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Post by Game Master on Mar 7, 2014 17:24:23 GMT -6
The deathly orange glow of Ploba hung over the stygian Barce sky, casting a bizarre palor over the muted battlefield. Dozens of Collectors litter the alien landscape, their blood staining the ancient rock. The PCs mill around, some collecting their plunder. Others with a bit more of an intellectual bent studies the ruins. All seems to be safe, though time is of the essence. The Collector vessel could still be around. The team would only have five minute's notice.
[GM Note - Investigating / Looting]
Collectors - There are a number of grenades, Collector rifles and SMGs that could be looted. The Collectors are wearing armor that could be removed. Their armors had environmental systems that are generations more advanced than anything around right now as well as kinetic barriers capable of producing 50% more output than the best barrier available. Within the Collector Outpost, there are items as well..... Same with the remains of the lookout tower..
The Dig Site - As stated earlier, at first glance, the digsite consists of nothing more than strange metallic outcroppings. These pieces of metal seem to be resistant to any and all sorts of damage. It's impossible to take the smallest of samples. There is evidence that the Collectors were excavating the site. It's clear their efforts were on one spot roughly in the the middle of the site. Any scans would reveal something which appears to be a hatch 15 meters below the surface. The surprising part, there is still power running to it. The even more surprising part, there's a VI present there. And strangely, it's incompatible with every program and interface the PCs have available.
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Post by Maelstrom on Mar 10, 2014 11:29:42 GMT -6
"The Vengeance is on her way, peploe. ETA, three minutes. Setting down just outside the ruins, between the dig site and command post," Maelstrom announced, as he worked off a piece of Collector armor from one of the corpses.
He had already replenished his grenades from the fallen foes, but this armor intruiged him. Painted black, it would suit him well. With Emily incoming, he wanted at least a couple sets. One to wear, the rest for replacement parts.
His loot, save the grenades and two weapons from earlier, were accumulating in a large polymer bag he always kept tucked in his suit when he went on raids. Normally, he would have used a weak mass effect field on it so it would be easier to carry, but his biotics were still weak from the fight...so he dragged it behind himself.
Pressing a few buttons on his omni tool, he opened a private channel to his friend and said, "Shala, everything alright? You sounded like you were in trouble back there for a minute."
Shrugging, he tossed an intact SMG into the bag with the rest. He was glad Emily would be landing the Vengeance so close to him. And he was glad for low gravity...
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Post by dargene on Mar 11, 2014 9:52:57 GMT -6
"The Vengeance is on her way, people. ETA, three minutes. Setting down just outside the ruins, between the dig site and command post,"
Meldom decided used this moment to sit down onto the dusty moons floor with a sigh, it was true that the collectors where hard to kill just like his data said. He looked to the left of him and saw a dead collector facing upwards towards the stars. By the looks of it it had dragged itself away from the fights when it was wounded but died anyway, Meldom looked out at the stars as he nudged the collector "What ya looking at buddy, which one is your favorite"
Souls of the lost are guided home by the very stars themselves.
He chuckled as he remembered that's what one of the priests said "But they don't have souls" he smiled as his attention turned back to the dead collector, it had no weapons or grenades but the Armour was what Meldom was interested in, though it looked dull he could tell its efficiency far passed his as he saw it in action, "could reverse engineer this.. expensive sure but costs.." he started to ramble on to himself as he started to carefully take off the Armour taking care not to damage it more.
What other secrets is your dying race holding onto hmm.. would be simpler to just give it to us.
After he collected the armour into a pile he went back to staring out at the stars.
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Post by Murchadh on Mar 11, 2014 15:24:34 GMT -6
The mech had walked slowly into the center of the team of mercs and a small compartment had opened up allowing the team to store the larger pieces of there downed foes. The scot had scowled slightly as climbed down from the cockpit at the sight of three collectors piled on top of each other. He had a feeling they where going to stink. He'd had pulled a breathing mask over his head, and his light combat pilots armour had sealed up the moment his cab broke atmosphere. He had his shotgun slung over his shoulder in case he needed it. He kicked over one of the collectors with his boot and was relived to see it was very dead. Half of it chest had been blown away and a horrible grey mess was falling out of it open chest cavity. Did these things have any internal organs?
He turned back to Thor to see what was wrong with it leg. Even a rookie from basic could see what was wrong. A large chunk of rock had jammed into one of it joints preventing it from closing fully. " Gonnae gie-us some help ower haur. Ah need a biotic fur a quick repair." He said into the radio as he started climbing back into the cockpit.
