Before sending another round flying at "Slick Nik," Marisol thinks Who the hell is Chet?
A look of determination crosses Sammad's face as he sees the shirren manage to open the ship. He aims again and fires!
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Although Nikkost manages to slip away from Flint, he's not slick enough to escape Ordyt's icy hammer. With a single solid blow, Ordyt crushes the shirren's chest carapace and drops him to the ground.
Lux flits away from the open door to the ship and hovers anxiously around its fallen ally.
Combat Over
----
While you're all still catching your breath, Dr. Taeress appears from inside the ship, laden down with her bags and gear. "Sorry I took so long. You didn't need to leave the door o-" Her eyes widen when she sees the blood and dead or dying shirren. "What in the icy hells happened here!?"
”Can someone stabilize that con-man please? He’s got some questions to answer and he can’t do that if he’s dead,” calls Flint, hoping to get a bit more information from this shyster.
”Sammad, it looks like you need to make that call to the port authority after all...with slightly different information,” says Flint with a smile. Somewhat frustrated at his own misses, he adds, ”Good job stopping that hijacker, team, that could have been...unpleasant.”
To Doctor Taeress, Flint explains, ”This con-man was posing as a ship inspector and trying to hijack the Radiant Fire. He bolted for the ship when we started making a call to the authorities to check his work authorization.”
Sammad holsters his pistol and takes out his datapad again, completing the call to the port authority. Hearing a receptionist, he responds, "My comrades and I just stopped a fake dockworker who tried to hijack our ship. He's going to need medical attention, though we should be able to stabilize him. We're at docking bay...," his voice trails off as he continues the call.
If nobody with medical training jumps in to help, Flint will grab one of their medpatches and slap it on the worst wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
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"You damn fool," Belmarniss says to Nikkost as the others take him down and he lies there. "Why would you do this?"
She turns to Dr. Taeress as the others explain the situation. She pulls out the serum she got at Far Station and trickles it down his throat, while kneeling down to pin him as soon as he comes to.
"He said something about 'bad times coming,' and it seems he wanted to still the ship to get out of the Burning Archipelago."
If Nikkost wakes up, she gives him a stern look.
"If you wanted to leave the Burning Archipelago, why the Abyss didn't you just buy a transport ticket?"
Mari simply turns and looks back down the pier toward the rest of the docks. As she loads new rounds into her rifle, she says, "I'm not sure we're out of the mists yet. During...whatever that was, they called out to someone else, telling them to take us down."
At Mari’s words, Flint tightens his grip on the dueling sword and looks to the west for possible new threats.
Ordyt winces as the shirren's body hits the ground. "Oof, apologies captain, I hit him too hard."
At Marisol's warning about another threat, the oread turns back to the docks and peers around for who the shirren might have been referencing. He keeps glancing guiltily back at the effort to resuscitate Nikkost, however.
Dr. Taeress hurries out of the ship to take a closer look at the shirren con man as Bel applies a healing serum. The liquid does little more than knit some of his crushed carapace together, but he shudders back to consciousness with a rasp of blood from his mandibles.
Nikkost looks around until he sees Lux and then sighs "Well, this is a bind. How am I getting out of this?" He speaks quietly enough that it almost seems like he's talking to the bot. His antennae wave in Bel's direction and he says more loudly "Ain't no way any transport's going to take me anywhere, not unless I stow away on it. I guess this is the end of the line. Slick Nik's cooked. Those hotheads in Asanatown are going to boil over and get us all killed." He shivers "Sorry 'bout the whole stealing your ship thing, by the by. I don't have anything against you folk, it's just you don't see such an unassuming rust bucket every day. Big 'ol 'steal me, my security's no stronger than a jellied coal worm' written all over it."
As he explains his circumstances, Marisol and Ordyt keep an eye out for any potential co-conspirators that may be backing Nikkost up. But as the minutes pass, it's clear no one is coming.
