Traveller Session 3: Central Lake
Jul. 10th, 2023 11:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzJuly 5, 2023 / 020-1104
The group traipsed to Customs. Hasta had seen fit to wear his boarding vacc suit, a full body affair that looked imposing. He covered it with a jacket, probably only to look a little less intimidating and failing utterly. His long knife was clipped to a belt under his jacket, but he shrugged as if he was missing his big rifles, most of which were stuffed in the duffel at his side.
"Can't wear that here, sir." the customs officer approached Hasta with his hand extended, and then pointed off to a side room. "Changing rooms are through here."
While they waited for Hasta to change into more civilian-looking clothes, they inquired about the missing ship with the customs officers and were directed to the Port Offices with the promise: 'They have a record of everything there.'
At the Port Authorities Offices a friendly clerk welcomed them. "Offwolders! How exciting. How may I be of assistance?"
"We are contracted to retrieve a crashed scout ship." Moira said to the man. "Registered under the name High and Dry."
"Give me a moment here." the clerk said, and he went into another room. There was a sound of papers being shuffled and archive drawers opening and closing. When he came back, he was carrying a small stack of papers.
"I remember now, I thought the name sounded familiar." the clerk said, browsing the papers in his hand. "They came through here a couple of months ago. That crew was a couple of jerks. Are they friends of yours?"
"Not in the least." Moira shook her head.
"Well they surely weren't the friendliest bunch. I remember them well. Stood out like a sore thumb. Mocked the people here for wearing a kilt. Didn't even put their trash in a bin, they just dropped it on the ground where they stood!"
The clerk checked the paperwork again. "The ship looked a bit dilapidated as I recall. Spent a couple of days in port. Its destination was logged as 'in system'. Chartered by the World Government, so that must be at Central Lake. A few weeks later the crew showed up without the ship. They loitered about and then booked passage to Datrillion and Caladbolg."
He put the papers down in a gesture of finality and looked expectantly at them.
They questioned the clerk some more about the nature of the 'in system' destination, but there wasn't a lot he could tell them.
"Might be a reason it was chartered;" the clerk said; "but then it might not be documented. Better ask at Central Government, they can tell you more than I can."
"And how do we speak to the Central Government?" Hasta asked.
"Oh, you'll have to take the train;" the clerk perked up. Maybe he just liked trains. "I'll give you some Travel Passes. There's a train coming in tomorrow morning."
"No more trains today?" Myles asked
"I'm afraid it's come and gone already."
"What time is the train?" Hasta asked. He started to sound annoyed.
"Oh, it's early in the morning." the ever-cheerful clerk said.
"Your 'early in the morning' and my 'early in the morning' are quite different..." grumbled Hasta.
With a friendly tug on Hasta's jacket, Qupar managed to disengage the big man from the poor clerk. "He's just a bureaucrat, Let's just go."
"Let's go get a drink!" Dendr cheered up visibly at the thought of liquor, rubbing his hands together gleefully. He sounded ready to drink the town dry in order to make tomorrow morning happen all the sooner.
They booked into a hotel; The Rusty Trader was on the main street and had a nice bar, where the proprietor Sven was bustled out by his nervous wife. He showed them a bunch of rooms where they could stow the flight cases with the spare parts they would need for the repairs. Moira and Dendr went to check out the local brew, while Qupar, Parappa, Hasta and Myles went off into town.
The main street of the town sported a bunch of shops and houses, all half-sunken into the ground. People would go into one door and come out a couple of doors down, so there was a feeling that the buildings were connected. Their facades looked worn but tended, and the streets were clean but dusty. It made sense to such a rural town that offworlders would attract attention, especially if they would drop their litter on the ground.
They found a hardware store, with an older gentleman behind the counter. "Offworlders! Anything I can help you with, good folk?"
"I need to cut some stuff down to size. What do you have for that?" Hasta looked around the store, filled to the brim with tools and farm implements. Myles was checking out a tall spade, letting Hasta do the talking for now.
