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[19_EgarAlnis]

Does anyone go with Basil on the walkabout? How far and long does he go, and in what form?

[S1lentWanderer]

I say we go in Humanoid form, and bring Twitchy with us. The rest should lock the base down until our return, in case they get attacked while we're away for whatever reason. Sloan is in charge while we're out, and should see about getting Engineering and Medical online as soon as possible.

As for how far we go, I recommend going to wherever it was we were being shot at, and investigating the source of those shots. If there are sapients, we may find support. If automated, we can strip them for resources, or convert them into our own defensive network with our Voice of the King capabilities.

[King Zultan]

I say we go in Humanoid form, and bring Twitchy with us. The rest should lock the base down until our return, in case they get attacked while we're away for whatever reason. Sloan is in charge while we're out, and should see about getting Engineering and Medical online as soon as possible.

As for how far we go, I recommend going to wherever it was we were being shot at, and investigating the source of those shots. If there are sapients, we may find support. If automated, we can strip them for resources, or convert them into our own defensive network with our Voice of the King capabilities.

+1

[ZBridges]

I say we go in Humanoid form, and bring Twitchy with us. The rest should lock the base down until our return, in case they get attacked while we're away for whatever reason. Sloan is in charge while we're out, and should see about getting Engineering and Medical online as soon as possible.

As for how far we go, I recommend going to wherever it was we were being shot at, and investigating the source of those shots. If there are sapients, we may find support. If automated, we can strip them for resources, or convert them into our own defensive network with our Voice of the King capabilities.

+1

[19_EgarAlnis]

((Hello Everyone. I haven't updated in a while. It is not dead, do not worry, but my work/life balance got messed up. I'm trying my best not to flake, by working on it a little slowly.

So thank you for your patience.))

[King Zultan]

No worries, real life takes priority so a little waiting won't kill us.

[ZBridges]

Thanks for letting us know. Feel free to take however long you need.

[S1lentWanderer]

Life takes priority over this, man. Take care of yourself, and come back to this whenever you get the chance. I, for one, will still be here when you do.

If there's anything I can do to help, lmk, and I'll do what I can.

[19_EgarAlnis]

((Thank you))

A brief frown crossing his lips, Basil archives the message, hiding it to keep it out of sight from the crew. For morale.

Basil turns back into the hallway, his booted feet squelching into the grey mud. Sloan and Myra, with one last look at the corpses, follow behind. They ascend the staircase and head back towards the landing bay, where The Saber sits waiting for them. A skitter catches Basil’s attention, and he swings his flashlight around to catch another of those curious animals, watching from a doorway. It hisses, bristling at the light and fleeing into the darkness.

“A Moncat.” Sloan sighs, continuing up the stairs. “Probably a colony that livein’ here.”

“What are they?” Myra asks, beating Basil to the question.

“They live in ships, hunt stuff. Look it up. You’ve got an encyclopedia app on your tablet, Basil. Show her, why don’t you?”

Basil obliges, both leaning over the pale, glowing wrist screen.

Spoiler: Moncats (click to show/hide)

A felid derived from old Earth stock. Few know if these animals were genetically modified or evolved naturally, but they are well suited to living in ships, zero gravity, and within human habitation, and thus have spread across the Empyre. They make good companions in low space environments and have a distinct aloofness. Common phenotypes include long, grasping tails, six digits with retractable claws, an opposable thumb analogue, and low-level sapience. They come in a multitude of colors, and may have other adaptations to their local environment.

In the wild, they tend to form self-regulating colonies of up to twenty individuals, depending on food sources.

Over a dinner of fried grains, meat chunks, and a spicy, smoky sauce, Basil discusses his plan with the crew. Well, dictates, as he doesn’t quite allow discussion.

Sonam, of course, breaks the silence, “There’s one issue. You should probably activate the Base Intelligence.”

“Why?” Basil turns his gaze to Sonam.

With a swallow and some hesitation, Sonam begins, “Well, to get the Maintenance Bots online, we’ll need to activate the Engineering Intelligence to repair any degradation on their systems in the automated workshop. Then we’ll need to activate the Maintenance Control Intelligence, which requires the Central Control Intelligence to assign tasks in the repair.”

“Sounds complex.” Sloan murmurs, then, “Why does Basil need to do it?”

“He’s the highest ranking officer.” Myra pauses, only to add, “Until Mac returns.”

“Doubt he’s alive still.” Sloan snorts.

“Did you see him die?” Myra sips her coffee, tilting her head and blinking at Sloan.

“Point.” Sloan shrugs.

“I’ll handle the mainframe when I return. I shouldn't be gone longer than two weeks. Maybe three.” Basil informs, rising from his seat with a languid stretch. “I think most tasks I requested should be completed by then.”


