RP: New Dusk Conclave Expanding Horizons: Nephis Nights

NDV- Valiant
Katja felt Seara’s return embrace, along with her feel, causing the equine woman to blush slightly. “Tease...” she retorted. “I’m sure Kolorsha would be happy to look after the kids sometimes as well, but Equus it’s good to see you, love.” Seara’s next words elicited a sigh from Kat, her expression falling.
“Yeah, we got jumped by pirates, backed up by some Kuvies almost as soon as we jumped in system, though we’d been ready for action. Heard NDC had gotten a similar welcome when they’d arrived at Sirris, they weren’t taking a chance this time....” The pilot took a moment. “We still got hit hard though, especially the fighter squads...every single one lost at least one, most more, but....Talon...is...I...I’m the only one who made it through that fight, Seara...” Katja managed, her voice breaking as she took a bit of comfort in her lover’s embrace.

Daichi
“Hey, James, hold up a sec. You see that? Off to the left there”
“Huh?” The settler driving the excursion vehicle stopped, looking to where the woman was indicating. “That’s different. Is it dead? It had to have heard us coming.”
“Something wrong?” Aztec asked, sticking his equine head into the driver’s compartment between the seated pair.
“I don’t think so, Aztec. We rolled up on some new species there, I haven’t seen anything that looks like it planet side so far. What do you think?”

Aztec looked over at the body, at least what he could see of it from his view. “Huh. Maybe it’s dead? I haven’t seen it move yet. Let me take a look first, if it’s safe I’ll signal you” he finished, leaning back into the crew compartment and reaching for his helmet. Now fully armored, Aztec open the vehicle’s door, the slightly humid air filling the compartment as he stepped outside and approached the animal, his 10mm Wraith sidearm drawn. His caution, while warranted, proved unnecessary, as the animal was clearly dead, though he could see no obvious wounds. “It’s clear guys, whatever it is, it’s dead.”

The others of the group soon joined him. “Well, judging by its teeth, and what looks like retractable claws on it’s feet, it’s most definitely a predator.” Andrea, one of the group’s biologists said, after finishing a cursory examination of the creature.

“Looks vaguely catlike, only somewhat larger. Think it’s a pack hunter?”

“Can’t really say for sure” Andrea started. “Still, it’d be good if we could take the body, it’d at least tell us something, as it hasn’t been dead long.” She finished, about to rise to grab a bio specimen bag, only to find Aztec having already gotten it for her. “Always know what a woman wants, don’t you?” She joked.

Aztec shrugged. “It’s a talent. Don’t let my girlfriend hear you say that though, she’s a bit of the jealous type” he replied jokingly, handing Andrea the bag, which worked by making an airtight seal around whatever was placed inside when activated.

Shortly, after having stowed the body and reported the finding, the team was on its way again.

Serenity
Rihanna, having finished her tea, checked her pad. She was kind of suprised to see there was nothing scheduled for the moment.

Daichi

Elisys has stayed by the workshops and Garages since coming here. The planet looked beautiful, sure, but there's still stuff that needs to be done before they could enjoy any of it. Repairs, routine checks, the whole nine yards kind of thing. At least the foliage looks more like home.

NDV-VALIANT
Seara couldn't smile as her wife to be, broke to pieces before her, the tears beginning to escape the equine woman's eyes. The blonde mercenary held her lover closer, cradling katja's head to her chest to let her cry. Sure seara was used to loss like that, you always knew people were likely going to die on an operation, even if the chance was lower that it would be a complete squad wipe. But she figured Katja hadn't experienced that, and wasn't ready for it yet, but she wasn't able to shelter her from such possibilities. At the very least, the merc could hold her close like she was now, and give Katja a place to cope with the loss.

She felt nothing for her lost lover's comrades, no way to when she didn't know them, and if she hadn't become numb to this sort of thing. She'd been in the business with her sister for a good number of years now, and had seen much in that time. Some days it reminded her of the gap that she had to get around in a relationship, but one she at least had the experience to help with situations like this. "I'm sure you did all you could, and anyone who blames you is a moron. It was out of your hands.", Seara said in a soothing low tone.


