Aberrant: Trans-Dimensional Explorations - Trans-Dimensional Explorations

[BlueNinja]

At the end of two hours, Ash has gotten 2 successes on an Engineering roll, good enough to fix it, but not enough to build it from scratch without help from the others here. Eli has gotten 5 successes, enough to build it from scratch by cannibalizing parts. Paul has gotten 4 successes plus a willpower, so he's doing the same as Eli. Both Eli and Paul can make some repairs to the initial navigation system on the primary, if they have identical parts. Richard also ensured that all of you had a little bit of practice at soldering the components in the circuit boards.

Jonathan is not attending, and since Archer's on his honeymoon I'll give him a day or so to chime in before I move onward to the medical formalities, and Michal's final briefing.

[phoenix]

Text scrolling against darkness.

Dear Mr. Wesson:

I work for you at the moment, so I've dropped the issue of the cards schematics for now, but I am afraid that I still plan to insist on this one issue. I would like the chance to commit all written schematics to memory, and discuss with you the essence of the plans that exist only in your mind, before I depart. I have no intention to be as unreasonable in this as my colleague, but my position is functionally the same.

Finally, if I or the others harbored any fear of Totentanz or his ilk, we would not be worthy to be in your employ. I respectfully suggest that you not threaten us a second time.

Regards,

Stone

Eli's hand slips into his pocket and strokes his cell phone. He cyberkinetically interfaces with it and sends the message to his employer. Then he returns to refreshing his memory on how to solder a circuit board.

[archer]

Brandt, not being too surprised by the weird little man's hissy fit, does his best to pay attention during the techincal explanations, asking questions when he needs clarification.

At Michal's sudden review of their contract, the speedster says nothing. He'd made sure to read the contract backwards and forwards before he'd put ink to paper...but he was a bit disappointed in his new boss's need for such an obvious threat by mentioning Totentanz.

*Ah well. He's supposed to be super-smart, not super-charming.*

OOC: Making whatever rolls needed to understand how to do repairs if needed.

[Alex Green]

Michal smiles coldly.  "I know exactly how much it costs to hire Totentanz."  With that, he steps back out, and the viewscreen switches back to the schematic.

Paul nods and saves his smart remarks about "transference*" to himself. He then makes an effort of will to learn about this. It could save his life one day.

*I.e. He can't yell at the guy who made him angry so he's yelling at us instead. ::wink

[BlueNinja]

*Ah well. He's supposed to be super-smart, not super-charming.*

(Yep, you got that right.)

Brandt just double-botched his Engineering roll to ensure he understands how to fix it. He doesn't know he's remembering things incorrectly, but he will if he attempts to fix the ETPH. ::ohmy

Once the review of the electronics are finished, Richard quickly packs up the electronics back onto the cart, and leads you down into the first basement level to the medical clinic. Waiting inside is a female nova, fairly obviously foreign from her jet-black skin and very short curly hair. She glances up from a JAMA, and drops it on the desk, speaking in a thick Afrikaan accent. "So, these are the folks Michal's sending on the dangerous assignment? Well folks, I'm sure that with all of you being novas, I can give you a briefest physical checkup in your life. Does everyone feel alright? Yes? Excellent. Does anyone here not have any real knowledge of first aid?" She glances and Paul. "Yes, I know you're a qualified doctor, but if you're injured or for some reason not present when the five of you are all," she pauses and glances around, lowering her voice, "off-world, I want to make sure anyone who gets injured isn't going to need serious surgery upon return."

[phoenix]

"Does anyone here not have any real knowledge of first aid?

Eli raises his hand reluctantly.

[Alex Green]

...Does anyone here not have any real knowledge of first aid?"."

Paul lifts an eyebrow and gives a slight smile. He holds up his thumb and pointer fingers a half-inch apart to show he has some slight knowledge in this area. ::sly ::innocent

She glances and Paul.  "Yes, I know you're a qualified doctor…

::cool

but if you're injured or for some reason not present when the five of you are all," she pauses and glances around, lowering her voice, "off-world, I want to make sure anyone who gets injured isn't going to need serious surgery upon return."

Paul pays close attention. This is the 'who operates on the doctor' question.

[Bahamut810]

"Uhhh...nope. I can stop a bullet wound from bleeding though."

[BlueNinja]

The doctor, who eventually introduces herself as Angela, gives Eli a quick run-down on how to bandage wounds and where to find pressure points (which is probably a nice refresher course for Ash as well). She also takes the time to point out where the portable medical supplies are, including a paramedic's bag, which she makes doubly sure to point out to Paul - about four times, in fact.

