<> <> <> (I wanna play that game.) (People in space doing things. In space.) (GUESS WHAT YOU ARE) (SWEET MY LIFE'S WISH) * Hestia doubleclicks on the monkeys until they give up loot. (It would inevitably lead to People in Space Doing Things. In Space. The Motion Picture) * Zeke had two drones with the group, and the others were coming to his location to help with the newfound Bug carcass. (Unfortunately for Tia this is Warcraft 2 and not WoW, so the monkeys just explode, doing 1 MDC to all of you.) * Amadeus is sort of staring at the ruins. And the monkeys. He still seems mostly interested in the monkeys, but the ruins are interesting, too. * Kyle arrives with the crew shortly after the session starts again. "Daaaaayyyuum, that's massive." * Hestia glances at the structure. "I'm kind of surprised nobody knew about this. You'd think if they knew about the planet, they'd know about something *this* big." Yeah, it's pretty hard to miss. How did we miss it before landing? <> * Amadeus looks up. "Perhaps the foliage covered it..." * Lexi floats down next to Amadeus. "We should go inside!" Her eyes sparkle with excitement and she grins. * Tomas crunches and tromps through the under and over brush, coming out behind the crew in the clearing, "Sounds good to me." <> * Zeke comms, "I will harvest the Bug carcass before joining you in person." (... did you HAVE to use that word?) (Yes.) (It's delicious. :9) (...argh, AFK a sec to argue with pizza person on the phone.) (Question the purity of his heritage!) ... Harvest? * Amadeus is apparently slightly disturbed by that terminology, even though he is another scientist. He shakes his head and makes his way for the ruins. * Tomas doesn't comm, "I think he's foreign" <> * Zeke comms, "Excavate and take it to the ship." Sure, let's head in! (...how tasty do these monkeys look?) * Kyle takes another brief look at the ruins before walking in and pulling out a flashlight. * Tomas joins Amadeus, eyeing the fivemonkeys suspiciously. <> (Meat is often delicious.) * Lexi also heads inside! * Amadeus stops heading for the entrance, now watching the monkeys and their baskets and such. He blinks a few times, methodically. * Zeke's robots follow Lexi and Kyle, sticking to the walls at first. Why not free up ground space! * Amadeus then tags along behind the group, still trying to watch the monkeys, somehow. < a body roll for me.>> * Hestia was following you into the ruins all along. 2d6+5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lexi (2d6+5) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 15. <> (There any chips of this surface around?) * Lexi shakes her head and looks back. "Watch your step. Also, what the hell is this place?" <> * Hestia looks at the sudden change in flooring with a grin. "Looks like they were trying to keep the place hidden from something. Exterior is stone, interior is..." She glances at the ultragleam Death Star floor. * Tomas picks up a shard of the smooth metal and touches it to his tongue. * Amadeus walks in very carefully and reminds himself that Tomas has a cybernetic tongue. <> <> * Amadeus tries prying one off the floor, then, and weighs it in one hand. (Nigh pure?) <> * Tomas drops the shard, "It's some alloy of Titanium." <> * Zeke comms, "It is possible it was simply aesthetics." Seems like a lot of work just for aesthetics. (Do you mean that it eventually becomes a solid sheet of liquid material?) (Non-liquid.) (but I thought it was already a non-liquid sheet) * Amadeus puts it away as a sample, then moves farther in as he continues to look around carefully. (No, it was non-liquid intermittent pools.) (That becomes non-liquid non-intermittent ground.) (Right, and further into the building there are enough pools to be one sheet. Yes.) (oh, the puddles are non-liquid. ok) (They just look like puddles.) (Do the dallops look like splashed material then?) (Yes. He was metaphoring. They're not jagged. They're smooth.) * Zeke comms, "Many things are a lot of work for asethetics." * Zeke's robots are hopefully not having trouble with following on the walls, too. Hey, if it looks awesome, it looks awesome. * Hestia starts walking further in, occasionally letting her fingers drift along the walls. "No sense sitting around in the foyer, ruins or no." * Tomas continues, examining the puddles as they move in. * Lexi floats further in. "This place is so crazy. What do monkeys need something like this for, anyway? Also, Zeke, did you say something about bugs? There aren't some still around are there? Like that last place?" <> * Kyle walks in too. (The metal is only ever on the floor?) (Correct.) * Amadeus rubs some of the dust out of one of the cracks. "Soot," he comments as he moves along. * Zeke comms, "I have only found a dead one. It is of a different make than those on Mars." * Tomas runs a finger along the wall as they move in, "None on the walls." * Hestia glances back at Amadeus. "Well, you get that when rampaging silicate bastards destroy your