Genesys RPG Session Report – Salvage, Session 5

The following Genesys RPG session report in the Salvage world setting, is based on the Hebrew posts written by my awesome player Daniel, and translated using Google Translate (some editing by me). Thanks a lot again Daniel!

Link to original Hebrew posts: https://tinyurl.com/yyx726mz

Catch up with previous session reports:
Salvage Sessions 0+1 Report
Salvage, Session 2 Report
Salvage, Session 3 Report
Salvage, Session 4 Report

SPOILER ALERT! Sort of. Even though I heavily changed or just straight made up large chunks of this campaign’s story, players who plan to play in the Salvage setting might learn a few canon details that their GM wouldn’t necessarily want their characters to know.

Richard, the Valkyrie astronomer, reveals in detail all the information he has gathered about the third menacing sun, rapidly approaching Omega. He explains that he has tried to make this information public, but no one actually wanted to believe it. He tried to contact politicians, specifically someone named Dave Thompson, but they all just grinned and ignored his findings. Jericho realizes that indeed his calling of saving humanity must be true, and that he did not receive psychic powers by accident — but that he was actually destined to be the Messiah of Omega who would bring them to salvation!

In order to spread the word around Petra, they decide to put together a powerful and persuasive short video that will brief the population of the upcoming disaster, hinting at more details to be later revealed about the fate of humanity. The video ends on an inspiring note, promising that if humanity works together, salvation is guaranteed.
With the help of Jericho’s twin sons, who turn out to be technological and social networking wizards, the video is distributed throughout Petra and Valkyrie, and is a huge success, turning the characters into minor celebrities on Omega!

While the video virally spreads throughout the colony, the group continues their way to Dr. Su-Chi, who lives on the edge of Valkyrie in a secluded apartment. When they call on the intercom, a suspecting face appears in front of them. Su-Chi first tries to get rid of them, only agreeing to let them in once they mention that Freebrain sent them.
As they enter, Su-Chi stares in amazement at Cam’s Onai gloves and Ho’led’s alien rifle. He begins to examine them eagerly and inquire where they found all this priceless Onai technology. He explains that he has been researching Onai technology for decades and in fact he was the one who figured out how to utilize the energy from the alien Biolumicron. The characters reveal to him that they have found another source of Biolumicron and that Omega is most likely going to be destroyed soon by the third sun — they need Su-Chi’s help to reactivate an ancient Onai spaceship in the jungle somewhere on the equator. Su-chi is excited learning about the Onai technology, but insistently refuses when he realizes that Ho’led is actually asking him to accompany them on their journey to the spaceship. Su-Chi stutters and says he dislikes going outside his apartment, but Ho’led compliments him and says his Onai knowledge is invaluable and that he will be critical in saving humanity!
Incidentally, Jericho, who is less technological, asks Su-Chi if he can adjust the Onai space-suit they found at the ruins. Su-Chi jumps at the opportunity and puts Jericho in the center of a strange apparatus with several robotic arms and sensors that start scanning Jericho’s body and fitting the suit for him!
Cam inquries whether Biolumicron can be used as an energy source for vehicles, and whether Su-Chi can fit them with a Biolumicron-based engine. Su-Chi says this is quite possible, and that even a minimal amount of Biolumicron will provide almost infinite energy for one of the desert vehicles! He will start working on it — so they will have means of transportation to the equator. Ho’led points out that it must take a lot of energy to operate the spacecraft, and no one knows if the spacecraft has its own energy source.
Su-Chi reveals to them a location of another lost alien ruin, north of Petra, in an area called The Blades, where scans found large traces of Biolumicron. Jericho prefers to gamble and immediately go explore the jungles and find the Onai spaceship but after some deliberation, Cam and Ho’led convince him to go explore Su-Chi’s location first.
Shortly before they leave, Ho’led realizes Su-Chi is also researching the Rifts and the creatures that come through them. Cam decides to give Su-Chi a small sample of the Oiler that attacked them in Petra. Su-Chi looks at the swatch enthusiastically and says it’s the freshest sample he has ever got!
As they exit, Cam notices that one of the doors at the back of the apartment leads to a store room full of robots’ parts. Su-chi apparently also makes a living from building and maintaining Esso.