By the time another hour has passed, everything is completed in the medical clinic. Angela leads you back downstairs and past the briefing room that overlooks the gate. Down a deserted corridor, you pass several rooms marked as 'storage' or 'backup electronics' until she stops before a fortified door at the end of the hallway. "Michal's in there, and he's waiting for all of you."

As you all file inside the room, you see an unusually somber Michal standing next to a peculiar device. It almost looks like a podium, but the edges are unfinished and curved in a way that makes it seem to have more than three dimensions. Buttons and knobs, labeled in a sharp, glowing script, cover the concave top of the device. Once everyone is inside the room, Michal closes it with a flick of his finger, and a lock bar drops into place. "This is the last thing you need to see before the sliding begins," he says. Turning towards the machine, he turns a pair of knobs, then flips out the lights. Suddenly you can see a giant glowing hologram in the center of the room. It appears to be a number of space vessels, orbiting a planet unfamiliar to you.

"This device is some kind of alien artifact. Myself and some other novas found it a dozen years ago, and once I figured out how to get it working, I started charting every single solar system, moving outwards from Earth. I found these ships, orbiting a different planet about forty light years away." He makes some adjustments and the holo display splits, fragments, and is suddenly what must be a star chart of some kind. "This is where Earth is," he says, pointing and leaving a glowing hand hovering in the air next to a yellow dot. "I've tracked their progress over the last century of travel." Waving his hand again, a red line appears, leapfrogging from one star to the next, in a curve angling towards Earth. "Every planet they stop at is stripped bare of resources, leaving behind a hunk of rock more barren than the moon. And judging by their course," the red line continues, broadening to encompass a number of stars until Earth is in the middle of a red beam large enough to cover three star systems, "Earth is in danger.

"From their speed, their ships are definately capable of faster-than-light travel. Fortunately, it takes them about twenty years to clear out a planet. Which means that we have about a century to find somewhere else to evacuate Earth, or find some way to stop them." He pushes a button and the display vanishes, followed a moment later by the lights turning back on. "Worst case scenario, folks, is that we can move a few hundred thousand people to another Earth to start a new home, and they destroy the planet. Best case scenario, you can find something in some alternate-dimensional Earth that will let us stop them." He pauses as he looks around the room. "Pat was a bit hasty when he rushed out of here. This piece of non-human technology is what the Utopians and everyone else who tries to break in here is after - and they don't even know what it does. You can imagine what kind of s**t would hit the fan if they found out about the gate, so watch your backs if you have the need to leave. I expect to see all of you back here in a week with whatever you think you'll need."

[Alex Green]

Paul asks,

"What makes you think they'll just roll over Earth's defenses? Especially with a century to get ready?"

[BlueNinja]

Michal nods at the question, and sets the view back to the fleet of alien ships orbiting the nameless planet. "They have at least twenty ships here. From my estimate, this one," he points to the smallest one visible, "is approximately five miles in length. The largest one there is at least a hundred miles long. They could fit half the population of Earth in those ships. And since they have FTL travel, and we don't, I'm operating under the assumption that their weapon systems are going to likewise be more advanced than ours." He shrugs. "It's quite a bit of conjecture, I admit, but I'd rather be wasting my time and money sending you out to alternate worlds than sitting here designing weapon systems and defenses that still might not work."

[Bahamut810]

Ash nods. "Better safe then sorry? Good stuff. Luck favors the prepared. Too bad I may not see somma that action though...I think it would be fun to go all 'Death Star' on them. But, yeah. Just keep that Laser warm for me, and I'll be back in a few days."

[AnonCastillo]

(Sorry this is a bit late, work and classes have been hectic.)

Jonathan shows up at the medical clinic just after the rest of the group, looks around, and asks, "Where's Pat?" When they get around to discussing first aid, he displays a general knowledge of how to disinfect and bandage wounds, treat snake bites and poison ivy and such from having spent a lot of time hiking and camping.

When Michal gives the demonstration on the alien artifact, Jonathan is a bit taken aback by the possibility of an alien army invading, but listens intently to the demonstration. When Michal is finished, he asks, "Does your timeline take into account the number of planets per system? After all, there are nine planets in our solar system [assuming more haven't been discovered, I don't know the Aeon alternate history as well as the rest of you], won't they start from the furthest out and work their way in? Not that we shouldn't prepare ourselves, but we may have more time on our side."

