Trinity 3, 3123 - Trinity 5, 3123 - The Other Side of Nowhere
 
 

After the destruction of the sphere weapon, the Republic forces gain the upper hand in the battle, destroying many of the Minjini ships, and the rest retreat, those still capable jumping away.  The Navy takes on prisoners from many of the stricken ships.  Worries over the "biological Eristicon virus" prompt San and Krau to urge Captian Denu to send a warning message to the Navy, which he does.  The group also learns that the DKI HQ has taken a direct hit from a high-yield molecular explosive which has destroyed the entire site. The assistance that the group gave the Navy during the battle does not go unnoticed, and soon the group, along with Capt. Denu are summoned to the Terek, the Navy's new 100,000 ton Antiamma class flagship.  Rath wears his best Marine dress for the occasion.  Once there, they meet with Admiral Frank Stanton, who wants details and information on the DKI program responsible for the shield.  Everyone tries to provide as little useful information as possible, until something goes wrong.

The Admiral excuses himself, and then the general alarm sounds on the ship.  There is talk of an "Internal Security Problem"  and the group learns there has been an incident in the Brig.  Soon all the other officers exit as well, leaving the group alone in the conference room.  Then the main lighting goes out.  The group makes a collective decision to try to leave at this point, and they head down the hallway, using Rath as a cover.  In a hatch tube, the sound of gunfire can be heard on a deck above.  The hatchway to that deck opens, and a body comes tumbling down the hatch tube.  Everyone leaves, fearing infection, but Catlyn remains behind and takes an assault rifle off of the dead body.

The group heads out on the current deck, looking for another hatchway up.  San has an excellent sense of direction, and leads them to what is pretty much the exact location of their hangar, only three decks lower.  There is no sign of a hatchway in this area, and the corresponding area on this deck is occupied by a gunnery bay.  While looking for a ladder up, the door to the gunnery bay is accidentally opened, and a surprised gunnery officer spots the group.  They run and hide in a nearby storage room, and Krau uses his plasma torch to open up a ventilation shaft.  Eventually, the team makes it back to the shuttle bay, and they override the bay doors manually and make a hasty exit.

When they return to the Infinity's Rainbow, Sinjon Meadows informs the group that they have received communication from Max Riven, and that he will be sending a shuttle.  True to his word, a shuttle shows up several hours later, surprising the crew of the Rainbow with it's stealthy approach.  The shuttle is piloted by Gary Wilcox, who is looking worse for wear since the group last saw him.   Everyone (reluctantly) boards the shuttle, and Gary pilots the craft out into deep space, where they rendezvous with another shuttle.   Before there is any time for questions or explanations, Gary flicks a switch, releasing gas into the shuttle bay.  Everyone falls asleep.

Rath wakes up first, and wakes the others up.  When everyone is awake, they notice they are in a small, featureless white room.  Gary is with them, but Aline and Mr. Nibbles are missing.  Gary explains that the group must stand up to be scanned.  A disembodied voice thanks the group and apologizes for the incovenience.  People also notice that they have received innoculations of some sort while asleep.  In short order, a doorway emerges from a previously blank wall, and everyone advances.  Inside are armed guards in battle dress, who hand out psionic shields for the group to wear, and they then escort the group to a very large, round room that appears to be a control center of some sort.  On the screens are video feeds from Terek, showing devastation, maps and reports from the Terek orbital sensors, news feeds, and various other information.   In the room is Max Riven, and Skinner.

Max appears to have legs once again, but is walking slowly.  He greets the group and tells them "Welcome to Nowhere."   Max says Aline is being checked elsewhere, and Mr. Nibbles is under quarantine since they don't know much about the critter.  The group tells Max how they have been able to test a successful sphere shield, and Tensor B engine, and how they were able to return Farnsworth and his team.  They privately mention how Farnsworth is acting "funny", and Max has Skinner take Farnsworth for a tour to separate him from the group in order to hear more of the details.  Max gives the group some general explanations and rundown of events while they have been gone.  These include:
 

The Precognition Center has been moved from the Terek moon to this location.  Feno is on-site, but the equipment they use to amplify her abilities has not been installed yet.  Fear of attack by outside forces, including possibly the Halo Foundation, has forced the move to a more secure location.  Part of the security measures is that very few people know the exact location of "Nowhere."

DKI was able to arrange for a large number of the people at the DKI village to be off-site during the attack, but not everyone could be saved. Casualties are in the thousands.

The company's president, Nathan Trimble III, has been infected with the Eristicon psionic virus.  Max and Gary have been working to eliminate him and replace him with a member from the executive staff.  The plan was to arrange for Trimble to have trouble with his limo on the way to the off-site meeting, and it is later confirmed that this plan worked.

Trimble's replacement is to be a man named Rourke Umbrist, supposedly loyal to Intrinsics/Max.

Until this is official, Intrinsics is operating outside of DKI.  They are cut off from DKI funding and are using alternative sources / locations to operate.   The new Intrinsics HQ has been established on the neighboring world of Barnard.  The group is instructed to get the Fortuna Major to this world to offload it's human and technological cargo.  Because Max does not want very many people to know about this site, the group will have to make another jump using the Tensor B Drive rather than be carried aboard the Rainbow.

Max is upset that Mr. Gtringee betrayed the group / was killed. Max mentions that he had unique skills and that some of the components in the Tensor B drive were manufactured using nanofabrication techniques Gtringee pioneered.

Streland Systems is thought to be helping the Bertranites with their mission to Reft Sector.  They have established a staging area / launch facility on the independent world of Akhamin in Albadawi Subsector.  Max wants intelligence information on this world, and plans for this to be the next mission.

[ 1 point awarded ]

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During a break in the mission briefings, the group takes a break in a common area of the Nowhere complex.  Down one hall San spots a familiar face; Feno, the visionary Minjini woman.  When San greets her, she tells him some information that appears to be from a vision;  specifically, that:

Krau spots San talking to Feno, and asks about "The Ship".  Feno responds again;

On the next day, Max meets with the group and says that Aline has told him what happened back on Ys, and thanks Rath and team for helping to rescue her from Mr. Gtringee.  Max tells the group that Gtringee was the one who originally went to Quaver with his Tehuir, and brought Aline back with him.  Max said that no successful contact had ever been made with the inhabitants of Quaver, and that any ship that has ventured into the "forbidden zone" in the Quaver system has never returned.  Much of the knowledge Gtringee and his people gained regarding nanotech came from the trip to Quaver.  Gtringee was eventually cast out of his Tehuir and relocated at the university at Yimu/Ys.

