After searching the bodies of the gangers, the android is able to salvage a number of cred sticks containing a total of 300 credits. He also locates the following on each: flight suit stationwear, pulsecaster pistol with battery (one with 20 charges, the others with about a dozen each), and a tactical baton.
There is no indication as to who may have hired or tipped off the gangers, but this in itself, is an indicator that the hiring organization is well-versed in dealing with underworld contacts and is consistent with what you know of the activities of corporate criminals in Bluerise Towers.
The party has sufficient time to rest.
At Jeen's request, a shuttle is reserved for transport from the station to the massing of ships known as the Armada. The Wayfinders’ transitory nature precludes them from having a single stationary headquarters on Absalom Station. Instead, the Wayfinders operate out of the Master of Stars , an enormous starship that is part of the Armada orbiting Absalom Station. The shuttle operator notes that theMaster of Stars is currently undergoing extensive repairs.
Once at the one of the many docks located in the Arms of Absalom Station, you quickly board the waiting shuttle. Free from the station's gravity, it is not long before you get your first view of the Armada, gleaming figures standing out against the emptiness of space. The Master of Stars immediately stands out from the rest, as layers and layers of scaffolding obscure its hull. Tiny lights flicker among the metal beams as distant figures weld plates and heat shields to the ship’s exterior.
The shuttle smoothly glides closer until it reaches the starship’s docking bay, slipping through the magic field that keeps the hold pressurized with atmosphere breathable. As the shuttle doors open, a small drone flies in and pops up a holoscreen, displaying a harried-looking ratfolk.
“Finally, fresh meat!” the ysoki exclaims over the screen, sounding pleased. “Name’s Fitch—pleasantries over, time to get to work. I had some trouble earlier with the lights flickering on the ship, and now both the lights and computers have suddenly gone out on E-Deck. No idea what’s causing it, but you work this job long enough and—”
Fitch’s attention flicks to something offscreen, and she shouts “Kirkath! The welding torch is not a toy! You wanna go in the toddler’s pen with the other kids?”
She snorts dismissively before continuing, “Sorry, some of these little ones would cut off their own heads if I let them. Anyway, it could be some lunkhead screwed up the wiring, but that’s a pretty big system failure for a simple electrical short. I’d prefer to send in some people with combat training to scout it out, just in case someone or something is sabotaging the ship. If it’s nothing, great, get the power back on if you can. If there’s something suspicious, use your comm units to report in to me. I’ll give you the access codes, so—Selicha! If you touch that panel I will staple you to the hull!”
The screen on the drone cuts out, then flashes to display the ship’s schematics and the passwords for the computers on E-Deck.
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"She was surprising focused and direct," Baròleg says more to himself as he makes sure the schematics and passwords are saved on his comm's data unit.
"It would appear that E Deck for some repairs is our next task, we should keep alert though. If Fitch feels there is more at play, then it's reasonable to believe we'll encounter something more." Baròleg checks his sidearms and other equipment as he heads for E Deck.
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Jeen saves this info on his pad, witch is back on his arm.
"guys, this where where I shine" he says popping and stretching is neck and knuckles.
he takes a closer look at the map, and mumbles "man this ship is big"
"ok, just follow me and watch my back, if something happens, I might be to deep into working the systems and wires to help out, got it?"
Using the working lifts and maintenance tunnels, you are able to reach E-Deck where you find that the doors on E-Deck are closed. Usually activated automatically, the doors will not open on their own without power. However, since the magnetic seals on the doors are also disabled due to the power loss, you find that you are able to force your way through them and into the depths of the ship.
You find E-Deck to be covered in total darkness. Yet, even in the absence of light, you manage to get a sense of the size of the ship as you make your way through the expansive area.
[dice=Culture (DC 12+)]
You recall that the Master of Stars is the largest starship in the Society’s arsenal. Even before the events of the Scoured Stars, it was the pride of the fleet. Years of neglect required an extensive retrofit during the events of the Scoured Stars incident, inadvertently saving the flagship. The repairs are still ongoing, hampered by the lack of any senior Starfinders familiar with the ship’s myriad and esoteric systems.
