Alorea shoulders her rifle and flies back down to the ground. She moves to the closest soldier and peers at her armor, eyes glowing and whirring softly. "I've never seen anything like this sort of design."
She examines their gear for anything useful.
As Alorea inspects their fallen foes, Gyn takes to the perimeter.
"I've never seen an army with only two soldiers. Keep yer eyes and ears peeled."
Moving slowly through the underbrush, the dappled ysoki takes his own advice.
Alorea finds that while their equipment has a rather strange design, it's function is more or less what she would expect. The armor pieces, gun, and knife are all labeled in a language she can't read, and have what looks to be a serial number. One of them wears a small hexagonal badge that seems to be a hybrid of technology and magic. She also notes that these two look rather young to be soldiers.
Gyn finds no traces of other soldiers nearby, for the moment.
Yamah inspects the Azlanti gear with great interest but now is neither the time or place to study any of it further. "I'd say we ought to hide their bodies, but something tells me time is of the essence and we best hasten to get to the colony. Perhaps we should bring along the badges, or, pick them up and dispose of them somewhere along the road."
The half-elf picks up one of the badges and inspects it.
Yamah concentrates on the device and, with the use of magic detecting protocols and procedures, investigates its properties.
Satisfied that they're not under imminent attack, Gyn turns his attention back to the colonist.
"Alright, mate. What's your name?"
Assuming the man answers, Gyn introduces himself and his crewmates before asking a few follow-up questions.
"You said you needed to send a distress message. We can make that happen. First, though, I'd be right enthused if you expounded on some things for us. How long have the Azlanti been here? How many ships do they have? How many soldiers? Are they concentrated at the colony, or are they patrolling the area? And perhaps mostly importantly, why in the blazes are they here?"
Greist stands quietly alongside Gyn as the ysoki speaks to the man they rescued. He still has his sword in hand, but it is lowered, tip just barely touching the ground next to his leg.
After a moment, he speaks. "Also, are you alright? My friend's questions are important, and we would like answers to them, but take a moment if you need to, to collect yourself. Being in a life and death situation is stressful, moreso if you haven't been prepared for such things." Having said this, he smiles at the man, attempting to reassure him.
Ainsemseo will walk up next to the colonist, gently putting one of her hands on his shoulder. "Yes, sit down if you need to. My only question to add to my friends is what are they doing to your fellow colonists?" If the man decides to sit, Ainsemseo will lower herself down next to him.
The man nods. "I'm alright. My name's Jellik Fulson. As for what happened here... I don’t know how far back to start. Maybe it’s when we saw the meteor crash-land about 10 or 20 miles from here. A group of folks went to scout it out—Cedona, Quorsica, and others—and they came back with some strange news. First, they learned that the meteor was some kind of high-tech probe, but it had been destroyed in the crash. Interestingly, the probe landed near an old crashed starship we hadn’t noticed before. Been there for ages, probably. Cedona went into the crashed ship and came out with a pack full of old tech she was very excited about. She talked to our leader, Madelon, and Aibretta—that’s our best mechanic and my ex-wife— about what she’d found.
A few days later, a starship sailed in above the town commons, blasted a building to slag, and unloaded a bunch of soldiers. There wasn’t a lot we could do. The soldiers rounded up everyone in town and their leader—a stern woman whose face I never saw—told us that our planet was now annexed as a part of the Azlanti Star Empire. Anyone that protested was shot right there. The soldiers made us bury the bodies, then forced us to unload some prefab building components, which they turned into a garrison in the center of town.
The woman in charge asked us about the crashed ship; turns out, it’s old Azlanti technology. She was very interested in what Cedona found. They rounded up Madelon, Cedona, and a few others and jailed them in the garrison. The large ship went away, but all the soldiers stayed. They’ve instituted martial law in town; we’re basically prisoners. They also set up a field that blocks our communications but no theirs, so we can't call for help. We try to make do just as before, but anyone stepping out of line gets punished. When I got the chance, I ran, trying to get out of the signal-blocking area. I didn’t know there were soldiers in the forest waiting to catch escapees. Three of them found me. I killed one with a lucky shot, but the other two chased me. And that brings me up to where I met you.”
