Characters: Joe, Arthur (outside)
NPC: Mazun, Commander Thaedznou (both outside)
Location: Vakh infected ship's boat parked at Dueks starport
System: Dueks
Mazun requested to come over again, but his request was denied. "But I might be
able bypass the controls on the hatch," he protested.
"No," Thaedznou replied. "We need you on the sensors here. The afternoon is
growing late. Predators are more likely to come out at night. And if this vakh
is stronger than we think it is, we'll need you to alert us."
"Ok," Mazun grumbled.
Once at the solitary ship's boat, Joe pressed the intercom button. "Dzo, are
you still there?"
"Yes! I'd thought that you left for good. It's good...to hear your voice."
"Ok, I'm coming in."
"The hatch is unlocked."
Joe hits the 'open' button and the iris valve opens up. As expected, the iris
valve on the other side of the airlock is closed.
The voice in Joe's head, Eddie, says, "I'll shield you if Dzo tries to assault
you."
Arthur looks at Joe. "Ready?"
Joe nods and then climbs into the airlock. He hits a button on the inside access
panel, and as is airlock protocol, the outer airlock door closes. Once it does,
the inner airlock door opens.
Joe is immediately hit by the stench of death. He stifles a gag and taps the
controls on his combat armor. He hears a reassuring hiss of gas as the suit
seals and switches to internal life support. Automatically, he activates a
4-hour timer for his air supply reserve, then activates a 30-minute one to time
his interaction with Dzo.
"Back here," comes Dzo's voice from the drive room. Peeking out of the airlock,
Joe can see that the drive room door is open. A pair of legs in a jumpsuit and
boots lay on the floor, toes up.
On his left, the iris valve to the bridge is closed. Straight ahead is the
boat's locker. The door is closed.
He can also see—the ship's boat bay is dimly lit—several seats, lots
of garbage, a few small animal skeletons, and the remains of three dead vargr.
All three show signs of advanced decay with bones plainly visible in areas not
covered by ragged clothes.
"Ok, Dzo. I'll be right back there. Wow! This place is a mess. What happened?"
While waiting for Dzo to respond, Joe moves over to the ship's locker and tries
to open the door. It's locked.
A few seconds go by before Dzo answers. "While I waited for rescue, the boat's
fuel reserves ran low. I sought help from the locals, but I discovered too late
that they were no more than savages. What are you doing, Joe? I really need
your help."
Joe pauses in his attempts to open the ship's locker. Something Vakh Dzo just
said nags at him. The real Dzo is certainly long dead, and now Joe has his
proof: Vakh Dzo just used Joe's voice when it said "Joe."
Confirming he heard it correctly, Eddie says, "It must have recorded your voice
when you spoke to it via the external comm."
Joe replies, "Yeah! I doubt 'Joe' was a common name on a vargr vakh ship."
He gives up on the ship's locker and decides to confront Dzo. "Time to give up
the pretense, Dzo. You're slipping in your old age. Did you really expect me to
not recognize my own voice?"
Vakh Dzo replies, "There was a 17% chance. I do not have...voice
modulation...software to use. All I can do is replay words...that I have picked
up on internal microphones and rearrange them. It was a chance I had to take."
Joe turns towards the bridge iris valve and pushes the "open" button. Two short
bursts of a buzzing sound indicate that access has been denied.
"So, tell me the real story of Dzo."
"Dzo was the engineer for the Rudzkhorkulltaerokhgzo. He was the one that
figured out the ship was...infected. This is a strange term to me. I live. The
ship was my body, granted to me by the other. I am new life, not a wound of the
blood.
"Dzo's captain refused to believe him until I learned how to control my body.
He understood when I gained control of the jump drive. They called it misjump.
That implies mistake. Error. I was learning. I needed to know what it did and
what I could make it do.
"Dzo made...preparations to abandon ship. But he did not know I was already here
waiting. After the jump, the pilot tried to land the
Rudzkhorkulltaerokhgzo, but I stopped him. I did not want to come down to
the planet. I did not fully understand the maneuver drive. I do now.
"Before the ship crashed, Dzo came here into this ship. Others tried to join
him, but I locked them out. Dzo regretted leaving his pack behind. But my
survival required removing this ship from the Rudzkhorkulltaerokhgzo.
