A Cold Day

Thousands of--!

Ash leans hard against the huge warstrider, half hugging it, half supporting herself.

With difficulty, she manages to keep her voice calm. "Thunder doesn't joke. Well, this explains why the Essence batteries are dead."
 
Justinian, having stepped out of his pod, puts a hand to his head in shock. "Thousands...that was most certainly not the original plan. Something else must have happened. But on the bright side, we're not dead." He turns to Ash and says "Any idea what might have caused all this?"
 
"The Essence circuits aboard Scattered Petals were supposed to re-synchronize automatically with the ones in this room on the first day of Ascending Air, 3717. As long as the Titan had any Essence to expend, that is." Ash rubs her chin, a habit of hers when she's thinking. "The only explanation I can think of is that Scattered Petals has been completely without power for millennia."
 
Weiss seems to be doing her best not to totally freak out, but she is obviously on the brink of a meltdown. She seems to be talking to herself, and not realizing it. "Ok. Ok. Thousands of years instead of two hundred. Power failure of the Titan which was never supposed to be able to happen. Get a grip, girl. We are Exalts, and we still have a job to do." In a slightly louder voice, she says, "Ok. We went into this expecting to have to retake Creation from the Dragon Blooded that were going to overthrow the Deliberative, and we have enough money and equipment here to outfit an army with artifact weapons. Unfortunately, the Titan might now be off the table of our usable assets, depending on what kind of damage might have led to a power failure. We will have to get some usable intel on the status of Creation before we jump out and wave our banner."

She holds out her and and summons her Glaive from Elsewhere. "I am going to open the airlock door. We need to find out what the status of the Titan is, and we can't do that from in here. Everyone, stand ready. Luna only knows what might be lying in wait for us out there."

Once she has the go-ahead from the three Solars, Weiss will go to the door. With one last look back at Khutulun, she palms the controls of the door to cycle it open.
 
After a moment's pause, Justinian turns to Weiss and motions to her to stop. "Well, hang on. We should still at least have a go at powering on this Titan before we abandon it. Me and Ash should head to the control room to make certain that the Titan isn't salvageable. It's possible that it's Essence accumulators are still functional. In the meantime, Weiss and Khutulun should scout the surrounding area and make sure nothing threatens our immediate position."
 
"Well," Ash says, "we may not have power, but at least we have a plan." That determinedly cheerful tone was back in her voice again. "Nobody's talking about abandoning anything yet, Justinian. But we should definitely suit up before Weiss cracks that door. After all, when it closed, there was a squad of grumpy fateweavers on the other side."
 
Weiss nods in agreement. "Very well." Turning to Khutulun, she says, "M'lady, once you are set, I stand ready to go investigate the status of the Titan with you. Should we wait for our Essence to fully recover? We have slept for Luna only knows how many years; two more hours of us meditating couldn't hurt. Then, if we do run into anything hostile out there, we will all be ready to deal with those foolish enough to cross blades with us. In the meantime, I can try something to see if the Titan has any major structural damage done to it."

With that, Weiss places her hand upon the wall next to the door and channels a few motes of Essence into her Charm Eye and Fingertip Wisdom.
 
Using your Charm, you are able to get a feeling for the layout of the Titan. From what you can sense, you can tell that the structure of the floating citadel is intact, with no breaks in the outer hull. There does not appear to be any damage to the ship. If there was any, the self-healing effects of the outer hull has successfully repaired it all.

With the door still shut, are you going to spend some time to recover your Peripheral Essence? If so, how long do you wait?
 
Letting her hand drop, Weiss looks over her shoulder. "Well, the good news is, I don't feel any breaks in the outer hull. Whatever happened to cause the power loss, it was not due to the structure being destroyed. Besides," she points at the dim lights in the room that are lit, "we do have some power flowing in here, but I don't know how to tell if it is internal power left over from our own Essence or if it is coming in from the Titan's power supply itself."
 
"M'lady, is it Weiss?" Khutulun asks with a smirk, "I thought I'd gotten you to stop calling me that millennia ago. To answer your question, though, I honestly don't think it's necessary. The outer hull is OK, and our first order of business is to investigate the Titan itself, not its surroundings. It's unlikely that anything's made it through the hull if it's undamaged, so our immediate surroundings are unlikely to be a threat. That said, I am going to armor up before we go anywhere," she finishes and goes to don her Celestial Battle Armor.
 
"'I honestly don't think it's necessary' were my previous incarnation's last words, did I ever tell you that?" jokes Ash. "All right, then, if you're certain."

All the same, when she cracks open her stored equipment, she deliberately chooses items with a low commitment cost, or none at all.

It's strange, pulling out a long leather duster, to think that these items -- some of them not even artifacts! -- are thousands of years old and have lain waiting for her here all this time.

