Imperial Fringe Online Game Chat Session Log February 8th 2004
20:48:45 - Kit: If I remember correctly, we just turned off the sun 
20:50:06 - Methuslah: The Sun had just gone dark, yes.
20:50:23 - Methuslah: Now, what do you wish to do about it?
20:50:34 - Kit: I push the button again
20:50:44 - vance: (rainclouds?)
20:51:01 - vance: "I wonder if this is a terra-former machine."
20:51:17 - Kit: most likely some kind of force field that filters the sunlight.
20:51:29 - Kit: but probably not what we are looking for
20:52:12 - Methuslah: Kragier reports, after a minute, that the Sun has brightened up again.
20:52:25 - Kit: Frankly, Vance, as curious as I am about what this thing is, currently Im mostly worried about how to turn it off. Especially the part thet sends out fleet destroying lights.
20:52:52 - Kit: Ok. So the basic principle of on and off seems to apply to all the buttons.
20:53:17 - Kit: If I recall correctly, the last button we have identified has to do something with matter/antimatter balance?
20:53:40 - vance: "the lights were coming out of that tube. have there been any more?"
20:54:24 - Kit: I believe we have not seen anything of the tuba since we started to uncover the pyramid.
20:55:25 - vance: "are the buttons here arranged in any kind of sequence?"
20:55:42 - Kit: So, shall we try the matter-antimatter balance button? Peronally I don't feel to comfortable about that. It might turn the whole complex off, it might also destabilize the energy core and cause a rather big bang, which we'd be uncomfortably close to.
20:56:40 - Kit: So far this room seems to contain basic system controls. Energy, life support etc. Shall we check out the deeper rooms, they have to have the weapon controls somewhere?
20:56:54 - vance: "well I don't think they would have built this thing to blow itself up. assuming we press the right buttons of course."
20:57:23 - vance: "yes, we could check deeper, if we can come back. let's turn on the lights first."
20:57:44 - Kit: yup, but many installations have a self destruct sequence, and any installation can blow up if handled incorrectly.
20:57:57 - Kit: I think the lights should still or again be on.
20:58:32 - Methuslah: The buttons seem to be randomly spread around the wall.
20:58:50 - Methuslah: The lights are out at the moment - the power transfer button has been deactivated.
20:58:54 - Kit: OK, let's move on and see what we can find in the next chamber. Kraiger, keep an eye out for any changes ok?
20:59:06 - Methuslah: The last button was an m/am reeaction, yes.
20:59:22 - vance: "let's turn on the lights first."
20:59:21 - Kit: OK, then I turn the lights back on.
21:00:24 - vance: vance checks the passageway down. can we get back up if we use it?
21:05:41 - Kit: If I remember correctly, it was pretty mauch like the last ones, so we can get back up with a little effort.
21:05:58 - Kit: also we can attack a safety line to be sure
21:06:52 - Kit: (have we lost the gm?)
21:06:53 - vance: "feels like a disneyland ride. shall we slide down?"
21:07:11 - vance: (looks like he's off-line, yes.)
21:08:04 - Kit: Well, lets take the ride then and hope the gm shows up again to tell us what we find at the bottom
21:09:06 - vance: "let me go first. be ready to help me back up." vance goes down.
21:09:26 - Kit: ok, I'll help you down
21:09:38 - Methuslah: The lights did not come on.
21:09:45 - Methuslah: You slide down the ramp, to darkness at the bottom.
21:10:10 - Kit: Do our flashlights work again?
21:10:30 - Kit: Hmm, why can we not tun the light back on. maybe it needs the energy drain on.
21:11:14 - Methuslah: All you energy systems work.
21:11:24 - vance: "try it again."
21:11:39 - vance: "well, wait ..." vance turns on his lights.
21:11:47 - Kit: If the flashlights don't work, the glowsticks should still hold some time
21:14:39 - Methuslah: The glowsticks are still on, and will contniue to glow for some hours - but your flashlights are working.
21:15:02 - Kit: So whats down there Vance. Shall I follow?
21:16:55 - vance: vance looks around.
21:18:16 - Methuslah: You can see some sort of image on the wall - a circle with a long line running into its core. It is slightly lit, and is slowly buildinmg up.
21:19:15 - vance: "kit, I see a depiction of a circle with a long line running to the center."
21:19:30 - vance: "it looks like a picture of a core tap."
21:20:16 - vance: "it appears safe, you can come down."
21:20:27 - Kit: Any "push here to turn the defense system off"- Button?
21:20:36 - Kit: Ok I'll follow
21:21:16 - vance: vance surveys all the walls, ceiling, and floor.
21:21:30 - Methuslah: You can see no button - there is another shaft in the far wall.
21:23:59 - Kit: well, if there is nothing kore her, shall we continue?
21:24:52 - vance: "sure." vance heads down the next shaft.
21:27:21 - Kit: core tap, energy-matter conversion, hydrogen power, matter/antimatter, whoever build this thing seems to fear a power outage, why else whould he use so many different methods of energy production in one system?
21:28:09 - vance: vance laughs. "maybe it's a food processor."
