You tell the humans that you are going to attempt to recover the gunship, and ask one to stay with you to guide you back to base. They hesitate for a moment, but one steps forward, nodding. The others continue towards the northeast at a quick walk. After several minutes of effort, you manage to right the gunship and climb into the cabin. It appears that you damaged the copilot's console and communication controls when you breached the cockpit, but the pilot's controls are still functional, as is the sensor display. It appears that the gunship's IFF transmitter is still active; thankfully, Zartrali is one of your known languages, and you are able to locate the switch to deactivate it. You do so.
Over the course of the next 20 minutes, you run something which you hope approximates a systems check and preflight checklist, maintaining a running monologue to the human, describing the functions of the various controls. He seems unsure; you realize that most humans will not be able to operate complex machinery for which they are untrained without hours of instruction and training. You think that all critical systems are functional, and note that the second XO rocket pod is still fully loaded. The chin-mounted autocannon was crushed by the impact, but the UV laser projectors to the left and right of the cockpit are still functional. You take off, and ask if he knows a location a few hours from their base that could be used to hide the craft. He says that he does, and gives you a bearing, telling you to fly for about three hours and look for a small, heavily wooded ravine, which apparently houses a supply stash. He goes into the cabin and straps in, as the copilot's chair is heavily damaged, and you tilt the nose of the gunship forward, accelerating over the forest. There is no sign of Zartrali pursuit; you hope that they believed the craft destroyed, though they will likely discover the crash site before noon. You do not know what sort of orbital sensor platforms they have.
~~
5:47 am local time.
You reach the ravine, and land the battered gunship. With the human's help, you retrieve camouflage netting and gather fallen limbs, spreading them over the top and sides of the gunship to break up its lines, pegging the netting to the ground. The human indicates that their base is roughly 2 hours and 25 minutes to the southeast at a fast walk, and asks if you are ready to go. You take a moment to reload your railgun from your pack, and answer in the affirmative. While you walk, you talk to the human, questioning him about human and Zartrali holdings in the area. He doesn't have a great deal of knowledge, saying that with a few exceptions, most of their group and the others they know of stay close to home. Other than the Zartrali outpost near the ambush and another in the mountains, he has only vague knowledge. As for humans, apart from his group, there are two more living in the same complex, as well as a fourth living in a smaller bunker to the north, and another which managed to return a coal mine in the same area to limited operation. He says that there is an old, pre-Invasion map of the area back at home, with a number of current data marked.
(More information required to fulfill Mission Parameter.)
~~
You arrive at the base. You can barely see old concrete, heavily overgrown with vegetation. A hidden guard calls out a challenge, " and the human with you responds. He and you enter the base through a large airlock with (opened) heavy steel blast doors. You see a few humans lounging around the entrance corridor, cleaning weapons and talking. Several look up and stare at you. A door at the far end opens into a larger room. Old brown and greenish stains run down the walls, and a band of faded blue paint is marked [US-SC 003].
What do you do?
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Topic: You are an artifical organism : Universes collapsed: 1 (Read 15530 times)