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Taking moment to survey the warehouse and the team's injuries, Baròleg confirms there are no further threats and no one requires immediate care. "We should take a moment and collect ourselves, tend to injuries. Then update the Stewards and Zigvigix." He helps anyone that need assistance as best he can.
Once everyone is recovered, he contacts the Starfinders and Stewards, as well as a hover cab. "At least waiting in line should be respite."
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M'linda collapses on the walkway, breathing deeply after another narrow victory. Join the Starfinders, they said. See the galaxy, they said. Excitement and adventure.
Getting to her feet slowly, she stows her pistol into it's holster and dismisses her sword. "See guys," she calls down to the others, gasping out each breath as she makes her way back to the stairs. "No problem."
When she finally gets back to ground level, she leans against the wall near the entrance to the warehouse and slumps down to the ground. "Just gonna sit here for a few..."
As the sounds of fighting have died down, station security moves into the warehouse to start removing cargo and freeing up the space for the Exo-Guardians.
As this occurs, Zigvigix emerges from behind the cordon line in a congratulatory posture. They present you with a set of basic iridishell armor, a pair of incendiary grenades I, and 400 credits. {{Please, rest up. You may need it to complete my other task.}} the shirren suggests. {{I apologize for the lack of credits, but that is all that I can offer.}}
The shirren pauses for a moment, then waves good-bye, sending {{Have fun with the grenades, but don’t blow yourselves up—I like you!}}
Arriving at the line for the album, you see quickly that the raucous line extends out for quite a distance.
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That's more like it! Saeron commends herself as the dart strikes true. Seeing URDOA bring the creature down, she lowers her rifle, giving a small nod of satisfaction. "Maybe you're not a totally out of your depth after all," she mutters to herself.
"Well, this is new, she thinks in amusement, her eyebrows raised, watching as Jeen issues commands to the group. Something tells me we'll have to watch out for this one, she adds, bemused, regarding the half-elf in a new light.
"How is everyone?" she asks as the crew assemble. Without waiting for a reply, she begins inspecting the injuries of her fellow Starfinders.
With her companions gathered around, recovering from their encounter with the feather stalker, Saeron closes her eyes.
Slowly, she redirects the flow of her vital energies to wash over her crew mates, easing their pains.
She opens her eyes, face pale and the sheen of perspiration on her brow.
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M'linda looks up at Saeron in gratitude. "Your skills are both soothing and welcome, friend," she says as she gets to her feet, testing her muscles for soreness. "Still," she adds, "That more close calls in one day than I like."
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Waiting in line with the others, she agrees to pay a portion to provide a copy of Star Sugar Heartlove for Zigvigix. Looks at her credstick, she declines on a copy for herself, though. "Not my kind of music, anyways," She says offhandedly.
After hours in line, the party manages to obtain a number of copies of the album.
However, the ordeal has taken its toll on the Starfinders...
... and it gets worse as an exuberant crowd mobs three of the Starfinders in their own efforts to obtain a copy of the album.
The party still has yet to see the faction leader of the Acquisitives, Radaszam.
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Despite being exhausted from standing out in line for hours, M'linda managers to nimbly make her way through the crowds to get the new album with her companions. She loves the reaction given by Zigvigix, but a little befuddled by Historia-7's response.
Either way, she encourages her companions to finish the last of their jobs, so that they can all go get a much-needed rest.
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In his tired state, Baròleg is unable to avoid the rush of the crowd...Battered and lightly bruised, he fails to avoid the flurry of elbows and stomping feet.
"Well, that was more challenging than expected. Never underestimate the sheer aggressive nature of fandom," he nods in agreement with M'linda and Saeron, "Yes, lets visit our final benefactor."
You head to the office of the Acquisitives’ leader, Radaszam “The Dealmaker”. The vesk manages the deployment of the Acquisitives and his personal mercenary outfit, the Obsidian Spiders. He keeps a public-facing office for this purpose in the Nyori Palisades, a luxurious neighborhood located in Absalom Station’s transparent central dome.
The plain white doors of his office slide open to reveal a stark, dimly lit room. The chamber is bleak and expressionless in its emptiness—no vanities line its smooth black walls, and no signs of use mar its smooth black furniture. The only occupants of the suite are a bug-eyed tadpole wriggling in a glowing blue aquarium and a reptilian vesk seated behind an onyx desk.
The vesk gestures to a number of chairs in front of him, his features sharply illuminated by the light of his desk’s green holoscreen.
