IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
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IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
Day 2
12th March 2189
15:38 Earth Central European Time
Plains of Titan
Once they're fully suited up they seal the access door to the colony and release the oxygenated air from the garage to be replaced by the thick, orange-tinted mixture of nitrogen and methane that serves as the atomosphere of Titan. The pressure is greater than Earth standard and it feels like walking through water. With so little gravity only the weighted boots are drawn to the ground, resulting in an unstable and ungainly progress across the metallic floor.
With the pressure equalised the translucent plastic door that comprises the whole end wall of the Garage slides open, giving direct access to the metallic loading platform beside the hulking surface rover. With their magnetic boots they're able to keep a firm purchase on the platform and start to load the rover with some difficulty.
It takes Moses and Isabella a good fifteen minutes to get the rover fully prepared and its systems initialised. Jojo finds a rudimentary medical pod and loads it into the hold, easily manipulating the bulky piece of equipment with his enhanced cybernetic strength in the limited gravitational pull of the moon. Nicole loads a couple of spare surface suits, some oxygen tanks, spare fuel tanks for the cutting torches, a few lengths of rope, and some cable ties.
Starting up the rover's methane power unit the engine belches out smoke as the vehicle shakes and judders to life. Slowly at first and then more rapidly it rumbles out, crunching through the methane snow. The mountains and sea are not visible through the hazy orange fog, nothing but miles and miles of methane snow stretch in all directions, the smooth transparent reinforced plastic tunnels of the maglev train network flanked with metal pipework providing the only indication of direction.
Moses and Isabella sit at the front of the rover cabin, controlling the unweildy vehicle with a myriad of dials, handles, joysticks, and buttons. Nicole, Jojo, and Sam sit behind them, gazing out of the large windows into the haze. Everyone remains in their surface suits, no room to remove them inside the cabin, but they connect the suits directly to the rover's oxygen supply.
Moses and Isabella manage to maintain a steady pace across the orange surface but occasionally they strike a hidden rocky outcrop and the rover seems to lift dangerously from the surface and careen uncontrollably through Titan's atmosphere, twisting disconcertingly, but before it can fully turn over and lose any semblance of control, the weak gravity eventually brings it back down to the flat surface again.
The initial talk fades to silence as minutes turn into hours, the same endless orange methane dunes filling the viewing windows. Isabella warns they are approaching deep canyons filled with methane and they are forced to turn away from Ligeia Mare, losing sight of the maglev tunnels that gave the only sense of what direction anything lay.
Inside the suits it begins to become overly warm and sweaty, despite the homeostatic controls. Crammed into the cabin, close together yet separated by the absolute physical barrier of the surface suits, it starts to feel oppressive. Like the surface of endless methane snow is pressing down on each and every one of them, the thick atmosphere slowly choking them. The relentless hum of the engine the only sound apart from the occasional barked communication between Isabella and Moses who seem to be tolerating each other at best. Now and again there is a flash of something, movement or just a thicker patch of methane fog, but it just adds to the feeling of oppression, like there is someone or something out there, watching them from a distance. Occasionally the radio clicks, the static goes silent, like someone is transmitting, but nobody speaks.
12th March 2189
15:38 Earth Central European Time
Plains of Titan
Once they're fully suited up they seal the access door to the colony and release the oxygenated air from the garage to be replaced by the thick, orange-tinted mixture of nitrogen and methane that serves as the atomosphere of Titan. The pressure is greater than Earth standard and it feels like walking through water. With so little gravity only the weighted boots are drawn to the ground, resulting in an unstable and ungainly progress across the metallic floor.
With the pressure equalised the translucent plastic door that comprises the whole end wall of the Garage slides open, giving direct access to the metallic loading platform beside the hulking surface rover. With their magnetic boots they're able to keep a firm purchase on the platform and start to load the rover with some difficulty.
It takes Moses and Isabella a good fifteen minutes to get the rover fully prepared and its systems initialised. Jojo finds a rudimentary medical pod and loads it into the hold, easily manipulating the bulky piece of equipment with his enhanced cybernetic strength in the limited gravitational pull of the moon. Nicole loads a couple of spare surface suits, some oxygen tanks, spare fuel tanks for the cutting torches, a few lengths of rope, and some cable ties.
Starting up the rover's methane power unit the engine belches out smoke as the vehicle shakes and judders to life. Slowly at first and then more rapidly it rumbles out, crunching through the methane snow. The mountains and sea are not visible through the hazy orange fog, nothing but miles and miles of methane snow stretch in all directions, the smooth transparent reinforced plastic tunnels of the maglev train network flanked with metal pipework providing the only indication of direction.
Moses and Isabella sit at the front of the rover cabin, controlling the unweildy vehicle with a myriad of dials, handles, joysticks, and buttons. Nicole, Jojo, and Sam sit behind them, gazing out of the large windows into the haze. Everyone remains in their surface suits, no room to remove them inside the cabin, but they connect the suits directly to the rover's oxygen supply.
