|
As the storms continue to rage above, you emerge from the swamp. The merged forms of the Helping Hand and the Nova Warlock lie half-submerged in swamp water, a gangway extended onto dry land. Cots, tables, chairs, and cabinets have been dragged out randomly onto the peat, while cables and pulleys are strung up in the nearby trees in what appears to be a futile attempt to pull the vessels out of the muck. Above the airlock, someone has hastily spraypainted “The Warlock’s Hand.”
A dozen sets of footprints lead away from the site, but one figure remains - Captain Anga Silazi. Now that you see her in person, you notice a small orb of dark-blue energy floating near her shoulder.
“...You! ...How?!” Captain Silazi sputters. “I suppose anything is possible with these weird storms. I thought we were going to crash for sure, but something set us down here as gently as you’d lay a baby in a crib. Too bad it put the engines under a few feet of swamp water.” The mote of energy descends and begins encompassing her right hand. “Honestly, I’m glad you survived. It gives me back the chance to murder you myself! Drones - attack pattern epsilon!”
Suddenly, two small aerial robots lift off nearby, and all three move to attack!
ROUND 1
Nako
Dakoyo
Anga Silazi
Gazigaz
Blue Robot
Yellow Robot
Quonx
ROUND 2
|
|
The enemy captain reels a little bit, but she still absorbs some of Dakoyo's spell. Seeing Nako's position, she simply jogs around her so as to take a swing with her solar harpoon while glowing with light!
vs. KAC
But her weapon catches against the ground!
ROUND 1
(Readied Action) Nako
Gazigaz
Blue Robot
Yellow Robot
Quonx
ROUND 2
Dakoyo[/b]
Anga Silazi
Soundtrack 13: Warlock's Hand- DropBox mp3 Link: Robotech "Battle Stations! (edited/looped)"
"You don't have great skills in naming ships, missus! And you shouldn't have messed with this awesome skitter crew. SKITTERMANDERS, GET HER!"
Gazigaz draws his pistol and shoots at Anga Silazi.
|
|
Gazigaz hits the pirate captain!
The two robots approach, but nether one gets close enough for Nako to swing at. The both lob grenades - one landing between Nako and Dakoyo, the other landing between Quonx and Gazigaz!
Blue vs AC 5
Yellow vs AC 5
Everyone except the pirate captain and Nako needs to make a DC 10 Reflex Save or be Entangled for rounds!
ROUND 1
Quonx - Reflex Save
ROUND 2
Nako
Dakoyo - Reflex Save
Anga Silazi
Gazigaz - Reflex Save
Blue Robot
Yellow Robot
Soundtrack 13: Warlock's Hand- DropBox mp3 Link: Robotech "Battle Stations! (edited/looped)"
|
Dakoyo leaps forward to avoid the glue, landing directly in front of Silazi. He drops his staff off his shoulder and sweeps it for the captain's legs.
... ...(B; critical knockdown)
Entangled
Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 275
You are ensnared. Being entangled impedes your movement but does not entirely prevent you from moving unless the bonds are anchored to an immobile object or tethered by an opposing force. You move at half speed, you cannot run or charge, and you take a –2 penalty to your AC, attack rolls, Reflex saving throws, initiative checks, and Dexterity-based skill and ability checks.
Quonx takes a good look at the robots before exclaiming:
"Oh! Look, those are the same kind of bots that we fought aboard the Emerald Empyrean! They're weak to electricity!"
Quonx deftly dodges the incoming grenade, and with a press of a button targets Silazi while drawing her laser rifle with her lower hands.
"You're done hurting my friends, miss!"
Quonx's rifle begins to smoke as she overcharges the battery, then takes a shot at the pirate.
|
|
Quonx and Dakoyo avoid the sticky grenades!
Quonx overcharges a blast from her laser rifle and hits Silazi, causing her to grunt in pain!
Dakoyo's swing is a miss, but he sets up the flanking attack for Nako who delviers a devistating strike with her doshko to the pirate captain's back!
Anga Silazi snarls in pain and rage, shouting out, "I'll burn you all!" as her solarian energy flares with a supernova!
