Early in the morning on their fifth day on Volturnus, the group departs the lifeboat. They set out in their cobbled together tin lizzie of a vehicle. The drive assembly is not working particularly well so whenever there is even a minor grade, the group is reduced to pushing the vehicle. Both Alzarix and Jim take turns working on both the drive assembly and the heat regulator over the course of the morning. Alzarix is able to get the heat regulator working well, thus ensuring that the tent mounted amidships on the vehicle stays moderately warm but neither are able to repair the drive assembly.
As for direction, the group has no idea where the pirate base or the UPF Outpost might be. The best they can do is continue to monitor the pirate radio frequencies on their chronocoms and hope for the best. During a scouting patrol the previous day, when visibility lifted for a bit, Vod (S'lch's pet robot) spotted something off to the east about 8 to 10 km away. It looked like a small building, though it may have been nothing more than a small rock formation that looked somewhat man made. With no other likely prospects in sight, the group decides to head that way. They set out across the cold plain.
The weather is cold and the group takes turns cycling through the warm tent. Three or four of the group are always walking alongside the tin lizzie, occasionally stomping their feet and rubbing their hands to get feeling back into them that is sapped by the bitter cold. Making things worse is a steady wind blowing out of the north, further reducing the wind chill.
It takes them all morning to reach the construct and when they get closer, they see that it appears to be a circular construction of stone about two meters in diameter and rising only a meter above the floor of the icy desert. A basket weave cover lies over the top of the construct and is tied down with rope. As they approach the construct, the wind begins to pick up such that, when they pull their vehicle alongside, it is already blowing hard at a good 50 to 60 KPH with higher gusts.
GM: Ciara can make an INT roll. She can add 10 to her INT for each rank of Environmentalist skill.
GM: Carter can also make an INT roll, adding 5 to his INT for each rank of Making Items and Structures.
CIARA: INT roll 70- [rolled 36]
CARTER: INT 80 (including bonus) [rolled 24 vs. INT 80, MADE BY HALF!]
ALYSON: She says through her chatting teeth,"It is really cold. Thanks to our engineers glad we have heated place to go."
JIM JITSU: Jim frustrated and disgusted with his inability to do something about the transmission linkage decides to occupy himself with staying warm through activity and movement (works in martial arts katas to stay limber and loose) also keeps an eye on the group to use his past experience and personality to make sure everyone's spirits stay up. He jokes and goof around a little to keep the mood light.
JIM JITSU: [rolled (44) Success] PER ability check for keeping the party spirits up.
JIM JITSU: Sensing a change in the weather as they pull up along side the structure and noting the low tech of basket weave and rope he still pulls out his Jericho device and attempts to detect defenses or traps wondering if pirates could have booby trapped this structure.
JIM JITSU: [rolled (13) Success] Detecting alarms/defenses and if required:
JIM JITSU: [rolled (41) Success] Openning Locks or if required:
JIM JITSU: [rolled (100) Blunder!!!] deactivating alarms/defenses
Ciara, sensing that the wind is more likely to increase than decrease in the short term, suggests moving the vehicle as much into the lee of the stone construct as possible and then lashing it in place.
As others move to assist in this task, Jim takes a look at the construct. He pulls out a device and uses it to examine the construct but finds no indications of anything high tech about it. He concludes that the cover is intended to be removed to gain access to whatever is underneath. The question is whether the group wants to remove the cover now or take shelter and wait for the icy windstorm to pass.
Even as the group moves the vehicle and lashes it down, the winds continue to pick up. Everyone is bone cold by the time the work is done and are only too happy to take shelter under the vehicle using extra tents and blankets for warmth. Just being out of the wind makes the relative temperature seem less frigid.
The wind howls mightily sending blasts of cold and icy spicules across the frozen landscape. Even the relatively small protection of the stone construct is infinitely better than being caught out in the open. Ciara and Carter were able to fashion a moderately secure shelter under the vehicle.
Hours pass and the wind continues to blow.
CARTER: Was he able to determine who (human, vrusk, etc..) might have made the stone construct or what it might be a marker for?
GM: Carter has no idea who made it. It is definitely low tech.
ALYSON: She says,"Glad you guys are with us. We would be dead without you techo skills."
JIM JITSU: Jim beams his million credit smile at Alyson and says, "Galactic hero at your service, little lady."
JIM JITSU: He holds the smile just long enough and ends with a wink to indicate he's not overly serious... or is he?
