Verne notes an uptick in his respiratory rate despite the conclusion of combat.
"I...we did it," he stammers.
The captain moves over to JD and looks over his wounds. "I don't know anything about healing, but he looks in pretty bad shape. Verne, keep an eye on him, alright?"
"Of course, captain," he replies. As he tends to JD, he takes note of the recording displayed in the command centre.
"We're going to the Nakon system? I've been through there before..."
"That matches my own knowledge, JD. At least we're being compensated more appropriately for our second mission," Verne observes. He's recovering well, he concludes, and sets off exploring with the others.
Verne picks up the tiles. "I'd like to bring these back to the ship...something to work on deciphering on our next stint through deep space." He gingerly places them in his pack.
"Anyone know what these are?"
Verne strokes his chin. "I've never encountered anything like them before. Perhaps we can identify them at a later date, perhaps consult the ship's logs."
Verne picks up the tiles. "I'd like to bring these back to the ship...something to work on deciphering on our next stint through deep space." He gingerly places them in his pack.
"Do you recognise them, Verne?"
"I've never encountered anything like them before. Perhaps we can identify them at a later date, perhaps consult the ship's logs."
He hands them to Verne. "You're the scientist. You may as well hang onto them until we figure them out"
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Once the team has completed a first-pass through the compound, a round-up meeting is called for in order to determine how next best to proceed. Nat indicates that she might not have medical training, but she doesn't think Mayhem, Mallura, or Lih look at all capable of withstanding the fury of the electromagnetic storm that the team would need to traverse in order to return to the native village and their ship. Mayhem uncharacteristically agrees that he's feeling like a shaved skittermander and moves to camp overnight in the compound.
"It's getting late and I'd rather not brave that storm right now either. The ship should be safe enough and we get more time to scavenge some bits and parts. I say we stay for the night."
"Do you recognise them, Verne?"
"They appear to be the journals of the exile," Verne replies. "I can't read drusnock, but perhaps I'd be able to translate them on the ship. I was a scholar before I came to Absalom station, after all."
He hands them to Verne. "You're the scientist. You may as well hang onto them until we figure them out"
Verne accepts the gems. "Thank you. They're likely spell gems, but I'm not sure what they contain as of yet."
"And Jarix," Verne turns to the human, "I agree. We are in no condition to brave the storm again."
Mallura nods along with her crew's suggestion, "Right, it sounds like we're in agreement then. We'll stay here for the night. Nat, can you access the systems and see if we can relock some of the doors to secure ourselves in here?"
Lih agrees as well, having also been knocked out in the battle. "The front door was forced open, but maybe we can lock down the command center at least"
"They appear to be the journals of the exile," Verne replies. "I can't read drusnock, but perhaps I'd be able to translate them on the ship. I was a scholar before I came to Absalom station, after all.
"Maybe the Drusnok village on the way back to the ship can provide some insight"
JD can also look into securing the room if Nat has any trouble.
"They appear to be the journals of the exile," Verne replies. "I can't read drusnock, but perhaps I'd be able to translate them on the ship. I was a scholar before I came to Absalom station, after all."Maybe the Drusnok village on the way back to the ship can provide some insight"
JD can also look into securing the room if Nat has any trouble.
"Good idea, JD. Now that we've figured out a way to communicate with them more easily, we should be able to get at least a rough translation and figure out what happened here." She looks down at the color-smeared tablets and sighs. "Speaking of what happened here, were we able to learn anything about the light-pop? I'd really like to bring back something to help the village if at all possible."
"There's a med bay, maybe we can examine the body."
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Nat finds it simple to lock the functioning doors (all apart from the main door that seems broken) from the main computer controls, but points out how easy it was for them to rig the doors open when they were locked by The Exile.
"Just saying, honey, if someone with some talent wanted to get in....not that that's happenin' while we're sleeping here tonite, of course."
Jarix's suggestion to examine the body reveals the loot that The Exile was carrying on his person: an estex suit II, a thunderstrike sonic rifle with a high-capacity (35/36 charges) battery, a tactical duelling sword, and a credstick (again imprinted with Abadarian scales) containing 1400 credits.
