Re: Interactive Story - LARP/MMORG for the whole CofI to join in, if you like or dare

[Jame]

Julianne brushes the snow off her cold weather gear while seriously considering giving the patron a kick. "Here, knock yourself out." She tosses him the lighter as she says, "Let me call the others and have them get over here."

"Hello, fellow, our patron is over at the West Gate with an ATV rig, so get over here soonest."

 

[sinistral]

Owen grabs everything and hauls his heavily-laden cart to the West Gate as quickly as possible. He arrives, lungs straining and face flushed.

"Told the others... to ... hurry..."

He sits on his cart and takes a sip from a water flask.

 

[Klaus]

Panthera rigs up her sled, hands out the snow shoes, sets her intertial compass, and gather's the rest to move out - I guess that's Owen.

Seen as Owen's having trouble walking in the snow shoes, she puts him on the sled and drags him out to the West Gate. On the way, she fills Owen in with some field lore.

"We'll have to check the route, but if we can we should head south and around to get to the plains, swinging north at the last minute. The bulk of the planet will limit the rads like that. Also, we should try at all times to keep as much ice bulk between us and the gas giant. Water is an excellent shield. We cannot trust the contours on the maps absolutely - they estimate ice coverage, which will obviously vary, depending on the season, the orbit, and any tectonic activity. Was caught in an ice-quake last month: it's quite a ride I can tell you. Luckily no one got buried. Hopefully on this we can stick to the ATV's. I've led treks on other worlds but this one has special conditions, and you guys have no ice - legs. Thanks for getting the rest of the kit, Owen. At least without Frank and Ditzie my tent will sleep us all, even if it'll be a squeeze."

 

[kafka47]

Ref says:

"Well, well if it is not the monkeys. Hey, Hey here comes the monkeys."
says the reporter/patron.

"Climb inside gesturing to convoy of caravans behind him the lock combo is 47. Where's the alien? He ought to be here we cannot afford to wait. Plus, you are missing the girl? Amateurs..."

"Come on, we ain't got all day. By the way, do you know where we are going?"

"Time to visit the mamas and the papas, we are going to have a blast."

"Can't wait for the damn girl, they had better come otherwise, there might be problems at the gate."

As the players make the way inside they find the insides of the caravan a crowded space with mining equipment, a mini-lab and a very crowded sleeping quarters. As they survey the surroundings, a tall gaunt figure with silver reflective cybernetic eyes steps out of the cabin. "You guys must be the professionals, passage will be 100Cr each."

As the players hand over their credsticks, the man smiling revealing all his gold caped teeth, opens up a space under the winnebago where the floor has a hollow space, "Extra storage space in this model, always knew it would come in handy. Lie down here, I will retrieve you once we have cleared the city. Should be no more than 2hrs. Try not to make any noise. Name's, Socrates. Later you will show me the grid that our Employer's ship will be."

Extending a hand helping each one into the hold where they lie like proverbial sardines. As they are settled, and the lid closed over top of them. They hear a low beeping that seems to be coming from Owen's breast pocket.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Owen gets a text only triple encrypted message on his perscomm from Frank...

O.-

<Had to stay off street. Too Hot. Went by duct to Warehouse district. Please make detour to Region 4, Section 12. Warehouse district at edge of city. Come to roof with three white buckets on it. Hurry.>

F.-

 

[sinistral]

Owen wriggles around in the cavity, and finally manages to reply

"In transit, unable comply, pls advise".

He forwards Frank's message to the others.

[OOC: I can't be sure I'll be able to post here regularly due to excessive RL hassle. I'll pop in when I can, but if any of you want to 'zombie' Owen about that's fine with me. I'm really sorry to let you all down, but there's a maniac with a grudge against me, and I have to see lots of lawyers, police etc. Don't worry, I'll be OK. Thanks so far for a good game. More details for the curious in the OOC thread.]

 

[kafka47]

Ref says:

With that there is a rumble as the power plant comes online. Julianne who is lying next to the patron, relays the message, who in turn shakes his head. Taps out arithmetically on the outer shell. The Caravan does not seem to move. Fiddling around in his pockets pulls out a pen like device pushes the end. An ear-shattering squeal ushers out, and the patron calls out, "Socrates!"

The Driver stops the vehicle, with a guffaw, removes the outer shell covering the players. "We ain't the gate yet? What's the problem?"

The patron explains the location of Franklin and Dritze and with a sigh, the patron reassures Socrates that these are paying passengers, and directs him to go to Warehouse district, Region 4, Section 12. Muttering to himself, something about potential Imperial entanglements...

 

[Klaus]

Panthera stows the gear as safely as she can, but keeping her axe nearby, just in case. She knows the score here, so is going to sleep until we get to the warehouse.

 

[kafka47]

Ref says:

The vehicle grinds to a halt in the warehouse district. A few stevedores seem to be mulling about but mostly activity seems to seems to have died down during the lunch break. In the twilight, some sort of activity seems to be going on in Warehouse 23, but nothing that can be seen from under the thick armour plating.

