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"Ha! Fungal extermination sounds surprisingly accurate. Yeah, I hope there aren't too many of these.
Um, I got a call from a friend, Chiaiese. We've worked together before on a...." He tried to formulate a coherent thought about what happened in the Echo-Juliet sector. He decided that 'coherent' just wasn't a thing that was going to happen.
"a...'thing'." is about all he can say about that.
"But she's good people," he finishes, examining the random stuffs they came up with while Yoro recovered from the fight.
How are we tracking loot? Is someone keeping a list?

Tremox Soshi |

We haven't had any loot until now... :)
The yoski tugs on his whiskers and flicks his ears as he sees Chiaiese arrive. "Well, at least she's fast. I'll add her name to the fees list." He pull out a datapad to make the notation.
"So what salvage did we find?"

Chiaiese |

The trip down to the mysterious cargo hold is dirty, dark, and claustrophobic, but otherwise uneventful. She emerges into the dusty void and immediately sees the cluster of lights from the group that arrived before her.
She identifies Viv first - hard not to, and then Anton.
"Well, this certainly isn't how I imagined we'd have our reunion!" she says with cheer she doesn't quite feel. The hold is ominous, and there are dead things strewn about, evidence of a very recent skirmish from which this group appears to have escaped mostly unscathed.
She greets the others, recalling their names by species from the intel she received prior to arrival. "Tremox, Xic, Yoromishtali, and Thuldas, if my information is correct. My name is Chiaiese, but you may call me Chasey if you prefer.
"Bubs said you were all highly capable, and I see he was right in that assessment. I appreciate your indulging my presence, and I hope I don't slow you down."
Chiaiese appears to be unarmed except for a sheathed survival knife, and she wears second skin armor that leaves little work for the imagination. Around her waist a slender belt carries various toolkits. A thick mane of heavily stylized mahogany hair nearly obscures her antennae, so that all you see are the tips. She carries her datapad as if she's recording everything in front of her.

Yoromishtali |

”Well met, Chiaiese,” Yoromishtali says. "I doubt you'll slow us down."
He gathers the abandoned items into a spot to examine them better. ”If nothing else we could sell this later. It won’t bother me to carry some extra gear, like the extinguisher and cable line. Some meals too of course. Does anyone want the drill or toolkit?”

GM Quirk |

The way forward seems to be another narrow conduit at the far end of the cargo hold (left side of map).
If anyone hasn't made a perception check to search yet, you may as you make your way toward the exit. Yoro did a pretty good job noticing each of the interesting items one by one (sort of like a hidden pictures puzzle from a children's magazine my parents got me all those years ago), but there could be additional items.

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"Oy! Chasey! 'Ow you doin?" Anton calls in greeting as he sees her.
The small hoverdrone Viv comes whirring up to Chasey like a curious butterfly. *beep* *beep* *boop* *bop* she says in salutations, before turning off and leading the group down the conduit.

Tremox Soshi |

"Heya Chasey. Good to have you with us. Friends call me Mox or Moxie. I hear you might be able to help us. You heard all about Bubs' missing ship, right? I mean if it's still there, it's his legal property...unless someone's stripped it for salvage already. But that doesn't negate our contract and finder's fee with him. So we just gotta find the little thing. Easy peasy. You're in, yeah?"

Chiaiese |

"Bubs was short on details, but I am here to help. I hope you don't mind me taking notes; my interest in this story is purely professional. I'm starting up a News feed based in The Gallery - same building as Bubs, as luck would have it.
"Hmm, I see a control panel over there..."
Chiaiese addresses the old panel to see if power can be restored.
Engineering: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 8 + 2 = 12 Using toolkit
"Anton, does this interest you at all?"

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Xic finds a computer terminal nearby. Surprisingly, there is still some power in the room (as evidenced by the semi-functional lighting in the room). The computer powers up!
"Whahuhhhh?" Anton says, spinning full around before coming to rest and staring at Chasey. "Oh, huh, I...I didn't notice that. Um, yeah, lemme just--"
He brings up his forearm and unfolds a manifold of connections and tools.
It says the Engineering DC to fix a computer console is 20.
Engineering!: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20 ^_^
"I think I could get it online. Should we try to see if it has, like, old schematics of what used to be around here so we can get around easier?"