The crew retires to the colony sleeping quarters, a cramped room with five sets of bunk beds, providing enough sleeping space for all. Mayhem defers on the bunk bed and asks to sleep on the gurney in the medical bay.
"It looks more comfortable," he explains with a strange smile on his face.
The crew of AbadarCorp Vessel MRM3500 pass a well-earned night of rest within the colony walls and awake the next day well-rested. JD and Mayhem immediately note that their Drift Sickness headache has gone away.
Unfortunately, Nat, Jarix, and Verne note a curious and uncomfortable burning sensation to their throats in the morning that doesn't clear no matter how much swallowing they do.
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Lih pops out of his bunk when he sees his crew mates in discomfort. He opens his medkit, removes a single tongue depressor and approaches Nat. "Say Awwwww'
He smiles politely at Nat after examining her. "Excuse me a moment, Nat"
He returns to his bunk calmly and puts his helmet on. "Captain, these three appear to be suffering from some kind of illness. It appears to be latent right now, but course worsen. Also, it could be contagious. I recommend anyone not feeling symptoms to don their environmental protections in their armour. I suspect it could be the Stardust Illness that befell the colony.
Mallura listens to Lih's grave report and curses under her breath, "Dammit! We should've checked for that, maybe sterilized the compound first." With her hand up to her forehead, the captain paces back and forth for a moment, then addresses her fellow lashunta again. "Alright. Yes, let's get everyone in full environmental protections, then we're going to search the compound for any records of how the colonists were trying to treat this illness. Aside from that, we'll have to rely on your medical expertise to treat the disease. Now, do you have any idea of how long the illness will remain latent? And do we know what effects it may have if it becomes active?"
"I'll look after them Captain'
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A scrub through the computer records of the compound reveals the ominous lack of success that the original colony experienced in treating the Stardust Plague, and describes the disease as advancing in severity over days and ending in spontaneous combustion. Nat, Jarix, and Verne all feel fine right now apart from the annoying burning sensation in the back of their throats.
"Let's go. Maybe we'll be feeling better once we get out of here."
"Yes. Perhaps some fresh air will delay the, uh.. spontaneous combustion"
"Agreed. The sooner we get back to the village the sooner we can find the cure to this disease," Verne says.
"We'll need tor relay a warning about this planet. Make sure that the next team to arrive knows of the Stardust Plague so they can take precautions."
"No, Verne, I don't think even that will save us! The people in the village are dying of the disease too, remember? We came here to find a cure and to deal with the Exile, but we've failed," Captain Mal says darkly, "And now some of our own are paying the price as well." She runs her hands over her antennae, the near-invisible force field provided by her armor contouring to their shape as they bend back, then stand up again.
"Alright," she says at last, "Let's get out of here. Maybe if we get back to the ship we can spend some time focusing on getting Nat, Jarix, and Verne well again before we continue on to Nakondis. That is, assuming our ship isn't suddenly flooded with this damned virus as well. Jarix is right, too. We need to send a message back to Absalom Station to either set up a quarantine on this planet or to have someone with more resources in medical research get out here."
"Meanwhile, we've got a contract to fulfill..." The captain gathers the last of her gear, holsters his pistol, and signals to her crew as she begins heading toward the door.
"Let's move."
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The trip back through the storm to the exploration buggy is surprisingly uneventful, though the return of the oppressive gravity of the planet is quite unwelcome. The intensity of the storm at the bridge isn't nearly what it was when you initially traversed the chasm. Still, the curiously-stationary storm has been eating away at the buggy similarly to the nibbles it takes at yourselves.
Jarix, JD, and Nat discover that the exploration buggy hasn't escaped the storm unscathed.
Exploration Buggy Stats (updated)
The steering column of the buggy feels less responsive. JD surmises that he should be able to fix it with some time (and UPBs).
The crew of AbadarCorp Vessel MRM3500 make their way back to the light-shark village. You are sighted and greeted a long way off from the village; it seems that the drusnock were anticipating your return. The adolescent drusnock first met on the plateau greet you all with a multi-coloured assail of lights and odd noises.
Upon returning to the village, The Speaker greets the returning spacefarers with a rosy yellow glow and a vibrating metallic noise. More specifically, it speaks with Mallura.
