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Author Topic: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System  (Read 41458 times)

S1lentWanderer

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #345 on: March 01, 2023, 12:27:30 am »

Transmit the #CODESTRING# that Mac told you to transmit,
Transmit it on the #FREQUENCY# Mac provided.
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19_EgarAlnis

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #346 on: March 01, 2023, 12:39:58 am »

Transmit the #CODESTRING# that Mac told you to transmit,
Transmit it on the #FREQUENCY# Mac provided.

Basil transmits the code on the frequency, encoding it as specified. However, gunfire continues to lance through the air from the ground below. Shells explode against the hard-light shielding and stress the emitters. The Saber is about one thousand kilometers from the transmission zone, and there's no rply to the radio signal.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2023, 12:57:31 am by 19_EgarAlnis »
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King Zultan

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #347 on: March 01, 2023, 03:28:13 am »

Seems like we're pretty much committed to that location at this point, not sure we can do much more than guide the ship the rest of the way there,
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The Lawyer opens a briefcase. It's full of lemons, the justice fruit only lawyers may touch.
Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
Quote from: Leodanny
Can I have the sword when you’re done?

ZBridges

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #348 on: March 01, 2023, 09:17:50 pm »

Should we attempt to engage? I assume the Saber's weapons systems are online, and we can always use our powers.
« Last Edit: March 02, 2023, 12:53:10 am by ZBridges »
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King Zultan

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #349 on: March 02, 2023, 04:40:48 am »

I'd say not as it'll make any kind of negotiation in the future even harder than it already will be.
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The Lawyer opens a briefcase. It's full of lemons, the justice fruit only lawyers may touch.
Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
Quote from: Leodanny
Can I have the sword when you’re done?

ZBridges

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #350 on: March 03, 2023, 07:43:12 pm »

In that case, I recommend increasing our altitude until we are no longer in range of the assailants on the ground, as long as we estimate that we have enough fuel to do so. That way, we can finish the rest of the journey without being attacked.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2023, 11:14:53 pm by ZBridges »
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19_EgarAlnis

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #351 on: March 04, 2023, 08:29:43 pm »

Basil pumps fuel into the thrusters, pushing The Saber higher into the sky to ease the stress on the hardlight emitters.

[22] vs [11]
The land below is scattered with grids of ruined concrete and ivy, Basil observes, using one of his sensory organs. It is from those ruined buildings the sky fill with exploding shells. The anger of the population below ricochets and burns into the blue sky, filling it with smoke and shrapnel, but the hardlight shielding holds fast against their wrath. A few emitters here and there pop with the strain, with the stress, but the shield as a whole holds against the poorly aimed barrage. The broadleaf forest wanes to overgrown farmland, to hill, then to mountain. The anti-aircraft shells cease with the distance, leaving Basil and Sloan alone to fly over the planet.

The Saber burns hard to land near the coordinates, on an overgrown road in a mountain valley, edged with sheer cliffs of young, dark stone. The valley stretches kilometers into the distance, a mottled green and grey of ivy and crumbling concrete.  An ancient tower of black is shattered in jagged shards across the valley floor, stretching into the distance. Rebar juts out at haphazard angles from the rubble scattered across the ground.

 Basil sighs a breath of relief and sends the code on the specified frequency. There’s a hiss of pneumatics from the cliff face, and it slides down. Ivy and bushes are pulped into green goo at its base, trapped between concrete and unrelenting motion. The gate catches, but then, after a grinding of gear, continues to move downward. Rust speckles the machinery within the hidden hangar, patches of mold grow up the smooth concrete, and the lights flicker on.

He taxis the ruined vessel into its hangar with gentle bursts of propellent that scorch the grass beneath and reveal the roadways. The gate hisses again, shutting behind The Saber and trapping it within the tomb of concrete. Basil reforms himself, extricating the tendrils of willpower from the vessel. Error signs pop up on the pad in front of him, as critical systems fail without his computational power. The Cryopods the only ones still maintained by an artificial intelligence.

Basil rises, and Sloan follows, striding to the airlock door. He pulls the manual release, popping it open with the slightest of hisses as air pressure regulates. The two climb down the shattered ladder, hopping down the last bit to land on the sold ground beneath their feet. They watch as umbilicals automatically deploy to The Saber The base takes over the faltering systems, supplying the dying vessel with energy and computation.

Basil drops to his rear, staring up at the ruined, pitted hulk of The Saber

“Never thought I’d be happy to be planetside.” Sloan offers, scrambling Basil’s hair. “If’n I’m honest kid, I’d thought I’d be dead by now.”

“There’s still much to do.” Basil murmurs, letting himself relax.

“Yeah.” Sloan nods, “But we’re safe for now.”



The lights come on in the corridor as Basil walks down it.  Unnecessarily. Mold, rust, and cracks molt the plain concrete. The metallic floor collapses beneath his weight in places, but he continues, following the pathway marked beneath grime to [Operations]. The door there is sealed tight, and he rips it open with an easy feat of strength.

The lights click on in the office. A blinking terminal sits nearby, a boxy, rugged thing, designed to survive long periods of inactivity. [ACCESS ASSIGNMENT] is printed on it, in big blocky letters, in multiple scripts. Basil approaches, hunching over to type in Mac’s last code. 

