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 Marr Udo-Mundi Wound: 12/12 Strain: 16/16 Soak: 4 "Very well, I think we know where we can begin our investigation then. Lead us to Danni Quee, and we'll see what she has to say that hasn't been said already."
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Mar 21, 2015 05:58
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 14:00 |
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 Lt. Benjamin Novar Benjamin frowns, "I've got a bad feeling about this." Looking back at the lieutenant, "Well, if there's no other backup any chance you can help undo some of the damage the previous owner did to our ship?"
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Mar 21, 2015 08:19
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 Gulran "RX-3318" Amaya Wound: 9/13 Strain: 12/12 Soak: 3 Defense: 1 "Careful, Novar, saying that is always a bad omen, hah!" RX said. He got up and began following Marr to talk with the survivors. Hopefully, Novar's feeling doesn't come to fruition.
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Mar 21, 2015 09:38
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 Seris Nyar Seris nods to the Sulustani, wordlessly following him.
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Mar 21, 2015 15:44
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 Senior Technician Nban dips into a shallow bow as Seris Nyar slithers over to him. {Greetings, friend Sluissi}, he babbles in Sullustan. {If you'll be so kind as to follow me, I will show you our landing pad, and the damaged shuttle.} Without waiting for a response, he turns toward the door and ferries Seris from the room, down an adjoining hallway separate from the main corridor. The trip is short, and after a moment Nban and Seris are walking outside, back into the sunny afternoon on Plooma.  The shuttlepad is small, and currently filled with the boxy shape of the damaged shuttlecraft. The vessel's armor plating is heavily scoured and corroded, and several patches don't match the color of the rest of the ship. The ship is tethered to an external power lead feeding back into the building as the lights inside continue to flicker lazily. {A Spacecaster Light Shuttle. An antique by any standard} speaks the Sullustan. He walks toward the ship and rubs a gloved hand along its hull. {When the Thyferra Sun brought her back to us planetside, she nearly fell apart in the upper atmosphere. I reckon she's at least 80 years old, and likely hasn't seen competent maintenance since the high days of the Civil War.} He kicks a landing strut on the ship lightly. {In spite of that, I'm shocked she made it this far. We've hooked her into our power system so we can try to copy down the logs from the ship's computer. As soon as that's done and the investigation is closed, we'll probably scrap her.} Nban turns back toward Seris, his bulbous black eyes suddenly gleaming and his fatty lips turned into a smile. {Though if it were up to me, I'd take her myself. There ain't a ship that's been built that can't be repurposed.} ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lieutenant Tranis nods curtly and ushers you from the room, after Seris and the Sullustant technician depart separately for the Republic compound's shuttlepad. As you walk through the corridors of the sensor facility, you're struck by just how small everything is, though it's little surprise given the sleepy waystation's relative lack of importance all the way out here on the Rim. As you make your way to the facility's medical bay, you notice a mere handful of uniformed technicians milling about. Aside from the background whir of the computers, all you hear is comforting silence. The facility seems to be just as excitement-free as the rest of the planet of Plooma. As you walk, Lieutenant Tranis responds to the question from Novar. "Unfortunately our facility is not equipped for repairs - we can provide the basics like fuel or routine maintenance, but the nearest starport with actual repair facilities will be on Sernpidal." You finally enter the medical ward - a fairly sparsely-appointed bay, home to a 2-1B droid, a bacta tank, and a few beds. Aside from the droid doctor, the only occupant of the room is an attractive human female, whose otherwise wholesome features are still marred with several transdermal patches and bandaging. Though her eyes are closed as she reclines in her medical bed, you don't get the impression that she's sleeping. Lieutenant Tranis approaches and gently places a hand on her shoulder. "Ms. Quee, the guests we spoke of have arrived and are eager to hear from you."  Danni Quee's eyes open quickly, looking to Lieutenant Tranis before casting her glance over the group. She seems somewhat out of it, whether from medication or as a result of her recent traumatic experience. Nevertheless, she visibly musters the energy to bring herself to her senses and speak. "Yes, of course," she tones. She looks back to the group, and a somewhat surprised expression flashes over her face before she adeptly conceals it. "I... uh, sorry, but I was expecting someone a bit more... professional-looking." She pulls herself up on the medical bed, propping up her back with a few pillows before continuing. "Well uh.. aside from what was in the official report that the Lieutenant gave you, I guess you want to hear some of my more kooky ideas, huh?" She sighs -- the sound somewhat hollow, as her lungs are still recovering from the damage. "First, I want to say I'm not like.. crazy or anything. I mean, I know that's something a crazy person might say, but in this case you have to believe me. I'm the only one you're going to get a straight answer out of, and there's only so much an official report to the Republic is going to tell you." "We'd been out on Belkadan for a year or so -- I mean, the outpost has been there longer, but our current crew rotation landed about a year ago. We were 14 people, of varying races and backgrounds, set with the task of monitoring space beyond the rim for any sign of extragalactic life. Oh sure, over the months we'd gotten a few false positives -- subspace messages hitting the hyperspace barrier around the galaxy