Sloan keys the access code into a corroded terminal. With a thud, the solid cement and steel door  begins to lower into the floor. The gears and axles hidden below the frame shudder and grind through the rust that coats them.

“You be safe, Basil.” Sloan offers, when the mechanism quiets its harsh grinding. She pats him on the shoulder, “Don’t do anything risky.”

“Should I sit on the ground then, Aintin?” Basil pauses, looking back at her. A rare smile crosses his inhumanly inexpressive face. She smiles at the joke, but it's wane and weak, no devastating or mischievous beam.

“Smartass.” The gate, grinding and thudding, shuts behind him.

With a twitch of his will, a fraction of power, Basil begins to Synthesize Twitchy.  Black dust, held compact within his juvenile form, flows out and assumes the shape of a Barker. It sits suspended, clots of black billowing up only to fall back into the Will field.  With the form stabilized, he isolates the process that sits within cellular databases, and installs it into the field. The dust is shackled to the data, a swarm of smaller than cell machines that shudders into a gaunt, hungry looking canine. Minutes pass under Basil’s watchful eye as he supervises the first start up in a hundred years.

Gleaming gray eyes set into black fur twitch into place, and Twitchy looks up at Basil. Concepts extend from the creature. Obedience. Loyalty. Hunger.

Follow me. Basil commands, as he sets off. Twitchy lopes along behind him, only pausing to eat some plant or a chunk of rock with crunching jaws, restoring the mass of its simulacrum with carbon, silica and irons.

The ground is hard beneath Basil’s booted heel, covered in flat pebbles and asymmetrical chunks of flooring that make up a field of concrete rubble spread throughout the valley. Basil leans down, picking up one of the chunks of black that catches his eye, an abnormality in the otherwise gray mass. It feels light, fibrous, and, pushing his willpower against it, he discovers it is made from tightly bound pure carbon, arrayed in long strands.


The valley, Basil notices as he is wandering down it, is completely artificial. At first, he thought the cliffs were natural, but it takes him minutes of examination to note that they are constructed of the same concrete as the base, cut into the rough earth.  But shrubby, small trees have carved their roots into it, thick, woody vines trail down it, and landslides have concealed the symmetrical flow of the construction, but they are still concrete.

The path out, when Basil pauses to dig beneath the thin sod, reveals black stone, smooth and rubbery to the touch.  Still smooth and unbroken, despite the hungry progression of the planet’s biosphere. He follows it ever outward, towards the towering forest in the far distance that holds the anti-aircraft cannons.


Night falls as he reaches the edge of the plains. The road struggles free of the sod, spreading into a massive grid, cutting the land into plots of two hectares with deviations in the thousandths. Every three plots is a central, circular  area of unpaved land and a long, vertical pipe in the center. Basil halts to examine this oddity. It is a two meter wide tube of capped stainless steel, still shiny despite its age. Within is water, filled with oxides and other minerals from the ground below.

He finds another a distance away, then there’s another the exact same distance.

It takes three days to cross these girded plains, fifty-six hours of walking down the long asphalt road, past the pipes that thrust forth the groundwater below, before both trees and buildings sprout from the horizon. Naught much more than piles of concrete and rebar, rubble grown over with saplings and weeds. Then, real buildings emerge, still holding themselves upright in bitter defiance of age and vegetation, their facades a ruin of broken glass and rusting steel.


Gigantic, half-collapsed complexes, empty inside besides for the dust and oxides,sit darkening with the shadows of the setting sun.

[|]
Prey, Lictor.
Twitchy senses them first, hungry for their flesh as is its nature. A group of seven humans circling in like beasts of prey. They sidle and creep through the rubble with natural talent, crouching, hiding. Were it not for Twitchy’s olfactory mastery, they might have gotten even closer. Twenty meters out, the circle of humans is loose, but tightening.

Thank you. Basil sends as a side thought, processes accelerating, his personal time slowing to a crawl.

Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

Basil the Scholar of V̵̖̉õ̶̼͠i̷͇̖͒d̷̨̈́ͅ
Terran Time: 43470/04/26 14:00
Personal Time: 169 years

Active Dust: 5 × 10¹² corpuscles
Nexus (Heart) Stability: Flawless
Nexus (Mind) Stability: 95%
ENERGY RESERVES:100%
Active Processes:

• 30% The First Mask
• 10% Quantum Networking
• ̶͕͖̣̗̗͈̏∞̴̠̣̺͔̬̼̍̍̉̂̀̅̄̌̓͠͝% ERROR:DATA CORRUPTION

Willpower Level: 3(d10)

Traits:
Empathetic (3/10)
Haunted (1/10)

Perks:
Scholar
Void

Spoiler: Objectives (click to show/hide)

Survival

• You’ve freed yourself from the Blighted Glass, but now you have to survive on your own.

