Venture-Capatain Arvin has once again called you to another briefing within Lorespire Complex for an mission outside the Pact Worlds system.
As you enter the briefing room Venture-Captain Arvin directs the group to their seats without much preamble. The lashunta stands before a hologram of a planet that appears to have been ravaged by some disaster; there is very little water and no obvious greenery. "Greetings, Starfinders," he says, without moving from the display.
Preempting introductions he focuses on the mission at hand.
"You are looking at Elytrio, a newly charted planet in the Vast. While you might dismiss it as a lifeless rock at first glance, it still has mysteries to plumb. The starship that discovered it was attacked by some kind of orbital defense system when it got too close; the vessel didn’t have the firepower to respond, so the crew made a prudent retreat. But we Starfinders don’t let these sorts of things go."
He glances through the limited data stream from the encounter before continuing, "I’d like you to take a starship, travel to Elytrio, and discover all you can about it. If you find any inhabitants on the planet, do everything in your power to make peaceful contact with them. If the place is deserted, try to locate information about who might have built those defenses. Once you’ve got something interesting, report back to me here at the Lorespire Complex. Any questions?"
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A slender android is leaning onto the wall next to the venture-captain's room. Whereas some androids try to look like humans, or even other races, this one bears multiple visible marks of technology; glowing blue circuits run across his limbs, and mechanical hinges are easily made out through his hands' pale skin. He is toying with a small clockwork object floating in the air, all the while chewing gum vigorously.
With a nonchalant air, he nods at the Starfinders with a sly smile as they arrive. An assault rifle is strapped to his hip, quite obviously apparent on purpose. He greets them briefly without moving from his position:
"Hey. Nice to meet you, I'm Helios-4."
During the briefing, Helios-4 seems distracted and continues chewing gum, much to the venture-captain's dismay.
When Arvin speaks of taking a starship, the android's face lights up - quite literally - and he leans forward on his arms to listen.
"Heh. Sounds simple. Don't fret, Cap'n, we'll find what you need fast enough."
Arvin bites his lip seeing the laissez-faire attitude from Helios-4, but he doesn't reprimand the technomancer as the Venture-Captain focus on the presentation itself.
He maintains this professional demeanor as the android's reaction changes. "I'm glad you think so. I've seen a great number of recommendations in your name come across my desk. Recommendations from those I trust and, therefore, trust I put onto you as well."
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A lean, dark haired man stands, wearing wearing a jumpsuit and a tools crowded utility belt, next to him stands a sturdy, vaguely humanoid robot with wheels at the end of each limb.
"I'm engineer Rae'Van Morwynn, honoured to meet you all.
Captain Arvin, do we have a datafile detailing the type of weapons and equipment used by the orbital defense system that attacked our previous ship? We have to find out what vessel will be best suited for the mission: we shouldn't go hunting Triaxus dragons with a butterfly net...
Also, wdo we also have data about the atmosphere composition of the planet? And what about any radiations or any hostile conditions?
Adequate Preparation is a key to success."
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About two weeks after his Commencement, Alejandro is finally feeling mostly himself. His mind drifts back to the after-party and he smiles, Most of that I remember and it was a heck of a time! He trims up his beard and takes a quick shower to loosen his sore muscles, when he steps out a message is on the comm unit from Captain Arvin. He quickly reads through it and a big smile crosses his face, "YES!"
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Entering the briefing room and taking a seat, you all see a male human with light brown skin, bright white hair and matching close cut beard. He carries a variety of gear for many different situations but is not overly armed or armored. A set of pistols are holstered at his waist and slipped into a shoulder holster is a non-lethal stungun.
He scratches at his throat just briefly and you notice a pair of fading matching scars on either side. The old man stifles a yawn, looks around for some coffee and then takes a few notes during the briefing.
He looks up when the 'any questions?' is asked, "Hello all, Alejandro Carlos at your service. I can handle a good variety of things as well as sometimes put the fear of the gods into our enemies. Anyway, questions... yes, any gear or weapons provided for us other than the ship? If not, I may need to stop by the quartermaster on the way out."
Arvin makes a few motions on the screen and brings up the information from the previous vessel named the Outset. "They were unable to get a clear scan of the defense system before they were forced to leave. Their report shows there was an orbital station that released multiple smaller fighters armed with laser weaponry at the very least. There was an audio message from the station, but the portion from the Outset recovered were too corrupted to be translated."
