Session 23 (20 October 2023)

Location: On board the 200-ton far trader Dejah Thoris, in the vicinity of Ossobo, a main sequence red star (Far Home 0928)

Day: 146-5600

Travellers: Dr Fomstep, Jacobe Kyman, Jax Torka, Griff Kodiak, Sasha Danlami, and Nogudnyk

NPC: Captain Marika Covrig

You've just completed a jump to cross the nearly 7 billion kilometres separating Ossobo from Bathur's Edge. You have deliberately overshot the star to emerge on its far side, the better to detect the  hypothetical "ghost planet" that Haruto Wood believes is hiding there. You activate your sensors and, within minutes, it becomes clear that Wood was right. A planet floats in the void between you and the star.

Haruto Wood's "ghost planet" as it appears on your instrument panel.

Captain Covrig was assigned to monitor your mission.

You gather on the bridge to study the sensor readouts and ponder next steps. Two new faces are among you. After the Lansote tournament, Nogudnyk decided to leave their laser tag career on a high note and has signed on as steward. The second newcomer is less welcome: just before your departure from Bathur's Edge, Haruto Woods called to inform you that, at Duke Norlande's insistence, one of his aides would be accompanying you. Captain Marika Covrig instantly struck you as a humourless martinet and you immediately began plotting various means of making her life unpleasant and/or neutralizing her ability to monitor your behaviour. The problem more or less solved itself as Covrig — or "Mary", as Sasha insists on calling her — proved content to partake of Dr Fomstep's menu of mind-altering drugs and keep out of your way. Evidently she considered this mission pointless and decided that it made more sense to enjoy slumming it with her social inferiors than to attempt to establish some kind of military discipline on the Dejah Thoris. Now, as she looks over the data coming in, it's possible she realizes that she's underestimated Haruto Wood... and perhaps you, as well.

In your hold are three exploratory probes Woods requisitioned for the mission. One is dispatched to set up tight beam communication with Bathur's Edge, allowing you to start transmitting data immediately. (Even at the speed of light, it'll take at least six hours for your signal to reach Haruto Wood and another six for him to reply.) The second and third probes are sent into the atmosphere to investigate the ruins of two cities. In one, there's only a single intact structure: a kind of large stone coliseum cantilevered dangerously over water. In the other, three structures, also of stone, remain standing: a semi-subterranean bunker, a ziggurat, and a half-collapsed rectangular building. Expertly directed, the third probe transmits audio of a humming noise emanating from the bunker, which also shows up as a heat signature on your sensors. There's no sign of animal life; plants have encroached everywhere. It seems as if the cities have decayed, not by the sudden devastation of war, but by the passage of time.

You suit up in your combat armour, seeking protection as much from the tainted atmosphere as from potential danger. Dr Fomstep readies the medbay in case of mishaps. Jacobe lands the Dejah Thoris a half-click from the humming bunker and takes off as soon as the away team had disembarked. On the ground, you make your way amongst the ruins, struck by the stillness of the place. As you near the bunker, you start to feel vibrations through the ground: the thrumming of whatever machinery is inside. Your boot disturbs a rock, revealing a thin blue slab of a blue, plastic-like substance. It fits perfectly into a slot on a metal door on the building's east side. The door slides open smoothly to reveal a polished stone passageway leading within — a remarkable contrast to the ruination all about on the surface. What's more, the interior is illuminated by light sources on the walls.

A device thrumming with power inside the bunker.

You cautiously enter and find yourselves in a large chamber dominated by some kind of technological device whose key component is a giant transparent globe with a grey substance swirling around inside. There are various control panels, knobs, and switches at its base; one is a large red button. Nogudnyk is sorely tempted...  

You record as much as you can. Wood should be more than satisfied. There may be things here of value, but you're uncertain of touching anything. You note that the thrumming varies in intensity: sometimes waxing, sometimes waning. The variation seems quite random, like a struggling engine more than an intentional cycling. Perhaps the most unnerving thing is that Torka swears he saw his chronometer glitch out and that Godfrey's system clock seems to be acting up. Is there some kind of temporal distortion at work here?

You're leaving the bunker when the thrumming crescendoes to an unprecedented peak and suddenly you have a strange out-of-body experience: it's as if you are standing behind yourself and moving slowly forward to merge with your body. Everything goes dark for a second. You open your eyes. Everything looks the same... but everything feels different.

Your comms crackle to life with the sound of Captain Jarumi's voice. It has a harsh edge to it — panic, perhaps — that you've not heard before. "Every back to the ship," she barks. "We're leaving. NOW!

Image credits: Planet profile from Rimspace Planet Generator v1.1 © Anodyne Printerware; Covrig and bunker interior screengrabbed from YouTube video of AI-generated sci-fi images.