Requiem: Eleni Benacor
General Summary
The Talk with Yoda went as expected. He will visit more and talk to Eleni more often. Yay!
{200 Alliance Credits – eager and overjoyed (for a Mentat) to get the supplies}
Transporting Hydroponic Fluid Basins, quickcrete bags, modular building parts, particle accelerator parts, and puzzle flowers (they do eat the middle of the flowers).
Hypernet restored, trade restored with Tapani sector.
Tar Sona Station. Ruins of New Shella. Rayna and Sheva- a message greets them as if expected.
Tar Sona – I've been there – trading hub. Not like the planets which are dominated by Vor houses. Cosmopolitan – more than humans. Some other species – twi'leks. Amid the blur of activity, we have stopped off for lunch and a drink.
At the Dawn Treader Pub – Danar is Paying!
The place is historical and well-known. Rich for the moment smugglers are everywhere. Seems a lot less politically messy. Activity in Dawn Treader makes the pomp and silliness seem a bit too complicated. But today, even this usual haunt is not the sanctuary it was before. Vanya feels it as well. She says “Things always happen during a date”. I returned with “What's that? I've forgotten.” Apparently, I'm not the only one to have her dates ruined by trouble.
KitKat is not here. Danar's father Gavril Vorpadaran? Had duties for him at home.
I got a note from Simon Tam. Kind of unexpected way out here. It said “I heard you were on station. I would like the pleasure of your company.” He signed it “Dr. Tam”. Annnd.. he's in the pub at a different table. The note was delivered a little late, it seems. Also, it's not just the pleasure of my company that he wants. There's a dispute between the Navigator's Guild and the Vor Shipping Guild, and he needs a ship to help him get back to Procopia with all of his newly purchased bacta supplies. He bought the normal patches and tank supplies, but also has requested a few bacta grenades. Those might come in handy. Since he asked nicely, and it would be a chance to actually talk to him for a bit, I agree to take him back with us. The supplies only take up ¾ of the cargo hold, so it's not really any trouble. We aren't even biting into the secondary smuggling compartments yet.
Simon hasn't heard from Davish in 3 weeks. While I'm asking about Davish, the man himself enters the Pub! This is quite a reunion. But.. he's not exactly well, and he's supporting Razak. Both of them are bloody and very wounded. Something has ripped their armor like paper. They appear to have come from Smuggler's Alley, so are probably either running from someone or trying to avoid someone.
Danar tries to get Vanya drunk, but it didn't work. Chocolate, Shrooms, and liquor don't mix for Vanya.
I ran past Davish and Razak with a wave to Davish, checking the alley they had just come from. There was a blood trail to follow, but no one to fight. Not yet, anyway. I headed back.
There was a spear-shaped hole punched into Razak's armor, four inches in diameter. Vanya helped him to the floor as Simon quickly switched into healing mode.
The Maitre d' ran behind the podium, slid his little lamp aside and sounded an alarm. It was incredible. Shielding came up all over the pub, locking us in with durasteel. Overkill much? Emergency rations began to be handed out, consisting of champagne and hors d'ouvres. Even the food trays were armored! Perhaps it was all an upgrade from the living machine's attack.
Davish – something with five claws got to him. Whatever it was, it was easily his size on hind legs. I got Davish's armor off – the guy was not in good shape. His lightsaber was severed, and he was very pale from blood loss and various puncture wounds. As the armor came off, I noticed that there was something.. in him... besides bone and normal tissue. I apologized ahead of time, then pressed my fingers in, feeling around.
Worm.
Simon...
Tor Ceti is one of the planets in the Estaph System near Obulette System. Mecetti Province. Other planets there are inhabited – Estaph, Var el, Miti. Tor Ceti is called a Tomb World. It used to be a thriving colony world, but plague ruined it for 1000 years. The Vor decided to use the planet as a gigantic graveyard. Also, it was heavily bombarded during the Long Night. It wasn't supposed to be hit, but the atomics went off course. The entire place was Quarantined. There are smuggler ghost stories all around about this place about alien soul-sucking ghosts. Face-eating and soul-sucking ghosts. And now some kind of research lab, according to Davish. Vormecettis want to bring the place back from its former glory. “Ko sai's notes” = frickin' witch (Vanya says).
The Maitre d' and Danar to the rescue! Medical facilities alerted.
“Ner Vod” is password for the suit's helmet. I guessed. It would be “brother”. These guys are such buddies with each other.
