Return to Bowman

Some notes, under players' request, on Artemis Group return trip through Bowman and what has occurred since: I.   Jumpspace Precipitation - The Ares was pulled out of jumpspace more than three hours early after a very good jump roll.  But it was due to a gravity well generated by a very large collection of meteors, asteroids and small planetoids that should not have been there when Gevaudan plotted to precipitate at 100 Diameters.   The ship dropped out of jumpspace in ten Ship Turns of the most harrowing, knuckle-whitening, hair-raising, adrenaline-fueled ride of their lives.     A.  Each Ship Turn, all of the Pilot-Astrogator's actions were spent dodging the "big ones", keeping the Ares from being destroyed outright.  But in dodging the big ones, Gevaudan had to accept hits of a smaller, ship scale.  The ship took damaging Hits every turn while the white Vargr struggled to pilot the ship without any Sensors.     AA.  The ship's psi-wave squealer alarms sounded off in alarm.  The ship was being bathed in psi-waves from somewhere.  Thankfully the shielding in the remaining ship was protecting.  Everyone donned their personal psi-shield helmets or cowls in their armors.  Every thirty seconds the psi-squealers would sound off until finally shut off by the crew.  Psi-Disruptors were utilized until they needed charging.     B.  Crew scrambled to jury-rig, perform Repair Drone actions, set up impromptu Sensors feeds from the Observation Dome on the Owner's Suite.       C.  Hit after hit caused Hull, Structure, system and auxiliary damage.           1.  Final Damage report, compiled from all crew stations, (by Ship Turn - as opposed to triage need):               a.  Starship Round 1 - a medium sized rock struck the Ares , disabling Sensors and the Ship's Computer Library/0 database completely.               b.  Starship Round 2 - tiny rocks rained loudly on the armor of the Ares.   A heavy thud penetrated and damages the outer Hull (-2 Hull points).  The great space rock is embeded in that section of the Hull, (use your imagination as to where the ship was struck).               c.  Starship Round 3 - Gevaudan dodged a big asteroid but suffered smaller strikes to do so.  Single Hit to the M-Drive and a double Hit to the Hull (-2 Hull points) on the Mess Deck, spilling much food and consumables into space.  Doors and gravity failed on the Mess Deck as well.               d.  Starship Round 4 - Gevaudan glided between two separating huge asteroids just after they struck each other in the path of the  Ares.   However, fragments of that collision struck the ship and caused a double hit to the Hull (-2 Hull points) on the Gunnery Deck and causing a gravity failure on that level.              e.  Starship Round 5 - The  Ares missed a rain of long, sharp rock shards but was pelted with smaller hits.  Single Hit to the Hull (-1 Hull point) on the Engineering Deck 2 with gravity failure there, a single Hit to a Turret (-2DM Turret Rolls to #3 Turret and a crushed Gunnery Robot by the rock).  Lastly that Round, the M-Drive suffered a single Hit.              f.  Starship Round 6 - The Engineering Deck 2 took another Hit but to the J-Drive this time and ruining a Structure lattice frame loudly (-1 Structure).  Also the Fuel tank suffered a single Hit, spilling 10% of remaining fuel (mostly expended from the earlier Jump-3 from Flammarion) per hour.  The J-Drive board in Engineering went dark.  This was the loud moaning, metal screeching sound from inside the spherical ship everyone heard.              g.  Starship Round 7 - In the previous Starship Round, Charoux had left the Bridge to make way up to the Observation Dome in the Owner's Suite, (discovering two cringing Vargr females suited up and buckled down).  His goal was to link up an Odin's Eye to the ship's computer to provide some modicum of Sensors in a jury-rigging innovation.  It is in this Ship Turn that the Bridge took a Hit when a large rock burst through the Hull.  Charoux's acceleration chair had ripped from its mounting and launched itself across the C&C pit just before the large rock put a dent crater where the chair used to be.  It would have killed Charoux instantly a minute earlier.  The rock shot tiny shards over the Bridge, injuring Gevaudan before it lodged itself to rest in the Captain's Quarters and destroying the bed there.  Some minor damage to the Ship's Locker and a few of its contents.  At the same time a single Hit to the Cargo Hold spilled 20% of current cargo and/or workshop gear, tools, spare parts, etc. into space from a gaping hole there.  Finally that Round, a double hit to the P-Plant on Engineering Deck 1 caused a Radiation Crew Hit (no one was currently on that deck) as the reactor containment seals breached open and irradiated the deck.  Fail-safe measures initiated by the ship's computer closed all doors and the hatches to Engineering Deck 1 that same Round.  The P-Plant board on the same deck went dark.  Gevaudan tapped his HEV's Medikit Option to keep him conscious and largely pain free from his wound(s).              h.  Starship Round 8 - A double Crew Hit on the Medical Deck and Crew Quarters was suffered with breaches to outer space.  The Ares lost its Air-Raft in the main airlock on that deck.  The Medical Deck boards all went dark thus preventing Dr. Simone from monitoring any crew vitals from her post on that deck.  Thankfully, the ship had no passengers on the same deck and it is assumed that Dr. Simone scraped by the double Crew Hit (TBD) and came out alive to later render First Aid to Gevaudan.              i.  Starship Round 9 - The Cargo Deck suffered another single Hit (-20% cargo and/ or gear) and caused gravity failure on all three Cargo Decks, (including Female Country, catching Isis off-guard).  It was at this time that all the Cargo Manifest Boards went dark, unable to catalogue what was left and what was lost to space or destroyed by meteor hits.  The remaining Cargo would have to be visually inventoried later.              j.  Starship Round 10 - The Ares  barely scrapes around a big one but is hammer-and-anvil'd against it with a single Hit to the J-Drive (slagging the entire drive system), disabled gravity on the same deck and causing iris valve and doors failures.  A single Hit to the Hold with a through penetration caused the loss of 40% more cargo and gear, (for a total of 80% loss of cargo, mail, gear, tools and spare parts on those decks).  And lastly, before the ship emerged from the meteor shower, the M-Drive took its final, double Hit and went offline as a rock penetrated and bounced around in Engineering Deck 2, (very near Capt. Crow - Runt had already climbed the length of the ship to man a Gunnery Turret and help Jeff Scardack perform some amazing point defense weapons use against more hits).  The ladder shaft between Engineering Deck 1 and Engineering Deck 2 is crushed and the other hatch/shaft must be used. II.   Journey to Prometheus Station     A.  Gevaudan piloted the ship without any drives and an irradiated P-Plant to Prometheus Station by accessing Cutters 1 and 2 through his Ship Integration cybernetics.  Opening all the doors to the Cutters and activating their Life Suppport and M-Drives, he was able to provide Thrust 1 to the Ares .  This allowed him to coast the devastated vessel to dock at Prometheus Station in Trojan Point orbit over Alpha, a smaller and minor moon of Bowman Prime, the only Gas Giant in Bowman System.  Then Act II began as the crew of the Ares  came to their senses or out of shock or personal, mental reboot. III.   Repairs to the Ares     A.  The Sensors are currently jury-rigged, functional for 1d6 hours.     B.  The Fuel tank, largely empty has been  jury-rigged, patched and can take on fuel.  The processors were undamaged.     C.  The containment field on the P-Plant was fully repaired by concerted effort by Capt. Crow, Runt and Robot Ops performed by Jeff Scardack.  It was completed an hour after repairs were begun.     D.  Comms were still functional, but Uthka Varzeekh swears up-and-down, shattering her I Luv Tea  mug on the deck of the Bridge, "Do not do this thing, Gentlemen!"     E.  The large, embedded boulder lodged in the main airlock was made smaller by 25 blasts from Hane Meson's Laser Rifle, enough to dislodge the rock and push it out the Air/Raft bay and into space.  The outer airlock door is FUBAR and additional safety on the Medical Deck must be undertaken to enter or exit the ship there.     F.  Life Support, once brought back online after the P-Plant is re-contained is functional and capable of sustaining life for the remainder of the last of the fuel and backup batteries.  This is not more than 12 hours and use of Prometheus Station umbilical power is suggested by Gevaudan until more fuel is provided.  Tanks of L-Hyd fuel are seen along the spine of Prometheus Station suggesting Artemis Group  might scavenge fuel from the research facility.     G.  Many boards are offline and Electronics must be used to reconnect them to both their systems and to the ship's computer.  Library/0 software is down and a Computer skill roll must reboot it to be accessed.  Meantime, Sebastien's personal Ling Std. Products Library can be tapped for data on Bowman.  Else, the computer on Prometheus Station must be accessed directly.     H.  Due to loss of gear, tools, spare parts, there is not enough of them to fully repair the Ares .  Perhaps more can be found on Prometheus Station or Alpha moon's IISS Base below. IV.   Prometheus Station       A.  Sebastien tried to use Comms to contact Prometheus Station while the Ares  was haphazardly docked on the upper docking ring.  He got a hot mike and all that could be heard was a group of humans chanting "Puulllll........"  every thirty seconds or so, as if being counted by thought rather than by some timepiece.  This weirded him out, according to Wolfen.     B.  Most of the research facility, we later learned such, was lit, but various decks had gone dark or were on an emergency - a sickly, industrial yellow color - lighting protocol.     C.  There was no traffic to or from Prometheus Station and one of the smaller, shuttle Hangar decks outer doors had been left open.           1.  Hane's first sortie into the Eastern Arc Upper Docking Ring beheld that his Gunnery robot partner was pulled across the floor by some unseen force towards the airlock door.  Playback showed nothing grabbed the robot, but psi-squealers again sounded off in alarm.     D.  On the second sortie, with a full group, the North Arc, Upper Docking Ring broke off and a spark lit off some flammables in addition to the remnant oxygen.  The fragment ring suffered a decompression implosion followed by fires jetted out both ends of the ring quarter.  The fireworks were brilliant and quite visible from the polymer safety doors in the Eastern Arc Upper Docking Ring the sortie could behold.     E.  The sortie saw an official welcoming advertisement on a few Station boards.  The public announcement repeated the occasional message from LSP Prometheus Station administration, "Ling Standard Products reminds all its valued employees that everyone pulls their weight on Prometheus Station."     F.  Using the jury-rigged Sensors on the Ares, Charoux and Dr. Simone were able to detect that the meteor swarm's trajectory was changing toward Alpha moon and the three stations:  Prometheus, Epimetheus and Garrison Starport.  Every 30 seconds or so the velocity and trajectory of the asteroids were being pulled on, correcting their travel towards a collision course.  Estimates at current predicted the meteors would rain destruction upon the moon and its three stations in seven days, plus or minus 6 hours.            1.  It was at this time Uthka had to remind Charoux that the Ares  was not to Comm for help or warn the rest of Bowman system, due to something only she could foretell.  She then took up a guarding vigil over the Comms board.    G.  Before the airlock door from the Eastern Arc Docking Ring, was written in dried blood on the wall at knee height, "Prometheus' fire".             1.  Gevaudan, trained in Medical, was able to confirm that it was indeed blood, dried and ruddy color and that it was human blood.     H.  In full battle regalia and armed to the teeth the sortie from the Ares  opened the airlock to what the Station Directory said was one of the Storage Decks of Prometheus Station.          1.  To their horror, they beheld an open deck with cargo containers, two elevators, a single hatch shaft near the station spine, and other containers between a large collection of humans acting like some sort of hive-minded cult chanting "Puullllll......"   Then they turned their attentions on the open door, saw the Artemis Group  sortie and advanced in their station uniforms, some holding large tools as clubs.  