[PLEASE SCAN BRACER FOR BASE ACCESS: OFFICER]

It takes him a moment, but Basil swipes his wrist near the machine. It beeps, and an application pops up on the home screen of the device. Pressing on it, a shortwave radio burst is emitted.

Basil, upon reflection, returns to The Saber, unsure. Something skitters into the darkness from the hallway as the light flicks on, only picked up by his boosted sense of hearing.



Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Objectives (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Powers (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Inventory (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Bonds (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Concepts (click to show/hide)


« Last Edit: March 05, 2023, 05:55:13 pm by 19_EgarAlnis »
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King Zultan

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #352 on: March 05, 2023, 04:03:13 am »

That thing that skittered into the darkness is probably something we should investigate before we make ourselves at home here.
Logged
The Lawyer opens a briefcase. It's full of lemons, the justice fruit only lawyers may touch.
Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
Quote from: Leodanny
Can I have the sword when you’re done?

19_EgarAlnis

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #353 on: March 05, 2023, 05:54:34 pm »

Basil stalks silent down the hallway, his muscles tensing, weapons readying—and he spots it, hiding in the darkness –

--a small, furry quadruped with grey and white fur, standing on its hind legs about a meter tall. It stares at Basil with wide pupils that contract to a slit when he approaches. Its whiskers twitch, and it coils a long, furry, prehensile tail around its pouchy belly. When he takes another step forward it drops back down to its dexterous, six digited paws, skittering up the wall with a hiss.

Basil relaxes and returns to the ship.




Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Objectives (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Powers (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Inventory (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Bonds (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Concepts (click to show/hide)


« Last Edit: March 07, 2023, 07:53:52 pm by 19_EgarAlnis »
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ZBridges

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #354 on: March 06, 2023, 12:56:28 am »

One option would be continue exploring the base to try to get a sense of its layout and gather supplies. Another option would be to wake up the crew and give them an update on everything that's happened.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2023, 02:03:08 am by ZBridges »
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King Zultan

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #355 on: March 06, 2023, 04:47:11 am »

As much as I'd like to explore the place I think we should wake up the others before we continue.
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The Lawyer opens a briefcase. It's full of lemons, the justice fruit only lawyers may touch.
Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
Quote from: Leodanny
Can I have the sword when you’re done?

S1lentWanderer

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #356 on: March 06, 2023, 11:42:13 am »

If we wake up the crew first, then we have more eyes and hands to help us take stock of resources and explore, as well as protect us from whatever fired upon us earlier, if they decide to come after us.
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19_EgarAlnis

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #357 on: March 07, 2023, 03:57:42 pm »

Basil, when he gets back to the ship, sends a command through the local network to the Cryopod Intelligence aboard. It begins the laborious process of decanting the four remaining crew members. It also, after another input from him, begins brewing some of the dark, hot liquid that these prefer people when awakening. The crew profiles queue up into Basil’s interface, and he browses them idly with a fraction of his processing power.


Spoiler: Tom Morgan (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Myra LaRose III (click to show/hide)
Spoiler:  TY-439768349 (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Sonam Rinchen (click to show/hide)

Sloan looks up from a console as he approaches. “So, I’ve been running some diagnostics on this tub, and we’ve got problems.”

“I’m waking up the other crew. Can you explain as we go to greet them?”

She nods, dragging information from the console screen to her pad with a flick of her dexterous fingers. “First, we’re likely to break apart on exit. Next, we don’t have enough fuel to get us out of the well, and this place can’t supply An-Hydrogen like that. And third, we don’t have any weapons systems you haven’t cannibalized.”

“Okay.” Basil nods, climbing the ladder and entering The Saber. “We’ll figure something out.”

“And what are we goin’ to tell the crew about Mac an—”

The remaining crew are awake and arrayed in the chairs around the dining table.  Myra slumps on her elbows, face buried in a plastic bag as she empties her stomach of pink bile. Sonam lays curled in on herself, shivering. TY-439768349 is laying with its head on the table, staring right through a wall. Tom, on the other hand, is sipping his coffee. He fixes his stare on Basil and Sloan when the two enter the room. His mustache bristles.

“Hello, I’m Basi—” Basil begins, but is cut off by Tom.

“Where is Acting Captain Mac?” He barks, rising to his feet and slamming his fists down on the table. “And Junior Specialist Abigail? What have you damn pirates done with them?!" Ty shuffles to its feet, but Myra and Sonam stay seated, staring.

Sloan rests a hand on Basil's shoulder, leaning in to question "May I, Basil?"



Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Objectives (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Powers (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Inventory (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Bonds (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Concepts (click to show/hide)


« Last Edit: March 07, 2023, 05:15:59 pm by 19_EgarAlnis »
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Fluffe9911

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #358 on: March 07, 2023, 04:10:25 pm »

Sure let her go for it I say.
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S1lentWanderer

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Re: The Halcyon Crown - Chapter Two: ProtoKen System
« Reply #359 on: March 07, 2023, 04:45:42 pm »

Allow Sloan to handle this,
She doubtlessly has more experience in these matters than you do.
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