OOC - Let's begin. Good luck, good gaming, and don't end up splattered on the pavement, Rat. We'll be laying out the scenario in the first few posts, I'm thinking. No huge rush to get it all in the first gulp.
As always, I'm leaving it with some wiggle room for you to play with. I'll tighten it down as we go on the first page or two.
IC -
Your newly acquired ship glides down, the dry grasses and parched dirt blown about from the wind your gentle decent produces. The sun sets behind you, spilling fading light all about as the landing legs perch in the field you have chosen for now. Save for a cluster of small, leaf challenged trees to your north, nothing disrupts the still landscape but your own landing.
Inside..."We're down," Tir annouces from his seat, taking off the navigator's eyeview. "Ground's stable and we should be able to lift off from here in a hurry if need be. Not too many miles from the colony we detected," he adds, stretching out as he stands, white T-shirt and black pants the norm for him as always. "This is it. A bunch of people, plenty of space, and enough minerals under the surface...if you don't get blown up trying to get to them," he adds with chuckle. "Knowing you, that means they're a lost cause."
From behind your captain's chair, Rachel rises as well. "Tir," she says in a slightl annoyance, "The colony Narva...the computer says that it's a one of the biggest cities on the planet." Indeed, it is, relatively peaceful and civil - relatively, as the residents manage a tiny bit of outside trade between internal wars with other planetary factions. Managing this, they have more money and stable technology than the others, giving them a high place on the food chain despite a small area of land controlled. It's the best and more reliable place you could figure to touch down at, as any others were an even bigger toss of the dice.
Outside, as the sun sets on this world, a new day begins to grow, waiting for the rising of the sun to begin. Will it be the same next nightfall, after you've begun?
"Mmm," comments Carthrat, pulling back his ever-growing hair and tying it with a small band. Dammit, he really needs a haircut.
"Look, all we need is a little backing, a little time, a couple of connections, and we can get to mining. If all goes well, we shouldn't get into any fights.
Well. We shouldn't *start* any fights. I expect that from the outer colonies, but if this one is really as up to scratch and developed as it looks, we shouldn't have much trouble. I'm just worried about somebody showing up with the singular goal of ruining my day. Let's stick together while we're on this planet. And lock the doors on the ship, Tir."
"We'll probably have to deal with that at some point," Tir agrees as you go on. "You could get pacifist monks to swear a blood feud against you," he adds easily, taking a moment to rub his gloved hand. "Anyway, I want to stay here for now - I can take care of myself, you can take care of yourself and the girl. The ship can't quite take care of itself if someone gets greedy and serious about it."
Rachel nods quietly, taking a step closer to Rat. "I don't mind that," she says quietly, mostly for your ears.
Carthrat's hand gives Rachel's an unconcious, reassuring tap.
"Right," replies Carthrat. "This'll just be a supply run. Hopefully we can get a light car or something for transport, too. We'll be back in a few hours, most likely. Oh, yeah, how much cash have we got?"
"After all the expenses to get here? 15,398 C," Tir replies. "I'll see if I can dream up some way to get some more money while you're gone."
"We didn't pay to get here," reminds Carthrat. "Mr. 'Let's-park-in-the-woods-to-avoid-detection-and-costs. Where did you *get* all that cash, anyway?"
"I kept busy before I met up with you again, and before that," he shrugs, walking past. "If I didn't have some money after all this time..."
As Tir walks out, Rachel frowns slightly but keeps quiet until he's gone. "I suppose..." she murmurs, before turning to you. "Are you ready," she asks simply.
"Yeah. Later, Tir!" says Carthrat, pulling up his dusky cloak and heading out the ship. "I wonder how cold it is out there, anyway."
Dressed in a ulitarian grey dress and white long sleeve blouse, Rachel goes on. "I don't think it's suppposed to be that cold," she comments. "Perhaps warm by English standards." As you reach the exit hatch, you note a little panel on the side notes the outside temperature - 63 Fairenheight. A cool spring day, perhaps, on Earth.
OOC - Yay, the American/Metric divide pops up again.
"At least it's not raining," replies Carthrat, dryly, opening the hatch.
Stepping outside into the view, the slowly, oh so slowly setting sun spills orange light all around. Blue-green shortgrass blows in a light breeze. It's cool but not cold, bordering slightly more on warm instead. Besides a few small trees north of the ship, is a gently sloping plain. Not too bad at all, honestly.
Once off the steps down, "It's supposed to take four hours for the sun to set here," Rachel comments, as you smell the air. It's mostly clean, but an underscent of exhaust and metal can be detected, the siren scent of technology. "Longer night and shorter days," she muses, glancing up at the orange sky, green overpained by the large setting sun.
"Ordinarily, I'd be thrilled, but I hear most people don't like doing mining at night," replies Carthrat, shrugging. "Well, there's nothing to be done."
He produces a printed map, and starts walking towards the city.
