SFS 1-04: Cries from the Drift! (Inactive)

Game Master James Martin

(Created the thread!)

Dotting!

Da'at. Wait...

The summons beeps on your comm-pads: You are to meet Zigvigix at the Exo-Gaurdian's new warehouse headquarters, which may look very familiar to some of you...

An augmented host shirren watches a bustling crew move office equipment from several large pallets into a large warehouse, while other workers weld scrap metal to gaps in the warehouse’s walls. The shirren occasionally directs a crew member and makes a note on a datapad. The shirren, Zigvigix, notices their new guests and turns to telepathically project a greeting.

Zigvigix wears a set of shoulder speakers that blast out sugarpop music from the band Strawberry Machine Cake. They bounce in place along to the music. “Welcome back! Isn’t this song the best? I’ve been playing it on loop for hours!” Behind the excited shirren, several grizzled-looking station workers, each carrying a side of a heavy-looking holotable, roll their eyes. One of them makes a retching sound, that he covers with a cough as the shirren looks at him quizzically.

“Thanks for coming—I hope you’ll understand if I keep this brief; we’ve got a lot of work to do to get our new headquarters up and running, and you are on a short timetable. A ysoki salvage barge named the Clutter Collector, captained by a ysoki named Winks, picked up a distress-beacon transmission in the Drift. Winks didn’t have time to check it out, but she sold the data to the Society when she reached Absalom Station. How nice of her!"

“Well, it turns out that this beacon came from the Struggle’s Scholar, a kasathan ship that…” Zigvigix pauses for effect as their antennae wiggle excitedly. “…escaped from Sangoro’s Bulwark! If you don’t know, the Bulwark was the old base of operations for the Exo-Guardians. Now, First Seeker Luwazi wisely grounded us from investigating the Bulwark after all contact was lost with it shortly after the Scoured Stars incident, but we can’t pass up this opportunity to learn what happened there. We might even be able to find the coordinates to our missing headquarters. Wouldn’t it be joyous to have a large fortress to play loud music in?”

Zigvigix hands over a datapad. "Here are the coordinates of the distress signal. It is unlikely any of the crew survived, or they’d be here by now. So be on the lookout for bodies. Since the crew is mostly kasathas, it would mean a lot to their extended families if you could bring back their remains or keepsakes to the Idari! Otherwise, salvage any data you can—especially the ship’s log—as it could tell us what happened to Sangoro’s Bulwark. This datapad also holds a one-time-use decrypter that will let you decode the Exo-Guardians ciphers used on the distress signal. Good luck!”

If you have not, please click on the map link and fill in your Perception and Initiative scores!

Pangea raises an eyebrow: This music, what part of the Life-Cycle is it?
"Master Ziggy, we are to go out and locate the source of this distress signal, that should be the ship. And then to explore said ship and recover its log. What planet is this ship crashed on? How many crew were on it?"

"I don't think it crashed Cogs. I think it's floating in space adrift" cuts in the kasatha besides Pangea, speaking rather somberly. "Sorry. I'm Da'at. It's just... Yeah. My people and I may have a difference of opinion on things but... S&~$. I'll second that last question: how many we taking here?"

He pauses for a few seconds, thinking back as to what would be needed to begin the burial rites. Will I need to buy some stri'thul? S%&#. Maybe one of the others is a religious type. With a hankering for old weird exotic burial rites.

"I have a couple more questions. What happened to our original headquarters again? What was the Scoured Stars Incident? What can you tell us of Sangoro's Bulwark? Who the heck is Sangoro anyway? Do we know anything about what caused the ship's crew to... You know... Die?"

Less talk and more action! We have to hurry, we'll find out what's happened on the spot when we see the location.
Said android with blue hair, blue eyes and bright tattoos on artificial skin. With a lot of weapons on him.

Xenal pulls her features into a mournful expression. We will bring them home to rest.

"I don't see the rush. They aren't going to become deader."

I just want to leave this place as soon as possible.

The Ysoki beside the group is nearly morbidly obese, and riding atop his drone. The drone is obviously homemade, with a large barrel acting as the main body. The barrel is painted pink, along with the four legs it walked up on. The front of the drone has a face built into the body, and when the "mouth" opens an artillery laser is visible.

He speaks quietly. 'Is there any more information to be gained from this Winks? Or have you obtained all of the necessary information from her?"

Wearing light armor with an auto-pistol at its side, the android has a fist sized mote of Dark Energy floating alongside its head, and a Starfinder insignia on its chest.

Industrial backpack, with a coil of cable attached to it, on its back, and some Jump Jets built into it, the non-sexuated android has yellow lights blinking under its dark synthskin.

