Rumors abound throughout the galaxy. Hostile invasions, aberrant encounters, economic collapse are just a few. It is easy to find people who struggle to get by from day to day, while corporations pocket obscene profits on the backs of these same people.
The galaxy is as diverse as it is interesting. New races and creatures are being discovered almost daily as technology improves at a blinding pace. Here you are, approaching Absalom Station with an invite to join up with the well-respected Starfinder Society. Perhaps you have been wanting to become a part of this prestigious organization since you were a child, or maybe it is just your best option for a steady paycheck for now, but you hold in your hands an official letter of acceptance into the Society and a contact name, Duravor Kreel, a dwarf who will meet you on docking bay 94.
The Okimoro shifts slightly as the computer adjusts the trajectory for its approach to Absalom Station. Most passengers stare listlessly at the floor, silently clutching their bags. For some, the bags represent their entire life's possessions, while others are simply excited for a new experience upon the renowned technological marvel.
You have your own reasons for accepting Starfinder’s invitation. Regardless, the crew seemed to be aware that you were important and placed you in a special semi-private section with three other travelers. The transport is on its final approach to the station. Soon, you will be entering a new phase of your life.
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A young Lashuntan woman gazes outside of the window, taking in all of the beautiful stars shining with a large grin on her face. Kasha knew that she'd never get sick of this sight of the beautiful stars, seeing as she was stuck with endless amounts of desert for her entire life.
And, as such, she exclaims, "Ahh, this view is amazing!" As a child might, she excitedly jumps up and down a bit in her seat. Swiftly turning around to face the others in the semi-private cabin with her and the grin still plastered on, she says, "Isn't this amazing? I can't wait to get there! Do you think Kreel will be one of those mentors that will have a tough, outer shell with a golden heart? I love those types of characters!"
A halfling reclines in his chair near a window; his head leaned back and eyes absently locked on the small golden glowing orb that lazily orbits his head in irregular patterns.
His eyes depart the orb and glance towards Blacklock, with a smile. "I'm Xond. As to the booze, if they had any, I'd've already dug into it." Letting off a heavy sigh, "I'd forgotten how much I dislike public transports."
Sitting up, he stretches and cracks his back still grinning. "Ugh. That felt good." With a quick flourish, for no one in particular, Xond grabs the glowing orb, extinguishes its light and reveals his empty palm.
He chuckles at Kasha's child-like excitement. "It's about as amazing as commercial space travel can get." He simply shrugs at her questions, "I don't have any more idea about who Kreel is than you do."
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Kasha looks towards Blacklock and nods, "I think so! I knew the Starfinder Society was pretty famous, but I didn't expect we'd get the VIP treatment here! I love it! No booze that I've seen, but I've heard Absalom Station has whatever you could dream of there."
She raises her hand up a bit in a friendly wave and continues on, "Nice to meet you all though, my name's Kasha! Kasha Lexas, to be exact..." Kasha noticeably leaves the last part hanging to see if any of the others might react to her name to test just how famous she was.
Turning towards the halfling, she curiously raises an eyebrow and looks at the glowing orb around his head. "Woah, what's that? That's pretty cool!" Tilting her head a bit, she replies to him, "I guess so, but it's a much better view than brown sand all the time, you know?"
With a smirk and a snap of his fingers, Xond reignites the orb which bursts into existence like a new-born golden star. "It's a small stellar mote of cosmic energy that is siphoned from the universal cycle of creation and destruction that suffuses all of reality. " Xond waves his hand near the orb and it extinguishes. "Atleast thats what I've been told it is. To me its just a natural extension of who I am."
Xond looks out the window, staring into the distance. "I guess it is, but it reminds me too much of growing up."
Aside from being your contact at Starfinder, Blacklock recalls hearing about how Kreel is exceptionally tall for a dwarf and that he often works as a subcontractor for mining companies when they discover new deposits.
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Boris is starring at space Drifting by in the exterior display monitor near his seat. His red beard and hair have been cut in a style that you'd expect to see on a sociopathic street ganger but it doesn't really look right on him. On the seat next to his is a bulky looking robot shaped like a cone with a flattened top. The ends of three stubby manipulator arms stick out of the casing near the top of the robot. The ends of the burlap sacks are wrapped in burlap sacks.
I won. I'm free.
He turns towards the others. "I'm Boris. This jolly fellow right here" he says as he slaps the side of his drone, "is Digdig. It sounds like we are all headed to the same place."