According to it and your scans, there is a road perhaps a mile away. And indeed there is, the walk going by without incident. The sun is almost frozen in it's slow setting when you reach the road. It's not a highly technical affair, merely a pitted line of tarred asphalt running to both horizons.
Low tech indeed. It would be hell on a wheeled vehicle, and a bumpy ride on any sort of ground reliant hover craft. No one is about or going on it right now, two widish lanes cut in the middle of the grass.
"Someone should see to the upkeep of these roads," comments Carthrat. "It's probably faster to travel on the grass."
Kneeling at the edge of it, Rachel briefly holds a little broken bit of the roadstone before rising. "It looks like a road from a war movie," is her comment. "Like it's been attack or not been repaved in dozens of years." Quietly, to you, she turns. "I hope thiis isn't a sign of what's ahead."
"There aren't any fresh scorches or tracks," comments Carthrat. "Nobody has come this way for a long time, least of all to start a fight."
"With the road like this, it makes sense," she agrees, turning to look down the road. "I wonder what state the colony is in?"
"Who knows?" comments Carthrat, shrugging. "We can always find another one. They can't all be trashed, after all."
A nod, as you begin to walk again.
Perhaps an hour passes this way, the sunset going on with almost reluctant, dragging speed. It's still quite lit as a city appears on the horizon - a domed city, a road snaking into it past it's gates. Or what should be a dome, as it's cracked and shattered, only bits of it still up on the lower sides. 3 to 10 story tall building dot the area, shining in the night.
They would be, if many weren't clearly damaged.
"It's a ruin," Rachel says quietly, closing her eyes. "Was there a battle here, one that this city lost?"
"There aren't any winners in a war," replies Carthrat, shrugging. "This city was evidently attacked, but I can't say who eventually won the final confrontation. Heavy losses on both sides, most likely."
"If they were the winners..." Rachel sighs, taking another step forward. "There could be people to help there," she adds, gazing ahead. "Survivors?"
"Unless they gassed the city afterwards," replies Carthrat, shaking his head. "There's just no way to tell. The city could be abandoned, for all I know."
"That might be true..." Rachel hesitates, a shadow of doubt passing over her face like a drifting demon. "But even if there aren't, you might find something you can use in the ruins, right?"
"I probably could, but searching through a dead city isn't fun," replies Carthrat, shaking his head. "I'll poke around here and there. Maybe I can find some equipment. But I'd rather not."
Turning to you, with a rather serious look on her face, "But I want to go. If there are people still there, we can help them. I want to at least look," she says, clearly quite honest on the matter.
"With luck, and by any measure of grace, we will," replies Carthrat, striding onwards towards the city. "Oh. We're wearing clothes that look nice, and we're not all dirty and scabbed up. Someone might try to rob us. Keep your wits about you."
Smiling at you words, she nods nonetheless. "I will be," she says, grasping something in her pocket. Perhaps after the lessons fromt he past month or two, she can indeed make a show of protecting herself.
As you approach the city limits, you see the entrance gate has holes in it and is knocked aside, allowing easy access. No one is about right now that you can see offhand. You couldn't go over the domewall, as it's about ten feet of concrete before large shards of plastic or glass that formed the dome jut out from it's base. Off to the side looks to be a two seat hover craft, upside down and forgotten. A dent is in the concrete wall is right besides it, perhaps speaking of a last accident.
Carthrat eyes the hover car speculatively, but heads on into the dome, eyes shifting about alertly.
Stepping carefully over scattered debris and ruin, you enter into the dome. Ahead, a logically laid out center street leads on into the dome proper - in ruined form. Lights are wrecked, parts of the clear dome are lying about, buidlings are more ruin than whole. Save for the skitter of a passing rat, there is no early sign of life at all.
"This is pretty harsh," comments Carthrat, as he moves on. "Wheover did this had some serious gear. You don't do this with a mob of goons, you have.. tanks, ships, bombs, the whole thing."
A mere nod, as your friend surveys the scene ahead. "Could a trade have gone bad," she wonders aloud, picking ahead on on the litter strewn street. Ahead is a four way intersection, getting closer to the heart of the city. As the sun very slowly sinks into the sky, you think you can see light far ahead.
"People don't usually blow up a city over trade," replies Carthrat, shaking his head. "Illicit trade, maybe.. but most pirate gangs and marketeers don't want to give themselves away like this. Anything is possible, I guess."
Rachel begins to speak, then stops. As she does, you hear something far to the left - the sound of a stone being kicked slightly, perhaps. Rachel turns in that direction as well, words frozen and stalled. "Did..." she begins, taking a step closer to you.
It's from the ruin of a fairly large building, and you don't see anything moving. There is more than enough cover, however, to hide someone or something.
Carthrat glances over at the building, sizing it up and trying to discern a particular purpose or something for it.
