| James "Joyride" Maxwell |
Wide-eyed compassion aside, what if she... he tosses a thumb towards the occupied cabin, or at least the hall.
What if she... caused it?
| Burlap 'LongTail' |
With the obvious dangers passed, the ysoki shoulders his rifle. "Who caused it - the ghost or the elf? This doesn't feel like sabotage to me. I'm not even sure how you'd irradiate a sensor array. If you wanted to release rads, the best place to do that would be in the engine spaces. If you want to cripple the sensors, a conventional bomb would be far easier." He shrugs, "I'm not saying we give the elf lady free run of Betty but what we've seen lines up with her story."
| Cherry Bomb |
Engineering: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
"It is possible. Though its a last minute tactic. Venting the Radiation to burn out systems can work, but yeah lots of effort." Cherry says.
"Even if you need to resort to that tactic the venting of the Radiation and then igniting it would be the best tactic. Unless you are Robots and can figure out how to Irradiate humaniods" Cherry begins to tap away on her datapad.
'Working on calculations now"
| James "Joyride" Maxwell |
Hmm... robots. Hey, which of you have the most experience with Cyleerin?
They always look like... robots?
What if they've evolved and can present as organics to the sensors. He shrugs, as if dismissing his own logic.
| Alzura Frostflare |
Since they can't just execute their prisoner refugee, and she has no working knowledge of the finer details of starship engineering, Alzura keeps watch while the wrenchers work out if the ship is salvageable, towable, or worth stripping for parts.
| Cherry Bomb |
" Anyways onto the excitinf part!!!" Cherry says as she looks to Vaelorin.
" Lets get to starting this puppy up and run systems diagnostics, manifests, xargo, parts, does it have replicators! Fabricators! Ooo weapons and payloads! Im so excited!!" Cherry says as she turns and goes towards back up engineering.
| Vaëlorin |
Vaëlorin remained still as the conversation rippled around him—accusations posed, dismissed, and tempered into theory. He gave a slow nod, first to Cherry’s enthusiasm, then toward Joyride’s suspicion.
“Speculation is healthy. Sabotage? Unlikely. But possible. Evolution of enemy form to mask organic or synthetic origin? Also possible. But as of now, we have no data to confirm or deny either.”
He adjusted the readout on his wrist console, pulling up energy grid schematics from their earlier scans of the derelict.
“What we do have,” he continued evenly, “is a vessel intact enough to merit salvage, yet dormant from lack of power. If full engine restart proves unstable, I propose an interim solution.”
He looked toward Cherry and the others.
“We run an auxiliary conduit from the Black Betty to the derelict. Controlled trickle, limited systems. It would allow us to initiate diagnostics, access the ship’s logs, manifests, and system integrity without risking an unfiltered power surge.”
A faint, thoughtful pause.
“He—” he emphasized the pronoun gently, “—is more than a husk. If his systems remain intact, this vessel may yet serve the fleet. Or us.”
Another glance to the sealed sections of the ship and the slowly clearing sensors.
“Begin with backup engineering. Power. Then systems. Then we let the ship tell us what it remembers.”
He turned slightly to Cherry, and his tone lightened—not quite a smile, but close.
“And yes... cargo, fabrication bays, and if we are particularly fortunate—replicators.”
| rando1000 |
I will work up a full manifest of anything over 100 CR value you find and post it this weekend. Meantime...
Cherry, please make an Engineering check to get Auxiliary engineering power to full. It will represent the work of several hours.
Vaëlorin, if you want to get your idea going to supplement Cherry's work with the Aux power, you may also make an Engineering check.
| Burlap 'LongTail' |
Burlap had grown up crawling through the mechanical guts of city-sized atmo-sifters. He understood the basics of engineering, enough to help out. ”I’ll lend a hand fixing the systems. If we can get this beast spun up… we need to make sure the Cyleerin didn’t drop a tracker on her. We can’t afford to lead them back to the fleet.”
Engineering (AA Cherry DC:10): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
| Cherry Bomb |
Engineering: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
Cherry begins working, tapping away and opening panels fiddling with wires and parts. Beating on a few things with a wrench, and using a spanner to couple and un couple a few things here and there.
