010: Off to The Deeps

[terrymixon]

Walt-
”let’s press…regardless! Recruit and offer the taint augs.”

"It sounds so... wrong when you say it like that."

[terrymixon]

It takes a week of concerted effort to load the colonists from below and those that can be recruited from above. Ciencia puts out a slick recruitment advertisement with video of Bhasad (though she doesn't name it as you might decide on different names). That means that as the colonists from below are wrapping up their loading into low berths, the fresh recruits are arriving for their turns.

Those below total 505,321. That's sixty percent filled. Let's roll to see how effective Ciencia's pitch is. DM-2 because of the short fuse and DM-2 because they aren't as desperate as those from below. Her Magnetic Personality +4 will balance that out, but the numbers will likely still be lowish. We'll say this is an Average 8+ pitch and falling short will mean just a few hundred takers. For each effect over, we'll say 10,000 (short fuse, remember) will apply. To account for word of mouth and other strange occurrences, if the effect is 5+ the increment doubles. If it is 10+ effect, it doubles again.



A modest 21,0346 people. Not bad for contented people and only a week to make a decision. She will arrange for a ship to come back this way in three months to see if there are more takers. As that's not a bad choice for all the stops along the way, she'll call it the second wave.

At the end of the week, all the colonists are tucked into their low berth pods and the mercenary ships are loaded aboard the hanger bays on the specialty ship that will carry everyone that is awake. Ciencia will arrange for a private dinner with their hosts and partners at the restaurant they jumped into.

Feel free to say any last bits and make goodbyes.

Once those are done, everyone is ferried up to orbit, loaded aboard the ships, and they boost to the 100D limit and jump for Aki.

Unless anyone has things they want to do in jump other than train, I'll post an arrival at Aki tomorrow afternoon.

[terrymixon]

Jump Skill and Stat advances!

Arkar

Working on END (5/6), INT (5/26), and Deception 4 (4/32).



All successes! END goes up. What stat will replace it?

Now working on ??? (0/6), INT (6/26), and Deception 4 (5/32).

Aster

Working on STR (3/6), DEX (4/6), and Electroncis (intrusion) 2 (3/8).



Failed the Electronics (intrusion) roll.

Now working on STR (4/6), DEX (5/6), and Electroncis (intrusion) 2 (3/8).

Bianca

Working on STR (4/6), DEX (5/6), and Gun Combat (energy) 0 (1/2).



Made them all, and bumped DEX.

Now working on STR (5/6), END (0/6), and Gun Combat (energy) 1 (0/4).

Bona

Working on STR (4/6), DEX (4/6), and Melee (unarmed) 0 (0/2).



Successes.

Now working on STR (5/6), DEX (5/6), and Melee (unarmed) 0 (1/2).

Ciencia

Working on STR (4/6), DEX (4/6), and Gun Combat (slug) 0 (1/2).



Successes. Earned that level 0 in Gun Combat (slug).

Now working on STR (5/6), DEX (5/6), and Melee (unarmed) 0 (0/2).

Garvin

Working on STR (5/6), END (5/6), and Gun Combat (energy) 1 (1/2).



Made them all. Earned both stats. I'll need to know what you'll be working on next time.

Now working on ??? (0/6), ??? (0/6), and Gun Combat (energy) 1 (2/4).

Jaelah

Working on STR (0/6), END (0/6), and Ancients Tech 3 (4/16).



Successes.

Now working on STR (1/6), END (1/6), and Ancients Tech 3 (5/16).

Metz

Working on STR (5/6), END (0/6), and Gun Combat (slug) 1 (0/4).



Sucesses.

Now working on DEX (0/6), END (1/6), and Gun Combat (slug) 1 (1/4).

Roscoe

Working on STR (5/6), DEX (5/6), and Gun Combat (slug) 0 (1/2).



Successes.

Now Working on STR (0/6), END (0/6), and Gun Combat (energy) 0 (0/2).

Spicoli

Working on STR (0/6), END (5/6), and Electronics (sensors) 0 (0/2).



Failed the END roll.

