Mittens' misbehavior

My cat Mittens horribly misbehaved during a party of the Societas. It was a thematic party, for the festive season, with people getting presents for each other, and dressed to impress. Maerrin and friends organised this, to everyone's delight.

Unfortunately, my 'secret saint' was not around to receive his gift.

Even before gifts were revealed, Mittens jumped at Ms. Jennifer Starfall's costume. It had animated small creatures on it, peeping out of trees and shrubs printed on her dress. Irresistible for a cat. Mitsy got all focused on these animations and lunged, claws out, drawing blood. I am lucky ms. Starfall is so kind and understanding... 

I was shell-shocked for the rest of the evening... and relieved Ms. Starfall got the best costume prize, even if Mittens got it torn up.

Second thoughts

When capsuleers, engaged in the warzone, die in space several times a day, this is unfortunate but does not raise alarm. Certainly not during very active periods of warfare. 

However, when a cleric with scholarly rather than martial tendencies experiences several out-of-pod deaths in fast succession, medbay takes note. I suppose I should be thankful for that.

Aria got a ping while we were having our monthly sessions debating theology. I discussed my plans to subdue the Takmahl biodroid with her, and she definitely did not approve. In addition to my crew's concerns and Luna's summons... I am reconsidering. Putting plans on hold.

The disguise

I received a full report from my crew, all the way up to the point where their video-feed went black. After that, they noted my Concord sign was suddenly missing from the system, and concluded I had been killed. They brought the Indigatrix back to safety and wait my return. And that is why crew is useful even in a frigate.

Meanwhile, my multiple reclonings have raised some unnecessary alarms with LUMEN's medical crew, who seem to have alerted Lunarisse - as they probably are duty-bound to do. I will try to allay their concerns.

The first plan I discussed with my own crew was to try and make it to the command center of the abandoned station, and activate bulkheads to close in the biodroid. We can wear it down, once it is contained. Unfortunately, they still refuse to set foot on the station.

So, my second best plan now is to appear like a Takmahl to the droid. It should cease the attacks, if it recognizes one of its own. 

Citizens of the Takmahl empire were connected to a collective network using the Takmahl Phrenic Appendix. This is a device implanted in the neck and upper spine leading to the brain. Back in the days of the Takmahl Empire, the device offered identification as well as a stream of advertisements sent directly to the brain. I have several of these devices in very good order, and tried to contact the Lamp's surgeons to implant it. They have not responded, probably they are on Yoiul vacation. Or they are waiting for the Directrix's permission.

I did get a positive response from the medical facility at the Kaalakiota cloning station in Defsunun, two jumps away from the archaeological site in Nalnifan. They requested I install a clone in their station, and then for a not unreasonable amount of ISK, they were enthusiast to perform the operation on the clone, test it, and then have me clone jump to the upgraded one that has a Takmahl phrenic appendix.

Yoiul battle of the bots

Tracking down the biodroid was not that difficult, it came to us as we were making our way toward it.

My combat drone engaged it frontally, its shield quite able to absorb the laser fire from the biodroid. My drone unleashed a torrent of thorium rounds from its 9mm blasters. Bits and pieces of flesh were shorn off the biodroid as it was pushed back from the attack into the wall, splattering it with blood.

Meanwhile, the crew on board the Indigatrix was cheering in a somewhat unprofessional manner. I think they were following the events as if they were watching the Mind Clash finals. I would not be surprised if they had popcorn and beer.

The biodroid responded by covering its exterior with armor plate. It is not clear whether the flesh was torn off, baring these plates, or whether the plates were somehow extended from folds in the droid. It was fascinating to see Takmahl armor plates in action! Still on ships today, armor plates made from Takmahl materials are among the best plating we have, almost matching our type II plates while being much less energy and CPU consuming.

Although the biodroid was still taking damage, the rate at which it was being demolished slowed substantially. Having realized its laser was not powerful to take out the combat drone, it started walking towards my drone, facing the barrage of thorium slugs head-on. 

Another piece of equipment that we now make from retrieved Takmahl technology is improved armor repairers. It was a surprise to see that the Takmahl were able to miniaturize these to the point that a biodrone can be equipped with it. I could see the unmistakable glow of the repairer at work.

