No.731554[Last 50 Posts]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYUF74K93IYIt is a lawless time in the galaxy. The recent years of war and turmoil have led to a fractured, chaotic society, rife with warlords, crime empires, private corporations, and other vying powers trying to stake their claims on this new wild world. The Republic of Selen, following their triumph over the Helian Empire, struggle to maintain their hold over the Realms.
In these times, mercenary outfits have become more and more common, hired by all manner of powerful figures to undertake whatever tasks need be. Spacers are a common sight, wandering from place to place, doing whatever work needs done, no questions asked. Groups of these mercenaries have formed, freelance, unaffiliated unions with little ties between its members.
It is to the best known of these, the Spacers' Guild, that our protagonists seek to pledge to, in hopes of ekeing out a living among the stars…
No.731555
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va4OyeQHbr8You are currently aboard a space shuttle, heading towards a well known space station. Delphi, as it is called, is a popular destination for would be spacers like yourselves, especially those seeking to join the Guild. Through various channels, you've come to hear of a particularly well off Guild member who manages employment who can be found on Delphi. All you have to go on to get in contact with this individual is a name and a place: Ochi Rill, in the Rho District of Delphi. This shuttle, traveling from a nearby planet, will take you there, but finding this Ochi person will be up to you if you wish to take Guild work.
The shuttle itself is no thing of beauty; a rickety, practically built spacecraft, little more than a flying rectangle with a main hold for the passengers. The seats are uncomfortable and cramped, but luckily, there are few others on board. Apart from the four of you, there are two others traveling to Delphi. One is a Dog in a wide brimmed black hat, fast asleep in a corner, while the other is a pegasus with a few cybernetic enhancements, currently entertaining herself watching a program via some sort of hologram emitter. Neither of them seem to be paying much attention to you.
Tinny, calm electronic music warbles from the speakers of the shuttle, barely audible unless you're paying close attention. A monitor hanging from the ceiling displays the time till arrival: one hour. The windows nearby offer a view of space, though there isn't much to look at save for the usual stars and planets. At the far end, a machine with a display depicting a cheerful looking mare in a maid costume offers a variety of food and drink for the trip, for inexpensive prices.
With relatively little to do between now and the arrival, it occurs to you it might be a good idea to get to know your fellow passengers a bit better. You are all strangers to each other, for now.
No.731557
>>731555https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqkC9i5PEAohttps://pastebin.com/RhDU6hrnThe rather imposing figure of the dragon in her armor was rendered a bit lacking in impact for two reasons. The first was her being stuck in a tiny seat and trying to peer at what the pegasus was doing.
The second was a bit harder to determine but if one listened closely they could hear some rather odd bouncing and bubbling music coming from the inside of her helmet.
No.731559
>>731555https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnA7SQMl7WMhttps://pastebin.com/RACAq6YjGale, a purple griffon clad in a simple dark blue coat and rimmed glasses, leans uneasily against a wall of the spacecraft. In his claw he holds a single florin, flipping it between his claws, as if he was trying to tie the gold coin around a finger like a ring. There's concern in his eyes, but also a composure. In his mind, he tries to recall what led to this point.
Three days ago, I was in a casino penthouse. Three hours ago, I was facedown on a sidewalk. Three minutes ago, I went over all of this in my head for the fifth time."Well, suppose I'll go first. Good a time as any to get to know eachother. Name's Gale. Thirty-nine years old and twenty-two years of the finest, less-than-legal "mercenary" work. I don't think we all need to know much else about me."
No.731560
>>731559The dragon jumped lightly as his speaking had somehow startled her. She cleared her throat and deepened her voice in an attempt to make herself sound a bit tougher
"I'm Areia, I'm out here trying to show my stuff." she said flexing a bicep a bit awkwardly from her cramped position as her scales barely caught the dim light that reached her current seat.
No.731561
>>731557You manage to look over to what the pegasus is doing. Despite her rather rough and tumble appearance, with a dark red duster coat and a glowing red cyborg left eye, she appears to be watching some sort of soap opera featuring a whole slew of robots. She doesn't notice you staring at first, but edges away defensively and keeps to herself.
>>731559As you break the awkward silence, the Dog in the hat stirs slightly in his sleep, and the mare just gives you a little glance and a nod, but little more. They both seem intent on minding their own business.
No.731562
>>731559"Hmn?" Vandal's ear flicks as she looks up, "Vandal or V. I punch baddies. I can't decide my favorite color but pastels are nice."
No.731563
>>731559The elk looks over to the griffon, and clears his throat before saying "Fir. I'm a, ah… mercenary, I guess. I used to work security."
His armor is a dull, steelish-gray, and doesn't seem to have a helmet. His antlers have been shed or cut off low to his head, likely to make it a little easier for the hulking elk to fit into a ship.
No.731564
>>731561>>731562>>731563The dragons attention turned back to the Pegasus only to scowl under her helmet when she saw that robots were involved and she got up to pace off the distaste in her throat at the sight.
She made her way to the snack dispensary and used some of her limited funds to buy a gem flavored soda for herself, grabbing a straw as she didn't wish to remove her helmet at the moment "So…" she began keeping the slightly forced gruff tone "Take it that you guys are mainly in this for money then?"
No.731565
>>731564Vandal's tail flicks back and forth sticking out of a hole in her shredded pants, tilting her head at the dragon. "Are there other reasons?"
No.731566
>>731564"Mmm. Old work dried up, so I figured a change of profession might be a good way to do it." he says, checking the space above his head. He'll also check a few of the others in the ship, just to see if they're watching.
No.731567
>>731566[1d10] He'll take a chance to glance out the window, too.
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.731568
>>731563"Security? What for? Chance that we have already met. Probably not in the most formal or friendly ways though…"
No.731569
>>731565I unno, looking to prove oneself?" she responded to the cat as she drew close, straw poking from the small vertical gap in her helmet as she sipped her drink "Or I guess a good time?"
No.731570
>>731568"Ship security, mostly." he says, gesturing to his shaved antlers.
No.731571
>>731564As you insert a few coins and make your selection, the display of the maid comes to life, with a cheery little jingle playing as she does a dramatic spin before gesturing to the dispenser slot. A bright purple soda can with an icon of a dragon with sunglasses giving a thumbs up thunks to the bottom unceremoniously.
>-3 florins>>731566>>731567The ceiling has little of interest. There's a few knobs and buttons for regulating the temperature, as well as a panel with an icon of a ladder on it, presumably leading to another level of the shuttle for staff only.
Looking out the window, you don't see much at first; then, you notice something odd. There's a ship tailing the shuttle, trailing behind it. The ship in question is flat and crescent shaped, with a central cannon where both ends of it meet. Odd that an armed ship would be stalking a shuttle like this…
No.731572
>>731570"Probably not then. So, you're well versed in the ins and outs of ships? Anything in particular you can tell me about this one?"
He says, looking around the ship and lightly knocking on the wall he's on.
No.731573
>>731569>>731571Vandal looks slightly envious of the soda, bouncing one of her knees up and down passively. She pats one of her pockets and decides against it, "Strange way to have a good time."
No.731574
>>731572"Hmm… definitely not new. Maybe a freight shuttle?" he suggests, before glancing out the window and narrowing his eyes.
>>731571"That one though, hmm… We might want to be careful." he says, frowning a little bit as he gives it a closer look
>Perception [1d10]Roll #1 3 = 3 No.731575
>>731571>>731573"I mean folks do a buncha weird stuff to get their kicks." she said taking a sip of her drink after popping the top. She caught the small glance and decided to be polite and offer the cat some of her drink. Would be rude of her to not make the offer if nothing else.
No.731576
>>731574"Never been considered freight before."
Gale approaches another window and eyes up the ship.
"Don't think they're just following us to look at our bumper stickers."
"Bet that would be a much more comfortable ride than this scrapheap. Wonder how much it's worth…" he thinks to himself.
Perception (Expensive Taste) [1d10+2]
Roll #1 1 + 2 = 3 No.731577
>>731575Vandal looks at it and sniffs it, being kind enough to waterfall it into her mouth as not to get her lips on the can. Her face scrunches as her fur stands on her back, not expecting the flavor. "Bubbly mineral water? The label's so colorful tho-" looking the can over, she chuckles, "Ahh, I see now." Vandal smiles, happy for the gesture regardless. "Thank you."
No.731578
>>731574You've seen the type of ship you're on before. While you're not sure of the exact model, it's a fairly bog standard transport vessel. Usually used for short distance cargo runs.
>>731574>>731576The ship outside, on the other hand, more closely resembles a fighter, made to fit about five or six people. It's armed, that much is clear, and it looks rather rough and scrappy. It has markings on both prongs of its crescent shape that you can't really make out. Eventually, the ship pulls back and starts flying upwards, out of sight.
>>731576>>731575>>731574>>731573As Fir and Gale see the mystery ship do so, nothing happens for a bit; then, there's a sudden jolt, and you're all almost thrown out of your seats. The display on the vending machine blacks out, and the lights turn off, replaced by emergency backups that light the hold an eerie red. You feel the ship grind to a complete halt, suspended in the vacuum of space. No communication from the front as to what happened. Any personal electronics you're carrying also short out for a brief moment before flickering back on.
The mare jumps, startled by the sudden blackout. "The hell?" she mumbles, rising to her hooves. The sleeping Dog in the corner stirs awake, remaining silent, looking around with mild curiosity.
No.731579
>>731578"Fuck. That thing just did something to us didn't it."
Gale says, digging through his briefcase and resetting his electronics while silently putting his pistol into his inner jacket pocket.
"Hey!" He shouts in the direction of where he thinks a pilot would be. "Somepony running this thing? What happened?"
No.731580
>>731577"Got one made for Dragons." she said with a deep laugh…
>>731578Only to let out a fairly girlish shriek as she was taken of her feet and to the floor, splaying low on instinct before standing and looking around confused trying to find the source of what did that "Did we strike a meteorite or something?" she asked as her voice slipped back into its much more normal cadence as she tried to remember where she stored her blade in this shuttle.
No.731581
>>731578Fir springs up to all fours and looks around, his frown deepening as he tries to check for the ship outside again. A pair of hard-light antlers spring to life from the stumps on his head, glowing a bright orange.
>>731580"I'm… not sure, actually. We ought to be ready."
No.731582
>>731578>>731580Vandal jumps up, letting out a startled yowl as the lights go dark. She reaches in her pockets and cracks a chemlight, the neon yellow light shedding not as far as some of the other's lighting implements.
"So are we gonna lose oxygen or something? I don't have a space suit. Maybe look for something like that?"
No.731583
>>731582>>731580>>731579"Well, we won't be running out of air, but we ought to ready up- I'm pretty sure that jolt came from the ship tailing us. They'll probably board in just a little, if experience serves."
No.731584
>>731579No response, save for some garbled mechanical jargon. Seems like the ship was being piloted by a bot.
>>731582The pegasus gives you an odd look. "There's always a backup oxy stash, case this sort of thing happens. You never been on a ship before or somethin'?"
>>731580You find your sword easily enough; it's stored under your seat, along with the rest of your cargo.
>>731579>>731580>>731581>>731582"EMP blast, I'd guess," says the pegasus, pulling out a blaster of her own. "Seen it before. Big guy's right. Won't be long before they start drilling into the hull…"
As if on cue, you hear a harsh metallic buzzing and whining, followed by a mechanical
thunk of something being attached. "And there it is," the pegasus says in a low voice. "Get ready for a fight. These bastards probably aren't looking to take prisoners or hijack, else they wouldn't be carving up the place. Of all the days for a pirate hit…" She fiddles with the settings on her blaster, which emits a soft whine as it charges up. The Dog stays seated, wordlessly focusing on a display attached to his left forearm and tapping something into it.
>roll Perception No.731585
>>731584[1d10] Summon Esper
Fir takes the moment to try and power on his armor, keeping his eyes trained on the buzzing noise. He nods a little bit to the pegasus, and lowers his head for a charge, if needed.
[1d10] Perception
Roll #1 5 = 5 /
Roll #2 7 = 7 No.731586
>>731584She grabbed the massive blade and clicked it on, the energy coursing up the blades edge and taking on a burning orange hue as she prepared herself for the worst, taking a two handed grip on the weapon and looking for the source of the drilling noise so she could face it and fight properly
Perception [1d10]
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.731587
>>731584"Not when the power goes out." Vandal quickly responds, taking something hard to see out of her bag given the low light level. She looks around with her feline vision for threats and the like.
[1d10]
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.731588
>>731584"Jussst what I needed… Let's make sure we have numbers on our side."
[1d10] Conjure Minion
>>731585"Oh, you can do that too. Neat."
[1d10] Perception
Roll #1 7 = 7 /
Roll #2 2 = 2 No.731589
>>731585You try to power on your armor, but it merely lights up for a moment before fading out. Seems the EMP's making it act up.
>>731588You make a holographic copy of yourself, which stands slightly in front of you, mimicking your every action perfectly.
>>731586>>731585>>731588>>731587There is a tense moment as the buzzing sound continues, a glowing yellow and red ring starting to appear on the ceiling, cutting through to form a forced entry. The buzzing stops, and the sliced metal circle falls with a heavy thud. You hear a soft
beep from somewhere in the room, and with a rush, five robots fly in from the hatch like angry bees. They are small, resembling tinier versions of the crescent ship you spotted outside, made of rusted metal and cobbled together wiring, armed with small arms laser turrets. Drones, controlled by some unseen force. Each of them pick a target and begin opening fire indiscriminately!
[1d10] vs Vandal
[1d10] vs Areia
[1d10] vs Fir
[1d10] vs Gale
[1d10] vs the pegasus
The pegasus jumps backwards and returns fire on the drone targeting her!
[1d10]
Fir and Vandal notice something. The small beep they heard came from the Dog in the black hat. As they spare him a glance as the fight breaks out, they find him gone, as if vanished into thin air.
Roll #1 3 = 3 /
Roll #2 1 = 1 /
Roll #3 4 = 4 /
Roll #4 7 = 7 /
Roll #5 6 = 6 /
Roll #6 7 = 7 No.731590
[1d2] for Drone 4
Roll #1 2 = 2
No.731591
>>731589Not trusting the dog, Vandal sniffs out where he's gone.
>Hunter's Eye: automatic instant, once per combat; Your vision, smell and hearing are unparalleled. An enemy targeted by this skill cannot use Stealth, is removed from Stealth if already using it, and you gain a +1 bonus to all attacks against the target until the end of combat. You can also see in the dark without the need for a light source.Meanwhile Vandal swats at the little drone pestering her with her paws, sharp claws revealing themselves.
>Claws: passive; Felids have natural claws that they can extend and retract at will. Unarmed attacks can now deal wound damage and count as Dual weapons for the purpose of skills.
>Dual Wielding: weapon; Strike at an enemy with both of your weapons in quick succession. Make two rolls to attack. A Critfail on one roll does not cancel the other, but you still fall helpless.[1d10]
[1d10]
Roll #1 6 = 6 /
Roll #2 2 = 2 No.731592
>>731591>rolled a 2
>Ninja Flip: passive; Whenever you are attacked or would take counterattack damage, roll a 1d3. Lower the damage you would take by the result.[1d3]
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.731593
>>731589Areia froze for a moment and stared at the drone as it ended up slamming into her and bouncing into the floor and she was left for a moment with a grin on her face as she grabbed her blade, energy surging through her form as it transferred to her weapon next.
Empower Weapon
She promptly raised her blade and aimed to bring it down on the hunk of junk that dared to try and hurt her.
[1d10+3]
Roll #1 6 + 3 = 9 No.731594
>>731589Fir tsks a little as the armor seems to sputter, and stamps a hoof in annoyance. He'll ignore it for now, and use the part of it that doesn't need to come online- the heavy plating- to block for Gale
[1d10] Brace (Gale)
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.731595
>>731589The minion tries to claw the insectoid while Gale slips out of sight, looking to inspect where these nuisances came from.
Minion Attack [1d10]
Stealth [1d10]
Roll #1 7 = 7 /
Roll #2 7 = 7 No.731596
>>731591The Dog - Blackhat, for simplicity's sake - is using some sort of cloaking device, but you can still sniff him out. You can only assume he's up to no good as you sense him sneaking around the perimeter to flank you and the others. You hear him whisper something into the wrist device he carries.
You manage to dodge the shots from the drone, impacting on the seat behind you. You manage to knock it off balance, but its retaliating fire still grazes your left arm.
>Vandal takes 3 hits>>731593As the drone crashes to the floor, you press the advantage and bring down your huge sword, sending sparks and scrap metal flying every which way as you sunder it with one mighty stroke.
>4 drones remaining>>731594The shots glance off your heavy armor as you move to help the griffon, but he is too nimble and manages to slip away before you can help him.
>>731595The minion manages to rake at the drone, knocking it off balance. Two red lights start flashing alternatingly as the drone rights itself.
You manage to duck out of the battle and get a good look up at the tunnel that was carved out. You can see some sort of connection leading through to the pirate ship that's attacking; they seem to be coupled together. No sign of the pirates themselves, for now.
