Stars Without Number: Scions of the Stars, Ex astris intellectus Options

[JxJxA]

"Then we are agreed," says Captain Olumese. The man stands up and nods to you as you gather to leave.

"If you will excuse me, I must inform Pantheon Command of this new development and begin making arrangements for mission parameters. I have arranged for an escort to take you to you quarters. This is a big ship, and I would hate to see you get lost. I will also ask that you stay in your quarters until we dock. There are sensitive items on this ship, and I must ensure their integrity."

When you exit, there are two large Humans dressed in Re outfits with red shoulder stripes---unlike the captain's, whose stripes were green. They nod politely to you and silently lead you towards your quarters in the crew section of the ship.

The quarters provided to you are comparable in size to those you have on the Terra Firma, but feature several more amenities. The bedding is fresh and new, the showers have several features---some that appear to be for the more exotic members of the crew. They also feature various terminals with access to entertainment and information libraries. From what you can see, you suppose Re officers travel in style.

---

Two days later...

Upon reaching the Rajeon system, the Truth Seeker glides through shearspace towards Rajeon Station. The Peerless class Bannerjee station orbits the red dwarf Rajeon, syphoning spike drive fuel from the solar winds the star releases. As it approaches, you are escorted to the cruiser's docking bay by a pair of Re officers in civilian clothes. This will allow you to arrive on station faster, and also avoid being seen disembarking with the entire Truth Seeker crew.

When you arrive, the Re officers tell you that your liason will meet you at the Stardust Lounge. They tell you to ask for the table near the back window. This will let the liason know who you are.

The Stardust Lounge is a well kept bar with a thin, blonde hostess dressed in a tight, black synth silk cocktail dress who is looking for potential customers. The interior looks dimly lit, with most of its lighting coming from a tinted viewport of Rajeon. When you approach, she smiles.

"Greetings, and I hope you're enjoying your stay on the station. Can I interest you in a drink?"

[Lain]

Alice nods, looks over near the back window

Yes, I'd like a drink and to sit over there near the window please..

then she casually looks around the room scanning for trouble, or interesting people

[JxJxA]

Alice

You see nothing out of the ordinary from where you are standing, just the usual cast of space station bar patrons. Most are Human, but you occasionally see a Hochog among them.

All

"We have one table in the back, but it is occupied. However, the guest already sitting there said it was all right if we sat others there as well. Is that all right?" The hostess asks with her friendly smile still firmly in place.

[Buddha72]

Ravenna looks around as Alice speaks with the hostess about their seating arrangements.

[Lain]

Alice looks to see if she can identify the person at the table, and if appears non-threatening will respond

Sure that's fine, Thank you

[Lain]

Unable to see the table, Alice looks towards her companions, and smiles to the hostess

Lead on

[Fenris]

Glancing towards Alice and Ravenna, Sereth nods as they start forward. If the two psychics didn't have an issue sitting with whoever it is, he had little reason to be suspicious. Besides, they were going to be on the station while repairs were enacted with the Tera Firma anyway it wouldn't hurt to socialize a bit and get to know the political lay of the land.

[JxJxA]

The hostess' plastered smile grows a little wider. She motions towards the inside of the Stardust Lounge.

"Please follow me," she says cheerfully, and she leads the group towards the back of the lounge.

The Lounge has a central bar with stylized chandelier scattering dim light throughout the lounge. The majority of the light comes from a viewport behind the central bar that shows Rajeon, with the window tinted enough that the light is only slightly brighter than a candle's. The choice of lighting has two effects. First, it covers up the otherwise utilitarian features of the bar---it appears to be a converted cargo hold. Second, it gives the patrons a shroud of anonymity.

Stools line the central bar, along with a booths at the edges. The hostess leads you towards the bar and then makes a right, going towards an adjoining room filled with tables and high-backed booths. This area is more crowded, unlike the main area which only had a handful of patrons sitting at the bar. Most of the booths are occupied with the exception of one in the very back. It is empty save for a half-empty mug of some amber spirit, and a black jacket tossed to the side. When she comes to that last booth, she gestures for you all to take a seat.

"It looks like our guest has left for the moment. Anyways, please have a seat. There are menus on the edge. Please press the service button once you are ready to order." The hostess gives a slight bow, and then heads back towards the front of the area.

A few moments later, you hear a strangely familiar voice.

"Well, shriek me," says Ezri Khatar.

[Buddha72]

With a shocked look that quickly turns to happy surprise at the sound and sight of their former pilot, Ravenna rises and gives a happy bow and nod to Ezri.

"Are you assigned to our new crew?"

[Lain]

Seriously?
knowing while they never would become friends, they may have to work together, Alice pastes a smile on her face but with an inward sigh

Hello Ezri, your looking well

[Fenris]

Watching the mixed reactions of the two women, Sereth chuckled inwardly before offering a wry smile up to Ezri.

