Pon, seeing that everything is handled makes his way back to the comm room to try and fiddle with the jammer settings.
"Investigative: I will be taking a look into it."
Rush follows LINGSTON's commands to try and find a way to deactivate the electric grid or open the cage.
"Uh, has anybody tried looking in the leaders pockets for a key? A datapad or something?"
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While Prosper is talking to the prisoners, the shirren who had been shot stands up. There's almost no sign of his wound now, though Madelon’s looking almost as grey as Dalinar had been before quaffing the serum. So, they never seemed to use a keypad. Either everything's tied to some sort of Azlanti biolock or the controls are in that office.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Meanwhile, Spec, Rush, Minos and Pon take turns working on the computer. The identity currently logged on to the computer is Master-at-Arms Olaraja, who is a member of the Imperial Fleet. He is currently working on a temporary basis for Lieutenant Sharu, a member of the Aeon Guard.
The Imperial Fleet is the space navy of the Star Empire. This armada has ships and crews stationed in every system in the empire and is able to respond to almost any threat with astounding speed and overwhelming force. An elite infantry force, the Aeon Guard forms the backbone of the Star Empire's army within the empire and without. These troops guard every imperial holding and military installation, and they suppress any insurrections before they can spread. Carried by the Imperial Fleet, Aeon Guards land on alien worlds and stations to conquer and occupy enemy territory. The smallest arm of the imperial military is the Alien Cohort, an auxiliary force made up of non-humans, many of whom are conscripts or slaves of the empire. Any non-human has the right to enlist in the Alien Cohort, which also accepts recruits from species not officially recognized as sentient alien species or citizens of the empire. Soldiers of the Alien Cohort serve as shock troops and expendable assets in the empire's wars of expansion.
A short perusal of the interface reveals the controls for the grid controlling the jail cell -- which you find moments after Rush disables the shock bars by rerouting the wiring. The grateful prisoners tumble out, and are ready to answer your questions. "But do you have anything to eat? They haven't fed us today," one woman asks.
The Mission. The Azlanti have come to the planet because a crashed probe relayed the location of ancient aeon stone technology. An Azlanti named Zolan Ulivestra ordered Olaraja's vessel, the Barazad, to investigate. The reports refer to Zolan Ulivestra in many places as a Sardat.
The Barazad. The Barazad is an Imperial Fleet vessel that happened to be transporting Lieutenant Sharu and the Aeon Guard cadets under her watch. The Barazad is currently off mapping the rest of the system and will return for resupply shortly.
Initial Reaction to the Colony. The Azlanti were surprised to find a small Pact Worlds colony already on Nakondis, and initially thought that the colonists might be descendents of the Azlanti who crashed. It did not take more than a short scan to realize that was not the case. Lieutenant Sharu commandeered the expedition and she and her cadets successfully subdued the colony and established a presence in Madelon's Landing.
The Royal Venture. Sardat Zolan Ulivestra believes the strange readings are from a lost starship called the Royal Venture. The personal vessel of a pre-Gap Azlanti noble, the Royal Venture carried an experimental technomagical device called a rune drive that would allow interstellar flight without use of the Drift. Scans conducted after the victory over Madelon's Landing revealed these theories were correct.
Cedona. Investigation uncovered that an android colonist had already entered the Royal Venture crash site and stolen the rune drive. The android and the rune drive were both picked up by a fast courier vessel called the Silver Needle and returned to the Azlanti Star Empire only a short time ago. Lieutenant Sharu arranged for this transfer, but the destination isn't listed on this computer.
The Other Prisoners. The android shared some information about the rune drive with other colonists—now prisoners in the garrison—but questioning has revealed that none of them entered the Royal Venture and none have anything more than passing knowledge about the rune drive. Lieutenant Sharu wants these colonists killed; Master-at-Arms Olaraja has been putting this off to arrange for public executions in order to keep the rest of the settlement in line. In the meantime, Olaraja has been keeping the colonists in the brig.
The Away Team. Lieutenant Sharu took a group of senior cadets in training for the Aeon Guard with her to the Royal Venture's crash site to see whether she can recover any additional information. Olaraja isn't sure when to expect Lieutenant Sharu to return.