Nako and Dakoyo - DC 15 Reflex Save for Half Damage!
ROUND 2
Gazigaz - Reflex Save (DC 10)
Blue Robot
Yellow Robot
Quonx
ROUND 3
Nako - Reflex Save (DC 15) (23 or 11 Damage)
Dakoyo - Reflex Save (DC 15) (23 or 11 Damage)
Anga Silazi
Soundtrack 13: Warlock's Hand- DropBox mp3 Link: Robotech "Battle Stations! (edited/looped)"
(Reflex save vs the grenade, too)
Gazigaz runs behind a crate to hide from the blast. He then shoots at the bots with his pistol.
|
|
Gazigaz avoids the sticky grenade and hits the yellow robot, hurting it more than the shot alone would have done!
The blue robot advances and lobs another grenade, this time right between Dakoyo and Quonx!
vs. AC 5
Quonx and Dakoyo need to make a DC 10 Reflex Save or be Entangled for rounds!
The yellow robot flies back a bit to assist the pirate captain, firing a pulsecaster at Nako!
vs. EAC
ROUND 2
Quonx - Reflex Save (DC 10)
ROUND 3
Nako - Reflex Save (DC 15) (23 or 11 additional Damage) then Reflex Save (DC 10)
Dakoyo - Reflex Save (DC 15) (23 or 11 Damage) then Reflex Save (DC 10)
Anga Silazi
Gazigaz - Reflex Save (DC 10)
Blue Robot
Yellow Robot
Soundtrack 13: Warlock's Hand- DropBox mp3 Link: Robotech "Battle Stations! (edited/looped)"
(Reflex saves, please!)
Quonx once again dodges the grenade, then takes aim at Silazi again.
"Careful, friends! Don't get hurt!"
Quonx once again takes an overcharged shot at the captain:
|
|
Dakoyo dodges the worst of both effects but misses his strike with the battle staff.
Quonx also dodges the grenade and fires an overloaded laser shot , striking the pirate head-on!
Nako takes the brunt of the supernova, but follows up with a critical hit with her doshko!
= Bleed 1d6
On Anga Silazi's turn, she bleeds from the wound Nako dealt her for damage...and collapses from blood loss! With the captain down, the robots pause and beep for a moment, then land and shut down.
You are out of combat!!!
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +11
DEFENSE HP 72
EAC 17; KAC 19
Fort +7; Ref +5; Will +6
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee solar weapon +14 (1d6+1d4+10 S; critical bleed 1d6)
Ranged frostbite-class zero pistol +11 (1d6+5 C; critical staggered [DC 13]) or frag grenade II +11 (explode [15 ft., 2d6 P, DC 13])
Offensive Abilities stellar revelations (black hole [25-ft.radius, DC 15, 15 ft. pull], dark matter, plasma sheath, supernova [10-ft. radius, 6d6 F, DC 15])
STATISTICS
Str +5; Dex +3; Con +1; Int +1; Wis +0; Cha +2
Skills Athletics +16, Engineering +11, Intimidate +11, Mysticism +11
Languages Common, Sarcesian
Other Abilities solar manifestation (weapon), stellar alignment
Gear d-suit I (infrared sensors), frostbite-class zero pistol with 2 batteries (20 charges each), frag grenades II (2), least w-boson crystal, mk 2 healing serum, credstick (500 credits)
|
|
You have seized the Warlock's Hand!
After defeating Captain Silazi, you can take stock of the state of the merged ships. A cursory glance reveals that the Helping Hand’s engines are a bit waterlogged, but the Nova Warlock’s engines are mostly above the swamp’s surface. A skilled engineer could achieve a modicum of thrust with some tinkering that would allow a talented pilot the chance to get the ships free of the swamp and back into space. From there, it would a trivial matter of recalibrating the Drift engines to allow the merged ships to return to the Pact Worlds.
However, the raging Drift cyclone above and the return of Captain Silazi’s crew could make these repairs a bit difficult...and you can hear the pirate captain's comm unit squeal with calls from her crew, who heard the weapons-fire from where they were off salvaging junk in the swamp and are now heading back as fast as they can run!
