see if I can download their formulas and whatever other information they have to possibly recreate their work. or  a pause  "If the scientest you saw is alive and lucid then he might have a sample on him. Though what you said gives evidence that he decided to inject himself with the virus rather then the aracnids. According to these notes the muscular enhancements offered by this virus would have enabled him to break the glovebox...and anyone that can do that should only be interrogated while heavilly sedadted; enough to anwser questions but not enough to move.


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## Shayuri (Nov 7, 2007)

"Huh," Melara muses as she pushes wires aside to peer at the shoulder's internal joint.

"Whoever made you only cared how you looked, and sounded maybe. But you obviously weren't meant to be touched, or scanned either probably. Weird...why go to all that bother for such a flawed disguise..."

Then something else occurs to her, and she comms Damon.

"Hey, Damon. Did you cause any damage to this thing before I saw it? Hit it or...anything?"

_Because someone, or something, sure as hell did...and if it just ripped this thing's arm almost off, it must have been -strong-._


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## Rhun (Nov 7, 2007)

Damon shakes his head, even though there is nobody around to see the motion. "Negative," he responds over the comm. "The thing was like that when I found it. The database indicates it is meant to resemble a species known as the Segdiiri. The computer doesn't really have much about them, though."


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## Blackrat (Nov 8, 2007)

[sblock=OOC]http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3877960[/sblock]


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## Blackrat (Nov 13, 2007)

Michael does get his hands on the research data and given enough time and a capable research crew someone could probably recreate their work from those notes. The question is whether that is a good idea or not. It seemed to have quite unpleasant results on humans. If you want, you can download that data to your pad.


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## Raylis (Nov 13, 2007)

With a smug grin Michael downloads the notes onto his datapad,  "I have their research"  he says unable to hide the elation in his voice,  "There still seems to be the matter of our resident head researcher who is holed up in Lab C. Perhaps we should pay him a visit and abscond with his aracnids.


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## Rhun (Nov 13, 2007)

Damon continues to man the sensors and sift through the database looking for any useful information.


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## Mithran (Nov 13, 2007)

"What do we want his overgrown bugs for? Wouldn't you rather pick your favorite bits of science gear and just blast that room into dust?"


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 13, 2007)

*"Couldn't be more agree. Blast that mutant into dust"* Cnosos says as he search for any piece of worthy equipment to take with him.


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## Raylis (Nov 13, 2007)

"Arachnids. They are the last of an extinct species, a part of our history. And besides they could have further medicinal puroses if studied more carefully. There is much equipment here that I would love to possess, but there is something else; the men and women in here _inhaled_ the chemical they were working on. The man in there likely _injected_ himself with the chemical producing different results. 

The man Cnosos stopped had apparent coherent control over himself, but the one locked in there, from what you said, decided to remove the camera and destroy the glovebox (which in itself is a pity). That alone suggests chemical mutation that should be explored..." 
Michael says looking between Cnosos and Faris  "But we should be sure to take some of this equipment with us. Utilize those salvage rights.


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## Blackrat (Nov 14, 2007)

There are quite amounts of lab equipment you could salvage, containing also a few items Michael could use in his own lab on Greed.

Do you want to search the other sidelabs before deciding what to do with lab-C?


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 14, 2007)

Cnosos search the others labs, always holding his blaster before him.


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## Blackrat (Nov 19, 2007)

Base: You search through the other sidelabs and find quite a lot of salvageable items. Mostly lab-equipment you have no use for yourself but you could make some money of those. Some notable things you might consider worth more are a few weapons, obviously designed to be used by humans but of a design you haven't seen before. One rifle that looks like this, the counter on the side shows a number 95 as in the picture. Onether one that looks like this. And two pistols. Unfortunately there's no extra caps for these guns and you don't know how many shots they have. Except maybe the rifle if the number on the side shows the remaining shots. With a little fidgeting you can easily figure out how to operate these since they are designed for human hands. You also find 20 injector ampoules but there's no indication as to what they contain. And lastly, from the lab-A you find a small tree which Michael recognises as a lemon-tree. This could be worth a lot for any colony if you decide to sell it but selling the fruits one by one can be even more profitable on the long run.

Greed: You get a slightly distorded hailing signal. "Gold Greed, Gold Greed, this is Unity Control, do you copy?"

[sblock=OOC]The first rifle and the pistols require personal firearms proficiency to use effectivily, the other rifle however requires advanced firearms proficiency as it is much heavier and takes more effort to use.[/sblock]


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 19, 2007)

*"Dady have found something nice" *Cnosos says as he packs the guns and the second rifle in his backapack, and wields the first rifle. *"Ruby..."*


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## Rhun (Nov 19, 2007)

Blackrat said:
			
		

> Greed: You get a slightly distorded hailing signal. "Gold Greed, Gold Greed, this is Unity Control, do you copy?"




Damon is caught slightly offguard by the unexpected hail, but quickly regains his composure. He tunes the system, tyring to clear up any distortion as he sends a response back. "Unity Control, this is Gold Greed. Go ahead."


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## Blackrat (Nov 20, 2007)

Rhun said:
			
		

> Damon is caught slightly offguard by the unexpected hail, but quickly regains his composure. He tunes the system, tyring to clear up any distortion as he sends a response back. "Unity Control, this is Gold Greed. Go ahead."



"We just received word that there is a Republic Patrol ship coming to investigate the distress signal. We told them that this is internal human business but try to guess if those buggers listened. So your new orders are to coordinate with them once they get there. Have you found out anything yet?"