“The new graduates,” he greets, in a low and pleasant voice. “Good day. I am Radaszam, though since you are here, I should hope you already knew." The reptilian man lets out a snort that vaguely resembles a chuckle.
“I trust you are aware of our Society’s traditions, so I will cut to the point." he says, his features suddenly seeming more fearsome and grim. "I have a minor situation that needs resolution. One of our members, a human named Laboni, had a rather public altercation with a junk scavenger from the Spike. You might be more familiar with the scavenger than I, actually; he is a ysoki who fancifully calls himself Ratrod. I am told he runs a popular racing competition that has, hmm, several hundreds of thousands of viewers on the station’s infosphere."
"For some reason," the vesk seems to sigh or perhaps hiss, "Laboni felt the need to tell him that any ‘real’ mechanic could easily beat the garbage that Ratrod and his associates slap together. Now that Ratrod has issued an infosphere-wide demand that she race him and prove it, Laboni doubts she can back that claim up."
“Embarrassing, isn’t it?" Radaszam flashes a brief, toothy and painful-looking smile. "Not really the sort of troublemaker that suits our Society. Perhaps she would be better suited to the bottom of a trash compactor..."
After allowing his words to hang in the air for a few moments, he continues, "Well, we cannot afford to throw her out, not after so many Starfinders were lost in the Scoured Stars. Besides, we can’t let people think we are so weak that we can’t control our own members, or that we cannot stand up to a scrapyard junker."
"No," he says adamantly. "I would like you to assist Laboni in winning this race. Show our detractors that even the least of our Society is not someone to be trifled with.”
He pauses and looks at you with seemingly cold, reptilian eyes. "Is that all understood?"
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M'linda takes a seat when offered and listens intently to the intimidating-looking vesk.
"We will do our very best, sir," she replies when the debriefing is over.
After the debriefing, once they've left the office, M'linda confides in her companions, "I'm not sure how useful I will be in this task, but if there's anything that needs doing, I'll do what I can to help out."
"An apology might be nice." Radaszam remarks. "But a win--that is what is really needed."
"I'll have the listed rules and the coordinates sent to your devices." The vesk then reaches into the draw of his desk and produces a series of badges--one for each of you--marking you as Laboni’s official pit crew.
"Don't delay." he suggests. "There is only so much time before the race and you need as much of it as you can to help with this race."
The vesk sits down in his chair and waves a hand to usher you out. As you leave, he calls out, "Know that the Starfinders’ reputation remains rather precarious at the moment. Any disciplinary issues can be settled after saving face."
Following the directions sent by Radaszam, you easily find the location of Ratrod’s racing circuit, a hollowed-out section of a mountain of spare parts in Botscrap. Signs in the area indicate that the track is specifically sanctioned by the ysoki-dominated Salvage Union that controls most of the yards.
When the you arrive at the competitors’ entrance, a small robot appears to inform you of the basic rules of the race: racers and their pit crews are to build and improve their vehicles from the available scrap around the racetrack. Vehicles built at previous junkraces can return. Racers can fire upon other competitors during the race, but firing into the audience is grounds for immediate disqualification; racer weapons must be nonlethal and may affect only opponents’ vehicles.
As you search for Laboni, you realize that she is pretty easy to find in the crowd due to her paisley clothes and bright white lab coat.
When she spies the party coming toward her, Laboni, a woman in her late teens, looks rather sheepish. "Uh, hello." she manages to say. "I guess Radaszam sent you?"
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After introducing the team and himself, "As Jeen asked, do you have a racer? What are the requirements for the vehicle?" Baròleg then scans the other pit areas, looking for the other racers, "And who are we racing against besides Ratrod?" And with a serious stare at Laboni, "In honest comparison, how does your racer and your skills compare to the competition?"
"I do have a racer. I, uh, built it myself. The requirements are that it be build from scrap within this yard and that you target only the vehicles, not the pilots." Laboni replies. When the party looks at her sparsely-put-together junk racer, Laboni blushes a bit. " Really. I could definitely use your help."
Looking at Laboni's junkracer, it becomes evident that more work is needed.
"As for the competition, they are just some of the toughest racers on the circuit that I know of. In addition to Ratrod, there is Nyizin, Orsis, Lemgem, and Velocity." Laboni explains. "They, no doubt, are already here at work, if you want to go meet them."
You can improve:
-The Engine
-The Steering System
-The Armor Plating
-The Shield System
-Install a energy based weapon
-Install a Kinetic based weapon
-Upgrade a previously installed weapon.
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After talking with Laboni and the team, Baròleg suggests he reach out to the other racers. "I would recommend increasing the racer's speed and control, allowing Laboni to take the lead and finish this as quickly as possible."