Meanwhile, Sammad is able to get the port authority on the line. After explaining the situation and Nikkost's badly injured condition, the port sends the message on to a local Dawn Patrol unit. Within minutes, a trio of armored humans arrive on a large enercycle. The lead human, an officer it seems, shakes her head when she sees the shirren sitting on the ground battered and bloody. Addressing your group, she says "Well look at that, you got him. Slick Nik slipped away from us a few times before, so I thought we'd be here to give the chase one more go." Though clearly relieved to not have to chase the shirren around, she doesn't look happy at how badly he's injured. She asks your group to get your side of the story.
----
"It's my fault, officer." Ordyt steps forward. "Our attempts to warn him off weren't heeded, so once he opened the door to our ship I...took drastic action."
Turning to address the officials, Flint says, ”Thank you for arriving so quickly, I am Flint Conners, captain of this ship. I can answer your questions.”
”After the attacks on the Radiant Cathedral, I was concerned about the safety of our ship, their property as well, the Radiant Fire. Nik was trying to pose as an inspector and get access to the ship while we were gone, so I was concerned another act of terrorism might be planned,” says Flint.
Continuing, he says, ”We tried to subdue him non-lethally, but not all of us have weapons capable of such a setting. From his words, he may have been simply trying to steal the ship and escape the Archipelago, not attack it, if that helps in your investigation.”
Looking at Sammad, he asks, ”Did I miss anything, Ambassador?”
As an aside to Mari, he says, ”With this recent unrest, we may need to move the ship to a more secure location or set up some tougher security measures.”
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Dr. Taeress hurries out of the ship to take a closer look at the shirren con man as Bel applies a healing serum. The liquid does little more than knit some of his crushed carapace together, but he shudders back to consciousness with a rasp of blood from his mandibles.
Nikkost looks around until he sees Lux and then sighs "Well, this is a bind. How am I getting out of this?" He speaks quietly enough that it almost seems like he's talking to the bot. His antennae wave in Bel's direction and he says more loudly "Ain't no way any transport's going to take me anywhere, not unless I stow away on it. I guess this is the end of the line. Slick Nik's cooked. Those hotheads in Asanatown are going to boil over and get us all killed." He shivers "Sorry 'bout the whole stealing your ship thing, by the by. I don't have anything against you folk, it's just you don't see such an unassuming rust bucket every day. Big 'ol 'steal me, my security's no stronger than a jellied coal worm' written all over it."
As he explains his circumstances, Marisol and Ordyt keep an eye out for any potential co-conspirators that may be backing Nikkost up. But as the minutes pass, it's clear no one is coming.
Meanwhile, Sammad is able to get the port authority on the line. After explaining the situation and Nikkost's badly injured condition, the port sends the message on to a local Dawn Patrol unit. Within minutes, a trio of armored humans arrive on a large enercycle. The lead human, an officer it seems, shakes her head when she sees the shirren sitting on the ground battered and bloody. Addressing your group, she says "Well look at that, you got him. Slick Nik slipped away from us a few times before, so I thought we'd be here to give the chase one more go." Though clearly relieved to not have to chase the shirren around, she doesn't look happy at how badly he's injured. She asks your group to get your side of the story.
Belmarniss gives a heavy sigh.
"You spent so much time looking at the ship that you neglected to look at the crew. If you'd done that, you'd have seen a big ol 'don't mess with me, my crew is a team of nail-tough bad@sses' sign. You're lucky we did our best to pull our punches, or you'd be leaving in a bag instead of on a stretcher."
When the Dawn Patrol arrives, she gets off Nikkost and helps him up.
"Besides, there's no guarantee that Asanatown's going to get you all killed. I'm a Knight of Golarion. I won't let that happen. Get well soon, Nikkost. Maybe your recovery time will give you a chance to rethink your life."
