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 Ashen Stars: Outsourced Stellar Authorities OOC/Peanut Gallery Thread can be found here. Episode List Episode One: Blood Harvest
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Oct 19, 2014 05:17
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February 12, 2468 * On approach to New Thespia, Viminal Cluster Your ship leaves the FTL corridor near New Thespia and begins the descent into orbit. The planetary capital city of Yurek is currently on the night side of the planet, but by the time you've achieved orbit and prepared to leave the ship on the shuttle, the system's dual suns should be dawning. It's your understanding that most of the people missing came from agricultural areas outside of the city, but it's in the city where you'll be able to get the most information to start your investigation. There are two people you will likely want to contact first: Administrator Omwi, the top elected government official on New Thespia, and Lessa Cruz, who heads the New Thespia Public Security Services. There are a few things about New Thespia your abilities tell you right away, but as you approach orbit now's a good time to finalize your thoughts on this contract and come up with a plan of attack. Rhk-Rchk and Flyboy-U, you both notice that the young dual-star system would lead to much higher levels of radiation reaching the surface than normal. This wouldn't be enough to warrant special protection in the short term, but would have long term implications. The planet's true planetary day is 29 days long, and gravity will be slightly higher than the Earth-standard. Again, not enough to warrant concern, but it will be noticeable. Etru, New Thespia's known for one of it's cash crops in particular, the lembas leaf. The lembas plant's leaves are harvested anywhere from two weeks after unrolling to seven months. The taste of the leaves changes depending on how long it's allowed to remain on the stalk, but regardless of when the leaf is harvested it is remarkably rich in calories and stays fresh long enough to be shipped offworld and reach consumers before losing its distinctively variable taste. In the Bleed, lembas leaves fill two holes in the post-war economy; they are considered good to eat both raw and in recipes, and they are a source of healthy, high-calorie natural food. Rhk-Rchk, upon exiting the FTL corridor it's standard for Hailer's to determine if you have working interstellar communications. You do not have working interstellar communications. Pavek, New Thespia officially is a Combine world, but the laws down there are loose in their enforcement. Because it's a largely agriculture world outside of the urban city of Yurek, there's little in the way of law enforcement structure down there. You're going to be working primarily with "sheriffs" once you get out of the city, and their resources will be limited. pre:--- Combine Ministry of Settlement Licensed Autonomous Zone Effectuator Contract Offer --- LOCATION: New Thespia, Viminal Cluster DETAIL: At least 19 beings have gone missing on New Thespia in the past four months. Reports on missing beings were not made via official channels. TASKS
pre:--- Combine Ministry of Settlement Planetary Overview --- PLANET: New Thespia LOCATION: Viminal Cluster CLASSIFICATIONS: Populated, Affiliated ECONOMIC EXPORTS: Agricultural Foodstuffs ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS Stellar Radiation (Long Term) --- End File --- GM Notes: * The standard calendar used by the Combine has 12 months as on Earth, but only uses 30 days in each month. this is done to avoid the hassle of leap years, etc. Standard days are 24 hours in length.
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Oct 19, 2014 05:27
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Enoch was, of course, working at his med bay, cultivating a few harmless bacterial cultures for his virals to later consume when the ship came out of FTL. Before sitting down with the rest of the crew to plan their attack, Enoch called up his Tether and set it to crawl for any publicly available medical alerts or issues; he'd done what research he could when they'd picked up the contract, but in his experience the clearest picture came from the local networks.
