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20th of March, 4500 CE

Obligatory Water Level

by Captain Peter Avignon

Galactic Surveryor's Guild - Far Δ Expedition
 

18 March 4500


Core AVG-V System, 2818 Far Frontier
Al-Arish, Cylocanthus
 
We find an Earth-like planet made up of one big ocean with slightly less gravity.
  • Scans indicate water for use to refuel

  • A fairly small civilization of a few towns of a couple thousand each

  • Wooden Sailing ships

  • The drones only pick up rubberized liquor hats amongst the late 18th-century level tech

  • We find the smallest community we can, roughly 400 people

  • As Beñat & I step off the ship, a small crowd has already begun to congregate around our makeshift landing site.

  • One of them is wearing a fancy outfit, replete with a breastplate

  • He agrees to bring us to his "estate", in order to talk about his settlement's history and copy records for the survey.


    • Most of the communities refer to the planet as Cylocanthus, and they estimate about 80,000 people across the planet. The far-flung communities struggle to keep in contact, and these numbers are months out of date. Drones indicate that it's a margin of error of +/- 5,000. Records go back 400 years, to about the time the Cataclysm's impacts reached this region of space. Many ships were mis-jumped at the time, and it was very common for communities to form out of shipwrecks. There is no indication of why they are in an 18th level of technology, it does not appear intentional or cultural. It is entirely possible that the ship sank before the technology could be recovered, and that there just isn't a huge drive to advance beyond basic survival needs.
     
    3 Weeks Pass (26 days)
    1. Jump to ViceGrip
    2. Week and a few days to go there, investigate gas giant, refuel
  • Tenebrium is there, but it's deep down.

  • Will require some persuade/advocating to get paid for it, because it is in the depths of the gas giants, very few ships can go that deep without getting their hulls fractured.

    • 3. Week jump to Tender.
     
    After we finish reviewing their records, Cpt. Jamal Nemo brings up that they have some other problems though.
    Space travellers are taking people, with a black hand painted on their ships. I fear they are selling them into slavery, as we never see them again.
    – Cpt. Jamal Nemo

  • Usually, they rock up with one ship, but Nemo knows what they can do. They show up and demand tribute, and all he has is muskets and black powder to face them.

  • These attacks have only started a few months ago. He sent out a ship after the first, but he won't hear back for up to a year.

  • If past patterns hold, they'll show up in another 2 days.

  • Unfortunately, I don't have any spare equipment or tools to donate them.

    • Since it takes two days, we pop to a couple of other settlements before heading back to Jamal's community.
  • At the first port of call, we find the island people who just chucked spears at us after Lucid opened her mouth.

  • We can gather that the attacks are only happening to a few settlements and that it is a fairly large operation.

  • Weird that there isn't any evidence of jump drive use, and it would take half a dozen ships to do this sort of operation. (VERY STRANGE, would have to find out first-hand why)

    • 19th March
  • We camouflage our ship physically.

  • Everything but the reactor gets shut down.

  • We show them how to use our guns to those who are willing to join us.

    • 20th March
  • We have Aidan, about a dozen villagers, and Cpt. Nemo forming a militia

  • "Do not fire until I fire" Benat orders the team.

  • One of the pirates is carrying a rifle and a chainsaw with a sword hilt.

  • Overall the pirates look like they're here to capture more than kill, small arms, barely lethal weapons.

  • I get hurt, but we manage to take all of them out.

    • One is running back to their ship, but we intercepted him beforehand. About a klick out is their ship.
  • We board the ship, one dude reading some smut.

  • Beñat interrogates him, he tells us where they're selling the people into slavery

  • Corporate bases, frontier outposts, other pirates, people who want to flee deeper into the frontier for nefarious reasons, and the odd surviving community. He mentions "People of Menentang" and "Darkholm" offhandedly travelling from far away for slaving.

  • A TL-15 warship of 500 years, held together with ducktape and hope.

  • I pilot the ship back to Al-Arish.

  • With knowledge of the science, they are lacking in practical skills.

  • I warn Cpt. Nemo about the potential for booby traps. Show him the computer, and his people how to use the consoles.

  • Give him my ship's comm frequency.

    • The Ship
  • Stellar League - Sol Sector Fleet

  • Big nasty beating-stick Earth used to keep civilized space in line

  • looks like it was part of the ship that rid putting down the Pariah Rebellion during the Jred Scourge

  • Went rogue during Long Night.

  • Became the fleet that tried to sack the pariah sector before getting driven to this point of space

  • stopped being SOl sector people in any meaningful regard

  • 2-3 gens on ship

  • Trying to keep their advanced ships together by stripping other ships for parts, piracy, and the black market (tracing back all the way to SOL).

    • In short, they are the descendants of the Sol Sector fleet task force sent to subdue the Pariah Sector during the closing days of the Jred scourge.
  • The seem scattered now

  • Not an organized body, more of a "decentralized pirate nation". NOT a State.

  • Been in this region for a couple centuries at least.

    • Notes for future settlements:


    Local culture is welcoming of more residents with one known major exception stemming from a social faux pas.
  • Colony parties should be armed with at least one sidearm per adult, as piracy is a going concern, and we were unable to trace or identify broader operations.

  • The bulk of the population seems to be Muslim, with a smattering of Southwest and South-central Asian beliefs.

  • The amount of record-keeping indicates a colony ship too.

    • The biggest danger seems to be storms. Not a problem with adequate tech, but these sailing-age islands struggle.
  • This has led to the rubberization of their clothing

  • Architectural records indicate reinforced, built deep, and anchored into the ground. Most buildings are on low-hanging stilts and anchored as tightly as tech allows.

  • Also some maritime life that could prove dangerous, but fairly mundane to spacefarers. Flooding is a common issue, and tsunamis a rare but existential danger.

  • Most fishing vessels are heavily armed


    • Continue reading...

    1. Personal Log - New Year, New Shipping Codes
      2nd of January, 4500
    2. Lots of Dead Bodies
      2nd of January, 4500
    3. Personal Log
      9th of January, 4500
    4. Personal Log: Ship Upgrades on Mehen
      10th of January, 4500
    5. Personal Log: The Kumarbi Conspiracy
      17th of January, 4500
    6. Heading into the Unknown
      28th January 4500
    7. The Expedition Begins
      18th of February, 4500
    8. Faxi
    9. Eldanea System + Pariahan Fronts
      4th of March, 4500
    10. Against the Solanian Survey Corp
      18th of March, 4500
    11. Obligatory Water Level
      20th of March, 4500 CE
    12. Aidan Thorpe Arrested
      8th of April, 4500
    13. Leunus Prime
      15th of April, 4500 CE
    14. Impounded on Catta Primae
      25th of April, 4500 CE
    15. Captain's Log: Communications officer detained
      7th of June, 4500 CE
    16. next steps
      14 June 4500
    17. the Mistake (the Planet)
      21st of June, 4500
    18. Licking our wounds in Wild Space
      18 September, 4500
    19. Wow, Civilised Space!
      5 October 4500
    20. Opus Dei strikes Guild science facility
      19th of November, 4500
    21. Hey Geneviève (sup, Hüsnü)
    22. Extra-judicial shipping in the Union of Sol
    23. Derelict space Station - Shiva Rao
      11th December, 4500
    24. Welcome to the Aseni Republic of Vega
      16th of December, 4500
    25. Returning with the spoils of salvage
      11th of January 4501
    26. Fancy Auction
    27. Peter joins the Military-Industrial Complex

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    by 3 Armored Kittens · Prodromos v.1.1 - World Anvil 0.9.15.042 © 2017-2024 [en] | Anvil Time: 13:56, Nov 5 2024