2083 Moonglow.v3.Part 1
[Aaron was going to join the Oakley’s in their 1920s campaign, but Covid sidelined him. Thus, the change of scenery as we jump to 2083 with pre-gen characters. After Jordan and Whitney played the first session, I had Aaron back in his character’s actions. He will join live for part 2.]
11 June, 2083/Hook: In the latter half of the 21st century, humanity begins the colonization of space by establishing a permanent manned mining operation on the rim of Shackleton Crater, at the lunar South Pole. Cloaked in perpetual darkness, the Shackleton crater floor preserves a useful bounty of water ice and rare minerals, along with even more precious helium-3 which is badly needed to supply Earth’s nuclear fusion reactors. Commander Cortez’s team has already been to the moon twice, helping to build the station from ground up. His relief team is 2-weeks away from launch to replace the current team when they are suddenly called into Houston Center for an emergency meeting.
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REPLACEMENT CREW |
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[Jordan] Cmdr Jack Cortez (Flt Msn Cmdr): of NASA, the American aerospace agency. |
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[Aaron] Capt George Stafford (Flt Engineer): of ESA, the European Space Agency.
Last-minute replacement as his original Flt Engineer Capt Wanda Reed is undergoing emergency appendectomy. |
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[NPC] Dr. Oleg Pavlenko (Science Officer): of ROSCOSMOS, the Russian space agency. |
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[Whitney] Erika Hofmann (Mission Specialist): German engineer working for the
multinational mining company H-3 Corp. |
Commander Cortez spoke up, “Has the flight profile been updated to reflect this early launch?” Specialist Erika Hoffman asked, “Is this a rescue mission? Do we need medical supplies?”
Director Murphy explained, “It’s all in your pre-brief folder, to include the last reports from Cmdr Ivanenkov. We’ve accounted for the weight of a spare Comm laser and spare harvester motor. But yes, the early launch means the moon is farther away; so, fuel requirements adjusted. While I doubt a medical issue, we will add medical supplies per Ms. Hofmann’s suggestion. If this is an evacuation; well, there is only room for 4 on the Altair craft.”
2-Day wait: Cmdr Cortez became a burr in the ass of Mission Control center, hovering over every terminal, needling questions. To the point Director Murphy tasked Stafford to distract the commander. “Since we haven’t flown together, I thought we might run some flight sims.” Jack put them thru the ringer. He had Erika practice comm-laser switch out if that was the problem. And he cranked the flight sim to its max. George (09) reacted with calm and directness to each emergency situation. Jack… (90 fail) struggled to make the one-engine instrument landing. (push 17) But pulled it out at the end to settle the lander on the simulated lunar surface. His grin was wasted inside his helmet, but then George just thought his commander was purposefully making it difficult to test his Flight Engineer skills.
13 June: “5, 4, 3…” The crew shook in their seats as the main engines of their Altair II rocket kicked to life. It was an 8.5-minute rocketing ride into earth orbit, and a couple of orbits before their slingshot flight towards the moon. It was a 3-day journey to the moon. Enough time to review what they know of the current Shackleton mining operation:
- The satellite picture of the area:
- A close-up of the moonbase itself:
16 June: With lunar orbit established, Cmdr Cortez tried to make radio contact with the base. Static at best. After separation leaving the Orion capsule in its 2-hour orbit, he turned the 2-stage Altair lander butt-first for auto-pilot final approach.
With the rocket firing, they began their descent overflight of the Shackleton Crater. As the blinking lights of the communication tower came into view, “On glidepath, on altitude, S1 fuel commit.” Suddenly their radio crackled to life with a French voice, “Altair inbound, Abort landing and return to orbit. I say again, ABORT!” Jack answered, “Sorry Rene, S1 commit, landing is happening.” Erika took over comms as Jack and George were busy with the imminent landing, “Rene, say again. What is the problem?” But Rene, with almost terror in his voice repeated, “Abort I said. ABORT!”
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“Engine shutdown complete. Powering off. Damn! Forgot to
call Houston to relay the situation. Erika, what would it take to get the
radios back up?” But Erika was distracted looking out a porthole. Helmet on,
short-wave radio, “Mooncat rover just rounded the berm and is approaching.
Fast. Straight at us! Rene, it that you? What are you doing? Slow down!!” Rene
Martel responded, “I warned you not to land. I must destroy its escape option!”
