CULTURE (RECALL KNOWLEDGE) OR LIFE SCIENCE (RECALL KNOWLEDGE)
Wrikreechees and their home planet, Akchios.
CULTURE (RECALL KNOWLEDGE) OR PROFESSION (LAB TECHNICIAN)
Resurgent Technologies.
***
You begin boarding a modified Pegasus-class starship that Fitch has outfitted for the trip. Fitch is on the bridge performing pre-flight checks while reflexively minding three of her grandchildren that are accompanying her for the trip. Fitch waves off the earlier decision, "They'll stay out of the way, and this experience will be good for them and I did promise them a vacation more than a year ago, and this is my first opportunity to do so after spending so much time working on the Master of Stars. This is a pretty routine trip so it is an ideal, safe opportunity for them to spend quality time together and learn skills from professionals", by that she seems to mean you
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Vyviane takes a moment to search up some data with Kelvad and gets yet another cultural packet together.
It take about 10 minutes but with the studious dromada she soon has a working two page Holographic phamplet ready for everyone.
On the bridge of the ship, having slipped into the captain's chair before J'Shun can take it, Vyviane eyes the grandchildren. "Pretty sure you don't want them learning my professional skills... That is unless you want to be the grandmother to a couple of the next generation's best corporate spies."
"We've had quite enough problems with ysoki espionage agents and Grandmother Rat...no apples on this ship."
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"Hello? Yes. This is he..." Chorizal says as he starts to get into the pilot's seat.
He gets the faraway look everyone knows that means that he's listening to someone who's talking to him through his communicator.
"Really? No, no...I'm not doing anything important. Sure, I'll be right there," he says.
He looks at the rest of the crew and Fitch. "Oh, man...bad news guys...my Nana's real sick...I need to go be with her. If it wasn't something so important I definitely wouldn't leave but it is so I have too...you'll do great! I have faith!"
The last is said as he's exiting the ship.
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Izzip’s antennae droop as Chorizal whispers into the phone. ”Oh no! I hope your Nana feels better soon, I’m sure she is very proud of you with all your help in the Society!”
They turn back to the rest of the team. ”It sounds like we won’t have too many other Nanas to worry about among our hosts - it seems Resurgent Technologies is largely run by anacites, androids, and other artificial life forms from Aballon.”
Even with this starship’s faster Drift engine, the voyage is still going to take over a week, unfortunately, this vessel doesn't have a 'kids club', and after a while it turns to you all (as honorary aunts and uncles) to entertain the energetic and inquisitive children. Fitch asks if you can spend time with them and maybe show them sone of the basics...
***
teenager by ysoki standards. When with her younger sister
and cousin, she adopts an eldest sibling seriousness. When
away from them, though, her posturing fades; she tirelessly
tinkers with programming and science homework, and she
appreciates mentorship from academic professionals.
"What's on in the lab? How does that work? Why is water wet? Are you a teacher? What is a watt?"
***
rambunctious than Zivv, Reepu is a budding diva who loves
everything that sparkles, whirs, or explodes. She’s endlessly
curious about the starship and tries to goad the PCs into
showing her dangerous maneuvers or firing lasers at nearby
debris, all while she makes explosion sounds. She also loves
playing games like dress-up and hide-and-seek, and because
she’s a finicky eater, little earns her adoration more than
someone who can prepare food just how she likes it.
"You can't see me!", "This fell out of your pocket", "how do you fly this thing?" "I'm hungry, can you cook?"
***
who delights in bouncing off the walls and pretending to be
a starfighter plane for hours on end. One of the few ways to
keep him still is clever storytelling, as he’s utterly fixated by
stories of adventure, ugly aliens, and childishly rude humor.
"Watch me do a handstand!" "Do you watch Champion Squad?" "I met Zo! once!"
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”Of course, Youngest-Reepu! You know, I was raised by an ysoki family myself, and Mammy-Ikki showed me a few recipes with some ‘pop’ - not all flavor explosions need to happen inside the mouth, you know!” Izzip says with a head-tilt that would be a wink if they had eyelids.
The shirren whips up a high-flame fricassee, using the impressive pyrotechnics to delight the spectacle-obsessed Reepu while also distracting her from the high-nutrient, travel-ready foods slipped into the recipe in lieu of fresh produce.
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Rastar was quieter than usual after that last mission. He kept thinking about how close they had come to losing everything, and how many clues he had missed. He resolved to be more thoughtful in his approaches for now.
When Chorizal decided to leave for a bit of R&R, Rastar grew frustrated. "Chor, don't leave me with His Delusional Loudness! I take it back. That armor doesn't look at all like it belongs on a tinpot dictator from a backwards low-tech world! Come on, man."