The man ventured out from behind the counter, and they could see he was wearing a sort of rustic skirt, probably the kind of local fashion the clerk had mentioned before. He helped Hasta pick out a hatchet, and sorted through some reasonably-sized knives for Myles and Qupar. He seemed to ignore Parappa, instead attending to the paying customers.
The next morning they rose early and broke their fast so they couldn't miss their train. As the train approached the station, a porter appeared to help them load their luggage onto the train. To their surprise, it was the man from the hardware store, named Jensen.
"You appear to have lots of jobs." Hasta remarked.
Jensen nodded politely but focused on directing a Vargr to take their flight cases onto the train. The strong carnivore had no problem lifting the flight cases with spare parts onto the train, and off they went.
The train trip was uneventful and took several hours. The landscape gliding by was a mixture of pastures for cows and sheep on low hills. Finally the train rounded a bend and they could spot the administrative centre of Walston. It was called Central Lake and true to Walston's amazing creativity in naming things, it was no wonder it was built on the shores of a great lake.
The city itself was busy enough, with numerous people going about their business. The buildings along the road had the now familiar look of being half-sunken into the ground, but one palatial building stood tall at the edge of a plaza. Directions from friendly passers-by had led them to this place, and inside it was bustling with activity. Hopefully they could find some answers here.
A nice lady in her forties stopped her flurry of activity and introduced herself as Debbie when Moira asked who they might speak to. "The Minister for Offworld Affairs, Public Relations and Fisheries will speak to you soon. I shall get you some coffees and a tray of biscuits. Now don't tell them I said so, but the biscuits are really delightful. And then the minister will have time to speak with you before you know it."
As they were herded into the office, a tall man with hair greying at the temples looked them all over, seemingly ignoring Parappa altogether.
"My name is Alan Greene, I'm the Minister for Offworld Affairs, Public Relations, and Fisheries. How can I help?"
"We're looking for the scout ship High and Dry;" Hasta said matter-of-factly. "We've been contracted to retrieve it by Imperial Scout Services."
Mister Greene indicated that they should sit, but there were only three chairs available. Moira, Parappa and Myles sank down into the chairs while Dendr, Hasta and Qupar stood behind them, Hasta leaning against the bare wall.
"I see. Can I see some documentation as to that fact please?" Minister Greene asked.
Myles handed over the papers they were issued by Major Casari and they waited patiently as minister Greene looked things over.
"I see." he said; "The High and Dry you say?"
"Do you know the ship?" Myles asked. "Do you know where it is? We were expecting it at the space port but it seems to be missing."
"Of course I know where it is!" Minister Greene said happily. "It is currently under charter to us."
Myles looked at the others for a second, then back at Minister Greene. "So what happened? Who is flying it?"
Minister Greene folded hands on the desk in front of him. "The ship was being used for planetary survey of a certain area, conducting geologic and seismic scans. The job was never finished though." He cleared his throat. "Any chance you could finish that job? The ship is, after all, chartered to the planetary government of Walston until it's completed."
Hasta squeezed a hand into a fist at his side, trying not to show his annoyance. "How much will you pay us?"
The minister shuffled some papers on his desk. "The job would be light, setting off some seismic charges, checking tectonic activity. You can even do it while you are fixing the ship. I understand it was stranded?" He looked at his hands on the desk for a moment and fixed a blank stare on the humans opposite him. "We're not rich. It would be 2000 credits worth of work."
"Might be worth considering." Hasta grumbled. "Not sure what the going rate is."
Myles shot Hasta a glance over his shoulder. "Might as well." He turned to Minister Greene. "Why did the previous crew ship off this job anyhow?"
"I'm not sure exactly." Minister Greene said. "Something broke on the ship, maybe. They were skimming on the repairs, getting cheap parts most like. So, can we shake on this that you will finish the job for us?"
Myles extended his hand and shook the minister's hand. "You have my word."
"I hope this scout ship has geological scanners." Moira mumbled under her breath.
Parappa leaned over to her excitedly. "This is exactly what scout ships do! They have more than ample technical equipment for this job."
"Very well." the minister said happily. "We will provide you with the info on where the scout ship is located. It's currently on the rim of a crater at roughly 1500 metres of elevation. We provide transport to about 500 metres up, but after that you shall have to continue on foot. The terrain's not suitable for vehicles up there."