A small crowd of light-sharks begin arriving at the village centre.
"We're going to need to see about this steering. This is going to be a bumpy ride."
"If it can wait until we're in the drift again, I will have plenty of time to work on it. I can always see about patching it while we're stopped at the village though"
Also, before leaving the colony, JD would have packed every nook, cranny and foot well of the buggy with salvaged parts from the 4 drones and turret in order to have a enough parts to rebuild Sh-Ux. His backpack is also stuffed with lighter components. As the buggy bounces along the rugged terrain with it's loose steering, JD apologizes numerous times to the occupants as parts rattle and bounce around. However it's quite easy to tell that the mechanic is quite pleased to have a long to-do list ahead of himself of practical, physical work to do.
JD looks at the greeting given by the adolescent Drusnok. He has a hard enough time reading people, let alone light sharks. He looks to the rest of the crew. "What's he sayin'?"
"No, Verne, I don't think even that will save us! The people in the village are dying of the disease too, remember? We came here to find a cure and to deal with the Exile, but we've failed,"
Verne coughs, a slight flush in his cheeks. "A..apologies captain, I did not clarify my intention. Perhaps the writings of the Exile hold a clue to curing the disease? A long shot perhaps, but worth exploring."
The crew of AbadarCorp Vessel MRM3500 make their way back to the light-shark village...
Good to know they welcome our prescence.
The Speaker greets the returning spacefarers with a rosy yellow glow and a vibrating metallic noise. More specifically, it speaks with Mallura.
"Captain... Verne addresses Mallura. "Can you ask them about the writings of the Exile?"
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When you bring forth the panels covered in The Exile's notes from the exploration buggy, The Speaker begins glowing a light blue colour. The drusnock reaches out to one of the panels and lifts it close to its nose, then swallows the panel! He proceeds to swallow all of the panels that you've brought in rapid succession, rifling through the colours reflected on the panels in rapid succession as it consumes them. Once through consuming the panels, a dull and rosy glow emanates from The Speaker.
JD stares in utter confusion as the speaker begins swallowing the floor panels.
He whispers to Verne "I have no idea what's going on. I hope you took pictures of those"
As the drusnock consumes the first tile, Verne yelps in astonishment.
"I...I didn't," he replies to JD."Jarix, are you recording this? How fascinating...I believe we're witnessing the first instance of a gustatory language."
He rummages about on the outer surface of his helmet. Blast, this this must have a recording device somewhere...
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Verne successfully accesses the vestigial video-log capacity of his second skin armour and begins recording. The Speaker replies to Mallura's telepathic communication and brings forward another light-shark - a stooped and much older appearing light shark - who he introduces (through Mallura) to you all as The Nurse. This newcomer steps towards Verne and holds out her elongated, three-fingered hands expectantly.
Mallura says to Verne, "The Nurse would like to see the spell-gems that we found. They have promised to give them back."
"Apparently Verne is right, JD" Mallura assures her the mechanic. "The Elder says the Exile did have some idea of how to reverse the light-pop, but chose not to because he saw the disease as a way to join himself to the Great One. Now, where were those gems, Verne?"
I believe we're witnessing the first instance of a gustatory language."
"Fascinating"
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The Nurse hands back the stones to Verne and rattles through a series of gold and blue colours. The Speaker replies with blues, purples, and brown flashes then turns to Mallura.
"The journal of The Exile tells us what we need to know to cure light-pop in our people; we would insist that your team take these spell-gems as a sincere thanks for your assistance."
"Thank you, Elder," Mallura broadcasts to the drusnok leader with a bow. "We are delighted to hear that our efforts might bring about the healing your people needed, and we thank you for these gifts!"
The captain turns and passes along the Elder's words to her crew. "Verne, do you think the spell gems we've found will be sufficient to treat the disease you and Nat and Jarix have contracted?"
Not being able to communicate very well with the drusnock, Jarix continues to record all he can.
"I'm not sure.. I haven't been able to determine their specific properties yet. Let me focus for a moment..."
Verne lets the gems rest in his open hands. Their glow illuminates his face. He closes his eyes and centres himself.
"Identify," he murmurs, and opens his mind to the universe.
"Ask them about the Aeon Stone. What does it do?"
