Venture-Captain Arvin begins banging on the glass and waving his arms while shouting at the dwarf once he realizes that the archivist is deeply engrossed in his music. Eventually, you rouse the dwarf from his work.
"Oh, hello there!" Bruzek says and hops out of his seat. He pulls the headphones off of his ears and leaves them looped around his neck so that all can still hear the loud beat of the Abysshead album he's been listening to. He walks over to the counter, looking anywhere but at you. "Apologies. I just wanted to focus on my tasks. Much to do. I prepared for anything that would disrupt my routine."
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Look. I understand you're busy ... but we're sort of on the clock as well. We're looking for information on an old starship ... the Amber Reconnoiter that got lost in the Drift and it's fairly urgent we get out there and find it before ..... well ... I guess you get the Drift.
Incidently ... is that the latest album? I'm not sure I recognise that particular track
"We're sorry for the inconvenience," Venture-Captain Arvin says. "It really is a pressing matter."
Bruzek jumps a little. "Oh, Venture-Captain, my apologies. I did not notice you. I'm sorry. Let me get those records for you," the archivist says and hustles over to a terminal. After a minute, your comm devices all ping. "You should have it now. My apologies again."
The records include:
The ship manifest listing the names of the crew: Zantik, Dayn, Berkal, Kandra, Jarzi, and Red.
An invoice for a significant amount of excavation and archaeological equipment as well as several leisure items, including the imperial conquest board game and a drum set.
There is also an access code for some but not all of the ship's automated defenses. This code is different than the one from the vision.
With the necessary information in hand, you return to Naiaj.
"Good work, Starfinders," she says. "Thank you for your diligence in this matter. Now, let me show you how to use the access codes to remotely disable the automated defenses from your ship..."
After a few minutes of training, Naiaj determines that you are good to go. "Select your ship. I recommend a Pegasus class as we don't expect you'll need a Drake's firepower, but the choice is up to you. MP-8's device will be installed and then you are free to depart. Good luck!"
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Sunny thanks both Bruzek and VC Arvin for their help before hurrying off to see Naiaj.
There, she shrugs at the choice of starship. I quite like the Pegasus, but ... if the others want a Drake - that's fine with me
She then pauses. Erm, do we have time for last minute purchases ma'am? I need to see someone about a Solarian weapon crystal
((Captain(Diplomacy)+8, Science Officer(Computers)+4, useless everywhere else))
You board your ship, settle into your stations, and once past the space buoys of Absalom Station, you engage the drift engine. As soon as you reach the programmed coordinates, alarms begin to sound. You find yourselves surrounded by floating chunks of solid fire and enormous globules of heated lava. Chunks of planar material of this size are incredibly rare in the Drift. So many, so large in close proximity is even more rare. Colliding with this planar debris certainly risks damaging the ship and potentially risks your lives.
A large mass of lava suddenly rises in front of your vessel with no time to maneuver! Destroy it with gun fire or you will collide bow first!
Your salvo is not enough, and the Pegasus crashes through the mass of extraplanar lava. The forward shields burn away, and warning indicators signal damage to the power core. In moments you will fly into a swirling vortex of fire!
Tchisk banks hard, jostling you all in your seats. However, when you open your eyes, you find that the vortex of fire has just missed you. Unfortunately, the maneuver has placed you directly in the path of a solid chunk of frozen fire and no room to escape.
Then nothing happens. Your ship passes through the fire as though it was not even there. Just as you begin to let your guard down, the fragment explodes and a tumultuous wave of fiery energy tosses your ship about.
Lightfoot doesn't have enough time to finish his patch before Tchisk needs to make another inertial dampener straining maneuver. Several sheets of frozen flame and magma are rolling toward your position, threatening to crush you between them.
Following Sparkle's calculated path, Tchisk expertly navigates the colliding planar masses. You are just about to escape but find yourselves pinned between two colliding plates of fires. You can see your escape, but can you make it in time?
The glitching engines fail to give anything extra despite Rozzicheep's best efforts. However, Tchisk is able to keep parallel with the sheets of elemental material as they rotate, and you escape a moment before the two pieces collide and explode in a fiery blast.
Past the immediate threat of the planar extrusions, you have a moment to assess the damage to your ship and to your own bodies as they were jostled during the various impacts.
The Amber Reconnoiter comes into view. You quickly transmit the deactivation codes into order to avoid being attacked by the automated defenses. The vessel has come to rest in a debris field comprised of chunks of various inner and outer planes. The debris is so dense you will need to space walk to the derelict ship.
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""A few minor scrapes and bruises are to be expected, I suppose, after a harrowing ordeal such as that which we have just endured. It is a testament to your fine skill and prowess as Starfinders that we made it through without injuries far more grievous. Indeed, but for the fine talents of Tchisk, there almost certainly would have been two derelict starships now floating amidst yonder field of debris, rather than just the one now before us." acknowledges Lightfoot.
The ysoki offers words of encouragement to his allies as they check the seals of their armor and prepare to disembark.
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I guess we're going for a walk Solis remarks as she unstraps herself from the command chair. She then puts a note in the captain's log about the current situation - just in case.
She then reacts to Lightfoot. Amen to that. Probably be a good idea to effect what repairs we can now before we go EVA. And yes, well done flying T'chisk. And could someone please scan the area in case there are any more nasty surprises waiting?
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Tchisk parks the spaceship before seeing to his wounds, which are fortunately, mostly superficial. He'll help with any repairs that need to be made as well, though he keeps checking to make sure nothing is coming to surprise them.
Eventually, the time comes for the group to go outside. "Everyone ready? I hear it's a nice day out."
Ready to head into the debris field, you seal your environmental protections and exit the airlock. After a quiet glide to the nearest chunk of planar material, you have a moment to survey your surroundings.
It seems as though there is some sort of ruined structure in the debris field. It seems possible that this is the archaeological site that the crew of the Amber Reconnoiter was tasked with exploring.
Environment: Zero Gravity. Please review.
Round 1 (for tracking purposes)
Sunny
Buscador
Sparkles
Lightfoot
Tchisk
Delena