'Greetings fellow Starfinders, I am Prototype Android & Nanite Genesis Enterprise - Akiton - PANGEA, Kappa model, serial number 101218-707, but just call me Kappa". It types on its comm' unit and sends a file to all --PANGEA

"So? Off to the Drift?"

A rugged human runs his fingers through his short, messy brown hair. ”Any possible threats we might anticipate when board this mystery ship? It sounds like a floating grave to me, and that kinda freaks me out a little. We’ll be a long way from help if something goes wrong.”

He pats Da’at on the back. ”I’m sorry, man. I hope they’re in a better place now.”

PANGEA

The Ysoki hops off his drone, with a speed much faster than you would expect from a person of his bulk. He walks up and pats Kappa on the back. "Sorry, mate. " He swears in Ysoki. "Those human slavers can go play with the Swarm for all I care. "

There is no afterlife, Reynold!

Kappa smiles at the ysoki!

Sorry guys I did not introduce myself. I'm B4B2.
When he said that, he leaned against the wall and began to rotate a logical cubic-shaped toy with 81 squares on each side in 6 different colors. He did it so fast that it was incredible to watch.

Da'at looks from the brash, braggadocious android to Reynold and back, he thank-you dying upon his lips at B4B2's words of wisdom on the afterlife. "Rey. Buddy. I'm starting to think it's your cologne. Somehow you found the one pheromone that attracts a$&+*!* androids." Looking sideways at Pangea he asks "Do you secretly advocate for the purging of all sentient biological life? No? Great. Sorry, I'm not meaning to insult you. I just felt at this point I have to ask. Rey and I seem to have a 50/50 chance of finding ... Software issues. Yeah. We'll go with that."

The Ysoki walks from Kappa to the spot in between Da'at and B4B2. " Hey now. We're Starfinders here, let's be civil. " He speaks directly to Da. "There's no evil robots on this team. Just killer ones. " He smiles and nods towards his drone. Then he looks at B4. "And there's no need to go around insulting other people's beliefs. Like the Second Seeker says: We must make a good impression on other races if the society is to survive. "

Once everyone has calmed down he steps back. "Anyway, I'm Piggy. That's Porkers. " He shoves a thumb in the direction of his pink, rotund drone.

Just to make sure I understand: the "brash, braggadocious android a%%$!%% android" Da'at is referring to is Pangea-Kappa?

Ziggy waits until the introductions and back patting have ended before his mental cheerful voice pops in your heads. "It’s a kasathan starship that was undertaking a short mission to Sangoro’s Bulwark around the same time the signals stopped coming in. We assumed the ship was lost along with the Bulwark, but this signal proves otherwise—thrilling! I do not think any of the crew could have survived this long, though—sad! Still, the ship is compact, with only ten or so internal compartments, so once you find it, it shouldn’t take long to search. Crew of maybe 6-8?"

He chitters a bit into his comm for a moment and nods back to you. "I have arranged for a Drake or Pegasus class ship to be readied for you. It's up to you which one you choose!"

The stats are on the map link for your choice!

Piggy smiles at the thought of working in the engineering bay of a starship again. "I find that more guns is always helpful, such as on the drake, but I have never worked with the Pegasus before. What are the benefits of the Pegasus? "

@Pangea/Eric: No, it's B4B2 Da'at is referring to, although I can see that I worded the response in an ambiguous way. Da'at is trying to see how the other android reacts, as a backhanded "are you a low charisma character as well, or do you find your fellow's comments a little blunt"?

Certainly not trying to be unpleasant, and if this is rude I'll adjust accordingly with my apologies. I am still trying to find my mark with regards to tone, demeanor and personality traits here.

Piggy, I just told my belif. So let's put this all behind us. We have a lot more important job to do.

He said this and looked at Da'at

Reynold grimaces and raises his hands in a gesture of peacekeeping. "Who knows how it works for androids, but we biologicals that only get one lap around the track are really hoping for something fun across the finish line." He mutters slyly to Da'at as he rounds the briefing room, "Maybe I should look into other cologne brands, though."

Reynold turns to Piggy and pulls up a picture of the Pegasus model on his comm unit. "I've flown on both. Pegasus has better maneuverability but Drake has more firepower. If this distress signal's been pinging for a while, I think we'd be better suited with the latter; who knows if we'll have more Besmaran pirates or other scavengers trying to beat us to the wreck."

Thanks for the answer. It was just that I missed what this was about and was wondering if my file or something had triggered that answer, and was a bit lost, sorry

"Though I believe nothing is lost but everything transformed, let us all try to remain alive, together, for a bit longer... as for the ship, I am fine with whichever you all prefer."