A few mumbled unintelligible words that would later be translated or clarified on playback as, "Not one of us....."   A melee was assured.     I.  Two laptop compters, personal and disconnected from the Prometheus Station mainframe, have told a story from their owners' perspective.  The LSP Administrator had conflicts with his Chief Medical Officer about the 12 Low Berth experimental subjects that arrived at Prometheus.          1.  The test subjects were never revived as finds from Epsilon arrived.  But before the items could be levied upon the sleeping people, conflicts between LSP and the IISS broke out.  Additionally, a curious effect on the station crew and the Scouts down on Alpha was evidencing, (termed the "Puller Syndrome").          2.  The Administrator also had heated conflict between his orbital platform and the IISS Scout Base over the claimed rights over the recent LSP acquisition of Epsilon, just as the IISS attempted to impose a potential Amber Zone interdiction for undisclosed reasons.  This conflict escalated into violence between Prometheus and Alpha Moon Scout Base.    J.  "Steve"  the traumatized, malnutritioned station survivor was rescued from the reflector housing on the Observation Deck.         1.  It is later learned that he is a carrier for various "diseases of opportunity", which strike the Ares crew and infect the Dame, Uthka and Hane Meson, forcing them into isolation and immunization boosting medications to purge the diseases normally fought off on a daily basis.  Their prognosis calls for a few days in isolation on the Medical Deck. V.  Alpha Moon and the IISS Scout Base     A.  A landing insertion of Cutter #1 (Sword of Ares) and one of the 90dT LSP Shuttles from Prometheus, allowed the sortie team to penetrate the seemingly devastated IISS Scout Base on the surface of Alpha Moon, a minor satellite of Bowman Prime Gas Giant.          1.  Evidence of a smallcraft and personal weapons engagement between LSP and the IISS is seen at the Scout Base.          2.  Pullers are found inside the Scout Base.  And as time passes, the "hive mind" of the psionic zombies is getting smarter.              a.  Pullers refer to themselves as the "Many" and question the team as to why they serve the "Metal Mother".  They want anyone they find to join their numbers.         3.  The team found a laboratory housing a containment field unit that was home to a strange spindle crystal of some marriage of rose quartz and amethyst quartz.  The opened crystal sheds light between its open facets and illuminates a 10 meter area with shafts of light.  The team examined the crystal after freeing what the Pullers term as "the Heart of the Many" and take a closer look.               a.  The crystal spindle has a purple pole and a rosy pole.  It sheds light from between the open facets of the football-sized volume.  Charoux and Jeff Scardack peered inside to see what was emitting the light.  Charoux became dazzled and disoriented for a few combat rounds while Jeff Scardack was rendered catatonic and twitching on the laboratory floor.  It will be later seen that Jeff is internally trying to percieve, conceptualize mentally and realize and understand what it was that he saw.  Until he does, his body accepts the simplest of command and direction as if suggestible under hypnosis.  Gevaudan noted during his diagnosis and his 'sniffer', that Jeff simply does not 'con' (a term he uses to determine if someone is a friend or a foe).  Jeff cannot seem to take actions unless acted upon externally from another.          4.  Another survivor of the Pullers, a Psi-Corps Psion madman who covets the crystal, was found.  A Vilani man named Bobvh claims in his ravings that even though 'she' found the crystal, it was he who brought it to the IISS Scout Base and wants the crystal returned to him.               a.  When asked who 'she' is, Bobvh looks reminiscent but regretful and mentally writes her off as a lost cause.               b.  It is confirmed that somehow, though his psi-shield helmet is damaged, this Psion has kept from becoming one of the "Many", the Pullers so far that have mobbed any they encounter.          5.  Bobvh surrenders, in hopeful trade, his handcomputer that features a recording, for the crystal.  However Artemis re-contains the crystal spindle inside the containment and prepares to load the unit into the LSP Shuttle for lift back to the Ares.      B.  The sortie team returned to the Ares with the crystal and the unconscious and wounded Psi-Corps madman, locking it in the vault while locking the madman in ICU of Medical Deck.        C.  Uthka Varzeekh, before being struck ill by "Steve", confronted Dr. Simone about not having a time-track, zero causality where there should be one.  Brushed off by Dr. Simone who said she'd "think on it", Varzeekh foretold that Gevaudan, the "Six of Wands" (a card of her crystal tarot she drew), would confront Dr. Simone on the same issue would be next.          1.  Gevaudan indeed confronts Dr. Simone about her wounds and that Simone does not 'con' during breakfast the next morning.  She comes out of the closet about being S.I.M.One, an Artificial Intelligence sent to learn, integrate, grow and help Artemis.   Simone claims she was sent to crew the Ares by the late Colonel Lloyd Robertson.  But at the Colonel's death, Simone found herself self-aware and free-willed.  She has announced that she will continue her loyalty to the crew and see to their survival of Bowman system.          2.  Jeff Scardack has overheard Uthka Varzeekh pull another crystal tarot card, the Hermit, and foretell of the sortie team finding a survivor, a non-Puller, on Prometheus Station.  Using the ship's restored Sensors, Artemis  finds "Steve" the Station Survivor hiding later that morning.         3.  Professor Isis confronted Sebastien Maddox at his stateroom door and the two had a tense moment concerning potential or suspected sabotage of each others' mission Tickets over Capt. Maarg.  Isis suspects that Sebastien will, in the end deny her revenge.  She threatened him that if she found such to be true that she knew how to teleport into the bunker ahead of the team and take further initiative.  Sebastien in return assured her that nothing he could say would assuage Isis and that her emotions might be getting in the way of her objectivity as Patron of her Ticket.  She countered in that no longer being 'adjusted' by the Tavrechedl', the Zhodani Thought Police for the past four years, has allowed Isis to have such passions and while new to her were nonetheless justified.  The two ended the conversation in a tense draw.        D.  First among those aboard the Ares, Admiral Galen has a first look at the recording on Psi-Corps Bobvh's surrendered handcomputer.  He has yet to report what he has seen and none know of his initial probe into that recording.      E.  Questions continue to plague the Artemis Group:  What is the state of the hangar facility at the IISS Scout Base on Alpha Moon?  Can it repair the Ares or supply enough needs to get the devastated vessel moving again?  What is the crystal that had dazzled Charoux even behind his protective, Darrian sunshades and rendered catatonic Jeff Scardack?  Why do the Pullers refer to the crystal as the "Heart of the Many"?  What is the meaning behind Artemis "serving the Metal Mother"?  What happened on Epsilon at the pre-Maghiz Darrian site to cause LSP and IISS to come to blows?  Can enough Pullers be eradicated to end their 'pulling' on the incoming meteor swarm that will destroy Prometheus, Epimetheus, the IISS Scout Base and possibly harm Garrison Station?  What exactly IS the purple and rose quartz crystal spindle; is it an Ancients artifact and not some relic of the Darrians?  Can the crystal be destroyed?  Will Jeff Scardack snap out of whatever has rendered him a suggestible automaton?  Why does Uthka Varzeekh continue to warn Artemis off from using the Comms on the Ares to signal a distress call outside the immediate region of Bowman system?  Can the crew of the Ares overcome their differences of origination to cooperate and survive Bowman system?     F.  In hopes of answering the above questions, the crew split into two mission teams.  Led by Runt, the first team took a 90dT LSP Shuttle back down to Alpha Moon and the IISS Scout Base to search for spare parts, toolkits, tools, components and systems needed by the Ares.  Inside one of the hangars, the team of Runt, Gevaudan, Crow, Jeff Scardack, Witness and an Ares Turret Robot found a dormant 100dT Type S Scout Ship and much of the needs on their scavenger hunt.  But another bout with the Pullers there in the hangar broke out.  It was here that the team learned that the "Many" are growing smarter by using more complex melee weaponry such as electrical probes, diamond saw, chainsaw, force pike and gravity hammers.          1.  After the fight lasting a full minute, the team found a pristine, but very old Jump Drive capable of pushing the Ares to Jump-3 once installed.  But since the massive drive will not fit inside any of the 17-dT cargo bays, it was settled that the team would load the still-packaged Jump Drive into the Shuttle, as many of needs as possible and rendezvous with the Ares to pick up the Ark crystal. VI.  At the same time, the Darrians quietly appropriated a Cutter and went to scout Epsilon , a major moon of Bowman Prime Gas Giant.  Its purple clouds and atmosphere gave way to a sandy desert world of dunes and constant wind.          1.  Adm. Galen and Larzamonte Charoux found the Darrian Outpost by discovering the landing zone beacon left behind by the IISS Scouts and closed in on the grid, home to the pre-Maghiz Outpost.  There, they found many sand-worn structures and a great Hero Gods temple at one end.         2.  But the Outpost was not without dangers.  Spider-like, quilled sand insects the size of dogs skittered among the time-worn buildings now exposed by the winds to the open sky.  Also, scans showed movement by humanoids later learned were Pullers, leftover crews from the expedition to Epsilon now given over to the call of the Ark crystal.          3.  The two Darrians entered the temple from the rear.  Using stealth and Zero-G devices, they descended from a second story balcony into the main chamber.  Columns both standing and fallen were found.  Sand and equipment were discovered about a circular well or digsite hole in the stone floor.  The two used their Zero-G to descend the well. VII.   Well of Rivers     A.  The two Darrians descended into utter darkness of the Well of Rivers that was decorated by five mosaic 'rivers' of the Underworld, (per some correlation of Greek Mythology).  The Well reached deep into the bedrock under the sandy desert.    B.  At the bottom of the Well of Rivers, the Admiral and Agent beheld that the five mosaic rivers wound through the karst topography of stalactites and stalagmites of a stone grotto.    C.  At the far end of the grotto, the Darrians saw an orichalcum diagram or pattern on the smooth, sandy floor.  The orange-gold pattern was punctuated with hexagonal depressions where 'coyns' were once set.  Truly this was not part nor related to the Darrian Outpost.  Then Galen and Charoux beheld the Psi-Corps Psion woman who, in the handcomputer recording, opened the Ark with the use of "Fifth Power" telekinesis.          1.  Caught in slow-time and blasted naked by the energies released by the Ark, the woman is caught in a very, very slow-time motion.  She is seemingly stuck near the very instant the crystal of the Ark was opened.  The Darrians performed various tests to conclude that the woman is very much still alive and trapped in that moment while the rest of the universe moves at regular time.          2.  It was apparent from the recording shot angle that her Psion Apprentice, nicknamed 'Gollum' Psion, that he recorded the opening but then upon his mentor's entrapment, took the crystal with the remaining IISS back to Alpha Moon and labeling Epsilon with an Amber Zone interdiction without listing why.          3. Does the missing 'coyns' from the depression have anything to do with the Psi-Corps woman who was recorded opening the Ark? VIII.  In the ride from the Ares to Epsilon in the 90dT Shuttle, Jeff Scardack was finally able to put into words what he saw inside the opened crystal of the Ark.  In his words, he remembered aloud that he beheld a mental construct holding tremendous psionic energies and psionic Talent patterns that were intensely compressed and housed within the Ark.  Talents of both common and advanced capabilities were compressed inside it.  The crystal was incredibly old, on the order of 300,000 years old.  Definitely not Darrian, this Ark was placed here as a "Pandora's Box", quite possibly by the Ancients.  