Sammad turns to the officials. "The Captain speaks truly. I attempted to warn him away, but he wouldn't listen and then attacked us. I was especially concerned since the ship was transporting valuable cargo for the Al-Fayir Cooperative, as well as Dr. Taeress of Far Station."
With the arrival of the Dawnpatrol, Mari slings her rifle but doesn't relax. As she steps up next to Flint to talk with him, she keeps just as much of an eye on them as she does on their attempted hijacker.
Mari nods to Flint's suggestion, and replies in a quiet voice. "Agreed, Cap. But let's have that conversation someplace else."
Flint smiles at Belmarniss’ assessment and says, ”That we have, indeed. You and the others are welcome to fly with me anytime, Belmarniss.”
He continues to keep an eye toward the spaceport officials and the hijacker they now have in custody, watching carefully to see if there is more going on here than meets the eye.
Flint’s smile widens and he responds, ”Flint works just fine, unless we are making formal introductions, Belmarniss....and thank you for asking.”
One of the Dawn Patrol members takes notes on Flint's statements on a datapad, expanding to include Ordyt and Sammad's additions. The captain of the group raises an eyebrow at Ordyt's admission of guilt, but doesn't say anything. Once her assistant is done taking notes, the captain says "What it seems like here, is that you fine folks were just defending yourselves, and at the same time you managed to capture a wanted criminal without anyone losing their lives."
She shakes her head at Nikkost "As for you, time to finally face that trial you've been running from."
Nikkost shakes with misery. "You have it all wrong! I'm innocent here. I-" The captain cuts him off, saying "Of course, we'll get your story at the station. The ongoing warrant for your arrest means you don't get to dodge that part, at least." The captain steps over and takes the shirren from Belmarniss with grunt as she lifts the fellow over her shoulder.
"Well then, we'll take it from here. If we have more questions, we'll get back to you. Stay safe out there!" The captain nods and the Dawn Patrol group returns to their enercycle. They bind Nikkost into restraints on the back seat before driving away.
As far as Flint can tell, the three Dawn Patrol members were grateful that you'd caught Nik, but likely bent the rules to not also bring you in for questioning. From how weary all three looked, the Dawn Patrol seems very busy right now.
----
With Slick Nik out of the picture, Dr. Taeress hefts her packs over her shoulder. "That Nikkost seemed... irrational. I mean, criminals often are. But more than usual. Hm." Her forehead creases, caught up as she thinks about how this might tie into other recent events. After a minute she snaps back to the present and says "Alright. I know you have your own tasks. I'll stay with the ship and keep an eye on it while you address them. Once you're ready, we can go to Asanatown."
"Yeah, we seem to doing pretty all right, aren't we? We only got slightly roasted on that ship, our own ship didn't get stolen 5 minutes after landing, and I have a hunch that Ordyt might even make a joke one of these days!"
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"Nonsense, I'm a ray of sunshine."
Flint will stay with the ship to ensure that other unsavory characters don’t try to sneak on board. He will talk with Doctor Taeress about recent events and their portent, especially the implications of having a ship that can travel inside the sun. He will work with Mari (if she is willing) to upgrade the security on the ship, making calls to his priestly contacts at the Radiant Cathedral as necessary to facilitate (they own the ship, after all).
Flint will also put in a good word for the professionalism and judgement of the Dawn Patrol officers that helped them with their “situation”. Lastly, he will work his contacts at the RC for any non-public info he can get on the unrest in Asanatown and the status of the Flame Dancer upfit—plus any change in orders he might be getting from the admin at RC.
Sammad gives a small wave as the Dawn Patrol officers carry Nik away. He turns to the others, with a sheepish smile on his face. "Well, that went easier than expected, even with my assistance. All the better that way, we've all got business to attend to, after all."
--
Sammad then makes a call to the Al-Fayir Cooperative to arrange for his cargo to be picked up and delivered, traveling with them so he can liaise with Quassela. The trip is uneventful, and Sammad decides to ask the crew along the way about the recent unrest and events.
