Maybe it's surprising, maybe it's not... but none of the other ships even make the attempt at an excuse on the pursuit. A minute later, you get a visual hail.
It's Captain Siovan. "At least someone here has a spine, or at least a pair of starmetal cajones. Would you be willing to go one step further? I need a distraction to get them off my tail. Even if I outrun them here, I'm, still in their sights. "
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
[dice=piloting]d20+15
Knowing the pursuing ship won't catch the Surnoch's Tooth without help, Chip makes a good show of punching some buttons. I am unable to engage in an effective pursuit at this time. Controls appear to be sporadic.
The vesk looks over at the android and tries to catch his eye as he says in a deadpan voice No, dont, stop…
Then he looks back at Chip with a “thumbs up” gesture. Chip, remember? The old vid you showed me…. With the funny man who liked torturing children…. Chip, Chip, remember…
”Copy that, Captain.” Aldo replies over the communication channel. ”This is Firestorm and we’re on it.”
Turning to the others, Aldo declares, ”Alright, Crew, we have another ship that needs our help escaping the EJ. We need a distraction and now. Quick, give me some ideas.”
The vesk looks over at the android and tries to catch his eye as he says in a deadpan voice No, dont, stop…
Then he looks back at Chip with a “thumbs up” gesture. Chip, remember? The old vid you showed me…. With the funny man who liked torturing children…. Chip, Chip, remember…
Chip returns Kaz's look directly for several seconds, before--and without changing expressions--making a very loud proclamation of
He then turns back, hitting more buttons and other controls. It appears that there is an issue with the Drift Engine. I fear that the engine venting is imminent, despite my attempts to compensate.
he then looks over to Angel. Yes...it's definitely imminent.
"Venting plasma."
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"Angel, my programming obliges me to caution you against any unlawful actions."
"Nobody asked for your opinion Rhonda. Just do it."
Angel goes for it, giving the fleeing ship an opening. the Negotiator gets close a few moments later and immediately messages you, [b]“where did that Rock Hopper go?!”
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Kaz lets loose with the chain gun. Firing shots near but missing the fleeing ship.
Shooting skill
The Negotiator breaks off. A laconic, "You tried." is the only thing to come over the comms. You get back to waiting for clearance, which takes two whole hours...
An enormous transparent dome encloses a small settlement built atop a massive floating platform on the sea, complete with a dozen modular and portable buildings of varying sizes. A few open areas feature artificial grass with gym equipment and an “outdoor” cafeteria. Several large, round landing pads surround the dome, linked by swaying docks. Additional landing pads are still under construction, and a mix of above-water and undersea scaffolding forms a wood-and-steel patchwork around the entire facility.
When the FireStorm clears the blockade in orbit, you are directed to land on one of the floating landing pads attached to the dome city.
As you land, you’re greeted by a familiar sight: the Wintermourn rests nearby, on the other side of the gently swaying landing pad. Jinx, Nemelith, Dizzy, and Dizzy’s drone, Digit, all wait outside the ship as captain Niva Rovo consults a datapad, her brow furrowed.
They see you, but they don't immediately react, waiting to see where you're at first...
Aldo approaches the other captain and keeps the conversation light and cordial.
"Hello, Captain Rovo. What brings you to this EJ Hive? That furrowed brow doesn't look encouraging."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Chip knows his limits, and social interaction is one. He simply makes eye contact with Jinx and gives a small, respectful nod of a professional greeting a peer.
Aldo strikes up a conversation with the captain. She seems on edge, and Aldo learns that she sometimes (like now) consults on drilling projects. Niva lets slip that the materials used for the drilling operations on Entha rate below industry standards and lack key redundant safety features...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Angel regrets having not learned much in finishing school AKA prison and keeps her mouth shut.
Aldo gives the crew a nod encouraging them to chit chat and find out what information they can glean from the Wintermourn crew.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Seeing the large weapon bludgeoning weapon in Dizzy's massive hand gives Kaz the opening he needs. He motions the big dragonkin aside so they can talk weapons while their captains talk business.
Thats one hell of skull smasher... the vesk motions at Dizzy's weapons and soon they speak of weapons and such. Once they have a good back and forth Kaz tries to ask "whats going on?"
Mercenary lore
Dizzy, surprisingly, gives Kaz a wide grin. "I owe you one." He then gets serious. "I don't like owing anyone anything. Come'ere. I think I got just enough scrap here to hook you up too."
He starts kitting out Kaz's Aurora Doshko. Dizzy seems ecstatic to visit a planet-scale terraforming project and witness the advanced associated technologies at work. He doesn't seem to have any USEFUL information "...Here. That should do it. We're even now, not friends. Even."
He hands Kaz his aurora storm doshko back, now fitted with a nanofiber grip.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Dizzy, surprisingly, gives Kaz a wide grin. "I owe you one." He then gets serious. "I don't like owing anyone anything. Come'ere. I think I got just enough scrap here to hook you up too."