JIM JITSU: As dawn approaches Jim crawls from the shelter to shake out the stiffness in his limbs with a good "hot cup" of martial arts kata and workout. He works through the Flow then the Force katas.
JIM JITSU: When finished he decides to fix up a nice breakfast bowl of "scrambled" survival rations seasoned with vitamins and wash it down with the "juice" of water, fresh squeezed.
JIM JITSU: The version of Jim that grew up in the crime riddled Rook Arcology badly wants to just go ahead and break into the primitive structure now but judges he should wait as there would be no value to giving his travelling companions a reason to distrust him. Jim considers the roles he's lived; Jimmy Fairplay, con man and criminal, Jim Jitsu, martial arts trainer with workout holos, Jim the slacker technician on a tramp freighter, and now since the pirate attack Jim the galactic hero. He hadn't gotten rich yet but he's certainly is having fun.
JIM JITSU: He shakes off his reverie and decides to fix breakfast for everyone else: "scrambled survival rations, season with vitamin pills and fresh squeezed juice of water".
ALYSON: She smiles back and says,"Just do not let it go to your head. This structure is not big enough for a ego."
JIM JITSU: Jim's smile brightens, "Ah, Honey, Jims got ego to spare!"
ALYSON: She answers,"Yeah noticed that. I just wanted to say thanks for getting us this far."
ALYSON: Could ALYSON make a check from the briefing about the planet. Her and a couple of other characters were there also?
GM: The briefing was not overly informative on a planetary level and focused mostly on the area around the outpost. There was talk of a vast desert to the west of the outpost but it was in the context of a fairly hot desert so it seems likely that it was on a completely different part of the planet than were you landed.
The wind continues to blow through the rest of the night and doesn't let up until after dawn the following morning. It is only then that people are able to safely crawl out from the shelter and appraise the situation. Since the landscape was already barren, the wind did not have an appreciable affect on it. There were not trees to knock down or structures to demolish. The low stone construct bore the storm well though the basket weave top was blown away revealing a well.
The group limbers up while also working to stay warm. Ciara and Carter rebuild the tent shelter on the vehicle, which bore the storm well enough.
GM: Let me know if you want to do anything with the stone structure, which appears to be a well. Right now you are not hurting for water but you are in a desert even if it is a freezing cold one.
GM: Also let me know which direction you want to head from here. You are about 10 km east of your landing site. The terrain all around you looks virtually identical.
ENSIGN FURY: George looks up in the overcast sky and shakes his head. "If it weren't perpetually overcast, S'lch could send Vod up to take a look and maybe it could see something that we cant'. Without it, it seems like any direction is as good as any other."
CARTER(GM:) Do we have anything that we could use to lower into the well to draw up water (assuming the well has water and is not an entrance to an underground lair?? Or anyway to check out the well?
GORMAN: "Since we headed east from the landing site to get here, I say we continue east. It's not like any other direction looks any better."
JIM JITSU: Jim asks, "Isnt it warmer near the equator? I would rather head in the direction of warmth even if on a planetary scale it would take months to realized a change in climate. Its probably psychological but just saying."
The group does not have a bucket but they have plenty of nylon cord and nylon bags.
"Let's see how deep the well is first," Ciara suggests. She finds a small rock and drops it into the well while timing the interval until she hears a splash on her chronocom. It does not take long and she says, "About 40 meters."
They tie a bag, weighted with a couple small rocks, to the end of the cord and lower it into the well. When they pull it up, the bag is filled with cold water spilling out. Ciara quicklys checks the quality and says, "Uh oh."
She straightens and says, "We don't want to be drinking that. It has a dangerous concentration of arsenic that would sicken us."
With nothing else to do here, the group sets out again. They travel all day, taking turns riding and walking. Cycling occasionally through the tent hut on the vehicle to warm their icy bones and stopping occasionally to rest and eat. The vehicle is both a boon and a bother. It is nice to have the parabattery and the warm hut that it enables but with a barely functioning drive, the group mostly ends up pushing it. Still, it is no more effort that walking and carrying heavy packs would be so the net-net is neutral.
When night comes, they are still traveling through the vast, barren and very cold desert. Tents are erected around the vehicle and watches are set for the night. But the night is uneventful and the group wakes up to another freezing morning facing a featureless, icy desert. After a morning meal, they set out once again, continuing east.