One odd thing that pops up is a file translating a song from the Star Sugar Heartlove!!! album by Strawberry Machine Cake, along with a paper on the analysis on the decadence of Pact Worlds Culture, the popularity of the band, and a list of their concert dates including an upcoming one on Songbird Station in the Diaspora. There are also some disturbing selfies done of Olajra in a glam rock outfit where he’s edited out most of the SMC band and placed himself next to lead singer CAPTAIN★CARMINE.
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Spec will explain the minutiae of the relevant cultural Azlanti references to anyone who is interested.
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"Uh oh guys. No rest for the Mysterious Seven today (or at least not much). It looks like the worst of these fluffsnorters are out at this Royal Venture location. We should probably go and get rid of them too right?"
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The professor emits a high pitched tittering noise... probably laughter? ... and cannot resist calling calling out to the others and ensuring the sad little fraud who threatened to make his people into pillows is thoroughly posthumously humiliated!
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"Hey all, did anyone find the voice box for that poor guy who was writing on the slate ....Ludo, or Lidar, or Lomar, or something like that?"
There is also a locked drawer.
Minos picks at the drawer
The drawer opens!
In it are the following items:
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Meanwhile, Pon meddles with the signal jammer, turning it off for just a second as he readjusts the frequencies, when a message comes in. "BTEP 3 to the Landing. BTEP 3 to the Landing. Please, come in... Dammit, are you guys alive out there?" The voice is young and male.
That's Sam Chang, our chief mining engineer. Madelon groans and tries to get up, then fails. The miners on BTEP-3. They had some sort of accident... We got a message from them and never got to check back...
Pon inwardly sighs and responds, "We read you BTEP3 this is the Landing."
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One odd thing that pops up is a file translating a song from the Star Sugar Heartlove!!! album by Strawberry Machine Cake, along with a paper on the analysis on the decadence of Pact Worlds Culture, the popularity of the band, and a list of their concert dates including an upcoming one on Songbird Station in the Diaspora. There are also some disturbing selfies done of Olajra in a glam rock outfit where he’s edited out most of the SMC band and placed himself next to lead singer CAPTAIN★CARMINE
Ok, that made me snort coffee all over my keyboard I was laughing so much :-) :-).
Hearing the cry for food, Wint gets busy (hopefully with the aid of the Opera singing robot) to create snacks for all
"Praise Abadar! What happened out there? Can you send--" The voice breaks off, suddenly. "Wait a minute. Who are you? I've got a really good ear for voices, and I can swear that you're not someone I've met. What's going on?"
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Pon rolls his eyes and exasperation can be heard in his voice, "Are you in danger BTEP3? The kind where people die in less than 24 hours?"
If he hears a 'no' then he will immediately turn the jammer back on.
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One odd thing that pops up is a file translating a song from the Star Sugar Heartlove!!! album by Strawberry Machine Cake, along with a paper on the analysis on the decadence of Pact Worlds Culture, the popularity of the band, and a list of their concert dates including an upcoming one on Songbird Station in the Diaspora. There are also some disturbing selfies done of Olajra in a glam rock outfit where he’s edited out most of the SMC band and placed himself next to lead singer CAPTAIN★CARMINE.
As for rest... You guys are in no shape to travel. No one in the colony will fault you for spending a night to recover before going off to be heroes again.
"Maybe," Sam answers. "There was a mining accident, but worse than that there's been some critters that have been harrassing the people who are trying to dig them out. We can't get to our guys. If you could send out Quorsica and Cedona, maybe they could help provide us cover so we can dig 'em back out?" Then Sam pauses, and you can almost hear him calculating. "Something's gone wrong back home, right? We can hold out 2 more days if you need us to do so, but after that we're gonna start losing people to exposure or whatever the hell those things are."
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
The prisoners gratefully consume the snacks that Wint and singing chef make. Wint will need someone who speaks Azlanti to translate for him, but the chef happily makes about eight dishes filled with flaky meat pastries, some dumpling soup, and an excellent salad.
Do you have any questions for them?
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A weight seems to lift off Dalinar once the prisoners are freed. He seems to have taken a personal responsibility on himself for their safe return. Seeing the broken hilt Dalinar holds onto it with a curious look for a moment and then picks up the singing disk. He had always been better at throwing things than shooting guns.
After listening to Pon on the radio for a bit he goes over to him. "Can I speak with you about something? In private." If Pon complies Dalinar leads him to another room. Once Pon asks what this is about Dalinar let's him know he just wanted to get him away from the comm so someone else could talk to the miners.