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Oct 19, 2014 15:08
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Etru Etru is monitoring the FTL drive as it comes out of FTL, keeping an eye on some power fluctuations. They're all within tolerances and shouldn't be a danger to the ship or the engines, but still, there are more of them than Etru considers optimal, and when he has some free time, he decides it might be useful to go over the power relays to see if any parts needed replacement. Dealing with minor problems now can prevent bigger problems later. But, review of the ship's energy flow will have to wait, as the FTL powers down, and the ship has arrived at its destination. He walks to the conference area considering the contract. It was intriguing that the reports of the missing persons came from unofficial channels. It would seem more efficient to report them to official authorities, who no doubt have experience is finding them. Still, speculation without facts is worthless, and so the first task is to gather sufficient evidence to come up with a theory. pre:Name: Etru Race: Balla Drive: Combinism Investigative: 21/21 Botany 2 Geology 1 Zoology 1 Astronomy 1 Bio Signatures 2 Chemistry 2 Energy Signatures 2 Forensic Engineering 2 History, Balla 2 History, Combine 1 Industrial Design 2 Kinetics 1 Imaging 1 Data Retrieval 1 General: 75/75 Systems Design 7 Systems Repair 8 Sense Trouble 6 Health 10 Athletics 8 Emotion Suppression 8 Scuffling 6 Preparedness 6 Shooting 6 Shuttle Craft 5 Viromanipulation 5 Boosts: Biology Botany Zoology KNOWN GEAR/CYBERNETIC ENHANCEMENTS/VIROWARE ENHANCEMENTS POPPERS: [O] [O] [O] [O] [O] [O] Hit Threshhold 4 GEAR GEAR REFERENCE PAGE Mor Sohn 145 Headset 125 Rosetta Chip 126 Unireader 126 Bioprocess Suspender 133 Espresser 133 Osmotic Puncher 133 Holo Layout 136 Meglight 135 Meglight Whacker 135 Snails 135 Tethers 136 Foiler 133 Poppers (3) 134 Spacesuit 135 Baton 142 Disruption Pistol 143 Enhancements: Aversionizer 144 Crick-Cracker 144 Gun-Nanny 145 Insureshield 142 Deflector 133 Pheroblocker 134 CYBER. ENHANCEMENT UPKEEP ENH. REFERENCE PAGE Dataloader 0 129 VIRO. ENHANCEMENT UPKEEP ENH. REFERENCE PAGE Brainwave Recycler 0* 138 * Upkeep discount for species-specific viroware compatibility. TOTAL UPKEEP: 0 Gear Purchases GEAR COST Disruption Pistol: - Crick-Cracker 1 - Aversionizer 1 -Brainwave Recycler 1 -Dataloader 2 -Pheroblocker 2 -Extra Poppers 1 ------------------------------- TOTAL 8 Personal Background Physical Description Tall, thin, and willowy, his skin the color of a rich caramel, his eyes a brilliant green, Etru dances rather than walks, gracefully flitting over the ground. His voice is deep and reassuring, his face soft and kind. Actions during the war Etru spent most of the Mohilar war in a Combine shipyard, building warships, and then, near the end of the war, when the resource situation got desperate, and the Combine was pressing any ship they could into service, was reassigned to an old, almost scrapped, freight hauler, where he was one of the crew responsible from keeping the ship from breaking down while it was delivering essential supplies. He never saw any actual combat in the war. Epicurius fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Oct 21, 2014 |
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Oct 19, 2014 18:51
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Green Bean posted:Before sitting down with the rest of the crew to plan their attack, Enoch called up his Tether and set it to crawl for any publicly available medical alerts or issues; he'd done what research he could when they'd picked up the contract, but in his experience the clearest picture came from the local networks. You're a Laser ship, and as such you're granted access to all of the public medical records of New Thespia. It looks like pretty standard records for an agricultural world: some injuries from careless handling or maintenance of the farming equipment, a few cases of bored farmhands doing incredibly stupid things, the usual bouts of sniffles during inclement weather when sick people cluster indoors and can spread their lovely germs and viruses around, injuries from wildlife and plantlife due to working outdoors with them. Nothing that jumps out as being a medical outlier. If you spend 1 point of Zoology, there's something more to be gleamed from these reports.
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Oct 20, 2014 13:17
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*Your Ship Name Here*'s Quote Conference Area Endquote Directly to the rear of the bridge, the living quarters' mobile walls have been folded in, the beds locked in their upright positions. The round table where the crew meets, eats, and relaxes is raised up from the floor, and seats hang down from its edge. In the center of the table, the holo-projector currently shows New Thespia, with the capital city and the reported areas of missing people. In all, seven points are marked with reported missing persons, all in the northern hemisphere of the larger land mass, all from smaller rural communities centered around large-scale farms.