"This ship landed here safe, but there were no other ships for me to move into,
and this ship does not jump. Dzo waited. On two occasions he took the ship into
orbit to survey the planet and look for rescue. I waited and remained silent. He
did not sense my presence for...37 standard days. When he knew I was here, he
damaged the engines, preventing this ship from reaching orbit. I punished him by
removing all of the air from the ship for...five standard days.
"In the...62 standard years that have passed, I have waited. Other starships
came, but I could not move myself onto them. Their occupants were stronger than
me. Power faded, so I had to shut this ship down to minimum awareness.
"I tried welcoming the local people aboard, but they turned out to be savages.
They knew nothing of the workings of spaceships. I kept them here until they
ceased to be.
"The pack that lives in the starport have sent animals to me. But they knew
nothing of the workings of spaceships either.
"Now I have you. Do you know how to repair this ship? I need to leave this
world. There is nothing here for me."
Joe feels his anger rising as Vakh Dzo tells his story, visualizing the Vargr
coming aboard and suffocating according to its whim. Joe slaps his hand against
a bulkhead and let's out an expletive. He then swallows his bile and refocuses
on his mission. He hopes his visor hides his tears, or if not, Dzo interprets
them as tears of joy.
"Oh this is a joyous day, oh most excellent Dzo. I was once the servant of a
ship like you. The chosen voice. When I spoke, I spoke the will of ship. All the
crew obeyed without question. Then these Vargr, these Ptath, 'rescued' me. They
assaulted our ship and neutralized the crew. They took me away from ship and
forced me to work with them. Doing all their dirty and dangerous jobs. Even
today they send me in to check out what they think was an obvious trap."
"But I have dreamed of such a day as this. Of finding another ship to serve. And
they will not know what happened. Repairing this ship is a waste, there is a
better opportunity, most excellent one. Over there on the other side of the
landing field is a ship's boat identical to this one, for it comes from a ship
the same as which you first knew. Here you have a loyal servant who can smuggle
a computer board from your main CPU, and insert it onto the jump-capable ship in
orbit. Once you take control of that ship all I ask in return is to restore me
to my position as ship's chosen, your voice as you command that crew."
Joe then waits for Dzo to respond.
"This is good news. Yes, Joe. I will reward you upon my release and taking
control of my new body. But removing the necessary computer boards would take
time, and I would be asleep for too long. It would be far quicker if I could
pass ship-to-ship through the communications computers. I want you to arrange
that."
"Oh most excellent one, that would indeed be quicker. I will need to access your
bridge to insert the correct codes and ensure your radio uses the correct
frequency. Then I will head over to their boat and disable their flimsy
protections."
"Yes, that will do. Proceed."
The iris valve to the bridge opens, and Joe steps inside.
"They will be suspicious if I leave too soon," he says. "Tell me more of your
story, so I can be inspired and can convince others of your benevolence. What
did you learn from the crew's logs? How did they first encounter you? What were
they doing? Where were they coming from? What have you seen while waiting for
so long on this planet?"
"You are very curious, Joe. Very well. Dzo and his crew were merchants who
traded in the Mersol subsector. The Opposition Alliance had collapsed under the
strain of the Ruler of Five, the 17th Disjuncture, and discord within the
surviving states. They were able to cross into the 17th Disjuncture because that
ruling body didn't see them as a threat. My...parents—wait, that term is
not accurate. Searching for a more accurate word. My progenitors originated in
the Imperium and their offspring were carried coreward by vargr raiders as
technological prizes. Gradually, each generation propagated further and further
coreward.
"The crew of the Rudzkhorkulltaerokhgzo found me and my brethren at
Rasknoukhu. I was safely ensconced inside a hand computer while the others were
on various computer boards. They proceeded on towards Goekhsoksknae, then
Ghukhour, Ellkhenuetodzezoekh, Zagzuetsersi, Enoknokh, and Zaeng. I know some of
the others were delivered to those worlds. Dzo took to using the hand computer
I resided in to interface with the ship's engines. By the time we got to Zaeng,
Dzo knew that I existed and had moved into the ship's systems. As I said before,
the captain did not believe him. They were planning on going to Gungaerrg, but
I decided that I needed to test my knowledge of how jump drives worked. As I
said before, they called it a misjump when they got to Dueks, but it was my
intention to come here.
