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None the Starfinders' attacks hit their mark, though the skittermander's tricky juggling gives the bear paws!
"I think it's past time I denied this fellow his right to bear arms."
"I will not discuss politics!" cries the bear. "It is too divisive!"
"Now," he continues, "Let us go back to discussing religion."
He swings his blade at one of the Starfinders before him, crying, "For the One True Machine God!"
His blade slashes into the human. The bear, confident in his prowess, then moves back towards his ally.
Once the bear has opened an avenue, the woman hurls the cylindrical grenade she was holding towards Flenn.
Fifth Round Cont'd/
Orrian
Bear (blue) -11 HP
Donovan -22 SP
Human woman (yellow) -40 HP
Ynge
Flenn -2 SP | -1 HP
Kaneeri
Saeron
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Donovan lashes out at the bear as it retreats before ducking behind the desk for cover and summoning his Called weapon, dropping the sword in the process. "Put that bear down." he commands the others (Get'Em!) before firing at the bear, hoping to take him down.
Dueling Sword, converted: analog
Laser Rifle, Azimuth, called: get'em
The human's lunge at the bear misses. However, his rifle fire catches the bear.
The woman draws a second cylindrical grenade and tosses it at the same location as before.
Fifth Round Cont'd/Sixth Round Begins
Ynge
Flenn -2 SP | -1 HP
Kaneeri
Saeron
Orrian
Bear (blue) -21 HP
Donovan -25 SP
Human woman (yellow) -40 HP
The skittermander's honed hands distract the woman and the Starfinder's shot drops her to the ground.
Fifth Round Cont'd/Sixth Round Begins
Ynge
Flenn -2 SP | -1 HP
Kaneeri -9 SP
Saeron -9 SP
Orrian
Bear (blue) -21 HP
Donovan -28 SP
Human woman (yellow) -46 HP
Reacting quickly to the bear, the half-orc cripples the creature with his spear. As it lumbers back, Flenn zaps the bear with a powerful jolt, yet the creature keeps on coming. The fast-thinking half-orc unleashes a second jolt.
The shock makes the bear's fur stand up on end before the creature falls face-forward to the deck plating with a massive **THUD**!
Looking around the now quiet room, you see that the workstations in this area are somewhat intact but mostly empty. Empty boxes litter the floor, the tattered labels of which identify them as having once contained various chemical reagents and other supplies for experimentation. A circular lab table sits toward the aft.
The science officer’s datapad also contains notes about how in the final days of the starship’s operation, the crew members moved some of the materials to the medical bay to perform separate experiments, noting several small explosions that resulted from the subsequent trials.
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Looking around the room, Flenn finds a datapad. "Looks like these blokes were doin' some dangerous experiments." He passes the pad around for others to look at.
He then makes sure the two unconscious enemies are relieved of their weapons and credsticks. He glances at the bear's reinforced EVA suit II and says, "Anyone wants this, we may have to take it in a couple of sizes ... I got no use for the sledge or curve blade, but can use the grenades and the rail gun, if no one else wants them."
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Going around, Ynge is the last to arrive to see the two fallen "religious extremists". "Oh dear, did you knock them unconscious? I'm quite certain our friends back at the Lorespire would love to know more about their god, and I'm sure these three would love to not be dead." She joins the others in disarming the woman and bear before turning to searching the room with Flenn.
"Hmm, this pod they're talking about in this message... if it's something they made livable but hidden, maybe someone from the original crew is still alive in stasis inside? Wouldn't that be a wonderful surprise?"
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Donovan strips them of weapons, armor, and gear. If there's an escape pod, he'll place them in there. If not, any room he can lock will do for now.
"Mother Ynge, would you be so kind as to watch over this bunch and keep them from getting into trouble? We'll search the rest of the ship for what we came for. Let them know, that, if they can behave, they can get a ride back to civilization with us."
Donovan will start his search on the bridge after taking a rest (10 minute, spend 1RP)
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Flenn shakes his head at Ynge. "We looked at the stasis pod already. Didn't have anybody in it."
He walks over to Donovan. "Let's see what we can do about those scratches." He pulls out his basic medkit and begins tending to Donovan's wounds.
After about a minute of providing aid, Flenn shrugs. "Yeah, well, you'll be fine then." He then sits down and rests.
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Joining the others in the starboard room, Saeron gets her first good look at the bear creature.
"Oh!" her eyes widen in surprise. "An uplifted bear! I've not seen one in the fle- uh, fur, before." She approaches for a closer look, checking the vitals of both bear and woman, stabilizing them if needed.
Sitting back on her heels, where she is crouched by beside the pair, she explains, "It's still unknown who... "uplifted"... them or how it was done." A sadness passes over her face. "Although it's not hard to guess why.," she adds looking over the hulking frame, powerful limbs and razor sharp claws, a hint of bitterness to her voice.