"As for the planet," He makes a swipe to move onto the next part of the report, but his expression is already grim as he rescans the data provided before he apologizes, "there isn't much I'm afraid. Initial scans were too brief to get too many details. The other Starfinders did report trace amounts of radiation in the atmosphere, so there is a distinct possibility that the planet's current appearance is the result of an unnatural event. Your armor should protect against you against most hostile conditions."
The Venture-Captain acknowledges Alejandro for a moment and answers the matter of the gear, "There is no other equipment I can requisition for this mission at this time." As he speaks his comms light up as he receives a transmission. He listens to it briefly before returning full attention to the party, "It seems that leader of the Wayfinders has interest in your mission and wishes to consult with you before you depart."
Within the few minutes he transfers the logs from the Outset to your datapads. The information there matches his description and doesn't provide more information that he offered. Arvin continues to entertain questions on the mission until a small robotic drone hovers in the room through the automatic doors.
The drone projects a holoscreen with the image of a confused looking ysoki child, whose head is quickly pushed out of the screen by an older white-furred ysoki woman. "Fitch from the Wayfinders here!"
She motions a lot with her hands as the flit off screen and the drone bobs and weaves along wit her movements. "Sorry about Kirkath popping on the screen; kids always like the holoprojectors. Anyways, long and short, I hear you’ve been assigned to explore Elytrio. First contact is important. Need to make a good impression. Wayfinders specialize in this sort of thing, so I wanted to offer some help! The drone has a translation module strapped on its back. It’s not as reliable as some magical solutions you might have, but if you’re in a pinch for communicating, it might help!"
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You all spy a small Ysoki perched upon a chair, standing on it rather than sitting in it, taking in the room through the two presentations. On her left arm, a large gaudy bracelet looking contraption seems to occupy her attention. When the general din quiets down, she pronounces, "Hey all. I's Kis Nip but just call me Kis. And...a...this's...," she looks around a bit before turning a ring on her "bracelet" causing a small drone with several short legs seems to appear out of the dark beneath an adjacent chair, "Oh, there you be. This's Diggz. We's lookin' forward ta seeing what that rock has for us. Lookin' likes we might get inna bit o' a scratch. Just hope one o yous can shoot up dere."
From looking at both Kis and Diggz, one can get the impression that the civilized environment of Absalom Station is pretty foreign to them. The general worn, dusty look of the pair makes them seem more fit to be in a mine then on a Starfinder starship.
The Starfinders are all allotted additional time to purchase equipment and settle personal business before traveling forward onto the mission. Within a few hours you are messaged that your requested Drake class ship is waiting within docking bay E16. With the standard procedures you are able to leave the station and slip into the drift.
Your journey to Elytrio takes over two weeks with little excitement to pass the time. Along the way your sensors pick up another ship near you in the drift; a ysoki salvage barge. They soon send a signal and the ship's captain pops into view. Another ysoki who has a glint of excitement as she introduces herself. "Well howdy strangers! I'm Winks of the Clutter Collector! I'm hoping you hare having a grand time, I'm certainly a bit bored out of my mind over here seeing the bits of drift pass by through the view screens. What are you heading for out there? I see from your ship beacon that you are a Starfinder vessel. How is that working out, it has been a while since I heard a fun story of adventure and the like."
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Without any personal business to attend to before launch, Helios-4 heads to the docks and sits by the ship, polishing his rifle. He seems bored out of his skull during the launching procedures, replying with a short and assertive "Yeah." when questioned.
During the journey, Helios spends most of his time on the decks, getting familiar with the ship's systems. He mostly minds his own business, but also strikes a few passionate conversation with the mechanics whenever the subjects shifts to starships.
"Oh yeah, have you seen the new Pegasus X3 line? Fastest turn you've ever seen for a ship of this class." He says to Rae'Van and Kis over a shared meal, forgetting to eat in his excitement.
When they receive the communication from the Ysoki vessel, Helios is reclining comfortably in the pilot's chair, legs crossed on the control panel and chewing gum as always.
"Hey, what's up buddy." He tells Winks. "Lemme get the captain for ya."