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Mar 12, 2014 1:55:46 GMT -6
Esteban cautiously wandered the partially excavated dig site. He knew the Collectors were all killed off, all but one. There was something unsettling about being there though. More than just the Collectors. He was roaming ruins that may be hundreds of thousands of years old. Based off of what Maelstrom explained, these metal outcroppings were made of some of the strongest material he ever heard of. And they certainly did not look like anything Prothean.
The Vengeance is on her way, people. ETA, three minutes. Setting down just outside the ruins, between the dig site and command post.
He turned a jagged corner, instinctively staying away from the serrated edges of the metal. .... and then his HUD started flashing red, alerting him..
No....
"Meldom," he quickly spoke into the comm channel. "Can you come here? I need you to confirm my readings. I am showing an unidentified power source 15 feet under the surface. It..." Esteban stopped talking... stopped moving.
"There's a VI under there..."
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Post by Maelstrom on Mar 12, 2014 3:28:59 GMT -6
" Gonnae gie-us some help ower haur. Ah need a biotic fur a quick repair."
"What kind of help, Murchadh?" Maelstrom asked. If it was something he could do, better to fix the mech first than loot. Otherwise, best to leave it to the others. "We talking lifting? Or does something just need a good punch?"
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Post by Murchadh on Mar 12, 2014 4:09:16 GMT -6
Murchadh was rummaging through his mech's cockpit looking for his tool box. He knew he had his wrench in here somewhere. Finding it tucked under the seat he pulled it out before jumping down to the floor. He noticed Maelstrom had come over, and he gave his fellow mech a smile. " Ah need ye tae create a wee biotic bubble in th' front left leg back joint. Ah dornt want it tae close oan me an' crush mah fingers while Ah gie 'at rock it. Ah dornt want tae try tae move heem ontae a ship wi' a bad front leg. " The scott said as he pointed to the joint. On closer inspection the rock was a chunk of a strange metallic silver ore. The scot felt puzzled at what it was made out of if it was preventing two half tone leg joints from closing.
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Post by Maelstrom on Mar 12, 2014 9:18:36 GMT -6
"Ah dornt want tae try tae move heem ontae a ship wi' a bad front leg," the Scott replied.
Maelstrom considered. "I'll give it a shot if you want, but you're honestly probably better off with one of the others, Murchadh. My biotics... they're not exactly geared toward that kind of work."
As he removed the last piece of yet another Collector's armor, he added, "Mostly good for causing destruction. Hitting things. Pulling them. Crushing them. Not so much for protecting other things."
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Post by dargene on Mar 12, 2014 9:50:49 GMT -6
Meldom heard his name being called out and focused on Esteban voice
"Can you come here? I need you to confirm my readings. I am showing an unidentified power source 15 feet under the surface."
Meldom started to walk towards Esteban as he heard him speak again.
"There's a VI under there..."
Meldom started to walk faster Vi.. interesting, could be prothean or any number of things, readings could be wrong.. He pondered several things as he made his way over to Esteban.
Upon finally reaching him Meldom started to kneel to the ground studying the desolate dust for any markings "Ground does not appear to be disturbed.. if there is something down there im pretty sure the collectors did not find it, supposing they don't have an underground tunnel" He started to run a diagnostic scan on the surface, to confirm Estebans readings, it was quite surprising to him when it pinged as something was down there "Quite amazing.. if place is undisturbed, wonder if VI can understand us if we talked to it.." he started listing many questions that no one right now could have the answer too.
"Should we..dig?"
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Mar 13, 2014 4:47:35 GMT -6
Esteban knelt down on the ground while Meldom did, carefully examining the ground alongside the Salarian. They both took soil samples, comparing results of their scans... confirming their results.
"Ground does not appear to be disturbed.. if there is something down there im pretty sure the collectors did not find it, supposing they don't have an underground tunnel. Quite amazing.. if place is undisturbed, wonder if VI can understand us if we talked to it..Should we..dig?"
Esteban nodded, taking a look around the immediately area.
"We should," he started, trying to find something to help dig with. "Though I doubt the Collectors were using shovels. I'm not entirely sure what it is they planned on using to get down there..." Esteban did a sweeping gesture towards the ground. He frowned to himself, thinking back to his team, wishing he knew what the Collectors did with their equipment. "I had the original team equipped with sonic weapons to loosen the soil and lift grenades to move the soil away. It's the safest way to conduct any archaeological dig these days."
Esteban wasn't sure why he was explaining that, but he was glad that he did. There was something about Meldom that he liked. The Salarian was straight forward and to the point. He'd appreciate knowing the why behind the digging besides the what.
