Bastion IV

The voice said simply, "Look down, part-humankind. You are two thousand kilometers from the surface of your world. My entry from the immaterium has compressed space but it recovers soon. Can you survive space?"

The voice says simply, "We presume you have a way down, humankind. The envelope will persist for a time. This place does not suit our needs for the great city."

Space itself rattles one's teeth as Myrkul's gigantic psycholocomotors alight on the back of the moon-sized obelisk. As if sinking out of space the stars bent and torque as Myrkul slides back into the Immaterium. An upwell of space slams together as a tide though this time Myrkul is keen to aim the concretions away from the planet instead of toward it.

Myrkul's Vein exits "Warp Concretion".

You notice Myrkul's Vein Concretion appear on the ground.

Myrkul's Vein boards "Warp Concretion".

"Warp Concretion" engages its warp drive, vanishing before your eyes.

Keith nexus has left the area, heading down into Xamoyos.

Meteor has arrived, coming from Xamoyos.

Meteor vanishes into nothingness, but you get the feeling they are heading somewhere else.

Goffre Alvisson arrives, coming from Kos: Deep Space.

Goffre Alvisson has left the area, heading down towards Xamoyos.

Amidst the clutter of ships coming and going, a single cruiser seemed to linger in the travel lanes of Bastion IV, holding a distant orbit above the planet. The TVSV Erikoure was rather large for a science vessel, though from its hull and structure the assumption that it had once been a military vessel wouldn’t have been hard to make. At nearly three hundred and thirty meters from bow to stern, she dwarfed some of the smaller freights and lighters that came to and from Paguarano, and due to her size those aboard had opted to keep the vessel in orbit rather than boldly attempt an atmospheric entry so early.

In her bridge, a man stood with two hands gripping at the rails of the captain’s deck before him. His drab jumpsuit bore two identifiers, on his left breast on shoulder, of the Xamoyos expedition. Studying a display, Doctor Paul Walton clicked his tongue as a fellow researcher beside him spoke.

“Welcome to Bastion IV, Doctor.” The scientist remarked dryly, leaning over the shoulder of one of the Erikoure’s pilots and studying his nav-display. “We’ll be launching stratolitte after sending a dropship down to the spaceport, I’ll be sure to feed you all the diagnostics from the passes.” He offered, finally stepping away from the pilot’s chair and holding a small tablet of his own.

“Won’t really tell us much we don’t already know. Model-Terran, rich atmosphere, reports of the megafauna have been more … interesting, though.” Walton said, his eyes focused on a readout of the planet’s cursory scan by the Erikoure’s quantum tunnel telescopes and RAILS sensors.

“Yeah, I wonder what all’s really down there … “ The young researcher began quietly, his eyes settling on the holographic display of the rotating world some thousands of kilometers below. Walton noticed that sparkle in the young man’s eye, curiosity of the unknown dribbling into the man’s mind.

“You ever been to a planet with megafauna, Mister Dralland?” Walton inquired, promptly turning away from his readout to address the young scientist. “It looks beautiful from up here, peaceful even,” He continued, stepping around to then stand beside the young man.





Maksim Vytalion stifled a short cough as he finished the final disinfection of the Winstohl dropship’s main compartment. Stretching nearly 39 meters from nose to tail, the single Winstohl airjet was by far the largest vehicle held neatly in the Erikoure’s bays. They needed two whole bays to hold the expedition’s complement of airjets: four small Vultures, two old, medium Arukas and the larger Winstohl dropship. Holding up the spray wand, Vytalion heard the soft chirp of his comm-bead and flicked his finger across a haptic display in the corner of his vision. With a quick screech, the comm-line was opened and Vytalion was greeted with the voice of the expedition’s illusive director, Professor Willart Sigismund.

“Mister Vytalion, is our dropship ready for her first voyage planetside?” The cold voice inquired, and Maksim slowly turned to trot back out of the Winstohl’s large bay and into the cacophony of preparations that were taking place in Bay No. 2.

“Ah, I believe so - hull disinfection was completed three hours ago, and just finished on the insides.” Vytalion replied, stepping off the rear ramp of the Winstohl and making room for the pair of pilots that were soon boarding the dropship.

“Very good Mister Vytalion. I believe Doctors Walton and Adalet will be joining you and the first away team.”

Maksim gave a soft huff as he laid the disinfecting wand against a stack of crates and then seated himself atop one. Producing a pack of cigarettes, he’d take the time to enjoy one last break before the venture planetside. He scoffed at the mention of the scientists. While the pay was good, they hadn’t paid him nearly enough to simply babysit scientists and researchers.

As he lit the end of a cigarette and took a short pull, his comm-bead squawked once more, this time a call from the head of security - Valera Stashalenko was a retired Home Guard captain, and normally the two would be despised enemies. Funny how money changed that.

“Vytalion, this is Stashalenko. We’re in communication with the uhh … Pagaurano Traffic Control. Patching you in now.”

Leaning back, Vytalion took another long drag as the call connected with his haptic Focus, the lines giving brief bursts of static. While time delay was a factor, Vytalion estimated it was negligible however. Perhaps only a few seconds, at worst.

“This is Traffic Control to the TVSV Erikoure, we have authorized your landing at Dock 11. Welcome to Bastion IV and Pagaurano. You are green to approach.”

Maksim steadied a hand on his ear, pressing a delicate finger to the comm-bead. “This is Erikoure Lander 1-1, we read you loud and clear. We estimate uuuh, a two hour flight and then a 40 minute entry.” He spoke, soon nubbing the cigarette out and promptly dropping it into a refuse bin and standing up. “We’ll be relaying flight telemetry and underway soon.” With that, the connection was severed to the planet, leaving just Stashalenko and Vytalion on the channel.

“Mister Vytalion.” Stashalenko then said quietly, Maksim’s boots thudding against the ramp of the Winstohl as he then stopped in his tracks. “The Director said no weapons planetside yet but, we’ll keep that to ourselves. Don’t let the eggheads know but … keep a strap, for insurance.”

Vytalion chewed on the inside of his cheek as he listened, first taking a cautious glance around before adjusting the breast of his jacket, and checking the grip of the heavy blaster pistol strapped beneath his shoulder. “One step ahead of you, Stashalenko. Maksim out.” He remarked dryly, then severing the comms-link and obscuring the blaster with his jacket once more.