Daichi

Colony
The feast was very fruitful indeed, and mouths were stuffed as bellies were filled, and those not currently working still chatted among themselves. The meat was different in taste, but savory and filling when eaten. Most would be having a marry time, even those just arriving to find the relaxing event going on, a stark change from how efforts had gone in the previous system. People needed a break, a rest from the conflict, and it had seemed like they had quite joyously found it. Sam would find there to be plenty more if he so chose to get more, but there was also still plenty of work to be done.

Construction
The ships were diminishing in gradual order, the parts that couldn't be used, being processed down to their most basic components. Everything being torn down was going to be recycled one way, or another, but it would be long and needfully thorough work. Arria would know that pretty well, as well as Rihanna, but perhaps not Elisys as much. In any case, Mark Tazar, or as "Patches" as Arria had called him. Was making the rounds, and making sure that projects had been started as they were scheduled and that progress was being made in a safe, and orderly manner.

His first stop was someone close to him, his daughter Eli, a chuckle given as he touched a ice cold bottle of water to the back of the distracted woman's neck. "I was hoping even in safe situations like this, that situational training I put you guys through in boot, would have stuck more Eli.", he said as he watched her reaction before waving her to follow. As he started to lead away, he'd swing by the parked mechanic's ship, "You're better off going and seeing what they need help with, and we need all the hands we can get. Please come with us ma'am."

If they chose to follow, Arria would soon find them all coming down the somewhat hastily made path between the current salvage work areas.

Guard Duty
"All nice and such, maybe they'll even build a resort out here, or something to bring visitors of that nature. Just wish sleeping beauty was here to see this, she loves to explore. Speaking of people being here, can you be a dear and go see how our other merc friend is doing, and see if he needs to be directed anywhere? As much as I love talking to my niece, you're uncle still is on duty technically.", Zeke said hopefully, before asking her to do something for him in an apologetic tone.

He still appreciated her checking up on him, and taking a few minutes to talk with him, but a job was a job. He owed Jack's people his best, not that he ever half assed a job anyways, but he wasn't about to start now.

Caves
As the duo explored further, the spacer and surveyor would find the crystals grow thicker and more numerous ever so slightly as they went. This continued as they went deeper and deeper in, no idea of what awaited them, or just how deep these veins ran down into the earth. It truly was a beautiful sight though, the cave becoming more and more of a rainbow of color, like some natural kaleidoscope. Perhaps they could learn more about these crystals, perhaps even find useful properties that would make them a valuable resource, and a boon to this world's worth.

Forest
The corpse was indeed very fresh, the carcass not even degraded in any way, and still fairly warm. The smell would definitely be something hard to handle, the younger driver of the transport, in fact looking a tad nauseous. James was thankful when the mess was sealed in a bag for freshness, the others helping Andrea to stow it away. Given no other sighting of such creatures had been reported, they were ordered to bring the sample creature back as soon as possible for study.

Guard Duty
Nyx grinned at her uncle as he made an idea known. “A resort huh, I’ll take someone who’s very special here for that then. “ The grin widened at the thought of Ezriel before she realized Zeke probably didn’t know about her love life. “Oh, yeah, you don’t know do you? I found someone to love as Mom and dad has, and like you have” she confessed before he asked her favor, and her head nodded as she got up. “Certainly, keep up the good work. “ She said with a salute before she freefell from the Mech and took off flying afterward as she headed to the direction that the other Merc mentioned was.

"Nice to meet you too!" Toji chimed, "Yeah I am part of the guild. I think. New member. You said you were going to be the head? That's cool! OOOooo, these crystals would be a good first find for you to impress the higher ups. Let's go further!" With that, Toji whipped around and began to skitter down further into the cave, his other drones struggling to right themselves from the fall and catch up.

As the cave grew more colorful, Toji's speed slowed in kind as he soaked in the atmosphere. At this rate his camera would run out of space for all the pictures he was taking. "Do you think these have any industrial uses? They certainly could be used in any kind of art project. Or as a tourist attraction."

The Spacer stopped, looking further in, "Hey, do you think this place echoes?" he then shouted, "ECHO! ECHO!" and listened.

Nicola smiled at the newest member of the Mining Guild who appeared to be polite. “Indeed this would impress them certainly,” she said then ran after him taking in the sights around her though stopping when he had. She wasn’t even breathless as she looked around, and nodded. “Yes, these crystals are fascinating, perhaps they could be a new battery a new power source, or perhaps art like you have said. “ She told him as she examined one closely. “Here’s another idea, what if we can use these as light sources, would save on power usage.”

