As the Hippocampus fires again at the fleeing ship, the small vessel manages to fly erratically enough that freighter's weapons cannot lock on to anything and both Private Eye and Orlam watch as their HUDs remain unchanged.
Round 10
Current roles
Captain: Valius
Engineer: Mysterra
Gunner(s): Orlam, Private Eye
Pilot: Xera
Science Officer: -nil-
Current Ship Status
HP 34/40
Shields Basic 20 (5/5 forward, 3/5 aft, 5/5 port, 5/5 starboard)
Systems All fine
2/3 computer bonuses (+1) remaining
The tiny interceptor continues to fly away at break-neck speeds, its flight pattern shifting erratically in an evasive maneuver. It appears to be moving away from both Absalom Station and from the direction the Acreon is situated.
"Will we pursue?" Mysterra asks, her fingers poised over the console... waiting to discern where her skills are most needed.
"Yeah, she's pulling ahead. Almost out of range."
Xera tries to follow but the bogie is getting a bigger and bigger lead.
Valius follows the action, annoyed that the vessel has gotten away for now and not feeling up for a pursuit at this point. He had a feeling that they'll be back.
"Whatever they were after, it's as likely that they want us to follow them and delay our investigation as anything else. Break off pursuit and resume our course to the Achaeon," Valius directs them, as he gets out of the captain's chair.
"Mysterra, keep an eye on our sensors and make sure they don't try to come back. I'd also like it if you could set up a remote link so that if they come back when we're docked to the Achaeon, we get a heads up hopefully," He requests of her.
"Orlam, come with me and let's see what the damage is here and if we can fix anything. I could use your muscles," He asks him, figuring he could use some time feeling useful for all of the missed shots he had at the gunner's station.
Orlam nods distractedly, not even noting how badly Valius is estimating the damage to the ship, his mind clearly elsewhere. Finally, the soldier speaks. "Captain, it had to have been the Stewards. They were the ones who programmed in the coordinates of the Acreon, along with our heading. And the behavior of the soldiers in the docking bay…” Orlam shakes his head. “But why? Didn’t the ambassador say the upgraded ship was going back to the Stewards after our mission was complete? Seems like a waste of resources on their part. And that ship, it was Eoxian, wasn’t it? How does that fit in, when the ambassador who assigned us the mission hails from that very planet?”
:)
"Yes, Captain." Mysterra replies. She clicks away on the console, scanning the surrounding area for further combative ships.
Then she gets to work on establishing a remote link to her custom rig for the ship's proximity warning, as requested.
Private Eye scowls at his screen. He's never liked it when a perp got away. As the others give up the chase he gives one last parting shot.
As Private Eye presses the trigger of the weapons consoles, he can't quite match the erratic path of the enemy interceptor, and the volley of fire from the Hippocampus' coilgun flies wide into the depths of space. The enemy vessel continues pushing its thrusters into a hard burn and flees into the darkness.
As the adrenaline of the dogfight begins to wear off the Starfinders, their attention turns to the status of the ship. Despite Mysterra's best efforts, the freighter has taken some damage, but it is hard for Valius to tell if any of the damage has affected any of the critical systems. Mysterra takes a scan over the sensor readings and determines that there are no other ships in the vicinity, and she then makes what she believes to be the necessary modifications to alert her to any incoming ships going forwards.
As the group decide how to proceed with their investigation, each of them feels a little more confident in themselves and their abilities.
"Ready to proceed, Captain." Mysterra suddenly announces. "Scanners are prepared to assess the Arceon as soon as the ship is in range."
"Scanning the Arceon."
"Tch," Valius says as he fails to find anything of note to fix. He's just not familiar enough with the Hippocampus yet. Not like he was with his parents' vessel. At least it didn't seem like their attacker was going to be coming after them. Hopefully the quarantine zone would dissuade them.
"Yeah, the ship was Eoxian, which on the surface, makes it seem like the man who put us up to this investigation is trying to hide something. But just as possible, someone is trying to discredit the investigation." He looks up at the kasathas with worry. "I hope we can figure this out. Let's get ready. It's your job to make sure we survive the fights in the field," He assures him as he heads back up to the bridge, leaning over Mysterra.
"Now, let's see what's going on with this ship. Any structural damage?"
Orlam gives Valius a wry grin, or what probably passes for one on the alien face of the kasathas. "I will endeavor to be more successful at that than I was in bringing down that ship with the laser, captain." And in truth, the soldier is very confident in his abilities to do exactly that. He heads off to make sure his weapons are all in good order before they arrive at the Acreon.
