Original Archive - IAS Chapter 37

Irsa looks around the room. "Well THX, I guess we're finished exploing this ship. Time to leave." Irsa says and heads for the stairs to go down.

James Nickerson 9/15/2006

Alexei cursed out loud, �OH AH OH AH,� and in horror put a furry hand over his mouth. _What in the Borsch was going on?_ he thought to himself as he scratched his head with his right leg. He jumped up and shook his arms high above his head in frustration. Luckily, he wasn�t one to talk to himself or was he? He couldn�t remember anything before he woke in the stench ridden room. He sat down and tried to patiently wait for his hopefully soft landing on whatever planet this was. He hoped it was soon. He really had to go to the bathroom.

gglassdr 9/16/2006

THX follows Irsa, but strangely begins muttering to itself after buzzing for a bit:

October 8, 2555: We're on our way back to the Alexandria. We're bringing back a full load of minerals from the mining device. Amrit didn't expect to get a rich variety of minerals from the lunar soil but we did retrieve a good amount of calcium, aluminum and iron oxide.

October 9, 2555: The images we brought with us have all been transmitted back to Eridani. We couldn't find any printed media, but we found what appear to be words written on several walls and doors. There are no linguistic analysis programs in the ship's computers. There aren't even any crewmembers with skills in linguistics, not even among those still frozen, so we're on our own for translations. I wonder what the reaction will be on Eridani when they see these pictures. They won't get the data for another 52 years. Whatever response they send won't reach us for at least 104 years. If we can't find the Warden, maybe we'll go back into hibernation and await their response. [laughter] No one's really said much about the Warden lately. It's a good thing, too. Mike has completed the nearside probe array and linked it to the relay from the farside array, but none of the probes have found any sign of the Warden or alien intelligence.

October 10, 2555: Mike, Marie and Ken have taken a dropship down to the same location we first explored. They landed on the other side of the site and set up the mining device. Their first stop was the war mural.

October 11, 2555: The team journeyed to the center of the complex. There they found an enormous pit. Ken said it was like standing at the Crack of Doom. The pit was perfectly round and lined with the ceramic-like substance. It was too deep to see the bottom. The pit was covered with an equally enormous frame. It had collapsed over the top of the pit like a haphazard grate. Perhaps the frame had once housed a winch or protected the pit from the sun's rays. A robot attached a winch to the frame and lowered a visual-audio probe 500 meters down the pit. At that depth the bottom was still not visible. The sides of the pit were uniformly constructed of the ceramic material. There were no openings at all.

October 13, 2555: The team has returned to the ship. Amrit and I have gone back to the moon with longer cables. We labored for hours before finally reaching the bottom: 3200 meters. The cable was so long we had trouble stabilizing it. We lowered a small robot into the pit. It sent back pictures of a large piece of machinery fitted into the bottom. It was partly covered by debris.

October 14, 2555: Mike has examined the ceramic and metal devices. The ceramics are a little pliant, unlike real ceramics, but under too much stress they break. Inside the metal casings, the devices contain multiple layers of a flexible material composed of petroleum-based polymers. The layers were all connected by the same white fibers found inside the ceramic trees. Mike said the polymers smelled like mold. He's quarantined in his lab until we've determined the mold isn't dangerous.

October 16, 2555: Robots have been hauling debris from the pit for two days. The machinery at the bottom has been uncovered but the mystery remains. It has no obvious purpose, no exposed electronics, no input or output. Ken, watching from the Alexandria, suggested it wasn't machinery at all but something purposefully buried there, perhaps radioactive waste. Ken is alone in that opinion. It begs the questions why was the pit left exposed and why was it so central to such a large installation?

October 17, 2555: Marie has given Mike a clean bill of health. The polymers found in the alien devices did contain mold, but they were dead and possessed no latent spores. Just to be safe, I've ordered Mike to open all alien devices in a controlled environment and have them tested for biotics before further testing.