When he arrives at the Cooperative's headquarters, he is swiftly ushered to Quassela's presence. The efreet is genial but imperious, pressing Sammad for the full details on the Breath of Embers. Sammad, meanwhile, presses her in exchange about the Cooperative's connection to the ship.
Flint finds Dr. Taeress to be quite disturbed by the recent news from Asanatown, as well as the desperation shown by Nikkost in attempting to leave Dawnshore. She spends much of the afternoon scowling at her datapad's screen as she switches between her email and the current events news coverage. At Flint's prompting, she briefly sets her worries aside to speculate on the implications of the Breath of Embers flying out of the sun. But before long her focus shifts back to Asanatown and the DCI HQ. "The news reports are damn vague. Sounds like reporters are being turned away at the linecrawler stations. All my coworkers are smart enough to keep their heads down... well, all except Nib at least. Damn hot-head probably got herself into some kind of trouble."
Checking in with the Radiant Cathedral proves difficult, as its all-hands-on-deck over there after the bombing earlier in the morning. After staying on hold for over an hour, Flint gets little more than a promise to have someone look into the Radiant Fire after this is all done. Similarly, he's not able to get in contact with his higher ups at the Radiant Cathedral. The sole good news is that the Flame Dancer upfit is finally done and the craft is once more ready to fly.
The infosphere is full of speculation and unconfirmed leaks about the situation in Asanatown. The stories range from public protests regarding the living conditions of the city-bubble's poorer districts, all the way to a full scale invasion of solar elementals that manifested after the city's bubble shield momentarily failed. The only thing that is agreed upon is that the city's lashunta population is involved, in the streets, and not happy.
----
While Flint keeps an eye on the Radiant Fire, arranges things with the Al-Fayir cooperative and heads over to visit the Dawnshore offices and report to his superior. Along the way, the Al-Fayir cargo driver bemoans the extra security that's popped up all over Dawnshore since the morning's events. "Hard to keep your patience, what with Dawn Patrol members stopping any hovertrucks or other vessels heading near the Radiant Cathedral for inspection and questioning! I was stuck in a jam all morning long."
Quassela treats the lateness of the delivery as an afterthought and probes Sammad hard on the Breath of Embers and what was discovered on board. Uncharacteristically, she takes notes, suggesting that she is taking the discovery quite seriously indeed. When Sammad turns the conversation around to ask about the Cooperative's connection to the ship, she merely gives a mysterious smile and tells him to keep his head down. "The moves our superiors choose to make are for the betterment of the Cooperative. Nothing for you to worry your head over."
You know Quassela well enough to tell that this is bluster, and that the news of Al-Fayir involvement in the Breath of Embers is totally new to her. It seems that she believes your words to be true and suspects that some higher ups in the Collective are hiding something.
Sammad accepts Quassela's advice, sensing that she is telling the truth. This was not the first time he had been given orders without knowing all the facts...
Finishing his conversation, he departs to make his way back to the Radiant Fire, before getting ready to escort Dr. Taeress to the DCI's headquarters.
Flint receives the news of the Flame Dancer's readiness to fly with mixed feelings. While he loves captaining the nimble ship, he is having quite the adventure here with this interesting group of people.
With no clear direction from the RC on when he is expected to return and start captaining the Flame Dancer once more for inter-Archipelago transport duty, Flint merely leaves mention that he is escorting a prominent scientist to the DCI and will check back in once that task is done.
He is familiar with the bureaucratic process and figures it will be days before the wheels of state grind fine enough to send him new orders.
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As the others briefly go their separate ways, Belmarniss links up with the Burning Archipelago's infosphere and immediately begins looking for a way to deal with the nearly oppressive light. She finds a small store named "Doubleguts" that offers lightvision shades for purchase and installation.
She makes her way to the store and enters, taking the scene in.
With Flint on hold with his own superiors, Mari finds herself with a bit of free time and decides to pull up a directory to search for a nearby augmentation clinic. Maybe I can finally get that datajack I've been looking at, and get rid of this hand terminal I've been lugging around.