"I've got a hunch that we'll see that ship again. Next time they won't be so lucky I'm sure." Eye is a little annoyed that the fighter escaped. He's an android that holds a grudge and his 'hunch' is wishful thinking as much as anything.
As the crew of the Hippocampus set the coordinates back to their destination, they soon find themselves at the edge of the quarantine field protecting the Acreon and the Drift Rock from the rest of the galaxy. The consoles on the ship let out a series of trills and beeps as a transponder communicates with the orbital laser cannons that comprise the spherical grid around the ship, and the Hippocampus passes through without incident.
The Acreon slowly fades into view - a boxy and ungainly ship of dulled steel whose patched and repatched outer hull bears the scars of countless micrometeorite impacts. Large block letters reading 'ACREON' in dark paint that has been faded from exposure to radiation on its side. It floats inertly within the quarantine field, far from Absalom Station, with the misshapen asteroid tethered far behind the ship on long thick industrial cables as its only company.
The Hippocampus approaches the forlorn ship, and a robotic voice echoes over the communication channel from a nearby tranponder beacon. 'THIS SHIP IS UNDER QUARANTINE BY ORDER OF ABSALOM STATION SECURITY. PLEASE TURN AWAY OR FACE PROSECUTION,' the message says, repeating after every fifteen seconds.
Mysterra scans the mysterious vessel, identifying it as a Medium transport-class that can carry a full compliment of six crew members. The sensors are, however, unable to get a clear reading on any life signs that might be present on the ship. They pick up that the Acreon is armed, though none of its weapons are currently active, and that its power core is outputting minimal energy - likely enough for life support, gravity, and basic ship functions, but little else.
Mysterra announces what she's learned in her monotone voice.
"All right, bring us up on the port side and let's find the airlock that we need." He glances at the three androids briefly, before checking his own armor to ensure all the seals are in place. "I hate spacewalking, but without an umbilical I doubt we'll be able to get over there otherwise. Orlam, make sure your suit is airtight, and someone double check mine," He requests. He's all too familiar with the perils of open space.
"Roger, coming up on her now..." Xera says as she eases the ship in close.
"Are we able to put the Hippocampus on some kind of lockdown? I'd hate for that fighter pilot to come back while we're aboard Acreon and board her."
"I will receive a notification if our proximity alarm sounds," Mysterra replies calmly. "I am unaware if this ship has a lockdown countermeasure. One moment."
Making the final adjustments to their environmental protections, Orlam and Valius meet Mysterra on the bridge as she makes the last coding entry to install a temporary code to lock the ships systems from intrusion. The five Starfinders begin to make their way out into the vacuum of space through the Hippocampus' airlock, and thanks to Xera's piloting the Acreon looms closely enough that the spacewalk is not difficult.
The spacewalk gives the group the opportunity to survey the vessel from the outside. The large window panels on the bridge currently have the solar shielding active and permit no view of the ship from the inside, and the utilitarian ship has few external windows to permit a view to the inside of the ship.
The Acreon has three airlocks - one each on the port and starboard of the ship, and a third auxiliary airlock located between the central thrusters. A cursory examination of the airlocks show them all in working order, though it appears that the outer door of the smaller aft airlock is currently open.
Mysterrs proceeds towards the nearest airlock -- that on the port side. She activates the airlock so we can enter the ship.
The outer airlock door slides open noiselessly in the vacuum, revealing the port airlock chamber beyond. It is dimly lit with flickering emergency lighting, and as Mysterra crosses the door's threshold, she feels the sucking pull of the ship's artificial gravity lower her to the floor.
The inner airlock door on the other side of the chamber is solid and currently sealed shut. A dim control panel sits next to the inner door, a mixture of red and green lights indicating the status of the airlocks.
---===---
Port (inner): Closed
Port (outer): Open
Starboard (inner): Closed
Starboard (outer): Closed
Aux. (inner): Open
Aux. (outer): Open
---===---
Mysterra walks over to the control panel and examines the status of the ship's airlocks.
Once everyone is inside the airlock, Mysterra activates the outer airlock door, causing it to close. Then she activates the inner airlock door, in order to gain access to the rest of the ship.
"Prepared to move on your order, Captain," she says aloud . Apparently she's taking Valius' role very seriously.
Valius has moved with Mysterra and looks over her shoulder at the airlock display. "Can you close the auxiliary from here?" He asks. If it was open but shutters had closed the area inside off from the rest of the ship, there was still a chance some if the crew was alive.
