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Gab agrees to the Pegasus, enthusiastically once the idea of a swimming pool is mentioned. He spends the trip mostly lounging at the pool, taking calls from his agent. "Listen, Howie, I'm not doing another one of those Apostae comedy clubs .. those Drow have no sense of humor whatsoever... Hold on. They're offering how much?" He pauses. "Okay, just this one last time ..."
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When not piloting the Pegasus, Katrina spends most of her time relaxing in the water sometimes dressed as a mermaid. It's also obvious she has gill implants. But in deference to her companions, she doesn't flood the whole water chamber, just half of it.
She listens to Gab talking to his agent.
Apostae Comedy Clubs? she asks. What sort of humour are they into? And is it anything like their music? She winces at the thought.
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Mmhm .... Know what you mean. This Apostae business men hired a few of us, with gills, to be exhibited in enclosed standing cylindrical water tanks as display pieces during a business conference, one girl per tank. We were supposed to be slaves I guess and he was trying to impress the other drow. Anyway we were sealed in these tanks for three or four hours at a time, and had to swim as best we can while very scantily clad and bound hand and foot. Not much room to maneuver either
She shrugged. Still .... I guess it could have been worse and I did get a date or two out of it She grinned at the memory. And before you get the wrong idea, it was one of the other 'mermaids'
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Gab nods, seeming to have forgotten that he still has Howie on hold on the line. "Eh, there's never a good time. Bubbles and me, we've been together for years ... Got 87 kids, from little ones to grown ones. I see 'em fairly frequently. Most are in the Pact Worlds, though some are out in the Near Space ... a couple are settling homesteads in the Vast. I highly recommend it."
The Pegasus has proven to be a capable ship as you've travelled through the Drift, but things are starting to get a bit crmaped. The mods to fit a massive vehcile cut somewhat into is living spaces. More irritatingly, each of you was told to assemble and head out into Near Space with little further detaisl: just a set of coordinates. Finally, after a week’s travel through the Drift, a pre-recorded message arrives on the Pegasus' from Venture-Captain Naiaj.
“Apologies for dispatching you without a briefing." the bleachling's face does seem somewhat genuinely sorry. Probably: it's a bit hard to tell under her common semi-annoyed expression. "As you’ve probably gathered from the navdest programmed in, you’re headed to Pholskar, a Near Space planet inhabited by giants. Pholskar’s government, the Cloud Imperium, has tight restrictions on off-world visitation, so there’s little we know about Pholskar that’s actually been verified by anyone outside the Imperium itself."
“It’s been a longtime ambition of Ehu Hadif’s to visit. Now that he’s First Seeker, he has the clout to negotiate with the Cloud Imperium’s convoluted bureaucracy. He actually managed it— we’ve been granted permission to explore one of Pholskar’s ruins normally restricted to all but the Cloud Imperium’s archaeologists. It should be obvious how great of an honor this is. Unfortunately the Data Scourge is causing enough lingering problems and unknown risks that we can't risk the First Seeker being out-of-system for an unknown stretch. So, he’s asked me to collect a team of accomplished agents to go in his stead. That’s where you come in."
“The ruins we've been given permission to examine are Talgradur, a flying city that crashed into the Ithillian Sea centuries ago. Most of the ruins are underwater, but the site they’ve granted you access to is on the fringes of Talgradur, along the coast. Since this isn’t one of the main ruins, I suspect it’s a test to determine the Society’s skill and trustworthiness. I expect you to do the Society proud."
“You have an appointment with Elthel in the flying city of Anduwar. She’s the bureaucrat assigned to your case. A cloud giant, I believe: our case was recently transferred to her, so I haven't yet communicated with her directly. Make a good impression so she doesn’t get cold feet and cancel the expedition, then travel overland to Talgradur. When you’re done at the site report to Elthel, then return to Absalom Station. With luck, we’ll be approved for a follow-up visit soon."
“I’ve attached a digital data module along with this transmission. It contains information on Pholskar. None of the sources are particularly reliable, so it might take some digging to uncover the truth. Stay sharp. Saty safe. I'll debrief you when you return.”
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Katrina had been sleeping underwater as well, which is why she had been wearing swimsuits for most of the trip.
So .... our .. erm ... site doesn't include any of the submerged areas? How disappointing ... ah well ... there's always Arniselle. So what does this Elthel look like and how do we get in touch. Proper protocols and all that.
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A rather brightly coloured vesk wearing a loud tropical theme shirt (clearly from Vesk-2) and a ball cap with a 'Bamford Tools'Ⓡ logo on it sits down in the bridge to watch the message, as does a space goblin wearing a red bandana and a pirate eye-patch (with a hole in it).
Big Jim leans over to the goblin - "Looks like we need to make some friends right up front, Buddy you got the package?" The goblin pops open a briefcase full of promotional materials and signed 6" x 8" photos of the smiling vesk and a range of power tools, as well as a shining hover truck ('The Big Jim Truckster'™), a recon enercopter ('Big Jim One'™) along with 'Buster the Quadbike' and 'Buddy the Goblin' (also noted as the on-set technical and safety adviser). Jim smiles, "A great chance to make some new fans, we can do the autographs and take a tour of the place"
"Katrina how is that swimming pool going? Does it have a jacuzzi?"