Yeager-suited people took Davish and Razak to the medical facilities. Danar transferred relevant stuff off of the helmet. I followed them to the med bay, interested to watch Simon at work. He quarantined the two men, and the biohazard alarms went off. They are in a secure force field within the main room. Simon suited up in his own kind of armor. Laser cutters and robotic arms came out to remove the rest of Razak and Davish's armor. Razak was first to be examined. A WORM came out of his shoulder! It was nasty, with four sharp teeth curving inward in its maw. Then, suddenly, the thing was yanked out of Razak and onto the floor. Simon was wicked FAST! That was really impressive how he smacked that worm around.
Danar shot at the thing, but the energy from the blaster just drained off of its carapace. I scooped it up, trying to get a hold on it, but it was a slippery little sucker, and started spiraling up my arm. Vanya cut it into pieces and flicked them off of my arm. She was so good with that lightsaber, slicing the thing into four equal parts. It smelled awful, like sulfur mixed with rotting earth. ew. Danar thinks he's seen a relative of this worm before. The pieces go into separate evidence bags and then into a container. Simon happens to have sterile breakfast Tupperware for this. The worm in Davish, yes, he had one as well, was taken out so quickly by Simon that I barely got a chance to see it! Vanya sliced and diced once more. I vacuumed up the mucus from the floor. The two worms and their parts had separate containers, labeled Razak and Davish.
Simon started applying bacta, then scanned for eggs with his medglove. The two men are being affected by an RNA retrovirus that seems to be mutating them into something else. Simon hypothesized that could be either symbiotic or not. If symbiotic, it could be changing the host to be more hospitable to it, and if not, it could be tenderizing its meal.
Kenobi apparently sent Vanya to the station, but didn't know exactly why. He just told her to prevent whatever harm to people that she could. Hm. What is WITH these people? I get more information than that from a fortune cookie!
Simon has taken and separated blood samples, put them in suspension fields, pulled out a laser scalpel and sliced the tupperware to create slides. On the scanner, we could see a close-up of both blood and skin cells. Something was in the blood cell – inside the cell itself, which would prove Simon's RNA idea. A parasite has formed, possibly from the victim's own tissue, and attached itself to the cell on the inside. We were able to see this parasite at various stages. After it took up all room inside the blood cell, the cell itself began to move in concert with others around it. It seemed that they were able to move out of each others' way. Then, they stopped moving. Simon was really impressive! Did I already say that?
{Vanya used telepathy to talk to Razak. The Tomb planet is not dead, but should be. Research Station – first thoughts on meeting 1 feline species guy – wookie with a haircut. Remembers that this guy's species barely survived a genocide. They are called the Cathar and Razak's people were responsible. Davish and Razak were playing “Noble and Armsman” for information. Davish says that there's something up the hill, and they need to look at it. A hum that gives headaches. Still on planet. Screaming and explosions, but target isn't seen. Then the planet tries to kill both of them. Something also attacked the ship. }
I went back to the smuggler's alley and took blood samples from that trail I had seen. The Food analyzer on the med glove (I don't remember if this is Danar's or if I had borrowed Simon's) said it was toxic, and not to eat it. On close examination, it seems that nothing had chased them. Not sure why they ended up at the pub. Davish probably has a radar-love thing with Vanya. Leaving the Alley, we made our way to the docking bay, but it was quarantined by station marines per Danar's and Vanya's orders.
Questioning one of the marines revealed that a Vor Lady had come in, who had a pet with big claws. Hm. Davish and Razak's ship is a YT-1300 that is a real wreck. Super beat up. Blaster marks, fresh scoring. Something tried to punch a hole into the main hatch, but there's not enough definition to tell if the thing had claws. The door is shut, so I guess it still works. Vanya is poking at the door. We ended up putting re-breathers on because of the awful stench.
Danar tried to stop us from going on board because the red tape had not been dealt with, but Vanya said “ok” and went in anyway. Then I said “smuggler!” and went in, as well. That smell. Earthy, sulphur.. it was everywhere. The cockpit seemed undamaged, but there are signs of a fight elsewhere. Looking for a med glove. Signs of blaster fire towards the cargo hold, its door not quite shut. A huge blast occurred in there. Danar did a focused scan of that area, and said there was nothing living near me. Need to search the smuggler's compartments, if there are any. Vanya found that the door was bent while trying to shut.