E-Deck is a heavily underused section of the Master of Stars, consisting of various primary access corridors and adjoining chambers. Most side rooms are crew quarters or communal living spaces—far less important locations due to the recent shortage in personnel. The Wayfinders recently started using some of these chambers to store nonthreatening alien objects.[/spoiler]
Spying an open panel and some exposed wires, you believe that a skilled individual could jury-rig a solution to reroute power to local systems, restoring power to the lights and cameras.
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Feeling better after a brief rest, M'linda agrees with Baròleg. "Seem like 'being in the think of it' is going to be a regular occurance."
M'linda retrieves the schematics and password, looks them over, then proceeds to the intended destination when everyone is ready.
Once they arrive, M'linda gestures to Jeen to work his magic. "i'll be best off keeping an eye out for anything that may have caused it and be against us undoing their handiwork."
She summons her blade once more and positions herself in the hallway to intervene if someone approaches.
With flair, the engineering Jeen Scott is easily able to restore some of the lights in the area and, just several minutes later, even activate a few of the internal cameras. The quick jury-rigging only provides limited power to this section of E-Deck, but it is enough to restore moderate computer functionality. While most of the starship’s cameras remain off, you are eventually able to get a few internal video-feeds on-line.
One shows what appears to be a storage room. From the displays, you determine that the room must be nearby, not too far from your present location.
Through the lens of the camera, you can view scattered barrels and boxes, which line the lowered floor of the chamber. A thick bulkhead to the port side leads farther onto the deck, while a similar bulkhead to the aft connects to an arterial hallway that runs the length of the deck.
Behind a barrel you can clearly see two human children, one male and one female. They each appear to be approximately eight years of age, frightened, and unaware of the fact that they are being watched.
The children on the camera's viewscreen seem to be approaching near hysterics. Though they seem unwilling to move from behind the crate where they are huddling.
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"What are those two kids doing in there? We need to get them out before whatever is scaring them gets to them first.", as URDOA heads to the door.
M'linda views the children on the monitor and concern for their well-being floods her soul. "Be cautious. We do not want to scare them any further into doing something potentially dangerous. We don't know if a creature was involved, or just the fear of isolation. Either way, charging in half-cocked may do more harm than good."
As they approach the door, M'linda calls out into the room with as gentle a voice as she can without sacrificing strength to pierce the thick metal. "Children. If you can hear me, my name is M'linda Songshine. I am a Starfinder, along with my companions with me. We are going to find a way to get you out of there safely, but you need to stay exactly where you are for the moment. Can you do that for me, please?"
"How do we know that you are Starfinders!" responds the voice of a young girl through the closed door of the storage unit. "And, for that matter, how did you know we were in here?"
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"We were sent in to get the power working in this part of the ship. When we got that working, we were able to see you through the ship surveillance system. We also know that there is a system in that room that is currently malfunctioning. So, until we get it shut down, you're best not to move around too much. As to how you can trust us, I won't be able to prove it to you until we get this door open. I'll be able to show you my mark from a distance, if you like."
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Saeron steps forward to join M'linda at the door. Placing the palm of her hand against the door's surface, she leans close to help reassure the children, while Jeen works his magic on the tech.
"Hello in there," she begins, unable to think of anything better. "My name's Saeron. What my friend M'linda said is true. What are your names?" she asks, trying to sound calming and keep them distracted from their fear.
"I-I'm Lan" the young girl responds. "And this is my brother, Si."
On the monitor feed that Jeen Scott has set up and routed through your comm links, you can see the girl pointing and looking expectantly at the boy, but he gives no verbal response. Then, Lan starts pointing at the westward boy and gesturing with a series of nods. In response, the boy shakes his head rapidly back-and-forth in the negative.
After a few moments, Lan adds, "And, um, there-there's no malfunction in here. Everything is just the way that we, uh, found it. Okay?"
"Look," her voice continues through the door. "Our dad works on this ship. He's an engineer. So, it should be okay if we're here, right?"
"I mean--he did drop us off at the 'Kids' Area'," she continues, "but no one ever said we couldn't go exploring..."
"I-I'm going to be an engineer, too, someday." interjects the voice of the boy. "I'm pretty good at fixing things and putting things together. This ship still needs a lot of work, so I thought I'd help! That's good, right?"