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## Raylis (Nov 21, 2007)

Voda Vosa said:
			
		

> *"Dady have found something nice" *Cnosos says as he packs the guns and the second rifle in his backapack, and wields the first rifle. *"Ruby..."*




 "Ah, so they were creating conventional weapons as well as biochemical ones. Wonderful.  he gives the weapon in Cnosos' hands a wary look,  "You _do_ know how to operate that, don't you?" 

 "Aside from the weapons and lab equipment-  Michael points the most useful/profitable equipment We should bring this  Michael says indicating the lemon tree  "The tree offers several nutritional benefits...and we could open a lemonade stand.


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 21, 2007)

*"Yes pretty basic, pull the trigger and kill things. As for the lemon tree, we must first rise it, this size plant won't give us any fruit."* Cnosos points


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## Raylis (Nov 21, 2007)

"Ah, point and click. We've advanced  _so_ far."


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## Mithran (Nov 21, 2007)

Faris grins at Cnosos "It's what the users understand. Nice looking weapons, anyway. Hopefully we'll be able to rig ammo for them. Hang it up or toss it to me for now, though. No sense making more trips than have to." then he looks for something to seal the tree in for the walk back to the ship and takes that, and whatever other equipment he can find that he can carry or push.

[sblock=ooc]Sorry for the delay, guys. I got busy for a few days and then when I could post EN World was broked.   [/sblock]


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## Shayuri (Nov 22, 2007)

(Did I hear the message too, or was it just on the bridge?)


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## Rhun (Nov 22, 2007)

Blackrat said:
			
		

> "We just received word that there is a Republic Patrol ship coming to investigate the distress signal. We told them that this is internal human business but try to guess if those buggers listened. So your new orders are to coordinate with them once they get there. Have you found out anything yet?"




Damon frowns before answering. "Copy, Unity Control. Coordinate with Republic Patrol Ship. We haven't found anything yet...so far everything appears deserted. We will report back after further analysis."

Switching over to the ship's intercom, he sends a message to the rest of the crew. "I just got a message from Unity Control. Looks lik there is a Republic patrol craft on an incoming vector; Unity wants us to coordinate with them when they arrive."


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## Raylis (Nov 22, 2007)

"Wonderful, now they are trying to recruit us. Should we take what we can back to the greed and just leave the man to his fate? Those aracnids could make us a decent profit.


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 23, 2007)

Cnosos hands the other, more complicated rifle.
"We may blast him with this, what do you think?"


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## Blackrat (Nov 23, 2007)

[sblock=OOC]







			
				Shayuri said:
			
		

> (Did I hear the message too, or was it just on the bridge?)



I haven't yet specified this but I could say that while you're onboard your comlinks are automatically connected to the bridge unless you specifically disconnect it. So yes, you got the message too.
BTW, I have to apologize for the slow pace, especially you Shayuri. I originally planned you all to go in the base and now I'm afraid you're getting bored to death. Luckily this isn't a table-game  .[/sblock]


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## Mithran (Nov 23, 2007)

"I think we'd better get out of here with what we've got and get around to the official base on this planet before those Republic guys get here." If there aren't any objections, Faris takes the lemon tree and whatever else he can manage to move out in a single load and heads back to the Greed.

[sblock=ooc]Yeah, sorry about that guys. Next time I'll just ignore the need to have somebody guarding the ship for the sake of keeping things moving. I was only thinking things through in-character at the time without looking at how much trouble it'd be OOC.  :\ [/sblock]


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## Raylis (Nov 23, 2007)

Michael takes one last, longing look at laboratory C before gathering what he can to take back to the Greed.


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 23, 2007)

*"Moving out then. Dorb come here!"* Cnosos says before hurrying to the exit.


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## Rhun (Nov 25, 2007)

Mithran said:
			
		

> [sblock=ooc]Yeah, sorry about that guys. Next time I'll just ignore the need to have somebody guarding the ship for the sake of keeping things moving. I was only thinking things through in-character at the time without looking at how much trouble it'd be OOC.  :\ [/sblock]




[sblock=OOC]
I would think that the _Greed_ probably has some sort of automated security system or something?

[/sblock]


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## Blackrat (Nov 25, 2007)

In the first room there were some empty crates with environmental seals which you can use to transport the more delicate stuff out. If you wish, you could use laser-pistol to seal the door of lab-C. After that you return to Greed and find Mel and Damon preparing for lift-off. The strange android is in the cargo-hold.

[sblock=Mel & Damon]The Republic ship hasn't arrived yet through the gate.[/sblock]


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## Rhun (Nov 25, 2007)

"The Republic ship hasn't arrive through the gate yet," Damon informs the crew as they return to the ship. "If we are quick, we should be able to reach the waystation and land before the get here..."


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## Blackrat (Nov 25, 2007)

[sblock=OOC]







			
				Rhun said:
			
		

> I would think that the _Greed_ probably has some sort of automated security system or something?



Yeah. The electronic lock is all but impossible to hack open without proper codes. After that one needs to hack the main computer which would be another near-impossible mission. Sorry for not making it clear. I'm still learning about running a pbp. Now that I'm playing in a few and started the other one also I think I'm getting a bit better at this.[/sblock]


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 25, 2007)

*"Well well look what we have here. Indeed a droid... Dorb, bring me my things, we have a new friend to dismantle "* Cnosos sasy, inspecting the droid.
_
Cnosos will try to find out the droid model and the place where it has been build. He will also try to recover its core, to see if there is some data he can salvage. _


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## Blackrat (Nov 27, 2007)

The flight to the other side of the moon takes only a few minutes so Cnosos won't have much time to fiddle with the droid yet.

Mel takes the ship to the other side and lands to the hangarbay of the mainbase. There are two ships in the hangar. One crew-shuttle with Unity-markings and one heavily modified fighter that looks even older than _Greed_. It has a flaming sword painted to the right wing.