Quassela leaves Sammad with one final thought, seemingly just a suggestion rather than a request. "If you're planning on escorting this scientist from the Deep Cultures Institute back to their headquarters, you might consider keeping a receptive ear open. The Al-Fayir Cooperative is always interested in the goings on among the scientific community of the Burning Archipelago. And their current research seems... rather interesting."
----
The inside of "Doubleguts" is a cramped tangle of overstuffed shelves of electronics and hanging racks with arrays of brightly colored cables. A massive clear-fronted cryofreezer in the back is well stocked with an array of fleshy masses in a myriad of colors. As you make your way to the service desk, you notice a big sign hanging over it - a grisly depiction of a ysoki holding a bundle of guts with one paw while the other gives a thumbs up.
A white furred ysoki pops up from behind the counter and twitches before adjusting his dual eyepatches so that their holographic eyeballs are pointed at his visitor. "Mmm mmm mmm. You're looking for something. You're looking for... an azimuth optical laser! No?"
----
Unlike Belmarniss who has to go searching the bowels of Dawnshore for her specialized equipment, Marisol finds datajack vendors and installers a dime a dozen, with many boasting excellent reviews on Yolp. It takes only a couple of hours for her to get an installation done.
Mari returns to the ship almost literally bouncing, her feet taking just a little longer than they should to hit the ground. With Bel and Sammy out on their own adventures, and Flint otherwise occupied, she quickly finds tracks down Ordyt and gives him a poke in the shoulder. "Hey big guy. Did you get into any trouble while I was gone?"
Sick of shipboard food, Ordyt wanders the streets a bit, absorbing the sensations of so many people all around him--it's a lot to take in for an oread from the Diaspora! He stops when he finds a little hole-in-the-wall joint seling döner kebabs so spicy they make his compound eyes water. Delighted, he buys a half dozen to take back to the ship. He also stops by a kiosk to purchase a holy symbol of Sarenrae, tucking it under his armor.
When Marisol returns she finds the oread in his quarters, enjoying his new hookah.
"No trouble here," Ordyt drawls a little, taking another pull. "I was hoping to get my own pair of shades, but have you seen how much they cost?! Poor Bel's probably miserable without them though..."
Mari's head tilts and she gives him a curious expression. "Shades? Dazzled by the big city already? We haven't even gone sight seeing yet!"
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The inside of "Doubleguts" is a cramped tangle of overstuffed shelves of electronics and hanging racks with arrays of brightly colored cables. A massive clear-fronted cryofreezer in the back is well stocked with an array of fleshy masses in a myriad of colors. As you make your way to the service desk, you notice a big sign hanging over it - a grisly depiction of a ysoki holding a bundle of guts with one paw while the other gives a thumbs up.
A white furred ysoki pops up from behind the counter and twitches before adjusting his dual eyepatches so that their holographic eyeballs are pointed at his visitor. "Mmm mmm mmm. You're looking for something. You're looking for... an azimuth optical laser! No?"
Belmarniss tries to keep her lunch down at the sight of the place.
"Talk about a 'chop shop.' I hope they wash their hands at least," she says to no-one in particular. When the proprietor makes himself known, she straightens up a bit.
"Optical, yes, laser, no. Star-Knight Belmarniss Rycast. I'm newly arrived from Apostae and I heard through the infosphere you have lightvision shades available, installable on-site? I'm a little surprised, I'll admit...I know some of the drow houses are cagey about non-drow selling them."
Practically every second merchant in Dawnshore sells some form of Sarenite memorabilia - whether that's legitimate holy items like symbols of holy texts, or just common plastic kitsch. Once Ordyt picks up one piece, every store owner nearby smells potential profit and extends holographic offers of other Sarenite goods.