Two human stewards approach the group. They are pushing a cart that contains the batteries and ammunition for the group's weapons. The head steward begins to speak.
"Thank you for traveling on the Okimoro. Here are the batteries and ammunition for your weapons. I hope that you en..."
The steward stops while delivering the mundane spiel as his eye is caught on Kasha. "No way! Mark, look who it is!" he says to his assistant before addressing Kasha. "I loved you in Space Girls are Easy! Can I possibly get an autograph?" He extends a pen and piece of paper toward her.
The assistant surveys the others before asking them directly, "So, are you guys like the bodyguards then?"
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Kasha stares in wide-eyed amazement at Xond's mote lighting up and flying around. "Holy! That's incredible! I, uh...have no idea how that works, though, but more power to you. I'm not too good with science, I guess?" Kasha chuckles a bit. "I doubt you could teach me how to do that? All I can do is move stuff around every so often with my mind."
She turns to face Blacklock as he mentions Kreel, replying, "A tall dwarf, huh? Never really seen that before! That'll be surely something to remember! And speaking of Dwarves..."
Kasha grins and looks over at Boris as he introduces himself and his drone. "Digdig? That's such a cute name! I love it! It's good to meet you both! Did you build him yourself? You must be extremely smart..."
As soon as the stewards come in, she quickly turns around and says, "Ah, thank you two! These will help for sure! I think I'll put in a good recommendation for this shuttle..."
Once they spoke to her, she could feel her heart flutter, and her grin grow wider. People did know of her already? This was amazing!
"Haha! Of course, of course! Anything for two fans of mine! I mean, I wouldn't say my role in that movie was...the best, but I can certainly tell you I'm already rising in stardom! Get the word out there!" She quickly and deftly signs the paper using the pen she added, adding a little heart to the end of it.
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Boris turns towards Kasha and stares at her for an uncomfortably long time before speaking. "I did build him myself. He helped me win." Boris mutters under his breathe, "You won't think it's cute anymore when you see what it can do."
Boris says to know one in particular. "All the dwarves I used to know are dead now. It'll be good meeting another one of my kind again. I miss talking in the Old tongue."
"Excuse me, I am looking for Docking Bay 94, or a Dwarf named Duravor Kreel. Could you point me in the correct direction?" The tall android asked a lounging mechanic.
The mechanic looked up at it and grunted, saying, "Dockin' Bay 94 is that way. Don't know no Dwarf."
"Thank you for your time." Alpha-83 walked away from the mechanic in the direction he pointed. Alpha-83 had been looking for the docking bay ever since it had gotten out of The Spike. It had started its search on the wrong side of the station, and it had taken it time to work its way over here. Alpha-83 hoped it wouldn't be too late.
Its days since the destruction of the Black Pulsars had been interesting. First, it had to disabuse a couple Ysoki scavengers of the idea it was spare parts. Then, once Alpha-83 had avoided them, it had nearly gotten into a fight with a rather large drunken human who hadn't appreciated being interrupted to answer questions. People were very strange, he'd decided, although their biology was fascinating. What other strange beings were out there to meet? It couldn't wait to find out. And, now that Alpha-83 had what were hopefully accurate directions, it would join the Starfinder Society and find out soon.
After searching the docks with no result, Breaker finally recognizes the "tall" dwarf waiting outside the docking doors of bay 94.
Kasha, Buzzsaw, Blacklock, and Xond all prepare themselves and their gear for the disembarkment of the transport. The stewards smile again at Kasha, but the assistant frowns at the grumpy red dawrf as he passes by. Most of the other passengers are quick about their exits and are out the doors as soon as they are opened.
The new recruits find themselves standing in a safety zone just outside the transport doors.
The brightly lit docks are abuzz with activity as travelers bustle by, preparing to either board or disembark from starships bound to other worlds. Brash and swaggering star pilots, scurrying ysoki, mechanics and expectant colonists mingle with enigmatic kasatha mystics, hard-faced miners, and a few imposing vesk mercenaries, creating a microcosm of the abundance and variety of the Pact Worlds at its core.
New arrivals meet with friends,loved ones, or business contacts, and are whisked away into the busy activity of daily life on the station.
Beyond them, ground crews tend to the docked ships, and dockworkers in mechanized cargo lifters load and unload freight and baggage. A sharp tang of ozone hangs in air-a byproduct of electrical disharges from the docked ships-but underneath, the station's atmosphere has a slightly used aroma. The docking bay's deck plates thrum beneath your feet, though whether it's from the passage of innumerable feet or the vibrations of the station's power conduits and air recycling systems, it is difficult to say.