"It's good to see a familiar face!"

[JxJxA]

Ezri smiles and returns Ravenna's bow as sincerely as possible for the sarcastic, rough-around-the-edges, former pirate.

"Good to see you all, too. Please, sit down and let's get started."

Ezri gestures at the booth before sliding in. She pulls a small, silver hoop out of her back pocket, and places it on the table. She passes her finger over the hoop, and then points at each member. The hoop makes a metallic chirping sound, blinks dark green for a second, and then regains its silver hue.

"A little bit of scavenged tech they told me to use. It'll make sure no one can listen in on us, and also make sure no one will pay attention to us. We can't leave it on too long, otherwise it will literally melt your brain. Not quite sure why, but half of the stuff Osiris Pantheon finds works for some inexplicable reason. The other half either doesn't work, or the big shots don't know how to turn it on."

Ezri takes a swig of her drink before continuing.

"Let me give you a quick rundown while I can still keep this damn thing on. I just got assigned to the Truth Seeker, so I was en route when I got the heads up from Captain Olumese that he's got an assignment for me. He told me to arrange for a ship, meet up with some hired contractors, and work as your pilot and his liaison---basically, he's talking to you through me. We'd fly to the planet, check out the anomaly, and report it, collect it if possible, or destroy it if necessary. He said my background would work out for this mission. Now I see why. I'm as surprised as you guys."

Ezri glances at the hoop.

"This is the last stop before we reach the planet. Provisions and fuel are taken care of, but if you need to buy something you better do it now. Also, any questions? We should still be good for another 10-15 minutes. It's tested to be safe for an hour, but you'll forgive me if I don't want to take a chance. Let me know if the spot behind the bridge of your nose starts to burn. That's the first symptom."

[Buddha72]

Ravenna smiles shyly at the strange circles destiny and the universe move you in. She pales slightly at the mention of the simple ring melting someone's brain from prolonged exposure. With perhaps too much eagerness to be done and away from the strange device she answers mostly for herself but also wanting the others to limit their exposure to whatever it was doing to keep their conversation private.

"I require nothing more at this point and ready to depart, simply let me or us know where to board from and we can begin the trip."

[Lain]

Alice looks down at her drink, shrugs and says

Ok, let's go

[JxJxA]

"All right," Ezri says, a bit relieved that she is getting closer to turning off the device.

"Here's the deal. Meet at docking pylon 3 in 1 hours. That's where our shuttle, the Slipstream, is docked. It's a shrieking piece of shit of a ship, but it's a shrieking piece of shit with a Class 3 Spike Drive---which will get us in and out of there faster. Still, you'll probably want something to read. Even if I trim the course, it's going to take a few weeks to get there."

When she finishes speaking, Ezri taps the device three times with her finger. She waits a moment before trying it again.

"Shit," she grumbles, and then tries tapping it faster.

The ring glows green dark green, makes three chirps, flashes yellow, and then returns back to its color.

"Phew," breathes Ezri as she slips the ring back into her pocket.

"Good seeing you guys. Time for me to settle up my tab. Enjoy the station."

Ezri downs the last of her drink, and slides out of the booth. She grabs her jacket and flings it over her shoulder. She heads out the door.

Moments later, a waiter comes by.

"My apologies, I didn't notice you there. Would you like something to drink?"

---

One hour later...

When you arrive at docking pylon 3, Ezri is finishing up dealing with the docking personnel. The moment she spots you she chucks a thumb in the direction of the airlock, giving you the go ahead to start boarding.

The inside of the Slipstream is smaller than your are used to on the Terra Firma. The corridors are narrower, the ceiling lower, and the amenities a bit more spartan. However, the shuttle was designed to hold 10 people snugly, so four people can live comfortably. There are five rooms meant to hold 2 people each, giving each of you your own space if you like. The ship also has a small cargo bay.

It takes her a few more minutes to finish up before you hear her close the airlock door.

"Time to take off," she calls out. "Meet me in the cockpit and I can give you a little more detail."

As you walk to the cockpit, you can feel and hear the docking clamps releasing the Slipstream followed by Ezri bringing the engines up to full power. The ship begins to hum as it shifts from realspace to shearspace, and begins to streak towards the edge of the system.

"Okay," she explains, "ETA is 18 days. I could probably get us there in about 14, but that's pushing our luck. Plus, I'll have to make a stop to refuel. Don't worry about talking freely. We had a few plain clothes officers sweep the ship for spy devices, and everything came up clean.

"Our official story as far as others need to know is that we're scavengers looking for salvage. I'm your pilot, and I got tossed out of Re for insubordination. Obviously, we're working for them, I'm an Ensign in Horus Pantheon relaying orders of our boss---my CO, you're employer. People don't need to know the story, but if it comes up that's what we can tell them.