But, it was to no avail. Chorizal had left, and now Rastar was stuck with babysitting duty. Honestly, he didn't mind all that much. The ysoki kids were bright, inquisitive, and mischievous. It only took a little encouragement to get them to mock J'Shun with him, and Zivv was his favorite. The littel ysoki sat on his back while he did pushups, balanced on his feet while he did handstands, and followed Rastar around the ship like a puppy hoping you'd drop something tasty.
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"With Captain Chorizal, not available I expect all of you to double your efforts so that we can complete our mission."
The thought of babysitting children is detestable to J'Shun; after all children do not respond well to orders. He ignores them for the entire trip and delegates the responsibility of dealing with them to Lieutenant Isafira.
The babysitting from others does go well, the younglings are thoroughly engaged the whole time, leaving Fitch free to do as Fitch does. They all avoid 'Mr Cranky' J'Shun.
***
Fitch calls you all to the bridge as she gets ready to take the starship out of the Drift. Wehemothal is a beautiful planet with swirls of orange, cerulean, and purple clouds.
"Can I entrust your team to begin scanning the planet, pulling the relay satellite’s data, and initiating contact with Deep Indigo?"
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Vyviane, unwilling to give up the captain's chair to the point she booby trapped it the first day to explode ink on the arse of anyone but her, looks at Vyv's Crew and starts to give orders.
"Izzip! You've got the best finesse with that magical scryer that I've ever seen. I'll leave the scans up to you. Rastar, can you help him if he needs anything? Dr. Helix, I assume you are familiar with this type of relay, right? Can you work on gathering the data from them, and repairing any possible problems that they might have encountered? Finally, Admiral, you're with me on contacting the planet. If we can't get a visual confirmation, Dr. we might need your expertise."
Vyv receives no verbal response from Indigo Deep, though the station does provide an automated series of diagnostics that she is able to supplement with information from the starship’s scanners.
The data shows Indigo Deep has sustained considerable exterior damage, most notably its communications antenna, its landing pad (which is shorn off, with no sign of the station’s shuttle), and several large dents to the hull. Life-support systems are running at minimal capacity, half of the anti-debris lasers are offline, the space platform (a thruster propelled platform for moving larger loads) is damaged, and the station has 19 discrete life signatures.
J'Shun gets nothing either. What Vyv and J'Shun have so far is concerning.
Scanning the Planet - As advertised, Wehemothal projects numerous powerful energies, including electromagnetic and magical fields. The latter are intangible magical pulses that trigger bursts of static but don’t seem to represent any overt threat, though a spellcaster could draw upon that energy. The scanners can sense five different technological probes in the planet’s middle and lower atmosphere, three of which are still online and sending meteorological data. Logs suggest that Indigo Deep has experienced fairly typical weather for the past month, though the lower atmosphere experienced severe turbulence about 20 days ago. Scanning also conveys the special spellcasting option provided by Wehemothal.
Securing Satellite Data - The communications satellite in orbit is in good working order. Using passcodes provided by Resurgent Technologies, you analyze the logs, finding that Indigo Deep attempts to send updates to the home offices about once a week, though thanks to planetary interference, about half of these reach the satellite in a corrupted format. The station’s shuttle periodically travels to the satellite to try rebroadcasting the messages. The satellite successfully received the request for Dr. Tsorsk’s return, though the data logs notes the message failed to reach the station. The last update was 20 days ago, and the last outgoing message was a short, corrupted broadcast 18 days ago. That last message was flagged as a distress call.
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Izzip stops playing with Reepu to take note of all the data coming in. ”Oh dear, it seems there was a lot going on 20 days ago… between the atmospheric disturbances and the distress call, do you think something could have come out of Wehemothal itself and attacked the station? Should we investigate the satellite, or the station itself?”
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Vyviane glances at J'Shun as he tries to usurp control of the ship. She does look to Izzip. "J'Shun is right, we should bring the energy shields up just in case something is out there, Izzip, would you mind, and Doctor can you give us a scan of the surrounding area? But 'Admiral' I'm a big girl and can understand my own emotions without someone telling me what they are. If I'm feeling relieved, I'll tell you. Not vice versa. Also you DO have the comms, so maybe see if you can't get ahold of any of those life forms we've locked on to already." She then looks at Rastar. "The ship's viewscreen is yours. Now how badly broken is the docking area? Doctor, Izzip, do you feel we can get a proper seal, or should we prepare for a space walk?"
She also takes a look when Rastar zooms into the docks area, trying to determine how best to get into the station and if docking there is even viable.
Vyv can tell that there is no safe way to dock, there is about ten feet of what is left of the landing dock near the airlock, and a smaller auxillary airlock at the rear with no platform.
