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Exegara looks around nervously, possibly looking for an escape route. When none appear, she sighs and answers. ”After picking up a cargo, our ship was surprised and crippled by a pirate ship identified as the Lawblight. The Endless Threnody now floats in the Drift, unable to leave, and I was dispatched to acquire repair materials. Eoxian ships require... unique materials to run.” She bares her teeth. ” Why do you care about me or my affairs?”
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"You recently sold some Starfinder Society Insignias that you acquired. How did you acquire them and what do you know of the crew members and starship that originally owned them?" If you did nothing nefarious, then you have nothing to fear, as we are merely seeking to locate our friends and ship."
X5 continues to scan the entrances and exits.
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Spitting out the bug, Brob thinks of a different way to take the song and belts out, "All our foes will feed worms!" He sights his rifle once more, then realizes that all their foes, were in fact, down or surrendered. Looking around a bit bashfully, he adds, "Get it? Garden? Worms?" He then shoulders his rifle and goes to talk to the surrendered leader.
Supporting X5, Brob adds in, "We really were just looking for information before you went and attacked!" Although the party was prepared to go in shooting, at least in this case they had the moral high ground.
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The ghoul's face shows dismay at the question. ”Nefarious! You racist! Just because I'm Eoxian! Rude!” Despite being held at gunpoint, the undead woman's face shows her disgust at the question. ”Our vessel, the Endless Threnody, picked up the distress call of a Starfinder vessel. The ship traveled to the Starfinder vessel’s crash site on a desert planet and acquired several treasures, including the Starfinder insignias. I know nothing of the ship or it's dead inhabitants beyond the few items salvaged from the downed ship. Partly because, before the Endless Threnody could get into the Drift, we were surprised and crippled by a pirate ship identified as the Lawblight!”
The long tongue slips between the sharpened teeth. ”Those bloody pirates left once they realized we had nothing the living would value. We were stranded in the Drift so I was sent here. If you're looking for someone to blame go find those pirates, not me.”
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"So that we are clear on the definition of nefarious...where I come from, if a person asks for information and the response is 'get their skulls'....that is nefarious regardless of their race."
X5 begins to inspect the damage on CD1.
"If you can provide the coordinates for the Starfinder vessel crash site and the location of the desert planet, I will be willing to categorize the unfortunate shooting incident as a 'misunderstanding' about 'nefarious' between two different species....If you are able to guide us personally to the location of the downed ship, I will offer my engineering services to assist in the repair of the Endless Threnody as compensation for the reclamation of Starfinder Society personnel and property."
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A disgusting laugh escapes the ghoul's mouth. ”Sorry droid. If it helps, your skull wouldn't have worked anyway. As for nefarious, I just worked for the Corpse Fleet . I never fully bought into their ideals. But no way that ship is going to work with you. The captain doesn't exactly cooperate with the living.” The woman shrugs her shoulders. ”I go back with you lot and I'd be an enemy of the Corpse Fleet. That won't help my life expectancy none.“
At this point there is a thumping of footsteps in the hallway. A voice echoes ahead of the group. ”What do I pay you lot protection money for? This dirty Deadhead chased us out and where were you?” A ysoki man and woman lead a group of eight thugs into the room. The ysoki man stops at the sight of the Starfinders. ”Uhhh... there's more of them now.”
The thugs appear to be members of the Downside Kings, a local gang. The leader has a foul expression when he looks at the group. ”Ah, Starfinders. Always rooting around where you don't belong. Fine by me. You going to kill her, or you going to leave that to us?” He looks at you expectantly.
The ghoul's face shows a foreign emotion. Fear. She whispers, ”Turn me in. To your boss, the cops, whoever. Not to these creeps.” With that she slips you an unlocked datapad.
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Brob speaks up, with an almost mocking accent. "How do you kill that which has no life?" He returns to his regular highpitched and cheerful demeanor. "Uh, we'll take her and take care of her. She wouldn't be much good for vat garden. Right guys? No need to get things any more bloody on your nice unsanitary garden than is needed."
Obozaya steps up behind Brob, with her doshko held firmly in her hands. Peering over the halfling at the newcomers, she asks "Is there a problem with these fellows Captain?"
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Sal will pocket the data pad, "The undead die like anyone or anything else. You can't be too particular about how a being comes to be in this world. Not a huge leap from saying something like that and saying the same about X5. So Exegara, I'm guessing you didn't memorize the coordinates of our missing ship?" Sal pauses in the vague hope that she will prove him wrong. If she doesn't "So how about you direct us to the Endless Threnody, we can try and reach an agreement with them for the coordinates from their nav computer. In exchange I can introduce you to some people in our society, it's not the safest line of work, but it can lead to fame and fortune. And I'm sure you could accumulate quite a bit of both given your life span. And if the Threnody wants to work with us as little as you say you'll probably be needing a new line of work anyway.