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"Hey Seven, maybe we should let Madelon talk to his people? They'd know and trust his voice."
Spec grabs one of the spare comm units and brings it over to Madelon
He gently hands the unit to the injured leader, and selects the frequency that Pon had been communicating on. "Here you go sir, I think these people might like to hear a familiar voice."
"Maybe we can go help them out as soon as we mop up the rest of these guys so they don't get reinforcements from the Barazad."
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Hearing the cry for food, Wint gets busy (hopefully with the aid of the Opera singing robot) to create snacks for all
Prosper joins the skittermander, popping azlanti sugared nuts into his mouth as he hurries to the kitchen. Once there he serves mostly as translator, having little to no sense for cooking beyond "you can add honey to anything" and "also salt fits in that category".
After the initial diplomatic efforts with the singing chef, he does his best to follow the instructions given to him and not mess things up too much.
As that was essentially a no, Pon turn the signal jammer back on. He then agrees to speak to Dalinar alone.
"I told them 24 hours, so that gives us 24 hours. Let's finish this," Pon says, his voice belaying determination. He then walks back into the area where the colonists are and says authoritatively, "BTEP3 is having troubles, but not life or death right now. We need to finish this Azlanti problem. We can help BTEP3 after that. I told them we'd contact them again in 24 hours. There will be radio silence during that 24 hours unless it comes from us confirming that we have cleared out the Azlanti. If my understanding of the map is correct, both are a ways away. Do you all have any vehicles? Also, if you all want to send people to BTEP3 to see if you can aid as well that would be wise."
Minos heads to the command room and surveys the signal jammer. He turns it back off so we can better assess the situation at the Mine. "BTEP-3, sorry about that. Hi, I am Minos, a friend of Cedona. I think we have things mostly in hand here with the Azlanti. And well we are still assessing it ourselves. Madelon is currently talking with others of our team."
Minos tries to determine where they are in relation to the colony as well as the down ship.
He then patches Madelon though the headset Spec had.
Madelon's antennae droop and he gives Pon a disgruntled look, then turns to Spec and Minos, and says in a tight telepathic beam. Thank you.
Using his voice, he turns to Pon and grimaces. "You may be right at about strategy, but boy, you know NOTHING about people. Next time, don't get between me and my people. Let me get them up to speed, and then we can do what needs doin', right?"
As Wint is going between the kitchen and the areas where the snacks and drinks are being served, he overhears at least a little bit of the conversation.
"We don't need any rest. People are in trouble! Surely we should go help them immediately!"
Pon pinches the bridge of his nose once more, opens his mouth as if to say something, but then closes it with a sigh and heads to the secondary entrance of the compound. He pulls out his tool kit to ensure that the door is in working order, and that it remains locked.
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"I am not looking for another argument and I am sure you do not want any advice from me. I cannot say I blame you, there are many subjects I am not well versed in. This is one I am however. I said this crew is a democracy and that includes you. You stated what we were going to do and when with no reasoning. Some of us disagree. I will admit that one of my many faults is not liking being ordered around but I truly do believe that people's lives should come before finishing our fight. I also know that I can be forceful with how I state my opinions, but they are only that, opinions. I am willing to have my mind changed and I would wager so are the others. So I will finally get to the advice. If you would talk to us you would get much farther than you have been with giving orders and fuming when they aren't followed."
"As much as I hate to say it Wint, we probably should sleep first. We cannot be any help to the miners if we pass out or get sloppy and eaten by whatever those creatures are."
"Madelon, you know these people best. I suspect that this area is secure for now. And although not critical, I personally have expended a good deal of energy. Do you think they can hold out for another 12 hours? "
Minos is favoring resting to go at full strength at the break of dawn. But would rather keep in the good graces of their hosts.
He looks over the map. "Also we could liberate the crash vessel as well after securing the miners"
Prosper listens to Spec's impromptu lecture on the azlanti military with obvious interest. 'Understanding your enemy' was one of those rules that he'd learned back in training, and one of the few he'd immediately glommed on to. As Spec wraps up, Prosper adds "Did you see where it talked about Zolan Ulivestra? I'm guessing she's the big lady in charge of all this mess. Like, an old-timey queen or duchess or something, right? That's what a sardat is."