"I guess, we have arrived, now, where is that Hiver..." Owen opts.

The patron says, "The longer we dilly dally, then I am afraid that Socrates is right...there may Imperial entanglements, we were scheduled to leave at 12:15 and now it is 12:30 and possibly 13:00 when we reach the gate. This is not good, at all. Not good." he then injects himself with a brown substance and promptly falls asleep.

The players hear Socrates on the radio, "Yup, we are heading out. Don't know where but it promises to be a real mother."

"Yes, I have heard of the blizzard but that is the Northern Pole. There is not too much going on at the equatorial regions."

"Passengers? What are you talking about? It is just my gig and me. I think you must be mistaken."

"Another, Yetiman skeleton, don't you know that these are all fakes. Like when Walter saw the K'kree herd out there in the wastes. Sometimes, it doesn't take much to make you nutty out there."

"The Impies are doing what? That is hardly a fair price. I thought they promised the access to markets would raise the overall price of barium...Superheavies are just to rare unless you got a submersible, I know someone who knows somebody who has a friend that really discovered a motherlode before he was shut down for not having the correct licence. But, now is laughing over at Lanth."

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Franklin shifts from foot to foot nervously under his Rad Cloak. He looks strange, like like coils under a black plastic garbage bag. His amorphous shape is topped by his globular helmet, which is set to maximum opacity. He signals Ditzie on his scrambled comm...

"Miss Ditzie. I believe our ride is here. Please come to the roof."

Frank waves to the approaching craft...

 

[kafka47]

Ref says:

The lights of the carvavan wink in the twilight. The patron helps Franklin and Ditzie into their temporary refuge under the flooring (OOC: Frank make a willpower check). Before long the hum of the engines can be heard. The seem to be navigating through the thick snow with ease. Then suddenly there is a noticable slowing down. They can hear Socrates cursing through the piping.

The vehicle grinds to halt, there is a chime at the outer enterance door. There is a shuffle from the Driver's Cabin.

"Ministry of Justice. We have authorization to search all vehicles leaving the city. Ahh, Socrates. Can you present your permits, please. And what might you be carrying below..." the sound of Imperial jackboots taping the floor plating is unmistakable.

 

[Klaus]

Panthera rouses herself from sleep at the sound of the vehicles braking and stopping. She takes a glance outside, spotting the checkpoint, and then hears the announcement.

She combs her hair with her left hand while unzipping her suit just a little, and composes her most innocent expression. Then she waits for the hatch to open...

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Franklin tenses at hearing the words...

'Avoid the unsolvable ones. But remember nothing is unsolveable.' he thought to himself as he warily eyed the control on his springblade.
'Moments of truth are abundant here..."

 

[Jame]

Julianne puts on an innocent expression, and starts working on a story about how she's Socrates's driving relief.

 

[kafka47]

Ref says:

Socrates clears his throat, "Refugees. Heading off to the Lenin system, I think."

The Officer chuckles, "You know the drill, it is 75 a head." As the bioscanner passes over the compartment.

"SEVENTY-FIVE!! Just last month, it was only FIFTY, how is a dishonest businessman going ever get things done in this system..." as he clearly hands over a Cred stick and the sound of money being deposited.

"Very good, Citizen. I can see your papers are all in order. Remember, long live Stephon!" as there is a shuffle of feet exiting the vehicle.

There is the rev of motors, and the vehicle is off again. About a hour and half pass, then Socrates removes the cover.

"We are now clear of the City's scanners. I have begun a preliminary Southward trail where the ore is poor but the mountains are high and the patrols are few. We will stop there at around Peak Erasmus and then you can tell me where we are going." as Socrates is helping each one of them out.

"Rations for you, are in third cupboard from the left." indicating the gourmet rations that lie behind. After everybody is out, pushes a button and a folded table descends from the ceiling and he pulls out some folding chairs. "Now then, can't leave baby on autopilot too long, you will have to excuse me."

--------------------

The vehicle grinds to a halt. Socrates, hobbles out of the cabin. "Just a moment gents and ladies", he dons a hostle environment suit and cycles out of the airlock. There is some shifting
of the vehicle before, a loud sucking sound can be heard.

Socrates, hobbles back in. "Boy, its Kald out there, I estimate at least -30* with the wind whipping things up quite nasty."

Pouring himself, a cup of coffee, "Now, where is it that you need to go."

Owen clears his throat, "I have been pouring over these charts for the last day or so, I cannot find any reference to Eraze LI,anywhere. Then when I was just surfing through the datastream, I came across this." He projects an ancient coin commerating Cleon's Fifty-First year as Emperor.

"Now if you look at the incription, it is in an ancient Terran language called Latin,[circling a spot on the coin where LI].

OOC: There are enough cameras with the patron's & Owen's camera.

 

[ditzie]

"Hmm. I hope the disguise works."

For the first time in her life, Ditzie looks like a scatterbrained coed student heading for academic probation.

She whispers, "I may need to drop out of the picture here, to keep everyone else from getting in trouble."