She glanced at him as he caused an echo and grinned. “This world is fascinating, and I hope Our guild will be the first to find what we can use.”

Construction
ISS Waste of Ammo

Arria had been surveying the ship from above, a preferred if somewhat odd tactic of hers; the gutted cargo hold had already been emptied of its contents - well, the contents that weren't bolted down. Let's start with the overhead crane. The boys on the ground already have everything they need to move out salvage, she thought to herself, banking to finally descend - after the crane would be a lot of work with the reserve propellant tanks, which is... Well, she's still trying to clean that crap out of her primaries from the LAST time she had to scrub them down. It was only now that she'd noticed the foreman heading in her direction, and after landing and scampering down the hull of the salvage she made her way over - though considering how she was flying, AND was still a bright shade of (off) white in the wings and hair department, it wasn't hard for him to see her coming first.

NDV-Valiant
Katja just held Seara, the equine pilot letting the emotions she had pent up for weeks go in her fiancée’s embrace. After a time, she felt the need subside. “Thanks, love...” Katja started, gently nuzzling the mercenary. “...I kind of needed that. I still wish there was something I could have done, even though I can’t think of any other way...”
“Nice ponytail, by the way...” The horsewomen finished, a slight smirk spreading across her muzzle.

Daichi
“Sure thing, boss” Rihanna replied, clipping the data pad to a leg panel on her modified work rig, the dark colored mare getting to her hooves and shouldering a pack containing a set of general tools and supplies she found useful for most work. Mr. Tazar was likely correct, even if the colonists themselves didn’t see it, with her background, Rihanna would spot an issue beforehand. Like the old saying went, An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. She fell instep beside him and some of the other engineering team members as the headed toward the salvage area.

Expedition Research vehicle Event Horizon
“You alright James? You’re looking a bit pale, man” Aztec said, his now unhelmeted head cocked slightly to one side, golden irises focused on the man.
“I’m just...not used to seeing dead bodies, frankly” came the reply. “How do you handle it, Az?”
“It’s just something ive gotten used to” Jay replied simply. “Be in my line of work long enough in active combat zones, you see a lot of death. Enemies, friends, sometimes civilians...it may sound cold, but if you let death get to you in the middle of a fight, you’ll likely be the next he comes for....”
The inside of the vehicle was silent for a time. “Hellfire, I let that get dark didn't I?” Jay said, silently admonishing himself; these people weren’t soldiers, they didn’t have the same mindset. “That sounded a bit insensitive, I know, but it’s not that you don’t care that a buddy of yours is gone, it’s that at the time, you have to focus on everything else going on. There’s nothing more you can do for them, but you can still help those who are left.”
“Besides that, if it’s the smell that bothers you, just think; there’s more than a few living people who tend to smell much worse all the time!”

(Sorry for the hiatus, all! And thanks, Jack, for keeping things going as long as you did.)

As the days went by in tranquility, the small settlement of Arcadia continued to blossom. Rough-shod buildings were cleaned up and the town's infrastructure had been lain. In the months to come, Arcadia would continue to grow. One day, it would have its own skyscrapers and market districts. The local crystals showed a number of promising qualities that promised good trade in the future.

Today, however, there was a somber mood among the residents. Mary, Sweet, and the other 'locals' were gathered around as 'Mayor' Hathen addressed the crowd in a pained tone. "Today, we lost one of our own..."

The man's speech continued on for a bit, speaking of the trials they'd had to arrive on the planet and his hope for the future. That this would likely not be the last person lost as they turned unclaimed land into a new home.

The NDC forces had been given a chance to observe the body before it was put into the ground. The official word was that it had been an attack by an unexpectedly aggressive local animal, which had prompted calls for hunting and better defenses. The truth was that the deceased man, Agner Carren, had been hit over the back of the head with a blunt instrument. Murder wasn't exactly a popular topic in a fledgling community, so Hathen had asked to keep it quiet until they could figure out who was responsible.

The problem was that, so far, no one had been able to come up with any leads on who or why this had happened. Agner was well-liked and hard-working, spending most of his days getting the colony's generators and power lines setup. His loss was a blow to the community that they'd be feeling for months.


Mary and the others stepped away from the ceremony. "I just don't get it," said Mary with a sigh.

