Watching the red laser beams bounce about all Willy nilly inside Docking Bay 94, the Espionage Specialist's Three Blue eyes widen in shock when one unerringly strikes their dusty Dwarven Starfinder Society contact!
This is truly an auspicious beginning of our internment.
Realizing that his medical skills are as current as his library card, the Solarian decides that his only option is to attempt to draw fire!
Learn this move watching Animal House! Don't try this at home kids!
Dirk Gently Strides straightforward 30' and sprays his Fire Extinguisher in the direction of the closest Laser Firing Culprit!
The Electric Attuned Solarian also seems to be sporting even more electrical activity than previously....
Laser weapons emit highly focused beams of light that deal fire damage. These beams can pass through glass and other transparent physical barriers, dealing damage to such barriers as they pass through. Barriers of energy or magical force block lasers. Invisible creatures don’t take damage from lasers, as the beams pass through them harmlessly. Fog, smoke, and other clouds provide both cover and concealment from laser attacks. Lasers can penetrate darkness, but they don’t provide any illumination.
Laser weapons use various means to concentrate beams of light into deadly intensity. Some focus light through a faceted crystal, while others focus the beam through a chemical cloud or ionized gas.
The small plasma-like ball floating near Sparks' head flows to his body and spreads out into a shimmering protective field.
A moment later, a chill blue color spreads throughout as Sparks attunes his solarian abilities to resistance mode. He draws his ember pistol and looks at the fire fight, trying to figure out whether they are shooting at his comrades or if the shot that hit the host was just a collateral hit.
Seeing the danger at last, Zemfira moves forward, raising her left arm before her as a series of bright blue hexes flow out and coalesce into a rounded kite shield. She then draws her Skipshot pistol as she crosses the remaining distance to stand and defend the fallen dwarf and his aide.
Pertinax dashes forward, but the weight of his armor keeps him from reaching the fallen dwarf as quickly as Zemfira.
While the shots seem to not include all of you as targets, it does look like your presence here has been misconstrued as being for or against one side or the other. As the shots continue to cross the docking bay, few find their mark. The cloud that Dirk is spewing about does not help the confusion that is happening, but it does prevent some shots from finding their mark. A stray shot tags Zephyr, prompting him to take the closest cover, but the majority of the shots go wide of whatever their intended targets may have been.
Zemfira taking position near Durevor and the other individual garners a look of gratitude from the impeccably dressed female, as she starts to dial station security.
____________________________________
Stray Shots:
Attacks:
, F
, F, Negated by Extingusher
Sparks hustles into the kiosk near him for cover.
Sparks speaks into the comm, "I'll give you cover fire."
Zemfira widens her stance, going fully defensive to provide the maximum cover for the VIPs. She aligns her shield toward the gangster she perceives to be the greatest threat due to proximity.
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Zephyr, crouched for cover behind the barrels, had let his mote remain unmanifested as the lasers flew, but one thing was evident. The intent that had seemed to greviously injure their contact was not the same intent behind the shots that fired at partially visible targets across the docking bay. Convenient then, that said fight just happens to occur now. Without reaching, the mote that seemed to drink in the nearby light settled into his hand as his fingers closed around it. Everyone had rushed fowards, but they may have overlooked him. It was easy to seem nonthreatening when there were bigger threats around.
Pertinax, for all of his movement, seemed somewhat unconcerned about the lasers than some, perhaps trusting in his heavier armor to mitigate any hits, or truly not overly concerned about the skill of those possessing firearms. There is an aura that he seems to exude in this situation, and maybe it makes those firing think twice before pointing a weapon at the figure in black. The gangs are identified after a moment, though the Ace and King motif from a deck of cards as well as the purple and green colors. Twenty-One. The Downside Kings are far from their stomping grounds today...