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## Raylis (Nov 27, 2007)

Michael begins to set up what he managed to gather from the base in the "med lab", setting the data gathered down for later reading.


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 27, 2007)

*"Well that thing looks almost more old than ours! I think I can destroy it removing a single piece ha!" *Cnosos says


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## Shayuri (Nov 27, 2007)

"D'ya think that shuttle might be from the other base?" Mel speculates.

"And what's with the emblem on that ship? A flaming sword? That's gotta be human make, but I don't remember offhand what would use that kind of insignia..."


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## Mithran (Nov 27, 2007)

"Alright, let's get going. We want to look like we've made a little progress at least. Cnosos, you can play with your robot or come with us now, whichever you think will be more productive. Either way, do a quick lookup on that fighter's symbol. Everybody else get suited up if you're not. We don't know what might be broken around here."

Faris then heads outside, dropping to a crouch in the lock for a quick scan of the surroundings before proceeding over to take a closer look at the fighter.


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## Voda Vosa (Nov 27, 2007)

*"It's my turn to stay in the ship, go, have fun for me."* Cnosos says before turning to the robot.


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## Rhun (Nov 27, 2007)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> "And what's with the emblem on that ship? A flaming sword? That's gotta be human make, but I don't remember offhand what would use that kind of insignia..."




"That appears to be the ship we saw come through the gate a little while ago," says Damon in answer to Mel's question. "I'm not sure what the emblem means, though."


Damon quickly gears up and follows Faris out of the ship, anxious to see what the waystation holds. He draws his laser pistol and covers the captain as he moves toward the fighter.


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## Blackrat (Nov 28, 2007)

Faris approaches the fighter when suddenly the ship emits a loud buzz and a computerized voice speaks out in english *"Unauthorized approach detected. Initiating automated countermeasures. You are warned not to come within five meters."* A hatch opens in the bottom of the fighter and it extracts a large machinegun pointing to Faris.


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## Raylis (Nov 28, 2007)

Michael joins the others outside, giving the ship a dubious look,  "Aren't they the friendliest folk out here, giving us a warning first.


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## Shayuri (Nov 28, 2007)

(is Mel out there this time, or still on the Greed? Hee...a little confused. )


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## Blackrat (Nov 28, 2007)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> (is Mel out there this time, or still on the Greed? Hee...a little confused. )



Heh, I picked up the pace quite dramatically  . Yeah, I believe she went with the others leaving only Cnos to fiddle with the droid.


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## Rhun (Nov 28, 2007)

Damon takes a few quick steps away from the fighter, even though Faris is much closer to it than he is. "Hmmm...well, we obviously won't be stealing that ship right away," he says with a hint of a smile on his face.


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## Mithran (Nov 28, 2007)

Faris quickly backs up and looks around for things that can be examined without coming within five meters of the fighter. "Alright then... we'll leave that for now. At least until we find out if it's got a live pilot."


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## Shayuri (Dec 1, 2007)

"That must be the one that came through the gate after us," Mel decides.

She edges around the belligerent little ship to check the shuttle more closely...maybe even see if it's locked, if it doesn't threaten to kill them.


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## Blackrat (Dec 1, 2007)

[sblock=OOC]Just letting you know I'm still here. Have been a bit busy with Mass Effect  . I need to get some sleep now  . I'll update the game in about 12 hours from now  .[/sblock]


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## Blackrat (Dec 2, 2007)

Wisely you decide not to approach the fighter and instead move to the next landing pad and the shuttle. It is quite small, only about ten people fits in and it doesn't have much else than the chairs. Clearly intended to only move people short distances. The door is actually open and you take a quick look inside. There is some amount of blood on the floor but it stops outside the shuttle. Whoever was bleeding was probably moved with a stretcher. In the landing bay there is one big door that leads to other parts of the station. As Damon pre-emptively downloaded the schematics of the station he can easily lead you straight to any part of the station you wish to go.


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## Raylis (Dec 2, 2007)

"So where do we go"


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## Mithran (Dec 2, 2007)

"Sick bay is probably where the group in the shuttle headed. No way to tell where the possible fighter pilot headed, so lets head to the sick bay first."


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## Shayuri (Dec 2, 2007)

Melara looks uneasily at the blood, then says without looking away, "Maybe we should call first, so they know we're not crazed mutant zombies or robots, or whatever. They might be a little on edge, and armed. Bad combination for us."


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## Rhun (Dec 2, 2007)

"They weren't answering the comm earlier, and I doubt anything has changed," says Damon. "Plus, if there are enemies in there, it may be best to maintain radio silence for now."

Leaving the final decision to Faris, Damon moves to open the door into the base, keeping his weapon handy as he does so.


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## Voda Vosa (Dec 2, 2007)

*"How are you doing out there?"* Cnosos ask by the comm, while he opens the droid carcase and analyze it carefully


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## Blackrat (Dec 3, 2007)

Damon opens the door and you are greeted by a sight of carnage. The hallway from bay opens directly to the main hall of the base and there are two dozen bodies scattered along the way and in the hall. All have severe scratches as if done by human nails, bitemarks from human teeth, some are missing limbs and all have been shot many times. Every single one have also been shot in the head at least once. Michael makes a quick check of the closest bodies and confirms that these too were already dead by the time they were shot. You hear pounding coming from the direction of command center. It sounds as if lots of people are trying to pound their way through a door.


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## Shayuri (Dec 3, 2007)

"Oh hell," Melara murmurs as she spies the bodies. She draws her sidearm and then says flatly, "We're not opening that door. Not until we can get a camera working on the other side."