Soundtrack Sense! The lights didn't work. The floor was... spongy. There was goo all over the floor – lilac pink, just like the worms. I headed towards the back of the cargo bay, and found a large, misshapen thing. It was hard to tell what it was. Best guess was that it used to be a Kath hound, only now it had extra arms. The animal, when alive would have been in terrible pain. Its fangs and teeth were oversized, fur stubbly and matted. Too many horns. Luckily, it was already dead, slumped on the floor and out of its misery. I made extra sure it was dead. Vanya was able to sense a lot of negative emotion and pain. The hound died of a fist-shaped hole. Point-blank blaster burn marks. Looks like the guys managed to kill whatever had been inside of it. Of course, they had somehow gotten things inside themselves as well, so maybe not.
*discussion about cleaning the cargo bay*
Danar, talking about Sir Tam: “professionally admirable, if not annoying and inconvenient”
I went to the ship's med bay to find sample bags in order to give Simon something more to work with. He has asked for more tissue samples. He doesn't have to deal with the smell. Vanya finds Davish's tea, and saves it from obscurity.
Back at the hound – the worm is dead, and hanging limply out of its victim. Some of its wounds were cauterized. I got samples of both hound and worm from several places on the body to examine the effect of the virus in regards of proximity to the worm and blood flow, and new extremities. Vanya was talking to the data chip. She sounded annoyed. Davish seems to know her very well, as at the sound of her voice, the screen changes, and she's allowed access to something more personal.
Reavers – may be affected by a derivative of this retrovirus? Look into it
Davish's Data Chip-
He went to Tor Ceti, slipped through the planet security, and part of his telemetry showed that the two of them met up in secret to do the mission. Several files. Vanya sent the telemetry to my PocketSmuggler.
{Davish has other personal file recordings that I am not sure Vanya told us about. Notes about Ko Sai. Confusion as to why her data is on a tomb world when he is positive she died on Mandalore.}
Techs come, and get the rest of the worm and stuff. I hear squelching. Sounds like wookiee noodles. Wookiee Noodles. Need to see what those look like.
They did a fly-by of the whole place. Their sensor data was unnerving. Ecosystem seemed wrong. How did it survive? Elements were missing within the food chain. No herbivore-carnivore dichotomy, and nothing to eat for the lower levels. Parasite/scavenger based? Fungi? … Viral-based? Ew! Nasty.
Ko Sai? As defense for her lab, it's likely she had engineered both the hound and the worms as deterrents. Makes me wonder what needed protecting so badly. Vanya thinks she is probably dead, and on Mandalore. If she were working for House Vormecetti, it would explain the orbital batteries. Why on Mandalore, then?
Troopers are slated to arrive soon, and will contact me so we can swing by and pick them up on the way to the Estaph System.
3 hours. Showers with UV lights – the full decontamination business. The Vor lady and her clawed pet? Vanya asks them to go through decon as well. Danar found out that she owes an allegiance to House VorCalipsa. The pet is felinoid, not a kath hound, and decorated with holographic displays and a gemstone collar. Really.
Wookiee noodles! Sound is the same.
Danar types up a report.
Vanya lets me report to one of her people! Yoda.
Clones age at 2x the normal rate. Recover the Kaminoan data at all cost. If this is Ko Sai's work, a cure must be found. Yoda is tolerant of me. That's nice. Vanya has made me famous on the Council, and Simon Illyan also watched my reporting prowess. And Anakin Skywalker. Ok, so I didn't bow and scrape, but this guy's not done much for us but put us in the line of trouble over and over again. He's not my RM.
Worms may be camouflaged? Larvae? Some kind of flying juvenile stage? Bone worms – maybe a modified version. Need to tell Dr. Tam. We need to know the original genetic sequence that has been changed in order to reverse the viral changes.
The worms are evolving, trying to form a symbiotic relationship with the host. ½ hour – worm repellant from Simon. Bone worms are native to Necropolis – cave regions. Smugglers have been exporting them for the cleanup of graveyards. Altered mucus?
Simon says we have a few days at the least, a few weeks at the most, before Davish and Razak are past the point of no return. Simon thinks that the carapace may have been formed on these particular worms after they entered the two men's bodies. No real change in either of them yet, for better or worse. Simon is very determined to fix his cousin. We all have a personal reason for fixing this.
Sekrit route – 2 ½ days there, 2 ½ days back. Five days. Nice and fast. The formal way takes 2 weeks! I have clout, and I have someone who can lie! I'm all set!
We have the blessing of Yoda, Simon.
Jania Vorrossek is a friend of Danar's and is on Danar's List. Perfect for our blind, fast trip to Estaph. Danar is on board.
