Hedd moves toward the east (left) of the ship and looks down the hallway. If I see something shoot it with my laser rifle.
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After the crash echoes and dies out, a clicking noise can be heard. A rattling, like bone on metal, travels through the dark hallways to your ears. Suddenly, two skeletons burst out of the darkness, running at full speed! Hedd spots them first, with his impressive Dwarf eyes. He takes a shot, but it glances off a bone spur. Cora fires next, throwing a rifle shot into the skeleton.
At the same moment, two more skeletons round the left corner! One, focused on the living, runs dangerously close to Ash.
Arratoi
Ash
Argon
Hedd
Cora
Domaya
Foes
Light Blue: 2 dmg
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Figuring Ash is pretty good at handling himself, Arratoi decides to move towards Hedd, saying, "Hedd, I got your back against those cantankerous gangrenous donkey-eared gooseberry skeletons!"
Arratoi smiles to himself, thinking, 'Now THAT dwarven insult will surely impress Hedd!'
Move action: Move 25 feet towards Hedd
Standard action: Attack light blue skeleton
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Cora whirls around as she catches the sound of more skeletons coming from the other side, and fires a shot at the closest one.
Then, trying to follow up on her promise to cover Argon, she trails after the android partway down the central aisle. She takes up a spot along one wall so she can look for enemies approaching from either direction.
Hedd takes a guarded step and shoots the purple skeleton.
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Argon and Cora move down the corridor towards their objective. Cora, true to her word, fires a few shots to soften up the approaching skeleton. Meanwhile, Hedd takes on a skeleton in the side hallway, killing his just before it could strike. Finally, Ash breathes deeply and recalls his military training. He sends two shots at the approaching skeletons. These shots are true, and the bones fall down, still at last. As the echoes of the clatter melt away, the dark halls are silent and still. The glow of the computer monitor is still there, leering with it's harsh yellow light.
With a few strokes of the keys, it becomes apparent that this console is just a controller for the engines and the thrusters, with a hardline. It has no access to the helm. This computer could turn the failing engines back on, if you wanted to spill Negative Energy throughout the ship. Thankfully, Argon-42 already took care of that problem.
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After a moment of rest, the party continues down the dark hallways. The com lights show only a small distance at once, and everyone is tense. Another skeleton crew member could appear at any time. Thankfully, the rest of the crew are nowhere to be found.
The bridge of the Endless Threnody is located behind the enormous crimson eye at the front of the ship, bathed in a blood-red glow. Even this glow is a thankful sight after the darkness of the hallway. The crew stations are fabricated from bone and steel, apparently grown from the floor and walls of this room. Battle damage is evident throughout the bridge, but it is now empty and utterly silent—truly a ghost ship. In the captain's console is another monitor, it's yellow light dissipating into the red-infused room.
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"Wow this place is creepy. I wonder what happened to the rest of the crew? It's not like they died from lack of food and water right?"
To work on retrieving the Unbounded Wayfarer coordinates, Arratoi will attempt any of the following that may be relevant:
1) Assist computer check to retrieve logs containing coordinates
2) Engineering to patch together damaged consoles or manually bypass security measures to help retrieve coordinates
3) Search around the bridge for items or clues - perhaps the captain went old school and wrote the coordinates down in a log book
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"Who was flying the ship? One of those skeletons we fought? Or did the pilot abandon ship?"
Argon comes up to the computer console. She passes her hand over it, and her hand begins to glow, and glowing ones and zeroes seem to rise out of the console into her hand.
She then begins typing commands into the console.
Hedd follows silently behind the others surveying the dead ship. "Erry lads, too erry, lets get out of here as quickly as possible."
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While Arratoi and Ash are discussing the possible passwords which may unlock the computer, Argon-42 walks up to the amalgam of bone, sinew and metal. With a wave of wave of her hand, and some quick strokes, the screen is unlocked and the countermeasure bypassed. The yellow light dims as the screen goes black. Suddenly, green words stream down in a cascade of information, this time in Common.
All computers are the same at their core, even those fabricated from bone and sinew. Argon, with the helpful backseat drivers of Ash and Arratoi, digs down into the code. It becomes obvious that the bypassed alarm would have sent a message to the engines to release a burst of Negative Energy intended to harm boarders and heal the defending crew.
Meanwhile, Cora walks around the spooky cabin. There are precious few mementos or signs of the crew which would have manned the stations just an hour before. However, the Ysoki does find a dimmed monitor which awakens as she passes. It offers a status in Eoxian, showing two blinking red escape pods.
By connecting the Eoxian datapad to the computer, your are able to download information on the Lawblight, the Besmaran pirate ship that initially crippled the Endless Threnody. While Argon-42 is coaxing out the download, Ash and Arratoi are able to avoid yet another countermeasure, preventing the memory wipe of the system. This was fortuitous, because only after passing the countermeasure were they able to access the ship's log. Within was a record of the path the ship had traveled prior to the ambush. The hackers were able to recover the coordinates of the downed Starfinder vessel. It seems the ship crashed on a planet called Ulmarid in the Vast.
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"Any information we can get out of this machine could be of value," Argon-42 says. "It's logs may indicate the whereabouts of rendezvous points with other Corpse Fleet ships. Not to mention any information on uncharted space."
Argon will continue to download any information that might be of use to the group, the Starfinder Society, or the Pact Worlds fleet.
Once she is satisfied that the ship has no further information, she tries to find a self-destruct feature for the ship, and if possible (and no one objects) sets it to detonate in a half hour.
"Yes... time to go."