"TOTO play Cherry's Bombastic Play list, start with 'Big Giant Head' by the Syndromes. Love me some Vesk War Metal" She says as she continues to work enjoying the process.
| rando1000 |
It takes Vaelorin about an hour to get a power tether set up from [i]the Betty[/b] to the derelict vessel.
In that time, Cherry has had trouble coaxing the main power supply in Aux engineering to supply more than emergency level power. She suspects some internal wiring damage, and, with a sigh, starts digging in to disassembly of the device. This takes a second hour.
Cherry, please make another Engineering check.
| Cherry Bomb |
Engineering: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17
Cherry grooves to the music, with grease and fluids all over her as she enjoys taking it apart and putting things back together. Her music moving from Metal to Vesk Opera. Cherry clearly not a singer, though into it none the less
| rando1000 |
After replacing some of the internal wiring on the resistance barriers, followed by another hour's work, more or less, putting the device back together, Cherry flips the activation switches and feels the power source pulsing. She believes it's ready. It won't power the engines; that will require work in primary engineering. But it will power the rest of the ship.
Holding Cherry's action here for the rest of the crew to catch up with her timeframe (they're roughly two hours behind her).
| Vaëlorin |
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Vaëlorin finished his calibration on the auxiliary tether, the conduit now humming with the subdued pulse of transferred energy. He checked the readings twice, then nodded once—more to the machinery than anyone else.
“The tether is stable. Power is flowing cleanly from the Betty, but it will not bear full engine load. It is, however, enough to awaken the ship’s systems.”
He stepped into auxiliary engineering just as Cherry emerged from the heart of the machine—slick with grease, humming along with what sounded suspiciously like operatic screaming beneath a plasma storm beat.
“Your methods,” he said, arching a brow at a particularly dented panel, “are unconventional.” A pause. “But effective.”
He set his tools down beside hers, nodding toward the activated control console now sparking faint readouts.
“Should you require another set of hands in primary engineering, I am available.” He glanced at the restored panel. “I will not pretend to match your intuition with hardware, but I am quite good at interpreting the song of a machine once it begins to hum.”
His fingers hovered near the diagnostic screen, already beginning to prepare the next series of subsystem sweeps.
“Let us see what this ship remembers now that it has a voice again.”
| Burlap 'LongTail' |
Burlap scours the ship looking for anything that might pass as a Cyleerin tracking device. He crawls into the conduits and vents. He even takes a walk along the hull.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
| Alzura Frostflare |
Alzura stands across from the locked door, fiddling with her solar weapon. It flashes into existence but sputters out just as quickly. She tilts her head back till it rests against the cold bulkhead. She wants to feel bad for the elf, but the optimistic Alzura of yore is gone. "Tell me about yourself, Rakshara. Where are you from?" It's not as if there is not precedent for treating a rescue like this. Assuming any rescued hostages or POW's are actually hostiles in disguise is how most police and militaries operate.
| Cherry Bomb |
Vaëlorin finished his calibration on the auxiliary tether, the conduit now humming with the subdued pulse of transferred energy. He checked the readings twice, then nodded once—more to the machinery than anyone else.
“The tether is stable. Power is flowing cleanly from the Betty, but it will not bear full engine load. It is, however, enough to awaken the ship’s systems.”
He stepped into auxiliary engineering just as Cherry emerged from the heart of the machine—slick with grease, humming along with what sounded suspiciously like operatic screaming beneath a plasma storm beat.
“Your methods,” he said, arching a brow at a particularly dented panel, “are unconventional.” A pause. “But effective.”
He set his tools down beside hers, nodding toward the activated control console now sparking faint readouts.
“Should you require another set of hands in primary engineering, I am available.” He glanced at the restored panel. “I will not pretend to match your intuition with hardware, but I am quite good at interpreting the song of a machine once it begins to hum.”
His fingers hovered near the diagnostic screen, already beginning to prepare the next series of subsystem sweeps.
“Let us see what this ship remembers now that it has a voice again.”
"Well My house was not really one to focus on advanced Engineering save repair. I'm more advanced, hince the fascination with robotics. As you've seen with Tin Man." Her tail grabs a tool from her bag, having been brought to her by said Drone.
Tin Man worked on a part checking it and fixing it, before moving onto another. It having been programmed to do Engineering tasks.
