Del is getting antsy, and desperately wishes she could go use the kitchen to properly cook something—or at least use that shiny new chefy in there... but contents herself to eat some R2Es, stale biscuits, and the last of her trail mix.
Day 4:
Guess? continues to pull various pranks aboard the ship to sow gentle discord amongst the crew. While doing so, he takes some time to peak into the cargo area.
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Everyone manages to stay stealthy on Day four. Guess? finds a new cargo hold, this one empty but for a door on the far end. It has a label inscribed into it's surface: Rear Starboard Cargo Hold. Beneath that is a small note taped to the door: This one. Don't enter. With nothing else going on in this room, Guess? figures he has time to check out the rear cargo hold... should he wish.
Akh leaves the guest stateroom intact. While it seems unlikely that any of the crew will arrive to check on the room, someone at the ship's destination might bee-line the room and immediately notice if something is misplaced. He figures the team will have plenty of time to pinch things later.
As for the next day, Akh lazes about inside the vents, eating too many snacks to be particularly stealthy.
"Gobbammit!" mutters Guess? to himself. "I've gotta know!"
His hand reaches out for the door to 2a but stops midway.
With none of his teammates around to back him up, having gotten into an unexpected firefight with security robots the other day and not wanting to spoil their chances of obtaining the ultimate treasure, Guess? withdraws his hand.
"Eyes on the prize. Eyes on the prize." he repeats to himself. He points at the door and says "...but I'll be back after we've hijacked the ship!"
Guess? turns around and walks away from 2a.
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Day 5
You wake up at the end of the "day" shift for the fifth time since you snuck aboard the Golden Thread. You've all spent plenty of time together in the drift before, but these close quarters and high stress environments are beginning to wear. Surely it can't be that much longer until you arrive, right?
Right after you all wake up, Melissa gives the signal and you rush to hide. A human woman enters the room, muttering to herself. "Where did I leave that zoom-wrench?" The hardscrabble, middle-aged woman speaks with an accent from the lower levels of Absalom Station.
Akh once more sticks to the safer, more cramped and cozy sections of the ship where the crew rarely visits. Even so, he can't help but make at least some noise as he wriggles. The crew's choice of snacking options has already begun to lose its novelty for him. And as much as staying out of sight is sensible, Akh can't help but feel that not taking the crew down is going to bite the group in the tail sooner rather than later.
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Melissa is used to the cramped quarters. Or was. A few weeks in the lap of luxury on a cruise liner hasn't completely erased all 10 years of a lifetime growing up in a maintenance bay with various drills. Whatever stress she's feeling she takes out with extra grooming, either herself or the party if they hold still long enough. Of course with the disguises their metal buffing and horn polishing is probably going to come out uneven.
Melissa reaches down right behind her and puts the zoom wrench in the spot where she just looked.
Explore 2f
Secure the state room. Don't keep all your eggs in one cheekpouch.
As Guess? opens the door to step into 2f, Melissa shoves him aside and rushes in first.
Guess? shrugs and changes direction to check out 2e instead.
"kekeke!" chuckles Guess?.
Guess? turns around to give Melissa a fist bump before she dives fully into 2f. Guess? then continues on to 2e.
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Del, Jaraduk, and Akh manage to hide from Captain Keldis. Melissa trips over Guess? before opening the door marked Port Cargo Hold. Within she finds that the hold has been taken over by one of the crew members as a makeshift tech workshop. You assume, from the search for the wrench, that this is Keldis' hobby. She must not be particularly talented, as it all appears to just be junk and used spell gems. Only one of the spell gems glows with an internal light.
This spell gem contains the powerful spell, Junksword T4!
Guess? has time to check out both cargo holds 2e and 2c, because each is completely empty.
But then... the entire ship rocks as something smashes against its hull! Multiple alarms blare through the ship as it jolts as though struck by a large object. The ship’s intercom crackles to life as Shiari-8, sounding uncharacteristically panicked, exclaims, “Everyone, we’ve got a big problem! Something’s hitting the airlock, and I see another silhouette ahead of us, coming up fast. Looks like some sort of giant reptile-bat, but I can’t make out much detail. Whatever it is, it’s not friendly.” ... “Keep her steady,” Adalia responds. “Daoros, meet me at the airlock; let’s see what we can do about these bastards. Koru, stand guard at the door.” Two male voices chorus assent, one notably shakier than the other. Another blow rocks the Golden Thread from the aft. Melissa does a local scan, and can determine that the Golden Thread was struck from behind by a creature that, according to scans, is now clinging to the hull and attacking the external airlock doors. Another such creature, coming up from the front, is clinging onto the top of the Golden Thread’s exterior and making its way toward the airlock doors. With Guess? and Melissa on one side of the ship and the rest of your group on the starboard side, you discuss whether or not you should investigate the source of the alarm or continue monitoring the situation. Some bring up that searching while avoiding the mercenaries hurrying around the ship does sound like a difficult task.