21:28:41 - Kit: A coffee machine!! Now that wood be a good thing!
21:29:44 - Kit: (if my camera is working again, I start taking pictures of everything again)
21:32:36 - Methuslah: Testing.
21:32:42 - Methuslah: You get some good pictures.
21:32:54 - Kit: (Problems meth?)
21:33:02 - vance: vance heads down the next shaft.
21:33:15 - Methuslah: (I've written a couple of lines that haven't appeared - anyone else having this problem?)
21:33:25 - Kit: (no)
21:34:30 - vance: (no)
21:35:22 - Kit: (brb nature call)
21:36:56 - Methuslah: (No Prob.)
21:40:27 - Kit: (back again)
21:42:23 - Methuslah: You slide down the shaft for was seems like minutes, before you finally come out. Your lights are out - your power failing aain.
21:42:42 - Kit: Not again.
21:43:04 - Kit: Getting out my glowstick again
21:43:11 - vance: is a chem light available?
21:43:27 - Kit: here
21:44:25 - vance: vance tries to look around.
21:45:50 - Methuslah: Glowstick works fine - you can see another power transfer symbol on the wall, as well as what looks like a representation of the local planetary area, marked in stone, with small dots scattered around behind asteroids, and long arrows. The whole thing is etched inot the wall.
21:46:53 - Kit: Where are the arrows pointing to?
21:47:23 - vance: "targeting."
21:48:00 - Kit: this looks more like what we are looking for. try the energy transfer button again?
21:48:44 - Methuslah: The power slowly fades of - and the etching freezes still.
21:48:57 - Kit: trying to correlate what I know of the local system and the appearance of the lights with what can be seen here. Any pattern?
21:49:11 - Kit: The etching feezes? you mean it moved?
21:50:10 - Methuslah: An exact match.
21:50:49 - Kit: So this is the control romm for the lights. eh?
21:50:59 - Kit: And the dots could that be the fleet?
21:51:54 - Kit: What about our own energy. Still being siphoned off?
21:53:26 - Methuslah: Coming up. And it would match the Fleet Captain's plan.
21:53:34 - vance: "does this depiction show the system as it presently is, or as it was?"
21:54:03 - Methuslah: Anyone have Navigation?
21:54:16 - Kit: yup, me
21:54:21 - Kit: at 3
21:54:54 - Methuslah: (Wow!) Roll 5 or better on 2d6.
21:55:02 - Kit: I guess you want a roll eh? 2D6: 2
21:55:14 - Kit: ouw, that was bad. 
21:55:16 - vance: (oh ick)
21:55:30 - vance: (vance has jack-of-all-trades 2)
21:56:05 - Methuslah: (OK - What system are you in again?)
21:56:18 - Kit: Trane? No wait...
21:56:37 - Kit: Darn, my brain is getting rusty.
21:56:37 - vance: (don't you mean which subsector?)
21:57:00 - vance: can vance make an attempt?
21:57:06 - Kit: (get out my handcomp, check my logs... ahh here we are at... 2D6: 7
21:58:24 - Kit: Romar?
21:59:06 - Methuslah: You can - but it'll be 7 or more.
21:59:10 - vance: (yep, romar)
21:59:24 - vance: vance checks. 2D6: 6
22:00:16 - vance: (falling down left and right here)
22:00:42 - Kit: darn, I can live with my body getting old, but my brain?
22:01:02 - Kit: (Can I retry after reorienting myself?)
22:01:12 - Kit: I definitely need some coffee.
22:01:53 - Methuslah: (OK - you can have another try.)
22:01:54 - vance: (vance looks around a little more closely. this is a control room, and its's on-line - is there anything else here?
22:02:18 - vance: (ah, soft-hearted ref!)
22:02:19 - Kit: OK, think straight now 2D6: 9
22:03:01 - vance: (hey, you know where we are! we're here!)
22:05:51 - Methuslah: Right - it is the system, almost as it was when you left - but with an appropriate amount of elspased time.
22:06:36 - Kit: so back to the etchings, you say they froze, so they moved at first?
22:08:56 - Methuslah: Yes.
22:09:41 - Kit: Assuming the dots are the fleet and the arrows are the lights, now the arrows/Lights stopped moving but are still there?
22:13:07 - Methuslah: Yes, but frozen in place.
22:14:22 - Kit: If this display is correct, it seems that we have turned off the immediate danger to the fleet. That is a good point. But we still do not know what caused it's activation in the first place, and it may happen again.
22:15:07 - vance: "agreed. but it may also just be the display system here, not the weapon itself."
22:15:42 - Kit: Suggestion, one of us goes back to the ship and tries to contact the fleet, informing them of the situation and sending up what data we have uncovered. Maybe they can decipher more of the symbols with their computers and experts aboard.
22:16:19 - Kit: They will also be able to veryfy what is happening with the lights.
22:16:58 - Kit: At least one should stay here in case the system reactivates somehow to turn it back off. Any other suggestions?
22:17:00 - vance: "I'll go."
22:17:13 - vance: "at this point, no."