At this point, I started to worry somewhat. The crew also got tenser, the outcome of the fight looking more like a stalemate than a victory.

Then the scales started tipping. The biodroid has some sort of extendable arm, with plating and pointy bits, that it used to stab or club the drone with. The drone tried to move out of the way, but there is not enough room in these hallways and the biodroid's arm shot out so fast it smacked the drone against the side wall, disabling one of its blasters.

I panicked and decided this was the good time to throw the EMP stun grenades.

The crew yelled "nooo!" knowing that these grenades would hinder the drone more than the biodroid - the latter could still rely on its biological parts even if the electronics are temporarily disabled. Or perhaps they yelled because they knew it would also cut off the videofeed to their show.

It is not clear what happened next. 

I woke up in a new clone in Mehatoor.

Preparations for the biodroid facedown

Of course I will not confront the Takmahl biodroid by myself. I bought a military-grade attack drone, to bring with me as my wingman. And I have a fairly good personal shield, and a scanner able to triangulate the location of the droid via sound and vibrations carried through the walls and floors. Finally, I have high-power EMP stun grenades that should take down the droid's circuits after my drone pinned it down and disarmed it.

With the crew, I have come to a compromise. They agreed to come along but will remain in the Indigatrix, and as soon as I and my drone have boarded the station they will keep the ship at a distance and follow our progress remotely, providing advice and intel.

The best laid plans

I hatched a brilliant plan. I went to get a Takmahl biodroid controller unit from my collection of Takmahl artifacts obtained from exploring the temple at the center of the space labyrinth in Aphi. I spent some days to get the best one in working condition, while the crew was making some repairs to the Indigatrix - she sustained small damage from the emergency decoupling from the abandoned station.

The plan is this: after stunning or pinning down the biodroid, we can place the controller in one of its cerebral slots. I read a publication in the top journal Archeological Review Letters, and the authors are fairly confident the controller should go in slot #6 and would not fit in any wrong slot. Easy peasy. The controller would render the biodroid harmless, and even possibly place it under our command. At least if my own neural boost implant manages to connect successfully with the controller and place it under my willpower. This has been described as difficult and flaky, like having a wireless network printer be accessible to all the computers on the network.

Anyway, even if the controller doesn't connect, it would put the biodroid in a passive state. Real remote control would just be the cherry on top of the cake.

Everything was ready, and then... the crew said no. They do not want to go back to the abandoned station to try and subdue the Takmahl biodroid. They told me after we held a service for the lost crewman Heggilon Dramse. With an empty coffin, we did not manage to bring any part of him back, and that made a deep impression on the rest. They think it is just too dangerous, and propose to just continue to Anath.

At first, I got angry. Do they think lord-consort Newelle takes a vote amongst crew members where to warp to? Or our own warriors, Prince Seraghis? Gaun Arel? Or Maria Daphiti? After they give the 'jump gate' command, do their crews go up to them and say: no, we won't jump that gate, sorry very much, we go over there in stead? What, am I the only capsuleer in all of New Eden that does not do as he wills, but as his crew wills?

But in the end, I could not get myself to force them. They are nice people, and I also understand their fear to lose their one and only life.

I'll just do it myself then.

Reconnecting

I reconnected with the crew and the Indigatrix. 

It appears we got pinned down, with the Takmahl biodrone standing between us and the exit. According to the crew, I volunteered to offer a diversion, well aware that this might end my current clone. A fate, though unpleasant, much less harsh that the death the crew would face.

Apparently I attempted to converse with the droid in ancient Takmahl, or what we know of it to the best of our understanding. I tried to tell it I was clergy - a religious enforcer should be susceptible to such an argument of authority. It questioned my accent. I told it to look at its timestamp, and consider that accents change in time. It asked me to show blood, or that's what I think it asked, the universal translator appears not to be quite universal. I tried to explain I might be in sort supply of external blood. It said "Amarr" and then cut me in half.

This gave the crew enough time to escape and make it back to the Indigatrix, undock from the Raider's graveyard station, and get back to an Empire station.

We have a fair number of interesting artifacts and relics from this particular haul. Including a cup perhaps stolen from Dam-Torsad cathedral, and more certainly made by Faecilius, a famous artisan two thousand years ago. And a booklet in Bathana-looking handwriting.