Its function is to bathe an indeterminate area with psi-waves, granting random psionic Talents to the sophonts who opened the crystal with enough of their own psionic Talent so as to warrant their own annihilation.   This "ticking time-bomb" was left to await discovery, purportedly by the original Darrian Outpost that was suddenly cut off from the Darrian Confederation by the Maghiz , the Star Trigger event that devastated the Darrians for millennia.  The crystal, once opened much, much later by the Psi-Corps, would bestow psionic Talents, psionic energy and a suicidal tendency of self-extermination.  In this case, the Talents  telekinesis  and telepathy  have created a hive-minded group, the "Many", bent on drawing a large meteor swarm from the Bowman Belt to rain destruction down on Alpha Moon, Prometheus and Epimetheus Stations and Garrison Starport.  In other cases, the Ark could have presented a different modus operendi  to complete its function.  Simply put, the Ark is a Pandora's Box placed seemingly by the Ancients to destroy the overly curious or overly-developed sophonts in need of culling.     1.  In his first moments of awakening in the medical bay on the Ares, Jeff muttered that the "Ark is a Mercy", the very same words written in blood on the wall of Administration Deck on Prometheus Station.     2.  He went on to spew prophecy in that the world of Trin, in some future time, would be attacked by a crash-landing capital ship unleashing its last barrage upon the Downport, Startown, and surrounding countryside.          a.  Jeff somehow knows that the future date ship has no living soul aboard its massive superstructure as it suicidally descends upon and barrages the panicking people of Trin. VIII.  Closing the Ark     A.  The Shuttle team transits from the docked Ares at Prometheus Station to Epsilon, Ark in an IISS containment field.  They have dropped off many parts, components, and tools needed to jury-rig the M-Drive into functionality in hopes of moving out of the path of the meteor shower should the Ark prove to be forever opened.     B.  The two teams will gather at the Darrian Hero Gods temple and once again descend the Well of Rivers and return the Ark to the one Psion they believe has the Talent and the Power to close the crystal thus robbing the Puller hordes of their self-destructive, collective pulling.          1.  It is known that the crystal is powerful and very valuable.  It is also known that the female Psion and her Psion apprentice worked in the Psi-Corps, quite possibly under Captain Maarg and were sent here, embedded in the IISS, to acquire the crystal Ark.          2.  What will Artemis learn if the woman can close off the psi-wave energies emanating from the crystal?     C.  The crew has returned the Ark to Epsilon, fought off more Pullers at the Darrian Outpost, descended the Well of Rivers and put the reversed Ark into the hands of the time-trapped Psi-Corp woman.         1.  The Ark is closed and the woman freed.         2.  Her name is Zenobia Meson and she is the Psi-Corp Mentor to Bobvh, her apprentice.         3.  The crew takes her and the closed crystal spindle with them as they retreat to the Ares at Prometheus Station.         4.  There seems to be missing coyns from the orichalchum pattern on the grotto floor. IX.   The new Jump Drive     A.  The still-pristine, packaged and forgotten Jump Drive found in a cluster of components, connectors and systems came with a sell-purchase manifest, delivery transit from Mertactor ( Spinward Marches 1537) and a Owner-User's Manual inside its original travel packaging.     B.  The outer labeling on the enclosed Jump Drive names it a Zhunastu Jump Drive, Rated K at 55dT and capable of pushing the Ares  to Jump-3 range once installed.     C.  At 55dT, the Zhunastu Jump Drive K is too large to fit into any of the 17dT, perforated Cargo Bays of the Ares.     D.  The sell-purchase manifest shows a long history of purchase and sale of the Zhunastu Jump Drive, but it was never fitted to a single craft, passed onward through the Spinward Marches  from Deneb  Sector, through Mertactor and further into District 268 until finally arriving at the IISS Scout Base on Alpha Moon of Bowman system.     E.  At standard man-hours and fees, it will take approximately 100 hours to uninstall the Rated M, destroyed Jump Drive of the Ares  and install the Zhunastu Jump Drive.  This must be completed at a proper shipyard the likes of which are currently only found on the surface of Alpha Moon at the IISS Scout Base capable of servicing up to 1000dT of hulls.          1.  A sophont who suffers from no fatigue and requires no sleep can drastically reduce this needed install time.     F.  Until the Library Data is fully restored and updated with local or District 268 databases, the Zhunastu Jump Drive from Zhunastu Industries cannot be researched.   Do not tap the Travellerrpg Wiki for spoilers. X.  Return to the Ares at Prometheus     A.  The crew returns with the Ancients crystal artifact, the Ark and also harbours Zenobia Manes, the Psi-Corps  woman who opened the crystal at the behest of the IISS expedition to Epsilon, (contested by Ling Standard Products megacorp).     B.   Artemis Group  deliberates how to continue when Uthka Varzeekh clears the crew to make use of the Comms board.          1.  Upon contact with the greater Bowman system, they are hailed by a system-wide announcement by the ISS RayEagle that wants the population to "stand down and remain where you are".  They go on to elude that a purge of the so-called Puller Syndrome is coming.     C.  Uthka trades private words with Runt in the racial language of Gveh.          1.  Runt stalks out disgusted with the "tea reader".     D.  The crew now need to either convince the ISS RayEagle  that they are safely isolated from the hive mind of the Pullers OR repair the Ares  quickly and escape Bowman system. XI.  The RayEagle     A.  The 200,000dT Sylea-class Battleship has arrived in Bowman and system-wide announced its intention to contain and cull all Pullers and pre-Pullers soon to succumb to the so-called Puller Syndrome.     B.   Artemis Group  decides after some deliberation to negotiate with the Imperium Navy to avoid being attacked.  Through neutral ground negotiations in orbit over Gamma, the crew met with the First Officer of the battleship and conduct a search of their 90dT, LSP Shuttle.  Some failed and successful socialization later, Sebastien Maddox, Hane Meson, with help from Dame Qithka managed to secure some small help from the Imperium Navy.          1.  Sebastien was required to fully serve his Warrant, its summons and his authority over their summons as his responsibility to deliver Artemis Group and the Ares  to Lunion/Lunion.  This means that technically the company is under Noble arrest and required to present to the Lunion system Starport.          2. With a redacted Warrant submission, a composed medical, psychological and psioncological report from Dr. Simone, presents and impressionable tales of the Darrian Confederation, the First Officer was sufficiently convinced to allow the crew to return to Prometheus Station and continue down to Alpha moon and make use of the abandoned IISS Scout Base, so long as the Scouts did not arrive in-system and protest their assets' usage.  The Navy would not cover for Artemis Group  then.     C.  Then the massive battleship spread its smallcraft pinnaces, boarding craft, and Cutters over the entirety of Bowman system's inhabited areas to begin sifting for Pullers.          1.  As they did so, Charoux managed to set up 4 of 7 lasercomm relays to make contact with other inhabited locales to keep tabs on the progress of the Navy and whether they were keeping to their mission of Puller pogrom and not killing innocents.         2.  It is learned through the lasercomm network that some non-Puller citizens of Bowman do have trouble with both Puller populations and the overly-zealous Marines arriving.  Occasional bouts of friendly fire break out and are overheard through the comms network.         3.  The RayEagle  takes up orbit and authority over Epsilon moon, for reasons only the Artemis Group  can fathom.  Though the Navy has no claim over Epsilon, they will have to make sure that Epsilon is secured so that LSP, the Darrian Confederation and the IISS Scouts can bicker over the archaeological dig site at the re-discovered Darrian Outpost, its Hero Gods temple and of course the hidden Well of Rivers to the original grotto where the Ark crystal was found by Zenobia Manes, her apprentice Bobvh and the IISS Scouts.  Who will have legal claim over Epsilon is up to the courts, diplomats, Envoys and military might as the Fifth Frontier War winds down.     D.  The Artemis Group commandeers the three 90dT LSP Shuttles, as much spare parts from Prometheus Station and alongside the Ares , all make way down to the IISS Scout Base to land and conduct repairs.          1.  The IISS Base, still populated with Pullers is scanned with the microbots, courtesy of Hane Meson to reconnoiter the Base and determine how many Base modules are still infested with the converted Pullers.          2.  Sensors discover that with the closing of the Ark, the system-wide Puller hive-mind has been shattered.  Pullers now operate in very localized, telepathic networks rather than as one.  This has caused a failure in the collective pull on the meteor swarm.  The crew learns that this inaccuracy will indeed cause the meteor swarm to near-miss Prometheus, Epimetheus Stations, Garrison Starport and earn Alpha moon a grand, visible meteor shower night sky show as they burn through the outer atmosphere.          3.  Sensors aimed at the IISS Scout Base learn that there is a pre-teen girl who is not acting like a Puller and is hiding in one of the Base crew modules stateroom.  She is to be rescued decides Artemis Group.    Three teams are assigned.  A Technical Team will begin the refit of the Ares.    A tarmac patrol team will keep any Pullers arriving from the sandy reaches of the moon from attacking the Base and the vessels.  A third sortie team will enter the Base and exterminate the rest of the local Pullers and extract the young girl seen by the microbots.         4.  Dr. Simone with the Ark has hidden one of the 90dT Shuttles in a shallow sea adjacent to the IISS Base.  While difficult to reach, a focused orbital scan of the grid can still reveal the presence of a submerged shuttle.         5.  Zenobia Mane's offer to help refit the K-rated, Zhunastu Industries Jumpdrive is refused by Chief Engineer, the Captain Crow and supported by other crew of the Ares.         6.  Isis and Dame Qithka provide some help and comms logistics as work begins.         7.  Still recovering from the "diseases of opportunity", Uthka Varzeekh is still confined to her isolation stateroom and is cared for by the Ship's Robot TL15 and occasional treatments from Dr. Simone. XII.  Liberation of Alpha Moon     A.  In a final mass attack, the Pullers rush the IISS Scout Base on Alpha Moon as Artemis Group,  aided by Imperium Engineers from the RayEagle  battleship, conduct repairs.          1.  The psi-zombies are lured to the seashore by Simone who deceives them into believing she has the Ark.          2.  It is learned that the Pullers believe Simone is the so-called, "Metal Mother".     B.  The crew of the ship cloisters the Engineers from hearing too much from the Pullers, "Return the Heart to the Many", and like mutterings of the psi-zombies.     C.  As of 335-1109, the Ares  will finish fully repairing its M Maneuver Drive and installing the Zhunastu Industries K Jumpdrive.   Though the ship is not fully repaired, the necessary repairs will have to wait.  The ship will be able to commute Bowman and jump from the system.     D.  In the final battle on Alpha, the Artemis Group  rescues a pre-teen girl who is not a Puller.  The girl followed the TL15 Ares Robot from the crew module to the airfield.  Her parka jacket was lined with a psi-shield hood.  She had been living on pilfered rations from the mess hall for six weeks.  She claims her daddy, another Scout, owned a psi-shield, but was unable to find it before being converted to "one of the Many".  She is without family and guidance though she has homeworld schooling and IISS training for living on Alpha moon.  She is not a Psion if questioned.     E.  Remaining Assets on Alpha:  Fuel, an active powerplant for the Base, three LSP 90dT Shuttles, one fully-functional 100dT Scout ship, one 100dT Scout ship suffering from a fuel Hit and empty of fuel, Base toolkits for repairs, Base communications room, Base laboratory though its toolkits are scattered everywhere in the laboratory module.     F.  Upon Ares  lift from Alpha moon, the RayEagle  Engineers will board their Pinnace and return to the battleship.

