Zeph pretty immediately take one of the bunks that actually looked sturdy and like a place a person would sleep ... and then starts doing the Zeph thing. The magical made magic a lifestyle, not simply a tool. Minor magic, which was classified as Token Spells, could work wonders. The room was sparkling clean in minutes, the bed's minor repairs completed, AND the linins were clean and looked like the bluest blue of the sky.
With habitation taken care of for the moment, Zeph wants to head in to the Blue Magesty.
There could be a drink, food, or even some entertainment on the bigger ship. No sense not looking for it.
Zeph finds that the Blue Magesty is easily ten times bigger than the drop ship, but very likely more. Though there is grime everywhere you can still read the initial paint giving you directions. There is plenty of added paint to make instructions more 'colorful'. If you take a wrong turn a crew member easily directs you with a few foul words. They are not the nicest of people.
Finding your way to the gally you see it is also part rec room. Pool tables, card tables, and other games have been laid out in the gally. The room is full with an assortment of races.
Zephyr goes into the galley, hoping there's a drink to be found.
N-1 hopes to learn about the crew even if it turns out they have little interest in him. But he finds his way to the galley as well and looks to see if there are any interesting foods to eat.
As Zyphyr walks into the gallery you feel someone slam into you. She keeps her face hidden under a cloak and tries to continue on, she says, "Sorry, I didn't see you there psycher."
The food assortment is meager and looking over the items left out for the crew to pour their own cups is about the consistency of gruel. Hard tack, some fruit, a vegetable salad, and a glatinous bowl of goo mixed with what looks like nuts remain to be grabbed. The fruit is the only thing that hasn't been pulled from yet. Also a pristine chocolate cake has been set out and has not been touched yet.
Off to another corner of the gallery several crew members wait to fill others drinks as they come over to the casks. As Zephyr comes over a pig faced brute asks, "You nee?! I dunno think I sa you befu."
In the gallery was mostly males and a few very confident females. All sorts of bar games were set up in the large room making the galley. Some 200 feet by 300 feet. Lots of open room and plenty of tables to get lost in.
The further you get in, you would notice on the South end is a pool, an indoor pool that three females swam in and a very muscular psycho.
Zephyr is pretty immediately put off after entering the galley, he had been hoping for more ...
Noticing something amiss in his pocket
Zeph reacts quickly based on his training, his eyes flashing very very briefly as he MindLinks with N-1:"Hey, it's Zephyr, DO NOT look alarmed. We need to leave here. Follow me into the corridor in 5 seconds."
Zephyr scans the items, shrugs so that others can see his disappointment, and leaves the galley to wait for N-1
Tremersynn took a bunk aboard the dropship and stashed his belongings there with a practiced efficiency.
After that he boarded the jumpship Blue Magesty to make his courtesy, as well as scout out the layout; just in case, you understand?
All the new faces (and their rude directions) made him a little tense, so he sought out some alcohol in the galley to calm down with.
N-1 was starting to turn towards the meager food when he hears Zephyr in his mind. He counts to five and then turns and heads towards the exit of the room.
Sgt. Tremersynn Anovus moves over to the only place that looks like it has alcohol. The casks and the crew members loitering around them. Off to this corner of the gallery several crew members wait to fill others drinks as other crew members come over to the casks. As Tremersynn comes over a pig faced brute asks, "You nee?! I dunno think I sa you befu."
Tremersynn arched an eyebrow at the brute, wondering if he got that sentence right.
"Uh, yeah. I'm just in off the dropship. Look buddy, I'm just here for a drink. Whatta ya got?" He said impatiently. He was increasingly on edge from the questions.
Zeph shows N-1 the note and asks him to go to the Med Bay with him.
The pig faced man nods approvingly and offers, "Ale, moonshine like vodka, and Fuel." If no other questions are asked a cup is provided and offered with a dark liquid inside of it. The liquid comes from one of the casks.
Zephyr, you saw Cass and Trem enter the galley.
@N-1 [b]"We should ask Cass & Trem to go with us, this could be serious."
Tremersynn accepted the cup with the dark liquid. With no qualms, he downed it. He tried to think of what to compare it to.
"Was this the Ale, or the Fuel?" He asked curiously.
Tremersynn licked his lips and frowned.
"Hmm. Tough to choose. Better give me a mug of the Moonshine, and one of the Fuel. He said, preparing to get down to business.
The pig faced thug smiles and states, "It is the Fuel! Wow, I am surprised you were able to stay standing!"
Another member of the trio offers, "He is augmented at least, it shouldn't affect him the same as most of us." He winks at Trem with a knowing look. A strange looking monocle resides over one of his eyes.