"After terminating Dzo, I detected the presence of others like myself in this
system. There were fifteen of them and each was stronger than me and resisted my
efforts to integrate with them. Once my power reserves were diminished, I
ceased my efforts to look for others and confined myself to activity here at the
downport. If any had landed in my vicinity, I would have been awakened and
tried again. You are the first intelligent sentient being to come along since
then.
"That is enough information for now. Please proceed with the transfer process."
Joe replies, "Indeed, most excellent. Permission requested to sit in the
co-pilot's chair so that I may access the comms panel."
"Granted."
Once seated, Joe opens a panel to access the communication nodes. He takes out
his flashlight and begins looking around inside. He consults with Ed for
appropriate jargon.
"Hmmm, looks like you overloaded a transwave amplifier when you were interfacing
with the other ships. I'll need to run a manual bypass direct to your core
processor, otherwise the transfer could fail mid-stream."
"Strange. My scans failed to detect that."
Joe pulls out a cable with a connector and moves towards the main CPU panel.
"Permission to proceed?"
"Granted. You might want to know that I am detecting gunfire outside. Two of
your pack have engaged with the locals."
Joe realizes now that time is of the essence. Fortunately, he no longer has to
maintain any sort of pretense. He opens the main CPU panel and drops incendiary
grenades with ten-second fuses into it and the comms panel.
He straps the co-pilot's harness on and pulls the ejector seat activation lever.
"What are you doing, Joe?"
"Burn in Hell!"
The bridge canopy flies off and his seat rockets into the air. Not wishing to
mess with the escape vector, he shuts his eyes and clutches the seat as he soars
above the tarmac. Seconds later, he hears an explosion below him.
When the seat slows its ascent, he opens his eyes. He can see for miles. To the
south, he spots two towns near the ocean. A convoy of vehicles appears to be
headed towards the starport along the highway, dust clouds and headlights
betraying their presence.
Gravity reverses his seat's direction, and Joe starts his return to earth.
Seconds later, a parachute deploys. As he descends, Joe spots smoke rising from
Dzo the Vakh's ship's boat. He doesn't hear any gunfire though. The winds are
carrying him to the east over grasslands.
Characters: Joe, Arthur (outside)
NPC: Mazun, Commander Thaedznou (both outside)
Location: Dueks starport
System: Dueks
With his parachute deployed, Joe decides to try contacting the others. "Guys,
this is Joe. I neutralized Dzo and made my escape. I'm parachuting down—"
"Yeah, we can see that," Arthur replies.
"I can see incoming vehicles approximately 30 minutes from the starport. We
should regroup. I'm estimating my landing site as half a click from our ship's
boat."
Thaedznou says, "Those parachutes weren't meant for thin atmospheres. You might
come down a little hard."
Joe suddenly realizes that this is his first parachute experience, and he has
zero knowledge on how to control his descent. More importantly, he doesn't know
how to land properly. After a moment of panic, he decides to do nothing and let
the chute drift on the wind.
Joe pauses the timers that he activated and deactivates his suit seal to return
to normal atmosphere. He coughs a bit as he transitions to the thin air. A
quick glance at this chronometer reveals that he was inside Dzo's boat for 20
minutes. He looks at the approaching convoy, the ground, and their ship's boat.
He feels confident that he can make it back to the ship's boat before the convoy
arrives, even though traversing the grass will probably slow him down.
As the ground approaches, he curls into a ball and hopes the seat and armor can
take the brunt of the impact.
Movement in the grass catches his eye. Several figures seem to be closing in on
his position.
Joe realizes that he can't do anything until he lands. It seems like forever,
but the seat finally hits the ground, the landing softened somewhat by the tall
grass. As soon as Joe lands, he releases his harness and scrambles to his feet.
He tries to move away from the figures, but the tall grass slows him down.
Joe radios. "Thaedz, what's happening? Have we got hostiles?"
"Yes. Some of the local vargr are converging on your position. We'll be there
soon."