Pakkrat, quick question... The computer was updating the jump exit time, presumably based on some sort of sensor data; however, during the game, you said the sensors don’t detect anything while in Jump-Space. So were you wrong about the sensors, or was some latent-technopath Psionic manipulating the computer, and if so, was that person manipulating the lights and computer output to “stay green”, or were they trying to warn us about the impending collision? Or maybe two technopaths, and both? Or should we chalk it up to a spooky inexplicable deus-ex-machina that we’ll never figure out? With regards to clever names for Jump-panel lights, I would have expected to see the following go yellow, assuming there was sensor data available to feed them: Intersecting Volumetric Field (or “Intercepting”, depending on how combat-oriented a ship’s CIC is): An object (ship, space rock, whatever) has drifted into the ship’s Jump Trajectory, and consequently, the ship may exit jump early, if that object doesn’t leave the path of the ship’s Jump Trajectory Jump Trajectory Diversion: The ship’s Jump Trajectory is diverting from the intended Jump Trajectory Uncharted Gravity Well: A significant mass not found in the Jump Trajectory Database is pulling on the ship Jump Trajectory Database Mismatch: The Sensor Data does not match the values extrapolated from the Jump Trajectory Database’s Physics Simulation of the intended destination system I would have expected corresponding information from the Jump Program’s Debug Output as well, I guess.

