Chapter 1: Survival of the Fittest - Alton Zet

[Shurijo]

OOC

Defense systems module: craft(electronic) skill, DC 25
Kareb aid another check vs DC 10 = 1d20 + 8 = 12, success
1d20 + 13 + 2 (aid) +1 = take 10 for 26 , pass

the rest are all the same checks, and unless you roll a 0, but taking 10 passes

Alton and Kareb dig deeper into the defense systems and find that the force field works just fine. They turn on the relay to the shielding and it appears to be working as designed. However, after a few test runs, Kareb finds that the force field is particular weak, in fact, it doesn't prevent any Orichalcum blasts from passes at all. The force field's weakness is the strength of Atlantian technology - Orichalcum!

After discovering that weakness, they go to work on the weapons systems. There's nothing that looks out of sorts there. Just standard blasting technology, very similar to Atlantian blaster rifles. Following the weapon systems modules power conduit, they discover the drone's power source.... It's powered by an Orichalcum energy generator.

All of the Orichalcum technologies would almost make one to believe that the drone was designed by Atlantians. Without noticing the time, the two has spent all day in the lab without leaving even for food. Each discovery after discovery seems to lead to more questions and the two followed each route until they've accessed all of the drone's systems. After a full day's of investigation, Kareb is unclear if she only has more questions than answers now.

[veritas]

Alton stands quietly for several seconds after seeing the Orichalcum power module. Even with the ambush during the demonstration he seemed unflappable, but for the first time in memory Alton Zet has no answers and is left completely speechless.

After what seems like an eternity, Alton stirs. "I must make the report. This.. this has some rather extreme implications."

Alton immediately records a message, indicating that the LoH has access to Atlantian technology and the proof for such. He leaves out the question of how they came to possess such, not wanting to consider the answer.

"Perhaps we should take a break. It dawns on me that neither of us has eaten for several hours."

[Shurijo]

Kareb nods at the suggestion of food, "Good idea. I was so consumed in the work that I had completely forgotten about eating."

As Alton and Kareb prepare to discuss dinner options, the laboratory door swooshes open and Captain Nehe enters once again. The captain walks over to meet the two as the door closes behind him.

"Alton, Kareb. I wanted to come down and thank you for your research and time. I know you aren't official military scientists working for the defense force and this lab might not be as adequate as your lab, so I wanted to extend an invitation to come work for the defense force. We've valued your input on devices and technology as an independent scientist and now, after recent events, we believe you and Kareb might be the only two scientists that we can trust. "

"Our commando team found the remains of an underground laboratory on the island at the coordinates you provided. Unfortunately, the laboratory was destroyed just hours before we arrived. Our forensics team was able to find some evidence. Enough to know that there were Atlantian tools and other instruments, but not enough to know who might be working for the humans. We know that it's one of our scientists, so we need another scientist to help us figure out who built those drones."

"General Rap would like to meet the three of us tomorrow morning and discuss matters. This entire situation has been upgraded and classified as extreme secret. You may not discuss this with anyone other than myself and General Rap. Is that understood?"

Kareb nods and replies, "Understood, sir." Then a moment later she asks, "Does that mean I can enter the lab on my own now?"

Captain Nehe doesn't look assumed at her question, but politely responds, "Yes. I'll submit a request to update your credentials when I get back to my office."

The captain then turns to look at Alton to see if he has any other questions and a confirmation that he understands the upgraded security clearance and restrictions regarding the matters.

[veritas]

"Thank you, Captain. I have no further questions, and nothing of this matter shall escape my lips."

As he finishes his statement, a rather large growl issues forth from his stomach.

"Er, would you care to join young Kareb and I for dinner?"

[Shurijo]

Captain Nehe nods, "Yes, I think I have time for dinner. Have you tried the officer's galley, yet?"

The three depart the lab and head over to the defense force officer's galley. It serves the same food as the non-commissioned guardsmen galley, but the restaurant has more tables for smaller groups and provides both bus (to clean the tables afterward) and drink service. The non-commissioned guardsmen must take their dirty utensils and tray to a common cleaning room and deposit it on a conveyor belt and must retrieve their own drinks.

"I hope the lab has all of the tools that you need. If there's something you can't find, just ask and we'll retrieve it from our storage facility. Also, the officer's galley can deliver food to your laboratory. They can't enter, but they can drop it off with the guardsmen outside your lab."

OOC

what do Atlantians eat? seaweed? I don't think I ever saw Aquaman eating, but I know Namor the Submariner likes sushi.