GM Quirk |

The control panel Chiaiese finds seems to duplicate the functions of the one Xic was using earlier. It controls lighting (which has largely been restored), environmental settings, and fire suppression. It also controls the overhead gantries in this room (the one over the east end of the room will extend over the area above the derelict shuttle).

Chiaiese |

"The gantry is conspicuously operation. Shall we lift something? How about that shuttle?" offer Chiaiese, curious like a cat.

Tremox Soshi |

Moxie looks up at the crane. "You just want an excuse to play with it, huh? I mean, I guess there's no one to stop you. Not much in here you can wreck more than it already is."
Go for it!

Chiaiese |

So long as Anton doesn't mind, Chiaiese sidles up beside him at the control panel and settles her hands on the joystick and switches. It all seems fairly intuitive.
Computers: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Chiaiese |

"Then you shouldn't have given me something to play with," replies Chiaiese, maneuvering the gantry over the shuttle.

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The way forward seems to be another narrow conduit at the far end of the cargo hold (left side of map).
"That, um, isn't why I fixed it," Anton murmurs, shaking his head in confusion.
"Um, yeah, Yoro, let's go forward. Chasey will catch up if anything tries to eat her."

Chiaiese |

Do we have a log file for party treasure?
Chiaiese sets the shuttle back down, and winks at Xic. The group seems impatient to move on, and as she predicted, she was already slowing them down.
"Right behind you!"

GM Quirk |

Checking the credstick, you see that it has 275 credits on it.
I'll set up your next room tomorrow. Great job everyone. I was giving everyone a perception chance the notice the credstick, none of which were high enough. Choosing the move the damaged shuttle was a sure way to catch the gleam of the ornamental metallic credstick.

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For now I'm just C&Ping it into the top of my charsheet. I figure anything that we don't need we'll just liquidate later.
'How does she -do- that?' Anton thinks, agog at how Chasey can just show up and start finding treasure like that.

GM Quirk |

Once again you find yourselves traversing large conduits and vent shafts. After what seems like ages of crawling, you find a vent on the floor which drops you onto some sort of catwalk. Your feet make a distinctive "tink...tink...tink sound as you walk across the metallic floor.
Openings ahead indicate a much larger room. Peeking around the corner you see another dimly lit cargo bay, also apparently long abandoned. It is dominated by three very large open-topped shipping containers. From you vantage point on the catwalk (approximately 15 feet above the floor of the cargo hold) you can see that the shipping containers are mostly empty, though there does appear to be some small piles of scrap in each one. There is a ladder at the end of each shipping container facing your position on the catwalk.
Please see the map and let me know if you have any questions. You will need to come up with a way to climb down from these catwalks. Also, I highlighted your tokens in red to make it easier to see them.

Chiaiese |

That looks like another control panel Chiaiese is next to.
Chiaiese' boots were the wrong choice for this kind of cloak-and-dagger operation. She settles into the chair in front of the nearby console, withdraws her engineering toolkit, and attempts to route power into it.
Engineering: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 8 + 2 = 20

Tremox Soshi |

Unperturbed by the darkness, Moxie ventures out a small distance on one of the catwalks to look down into the cargo bay while Chiaiese plays with the panel.
Darkvision!

GM Quirk |

Chasey finds that the control panel has minimal power, but she is a able to get some functionality. The lighting controls do not function, so you'll have to make do with the dim security lights and whatever else you have to deal with the near darkness.
One thing she does find is a control to extend the catwalk to her right (the one Tremox is one) all the way across to the other side. For some reason, there appears to be sufficient power to do so if you would like.
Tremox sees a couple of things. Number one, there is a ladder along the catwalk on the other side of the cargo hold.
He also notices (as does Viv) that in addition to the flickering security lights a various points around the hold, there is another light to the right side of the room.
Could that be a vending machine? And it's plugged in and running? Maybe it's on the same power circuit as the moving catwalk.