Others near her agreed. Sweet rubbed at the back of his neck and looked off to one side, muttering softly, "Maybe he was poking his head where it shouldn't have been."

"You say something, Sweet?"

He looked back over and gave them a soft, sad smile. "Just that it's a shame, is all."

The others agreed and continued on their way.


OOC
Plot stuff!

The crystals have a number of interesting properties for those who have studied them. They seem to absorb energy to some degree, then release light or a soft chime not long after. They seem to attach to and grow on metal quickly. It likely hasn't been discovered yet, but they're also an incredibly dense storage medium - if used the right way.

The weapon that killed Agner was about 5 inches across, flat, and had sharp sides.

Feel free to DM me if you want to try something out in your post and have the answer without waiting for a GM response! We murder mystery now, y'all.

"Sounds like a bright idea," Toji giggled, referring to the suggestion to use the crystals as a light source. He grabbed onto what he considered a small crystal, and tried pulling it loose, but winded up needing the help of one of his drones to hack the piece off the wall.

"Heeey, this is kinda sticky..." Toji said, holding his clasper straight out, allowing the crystal to just hang from it. He spent a few moments trying to pry it off, only to have it stick to his other clasper. An idea suddenly dawned upon him, and he scraped the crystal across the ground to brush it loose, then immediately with his three other drones went for a much larger crystal. It didn't take long for Toji to be wearing a crystal the size of a typical handheld lantern right on top of his head.

"Haha! A miner's hat! Kinda."

The Town

"A shame... We've barely been here for two weeks, and we've lost somebody," the short angel-woman stated with her arms crossed, visibly worried about the turn of events. "You'd think that people would be more willing to help each other out more, setting differences aside while we're barely on our feet..."

Clinging to a railing so she could actually see above the crowd, Arria was dressed in a turquoise t-shirt and a pair of full length jeans. This conveniently gave her a nice, clear vied of the crowd itself as it started to disperse.

The days following the man's death were somber ones. Arcadian settlers put together something of a militia to guard their borders against whatever potentially hostile creatures were out there. Much of it was security theater, but lacking any specific person to point a finger at, Hathan was forced to take whatever measures seemed reasonable. The guards were a constant reminder of what had happened, but they were also a sign that their safety mattered.

One thing that someone like Arria might notice if she maintained her perch was the way the town began to form into cliques. What had previously been an open, welcoming atmosphere was being replaced by tight pockets of people who kept casting their eyes about for threats. As rumors about a killer - not an animal - spread, this seemed an inevitable response. Certainly, people weren't going out on their own anymore.

Only time would tell if things would get back to normal.

As had been the case for the days before, one such group seemed to be heading off to one of the storage facilities that had been brought down in the initial settlement. The group was mostly unremarkable on a normal day, although most of them didn't share responsibilities in the colony. They stood out a little more than usual today because of their latest member - a man with a large crystal prominently perched on top of his head was walking along with them.


Toji entered the storage facility and was met by a dozen other colonists. They sat in loose arrangement on the boxes within the room and watched the newcomer carefully.

"Now now, everyone, no need for that," said Sweet as he entered the room behind Toji. "He's one of us now, see?"

The man pointed at the crystal sitting on top of Toji's head. Tiny crystalline veins seemed to have grown from the crystal, attaching it firmly to the man's head and worming their way beneath his skin. His hair, if he had any, helped to conceal the worst of it, but it was surely not a good thing for Toji. It hadn't taken long for the crystal to take hold.

Now, something like its thoughts had intruded upon Toji's own - not exactly controlling him, per se, but more influencing his moods and actions. At first it had been something like a mild paranoia of the other colonists. A feeling that they were somewhere they shouldn't be, that they were somehow wrong, but that he should be careful not to reveal how he felt.

A few days after that, those feelings had begun to turn towards outright disgust of the other colonists and a desire to get rid of them.

Sweet settled onto an empty box and motioned for Toji to do the same.

"Alright, everyone," he said with an amicable smile. "Today we're going to talk about how to blow up the colony's reactor. Anyone got any good suggestions? I'm all ears."

Toji didn't have any hair to obscure the crystal, being in a robotic body, and instead opted to have a silly looking hat cover it up, only taking it off for a brief moment to show the rest of the group.

