LogStormlight-Jacko-8

Game log for the 2021/01/25 session of Impulse Drive: Stormlight, as taken by Jacko

The crew completes the rendezvous of the shuttle and the Stormlight in low orbit and the crew heads to their stations to prepare for drill space before heading to Groasak. Franco and Trembath move the cargo from the shuttle to the Stormlights cargo bay. Kyruss keeps working on his Explodo-Pistol while Ember confronts Drix about his project to discover more of her past.

She's frustrated at the apparent lack of progress on things but Drix feels like he's close to a breakthrough and proscribes patience. Ember's not really feeling it and is only more put out by his feel good mumbo jumbo. She asks Drix what her future might hold and he tells her he sees her back at the orphanage. He sees her with people uniformed as the Long Watch but he's not sure if they're friend or foe. But, in the end, he sees her enjoying her freedom. Ember wants to know more but Drix remains cryptic. Janus continues doing research on her agricultural futures work.

Franco helps Trembath hook the crates up to the ships power and he questions him about the plan from here. Trembath says that his contacts on Groasak should be pleasantly surprised to see him and will not only help but will pay Janus (and crew) for her help. The Duzan thinks there's too much hope and not enough plan in this caper and Trembath seems to agree but it is what it is. He eventually heads to his bunk to collapse but Franco remains behind. He checks out the embyros and their cryo storage before heading to make a miniature version, big enough for one embyro.

The Stormlight arrives at the Groasak system, home to one habitable planet with a station in orbit. Janus announces to the crew that they've arrived and will be heading towards the station shortly. Franco espouses caution since the situation may be different than expected. Sure enough, there's a Long Watch ship docked at the station already but it's not making any moves. The ships seems to be local enforcement, not sent from Tiberius, but it's still disconcerting.

Trembath reports that his contact is a Mrup named Eilnul. Janus thinks it might be safer for her to contact Eilnul instead of Trembath and she hits him up via comms. Eilnul seems suspect and Janus isn't giving up any details but they arrange a meeting. Janus, Kyruss and Drix will head to the station to meet up with Eilnul but they ask Trembath some questions about this arrangement first. He explains his history with Eilnul and the scientific cabal they had joined.

The trio step off the shuttle and there's a functionary waiting for them. He reports there are some irregularities in their ship registration data and Janus insists on sorting those out right now. The functionary reports that there was been an impound and repossession order placed on the Stormlight. Kyruss lies through his mandibles that they simply requisitioned the shuttle from the Stormlight and they aren't the owners. The functionary buys that but insists the shuttle can't be allowed to take off until the matter is sorted out.

Kyruss insists they're here on official business apprehending a fugitive by the name of Velloids. The functionary is happy to let him go about his business, but the shuttle stays impounded. Kyruss doesn't waste any time and starts looking into catching Velloids. Janus decides to peel off from Drix and Kyruss and go about the business of contacting Eilnul. Drix, however, is recognized by a member of the Long Watch who seems proud to tell him he's been marked persona non grata for associating with abominations. They tell him that they'll be taking him to Tiberius and draw weapons before giving him an ultimatum.

Drix doesn't waste any time when the firefight breaks out, drawing his mystic weapon and diving for cover while blasting at both Watchmen. One is taken out almost immediately but the other grabs cover while Drix reloads. Kyruss announces himself as a star marshall and to cease and desist but simply gets involved in the fire fight for his efforts. The Watchman is put down and the two try to figure out their next steps but the station security soon arrives in force.

Back on the Stormlight, Ember decides to take matters into her own hands. She doesn't need Drix's seering when all that knowledge is in her own head. She just needs to unlock those memories and decides to use the Abyss to do so. She settles in...

Back on the station, Drix is suddenly having an out of body experience and something is telling him that something is happening on the Stormlight. What Kyruss sees is Drix spasming in the chair he was sitting in at the local constabulary, the man now planking as if he was planning to fly off somewhere Superman style. Ember has the same feeling tugging at her and she knows that 'that way' is where she came from, and whatever is out there knows where she is too. It's always known.