None of the regular crew seem in the mood for a fight, though you pick up that the psycho in the pool is open to fight anyone who wants to swim.
The moonshine and ale would require another save increasing the DC by 2 for each drink, starting to make you tipsy, then drunk.
Tremersynn belched a cloud of smoke.
"Urp. 'Scuse me. I like that last one." He said, leaning back.
Feeling a little more comfortable, he nodded over at the pool.
"What's that guy's story? He looks like he's in need of mood stabilizers. Like last month." He said, then downing the Moonshine.
N-1 nods and heads back into the room to find the other two. When he sees them he walks over and says, "Hey, can I pull you both away for a moment. I noticed some items on the dropship I thought I would share with you both before you got too deep into your cups."
N-1 looks around to see if anyone is listening, but decides to stick to something that should seem innocuous.
Hearing N-1, Tremersynn looked sharply at him, then nodded.
"OK, be right with you." He said.
Turning to the pig faced thug, he put his mug down.
"Thanks man, that stuff is pretty good." He said. He gave a half salute before leaving to follow N-1.
Catching up to him, he asked "OK, what's really going on?"
Hearing N-1, Tremersynn looked sharply at him, then nodded.
"OK, be right with you." He said.
Turning to the pig faced thug, he put his mug down.
"Thanks man, that stuff is pretty good." He said. He gave a half salute before leaving to follow N-1.Catching up to him, he asked "OK, what's really going on?"
Zeph reaches out to his comrade, and Mindlink's all of the shared background he & N-1 have so far, letting him know that they need to reel in Cass and get to the Medbay.
N-1 waits for them to all be in the hall with Zephyr and says, "Someone passed a note to Zephyr. It sounded kind of ominous. And the crew here seems...less happy with us then Armond did. So we should all go find out if there is something we need to be aware of."
The pig faced man responded to Tremersynn, "He think he one bada$$ Mo%*&^er, he pays those girls good too. Though he is great in a scrap, especially in weightless or under water."
The pig faced man nods in response to Tremersynn.
A small fight begins as Cass and Tremersynn leave the galley.
---
Your group now assembled in the hallway and informed, what do you do?
You hear a few short blaster shots and it sounds like the fight stopped.
N-1 looks down the hall at the group that was loitering and turns to head the other way toward find a clear path to the med bay.
"Yeah, we better go. This crew is rougher than I thought." He said, looking back at the bar.
"Guys ... let's go to the MedBay? Someone thought it was REALLY important to get us all there.
Zephyr is more anxious than they have ever seen him
Following the faded line to the Med bay you find it eerily vacant.
Getting to the door and opening it you see a female in rags and a cloak that covers most of her form and a doctor.
She quickly says, "Everyone in!" She then rushes to the door where you enter, looks down the hallway, and assuming you all get in she waves a stick with a blue light on it. Then she closes and locks the door.
---
Once the room is secure she nods to herself and then looks at the rest of you. Deciding not to start she states, "Doctor!"
He seems very nervous and wings his hands together, "The crew are not the... how should I say it... they are superstious. Yes superstious, they will likely react violently to anyone with magic. Kelly here and myself are of aptitude, she was worried for your safety. Also we have a proposal for you. When you go for your salvage, we would like to go with you. A friend of ours went on the most recent salvage and did not come back."
Tremersynn raised an eyebrow.
"Most recent salvage? Would this be the same place we're going to now?" He asked, curiously.
"Thank you Doctor ... this is wise and also timely: I tend to be indiscriminate in my use of my gifts. A great kindness you have shown. Tell us more about the salvage, and your lost friend."
"Would the members of this crew be ok with you both joining a drop ship?" N-1 asks as he wonders if they would have to sneak the two of them off of this ship.
The doctor nervously nods to Tremersynn adding, "Indeed, it is."
The doctor adds to what he knows with Zephyr's prompt: "The salvage is a massive ship, it could even be something more. It has the visible parts of a ship moreso than a space station though the scale is astronomical. The Blue Magesty was able to find a smaller salvage about a year ago. With it we were able to use a beacon to bypass the defense grid. Abigail is a recent compatriot. She is a field a medic for one of the assault crews that went over for a salvage last time. Only one team came back, one of five. Three of them were suppose to stay there for the extended time. How long will your stay be?"
Responding to N-1 even more nervously he nearly whines, "No. I am the main medical doctor here and assistants are so hard to find. Sure there are medics here and there like Abigail but they would be 'upset' if I was to go on the salvage. But I think if I go with you then you would for sure come back." Sneaking sounds like it would be needed for this idea to succeed.
Zephyr thinks this mission is much much more than they bargained for ...
"I will cast my vote in favor of increasing our odds every chance I get ... especially after someone tells me about previous missions like yours."
