Each one of you gets a message to a briefing with Venture-Captain Naiaj at Lorespire Complex. When you arrive to Starscape Chamber, the room is closed and a spherical robot is hovering in front of the door displaying using one of his projectors.
"Please wait, Venture-Captain Naiaj is busy at the moment."
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A small figure in long golden robes and a rather plain mask that completely obscures her face approaches the hovering robot. She reaches out and trails a finger through projected text, revealing that the fur of her arm is a constantly shifting array of colors and patterns. "Okay! Guess I'll just hang out here for a minute. I wonder if any of the old Skitterforce is going to be on this mission too!"
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The furry mountain sighs audibly as the news is broken to him that he's going to have to wait around. He sits himself down uncomfortably on the human-sized furniture, looking comically oversized in comparison, and breaks out a large thermos flask of strong black tea with heaps of sugar and a few odd leaves in it.
After pouring himself a steaming cup of brown joy, he looks over at Szama, then pours an additional cup and offers it to the waiting Skittermander -"No point waiting around getting hungry or thirsty, never pass up a chance for a meal, a sleep, or a toilet"
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Ayoka is the next one to arrive. Hey Szama. Hi before Szama gets a six armed skitter hug. She then pauses, before asking How did you do that with your fur?
The only change that Szama can see on Ayoka is that her religious symbol of Yarasae is now made of shimmerstone. All her armour and weapons are the same.
She then looks over to Blinky Hi nu-friend
Since she now has to wait, she pulls out a sandwich and nibbles on it. Between the two pieces of bread and butter is a sticky dark brown, almost black, substance.
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A tall, slim and quite bald elf walks in. He is wearing light armor with a pistol and knife by his side. A pack is across his back and a small computer is on one arm for ease of use.
"Greetings all. My name is Elwin. Oh, coffee?"
He makes one for himself and offers a cup or a refill to anyone else in the room.
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Szama accepts the cup from Blinky and holds the steaming drink up to her mask as if to drink it. She tilts it toward her mask, and somehow, it doesn't just spill across the surface of the mask. "Thanks! It's very good tea. Did you make the blend yourself? That's good advice by the way. One of my first missions I learned the hard way not to pass up any of the pleasantries that civilized life can offer, so this is very apprecia-!"
Just then, Szama is wrapped up in a six-armed hug from Ayoka. "Oh, it's great to see you, Ayoka! I'm glad we'll get to work together again. I can show you some of my new powers." She gives her fellow skitter a thumbs up, once again revealing her fur, and she remembers that Ayoka had asked about it. "Oh, it's always done that. That's part of why I wear these robes. Otherwise, it tends to be distracting for people. I think it's connected to my powers, though, cuz it's shifting more than ever now. Pretty cool, huh?"
When Elwin enters and offers coffee, Szama accepts that as well and alternates between sipping at Blinky's tea and the elf's coffee. "Wow, this is a great start to a new mission! So many tasty drinks!"
As most of the team chats and share coffee and tea, the doors opens.
In it stays a Venture-Captain Naiaj. Naiaj can usually be found wearing carbon skin armor, with her datapad never out of sight and a wrist-based comm unit constantly blinking updates.[1] She wears her gleaming white hair cropped close, and despite her small size, she looks as if she could stare down a team of hardened vesk mercenaries.
She looks you up and down and gives a nod of recognition Elwin.
"Come on in."
She gets back to a Starscape Chamber which presents various constellations on the virtual ceiling. Further within the room is a small sentient robot—an SRO—bearing the holy symbol of Triune. "Greetings. I have called you in for a pressing matter related to a piece of the Society’s past. In 160 ag, former First Seeker Lanrah decided to make it the Society’s priority to research the Gap, using much of the Society’s resources in the pursuit of this quest. One vessel the Society deployed at that time was called the Amber Reconnoiter. That vessel disappeared under mysterious circumstances on a mission in the Drift. While it has been lost since then, the Amber Reconnoiter has become of interest to the Society yet again. MP-8 here can explain the details."
The SRO wheels forward on treads, its single, focused lens looking around the room, and performs some semblance of a bow.
