Nadir wheezes loudly as he thinks on this. "One of the small far domes, I think. But last I heard he was trying to stir up something in Jessup..."

Denny:
Sure enough, when you see the vids of Basanos (when QTube finally loads, that is!) you realize that you have seen him in passing on the streets of downtown Jessup. He is a broad, muscular man, probably in his thirties, his skin tanned in the Qeteshi sun. In his videos he frequently rails against the already-rich families who dominate the farm workers and have sold themselves to NME sponsorship in the hopes of getting richer.

In one video he burns an image of a man named Jonas Quark, a landowner in NME's pocket. Basanos also called on the Protectorate to intervene on the people's behalf.

"This Basanos sounds like a right firebrand needed in these times. Any more country club deals and might as well call the whole of Qetesh one big plantation." Jolene shakes her head at the thought of that, "Boils me up at the thought of the little man having nowhere free to do for them and theirs without big house and city hall interference."

"Mind if I look over you as you research, Denny?" Jolene tentatively saddles on over to Denny and his rig, getting out her compad for notes and additional research. "I'd like y'all to share some intel on this job, as it signals how far big interests will go to silence the little guy. Gives a sense how fast we may need to outrun their reach when selling X Cells."

"I'll sniff out Mrs. Basanos' den and vitals to save a bit of time..." Turns to Dr. Nadir with a ruminating face, "Sure is a lot of caves involved in things now. Both qweevils and NME basements; next you know Mr. Basanos'll be in one. I best help suss out a run down of the known dangers of Qeteshi cave systems, too."

OOC: Will do a skill check for intel on Mrs. Basanos, location, job, history, connections, enemies, noticeable likes/dislikes. Checking for any leads or foul play.

Will also check for Qeteshi cave knowledge: weird critters, travel dangers, variety, particularly known nearby cave systems and geologic strata. Special note on qweevils, their hazards and removal. Will keep an eye on any caves leading toward Q-Town, and NME warehouse especially.

Blinov bides by imbibing Blueberry Bubble Bluster.

The last videos Denny pulls up catch Basanos at a different angle--with his jacket off and no long sleeves to conceal it, the man's right arm reflects the sun, revealing a black metallic sheen.

"Sold him that arm," Nadir says with a nod of recognition. "He'd saved up all he had to pay for it." He shakes his head.

Jolene:

Your search is well thorough, and you've pinpointed Basanos's origin to the far-outlying dome of Sandor, clear on the other side of Raleigh. As for Mrs. Basanos, your search suggests that there is no Mrs. Basanos. There is no record of marriage, no tags in public images. The only females Basanos has ever been publically linked to are fellow protestors, none of them romantically.
 
(OOC: Tunnel system infoin my next post.)

"Well don't that just beat all. This Mrs. Basanos is about as visible as a raccoon shadow at midnight." Turns again to Dr. Nadir with the query plain on her face, "Who sent the message, and how was it sent? Any video of the person delivering it?"

Offers her compad for others to read the results, "From what I can find there is no Mrs. Basanos. And there's no real lead on who in his life it could be. Just how much shade does this sapling cast?"

"It was just a regular message to my business q-mail account," Nadir explains. "I don't give it out to just anyone, so I presumed this 'Missus' got it from her husband..."

"Unless it were some elaborate trap, I don't know why one would lie about being married to Basanos. With the enemies he's made among the upper crust, why would someone make themselves a target by association like that?"

***

Meanwhile, the info on the tunnels and caverns of Qetesh comes through. Qetesh's crust and mantle are full of round, winding tunnels and smooth caverns, which records assume were carved several thousand years ago by the planet's giant qwurms, titanic annelids believed extinct. There is a system that runs very close to Q-Town, and one that stretches from Jessup and past your Perimeter Base bunker. You can access this system from your Base.

Given Qetesh's extremely low atmosphere there are few critters in the wild, but those who lurk in the caverns can be pretty hardy. Like qweevils, for example.

Qweevils are Dachshund-sized bugs, well adapted to low atmosphere. They tend to travel by scurrying, or curling into a ball and rolling through the undulating tunnels. Their calcified carapaces are quite sturdy and resistant to blunt impact, but the best way to kill qweevils is by piercing their shells. Also, qweevil queens are the key to quickly ending an infestation. Removing the queen alive and transporting her to another location will cause the demotivated bugs in her swarm to disperse, breaking their community and causing them to leave the area in search of a new queen. Killing a qweevil queen may end an infestation outright, but field studies are inconclusive on this point.

Blinov winces at the qweevil data. It sounds like a lot of medic work waiting to happen.

Denny walks over to some equipment and starts to tinker. It seems that his best thinking is done while fixing and working with his hands ... And then he says

" I remember seeing this Basanos in Jessup, I didn't really know who he was at the time. He must not have been from there since most of the farmer's had my father work on their equipment at sometime. That of course was the case up until a few years ago when my father died and his business partner took over leaving me and my mother with nothing... I could still ask around to some of the older farmers who remember me and my dad coming out to work for them... If they heard what Basanos' Business was in Jessup...If it was was recent it could be related to his dissappearance...then again since we really don't know who this woman reportedly... Reporting him as missing really is, maybe we should start in his hometown of Sandor. I also think we should look into Quark's homestead for any clues...with the recent burning of his image might create a motive...

