Mission 9B

==Links==
BRIEF 1 / 2 	MISSION START 	MISSION DEBRIEF
Sector Numbers	Final Planetoid Map	
==Team==
* Miyamoto De Bergerac
* Simulacrus Ferratum-Inanin "Simus"
* Mesk Vraite
* Anton "Blackeye" Chernozorov
* Auron
* Denzel Gaunt
* Jack Hansan
* Michael Alexander
* Lukas Stark
* Morul Mirgrurkeshin
* Bishop Willis
* Vichislav "Vich" Freidberg
* Zephyris Haizea
* Flint Westwood
* Brother Lars
==Mission Summary==
The team is dropped onto an 'anomalous' planetoid which exits one jump point, travels in a straight line to another, and jumps through, continuing it's journey elsewhere. Their job is to explore a designated set of sectors (numbered 1 - 49 in a clockwise spiral starting at the base and extending three rings outward) and to take samples and perform experiments.
=== Some Backstory ===
Previously, a base for exploration had been established by unknown parties, complete with a limited AI, dubbed 'Alvin.' After that, at least one team had been sent to map. Records show that they likely spend little more than a week on the planetoid, having experiences some kind of anomaly which threatened their base. Most of the team then dies falling into the gravitational anomaly located near the base. Their leader, the sole survivor of that incident, then flies north in a small shuttle, and disappears from the records to an unknown fate. It is possible that wreckage found later to the southwest was his shuttle, and that he died before the shuttle crashed.
=== Early Exploration ===
The current team organizes and begins an orderly exploration, beginning with the six sectors (numbered 2-7) adjacent to the "home" sector (Sector 1). They find that each zone appears to have a unique anomaly in it, with some of the anomalies comprised of a group of smaller anomalies which each present a variation on a theme - anomalies of motion, or of sight, for instance. During this time, the anomaly in sector 6, a highly radioactive one, launches something toward the gravitational anomaly located in sector 1. This thing flies close to the base, leaving a trail of radioactive debris and lightly damaging the base before falling into the gravitational anomaly. The team regroups, repairs, and prepares to explore the next ring out - zones 8-19, and to revisit a few interesting zones in the inner ring to gather samples and perform tests.
Much of the exploration of this second ring goes well, with a couple of notable exceptions. Zone 8 has some unusual sound related anomaly. It produces a quiet sort of giggle sound which increases in volume as the explorers advance in the zone, and as they retreat. This ends up damaging or destroying several team members' hearing, and they return to base to be healed. This healing happens in true ER fashion, with the exception that it is ultimately successful. Meanwhile, a couple of the crew capture a large stone beetle-like thing which feeds on rock in the volcanic region of zone 5. this is returned to base and dissected.
=== Crystal Tower Arc ===
The second complication from the exploration of the second ring involves an orange lake in sector 15, which creates it's own temperate, breathable atmosphere. Its surface moves slightly, rippling and lapping gently against its shore, though there is no wind. Vichislav attempts to take a sample of the fluid and it reacts remarkably, drawing away into the center of its lakebed, crystallizing, forming into a tower seven hundred feet tall, and walking on hundreds of legs eastward, to an area called the electric fields (in zone 14), where it stands motionless, absorbing electricity for some time.
A team boards the group's main shuttle in an attempt to fly south to study and possibly attack the creature, but is shot down by Morul, who fears that their action will bring about the death of the team. He is captured, and the team heads south regardless.
The crystal tower walks back to the edge of zone 15, forms some kind of protrusions on one side, and fires what is described as a miniature solar flare northward, carving a half mile wide, thirty foot deep trench over fifty miles long through zones 14, 6, 5, 1 (intersecting the crater in which the massive gravitational anomaly sit), 4, 3, and 10. (This trench is visible on the map as the orange and red line of subhexes cutting diagonal north-northwest from the edge of the green area up along the lower west edge of the home sector and through). This blast rocks the base but does no real damage. It then begins walking into this trench, and deposits puddles of orange liquid as it goes.
Michael Alexander uses his manip to freeze the cracks the creature pours its liquid from (a somewhat less foolish plan than his initial idea of creating a crater large enough to trap the thing), but the creature merely fires of an omnidirectional blast, creating a deeper, miles wide crater around it, and continues on as before.
Miyamoto and Lukas hatch a plan to attempt to disable the thing by firing Lukas' particle cannon at it. This causes the creature to create its largest weapon yet - the top half of the thing deforms into a concave dish, and it fires a beam at Miyamoto and Lukas, who are attempting to fly away as fast as they can. They are lucky and manage to mostly escape the blast, though even a near miss nearly melts them. the destruction caused by this blast is three subhexes wide, and extends straight west through hex 5 (the red area in that hex is the path o this blast) and on an unknown distance into uncharted land. Miyamoto and Lukas ind themselves damaged and mostly submerged in lava, and must be rescued and repaired.