"I am MP-8, a priest of Triune and native of Aballon. It is an honor to meet you all. A few weeks ago, I received a vision from Triune itself regarding a precise location in the Drift. From this vision, I deciphered a set of coordinates: a beacon code. Triune provides these beacon codes only in instances of the utmost importance, so we in the church knew we had to take action right away. I formed an expedition to travel to the beacon code's coordinates, whereupon we found the wreckage of a starship from centuries ago. The ship still bore insignia of the Starfinder Society."
MP-8 rolls over to the Starscape unit in the center of the room and attaches an adapter cable to its datajack. The lights in the room dim, and the unit projects a holographic image of a ruined starship floating in front of the colorful backdrop of the Drift.
"Naturally, we assumed there must be something of great consequence on that starship, so we approached. However, much to our surprise, the ship opened fire."
The Amber Reconnoiter’s hologram begins silently firing its weapons, projectiles exploding harmlessly and then fizzling out.
"While we could have retaliated, we did not want to risk
damaging what Triune considered so important. Seeing that the ship used to belong to the Starfinder Society, I have reached out to Venture-Captain Naiaj for aid."
MP-8 disconnects from the projection unit, and the image of the Amber Reconnoiter flickers and then disappears. "Whatever is on that ship is of the utmost importance to Triune, so you must recover it for us."
Naiaj nods to MP-8. "We will help in any way we can, as this find doesn’t just interest Triune’s church but also the entire Pact Worlds." Naiaj turns from the SRO.
" I believe we have records of the Amber Reconnoiter along with the corresponding access codes that should allow us to disable the ship's defense systems, allowing for safe exploration." Naiaj pauses.
"This vessel is also of interest in our matters. This ship was one of ours, from over two centuries ago, that disappeared during a mission in the Drift. The Society has been unable to ascertain what happened to the ship and its crew, and we would certainly like to find out. If you could investigate the ship to see if there are any clues or records as to what happened to the crew."
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Blinky was about to reply to the Skittermander until it got distracted. He looks at the coffee with interest, but as something to visit later.
***
"A historic old ghost ship to investigate eh? Sounds very intrigiong" the oversized pillow announces as he pulls out a cigar, realises that it is probably a no smoking area, and puts it away with a tinge of disaapointment "Alright, where should we start looking for these codes, or is that something you are working on? Are we getting a ride out to the ship or are we self-flying out there?"
Blinky has a long sip of tea.
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A small very pale yellow skittermander--with a bandolier and way to many injection weapons-- slinks in at the last moment, apparently out of breath.
Muttering under her breath a little, "I hope that slimy Ikeshti is right, and that with this mod the injections will be more painful to my enemies....I couldn't hurt much in the last fight...this should help level the field."
As she slides into a seat, her lower hands already have out her datapad to record the meeting and to also be useful to take notes.
Listening and taking note...she jots down "Studying the Drift...wonder if this might deal with the beacons going out?", along with "Amber Reconnoiter, need to look up ship to find out more".
Joe quickly unwraps a Akiton Way bar and proceeds to eat it quietly, but methodically while thinking.
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A dapper skittermander comes in with a tray of mugs in one hand, a serving napkin covering another, and various mixing instruments and accoutrements in his remaining hands.. "I believe you ordered coffee? Cream? Sugar? Whisky? One lump or two? One shot or two?"
He looks back and forth at the assembled crowd and smiles wide. "Joe! Szama! Howsitgoing? Goin' on a mission? Longtimenosee! Sorry, dun wanna get in the way... MP-8, here is your fresh motor oil and and headlight fluid. And Mr. Bluegum... you ordered an assortment of Poshkettle Industries Tea to go?"
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Joe smiles a little, "Nice to see you Garcon....I hope your mixology skills are up to snuff. Could I get a Akiton meadow--minus the oil please, as we shouldn't be drinking while on the job."
"It sounds like we should go in search of these codes....and hopefully that is what is causing the ship to shoot at other ships and not some Drift critters that inhabited the derelict."
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Ayoka makes a face when Joe mentions Akiton Meadows. As far as she is concerned, they taste worse than Akiton Way bars. She continues making notes while listening to Naiaj and MP-8. Occasionally she nibbles at her sandwich with the black sticky substance in it.