The only variations in the weather is the speed and direction of the wind. Most times, it is blowing out of the north at 10 to 15 kph but it occasionally switches around and wind speed either increases or decreases. The overcast has been constant since the group landed but it is not an overcast of thick, puffy clouds. It is more of a constant gray haze. Only a couple times since landing has it been thin enough for the group to pick out the hazy outline of the distant sun.
Another day and night pass. And then another. The group cuts down on their rations further to make them last.
On the fifth day since departing, the weather is the same as always with a 15 kph wind blowing out of the north and a hazy sky. But then someone hears a distant sound from behind them. Another hears it and then another. It is the distant throb of a jetcopter flying from the direction of the lifeboat.
GM: Let me know what you want to do. The terrain is inconsistent enough that you could hide yourselves but there is nowhere to hide the vehicle.
ALYSON: She says,"Hit the deck. Just in case." She knows their cart is going to stick out. What else can they do.
CARTER (OOC): 20/20 hindsight is great and we should have possibly looked for something to use to hide the vehicle.
CARTER: I think we should at least get away from the vehicle in case it becomes a target.
CIARA (GM): Is it heading directly towards us and are they close enough to have spotted us?
GM: It is heading straight towards the group. It seems likely that they probably spotted something - the vehicle at the very least.
CIARA (GM): For our vehicle, how much does it stand out?
GM: In this relatively flat, icy desert of rock, it stands out pretty well. You have seen occasional clumps of rocks but nothing that was large enough to hide the vehicle and, where you stand now, you don't even see large clumps of rocks. Just cracks in the landscape and small clumps of rocks that could hide one or two people.
CIARA (GM): Okay, that's what I figured. So if we scatter now, will it be obvious to the jetcopter or do we have a chance to hide without them seeing us leaving the vehicle?
CIARA (OOC): Ciara doesn't have enough experience here to suggest what next to do but as a player, I'd look at spreading out and setting an ambush if they can't see us yet but do eventually spot the vehicle. If we have enough time to make the vehicle appear broken down, then we could try a tactic where we let them investigate the vehicle and see that we abandoned it. Either way, if they spot us we're in a fair amount of trouble since they'll likely call in that we've been found.
ALZARIX: “Finding someplace to take cover sounds like a good Idea. I think we should also spread out so that they can not get all of us at the same time, but also hopefully be close enough to help support each other.”
ALYSON: She nods in agreement
S'LCH: Hearing what he thinks is a very sensible idea, S'lch looks for cover.
CIARA: "Looks like they found us. The terrain does offer some spots for the group to scatter and stay concealed. Do you think we should all hide or have someone stay with the vehicle to try some sort of con? Jim, thoughts?"
Ciara will tell the others how best to conceal themselves given the terrain.
MYKEL: “We should spread out a bit and take cover quickly. We stand out here pretty easily and may have already been spotted. Best bet is that they think we’ve abandoned our vehicle and have headed out on foot.” He pauses for a moment. “I know an ambush is tempting, but unless one of us can fly that thing, an ambush will simply tell the pirates where we are.”
ALZARIX: “I would Suggest that we split up into groups of two or three each. In Each group should be a person with gun and someone with melee weapons. If Possible…”
CIARA (GM): I have another follow-up question. How soon do we feel it'll arrive? Is it closer to 1 minute or less? Or do we have more time like 3 or 4 minutes?
CIARA: The question is do we have time to grab our gear so we can survive without the vehicle or is this a hide and just hope we can either take them or pray that they leave the vehicle alone if they don't find trace of us. I'm assuming the vehicle is still warm so they'll know that we must be nearby.
ALYSON She would love to try to take these guys. The only trouble is are these guys good or bad.
GM: Marty, I think this turn will answer your questions and have Ciara act in the manner desired, but let me know if you think otherwise.
As the group makes the collective decision to scatter and hide, Ciara tries to determine the likelihood that those in the jetcopter have already seen them or have just seen the vehicle. It takes but a moment for her to decide that they have probably seen the group. She also determines that they have a few seconds before the jetcopter, assuming it is hostile, gets within range to be dangerous.
"GRAB SUPPLIES, SCATTER AND HIDE!" she shouts out as she grabs a few of the nylon supply bags from the vehicle.
Those on the vehicle when the jetcopter was spotted grab bags of supplies, jump from the vehicle and seek shelter among rocks and cracks in the frozen desert some distance from the vehicle. Those who were walking rush to the vehicle, grab supplies and then follow.