It's essentially one and a half stories tall now, consisting of rubble that's fallen onto itself. It's spread out farther than it probably was before, a goodly mess of a fairly tall building. There is more than enough space behind it to cover a few dozen people, let alone one.
Carthrat edges towards the building, trying to find a vantage point where he can see into it, or at least what's on the other side.
Rachel stays close as you creep and look.
...
...
It's a wide building, and it takes a bit to get to where you can see much behind it. There are a lot of half broken walls and some shards of domeglass, making it a cluttered, hidehole rich area from what you can see. It's perhaps as big as a football field back on earth, including a single small crater where it appears an explosion occured.
At the moment, you don't see any-wait. The sound of a soft metal clattering is heard, behind one of the bigger chunks of building stone.
Carthrat skirts forward, hand slipped inside his coat in case of, well, y'know. Need of extreme action.
Trailing behind and not making too much noise, relatively, Rachel follows your lead...
Behind it is...no person. While there isn't a person here, the acrid scent of an unwashed body lingers in the air. As your nose twitches at it, you see a half broken, settled in access hatch built into the ground. Around it is metal casing, presumably snaking underground.
Carthrat pauses. "Going underground is risky business," he comments. "Don't know how friendly any natives will be to us, either."
"Ye-achoo!" Rachel begins to speak, but is cut off as she sneezes lightly. "Ah," she murmurs, waving her hand in front of her face to clear the air. "Yes...how dangerous will it be, do you think," she asks honestly. "I want to try and help them, but..."
"I don't know. I don't think we have any serious threats to deal with, but there's the moral issues that come into play," replies Carthrat, shaking his head. "Don't worry, though. They know we're here. Almost certainly."
A nod as she thinks a moment. "But...if they were attacked, will they be friendly to visitors?" Shaking her head, "I hope so," she concludes.
"Well, several things could happen, and most of them involve us walking away. In some cases, we might even keep our clothes," replies Carthrat, peering at the access hatch.
Turning away a moment, "Um..." she blushes. "You don't think that would actually happen...do you?"
"I have no expectations and thus cannot be surprised," replies Carthrat, kneeling next to the hatch and shining a torch into it.
Down and ahead is a twenty or thirty foot decent, stepping rings embedded into the wall. Down below, you can just see some shadows - looks solid and non wet. Beyond that, you can't tell from up here.
Carthrat shoves his torch in his belt, so he can keep it shining down and his hand free to grip the ladder. He continues to slowly move down.
It's a fairly long decent, Rachel following behind as you go. Down and down into the depth of darkness you decend, each metal ring taking you closer to the end of this shadowed tunnel. When you finally do reach the bottom - smooth metal, showing no signs of rush or pitting, something speaking of technology and money - the faint light from above is merely a dot in the earthen roof.
It's dry here, with a path going roughly north and one going south. Neither have any marking features that you see, nor anything of interest. Both go farther than you can determine into the darkness.
"It'll be easy to get lost down here if the paths start branching off," comments Carthrat, grabbing a knife and heading north, cutting marks into the wall as he goes to keep direction.
As you begin to walk, Rachel examines the smooth metal walling. "It's steel," she asks, curious as you head into the unrelenting darkness of the underground.
Going in, you can see you're coming to an intersection, the gentle murmur of water heard.
Carthrat tries to listen to where to water is coming from. Generally, people would rather live near water than away from it, so that'd be the way to go.
It's coming from the right, you think. You aren't perfectly sure, as the sounds are slightly echoed in the depths below.
Carthrat heads right anyway, because there's no real way to gauge where the echoes are coming from. Not without a floorplan, and a few days to make the calculations..
As you begin to walk down, the air begins to smell of various scents - smoke is one of them, though lightly. Down ahead , you come to a break in the wall. It's perhaps the size of a boulder, most of that part of the piping collasped in something. Water trickles out from it, welled up and making a small river here. It's not much, only taking up the center walking area of the metal pipe and leaving the walksides dry. It doesn't pose any immediate problem to you.
Carthrat walks up to the hole and peers through it, checking back to make sure Rachel is ok.
She is, quietly following for now. It goes right into earth and rock. Offhand, it looks like a natural water source that was tapped into or burst through the tunnels. It goes back a ways, and looks to be quite deep. It doesn't look dirty or polluted, either, at least not on any visible or smellable scale.
"Are they close," Rachel asks. "They'd have to live by the water, wouldn't they?"
"Not everything lives off water," replies Carthrat, shrugging. "But last I checked, this place was a human settlement. Primarily, anyway."
A simple nod, as the water continues to go. "If they don't live off of water, what sort of creatures are they," she asks.
"Who knows?" shrugs Carthrat. "Ones that have serious trouble getting around the galaxy, I guess."
"I see," she replies, as she peers down ahead. It's still the same as before, metal siding - though, perhaps on second view, is there a slightly downward tilt to the path?