He cups his hands and shouts:
"Hey, cap'n! Jeez, who even is our captain!?
She gives a smile as you call about, "Are you one of those democratic types ships who hold votes or do you take turns? Either sounds pretty nice, at least a touch more exciting than flying between the stars you know?"
There is a voice in the background of her ship that chimes in, "Yeah, I agree, how about I take some time being the captain for a bit?"
She takes a bemused expression as she turns to her crew member to answer, "Does that mean you want to tackle the hours of paperwork when we get back to station rather than run off to the bar?"
"I think I'll keep my pilot's seat and bar captain.
She shakes it off as she turns back to the comm, "Apologies, days are dragging out at here keeping ears perked up for signs of wrecked vessels. You are the first ship we have picked up in a couple days and wanted to have a chance to chat before we lost you. Curious what you are up to. We have a pool going on your mission. I've put my money on a rescue mission."
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Sitting in his crash couch, surrounded by consolles and flashing leds, Rae'Van mutes his mic and turns to talk with Alejandro
"Captain Carlos, the joke about democratic crew was funny, but we should really better define our roles on the Drake...
Would you mind answering this kind salvager captain?
I would suggest not to reveal too much about our destination, and in the meantime to try to learn more about the Clutter Collector and its crew"
Rae'Van then accesses the database computer, scanning for information about the salvaging ship.
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Alejandro rushes forwards when the comm crackles, "Sorry, was on the can. Captain Carlos here, how may I help you friendly folk?"
Once they repeat the chatter, he laughs. "Oh nice! Your pilot is like mine, they think they can run the show until they realize how much work goes into it. But hey, it's easy to put up with that attitude when you got a good one. Haven't hit more than three of four other ships this week!"
He puts his best facade on to answer their question, pretending to be a brave explorer. "Our mission is the greatest of all, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no beings have gone before!"
Hah, I saw that on an old show somewhere, ought to work. Probably shouldn't share too much more.
He adds on a question, "So what are y'all up to out here? Not stranded or anything, right?"
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Kis spends the majority of her time in the Drift just getting to know the ship, and to a lesser extent, the crew. Though, she does find Helios-4 rather fascinating. She tinkers with Diggz a bit, mostly for the fun of it and plays a few holograms on her rig. After the senators pick up the Clutter Collector, she makes jet way too the bridge.
Once captain Carlos has relayed his information, Kis sidles up to him and whispers, "Good call on tha dodge there Cap. Best ta keep um off us scent. Find out what theys know bout us's planet. Mights come in handy."
Going through Pact Worlds logs Rae'Van is able to pull up information for the Clutter Collector. It is a registered as a salvage vessel f
With Alejandro's explanation there is a cheer from the background of the comms as others grumble. The captain shakes her head but otherwise doesn't seem too disappointed. "No, not stranded. Just a bit bored out here. Well, more than a bit. Don't have a destination in mind for my ship, just keeping scanners running keeping our eyes out for any broken down ships to recover. Your ship was the first one I've detected in a few days. Too bad for me you seem to be running perfectly fine," she says with a playful grin. "Still, I'm no good salvage captain if I can't find the best of what I can find so wanted to open up communications and have a chat before you got too far out."
Winks is happy to chat just to pass the time whether you share tall tales or real experiences. If she catches on she doesn't seem to care. Bringing up the question of systems she admits, "While you might be out there looking for people, I'm looking for the stuff left behind and broken down. If people are still around then that turns into stealing so I really try to avoid that. I don't see much activity over here though, but there might be one of those pre-Drift civilizations around. I don't have much interest in them either."
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Helios-4 grins at Alejandro's jest and replies:
"Nah, don't worry Cap'n, I wouldn't want to have just too much work." He runs his palm across the control panel and adds: "You see what being all puffed up has done to your hair?"
On a more serious note, he adds:
"I'm with Kis there. Maybe they do know something about our destination."
She is more than happy to banter about even as you slowly talking about various systems. When you bring up Elytrio system she thinks a bit before working at her console. "Haven't to that particular sector of space. Looking through some of the records I have from the Pact Worlds. I'm not seeing anything from the Veskarium or the Marixah Republic. I'm not licensed by the Gideon Authority," she pointedly spits as though to get the distasteful name out of her mouth before continuing, "But they tend to not stray too far from their systems."
