Ok, its 2am, I'm in a black room surrounded by unconscious people and have spent all day in a metal tube flying at 500 mph. Time to post and then sleep. Excuse any mistakes or insanity that leaks out.
((Why not ask in-character?))
>Stand there, hand extended and wait for someone to hand me a bit of tree.
You stand around, holding your hand out like a particularly pushy bellboy out for a tip.
Gorat films Travis's dig, documenting the truth about his suspicion that the "trees" break through the stone layer.
"I suspect setting the trees on fire works just as well as setting anything on fire in this world. Heating it up with an amp or manipulator may do... something, I guess."
Compare the trees that grow out of the stone here with the branches of the trees - does it seem like the trees grow in a pattern similar to the patterns the branches grow? As if the trees themselves were simply branches of a single larger structure?
Should Mason decide to heat up a tree, film it from a safe distance.
You wander around, studying the spacing and arrangement of the trees. There doesn't seem to be any pattern in the way the trees are distributed, except that they all seem to have roughly 4 meters of space between them and all of their neighbors.
((Yeah, the "examine" was just indicating to keep staring at it while concentrating into changing its shape. Even if it's alien, it is still uncon, right?))
"Don't."
Get some samples from the trees, following Conrad's instructions so I won't get cut, use gauntlet hand to collect samples (in a safe spot).
PS: Move a safe distance away from Mason. Safe as in several meters away. If things look ugly, activate EMM, save Dr.Conrad if needed and move ahead of the group and towards the campsite, avoiding the in-fighting shenanigans.
You snap a few branches off with your armored hand and make ready to swoop in and rescue Conrad should high temperature hilarity ensue.
"Gorat said something first.He said nothing about not doing it.....blame him!"
Heat a tree!
[uncon:5]
You type in the coordinates of the tree, carefully select the area to heat and the temperature, and then pound out the required math.
The selected section of the tree glows red with heat but doesn't seem to react in any meaningful way.
A cold edge enters Travis's voice, all traces of his former anger evaporated
"If you insist"
Travis tries to get an angle where he won't hit one of his other team mates, aims at Mason's torso, and pulls the trigger
Actually, we might get to know its inner structure. I'd rather not try hacking down the tree with the Instrument, so if he wants to chance sacrificing his life in the name of science - well, it isn't something we have to interfere with, as long as he doesn't intend to do harm to others at the same time.
Just don't overdo it, okay?
Administer aid to Thomas; make sure we are somewhat away from Mason when he conducts the experiment. (Use the medi-foam from cans before other expendable things from the kit, unless doing so would waste too much of the substance to achieve the same effect.)
(( 'nicked the suit' - does it mean that it was breached? Asking because I'd rather not start losing my air and breathing this atmosphere. ))
((ninja'd! Also, my character totally understands Travis right now, but I'm not sure I should do anything.
EDIT: Well...))
Seeing the strange weapon that unnerved Maurice aim for Mason, doctor Sanctor went for it immediately, interrupting whatever he was doing at the moment.
Don't!..
Push the gun's 'barrel' towards the ground to throw the aim off Mason, but not endanger anyone else. (Then proceed with treating Thomas.)
You may kill him later if you want, but he isn't that dangerous to us now - not if we back off enough this time. Also, honestly, I don't like the look of this weapon. It strikes me as something even more lethal than the conventional gauss or laser weapons. For all I know the wounds dealt by it might be untreatable.
[Maurice dex: 2]
[Travis dex:3]
Maurice moves to protect Mason by disrupting Travis's aim, but Travis is too quick on the draw.
[con:3+1+1]
Travis take aim directly at Mason's gut and fired. An instant later a crystal the size of a grain of rice appears on his stomach and begins to grow instantly, expanding to the size of a watermelon sending out razor sharp tendrils which begin goring their way through mason's flesh. The crystal continues to grow.
Get away from Mr. Bad idea.
If you're going to do that, get yourself a glowstick, got off of the path using it to stay connected, and go to the edge of the light it makes. If you damage the path again, not only will the guy with the crystalline projector have shot you, but I've no doubt several of us would like to take that manipulator away. Count me among that number, but right now I'm not going for another scuffle.
To Doc Sanctor:
Let's get as far away from this moron as we can. In the meantime, I might be able to get a core sample like that with my wristblade.
Attempt to cut through a tree to the middle with my wristblade, then carve up and back out the same way I came for a core sample. Make sure the carved-out half is facing away from the group.
Also, does anyone else think that these trees look less like trees and more like... crystals of some sort?
You hack away at a tree with your blade, carving a section of it out to examine. It looks exactly the same all the way through.
Snap off all the branches on one side of a tree near the edge of the lights, away from the group. Attempt to determine their strength. Put several of the tips in one container, several of the broader base sections in another.
Then cut the tree down completely, making sure it doesn't hit anyone, self included. Take a hefty section of the trunk, and begin cutting deeper into the ground, trying to find roots, a base, or just confirmation that it goes down further than I'm willing to dig with a cutting torch.
Have Chin film the entire process.
[dex:6+1]
You proceed to remove the branches of a tree via rapid fire punches which result in lots of completely useless fragments and not much else. Hm.
[Int:3]
You select a fairly good method of cutting and succeed on felling a tree with the only consequence that one of the branches fall directly on Chin's foot. And now the camera man only has one foot.
[chin end:1]
Chin, not unexpectedly, blacks out immediately after having his foot cut in half.
Take some of the soil.
You take a sample of soil while the rest of the team loses their damn minds.
((There needs to be a way that we can limit ourselves to getting good results if we overshoot with bonus', so we don't blow ourselves up with success. Otherwise, we might as well be safer just handling things with unskilled characters. Thoughts on this Mr. GM?))
Could look into artificial methods.
((All the fun happens when I'm inactive...buh. Also, token monopoly on samples!
Can anyone give a short description of what everyone else is doing, if possible?))
"Why is everyone trying to kill each other before we've even reached the dangerous parts?
"Mason, why don't you volunteer to be our vanguard. Maybe then, your expertise would have it's effect."
Feyri shifted her comm channel to Milno and Faith. "What is going on, and why do I feel a sense of insubordination in our ranks? People just won't shoot at each other for these occurrences."
Take part of the tree trunk bark by tesla cutting - Turn the knob to 20 degrees. Avoid any mishaps that would part my body in pieces. Store tree part in container when safe.
Have Chin film this, too.
You turn on your telsa sabre and try to use it to cut a sample from the closest tree. The Tesla sabre's electrical discharge crawls along the surface of the tree, arcing amongst the branches before seemingly dissipating harmlessly.
"See?" You say, "Nothing to worry abo-"
And then the tree discharges. A bolt of pure electricity finds its path to the ground straight between your shoulder blades, down your spine and right leg before exiting into the sand.
[end:1]
You spasm like a ragdoll in a paintmixer and then drop to the ground in a heap, smoke and the smell of burnt flesh and rubber rising from the fresh hole in your suit.
(You are unconscious.)
(Mortal wound: 3 turns till death)