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"Oh, very well done!" Cora squeaks a little as she claps her hands together. "Now we know where we're headed, so I guess it's off we go! Into the Vast at last. Ooh, that rhymes, doesn't it!" She hums a few bars, trying to make a nice spacefaring song out of the line.
She's a little surprised when Argon suggests destroying the ship, but she can't think of any particular reason not to do so. Cora shrugs, saying, "If you want to."
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Tapping into the Eoxian computer, Argon-42 is not able to find a way to self-destruct the ship at first. Asking for just a minute more, Argon continues hacking. Meanwhile, Domaya discusses what she knows about Ulmarid. Unfortunately, that is very little. She remembers that it is a barren desert world, with little of value to the original explorers. It has never been visited since.
After an extra minute's time, the timer is set. With the crew's blessing, the Starfinders run back the way they came! Arratoi resists his urge to loot in favor of avoiding another conflict with the crew and a possibly explosive demise. On the way out of the ship, the Starfinders are able to avoid any remaining crew. Back in the hanger, the shuttle again greets them in its cheery prerecorded voice. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR STAY. WELCOME BACK. Hedd pilots the shuttle back through the energy field and the bone spurs effortlessly. Upon arrival at the bridge, a familiar hologram of Venture-Captain Arvin is up and waiting to greet you.
The Lashunta smiles. ”The AI alerted me to your return. I hope that your mission was successful. Did you find out the location of the lost Starfinders? Any trouble with the Eoxians?”
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"Yes we did! The ship went down on a planet called Ulmarid. We have the coordinates. We also picked up more information about the pirate ship Lawblight that originally took them down. As for the Eoxians giving us trouble..."
Arratoi turns towards his teammates, smiles, turns back to Arvin, and mimics an explosion with his hands.
"Those dainty little smelly wussy-footed cowards won't be giving anyone any more trouble! So shall we head off to Ulmarid, Venture Captain?"
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The Venture-Captain smiles at the crew's eagerness. ”You found the coordinates? Good. Forward your information to HQ. Then, prepare your ship to head back to station. I want Starfinders on site as soon as possible, but I'm not sending you into enemy territory again without a real ship. Come back to Absolom Station and we'll switch you ships before heading out again. While you're traveling, I'll find out some more information on this mystery planet. ”
The Damaya whips out his signature wicked grin, and the hologram looks at each Starfinder in turn. ”I know this mission isn’t yet complete,” he explains, “but you’ve earned the right to celebrate a bit on your trip home. I asked the quartermaster to include a few delicacies so you can enjoy being alive—after an encounter with necromancy. Go to deck B and look in Locker 4.” With that, he signs off and the hologram disappears.
Within the locker is a package of delicacies that are suitable to most palates, such as sticks of candied meats, Ysoki chocolates and Vesk star fruits. The group takes a moment with to enjoy the feast before heading out on the next stretch of their adventure.
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Back on Absalom Station, Venture-Captain Arvin greets the returning agents with a fueled and warmed up Odyssey. ”Time is of the essence, Starfinders! Time to head to Ulmarid!” Quickly, the group packs into the new ship and Hedd leads the group out of the station.
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The PCs arrive at Ulmarid in a larger Drake-class vessel called the Odyssey. Venture-Captain Arvin recommended the Odyssey rather than the Loreseeker, as its heavier shields can better withstand asteroid impacts while reaching Ulmarid’s surface as well as better serve in case the pirates are still around. As the desert planet looms outside the helm windows, Venture-Captain Arvin’s pre-recorded hologram stands on the bridge of the Odyssey, his hands clasped behind his back. “Hopefully your journey was uneventful. Based on your previous mission, we’ve obtained information about the planet of Ulmarid. The desert world has breathable atmosphere but is devoid of intelligent civilization. A cloud of asteroids—leftovers from a collision of the planet’s moons long ago—surrounds the planet, so you must carefully navigate the Odyssey to the surface to find the crashed Unbounded Wayfarer. “
Looking beyond the glass, the haze of asteroids now becomes apparent. The cloud seems to entirely surround the orange planet. “Be sure to bring the Starfinder insignias with you; they will be critical in recovering the information the Starfinders left behind. If you can recover any of the lost Starfinders—alive or dead—please do so as well. Good luck.” The recorded video ends and the picture cuts out.
Staring down at the intimidating task of navigating the asteroids, Hedd pauses.
"Aye laddie, I'll do my best, reminds me of home." Hedd gets a tear in his eye as he thinks about the diaspora.
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Hedd, along with the assistance of his crew, successfully passes through the asteroid field. Dodging past the final rock with ease, the planet comes into view, unhindered by the debris. At this point, Argon-42, with Arratoi's assistance, begins scanning the planet for the Starfinder distress signal. After a few minutes, they are successful! The science officer can track the distress beacon emanating from the Unbounded Wayfarer, but the ship is not easy to reach. It crashed amid dunes too soft to safely bear the Odyssey’s weight, and the safest place to set down is about a half-hour’s walk away. The harder ground will support the ship and allow landing.
After Hedd expertly lands the ship, the group gathers by the bay door. The ship computer reminds everyone that there is little atmosphere outside, and that armor must be sealed. Once everyone is ready, the door drops down, revealing the harsh landscape. The surface of Ulmarid is a wind-scoured desert with jagged protrusions of rock thrusting up through the sand. The air has a harsh tang, like burning metal.
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Cora takes her antitoxin bulb and then watches everyone else to make sure they all follow suit. "I don't want anyone on my team getting poisoned! I can tell if someone is affected by poison too, so don't worry about that."
Once they're all ready, she seals her armor tightly and steps down onto the planet.