The Chamax Plague - Conclusion
This writeup is based on Carl's notes, most of the unbolded text below is his.
Location: The Planet Chamax, Reidain Subsector
Imperial Date: 317-1100
0000
NOTE: All times in this journal effort will be in ship time as long as
we are on or staging out of the ship. For reference, we began just
before sunrise at the landing site. The planet Chamax has a 32 hour day.
In the Skylark, we pondered our best next move, and what we learned.
1. Lotin Delaradi, the InStarSpec manager that is with us, tells us that he has a remote control device which will among other things, open or lock the hatches on the Sharrin Challenger, as long as the ship has battery power. (It does have good battery power, or we could not have opened the iris valves in the corridors on our visit).
2. A couple hours later than would have been good, especially for Sam (resting in what passes for our infirmary now), we realize (and get confirmation from Dr Wurrin, the Instarspec medical man who accompanied us) that the medical scanners we had purchased should be able to tell us if there is and life on board, once we get the air/raft close enough. That could have cleared up the question of survivors on board last time, and saved Sam some skin and flesh, plus a perfectly good pair of pants and boots.
3. It seems almost a sure thing that some of the expedition people flew off in their launch, and whether or not it preceded the attack, the best chance we have of learning anything would be the ship's log, which is on the bridge. Sadly, there is no easy access to the bridge, so we will have to enter through either the rear hatch or the front cargo door.
4. We need to look more closely at the data disk we got (the copy we made, not the edited version we gave to Delaradi) and the papers Sam recovered. It would be good to get the rest of the papers as well if circumstances permit.
5. The electronic signals that overrode our communications are still an issue, both for the difficulty they cause and the question that arises: are these things alive, mechanical, or a mixture. If mechanical, who is controlling them? Hopefully the medical scanners will shed some light on at least a little, and our gear can be configured to jam the signals and allow us communications.
As we discuss these things (some just us, some with the InStarSpec people) we are making an orbital search for the launch, and broadcasting periodically on emergency and standard frequencies, hoping to make contact with any survivors. No positive results are forthcoming. Kipenzi is still thinking they may be underwater, since the beasties never got to wiping out life in the oceans. This is a good idea, to be pursued in due time if needed.
Dr Wurrin explains how the medical scanners work in a little more detail. We can definitely get an answer to life/no life inside the ship, and possibly tell the difference between the Chamax and human life, but more likely we will have to be inside to make the distinction. (At least it is a start, and maybe we won't have to go back in).
The seacoast is about 500 km away following a river, and with native life still in the sea it is a fair chance that survivors made for the coast. So the Skylark will fly down the river at about 300 meters while the air/raft team (Kipenzi, Fig, Cal Yostin (security) and Dr Wurrin) go down to perform an aerial search and check for life signs. We will go into the Challenger if it is appropriate and at least reasonably safe, but for sure we will find any life that is on the planet. The round trip of the Skylark will take about 6 hours, so there will still be some daylight left when they return. Delaradi is going to sit the Comm station, to keep his hands and mouth (which has motored continually that we "have to do something now!") busy - since his fiance is/was a member of the expedition his concern is understandable, but still...
317-1100 0300
Air/raft heads down, Skylark heads out.
Getting down to the planet and the vicinity of the Challenger, Kipenzi maneuvers us deftly around the ship, and with Dr Wurrin handling the scanner we learn that there IS life on the ship but it is not human (no surprise there, if the Chamax can eat holes in the ship...) but the life signs are very low level - as is the static we encountered, merely a background sound now. We are able to maintain a channel to the Skylark, largely radio silent but a good security blanket for us, and with Fig wearing one of the shoulder mounted recorders (not broadcasting but definitely recording what goes on). We took equipment to determine how wide the interference signal is, and to gather information to see if we can do something to work around it or counteract it in the future.
Dr Wurrin is surprised at how low the life readings are, as if things were going into a stasis or hibernation (or dying?). Initially while he detected 12 life signs (one large and 11 smaller) faintly, as Kipenzi circles the ship the readings became more significant, and at the same time the static picked up. Trying a short broadcast on our comm channel, we hear the static increase in intensity/volume, and some of the life sources start to move a little on the scanner.