Loud and distracting, Dirk continues his advance, the cloud of suppressant lingering in the air in his wake, thwarting any shots that try to pass through it. Quite an unorthodox use for a fairly common object, but the efficacy is undeniable. Nearly half of the sightlines are fouled by the cloud, with only the bottom of the bay even able to trace from one side to the other. A little trick learned from a minor engineering mishap, but when a focus(Ha!) of one assignment happens to be optical developments, the resulting benefits to the knowledge is anything but opaque(Double Ha!).
As shots continue to streak across the bay, more fail to cross the intervening space thanks to the cloud that Dirk is spewing in and around his wake. Perhaps it is frustration that made the Downside King near the huge box of equipment decide to orient on the Brenneri that had tried to take cover, but the shot was true. Critically striking, the bolt ignites fur and clothing, making the term "firefight" a bit more nuanced in the moment. Another shot slips past and nearly knocks one of the more commonly dressed ganger by the forklift over with the damage of the hit.
Prone, the dwarf does not move, while his companion starts to relay the situation to station security
______________________________________
Strays:
Attacks:
, F(+Burn)
, F(+Burn)
, F Negated by Extinguisher
, F
Dirk Gently seems to be counting by the movement of his lips. The Three Blue eyes crease in frustration at his many attempts to reach the Gangster to his left (hiding behind a crate).
Electric Attuned fully by the racing electricity surrounding him, the Solarian shrugs.
Guess what isn't blocked by smoke, gas and similar substance?
The Cooperative Spy (shhh) takes out his pistol and fires at the Gangster!
He frowns.
Perhaps, I was a bit hasty there. Got that crate good, didn't I!
Arriving, Pertinax taps Zemfira on the shoulder to get her attention. "Let's get him out of here." he says, jerking his head toward the dwarf. Then he suits action to words, hooking his arms under the dwarf's shoulders, ready to move if Zemfira and the other grab his legs.
Zemfira nods her agreement, taking up position to help lift and move the unconscious dwarf as Pertinax directs.
Sparks takes his resistance mode to full and fired his ember pistol at one of the shooters.
(range 30 ft.)
The white hot slug streaks across the bay. He doesn't care if he hits or not. He just wants to give cover to his team.
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From their position, Zephyr focuses, a streak too fast to be seen giving cover to allies as they retreat back across the middle of the docking bay.
A shot goes wide of Zemfira as Sparks keeps an eye out from his position, a single shot throwing off the aim of the individual behind the crate so that what would have been a hit, missed. As Pertinax and Zemfira hustle Durevor back towards allies, the dwarf unresponsive and limp in their hands as the cloud starts to clear, the extinguishing cloud dispersing. Shots continue to fly back and forth as one of the members of the group on the right goes to cover as they put the fire out from the well aimed laser shot from across the room. Dirk can see them taking cover and in critical condition
The aide that had contacted station security takes her chance and rushes for the exit, leaving the bay behind.
______________________________________
Stray Shots:
Attacks:
(6)
(2) , F (misses Zemfira)
(7) , F
(9) , F
(2) , F
(12) ,
There was this one time where our auspicious Espionage Specialist was on a stake out. The rearing to prove himself rookie Holistic Detective decided that instead of waiting in his land vehicle that he would climb up an adjacent tree to hide and watch amongst the foliage.
As the evening turned to dusk turning to dark, the Three Blue eyes of the Holistic Detective seemed to have decided (of their own accord) to close for the night. Never one to shy away from a challenge, the body of our Espionage Specialist decided to further out do the Three Blue eyes of the Dirindi by also shutting down any unnecessary bodily functions.
What functions you may be wondering? Well, the morale of the story is not which bodily functions decided to further out do the Three Blue eyes of the Dirindi, but that if one messes up the Map (again!) then one best write something to distract those that were wondering what the crap Storm happened to the Map?!
Anywho, Dirk Gently feels like his pistol let him down, so the Solution suddenly shows itself as his Electric Attuned body seems quite ready to be released...
The Solarian Strides to within 10' of the Crate gangster and releases the...