He starts kitting out Kaz's Aurora Doshko. Dizzy seems ecstatic to visit a planet-scale terraforming project and witness the advanced associated technologies at work. He doesn't seem to have any USEFUL information "...Here. That should do it. We're even now, not friends. Even."
He hands Kaz his aurora storm doshko back, now fitted with a nanofiber grip.
Kaz gives the weapon a professional once over, including a few practice movements. He lets out a hissing chuckle, but then takes a serious facial expression and stiff stance. He tells Dizzy You are a warrior. . But Kaz doesnt use the common word for “warrior”. He uses the vesk term. The vesk translation doesnt mean warrior as much as it means “honorable one”.
Kaz gives a short bow/nod of the head and moves back to his comrades.
...A serious-looking kalo in business attire makes her way onto the landing pad, proceeding directly to Niva. The two exchange brief greetings; shortly thereafter, Niva says, “Well, looks like some of us are finally getting off the waiting list,” and she, her crew, and the kalo head into Elysia.
As the crew of the Wintermourn depart, the sea near the landing platform foams and wells up. Four wavecutters emerge from beneath the water. As the vehicles bob to the surface, their bubble domes slide apart in two halves, rotating beneath the craft to function as gyroscopic stabilizers to keep the vehicles stable in the churning tide.
A green dragon dressed in EJ Corp attire rides in the foremost wavecutter. She signals to the other vehicles’ riders—kalos wearing thin, black wet suits and carrying laser rifles—and they join her as she steps onto the platform.
One kalo approaches you and asks for the captain while the others move to board the FireStorm. The dragon looks on with a mixture of boredom and low-grade suspicion. The kalo looking for the captain approaches Aldo and asks for ..."a cargo manifest and permission to board and offload," offering a waterproof datapad with a straightforward form to sign.
"Yes, no problem." Aldo replies, with utmost calm and authority.
With a few taps of the pad, he sends the cargo manifest to the dragon and signs off on the appropriate line. He makes a point to make his signature unrecognizable, just in case it gets scanned into the EJ database.
As a prominent EJ employee... there's a chance you know Avarin.
Angel doesn't know much, but he knows some. Avarin is a rising star in EJ Corp and recently won a prestigious award of accomplishment, given at the annual shareholder meeting; she has even appeared in promotional materials.
”Leave it to the EJ to promote some young upstart who wants to be a poster child and they totally overlook those who have given their sweat and blood to the company for years! That stuff just pisses me off! This is the problem with the EJ, they have no loyalty to their own workers.
Kaz glances over at Aldo. Easy Capitan. Thats in our past Steady as she goes.
I doubt Vaster background applies here...
Not knowing anything else, the party works with this Avirin dragon. For the moment, you're free to wander.
Sort of.
Finding Shan won't be easy. You can freely explore some parts of Elysia, though other areas appear clearly off limits, marked with “Employees Only” signage or barred by biometric locks and portals welded shut.
EJ Corp strictly regulates the infosphere on Elysia. Terminals (tier-2 computers connected to internal networks) are scarce and often attended by one or more Company employees.
You can purchase basic food and necessities—including batteries, but not other ammunition or weapons—at a small kiosk at prices 25% higher than usual; the Company takes full advantage of its closed ecosystem, working to reclaim as much of its workers’ paychecks as it can.
Aldo attempts to get his crew in to one of the Infosphere Terminals by chatting up whomever is monitoring the desk.
"So how long have you worked here at EJ? Have they been treating you well? . . .It must be great working out here. The view of stars in this quadrant must be exceptional with very little light pollution."
Aldo starts making small talk, and doing a solid job of it. There's enough of a window of distraction for someone to hack in and start poking around for a location.
Kaz resists the urge to pick Angel and set her in front of the computer.
Meanwhile he casually makes perception checks for incoming danger or if maybe Shan happens to walk by…
Perception
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"I've got this."
Angel uses remote hacking to get into the computer system.
Aldo's distraction is perfect. While Kaz keeps lookout, Angel rips all the information he can out of the terminal.
Angel logs off, confident there's nothing more to find.
With the FireStorm tied up in Company customs (and not rated for underwater travel), you must find a way to reach Terra 5 without being detected....
Aldo tries to weigh their options for finding transport down to Terra 5.
I have noticed that it is typically the escape, and not the entry, that poses the most difficulty--particularly if additional personnel is being removed. Be advised to recall that we will need to leave Terra 5 with Shan.
Aldo strikes on an idea poking around, there are automated tour boats that give tours. They tours are geared towards investors, so they have lots of self directing options for information, but they travel on a preprogrammed course... They're freely available. It's likely your best bet.
