Bravo nods in acknowledgement of his crew-mates cheering and keeps the pressure on.
Bravo's shot hits the asteroid and it shatters, a veritable swarm of bugs hurtling into the void.
Well, that showed them! What exactly were they, though, and why come after us??? Krizen tries to search the computer system with Lexie's assistance.
"Swarm, maybe?" Bravo asks, thinking on his mother's stories of them.
Lexie, can you help identify those creatures?
With a bit of help from Lexie's databases, Krizen indentifies the creature as comet shrimp. These semi-silicate spaceborne molluscoids are most common in the Diaspora, using gas bladders to propel themselves from asteroid to asteroid. They mostly feed off of raw minerals and other spaceborne entities, but spaceships have delicious refined metal and the fleshy crew inside so entire hives will occasionally try to take them on. There is no known connection to the Swarm, though some Swarm hive fleets did use comet shrimp DNA to create shock troops capable of directly attacking spaceships.
Krizen shares the screen's results to the remainder of the group. Looks like it was just bad luck and bad timing for us... nothing to do with the derelict. Now that that's taken care of Krizen nods to Quitch and Bravo, thankful for the fast flying and shooting that keeps atmosphere where it should be! we should probably get a move on into Drift back to the station. I don't want to see what else shows up in this area if we don't have to.
Krizen unloads his pack, including the scavenged armor, into storage aboard the ship. He's thankful to offload the bulky armor, and curious what the proper facilities will make of it.
"That's a relief. We're working pretty well as a team, I'd say. We got in, did a thorough sweep, got out, and fended off an unexpected attack without losing anyone. Let's prep for the Drift-jump. Absalom Station awaits."
Lexie's smooth voice responds to Bravo, "Readying for Drift-jump now. Hold on tight." With that, the ship makes the transition into the drift, and about an hour later, the party finds themselves in view of the station. Once they make their way through the Armada, Quitch is able to pilot them to the Society docks. The staff there ensures the group that, should the Pipe Dream break down, they aren't responsible. As they are leaving, S.E.T. stops the group and says, "Think it's time I go. Too much structure for me, not great with superiors. If you need something fenced,talk with X2-99 at the Rusty Bot in the Spike. He'll let you know where to find me." With that, the small droid nods at the party and trundles off. The rest of the group carries on the Lorespire and after a short grav-train ride, reaches the imposing building. A long elevator ride brings them to Historia-7's office. Once they head inside, they are greeted by Histora-7, along with a young woman sitting at her desk. Historia-7 greets them and says, "Afternoon Starfinders. This is Mira. She will accompany you on your investigation."
Mira smiles brightly, "Hi! It's soooo nice to meet you all! And thank you Historia-7 for giving me this opportunity! It was soooo boring working as a medical tech here on station." Mira looks at the rest of the party intently, "So what are we investigating?!"
"Well, for the short time you captained us, you did a good job S.E.T. Keep in touch." Bravo says as the SRO leaves them.
As they arrive at the Lorespire Complex, he salutes some Exo-Guardians that they pass. Despite being in a much safer place, he doesn't seem to relax much. When they arrive in Historia-7's office, he salutes her too.
"You've already processed the data we got from the derelict in the time we were travelling from the docking bay to here?" he asks in surprise before remembering his manners.
"Hey there. Bonar Vizetelly. Call me 'Bravo.' We just got back from examining a derelict ship in the Diaspora that appears to be Pre-Gap."
Greetings. I was unaware that we would have the benefit of more companions; welcome aboard. I am Krizen.
Krizen nods respectfully to Historia-7, but does not say anything more; he prefers to keep the interference low until there is more information.
"Wow! That sounds like it was a fun trip. I wish I could recorded it," she motions to her video camera labeled 'Observing Bot.' "It's a little clunky but it does what I need to record holos."
Quitch extends his hand to the new human. ”I am pleased to meet you, Mira,” his accent marks him from the Vast. His whiskers twitch as he says, ”My name is Quitch.”
The ysoki looks over ‘Observing Bot’ by circling it and then stepping closer. ”What do you do with the holos? Is it recording right now? Does it record strictly in visible light or does it extend into infrared? How well does the microphone pickup snacking at 15 meters?”
