Before the Deepspeaker can answer, a hefty looking Kalo with a custom rifle and a much louder voice answers, "Can't tell ya, mate. Classified, ya know? More'n our necks're worth to answer. Tell ya after it's all done, eh? In the meantime, I'm Mantarider Ushuul. And this here," He holds up the rifle, which you can barely make out through the grainy video feed, "Is Muncher. Muncher's me baby, see? Custom built high capacity machine gun. She's a beaut!"
Ushuul grins. "Specially sealed for underwater work. The secret's in the sealant. Use the wrong sealant and PSSH." He breaks off into a long technical discussion about the virtues of different sealants, which is interrupted by a female Kalos, who is accompanied by a silent female Kalos. "Ushuul will talk for hours if you let him. I'm Waverider Suulhu-Huur, and this is Wavetreader Voosh. She's more a sneaky sort, quiet and fast, but I'm a great fan of hand-to-hand. Perhaps I could spar with you if we're ever in the same space at the same time?"
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Piggy pops on the com. " What do you think I've been doing down her all trip? Eating candy bars? " At this point, a loud crunch can be heard over the radio. Probably from a candy bar. "I'm best at fiddling with machines, but I'm a fair hacker and pilot as well. Porkers here is the real combat master. "
The Kalos continue to speak of their experiences, such as they can without violating their orders, but eventually the comm signal gets too faint and you lose their signal.
The next 13 days aboard ship are routine. You have time to do as you please, as the Drift engines basically work on their own. However, soon enough you hear the familiar alarm of the Drift engines dropping out and into realspace. The proximity sensors start to beep wildly - the ship's scanners have picked up an asteroid field surrounding the beacon you're following. You drop out of the drift on the edge of the field!
As you're scanning, your comm chirps. "Unidentified ship, this is the Veskarium vessel the Honorbound. Identify yourself."
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Reynold comes onto the comm. "Aren't you at least gonna buy me dinner first? I don't just identify for any Vesk ship, you know." He grins slyly into the transmission screen. "I like how direct you are, though, Mr. Honorbound. Reynold Malkin and his merry band of Starfinders aboard the illustrious Hell Turkey. So what brings you round these parts? I hear the asteroids are lovely this time of year."
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Pangea bids their comrades: "Safe travels, and may Muncher munch away! See you in Absalom Station for a round of drinks and some tales to tell. May Triune guide your steps!"
As they pop out amidst the asteroids, Pangea helps Piggy with the scan, aiding in aligning the sensors.
Pangea looks at the screens, and tries to recall what these kind of asteroids might be.
"Starfinders, eh? You must be here for the same signal I'm tracking. I am Captain Yuluzak, of the Veskarium fleet. I am assigned the less-than-glorious task of salvage work, finding any technology or information that may aid the Veskarium in our war with the Swarm. It is not quite the assignment I would have chosen, but in war one follows orders." The Vesk looks regretful.
His ship, however, looks strange. The Honorbound is a normal Vesk transport, although ablaze on either side with three bright-red thrusters, which are reminiscent of the energy blades of a plasma doshko.
You recognize these features as a representation of the symbol of Damoritosh, the vesk god of conquest, duty, and war.
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"I hear ya, Cap. So much interesting stuff out here in space, going garbage collecting hardly seems up to your standards of military expertise. Well, we know this distress beacon came from one of our ships, which is why we're following up. If we stumble upon anything your people might find useful we'd be happy to send it your way once we give the wreck a good once-over."
The Vesk looks slightly sad, but resolved. "I am afraid I cannot agree to that. I have discovered something that might be of use to the Veskarium and I cannot let it go without a fight. But... you seem honorable, Starfinders. I propose a duel for the prize. You win, I back down and allow you to claim it. I win, you back down and allow me to claim it. Would you be amenable to this?"
The Vesk nods. "Not to the death. Merely to disabled or surrender. I propose the following rules:"
• The combatants will not intentionally target the life support systems of their enemy.
• The combatants will abstain from targeting the rear arc—warriors should face the enemy head on.
• Combat is over once an enemy starship is crippled.
• Each captain can surrender at any point during the duel.
"What say you, Starfinders? Shall we honor Damoritosh with battle?"
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Reynold scratches his head. ”To be honest I’m not wild about the slim possibility of crippling our ship in the middle of cosmic nowhere for the right to a beacon we already know is ours, but if the choice is between that and going whole hog with missiles and such because your Veskarium bosses don’t want to stay in their lane, I’ll go with Option A, sure. Your rules sound fair enough. Here’s hoping you put stock in ship repair back home, Captain!”
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"By Triune, let us face these followers of Damoritosh, and let the cycle of life be on the upward swing for us!", then, Pangea adds, telling its comrades: "Be careful of those asteroids. They are strange. They are likely native to the Elemental Plane of Earth, chunks of obsidian that were ripped away and brought here through the use of Drift engines. And I must stress that... the interiors of these asteroids hold molten stone!"
Kappa goes to the gun console, and checks out the targeting system.
The Vesk captain lets out a hearty cheer. "Indeed, good android! Let us make glorious battle!" With a whoop, he ends the comm transmission!
Let's BEGIN!
ROUND 1 - Piloting, Science, Engineering Phase
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Reynold takes a seat in the captain's chair. "Alrighty folks, looks like we've been asked to dance and we've got some fancy new steps to show off. B, try to keep us away from those molten rocks. Keep the Honorbound in our forward arc, but stick to their flanks whenever possible. That self-conscious vesk doesn't want us peeking at his rear, but that doesn't mean we can't poke him in the ribs. Piggy, keep our forward shields in good shape but give a boost to our weapons whenever possible. Pan, can you scan their systems and find out more about their firepower? Once you've done that, see if you can target their pilot; if there's any truth behind the stereotypes, I'm guessing the vesk hit hard but their footwork is sloppy, so we might be able to outmaneuver them. And no one's better than B for that job, am I right?" He gives a thumb's up to B4B2.
"Gunners, do what you do best. I'm hoping the turret missiles can home in around those asteroids, but whoever's on coilgun you might want to think about taking a shot at any rocks Yuluzak winds up parked next to. Let's see if that vesk enjoys the hot lava surprise inside every box of Asteroid Flakes."
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Piggy's voice comes over the com. "B4B2, you've got extra juice in your tanks. That should get us where you want to go. "
Piggy's face appears on Reynold's private feed. The round Ysoki face looks apologetic. "Sorry, Captain! I wasn't close enough to the guns to supercharge them at the moment. I'm heading there now. "
Alrighty!
GUNNERY PHASE: You guys get to shoot first!
The coil gun barks, erasing the Honorbound's shields. Da'at sends a missile at the ship, which hits, dealing damage! The engines are glitching!
The Honorbound returns fire!
One Gunner fires the flak thrower in the forward arc! for damage!
The other fires two light laser cannons from the turret! for damage and for damage!
ROUND 2: Science, Engineering and Pilot phase!
Success!
Success!
Your turn!
Looks like you guys get to move first! Let me know as soon as you're set.