Judging by the comm signatures, there are over a dozen pirates (and they'll be here in 10 minutes or less), probably too many for the four of you to take on right now!
The options that come to mind are: try and negotiate with them, scare them away somehow, or seal up the ship and try to enact fast repairs to get away, leaving them behind!
Quonx ponders for an instant, then looks into the distance with a worried air on her face.
"I could probably make the engines work quick enough to escape the pirates, but..." She pauses for a few seconds, looking at the ground and kicking a pebble away. "Sure, those pirates are mean, but they didn't mean for our vessels to fuse... Nor to be stranded here... I don't know, it might still be risky to strike a deal with them, but then I wouldn't want them to cause harm to our Osharu friends either..."
The engineer turns to the other skitters. "What do you think, friends?"
Gazigaz thinks for a minute, looking at the ship, then at his friends.
"The mean lady was mean but... I mean, we don't know these pirates, neither do we know why they started working for the mean lady in the first place. Maybe they didn't have a choice, maybe they had a rough childhood and took a bad decision. I think that they deserve a chance to get out of this muddy planet. What do you think? We're the Helping Hand's crew after all!!"
"Offer travel back to pact worlds as long as they behave, they can get their stuff from the ship. If they cause trouble we toss them from the airlock?"
"Good idea Nako!", answers Gazigaz.
|
|
Your GM is seeing the formation of a consensus...although unfortunately your GM is also currently approaching hour 16 without power due to statewide thunderstorms and can only get internet when he drives several blocks away while using his car to charge his phone and USB battery packs...
Keep RPing as much as you want. I'll post as soon as I'm able to, promise. Gree?
Quonx responds to Nako's idea enthusiastically.
"Sounds good!"
The mechanic turns to the merged ships. "Is there a turret pointing towards us? Like Nakonechkin used to say:" she takes a low voice, imitating the Vesk's tone: "'Nothing like pointing a gun at someone to make him see life your way!' I prefer to talk about physics, but that's gonna be of little good right now huh."
She then looks around at the debris littered all over. "Or I could make us a barricade, just in case things go awry."
"Maybe Dak is right... Sometimes helping is healing or saving someone. Sometimes helping is making sure that someone doesn'T hurt others again..." She looks at Silazi's body. "If we choose to let them come with us, who knows who they might hurt?"
She pauses, and conflicted feelings appear on her face. "But I can't make myself do it! Can we really let them rot here?" The mechanic paces for a while, then turns to Dakoyo: "If we bring them with us, it should be easy to lock them in the hangar until we let them out."
"Silazi is up to you, Dakoyo. I can help you with the healing if you want to save her."
Gazigaz listens to his friends attentively, adjusting his armbands and brushing his fur nervously as he mumbles his thoughts.
"We can't leave them here to rot, it wouldn't be fair to them, nor to the osharus. They could be nice people who turned out bad because of previous unfortunate events, but they could also be pure evil... Nah, nobody is pure evil! Babies are sweet and innocent and their hearts only get darker as they grow up depending on what life throws at them. But we're talking about pirates here that already tried to kill us! How can we make sure that these twelve angry pirates won't cause a wreck once inside the ship? What if... What if!!"
His nervous mumbling and combing stop abruptly. Gazigaz's eyes begin to sparkle with the flamme of a plan. The green skittermander fixes the ground for a second to put some order in his boiling mind, then stands up straight and shouts to his friends with a passionate voice:
"Hear me out skittercrew! We could target the pirates with the ship's weapons so that they would be too intimidated to attack us. Then, we could apologize for the fight we had earlier (to show our good will) and suggest them to come back to the Pact Worlds with us aboard our ship as long as they give us their weapons. If they accept, we could lock them up in the hangar, away from their leader, Silazi. Her we could... we could lock her up somewhere else and deliver her to the autorities once we get back home. A captain has to take the fall for their crew, right? And she's a mean girl anyway! It would give a chance to her crew to witness the goodness of the universe and to choose a better path for the future. What do you think?"
Quonx nods rapidly. "Gree! Let me go control that turret!"
