Rar'gul stands over the body of the fallen shapechanger, his back toward the pirate shooting at him. Stored energy once again forms a protective barrier against the incoming projectile, absorbing most of the impact.
The trox turns to face his attacker. "Wherre do you thinkkk you'rre going?" he rumbles, intercepting hapless pirate in two massive strides.
"DO NOT TEST ME!" he bellows. "SURRENDERRR NOW OR YOU WILL DIE!"
T'sorkel nods, addressing the Pirate. It is over. Drop your weapon now! He reaches into the Archive for a facsimile of a grizzled Captain's voice.
Sensing the battle shift in their favor, Doc runs to cover the door to the forward airlocks. Holding her caustolance in just one hand, she uses the other to pop a wicked-looking syringe out of a hidden compartment in her arm, deftly thumbing a small vial into the medical implement with a sharp click.
The pirate near Rar'gul suddenly seems unsure what to do
The other pirate manages to block Beauregard's blow.
[ooc]Bold may go.
1. T'sorkel (-1)
2. Beaurgard (-2)
3. Rar'gul (-20)
4. Dr. Flint-Bridge (-5)
5. Blue pirate (shaken, dropped pistol)
6. Red pirate (-19)
7. John (-12)
8. Yariel (-1)
John stings his pirate with his sword cane, and it proves to be the wound that takes him down. He now lies dead on the floor.
Though she succeeds at resisting Yariel's magic, the other pirate stands shaken, alone, and with her pistol already on the ground.
She backs against the wall and puts her hands in the air. "I surrender! Don't kill me!"
Meanwhile, the shapechanger has assumed their natural form. They are quite dead.
With the final pirate's surrender, Doc neatly slips the syringe and its contents back into the hidden compartment within her arm. Taking a moment to straighten her hair, the halfling assesses the state of the cargo hold.
Finally! T'sorkel exclaims. He approaches the disarmed pirate. I promise you will be treated fairly, but you did try to take over the ship with several saboteurs.
Now, are there any others? And what was it that you were trying to steal?
"Sit!" Rar'gul grunts at the pirate, dropping the head of his hammer to clang against the cargo hold floor.
Once/if the pirate complies, he hefts his hammer to rest casually across a broad shoulder, allowing the weapon to power down. Confident the others have situation in hand, the trox inspects the hold, pausing every so often to shoot a warning glare in their captives direction, should they even entertain any thought of fleeing.
It appears the pirates had gathered valuables from the cargo in
a Starfinder backpack (Armory 116). The backpack contains
an efficient bandolier, an obsidian electrovore figurine of
wondrous power (Armory 113), and a proximity helmet
(Armory 107).
The shapechanger had casual stationwear, azimuth laser pistol with 2
batteries (20 charges each), survival knife.
The pirates had 2x second skin, 2x tactical semi-auto pistol with 60 small arm rounds, frag grenades I (2)
ALSO, the pirates may have been getting ready to open a strange silver box. Could this be Professor Benjam's artifact?
T'sorkel goes to examine the silver box. He looks for any markings or controls to open it.
T'sorkel goes to examine the silver box. He looks for any markings or controls to open it.
"T'sorkel, do take care. I only just stitched you up yesterday. I loathe repeating myself."
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"For myself, you may have it, but it now occurs to me that we've been cavalier in our distribution of captured goods. Perhaps we should pool said goods once again and auction them so that we'd have a more equitable distribution, after we turn over any necessary evidence to the authorities and return the personal effects of those victimized by the pirates to their next of kin."
"For myself, you may have it, but it now occurs to me that we've been cavalier in our distribution of captured goods. Perhaps we should pool said goods once again and auction them so that we'd have a more equitable distribution, after we turn over any necessary evidence to the authorities and return the personal effects of those victimized by the pirates to their next of kin."
Doc steps smartly towards the Abadaran. "I am hardly in the mood for your fetishization of corporate altruism, Rawlins." She waggles a newly-acquired grenade in his face admonishingly. "You want to render relief to the orphans and the widows? Fine. I advise you to take what you need in order to survive long enough to make it back to civilization and pay your precious taxes."