You notice that while the door to the storage room is closed, it does not appear to be locked. Though you have sufficient strength to now pry the doors open, you readily conclude that the door would have been too heavy for the children to open after the power had been cut.
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"Nice to meet you, Lan and Si," Saeron replies through the shut door.
She can't help but smile as the children explain how they came to be in the storeroom. "That was very thoughtful of you. I'm sure you'll be a great enguneer one day. Our friend Jeen, out here, is a talented engineer, too."
Noticing the door is unlocked, Saeron tentatively activates the mechanism.
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Baròleg pats Jeen on the shoulder, "Well done, are there any other cameras you can access? Can you confirm the other rooms are safe, atmosphere and the like?"
He moves to join Saeron and M'linda at the next door, "Hello Lan and Si, it is good to meet you. Ms. Fitch sent us, to help turn the power back on here. We're going to slide the door open slowly in a moment and get you out, and we can show you our Starfinder badges." Baròleg pauses a moment, in thought before continuing, "What's your dad's name? And what was happening here when the power went down?" He watches the camera feed intently as the children respond, his eyes focused and cold.
Using his telepathy to the group, "Be wary, many species can alter their appearance not to mention magic or implants. Two lost children seems convenient. Once their identify their father, we should confirm their identity and being missing with Fitch."
"That was very thoughtful of you. I'm sure you'll be a great enguneer one day. Our friend Jeen, out here, is a talented engineer, too."
”Did you hear that?” the boy’s voice can be heard saying through the door. ”She said that I’m talented!”
”No, she didn’t.” says the girl’s voice in response. ”She was talking about someone else named, ‘Jeans’—or maybe it was something about somebody wearing them. It can be hard to hear sometimes through this door.”With his persistence, Jeen Scott is able to get several other cameras working on E-Deck. None of the other feeds indicate any signs of life or items of interest.
"What's your dad's name? And what was happening here when the power went down?"
"I’m Kieu Lan.” the girl responds through the door. ”Our dad is Kieu Kein. When the power went out, we were just... um… playing...."
"Yeah, playing!" Si's voice quickly interjects. "By ourselves! Just me and Lan. No one else. Believe us, we weren't with any..."
"We were surprised when the lights went out." Lan adds, cutting off her brother in mid-sentence. "We got trapped 'cause then the door wouldn't open."
Noticing the door is unlocked, Saeron tentatively activates the mechanism.
When door swishes open, the two children look quite relieved. The boy, Si, steps forward out from behind the crates.
”I’m the ‘engineer’!” he announces proudly, making sure that the lashunta woman (who can now see him) recognizes that he is pointing to himself.|
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M'linda steps into the room and shows the girl her Starfinder mark without getting too close. "It's nice to meet you in person, Lan. I'm glad to see that you two are well. Now, I don't want you to think you are in trouble. You most definitely are not, but we need to know the truth. Who were you playing with before the power went out?"
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Jeen gets out of the open panel and looks at the two kids
"you need to be more careful where you play" he says
and then he looks right at the boy
"kid, I like how you wanted to help and be an engineer and all, your lucky that only the lights and surveillance went out. I'm warning you right now, you where real close to cutting gravity and life support from this deck. I'm glad that you didn't and that you are alright, because if you had, we would need to come in here with suits and I would hate to think of what condition we would have found you in." he says this first with some respect, but as he goes on with the systems, he remains calm, but he makes it clear what danger they could have been in with his voice.
he sighs "well, it's all said and done, I've repaired at least most of the damage, and you are not hurt. you really need to be a little more careful with what you do and where you go on a big ship like this... Hey if you want, I can teach you a bit of what I know latter so you can do a better job." he smiles at his own offer.
"in the mean time, how about I take you back to the kids area where you will be well looked after while the others look over the deck ah?"
he looks at the others for a second and then back at the kids
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Baròleg kneels down, eye level with the children and shows them the glowing insignia in his palm. Using his telepathy he "talks" to both children and the team, "My people can read minds, and I know you are not telling the truth. Be honest, and no one will get in trouble. Lie and we will have to tell your father."
