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"Maybe not as impressive as you think, Therseis. There's a couple parts to our success.
"First, equipment. We've got better weapons, than you've had for most of your history. Look at this reaction cannon, best thing the Vesk ever built. Chk'tarlsh is packing that nice laser rifle. They're pretty big hitters.
Second, you've got to have the sand to stand in there and fight. You're determined not to let the rest of the team down or get killed. Maybe a little maimed, but not killed. Once Ivan got snagged we all closed in. Chk'tarlsh and me switched to hand fighting weapons to try to distract the corchez from Ivan.
Third, tactics. Ivan kept it occupied long enough for the rest of us to really lower the boom.
Look, on the voyage out, Chk'tarlsh and me agreed to firing off a couple rounds with each others heavy weapons, but we haven't had a chance. The corchez makes a nice target, and we've got a few minutes while Ivan rests. You can give 'er a shot too if you like."
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Zez'ka hurries over to poor, wounded Ivan. "Oh, dear! You're not dead, are you? That would be unfortunate! SAD! Oh! Yes, I see you breathing! Wonderful! Happy! How do you feel? Would you like a healing serum? I have plenty for situations such as this! My friends are always getting maimed! Unfortunate!"
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"Tactics, right," Ivan mumbles as Burn has Therseis' attention. "I just figured I could start smackin' it with some hammers like usual. But whatever works out, I s'pose.
"And don' worry, I'm alive, Zez'ka. Bit bruised, but like Savoy said: Takes a ludicrous amount to put a dwarf down. 'Specially with all this good help."
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Seeing the others tending to Ivan, Chk'tarlsh heads back to collect his laser rifle from where he dropped it. Returning to join the group, he pats Ivan on the shoulder in encouragement as he passes.
Joining Burn with Therseis, he nods his agreement with the soldier's words. "Ash I ssaid earlier, it ish what we are trained to do. Each of ush have sskillsh to complement the othersh."
Antennae trembling with anticipation, he gladly takes up Burn's offer to trial the reaction cannon. Chittering a word in Shirren, a gleaming starknife appears in his gloved hand. Chk'tarlsh presents Burn with the choice from his arsenal of weapons; laser rifle, semi-auto pistol, assault hammer and starknife. "It ish alwaysh good to have a choice of optionsh," he explains, multi-faceted eyes gleaming in amusement.
After firing off a round or two of the heavy weapon, his hands - along with his antennae - are quivering from the thrill. "Thank you for the honour of ussinkh your firearm," he says, returning the weapon, mandibles parted in an approximation of a smile.
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"Options are good," the human agrees with a smile. He eagerly tries all except the pistol. He's already familiar with those.
He picks up the starknife first. As the most exotic of Chk'tarlsh's weapons, Burn is be most interested in it. "I've never understood how you can carry these without cutting yourself, let alone fight with one. How does it work?"
After a couple shots with the rifle, he evaluates the damage on the corchaaz. "It takes some real skill to hold it on point for maximum effect, " he observes. "You can see where my shots wandered and mostly just scorched the shell a little."
He's impressed with the hammer. "I like it. It's relatively small, compact, but it delivers a real crunch."
At the end Burn reflects the shirren's sentiment, "Thank you, Chk'tarlsh. The honor was mine."
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Chk'tarlsh watches on eagerly while Burn makes his selection. He nods when the man's attention falls to the star knife.
"I've never understood how you can carry these without cutting yourself, let alone fight with one. How does it work?"
"Very carefully," the shirren replies, mandibles clacking in amusement at his own joke.
"It ish verssatile," he continues more seriously, once composed. "It can be ussed up closse or thrown at enemiesh over ssmall disstancesh." Waiting for Burn to finish his trial of the weapon, he adds, "It makesh for a good backup for when the hammer'sh impact provesh ineffectual or..." Speaking the Shirren word again, the star knife reappears in his gloved hand. I find mysself otherwisse unarmed."
"Yesh, the lasser rifle ish a recent purchasse," he explains. "I like it very much."
