Expedition 3F72 (metagame)

[jerick]

Perhaps I shouldn't try and run a game with my first post, but I think I'll give it a shot if no one minds...

Contact lost with scientific expedition 3F72 aboard the Eagle's Flight 34:24 Universal Standard mean time 18/23/67.

Klaxons sounded loudly warning of a storm of micrometeorites punching holes in the ship.
You awoke as the ship shakes violently, the sounds of panic and distress echoing down the corridors.
Repair crews hurry past you as you rush towards the bridge the hissing of air escaping through microscopic holes accompanies you all the way.
The bridge is a scene of disarray.
The pilots struggle for control of the ship, as officers yell into the comms system and technicians run from terminal to terminal.
On the other side of the viewing window approaching at worrying speeds is a large dusty sphere.
The ship shudders as it smashes into the planet's atmosphere.
Some loose pieces of the ship fly away torn off by the sudden friction
A cacophony of new klaxons and automated messages ring out informing the crew of the superheated gases now pouring through the multidude of microscopic holes.
The sphere races towards you, quickly becoming an expansive desert.
Fighting against gravity and the ship's wounds the pilots desperately battle to get the nose up.
Slowly at first, and then faster your view pivots up towards the far horizon.
Suddenly you're slammed against the ceiling and then everything go black...

You come to a few feet from the ship among a number of injured men and women.
On seeing that you're awake people rush over flooding you with inquires and reports.
You're told you've been out for about twenty minutes since the crash and that the air seems breathable.
Many are asking you, their captain, what they should they do.

So? What do you do next?

[Hyperion]

Explore the desert

[jerick]

You dispatch several three man teams to search the area, they report that to the west lies a great chasm running for miles in ether direction.
To the north the flat desert continues for sometime but snowcapped mountains can be seen in the distance if you go far enough
The team sent east found nothing but endless desert and worryingly the team sent south has not returned yet.

Meanwhile:
Your crew are finishing recovering the wounded from the crashed ship.
Most of the crew did not escape without injury and a large number have serious wounds.
The ship's two doctors only have a med kit between them with which to patch up the wounded and a crewman has already died from his injuries in their overstretched care.
Some crewmen have raised concerns about water.
A large number of bodies have been removed from the crashed ship and they are having a serious negative effect on the morale of your crew.

[Hyperion]

Order a team to dig for water.

See if there is any way to convert the corpses into a drinkable substance, ala Dune.

[jerick]

Most of the equipment you brought with you was stored in the lower cargo holds which are now almost completely inaccessible.
But your men are resourceful and fashion crude digging implements out of scattered debris of your ship.
The ground is tough, very tough.
Even after hours of digging your men have made little progress.

No one has any idea on how to turn bodies into a drinkable liquid with what you have and form what you can gather no one wants to.

Meanwhile:
A geologist frustrated with the lack of progress at the dig site entered one of the more unstable areas of the crashed ship in an attempt to recover something.
He emerged later covered in deep cuts but carrying a man portable coring drill.
It's currently being setup now it should reach it's maximum depth in about four hours.
It's been about 14 hours since the crash and night is falling for the first time.
Temperatures are dropping rapidly as a result.

[Hyperion]

We must get out of teh desert. It would be wise to walk at night.

[jerick]

You order the preparations: stretchers are assembled from bits and pieces for those too wounded to walk, what little supplies you recovered are packed away and everyone gathers their things.
But there is discontent.
A number of crewmen refuse to leave saying that to wander the desert is certain death and that if you leave a rescue attempt will never find you.
You do what you can to convince them but ultimately fail and 15 crew men remain behind convinced they can find shelter and supplies in the wreck.
(By the way what direction are you heading?)

Meanwhile
Samples gained from the coring drill as it was packed up reveal not water, but a possible cave system deep below the crash site.
The temperature is still dropping, currently it's at a cool 12 degrees Celsius.

[Hyperion]

Hmmmm.. This is new. Instead of going out into the desert, lets go into the cave system. Most likely life would survive underground in such an inhospitable environment...

[jerick]

The geologist informs you that unless the people here are the width of tennis balls they're not going to fit down the hole left by the coring drill.
He suggests that with an explosive charge it may be possible to blow open the section the drill dug into (no explosives were recovered from the ship).
Failing that there may be an entrance nearby.
He continues on to say that he'd need more samples taken from several different points to confirm that it's not just a pocket of gas and to estimate it's size and the directions in which it lies.