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Kasha waves to the stewards as they exit out of the shuttle and remarks, "Well, weren't they nice?"
As she steps outside of the shuttle once landed, she gasps in awe as she takes in all of her surroundings of the bustling docking station. "Wow! This is amazing! Kreel said he'd meet us here, right?" She takes a look around the station to see if she can see this "tall" dwarf.
The assistant looks at the tagged inventory upon Blacklock's request. He sees no numbers that match and looks up at him and smugly replies, "Nice try" and pushes the cart away.
Finally locating the "tall" dwarf, Alpha-83 moves through the crowd. It looked as though it was not late to the appointed meeting time. Moving his way through a crowd of people exiting a recently arrived transport, he eventually is able to get past them and make his way to the Dwarf.
"Excuse me, are you Duravor Kreel? I believe I am supoosed to meet you here. Is that accurate? I am Alpha-83."
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Boris turns his drone back on as the shuttle lands. Three stubby legs sprout from the bottom of its body and it begins to follow closely behind Boris.
Boris steps out onto the tarmac and scans the busy dock for any signs of the dwarven envoy they are here to meet.
All I see are bloody humans here. He must not be as tall as they say.
"It's more mysticism than science. ... I think." he says, tentatively.
Thinking for a second, "I'm not much of a teacher, but if you're interested feel free to join me for my morning exercises."
Gathering his ammo and gear, Xond suits back up and head out of the transport. "They were true fans."
Upon seeing the bustling docking bay he cracks a big smile and scanning the crowd for anyone that resembles Kreel's description before his stature gets in the way.
Breaker approaches the tall, lanky dwarf. He turns around to respond to him and reveals deep-set eyes beneath a bushy brow and a bristling iron-gray beard.
The recruits spot him immediately as well, waiting in the middle of the platform so as to be as visible as possible to anyone who may be looking for him.
You three notice a group of three men, clad in piecemeal gear with a gold and black emblem on their space suits that resembles a crown, take up positions on the right side of the bay.
Breaker notices that another group of what appears to be freebooters clad in scarlet jackets take up positions on the left side of the bay.
The last few passengers disperse the area. Duravor turns to greet Breaker with a smile and just a second before that, a flash appears as he is struck in the neck from a laser pistol and drops quick and hard to the floor. The shot appears to come from the right side of the dock.
As Breaker approaches the Dwarf, it notices the two groups and begins immediately processing what is happening. This has all the appearance of the starts of a gang fight. We will need to vacate the area as quickly as possible so as not to be caught in the crossfire.
"Duravor, we must -" Breaker cuts off as the laser strikes the dwarf in the neck and he drops. This is highly problematic. Was this crossfire or assassination? I must find out - quickly.
Surprise Round
DK3
DK2
Breaker
DK1
"Digdig"
Kasha
Xond
L21C
L21A
L21B
One of the thugs levels his laser pistol at Breaker, and fires off a shot at what he assumes is an associate of Kreel's.
The shot hits Breaker right in the shoulder, seering through his outer layer, leaving smoke trails from the glowing hole.
Another of his accomplices notices the scarlet men and fires a laser shot toward one of them.
The shot is taken in haste and is absorbed into a black mark on the station wall behind him.
Alpha-83 barely reacts to getting shot in the shoulder, its android mind processing quickly. Gold and black crown emblem is bad, does not like scarlet jackets. Scarlet jackets not actively trying to shoot me. Decision: minimize target, defend self. Use force on gold and black crown emblem - ignore scarlet jackets unless fired upon.
Alpha-83 moves quickly back towards the people standing at the docking bay entrance who appeared to be unrelated to the one who had shot Duravor and itself or the scarlet jackets. Hopefully this tactical decision did not prove foolhardy. Getting behind some cover it crouches down to hopefully avoid being shot again.
"Greetings. I hope that you had a pleasant journey in your transport. I am unsure of why precisely this has occurred, but I hope you are not with those who just tried to shoot me," Alpha-83 says to the people who were standing right there. After all, they probably found the whole thing a bit odd.
EAC: 19, KAC: 20
SP: 4/7
HP: 9/9
RP: 4/4
Conditions: have cover.
Spells per day:
1st-level - 3/3
The third thug on the right side of the bay takes aim at one of the scarlet clad dregs.
The shot flashes and zips across the shoulder of one of the scarlet-clad men leaving him with a grazed, but smoking shoulder.
