Welcome to Gaia! ::

Size: Medium

Population Capacity: Light

Environment: 70% land, locked in a sort of mild ice age. Conifer forests and tundras, redwoods near the equatorial belt.

Capital City: Bar Minastul is its name. It is the largest city on the planet, and the place where the Renegades decided to settle (though they have settlements all over the planet)

Notable Planetary Structures: The space dock has recently completed the dropping of an elevator, one that is a mere thread and not very large but still capable of transporting people and equipment. It drops from the Dock down to Bar Minastul

Notable Local Organizations: The Royal Sarinese Government is still in operation, based in the Palace twenty miles outside of Bar Minastul. The Royal Sarinese Government is a basically a puppet state that cooperates fully with the Renegades. The Royal Sarinese Government basically acts as a spokesperson for the native Sarinese, who resent the intrusion of the Renegades but who are now more and more being absorbed into the Renegade culture.

Notable Satellites: The Renegade Space Dock/Elevator.

Description: The Sarinese are Homo Sapiens, the long descendants of ancient colonists. The Renegades live mostly in the cities of Newhaven/Sarin V, whilst the Sarinese are distributed across the countryside in various towns, mines, and farms. The archetecture and scale of development on Newhaven/Sarin V is approximately the same as on Earth in the present day.

Katrina answers the request in the affirmative. Her aides are already making contact with the Renegade command, transmitting the good news of successful escape and the potential allies they found in the Randir. Katrina herself prepares a short video-blurb for the Renegade public's consumption; it is psuedopropaganda, a sort of news-bulletin-meets-rallying-cry. While she is spitting out sound bytes, Jim Taley is tasked with selecting some soul munitions to display.

Jim gets a few men-technicians, soldiers-to help him carry and handle the stuff. They sort through the stockpile, sampling the different crates and racks. After a minute or two, the rendesvous with Katrina carrying the following:

1 pistol w/soul clips
1 combat shield w/soul-infused blast caps
1 light soul-cannon cannibalized from a Firefly drone
1 clear plastic jug filled with water
1 tac/pin/mininail.
and, most important of all,
2 Soul Missiles.

They also have with them some tools-screwdrivers, etc. They may have to siphon some of the fuel out of one of the missiles, in order to make it safe for testing.

In addition to what is already stated, Jim Taley carries his usual assortment of pistols and weaponry.

Katrina finishes her broadcast and the strange procession follows Skirnir towards Randgrid.

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They may not need to use all the equipment they brought, but they certainly are prepared. Jim was a little bored, and subconsciously miffed at having escaped the Hall so easily, so he went a little overboard on this assignment to compensate.

The procession comes to a halt by Randir. Katrina speaks first:

"Our ammunition is unique and highly potent. Without revealing the secrets of its manufacture, we are willing to make quantities of the stuff fitted for whatever weapons you use, and give it to you as payment for your services."

She continues, rattling off the stuff's credentials:

"As ammunition, it is slightly but measurably more powerful than something of its mass should be. It is especially effective against energy shields; about 300% more effective, in fact. What is most interesting about this ammunition, though, is that it is guided- 'seeking' ammunition, you might say. It automatically alters it's course to inflict maximum damage. Best of all, this effect works regardless of any stealth shields or other cloaking devices."

Katrina stops, puzzled by Randgrid's seeming distraction.

"We have with us some samples, and are willing to demonstrate it's capabilities at your request."

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The Renegades do not feel the need to explain precisely how their technology works, (they dont want to risk giving the tech away) so they intend to focus on its abilities instead. Thus Katrina avoided calling it "Soul Weaponry." If pressured, the Renegades will go into more detail, but they would rather not.

Jim Taley needs no further command; already he is starting the first (and possibly only) demonstration. Taking the jug of water, he reaches inside and uses the tack to poke a hole in the bottom, leaving the tack in the hole so as to plug it. This results in a sharp bit of metal sticking down from the bottom of the jug.

While he is doing this, Katrina explains a little bit more:
"It is not... sentient, but one could say it has a mind of its own. It certainly does not need any sort of guidance or instruction from it's users whatsoever. In fact, it can be very dangerous to its owner if not properly handled."

Jim, with a flourish, draws a single bullet from one of the pistol clips. He drops it into the jug, on a side away from the tack. The bullet sinks quickly downwards, resting at the bottom. Then, Jim picks up the bullet again, and drops it in the same place, after having shifted his grip on the jug so that one of his fingers is just barely pricked by the tack. This time, eerily, the bullet does not sink in a straight line; rather, it veers sideways to land squarely on the tack, which then draws a tiny bead of blood from Jim's fingertip.

The lesson is clear; the ammo automatically seeks to cause pain and damage.

