Fitch replies to Oddman, "No, I won't be headed over just yet. My grandchildren and I will keep an eye on things here on the ship. I'll be on comms if you need me."
With regards to Kultainen's question, he uncertain. "I'm not certain what the current complement is. One thing worth noting is that the SRO and anacite employees shouldn't register as life signs."
Fitch breaks it down with his own assessment of the situation. “Indigo Deep’s in bad shape, no doubt. Even if the landing pad
were there, the Pegasus is too large to dock with the station,
and just drawing too close could disrupt the station’s orbit.
We need a team on the ground—not just to figure out what’s
going on and reestablish communications, but also to assist any
survivors. I’ll mind the starship and use this time to reconfigure
our own sensors to help provide you as much intelligence as I
can. As for you, well, you kids ever gone skydiving?”
Indigo Deep is a roughly half-dome shape with several additional
projections and instrumentation. Using the images provided by the
starship’s sensors, Fitch points out that there are two main target
areas where the you all should be able to enter: the main airlock near where the landing pad once projected, and an auxiliary airlock
about 90 degrees clockwise from there. As best she can speculate,
the main airlock should be an easier target to reach while diving,
but the area sustained more damage and might require some brute
force to open. The auxiliary airlock seems undamaged, though it’s a
smaller landing area and might be locked.
She leaves the choice up to the all of you as to which target to aim for, though she recommendsnot splitting the group. It’s necessary to dive, using the jetpacks sparingly so as to preserve their charge for the return ascent.
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"Guess I'll keep my thermal capacitors and forego the radiation buffers." sighs Kultanien.
"Although I only fitted them for a particular mission. That said, looking at the odd readings, what is the chance there is some unusual radiation down there?"
"I suggest we try for the undamaged air-lock, but if the rest of you prefer to aim for the main target, I'm happy for that as well."
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Fizz also has to remove jumpjets to fit the better jetpack.
"Agreed om the entrance. Oh and as a just-in-case I think we should all Life Bubble up before leaving the ship. Had a run-in with creatures that liked to breach environmental seals not long ago."
Fizz shivered. "Thankfully it was 'just' killing cold instead of hard vacuum, but I have the spell and the slot to spare if anyone cares for it."
A PC who successfully impressed Zivv earlier can reroll one
failed Fortitude save or Acrobatics, Athletics, Piloting, or Stealth
check during this encounter and use the second result. A PC can
also fire up her jetpack and expend 1d6 charges before attempting
an Acrobatics check, Athletics check, Piloting check, or saving
throw in order to gain a +2 circumstance bonus to their result. A
character who can naturally fly or control her descent (such as
with the glider racial ability) gains this +2 circumstance bonus
without expending any charges.
IDENTIFY THE PATH (CHECK FROM A SINGLE PC)
Although they appear lazy and calm, Wehemothal’s clouds travel
at great speeds, forming tumultuous eddies and zones of relative
calm. A PC must identify an ideal route and time the descent for
the group.
Check: DC 22 Physical Science, DC 22 Survival, or DC 25
Perception
DODGE DEBRIS (ALL PCS)
The chilly atmosphere freezes water and many other liquids,
creating hail and even larger bergs that the winds whip about at
extreme speeds. The PCs need to move quickly to evade a cluster
of this debris.
Check: DC 22 Acrobatics, DC 2 Piloting, or DC 18 Reflex save.
Special: A PC who has cold resistance gains a circumstance
bonus to this check equal to their resistance total divided by
5 (rounded down), plus 1 (e.g. +3 for cold resistance 10).
CURIOUS CLOUD RAYS (ALL PCS)
Cloud rays, immense ray-like creatures, are a common sight on
gas giants, and although they’re rarely aggressive, they startle
easily and are large enough to cause substantial damage. The
PCs need to adjust their descent to avoid spooking the creatures.
Check: DC 22 Life Science, DC 22 Stealth
Special: A PC who can communicate with animals can use
Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Survival in place of the above
skills.
RESIST THE G-FORCES (ALL PCS)
As the PCs reach terminal velocity, the descent strains their bodies, slowing their reactions and blurring their perception. The PCs must resist the strain to stay on target.
Check: DC 22 Athletics or DC 18 Fortitude
BYPASS THE LASERS (CHECK FROM SINGLE PC)
Indigo Deep has small laser batteries designed to vaporize small
debris before it can impact the station. As the PCs approach, their
comm units light up with alerts about impending vaporization—a
courtesy message broadcast by the batteries to ensure they don’t
fire on sentient creatures. Falling at this speed, though, the PCs
only have a few precious seconds to provide a confirmation and
override the lasers!
Check: DC 22 Computers, DC 22 Sleight of Hand
Special: If the PC fails, the lasers attack each PC with a +13 bonus
to hit against EAC, dealing 6d6 fire damage (+15 to hit and
dealing 4d12 damage for Levels 7–8).
STICK THE LANDING (ALL PCS)
As the PCs approach their target, they need to fire their6jetpack
thrusters to slow their descent and land safely.
Check: DC 21 Acrobatics, DC 21 Piloting, DC 14 Reflex
Special: If the PC aimed for the auxiliary airlock, increase the DCs
by 2.
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Kultanien straps into her suit and sets off.
"Look out everyone. There seems to be a debris field, presumably left over from whatever caused the damage to the station."
She does her best to avoid the worst of the field, putting the hours of simulated flying into practise.
As she plummets toward the station, a small swarm of cloud-rays is attracted by light glinting off her suit. Jopsie, clinging to her back, suggests sending a burst of gamma radiation from the medikit to try and discourage them.