Xond raises his hand to wave at Kreel with a smile but his motion is cut off by the motion in the corner of his eye and the flash of a blaster shot colliding with Kreel's neck.
"Holy Quiznak!" He shouts.
Xond inhales sharply as his eyes erupt in golden energy and his stellar mote reignites as the raw cosmic energy of The Cycle flows through him.
Xond runs forward, clapping "Breaker" on the shoulder as he passes by. "No problem! We're meeting Kreel too!"
As Xond moves into close quarters with the nearest thug on the right he draws his sword and flashes the thug a smug grin. "Hope you're ready to tango."
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Kasha waves at the dwarf, seeing him wave back she grins until she notices the movement to the right of a weird group of men and begins to get a bad feeling in her gut.
Once the first laser blasts Kreel and he falls, she screams out "A-Ah! No!"
Remembering her training, she decides to put it to action to take these guys down! She first runs into cover right next to the android who looks like he took a shot and crouches down.
"A-Are you alright? You were with Kreel, right? How badly injured is he?"
She then tries to recall if she's read or seen anything about a group with a gold and black crown on Absalom Station.
One of the scarlet-clad thugs takes at at the crowned gang member on the right and lets off a blast of his laser pistol. It strikes the gangster in the chest, producing a billow of smoke and a small flame.
The second red thug takes aim at an opposing gang member and fires his laser as straight as he can. The shot strikes the opponent in the arm as he lets out a scream.
The third red gangster takes pause as his target seems to be obstructed by a halfling bystander and aims instead at the same one as his mate.
The shot grazes his opponent causing him to wince.
DK3
DK2
Breaker
DK1
Kasha
Xond
L21C
Blacklock
L21A
L21B
Buzzsaw
Kasha recalls hearing about a brutal gang called the Downside Kings who wore the gold crown emblem. They are known to engage in a wide variety of illegal activities. They got the "Downside" part of their moniker due to their emergence from the lower levels of the station.
One of the gangsters, , yells out to the halfling, "What are ya doing? Get outta here!" and then aims for his leg.
The shot hits Xond in the thigh, seering into his armor and causing a painful burn.
somewhat distravted by the exchange with the halfling, fires a shot at his first aggressor, just grazing him.
Alpha-83 looked at the Lashunta woman and said, "I am not too badly hurt. Kreel was shot in the neck - I do not believe that is a survivable wound, although if you have sufficient medical skill and he has not yet expired, you may be able to save him. These men with the gold and black crown emblem appear to be the aggressors - I do not know them or the men in the red jackets."
As he says this, Alpha-83 pulls out his tactical side arm, then points at the one who shot him and pulls the trigger. The gun lets out a loud crack as the bullet flies towards the thug.
Unfortunately, the wound to his shoulder causes the shot to go wide.
Xond strikes out with his longsword but swings wide, his stance thrown off by the pain in his leg. "Ugh. Lucky shot!"
Blacklock remembers hearing about a brutal gang called the Downside Kings who wore the gold crown emblem. They are known to engage in a wide variety of illegal activities. They got the "Downside" part of their moniker due to their emergence from the lower levels of the station.
the farthest gangster clad in black shoots quickly at the gangster straight across from him,.
The shot hits the scarlet gangster in the chest, causing him to yell in pain and lean against the dock wall for a second.
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Kasha takes a deep breath as she gathers her bearings and remembers what she knows about that emblem. Downside Kings, huh...?
She looks back at the android and replies quickly, "I don't know anything about medicine or that sorts....No..." She looks down for a bit and closes her eyes as a brief moment of silence and then continues on:
"Those guys with the black and gold crown emblem...I've heard of them on the HolodVids about Absalom Station. They're the Downside Kings from what I know, a pretty vicious gang that's apart of all kinds of illegal activities. But...they're usually on the lower levels of the Station so why are they here? Either way, let's try and stop this!"
The lashuntan woman grabs the laser rifle strapped on her back into her hands and takes aim at the DK in melee with Xond and fires!
She tripped a bit as she was aiming at him and hits the box beside him!
The golden glow in Xond's eyes intensifies.
Nows my chance! "Ignite, Sol!" The golden orb floating around Xon's head erupts into a swirling golden corona that fills the air around him.
"You're luck has run out!" Arcing his sword towards the thug the blade once again misses widely. Xond chuckles nervously, "Maybe not."
The scarlet-clad thug moves inside the info booth shoving its occupant to the ground before firing at the opposing gangster with his pulsecaster.
The shot nails him square in the chest, marring his Estex suit, and elicits a cry of pain.