and bouncing back in, sensor ghosts, smugglers, the usual. But three weeks ago, we got the first confirmed positive in the history of the ExGal Society. She raises her hands before her dramatically, holding her arms out to emphasize the point. "A massive gravimetric sensor profile, something like only a fleet or large cluster of asteroids would produce. In fact, that's what we thought it was at first.. months of false positives turn you into a pessimist real quick." She drops her arms for a moment and goes quieter. "It was late in the day when we got the proof that it was something more than asteroids -- the sensor reading was moving with a speed and a pattern that would not indicate something natural. It was from outside the galaxy, and heading closer." She coughs heavily for a moment, then pulls her medical blanket up to drape around her shoulders for warmth. "A few hours after the news broke and we started celebrating, an unexpected storm hit the compound. Belkadan is a planet of extremes, but the storms have never been something unmanageable. We'd simply button up and wait a few hours for it to pass. But this time... it didn't. The mean temperature outside escalated by fifteen degrees -- have you ever heard of it getting warmer during a storm and not colder? The wind was gale-force, and acidic rain came down in thick sheets. We wanted to activate the outpost's shields -- Bendodi, the crazy old man, went out in nothing more than a thin containment suit to try to activate the shield generator. He didn't come back, so Cho and Jerem went out after him, wearing our only remaining containment suits." She shudders before continuing. "The shields never came online, and Cho and Jerem never came back. When the storm subsided, we went outside the main building to find out what happened. One step out the door sent all of us to our knees. Overnight, the atmosphere became nearly unbreathable. The atmospheric methane content in the valley surrounding the compound multiplied by a factor a five, burning our lungs. After scrounging together our rebreathers, we restarted the search. We found Cho and Jerem's remains a few meters from the shield generator... or what was left of it. It looked like some kind of large animal had been chewing on the generator's mechanical guts, and Cho and Jerem stumbled into it in the storm. It mauled them, then took off. We never found Bendodi." Danni Quee swallows the lump in her throat hard before collecting herself and continuing. "We did what we could to give them a proper burial, but the jungle outside the compound was barely passable. It had always been thick, but manageable -- somehow after the storm, the plant life there went on a growth frenzy, I've never seen anything like it. Ferns as big as a bantha, and massive insect species we had never cataloged before. After a few minutes, we rushed back into the outpost to plan our next move. The remaining 11 of us discovered then that the storm had disabled our communications tower. Luther, Lysire, and Bensin went out into the jungle to try to repair it, taking along the few blaster rifles we had brought with us for dealing with wildlife. They never came back, either." "The next night, we lost power in the outpost. Another storm had kicked up, so we camped out in the control room in the center of the facility -- that way if the outer walls did fail, at least we'd have another layer or two of protection from the elements and from... anything else." She pauses, starting to visibly tremble. She closes her eyes momentarily, mumbling something to herself in order to bring her emotion under control once again. "The walls failed. Some kind of a beast, maybe the one who destroyed the shield generator, broke through the walls of the main building. The place became a panicked frenzy. We didn't have any more weapons, and the beast tore through us one by one, hunting us down in the facility like it was some kind of game." She brings her eyes back up to meet yours. "After a few of us... died... I ran. I grabbed a thick overcoat and bolted outside into the storm. The acid rain burnt and I could barely breathe, even through the rebreather, but I made it to our old shuttle. Being a spaceship, its hull was relatively unaffected by the storm, old and beat-up as it is. I ducked inside and started to warm her up, hoping to whatever gods there may be that she had enough power to get out of orbit in weather like that. Just as I was preparing to launch, I spotted another figure running out of the building -- it was Yomin Carr. He and I had never gotten along before, but I had this feeling that he was the last survivor, and I couldn't strand him there just as he was escaping from the beast. I popped the hatch long enough for him to scramble in, and we blasted off. He seemed to have made it through the storm and the panic much better than any of us had... the bastard probably hid in a supply closet until he heard the screaming dying down before running to save his own skin." She breathes in deeply, running through her calming routine again before continuing. Her voice is becoming raspier as the story progresses. She likely hasn't spoken this much in days. "I set the navicomputer to jump along the last previously-saved heading as soon as the course could be re-verified. That was the fastest way to get out of there. As I started losing consciousness -- asphyxiation, I think -- I swear my last memory before the ship jumped was the image on the ship's sensor console showing a massive planet-wide storm, and four unidentified ships parked in low orbit. I suppose Yomin took over the flight from there, and the last thing I remember was being revived in the medical bay on Thyferra Sun." Drone fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Mar 23, 2015 |
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Mar 23, 2015 17:17
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Marr Udo-Mundi Wound: 12/12 Strain: 16/16 Soak: 4 "That sounds like a very horrifying senario. Were you able to bring back any of the data you observed about the Extragalactic force that you observed? Also, were you able to identify the beast that attacked the compound? Was it something that was native to Belkadan?"