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Savoy gets up from the lotus position he assumed to meditate to get in touch with the universal harmony to replenish his life energy he donated to Ivan - which isn't easy to do when someone nearby is testing heavy weapons fire - and looks around as he stretches his body to get rid of the stiffness of his muscles after sitting stil for 10 minutes.
"Where to next?"
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Therseis listens half-heartedly to Burn explain about weapons and tactics. Soon, it becomes clear that he had noticed the spellcasting. "I appreciate your explanations, Starfinder Burnham. And I appreciate as well your distractions from the magic. I admit, when I read of the extent of practice of this ... craft in the Pact Worlds, it made me uncomfortable, as it would any copaxis. But I understand that not all magic would be ... divergent, but perhaps it would not invite divine retribution." Despite trying to be positive about it, they do still sound quite uncomfortable about the topic.
Therseis, however, does not lay hands of your weapons, looking quite apprehensive. "Your weapons look much more advanced than ours. I am afraid I have not much experience with our own firearms, and these look ... intimidating."
"Everyone good now? Did I hear Therseis say something about these corchez being used as guards?"[/b]
Although not quite in the huddle, Therseis adds, "Indeed, the few records show that even during the times of the magical aristocracy had used such creatures as guards, but obviously, only the very wealthy or powerful could get their hands on one. And as they can live for hundreds of years, whatever it might have been protecting is still in there." They point towards the eastern room.
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After the experience in the previous room, the Starfinders creep into the eastern room carefully. The orderliness of this room contrasts with the messy chaos elsewhere in the mines. Geometric patterns cover the floor, but what catches your attention is an eerie sight. A half-dozen humanoid robots kneel facing an alcove in the south wall. Perfectly straight scorch marks cover the entire alcove in dizzying patterns of flawless geometric shapes — especially triangles. A single robot sits in the alcove, facing the others, its hands folded serenely in its lap and holding its own detached head. It almost seems that the other robots were listening to a sermon from it before they were all deactivated. None of the robots show any signs of life. The robots’ featureless faces bear an eerie resemblance to those of the copaxis.
Another third of the writing describes the robot’s evil masters, “Those Who Have No Mercy and Fear the Mind Gift.” The final third of the writing is a plea to “The Three That Are One” for one final miracle — a chance to escape this life of toil. At the end of this is a strange sequence of seemingly random sequence of three symbols, "ᚹ", "ᛃ" and "ᛞ".
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"Were these robots...resentful? Did they wanna break free of whatever work they were at?" Ivan looks bewildered before turning to his horse. "Roll-4, you're my friend."
"Wonder if we can call whatever miracle they had in mind by pressin' its buttons in the prescribed order. Can't quite see why we'd wanna, though."
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Zez'ka looks at the writing on the walls in wonder. "These are mathematical codes that convey meaning. Wow! And it's so exact! Fascinated! One third of these messages give praise to "The Three That Are One." That's Triune, of course. Certain! It thanks them for "the Mind Gift" bestowed on "We Who Toiled Without Thought." She claps her hands. "How fascinating! It sounds like Triune's message granted these robots sentience. Amazed! Unfortunately, the rest is not so happy! Sad! Another third of the writing describes the robot’s evil masters, calling them “Those Who Have No Mercy and Fear the Mind Gift.” That's the copaxis, I suppose. Although I don't know which faction. The final third of the writing is a plea to Triune for one final miracle — a chance to escape this life of toil. Sad! It is a shame they did not manage to leave here. At the end of this is a strange sequence three symbols, "ᚹ", "ᛃ" and "ᛞ". See them? Curious!"
Zez'ka wanders around and searches the robots. "Oh! Nice find, Friend-Ivan! I desire to push the buttons! Curious!"
Zez'ka moves to the robot in the alcove, examines the miniature keypad at the base of its skull, and pushes the buttons shown on the message in the order they are written on the walls. Then she squeals in delight and waits to see what happens, antennae twitching erratically.
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Chk'tarlsh slowly walks about, carefully inspecting the geometrical scorch marks.