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Oct 20, 2014 13:28
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Flyboy As the ship shuddered into normal space out of the translight corridor, Flyboy was immediately bombarded with a stream of raw data. His Ocular Input Analyzer whirred and clicked as it processed what it saw before him, and the jack in his arm connecting him to the ships computer flooded the hard drive in his brain with figures, measurements and analysis. Closing his eyes, Flyboy let his cogitators filter and process all these numbers, compiling and reducing them into a form that his concious brain could process with relatively little difficulty. His mind swam with images of asteroid warning beacons, ship transponders and traffic control signals, coming together to form a picture in his head of all the nearby hazards and obstacles that he needed to be aware of. Seconds later, the com pinged as traffic control sent them their assigned route to orbit, and as he opened his eyes his OIA overlaid it as a tracking hologram before him, stretching off into the void before curving into a tight pattern around the world before him. Pulsing the standard engines, he felt a slight pressure on him, as the massive forces generated by the ship's engines fought against their inertial dampeners. The sensation soon ended, however, when the engines cut out, letting inertia propel them forward at a steady and safe speed. Feeling confident in the approach, Flyboy flicked on the autopilot and took one last look at the sensors before he disconnected his jack and started to head back to the common area.
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Oct 20, 2014 16:44
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Rhk-Rchk After entering realspace again, Rhk-Rchk takes a moment to ponder why anyone would choose to live here. It wouldn't be impossible to deal with the increased radiation or the higher gravity, and he guessed that maybe the extremely long day cycle might be useful for solar farms, but it still seemed like too much effort. Perhaps there's good food down there? A moment later something else has captured the Kch-Thk's attention, as the monitored displays an error message regarding interstellar comms. He flicks a switch to turn the ship's intercom on and addresses the crew, "This is Rhk-Rchk at comms, interstellar communication appears to be down, no way to call for outside help. Unlikely to be malicious jamming, probably natural in origin. Will run a few tests to see if I can pin-point the cause. Please do not start eating the conference donuts just yet." Rhk-Rchk makes sure to switch the intercom off before clicking his mandibles to himself. Of course they'll start eating without him. Still, something is messing with their ability to contact the "outside world", and it's better if he figures out what that is sooner rather than later. pre:Name: Rhk-Rchk Species: Kch-Thk Drive: Exploration Groundside: Bagger Warpside: Hailer Hit Threshold: 4 Poppers: 3 Investigative Abilities: Astronomy 2 Bureaucracy 3 Data Retrieval 4 Decryption 3 Flattery 1 Forensics Accounting 2 History (Kch-Thk) 1 [Boost] Law 2 Linguistics 1 Negotiation 1 Reassurance 1 General Abilities: Athletics 8 Business Affairs 8 Communication Intercept 10 Health 8 Migrate Consciousness 5 Preparedness 8 Public Relations 10 Sense Trouble 8 Scuffling 6 [Boost] Shooting 4 [Boost] Gear: Biofueler (Page 128) Phosphorolytic Battery (Page 132) Personal Arc 1: While everyone is unable to remember who the Mohilars are or what they looked like, Rhk-Rchk's memory loss goes deeper, as he is unable to remember the entire year before the war ended, or the names and faces of those he served with. Currently he does not know if his memory loss is just a botched consciousness migration, or something else. Personal Arc 2: Personal Arc 3:
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Oct 20, 2014 20:50
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Just a note, but interstellar communications are habitually spotty post-war. Only about 15% of the network is operational in the Bleed, and it's not always the same 15%. Spotty interstellar comms is a feature of the setting, not necessarily a nefarious plot or anything.
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Oct 20, 2014 20:58
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Enoch Enoch noted the injuries from the local plant and animal life and on a hunch, called up local zoological data. It wouldn't be the first time an animal problem had crossed over into the local populace. Spending the Zoology point.
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Oct 20, 2014 21:28
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Zoology Results Due to the planet's high radiation levels and slightly longer 29-hour day, local wildlife have evolved along lines analogous to Earth insects and reptiles, but their predatory patterns are more in line with mammal predators. There are several large, active predators, whether alone or in packs, and it is these animals that are often involved in attacks on sentients. Like the lions and wolves on Earth, the New Thespian predators often attack the throat or the legs, attempting to kill with a crushing blow to the throat or lame by slashing the muscles or equivalent in the leg. The other common injury to sentients is defensive wounds on the forearm, as they fend off the attack. Other injuries are usually postmortem predation. But in the last two years, a growing number of attacks have had initial wounds to the upper arms, often shredding the mobility of those arms. In cases where this has happened, the attack is almost universally fatal and is centered around one of the rural communities dominated by developed farms.