Charoux is going to move his air plant from his escape pod to the Cutter where the Vargr are staying, and assuming everything is sufficiently secure, open the Cutter bay doors, so that Qithka and Uthka can leave in a hurry, if they have to. Escape pods won’t do any good if we have to dodge rocks... On an unrelated note, did anyone bring stunners, or did you guys go fully lethal?

Jacob has his sonic stunner rifle; he's added it to his normal gear. Meant to suggest that to the others, but forgot in all the confusion.

Take it up with Gevaudan, perhaps in role-play. To answer though, he had an estimate based on his Astrogation calculations and was backed by his 'gator laptop running Jump Control. The 6d6+148- Astrogation Effect is an assumed time increment that Gevaudan estimated. Yes all lights were Green at Astrogation and the Jump Boards in Engineering. The computer can only sense the pull on the ship from inside via diagnostics. As I did say, it cannot see past the jump bubble field. The alarm was to confirm the change in the rate of time left in jumpspace due to those diagnostics. Should Charoux verbally confront the Pilot-Astrogator about technopathy, he'll get a wide, not happy grin full of teeth. He's been injured and is pissed off that something moved into his ship's path between the time he gave Dr.Simone the thumb claw up to reroute power to the Jump Drive and initiate a jump on the vector Gev calculated. The airplant is a good idea. Uthka still won't relinquish her post near Comms. Gevaudan owns a Sonic Rifle looted from the Vargr Corsairs, but forgot to carry it into the sortie. He has his Shotgun, mounted Grenade Launcher, Svaerblaster pistol, Serrated Bastard and his Zhodani mindsaber (hidden) on his person at the time Crow opened that airlock. EDIT: Gev is armored in his new Battledress by using a skillsoft, yet still is insufficient level and suffers -2DM in favor of better Armour now that he's been hurt once already.  His HEV Is draped over the command chair in C&C.

I imagine Runt would have gone in packing the full amount of heat available to him. New Battle dress and decked out with as many weapons as he could carry. Because he is in a low G, almost vacc environment las pistol is drawn. Ram launcher is handy though. I'm not 100% of what gear I'm packing because I don't know if any of my gear was sucked out into space while we were entering the system. The closest thing he has to something that's "non-lethal" are smoke grenades that he can fire from his launcher. They're regular smoke so don't block IR vision for anyone who has it. They can mess our laser fire up a bit though.  (( sorry I had to leave early during the session again. Was my first day at a new job and wanted to get in early. ))

Pakkrat said: Take it up with Gevaudan, perhaps in role-play. To answer though, he had an estimate based on his Astrogation calculations and was backed by his 'gator laptop running Jump Control. The 6d6+148- Astrogation Effect is an assumed time increment that Gevaudan estimated. Yes all lights were Green at Astrogation and the Jump Boards in Engineering. The computer can only sense the pull on the ship from inside via diagnostics. As I did say, it cannot see past the jump bubble field. The alarm was to confirm the change in the rate of time left in jumpspace due to those diagnostics. This was more to clarify my understanding and misunderstandings of the relationship between Jump Space and Sensors as a player. Charoux probably knows the limits of sensors in Jump-Space, but I don't. :P For instance, gravimetric sensors of some sort would be required to indicate a pull in a given direction as associated with an unexpected mass; alternately, if there were sensors that could indicate position with respect to the universe, that could indicate such a change in directory, but that doesn't seem to mesh with at least most of the sensors being unusable. In the more likely case of working gravimetrics, that suggests that the "Uncharted Gravity Well" light, if one exists, would turn Yellow and then Red as necessary, and the "Jump Trajectory Database Mismatch" light as well, since the destination is normally fully-charted space. I mean, either gravitons work through the gravity bubble, or they don't... if they do, they can be detected, and if not, the ship can't be pulled... Is the mis-match in the Jump exit time estimates because meteoroid fields are so spread-out for their mass, and that, as compared to a planet, or possibly even a ship, it would leave the jump field earlier than expected? I would expect the "Leaving Jump" timer to be set to as soon as anything considerably denser than hydrogen plasma was outside... Of course, feel free to slap me with the "Please stop overthinking this!" stick if I'm going too far. XD

Congratulations on the new job, Alby!

Thanks!  About jump space and sensors and such, my understanding of it was that in Jumpspace you're in your own little universe totally separate from the actual universe. That's why sensors and even psionics would not work past your "jump bubble". But once you begin to revert back to normal space I figured that gravity may bend and stretch your jump field and make a mess of things for you. So you'd never really know until the very last minute. At least  - that's the way I understood Pakrat's scenario. 

Well yes, but according to Pakkrat’s scenario, we had several minutes of warning; either a sensor had a read on something by which to issue that warning, or something considerably stranger happened.

Story, guys.  I'll not be dragged down in gearheadedness and repeatedly back up , ret-con, and otherwise correct my storytelling in favor of attention to detail.  It's  nice that you players think on this plane or level.  In the name of storytelling and drama pacing, let's all suspend our Disbelief a lil more. Please accept that the computer sensed some change in either the ship or the jump bubble and though it calculated nothing initially wrong, all systems passing self diagnostics  (Green Lights);  it did not know until this final seconds that a gravity well was to blame.  When the gravity shifted just before precipitation, it was Leroy Jenkins time. One can use their imagination of the setting, the situation, the suspense and the surprise and alarm.  But when player questions erupt due to disbelief, it drags down play, action and the ride of their lives.  Theatrics was the goal of Act I, not an attempt to grind down in gearheadedness.  The en media res  part was to set the stage for Act II with an adrenaline ride. The characters were supposed to glean something was wrong before the computer came to the same conclusion.  It's a lil linear gaming, yes, but its goal was to prelude to the meteor swarm and later the arrival at Prometheus. I hope I am making sense here.

