Laura II Exploration Discovery Log

[Sala]

Map

Time: One rotation of Landfall appears to take approximately eighteen galactic standard hours in the am and eighteen in the pm.

Day 1
-Arrival at Landfall
-Collected: air samples
On Unnamed Island 1 (southmost in east archipelago):
-Collected: grass, leaf, sand, dirt, water samples from river and ocean
-Grass and leaf structures found to be slightly purple off-white and brittle
-Encountered tree crab and lavender amphibian
-Recon Drone damaged when grabbed by tree crab, propeller was chewed off
-Doze Grenade confirmed to incap tree crab, deeper analysis of effects impossible as lavender amphibian made off with it
-Multiple lavender amphibians seen in river
At Unnamed Lake 1 (east continent, near north body of water):
-Collected: canopy leaf, water sample from lake
-Leaf structure similar to Island sample
-Swampy lowlands, bayou area surrounds lake
-Trees in area grow even in deep water
At Unnamed Mountain Range 1 (east continent, northmost mountain range):
-Collected: rugged grass (roots intact), dirt
-Plant matter from higher altitude not as brittle or rigid as lower altitude samples
-Mountainside contains many burrows
-Unknown colorful lifeform spotted in burrow
At Unnamed Valley
-Collected: sample of mountaintop ice
-Ring of tall mountains surrounds interior valley
-Valley has little sun for most of the day
-Badland environment with sparse plantlife
-Aggressive, territorial arthropoidal lifeform encountered, signs of possible intelligence
At Unnamed Lake 2 (Shore 1)
-Collected: sand, water sample from lake
-Northern edge of lake very sheer, no shoreline
-Shoreline and beach found to the west
-Encountered burrowing mammals on the beach, pack behavior observed
-One subject killed during encounter, body not recovered
-Water-dwelling animals observed below surface of lake

Day 2
-Landing at Shore 1
At Shore 1
-Burrowing mammals, 'sand dogs', eat offered ration
-Large aggressive mammal, 'xenobear', attacks Shuttle and is incapacitated
-Xenobear displays limited capability to reflect laser fire
-Xenobear marked with tracker, but killed by sand dogs while incapacitated near the shore
-Encounter with xeno-plants, apparently a colony of vines using rocks as a pseudo-skeleton
-Xeno-plants suspected of intelligence, creates tools by boring into rock with corrosive secretions, shows signs of language
-Crew follows pair of plant creatures into the jungle
-Crew is attacked by a hungry cat cactus
-Trees also display ability to reflect laser fire
-Walled settlement found with community of intelligent xeno-plants, location marked for mapping
-Xeno-cat discovered to carry flesh-eating spores; xeno-plants attempt to treat affected area with a red paste that heats up
-Bones of the xenobear have a pearly color to them
-Team Dove has found a species of aggressive piranha-like fish in the southern lake
-Team Dove reports that underwater plants have a dark green pigmentation, not matching the purple pigments of surface plants
-Local sapients display nervousness towards night time
-Polyvox was left with the local village to passively advance its language translations

Day 3
-Ferny admitted to knowing one of the aggressive xenos in the desert valley personally, and agreed to help Team Halcyon meet him.
-Team Halcyon discovered a temple to the Builders, the kershkick deities. It appears to be a small Sathar research lab. After a fight with a security robot the laboratory is secured.
-The Laura II was attacked in orbit and forced to flee into atmosphere to make an emergency landing.
-Ferny describes two flying predators, a winged amphibious flying piranha and an impaling pterodactyl.

Day 4
-Team Dove flies south to use their aquatic vehicle to rescue the crew of the Laura II after their splashdown off the coast.
-The rest of the teams begin assembling at the kershkick mound, preparing camouflage for their shuttles and fortifying their position.
-Team Halcyon accompanies Ferny to meet with the xenoform from the desert valley, Shards of Broken Shell Arranged Geometrically (Geo for short).
-The desert species, which call themselves Hunters, appear to have been designed as Sathar living weapons. They were cowed into obedience by threat of Sathar disintegration weapons.
-Tiki and Keita begin using the computer systems in the Builders' temple to translate the Sathar written language.
-Jace and his team ambush a group of mercenaries attempting to laser drill into the Builders' temple. They capture one intact dropship, one damaged dropship, and several captives.
-Two new levels of the laboratory are explored, revealing armed defenses, a subspace radio, a spaceship cockpit, and a small underground facility. One locked door remains a mystery.
-Baba finds the mercenary comms frequency.

-On returning to the kershkick mound, the party discovers that the rescue of the Laura II crew lead to an apparent traitor or mole knocking out the Captain and sending a distress signal to Sathar space

-Some of the bridge and maintenance crew are missing, having taken the escape pod during the fall

-A return party is sent to collect supplies and correct the subspace radio

Interrogation Information
-Captured mercenary is interrogated. Claims they were hired for a Megacorp anonymously by a Fixer, to eliminate competition so that their employers could claim the planet. Fixer is said to be a woman named Pratibha, at a hub on Araks IV made from a repurposed mining station.
-The enemy has two no more dropships, two spacefaring fighters, and a large main ship with torpedoes and heavy weapons. Part of their ship is dedicated to a doctor of suspect ethics.
-The enemy ship's chief engineer has been working on homemade power armor.
-There are nine three one new blood fodder remaining, after Huck's crew and Bevan were defeated.
-There are three is one old blood with better equipment, after Huck's crew were defeated.
-The big four are the inner circle. The Captain, the Engineer, the Doctor, and the Pilot. The pilot is said to have served with the Captain.
-Three non-combatants among the enemy crew: the Engineer's assistant, the ship cook, and the cook's assistant.
-The Engineer's assistant is his daughter, and the cook's assistant is the Captain's son.

Second Battle at the Sathar Dome

-A mercenary retrieval squad is found at the dome, lead by one of their commanders, a stubborn and pyromaniacal woman named Huck. They are engaged and defeated, with some of their members captured.

-One surviving mercenary pilot named Beth agrees to turn coat and help the party get on the mercenaries' command ship, since it is the only way out of the star system with the Laura II out of commission.

-As they no longer have dropships to spare on the mission, the mercenary commander gives a deadline time and place for Beth to complete her business on the ground and return to the command ship, before they cut losses and leave.

Return to the Laura II

-Jace's team goes to the Laura II to check on the salvage crew's progress.

-It is discovered that the two shuttles dispatched there had their fuel lines cut.

-A potential new species is spotted underwater scouting out the wreck.

-Hanna is apprehended during some sort of psychotic episode, displaying erratic behavior and writing strange coordinates in her journal.

-Marg and S'hax are found locked in the armory following their own confrontation with Hanna.

-Maintenance drones are attempting to repair the computer panels in the bridge. They have been given access to repair materials by Jace's verbal confirmation.

Edited yesterday at 12:58 AM by Sala (see edit history)