I'll be back soon, Thunder. That's a promise. And when I get back you and I are getting out of here.
 
With Khutulun now in her Celestial Battle Armor, Weiss can now press the switch to open the sealed airlock door. A wave of thick, musty air hits you, but nothing else comes into the sleeping chamber. It is very dark in the outer chamber, with just a trickle of light coming out of the room you are currently in to light it up. At one time, this chamber was used as a storage room, with extra supplies for the Titan piled up inside. As you look out, you can see that there are only a few crates left in this room, and that all the crates in the place have been smashed up against one side.

Farther out, as you move to the hallway, you can see an occasional flicker of red emergency lighting spaced out at intervals along the corridor. It appears that this entire level of the Titan is set into its power saving mode, but it is getting some power from the Essence reactors.

As you pair off, with Weiss and Khutulun in one group, and Ash and Justinian in the other, where to each of you go?
 
With a quiet step, Weiss moves out into the hallway and looks up and down the corridor. "I wonder if we can get some lights working in this section." She looks about for a control panel on the wall and tries it out to see if it is working. As she does so, she looks to the others and says, "I think it would be best if Khutulun and I head to the control room while Ash and Justinian go to the power core. Between the two teams, we should be able to diagnose any problems well enough to see if the internal communication system can be brought back up and coordinate our efforts to examine the Titan. What do you guys think? Does that sound good?"
 
"Works for me," Ash says, peering at the control panel over Weiss's shoulder. "Just remember, these beasties take a lot of tender loving care by a lot of people. Noncritical systems would be the first to be disabled if it wasn't getting what it needs, and they'd be the last to come back on when it gets fixed. I'm not an expert on the directional Titans, but anything this large will need a large repair crew."
 
Examining the panel, you see that the section of the station is completely shut down. You might be able to supply your own energy into it for a little while until the power flow is fully restored. In the meantime, you will need to provide your own light or stumble around in the dark.

You do know that with the power out, the elevators will be locked in place for safety, forcing you to use the stairs to access the other levels.
 
Going back into the room with their gear, Weiss breaks out a handful of flashlights and tucks a few into one of her many pockets, then passes out the others to the rest of the team. "Here. Lets use these instead of using our own anima glow to light our way. Even when I'm in my eagle form, I still need some light to be able to see by. Also, I have a bunch of Echo Jewels to be able to talk to one another while we are separated.
The Echo Jewels are in the Scrolls of Fallen Races, just a 1 dot artifact each, and I'm assuming that the flashlights won't be a problem with as useful and everywhere they are in our world.
"Now, the nearest stairs are just down the hall by the lifts at the end of the bulkhead. The Command Bubble is up, and the power core is thataway."
 
The flashlights are fine, and the Echo Jewels are a good idea.
Moving through the dark corridors of the Titan is a bit unnerving. You are used to seeing brightly lit halls filled with busy crew members, instead, you find the place empty, almost like a ghost town. Very creepy. Makes you wonder just what happened to the crew of nearly 4,000. So far, there is no sign of them.


The Power Core
Ash and Justinian head deeper into the heart of the massive fortress, you see that there is no signs of anyone at all, and the power is out across the whole station. It doesn't take too long to reach the armored chamber that house the main Essence reactors, but it feels like it takes much longer than it does in the gloomy darkness. The massive doors that allow access are closed and locked. When you begin to examine the door to try and find a way to open it, you spot a symbol carved into the metal of the doorframe. You can recognize it as Lunar Claw Speak, but neither one of you know what it says.

The lock appears to be in need of some power in order to open, and Ash knows that you can ether place a hearthstone into the panel or channel your own Essence into the system to power the door.


The Command and Control Center
Weiss and Khutulun start the long climb up the stairs towards CnC. Each level you pass by is dark, with only the occasional emergency light providing any other illumination for you, and there is no sign of any crew, either living or dead. It would appear that the whole place had been evacuated a long, long time ago.

When you finally reach the command deck, you also come across a closed door that has been sealed up long ago. It will require you to either put a hearthstone into the door panel to power it, or to channel your own power into the controls to try and open the door. Looking at the wall, you also see a mark carved into the metal doorframe. Weiss immediately recognize it as Lunar Claw Speak, and what the symbol says is clear as day to you.

Mine.

What do you do now?
 
Weiss kneels down to get a closer look at the claw marks in the wall. Then, she says over the Echo Jewel, "Guys, we are at the entrance the command center, and you should be aware that we may not be alone in here. Khutulun and I have found a sigil carved into the wall in Claw Speak that basically says 'mine'. It looks like some time ago, a Lunar came in here and has laid claim to the Titan as his or her territory. The Exalt that did this may have left, but lets not bet our lives on it. Speaking of lives, have you guys come across any sign of what happened to the crew? We've seen nothing, not even a body."
 