"These guys are seasoned mercs. I'm sure they'll be just fine!" says Guess?.
"But let's be ready to take action, just in case. The rec suite and mess hall seem like good spots to camp out since they provide line of sight to both the airlock and the bridge, amirite?
"I'm cut off from you but maybe I can sneak a peek at what's going on from here."
Guess? will try to peek out and get a look while staying out of sight.
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It's coming into the airlock... where we stay....
Suggestion: "Move the large and large adjacent crew members to the semi prepared state room While Guess? and I check out what they're doing here? If that things going to rip through this crew we're next."
The gem is very pretty and very shiny but could easily be part of a first aid or emergency response.. Oh right. Like the one they're having
You know what. yes grabbing the spell gem.
Grab the spell gem, put it in the wrench, and bring it with me to the airlock. Leave it outside the door if I'm beating them there, or I'll wait till they engage the creature, wait till the ship shakes again and put it on the floor next to an open panel. should be less noticeable than some of Guess?'s pranks...
Chugging a shadow elixir.
Botting Jaraduk Day 5]1d20+3
Reptile-bat...?
He looks at Melissa, confused.
Am I large or large adjacent? Am I coming to the airlock?
Faaaaaine! Jaraduk as the lashunta trudges off to the state room.
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Melissa looks at the cargo hold around her, seeing no seams, then remembers the large seam in the cargo hold room. The ship layout gets sent to the whole group with two big red circles around the room marked #1 and #4 with a hand written note: Airlock rooms!
The rest of the group are in a room that seems like a logical place for the crew to escape towards in a crisis. It also seems like a logical place for two large Drift monsters clinging to the outside of the hull to break in at.
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Melissa is going to head for the airlock either way.
Since we're in a horror movie now anyway, Melissa decides she's better off BEING the beedy pair of red eyes seen as a blurr on the side of the screen rather than running into one...
"I guess non sneaky types should stay put for now? If the crew starts getting eaten we'll revise the plan from there? or we can just head outside and beat on them. We're better at that than we are at hiding?"
Enviroseals up.
"I suggest staying hidden until they start getting eaten. Then maybe we can consider coming out of hiding. Honestly, if the crew dies, we can still probably fake our way into getting the treasure! But let me see if I can get a better look at what's going on."
Guess? tries to observe what the invaders look like and how the crew is faring against them. If he sees no way of staying hidden in the hallways, he'll make his way over to hide in rec room 5.
As he moves, Guess? whispers into comms, "Y'know, I was thinking. If Reisora-ing this treasure doesn't work out, we should consider playing to our strengths. What's that, you ask?
"Why, it's Reisora-ing starships of course! Consider this: We've done it twice already. They're highly valuable. We can either sell 'em whole or break 'em down for parts! We just need to set up a legal front company to cover up however we plan to liquidate our starships! I propose we call the front 'Reisora Recycling Corp'! Whaddaya'll think? Amirite or amirite?!?"
"That's true Guess?... the fabulous treasure at our destination will probably turn out to be some living gold ooze that kills everything that looks at it, in any case. So if things go badly here we might as well just turn the ship around and skip the disappointment and likely death." Akh peers at the markings on his comms device from Melissa "Speaking of likely death, maybe I should go over and join you for when the Drift-monsters inevitably break in."
Once he hears the crew heading for the airlocks, Akh tries to sneak his way to the Rec Suite to be in a better position to support after things go further sideways than they already have.
Hearing through the comms, Akh stomping around, Guess? whispers on comms, "Well, those fake IDs are gunna come in handy after all! kekeke!
"Akh, if they spot you, just say you're here to help and you're not their enemy."
Akh's tail bangs loudly against the walls as he turns to tap on his comms device "I guess I can try Guess?. But I'm obviously an innocent eel-shaped ship delivery technician right now, and obviously harmless, so I don't think it will convince them."
"Obviously!"
Guess? grins.
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Melissa and Guess? begin to make their way towards the crew when they hear the familiar CLANK CLANK CLANK of Akh's tail hitting the walls of the small ship hallways. Melissa and Guess? look at each other and shake their heads. You quickly decide which of you should turn around to distract the crew from thinking your android friend is actually a large scary bat thing. The other continues moving between empty rooms to catch up on what is going on. You see Adalia and Daoros go outside to investigate, cycling through the airlock. Moving further down the ship, you peek into the bridge where Shiari-8 and Koru are hard at work. Adalia's voice echoes through the comms. "Yo... we got some bat-dragon-looking things out here. Two legs, big ol' wings, ugly mugs, and - WHOA! Sharp teeth!" Daoros' chimes in. "Monsters, like thirty feet tall. They don't look like normal Drift creatures... but they sure do look mad! Ouch! Those talons are sharp."
