Exploration and action - welcome to Constellation
28 Jun 2024Armagne
I've stopped tracking the local time in my logbook entries but I'll keep uploading them in chronological order.My internal conflict kept me up during my first night at the Lodge. As stated in my last entry, I decided I was going to explore and I did. Back in the day I did some exploration and resource collecting around the outskirts of NA but I'm feeling much more confident nowadays so I went much further. I discovered some interesting spots and kept a separate log of all the resources I found like I did on Vectera - which reminds me that I should go back to Kreet to explore some more.
I've finally seen some wildlife I had previously only read about - including some terrifying Coralbugs - but one thing I absolutely did not expect was a full-grown Terrormorph roaming the wilderness of Jemison. I had never encountered a live one before. Sure, I knew what they looked like - what with that life-size model in the MAST building - but I had never thought to face one myself, let alone... by myself. I'm still unsure how I made it alive, the Universe must be looking after me, but I got some interesting materials out of the creature. Macabre, yes, but Xenobiology can be a gruesome art.
I encountered a wonderful spot between some rocks with dozens upon dozens of flowers, as if nature itself had planted a garden just for aesthetics. I installed a beacon further north so I could find it again, without disturbing the place itself. I went back to take a picture and even though it was night, it was still beautiful as some of the flora were bioluminescent:
I'd studied most of Jemison's wildlife now, but there were still some aspects of Seabats to be discovered so I needed to scan more of them to study the data. While exploring the forests at dusk, I encountered yet another Terrormorph. Again, luck was on my side and I was able to dispatch it. I got beat up, but luckily I had some MedPacks from the Kreet Research Lab I ransacked with Vasco.
Speaking of which... I was once again reminded that I should go back to Kreet as the moon had a lot to offer that I hadn't discovered yet. I went back to the Lodge and asked Sarah for some more time - which she was surprisingly understanding about.
Once on Kreet, I discovered more traits about the moon itself as well as its flora and fauna. While exploring, I encountered a Terrormorph roaming the wilds and attacking the Stalkers used by the Xenowarfare Division, though I don't think it was the one from the lab.
When I got back to Jemison, I finally gave in and joined Sarah on her quest for another Artifact. As it turns out, she had a lead about a Vanguard volunteer by the name of Moara who used it as an ornament in his cockpit... A part of me was indignified but one cannot blame people for their ignorance - to anyone outside of Constellation, these Artifcats are mere pieces of strange metal. Hell, the only one who've actually felt the raw power of the Artifacts are Barrett and myself.
The search for Vanguard Moara led us to Cydonia on Mars, then a sattelite orbiting Venus leading us to the abandoned Nova Galactic Starstation around Luna. The Starstation had apparently been taken over by Spacers who then had been overrun by a platoon of Ecliptic Mercenaries. Ecliptic Mercenaries! These people are the most well-organized mercs in the Settled Systems - what were they doing here? In the Starstation we found a slate from Moara daring the Spacers to come after him around Neptune. We followed up on that and half expected him to be in a heap of trouble at the hand of Spacers - but it was the Ecliptics who had caught up with him. I managed to take out his ships engines with the help of Vasco, then Sarah and I boarded his ship and dispatched the mercenaries.
We were greeted by a very thankful Moara who assumed the mercenaries had been paid by Pirates and Spacers banding together to pay professionals, but I had a feeling there was more at play here... could it have anything to do with the Artifact? Were we perhaps not the only ones looking for them? What mattered was that Moara was safe and 'his' Artifact was now in our possession. I offered Moara a place in my crew and he happily accepted.
All of this action had made me forget about my internal conflict, but now that it was all said and done it all came rushing back, with Sarah none the wiser. She seemed proud of our teamwork, but did not seem to notice how torn I was inside.
I'll have to talk to her about it some day... but maybe now's not the time.
Back at the Lodge, I was now officially welcomed as a full member of Constellation, and got a matching spacesuit to boot.