(Hey guys, I'm in the middle of moving so posts may be a bit erratic for a little while. I'll try to get them in when I get the time, but there may be days like yesterday where I just don't have the opportunity. It should be back to normal fairly soon though.)
could you grab us a quick video scan of the top of these towers on your way out?
Grab the most intact beetle remains and enough fragments to hopefully reassemble the entire exoskeleton, then await further indtructions.
You grab some of the beetle shells, but you don't think you can get a full one. It seems like something has broken open the bottom of them and scooped out what was inside, leaving these half shells.
[GREEN TEAM]
"I knew it! I'm not nuts! Now, what are they?"
Keep an eye out for more falling things, and, if not, examine the shells, and if no signs of "life" are detected, pick one up.
((I will be heading off on a trip for three days, with little to no internet, so I pass control of Morul to Toaster.))
The movement seems to have, well, moved away. And the shells are quite clearly not alive; though they seem to have a bit of..meat? Flesh of some kind left in them. It's strange stuff; just as black as the towers and gritty like sand.
Set the suit to broadcast a live video feed to Blue and Green teams. Take off and do a flyby over the spires.
You take the shuttle up. And up. And up some more. Higher and higher along that wall of graphite black towers. As you slowly rise toward the top, you see many things; things half glimpsed through spaces in the towers. What look like tiny studs along the surface of the towers-those must be the beetles- and strange things that half fly and half climb, gliding and leaping and cartwheeling from one tower to the next, scooping up beetles as they go. And other things to; slugs and centipedes that crawl on sheer vertical surfaces, strange, stilt-legged creatures with shrunken bodies that tiptoe across the tops of the towers.
"There seems to be a lot more around here then beetles. Maybe even an entire ecosystem."
"Ecosystem means predators..."
"Try not to look like a beetle"
Go to where Lukas is waiting.
Lukas, take Michael and go supervise Chernozorov. I don't know why he defied my order to come here and went out on his own, but now he's out, and he's alone.
I do not want any of my team members away from the base alone.
Take general samples in the general volcanic region, then go to the bioform volcanic region and see if the "grazing" bioforms do anything if approached.
((Sorry, derped out again. This is why I went ahead and appointed a lieutenant.))
You head all the way over the the volcanic area, grab a few rocks, and then head into the furthest areas mapped by Lars and his team, the areas with the lifeforms. The giant woodlice are still there, slowly grinding their way across the stone. You get right up next to one and it doesn't seem to notice. It just keeps grinding forward, slowly, very slowly.
"Whats this about explosions if I use my laser?"
Start navigating through the towers towards the next area
Toward 19? Or toward the place where red team is actually supposed to be
Lars held up his hands to stop the team. "Brothers, I think we should confer with our superiors before proceeding further. Let's back up, shall we?"
Lars then set back to leader coms. "Glorious leader, there appears to be... something living up near the tops of these towers. It may be aware of our presence. What are our orders in regards to plumbing the depths of these mysteries- is this a cursory investigation, or are we to push on despite risks?"
He then sent a response to Mesk. "Be advised that there may be something living at the top of the towers."
Message back:
You can investigate if you want, but if it seems hostile you might want to leave it be for now. Your objective is to map these hexes, and you're allowed to do it more thoroughly than the previous 2 hexes. In-depth experimentation however will wait for later.
Base team
Look around to see if we have the materials needed to construct a big box of heat-resistant material that could be big enough to capture one of those slugs. The box would be rectangular, and the left and right lid should be able to be taken off.
It seems like you would have the materials for such a thing; some heat resistant metal, some aerogel insulation, simple enough. Though it would need to be reinforced to hold the weight of the thing, but yeah, it's possible.
Question is, once you have it in the hot box, what are you gonna do with it? That trapped heat will only last so long.
Viridi Quadrigis
"Affirmative, glorious leader. May the light of Steve watch over us all, and Algis protect us with his shielding hands."
Head directly toward Sector 19. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
You return to the outer edge of sector 18 and simply follow it around till you reach the edge of sector 19. Or at least as close as you can get. See, Sector 19 seems to consists of what looks like a lake, or sea, of purplish blue substance. The colors of it shift and fade darker and lighter, different hues of greenish, bluish and purplish and the entire thing seems to be churning ever so slightly. But the surface is still and placid, and looks like someone has stretched a thin sheet of plastic over it, a thin sheen of surface tension that causes the edges of the fluid to bow out a little bit and stray away from the walls that hold them in, filling the space only roughly.
Blue team
"Alright, enough standing around. Let's go."
Lead the team the opposite way that Lars went, skirting around the sight anomaly area, tossing rocks ahead as we go. Start mapping.
You skirt along the other side of the sector, mapping the edge of the towers as you go.
((Well, I - or Anton, rather - was in the process of using mapping drones and an assortment of spare parts to turn an electric quad-bike into a hybrid powered rocket sled for zero-friction environments. That's not quite Spark level of creativity, but I thought the reference was fitting. ))
Anton Chernozorov, Red Team technician: Exploring.
"Aand off we go."
Aim for what would be the center of the flatland, accelerate to about 5m/s, and coast along. Keep radio channels open to receive all team and base chatter. Reverse thrust and stop (relative to the grid) if the communications are interrupted, if any significant change in the surroundings is spotted, or at the first signs of anything bad happening to MPV or suit power. In the latter case, if possible, reverse thrust to slowly move away from the anomaly instead of stopping.
You don't have to go far before you find something new. After going a little ways in, the sky filled with strange strings of glowing shapes, like chains of interlocking squares and triangles slowly wriggling in the sky. And on the ground are things you don't quite know how to classify. They look crystalline and sliver or chrome, but their shapes seem vaguely organic. Trilobites and Sea urchins, slowly moving things crawling amongst a forest of branching silver anemones and vent worms.
Flint Westwood - Blue squad - Sector 18
EDIT:If I'm outside the flammable atmosphere, pull out my monorazor and take a tiny sample of black rod from the bottom of the thickest rod I can find, so as not to damage the carvings. Try to cause as little damage as possible to the rods.
Start mapping zone 18, looking araround for any change in scenery or the symbols on the rods.
Consider whether or not we have a ladder or other such device large enough to reach those uneven areas and if not, consider whether or not we could build one with the materials we have. If not, think of wether or not someone could reach the top of the spires and rappel down to those uneven ares.
((Thinking about this because you said the atmosphere is flammable, which means we cannot use our rockets to reach those places. Which reminds me...))
If one of my fellow inmates does something that could cause this place to blow up, make sure my exosuit is fully sealed and run like hell and get to safety.
.
You cut a sample of the stone off and store it. Looking up at the towers, it certainly seems like repelling is the best option. Although; the methane levels down here are too concentrated to be flammable...but that might not hold true farther up. Methane is lighter then oxygen after all...there might be a "Flammable band", an altitude where the atmosphere is combustible, even if it's not above or below. But then again, you're no chemist...
Stay alert while helping/following Lars.
"What. The. Hell. Was. That?"
You follow lars on out to the edge of sector 19
((Fitting enough for a spark on vacation. Maybe a level C spark, C+ even. (Or 3/3+ if you're using the other system).
Also, expect my character to become obsessed with the atmosphere once we finish this expedition.))
Yay, moving at last! Moving movingmovingmoving...
And yeah, still talking to Zephyris.
You keep going to...where ever you're going.
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Topic: Einsteinian Roulette (Original Thread: Rules, Armory, Misson archive 1-11) (Read 3938529 times)