[SFS - PbP Outpost I] 1-04 Cries From the Drift - GM bigboom (Inactive)

Game Master bigboom

Welcome everybody! Please dot in with your character!

.

Lief a handsome male Lashunta struts in, he is wearing a well put together outfit of a dark blue suit with what on first look appears to be a simple white undershirt but on closer inspection is a second skin he has 4 serums in what you can only assume is a bandolier across his chest under the suit coat but over the second skin 3 are deep red and one is hot pink 2 vaguely pistol like shapes are lower on his bandolier, he also has a full bag around his shoulder.

"Good morning how are you all, i assume you were sent for regarding a lost ship as well"

he says in a deep timbre that seems piercing yet soft.

Hirix is a spindly, hunched shirren with a blue-grey carapace. Her feathery antennae move constantly, surveying the space and its occupants. Sporting a fitted grey coat over her bodysuit and a worn eyepatch over one of her compound eyes, she gives off a businesslike aura. She holds a cigarette in one claw and occasionally takes a long drag.

She squints her eye at the lashunta, staring him down for longer than is polite. Her mental voice projects a smooth drawl in response to his assumption. "I sure am, buster. A derelict Starfinder rig." She takes another puff of her cigarette. "Awful strange that they'd need a bunch of lugs like us instead of a wrecking crew. Something's up." She extinguishes her cig against a wall "Zigs'll fill us in if we're lucky."

"Looks like we're working the same angle on this one." She raises an antennae in Lief's direction "Name's Hirix. I care about doing things right by people, so you don't cross me and we'll get along just fine."

A tall, muscular young man approaches, his gait unhurried and confident. He wears a peaked cap and a tight-fitting shirt, both bright blue and bearing the insignia of the Ring Racers, a popular Absalom Station brutaris team. He beams a smile at the others.

”Hi, I’m Lucas Crowe,” he says with an easygoing cheeriness. He looks around at the others, clearly expecting at least one of them to recognise him. When no-one speaks up, he continues. ”Looks like we’re going to be working together. I think we’re going to make a great team.”

Leaning against a graffiti covered sculpture in the Downlow neighborhood, Kalteisen von Jäger stares intently at the star pentagon in her hand; the unusual dark metal feels unnaturally warm in her hand.

A human woman approaches her, "Kali? Is that you under that hood? It's Kincaid. Me and T'Flitter missed you on the last few missions; is your arm doing better?"

Kalteisen looks up at her former companion, "I needed some time away, but I'm back now. I guess Zigvigix has a mission for me and I'm supposed to meet my new team in the warehouse where the... I know it's foolish, but I haven't been in there since..."

Kincaid interrupts her, "Kali, look, you got a little overzealous and found the featherstalker, granted, by falling into a pit and landing on it, but still: it died, you didn't. You are your own person. Quit trying to live up to ideals from a family you never even knew; you're a StarFinder now and we are your family. You are a medic, not a Hellknight!"

Kalteisen slips the star pentagon into her pocket, pulls down her hood, and turns toward the old warehouse, "I'm sorry, I know you lost your parents in the Veskarium, yet you can put it aside and work for Radaszam. You always seem to know what to say."

Kincaid, with a smirk, "Of course I do! Go meet you're team and I'll tell T'Flitter you send your regards, good luck!"

Kalteisen von Jäger begins walking toward the old wearhouse Zigvigix summoned her to, "Lucus is it, and Hirix? I'm Kalteisen von Jäger, or just Kali. I don't really know you but recognize you from around the Spire. Any idea what this is all about?"

A Ysoki in a loud, colorful shirt arrives, wearing a relatively expensive gamer's TriVid setup. How he manages to avoid walking into walls while playing Super Mutant Hunt XXX/Treme is not clear.

...Boom! goes the dynamite. And another one down. Sorry, StormCaptain97, you'll get another chance next week. Which just leaves...ah, there we go...bet ya didn't see that coming, did ya GeneralMayhem_!^^? Hey, great game, guys. See you next week, right below me on the leader boards as usual. >>>MightyMouse<<< out!