"Hm." Qupar said. "Bad idea to struggle up 1000 metres of elevation on foot. The air will be thinner up there. Maybe send some Vargr with us to help carry these flight cases?"
"I'm sorry, but we don't have anyone to spare." The minister shook his head. "But I can provide you with some filter masks to help with your breathing. I understand our fine fresh air might be different from what you're used to." His eyes landed on the belter tattoo on Myles' cheek and quickly passed over Parappa without lingering.
"Or we might be too tired to do your survey when we get to the top." Hasta grumbled. It sounded like a thinly-veiled threat, and the minister's face darkened.
"I shook on it. I have an agreement with your man...here;" Minister Greene replied, hesitating over the name.
"Myles." supplied Myles helpfully.
"...with your man Myles here. We have a deal. But maybe I should check your paperwork again. Those kinds of processes could be a lengthy affair. Especially if we do a thorough check with Imperial Scout Services. Could take weeks before they get back to us when we inquire..."
"We did agree to this." Parappa shot Hasta a look. "So it's all legal."
Hasta turned to leave. "This is all nonsense. I'll be outside."
As Hasta left the room, the minister followed him out. He approached his secretary. "Set up these wonderful people, and er... that bwap. They are to continue with the geological survey."
And so they found themselves piled into a rickety van, with a Vargr driver and the flight cases carefully stacked in the back atop a couple of trail tents and supplies. The road from Great Lake soon changed from tarmac to dirt road and as the vehicle bounced up the track to Mount Salbari the dirt road changed to a rickety trail that was barely safe to drive on. At some point the Vargr parked the vehicle and turned off the engine. "This is as far as I can get you." he growled. As a canine species pretty much all their speech sounded like growling, and their facial expressions were harder to read than humans, but he didn't sound very displeased. He was probably bored from playing taxi driver for them.
"You'll be wanting these." he helped unload the bags with supplies.
As the van started its journey down the slope, Qupar and Hasta surveyed the mountainside. The scout ship was nowhere to be seen, but there was a kind of trail leading up to the summit.
"This is what it feels like to be fucked over by superiors -- and then you get to walk." Qupar said to the ex-marine next to him.
"It's not an unfamiliar feeling." Hasta replied drily.
They shouldered their supplies and the flight cases with spare parts, and started their long walk up the mountain.
By nightfall they had reached 800 metres of elevation, and their path was blocked by a sheer wall and an outcrop of rock. Instead of deciding whether to find a route around or to scale the wall, they made camp for the night. In the morning they decided to take the longer, and probably safer route around. It added a long four-hour walk to their journey. They rested often, slowing their pace down a bit.
Around lunchtime, they saw signs of life. In the distance there was movement, and it seemed like there was another party of climbers heading to the top. They were too far away to see clearly, though.
"Wouldn't it be nice if I had my rifle with a nice scope on me right around now." Hasta murmured.
There were signs of lava streams from a distant past, between tall vegetation and rocky patches with tufted grass. They were attacked by swarms of midges, annoying little bugs. Parappa didn’t mind those at all, he snapped at the midges and gleefully snacked. He stopped himself from eating them off the skin of his fellow travellers, but only because it wouldn't be a very polite thing to do. When they stopped for lunch, Parappa skipped the rations as he was still full from all the insects he had been snacking on. He wore a satisfied grin and looked very content behind his breathing mask.
The other party in the distance was nowhere to be seen anymore and in the afternoon they were forced to a slower pace as Moira, Qupar and Parappa seemed to be struggling with the uneven footing and thin air. At nightfall they camped out with the rim closer than ever before. It wouldn't be too long the next day to crest the top. They could see the other party in the distance, and they seemed to be watching.
"Should we make sure that we are first to the rim?" Hasta asked in his gravelly voice.
Myles nodded. "I think we should push hard tomorrow. We want to get there first. It doesn't bode well, does it?"
"It's not far to the lip." Qupar replied. "Let's see when we get up there."
