Delikie quickly points out the gate is trivial to pass, as long as the instructions are followed. It doesn't even interfere with the camera equipment!
Beyond the obstacle the view of the open space becomes clearer. This is a hollow tower, in which a well-organized town of several hundred people is being built up, slowly but surely. Concentric circles of large tents surround the space, with some sturdier structures made of plastic or wood
closer to the center of the community. The sounds of manual labor and the occasional power tool echo in the distance.
The Lashunta group is greeted warmly as they arrive. These folks here were so kind to help us when some thugs tried to mug us, one of them introduces the starfinders. The Lashuntas part, but one of them agrees to guide the group to the center of the town.
The town center’s appearance belies how recently it was built. A water pipe set into the ground leads to a fountain wrought of hand-made glass. Though not currently flowing, it is in the shape of an ijtikri with its numerous arms and tentacles spread out in such a way to provide water that can be collected for use in the community. Glass and metal cabochons have been implanted into the ground surrounding this central fixture to give it the appearance and feel of cobblestones.
Someone in a big suit of powered armor with multiple backup generator upgrades is currently circling the fountain, clearly feigning distress while being chased by half a dozen children. Rounding the circle and seeing new arrivals, the powered armor occupant opens the faceplate, revealing a bronze dragonkin with a kindly demeanor. “You don’t look like our typical new residents. Playtime’s over for now, kids. I’ll see you later!” The children protest as the dragonkin shoos them away and emerges from her armored shell.
Lourvictrix, the dragonkin says, you don't look like refugees. What brings you to this place?
You're setting up a shoot? Lourvictrix asks. There is plenty to document here, but I ask that you are discreet.
Please, call me Vic, the dragonkin says, The first refugees started setting up tents a few weeks after the Drift Crash happened. My partner and I have been here about two months. Now that we’ve got the layout organized, who knows how many people we can support once everything’s up and running! She point to her partner, who she introduces as Elymilra.
Elymilra smiles are you the carrying the shipment of supplies we were promised, by any chance?
Yes, space is at a premium here, indeed. We found our little place to call home. This community is called 'Fullbridge'. she explains, Even though we’re surrounded by electricity, there was only one electrician here when I arrived, a red skittermander named Pip. He’d work “allsix” trying to make this a safe living space until he passed out, then would wake up and go back to it. He kept saying we needed “full bridge rectifiers” to make the power safe. He’d keep talking about them over and over, and wrote it down every place he thought we needed one. Then one day he got a little too sleepy working near the entrances and zap! He’s been at the hospital topside ever since. We decided to name the place after the word he said the most.
Vic graciously accepts the offer of help There are a lot of things that we could use your expertise with. Shall we go through them?
The following tasks need accomplishing in Fullbridge. Relevant skill tasks for each task are noted. Applicable Profession checks can be substituted in place of a listed skill with GM permission.
• Electrician: Computers, Engineering, Perception, Physical Science
• Guard: Acrobatics, Intimidate, Perception, Stealth
• Logistics: Athletics, Physical Science, Piloting, Survival
• Medic: Bluff, Life Science, Medicine, Mysticism
• Teacher: Culture, Diplomacy, any Profession, Sense Motive
• Welders/Fabricators: Acrobatics, Bluff, Intimidate, Sleight of Hand
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"A fascinating story!" observes Vitellius. "I'll have to interview this 'Pip' fellow later on--skittermanders really pop on the screen. Heck, I wouldn't have this job if one didn't decide to help me out by resigning and recommending me for the vacancy!"
Vitellius keeps talking as he wanders around with Cambot to make sure ASNN has an excellent selection of footage to draw from. Everyone within ear shot is sure to pick up some interesting (and occasionally disturbing) facts about modern broadcast news.
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Mizzrym finds his way to a workshop where he is greated by a very fluffy looking uplifted bear wearing a bowtie and welding glasses, which just look to be inserted into a big ball of fuzz. I am Mehzidig, the bear says with a jolly tone, I used to work remotely as tech support for a holographic interface company in the Marixah Republic before the Drift Crash severed all communication. No signal, from one day to the next. I tried turning my equipment off and on again, but no luck, and I was out of a job.Can you read me the serial number on that black box over there?
I had an apartment near Bluerise tower, but suddenly I was unable to pay rent, so I moved here. Do you know how a full bridge rectifier works?
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Silverwood. Sam Silverwood, a male half-elf with an eyepatch says with a stern, commanding voice, then taps the eyepatch with a lecturing stick and asks You're probably wondering how I got this, huh?