The blue-furred skittermander hurries inside the ship to repair one of the turrets and point it at the approaching pirates.
|
|
Soundtrack 14: Blast Off? - DropBox mp3 Link: Robotech "SDF-1 Theme"
The pirate captain is stabilized as you activate the gun turrets, getting them online just in time for the pirate crew to arrive! They have hands on their weapons, but seeing their unconscious (but alive) captain at your mercy...they hesitate!
If you wish to talk them down - give me a very important Diplomacy check along with anything you'd like to say/RP with them!
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Dakoyo steps out onto the ramp to the ship's door. He plants his battlestaff by his foot and lets it fall away from his body until his arm is fuly extended from his side.
We could blast you to kingdom come or just close the doors and take off and leave you in this miserable swamp to rot.
But skittermanders are the kindest, most compassionate, and helpful beings in the galaxy. We are inclined to parley rather than maroon you here. Will you talk?"
Dakoyo turns to look at his companions for approval.
Quonx revs up the turrets cannon and says through the ship's megaphone:
"Don't try anything funny with my friends either, I'm up here and ready to defend them if need be!"
Unfortunately, water infiltrated the system, and the speakers crackle for an instant before warping Quonx's tone into an even more high-pitched and nigh unintelligible squeak.
Gazigaz takes a deep breath before taking a step forward, patting his friends' shoulders.
"Hear us out nufriend pirates. I know that we have our differents, and I know that you have massive weapons pointed right at your face, but focus on my message. We don't want to hurt you. We never wanted to hurt anyone. We know that as pirates, you have probably done terrible things, but we're ready to offer you a chance for a better life. Each one of you deserves something better.
Gazigaz claps his hands before taking a few steps forward.
"So! Right now you have two options:
Option numero uno: you drop your weapons, follow us calmly and travel to the Pact World safely with us. You get a chance to all go separate ways, to choose a different path and to do something nice with the rest of your life.
Option numero dos: you decide to stay on your ugly path and spend the rest of your life either starving on this stinky muddy planet or suffering from a soon to be wound.
The choice is yours nufriends! I hope you choose the right one."
|
|
The pirate crew stops at the edge of the clearing, weapons in-hand. They hear you all out, murmuring among themselves.
There is a long, too-long moment of tension...
...and then you hear the sound of a heavy machine gun hitting the ground with a thud, followed shortly thereafter by dozens (and dozens) of other weapons. The space pirates agree to your terms. After all, you're going to help them get home!
After negotiating with the space pirates, your two crews work together to get the Warlock’s Hand out of the swamp and back into space. In orbit around Varkulon 4, you can all see the Drift cyclone raging across the planet, but can take the ship out of orbit and travel a few hundred thousand miles away before safely engaging the Drift engines to return to the Pact Worlds.
Before leaving orbit, you receive a holotransmission from Ponatia inviting you back to Varkulon 4 when the skies aren’t so dangerous. He promises to give you a better tour of the osharu university-city and the surrounding area. He also goes on to note that the Drift cyclones sometimes cause strange items to appear on the surface, and your band of skittermanders would be welcome to scavenge anything of value… after they have been properly studied, of course!
Captain Silazi regains consciousness and recovers. She requests to speak with you, as she has a slight change of heart during the trip back to the Pact Worlds, most likely caused by the relentless helpfulness of the skittermanders! She no longer wants you dead (though an ember of resentment still smolders in her heart). She asks that you drop off her and her crew on a freighter called the Bright Horizon within the Diaspora so that they can try to join the Free Captains; the space pirates mostly ask the same, but a few want to go their separate ways. The space pirates promise that they will lobby to have Nakonechkin Salvage be declared off-limits for future pirate activity.
Finally, Nakonechkin is more than a little surprised to see the state of the ship when you return to the salvage yards. His confusion and anger turn to barely disguised relief when you explain what happened to you! While it will take some time and plenty of credits to get the ship back to normal (or just in better working order, if you want to keep the aesthetic monstrosity!), you did bring back a few pieces of your original salvage, plus much of the pirates’ previous plunder. And for the next time his skittermander employees go out on a salvage mission, Nakonechkin promises to install escape pods beforehand!
And with that, nufriends, you have survived and bounced back from, your :)