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”Let me put it in terms you can understand doc. We can make a token efforts to return the stolen stuff, or you can have creditors, bounty hunters, and the police breathing down your necks. All this stuff is traceable if you look hard enough. So if someone wants it back hard enough they can make our lives unpleasant. That said, as far as my experience goes, you contact someone as say that you have their laser pistol and it was used in a violent crime, they’ll probably tell you to keep it.”
“As for our pirate friend here, I am VERY interested to hear your side of the story. Fun fact: Did you know that if you conspire to commit a violent crime, you can get charged with all of your co-conspirators’ crimes? Lessie that’s at least 18 counts of attempted murder, one count of actual murder, and just an ungodly number of counts of assault, battery, and attempted grand larceny. If I were you I’d start singing like a songbird and rack up a record of cooperation.”
Finally! T'sorkel exclaims. He approaches the disarmed pirate. I promise you will be treated fairly, but you did try to take over the ship with several saboteurs.
Now, are there any others? And what was it that you were trying to steal?
The pirate, now intimidated and utter demoralized, attempts to answer all of your questions the best she can.
"I think our pilot and engineer are all that is left on the ship. I know there were at least 8 of us on board, including Qub and Yox who have been on this ship the whole time."
When asked about the booty they were looking for, she continues, "Wem, the third astrazoan, said something about an artifact onboard. I don't know, is that it in the silver box?"
When Beauregard reads this pirate the riot act, she just looks down and cries, contemplating the mistakes she has made to get her to this point.
T'sorkel goes to examine the silver box. He looks for any markings or controls to open it.
[dice=Perception]1d20+8
The silver box seems to have some sort of digital locking mechanism that requires a code.
T'sorkel frowns. "Yariel, can you take a look at this? If there's some sort of tamper code, I don't want to damage the artifact. or perhaps we should just get the Professor?"
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|
...
Doc steps smartly towards the Abadaran. "I am hardly in the mood for your fetishization of corporate altruism, Rawlins." She waggles a newly-acquired grenade in his face admonishingly. "You want to render relief to the orphans and the widows? Fine. I advise you to take what you need in order to survive long enough to make it back to civilization and pay your precious taxes."
”Let me put it in terms you can understand doc. We can make a token efforts to return the stolen stuff, or you can have creditors, bounty hunters, and the police breathing down your necks. All this stuff is traceable if you look hard enough. So if someone wants it back hard enough they can make our lives unpleasant. That said, as far as my experience goes, you contact someone as say that you have their laser pistol and it was used in a violent crime, they’ll probably tell you to keep it.”
“As for our pirate friend here, I am VERY interested to hear your side of the story. Fun fact: Did you know that if you conspire to commit a violent crime, you can get charged with all of your co-conspirators’ crimes? Lessie that’s at least 18 counts of attempted murder, one count of actual murder, and just an ungodly number of counts of assault, battery, and attempted grand larceny. If I were you I’d start singing like a songbird and rack up a record of cooperation.”
...
John grins. "I be not suggesting that we do it now, Doctor. Abadar's faith be nothing, if not practical. By all means, let us use what be at our disposal to survive."
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|
...
The pirate, now intimidated and utter demoralized, attempts to answer all of your questions the best she can.
"I think our pilot and engineer are all that is left on the ship. I know there were at least 8 of us on board, including Qub and Yox who have been on this ship the whole time."
When asked about the booty they were looking for, she continues, "Wem, the third astrazoan, said something about an artifact onboard. I don't know, is that it in the silver box?"
When Beauregard reads this pirate the riot act, she just looks down and cries, contemplating the mistakes she has made to get her to this point.
"As long as the artifact be safe, let us concentrate on the remaining pirates. Be Qub and Yox alert? Be there a password or somesuch to get back on board your ship?"
John retrieves a small vial and quaffs the contents.
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Yariel watches the argument swell and ebb between her shipmates with a bit of mild interest. She is about to jump in to take Doc's side when John flips the script back to a reasonable understanding.
Satisfied enough in the outcome she pockets the figuring, petting its head, "I shall call you... Franklin. Yes, that is a good name."
