Date: November 6, 2011
Game date: October 22, EY217
Location: Ingraham, the fifth planet in the Providence system
Previous events: Aliens!
Aliens! Less than a metre and a half tall, they're wearing what looks like thin streamlined EVA suits. Through the facemasks their flat-topped heads have grey skin, with wide slashes for mouths and dead white eyes. Aliens! Jillian's mind breaks a bit at the sight of actual aliens.
Both of the creatures are holding something. One is holding a menacing tubular device with a hole at the end: while everyone else thinks it's a weapon Volkova believes that it may be a mining device of some sort, perhaps the same machine that they heard earlier. She is wrong. The second alien is holding a small boxlike object.
Bishop feels like he recognizes the box and shouts out a warning not to look at it. He's the only one who has the time or inclination to do so before it goes off, bathing them in a phenomenally bright stuttering pattern that doesn't just dazzle them but also feels like it does something to their brains. Something bad. Jillian collapses, her fall happening in slow motion in the light gravity.
Bishop is the only one of the crew who is any shape to act and instinctively blurts out a single word: "uBuntu." A strange look comes over the aliens' faces and they hesitate: the name obviously means something to them! The humans freeze, stunned by the light show and not at all sure what to do.
On the ground, Jillian pulls a marker from a pocket and starts to draw the aliens on her face while muttering something about how beautiful they are. Volkova is the only one behind her and is thus far the only one who has noticed Jillian's plight. Unfortunately Volkova's also not in the best of shape and combined with her general lack of social skills all she can do is take away the marker, note that at least it's not permanent, and pat Jillian on her head in what she hopes is a reassuring fashion. Malcolm is staring at the ground and muttering about how "it's all falling apart".
The aliens make a gesture that Bishop interprets as a demand that the Hummingbird's crew drop their weapons and he does so while telling everyone else to do the same. If the aliens mean to kill them they're in a very good position to do so and haven't opened fire yet other than the blinding box, so Jillian and Malcolm do so. Jillian is still on the floor and awestruck by the aliens but manages to follow suit. Volkova doesn't think of Knuta as a weapon and never usually carries any sort of real weapon; she forgets about the grenade launcher on her back and the aliens don't insist on her dropping it for whatever reason.
Bishop introduces the crew by pointing at everyone in turn and saying their name. The aliens follow suit, the one with the dazzle box apparently called Vob and the other being Ensig. When Bishop also points at himself and says "nGanga", the name that Dreamers have back on uBuntu, the aliens seem to recognize this term and Vob says something in its chattering language into what is likely a microphone in the collar of its suit.
Since the aliens responded to his use of the term "uBuntu" Bishop decides to enter the Dreamscape to find some clue as to what to do. He sits on the ground crosslegged, closes his eyes, and begins to meditate.
Volkova is busy trying to figure out what to do with Jillian and eventually decides the best thing is to get her on her feet, which she does by roughly hauling Jillian up by her collar. Jillian calms down a bit but is obviously still a mess in both the psychological and literal sense. Clucking her tongue, Volkova copiously licks her hand (which requires a bit of coordination given that she's wearing a respirator) and starts to clean off Jillian's face as best she can.
Two more aliens show up, one with another one of the tubular weapons and the other unarmed. Bishop realizes that more aliens have shown up. He opens his eyes and for an instant the Dreamscape and prosaic life are overlaid in his eyes. The faint line that he's been seeing ends at one of the new arrivals! More introductions are made, the armed one called Difig and the one that the Dreamscape points to is Chig. Bishop, mentions the title "nGanga", points to himself and then to Chig, and finally brings his hands together. Chig seems to acknowledge this and points to the rest of the crew, obviously in bad shape, and makes what Bishop can only interpret as an "exploding head" gesture. Bishop hesitantly nods, not sure if Chig is concerned about their state or offering to finish them off. He's hoping for the former. Chig gestures for Bishop and the crew to follow and heads back down the corridor towards the exterior, chattering into its microphone and obviously arguing with whomever's at the other end.
As she tries to walk Jillian seems to be suffering from some extreme dizzy spells and has to be helped along by Volkova. Malcolm still seems largely lost in his angst but trudges lifelessly along. As the party follow the aliens they pass by some powerful standing lights and the machinery that's been carving sheets from the wall, some of the greenish sheets still stacked against the wall. With the amazement over meeting aliens not quite so intense anymore, they realize that they're running low on air. They'll likely have enough if they head back to the Steel Hummingbird right now but obviously none of them want to do so. Bishop points to his gauge, his tank, and mimics gasping for air, but Chig just motions again for them to follow. Hoping that the aliens breathe the same type of atmosphere they keep going.
The aliens seem to have come into the structure through a "garage" much like the one that the Hummingbird landed by. This one is on the windward side, though, and is largely full of sand. At the interior end two more aliens are wrestling some more of the green sheets onto what look like motorcycles with six legs instead of wheels. No one has ever seen anything like them and they look extremely otherworldly. Chig natters something at the two new aliens and motions the humans to get onto the striders; there's room for two on them. Malcolm's eyes light up briefly and he insists that if these things can be ridden he can ride them and wants to do so. Bishop manages to convince the dubious aliens to let him have a go. Still feeling dizzy and vulnerable Jillian decides to ride with Malcolm while Bishop and Volkova saddle up with aliens. One of the aliens with a weapon/mining tool rides on either side of Malcolm.
