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Eli downloads EVERYTHING into her datapad as she watches the recording. "Well, there goes my theory. They just nuked themselves.", she sighs and shakes her head. "You think the council knows? Maybe they are several generations beyond forgetting. I mean did you see how different they are from the ghibrani outside of the dome?" "They clearly have the technology to build these domes, so why not make more?"
"Hey! That's no way to treat a lady!, Eli shouts at the robot after it attacks back. "Alright, well - if you came to my house and whacked me over with a stick, you could be Lady Manners - Matron of the Society for Ladylike Etiquette of Ladytown, planet Madambique... With a ladybug as a pet... And broche... Yeah I suppose that is justified. Still... THINK FAST!", she shouts as she whacks it another time.
With the nasty aftertaste of the 'food' they were offered, Eli thanks for the gifts before moving onwards toward the mainframe with the crew. She seems in thought the whole time, and barely speaks at all, if she is paying attention to begin with. She does offer the midnling circlet to Alimony, however, with the justification of him knowing the local language. She snaps out of her daydreaming as Alimony winces when almost touching the door. "I'm sorry, guys. I was thinking about why are these creatures even here and got lost in thought." When Alimony points out the device, she decides to take a look and dismantle the thing.
"I honestly thing they're just some sort of experiment or 'preservation' initiative.", she thinks out loud. "Look at this city - they are basically pampered by these machines. Maybe someone burned their planet by accident and took pity on them, so they built this dome?"
"Oh? Alrigh then. When you speak of hundreds of years, however, this is no indication of time for us. How long is your 'year', exactly? Our lunar cycle lasts approximately 8765 hours. And when we speak of time, I am not sure about your average lifespan, to be exact. When you say hundreds of years - approximately how many generations is that?", she leans back as the food is delivered, and reluctantly smells the contents. "Guys, do we have anything here that can detect poisonous elements or substances in this? We're not from around. From all we know, they could be eating arsenic on a daily basis.", she asks the Pathfinders in her native tongue, and pulls out her PDA to check for any subsystems that can could do that. "Sorry - I don't mean to be rude. I am looking forward to sample your dish, but we are a different species after all, and the food you consume here might be harmful to us. I hope we're not offending anyone by checking. Back to the migration and the Great War - I am asking because we saw that the other natives we encountered are a bit different to you. In coloration and anatomy. They lack a flying apparatus, it seems. Is this an evolutionary change?" If there's nothing dangerous in it:
Crunch:
Eli spends some time observing the mannerisms of the ghibrani both on their way and inside the meeting room. She makes a few attempts at replicating the gestures of their hosts before speaking. "I apologise in advance - I am not exactly sure how to address you. Is there some sort of protocol to follow, or titles we should be using? We are visitors, after all. Speaking of which, thank you for finding the time to see us. I am sure you are all quite busy."
Eli attempts to dust off her knowledge of politics before speaking out. "The Pact Worlds is a bit complicated. It is a collection of independent nations, or planets rather, that formed a council after an invasion from a nearby solar system - Veskarium. Together, this organisation defended themselves against the attackers and formed a truce with them. The truce is bit fragile, but works for now. There are thirteen planets in the pact, I think. Give or take a few moons with colonies on them. If you require escort to this dome, I assume neither of my companions is against the idea. We can discuss your culture and answer any other questions you have on the way." She pulls her rifle off her back and reloads it, then checks the sights with a barely noticeable nod.
Eli gives Ruuk a slap across the back of his head instantly when he speaks the word 'planet', and gives Albans a stern look after his response. She sighs and grabs the bridge of her nose while her eyes are closed. "Culture shock is a thing, people!", she mutters under her breath. "Whatever...", she turns to the natives. "Look - we were not meant to be dishonest. That's not why I reacted in such a way. We just wanted to give you some time to ease you into the fact that we're spacefarers. But now that it's out,", she looks at Ruuk and Albans again: "I want to make sure that you know this - we are peaceful, not here to conquer or enslave you or anything, okay? We discovered this world recently and we're just here to gather information." "I understand that you might be frightened now that you know who we are. But I can assure you there's no reason to fear us.", she adds.
"That platform? Doesn't seem like their technology. I mean maybe, but if they had that kind of tech they'd be doing interstellar travel. Probably, anyway. Maybe they're...", and she stops for a moment, looking for a better word to use, but nothing comes to mind: "... erm - JUST - some sort of experiment in cultural development?" She thinks for a moment. "OH! Ask them about the origins of their species and culture. Basically their creation myth, if they have one. And please tell them we would love to exchange information, but we whuold be standing here for hours. Let's find a more comfortable and ...", she looks over to the dead beast - "safer place to talk."
"That. Was. AWESOME!", Eli spurts out after Ruuk scorches everything around him, and runs in for a high five. Once she sees the aliens, she reloads the gun and aims in their direction, hoping they won't do something both parties might regret. She eases off when the locals set their weapons down, and does the same with her rifle. In a quick motion, she unstraps her sidearm while waving at the natives with her other hand. She steps forward to Alimony's level, first questioning his knowledge of the language, then turning to the natives. "We are explorers and chroniclers. We have recently charted your world and now wish to learn about you and your culture and technology. As such, we were hoping we could talk - share knowledge and information." She turns her head sideways to the Starfinders: "We're not breaking some sort of Prime Directive here, are we?" Crunch:
Eli seems startled when the beast emerges, and lifts her rifle. "Oh boy! I didn't even know we're going to safari, and I still got this baby. Am I psychic or what?", she laughs at the situation, but stops grinning and goes pale when the beast roars. "Okay - that's intimidating." She raisees her rifle, takes aim and fires at the creature with her hands still shaking a bit. Crunch:
"I'm actually more concerned about my fab locks.", Eli laughs, and puts her hand towards her scalp to imitate the motion of wading through her hair. "Seriously though, being a balding woman in my age is no joke. Let's press on." As she walks, she scans the area visually for anything interesting or noteworthy.