He removes his TriVid gear and eases into a chair.

Hey, how are ya? Name's Naboh. I heard someone needed a pilot, or a gunner, or maybe a mechanic. I do a lot of stuff.

So...what's the gig?

Hirix sizes each of the newcomers up as they file in, chewing on a toothpick as she does so.

"Lucas, Kali and Naboh, eh? You'll do alright. Name's Hirix." She pulls out her comm and pulls up the summons mail. "I don't know much more than's in here. Right lousy with questions about this ship and how they found her. Seems like we'll be clearing this place up for Zigs though."

"You lot got the nerve for that?"

A door beeps open and a small child walks into the room looking absolutely & thoroughly lost. The boy seems to be close to tears as he looks around at the team.

"Ca...ca...can you h-h-help meeee? I don't know where I am."

There is a long pause before the figure straightens, the tears stop and boys age seemingly melts away revealing a much older figure - though still mostly the same size. The boy is a Halfling! One of the less common races on Absalom station.

"So.....how'd I do?"

He bows and introduces himself.."Twik, Corporate Spy Extraordinaire"

Sorry team....wasn't get gameplay thread notifications. I was getting discussion notifications though which fooled me into thinking that I was in the clear

Say, that's a pretty neat trick. I got a cousin who's good with makeup -- can make a Shirren look like a beauty queen...uh, no offense Hirix, you know what I mean...anyway, he's real good with the makeup, but he can't do that. Hey, when we're done here, you think you can help me run a practical joke on my cousin? Not that one, another one. I owe her one, and she'll find it hilarious!

Eventually.

You've been summoned to the Exo-Guardian's new headquarters, a recently renovated warehouse in the Downlow district.

An augmented host shirren watches a bustling crew move office equipment from several large pallets into a large warehouse, while other workers weld scrap metal to gaps in the warehouse’s walls. The shirren occasionally directs a crew member and makes a note on a datapad. The shirren, Zigvigix, notices their new guests and turns to telepathically project a greeting.

Zigvigix wears a set of shoulder speakers that blast out sugarpop music from the band Strawberry Machine Cake. They bounce in place along to the music. “Welcome back! Isn’t this song the best? I’ve been playing it on loop for hours!” Behind the excited shirren, several grizzled-looking station workers, each carrying a side of a heavy-looking holotable, roll their eyes.

Zigvigix continues, “Thanks for coming—I hope you’ll understand if I keep this brief; we’ve got a lot of work to do to get our new headquarters up and running, and you are on a short timetable. A ysoki salvage barge named the Clutter Collector, captained by a ysoki named Winks, picked up a distress-beacon transmission in the Drift. Winks didn’t have time to check it out, but she sold the data to the Society when she reached Absalom Station. How nice of her!

“Well, it turns out that this beacon came from the Struggle’s Scholar, a kasathan ship that…” Zigvigix pauses for effect as their antennae wiggle excitedly. “…escaped from Sangoro’s Bulwark! If you don’t know, the Bulwark was the old base of operations for the Exo-Guardians. Now, First Seeker Luwazi wisely grounded us from investigating the Bulwark after all contact was lost with it shortly after the Scoured Stars incident, but we can’t pass up this opportunity to learn what happened there. We might even be able to find the coordinates to our missing headquarters. Wouldn’t it be joyous to have a large fortress to play loud music in?”

Zigvigix hands over a datapad. “Here are the coordinates of the distress signal. It is unlikely any of the crew survived, or they’d be here by now. So be on the lookout for bodies. Since the crew is mostly kasathas, it would mean a lot to their extended families if you could bring back their remains or keepsakes to the Idari! Otherwise, salvage any data you can—especially the ship’s log—as it could tell us what happened to Sangoro’s Bulwark. This datapad also holds a one-time-use decrypter that will let you decode the Exo-Guardians ciphers used on the distress signal.

"Any questions?”

If you're trained in Culture, give it a roll and see what you know per the spoilers below!