As the group's impromptu medic, he was a little worried. The air was thinner and he had noticed their pace had slowed. High up on the mountainside it could spell disaster if they were to take a fall. Although he was not sure how large the other group was, a fight on such tricky terrain could be a very bad plan.
The next morning they set out early, and as they made their way to the top it was clear the other group was heading for the same place. They could finally see it was a group of three humans: two men and an woman. They seemed to be shouting at eachother, encouraging eachother to move faster. As their paths met, one of the men started shouting at them.
"Oi! This is our mountain. All this stuff belongs to us!"
"We were sent here by the Imperium to retrieve their ship." Myles retorted.
"Bloody hell." spat the man; "Where is the Imperium? It's not on this planet! This is legitimate salvage. You're offworlders. So go back to offworld, go back to where you came from."
"Tell someone who gives a shit." Hasta shouted back. Myles still tried to reason with the other group, but Hasta pulled himself up to his full height. "If you prevent us from doing our jobs you will be in a world of trouble. If you take apart this very expensive spaceship and melt it down to make some farmyard tools you will be in for a world of hurt you have never experienced before."
The people in the other group seemed to shrink back from the broad-shouldered ex-marine and his cold, calculating rage. For a moment, they didn't speak, but then the woman gathered her courage. "We will leave. It's...it's been really hard."
The group looked deflated. Their trek up the mountain must not have been easy or light, and they lacked the breathing aparatus that helped the other party keep a clear head.
"Listen;" Myles said to them; "We will have to replace some broken parts to get the ship flying. We have no use for broken parts, but they may be useful to you. Do you want those?"
The woman looked at her companions, startled. "Yes, that would be useful. Thank you."
She introduced the group as her husband Brin, and his brother Gareth. Her name is Evie and the supplied Myles with their address so they could drop off the parts when they are done fixing the ship. As they turn to leave, there seemed to be a new energy in their step. At least they didn't leave completely empty-handed and now had hope to gain at least something valuable from their journey up the side of the volcano.
The others continued their journey. They finally crested the ridge. Below them in the crater they could see a large lake. In the centre of the lake is a small island. And in its centre sits a tiny little scout ship.
Read the next entry in this campaign.
Read the first entry in this campaign.
The group traipsed to Customs. Hasta had seen fit to wear his boarding vacc suit, a full body affair that looked imposing. He covered it with a jacket, probably only to look a little less intimidating and failing utterly. His long knife was clipped to a belt under his jacket, but he shrugged as if he was missing his big rifles, most of which were stuffed in the duffel at his side.
"Can't wear that here, sir." the customs officer approached Hasta with his hand extended, and then pointed off to a side room. "Changing rooms are through here."
While they waited for Hasta to change into more civilian-looking clothes, they inquired about the missing ship with the customs officers and were directed to the Port Offices with the promise: 'They have a record of everything there.'
At the Port Authorities Offices a friendly clerk welcomed them. "Offwolders! How exciting. How may I be of assistance?"
"We are contracted to retrieve a crashed scout ship." Moira said to the man. "Registered under the name High and Dry."
"Give me a moment here." the clerk said, and he went into another room. There was a sound of papers being shuffled and archive drawers opening and closing. When he came back, he was carrying a small stack of papers.
"I remember now, I thought the name sounded familiar." the clerk said, browsing the papers in his hand. "They came through here a couple of months ago. That crew was a couple of jerks. Are they friends of yours?"
"Not in the least." Moira shook her head.
"Well they surely weren't the friendliest bunch. I remember them well. Stood out like a sore thumb. Mocked the people here for wearing a kilt. Didn't even put their trash in a bin, they just dropped it on the ground where they stood!"
The clerk checked the paperwork again. "The ship looked a bit dilapidated as I recall. Spent a couple of days in port. Its destination was logged as 'in system'. Chartered by the World Government, so that must be at Central Lake. A few weeks later the crew showed up without the ship. They loitered about and then booked passage to Datrillion and Caladbolg."
He put the papers down in a gesture of finality and looked expectantly at them.
They questioned the clerk some more about the nature of the 'in system' destination, but there wasn't a lot he could tell them.
"Might be a reason it was chartered;" the clerk said; "but then it might not be documented. Better ask at Central Government, they can tell you more than I can."