October 18, 2555: Mike, Marie and Ken have returned to the moon to explore a different site. They've landed in a tightly knit gathering of buildings nestled inside a small crater. Amrit has given it the name Wart City because of the way it looks. There's very little damage there. They had to cut their way into the buildings, but we've learned from our mistakes. A robot carefully sealed a portion of the door, punctured it and slowly released the air. Once inside, they found numerous small suites that looked like apartments. There were very few artifacts there. All of the buildings we've explored seem to have been abandoned in an orderly fashion, the occupants taking whatever they could carry or thought valuable.

October 19, 2555: Near the center of Wart City, the team found another mural. This one depicted a large forest scene. It's a remarkable find! The plants and animals in the forest are wildly exotic, unlike anything known on Earth! Marie said she felt like she was staring into a prehistoric moment captured for all eternity. Presumably these creatures all lived on the planet below once, millions of years ago. The astrobiologists on Eridani will have a field day when they see these images.

October 21, 2555: The sun is on the exact opposite side of the moon today, leaving the moon's nearside in total darkness. For the next few days we won't need to wear extra layers of radiation gear. However, we'll need our own light sources at all times, even when outdoors. Most of the robots are equipped with floodlights.

October 24, 2555: Amrit and I explored a site that seems to have been a radio telescope or a transmitter of some kind. At the bottom of an artificial crater we found the nearly complete remains of a parabolic dish. We found dozens of unique polymer devices and brought them back.

October 28, 2555: Mike, Marie and Ken have discovered another large room with murals. Three long walls depict an earthlike savannah with exotic animals playing beneath exotic trees. None of the animals seem hostile or even wild. Ken has nicknamed it the 'Nursery'. Nearby they found a long hallway painted as if it were underwater. Aquatic life swam or fed off the bottom. Some of the sea creatures are frighteningly similar to plesiosaurs and Trilobites. One large sea creature looked identical to a modern shark. Only the tail was strikingly different, and for all I know there may be Earth sharks with similar tails. The plant life growing on the ocean floor looked more alien than anything I'd seen yet. A multitude of sizes and shapes floated in the water, secured to the ocean floor by long tendrils.

October 30, 2555: I've told the crew I want to take the ship to the planet. Our supply of minerals for the matter compiler is running low. We've extracted a good deal of metals, oxygen and helium from the lunar surface, but only trace amounts of carbon. If there's anything edible on the planet, it'll be nice to have a change of diet. We'll stay for another few days then leave orbit.

October 31, 2555: Just over half of the moon's nearside was lit by the sun today. Amrit chose a landing site that was still in shadow. It was a small site: a few, small structures at the bottom of a crater. Most of the structures were made of concretized soil, but the smaller ones were made of the white fibers found inside the alien technology. Only a single building was large enough for a humanoid to enter. A thick metal bulkhead barred the way. The robots cut it open but the space inside contained no air. Inside was a narrow chamber with stairs that descended several flights. At the bottom were several small rooms and a much larger, circular rotunda with a dome. A round table occupied the middle of the room. Strands of white fiber and blocks of ceramic were attached to the desk. A dark crystal was set into the center of the dome. The walls were painted with another mural. This one was spectacularly well preserved, probably by the lack of oxygen. The aliens may have depressurized the room when they abandoned it. The mural depicted two armies clashing. Fantastic, black airships rained fire on cities while humanoids of various ages sat peacefully in fortified bunkers beneath the ground.

THX's buzzing stops.

gammaben 9/16/2006

Percy

OOC: Gammaben, fear not! Things will be getting interesting at the lifeboat *very* soon ;D Sorry for the delay. I hope you don't feel punished because all the action has been taking place at THX and Irsa's side of the world. Are there any other players besides Percy and Nike in the Pandora that have been waiting for me to send some action their way? In the meantime, I'm finishing a maps page. It will be finished in a few days. Now, on with the show...

OOC: I just realized with Percy leaving the bridge, he missed the latest journal entries! I guess he'll have to catch the cliff's notes.