"Orlam, you're on point. I'll cover your back. Check your fire in case of survivors," He tells him and the team.
Private Eye draws his pistol and makes sure there's a round in the chamber. He nods to Valius but keeps his gun in hand just in case.
Orlam makes certain that Valius' suit is sealed correctly, then allows the human to return the favor before they head out into the airless vacuum of space. When Orlam learns that the aft airlock doors are both open, the soldier fears the worst and readies his weapons, his rifle carried with his lower arms, the heavy doshko in his upper.
When the outside airlock is closed once everyone is assembled, the kasthas at Valius in response to his orders, then glances at Mysterra and gives the android a similar nod. "Go." He says simply, then levels his rifle at the doors and waits for them to open, revealing whatever lies beyond...
Mysterra clicks away at the console, closing all of the other airlock doors .
"I will need to reach the bridge in order to re-pressurize the ship." Mysterra says through their comms.
"Then that's our first stop. If we can't from the bridge, we'll have to check engineering next." Valius says as he pulls his solar scimitar from his mote, keeping it ready just in case of trouble. "...Seems strange though. Did they depressurize the vessel themselves or was it raiders trying to attack them?" He pondered out loud as they move in. "Mysterra, if you've got the layout, direct us to the bridge."
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Xera gently pushes herself to the airlock and enters.
"Your suits should give you air for a while. Perhaps we should sweep the ship first, and then restore the atmosphere when it's all clear?"
"If the crew didn't make it to safety yet then they'll be dead by now. But if there's something else that's waiting for air before emerging from somewhere... well, not having cabin pressure could give us an advantage."
With all of the Starfinders inside the large airlock chamber, Mysterra sets to work sealing the two aft airlock doors and opening the inner door before them, the observation drone hovering noiselessly above them. The flickering emergency lights do little to dispel the darkness within the ship, and the sense of abandonment is heightened by the lack of any movement within the corridor before the group.
The corridor appears to span the width of the Acreon's interior, ending with the closed inner door of the starboard airlock, with an door locked open to the groups right. A small body in a spacesuit lies sprawled on the floor in the middle of a junction in the hallway.
Orlam activates the flashlight on his armor, as well as the one strapped to his heavy cannon. When the inner airlock slides open, the kasathas eyes the body dimly seen at the junction, then moves toward the nearby door. The soldier doesn't intend to leave anything unexplored behind their formation, and so silently points toward the door and signals he intends to open it, after giving it a brief lookover to see if there are any boobytraps.
If he doesn't spot anything and there is no immediate objection, he does just that, holding his doshko in a two-handed grip and the cannon with one hand, ready to bring the weapon to bear as soon as he opens the door, lighting up the interior.
Mysterra considers Xera's words, as well as her captain's.
"There is no rush to restore breathability at this time. I suggest we search through the ship thoroughly as we progress."
Seeing Orlam take the lead, Mysterra pulls out and readies her azimuth laser rifle, then steps beside him, also checking the door for oddities.
Eye takes position at the back of the group, walking backwards. He keeps his android-eyes peeled watching for anything moving in the gloom.
"Honestly, I hate suit breathing, but I see your point. Let's clear the ship room by room then," Valius hesitantly agrees with the androids, trying not to think of potentially suffocating after a suit puncture. He tries to shake it off with a little levity. "Well if I ever stop breathing I guess that Orlam is on the hook for giving mouth to mouth to revive me, since he's the only one else who actually breathes. I think. Can you guys breathe? Or do other biological things?"
He pauses, noting the body in the junction, sweeping his eyes around for more bodies or movement.
"Androids can breathe but do not need to. Having atmosphere allows us to draw air into our lungs which allows us to speak."
Xera examines the corridor, looking for damage or signs of something that could have killed or incapacitated the crew.
Orlam moves up close to the door to find it locked open, and he peers into the room and shines the pair of flashlights into the room beyond. The beams from the lights both sweep over the contents of what looks to be a cargo hold. Several crates and barrels appear to be stacked in throughout the room, several of which are leaned up against a shipping container about eight feet long on each side. The cursory glance that Orlam gives as the lights sweep over the objects within are not enough to give any indication of the rooms actual contents.
As Xera, Valius, and Private Eye all keep a look out down the corridor, there is no sign of the missing crew or what may have happened to them along the port-to-starboard corridor. Examining the doorway for anything interesting, Mysterra finds nothing unusual about the door or the mechanism locking it open.