The submersible tour boat has a large transparent aluminum dome that can hold up to six Medium creatures (one Large creature takes up the space of two Medium creatures). A vidscreen occupies the front of the boat, and an AI narrato speaks to occupants in a mellifluous and overly enthusiastic voice. Tours take about an hour and begin whenever more than two creatures board the boat. The boat gives an automated tour of the floating platform, circling it before diving under the waves to show off the Company’s innovations in exaggerated style; both the boat and the tour can serve aspotential sources of information for canny characters.
Aside from the basic information given about the facility and Entha, the tour’s vidscreen presents several options, each denoted with a bright and colorful reef icon on the touchscreen menu. The options are:
“Elysia is our primary base of operations as we work to make Entha as beautiful on the surface as it is beneath the waves. The utilitarian facility you see now will eventually be absorbed into a museum of Entha’s history commemorating Evgeniya-Jaimisson’s incredible undertaking here, along with a gift shop for mementos of your unforgettable experiences on Entha.” As the narrator speaks, the vidscreen shows an image of the existing structure with planned expansions superimposed.
The main vidscreen lights up with a wireframe model of an impressive undersea structure; the model then slides over and appears on the transparent dome of the tour boat, overlaid atop the actual structure, still currently under construction in the ocean nearby. “Terra 6 will be the Company’s newest terraforming base, building upon the lessons learned from previous successes to produce the known galaxy’s most efficient, most effective, and safest undersea terraforming platform to date.”
“Entha offers sightseers a dazzling array of colorful creatures that make the nearby reefs their home. Undersea safaris will bring tourists up close to the most impressive aquatic specimens Entha has to offer.” On the vidscreen, a computerized mock-up shows two ysoki tourists in a two-seater version of the boat, appearing awestruck while watching fish dart in and out of a colorful coral structure.
The vidscreen shows an image of Entha from space, covered in ocean. As the narrator speaks, colorful continents and archipelagos made of reef pop out of the waves, scaled up cartoonishly for effect. “In just a few short years, Entha will become a planet-scale resort for aquatic and nonaquatic species alike from all over the galaxy. Adventurous guests can enjoy countless activities and ecotourism opportunities, while visitors in search of a calm getaway can simply relax on Entha’s miles-long beaches of particulate coral or at one of dozens of themed resorts. Meanwhile, entire private islands can be purchased and outfitted with every luxury as a home away from home on this beautiful aquatic slice of paradise.”
The vidscreen shows a corporate image of an unsmiling Avarin posing in a corporate office, sitting behind a brushed steel desk. [b]“Operations on Entha could not proceed without strong leadership, and this watery world is lucky to have Avarin Sacrion at the helm. Well known for her successes in a bevy of past Evgeniya-Jaimisson projects, Avarin’s brilliance and efficiency encourage the best from her charges here on Entha.”
Unless anyone stops him, Kaz slowly holds his hand out and touches the wildlife button.
Perception Kaz might be a little mesmerized by the neat fish
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
”Kaz, I had no idea that you like fishies so much! I could see you working for an aquarium if our work gets too stressful for you.”
Turning to the others, he asks, ”Can one of you see if we can override the navigation. I would like it if we were in full control.”
Aldo notices that this same coral appears outside the tour boat; in reality, it’s much less populated by sea life, and pollution has dimmed its colors.
Chip moves immediately to the videoscreen, bumping others out of the way if necessary, whispering iiiinnnnpuuuuuuut
he hits each button, absorbing each lesson with rapt attention
TERRA 6:
WILDLIFE:
there appears to be nothing under the Leadership spoiler...can't open it
The vidscreen shows a corporate image of an unsmiling Avarin posing in a corporate office, sitting behind a brushed steel desk. “Operations on Entha could not proceed without strong leadership, and this watery world is lucky to have Avarin Sacrion at the helm. Well known for her successes in a bevy of past Evgeniya-Jaimisson projects, Avarin’s brilliance and efficiency encourage the best from her charges here on Entha.”
Chip detects crucial structural integrity issues within the wire frame, likely the result of intentional design decisions meant to save material and construction costs.... This information would defnitely be damaging to EJ...
Unfortunately, Chip fails to gain access to the computer.
Chip detects crucial structural integrity issues within the wire frame, likely the result of intentional design decisions meant to save material and construction costs.... This information would defnitely be damaging to EJ...
Chip immediately makes a copy of the file--or if he cannot, he uses his drone's camera to film the presentation, while he himself points out the structural problems the cost-cutting measures are going to create. When it wraps up, he puts on a deep gravelly voice and rumbles I aim to misbehave.
His antics distract him from other work, though. Angel, can you try accessing this computer? I appear to have glitched. Glitched. Glitched.
Angel steps up to the navigation system.
"On it."
Angel sees if there is anything else to learn about the different topics available:
Angel doesn't pick anything up that the others didn't already, but she gets into the computer without too much trouble.
Angel is now in control. Where to?
Aldo turns to Angel and asks, "Have we assume control?"
"Good, now download the files so we can use this against the EJ."