He continues on speaking, "We don't want anyone to get in trouble, we want to keep everyone safe. Tell us what's really going on." Baròleg continues to keep eye contact with the children as they answer...
He projects mentally only to the team, "Could someone discreetly confirm Kieu Kein is an engineer working on the ship, that he has children named Lan and Si, and that his children are not where they should be?"
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"Oh. Well hello, engineer Si!" Saeron ezclaims with a good-natured laugh.
She looks at Lan, including her in her smile. "It is nice to finally be able to talk without that door in the way."
Saeron, not picking up that the children are hiding something, regards her companions quizzically as they probe for more details.
Not quite sure where they are going, she leaves the questioning up to them, trying to support their efforts in gaining the children's trust.
Reaching out a hand, she speaks a few strange words. Opening her hand, palm facing up, a fist-sized, rather crude model of the Master of Stars appears, spinning as it levitates above her hand. "A gift," she says, sending it to float across the room to the children. The model begins to glow upon reaching the siblings. "It is quite fragile and will only last for about an hour, but it is yours to play with while the spell remains."
Finally getting a glimpse of the Starfinders, the children seem assured by the party's words and actions. The boy, Si, eagerly takes to the gift offered by the lashunta woman.
When asked who they were playing with before the lights went out, the kids seem to realize that there is no use in trying to hide their activities any longer.
"We were playing with Flitshell." Lan explains.
"Crabair!" Si corrects, looking up for the first time since receiving the gift. "His name is 'Crabair'. We agreed on it."
"HER!" Lan shoots back. "Flitshell is a girl and, no, we didn't agree. YOU wanted to call her 'Crabair', but I think that 'Flitshell' is a much cuter name." The girl glares at the her brother. The boy stares back for a few moments, then goes back to playing with the gift.
"Anyways, I was saying." Lan continues, "we were playing with Flitshell. She flew up toward the ceiling. That's when the lights went out. We got scared and decided to try and leave. We got into this room in the dark, but couldn't get past the door. When the lights came back on, we were afraid that we'd be in trouble and that someone would try to take Flitshell away. That's why Si rigged up the door sensors. Anyways, luckily, it was just you guys who found us, so now everything is going to be okay. We're good, right?"
A signal from the drone indicates that its search for a reference to Kieu Kein is complete--the man was assigned earlier in the day to a series of repairs on B-Deck. His comm link is reported as being operational.
Upon receiving word from Jeen Scott, Fitch responds, "So, you found the source of the problems? Glad to hear its nothing serious, 'cause I don't have the time or resources to send another team down there anytime soon. If everything is good to go--Kirkath! Don't put that in your cheek pouch! You don't know where it's been!" Fitch's image disappears briefly from the screen. When her head reappears on screen, she adds quickly, "If you're satisfied that there is nothing unusual down there, then please hurry on back here. I could use a hand or six."
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"yell, that might be perfect because we have some inanomouse explorers, I won't name who" he looks over at the two kids for a second
"we might be a little longer though, still want to check things out down here to make sure everything is ship shape. And if that is all, i some one else I need to contact"
He cuts off the comm and recalls his drone and then gets back on the comm to contact Kieu, once reached he asks
"hey, are Lan and Si your kids? because we just found them on E-deck."
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"Anyways, I was saying." Lan continues, "we were playing with Flitshell. She flew up toward the ceiling. That's when the lights went out. We got scared and decided to try and leave. We got into this room in the dark, but couldn't get past the door. When the lights came back on, we were afraid that we'd be in trouble and that someone would try to take Flitshell away. That's why Si rigged up the door sensors. Anyways, luckily, it was just you guys who found us, so now everything is going to be okay. We're good, right?"
M'linda looks at the little girl a little quizzically. "What does this Flitshell look like, Lin? Do you think she would come out again? We want to make sure that this doesn't happen again."
She also calls to Jeen, "Would you come have a look at this fire extinguishing unit when you have the chance? We don't need it going off suddenly"
"Flitshell looks kinda like a floating shell. She moves around real fast, so I call her Flitshell. She is in the other room." Lan replies, pointing to the westward door with the altered sensors. "She might come out to play again."