>>731595>>731594>>731593>>731592The drone gets a hit on the mare, who returns the favor with a blast to the optics on its left prong. "Agh! Bastard!" she grunts, clutching her wounded shoulder.
Vandal senses Blackhat creeping up on Areia, unbeknownst to the rest of them. He presses something on his wrist device and lunges at her!
[1d10+1] Autocrit via Stealth
The remaining drones keep firing on you!
[1d10] vs Fir
[1d10] vs Vandal
[1d10] vs Gale
[1d10] vs pegasus
The pegasus cranks up a dial on her blaster and unleashes a powerful shot at the offending drone!
[1d10] Meltdown, autocrit/autocritfail
Roll #1 8 + 1 = 9 /
Roll #2 7 = 7 /
Roll #3 4 = 4 /
Roll #4 7 = 7 /
Roll #5 10 = 10 /
Roll #6 9 = 9 No.731598
>>731596Fir ignores the drone shooting at him- it likely won't hurt much anyways. He quickly scans the room.
[1d10] Perception
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.731599
>>731596The dragons haughty pride was quite quickly cut down as she was suddenly sent to the floor and found herself quite thoroughly dazed. She was lucky to have kept a grip on her sword as she felt things go a bit off before she tried to get back up and stand with a groan.
[1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.731600
>>731599Ignoring this then.
>>731596Arreia barked out a laugh as she turned her focus to taking out the drone that was hassling the deer, taking a large swing of her blade at it as the energy on the blade thrummed away.
[1d10+2]
Roll #1 8 + 2 = 10 No.731601
>>731596Clicking her skates together, Vandal grins and cracks her knuckles, the skates being pressed together starting an electric hum to start from them. Suddenly shooting off in a burst of speed, Vandal jumps up and kicks onto a wall to come at the hidden Blackhat from a surprising angle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VyaShl6urc>Moody's Shuffle: passive/instant automatic, recharge 2; Build up momentum using electromagnetic inline skates and launch forward towards a target. Move to an adjacent zone and gain +2 to any other combat action this turn. Passively, you can use your inline skates to skate and grind against terrain and even glide against walls for brief periods of time.With the hiss of an aerosolized substance, Vandal strikes Blackhat with a jump and sprays paint directly in his face.
>Blind: recharge 1 after effect ends; Temporarily blinds an enemy, giving a +2 bonus to all actions targeting it for 2 turns. Can also be used to block sight of cameras, guards, and other visual reliant objects. On Crit the target’s senses are blocked completely, causing all their non-Crit attacks to miss next turn.[1d10+3]
Roll #1 2 + 3 = 5 No.731603
>>731596The clone recoils from the hit, but presses on, attempting to strike the bot again
Attack [1d10]
Meanwhile, Gale slips into the other ship, and searches for any sign of identification or company it might belong to.
Perception [1d10]
Roll #1 4 = 4 /
Roll #2 1 = 1 No.731604
>>731598You can't see much else apart from the drones. The one targeting you manages to hit a weak spot in your armor, dealing a light but painful blow.
>Fir takes 1 hit>>731600You cut down another drone, destroying it with a single blow. They might as well be made of paper to your sword. You don't get much time to enjoy your victory, however, as you suddenly feel immobilized by a jolt of electricity coursing through your body. Paralyzed momentarily, you collapse to the floor, struck by an unseen enemy.
>3 drones remain>Areia takes 5 hits>Lightning Elemental: DC+1 to all actions next turn>>731601You take another graze from the drone as you ride the thick glass window smoothly, jumping towards where you can sense Blackhat. You jump towards him and spray him; while it doesn't hit him in the face, it does disrupt his cloaking device, leaving the rather odd image of a floating paint stain. He snarls. "Bloody cat! I'll have you…!"
>Vandal takes 1 hit>>731603Your clone is shot down amidst a volley of shots from the drone, falling to its knees.
>Clone takes 2 hits, helpless>Clone H/W: 0/2You try to climb up, but the hole seems too small to climb through without considerable effort, and you simply fall back down to the main hold, giving away your position.
>>731603>>731601>>731600>>731599The pegasus blows the drone into smithereens, but not before taking a shot to the chest. She cries out in pain and collapses backwards, clutching her chest, trying to get back up.
[1d10]
Meanwhile, the now exposed Blackhat presses a few more buttons on his wrist device, launching some sort of electrified dart at Vandal.
[1d10]
The remaining drones focus fire on those still standing.
[1d10] vs Vandal
[1d10] vs Fir
[1d10] vs Gale
[1d2] for the above
Roll #1 4 = 4 /
Roll #2 7 = 7 /
Roll #3 3 = 3 /
Roll #4 4 = 4 /
Roll #5 7 = 7 /
Roll #6 2 = 2 No.731605
>>731604Fir snorts a little, before trying to batter Blackhat with his hardlight antlers
[1d10] (No Weapon Tags, it's just a shield)
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.731606
>>731604Areia gave an incredibly loud shriek of pain as the shock bypassed her armor and her scales quite easily and left her lightly singed and twitching as she found herself struggling to get off the ground, a pained noise rolling forth from her lips.
No.731607
>>731606Shit forgot to roll
[1d10]
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.731608
>>731604Gale loudly thuds back into the ship and rolls over to his clone.
"Sorry about this, but you're the best cover I can find."
The clone of course, doesn't respond.
Gale takes a shot at the drone that attacked his clone.
Pistol [1d10]
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.731609
>>731604>Ninja Flip the electrified dart[1d3]
"Who'll have who mutt?"
Vandal says, showing off her claws before swiping at the rival species' face.
>Stance Swap, instant auto>Stance of the Tiger: Reckless but fierce. This stance forgoes all outside aid and prevents you from benefiting from or using weapon and catalyst skills but you gain +1 to all basic unarmed attacks and you can deal full wound damage when unarmed.Dual Attack
[1d10+2]
[1d10+2]
Roll #1 1 = 1 /
Roll #2 7 + 2 = 9 /
Roll #3 9 + 2 = 11 No.731610
>>731605You ram into the undercover pirate when he least expects it, tossing him into the air with your charge. His cover well and truly broken, he lands on the ground with a hard thud, letting out a soft grunt.
>>731606The electricity still courses through your body, and you find yourself unable to move, let alone get up.
>>731608You line up a precise shot while the drone is distracted and pop the drone with one shot. It starts flashing red as it spins out of control, billowing smoke before crashing to the ground with a tiny explosion.
>2 drones remain>>731609You lunge at him while he's down, sinking both sets of claws into the Dog's face, leaving him with deep, bloody wounds. He yells in pain and struggles to kick you off as he fires off the dart, which hits you plain in the chest, sending you stumbling. You are grazed from it, and get a painful jolt of electricity which almost makes you topple over.
>Vandal takes 1 hit>Electricity: DC+1 to all rolls next turn>>731609>>731608>>731607>>731605The pegasus keeps struggling to recover, wheezing as she cradles her injury.
[1d10]
Blackhat, bloodied but unbeaten, struggles to stand, pulling his wrist device up to his mouth. "Bruv, gonna need a bit more backup 'ere. There's two drones down. …Three. And one of 'em got me good. These guys aren't pushovers like the last lot."
"Always gotta bail you out, innit?" a younger voice warbles.
"Be down in a tick. Hang in there. I'll bring Brix as well, just in case."The two remaining drones focus fire on Fir.
[1d10]
[1d10]
Roll #1 5 = 5 /
Roll #2 2 = 2 /
Roll #3 1 = 1 No.731611
>>731610The dragon let out an indignant noise as she tried to force herself through the pain to stand up and help her allies here.
[1d10]
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.731612
>>731610Fir gives the drones a glance as they attempt to take another shot- one of them managing to reflect the shot back at itself, frying it instantly. He flicks his ears when he hears the Dog call for backup, and tries to fire up his armor again- hopefully, this time, it'll work.
[1d10] Summon Esper
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.731613
>>731610"Piece of garbage." Gale utters as the drone spirals to the ground. Gale then yells towards Blackhat's transmitter "If I was you I would cut my losses now and fuck right out of this star system!
As he says this, he thinks to himself
"These guys are sloppy, put somepony down in the hotzone with no backup besides some toy starships? Just who am I dealing with?"He finishes his sentence with a shot towards the remaining drones.
Attack [1d10]
The clone struggles to get back on it's paws.
Recover [1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 /
Roll #2 7 = 7 No.731614
>>731610Peeved, Vandal once again sprays paint in the dog's face.
>Blind [1d10+1] DC+1"Can't fight on your own huh? Kinda pathetic tbh." Vandal taunts saying the letters outloud, turning to shout to the others,
>>731613>>731612>>731611"Two more on the way friends, pirates proper."
Roll #1 4 + 1 = 5 No.731615
>>731614[1d3] Ninja Flip!
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.731616
>>731611You manage to get back up, hurt but not in too bad shape.
>>731612As another drone falls, Blackhat sneers as your armor keeps acting up. "Looks like we did a good job on it, ey."
>>731613You down the last drone with another well aimed shot.
>all drones destroyedYour clone manages to recover, its body flickering and fluctuating, denoting its instability.
>>731614Blackhat throws his hands in front of his face, shielding himself from your spray and swiping at you unsuccessfully. "Just you wait, kid," he growls. "When I get me hands on you, I'm making you into a rug."
>>731614>>731613>>731612>>731611It's not long before the help arrives, shimmying down the hole in the ceiling and landing right in the middle of you. It's a cocky looking Dog with an assault rifle, looking eager for a fight.
Before you can react, a clangor rings out from the hole, and a lanky robot falls down haphazardly, landing in a pile of limbs before rearranging itself. It's tripodal, with two main arms ending in blasters, and a round dome for a head. It stiffly points both firearms at you both, ready to open fire.
The Dog's grin fades quickly as he sees the injuries his brother's received, raising his rifle and pointing it at each of you in turn. "Amateurs," the pegasus grunts, too weak by now to stand up. "Call yourselves pirates? You're the worst I've seen in a while."
"Shut up," the newcomer barks. "All of you. Hand over the valuables, now. I'm serious!" His eyes dart around nervously, clearly intimidated by the situation. Blackhat just starts trying to climb to his feet, groaning from the exertion.
[1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.731617
>>731616Areia groaned, swaying on her heels a bit as she had to shake off the last bit of jitters she was feeling as she held her blade tightly. And then she saw the robot and she felt everything go quiet for a moment.
She grabbed her blade and let out a war cry as she Rushed at it with intent to kill.
Blast, Autocrits on success due to Preferred Target:Robots [1d10]
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.731618
>>731616"You really think if I had valuables I'd be flying in this trashcan? You need to rethink your business model, kid."
Gale reaches for a hologram emitter as he continues.
"You're just not doing this right. You need victims who aren't gonna resist, folks that have no personal stake in what you're stealing. I hear jewel theft is a pretty well off market."
As Gale continues he casts into the Emitter.
"And, at the end of the day, we have a hostage."
Gale finishes by leisurely pointing his gun towards Blackhat.
[1d10] Conjure Minion (Hologram Emitter)
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.731619
>>731616Seeing as the Blackhat's getting up and not playing with his device, Vandal takes to snatch it up in the chaos.
"How's this thing work anyways, can it make me invisible too?"
>Shadow Hand: hidden, recharge 3; Pickpocketing is of second nature to you. You steal away an object from a target that they are not actively using. You cannot steal anything a target is currently wielding or wearing in combat, but if they have spares you may take those.[1d10+1]
Roll #1 4 + 1 = 5 No.731620
>>731616"Mmm, I wouldn't feel too proud- it's been acting up regardless of whatever you tried."
He mulls over what to actually try next, and opts for a new approach, making note to try and find a replacement power for the suit… if that even exists.
[1d10] Enhancement (Single)
>>731616Fir gives the second Diamond Dog an unamused look, before saying "You clearly didn't prepare for this, or even pick your target well. Take the scrap and the other dog, and go. There's not much more here of value you could take, anyways."
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.731621
>>731618Intimidate/Persuade [1d10]
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.731622
>>731620[1d10] Intimidate
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.731623
>>731617The robot, apparently named Brix, unleashes a volley of shots at you, shooting you in the hand and knocking your blade out of your grasp.
>Areia takes 2 hits>at 3/4 due to going helpless earlier>>731618As you point the gun at his brother, he trains his own on you, as does Brix. "Drop the gun. And the hologram thingies. Or we'll carve you into fine art."
>>731619"Not on your life, kid." Blackhat jerks his hand away before you can grab it, baring his teeth menacingly.
>>731620As conventional methods of using your suit's abilities fail you, you turn to a more arcane method, channeling magical energy into your antlers. They extend and flare up as you threaten the Dog.
>>731620>>731619>>731618>>731617"They already murked me good," Blackhat grunts, staggering to get up. "Let's just call this one a bust."
"What, let 'em win? No way!" Blackhat's brother doesn't take his eye off you.
"I'd rather run and live another day. Forget this lot. Try our luck with the next transport."
Blackhat's brother struggles with the decision before relenting, relaxing his guard. Blackhat fiddles with his bracer and lopes over to the hole as a pole descends to allow him to climb up, which he does. The robot soon follows. "Youse just… just stay out of our turf, yeah?" his brother says, unconvincingly. "We're watching you." With that, all three of them begin to leave, the hatch sealing behind them.
As everything falls quiet, the pegasus lets out a bark of amusement, in good spirits despite getting shot in the chest. "Ha! That was the worst attempt at a robbery I've seen in years! Two bit street thugs, nothing more. How did they even get this far?"
She pulls out a can of an odd grey mist and starts spraying her injury. It seems to have some healing properties. "Got some scrap parts out of it all, at least," she muses, looking at the sparking remains of the drones. "Ought to fetch something at the market. …Anyone else hurt?"
No.731624
>>731623Areia raised her hand as she fell back into a seat, clicking off her blades power as she hissed in mild pain. Between the shock and the fresh wounds in her hands she was feeling a might tender right now.
"Bucking hate robots. Hate them so damned much." she said taking her helmet off to let herself breath a bit easier.
No.731625
>>731623As they back off Gale taunts them.
"Hey, I'm not saying it's a bad business idea! Just pick your muggings more wisely."
He chuckles as they slink away.
"Who do they think they are, some wild west desperadoes or something? I'm with you girl" He says to the pegasus "That was the most fun I've had in a while. And uh, don't think I caught your name."
Gale carefully cleans himself off and repackages his charged hologram emitter and pistol, while deactivating his minion.
No.731626
>>731623"Upset." Vandal says, crossing her arms. "I beat him fair and square, that means I get his lil thingy he had on him. It turned him invisible y'know."
>>731625>>731623Vandal pouts, licking the small wound she got during the fight. "Ah well, least they're nice enough to leave. I barely got scratched, but jerks of them to use bullets if they're not going all the way. Rubber hurts just as much - I know from experience - but at least you're not gonna end a life just for some money y'feel me?" The felid's whiskers twitch, closing her eyes and sitting back in her seat. "What happened to honor among thieves."
No.731627
>>731623"Quit it with the tough-talk, just go." the elk says, a bit of annoyance in his voice.
>>731623Fir turns back to the pegasus after the two Dogs leave, before shrugging "Hopefully we can manage to fix any damage that their attempt left. I'm not the best, but I might have a thing or two to fix the ship with. As far as injuries go, I think the… dragon, and the cat could use a bit of help. Tend to yourself, first."
>Summon Esper (Smith/Tinker) [1d10] (If I have to roll, DC -1 from Single)Roll #1 2 = 2 No.731628
>>731626If it's the same dodad that decided to taze my spine I'd probably have asked for it so I can crush it into dust." she said a bit bitterly about the experience.
No.731629
>>731628>>731624"Awh, but then I could shoot dodads at
other asshats." Vandal says, reclining her feet out and stretching, "And robots suck yuup. But, they have the redeeming quality of continuing to act normally even after you paint 'em bright pink and a pair of nipples. Perfectly lacking self awareness that people normally have."
No.731630
>>731626"Honor needs a cut like anyone else, take that out and you walk away with a little more cash. And a little more cash is what everyone wants. You seem the type that's been on the wrong end of a narc's gun before."
No.731631
>>731629I can at least agree to the using it on others. As for robots, only good one is a ruined one in my book." she replied with some audible venom in her tone. She grabbed the discarded can of gem cola and drank what was left before winging it off into a corner in an attempt to calm down.
No.731632
>>731625Blackhat flips you the bird as they ascend back to their own ship.
"Fiddler's Green," says the pegasus. "Just Green works." She watches as you deactivate the holograms. "Pretty fancy stuff you got there," she remarks. "Who'd you have to kill to get it?"
>>731626"Yeah, well, maybe next time," Green shrugs. "If there is one. Those Lightbender devices aren't cheap."
"Honor among thieves?" she parrots with a dry smile. "No money in it."
>>731627Your armor finally decides to play along, reconfiguring to allow you to interact with technology better. "Gotcha," says Green. "You go see what you can do with the bot up front."
