The ifrit looks about the clam up when you start feeding her what seem like obvious lies from her perspective. But as she glances between you and sees your reactions, she slowly loosens up. "Well damn. You're not playing some holier than thou game, are you? She got away from you? Well we all saw her dead - torn to pieces. That means..." She narrows her eyes, murmuring "That efreeti, probably."
She simmers silently for a short while, then says "Even if you didn't kill her, you screwed us all over by meddling in the Corona operation. And with the Commander dead, us Brass Dragons were left begging for whatever scraps that efreeti woman had to offer." She looks up "And don't bother asking for her name, none of us knew it. She introduced herself as our 'handler', after Jalusann's failure. Our failure."
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"Probably 'Nurleth,' we've encountered her too," Belmarniss comments. "And what she did to Jalusann was f*ckin' wrong...even if we were on opposite sides of this conflict, she didn't deserve to die for a fight she WON."
Am I feeling EMPATHY for them?! she thinks to herself.
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Lowering his blade and suddenly looking tired, Flint addresses the prisoner, ”This seems to be a repeating tactic of theirs. In Asanatown and Corona we were able to defeat most of our enemies without killing them, yet their own leaders killed the ones we spared and blamed it on us,”
”I can’t say I blame you Brass Dragons—you are mercenaries and have no reason not to believe the lies you have been fed...until now. The very fact you are all three alive should give the lie to the tale that we are merciless killers, even though we have every right to execute you for what you were attempting to do here. Do you ever feel like a pawn, told just enough to motivate you towards someone else’s dubious ends, manipulated to die for a cause you don’t even believe in?” Flint adds, wondering how close his remark hits to home in some of his own actions.
”In Asanatown we liberated the people from a martial law takeover based on racism and fueled by fear of the psychic burst from the heart of the Burning Mother. In Corona, we tracked down data that had been stolen from us as we tried to find the source of that phenomenon. And now, we journey through the depths of the star to find and stop this phenomenon that is slowly killing our psychically gifted brothers. Can your employers claim such altruistic missions?” he finishes, hoping to get the woman to open up more.
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Ordyt grimaces at Bel's scolding, chastened. Reaching out to Flint mentally, he telepaths Captain, if Nurleth sent them to sabotage the ship it means we can expect a hot reception. Maybe they could help us bluff our way in? Pretend like they captured the Breath of Embers so we're not fired on immediately. Or we could impersonate them, I dunno.
The ifrit shrugs uncomfortably as Bel offers the hint of an olive branch and Flint explains how both the Brass Dragons had been manipulated. "As far as being a pawn, yeah, that's what we signed up for when we joined a mercenary outfit. And we were damn good at it with Jalusann at the helm. Sure we didn't know where the credits were coming from, but we weren't paid to ask questions." She fixes a flat stare at Flint's blade "And I'll be honest, I don't give a flip about whether the hand that doled out the credits was a saint or a sinner. Most of the time which is which depends on whose side you're on anyway."
"Just like you lot." She looks at Flint, from her expression clearly dismissive of his claims at altruism.
”It might work, but this looks like a purely suicide squad—probably not believable they took over the ship, and their orders didn’t seem to include that possibility.” thinks Flint back at Ordyt.
Looking back at the woman and failing to comprehend life choices so devoid of morality, Flint responds, ”Saint or sinner, your employment is over with the Brass Dragons, as you knew it would be one way or the other when you took this mission. Time to look to what future you might have now by being forthcoming with the Ambassador.”
Mari's lips pulls upward in displeasure for a moment, before she regains control of herself. People'll do and say anything to put the blame on somebody else, all the way to the bitter end, she thinks. She keeps that thought to herself, though. No need to sabotage Sammad before he's even gotten started.
The ifrit scowls at Flint's statement, but looks towards Sammad to hear what he has to say.
Sammad stands to his full height, looking down at the prisoner. "What good are credits if you're dead, though? Was vengeance against us really such a powerful motivator that you all were willing to die to secure it?"
He turns away, then back again. "Tell me, what would you do if you were to face Jalusann's killer? Her true killer, that is. Because we pursue her now, and the people that she answers to."
Sammad stands to his full height, looking down at the prisoner. "What good are credits if you're dead, though? Was vengeance against us really such a powerful motivator that you all were willing to die to secure it?"
"Against a band of psychos that wrecked our operation, killed our boss, turned us into hunted persons in the Archipelago, and left us with an efreeti breathing down our necks? Yeah, I'd say vengeance was a fine reason." A spark of defiance returns to the ifrit's eyes. "But if said efreeti was the one behind half our troubles..."
He turns away, then back again. "Tell me, what would you do if you were to face Jalusann's killer? Her true killer, that is. Because we pursue her now, and the people that she answers to."