The past few days were a whirlwind, mixed with conflicting emotions and priorities. Being social was in Toji's circuitry He'd be the first in line to help create some kind of celebration, to decorate something in a charming yet childish manner. Then there was the split mind, his consciousness split among four bodies, yet only one of them with the crystal, albeit the main unit. Toji didn't just think that something was wrong but everything was wrong. An inexplicable sickening feeling of being pulled in several directions. Having an urge to do one thing, yet having some invisible voice tell him the opposite. And what was that look his own drones kept giving him?

Toji hopped on top of the box, needing a little boost from one of his drones due to his small size. He looked around, and seemed a little bit more at ease, something telling him that it was safe here, and to trust them, but at the same time, another chorus demanded that he leave, or at least, keep quiet. Toji pondered the question about the reactor, at first giving it serious thought, his eye narrowing before being distracted by different drifting ideas. This was normal for him, part of the creative process, and maybe even a side effect of having a fractured mind, but this was different, something was off, and he couldn't quite tell why.

Eventually Toji spoke, being egged on to say something, but was that the silent voice, or the chorus? "I have never seen the reactor in my life, or even worked with one really. Uh... throw a wrench at it? But like, really hard."

It was a pretty lame suggestion for the amount of time Toji spent thinking.

Warehouse

Arria's eyes caught something odd - a glimmer, like a mirror. It was hard to tell over the distance, but regardless, Toji had gotten the Elysian's attention. Once his entourage had led him into the warehouse - it wasn't something she could confirm, but she didn't recognize any of them from her many trips during setup - she took to the skies and, keeping fairly close to the limited skyline, floated over towards the building. She was as silent as the night, but unfortunately her snow-white hair and wings would make it impossible to hide in the daytime if she really wanted to. Luckily, though, the distance was short by flight. Her light little body landed on the roof soundlessly, and Arria quickly scampered to one of the open vents - keeping herself low to minimize the chances of being seen from inside. She dared not open the door - that'd give her position away instantly, guaranteed.

She was just in time to hiss a breath in as she scraped her palm getting down, and heard,

Whisper said:

"Today we're going to talk about how to blow up the colony's reactor. Anyone got any good suggestions? I'm all ears."

Click to expand...

Shit, saboteurs! the exceptionally fluffy lady thought to herself. Hired by who, though? The pirates? Kuvexians? Her mind's machinations were interrupted by a suggestion, from Toji.

"Well, they're not very good at it. That's good," Arria muttered under her breath. She decided to stick around, though - without a recording device, there was no way she could get these people arrested. So her best bet would be to tip off security and intercept the plans, instead...

"A... wrench?" one of the others asked, looking at the larger group before looking back to Toji.

"Maybe," Sweet said in an amicable tone, "what our new friend was to throw a wrench in it. Like, 'throwing a wrench in their plans'?"

The rest of the group seemed unconvinced. Even Sweet was just doing his best to keep things from grinding to a halt. He needed to get this filth off his world, after all.

A woman stepped forward. Faint crystalline 'veins' ran up from her shirt's collar and onto her neck, visible only if she weren't wearing a jacket or work suit. "The colony's reactor isn't an aether one like some of the NDC's new toys seem to be playing with, but it's still a high-powered unit. Good odds are that if we set it off, it'll wipe out everything in a five mile radius." She shrugged a little, showing little concern for her own life. "It'd be a loss. It'd be a generation before the Garden was able to heal the lands back to normal, but if the colony continues to expand it'll never get that chance."

Another nodded. "Security's pretty tight after the death last week."

A few accusatory glances went in Sweet's direction. He shrugged.

"... but most of that is focused around the perimeter. I don't think it'll be too hard to get in and set things towards an irreversible detonation. We may have to .. recruit .. one of the reactor's engineers, but it's probably not necessary."

Sweet looked towards the engineer. "Think you can do it, Lidia?"

The engineer was thoughtful, then she nodded. "Pretty sure. I might need a distraction, just to make sure the guards don't interfere."

"I can handle that," said a burly woman. "I've been itching to bash one of these interlopers' heads in. We're all going up in smoke anyways, so it doesn't matter too much if I get caught. Just make sure you get the reactor solved, a'right?"

"Right," responded Lidia.

Sweet clapped his hands together and smiled wide. "Good. Glad to hear it. In that case, uh, meeting adjourned."

