SFS Salvation's End and After

Game Master therealthom

To one side of the elevator doors is a control panel.

Dc 15 computers or engineering check to restore lights, etc in this area.

Nic Nack stands aside for someone that is knowledgeable with tec stuff to deal with the panel.

Computers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

If we don’t have any rush, can I spend a bit more time and take 10?

Troubles with electricity?
Computers: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
Okay, obviously no light here..

Sure on take 10. You're in C1 on the map. Let's call north on the map forward.

Frustrated at his initial failure, Kuozar punches the control panel and the lights blink to life. The vents emit a hushed whoosh of warmer air. In addition to controlling lights and environment in this area, the computer console near the door is also linked to camera feeds from various locations on E-deck.

You get a better view of the room. Some of the barrels are pushed out of the most logical storage position; a few even lay on their sides like some very careless person or creature bumped them over.

Something roughly ysoki-sized is hiding behind the crates in the forward, starboard corner of the room....

Idir activates his armor's enviro-protections, just to be safe and readies his gun, just to be safe.

"Hello?" he calls to whatever's in the corner.

Thundergun Detects Magic and slowly moves deeper...

The mote of energy circling Xikkos arm begins to speed up as the uncertainty of the situation begins to activate the forces within.

Xikko scampers to just behind Thundergun as they enter the room.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

- Bro, you blocked my firing line for me. Don't get angry later, if anything. - Kuozar says to Thundergun.

- But in any case. Hey, whoever it is! Come out, and we won't hurt you. Probably.

Nic nack walks in "Greetings. have you made the choice to be friend or foe?" He calls ou.

Idir gives a small, nervous grunt, waiting for the other hoof to drop.

Scuffling noises from behind the crates become a pair of voices. "They said friends." [/b]"Well they're not Shelby. They look like sentients. Like people"[/b]
"It's nice to have the lights on. They did that. "

A moment later one of them announces, "We're friends. We'll come out."

Two human children sidle out from behind the crates.

- Kids. I have a question. What the hell? And... Why did you come here at all?

Idir gapes at the emergence of the children and hastily lowers his weapon, embarrassed.

"M-m-my thoughts exactly, Kuozar! Are you alright? We're with the Starfinders, we won't hurt you. But...what are your names, and how did you get on this vessel in the first place? My name is Idir."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

"Are any of you little ones hurt? We can help." Nic Nack offers.

As the human children come out from behind the boxes, the mote on Xikkos arm begins to settle into a nice easy pace around his arm.

"What on earth are human children doing down here in the dark?"

The girl replies first. "We sneak down here all the time. It's more fun than the daycare on C deck. We thought she -- " an elbow cuts her short and the boy picks up the story. "But it was scary today when the lights went out. We couldn't see. We couldn't get the doors open. When we heard the elevator we got scared and hid."

Idir looks simply apoplectic after hearing this, trying very, VERY hard to keep his composure so as not to scare the kids further.

"You...mentioned a 'Shelby' before you came out...is that the 'she' you're referring to, or is that the name of a playmate?"

His nostrils flare as he tries to breathe slowly and deeply.

Thundergun has no idea what to do with children so he stays far and just looks for a trail in infosrtructure.

"Shelby's a -- " a foot stomp this time. "A friend at the daycare. "

Raising an antenna to the child "Now, now tell the truth little one. You don't want to be in bigger trouble than you already are now do you? So make a good choice and tell us who this friend Shelby really is?"

The children seem to consider this carefully. Finally the girl says, "We found Shelby down here. It's a little shelled animal. Sooo cuuute! "

The boy adds, "We tried to bring it food, but it didn't like that. All it wants to do now is fly around and fiddle with all the different controls. We were just leaving when the lights went out and it started to get cold."

"It's in the next room, somewhere. "

She points to the port (west) door.

"What kind of creature doesn't accept an offer of food?!" Idir asks the others quietly. He wasn't a naturalist, so he was in the dark here, but an animal messing with controls seemed unusual, and dangerous.

Thundergun is carefully push teammates to follow this trail and find this Shelby nearby.

- Let's get to know him, Idir. We'll find out what is it and what's wrong with it... And you kids go home!

"Yes, sir." Slowly, and perhaps a little sadly, the kids trudge to the elevator and press the button to summon it.

At Thundergun's urging, the party forms up in front of the heavy bulkhead door to the next room. That door opens to reveal a small bare chamber and another heavy bulkhead door. Together the doors and chamber make up an emergency airlock and you realize that this must be a major structural bulkhead, or containment wall.

The second door opens to reveal four large transparent aluminum containment capsules. A wave of cold air rolls out of the room. The floor is coated in ice.

Three of the capsules hold stasis-locked objects, including a tablet, a strange curved sword, and an odd spiral of bioluminescent coral. A crack leaks fluid from the fourth capsule, which displays a foot-wide breach near the bottom. Two smaller metal containment capsules, two work benches and a desk-like computer station complete the furnishings.