You open the door leading to the shuttle cockpit. It seems the piloting robot has lost its power supply with the EMP blast. You'd have to find a way to get the power back online, either via rerouting commands at the cockpit itself or getting your hooves dirty and going to the engine room. Either way, you'll have to fix it yourself, or you'll be stranded here.
>>731624Green trots over to you. "Hold still," she warns as she shakes the can of grey mist. "This won't kill you, but it won't tickle either." Before you can protest, she starts going over your wounds with the stuff. It burns and stings awfully, but after a few uncomfortable moments, you feel the pain starting to subside. It seems to be a healing agent of some kind.
She shrugs as you curse robots. "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Can't deny they make life a bit easier. And they don't complain, or ask for wages. Most of 'em, at least." She glances towards the cockpit. "Don't look now, but I think there's one driving the ship."
No.731633
>>731632Fir ducks his head to slip into the cockpit, letting out an uncomfortable noie as he's left tightly-packed. Regardless, he takes a look over the piloting robot, and tries to do what he can ro re-route it. It's not his forte, but it seems like his suit's diagnostics have some suggestions.
>Tinker with the power supply [1d10] (DC -1)Roll #1 7 = 7 No.731634
>>731632She winced and hissed before relaxing as eventually the pain began to subside from her extremities and she felt that she could bend her fingers without too much issue.
"Thanks Green, I'd have helped ya up if I didn't have trouble myself." she said a bit embarrassed, choosing to pretend that the robot in the cockpit was just a sleeping pony of some kind "Been a while since somebody got the drop on me like that."
No.731635
>>731625"Oh don't you worry yourself with me big guy, I barely got a scratch. We felids have excellent reflexes you know."
>>731630>>731632"Well fuck narcs and fuck anyone who'd take some extra pay to sell their soul to a corporation of corrupt government." Vandal says to Gale, turning to Green, "Not every job ends with shooting each other to get all the bits. You can make bits by being a
decent person and errr.. a thug. A decent thug. Y'know, don't jump grannies, give a smile every once and awhile, realize we all need to eat at the end of the day. Have some standards."
No.731636
>>731632"Green, gotcha." He says, bringing out the charged hologram emitter "Nopony. Was a gift from some far out tech group, said they "saw potential in me". I've had a friend of mine take them apart and put them back together at least ten times and he can't find any sort of tracker or malicious intent, so I've been using them. Haven't seen anything else like 'em"
>>731635"Riiight right, felid could dodge a bullet at point blank or something like that." As you finish speaking he continues "Suprising to see one with the right ideology though. Gang of cats I knew were constantly shooting eachother in the back over a couple hundred florins. I take it you aren't from there?"
No.731637
>>731636>>731635Kinda getting a bit too philosophical for my tastes. I generally just do what I think is right, though if someone is offering me a healthy bit of cash while I do that, I'm not going to say no." she said as she popped her helmet back on and looked at her blade, noting she'd need to get a battery pack prepped for her blade, or at least recharge its current one.
No.731638
>>731633Prompted by the diagnostics of your suit's interface, you manage to tinker with the ship's main computer until power is restored. The robot, a tall, pyramid-headed automaton with several arms and a chair where the legs would be, immediately comes back online, spouting coordinates and restoring all the major functions of the shuttle. Lights come back, then music, then ventilation. The wannabe pirates' incursion doesn't seem to have left any lasting damage.
>>731634"'S alright. I've had worse from better."
"Same. Last place I'd expect to find pirates is here. Nothing out in this corner of the 'verse but would be mercs and revheads. They ought to find better real estate if you ask me."
>>731635She listens to your little spiel with a doubtful expression. "Yeah, well, take it from me, kid. You have to look out for number one. Don't trust anyone to have your back, and you won't be disappointed when they try to stick a knife in yours." She looks you up and down. "Say. Aren't you a little young to be a spacer anyway?"
>>731636She nods, admiring them. "They're something alright. Ought to see about finding a good fixer over on Delphi. Sure there's someone what knows aught about that sort of tech."
>>731636>>731635>>731634>>731633Whatever Fir does, it works. The power comes back online, and before you know it, the ship starts moving again, the muffled elevator music starting to trickle through and the sunny looking maid on the vending machine popping up again, occasionally saying something cheerfully in a foreign language. The only lasting impact is the countdown to arrival, which now just shows a ????. "Hehey, you did it!" Green says cheerily to Fir. "Would've had a look at it myself, but I'm still a bit winded from that shot. Next stop, Delphi."
"Say, you're all spacers like me, right? If you don't mind me asking, what's your business in Delphi?"
No.731640
>>731638"Hey hey hey I'm in my twenties, I'm just short. And in no way was I saying bare your back for everyone you meet, literally just like- try to be a good person!"
Vandal looks taken aback, throwing her paws up in the air defensively and turning to the other two,
>>731636>>731637"Well jeez everyone's the cool hardened mercenary then, no room for a heart anymore. Big frickin dorks." She turns to Gale specifically, grinning as she enjoys the banter, "And fuck you for saying that's a Felid thing, there's a whole buncha griffon sterotypes I could spew off if I was some racist shitbag too. I ate my veggies and got solid B's for a while I'll have you know."
No.731641
>>731640The dragon looked at the cat oddly for a moment. She had never claimed to be a mercenary nor had she really claimed to be stone cold. "I'm guessing the ears are for show or something?" she asked as she shuffled and grabbed her pack, pulling out a small rectangular device.
"I don't really do the hired muscle thing. I mean I do but its mainly like getting rid of crooks and shady guys because someone asked me to and gave me some money for it." she added as the clicked it on and focused mainly on it now "My usual source of income these days is breaking malfunctioning machines and donations from folks I help out." she added trying to play herself up as a bit more of a hero.
No.731642
>>731641One of the ears twitch in response, as if unconsciously to the retort, "Well sorry then, just saying I wouldn't go and go and kick some kittens for ten million bits. Some stuff I won't do for any price, y'know?" She shrugs, "Anyways that seems neat, getting paid to break stuff and all. I should start getting paid to do that too, it's a small hobby of mine too. Making's more fun though."
Vandal continues to sink deeper into her seat, eventually in some sort of position that can't possibly be comfortable to anyone who valued their spine. She pulls out her sketch pad again, seeing as the others are more content to relax after dealing with the pirates.
No.731643
>>731642I'd recommend keeping an eye out for scrapyards then." she answered as the little rectangle began to make game noises. She seemed to need to find her own way to pass the time and ignore the robot in the other room. "I mean I'm not gonna kick a kitten either. Unless they came at me with like a knife or something. I might do it in self defense then." she added as she swayed. She seemed to be the type that moved around with the game they were playing.
No.731644
>>731643"Well yeah but then it's the dumbass kitten with the knife's fault not the ten million bits motivating you, you're good there." Her responses slow down as she pulls out the pen and occasionally looks up at Areia to look her over. "Scrapyards seem lonely though. Just you and heaps of vehicles and bots right? Usually out in the middle of nowhere so no one's cutting holes in the chainlink fence to grab the thingamajig they need for their car without paying or something?"
No.731645
>>731644She shrugged "I usually just listen to music for a while and then go back home or wherever I'm staying." she said letting the gruff demeanor slip again "I mean yeah sure it'd be nice to have the company but as is I do what I can to get by and it's a good safe outlet." she added. She was full on moving in her seat with the game which was a rather amusing, what with a very tall dragon in plate armor swaying around like a kid.
No.732050
>>731644>>731645>>731638Fir squeezes out of the cockpit a short time later, and lets out a relieved huff. "Things are working again. Hopefully, there's no more trouble before the station."
>>731638Fir bows his head a little in response, before saying "Work, mostly. Things dried up elsewhere for me."
No.732051
>>731638"Business is business is business. This was the cheapest flight from where I was to a city with a contact."
>>731640"Well you sure are a feisty kitty aren't you. You just get tired of being compliant and decide to have a rebellious phase?"
No.732052
>>731638Areia sighed as she kept playing the game. It was an excellent way of distracting herself while she waited for the ship to get to their destination. She wanted to stretch her limbs properly after being cooped up in the tiny ship for so long.
No.732053
>>732051"Fuck off, what you figured you'd be some sauve lady's bird cause you're dead center in your midlife crisis? Don't talk down to me."
No.732054
>>731640Green shrugs. "Tried that once. Didn't take." She flashes you a grin, showing several gold teeth. Between those, her black and red cybernetic eye, and her long red duster, she looks every bit the part of a pirate herself.
>>732050"Said one hour left before," Green chimes in. "Hopefully they don't come back for a round 2. Would hate to ruin the shuttle."
>>732050>>732051"Figured it'd be a business thing. Not many folks would go to Delphi on holidays, know what I mean." She smirks.
>>732051>>732053"Looks like we're off to a good start," she grins, watching with slight amusement.
>>732050>>732051>>732052>>731640"Well," Green sighs, getting more comfortable herself, "if it's mercenary work you're after, I might know someone. Ochi Rill. Kind of a big deal over there. Does a lot of logistics stuff for the Guild. Mission dispatch, finance management, that sort of thing."
The name is familiar to you; as it turns out, Ochi is the point of contact you were referred to, though you have little to go on but a name and a sector: "Ochi Rill, Rho District, Delphi".
"Course, it's not exactly the most wholesome work," she goes on. "Nor the safest. But it pays well. And you guys can handle yourselves pretty well from what I saw just now. So yeah. If you've got the stones for it, I could try and get you guys a word with him. Interested?"
No.732055
>>732054"Well 'course it doesn't work out since everyone's from places where you're taught to fuck eachother over to succeed. Prisoner's dilemma and shit, just more people need to be conscientious of that stuff." She says, before adding, "Not to discount what's happened and all there. Not shitty enough to discount someone's injuries because
muh morals or all that."
Vandal shrugs at Green's suggestion, "Oh sure, long as we aren't harassing a union or something. Know how to rough up a piece of shit or two."
No.732056
>>732054"Huh, that was actually the name I found on the job offer." Areia." answered as she killed the music and focused her eyes on the Pegasus "Though what exactly do you mean by not the most wholesome?" she added with a small narrowing of her eyes as she sat up straight.
>>732051You are just the master of being condescending to folks who just helped ya aren't feathers?" she asked as she had to chime in on his poor behavior.
No.732057
>>732053"Bwaaahahahaha, you sure are funny. Look kit, I don't wanna dote on you more than I have to, but you can stick it to the ponies on top but be careful out there. Ain't all graffiti and roller skates in the real world."
>>732054"Ochi… I had somepony a bit more civilized in mind, but he could work if my other contacts fall through."
No.732058
>>732054"An hour? That'll be fine then, probably. I didn't have many plans aside from browsing, so I'll check out this 'someone' of yours." He suggests, stretching out a little bit.
>>732057>>732055Fir frowns a little, and flicks his fluffy ears. "Short, quiet ride might be nice."
No.732059
>>732057"What did I just fucking say about talking down to me, you think I'm here going on a cute little adventure like I saw in my lil cartoons I watched eating sugary cereal playing with the lil toy I got at the bottom of the box? I know the streets, I ain't all idealist." She scoffs, kicking her paws back and crossing her legs, "Just mostly."
No.732060
>>732058I honestly wouldn't mind one myself but it seems somebody can't resist digging at others about their morals or something."
>>732059The dragon remained silent on this one as she personally still enjoyed cartoons and sugary cereal in her downtime.
No.732061
>>732060"Then don't respond. If you don't think much of the cat, why bother listening?"
No.732062
>>732056>>732058>>732059"Well, last time I managed to upset this many people in such a small amount of time I… actually lets not talk about that."
He takes a breath, drops his shoulders and continues speaking.
"Look, I've been somewhat out of the low class criminal 'mercenary' work for a bit now. And I know it there where you can get real incompetent, reckless, and overall-a-threat-to-safety-and-profits type folk. I just wanna make sure we're all professionals, and can handle a little bit of heat. Really, I don't wanna get off on the wrong hoof/claw/paw/etc."
No.732063
>>732062"I ain't cryin' or anything don't go thinking you've offended me so deeply I'll let go if you're hanging off a cliff or something like that. Just like, y'know-" She pauses for a bit, "Let's be chill, not assume that shit right out of the gate. No actions've warranted it."
No.732064
>>732061I wasn't referring to the cat being the one being an ass."
No.732065
>>732055She raises an eyebrow, looking amused by your idealism. You get the feeling she's being a little condescending.
>>732056"Well, it's merc stuff. Nothing glamorous about it. Usually not even legal either. Hired muscle, for the most part. Bounties, heists, smuggling, hits, general tough guy work. Though, if you're working as a group, probably won't get much of the last one. Way it works is, someone needs a job done, so they get in touch with the right channels, get picked up by what we call an Ear. Like old Ochi. He spreads the word around, payment gets organized, guild takes a cut, everyone's happy. No questions asked."
>>732057"Be hard pressed to find anywhere 'civilized' these days," she snorts. "Republic may have won the war, but they're a damn joke at keeping the peace."
>>732058>>732057>>732056>>732055"Sweet," she grins. "Might take a bit, he's usually kind of busy. But I'll see what I can do."
Time goes by, and you begin to approach the floating spaceport of Delphi. Orbiting a white star, Delphi is a vast megastructure moving through space, resembling a large central pillar with two rings around its center. Your shuttle approaches one of these rings steadily, and you begin to see other space traffic in the surrounding area; including, you notice at one point, the ill fated pirate ship from earlier. Green curls her lip. "Lookitthat. Going off to lick their wounds. Bloody jackals."
As the shuttle draws closer, the ring starts to loom closer, and you begin to take in the sheer scale of the station. It must be the size of a small moon, and from the looks of it, construction has begun on making it even larger. Now dominating your view, a series of panels open up in an aperture pattern, allowing your shuttle entrance to one of the docking bays. You pass through a force field of some sort, common in such bays, protecting the station from the vacuum of space.
The shuttle lands smoothly, and the doors open. As you gather your belongings and exit into the hangar, the ship is approached by a gaggle of mechanics, having seen the damage it's taken due to the pirates. One of them approaches you, seeming like the one in charge here, a lanky looking griffon in a black wifebeater, a cigarette dangling limply from his beak. "What 'appened 'ere?" he asks you with a frown, looking over the scuffs and dents on the shuttle and entering something on a datapad. "Ship was scheduled for like 'alf an 'our ago."
No.732066
>>732065Pirates." she said bluntly as she grabbed her bags and put her blade between her wings and debated peacing off from the group to go and find those pirates. Chances are one was hanging out at a clinic and that meant there was probably a quick way to locate one. She looked to the others and debated voicing her opinion but she seemed torn on it.
"Hey… You guys wanna try and see if we can find the ones who attacked us earlier since Green seemed to imply that they were here?" she asked "Would kinda like to get some payback from earlier." she asked as she decided that maybe trying to do this as a group first would be the ideal scenario.
No.732067
>>732065>>732066"Weirdest sorta pirates too. Guy joins on to the ship and musta pinged his buddies or something. Didn't go so well for 'em."
No.732068
>>732065"Boarded by pirates. Banged the craft up, but no one's really worse for wear." He says, shrugging a little.
>>732066"Might be worth checking for a bounty on either of 'em first if we're going to go looking." he says, checking for a map. If he can find a copy to use, he'll check out the Rho district.
No.732069
>>732065"Unexpected Hostile Boarding by a Third Party." Gale says in his best legalese voice. "I'm sure this come up all the time in your line of work."
He says, walking past the griffon without even looking at him.
No.732071
>>732069>>732066>>732067>>732068"Musta been brutal," he comments, entering some information on the pad. "…Y'know, if it's your ship, we c-"
"Fuck off, revhead," Green barks abruptly. "It's not our ship. Just the transport we got. You're not getting a red cent from us." Looking offended, the griffon slinks away, giving Green a dirty look. You hear him barking some orders to his crew before they start adjourning disappointedly. "Vultures, the lot of 'em," Green growls. "Soon as they see a ship come in, they try and wring some extra money out of everyone on board."
You keep moving, exiting the hangar and out onto the streets of Delphi. It is bustling with life, all manner of spacers from all corners of the Realms congregating on the one space station. You can see several shops and office buildings lining either side of the streets, and street vendors and performers can be spotted on every corner trying to eke out a living. Giant holograms in a plethora of forms walk the streets freely alongside real people, going mostly ignored by those accustomed to the sight, acting as walking billboards. The occasional robot flies past overhead, on some unknown business.
Green frowns, looking around. "…Hm. Problem. I have no idea where we are. Never been to this part of the station before. Might have to look around, see if we can find the district the old fashioned way."
>roll Navigation>>732066"Eh. Not worth the hassle. 'Specially if they have friends in higher places. Best leave 'em be. They cross us, we can just kick their asses again. Easy."
>>732068You find a terminal outside the hangar that looks like it once displayed a map when prompted, but it seems to be out of order. Just your luck.
No.732073
>>732071"Was hoping the last time I was here was gonna stay the last time… still I think I have a decent idea of where we are…"
Navigation [1d10]
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.732074
>>732071She made an annoyed noise but nodded as she looked around.