Source Tech Revolution pg. 30
When you’re fully resistance-attuned, as a standard action, you can cause all creatures within 10 feet of you to become fatigued for 1 minute, and any creature that’s already fatigued becomes nauseated for 1 round (Fortitude negates). Creatures affected by this ability must expend twice as many charges as normal when operating items powered by batteries. After you use this revelation, you immediately become unattuned. Energy sink functions as a zenith revelation for the purposes of abilities that reference them.
Sparks pats down the flames from his wounded area. He grits his teeth and aims at the one who shot him. Before he was just providing cover, but now he wants to do damage.
(range 30 ft.)
The shot puts another white streak into the battle is not well aimed.
Pertinax hustles with Zemfira to find some cover with which to place the limp form of their contact, taking the nearest location that provides some cover. Durevor does not seem to be moving, though stopping to ascertain the specifics was more time that allowed the chance for another of them to get hit. Careful to step over them, his intimidating form crossed the space towards one of those shooting, their colorful attire and token crown iconography crouched bahind the low crates a contrast against his monochrome figure.
Zemfira likewise could not really do too much after taking care to set Durevor down, but it seemed a good idea to pick a side, and an even better idea to have a weapon ready against any hostile individuals— of which they numbered maybe six in this docking bay at the moment. The skipshot pistol in their hands felt like a declaration. One that perhaps went unnoticed in the bay currently, but a declaration, nonetheless.
Zephyr was ready. Everyone seemed to fan out against a side, and that was enough to inform his decision. Despite his hand being closed, there was a nanosecond flash of something, like inverted lighting against eyelids, if it even happened.
More shots streak across the bay, though whatever effect Dirk tried to utilize against the antagonist in his range proving ineffective as it is resisted. A shot lands solidly on the individual near Pertinax, and much to their dismay, the hit does manage to spark a fire on their armor.
____________________________________
Strays:
Attacks:
(6)
(9)
(7) , F
(9)
(2) , F(+Burn!)
Dirk Gently just stares at the Crate Gangster with disbelief in his blue eyes. The Solarian begins doing calculations in his head....
As he does this thinking thing, one may notice that the electric charge that emanated from him had lessen, but it seems to be sparking a bit more once again, although it seems more intense!
After a bit of self diagnosis, self discovery and self discussion, the Electric Attuned Solarian decides enough is enough (eight is enough)!
Lunar Weapon
Source Starfinder #35: Merchants of the Void pg. 53
You have studied the delicate and luminous light reflected from a moon or similar celestial body, allowing you to bring forth an exquisite weapon made for graceful combat. This manifestation functions similarly to solar weapon, except it deals 1d4 damage at 1st level. This damage increases by 1d4 at 6th level, 9th level, 12th level, and every level thereafter. Your lunar weapon also has the feint and operative special qualities (though it can’t be used to make trick attacks, if you have that class feature). Unlike other melee weapons with the operative special quality, when you gain Weapon Specialization at 3rd level, you add your full solarian level to damage with your lunar weapon, as opposed to half. If you’re a multiclass solarian, you add your full solarian level and half your levels in other classes to damage with your lunar weapon.
The graceful release of moonlight manifests in his empty hand. The moonlight seems to gracefully climb into his waiting hand to form the vague shape of a sword.
Probably best if you depart these premises prior to me sticking this where the Sun don't shine.
To validate that message, the Espionage Specialist takes aim again with his pistol!
As one may have noticed, the Espionage Specialist does seem to have an acute vision impairment while firing his pistol. Now at first this may seem to have a negative affect where his previous statement to the Crate Gangster is concerned.
Dirk Gently once went to see an Illusionist performance while in his freshman year at University. With his mind open to the wonderment that he will be experiencing, the not yet Espionage Specialist sat staring ahead at the Illusionist performing his Tricks.
Well an hour later, the Three Blue eyed Dirindi was seen at the local magic trickster shop!
Dirk Gently grins ...
Zemfira hears Sparks' distress nearby after they move the dwarf to cover. She rounds the corner and takes up position to shield him, assuming a defensive posture.