As the group continues to read from the computer, Prosper turns panicky. "Wait. Cedona not only isn't here, but they took her into the Azlanti Star Empire!? Oh no. Oh my gosh no. We've got to help her guys! But-" He pauses, eyes distant "-how? This is big. Really big! We need help!"
"Though I guess we need to find the Lieutenant and get him to cough up where they sent her!"
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Prosper looks back and forth between his teammates as the jammer is turned on and off multiple times. "Uh, I, um." Not very assertive, he isn't able to get in and help smooth out the situation. Whatever the situation really is. He's honestly not too sure what Pon is thinking.
Once things have settled a little and Dalinar and Pon are retreating, Prosper adds "Yeah, resting sounds good! If it takes a while for our ship to get over there, maybe we can combine a rest with flying over to the mine? One person would have to pilot, but, uh, I guess I could do it?" He raises a hand awkwardly.
"You guys are the ones doing all the hard fighting after all."
Madelon finishes a quick update with Sam. It's faster than you could have ever imagined, with half of it being codes or jargon. "Quorsica's damn near been crippled, and Abadar only knows where they took Cedona. I'm scrambling these fine folks to you in the mornin.'"
The middle aged lashunta rubs the bridge of his nose. "Yes, him too." Once he's done with that, he returns back to you. "In the mornin', I'll be in better shape myself. I can heal you up. But first... Tell me who you are?"
Madelon listens for a while. "The 'Mysterious Seven', sent off by a gnome who bought our resupply contract, and coming in on The Teapot? And all to rescue Cedona, who's still missin'." He frowns for a moment, then gives you a battered looking grin. "So, not only do we owe you our lives, but you brought supplies? So why don't you get your ship over here, I'll get folks to help you unload... and we scramble some mechanics to get you a quick upgrade? I'll have your money and your fixed up ship to you in the mornin'? Tell us what you want done, and we'll do it."
He thinks a moment. "We also got some vehicles -- hoverbikes and such -- that you can use if you want. And if you don't, I might send some trusted folks from the colony out on 'em. Either have them go ahead of you, or with you when you leave. Goraya'll want to go, that's for certain." He frowns. "Anyway. Hoverbikes. Ludvar Cresk sabotaged 'em right as the ship was coming down, but he knows where all the parts are."
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Dalinar has had one hell of a day. So have the others but they have more mental fortitude than he. He let's someone less drained than he is answer Madelon's questions. With the danger past, for now, he fights one last battle.
You let yourself lose control Dal. You almost killed someone who wasn't an enemy. You have to stop doing this.
He continues beating himself up during the trek back to town. He isn't very interested in talking much. Once there he makes his way to Aibretta's shop. He shows her the broken hilt they found. "Do you think you could help me try something?"
"Ok, I guess we can wait for the night then. And we should DEFINITELY take the hoverbikes. Hoverbikes are much, much quieter than the ship so we're more likely to sneak up on whatever is at the mine"
"I've ALWAYS wanted to ride a hoverbike! They look so much fun. Way more fun than just taking the ship!"
Edit: Removed stuff about voice box. I missed the fact that it belonged to a colonist. No way that Wint would even think about taking it
"Ooh, Azlanti magitech! And it's not even my birthday!" Aibretta's battered face, still bruised from the near execution, grins as she looks up at Dal. "What do you want me to do with it?"
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Spec waits until after Dalinar has left Pon at the read door and then quietly approaches. "Excuse me Pon? You seem to be getting pretty frustrated with the semi-chaotic way this group is managing situations. I can see that you are doing the best you can to use that hard-won training and skills to manage the situation, a situation that you actually seem rather uniquely suited to actually."
Spec awkwardly pats Pon on the elbow
"If you'd permit an observation from an old bird... This might be the kind of situation where you need to be more Steward and less Infiltrator.
"From strength unity, from unity strength, thus do we stand against chaos"
Maybe this show of unity, both amongst the crew, and for these citizens of the Pact, is what might reveal the greatest strength for resisting Azlant in whole..... Just thoughts to think"
Not sure whether he helped or just made things worse, Spec retreats rather quickly.
Before bedding down for the night, Spec grabs the voicebox and flies off to find Ludvar and give it back to him before something happens where he will really need it.
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Pon sighs once more as he hears Dalinar approach, but he continues his work.
Not again...'Pon you're not the leader, but here let me continue to make my past your problem'...
