SIGINT

Anyone up for dinosaur planet?

Thanks! I'm not sure if one person is enough, but maybe we could start running with that and hopefully draw in more people once we're doing things.

Group Submissions

I don't completely disagree with you, but I would point out that the Second Sun being captured is a very bad scenario for the CCF.

Anyone up for dinosaur planet?

Natives are cool. Cambria isn't totally uninhabited, even by sapients. It's just not considered colonized anymore.

Anyone up for dinosaur planet?

Group thread is now up.

roleplayerguild.com/topics/169636-cam…

If you want to save the dinosaurs and maybe adopt one, this is the place for you~

Jane Hyder

"So, I imagine you'll be intending to tell everyone about this?"

The woman was taken aback by his rather...nonchalant response. The man sitting across from her dug in with his eyes, fingers interlocked as he sat back in his chair. He had olive skin, and a completely bald head, but still possessed the physique of youth, hidden behind a well-tailored suit and a red tie.

"Of course I'm going to! Why even ask that?"

She, meanwhile, still had on her mercenary fatigues. The red fang logo of her corps still emblazoned proudly on her breast pocket, she clenched her fist and her teeth.

What was it that he had in his pocket? Why did he seem to not care, even as photographic proof of his atrocities was splayed across his table?

"Think this through, Jane. You're an intelligent woman." With an ever-so-slightly condescending tone — or at least, that's how she took it — the man didn't back down to her fierce gaze. "What will happen if you make these photographs public?"

"You'll be exposed. Everyone will know what kind of monster you are—"

"Where were the photos taken, Miss Hyder?"

At that, she stopped. Her breath halted in her throat. That was it. That was why he wasn't afraid.

"You know the answer, Miss Hyder. Where were they taken?"

"...Hyder Pharmaceuticals."

"And where are the devices, pictured here, stored and operated?"

"Hyder Pharmaceuticals."

"And who, then, will be undone, if these photographs become public?"

Even through her gloves, it felt like her palms would bleed. That was the reason he was using a shell company as his base of operations...it would be simple for him to distance himself, and deny any involvement. NeoCortex would sell all stock in Hyder Pharmaceuticals, and publicly denounce them. And the president of that company would be blamed for everything...President Hyder would be blamed for everything.

"I'm glad that you understand—"

In a flash of motion, she drew her sidearm, pointing it at the man's face. A 9mm ballistic pistol wasn't much, but against an unarmored opponent at point blank, it would splatter his brains against the window behind him like day-old lasagna.

Her hand shook. His head didn't move.

"You lack conviction."

"I'll shoot."

"These things are plain as day to me, girl. There isn't a shred of killing intent in your entire form. Honestly, I wonder why you became a mercenary at all..." He furrowed his brows, paying no mind to the lethal weapon at his nose. He wasn't so much unnerved by the threat as he was insulted by her clear inability to follow through. "Ah, yes, it was to protect your father, wasn't it?"

A chill took over her body, and Jane shuddered so violently that she almost pulled the trigger by accident as her finger twitched. How much did he know? About her? About her father, the president?

Here she was, with irrefutable evidence of his crimes laid out in front of him, pointing a gun at his head...

...and yet, this man still had complete control of the situation, and was utterly unafraid.

There was no victory condition for her from the very beginning. Everything she had done had been a waste. All he was doing was waiting for her to realize that the game had begun with her entire family already in checkmate.

"Ah, don't fret. How about a...consolation prize?"

"What? You...you don't need to buy my silence."

"Oh, I know, but I'm interested. You know what these machines are capable of...surely, after seeing them, you've been thinking of what you would do with such power." He tilted his head, ever so slightly, to look her in the eye, around the barrel of her gun. "I'm curious. I'd like to see what a person like you could accomplish, given the chance."

She blinked, her expression devolving from crushing disappointment to simple confusion. "You're...what?" She asked, turning her head. "You're going to give me these...just to see what I do with them?"

"They do, technically, belong to your father's company. It seems appropriate." He mused, "I reason that I do not need to buy your silence, but even so, I'd rather reward you for your hard work than leave you with nothing but festering resentment towards me, Jane Hyder. Who knows when and how you'd come to act on it." He lowered his head, with a disarming smile. "An alternative viewpoint is hard to come by, when all my efforts are constrained by such secrecy. So, as one who has pierced this veil...I shall task you with being my confidant."

"We shall share of these. Half of the cloning tanks, yours. For whatever purpose you desire."

"In return, their source remains a secret, and of course, your father remains safe and secure."

"What say you, Miss Hyder?"

