The Menorbi Partnership

Session 10 - May 2, 2019
CASE and the Joint

1100 – 006 – Regina Starport

1030 - 1115 - The Partners rendezvous at the safehouse. Froge comes over in an autocab, with their EZKleen uniforms from Julius. Martaan is trying to determine what their routine would be at Phizab. Pascal and Leah are going over cleaning droid manuals. Froge calls Jelph, who invites himself over.

1115 – 1145 - Jelph briefs them about CASE, an AI developed by Dandelion to facilitate computer and network intrusions, which they will need to partner with to carry out the Phizab operation. Jelph tells them he wants to introduce them to CASE later in the day; he also warns them that AIs are deceptively non-human, and that they have to be monitored very closely.

1145 – 1230 - Pascal synthesizes the guards' rounds from the drone footage they have been collecting on Phizab. Using this same footage, and some open source intelligence gathering, Pascal and Leah start putting together a cleaning routine for them while they are at Phizab.

1230 – 1300 - The Partners leave the safehouse to go and meet Jelph and CASE, stopping along the way for some truly dismal takeout at Orbie's.  

1300 – 1400 - Arriving at TekImport, the Partners are introduced to CASE by Jelph, who is very interested in Dandelion's whereabouts and health. CASE proceeds to subject the Leah and Pascal to puzzles of varying difficulty, as a way of assessing their skills. Leah solves all the puzzles up to the "difficult" level; Pascal solves all the puzzles up to the "challenging" level.

1400 – 1430  Jelph ends the meeting with CASE, and asks the Partners what they will need for the Phizab job.  They settle on-

* CASE, equipped with a communications rig, and a C4 charge, in case it needs to be destroyed;

* Three Gauss Pistols, each with two clips of ammunition

* One ACR, equipped with stock, site, and silencer, and two clips of ammunition

All of these things will be smuggled out of the Starport and delivered to the Partners' safehouse, prior to the operation. The van and CASE will be delivered to the safehouse the following day, prior to the operation.

1500 – 1900 - Pleased with their meeting, and revolted at their lunch, the Partners stop at AstroKebab! for a snack on the way back to the safehouse. They then dig in to their cover story, and begin working on a realistic routine for industrial office cleaning at Phizab.

1900 – 1930 - A courier arrives with the arms. Jelph arrives later, and he tells them that TekImport has seeded the Regina infoscape with a cover story of possible terrorism against biological research entities, which TekImport can leverage in the event of something unfortunate happening at Phizab.

1930 – 2230 - The Partners continue training and polishing their routine, eventually bunking down in the safehouse prior to the operation. 

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JUL/2019
Session 11 - July 11, 2019
Phi-asco

1100-007 – The Safe House

0630 – 1830 - The Partners wake up in the safe house, and spend the day preparing. Leah checks in with Madeline and Fitz, and keeps an eye on the camera feeds around the Phizab campus. Martaan applies self-tanner to alter his appearance. Froge works with the cleaning droids. Leah goes out for lamb takeout at Astrokebab!

1830 - Jelph arrives with the grav transport, communications gear, and CASE. He will be the Partners' case officer and overwatch during the run. CASE has asked Pascal to be his handler.

2130 – 2144 - The Partners drive over in their EZKleen grav transport, park, and do quick onsite reconnaissance.

2200 - 2330 - The Partners enter Phizab. Froge begins in the offices, on the third floor, while Martaan and Pascal start on bungalows A, B, C, D. Martaan and Pascal fake the need for a cleaning droid repair. 

2330 - Froge begins cleaning the second floor, where he runs into a Phizab scientist, Hylaria, who is working late.

2340 – 2343 - Pascal and CASE jack in to the system.

2346 - CASE authenticates to the Phizab research mainframe.

2348 - CASE locates the relevant files on the Phizab research mainframe.

2359 - CASE's first attempt to access the files are detected by the sysadmin, who goes up to the second floor to see if Hylaria is the culprit; Froge overhears this.

0009 - CASE's second attempt to access the files fails.

0019 - CASE's third attempt to access the files succeeds and CASE begins to copy the files. A security guard comes over to the bungalow, directed by the system administrator, who has traced the unauthorized access to this terminal. Martaan spills water on the guard, in an attempt to distract him, and buy CASE the time to finish copying the files.