"We must be quite a ways underground by now," comments Carthrat, slowly moving down the path. "Breathe in deep, slow breaths. If you smell anything strange, cover your mouth with some clothe and breathe through your nose; there's no telling if anything strange is down here.
I'm almost tempted to go back to the ship.."
"I will," she nods, rummaging into her pocket and coming up with a simple handkerchief. "If you think we should..." she nods. "I didn't think it would be this long."
"We'll press on a little further," replies Carthrat, moving carefully, and listening to the sounds around him.
Heading on with the stream, you hear mainly the gentle hissing of water going down metal. Slowly it does slope downward, towards what looks to be an lit opening...ahead there is the end of the pipe, going into what look to be natural caves.
At the mouth, you can now see sources of light, and perhaps twenty gathered beings.
Carthrat uses his arm to block out any of the light that's too bright- travelling in darkness is hell on vision- and tries to make out what the beings are.
As you stagger ahead, you see what looks like a group of rather bedraggeled people. A smattering of humans and a few other species are there, many carrying various electronic hand weapons - blasters, generally. Nothing too scary, but enough to be a threat.
"Hold there," one calls as she steps forward, a rather tired and grimy human woman, well into her later middle age and grey haired, her wrinkled face obscured by the gun she holds up. "Who are you?"
"A traveller," replies Carthrat, glancing around. "One who has a knack for poking his nose into odd places, at that."
"You're not with the Zaftrans, then," she asks quickly, her blaster aimed right at you. "What are you, a raider from Hillsbrad?"
"Told you, I'm just your average spacer," replies Carthrat, ignoring the blaster. "Y'know. We have a penchant for wandering around."
"Spacer," she asks, not wavering at all. Her old, tired voice is firm, a firmness that belies her time worn body. She seems to consider a moment, before lowering her ray gun and nodding to the crowd behind her after turning. "Alright," she comments gruffly, about half of them lowering arms. A few are still on you, however. Turning back, "What do you want, traveller? There's nothing left here but ruins."
"Thought I'd poke around a bit. See what's going on," replies Carthrat, glancing around the place. "What a dump. Why don't you move up into the city? There's nobody there."
"There have been occasional raids of the ruins, and we're in no shape to fight seriously," she admits openly after a moment. "Not against a large band of maraders." The admission comes grudingly, as she sighs. "The Zaftrans seem intent on making sure we don't get back up."
"Huh. I guess you can tell me all about it, later," replies Carthrat, checking out the general state of the people around- sick, healthy, crippled- what are they?
It's a pretty good range, with a leaning towards men. Most are fully grown, many older. Most are lean, the few whom aren't are merely a little overweight with flesh hanging off of them - the signs of a body wasting away from former overpacking. Dirty, make shift clothes are the norm, cuts and gashes on the old fabrics seen. Despite this, they are at least reasonably clean - smelly, but not rancid. All carry some form of weapon, most favoring low grade blasters.
You'd mistake it for a group of stranged desperados more than anything else on first glance.
"If you have something useful, maybe," she concedes, hand still holding her weapon, at least not aimed at you right now.
"I'll tell you what," replies Carthrat, glancing around. "I've got a ship. I've got a pilot. You look like you've got some refugees stashed away behind your little army, here. I've got the worlds finest doctor on hand, too.
On the other hand, this planet was originally colonized because of the mining opportunities. This whole complex belonged to a mine once, didn't it?" asks Carthrat, pondering.
"A doctor," she relents, showing interest. "If you have a doctor, yes...we can talk," she agrees guardily. "Where is he?"
"*She* is right here," comments Carthrat, gesturing at Rachel. "Don't be shy, now."
Rachel, whom had been silent and quiet until this points, flushes slightly. Yet, she steps forward. "Yes, that's right," she says softly. "I'm still young, but I'd be glad to help as much as I can."
The leader of this makeshift band pauses, then shakes her head. "If this is the best..." she murmurs, just heard to you. "We can't complain if she has the goods. We'll need a demonstration first."
"Do you have a pre-injured patient handy?" asks Carthrat, wittily. Ha-ha. Such wit.
"We have someone," she nods. "There was an accident a few days ago, and he's still gravely injured."
"Where?" asks Carthrat, folding his arms.
"This way," she turns, a few of the armed men going behind you as she begins to go, as if to form a manbox around the two of you. Rachel nods quietly, "Alright," she says aloud, turning to you just a moment...
Carthrat gives Rachel a wink. Hey, what's the worst that could happen, anyway?
Smiling back at you for just a moment, she turns back as you are lead on. Just behind you, three men with blasters keep a fairly solid wall between you and any sort of break as you are lead on.
"We've made a camp down here, where the water pools and the pipes end," the leader of the group explains as you go, going deeper downhill. "It's not much, but it's the best we can do under the circumstances. There's so little left in the city that's usable..."
"Except for all the stuff those other guys have been taking," comments Carthrat, glancing around.