An image of Ziggy as well as the details of the two starships are visible in the slides. You may now slot your boons and, as a group, select which starship you'll fly for this mission. Or, if you wish, you can ask Ziggy some questions first and slot your boons and/or select your starship after hearing his answers.

Hey, I know Winks. We talked for a while on my way to Elytrio one time. I think she might be my cousin, either a third-cousin-once-removed or a fourth-cousin-twice-restored, but I haven't had a chance to check that out with my grammies yet. She's good people.

Culture: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

I kinda like the idea of a remote fortress to throw parties in. I got a cousin, worked on decorating it for the founder of the Exos, Sangoro. My cousin says he was a Vesk, but I don't know if I believe that. That's what he said, anyway.

Read the DC5 spoiler.

I've played through this scenario with a different character, so I'll let the group decide on which ship to use. Naboh is happy with either one.

Culture: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

”That’s that huge fortress complex stacked with weapons and gear, isn’t it? Would be good to find out if it’s all still there. And maybe there’s still enough space left over for a brutaris court,” Lucas says with an enthusiastic smile. ”Can’t say I know much about starships though - I’ve never been off Absalom Station. I’ll let one of you others make that decision.”

Culture: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

Hirix winces at the sugarpop blaring through the warehouse and shares a commiserating look with the station workers. She continues chewing her toothpick through the entirety of the briefing. "Sangoro's Bulwark? Now there is a proper base, even if it is a little out of the way. Shame the 'ol emerald dame is keeping her digital lips sealed about it, huh Zigs?"

"But this is a lead if I ever saw one. A fine lead at that. We'll take a gander at this Struggle's Scholar for you boss. Do you know anything about what this ship was doing out there? And what was in the distress beacon transmission, other than the name and location?"

"If we got a choice of rigs, I'd take the Drake. Whatever dropped them out there might be back to the scene of the crime. Or some bad hats'll be out there, scavenging what they can. I'd want to be able to fill 'em with lead if I have to."

Culture: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Ziggy listens as the party discusses and shares their knowledge of the Bulwark with each other. "I'm both gladdened and saddened to hear you all speak of the Bulwark. It's obvious through your sharing of knowledge that the Exo-Guardian's legacy has not been forgotten. This makes me happy! Even more happy than listening to Strawberry Machine Cake!! But it does sadden me that we're currently in a position where we struggle to keep the memories of the Exo-Guardians' legacy alive. So much to rebuild..."

Ziggy's gaze drifts off wistfully for a moment until Hirix's question snaps him back to attention. Ziggy replies, “It’s a kasathan starship that was undertaking a short resupply mission to Sangoro’s Bulwark around the same time the signals stopped coming in. We assumed the ship was lost along with the Bulwark, but this signal proves otherwise - thrilling! I do not think any of the crew could have survived this long, though - sad! Still, the ship is compact, with only ten or so internal compartments, so once you find it, it shouldn’t take long to search.

"As for the distress beacon, Winks told us that its transmission stated it was from the Struggle's Scholar and she gave us the beacon location but that's all we know. The rest of the beacon's transmission is encrypted so Winks has nothing further to share. I imagine the encrypted portions of the transmission will tell us more about the fate of the ship itself and, I hope, the ship's current location!!"

culture: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

I'd Vote for the Pegasus but i might be biased, never been much of a gunner

"More poooooower!! I vote Drake!! Bring on the nasties so we can vaporise 'em!!

Hirix pokes her toothpick in Leif's direction "Mack, even if you haven't fired a gat in your life, you'll appreciate them when we get in a firefight. Ain't nothing like a rain of lead to show some spacers you mean business."

She follows up with another question to Zigvigix "So we find this distress beacon in the drift and follow it to our prize? I'm no drifter, but I thought finding a single spot in the drift was a sap's game."

I like what you've done with the place Ziggy, even if it still gives me a shiver or two knowing that the featherstalker's lair was right by that terminal. Speaking of which....

Kalteisen scans the various schematics comparing the Pegasus and Drake.

While both are fine ships, I prefer the the additional speed and maneuverability that the Pegasus offers.