"Can you tell how old that mark is?" Khutulun asks Weiss even as her eyes move around the corridor for any changes. "Also, I have a Heathstone which would probably work," she adds and hold out a smooth, dull-brown stone speckled with black.

OOC: It's my Gemstone of Last Resort, a level 2 Fire stone which lets me ignore wound penalties.
 
As Weiss examines the claw marking, she can tell that this has been scored into the surface of the wall many years ago. It is difficult to get an estimate on just when it happened, since there is little in the way of leftover evidence to look at. Best guess is that it has been done scores of years ago, perhaps even longer.

At the same time, Khutulun takes her hearthstone and inserts it into the control panel with a click. It takes a few moments for the Essence energy to flow into the system, but it does work to light up the controls and a few lights in the hallway. The door is code locked from the inside, done by the Dragon Blooded Chief of Security that your Circle had put into his position to help you keep control of the Titan for when you were supposed to wake up. This gives you an idea of what the code might be, as you used various cyphers to be able to communicate with others involved in your conspiracy without the rest of Creation being able to eavesdrop on your conversations. Using one, Khutulun is able to unlock the door and gain access to the Command Center.

This chamber is large in order to be able to not only operate the primary systems of the Titan, but to be able to coordinate the actions of dozens of airships keeping the skies safe around the Titan and any ground units that have been deployed to enforce the will of the Deliberative. The center of the room is a massive holographic display system used to keep tabs on the surrounding territory, both in the air and on the ground, with smaller displays located around it for the various communication operators to be able to keep connected with the ships in their sector.

It is in this room you now come across the first signs of any human remains. There are a pair of figures seated in here, one in the Captain's Throne, and the second is in one of the air traffic control seats. Both are long dead, with their bodies nearly mummified by the passage of time. The Jade armor and Daiklaves that they both have on them would indicate that the two were Dragon Blooded officers of the ship. They are both slumped over in their seats with no signs of violence to either body. By the symbols on their armor, you can identify them as two members of the conspiracy, Security Chief Marcus and Station Commander Dunn. If Thunder's estimate of how long has passed is correct, they would have both died a long time ago just from old age.

You both know that there are several hearthstone sockets in here that you can use to provide emergency power to the command center. At least that way might be able to give you access to crew logs and see if the station's AI spirit is still 'alive'.
 
"Hmm. I don't pretend to be an expert in Lunar customs, but I'm pretty sure not even Admiral Leviathan goes around--went around--" will I ever get used to this? "--leaving graffiti all over Luthe," Ash observes a bit archly. After a moment's analysis she slides her hearthstone out of the amulet.

"I'd really hoped to hang onto it a bit longer and regain Essence--but I also really want a peek past this door!"
 
With a loud click, the hearthstone slips into place on the control panel and begins to provide power to it. After a moment, you are able to work the mechanism to open the door. It reveals the main reactor room, and you can hear and feel the dull thrum of the Essence reactors working. There is plenty of lights on in here, along with multiple operating screens showing the status of the reactors. It doesn't take Ash long to look over the displays and see that the levitation motors are working at normal power levels, but the rest of the station's power supplies have been put into sleep mode for safe keeping. From what you can see, it shouldn't be too difficult to put the Titan back at normal operational power levels.
 
...if we had a crew.

Ash touches her echo jewel. "Weiss, we're in the engine room. The Titan's Essence reactors are functional, but all noncritical systems except the paramagnetic levitation beams are in hibernation mode. Basically, we're idling in midair.

"The good news is, nothing seems to be broken. With enough skilled hands, I can get Petals up and running again, without major refitting." Left unsaid is the fact that it will take a lot of skilled hands.
 
Weiss nods to herself. "Thank you, Lady Ash. That, at least, is a bit of good news. We have accessed the Command and Control center, and there are two bodies in here that would appear to be the Commander and Chief of Security of the Titan. There is no obvious signs of a struggle; they seem to have just died as they sit in their seats. I will examine them shortly to see what secrets the may be able to still share with us. But first, lets see if the AI of this place is still working." She moves over to the holo-display tank in the center of the chamber and pulls out her Stone of the Earthweb. Looking over at Khutulun, she says, "Lets see if this stone is enough to bring the holo-tank to life."

Gently placing the stone into one of the many receptacles, the Lunar steps back to see the response from the system. As she waits for the power to flow once more, Weiss continues to maintain her watch around them.
 
"They must have left logs," Khutulun says, addressing Weiss. "But I think external sensors should probably be our first priority, we need to know if we're still in Creation. Hell, if there even is a Creation any more." She shivers at the thought.

"Ash," she continues after a short pause, "I can start summoning elementals pretty much any time if that would help constitute a crew."
 
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