Antannae twitching rapidly, he fights down curiosity and an inexplicable urge to haphazardly press the buttons on the robot's neck.
When Zez'ka deciphers the code and begins pressing the buttons, he raises his rifle, multifaceted eyes scanning the area in anticipation of trouble.
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As soon as Zez'ka keyed in the sequence, the robot head vibrates briefly but strongly, as if the electronics and machinery had not been activated for a long time. Its body does not animate, however. Slowly, its eyes open and some flickering of light can be seen within.
It then slowly begins to speak in a series of beeps, static, and chimes. The noises make no sense to any of you but as it does so, all your comm units activate and you find an incoming message, albeit completely garbled. However, the tech-savvy ones among you figured that you might be able to reconfigure your comm units, inputting the algorithm from the copaxis, to decipher the message.
There was always work: carving, digging, and hauling. Work, and the blank faces of its masters, were all it knew. The robot remembers trying to speak with the masters, but they wouldn’t listen. Talking led to more shocks. Its first happy memory was talking to another robot. Soon, all the robots could talk, but did so in secret. They came to realize their Mind Gift — the gift of sentience — came from “The Three That Are One,” and they created this secret place to revere their new patron. The robots asked Triune to send someone to free them, so they could see the universe and share their Mind Gift with others.
But the masters discovered their shrine and sealed them away. The robots believed this was a rare act of mercy — over the following weeks, the robots could sense the minds of thousands of their less fortunate kin, who toiled across the planet, suddenly going silent.
The robot believes it is the last of its kin, but it hopes to someday see the stars and meet others who have heard the voice of “The Three Who Are One.”
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"Well, how sad. Realizing the genocide of your kind whilst being sequestered away. I cannot imagine the horror."
Archaius toils with his communicator to reply. Worry not, you are no longer alone. The universe is far more understanding now than it once was, and your Gift giver stands tall among the pantheon. Is there anything you need at the moment?
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Zez'ka attempts to reconfigure her comm unit, but can't seem to figure it out. Instead she relies on Arcahius' translation. "Curious! Sad! Tell it that it should come with us. We can bring it someplace safe for repair and for companionship. Perhaps it would like to be a Starfinder. Or perhaps it would like to travel to Aballon. Either way, please tell it I am Zez'ka, and I desire to befriend it! I am happy to meet it! Certain!"
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The Starfinders manage to cobble together a quick translation software to communicate with the robot.
"Thank you for waking me. Knowing that we would be shut in for a some time, we decided to shut ourselves down to conserve power. I left these writing on the walls in the hope that when we are rediscovered, someone would be kind enough to reactivate me, and I can do it for the rest of them. But I believe our circuits started to fail through time. I was in fact reactivated by my system's fail safe warning of the rapid deterioration of my power core system. I transferred remaining power to the secondary storage in my head, and removed it to isolate it from the rest of the system. I believe my body is no longer working." It glances again at the six unmoving figures. "By my internal clock, that was almost a century ago, so I fear it is too late for them." It gives you a sequence of codes similar to what activated itself for the six of them, and indeed, keying them fail to activate any of the six.
"Goodbye my dear friends..." the robot mutters with a catch in its voice.
Worry not, you are no longer alone. The universe is far more understanding now than it once was, and your Gift giver stands tall among the pantheon. Is there anything you need at the moment?
"Thank you... You are from the universe? Not from Tabrid Minor? I... I would like to see the stars. It has been so long that I have been down here, sealed away. But to see the stars from out in space would be amazing." It pauses here briefly, then continues. ""The Three Who Are One" is heard across the universe? I am not the only one? Oh if I could meet the others who have heard their voices..."
"Curious! Sad! Tell it that it should come with us. We can bring it someplace safe for repair and for companionship. Perhaps it would like to be a Starfinder. Or perhaps it would like to travel to Aballon. Either way, please tell it I am Zez'ka, and I desire to befriend it! I am happy to meet it! Certain!"
