CURT: On the morning of day 27, month 22 when the group shows up for the days mining, curt will give the following report. "I went through the tarp last night and discovered another tarp just like the first one a few feet further down the passage. I'm guessing some sort of air lock. On the floor between the two tarps, I found two canisters of grease that are usable. After sealing the first tarp behind me, I opened the second and went through it. Very shortly thereafter, I came to a cave that opened to outside. Without exiting the cave, I looked around, and saw nothing of interest, just the landscape before me. I saw no cameras or sensors. I decided not to stick my head out of the cave just incase there did end up being something out there. In case I didn't mention it before, I am guessing the opening of the cave is around 10 miles away. At this point, we may want Surge to come down and use his abilities to see if he can detect something I can't, but other than that, I would say we are ready to make our break as soon as the cave-in is set up."
VAMPERINA: "Great news! Yes, I would say that Surge goes and scans for sensors today while you keep the hole hidden."
AXEL: "I haven't seen Etienne for a couple of days. As I recall, this is normally the time of year that he gets him mind blocks renewed so that might be what is happening. If that's the case, then he should be back tomorrow or the next day."
SURGE: "Indeed. I would be willing to proceed with scanning the area out there. How close are we to being able to pull off the cave-in? Let's ask Felip how soon he can get 20 meters of rope. Arpad and Dayne, can you look over the rope and let us know if it will be sufficient for triggering the cave-in? Axel, what do you recommend in terms of traveling across the moon's surface to get to Circle City?"
NOBODY: The old man brings up a point with only the core group. "I just recalled, when Axel was talking about Etienne's blocks being updated, that part of my mind control was that I was absolutely certain that I could reduce Etienne's mind blocks quickly with my mindscan. Interesting, isn't it."
MAX: "I'm happy to know that the exit is still in good shape, but are we ready to go? How amny days of food have we stashed, and the other goods, do we have everybody covered with what we have? I think if Surge can make it there and back again he should check things out for scanners and such."
AXEL: "When we escaped, we walked to Circle City. We had survival suits, of course. I know that Barrier Industries owns the land for 30 kilometers around the prison but we didn't see any signs of sensing equipment."
GM: You spend a couple of hours on day 27, month 22, enlarging the hole to allow Surge to get through. Then Surge goes through after which Curt hides the entrance.
SURGE: Surge returns to the DZ late on the 27th towards the end of the mining shift. "Well, I scouted the surface a bit. It took me over four hours to reach the tarp. I was unable to sense any sensors in the immediate area outside of the cavern. I also climbed to the top of a hill and could not sense anything to the limits of my senses. This all seems well. Also, the land has plenty of hills and ravines that we can use for cover, though Dayen's ionic machine won't be able to fit into most of them."
GM: Let me know if you want to discuss things or move on to day 28 when Jack will hopefully talk to Etienne.
CURT: Curt says "Were you able to figure out where in relation to the city the hole comes out? The next thing we need to do I think is one of two things. Surge also needs to go missing on the upper level so he can do some more longer term exploring outside the hole, or we need to wait it out until the collapse is ready and then just go for it? Any suggestions or ideas?"
SURGE: "Sure, I could tell the general direction of the city though I couldn't see it. I don't know how much more exploring outside we'll need. Given that Axel has already walked from the prison to the city, we shouldn't need it. Besides if I am to return to the DZ before the shift ends, I'll only have a few hours to work with. Don't know if that will be worth the trip. Though I'm willing if we need more scouting."
SURGE: "I would say our focus should be on causing the cave-in for all of us. Once Felip gets that rope we should be in good shape to proceed. "
..........
NOBODY: The old man speaks up during the core group discussion, "I've recently assimilated a good portion of those two books. I'm still working on some of the advanced chapters, but I've acquired a solid grounding in the science of Geology and have some working knowledge of the profession of Mining Engineer.
NOBODY: With this newly acquired understanding, I've re-assessed the cave-in portion of our plan with Dayne and Arpad. I managed to make a few modifications to that portion of our plan, which I will submit here. (Scientific gooble-de-gook ensues.) If we incoporate these modifications, I figure the chances of causing a catastrophic cave-in to be only 1%. If things do go wrong, the most likely scenario will be that the cave-in will be insufficient for our needs to cover our escape.
NOBODY: Please take into consideration that all I have to go on are the readings of the densiometer, but I feel pretty confident in the basic cave-in plan that Dayne and Arpad created."
..........
JACK: Jack comes to the group after talking with Etienne on the morning of day 28, month 22. Etienne is with him, and he says, "Etienne has agreed to work with us to ensure the safety of our cave-in, but still does not wish to come with us. He's not positive how much it will benefit us, because with that many of us gone missing the authorities will almost certainly try to dig us out to prove we died, but agrees that our reasoning is sound enough. Our primary objectives, delaying the search/proof and preventing the rest of the population from escaping should still be achieved.
JACK: "I have told him about the threat of the 'sleeper' agents, and he is understandably concerned, but relieved that it explains some of what's going on. He does not wish to work with Eli though, just in case. This obviously means Eli won't be helping him to break his mindblocks, but his help as a mining engineer and geologist will be more than welcome, even without his powers." Jack then introduces him to Dan, and let's him discuss the cave-in with Arpad and Dayne.
JACK: Later that same morning Felip arrives (CB3 arrives last) and says he managed to get 10m of rope (cost us Cr10, marked off), and Etienne offers to supply the other 10m.
SURGE: Surge seems pleased with how things are going and would even suggest Etienne be the one to stage the cave-in. If he is agreeable, we could actually have everyone deep into the natural cavern before the cave-in is triggered. One thought is we have the cave-in happen towards the end of the shift so the darkness will be near and we can then quickly make our way to Circle City before they've had much time to start a recovery effort. |