---

Jane Hyder

Height ——— 182 cm

Weight ——— 65 kg

Age ——— 28

Home Planet ——— Frixion

Tier ② ——— Local

Ex-Mercenary ②

Jane Hyder was previously affiliated with Crobh Dearg, a guns-for-hire unit operating in Frixion Prime. She became a mercenary shortly after exiting school, and served as such for five years. While she found a distaste for violence, and was on the verge of changing careers, her unit was suddenly purchased as a protection unit for her father's company, Hyder Pharmaceuticals.

Given the chance to protect her father, she stayed on-board for another year, unbeknownst to him, as he would never have allowed the corporate heiress to place her life on the line in such a way. Within the company's headquarters, however, she began to piece together a heinous and troubling mystery...

• Arms Skill ——— The ability to operate military-scale weaponry. While citizens are able to carry small arms and common weapons, a mercenary or a soldier has training and experience with weapons that are outside of a citizen's ken. Jane is able to operate large firearms, energy weapons, armored vehicles, and anything else that would fall within such a categorization.
  
• 9mm Sidearm ——— A concealable ballistic pistol holstered at her side. Jane's mercenary background allows her to draw, aim, and fire the gun quickly. It has an effective range of 50 meters, and a 20-round magazine. It's not strong enough to pierce armor without specialized ammunition, but is meant only for civilian self-defense.

Hyder Pharmaceuticals ②

While Jane has no official position at Hyder Pharmaceuticals, the company is owned by her father, and she can obtain things from it, over-the-counter or illicitly, if need be.

• Resources ——— A portion of the income generated by the company. As her father means for her to inherit the company regardless, as long as it is for a worthwhile expenditure, its money and resources are hers to make use of. Naturally, she wouldn't use company funds for anything that would put her father's legacy at risk.
  
• Biology Skill ——— Her training to take over the company involved schooling in chemistry and biology. She's well-learned in fields relevant to pharmaceuticals, including plant and animal ecology.

Group Submissions

Not sure if groups are still being approved, but just in case, here's the CCF

roleplayerguild.com/topics/169636-cam…

Cambria Conservation Front

Known Areas and Structures

The Plateau — An area near the edge of the theorized blast radius of the Second Sun's initial strike. Sediment surrounding the plateau indicates that it was once an island, before the thermal strike evaporated much of the surrounding ocean. It is now a section of raised ground surrounded by a vast canyon, as well as a semicircular mountain range.

Its geographical separation from the surrounding landmass, as well as its fortunate positioning relative to the former seabed and blast site, insulate it from much of the outside chaos, and give the Plateau a somewhat normal weather pattern and stable ecosystem. It is approximately forty kilometers in diameter, and its surface is something of a microcosm of the planet's former glory, containing numerous smaller biomes within its land area.

As The Plateau was the most promising area for restoration, and the area most threatened in terms of biodiversity, it was selected as the landing site for the Conservation Front Headquarters' orbital drop. It is currently considered the closest thing to a safe area that there is on the planet's surface.


The Wastes — Surrounding the plateau is utter wasteland as far as the eye can see. Hardly anything seems to live in the vicinity, and its properties are as of yet unexplored.


To be discovered...

Known Animals and Fauna

To be discovered...

Cambria Conservation Front

The Cambria Conservation Front

"This is something that we can do. Never mistake that.
Whenever anyone tells you that terraforming a surface is infeasible, or that you can't just build planets,
tell them not to forget that we've already built three, and more than that beyond.
The only difference here is that the timetable is moved up a bit."
_{— Jane Hyder, CCF Head}

Planet Cambria is only a shadow of what it once was. While occupied during a war too long past for any to truly remember, the Second Sun, a system-scale thermal directed energy weapon, was unleashed from orbit. The resulting ray not only completely destroyed human occupation of the planet, but stripped away critical sections of its atmosphere, leaving it near-completely unprotected from the myriad of forces of its nearby sun. The battle was won, but humans weren't the only casualties — the firing of the Second Sun constituted a mass extinction event for the once-inhabited planet.

The animals left behind began to die out, as the food chain slowly collapsed. Plants choked in an atmosphere that no longer supported their biological processes. If left alone, the planet could take billions of years to recover, if ever.

And looming over its sky, as an ever-present reminder, is the Second Sun — abandoned, but still active, and still charging. Someday, it will fire again.

The time to step in is now. We may not be able to turn back time, but we can transform the blasted planet into a place brimming with life. We can fill the gaps in the food chain. We can repair the atmosphere. We can create ecosystems for the displaced beasts. And we can take the Second Sun out of the sky.

Every animal here is endangered. The Cambria Conservation Front will change that.