Navigation [1d10]
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.732075
>>732071"I'll skate about and come back, see what's around here." Vandal says, clicking her heels together and flipping her hood back up, gaining some momentum and then jumping up on a wall and use it to bypass some of the crowds.
>Moody's Shuffle: Passively, you can use your inline skates to skate and grind against terrain and even glide against walls for brief periods of time.[1d10]
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.732076
>>732071Fir frowns a little, and kicks at the terminal once or twice, before shrugging and heading back to the others. "So much for that. I'm not really familiar with this place, unfortunately."
Maybe his height'll come in handy for looking over the crowd.
[1d10] Navigation
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.732080
>>732076>>732074>>732075>>732076You explore for a bit, occasionally getting jostled by the crowd as you try and get your bearings. As Vandal starts wallriding, she gets a few dirty looks from people she disrupts, and someone yells something in another language.
After a few minutes of scouting, you manage to find some signs pointing you in the right directions. You are currently in Epsilon District, which seems to primarily feature shopping and accommodation for offworld visitors. Rho District is only a few minutes away, by comparison. Green leads you onwards, pushing through the crowd and avoiding hawkers and panhandlers to get to Rho District. This place is a bit less busy, with a few cafes and pubs littered throughout, along with some housing. You note that very few people seem to live here permanently, at least not willingly.
"Alright, here we are."
Green gestures towards one of the eateries, though it doesn't look like the most pleasant one. The tavern, its name faded by time, is squat concrete dome with no discernible features save for a few neon signs advertising food and drink. "Don't judge a book by its cover," she says coolly, and starts walking in. "It's not fancy, but it gets the job done. Ochi owns the place. Plenty of guild rats come through here. Kind of a hub for our lot.
"Now, I'm gonna go talk to Ochi, see if he has time for you guys, so just sit tight and wait for me. You guys going in? Or would you rather take a look around? Might find something to your liking. We can meet up back here if so."
No.732081
>>732080The Dragon weighed her options a bit "Guess I'll go for a small walk and look around for anything. I don't really wanna sit in a pub and do nothing while we wait." she said stretching her wings out wide to get some pleasure from the simple act of stretching the hell out of her sore muscles.
"Anybody care to join me in my little stroll?"
No.732082
>>732080"I'll hang around outside, if it's all the same." he says, stretching out a little and heading off for anywhere with outdoors seating. He'll keep an eye out for anything of note, too.
[1d10] Perception.
>>732081"I'll just find a seat for now, thanks."
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.732083
>>732080>>732081"I'm gonna check out the rooftops, I wanna get a looksie from above. You've got wings, wanna join?"
Vandal says, revving her skates.
No.732085
>>732083She nodded as she looked to the wings she was currently flaring out "That I do. Sounds decent I guess."
No.732086
>>732080>>732085"Neato, race you up." Vandal grins, starting up the walls without a countdown.
[1d10] i am sped
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.732087
>>732080>>732082"I'm not going anywhere either."
He says, sitting besides the deer. "You fixed that ship right up, huh? Always wondered how that stuff worked."
No.732089
>>732080>>732086She took off after her.
Navigation [1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.732090
>>732087"As well as I could, yeah. It was mostly just running some diagnostics and going from there. It helped that I knew what to look for, too."
No.732092
>>732081>>732082>>732083>>732087"Alright. Sit tight and I'll be back in a bit. Hopefully." With that, she enters the tavern and leaves you to your own devices.
>>732082You take a look around the immediate area. You're at the end of a road, and it doesn't get to seem to get much traction, at least not right now. There are a few others around, though. There's a sleepy little workshop with several robots and vehicles in various states of disrepair. A holographic sign advertises ships for sale, presumably taking advantage of the abundance of spacers that come to this end of town. Looking up, you can see that the roof has a fake blue sky projected onto it, though there seems to be a defect in it in the form of a black spot. Several pegasi and griffons, tiny as ants from your view, are working hard to repair the sky.
As far as the more immediate area goes, you can see a pair of street urchins running about nearby, seemingly on the prowl for things to scavenge from the workshop. An untrustworthy looking hippogriff wearing a beanie is leaning against a wall, minding his own business. You notice that he seems to be staring at a rather building on the other side of the road, blocked off by a chain link fence which projects a force field upwards to deter fliers. From one of the nearby houses, you can hear some noisy rock music playing, though it is mostly muffled from here.
>>732087>>732089Vandal jumps from wall to wall in an attempt to climb up faster than Areia, but finds it difficult to find footing. She gets a bitter look from a mean looking old stallion staring out a window she jumps off of. Areia beats her to the roof of an apartment building by about 15 seconds.
The roof is unremarkable, consisting of a handful of panels, a power generator, and a tiny cleaning droid minding its own business. You can get a good view of the skyline of Delphi from here, all pointed black spires, like jagged teeth. You take note of the artificial sky, which is entirely blue and cloudless save for a single glitchy black spot, currently undergoing repair.
There's someone else up on the roof, who you rather rudely interrupt; she is an earthy brown unicorn mare with big round glasses, who until a few seconds ago was playing the violin. As you make a rather dramatic entrance, she looks a bit miffed, and inches away from you to the opposite end of the roof to mind her own business.
No.732094
>>732092Areia looked around and scowled as she moved over to the cleaning droid, kicking it over in a petty display of distaste before looking to the mare curiously and strolling over to her "I'm guessing you come up here to play your music in peace or something?" she asked as she clanked a bit in her loose armor.
"I used to do something similar before I decided I wanted to be this instead of…" she trailed off as she was reluctant to admit it "Er… not this." she said figuring that would be a descriptive enough term without being insulting to the other up here "I usually just brought books or a game up to my roof." she added trying to move away from that subject.
No.732095
>>732092>>732089"Hmn, suppose you've had those wings all your life to get used to, fair enough." Vandal nods in accepting the loss. Noticing the earth pony, Vandal flops her hood down, waving. "Oh sorry miss, we just wanted to get a view down below. We'll keep quiet."
>>732089Vandal sits on the edge of the building, looking to the dragon, "So you born on one of these stations, or on a planet like me?" She keeps her voice down, in respect for the violin mare, "OOooh, or maybe on a ship, that'd be sorta neat."
No.732097
>>732095She paused and looked back to her "Was born on one of the ecumenopolis worlds. One of those ones that the entire surface is a giant city? I didn't see a tree until I was like 12." she said as she adjusted "The names… Cripes how did I forget my homeworlds name?"
No.732098
>>732092Fir settles in somewhere with a good amount of legroom, glancing towards the building the hippogriff seemed so interested in. The forcefield seems pretty unusual, so maybe it's something special?
No.732099
>>732090"Ah, easy enough to talk to a captain, but something entirely robot ran… hard to trust."
>>732092Gale pays special attention to the griffon. He can recognize someone on lookout or casing a place fairly well, and wonders what this catbird is up to.
[1d10] Perception
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.732101
>>732097"Continental multination planet myself, but the island I was from was pretty darn urban itself. We had a few leftover shrines that a preservation edict kept around so I did get to see trees and such." She twiddles her paws, "Just traveling a lot? I can imagine it happening. I don't remember my grade school teachers names."
No.732103
>>732101Think it was like Carthago or something." she said as she stretched out again "I mean I remember my first and second grade teachers pretty well. Dunno why I just do. Mr. Bitsy and Ms. Monopoly." she added as she decided to prove that she could "They were pretty normal but Ms. Monopoly gave us cookies when we did well on out quizzes."
No.732105
>>732099>Perception roll if needed! [1d10]>>732099"I think it performed fine, honestly. EMP would've knocked the ship out, robot captain or no."
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.732108
>>732103"Least on my planets, cat teachers were known for being the strictest sorts. Hissing and yowling if you make a single mistake. Hardlight rulers slapping your paws and everything. They were almost parodies of themselves." Vandal shrugs, "I did well enough though, they work you hard so you learn harder."
Her tail swishes at the mention of cookies, "Wonder if they have a sweet shop here. Not just a vending machine, I mean the real kinda thing."
No.732109
>>732094The robot lands on its back like a beetle, struggling for a good few seconds before activating some stability mechanism and flipping into the air and back onto its wheels. Almost as if it's defying your petty attempt to wrong it.
The mare looks a bit weirded out by you approaching her, even more so as you start telling her about yourself unprompted. Nevertheless, she answers your question. "Yeah. Hobby, I guess. It's good to get away from all the noise. Too many people living the apartments nowadays." She shrugs. "Plus, the abandoned ballroom is gone now, so I can't sneak in there anymore. …Er, if you'll excuse me." She scoots away and keeps playing, albeit much more quietly. She seems a bit self conscious having an audience, but to your ears at least, plays decently enough.
>>732098>>732099What the building is isn't quite clear. There's no signs on it or anything, apart from one warning outsiders not to trespass on private property. You get the feeling the hippogriff is up to something; he seems to be surveying it, watching intently as if waiting for something to happen. He catches Gale staring, and slinks away into an alley, out of sight.
>>732105>>732099>>732098>>732095A few more uneventful minutes go by before Green returns. "Alrighty, we're good to go. Talked to Ochi, put in a good word for you about the pirates and whatnot. He has a few jobs to offer you, might be more depending on how you go." She pauses for a moment, eyeing Areia specifically. "…You've got a thing with robots, right? Might wanna try and keep that in check. He's not actually here right now." With that, she gestures for you to follow her into the dingy little hovel.
No.732110
>>732109Fir frowns a little at that, but there's nothing particularly bad he can spot just yet. The elk gets up to all fours and makes follows after Green,, nodding a bit in understanding.
No.732112
>>732108You mean like a proper bakery? I'd love to find one of those. Get a nice fresh baked gem donut." she said almost drooling a bit at the thought of it. "Course we could get some stuff we can both enjoy too."
>>732109She turned back to the musician and listened and gave her a thumbs up "Keep it up, you're damn good." she said before heading down.
>>732109She raised a brow at the mention of robots and she felt her anxiety raise a bit but she decided she was going to try her best to behave, she didn't wanna blow it for the rest of them.
No.732113
>>732109"Let's just keep our heads down. Don't seem like a friendly part of town."
He says, remembering the griffon he blew the cover of.
Either this place has gone down-downhill or is way worse than I remember. No.732115
>>732112"After we get paid for whatever next job we got, we should hunt for one."
>>732109"Coolio." Vandal follows along.
No.732118
>>732115>>732113>>732112>>732110You follow Green down the flight of stairs and into the tavern. The smell of alcohol and tobacco fills the air as you look around; music bubbles from old, worn speakers as the miscellaneous barflies congregate. Almost all of them are spacers like you, wearing all manner of suits and carrying a huge variety of weapons and equipment. The tavern is filled with the sound of their chatter, and behind the bar, a bipedal robot designed to resemble a typical hotel bartender dispenses drinks and processes orders. A few screens are mounted on the walls, broadcasting local news or sports.
However, it's not here you're going to. Green takes you past all this and through a room leading to the back of the establishment. Behind it, you find a neat looking office with several displays, datapads and miscellaneous office equipment. Behind a desk is a robot with a roughly humanoid shape from the waist up, having two bulky arms ending in three fingered hands and a head resembling an old fashioned camera. The torso is boxy, with some lights and panels framing a green-tinted monitor of some sort, which displays soundwaves as the robot talks. When you enter, he seems to be having a heated discussion with a gruff looking changeling.
"You have any idea what this is going to do to the client? Get out of here, you blew your chance. We're not in the business of giving second shots to rookies like you. Shoo! Shoo!"The changeling pushes past you, grumbling indistinctly. The robot turns to face you, adopting a more genial tone.
"Sorry about that. Bloody amateurs, giving us a bad name. You're the ones that fended off those pirates, eh? Good lads. We could use someone like you in the Guild.""I'm Ochi, as you probably know. Ear of the Spacers' Guild. Sorry we can't meet in person, I'm on a mission myself right now. But I can still talk. He extends a stiff mechanical arm in a handshake to whoever will accept it.
"Green tells me you're looking for mercenary work, then? I trust her word quite a bit, but I want to hear it from you as well. What are your credentials, then?" No.732119
>>732118Gale lunges forward to shake the robots cold metal hand, introducing himself "Gale. Esteemed art forgerer, bank robber, jewel thief, and parking regulations violator. Currently on my fifth false name and cannot wait to have to drop this one. Pleasure to meet. Just looking for a decent amount of florins to get my life back together. Simple motivations, simple griffon."
His false smile is almost as forced as that introduction.
No.732120
>>732118"Sorry didn't bring my resume, you want my
old report cards or something?" Vandal says, tilting her head, "I can sniff out a cloaked pirate and I clawed him till he left with his tail tucked behind his legs. What d'ya mean credentials?"
No.732121
>>732118Fir waits until the end of the argument, and nods his head a little bit in response to Ochi. "Most of my work is ship security, in nastier parts of space. I'm not particularly used to mercenary work, but I can adapt well enough."
>>732120"Something like that's close enough. What have you done, where'd you learn, that stuff."
No.732122
>>732118Areia might as well have been a statue as she was doing everything in her power to not just abuse this poor machine for doing its job.
She inhaled sharply and gritted out "Areia, done a bit of muscle work on some other worlds."
No.732123
>>732121>>732120>>732118"Oh that's not credentials, that's more like background if anything."
She turns back to the robot, "Evading law enforcement, getting in hard to reach places, and building report with street gangs from respect."
No.732124
>>732119Ochi shakes it heartily.
"Pleasure to meet you too. Burglar, huh? I reckon you'll fit in well with what I have in mind…">>732120>>732123Ochi looks a bit surprised at her attitude.
"You know what, that's good enough for me. Green told me about how you can climb stuff with that tech of yours. Might come in handy soon, actually.">>732121"Security works just fine. We can always use a bit of muscle on a job.">>732122"Good, good." He doesn't seem to notice your apprehension.
"There's always room for that sort of thing around here.">>732123>>732122>>732121>>732119Ochi seems fairly content with what he's hearing. Green backs you up. "You shoulda seen the way they laid out those punks back there. Took out a whole bunch of 24Ks like they were nothing. They're tough. Real tough."
Ochi touches where his chin would be.
"Hm… Know what, we're kind of short on workers right now. That idiot back there screwed up a job, now the client's pissed. There's some cargo that needs to be recovered, see. Here's the job I'd like you to give a spin:"He interacts with one of the screens, pulling up an image of an unfamiliar planet, coordinates scrolling by rapidly. The name
Faora-9222 comes up on the display. A little red blip can be seen out in the middle of one of its oceans, between a cluster of islands.
"So just a few days ago, we received an urgent message from an anonymous client. He needed a middleman to run a package delivery from Faora to here. We sent a guy - idiot you saw before - but he didn't mention he was in trouble with one of the seafaring gangs on the planet. He got away, but the package got left behind. Now it's in the hands of some local thugs, and who knows what they'll do with it.We need a team to get in their HQ, grab the package however possible, then deliver it back here. Hitch is, we don't exactly know what the package is, only what it looks like." He pushes another button, bringing up an adjacent display of a small wooden box with a few protrusions on it, resembling some sort of puzzle.
"This is what they're after. Don't know what it is, don't care. We can arrange the transport to Faora, but it'll be up to you to find a way into the raiders' base and bring it back in one piece. You'll be rewarded, of course. 400 florins each. Do this, and you're in the Guild.""If you have any questions about the job, now's the time. I've got a lot of calls to make." He looks at you expectantly.
No.732125
>>732124Areia was quiet for a moment as she debated the mission. She seemed fine with it as she decided that she was fine with this "What kinda tech level should we expect surface level on the planet? Same as ours or are they on the lower end?"
No.732126
>>732124"Neato, like pirate pirates then? No bounty on the actual thugs, just the box, right?"
No.732127
>>732124"Pfft, a changeling who can't keep track of which of his alternate personas is in trouble where? Amateur."
He mulls the offer over a bit.
"So a simple heist. Considering you describe them as thugs, we can go in hot if necessary. Doubt they're smart enough to stop a well executed heist however. Sounds easy enough to me."
No.732128
>>732124"Sounds simple enough. Anything we might want to know about this HQ of theirs, or do we need to get all the information on our own?"
No.732129
>>732125"Processing…" He starts bringing up a fact sheet.
"Not as colonized as other planets yet. A few major cities, some scientist outposts in the jungles… Islands are mostly uninhabited, only raiders." He dismisses the sheet.
"Might be best to stock up on whatever you need here on Delphi before leaving.">>732126"Pirate pirates. Not that rookie crap you ran into. Let me check the databases… Beep boppity boop… Ah. There's a few wanted criminals. Not bad prices on their heads. …Not here though. You'd have to transport them to the Nive system if you want to bring them in. And good luck with that." He shrugs.
"Unless you have your own ship, I don't see much chance of being able to do much there. They're wanted alive.">>732127"Yeah. One rookie failure's bad enough. I'm counting on you not to fail.""Use whatever means you like. Guns a-blazing, sneaky-like, all up to you. We just need the package.">>732128"Hmmm…" He zooms in on the planet some.
