It's been a long sweep through a stellar quadrant relatively bare of salvage. That's meant a lot of down time and light duty, but Nako's noticed some bad signs. The boss, Captain Nakonechkin, owner of the salvage tug Clutch has been missing crew dinners. The vesk has been holed up in his cabin going over ledgers and anyone accidentally lingering by his door can hear the captain complaining about the price of fuel and the interest on the loan for the last overhaul.
Tonight, though, Nakonechkin has joined you for dinner in Clutch's tidy, compact kitchen and mess hall. The big vesk is quiet, picks at his food, and eschews his usual beer.
|
"Hmmm. Must be something wrong with the meal prep gadget box. Let me take a look at it. I'm sure I can make some adjustments to it so you don't need to pick at your food. BETTER YET! I could make something that will pick the best morsels of food and feed them to you directly. Yay. I'm gonna go do that." Muttering to herself and gesturing wildly with all her arms, she slow walks away, lost in thought.
"Friends, colleagues, companions! If we put our heads together I'm sure we can get to the end of this: Captain - just tell us what is wrong already! You look so down even your scales aren't shining like usual!"
"Captain! Why're you sad? What's wrong?"
The vesk looks up from his food. "You fuzzballs are all right. You're good friends. So I'll level with you. You already know we're in a dry spell. We haven't found enough this trip to cover our expenses, let alone the money I borrowed for the repairs at Absalom.
We need a big score or I'm not going to make payroll for you. I might even lose the Clutch."
Nako shouts. "Lose the Clutch?!?!? This is awful! We have to do something!"
|
|
"Thank you friend Captain, you are also a good friend. Relax, I'll get some digestive aids for your appetite. Too much stress won't be helpful at all. Then we can talk about how to save the Clutch."
Dayoko begins rummaging through his pack for something to help settle the vesk's stomach and muttering about primitive civilizations blaming gnomes living in the gut for such symptoms...
The vesk grunts and stands up. "You fuzzballs are the best. I'm going to go look over the shipping news again. Maybe there's a recent derelict we can salvage."
He leaves for his cabin, leaving any further conversation, and the dishes, to you.
A few hours later, a buzzing chime indicated that the ship’s sensors have registered a starship drifting in the region. Nakonechkin rushed to the captain’s console and initiated a scan. An image of the target ship appeared on screen: a large, ornate green starship with brass accents. No thrust, no reply to signals, it looked abandoned and ill-suited to be so far from the Pact Worlds.
Nakonechkin quickly pulled on his space suit and grabbed a set of all purpose tools. “This could save our bacon, fuzzballs. It's a huge score and looks like an easy enough job."
"You lot stay here and keep an eye on the Clutch. Try not to ‘repair’ anything while I’m away. I should be back in a couple of nanoseconds.”
He nodded curtly and cycled the airlock to float over to the derelict ship.
"Good luck, captain! Just let us know when you want us to go in there!"
Gazigaz will turn to the computer and look at the abandoned ship status. "Oooh, it looks so pretty!"
If you choose to, you watch Nakonechkin cross to the aft port area of the Empyrean. He activates the airlock door and disappears inside.
Time slips away without word from your captain. It's been two hours and he still hasn't checked in.
"Are nanoseconds the same thing as hours? If not, I think the captain is running late!"
|
|
Dakoyo passes time by staring out of the nearest porthole, trying to identify any known stars or planets. As the others begin to note the captain's absence. "He could've encountered any number of unknown pathogens on that ship. He's as likely to use a medikit as leeches without proper guidance... Perhaps we should contact him over his comm?"
The suggestion to contact the vesk is met with general approbation. You troop up to the bridge and try to open a channel, but the captain doesn't respond.
A quick scan by Quonx reveals no source of signal interference. Another check indicates that Nakonechkin's comm unit is functioning. The vesk is either busy, has shed his space suit, or is unable to communicate.
"I think we stayed here and kept an eye on the Clutch for more than a couple of nanoseconds, so we can do what we want now. Let me take my hygiene kit and we can go ask the captain what went wrong!" Gazigaz packs up, fixes his hair one last time using his hand mirror and goes to the airlock to wait for the rest of the crew.
"Absolutely! I'm worried about his safety. He isn't as strong as I am!" Nako says, flexing one of her arms. "I'll get my stuff, and then we can go over there!"
The skittermander crew gathers its gear and meets at the airlock. They activate their suits' environmental seals and kick off into the void between the two ships. It's only a couple hundred feet between the ships and you're floating peacefully toward the Empyrean. The surrounding sky is a deep black embedded with crystal fine points of light.