Catlyn offers max assistance with eavesdropping on RSF communications.  Max accepts the offer but says he will not be going to Barnard with the rest of the group, because he must stay behind to work on the succession plan for DKI.  He tells Catlyn that she should meet with someone named Jim Martinez, who runs the DKI intelligence operation on Barnard.  He tells the group in general that they will be meeting the Barnard DKI director, Riley Kee when they arrive, and that instructions will be sent along with the group on what is needed.  The group is also informed that they are all promoted to Eschelon 4 (E4) since they are effectively operating at or above that security level anyway.

New identities are established for the group and the ship.  They are as follows:
 

San Holo is now Bak Chua

Catlyn is now Helen Wheels

Krau Li is now Porky Pigg

Rath is now Thorston Cragstone

Dr. Watson is once again Holmes.

The Fortuna Major is now the Critical Axe.

 

Four days later, the Fortuna Major arrives at Barnard.  The ship is cleared for landing at the DKI complex.  After arrival, medical teams are gathered, and under Watson's direction, the low-birth sleepers are revived.  18 out of 19 surivive the thawing process, each getting a champagne bottle and "buh-bye" from Krau as they leave the cargo hold.  A technician named James Nichols wins the low lottery, (and celebrates winning the CR400 kitty in a quite unseemly manner, considering someone died).

[ 1 point awarded ]

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The group meets with the DKI Intrinsics head for Barnard, Riley Kee.  Riley indicates he will try to assist with replacing the (barely functioning) manuever drive of the Fortuna-Major/Critical Axe, possibly securing a 3G drive from another ship.  Work begins on the ship, and word of the French Horn spreads amongst the local crews, and he is ridiculed openly.  Catlyn meets with the Intrinsics Crypto office head, Jim Martinez, and begins work on zeroing the ship and creating new identities for the crew.

San begins working on finding cargo for the ship, and the group eventually decides on pharmecuticals.  Aline assists in working out the administrative details with carrying drugs, and San uses his merchant finesse to find ways into the local SuSAG trade department.

Riley takes Rath aside and tells him that he has security problems in the DKI section of the city.  Unauthorized personell have been infiltrating past security checkpoints, but Riley does not have the personell to find them and plug the leaks.  He asks Rath if he can assist.  Rath agrees, and he, San, and Susa Meeko go out on patrol the next day in an abandoned part of the DKI complex on Barnard.   They come across some scavengers stealing parts from an elevator in an abandoned building.  Meeko confronts a scavenger and orders him to halt, but he tries to run, so she shoots him in the leg.  They cuff the man, search him, and find a keycard.  Rath then calls in the capture so the local DKI police can pick up and interrogate the man.

Before they show up, Rath does a little interrogating himself, and finds out where the keycard goes to; it is a forgotten security door on a lower level.  The group goes down and inspects the door, and calls it into HQ to be sealed.  Everyone goes back on patrol.  Things go uneventfully for most of the day, until sometime in the late afternoon.  As the three are walking down a narrow street, someone detonates a charge on one of the upper stories of a nearby building, sending debris and rubble hurtling down.

San avoids getting hit, in part due to his advance sense of danger.  Rath and Meeko are hit and knocked out.   As San is regaining his senses, a man dressed in black jumps down from the third story, right in front of him.  Before San has time to react, the man pulls out a gun, and shoots him.

Some time later, Rath wakes up enough to get a distress message off on his communicator.  A rescue crew comes and picks him and Meeko up, but San is not to be found. Krau is monitoring the comm channels and comes out to meet the rescue crew and to help look for San.  Aline joins in the search, and spots a strange dust pattern on the ground near where San was last seen.  Krau identifies it as having been left by an antigrav generator, possibly a grav belt.   Using this knowledge, Krau sends for grav belts from the DKI office and searches the local area for signs of San.  He intuitively feels they must have gone north, but eventually runs into the security wall between DKI and the rest of the city.

Dr. Watson works to save Meeko's life, and Rath is pumped full of quickheal to allow him to function again.  He refuses further treatment and leaves the hospital, using another grav belt as a form of gravitic wheelchair to keep him up.  The combined search party heads back to the previously discovered security corridor, where they follow it through using the keycard to the outside city.  The tunnel emerges in an abandoned house, which is full of scavenged equipment from DKI.  Vehicle tracks are found outside, and Catlyn questions several kids in the area about any vehicles that have been around lately.  They are told that a large yellow truck was seen leaving the house in the past few hours.

Doing some quick research, Krau discovers that this is most likely a local business rental firm in the nearby city of Yegan.  The group goes to the rental firm, but they will not divulge any details of current or past rentals.  After several attempts, Rath and Catlyn arrange for a distraction, blowing up several nearby rental trucks using explosives.  As the rental clerk runs for the hills, Catlyn sneaks onto the computer and downloads their database.  The group then beats a hasty retreat.

In the interests of time, they buy a small hand computer to allow Catlyn to analyze the rental data.  Krau and Catlyn work out a small list of possible vehicles, and then narrow it down to a single truck that was recently in the area where they emerged from the tunnel.  Using positioning tracking information, they determine the new location of the truck; it is in a wharehouse area at Varisport, some fifty miles away.  Avoiding the rental agency they just blew up, the group gets Aline to rent a small car from Blarco, the neighboring rental agency.  They speed off in the cramped car to Varisport.

While this is taking place, San wakes up in a small metal chamber.  He is bound to a central post in the room.  A Minjini man, dressed in black, enters, and unrolls a small datacloth.  The man instructs San to pay attention to it.  He pins the cloth to the wall, and leaves.   The cloth springs to life.  The face of Lo Jos appears.   He begins to speak:
 

"This message is for San Holo.  You have killed something very dear to me.. Karas, my pet.  You have destroyed my property.  You are Human, and you do not realize the full consequences of your actions.  Much like other animals of lower intelligence.  You cannot therefore be blamed for them.  You must however be held responsible for your atrocities.  You will thus take Karas's place at my side.  You will learn.  You will not speak.  You will do as I command.  You will walk where I walk.  You will not look up.  You will eat when I say you can eat.  You will urinate when I command only.  You will be leashed.. (etc. etc. etc.)"

