Let's see, what are our next steps:
- Mercer fills in Jaeger. Mercer asks Nori to run the story or sit on it.
- We have three hours until the proposed meet with Duncan and its an hour to drive there. The invitation only directly concerns Achak and Mercer but Achak will want everyone to go together given the buddy system and the need to keep a watchful eye (or eye socket) at all times. There's a remote possibility that this is an ambush but precautions should be made either way. (Note that Queen Anne is either AA or AAA depending on where you are on the hill.)
- Final decisions on what to do next regarding Eli's invitation, Kreutz's house, and the Dash Point warehouse. It's probably possible to tackle all of these, but we have to prioritize given the timing and the risk involved.
As an aside, 4E's Street Magic had a good fluff piece on the scenario that rednblack just described:
“Welcome to Eden, Corporal Warren.”
Corporal Carter Warren sprung over the threshold of the airlock, his step boosted by a mix of tense
excitement and Daedalus station’s 0.8 Earth gravity. He had been briefed on Eden already, but the
sight of it was nothing he could have been prepared for. Here at LaGrange Point 4, far from the Earth
in a pod on a rapidly-spinning orbital space station, stretched a greenhouse full of exotic plants genetically
tailored for this unique environment. Broad and flat leaves hung effortlessly in the lighter gravity,
casting a green canopy over the entire area and almost making one forget they were in space.
“This way, sir” The other soldier interrupted Carter’s gawking, as he probably had to do with
most new visitors to Eden. Despite the beauty and amazement of this place, it served an extremely
serious purpose. Every single plant here was carefully grown in order to maintain a weak, but stable,
mana field throughout Eden. It was anemic in comparison with the thriving Gaiasphere, but it was an
island of wonder in the vast, empty void beyond Earth.
Carter was escorted to a glade circled with ergonomic chairs that appeared to have been ordered
from an obscure Scandinavian designer. Each one was hooked up to a discreet suite of medical monitoring
equipment and in each one reclined an Ares Firewatch magician. One seat remained open for Carter.
“Sir, the focus is just past the circle, over there.” The soldier-escort pointed beyond the reclining
mages to a pedestal surrounded by ballistic glass. On the pedestal sat a bracelet in the shape of a
serpent, an odd bit of unintentional humor here in Eden. The focus itself was unimportant to the mission—
its value was in the astral link that tied it to its bonded magician. More importantly, the link
itself was key because it would lead the Firewatch astral team exactly where they needed to go: to the
queen insect spirit that Ares had marked for destruction on its home plane. “The astral link has been
rerouted four times,” the soldier explained. “The fourth and final metaplanar quest along the link will
take you right into the Hive.”
“Where we will take a slight detour.” Carter noted the two specially-trained adepts flanking the
focus and was grimly reminded that the link could be followed both ways. If the Firewatch team could
follow the link into the Hive, theoretically something from the Hive could follow it back. If that happened,
the adepts were here to slow down whatever came through long enough for Ares to jettison this
entire pod into the void. Carter also noted that the magician linked to the focus was nowhere nearby; he
or she was probably under heavy guard in some equally-secure Ares location somewhere. Given where
they were standing now, that could be just about anywhere.
Corporal Warren sunk into the chair left for him while a medic wired him for observation. Before
meditating in preparation for the metaplanar quest, he turned to the other soldier. “Oh, and soldier—”
he grinned “—make sure you water the plants while I’m gone.”