The crystal continues its walk until it comes to the gravity crater, where it pauses uncertainly for a while since its trench seems to end there (though the trench continues on the other side). The crystal eventually steps hesitantly into the crater and is pulled toward the anomaly. It pulls back and loses a portion of itself in the crater. It reacts about as expected, forming the same radar-like dish out of its top half and charging a very large amount o energy. What happens next is somewhat uncertain, as everyone takes cover and no-one is able to see or record the event. But what is known is that a large release of energy occurs, severely damaging much of the base, and melting much of the landscape around. The Crystal is then nowhere to be seen, though the crater remains as it was. the orange liquid the crystal had deposited along the way remains, producing its own atmosphere as had the lake before.
=== Groundsnake Arc ===
A couple of teams head out to do additional exploration. One does significant exploration of regions to the west and south, while many o the team remains at the base to do repairs. Others do minor exploration to the north and west.
Simus builds a radio antenna which is incredibly powerful and mounts it to the roof while Bishop leads the task of repairing the garage and a couple of people try to rescue Anton from Gilgamesh (Miyamoto's battlesuit), where he took refuge from the explosion, losing his leg in the process. Morul leads an attempt (ultimately successful, oddly enough) to fill in the gravity crater.
Auron attempts to send some information over the now functional radio, but sends all the information the base has, ,overloading everyone's radios and broadcasting in radiowaves brighter than a star. Several people are unable to repair their radios, but some do. In an attempt to fix Lukas' Miyamoto activates 'Omnicide Mode,' He and Bishop panic and manage to shut that program down, while activating 'self destruct' instead. They are thankfully (and disappointingly) able to shut that off and restore Lukas to normal, (normal for him).
The group exploring the southwest finds some very large reptilian scales and a massive tunnel in sector 31. They then feel the ground vibrating powerfully, with the vibrations heading northward. Lars begins preaching over the radio. the team prepares for disaster. The vibrations move toward the base, and, as Lars preaches once more over the radio, Giant snake creatures burst from the ground and begin eating the base, in particular the command center and electronics. The team fires on these things and destroys a bunch o them, but the snakes only leave in fear when the ground shakes even stronger. A giant creature rises rom underground, it's beak piercing the ground on either side of the base, and it eats most o the base whole. Very little of the creature is seen above ground, and it disappears back below. Surprisingly, no one dies - even Lars.
Shortly after this, the sky begins to glow in solid aurora patterns, and Steve is heard over the radio attempting to contact the team. Steve sends a shuttle and the team is safely evacuated.
== A List of Sectors and Their Discovered Contents ==
# The base and the large gravity crater
# A flat plane, composed of hexes which redirect energy and are nearly frictionless. strange shapes or creatures inhabit the central parts.
# Various zones which affect movement in individual, unique ways.
# More gravity anomalies and craters.
# An area of volcanism and a molten iron sea. Rock beetles
# A radioactive blue anomaly. source of first 'assault' on the base.
# various anomalies affecting sight in unique ways.
# strange giggling which increases in volume as one moves within the zone
# white domes or spheres sunk into the rock and pockmarked with craters. They look like moons (similar to earth's that is).
# Strange orange blobs ranging from basketball size to dozens of feet tall and hundreds wide. They are discovered to be primitive organic computers.
# unexplored
# unexlpored
# more of the iron sea and a river of iron flowing into a cave.
# an Ironfall from the Sea, many chasms that arc electricity, and barren fields charged full of electrical energy.
# The orange lake which becomes the crystal Collosus.
# Salt plains covering an aquamarine sea. The crashed back half of a shuttle (likely destroyed while flying though one of the "black gap" domes).
# hazy black domes which teleport objects entering them to random locations on their perimeter. Occasionally shiver and 'eat' whatever is inside at the time. Likely ate the front half o the crashed shuttle in sector 16.
# a black tower forest, a mile tall, with a methane and oxygen atmosphere and an ecosystem.
# Bluish purple gel sea, consisting of a thick lankton soup and an organic membrane.
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# The scales of the giant groundsnake and the giant tunnel are found here. the duststorm extends here.
# A series of strange cottony fog domes, which thicken as one goes inward. inside are treelike structures which are flexible. they bleed into the fog when cut, but heal fairly quickly. The duststorm extends to here
# an inky ball resides in the center of the zone, attacking anything that crosses a circular boundary. It teleports to the location of intruders, but does not follow them out of the zone.
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored Some kind of yellow fog is seen in here from outside this zone.
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
# The dust storm extends here
# A dust storm inside a windy atmosphere and some kind of static are first encountered here. these phenomena extend over several sectors, and possibly beyond the allowed exploration zone.
# Unexplored
# unexplored
# unexplored
Category:Mission