civilization, which is probably what happened." * Amadeus shrugs. "I'm just saying, Tia." I'm agreeing with you. I was suggesting a reason for it being there. * Zeke comms, "Especially with fire." <> <> * Lexi looks around. "So... what do you think this place, was? You think those monkey things were the original inhabitants?" I don't know. I'm trying to figure out how this is even possible. * Amadeus rubs at his face. "Structures which remain intact in the aftermath of a bug invasion - but are made of metal, which they dissolve. Yet no inhabitants and no artifacts outside of the ruins themselves to be found." I still think the stone part is to hide something, or maybe decorative, or both. * Amadeus nods to Tia. <> * Hestia glances around for a moment, then starts heading back downstairs. * Zeke's drones have all joined the group, by now. He comms, "It is possible the heat of the attack was intense enough to melt these alloys wherever they were." It is unknown how widespread the attack was. * Tomas begins to head back downstairs then halts and turns around, surveying the room, "Y'know, in training, we were told how the bugs had an attack that worked a lot like napalm, but much much worse." They'd use Si+ to shunt a massive amount of energy into an area. That could explain the burning and the melted puddles of titanium. <> * Kyle scratches his head. "Yeah... that'd explain it all right." 2d6+5 2d6+14 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Tomas (2d6+5) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 11. * Dicesuke throws the bones for Amadeus (2d6+14) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 20. 2d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Zeke (2d6+7) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 16. 2d6+8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kyle (2d6+8) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 18. 2d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lexi (2d6+7) and gets a natural 3 for a result of 10. * Amadeus blinks and slowly walks closer to one of the monkeys nearby, watching it. * Kyle slowly turns to the same monkey. (Suddenly: Poop in the eye.) <> * Hestia comes back upstairs about this time, holding her gun. "Whatever that stuff is, it's pretty durable." (Ha.) * Amadeus looks down at the whatever it is the monkey's trying to pull out of the rock. <> (Mmm. Bone.) (Can I tell, roughly, what kind of creature that bone would be from?) <> (It's in the black stuff, right?) <> * Amadeus makes his way to the rubble and looks it over, seemingly heedless of the monkey right next to him. He hits his comms: "Zeke, Tomas. Help me move this?" * Amadeus comms, "Maybe you too, Lexi. Your telekinesis is pretty powerful, isn't it?" * Zeke's drones start to move that way! Monkey best move! * Tomas heads to the rubble pile and begins digging. <> * Lexi shrugs. "Yeah, sure." She goes and attempts to lift the rubble up with her mind. <<... between one or two telekinetics, several drones, and some cyber arms, you make light work of the rubble and have exhumed several bones which were not turned into dust by falling rubble and time.>> <> * Amadeus seems pleased nevertheless as he goes about preserving them for the trip home. * Tomas before standing up after the exhumation grabs a choice piece of rubble and touches it to his tongue. * Amadeus lifts one of them. "Hm," he comments, before lifting another. "Birds." * Hestia blinks. "Well that... I was going to say it makes sense given the forest, but why would they build THIS friggin' thing?" * Kyle scratches his head. "You know what's buggin' me?" The stairs are what's really puzzling me. Those monkies are almost identical to the monkeys on earth. * Tomas stands up while processing, "How big were these birds?" About five feet tall, if they're similar to the ones on Earth. (Except for those pseky fingers.) * Zeke comms, "If the birds were the pre-existing race, given the storms at the equator, it is possible this is additional shelter from the storms." * Hestia hnns and puts her hands on her hips. "Then their actual homes were probably..." She pauses, then looks up to the WHOAMG TALL treeline. "...up there." * Amadeus looks up, too. "I'd say that's worth checking, wouldn't you?" (Okay, where are the stats for the new ship, currently?) * Tomas starts gathering up more of the black rocks, "I'm not sure what this rock is, but it tastes just like black licorice." * Zeke comms, "Reasonable. Should I bring the lander?" * Kyle nods to Amadeus. * Amadeus comms, "Please." ( http://eck.chamelaeon.com/atcdex/index.php5?title=The_Ship <-- The 'Buggy Lander' section.) (Okay, I was wondering if we had actually spent that.) (Yeah.) * Amadeus continues gathering the bones and making sure they can handle the trip back to the ship. * Zeke will arrive outside in the lander in a short while, then. An easier trip to the ship! A ship ferry, perhaps. He does not have a jaunty cap, however. <> (Hooray!) (Time to clone new ones