You see a Ysoki walk through the door. He wears a dark tunic, and has a azimuth blaster on his hip. He looks around, eyes dart from person to person. His nose constantly twitches, as if he is forever diagnosing, contemplating what he visually and audibly takes in.

Hi, the names Ketch. My friends call me Twitch cause my nose never stops, well, twitching. I can do well at lotsa stuff, but never excel at one or two things. My cous said he had to bail on ya folks, and I ain’t got much to do right now so I rushed right over. This place is kinda big. What I miss?

He stands near the front, pouring over whatever data files are present or info could be found.

culture: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

Ziggy squeals in delight as Ketch joins the group. "So glad you can make it Ketch! It's a shame Naboh had to depart but your presence more than makes up for it!! You fellow teammate can fill you in on the details, but in short: One, go to the last known coordinates of a distress beacon put out by the ship Struggle's Scholar. Two, use the decryption codes I gave to the team to decrypt and listen to the beacon's transmission. Three, follow up on the decrypted message, which will hopefully point you to the location of the Struggle's Scholar itself! If you find the ship, investigate it and gather as much information from her as you can, especially anything related to Sangoro's Bulwark!"

Replying to Hirix, Ziggy says, "While navigating to a specific point in space is not too big a deal, handling the dangers and challenges of whatever is located at that point in space is an entirely different story!! You all are some of our most promising field agents and this mission is of great importance to the Exo-Guardians so trust me when I say I would not send a bunch of saps for this mission!!

"Any other questions anyone?"

Currently we have two votes for the Drake and two for the Pegasus. Lucas has abstained but feel free to change your mind and submit a vote. Ketch, do you have a preference to break the tie? If not, I'll randomly select one for the group. Also, now that the party is fully assembled, the party will need to decide who will fill which starship roles.

Twitch looks over the data and specs of both ships available. He looks around, judging on outward appearance, even if it is biased.

I am a better pilot than I am a marksman. If three of you guys can man the weapons, I will cast my vote for the Drake. Firepower is hard to come by should this turn into a dogfight.

"Sounds like we've got ourselves a game plan then," Lucas says. "And if you think we're the right team for the job Ziggy, then we're going to bring home the win." It's obvious from his speech that Lucas likes to think of missions like brutal is games, but he looks more than capable of handling himself if the violence goes beyond what would be acceptable on the court.

"Job's clear to me boss. Lets jam."

Hirix is fine taking pilot per Leif's suggestion in discussion.

Ziggy says, "Good luck Starfinders! Here, have some rice candy!!" He offers all of you some candy as you leave.

Feel free to make any purchases and slot boons if you haven't already.

--------------------------

As you depart Absalom station aboard the Drake, a fellow Starfinder ship, the Promise of the Future, a bulk freighter, travels alongside you, keeping comms open. Over the next few days the captain doesn't speak with you as she's too busy but a Starfinder team aboard the ship makes small talk and chit chat with you to stave off the routine boredom of space travel.

You learn that this team are kalos, aquatic monstrous humanoids native to the Brethedan moon of Kalo- Mahoi. This group, calls themselves the Manta Corps, and form a tight-knit party that the Starfinder Society often sends on missions of importance in underwater locales. The Manta Corps eagerly trade stories with you but refuse to speak about their current, classified mission.

Through your conversations, you meet each member of the corps:

• Deepspeaker Alluguoth, who is quite soft-spoken
  
• Mantarider Ushuul, who likes showing off his automatic machine gun named “Muncher,” even via grainy video transmissions
  
• Mantarider Suulhu-Huur, who wields an energized trident. She offers to spar with you, should you ever meet in person
  
• Wavetreader Vhoosh, the quietest member of the group but most interested in hearing about any impressive kills you've accrued

On your second day within the Drift, the Manta Corps bid you farewell as their ship veers off on a different course from yours. In total, your trip to the distress signal location requires 5d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 1, 6, 1) = 19 days.