"While we're flying, I'm going to need you, Sereth, to man the scanners. Ravenna, you seem to have a knack for telling us when something bad is about to happen, so...do whatever you have to do to keep doing that. Alice, keep an eye on the fuel levels. I checked this thing three times, but sometimes shrieking shuttle companies really try to screw you..."

---

Eighteen days later...

The Slipstream bursts into the edge of the Haleth Norr system, shifting down from drillspace to shearspace in the process.

"All right, Sereth," says Ezri, "see if you can find out where we're supposed to go..."

[Fenris]

With a nod, Sereth leans over the console. It burned a bit to be ordered around by Ezri - at best she'd been the pilot of the previous ship. But, it wouldn't due to argue, the woman definitely knew her way around flying a ship, and it made sense to leave that part to the experts.

Fingers touch the keyboard lightly, augmenting the input from the ghost rig here and there when it was faster to touch a key.

"Alright," he says, "Here's what I've got..."

[JxJxA]

Sereth

The shuttle's sensors are nothing special, but they are good enough to get the job done. You notice a strange energy pattern emanating from Perath. You think to cross-reference it with the information provided by Captain Olumese on the signal the Inquiring Mind identified. It matches with a 98.738% accuracy rating.

When you try to isolate the source of the signal, you notice something intriguing---and somewhat disturbing. The entire planet appears to be the source of the signal, with flashes of activity not unlike a neural net. After making some adjustments to the sensors, you are able to locate what appears to be the source of the cascade. It is a rocky outcropping near the base of a massive mountain range. Whatever is generating the signal is coming from beneath the mountain...

[Fenris]

"Odd as this sounds, the planet seems to be emitting something similar to a neural net. I'm not sure how or why, but that's what the equipment seems to indicate. There's an outcropping here-" He brings it up on a viewable display, pointing to the base of the mountain with a finger, "-that seems to be the source. How close can we get to this spot, Ezri?"

[JxJxA]

"A neural net? That's a bit disturbing. Let me take a look at those coordinates..." Ezri pulls up the information from Sereth's console and begins looking for a landing spot.

"There's a stable clearing about two kilometers away. I can land and let you hike your way to the spot, or maybe Alice will 'port you down if you ask nicely enough. I can get us close enough to the ground that it should be within range. I just can't land there.

"By the way," Ezri adds almost as an afterthought, "do any of you know anything about Mandate tech?"

[Lain]

Alice sighs internally,

after having me 'watch' the fuel gauge, now she thinks I can just port at will..


Alice imagines 'porting' Ezri into space about 10km away from the ship.. knowing she wouldn't do it, but sometimes fantasies are fun

if I can see an area unaided, or have been there I can, port, as you call it, up to 10k. Can you do a fly over so I can see where to drop us?

[JxJxA]

The hint of a sly grin peeks at the edges of Ezri's lips as she sees Alice's reaction.

Still got it.

"I can fly us there no problem, just can't find a safe spot to land. The area around the cavern is full of jagged outcroppings, so the closest I can get you is about 30 meters above ground. Figure'd that'd be within your range."

Sereth

The scanners also indicate a high content of particulate matter in the atmosphere. Most of it is silica, carbonate, and metal-based compounds. The concentration is fairly low in the atmosphere, but there are larger concentrations of particulate matter near the surface. The cavern happens to be one of them.

[Lain]

Alice nods..

Ok I'll go get ready, back in a bit

She disappears, reappearing in her quarters and starts packing

[Fenris]

Sereth blinks, shaking his head with a small smile.

"Don't know if I'll ever get used to that..." he murmurs to the other two, turning back to the sensors.

"Well, I don't quite have a degree in Mandate tech, just bits and pieces I've picked up here or there. Something about this particular mission that worries you?"

[JxJxA]

"Heh," Ezri laughs a bit nervously, "a lot of things worry me about this mission. We're smack dab in the middle of two hostile entities, and about to investigate an old Mandate world. Mandate tech is bizarre at best, lethal at worst---especially if it's malfunctioning, and you're telling me that the planet is acting like a neural net."

Ezri looks over at Sereth.

"That means it's a planet sized brain, right?"

[Fenris]

Sereth considers the question for a moment.

"A bit, but I wouldn't make any assumptions before we know before. Firstly, it's like a brain only in the way that it transmits information. There's the potential for something, but right now all we can tell is that signals could be transferred. Secondly, and this ties into the first, we're not sure what it may or may not control. I'll try the sensors again when we get a little closer to the planets surface, maybe we can pick up a bit more detail before we actually land."

He gives the sensors one final look and then turns towards the door.

"In the meantime, I'm going to pack bags for everyone. Assuming you're staying with the ship, Ezri, I'll pack three."