As for the Qweevils... It wouldn't hurt to make few extra $credits. But since yall are scientists we should approach it from a scientific angle... So we know relocating a queen will work, but why not see what happens if we just exterminate her, create an experiment per se... A way to observe the results...

Of course they don't pay me fer thinkin like that... I'm just a farmboy who fixes thangs...just tell me where to go and what to fix...on a side note... Does that diagram of the tunnels show that the underground lab yall mentioned nme has going on and the tunnel system? Could those be the same thing?? Or a wày to access it??"

From the map you have of the tunnels it looks like they run under the spaceyard and NME's office, thus overlapping the assumed location of the NME bunker as well.

***

Spanner stands up, a look of realization in his face. "Oh...I forgot! I brought a few trinkets from Adonis for y'all...I'll be right back!" He departs for the garage and returns with a pair of large burlap bags with faded cargo tracking numbers stamped on the sides.

He digs through the bags and removes an item for each of the Agents:

• To Aleksandr, he hands a long sleek firearm, an organically shaped black rifle with a rounded handle. "For our resident hero soldier. I'm...like, not really sure how good it works," Spanner admits. "But it takes regular rifle ammo. If you ever test it out, let me know if it's any good!"
  
• To Jolene, he offers a small green gem-like object, playfully tossing it in the air and catching it before handing it to the scientist. He then presents a second one. "These were at the Ushan Surplus tent at the Xeno-Market. They're some sort of illumination tech, maybe like Ushan nightlights!"
  
• To Blinov he fans out a stack of cards. "I found these Pre-Mandate Era cards for you, but since you're psychic you probably knew that already. The trader said they were coming back into fashion on the Concordat Worlds." The cards have shiny, iridescent images on them and are emblazoned with weird titles like "The Empress" and "The Hierophant." As you flick through the cards, the characters on the images actually move, performing a cycle of rote motions.
  
• To Denny, Spanner shrugs. "Ah, sorry man. I didn't know you were gonna be joining us. But I found this old vaccsuit I was going to keep in the storage room--hey, why don't you keep it?" He hands Denny a sleek vaccsuit, dark red with golden racing-stripes running down the arms and legs.
  

Quote from: Mr. Kent;754735

• To Blinov he fans out a stack of cards. "I found these Pre-Mandate Era cards for you, but since you're psychic you probably knew that already. The trader said they were coming back into fashion on the Concordat Worlds." The cards have shiny, iridescent images on them and are emblazoned with weird titles like "The Empress" and "The Hierophant." As you flick through the cards, the characters on the images actually move, performing a cycle of rote motions.
  

Blinov immediately shuffles and draws a card, feeling the moment is right to get some cosmic insight into the group's next best course of action. He's thinking of the qweevils. What does he draw Mr. Kent?

It doesn't seem to have a name like some of the others you've seen--instead, it is simply titled "Nine", but the word is upside down. As you touch it, the card's image springs to holographic life, lifting about an inch off of the card's surface.

An utterly distressed woman looks up at you, then buries her face in her hands. She is above, dangling over flickering objects--nine swords. They rotate beneath her like a grinder awaiting fresh meat, and the woman begins to lower towards the blades. She looks up at you, as if to entreat you to do something about her situation. Then the image flickers and the animation begins again.

Quote from: Mr. Kent;754809It doesn't seem to have a name like some of the others you've seen--instead, it is simply titled "Nine", but the word is upside down. As you touch it, the card's image springs to holographic life, lifting about an inch off of the card's surface.

An utterly distressed woman looks up at you, then buries her face in her hands. She is above, dangling over flickering objects--nine swords. They rotate beneath her like a grinder awaiting fresh meat, and the woman begins to lower towards the blades. She looks up at you, as if to entreat you to do something about her situation. Then the image flickers and the animation begins again.

Blinov blurts out, "I'm getting a vibe here - the qweevil job is probably more than it appears at first glance. There's something more serious than crops at stake, but we should be careful about who we trust if we investigate it further."

"Allright!, time to get to work!" Exclaims Denny

OOC: Would like to roll a skill check on postech to examine everyone's vaccsuit in preparation for the trip

[OOC: As it stands, the other three agents are not using vaccsuits, only O2 tanks--the inert gas of the atmosphere is not harmful despite being unbreathable.

Basic FYI: Denny, the suit Spanner gave you comes with its own built in tank. The vaccsuit grants protection from radiation and has a built-in radio, and luckily you've got the skills to negate any encumbrance penalties. It's AC 7, same as your leatherjack.

For all: I'll say again for your convenience--Aleksandr/Blinov/Jolene each have 2 hours of oxygen left in your main 02 tanks, with the 3 3hr minitanks remaining. Denny has a 6hr main tank.]

Night passes quickly, and you all get a restful sleep, despite anticipation for the next day's activities.

When you awaken, Dr. Ling greets you in the common room, having awakend early to prepare Nadir's meds for the day. Spanner is still in bed. Modia, being a sleepless artificial entity, stirs within the Orrery.

Denny yawns and scratches himself as he gets a cup of Q-bucks Java for everyone he states

"Good morning Doc, Good mornin all...yall need to spend some time on the farm i've been up for 3 hours checking equipment and tightening screws... Them Qwow's don't milk themselves thats fo sho....so where we off to first?"