Now working on STR (1/6), END (5/6), and Electronics (sensors) 0 (1/2).

Walt

Working on END (5/6), DEX (5/6), and Telepathy 3 (1/16).



Failed the END. Rolled Dex over. What will replace it?

Now working on END (5/6), ??? (0/6), and Telepathy 3 (2/16).

William

Working on STR (0/6), DEX (0/6), and ??? (1/0).

Still not sure what skill you're working on. Pick one.



Made them all.

Now working on STR (1/6), DEX (1/6), and ??? (2/0).

[helvorn]

I will work on athletics (strength) followed by diplomat 1

[ateno]

Jump Skill and Stat advances!

Arkar

Working on END (5/6), INT (5/26), and Deception 4 (4/32).



All successes! END goes up. What stat will replace it?

Now working on ??? (0/6), INT (6/26), and Deception 4 (5/32).

Arkar will change to STR and weights and gravity.

Arkar

[terrymixon]

I will work on athletics (strength) followed by diplomat 1

So noted.

[terrymixon]

Jump Skill and Stat advances!

Arkar

Working on END (5/6), INT (5/26), and Deception 4 (4/32).



All successes! END goes up. What stat will replace it?

Now working on ??? (0/6), INT (6/26), and Deception 4 (5/32).

Arkar will change to STR and weights and gravity.

Arkar

So noted.

[Thumper]

Walt will work on STR

[Tiglath]

Str and End again for Garvin please

[terrymixon]

Walt will work on STR

So noted.

[terrymixon]

Str and End again for Garvin please

So noted.

[terrymixon]

Before they leave, Roscoe will do a long-term lease on a commercial area where he can open a fabrication shop that can make TL16 (and lower) consumer goods up to vehicle size. Then he will speak with the representatives of The Shore before they depart to arrange protection for that enterprise. He’ll consult with Jaelah’s parents to high a manager to oversee the robots that will be the face of the business as well.

One of the rooms will be locked up and house a teleportal and an ansible that the robots can use to send messages to the network Roscoe is creating. If they need to return to Collace quickly, that is how they will manage it. The robots control the fabricators and without them nearby, the fabricators will eat themselves to uselessness. That and the ability to issue a self-destruct order will keep the tech from getting out. Even if a unit is taken, the hardware is encrypted at TL19 and no one will be unlocking it, and being removed from the shop will do the keistering as well.

He’ll be doing something similar at each stop as they travel.

[Thumper]

Recognizing the battle against Sternmetal will likely involve ship combat, Walt will abandon his training for Telepathy 3 and instead focus his training on Tactics-Naval: 0

[terrymixon]

Recognizing the battle against Sternmetal will likely involve ship combat, Walt will abandon his training for Telepathy 3 and instead focus his training on Tactics-Naval: 0

You’ll have a long trip to get there. My recommendation is to roll with it and not waste the time you’ve already invested. It will be a year before you get there, after all, even though we will be skipping the boring parts.

[Thumper]

Recognizing the battle against Sternmetal will likely involve ship combat, Walt will abandon his training for Telepathy 3 and instead focus his training on Tactics-Naval: 0

You’ll have a long trip to get there. My recommendation is to roll with it and not waste the time you’ve already invested. It will be a year before you get there, after all, even though we will be skipping the boring parts.

Ah! Didn’t realize we’d have so long before we get there. Stick with Telepathy 3 then.

[terrymixon]

Recognizing the battle against Sternmetal will likely involve ship combat, Walt will abandon his training for Telepathy 3 and instead focus his training on Tactics-Naval: 0

You’ll have a long trip to get there. My recommendation is to roll with it and not waste the time you’ve already invested. It will be a year before you get there, after all, even though we will be skipping the boring parts.

Ah! Didn’t realize we’d have so long before we get there. Stick with Telepathy 3 then.

If you were rushing, it would likely take eight or nine months with the itinerary that Ciencia has proposed (36 hops). As you are recruiting colonists on the way, it will likely be a year and three quarters to two years (1-2 weeks of recruiting and loading at each stop), though the vast majority of the layovers won’t be played out.

