The hallway is finished and paneled in a way that implies a consistent design, something that absolutely serves as evidence that this was a part of something else, or maybe in some unexplained crossing that is possible out in the Drift. While the hallway to your left is blocked by a collapse barely ten feet in, the hallway opposite your entrance to this cavern is not.
It opens out into another cavern, unrefined like the previous. The immediate thing that catches your attention is the figure that looks partially here. The shape and form are just a little out of what your mind recognizes as a natural form, though there is something other about its stillness, as if it were an image that was just moving through space. Its suit is tattered, the helmet broken and open to space, while the face is gaunt and withered, long strands of hair spilling from the open faceplate. In its eyes is a glow from some otherworldly source.
For the Dirindi detective, the sight of the dubiously dearly departed is accompanied by a disorientation that needs to be disrupted.
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Party Up! Dirk requires a Will(11) save or be Confused.
"Center of town", as the both of you might recall, is something that leads upwards into the upper ring of Hihibo, and can be accessed easily. Either by paying a toll for visitors, or by purchasing a seal, which renews every season. While the streets have been sparse, one thing that you have not caught a glimpse of yet are the guards. Whether they were drawn back to the higher rings for some reason, or something else remains to be seen. However, you do know where the gate to the upper ring is located, and if anything there ought to be guards stationed there, right?
A little bit of examination from Dirk shows the upgrade to be that of the armor type, a Backup Generator. The ten minutes or so spent recovering— for those that did– is uneventful, and those that wandered about the cavern would note that two of the hallways that branch off of the cavern are different. There is a material that is clearly fabricated that make up the hallway walls, though the northern hallway terminates in a rock wall not five feet in to the hallway. The hallway to the east leads to another cavern as far as it can be seen without venturing into the hallway itself.
The passage to the south curves in such a manner that whatever it connects to cannot be seen by merely peering around the entrance.
While it seems that the suit itself was torn by the development of talons on the hands and feet of the creature, more at the extremities of the limbs, the "ACREON" identifier on the chest is still visible, identifying the creature as one of the crew. Whatever happened to them is a mystery. Does the raw drift do this to people?
As those of you that decide to take a break are about to wrap up, the pair of Goblins that were tagging along come bouncing into the cavern, waving around what looks like an armor upgrade that they pulled off of the suit of the other crewman.
The two revelations strike the creature, the Supernova from 15-0-10 engulfing the floating creature in a moment, leaving it damaged from the fire, though the suit took the brunt of the heat. The bolt of electricity that lights up the cave you're in leaves a negative afterimage, snuffing out whatever the creature was just as fast.
It floats, inert in its position, just barely off of the floor from the muscular contraction caused by the electricity.
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Combat over! 400xp gained!
Attacks from nearly everyone land on the former member of the Acreon's crew, damaging them but not ending their current existence. Milky eyes cast about the cavern, while the blue "tongue" that it has lashes out again at the bright impediment to what lies beyond. Aside from what gets conducted through your suit, this desperate exchange is occurring in the uncaring silence of airless space. The flashes of light from your weapons momentarily illuminate the cavern, throwing things into high relief for an instant, the dark returning where your motes or manifestations do not push it back.
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Firing a weapon does not resume off-kilter. Sparks is fine.
The humanoid creature in something that resembled a suit from the Acreon casts about the chamber, tongue first. An emaciated hand swings at the source of interference, landing heavily on 15-0-10((9 dmg)). The strange tongue of the creature undulates in the vacuum, independent of the movement of the body.
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There are no threats in the cavern that Dirk is in, save for the floating body of the crewman, and a pair of Goblins fussing at the suit.
Party Up!
15-0-10 takes a step forward, and the light of their shield draws the attention of something that appears to be a humanoid corpse in what may have been the remains of a suit, their features sunken and pale. More notably is the lack of a lower jaw and a portion of their neck, a bloated tongue exposed in its place, nearly the length of its torso.
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Party Up!
While it is daytime, finding someone proves to be a bit more difficult than anticipated. Whether it is the time of day, or whatever the current situation might be, there are surprisingly few people out and about. The ones that you do see, make an active effort to be anywhere but in your line of sight, resulting in a not-quite-chase that you find yourselves in, as neither of you are outright sprinting, but there is pursuit as both parties try not to draw attention.