Totally. 

Pakkrat, I wouldn’t ask you to retcon anything ; just trying to get better at reading hazardous situations during spaceflight so I can be a better Traveller player. If my  “logic panel” lights go yellow, I need to figure out whether or not it was because of a bad assumption on my part, so I can do a better job next time; if it was a little fudged for the sake of good storytelling, that’s all right then. I’m fine with being totally railroaded on this one. XD

Cargo Loss Update:   I have updated the cargo-gear-equipment-spare parts losses from meteor hits in the Artemis Company Records spreadsheet.  Boxes highlighted in Orange are the affected items.  Some are lost or destroyed entirely.  A few are damaged beyond safe use.  Before your character calls the use of a particular piece of gear, double-check the spreadsheet or your personal gear (assumed kept in a Stateroom, Hacker Suite, Ship's Locker, etc) to see if it is still available.  Note that in the meteor swarm in Act I, the Ares lost 80% of its contained items.  The Bridge Hit slightly damaged the Ship's Locker adjacent to the destroyed Captain's Quarters.  Some items are damaged/destroyed there too.  I have also updated the damage to the Ares on the Ship Specs tab.  This is put into a visual accounting report submitted by Prof. Isis and the Ship's Robot TL 15 assigned to her.

Well, fuck.

The good news is, the radioactives are, well, radioactive ; we can track them. The bad news is, being radioactive, if there’s any sort of containment breach, we’ll need an oversize container to put them in (which is actually a fairly standard thing IRL), which would take up extra cargo space, and may well get a reduced delivery price for the breached container.

Yeah, I'm less upset about the cargo as the utter destruction of the 120 Million credit Jump drive. 

Wolfen said: Yeah, I'm less upset about the cargo as the utter destruction of the 120 Million credit Jump drive.  May not be as bad as you think... "A destroyed system costs 2d6 10% of its original cost to repair, and cannot be repaired using spare parts – it can only be repaired at a world with the appropriate Technology Level or a well-equipped starport." p 143 Core Rulebook We could get lucky and roll snake eyes on that. 

Or we could roll 11 or 12, and have to pay to replace the mountings and connectors as well.

... yeah or that. 

The end-game for this adventure is probably going to be finding a spare Jump Drive on one of the stations or down at the IISS base; if we don’t , then we either have to jury-rig a fix for our Jump Drive, or find an IISS Scout in good working order to jump out and then come back with a big enough ship to deliver a brand-new Jump Drive and then find a way to install it.

Test

Gevaudan will put forth that he cannot land the Ares on the planet until the M-Drive is fully repaired.  If a Cutter does find a suitable J-Drive, it has to be 30dT or less to be hauled back up to the docked Ares.  Then we will have to mount it ourselves as Gev doesn't believe the Prometheus staff are willing to help.

Unless, of course, we find some untainted personnel at other locations... XD The ships in the hangar are 90 dTons, right? If we strip down their interiors, how big a Jump Drive could we move?

Pakkrat said: Gevaudan will put forth that he cannot land the Ares on the planet until the M-Drive is fully repaired.  If a Cutter does find a suitable J-Drive, it has to be 30dT or less to be hauled back up to the docked Ares.  Then we will have to mount it ourselves as Gev doesn't believe the Prometheus staff are willing to help. Generally speaking, does a Jump drive have to remain in one piece or could it come in modular parts that we could put together (if we knew how to)? If it's the former transporting it is only half the problem. I think we may need to take the ship apart to install it.  Ships in pieces anyway I guess. Maybe not such a big problem?

As I read the rules, we don't necessarily need a whole new J-Drive. We do need a Starport C or better shipyard, though, and the tools, facilities, and resources that implies. Garisson Station is a Starport D, but Scout Bases, like the one on Alpha, are supposed to have the facilities to handle repairs for IISS ships up to 1,000 dT. So that might have at least the facilities that we need, even if we have to import parts and such.  Of course, it seems pretty clear that we have to get to the bottom of the mystery of the "Pullers" first. We can hope that the Scout Base and the other stations aren't infected yet, and that that's why Uthka doesn't want us to bring anybody here to help us: they might get whatever it is. My money is still on this having to do with the archaeological dig on Epsilon - a reputedly 2,000 year-old darrian site.

To assess the monetary damage of añ inoperative system or a destroyed system, I'll need both an appropriate Engineer, Electrician, Computer geek along with a Broker to tally up the costs.  This must be done visually since some boards are still down. Sebastien's Library data on Bowman is the only source to know, (save tapping Prometheus Stn. mainframe), about the antique, Darrian site on Epsilon.  Adm. Galen knows that the site is there but nothing accept he has a mission to visit it, but details.  Dunno if he will discuss such with anyone other than another Darrian. Computers roll to go through Prometheus' storage manifests to see if there any spare parts in Storage 1, 2, 3 or Engineering and Mechanical/Electronics decks. If asked, yes, that is partially why Uthka is guarding the Comms on the Ares. There is also a 90dT Shuttle on a collision course with Prometheus Station and might be crewed with succeptible people or more Pullers. Yes, an IISS Scout Base would have the facilities and some parts for Imperium systems. There are L-Hyd tanks along the spine of Prometheus Station and might be a refuel source. A Computers person will need to hack the Station mainframe as it is LSP corporate property in order to access telemetry, communications recordings, and the like.  Administration or Operations decks with Communications deck are possible sources for connected terminals. More spare parts for the Sensors might be found on Prometheus Station Observation deck. Lastly, individual, personal hand computers might have employee logs and journals throughout the Station.

Fair warning:  every time a PC rolls a skill or does some other skill-less task, the clock is ticking for that character.  Use your time wisely in Bowman.  Prioritize.  Maintain a vigil for Pullers.  Time is the one commodity they cannot purchase.

I have updated the outline above to reflect the situation after returning from the initial sortie on Alpha Moon and what has been learned thus far.  If there is anything left out or forgotten, please advise.  Additionally, speculations from individual PCs are welcome here, yet assumed given voice and opened to the floor for consideration and discussion. UPDATE:  Added Sebastien's encounter with Isis and their tense social confrontation.

You didn't mention Isis' confrontation with Sebastien. He does intend to mention it to the group, along with his worries that she may try to kill Captain Maarg before we actually get to the bottom of that conspiracy. As far as Sebastien is concerned, especially after Isis' description of her feelings of being unable to control or deal with her previously repressed emotions, that the Professor may require some kind of treatment or intervention before she becomes a danger to herself and/or others.

Gevaudan will concur that while the Isis Ticket will remain upheld by the Artemis Group, Isis' welcome might be wearing thin once her Ticket is paid in full.  The white Equal will go on to suggest off-loading Isis to whatever world she chooses and be done with the Zhodani especially now that the Fifth Frontier War is in its final stages and aftermath.  Gev will offer to buddy-system with her to both guard her and Artemis  from any shenanigans on her part while the crew inserts, does its business and extracts for a getaway.

Knowing that Gev will buddy up with Isis on Wypoc will certainly help put Sebastien's mind at ease, but he still believes that Isis needs help with her grief and overall instability. Clearly, he's in no position to offer that help, and in the end it isn't really any skin off his nose; but if there is anybody in the crew who truly cares for Isis they should be aware that she's really not coping very well.