"And how do we speak to the Central Government?" Hasta asked.
"Oh, you'll have to take the train;" the clerk perked up. Maybe he just liked trains. "I'll give you some Travel Passes. There's a train coming in tomorrow morning."
"No more trains today?" Myles asked
"I'm afraid it's come and gone already."
"What time is the train?" Hasta asked. He started to sound annoyed.
"Oh, it's early in the morning." the ever-cheerful clerk said.
"Your 'early in the morning' and my 'early in the morning' are quite different..." grumbled Hasta.
With a friendly tug on Hasta's jacket, Qupar managed to disengage the big man from the poor clerk. "He's just a bureaucrat, Let's just go."
"Let's go get a drink!" Dendr cheered up visibly at the thought of liquor, rubbing his hands together gleefully. He sounded ready to drink the town dry in order to make tomorrow morning happen all the sooner.
They booked into a hotel; The Rusty Trader was on the main street and had a nice bar, where the proprietor Sven was bustled out by his nervous wife. He showed them a bunch of rooms where they could stow the flight cases with the spare parts they would need for the repairs. Moira and Dendr went to check out the local brew, while Qupar, Parappa, Hasta and Myles went off into town.
The main street of the town sported a bunch of shops and houses, all half-sunken into the ground. People would go into one door and come out a couple of doors down, so there was a feeling that the buildings were connected. Their facades looked worn but tended, and the streets were clean but dusty. It made sense to such a rural town that offworlders would attract attention, especially if they would drop their litter on the ground.
They found a hardware store, with an older gentleman behind the counter. "Offworlders! Anything I can help you with, good folk?"
"I need to cut some stuff down to size. What do you have for that?" Hasta looked around the store, filled to the brim with tools and farm implements. Myles was checking out a tall spade, letting Hasta do the talking for now.
The man ventured out from behind the counter, and they could see he was wearing a sort of rustic skirt, probably the kind of local fashion the clerk had mentioned before. He helped Hasta pick out a hatchet, and sorted through some reasonably-sized knives for Myles and Qupar. He seemed to ignore Parappa, instead attending to the paying customers.
The next morning they rose early and broke their fast so they couldn't miss their train. As the train approached the station, a porter appeared to help them load their luggage onto the train. To their surprise, it was the man from the hardware store, named Jensen.
"You appear to have lots of jobs." Hasta remarked.
Jensen nodded politely but focused on directing a Vargr to take their flight cases onto the train. The strong carnivore had no problem lifting the flight cases with spare parts onto the train, and off they went.
The train trip was uneventful and took several hours. The landscape gliding by was a mixture of pastures for cows and sheep on low hills. Finally the train rounded a bend and they could spot the administrative centre of Walston. It was called Central Lake and true to Walston's amazing creativity in naming things, it was no wonder it was built on the shores of a great lake.
The city itself was busy enough, with numerous people going about their business. The buildings along the road had the now familiar look of being half-sunken into the ground, but one palatial building stood tall at the edge of a plaza. Directions from friendly passers-by had led them to this place, and inside it was bustling with activity. Hopefully they could find some answers here.
A nice lady in her forties stopped her flurry of activity and introduced herself as Debbie when Moira asked who they might speak to. "The Minister for Offworld Affairs, Public Relations and Fisheries will speak to you soon. I shall get you some coffees and a tray of biscuits. Now don't tell them I said so, but the biscuits are really delightful. And then the minister will have time to speak with you before you know it."
As they were herded into the office, a tall man with hair greying at the temples looked them all over, seemingly ignoring Parappa altogether.
"My name is Alan Greene, I'm the Minister for Offworld Affairs, Public Relations, and Fisheries. How can I help?"
"We're looking for the scout ship High and Dry;" Hasta said matter-of-factly. "We've been contracted to retrieve it by Imperial Scout Services."
Mister Greene indicated that they should sit, but there were only three chairs available. Moira, Parappa and Myles sank down into the chairs while Dendr, Hasta and Qupar stood behind them, Hasta leaning against the bare wall.
"I see. Can I see some documentation as to that fact please?" Minister Greene asked.
