LogStormlight-Jacko-9

Game log for the 2021/02/01 session of Impulse Drive: Stormlight, as taken by Jacko

Eilnul and Trembath begin offloading the embyros from the Stormlight but Ember has questions. She approaches Eilnul and asks him what will stop the people that come from the embryos ending up like herself. The rogue geneticist doesn't seem to think the embyros will be viable, largely, and even having one reach full maturity and become an actual person is a long shot. Ember cautions him to err on the side of optimism and have a plan for these embyros to defy the odds.

Thavrea is a nearby system where the freeze dried mushroom cargo and Velloids could all be offloaded for some spending money. The ship takes flight and Drix approaches Ember for more information on her memories and background. She's not very forthcoming, adamant that she's given him everything already, but Drix persists. He asks to hold her bear, and the Mystic consults the Abyss to try and find the hidden knowledge associated with it. Ember had stolen the bear from another orphan after they passed and kept it hidden on the fear of someone finding it. Still, she doesn't know (and neither does the bear) where the orphanage was or what it looked like from the outside.

She runs into Franco and he invites her to have a meal in the galley. The Duzan has an offer while he heats up ration packs, asking her if she's more invested in her future than her past. Franco asks Ember what she wants for herself and if she'd consider being placed with some of his 'connections' in exchange for that desired future. She doesn't want to become anyone's lab rat ever again and seems resistant, especially for such a vague offer. Franco assures her that he'll work on the details if she'll remain open to the idea of exchanging some information on herself for better prospects.

Janus confronts Kyruss about his trigger happy attitude and the two verbally spar about how they approach the Long Watch. Kyruss maintains that smuggling is Janus' wheelhouse and she needs to get better at keeping the Stormlight off the Long Watch's radar. Janus maintains that the chronic lack of money, caused in part by Kyruss' shootings, is more responsible for their woes. The two agree to disagree.

Ember decides to begin looking for others who might understand her better and who could understand her better than other Tempests? She begins combing through galactic news reports, looking for stories of the unexplainable that might be the result of Tempests exercising their powers.

The Stormlight arrives at Thavrea an the Federal Marshalls are waiting for us when the crew disembarks. Captain Achernar has a bone to pick with Kyruss and states that there's been a complaint lodged against him via the Long Watch. He doesn't want any trouble from Kyruss, or the Long Watch, and Kyruss is demure, stating he's simply here to turn in his bounty.

Janus offloads the shrooms and finds that trade in kind actually favors her for once, bringing aboard some astrographic and planetary data of a newly discovered planet that's very rich in minerals. Kyruss finds out that a survey team doing agricultural viability studies has gone missing and there's a reward for discovering their status. The two mull over the idea and Drix soon finds them in the bar.

Franco contacts his Duzan handlers and informs them of his appropriation of the enhanced embryo and his start to grooming Ember to come over. They arrange to send a Duzan pick up of the embryo, and possibly setting up a dead drop. They'll stay in contact and ask him to keep the Stormlight from taking off too soon. He heads back to the ship and further sabotages the airlock with a few expert tweaks. The ship will fail pre-flight checks even after it's repaired.

Ember hits the galactic news hub and begins researching stories and the rest of the crew eventually comes back from drinking. They decide to look for the ag-survey team come first light and take the shuttle when morning comes to start looking for them. Drix scans the surroundings and finds some interesting tidbits about the geography, some mineral veins and cave systems. There's some disturbed earth and some bipedal mech tracks but no signs of a fight and the tracks move towards a river. They set the shuttle down and begin investigating.

The crew begins uncovering the upturned earth and find an ATV with 5 bodies, matching the description of the survey team and the last known vehicle they were in. Two were shot in the back and the vehicle has suffered some energy weapon burns. There are no personal effects on the bodies, appearing to have been sanitized to keep them anonymous. Franco begins hacking into the vehicles data logs, hoping to see if he can find any pertinent data. Kyruss is concerned that a mech ambushed this vehicle and begins keeping an eye out. Ember joins him.

The teenaged Tempest soon figures out, while she and Kyruss move around the perimeter, that he's trying to teach her how to hunt and how to survive in the wilderness in an oddly parental fashion. She still doesn't entirely trust him not to eat her but the education is new. Of course, she gets an important lesson when she finally spots the animal that's been stalking them. Known locally as a Broadhead, the six limbed, four eyed creature with a rather wide, toothy maw. Kyruss spies one as well and points it out to Ember, unaware at the time that there's two. He hands her his assault rifle

Ember's fear gets the better of her and she aims the rifle and holds the trigger down as an unnatural shriek rises from the teen. She guns down the first Broadhead and the second charges in but is shot by Kyruss in turn, gravely wounding the beast. Kyruss takes the rifle from the freaked out Ember, loads a new magazine and humanely dispatches the wounded Broadhead. They radio the rest of the crew to let them know what's happened before they continue patrolling. They find the mech tracks and Kyruss is sure this isn't some civilian load carrier but is a dedicated combat machine.

Franco discovers the travel data and sees how the vehicle was ambushed before being disabled and the crew presumably killed. It would appear these crew was on the verge of discovering something that was meant to be kept secret and the owner of said secrets destroyed them with extreme prejudice before covering up the evidence.

They crew brings the bodies back to the settlement and speak to the Armature in charge, explaining that the mech indicates they've got a big problem on their hands and this is no petty criminal. Kyruss wants to get a posse together but the townsfolk aren't interested in getting killed by a mech or the weird fauna here. The crew needs to come up with a plan.