Scene 1: What are you waiting for?

Working together you are able to get the tractor up and running again!

The engine doesn't sound great - you expect it needs a proper strip-down and maintenance before it becomes reliable again, and you aren't sure how long it'll keep running. You have the feeling there are some fundamental problems with it that you can't fix quickly, and certainly not out here and in these conditions.

It's heavy going moving over the surface of LV-426, or Acheron as the colonists now call it. Rocks frequently crumble, rubble and rocks being pushed around by the frequent severe storms, making it pointless to maintain paths or tracks between locations. Because of this, while faster and safer and more comfortable than walking, the tractor isn't fast - managing a speed something like 5-10 km/hr.

The ride back is uneventful. You make several repeated attempts to re-establish audio contact with the colony, but apart from a single garbled panicked transmission, you hear nothing further from them.

It's not pretty - but still, it is a relief when you are able to make out the shape of Hadley's Hope in front of you through the rain and the low cloud.

You bring the tractor through into the nearest entrance, the West Airlock. This lock is away from the main body of the base, and the door is big enough for you to drive the tractor inside. Vehicles can be serviced here away from the constant storm.As you get out of the tractor - very glad to be out of it, after having been cooped up for so long - you hear a distant voice talking over the intercom. It’s obscured by static but you can make out the following:

"This is an emergency message. All colonists must immediately assemble at the main storeroom on the sub-level for safety."

After several repeats, the message cuts off with an electronic screech.

Inside the service structure around the West Lock, now that the message has stopped being repeated from the intercom, there’s no noise except the soft hum of the colony air circulation and heating systems - and the squeal of the wind outside. This ready room is big, with metal benches and mesh-framed lockers. The lighting here is always dim - and today is no exception. The place has a dusty and disused smell about it. There is a horizontal sliding door - currently closed - that would open into the colony proper. The intercom station is by the door.

There is also an elevator here which leads downwards into the three sub-levels. The main storeroom referred to in the message is on sub-level 1.