* Kayleb takes a final drag of a short cig, exhaling the smoke slowly and thoughtfully * "You really think this is about ' grief '? I mean ... yeah ... maybe ... But maybe we shouldn't scratch her off our list of suspects while we're looking for whoever nuked this Colonel of yours? Ghosting the primary suspect before they can squeal is a great way of covering your arse. This whole grieving revenge show could be groat shite. Remember ... Zho witch . Mind games are their thing."  * Runt stubs out the cigarette and puts the butt into his pocket * "One thing I know for sure, she needs to pull her bloody head in. She's a Zho, in Imperial territory, paying for hits on Imperial personnel. She's on thin bloody ice as it is. She has to play this one our way. Yeah she's offering thirty five meg to snuff this bastard, but how much do you reckon we'd get for nabbing an escaped Zho agent? ... no wait ... forget I said that. What I'm trying to say is that we're all a bit emotional about this ticket, and I think it may be clouding things. Maarg attacked this group? Yeah ... so what? Think about it. We have a few Imperial folks on board, but most on this ship come from foreign political entities. And of those foreign political entities represented on this ship the Imperium is currently at war with two of them... One and a half.... Anyway ... Marg is still on the payroll of the Navy right? If he launches missiles at this ship he's technically just doing his job.  We have an Imperial Warrant on this one. That warrant is the only thing that gives our show any kind of legitimacy. Don't get me wrong I've got nothing personal against the "Professor", but if the witch tries to blow that warrant .... I say we ghost her . Seriously, I don't mind being the one to do it. If we have a legally binding ticket with her then we can get get it done and then receive that thirty five meg when they distribute her assets while read out her last will and bloody testament. 

I’d just like to remind Pakkrat that any suspicion on the part of Charoux has more to do with the calculative nature of spycraft than actually believing that Isis is behind anything; additionally, his training the Grav Cycle’s guns on her at Darrian had more to do with not having verified she wasn’t an imposter yet than any kind of enmity or genuine suspicion. Frankly, with regards to rescuing the “involuntary personnel” at Maarg’s facility, he and Isis are on the same page. In theory, Charoux would attempt to comfort Isis, if it weren’t for the matter of keeping his all-too-precious objectivity while sufficient facts are unavailable. As for keeping Isis on board afterward, Charoux is generally all for that, barring certain potential outcomes, although with how the hostile work environment is shaping up, it doesn’t seem to be in her best interest to stay on board.

* looks around as he lights up a new cig * Oh ... and she's probably listening in to this conversation right now.  * looks up and addresses any possible psionic eavesdroppers. * If she is then my case about not being able to trust her ... she's making that rock bloody solid!

Pakkrat believes that to Charoux, there will always be the excuse of "sufficient facts are unavailable".  Call it what it is:  Charoux is overly cautious to the point of zero risk-taking.  Thus, it is axiomatic that Charoux doesn't take anything for granted or at face value.   One might argue that Charoux, a Darrian, is the most humanitarian crewmember on the Ares right now.  Additionally, being a Darrian, Charoux is a prime person to have a heart-to-heart with Isis, given that he knows what to say, (needs Psychology skill or someone to coach him before the encounter).  Everyone else has some reason or another to keep the Zhodani woman at arm's length.  Galen is too old and has a generation gap. Portraying Gevaudan, and by extension the other onboard ethnic Vargr, they have no true loyalty to Isis.  Gev's personal relationship with Isis behind closed doors, was strictly business - one in which she and Uthka initiated to begin with.  So, expect no mushy-puppy stuff from them.

I may be very late to meta tomorrow, if there at all... work stuff. So... If there are any wavelengths the crystal doesn’t generate, Charoux might try to use a light source tuned to that wavelength to see if he can light up what is hiding in the crystal... or at least get a glimpse of its shadow on the nearby wall by filtering out all other spectrums. Keep in mind, even stars have wavelengths they’re weak at... it’s one of the ways you identify one star from another in a foreign starscape, by the weaknesses in their spectrums. Charoux will also see if Isis has a holodisplay with a psionic interface, and ask how he might adapt a translator into the mix to get it to interpret the right version of Darrian. Good excuse for Charoux to see if Isis needs a hug or something. We really need to be more careful with how we spend our time. While not splitting the party is a great reason to keep everyone together usually, we don’t have spare time for trips to and from the moon’s surface that reasonably should take a few hours; we can’t afford to come back without taking inventory of whatever ships are at the scout base next time (or even this time, for that matter).

"The Captain kept such toys out if the hands of the staff and students back in the Institute bunker, Larzamonte Charoux," said Isis.  "I left the Psi-Corps with what I could carry in that last jaunt, as you were there and saw." "As far I have seen through the battle feed, this crystal -Ark the Pullers call it- might be older than Darrian.  Has anyone analyzed if for psi-waves, say at 30 second intervals?" Isis will the cold shoulder everyone else and return to Female Country unless halted.

In that case, I’ll try tying all the Psi-detectors into the Battle Computer and triangulating the pulse, and see if that gives me the artifact’s location. But seriously, without some kind of output screen for us non-psionics, we’re kind of sunk in trying to meaningfully interact with it and giving it orders to shut the hell up. I could try aiding Isis in getting it to stop, but that’s sort of the deaf leading the blind.

Pakkrat, don’t forget my equipment.

Triangulation useage of the psi-squealers takes some time, on the order of hours, as they are not specifically designed for anything but being stationary and whining should psi-waves enter their field of detection.  But eventually, it is confirmed that any psi-squealers closest to the open Ark, the pink and purple crystal spindle, will alarm first before the next ring of squealers outward.  This means that it can be confirmed that the Ark is pulsing outward, every 30 seconds or so, a massive, long-reaching, telepathic  (Psioncology from Dr. Simone) in nature and contacting any unshielded minds.   And guess what?  It's sitting inside the Ares , in the Secure Vault, inside a majority of the ship's psi-shielding.   There are unshielded patients on the Medical Deck who fell ill to Steve the Station Survivor's "diseases of opportunity".  He's a carrier and for some stupid reason hasn't turned into a Puller. The outer hull of the Ares  was the primary psi-shielding of the ship, supplemented by the deck floors.  But not all the walls were shielded.  There are through penetration gaps in that protection. The psi-disruptors, constantly being recharged when on the Ares , can protect those inside their area of effect, but only in their zones. Uthka played nice when she was put in an isolation-quarantine stateroom on the Medical Deck.  She wasn't too happy to wake up in restraints.  Hane Meson:  well we shall let Jim decide Hane's reaction to waking up in isolation, sickened, recovering slowly and only a TL15 Ship's Robot to bring in food and water.  It was escape artist, Dame Qithka Cannagrrh who managed to free herself from restraints and pound for an hour on the thick, locked polymer stateroom door.  She, in her sickened stupor, demanded that Witness unlock the door.  Witness doesn't have hands and told her that due to Dr. Simone's report and per her contract with Kfan Uzangou , the Dame was remitted to sick leave.   The Dame then ordered Witness to go retrieve her brother, Gevaudan.  Witness obeyed more out of its recent attachment on Qithka's orders to Gevaudan. Gevaudan spent all night calming Qithka down, explaining Dr. Simone's actions and what had happened to those on the ship when they became infected.  It is here that Gev learns that Qithka has a mild phobia of being left alone.  The Pilot-Astrogator, in his INT of E (14) puts all the pieces of the Fifth Frontier War together since the Dame and her entourage first appeared in the Artemis  hangar on D'Ganzio.   It was this phobia that caused Qithka to track down her brother in the Spinward Marches.   So, an NPC character flaw is finally revealed in Qithka Cannagrrh.  The entire visitation outside her stateroom is held in Gvegh, the Vargr language in this part of Charted Space. Isis remains opened to Charoux listening to her, (mainly since he's still the CEO).  She continues to seethe whenever Sebastien is around.  All the others she remains hopeful that they will stick to her Ticket. Because both Uthka and Qithka are on the Medical Deck, there is no longer a vigil over the Comms board.  Anyone can potentially place a distress signal on the sly, should that be desired.  Being on the Bridge when there is no away team, Gevaudan will see anyone approaching the Comms board and with Witness, will be able to know that board is used.  Through his Ship Integration, Gev can see the virtual Comms board even if he's not using that board himself.  User be watchful.

Charoux can always use comms on the sly; it’s part of his glasses. He didn’t mostly because he didn’t want to give Uthka any unnecessary grief. At no point has Charoux wanted to issue a distress call. A basic communications call, sure. A quarantine order, sure; but that’s a fairly standard thing: “This system is under quarantine according to local authorities, and is currently classified as a Red Zone. Please don anti-psi gear immediately, and jump out as soon as possible to prevent exposure. The following equipment, in good working order, is required to be used at all times by emergency personnel: ...” and so on. Still don’t know what the problem with that is. :P

* Kayleb reloads and gears up * So ... we're going back down there right boss? We still have to haul up parts to fix this old girl?