Chiaiese |

"All yours, Moxie," says Chiaiese as she presses the control to extend the catwalk. "Don't be surprised if it tries to eat you instead."

Yoromishtali |

”Do you think the snacks expired?” Yoromishtali asks approaching the machine. ”What?! Jerky Slams? Oh, flashlights!” The vesk gets out his comm and transfers three credits for three flashlights. He pauses a moment and transfers one more credit for a packet of Veskarium Jerky Slams. ”I wonder if these are manufactured here or in the Veskarium.” He glances at the packet then puts it into his backpack, readjusting his laser rifle and doshko in the process.
”Should one of us climb up the catwalk and provide cover in case some other creature attacks us?”

GM Quirk |

The catwalk safely extends, allowing access to the ladder down on the far side.
The vending machine is indeed operational, and contains several favorite snacks, along with a few handy items (at discounted prices!).
Take a look at slide #3. This was something I created to place aboard the ship from the Threefold Conspiracy adventure The Chimera Mystery. There are one or two items of questionable taste--for that I apologize. The reference to Grath refers to a lecherous NPC on the ship. Captain Rameem's vending machines are notoriously hard to break into. It may be best not to try.

Chiaiese |

Seeing that none of the others were attacked by the ominous rogue vending machine, Chiaiese struts across the catwalk to peruse its contents.
Lashunta Fruit Cremes - gross! she thinks.
"We should blow that cred stick we just found on the medical supplies. Five Serums of Healing and one Medpatch. Anyone disagree?"
While they consider that, she plunks a credit into the machine for one of the bath towel packets, inserting into a belt pouch. Smiling she thinks to herself, The most useful item in the universe, and I forgot to bring one. What luck!

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"Huh? It's only a towel. How can that ever possibly be useful?" Anton muses at Chasey's last impulse purchase.
Then, thinking that he might want to copy it since it's possible he doesn't know what she doesn't know that he doesn't know what she knows, he decides to get one too.
Unfortunately he messes up his first attempt and gets an Emergency Condom instead. "Whoops," he mumbles, getting the bath towel on his second try.
"Should we extend the catwalk now?"

Tremox Soshi |

"Hey! Nibs and a tea!" Moxie taps the machine and eagerly chows down on the chewy mix and the slurp bottle that is ejected. He looks at the others and burps.
"There's a ladder down to the lower level over there." He points to the edge of the catwalk.
We had to extend the catwalk to get to the vending machine. We're actually over on the right side of the map.

GM Quirk |

To be clear, the ladder extends from the catwalk to the level that the large shipping containers and the vending machine is on. Yes, it did require extending the catwalk to to get there (although you all probably could have figured out a way to climb down with relatively easy skill checks). Tell you what: later on I will double check prices for medicinals, which were lowered in the new soft cover version of the rulebook. I will revise the price and the availability of certain meds. I want this to be like a treasure, so I want this stuff to be a good deal--that Captain Rameem always seems to make the best deals...

Chiaiese |

Tell you what: later on I will double check prices for medicinals, which were lowered in the new soft cover version of the rulebook. I will revise the price and the availability of certain meds. I want this to be like a treasure, so I want this stuff to be a good deal--that Captain Rameem always seems to make the best deals...
Cool - 50 cr for a Serum of Healing is the regular price. Since no one disapproved, I'll go ahead and spend the 275 credits here for the aforementioned supplies. Everyone add one Mk1 Serum of Healing to your inventory.
Having secured the medical supplies, Chiaiese heads for the far end of the catwalk to investigate what appears to be another computer console.
Computers: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

GM Quirk |

Yes, the medicinals are already a good price (usually 75 credits for most), so we'll leave it as is.
Yoro finds that the bag of Vesk Jerky Slams he purchased from the machine is still in date (though barely). They taste fine. Two out three of the flashlights work fine, the third is acting up (it currently has the broken condition).
Similarly, Moxie finds that his choices from the machine are all within date and quite tasty.
Anton finds that the "Emergency Condom" is quite large, and would cover just about anyone from head to toe with minimal stretching.
The machine dispenses the five serums and medpatch without issue to Chasey.
The second terminal that Chasey approaches has no power at all. Perhaps if power could be restored to this portion of the room this terminal could be accessed. Unfortunately, that may mean accessing an engineering panel outside of this room.
There's someone in here.
We'll deal with whoever--or WHATEVER--is in here with you tomorrow.