Good morning, or not

This is potentially very bad.

I woke up in my back-up clone in Mehatoor.

I read my journal's entries, so it is clear that I went to check out one of Glitter's hints, and bumped into a Takmahl biodroid in an abandoned station. At this point, I know as much as you do. With, of course, the additional information that I died.

I'll take the Interbus to Mishi and see if I can reship there and try to find the signal of the Indigatrix. It might be a bit difficult - she can be cloaked. And there is a war going on with one of the pirate alliances in Aridia.

The artifact

We were attacked by some droid. I recognised it, from the descriptions of dr. Valate. 

A Takmahl religious enforcer biodroid. The Takmahl made a variety of biodroids, mostly to be used in lieu of slaves for agriculture, but also as enforcers. To scare their flock into obedience, and shoot them if necessary. It is huge. The Blood Raiders must have retrieved it, kept it as an interesting artifact, and found a way to reactivate it. 

They must have regretted that soon after.

I recall an old nightmarish image that sort of looks like the biodroid, except that the droid we saw also has Sabik religious vestments:

We tried to shoot it, to no avail. I think Idesbald managed to shoot an arm or appendage off it, but it just kept coming. We ran and hid in an airduct, too small for the biodroid to enter. It is attempting to dismantle the airduct from the entrance, but we could crawl away. We found shelter in a maintenance chamber for the station's ventilation system.

From afar, we hear the droid chanting or reciting some Takmahl text, I try to record it as it may be valuable historical information. Also, cross-checking with ancient language databases.

Second raid

We definitely did not split up in small teams to look for whatever killed Heggilon. No, we huddled together, my crew being very scared. We took the boxes with items from the Blood Raider vault - and I kept dr. Bathana's notebook close to me - we made it back to the Indigatrix.

We are going in for the final haul of items from the treasury, this time with better weaponry. My cloak technician Idesbald is also an enthusiastic weapons collector and he has brought some sort of laser Gatling gun mounted on a wearable suit of armor. This thing can take out a corvette. So, it gave us confidence. Nevertheless, we are moving forward in some sort of tortoise formation, with shields up and guns out.

Several times we saw something swoosh past in the hallways close to the treasury. I think it was checking us out. It for sure freaked us out. Shots were fired, but just made holes in the walls. We think it looks human. Or at least it is  built out of human parts, but it is much, much larger. And definitely has metallic parts too, at least we think. Forgot to bring bodycams.

We are back in the treasury, loading up more boxes. There's noise like shuffling metal boots in the background. Our guns are primed.

The doors exiting to the hallway just closed.

The treasury

We renewed our attempt to explore the abandoned Blood Raider station in the graveyard site in Aridia.

The new diamond-coated drill had no problems cutting through the reinforced steel door leading to the inner level in the abandoned station, where the treasury is. Very quickly after breaching the door, we found the treasury. 

It is a some sort of storage room, with cabinets and shelves. It is a strange place, abandoned just like the rest of the station. It has cabinets that look old, like antique wooden furniture. I have no idea why the Raiders chose these kind of cabinets. Some of them are empty, but most store a variety of artifacts or items that the Blood Raiders found valuable enough to keep. Probably from their raids or from ships they captured.

There are many corridors of these old closets. We go through them as fast as we can to pull out artifacts that seem valuable. These are put into boxes so we can bring them to the Indigatrix and stack them in her cargo bay. There's way too many things in here, we will need a lot of hauling. 

In one of the book closets, one with a solid brass lock but a broken glass pane so you could just grab what was in there, there was a notebook that caught my attention. It was the handwriting on it that struck me - it is familiar to me. I could be mistaken, perhaps, but at least to me it looks like the handwriting of the renowned archaeologist Tertius Bathana. Our Directrix's father. 

Before I could look into it in more detail, my crew raised the alarm. One of the crew members, cargo loading expert Heggilon Dramse, had lost contact. They found him.

Disemboweled and nailed against a wall. His automatic rifle had shot all its bullets, it was laying next to him.

It seems we're not alone.

After the storms

Metaliminal storms have weakened, as so has the pirate presence in middle and southern Aridia. We've recovered and upgraded our drill. New diamond coatings reinforce it and we will be able to cut through the door leading to the treasury in the abandoned Blood Raider station.