"Most of the raiders have taken what little is left, and most of it is beyond use or repair to us," she shakes her head.
Carthrat lapses into silence, thinking. The city was still there, so he assumed that there was still plenty of stuff the raiders hadn't found.. especially in this underground area.
Still, nothing for it, now, but to watch Rachel do her thing.
Coming to a larger area soon enough - a area where the piping ends, where a dug out groove gathers the small stream into a usable lake, where tents and rudimentary buildings have been erected. Coming out near the lake on the left, the right and beyond is a poorly lit cluster of these structures, perhaps enough to house a few hundred people.
A small group stands guard at front, moving away as they see the woman leading you on. Most you see around are scruffy or weatherbeaten. Rachel looks about, a momentary sadness in her eyes.
Carthrat eyes the sewers. They are doubtless filled with hideous diseases, waiting to prey on his weak, unimmunized body...
"Er, where do you get the power from?" he asks, jolting himself out of his silly paranoia.
"Glowrods and small generators," she shakes her head. "One of the few things we have is a single water/energy producer. It's small, but it's enough for lights."
"Where do you get food from?" asks Carthrat again. Maybe they fish!
In the sewers!
"Whatever we can dig up, along with the dwidling rations we have," she shakes her head, as you head into the camp proper. Leading to you a rather large tent, she pulls open the flap and heads inside.
Carthrat heads in after the woman. "How long have you been done here, now?" he asks, flatly.
"A few months now,"s he murmurs, as you head inside. Layed out here amid some metallic junk and a few machines are several futons. Each lies a person in various physical injury, a splinted arm, a shattered leg, a coughing fool, and so on.
"How much longer d'ya think you can hold?" continues Carthrat, leaning against the wall and letting Rachel do her thing.
As Rachel goes to the first one, holding their hands and talking softly but warmly, "I don't know," she admits. "We're living day by day as it stands."
Carthrat remains silent, musing to himself.
This supply run is a bust. I need to catch up with Tir and work out what to do next.
Geez, though. I've gotta do something about these people, too. They're obviously not going to help themselves...
Kneeling by injured man, Rachel murmurs softly. Baby blue light seeps from her hands that lay on the broken leg and covers it in it's light. A soft gasp comes from the injured man, as well as from your guide.
"What manner of technology is that," she asks, half to herself. "I've not seen anything like it."
"Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies," replies Carthrat, edgily. "Suffice to say that Rachel is very good at what she does."
Words pass between the victim and Rachel, thanks and confusion. "It must be highly advanced to heal that quickly..." she murmurs in awe.
"That it is," replies Carthrat, who has of course as much idea of what exactly Rachel does as the next man.
She nods, watching as Rachel goes to the next man. It seems to be the flu, the magic going to the chest and lungs this time. "It's like a panacea," she muses softly.
"And one that can't be used too frequently," interjects Carthrat. "It's very draining on the user."
As if to your words, Rachel stumbles slightl on rising, seemingly woozy. "Mmmm..." she murmurs, as she struggles to right herself.
"See? She should be ok in an hour or two," says Carthrat, quickly moving to support Rachel.
She leans on you as she takes a deep breath, rubbing her arms. "I'm alright, Carthrat," she says after a moment, standing. "It was just harder than I thought."
Carthrat nods, gently, before turning back to the woman who seems to be in charge.
"I've proven my word," he says. "You said we could talk, huh?"
She has gone to sit next to the first injured person, the two talking momentarily. "As you wish," she nods. "You seem to have delivered your end of the bargain well so far." Rising after patting his hand, "This way," she says, beginning to leave the tent.
Carthrat starts to follow the woman, feeling slowly more at ease, now.
"What's your name?" he asks, wryly.
"Kim," she says as you go along. "Kim Vera. Yours?"
"Tanewaki Carthrat," replies Carthrat. "Er, well, technically, Carthrat Tanewaki, but I'm so used to how the Japanese do it."
Exiting the tent to the improptu city beyond, you find your host leading you onto the small lake where the water gathers. A few men and women are taking pots full of water away from it, back to the structures. "I haven't heard of that race," she notes. "Japenese?" she asks, slightly mangling the unfamiliar word.
"They're a subrace of humans on Earth," replies Carthrat, shrugging. Hey, everyone knows about Earth, right?
Though only a few knew that Japan was a central landing area for estranged fringers. Ah well.
"Mmmm," she nods understandingly, coming to the edge of the water and kneeling. Taking a cu pped handful, she drinks. "If you are thirsty, it's clean enough to drink as is - the water doesn't have any local nasties that we're aware of."
"I'm allright," replies Carthrat, absently tapping the canteen at his belt. "Where does the water flow from?"
"There's a deep water source that the city tapped into," she begins, wiping her lips gently. "It drives the water to the near surface into a holding tank, and it goes to the city - or something to that effect, the finer points aren't my field. We think this comes from a leak in it from all the attacks."