Moses and Isabella manage to maintain a steady pace across the orange surface but occasionally they strike a hidden rocky outcrop and the rover seems to lift dangerously from the surface and careen uncontrollably through Titan's atmosphere, twisting disconcertingly, but before it can fully turn over and lose any semblance of control, the weak gravity eventually brings it back down to the flat surface again.
The initial talk fades to silence as minutes turn into hours, the same endless orange methane dunes filling the viewing windows. Isabella warns they are approaching deep canyons filled with methane and they are forced to turn away from Ligeia Mare, losing sight of the maglev tunnels that gave the only sense of what direction anything lay.
Inside the suits it begins to become overly warm and sweaty, despite the homeostatic controls. Crammed into the cabin, close together yet separated by the absolute physical barrier of the surface suits, it starts to feel oppressive. Like the surface of endless methane snow is pressing down on each and every one of them, the thick atmosphere slowly choking them. The relentless hum of the engine the only sound apart from the occasional barked communication between Isabella and Moses who seem to be tolerating each other at best. Now and again there is a flash of something, movement or just a thicker patch of methane fog, but it just adds to the feeling of oppression, like there is someone or something out there, watching them from a distance. Occasionally the radio clicks, the static goes silent, like someone is transmitting, but nobody speaks.
Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
Sam can't see anything but methane out the window.
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Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
Jojo is sitting in the middle and going through his diagnostic routines to isolate bad sectors and isn't paying attention to what is going on around him.
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Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
Nicole stares out at the depressing landscape, looking for anything that might liven up the scene.
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Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
Doctor Who/CoC Campaign:
(viewforum.php?f=176)The Terror Out of Time
(viewforum.php?f=191)]The Ninth Planet
The Shadow Over Dunwich
The Brotherhood of Death
The Horror in the Blackout
The Masque of Nyarlathotep
(viewforum.php?f=176)The Terror Out of Time
(viewforum.php?f=191)]The Ninth Planet
The Shadow Over Dunwich
The Brotherhood of Death
The Horror in the Blackout
The Masque of Nyarlathotep
Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
Nicole leans over Moses shoulder and points at a screen,
“What’s that light on the scanner mean?”
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Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
'Shit!' shouts Moses as he slams on the brakes and turns the wheel hard. The rover tips up onto one side precariously, before settling back onto the surface. He taps the scanner, 'There's something out there. We'd have hit it if you hadn't noticed it on the scanner. It's small, smaller than a vehicle. But it's not moving.' He points out the window into the obscuring haze. There's something up ahead, difficult to make out, it looks like a figure.
Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
"Can we get closer to it for a better look without hitting it, now that we know it's there?" suggests Sam.
Doctor Who/CoC Campaign:
(viewforum.php?f=176)The Terror Out of Time
(viewforum.php?f=191)]The Ninth Planet
The Shadow Over Dunwich
The Brotherhood of Death
The Horror in the Blackout
The Masque of Nyarlathotep
(viewforum.php?f=176)The Terror Out of Time
(viewforum.php?f=191)]The Ninth Planet
The Shadow Over Dunwich
The Brotherhood of Death
The Horror in the Blackout
The Masque of Nyarlathotep
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Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
Jojo looks up and braces himself as the rover tips precariously.
"Please watch out! We need to get there in once piece."
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Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
Isabella turns to Jojo, 'Thanks for the advice, next time we'll just plough into whatever it is.' Moses gives her a weak smile.
Sliding the gears down Moses gently depresses the throttle and the rover creaks and groans, very slowly inching across the snow towards the figure. Out of the haze the shape begins to resolve itself, the bulky outline of a surface suit standing in the snow. Visor turned away from them, looking out into the endless orange wastes.
Sliding the gears down Moses gently depresses the throttle and the rover creaks and groans, very slowly inching across the snow towards the figure. Out of the haze the shape begins to resolve itself, the bulky outline of a surface suit standing in the snow. Visor turned away from them, looking out into the endless orange wastes.
Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
"Some of us will need to get out and take a closer look," says Sam.
Doctor Who/CoC Campaign:
(viewforum.php?f=176)The Terror Out of Time
(viewforum.php?f=191)]The Ninth Planet
The Shadow Over Dunwich
The Brotherhood of Death
The Horror in the Blackout
The Masque of Nyarlathotep
(viewforum.php?f=176)The Terror Out of Time
(viewforum.php?f=191)]The Ninth Planet
The Shadow Over Dunwich
The Brotherhood of Death
The Horror in the Blackout
The Masque of Nyarlathotep
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Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
As they stare out the window at the immobile figure the radio splutters into life.
'Huh, hello. This is Science Officer Keira Khan. I have conducted some research on the alien organism. I am transmitting my files on all data frequencies.'