Suddenly there is a flare of fire and smoke and a high speed projectile launches itself from the jetcopter and hits the vehicle, exploding on impact. Shrapnel and debris from the vehicle rain down from the icy sky. The jetcopter flies directly overhead moments later and two weapons open up, one from either side of the craft. The beam of a laser rifle strikes the rocks behind which Alyson is hiding while a rocket round impacts on the ground a meter or so from where Ciara has taken refuge.
GM: The jetcopter passed about over the remains of the vehicle over a hundred meters up. Inside are three rough looking pirates. One of them is the pilot. The other two are aft, one on either side, at the open doors of the jetcopter. Both fired their weapons and missed. Let me know if anyone is going to return fire. Assume a range of about 120 meters.
CARTER: Carter swings his club at the jetcopter but misses by about 118 meters...
CARTER: Ducks and tries to pull in the hole he is in behind him.
GORMAN: After finding the best shelter I can behind some rocks, I will pull out the Mk VII stunner and peer through the rocks at the jetcopter staying behind cover. If the jetcopter comes within medium range, I will shoot at one of the men shooting the guns at us.
GORMAN (OOC): Also, I noticed that the Medic skill has a task called Daily Care that increases the amount that each person heals every day. I think we spent 3 days at the lifeboat making the vehicle and another 4 or 5 days travelling to where we are now. Does any of that count as rest? If so, I would be using the Daily Care task on everyone to increase their healing.
GM: Thanks for the reminder. You got three solid days of rest while building the vehicle at the lifeboat. Your level with Medic gives each person a +1 to their healing so everyone except Mykel healed 6 points during that time. Mykel, because of his starting edge healing ability, healed 3 points per day of rest plus 1 point per day even when not resting so is now fully healed.
S'LCH: The vrusk momentarily thought about shooting back. But he knew his ammo was limited and his aim was horrible. It simply seemed like something that would draw attention to his hiding location rather then be helpful, so he simply tried to hide better
CIARA: Ciara hunkered down as the jetcopter opened fire on the area. She hoped that the others were able to conceal their positions well enough and that the jetcopter would assume there were no survivors.
CIARA (GM): How noisy is the jetcopter? I'm assuming somewhere between a modern day helicopter and jet. Given the distance between us, how easily could those in the jetcopter hear us shouting?
GM: It is unlikely that they would be able to hear you well enough to understand.
ALYSON: Her question about being hostile was answered by the jetcopter shooting. What at she did not dare to look.
MYKEL: (If I recall correctly, Mykel has the laser pistol we got from one of the pirates?) He will watch from cover as the jet copter makes the first pass. If the copter stays up in the air, Mykel will not fire, wanting to both save ammunition and not reveal his position. If they try to land, then Mykel will engage and fire at one of the pirates in the open side door of the jet copter.
The jetcopter circles around a few more times taking shots at members of the group hunkered down among the rocks. However, the combination of hard cover, distance and the movement of the jetcopter makes accuracy difficult and none of their shots hit. After a half a dozen passes, the group sees one of the pirates drop something from the jetcopter and then the jetcopter flies off, heading northeast.
Once it is gone, the group emerges from where they were hiding. Someone walks over to investigate the item dropped from the jetcopter. It is a note tied around a bolt. It reads, "We know who you are. You will never leave Volturnus alive."
The group investigates the remains of their vehicle and finds that it is a total loss. The parabattery was destroyed so even if they could repair the mangled vehicle, they would have no power with which to run it. They scavenge among the debris and recover what supplies they can. Fortunately they were able to grab most of the food sacks before the vehicle was destroyed.
ALZARIX: “Well that’s just Great! I say we follow them and then kick their A*****, Then take there copter and then fly to the outpost.” As he is saying this he takes a piece of junk and hurls it in the Direction that the copter took. Which by way of fact seems to be sort of in the direction we were heading.
CARTER: were we able to determine the direction the jetcopter came from? i.e. from the site of our crash or a different direction?? based on that answer, our options are basically towards NE (where the jetcopter went), SW (away from the jetcopter), or anywhere in between... What it comes down to is do we think that we are ready to take on a pirate base as we are currently? My answer is no - we need to find help and food soon though....
GORMAN: "Heading to the northeast when it flew away might have been an oversight on their part, inadvertently giving away the direction to their base, or it could have been a deliberate ruse to lure us into a trap. Unfortunately it seems like our best bet for ever leaving Volturnus alive rests with finding the pirate base and somehow either getting a message out to a UPF facility or commandeering a ship. Maybe we head northeast but use S'lch's robot to scout way ahead to look for a possible ambush?"
