The five loyalists head to the water recycling facility, swaggering along with the confidence that comes with holding a weapon that other people don't have. The claws that poke through leather -- don't ask what type -- boots clicking on the floor loudly, so loudly, it seems, that they don't hear or sense the ambush before it strikes.
A loyalist is lost in the initial confusion, the rest beating a hasty retreat before firing into the mob, wounding four and killing two.
The wounded who can still flee attempt to do so, but are once again fired upon until they stop moving. A drill is pried from the chest-bone of the dead loyalist -- it’s later presented to Jeckel as a trophy -- and the corpses are distributed to the crew.
Later that night, the Drill explodes, taking one of Jeckel’s eyes and half the bristles on one side of his face.
The probe is dully sent to [520, V], where it lands in a maelstrom of fire, the carbon dioxide ice fizzling and melting around it. It runs it’s scanner program
The planet lacks an atmosphere.
The carbon dioxide ice covers a rocky wasteland.
There is a number of ores and minerals of value; gold, iron, copper.
The structure is a single megopolis built around a terraformer are buried under the ice, many of the buildings are ruined, but there is a few where faint signals of power and heat originate from.
There are a few mini-reactors -- as shown by high concentrations of crude Slip signals -- still working
There’s a frantic burst of information from the probe, as the view of the white-washed hell fades to black.
Words, written in universal binary
Save Us.
Probe 53341 lost
After the planet is scanned a few times, the colonizer presents a site that matches the criteria listed, a large island, perhaps the largest, covered by a jungle, atop rolling hills, all at the base of a volcano. There is very few ores, however, and a four tribes control various parts. But there is a lot of sand all around it, shiny black sand.
Nonetheless, a Lander is sent down in round trips, depositing the water kit and a farming kit, along with fourteen Bisia, who land near the cove, away from the four tribes that own the isle.
Fourteen (14} Bisia, healthy, feed, and watered Colonists resting in the Lander
One (1) Lander
One (1) Water refinement and purification plant construction kit
One (1) automated bio-farm construction kit
The landing sight is a small clearing in a patch of jungle, the trees are flimsy and looking, but seem hard to the touch. They have cloudy blooms atop them, much like dandelions, with a set of long leaves below them, drooping toward the forest floor.
Two litters of pups were born on the ship, today. +10 Crew Fuel: 3 units
Coolant: 8 units
Hull integrity: 70%
Crew: 10
Crew unity: 50%
Food: 200 units
Weaponry: OFFLINE
Shielding: OFFLINE
Jump-drive: OFFLINE
Eleven (11) landing pods
Two (2) landers
four (4) Automated bio-farm construction kits
One (1) Ore smelting facility construction kit
One (1) Metalsmithy construction kit
Nineteen (19) Powered drills
Five (5) Low-grade recharging plasma rifles
Twenty-five (25) Probes
One (1) Powered War Chainsaw with mono-serrated blade. Wait, what?
Sun: Orange Main Sequence
[520, I]: A small planet with a heavy atmosphere, with a simple biosphere. Mostly seas. Trace iron deposits. Tribal civilization. Massive storms wash over the seas and islands. Bisia Colony (small).
[520, II]: A planet with large and varied heavy metal deposits. Thin atmosphere. Gritty, dusty soil.
[520, III]: A large, rocky planet with heavy slip deposits. No atmosphere. No biosphere. Heavy radiation.
[520, IV]:A frigid, harsh planet, uninhabitable without extensive terraforming.
[520, V]:A frigid, harsh planet, uninhabitable without extensive terraforming. Probe has been lost. Signs of warmth in the ruins.
Jeckel
Age: 14 years
Height: 2m
Weight: 29 un
Fearsome Fighter
Scarred
Old-timer
Heirless