The two drones continue to jockey into position, keeping you within the close range their guns favour...
Evade
Piloting DG
Piloting LG
The Heavy Missile misses the drone - the damage to the system makign it hard to get a reliable lock, the particle beam scores a direct hit.
The drones open fire once more...
DG
Attacks your PORT
Particle Beam
Attack
Damage
Linked Light Plasma Cannon
Attack
Damage
-20 shields = 19 through
LG
Attacks your FRONT
Particle Beam
Attack
Damage
Linked Light Plasma Cannon
Attack
Damage
The Indy finally gives up, too heavily damaged to continue.
The Aspis ship appears once more and engages the two heavily damaged drones - giving time for the Swift Clarity to be safely abandoned, and breathing room for the crew of the Indefatiguable to make some repairs and get the ship moving again.
***
Knowing that the mysterious attackers have overwhelming numbers, Fitch orders an immediate withdrawal into the Drift so that the surviving fleet can regroup at Absalom Station. Captain Alis Sandel hails your ship one more time and bids you farewell before her ship also disappears into the Drift.
Four days later you arrive at Absalom Station with the other survivors from the fleet. First Seeker Ehu Hadif summons you all for a debriefing at the Lorespire Complex.
The kasatha speaks in a somber tone. “Starfinders, thanks to your efforts, we are closer to unraveling the mystery of the deactivated Drift beacons, though this knowledge didn’t come without a cost. We lost many of our fellow Starfinders, and I’m sorry to inform you that Zigvigix is among those who have not returned. The last scans of the battle from the escaping ships indicates that Zigvigix’s ship was most likely destroyed when one of the moons exploded. We don’t know yet who’s responsible for the egregious attacks on the colonists and our fleet, but scans taken during the combat revealed that, strangely enough, their technology has many similarities to Starfinder Society innovations"
“Fitch reported that your investigation revealed that most of the colonists had been abducted, and lately, many of the missing settlers have been spotted at several locations across the Pact Worlds and Near Space. They passed all security checks, though an inordinate number of them seemed to have forgotten passwords to their accounts and needed to use their security questions to reset them. This, I’m sure, means the in-depth scans the strange robots performed on the colonists’ homes were meant to obtain information for this precise purpose. The colonists’ arrival locations are all experiencing strange technological malfunctions and irregularities. I’m sure this is no coincidence, and I fear it is only a taste of what is to come.”
|
"This shirren is concerned. Given that Drift travel makes the Pact Worlds even possible, an interruption of the data links that hold the social and economic establishments together would ruin what little cohesiveness remains. This shirren is happy to do what is necessary to make up for their failure to hold the Indefatigable together and get more Starfinders to safety."
Chivix had been down ever since that fight, no longer even referring to himself by name, only "this shirren".
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Chorizal is early to the briefing. Way too early. Early in a way that suggests he couldn't think of anything else to do that day but go to the briefing.
He is notably less loud after the sinking of the Indy, and he sits through the debriefing quietly and actually paying full attention.
"Sounds like the civilians were replaced. Maybe with believable robots. Or maybe they were brainwashed."
With the possibility of something to do before him, and redemption to be found, he perks up.
"Send us in, Hadif! Chorizal's Chosen will get to the bottom of it and end this threat to the Pact Worlds as we know it!"
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Nadia on the other hand is conspicuously late, she walking in very distracted with a data pad in one hand and a holographic display hovering near her head. At a glance is looks like she is pouring over the sensor data from the starship battle and doing a deep dive into the scematics of standard model Starfinder vessels.
She mummnles softly to herself and bumps into the table as she tries to take a seat.
Seemingly only now aware of where she is she lets out a half hearted, "Oh um sorry.", then starts mumbling to her technical journals again as she finally sits down.
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J'Shun, has spent every waking moment since the team's return to Absalom Station typing up his after action report and supervising the refit of the Indy.
At the meeting he turns in his report and briefs Fitch.
"First Speaker this is the beginning of a full blown robot invasion of the Pact Worlds. In my opinion the bots are a formidable opponent, but they can be defeated. The returned colonists are all sleeper agents and should be rounded up as soon as possible before they are activated. Starfinders we are at WAR."
"We are at war, and as you have all correctly observed, the stakes here are enormous. We must ready ourselves, we must prepare, we must turn the information your team and others have gathered into the weapons with which we can defeat our foes once they play their hand and emerge. You will have your chance to take the fight back to our foes, but it will be at the time and place of our choosing. The Indy will once again fly into battle and destroy our foes, mark my words - I have full faith in Kays Kommandos!"