There are doors ahead of you and to your left. (west and south)

A few perceptin checks might be in order.

- Knock-knock! Who lives in da house? Come out, we just wanna talk! - Kuozar goes inside and moves the gun from side to side.

"Fiddle with controls they say. Sounds like this "friend" of theirs has an attraction to electricity or metal."

I'll do a quick glance around the room to see if I notice markings from the "friend"
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

I'll also do a Life Science check to see if I can make sense of what they described

Life Science: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Forgot to say -- the ice on the floor means that if you move more than 10' per round you need an acrobatics check.

The sound of a small metal piece pinging on the floor draws Xikko's attention. Then a head-sized sheet of perforated metal clatters to the deck. Looking up the ysoki spots a chitinous hemisphere drop a foot down from the ceiling, hover, then rise into the exposed air vent!

"Kuozar up there in the air vent!"

I carefully walk over to pick up the piece of metal and offer it out.

"Here, Shelby.. Come here boy"

Xikko hears progressively fainter scratching and skittering sounds as the alien disappears into the vent.

The scenario offers Life Science or Piloting checks as a means to determine where the creature is going inside the vents.

Could Nic nack use his Blindsense to find it?

"Now if I was crawling around what direction choice would I make."
Pilot: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

"We know that the creature was going after metal and messing with the controls. Could it be feeding off the power grid? That could be the cause of the issues of the ship.

Does anyone have a power source to draw the creature to us?"

I have a couple additional batteries. Maybe dat could be enough.

Life Science: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Seeing the creature not wanting my scrap metal, I grab a battery from Thunder. Waving the battery at the ceiling, I try to follow where I think the little rascal got off to.

Idir grimaces at Kuozar's sendoff to the children.

"Thhaaat...could have been worded better...and in a gentler tone," he quietly chides as they proceed into the next room and discover Shelby, prompting another startled yelp from Idir, though he calms down a bit when he realizes it's just an oversized bug.

"Shelby appears to be a wild spaceborne animal of some sort. Anyone who's more of the naturalist persuasion know what kind?" he asks.

Yeah, my skills are of little-to-no use here. :P

Thundergun slowly proceeds after the party, but when asked about such creatures, like Shelby, he gladly shares expertise...
Life Science: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Based incredible intuitive knowledge of a previously unreported species he's barely glimpsed, (life science and piloting for heavens sake!) Xikko ascertains that it must be headed aft. In the next room he nearly slips on the icy floor when he steps into the aft room just in time to hear a clatter and see it emerge from the vent.

This room is dark. Looking up at the underside if the creature he sees that it's many pincer-tipped legs glow faintly blue. It's round upper shell progressively obscures the glow as it drops toward another control console.

Rather than immediately beginning to punch buttons when it touches down, the creature seems to become aware of Xikko. Two spherically tipped antennae, half the length of its body extrude from its shell and twist around toward the ysoki.

"Xikko?...Buddy?...Do we open fire?" Idir asks, grimacing.

Now that I see the creature, can I try to identify it? Does it look threatening, or is it merely interested in my battery? Also, how big is it? Are we talking Tiger Sized or house cat sized?

I carefully extend the battery I'm holding towards the creature.

"If this works and it goes for the battery. We will need a box or cage to put the creature in."

Nic nack looks around to see what choices he has for a container for the creature.

"Are we sure Shelby here is the only one of its kind here? We could be dealing with an infestation here," Idir adds.

"The hatchlings seem to state there was only one." As he keeps looking.

"True, but they may just have not looked close enough: the observation skills of children can...fluctuate for lack of a better term."

It's roughly head-sized.

The creature levitates off the control panel, and drifts toward Xikko. It makes a pass over the battery, then hovers for a moment in front of the ysoki's face before veering off to a breaker box on the wall. Hovering, it opens the panel and begins poking around inside. After a few seconds it leaves the panel and lands on the large circular handle of a pipe-valve.

"Did anyone grab a box when we thought we were going to capture the creature in the warehouse?"

Xikko also glances around the room looking for some sort of cage.

I've got a sack large enough for this one. But no cage with me, sorry. , - Thundergun tryin not to come closer due to his size can be intimidating...
But hi's ready to do some technomagic or to give the sack to a teammate.

"Presumably we can just thump Shelby on the head and secure it that way as we don't have any actual tranquilizers? I mean, we're Starfinders, not Absalom Station Animal Control!" Idir comments.

Idir notices that the creature moves from place to place , tries a few things, then moves on, almost like it's exploring and experimenting. He thinks it's probable the creature is merely curious.

Cutting to the chase -- it looks like you're not attacking, so the other option is some skill checks to entice the creature. Your food idea was a good plan, just not one that works with this creature. What you need here are 3 successful Culture, Life Science, or Mysticism checks to
communicate bits of their culture to the alien.

- Come to Daddy! Look what a delicious program I have here! It is called StarWorms: Strarmageddon. You'll like it!

Computers: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Kuozar's tablet begins to shimmer with different colors, beckoning the creature closer...