Well anyways, I don't feel punished, and I'm certainly not bored and not trying to send a subtle message to the GM. Just thought I'd try my hand at some poking fun at general sci-fi shows in general. How many times do we see Stargate Command during an SG-1 mission? Only when it starts and when they come back? What'd they do in the meantime! How many times did Riker go on an away mission and only checked in when he arrived and when he's about to head back? What kind of hip hop happenin' party was going on, on the bridge, during the mission? :)

supreme_arbiter 9/22/2006

From now until the end of the year I'm going to be in 'sprint' mode. I plan on posting updates every Saturday until New Years. I'll post clarifications in between if necessary. My next IAS update/turn will be in 2 days.

supreme_arbiter 9/23/2006

Alexei's pod slowly fell. He watched continents and oceans rise below him. He wondered if the pod would float in water. If he landed on solid ground, it looked likely that he'd be very cold. Ice caps covered mountain ranges in many areas. It was hard to determine where the planet's poles were, but as he continued to fall, the planet slowly spun and Alexei found his bearings.

Alexei was travelling very fast, but he felt like he was moving in slow motion. The pod had a long way to fall before it touched down. The continent passed and a large ocean rose over the horizon. Alexei grew heavier. The escape pod grew warmer and the window glowed red.

Alexei backed away from the window and found a seat. He fastened himself in. When it seemed like it couldn't get any hotter, the pod roared and shook violently. Alexei recognized the sound of rockets below him. He felt like he weighed a ton for a few interminable moments. Then it ended suddenly. The pod began to fall again. There was a noise above as the parachute released. The pod jerked downwards. White sticky foam covered the outside of the window. A minute or so later the pod came to a crashing halt.

Alexei pulled the escape lever. The seals around the door broke noisily. The door fell away and made a crashing noise dozens of meters below him. Alexei looked out and saw he was high up in a tree. It was growing in the side of some sort of pit, two kilometers wide. At the bottom, several dark cubes of stone were partially exposed in muddy trenches.

-----------------------------

Irsa and THX were leaving the dropship ruins when they heard a crash and snapping wood. They ran into the clearing and saw falling tree limbs. An escape pod, similar to the one Irsa had taken from the Warden, was lodged in the branches of a very tall tree. Its parachute, ripped and torn, fluttered in the branches above it. The pod's door cracked open and fell down the side of the pit. A chimpanzee peered out.

-end transmission-

OOC: I've redesigned the resources on the IAS archive homepage. Under resources, you'll now find Current Maps (Alexei is at the site called "Excavation and Dropship"), and Rescue Ship Alexandria - Captain's Log

James Nickerson 9/23/2006

Alexei looked out at the weird, yet familiar landscape. He saw the weird looking creature next to the large robot and had flashes of his recent encounters of others of its species. He had wanted to check the landing pod for supplies and things he could salvage, but would have to come back. He grabbed his meager possessions and climbed out of the pod. He looked around for an escape route while he climbed higher up the tree. He wished he had a weapon of some sort.

Elizabeth 9/23/2006

Irsa watches the chimpanzee climb higher and decides to go talk to it. She takes her pack off and unfurling her wings flies to where the chimpanzee is. "Hi there. My name is Irsa and the robot is named THX-1492. He's friendly although he does recite parts of an ancient diary once in a while and can't remember doing so. What's your name?" Irsa asks in a rush.

James Nickerson 9/24/2006

�Oh Oh Ah Ah,� replied Alexei and then clamped a hand over his mouth. He still had to get used to the idea he couldn�t talk. He propped himself up on a branch of the tree and held on firmly with his hind feet. He pulled out the maker from the waist band of his boxers and wrote on his little white board. He turned it around and showed the flying hamster what he had wrote, �Alexei, do all hamsters talk on this planet?�

gglassdr 9/24/2006

THX moves quickly to the tree, but not directly under the pod in case it falls from the top of the tree.

"Primate, this unit is Engineering Veribot THX-1492. Imperative that you relate critical information to this unit. Was Primate's point of origin the colony ship Warden? How long were you in Warden Escape Pod?"

The robot turns to Irsa, "Maximum escape pod velocity is known. If pod point of origin can be verified and duration of flight time of pod can be determined, the maximum radius of Warden position can be determined. Pod data module should have Warden flight data recorded."