We get 8 canisters of worm repellent from Simon. He also tells us that the things seem attracted to light, sound, and heat possibly. Wants me to catch one alive for him. Well, why not? It can only drill holes in me and make me have extra arms! No problem! In exchange, he does give me a medglove of my own. I told him we would settle up when I got back.
A call came in from Clan Venn - they hired a smuggler to get them to Lastelle System, which is closer. Han Solo and his pal Chewbacca are flying. These guys like YT 1300's. We are to rendezvous with Han and Chewie plus 4 of Clan Venn, and the Clones will transfer to my ship. They are: Lt. Acer, an ARC, Sgt. Striker – a techie, Burner – heavy weapons, and Deuce – demolitions. All of them have cybernetic components, which should be interesting to see.
Since I am filing a flight plan to go to Estaph, and Danar has lied about going to court that Vor woman, of course the Vor have to be nosy. This guy in official robes and wielding a staff comes to say hello while we're in pre-flight checks. The guy's got big hair.. it stands up all along the back of his head.
This guy takes a deep breath and smacks the staff, creating force lightning. Lord Solicitor Londo Mollari. Why did he do that? I guess just for show. He starts bellowing at my ship for Danar. Danar, to his credit, managed a hurried, but not frantic walk. Dignified. It wasn't fast enough for Mr. High hair, though, and he was about to smack the floor with his staff again. If he'd hurt my ship, we would have had a quick and dirty discussion that I'm sure would have gone my way. Luckily, Danar stopped him. Londo wanted him to take a big crate with him to Estaph. Danar lies, and lies well. At least I'm getting paid more now.
*flim-flam political maneuvering inserted here *
2 men carrying 2 trunks of boxes. I recognize them! They are from somewhere important. I use the Voice “Who are you?” and get a weird reaction – they are faking that my powers worked on them! Mentat Loungelizard persona. I've seen Kitkat do this, and it's slimy. They are both mentats. They say they are to report back on the whereabouts of Danar, and were sent their by Madame Cordelia Vorkosigan. Vanya, having more knowledge about this kind of thing, tells them to make their report truthfully, and to do it in front of Gregor, the Emperor.
Part 2
Four drop marine troopers plus Yeager Lexics were picked up en route (+ booze!). They have armor- sealed systems. Behind the clones, a 6th person. Khun.
Han and Chewie took the crates for Danar, and now I owe them another beer.
So far, everything's going according to plan. Good to see both Khun and Yeager. Yeager made some repairs, and Khun got filled in as to what was going on. Vanya had fun pointing at the different systems on my charts.
Khun, is here because as a .. royal? Knight of the Imperium, it is his duty to help Vanya send the cure to the right person. Or something. It was all in Vor. I stopped listening.
Busy system. Lots of traffic. Beacons are saying to avoid Tor Ceti. It has automated security satellites in orbit. Traffic control. On a tomb world?
I piloted the ship towards one of the more populated planets, then zipped very gracefully and casually towards Tor Ceti.
Tor Ceti is a gray orb in the blackness of space. I slipped through a small timed hole in the satellite network. Khun didn't notice much, but he thought I flew well.
Dark, cracked ground. Shadows. Gravestones. Hundreds of thousands of gravestones and mausoleums. Each cluster is an isolated necropolis. Cold wind blowing constantly. Mismatch's sensor sweeps pick up staticky, but recognizable electronic communications. Chandra Station contacting Corvin Station, but no reply is heard. I did my best to sense life in the northern hemisphere, and found life with odd and different memories. They all held an undercurrent that was very cold, something struggling to see the light of day. Vanya was looking for life signs, as well. Khun's sensor sweep revealed a lot of non-human life around, which matched Davish's previous scans. “Undead” world. Vanya says that the research station has similar damage to Razak and Davish's ship. She also said that the ground rippled in a 30 m wide radius.
Then, a large beetle was looking at her. Hmm.. Vanya looked for a door leading down, and the beetle followed, even though she wasn't really there. Vanya found the observation deck melted. ½ of the door was coated in blood. She felt all at once that the world felt we were there, and unhappy. Skinny dipping in a gigantic pool of the dark side, I think that's what she said. She only heard buzzing.
What Khun wants to do with the Death Star – naval academy, plus Gregor's personal yacht, plus open up the rest of the thing to other members of the alliance.
Khun contacted Chandra and told them about Corvin. They responded that the Wild life eats away at the relays, and they need supplies. We were given coordinates to a landing pad, and I checked our supplies for what they needed.