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Oct 20, 2014 23:46
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Oe Oe sits in the not-a-captain's-seat (even though it IS the central seat on the bridge, giving him a full view of what everyone is doing and making it easier to coordinate navigation and battle plans), listening to the rest of the crew's reports and assessments of the planet. Should anyone not think to volunteer, Oe prods said crew member about any discoveries or insights, then passes it along. In order to maximize the efficient exchange of ideas, he sets up a networked document and announces over the intercom that everyone should check it and add to it as needed. Satisfied, he slips he left thumb's interface jack into a convenient port and activates his Dataloader. The implanted memory chips cause his temple to tingle and feel slightly warm as they work, which he finds pleasantly distracting. About a minute later, he unplugs from the ship's databanks and starts trawling his Tether for any useful information on the government (both on paper and people's actual experiences), the culture (ditto), and etiquette. Oe takes time to also dig into reports about New Thespia's criminal element. OOC: Unless anyone objects, I'm going to take 3 points of the ship's Output for my Dataloader. pre:--- Combine Ministry of Settlement Licensed Autonomous Zone Effectuator Registration --
BASIC INFORMATION
NAME: Oe (OH-eh) Emboelath (ehm-boh-EH-lahth)
SPECIES: Balla
DRIVE: Professionalism
HIT THRESHOLD: 4
GROUNDSIDE POST: Cultural Officer (Face)
WARPSIDE POST: Strategic Coordinator (StratCo)
INVESTIGATIVE ABILITIES
ABILITY RATING POOL BOOST
Anthropology 2 2 N
Archaeology 1 1 N
Bullshit Detector 2 2 N
Downside 1 1 N
Flattery 3 3 N
History (Balla) 1 1 Y
History (Combine) 1 1 N
Impersonate 1 1 N
Inspiration 3 3 N
Intimidation 3 3 N
Respect 2 2 N
Xenoculture 1 1 N
GENERAL ABILITIES
ABILITY RATING POOL BOOST
Athletics 8 8 N
Emotion Suppression 8 8 N
Health 6 6 N
Helm Control 4 4 N
Naval Tactics 10 10 N
Preparedness 7 7 N
Public Relations 9 9 N
Scuffling 6 6 N
Sense Trouble 8 8 N
Shooting 9 9 N
KNOWN GEAR/CYBERNETIC ENHANCEMENTS/VIROWARE ENHANCEMENTS
POPPERS: [O] [O] [O] [O] [O] [O] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
GEAR GEAR REFERENCE PAGE
Mor Sohn 145
Headset 125
Rosetta Chip 126
Unireader 126
Bioprocess Suspender 133
Espresser 133
Osmotic Puncher 133
Holo Layout 136
Meglight 135
Meglight Whacker 135
Snails 135
Tethers 136
Foiler 133
Poppers (6) 134
Spacesuit 135
Baton 142
Disruption Pistol 143
* Enhancements:
Crick-Cracker 144
Gun-Nanny 145
Stockholmer 145
Insureshield 142
Deflector 133
Pheroblocker 134
CYBER. ENHANCEMENT UPKEEP ENH. REFERENCE PAGE
Dataloader 0 129
VIRO. ENHANCEMENT UPKEEP ENH. REFERENCE PAGE
Height. PreFro. Cortex 0* 138
* Upkeep discount for species-specific viroware compatibility.
TOTAL UPKEEP: 0
PERSONAL BACKGROUND
DESCRIPTION
Tall, slender, with a lean musculature, and wavy hair of deepest black, Oe is obviously a Balla. His eyes are gold-flecked indigo, his
skin dusky and perfectly clear. Every move is effortlessly graceful, every word unintentionally rich and musical.
ACTIONS DURING MOHILAR WAR:
Fought the Mohilar as a member of the Combine fleet
* Oe turned down a Diplomatic Corps commission in order to enlist and serve in the Combine's war effort. His tactical genius and ability
to efficiently command a crew---as well as the Combine's heavy casualties and dwindling veteran officer pool---saw him quickly earn
command of his own ship.
* The Combine's drastic cutbacks to military expenses meant Oe would no longer have a ship to captain. Given the choice between an
accepting a purely administrative assignment or finally accepting the diplomatic commission, Oe took a third option and became a
Laser.
PERSONAL ARC 1: Oe takes pride in captaining a well-run ship, but Lasers don't have captains. Oe has to figure how to maintain an efficient
crew without the tools of command he's used to.