You recognize that this is a Shantak! Shantaks are bizarre, winged creatures that seem to be an incongruous blend of reptile and bird. Although shantaks appear ungainly on land when perched on their two legs, their vast, bat-like wings enable the creatures to soar gracefully through vacuum as easily as they fly in atmospheres. Slimy scales cover a shantak’s body, and its vaguely horselike head features a wide maw filled with dagger-like teeth. A shantak is about 30 feet long from nose to tail and weighs approximately 6,000 pounds. Planetside, shantaks inhabit remote and foreboding mountain peaks, but their ability to survive in and fly through vacuum means they can also be found in the void of space.
Despite their bestial appearances, shantaks are intelligent, and speak in shrill voices that sound like glass grinding against stone. They are willful creatures and cannot simply be trained as mounts. Many shantaks have a strange and irrational fear of certain humanoid winged creatures, such as faceless nightgaunts said to dwell in certain dreams, or specific types of winged humanoids more common in civilized regions. While these irrational fears are usually not so overwhelming as to have physical or mental effects on a shantak, shantaks do take pains to avoid confrontations with these other types of creatures if at all possible.
Shantaks’ ability to travel the gulf of space ensures that these scaly creatures can be found on numerous worlds and their satellites. Yet despite this ability, shantaks are generally quite reluctant to seek out new worlds on their own unless faced with no other option, for a shantak knows well that an attempt to fly to an unknown world could easily result in being lost forever in the depths of space.
The sound of battle goes on for a few more seconds as Koru beats on the controls and curses. "Gold rimmed toilets, but no external cams? Rich folks have no sense of priorities!" His tirade is interrupted by a frantic call from Adelia. "Daoros is down! Daoros is down! I'm going to get him and injection and we're going to fight our way to the airlock. Hold on, man...."
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"I'll distract you go give them a hand.... Pop out of one of their stomachs dramatically if you have to you can sell that. "
Melissa Q's up "It came from the drift..." on maximum volume so anyone investigating Akhs sounds will think it came from the TV where the space eel was trying to eat people and not real life where the space eel in a newsies cap was trying to eat doughnuts.
They didn't skimp on the surround sound or holo projections on this thing and Melissa makes full use of that.
"Two of those things will eat them for lunch. If we want to be hidden and not riding a ship filled with dead bodies and lizardmurderbats we should space walk and take out the other one. "
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While the others hopefully cover for his clanking about, Akh happily fills the party in on the details of Shantaks he has stored in his memory. He particularly emphasizes their massive size and deadliness.
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Melissa gets that "for science!" look that always sent chills down her mothers spine...
Many shantaks have a strange and irrational fear of certain humanoid winged creatures
"Alright, crazy plan here. Del and everyone that has a holoskin, put out your shinniest and biggest wings. We're going to try to spook them INSIDE the ship. My one tenth of a plan is we're xenodruids following these guys on a migration route. Guess? try to convince them to open the airlock before they tear a hole in it. Those guys don't need atmo some of us do. I'll come out and try to feed them some of Dels spacescout cookies, but I can't talk to them unless one comes inside or I put my head in its mouth. " Even odds on those happening..."Unless someone can think of an even worse plan?"
For just 34 credits a day you can sponsor one of these majestic travelers of the void as traverse the stars. The drift crisis has interrupted their traditional migration routes forcing the mother lizardmurderbats to drift further and further with their young...
"Oh gobbammit! To be honest, I think we should just let this crew bite the dust, then impersonate 'em at Fortune's Heart. It'll be easier than explaining our unexpected existence when we arrive there. But I assume I'll be outvoted on this, so let's get it over with and be be all heroic..." sighs Guess? into the team's comms.
Guess? taps into the ship's comms and announces to the crew, "Attention crew of the Golden Thread. This is Niva Rovo, commander of a clandestine EJ inspection team aboard your ship. As this is an emergency situation, I am authorized to announce our presence and assist you against the hostile shantaks. We are a team of five en route to the airlock to reinforce Adelia and Daoros.
"Note: Several of us will be disguised as winged monsters. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT fire upon us. We shall scare off the shantaks if possible and eliminate them if necessary. All will be explained once the crisis is handled. Thank your gods we're on your ship."