"We should look for them, just in case the Collectors didn't salvage them as well."
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Post by dargene on Mar 13, 2014 11:43:36 GMT -6
"I had the original team equipped with sonic weapons to loosen the soil and lift grenades to move the soil away. It's the safest way to conduct any archaeological dig these days, We should look for them, just in case the Collectors didn't salvage them as well."
Meldom Nodded "Probably stored them away somewhere, did not see them in turret building, maybe in the outpost" he nodded "Probably where i would put them, we should hurry, exciting to think of finding lost knowledge".
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Post by Game Master on Mar 13, 2014 15:03:01 GMT -6
[GM Post: Meldom and Esteban]
You will be able to locate the items needed for digging. Feel free to have fun with this. You can stick with what was mentioned already for digging. Or if you'd like, you could come up with something the Collectors would have brought. It's entirely up to you!
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Post by dargene on Mar 13, 2014 17:19:00 GMT -6
As Meldom started to widen his search While his omni tool looked normal it was a slightly experimental one borrowed from STG, Within a few moments it created a visual outline on the structure, it would be easy to dig with some work
"Reminds me of old STG Sites to find things, although we had shovels plain old shovels, brushes, then again we had more time, no idea if more collectors are out there.. not the best work, low gravity makes it easier"
He picks up a small rock then starts to outline a large area of where to dig "Should get team to look for them while we run additional scans" Oh dull lifeless moon what secrets do you hide beneath that dead skin.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2014 17:36:30 GMT -6
Iskra sat quietly next to River’s body. It was all she could do to hold it together as she waited for the shuttle. Shutting her soul tight into alittle box as it wailed in another recent failure. First Benewan not a week ago, and now River.
She didn’t deserve such trust from Corwin.
The young woman gripped her hands, trying to hold it together as she waited in silence.
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Mar 13, 2014 23:30:33 GMT -6
Shala sat and watched River as Iskra tended to her and now waited in silence. She wanted to say something, but didn't know what, and her past failure at talking with the drell did nothing to ease her discomfort, so she did the only thing she could think of; she sat next to River and took the girl's hand.
No one should be alone, she thought.
"A couple of your people who went on Pilgrimage and didn't return, it was dated before the Cerberus attack on your fleet," Maelstrom said. "The technique is common. Get a subject to reveal seemingly harmless information, and slowly work them towards the intelligence you truly want. Combined with torture and drugs, it can be fairly effective. Cerberus' attack would have been much worse, if they hadn't been as strong as they were and given Cerberus the information they really wanted."
A sob escaped her. She held back the complete breakdown, but tears flowed freely as she held River's hand.
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Post by Maelstrom on Mar 14, 2014 0:42:12 GMT -6
Maelstrom was still listening, as everyone carried on about the state of River. He was concerned, but he was also trying to remain practical, as he removed another piece of armor and a sidearm from one of the Collectors, placing it in a pile next to the body and hoping no one else would try to lay claim to what he already stripped from the corpse. His bag was close to bursting, as was the pouch he filled with grenades.
"You know," he called into the comms, "Vengeance is less than two minutes away. We're about to the point of making a decision, though. If we send River up in her with a couple of our people, by the time the ship makes it to the Valiant and back, considering pressurization, depressurization, and unloading time, we're looking at ten minutes, at least. That's with fewer feet on the ground here. If something should come back... Might be better just to call down the Valiant too. She's capable of landing, right?"
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Mar 14, 2014 18:45:14 GMT -6
Esteban rushed for the Collector Outpost. He wasn't sure if time was of the essence or not, but it didn't matter. He really wanted to get to the equipment. Meldom was right. If there was any equipment, it had to be there. All the while, he listened to what Maelstrom was talking about. It made sense to him.
"....Might be better just to call down the Valiant too. She's capable of landing, right?"
"She is," Esteban replied. "Feed the pilot the coordinated. Tell him to be ready to launch at a moment's notice, just in case."
----------------------- A couple minutes passed.
The duo entered the darkened Collector base. All the lights within still dead after the coordinated assault on the generators. His helmet visor immediately compensated for it, intensifying whatever light was left over and using the ambient radiation to estimate shape and size of everything else in the room. It was a system Esteban made for himself, happy with the 99.4% accuracy it had.
"I see what we're looking for," Esteban pointed at the corner. A small beam of light shot out from his wrist, cutting a slice through the black. It shone on an adhoc hand cannon and bandoleers equipped with dozens of grenades. "That's the sonic device I told you about earlier. Do you see anything else here that could be useful?"