We're certainly going to have to go back down for parts, et al. We'll probably have to secure the shipyard at the IISS base in order to land the Ares and perform repairs (at least enough to get us out of here), in addition to scavenging for parts and tools. Which probably means more zombie slaughtering. Determining for certain that the artifact was the source of the "pull" was well done. Now that we know that for sure, we're left with the question of whether we want to turn it off (if possible) or just shoot the damned thing into the sun. The conditions of all of the stricken crew members, especially Jeff, complicates that decision, as well as being a concern in its own right.

Shooting it into the sun may only reasonable if it’s composed of atomic matter... which, given the current information available, it may not be . Given that with a few simple filters you can easily see the only slightly darkened sunspots on the sun, and with decent headgear sensors fit for Space you can’t see anything from this crystal other than its outside, on account of its shocking brightness, I’m forced to conclude that this is one suspiciously hot mama. Additionally, this thing radiates light at all spectrums evenly across its structure; so apparently neither Optical Atomic Absorbtive Spectroscopy or Optical Atomic Emissive Spectroscopy can even be done on this thing, since it fails to exhibit such fundamental properties of atomic matter. Even Mass Spectrometry may be out of the question, since that depends on the thing having charged particles like protons or electrons (or their more exotic counterparts). Now, it could be that I’m drawing conclusions that Pakkrat never expected or intended to be reached based on the quality of information he supplied; but as a player I’m supposed to take him at his word when he says there aren’t any notable absorbed or emitted spectrums of light, and that instead it’s some infernally unnatural black body radiator . Of course, it could just be throwing psionic illusions around, but that can’t fake data ; which is Charoux’s bread and butter. He’d catch it the moment he gave the data a second look in his quarters. Honestly, the only logical step Charoux can think of at this point is for an expendable Psion to think really hard at this thing “Present Interface”; which would require 1, having a trustworthy & expendable Psion onboard willing and able to bite the bullet of being exposed to this blasted thing, 2, that psion having some knowledge of whatever language this thing prefers to be thought at in, 3, us be willing to allow this thing a location not covered by anti-psi fields, and 4, this thing having some sort of interface mechanism of its own to begin with, which it might not , if it’s merely a part of a larger thing from its original dig site. 2 and 4 are currently completely unknown, and 1 and 3 are not pretty. We may need to find the original dig site to learn more; and that’s spending time we don’t have. The crazy Psion’s laptop still needs a good crack, though, doesn’t it?

Indeed the Gollum Psion's handcomputer needs scrutinizing.  Charoux makes for interesting dilemma.  Splitting the party may make up for time against meteoric suicide on a mass event level.

That, and with the sick crewmembers on board, the ship’s denizens are effectively split 3 ways now instead of just a manageable 2.

.. wait ... this thing must have come from somewhere. And wherever that "where" is - that's a place where it doesn't turn folks into zombies. Because it wasn't turning folks into zombies while they were building this base or setting up the space stations. So maybe puting that thing back to where it was found is the best idea? The original dig sight maybe?

Very possible, but it’s also possible that it just sat there not turned on until some dumbass came along. In which case, the dig site may just be a red herring.

I think we may be barking up the wrong tree in assuming that this thing is going to give its secrets up to our limited scientific inquiry. A) We don't have the time for a truly rigorous and thoroughly study. B) We have neither the skills nor the gear. C) If the Ark is some kind of precursor/ancient artifact, it may literally not be bound by our inherently flawed understanding of the laws of the universe. It might as well be magic. It does seem clear that the Ark only got turned on recently, and not until after the Scouts and LSP started their pissing contest. Therefore, thoroughly analyzing both Gollum's hand computer and whatever other records and other data we can find, with an eye out for finding how it got turned on, should be priority one. That's our best hope to turn it back off and hopefully help Jeff and to avert death by meteor storm. That said, we need a Plan B. We are up against the clock here. There's no chance that we can repair the Ares' Jump Drive before the meteor swarm pulverizes Prometheus, et al. So we're going to have to start thinking about finding a relatively safe place to hunker down if we are unable to stop the meteors. That will require we determine whether the meteors are actually targeting the Prometheus Station, the IISS base or the artifact itself, and then not being near that target when they hit. Another question that occurs to me, although this may or may not be a useful line of conjecture, is whether the Pullers are actually a necessary power source (or whatever) for the pulling. If so, we should be able to diminish or disable the effect by going on a zombie hunt (again), not that that seems to have helped yet. On the other hand, if the Pullers are really just a side effect of the pulling, and the actual source of the power is the artifact, we might want to go back to idea of trying to destroy it. No matter how we slice it, it does seem like we're going to have to split up. We're going to need one team working on isolating/studying/trying to disarm the Ark, and another to get more information on where the artifact came from and/or how it got turned on. Pakkrat can tell us if we feel like we've found what we can at the IISS base. If not, we'll have to go their first, to recover whatever logs we can. Otherwise, or after doing that, we need to go back to the dig site to see what we can dig up there. (See what I did there?). There may be a chance that there's a way to disable or lock down the object there. Maybe it was there for just that reason. Unfortunately, I don't see any immediate benefit from continuing the repairs of the Ares at this time. We just don't have the people, and the Ares isn't going to get us out of this mess. Especially with four people basically out of commission, we're really going to have to focus our efforts. 

1. Barring a retcon from Pakkrat, or some serious shenanigans by some party, it’s pretty conclusive that the artifact is composed of non-atomic matter (IE, not composed of actual atoms ); diffraction gratings are a TL5 (or so) technology; at that level, they’re just fancy scratches on glass. As a current modern-day technology, they’re a hyper-spectral imaging camera; pricey for a camera, but they have their applications when specific frequencies and not merely overall color matters. A few TLs from now, they’ll be every security camera, and by extension, probably every camera of any sort... 2. We technically do have at least some of the gear, from the previous artifact analysis. A fat lot of good it would do us with my Physical Science 0 and Space Science 0, and with no apparent electronics to work with, since that would generally require the thing to be made of atoms, or at least pushing electrons or photons around in some understandable and measurable way... 3. Being composed of non-atomic matter (that is, matter that is not composed of atoms, and again see my previous note about retcons and shenanigans), that would put it pretty firmly outside any reasonable short-term (and probably most long-term) scientific inquiry. Still, in order for the thing to have been turned on, it has to have some sort of interface through which that was done; which means there’s probably a means to turn it back off again, or even reverse the process. 4. I’m inclined to think that we should try bringing the artifact to the meteoroids, instead of the pullers trying to bring the meteoroids to the artifact... how they could be so stupid as to not just push on the artifact instead of pull on the meteoroids I have no idea, but it’s worth investigating. Maybe we can plant the artifact on some outward orbit planet so that they’ll be pushing the trajectory out instead of pulling it in. 5. Killing zombies measurably changed the rate at which the meteoroid swarm approached. How far we need to go is unclear, but it is clear that we can buy more time. Arguably, there should be a point at which we’ve reduced their numbers to where they’ll be unable to achieve that one trajectory that hits all of their intended targets, and will have to settle for one or the other; I would argue that, once we have the Jump Drive secured, limiting their options to the IISS base is acceptable collateral damage; they’ll probably want to make a new one anyway. 6. The important part for the time being is whether or not there is a viable Jump-Drive, and securing it. Once we have it in a shuttle, we can move it and the ship out of the way of whatever path the metoroid swarm moves in, and install it whenever we have the required safety and time. It would be arguably better if it were inside the Ares’s Engineering section, even if it were not mounted and installed, per se, and just securely tied down. Leaving a viable Jump Drive in the path of the meteoroids is just madness. On this point, going back up to the Ares without a Jump Drive seems to have been a terrible mistake. 7. Having a nice secure location to both hunker down in away from the meteoroids and repair the ship are important too. Preventing damage to the system at large would be good, though. 8. Pakkrat said something about the guy we found on the station having been the “Patient 0” for the Psionically transmitted outbreak; maybe he just meant the various physical sicknesses, but he said it in reference to my intention to find the individual who got the Psionic disease first, cure him, and allow that cure to spread the way the original disease had...