Um .... excuse me Venture Captain she asks. Where can we find those codes and once we get them, how are we going to get there? Plus ... if she's flyable ... um the Amber Reconnoitre.. do we bring her back?
Szama recalls some information about Triune visions and discoveries based on those, but no one saw any patterns to them. It was always Triune church members that got the dreams.
MP-8 turns to Naiaj "Another Skittermander, are there more to come? What a remarkable aliens." MP-8 observes with interest how the Starfinder agents share sandwiches, bars, coffee and tea
Naiaj looks at you with a stern expression and comments to MP-8
"They might looked like a horde of famished Halflings but they will get the job done." "Otherwise their next assignment will be babysitting Flitch grandkids..."
Naiaj looks at her tablet and responds uplifted Koala
"Agent Blinky, the best chances are for you to visit the Archives and Communion Vault, we got information that there could be records about the last known mission of Amber Reconnoiter. When you are done with your research on the station you will be given a ship of your own, pegasus or drake."
MP-8 adds "We will provide you with a device that will interface with your starship’s Drift engine directly. This device will take you straight to the Amber Reconnoiter. As long as you disable the ship’s defense systems, we do not anticipate any issues when you arrive."
Naiaj looks at you "Ok, grab your drinks and sandwiches in your hands and be on your way. We can't let this artifact be stolen from us. So hurry up."
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You grab your belongings and leave towards the Archives.
As you enter the library you can see an elegantly dressed Ysoki wearing glasses and reading a book. Around him are wooden bookshelves, and oddly shaped statue stands on the middle. The scent of paper and leather permeates the air. Royo, clad in his signature formalwear and spectacles, sits in a cozy-looking leather chair reading. He looks up from his book and closes it with a smile.
"Ah, Starfinders! Good to see you well. I have received word from Venture-Captain Naiaj that you would be arriving. What can I do for you?"
He looks around "Do you like that? It's only virtual, I found the model of this library in the archives, here let me turn it off." The image changes completely.
This library in the Archives is filled to the ceiling with tightly packed rows of bookshelves towering fifty feet above the ground. "A bit less cosy isn't it?"
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Sandwiches and drinks in hand Blinky heads off with the group.
The bear waves massive paw in greeting "Hello to those I haven't met before - Blinky Bluegum. Spend most of my time on Akiton as a guide for research missions and 'junkers'. Amazing planet, loads of history and some spectacular flora and fauna. Very dusty though, hope you like sand if you drop down"
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Blinky whistles appreciatively "That's a lot of books, I hope you have a good decimal system and an index. We're looking for reference material about an old ship, the Amber Reconnoiter, schematics or an operator manual for the ship itself, any codes, and any mission logs or flight plans - all from the way way back"
Royo smiles at Blinky
"Yes, all of those books, records and briefs are very well cataloged and stored according to the system that we have. Amber Reconnoiter? Hmm That would be in a book titled Ships of the Starfinder Society 150–175 ag. Yeah, Naiaj send me the details so I searched it beforehand. One more thing, no eating in the library" smiles Royo throwing a stern look at skittermanders. He picks up his book and throws
"It is alphabetized in from Sc-St of that section" points with his hand, he was just opening the book when he spots Erwin
"I remember you. Erwin right? How is going that application of your theoretical skills in practice?" says Royo putting back his book
You arrive at the correct row in approximately 10 minutes.
As you look the shelf seems to be filled with volumes titled "Ships of the Starfinder Society," so it might take some time for you to find the book.
Royo looks at your puzzled look and points up in the air "That book will be close to the top..."
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"Greetings Blinky and Elwin, names Guiseppelia Ba'drys Olyvia Nandell Eve Shirley...or if it is easier, Joe Bones. Mostly from Vesk-3, but I seem to find my extra time spent in Akiton. The health care there is very poor, and I am doing my best to help with medical services there."
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Walking in, seeing the old fashion library Joe smiles...then Royo turns the projector off, and Joe is even more amazed.
"You could lose things important in here...old books made of human flesh, a spear that has blood on it, even a weird looking coffer with gold images of angelic sphinx's on it....I hope you are still using the Dewar Decimal System? That way it is easy to catalog everything."