I believe the Drake will serve this crew better. Though I must admit, space battles are not my strong suit. I'm sure I will have much to learn from you all. Xenal says with expansive gestures. Anything to move past "There is no afterlife because I say so."

I vote for a Drake!

Da'at, sensing a major theological discussion brewing in the air, nods his head rapidly. "Yes, yes, the Drake. Someone pull me some specks so I can see how stocked the minibar is."

"Onboard, I can either handle a weapon array, or be at the computer and scanners as the Science Officer".
Gunner +3 ; Computers +5

"As for the minibar, we can make sure nothing is lost but transform everything!"

Piggy rides Porker alongside Pangea. "Very good. I prefer the engineering bay myself, but can make a serviceable pilot if need be. "

11 engineering, 8 pilot.

Xenal pulls out a datapad and starts flicking through the published chronicles of the Starfinders that have been assigned to this mission. Lets see... Reynold has leadership experience, B4B2 is a noted pilot. Yes, if Kappa is willing to act as Science Officer when needed, then Da'at and myself could man the guns. Err.. Da'at should probably be on the main gun.

I will be the pilot!

Pangea looks at Porker: "So, you're our engineer then!"

Seems like:
Ship: Drake
Captain: Reynold
Pilot: B4B2
Engineer: Piggy
Science Officer: Pangea
Gunner 1: Da'at
Gunner 2: Xenal

Let's go guys! B4 goes toward the exit.

Hoping to reach the docks safe and sound, Pangea will board the Drake and run system checks on and with the computers.

Seems like:

Ship: Drake
Captain: Reynold
Pilot: B4B2
Engineer: Piggy
Science Officer: Pangea
Gunner 1: Da'at
Gunner 2: Xenal

Looks about right!

Reynold hoists his messenger back over his shoulder and tugs his duster to shake any grit off. "Off we go into the wild black yonder, then."

Aye, Aye captain! and Drake goes in the space.

The Drake it is! Do you want to christen the ship any particular name?

Culture checks, please, to know more about the Exo-Guardians and the Bulwark!

Also, we're entering deep American Thanksgiving territory and there be dire turkeys ahead. I will probably do some banter and such between now and next week, but we'll step back into higher gear come Monday. I know people travel and have family events this time of year!

Culture: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

"To the society I wish to give thanks, and name our ship the Star-Turkey!"... or not?

Captain in which direction to fly?

"Sure!" yells Da'at from the main gun , before voxing down to Reynold and Xenal on a private channel "Hey guys? What the hells is a turkey?"

It's an old word for a jailer

Piggy sets down his wrench and speaks into the comm. "Personally I prefer Hell Turkey, but that's just me!"

Culture being a trained only skill is so sad.

Can I start moving the Drake on the map or...?

Culture: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

@B4B2 I think we're holding off progress until Monday to accommodate for the US holiday.

Aye, Aye captain! :)

Correct. I'll let you know when it's time to go into space combat rounds! Not quite yet... but soon.

Pangea-Kappa recalls some information about the Exo-Guardians' history:

A vesk named Sangoro founded the Exo-Guardians, which is an especially unusual fact, given the long hostilities between the Veskarium and the Pact Worlds. Many Starfinders initially did not trust him, even after he provided the Society with a huge fortress on a remote planet to operate out of. Sangoro later dedicated himself and his followers to protecting the Society from external threats, forming the Exo-Guardians faction within the Starfinder Society.

The fortress Sangoro bequeathed to the Starfinder Society was the only structure on the planet. It was a massive edifice left by some forgotten race, with extensive underground tunnels and storage vaults. The Exo-Guardians kept a large stockpile of equipment within the Bulwark, letting field agents on missions in the Vast access necessary items without traveling back to Absalom Station. Because of the importance of these resources, the exact coordinates of Sangoro’s Bulwark were kept from most Starfinders, and ships traveled to the location only by using encrypted flight plans.

Armed with P-K's knowledge, you board the Hell Turkey and head off into the Drift! Travel Time: 5d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 3, 2, 3) = 15 days. For the first 2 days you are accompanied by a freighter called The Promise of the Future. The ship maintains radio contact throughout the two days and the most interesting thing about this chatter is that you're talking to a fellow band of Starfinders who call themselves the Manta Corps. They hail from a Brethedan moon called Kalo-Mahoi, and are native Kalo. The first Kalo you speak to introduces as Deepspeaker Alloguoth.

You've heard of this group - rumor has it that they operate almost exclusively in underwater missions.

Underwater missions? Cool!

"What planet are you off to now?"