Pausing to stand, "We think. We're not in a position to do much but speculate on it."
"You're lucky these other guys don't find out where it comes from," comments Carthrat. "I'd check that water daily if I were you. It's not hard to poison, and if it's your only supply..
It'd be wise to boil it before drinking it, if nothing else."
"We do," she nods. "A few local viluas test the water each morning for that or an impurity." With that, she turns to see the gentle river, sighing. "As it stands, any number of small things could spell our end."
Carthrat nods.
"As I said, I have a ship," he comments. "You could easily claim refugee status, I suppose. I'm not sure how many I could transport at a time, but certainly a fair number could get off-planet within a day, if we began soon."
A pause, then a firm nod. Her face is openly relieved, "If you would...we would be extremely grateful," she nods. "We don't have anywhere to go, but it's better than here."
"You should gather your wounded," says Carthrat, nodding. "But I must know some things about your people. How many engineers, scientists, builders.. that sort of profession overall. How many would you say are in your number?"
"Not many," she nods. "Most of the scientists were caught in one of the destroyed buildings - we have a zoologist and a few odds and ends, but nothing greatly skilled. Half of us are semi skilled workers or survivors of family members here.|"
"I'd like to talk to any of the surviving scientists," says Carthrat, shrugging. "And especially anyone who was involved in city planning."
She nods. "That's fine," she agrees. "But if I may ask...why?"
"This town used to be a mining town, didn't it?" asks Carthrat, shrugging. "I'm here to pick up some cheap mining gear, and then I'll be doing some mining.
I didn't expect this place to be in such a condition. I figured I'd be able to get some hired hands and stock up on minerals, then do some building. I must admit, I was tempted to pack up and go elsewhere, but I can hardly do that now."
"Ah, I see," she replies. "We'll be happy to help you with that how we can," she pauses. "What exactly are you looking for?"
"Iron, Copper, and Uranium," replies Carthrat, shrugging. "Oil wouldn't go astray, either, but that's something of a pipe dream. I'll probably just buy it."
"Iron and copper are easy to find here...Uranium, not so much," she nods. "It's more outlying. As for oil...there are oil fields on the other side of the planet somewhere, but not anywhere close."
"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it," replies Carthrat, shrugging. "At any rate, I need equipment. Where's the nearest mine?"
"There are nearby, but deep in the surface. The minerals aren't close to the surface anywhere on the planet, so it requires deeper mining than usual."
"Have the surface minerals been mined out already? Dammit!" swears Carthrat, pounding his fist against a wall. "This'll be more work than I thought.."
"There were very few to begin with," she shakes her head. "Even oil and coal are fairly deep down, there is a thick layer of sedimentary rock between that and most resources." Looking up, "They aren't that hard to get...if you have the technology and patience to dig some."
"Well, I have to work with what I've got," replies Carthrat, irritably.
"Is there anything on this planet worth some money? Some serious money?"
"Mainly the minerals," she nods. "Or...to certain parties, the technology others might bring in, to take it for themselves."
"What parties? What technology?" asks Carthrat, eager for opporunity.
"Whatever various factions or groups import," she shrugs. "With the chaos and uncertainty, very little is produced on the planet and minimal progress is made because of it."
Carthrat nods, musing over his options.
"Look, Rachel is probably getting tired by now, and I'm not so hot myself. If you could give us a place to crash, we'll start moving people out when we get up.
There's lots I want to do here, but that takes priority for now."
"If you wish," she agrees. "We can certainly provide a place for you to rest the night."
"Thanks," replies Carthrat.
A little while later finds you in a tent far from the lake. It's not much, but there are a pair of dirty emergency futons there and a pot of clean water. Rachel lies on the second one, having begun to fall asleep the moment she lied down.
It's quiet at the moment, and restful...
A few months and I'm still hardly closer to finding Diane.
I wonder what I'll take her too after I find her. If things have escalated on Earth, by now, it must be on the brink of civil collapse, and being evacuated...
Trying to shift these worrisome thoughts away, Carthrat tries to get some sleep.
Sleep comes quickly to Carthrat this night, perhaps a gift from the heavens. It is a restful slumber, and soon the next day dawns bright and energetic. Or it would, if you weren't awakening in a tent pitched in a cave.
Ah well.
Rubbing your eyes, you see that Rachel is still asleep. The sounds of movement and life are outside - voices, people going about, and so on.
Carthrat decides to leave Rachel be for the moment, and gets up to move out and have an independant look around.
There seems to be the start of a gathering - items being centrally relocated, people getting together for someting. It's near the entrance of the cave, as if they are perhaps readying themselves to go.
Must be getting ready to leave..
Carthrat heads towards the entrance of the cave, looking at the sort of people about.
There is a goodly number about, perhaps 50 in total. What meager items they still have are being gathered, as a few people direct the whole shebang.
