"Punching in the fastest route now." Which is
"Well, let's not waste any time. I'm eager to get back to finagling. Lead us onward."
"Right. Let's go."
Ten minutes later, the party stands.... nowhere. It's an alley with nothing interesting... at first.
Lin Camulan lights up your coms, "Look for an access panel on the northside building. You'll figure it out from there."
Everyone sees it immediately.
It involves some tight squeezes for Dunklezahn, but nothing too bad. Along the way you notice several hatches that are unexpectedly open...
Booker keeps an eye out. Two, actually.
Hack-It is on high alert. He doesn't trust when things are too easy.
You notice an odd figure watching you from shadowy corners and from behind tangles of pipes. Dressed in stylish formal wear with pale bluish skin and dark blue hair, this odd being looks mostly humanoid except for the elegant golden horns sweeping backward from his temples and the golden insectile wings on his back. The instant before you take action to either call or approach, it vanishes.
Apparently, Janzi takes 10 on that. LOL
Janzi can tell it's neither angel nor fey, but something from an even stranger dimension...
Weird, Janzi says. And for us to say that, it's really weird, cos we've seen some f*cked up sh!t.
There's a telepathic response, "Interesting and entertaining. We shall see." He then vanishes again.
Janzi rubs his temple a bit. Guessing the vanishing sharp-dressed one is in wait-and-see mode, he says. I say we don't bother him unless there's a reason. C'mon, we gots a mission.
The party moves on, eventually coming to an area that seems important.
Plain, white ceramic plates seal the walls of this cylindrical tunnel. A set of maglev rails runs down the floor of the tube, their sleek, black tracks silent and bereft of power. Patches of air burst into strange, shimmering clouds, which swirl in undulating patterns before vanishing into nothingness.
"Hmm. I don't know why, but this area seems important."
Booker dedicates particular attention to the doors, and asks Janzi to do the same.
Sure, sure. Janzi is distracted thinking about the vanishing telepath seen before.
Four skittermander-sized uniforms lie in a rumpled heap near the middle of this corridor beside a few discarded engineering tools. Holographic name tags designate the uniforms as belonging to Cilo, Quat, Taibi, and Vonuut. The uniforms show no sign of damage or violence, but more importantly, they’re also devoid of skittermanders.
[ooc]They're mascots and super popular creatures in Starfinder. They're like a cross between ewoks and Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch.)
"Alright everyone, be on the lookout for four naked skiddermanders that answer to the name Cilo, Quat, Taibi, and Vonuut. They shouldn't be too hard to find."
Gig looks at the uniforms and checks the pockets for valuables or clues.
He then looks to see if any of the discarded engineering tools look useful.
"We'll see 'bout that." Booker helps him.
The uniforms are empty....
Suddenly, from out of the shadows a naked skittermander infant comes rushing forth. It leaps onto Dunk's calf muscle (or rather, the armor over it) and tries to eat it's way through the armor.
It's quite clear that the skittermander will die of old age before it gets through.
"Janzi?" Booker grunts, lighting a cigarette and watching the little tyke gnaw. "I think this's your turf."
nom nom nom
"I was not expecting to find infant skittermanders! Now they are our responsibility to help them find their mother!"
Nah, the parents don't really take care of their brood, Janzi says, observing the hungry tyke with some amusement. They hafta fend for themselves for the most part. But they eat everything — or, in the case of this one, they try to.
Janzi reaches out with his mind in whatever language he thinks will work. Hey, squirt, what's your name?
"Nom Ci.... nom Lo nom. Cilo nom nom nom."
This one is Cilo, Janzi says. And I think he's hungry.
Janzi fishes out some rations and offers them to the skittermander.
Booker scratches thoughtfully at his stubble. "They always like this, or did that one turn back inta a toddler somehow?"
|
Watched an edutainment special once where they showed jellyfish that could do that. If they got too old or hurt, they'd regress to a youth and start over again. Never heard of anything more complex doing that. He ain't botherin' me none. Though, with what we're up to, I wouldn't recommend he keeps it up.
Cilo gives up on Dunklezahn's leg and scurries up to the top of his helmet, where he promptly sits. Hard to tell, but it looks like he then slaps the back of the vesk's head as if to say, Giddy'up.