Sparks hunkers down in the kiosk. Now that his comrades and host have been removed from the crossfire, he watches, ready with his ember pistol to defend himself. He would rather the gang members focus their shots on each other.
As Zemfira joins him, he gives her a grim nod.
(range 30 ft.)
The inexorable advance of Pertinax seemed even more intimdating when the mote that had been orbiting him ignited into a bar of stellar energy, something that he casually reached out and grasped as he rounded the low boxes to corner the gang member that had been using them as cover. The message was clear enough.
Zephyr, seeing everyone choose a side, moves to more cover against that side, sprinting and sliding into position.
Sparks shot at the ganger engaged with Dirk hits, leaving them very much the worse for the wear, as they manage to fire a shot at Dirk and hit, the off-centered shot nonetheless striking enough to do damage. Despite the shots that are streaking across the bay, no others strike anyone. Realizing that their advantage is being turned against them, repositions occur, and aid is attempted for the fallen.
______________________________________
Strays
Shots:
(12) ,
(9)
(7)
(9)
(2)
---
As his weapon continues to charge, its color changing from orange to yellow, Pertinax stabs it at the chest of the gang member.
Dirk Gently watches the goings and doings of the Gangsters. The Espionage Specialist seems to be wondering if he should get a refund on his pistol range training, as he Strides 35' closer to his previously stationary target.
Tag! You're it!
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Zemfira aligns her shield toward the greatest threat and resumes her defensive stance, doing her best to protect her comrade from further harm.
Sparks shifts his mode to 1 point of energy mode and readies his pistol to fire at any enemy who fires at him or any of his allies.
(range 30 ft.)
+ The target gains the burning condition.
Pertinax ends one of the shooters with a stab from his weapon, the scream cutting off as they expire. A shot from Sparks streaks past Dirk and returns the favor for being set on fire a few seconds ago, as they collapse bonelessly, heedless of the fire that continues to burn from the contact point. The other gang member that had been trying to reposition breaks and flees upon seeing the two they arrived with be cut down.
On the far side, aid was given to the fallen member, and between the two of them, they managed to pick up the third, though they did not quite make the exit of the bay just yet. No further shots have been fired, and the absence of the sound of laser fire is tangible. There are no immediate threats to bodily harm.
____________________________________
.
600xp total awarded.
Warily watching the retreating forms of the Gangsters, Dirk Gently's Three Blue eyes blinks as each one exits stage left. Or right. It actually doesn't seem to matter to the Espionage Specialist who is only thinking that the rounds loaded into his semi-auto pistol must be dummies.
Someone remind me to get real rounds for this thing.
Holstering the malfunctioning pistol, Dirk makes his way back to the others.
So! Did we pass?
He looks expectantly at the downed dwarf....
Sparks exits the kiosk and kneels next to the fallen dwarf. "Medic!"
Pertinax steps back to let those with medical knowledge work, and to cover them. Just in case.
Zem chews her lip as she follows Sparks, keeping her shield up just in case. "That Lashunta was calling for help, I think. I... don't know any triage, beyond applying pressure to stop bleeding." She admits, sadly, her eyes misting over a stormy grey-blue.
She uses her own com device to send an emergency signal of and goes to check the exit the Lashunta escaped through. "Hello? Dwarf down, we need help!" She calls out.
Dirk Gently--Swiftly--activates his Voice Amplifier. The Stellar Sage then stands and shouts at anyone capable of sewing up the tear in their dwarf!
Source Alien Archive pg. 11
Item Level 1; Price 125; System Throat
A voice amplifier greatly increases the volume of your voice. You can switch a voice amplifier on or off as a swift action. When activated, a voice amplifier grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Intimidate checks and lowers the DCs of other creatures’ Perception checks to hear you speaking by 5.
The three Blue eyes of the Dirindi blinks rapidly seeking out their savior....
Can he still sign our reports?
It is nearly a minute that all of you are in that empty bay with the unresponsive body of Durevor Kreel.