After about a day’s journey north, they camp near the cliffs marking the edge of The Blades, within which the alien ruin is located. Cam is on guard at night, not needing to sleep at all … Shortly after midnight he hears the sound of footsteps near the camp, he scans with his sensors and detects an approaching human figure, with a rifle in their hands. He wakes his friends and as they get ready for a confrontation, suddenly, the voice of a young woman calls out to them from the night — asking what they are doing here. They shout back to the shadows that they came to explore the place from Petra. Upon hearing the name of the city, a young girl quickly approaches them, introducing herself as Tania. She’s eager and excited to hear their stories about Petra. It turns out she has lived her entire life in this area with her Uncle Oscar, and has never visited the city.
She eventually takes them to her uncle, who lives at the top of the cliffs in a rickety cabin filled with scavenged Onai technology. In the center of the cabin rests a Biolumicron device, similar to the one they found in the alien spacecraft, but without the actual alien fuel itself. They convince Uncle Oscar to take them to the place where he found the device. He explains that he has been researching the nearby Onai ruins for years, discovering a secret entrance that allows him to avoid the murderous robot guarding the place — enter from above!
They follow Uncle Oscar across the top of The Blades, and carefully manage to traverse the difficult terrain, when Cam detects a convoy of vehicles in the distance to the south — making their way towards them. They realize that time is of the essence and hope that the Onai guardian robots will be able to delay or stop the convoy before it reaches them. Oscar leads them to a hidden entrance from one of the cliffs, which leads them in and down the alien structure, to where Oscar found the device. They eventually reach an elongated corridor, at one end of which there is an alcove where the device used to be attached. From there two pipes lead to the other side of the corridor and to a central hall — the entrance of which is blocked by a massive door. Oscar says he was never able to crack the computer access terminal. Ho’led starts studying the computer terminal and realizes that it’s a specific Onai code they need to enter. Oscar says he was afraid that if he made a mistake in the code, it would trigger some sort of defense mechanism, so to this day he has never tried to use it, but only explored the other halls of this structure.
After a long hour of cooperation, using Ho’led and Uncle Oscar’s Onai knowledge, Jericho’s intuition and Cam’s computer skills, they anxiously type in the code and to their delight the door opens!
Meanwhile, a battle begins outside the structure between the Onai sentinel robots and the convoy they detected earlier.

Inside a circular large hall they discover a long line of computers that circle the center of the room, where there is a raised stage. Around the outer walls are five more doors at regular intervals, four of which have the same pipes as in the hallway they came from. Only from one of the corridors there is still light shinning — which indicates that there is still Biolumicron!
Ho’led and Cam examine the computers and manage to turn on an Onai hologram, projected in front of them and starting to talk. Ho’led understands only little of what she says, but the projection proceeds to show a kind of video of long line of Onai walking onto the stage in the center of the room, and then disappear in a kind of flash — a flash reminiscent of the Rifts! The realization lands on them that the Onai are connected to the rifts that are tearing this world apart, and that they must have tried to escape Omega through them… The events that happened about a week ago, when an Oiler attacked Petra come to their minds, and they can not help but wonder if those greasy monsters are actually distorted Onai…
Uncle Oscar, bored by their deliberations, begins to inspect the place and starts to open one of the doors leading to another large room. Jericho tries to stop him, yelling that they shouldn’t intervene in the affairs of the Onai — his vision is to help human beings only! He pulls Oscar back, berating him, but Oscar shakes him off, grins and opens the door: “What’s the worse that can happen?”
He opens the door revealing a room with six cryogenic freezing pods, which house what looks like Onai in suspended animation.
Jericho rolls his eyes in despair and whispers a silent prayer to the salvation of humanity.

The adventure continues in Session Report #6

Roy Altman

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