[BlueNinja]

When Michal gives the demonstration on the alien artifact, Jonathan is a bit taken aback by the possibility of an alien army invading, but listens intently to the demonstration. When Michal is finished, he asks, "Does your timeline take into account the number of planets per system? After all, there are nine planets in our solar system, won't they start from the furthest out and work their way in? Not that we shouldn't prepare ourselves, but we may have more time on our side."

Michal nods, and plays with the controls on the podium for a moment. "That's a good point, and I'll do what I can to point out what I've learned. You can adjust the device to view things in the past, but it's at a much lower resolution, and I haven't figured out how to change it." The holographic display blurs and reforms, showing a solar system with five planets. "This is the last system they stopped at. One planet had an atmosphere that woulc support human life, one was a ball of rock similar to mercury, and the other three were gas giants. There are two asteroid rings as well." The display zooms in and splits, showing the two planets as large balls. "This is about half the maximum resolution I can get, but you'll see that while the oxygenized planet doesn't seem to have any sort of civilization, neither one of them are particularly scarred." He turns one of the dials, and the planets blur and reform. "Now the oxygen one is a dead, barren waste. Half the atmosphere is missing, converted into solid chemical compounds or harvested in some manner, while the hotter planet closer to the sun has two spots that have been obviously mined or worked in some way, and then abandoned. The lack of atmosphere and the solar radiation obviously didn't bother them to work on that planet, but they hardly touched it. From what I can tell, they didn't do anything to the gas giants here, nor are their larger ships anywhere near the gas giants in the system they're currently working at. I hope this isn't too technical for all of you?"

[Bahamut810]

Ash shakes his head.

"I'm just trying to think why they woulden't go after them. Its possible that they just didn't need what was on them, or that they don't have the technology to drain what they need in the bulk they would want. I dont suppose a huge maid robot with a vacuum cleaner would work for them." he says with a grin.

"Have you been able to find any other examples beside this solar system? Have they skipped more then just thoes two giants?"

[phoenix]

Eli listens very carefully as Michal speaks, his face bestraying no vestige of emotion.

He asks one question:

"Where did you find this artifact?"

[AnonCastillo]

"Well, from watching them, have you found any weaknesses? If we're going to be hopping dimensions hoping to find something we can use against them, it might be nice to know what types of things to look for."

[Alex Green]

"Well, from watching them, have you found any weaknesses? If we're going to be hopping dimensions hoping to find something we can use against them, it might be nice to know what types of things to look for."

←

Paul answers,

"Faster than light travel, just for starters. With that level of technology it'd be easy to crack a planet like an egg. So if they even make it to this system they'll be able to kill the Earth regardless of whether we win a war or not. We need to be able to fight in a different system, or even between systems."

[BlueNinja]

Eli listens very carefully as Michal speaks, his face bestraying no vestige of emotion.

He asks one question:

"Where did you find this artifact?"

Michal actually laughs. "Yeah, I wondered who would catch that. I'll also answer your other question that you e-mailed me earlier, after we're done in this room.

"I found the device almost by accident. I'd done a little bit of freelance work for the Argus Agency - the one with a lot of psychics and seers - and they basically owed me a small favor. So one day in twenty-ten, while the group of us were working at hunting down some Medillin meth labs, I got a phone call from Argus himself. He had gotten a vision of me digging in some field, and being hit with a rocket fired by a Church of Michael moron. With a little bit of work, we figured out where he was talking about, but I still had no idea what the heck I was digging for."

He pushes a button on the podium and turns it off, then flicks the lights back on. "So I got a machine that does a sonogram-type exploration of the earth. After searching around in the two square miles or so that Argus had indicated, I found a bizarre crystalline formation about five feet deep. So I donned my powered armor, we all grabbed shovels, and started excavating. Sure enough, the Michael Morons dropped by, we took them prisoner before they could fire, and then finished digging up this thing, encased in a very thin quartz shell."

Once his explanation is finished, he turns to Jonathan. "Paul's got the right idea. If you find a world with higher technology than we have, anything you can honestly come back with is good. Since events happen differently in different worlds, you might find one where the aliens dropped by but didn't wreck Earth - though I hope you'd take extra precautions in that case! If you find worlds that are mostly deserted of humanity," he raps the podium on the side, "this thing is fairly easily portable, so if it works properly we can see if there's also an alien fleet en route, or if it would make a decent escape route. Unfortunately I can't track their progress backwards more than a century or so, and they had already stopped in this system before I got the device working. If I can find a dimension where I can see them starting their invasion, in real time - that'll be the moment to study them for weaknesses."