This hexagon-shaped adornment can be activated or deactivated as a move action. A motion detection badge has 4 charges, which refresh daily, and an hour of activation uses 1 charge. While active, as long as you haven’t moved for at least 1 round, the badge emits a quick flash of red light whenever a Small or larger corporeal creature approaches within 60 feet, although creatures undetectable to normal vision (such as an invisible creature) don’t trigger the flash. This flash is sufficient to alert you, but doesn’t otherwise affect your vision or your actions. Reduce this distance by 20 feet for each interposing closed door or substantial barrier (such as a wall at least 1 inch thick). You can attune the badge to a creature by touching it with the item, which takes a full action; you can attune the badge to up to 10 different creatures. When you are within 60 feet of one of these creatures, regardless of whether you have moved in the past round, the badge emits a yellow flash to let you know an ally is near. Attempting to attune an eleventh creature causes the badge to lose its attunement to the earliest attuned creature. Note that in certain environments, such as a crowded shopping center, the badge flashes so frequently as to be practically useless for detecting approaching threats.
A worried look crosses Ainsemseo's face as she hears what has been happening here at the colony. "That was very brave of you Mr. Fulson. Can you provide or draw a map of the town, and what you know of the surrounding area? It might help us out. Also, roughly how many people are left in the colony?" Suddenly a thought crosses her mind, and she gestures around at the rest of the group before asking her next question. "Do you know if they saw us coming in to land?"
"I can draw you a map, but I don't know if they saw you all come in. I didn't; I just knew a resupply ship was supposed to be coming in sometime soon."
"So, negotiations and diplomacy are off the table with the Azlanti. Hm. They will still be on alert because a colonist escaped and they suffered casualties, which means they'll take extra precautions against stealth missions. If they know we landed here, which I'd say is quite likely, they might even send out a squad or two to capture us. That, however, could be to our advantage."
Yamah pauses as he lets the dust clouds, caused by sudden bursts of thoughts and the need to vocalize them, settle back down. "And in the end, all that matters to the Azlanti isn't the colony, but this crashed ship. The colony is a sideshow, an unavoidable distraction. We might be able to use that: faking our escape away from this place might steer troops from the colony to the crashed ship, our continued presence might force them to focus on the colony over the ship, and so on. Truly, it is up to us what do to next. Ship, colony or lie low?"
One thing remains, however. A question. "Do you have an idea of how many Azlanti soldiers we are facing? Ten, fifty, hundreds?"
Alorea slings her new hunting rifle over her back alongside the laser rifle and listens to the conversation. "I say we liberate the colony first. We should rescue Cedona and the others! Plus, there will probably be less of these Azlanti people there."
Greist nods at Alorea. "Agreed. I would like to prioritize saving Cedona and the other colonists. Once they are safe, we can figure out what needs to be done from there, and the Azlanti will have less to bargain with."
"So, if I understand this right, we've got Azlanti soldiers in the colony and likely at the crashed ship, as well as a few patrols here and there. If we're lucky, the Pantala is off their radar. An ace in the hole."
Gyn's tail whips back and forth as he processes the situation, his foot tapping rapidly on the soft forest floor.
"We can't use the Pantala to fight to soldiers - starships cannons are designed to hit big, metallic objects with massive heat signatures, not little angry people. Besides, the collateral damage would be horrible, and likely just bring a revenge-y armada down on the colony."
Tilting his head, the dappled ysoki continues. "We can, however, send a message for Fulson. It might take three weeks for help to arrive, but that's sooner than never.
"We can also use the ship for a tactical retreat, if need be. Gather ourselves and fly far away or even to orbit. A safety net.
"So the soldiers are holed up in two places, right? The crash site and the colony? Whatever one we push 'em out of first, the second is gonna be prepared when we get there." Gyn wrinkles his nose is frustration. "I say we head back to the Pantala, send a distress call to the Stewards, and then survey the colony. People are what's important right now."
"I think there's a few more than 20 soldiers in total, I'm not sure how many are in each place, though."
Yamah puffs his cheeks before releasing a hefty sigh. "That's more opposition than we can realistically handle. If they're divided and we can overwhelm them somehow, group by group, there's a chance, but if we let them regroup, we will be in a lot of trouble."
He then eyes Gyn and nods. "I do think that is the right way to go at it. Inform the home front, make one more scan to ensure we didn't miss anything or see if the situation has changed, and then act."
Alorea's antennae swivel and she nods her assent. "Yes, let's do it! Let's show these Azlanti thugs that we mean business!"
Greist looks around at his friends, then nods once, his expression grim.
"Stars guide us to victory." he murmurs, as he checks over his gear.
Nodding her head, Ainsemseo gestures her agreement. "Yes, let us go back to the ship for now. Mr. Fulson, given the current situation, I think that you should accompany us to our ship for now."
Jellik nods, and follows the group back to the Pantala.
"Tell them the colony has been attacked by Azlanti. They've taken prisoners, but we're going to rescue them!" Alorea says enthusiastically.
"Tell them the colony has been attacked by Azlanti. They've taken prisoners, but we're going to rescue them!" Alorea says enthusiastically.
"That sums it up, I think. Add that it looks like the Azlanti are planning to stay for a while. More of an invasion than an incursion."