"That I don't know, maybe wring her neck if I thought I could get away with it. But I wouldn't dream of standing a chance normally. Efreeti are serious business." She shrugs "If you're planning on going after her, you're welcome to."
The ifrit wriggles, uncomfortable in her bonds. "You're not looking for help, are you?"
Sammad cracks a hint of a grin, as his words seem to be having the desired effect on the prisoner. "Of course we are. We know only the vaguest shape of what to expect at our destination...any inside information you can provide would be welcome.
In exchange, we'll do our best to protect you during the operation, and to see that you're treated fairly on our return. And perhaps we'll even let you take a crack at Nurleth for yourself...," he finishes with a conspiratorial wink and smirk.
"I don't even know where you're going, or why, for that matter. The efreeti, Nurleth maybe, said the whole thing was top secret and had to be kept that way. Considering the mission, there wasn't any reason to ask more, and Nurleth wasn't in a sharing mood anyway." There's a clear sense from her tone that you've redirected her hatred to a new efreeti target.
"Alright, if we're going to get a chance out of here, we'll take you up."
Sammad lets his grin show fully now, positively beaming at his success. "Then welcome to the Nurleth-Kicker Crew, fellow ember. I understand that you do not have much information, as I hoped...unfortunate, but I suppose it can't be helped. What else can you offer our operation, then?"
"The Burning Mother soothes as well as burns, and her offer of redemption is ever open. I welcome you and your team to a new world of opportunities," says Flint earnestly, adding, "But given your recent mission, you will need to prove yourselves to us before we give you the run of the ship."
"Other than a steady hand with a pistol... the reason we got drafted for this is because we were all handy with machinery. In case you need something fixed or adjusted, that's us. But I'd rather be bringing the heat to Nurleth, all things considered." The ifrit eyes you all, a little uncertain at the overall change in tone. Flint judges that as much as you're feeling out whether you can trust this group, the ifrit you have awake is trying to work out whether she can trust any of you. Flint can tell she definitely doesn't like you.
"The name's Atra, by the way."
"Bringing the heat...interesting turn of phrase," comments Flint, cracking a wry smile and turning to Sammad. "Looks like you have this under control, Ambassador. I'll head back to the bridge to keep an eye on things while you sort the rest of it out," he adds, giving Atra an inscrutable look and finally nodding at her and moving away, his eyes returned to their normal flinty grey shade.
Mari chimes in with her own name, but her focus has drifted back to the task of repairing the damage done to the ship.
With the situation defused and a trio of would-be saboteur "allies" now under your wings, you turn your attention back to fully repairing the systems damage they caused and continuing along your plotted route through the sun's plasma to Noma. Atra explains the situation to her fellow saboteurs once they're awake again, and after some animated discussion about whether or not to trust your group, they all end up offering their services as Atra did.
It takes about a full day to completely repair the damage to the power conduit wiring to the level that you can remove Mari's earlier patches to the system. Once you do, you're able to rebalance power to restore things back to their full and normal functionality.
On the fourth day of travel, you're alerted to another danger by Popoko's chirpy voice over the ship's PA system. "Heyo fwiends!~ You shouwd come up to the bwidge. Thewe's something out thewe that wooks supew dupew weiwd! OwO" When you get there, you notice that the long ranged scanners are passively picking up some wild energy fluctuations. Not close yet, but rapidly approaching your position.
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Having no idea what this might be, Flint asks, "Let's get those sensors dialed in and see if we can tell what that thing is. Could it be an inferno whale headed our way?"
"Combat positions, everyone, we need to be ready for evasive maneuvers if this phenomenon keeps coming for us. Let's change course and see if this energy signature adjusts to match. If so, that means some intelligence is guiding it towards us," Captain Flint orders.
Arriving at the bridge on Flint's heels, Ordyt leans over the read the screen over his captain's shoulder. As his eyes flicker over the readouts his frown deepens in concern.
"Captain, that's Photonic Anomaly! They're, um, well they're really big plasma oozes--as big as a starship! If it decides we look tasty we'll definitely be in for it."
Mari looks skeptically at the scanning data. "Judging by its speed and trajectory, I think it's already decided that yes, we are in fact tasty."
"How fast is it moving? Can we outrun it?" Captain Flint asks Belmarniss as she (hopefully) starts working the sensors.
"Mari, get ready to shunt power to engines--we might need a speed boost to avoid this thing. If we can't, we'll have to hope our weapons will discourage it," he adds.
"Ordyt, you seem to know the most about this creature--how do we drive it off?" asks Flint, concerned about trying to stop a living ball of plasma.