It turns back to the chimpanzee. "Primate, before you climb down, can you determine if pod has crash data module aboard? Imperative that this information be obtained."

Elizabeth 9/24/2006

"Hi Alexei. I'm the only winged hamster on the planet that I know of. The rest of my tribe is still on the Warden. I and a human named Becka hid in an escape pod to avoid a crazed robot. But she accidentily activated the pod and we ended up on this planet. She's down below somewhere." Irsa says, wondering why the chimp can't talk. Apparently, she decides, his voice box is defective.

James Nickerson 9/24/2006

Alexei looked at the hamster and listened to the robot at the same time. Then he looked at the robot and listened to the hamster. He shook his head. This was all getting to be a little overwhelming. He thought about what they had both said. 'Becka?Did he know her?' No, his mind was a blank. He pushed his glasses further up his nose and scribbled on the white board. _I will look inside the pod._ It gave him an excuse to search the pod for useful items, so he climbed back down the tree and cautiously enter the pod. He did not want it falling out of the tree with him. Alexei searched the pod and also accessed any nav console he could find for the information the robot required.

supreme_arbiter 10/1/2006

OOC: Nice move, George! EXP points will be forthcoming. That's next on my IAS to-do list, along with converting characters to the new MA4e.

IAS turn 15 - The Return of Janus

The pod was firmly lodged between three enormous branches sprouting from the mighty trunk. Alexei tentatively climbed into the pod. It felt safe enough to move around in. He searched the pod. There was no equipment or console inside, but he found a way to lift the seats up. Beneath one of the seats he found a bright yellow panel with levers on both sides. He lifted the levers and the panel popped up. He grasped the panel and pulled out a small yellow box. It had a handle and tiny input/output jacks in the back. Confident that he'd found what the robot was looking for, Alexei climbed out of the pod and down to the bottom of the tree.

Alexei handed the box to THX-1492. The robot took the flight data recorder and inserted a lead into the back. It quickly scanned the data and found 28 hours of nothing but static! It had recorded no useful data at all, only static for 28 hours.

---------------------------------------------

Janus, Malik and Jethro rode through the night and avoided the Sand Sikalas. They reached the mountains as the sky grew brighter. They crossed the narrow mountain pass and reached the Sigai Oasis as the sun rose over the Siganna Mountains.

The people of the Sigai should have been starting the day's business at that hour, but the village streets were strangely empty. The houses were still shuttered. Not a single hearth fire burned. Only a single plume of smoke rose from the center of the village. Janus and his men rode toward the plume of smoke. It rose from an enormous pile of metal the size of a leviathan. Fire had turned the metal surface an ashen-gray. A shattered glass canopy covered the center. A large man's burnt body sat inside. Janus looked closer at the man and recoiled in horror. The man looked like he was made entirely of metal! His unnatural limbs still clutched the charred levers before him.

Janus and his men stood bewildered, trying to understand what they saw. A door opened and a man came running toward them. It was Tymbal. "You made it! I couldn't sleep last night. I worried I had sent you to death!"

"We found refuge from the storm," Janus reassured his friend. "There are ruins in the desert."

"Ruins?"

"Yes, but first, tell me where is everyone? Did this fall from the sky?" Janus asked, pointing at the smoking wreckage.

"Well, yes but... no. Come inside. I will explain everything."

Janus asked his men to rest the leviathan. He took his bag from the saddle and walked with his friend to Tymbal's home. It was still shuttered and dark. A candle burned on the table. Janus set his bag next to the candle and removed the relics he had found. "I found this metal box concealed in the wall of a chamber buried deep beneath the sands. Inside I found this cylinder and stone."

Tymbal took the items from Janus. He marveled at the strange symbols on the otherwise featureless, white cylinder and the glyphs and figure carved into the stone. The stone still glowed with the same inner radiance Janus had noticed the night before.

"Do you have a place to keep these safe?" Janus asked.

"Yes, of course."

"Then please, take them."

"Their value is way too great, I can't take them from you."