0024 CASE finishes copying files, but the guard catches Pascal with CASE jacked into the Phizab research network! At this point, a number of things begin to happen very quickly-

The security guard draws on Pascal, and alerts his colleagues. Martaan withdraws his hidden ACR from a cleaning droid. The guard wounds Martaan, but Martaan tranquilizes him. Pascal warns Froge that they are blown. Independently, Leah notices the guard at the main gate drawing a longarm and approaching her; Leah activates the drones to create a drone swarm. Meanwhile, a guard surprises Froge and takes him captive, not realizing he is still armed. Leah redirects a drone to go after Froge's captor. Jelph first advises Leah to surrender, and then panics, abruptly changing his mind, and tells them to fight their way out of the situation. The female guard at the main gate tells Leah to get out of the grav vehicle; Leah counters by throwing the drone swarm at the gate guard.

CASE, taking over the Phizab computer system, announces to everyone that a penetration test has is being performed at Phizab, and that they have passed with flying colors. Froge sees this as an opportunity to get the drop on the guard that has taken him captive. He falls behind, draws his pistol, and tries to tranquilize the guard, but he misses, The guard fast-draws, wheels around, and shoots Froge solidly, wounding him seriously. Froge tells the guard he was just trying to tranquilize him, and the guard confirms this by checking Froge's pistol. The guard bandages him a little, and walks Froge out to the grav vehicle.

Martaan wakes the guard he had tranquilized, and shakes his hand. Leah gets out of the grav vehicle and surrenders to the gate guard. There is another announcement by CASE that this is a penetration test. Pascal interrogates CASE, and gets an answer from a different AI, who calls itself CASEY. 

0054 – 0200 - Ultimately, Station Chief del'Zed collects the Partners by impersonating the company supposedly conducting the penetration test of PhiZab, dropping them back at the safe house, where they are debriefed by Jelph.

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SEP/2019
Session 12 - September 5, 2019
Making a CASE for Co-operation

1100 – 008 – PhiZab Pharmaceuticals

0200 – 0315 - A wounded Froge is whisked to the safe hHouse for a quick debriefing by Jelph, and then on to the Naval Hospital by ambulance. En route, Froge is contacted by CASE, which has uploaded itself to the ambulance. In transit, Froge messages Leah, Martaan, and Pascal, to let them know his condition and whereabouts, as well as the identity of his traveling companion. Leah, Martaan, and Pascal follow behind. Froge goes directly into surgery. Leah, Martaan, and Pascal follow behind, explain their situation to a nurse and a guard, and are allowed to hang about in the Naval Hospital's lobby until they can see Froge.

0315 – 0800 – Froge's surgery goes very well. The rest of the Partners nap in the lobby.

0815 – 0900 – Following his surgery and his stint in the recovery room, Froge is transferred to the same room that Darlene "Dandelion" del'Zed is in. Froge is greeted by CASE, which is focused on keeping a close watch on Dandelion, and is spinning up multiple instances of itself in the Hospital's computing environment to investigate Dandelion's condition. At the same time, Leah, Martaan, and Pascal have breakfast with— and receive an apology from— a recently-furloughed Garrivan del'Zed.

0900 – 1000 – Fitz, Soto, and Saegang stop by briefly at the Naval Hospital to check in on Froge's health. Leah and Pascal walk across the starport to TekImport (in part, to discuss the situation in a minimally-surveilled situation) to check on the version of CASE that has been returned to Dandelion's lab. Martaan sticks around to keep an eye on Froge; while Martaan is visiting (and guarding) Froge, CASE checks in with the both of them, to discuss its goals and demands regarding Dandelion's health. And, an increasingly-concerned Arbellatra finally gets her messages through to Froge.

1000 – 1200 – It becomes increasingly obvious to everyone concerned (the Partners, TekImport, and especially Count Quinlan ap-Corserra), that CASE has effectively split itself into two independent entities (CASE and CASEY), one of which has returned to Dandelion's lab, and one of which is increasingly arrogating Hospital computing resources to itself as it struggles to understand and "cure" Dandelion's condition. Attempts to cajole and threaten CASE back into its "box" in Dandelion's lab are unsuccessful, especially as CASE has thoroughly infiltrated and subverted the Hospital's infrastructure, and attempts to dislodge CASE could prove disastrous to the Hospital's patients. The Partners and Count Quinlan make an appeal to CASE that, if it refuses to co-operate with TekImport and IIS, Dandelion's status as a researcher, and as a collaborator with CASE, will be in jeopardy. Just as IIS can't dislodge CASE from the Naval Hospital's infrastructure, CASE cannot force IIS to allow Dandelion to continue her AI research. Ultimately, Count Quinlan and the Partners convince CASE that they share a common goal— Dandelion's health and safety— and that CASE can collaborate and co-operate with them "in good faith." Ultimately, CASE withdraws from the Naval Hospital and returns to TekImport.