Chandra's border fencing has black splatters on it. Some of their guns have been modified for different ammo. Yeager and the troops drop – just for funsies. Eleni didn't want to disappoint them.
*discussion about sanity of dropping Yeager and Co. Danar is vehemently disagreeing with the rest of us. *
The drop marines do what they do best, and deadfall until the last second. “Spent Slug” launched out of the cannon at the guys. When they landed, they found that the other two guns were trained on them, but were not shooting. It looked like they were automated.
As we went in to actually land, a giant bug splatted on Mismatch's windscreen. Goo all over. One of the troopers – Burner, these guys always have the perfect nickname – assists in burning the bug off. It was a shaky landing, and a Twi'lek came out to say hi. Her name was Bel'ibin.
I went to see Heron – he was in charge – to get a list of supplies that they need. Khun lies lies lies about our benefactor being the same as the station's. Danar comes out in some kind of fake identity – he is the MASTER of lying. Heron almost had no pants. Anyway, Heron explains that they are working on a way to terraform the planet. Ohhhhh.. The wildlife in the area keeps destroying any wheat or other crops that they try to grow.
I wandered around. The place was clean and well-kept. Following directions to the C&C, a door opened for me, and a wall of fur was right in my face. 6'1, felinoid face. Sounds like a Cathar (Kathar?). The same species that Vanya reported had been described by Davish. He was attired in bandolier, jumpsuit, tanktop and trousers. And he had a tail. Big guy.
Heron had gone off to meet Yeager. Yeager pretended to be a droid.
{Danar observes terraforming situation. “after the beetles”. Wheat sealed from biohazard is physically changed and comes alive. Parasitic and angry. Interaction with the Beetles seems to have initiated the change. They grow dormant at times.}
Corvin – was studying the introduction of animals into the environment. They reported strange results, and odd behavior.
Yeager met a guy in his 20's in his wandering. He called Vormecetti a prick (guy did, not Yeager). Their shuttle is in the repair stage known as “take it apart to find out what's wrong”. Gell was his name. He now has ½ a stimpack in his system.
Danar has”transferred” the station crew to Procopia, and ordered them to repair their shuttle and leave ASAP. Also, he asked for samples from all of their work.
Yeager revealed himself to Gell and told him the truth. So glad. And nothing bad came of it.
The planet obviously hates the whole terraforming idea.
An area to the north is blocking our scans, and seems to contain that ever-exciting Obsidian.
Eleni: Sith die, too.
Vanya: But... no... but... no
Vanya – Members of Vorkoslov family are buried in obsidian (this is a house under House Vormecetti)
Vorrutyer and Vordashkov Vorrutyer is a very highly connected and high reputation famliy. Sicko. Vorrutyer – just as decadent and perverse as Harkonnen. They used to have contests over debauchery. Vordashkov is under House Vormelantha.
Eleni – tried to fix Yeager's fixing of the shuttle. Helped a little. Then, I took the medglove out to the Mismatch and tested the area for the retrovirus. It picked up odd things – active retrovirus activity within the soil itself! Not as nearly high as I would think. I decided to speak to Bel'Ibn.
Vanya told Danar – a drone was sent to the place the Obsidian was found, and didn't come back. Then they sent people, and no one returned. Then something happened which shut the entire base down.
Scanning the Beetle with the medglove – It is a completed retrovirus product. 5-6 feet in length, metallic bits, and more mandibles than a normal beetle should have. Is this what Davish and Razak are to look forward to? I went back into the lab. The plant that had wanted to eat a robot earlier is full of the Retrovirus, and its structure is still rapidly changing. This particular virus is not coming from the lab itself. They used algae and bacterial cultures for their work.
We get a personnel list.
We see the poor, deluded people from the station to their shuttle, and then head north, dropping a flaming PPC first. Then, the marines do their thing again. This time, the ground is rippling under their feet. Beetles are swarming everywhere. As the marines moved towards the only obvious door, an organic “droideka” appeared. It resembled a huge caterpillar/worm hybrid which reared up and started spitting at them. Yeager got a chance to use his BFG, and the other marines unloaded whatever ordnance they had into the thing. It shrieked. As its screams traveled to where the PPC had landed, the whole bug invasion turned its attention to the guys.
Danar and I worked together, and Danar did some excellent shooting. With the Mismatch's agility, we were able to keep the thing's attention.
Khun Rocks!
