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"A forward weapon? I'm an archeologist and not a combat officer!"
"You'll live longer if you change your short-term career goals."
"Elian, if you need an edge, I might be able to get a little more range oout of the maneuvering thrusters."
Hard Turn (Helm Phase, Push)
You manually adjust additional thrusters and bypass safety systems, shouting for your fellow crew members to brace themselves for a stomach-turning tactical maneuver. This bit of risky co-piloting might overtax the starship’s turn radius, but it can also help the pilot get significantly more maneuverability out of the vessel when the crew finds itself in a lurch. Attempt an Acrobatics or Athletics check (DC = 10 + 1-1/2 × your starship’s tier). If you succeed, the pilot can make one turn during the round as though the maneuverability of the starship were improved by one step. This has no effect on a ship with perfect maneuverability. If you fail your check by 10 or more, you overheat and temporarily degrade the effectiveness of the starship’s maneuvering thrusters, causing the ship’s maneuverability to worsen by one step for the rest of this round.
Maintenance Panel Access (Engineering Phase)
You start ripping open access panels, turning secured valves, and manually bypassing safety systems to help the engineer get more out of their systems when they take the divert or overpower action. Attempt an Acrobatics or Athletics check (DC = 10 + 1-1/2 × your starship’s tier). If you succeed and the engineer also succeeds at their check to divert, they can provide the normal benefit from divert to two different systems instead of only one. If the engineer instead succeeds at their check for the overpower action, they can choose four different systems to divert power to instead of three. In either case, no system can benefit twice from the same action.
If you fail your check by 10 or more, you overtax the ship’s systems without adding any useful capacity, and all engineer actions performed this turn take a –2 penalty.
Manual Realignment (Helm Phase)
Manual realignment of the ship’s sensors to better focus on an opposing starship can help the science officer get better results when using the ship’s sensors to glean information about the other vessel. Attempt an Acrobatics or Athletics check (DC = 10 + 1-1/2 × your starship’s tier). If you succeed and the science officer also succeeds at their check to perform the scan action, they receive one additional piece of information, as though their result were 5 higher. If you fail the check by 10 or more, you knock the sensors out of alignment altogether, and no check to scan can be attempted this round as the system recalibrate.
Elian once again anticipates the Susumu's Sword's movements. They try to back away and keep their damaged port away from you.
Round 3 - helm and gunnery phases
Diving Drake (63/70 HP)
Susumu's Sword (38/55 HP; shields: forward 5/10, port 5/10, starboard 5/10, aft 5/10; port weapons glitching)
-2 if port
Zarucket gets the following new information with additional scanning:
Attack (Forward) ramming prow (2d4)
Expansion Bays cargo holds (2), medical bay, recreation suite (gym)
Kerathi's missile goes wide, but Nalotrunos' coilgun pierces the enemy's shields.
The diving drake is hit by an enemy coilgun in return, knocking ou the forward shields.
Round 4 - engineering phase and pilot initiative
Diving Drake (63/70 HP; shields: forward 0/10)
Susumu's Sword (32/55 HP; shields: forward 5/10, port 0/10, starboard 5/10, aft 5/10; port weapons glitching)
Elian continues to prove himself the superior pilot.
Susumu's Sword flies past the Starfinders before circling around. They leave an opening while they do, however.
Round 4 - all phases
Diving Drake (63/70 HP; shields: forward 0/10)
Susumu's Sword (32/55 HP; shields: forward 5/10, port 0/10, starboard 5/10, aft 5/10; port weapons glitching)
-2 if port
Kerathi pounds the open port side of the enemy ship with missiles until Captain Odrakor hails you.
"You won this one. I'm departing the Acalata system, but I promise that my starship was merely a vanguard scout and further Gideron forces are on the way."
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"I don't suppose it's too much to ask for you to be truthful when you speak with your supervisors, Captain? That we were telling you who we are, complying with your questions and requests, and presenting our diplomatic documentation when you fired up your weapons system, which was as foolish as it was unprovoked? On your honor, since you are expecting honorable treatment from us? In that you're at our mercy but expecting to be permitted to retreat, I mean?"
Elian tries to sound as though this decision is open.
"I'm sure your backup is plentiful and dangerous, but they really shouln't be facetious to us because we shouldn't be expecting them to attack us."
Shutting off the channel, he looks around at the others a little less confidently. "I might be at the wrong tree here, though. Did the Venture-Captain actually say both parties were expecting us? I guess I assumed that was the point of the documentation, but I don't really recall it being explicit. It was the other side that invited us."
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...
Shutting off the channel, he looks around at the others a little less confidently. "I might be at the wrong tree here, though. Did the Venture-Captain actually say both parties were expecting us? I guess I assumed that was the point of the documentation, but I don't really recall it being explicit. It was the other side that invited us."