Mira with a please look on her face says, "Oh! I upload them to my channel on the infosphere. I just have 100 subs right now but I'm growing. I do body modification videos mostly but I could pivot, derelict explorations are nova too." Mira looks at Observing bot fondly, "He's only strictly visible spectrum and I don't have a shotgun mic yet, those things are expensive!"
A small electronic clock goes off on Historia-7's desk, revealing that a minute has elapsed. She says smoothly, "Your period of fraternization with new personnel has elapsed. We have things to discuss. Preliminary findings are fascinating. The technology, while remarkably similar to incredibly archaic Pact Worlds tech, is far, far older, most likely pre-Gap. We are still analyzing the weapons and armor you have recovered, though once it is processed it will likely be given back to you, as part of your mission payment."
She then holds up the crystal, "This is by far the most interesting item you recovered. It seems to be able to store a truly staggering amount of data, which we have not yet begun to process." She then smiles slightly, belying the most emotion any of you have seen so far, "You four will come with me to the Delta Archive, one of the larger databases in the Archives. While I am certain I can process the data on my own, your assistance will be most helpful."
The party takes yet another elevator through the complex, ending up at a room outside of the central archives. Several technicians have already assembled there, one shirren and one human. Historia-7 holds up the crystal, studying the metal pins on the bottom, "Hm, this bears slight similarities to one of our older adapters. Kzexis, hand me the 9VM8 adapter." The shirren scurries forward and hands her the small adapter. She frowns slightly, "Hm, this will not do." She turns to the party, "This needs some modifications. Are any of you able to accomplish that?"
Krizen steps forward with interest as Kzexis brings the adapter forward, trying to look closer at the arrangement. When Historia-7 asks for assistance, he eagerly volunteers. Wonderful! A chance to work on pre-gap tech, with all the tools I could need!
I believe I can work something up... It looks like the physical layer of that 9VM8 adapter is slightly out of sync with the phasic membrance of the... Krizen's voice trails off into incomprehensible mumbles as he takes the casing off of the adapter and works on it with his Custom Rig tool kit.
Mira takes one of the workstation computers and begins tapping away happily, "I can start working on a DBMS! If it has a staggering amount of data we'll need to anyway."
The sound of Historia 7’s alarm stops Quitch from asking more questions.
In the Archives, as Krizen and Mira help modify the 9V8M adapter to interface with the crystal, Quitch watches them intently. He’s to the side of Observing Bot so not to interfere with Mira’s holo-video recording. He whispers ”DBMS?” to himself then takes another step away form Observing Bot.
Bravo shrugs at Historia-7's request for help.
"No disrespect ma'am, but I'm out of my element here. Unless the computers go berzerk and you need me to shoot them, I think the others have the situation under control."
Mira noticing Quitch's nervousness around Observing Bot surreptitiously pushes a button on her computer. Observing Bot boots up, turns to Quitch, and in a monotone voice says, "OBSERVING."
Bravo raises an eyebrow, but says nothing.
Quitch takes two steps back after the bot speaks. Chuckling, he straightens his shirt and preens back his whiskers. ”You should film over there...her, her,” the ysoki’s hands motion towards Mira. ”Observe the adaptation of pre-Gap technology (probably) to current...uh...technology.”
"Oy, using bots to harass people is rude," an abrupt but sweet voice says as you notice a tall young female Orc approach. With shaved sides her purple hair parts to one side, her tusks peek out over her upper lip as she gives a half smile, "I'm looking for Historia-7, they told me I could find her down here."
Mira pouts when Stacy chides her but says sincerely, ”I’m sorry if I offended you Quitch, you were just so interested in him that I thought you might like a demonstration. I wasn’t planning on recording our work here since my channel is mostly a hobby for me.” Mira looks at Stacy but gestures to Histora-7, ”Unless my boss wants me to record it and upload our findings for all to see.”
"Oy, using bots to harass people is rude," an abrupt but sweet voice says as you notice a tall young female Orc approach. With shaved sides her purple hair parts to one side, her tusks peek out over her upper lip as she gives a half smile, "I'm looking for Historia-7, they told me I could find her down here."
"You found her," Bravo replies, jerking his head in 7's direction. "Hi, I'm Bonar Vizetelly. Call me 'Bravo.' I'm with the Exo-Guardians."