"Same goes for the Alzanti Empire. It is a bit too far out of their reach, and I have no alerts from the Stewards to watch out for that area. If there is something there it is completely outside what I have on my records. Either there is a whole lot of nothing there or some undiscovered corner. I'm betting more on the former."
Overall the party gets the sense that she isn't holding anything back and is genuinely relieved to have something new to talk about. The chat doesn't last long before she falls out of sensor range although over the hour she talks various bits of shop and talks about the various sports leagues. She is routing for the Diasporan Storm to win in their division.
The hour passes and she gets out of range of the comms. She disconnects wishing you luck and favor in your trek through the stars.
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Within a few more days you enter normal space right outside your target system a few hours away from the planet. As you near the comms light up with communications. They are filled with a crackling robotic voice in an alien language. Much of it is garbled and hard to even parse the words before it repeats with continued static.
As the signal pours into your system you see a hemispheric vessel appear from behind one of the planet's moons. It has no visible weapons on the hull. Along the flat bottom hull is a ring of red light.
While your ship runs long range scans apertures are opening along the bottom hull as it enters a combat posture.
Actions Left
Alejandro Carlos [Pilot] (+1 Mod on Gunnery check?)
Helios-4 [Pilot] (+1 Mod on Piloting check)
Kis [Engineer]
Rae'Van [Gunner]
Ship Status
Shields 40/40 (forward 10, port 10, starboard 10, aft 10)
HP 70/70
1 +1 Mod unallocated.
The enemy ship begins pouring power into the systems in response to your arrival and the ship begins an evasive approach as it rotates to avoid an easy shot to the systems.
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Upon seeing the unknown vessel on the sensors, Kis immediately heads to the engineering bay and takes up the controls, with Diggz working with her in concert. Over the ship's communicator, Kis cries to Alejandro, "Hey, Cap! I's gonna push the engines so Helios can close on dat ship. Hold on ta someit! DIGGZ, NOW!"
The Drake's engines flare to life as power flows through them!
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Cap’n Carlos yells out, ”I can’t tell exactly, but the tone of that automated message is definitely a warning. Between that and the weapons I’d say we gotta fight our way through. Man the long guns, fill the cannons, load the shot, ready to fire!”
He pulls up the targeting computer and tries to get a solution as the ship lurches forwards.
Helios isn't able to guide the ship as smoothly as he would like, but he still retains control as the ship to guide it into position to position weapons for attack. The enemy ship is barely able to avoid a devastating blow from Alejandro at the missiles.
That same movement from the ship puts it right within the line of fire from the coilgun. The projectiles hammer into the enemy shields and break through dealing minor damage to the enemy hull!
The enemy ship doesn't fire any weapons, but instead releases a small fighter from the base. The small ship spins around for a moment and brings weapons in line with your ship!
The enemy ship is already attempting to recharge shields to protect critical systems. Forced to deal with multiple targets Helios is able to out maneuver the smaller fighter, but the primary vessel is able to position around him.
The smaller fighter performs dives toward your ship on a flyby while peppering your ship with laser shots.
Actions Left
Alejandro Carlos [Pilot] (+1 Mod on Gunnery check?)
Helios-4 [Pilot] (+1 Mod on Piloting check)
Kis [Engineer]
Rae'Van [Gunner] (+1 Mod on Gunnery check?)
Ship Status
Shields 40/40 (forward 10, port 10, starboard 10, aft 10)
HP 70/70
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Already in close combat Kis runs a quick scan of the enemy ship and begins feed the readouts to the other stations.
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Despite his best efforts Helios isn't able to avoid the volley of laser fire against the Drake's aft as he makes chase toward the drone platform. The laser fire thankfully isn't enough to break through the shields yet.
The drone platform falls back out of the range of your weapons, but is not fast enough to avoid the barrage of weapons you bring forth. Missiles and projectiles break through the aft hull of the ship. The drone bays are heavily damaged, further hampering their launch, and the power core itself was hit. There are minor fluctuations among the drone platform systems.
The platforms systems immediately start to restore power to the drone bay. The systems appear to be ancient, but are quickly restored to the point they will operate for another hour.
Or until they are hit again.
