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Sprocket Tension is a albino ysoki that looks surprisingly clean for being a mechanic like you may have heard. He is wearing Lashunta Tempweave Adv armor that looks to be rather flashy with reds, pinks and whites similar to that of Strawberry Machinecake. He also has 2 longarm rifles on his back and 2 pistols at his waist.
Sprocket is currently riding a medium sized combat drone named Claptrap II. Claptrap II has a Devestation Blade that it is holding onto.
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Oddman is sitting on a chair in the corner, partially hidden in the shadows - nobody can quite remember if he was already there when they arrived, or if he came in silently without anyone noticing. If addressed, he answers his name, but otherwise just grunts or nods. He looks like just any other kasatha.
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Something seems a bit off about Dytabail. She looks mostly human, but her skin is a strange pale shade. Anybody with a decent amount of experience with Eoxians may recognize that she is a borai, a type of intelligent undead. Whatever made her this way must have been fairly recent.
Oddly enough, this seems to make her almost cheerful. She is flipping through a set of pictures on her datapad, browsing the Eoxian equivalent of Zillow. But as soon as somebody approaches her, she puts the pad away and gives them her full attention.
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Azara Thenason needs no introduction, unless you've been living under an asteroid or have no interest in Lashunta Epic Poetry. In which case, how sad. For those who do have a soul, he is a rising star in the world of poetry.
The handsome, self assured Lashunta nods to everyone as he enters.
But there is one face he recognizes.
"Oddman! Good to see you again. Hopefully, this time you won't end up taking a dip in a tank full of green goo inside a giant robot monster," he says.
You receive a call to report to the captain’s briefing room. You gather outside the room so as to all enter as a group.
As you enter, First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo rises from her chair and proclaims, “Ah, these are the agents I spoke about! Starfinders, may I introduce to you Ulyapses, a new friend from the Vast.”
A massive, six-limbed alien rises from its chair, barely avoiding a collision with the ceiling. She clears her throat, and in a deep, bellowing voice begins, “I am honored to stand in the presence of those as accomplished as you. I am Ulyapses, and it seems our past and your present have come together.” As she speaks, she retrieves a holographic projector from the folds of her simple robe. “This is our history,” Ulyapses continues, gesturing to the images appearing from the projector.
Over the next several moments, the projector displays an advanced society of creatures shaped like Ulyapses laboring under an opaque golden sky. The creatures toil with obvious dissatisfaction, creating monolithic tributes to an unseen entity. At times, the shield fades, and in these moments the aliens quickly turn to the frantic design of rockets, starships, and other methods of leaving their world. Each time, the aliens fail to pierce the golden sky and must return to their toil. As the playback accelerates, the images speed past a myriad of failed escape attempts before suddenly slowing as the glimmering shield winks out of existence. As the barricade vanishes, the subjugated aliens swiftly escape aboard their highly sophisticated starships.
The images then show the aliens arriving upon a fertile planet. They bury the majority of their ships and load the remaining few with relics that remind them of the world where they had been held hostage. A small group of custodians flies these ships, laden with reminders of their grim history and other technological advances, to a nearby, heat-blasted moon. On the newly settled world, the aliens live a peaceful, agrarian life for generations. Suddenly, a short golden obelisk descends from the heavens, igniting panic among the people.
With obvious sadness, Ulyapses shuts off the projector. With a tremble, she stammers, “Your brothers and sisters wait trapped behind the same barrier that once imprisoned us—Luwazi calls it the ‘Godshield.' For us, escape took many generations and considerable luck. For you, perhaps, we have another path. We call the golden relic deposited on our world the Tear. We fear it heralded a return to our captivity, so we quickly deposited it on the same rocky moon where we sent our unnecessary technology and unpleasant reminders of our past. We call that facility the Repository. Perhaps the Tear is a key, or a beacon. But if it has answers, we don't want them.”
Ulyapses collapses back into her chair with a thud.
Elsebo steps forward. “We have permission to access the Repository and claim the Tear, on the sole condition that we take it far away from Ulyapses's people and never bring it back. The key to pierce the Godshield awaits, and the Society needs you to retrieve it.”
“Yes, it is the system you call the Scoured Stars.” Ulyapses says.
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Azara listens carefully. Since his first mission was the Society's trip to the Scoured Stars to save those trapped trapped there in the first expedition they sent, he has a great deal of curiosity the Godshield.
"Thank you for sharing your history with us. We are always happy to help those who need it and who are our allies," he comments.
"The past and present collide."
"A gold shield broken."
"Freedom from oppression found."
Luwazi says “The izalguuns know very little about the Repository, as it was the purview of several izalguun custodians to store and study the materials sent there. The izalguuns have been dumping technology and unwanted relics—godgifts, they call them—at the Repository for some time. Ulyapses knows which silo the Tear was sent to, but nothing more— communications with the izalguun custodians stopped decades ago. I'd be prepared for anything: advanced technology, radiation, or even strange magic.”