"Thanks Jopsie, you're a life saver. Maybe those rather beautiful ray's lives this time. Or maybe mine."
As the plummet to the station continues, Kultanien feels the build up of g-forces within her suit. "It's like a vesk massage!"
While others try to divert the lasers, Kultanien tries to kick the landing. "I'm glad we picked the big surface!" she calls out.
And eventually she lands, gracefully and with more than a little relief. Jopsie peals herself off from the carrying harnass.
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IDENTIFY THE PATH (CHECK FROM A SINGLE PC)
DODGE DEBRIS (ALL PCS)
The chilly atmosphere freezes water and many other liquids,
creating hail and even larger bergs that the winds whip about at
extreme speeds. The PCs need to move quickly to evade a cluster
of this debris.
CURIOUS CLOUD RAYS (ALL PCS)
RESIST THE G-FORCES (ALL PCS)
BYPASS THE LASERS (CHECK FROM SINGLE PC)
STICK THE LANDING (ALL PCS)
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Dodge Debris:
Curious Cloud Rays:
"Okay, uncle, these things can be a little skittish ..." Myron says, giving Brock encouragement over the comms. "Just give them a wide berth and you should be fine."
Resist the G-forces:
Stick the Landing:
Brock looks like he was born to fly, something not often said about dwarves (even when they have jetpacks). He does not, however, appear to be born to land.
[bigger]-THE AFTERMATH-[/BIIGER]
Albertus and Kultainen are nearly perfect as they swoop to the landing pad on the station. They're truly naturals at this.
Brock is nearly as good, though his landing is very clumsy.
Oddman and Fizz have some trouble. Maybe you got lemons for jet packs, or maybe you're just not meant to fly. In any case, both of you land VERY banged up.
The wide landing pad that once jutted from the space station
now extends only about ten feet before ending in jagged
metal. The airlock is a broad, rectangular port large enough to
drive a forklift through.
the landing pad wasn’t broken off by an impact but was instead
shorn off by some imprecise cutting motion.
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Hmm looks like this was cut off by something, but there are definate signs of impact. I'm going to do a quick fly around and see if I can do a quick damage survey. I could use a buddy for safetys sake. I should be able pop that airlock open in a jiffy when we get back."
As soon as at least one other person is willing to fly around with him Albertus will take off.
Albertus and Brock take a quick flying tour around the exterior of the station. They notice large dents in the side of the station, numerous places where sensor arrays have snapped off, and even a few 1-foot wide HOLES that have been "punched" in the side of the station.
The second set of airlock doors have only minor damage, and are fully functional. They open to reveal a large warehouse or staging area for receiving cargo for the station.
The center of this wide area is a mess, with an assortment of crates, barrels, and hard-sided personal luggage, all piled together in a
disorderly jumble.
The silence is concerning. No one answers Brock's call.
The cargo consists mostly of typical supplies
like food, water, low-capacity batteries, robot maintenance
equipment, and starship fuel. The personal effects are
quite sparse, consisting more of tier 1 computers and gear
maintenance kits than clothing and toiletries.
gear is better suited to technological beings such as SROs and
anacites.
You do find a couple of interesting things that could be immediately useful:
1. You find a red star plasma cannon in a heavily padded
crate. The weapon is a working prototype to test a new gas-ionizing
technology, and the gun lacks any serial number or
maker’s mark.
2. You also find a standard key card wedged
among the crates.
Kultainen, you do not see any sort of terminals in this exact area, but the area to the south appears to be promising in that regard.
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"Interesting... this gear is suited for SROs, anacites or androids.. technological beings."
She points out the cannon to the rest of the team. "Not really my style, but I wonder if this is what they were working on? No serial number.."
Lifting the keycard she adds "I wonder if this will prove helpful."
She heads south to see what the computers can reveal. First up she'll try using the keycard to see if the previous owner had anything interesting in the way of communications that might reveal what had happened.[/b]"
Kultainen, with Oddman tagging along, move toward the bank of computers to the south. There appear to be several control sticks and a multitude of monitors.
This could be some sort of piloting or or control station when the station needs to be moved or work is going on outside the station.
station’s exterior using the surviving cameras, though the main
sensor array is offline, blocking view of anything more than a
few hundred feet from the station. A PC can also use the various
control sticks to control several strong sets of robotic arms
installed at various points across the hull. With these, a PC can
perform two major tasks: repairing antennae and repairing the
space platform. Either task involves either a sound understanding
of the mechanisms (using the Engineering skill) or a steady
hand to guide the robotic arms while trusting the automated
repair programs to weld the right pieces back together (Piloting,
Sleight of Hand, or a Reflex save). A PC able to adhere to the
station’s underside (such as with magboots) can elect to exit the
station and manually wrestle the key elements back into place
(Athletics). In either case, an attempt requires 5 minutes and a
DC 22 check. Should there be successful checks you may have benefits later on. Failing by 10 or more
irrevocably breaks that component (such as causing the space
platform to drop off the station into the planet’s atmosphere).
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Albertus glances at the experimental plasma cannon "I'm suddently very glad my partner T'iim isn't here" Seeing the computer terminal has been repaired he comes over to take a look. "hey thats some nice work, but mind of I have a go at it." Albertus will take 10 for a 30 Engineering check on both repairs starting with the space platform.
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Fizz also steps up to the control station and helps the other characters patching the panel.
"Hmm, using this control panel we can repair the landing platform and main sensor array. We'll repair the the platform first so the shuttle can come in, then repair the antenna."
Fizz also looks if he can link one of his computers (probably the minor one) into this panel just in case it can give alerts or alarms.