Hearing no food...Joe quickly pops the last crumb of Akiton Way bar into her mouth. "Got-it...no food," she says finishing chewing.
Walking through the library looking around...she hears that Royo says the book is near the top....
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Elwin greets everyone else as they come in.
"Very nice to meet you all!"
As they enter into the library he gets a look of wonder on his face. After Royo speaks to him, "I am surprised you remember me! And yes, the theoretical hypotheses are endless.... It's good I should have a long life. I hope all is well with you!"
After Blinky points out the book.
"Ah, that's up there. Do you have a ladder or grav platform we could use?"
Royo smiles at the mention of Dewar Decimal System "We actually were using the upgraded version of Dewey Decimal System. But our tomes are that diversified in terms of topics. So everything was clustered, finally, we decided to modify that system to our needs, you see we introduced our own codes...." And Royo begins to speak on the classifications systems to anyone who shows enough interest to listen.
Then he turns towards Elwin "Of course I remember, in the end, how did you call me: 'old fashioned' because you still deal with analog media.'. You see, I found that due to me being old-fashioned, I am more focused on the present. I flex my memory as I don't want to rely on devices to do that for me."
Royo looks around
"Ladder? Oh certainly we have a ladder right here."
He excuses himself and then returns with an extendable wooden ladder mounted to a pushcart. "I am afraid the ladder is a bit unstable and would require some engineering fixing."
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Garcon follows Szama and Joe to the library talking their ears off about his recent travels after their shared adventure. Suddenly he snaps out of his rambling tale. "Dewey Decimal System? Isn't that where you take all of your ingredients and number them by type and subtype and then write everything down in a cat-log and forget, then just mix a vercite martini and move on with life?"
He looks around with a bit of confusion then adds, "Am I supposed ta be here? I thought I was just servin' drink... oh wait!"
He flips through a display on his cocktail tray, then hands Royo a mug. "Your order!"
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With help and some rather unorthodox engineering involving baling twine and number eight fencing wire, Ayoka is able to make the ladder usable.
She then looks apologetically at Royo.
Ayoka promise to build you proper new ladder after mission she says. This ladder should really be replaced. Ayoka build ladder with ysoki sized chair that goes up and down
Royo takes a drink and sniffs it with his long snout. "What a remarkable smell, let me taste the bouquet. And yes your description of the library system although crude was accurate."
As 2 skitters with 12 hands argue how to fix the ladder with an aid of an Elf they are able to get it into a workable state. At the same time Blinky casually climbs up and yells a warning
Royo looks up and begins to worry. "Agent Bluegum, Starfinder has plenty of agents, but only one copy of that book! If it crossed your mind to drop it you can as easily fall yourself as even Naiaj will not protect you from me."
As Blinky casually climbs down, with one of the friendly folks trying to aid him with so-so stable ladder Royo takes the book from you.
"Some years ago, someone made a claim that we should catalog some of the facts in writing as a physical book. The claim was that we may be hacked once and even guidance could have to turn off herself. Let us see what we got here... Analog Bears, Arctic Blossom, Amber Reconnoiter, here we got it."
Royo looks at the type of the ship and brings its plan
"We have a plan of the ship here"
"The Amber Reconnoiter was on a mission to discover artifacts scattered throughout the Drift, hoping to find clues to the origins of the various relics pulled into the Transitive Plane. The crew mounted expeditions to the largest planar bubbles, looking for relics in those strange locales"
"Here is one of the codes to disable the guns: a7bb760a1aba4045a0c11d5456a4b954. Interesting the other is missing. Must be some mistake..."
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Ayoka scans the data on the Amber Reconnoiter into her datapad.
That looks like a really early design she comments. How old was it? Venture Captain Naiaj said it disappeared around two hundred years ago She ponders a bit. Be nice to be able to bring it home - the crew too if we can.
She had also been rather interested in Royo's catalogue system and had offered to computerise it for him.
She also searches the infosphere for more information on that class of ship as well as available compatible spare parts.
She then looks up at the uplifted bear. You seemed interested in my sandwiches. I got more if you want some - and a few jars of the filling. Strange though. Not many entities seem to like it.