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## Blackrat (Dec 3, 2007)

[sblock=OOC]Oh sorry. Didn't make this clear. You can't see the place where the pounding comes, only hear, so they might even be on the same side of the door as you are , trying to get in to the command center.[/sblock]


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## Blackrat (Dec 3, 2007)

Cnosos manages to peel of the skin-layer of the droid and opens the casing to find incredebly sophisticated robotics. It is unlike anything you have ever seen. The components themself are about as advanced as humans can create but they are much more compact. It is almost as a living creature with electronic and mechanical organs. You locate the power-core which seems to be somekind of battery-cell. The damage done to the droid has dislocated the core resulting eventually to disconnection and shutdown.

[sblock=OOC]The difference with this and what humans can make think of the difference between C-3PO and Data from Star Trek TNG. C-3PO would be an amazing pinnacle of human robotics. This android, although built from similar components is at least hundreds of years ahead of technology. In D20 Future terms, both are PL6 droids but the other is from the early PL6 and other from very late PL6.[/sblock]


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## Mithran (Dec 3, 2007)

Faris checks his shotgun and moves forward towards sounds, pausing if there are any open doors. "Alright, these zombie guys don't seem to be too smart about doors. Lets move forward and check this out. Do a sweep of any rooms that aren't sealed on the way.


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## Rhun (Dec 3, 2007)

Damon makes a motion with his free hand, indicating that everyone should be quiet. He then proceeds forward quietly, hoping to get a look at whatever is doing the pounding.


*Move Silently +5*


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## Voda Vosa (Dec 3, 2007)

*"Guys... I feel like I'm time traveling... This droid is amazing! Just... Just... Bah you won't understand, trust me when I say it is not human built." *Cnosos says by the comm. Then, to himself* "I should be able to remove the memory and read it with th computer... It has the same components, just smaller. Lets see... "*

Cnosos will try to remove the memory and open it to see what was the robot doing or what was his mission.
Repair +11 Computer use +7


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## Raylis (Dec 4, 2007)

"It looks like these too were affected by the gas. It must have leaked into the ventelation system after the inital dispersal which would lead me to conclude that the two facilities are in fact connected."  he draws his weapon,  "If we come across any infected we should make the attempt to neutralize it without "killing" it. I want to examine the active effects of the chemical and test it against the cadaver back on the ship.


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## Shayuri (Dec 4, 2007)

"Is it still in the air?" Mel asks nervously, looking around as she creeps in. "Could we get infected with this stuff?"


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## Raylis (Dec 4, 2007)

"I don't know. I don't have the proper equipment for atmospheric analyzation and even if I did I wouldn't know the protein chain to look for. Granted the idea that it went through the ventelation ducts is purley my own conjecture. 

Michael takes a step forward,  "But I wouldn't take your suit off.


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## Blackrat (Dec 4, 2007)

Damon sneaks ahead to take a peek around the corner. There by the door that leads to command center is 6 humans, pounding at the door, trying to break their way in. One of them is missing a leg but it doesn't seem to bother her in the least. Other one is missing half of his chest, blown to pieces with gunfire. All are badly bruised and have shot-wounds. They don't notice Damon.


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## Rhun (Dec 4, 2007)

Damon pulls back around the corner. He mimes to his companions the presence of the enemy, using his hands to silently indicate that there are 6 of them.


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## Shayuri (Dec 6, 2007)

"Now what?" Mel asks in a whisper. "Do we have grenades?"


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## Blackrat (Dec 7, 2007)

Unfortunately it seems none of you got any grenades but a couple of well placed mining charges that you have onboard could easily collapse the corridor, burying the "Zombies". The downside would be that it would depressurize the station and any possible survivor without space-suit in a non-sealed section would die within a minute. But then again, from the looks of things there might not be survivors anymore.


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## Mithran (Dec 9, 2007)

"I think we've got to take them out the traditional way or go back home. I don't think people will be too happy with us blowing up the base before it's 100% that there are zero survivors."


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## Voda Vosa (Dec 9, 2007)

OOC: What did Cnosos accomplish with the droid?


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## Blackrat (Dec 10, 2007)

Voda Vosa said:
			
		

> OOC: What did Cnosos accomplish with the droid?



It will take some time to dismantle it and hook it to the computer. I try to keep both timelines the same so you will have to wait for a while as the others explore  .


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## Shayuri (Dec 10, 2007)

Melara nods and says, "We could make a quick barricade...try to get them into a kill zone. They don't seem too smart."


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## Rhun (Dec 10, 2007)

Damon holsters his laser and draws his Tec-9, checking to make sure it is set for autofire. Perhaps a little suppression fire would keep the half dozen 'zombies' off their backs long enough to take them out.


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## Raylis (Dec 11, 2007)

"As Cnosis discovered earlier they are susecptable to head wounds, although I do implore again aiming for thier legs or cervical would be better. If we can get one alive then I can deduce what is causing their post mortem state.


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## Mithran (Dec 11, 2007)

"Come on, Damon. Let's find a room behind us that's likely to have barricade material." Faris allows the shoulder strap to take up the slack and snug his shotgun as he moves back down the hall.

He pats Michael roughly on the shoulder as he passes "Sorry, Doc, but nothing doing. We're not bringing one of those things aboard. If one of them is still twitching on the floor you can learn what you can from it after we've removed it's limbs from a safe distance."


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## Blackrat (Dec 11, 2007)

With some heavy metal-tables and crates you build a barricade to one corridor. It is shoddy at best but will definetly slow down anyone trying to come through/over it. Now someone just needs to lure them to your ambush.