--------------------------

As you close in on the location of the Struggle’s Scholar’s distress beacon, you detect a large field of roughly two dozen asteroids surrounding the source of the signal.

Suddenly, you detect a vesk starship on the other side of the asteroid field, closing in at high speed. It is ablaze on either side with three bright-red thrusters, which are reminiscent of the energy blades of a plasma doshko.

Shortly after you detect the ship, it slows to a halt.

No applicable rolls to make

Computers: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13
Engineering: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6 Looks like Hirix is pretty clueless!

Hirix leans back in her pilot's pod, setting the engines to a slow burn as the Drake crawls towards the asteroid field. "You getting visuals of those lizards? I don't like the look of this. And I don't think we're going to get to drift with the tide on this one."

"What's the play captain?"

Lucas spends most of his travel time familiarising himself with the ship’s weapons systems, having been allocated the gunnery role due to his complete lack of anything resembling starship experience. He also spends some time talking with the Manta Corps, listening to stories of the missions they’ve undertaken for the Society and trying to pick up tips from the more experienced Starfinders.

Mysticism: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Hmmm, the rocks look strange...not quite sure why.

Mysticism: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

That ship! I recognize that symbol as the sign of Damoritish the Conqueror, god of war and conquest! We should be ready for anything captain!

Missed computers
computers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
those asteroids have lava under heavy pressures, I think that If we hit them with our guns they’d spew lava all over

"Whadda you think, boss? Gonna hail them and figure out if we're going to have a shootout over this thing?" Hirix points her antennae towards Leif. "Don't leave us hanging here."

Not sure if Twik is the Captain but that's how Im reading it...

Twik opens comms with the other ship and hails "Hail! I'm Twik, Captain of this Drake Class Starfinder starship. We are going to retrieve the nearby beacon from a missing Starfinder vessel and mean you no harm. However, should you fire upon us, we will respond with lethal force!"

Diplomacy (T10) for 18

engineer: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

I hope the red thrusters are just for show, otherwise we might be in over our heads.

aid diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + 13 + (2) = 16

Leif chimes in, we aren’t looking for any kind of fight, just to come and retrieve this peacefully

Oh I forgot to mention. You can give your Drake class ship a name, if you like. Otherwise, you can just call it the Drake

An image of a vesk with a huge ear-to-ear grin on his face appears on your view screen. "Hello friends!!! My name is Yuluzak and I'm the captain of this ship, the Honorbound!! Ah yes, Starfinders! Aye, I recognize your ship configuration as Drake-class - often used by Starfinders! Well met, well met!!" This vesk seems particularly jovial.

"Never fear, we're not looking to make enemies of you! No, not at all! We're simply a vesk salvage ship scouring the Drift for finds important to the Veskarium. Admittedly, my orders is not the most glorious or honorable of missions, but the threat of the Swarm demands the Veskarium investigate all avenues of advancement to prepare against the next invasion.

"Oh please forgive me! Talking about myself and Veskarium only. Where are my manners?!?!? Please, tell me about yourselves. You look like an interesting group of folks! Where are you from? What do you do? How'd you end up finding yourselves working for the Starfinder Society? Do tell!!"

Image of the Honorbound now displayed in the slides

sense: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Ketch sees the Vesk grinning. He listens to the speech, watching for any hidden signs of aggression or treachery. After a few moments of dissecting his mannerisms and posture, Ketch thinks he is just a Vesk who is oddly just inquisitive and wants to meet people.

Hmm, interesting, a Vesk not out for mayhem and mischief

well, it’s nice to meet you, it also nice to finally meet up with someone so knowledgeable about the veskarium, I used to and still work as a ambassador, currently to absolon station, but I’ve been looking to go somewhere more exotic. I got into the starfinders simply by my skills as an ambassador. I’ve never really liked or understood our tendency toward violence and I try to stop it. But please continue on describeing life in veskarium

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

Hirix mentally sends to the rest of her crew "Fella seems like the real deal, I don't think he's trying to pull a fast one on us." She stares at her readouts "If we can make nice, keep him gabbing, I'll take us right to that beacon and we can skip out of here."