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Post by dargene on Mar 15, 2014 3:25:24 GMT -6
Though dark Meldoms Helmet knew how to compensate because of sensors, two small but powerful LEDs at either side of his face lit up just enough so that he could see in front of him.
"I see what we're looking for,"
Meldom turned to look at where the light was pointing he could see an indiscreet pile of items.
"That's the sonic device I told you about earlier. Do you see anything else here that could be useful?"
Meldom moved deeper into the collector base slowly one way in and out by the looks of it... don't like that, easy to stage ambush.. or trap his eyes darted around on the floor and roof as if to make sure there was none before searching the place, he assumed Esteban would collect the sonic rifle and lift grenades.
When he was satisfied nothing would jump out at him he started to look around thoroughly "Collectors are.. messy" he said as he saw many circuit-boards, wires and other parts from some device, it did not look like it was worth looking through, next to the table he saw a flood light that he turned on, the light from it suddenly removing darkness from a section on the room. The new illumination revealed a small pile (Around 6) Thermal clips "Thermal Clips over here if you need to restock.. can't see anything else of value really, can you ?"
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Mar 16, 2014 0:01:05 GMT -6
"Collectors are.. messy," Esteban listened over the comm channel, cracking a smile. He couldn't agree more. Wherever he looked there was scrap pieces everywhere. Either the Collectors were scavengers by nature, or they were doing something else here. So he grabbed the leather strap for the sonic rifle and slung it over his shoulder.
"Thermal Clips over here if you need to restock.. can't see anything else of value really, can you?"
"No I can't," he replied honestly, not really seeing anything that caught his eye. He could appreciate salvage operations, but he wasn't after scrap metal. He was after something far more important. "Let's go. I want to see what's under the dirt." He gestured for the door, hooking the bandoleer of grenades around his elbow.
[unless there's anything else Meldom wants from there, I figure we can cut to the digging]
The digging, if it can be called that, was one of the most efficient uses of technology possible. Esteban aimed the sonic rifle and pulled the trigger. The weapon trembled in his armored hands as it sent out powerful waves of blue energy into the soil. It was specially modified to work in a vacuum, using an ether-like substance as the medium. Cheap to produce while producing the maximum results. Just as any engineer would like it.
He pulled back the rifle and pulled out his first grenade. "Fire in the hole," he warned a second before he tossed the relatively harmless grenade. It flew through the air, releasing a soft blue shimmering field on impact. Esteban knew it was the lift field, seeing approximately one meter's worth of soil take off into the air. He didn't really understand how it was possible to trap a biotic power within a weapon. It wasn't his specialty.
He repeated the process several times, removing more and more ancient soil with each round. He estimated some of the soil had to have been there hundreds of thousands of years.
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Post by Maelstrom on Mar 16, 2014 1:07:01 GMT -6
A quiet alarm went off in Maelstrom's helmet. Looking up, he saw the Vengeance approaching, initializing the thrusters to the fore of the vessel to slow its approach. Though it was approaching rapidly, he knew it would halt in plenty of time.
He checked another readout and reported to the crew, "The Valiant will be touching down in approximately two minutes, approximately fifty meters to the north of the Vengeance."
The words were barely out of his mouth before the Vengeance settled into place three meters in front of him. The hatch opened without an order, and he hefted the full bag over his shoulder again. He made the step up into the craft, quickly making his way to the aft of the vessel and depositing his loot in the armory. Before locking the small room, he grabbed two more bags like the first and replenished his supply of thermal clips.
"How many Cerberus agents did you kill this time?" Emily asked in a secure channel between the two of them.
He sighed. "This wasn't an op against Cerberus, Emily."
"I'm sorry," she replied. "Should I change my post-op greeting protocols?"
"Not at the moment, Emily. I'm not sure how long we'll be with these people," Maelstrom answered.
"Understood," she said. As he stepped outside the craft, she said, "Good hunting." With that, their secure channel closed and he resumed communications with the group at large.
"If anyone else has any loot they want to store in my shuttle, feel free. Just know the armory and the rear compartment are secured with defense protocols," Maelstrom offered, making his way to the first of several piles of stripped gear he had piled up.
Opening the first of the two bags, he started shoving in as much as he could as quickly as he could. SMG's, assault rifles, or armor. It did not matter to him. It could all be modded for personal use, traded, or sold. He had to admit, though, the armor was most attractive to him. From what he had seen, a modified set of that armor would better protect him than his current outfitting.
Considering the situation, he thought, I'll have to approach Iskra and Shala about modding this armor for me once the situation with River is resolved. Maybe Meldom too.
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