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Qorgonox Log Entry - 825.23
We have made contact with another native species. Thankfully, this time it has gone much better than our encounters with the Thraxxians. Yes, that is new intelligence gathered on the reptilian creatures who attacked our camp’s defenses. They are indeed called "Thraxxians". This knowlege came from our new contact. In fact, our latest visitor has helped us learn quite a bit about the planet we find ourselves on.
Our strange new friend’s name is UkHa (see included image). Amazingly he speaks pretty fluent Cosmerr, so communication was not an issue with him and our crew.
UkHa told us that his race is called “Veeblians”. Like the Thraxxians, they are native to this planet, but that is where the similarities end. Apparently Thraxxians are territorial and very hostile to things they don’t understand, including non-native technology (which is essentially ALL tech since Thraxxon isn't exactly a bustling center of technology). We told UkHa about the attacks and he suggested that the Thraxxians were probably not trying to hurt us, but were likely more focused on destroying the tech that they see as an invasion into their territory. Veeblians, by contrast, apparently find technology fascinating, as evidenced by the random bits of cast-off pieces that UkHa had strewn about his body as adornments.
As night began to fall, we welcomed UkHa into our camp. Before coming in, he erected a small cairn of rocks outside of the perimeter of our defenses. When questioned about this, he said that it should help with our Thraxxian visitors. For the first time in many nights, we did not see any attacks on our camp. We can only assume that we have UkHa, and whatever strange message the cairn he made communicated to the Thraxxians, to thank for that.
Our Veeblian guest also proved to be quite helpful, and he formed a bond with Kogg immediately. Apparently UkHa's race views technology with a kind of giddy and almost religious reverence. UkHa is part of a community of Veeblians whose home is a short distance away, built into the side of a cliff face (this last part is our best guess based on UkHa’s description of his community – we have not seen the settlement for ourselves, so we cannot confirm the accuracy of this assumption). UkHa asked us for pieces of our tech, saying that he wished to return it back to his “spirit house” (again, the Veeblian’s description was hard to distinguish here, and our best guess is that he wanted the technology for some kind of special display that his community has erected). We could not give him everything he wanted (since some of what he asked for were essential pieces of our camp), but he was more than happy to accept some non-functional pieces that we had leftover after combining various redundant units in order to make working replacements. UkHa even helped Kogg fix some demo gear, so apparently this race’s fascination with this off-world tech is not just reverential, but at least in the case of UkHa, it is also practical.
One concern we have right now is that our broadcast signal needs boosting. As far as I can tell our signal is traveling, but I can’t be sure how far we are reaching, With the remoteness of Thraxxon, we may be communicating nothing if our signal is dissipating before it can reach beyond this immediate area of the ring. We showed UkHa the amplifier discs we would need to push the signal up and he said they have some in their community, but that they could never part with such a “highly holy” (again, translating to the best of our ability here) item. He changed his mind when we offered him an entire generator with the containing chassis. Apparently that tech is “higher and holier”, so he felt that he could get his people to make the exchange.
UkHa left as the morning came saying he would be back. That was three days ago. Since his visit, we have had no additional problems with the Thraxxians. We’ve also decided, based on a vote from all of us, that we will hold off on the Outward Exploration phase of our efforts. This is against AEXOR3 standard procedures, but in light of our contact with the Veeblian, we have deemed it better to stay in camp and wait for his return. The vote was 5 to 1 with Orvar being the only dissenting voice. That is not a surprise since our explosion-loving Saurcerian is often disagreeable for the sake of being disagreeable.
Beyond these visits, our days have settled into a routine, and the threat from the Thraxxians seems to have quieted since UkHa's visit. We check the perimeter defenses, explore the immediate area for any resources we can use – using the reclamation gear when necessary, and I record these logs when I have something of note to report on. If I’m being honest, I’ve started to look forward to these updates. Even with our routines, there is so much to take in here on Thraxxon that these logs have helped me make sense of our situation. Overall spirits seem higher than they’ve been since we got here, as the contact with UkHa seems to be our first bit of hope since the crash.
::/DISTRESS SIGNAL – AEXOR3 VESSEL DESIGNATION:QORGONOX REQUESTING IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE. Current location = Thraxxon. Current status = 6 surviving crew members. Currently safe. Native contact made – multiple species. COMM BAND REPLY REQUESTED. IMMEDIATE EVACUATION REQUESTED./::
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Published on 08.25.23