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Colthan really shows his skills here. The pod looks like the type of thing that an unidentified alien life form might be transported in. And suspects that a power failure may have caused safety devices within it to open.
As Conrad plays with the snowglobe it suddenly changes into a blazing ball of plasma! Quickly dropping it, he realises that it didn't burn him. On the ground is now a .... paperweight.
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"Fascinating. A shapeshifting alien capable of mimicking inanimate objects. It did not harm the children and has not attacked any of us. We could try capturing it but first we should try to communicate with it. I would rather appear foolish by talking to a rock then inadvertently imprisoning a silicone based life-form."
"Remain calm. We wish to open communications with you. Do you understand our speech?"
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[ooc]I never like to look at the spoiler myself when others pass the DC. Unless they say to vs. what they share.
Will make a couple checks, then in case people's Diplomacy does not do the deed -
to use in whichever you want GM Aerondor[/b]
Beta waits for its companions to try and talk the Alien down, but the Android is ready to go after it if it moves away...
Beta's plan is to race off after it--
--and leap on it if need be.
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Not a master of many languages, Conrad tries to use soothing tones and gentle body language... "its okay, it's okay, you're safe with us..."
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Watching the creature and her team tinker with the newly found sentient being she grinned for a moment when everyone was doing their thing. "Maybe offer it some food? It might be hungry... isn't that what sentient beings, or things that require food do first thing they are worried, anxious or afraid? eat like crazy to calm down?"
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The alien appears to be sentient, but very confused. Coltan can try to name it, whether anyone else picks up on the new name...who knows.
"Indeed, how curious. I rather like it. Azaming what we are finding stuck away in corners of the space ship."
A slightly older man dashes up and offers the two children a hug. Of offers extreme apologies for the disruption they have causes and presses a ring into your hands.
"This may help you later on..."
Shortly thereafter a space courier pulls up on a hoverbike, scans the group and drop off a "package from Ms Ceren". Looking inside the package is a small amount of credits and a datajack. Interestingly at the bottom of the box is a large weapon. A frostbite class zero rifle. The note says "You may find these useful. Return them when you complete your Commencement."
Fitch extends an arm and the alien turns into a fluffy cat like object and settles down there purring. "I think it likes me!" he smiles.
"Well, that is enough good here, I'll let Guidance know you have done the job for me."
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Pangea-Beta nods his agreement at going to visit Radaszam: "Long live the Acquisitives!"
Checking the rifle, Beta explains its use to all and checks to see all is in working condition and the battery charged.
If no one wants it, Beta will strap it on its back.
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The plain white doors of the office slide open to reveal a stark, dimly lit room. The chamber is bleak and expressionless in its emptiness—no vanities line its smooth black walls, and no signs of use mar its smooth black furniture. The only occupants of the suite are a bug-eyed tadpole wriggling in a glowing blue aquarium and a reptilian vesk seated behind an onyx desk. The vesk gestures to a number of chairs in front of him, his features sharply illuminated by the light of his desk’s green holoscreen.
“The new graduates,” he greets, in a low and pleasant voice. “Good day. I am Radaszam, though since you are here, I should hope you already knew."
The Vesk flexes his claws.
“I trust you are aware of our Society’s traditions, so I will cut to the point. I have a minor situation that needs resolution. One of our members, a human named Laboni, had a rather public altercation with a junk scavenger from the Spike. You might be more familiar with the scavenger than I, actually; he is a ysoki who fancifully calls himself Ratrod. I am told he runs a popular racing competition
that has, hmm, several hundreds of thousands of viewers on the station’s infosphere. For some reason, Laboni felt the need to tell him that any ‘real’ mechanic could easily beat the garbage that Ratrod and his associates slap together. Now that Ratrod has issued an infosphere-wide demand that she race him and prove it, Laboni doubts she can back that claim up."
He sighs
“Embarrassing, isn’t it? Not really the sort of troublemaker that suits our Society. Perhaps she would be better suited to the bottom of a trash compactor... Well, we cannot afford to throw her out, not after so many Starfinders were lost in the Scoured Stars. Besides, we can’t let people think we are so weak that we can’t control our own members, or that we cannot stand up to a scrapyard junker. No, I would like you to assist Laboni in winning this race. Show our detractors that even the least of our Society is not someone to be trifled with.”
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"You had best go and talk with Loboni..." Radaszam provides directions and badges that mark you as pit crew.
You make yourway to the Botscrap. Ratrod’s racing circuit is a hollowed-out section of a mountain of spare parts in Botscrap, the track specifically sanctioned by the ysoki-dominated Salvage Union that controls most of the yards.
A small robot checks your badges and "reminds" you of the basic rules of the race: racers and their pit crews are to build and improve their vehicles from the available scrap around the racetrack. Vehicles built at previous junkraces can return. Racers can fire upon other competitors during the race, but firing into the audience is grounds for immediate disqualification; racer weapons must be nonlethal and may affect only opponents’ vehicles.
Laboni is easy to find in the crowd due to her paisley clothes and bright white lab coat. She is in her late teens and looks worried.
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Sebrir's face lights up with excitement at the prospect of taking part in a race with such viewership. "We could really get some exposure for my vlog with this mission! If I can get my video trending and get a few re-schweets from well-known viewers of the race, this could be a HUGE boon for my brand! This is PERFECT!"
Sebrir is so excited that he didn't hear the rest of the briefing, and has to bug his colleagues for details as they head over to speak to Loboni.
"So we're building a racer? I'll document every moment, and we can make it a DIY project video as well!"