Back on the team's comms, Guess? says, "Like Melissa said, everyone with holoskins, do you best to look like a nightgaunt and head to the airlock. If we can scare these things off, great. Otherwise, be ready for a fight!"
Guess? changes his holoskin projection to look like a nightgaunt, then heads to the airlock.
"Oh hell that's like grandkid commandment five you want them to violate"
Jaraduk is unsure about what he's hearing on the comms.
A nightgaunt? Did the ship's crew buy it? Can I freely head to the airlock?
Before waiting for an answer he reprograms his holoskin to a nightgaunt in a wrestler's singlet. He stops just shy of a luchador mask as that probably defeats the nightgaunt look... He then sprouts the holo-wings just as he arrives at the airlock.
Okay, what do I do? Jump up and down near the windows of the airlock?
Guess? hops back on ship comms and adds a quick statement, "And yes, secret inspections happen all the time. You just don't know about them."
Del sighs as she quickly reprograms her holoskin to include as many nightgaunt-like features as possible. "What I wouldn't give to be at the helm right now!"
Suspecting that the crew would be highly unlikely to allow her to take over the flight controls without a fight, she follows the others out into the halls of the starship to confront the shantaks, activating her armour's environmental protections along the way.
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The party works their holoskins to look like Nightgaunts, and confirms that they are ready to go. The jig is up now, so you head out into the corridors. Down the long central hallway you see two unbelieving faces in the bridge. "Uh... where did you lot come from?" Shaking their heads, the crew focuses back to their tasks at hand. Without any clear way to shake off these monstrous creatures or attack them from the inside, you think you'll just have to confront them head on. Captain Adelia calls out on the public com, voice harried. "Rovu? Fine, whatever. I've got Daoros by the airlock but we've only got one shot at cycling this thing. Are you coming out or am I coming in?" You do another local scan, getting the exact coordinates of the combatants outside.
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"We're willingly getting in between you and the big sharp pointy teeth. Does anything else matter right now? Get your friends inside we'll head out and deal with them. Worst comes to worse they'll eat us and maybe be too full to eat you. If you don't have a healing serum I'll spit one out on the way by. "
Her time online has dulled her people skills a LITTLE but she's still Much nicer than most computer techs.
Melissa didn't get a holoskin. She looks like a different ysoki at the moment from a serum.
Of course upon seeing giant lizardmurderbats Melissa wants to try to make friends with them. This has absolutely nothing to do with her desire to fly around on one.
The nature documentary Akh was apparently just watching makes it sound like they're trying to migrate somewhere to flee a catastrophe. The overly optimistic saranite wants to try to negotiate meals and a free ride for not eating the crew. Hopefully hiding behind the night gaunts and tossing a few meetcubes to get the point accross.
Alternately the "night Gaunts" can shoo them off.
More likely negotiations will break down and we'll wind up beating them unconcious over the head and strapping frozen peas to them later.
For the lies, Melissa may gripe but she doesn't tell Del how to drive or Guess? how to BS. But if we do manage to make friends with them it would bolster the cover that we're xenodruids that crashed into the ship when their research subjects did. Who else would be crazy enough to make friends with these things? Oh right that could get them mistaken for ecoterrorists...
Akh, feeling like his chance of looking like a convincing nightgaunt is about the same as his chance of tricking the crew, sticks to his current immaculate disguise. He makes his way swishing through the ship to arrive at the airlock at the aft. "So we go out and tear the shantaks to pieces and become the crew's heroes? That seems like something we could do."
"You want to bring them inside? Like Akh said these things are sentient and I'm not opposed to crazy plans (obviously) but they've already attacked the ship. Do you think we can get them to wait patiently outside while we cycle the airlock open and close multiple times to let them in?"
"If the datapad's speakers are vibrating right up against your helmet... maybe? But yah, no chance of audio communication with them outside. And I lost my telepathic abilities once my genes decided I'm a goblin.
"hmmm... I should look into that. Speaking directly into people's heads would be GREAT! Thanks for the idea, Melissa!
"Okay, then we tell Adelia and Daoros to come in. If the shantaks follow, then so be it. If they don't, then after Adelia and Daoros are in, we cycle the airlock open again to see if those shantaks will come in on their own.
"When they see four nightgaunts..." Guess? glances at Jaraduk, who appears as a nightgaunt with a wrestling outfit, "...and pause due shock and fear, we can try talking them down. I wonder why they're attacking us in the first place - they're intelligent after all...
"And having some massive bat horrors as friends would be pretty useful once we dock..."
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"Probably because those two walked outside said AHHh giant bat monster and started shooting. Giant bat monsters tend to not like that. Just like everyone else. "
prepares pictionary while the airlock opens?