Conditions: Dark, Hard Vacuum, Zero Gravity 15-0-10 moves forward, orientation irrelevant in zero gravity, and is able to make out the majority of the cavern. Tunnels exit this cavern to the north, south, east, and west. Strangely, however, while the south and west passages are hewn rock, the north and east passages are finished and lined with some sort of polished, metallic plating on the
walls, floors, and ceiling.
The body as it is floating there does not show any wounds that you can see, though closer examination seems to show that it is a human male. The RFID tag on the suit does identify them as an Acreon crewmember, one of the journeyman miners that was part of the crew. The suit is intact, though there are probably wounds somewhere on the body underneath that they did not survive. There is an empty flare gun in its hand.
Another tunnel leads from this room that you have not explored, as does the bend in the first tunnel. The rough-hewn rock continues, a bend in the tunnel preventing easy visibility from your position.
Cautiously exploring the first tunnel, the only thing of note in the rough cavern is the floating body of a dead human. The patch on the shoulder of the body reads "ACREON". Little else is in this cavern, but there is a tunnel branching off from this room. The illumination Sparks is providing serves well to shed light on any details that might be missed. In the tunnel behind, the Goblins are bouncing off of the walls, and seeming to enjoy treating whatever surface they are closest to as the "floor".
15-0-10 is able to see a bit of the room the leftmost tunnel leads to. Rock walls like the tunnel, it appears to be a moderately-sized hollowed out section of this rock, about twenty feet wide. At least from the portion that can be seen. The light levels pose little to no difficulty between your natural capabilities, and the slight illumination given off by your motes.
The tunnel itself curves back around, and without losing sight of the others, it extends further than can easily be seen.
The entrance of the cave reveals a tunnel as tall as three Dirks, the rough surfaces enough to manage handholds easily if needed. Without light assistance for those that need it, the illumination is only a short distance ahead of you. The tunnel continues for thirty or so feet, though only two branches are visible, leading in what looks to be relatively opposite directions, with one twenty feet in, and the other ten feet beyond it.
Kichiro spends and hour looking around for other people and trying to catch tidbits of information while disguised as an animal in this city. From what his senses can tell him, there are a lot more people here than are in the street. From what he can tell, the people that are out, have an air of desperation about them, even as they go about their business with wary glances and furtive steps — or in other cases, a grim sort of haste to their movements, as if watching for something or waiting for the inevitable to come. Some of the conversations that get overheard are snippets, generally espousing ideas of "better to stay in than go out", "being unable to leave with the gates shut", "safer in the day, but not by much".
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Yikes, sorry. Got to writing something and pulled all my focus, along with the busy season.
The Drift Rock looks so much different up close than what the feeds have been showing. If anything, it is three to four times larger than the Acreon, if not more. Out here in the hard vacuum, you are uniquely alone in your suit, for all that you are traveling together. As all of you loosely disperse, it is a little while of exploring before you happen across a cave in an overhang of rock. From what you've seen this could be one of the few, if only points of entry into whatever this is. The lack of any crew members, or even overt signs of their travel is another puzzle that warrants questioning.
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Physical Science 10:
This rock is too smooth. Asteroids if just by virtue of the name have been out in space and space has debris. Debris drifts and impacts against each other. This has none of those.
Traversing the intervening empty space between the Acreon and the Drift Rock is as easy as attaching a tether to one of the lines that the survey team used to tow the asteroid. Traversing the space after that is just a matter of momentum, though for those unfamiliar with movement in zero gravity, the landing is bumpy. It takes a second to get your feet under you, but after that, exploring the expanse is not difficult. Despite knowing that the crew came this way, there is still little evidence of their presence.
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Perception Checks, please.
Perception 15:
There appears to be a cave entrance only slightly obscured by a rocky overhang over there!
Everyone is able to rest with little interruption. Throughout the time there is occasional noise from the pair of Blix and Brax, but not enough to disrupt your rest. As far as accommodations go, the sani-zone in the corner of the cabin leaves much to be desired in terms of luxury, but it does cover the essential issues. The breakfast from the printers is much the same; solid, hearty options by default.