Subplots:
- I run into an acquaintance from the war who kept her ship and commission---and isn't shy about throwing it in my face.
- I'm offered command of a planetary police force vessel that would jeopardize completing my team's current contract.
- My decision about the police force threatens the perfect Reputation I've worked so hard for our team to maintain.
PERSONAL ARC 2:
PERSONAL ARC 3:
--- End File ---
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Oct 21, 2014 03:44
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Enoch Enoch considered this new information carefully, and on a hunch tried overlaying the locations of these newer and more savage animal attacks over a map of the disappearances. While the Tether was collating, he turned to those who've made it to the conference room. "First steps?" Enoch was not very expressive when it came to things outside his expertise, and when he talked at length, it sometimes gave the impression he saw other sentients as walking agar plates.
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Oct 21, 2014 04:05
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Pavek Pavek is waiting in the "conference room", maintaining his weapons. Meaning he's been filing his
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Oct 21, 2014 04:48
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Etru "Would not the first step be to contact the administrator and the chief of security?", Etru asks. "No doubt they have done some investigating, and we can use that as a base for future research." He looks at his shipmmates. "Unless anyone else has leads."
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Oct 21, 2014 05:00
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New Thespia Government, Culture, and Etiquette The New Thespian planetary government is almost entirely administrative; the Planetary Administrator is elected by four-year voting of the New Thespian landowners. In a sense, the Administrator is the CEO, elected by the shareholding landowners. The Administrator's job is primarily composed with managing planetary imports/exports, maintaining public order in the capital of Yurek, and organizing responses to planet-wide situtaions such as natural disasters. At the local level, most communities are formed around farming towns, each town maintaining a dozen large public farms in the area with residents usually maintaining several smaller private farms as well. Towns elect a seven-person council who is responsible for the administration of the individual towns, as well as selecting local police and judicial personnel. Taxes are low both at the federal and local levels, as there are very small governmental budgets. What fills the void are the larger corporations. Many of the large public farms have been subsidized by off-world corporations, and communities around these farms are often run as a glorified company town. The drive for profit exerts a steady pressure on the lives of beings in these communities. Culturally, each community often maintains the culture of the primary settlers. A human community feels like human farm communities throughout the centuries, complete with harvest festivals. Kch-Thk communities will hold their ritual seasonal hunts. The predominate population on New Thespia is human, but they are not the majority. Ironically on such a blended world, specie-ism is high because the much more uniform individual communities rarely blend, leading to "us versus them" mentailities. The exception is Turek; most of the city dwellers are people who have come from off-world or have run away from their community to live in the city, and Turek residents are generally distrusted by all other communities. Etiquette is fluid on New Thespia. They're usually willing to let small mistakes go if they like you, or take offense at the slightly thing if they don't. In short, don't be a jerk and hope they aren't jerks as well, and you'll get along with them fine.
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Oct 22, 2014 19:10
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Oe His reading done, and confident that the orbit isn't going to spontaneously deteriorate in his absence, Oe joins the other around the holoprojection. "A thing to consider before we can be all of accord," Oe says, his natural lilt and sustain moderated by years of practice into something crisper and flatter. "For though nineteen were reported lost, yet the Special Legate did gift us with knowledge that such intelligence did not manifest via official conduits. The Administrator did not deliver news of the citizenry's woes openly. Was it fear of reprisal from those responsible... or perhaps collusion with them? Or rank, base apathy?" He pauses, then adds, "Let us consider also that on such a planet as this, each town will likely consider its own headman or headwoman the true authority and primary government official upon which to lay their trust. The appearance of working closely with the Administrator may burden us unduly in gaining their confidence."
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Oct 22, 2014 22:45
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Animal Attacks The animal attacks lined up fairly well with the missing New Thespians. None of the reported missing beings came from a community that didn't have at least one anomalous attack, although several communities with anomalous attacks did not have missing beings. The attacks started well before the first unofficially reported missing being.
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Oct 22, 2014 23:38
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Rhk-Rchk Rhk-Rchk enters the makeshift conference room in time to hear some tidbits about the planet's government, and the mention about how the appearances were not relayed through official channels. "For now, let's assume it was just a clerical error or similar, rather than assume the planet's administration is actively or indirectly malicious. Would be a tough job if that was the case, but shouldn't worry about that yet. Going to the Administrator may or may not affect how the farm communities think of us, but we should still visit the Administrator eventually." Rth-Rchk taps his headset with his claw, activating the integrated tether and projecting a small screen in front of his face. "In the interest in getting along with the locals, I will look up local laws that might affect the case. Most likely no unpleasant surprises, but should make sure."