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## Blackrat (Dec 11, 2007)

Cnosos manages to remove the "brains" of the droid. It actually resembles somewhat a real brain. An oval casing made of translucent greenish material with millions of little sparks flashing inside. It obviously has an independent power source from the rest of the droid. With some effort you manage to hook the wiring to the ships computer. Your screen is immediatily flooded with encrypted text. You have no idea how to crack the code.

OOC: Think of Matrix effect. Green letters just flowing across the screen.


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## Mithran (Dec 11, 2007)

"Alright. Now that that's done... be back in a minute." Faris climbs over the barricade and moves down the hall towards the zombies, planning to shoot from as far away as possible before running back to cover.


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## Rhun (Dec 11, 2007)

"Has anyone else noticed that Faris is nuts?" asks Damon, flipping off the safety on his automatic pistol. Steeping up to the barricade, he uses the edge of one of the heavy tables to brace his hands, hoping to improve his aim.


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## Blackrat (Dec 17, 2007)

Faris sneaks to the corner and takes a shot from afar, the shotgun ripping a hole in the side of one of the "zombies", he quickly runs back to take cover behind the barricade, his last glance over shoulder revealing that they indeed start pursuing.

To save time I rolled for you Attack & Damage (1d20+4=10, 2d10=9)


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## Voda Vosa (Dec 17, 2007)

*"Hm the computer may have something about this..."* Cnosos will try to decode the encrypted information using the computer.


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## Shayuri (Dec 20, 2007)

Melara crouches behind the barricade, bracing her hands on it, and prepares to start aiming at some heads!

(readying action basically. Not sure how a headshot works in d20 )


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## Raylis (Dec 20, 2007)

Rather disinterestedly Michael stands well within the barrier, mumbling various arteries and nerve clusters found within a human torso.


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## Blackrat (Dec 21, 2007)

OOC: Okay, the question is, do you guys aim for the head? Shayuri already stated that but what about others? It seems to have been an effective tactic since all those bodies that don't move have been shot in the head.


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## Rhun (Dec 21, 2007)

Blackrat said:
			
		

> OOC: Okay, the question is, do you guys aim for the head? Shayuri already stated that but what about others? It seems to have been an effective tactic since all those bodies that don't move have been shot in the head.




*Damon plans on firing his TEC-9 on full automatic, which targets an area...he should be able to hit at least 4 of them per round. His goal is to inflict as much damage as possible to as many of them as he can. Hopefully some of the bullets will go through heads or such, but that isn't covered in the rules, so it is up to you.*


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## Raylis (Dec 24, 2007)

Blackrat said:
			
		

> OOC: Okay, the question is, do you guys aim for the head? Shayuri already stated that but what about others? It seems to have been an effective tactic since all those bodies that don't move have been shot in the head.




OOC: Michael will actually aim for the cervical (where the neck meets the torso) with the hopes that a grevious enough injury will leave the victim paralyzied but alive.


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## Blackrat (Dec 27, 2007)

When the "zombies" start grawling around the corner you open fire. You manage to gun them all down before they get to you. One is still twitching in the ground but the others were shot few times in the heads and are motionless.


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## Rhun (Dec 27, 2007)

Damon approaches the bodies, his pistol still held at the ready. "Do you need a live one Doc, or can I pop a round in this poor bastard's skull?"


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## Raylis (Dec 29, 2007)

"One left alive would be preferable.  He moves over and places his pistol at the base of the man's neck, and fires.  "That should inflict enough damage on his 4th Cervical vertebre to leave him paralyzed but alive. Which will allow me to deduce the exactactly the chemical does, and with the notes I downloaded come up with an antidote, or an innoculation.


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## Shayuri (Dec 29, 2007)

"Holy..." Mel blurts on seeing the doctor. "Jesus, that's COLD! What if he can still feel that?"

She surveys the other bodies, looking sick.

"You said this was some kind of disease or something making these guys do this?"


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## Rhun (Dec 29, 2007)

Damon simply watches as the doctor fires a round into the thing's neck. He had simply been going to bind him, but he figured the doctor knew what he was doing. Turning away, he walks toward the corner, heading toward the security bulkhead that the 'zombies' had been pounding on. He begins to look for a computer terminal to hack to open the door into the command center.


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## Raylis (Dec 30, 2007)

"Given that they were relying on base instinct and retarded motor functions I doubt that they felt much.  he holsters the pistol  "Disease would be the best way to describe it, based on observation alone.  Michael looks down,  "Keep in mind that these are merely shells, they were dead before they attacked us.


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## Rhun (Jan 6, 2008)

Finding a terminal, Damon begins working the system in an attempt to unlock the security center's bulkhead.

*Post to bump.*


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## Blackrat (Jan 7, 2008)

Damon finds the electric locking mechanism for the door which has been shot with a burst from ballistic weapon. Wiring hangs out and he sets to work on trying to rig the door open.

Michael starts making medical examination on the "thing". The most basic functions indicate it to be dead. No respiration nor heart beat. The skin has cooled down to room temperature. Quick analysis indicate though that the most primal brain sections still have the normal electric current in them but otherwise it is dead.

Cnosos tries to make anything out of the code when suddenly the ships speakers crack loudly, start buzzing and then start speaking in Dah. "Where am I? Why can't I feel anything? Why can't I see? Wait what's that, what have you done to me. What have you done to my senses? My ears...! I can hear too much..." It keeps babling about senses being all wrong. It is also routed to the intercom and to the others through the communicators


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## Raylis (Jan 7, 2008)

"Just as I thought"  Michael murmers  "Now to determine the cause.


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## Shayuri (Jan 7, 2008)

"What the hell is that?" Mel asks, looking around as the speakers babble. She's clearly on edge.

"Can we shut that off?"