Luwazi and Ulyapses both complement Azara on his poem.
You prepare and then take a shuttle to the indicated silo of The Repository on Izal-4.
Steep stairs curve around the interior of the cone beneath the silo, descending to a small platform that overlooks a smog- shrouded region below. The platform ends with jagged metal and torn struts, obvious clues that it once anchored a bridge to an airlock across the cone, dozens of feet away. Only a single small ledge remains in front of the airlock. Next to the airlock is an unlit computer terminal.
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A rather tardy halfling turns up to the briefing. He is oddly dressed in Vesk armour, and his eyes are the sort of red that makes you scream "Don't open them, you'll bleed over the carpet" And lets not get started on the smell. The scent of ... bushfires(?) .... lingers around him almost as strong as the reek of alcohol.
"Ahh, hello everyone..." he says. "Sorry... overslept. Partying with the Yeti.."
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Shokil looks down the shaft, somewhat more soberly during an enforced drying-out spell on the shuttle. He checks the seals on his armour, and then his weapon.
The sniper rifle the halfing carries must be almost as long as he is. "Isn't she a beauty?" he smiles.
Oddman finds a narrow ledge in front of the door on the other side. He can either try to balance on it or remain flying.
He doesn’t see any traps on the door or terminal.
Gaining entry through the airlock requires bashing through the door or hacking the computer terminal next to the door.
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Azara gets to the edge of the walkway they came in on then taps into the power of the universe, particularly the gravity that holds everything together.
He jumps out but instead of falling down, he falls sideways, landing with his feet on the wall and breaking into a sprint that takes him around the periphery of the tower until he comes to the platform on the other side, where his personal redefinition of the laws of runs out and he comes to land on the opposite platform.
He starts by trying to hack the computer terminal.
Azara makes a leap and lands on the silo wall, which they are able to stick to. They then move along the wall over to the terminal. They then start messing with the computer terminal.
Oddman flies out of the way.
Sprocket flies across the room using their own jetpack and reachs the terminal just as Azara is trying to hack it.
At that point, everyone notices five hidden panels open and gun turrets coming out.
Didn't give it in profile, will update next battle assuming I have a full profile.
Trap Round 1:
Bolded may act.
You need to be either at the terminal or at a turret to deactivate it using an Engineering check. The turrets are about 15' above the level of the entrance.
You can also destroy a turret by doing enough damage.
The airlock door is still locked.
Sprocket and Claptrap II
Kiff
Oddman
Shokil
Gun turrets
Dytabail
Azara
Sprocket manages to disable one of the turrets.
Trap Round 1:
Bolded may act.
You need to be either at the terminal or at a turret to deactivate it using an Engineering check. The turrets are about 15' above the level of the entrance.
You can also destroy a turret by doing enough damage.
The airlock door is still locked.
Sprocket and Claptrap II
Kiff
Oddman
Shokil
Gun turrets ⅘ active
Dytabail
Azara
Shokil fails to hit anything important on the turret.
Oddman destroys the turret he strikes with his trident! The adamantine weapon slices straight through the armor.
Kiff hits the turret and does some damage to it. It is still operational.
Then the guns fire.
Miss
Hit
DR protects
Hit
Hit
Miss
Hit
Hit
Trap Round 1:
Bolded may act.
You need to be either at the terminal or at a turret to deactivate it using an Engineering check. The turrets are about 15' above the level of the entrance.
You can also destroy a turret by doing enough damage.
The airlock door is still locked.
Gun turrets ⅗ active, 8 damage on turret at 3 o’clock
Dytabail
Azara
Round 2:
Sprocket 18 damage
and Claptrap II 12 damage
Kiff
Oddman 19 damage
Shokil 20 damage
Shokil takes aim at the turret that Kiff damaged and manages to finish it off!
Trap Round 1:
Bolded may act.
You need to be either at the terminal or at a turret to deactivate it using an Engineering check. The turrets are about 15' above the level of the entrance.
You can also destroy a turret by doing enough damage.
The airlock door is still locked.
Gun turrets 2/5 active
Dytabail
Azara
Round 2:
Sprocket 18 damage
and Claptrap II 12 damage
Kiff
Oddman 19 damage
Shokil 29 damage
Azara hits the turret, but not enough to deactivate it.
Suddenly all the turrets deactivate as Sprocket figures out how to disable all of them at once!
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Shokil stands tall, well, as tall as a halfling can.
"Well, that was exciting." he says.
"I do note that we have no pressing time issues on this mission. If we run into another set of defences, we may want to retire to the ship for a good rest . No sense in pressing forward into a determined set of defensive measures and getting ourselves killed needlessly."
[i]Unless of course, you are Sgt Smith and there are time pressures. Perhaps even time pressures that he is not aware of. Men dropping to the left and the right. Does he pull the team back? Or press on? He's a hero. Of course he presses on. Pity the red-shirts.[/b]"
"Hang on, I've gota to write some notes up.." calls out the author.