Knowledge

• The Behavior of the Third Children
• Seedships
• The Truth of the Ancient Twins, Earth and Mars

Strength

• Killing the Blighted Glass
• Mastering Your Skills
• Learn to Veil your Power.

Spoiler: Powers (click to show/hide)

Max Willpower Range: 10m

Ḙ̵̛̬̺̤͍̼̬̣̊̐̈̋́̏̔̊̑̃̊̚̚͜͠͠͠n̶̗͔̯͕̮͗̑ͅd̸̡̨̯̯̰̜͚͈̼͖͔͎͍̺͒͛̽̅͋̀̀̓͗̎̅̓͛͆͠͝l̴̟̺̳̍́͌͂̀͂̀́̎́̓͘͠e̸̦͈̋̔̃̂̒̃͝ş̸̗̯̘̣̻̪̠̗̤͑̎̓͛͗͝s̵̛̛͙̟͔͈͉̫̍̊̈̓͋̈̿̀̈́̍̚͠ ̷̳̣͉̯̗̣͓̼̠̠̆̃̑͌̚͝V̷̢̫̙͖̘̾́͗̿͒̾o̶͓̞̐͆̅̀̀̈́̿̿̚i̴̛̟͛̈͊͒̄̉͋̓̇̄͘͝͝͝d̵͕̜̬̜̠̝͇̈̂͂̂:Instinctive (NULL)
Brawling:Amateur(800/1000)
Ranged:Inept(50/100)
Meditation.:Instinctive (NULL)
Mimicry.:Instinctive (NULL)
-Arsenal of Agony.:Instinctive (NULL)
-The First Mask: Trained (2835/3000)
-The Second Mask: Dabbler (492/500)
-The Third Mask: Amateur (521/1000)
-The Fourth Mask: Novice (800/1000)
-The Fifth Mask: Dabbler (456/500)
-Healing Factor: Instinctive (NULL)
Control:Instinctive (NULL)
-Voice of the King: Dabbler (492/500)
Amalgamation:Dabbler (432/500)
Synthesis : Competent (4000/4000)[SELF-TAUGHT CAP]
Rot:Dabbler(456/500)
Instant Quantum Networking : Instinctive (NULL)
Divine Conscious: DabblerCompetent (4000/4000)[SELF-TAUGHT CAP]
Unified Field Manipulation : Dabbler (393/500)
- Gravity: Dabbler (393/500)
- Matter Manipulation: Dabbler (393/500)
- Fission: Dabbler (393/500)
- Fusion: Competent (4000/4000)[SELF-TAUGHT CAP]
- Energy Manipulation: Novice (847/1000)
Void Vessel Piloting: Neophyte (1500/2000)

Spoiler: Inventory (click to show/hide)

Head: A white plastic headset.
Body: Gray coveralls
Body: A black jacket
Belt: A black, leather belt.
Right Shoulder: A gray flashlight.
Left Shoulder, In Sling: A dull white, las-gun rifle.(100/100)
Back: A orange backpack.

In bag:
-Four day's worth of dried meat, a large loaf of grainbread, and a las-rifle magazine (100/100).

Spoiler: Bonds (click to show/hide)

The Devoured Sun

• A Plague Entity. Brought about the Galaxy's First Night.
• Hereditary grandparent of Basil
• Deceased(?)

The Blighted Glass

• A Plague Entity of immense power.
• Hereditary parent of Basil
• Contactable through Quantum Networking.

Sloan

• Homo Fundamentum Female
• Basil saved her life. (++Opinion)
• Contactable through Verbal Communication.
• The thought of harming Basil causes her immense fear and disgust.
• If she harms Basil, she will be infected by a Targeted Rot.
• Melee: Skilled
• Organization: Journeyman

The PerversionBob Twitchy.

• A Plague Drudge
• One of Basil's Lictors.
• Contactable through Quantum Networking.
• Dedicated to the protection of Basil.
• INTERNAL STORAGE

Spoiler: Concepts (click to show/hide)

[A las-pistol/rifle]
A cheap, hydrogen battery laser pistol/rifle.

• Small Hydrogen Battery
• Large Hydrogen Battery
• Laser Focusing System
• High-Accuracy Laser Focusing System
• Micro-Reactor
• Plastic Case

[A small hydrogen reactor]
A household hydrogen reactor, capable of outputting 35000 watts with only water as input.