"No, please. I can't take them either. I don't want Galt's men to stop me with them in my possession." Janus was also glad to have some gifts to give his friend in return for his news. The gifts he had brought with him had been lost in the storm.

"Then I will keep them here for you."

"Thank you. Now tell me, what happened here."

"For several days we've seen things falling from the sky. They fall slowly, silently. They hang from a canopy of material I've never seen before." Tymbal went to his desk and opened a drawer. He removed a folded piece of cloth and handed it to Janus. Janus examined the fabric, but didn't recognize it.

"Amazing! You found one of these falling things?"

"Yes, two. They were smaller than that thing outside. They had a door and seats inside that fit a man, and I found these," Tymbal said mysteriously. He moved the candle and pushed the table away. He pulled up a piece of the floor and revealed a safe. Tymbal removed two small, yellow boxes from beneath the floor. He gave them to Janus to examine.

Each box was made of metal and had a handle. One side had several tiny holes. "What are they?"

"I hoped you could tell me. I couldn't open them."

"Did you find the men who fell in these things?"

"They were unoccupied. The tracks from one disappeared. I followed the other to a Sand Sikala. I imagine he was killed and eaten. The rest will show up eventually. Yesterday around noon, a larger object fell. It fell faster and was way louder. Horatio and his students went to find it yesterday and haven't come back. Then last night that metal thing outside came. It made a horrible noise. The men of the village attacked it and brought it down. It burned for most of the night."

"It flew?" Tymbal nodded. "What was inside that thing? It looked like a person made of metal."

"It was made of metal. I have no idea what it is. I've never seen anything like it."

"Me neither."

"Shortly after the men destroyed that metal thing, we heard thunder in the dunes. We saw fire in the sky. The fire went up very high and came down again. This morn, everyone in the village went into the desert to kill the demon that ate Horatio. Their victory over that metal man last night has strengthened their cowardly spirits."

"If this thing is a demon, the villagers are in grave danger. But I'm more worried about what could happen if it's not. If Horatio got there first, everyone in the Siganna Mountains could be in danger. We must reach it before Horatio takes it straight to Eden."

Tymbal agreed. He stowed the relics Janus had given him and the two yellow metal boxes beneath the floor and concealed them again. They left Tymbal's house and returned to Malik, Jethro and the leviathan. Tymbal pointed the way south into the dunes. Everyone climbed onto the leviathan's back and the beast took them into the desert.

---------------------------------------------

Back on the bridge of the Pandora, Bailey sat upright and practically shouted, "Nike, lifeforms are approaching."

"Where? How many?" Nike snapped back.

"Dozens of 'em, maybe a hundred. They're approaching from the north. They're still about a kilometer away."

-end transmission-

publius1024 10/1/2006

Arkady

IAS Chapter 35 - Forgotten Chambers

This chapter introduces Janus, a character started in February 2003 by the player Baron Greystone. He left this group a while ago, but he made a strong contribution and he is missed. As an NPC his character may yet play an important role in future events. This chapter was started by Stacy and completed by this morning's post.

gglassdr 10/1/2006

If the robot showed any disappointment in the absence of data from the pod's flight data recorder, it didn't show it. "Captain Nike," it reports, "Pod FDR shows 28 hours of no-data. This unit can calculate radius of Warden's position." It reports the data to Nike.

[OOC: I assume that THX-1492 can calculate maximum radius of the Warden's position given the maximum velocity of the pod and the 28hours of flight duration.]

supreme_arbiter 10/1/2006

I forgot to add that THX-1492 determined, based on the amount of flight data recorded (even if there wasn't any real 'data'), the point of origin was either from a lunar orbit or a Lagrange orbit. In either case, the Warden is very far away.

James Nickerson 10/1/2006

Alexei looked at the robot and scratched his head. 28 hours? No wonder he had had to go to the bathroom. He was glad robots could not usually smell. Not sure what to do next, he sat down at the robots feet and started to clean his fur. It seemed natural to him, although this new form was not. Alexei figured he would just tag along with these strangers until he figured what to do next. He wasn�t going to explore this planet alone without a weapon or even with one. He continued to groom and look around his surroundings.