"Still its sweet of you to help. I truly appreciate it" She smiles. Though warm, it often comes off predatory.
"Well, from what I have seen so far, our lovely ship here is in need of some long term care. They have been put out to space and left to run without purpose. Sadly no one has kept up the maintenance and care needed .We worn wiring, loose seals and connections. Coolant and Grease buildup. And much more. It'll be a job for the junior engineers to scrub and patch when we get'um back to the fleet." She puts a soddering Laser in her mouth holding it as she reconnects a series of electrical conduits.
" Thum wuddent wrap um" She pulls the soddering iorn out and make sure the connections stay."I mean I'll patch what I can, but they are still good to go. Slap some more modern parts and update weapons and we'll have a new ship in the fleet!" The excited, yet severly dirty Cherry says clearly in her element.
| rando1000 |
“Let us see what this ship remembers now that it has a voice again.”
Before Vaëlorin leaves to go assist Cherry, he notes the ship's storage data is significantly damaged. Fortunately there is a backup on the system. The Elven science officer activates recovery and then heads back to assist his the Vesk engineer.
Burlap scours the ship looking for anything that might pass as a Cyleerin tracking device. He crawls into the conduits and vents. He even takes a walk along the hull.
Burlap, tired and far too warm for comfort, is starting to get quite confident there are no trackers, and is just getting ready to walk along the hull, when the normal lighting returns due to Vaelorin's temporary power tether from the Betty. He continues toward the back and prepares for his space-walk.
I need an acrobatics check for Burlap to avoid any unpleasant accidents on his hull walk.
| rando1000 |
"Tell me about yourself, Rakshara. Where are you from?"
"I was born in Arakolin, a tree city on New Castrovel, not far from it's equator. I'd ask you if you've been there, but, not many non-Elves ever have. More's the pity, because we have many artifacts of historical and mystical significance in our museum."
"From youth, I showed an affinity for caring for the things made by artisans, and passing on knowledge. I even tried being a artisan myself, but honestly, other hands make much more beautiful things."
"My youth waning (long-lived though I may be by the reckoning of most species), I eventually realized there was a better path laid out for me. I joined the Order of Findeladlara, demi-goddess of the arts and community."
"I have been working for the people of New Castrovel ever since, retrieving and caring for Elven crafts."
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Rakshara gives many details about her life, and is able to answer every question Alzura comes up with. The Captain feels through her experience that the Elven matron is answering honestly and authentically.
| Vaëlorin |
Vaëlorin will run a quick compare of the make, model, design, and capabilities, of the various systems on this derelict against those of the Betty, to determine if there is anything to be gained by stripping her for some parts outright.
| Burlap 'LongTail' |
If I can’t Take 10 on the hull walk…
Burlap double-checks the integrity of his suit and systems before he heads out onto the hull. He has no wish to experience vacuum for real. He clicks on his comm briefly, "Gonna start my stroll of the hull now. LT out."
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
Perception (during the walk): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
SP: 24 / 24
HP: 23 / 23
RP: 4 / 5
Bullets Total Rounds (75): xxx
Clips (3):
Rounds (12 rnds/clip):
Batteries Total Charges (60):
Pistol Batts (2):
> Charges (20 chg/batt):
Sniper Batts (1):
> Charges (10 chg/batt):
Effects:
condition – effect – Rnd x of y
| Alzura Frostflare |
Alzura sighs. "Hard to believe there are people who can specialize in art, with everything going on. It must be nice..." She continues fiddling with her blade, but it no longer flashes into existence, not even for a moment. "I used to know a girl who followed Shelyn. She was always talking about art." The suli chuckles softly. "She had all of these colorful pamplets she collected. I think they were old advertisements for plays and shows. She made wonderful tattoos. She was..." Her voice trails off. "It doesn't matter." She mumbles. "Look, it's my job to make sure my crew gets home safe, and it's not my call if you can join the fleet. That's above my paygrade." Her voice has lost whatever softness was creeping in to it as she reminisced about the Shelynite. "We'll take you with us, but it's up to the Council of Absolom what happens to you. I don't know if my crew will be able to get this ship up and running or if we'll leave on the Betty. Either way, you're going to have to be confined to quarters until we turn you over to Diasporum security. Standard operating procedure. If it makes you feel better, you can stay in my cabin. It's nicer than the others. I'll sleep..." She waves her hand vaguely at nothing. "Wherever."
| rando1000 |
Alzura sighs. "Hard to believe there are people who can specialize in art, with everything going on. It must be nice...""Look, it's my job to make sure my crew gets home safe, and it's not my call if you can join the fleet. That's above my paygrade."