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## Rhun (Jan 7, 2008)

Blackrat said:
			
		

> Damon finds the electric locking mechanism for the door which has been shot with a burst from ballistic weapon. Wiring hangs out and he sets to work on trying to rig the door open.





Damon swears under his breath as he sets about trying to jury-rig the terminal so that he can get the doors open. He continues to cuss and swear as he does so, obviously unhappy with whoever shot up the lock...

*Computer Use +7...I hope that his knowledge of computer systems means he is familiar enough to repair systems like this!  *


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## Voda Vosa (Jan 7, 2008)

*"Ah... I downloaded the droids core to the ship computer... and ah... he seems to be.... ahm... Inside it in a very conscious and weird way... So... ehm... he is mumbling something about his senses... This thing thinks he is a living been..."* Cnosos says in the com, as he tries to do some computer manipulations to stop the droid from entering the computers core. He tries to isolate the droid from the other computer programs for preventing data corruption. (Like sending a virus to quarantine )


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## Blackrat (Jan 8, 2008)

OOC: Seems like Mithran haven't been online since before christmas. Anyone feel like playing two characters for a while? If not then I'll just NPC Faris for the time being.


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## Rhun (Jan 8, 2008)

*I'll play Faris too until Mithrin returns. Or until he dies! *

Faris moves to stand behind Damon, watching as the man works on the terminal to open the door. "Any luck?"


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## Blackrat (Jan 10, 2008)

Cnosos tries to isolate the programming from the rest of the system and soon the voice dies out. Then it starts again but only from Cnosos's own communicator so you can't be sure did you succeed or did it just learn to control the system better. "Interesting. You have hooked my brain to your computer."

On the station Damon connects some wires and gets the door open. On the other side you see the command center of the station with multitude of consoles and monitors. There are few bodies who have also been shot in heads. In the corner sits a man in strange clothing. It looks like a combat space-suit with a tabard on it. On the tabard is same flaming sword symbol that was on the fighter craft in landing bay. He is very badly hurt with a large gaping wound on his shoulder. The space-suit is almost in shreds, and he has removed his helmet. The man points a gun at you and coughs. "You sane?"


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## Voda Vosa (Jan 10, 2008)

*"Yes, while you there, don't touch anything, you see, if you produce some malfunction, your "Brain" could be erased. Like a silent death I'm afraid. So... don't touch, let me see if I can get you out of there..."*


----------



## Rhun (Jan 10, 2008)

"Sane enough," says Damon gruffly, staring the man down. "Who are you, and what the hell is going on here?"


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## Raylis (Jan 11, 2008)

"We'll have to find a suit for him. Keeping it functioning would be a waste only have it expire when exposed to the riggers of space.  Michael says aloud to no one in particular.


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## Shayuri (Jan 11, 2008)

Mel looks around, not sure what to focus on next. Brain in computer? Analysis of bodies? Talking to the guys? Damnit, why couldn't everyone just do one thing at a time?

She makes her choice and trudges over to where the door has opened and waves, putting her pistol away.

"Hey there, it's okay. Zombies are gone."


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## Rhun (Jan 11, 2008)

Faris waits patiently for the man to answer Damon's question, his pistol still in hand. He wasn't about to holster his weapon only to have the newcomer catch them offguard in a firefight.


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## Raylis (Jan 12, 2008)

Seeing the others move away and his "patient" not going to go anywhere, Michael joins the other at the door.  "Please tell me that you found someone that was actually working in this facility  the doctor drools.


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## Blackrat (Jan 14, 2008)

A recap post so to remind everyone of the situation.

So Mel, Michael, Damon and Faris are on the station looking for clues on what had happened. It seems that somesort of disease has run rampant on the station turning people into "zombies". The disease originated from a secret research base on the other side of the moon. Now they have found a survivor who apparantly came with the fighter-craft which you saw in the docking-bay.

Cnosos stayed on "Greed", inspecting the broken alien-android you found wandering near the research base. He hooked it to ship's computer and it began communicating using your comm-system. After a short experimenting it learned to control the comm and is now speaking with Cnosos. Only Cnosos can hear it now.

OOC: Voda, do you intend to completely unhook it or just isolate it further?


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## Blackrat (Jan 14, 2008)

Station: Not quite the man coughs to Mel's statement. You might want to check that record he says pointing to a console next to him. He crawls a bit further away from the console. I'd suggest not to come too close to me


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## Voda Vosa (Jan 14, 2008)

Cnosos will try to isolate the droids "mind" so that it don't compromise the ships computers functions.


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## Rhun (Jan 14, 2008)

"Damon, check those records," says Faris, nodding toward the console. Turning his attention back to the man, Faris frowns. "Is it a disease? Have you been infected?"


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## Rhun (Jan 14, 2008)

Damon seems about to argue with Faris about approaching the coughing man any closer, but finally just shrugs and moves toward the console. "Keep back you," he says to the man as he approaches. He then turns his attention to the console, and begins acesses the video records.


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## Raylis (Jan 15, 2008)

Michael steps into the room, pulling a syringe from the bag, and eyeing the man,  "Tell me."  the doctor says preping the instrument,  "How long has it been since you were exposed to the atmosphere? hold out your left arm.  he moves closer to the man, aparently unfazed by his condition or his declaration.

 OOC: erm disreguard that I found his description


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## Blackrat (Jan 16, 2008)

Damon checks the record which was already open on the console. It shows the soldiers from the research base being brought in and taken to the infirmary. An hour later one of the injured soldiers suddenly jumps up and attacks a doctor leaving him bloodied on the floor and goes on rampage across the station. Later those he had attacked start behaving the same. It starts a cycle of slaughter and eventually everyone on the station seems to be "zombies". Some marines manage to kill of some of them but eventually even they fall. The latest records show the man you found now, entering from the docking bay and being attacked by a group of those. He fights through the station but gets attacked by a group which manage to take him down. He gets away from them and locks himself in the command center. Half an hour later you arrive, taking down the last "zombies".