He tours Vitellus and Leannah around a makeshift classroom (with great lighting). I was already a retired serviceman when the Stewards gave me a tour of one of the Liavaran moons. Unfortunately, that was in 291 AG...
He pauses for dramatic effect.
...right when the Swarm attacked the Pact Worlds. I manned the surface air battery, and we just managed to fight them off. Gave me a little souvenir of the effort too. He says, stopping before a window, causing the ambient light to reflect off his eyepatch. And now I'm here, helping out this decrepit bunch. I'm the school teacher around here, and I can use a helping hand.
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Fullbridge's medical staff currently comprises of one female verthani. She has an odd appearance, with several unfinished tattoos, one slightly augmented eye and blue hair with unreasonable amounts of volume. Wow, the hair. No refugee should be allowed to have hair that fabulous.
Oh, hi she greets the group as she tends to a bunch of sick, upset children never thought I'd end up here, can you imagine? One day I'm applying for a job as a stylist in a beauty parlor in botscrap, next thing I know I'm stuck out here. She's working hard, but her cuticles are just meticulous. I got turned down for the job too, can you believe it?
[b]So, what ails you. I think I'm supposed to say 'just stick your tongue out'. Works with the kids every time! I think I missed a calling...[/ooc]
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George 09-23 does his best approximation of a smile.
"George 09-23 at your service. I am a trained medic and well versed in the sciences so I should be able to help out here."
The android starts looking over the equipment and what ails the current patients attempting to triage and then treat the most time sensitive cases first.
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"That's a great story!" enthuses Vitellius, as Sam Silverwood relates how he lost an eye. "Just the sort of dramatic character background the audience will love. Here, you record the whole thing in this microphone, and I'll keep these little brats from distracting you!"
Vitellius proceeds to teach an impromptu seminar on how to curry favor with the best sources in various Absalom communities, from the Lorespire Complex to the gangs of Downlow.
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First, Mizzrym' is distracted by the presence of the big fluffy uplifted bear next to him but he regains his wits before doing something fatal!
Yes, quite strange. I'm not sure I know much about full bridge rectifier, but I have some experience with complicated work. This one I hope I could manage...
Let me check.
George manages to organise the processes in the makeshift hospital, and the extra pair of hands helping out the patients is really appreciated.
Vitellus makes a nice field report, including a few shots of the aasimar gently teaching a group of students.
Mizzrym takes a while to start up, but then manages to find a novel way of creating the rectifiers that are needed by densely coiling some wire.
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When the group has finishes helping out with the various tasks, word is passed around that Vic urgently wants to see the group. Upon reconvening, Vic has bad news Elymilra, my bonded partner, is missing! she says with some alarm.
Elymylra is also a retired Knight of Golarion and she is a hydraulics engineer. In Fullbridge, she’d most recently been working to tap into an unused water reclamation system discovered nearby to provide the settlement with fresh water and also connect it to Absalom Station’s Spike districts to improve the water quality for thousands of others. I expected her back hours ago. Damn these corridors, they prevent comm units from broadcastig anything further than line of sight.
Under other circumstances, I would go out myself, but at my age I need my powered armor to stay mobile and some of the passages might be too small for me to maneuver through. Would you try and find her?
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"That is true, but what if you were to get attacked in some public place? You probably wouldn't have your power armor on your person, and power armor has its own set of issues that don't plague cybernetics. Power armor is bulky and heavy so you can't swim in it or fit through tight passages, it consumes power very quickly, and it's much more vulnerable to EMPs, hacking or other such attacks. Power armor has its uses, but there is a reason not everyone is issued it and mercs treat it as special use equipment."
"Hm, if you need your power armor to move around, perhaps you should look into getting cybernetic enhancements or replacement? Assuming you don't have some sort of religious reason not to."
Ah, there's a reason I'm wearing the power armor. We still don’t have a lot of safe places to draw power from down here, so I bought as many generators as I could and do calisthenics to charge batteries for locals whenever I can. It’s more fun when the kids chase me around and helps keep us all in shape, too!
He's using the power armor to generate energy. Must be one hell of a strong dragonkin.
Vic reacts very favourably to the offer for help You have already done so much! Vic says, but your continued help is greatly appreciated.
Vic returns the null space chamber, I have added some items that may help you while out there. I wouldn't want to put you in undue danger.
The chamber contains a serum of earthen stature, a serum of fiery vengeance and a serum of infinite air.