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Oct 23, 2014 04:28
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Pavek "This isn't just about how the citizens view us, but the law as well," Pavek says, speaking from his days as an "official" enforcer of the law. "Small law is adverse to cooperation with big law. Make the sheriffs think they're more important to our case than any government aid. They'll only hinder us otherwise."
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Oct 23, 2014 04:56
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Oe "Indeed," Oe says to Rhk-Rchk, "We should not presume malice anymore than we should incompetence or indifference. Of course, we must at least consider each option." He nods at Pavek's words. "We are in agreement."
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Oct 23, 2014 05:25
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Astus posted:Rhk-Rchk Would you like to spend a point of Law? Doing so would indicate that you did a quick review of the laws of New Thespia before you arrived, as stored in the Combine Disseminated Database, while now you're reading the laws as contained on the New Thespia network.
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Oct 23, 2014 12:32
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Byers2142 posted:Would you like to spend a point of Law? Doing so would indicate that you did a quick review of the laws of New Thespia before you arrived, as stored in the Combine Disseminated Database, while now you're reading the laws as contained on the New Thespia network. I'm fine with spending a point of law on this, sure.
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Oct 23, 2014 14:59
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Laws of New Thespia The Laws of New Thespia are relatively simple. Acts that would endanger the public safety, such as improper storage of explosives in a metal shed under the hot sun, are dealt with via fines and community service, theft or damage to public or private property often leads to jail time, and injuring, killing, or desecrating sentient beings leads to much, much longer jail time. Local communities often work together to have one jail shared between several towns, with costs for the jail shared, while the more egregious criminals are sent to the planetary jail just outside of Turek. Local police are funded, recruited, and maintained by the towns, while New Thespia Public Security Services is maintained by the planetary government. The NTPSS is tasked with patrolling the capital and immediate surrounding areas, customs, and planet-wide concerns such as smuggling or escapes from planetary custody. One interesting note, there is a law saying that the head of the NTPSS, currently Lessa Cruz, has the authority to deputize skilled civilians into the NTPSS for special service. These Deputies answer directly to Lessa Cruz, and are considered NTPSS agents "until the need for them has passed." This law does not exist in the copy of New Thespian laws stored in the Combine Disseminated Database, meaning it was either added since the Database's last update or deliberately withheld.
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Oct 23, 2014 15:29
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Enoch Enoch made some command gestures, and his tether sent his overlaid maps to the projector. It added a number of coloured dots to the holomap of New Thespia. The sites of the disappearances pulsed purple, while the strange animal attacks pulsed red. "Something to consider: there have been anomalous animal attacks in all locations that have suffered a disappearance. The attacks were mostly fatal, but it seems there were some survivors. This may be a coincidence, but it is worth considering as a potential lead." Enoch tries to see if he can find names or locations for any survivors of the attacks.
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Oct 24, 2014 01:37
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Attack Survivors Pulling the names of the survivors isn't a problem for Enoch. All told, he finds several dozen survivors spread across the affected communities, several from towns where people have also reportedly gone missing. Not going to list out names and locations right now; instead, with this you have another lead you can follow if/when you go to the more rural towns, and I'll just give you names for the town(s) you visit. Yes, I'm being lazy and not building dozens of NPCs when you probably won't talk to all of them.
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Oct 24, 2014 02:07
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Etru "In truth, one thing puzzles me", Etru says, looking at the map of the attacks. "See you a pattern in the attacks or the victims? Why are some on the planet doomed and some spared? We shall not solve this mystery without determining what causes some to be attacked and some to not." Can I try to find out if the victims of attacks and/or the missing people have anything in common?
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Oct 25, 2014 02:01
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Commonality of the Victims Beyond the physical location of the attacks compared to the missing colonists, there's nothing of note that seems to connect the two groups. Short of someone coming up with a question and spending points that I haven't considered, there's not much more you're going to get out of analysis of the starting data. You've gotten the Clues I set up for the intro, plus one more that I was saving for later.