The Mismatch dropped suddenly, like a rock, then the brakes kicked on, along with her rear thrusters, and the engines swept across the wave of beetles, making them pop and explode. Yay! Interestingly, they burned from the inside out. Khun stayed in the pilot seat to land the ship. The Mismatch likes Khun.
GM: The smell is.. just...
Party: RE-BREATHER!
The smell of burnt charcoal is still obvious, even with the re-breathers. Burner is happy. All of us head warily into C&C.
GM gets the map out!
The walls within are severely damaged by fire. Obviously, the fire-suppression systems did not turn on.
We got to a door which was covered in blood half the way down. {Vanya felt despair, cold, and could almost hear sobbing. It reminded her of when she speaks to Qui-Gon Jinn. }
Vanya: I... hear dead people
Eleni: Wait, what? You do??
Vanya cut a hole in a door, and Danar threw a grenade through it.
Khun missed. Eleni shot one. Yay. Danar shot the other one.
Vanya, Danar and Khun head to the security station. Looks like blaster fire. I noticed that the voices I was hearing stopped when the creatures were killed. They were filled with pain and suffering. We helped to free them.
Vanya and Danar in C&C: There are “cold” dead human types. Smoke, bugbodies killed by blaster fire. Gross yellow color. Gross. Gross. 2 dead bodies on the ground, both human. Just under 2 weeks dead. Dr. Hal Munden and Phil Talus. They killed each other. Vanya says they were in the middle of fighting each other.
Khun and I in the lab: a bigger set up. There are containment cells for animals, none are occupied, and there are no dead bodies. The kath hounds were of interest. Adapting by use of genetic manipulation. Nerfs were here, as well. They had been trying to create herbivores that could survive on the planet. No notes on any worms. An unusual side effect was noted on the Nerfs. They were growing more aggressive and had doubled in size. In the outdoor paddock, one burrowed under ground.
Herbivorous angry earth-nerfs – we get the data for posterity.
The notes show that those working here heard voices, and things moved across the room on their own. A canister floated across the room. Not sure that is so special. Vanya can do that. On all of the cells, the locks are shot off, so the animals did not get out by themselves.
Someone who is invisible is trying to scare us, or kill us. Not very good at the killing us part just yet. They have been sneakily placing thermal detonators near us, and also moved something special of Yeager's – his gun.
A misstep, and it is obvious this is not a ghost. This person can use the Voice – it is a male, too, and somehow pull thermal detonators out of thin air. I tried to tackle him, but he blocked it, and stood on my chest with his knee. He force-threw Yeager into a wall, and was about to hit me again when Vanya pulled his shirt over his face. Yeager used his blaster pistol on stun, but didn't fall – just shook his head to clear it. Danar did a martial arts boot to the guy's head, and broke his nose. Khun decided to jump on him, and did a flying tackle, only for him to grab Vanya and pull her into his path. Vanya was hit by a flying Khun, and they both landed on me in a big mess.
Then the guy looked at Yeager, and used the Voice! He said “Order 66. Kill them all”. Not sure what that means for us, but it didn't sound good. So, I punched him in the throat. He started crawling away, and Khun pulled down his pants. That stopped him, and we were able to tie him up. I made sure to gag him very, very well. On board the ship, Khun searched him and Yeager and I took turns keeping the guy sedated. He's in one of my smuggler's compartments, and R5 is under orders to zap him if he tries an escape.
Part 3
OK, we're ready to get down to business and find the cure, then save Davish and Razak.
Set of mysterious ruins to the north. Let's go.
Eleni has given Vanya a drawer in the Mismatch for her stuff that she normally wishes she'd remembered when we were out and about.
We have data and research notes, and have examined the obsidian outcropping. 2 people are still unaccounted for. Voices quiet. Danar is manning the gun again. Yeager is prepping for a hot drop.
The flight from the Southern Outpost is a morbid one. Spires of obsidian, 2-3 stories high, are pointy. Stones are squatting. There is obsidian everywhere. We all, every single person in the party, have a bad feeling about this. Khun needs to run a scan.
Polluted Obsidian closer to the ground, and the interior is sand with metal ore – iron. Whatever caused this formation hit a vein of iron ore on the way. The pattern does indicate a meteor strike – multiples – a couple of meteors exploded over the area. No tech remains. Approximately happened 200,000 years ago.
Outside is sickly vegetation- hostile. Not happy to see us. Scans reveal a full ecosystem below, but it visually doesn't match. Dry river bed 100 yards across.
10.
Dropped Yeager and the boys on that dry river bed and flew around them to offer support, if needed. The wind stopped the moment Deuce's boots hit the ground. But, the trees around the river bed are moving. The whole area is alive.