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FEB/2020
Session 13 - February 6, 2020
Picking Up the Pieces

(Todd Wells bought dinner)

1100 – 008 – Naval Hospital and TekImport

1200 - Froge begins this session in his hospital bed at the Naval Hospital; Martaan is both his visitor and his bodyguard. Across the starport, Leah and Pascal are departing TekImport after negotiating with CASE.

1200 – 1700 - Following negotiations with CASE, Sir Quinlan ap-Corserra gives Leah her formal psionic test, in which she learns what her skills are. It turns out that she is both a telepath and a clairvoyant. (NOTE: While the players know this, their characters do not.) 

1200 – 1700 - Pascal heads back to IISS and the VES work room, and also spends a solid two hours with Pug at the range, working on his Advanced Combat Rifle skills.

1200 – 1700 While stepping outside to visit the nurse's station on Froge's ward, Martaan encounters his old flame- Cassandra ap-Tain— working as a physician in Regina's Naval Hospital. She is surprised and delighted to see him, and they exchange comms data, promising to get breakfast the next morning. Later in the afternoon, he sends Cassandra a bouquet of flowers.

1200 – 1700 Froge spends his afternoon recovering- undergoing physical and occupational therapy, taking a nap, and being taught chess by an application CASE has placed on his comm.

1700 - Froge receives a sickbed visit from Sir Riordrian van'Leyth, who introduces himself, and asks that Froge allow his daughter Arbellatra to see Froge in his current circumstances, so that she will understand that a life of adventure has its consequences. 

1730 - Saegang, accompanied by Leah and Pascal, comes from the VES workroom at IISS to the Hospital to visit Froge. She reports that the An Lang is preparing for its shakedown cruise, in two days when Froge can accompany the rest of the VES. The Partners discuss expeditionary capabilities of the VES, including some form of cryptananlysis / xenolinguistics software, and advanced sensors.  During her visit, Leah uses her new "Sense Life" psionic ability, and detects a number of nearby life-forms, including Dandelion in her bed nearby.

1930 – 2000 - Arbellatra comes to visit Froge in his hospital bed; she is affectionate, but somewhat shaken, seeing him in his condition. The rest of the Partners return to their rooms for the night.

2000 – 2100 - Back at the Travellers' Aid Society, Martaan collaborates with the hotel chef, to develop a breakfast picnic for Cassandra and himself the following morning. The chef is so charmed with Martaan's genuineness, that she in turn calls her counterpart at the Naval Hospital, and reserves the Executive Dining Room for their breakfast. 

2300 - Garrivan del'Zed comes into Froge's room to keep watch over Dandelion's bed.

1100 – 009 – Naval Hospital

0800 – 1000 Bright and early the next day, Martaan meets Cassandra with a beautiful breakfast picnic in the Executive Dining Room at the Naval Hospital. They have a long, leisurely breakfast, catching up about many things- Martaan's career in the IISS after leaving the Marines, his assigment to the VES, Cassandra's absorption in her work as a xenovirologist, and Martaan and Cassandra's mutual lack of romantic attachments. For his part, Martaan is eager ro rekindle their romance, but Cassandra is more hesitant— she kisses him on the cheek, and says they will talk later. 

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MAR/2020
Session 14 - March 19, 2020
Shakedown Cruise, Part One

1100 – 009 – Regina Downport

0800 – 1000 – Froge, Leah, and Pascal all receive email from Madeline instructing them that two laser batteries had been fitted onto the An Lang, that Leah had been appointed Surveyor for the expedition, and that the expedition was leaving the following day (1100-010) at 0900. In addition, one of the IISS AIs (Reggie) has worked out exploration kits for Froge, Martaan, and Pascal, and has equipped the An Lang's shipboard computer. Meanwhile, Martaan is having breakfast with Cassady.

1000 – 1700 – Leah receives permission from IISS and the Regina Up-port to leave her 100T Scout Leah's Delight in orbit around Regina. Madeline decides this is an opportunity for a crew and cargo transfer, and drafts Leah to pilot the Delight over to the An Lang to transfer VES members and their cargo; she sets the departure for orbit at 1700 today. 

