Beta 503-B IC

[ArcaneStomper]

---

Operation: Concrete Jungle
Worldline: Beta 503-B
Operatives:

Briefing
With ongoing refinement of the worldline scanning process the Exodus project has been able to locate and examine variations of the same world. This is how they found Beta 503-B. Like 503 itself 503-B is covered in skyscrapers and a vast cityscape. However unlike 503 it appears to be uninhabited both by people. Though the scout drones have spotted some patrolling robots.

By careful exploration Ark has made a good estimate of the capabilities of 503, and has compiled a list of materials that can't be fabricated due to lack of specific elements in the Ark, but which should be available in 503 and 503-B either in raw or processed forms. As 503 is quite violent and unsuitable for trade it is the mission of the scouts to explore 503-B and see if they can find these materials.

Caution is advised as the reason for why 503-B has been depopulated has yet to be determined. Though the robots are certainly causing a lot of speculation. It has been decided to send two groups to Beta 503-B. One to try and enter the areas more heavily patrolled by robots and the other to try and find traces of the missing inhabitants. Both groups are to be on the lookout for the needed materials.

This group will be the one that searches for the missing inhabitants. It is recommended that you travel where the robots can't.

Items Needed:
Rare Earth Elements
Silicon Processing equipment
Stocks of Purified Carbon

 

Old thread

https://og.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=540790

[ArcaneStomper]

The scouts are currently exploring an old warehouse filled with shipping containers, some of which have valuable electronics that the Ark can use. They have also located an office with documents. Their local guide is Ronnie a robotic subway car that scavenges for material. He is telling them about the local spaceport.

 

"You know the wardens. The big guys who patrol the streets and keep everything clean. I can't believe you've missed them. They usually try to keep you guys out of the abandoned zones like this one. They won't stop me, but they don't like it when I go into the Reconstruction Zones." Their is a chortling laugh, "Our definitions of unrepairable salvage don't match."

[Lonewalker]

Cpl. Jordan Pierce

ST 12 | DX 14 | IQ 15 | HT 13 | Will 15 | Perception 17
FP 13/13 | HP 12/12 | DR xx | Base Speed 7 | Base Move 7

---

As she coordinated the gathering of the salvaged electronics with Gerald and Shade, Jordan felt her curiosity perk at Ronnie's shared intel. More questions bubbled to the surface of her thoughts.

"We, uh, try to avoid the wardens when we can. So...they keep folks like us out of certain zones - why is that? Is it security or for our own safety? And the Reconstruction Zones - are the wardens the ones handling the reconstruction? Who are they maintaining or rebuilding the zones for?"

After a moment, Jordan added, "By the way, I hope we're not keeping you from a schedule or deadline or anything. We really appreciate the help you're giving us here."

---

 

[ArcaneStomper]

"Oh no no, I enjoy talking with people. I don't see many out in the tunnels. As for the Wardens they say it's dangerous when they're doing reconstruction so they keep humans out. I'm not sure exactly. I haven't seen anything super dangerous, but they don't even like me poking around. Mama says they're rebuilding things so it's safe for humans to live there, but she always gets real sarcastic when she says it. So I'm not sure exactly what she means."

[Lonewalker]

Cpl. Jordan Pierce

ST 12 | DX 14 | IQ 15 | HT 13 | Will 15 | Perception 17
FP 13/13 | HP 12/12 | DR xx | Base Speed 7 | Base Move 7

---

"You say you don't run into many humans down here. Do you know places where humans are more common? We, uh, haven't seen many either and wouldn't mind connecting with them if possible."

"Do you know what the Wardens would do if humans insisted on entering the Reconstruction Zones? Do they listen to humans at all?"

"And where do you and 'Mama' operate out of? Surely there's a place you take this salvage to...?"

As she asked her questions, Jordan directed Gerald and Shade to load their own salvage onto the car they had jury-rigged and attached to Ronnie. It wouldn't be too much longer to gather the last of what was needed, but then the group would need to decide their next destination.

[ArcaneStomper]

"Hmm," You get the impression that if Ronny could shrug it would, "Not really. There's a few places where the wardens have the subway blocked off. There might be humans beyond there. I mostly see scavengers out here. I hear they have a market somewhere, but it moves around."

 

"The Wardens will stop humans if they insist on crossing. With non lethal force if necessary. Most human salvagers I know had to sneak across. The Wardens will talk as long as you don't try to cross, and they'll help humans inside the zones get back out. That's kind of their job."

 

"Sorry, but I can't take you back home. Mama says having strangers over is dangerous."

[Xepteregicide]

Gerald listened as the salvage he had been collecting floated into the indicated vehicle, making sure to carefully settle the individual pieces so as to protect them from any further damage.

Mentally to Jordan, the psiroid's "voice" was calm and sounded almost thoughtful. "It seems as though these robotic Wardens are not outwardly antagonistic to humanity; this unit believes that finding a market would lead to finding more information." The voice changed to sound a lot like one of the Ark's educators as he added: Trade is not only done with physical goods; it can also be a convergence of ideals, warnings, information, and other non-tangible things."