In general, while still kind of dirty and ruined, there is something to their manner - a sense of hope and escape.
Carthrat eyes the group, looking in particular for weapons and such.
It's mostly small arms notes - energy weapons, a few vibro knives, and one notable thing - an energy cannon, though it looks like the barrel is damaged.
Carthrat eyes the barrel. There's not much time to really fix it, and having a weapon like that damaged could cause a lot of harm. Maybe that model can be sawn-off...
On an offhanded look, it probably could be. It would take a bit of work, likely.
As you do so, you notice the group getting going in earnest - they haven't really noticed you.
Carthrat makes himself known by walking through the crowd- he tends to leave an impression, after all.
This does get attention - you stand out a fair deal from these refugees. A few eye you, some show shock, and most are simply interested. "Carthrat!" comes the call from the leader of the people, near the front.
Carthrat heads to the front, wishing he had had time for a shower. Damn.
"Moving so soon, eh?"
"We're preparing," she nods as you get through the parting mass of men and women. "Also," she nods as you get closer. "They're curious about you. If you would, would you talk to them a moment?\"
"Well, uh, ok," replies Carthrat, shrugging. "What do you want me to say?"
"They want to know who you are and that you're saving them," she says consicely. "We're tired and scared, and most want to be reassured that this is salvation."
Instead of giving an out-and-out speech to the crowd, Carthrat starts by mingling with them- introducing himself, asking how people are, where they hope to go, if they have any family, that sort of thing. He makes more than a few promises, too- and he's at lest pretty sure he can keep them.
"Thank you!"
There is much more said than this, some of it nicer and soime of it not. Yet, most are fundamentally happy if wary of your help, ready to finally try to recover their lives somewhat. A half hour passes this way, Rachel coming to you at last. Away from the crowd a moment, "Are we going to begin today," she asks.
"I guess," replies Carthrat, putting on a sulky pose. "I can't believe I'm doing this. Man."
"It's the right thing to do, and a good thing," Rachel notes, looking over the gathered people.
"Doesn't help us get any closer to Diane," notes Carthrat, shrugging. "Ah well. Whatever."
To that, Rachel's smile slips ever so slightly. "I know, but..." she hesitates a moment. "It's the right thing to do," she affirms, shaking her head.
"Don't ask me what I'm gonna do with all these guys, though," comments Carthrat. "I'll drop 'em at the nearest federation planet.. man, if I can even get there."
"Or a station," she suggests, as you hear the crowd moving. "We can find out when we get back?"
"Yeah. Maybe. Tir should know," replies Carthrat, shrugging. "And he can take care of himself is some bandit group shows up at the ship, for which I'm eternally thankful."
"Yes, he can..." Rachel says, mostly managing not to show disapproval there. Brushing it aside, however, "Shall we get going, Carthrat?"
"Yeah, why not," replies Carthrat, shrugging. "Get your spells and prayers ready. You'll probably need them. I fear someone might notice our, erm, exodus."
A nod, "I hope not," she says, however. "Perhaps whomever did this won't interfere?"
"Hopefully not," replies Carthrat, shrugging. "There's not really anything to take, anyway, so if they attack, they'll have some other motive.
I suspect these bandits wouldn't be much better off than these guys, though, so they might try something anyway."
Agreement from her, as the group begins to organize. "How many," your friend asks at one point, as the most injured are being prepared for the trip. A few stretchers, some limpers, and one guy with a helluva nasty cough are the line up.
Good thing mere bacterial infections are sooo 21st century to cure.
"Possibly too many," notes Carthrat. "Mostly the sick and injured and kids and stuff, with a few healthy adults to keep 'em together. Good thing we've got a decent medbay for vaccinations- if we caught one of these local illnesses, we could die within a week."
"She will protect us," Rachel murmurs to that, nodding as the load gets going. It looks like about 15 to 20 will work well, perhaps slightly more or less.
It's not a bad first trip, anyway.
Carthrat sticks his hands in his pockets.
"Well, let's get going," he says. "It's a bit of a walk to the ship. Help me get people organized so we can leave."
<Timeskip!>
<Timeskip!>
Dodedoedoooo.....
<Penguins dance>
---
Heading back to the path you go, retracing your steps. But past the manhole you went down you go, towards another passage. This one begins to slope up, finally coming to a large wall embedded metal door. Looks like the way out ...
Carthrat looks for something to open the door with, like a doorknob, or (more likely), a console.
There is a console, which one of the more healthy men points you to. It's barely on, clearly on a small emergency power source. It's dim light shows you enough, however - opening it should be easy.
Carthrat hits the button to open the door, hoping that the thing still works. It should- these things are built to last.
It does almost silently, the still lubricated metals sliding effortlessly. Ahead is the ruins of a building, dark and quiet. The sounds of the wind and of huffy, gliding guts of air race about.
Carthrat feels the wind-chill, even though his coat. He glances worriedly up at the sky- a storm is *not* what he needs.