"Ask them about the Aeon Stone. What does it do?"
Mallura passes on Jarix's question.
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You have two spell-gems of remove affliction, one spell-gem of remove condition and one spell-gem of lesser restoration. You have three sick people. Those numbers don't add up.
The Exile and The Nurse exchange a series of multi-coloured hues and static-like pops of noise as they consider the aeon stone orbiting Jarix's head. The Exile then turns to Mallura who relays the message to the rest of you.
(through Malllura) "It is an aeon stone of cloudy blue rhomboid appearance. It can protect its user from falling once per day. It is of Azlanti origin. The Nurse insists upon you taking it with you when you go; it will only bring death to our people."
"If I may Captain, our best course of action may be to provide medical care to our sickened crew, and those that cannot heal on their own could be healed with the gems. With the advanced medkit at our disposal we should have a good chance of fighting the illness on our own."
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The crew finish up their business with the drusnock and say their farewells. They are sent off with a traditional drusnock song - a line of light-sharks flashing bioluminescent signals in time as the group departs across the plateau. The visual effect is stirring.
Upon return to the unmolested ship, the crew get busy preparing for their next mission as presented. Jarix checks out Cargo Bay C and indeed finds a previously-hidden hatch popped open. Within, as reported by Nopher, a large cache of mundane equipment and building supplies is packed efficiently into a narrow space.
Nat moves to resume her piloting position for takeoff but begs off, her eyes screwed shut with a migraine headache.
"I'll be fine; I just need a rest," she says as a manner of apology, moving off to her sleeping quarters.
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"Captain, before we take off I'm going to bang around on the hull and get 'er patched up. Should take about 5 hours to get everything all back in order. Is there a name I should paint out there while I'm at it?
Before setting out, JD will dump the scrap drone parts in an empty cargo bay. He hands the advanced medkit to Lih. "To bulky for me, you keep it. See if Verne wants your other medkit"
JD sets to work on the hull, attempting to save UPB's where he can. Being this far out in the vast, he knows to conserve when he can.
Lih thanks JD for the advanced medkit, and instructs the sickened crew members to their quarters to rest. He will visit them all in their bunks and assess them.
"Can't say I've treated many androids before, but the symptoms are the same as everyone else. I will do what I can for them to help you recover. If necessary, could you be ready with the spell gems in case someone takes a turn for the worse?
"Here, take two of these and call me in the morning"
"You look exhausted, my dear. I'd recommend resting as long as you need to, but I'm not sure you'd enjoy someone else flying your ship if we have to make way"
After getting the buggy into the hold, Jarix also gets some rest. He plans to work on the buggy in transit.
plus any bonus from medkit.
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Mallura takes in the light show from the drusnock with a small swell of pride as her team departs the village. We did it, she thinks to herself, We actually helped those people. Not a bad start. She turns to her crew to see if they are also enjoying the show, and sees Nat looking particularly ill. Now we just have to take care of our own...
Before returning to the ship, Mallura tells the rest of her crew to maintain their precautions against the Stardust Plague spreading. "Let's keep environmental protections up as much as possible, particularly for those of us who haven't contracted the disease yet. Lih, you'll be taking point on treating the sick, so I want you to take extra precautions, in whatever way you can. We'll also keep the sick contained to one room and we'll make sure to regularly vent that room out so the bacteria don't get a large colony built up in there. Is that all clear? Lih, if you have additional ideas for how to make sure we get rid of this plague completely, I'll defer to your judgment."
Mal follows Nat as the crew finally boards the ship once again. When the strix barely has time to sit at her station before having to get back up and head for her quarters, Mal is quick to give her someone to lean on to make it back. "That's alright, Nat. Lih will get you patched up in no time. You gotta do your part to get well too, though, alright? I'd hate to think what will happen to the men if I end up having to pilot this thing."
On the way to their quarters, JD approaches Mallura and gives her an update on the estimated time for the ship's repairs. "That will be fine, Mr. Power. See to it. Oh, and as for the name, why don't we call her 'Brilliance,' in honor of the native beings her crew helped save during her maiden voyage?"