"As you can see," Katrina says, "the ammunition seeks always to inflict pain and damage. It is indiscriminate. When fired from a gun, the bullet will not be able to turn around completely and attack it's firer--it can only alter its course so much--but it will be able to hit anything within a certain cone, originating at the barrel of the gun. It will seek to damage those beings in that cone. It achieves this--this movement, through a form of telekinesis."

"This is part of the reason why it is hard to demonstrate its capabilities; we cannot merely shoot at marked sandbags. We must have a living target. The water jug is a simple, yet effective, way of illustrating this ammunition's basic effects. If you would like for us to repeat the procedure, or devise more complicated experiments, we are willing to do so."

"If you are satisfied with our legitimacy, I can go into more depth about some of the more unique applications of this technology, such as poisoning and guided missiles."

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The missiles in particular are extremely dangerous. Unlike the bullets, they are not constrained to a cone. The missiles, once activated, will be able to fly freely and seek/destroy any target of their choice* within miles. It doesnt look like there is any way of demonstrating their capacities inside the hanger.

*Thus, most likely high-concentration clusters of souls, or vital components of large ships/structures.

Katrina responds, giving a slight nod:

"This ammunition... can be seen as toxic. The Soul Poisioning arises from the basic power of the ammunition, the malicious telekinesis. Normally, the ammunition can use telekinesis to move itself in a limited manner; however, when the ammunition is in extremely close contact with a living body--particularly, if it is in contact with bodily fluids--it is able to exert telekinetic force directly on the body itself."

"What this means is that beings with these bullets embedded in them will, over time, succumb to a series of spasmodic attacks that are a danger to the victim and all those around him. As the sickness progresses, the attacks will become more violent and longer in duration, until the victim dies. While not having an attack, the victim will suffer increasingly painful headaches and will be absent-minded--distracted, you might say. Individuals with strong wills are often able to fight this process, but as far as we know no one has been able to do so indefinitely. The only known cure is to remove all of the offending pieces of bullet, and even then only if before the disease has progressed to the later stages."

"From a military standpoint, this is but a peculiar side-effect. It makes it harder for the enemy to run hospitals, and it of course produces more casualties in the long run. However, our scientists have adapted the technology for use in espionage- tiny slivers of metal or even some other stubstance, delivered to the intended target via a needle, a flechette gun, or even a sprayer, make for useful assassination tools."

"So that's Soul Poisoning. Guided missile technology is probably the field in which this ammunition excels the most:"

"We manufacture high-quality precision missiles that operate on much the same principles as these bullets, maliciously seeking out living beings. With the missiles, though, some of our other technology is also applied, to actually enhance the psionic capabilities of the ammunition, so that these missiles are capable of things the bullets are not."

"For one thing, these missiles can 'see' quite a distance, picking and choosing targets in a radius of several miles. For another, they demonstrate a high degree of... intelligence, you might say, automatically seeking to harm the greatest number of living beings, and doing so by not merely charging towards them: these missiles will uncannily target weak spots in aircraft, in vehicles, in bunkers- whatever it takes to cause the most damage."

"Perhaps most importantly, stealth is no defense against these missiles. Because they operate psionically, they are not fooled by chaff, flares, electronic jamming, or even sophisticated cloaking shields. Their only weakness is robotics; against unmanned aircraft or vehicles these missiles will simply fly straight ahead."

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Skirnir's contact with the Soul Ammunition is dangerously close to becoming an all-out conflict- already, the souls trapped in the clip he holds can sense his presence, can psychically reach out and almost--but not quite--gain a foothold in his body.

Katrina replies: "Good. We are also interested in such trades."

"And yes, we will ensure that your ships are treated well here. We do not need to use your communications equipment at this time."

"As for the payment, we have with us several crates of ammunition, and once we reach Newhaven we will be able to manufacture to your specifications. The exact amount will, I suppose, be bargained over, but for now know that we are willing to pay you right away if you desire, or later if you would like more specialized weaponry."

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For the record, Katrina and the Renegades have a lot to gain from trading with the Randir. Katrina has already identified potential techs: Stealth, which will help the Renegades to escape the Realm, and Teleportation, which will serve multiple purposes.

ooc: I suppose we should "zoom out" to a more long-term progression of time? It doesnt look like much will be happening in the short term- just bargaining over the price and negotiations about future deals, with the backdrop of Renegade migratory activity.

The docks successfully link up with the Vetgam and offer to provide repairs, fuel, etc. at a small price. The Renegade ex-diplomats prepare to disembark, but do not do so yet. (They need Randgrid's go-ahead.) Izani on the Docks wheel up crates of ammunition to be used as bargaining chips.

Katrina, her retinue, and the various Renegade Izani disembark and rejoin their society.

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The Renegades as a whole are not sure what to do yet, in regards to the Fleet.