• Large Hydrogen Battery
• Hydrogen Reactor (Small, Household))
• Fuses
• Plastic Case

[Cryo-pod]
A Cryo-Pod

• Cryo-Pod Insulation Fluid
• Cryo-Pod Internal Anti-Freeze System
• Microwave Stasis Field Generator
• Controller Board
• Outer Shell
• Dream Modulating Systems

[A Microreactor]
A tiny microreactor from a las-gun, using energy stored within Hydrogen Batteries to produce light.

• Hydrogen Reactor (Micro))
• Fuses
• Plastic Case

[A Small Ship's Reactor]
A reactor design, with optional material production designs.

• Hydrogen Reactor (Small Ship)
• Reactor Piping
• Reactor I/O
• Fuses
• Metal Case

[A cheap space suit]
A thin, cheap space suit.

• Oxygen Tank
• Emergency Sodium Chlorate Heater
• Carbon Scrubbers
• Micro-Medicine Array
• Small Tablet Screen
• Carbon Fiber Cloth
• Water Reclamation System

[A small engine]
A small thruster

• Liquid Hydrogen Tank
• Small Scale Reactor Piping
• Rocket Nozzles
• Engine Moderation Software

[A .35^c engine]
A larger thruster for small to medium-sized vessels

• Reactor Piping
• Electromagnetic Plasma Control Nozzles
• Engine Moderation Software

[Uni Ľubomíra]
A young man. Born on a dusty mining world. Became an Auxiliary Pirate Marine Lance Corporal. Died to Plague Infection on 43301/10/01.

• Brawling: Amateur
• Shooting: Inept
• Mining: Apprentice

[Plague Ivy]
A multipurpose vascular, manipulation and motile system.

Spoiler: Holdings (click to show/hide)

N/A
Capital: N/A
Population: 5^1
Military: Tiny Las-Rifle Equipped Militia
Commodities of Note: Rations [Food Stuffs](6mo(?))
Quality of life: Food, clean water, lighting, sanitation, lack of food production, lack of healthcare, isolation.
Population Morale: High
Government Legitimacy: Illegitimate
Economy: Non-existent, survival focus
Territories: Old Empyreal Navy Fortress (EXPLORED:45%)
Ethnic Groups of Note:
-Empyreal Naval Spacers: 3
-Empyreal Pirate Spacers: 1

[GROUNDED:OLD EMPYREAL BASE]
Main Reactor: [standby]
>[0% TOTAL OUTPUT LEVELS]
>[ERROR:REACTOR:MODIFIED]
>[6% FUEL LEVEL]
Hull: [standby]
>[COMP_REACTIVE_HULL:EN192121:SLAVE_AI] [standby]
[210:HULL_BREACHES_DETECTED!]
Shield: [standby]
>[COMP_HARDLIGHT_SHIELD:EN192121:SLAVE_AI] [standby]
Artificial Gravity: [standby]
Life Support: [standby:TEMP_ONLY]
Cryogenics Support: [online]
>[1/6 [CRYOPODS ACTIVE]]
Empyreal Communications Array:[online]
>[EMPYREAL_COMMS: ON_STANDBY][DISCONNECTED]
Main Thruster System:  [standby]
>[0% TOTAL OUTPUT LEVELS]
Living Spaces: [online]

<< <>

[S1lentWanderer]

Peace, little King.
These are not prey.

You have encroached upon their territory,
It is only reasonable for them to investigate.
Make no sudden movements,
And especially do not draw your weapon or use any of your powers.
These people have shown no hostile intent,
And as such, are not our enemies at this moment.

Do not, however, lower your guard.
These people may mean you harm,
So be wary of them.
Cooperate with any questioning they perform,
but do not volunteer any information about your power.
They do not need to know your true strength.

Nurture good relations with these humans if possible.
Life is precious, and it is possible these humans could be valuable allies.

Spoiler: ooc (click to show/hide)

I love the Moncats! I want several as pets!
I wish I were a good enough artist to sketch one for you, but alas, I am unskilled in such things.

Your worldbuilding never ceases to amaze me with the amount of thought and detail put into everything you share.
The amount of work you've put into this world has been a serious inspiration for me in my own worldbuilding efforts.

[King Zultan]

Diplomacy is the best policy, let's try to talk first.

[ZBridges]

Diplomacy is the best policy, let's try to talk first.

+1

[BlackPaladin99]

start laughing.  if they reveal themselves and ask why, offer no explanation

[Fluffe9911]

start laughing.  if they reveal themselves and ask why, offer no explanation

I can understand laughing to make them relax their guard but I dont see the point in this other than making us look like a psycho.

Anyway Diplomacy ahoy! The (Semi) Pacifist Basil route continues onwards!

[King Zultan]

start laughing.  if they reveal themselves and ask why, offer no explanation

I can understand laughing to make them relax their guard but I dont see the point in this other than making us look like a psycho.

Yeah don't do the laughing thing I can't see it ending well.