"Seems they've claimed an old pre-war Albatross frigate as their hideout. Run aground on an island. You'll have to find some way to get there, unless you're really good at swimming. No place nearby to land the ship you'll be taking, sadly. On that note…">>732128>>732127>>732126>>732125"Another thing. I'm sending Green here with you.""Yup, I'm playing babysitter," she says with a dry smirk. "Was gonna run this one alone, but I reckon it's a good one for you guys to cut your teeth on."
"She's one of the best in the sector at this sort of thing. But, we need to see that you guys can perform, so she'll be piloting the ship on loan. You'll get communicators so you can keep in touch with her while you're out there.""And if you guys screw up, I'll come and bail you out."
"Oh, and one last thing. The ship you're going to be using doesn't belong to anyone here. We have it on loan to repay a debt. If anything happens to it, there's going to be hell to pay.""Now then. I've arranged for rooms for all of you here in my humble establishment. One night only. Green'll show you them. If I were you, I'd take today and tomorrow to plan and prepare, then leave tomorrow evening. I've given Green all the info I've just told you.""Well, that's it. Any lingering doubts, spit it out now. Otherwise, shoo." No.732131
Hey, could I join you guys in your game stuff?
No.732352
>>732131This game is full, but you might be able to pick one up somewhere. Come stop by our chatroom during American evening hours and you'll probably find someone to talk to about it.
https://cytu.be/r/pretendhorse_playhouse No.732467
>>732129"Eergh pass on swimming, we'll have to figure something out. Alright, time for a beach episode." Vandal says, turning around and rubbing her paws together.
No.732468
>>732129"So, we'll land a little bit away? Got it." he says, before looking back over to Green and waiting for her to lead them off.
No.732474
>>732129Gale looks around at his silent crew.
"Well? Nopony? I'm fine with leaving it here."
He says, turning and walking towards the door.
No.732476
>>732129There was about a half second interval between him finishing his remarks and the dragon leaving silently.
No.732480
>>732468"That's right. Up to you how to proceed from there. I'd recommend finding some way to traverse the islands. Not exactly many places to land a ship in those parts, see.">>732467>>732468>>732474>>732476"Alright then. If you don't mind, I've got a lot of things to take care of. Bloody amateurs…"The robotic vessel for Ochi turns away, focusing on a holographic display of some sort of pie chart. You follow Green up a flight of stairs adjacent to the tavern below, coming to the accommodations. In contrast to the rather dingy, seedy tavern, the rooms aren't bad at all. You are presented with two clean, neat rooms with two beds each. Decorations are sparse and tasteful. There's a TV screen in each room with assorted channels, as well as a vintage looking radio. "Not bad, eh?" Green comments. "Ochi does have some standards, you know."
She turns her attention to a data pad, which you can see contains a sort of mission briefing, basically a copy of everything Ochi ran by you. "Hm. Gamma District, Docking Bay number 3. Not a bad ship either." A 3D hologram pops up of what you'll be flying in, a dull grey, bulky looking cruiser ship with three fins on either side. Seems spacious enough to fit six or so on board. Overall, unremarkable, but reliable.
"So," says Green. "Any ideas on how we're gonna do this? I mean, I have my own ideas, but I'd like to hear it from you guys first. New blood and all." She looks at you expectantly.
No.732483
>>732480Honestly I figured we could be a bit less subtle seeing as their straight up pirates we're dealing with. I was also thinking about seeing if we could steal a ship of our own off the place so we don't need to rely on having others bum us rides."
She looked around "Though if you guys have some ideas by all means feel free to pitch us something else."
No.732484
>>732480Fir strokes his chin a little bit as they follow along behind Green, and he offers a bit of a shrug. "Seems pretty good. If we're traversing islands, can we get… a raft, or something?"
No.732486
>>732480"Not the worst tavern crawlspace I've slept in.
He says dismissively.
"So they're like a bunch of skeevy pirates? Probably drunk off their tails, not paying much attention. I'd say the stealthy approach would be best.
No.732487
>>732486"What, do you think they'll go Arrrrr and only have one eye each? You can't bet on something like that." Vandal says with a grin, looking to Green,
>>732480>>732484"Well not like we'll be stranded, I think we could do a little better than a raft. Maybe see if there's some fisherfolk around or something wherever we land. Someone's always willing to get you somewhere as long as you can help em out."
No.732488
>>732487"Not particularly. I'm mostly figuring they'll be unprofessional idiots who don't know what they have. I take you're familiar with the crowd?"
He says to Vandal with a smirk
No.732489
>>732488"Yeah I get it you're prone to underestimating people, that's why you're here and not a penthouse. I've spent the majority of my life jumping between megacities, why would I know pirateS?"
No.732492
>>732483"That'd be the dream, huh. Doubt these guys have anything better than what we're working with though. Don't suppose you know how to fly a ship?"
>>732484>>732487"Raft seems pretty basic. Might have to see about borrowing some Skippers or something. Or even build one. It's not hard. Done it before when I was on Taniq."
>Note: a Skipper is a watergoing vehicle used throughout the Galactic Realms. Usually only big enough for one or two people, it's essentially a dinghy with hover tech and a propulsion engine on the back. Useful for traveling over large bodies of water.>>732486"I'm thinking we do some aerial recon to get a better view of their base, then hit 'em at night while they're less active. Think I might have some Nighteyes stashed somewhere."
>Note: Nighteyes are essentially night vision goggles in contact lens form, activated via a remote command. Somewhat expensive equipment, not particularly common.>>732483>>732484>>732486>>732487Green looks back at the datapad displaying the ship, folding it in half and gathering her stuff. "I'm gonna go run some errands before we leave. See about gathering gear, prepping the ship, etcetera. If you guys want to come with, that's up to you. Might even learn a thing or two. Otherwise, I'll come pick you guys up tomorrow morning to leave. Trip from here to Faora should take a day or so. Won't be making any jumps since it's in the same system.
"Till then, up to you guys however you want to get ready for this jawn. Sound good?"
No.732494
>>732492"Riiii-ight. Nighteyes. Had a friend who claimed one rolled into the back of his head and it let him see through walls. Haven't used em since."
He says, moving his eyes strangely for a bit.
"Anyways, I'd rather stay here than go on your grocery trip. 'Less nopony else is stay behind, no reason to sit at the bar alone."
No.732495
>>732492>>732494"I got a pair of Nighteyes right here." Vandal winks to Green, her pupils narrowing to show off her feline night vision. "Would just need a set of binoculars or something fancier."
No.732497
>>732492>>732492I have some experience in smaller ships but I could probably handle something bigger. And they're pirates, why wouldn't they have something we couldn't steal?" she said being ab it hopeful about the whole thing.
"And as for now, I have to see if I can find a bakery."
No.732498
>>732492"Skipper? Sounds good to me, then." he says, before stretching out a little. "I could do with some more travel, yes. What sort of gear are you getting?"
No.732500
>>732494"Suit yourself. Don't let appearances fool you, this place is pretty good."
>>732495"'Nocs it is." She makes a note on her datapad.
>>732497"I think there's one over in Epsilon. Worth looking into, maybe." She shrugs.
>>732498"Gonna talk to some spacers, see if I can't get my hooves on some stuff that'll be useful. Grapnels, portable radars, commlinks, that sort of thing. Plus some repair tools in case the ship starts acting up. Better hope it doesn't though. You heard Ochi. So much as a scratch on that rust bucket and we're all getting our wages docked."
>>732494>>732495>>732497>>732498"I'm off then. Remember, be here tomorrow morning or I'm leaving without youse." With that, she stands up and makes to head off to do her rounds.
No.732501
>>732500>>732495Alrighty I'll head off. You said you wanted something sweet right Vandal?" she said looking to the cat.
No.732502
>>732500Fir nods a little bit, and follows along after Green. Even if he doesn't learn much, he can always carry stuff.
No.732503
>>732500>>732501"Oh uh, that'd be neat yeah." Vandal says, watching Green head off, almost wanting to tail along just to make sure they don't get jumped. However, seeing Fir follow along, she feels more confident with going along with Areia, "Ice cream? Bakery? Candy? Weird local junk foods?"
No.732504
>>732500"Well, I suppose this is a teambuilding activity then."
He says, begrudgingly tagging along.
No.732505
>>732503[1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.732507
>>732501Navigation [1d10]
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.732510
>>732501>>732503You head off onto the streets, trying to follow the signs. You quickly get swept up in the crowd of the bustling spaceport; spacers from all over the Realms make up the vast majority of the crowd, coming in all shapes and sizes, some in suits, some with weapons and some with exotic beasts. It doesn't help that the scenery of the station is quite monotone, all dingy buildings and flashy neon signs.
Before long, you realize you're completely turned around, and have no idea where you are. You're in an alley of some sort, which leads to a suspicious looking building with no identifiable markings. There's no one else around save for a pair of burly saurians. They look like they've been drinking, talking loudly and incomprehensibly and laughing raucously.
Areia catches one's eye, and he stares at her irritatedly. He gets his friend's attention, and before long, both of them are eyeballing you, looking for trouble. "Oi!" the first saurian slurs. "What're… What're ya lookin' at? Don't you know who we *hic* we is?"
>>732502>>732504Green blinks as both of you tag along. "Huh. Thought you'd have better things to do than hang around me. Just try not to get lost or anything. I don't want to explain to Ochi how you got eaten by a sewer Krall or something."
You follow her out of the tavern and back out onto the streets of Delphi. You keep making twists and turns through back alleys and narrow streets, all looking more or less the same, crawling with the usual rough looking denizens. It's a wonder she knows where she's going. "Goes without saying," Green comments, "but try not to stare at anyone. Most of these guys probably have prices on their heads somewhere."
Eventually, you abandon the crowds, and move into a quiet little dead end alley, entering a grubby little hovel. Moving past a mothbitten curtain, within is some sort of chop shop. Bits and pieces of machinery are scattered everywhere carelessly, robots half stripped for parts strewn over metal benches like they're being operated on. Rickety, rusted shelves host all manner of mechanical bits and bobs. Annoying alien reggae music warbles over an unseen speaker.
"Chopper!" Green shouts. "You there?"
After a beat, a filthy looking Dog emerges from one of the back rooms of the workshop; at least, half of one. This Dog appears to have been in a grievous accident at some point in the past, as his legs have been replaced by a metal prosthetic, allowing him to hover a few feet off the ground. He wears enormous brass goggles, and his long, shaggy fur and whiskers give him the impression of having a great big bushy beard.
Chopper beams as he sees Green, showing many crooked teeth. "Aha! Thought I heard your dulcet tones, love," he croaks. The two exchange a warm, friendly hug.
"What brings you out these ways?"
"The usual. With an extra catch." She gestures to the two of you. The grubby little Dog looks you up and down. "Fresh meat?" he asks you.
No.732511
>>732510"Er no… I was looking for a bakery, not a pair of pickled lizards." she said puffing her chest out a bit and trying to show she was a tough gal too
"If you could kindly point us towards one, I would really appreciate it." she added knowing it would send a bit of a mixed message.
No.732512
>>732510"Not much of a prosthetic type, but if something catches my eye I'll let you know. Mostly because I'll need help removing it from my eye."
He says, turning to a nearby scrapped robot and sifting through it looking for nothing in particular.
No.732514
>>732511Persuasion [1d10]
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.732515
>>732510>>732511"Yeah I know who
yous is: drunk." Vandal grins, giggling at Areia's remark, "Snnrrkk pickled lizards."
No.732518
>>732510Fir shrugs a little bit, and follows along after her. The streets are a bit narrow at times, but he's able to navigate it well enough. He offers a little bit of a wave to Chopper, but stays quiet.
No.732520
>>732515>>732514>>732511The first one opens his mouth to offer some sort of response to Areia, but both of them turn almost comically in unison as Vandal laughs. The larger of the two takes a few crooked steps forward. "Something funny, rug? We here to *hic* to amuse you? Eh?" He pokes her in the chest hard. "You don't wanna say the wrong thing. We's in deep with all sorts of nasty folks." "I think… I think you both owe us an apology," the smaller saurian shouts, turning a few heads from bypassers. "You insulted us! Both a' youse!" He balls his fists, continuing to make a scene over nothing.
No.732521
>>732520Areia snorted and stepped in between him and Vandal "You really wanna go with a dragon who had a sword as big as herself on her back?" she asked simply as she would really rather not fight "Your pal there seems to know not to start shit."
No.732523
>>732512You look through the scrapped robot, finding some components that you recognize as being particularly useful. It seems to be a recurring thing here in Delphi for seemingly ramshackle places to hold something of worth. "You break somethin', you pay for it," Chopper warns.
>>732518>>732512Chopper looks a bit miffed as you offer little response to him. "Yeah, good to meet you too."
He turns his attention back to Green, and the two drift away for a bit, seemingly discussing the task at hand. She seems to be securing some supplies from him for the journey. You are left to your own devices within the chop shop for a few minutes.
>roll for finding valuables to purchase if you feel like it No.732524
>>732521>>732520"Aaas you said, the pickled lizards been brining far too long." Vandal skates backwards as not to be blocked from their line of sight by Areia, "You don't need an apology, you're already sorry enough." She crosses her arms, feeling a little bad about continuing to provoke the situation but not one to let someone else have the last remark.
No.732525
>>732523"I don't see much of anything that isn't already broken. But one ponies trash…"
Expensive Taste [1d10] Finding something worthwhile in this scrapheap.
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.732526
>>732523>>732525"Could be something of value, yes." he says, taking a look around himself.
[1d10] Lookie-loo
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.732527
>>732521>>732524"You wouldn't want to dance with us," the saurian slurs at Areia. "We could get a hit put on youse. Both of youse. So much as touch us and see what 'appens."
As Vandal keeps taunting them, the larger saurian snarls. "You…!" He swipes at Vandal clumsily.
[1d10-1]
Roll #1 6 - 1 = 5 No.732529
>>732527Areia narrowed her eyes and decided to return fire by taking a swing at the big guy in an attempt to put him down with a simple punch.
[1d10]
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.732530
>>732525While looking through a piece of broken machinery, a lever snaps off in your hand. You can only hope that didn't get picked up on camera.
>>732526You find something you can put to good use; an Arcane Conductor. A small battery-shaped component made to be fitted to a variety of magitek, essentially supplying it with extra energy.
>Arcane Conductor: Passive -1 DC to a skill of your choosing. This bonus is lost when sent helpless while having the Conductor active. Reactivating the Conductor is an automatic action.>Cost: 75 florins>>732526>>732525It's not long before Chopper and Green return, the latter carrying a duffel bag full of who knows what. "Take good care of it for me, won't you? I'd hate to see my work wasted on bloody pirates," says Chopper.
"Don't worry, I think we've got this. Seems like a pretty cut and dry job."
She looks to you. "Good to go, or do you wanna keep looking? Some decent stuff in here."
"Just decent?" Chopper says with mock indignation. "You'd best be remembering whose gravmech saved your arse at Argo Cell!"
No.732533
>>732529>>732527Seeing swipes exchanged, Vandal throws up her paws, "Yoo I'm just throwin words not throwin punches, these squares don't deserve a beating just cause they ain't in their right head. Who knows what they like without liquid-dumb in them, it's clear they're already sauced."
Vandal goes to help the thug who swung at her gain his balance, slipping a paw in his pocket as she does. "I didn't mean nothing bout it pal, you want me to get you a bottle of water or something?"
>disarming if they have a weapon, otherwise wallet yoinkingShadow Hand: hidden, recharge 3; Pickpocketing is of second nature to you. You steal away an object from a target that they are not actively using. You cannot steal anything a target is currently wielding or wearing in combat, but if they have spares you may take those.
[1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.732536
>>732530Fir fishes out the conductor, inspecting it for a little bit before holding it up for Chopper to see. "I'll take this, if you don't mind."
>-75 Florins No.732537
>>732533[1d10] persuasion
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.732538
>>732529>>732533>>732537He misses his punch and puts up his dukes, blocking Areia's swing. He's about to throw out a haymaker at her when Vandal starts trying to (literally) disarm the situation. While he isn't carrying a weapon, she does manage to filch some coin from his pocket. Both of them are too drunk to notice.
>+20 florinsAs Vandal attempts to defuse the situation, both of them step away, sneering at both of you, teetering on the spot. "…Getouttahere," the smaller one spits out after a moment. "Catch youse 'round here again, I'll have your guts." "Yeah! We'll have your guts!" the larger one parrots, attempting to flex his muscles to intimidate you into leaving.
>roll Navigation if leaving the area No.732539
>>732530"Nah, not really my type of tech."
He says, trying to casually drop the lever someplace else.
No.732540
>>732538Areia rolled her eyes as she tried to get her bearings on the place.
Navigation [1d10]
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.732541
>>732540>>732538Vandal follows the dragon away, "Sorry for getting them all riled up, but why'd you go swinging back? It's clear they couldn't hit me if they wanted to." Once they're out of sight, she holds up the 20 florins, "At the very least, they helped pay for whatever snacks we grab."
[1d10] nav
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.732542
>>732541Force of habit, someone swings I swing back."