The absence of the Hippocampus is a very visible thing for those that travel to the aft of the ship. It is worth noting that the absence of the shuttle does allow you to see the tow cables that anchor the Drift Rock to the Acreon. Those could be used to transition with minimal risk.
A few checks, some light preparation, and everyone is free to set out when you are ready to go.
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"The presence of potential infectious hazards will prevent any dispatch until the mandated quarantine time has elapsed. It can be scheduled once the timer has elapsed." A data packet is sent with a timer counting down, currently reading 4:18:32:00.
The shuttle inquiry routes you to the Absalom Port Transit Authority, where the identity bundle of your connection gets you a priority routing. It is picked up in seconds after the transfer, where an actual being responds.
"Absalom Station Transit Authority, this is Yrtonb. Greetings Starfinder, your pre-screen indicates that you have feedback about the Hippocampus? Referencing the contract, one moment please." A couple of seconds pass before the line clicks over.
"Referencing the Hippocampus, recently contracted for delivery, recalled on contract completion with an addendum for 'potential hazards'... What is your inquiry?"
The ping is picked up with the alacrity of a well-maintained network, with the equivalent of a system inquiring where the connection should be directed.
Satisfied with the plan that has been worked out, all of you take a second to collect what you might want. For the goblins, they have already taken pieces of equipment from their fallen comrade. Whether that is in memoriam or in ultiltier is uncertain. As you all return to Engineering at the aft of the ship, there is a distinct absence of the shuttle you arrived with. The docking umbilical is also absent, which rules out something forcing the disconnection. It is possible that the shuttle could have been remotely recalled, but that was something that someone may have neglected to mention.
Presuming the negotiating parties are observing as we go, can we request things, like a spaceship to come pick up the goblins, perhaps recruit another Starfinder to help out? Can we communicate with the station Stewards and ask for a shuttle?
The shuttle you arrived in is still docked with the Acreon.
Communicating a need for another investigating individual is possible, but may be held up by the two parties vetting and approving of the addition. You can always contact the Station Authority, though it will then be a question of whether or not they'll be cleared to assist, and in what timeframe. The recording drone was provided by Nor.
Practically speaking, we can keep going with the Goblins as the "fourth", and pick up someone on Absalom Station after this book. The Goblins will have to be a little less "Chaos", is all... Maybe.
To Kichiro's nose, what he can smell is that the city is better than it was, mostly due to the lack of the smithies and foundries pouring smoke into the air as they were. There is the general smell of people living, from the waste to that particular kind of smell that happens when people live in an area together for a very long time. There is no blood or anything similar, no scent of something violent happening... It's just that there are fewer people about, and the ones that are do not pay attention to a random stray beyond a passing glance or two.
Satoshi scouts out the area indicated by his brother and can determine that this shop — given the layer of dust visible in the window — is one of the ones that has been shuttered, though what of the occupants that might reside above is unknown. Otherwise, there are a few older crates and some discarded items that could make a serviceable place to shelter in a pinch.
As the daring detective crosses the threshold, the discharge is direct and damaging. The battery discharges through the optical contraption, triggering a blast of lasers! Dirk takes direct damage ((17points)) as the lenses burn out and the battery dies. The components might be able to be rendered for salvage of a handful of credits, but not much else.
Inside the crew storage, there is not much in here that is usable but there is another 1 bulk of those resinous shards. A slightly more thorough search also turns up a disruptive fusion seal, three medpatches, and two mk.1 serums of healing in small boxes on the shelves.
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Everyone clear of the doorway, the door is triggered to open-- and nothing happens. Dirk from his position under the desk in one of the crew rooms can tell that it is still active. An extremely cautious peek around the doorway without entering it barely makes out a jury-rigged laser and what appear to be motion sensors. A clever design from one of the crew before they evacuated.
Dirk does determine the discharge triggers, set into the door recess on the opposite end. As the door reaches just past halfway as it slides, it will trip a switch that allow for the discharge of the battery, through what feels like the capacitors of some sort of optic projection device. While it was armed once it was closed, the easiest solution is to not be in the doorway when it discharges. With the proper tools, it could perhaps be disarmed, but that is a difficult task.
The small robot that is 15-0-10 reaches out a manipulator to open the door as Dirk places a hand on it— there is electricity behind the door. The ship is humming with it, but this is specific to a power pack, perhaps slightly overcharged.