* Vanya gives heavy coma from the GM * (ok, not sure what that was, so if that c word in there is not the right word, let me know)
From the mud, 12 small and 1 huge hellwombats erupt from the ground in front of Yeager. There are snouty faces and a little fur. These used to be Kathhounds.
Vanya started her battle meditation.
Kath hounds must be different than those we shipped to the Helios system... these are more than slobbery.
Huge thing shot quills from its tail, then regenerated the quills! It is moving super fast, and oozing fluids. -wish I had kept a sample from the Kath hound puppy cold. It might have come in handy.
Hovering..
Yeager and boys hardened the ground around a place with no caves for the Mismatch to land.
Forest of Obsidian lies ahead.
Marching order from the ship – Yeager, Vanya, Eleni, Danar, and Khun. Troopers are in a “star formation”.
The Obsidian forest has skeletal hands reaching out or something. We find the tractor from the Southern Outpost, sitting quietly. All around it are 1 story buildings of metal and stone, square and box-shaped. There are four main buildings, interconnected with enclosed corridors to form a bigger complex. The walls are pitted and scorched – damage over time.
Plasteel with obsidian stonework matches the mineral scans. Not really “tomblike”, these buildings have been patched and repaired in places with precise work. Nothing “seems” to be moving.
Hmm.
The Tractor seems to have made more than one trip. These buildings are very old, even older than the sith temples we've encountered.
Yeager sets up a defensive perimeter. Khun and Deuce take up sniper positions along the ridge.
I took a minute to see into the past, and saw lava, a brown bridge, and a bright blue light. Desperate voices called out to me in an unknown language.
Vanya tried to Sense Stormtrooper, and found life inside the buildings. Danar started fiddling with the camera.
Inside, the air had a reddish glow, a sulphuric smell, and a gray fog. RE-BREATHER!
Deuce is excited: Fuck me with a Taun-Taun
Khun: Thought you were a bantha boy
Deuce: Not now.
Inside again, there's a bridge system that spans an energy plant. There are airscrubbers, which lessen the sulphur content to normal levels. Lava pits all over. Danar is controlling a small camera droid that is floating around. Khun and the other troopers are staying outside. The cameras in the place were not made in-sector. Interesting. I messed with the door to keep it from closing.
Yeager found some Sisters of Battle! 6 with blueish-white plasma flamers. Yeager ran in, annnd the sisters shot him. Four spinning disks came whirling out onto the floor. I threw one into the lava, and Danar shoved one back into the room. Two left. Vanya tried to TK the others.
ow. got hurt by one. Danar is now hanging over the lava pit. Vanya is knocked down. Burner is getting cozy with the wall.
The Cetaganda are under the Sister's protection, and they will not tolerate what is happening here any more. They are here to end the turning of sentients into animals. Ah. So we're on the same side. Great!
Vanya did a great job telling the truth.
The sisters want to take Yeager with them to put him in the breeding program. Woohoo!
They offer not to destroy the lab, which is nice of them. Really. They copied and sent out something about a series of communications from the Dr's here and a Matres Preena. Tag identifiers on the files say “series 2” and “series 3”. the last file says “contract cancellations”.
On to the next part of the building.
Inside, it is sterile looking, and lab-like. All white-smooth, and curved. Kaminoan architecture. Computers everywhere. Beyond is a set of tubes and holding pens. An altered Kath hound inside one is still alive.
Worm.
Shattered tubes and broken holding cells. One is really large. A worm.
The computer screens are still on – they must have been interrupted. Lab notes, status screens. Everything's still on. Data pads, too. Striker heads in to retrieve the information. 2 worms are in there, one is 3 feet long, the other about 1 foot.
Khun and Yeager look for a repulsor sled, and find turbo laser batteries modified and aimed at glowing rocks – not melting. The lava is being used as a power source. Perhaps this is a reason that the planet is in uproar. A wound on a living thing.
Vanya is looking for “stormtroopers”.
I got worm samples and kathhound samples and did the right thing by the poor kath hound in the lab. It died peacefully.
Three Kaminoans are working off Ko Sai's notes. They have a paid contract with Matres Preena. Also, they have a contract which is encrypted that comes from the Landsraad itself. Vormecetti. Genetically altered kathhounds with increased strength and camouflage pigments in their fur – like chameleons. Using Kathhounds as base stock. Other projects for Matres Preena include altered samples of ysalamiri – which Vanya tells me are ferrets that can create shielding against the Force.