15 seconds
to impact!
Cmdr Jack gave the order, “Bailout!” Erika hit the emergency
exit button to blow the hatch, causing a quick depressurization. 13. She grabbed her
dufflebag of gear and tossed it out before exiting. Jump-95. 11. Her foot caught
the inside of the hatch causing her to tumble off the side of the craft before
crashing 25 feet below onto the lunar surface of her back. “OOF!” [5 point fall
injury- not half thus no check for unconsciousness] 9. Oleg was next but wise enough to not
repeat Erika’s gaff: he threw his bag then stood in the hatchway, then jumped. 8. Erika’s eyes grew
wide as she saw the bag quickly descending toward her. “THUMP.” Landing just
beside her. 6.
Followed by Oleg landing on the bags, twisting his ankle. 5. George stood in the
hatch opening glancing between the approaching mooncat and his crewmates below,
such that he angled for the ladder before springing further away with his bag.
But the bag unbalanced his jump such that he landed on his back. “OOF!” [only 2-point
injury]. Last to leave his ship, Cmdr Cortez leapt away, landing on his feet. With
bag in hand, Erika ran/jumped/leapfrogged away. 3. George and Jack grabbed Oleg, “Run!”
2…
1… ”KABOOM!” (Can you hear an explosion in the vacuum of space?) [Luck- Erika
87, Jack 10, George 93] The concussive blast knocked Erika flat on her face. Her
dufflebag took the brunt of hurled debris as smaller pieces pinged off her
armored suit. Jack timed the explosion to duck behind a boulder. Unfortunately,
the others weren’t as fast or fortunate. A large piece of metal crushed Oleg.
Shards penetrated George’s suit. Escaping oxygen turned him into ‘rocketman’ as
he jetted across the lunar surface. [INT-fail, DEX- fail] George desperately
tried to find and cover the holes without success as he first spun like a top,
then angled toward the fiery inferno of the burning Altair lander. Luck that
Jack [DEX 01] reacted fast enough to grab George’s leg. Erika rushed to his
side to patch his suit before all his oxygen escaped. “Down to 60% but enough
for us to get to the moonbase.”
But first, they scrounged for gear. Erika found a spare
helmet. Unfortunately, Rene’s severed head was still inside! [failed SAN-2
points] At least George found his dufflebag. Jack recovered Oleg’s body, “I’m
not leaving him out here.” They began the slow walk toward the berm surrounding
the base, dragging the lifeless Oleg along. Erika labored to breath per her
fall-injured lungs as she tried to make radio contact with the base. “Only
static. A hot-mic. There has to be someone still at the base. Why won’t they
answer?!”
Her concern rose when she was the first to round the berm.
[Spot 01] “Stop! There’s something wrong. Look at the harvester. Something new
added to its roof. There’s a broom-handle added below the navigation radar and
camera.” George corrected her, “That my dear, looks like a rifle barrel.” Jack
threw a rock to see if the rifle set to automatic fire. The rifle-camera
appendage continued its 30 degrees sweep of the area. “Maybe it’s set only to
detect human life.” Erika pulled a large wrench from her dufflebag as a weapon.
Jack thought about climbing the berm to the side of the
base, outside the harvester’s scan. The risk of fall and injury too great. He
remembered, “The auxiliary airlock in the Laboratory Dome!” They left Oleg’s
body at the top edge of the berm as they rounded the backside to enter from the
Fuel Depot side. [Computer skill] Erika pulled the faceplate off of the door
lock and managed to unlock it. Jack was first to step into the decontamination vestibule.
After taking their helmets off, Erika sat at the computer
station to logon as she searched for the last log entries. She had to scan back
10 days (June 6th) before she could find an unlocked file. “Cmdr
Ivanenkov seems to have password protected the most recent files. I found the
log about Martel recovering a meteorite and the harvester breaking down. Dr.
Weaver began noticing greenhouse plant problems and the crew irritable but
didn’t turn up any chemical analysis.” Meanwhile, Jack hovered over a table
with the mentioned chunk of meteorite. “It looks metallic, but also highly
malleable, almost plastic. What do you make of this spherical cavity on the
backside?”