Finally, once Mallura has returned Nat to her quarters and left her and the others in Lih's care, she returns to the bridge and pulls up the ship's communications interface to check if there have been any messages relayed to the ship while the crew was exploring the planet.
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Mayhem gives Mal a cheeky smile as she comes across the astrazoan cleaning the electrode connections of his new big gun on the main dining table of the ship's galley. He seems characteristically unapologetic.
"Nice job, Captain. I'd salute, but I'm still real sore from getting killed back there." Mayhem's sarcasm is evident and also characteristic. "I guess we scurry off like the squox we are to our next feeding hole?"
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Later, when Mal checks both the ship and her empty communications inbox, the lashunta damaya feels a brief sense of disorientation and disassociation with their current position in space.
*****************************************************************
Nat awakes after a rest to find the ship restored to near-mint condition thanks to JD's work. Additionally...
A signal on the bridge over the ship's intercom system interrupts the crew's pre-launch frenzy of activity. It is the voice of Nat, and she sounds ill.
"Captain? I don't think I'm going to be able to resume my post for takeoff. I seem to be running a fever...."
As if on cue, the door to the main bridge opens and a bright-eyed Jarix steps through to report for active duty. He looks around in concern at the sound of Nat's pronouncement.
Mallura simply rolls her eyes at Mayhem's typical sarcasm, "That's right, Mayhem, and we hope not to get snatched up by some predator on the way. We're headed toward the Vast, remember, and there's no telling what we'll run into out there."
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Mallura sits at her captain's station on the bridge for quite a while, staring at her empty inbox. Despite the activity of the past 24 hours, the lack of messages makes her feel out of the loop. She knows that communication between the Pact Worlds and an outer colony world like this one would take days, if not more, but she still wishes she could be back on Absalom Station, at her job, living the normal life she had tried to set up for herself.
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Damn. The news from Nat was bad, as Mallura had feared it might be. Her spirits lifted a bit to see Jarix striding back onto the bridge, though she did want to hear Lih's report on whether he considered the operative full recovered, or if he was simply in remission.
Realizing that the crew had a new mission from their employer, and the ship was good as new thanks to JD's efforts, Mallura decides it's time to leave Colony-753, otherwise known to her as Drusnock-Prime.
"Alright, Nat," the captain says as she hits her own ship-wide intercom button on her command station, "You keep resting. I should be able to get us back up and out of here. Everybody else to your stations and make final preparations for take-off. Verne, if you're well enough, please report to the bridge for duty."
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"That will be fine, Mr. Power. See to it. Oh, and as for the name, why don't we call her 'Brilliance,' in honor of the native beings her crew helped save during her maiden voyage?"
"Sure Thing, Cap" I just hope we don't make that name ironic.... "I like simple names. Worked on a ship called "The Hood" once." He smiles to himself for a moment. "Best boss I ever had... oh, uh, no offence."
Once he's completed his tasks outside he returns to his station at the bridge and prepares the engines and power core for departure.
"Glad to see you on your feet, Jarix. How you feelin'?"
"Good. Ready to get off this planet. Its a great place to visit and all, but, you know. Where you want me, captain? Science Station? Guns? Helm?"
"Mmm... Take the helm, Jarix. If we need you to switch over to guns we'll make that call then, but for now, I think you're probably better behind the stick than me."
Jarix takes the helm. He goes through the pre-Flight checklist, and makes sure all are prepared. "Lifting off. Everyone take your last look and now is the time to go to the bathroom." He takes the craft in a shallow incline at first, but transitioning to a steeper ascent.
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The Brilliance lifts off the surface of 'Drusnock-Prime' and climbs steeply into space. Once free of the atmosphere of the planet and returned to space, the crew begins to feel the effects of a full day on a gravity-enhanced world as they move about the ship.
Jarix pilots the ship with ease. The coordinates for the Nakon system (and your next job) have been preloaded into the shipboard computer. Accessing the Drift drive brings up a familiar onboard voice.
"Drift spring off module initiated. Coordinates detected. Calculating Drift time."
"Estimated Drift time 7 days," the shipboard computer announces after a brief calculation time.
"Oh bugs and bucks!" Mayhem exclaims. "Another week whistling through nowhere."
The ship awaits confirmation before firing up the Drift drive.