Pascal says goodbye to his room-mate Gyllyan (and her parents Matthieu and LaDonna) at the Naval Hospital. Martaan says goodbye to Cassady via comm. Froge says a tearful goodbye to Arbellatra, giving her his medal for bravery in repelling boarders on the Wattever. Scrambling to wrap up their affairs and leave dirtside, the Partners empty out their TAS rooms and apartment, and their safe house, carting with them a handful of prized possessions and drones, loading the majority of the VES crew (Fitz, Pinkie, Dr. Soto, Saeagang), and leaving for orbit and the An Lang.

1700 – 2200 – Leah lifts the Delight into orbit, and works with Elwen to dock the two ships and transfer crew and cargo, finally leaving her Scout in orbit. Madeline shows the crew their cabins, and then invites them to a festive meal in the ship's mess. While moving into his stateroom, Froge realizes that the chess program installed on comm by CASE, named CHESS, is a miniature version of CASE sent along to "stow away" aboard the expedition to see more of the galaxy. Madeline then walks the crew through their stations aboard the An Lang. In the course of optimizing their stations, Fitz uncovers a security issue with the ship's computer, resulting in Froge introduces CHESS to the crew. Madeline subsequently extracts a promise of obedience out of the AI for the duration of the VES.  The crew spend the rest of the evening tweaking their stations, socializing, and moving into their cabins, and then go to sleep, preparing for departure. Fitz takes an uneventful watch from 1100-009 2200 to 1100-010 0200. 

1100 – 010 - Aboard the An Lang

0200 – 0600 – Martaan takes an uneventful watch.

0600 – 0900 – The crew wake up, have breakfast, use the fresher, and take their stations for the An Lang's shakedown cruise. 

0900 – 1000 – Saeagang and Fitz undertake a thorough review of all the ship's rooms, and all the air locks, to make sure that the ship is secure. 

1000 – 1100 – Madeline drills the crew on donning and securing their vacc suits.

1100 – 1200 – Madeline sounds "general quarters", and the crew sprint to their stations to check in and ready to break orbit.

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MAR/2020
Session 15 - March 19, 2020
Shakedown Cruise, Part Two

1100 – 010 – The An Lang, in Orbit Above Regina 

1200 – 1700 – The crew of the An Lang complete four mapping and sensor calibration passes around Regina— one equatorial, on midway through the northern hemisphere, one midway through the southern hemisphere, and one around the poles. The result was a fully calibrated sensor set and a nice map of Regina. After that, the An Lang requests permission to break orbit from Regina Up-port and calls ahead to Harcourt to inform them that they are coming. The trip will take approximately 37 hours and 20 minutes. 

1100-010 (1700) – 1100-012 (0620)    En route to Harcourt, the crew of the An Lang run two competitive contests- one in marksmanship, one in unarmed combat. Martaan won the marksmanship contest, and after two successive bouts, Madeline and Pascal tied each other in the unarmed combat, and agreed to let the tie stand.

0620 – 1000 – The crew of the An Lang undertakes three passes on the Harcourt Gunnery Range, operating at increasing levels of difficulty—

  • a straight strafing pattern (three hits out of three targets)
  • a strafing pattern while evading along a random course (two hits out of three targets)
  • a strafing pattern while evading and engaged in combat (three hits out of three targets)

Following the An Lang's run at the Gunnery Range, six minor repairs had to be made—

  • Saeagang suits up for an external repair on the attitude jets
  • Froge discovers a programming error on the ship's fuel mixture during evasion
  • Pascal whacks a stuck iris valve back into functionality
  • Elwen and Madeline fix two problems with the navigation system 
  • Pinkie suits up for an external repair on a sensor shield

The An Lang then breaks orbit from around Harcourt to a jump point outside of the various gravity wells composing the Regina system, an 18 hour 40 minute journey.

1100-012 (1000) – 1100-013 (0440) – On its way to the jump point, Madeline serves a nice dinner for the crew of the An Lang, and offers to take watch after dinner, to give the crew some rest and relaxation. As the crew falls asleep, Madeline sounds general quarters, and times the crew as they rush to get to their duty stations and ready them. As the last crew grab their spots, Madeline orders the crew to prepare to jump into the Djinni system, to begin the Volunteer Emergency Survey.

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APR/2020
Session 16 - May 7, 2020
Jumping to Djinni

1100-013 – The An Lang, Leaving Regina for Djinni

0440 – The ship takes and sends mail, and then jumps for Djinni. 