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Oct 25, 2014 02:31
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Rhk-Rchk "Looking at what we know so far, it seems our options are to either visit the Administrator, go to Lessa Cruz, or visit one of the rural towns. The Administrator may or may not be disliked by the local communities, but would very likely have more detailed reports on the attacks and disappearances. Lessa Cruz, as a local law enforcer, could also be convince to offer us some help, perhaps give us some more leads. And Etru would probably like to visit the rural towns to follow up on the discrepancies of the animal attacks." Rhk-Rchk's mandibles click together in thought for a moment, before he speaks again. "I still think it would be wise to visit the Administrator, but all three options are valid. Do we need to take a vote?"
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Oct 26, 2014 20:02
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(OOC: I'm going to give everyone 24 hours or so, but if no one else responds we''l go with Astus's suggestion of hitting the Administrator first just to get the game moving. That's only going to happen if not one else posts in the meantime; if people are here and posting I'm not going to intervene like that, but if it's silent in the interest of progress I'll move it along.)
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Oct 28, 2014 13:11
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Byers2142 posted:(OOC: I'm going to give everyone 24 hours or so, but if no one else responds we''l go with Astus's suggestion of hitting the Administrator first just to get the game moving. That's only going to happen if not one else posts in the meantime; if people are here and posting I'm not going to intervene like that, but if it's silent in the interest of progress I'll move it along.) I am watching the thread, but I've got nothing really to say IC, so that's cool with me.
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Oct 28, 2014 17:00
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Oe "Rendering a visit to the administrator presents itself as the most logical first step," Oe says. "And thence I shall have an audience with Lessa Cruz."
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Oct 28, 2014 22:01
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Etru "This logic appears to me to be sound given the constraints of our knowledge", Etru responds to Oe, "Consequently, I concur with your assessment. You shall have an audience with Lessa Cruz." He stops for a minute. "A thought", he adds. "All of the sentient races of the Combine are social, hierarchical races. All of the known sentients on this planet are of Combine races. Therefore, all the known sentients on the planet are social and hierarcical beings. Social and hierarchical beings are deferential to persons in authority and seek to cooperate with them. Therefore, if we became persons of authority, the inhabitants of this planet would be deferential to us and seek to cooperate with us. Lessa Cruz has the authority, under the law to deputize individuals into the NTPSS. NTPSS deputies are persons of authority. Therefore, in your communication with Lessa Cruz, you should request that Lessa Cruz deputize us into the NTPSS. This will have the result of making us persons of authority, and therefore make the inhabitants of this planet deferential and cooperative. This will aid our investigation. Does the rest of the group concur? Have I reasoned incorrectly?"
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Oct 29, 2014 03:03
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Administrator's office it is! Anyone who doesn't want to be in this scene and wants to pursue something else, you can instead place yourself anywhere in the capital city of Turek; give me an intro post, and I'll play off of that. Administrator's Office Administrator Omwi waves you into seats in his office, then stands himself and strolls to the window. "In a similar situation, some planetary administrators might be concerned at the unexpected arrival of a Laser team. New Thespia is a world built for balance in all things. New Thespians work with and within the natural order in all things. Some may see the introduction of foreign elements such as yourself as disruptive, even destructive." The tall Balla pauses, gazing out on the busy planetary shipyard below. On New Thespia, the Administrator's job is focused on interactions with off-world people, and the location of the office reflects that. So does his office; it's built for impromptu conferences and comfortable sitting during long negotiations. Below him is how goods flow off of New Thespia, and in the surrounding city you saw many refineries, factories, and packaging plants for preparing the agricultural goods for transport off-world. This is the heart and the breadth of the Administrator's power. "It would be best if your time here is brief in both duration and disruption. What is your contracted purpose?"
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Oct 29, 2014 20:07
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Oe As he often has since his discharge, Oe wishes Lasers had uniforms. They may have the Combine's recognition and overt deference among many officials, but nothing can replace the subliminal impact of a uniform. Still, he tries to evoke what unconscious respect he can from his dress. The outfit may have no insignia, but the cut and shape are subtly suggestive of an officer's dress. At least Administrator Omri's tone is crisp and efficient. This is comfortable territory at least. But Oe is neither subordinate or commanding officer here. He will have to tailor his own response accordingly. OOC: Does either my Respect or Flattery give Oe a sense of how best to introduce himself and the rest of the crew?