Piloting Initiative
Drake
Red Drone Platform
Blue Drone
Actions Left
Alejandro Carlos (+1 Mod on check)
Helios-4 (+1 Mod on Piloting check)
Kis
Rae'Van (+1 Mod on check)
PC Ship Status
Shields 35/40 (forward 10, port 10, starboard 10, aft 5)
HP 70/70
3/5 Missiles Remaining
Red Enemy Ship Status
Drone Bays (Glitching, Patched)
Power Core (Glitching)
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"Change of strategy: let's concentrate fire on the mothership: we must pierce its defenses faster than it can patch itself, or we risk that it will spout out other drones!
the hangar bay must be rendered inoperative...
The fighter drones' lasers don't seem too dangerous for our hull, but if they'll become too numerous, we will have troubles!
Captain, let's fire both missiles and coilgun on the mothership!
Helios-4 and Kis, do your best to keep distance from the fighter!"
The drone platform slowly turns back toward the planet, both putting distance between itself and your ship and protecting the damage aft from your weapons. The systems on board acting with precision to balance the shield protection to that unprotected side.
Meanwhile the fighter quickly reverses course to continue to harrass you and focuses fire on your weakened aft shields. It gets an accurate shot directly toward your engines, but your shields hold and prevent the critical attack from doing extensive damage to your systems.
The drone platform releases another fighter to attack you as it begins an attack pattern.
The Drake quickly puts the target lock to use in order to prevent another drone from being released. The coilgun fails to connect with the evasive platform, but the missiles follow their target lock directly toward the drone bay. The explosion breaks through the shields and tears through the drone bay. The red ring of light on the bottom of the station flickering as the glitching systems are now malfunctioning.
The platform turns all computational power toward your ship as their scanners run along you again. Kis picks up an increase in the wireless traffic in the area and recognizes some of the information as targeting telemetry. The drones fighters move with a purpose as their weapons lock onto you ship weapons!
This action leaves the drone platform with depleted starboard shields. Unable to easily escape your ship, the station rotates to present the still intact port shields against your ship position.
Piloting Initiative
Red Drone Platform
Drake
Blue Drone
Yellow Drone
Actions Left
Alejandro Carlos (+1 Mod on check)
Helios-4 (+1 Mod on Piloting check)
Kis
Rae'Van (+1 Mod on check)
PC Ship Status
Shields 32/40 (forward 10, port 10, starboard 10, aft 2)
HP 70/70
2/5 Missiles Remaining
Red Enemy Ship Status
Drone Bays (Malfunctioning, Hold it Together)
Power Core (Glitching)
The fighters refuse to leave your vessel alone for a moment. They tail behind your aft lighting up your ship with laser fire.
Actions Left
Rae'Van (+1 Mod on check)
PC Ship Status
Shields 38/40 (forward 10, port 10, starboard 10, aft 8)
HP 70/70
2/5 Missiles Remaining
Both of the Drake's shots fail to connect with the defensive movements of the drone platform. The platform still is on the verge of destruction, but the drones are not letting up their fire as they finally break through the ship shields. Alarms on the ship blare as damage alerts begin to feed in.
Despite barely avoiding disaster, the power fluctuations within the drone platform's systems are continuing to plague the drone bay stopping it from launching another drone immediately.
Piloting Initiative
Drake
Red Drone Platform
Blue Drone
Yellow Drone
Actions Left
Alejandro Carlos (+1 Mod on check)
Helios-4 (+1 Mod on Piloting check)
Kis
Rae'Van (+1 Mod on check)
PC Ship Status
Shields 30/40 (forward 10, port 10, starboard 10, aft 0)
HP 66/70
1/5 Missile Remaining
Red Enemy Ship Status
Drone Bays (Malfunctioning)
Power Core (Glitching)
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Kis is unable to restore shields to the aft as systems flare up and her overrides fail.
The drone platform puts distance between the ships, breaking off from your forward and testing the range of the gyrolaser and the firing arc. The laser fails to connect, but the coilgun is able to hit the heavily damage ship. The shields on the port side are beaten down by the projectiles as the hammer into the ship and into the power core!
As the primary ship is on the edge of destruction the drone fighters slow for a moment as the signal from the main ship cuts out for a moment. The signal starts again a moment later, but that hesitation allows Helios to avoid taking any more shots to the aft of the ship.