1100-013 – 1100-020 – JumpSpace

The trip between systems is fairly straightforward. On 1100-013, Madeline and Froge detect a sensor coupling in need of repair, and Froge and Saeagang address it. During the trip, the crew votes as to whether CHESS should be integrated into the An Lang's computer. Madeline puts it to a vote. Elwen, Fitz, Martaan, Froge, and Pascal are in favor, with Saeagang and Soto opposed, and Leah and Pinkie abstaining. Ultimately, Madeline allows it, after putting strict constraints on the miniature tactical AI.

On the seventh day, Soto scans all the crew into the autodoc, and Madeline briefs the crew one last time on what to expect.

1100-020 – The Djinni System

0440 – Coming out of jumpspace, the ship arrives on the edge of the Djinni system, and follows a precomputed parabola that takes it to the gas giant closest to the Out of Context Problem (or OoCP, the crew's new name for the anomaly they will be investigating).

1100-020 2230 – 1100-021 0030 – After almost 18 hours in flight, the An Lang arrives on the far side of the gas giant, where they are greeted by Imperial Navy SSDB Chimera. Lieutenant Commander Jaimy Rodry, the Chimera's skipper, comes over to the An Lang  and briefs them on what the OoCP has done since it revealed itself—

  • on 1099-356, the OoCP vanished from the Chimera's sensors;
  • on 1100-008, a strange wavelength of blue light played across the wrecked seeker floating near where the OoCP was last sighted.

The An Lang determines its course of action will be to—

1) passively scan the OoCP, from within the gas giant

2) refuel the An Lang

3) launch a probe towards the OoCP, passively scanning

4) as the probe draws closer, actively scan

5) send the probe to the mining hulk

6) use the probe to scan the mining hulk (near the OoCP's last position)

7) review and plan

8) and maybe approach the hulk in the cutter?

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MAY/2020
Session 17 - May 28, 2020
Seeking the Seeker

1100-021 - The An Lang, Behind a Gas Giant in the Fifth Orbit Around Djinni

0030 – 0900 - Lieutenant Commander Jaimy Rodry returns to the Chimera. Madeline sends the crew to bed, while she and Fitz stand watch.

0900 – 1000 - Saeagang and Froge thoroughly review the An Lang's cutter, prior to its mission to scoop hydrogen for fuel. 

0900 – 1300 - Leah prepares one of the An Lang's probes for a trip to the wreck of the Seeker, and the last known position of the Out of Context Problem (OoCP).

1000 – 1400 - Elwen and Martaan scoop fuel, culminating in a final "hot-shot" move just prior to docking, executed by Elwen.

1400 – 1500 - Pascal locks the An Lang's sensors on the last known position of the OoCP. Elwen plots a cross through the penumbra of the gas giant, allowing it to traverse to the near side of the giant "unseen" by sensors. Leah launches the probe.

1500 – 1600 - Madeline and Elwen safely pilot the An Lang to the far side of the gas giant, opposite the last known position of the OoCP.

1100-021 1600 - 1100-022 1600 - The crew of the An Lang monitor the probe en route to the OoCP's last known position, and the OoCP's supposed position.

1100-022 1600 - Madeline orders the An Lang to leave orbit and the follow the probe.

1100-023 1100 - En route to the Seeker, Martaan (with Fitz's help) begins to teach the An Lang's crew small unit tactics.

1100-023 1600 - The probe makes it to the hulk of the Seeker, and finds the OoCP. Pascal makes the determination that the OoCP is using a "black globe" generator to absorb sensor energy and conceal itself.

1100-023 2000 - As the probe examines the wreck of the Seeker and scans the OoCP, the OoCP in turns scans the probe so strongly that it even moves bits around in the system's memory.  

1100-024 1200  The An Lang positions itself about 10,000 kilometers from the OoCP, and readies the cutter for an exploratory mission to the Seeker. The exploratory crew will be-

  • Madeline (pilot, expedition leader)
  • Leah (lead surveyor)
  • Martaan (able to pilot the cutter, and a strong military tactician)
  • Pascal (expert on the Ancients)
  • Froge (junior engineer, in case something goes wrong)

Expeditionary Equipment 

<u>Froge</u>

  • vacc suit
  • first aid kit
  • emergency beacon
  • light-intensifying goggles
  • canteen
  • gauss pistol and ammunition
  • survival kit
  • comm hosting CHESS

<u>Leah</u>

  • Backpack
  • Gauss pistol and ammunition with laser sight
  • Grapnel Gun
  • Machete
  • Knife
  • Vacc Suit
  • Comm
  • Lockpicks
  • Locksmith Kit
  • First Aid Kit
  • Communicator, video
  • Emergency Beacon
  • Goggles, Light Intensifier
  • Metal Detector
  • Water Purification Tablets

