Starforged Solo: Session 4
A swift hoverbike and an abandoned campsite.
From the Journal of Zaramirra Wolfe
Day Two of expedition:
I wake at dawn, a restless night of sleep and strange dreams. These visions, or vivid flashbacks, mean nothing to me thus far. The early morning cold on the tundra is something that will take some getting used to. Ria is also unaccustomed to this kind of clean, cool air — her processors are slow to warm up — as if a bot could complain about the weather. I eat a small rationed meal packed in cloth from Murad’s farm, and then set out with a new purpose and determination. I know what’s waiting for me out there. I can’t help but feel I need to get there faster before I miss it.
This new speed somehow transfers to my borrowed hover bike — I am an exobiologist, I know how energy transfers work — but at this moment I can’t help indulging in this magical way of thinking. I hope to the stars I’m not showing any latent Paragon traits. I put it out of my mind and surge ahead across the tundra.
Inexplicably, the thrust from the morning’s journey has sustained me and my bike through till evening. I cross a significance distance of the northern tundra without a single encounter. But as the perfect sun begins its descent over the mountains in the distance, I come across what looks like an abandoned camp or outpost. It’s true purpose is unclear as I slow my bike a safe distance from the area in order to get a better scope. I ask Ria to make a distance scan, checking for any life forms, standard protocol. I notice small, crystalline patterns of frost forming on the bot’s metal casing. The lights make the crystals sparkle in the twilight. I make a mental note to run a full diagnostic on her processors when we get back. After what she assures me is a thorough scan, confirming the camp is abandoned, I take the bike in slowly, hoping that we might find a better shelter for the night that has become increasingly colder.
*Explore a waypoint
Entering the camp, I feel better when I notice that most of what has been left looks thoroughly unkempt and weatherbeaten, just as Ria had pointed out with her scan. But as I make my way deeper into the abandoned enclave, holding out my personal scanner for good measure, I find a few disturbing signs. Large empty crates marked with the foreboding branding of the Covenant, all bearing traces of some kind of aerosol chemical spray. The sheer number of discarded crates and packaging now left to rot reveal a frantic, desperate endeavor to move these chemicals onto the tundra, no doubt in the direction of the recent Balefire surge.
I catch sight of a chart that has come unpinned from a nearby, and makeshift, briefing post. High seismic activity. Very similar, if not more so, to what I felt near the gorge last night. I realize the Covenant has beat me to it. Do I dare risk the last leg of the journey without a proper rest? I’m so tired that when I look to the horizon I imagine that what I see is actual Balefire on the mountains. I ask myself, have I ever truly encountered a Balefire phenomenon in the wild, or is this simply another phantom, another glitch in my brain that I can’t shake? The scanner sounds loudly, I have to make a decision now. I remember dad’s old journal for some reason. Not a good time for nostalgia I think and turn to Ria and tell her that we’re not making camp for the night.