"Crabair looks kind no like a floating crab. That's why we named him 'Crabair'. And, I altered the sensors on that door to protect Crabair in case anyone tried to get to him and hurt him." Si adds. "I could do that 'cause I'm an engineer.". He returns once again to playing with his glowing new gift. "Crabair would love this."
Kieu Kien confirms over the comm with Jeen that the kids are his. He is grateful and thankful byhat they are alright. He says he will arrive shortly to retrieve the kids.
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Baròleg thanks the children for being honest, "You've made a good choice telling the truth. This creature sounds amazing. Does it know how to talk? Or did it do tricks if you asked?" He gently quizzes the children to find out if the creature may be sentient or able to communicate, or what they may have fed it (meat or vegetables). Trying to tease out any useful information they may have before their father arrives.
As they finish, "Excellent children, we're going to take good care of... How about Flit-air, since you both discovered it? We'll find it a good comfortable home, and maybe you can all play someplace safer soon." He tries to assuage any concerns they have, re-affirming no one will hurt their "pet".
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Jeen gets off the comm, comes over to the kids "your father will be here shrotly. if he asks what happened, tell him the troth so he deasn't have to hear it from us, because then he'll be upset." he pats the little engineer on the head "my offer still stands, if you don't want to learn from your dad and he's ok with it, I'll teach you what I know so you can be a better engineer." he smiles, and walks ofer to the extinquisher to check it out.
after checking the device he walks over to the group.
"hey, Saeron, would you come with me to take a better look around this deck, in case something happens?"
"Flit-air doesn't talk. The only trick she is knows really is how to fly." Lan explains to the envoy.
Jeen Scott easily disables the thermal sensors, ensuring that the extinguishers won't trigger. The door does not appear to be locked.
This area consists of two adjoining chambers. Four large containment capsules fill the fore room, three of which hold stasis-locked objects, including a tablet, a strange curved sword, and an odd spiral of bioluminescent coral. A crack leaks fluid from the fourth capsule, which displays a foot-wide breach near the bottom. The aft room contains several desks, each hosting a deactivated computer terminal.
Peering through the open portal, you can now see four large containment capsules within the room, three of which hold stasis-locked objects, including a tablet, a strange curved sword, and an odd spiral of bioluminescent coral. A crack leaks fluid from the fourth capsule, which displays a foot-wide breach near the bottom.
You feel a sudden sensation of being much heavier. From your training, you recognize the effect as an increase the area's gravity, which is now at unpleasant levels.
To normalize the gravity to this chamber, you realize that you must either reset the gravity controls or shoot out the artificial gravity module along the wall, which would plunge E-Deck into zero gravity.
Also, you notice that one of the ceiling light fixtures has been unscrewed and it appears that something must have slipped through the socket.
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M'linda walks into the room, getting a closer look at the containment capsules, and specifically the one with the breach. As soon as she feels the gravity shift, she calls back to Jeen. "Any chance you can fix the gravity in here. It's definitely not normal. Wonder if our little friend caused this."
Seeing the unhinged light fixture, she takes a closer look to see what she can find out.
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Saeron follows M'linda into the room. "Uhn," she grunts in discomfort at the sudden increase in gravity.
She tries adjusting the gravity control, tweaking some options and resetting to standard levels.
She breathes easier as gravity resets to a more comfortable level, then joins M'linda in surveying the area of ceiling with the open light fixture.
Jeen Scott manages to reset the gravitational controls to normal. Looking at the damaged capsule and fluid, he concludes that the stasis capsule was recently occupied and that it broke open as the result of a micro-fracture, likely a manufacturing defect, that expanded over time.
Whatever inhabited the stasis capsule, appears to have entered the ceiling through the socket in the ceiling.
The creature's present location continues to allude you.
The android follows the likely path of Flit-crab and eventually finds a creature resembling a tailless horseshoe crab hidden in the ceiling of the southern chamber, behind an exposed panel of ship internals.
You know that, prior to breaking, the stasis capsule was designed to provide a periodic electrical discharge as a form of sustenance to its inhabitant. Accordingly, whatever was once within the capsule is likely now quite hungry. You believe that you could lure it out of the ceiling and back to sleep with a battery’s worth of electricity.