Marooned on Marduk
Arrival on Marduk
Seeking an employment opportunity with the General Development Corporation, the Travellers arrived at Marduk Highport in a battered old liner the Icarus. They passed through Customs without incident, although Sarge's shotgun was impounded pending his heading out-system as anything heavier than a side-arm was prohibited on Marduk Highport and Downport. They spent a pleasant evening in the bars and restaurants their - such a pleasant evening that no-one remembered to book passage on the shuttle for Downport next morning!
Gungner was first to arrive at the shuttle dock and discover the
flight was fully booked. Realising this would mean they would all miss
their scheduled interviews that afternoon, he managed to arrange for
them to get passage on a cargo shuttle heading out later that morning -
paying double the going rate! The shuttle left more-or-less on time, the
pilot informing them that the flight time would be about two and a half
hours, and the Travellers settled-in for a boring transit.
The transit turned out to be anything but boring as suddenly the general alarm in the passenger section blared and the shuttle nosed over into a steep and violent dive. Fortunately most people had stayed strapped in their seats and escaped the violent manoeuvrer with little more than bruises. As the shuttle jinked violently again the pilot's voice came over the intercom. “Starport under attack… many ships, maybe from Oghma. Strap in, we’ll get you down safe….” After a moment the pilot added; “Strap in NOW! Missile alert!”. There was another violent manoeuvre then suddenly all the lights and gravity went off and the ship shudder as something impacted forward of the passenger bay!
In the darkness and lack of gravity Gungner was first to react - heading gracefully in the zero-g to the hatch that led to the pilot compartment. Finn unstrapped himself and activating his mag-boots moved slowly forward heading for the power plan/engine room at the rear . Calvin and Nathan moved forward, using the rows of seats to pull themselves forward. Bill and Sarge remained in their seats, though Sarge peered out of the small window trying to evaluate their situation.
Gungner quickly realised that that the hatch to the cockpit was sealed due to a loss of pressure beyond and that it would probably not be a good idea to open it manually. Familiar with this make of shuttle he knew he could access the cockpit via the ship's locker - where he should also find a vacc-suit! Calvin and Nathan had discovered that one of the forward windows had cracked, probably stuck by debris form the missile, and was leaking atmosphere. They urgently began patching using a pair of Nathan's old socks and foam from Calvin's medikit. In the Power room Finn discovered that the power plant and engines had been shut down with an emergency override from the cockpit, presumably in a last-minute desperate bid by the pilot for fool the incoming missile's targeting sensors. Unfortunately it would need to be re-initialised from there as well. Shrugging, he saw Gungner heading down through an iris valve in the floor to the cargo compartment and decided to follow.
Heading across the cargo bay Gungner, follower by a plodding Finn, found the iris valve in the ceiling that led to the ship's locker where he quickly donned a vacc-suit. Finn arrived just as he passed through the hatch in to the cockpit, and rapidly donned one of the other vacc-suits. The starboard side of the cockpit was almost completely missing, there were no bodies, they having presumably been sucked out into space with the atmosphere. Fortunately it looked like the missile had struck at an angle and most of the instrumentation seemed intact, though obviously hull-integrity would be a serious issue on re-entry. As Finn joined him taking the co-pilot seat, Gungner rebooted the control console. As the console came to life, they ignored the plethora of red flashing lights and alarms. Checking the fuel, Gungner noted they had enough for one major burn but that was it!
Finn gave a warning over the intercom to those in the passenger bay
to "Strap-in!" and Gungner fired up the engines. Realising that this
would probably make them a target once again for whoever was attacking
they headed straight for the planet's surface. Finn tried to plot in a
course to the Downport but quickly gave up. Re-entry was tough the
shuttle juddered violently and the metal around the damaged are began
to heat up, more and more bits breaking -off. Somehow they made it
through the upper atmosphere, but it really wasn't their day as they
emerged straight into a raging storm!
The Wasteland
As the Travellers slowly recovered from the crash,. Cal was probably the most banged up and Finn had been knocked unconscious for a time, but though battered and bruised, most seemed to have survived without any serious injury. The shuttle itself was a complete write-off strewn about the terrain around them. They quickly took stock of their situation. The large cliffs that Gungner had avoided at the last minute were immediately north of them and stretched far to the east and west, while scrubby wasteland receded into the fading light to the south. Surveying the clifftops with binoculars they could see their surface was strangely glass, but that there appeared to be lush vegetation atop them.
While Sarge headed out to find some firewood, Gungner began
distributing the emergency equipment from the ship's locker. As they sat
round a meagre fire and the temperature dropped they discussed their
options. After discarding various suggestions, they eventually decided
that they should hike along the cliff face to hopefully find a way up
to the more hospitable terrain.
There were four collapsible plastic storage containers in the supplies, which Bill began filling with water from the ships water tank, then he and Cal began construction on a sled-like device to transport supplies on. Gungner and Nathan checked what had survived of the shuttle's cargo, but it appeared to be a mix of machine parts and electronics, and not much of use.
They set up watches and settled down in the wrecked shuttle for the night. Things were fairly quiet, apart from the disctant call of some far-off beasts. However near dawn Cal, heard a strange skittering sound. Flicking on his flash-light he saw a huge swarm of beetle-like creatures emerging from the ground and heading directly towards them.