JIM JITSU: OOC: I do believe the GM specified Northeast not Northwest as the direction the helicopter retreated.
GM: Correct, the helicopter came from the direction of the lifeboat and flew off to the northeast. I corrected Gorman's turn.
S'LCH: The vrusk worked with the other technically inclined to salvage the little bits they could from the vehicle. When Gorman talked about the heading northwest using Vod as a scout he nods. "That is doable." He did not have much to offer in the way or direction of travel.
JIM JITSU: Jim winks at S'lch, "Dont worry buddy, I'll watch your back."
JIM JITSU: Jim is very carefully making like a shadow and hiding. If he was a dralasite he'd be oozing between rocks to get deeper under cover. He feels a twinge of loss at the destruction of the vehicle but banishes it and mentally prepares himself for action. He assesses what he'll need to drop so he can run unfettered. If he has to run under fire from the helicopter will lose anything that will encumber him and slow his speed and will employ a zig-zag evasion run that he once saw on a holovid thriller. If the helicopter lands he will attempt to use stalk and hide (unskilled) to close with the helicopter then sprint to contact with a pirate on the ground and unload fist and feet of fury on the mook for destroying the vehicle.
CIARA (GM): Can Ciara determine which way heads toward the warmer part of the planet?
GM: Ciara is unsure. She does not know enough about the planet to know whether the group is in the northern or southern hemisphere.
ALYSON: She slowly looks up keeping the rest of her prone. She will look around for the jetcopter. And try to see what way it went. Once the danger has passed she yells,"Sound off and call out any wounded."
JIM JITSU: Jim, looks at the note, " This is a threat made after a somewhat impotent attack, ok they wrecked our vehicle but the point is this smells like a bully to me and I have the past experience to back that assessment up. They wreck your stuff to goad you into attacking on their terms, often as not make weak unsustainable attacks and if that doesn't gain the result they hope for then they make a threat. Bullies are often as not best handled with direct confrontation.
JIM JITSU: I wouldn't want them coming back and confronting us on their terms. What if a small party of 2-3 of us traveling light and moving fast. make an obvious trail due south. Maybe even dragging a piece of wreckage as if it was a sled loaded with equipment for a few kilometers. That party can then ditch the supposed sled and make due East for 5 kilometers before turning North. Meanwhile the rest of us head Northeast. S'lch is the fastest among us so he's part of the diversion party and he can use his drone to help us link up with the rest of you who will be moving slowing and covering your tracks. We might even use chronocoms transmitting code words and flash lights to facilitate the link up."
S'LCH: "Fast I can do. Obvious I can do. Using Vod doable. Carrying wreckage or heavy items while doing so not so much. And being covert in joining back up also less so. I'd need help with those."
JIM JITSU: Jim, "We can pick a light weight piece of wreckage from the vehicle, tie rope to it and drag it. Its my cocka-mammy plan so I'll go with you. Anyone have experience with tracking and such that can help instruct us to conceal tracks? Once we've reached an area where we think we're close we say a code word on the com 'key' and the other party can respond with 'open' meaning they are flashing a flash light to attract the drone's attention or 'locked' meaning they feel its unsafe to reveal their position. We could also use a preset time like an hour after sunset the drone will be up and the larger party can flash a flashlight south for 5 minutes."
GM: Note that covering/hiding your tracks is extremely easy since the ground is frozen rock. You have to go out of your way to leave tracks. Dragging a laden piece of metal will leave tracks that, while not visible from the air, will be visible if the pirates come back, set down, and investigate the site.
GM: I will send the next turn with the assumption that you put Jim's plan into effect.
ALZARIX: “That sounds smart, I was just gonna go walk on in on them…… I am really starting to hate these Pirates.”
ALZARIX: (GM) The Yazarians Culture talks about Life Enemy’s. I do believe that I have just these here pirates have been determined to make themselves my choice for a Life Enemy from the first contact. What did he say, “I really hate monkeys!” Then the take ove the Selena Dawn and we escape to the planet, then they force us to land on the Cold side and then destroy our heat source. So Yes right here and now I name these Pirates as my Life Enemy! And the Honorable thing to do is to dominate and Destroy them!
MYKEL: Heh. Get in line, buddy. I think a nice, toasty laser beam would be too good for them. |