"I'm not too eager to wait around until his less reasonable pal takes over."

Lucas listens to the others contact the Veskarium vessel as he readies his weapons station for a battle. He's surprised to hear that the Veskarium ship is merely engaged in salvage operations and isn't about to try to blow them to atoms. He realises that he may have to revisit some of his prejudices, as some evidently don't hold much water out here in the vastness of space.

He then hears Hirix's voice in his head, making him jump a little and nearly press something he shouldn't on his gunnery station. Unwilling to interrupt the conversation with the Veskarium, he types out a quick text message and sends it over to Hirix's console.

well, it’s nice to meet you, it also nice to finally meet up with someone so knowledgeable about the veskarium, I used to and still work as a ambassador, currently to absolon station, but I’ve been looking to go somewhere more exotic. I got into the starfinders simply by my skills as an ambassador. I’ve never really liked or understood our tendency toward violence and I try to stop it. But please continue on describeing life in veskarium

let me add a diplomacy onto that

hirix, give me a bit of warning before we zip off, thinking i might be able to squeeze a new job outta this if it works out nice

So far (and likely in the future), Hirix has spoken entirely with telepathy. I've tried to keep it differentiated from normal speech by both bolding and italicizing.

Hirix responds to Lucas with a "How about you keep that itchy trigger finger off the controls, love." Her mental voice is filled with dry amusement at his alarm.

To everyone, but intended for Leif, she responds "Don't worry. I'm not gonna budge this rig until we're sure they won't take it the wrong way. Give me a signal when you're ready boss."

So far (and likely in the future), Hirix has spoken entirely with telepathy. I've tried to keep it differentiated from normal speech by both bolding and italicizing.

Sorry, must have missed that. My bad.

Lucas hears Hirix in his head again, and tries thinking back to her, unsure if telepathy works like that. Will do.

Captain Yuluzak's already broad, friendly smile somehow gets even warmer and broader but not in a creepy way - which is quite the feat for a Vesk. He replies, "I see! You must have a great deal of interesting stories to tell regarding your ups and downs as a diplomat! Can't be an easy job, that!

"Well, let me back pedal a bit on that same old, same old comment. There IS the Swarm to contend with. That's not exactly an old problem but a relatively more recent development that should be taken seriously by everyone, really. If they're not stopped, they'll eventually consume the entire galaxy! Don't you agree?"

”oh yes Captain Yuluzak! The Swarm is a definite threat to our society! But right now.... we are working on other things. But like you say.... the Swarm is never far from our thoughts.”

Yuluzak replies, "Well said, well said! Which brings me to our current situation. I like you guys, you seem like a good sort so I'll be honest. As I said, we're salvage operators and our current mission is to gather anything of interest for the Veskarium - but with a specific focus on Pact World and kasathan starships in order to combat the upcoming Swarm.

"We've already determined that the distress beacon originates from a kasathan ship so I'm truly sorry to say I cannot allow you to proceed with your salvage mission as it has now become my salvage mission. But I completely understand the position you're in - this is not something you can walk away from either."

In a very casual, nonchalant tone, he states, "So, really, the only way forward out of this conundrum is combat."

Then he perks up a bit as he continues, "However, we need not battle to the death like uncivilized barbarians. Oh no! I propose we do battle honorably, as gentle-beings would - a starship duel, if you will! In keeping with an honorable duel, I propose we abide by the following rules:

"What do you say? Shall we engage in an honorable duel for the right to proceed with this salvage mission?"

hmm, i think we take him up on it, and ask about the cultural implications. Worst comes to worst we learn something new.
if there are no outward signals of scanning i will began a scan

"The Veskarium never changes. This hard number wants to make our lives tough no matter what. They feel they've gotta clock you once or twice just for old times sake." Hirix's mental voice carries both amusement and irritation.

"I say we give him what he wants. Honor and all. The guy's got no real claim to the beacon, but he sure as hell's going to fight us for it whether we agree or not."

Hirix places her claws back on the controls, getting ready for a battle.