He pauses once more to look around the room. "If no one else has questions here, Eli wanted to know a bit about the science behind the gate device. I'm fine with telling you all the theory behind it, but given how many people have an interest in stealing every stray thought I've ever had, you don't want the schematics to build your own."

[Alex Green]

He pauses once more to look around the room.  "If no one else has questions here, Eli wanted to know a bit about the science behind the gate device.  I'm fine with telling you all the theory behind it, but given how many people have an interest in stealing every stray thought I've ever had, you don't want the schematics to build your own."

Paul comments,

"This side of the gate is just part of it. If there is another civilization on the other side, well, they can't take from me what I don't have. They could be the aliens, or a more advanced civilization, or even a group of novas who have conquered the world."

[Bahamut810]

"Im just wondering where that thing came from. What happened when you looked back into the devices past?" Ash says.

[AnonCastillo]

"Alright, say our worst case scenario comes to pass, and we evacuate as much of the population as we can to another dimension. Do you have a plan in place to destroy whatever technology is left on this side to prevent the aliens from dimension hopping? After all, I would assume technology of this sort would be rather useful to them - they find one rich planet like ours and drain it dry in a hundred dimensions without having to search the galaxy for more planets. Are you prepared to destroy all your work on this side to keep them from getting ahold of it if the need arises?"

[phoenix]

"Alright, say our worst case scenario comes to pass, and we evacuate as much of the population as we can to another dimension. Do you have a plan in place to destroy whatever technology is left on this side to prevent the aliens from dimension hopping? After all, I would assume technology of this sort would be rather useful to them - they find one rich planet like ours and drain it dry in a hundred dimensions without having to search the galaxy for more planets. Are you prepared to destroy all your work on this side to keep them from getting ahold of it if the need arises?"

Eli shrugs.

"Alternately, it might make a good bargaining chip. In return for skipping over Earth, they get unrestricted access to a nearly limitless supply of other planets just like it without the cost of faster-than-light travel."

[Bahamut810]

"All they will do is take the tech and *then* drain us dry. And destroying this sucker will be easy with the right materials."

[BlueNinja]

"This side of the gate is just part of it.  If there is another civilization on the other side, well, they can't take from me what I don't have.  They could be the aliens, or a more advanced civilization, or even a group of novas who have conquered the world."

"That too."

"Im just wondering where that thing came from.  What happened when you looked back into the devices past?"  Ash says.

Michal shrugs. "Like I said, I can't look back more than a century, and the best detail I can get is picking out items about a quarter mile or larger. I've done a little bit of digging into the records of the property, especially before I bought it, and the place was owned by a Mexican farmer up until the Depression, when it got owned by the state and basically forgotten about. I think it was sitting underground for a lot longer than one century."

"Alright, say our worst case scenario comes to pass, and we evacuate as much of the population as we can to another dimension. Do you have a plan in place to destroy whatever technology is left on this side to prevent the aliens from dimension hopping? After all, I would assume technology of this sort would be rather useful to them - they find one rich planet like ours and drain it dry in a hundred dimensions without having to search the galaxy for more planets. Are you prepared to destroy all your work on this side to keep them from getting ahold of it if the need arises?"

Michal listens to the exchange between Eli and Ash, and nods along with Ash. "If I think we have the means neccessary to defend ourselves, and most especially if I can find some other group of aliens or humans who have a grudge against them, then I'll trade it away for more advanced technology. Otherwise, while I'm perfectly prepared to blow up this whole facility with myself inside, I'd prefer if we could all escape and live happily somewhere else - and leave a nice, smoking crater behind us."

[Bahamut810]

"Well, lets get to the gate thing."

[Alex Green]

"Well, lets get to the gate thing."

:Nods:

[phoenix]

"All they will do is take the tech and *then* drain us dry. And destroying this sucker will be easy with the right materials."

Eli shrugs again.

"Be easy anyway. But giving them the tech and risking them killing us anyway is better than just letting them take us. Depends on how much fight we have in us by then, I guess."

"Well, lets get to the gate thing."

Eli nods too, looking to Michal to see if he's ready.

[BlueNinja]

Michal leads everyone back to the briefing room, answering any more questions along the way. ::biggrin

Once there, he brings up one of the computers in the corner next to the window. "For those of you familiar with the show I bought the ring from, they used seven symbols for dialing a location - six to mark the physical location, and one as a marker of their starting point. I also use seven symbols, but they stand for entirely different things.

