Session 6

Session 6: Many, Many, Many, Many, Many Bats
"I think Vic has this covered Mr. 98."

- Victor Ferris

Overview
The Crew of The Daedalus depart Stormrest Peak and head west, with Rickmann, the Spider Mine and their mysterious cargo all safely aboard. Shortly after Nahtesh lets slip to Logan that a serious sandstorm is supposed to be hitting them soon. They initially decide to try and outrun the storm and press on but it only takes a few hours for the storm to pick up.

Nahtesh divines the locked cargo and finds out it contains 10 jars of clear liquid that he assumes to be Vitas Fluid. He and Logan discuss the possibility of magically extracting the fluid into a new container and replenishing them with water, using the unbroken seal as proof that they didn't tamper with it. They consider it but due to the high risk decide to give it some time for consideration and focus on securing the Skiff against the oncoming storm.

Vic steers them safely though the rocks and to the North End of The Trench just as the storm begins to hit full force and finds a small cave opening to anchor The Daedalus in until the storm passes. They land safely and deflate the balloon, expecting a long delay. Though unhappy with the change in their schedule Rickmann accepts it as out of their control. He and Vic brew some Rosie Lee and discuss their travels while Logan and Nahtesh decide to explore the cave.

They quickly realise that it slopes downwards towards a small cave-in that conceals a metal door. After failing to override the door mechanism mechanically, Logan stands back and lets Nahtesh attempt magic, who quickly realises that the door is a Witch Gate. He successfully teleports through it before telepathically forcing the door open, triggering horrifying visions in both of them. With the way clear they investigate what they recognise to be a seemingly untouched bunker.

Nahtesh continues to attempt to open doors via Magic but to no success, finding that they instead rely on some force of technology to recognise valid users. Despite this obstacle his divination allows them to discover several computer terminal rooms and one containing an odd collection of deep frozen containers, through the strain backfires on Nahtesh and he is wracked with sudden intense burning pain. Logan decides at this point to let Nahtesh rest and instead to try good old-fashioned engineering and successfully bypasses the code on one of the terminal doors. Inside they find the computer terminals and find one that still works. Nahtesh refuses to enter the room so Logan starts the terminal. After a lengthy boot sequence it prompts him for his commands, an opportunity that he uses to learn more about the bunker. He discovers that it is designated AION Station XXYY4782, is intended for deep storage and contains supplies of both salvage, food and some unknown research materials. Upon request to open the remaining doors it notes that the Station is in an emergency condition and asks for clarification on if Logan is requesting that it initiate Directive Six. Despite not knowing what that entails beyond "Overriding all Security Measures", he says yes.

At this moment the radio on The Daedalus crackles to life and picks up an unusual static buzz. Vic checks on it but is unable to determine anything of significance in the signal, except the faint sound of voices which he attributes to his long-standing condition of hearing voices anyway. He shrugs it off as an effect of the steadily increasing sandstorm and returns to his drinks with Rickmann.

Back in the Station the remaining doors seemingly unlock, though the Terminal reports an error in the Directive due to an issue with Sector 4 (the Sector containing the doorway they entered through). He presses for more information and learns that Sector 4 is the Research sector but all further details are blocked behind a security code. He decides to try a different approach and requests details of valuable inventory (at Nahtesh's suggestion) but it yields no useful information. Finally they ask for the status of the Station Personnel: it states 60 listed personnel, of which 56 are deceased and 4 have an unknown status. It then warns them that Directive Six is still in effect and the emergency condition is still critical. Fearing that they may have made a mistake they request that the Directive be rescinded but this fails due to another unknown issue with Sector 4, so they decide to instead just loot what they can and leave. They approach Sector 2 to scavenge for food but start to get an ominous feeling and decide it's best that they teleport out...and discover that Nahtesh can't use his magic anymore.

Back on The Daedalus the radio signals have resumed though Vic is unable to determine their origin or message. He notices as well that the ambient noise of the cave has changed and that many of the odd noises he had attributed to the sandstorm actually seemed to be coming from inside the cave. He turns to Rickmann to reassure him and sees a brief flash of two red lights from deep inside the cave....

New Characters

 * The Terminal

Notable Quotes
"INITIATE DIRECTIVE SIX?"

"Close all non-essential windows." "Is it the sound of many, many, many, many, many bats?" "It is not the sound of many, many, many, many, many bats."