Salvo will try and look intimidating to help the others dissuade the gang members interest, poorly.
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“I suggest we turn the Ghoul over to the lashunta that hired us, and we analyze the data the Ghoul provided as soon as possible. Speed is of the essence to find our missing society members. Perhaps we can even request a starship to conduct an investigation and rescue operation. I believe that our combined mechanical skills would be suitable for this type of recovery operation.”
”Not to mention my glowing personality, right?”
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As the group escorts Exegara back to the Lorespire Complex, she replies to Sal. ”I don't remember the planet the ship crashed on, but the coordinates of the planet and the crash site are on the Threnody's main computer. That data pad I gave you has the last location of the ship. They may have moved a little but couldn't have gone far without their Drift engine. After a moment's thought she continues. ”I'd be interested in a job, alright. Sounds like a lot better deal than I got with the Corpse Fleet.”
Back at the complex, Arvin's secretary stops you in the lobby. ”Sorry agents, but I can't let you take a prisoner into the offices. To many secrets we need to keep!” She calls security and asks them to hold Exegara until Arvin speaks with you. After a short ride in the elevator, Arvin meets you up in his office. ”Well done, Starfinders! We're one step closer to finding those lost agents. Now, I must ask you to continue your mission by finding this Eoxian vessel. Let me prepare a ship. It should be ready by morning!” He looks down at his personal com for a moment. ”And my secretary tells me you captured the thief who sold the insignias!”
After hearing Sal's suggestion that she be inducted into the society, Arvin pauses. ”Well, we've certainly had shadier individuals working for us! We'll vet her and see what we can do. Now, go and enjoy your night, your ship will leave at 0800!”
As the group files out of the office he runs after. ”And keep these insignias. Never know when they may be useful!”
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The next morning at 0800 the group files into one of the arms of the station. Venture-Captain Arvin stands next to the entry ramp of a sleek-looking starship. He waves his hands over the side of the starship affectionately. “This is the Loreseeker, a Pegasus-class ship that’s one of the fastest and lightest in the Society’s fleet. He stops and appreciates the ship for a moment.“We know that a lost Starfinder vessel, the Unbounded Wayfarer, was discovered by undead creatures from a starship called the Endless Threnody. We’ve pulled some strings with our more reputable Eoxian contacts to get more information, but they’ve disavowed knowledge of the Endless Threnody entirely; this likely confirms our suspicions that the Endless Threnody is connected with the Corpse Fleet, a group of Eoxian separatists who refuse to work alongside the living.” He shakes his head and sighs.
“We have the location of the Endless Threnody in the Drift, courtesy of that ghoul you tracked down. According to her, its Drift engine is incapacitated, so it’s unable to escape the Drift. Take the Loreseeker into the Drift, cripple the Eoxian ship—as a Corpse Fleet vessel, they won’t be open to negotiations—and recover the location of the lost Starfinder vessel. Any questions?”
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The scholarly Vesk keeps her weapon trained on the Ghoul until she capitulates then keeps her mouth shut during the discussion with the local... 'defense organization'.
Because there was no real reason to chime in with extraneous data that would have just cluttered the discussion, she'd kept quiet, and was a bit subdued at the amount of fatalities in the encounter.
"Okay, so ah, I'll take the scans unless ah, someone else wants to ah, take them? I'm um, okay with them." Flush volunteers as the ship is examined for any major structural defects and/or issues that might arise, such as running out of ammunition or the like.
"What if they are ah, willing to um, negotiate and our ah, intel is ah, wrong? Do we um, use our best ah, judgement or just ah, destroy them all?"
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“Flush, I can assist on the computer scans and I will attempt to access the data on the Starfinder’s insignias as well.”
“Sal, let me know if you ever need a backup on the piloting of this ship. I haven’t currently piloted a ship in combat but perhaps it is no different than maneuvering through obstacle course portion of the pilot training certification.”
Skill to access the insignia data:
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Arvin looks at Flush. ”The only way the Corpse Fleet will negotiate with you is if our intel is wrong. Pray that your ghoul was right, elsewise you may be heading into an ambush.” After a moment's thought, ”But, if it is a normal Eox ship then please negotiate. No need to start an interplanetary war..”
Next, he hands Brob a paper. ”I pulled your file and sent your luggage to your preferred locations. Please correct me if anything is in the wrong place before takeoff.”
The sheet says...