The pre dawn sky makes you frown - night is longer here. Yet clouds do race across it, a nasty omen. The almost purpledark tint to the sky suggests rain soon.
Across, there is a gaping hole - the exit, improvised, into the barren streets.
"Well, let's go," calls out Carthrat, and he starts forward, leading this ragtag bunch to freedom.
Odd how things turned out like this so fast.
The streets are dark and dim, but not enough to impede your progress. Your mini caravan heads out to the old town gates, where you entered shortly ago. Out the caravan goes...
...
...
Perhaps fortune is in your favor, but your group slowly advances without incident. The sun gradually rises, much slower than the pace Earth's sun sets. Light begins to shine down on you, as your ship comes into view...
Carthrat hugs his coat around himself- it's chilly and windy and not weather he's fond of at all. The slow-rising sun is not a reassurance- either it's distant or smaller, and neither are fun.
Still, his ship (and central heating) await!
As long as it hadn't been pillaged.
As you approach, the hatch entryway opens with a hiss. Tir hops down, quickly eyeing the group you brought with you. "Bringing guests over already," he asks. "You've been up to something. How'd it go?"
"Helmsman," acknowledges Carthrat, gravely.
"Some refugees, dude. Hey, Rachel, go kick up the medbay. Get a few of the sicker people into beds and such. Tir, go find some Galactic Council place where we can put these guys. I'll find some food and crap."
He turns to the crowded group. "Welcome aboard, kids. There's some seats and couches and stuff in the living area. I think there's even a television."
Thus, the group is loaded in! Once they are, Tir calls you to the helm while Rachel stays with them. "Good timing," he notes. "Sensors area picking up land and low level aircraft coming towards our area. Still a couple of hours away, but they're coming."
"What, planes? Tanks?" replies Carthrat, derisively. "Can you get energy readings on them?
Have they got any heavy plasma stuff? If they don't, they probably don't have anything better, so I doubt they can penetrate shields. Except maybe for rockets and the like.. but it doesn't matter. We should be in orbit before they even get here. Better start taking us up."
"Midrange stuff. Some plasma and energy, but it doesn't look like a lot," he nods. "And I'm already on it, Rat." Up your ship goes, up to the stars beyond. As it breaks orbit, "So...what happened there," he asks, turning once he setsit on autopilot. "Gonna be a couple of days, by the way."
"Refugees," replies Carthrat, shrugging. "They were all holed up in some.. well.. hole when I found them, poking around underground. Can't leave them there like that, can I? They and their former city have been apparently ransacked by gangs- probably groups in the same plight, just with bigger guns.
But I had a look at the planet, too. It'd be a good place to work. I'm pretty sure there's enough infrastructure that hasn't been ruined in the major cities and whatnot for me to work with. I doubt the gangs have taken any of the real important stuff- the scientific equipment and whatnot that I think could be in any one of the ruined cities. And if I can move the bits I need underground, I could work without having to bother dealing with uninvited guests.
So, you see, everyone wins this way. I take out the refugees and they get to live lives that aren't threatened with death every other second. In return, I get to borrow a few of their healthier men and get them to help me out with manual labour and whatnot. Plus I get this neat underground city in the bargain. It's everything a mad doctor could want."
Tir nods along at the right points, waiting for you to finish. "This is it, then," he asks. "No more doubt?"
Carthrat flops down in the co-pilot chair.
"It'd be nice to work in an idyllic world, wouldn't it?" he mumbles. "But yes, that's the plan, right up until someone decides they don't like what I'm doing and wants to throw a wrench in the works."
"Mmm," Tir nods. "Operations like this never seem to go as you want, and someone always takes an unhealthy interest in them," he agrees morosely. "That's before factoring your shining personality in, even," he adds a second later.
"Oh, thanks," replies Carthrat, flatly. "I'll have you know I've been on my best behaviour, now that a girl is involved."
"Heh," Tir chuckles. "A girl, or a special woman," he asks idly.
Carthrat muses for a moment. "Maybe like a favoured niece," he replies, smirking.
"I didn't know you were into that," Tir comments, as he works the controls. "We'll be ready in a few minutes."
"Dude. I would make the most awesome uncle," replies Carthrat, shaking his head. "Admit it."
"If going on long space trips is your idea of awesome," Tir says, as the ship starts racing up. "I suppose you're getting practice already, though."
Carthrat shrugs. "It'd be allright, if the possibilty of a battleship showing up and blasting us off the galaxy wasn't a distinct possibility."
"Yeah," Tir replies, as your ship continues to ascend into the heavens. "Anyway, we'll be out of here soon. Are there any more of them, or is this it?"
"That's the lot for now," replies Carthrat, shrugging.
"For now," he asks, as he checks the guidance system for orbit. "Got any more charity plans going in that head of yours?"
"Nah. I figure we'll just do it as we go along," replies Carthrat.