After he turns around he listens to Dalinar. Occasionally his jaw clenches, but it is barely perceptible.
Ha, not looking for an argument. As if I'd take advice from someone whose only skill set is swinging a sword. Well, at least you understand that. Democracy is for keeping peaceful times peaceful. I don't care if you all disagree. I'm stuck with a sword, two teachers, a skittermander, potential overcome with emotion, and assisted living. Very little of your contributions have any value let alone credibility. I'M DOING THIS TO SAVE PEOPLE'S LIVES!
He says nothing and walks into the bathroom, his fist clenched.
This guy is like a walking kasathan patience trial.
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Dalinar walks away.
"I was hoping you could implement this technology in my weapon." Dalinar has Stag Render in hand. He holds it out for Aibretta but once she touches it he hangs on for one more second. "This sword is old, very old. It means more to me than I could explain. I trust that you will be careful but I had to say that."
Pon sits on the toilet fully clothed trying to maintain his composure.
Why me?
Then Dalinar starts yelling...
What happens when your sword is no longer needed Dalinar? What good will you be to anyone? You are a walking ball of anger that makes it everyone else's problem. And there it is...'acknowledge me!', 'pay attention to me parent or I'll throw a tantrum!'...I don't have the time or desire to be your parent you oversized child. Gods! If you weren't so good at swinging a sword I'd find a way to leave you on this planet. Maybe I should anyway...I mean, he barely solves more problems than he causes...the skittermander too...
As Pon leaves the bathroom Spec approaches. Pon gives a long exhale as he forces a smile while kneeling down to the Professor.
At least you understand that I am actually trained for this, but...wait...placations and compliments...
Pon's eyes narrow slightly as Spec continues,
Is he trying to...Nope, he's just an old bird trying to make everyone happy. 'Love and togetherness will make the Azlanti go away'. Dream on bird. It didn't help your people and it won't help us.
Pon smiles politely at Spec after he finishes and as he flutters away.
Maybe if I go to the crash site by myself I can actually get things done...
After everyone has left, Pon moves a cot into the comm room and locks both doors.
With BTEP3 and the Landing switched to the new signal, no messages come in, and Pon's sleep in the comm room is uninterrupted, though still a bit twitchy. It's hard to be responsible for the success of a team and have no one on the team appreciate it, but Pon finally thrashes himself to sleep.
"Oh yeah, I'll be careful with this beauty. But I have a condition of my own..." She laughs. "Don't give me that face! I know you saved me, but this one's gonna be an all-nighter, so I'm going to ask.... What's the story of the sword? Tell it to me. Don't worry, you can wait until morning."
Ludvar's burned face is overjoyed when he sees his voice box again. He puts it on, and then says in faintly robotic voice, OH. THANK. GOODNESS. YOU. GAVE. ME. BACK. MY. VOICE. HOW. CAN. I. REPAY. YOU? He hugs the Professor, tears in his one good eye.
The little squox kits got into everything. Drawers have been opened, the contents tossed everywhere. Wiring has been pulled out. Anything not bolted down has been toppled. They also jump all over the work crew and Wint and Minos, seeking love and attention. Fortunately, the domestic clean-up robot that Wint found in the mess hall gets right to work!
Rush works hard on helping the town's mechanics work on the overhaul of the ship before Lingston tells him to take a break in his own sleeping berth. During the time he works, Lingston and Cresk, who is leading the renovation crew, spend a great time talking, and Lingston gives Ludvar tips on getting a more natural tone from his voice box.
Dalinar finds Aibretta asleep at her bench, a polishing rag still clutched in one hand. On the bench is the Sonic Stag Render, the intricate hilt melded beautifully with the old blade.
Is anyone else doing anything that night?
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Minos spends the evening counting the squox and assessing the mess. Take a some time to understand the runes from the stove he makes a few additions to create some additional prestidigitation lights and fluff that will bounce around and out of the kitchen to amuse any squox that wonder by. And hopefully keep them entertained.
Though in his room he finds Lord-Dracos-Thagomar-Third-Scion-of-the-Fallen-House-of-the-most-noble-Gunt har-Family-and-Destroyer-of-all-thing-Fluffy sitting on a mound of random parts and wires that was "liberated" from other parts of the ship. "What did I say about taking over engineering?"