Moving over to the box she inspects the lock a bit and shrugs after poking at it a few times with a screwdriver, "Might take a while to crack, if we want to take the time to see what this whole deal is all about."
Finally, a decent roll!
John grins. "I be not suggesting that we do it now, Doctor. Abadar's faith be nothing, if not practical. By all means, let us use what be at our disposal to survive."
"Well." Doc makes the grenade disappear in her jacket, giving the human an appraising look. "Let us explore the bounds of your practicality, then."
T'sorkel stands back to give Yariel room to work on the cube. "I could go get the Professor if you want."
"Catch yourr brreath while we make a plan ," Rar'gul agrees. "No rrest forrr me, I'm too amped up." The trox walks over to the shape changer and snatches up the spare battery.
"Not much help with the lock. Unless it comes to this..." he says, tapping the head of his hammer against a broad palm.
"What arre these astrrazoans you mentioned?" he asks the pirate. "What can you tell us if the layout of yourr vessel?"
Yariel takes a look at the silver box. On her first try she is able to get the box to open. Oddly, the lock on the box still seems to be in a factory default state and is in an easily spoofed test mode.
Inside is a note written on an unusual thin sheet of metal. The writing is strange.
"As long as the artifact be safe, let us concentrate on the remaining pirates. Be Qub and Yox alert? Be there a password or somesuch to get back on board your ship?"
John retrieves a small vial and quaffs the contents.
The prisoner looks at you oddly. "Ummmm, that's Yox right there. He appears to be quite dead. Not sure where the others are, though I know they were here on this ship. And no, no password. They'll look out there portholes or look at the security cameras and decide whether to let you on. At least that's what they do for me."
Rar'gul shakes his head after seeing the note. "I'm not familiarr with that scrript. Maybe it's time we went to see the prrofessorrr? I'm not surre we should move on until we have a betterrr idea of what this arrtifact is and what happened to it. It might be out therre somewherre and we could walkkk strrraight into it."
As T'sorkel considers going to get the professor and the rest of you contemplate a short rest, all hell breaks loose.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
First, and explosion rocks the Chimera. You all look at each other in alarm as the lights flicker and red security lights switch on in the cargo hold you all are in.
The prisoner suddenly lurches and convulses, then she is still. It appears she is dead.
A larger explosion causes the Chimera to violently shudder and alarms sound across the ship. A computerized voice chimes in over the ship's intercom. The voice is calm, but very clear: "Warning: hull breach detected. Abandon ship. Reapeat: abandon ship. Please proceed to the escape pods in a calm and orderly manner."
Just a note. That's it.
T'sorkel looks up alarmed at the sound of the explosion and sees the pirate slump over. "Did we get hit here by something?" He looks around the nearby wall for a sign of something puncturing the hull when the alarm goes off.
"What did they do?! Do any of you know where the escape pods even are?!"
Yariel takes a look at the silver box. On her first try she is able to get the box to open. Oddly, the lock on the box still seems to be in a factory default state and is in an easily spoofed test mode.
Inside is a note written on an unusual thin sheet of metal. The writing is strange.
Doc frowns. "I don't believe this is what our piratical visitors were after. It seems that someone was one step ahead of them." She peers at the thin sheet of metal, trying to recognize the script, if not the contents.
...all hell breaks loose.
"Seachd ifrinn!" Doc's icy composure breaks for a moment as the ship rolls under their feet. She runs over to the most recently-living pirate, brusquely thumbing open her eyelid and running a hurried scan.
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Yariel's eyes go wide as the explosion rocks the ship. She quickly shoves the paper into her pack and activates a protective barrier on herself and Doc.
Life Bubble on Self and Doc, lasts 2 days
Looking at the others a brief moment, "Let's uh... hope we don't need that spell for everyone cause I can only hit two more of you if we get spaced." With that disappointment lingering she moves to the door and looks out in the hall.
"Don't wait to long all, either the pirate ship blew or our ship is starting to blow or we are being attacked. Either way I'm headed to the escape pods. Ship comps are built to know a lot more than we do and I'm gonna listen to it. The pods are at the rear of this level, just past our quarters if you have anything still there."