[ 2 points awarded ]

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After the rescue of San, things get back to normal for a short period of time.  Catlyn and her DKI friends complete the new identities for the group and the ship.  3G Manuver drives are installed on the Critical Axe. Rath goes out into the city with Aline, and they complete the paperwork for carrying drugs legally as cargo.  Rath also arranges to sell the 19 low birth units in Barnard's black market.  Things are going pretty well, until a snippet of conversation breaks onto the groups private comm channel.  The voice is that of Guehna, one of the researchers from Farnsworth's team.  He says:

Krau, realizing this a problem of some sort with Farnsworth,  immediately sends an alert through the company, and begins to look for him.  San and the Doctor join in the search and they head for Farnsworth's lab.  Unable to find a back way in, they open the door to the lab.  Inside, they see Farnsworth, wrapped in what appear to be Lanthium coils and connected to a huge bank of high-energy capacitors, and other machinery.  He is holding a small box with a button on it, and he has a dazed look in his eyes.

San, armed with tranq,  makes a command decision to shoot first and ask questions later.  San unfortunately  does not realize that the box Farnsworth is holding is in fact a dead-man's switch, and as the tranq takes effect, Farnsworth relaxes. His last words are to San:

He then drops the box, and there is an immediate, blinding explosion.  A huge shock wave rips through the lab, killing Guehna and blowing San and the Doctor clear across the space and through an adjoining wall.  Krau miraculously escapes harm by jumping behind a reinforced barrier at just the right moment.  Smoke and debris fill the air, and part of the ceiling and walls collapse.  Krau searches for survivors, as rescue crews show up.  Rath and Aline show up next, and Aline is able to go into the remains of the lab and find both the Doctor and San, pulling them to safety.  They are rushed to the hospital and treated for burns, radiation exposure, and general trauma.

While San and Dr. Watson are recovering, Rath and Krau (cautiously) search Farnsworth's room.  They find a lot of classical music crystals, and a large box, containing a French Horn constructed on Lanthium alloy, matching the one currently in use on the ship.  After careful inspection for hazards, the horn is stowed on the Critical Axe for spare parts.  San and the Doctor recover over the next few days, and preparations are made to depart Barnard for Terek.  San and Krau meet with Dr. Vishminu, the director of the secret DKI cloning lab previously on Ishimshulgi.  They ask permission to have their Brain Tapes updated, which she grants.  San also meets with a previous "friend", Dr. Ripley, although in his tender condition, it is a fairly platonic affair.

In another Krau-inspired plan, Dr. Watson is sent to the hospital to recover tissue material from one of San's operations, to use as possible (false) evidence of his death, should they need it.  The Doctor is able to bluff his way to success at this task.

Krau says a tearful goodbye to Chixonna, and the crew of the Critical Axe leaves with only one passenger, Krau's Solarist friend Erica Edson, who will be accompanying them to Uvaia.  Rath meets with the recovering DKI security chief, Susa Meeko.  Meeko gives Rath something called a "Headstone", an ancient Vilani artifact, and asks Rath to return it to her grandfather on Meshan if they happen to go that way.  Rath agrees.

After some space trials and testing of the new manuver drive, the Critical Axe jumps for Terek. Three days later, the ship arrives in the Terek system.  All is "normal", meaning the system is not under imminent attack at least.  Rath sends out the secret contact code to Max, and receives a response.  A meeting is arranged on Terek, and San and Rath board one of the Axe's shuttles, and take it down to the surface.

On approach to Terek, something curious happens.  All of a sudden, Rath and San find themselves standing on a sandy beach, ocean waves pounding in the background.  A man approaches.  San recoginizes him to be the man from the Halo Foundation he met previously while on vacation at the Windstone Island Resort.  The man mentions that he got San's message, which immediately causes Rath to become concerned about his loyalty.  San and the man talk about the Eristicon Psionic Virus, and they agree that it would be a bad thing for the virus to infect the Halo Foundation.  The man expresses an interest in obtaining the vaccine, and says he and his associates would be willing and able to give something in return.  San and Rath say they will have to talk to their boss first.  The man agrees, and gives them a number he can be contacted at.

Before the meeting ends, the man mentions to Rath that he is carrying a Droyne message in his mind.  The man cannot tell what it is, but clearly identifies it as being Droyne in origin.  A few moments later, San and Rath find themselves back in the shuttle on approach to Terek.  San still has the calling card, and Rath has sand in his shoes...

[ 1 point awarded ]

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San and Rath land safely on Terek without further incident.  After going through the usual RSF security checks, they head out to a hotel to meet Max Riven.  Max gets the details on the events on Barnard with Farnsworth, security problems, etc.  Max also hears about the Halo Foundation "visit", and San's X-mail there.   He expresses a general concern about security on these missions, and says he has decided to assign an additional team member, a man named Gaiden, to the team.

After some further exchanges of information, Gaiden is called in.  He is a tall, bald, tough-looking man who has a number tatooed on his head, an obvious sign that he has done time in a Republic prison.  Gaiden is told the basic mission information (recon mission to Akhamin) and given his orders to go with Rath and San.  The group departs, and within a short period of time they are all back on the Critical Axe.  Gaiden is shown around to Krau, the Doctor, Aline, Erica Edson, and Mr. Nibbles (aka Dr. Chomp.)  Krau notices that Gaiden wears a Solarist sun-chain around his neck, and that he is one of the faithful.  Rath does some checking on the computer, and gets some background data on Gaiden.  He served five years in Penal Colony #5 on Ys, and before that, was a crewmember aboard the Wyatt Tyche, an 800-ton Klepsidar class trader plying the Solomani/Republic trade routes.

The Critical Axe jumps for Meshan.  New Year's eve passes while in Jump.  To celebrate, the ship holds a small party, but the majority of the crew does not drink or really party to heavily.  Gaiden is a notable exception, and shows a pretty good tolerance to alcohol.  After closing the party in the common room down, he goes up to the bridge to visit with San, who is piloting the Tensor-B drive.  San feels a bit left out of the fun, so he goes into his stateroom and returns with his bottle of "The Bright One", a moderately hallucinogenic liquor of Vegan origin.  After a few sips, both Gaiden and San are feeling the effects, and San begins to steer the ship around "obstacles" in jump space.