No.732543
>>732542"Fair, but still don't explain why you did it, they weren't swingin at you."
No.732544
>>732543Well I mean if I let people start swinging at my friends its gonna send the wrong message." she muttered.
No.732545
>>732544Vandal holds her paws up to her face, pupils dilated akin to a kitten, "Swinging at what now?"
No.732546
>>732545"You heard me whiskers." she replied glad the helmet obscured the majority of her face.
No.732547
>>732536The little half-Dog happily accepts your coin. "Ah. Good eye. Them's rare upgrades, you know."
>>732539"Aye, I can see that," he grins. "Best be careful wearing fancy clothes like that in these parts. Stick out like a fly in milk, you will."
>>732536>>732539"Best o' luck to ya," Chopper grunts, seeing you out the door as you conclude your business here. "Show them slubberdegullions what for!"
Green has a smile on her face as you leave Chopper's shop. "Always liked that one," she comments. "Known him for four years. Always got along with him. He's a bit prickly, but a sweetheart when you get to know him."
She starts heading through the streets again, this time towards a docking bay. A handful of service robots are trundling about their business as you approach a large gate with the number 3 painted next to it. She enters a 4 digit code, and the gate rattles open, giving you access to the hangar where the ship is being kept. It's just like in the hologram you saw before, a large, six-finned vessel fit to host about six people comfortably. "Ah. Should've known. It's a Dragonfly," Green comments.
>Note: Sparrowhawks are a fairly standard issue class of cruiser in the Realms. Most ship classes are named after animals, such as Albatross, Sparrowhawk, Coyote, Weta or Dragonfly.She start heading towards the loading ramp with the duffel bag. "Here, give me a hand sorting out this gear, would you? Got plenty just in case things go south. Which they might do. Newbies and all."
No.732548
>>732546Vandal's whiskers twitch reflexively in response to being mentioned, "Shiit we haven't even got snacks yet. You're alright."
No.732549
>>732548You aren't so bad yourself kitty cat. Better than the snob at the least. Don't really have too much of an opinion on our antlered friend but he seems pretty reliable." she said after another clearing of her throat.
No.732550
>>732540>>732541You start wandering for a bit, following street signs and trying to find a bakery. After some time, you stumble across one, though you're not sure if it's the one Green mentioned. It's a fairly small, inoffensive looking place, with all manner of baked goods on display in glass cabinets, and loaves of bread being displayed on shelves. You can hear the low whirring of a dough mixer somewhere out of sight. Behind the dark wooden counter is a homely looking hippogriff with massive round spectacles, wearing a white apron and a little hat. She gives you a friendly smile as you enter. "Afternoon, strangers. What can I do for you?"
No.732551
>>732550Areia popped her helmet off as she looked over the baked goods "You got any gem baked goods?" she asked as she needed to know if they had stuff for dragons.
No.732552
>>732549Vandal rubs the back of her neck, "Seems like the strong and silent type. He'll open up."
>>732551>>732550"Uhh that but without the gems for me. Just uh- baked goods. Yeah.. you've got those." Vandal spins around one heel and tries again, "Hi good afternoon how's your day been?"
No.732553
>>732547"Not familiar with the type." He says, gesturing towards the ship. "But I'm guessing it isn't the most luxurious one out there.
He assists in sorting gear, paying close attention to each piece.
No.732554
>>732547Fir nods a little bit, and fiddles with the conductor until he manages to hook it into his armor. He'll get it set up right later.
>Passive Boost: Summon Esper>>732547"Mmm. How are we sorting it out?" he asks, ducking his head a little as they reach the loading ramp.
No.732555
>>732551"Everything we have here is either gemmed or ungemmed," she says with a polite smile. "We cater to both nowadays." As an example, she points out a citron tart in the cabinet, which has been split in half; one half is normal, while the other is lined with shards of citrine.
>>732552She blinks a little in confusion as you stumble over your words. If this were a cartoon, you'd see a question mark above her head. "…Not bad, bit quiet, but about the usual. Yourselves?"
No.732556
>>732555Oh perfect. I'll take some sapphire cookies and I guess like 2 dozen regular donuts? Mainly creme filled but I guess a few glazed would be good." she said as a grin sprung up on her face.
No.732557
>>732555>>732551"Is the demographic really that large? We didn't have any geovores where I grew up so I'm surprised it's half your inventory."
"Oh we're fine, just wanted to sample what's around here. Baking your passion?"
No.732558
>>732554The conductor slides right into place in the power sockets, and you feel a slight jolt as it starts pumping magitek energy through the suit.
>>732553>>732554You start sorting through the assorted gear alongside her, storing most of it in the ship's cargo hold, a cramped, ill-lit space with a few creepy but harmless ten-legged spiders having set up residence.
The gear consists of the following:
Six pairs of Nighteyes, with corresponding remote activators.
Two pairs of binoculars and one monocular.
Six pairs of Commlinks, small, near-invisible earpieces that can be linked up on a wireless network to verbally communicate with each other from long distances.
70 feet of climbing cable.
Six pairs of climbing spikes.
A week's worth of astronaut food, water, and oxygen tanks.
Two Carriers, small deployable items that can be tethered to one to carry cargo. They have repulsors built on their underside, and can therefore travel over rough terrain relatively unhindered.
A Crybaby. This is a dubiously legal device that will begin to transmit a distress signal when activated. Sometimes used by raiders to lure wayward ships into an ambush. One use only.
Two Chokies, a colloquial term for a small, hard to detect robot that can be remote controlled. When activated, the Chokie dispenses tear gas. One use each.
Six gas masks.
Two collapsible shotguns, loaded with rubber bullets. Ammo is 6/24.
A collapsible sniper rifle loaded with sleep darts. Ammo is 4/16.
Green nods satisfiedly as she takes inventory of what she's managed to score. "Pretty cool, huh? Let's try not to use too much of it. Chopper will want his stuff back, etcetera."
No.732559
>>732556"Sure thing!" She grabs a pair of tongs and starts bagging the baked treats for you. "That'll be 15 florins."
>>732557She shrugs. "We get spacers from all over the 'verse in here. Dogs and dragons included. Be missing out if I couldn't cater to 'em."
"More or less, yeah. Been working here my whole life. Took over after mum. Would've liked to go offworld, but the business won't run itself, you know?"
No.732560
>>732559She tossed a few of the coins on the counter and took the boxes with a near manic look on her face. All she needed now was a place to nab some comics and some battery packs for her sword and she'd be set for a while.
"Should we get some stuff for the others too?"
No.732561
>>732559>>732560"Oh nonono, let me pay for it. Our lizard friends spotted me remember?" Vandal pays for Areia's purchase with the stolen Florins.
"Ahhh, so what'ya do when the the recipe calls for like, mom's love? I know all the best recipes has something like that in it." She leans over the glass display, looking inside, "Speaking of, watcha like making the most. Can I get a couple of whatever those are?"
No.732562
>>732558"Wow. Suppose you've got all bases covered here. Though that's what I expect out of our digital overlord who sent us on this mission. Seems to really care about this package. What do you make of that, Green?"
He says to her, wondering aloud.
No.732563
>>732561She retracted her cash for now "Fair but what about the others?"
No.732564
>>732563"Uhhh I mean sure, build some goodwill instead of just bickering. Bet the groof would be in a better mood if he had something nice to peck at."
No.732565
>>732564He'd probably be better with some booze in him but I don't wanna blow cash on that." she said as she looked around "What do you think the deer dude likes?"
No.732566
>>732565"We just dealt with some slizzard lizards, we don't need to get them booze too. As for the deer? I unno does anyone
not like donuts?"
No.732567
>>732558"Hmm. Definitely keeping us well-stocked, even if it's a little… low on ammunition. We'll limit what we can though, yeah."
No.732568
>>732560>>732561"Cheers!" She takes the coins, counts them, then drops them into the till.
>Vandal: -15 florinsShe blinks at Vandal's question, screwing up her face and thinking for a bit. "Hm… I'd say my favorite is this one."
She points to a sort of meringue in the cabinet, made with whipped cream, blackberries, strawberries, kiwi fruit and a variety of other fruits besides. It's labeled as a pavlova, 7 florins a slice. "Old family recipe," she grins. "I mean if you're a carnivore you probably won't get much out of it, but I always adored this one."
No.732569
>>732562She shrugs. "Probably some crime boss' lackey or something. I dunno what's in the box, and really it's none of my business. Try to avoid asking too many questions when it comes to these sorts of jobs. Far as I'm concerned, my only part in this is to go in there, grab it, and get it back to Ochi."
>>732562>>732567"Which reminds me. I dunno how much you know about the Guild, but by all rights it shouldn't even be called a guild. We're just spacers. Our only job is to work with our points of contact. Like Ochi. Otherwise, we're free. No chains, no rules. You can be a romantic like Chopper back there and think that there's camaraderie, but really that's just romanticism. All a means to an end." She shrugs. "In my book at least. The point is, don't feel bound to anyone or anything in the Guild."
"Anyway. I'm gonna check out the rest of this rust bucket, then go crash at Ochi's for a while. Care to join me?"
No.732570
>>732568Hmm, Guess I can get them like… some bagels and some regular cookies or something." she said "Yeah just gimme some bagels and regular cookies too."
No.732571
>>732569"I'll keep that in mind, then." he says, before taking a look around the cramped interior. "A… little more couldn't hurt, sure."
No.732572
>>732569"Low commitment. I like that. Guess we have a while until the rest come back from whatever theyve gotten themselves into. I'll join you."
He says, following Green,
No.732573
>>732568"Ooo pretty. Just cause us cats are carnivores don't mean we can't
eat this stuff. It's not gonna do anything for me nutritionally but like, long as I don't eat half a pie I won't have issues on the other end."
Vandal uses the last of the stolen florins and 2 of her own, buying a slice to try there and now.
>>732570"Bagels? Unless we're picking up some brined fish or something along the way, sounds kinda boring."
No.732574
>>732573Whats wrong with a good bagel? You got any better ideas?"
No.732575
>>732574"Ya just need something on it I mean. Just a normal bagel's kinda eh."
No.732576
>>732575Everything bagels?"
No.732578
>>732577I usually just have a bagel toasted with butter. Maybe a breakfast sandwich. Never really been a lox girl."
No.732579
>>732578Vandal shrugs, "What can I say, I like fish."
No.732580
>>732572>>732571Alongside Green, you take a look around the ship, making note of its layout.
The cargo hold takes up the large majority of it, having the whole lower level dedicated just to it. It is cramped and ill-lit due to an abundance of mostly empty plastic crates. If they were cleared out, there'd be much more room.
A small walkway near the back of the hold takes you to the engine room, similarly ill-lit, though this is due to a malfunctioning light in the ceiling. There is a small workshop set up here, with a variety of tools for manual repair.
A flight of stairs connecting to a catwalk takes you to the upper level, where you find the cockpit. It is quite spacious, with a large wall mounted display showing a map of the local star system, along with several panels and levers for piloting the ship.
Doubling back, you find the kitchen, where Green starts storing the food. It's rather small, with the dining table being built almost inside it. It can seat up to six.
The living quarters are rather barebones, consisting of only three rooms with little more than a bunk bed each. It's built for practicality, not comfort.
Finally, on the port and starboard sides are ladders leading to the turrets. Each one has a fairly comprehensive operating system. They are powered by magitek, and do not require ammunition.
Green nods in approval as she gets a feel for the ship's layout. "Not much to look at," she comments. "I've crashed better ships than this. But it'll do. Don't you reckon?"
>>732570"Coming right up!" The baker starts gathering the cookies and bagels, bagging them for you and giving you a slight discount for not being the usual rude fare.
>-13 bits>>732573You buy a slice of pavlova and try it. It's as good as it looks, refreshing and pleasantly fruity. The combination of strawberries and kiwi give it a distinctive piquant aftertaste. The baker waits eagerly to hear your final verdict.
>-7 bits
>pausing No.732581
>>732579Wow a cat that likes fish." she replied with a chuckle
No.732906
>>732580"Hrmn. A little crowded for my tastes, but…" he shrugs a little, and says "It's nothing I haven't dealt with before. It seems fine enough to me."
No.732907
>>732580The dragon graciously accepted the goods and slid some of her bits forward to pay for it.
No.732908
>>732581Vandal waves dismissively through bites of pastry, but is too distracted by trying to reflexively catch a lost strawberry slice from the pavlova to commit to any sort of further response.
>>732580After having ate the whole slice in 2-3 large bites and one (lively overly dramatic) attempt at saving a lost strawberry slice, Vandal gives the equivalence of a thumbs up with her paws, tail swishing. "Oh yeah, totally worth. Make a good case for not wanting to live here cause like, I'd have to be tempted with knowing you're down the street at any point. I don't know if that sounds like a bad review? It's a good one, I would stop by at the very minimum to chat, spend money I don't have, et cetera."
No.732909
>>732580"Typical. All the space in the galaxy for whatever loot we scrape up and none for the crew themselves."
He says, perching himself onto a shipping crate.
"Strange to have all this space for one item, but I'm not complaining, why don't we take a little commission fee from those pirates while we're at it?"
No.732911
>>732906"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Should be able to hold together if we get into a scrap. And considering we're dealing with pirates, we probably will."
>>732909Green shrugs. "No real rules in the Guild. No one's gonna complain if we loot 'em blind."
>>732908She smiles happily as you approve of it. "I'll take that as a compliment. It's a peaceful life here, really. Place doesn't really make enough money to be worth robbing. Kind of quiet though."
>>732906>>732907>>732908>>732909After a while, you all reconvene at Ochi's for the rest of the afternoon. Food at the tavern is mediocre, but you can't really complain. Green takes off to parts unknown, promising to come back in the morning to lead you to the ship.
The evening goes by without many interruptions. Whether you decide to drink or not is up to you. Either way, the beds are comfortable, and before you know it, you fall asleep one by one, thinking about what prospects tomorrow will bring.
-
You are awakened brusquely by a loud knocking on the door of your rooms. "Come on, spacers, time to get a move on," Green calls. She seems antsy. "Package won't deliver itself. Don't keep me waiting or I'm leaving without you guys."
No.732912
>>732911Gale ungracefully stumbles out of his room, making it obvious he is not much of a morning bird. Or a morning cat for that matter.
"Yeah, yeah I'm coming I'm coming." He yawns. "Gotta leave so damn early, don't we?"
By the time he's boarded the ship he's a bit more awake but not anymore friendly.
No.732914
>>732911"Like I'm getting ditched here." Vandal says, opening the door nearly the moment after the door's knocked. "Let's go."
No.732916
>>732580Areia took a moment as she had to pull all her armor back on as she wasn't exactly going to sleep in it. She came out seeming a bit tired still but ready for this, munching one of the donuts she nabbed yesterday as a breakfast.
No.732917
>>732911Fir is up shortly after being called on, rolling out of the somewhat messy bed. He doesnh't take long to get back up and ready, though.
No.732920
>>732912>>732914>>732916>>732917You roll out, following Green out of Ochi's and towards the hangar. The streets of Delphi are a bit quieter at this time of day; looking up at the artificial sky, you can see it's about 5:30 am. Not many folks around at this hour except street thugs, who all give you a wide berth. They know better than to try and jump a whole group.
Eventually, you get to the hangar, and Green enters the code to open the doors.
You make yourselves at home on board the unassuming ship, taking a while to check it out if you haven't already. "This is it," says Green, making a half hearted gesture towards the ship. She looks a bit tired herself. "Welcome aboard the… Hm. Sec." She looks over her datapad with a frown. "Huh. Ship doesn't even have a name anymore. Welp. Call it what you want, I guess."
>See >>732547, >>732558 and >>732580 for descriptions of the ship and what's on boardEventually, Green makes her way to the cockpit and starts booting the ship up. "If any of you know how to copilot, c'mere and give me a hand. Fir, I think you said you knew it, right? Or was it you, Gale? Rest of you, just hold on to something, I guess."
>>732916>>732914"By the way." She addresses you both as she works on getting the ship running, entering coordinates and pulling levers. "I'm gonna tell you guys what I told the others. There's no rules in the Guild, and by all rights it shouldn't even be called one. You can make friends with other spacers if you want, and think there's some big noble purpose in it all, but really there's no strings attached. Do the job, whatever it takes, and you'll be as good a member as any of us. Don't feel bound to me or Ochi or any of these guys. Capiche?"
No.732921
>>732920"I know a little about it, yeah. Let me see if I can help." the elk says, leaning down some and stepping inside of the ship. At the mention of a name, he shrugs a little. "Doesn't matter to me."
No.732922
>>732920"Don't know how to fly on anything 'cept the wings on my back. Got the personality of a handsome space captain though."
As he enters the ship he returns to the cargo bay and calls over to Vandal.
"Hey kitty, you seem a thief type. You think they left anything behind in these crates? Could be worth a peek."
Searching for valuables in the crates [1d10]
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.732923
>>732920Let's just call it The Party Boat for now because this thing seems to not be the thing I put effort into naming."
She looked to Green "Duly noted."
