Begin a Session: flashback reveals an aspect of your background; continues from the last flashback
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| KO Alpha 3-3 |
"I didn't do it sir!" the diminutive clerk wailed in response.
Hammedin was as certain as he could be that he had his killer. Four days of investigation had revealed multiple pieces of evidence that Corporal Krestedin was guilty of poisoning the whistle-blower. But as it was all circumstantial, Hammedin needed a confession to get a conviction. If he couldn't get one, then Krestedin would likely walk free.
With an air of resigned weariness, Hammedin sat at the table opposite Krestedin and began to leaf through the folder, ignoring him. It was a technique designed to unsettle the interviewee and it seemed to be working on Krestedin, but then a siren began to blare through the outpost. Closing the folder, Hammedin quickly rose and left the interrogation room locking the door behind him and headed to the control centre.
Pandemonium reigned in the control centre. People were talking over each other, shouting across the room as information was passed between the staff. Eventually Hammedin was able to discern that an interstellar cargo shuttle had arrived with the news that the Kenduri homeworld had been overrun in a sneak attack by Clan Arata. Devastatingly, nearly all the Kenduri family had been caught on the planet - at most only a handful had escaped the attack and they were scattered, unable to co-ordinate a response.
His entire life had been with the Kenduri - his parents had both been their Bannersworn. The defeat and destruction of the Clan was inconceivable to him ... what would he do now? It took only a moment for him to decide - he span on his heel and ran to the nearest hangar.
Begin a Session: end of flashback
* +1 momentum : now 9
* * * * * * *
Doyce and the team came up and into the control room.
"I think we're going to be documenting this for a while," the Professor said as he entered.
"OK," replied Hammer, "I'll keep lookout at the T-junction; take as long as you need."
Going back to the junction, Hammer readied his assault rifle as he went and taking post, kept watch as the team did their work.
After about an hour, the initial assessment was complete and they came back to Hammer at the junction. Re-assembled, they started along the other branch of the junction.
Hammer followed the outer side of the corridor - there was no debris in the corridor so it seemed that the attackers had not penetrated this far. The mapping software on his HUD showed that the curve in the corridor had gone through 90 degrees before anything changed.
The corridor opened into an enormous room filled with machinery. To their right a ramp rose up to a room fixed to the ceiling and lined with glass all around. From where they were at the room's entrance, it seemed like another control room - this time for the room's machinery.
The machinery, in fact the entire room, was still and silent, so with Barlow videoing, they went up the ramp to the glass room. The vault's lights had continued to activate as the team moved through it, as they did in the glass room ahead of them. The entry into the room was a gap in the glass wall at the top of the ramp - it had no door at all.
The room was obviously empty of any bots, but Hammer still entered and swept it before he allowed the researchers in. As soon as they were, though, they could barely contain their excitement and Hammer was quickly shooed out to give them more room
Reach a Milestone: vow "I will escort Professor Doyce and his team into, and out of, the vault on Fanum"
* mark progress, now 6 /10
Hammer knew they would be a long time in the treasure trove they had discovered so he switched to his sniper rifle to better examine the machinery in the room. To his uneducated eye, the machinery seemed to be arranged in production lines. From the partially finished machines on them, it looked like they had been assembling maintenance robots.
It was all very fascinating, but not to Hammer. He turned up the proximity alarm's sound setting and then set it to cover the entire ramp and the space above it, locked the leg joints of his armour, readied his tribarrel and relaxed in his armour, quickly slipping into a semi-alert doze ...
* * * * * * *
The chronometer on Hammer's HUD showed him that just over 2 hours had passed and the team were still busy measuring and sampling in the room behind him. While dozing, he had realised that he hadn't cleared the area under the ramp - a small but potentially fatal mistake. He unlocked the armour's legs and walked down the ramp.
"Team, I'm checking under the ramp," he called to them over the intercom. There was no reply, so he sent the message again, this time with the override setting enabled.
"Yes, yes, we heard," came Doyce's testy reply.
Mentally shrugging and ignoring the Prof's display of temper, Hammer reached the end of the ramp and followed it at floor level. Finding nothing under the ramp, he returned to his previous vigil at the top of the ramp.
Eventually Hammer called a halt to the team's activities. They had been out long enough and had to return to the Viktor to replenish their oxygen and water. Reluctantly, Doyce agreed and the team began to pack up.
With everything packed, they began their trip back through the vault, Hammer again taking the lead. As they went, they discussed the next steps the team would take.
Undertake an Expedition: troublesome, "Explore Fanum's Vault" : vigilantly, roll +wits : 6 +3 vs 6 & 7 : strong hit
* reach a waypoint; envision the location
* mark progress per the rank of the expedition, now 9 / 10
"We have so much data that it will take us a couple of weeks to process," announced Doyce. "The robot assembly line itself is fascinating. Anyway, when we get back to Sita, your vow will be fulfilled, Hammer. We'll stay there until a security team from the University reaches us and then we'll return here."
"That's good with me - thank-you Professor," replied Hammer.
"Thank-you Hammer," said Doyce, "You did an excellent job."
"It's not quite over Professor," Hammer said, "Let's wait until we get to Sita hey?"
No answer came and they continued in silence to the vault's entrance.
Finish an Expedition: troublesome, "Explore Fanum's Vault" : progress 9 vs 4 & 6 : strong hit
* You reach your destination
* mark 1 tick on Discoveries Legacy track