 

[kafka47]

Ref says:

"Eraze is also from the same language meaning: Place or Area. So there you have it, Area 51. Using the charts, I was able to establish that corresponds to this protrusion toward the equatorial region. Tapping into the WeatherSat system, here is a three-dimensional composite of the area." flicks another switch and a three-dimensional landscape of Farpoint replaces the coin.

"Tapping into current weather conditions, I was able to undertake a scan of ground conditions across this Plain. Although, it is sitting on top of a caldera, it seems to be systematically seismically stable. Narrowing the focus, I was able to come up with this..." the image flickers a bit and a three dimensional representation of several low lying rectangular blocks with two or three heat sources moving about, Owen concludes.

The patron who has just injected himself with another dosage of the brown liquid, "Excellent work, Owen! As we can see the Imps don't have much in the way of fortifications. These low-lying structures look like they are warehouses of some sort. Members of the movement have also been tracking the telemetries of Imperial broadcasts and that area is especially quiet."

Socrates opts, "Well, assuming that your coordinates are correct, I can get you within 5km of that location, as you can see there is a high ridge that this old bird cannot climb without taking a major detour. At current speed, I estimate it would take about 4 hours to get there. We can agree to rendezvous point, say, 5 hours from drop off, and as I have to look like that I am working. Where, by the way, have you arranged transport for Walter?"

Socrates and Walter are now eyeing the members of the Party for the next move...

 

[MadGav]

Noise.

Darkness.

Wind.

Cold, cold, cold.

But there was a time before. Before? Before. Cocktails and cards. Zero-G swimming. Music. A hangover? A ship. Definitely a ship and a big one too. Pride of … something. Pride of Nasan? No, that was my sister’s dog. Pride of Naasirka. Yes that was it. Some ship.

Then blank. Like a veil lying across my memory. Fighting. Flashes. Shouting. Lots of shouting. A battle? On a liner? Agoraphobia leads to desperation. A rush for the yachts, the shuttles, the lifeboats … anything to get us off this plush hulk - we knew the main craft had detached. Then escape. Wild, free escape with the gas giant looming large beneath us and the thrusters screaming to compensate. Light and explosions clustering around us.

And we almost made it. Almost.

But then there was that final crunch like a punch in the back. Sirens wailing, air filling with smoke as my visor smacked down on automatics. And then, just seconds before the hull disintegrated around me and I could see the stars with my very own eyes, my hands clutch on my last piece of insurance: the re-entry kit.

It’s all very well doing these things in the sims but no one teaches you how to pull it off when there’s shrapnel imbedded in your suit and delta-v way off the design specs. But somehow, when you’ve got nothing to lose, you get that calm feeling. Plus the silence, the absolute silence talks to you like you need it.

And there I was, falling quite happily to earth, the comp had locked on to some kind of sensor transmission so I was pretty sure I would be close to somewhere someone would call home when the ‘chute tore. Must have been a rogue splinter from the hull had weakened it. Hit the ground hard. But then my luck hadn’t run out. Not completely. Not yet. Unpacked snow can break your fall as well as fire crews’ crash mat.

Then darkness.

Wind.

Cold.

And noise. A whine. A rumble. A transport? No, my luck hadn’t run out. Not yet. Not completely.


A frostbitten and exhausted man lies in a badly scarred vacc-suit a few metres from the vehicle.

 

[kafka47]

Ref says:

There is a silence around the table as the patron and Socrates wait for an answer. Suddenly, the large bump and the sound the wheels scraping against something metal.

"Holy Shat! What the Frak is that?" exclaims Socrates. As all the warning lights flash critical in the cabin, Socrates leaps up trying to stabilize the vehicle.

However, it is too late the vehicle tips over. Socrates, the patron and all players that purchased Hostile Environment Suits scramble out of the airlock. There they see the vehicle has been wedged into some sort of gully formed by the impact of some sort of blackened meteor. No wait, it isn't a meteor it is a re-entry kit. A lone figure in a vacc suit is gesturing for the other players to approach.

The man is clearly injured and is need of desperate medical care. Furthermore, it is unknown how long he has been exposed to the elements. The radiation alone would causing severe burns.

Further off into the horizon is the shattered remains of an escape pod bearing the logo of Naasirka. Shards of the housing from the pod clearly stuck in the wheels.

Socrates is furiously stomping around the vehicle trying to figure out a way of getting upright. "Just don't stand around, help the wretch inside. Medical supplies are located under the driver's seat. Not much, some healing balm and bandages...you'll have to improvise. This does not look any Fraking good..."

 

[Klaus]

Panthera's crisis autopilot comes on as soon as she hears cracking ice and feels the vehicle toppling. Quickly into her suit, she cursurily checks the others seals and is outside first (tho not before Socrates). Scanning the area she notes no serious ice hazards and even tho the weather is cold she notes it's quite mild for this latitude.

Takes in the crater, the metal shards, and finally the dazed and tottery looking spacesuited figure. Her survival senses come alive. She expertly guides the floundering figure over the uneven ice and helps Owen get him (she assumes a he at this time) into the cab. Then she's back outside to aid Socrates in righting the vehicle.