from marrow DNA.) * Lexi will help by lifting whatever she can with TK. After all, floating something has got to be pretty handy for keeping it in tact. "So where do you suppose these monkeys came from? Do you think they were here when the bugs attacked?" Depends on how much of the planet's surface they layered with bug napalm. They could have just migrated from another region. They left the animals alone on Sleythin, didn't they? I don't see why they'd wipe out space monkeys if they didn't have to. * Kyle helps lifting as well. "Yeah, that is pretty wonky." * Amadeus heads on down to the landing now that he has the partial skeleton. "Yes. The monkeys were probably safe." <> * Tomas lugs what blackrock he can with him back to the lander. * Tomas then hops in the lander. * Zeke has squozen himself into the pilot's chair to get it there, and his drones actually grab onto the surface of the ship, rather than fill up the interior space. (I'm a pilot!) * Lexi will float up to the lander thing. "I can pilot it back if that would be more comfortable for you, Zeke. Or I can float along side it. Whatever works for you." (Wait, are you taking the _lander_ or the _ship_ up to the canopy?) * Zeke comms, "If you want to take over, that is fine." (Lander.) (Ship up is way too much work.) * Hestia buckles into a lander seat. "It could be those ruins were a shelter against the Bugs rather than the storms, too, now that I think about it." (At least, that was Zeke's assumption!) * Lexi shrugs. "Sure, I'll fly 'er back." (GM Fiat now says it is the lander.) (It was always the lander!) * Zeke gets out of Lexi's way, then! Up to the canopy! * Lexi sits down in the pilot seat. "Well this should be fun. I wonder how fast this thing can actually go." (Not that fast.) (As fast as a sports car!) (Yes. it is sad =/) (Hey. Flying sports car is still pretty sweet.) <> (well so much for that fantasy cliche. GOOD WORK CHAM.) (Your GM at work, ladies and gentlemen.) (Spoilin' ur fun since '06.) (Psh, way before '06.) * Amadeus is clearly interested in the trees nevertheless, occasionally asking Lexi to stop so he can pick up leaf and bark samples. * Hestia is watching the sensors instead. Presumably they would find something like a structure. "...well, where the fuck did they *live*?" It's not unexpected. The attack that killed these guys apparently happened centuries ago. * Lexi stops reluctantly. "Y'know, Deus. You're ruining my thrills, here." (Sorry. Joke from somewhere else filtering in.) Sorry. * Amadeus doesn't sound apologetic at all. * Amadeus takes more samples! "But this is our job, you know. Oh, insects." And he gets some of those, too. * Zeke says, for reals, "It is possible the fire removed evidence of them." And these trees are new growth. * Tomas nods at Zeke. * Hestia raises an eyebrow. "That's a LOT of new growth." * Lexi sighs. "How about I just grab stuff as we pass and drag it along with us. That way we can get back to the ship sometime this decade." Relax, I've picked up enough samples here. * Amadeus settles back into his seat. * Lexi nods. "Right then." And she guns the lander at top speed towards the ship. <> * Hestia drums her fingers on the console. "Well, this planet was pretty damn boring." * Lexi shrugs. "There were bugs. Even if they were dead. Also did we get any samples of those monkeys? Should we take one back with us?" Are you kidding? We found evidence of another intelligence race *and* a bug attack! There's nothing boring about it! * Hestia sighs and stretches her arms over her head. "You've got a really low threshhold of amusement, Professor." * Amadeus gets out of the lander and goes to put the samples away. "And yes, Lexi, we probably should take a monkey home with us." No word to Tia, as he goes off to the lab most happily. Plus I have some contacts on Mars that would love some exotic anise powder. * Zeke replies, "I agree with Amadeus." * Lexi looks over at Tomas and raises an eyebrow. Relax she can drive with her eyes closed. Mostly. "Uh... Tomas... You're a weird guy. Just sayin'" You realize there's no way that's actual anise. Tastes like anise, that's all that really matters. (heh heh anise) * Lexi nods. "Yep. Definitely weird." And she looks back ahead. * Zeke replies, "It is of unknown toxicity, being a rock." * Zeke then, with his drones, joins Ama in entering the main ship. To elsewheres! Right after someone grabs a monkey and monkey chow. <> (Can we say we grabbed a monkey in that timeframe? ;P) (I bet you could grab a monkey.) (You can certainly say this. I was figuring that a bunch of hardened chainjumpers like you would have no troubles subduing a monkey.) (I dust one with chili powder and wait for Tomas to pounce it, then catch both with a net.) ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anethole btw ) * Tomas heads into the galley because lunch! (Hooray, we got a monkey!) * Lexi settles into the lounge for the moment. "Hey, Tomas, can you cook us up something for lunch before we head out? I wouldn't say no to a nice Katsu Burrito and a Martini right now." * Amadeus has not returned from the lab. Shocking. * Hestia has the sensors looking at the system before it's time to go, for the heck of it. You know, I hope we eventually find a planet that had or has intelligent life that wasn't pounded into the dirt by the Bugs. It really harshes my proverbial mellow. (.... okay, we need to increase the fuck out of that sensor suite range.) (There just needs to be a separate type of sensor that's measured in AU but is useless under a certain range.) (Like Flight vs. Spaceflight.) (That is also true, but 100m is like crazy small.) (... 100 m is nothing.) (Wait. A hundred *meters*?) (That's the buggy) (The ship is 10k km) (I see 100 km..) (The box above the main box.) (Gah) (Transplanted components. 10k km sensor suite.) (A good point I suppose. It is the only thing sitting outside. But 10k km is still not long range in any way.) (Why did you break that up like that?) (I expected more transplanted components.) (I'd think you want a box for the ship, a box for the subordinate lander, and a box explaining which parts came from here.) <> (ANYWAY.) ...huh. Hey, Amadeus. (...can we assume I held my thumb down on the button so you could hear me? e_e) * Zeke replies to Hestia, "It is a large universe. It seems that we've been lucky to find so many." (Okay!) * Amadeus comms back to Tia from the lab, "Yes?" * Tomas whistles an old Norwegian sea shanty as he works in the galley. (Ha ha ha.) (I'm not even kidding. You took what should have been a simple list and turned it into... this.) (What did I miss?) (It mathed well in ultraedit.) (I have no idea why we have '4 armor' then '16 homogenous armor' then '1 bubble gum flavored armor' and '10 armor that enjoys long walks on the beach'...) (Okay, that's Josh.) (The number formatting is all I did!) (ANYWAY.) (What's confusing about the armor?) (I pastede to cham yaye) (There's more than one attribute for it!) (I see one for the ship and one for the lander) (There's one under 'salvagable (non-salved components' which I add makes no sense, and then another one under 'salvaged components') (And what's the difference between a 'transplanted' and a 'salvaged' component? This reads like a tax form.) (Salvagable (non-salved) was left on the weird piece. Salvaged was sold for more CP.) (Wait, so you have stuff listed that's NOT EVEN ON THE SHIP on the ship's sheet?) (Looks like Mecha split things out so we would know what the Weird Piece still has on it.) (I think it's listed so we know where the CP came from) (Ship's sheet is the bottom section, so no.) (It needs to be cleaned up now that we're done with it.) (Can we move on?) (We need to.) <> * Hestia leans back and crosses one leg over the other as she comms back. "What's the likelihood that multiple planets in the same system with different orbital placements would produce the same geology and biology?" (ha. I expected session break. Let me think ...) * Lexi floats up and lays down in mid air as she waits for food. "How's lunch coming, Tomas?" (*points Mecha at UOSS for side convo*) * Tomas's whistling is interrupted abruptly as a pot is heard falling, "Great Lex. Coming along great." * Amadeus comms in return: "You mean the situation as we have it? Highly unlikely. These planets are all similar to Earth, so shared qualities are expected; however, well... four in the same solar system is pushing it. If you'd asked that question when we'd first gotten here, I'd say that it might be a case of panspermia." "As it is, with an intelligent race? Possibly terraforming. These birds may have done what we've tried to do with Mars, but with greater success." Was that scientist for 'unlikely'? * Amadeus replies, almost amused, "I said unlikely." * Zeke's holoface smiles a little. The chances are slim? I dunno, they just said unlikely. * Tomas after a while returns to the lounge carrying a platter overloaded with burritos. You think you smell hoisin sauce. (It's FUSION XD) (XD) (Lunch and fly!) (Yeah, everyone okay with an FF?) * Tomas sets the platter down, "Fish burritos! WIth some homebrewed hoisin!" (Yes!) (Please yes.) (Yup!) (Yep) (I present: http://eck.chamelaeon.com/atcdex/index.php5?title=The_Ship) (I present: http://eck.chamelaeon.com/atcdex/index.php5?title=The_Ship . Now with non-browser-screwing action!) <> (Thank you.) (Does anyone die from the anise powder?) <> (...yeah, I can imagine Tia does not eat anything at all if Tomas really kept the powder.) (Looking for a site similar to the last one, since the last netted some great results.) (Should scan harder for ruins.) (Also yes, looking for those. ;P) <> (Same burning?) <> * Amadeus points it out, then, and looks for a site as close to it as possible. <> That's our closest landing site. We'll probably have to take the lander there. * Tomas nods Amadeus-ward and heads to ready the lander. (Give me a sec) <> (Just going to cut here.) (Right-O) (I am les tired) <>