---
Meanwhile at "Doubleguts", the blind ysoki nods hurriedly. "O course, o course. That explains the rudeness." The ysoki grins a yellow smile "Lightvision shades I have! And you'll need them Miss Rycast. Especially if you plan to go to Corona at some point. The bubble there lets through flares like my bladder lets through-" He cackles "But you're not here for that."
"Of course I can install them for ya. And what those drow houses don't know won't hurt them, mmm?"
He ushers Bel to a surgery room in the back that is surprisingly pristine and hygenic after the warren of the storefront. The elderly ysoki proves to have a knack for augmentations, and is able to install the lightvision shades in a snap.
----
Before leaving the Cooperative's headquarters, Sammad decides that he should avail himself of some equipment to aid him in further conflict. He goes to the Armory & Materiel Department, purchasing a quick-release sheath for his armor and having it installed on-site. While he waits, he also visits the Cooperative's Pharmaceutical Department and picks up 4 Mk 1 healing serums . Once his upgrade is installed by a Cooperative armorsmith, one of his salamander cousins in this case, he departs back to the Radiant Fire.
Flint is satisfied to remain on the ship as the others do their errands.
When Mari returns, he asks about her new data jack and its benefits. ”Welcome back Mari—what is that you bought? A data jack? How much does that speed up your interface with starship tech?”. While they are waiting for the others to return, Flint inquires about starship security options in port. ”Mari, what do you think you could set up for security so that criminals like Nik can’t just waltz through our front door anytime they want?”
As much as he would like to kick back with Ordyt and the hookah, he will remain on alert for any other threats to his ship for now until they get better security set up. When he notices the Saranrae holy symbol, though, he will smile and give the proper greeting as a priest would, ”May the Dawnflower smile on you, Ordyt.”
When Sammad and Belmarniss return, he will ask, ”Delivery complete to a satisfied customer? Excellent. Did you find out anything else about this unrest from your contacts? It would be nice to know what we are getting ourselves into in Asanatown.”
Mari grins at Flint's questions. "Yup! Means I can just talk right to the computer without having to fiddle with a hand terminal. Got a comm unit built in as well. Makes it easier to do other stuff at the same time, and I'm all about multitasking," she says, tapping the side of her head where her exocortex resides.
"As for security, I've got a few ideas. I'll take a look at what Nik did to get access so quickly, and maybe set up some kind of dual verification system." With that, Mari shoos Flint away from her workspace and gets started.
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Meanwhile at "Doubleguts", the blind ysoki nods hurriedly. "O course, o course. That explains the rudeness." The ysoki grins a yellow smile "Lightvision shades I have! And you'll need them Miss Rycast. Especially if you plan to go to Corona at some point. The bubble there lets through flares like my bladder lets through-" He cackles "But you're not here for that."
"Of course I can install them for ya. And what those drow houses don't know won't hurt them, mmm?"
He ushers Bel to a surgery room in the back that is surprisingly pristine and hygenic after the warren of the storefront. The elderly ysoki proves to have a knack for augmentations, and is able to install the lightvision shades in a snap.
Belmarniss makes an embarassed noise at Doubleguts' retort. I'm not THAT rude, am I?!
She immediately bows to him.
"I apologize, sir. I'm...used to more military-style conversation, short and to the point."
She tries her best not to appear repulsed by his jovial crudeness, and actually manages to smile when he makes fun of the houses.
"Yeah, space them and their monopolies!"
After the operation, she tests the shades, watching with almost childlike awe as they zip out of the sides of her head, and over her eyes, and then zip back with but a thought.
"I owe you an apology two times over...you're a true master of your craft and take your work very seriously. Looks can be deceiving, I guess. If I ever need other augments in the future, I'll make sure yours is the first place I come!"
After paying for the operation (and leaving a generous tip), she returns to meet up with the others, now fully able to take in Dawnshore's beauty and being even more awed. She'd done it...she'd not only ventured into the stars, she was now ON one! She's grinning ear to ear by the time the others find her.