The grey and black squox Chheepk!. Minos looks back. "Ok so these part are not technically from engineering..." He leaves the throne as it is.
After dinner Minos heads out of Aibretta's workshop for a quiet stroll around the colony with Lord Dracos.
A paper note is found on the floor of the comm room. It is a bit crumbled and looks slightly chewed on one corner.
"Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance. -M"
Include is a small tactical map that demonstrates securing the mine would also clear our flank of any possible problems when heading to the crash site.
Minos dozes at the workshop overnight with the squox on his chest.
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Wint stays up far later than he really should both cleaning up after the Squox and in making sure that they get NEARLY as much attention as they think they deserve.
He plays hide and seek, chase, throw the ball, catch the ball, and probably several other games
He is a LITTLE miffed by the fact that they have left droppings in the flour container but only a little.
"Well, aren't you all such a wonderful change from my other group? You seem to cooperate more than we sometimes do! Cooperate to cause mischief, yes. But cooperate"
Goraya arrives at The Teapot at the crack of dawn, with bags of supplies, and driving into the ship's cargo bay one of the hoverbikes. "This way I'll have a way to get home once you drop me off at the mines." She's clearly determined to go with you. "We could probably fit a couple more of the hoverbikes in here if you want them for this trip. Do you think you'll need them?"
Madelon arrives about a half an hour later, frantic. "The Azlantis must have gotten my datapad! It was gone from its hiding space, and I wanted to show it to all of you so that you had more information before you went off to that ship!" Then he takes a deep breath. "But let me keep my other promises. I have the 7000 credits that is your delivery fee for all the supplies, and my people tell me that your ship is ready. I can also provide more healing to anyone who wants it."
"Yes, we should DEFINITELY put in some extra hoverbikes. They may well come in useful. Haven't you seen that holovid Return of the Steward? Look how useful hoverbikes were in that!!!"
"I'm still a tiny bit injured. Heal everybody else first but if you have anything left over I'll take it. Please."
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Prosper sits down with Madelon once some of the initial planning is out of the way. He takes the fellow's hand and says "So, uh, since everyone else is off planning, I guess it's up to me to uh, fill you in." He rubs a hand against the back of his neck awkwardly. "We came this way to apologize to Cedona for that- wait. No, I guess, really, we should start with Charli? Yeah, probably."
He hmms and haws for a moment as he tries to work out how best to condense the story. Eventually he says "I guess the short of it is that we're a bunch of strangers who got brought together by a really very energetic gnome, given a highly infested spaceship, and sent on a space-trucker route to apologize to my future wife. Wait, no no no- that last bit just slipped out- that's uh, not, really right." Flushed with embarrassment, he says "Let me try that again."
"Brought together by Charli Poshkettle, that's the gnome. Given a spaceship, that's the Teapot - nice ship, and it's not so much infested as populated by squox. Fingers crossed those aren't an invasive species here on Nakondis. Sent on a mission to deliver supplies out in the vast, though I dunno if that qualifies as space-trucking. And we were also hoping to uh, check up on Cedona? We all know her one way or another... and not hearing from her in a long time makes you worried. Also uh, the apologizing bit. But uh, that's not important, honest."
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Prosper sits with Madelon late into the night, answering questions about the team and asking his own (rather energetic) questions about what Cedona was like here in Madelon's Landing.
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Minos sees to the loading of the trikes. Also brings up the maps to find good landing spots for the Teapot both near the mines and crash site. The trikes may be useful for the last few miles.
"At this point, I think we should assume that the Lt. Sharu suspects something is wrong. They are a paranoid group to begin with, so I don't think we have much of a element of surprise at this point. Giving away our approach with the Teapot won't lose us any tactical advantage."
Pon silently follows the group.
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Spec squeaks sofly as he is nearly crushed, then awkwardly Pat's Ludvar on the back. "There there dear fellow.. no thanks are really necessary, for isn't the duty of all decent folk to help others when they are able? We must give when the Cosmic Light allows in order to be able to take when the Great Shadow demands... Balance in all things."
Spec gets off his unintentional soapbox and chuckles a bit
"Now, if you feel as if this is your time to give, I'm sure some custom tricks on the Teapot would allow us to balance those Azlanti huh?"
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Spec spends the night perched in his quarters, communing with Osoro. He seeks understanding of these strangers he's become entwined with.... and receives twisting shadows as a response. He awakes reempowered, but not at all encouraged.