"Gabbers what do we know about this place?" Jim puts a small but powerful-looking computer on the table and starts pulling up his library-chips - "And let's see what is on the provided data module - hopefully they have given us some dossiers on key leadership, local customs, all that sort of helpful information"
Gabbers does actually know quite a bit about the place you're head to: at least if Naiaj's data module and a downloaded infosphere can be believed. And who every heard of misinformation on an infosphere?
Pholskar is a planet of giants in Near Space. Although numerous types of giants live on Pholskar, the planet is ruled by the Cloud Imperium, a bureaucracy of cloud giants that live in flying cities. At one time the planet was ruled by a coalition of cloud and storm giants, the latter of which lived in flying cities equipped with "storm engines", mechanical devices capable of creating and controlling deadly storms. At one point however a schism arose between the storm and cloud giants, sparking war. Today, the Cloud Imperium rules and occupies every flying city save one: Agrishall. Agrishall is occupied by storm giants and the only sky-city with an operational storm engine - and even that engine was only able to repaired and restored to functionality just 50 years ago.
Of course while the Cloud Imperium is the official government of the Pholskar - and restricts off-world visitors generally to only the flying cities of Anduwar and Elysius - there are parts of the world where their rule is a bit more in-name-only even apart from the still defiant Agrishall. Pholskar's three moons are populated by moon giants generally unaffiliated with the Imperium, and some giants of various types and species living in secluded or remote regions of the planet’s surface are completely unaware the Cloud Imperium claims governance over them.
As far as the ruins you've been granted access to explore, Talgradur is a flying city that was destroyed by war and crashed into the Ithillian Sea centuries ago. The site's access is heavily restricted by the Cloud Imperium, and patrolled by giants and high-tech submersibles. Unlike the flying cities of today, Talgradur was occupied by a variety of giants. Historians believe Talgradur’s destruction coincides with the beginning of open warfare between the cloud and storm giants, and the mass malfunctioning (or possibly destruction) of the storm engines powering multiple of the flying cities of the time.
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"These ruins that we're visiting crashed at the same time war broke out between the cloud and storm giants, so maybe we'll find some historical records about the causes of this war ... or what went wrong with the storm engine cities." He seems excited at the prospect of new discoveries and begins exploring further into the data files.
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She looks over the promotional material. What's all this then?
"When I am not running around with the Starfinder Society providing my subject matter expertise I am usually found on set, or on location, filming episodes of the family-friendly home-improvement and mechanical repair show 'Jims Jams', every week we tackle the latest problem for some out of luck person and solve their problem - house leaking and you can't afford to fix it? Looks like a new jam for Jim. Can't get to your job because your beaten-up seventeenth-hand transporter has a blown motivator? Never fear, Big Jim and the team are on the way. Got a pack of wild Azatas destroying your noodle shop on the fifth floor of a mall in the Downlow? Jim and the team will be around - all of this will be slickly produced and put on the infosphere as the latest episode, thanks to our good friends at Bamford Tools" Jim smiles "And wherever I go I am sure to find some fans of the show, who are always keen for an autograph and signed 6"x8", and they are pretty good at helping Big Jim out of a jam with all sorts of help"
"What info have you found on the planet? Atmosphere? gravity? Known predators and problem creatures?"
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Lieutenant Jerris "Maverick" Sakai, sits in the pilot seat of the Hornet, a pegasus class starship owned by the Starfinder Society. The five time straight and counting winner of the Top Gun trophy as the best starship pilot in the Starfinder Navy is completely at home guiding the Hornet through The Drift.
His eyes scan the controls of the ship from behind aviator sunglasses. He's spent most of the trip piloting the Hornet when he can. Having to share the pilot seat with Katrina has been a bit annoying for him, but with all the time she spends in the swimming pool that leaves plenty of flight time for him. With no beach volleyball court to complement the pool on the ship he really has nothing else to do. Though he has spent quite a bit of time with Big Jim going over the specs on his enercopter.
Maverick also does some infosphere research on Pholskar as well.
Gab looks into some of the drier files about Pholskar, but finds them a bit less engaging than the info about the planetary culture. The ysoki confirms that Pholskar is a terrestrial Near Space world with breathable atmosphere and standard gravity. Well, breathable with an asterisk. The planet is extremely geologically active: earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and other dangerous events are commonplace. As a result, these activities frequently release toxic gasses into the air. In relatively stable regions of Pholskar, the air is acrid and can cause some irritation in the throat over time, but not dangerous to breathe. In more volatile regions, the higher concentration of gases can make the air caustic.
As Maverick and Data do their own research into your destination, both of them confirm Gab's findings. In fact, they find that this explains why Pholskar's major settlements are located not on the surface but flying in the sky: the planet’s atmosphere is cleanest at high
altitudes. If on the surface, environmental protections are a necessity but need not be used constantly - the are is mostly caustic but not deadly, but a new geo-event can cause that to change with little warning. As a result, many of the planet's residents take care to ration their use of environmental protections judiciously so that they still can be charged and operational in case of emergency.
