Nyarlathotep Messenger shorts
TUNGUSKA, Gloomy derelict - bureaucracy, hardened, tactical
As the desert wind feathers their faces the crew stare into the wreckage of the bridge, considering its scrap value.
"There are still bodies to be recovered and given the rites, "their escort intones, " and paperwork must be completed for all personal affects you find on the deceased." After that, the guide pads off to the cool of the helicopter but turns briefly and says, "Oh and there are sand-scorpions in the wreckage so be careful." Peter fetches the carbine from the helicopter.
ANENERKUK, Cramped club - intercultural, diplomacy, duelling
In the small dojo, six large Aslan practice cutlass and dewclaw. The loadmaster and the corporal must obtain information about the raider that attacked the Tronsen. The Aslan fighters are skeptical about these two 'hkaokh yew' but warm to them after a few bouts of sword play.
ARCTURUS, Massive emitter field - liaison, e-suit, bureaucracy
The NM cannot leave until the departure controller's comm-net has been restored to functionality. Not to worry, the engineers are en route and should be here within the week. Naturally when the players say they can fix the broken emitters, the airport director readily agrees. Thirty two gantries across the planetoid must be checked and defective pylons repaired (the fix is a simple one even in a sausage-fingered vacc suit.)
ARCTURUS, Desolated Refectory - interrogation, emergency, zero-G
So this is where the facility's blast doors failed. The windows are intact but everything that was once on the floor is now a tangled jam against the hole where the door once stood. Mercifully no bodies to recover - they're out there somewhere in the field tumbling amongst the asteroids, tables, chairs and dinner plates. It should be a simple matter to manually cycle the airlock and start the rescue mission in the isolated wing. And then will come the interviews to find out what went wrong and to determine who is to blame.
BANASDAN, Chaotic Forum - instructor, pilot, intercultural
Signing up for the Cr4000 residential aviation and aerospace advanced students course at Wilming, the pilot and navigator hope to get their crosswind and thin atmo certificates this month. They are surprised at the diversity of students on the course. The course material is good but the course descends into farce as none of the students speak competent English and all of the simulator time is blighted by misunderstood translations, arguments between rival cultures and ,predictably enough, lots of simulated crashes.
JAEL, Infested monument - duelling, repair, medical
According to the patron - a collector of curios - the temple ruins are silent and unoccupied. However a troupe of fire monkeys (a type of carnivorous, territorial chimp) has moved in. The crew discover this when the creatures appear and start ripping metal things off the ATV camper and the steward sustains a nasty bite to his hand trying to close the door. Guns subsequently prove to be awkward as the beasts form whirling caracoles around the adventurers; the ATV's two cutlasses prove to be the best deterrent while the monument is hastily dismantled by an improvised ramming action against the plinth of which the corporal is skeptical the collector would approve were he here to witness it.
NYARLATHOTEP, Immaculate wasteland - zero G, coding, personal equipment
On the surface of the captive comet, the stranded navigator shivers in her oxygen tent trying to get the beacon's software to boot up and recognise her position for broadcast. She realises after some tepid soup that her vacc-suit's thermostat is controlled by the same software - Flux40rty - as the executable in the beacon. She tentatively opens her vacc-suit PLS and identifies the wire she needs to use. The Nyarlathotep Messenger drifts over the surface of the comet at an altitude of 100 metres looking for the navigator.
ANENENRKUK, Silent garden - vehicle, medical, ship systems
The crew enters the gate of the park and the grim work of recovering the dead commences. Body parts are united with bodies on a best-endeavour basis, using skin tone, matching burns or fragments of common clothing as clues. The deceased are carefully laid on the trailer and taken the mile or so back to the waiting ship. The doctor takes DNA samples from all of the tissue and confirms the integrity of the matches. The bodies are placed in low berths and the crew prepares for the thirty minute journey south to Palim Field.
AQUILAT, Mysterious Villa - animals, vehicle, social
Given the airless nature of the belt, the crew are surprised by the baron's habit of keeping cats although in hindsight it seems unremarkable enough. Dinner is an elaborate affair with opportunities aplenty to use the wrong fork; guests wait with thin smiles and barely concealed contempt while the waiter fetches replacements for errant barbarians. The following morning, the baron is transported to the Nyarlathotep Messenger by the ship's ATV and the tactical officer learns that micro-gravity does not forgive rash acceleration near the lips of craters.