Checking the files they show that Kiara has developed some of Jojo's research to try to find any vulnerability or way to reverse the infection. In short, it finds that visible and ultraviolet light seems to accelerate the extrusion of the filamentous green mold from the superficial infected cells and ultimately this destroys them. Heating the cells speeds this up but also accelerates the spread of the infection to other cells. Cold slows down or even stops the infection or any of the other 'alien' biological processes like the green mold.
'Huh, hello. This is Science Officer Keira Khan. I have conducted some research on the alien organism. I am transmitting my files on all data frequencies.'
Checking the files they show that Kiara has developed some of Jojo's research to try to find any vulnerability or way to reverse the infection. In short, it finds that visible and ultraviolet light seems to accelerate the extrusion of the filamentous green mold from the superficial infected cells and ultimately this destroys them. Heating the cells speeds this up but also accelerates the spread of the infection to other cells. Cold slows down or even stops the infection or any of the other 'alien' biological processes like the green mold.
Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
"Thanks, that will prove helpful," replies Sam. "Looks like we're dealing with a silicon-based lifeform. We just ran across someone out on the surface in a suit - almost literally, but we stopped just in time. We're about to take a closer look."
Doctor Who/CoC Campaign:
(viewforum.php?f=176)The Terror Out of Time
(viewforum.php?f=191)]The Ninth Planet
The Shadow Over Dunwich
The Brotherhood of Death
The Horror in the Blackout
The Masque of Nyarlathotep
(viewforum.php?f=176)The Terror Out of Time
(viewforum.php?f=191)]The Ninth Planet
The Shadow Over Dunwich
The Brotherhood of Death
The Horror in the Blackout
The Masque of Nyarlathotep
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Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
“Be careful; if it’s someone infected… we’ll, I don’t need to tell you what might happen,” Kiara radios back.
“Please keep me updated; I need to know when we can take off so we arrive just before you guys. In the meantime I’ll see what I can do with this data. Kiara out.”
“Please keep me updated; I need to know when we can take off so we arrive just before you guys. In the meantime I’ll see what I can do with this data. Kiara out.”
Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
“That’s a whole lot of data. What can we take from it to help us?”
Nicole gets up and prepares to exit the rover.
“I’ll go and you stand by to pull me back in. If it’s safe enough we”ll risk another person if we need to. I’m guessing the suit is empty. Or, at least, the occupant is long gone.
Maintain radio contact.” She nods.
Nicole gets up and prepares to exit the rover.
“I’ll go and you stand by to pull me back in. If it’s safe enough we”ll risk another person if we need to. I’m guessing the suit is empty. Or, at least, the occupant is long gone.
Maintain radio contact.” She nods.
Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
"Will do,"says Sam, gripping the rope. "Be careful."
Doctor Who/CoC Campaign:
(viewforum.php?f=176)The Terror Out of Time
(viewforum.php?f=191)]The Ninth Planet
The Shadow Over Dunwich
The Brotherhood of Death
The Horror in the Blackout
The Masque of Nyarlathotep
(viewforum.php?f=176)The Terror Out of Time
(viewforum.php?f=191)]The Ninth Planet
The Shadow Over Dunwich
The Brotherhood of Death
The Horror in the Blackout
The Masque of Nyarlathotep
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Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
Jojo frowns at Isabella. "Running into an obstruction is the opposite of what I just said."
Then with Kiara's transmission, he nods in approval. "I'm glad she was able to do some more tests while waiting. Good use of time!"
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Life is a comedy to those who think
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Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
Nicole walks very slowly across the methane snow, it crunches under her feet. She notices that there are no footprints around the figure despite looking back to see that she is leaving clear indentations in the orange snow. She grips her pistol tightly in her hand, it is awkward in the thick gloves of the surface suit. The sensation of walking out in the atmosphere of Titan is no less disconcerting than it was back at the rover garage, worse even without the metal walkway for the magnetic boots to adhere to. She imagines it is what walking along the bottom of a swimming pool would feel like.
All the while Nicole is walking the figure doesn't move. When she arrives behind it she places her hand on the shoulder and gives it a nudge.
Nothing.
She circles around the suit as best she can to get a look inside. As she suspected the suit is empty. The transparent visor is smashed with a gaping hole in the centre but no blood or other signs of injury. The radio does that odd thing again, where the static goes quiet as if someone is transmitting something, transmitting silence.
All the while Nicole is walking the figure doesn't move. When she arrives behind it she places her hand on the shoulder and gives it a nudge.
Nothing.
She circles around the suit as best she can to get a look inside. As she suspected the suit is empty. The transparent visor is smashed with a gaping hole in the centre but no blood or other signs of injury. The radio does that odd thing again, where the static goes quiet as if someone is transmitting something, transmitting silence.
Re: IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara
“There’s no one in it... The visor is smashed open... Did you notice the radio just then?... As if someone just pushed the mute button.”
Nicole’s voice comes back muffled and interspersed with slightly nervous, heavy breathing.
Nicole’s voice comes back muffled and interspersed with slightly nervous, heavy breathing.
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