"Yeah, I guess I didn't think of that," Valius admitted to Xera, looking under Orlam's arm into the cargo hold. He is reminded that the Eoxian ambassador wanted something that was stored here, but the details eluded him at the moment - he'd been more focused on how freaky Eoxians were than the minutiae of the meeting.
"Let's sweep this room first before moving on. Orlam, front and center, I've got your back. Mysty, Xera, eyes down the hallway, but don't check that body yet," He warned, getting a bad feeling about that. Better to make sure that they wouldn't be surprised from the rear if they left areas unchecked after all. That's what his uncle had beaten into his head, to not be so goal-driven you forgot to check for dangers.
"P.I., could use you to find that thing the ambassador was hoping is still here," He called to him, fishing his own flashlight out and turning it on, sweeping through the cargo hold with it looking for hazards.
"Understood, Captain." Mysterra replies.
"On it." Once inside the room he adds, "This should make things easier," as he retrieves his beacon, lighting up everything within 50 feet.
"If we move slowly I can try to detect the presence of another mind. I will need to maintain my concentration to do so."
Xera presses one hand to her temple and then begins scanning the room.
Orlam nods and moves in, using the flashlight to brighten the areas into which he is pointing his rifle. The doshko he keeps at the ready, should he be attacked at close range from another quarter. The kasathas doesn't like the heavy shadows and numerous hiding places in this room, but the soldier knows it must be searched thoroughly before they continue on to examine the body at the corridor intersection outside.
Orlam, Private Eye, and Valius all make their way into the cargo hold and begin a sweep while Xera concentrates on the room momentarily. She detects no thought patterns other than those of her allies in the room, and begins her slow and methodical probe of the corridors of the ship. The beacon lights the hold up brightly, revealing shelves, crates, and barrels of food stuffs and water stores, replacement air filters, spare parts and maintenance supplies.
Approaching the large shipping container in the centre of the room, it appears to be sealed from the outside and is addressed to the Eoxian Embassy on Absalom Station. Neither Orlam, Valius, or Private Eye can see a manifest which would detail its contents.
While the investigation of the hold is being conducted, Xera slowly makes her way down the corridor toward the junction, her eyes glowing and vision hazy as the magic shifts her vision slightly into a more cerebral frame of reference. The thick metal walls stop the spell from penetrating to see if there may be other consciousnesses in other further-flung sections of the ship. With her magically enhanced vision, Xera sees no other signs of consciousness that might be otherwise hidden down the hallway in front of the starboard airlock, and she makes it to the junction between the corridors.
As she approaches the intersection created from the corridors, she sees that the signs of combat are evident in the bow-to-stern corridor - bullet holes, scorch marks, and drops of blood are visible on the walls and floor. The small body - about the size of a young human - lies sprawled face down on the floor in a pool of dark blood, wearing a shredded spacesuit with a cracked glass helmet. Without further investigation, it is hard to tell who the body may have once belonged to.
Putting the grisly image of the body out of her mind momentarily, Xera scans the hallway from bow to stern. Towards the stern of the ship, she sees a dimly pulsing blue light from a spherical machine embedded into the floor of the room beyond another locked-open door - likely the power core of the ship.
Turning towards the front of the ship, she sees a dark blue shape crouched on all fours, prowling around a smaller junction of corridors. Its eyes glow a sickly yellow against the blue leathery skin, and its tentacle-like mane whips back and forth. Xera's detect thoughts spell picks up that the creature has an animal-like intelligence, barely strong enough to be picked up by the magic.
Suddenly the creature whips its head up and the tentacle-mass begins to writhe in all directions, before it turns its head to reveal a fang-filled maw.
"Well, that's one objective down," Valius says as he looks at the container, wondering what could be inside of it. "I know we're not supposed to crack it, but there is nothing wrong with a guessing game. I'll bet that this is some kind of coffin for Eoxians to sleep in. What do you guys think?" He asks, unaware of any current danger.
Orlam frowns at the large container, then shakes his head in response to Valius - though whether the human spoke in jest or in all seriousness, the kasathas isn't certain. "I know not, but you are correct, we have achieved one objective already. I suggest we leave it here and remove it on our way out. I don't think it is going anywhere, and I would investigate that body we glimpsed at the cross-corridor before deciding where to explore next on this ghost vessel."
While Mysterra waits for the boys to finish up in the cargo hold, she watches Xera wander, alert for danger.
When she spots the creature, Xera ducks back behind the corner, hoping that it hasn't spotted her.
"Something in the hallway..." she broadcasts, before she realizes that the creature is headed this way!