Suddenly Damon's communicator buzzes. He had rigged the system to pass a signal through if someone hailed them.

"Not the atmosphere, injury. I conducted a full scan. The virus is contacted through blood." If Michael get's closer he allows it but puts his gun on his own head. "I will succumb to it soon."


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## Blackrat (Jan 16, 2008)

"What are you doing?" The computer asks from Cnosos. "Oh, you know my mind is so andvanced you can't hope to block me. So, what happened to my body? I remember our ship was attacked by Areq'Dah. My sensors broke in the attack, and I can't make out what really happened after that. Speaking of sensors, your ship is quite unadvanced. How can you fly through hyperspace with this? And by the way. You are aware of this republic patrol ship that is trying to hail you, right. Oh, sorry I must be blocking the signal. Let me pass it through. Let's see."

The thing seems to be quite a chatter.


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## Raylis (Jan 16, 2008)

Michael pauses,  "I'm sure you did. Despite whatever first aid training you may have received there are various other tests-bloodwork-tests that can deduce an airborn pathegon from one that is acquired through blood swaping. Unless those beasts were bleeding profusly and gave you a transfusion I highly doubt your claim. 

But as you are the only survivor of an attack thus far you are and if by some far fetched means you carry a virus that is slowly transforming you from a thinking man to an impulse driven monster; then you are the best speci-person to take a blood sample from so I can identify exactly how this virus reproduces and attacks its host and devise and antidote. Killing yourself would be a waste of both your life and an opperunity to study the disease in more detail. 

Now put down your gun and hold out your arm. After I take a blood sample I'm going to annoculate you with Boost, and anti-coagulate and an infusion of white blood cells which will increase your body's resilance to disease. 

Your left arm. Please. "


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## Voda Vosa (Jan 16, 2008)

*"Well it seems that you know what you are doing. Let me tell you what you can't see. We found you body wandering around our ship, you mumble something before falling apart. So, we brought you into the ship, and I plug your core to the ship computer, and here you are! You body is quite damaged. And.... Oh you know you are a droid don't you? Of course you know. Now pass this ship you say is contacting us. If you probe useful I may not have to unplug you"*


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## Rhun (Jan 16, 2008)

Damon takes a few steps away from the infected man, and then activates his communicator, anxious to find out who is sending a signal.


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## Blackrat (Jan 17, 2008)

"Damnit man, I'm a doctor, not a grunt." The man says as he removes a device that was wrapped around his wrist. "Here take this. We humans are not supposed to have these but since you're carrying Boost I don't think you mind about having what you're not supposed to have. It's a medical scanner we found on a dead world." He hands the thing to you and holds out his left arm. "You don't happen to have a cryo-unit nearby? I wouldn't mind you finding a cure but I'm afraid this is quite speedy virus."

OOC: Sorry others, I'll reply to Damon's and Cnosos's action when I find the rest of my notes. I don't want to come up with names on the flight, and I have the name of the patrol craft tucked somewhere in my moving boxes.


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## Raylis (Jan 18, 2008)

_ . o O {That's my line.} __ Michael thinks, taking his own sample while injecting the boost and the sporekill.  "What a coincidence; so am I." [color] he takes the scanner, looking at it appraisingly,  "Must to the chagrin of legitment authorities I tend not to bother with what is legal and what isn't. My only alligence is to my Oath [color=1] although at times I definatly regret taking it and my commrades. 

I believe that we do have a functional cryo-unit on our ship; doesn't yours?" _


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## Blackrat (Jan 22, 2008)

Damon opens the channel on his communicator. The voice is harsh and very alien speaking in Dah. "Human vessel called Golden Greed, this is Hive-Master T'Kkyl of Republic Patrol Craft Chatkcha. We come to investigate this disturbance."

The computer keeps chatting with Cnosos. "Well well. Seems that the ship contains law-enforcers. Maybe I should let them know that you have kidnapped me. But then again, what's the fun in that. Let's make a deal. You repair my body, and I'll let you be."


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## Voda Vosa (Jan 22, 2008)

Cnosos scratches his bald head , thinking for a moment.* "Fair enough, I was about to propose you to be our computer if you wanted, but if you want your fragile body back, guess its your choice. I'll have it ready on a blink, oh by the way, Law enforcers? and what do you think they will do with a chatting computer and a pile of droid trash?"* 
Without waiting for an answer, Cnosos starts working in the droids arm, which seems severely severed and damaged.
*"By the way, who did this to you? Must be someone really strong, this metal is all bended."*


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## Blackrat (Jan 29, 2008)

OOC: Sorry for delay. I was waiting for Rhun, but I guess he missed the last update.

Michael takes the device and takes a good look at it. It looks like this. There are a few buttons and nothing more. The man coughs again before explaining. "No, my ship doesn't have cryo-cababilities. It was never designed for that. Well it was not actually designed for hyperspace flight either but that's not the case. The boost seems to be working. I feel a bit better. The device. Put it around your arm and press the big button. It opens a holographic interface. Well in lack of better terms at least."

On the ship: "I'm no computer thank you very much. I'm a living creature. My brain just happens to have more electricity than yours. Beside this junk is hardly a capable body. And I have no idea what happened to my body. My sensors went wild after the attack so although I have memories of what happened after that, they are very strange. I think you organics would call it hallucination." Cnosos tries to make anything out of the droids body but it is just too complex for you to fix. You have no idea how to fix the sensors.