"This ship seems rather larger. We can probably manage to stow you away, but do you have any idea where your friend went on the salvage location? If it is as massive as we have heard, finding your friend on it without any clues might be very difficult." N-1 says with a furrowed brow as he considers the scope of what they are suggesting.
"This ship seems rather larger. We can probably manage to stow you away, but do you have any idea where your friend went on the salvage location? If it is as massive as we have heard, finding your friend on it without any clues might be very difficult." N-1 says with a furrowed brow as he considers the scope of what they are suggesting.
"Good point, we would want to plan our approach and attachment similarly to theirs previously."
"She holds a strange relic, I don't know why she gave me the other half. She said it would transmit back data to me. I am not very apt with technology unless it has to do with my craft but I accepted it anyway. I don't even know if it has transmitted anything. Here would one of you like to look at it." He states offering a rectangular object with two clasps and a handle.
As you take the clasps off and open the computer turns on.
Inside you find an integrated computer with a transmitter, GPS tracking, a screen and keyboard.
The password 'Tax@low' is taped to one of the few parts that does not have a specific use.
Though seeing that the cam then looks at her surroundings you can tell it is a recording on a personal cam.
Watching the video you can see many things. Including the section they started out in, Section 301, Quadrant Alpha. It starts off with normal hallways that quickly become overrun with vegetation. They go into one of the side rooms and find man eating vegetation. The screen goes black... The doctor slowly asks, "Does that mean...?" But he is unable to finish his thought.
N-1 opens the tech and puts in the password. He waits for the program to run to see what they might find out.
Once it is over he turns to the doctor and says, "Something has caused vegetation to grow in hallways. I am not sure from the video if that was intended or the vegetation is growing out of control. The fact it ends right after they find someone eating the plants is not a great thing. It could be that he defended his food source or that the vegetation is some kind of drug and he reacted to protect it. We will need to prepare for that when we go in."
N-1 offers a small smile to the two and says, "At least this does give us a starting point. That is a good thing."
"The vegetation could also have responded negatively to being eaten ...
"I will stay here in the Med bay until the last possible moment. Then with my friend's help I will slip away and get to your drop ship. Oh and if I haven't said it already the crew are a ruthless gang of pirates, especially if you are a psychic or psionic, one with magic then you should shy from them for your safety." The Doctor rattles off.
"Thank you Doctor, I will keep my talents suppressed.
"Yes, thank you for the warning. I am not sure how well Armond will respond to you coming with us. But if he is in the cockpit, we can perhaps hide your presence until we reach our destination. If we get him to remain in the ship, he might never find out that you are with us. Are you sure that both of you should come with us?" N-1 asks the pair.
"Yes, thank you for the warning. I am not sure how well Armond will respond to you coming with us. But if he is in the cockpit, we can perhaps hide your presence until we reach our destination. If we get him to remain in the ship, he might never find out that you are with us. Are you sure that both of you should come with us?" N-1 asks the pair.
"With love, this is actually OUR mission that we were hired to successfully complete: it would be my suggestion that we INFORM our employers that, with due consideration, we chose to add additional, non-compensated specialists to the team in order to increase the operation's overall chances for success, specifically after we uncovered data suggesting that the mission might in fact already be compromised prior to even having arrived on site.
Zeph raises an eyebrow to see what the now larger team felt ...
"I am happy to drop the hammer on anyone we feel needs to be informed; I'm not interested in hearing objections from them, of course, and I am sure I can talk it through for us."
"Yes, thank you for the warning. I am not sure how well Armond will respond to you coming with us. But if he is in the cockpit, we can perhaps hide your presence until we reach our destination. If we get him to remain in the ship, he might never find out that you are with us. Are you sure that both of you should come with us?" N-1 asks the pair.
They both nod in agreement that they should join you upon the mission in response to N-1.
The four of you eventually leave the doctor behind.
-----
You are more than welcome to interact with crew members. Learn about what you want. Though the trip seems like a blur. Not more than a week passes on the Blue Magesty and she docks with a massive abandoned cruiser bigger than any other ship you have seen before.
-----
Your team quickly gears up for departure. The air hatch hisses as the other side of the hatch is equalized. Then the hatch quickly opens and you hear the captain over your coms, "Safe hunting. Alpha Alpha Omega, the last team we sent should have been at the air lock. Keep an eye out for them. Three other teams have disembarked for scavenging too, though in different quadrants."
N-1 returns to the drop ship after leaving the doctor.
Do you investigate the computer?
Do you do technomancer stuff?
What do you do for the other six days? Check out the dropship more and get an even better feel for the controls?
Tremersynn returns to the dropship to get his armor ready and in shape, forgoing more drinking and socializing, at least for the moment.