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Gab confirms that his armor and other equipment is all charged up. "Unstable geology and volcanoes, eh?" He makes sure his charged fire extinguisher is accessibly strapped to the outside of his starfinder backpack. For safe measure, he also has his radiation badge prominently displayed on the front of his armor.
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Since the pilot's chair is currently occupied by Jerris, Katrina had hopped into the Captain's chair (or the science station if that's occupied) or any other spare seat in the bridge - except engineering. Having to share piloting duties had also been a bit of an annoyance but she was making sure it stayed at friendly rivalry and good natured fun.
We should have a pilot-off sometime she said And this 'Top Gun' trophy - can anyone enter? I'd like to give that a go She pauses a bit Wait a minute .. I've heard of it before. Of course! It was you! We adventured together on Salvation's End a while back.
Her mind was also still a bit blown by the idea of seventy-six children - how do Ysoki manage that?
As for Big Jim ... I've never been a huge fan of putting stuff on the infosphere, hardly ever actually although some of my shows have turned up there, but I do watch stuff. I might have actually caught one or two of your shows. Was it you that did Jim Jams it up the Jinsul? I found it by accident while keeping up on new reports about Jinsul attacks and strategies.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she speaks.
She then shows Big Jim the results.
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"Yep Jim Jams it up the Jinsul was a special episode - got on board one of the big Jinsul ships and sent a message that pleased the viewers at home but also lit a beacon to the Jinsul threat that their days of unchecked conquering of the galaxy were over and they were going to be getting stiff resistance from that point on"
"Anyhow, Jinsul threat is now crushed under a boot - next is this Scourge"
Jim seems quite happy hanging around the Engineering station with Buster and Buddy.
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*nods* I was there for virtually all of it. Rescued my sister who was trapped behind the GodShield then went back to ... erm ... put the boot in as they say ...... yeah .... *she sighs at the memories* I've sort of been considering retirement but I'd probably get too bored easily.
Besides, there's this unicorn that ... well ... I've been looking for her home planet.
The next days allow for ample time for Katrina and Maverick to have some friendly piloting competitions as you continue on through the Drift towards Pholskar/ Plenty of time too for Gab to run several safety checks on his equipment, Troivayan to bounce around the ship with wildly fluctuating energy, and Jim to play multiple episodes of 'Jims Jams' on the starship's media player for you all
Eventually though, the ship's navigational computers *ping* to announce you've reached to appropriate position to re-enter the Material Plane. Your pilot adjusts the Drift engine, transitions out of the drift and
Blaring alarms and flashing lights ring out throughout the ship waking each of you as the starship jostles. The physical viewports are covered in a thick darkness while the engine alerts glow red. Something is rapidly clogging your engines - which is causing you all to begin plunging out of control!
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Done that Katrina replies. As Maverick heads out, Katrina replaces him at the helm and attempts to fly the Hornet out of ... whatever this is, presumably by doing a flip and burn to turn 180 degrees and fly out the way they came.
This doesn't make sense. We can't be in planetary atmosphere. We shouldn't even be in the planet's gravity well
You each jump to your stations like the trained Starfinders you are!
Jim and Maverick move down towards the engineering bay to assess the damage and keep everything running. The ships’ engines and machinery is covered in fine black and grey material that is slipping in through the ship and interfering with the ship’s systems. The human and vesk reroute power and provide patches to keep the engines moving while Troivayan draws on the skills learned at his ‘day job’ to help manually clean the machinery. As he pulls the powdery substance out from where its clogging, the solarian recognizes the invasive material as something familiar: ash. He continues to try an manually clear the ash from the sensitive machinery, directing Data and Gab where best to focus on
Back at the helm Katrina keeps the ship steady while quickly enacting a focused flush of the affected systems. As she does so, she looks at the readings and notices something has indeed gone wrong with your exit from the Drift. She knows its an iron rule of safe Drift travel that you shouldn’t emerge from it directly into atmosphere. But against all odds it seems you have: and worse the Hornet seems to have appeared directly in the middle of an active volcanic eruption!
After several tense minutes, the Hornet’s engine roar back to full power, arresting the ship’s fall and allowing for enough control to begin steering through the worst of the ashen cloud. Your viewports clear slightly and scanners begin functioning a bit clearer. And with this new visibility you can see a new threat heading your way: debris being launched through the air by the eruption!
Data and Maverick fire the particle beams and engage the point defenses to protect the ship, while Jim and Gabbers boost the shields. The Hornet's hull shines as the protective shell around it glows with extra energy right before the debris begins to make heavy impact, while Maverick blasts the largest approaching chunks into a fine powder.
At the helm, Katrina very confidently takes the wheel, but the sheer surprise of the situation seems to cause her to forget much of her training and stumble. Seeing this, Troivayan moves in the help, and with the extra set of eyes and hands the Daredevil just manages to keep the ship steady as it dodges the initially exploded debris.
Steady for the moment at least. The smoke around your ship continues to clear. Just in time to give you a great view as a massive volcano right before you fully erupts! Lava is spewed up and out, waves landing on the Hornet as the magma threatens to quickly overwhelm the ship's protections!