The lashunta nods at Ynge's words, an excitement entering her voice at the prospect. "Imagine that! Someone still alive after hundreds of years!" She looks around at the gathered crew and adding more quietly. "Bringing another Starfinder home." She almost breathes the last word.
She takes the datapad when it is passed to her, glancing over the scientist's notes. Her brow furrowed in thought, she joins her companions in a short rest.
"Anyone remember seeing any schematics of the Amber Reconnoiter amongst all those notes we dug up back at the 'Spire?" she ventures after a few moments of thought.
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Sitting back on her heels, where she is crouched by beside the giles .pair, she explains, "It's still unknown who... "uplifted"... them or how it was done." A sadness passes over her face. "Although it's not hard to guess why.," she adds looking over the hulking frame, powerful limbs and razor sharp claws, a hint of bitterness to her voice.
Flenn nods. "Aye ... Unicycle riding."
"Anyone remember seeing any schematics of the Amber Reconnoiter amongst all those notes we dug up back at the 'Spire?" she ventures after a few moments of thought.
Flenn thinks, "Crazy ysoki and his hatred of plain, easily-searchable datafiles ..." Instead Flenn searches his own memories ... which, thanks to his exocortex, have a good file structure.
The message on the datapad that the half-orc recovered from the pile of refuse is signed by the cook and occasional science officer of the crew of the Amber Reconnoiter, Jarzi.
The recovered datapad is similar to that containing a message and access code from the engineer of the crew of the Amber Reconnoiter, Dayn.
It is also similar to another datapad found among some refuse, which was activated by the skittermander just before the skirmish with the woman on the bridge. Viewing that datapad reveals that it contains logs about the crew’s missions as entered by Captain Zantik of the Amber Reconnoiter. In addition to the log entries, the datapad also contains a module secured behind a firewall.
Donovan will start his search on the bridge after taking a rest
Donovan searches the bridge on his own, but finds nothing of note.
["Anyone remember seeing any schematics of the Amber Reconnoiter amongst all those notes we dug up back at the 'Spire?" she ventures after a few moments of thought.
The lashunta recalls that most ships of the era of the Amber Reconnoiter were equipped with an short-range escape pod. The half-orc, drawing upon his exocortex to reproduce a schematic of the vessel, confirms that an escape pod has been detached from the ship a significant time ago. Unfortunately, he concludes that tracing its location would almost certainly be an impossible task with the information presently available.
A pair of crew quarters and the gunner's cockpit still remain unexplored.
These rooms have remained surprisingly intact through the years. On one of the beds is a datapad. Once activated, it is clear that the datapad belonged to an agent "Red" and that it, too, contains a secure data module behind a firewall.
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Flenn walks into the bridge, then pulls a hidden lever at the base of the captain's chair. "Well, lookee what we've got here."
He also hacks the datapad found in the crew quarters.
"Got us a keycode here ... Can't tell where it goes to, so keep your eyes peeled."
He glances in the gunner's cockpit. "Yeah, doesn't look like there's anything in here ..."
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Orrian's also a fan of going back through the ship thoroughly but will glance through both the crew quarters and gunner's cockpit.
From the crew quarters, "Hey everyone, there's some kind of locked chest under one of these beds. Anybody give me a hand opening it?"
From the gunner's cockpit, "There's a keycode here. With 'R-E-D' written next to it. Maybe '7-3-3'?" Orrian enters the code (assuming it's a numerical keypad).
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Ynge crosses her arms as she watches over the trio of knocked-out folks. The news the others bring her is somewhat heartening. "At least someone managed to escape. Though, I would dearly like to know for sure that they survived in their pod." As for the code chasing, she adds "Red was their gunner-ysoki after all. Maybe it's just the letters of their name."
Using the second code provided by the lashunta, the half-elf manages to gain access to the "Red's" hidden stash, which contains a weapon fusion seal as well as a small holographic display unit that projects messages and photos from "Red's" friends and family from her home world of Akiton.
Within crewman "Red's" datapad, the following entry can also be found:
"It’s been a couple of days—I think?—since we’ve been drifting in the Drift, and I’m getting restless. I’ve suggested to the crew that
we should just get in the escape pod and fly off. After all, it beats just sitting here and dying a slow death anyhow."
Searching the remainder of the ship, among the crates in the aft-starboard corner of one of the rooms is an imperial conquest strategy game, a basic drum set, several pairs of small gloves,and a minor muon crystal.
Finally, utilizing the information obtained from the datapad once owned by Captain Zantik, the party has no trouble sliding back a hidden panel beneath the captain’s chair that reveals a hidden relic. The relic seems to be a metallic sphere, about 2 feet in diameter and covered in a layer of grime. It’s extraordinarily resilient, resisting any tinkering or abuse applied to it. The sphere’s exact use or purpose is unclear at this time.