The sounds of arriving station security and medical personnel creates a whole new hubbub as the area is sealed, any injuries are seen to and statements taken from all of you, as you were the only ones present on their arrival. A lot of it starts to run together as you calm down from the situation and the amount of unfamiliar activity going on. As you describe the individuals involved that had fled, security identifies them as the Downside Kings— whom you had engaged– and one of their rivals, the Level 21 Crew. Sometime during all of that, the medical personnel officially confirm the death of your contact.
Dirk Gently just stands there staring at the dead dwarf. Suddenly the Espionage Specialist is wearing a black armored suit!
Noooooooo!
Zemfira's face contracted in grief as she covered her mouth with a gloved hand, shaking her head in wordless denial of the tragedy. Her body hitched with soundless sobs and when her voice finally came it was cracked and broken. "But... but why? Was he really just... caught in the crossfire? Or was he... the real target all along?" She cried aloud to the room.
Pertinax is solemn, but accepting. He quietly offers a prayer for passage of the dwarf's soul. He then says "Life comes, and life goes. It is the way of all flesh. Her place is to choose. Ours is to accept." not quite to himself.
As the number of individuals dwindles in the bay, the remainder of individuals present being security personnel. They have cordoned the area off and are getting imaging done of the bay and its damages. No doubt several series of individuals will be down here from the assessors of the damages to those doing the repairs— to say nothing of the agents of those that had cargo (potentially) damaged in this occurrence. In either case, your statements have been given, and the witnesses that have come forward have all agreed that you did not start the fight.
It is one heck of a welcome to Absalom station, but you are free to go.
Sparks sobs quietly for the departed. "I wanted to become a Saranrae adept. If I had studied that instead of solarianism, I might have been able to save him. Of course, I would not have been invited here had I not become a solarian."
He holds his orrery contained in a glass sphere, watching the planets go round each other. After ten minutes, he finds the minor burns he suffered have healed. He does not call attention to his.
When all is said and done, he shrugs and says, "Let's find our lodgings. Do we have lodgings arranged already?"
Zem shakes her head, patting Sparks gently on the shoulder with a gloved hand. "I don't think you could. He went down hard and fast. I don't think anyone could have changed his fate."
She pulls up their itinerary on her comm unit and looks for anything about where they were meant to stay. She certainly hoped it was prearranged as part of the trip. She didn't have any funds to spare at the moment.
There are no other significant entries from Taeron on the group itinerary after this meeting— that was currently scheduled to be going on for the next hour. It is possible that there was the consideration that something was going to be lined up, or your interviews would have borne fruit by now, but there was no significant plan beyond this. Just a two-hour block that said "Freedom!", with a couple of access locked InfoSphere Pins on a timer.
All you can glean from the pins is that there are at least two relevant to each of you, and that presumably once the block of time came around, they would be accessible.
Dirk, ever attentive to details, notes a scuffed and worn palm-sized datapad that seems like it got overlooked, having nearly fallen into the grates near the center of the bay between the numbers stenciled onto the ground. Nearly the same color of the floor, the utilitarian design is older and it is easy to see why it may have been overlooked.
____________________________________
Having recovered from his momentarily lapse of reason, Dirk Gently smiles as his Three Blue eyes spy the camouflaged datapad!
Find a penny pick it up!
The Stellar Sage then begins to push buttons and stuff....
Snapping his fingers and sighing, the Espionage Specialist takes out his Hacking kit, digs through it and pulls out a hammer.
Seems to have a strong lock.
Dirk, ever the one to break and enter, hopefully makes short work of the data pad. Zephyr though, is more concerned with Spark's question; they needed somewhere to get out of view. It wasn't that they couldn't stay clean and presentable with a little magic here and there, but they needed to get off of public cameras and make a plan.
Zeph gets out his own datapad and begins to look at places they could possbily stay for a few nights.
"Friends ... should we get in touch with the Starfinder Society? The time it takes for the authorities to share this with them may be a lot longer than it should be."