22:17:34 - Kit: OK, here (make a copy of the photos I took) send these to the fleet for analysis.
22:18:13 - vance: "got it." vance heads back up, along the way looking to see if anything in the structure has changed.
22:18:20 - Methuslah: OK - Vance scrambles up - I'll need you to make a roll - 6 or more to make it.
22:18:32 - Kit: We need some feedback of what is happening up there. And with the system hopefully off for the moment, it should be safe to send down a team of scientists.
22:19:10 - Kit: And don't leave me waiting for too long down here will ya! (thumbs up to Vance)
22:19:28 - vance: (rolling) 2D6: 4
22:19:41 - vance: "then again, maybe not ..."
22:19:46 - Kit: Wanne have me give you a push?
22:20:01 - vance: "yes."
22:20:31 - Kit: OK, on three one two three (giving Vance a little push upwards)
22:21:09 - Kit: Keep in contact as long as the comms will do
22:21:10 - vance: 2D6: 10
22:21:58 - Methuslah: YOu make the next level. You notice that the line has travelled considerably further up than before.
22:23:13 - vance: "ma'am, the apparent core tap line has advanced considerably from the center of the circle. continuing on up."
22:23:27 - vance: climbs up the next shaft. 2D6: 7
22:23:41 - Kit: estimate on when it will reach its peak?
22:23:57 - Methuslah: You make the next level. Nothing appears to have changed.
22:24:34 - vance: last shaft. 2D6: 11
22:24:52 - vance: vance makes the estimate.
22:24:58 - Methuslah: Maybe sixty minutes.
22:25:22 - Methuslah: You've reached the surface.
22:26:20 - vance: "sixty minutes. I'm outside." vance tries to contact the fleet. how's kraiger, and is he more likely to reach the fleet?
22:27:31 - Methuslah: Kraiger seems to be examining a sensor pack in hsi ahnd - he is waving the detector about.
22:27:40 - Kit: Ok, that should be sufficient time to get to the ship. It's comms should be able to recah the fleet.
22:28:30 - vance: "kraiger, the pyramid seems to be some kind of control center and power coordinator. what are you checking?"
22:29:17 - Methuslah: "Temperature. Its gone up twenty degrees in as many minutes."
22:29:55 - vance: "what has? where? the pyramid?"
22:31:40 - Methuslah: "The atmosphere."
22:32:24 - vance: (didn't we land in a vacuum?)
22:32:59 - Kit: (no there is atmosphere here, only very thin)
22:33:41 - vance: if vance has power back he checks the atmosphere.
22:33:54 - Methuslah: "I don't understand it - another jump."
22:34:06 - Methuslah: The temperature should be about -50 - it's gon ep to -25 and still rising.
22:35:51 - vance: is the air thicker? "earlier we observed a darkening of the sun. did you see it too?"
22:36:53 - Kit: (assuming I cathc the conversation over comm, I get out my scanner and check the inside of the pyramid. Any Temperature change there? Radiation change? Anything?)
22:39:42 - Methuslah: Internal temp's gone up, but not as much. No other noticeable changes.
22:40:26 - Kit: Internal temperature is rising too, though slowly.
22:40:43 - Kit: Try to contact the fleet, we need feedback on the lights.
22:41:20 - vance: "fleet, ground party, please respond."
22:41:34 - Kit: Maybe this thing is starting to overheat, because the energy is currently not going anywhere, or it is charging up for another shot, in that case you should also read a rise in radiation.
22:42:19 - vance: vance checks for radiation.
22:43:36 - Methuslah: No reply.
22:43:45 - Methuslah: And no rise in radiation.
22:44:33 - Kit: Go to tha ship, try contacting the fleet over the ships systems, they are much stronger and not in the immediate vincity of the pyramid.
22:45:10 - vance: "fleet we have encountered some kind of control room and highly advanced energy control system, and have attempted to manipulate it. if you can give us any feedback as to your situation it would help us."
22:45:39 - vance: "very well." vance moves to the boat.
22:46:41 - Kit: (keeping an eye on the "screen" (moving etchings, very fascinating) and checking my scanner for local changes every few minutes.
22:46:42 - Methuslah just entered this channel
22:47:14 - Methuslah: Still nothing from the fleet. Then your sensors start to sound - another temperature rise, this time up to -15. The, beneath your feet, the ground begins to heave.......
22:47:18 - Methuslah: More, next week...
22:48:05 - vance: (looks like another cliff hanger, this time maybe with a cliff.)
22:48:24 - Kit: uh ohh not good.
22:49:16 - Kit: A cliff, maybe some kind of volcano. Not that I would mind the pyramid being destroyed rather than the fleet, but with me several stories dwon inside it!!
22:49:34 - Methuslah: 
22:50:15 - Kit: I can already picture myself clambering up the chutes in a real hurry, my poor old bones 
22:50:16 - vance: (well, I'll be back next week. thanks ref.)
22:50:33 - Methuslah: Well, you'll have to wait for next time. Have a good week, everyone! See you next time.
22:50:38 - Methuslah: Bye!