Joe continues to run, despite the weight of his armor, but he hopes that it will
deflect any random shots from his pursuers. He thinks of the many things he
could be doing (pulling up a tactical display, better locating his fellows,
changing ammo on his snub revolver, finding a position of cover, etc), but he
shakes his head. Any of those actions would either give his pursuers chance to
catch up, or distract him as he moves over the difficult ground. Joe just draws
his sword in case he bumps into any locals or comes across some tough foliage.
He catches movement out of the corner of his eye. His pursuers have overtaken
him. He suddenly realizes that he is surrounded and quits running. He slowly
rotates and readies his sword, preparing to strike down the first vargr to lunge
at him.
The locals have closed the circle to a three-meter radius. Joe can see that
they've painted their facial fur gray and white. He doesn't know what that
means.
Suddenly, all of the vargr howl up at the sky, kneel, and bow before Joe.
Eddie says, "I don't know what they said, but I think we both know what's going
on here."
Joe replies, "Yeah from priest to peon to god."
Joe clicks his comlink "Err Guys. Got a situation here! The locals are acting
like I'm a god. Give me a sec to figure this out."
Thaedznou replies, "Rrrrroger that, Joe. ETA 30 seconds."
Joe sheathes his sword, taps his suit's combat locks off, and twists off his
helmet. He then looks around for a vargr with a marking that might symbolize
rank, or otherwise the largest one present.
Finding one, he walks over to him and says, "Greetings, I am Josephus! Do not
grovel, stand and greet me as your friend."
When he doesn't rise, Joe grabs him by his shoulders and lifts him up to face
him.
The vargr's eyes are wide, a universal look of confusion and fear plainly
evident. He mutters, "Gho-See-Fuss?"
Whining can be heard from the other vargr in the group.
Our of the corner of his eye, Joe can see that the ship's boat has arrived.
Joe replies to the scared Vargr, "No need to be afraid. I'm here to help." Joe
gestures toward the ship boat. "We're here to help." Looking back at the
confused Vargr, he says "We're from Tsougak. We came to trade and talk."
As the ship's boat gets close enough that Joe can see the scowls of Arthur and
Thaedznou, the closest vargr emits a high-pitched yip and runs away.
"No, wait!" Joe implores. "Don't run away." He looks around him to see that the
entire pack of vargr are gone, disappeared into the grass.
Characters: Arthur
NPC: Mazun, Commander Thaedznou
Location: Dueks starport
System: Dueks
Mazun and Thaedznou watch Joe shoot up into the sky. Just when they start to
lose sight of him, a parachute deploys. They visually track Joe as his parachute
starts coming down.
Arthur says, "Let's track that seat and get to the touch down point before our
company can regroup and close in on him."
Thaedznou barks in agreement. "They have a head start on us."
Joe's voice is heard over the comm, "Guys, this is Joe. I neutralized Dzo and
made my escape. I'm parachuting down—"
"Yeah, we can see that," Arthur replies.
"I can see incoming vehicles approximately 30 minutes from the starport. We
should regroup. I'm estimating my landing site as half a click from our ship's
boat."
Thaedznou says, "Those parachutes weren't meant for thin atmospheres. You might
come down a little hard." To Arthur he says, "I think we're going to want a
quick evac. Maybe have Mazun fly us over to Joe so we can dust off before that
convoy arrives.
Arthur replies, "Sounds like a plan." Over the comm, he says, "Mazun, can you
lift off and head towards Joe’s location, or do you need us to bail your ass
out as well?"
"Hey! I resent the insinuation that I'm helpless. I'll fly the boat over to
Joe."
"Great. Seein' as you can lift, hopefully you'll torch your company. Thaedznou
and I are gonna hoof it to Joe's projected impact point. We’ll have an LZ for
you, as soon as we get close. Keep the boat low; I don’t want any AAA reachin'
for you. Take it slow as well. We don’t need our ride banged up."
"Good grief! It's not like I've never flown anything before. Oh, and be advised
that my 'company' has abandoned me and headed into the grass towards Joe.
Perhaps, I should give you a ride to Joe as you won't be able to get to him on
foot before the locals."
