GOAL:
To investigate the disappearance of Sunday, following an ill-fated venture with Crow that left them separated and severely injured by wild Canids.

 

SUMMARY:

An ill-fated scouting party known as Delta entirely disappeared, and efforts from Graeme, Io, and Kagei to recover their whereabouts provided fruitless. Left expecting the worst for the fate of their friends, numerous sightings of large groups of Canids on the perimeter left Salus in a heightened state of vigilance. 

 

This context however did not stop Crow and Sunday from venturing out on a day trip to collect salvage from a marked wreckage. When the duo did not return home three days later, alarms were raised, especially when Crow returned on the brink of death at the Salusian gates. His story was confusing and concerning, but highlighted the urgency of searching for Sunday if there were any hopes of finding him alive. 

 

Graeme and Kagei gathered a party of scouts to search for the still-missing Sunday, following a trail of blood, tattered clothing, a corpse strapped to an augmented Canid, and a severed hand in a box… wearing Sunday’s ring. This discovery spoke to a more malicious source than wild mechanical dogs. It was at this point the group received an SOS signal in morse code, stemming from an unknown source in a dilapidated warehouse nearby.

 

Inside the warehouse, the two teams Gallus and Blue Flame split up and explored, finding a Canid with a broken leg which was seemingly tame, and a self-aware AI entity. Kagei shared that she had once worked on AI technology before being betrayed by her former leader. 

 

Once gathered back in the main hall of the warehouse, the groups noticed a man above, holding Sunday hostage and in poor condition. He was revealed as Cillian O’Sullivan, a former Martian politician with a long-standing grudge against the Elizondo family, and a treacherous history with Graeme. Flanked by an ex-Martian soldier named Astrid, the group accosted Cillian and asked about his intentions. The warehouse was populated with his own reprogrammed Canid machines, showcasing his immense prowess as both a technician and a tactician. A shot was fired against Benji, hitting him in the shoulder— after which a chase ensued. Sunday was pushed over the railing, thankfully caught, but in critical condition after his other injuries from Cillian.

 

The warehouse was teeming and swarming with altered guards which the groups fought through to ultimately reach Cillian. When they found him, Graeme had him on the ground, arguing bitterly with him. It was revealed that Cillian was responsible for the death of Graeme’s young daughter and wife. He was on the verge of killing the man — but the group managed to talk him down from a regrettably public murder. It was decided that Cillian would be brought back to Salus and dealt with there. 

 

Despite the mass of injuries in the group, they returned to Salus all alive and emboldened by their massive boon of resources from the warehouse. 

 

OUTCOMES:
 

- The Warehouse, a dilapidated location with supplies and old shipments from both Mars and settlements,. [ Members gained a medkit, letters from Martian officials, scrap metal to be used. ]
- Kagei’s A.I, an old project abandoned when she was left for dead by Cillian. [ Broken, and not repaired.]
- Augmented Canids, reprogrammed and repurposed. The group gained three new companions. [ISO.Ns Gundog, CRICKET, and Astrids guardian AXEL ]

- Programming Wisdom from Cillian about safely rewriting Canid code.
- Sunday, found in critical condition but alive. His hand was also recovered with his ring.

- Cillian O’Sullivan, who was defeated and jailed.

-  Astrid, a quiet but fierce prisoner who knew Kagei and had a history serving Cillian. 

-  A gold microchip salvaged from the boulder-crushed guardian.

-  A pink ribbon and dog tags from Matthew, a deceased member of Team Delta.

- A blood-stained letter addressed to a Mister Garcia, talking about biomes and funding from Mars.

- Information about the whereabouts of Delta, suggesting they all had perished in a fateful encounter with Cillian’s guards.

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