Remember, this woman has been on this ship since before the Cyleerin attacks that destroyed the colonies. She doesn't seem to know anything about them as she expressed excitement about returning to the colony worlds.
| Burlap 'LongTail' |
Burlap takes a moment to stand on the hull of the ship and stare out into the vast void between the stars. It's nice to feel like he's in an open space with no walls or ceiling... even if it is a hostile one.
He completes his survey of the hull and climbs back inside. As the lock cycles, he reports in over the comm. "No signs of a Cyleerin beacon. If it's hid somewhere, I'm not seeing it."
| rando1000 |
"Look, it's my job to make sure my crew gets home safe, and it's not my call if you can join the fleet. That's above my paygrade."
The Elven matron pauses long, digesting what you've said.
"Oh, don't worry about that. I don't have any intention of joining any fleet. I just want to get home to my community."
| Alzura Frostflare |
Alzura sighs heavily, crossing her arms over her chest and looking to the side guiltily, not that her captive could see her. "Yeah... We're workin' on it." How many loved ones can an elf lose? They live so long. Hopefully most of her friends and family made it out. It's difficult to resist asking her about them. "What's the verdict, doctors?" She asks into her comm unit after an awkward silence. "Is she dead or what?" Then she addresses the elf again. "Are you, like, packed? Don't wanna leave an important journal or something behind, 'case we end up scrappin' this ship."
| Cherry Bomb |
" Got internal systems online. Gotta still go to the engine room and look around, see what I can do to get her...er..him purring again" Cherry says over her comm as she wipes grease onto her clothes and packs up her gear. Tin Man follows her as she heads to primary engineering.
| Vaëlorin |
" Got internal systems online. Gotta still go to the engine room and look around, see what I can do to get her...er..him purring again" Cherry says over her comm as she wipes grease onto her clothes and packs up her gear. Tin Man follows her as she heads to primary engineering.
Vaëlorin smiles.
| rando1000 |
"Are you, like, packed? Don't wanna leave an important journal or something behind, 'case we end up scrappin' this ship."
"I CANNOT WAIT to leave this haunted hulk. I have everything important in here with me; I can gather it before you transfer your salvage items to your ship!" she says. It's the first time Alzura has heard the woman sound truly happy.
| Clarissa Hunt NPC |
"Hey everyone! I've catalogued all the lootz, and gathered what I could move myself into the cargo area near where The Betty is docked."
Since the Captain is still up the hall finalizing Rakshara's plans, Clarissa hands sends the data feed to Vaëlorin's multicomp.
Emergency Kit x 19 - 665 CR (all values are total and represent Sell value)
Allergy Pods x 37 - 185 CR
Buoyant Pads x 25 - 300 CR
Culinary Synthesizer Mk 1 - 100 CR
Library Chip - 100 CR
Intoxicant, Superior x 23 - 100 CR
7 Tier 2 Antibiotics - 675 CR
7 Tier 1 Sedatives - 130 CR
9 Tier 2 Antitoxin - 1015 CR
2 Cyleerin Laser Rifles - 230 CR
Jewelry and Cred Sticks - 300 CR
Various minor items - 500 CR/UBP
| rando1000 |
Tin Man follows her as she heads to primary engineering.
Main engineering has been ransacked looking for parts, but most of the important stuff seems to be here, if scattered and somewhat damaged.
It will probably take Cherry about six hours to reassemble and repair the main drive enough to function. Fortunately, the Drift Engine looks to be in better shape; Cherry can have it running inside of an hour.
To get the ship ready for Drift (only) I need an Engineering check.
To completely rebuild the main engine, I'd need a second Engineering check and a minimum of 6 hour commitment.
Essentially, to save the six hours, you'd have to tow the vessel from your exit point the rest of the way to the fleet, but that would still be faster than patching the main engine together.
| Burlap 'LongTail' |
The ysoki is in favor of getting underway sooner rather than later. He commits his time to getting the Drift engine up and running.
Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18 if I can do the engineering part
OR
Engineering (AA): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27 assisting Cherry
| Cherry Bomb |
"So six hours to get the engines back up. Honestly, In my opinion the ship would be better off being towed by us. However that does leave us tactically vulnerable. Possibly less if all us tinkerers get our hands dirty to patch him up." She says as she begins to look at the engine.
Engineering: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
She begins to tinker, as she gets into the carburetor and begins hooking stuff back up her tail grabbing a tool and bringing it to her hand. As she does Tin Man assumes a protective watch over the door.
"Hey Burlap, any requests Toto has an extensive Music Library!" She says as she waits for his imput.
The Library Chip, and the Food Synthizer would be great for the ship
| rando1000 |
After a little less than an hour, Cherry and Burlap manage to get the Drift Engine ready to fire up. It can be triggered remotely via Cherry's custom rig.
With everything you're salvaging tallied up, Rakshara all packed and over on the Betty with Captain Alzura, and Vaëlorin's power tether reinforced with a proper low line, you're ready to head back to the fleet.
| Alzura Frostflare |
While the others get the ships ready to go, Alzura settles their guest in her cabin after clearing it of anything dangerous, which doesn't amount to much, but there is some booze. "You'll have to stay in here for the rest of the flight. It won't be long."
| Alzura Frostflare |
After instructing the others not to reveal too much to the possibly-spy, and suggesting Clarissa stay away from her altogether, Alzura takes stock of the valuable treasures salvaged from the ship. Namely the alcohol. She debates one way and the other, but then decides since she can't drink with her crew as that would be bad form, she'll drink with the maybe-prisoner. She finds a couple standard glasses and picks a bottle of champaign-looking elven wine and a bottle of blood red dwarcish whiskey and takes them into her quarters.
"How are you getting settled in?" Just because the elf was suspicious as hell, there was no reason to be rude or inhospitable. "Must be nicer than that dump you been livin' in. Not that.. I'm sure you did the best with what you had." The suli sets one of the glasses and the bottle of elven wine on the desk, assuming that is what the elf will prefer. She bought a second glass to be polite, but she doesn't need one for the dwarven spirits. "Thought you might wanna celebrate gettin' out of there. I can't even imagine how lonely it must have been." She knew what it felt like to feel alone when surrounded by people, but not what it was like to be truly alone. She pops the cork on the dwarven whiskey and takes a swig. When she reconstitutes herself she continues. "There's, uh, some books and vids around here, I think."
I'm not trying to hog the elf. Alzura doesn't trust her, but others can talk to her if they want lol
| rando1000 |
Rakshara happily accepts Alzura's invitation for wine and company. She's even impressed by the vintage. Evidently she hadn't ventured into the passenger ship's stores enough to find the bar stock. She sips happily, slipping into an Elvish sonnet that stirs impressions in Alzura's mind of colossal trees holding entire villages.
| Cherry Bomb |
"Aww Vael, I thought you Elves were all free and loose. well your loss then I was gonna look over that library chip" She says as she then giggles.
"Maybe after the Shower we can see what information we can get from the library ship and what sort of things to put in the report for the engineers of the fleet!" The Vesk engineer says with an invitation to do some less greasy work.
"Might try to set up some sparring sessions with 'Lap and Cap. Mother always reprimanded me for slacking off on training."
| Burlap 'LongTail' |
Back aboard Betty and flying through the Drift, the ysoki relaxes a bit. He dumps most of his gear in the nest (his stateroom/turret) and exchanges his armor for coveralls.
Down in the cargo bay, Burlap hums to himself as he takes apart, cleans, and reassembles his AR and the ‘new toy’ – the Cyleerin rifle. Shortly afterwards, he rolls out dummy #1 and uses it for target practice with the laser rifle, with and without a bipod. He concludes it’s a good piece of weapons tech.
Do we need to break the news to Rakshara about what happened to the colonies? It might go easier if we can get her among other elves.
| rando1000 |
Do we need to break the news to Rakshara about what happened to the colonies? It might go easier if we can get her among other elves.
Yes, someone will have to, anyway. You can do it, or you can have the council do it off-screen.