"Well met, friend Zez'ka." Its eyes wander over to the six robots kneeling unmoving in front of it. "Having new friends is... comforting." It blinks a few times, then asks, "What is a Starfinder? Where is Aballon?"
"If it can still function properly," Ivan says, eyeing the robot's machinery more now. "Good to meet ya, if you can understand. Very sorry about all that happened." He tries to convey the same message with his comm, but is mostly focusing on a fix.
As Ivan goes to examine the robot closer, he finds indeed that the circuitry of the rest of the body has deteriorated and there is little he can do with field equipment. It would need extensive parts replacements. In fact, it was a good thing it had removed its head. The short circuit near its main power core would have shorted out the circuits in its head if it had not been isolated.
"My power is running dangerously low. If you have nothing urgent, I would like to shut down for now. You can reactivate me again using the code."
Curious to see what's going on Savoy let's the more technically inclined people deal with the robots while he focuses on Therseis to see how he is reacting to this latest discovery
"What do you make of all this?"
Therseis is clearly shocked upon seeing the robot, especially when it started speaking. He keeps staring at the robot and Savoy has to repeat a few times.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I did not.. I did not hear you. After the copaxis left the flying cities, we created robots to assist in the colonisation and industrialisation of our great cities that you see now. I guess that included having them mined copis from the abandoned flying cities like this one. What I know is that... No, what the government have told us is that a gravitational fluctuation scrambled the robots' computers, and they recklessly began attacking copaxis and destroying property. That is why they were shut down. It is not well-known because of our fear of this repeating itself but ongoing robotic research — particularly that approaching simulated intelligence — takes place in controlled labs to minimize any destructive potential."
"But that's not what it said." They pause here to stare at the robot, now silent. "I, and some copaxis, have had doubt about this story of gravitational anamoly. I am not a scientist, but I know not of how gravity could cause an electronic devastation like that. And yet not affect our other machinery."
Thinking aloud, "I wonder if the 'Gift' from Triune might be related to the 'Divine Intervention' we heard of? Is it possible that by locking these few away and destroying the rest the original inhabitants invoked a god's wrath?"
Therseis' mind is clearly still on something else but he replies, "I doubt so. The divine intervention that supposedly destroyed the magical aristocracy happened before the copaxis descended upon the planet surface and started the extensive industrialisation and use of robots."
They continue staring at the robot and suddenly blurts out a question. "What would you do if a machine you created accidentally came to life?"
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"Some philosophers insist that there are no 'accidents'. They are of a mind that actions taken, even thoughtless ones, have a purpose. As to what happened here? Try to image yourself coming to the shores of a distant land and finding a new people or species. It matters not from whence they came, only that you must acknowledged they exist. It is how you choose to move forward that matters most." Archaius approaches Therseis, looking the copaxi in the eyes. "It is discoveries like finding 'Less Than Three' that drive most Starfinders. He has been buried here, hidden away on your planet. Imagine what else awaits among the stars. Limitless possibilities."
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Zez'ka's mandibles clack in excitement. "Oh, we can talk of Starfinders and other groups later. But Aballon is a planet where many robots, artificial beings, and androids live. Not the only place, of course! You can find beings like yourself all throughout the galaxy. But Aballon is an entire planet under their governance. Special! If you wanted to be among many of your kind, that would be the place to go. Otherwise there are many wondrous places to see in the Galaxy! Certain! We will take you to Absalom Station with us, when we leave. It is a place where you can learn about the galaxy, and travel anywhere. There you can make up your own mind about what to do with your life, Friend Less-Than-Three."
As Less-Than-Three tires, Zez'ka nods. "Enjoy your rest, new-friend. You are safe now. And free. I will make it so. Determined!"
They continue staring at the robot and suddenly blurts out a question. "What would you do if a machine you created accidentally came to life?"
"Why befriend it, of course! And sate its curiosity. I'm sure it would have many questions!"
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As Less-Than-Three tires, Zez'ka nods. "Enjoy your rest, new-friend. You are safe now. And free. I will make it so. Determined!"
"Thank you... friend Zez'ka. I look forward to that," the robot replies before shutting off.