[dice=Culture to Decipher Writing]1d20+9
Seconds before the explosions begin T'sorkel and Doc try to decipher the note. It seems it's written in Aklo, and it says something to the effect of:
“Relic removed for recalibration.
Install before starting simulation.” A bizarre geometric
symbol that isn’t an Aklo glyph marks the bottom.
Doc quickly examines the body of the now dead pirate. Blood is coming from her mouth, nose, and ears. It almost looks like a stroke--a very MASSIVE stroke. No time to do an autopsy though....
Those escape pods are indeed at the back of the Chimera. You all watched the safety video at the beginning of the journey, right?
“Relic removed for recalibration. Install before starting simulation.” A bizarre geometric symbol that isn’t an Aklo glyph marks the bottom.
...
It almost looks like a stroke--a very MASSIVE stroke.
Doc stands still among the chaos, slightly stunned as she starts putting the pieces together.
Rats. Rats inna maze.
"The pirate ship isn't an option. Too open-ended. It's just not in the script." Doc calmly smooths her jacket, walking unhurriedly towards the aft of the vessel. "This is the part of the story where we use the escape pods. If they work. Don't bother with the professor or the crew. They're dead already."
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Yariel heads straight to her quarters and quickly locks herself inside.
She does a quick but thorough scan for any immediate concerns to her health (exposed wiring, gas leaks, knife wielding maniac under the bed or in the closet, etc...). Finding none she plugs in her computer and begins playing the ship information in the background while doing her own research.
Her first priority is to work up a full readout on the ship's systems and download copies of all their repair manuals. Being stranded when a ship engineer drops from a heart attack and not being able to get things fixed is a constant paranoia of hers.
As the ship info video lists the restricted areas, she rolls her eyes and resumes her research. Once everything is queue'd up, she takes a much closer look at her cabin. Inch by inch inspecting for recording devices and hidden hatches. She also looks over the vent and utility conduit systems to see if there would be enough space for her or someone else to use them to move around the ship.
After the ship launches, she waits about twenty minutes before her stomach growls. The Ysoki heads to the galley to order a deli-meat sandwich and carbonated beverage. Sitting by herself in the corner she starts skimming the manuals for the primary systems, occasionally taking a bite or drink.
As the Shirren and Taur begin chattering at the table over about family she jumps in with a correction, "Having two partners would be a luxury for most of us. I grew up with my Ma an five siblings. We had plenty of help in the community, the old saying 'it takes a village to raise a child' and all that. But mostly it was just us struggling day by day. That's most of the people I knew too. So many deaths at the hands of the corrupt a-holes in power." The vitriol in her voice definitely shows she harbors a bit of a grudge still.
Yariel eyes the doc a bit and mumbles, "Well yeah, probably. I mean we could at least open the door and check on the professor."
T'sorkel hurries after the Doctor. "The Professor's dead? Like the pirate? What happened, Doctor?" He secures the twins to his suit as they make their way to the escape pods.
T'sorkel hurries after the Doctor. "The Professor's dead? Like the pirate? What happened, Doctor?" He secures the twins to his suit as they make their way to the escape pods.
"The Chimera is a laboratory, T'sorkel," Doc replies in a too-calm voice, "and we are the test subjects. Every person, item, and event aboard this ship is part of an experimental apparatus."
As the klaxons continue to blare, Doc's face tightens. "It appears this simulation is being actively terminated."
As they pass the dining hall and the staterooms, T'sorkel will hurry to them and open the doors, looking for anyone still alive.
It seems as though the consensus is to head toward the escape pods. Peaking through the small portholes into the airlocks confirms this may be the best option, as all you can see is smoke and fire.
As you step out of the cargo bay and start down the hallway near the side entrance to the dining hall you all notice some safety gear in the corridor (perhaps by the pirates, or maybe Lozu or Kiiv).
an emergency case with a basic medkit, crowbar (a type of manual tool;
Starfinder Armory 131), a basic handaxe (Armory 8), and a
fire extinguisher.
As you take a moment to gather these items, there is an explosion and the ship shudders. Pipes in the walls and ceilings spew caustic chemicals, causing acid burns and blistering skin.