Myles handed over the papers they were issued by Major Casari and they waited patiently as minister Greene looked things over.
"I see." he said; "The High and Dry you say?"
"Do you know the ship?" Myles asked. "Do you know where it is? We were expecting it at the space port but it seems to be missing."
"Of course I know where it is!" Minister Greene said happily. "It is currently under charter to us."
Myles looked at the others for a second, then back at Minister Greene. "So what happened? Who is flying it?"
Minister Greene folded hands on the desk in front of him. "The ship was being used for planetary survey of a certain area, conducting geologic and seismic scans. The job was never finished though." He cleared his throat. "Any chance you could finish that job? The ship is, after all, chartered to the planetary government of Walston until it's completed."
Hasta squeezed a hand into a fist at his side, trying not to show his annoyance. "How much will you pay us?"
The minister shuffled some papers on his desk. "The job would be light, setting off some seismic charges, checking tectonic activity. You can even do it while you are fixing the ship. I understand it was stranded?" He looked at his hands on the desk for a moment and fixed a blank stare on the humans opposite him. "We're not rich. It would be 2000 credits worth of work."
"Might be worth considering." Hasta grumbled. "Not sure what the going rate is."
Myles shot Hasta a glance over his shoulder. "Might as well." He turned to Minister Greene. "Why did the previous crew ship off this job anyhow?"
"I'm not sure exactly." Minister Greene said. "Something broke on the ship, maybe. They were skimming on the repairs, getting cheap parts most like. So, can we shake on this that you will finish the job for us?"
Myles extended his hand and shook the minister's hand. "You have my word."
"I hope this scout ship has geological scanners." Moira mumbled under her breath.
Parappa leaned over to her excitedly. "This is exactly what scout ships do! They have more than ample technical equipment for this job."
"Very well." the minister said happily. "We will provide you with the info on where the scout ship is located. It's currently on the rim of a crater at roughly 1500 metres of elevation. We provide transport to about 500 metres up, but after that you shall have to continue on foot. The terrain's not suitable for vehicles up there."
"Hm." Qupar said. "Bad idea to struggle up 1000 metres of elevation on foot. The air will be thinner up there. Maybe send some Vargr with us to help carry these flight cases?"
"I'm sorry, but we don't have anyone to spare." The minister shook his head. "But I can provide you with some filter masks to help with your breathing. I understand our fine fresh air might be different from what you're used to." His eyes landed on the belter tattoo on Myles' cheek and quickly passed over Parappa without lingering.
"Or we might be too tired to do your survey when we get to the top." Hasta grumbled. It sounded like a thinly-veiled threat, and the minister's face darkened.
"I shook on it. I have an agreement with your man...here;" Minister Greene replied, hesitating over the name.
"Myles." supplied Myles helpfully.
"...with your man Myles here. We have a deal. But maybe I should check your paperwork again. Those kinds of processes could be a lengthy affair. Especially if we do a thorough check with Imperial Scout Services. Could take weeks before they get back to us when we inquire..."
"We did agree to this." Parappa shot Hasta a look. "So it's all legal."
Hasta turned to leave. "This is all nonsense. I'll be outside."
As Hasta left the room, the minister followed him out. He approached his secretary. "Set up these wonderful people, and er... that bwap. They are to continue with the geological survey."
And so they found themselves piled into a rickety van, with a Vargr driver and the flight cases carefully stacked in the back atop a couple of trail tents and supplies. The road from Great Lake soon changed from tarmac to dirt road and as the vehicle bounced up the track to Mount Salbari the dirt road changed to a rickety trail that was barely safe to drive on. At some point the Vargr parked the vehicle and turned off the engine. "This is as far as I can get you." he growled. As a canine species pretty much all their speech sounded like growling, and their facial expressions were harder to read than humans, but he didn't sound very displeased. He was probably bored from playing taxi driver for them.
"You'll be wanting these." he helped unload the bags with supplies.
As the van started its journey down the slope, Qupar and Hasta surveyed the mountainside. The scout ship was nowhere to be seen, but there was a kind of trail leading up to the summit.