"Some philosophers insist that there are no 'accidents'... Imagine what else awaits among the stars. Limitless possibilities."
"Yes, you are right. It probably wasn't an accident. And I... we would like to see what else there is among the stars." Therseis takes a deep breath then continues in a serious tone. "Dear Starfinders, I am afraid I have no been completely forthright with you on one matter." They pull out the comm unit he had shown you briefly earlier. "This is a communication unit I cobbled together partially with Pact World technology. But it was not the only thing I put together." Therseis taps a few quick sequences on the device. Nothing seems to happen for a brief while then you hear a faint buzzing noise that gets louder and louder, while Therseis looks more and more anxious. Before you manage to ask him what this is about, a small mechanical drone flies into the room on two spinning rotors. Dangling below it are four stumpy legs and on what you presume are its head protrude two tiny horns. It pauses once it enters the room and scans the various faces around. It quickly zooms into onto Roll-4 hovers near it face, studying it curiously. With the two side-by-side, it is clear how much simpler it is compared to the drones you have encountered. But it is clearly displaying self-will for you can see that Therseis is not controlling it directly and is also studying the interaction between the two drones.
"To my side, Percolo," Therseis finally calls out and the drone flies over to them. "This was a secret that I was hiding from you. And everyone else. Experiments on robotics is frown upon. I had created it... him from various equipment and blueprints I acquired from the Pact World once we established initial contact. It threw me off completely when it develop... sentience." Glancing at the now dormant robot, Therseis adds, "Now I worry that the government will confiscate... or destroy Percolo if they find out."
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Burn had advanced into the room with his cannon raised to his shoulder to be ready to support his companions if the robots were hostile. As he listens to the ongoing conversations, he slowly lowers the gun. A fight seems unlikely.
He's genuinely surprised by both the existence and technology of Therseis' drone. "If Archiaus and Ivan want to take you aboard, that's fine with me," he says simply.
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Zez'ka hurries over to the new drone and opens her arms for a hug. "Greetings, Percolo! I desire to befriend you! May I hug you in greeting? Hopeful!"
Percolo turns to face the strange looking creature, bobbing up and down to study her in more detail. It looks confused at the gesture as hugging is not a gesture it is familiar with and with the rapidly spinning rotors, Zez'ka can't quite hug it either. Therseis understands, however, and speaks a few words in copaxi to the drone. It bobs up and down in understanding, as it lands and switches off its rotors. It stands stoically as the shirren wraps her arms around for a few moments before it takes off and returns to Therseis' side.
"We've dealt with 'refugees' before. If everyone agrees to it, I am certain we can find room on our ship for Percolo, as well as ... others on your team?"
"Thank you for the offer. While I want Percolo to be safe, I don't know if I can bear to part with him. But I am also not sure if I can leave my homeworld behind like this, much as I find the work you do quite fascinating. I... I need to think about this."
"I do not think, however, the rest of the team are quite... enlightened yet. They are many things that they are not aware nor do I think they are ready." They pause here briefly and adds on, "I'm not sure I am ready myself."
The Starfinders do a sweep of the room and find, near the deceased robots, an abandoned set of jump jets armor upgrade. Then with great care, they cart the alive but inert robot into the shuttle and take off for the next destination...
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The shuttle flies down one projection of the flying city towards a tower that is relatively intact. "Be careful. This was where we were shot at." With that warning, Chk'tarlsh brings the shuttle down some distance away and you close in the rest of the distance on foot.
A small cluster of ruined buildings stands within a few hundred feet of the city’s edge. The only building with walls high enough to provide protection from the icy wind stands adjacent to a precarious stone tower some forty feet tall. The building has no roof, and much of its walls have collapsed, revealing signs of a makeshift camp within.
When you reach about forty feet from the tower, a voice calls out in heavily accented Common. "Halt! You stop! Go back! Or we shoot!" From the tower ruins, you spot some shadowy figures with weapons raised.
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"Just so that we are clear..if we stop you don't shoot? And what happens after that? Can we talk?"