"Nobody else was saying anything," Toji mumbled. The group did seem to settle on a plan, although he wasn't sure what the distraction was supposed to be. Also there was a death? He must have still been in the caves when it happened, although that tally may soon rise up to two, maybe even three if the woman went out with her target. Scratch that, the entire colony if the plan went through. Although these people seemed content with blowing themselves up, Toji was not, even with the crystal pulling at him, his split selves among the drones were pulling him the other way, at this point literally.

Toji was pushed and pulled out of the building by his drones, not cognizant enough to command them to stop. He soon found himself at a vantage point near the edge of the colony with his GPS tool, looking between the soon-to-be city, or perhaps crater, and the wilds. How far to trek out to escape the radius? And what would he do without the colony? He still needed supplies and help to maintain himself. He couldn't "live off the land."

Meanwhile, at some point during his daze, one of his drones managed to get into Toji's equipment, specifically to snatch the tools he used to extract the crystal in the first place, and quietly positioned itself behind Toji...

Daichi
Jay
"High right"
"Right?"
"Yeah, right. You're still pulling your shots" Jay replied, having been watching the settler, a woman named Lena.
Since the murder of one of their own, some of the settlers had decided to be more proactive in defending themselves. Naturally, they'd sought him out, something which Jay had no problem in helping them in his spare time.
"Dammit." Lena muttered. "Why?"
"Try pulling the stock into your shoulder tighter, like this" Jay demonstrated the action with his own weapon. "See how it's been cradled into my shoulder? When it recoils, it'll be much easier to control."

Rihanna
The anthro horse had spent most of the morning repairing the generators. The same ones that had gone down before. With the same broken components. To put it simply, Rihanna was suspicious. Someone was trying to sabotage the generators. These weren't the only pieces of equipment she'd repaired the last couple weeks, either. Whoever they were, they weren't very good at it, however, she figured it was only a matter of time before they hit something important. Of course, having no actual evidence, she knew voicing her suspicions would only serve to further frighten the new colony.....

NDV-Valiant
Katja sighed, the horsewoman exhaled a long breath in the cockpit of her fighter, waiting as the carrier's rack system guided her ship into the catwalk bay. Her new squad had been running patrols of the system since they'd arrived, ever alert for pirates or worse. So far though, not much had happened, outside of an unknown contact or two, both of which had turned up nothing. At least Seara's arrival had been.....pleasant, a slight smile forming at the thought of her lover. Tiring, as she'd been the cause of some long nights, but pleasant nonetheless.

Daichi
Warehouse Roof


Hearing that the meeting had been adjourned, Arria made haste to clear out from the premises, taking to the skies in a silent flurry of movement; circling back towards the heart of the colony, she landed after crossing a few buildings, choosing to make her journey on foot. Her goal was to find the de-facto leader of the little settlement, Hathen, and tip him off about the plans...

CCV Silver Shadow
Governor's office

Arria knocked on the door politely, waiting to be let in. At Hathen's command, she slid inside, closing the door behind her. Occupying the gutted mining ship's bridge, this mayor's office had a respectable view of the burgeoning colony. It would easily be beaten by a high-rise building, of course, once those were built - but for now, the Silver Shadow was a defining feature of the skyline.

"There was a gathering in Warehouse Three nearly half an hour ago. We've saboteurs among us, sir, but none of them are skilled. You've gotten the reports, I'm sure, about the unusually frequent maintenance and breakdown reports," the Star Army officer-in-training stated coolly. She took a moment to let the man process the information, before she continued, "I didn't hear names very clearly. I think one's name is Lydia. The problem, though... The problem is that they plan to detonate the fusion reactor. And they want to break in while security is focused on the perimeter of our territory." The fluffy woman spoke confidently and calmly, experience from being in firefights against organized, trained armies proving its usefulness once again. She looked the mayor in the eye, and punctuated, "They also mentioned something about a Garden. Was there anything special about this location on-world that you can recall from the survey scans?"

CCV Silver Shadow

Hathen looked up at Arria as she entered and listened as she explained what she'd discovered.

"..s-saboteurs? Here? Why?" he had spat, trying to get over the shock. It made sense when he put two-and-two together, but he just couldn't understand why someone would want to sabotage their own colony. They could kill themselves and the rest of the fledgling colony.

His dread had only mounted as she continued. A reactor detonation would do more than just kill off the colony - it might even make this part of the planet uninhabitable for years to come. He should his head.