He then moves to start talking to the other drivers, starting with Orsis. "Greetings. My team is new to the circuit, you appear to have quite the racer. Perhaps you could give some advice?"
Round 1 of Prep Phase Begins
M'linda proves very adept at finding useful parts among the sea of scrap.
Baròleg approaches a stoic, dark-haired lashunta who looks unfairly good in black and gold. He seems hard at work making modifications to a spherical junk racer. It is clear that he is busy with his own preparations and does not have much time to talk.
Still, when the Starfinder approaches, Orsis immediately makes eye contact.
"Looking for a friend, are you?." says Orsis as he picks up on the thoughts of the other damaya lashunta. "Then, here is some friendly advice. Power down your gyrostablizers and lean in whenever you come into a curve, it'll save you a few precious moments."
"Otherwise, my advice is to stay out of my way and try not to choke on my dust." Orsis offers with a smile.
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"ok, lets see what we got here." he says looking at the scrap vehicle.
"ok, ya, this junker is going to need some real work. M'linda, go find me some computer parts, I want to try a computer assist, otherwise, engine parts and scrap platting will do nicely."
He starts getting to work seeing exactly what he can do with this pile of junk.
Round 1 Summary
M'linda finds a part, at Jeen's direction, that increases the speed of Laboni's junk racer.
[ooc]Adding speed increase 5 ft. to Laboni's racer
Baròleg picks up some racing tips from Orsis.
Jeen improves the racer's armor.
URDOA finds parts for a kinetic weapon.
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A scientist? Saeron thinks, incredulous. One who's in way over her head! She shakes her head.
Realising how closely that sums up her own recent events, she blushes. Well, at least I'm not a liability to my team, she thinks, defensively. She feels her inner-self raise her brows. Any more, she adds weakly, blushing deeper.
Trying to avoid her companions noticing her inner conflicts, Saeron murmurs something about seeing the other racers and briskly departs.
She soon encounters Lemgem and sets about investigating the colourful racer.
"Hi, there. I'm Saeron. I was wondering, what's it like out there once the races start? It must be exhilarating! How long have you been racing for?"
Lemgem is a blue-haired gnome covered in piercings, tattoos, and augmentations. She is busy discussing various modifications to her racer as Saeron approaches.
"Hello, I am Baròleg. I'm new to the circuit and looking to learn from the best. I've heard that might be you."
"The 'best' is no longer among us." laments the scarred ryphorian, Nyizin; the Starfinder's gift for words seem to have little impact on the dour racer. "Since the death of my companion, the drive to satisfy honor in victory is all that remains."
It is obvious that Nyizin still bears the scars of the fight that killed her dragonkin partner. Based upon the dangerous modifications made to her vehicle and her overall attitude, it is obvious that Nyizin has a death wish. You know that as long as she is alive, she intends to win in honor of her fallen companion. The ryphorian will clearly not ally with the you during the race, but you believe that, with an adequate show of empathy, you could likely persuade her to provide some helpful racing advice.
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"Your attention to detail and drive to excel are fantastic," Saeron observes from off to the side, shaking her head in amazement.
"You know, Weydan blesses those who move forward in pursuit of the Endless Horizon - exploring the unknown and pushing boundaries. Although through different means, I feel we may be kindred spirits."
Baròleg pieces together the clues from Nyizin's responses. He offers his condolences on the lose of her partner, and that he is sure it was a noble passing into the next life.
"Thank you." Nyizin replies sincerely. "You understand, then, why my honor will neither allow me to forego an opportunity to win or rely upon others for a victory."
"Best of luck to you, then." she says, almost dismissively as she returns to work on her racer.
After a moment, she looks up and says, "You know, my partner suggested that I use a modification like this to overload the junkracer's engine during the race." she notes, as she arranges the components of the engine of her bulky junkracer before the Starfinder. "Thank you for reminding me."
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Thanking Nyizin for sharing her partners wise and parting with an appropriate epitaph for her lost friend, Baròleg moves on to the next racer. Seeing Saeron talking with Lemgem he moves to Velocity.
"Greetings friend. That's a fine piece of machinery you've crafted. Can I convince you to share some wisdom with a new racer?"
Round 1 Revised Summary
M'linda finds a part, at Jeen's direction, that increases the speed of Laboni's junk racer.
Baròleg picks up some racing tips from Orsis.
Jeen improves the speed.
URDOA finds parts for a kinetic weapon.
Saeron attempts to form an alliance with Lemgem, but the gnome seems offended.