Despite "Ronny" claiming the place to be safe, the psiroid did not relax. He was always on alert, even as he was examining the salvage the group was sorting through.

[taurelin]

John "Jack" Reygar

ST 13 | DX 14 | IQ 15 | HT 13 | Will 15 | Perception 17
FP 13/13 | HP 13/13 | DR xx | Base Speed 7 | Base Move 7

---

Jack nods, 'listening' to the thought-speech of the alien called Gerald. He looks around the team.

"Can you give us more on where these 'crossings' are? Perhaps we can find a way to communicate past the Wardens to the humans beyond." He looks at his team. Yeah, we have a few different things we can try.

---

 

[ArcaneStomper]

After calling in the location of the old warehouse Exodus command has decided the old warehouse would be a suitable location for an outpost. The gate has been working regularly to provide once a day shipments of equipment and personnel. A small camp has been set up around the warehouse offices and technicians bustle around checking various shipping containers for useful supplies to be shipped back to the Ark. Several cyberneticists have also arrived to interview Ronnie as he represents a type of artificial lifeform not encountered before by the Ark's scouts.

 

In addition several new specialist personnel have been sent through the gate and placed on Jack's command. He has orders to evaluate their performance while the scout team continues moving outward looking for more resource dumps. If possible he is also to find these "Warden" robots and see if they are a threat to future operations on Beta 503-B. Ark still doesn't know where the locals went after all.

[DM-Tareth]

Tamzin Belle Wolfe

Gender: Female | Age: 33

ST: 12 | DX: 13 | IQ: 15 | HT: 13 | HP: 12/12 | Per: 15 | Will: 15 | FP: 15

Basic Speed: 6.5 (7.5) | Move: 6(7)

Thr: 1d-1 (1d) | Sw: 1d+2 (2d) | Dodge: 9(11) | Parry: 10 | Block: 8

---

 

Tamzin takes a deep breath as she stares at the glowing power of the gate.  Her heart beat out an allegro rhythm as she waited in the cue standing ready to pass through to Beta 503-B.  A last check of her rifle load.  Lights flash.  Red….yellow…finally green and the technicians are waving her through with the other specialists being sent to the new world.  Pushing the images of Franklin, Becks.,..Wallace out of her mind she slings her pack over her shoulders.  You can do this.  You have to do this.  She stares a moment longer at the rainbow vortex of the gate earning a shouted curse from one of the techs.  It’ll be different this time.  Another deep breath and she steps forward into the glimmering unknown.  

 

There’s the momentary sensation of being stretched into a thousand interwoven strands of nanofiber molecules, sucked through a pinhole tube across an unfathomable distance between heartbeats, dropped in a churning blender and poured out the other side into her reconstituted self.   

 

Prepared for the disorientation of gate arrival, she catches herself with only a slight stumble.  She was also sure to have only a light breakfast of toasted algae cake that day period, so when her stomach showed its usual displeasure at traveling across the space-time-dimensional continuum there was relatively little to vomit up into the waiting barrel.  Clearly she wasn’t the only one who had to deal with the occasional case of gate sickness.  

 

Wiping her lips with a bit of scrap cloth that doubles as her kerchief, she moves clear of the gate platform and pauses to take in the bustling camp that is the Ark’s foothold on 503-B.  Technicians loading materials and supplies to send back through to the Ark.  Others busily unloading gear for the teams continuing to scout the world and add to their growing beachhead.   Looking beyond the camp, she can make out the tall buildings and other infrastructure of the city’s previous inhabitants.    Part of the mystery she was here to help solve.  

 

Checking her gear one final time, she heads off in search of her new CO.  A few quickly asked questions points her in the right direction.  A few minutes later she standing before Major Reygar offering him a crisp NAUAF salute.  

 

“Specialist Tamzin Wolfe, reporting for duty sir.”  She says.  Her alto voice holds a hint of her western states upbringing.  Her shoulder length raven hair is tied back into a loose ponytail.  The dark tresses framing a pretty face highlighted by her bioenhanced blue eyes that glitter additional receptors for low light and night work.  Her uniform and nanoweave suit are mostly clean, a hydraulic fluid stain marks her left leg, while a bit of synth-caffeine, she really can’t bring herself to call the stuff coffee, spots her sleeve.  But what in the Ark doesn’t suffer from a few stains and wear of heavy use at this point.   More importantly, to her own mind at least, the gauss rifle and pistol she carries are both immaculately cleaned and maintained, as is the attached under barrel grenade launcher. 

[taurelin]

John "Jack" Reygar

ST 13 | DX 14 | IQ 15 | HT 13 | Will 15 | Perception 17
FP 13/13 | HP 13/13 | DR xx | Base Speed 6 | Base Move 6

---

Jack looks up from a holopad. Since Wolfe is the first newbie to show up, he takes his time and gives her a good looking-over. It takes long enough that it starts to get uncomfortable, a fact which does not seem to bother him.