"I don't know anything about a 'Garden', no. At least, nothing that rings a bell. Certainly no Gardens that we brought with us or set up here, outside of some very early crops being planted."

The man shuffled through the papers on his desk, bringing out a few related to early scans. "As for the scans - other than the world being remarkably well suited to our kind of life, it seemed.. well, boring. Early exploration crews have reported an unusually large amount of some kind of local gem or crystal in most of the caves here and some kind of unexplainable signal noise, but neither one seems like a cause for concern. We're hoping the gem can be some kind of export. Why, even the local fauna seem perfectly manageable."

He shook his head. "I suspect that whatever problems we're dealing with, we brought them with us. Maybe these saboteurs have some sort of.. financial motivation?"

Daichi, near Toji
Whatever force was compelling Toji didn't seem to give the droid any kind of extrasensory powers. Having not noticed the drone's approach thus far, he remained unaware of whatever ill-will was about to befall him - or the crystal that sat upon his head.

OOC Note: While there are strands of crystal that have worked its way into Toji's body, so much of the crystal was already present that it likely hasn't spread far in order to accomplish its goal - and the resistance of his unusual 'mind' would contribute to the same. Removing the bulk of the crystal should do the trick, but Toji would still need attention at some point for the remainder of whatever damage was done to them.

Daichi, Arcadia Settlement, near Rihanna
Lydia and two others from the 'saboteur cell' were surprised to stumble upon the anthro horse when they set out on their plan. Hastily hiding the bags containing their ... less necessary supplies, Lydia walked up to Rihanna with a wide smile, hefting a large wrench over one shoulder.

"Still at the repairs, Rihanna? Any idea what's going on?"

"Probably cheap parts," chimed in one of the others with her. "You'd think a colony like this would get the good stuff, but here we are.."

Daichi, Perimeter Wall, near Jay
Not far away from the group practicing their weapons, a large, beast - easily six or seven foot tall at the shoulder - lumbered into view. It had the general shape of a bear, but was covered in dense quills. Its eyes seemed unfocused until it caught the sound of conversation. At that point, it locked on and began a haltingly slow, but steady, approach towards the group. It wasn't clear if it had good or bad intention, but something about the way it moved certainly seemed unnatural.

OOC: If allowed to approach close enough, it will become more coherent and attack the group - you're welcome to RP some/all of that or leave it to me. The creature - a 'quillbear' - is very resilient to damage, especially right now, and at least as dangerous as a very large bear.

Jomber has requested to be removed from the plot, which is totally understandable given my slow pacing thus far and some of the plot's content that doesn't work for them. I'm not going to retcon what's happened thus far (Jomber can decide how they want to handle Toji's departure, etc), but in the future we'll use one of the colonists in Toji's place if needed.

Last OOC note - sorry for the regular delays on this plot! I'm working to organize my SARP projects better so that I don't lose track of things so much. I'm bad at time, in general, but this should help.

Daichi
Rihanna’s ears perked toward the sound of footsteps, the dark haired anthro looking up from the generator to see the trio approaching her.
“Yeah, still at it, Lydia. I wish I could give you a reason why these are breaking down so frequently, but I really can’t.”
She shook her head at the other colonist’s suggestion.
“While the series 7s aren’t top of the line, they’re generally known to be very reliable and easy to maintain, it’s why they’re a popular choice for starting a new settlement. It’s not any animal, as the wiring I’ve found was cut, not chewed up. It almost seems….well, I’m just not sure why everything around here has been breaking down so often the past few weeks.” She finished, having almost voiced her suspicions of sabotage, however that was not something she wanted to say aloud to just anyone.

Perimeter wall
“Hmm? Oh shit!” The shuffling caught the recon soldier’s attention, his eyes widening slightly as they took in the sight of what was obviously a predator of the planet. He heard a gasp or two from the others as they turned to see it as well.
“Don’t scream!” Jay hissed, making a grab for his helmet, snapping it in place, he cued the external speaker before the internal comms “Everyone, slowly back off, toward the settlement. Keep your guns ready, but do NOT shoot at it right now. Last thing we need is to piss it off!”
“Aztec to any station, perimeter breech, west side, near tower 3. Requesting assistance. Encountered a large possible predator, about the size of a bear, covered in spines. I have a group of civilians with me, repeat, assistance needed, out”