"This is what it feels like to be fucked over by superiors -- and then you get to walk." Qupar said to the ex-marine next to him.
"It's not an unfamiliar feeling." Hasta replied drily.
They shouldered their supplies and the flight cases with spare parts, and started their long walk up the mountain.
By nightfall they had reached 800 metres of elevation, and their path was blocked by a sheer wall and an outcrop of rock. Instead of deciding whether to find a route around or to scale the wall, they made camp for the night. In the morning they decided to take the longer, and probably safer route around. It added a long four-hour walk to their journey. They rested often, slowing their pace down a bit.
Around lunchtime, they saw signs of life. In the distance there was movement, and it seemed like there was another party of climbers heading to the top. They were too far away to see clearly, though.
"Wouldn't it be nice if I had my rifle with a nice scope on me right around now." Hasta murmured.
There were signs of lava streams from a distant past, between tall vegetation and rocky patches with tufted grass. They were attacked by swarms of midges, annoying little bugs. Parappa didn’t mind those at all, he snapped at the midges and gleefully snacked. He stopped himself from eating them off the skin of his fellow travellers, but only because it wouldn't be a very polite thing to do. When they stopped for lunch, Parappa skipped the rations as he was still full from all the insects he had been snacking on. He wore a satisfied grin and looked very content behind his breathing mask.
The other party in the distance was nowhere to be seen anymore and in the afternoon they were forced to a slower pace as Moira, Qupar and Parappa seemed to be struggling with the uneven footing and thin air. At nightfall they camped out with the rim closer than ever before. It wouldn't be too long the next day to crest the top. They could see the other party in the distance, and they seemed to be watching.
"Should we make sure that we are first to the rim?" Hasta asked in his gravelly voice.
Myles nodded. "I think we should push hard tomorrow. We want to get there first. It doesn't bode well, does it?"
"It's not far to the lip." Qupar replied. "Let's see when we get up there."
As the group's impromptu medic, he was a little worried. The air was thinner and he had noticed their pace had slowed. High up on the mountainside it could spell disaster if they were to take a fall. Although he was not sure how large the other group was, a fight on such tricky terrain could be a very bad plan.
The next morning they set out early, and as they made their way to the top it was clear the other group was heading for the same place. They could finally see it was a group of three humans: two men and an woman. They seemed to be shouting at eachother, encouraging eachother to move faster. As their paths met, one of the men started shouting at them.
"Oi! This is our mountain. All this stuff belongs to us!"
"We were sent here by the Imperium to retrieve their ship." Myles retorted.
"Bloody hell." spat the man; "Where is the Imperium? It's not on this planet! This is legitimate salvage. You're offworlders. So go back to offworld, go back to where you came from."
"Tell someone who gives a shit." Hasta shouted back. Myles still tried to reason with the other group, but Hasta pulled himself up to his full height. "If you prevent us from doing our jobs you will be in a world of trouble. If you take apart this very expensive spaceship and melt it down to make some farmyard tools you will be in for a world of hurt you have never experienced before."
The people in the other group seemed to shrink back from the broad-shouldered ex-marine and his cold, calculating rage. For a moment, they didn't speak, but then the woman gathered her courage. "We will leave. It's...it's been really hard."
The group looked deflated. Their trek up the mountain must not have been easy or light, and they lacked the breathing aparatus that helped the other party keep a clear head.
"Listen;" Myles said to them; "We will have to replace some broken parts to get the ship flying. We have no use for broken parts, but they may be useful to you. Do you want those?"
The woman looked at her companions, startled. "Yes, that would be useful. Thank you."
She introduced the group as her husband Brin, and his brother Gareth. Her name is Evie and the supplied Myles with their address so they could drop off the parts when they are done fixing the ship. As they turn to leave, there seemed to be a new energy in their step. At least they didn't leave completely empty-handed and now had hope to gain at least something valuable from their journey up the side of the volcano.
The others continued their journey. They finally crested the ridge. Below them in the crater they could see a large lake. In the centre of the lake is a small island. And in its centre sits a tiny little scout ship.
Read the next entry in this campaign.
Read the first entry in this campaign.