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Mar 24, 2015 20:47
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Seris Nyar "Thank you, Ssenior Technician, Seris said as he slithered ahead, onto the shutter. He lowered himself in front of the ship's computer bank, and drew out what looked to be an ordinary datapad, albeit one lacking a corporate logo. He sought out an undamaged port, and connected to the system. Seris would buggered by a rancor if he was going to Sernpidal without knowing exactly what he was facing. While the others were busy playing psychologist to the disturbed, he intended to find out. Extracting and repairing logs - Computer 1 Triumph, 2 Successes, 4 Advantages    
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Mar 25, 2015 01:22
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Phal Shem "Ms. Quee," Phal began. He stumbled there, because when he met her eyes, he felt a sensation not unlike an electric shock somewhere deep in his brain. Shaking off the sensation, he coughed and began again. "Ms. Quee, did you have any further impressions of the extragalactic object? My side research has long been focused on objects from outside our own galactic rim, and your tale is the first I've heard with anything resembling conviction. I was provided the hard data...but what do you, as a scientist, make of it?"
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Mar 25, 2015 03:57
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Danni Quee struggles a bit to pull herself up to her full sitting posture, the effects of the drugs and her injuries still evident. She grits her teeth and struggles through it before continuing to speak. Mustache Ride posted:
The injured scientist nods weakly, indicating a datapad at her bedside. "This contains all that I was able to retrieve as I escaped the compound. It's not much, admittedly, but when you're running for your life in a situation like that, you don't think to wait around while you download data. Take it with you if you want, hopefully it'll be of use on your mission." jivjov posted:Phal Shem She pauses for a moment to consider Phal's question. "As a scientist, I realize that this 'answer' only raises dozens of new 'questions.' I know it's far from conclusive evidence, which I suppose is why you're all out here -- to find our more, and for a scientist such as yourself, to fill in the gaps we left behind on Belkadan. Not exactly the white fleet I had hoped the Republic would send upon contact with something extragalactic, but something is better than nothing, I guess." A hint of a smile cracks across the corner of her mouth as she regards Phal. "On a more personal note... I know of your work. I guess most of us in ExGal do. I can think of no better scientist to be out here picking up where we left off." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Counter-roll to Seris: 3eD 3 failures, 2 threat    Seris Nyar's efforts to extract short-range sensor data from the shuttle's systems seem to be futile -- the onboard systems sustained too much damage in the flight from the planet's massive storm, and the subsequent bumpy landing on Plooma. After a moment of surveying the results of his data mine, however, Seris notices something else that is potentially valuable. Though the shuttle's short-range sensor logs are irrecoverable, the ship's long-range sensors remained online and functioning normally during the duration of the ship's escape. Taking a few minutes to clear the interference generated by the ionized atmosphere of Belkadan, Seris is able to clean up the logs and produce some interesting information that was overlooked by the green technicians at the Republic outpost. As the shuttle engaged its hyperdrive, the vessel's long-range sensors detected several large clusters of objects -- asteroids, by the spectrographic signature -- in the neighboring space surrounding Belkadan. A quick cross-reference against the most recent charts of the area shows that these clusters -- two, heading in opposite directions -- have not been previously cataloged. Seris is unable to chart the course of the clusters with just his datapad, but someone in the group with more experience in astrometrics may be able to.
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Mar 26, 2015 18:03
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Marr Udo-Mundi Wound: 12/12 Strain: 16/16 Soak: 4 "So what do you plan to do now?" Marr asks as she takes the data of the invasion fleet. "Surely you want to study this extra-galactic force that has appeared? Do you think you can determine where they have come from with some time and study?"
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Mar 28, 2015 06:51
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Phal Shem Phal's eyes widened, though of course this expression was lost behind his mask. His research was known? He hadn't even formally published his papers on extragalactic life...he had just tossed them out on the education nets with no fanfare or peer review. It made a certain amount of sense though...ExGal would obviously want to consider all sources, and it wasn't like there were many other people conducting such studies...
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Mar 30, 2015 03:18
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Seris Nyar Seris hissed under his breath. Not unexpected, but frustrating nevertheless. He unplugged his datapad, and set out on a in-depth assessment of damages to the craft, in particular how the damages were most likely received. Assess damage 2 Successes, 2 Advantages   
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Mar 30, 2015 16:54
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