OK, jamming is out, and while all the life forms are at the moment on the lower deck, it just is not the time to go inside. Kipenzi takes us for a look into the bridge through the front windows, and there are no lights on or signs of life. At the rear of the bridge where the computer equipment was located there is a hole much like the ones we had seen on the pinnace and in the hull of the Challenger.
As we circle, one of the Chamax comes out of the ship and wanders around a little. It does not seem to have any specific goal, it just wanders around, and it does not look up. We consider shooting it and decide that is a needless action for now, and could always be done later if we need. Perhaps our proximity or radios might draw all of them out for target practice from 100' or so, but it could also draw more from the ruins. While we had not yet gone to look at the ruins we were pretty sure that is where the Chamax came from, disturbed by the excavation. Dr Wurrin gets as much information as he can about the being. Another one came out while we circled around.
Going out of the band in which we had the static, Kipenzi talks to Skylark (Medicus at the helm, Delaradi on comm, Sam out of bed and on sensors, Leon keeping a visual lookout) for little bit, but then the static reappeared on the new frequency and grew in intensity. Hmmmmmm. After we go back to radio silence and moved off a ways, the Chamax settled down and the wanderers went back inside. We note where the life readings are, planning to come back in a while and if reasonable make a dash for the bridge and the log files.
Note: Sam took an additional hit point of damage when he got up to sit the sensor board. Medicus or Dr. Wurrin probably should have sedated him. - Terry
Off to the ruins, in the increasingly faint hopes of life signs, and because we have no real other place to go.
There is a trench excavated down to an entryway, and a pile of dirt much larger than would have come from just the trench. We can see down the tunnel/hallway a ways, to an intersection, and noteworthy are:
1. There are bracing structures going down the passageway we can see, so the excavation team had done a fair amount of work, which would have taken a fair amount of time.
2. There is a mudflow down into the first few feet of the hallway, and beyond it in the dust/dirt there are lots of tracks that appear to have been Chamax, but no tracks on the mud (dried now but clearly a mudflow) Outside there is no indication of recent rains, but the expedition has only been out of touch for a few days
3. Far down the hallway, past the intersection , our light reflects off something that is not dirt, but is indiscernible.
About this time the Skylark calls us to say they have found another set of ruins near a suspension bridge crossing the river. They plan to investigate a little on the way back.
Kipenzi takes us on a widening gyre of life searching, and we locate one more reading of Chamax, about 100 meters off from the excavated entryway, and further out there is a second 'nest'. During this search we did not see any additional signs of entry to the underground areas.
Thanks Carl, I had to look up gyre to figure out what you were talking about. - Terry
We send a quick video of the ruins to Skylark, including a look down the excavated hallway, hoping that they will be able to discern something, or at least have an aerial picture to compare to the ruins they sighted.
Using image enhancement software one of the crew of the Skylark was able to see some excavation equipment and signs of artificial lighting about 100 meters down the hallway. - Terry
317-1100 0400
Early afternoon planetside.
Skylark, for their part, found nothing else of interest on their way to
the ocean, most significantly no signs of people, and they start the
trip back. The med scanner there showed no signs of any life readings.
The trip back was slower, for a better look and chance of contacts, but
to no avail.
317-1100 0900
Kipenzi takes
us back to the Challenger, and while there are couple of life signs,
all are faint and none are moving. Fig and Cal get out and into the ship
via the top rear hatch. No messing about, no exploration, NO NO NO
contact, just a dash to the bridge area - at least that was the plan.
From the raft we see the one wanderer settle down in the aft area, and the life readings diminish.
317-1100 0930
Skylark is back in the Challenger area.
Examining the log files on board, we find an entry that five of the science team took the launch to explore another set of ruins about 300 km North. Delaradi (ok, all of us, but loudest him) urges us to go NOW! NOW! NOW!
Up north, we find the launch but no people aboard. The reported ruins are clearly in evidence, but no sign of any life. So another away mission is in the offing.
