Male Tiefling Martial1/Arcane3, hp 23/29, AC 20(T20/FF10), CMD 15, Init +3, Perc +8. F+3/R+7/W+4
Seeing that everything appears to be in order, Horus compliments his CWO and the rest of the engineering crew on their thoroughness and with everything seemingly under control, he wanders over to the bridge.
Instead of the semi-circular part at the bottom (the front) it should be longer and bullet shaped. Instead of the small consoles and viewscreens there it should be a bank of several large window-like viewscreens that provide a 180 degree view of what's in front of the ship.
male Human lv3 martial hero, hp25, AC18, CMD16, F+4, R+5, W+0, int+2
"Aye aye captain" Walter heads to the helm and sits down, he looks at the controls for a few seconds trying to memorise what is where, before grabbing the controls "Where to captain?" he says though before he gets an answer his moving the ship towards the mission's destination at full speed.
The helm control is essentially two circles on a flat panel. By placing your hands, palms down upon them you can fly the ship using only your thoughts. Excelsior reads your intentions and executes them at the speed you think them, rather than having to wait for your reflexes to carry them out. You've trained to fly AI ships, but there are still relatively few of them, so this is the first time you've actually flown one. It feels pretty cool, but as soon as you start to move the ship...
"Woah there! I appreciate your enthusiasm but if we don't get clearance from FEF Command before leaving orbit the system's defense system will annihilate us. We gotta wait for Bigfix to get his furry green rear up here." the Captain says, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair impatiently. Just as he says this the teleporter doors open and Horus walks onto the bridge. The Captain begins to say, "Finally! There yo...oh. It's you. Make yourself comfortable." He finishes with a dismissive wave.
HP 28 | AC 18 | T 18 | FF 10 | CMD 18 | F +4 | R +4 | W +0 | Init +1 | Per +3
Location: Deck 2
Grunk when he here's his name stands from his chair. He leaves the room and heads for the teleporters just as he is about to get in he turns to Alullyra "You and the others know what to do." He looks at the ceiling then back to Alullyra before stepping into the teleporter "Bridge."
"Yaha!" the Captain exclaims with childlike glee once Grunk comes out of the teleporter. "Ensign Bigfix, glad you could join us. If you'll get us cleared with FEF Command, we can be on our way." he says motioning to the Ops console.
Grunk, feel free to post your reaction but I'm going to continue on.
Grunk quickly contacts the FEF Command and puts in the proper codes. Once the Excelsior is cleared to leave orbit the Captain says, "Alright Tungsten, take her away. We're headed for the gate at the edge of the system." He punches a few buttons, and a 3d indicator appears on the viewscreen, projecting an image of a red line for the pilot to follow off towards the edge of the system. "Full speed ahead!"
HP 33 ⎢ AC 20 ⎢ T 20 ⎢ FF 10 ⎢ CMD 19 ⎢ F +5 ⎢ R +4 ⎢ W +6 ⎢ Init +3 ⎢ Per +7
"Good to finally be on our way." Leo mumbles as the leave the dock and heads towards the gate. He stands looking out the windows feeling a bit out of place on the bridge at this moment.
HP 28 | AC 18 | T 18 | FF 10 | CMD 18 | F +4 | R +4 | W +0 | Init +1 | Per +3
Location: Bridge
Grunk grumbles as the captain gives him an order but then he sees the ops console MMMM!!! He gets in contact with command giving the codes then turns back to the captain "Ready."
As the ship sets off at full speed Grunk grunts into the communications console "On our way Command."
"I am always aware of what's happening on board. Unless of course you engage privacy mode. Well...Syarha, what are you doing down here? Not that I mind...I'm just curious."
As the ship pulls away from the orbital platforms and buzzing traffic of Vega, it continually picks up speed until the stars are whirring by. It passes the three outer gas giants of the Vega system, and the lights of their lunar colonies and gas mining stations. As you approach the gate, you notice a steady stream of other ships headed in the same direction. About an hour after breaking orbit, the gate comes into view.
Floating at the edge of the star's gravitational influence, this massive stone structure appears ancient and menacing. A reminder of the gods that once ruled Illuria, these cyclopean structures are the gateways to interstellar travel. There is a line of ships slowly filtering through the center of the large circular opening of the gate, and on the other side a steady stream of different craft emerging. The portal itself shimmers with the familiar golden light of teleportation magics. The whole exterior of the gate is covered in a metallic Astroguild superstructure, the thick arcanicite lines powering it glow a bright blue. The red navigational line on the viewscreen leads you past the other ships who are slowly filing one by one through the gate, straight to the front of the line.
Grunk, you receive a hail from the Guild operator on the gate. A male voice comes through to the bridge, "FEF Excelsior, you are cleared for departure to Cygnuss, Priority Alpha. Please proceed slowly. Vega Gate control out." As soon as the man's voice disconnects a wide blue line of light projects out from the structure around the gate and scans the ship starting from the nose, and proceeding down the whole length of the ship.
The captain punches the shipwide button on his chair and says over the intercom, "All crew brace for gating." The intercom clicks off and he says to Walter, "Alright Tungsten, take us through."
HP 17/17 | AC 12 | T 12 | FF 10 | CMD 10 | F +3 | R +0 | W +5 | Init -1 | Per +2 Changeling 3, Arcane Hero, CHA base, spontaneous casting,
"Just exploring... Do you like your job?" I wonder aloud, then I pause, "What emotions are you capable of, being an AI and all?" I prod, just trying to talk.
"It is not really my job, it is my life. I am an AI only in the sense that I am a created biomagical construct. The Excelsior is my body, and I am capable of a full range of humanoid emotions. My programming created a personality perfectly suited for this. I literally live to serve." He pauses for a moment. "As for liking it, I have insufficient other experiences to compare it to. I don't dislike it. At least not yet, I've only been alive a few weeks."