Krau is alerted by monitors in the engine room that the ship is undergoing radical maneuvers, and he calls to the bridge.  San explains that he is steering around things, which alarms Krau.  Rath is also alerted, and soon Krau, Rath, and the Doctor are on the bridge.   The party is shut down, and both San and Gaiden are given shots of Purge to remove the intoxicating effects.  San's head clears up, but Gaiden appears to still be tripping.  He is escorted back to his room by the doctor.

The ship emerges from jump on the first, in the right spot despite San's hyperspace shenanigans.  The ship docks at the highport, and cargo is unloaded.   San and Aline begin to work new cargo opportunities, while Rath heads out to catch a shuttle to the surface, intending to meet with Susa Meeko's grandfather.  Gaiden tags along behind Rath to see where he is going.  The security checkpoint going to the surface is very tight, and while Rath is admitted, Gaiden gets hassled and eventually begins to lose his temper, and has to leave.   He meets up with San and Aline, who are on their way to the Heaven-West Trading Company on the surface to pick up a shipping contract to Uvaia.  Gaiden tries to tag along with them as they go to the surface, but is again hassled, really losing his temper and almost getting arrested.  He storms back to the ship in a very foul mood.

On the surface, Rath makes arrangements to be driven out to Bigstey, a rural farming region a few hours outside of the downport.  Life on Meshan is oppressive and dreary, with cameras everywhere, many security checks, and carefully monitored movement.  When Rath arrives at the Meeko farm, he is met nervously by a woman he later learns is Susa's grandmother.  She reluctantly lets him into the house, which apparently is also monitored with cameras. She  calls for her husband, Douglas Meeko, who comes from outside.  Rath tells the two of the attack on Susa, and her recovery.  He also begins to mention the Vilani "headstone" he is carrying, but when he does this, Douglas stops him short and asks if he would like a tour of the barn.  Rath catches on to his meaning, and follows.

Out in a side building off the barn, Douglas tells Rath they are "safe to talk" now.  He relates that the Gold Council, the ruling authority on Meshan, recently expanded their "safety monitoring" to include rural regions.  The Meeko's had spoken out about this and had been in a sense blacklisted, and are not allowed to travel away from their farm for extended periods as a result.   Rath gives Douglas the "head stone", and asks what it is.  Douglas says it is an old, Vilani artifact that was used to impart knowledge on the wearer.  The stones can be used one time, and this one had been used up.   Rath shows an interest in this technology and legend.  Douglas says that he knows where he can find more, but is stuck on the planet.  He said he and his wife have been trying to get off the world for good, and would be willing to leave everything behind.  He asks Rath for help, and said he would be able to give him a reward consisting of some of this technology in return.

Rath considers this but cannot figure a way to do this without comprimising the current mission.  He tells Douglas that he will help him, but it might not be until he is on his way back.  Douglas agrees, and to show good faith, he rummages through a rusty lock-box, and finds another stone.  He tells Rath that this is a "heart-stone", and that unlike the first, it is meant to improve his health.  He must wear it in direct contact with his skin for at least 20 hours, however, and it might not be that comfortable.  Rath takes the gift and leaves, promising to come back for Douglas and his wife.

Back on the ship, San and Aline have arranged for a new cargo of 30,000 "Hiver Hats" (a novelty toy for an amusement area on Uvaia) to be delivered to the ship.  Cargo is taken on, the ship is made ready for jump, and Rath privately  tapes the heart-stone onto his stomach.   The Critical Axe jumps for Uvaia.  On the next day, Rath awakes with a burning pain, the stone is slowly burning his skin.  It is through sheer force of will that he is able to avoid ripping the stone from his body.  After the requisite 20 hours, Rath rips the stone off, revealing a nasty, 2nd-degree burn on his skin.  When he goes to the doctor for treatment, he confesses that  he intentionally inflicted this pain on himself, but lies and says he did it to  "test his limits."  The Doctor does note he seems very healthy in spite of the burn.  The Doctor is still concerned about Rath's mental state, and relays this information to Krau.  Krau and San eventually confront Rath, and he comes clean about the stone.  Rath feels generally better except for the burn, supporting Meeko's claim of health benefits of the stone.

On the same day, the Critical Axe unexpectedly comes out of jump.  San quickly scans with the sensors, and finds that they have emerged in the Uvaia system, right on target.  The Critical Axe has successfully completed an unprecidented one-day jump...

[ 1 point awarded ]

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After refueling at the local gas giant, the Critical Axe makes it's way inbound to the Uvaian mainworld.  It is a five-day journey, so the crew takes time to practice various pursuits and hobbies.  San heps Rath with gunnery practice, setting up phantom targets for Rath to shoot in the deep of space.  Something goes wrong during the test however and the laser turret overloads.  It does not appear at least to be a major problem, and Krau and San soon get things patched up.

Shortly after gunnery practice, the bridge alarm sounds.  San races up to the bridge to find the cause - a signal-GK is being transmitted by a nearby ship.  Contact is made, and the ship is identified as The Shilo, a 400-ton Bharapar Class Subsidized Merchant, carrying 28 passengers.  It is under attack by pirates in a 100-ton type-J Seeker. The Critical Axe is several hours away, but is still by far the closest ship nearby.  The crew decides to move in and help the stricken ship.  Battle Stations are sounded, and everyone moves to their posts.  San pilots the ship, Krau works damage control, Rath takes a seat in Gunnery, and Gaiden stands by on the lower deck.

Once the Critical Axe is within range, space combat ensues, with exchanges of laser fire.  The Critical Axe appears to have the upper hand until Rath once again overloads the lasers, this time with disasterous results.  The laser turret explodes, sending debris flying and slightly injuring Gaiden.   Bleeding but still at his post, Gaiden grabs the fire extinguisher and puts out the flames, while Krau moves in to try to patch what is left of the turret back together.  San, meanwhile manages to get the computer system back online after it is knocked out by a hit from the pirates.

Despite the internal problems,  the laser fire from the Axe is enough to cause the pirate vessel to undock from the Shilo and begin a retreat.  Krau makes a heroic effort to bring the turret back online, but it goes out for good shortly therafter, and Rath switches to missile fire while San pursues the fleeting ship.  Rath operates the sandcasters and San runs evasive manuevers and they manage to avoid serious damage from the Seeker's laser.  The missiles from the Axe however do devastating damage, as volley after volley impact on the ship.  It is soon disabled, drifting unpowered in space.