"Some of you with scientific background will have heard of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, which basically says that you can know a particle's location, or momemtum, but not both with any real degree of acceptable accuracy. Basically, when major events happen, such as the Galatea, or the Teragen's attack on Bahrain, it causes fluctuations in the quantum field that surrounds Earth. The gate machine is designed to trace the fluctuations backwards through time, and try to find where the quantum field split off into a different universe. I can't really specify what kind of world I want, thanks to the uncertainty of quantum particles, but I can find almost an unlimited number of alternate worlds.

"The first three symbols in the dialing program are how far back and how the field changed. The closer in time the change occured, the closer it'll be to our Earth. Most of the worlds with human civilization that the probes have found are ones within a few hundred years. The next three symbols have to do with the strength of the quantum field around Earth. Weaker quantum fields mean you probably won't be facing other novas, but your powers will also be limited; stronger quantum fields mean a better chance of native novas, and a larger chance you'll be suffering from quantum taint. The last symbol has something to do with environmental conditions; the further I get from Earth normal, the less likely humans can survive. For some reason though, this is the oddest of the symbols, because some of the worlds that should be perfect are barren wastes, and others that should be balls of rock are perfectly habitable."

Michal stops and glances around. "I'm not techno-babbling too much, am I?" ::devil

[AnonCastillo]

"If we're only going back in time a few hundred years, and those aliens have been out there for a few hundred years, isn't there a pretty high likelihood that any universe or dimension we jump to will have its own brand of world devouring aliens with Earth on the menu? If we can't find a way to beat them, how likely is it that any world we try to run to will have a fleet of alien ships headed towards it as well?"

[Bahamut810]

"That really depends. If I get what he says, this is a 'what if' machine. There may be planets were they decided to skip a solar system or two in order to get to us faster...there may even be one where they came to us as friends. Considering the type of technology, and what they are doing...my opinion is that they have been doing this a *lot* longer then just a few centuries. They have more of a population on all thoes ships then our entire planet. That requires a lot of resources. Especially when your well being being rests on keeping a fleet of large ships repared and updated with your most current technology. I bet their *entire culture* as revolved around them 'eating' planets for quite some time. I could be wrong, of course...but I think that all the close realities we go to will have them on their way or there."

[archer]

Nodding along during Michal's explanation, Brandt seems to understand exactly what the supergeek is talking about.

"I'm not techno-babbling too much, am I?"

"Not at all. Pretty standard quantum-level multiverse theory. Interesting how the symbols work though."

"If we're only going back in time a few hundred years, and those aliens have been out there for a few hundred years, isn't there a pretty high likelihood that any universe or dimension we jump to will have its own brand of world devouring aliens with Earth on the menu? If we can't find a way to beat them, how likely is it that any world we try to run to will have a fleet of alien ships headed towards it as well?"

Brandt shakes his head. "It's possible, but it should be pretty random, if it happens. Based on Michal's description, I imagine some of those universes may not have any alien activity at all."

[BlueNinja]

"That really depends.  If I get what he says, this is a 'what if' machine.  There may be planets were they decided to skip a solar system or two in order to get to us faster...there may even be one where they came to us as friends.  Considering the type of technology, and what they are doing...my opinion is that they have been doing this a *lot* longer then just a few centuries.  They have more of a population on all thoes ships then our entire planet.  That requires a lot of resources.  Especially when your well being being rests on keeping a fleet of large ships repared and updated with your most current technology.  I bet their *entire culture* as revolved around them 'eating' planets for quite some time.  I could be wrong, of course...but I think that all the close realities we go to will have them on their way or there."

Michal nods along with Brandt. "The further back I set the quantum deviation, the better the chance that Earth is safe - either the aliens never set out, or headed a different direction, etc. Hitting up a world where the deviation is recent gives an almost certainty of humanity, with the possibility of finding different technologies, but it also means that world will probably have it's own alien fleet coming.

"As for their fleet size, that number of ships could support a quarter of Earth's current population for fifty years. Depending on how efficient their harvesting is, they could have anywhere from that amount up to double our population. The main reason to explore into 'recent' deviated worlds is to try and find one where the aliens are on a different schedule, to catch them when they first drop into a solar system. Their opening moves against Earth is where I want to stop them. So any system you hit with less than a century will, almost definitively, have the aliens." He grins, and pulls up a set of symbols. "Which is why I'm sending you to one of those first.

