The plodding drone is not reactive enough either.
The storm swoops down hard, and particularly Mnamae and the drone are hit badly by the slashing crystals. Fortunately, the spacefarers manages to identify the storm as poisonous, and some leftover bulbs from the plant garden provide some aid against it.
As quickly as it began, the storm abates, leaving only a dusty plain. The wreckage on a vessel looms on the horizon, the frontal anti-personnel weapon sticking out of the sand. Before the party can reach it, though, a massive burrowing creature jumps up from under the sand.
That gun on that vessel () looks fully functional, if a bit damaged.
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Savoy
Shar
Obo
Mnamae
Iseph
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Desert Insect-worm
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Obozaya makes a break for the ships gun
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Mnamae-6 is badly sliced by the crystals. He also feels their poison start coursing through his circulatory system, but thanks to his techno-organic system, he toxin removal system is finally able to discharge the poison.
Although his drone T771-M4 is not affected by the poison, it is even more badly cut apart, and is on the verge of collapsing into scrap metal. Mnamae-6 figures that he might have to rebuild it from scratch after this.
---
Despite its dilapidated state, Mnamae-6 stills sends his drone to confront the large sand monster to least provide some buffer for the rest of the party. Meanwhile, he fires his laser rifle at the creature.
T771-M4, obeying its directive, clatters its way through the desert towards the creature, and jabs at it with its spear.
Obozoya makes a break through the loose sand, while Mnamae fires a shot at the lumbering creature. The drone tries to hit it with a pike, but misses. Savoy's gun is effective as well, and Zefram tries his sneaky tactics and manages to score a hit.
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Savoy
Shar
Obo
Mnamae
Iseph
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Desert Insect-worm (18)
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The creature screeches and wails as it is hit by a magic missiles, then pounces on Obozaya as he tries to rush past, the bite causing sound to ring through Obo's skull.
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Savoy
Shar
Obo
Mnamae
Iseph
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Desert Insect-worm (27)
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With the worm focused on one person, Shar races to the gun, figuring she either gets to it quickly to distract the creature, or the creature will shift to attacking her, which distracts the creature. She is wary of it doing either, but the latter would indicate it is smart enough to understand the gun or is protecting the ship for other reasons (a nest of young perhaps), so she is rather curious of it's choice.
The drone T771-M4 continues its prime directive, jabbing at the large creature with its pike.
Obozaya gets to the ship and prepares to fire the gun
Iseph blasts the creature, while Shar attempts to distract the creature by racing for the gun. Savoy ensures Obozaya remains on his feet.
The creature evades Manamae's shot and the drone's pike.
The wounded creature screeches, and then focuses it's screech on T771 and Mnamae, hitting then both with a burst of sound
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Savoy
Shar
Obo
Mnamae
Iseph
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Desert Insect-worm (32)
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Mnamae-6, having had info about this creature downloaded into his database at some time in his idle research, recognises the telltale sign of the creature's sonic attack and dives away just in time. T771-M4, his beloved drone, however, is already badly damaged from the earlier crystal storm and is torn apart by the sonic blast.
He feels a strange catch in his throat but resets his nervous system and shuts it off, quickly firing again at the monster.
Iseph lays cover fire, while Mnamae tales revenge on the demolition of his drone, blasting the weird desert creature between the eyes. The grotesque form hits the ground with 'thump'.
The Unbound Wayfarer is a total loss. Even worse, the seven dessicated corpses, along with gnawed off bones nearby suggest there are no survivors to the mission.
There's some characteristic dents in the hull of the wayfinder. It looks like it took fire from a coilgun or a railgun.
Within the wreck, there is very little of value. The main computer is beyond repair, but still show ahint of residual power cursing through it. The control panel has an indentation that is shaped just like the starfinder insignia the party received earlier.
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"That would suggest the possibility of locals with big guns. Hopefully, it was just pirates that have since moved on, but we should be wary just in case." Shar remarks, glancing at the holes before searching for the ships computer core, or nodes, that may have recoverable data or salvagable parts, such as processors or data drives. She doesn't take them apart yet though merely identifying and clearing access, just in case Savoy can get something from the control panel. She'll pick them up once Savoy is finished.
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Mnamae-6 crouches down and examines the remains of his drone, nodding when he is satisfied that it can be salvaged. He gathers up all the parts that he can, and place them carefully in various compartments of his backpack.
He then follows his party to examine the ship. Noticing the indentation for the insignia, he retrieves one of them and slots it in.