The smacking of the goblins finishing their... meal, comes from the intersection, where they are collecting their dead companion, and having a low argument over the equipment they possessed.
Crossing the central hall of the Acreon, the first and second door on the right is more quarters for the crew, and those open without much difficulty. The door across the hall from them is indicated as "Crew Storage", though with the crew having vacated the ship, it is questionable as to what, if anything remains. Considering that it is the last door on the ship that lies unopened, and the proximity to the bridge, it may just be personal items that did not warrant storing in their quarters.
On the ground, there seems to be a sense of foreboding in the air. It is uncertain whether or not it is the reason of the decreased work, or the religious symbols that can be seen here and there, nailed over doorways. The air does not smell of sickness, if anything, it smells more of the earth than it did before, the acrid smoke that was such a hindrance for Kichiro down to manageable levels. The one or two people that you do see barely even look up from their hasty steps down the nearby streets.
[i]The pair of goblins sets to punching in their food orders with an enthusiasm borne of... something. Whatever it was they set it to print, seems to tax the poor culinary synthesizer. It runs as normal, but what gets output looks like the same UPBs that went into it. Despite that, the goblins are enthusiastic, ordering up a triple helping that also comes out looking uncannily the same as it went in. According to typical understanding, managing that outcome is not impossible in theory, but accomplishing it is something else.
With the three others watching them, they only realize it near the end, holding their blocks a bit uncertainly.
"Share? We can print more!", Brax exclaims.
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Goblin Computering:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
15-0-10 has their hangers-on as they set to the galley to print out food that the pair of Goblins has not seen for perhaps a while. They do look a bit underfed, and considering that they had been on the ship since some time around the quarantine. That said, they do seem like a resourceful pair, if their equipment is any indication.
Even before the food has begun printing, Brax says, "Thirds please!"
The pair of deniable stowaways, who had been eyeing everyone with suspicion, and a hint of that goblin avarice at seeing tech that could potentially be tinkered with, snap to the words of the four-footed 'bot with their full attention, nodding so enthusiastically that they hop slightly off the ground with the motion in the slightly reduced gravity of the ship.
"We can eat and help!" Blix promises enthusiastically.
The only other doors on this ship that have not been searched lie on the other side of the ship, though the writing on the walls themselves indicate that the pair of doors on the same side are more crew bunks, likely four to a room, whereas the single door has the words "Crew Storage" written on the bulkhead.
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Apologies, the second port side was where the goblins were, I forgot to remove the fog when 15-0-10 went in, and they came out.
The two Goblins start talking simultaneously while trying to talk over each other, resulting in a cacophony of words that intermingle between a clearly awkward explanation of some mishap regarding a shipping crate, improperly stowed adhesive, and a tarp; while the other mimics Dirks cordial greeting, complimenting his equipment and attire and demurring the affiliation with the Starfinder Society, citing a "pending" submission.
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I had NO idea how to type that, so I described it instead. ^^;
To Kichiro, there are several ways down, not including the same manner that they made their ascent. The area here are all shops dedicated to things that would serve trades and skills more suited to outside the walls, with an outfitter shop, the aforementioned smithy, several general goods stores, and other shops— many of which have their living spaces as part of the design. There is a stable nearby, though there are only a few stalls that hold horses, far less than the stable could easily hold typically.
Along the wall are stairs at fixed intervals, that could bring them down the inside of the wall with little effort but high visibility. The towers further along may offer an opportunity to descend, less obviously, but if the tower is occupied there may be uncomfortably pointed questions to be asked and answered.
There is no small amount of uncertainty as the two parties size each other up, though it is difficult to ignore they way their eyes trail over your armor and weapons. In comparison their equipment is... sufficient to a point. It may be a wonder how spaceworthy their suits may be, the smaller beings in something that may herald from another era, taped and sealed and melted as they were. The equipment that they do have all has a red button on it somewhere. Whether or not the button just happens to be red as a matter of salvage or that color by design is uncertain.
"I'm Blix–!" the first shouts with enthusiasm, the toothy grin perhaps meant to be reassuring?
"—Brax!", the other interjects just as quickly, a bit more hesitant, but still slightly enthused.