As the insects swarmed over the shuttle inside and out, eating and biting at everything and anything - Travellers included. The Travellers retaliated - swatting , shooting and stomping the swarm to little seeming effect. Suddenly Gungner noticed that the voracious insect had consumed the leather covering on the seats at the back. With a shot from his laser, he ignited the exposed foam padding. As the fire spread, filling the interior with acrid smoke and the stench of frying beetles, the Travellers took the opportunity to escape.
Once they flames died down, they retrieved their gear and the supply sled and headed out. It was a hard slog across the waste-ground, particularly as most still bore wounds and the makeshift sled was heavy. They only managed a few kilometres before calling a halt. That night passed uneventfully and early next morning, as the others began trudging along the cliff-face again, Sarge headed out on a wide loop to see if he could find fresh water. About half a kilometre inland from the cliffs past some unpleasant looking pools of green sludge he sound a sandy area where water was seeping out, presumably from an underground spring. This enabled them to refill one of the water containers that had been expended the previous day.
Next morning as they set out again the terrain changed from rocky scrubland into a softer more sandy area punctuated by what looked like rivers of bubbling mud. At one point they had to cross over one of there - fortunately they found a place where a tree had seemingly fallen across and created a makeshift bridge, though Sarge noted sourly that there were no trees actually growing in the area around them.
They successfully managed to navigate the bridge, though Sarge and Cal, managed to fall in the mud - which fortunately wasn't actually boiling, but just tepid, though foul-smelling. The terrain on the far side of the mud river was again more sandy than rocky, and looked easier going. Though, as they set off again wearily, they did notice strange looking striations in the surface.
Out Of The Wastes
As the Travellers resumed their march, it was easier going on the sandy soil - at least until giant worm like creatures erupted from the soil; and attacked them!
Two worms were quickly slain but he undulations in the soil nearby showed more converging. Sarge worked out that it was the vibrations of their footsteps, and especially the motion of the sled was attracting them and urged everyone to move extremely slowly and carefully minimising and impact on the surface. In due course the sled was unloaded and the Travellers moved slowly and cautiously till they cleared the sandy soil and reached another area of rocky scrubland.
As they paused to catch breath, Gungner spotted what looked like a strange winding fault in they glassy surface of the cliff, and they headed to wards it, finding that it appeared to be a path leading up. Gungner and Calvin led the way up the treacherous-looking slope followed by the others. Despite the attempts of some acid-spitting lizards, they made their way to the to of the cliffs more-or-less intact, discovering that someone had carved some convenient hand-holds along the way!
As they reached the top, their comms units suddenly bust into life. Although mostly static, odd words could be picked up here and there, which gave them hope they may be able to get in touch with someone to rescue them. The cliffs at the top were dominated by some temperate jungle-like forest, they could hear the loud buzzing and trilling of birds and other wildlife, as well as the call-and-response howls they had heard in the distance while below. or a while they debated which way to head. As they set up camp, the debated which way to head next, though other than away from the wasteland there was little agreement. Those on watch that night heard more of the call-and-responses, and though some of them seemed fairly close the night was uneventful.
Next morning a large flock of birds flew overhead, in a generally
westward direction. Deciding that was an omen they decided to follow
them and set off into the jungle. It was hard going through the
undergrowth, but they did find the odd game-trail that made things
easier from time to time, unfortunately the trail apparently led near
the nest of a pair of raptor-type birds who attacked them, but feather
and claws were no match for lasers and slug-throwers!
Rescue
It was hard going as they moved deeper into the forest through the morning, the Travellers had to hack their way through undergrowth mostly, though occasionally they followed game trails which were slight easier. More encouragingly their comms units occasionally bust into life in areas where the canopy was thinner, which raised the prospect of getting someone to come and fetch them out of this mess.
They
could hear the strange call-and-response howls from time to time, and
Sarge was pretty sure that something was paralleling their progress,
moving with ease through they undergrowth they h
ad
to hack through. This was proven when, as they tried to cross a small
river something that gleamed a with metallic blue scales leaped
out and attacked Finn. Though the creature was apparently driven off,
it did not go far and attacked Bill as he was last to cross. Once again
it swooped in attacked and disappeared into the brush, followed by a
hail of fire from Calvin and Nathan.
A little later, still being followed by the creature, according to Sarge, the canopy thinned a little more. Bill climbed one of the trees and managed to get enough of a signal to contact the Highport Control. Highport Control agreed to arrange a pickup as long as the Travellers could find a relatively clear spot in the forest where a shuttle could land.
After another hour or so's hard progress, heavy rain began to fall. Finn stumbled across what appeared to be the remains of a road heading east-west through the forest. Although badly overgrown it proved easier going than the dense undergrowth of the forest and they followed it hoping it might lead to shelter. Another attack from the following predators, this time two of them hurried their progress.
As night fell, the remains of the road led to the ruins of a small hamlet, the remaining low stone walls of the ruined buildings heavily overgrown with vegetation. Hoping the lack of huge trees would leave enough room for a shuttle they called in the location and arranged a pick-up for dawn the next day.
They found what shelter they could in the ruins, and settled down for a long uncomfortable and wet wait as the rain continued to pelt down. The night was made more miserable by the continued sporadic attacks by the predators. Fortunately they managed to drive of fall the attacks, Finn was badly wounded in one attack, but by the time the dawn began to break everyone, except Bill who had somehow managed to avoid damage, bore the wounds of the creature's attacks.
It was with no little relief that, as the sun rose, they greeted the incoming shuttle and extraction.