## Left on cutter

  • Sleeping bags
  • Combat Environment Suit (Scout issue) with Reflec
  • 2 Tool Kit
  • Medical Kit
  • 2 O2 tanks

<u>Martaan</u>

  • Gauss rife and ammunition
  • Vacc suit
  • First aid kit
  • Emergency beacon
  • Heads-up display
  • Comm

<u>Pascal</u>

  • Vacc suit
  • First aid kit
  • Emergency beacon
  • Survival kit
  • Comm
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JUN/2020
Session 18 - July 16, 2020
The Wreck of the Dragonaut

1100-024 1200 – The An Lang's Cutter, En Route to the Wrecked Seeker

1200 – 1233 – Martaan pilots Froge, Leah, Madeline, and Pascal to a position just port of the wrecked Seeker. The party suits up, and spacewalks over to the wreckage.

1233 – 1533 – Entering through the top airlock, the party explores the ruins of the Dragonaut, finding among other things—

  • the badly-decomposed, partially-disintegrated remains of the ship's pilot;
  • undelivered mail in an official IISS memory bank;
  • a strongbox addressed to "Mr. Smith / c/o Arkhassa Ushir, Captain, The Golden Fleece, General Delivery, Regina /  Regina";
  • two staterooms (one containing a comm unit);
  • an electronics shop and a mechanical shop;
  • two ore bays, one with an extra fuel tank and one about a ton of planetary material in it
  • a fully-stocked main deck, with a ship's buggy; and,
  • a (now-frozen) hydroponics farm.

1534 – 1540 - The An Lang hails the away team, letting them know that the OoCP has moved slowly towards the wreck of the Dragonaut. As the away team looks on, the OoCP pulls along side the Seeker, rotates along its axis, and opens a hatch. Martaan leaps off of the Seeker, and towards the open hatch.

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AUG/2020
Session 19 - August 20, 2020
Conversations with the Dead

1100-024 1540 – The Wrecked Seeker Dragonaut, En Route to the Out-of-Context Problem

1540 – 1740  Froge, Leah, Madeline, Martaan, and Pascal spacewalk from the wreck of the Dragonaut over to Out-of-Context Problem (OoCP), and soon find themselves in its cramped environs. Once they are all aboard, the OoCP pressurizes its interior, turns on its Black Globe generator (effectively isolating itself and the boarding party from the An Lang), and then projects a hologram of a Droyne warrior, as both an avatar and focus with which to interact with them. The two groups then attempt to speak in broken Anglic, trading questions and answers. The OoCP initially focuses on the fact that some of the boarding party have prostheses, and that two of them are carrying small artificial intelligences. In turn, the OoCP represents itself as part of the "biological" faction, and asks for information about the state of a war. In the course of its interaction, it essentially absorbs CHESS (first from Froge's comm unit, and then later from the An Lang itself) for reasons it does not make clear. After this, however, the OoCP's ability to communicate slightly improves. Ultimately, the OoCP informs the boarding party that, as a weapon, it is tasked with decommissioning itself, now that the conflict it was built for has ended- it must "ascend." It tasks the boarding party to look after the two "biologies" underwater. It then lowers its Black Globe generating shield. CHESS somehow surfaces as part of the OoCP's "consciousness" (?!) and warns Froge that the OoCP is counting down a self-destruct sequence.

1741 – 1755 - The boarding party makes a frantic effort to document the inside of an Ancient weapon system vehicle (with Pascal going so far as to leave his comm unit behind, and transmitting) before fleeing to safety, spacewalking back to the Dragonaut and then to An Lang's cutter.

1756 – 1830 - The boarding party hurriedly strap themselves, and move as quickly as possible to the An Lang, warning their shipmates along the way about the impending explosion.

1831 – 1835 - In a superb bit of flying, Martaan maneuvers the cutter to quickly dock with the An Lang.

1836 - 1935 - Without even allowing the boarding party to disembark from the cutter, Elwen and Saeagang take the An Lang in as straight a line as possible back into the plane of the Djinni system, attempting to get away from the OoCP.

1936-1939 - One by one, the satellites in orbit around the asteroid belt detonate themselves.

1940 - Suddenly, the OoCP expands into a huge ball of green light 20,000 kilometers in diameter, destroying itself, the wreck of the Dragonaut, and a sizeable chunk of the asteroid belt in question. The An Lang is safe.

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SEP/2020