No.732925
>>732920"Kay, I wasn't gonna start repping someone else's colors anytime soon anyhow, a job's a job." Vandal shrugs,
>>732922"Crates? This a handmedown then? What kinda skill would you need in looking through boxes. The boxes aren't gonna try and stop you from looking in them. I'm not a crowbar."
No.732927
>>732921[1d10]
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.732928
>>732922"Debatable."
You find that most of the crates have already been emptied, ostensibly by other Guild members. You do find a forgotten box with a robot component though. Some sort of advanced processor for military units, from what you can tell. It seems pretty valuable. If you happen to visit Chopper or another botsmith, you could probably sell it for a decent chunk.
>>732923Green smiles. "'Party Boat'. I like that. I would've gone with 'Engine with Extra Steps' myself."
>>732925"From what I heard from Ochi, guild took it as collateral after a job went south. Something about repaying a debt. Ours now I guess, if only for this one job."
>>732927>>732921You help Green get the ship running, activatig the hypernavigator and starting the launch sequence. The controls are quite comprehensive if you've done this sort of thing before, which you have. Before long, the ship is primed and ready to blast off to the provided coordinates. Green nods in thanks as you help her out around the cockpit. "Hey, you're pretty good. How long you been doing this sort of thing?"
>>732921>>732922>>732923>>732925The ship shudders and shakes as the loading ramp retracts and closes. The newly christened Party Boat begins to stir, like a she-bear roused from hibernation. You feel it starting to slowly rise in vertical takeoff, and before you know it, the ship is flying upwards towards the exit into space. The hangar clears as the ship flies off, rapidly building speed, exiting into the vacuum of space and bound to the water planet of Faora.
"Get comfy everyone," says Green through the PA system.
"We're not jumping systems, so it's going to be about a two day flight from here to Faora. Got her in autopilot for now, but I'll pull us out once we're a bit closer, or if we run into any trouble. Which we might. We'll see." No.732931
>>732928"Well neato, wonder what sorta stuff got left behind." Vandal goes from room to room trying to see if the former occupants had decorated or personalized it any.
No.732932
>>732928Gale tucks his newfound treasure under one of the bunkbeds and tosses his jacket onto the top bunk.
>>732931"Not much besides whatever botpiece I found." He says, sitting himself down at the kitchen table.
"Two days, huh. Guess if we weren't comfy with eachother we gotta be now."
No.732933
>>732928"How long? Oh… 8 years, or so. Picked up a lot, even if I wasn't normally doing things like piloting."
>>732928"Two days? Works for me." the elk says, stretching out a little and finding somewhere to sit for a little. No.732935
>>732928Areia stretched out a bit as she moved with the other two through the ship.
>>732931"I unno, maybe we'll find something cool." she said as she looked for a closed room someone hadn't looted yet. She headed into one and started searching.
>>732932"I mean me and Vandal there seem to get along pretty good. Can't really speak for me and you there feathers." she added as she cracked her neck audibly from the room she was in.
[1d10]
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.732936
>>732931[1d10]
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.732938
>>732935"Ouch. Well, like all good things, I'm an acquired taste." He says without a lick of irony or self awareness. Throwing on a wink as well.
"And I'm in a real tight spot right now, don't got a lot of freedom to be nice."
No.732939
>>732938"I mean being a decent person usually is a good way to get others to like and help you more willingly."
No.732940
>>732931>>732936If they did, it's been stripped by now. You don't find anything of value at all.
>>732935The most you find is the severed head of a robot, lying abandoned under one of the beds, covered in dust. It almost looks like a fly with its two large, bulbous eye equivalents, a pair of short antennae, and a small circular protrusion where the mouth would be. You're no expert, but you could probably pick its brain for something interesting. Or just sell it for chump change.
>>732933She nods, listening to you as she works. "Fair 'nuff. Where were you before this though? Pardon my questions. Seems odd having worked for so long and only just now joining up with a guild. You a pirate or something? No judging if so, just curious."
>>732931>>732932>>732933>>732935Most of the flight passes by without incident. You find that the ship has a small infestation of alien rat-like creatures with four arms and pig-like snouts, but they are elusive enough not to be a bother. Food consists primarily of canned rations and protein bars. Hardly what you'd consider good eating. Green seems content with it, though.
Late in the afternoon, Green uses the PA system again.
"Look alive, spacers. Something interesting you might wanna come take a look at. Some kinda mining station on an asteroid, but it's abandoned. Like something hit it hard a while ago. Not sure what. Raiders, most likely, or some sort of Behemoth. Might be worth checking out, see what we can salvage. What do you think?" No.732941
>>732940She decided to keep the odd thing for now. She wasn't the most keen on the robot head but she had an urge to dig around and maybe find something interesting.
At the announcement she headed up to get a good look and nodded "Probably worth raiding, if nothing else we might find some scrap we can sell."
No.732943
>>732940"No one else is using the stuff anymore, sure thing Greenie. Any old hails or messages from the crew before they got spaced?"
No.732945
>>732940"Wouldn't mind some time away from this scrapheap. Maybe our little vermin friends wanna come too?"
He listens to the announcement.
"Mining huh. We're not in the right ship to actually take some of the rocks, but maybe they got something left behind in their HQ. Besides whatever waxed them."
No.732946
>>732940Fir mulls it over a little, before finally nodding. "Didn't come from a particularly good place. Work was work." he says, shrugging a little… and shooing one of the rat-like vermin away with a snort.
>>732940"Salvage isn't bad- just in case, we might as well have some extra."
No.732949
>>732943Green fiddles with some dials, but hears nothing but low drones. "Nothing. Looks like it's been a while since the hit."
>>732946>>732941>>732943>>732945You get a good look at the abandoned asteroid through the cockpit. Sure enough, there's a facility built into it, but it looks like it's seen better days. Parts of it are blown wide open, as if by some blast, and overall, it looks like a crumbling ruin.
"Alright, let's do it. There's some oxy suits over in the cargo hold, so we might wanna get suited up before we go out there."
The oxy suits resemble old fashioned diving gear; a baggy brown suit with little metal rivets and rims, with a small, magitek backpack to fuel the oxygen. The helmet is shaped almost like a bell, made of a reflective golden alloy. Despite this, you can see perfectly when putting it on. There are enough suits in shapes and sizes for all of you, luckily.
Green brings the ship down onto the asteroid and suits up before opening the airlock to exit. You all grabbed commlinks before leaving, so you can communicate with each other through them even while wearing the suits.
"Mind your step out here," Green warns.
"The grav and oxy systems are down for sure, so if we're not careful we'll be bouncing off the walls. Don't go too far on your own."You exit the airlock and start moving across the asteroid towards the ruins of the mining facility. You quickly find that Green's right; you're light as a feather out here, able to perform incredible leaps and bounds. This comes with its own risks though, and if you're not careful, you could go hurtling to the other end of the asteroid, or even into the vacuum of space. It doesn't help that the asteroid is not made of your ordinary stone; it is some alien, glossy mineral that makes it difficult to keep your footing.
"How did they even survive on this rock?" Green wonders out loud.
>roll Navigation as you approach the facility No.732950
>>732949"Flying's never been easier."
As Gale approaches he tries to be as sneaky as possible, trying to adapt his usual stealth routine to Zero-G
Navigation [1d10]
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.732952
>>732949The dragon was kind of wishing she could have kept her armor on but the suit was unfortunately a bit too snug for that. She kept her sword with her as she kept an eye out.
Navigation [1d10]
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.732954
>>732949"This looks fun, let's give it a try."
Vandal says, jumping from asteroid to asteroid as if it were a parkour course.
[1d10]
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.732956
>>732949Mine should do the trick well enough… this site looks pretty bad, though- definitely could have been a raid." he says, before grabbing a comlink for himself.
>Outside we go! [1d10]"Hard to say. Maybe they got regular suppliers, or maybe it was going poorly from the start?"
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.732957
>>732950You jump forward, underestimating the effects of low gravity. You make it to the facility in a single bound, but hit your head on a passing bit of debris, ringing your bell-shaped helmet. You hear a small
crack. Green hisses.
"Careful, bird. Another hit like that and your oxy helmet's done for.">Gale takes 2 hits>>732952You carefully make your way forward, hopping across the asteroid with relative ease, being careful not to go too fast. You make it to the entrance in one piece.
>>732954You carome off some passing bits of rubble easily, hopping from wall to wall and using your fire extinguisher to regulate your momentum. Before long, you find yourself joining the others at the entrance, doing a stylish little front flip to stick the landing. Green looks impressed.
"Huh. You've got moves, kid. Nice.">>732956"Looks like it. Probably a Republic operation gone tits-up. Guess we'll find out."You traverse the asteroid easily, stepping from rock to rock like an expert, always testing for secure footing before going for it. Before long, you join the others at the entrance, safe and sound.
>>732950>>732952>>732954>>732956Green goes last, following in Fir's hoofsteps as she makes her way across the asteroid to the entrance.
The main door of the mining facility seems to have been blown wide open in a violent explosion. You can see bullet and scorch marks lining the entrance, but no bodies to speak of.
There is a secondary blast door behind the main one that is blocking your entrance. As Green approaches, a cracked monitor on the side comes to life, glowing sickly green. A distorted female voice warbles from it, spouting off word salad in a calm, clinical tone. Listening closely, you notice it seems to be repeating itself, as if broadcasting a pattern.
"Colorful. Unlike. Commission. Herb. Update. Gallon. Defendant. Market. …Colorful. Unlike. Commission. Herb. Update. Gallon. Defendant. Market. …Colorful. Unlike. Commission. Herb…"Green shrugs in confusion.
"Door seems to be locked, and the AI's not working, clearly. Should we find another way in, or try and force this one?" No.732958
>>732957She looked to her sword and then pondered it "I could probably pull my helmet off and blast it with plasma real quick if you want this done fast." she said with a small shrug.
"Otherwise I could use my sword and overcharge the plasma cell."
No.732959
>>732957>>732958"I could try fiddling with it some- if I can get things to work right, I might be able to get the AI working well enough to open the door… or, at least unlock the door."
[1d10] Summon Esper (DC -1)
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.732960
>>732957"Big spooky. Hope it's not too maze-like in here. I'll number off the rooms so we can follow the numbers backwards and all."
Vandal sprays a stylized
1 on the wall.
No.732961
>>732957"Owww. Yeah, I'll be more careful."
Gale listens in on the warbled ramblings of the AI
"What is it trying to say? There's some sort of pattern…"
Trying to see a pattern or meaning to the madness [1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.732962
>>732958She moves to the side and gestures for you to do your thing.
"Go right ahead. Do your thing. Kind of wanna see that sword of yours in action again, to be honest.">>732959You charge your armor up, reconfiguring and fortifying to suit your needs.
>H/W boost from Esper - now 7/7>Access to skill: Tinker>>732960"Good idea. Might be easy to get lost in there, depending on how rough it is." She admires your handiwork as you spray the number.
>>732961You listen closely, but can't seem to find a pattern to it yourself.
"Maybe it's a code," Green suggests.
"Transmitting to somewhere else in the 'verse where it means something." She shrugs.
"Conjecture." No.732963
No.732964
No.732965
No.732966
No.732967
>>732962Areia nodded and raised her blade from its spot on her back and raised it up as she aimed at the door.
Meltdown [1d10]
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.732968
>>732962"Well I'mma skate on ahead, I'll be spraying where I've went and won't go too far. I ain't just wanting to stick around listening to some weird last message of an AI."
Vandal says, building up momentum and skating towards the door with momentum so she can be the first in once Aeria's busted it down.
No.732969
>>732962"Alright, let's take a look at this and see…" he says, his armor glowing a light green as he begins to take a look at the door.
[1d10] Tinker (Open the door, or get the AI working?)
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.732970
>>732962"I'll take up the back. Don't want whoever and whatevers left of this rock sneaking up on us."
Gale produces one of his hologram emitters, charged with his magic.
"This'll keep watch, or at least slow something down."
He tosses back by the door and the projection of himself appears.
No.732971
>>732967>>732968>>732969>>732970Gale sets up a hologram at the entrance, dutifully standing guard. Fir fiddles with the panel for a bit, eventually managing to bypass the faulty security systems and unlock the door. This proves to be pointless, however, as Areia busts the door open, her sword glowing and sparking as she cleaves through solid twisted metal with a powerful downward swing. The door buckles under the force, sliding open and leaving a trail of sparking molten metal in its wake. Green lets out a low whistle of approval.
"That'll do it."True to her word, Vandal is the first in, leaping with the low gravity through the now open door and into the mining facility. The interior of the room, ostensibly having been the reception area, is littered with scorches and bullets, just like the exterior you came through. The ceiling is low, and behind a central desk you can see a broken monitor flickering on and off, displaying a graphic with the banner of the Republic of Selen on it. The walls and ceiling have some broken pipes and cables, some still sparking. Overall, the reception area of the mining facility is in utter shambles.
Curiously, you notice that there are no bodies to be found, nor any blood or any signs of death at all. You do, however, see that there are several robots strewn about the entrance of the facility, in varying states of disrepair. A low, glowing light on some of them indicates they are still functional, albeit barely.
As you enter, a few lights flicker to life, activated by movement. A creepy little melody starts playing, formerly background music, now distorted by the malfunctioning systems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_SBWNnr_lk"Feels like walking into a tomb," Green remarks uneasily as she follows you in.
"N-no need to mess around. Let's just grab what we can find and get out of here before something horrible happens."There are a few doors leading to other branches and levels of the facility. It seems to extend downwards, boring into the asteroid itself. There are some wall mounted signs giving directions, but they are almost illegible due to their damage.
No.732972
>>732967>>732971"Yo Areia ya wanna knock the heads off some of these bots along the way? Ain't doin us any help functioning."
Vandal tags another wall in numerical order, checking out the mounted signs and trying to clean them off with some spit and her fingerless gloves.
[1d10] percep
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.732973
>>732971Areia hefted her sword up, discharging the dead battery cell and throwing in a new one as she moved along. She'd need to buy some more later but for now this would do.
She took a rather different choice as she approached the robots and began to start looking at getting into their heads to salvage personality chips or memory boards.
[1d10]
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.732974
>>732971"Probably don't need to head much lower. The real value's likely up here, managerial offices and such."
He swallows, and tries to hide the slight tremble in his voice.
"Don't know what we'll find. We have no idea what state this place was left in."
Gale seems to be a lot less talkative now.
No.732976
>>732971"Ah. Or, that." the elk says, shrugging a little bit and heading inside. He flicks on what lights he can before they go though, just in case.
He nods in agreement with Green and begins looking around, hoping to find something worthwhile. "For what it's worth, it might be so severely damaged that they didn't have time to take everything with them- we could still find something."
[1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.732977
>>732974Perception [1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.732978
>>732972You read one of the signs after getting a closer look:
ARR C S - APR CES N - AA ORY - AGreen trudges up behind you, tilting her head as she tries to read the signs.
"'Processing'? I dunno. Should just follow it anyway.">>732973>>732976You take a better look at the robots. They have four crablike legs, a head with a central red eye, two pairs of mounted mining lasers, and two large shovel-like arms for carrying ore. They could be dismantled for scrap.
>>732973As you approach one, it starts to stir, undergoing a full system reboot. Its eye is fixed on you, whirring quietly as it seemingly scans you, warbling an untelligible pattern with the same cadence as the door panel from before. You're reminded of a cat deciding whether or not to pounce on a bird.
>>732977>>732976>>732973>>732972You notice something odd about the floor of the place. It's covered in a fine layer of grey dust that crunches slightly under your feet.
Almost like ashes.
>pausing No.733305
>>732978"Hmm… the droids could make good scrap, I think." he says, before lifting one of his large hooves and looking at the floor.
"Was there a fire here, maybe? These seem like ashes."
No.733306
File: 1583031800126.jpg (Spoiler Image, 31.15 KB, 1000x1000, White Emoticon Mouth-Muffl….jpg)
>>733305"I'd prefer them scrapped too," Vandal comments, digging around in her cargo pants to pull out a half-filled plastic bag of disposable face masks and taking the time to finagle the flimsy face protection over her face. "I keep these around in case I get sick or a planet's known to have a nasty bug, but I'm not gonna have a coughing fit because I inhaled a dead spacer or something that's gonna give me cancer in ten years."
The mask has a novelty print of a small black nose and a w where it covers up her mouth.>>732978She turns back to Green who's behind her, "I dunno, I'm liking the odds that the last one is an armory. Maybe we see if they got any cool mining mech suits or something to go busting through any blown up debris."
"Oh and, can we start taking apart these robots like I said? Literally what good are they working when they could just like, 'intruder alert' us and shoot us in the back?"
No.733307
>>732978She grabbed her blade and growled as she leveled it at the bot "Look, do me a favor and pop any intelligence chips you have out, and maybe I won't try to slag your ass for having the gall to wake up and make my scrapping operations that much harder."
No.733309
>>732978Gale carefully avoids stepping on any ashes, despite being in the suit.
>>733305"Don't think the tech is gonna be worth it's weight. Doubt anything that could be damaged by whatever happened here is gonna be worth a lot." He says this, then looks at Areia's glitchy robot.