Elizabeth 10/1/2006

Irsa goes over to where she last saw Becka and calls to her. "Becka, you can come out now. We have a new friend, a chimpunzee named Alexei, that I'd like you to meet." Irsa says.

Then Irsa sits for a moment and gets out her knife and spear making kit from her left cheek. After checking to be sure the hammer stone, shaft straightener and sinew are all there Irsa begins looking for some flint rock and slender branches to make Alexei some weapons to use.

supreme_arbiter 10/7/2006

IAS turn 15.4 - Modern Demons

Becka left the building where the aircars were. She carried a book with her. "Hey Irsa," she said. "This book is about a demon. I wonder if it'll be useful against the demons in the desert." She showed the book to Irsa.

"'The Modern' what?" Irsa said, trying to comprehend the title. Those were the only two words she understood. She had no idea what the words Frankenstein or Prometheus meant.

Alexei continued to groom and look around his surroundings.

Alexei saw and heard Irsa talking to Becka outside of a large, dark stone building, 60 meters wide. Other stone structures, partially concealed in mud, surrounded them. He looked south and recognized the ruins of a Hercules class dropship. It was covered in overgrowth and mud from the cliff wall behind it.

He spotted a small, rabbit-like creature with two small horns on its head. The creature stood between him and Irsa. It sniffed the air curiously. A crowd of similar creatures crept through the weeds behind it.

OOC: Irsa has with her two small metal knives and four small spears that she could share with Alexei. She doesn't have to take the time to make sharp wooden weapons, unless she wants to.

----------------------------------------

"Nike," Chelydra said over the comm, "I'm outside right now. I see a column of dust over the dunes north of us, but I don't see anyone yet. That beatup, junkyard bot has brought in the recycling from that escape pod. The garage door is sealed and secured. I'm shutting the gangplank and securing it too."

-end transmission-

James Nickerson 10/7/2006

Alexei wasn't sure what these things were, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to raise the alarm. He raised up and banged on the robot and flailed his other arm in the air.

"Oh OH, ah, AH," He flashed his teeth and got down on all fours trying to look as threatening as he could. He would have given his eye teeth for a blaster.

Elizabeth 10/7/2006

Irsa starts going over to Alexei but stops on the way to say to the rabbit. "Hi there buddy. Come to visit and say hi to your friend Irsa did you? Want some more food. I'm running low but here's some more food." saying that Irsa takes the last of her food in her right cheek pouch and offers it to the rabbit. After the rabbit takes the treat, Irsa will gently stroke it and go on over to Alexei.

"Hi Alexei. I have a metal knife and two spears, If you want weapons. The rabbits are friendly as long as you don't act or look threatening." Irsa says to him.

James Nickerson 10/7/2006

Alexei took the primative weapons from her and stared at the bunny rabbits. "Oh Oh," he said in chimp thanks and plunked down on the ground again. He hoped he wasn't losing his little chimp mind.

supreme_arbiter 10/14/2006

... Alexei flashed his teeth and got down on all fours trying to look as threatening as he could. He would have given his eye teeth for a blaster.

The crowd of rabbit-like creatures hid from Alexei, but the lead rabbit froze and stood its ground. It allowed Irsa to pet its fur and ate the food she offered it. Gradually the other rabbits came closer.

OOC: sorry, not much of a turn today. Now's as good a time as any to discuss the future. A lot of strange things have happened to the crew since they landed on this planet. They've discovered primitive human colonists, a strange religion, an abandoned dropship, satellites for communications and global positioning, heard rumors about demons, THX has had hallucinatory visions of time-travel, etc. These things and more are clues to a mystery that is taking place at Rho Cancri.

Lately there have been similarities between IAS and the TV show Lost, although I've used nothing from that show directly. Sometimes the mysterious occurrances seem magical, yet there are rational explanations behind them (at least I hope there are in the case of Lost... :) I have a backstory all laid out, but I have no idea of how the plot will go. That's up to you, players. What will happen next?