Krizen is easily able to modify the adapter, and with Mira's help makes what he thinks is a very efficient data transfer program. Historia-7 plugs the adapter into the database before theatrically holding the data chip into the air, "Let us see what happens." She presses the large power button on the database and the wide screen lights up, several blinking messages indicating something to the effect of, Data Transfer System Ready. She plugs the chip into the adapter and the screen flashes red once before abruptly shutting off.
"This cannot be. I could have swor..." Historia-7 is abruptly cut off by the screen powering back on, the typical Starfinder OS replaced by a single symbol, a pointed cog with a burning mechanical eye at the center. White text appears on the screen in an unknown language before rapidly rearranging itself into Pact Worlds Common,
Historia-7 begins furiously typing in the console before saying through gritted teeth, "It's locked me out!" She points at the lab technicians,"Kzexis, Arden, get to work on a data quarantine right now!" She then turns to the party, "Get to Theta Archive. There's a VR database entry port there. Get rid of whatever the hell is controlling the archives before it spreads to all of them."
After a short jog, the party finds themselves in a room with six comfortable chairs with VR headsets. As quickly as they can, the party sits down and straps on the headsets. The simulated archives boots up and the party finds themselves in an endlessly flat plane, the floor, while solid, is comprised of shifting binary code. However, several terminals break the monotony and standing between them is a shining angelic being with four wings and a mighty greatsword resting on the ground, the code warping around him.
He looks at the party and says in an almost incomprehensibly beautiful voice, "You cannot comprehend the magnitude of what you have begun. It shall usher in a glorious age of order for the galaxy, nay, all reality. Do not resist."
"I don't think its just a cache of data..."
"Skôr! I just had to jinx it, didn't I?" Bravo comments as he dashes to Theta Archive.
He joins the others, plugging in to the VR set immediately.
"I hate simulations," he comments, deadpan.
When they are greeted by the digital interloper he readies his virtual gun.
"You talk like a Star Empire border patrol. Drop the pretentiousness and get the Hell out our database!" he barks. He figured whatver the heck this thing was would dismiss his words anyway, but condescending villainous types who talked like that annoyed him, and him being in a simulation didnt help his mood.
Krizen throws himself into a chair and logs into the VR workspace as quickly as possible, not even noticing that he is constantly muttering to himself as his brain scrambles for an explanation.
As he begins to walk forward the angelic being shakes its head, "Petulant child, you will not interfere. No matter, I will deal with you all."
With that, it picks up its sword and readies itself for battle.
Oh hell, what have I gotten myself into... Stacy thinks as she straps into the simulator. The rush of being sent into the virtual world was exhilarating.
Bravo readies himself too, ready to take a shot when the moment was right.
”No offense taken from you or Observe Bot,” Quitch says to Mira with a laugh. ”On my home, cameras are everywhere so none follow us around.”
After getting on the headset, Quitch looks around the VR-environment, wondering what to do when the being appears. A feeling of dread settles in his stomach. The moment it grabs the sword, Quitch begins to move away from his companions. For a moment he ponders if arcane forces can be rendered in this virtual environment. His hands motion as if gathering from the air around him as he chants. His right hand hits his left’s open palm then shoots a beam of white light at the four-winged being.
Krizen readies his pistol and takes his shot, wondering if he will need to reload in this virtual environment...
Stacy’s spell shoots forward, the blast of light dazing the being in front of her. Krizen and Quitch follow it up with a blast of magical force and well-placed bullet. The being thrashes around, unable to act.
Ready and waiting, Bravo takes the shot!
Mira draws her needler pistol while advancing and fires it while also saying, "You're lucky I haven't implanted my venom spur yet! You... you whatever the heck you are!"
Krizen lets a feral grin surface as his bullet strikes home. One away! Two more incoming!
Stacy draws her pistol and joins the hail of fire.
Quitch draws his pistol as he continues to create space between his companions. Planting his feet, he aims the pistol and squeezes the trigger.
Stacy, Quitch, and Krizen hit the angelic avatar with their hail of bullets, his form starting to glitch and malfunction.
The figure snarls and takes to the sky, hovering for a moment before swooping towards Krizen. However, Krizen is too quick for him and dodges out of the way.