"Friends ... should we get in touch with the Starfinder Society? The time it takes for the authorities to share this with them may be a lot longer than it should be."
Zemfira nods, still sniffling, her eyes a stormy grey blue. She felt untethered, as if at any moment she might be cast adrift.
"You think they don't know? The Lashunta who was with him got away safely, she looked like a colleague. Maybe she told them?"
She looked about for some sort of map that might give them some direction.
Despite the chaos of the previous hour in this docking bay, the services of the station are still functioning, meaning that when Zemfira looks around there is an ARDot for a map by the wide exit to the docking bay, with all of the information (and explanations, if needed) for new arrivals. From sights to highlights thanks to an InfoThread, if you sign up now for the latest goings-on in the Station, you could rank up your ConsumerScore with bonus StationPips!
For Dirk, the datapad stands little chance against the tools in the Kit, slipping through and unlocking the pad after a few guesses on the keyboard. The DataPad unlocks with the 'tink' of chisel on stone.
____________________________________
Dirk Gently's lips move as the Stellar Sage reads through the contents of the Dwarf's personal diary.
We don't judge. Well most people do indeed judge even though they profess not to judge. Our dwarven contact (from now on know as DDSC), has little interesting here. It seems recently set up with basically only our info (Pertinax seems to be afraid of the color orange), along with a few other contacts.
Dirk continues to read aloud
Little else is there besides the access key and address of "Home" listed in the navigation and precious few contacts in the list, one marked "Takeout", "Boss", and "Supervisor", represented by a takeout container, a rock, and the Starfinder Society logo, respectively
The Espionage Specialist finalizes
Ignore the portion that mentions that I wet the bed. Those rumors were from Freshman year. Pranksters.
Dirk Gently's lips move as the Stellar Sage reads through the contents of the Dwarf's personal diary.
We don't judge. Well most people do indeed judge even though they profess not to judge. Our dwarven contact (from now on know as DDSC), has little interesting here. It seems recently set up with basically only our info (Pertinax seems to be afraid of the color orange), along with a few other contacts.Dirk continues to read aloud
Little else is there besides the access key and address of "Home" listed in the navigation and precious few contacts in the list, one marked "Takeout", "Boss", and "Supervisor", represented by a takeout container, a rock, and the Starfinder Society logo, respectivelyThe Espionage Specialist finalizes
Ignore the portion that mentions that I wet the bed. Those rumors were from Freshman year. Pranksters.
"O-M-G you too!? They thought they had me ... until I told them it wasn't an accident, the client really enjoyed it, and I would show them the invoice if they promised to keep it a secret. That whole 'prankster' group was really really quiet for weeks."
"One wonders where he got such scurrilous rumors."
Sparks looks for information on the infosphere for nearby inexpensive lodging and cheap eats. "Let's find some food and a place to stay. Then we can contact our host organization for instructions and to let them know where we are."
Dirk Gently nods.
Perhaps we can start with his Supervisor.
The Espionage Specialist walks up to a terminal, begins doing a search of Starfinder Society address.....
Sparks searches turn up numerous options, especially in the near-vicinity of the area of the Docking Bays. From machine-dispensed nutrition basics (Complete with edible container!") either hot or cold, to low-end hand-prepared meals for those inclined more to small shops or streetside eats, food can be acquired for stationary consumption or on the go. Likewise for lodgings, the options are plentiful enough, ranging from personal capsule affairs ("Racked, Stacked, and Napped!™"), to something more spacious depending on need.
One thought does occur, if a frugal mindset is warranted: Digital Locks only require the key, and the datapad is in your possession...
For Dirk, a casual search on the public InfoSphere quickly pulls up the Starfinder Society's Headquarters, campus, and location here on Absalom Station. A search of the personnel publicly listed lets you find Durevor Kreel listed as a midranking member, primarily focused on mineral prospecting concerns, though a secondary focus in mentoring new and prospective members of the Society. Just above him is a Host Shirren by the name of "Chiskisk", responsible for several branches of smaller industry-focused aspects of the Society.