The action now is centered on the lifeboat Pandora. A crowd of nearly one hundred beings is approaching from the north. What will you do?

THX-1492, Irsa, Becka and Alexei are half way around the world at the dropship and excavation site. THX-1492 and Irsa have explored the exposed ruins and nearly every room in the dropship except the radioactive doors on the bottom floor. Is there anything else you want to to do at this site?

For your convenience, here are maps of the dropship and excavation site. [FYI there is an inventory listed on the excavation page above of what THX and Irsa brought with them in the aircar] the lifeboat Pandora landing site. The rest of the maps are in the Map Section or there's a link from the IAS archive site under Resources.

Elizabeth 10/14/2006

"Calm down Alexei. Do you know how to pilot an aircar? If not I'll do it. I think its time to return to the rest of our group across the big stretch of water." Irsa says.

James Nickerson 10/14/2006

Alexei shook his head in response to the question. He snorted derisively at the strange rabbits. He figured better to tag along and he could find out everything that was going on. He waited to follow the rest of them. He was still confused and needed to know more before he could offer more assistance.

Elizabeth 10/14/2006

"Um THX, could you give me a quick run through on how to fly an aircar?" Irsa asks the robot.

gglassdr 10/16/2006

THX complies with Irsa's request giving the most efficient and easily learnable aircar procedures.

"More advanced instructions are available in my database, Irsa."

Elizabeth 10/16/2006

"I just need to be able to follow you back to our dropship. Fancier stuff can wait, I hope." Irsa replies.

supreme_arbiter 10/21/2006

IAS turn 16 - Up and Away

Alexei followed Irsa down into one of the black stone ruins. The stone floor was dry despite the recent rain. Irsa and Alexei climbed into one of the fully fueled aircars. They stowed their belongings behind them. Irsa powered the vehicle and lifted it off the ground. The controls were easy for her. Besides THX's concise instructions, she had watched him fly the craft for several hours. She already knew what most of the instruments indicated. The aircar moved slowly toward the exit. Squeezing through the narrow passage gave Irsa a moment of concern, but the controls were intuitive and she piloted through without a scratch. Outside, Irsa waited for THX and Becka to exit the ruins.

THX-1492 refueled its aircar and climbed in with Becka. They left the ruins and rose into the air. Irsa and Alexei followed. As they rose, the nose of their aircar lowered. Alexei watched the dropship ruins below. When they were a hundred meters up, the jungle swallowed it whole. There was no trace of it at all from the air. Irsa kept her eyes on the control panel.

They left the excavation and saw the vast canopy of jungle surrounding them. Alexei heard THX's voice in his ear saying, "Set nav-aid in center of console to 250, Irsa."

Irsa looked for the device THX had called a nav-aid on their flight to the excavation and dialed the number. "Ok," she said into the comm device she wore on her head. Irsa and Alexei followed THX past the jungle and over the great ocean. Irsa had no trouble keeping sight of THX. Alexei watched the view from his seat. In THX's aircar, Becka sat quietly and read her book.

-end transmission-

Elizabeth 10/21/2006

Irsa is piloting an aircar. Irsa is smiling happily as she pilots the aircar back to the rest of the group.

supreme_arbiter 10/28/2006

Hours later THX-1492, Irsa, Alexei and Becka passed over the great sea, a desert and a mountain range. THX-1492 passed the mountains and descended. Irsa followed. As they approached the place where the lifeboat sat in the sand, they saw a crowd of nearly a hundred people approaching the lifeboat on foot. A column of dust rose into the air behind them. A few kilometers behind the crowd, a large beast with men on its back raced to catch up with them.

-end transmission-

Elizabeth 10/28/2006

"We are about to have company, bridge crew." Irsa tells the bridge crew over her communicator. "Two groups are coming, one of about a hundred and the second about four."

James Nickerson 10/28/2006

Alexei jumped up and down in anxiety. "Oh oh ah ah!" He frantically wrote on his white board, "Don't land. Maybe hostile!"

Elizabeth 10/28/2006