You get yourself familiar with the information found in the book. You make digital copies of them and spend some time looking for additional information. Royo gladly accepts an offer of a better ladder and wishes you good luck with your quest.
"I don't know where the second code could be, when I look at this book for every ship it only has one code, maybe it was for security reasons? Maybe the other code was introduced after this book. Who knows..." says Ysoki
Soon you depart and head to the communion vaults, a rather unimpressive building is filled with mystics and all sorts of alien beings. You follow down the corridor and head into a room pointed to you by Naiaj message.
In this stark chamber sleeps the Whisperer of Solar Winds, a jellyfish-like being whose glowing body slightly pulsates as it floats in midair. Beside it stands a nervous-looking halfling with shocking purple-and-pink hair, wearing a Starfinder insignia and a Starfinder backpack.
"Uh...., hello there! I am Kaeri, the, ah, current trainee interpreter for the Whisperer of Solar Winds. It is nice to meet you all." Kaeri then winces slightly and resumes
speaking in a softer tone.
"I’m still not exactly sure what wakes the Whisperer, so I try to stay quiet. I hope I’m doing this right..."
Kaeri pulls a bar from his backpack Absalom Way and offers you one. You can spot a bandage on his left arm.
Then Kaeri pulls out a datapad from her backpack.
"The Whisperer presented a vision to me that it wanted me to communicate to you. I believe it wants to welcome you to its home and to show you how to find your own vision."
The halfing shows you the datapad, which contains a short video. It shows hundreds of aliens of different races, each one wearing a starfinder insignia, all of them being attacked by white rats.
"Sorry that's not it. It is some other vision that we don't understand yet."
Kaeri shows you a video of an artifact connected to a set of displays. With that artifact, one can recall visions from time immemorial, channeled through the Dreamer.
This strange, glassy white, 3-foot cube is engraved with light-red lines that divide differently shaped panels. It stands on one of the long tables next to a number of other artifacts, cubical, spherical, of all colors. Blinky recognizes some of them as the ones that he with other agents have recovered during one of his missions.
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Once they leave the library, Ayoka shares her sandwiches with Blinky. Finally, someone else who likes it. At the Dreamer Chamber, she notices Kaeri's injury and offers to give the halfling some helpful healing. I am sure you are doing fine she says. Otherwise you wouldn't be here
When confronted with the mystical devices, she decided to have a go at it, hoping she'll have better luck with this than Royo's ladder. by using something she called 'mystical engineering'. So she concentrated on her mystic connection to the Cosmos then engineered the heck out of it.
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"Ooh ooh there is an old remedy I know for injuries like that!"
Once again, Garcon's hands become a blur of motion as he quickly assembles a taster tray of shot glasses and small snacks.
"Is that a weeping wound or a fracture, if it's a weeping wound I have this..."
He places a shot class in front of him
"...or if it's a fracture I have this..."
He places an Analgesic in front of him. He then places a third shot glass, and a light snack in between.
"So... what'll it be?"
Kaeri looks at Ayoka who begins to play with the artifact
"Talk quietly, we don't want the Whisperer to wake up. Dreamers when they wake up can be aggressive. I think it is due to the depth of their sleep and how they connect to ley lines. We can record some of the dreams, and we can join them for some time, but we do not understand how they perceive them. When they wake, they could be simply overwhelmed with different stimulations."
He looks at his arm "This is what happened when Whisperer of Solar Winds woke up the last time, but I did not recognize it in time. Apparently, you can see a distinct twitching of their last tentacles. But since then I am very perceptive."
Oh! They are twitching...
Kaeri grabs a snack from Garcon plate "Umm... good... that was only a bruise... The artifact is connected to Whisperer... good... of the wind... If you do it right we should be able to see the dream on the screens."
Ayoka believes to understand how the device works. The shape allows for Liavaran dreamers to rotate the panels with their tentacles. It seems to be some sort of input device that allows to browse through preserved dreams.
Blinky feels an overwhelming presence sending him pictures via telepathy. He feels joy, happiness, and gratefulness, he can feel sand in his teeth and scorching sun from the place that he calls home. Finally, he seems to pass out...