Captain's Cabin: 'Captain' Brobdingnagian
Pilot's quarters: Sal
First Gunner's quarters: Obozaya
Second Gunner's quarters: X5NSA
Science Lab: Dyukela
Engineering Lab: Flush
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After the six person crew piles into the spaceship, Sal starts the engines and soon after the ship takes flight. Space travel is quite boring, even with the colorful landscape of the Drift outside the bulkhead. Thankfully there are no planar accidents during the trip. After 18 days, Sal comes over the intercom and announces that the coordinates are just ahead. Unfortunately, there is nothing but empty space. X5NSA jumps on the scanners besides Dyukela and they get to work.
Unfortunately for the Starfinders, the Corpse Fleet vessel also has operational scanners and were ready to use them! Klaxons wail as the enemy ship appears behind your ship! The Eoxian freighter is a massive vessel made of bone and steel. The front of the ship is a single enormous red lens, appearing as a sullen, bloody eye. The ship bristles with bone protrusions, as though it were some horned, skeletal beast. Some of the bones are charred and broken, indicating past battle damage. Laser cannons protrude from the front and sides of the freighter; but its rear weapon mounts are a twisted wreck. Gaps between the bones show the ship’s interior, but this is not from battle damage—this ship was never intended to accommodate living creatures.
Obozaya gets on the turret, and yells to her companions, ”I will be having the computer aid me.”
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Brob sits back in the Captain's chair, somehow more at east at the helm of the spaceship than in the midst of a laser battle. As the Eoxian descends upon them, the halfling flips on the frequency of the Helm, singing!
"From the soft dawn of morning
'Til the Sun sheds its last light
While a single Starfinder remains
We stand prepared to fight!"
His taunt hopefully made, he flips the comms back to the ship, continuing to sing.
"Though morale has fallen down
And the times are tough alright
The sound of all our laughter soars
Around the world tonight!"
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soooo much for dialogue. These Eoxians need to learn to talk before being hostile. Now we have to disable their ship further before we can talk.
"Sal, let me know how you are going to maneuver and I'll cover the weapons on that side of the ship. Seeing the target vessel off the bow, X5 takes up the forward light laser cannon controls and fires...
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Sal will open a com to engineering as he corkscrews the ship toward their opponent. "I think we'll be fine on maneuvering, unless that thing is faster than anything with the designation of freighter has a right to be. Think you can juice up the guns? Maybe if we drop some decent firepower on them they'll see a reason for a simple conversation with us."
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Engineering Phase
Flush types furiously into the shipboard computer and coaxes a little extra power to the engines.
Helm Phase
Dyukela is hard at work in the lab, scanning the enemy ship's capabilities. She sends the following report to all ship members.
Living Crew: Zero
Ship Class: Heavy Freighter
Size: Large
Speed: 6
Maneuverability: Average
Defenses
AC 11
TL 11
HP 100/100
Shields None
PCU 150
Meanwhile, Sal flips the ship around and prepares to attack as Brob sings a belittling song to the enemy ship. Soon after, the enemy reacts. The Eoxian vessel's bone spurs shine as it weaves through space, using basic evasive manouvers.
Gunnery Phase
The enemy ship fires a large laser from the gaping red eye at the front of their ship. Thankfully the enormous laser misses the small Starfinder vessel.
Obozaya returns fire with the main turret, scoring a direct hit on the body of the Eoxian ship. X5NSA attempts to follow her lead but is thrown off by the evasive maneuvers of the enemy.
Next Round's Initiative
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Brob continues his encouragement at the helm. Hey, this seems to be working...
"Fighting hard, blending spell, tech, and steel
We adventure and explore
Our daring pilots steer the helm
And land on distant shores
From the Outer Planes to the Hell’s Domain
We seek and boldly go
Leaving behind all comfort of what we know!"
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Sal smiles at the engineering report and calls back. "I may not need the speed but I know what I can do with the energy. And unlike the last time I tried this I won't have to do the paint job to cover up the aftermath. Everyone grab something solid, I'm going to swing us into their blind spot!"
With that Sal blazes strait for the enemy ship without any evasion, seemingly intent on ramming the spike cover vessel. At nearly the last moment he opens his own access to the engineering systems and vents the excess plasma into his own ship's shields and hull, creating a momentary flash blinding to eye and sensor alike. When the daze clears the Loreseeker is already behind her foe, crossing their T and ready to launch their broadside up her aft. Though the Loreseeker's paint job may never be the same again.
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“Sal, looks like you have maneuvered the target off the starboard side. Firing starboard weapons.”
No. When actions taken in starship combat call for a skill check, any class feature that grants bonuses to or allows rerolls with the relevant skill applies when using that skill as part of starship combat. This is an exception to the rule.