San and Rath head out to explore the wreck, which they later find is registered as Branthrax.  Using the Neural Activity Sensors (NAS), San spots two lifeforms on the bridge.  Rath zero-gees over to the bridge, where he sees a man holding his hands above his head submissively.  Rath is unimpressed, and goes back to the ship for some C4 and proceeds to blow the bridge wide open, killing the remaining life signs.  After the ship is declared (relatively) safe, Krau and Rath begin salvage work.  Krau removes the laser turret for use on the Axe, while Rath explores the ship.  Besides dead bodies, Rath finds a cargo container full of HE RAM Grenades, a container of starship sensor and navigation instruments, apparently taken from other ships, and (in what's left of the captains quarters) bottles of the Vegan liquour Mavash.

While the salvage work goes on, San takes the Critical Axe over to the Shilo to assist the crew with repairs.  The hatch is opened between the two ships, and Gaiden leads the group in with his Gauss rifle, where they find a large group of Solarists, quite unarmed and happy to see them, once the weapons are pointed away that is.  The group is led by an tall, older man with long grey hair, and dark eyes.  He is Brother Sebastian Love, head of a travelling congregation of Pilgrims who have come to Uvaia for the Grand Focus on 1/18.  It is a group of "free-spirit" travellers with a loose interpretation of Solarism, but a strong loyalty to Love.  As San works on the engines, Gaiden makes the rounds of the good-looking women, trying to parley their hero status and the general good feeling into something for the night.   He eventually manages to convince some nubile free spirit to come back for a tour of the ship, but things go sour later when the topic of his tatoo comes up, and the girl leaves.  Undaunted, he heads back to the Shilo to troll again.

Songs are sung, and Brother love leads a fiery yet uplifiting sermon, praising the good deeds of the light, and chastising the darkness.  San finishes with the engines, and joins the party, hitting it off early with one of the prettier but naiive young ladies on the ship.  San eventually gets her back to his room for a special, two-hour episode of "Captain Chua and Sunshine, the amazing Bonky Donky", which culminates in a climactic but unfortunate pressing of the open-comm channel switch via oustretched toe, broadcasting the lurid ending of the show to all.

Gaiden, now frustrated beyond measure, goes to the well a third time but comes up empty in the end, and is forced to go back to his quarters to spend some "quality time" by himself.   Sometime later San, sore but unrepentent, acts casual as he goes about getting the ship ready for undocking with infatuated Solarist groupee falling all over him.  Sunshine on his shoulder may make San happy, but everyone else is pretty relieved to see her leave as the two ships part ways.  The Critical Axe makes good distance and comes to a stop to effect installation of the new turret, which Krau does without trouble.   The Axe contacts orbital control and arranges customs inspection, and highport docking.

Soon the ship is at the highport, cargo is unloaded, and everyone except Krau gets off to wander around. (Krau works on the hull damage to the ship)  San goes to the FTA, accompanied by Gaiden.  While San is making arrangements for future cargo and to sell the spare Jump-2 engine, Gaiden notices several locals taking an interest in San from afar.  He alerts the group, and San heads out the back way.  Security measures are stepped up at the slip, but nothing eventful happens aside from an engineering inspection of the Jump-2 drive on agreement for sale.   It is decided to take the Critical Axe down to the surface to pick up cargo, so San lands the ship at the downport. San and Rath go off to scout cargo contracts, while Gaiden decides to pay a visit to the Solar church himself.

Krau heads down to the surface with Erica Edson, to go to the church.  After disrobing to enter the Lumatorium, they meet Prefect Gibson, an old rival of Krau's from his church days, who proceeds to act boorish and generally make Krau feel bad.  Krau learns that Erica may be up for promotion in the Kehara Synod on Terek, but will be confirmed first.  Gibson invites Krau and Erica to dinner.  Towards the end of the meeting, they spot a fully-dressed Gaiden, taking a look around the Lumatorium.  He does not approach Krau, and leaves after a short while.  Going back along the sprawling grounds of the church, he spots a large group of pilgrims camped out in a big field nearby.  Some of them appear to be partying.  Curious, he goes to investigate...

[ 1 point awarded ]

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In a large field outside of the Solarist Church, Gaiden is partying with a group of Grav-bikers who have come to partake of the festivities associated with the Grand Focus.  The group is called  the Flare Devils, led by a tough looking but good natured man named Vegan.  Also in the group is a woman who called Miracal, who takes an interest in Gaiden. After some amount of partying, Gaiden invites Miracal back for a tour of the ship. She accepts, and they speed off on her bike to the starport.  Gaiden miraculously is able to deal with the starport paperwork involved with bringing her onboard, and also manages to get past Rath, who is skeptical at best at the usefulness of the visit to the mission.

Back at the Church, Krau and Erica Edson are having dinner with several members of the church, including Luminary Shoko, who is very influential in the church, and Prefect Gibson, Krau's old rival from his days on Uvaia.  The Luminary is interested in the recent activities of the Bertranites, and invites Krau to attend a meeting of the Chancel of Philosophical Sciences the next day, and Krau is obliged to agree.

Meanwhile, Gaiden and Miracal have finished the "tour" of his room, and she invites him out to Bridal Falls, a large waterfall on the Pask River within an hour flying time from Solaria.  The two head out to the falls, and Miracal shows Gaiden her secret mossy grotto, under the water wall.  After this, the two relax in a field at the top of the falls, and watch the crescent Uvaian moon rise.  Miracal shows Gaiden a strange device, worn like headphones over the temples.  When activated, it transfers memory images directly to the brain, instilling the wearer with an out-of-body experience.  The practice is known as "taping", and employs fragments of stolen brain tapes from cloning or memory therapy procedures.

The Uvaian sun begins to rise, and the two decide to go back to the camp.  As they start packing up, Gaiden hears someone screaming.  The two go to investigate, and discover a woman and man being assaulted by two men.  Miracal gives Gaiden a pistol from her saddle bag, and she takes an extra.  There is a brief gun battle, without serious injury on either side.  Gaiden and Miracal decide to leave before the situation gets any worse, and they head out at top speed on the grav bike, quickly leaving the scene.   As a good-samaritan gesture, they place an anonymous call to the authorities regarding the attack.