The crew sends a message back to the Pact Worlds. It will be some time before any response can be heard, however, as the reply will travel at the same speed as any normal ship traveling through the Vast.
"I can take you to the colony, but we don't know how many soldiers will be there, so marching in is probably off the table. We should be able to get into Aibretta's workshop, there's a panel that opens in the back, so it'll be easier to avoid detection. We can work out how to take down the occupation from there." Jellik says.
Alorea nods. "Alright, let's go!"
Greist nods at Jellik. "Caution is prudent. Please, do lead on."
As the go, Ainsemseo will walk up next to Jellik. Looking at the map he provided earlier, she asks him "So, which building would Aibretta's workshop happen to be? Are there any other notable buildings in the colony that you think that we should know about?"
Jellik indicates the collection of three modules in a hook shape. "That's her workshop. The larger one in the middle is the Azlanti's garrison." He also mentions the location of the colony's storehouse, moisture collector, administrator's house, and hovertrike storage.
About 20 minutes from the ship, the motion-detection badge emits three flashes of red light in quick succession.
Alorea clicks her tongue. "Kree! Contacts approaching," she says quietly. The strix slips into the undergrowth and readies her laser rifle.
Geist tries to conceal himself as best he can behind some bushes, keeping his starfire blade low, but ready.
"Time to get sneaky-like!" Gyn disappears into the brush, pistol at the ready.
Through the fog comes not Azlanti soldiers, but a trio of small simian-like creatures with brown and blue fur, meandering through the fog. Jellik relaxes somewhat on seeing them, though not entirely.
The creatures seem to spot the party from their position, and begin to chatter in high pitched voices as advancing on the party's position. Seeing that they most likely noticed the party, Jellik whispers some information.
"They're not very dangerous, but not friendly either, and they can manipulate the electricity in the fog."
Seeing the simian creatures appear out of the fog, Ainsemseo backs away slightly. Whispering back to Jellik, Ainsemseo asks him "Should we be overly worried about them? Manipulating the electricity in the fog sounds rather... dangerous, considering we are surrounded by it."
"As far as we know, they can use it jolt things, which is dangerous, but not nearly as much as something like an actual weapon."
Greist steps out from where he'd sought cover. Sword in hand, but pointed towards the ground, he says to Jellik, "Are they intelligent enough to communicate, do you know?"
"No, they don't appear to be sapient."
Casually emerging from the undergrowth, Gyn attempts to mimic the brown-blue creatures, using his body language to suggest that the crew of the Pantala (and Jellik) are neither too dangerous nor too docile, and that they are simply passing through.
"'Ello, my little shock-monkey friends. No need to shock us. Neither foe nor food. Simply passing by."
Fumbling through his pocket, Gyn retrieves a small piece of luminescent rock he picked up on another expedition months ago. Allowing the group of creatures to approach, Gym offers the shiny stone to the closest animal.
"Consider this a peace offering, friend."
The creature in front approaches Gyn slowly and cautiously once he reveals himself. Its paw quickly darts in to snatch Gyn's rock, before retreating to the trees with its shiny prize. One of the creatures behind it follows, while the other seems to have lost interest and wanders off.
Gyn grins as he watches the trio of potentially problematic animals amble off into the trees.
"Well, they're not the worst neighbors in the galaxy, I gather! What do ya call them beauties, Jellik?"
"I call them cute!" Alorea giggles, watching the creatures scamper off.
"We call them hobgars, after the guy who tried to pet one and got shocked." Jellik says.
"An excellent way to name things, friend. Well done, Gyn. I am glad we didn't have to fight them." Greist smiles as he watches the trio scamper off.
Watching the Hobgars move back into the forest, Ainsemseo turns back to the group. "Should we continue on towards Aibretta's workshop?"
Jellik nods and continues the trek to the colony.
The crew reaches the colony, a clearing in the surrounding forest without any further difficulties. The badge now picks up many moving figures, although it is of course impossible to tell which are colonists and which are soldiers. To minimize the risk of being spotted, Jellik takes you around through the forest to the workshop, rather than directly. The workshop consists of three interconnected prefabricated modules, the size of an average shipping container. There is a yard surrounded by a metal fence, cluttered with random scraps of machinery and storage crates. Jellik unlocks a concealed panel in the center module and motions the group inside.
Being the smallest and sneakiest, Gyn is the first to enter the workshop, keeping an eye out for anyone - or anything - lurking inside as he darts from hiding place to hiding place.
Greist follows, trying his best to be quiet. He looks around, then says into Gyn's mind, "Looks clear to me, my friend."
Alorea tromps heavily behind the others, not doing a good job of being quiet.