With the trespassers defeated and secured, with the relic reclaimed, and after having explored the Amber Reconnoiter as much as desired, the party is free to exit and spacewalk back to the ship. While likely to be slow going with the cultists in tow, the clearing of much of the debris and the lack of any space cuttles looks to allow the party to return to their ship and then head onto Absalom Station without much difficulty.
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At the end of the day, Ynge is happy to be back on the ship with not only her team in one piece but a handful of misguided kids still alive and in tow. She checks and double checks that the three captives are well restrained but otherwise comfortable, then returns to the bridge where she brews herself some nice tea and settles in for the return trip.
"That was tidily done. Though our little metal ball seems an innocuous little artifact to have our captives up in arms. I wonder what our friends back at the Lorespire will have to say about it?"
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"All that trouble for this?" Orrian says, looking at the metallic sphere. "I thought for sure there was going to be some inter-dimensional gate leading to a new realm of horrors, but this... isn't so bad."
"And, I guess if Triune wanted us to the find it, we've completed our mission, right? Maybe they'll know more about it back home."
Back at the Lorespire Complex, the returning Starfinders are asked to bring the artifact to the Starscape Chamber while the "misguided kids" are taken aside for questioning.
Upon arriving at the room, you are met by Venture-Captain Naiaj as well as MP-8, the mechanical devotee to Triune.
"Greetings!" exclaims MP-8 as you arrive at the Starscape Chamber. "I look forward to seeing what you have recovered."
"And I look forward to learning what happened to the crew of the Amber Reconnoiter," notes the gnome Venture-Captain. "Thank you for your fine exploration work. Now, what have you to report?"
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Ynge nods to Naiaj "Everyone back in one piece, safe and sound, and a few extras in tow. Everyone in the team you assembled were quite wonderful, dear. Very capable young folk."
"As for the Amber Reconnoiter, well, they left behind quite the bevy of messages for us. I'm sure one of my sharp-minded teammates can tell you the full story, or correct me if I remember it wrong. My memory isn't quite what it used to be." She gives a small smile to Naiaj "It seems the crew of the Reconnoiter struck some planar debris while in the Drift. After exploring the debris, they found the metal ball artifact that our dear SRO friend would so love to have. After some experiments on their ship went wrong and damaged the ship, they used the ship's escape pod to get away."
"They're long gone now, but I hope that they found their way somewhere safe."
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Making her way back safely aboard their vessel, Saeron releases a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding. Uncoupling her personal comm from her armour, she takes the opportunity to capture a departing pic of the ruins and debris.
Turning away, she runs an eye over her companions, feeling a sense of pride at what they have accomplished. On a whim, she snaps another pic of the group returning, triumphant; the artifact and 'misguided kids' in tow.
You know, you do deserve this, she thinks, smiling as she nods in satisfaction, the doubting inner voice silent for a change.
"See? No divine avatars or interventions after all," she says to Orrian during the return journey through the Drift. Smiling wryly, she adds, "It will sure be nice to get back home."
During the debriefing, the lashunta stands back, deferring to Ynge's experience and calming presence, only interjecting where the others may have left something out.
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"They're long gone now, but I hope that they found their way somewhere safe."
"As do I, Ynge." Naiaj notes grimly. "Being a Starfinder has always had its hazards. I am glad, however, that you have not only returned back unharmed, but also successful. You are indeed all quite, how did Ynge put it? Ah, yes. 'Capable'. Well done, Starfinders."
As Naiaj addresses the Starfinders, MP-8 wheels up to the artifact and examines it, feeling around its sides. Its eye dims in concentration for a moment, and then its eye reactivates with an air of disappointment.
“Strange." states the mechanical marvel. " This artifact has been lost for so long, one would think its technologies would be rudimentary at best, but there seems to be some sort of advanced, multilayered encryption protecting whatever is inside. What could it be...?”
MP-8 backs away from the artifact. “This is beyond my capabilities to handle. I suppose we will have to table the analysis for the time being.” It turns to Naiaj. “I trust that the church will be able to count on the Society on this matter again in the future? It is a bit disturbing to me that a Society vessel on the brink of death would be so cavalier as to simply vacuum up such an important relic without a thought.”
Naiaj bristles but then closes her eyes and sighs. “I find it disturbing that you would disrespect the memory of the crew without a thought, given that without their sacrifice, we wouldn’t even have this relic in the first place.”[b] She reopens her eyes and bears a tight-lipped smile. [b]“But I suppose that’s neither here nor there at this point. We have the relic now, and believe me, we are just as interested as you in this find, if not more so."
Naiaj and MP-8 exchange looks for a few moments, then gnome concludes, "I suppose we have no choice but to work together again. The Society will keep the relic safe in the meantime.”
MP-8 nods. “Until we meet again.”