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## Voda Vosa (Jan 29, 2008)

*"Hum.... well my friend, I can assure you, this is no organic body, and it is far too complex for me to fix. Although, you state that you are indeed a living organism... I wonder, did your brain hmm.... get transfered to this droid?"* Cnosos asks, intercom on, scratching his bald head.


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## Raylis (Jan 30, 2008)

"Fasinating. Before we put you down for an ice nap we need to find two suits  he looks at Faris  "Unless you think you need me in here, I'll take our injured friend and my mobile cadaver back to the Greed and see what I can find out about the pathegon.


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## Shayuri (Jan 30, 2008)

Melara holds a hand up.

"Maybe I should go back too. Unless you think you'll need me here. I just figure, with this guy maybe turning into a zombie, we might want to have someone who can shoot on the ship. Plus, if we have to get out of here, it'll be faster if I'm at the controls already."


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## Rhun (Jan 30, 2008)

Blackrat said:
			
		

> Damon opens the channel on his communicator. The voice is harsh and very alien speaking in Dah. "Human vessel called Golden Greed, this is Hive-Master T'Kkyl of Republic Patrol Craft Chatkcha. We come to investigate this disturbance."




*Sorry! I totally missed this somehow!*


Damon nods at Faris before responding. "Looks like the Republic Patrol Craft is here..."

He then turns his attention to the comm. Opening the channel, he replies. "Hive Master T'KKyl of Republic Patrol Craft Chatkcha, this is Damon Knight of the Gold Greed. Be advised that there appears to be a possible biological contaminatation; advise use of full quarantine protocols at this time."


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## Blackrat (Feb 4, 2008)

OOC: I must apologize the delay again. I will see if I can make an update today but don't hold your breath. I've been a bit busy during the weekend and haven't really had time to think at this at all.


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## Blackrat (Feb 5, 2008)

"Acknowledged. We will land soon. I want to talk to you. Meet you where?" Comes the Hive-master's sharp voice through Damon's comm. You are currently in the Command Center of the base and suddenly realize that the emergency broadcast is still sending. You can shut it down from there.

Mel and Michael take the wounded man and the incapacitated "zombie" back to Greed. You find an undamaged suit for the man in the airlock. Walking down there he gives Michael few more instructions on how to use the machine.

The droid answers to Cnosos. "You misunderstood. That body is my original. I am not an organic being. Technically speaking I might be a droid, but I prefer the wording electro-mechanical life. And I resent the word computer when speaking of my brains. They are far more sophisticated than you meat-brain." The thingy is obviously quite contemptous for organic life. It pauses abrubtly for a second and then continues. "Great. That patrol craft. Full of K'tings. I hate K'tings. Okay, I wont tell them that you kidnapped me if you don't tell them about me. Deal?"


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## Voda Vosa (Feb 5, 2008)

*"Kidnapped you? My dear life-wannabe, if I wouldn't take you on board your sophisticated cybernetic brain would be rooting as space trash out there. You are quite smart, why do you think anybody would bother for a broken super sophisticated droid like you? Or is there somethin else about this K'tings that you aren't telling me? It is obviously not so hard to understand, if you are cooperative I will be so."* Cnosos says, armas crozzed in ront of his chest


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## Rhun (Feb 5, 2008)

Blackrat said:
			
		

> "Acknowledged. We will land soon. I want to talk to you. Meet you where?" Comes the Hive-master's sharp voice through Damon's comm. You are currently in the Command Center of the base and suddenly realize that the emergency broadcast is still sending. You can shut it down from there.





Damon moves to shut down the emergency beacon. He switches the communicator back on. "Let's can meet in the airlock. The threat does not appear to be airborne."


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## Blackrat (Feb 18, 2008)

An announcement: As it stands I have a sudden change to resume to my studies in autumn, and I have a huge exam regarding this in the late spring. Now it's still almost three months to that but I need to start consentrating on it. This means that I will have to drop these bigger games I'm running. I'm sorry. This was a fun game and I'm glad we reached to the (almost) end of first adventure. I only wish that I had found more to do for Mel. I will still continue the couple Solo games I'm running and I'll be around as a player.

Hope to play with everyone of you sometime.

If, by summer you are still interested I might perhaps resume this.


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## Shayuri (Feb 18, 2008)

Meep, no worries.

As for Mel, well...it's something that can happen with pilots. No harm, no foul.

Hope everything goes well for you.


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## Raylis (Feb 19, 2008)

Good luck with your studies


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## Rhun (Feb 19, 2008)

As with _Lost in Space_, let me know if you pick this game up again in the summer.


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## Blackrat (Jun 16, 2009)

It took some convincing to get the Republic Patrol to accept the incident as human internal affair but finally they left the station. You decided not to tell them about the secret research facility on the other side of the moon.

While Michael escorted your guest to the ship, he activated some remote control which launched the fightercraft on autopilot to gods know where.

After quite a haggle the droid agrees to release your ship's computer in exchange for a trip back to Segdiiri homeworld as soon as possible, and for your promise to not tell anyone about him.

After your return to Unity you had a disagreement with Admiral Nelson on wether or not the things you found on the secret station were included on your salvage rights. Afterall, he had agreed on them only because he thought you wouldn't notice the research base. But since the gear didn't officially exist at all, and not even all of the Council knew of it he had no choice but to let you keep them.

It was during your debriefing that both Michael and Faris left you. Michael had been offered a research position on attempting to find a cure for the artificial virus that had wiped the way station and infected the mysterious man who now lay in cryo-sleep. And Faris couldn't tell you much what had happened, but he had received a more lucrative offer on Unity Special Services. Back in the security where his training had been, but now on more secretive assignment.

Finally it was over and you were ready to continue onwards...

_To be continued on next thread..._


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