As they're starting up the striders there is the unmistakable sound of a fair-sized ship lifting off just outside the exit but the exterior light, feeble as it is, is blinding in the unlit garage and the ship can't be seen. Despite the strider being much too small for him Malcolm leaps ahead of the other riders and makes it to the sandy lip at the edge of the exterior well before them, rearing his backlit strider dramatically at the entrance before tearing off outside.
The alien ship is lifting off out of the sand. It's about forty metres long and is definitely made by the same people who designed the "squid ship" that the Steel Hummingbird encountered in the Vishnu system back in August, but where the squid ship was sleek and elegant this ship looks beat up and patched together. About half of its exterior is covered by green sheets carved out from the ruins here on Ingraham.
Looking at the ship Jillian works out that the green plating probably works as stealth material. She had an awful lot of trouble getting decent readings off the ruins, the scientists seemed to be having difficulty getting readings off the walls, the walkie talkie wasn't working, and if Jillian couldn't detect this ship hiding in the sand she's sure it's not a failing on her part.
As they get closer to the ship Jillian realizes that the patchwork pattern of materials and the dented appearance to the ship is actually an intentional and wonderful work of art. She feels for the marker in her pocket and thinks about adding to its beauty with her own work but decides that no, everyone's art should stand on its own, and places the marker back in her pocket. Volkova has a different reaction upon seeing the ship. The fact that something like this exists invalidates what she knows about engineering. She thought that she was a better than average engineer but this ship shows her just how little she knows. She's humbled by the depths of her inability.
Cargo doors at the bottom of the ship open and everyone rides in, Malcolm and Jillian in the lead. The cargo hold is roughly the same size as that on the Steel Hummingbird but the walls and ceiling have a buckled look to them. There are more green sheets piled to one side. Once all the striders are inside the doors close and there is the unmistakable sound of atmosphere cycling. The aliens dismount, remove their helmets, and motion for the humans to do the same. They cautiously do so and find that the air is breathable even if it's hot, humid, and smells slightly of feet. Another alien comes through a door at the far end of the hold and immediately begins squabbling with Chig, who seems to win the argument and heads through the door, gesturing for the humans to follow. Once off the strider Malcolm reverts back to his newly dour mindset.
The interior of the ship is a bizarre tangle of wires, conduits, tubes, and machinery that baffle Volkova and only reinforce her newfound realization of her ultimate inferiority. There are even some plants growing here and there! While the rest of the aliens exit the hold behind the humans and quickly clamber out of sight in various directions in the bizarre jungle gym-like ship Chig leads them along a particular path. They hypothesize that these aliens are living in someone else's ship, perhaps a space probe that they have stolen. They seem to be here to strip the ruins and have nothing else to do with the alien structure.
Chig gets them to a space large enough for all of them to fit into where Vob -- the crew is surprised that they can already tell the aliens apart -- is fitting the blinding device into a sconce and fiddling with it. Chig leaves them and Vob finishes its work. It manages to get across that everyone *should* stare into the device this time. Coming to trust the aliens they do so and are again blinded, but this time in what feels like a calming way. Not having been affected by it in the first place Bishop feels nothing special. Jillian and Malcolm likewise don't feel especially improved but the scales fall from Volkova's eyes and she realizes that she is a wonderful engineer and although she doesn't know all there is to know about engineering this is a reason to be excited and learn more, not to despair! Feeling much better she starts to light up a cigarette but Jillian's glare stops her.
Bishop decides to return to meditating and see if the Dreamscape can offer him any further information. While he does this Jillian decides to try to get the aliens to fly over to the Steel Hummingbird: although the scientists must have had extra oxygen in their cargo she's not certain what status their air supplies are in and would rather that they didn't suffocate. This would also ensure that the Hummingbird's crew gets back safely as well, neither running out of air nor getting eaten by worms. Besides, she wants to show the aliens her ship and her art. They'll no doubt be terribly impressed!
Jillian starts to draw the Hummingbird on her hand but when Volkova offers her her cheesy romance novel she gratefully draws on a blank page, hoping the aliens don't recognize the terrible book. Focusing on purely representative art she actually does an accurate drawing showing the alien ship, the ruins, and the Hummingbird from a bird's-eye view. She shows this to Vob and seems to get a positive response from it as well as the name of the alien ship: the Iof. Vob takes the book and climbs out of sight followed by Jillian as Malcolm stays behind to navel gaze and Volkova examines the inner workings of the ship from where she is.