Emblazoned on the Empyrean's airlock door is a golden rocket blasting out of a glass of sparkling wine, the logo of Trendsetter Excursions, a very high profile wexclusive cruise line. You can just make it out when a series of small impacts sweeps across the surface of the other ship right towards you!
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Oh no my armor is mess! Ouch! Ouch!"
Status :
Dakoyo : save pending
Gazigaz : (-9 HP)
Nako : (-9 HP)
Quonx : saved
Quonx is able to fend off any damage with his spanner's field generator, but the other skittermanders are pummeled by the shower of rocks despite their armor. Somewhat bruised, you all still gain purchase on the cruise ships hull near the airlock.
Up close it's easy to see that the airlock control has been pried open and small wires have been clipped in to bypass the controls. It takes Quonx only a few seconds to figure out how to cycle the lock.
Status :
Dakoyo : (-9 HP)
Gazigaz : (-9 HP)
Nako : (-9 HP)
Quonx :
Gazigaz jumps inside the ship airlock and tries to clean up his freebooter armor. "Did anyone bring cleaning supplies? This is terrible! No, wait, maybe I can find something in here...", he completes, finally looking around where he is.
Now sheltered by the bulk of the ship, the group floats outside the airlock. Through the viewport in the door, you can see that the airlock is a clean 10' cube. The narrow view through the small port in the opposite door doesn't reveal much of the interior of the ship.
“Alright Nako, you are the main warrior of the entire Clutch, we are counting on you - don’t let those pebbles outside bother you!” Gazigaz uses Inspiring Boost on Nako, giving her back 8 stamina points.
Status :
Dakoyo : (-9 HP)
Gazigaz : (-9 HP)
Nako : (-1 HP)
Quonx : all good
"Thanks!" Nako says, brushing off her wounds. She pulls out and readies her doshko, her survival knife, her semi-automatic pistol, and her grenade. "Let's go save the captain!"
Gazigaz jumps inside the ship airlock and tries to clean up his freebooter armor. "Did anyone bring cleaning supplies? This is terrible! No, wait, maybe I can find something in here...", he completes, finally looking around where he is.
Preparing themselves, the skittermanders swarm into the airlock, which Quonx promptly cycles. The outer door closes and you feel a comforting increase in air pressure around you. The inner door opens to reveal a plain room with a few crates and some cages arranged along the forward wall. The lights are on and everything seems normal, if quiet.
This square chamber has little in the way of furnishings, and the walls and ceiling are a clean white, while the floor is a silvery metal. Four cages are stacked in the two forward corners of the room. A heavy door leads into the airlock to the port, while a flickering holographic sign reading “Welcome Guests” floats over the door to the starboard.
Three small robots hover by the door, buzzing at the far end of the room. When the airlock opens they pivot to face you and hang there a few moments. A faint blue light flashes in your eyes while they paint you with scanners. One declares in a deep robotic voice.
“Error! Pets must be placed in approved carriers before boarding the Emerald Empyrean. Initiating containment protocols.”
They begin advancing toward you!
Status, Round 1 :
Nako : (-1 SP)
Dakoyo : (-9 SP)
Robots
Gazigaz : (-9 SP)
Quonx : no damage
Dakoyo's micro-meteorite smashes into the lead robot and clips off one of its antennae. The hovering robot quickly rights itself and resumes its advance.
Status, Round 1 :
Nako : (-1 SP)
Dakoyo : (-9 SP)
Red Robot : (-6 HP)
Green Robot :
Blue Robot :
Gazigaz : (-9 SP)
Quonx : no damage
"Hey! Notnufriends! Uh..." Nako pauses for a moment, trying to come up with a good quip, but eventually just charges forward and swings at one of the robots with her doshko.
,
In a flurry of sparks, Nako's doshko cleaves the damaged robot in two.
"Your owner will be billed for property damage. Desist your aggressive actions. "
The two robots fly in closer and discharge electricity at Nako from pulsecaster built into their frames.
...
...
Status, Round 1/2 :
Gazigaz : (-9 SP)
Quonx : no damage
Nako : (-3 SP)
Dakoyo : (-9 SP)
Green Robot :
Blue Robot :
“I guess they didn’t try to “pet” the captain, or there would be only scrap metal here! Alright, let’s send that one to the repair shop!”
Quonx's shot leaves a long black scorch mark on the side his target and obliterates one of the robot's many legs.
Status, Round 2 :
Nako : (-3 SP)
Dakoyo : (-9 SP)
Green Robot :
Blue Robot : (-7 HP)
Gazigaz : (-9 SP)
Quonx : no damage
Don't forget +1 when targeting blue for get 'em.