Critical Point — The Cambria Conservation Front Planetary Headquarters

A single structure which was orbitally dropped to begin operations. It has enough room to house inhabitants, as well as the technology, space, and tools required for the CCF to function. Inside, animals, plants, environmental samples, and excavated artifacts can be safely detained for study and reproduction. It is also the only safe landing area on the planet for interstellar travel, with a single operable shuttle ship that can provide transport to and from the three main planets.

This singular building holds the entirety of the Conservation Front and its capabilities — if destroyed, the organization literally no longer exists. It is situated in the center of The Plateau.

Critical Point — Bioconstructors

Devices which allow for the genetic sequencing and construction of biological lifeforms. With these, animals can be designed, created, and released into the ecosystem. Jane Hyder is rather secretive about from where she obtained the technology, but admits that it was when it came into her hands that she had the idea to use it for ecological reconstruction, and transported it to Cambria to begin the CCF.

Once an analysis of a local ecosystem has been completed, and the gaps in the food chain identified, the Bioconstructors can be used to create an animal species which fills a missing role, and the created animals can then breed naturally as part of the wildlife. But foresight and caution are critical requirements when designing animals — if a mistake is made, those animals could easily become an invasive species, and only further damage the already-fragile ecosystem.

Attempts to use the Bioconstructors for human cloning do not seem to work properly, or at all. While the technology could theoretically be used for such a purpose, there seems to be a missing piece of some kind. In any case, petitions to use them for such are expressly prohibited, and in terms of sequencing and cloning non-sapient animals, they function with a high rate of accuracy. It is stressed, however, that each unit is irreplaceable, and required for the most critical function of the CCF.

Critical Point — The Second Sun

A superweapon which orbits Cambria, and caused the mass extinction event that now imperils it. It is theorized to be primarily solar-powered, and glows brightly in the planet's sky as it slowly absorbs energy from the system's true sun. Its previous controllers have abandoned it, and thus far, attempts to deactivate or reorient it have failed. As its only possible function is to destroy the planet which the Conservation Front inhabits, halting and destroying it is a primary goal for the organization. However, discovering how it works, as well as why its original creators abandoned it here after its clear success, must occur first.

Unique Ability — Cambrian Codex

All members of the Cambria Conservation Front are given a scanner. Its functions are crucial to the CCF's mission. It has the ability to DNA sequence a lifeform on physical contact, and also scan the physical makeup of nonorganic objects within a range of one meter, allowing it to identify artefacts found on the planet. All data taken by the scanner is sent to The Codex, located within the Planetary Headquarters, and is shared amongst all members of the Front.

If used off-planet, data gathered is stored and readable locally, and not shared with the Codex.

Unique Ability — Companion Microchip

Members of the Conversation Front will have ample opportunity to befriend the local wildlife. However, no animal on the planet is domesticated — in order to facilitate keeping an animal as a pet, a special microchip is needed. Each group member receives one such chip, and is encouraged to use it wisely, as new species are being discovered every day. The chip is created after a member uses their scanner on themselves, identifying it with their own biosignature. Afterwards, an animal that the Front member wishes to take as a pet must be transported to headquarters, and implanted with it.

It is important to note that the chip does not control the animal's mind — it only allows them to be convinced that the attached Front member is not a threat to them, unless action is taken to the contrary. This allows them to be handled and trained as though they were a domesticated animal, but they retain their free will, and may even see a human who is 'not a threat' as simply an easy meal.

For this reason, it is advised that voracious or especially vicious carnivores be excluded from bonding. Moreover, each Front member is fully responsible for the actions of their companion.

Territory — Cambria

A blasted planet writhing in the throes of a war long past. It no longer has anything to offer, save for the meat of starving beasts.

Its atmospheric composition is high in oxygen, as well as water vapor due to the evaporation of much of the planet's ocean. The air is humid, and the surface is covered almost entirely by clouds. While it once had two moons, they were both destroyed in the war long past, and now surround the planet as an asteroid ring, meteorites occasionally falling out of orbit. Meteor showers are a common sight on the surface, ranging from beautiful to devastating depending on their mass.

The average temperature during the day is around 50°C in most areas, and a long day cycle, as well as the presence of the Second Sun, means that comparatively little time on the surface is spent in a cool night. Its size and gravity are not noticeably different from those of the three main planets. The surface is traversible without protective gear, though uncomfortably, due to the high temperature and humidity.

Members

@SIGINT — Jane Hyder (Leader)
@Normie — Dr. Elenwen

Anyone up for dinosaur planet?

Of course. The group thread isn't up yet, though.

Anyone up for dinosaur planet?

We're still designing it, but I think what we have right now is mostly post-meteor dinoplanet + destroyed/salvageable tech from a previous humanoid occupation.

That said, you do you. The planet is supposed to be defined by the participants to an extent.

Still co-drafting the group submission.