Marisol does her best on the Radiant Fire's security system, but hits the hard limits of the hardware soon enough. It'll take some more serious upgrades to make the ship properly secure. Though by the time the rest of the party convenes, at the very least she's able to patch the loophole that allowed the robot Lux to access the ship's hatch in the first place.
Once you're all back together, Dr. Taeress gathers her things and Flint sends a message to his employers in the Radiant Cathedral that the Radiant Fire needs some supervision while the party is in Asanatown. As a Sarenite intern acolyte arrives to keep watch, you head out, letting Dr. Taeress lead the way to her destination.
----
Taeress takes you all the way across to the opposite side of Dawnshore and to a linecrawler station. To those of you new to the Burning Archipelago, she explains that the linecrawlers are train-like ferries that travel through the sun's plasma along energy tethers that tie the the bubbles together. These heavily armored vehicles require frequent repair and maintenance despite their heavy solar shielding and ablative insulation.
The station is sparsely populated as you arrive, with a few members of the Dawn Patrol talking to a group of civilian lashunta. One of the Dawn Patrol members, a tired looking dwarf, strides over to talk to your group. "Reason for going to Asanatown? All afternoon we've had folks trying to get over there only to get turned away at the Asanatown end of the line. Their local law enforcement's trying to keep things under control by letting through only those with a valid business or personal connection. For safety's sake, they're saying." The dwarf shakes his head. "Not sure if I can blame them with the events this morning, but sounds like they've got their own issues on the other side, based on the news reports."
Dr. Taeress whips out her DCI ID card and shows it to the dwarf. "Dr. Taeress Suloro, Deep Cultures Institute, and these are my assistants and bodyguards. Trying to get back to HQ. If they turn me away, I'll be chewing their ears off." She grins, though her face quickly turns back to anxious concern.
The dwarf nods and gestures for you to go ahead.
----
The linecrawler is totally enclosed, with cheap plastic chairs and its interior walls bedecked with advertising. The journey is no longer than 30 minutes, but its 30 minutes of intense shaking and ratcheting internal temperatures as the vehicle endures the sun's intense heat. When the doors open up to Asanatown, a blessed coolness awaits.
As you step out into the Asanatown station, you quickly notice a total lack of Dawn Patrol guards. Instead, the station is manned by what look to be local uniformed security, all lashunta and very severe in their black and red uniforms. Two of them, hands on laser rifles, step forward as your group emerge and bee-line directly towards Dr. Taeress. They engage her with the same questions as the Dawn Patrol asked on the other side, but inspect her ID with a little more scrutiny.
The document satisfies both of them, but when Dr. Taeress mentions her bodyguards, one of them scowls at the group of you. They address Taeress, saying "I don't blame you for trying to find some safety in these trying times, but it isn't wise to use..." They almost sneer as they give you a once over "... just anyone you pick off the street. I'm certain we could arrange a group to help get you to the DCI HQ, and you can send these rascals back-"
Taeress raises a hand and speaks in a no-nonsense tone "No. I'm perfectly happy with this group. Now, I'm in a hurry." The lashunta station guard steps back with another suspicious glance for your group, but bows their head to Dr. Taeress. "Very well."
----
The way clear, you head on out of the station and into Asanatown's streets.
to know if it is unusual for the Dawn Patrol to be absent and this lashunta patrol to be in charge of security.
to know who they are talking about in derisive tones--is it a racial thing for non-lashunta?
Sammad easily picks up on the guard's hostility to the party. He puts on his most pleasant grin as he steps forward.
"Officers, we don't mean to cause trouble. We're here simply to take the good Doctor to an appointment, and then we'll be out of here-and out of your antennae, so to speak. And you have my word as an emissary of the Al-Fayir Cooperative that we'll be," he spares a knowing glance to the others, "on our best behavior."
Mari simply smiles at the guards and says nothing, though the ends of her hair seem to be twisting in an invisible wind.