Janzi grins in spite of himself. It's like he's back home on Vesk-3, huh?
One down, three to go. To Clio, he telepathically says, Any idea where we can find Quat, Taibi, and Vonuut?
"Nu-ah." Janzi can tell that this mind is too "young" to be of any use.
'bout all this little one's got in his head, Janzi says, handing the youth Hack-It's hygiene kit to play with atop Dunk's helmet — not like he's using it — and tucking all four skittermander uniforms away.
Let's keep moving. Cilo seems to agree.
"'Bout time," Booker mutters, stamping out his cigarette. He opens the doors to the east.
Booker touches the doorpad, and promptly starts shaking and shuddering as the trapped door shocks him! Sparks fly and lightning erupts getting everyone except Gig!
.
.....
Poor Cilo does not survive. The skittermander is fried.
"Ow," Booker grumbles.
Janzi sees the sparks arc out from the door and instinctively grabs Cilo off Dunk's head — eliciting a squawk of disapproval — and Dives for Cover, ablling up around Cilo and giving up his own skin to protect that of the skittermander.
Cilo apparently misses the entire reason, beating on Janzi to let them go as the danger subsides. Gingerly picking himself up off the ground, he places Cilo back up atop Dunk, wincing in pain. That wasn't fun.
"Would all of you watch what you are doing?!! Somebody could get killed if we are not careful."
Gig watches in wide eyed anticipation to see if the little skidder makes it.
Hack-It curses. "Find an infant skittermander and suddenly you all forget that there's danger?! Maybe remember to check the door in the future?"
He then flies further back, showing his confidence at the group's ability to follow through on his suggestions.
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Booker turns instantly on Hack-It. "Janzi an' I both checked the door. You wanna not get fried, check the damn door yourself an' be helpful for once, since you've got better eyes than I do." He jabs his rifle into the ysoki's chest. "If all you've got is complaints, keep yer mouth shut, or so help me, I'll have Janzi sew it shut while Gig sings you a lullaby."
Janzi's body shields Cilo, and with a heavy priced paid. In the end, the door is opened, and now it seems pretty safe. Six rows of desks with powered-down computer displays occupy most of this room. Thick layers of grime and neglect cover patches of the walls and floors, while other sections gleam with a pristine shine. Four hardened glass chambers to the west contain the auxiliary generators: dull, cylindrical towers that stretch from floor to ceiling. The smell of ozone fills the air.
A quartet of Starstone Defenders appear to be attempting to blowtorch through the bulkhead into the space above the Starstone Reactor proper. "Ha! Back up. We don't need it though, we got this."
"I'll have Janzi sew it shut while Gig sings you a lullaby."
"And Hack, I will have you know that I am a much better keyboardist than I am a singer. In truth, I have trouble matching pitch."
"Ha! Back up. We don't need it though, we got this."
"What exactly do you have? We don't really have a lot of time, So tell me, what are you doing there?"
The man who identifies himself as Korrev flips his helm up to answer, “We can’t seem to restore power in the auxiliary generators through any mundane means. If we cut through this wall and get directly to the Starstone, we might be able to shield it from whatever that energy beam is and channel power back to the entire station.”
Booker looks at Korrev, then at Janzi, then back to Korrev...
"Shouting at me to do your job? Yeah, that's fresh," Hack-It says with irritation.
When Gig joins in after also chastising Booker the mechanic looks incredulous. "Morlamaw balls, you're such a hypocrite."
Tired of all of this, he flies up to do some aerial scouting while the others talk.
Janzi looks at the wall dubiously. Of course, if you cut through this wall and things blow up, none of it will matter, will it?
"Morlamaw balls, you're such a hypocrite."
"No, its true. I cannot sing very well. That's why I prefer playing keyboards. Are you any good at singing? Maybe you could join my band?"
"“We can’t seem to restore power in the auxiliary generators through any mundane means. If we cut through this wall and get directly to the Starstone, we might be able to shield it from whatever that energy beam is and channel power back to the entire station.”
"I'm pretty good at engineering. Is there anything I can do to help?"