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As you watch, and begin evasive maneuvers, the photonic anomaly by means of frankly physics defying fits and starts. One moment it seems to be moving one direction, when a fraction of a second later it has full speed in another without seeming to turn or accelerate. At times it even seems to blink from one location to another. While its strange zigs and zags seem random, the aggregate of its movements rapidly close the distance with you. As it does, the core of the anomaly begins to glow.
Piloting - Round 1
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Breath of Embers - 85/85 HP - 25/25/25/25 Shields
Anomaly - ?/? HP
As the crew takes their positions and the entity closes in, Flint watches the monitors and tries to get a sense of this creature...Is it intelligent enough to reason with, or simply acting on instinct? With it’s collision course, is it trying to engulf them?
"Right, keep our distance but don't LOOK like we're trying to keep our distance. Fly casual. Don't want a repeat of the whale incident," Belmarniss comments, turning away from the anomaly and moving forward, hoping they can turn and maybe fly past it when there's an opening.
Flint judges that the enormous plasma amoeba likely has only rudimentary intelligence, likely even less than that of a typical animal. It's probably driven by a search for sustenance. It's hard to tell from a distance if its looking to engulf your starship .
"Belmarniss, keep our distance the best we can. Mari, see if you can feed power to the engines to help her. Ordyt, man the turret and see if you can discourage the creature--maybe aim for the glowing bit in the middle. We need someone on sensors to figure out everything we can about this ooze. Brass Dragons, help out where you can! Guns and Sensors most likely." orders Captain Flint.
"Popoko, help Belmarniss with keeping her distance (piloting) and Ordyt with firing solutions (gunner). You've got this Ordyt--you know most about this creature, so try and target something vital!" he adds.
versus DC 15.
"On it!" is Mari's clipped reply, as she focuses on redistributing excess power to the ship's engines.
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"Alright, Popoko, let's spin up a firing solution and see how the she handles," Ordyt straps himself into the gunnery chair and lets the ships sensor systems start feeding telemetry data into his helmet's display screen.
"Kinda weird that computers don't handle all of this, you know?" the oread remarks to no one as he swivels the turret towards the Photonic Anomaly. It would have been impossible for Ordyt to hear the crackling hum of the particle beam powering up through the Breath of Embers' hull, but the helmet plays an aproximation of the sound to indicate the weapon's readiness, and the battle-priest grins as targeting schematics flicker before his eyes.
"Alright plasma monster, you could have just keep your distance and let us be. Didn't have to be like this," closing his eyes, Ordyt lets Sarenrae guide his hand.
"I serve the goddess of the sun, I am Her instrument. Go in peace, and do not challenge us here in the heart of Her power."
Mari, watching the telemetry of Ordyt's brilliant shot, silently pumps her fist in celebration.
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ROUND 1
The anomaly pulses with energy.
Although Bel isn't able to maneuver quite as tightly as she desires, the still manages to get the ship away from the direction the anomaly is traveling.
The anomaly shudders and billows, at all times seeming to be about to switch directions.
As you watch, its direction changes in the blink of an eye toward .
It looks to be shuddering uncomfortably after that.
With a keening cry that shows up only on your radiation monitors, the anomaly fires a retaliatory particle beam at you. Bel is just barely able to dive the ship out of the way.
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Breath of Embers - 74/85 HP - 25/25/25/25 Shields (F/P/S/A)
Anomaly - -13/? HP - 15/15/15/0 Shields (F/P/S/A), glitching heart.
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Round 2 Init:
The anomaly abruptly rearranges itself and zips in the direction you were *thinking* of going, but hadn't yet gone. It ends up facing largely away from you, not that that seems to pose any difficulty for its particle beam.
You guys move second!
”Someone get on sensors and get me more information on this thing!” commands Flint, frustrated that nobody has taken up that station.
”Belmarniss, it is moving too fast and turning too quickly for us to speed past it. Bring us in on its unshielded side with our nose pointed towards it,” he suggests.
”I need a second gunner on our forward particle beam. Coordinate with Ordyt and punch through that ooze,” he encourages.
”Popoko, help with firing solutions for both weapons. Mari, see if you can boost the weapons. Let’s convince plasma boy out there we’ll give him indigestion if he keeps after us!” he finishes.
Belmarniss, if you move 2, turn starboard, move 6, turn port, and move 2, turn port, you should line up directly behind it. If you are looking for a pilot roll to make, Evade is a good one—DC 19 to add 4 to our AC.
That is +2 to each gun attack from the computer and +2 to Ordyt’s shot from Flint.
As the ship tilts and rolls Ordyt feels strangely at ease--everything was going as it was intended to, somehow he knew it. Swiveling the particle beam cannon to track the plasma ooze he sends another lance of energy through it.
"See Atra? Stick with us, you'll go places!"