As Ayoka with a bit of aid from Elwin, who decide to return the favor or almost getting in a way from before. Rotate few panels and soon the screens come to life.
What others see on the screen, Blinky can experience with all his senses, he can hear the sound, smell coffee in the air.
You can see the crew members in the mess hall, playing an analog version of imperial conquest, a simple yet deeply strategic board game.
"In your face! What a move, your days are over!" yells Ysoki to Vlaka
Outside the windows of the starship, the Drift passes by, the shifting
colors strangely serene.
Kandra, a tall strix saw a skittermander entering the mess hall and she asked "Did you turn on both security protocols?"
Jarzi walked with a smile and responded back "Don't you worry nufriend, I all sixed that! Now that I made that song I can't get those numbers out of my head: 0118 999 881 999 119 725.....3"
The skitter takes pour themselves a cup of coffee
"I don't want to complain, but don't you think that monsters that we meet are every time more vicious and unlike anything that we saw before?"
Ysoki without turning her back on the game "We had some close calls, but the more extreme the monsters the more extreme artifacts we can find."
With that, the image becomes a blur. Kaeri stands with his mouth wide open
"I got chills every time I see a dream, don't worry it is recorded."
Blinky just stands there, communicating with the creature, after few more minutes he wakes up and the dreamer goes back to its slumber.
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While manipulating the device, Ayoka was in some sort of mystical trance, with a faint glow coming from her as if she was about to go into Starlight form. The code got locked into her brain.
Once the dream had run it's course, the glow faded and she blinked as she came out of meditative state.
Errr .... yeah .... um yeah ... thank you Whisperer of Solar Winds. That was most helpful.
She added the new code to the Amber Reconnoitre file on her datapad.
Don't suppose anyone has any tea do they? she then asks.
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At the description of the security protocol numbers Garcon shudders. "Could you imagine if you had to remember a number like that any time there was an emergency? Like a fire in the office or somethin?"
Mere seconds after Ayoka mentions tea, Garcon flips a hatch on his serving tray and reveals a kettle, an assortment of Poshkettle teas, and a mug. He says nothing, he simply grins widely.
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"Well...that was....odd. Glad we got the information...but I much prefer finding it in a book or a computer. Mental 'dreams' seem to be a little too intense. Just think on if you get a dream on somebody falling off a cliff and hitting the ground. I am certain we all have had our 'normal' dreams...but that is when we sleep....think of the Dreamer's dream doing something like that to you...."
"Garcon, I think those are kept on datapads, or on other ship computers, to send when you get close to the ship. Very few people could remember a 32 to 64 digit code. Most sentients have problems remembering their 8 to 12 character passwords...."
You leave Communion Vault with new information in your paws. Kaeri waves you goodbye and goes back to his work.
You head straight to the docks where the Drake ship is already waiting for you.
You get on board and depart, using provided coordinates as your destination, nice hum of engines and plenty of guns on board gives you the certainty that you can blast anything in your way. At least this is what you hope.
Immediately upon arriving at the coordinates, you find your starship in the middle of a chaotic planar bubble. Large chunks of planar matter swirl around, threatening to crush the drake. You believe that the starship might be deeper into the planar bubble.
But flying deeper in is not an easy task
Blast Through
Soon a large fragment rises quickly into view. You can't seem to avoid it, so you must shoot through it. A gunner with a precise shot can blow a hole through the fragment so the starship can fly through. Each additional gunner can help focus fire on the weak point grants the main gunner a +2 bonus to her gunnery check. In addition, a science officer who scans the fragment finds a weak point and grants the main gunner a +2 bonus to their gunnery check.
As you are able to deal with that problem in front of Drake...
Shifting Plates
Large plates of planar matter are shifting quickly and unpredictably in front of the Drake, closing in fast. The pilot must avoid them to maneuver the starship through the shifting plates. A science officer can use the ship’s sensors to scan the shifting plates to determine their pattern, granting the pilot a +2 bonus to their Piloting check.
As Szama flies out of the shifting planes he needs to bypass the last obstacle, the asteroid size of debris is surrounded by a cloud of burning gases or she can decide to try and fly into the tunnel that although tight seems to be passable.