As the Excelsior passes through the gate you all get the most peculiar feeling. It feels like you've been stretched out atom by atom into an infinite string. It's as if time stops meaning anything, and like you are everywhere at once. Subjectively, going through a gate feels like eternity. Or rather a lack of time. Objectively the transmission is instant. You emerge through into the light of another star. Where as Vega is a yellow star, similar to our own sun, Cygnuss is a Class A star. Its pale white mass is a few hundred times as large as Vega's sun. Even from the gate it hangs huge in the distance, brightly illuminating the asteroid field you find yourselves in.
This gate is covered in a much less comprehensive superstructure. One whose components look newer than the ones on the Vegan gate. Waiting for you on the other side is an Astro Guild escort ship. It floats silently amongst the asteroids, its green running lights illuminating its black hull. It rather resembles a wingless wasp, it's total length no more than eighty meters.
The Captain doesn't react for a moment, and then he says "Something isn't right here. Bigfix, hail that escort ship and get me a full sensor readout. Kimefe get the blaster cannons and torpedoes manned, I've got a bad feeling about this. Ship bring us up to yellow alert." As he finishes talking yellow lights come on throughout the ship and an alarm sounds a single call, signaling crew to ready stations.
Anyone can man either the guns or the torpedo tube. Walter you're needed at helm. For now, you're need at ops Grunk. Kimefe you can take manual control of one of the weapons from the security station on the bridge. Otherwise there needs to be someone actually there. If one of the PCs doesn't man them then an NPC can.
HP 33 ⎢ AC 20 ⎢ T 20 ⎢ FF 10 ⎢ CMD 19 ⎢ F +5 ⎢ R +4 ⎢ W +6 ⎢ Init +3 ⎢ Per +7
"Do you want me to take the one of the weapons captain or do you have other preferences?" Leo asks from his vantage point behind the captains chair. It's itching in him to do something, he wants to be a part of it not stand on the sideline. Barely out of the gate and already into the breeches.
"Why don't you go take care of the aft blaster cannon? You're the only one here with combat experience besides me. It might be nothing but better safe than sorry..." The captain replies, stroking his chin.
Grunk you receive no reply from the escort ship. Your scans reveal that the ship is operating at full power. However the vessel is shielded, preventing you from further scanning. You're still about two hundred kilometers out from the other ship. From this distance it appears to be structurally intact.
As the captain assigns Leo to one of the basters, Kimefe is already at the control station for the other, rotating it slowly to get a feel for the controls. "Horus, I want you to man the torpedo!" Hope this is nothing, but we'll see.
HP 33 ⎢ AC 20 ⎢ T 20 ⎢ FF 10 ⎢ CMD 19 ⎢ F +5 ⎢ R +4 ⎢ W +6 ⎢ Init +3 ⎢ Per +7
Leo hurries to on of the control panels behind him and says with some urgency: "Excelsior this is the XO, sign me in and give me fire control over the port side blaster cannon." In his head Leo reverts to the focused state he knows so well. All right you have drill this a million times, time to shine."
"Bring us in slowly Tungsten. Bigfix, keep trying to hail them. Put that ship on main viewscreen, maximum magnification." The Captain commands. "If we get into trouble, the CWO for ops can handle communications, and Bigfix can man the torpedo tube."
"Ms. Screething, as I'm sure you felt we've passed through the gate. The Captain has put the ship on yellow alert. Perhaps you should make your way to the bridge? There's a developing situation with our escort." The Excelsior informs Syarha.
HP 28 | AC 18 | T 18 | FF 10 | CMD 18 | F +4 | R +4 | W +0 | Init +1 | Per +3
Grunk attempts to hail them again "Escort we need some sign that you are alive in there. Out." He grunts "Ageera is there any way that we can get those shields down. I can't read anything through them."
"We could try boarding the ship and turning the shields off from the inside, but that would be a last resort option for obvious reasons, and at that point we could simply search it out ourselves."
As the Excelsior closes with the patrol ship it can be seen that something is indeed quite wrong. Though the ship is powered up, there are clearly three large hull breaches. It looks like something stabbed the ship with a giant spear or knife. The escort ship's engines look like they are powered down.
Horus:
You know that the shields on Astro Guild vessels are quite similar to those on the Excelsior. They allow physical objects past, but have an ablative effect on magic or energy. The only ways to take them down that you know of are from inside the ship, or by destroying the shield generators.
"I don't know of any way to take down shields without destroying them. Tungsten, keep bringing us in, we may need to take our chief of security's suggestion. We need to know what happened here, there may be survivors on that ship." The Captain says.
"No I don't think. If I thought that I wouldn't have asked you to keep taking us in." Captain Ageera says, his voice dangerously edged. "We need to know what's happened to the crew of that vessel, and recover it if possible. Bring us into grappling distance, we'll pull her in and get her docked. Then find some answers." He stares hard at Walter, his look daring him to say something.
As the Excelsior moves to within a hundred meters or so of the damaged patrol ship, the Captain has Walter bring your ship around so that the guild ship is in front of the docking ports on the wing...
As Kimefe is calibrating the grappling line controls, there is a brief flash from the interior of the wounded patrol ship. An instant later the smaller ship explodes silently, its hull pealing back like a blossom revealing a fiery flower within. The explosion expands over the Excelsior rocking it heavily. Sparks fly from a couple control panels, and the red alert alarm starts to blare instantly. Deep in the bowels of the ship Syarha slams her skull into a bulkhead and is knocked unconscious.
Everybody give me a DC 10 acrobatics check or fall prone.
Jelani