Here is the proposed itinerary. If anyone wants to add a stop or two (or raise concerns about one) just speak up.

Collace (526,667) -> Aki -> Tirem -> Trin -> Askigaak -> Mora -> Bevey -> Aramis -> Marz -> Oertsous (Vargr world outside the Imperium) -> Pretoria -> Urnas -> Magash -> Mora -> Vincennes -> Deneb -> Dekha -> Ishiri -> Catacomb -> Asharam -> Ishirdu -> Menguno -> Maa -> Irkhi -> Masa -> Shakhamash -> Hkeakewoirea' -> Phaln -> Taleoo -> Ladi -> Hardy -> Numdaag -> Ansha -> Gunde -> Farreach -> Havre -> Wissaran

Ships will also be sent to make pitches at Glisten and Rhylanor and catch up with the wagon train to the stars.

She intends to set up a longer-term recruitment effort on each world and have ships come by three months after the initial visit to gather a fuller load of people that have had time to consider moving more carefully.

[terrymixon]

The arrival at Aki is similar to the earlier ones, though as you are in larger ships, you get priority in orbital slots. Once you are in place, that frees you up to implement your plans to deal with Aki's taint issue while Ciencia focuses on recruiting colonists, though she will need to get whatever permissions are required as well, and that is an area that others could help with. Roscoe will be setting up a fabrication store like the one on Collace (and Glisten), but he likely won't need help.

Items I am aware of that need to be dealt with by the PCs:

1. Make sure planetary security will even let you back on the planet.
2. Get approvals to sell seeds for taint-resistant plants.
3. Find sellers for seeds for taint-resistant plants.
4. Set up clinics and potentially hospitals to treat people for everyday issues.
5. Get medical approvals to make DNA adaptions to the willing that would make them immune to most non-biological atmospheric taints, including the variety here on Aki.
6. Start campaign to get people willing to have the changes made.
7. Find people to run said clinics and hospitals for you.
8. Find an underground cabal of psionics.
9. Anything Terry has forgotten.

“What shall we do first?” Metz asked. “Do we do this as a group or split up?”

[Thumper]

Walt, who has spent the week in space growing a short beard:
”You’re welcome to go undercover with me to go rooting around for an underground cabal of psionics here on Aki. Could be messy work. Going to need a good disguise and a loadout of shady Neural Jack skills. Could be fun though. Might want to know Teleport in case we need to extricate ourselves from a bad situation. That kinda points to you, Arker.

[terrymixon]

Walt, who has spent the week in space growing a short beard:
”You’re welcome to go undercover with me to go rooting around for an underground cabal of psionics here on Aki. Could be messy work. Going to need a good disguise and a loadout of shady Neural Jack skills. Could be fun though. Might want to know Teleport in case we need to extricate ourselves from a bad situation. That kinda points to you, Arker.

*adds that to the list*

[helvorn]

The arrival at Aki is similar to the earlier ones, though as you are in larger ships, you get priority in orbital slots. Once you are in place, that frees you up to implement your plans to deal with Aki's taint issue while Ciencia focuses on recruiting colonists, though she will need to get whatever permissions are required as well, and that is an area that others could help with. Roscoe will be setting up a fabrication store like the one on Collace (and Glisten), but he likely won't need help.

Items I am aware of that need to be dealt with by the PCs:

1. Make sure planetary security will even let you back on the planet.
2. Get approvals to sell seeds for taint-resistant plants.
3. Find sellers for seeds for taint-resistant plants.
4. Set up clinics and potentially hospitals to treat people for everyday issues.
5. Get medical approvals to make DNA adaptions to the willing that would make them immune to most non-biological atmospheric taints, including the variety here on Aki.
6. Start campaign to get people willing to have the changes made.
7. Find people to run said clinics and hospitals for you.
8. Find an underground cabal of psionics.
9. Anything Terry has forgotten.

“What shall we do first?” Metz asked. “Do we do this as a group or split up?”

William speaks up. "I think items 1, 2 and 5 are first but we can work on item 4 right away as well."