When Gaiden finally makes it back to the ship the next morning, San and Rath are waiting for him, and immediately press him into service loading cargo for the upcoming jump to Dingir.  Not being exactly in prime form, Gaiden manages to drop a crate of Quickheal on his leg, breaking it cleanly.  A message is sent to the vacationing Dr. Watson, letting him know there is work piling up back home.

At the Church, Krau's meeting commences.  Present are Luminary Shoko, Eparch Harris, Erica Edson, Primates Emry and Lemviti, and Prefect Gibson.  Debate regarding the significance of Reft sector, Krau's previous work, the importance of the events with the Bertranites begins.  Gibson and Emry are decidely in the Traditionalist camp, while Erica and Harris follow the newer thinking on the subjects.  The Luminary appears undecided, and encourages the debate.  At the lunch break, Krau has a confrontation with a visibly upset Gibson, who wants Krau to back down on stirring up things.

After lunch there is more discussion, but it is suddenly cut short, and the Luminary invites Erica and Krau to his chambers.  He has apparently made up his mind, and tells Krau that in fact the church is very concerned about the Bertranite activities, and also the appearance of the Spheres.  He asks Krau about the spheres, and Krau responds truthfully that he has knowledge of them, and of the Bertranite mission to Akhamin.   The Luminary tells Krau that he would like any information he could offer while on his mission, and says the church would be willing to help him in a future clerical career in exchange.    Krau agrees to help where he can.  The Luminary produces a small wooden box, with large crystals inside.  He asks Krau if he is familiar with them.  Krau says he is not, and the Luminary tells him that they are Shards of Casumel, special octahedral crystals composed primarily of flourite.  They are symbols of rank within the Bertranite church, and are also security devices of a sort, since each reportedly has unique properties which are difficult to forge.  The three crystals have varying shades of blue to them, denoting rank within the Bertranite Order.

After the meeting, cargo loading, and setting of Gaiden's leg, the Critical Axe closes it's doors, and San kicks it up into orbit.  Before long the ship is in jump.  Catlyn works on her version of Tensor-B autopilot, comparing it's results to San's piloting.  Soon the ship is out again at Dingir.   The Dingir system is bustling with activity as usual, but San manages to keep things moving along, unloading shipping, making new contracts for Oudh, and even selling the cargo taken off of the Pirates that they took out at Uvaia.

After finishing their business in Dingir, the Critical Axe jumps for Oudh.   Days later the ship emerges, close to the Oudh mainworld.  Very shortly after coming out of Jump, alarms go off on the bridge.  There are incoming ships emerging from jump in the area.  Before they have time to move off, the Critical Axe is joined by four other ships:   a 3000-ton Warhound class light cruiser transponding as the "Ishim", two 600-ton Ubervish Commerce Raiders, transponding as "Grendel" and "Madagascar", and an 800-ton Klepsidar class Freighter transponding as "Lucifer's Tongue".  It does not take much research to verify that this group of ships is part or perhaps all of Band-of-Nine, a notorious pirate group known to frequent systems outside of the Republic.
 

The Critical Axe is hailed by the Ishim.  The ship asks if there is a doctor available.  San replies there is, and the Ishim then demands he be sent over.  With little choice but to comply, San, Rath, and the doctor take a shuttle over to the Ishim.  The doctor is taken away to sick bay, and San and Rath are left behind with John Stiles, the infamous Band-of-Nine leader.  He is a young, short-haired man with a reasonably pleasant disposition, at least for a pirate.  Rath and San learn that the emergency is with Stiles' brother, Allen.  Some time later the doctor summons the group up to sick bay.  He announces that Allen has Catanian White Fever, a virulent and contagious disease, and one that pan-immunity does not protect against...
 

[ 1 point awarded ]

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January 23-28, 3124 - Doctors without Orders

San and Rath have little time to ponder the consequences of the Doctor's diagnosis, because the Drakaran defense force bears down on Ishim, intercepting with a 3000-ton Drakaran Khaz'akum Patrol Tender.  Band-of-Nine Captain John Stiles orders Battle-stations, and San and Rath are allowed to sit at gunners stations, as the chief gunner has to go below to operate the ship's spinally-mounted Partical Accelerator Weapon (PAW).    The gunner gets off a remarkable shot, focused directly at the core of the Drakaran ship, and it explodes into very tiny pieces.

After the battle, San and Rath relay the information about the illness back to the Critical Axe.  Krau and Catlyn begin doing research on Catanian White Fever, and finds out that two years ago, there was an outbreak on Oudh.   The group decides to try to find the vaccine on Oudh, and they make a request to Stiles to let San return to the Critical Axe, using a vacc-suit to isolate him from the rest of the crew.  He consents, providing the doctor and Rath remain behind.

The Critical Axe docks at the highport, and arrangements to unload cargo are made, with San remotely orchestrating the transaction from a quarantined area in the cargo bay.    Gaiden and Catlyn head out to the highport to find a local network connection and do some further research on the vaccine.  They enter a Vargr bar at the highport, and begin research.  After a short while they discover that the government at Oudh has stockpiled a fairly large amount of vaccine at various key areas, including a medical center in the Northern city of N'Tor.

While they are working, they attract the attention of curious Vargr, who come to see what the humans are up to.  Two of them join them at their table, one observing Catlyn while the other chats with Gaiden.  They soon learn that they are locals who offer a variety of dubious products and services, including illegal drugs, lodging on the planet, and the like.  Gaiden talks to the leader and finds out that his cousin, G'Vrakh, would be willing to assist in helping them arrange transport to N'Tor, which is not accessible directly from Orbit due to Drakaran restrictions.   While Gaiden is working out the details, Catlyn installs some 'custom software' on the Drakaran network.

Back on the ship, Gaiden has forged an excellent set of orders requiring the transfer of vaccine from N'Tor to Kes'Vha, and Catlyn installs backing orders for it in the computer.  Arrangements are made to go planet-side on one of the shuttles, which has been specially fitted with a smuggling compartment under one seat by Krau.  The landing team is Krau, Catlyn, and Aline.   The landing is uneventful, aside from a delay as the highports computer is rebooted due to 'network problems.  The group is soon at the hot, dry Oudh downport, trying to stay clear of local Drakarans in The Stalking, wild lizards roaming the streets, and autonomous robots which are apparently legal on Oudh.    They manage to stay out of trouble and eventually meet up with G'Vrakh, who makes arrangements for a grav vehicle to N'Tor, and for a truck to be outfitted so the group can pose as medical transport workers.