"Now seriously, today is Friday, Sept 4th, and Labor Day weekend starts tomorrow. I want everyone to take the weekend and think about all of this, and if you still want to go, be here Tuesday morning at eight am. Richard and I have to do some maintenance on the gate anyway, so even if you don't all need the weekend to decide, we'll need it. Plus that way you can organize anything in your life that will need to be on hold while you're away from Earth for an extended period, or pick up useful items that you think you'll need."

[Bahamut810]

Ash leans back, cradeling his head in his hands. "Sounds good. You...uhh...you know if *Clair* is busy this weekend? I may need some...help getting things ready."

[Alex Green]

Paul gets started writing a list. He’s done the ‘tourist guide’ thing before.

A) Basic Survival Gear:

1) Box of Matches

2) Flashlight

3) Small tent

4) Blanket

5) Backpack

6) Small animal ‘snacks’ (dead frog parts, etc)

7) Water purification tablets

8) Food

9) Synthetic Cup, Plate, Pot, & utensils.

10) Hands Free Radio Phone (get a set of 8 with those frequency scrambling chips).

Basic Let’s Check out the locals stuff:

11) Location Unit: Compass/GPS/Radio (GPS is iffy but comes with the unit).

12) Enhanced Vision Goggles: Binoculars and/or Night Vision.

13) Pen & Note pad of paper for observations.

14) Electronic Camera with three clips.

15) Some Gold coins.

16) Some Silver coins.

17) 2000$ in Cash, all bills older than 30 years.

C) Weapons:

18) Heavy Knife

19) Heavy Hand Gun (with 2 extra clips)

20) Hunting Rifle

21) One box of ammo for each

22) One spool of mono-wire (assuming it is available in 2020 without DeVries backing)

At hand or in pouches in Eufiber will be all weapons (boxes in backpack), ‘Snacks’, Location Unit, EVG, Money, & Camera.

The Food, tent, and related equipment should be in a separately packed bag easily detached from the backpack.

He hands it around to anyone who is willing to read it and asks, did I miss something important?

[Bahamut810]

Ash looks it over and advises paul to take non perashable goods (dead frog parts? Milkbones might be better.), and to take a normal compass (electric things can run outta batteries, especially if they have a lot of bells and whistles).

[Alex Green]

Paul grunts and says,

"Milk bones are too hard. Dead frog or road kill really spells 'good' for crows and the like. It's cheap too. And speaking of missing things.

He adds to the list:

23) Radiation Detector/Counter.

24) Medical Bag & First aid kit. Specifically including some anti-radiation stuff... research radiation poisoning and long term effects.

25) Sunscreen.

"Too much thinking like a tour guide and not enough like a Doctor. I'll have some Iodine pills for everyone to take when we get back.

[archer]

Now seriously, today is Friday, Sept 4th, and Labor Day weekend starts tomorrow. I want everyone to take the weekend and think about all of this, and if you still want to go, be here Tuesday morning at eight am. Richard and I have to do some maintenance on the gate anyway, so even if you don't all need the weekend to decide, we'll need it. Plus that way you can organize anything in your life that will need to be on hold while you're away from Earth for an extended period, or pick up useful items that you think you'll need."

"No problem. I've already taken care of my domestic matters, and my extra clothes should be here sometime today. I don't suppose any of you has a list of things we might need?"

Paul gets started writing a list. He’s done the ‘tourist guide’ thing before. He hands it around to anyone who is willing to read it and asks, did I miss something important?

Brandt whistles. "Looks like you've done this sort of thing before. I can get most of this stuff pretty easy, but may I suggest that we take more than just one extra box of ammunition? And maybe someone here can give me some pointers on how to actually navigate with a compass? I haven't done that sort of thing since I was in the Boy Scouts."

Rubbing his hands together at a sudden thought, he grins at the others. "Since this may well be my last weekend on this Earth, I thought I might take in the sights and enjoyments our wondrous planet has to offer. I'll be moving pretty fast, but I can take at least one of you with me on my whirlwind tour if you want to go. Any takers?"

((OOC: Brandt can actually Attune anyone who doesn't weigh too much and hit full speed without fear of his passenger getting hurt, so the offer's good for pretty much everyone.))

[Bahamut810]

"Im going to pick some ammo up myself while I am out. Ill see what I can do for you."

[AnonCastillo]

After the demonstration with Michal is over, Jonathan goes up to talk to him. "I need to ask you something.... is there any way I could get a small advance on the pay for our first mission? Just enough to cover next month's rent. Money has been a bit tight for me lately, and if this mission takes longer than expected, I don't want to come home and find myself evicted."