Kipenzi, Leon, Cal and Dr Wurrin go down to see. At the launch, no one is inside and there are no holes in the hull. The communications gear is set up in a distinct way that is at first puzzling but explained by a note the scientists had left. They had headed uphill toward a glacier, and left the launch as a relay pointing back to Alenzar, to be triggered when there is a direct line of sight to the asteroid. Turns out the power was insufficient to reach the station, but it was a really good idea.
Kipenzi takes the air/raft up to the Skylark and Medicus pilots the Skylark up to the glacier, and as we pass the onset of ice we see about 50 Chamax, dead or in stasis. A few made it about 50 meters up before succumbing to the cold (At least that is how it looked to me, no scientific confirmation).
Kipenzi shuttled the scientists up to the Skylark. There was a happy reunion and lots of coffee all around, Medicus took the Skylark down and we got the launch into the cargo bay. The scientists are pretty sure that the cold is what disabled the Chamax. As with the southern team, this group was excavating when this gaggle (murder? flock? colony? clutch? ).... let's go with cavalcade. The cavalcade of Chamax came out, they ran for the ice and it worked out.
We called back to Alenzar and give them the good news/bad news, and we headed back up to the asteroid.
319-1100 0600
Back on Alenzar, and Sevor Hallin wants to talk with us as soon as possible, so...
319-1100 0800
He wants to hire us for a Jump-1 trip to Raschev. They are allied in a way, and Ricardo DaSilva will be the ambassador, taking only his personal gear and 1 ton of cargo, including the video game we brought from Villis. They offer us 128,000 Credits and do not care if we take other cargo as well.
The video game has some considerable historical significance to the residents of Raschev, going back in history quite a ways.
We purchase a third life support recharge, get topped off with fuel and
life support, and as this journal closes Sam and Medicus are poring
over the available cargos, and we still have not yet seen the
*(#$*()%#&* video game in action. Maybe the folks at Raschev will
be more sharing and caring....
The adventurers look up Raschev in the database:
ABOUT RASCHEV
UWP: C8697C4-6 Gravity: 0.92 Day: 31.8 Hrs Year: 47 Local Days, 62.3 Standard Days.
2 Moons: Orbit UWP Size
16,000 Km YS00000-0 110 Km
40,000 Km YS00000-0 130 Km
Government Type: C – Charismatic Oligarchy, Imperial Client State.
Trade Codes: Lt – Low Tech
Ag - Agricultural
Raschev is potentially a Rich world.
Raschev is fairly large, measuring 13,000 km in diameter with a standard atmosphere and water covering 90% of the world surface. The planet is a largely agricultural world with extensive farmlands and a major fishing industry. The climate is quite Earthlike, but the inhabited areas are concentrated in the southern temperate zone on a single subtropical continent; the weather here tends to be rather more moderate than usual for Earthlike planets, with temperatures usually ranging around 10 to 25 degrees Celsius.
Raschev was first settled by colonists from the Imperium about 350 years ago. It remains a comparative backwater, and off-world ships rarely land, with the exception of a packet from Garoo every 3 months and occasional traders from Alenzar. There is a general attitude of respect, even awe, for off-world technology; the people are inclined to look up to off-worlders in general and Imperials in particular.
HISTORY
The original colonists were an anti-technological utopian group who were looking for a world where they could get back to nature. Beyond the borders of the Imperium, they found Raschev, a world with a pleasant climate and a biosphere that was compatible with the Earth plants and animals that they brought with them.
A century later, they had regressed to a medieval level society with an average lifespan of less than 40 years.
About 150 years ago a trader landing to refuel gave a video game to a group of children who were watching from the beach. It was passed around for nearly a decade before it was discovered and destroyed by the elders.
The game was “Thor’s Hammer”, a game where the player takes on the role of the leader of a stone age village who builds a civilization up to the point where the can stop an asteroid from hitting his home world and destroying all life on it.
A generation later, the children now grown up had moved into positions of power and began to change their society.
After a little over a hundred years of aggressively pushing advanced technology, they have just reached tech level 5. They have a thriving agricultural sector, industry, a class C starport and two (analog) television stations.
Continued in: Horde
See Also: Dramatis Personæ, Campaign Starts, The 2nd Adventure.
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