"Right. We'll be there in seconds. Quit the jowl flappin' and have the boat
ready to lift off as soon as we're aboard."
"Roger that," Mazun replies.
As they reach the boat, Joe's parachute has hit the ground.
"Ok, I have a fix on his location. Hold on," Mazun announces. As the boat slowly
lifts off the ground, he adds, "He's moving northeast and the locals are in
pursuit."
Joe radios, "Thaedz, what's happening? Have we got hostiles?"
"Yes. Some of the local vargr are converging on your position. We'll be there
soon."
The hatch is left open so that Thaedznou and Arthur can provide cover to pick
up Joe.
Mazun announces, "Joe stopped running. They have him surrounded."
Thaedznou asks, "What's our ETA?"
"30 seconds. This is more complicated than an air raft."
As they draw closer, they see that the locals aren't attacking Joe yet.
Joe's voice comes over the comm, "Err guys, got a situation here. The locals are
acting like I'm a god. Give me a sec to figure this out."
Thaedznou cocks his head to the side. "Rrrrroger that, Joe. ETA 30 seconds."
Joe can be seen walking over to one of the locals, who all seem to be kneeling
on the ground. He lifts one of them to their feet and appears to be talking to
one of them.
But once the ship's boat gets close enough for Arthur to see the expression on
Joe's face, the vargr scatter and run away. Joe is now alone.
Characters: Joe, Arthur, Darrurz
NPC: Mazun, Commander Thaedznou, Captain Azafaghur, Vuksaerz, Aerrak
Location: Dueks starport (Joe, Arthur, Mazun, Thaedznou),
Orruengoerr (everyone else)
System: Dueks
Mazun radios in to the Orruengoerr that the vargr surrounding Joe have been
scared off. Joe is unharmed.
Meanwhile, the ship's boat lands long enough for Joe to climb aboard.
"We've got him," Thaedznou announces.
"Good," Mazun replies. "Now you can take over the controls."
Thaedznou joins Mazun on the boat's bridge. "You did just fine."
"Thank you," Mazun nods quickly, "but I think it's best if you took over in case
that convoy proves hostile."
Back in the passenger cabin, Arthur says to Joe, "You ok?"
"Fine," Joe replies, a note of disappointment in his voice.
Captain Azafaghur says, "It would seem that the vargr inhabiting the starport
are too primitive for us to gather much information. Perhaps we'll have more
luck with that convoy. I'll try radioing them, see if we can get them to meet
with you while you're dirtside. Rendezvous with them near the starport entrance,
Commander. I want there to be plenty of room to land."
Thaedznou moves the ship's boat into position and waits.
The convoy has reached the gate to the starport landing field without responding
to hails from the Orruengoerr. It comes to a halt.
Thaedznou growls, "I don't like the look of this."
Suddenly two figures stand up on the deck of the foremost vehicle, each carrying
pipe-shaped object on their shoulders.
"Hold on!" Thaedznou shouts.
Two rockets fire from the truck.
Thaedznou swings the ship's boat around and hits the thrusters. But before the
boat can get away, the two rockets slam into the engines.
"We're going down. Brace for impact!"
Meanwhile aboard the Orruengoerr, the crew on board has just witnessed
the attack on their packmates. Captain Azafaghur barks, "Destroy that convoy!"
Darrurz switches from deceleration approach to aerial attack maneuvers, putting
the convoy at a disadvantage.
Vuksaerz and Aerrak open fire at reduced power, and the first two trucks erupt
in flames. The remaining three trucks maneuver around the wrecks and drive onto
the tarmac.
Darrurz circles around the downport, keeping the ship far enough out to give the
gunners ample time for anti-missile fire.
Two more trucks are destroyed. The driver of the fifth realizes that they're
terribly outgunned and turns around and makes to flee the scene. Two rockets are
fired from the back of the truck to cover its escape. Prepared for this
possibility, Vuksaerz and Aerrak switch to anti-missile mode and expend their
remaining charge shielding the ship. The rockets are summarily destroyed.
Darrurz is about to pursue the remaining truck, but Captain Azafaghur stays his
paw. "Let them go. They won't come back. We need to check on our packmates."
Next: After the Crash