He turns his attention to Laboni herself. "Miss Laboni, can you tell our viewers your motivation for getting into this race? What do you hope to achieve? And how many of these junk-racers have you built in the past?"
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"Right.." says the young woman. "I guess there are four things you can do to help..." she starts counting off on her fingers.
"Firstly, obviously, you can help make my racer better. Those of you who are skilled engineers would be best suited to this. Either find parts I can use, help optimise the systems, rewrite the software. Lots of ways you can help."
"Secondly you could scout out the opponents."
"Thirdly... and her she lowers her voice "you could puncture one of their tyres, or put a bit of dust into their fuel cells... you know...make their carts less good."
"Lastly you could work the crowd a bit. Chat to the other drivers and see what they have to say, they are all pretty busy though."
The other racers are:
Lemgem is a blue-haired gnome covered in piercings, tattoos, and augmentations.
Still bearing the scars of the fight that killed her dragonkin partner, Nyizin is a racer with an obvious death wish. Unstable black-market mods made of dragon bone and elemental energies fill Nyizin’s vehicle
Orsis is a stoic, dark-haired lashunta who looks unfairly good in black and gold.
Ratrod is a ysoki with mottled gray-and-white fur. He has a showman’s personality to match his icon status. People in the Spike consider him something of a hero to the ysoki-dominated Scrap Union.
Velocity is a beautiful android with silver hair and skin. They have self-modified to have both masculine and feminine attributes, and have decorated their clothing, eyelids, and lips with bright, colorful patterns.
You have four hours (that is, you can each attempt four actions. We'll take them one at a time as stuff you do may affect some of your future choices.).
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"I still find it odd that her choice of insult was directed at his vehicle instead of the expected brag of superior piloting skills."
"It is a race yes? Drive fast. Don't crash. Can you shoot and drive at the same time?"
Colthan will wish he was as good at such things as his allies.
He will attempt to improve the Control since I assume that helps the pilot check.
And he will take a few moments to confirm how bad this vehicle of Ratrod's truly is.
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"Why, I can absolutely speak to the other drivers and determine their worth, and perhaps point out some of their flaws to the crowd! Interviewing the drivers would be a great boon for my blog, after all!"
With that, Sebrir starts his rounds trying to talk to each of the other drivers, learning anything he can that would be useful about them or their driving styles.
He first heads over to speak to Nyizin, as her physical appearance and that of her bike stands out the most to Sebrir.
"My dear woman, it is so pleasing to meet you. I am Sebrir, and humbly request a quick interview for my worlds-famous blog. I see that you have such an intriguing design for your cycle, where did you find some of those elemental mods?"
After hearing everything he can from Nyizin, Sebrir decides to attempt to rattle Ratrod by bringing up his confrontation with Laboni.
"My dear ysoki, it is so good to see you here at the race! I had heard that you'd dropped from the competition after Laboni's vicious public attack. I don't blame you for any fear you might have experienced, she is obviously a capable driver, but I'm sure you'll be fine, yes? Would you mind giving a short interview for my well-known vlog? Perhaps you can describe how you overcame your terror at facing Laboni?"
And finally, Sebrir heads over to the beautiful and androgynous android Velocity.
"The great Velocity, how pleasing to see you it will be to my viewers of all proclivities! I would love to interview you for my worlds-famous vlog. Can you tell me about your unique and gorgeous appearance modifications?"
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Seeing the rest of the team dashing off Mother-One makes her way towards the racer and pulls out a data jack and plugs it into the racer. Closing her eyes a few seconds one could see some sort of movement behind her eyelids as she was going over the data. After a bit she unhooks the datajack and then starts to tinker on the racer.
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round one:
Conrad checks out the other riders.
Lemgem is a bit of an erratic driver; She may be able to be convinced to overclock her car too much (Bluff check); Alternatively if you talk nicely with her (Diplomacy check) you think you might be able to encourage her to help you win.
Nyzin as the ability to divert energy from her cars defences to boost its speed. If she hits the gas, she might be an easy target. With a bit of work (Culture check) you may be able to convince her to share some of her custom mods with you.
Orsis is a defensive driver, hurting his vehicle in the race will be difficult. If you made friends (Diplomacy) with you he may be able to provide some piloting tips...
Ratrod may be willing to barter with your team. You think that taunting him a bit (Intimidate) may force him into doing something foolish during the race.
Velocity really wants to drive a fast car, but is not much of an engineer. If you offered to speed up her vehicle (Mechanics) she might help you in the race by taking pot shots at anyone ahead of Laboni.
Glitch and Pangea work on the car, improving the engine efficiency and fitting an energy rifle to add to the fun. Colthan improves the racers controls. He doesn't have much luck getting close to Ratrods machine though.
Sebrir talks to Nyizin . You learn that Unstable black-market mods made of dragon bone and elemental energies fill Nyizin’s vehicle. So long as she is alive, she intends to win in honor of her fallen companion. "You know, it is not too hard to overload a junkracer engine, which can give you a vital boost when you need it..."
Mother does her best, but she can't quite get the computers to do what she wants, surely it is only a matter of time.
Benefits:
Checked out the riders
Speed boost +1
Energy gun installed
Pilot +1
Overload technique (double speed for one round, 50% chance of engine malfunction that permanently reduces speed by half).
Round 2.
Go!
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"Lemgem, my name is Kerbouchard, Conrad Kerbouchard. I'd like to start by telling you that I am really digging your racer. I wish we had something like this. You know Ratrod? Well that jerk has been a real pain in my friend's neck, and I'd really like to see him get his comeuppance. I don't suppose you could help us out? Something tells me you know he's a jerk too...."