The group goes out, guided by G'Vrakh, and manages to dodge desert sandstorms and local entanglements along the way.  Arriving in N'Tor, they head to the medical center.  They submit their orders for 100 doses of Covizak to the shipping administrator, who is skeptical at first, but checking the computer, finds all is in order.  He authorizes the shipment, and soon the group is loading the grav shuttle.  As they prepare to leave however, G'Vrakh comes out from under the hood, brandishing a laser pistol.  He says that he thinks that since they were willing to pay a ridiculously high fee for his services without bartering, they must be desparate, or the cargo must be worth a fortune.  He demands more money.  Krau, unarmed and not in a position to fight, offers him CR50,000 - 25K now and 25K later.  Stunned by the amount, the Vargr consents, and they make a tense but uneventful trip back.

Krau vows to come back to visit G'Vrakh when they have more time.  The cargo is smuggled out of the starport without incident, and the Critical Axe passes customs inspection and breaks orbit, headed out to rendezvous with the Band-of-Nine fleet.  Krau reserves 20 doses and sends the rest over to the Ishim with San.  Back on the Ishim, Stiles' brother Allen is not doing well.  The vaccine is administered to him and the rest of Stile's crew, and to San, Rath, and the Doctor as well.    Stiles is reasonably happy with the result of the mission, and he wants to compensate the group for their losses on Oudh.  He engages in a debate with the captain of one of the other ships, a woman named Zina Cantoy.  Zina's position is that not taking the ship or cargo is payment enough, and that they should be given nothing, while Stiles wishes to give them something from the cargo hold on her ship.  The two argue but Stiles wins, probably by virtue of pulling rank.  Cantor goes off and begrudgingly makes arrangements to have the cargo transferred to the Axe.

While this is happening, the Doctor calls Rath with an unfortunate announcement.  Allen Stiles has died.   They reluctantly break the news to John Stiles, who rushes over to sick bay.  Stiles is overcome with grief, and yells at the group to leave him alone with his brother.  Rath, San, and the Doctor quickly exit, and head to the cargo bay to be near their shuttle, unclear on their fate.  Some time later Stile's second in command, Sang Carter, calls them, and instructs them that "they better leave".  San complies and the group makes a quick exit, docking with the Axe and heading out to jump diameter at maximum speed.   The ship enters jump without incident.  After this, the group cautiously inspects the cargo, a single shipping container marked "Gaia Global Securities", an interstellar banking firm prominent in this subsector.  Opening the box, they find it filled with Lanthium ingots, with an estimated value of between 500K to 1M credits.

[ 1 point awarded / 2 for Krau/Catlyn ]

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February 1-11, 3124 - Not According to Plan

The Critical Axe jumps to Akhamin without incident.  After refueling at the local Gas Giant, the crew debates strategy for infiltrating the Bertranites, and finally decides that they probably should have entered the system with transponders off, so they could hide the Critical Axe and come in via shuttle.  They devise a plan to engage in a four-day "Jump-zero" course, that would give the appearance of the ship leaving the system, and allow them to arrive stealthily.  San plots a course given the parameters, and engages the Tensor-B drive.  After four days, the Critical Axe approaches jump break-out. Krau begins to disengage the engines, but fails to shunt off the excess energy in the jump field which was unspent, due to the null-sum distance travelled.  The result is a violent explosion of the Jump Drive, spewing engine parts and molten metal throughout engineering.  Krau is hit critically in the chest by the debris.

Gaiden and Rath arrive quickly on the scene and work to put out the fire, while the Doctor rushes to treat Krau.  Krau is seriously injured and the Doctor has difficulty keeping him stable using the ship's sick-bay facilities.  He finally resorts to using a dose of Suspend to keep him in stasis for the next 48 hours.   In the meantime, the crew is able to put out the fire, and San assesses the damage.  The Tensor-B drive is seriously damaged, and manuver drives are off-line as well.  With a little work, San manages to get minimal power back to the manuver drive, giving a 1G capability.  The crew is worried that this will make their journey to the mainworld too long given the time constraints of Krau's condition.  Fortunately, a rescue tug is coincidentally nearby, and is able to tow the ship to orbit at 4G acceleration.

Krau is taken to a hospital at Lordship, the capital city of Akhamin and location of the Downport, where he undergoes extensive surgery.  San hunts down parts needed to fix the manuver drive, and is able to restore it back to 3G acceleration.  Similar parts for repairing the Jump drive cannot be found on the planet, but San uses his merchant expertise to locate an obscure, post-Eristicon-war salvage depot out in slot-7 of the Akhamin system that, rumor has it, might have surplus jump drive parts.  The information on the site is sketchy, as it is not well known, but it is supposedly an zero-G salvage yard orbiting the airless planet in that slot.

Krau is eventually released from the hospital under the Doctor's care, although he looks worse for the ordeal.  While checking around the news from his hospital bed, Krau discovers an obscure site giving details of a Bertranite ship, The Holy Crucible, in orbit around the slot-4 planet.  The ship is a 50,000-ton Imperial-B Class Cargo ship, but little other info about it is to be found.  A plan is hatched to have Gaiden and Catlyn do some research into the Bertranite activities, while the rest of the group heads off to the salvage depot, (a minimum round trip of six or so days at 3G).  As the Critical Axe prepares to leave the mainworld, Catlyn and Gaiden head out to Blarco and rent a car, and then motor into Lordship's entertainment district.  They arrive at a bar there and Catlyn does research on the Bertranites, and is able to get to the area Krau found.  Soon a bar fight breaks out, and Gaiden is able to get out any pent up frustrations by throwing someone through a table.

The two move on to another bar, but upon entering find it is full of Holy Protectors, high-ups in the Bertranite Church.  Moving on quickly, they go to a third bar, where Catlyn once again hacks into the Bertranite network.  She is able to find information out about a Bertranite Down-station, Sen Tower.  This is an ex-Imperial military base nestled in the mountains near Lordship.  She discovers that it has a direct meson comm connection to the Bertranite ship, and is able to contact it once a day.  She also gets information on various supplies being shuttled to the ship, including cryogenic suspension equipment and medicines, lab equipment, life support and food supplies, furniture, pieces of artwork, and various other items.  As she is perusing the list, a pair of Holy Protectors come into the bar and start heading their way.