She also hands the group a coil of titanium wire (100ft) with a grappler. You may also need this she says as she hands the group her own backup rifle: a tactical arc emitter, take good care of it, please.
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The group is directed to paths that go deeper into the Ghost Levels. Though there are many different passages that could be taken, the missing engineer used a reflective pink permanent marker to indicate the paths she traveled, which makes finding the right path a lot easier. After a wide, the scenery changes.
The thrum of machinery suddenly ceases after traveling around a sharp corner. Gone are the bulkheads and ubiquitous wires, now replaced by iridescent and interlocking hexagonal panels making up the ceilings, walls, and floors of the tunnels ahead.
The panels shimmer even where there is no light shining upon them, and they contract and expand in ripples that run the length of each hall in a pattern that could be described as… breathing.
As the group moves through the area, the walls seem to shudder, and the minds of the group are filled with a rush of overlapping telepathic imagery, including countdown timers, coolant rushing through pipes, engines flaring, an ominous encroaching darkness, and seismic cataclysms.
These visions could be clues to Absalom Station’s past, present, or future, or just strange energy fields sparking sympathetic feelings in sapient minds.
As the group walks through the hallway, the walls flicker in and out of visibility. Outside, the space outside Absalom Station, with the armada parked nearby.
The armada looks to the same size as it is today, so that appear normal, but the large, barren planet sharing the orbit with Absalom station definitely is not there today.
The group marks the area with the cartographer's boots.
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A few minutes after leaving the blinking halls, the group comes upon a green, furry creature (See slides) that is sucking on an exposed power cable that juts out from the station bulkheads.
Geroge recognises the green creature as a hexoglin, creatures that consume high-voltage electricity, dissipating it into lower-voltage energy that surrounds their tails and a magnetic field they can use to protect themselves.
He and Delikie notice this particular specimen is pregnant.
The creature thrives on high voltage electricity (such as the spark gaps you've seen at the entrance of Fullbridge), and converts that to low-current electricity. It would effectively be able to supply electricity for Fullbridge, and get a good meal out of it too!
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"Perhaps I could use my engineering skills to re-route the power locally enticing it to follow us back to Fullbridge. It will be drawn naturally to the spark gaps when nearby as they are exposed and very high voltage."
"Perhaps you could use your training with animals to assist me and make sure that we do not frighten off the creature?"
@GM Kludde - How about Engineering aided with a Survival check?
The creature just snuffles around curiously, and takes a chomp on the power. The crackling of high voltage electricity can be heard, and a gentle ripple of static energy makes the hair of the creature stand up, turning the hexoglin into a fuzzy ball.
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George 09-23 tries to redirect the flow of the electricity in the lines to make it more likely for hexoglin to move towards Fullbridge. He gets out his engineering kit and gets to work.
"Well she will not follow a trail of bread crumbs but by adjusting the strength of the current perhaps we can get her going in the right direction."
George plays with the local currents, at great peril to himself, but manages to establish a connection with the Hexoglin, aided by Mizzrym.
After a while, the fuzzy creature eagerly follows the two.
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The path suddenly dead-ends, forcing the group to retrace their path. Strangely enough, passages are now visible that didn't exist before. Stranger still, these new corridors bear the missing engineer’s pink marks on them.
The marked path slopes steeply down for several hundred feet, until it opens into a massive, dark cavern, dimly lit by luminescent crystal stalactites.
This dark cavern is lit by stalactites that protrude from the ceiling hundreds of feet above, each pulsating with a faint cyan glow, and a lake of indeterminate depth taking up most of the chamber’s floor. The gentle sound of droplets hitting the lake is audible every so often, causing its liquid to luminesce in gentle blues, greens, and purples. Some of these drops illuminate another figure crouched at the lake’s edge
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"I suggest that we drop off the creature here at Fullbridge now instead of risking its life wandering around with us."
George 09-23 does his best to examine the crouched figure. His superior android eyes rotate from low light vision and dark vision to give him the best possible resolution under the current lighting conditions.
"Could it be the engineer we are looking for?"
George moves closer to the creature, who is definitely not Elymilra. It can be best described as a human-sized toad, standing on a single leg. As George moves closer, the creature looks up to see several armed starfinders approaching it, one of them having already drawn a pistol. The creature is clearly alarmed, but not hostile.
There's a bunch of glass vials with stoppers scattered around him, and he's almost dropped the one he's currently holding on in his hand.
The humanoid-ish creature is a jujubnan, who form small communities in caves. This one looks to be an adolescent.
George's words seem to put him at ease a bit, but he still is still jittery and nervous.