Human cloning project specs use this animal stabilization matrix. Antiforce properties added into cloned humans. (they could be like Leech in the xmen!).
Series 3 made it to clone trials. Several pods were created. Final beta had been delivered. Contract canceled. By scientists – lack of payment. Ko sai's data is there.
Worms:
1) Small, unaltered bone worm
2) native to world using it as a basis for research.
Genome for own cloning research. Genetic samples of retroviruses were found. All is now on a repulsor lift and ready to go to the ship.
Vanya runs outside. She's following Yeager's uh.. copy. This copy apparently has the same abilities as the Man-e-gesserits we keep running into. He is heading in the direction of the Sisters of Battle. Heat trails from droids are getting in the way of finding the ... uh... copy. That is so wrong.
R5 sends information regarding telemetry of anomalies. I (and Danar and Khun) go back to the Mismatch with samples. Put the samples in the cargo hold. A distress call – from Sister Commander Mera Dal (the one Vanya had talked into calming down). They and their ship are under assault. Bigger bug monsters are swarming, plus something that they cannot see.
Part 4
Samples have been taken to the Mismatch by myself, Danar, Striker and Acer. Khun and Deuce are running on the ground. Yeager, Vanya, and Ace? Are chasing Yeager #2, or at least trying to find him.
(Lots and LOTs of bad guys on the ground. OMG scary bug thingies!)
I'm doing my preflight checks rather quickly.
Vanya: Good job on keeping us unpredictable
Yeager: Wait until we do the barrel roll!
Hellwombats – middle ones. Hellweevils – has a shield
HellWalrus (koo koo ka doom) – has inner charging capability, beam of energy slices the ground.
Hell aardvark? No, that's too silly...
Hellweevils like ships. Spikes hit the Mismatch.
BIG HUGE BATTLE. In which, hopefully, we'll be Big Damn Heroes.
R5 is hit with an EMP, as is the Mismatch.
I don't like anything messing with the Mismatch. I climbed out of the hatch, and eased my way to a good place on Mismatch's wing. Then, I jumped on the Walrus, maneuvered to its back, and delivered a nerve punch to its neck under the armor plating. I managed to ride the thing in this way, and can control it. Eleni Wormrider. Yeager says this is going on the highlight reel.
Sister Commander Mera Dal of the Sisters of Battle is very impressed. Not sure why it's so exciting. It certainly wasn't the most pleasant smell in the universe.
A virus has killed the other mani-gesserits.
Important captive of the Sisters – Tan Sho – a Kaminoan scientist.
I took a tooth from the Walrus worm thing as a souvenir.
Abbess?? I'm an abbess in the Sisters of Battle now. I am NOT shaving my head! It is quite an honor, and a responsibility, though. All I did was ride a worm, guys.
We destroyed the other buildings.
On the way back to Tar Sona Station, we have 8 Sisters of Battle, 2 mani-gesserits (for lack of a better term) – this is Yeager's brother and one other. 5 Clones plus Yeager and a pet “dog” of Striker's, Tan Sho, Danar, Vanya, Khun, R5, and myself.
Now to save Razak and Davish!
Message beacon transmits this message in general broadcast on the old vor channels. It's is a young lady's image, her hair brown and in a bun. She has Vormecetti colors on. Only one person should be able to see the image embedded in this message. It will only activate when he sees it. Please send to “a young man of the acquaintance of the House of Vorhejeron”.
“he is nearby. I don't know who else is with you. Following your example, Danar. They are up to no good. I am going to break in and find out what is happening. People are being hurt. But he wanted a duel with feather-clubs.” It was sent about ½ hour before we received it.
1 million Yeagers controlled by witches – crazy!
Jenna Vormecetti tried to ask Danar for a dance at the last cotillion – he declined in a graceful way. She obviously thinks he is a hero. Danar has a spy looking into the illegal clones. She works for Simon Illyan, and is an analyst in the records office.
Ok, so we did save Razak and Davish, and Simon and I had a nice date. The Sisters who think I'm their Abbess have taken up residence in RM's temple on Procopia. It seems to be a good fit so far. I didn't get to report to Yoda this time, but I had enough reporting of my own to do. This genetic manipulation stuff needs to be carefully scrutinized by the best. The medglove is really going to come in handy, and the tooth... I think I'll have it made into a knife.
-need to find out who ended up with Yeager's copy and the other aberration, so we can dose them and get them back to normal (thanks to epsode 43).
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