During the pause, I jump cloned back to Mehatoor. It is nice to talk to ms. Callamity Kell as well as to Aria about our faith. I also met a couple of new members, at least new to me. And I could catch up with our Directrix - apparently I was up for a promotion of sorts after three years of service to the Societas. I am happy to be appreciated, even if I can contribute little to any kind of war effort.

Now, back to the expedition. In the next few hours we'll probably have a good window to go back to the Blood Raider graveyard station.

A pauze

We had to rush out of the station, leaving equipment behind and running to make it for the Indigatrix.

Metaliminal winter storms have arisen in Aridia, and although the space weather phenomenon itself is not a problem for us, it leads to a marked rise in capsuleers from the Nulsechnaya Scholupen and friends (or enemies) scanning down the system for anomalies and ships to attack. 

With combat probes homing down on our location, we had to rush to the ship and warp off, leaving the bulkhead drill and some collected items behind.

We wait now, cloaked in a deepspace safe, until the initial winter nexus rush subsides.

Pathology lab

We managed to make a hole through the doors to the next section. We found it abandoned as well. 

This section appears to be a science level: we went past an electronics workshop, a biochemistry lab, and some sort of medical experimentation facility. 

At first we thought this facility was a depleterium, a bloodletting hall where they harvest the blood of the innocents. However, upon closer inspection this is more like an examination room, perhaps the lab of an anatomic pathologist. Its examination tables are adapted for huge creatures. And there is a large amount of equipment more suited for soldering or taking apart electronic devices. 

And, unsurprisingly, more blood stains on the walls and the occasional corpse or two, in perforated lab coats this time. There are mechanical and electronic parts strewn about, that at least to me seem to be of Takmahl origin.

We are no doubt getting closer to the hidden loot storage, as we hit another door welded shut, separating us from the next section of the station. It has writing on it, in a Delvish blood raider dialect, warning to leave the door sealed, or die. This is typical for a treasury room, a futile attempt to dissuade explorers by invoking some sort of curse.

Blood station

We started the exploration of the part of the station that still has a bit of power and life support. 

It looks horrible. 

Coagulated blood stains on the wall and floors. Not sure whether that is standard Blood Raider station decoration or something happened. 

The hallways are dark, with only emergency lighting working. We've encountered a few corpses, reduced to skeletons still in their non-biodegradable uniforms. Some appear to have weapons fired at them. There's a weird smell, I can't quite place it. 

We found a dormitory. There were no corpses there, but the place also had not been evacuated, personal belongings were still around. There were cryopods, some had corpses in them.

The area next down into the station is sealed off, the doors are welded shut from our side. Luckily, we have some drilling equipment among our exploration tools on the Indigatrix. It will take some time to open up a passage, but we will get through.

((ooc attribution: image from playing around with "craiyon" drawing tool))

The graveyard

I continued my exploration of Aridia, along the Blood Raider trail.

In Nalnifan, the coordinates that I got from Glitter Edifice led me to a graveyard. Hundreds of corpses are strewn around space, floating among wrecked ships, near a seemingly abandoned station. Some of the corpses have capsuleer implants, most have not, but all were drained of blood.

I was not able to identify any of the corpses, they have probably been there for a very long time. Perhaps their concord identification was cut out or disabled before the body was thrown out of an airlock. 

The wreckage is very diverse; both in origin and age of the ships. They have been dismantled and scavenged for spare parts. It does not appear to be the aftermath of a single battle. It looks more like these ships and corpses have just been captured, collected here, and discarded after the "useful" parts were taken out.

There is some vestigial power source still active in the station. It looks like one of the backup reactors that has been active for centuries longer than it was intended to work. In a small part of the station, near the main spire, where the active power source is, life support seems to be active as well. I've hailed the station, but received no response. The docking bays and hangars are not powered up, but there is an entrance hatch close to the powered up area. 

We split the crew into two teams. One team stays on board, and keeps scanning for enemy capsuleers approaching on our location - the Indigatrix can't cloak when next to a structure - and the other team (including myself) will board the station. In case of incoming enemy ships, the Indigatrix will disconnect from the hatch and move away from the structure and cloak up. It is somewhat risky but perhaps it will be a high gain gamble.