Vyv and Rastar do not identify any tell-tale signs of it being battle damage - there aren't blast marks or charring, it looks more like impact damage from where you are.
Fitch chimes in "Are you seeing what I'm seeing!?"
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"Looks more like impact damage than weapons fire. Guess it's time to suit up and go spacewalking."
Rastar double checks his armor's environmental safeties before finally activating the helmet, sealing himself up. With weapons in hand and fully suited up, he is ready to fling himself across the vacuum of space to board a derelict station that has recently suffered physical damage. No way was this going to go poorly. No way at all.
Fitch nods sagely at Rastar getting ready "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 - minimum safe distance is 5,000 feet"
"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?”
"There were some jetpacks in the cargo we brought, you'll need them to make it there and make it back so use them sparingly - I hope you all have room in your armour"
"Indigo Deep is a roughly half-dome shape with several additional projections and instrumentation. Using the images provided by the starship’s sensors I agree there are two main target areas where you should be able to enter, via the main airlock near where the landing pad once projected, or the smaller auxiliary airlock on the other side. As best I 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. The choice is yours but I recommend sticking together"
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"Understood venture captain, meet in the armory, on the double Kommandos! Weapons inspection in 5 minutes. Lieutenant Isafira, upload a map of the station to my comm unit. Private Rastar, I need a threat assessment of what we may be facing inside the station. Be prepared to brief me immediately. Doctor Helix and Mr. Izzip have you been trained in how to execute a proper tactical air drop on a potentially dangerous orbital space installation?"
J'Shun begins to detach the omnidirectional camera on his armor so he can mount a jetpack instead.
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Izzip’s antennae droop when they see the jet packs. ”Oh dear, my AbadarCorp travel suit is stylish in good company and resilient in less-than-good company, but it doesn’t have much in the way of upgrade slots. Commander-J’Shun, if we are to drop through the vacuum of space could you just carry me? Or will I need to change into Wayfinder-Fitch’s loaner-suit?”
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Vyviane opens a socket at the back of her armor and plugs in the jet pack. There's a whirr and a click as it fits into place and then she turns back to the rest of the crew. "Seeing as getting there is more important than easy of getting into the place, I recommend we shoot for the larger target. J'Shun, Rastar, you both okay with trying to force a door open?"
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"If that his your intelligence assessment Lieutenant than I agree with your plan of action. Rastar and I will deal with the door. Though I suggest we take a more stealthy approach once we enter the station. That way our loss of Captain Chorizal's considerable fighting prowess won't hamper our ability to complete our mission."
As promised, Fitch brings the starship as close as she can to Indigo Deep, hovering to a stop about a mile above the station. Once there, she provides some last words of encouragement and instructions to stick together (along with her grandchildren’s well-wishes) before ushering you all toward a cargo door that she opens from the bridge. Wispy orange and blue gases seep into the cargo bay, and the faint station silhouette below gives the you a visual target.
IDENTIFY THE PATH (ONE CHECK)
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.
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"Follow Dr. Helix, I want proper intervals as we deploy in skirmish line. When we land, form an interdiction circle around the door and secure the perimeter before we breach the entrance."
"Bridge, Kay's Kommandos ready for drop!"
"By the numbers Kommandos."
"
J'Shun, activates the environmental controls on his armor, grips his devastation blade in two hands, a newly acquired tactical shield with the Clan Summersword heraldry emblazoned on it in a third, and a lethal looking uppercut SMG in his fourth. Igniting the thrusters on his jetpack he leaps from the airlock door into the void.
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"My suit doesn't have enough power connections for the jetpack. If you've got a suit fit for a kasathan, then I'll take it. Otherwise, I can unplug my optics enhancer and slot in the power and controls for the jet pack in a half hour or less. As for a threat assessment, how does 'could be anything, you dolt!' sound? All the scanners could tell us were 19 lifeforms. Could be 19 bad guys, 19 good guys, or a healthy mix of both. Best plan is to go in quiet, with fingers on the triggers but with a 'ask questions, then shoot' mindset."
"I'd really rather have Chorizal around to deal with the door, but yeah, J'Shun and I can probably manage it."
Rastar had previously had some jump training, so he positioned himself closely to those that may need assistance before they went out the airlock and began their dive. He pulled out his grappler, just in case.
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.
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Before she jumps, Vyviane pulls out a metal tiara like band with colored feathers attached to back rim and gives the group a smile. "Feel that the look for this place could use a ... magical touch!"
She then plops her armor's helmet controls on and gives a small call of joy and dives for the station.
You more or less make it through the debris, so far so good!
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. You need to adjust your descent to avoid spooking the creatures.