"Surely the Society would never send us into battle without thoroughly scouting the ground beforehand." Nalo deadpans.
"We should land and complete the mission as fast as can be. I don't want to be caught on low ground when Odrakor's main body arrives."
The Starfinders allow Susumu's Sword to depart.
After your encounter with the Gideron Authority starship, you can contact the Marixah Republic mining colony on Sansorgis. The signal with the colony is bad, cutting out several times and providing you with startling amounts of static along with basic landing instructions.
You can view Sansorgis on the ship’s view screen. The world has no seas, though there are icecaps at the poles, and there is very little cloud cover. Massive trenches are visible while landing, evidence of the Marixah Republic’s ongoing strip mining of the world.
The settlement the Starfinders approach sits at the end of one of the large trenches. During your approach, the colony sends another communication. The signal is once again choppy, but enough to guide you to the settlement’s landing pad without incident.
When you disembark, you are greeted by the remaining security forces, led by a female half-elf who introduces herself as Corporal Kalyavata. A relatively young half-elf, Corporal Kalyavata greets you with a firm handshake. She’s clearly relieved to see the Starfinders. Kalyavata leads you back to a prefab cantina near the landing site where she introduces you to Chief Engineer Kerchatu, a middle-aged human, his hands lined with grease stains that anyone can feel when accepting his hearty handshake.
Kerchatu explains, "The settlement is almost evacuated, and only a few security personnel and engineers are left to extricate remaining equipment. Marixah command tasked this group with dismantling the last of the machinery to load onto a cargo freighter, but numerous computer glitches have plagued the group for days, preventing them from properly evacuating valuable equipment and personnel. The freighter is ready to depart, but it is locked in the colony’s hangar. Trying to get the ship out without the hangar working properly could seriously damage the ship, potentially stranding the colonists on Sansorgis. So far, the remaining colonist’s investigations have led them in circles, but perhaps with your aid, they can find out what is causing the systems to malfunction."
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Telgan joined Zarzucket 3 in checking the sensors but was not able to find anything of interest as the ship landed.
"What do you mean no animal life Zarzucket? How does the plants spread and pollinate? Are they just carried by the wind currents? Telgan asked as they disembarked.
"Please to meet you Corporal Kalyavata. I am acting Engineer but the crew says I am too mechanical in my approach to work." he said with a snicker as they made their way to the prefab cantina.
Meeting Chief Engineer Kerchatu, he exchanged a few engineering jokes and got to business. "Well now, a delete and reinstall will take to long to do. Have you tried...?" he asked, tinkering with a few commands to gain access to the bios.
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The technical issues holding little interest or opportunity to assist, Nalo latches onto the corporal. " Corporal Kalyavata, we chased a Gideron ship from the system, but they promised to return in force. You may have less time than you think. You should consider destroying any equipment you can't get off world in the near future.
"How many staff are here? Could we take them offworld on our ship?"
Relief is easily readable on both Kalyavata’s and Kerchatu’s faces. The two offer to lead the PCs to the colony’s hangar so they can investigate. Kerchatu explains that the hangar once housed more ships, but once the mining colony had been settled, they had less need to house multiple ships.
This hangar bay is an older, well-used space compartmentalized into several smaller rooms. Scattered ceiling and wall lighting flickers at irregular intervals. The air circulation system emits a constant low whine, as if its fans battle ongoing resistance. The smell of ozone wafts down the corridors without a discernible source.
The ceilings here reach a height of 18 feet. With the lights not properly working, every area is considered an area of dim light. Several robotic manipulator arms emerge from sections of the walls.
Nalo opens a door, which leads to a kitchen. Most everything of use that can be carried out has been taken, though you could probably make yourself a snack with the remaining food - it's not too far past its expiry date.
As he babbles, Zarzucket notices a terminal down the hallway to the right.
Kerathi notices some areas with overhanging live wires or malfunctioning machines that could be dangerous to anyone passing through.
Zarzucket accesses the terminal. Security is surprisingly lax, and he quickly realizes that something has infected the systems and can develop a strategy to flush out the contaminant gremlins. it will require the Starfinders to act at multiple terminals in unison - a Computers check at one and an Engineering check at another. No more than two characters can work on a single terminal at the same time. He is able to pull up a map with all terminal locations.
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Telgan nodded at the potential dangers in the area and waht was needed to be done in order to fix the problem. "I can help assist any of those areas." Telgan said. "Given the cramped area near the terminals, looks like only two of us can access it. Kerathi, you are very good in both of those areas, I would suggest that you take care of the engineering terminal and I can be here at the computer terminal with Elian." he said.
As the other Starfinders move carefully toward terminals, Nalotrunos opens another door, finding a storage area. There is little other than empty shelves here, as most of the gear has been moved for the evacuation.