Feel free to eat and ask questions, otherwise it's non-eventuful meal and you can return home to rest or back to the lab

[veritas]

OOC

I would assume seaweed, algae, fish, shell fish, and kelp as mainstays, but with sufficiently advanced technology and the ability to monitor the surface, who's to say that they don't have eel burgers or something? I can see a very successful chain of McLobsters restaurants on the horizon

Alton devours a quick meal, famished after a long day of work. He mentions to Captain Nehe that there are very few Atlantians who publicly profess any desire to join ranks with the humans. The most notable of which with any real technical skill is Kalta Jel. Alton states this, but is sure to mention that he has no idea as to any motive Kalta might have to support them illegally.

[Shurijo]

Captain Nehe nods at Alton's assessment, but informs the scientists that details about their investigation should be handled in a more secure location. After they finish their meals, the three head back to the lab to discuss matters.

Captain Nehe starts off saying, "I apologize for cutting your assessment short at dinner. I believe there might be more than one scientist working together, so we shouldn't discuss things outside of here or other secured offices. You never know who might overhear something."

Before heading out for the night, Nehe says, "Remember tomorrow morning, meeting with General Rap. I think he's going to formally welcome you to the defense force and request that you try to put together some evidence based on the technique specifications and see if you can find any signatures that can link the construction to a specific scientist. But, that's just my guess. Have a good night."

OOC

Just a pause to see if you wanted to do/say/ask anything before we jump forward to the meeting/assignments

[veritas]

Alton nods to Nehe. "Good night to you, Captain."

After Captain Nehe leaves, Alton turns to Kareb and smiles.

"It would seem that tomorrow shall be a busy day. I think that it would be wise to get some rest before the ocean boils over, eh?"

[Shurijo]

The remainder of the night proves uneventful as Alton and Kareb return to their homes.

The next morning, Alton heads to the designated meeting location at the time given to him by Captain Nehe. There he finds Captain Nehe and General Rap sitting at a conference table with a large monitor behind them. On the table are hand held touch screens with various reports, data, and information concerning the recent attack.

A few moments later, Kareb walks in just as the guardsmen begin to close the doors at the request of General Rap.

With everyone gathered, General Rap begins, "First, I want to thank you for the demonstration. Your devices worked well and I'd like to be informed of any future improvements. Hopefully, in a year or so we'll be able to mass produce the systems for use within the fleet. Great job on that, I know you two have spent many months researching, building, and testing the systems."

"Okay, to the matter at hand. All of this is still classified at the highest levels. Officially, the civic council, defense force, and king doesn't even know about this matter because we haven't figured out who's involved and how high up the chain of command this technology leak goes."

"We've organized an investigative committee that will be pursuing leads. The captain and myself will be your liaisons between that committee and you. Anything you discover will be sent to them and any technologies or artifacts relating to technology they discover will be sent to you. You are our only scientists working on this committee. Right now, we're still working to try and remove some scientists from the list of suspects, but that might take weeks or months. These acts violate several laws including treason and technology exchange, so we need to be certain before we move forward with arrest warrants."

"We've placed shadow guardsmen on you to keep you under surveillance. It's for your protection. If the conspirators learn you're involved, then they could come to silence you."

"I'll need you to continue to analyze the drones and try to find some signature that we can tie back to a scientist, a project, or research."

"Then there's also the matter of the force fields. We're working under the assumption that it's a flaw in the design to allow our weapons to bypass the force field. However, if it's done intentionally, then maybe the person working under duress and built in a backdoor for us to fight the drones."

Finally, the general puts down his touch pad and asks, "What's your assessment of the situation, Alton Zet?"

[veritas]

Alton takes a moment to think before answering.

"I had not considered the possibility of one of our scientists being forcably detained. It is possible, but I would need to test the force fields against other types of weaponry first.

"The most obvious suspect is Kalta Jel, simply due to his outspoken support of the humans in the war. The force fields being weak to our weaponry would also serve his goals as it was his stated interest to turn against the humans, subjugating them after the mutant threat had been dealt with. To be fair, that assessment has more to do with our political leanings on the matter than any proof, however.

"I will report more as I have it. I thank your for your kind words in regards to my devices. The battle with the SENTRY drones has actually caused me to rethink my designs, as the humans now have access to energy based weaponry instead of just the crude ballistic projectiles I assumed they'd have. I'm trying to design a more heavily armored system, but I'll have to do some more work on it before I can go into any detail."