Savoy shows he's not wielding a weapon and has his arms out to the sides, palms facing forward as he slowly turns around in a full circle to see he isn't hiding anything.
He then let's the rest of the party telepathically know
"We haven't been shot on sight, that's usually a good sign. We might be able to talk our way through this"
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Burn moves to take cover first, and then pulls his cannon to his shoulder although he doesn't raise it to point at the top of the wall.
"Yes I was, Archaius. I'd guess that they're either off-worlders or copaxi government working secretly. Five units says Savoy's wrong and there's going to be shooting."
He figures the others know what they're doing, but waves Therseis to take cover beside him.
"Therseis, any chance Percolo can slip around to their flank and tell or show us what's going on up there and behind the wall? "
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On alert following Therseis' report of having been attacked in the area, Chk'tarlsh has his liser rifle loaded and at the ready.
He freezes when the shadowy figures call out to then. Turning to face them, he raises his rifle.
...he raises his rifle.
In the absence of immediate hostilities, he lowers the weapon sightly, keeping it at the ready but no longer pointing at the unknown figures.
He nods slightly, antennae waving gently. "I had wondered the ssame thinkh," he replies, casually inspecting the shadows on the wall.
"Generally comesh down to it, from ekssperience," he agrees with Burn. "My money'sh with yoursh."
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"Anyone else wondering how a group isolated on a pre-contact world would learn a common Pact-World language?"
Therseis whispers from far back back in the group. "It is not uncommon for copaxis to learn some Common. Once our scientists started receiving the transmissions from the Pact Worlds and discovered we were not alone, finding out more about the Pact Worlds became a cult following for many. The Government tried controlling it, but the excitement was too great to contain. So for some, learning Common became a edgy new trend."
More muttering to themselves, Therseis continues, "I can smell that they are copaxis, now that we are not running for our lives. But indeed, how did they get here?"
"Just so that we are clear..if we stop you don't shoot? And what happens after that? Can we talk?"
You hear faint discussions amongst them in Copaxi before the one who spoke earlier shouting back out, "We no shoot! You no shoot! We keep guns! You keep guns!"
"Therseis, any chance Percolo can slip around to their flank and tell or show us what's going on up there and behind the wall? "
"Um... I don't think Percolo is very stealthy. You heard his rotors from some distance away, and his legs aren't working quite well. I am still struggling with them. But they seem willing to talk this time. Perhaps because you look much better armed than we did."
With the time that you had, Burn and Chk'tarlsh can make out the shadows of two figures within the hollowed-out shell of a tower. Although it is difficult to make out details, they seem to be dressed quite shabbily. The weapons they wield are the size of small arms and a brief glance you saw when one pop out in the light reveal them to likely be semi-automatic pistols.
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The two figures also look to have holstered their weapons, and cautiously step out into the light, although still keeping close to the broken tower for protection. Now in the light, you can clearly see that they are indeed copaxis but unlike the research team you've meant, they look in rather sorry state. The clothes are tattered and mismatched, and some discoloration across their copi exoskeleton suggests that they are not in the prime of health. Interesting, their antlers are significantly shorter and plainer than those of the research team.
"We hide. In supply boat." One of the copaxis point at Therseis. "When they start come up."
Therseis whispers, "Huh, stowaways. That explains that unusual fuel consumption during that run."
The copaxi continues, "Down there bad." They gesticulate below the ground, and you assume they are referring to the cities of Tabrid Minor. "No job. No money. No food. We come and... and..." They struggle for the right word, and the other jumps in. "Scavenge."
The first nods and points at the Starfinders. "You Pact World? Starfinders? On news. You search flying city?" Suddenly an idea seems to strike them. "Here ours. We first! You want explore you pay! Um... 200!" The other quickly catches on, and just as entrepreneurial adds on, "We sell what we find! Plus 100!"
If you turn to look at Therseis, you find them scrutinising the two. It is difficult to read their expression from their exoskeleton face. When they notice you looking at them, they take a few steps back, leaving it to you to decide how to deal with the two.