Seeing that the computer still has some residual power, he flips upon the panel on his forearm, retrieves some wires and attaches his cybernetic custom rig to the ship's computer, hoping to retrieve some useful data.
Mnamae has a hard time getting any kind of life out of the computer, but when Savoy hold his insignia near the indentation, the machine flares us briefly, enough to transfer a datalog - a collection of worlds visited when the ship was in a better shape. Of note is a massive space station, called 'End of Bright Things', which is stuck between the orbits of two blue dwarf stars.
The ship yields little else of value, but at least the fate of the unfortunate crew is now known. A little wiser, a little sadder, the party retraces its steps to the Oddysey. The engines warm up, and in a cloud of dust, the ship rises off the surface, into the atmosphere and the void beyond.
If only it were a void.
A warning klaxon blares, and the ship lurches. The asteroid field around the world of Ulmarid is more agitated than on the descent down to the surface. Although it’s not clear what has caused the anomalous activity, what’s certain is that you must reach safer altitude before a more serious collision occurs.
Iseph dodges the asteroid, which less ease than before, but still with enough margin to keep shields at full. Beyond rocks, though, is a new threat. A large vessel of rusted metal slips from behind an enormous asteroid, its weapons already firing. The front of the ship resembles a stylized skull with crossed bones beneath—a clear indication of space pirates!
That's the symbol of Besmara, the goddess of piracy, space monsters, and strife. Besmaran space pirates are a growing threat throughout galactic shipping lanes, and such pirates throw themselves into combat with a boisterous zeal—it is rare to talk one’s way out of combat with an approaching Besmaran pirate ship.
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Round 1
Shields up
No damage to report
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Engineering phase: ___
Helm phase: ___
Gunnery phase: ___
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Shar
Mnamae
Savoy
Obozaya
Iseph
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(DC = 15 + 2 × the enemy starship’s tier). If you are successful, each enemy character acting during the selected phase takes a –2 penalty to all checks for 1d4 rounds; the penalty increases to –4 if the enemy’s check is made as part of a push action.
So if I beat the DC they get a -4 penalty to hit for the next rounds
Over an open comm channel "You guys couldn't hit us if we get right in front of you!"
To the others "Let's take them out"
Savoy intimidates the enemy, while Shar refocuses the shields.
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Round 1
Shields up BPSA (25/15/15/15)
No damage to report
---
Enemy:
Taunted (gunnery, 1)
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Engineering phase: ___
Helm phase: ___
Gunnery phase: ___
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Shar
Mnamae
Savoy - Taunt enemy
Obozaya
Iseph - Fly
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Obozaya mans the turret gun again.
Unable to outrun the Lawblight, Iseph decides evasion is the best move. Ietsuna puts the crosshairs on the pirate vessel.
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Round 1
Shields up BPSA (25/15/15/15)
No damage to report
---
Enemy:
Taunted (gunnery, 1)
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Engineering phase: ___
Helm phase: ___
Gunnery phase: ___
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Shar - Shift shields
Mnamae
Savoy - Taunt enemy
Obozaya - Guns
Iseph - Fly
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Obozaya and Mnamae fire, and the lawblight's shields light up. What also lights up is the pirate vessels torpedo launcher. The huge blast shakes the Society Vessel - itself not the easiest to rock - and strips away the remaining shields after the Lawblight's coilguns scored a tentative first hit. The explosion damages the laser cannon and a coilgun, causing both of them to glitch.
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Round 2
Shields up BPSA (0/15/15/15)
Hull damage (21)
Heavy laser cannon damaged
Turret coilgun damaged
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Enemy:
Taunted (gunnery, 1) (4 dmg, 15/0/0/0)
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Engineering phase: ___
Helm phase: ___
Gunnery phase: ___
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Shar
Mnamae
Savoy
Obozaya
Iseph
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The huge pirate ship looks exactly like the description in the logs of the crashed vessel, down to the armament. It's armed with a forward coilgun and a torpedo launcher, aft has a gyrolaser and there's a turret with a coilgun. Its flanks are exposed, and it has only light shields. That torpedo launcher is killer, though.
They also seem to be having a pilot that is worse than Iseph, who take the lawblight on a detour around the asteroid field.
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Round 2
Shields up BPSA (0/15/15/15)
Hull damage (21)
Heavy laser cannon damaged
Turret coilgun damaged
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Enemy:
Taunted (gunnery, 1) (4 dmg, 15/0/0/0)
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Engineering phase: ___
Helm phase: ___
Gunnery phase: ___
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Shar
Mnamae
Savoy
Obozaya
Iseph - Flying the ship
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