Janus makes it to the bar, unaware of the firefight behind her, and meets Eilnuil. She mentions a mutual friend from Xeoys University and it almost knocks Eilnul off his paws. They make it clear that they're both talking about Trembath. Eilnul needs a little time to set things up but will give Janus some coordinates in an hour or so. Janus warns him that there may be some complications and it could take longer than expected but she's working on those things. They part ways with Eilnul looking quite a bit more paranoid now. Janus figures her biggest obstacle is in the administration offices and she begins heading that way.

Drix begins blubbering that he's not guilty of the heresies he's accused of and Kyruss proclaims that his confidential informant has been traumatized. Kyruss asserts that Drix was working to help expose corruption in the Long Watch. They'll let Kyruss leave, minus his weapon since it's now evidence, but they're concerned Drix isn't mentally all there. The cops let Kyruss know that the Watch has put out a bulletin against him and they're inclined to cooperate with the Watch. They're clearly intimating that there's some jurisdictional dick waving going on but Kyruss isn't having any of it. He intimidates the cop into submission before he and Drix leave. Janus is there and notices the weird energy on the station after having walked through the remnants of the firefight and she sees Kyruss try to slap some sense into Drix.

Janus chides Kyruss for not backing her up at the bar but he notes Drix's strange state. They see other people pointing in the same direction that Drix was earlier and ponder if it was something the Long Watch did. Drix is coming around and he mentions it's the Abyss but beyond that, he has no idea what's happening. He looks like shit and Janus thinks getting some food in his belly might help. She fills in Drix and Kyruss on Eilnul's part of the conspiracy. Still, there's the issue of the shuttle and how to get that straightened out.

Kyruss seems confident that they could requisition it back so long as Velloids is in his custody. In order to do that, he needs to find some criminal scum and start asking questions. Eilnul contacts Janus and tells her that storage is set up and in place. She reminds him that this package is COD and he asks her to commit to keeping the delivery safe. She decides to help Kyruss find Velloids and reaches out to the local criminal scene. They don't mind losing Velloids but his stills supply alcohol to a lot of shady places on the station. If Janus can promise that his operation will keep going without him, they can haul him off. They give up his location and the trio head off.

Janus presents herself as a buyer for a shipping magnate looking to open a new source. He's only happy to explain how they ferment their booze from station bio-waste. Yum. They let him explain it all before glancing at their contact and making sure he's happy. He seems to be and so Kyruss produces his badge and pistol and places Velloids under arrest.

Franco is still working on his mini-freezer, unaware that Ember is freaking out and hiding elsewhere on the ship itself. Things are progressing on the station as Eilnul has secured payment but Janus wants some of it up front. Eilnul is reluctant to do that but wants to tag along after handing over the cash and not letting the crew out of his sight. They manage to get the shuttle un-impounded and head back to the Stormlight where Franco and Ember are waiting.

Eilnul freaks out when he spies Ember and approaches her, trying to examine her but she pushes him back. He asks a slew of inappropriate medical questions but Ember is just confused. He seems to know she's 'one of them' which surprises Trembath. The rest of the crew seems alarmed at this revelation but not as much as Ember who grabs a spacesuit helmet and chucks it at the airlock, shattering it and the door itself. Most everyone hits the deck as Ember demands answers. Eilnul tries to explain the scientific basis of her existence and Ember wants to know her personal history. Eilnul proclaims that she can't be a part of Project Caliban, which seems to be the thing in which Eilnul and Trembath were involved.

Ember seems shaken by all this new knowledge, and Eilnul shaken for having given it. Trembath gets him some coffee to steady his nerves while Eilnul explains the minutiae of genetic engineering. Eilnul wants to crack the secret to how Ember seems stable and, y'know, alive, and take Ember to the medlab for tissue analysis. Her genetic material is definitely not the same as the stuff they've been working on but might know the people that were. Someone named Grigori had been working on the particular line of scientific exploration that could've lead to Ember's design. Grigori happens to be Eilnul's assistant. Ember rejects the idea of design, because she had parents, right? Trembath tells her that she more likely had donors.

The decision is made to dock with the station since the shuttle airlock is damaged beyond repair. Franoc manages to slip one of the embyros from the containers into his miniature version and stash it, but it's a close thing. The Stormlight docks with the station and Kyruss reclaims his weapon from evidence while Janus unloads the cheap booze in exchange for freeze dried mushrooms.