Jillian barely manages to keep up and it's really only her innate sense of direction that lets her do so. She has a few dizzy spells on the way but the path is tight enough that there's really nowhere to fall and she simply stops moving until they pass. She and Vob end up on what she assumes is the bridge, though she has difficulty making out what the controls and displays are. Vob shows the bridge crew the drawing and they argue for a bit before someone on the bridge makes an announcement over a loudspeaker. There are shouts from all over the ship, like a tribe of unseen monkeys in a jungle, but controls are manipulated and the ship lurchingly lifts off. Jillian hastily draws some stick figures for the Hummingbird's crew and some more for the scientists; although the scientists will undoubtedly be surprised she'd rather that the aliens not be!
As the Iof comes around the ruins Jillian makes another attempt to contact Seo using her walkie talkie and this time it's successful, reinforcing her thoughts about the ruins' material! She briefly explains that the Humminbird's crew are in fact still alive and coming in an alien ship. The researchers are not to panic! The connection isn't the best but she's fairly sure that Seo got the gist of it.
Deep in the ship's bowels Chig rouses Bishop from an unproductive meditation and offers him a slightly elongated oval object. It has a thick translucent rubber covering through which its interior can be vaguely glimpsed, full of what might be machinery or organic structures or both. Chig crosses its legs in front of Bishop while holding its own object and meditates. Bishop suddenly experiences a tweak in his soul and feels a connection between his object and Chig's. It seems that the devices can locate each other through the Dreamscape! Bishop focuses on returning the signal and eventually manages it. He joins the others in the cargo hold and shows them the device before putting it in his bag.
After the ship lands some distance from the Hummingbird and the cargo doors open the same group comes out into the frigid air on striders, Malcolm and Jillian again in the lead. He's taking it a little easier in consideration of Jillian's continuing dizzy spells but can't quite keep it at a calm pace. Riding these things is the only thing that makes him feel that the universe is still holding together.
The scientists are waiting for them at the edge of the "garage" and Seo is the only one who does anything but stare and gibber. It's not that she's not amazed, she's just still in control of her faculties when everyone rides into the garage. There is a bit of panic when Malcolm's inexpert riding seems to have made enough of a rhythm that two more worms are attracted. They wriggle out of the ground but seem confused and are easy targets for the two armed aliens who hose them down with a large number of projectiles from what are definitely weapons and not mining equipment. It seems that the backpacks that they wear are full of more ammunition that runs through a belt into the weapon, allowing for long bursts of automatic fire.
Excitement over, Jillian introduces everyone and there's an awkward silence. Seo asks the Steel Hummingbird's crew if they managed to get any samples of anything. Technology, body tissue, anything? They're insulted but Seo keeps pressing the matter and at at a minimum wants to take photographs but the crew panics and frantically tells her no. The camera looks too much like the dazzle gun! Seo relents on this point but is still insistent that they need to get something.
Everyone at least manages to agree on heading into the Hummingbird for oxygen and warmth, Seo scooping up a fragment-riddled worm on the way. The researchers start to load a minimum of equipment onto the buggy and the aliens watch them, curious. Malcolm and Jillian are the first saddled up and tear over to the Hummingbird ahead of everyone else to open the cargo hold. Once they're there Jillian hops off the strider and quickly enters the proper combination to start the cargo door lowering but Malcolm has again attracted worms, this time three of them. They emerge about ten metres from the strider but begin to close the distance swiftly. Jillian sees them and tries to quickly climb up onto the strider but a poorly-timed dizzy spell grips her and she falls flat on her face among the strider's legs as the worms wriggle closer, one in the lead.
This hasn't gone unnoticed by everyone else but they're still at the garage. Volkova decides that with two worms some distance away from her crewmates it's a good thing that she still has the grenade launcher. She swings it off her shoulder in a practiced move, slides a grenade into it, and fires before anyone can say anything to stop her. Although she's gotten lots of practice in dry firing the weapon she's never used it with a real grenade and her aim is terrible. She's memorized the manual but in practice she gets the angle completely off and in her haste negates to properly compensate for the lower gravity. The grenade could have landed by Jillian and Malcolm, but doesn't. It could have hit the Steel Hummingbird or -- still worse -- sailed into the opening cargo hold, but doesn't. Instead, much to everyone's relief, it flies in a high trajectory right over the entire ship and explodes harmlessly hundreds of metres away in the desert.
The two armed aliens hose down the lagging worms and do for them. The quicker worm, however, is in between the strider's legs with Jillian and a shot would be too dangerous. Malcolm can't try to stomp the quick worm without risking hurting Jillian and all he can do is helplessly watch while she frantically crabwalks out from the legs, the worm slithering around the strider's legs and rasping at her heels. She awkwardly scrambles to her feet and makes a jump for the lip of the descending cargo door. The gravity here works in her favour and with a higher-than normal leap she catches the edge as the springing worm glances off her boots below. Jillian pulls herself up the door and scrambles inside as Malcolm rushes over with the strider and, rearing it one more time, crushes it. He's the one in danger now as the door continues to come down upon the strider but Jillian, sliding down the door into the hold, triggers the emergency stop. Everyone breathes a deep sigh of relief.
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Bishop's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 12)
Volkova's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 1)