There is some fiddling with the device as what was received gets reviewed, the two of them scrutinizing the images as if they could discern whether or not they could be falsified. They did confer back and forth for a couple of minutes after looking at the images sent by 15-0-10, before they set to dismantling the remarkably solid barricade they had managed to construct between the door actuators and wall, as well as the floor. For the amount of random junk that they had— were those eating utensils?– it was certainly effectively utilized.
After a certain point, the door was able to be opened, though it opened only slightly for one eye to peek around at what could be seen in front of it. A couple moments of scrutiny, and the door opens all the way to a pair of wary goblins, a significant amount of trash from ration wrappers, and a couple of items that could be utilized.
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Amidst the Junk and Trash:
incendiary grenade I
(2) shock grenades I
stickybomb grenade I
(2) detonators
tool kit (engineering)
fire extinguisher
500 UPBs
One of the pair of goblins jumped, levering a laser pistol that looked a hair shy of falling apart at the vent, while the other heard what was said and dove under one of the bunks, a bunch of spare parts scattering and rolling into view before they came back up with a scavenged comm unit that looked like it had been taken apart and put back together-- and vaguely explosive.
It fiddled with a dial, and avoided the big red button that had been taped to it, then smacked it against something a couple times before it projected a blank screen. Everyone gets an alert for what gets read as a "benign malware receptacle" by your software, as that one warily calls out, "Send! Proof!"
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Goblin Engineering:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
Surprisingly, Kichiro can neither scent, nor see any guards, and Satoshi is able to finish preparing the rope and climb with no interruption. There is a low scent of uncertainty that permeates the place, more able to be discerned due to the reduced amount of crafts that seem to be practiced.
To Satoshi's analytical mind, there has been a drastic reduction in activity, quickly picking up the evidence of the more costly shops having shuttered, and what does get seen hanging from the nails of a smithy that is near the wall, are a lot of defensive implements, though more curiously is the holy symbol hanging over the entry of the smithy.
While acquiring schematics is neither difficult, nor access into the ventilation anything approaching prohibitive, it does take a little time before 15-0-10 reaches the ventilation over the barricaded room and is able to make out a pair of goblins in the room. The both of them are a bit wan in color, though they definitely are on edge, having heard something in the vents and outside the door. The hand lasers that they are holding seem to be held together with little more than some scavenged duct tape, a judicious use of glue, and good fortune.
Some cursory examination, a bit of comparison, and a couple of test whacks with a weapon lead you to the conclusion that accessing this door from the outside would mean breaking it down. That said, a certain detective does determine that a ductwork derived solution from a small creature could at least in theory navigate to the room with a bit of squeezing and creative contorting. Said solution seems a certainly serpentine one, shame the party stands at sans.
A close examination of the door leaves you little to work with. It has been well braced on the other end, and comparing the door from the crew quarters adjacent, the simplest option is to break it to get access.
The main thoroughfare beyond the gate lies visible, but where there should be a slow churn of merchants, wagons, and voices, there is instead a muted stillness. Smoke still curls from the lower district’s chimneys, yet it rises in thin strands rather than the thick industrial plumes of a city at full work. Inside, the familiar scent of metal and forge lingers, but dulled, as if the fires have been banked rather than stoked. Workshops sit open but unattended, tools left where they last fell, and the occasional figure moves with quiet purpose, head lowered, as though unwilling to draw attention. The gates themselves bear new markings of subtle reinforcements, watch rotations too regular, and guards who speak little, their vigilance sharpened not by urgency, but by something colder and more controlled.
Beyond the inner wall, the upper district stands in uneasy contrast—orderly, composed, and far too quiet for the hour. The homes and refined shops remain intact, their facades pristine, but windows are shuttered against the daylight, heavy drapes drawn tight from within. What movement exists is deliberate and sparse: well-dressed figures passing quickly between doorways, escorted by attendants who never stray far from shadow. The air here is cleaner, freer of the metallic tang below, yet it carries a different weight. Guards at the inner gate no longer lounge or trade idle words; they stand in composed silence, permitting passage only after careful inspection of carved tokens now more uniformly enforced. The city has not fallen into ruin, nor descended into panic—it has simply... become quieter.