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Spec pokes Minos. "Shouldn't you give Madelon's the datapad you found in his house?"
"Welcome aboard Goraya. The bike is a great idea, but do you have enough defensive equipment to make it back on your own? ....
Also, we should take the other ones too"
Minos thinks for a moment, and the roots in bag. "Right, I forgot I had it." He pulls it out and hands it off.
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"I was once first in line for the throne of a place called New Gremaine. It is a terrible place to live, mostly due to the Queen and King. It was not as bad for me as prince in some ways, worse in others. Queen Corvana and King Jakamav, my parents, are narcissists. Everyone who exists is there to serve them in their eyes, even one another.
"As a small boy I yearned for their love, ached for it. I eventually realized that would never happen. I began to fall into the same pattern my forebears had for generations. At the age of 10 standard years my one dream in life was to grow up, kill my parents and take over as tyrant. It would be my turn to make others suffer for my amusement." The strain in Dalinar's voice is palpable at this point.
"Things got worse as I neared adulthood. I am sure my parents knew my plan. It was the same one my mother followed as well as her father and so forth. I was big enough to fight my father off during one of his 'lessons' but I only tried that once. He just had his bodyguards hold me down so he could work me over more than usual. So instead I took to hiding. He did not care enough to try again once his anger passed. It was during one of my attempts at hiding that I found Stag Render. He kept finding my hiding spots so I had to keep looking for more. I discovered a hidden room in the palace. Inside was a library and that sword.
"On a table was a book, not a datapad an actual book, titled Theodrin Family History. Both were covered in dust, no one had been there for decades it seemed. I started reading. My family has been around since before the Gap, as has Stag Render. The things that struck me most were the descriptions of my ancestor Galadon Theodrin, the first Theodrin amd King. He did not treat his subjects as fodder, he cared for them. And apparently he began life with no last name and little else. It baffled me that he could have been treated the way he was and to still look out for commoners! I laughed at first, simple commoners...
"It is not known where Stag Render came from originally but it got its name When Galadon used it to slay an infamous bandit who called himself the Stag Lord. Stag Render has a double meaning. It was used to rend the Stag Lord from life and rendered justice to the unsavory elements of Old Gremaine. It was a symbol for many generations of people long after its last use in a fight. Somewhere along the way my family stopped caring about those things. After reading the book I started seeing how the people lived in my homeland. It was, and still is, disgraceful. That weapon will be a symbol again, to me if to no one else. It reminds me of the man I should be. After being kicked out of the only home I ever knew I decided that I would walk the path Galadon did. I will make my own way in this universe and return home to that blade to render justice one more time. Stag Render and The Theodrin Family History saved my life. Five years ago I would never describe this change that way but looking back at who I was shaping to be I just cannot say it any other way.
"I said that I could not explain what that sword means to me but I suppose I just tried. I will let you get back to it." Dalinar does just that feeling drained again. He goes back to the bunk Aibretta had prepared the last time the crew was there. He couldn't leave Stag Render in another building and was too exhausted to go to the Teapot anyway.
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The next morning Dalinar rises to find Aibretta at her work station. He delicately removes himself with his new weapon to let her sleep in. Once outside he draws Stag Render for an inspection. As soon as the blade clears the scabbard Dalinar notices the sound. Unlike Olajra's wailing blade it hums in a high pitch that is only barely audible, almost sounding like a children's choir.
He arrives at the Teapot just after Goraya ready to go.
Prosper joins the rest of the group at the Teapot looking more than a little disheveled. While his hair and face are perfect as always, his clothes are totally crumpled, he has his boots on backwards, and his fly is undone. He rubs at his eyes. "I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I had the hardest time sleeping, what with thinking about what might've happened to Cedona. Based on what Spec was saying last night, they, they could have made her a slave! That's what they do with non humans, right?"
"Let's get to that mine fast, help the folks there, and then find the Lieutenant even faster. We need to go after Cedona before... before-" He pauses, clearly not wanting to voice his fears. "Well, I'm just worried."
He looks over at Goraya, and his anxious worrying lifts when he sees her determination "Right, we're totally going to help your folks. Cedona's gotta be fine until then. And Wint's right, the hoverbikes would definitely help if you have extras for us!" He puts on his new armor and helps Goraya load any extra hoverbikes into the ship.