"Essentially...", Eli attempts to sum up the objective of the mission again - "...this planet is supposedly a new discovery. The ship that found it was driven off by that platform, so they couldn't find more. That's where we come in. Find out who built it, maybe contact the inhabitants if possible, and report. Sounds simple enough." "With Madrigal in the freezer, I'm willing to take the blame for- Erm ... Stuff that might happen.", she continues as the Sunrise Maiden descends to the surface. "I trust you are all competent enough to apply a laissez-faire approach to this. If anything goes south, just point to me and I'll deal with the consequences." As the ship lands, she looks over the horizon. "Looks like a tomb world. Can you check for radiation outside, guys? I'll try to find a suitable landing spot."
"Would you look at that!", Eli mutters, looking at the scanners. She sets up a few dropes to pick up the relevant debris and stores seemiingly useful data on a clear memory drive, separate from the Sunrise Maiden's software. "Yeap, it's toast. Speaking of which...", she quickly unstraps herself to help others in checking Alice and Madrigal. "Guys, I'm no doctor, but this doesn't seem good."
"It looks like it's falling apart! Keep it up, guys!" The Sunrise Maiden simply moves forward to mirror the platform's trajectory. "And - I don't usually say this, but - Ready your backsides, boys!", she points out the drones on the aft - "There's four of them behind us. Some protection might be useful." Crunch:
Eli postpones the conversation with the Ysoki to later. "We have other problems now, but I'll get to you at some point, don't worry." She sighs as the platform evades her laid out plan. "We'll try something else. Hold on to your pants!" She flies the Sunrise Maiden close to the platform's vector, so they can have an attempt at a better shot as it cruises past. Crunch:
That's unfortunate, Alice, though I do understand - being hyped for Outpost and all that. Good luck, either way! As for continuing, I'm honestly fine with going as we are (in 5), but I don't mind recruiting another player either. Up to you guys. Pacing - based on our previous experience, this doesn't seem overly long so far. The space battles were always a tad extended, so it's all fine with me so far. I don't have this character signed up for anything, so all is well.
Eli sighs in relief after managing to evade the drone by sheer luck. "Sorry, folks. Won't happen again, I promise. Learn and move on?" She qhickly turns right to fly between the drone and the platform and turns back around to have the gunners shoot the thing down with the front cannon. "I'm sure you folks are aware of our core being hacked by now. Any available countermeasures?" Crunch:
Eli suddenly realises the situation caused by the stationary drone - "Collision course! Grab onto something!", she shouts immediately, and attempts to steer away from the drone with every trick she can recall. Crunch:
Eli laughs when Twentrythree suggests making another uniform. "Please do. We only have a Vesk size at the moment, and some in-flight entertainment might be good. How about you make one for the Captain? Boost the spirit a bit?" She winks at the Android, smiling, and then continues to do her thing with the piloting mechanism. Once they emerge, and Twentythree comes up with questions, she leans back into her chair. "Well, these are the coordinates.", she points towards a planet in visual range. "I assume that's our destination.", she says as te approaching vessel plays its message. "Aaaaand I have no idea what that means. Doesn't sound good, though." She punches the internal comms: "Everyone buckle up!" Crunch:
Eli quickly straps in and attempts to fly around the object while dodging anything it might shoot at the Maiden.
Eli looks pleasantly surprised with the ship. She walks into the cockpit and performs the necessary system checks. Her least favourite part of the job, but it has to be done. She goes over one switch after another with a pen and a sheet of paper in her hands, ticking boxes on the paper as she does her thing. Once that is done, she sits down, straps in, and punches the comm console. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the Sunrise Maiden. I'd like to personally welcome you to our flight to Elytrio. My name is Eli, and I will be your pilot for the next few days. The remainder of the crew consists of the Captain - Madrigal, our engineer and science officers - Alice and Albans respectively, and our security detail - Twentythree and Ruuk." She flips a few switches over and the hum of the engine sneaks into the ship's halls. "I would like to ask you to remain seated during the launch phase, for your own safety. Once we clear Absalom's orbit, I would let you know. Unfortunately, we do not have anyone to deliver a security presentation for now, so if you are not familiar with standard practices on such trips, please consult the ship's database accessible through your datapads. In case you are feeling uneasy or thirsty, please head off into the cantine after launch, and while you are there, bring your pilot a shot to spice up the flight. I wish you a pleasant trip and a successful mission."
Eli starts considering responses to the questions aimed at her, but the ship diagrams and schematics take over quickly. She moves in to inspect the ship designs and technical information on the vessels and this takes he full attention for a short moment. "From a pilot's perspective, I am inclined to go with the Pegasus. If nothing else, there is the speed factor, which would allow us to simply outmaneuver potential threats." "But if you have concerns regarding firepower, I can understand. I can make either work.", she adds, as if boasting. Boons: Wayfinder Champion. Keeping it simple here.
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