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Nov 3, 2014 07:26
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ibntumart posted:OOC: Does either my Respect or Flattery give Oe a sense of how best to introduce himself and the rest of the crew? Flattery doesn't seem like it would work; Omwi's primary concern seems to be the effect your team will have on the planet. If Flattery would work, you'd expect a more selfish bent. Notice the reasons he gives for worry; it's not about him. Also as a Balla, you know that he's clearly saying he's worried about your team's presence on the planet. Approach him as roughly equal in purpose, but not status. He has a job and so do you, and it would behoove you to work together to ensure neither job is adversely affected by the other.
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Nov 3, 2014 13:56
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Etru "Those individuals who see the presence of Lasers as disruptive perhaps are reasoning in the wrong direction", Etru reminds the Administrator gently, "for Lasers tend to only come to a place where there is disruption. It appears that there is already disruption in New Thespia, for, on the planet, individuals are disappearing and being attacked by beasts at a rate above the normal variance." He looks out the window, following the Administrator's gaze to the busy spaceport. "Here is a paradox," he says quietly. "For strangers to New Thespia who do not share its ideology may disrupt the harmony of the planet. Yet, it is necessary that outsiders come to link New Thespia to the greater galaxy. A strange paradox indeed." He's silent for a minute, and then adds, "We are contracted to find whatever caused individuals to go missing, and, if we can, correct the problem, and recover those missing. If we succeed, we will restore harmony to the planet. Then we will leave. If we do not succeed, we will either die or leave, and the abductions will continue. Some individuals might behave in a manner analogous to sadness and regret should that occur. It would seem to be in conformity with your title and duties to assist us in making certain this does not occur."
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Nov 4, 2014 02:07
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Oe Oe crafts his introduction to Administrator Omri carefully, yet quickly, for it is after all his duty to play the crew's diplomatic face. As he opens his mouth, however, he is shocked to be preempted. Oe is, of course, too well-trained to allow irritation to show or let the anger develop unchecked. Instead, he shunts it to the back of his mind and translates it into a matter to deal away from outside eyes, away from anything resembling raw emotion. His focus remains fostering cooperation and goodwill---or at least a lack of interference---from the administrator. As soon as Etru finishes, Oe slips into the conversation. "As Survey Officer Etru has indicated, our presence on New Thespia was prompted by reports of missing persons. You and I, Administrator, are of like disposition: efficiency and focus on the issue at hand with minimal interference to and from others are as much the hallmarks of a successful investigation as it is to a successful administration. A person of understanding would not come with any questions or requests for information that were not needful in nature. Individuals such as those would eschew any distractions from their work as well." Pausing for the briefest moments to allow the administrator to take in his words, Oe concludes,"Our purpose is the same as yours in this instance: the safety and smooth running of New Thespia. It is only the matter of the execution of said goal that differs."
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Nov 4, 2014 03:21
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Administrator's Office Administrator Omwi pauses when Oe finishes speaking, and the Balla in the crew recognize that he is collecting himself. What the emotion he fights against is, it is not known, but that the emotion is there is recognizable. "Assurances have been made that those reports of missing people you reference are not as concerning as the beings in the community make it seem. Any problems are being handled at the planetary level, and it has been suggested to some that there is no need for outside involvement." As he finishes each sentence, there is a slight, nearly imperceptible pause in his speech. His words are being selected very carefully. "In the four years I have served as Administrator, it has been explained that New Thespia's exports must expand to service the Bleed in the wake of the war. This expansion, as it has been explained to concerned individuals, has led to an increased exposure of danger to workers and rural settlers, as they interact with the natural world." He pauses again to look out the window, then turns to face the group fully. "As Lasers, you have the authority to fulfill your contract as long as you do not interfere with local laws. You will be provided access to files as New Thespia is required to provide by Combine law, but no more. This may be more limited than the solution some individuals would like, but it is the response required to maintain balance. "As such, you will be granted access to any files pertaining to the specific beings you search for and public records for their towns. You will not be granted access to similar reports of missing people that did not get reported beyond a planetary level. You will not be granted access to recorded export levels for our products, nor will you be provided planetary yield reports and local consumption reports." He pauses again, wanting to make sure you follow what he is saying closely. "All such reports that you are not to be provided will remain under the purview of the NTPSS and stored on their internal servers."
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Nov 4, 2014 04:25
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