Chiaiese |

Chiaiese shakes her head. I'll try talking to him, she sends telepathically to the group.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
"Apologies, friend," she calls into the container, shining her flashlight indirectly to avoid causing more trauma than they have already inflicted on the stranger's senses.
"If you're interested in a little hair of the dog, I'll buy you a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster from the machine here, although my guess is that's what got you there in the first place."

Tremox Soshi |

"Aww, nah! Let's go have a chat!" Moxie winks at Xic, then nods to Chasey as he hears her voice in his head. The yoski crouches down peering into the darkness at the container as Chasey calls out to him.

Yoromishtali |

”Probably an easy fix,” Yoromishtali says examining the broken flashlight. ”Or maybe we’ll need a broken flashlight for some reason. You never know. Thanks Chiasiese for the serum. I’ll give you some martial arts lessons in exchange.”
Hearing the grumbling coming from the container, the vesk takes his doshko from his back, ready in case they get attacked. He isn’t sure why an individual person would attack this group, but when a person’s riled up they can do irrational things.
He stays quiet, letting the friendly ysoki and lashunta take the lead.

GM Quirk |

The man is now attempting to climb out of the shipping container. You can see he has the tell-tale antennae of a Lashunta.
"YES! From the vending machine! A GARGLE BLASTER! Would you get me one? Maybe it will bring me down a little easier...ANYWAY...what are you all doing down here in the king's forest?" He extends his arms as if to gesture that this large cargo hold is indeed "the king's forest".

Chiaiese |

Chiaiese hesitates. The reputation of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is one of infamy. But she had offered, and he had accepted, so it was too late to back out now. And besides she was not inclined to paternalism; if his liver exploded they were no worse off than before they knew he was here. The thought that causes her to pause is he might actually be helpful, but not if he is dead.
She shrugs and deposits a credit into the vending machine and purchases 1 Pan Galactic Gargle blaster, then levitates the beverage to the other Lashunta.

Tremox Soshi |

Moxie nods as Chasey gets the drink from the machine. "Hey buddy. You seen anyone else come through here recently? We're hunting down some salvage. Anything interesting down here?"
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

GM Quirk |

Moxie nods as Chasey gets the drink from the machine. "Hey buddy. You seen anyone else come through here recently? We're hunting down some salvage. Anything interesting down here?"
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+7
Nice roll.
The Lashunta squints as he looks at the ysoki questioning him. As he finishes clumsily climbing out of the shipping container he takes the drink from Chasey , cracks it open, and takes a long draught of the potent beverage.
He whispers "It's good...mmmm...gooood..."
Finally addressing Tremox, he says, "Uhhh, I just come down here everyone once in a while to sleep one off. Had to hide from some goblins once. I think they were just looking for some choice scrap, and they either didn't notice me, or didn't care. Of course there are a few other places along the catwalks and conduits one can find down here in the KING'S FOREST if you know what you're looking for!"
He takes another long gulp. "So...what are you guys looking for?"

Chiaiese |

"A ship captain named Jif McLaren," answers Chiaiese. Her training as a clandestine agent kicks in, and the half-truths pass her lips with ease. "Apparently his ship, the Djinni Mirage,was left to rot and some insurance hustler got his hooks into it. If we find Jif and his ship, then we all get a cut of the salvage," she says, playing on a hunch.
Profession, Spy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

GM Quirk |

Interesting angle, Chasey.
The lashunta looks confused. "I've not heard of that ship, AND I KNOW EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS DOWN HERE IN THE KING'S FOREST!"
The lashunta turns away and vomits. After clearing his throat, he continues, this time whispering conspiringly. "There are places even the King does not go. Maybe your ship is behind one of those doors."