He expected his Mission Specialist to answer. Instead, SALI
chimed in, “Hello Cmdr Cortez. Welcome back to the station. Mr. Martel first noted
the meteorite with a bubble on its side. The next day, the bubble apparently
burst and thus the cavity you see before you. He made notes that the malleable
rock seems to have shrunk. Dr. Weaver thought it might be due to drying out by
oxygen and thus shrinking and hardening.”
They had forgotten all about SALI. “SALI, what can you tell
us about these locked files? Yes, I can see Dmitry password protected them.
Why? I’m a commander for Christ’s sake. OK then, what can you tell us about the
modifications to the harvester? A laser-rifle?! They dismantled the Comm Tower
laser to make the rifle? Defense? Attacks? By what?! Not authorized?! Then
where the hell is Dmitry to get his permission?! Copy, the Command Dome.”
Dmitry was in a loud drunk-snore with his head resting on
the computer desk. Drool seeped into the keyboard. Jack rustled him awake.
Dmitry first wobbled his head to focus, “Rene? Back so soon?” Dmitry’s eyes
flared open in realization it not Rene; he jumped to his feet, backing up, and
threatened with a homemade taser, “Show me your eyes! All of you, or I keel you!”
They complied which relaxed Dmitry who offered, “Come. Sit. We drink, we laugh,
we die together.” Jack humored the lunatic as he picked up the glass to share.
“To Ukraine.” “To Amerika.” “Since we’re all going to die anyway, share your
recordings so we might at least learn death by what.” Dmitry typed in “VODKA”,
took a long swig, and passed out, flopping to the floor.
Erika sat at the terminal and began to read the unlocked
files. “His entries prior to lost comm include more details. Jesus! 10 June Dr. Weaver was killed in the Greenhouse by some alien
glow only detected visually. Nothing on the monitors. Dmitry says they learned
how to track it but doesn’t say how. Major Thompson and Rene armed themselves
with survey charges and tried to kill it in the crater, but Frank was
horrifically killed. Rene barely escaped. Rene and Dmitry have been standing
watch ever since with the laser-rifle they crafted atop the harvester. Dmitry
even thinks they know its weakness!”
[2 point Sanity loss] Jack stood stunned at news Nora Weaver
dead. “SALI, where is Dr. Weaver now? The Lab Dome Medical room? Show me all
camera feeds.” The overhead monitor divided into 8 camera feeds (the 4 domes,
one each per harvester with one blank, another blank for the Mooncat rover, and
another mounted on the Comm Tower showing the full moonbase layout). Jack was
about to ask SALI to zoom into the Lab Medical room. Erika was more concerned
about the suited individual approaching and passing beside the harvester
outside. “SALI, show suit vitals for whoever that is outside the entry hatch.”
Erika’s heart jumped into her throat as she shuddered at the thought of Oleg
come back to life. SALI’s answer didn’t help, “I’m sorry, but there are no
vitals per the individual you mention.”
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“Thump, thump, thump.” Someone banged on the entry hatch.
Everyone turned to view the entry porthole. [Sanity check] Jack (25 pass:
1-point loss) immediately commanded, “SALI, lock all doors!” Erika (98 fail:
4-point loss) at first looked quizzically at the nametag “MAJ THOMPSON.” Till
she remembered the log entry about his death! She then looked at its eyes…a
yellow glow! She clutched her wrench weapon in panic, “It’s the alien!”
[I give
Jordan credit for immediately realizing Frank Thompson stood between the
laser-rifle and the entry door. Any laser-shot chanced hitting the dome. He
wanted to drive/move the harvester to eliminate the base as a background. I
said it would take too long as the creature was seconds away from compromising
the hatch door.]
Jack immediately focused on the camera feed and barked orders to Erika, “Swing the harvester rifle around and shoot the damn thing!” “ZZIIT” [Computer Use: 11 less 1 Luck to make it extreme] The laser burned a hole clean thru Thompson’s head. Per the camera feed, the body slumped to the ground. And that’s when they all heard the slow “HISS.” They quickly, per training, grabbed their helmets to put on, “We’ve got an air leak!” SALI confirmed, “The Command Dome has been compromised. The laser shot penetrated both the outer and inner decompression chamber doors at the main entry.” And that’s when Dmitry stirred awake, “Are we dead yet?”
LINK TO CONCLUSION: https://wjr5oakley.blogspot.com/2022/08/2083-moonglowv3conclusion.html
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