By the time they notice the approaching men, they are to the table.  The men command Gaiden and Catlyn to stand up, and come with them.  Gaiden remarks that it "isn't going to happen", as he fast-draws two pistols and shoots one of them dead.  Catlyn subsequently shoots and kills the second, who manages to get a weapon drawn, but dies before he can fire.   The two then beat a hasty retreat out of the bar as shocked onlookers either hide or defensively draw their own weapons.

Pursued by police forces on the ground and by air, Gaiden uses his stealth ability to elude capture.  The two then enter a costume shop, kill the owner, and make off with hasty approximations of disguises.   Entering a  basement of one building they discover a service tunnel network under the city.  Catlyn hotwires a small cart, and the two head off down the tunnels, eventually emerging at a fishing pier terminus.  Since it is late at night, there is very little activity at the pier, although looking back on the city, police vehicles and lights can be seen.   They then board one of the fishing boats, start it up, and Catlyn deftly pilots the boat across the harbor, eventually hitting a sand bank on the other side.

The two then jump in a life raft, and send the boat pilotless back across the harbor.  Catlyn does manage to fall in the water but has the forethought to put on a life vest, and is hauled in by Gaiden.   Crossing the remaining distance to shore by raft, the two make landfall on a sparsely populated section of coastline.  There are several small houses along the coast here, but only a few lights on among all the houses.   Gaiden and Catlyn break into one of the houses after checking it out, and decide to lay low for a while.

A system-wide APB/alert is issued for Gaiden and Catlyn, who are identified via their car rental and landing/immigration records.  The crew of the Critical Axe is  also sought for questioning in the alert; the crew debates what to do...

[ 1 point awarded / 2 for Gaiden/Catlyn ]

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February 12-14, 3124 - Conditional Surrender

[ no points awarded ]

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February 14-16, 3124 - Grounded

Before he is released from questioning at the governmental offices, San is asked to meet with the Holy Protector of Lordship, a high-ranking member of the local Bertranite church.  At the meeting, San is essentially told that the Critical Axe has been confiscated as reparations for the harm done by Gaiden and Catlyn to the Church.  It is implied that San's help in capturing the two is the only way the church would reconsider this judgement.

Over at the church, Catlyn and Gaiden do not attempt to conact Krau or Rath when they see them, going instead off church grounds to a seedy motel nearby.  Some time later, San shows up and gives Rath and Krau the bad news.   Rath and Krau have previously discovered their room is bugged, which limits possible conversation.  Following the meeting, Rath goes to the ship trying to smuggle weapons off, under the pretense of collecting personal belongings. He is closely watched however and is unable to procure anything.

San, Aline and Dr. Watson go off to find motel space, ending up at the same place as Gaiden and Catlyn.  They have a clandestine meeting, avoiding several "tails" that the church has put on them.   They discuss their situation.  One possible idea discussed is to search for elements of Akhamin's "Resistance" movement, or criminal element that opposes the Church.  Gaiden decides to go out that night to search for such people.

During the day however Krau meets with members of the Iron Bar, the branch of the church that concerns itself with technology.  He drops hints regarding sightings of space projectiles that can pass through objects, which excites the members of the Iron Bar.  Krau learns of a concept called The Shield of Te Fa, a supposed energy layer surrounding the Casumel, or coffin, which Al Ke himself rests in.  He uses this as an excuse to get himself and Rath back onto the ship.  Krau also convinces Sovine, the Eternal Watcher who runs the local church, to allow him use of a weapon in order to help hunt down and capture Gaiden and Catlyn.   Once on the ship, Krau provides the Iron Bar members with "data" regarding the sphere encounter.  It is vague but intriguing, and it excites the church members.  Rath uses the distraction to go to the weapons locker and take a gun, and to stop by Astrogation and pick up components Krau can use to build a bug.

That night Gaiden goes on the hunt for interesting criminal elements.  Using his streetwise abilities, he befriends a local drug dealer named Chico, who puts him in contact with a man only referred to as Karl.  Karl runs some sort of organized crime syndicate in town that opposes the church.  He is interested in dealing with Gaiden, as he claims to have a starship.  Karl wants Gaiden to crash the starship into the Bertranite Ship and destroy it.   He offers information that the ship is protected by Destroyers, and that anything short of a suicide attack would probably not get through the defenses.  Karl wants to know if they have some alternate plan in mind. Gaiden says that he is not sure what their plan is, and will discuss with his associates. They plan to meet the next night.

The next day, the Church is visited by one of the Chosen Ones, Darman Su.  As he is giving his speech, Rath and Krau overhear a conversation between two of the parishoners, who mention that Darman Su was originally a high-up in Streland Systems, and more or less bought his way into the Church.   Rath goes looking for Gaiden and Catlyn as part of his cover, and San does some "research to find the killers" as well, going with Aline to Brias Rane to look for clues.  Krau attempts to walk but falls down.   That night Rath stakes out Gaiden's motel, but misses him and Catlyn leaving for his next meeting with Karl's gang.

At the meeting, Karl mentions that he had previously stolen a shipment of medical equipment bound for the Bertranite Ship, The Holy Crucible.  Gaiden asks to see it, and he is taken to a non-descript storage facility north of Lordship, where several crates are opened for his inspection.  In a large crate, with manufacturing labels from Hortelez et Cie, he finds a medical chair designed for brain-tape transmission and/or receiving.  In the other crates, he finds tapes, each labelled with someone's name.  He asks Karl if he can take one back for inspection by their doctor.  Karl agrees, and Gaiden says that they are working toward a general plan to infiltrate the Bertranite ship, and will see if they can incorporate this into their plans.

Gaiden sneaks back past Rath once again, and meets with San and the Doctor.  The Doctor examines the tape, and notes that the format for the tape is very old, an Imperial  format in fact that pre-dates the Eristicon War.  The next morning, Krau summons the energy to stand, and is pleased to find he can walk!  Sovine declares it is a blessed miracle of the Survivor, and they say prayers to him together.

Somewhere back on Uvaia, an Arokoma is rolling in his grave..
 

[ 1 point awarded ]

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