He looks back to his holopad, flicking to a new file or display. Then his eyes, ice-blue, give her another once-over. She is sure now that he has noticed the oil stain on her pants leg, the coffee on her sleeve. She can't tell if he disapproves or even cares.

He points to a corner of the briefing area with his stylus. His voice is gruff, no-nonsense.

"Wait over there. We'll do introductions after the rest arrive."

He returns to his holopad. Tamzin has apparently been dismissed.

Edited December 14, 2023 by taurelin (see edit history)

[Lonewalker]

Cpl. Jordan Pierce

ST 12 | DX 14 | IQ 15 | HT 13 | Will 15 | Perception 17
FP 13/13 | HP 12/12 | DR xx | Base Speed 7 | Base Move 7

---

Jordan was walking over to Jack as the first of the new personnel greeted the team's top kick. She mentally scolded herself for not making time to review the dossiers of the newcomers previously - but quickly reminded herself that Jack would have handled the task. Jordan liked to know who she was working with, so she would have to peruse the data bundle later. For now, she wordlessly handed Jack a dataslate with her review of the inventory that had arrived with the personnel. She had meticulously checked and doubled-checked the actual goods versus the digital list. There were a couple of discrepancies but nothing that was mission critical. Once she had his signature, she could wire it back as the gate closed.

She smiled politely to Tamzin. "Don't mind Grizz. He doesn't like to be interrupted when he's working." She extended a hand, pulling off a grease-stained glove before doing so. "Corporal Jordan Pierce, Field Tech and Recon. You mind giving me a hand loading the rations onto our hoversled?"

[DM-Tareth]

Tamzin Belle Wolfe

Gender: Female | Age: 33

ST: 12 | DX: 13 | IQ: 15 | HT: 13 | HP: 12/12 | Per: 15 | Will: 15 | FP: 15

Basic Speed: 6.5 (7.5) | Move: 6(7)

Thr: 1d-1 (1d) | Sw: 1d+2 (2d) | Dodge: 9(11) | Parry: 10 | Block: 8

---

"Aye sir." Tamzin says offering another quick salute before lugging her gear into the corner. While waiting, she flicks on her own datapad and reviews her mission brief and what little information Ark had on 503B. Looking up at Jordan's arrival she returns the smile with one of her own.

"Specialist Tamzin Wolfe, Bioengineering and Robotics. Happy to help sir." She says grabbing her own gloves from where they were tucked in her belt. "I've yet to meet the CO that likes to be interrupted...working or not." She adds with a soft chuckle before following the corporal over to the sled. "Corporal Jordan...so you're one of the initial team to scout the area and make contact with...uh...what was the transport bots name...Ronnie, wasn't it? Any ideas on what happened to all the people?"

 

[Jon Walton]

Private Andreas Theriot.

 

Gender: Male | Age: 17

 

ST: 10 | DX: 14 | IQ: 16 | HT: 11 | HP: 10/10 | Per: 16 | Will: 16 | FP: ``

 

Basic Speed: 6.25 | Move: 6

 

| Dodge: 9 | Parry: 9 |

 

A thoroughly non-descript looking individual follows Specialist Wolfe through the gate, and then promptly pukes into the barrel.  He’ll wipe his mouth, then look around for somebody to report to.

 

He’s wearing a gauss pistol on his right hip, and a rather odd looking knife on his other hip.  He has a small duffle with him.  There is also a belt pouch with a red cross on it on his belt.

 

“Ah, Private Andreas Theriot, reporting?  Sir?”

[Savayan]

Eukleides of Athens

ST 14 | DX 13 | IQ 13 | HT 14 | Will 15 | Perception 13
FP 14/14 | HP 14/14 | DR 80 (Force Aspis DR 100) | Base Speed 6.75 | Base Move 6

---

An impressive specimen of a man is the next through the gate, broad shouldered an in a suit of armour that might have been mistaken for bronze armour at first glance, complete with crested helmet. But on a bit more close inspection revealed that despite the elaborate styling the suit was at least as technologically advanced as the Ark's stock of battlesuits in a smaller form factor. He carried a small shield strapped to his forearm and a staff in the other, with a modest bundle of basic survival gear slung from his shoulder. He stood for a moment after passing through the gate, standing stock still for a long moment before he undid the crested helmet and set it in the crook of his shield arm. He revealed a neatly trimmed beard and slightly mussed short hair, steel grey eyes taking in the bustling encampment.

 

Taking a long look over the camp to orient himself, he quickly identified John Reygar, his assigned commander. The military structure of the Ark still seemed needlessly complex to him, but the strange magic of their world invited complexity regardless. But at least for now he had a clear task to attend to. He strode confidently through the camp, arriving after the other newcomer. Planting his feet and setting the butt of his staff in the dirt, he waited for Theriot to finish speaking before he announced himself with a deep, resonant confidence despite his thick, slightly odd Greek accent. "Eukleides, of Athens. Also at your disposal."

Edited December 18, 2023 by Savayan (see edit history)