>>733307"Like that, nopony's lookin to pay for some malfunctioning piece of tech."
No.733310
>>733309"Meant scrap for us- it's never a bad idea to have some." he says, before frowning a little. "Maybe they had an accident with a mining laser."
No.733311
>>733305>>733306Green nods in agreement and starts inspecting one of the nearby robots, only to have it activate like the one Areia is inspecting.
"No sign of any burn marks," she muses in response to Fir.
"No lingering smoke either. Doesn't look like a fire to me. Come to think of it, what are these bots doing in the reception area?…">>733305>>733306>>733307>>733309As Areia starts threatening the robot, it just stares at her blankly; then, it begins to stand, rearing up to a formidable height. The scrambled message becomes slightly more clear.
"Directive. Dirrr-ective. ExpUNgE. CAUteriZe RepUblIc disSidenTs. PrEpare foR occuPatiOn."The other mining robots begin to stir as the signal is retransmitted. A panel on the first robot to speak begins to flash and beep steadily, as if signalling someone or something. You count six robots. Perhaps more in other parts of the facility. Having laid inactive for some time, their receptors are trained on you with hostile intent, their industrial grade lasers beginning to glow and whir as they charge up menacingly.
"Shit!" Green starts backing away in alarm, drawing her blaster and getting ready for a fight.
No.733312
>>733311"Ah. That'd explain it, actually." the elk says, trying to re-configure his suit for combat.
[1d10] Summon Esper (Knight, DC-1)
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.733313
>>733311Areia growled and immediately moved to hit the first while sparing its head. Her blade thrummed with energy as she rushed in.
Blast, Preferred Target:Robot [1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.733314
>>733311https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkLukDN67dEVandal hisses and jumps back, "Fuckin, I was saying it since we entered the room. Why do we have to spend so much time poking at bears until they wake up."
Her hair stands on ends as her body reflexively gets ready for a fight.
>Stance of the Bear: Sturdy and forward. This stance increases your Max Hits by half your current wounds, rounded up.She grabs at the nearest robot and starts prying at it's head, trying to rip it off using sharp claws to cut at cords.
>Claws, Dual Wielding[1d10]
[1d10]
Roll #1 2 = 2 /
Roll #2 4 = 4 No.733315
>>733314Ninja Flip: passive; Whenever you are attacked or would take counterattack damage, roll a 1d3. Lower the damage you would take by the result.
[1d3] reduction from the 2
[1d3] reduction from the 4
Roll #1 2 = 2 /
Roll #2 3 = 3 No.733316
>>733311"That doesn't sound good. Or look good. And I'm not sticking around to find out."
With this Gale stealths to flank the robots.
[1d10] Stealth
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.733317
>>733312Your suit fails to reconfigure. You hear something fizzling inside it.
>>733313The robot skitters backward with surprising speed for its bulk, lashing out at you with a foreleg to the chest, sending you stumbling backwards and into the wall.
>Areia takes 3 hits>>733314"'Have to'?" Green parrots in bewilderment.
"We met like yesterday."You take a glancing blow from its shovel-shaped arms. You manage to jump away, aided by the low gravity, but it rings your bell a bit. You manage to shake it off.
>Vandal takes 2 hits>>733316One of the robots' receptors tracks you, and a smaller white light starts shining from right next to it, blinding white like a floodlight. No chance of hiding with that thing tracking you.
>>733312>>733313>>733314>>733315"Incinerate."The mining robots start closing in on you, their lasers primed. Each one focuses one of you before firing their beams!
[1d10+1] [1d10+1] [1d10+1] [1d10+1] [1d10+1]
>vs Gale, Vandal, Fir, Areia and Green in that order>note: due to low gravity, dodge rolls get +1Green takes a potshot at the one attacking her!
>Aimed Shot: automatic 3 damageThe one transmitting the signal starts backing away from Areia, raising its arms to protect itself as it does so!
Roll #1 10 + 1 = 11 /
Roll #2 6 + 1 = 7 /
Roll #3 7 + 1 = 8 /
Roll #4 2 + 1 = 3 /
Roll #5 4 + 1 = 5 No.733318
>>733317Areia groaned thanking the fact that her armor prevented that from being worse but now she was mad.
She sucked in a deep breath and let loose a gust of her breath at the leader.
Dragon's Breath: Plasma [1d10]
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.733319
>>733317"Fuck. Well, you can track me, but you won't know which one is me."
As Gale says this, a blue energy swirls in his hand as a copy forms in front of himself.
Conjure [1d10]
(Open Rift) As the copy forms it rushes towards the bot who marked gale, looking to tear into him with their claws.
Minion Attack [1d10]
Roll #1 7 = 7 /
Roll #2 10 = 10 No.733320
>>733317>Ninja flip against 7 [1d3+1]Vandal shakes herself, baring her fangs and revving up her skates, rocketing after the fleeing signal robot.
>Moody's Shuffle: passive/instant automatic, recharge 2; Build up momentum using electromagnetic inline skates and launch forward towards a target. Move to an adjacent zone and gain +2 to any other combat action this turn.With haste, she begins prying at the machine's parts and trying to dismantle the beacon.
>Claws, Dual Wielding[1d10+2]
[1d10+2]
Roll #1 2 + 1 = 3 /
Roll #2 9 + 2 = 11 /
Roll #3 3 + 2 = 5 No.733321
>>733317Fir ignores the one targeting him for now, he'll probably be fine.
>>733319>>733317Fir moves in front of the griffon, trying to re-direct the shot with a hardlight bracer.
[1d10] Diverge/Brace (Gale)
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.733322
>>733318The mining robot transmitting the signal raises its arms, blocking your breath. It seems these robots are designed to resist extreme temperatures.
>>733319Your copy pierces the robot's eye with its claws, sending it stumbling and firing off laser bolts manically.
>>733320You jump up and avoid the incoming laser, propel yourself off the wall and launch yourself like a living cannonball into the signal robot. Sparks fly and wires thrash as you rip and tear, wrenching the beacon free with a single desperate pull. The robot stumbles backwards, weakened.
>>733321You charge in, raising a bracer and redirecting the powerful white-hot beam back towards the robot. The impact throws the robot clear across the room, leaving it a smoking, sparking wreck but still active.
>>733318>>733319>>733320>>733321The robot whose signal was interrupted lashes out at Vandal with a big shovel-shaped claw!
[1d10]
The blinded robot fires off laser blasts every which way, hitting anything it can!
>roll to dodge, DC4[1d10] Green Dodge
Green takes another shot at her attacker!
[1d10] Basic attack
The wounded robot starts charging up a more powerful blast, focusing Fir!
The other three keep attacking with slightly weaker blasts!
[1d10] [1d10] [1d10] vs Gale's double, Areia, Fir
Roll #1 8 = 8 /
Roll #2 6 = 6 /
Roll #3 1 = 1 /
Roll #4 3 = 3 /
Roll #5 6 = 6 /
Roll #6 2 = 2 No.733323
>>733322Correction: that last blast is directed at Green, not Fir
No.733324
[1d2] Gale or his minion?
Roll #1 1 = 1
No.733325
>>733321Addendum: The second blast sends you stumbling a bit, but you manage to shake it off. Your armor is a tad singed, though.
>Fir takes 2 hits No.733326
>>733320[1d3] Ninja Flip the 8
[1d10+1] blind robot
Vandal doesn't relent, intent on shredding the robot to pieces.
>Stance of the Tiger: Reckless but fierce. This stance forgoes all outside aid and prevents you from benefiting from or using weapon and catalyst skills but you gain +1 to all basic unarmed attacks and you can deal full wound damage when unarmed.[1d10+1]
[1d10+1]
Roll #1 2 = 2 /
Roll #2 2 + 1 = 3 /
Roll #3 10 + 1 = 11 /
Roll #4 2 + 1 = 3 No.733327
>>733322The Dragon growled and decided to just take the blast head on as she rushed at the robot since it had stopped in an attempt to take down her feline friend
Blast, Preferred Target:Robot [1d10]
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.733328
>>733322"Hmm… let's try this again." he says, trying to reconfigure his armor.
[1d10] (Summon Esper, Cleric, DC -1)
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.733329
>>733322"I'll thank you when this is over." He says to Fir.
As a more immediate thank you, Gale takes a shot at the robot charging up a blast as the clone continues to tear into the robot it's already one
Shooting charging robot [1d10]
Clone slashing robot [1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 /
Roll #2 8 = 8 No.733330
>>733329Dodge [1d4]
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.733331
>>733327>>733322Dodge roll [1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.733332
>>733328[1d10+1] Free Dodge!
Roll #1 2 + 1 = 3 No.733333
>>733330[1d10] actual dodge
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.733334
>>733326You tear into the robot with strength you didn't even know you had, grabbing the photoreceptor and tearing its head clean off its body. It flails and twitches, starting to run around chaotically without its head. It takes you a moment to acknowledge the blasts you took. A couple of stray blasts hit you in the back, scorching nastily. You falter, but you're still standing.
>Vandal takes 3 hits>>733328Your systems come back online as you tinker with it.
>H/W boost from Esper>Access to skill: HealYou take a hit from the rampaging blinded robot, staggering again.
>Fir takes 3 hits, now at 4/7 due to Esper boost>>733327As the freshly decapitated robot runs amok, you stop it where it stands by cleave it in half with a single swing, spreading molten slag and sparks everywhere. The remains twitch once, then are still. You barely feel the glancing laser blast that hits your arm.
>Areia takes 1 hit>>733329Your shot and slash combo damages the robot significantly, causing it to redirect the incoming blast towards you.
>>733330>>733331>>733332>>733326Green jumps out of the way, but her blaster jams. She starts fiddling with it, cursing under her breath.
The wounded robot stops dead in its tracks, starting to wind down, until eventually coming to a complete standstill. It seems to have shut down due to damage.
>4 robots remainThe wounded robot unleashes its laser blast at Gale!
[1d10+1] Autocrit
[1d2] Gale or copy
One of the other robots starts charging up a blast of its own, bearing down on Areia!
The other two focus the rest of you!
[1d10] [1d10] Vandal, Fir
Roll #1 10 + 1 = 11 /
Roll #2 1 = 1 /
Roll #3 8 = 8 /
Roll #4 10 = 10 No.733335
>>733334The blinded robot stops dead in its tracks*
No.733336
>>733334Areia groaned and shuddered a bit before focusing on her blade, pushing some power into to make these strikes count as she rushed to slash the robot that was charging.
Empower Weapon
Trying to choppa choppa dat robot [1d10+3]
Roll #1 4 + 3 = 7 No.733337
>>733334>>733327[1d3] Ninja Flip vs 8
"Nice swing! Let's go save the birdbrain next." Vandal shouts over to Aeria, shooting over to the robot shooting Gale next with two claws ready to wreak havoc.
>Moody's Shuffle[1d10+3]
[1d10+3]
Roll #1 1 = 1 /
Roll #2 6 + 3 = 9 /
Roll #3 4 + 3 = 7 No.733338
>>733334"What I get for trying to be nice."
Gale and the clone both try to take the robot out, Gale shooting recklessly as the clone tackles the robot.
[1d10] Shoot
[1d10] Tackle
Roll #1 2 = 2 /
Roll #2 10 = 10 No.733339
>>733334Fir lets out a soft grunt from the rampaging robot smacking him, and frowns a little bit. Once the armor begins to glow blue, he directs a wave of magic at the dragon.
[1d10] Heal on Areia
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.733340
>>733336You charge up the weapon even more for some extra oomph, hacking into the charging up robot, severing one of its arms and one of its legs. It scuttles backwards and trains its charging beam on you instead!
>>733337You take a laser blast to the chest, but the suit protects you. You just get the air knocked out of your lungs.
>Vandal takes 2 hitsYou lunge and throw yourself at the robot, punching its lights out - quite literally. You shatter its central photoreceptor with a punch, causing it to go berserk and start swiping madly at thin air as it continues to charge.
>>733338While Vandal causes a distraction, your clone manages to foil its shot completely, throwing the bot to the floor. The blast hits the ground at point blank range, causing the robot's steel exterior to melt in a small explosion, leaving a small crater in the ground. Its systems power down, and the robot is still.
>3 robots remainYour double, however, took the force of the shockwave, completely disoriented and broken by it. It repeats the same actions over and over in a loop, fizzling in and out of existence.
>double is at 0/1>>733339Your magic channeling is interrupted by a shot straight to the gut, which sends you stumbling backwards. Your armor sparks and fizzles, and you find it difficult to move, completely winded from the impact.
>Fir takes 4 hits, helpless>>733336>>733337>>733338>>733339Green gets her blaster back online and lines up a single precise shot at the robot targeting Areia!
[1d10+2] Snipe, DC8 to deal +2 hits
The charging robot fires at Areia!
[1d10+1] Autocrit
The other two robots fire at Gale and Vandal!
[1d10] [1d10]
[1d2] Gale/Copy
Roll #1 10 + 2 = 12 /
Roll #2 2 + 1 = 3 /
Roll #3 5 = 5 /
Roll #4 4 = 4 /
Roll #5 1 = 1 No.733341
>>733340The Dragon let out a small hiss of delight before rushing to once again back up someone, though in this case, she was aiming to help Gale by giving him cover and smashing a robot.
Blast, Preferred Target:Robot [1d10]
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.733342
>>733340"Not liking this whole relying on you guys to save me thing."
Gake takes a shot at the robot targeting him
"Not liking you either."
[1d10]
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.733343
>>733340Fir lets out a huff as he's knocked to the floor, and tries to get to his hooves.
No.733345
>>733340Wounded, Vandal acts more cautiously, taking out spray cans and spraying at the photoreceptors of the drone attacking her, not wanting to get close enough to be striked back.
>Blind: recharge 1 after effect ends; Temporarily blinds an enemy, giving a +2 bonus to all actions targeting it for 2 turns. Can also be used to block sight of cameras, guards, and other visual reliant objects. On Crit the target’s senses are blocked completely, causing all their non-Crit attacks to miss next turn.[1d10]
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.733346
>>733341You go to bring your sword down, only to get shot in the hand by the robot, causing you to drop the unwieldy blade. It follows up by backhanding you with its shovel arm, sending you clear across the room because of the low grav. You hit the far wall hard, completely shattering an already broken monitor.
>Areia takes 5 hits, helpless>>733342As it's distracted by Areia, you take a moment to blow the robot's head off with two well aimed shots. It staggers about for a moment before falling still.
>>733344You manage to get back up without a hitch.
>>733345You spray it in the photoreceptor, rendering it completely sightless. Its shot goes completely wide.
>>733341>>733342>>733343Green shoots the robot right in the mining laser, causing it to spontaneously combust and break down. "Bingo," she says with a grin.
As only one robot remains, its head starts glowing, the painted-over photoreceptor strobing as the robot begins to whir.
b]"Directive failure. Reassigning priority: mitigate asset capture. Reassigned. Asset liquidation in three. Two. One."[/b]
>roll to dodge[1d10+1] Green
Roll #1 9 + 1 = 10 No.733347
>>733346Areia groaned and tried to get herself up before things went south too fast
[1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.733348
>>733346>>733347[1d10+1]
"Thaaaat doesn't look good."
Seeing Aeria in a pinch, Vandal goes to pull her out of the way herself.
[1d10] Get up from helpless/help with getting away from blast
Vandal tries to pull Areia away from the robot,
Roll #1 3 + 1 = 4 /
Roll #2 8 = 8 No.733349
>>733346Gale dives towards his clown, throwing it towards the robot, hoping it absorbs some of the impending blast. He then dives to cover to dodge.
Clone throw [1d10]
Dodge [1d10]
Roll #1 7 = 7 /
Roll #2 8 = 8 No.733350
>>733346"No, none of that." the elk says as he gets to his hooves, trying to heal Areia again.
[1d10] Heal
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.733351
>>733347>>733348>>733349>>733350Gale's clone shatters like glass as the final robot self destructs, sending out a huge shockwave that knocks you across. Gale, Green and Vandal manage to avoid the blast, but Fir and Areia get swept off their feet, bouncing off the walls before hitting the ground hard.
>Fir and Areia take 1 woundGreen moves to help Fir up, a bit winded from the fight but otherwise in good spirits.
>recovery is automatic due to combat ending"Geez. That was rough. Let's grab what we can from this dump and get out of here before more of those 'bots show up. What do you suppose happened? It's like something just made 'em go haywire. Must've vaporized the miners, poor bastards…"The room is a mess. Bits of robot are scattered everywhere, some relatively intact while others are just mangled scrap. There are cracks running up the walls from the blast, and several monitors have been knocked loose. At least the creepy music's stopped.
No.733352
Correction: Vandal pushed Areia to the floor, helping her avoid the brunt of the explosion, but Vandal got her bell rung by getting swept away by it.
>Vandal loses 1 wound
No.733353
>>733351Areia was a bit shocked Vandal would take the brunt of the blow for her there and went silent for a bit as she once again tried to get to her feet.
[1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.733354
>>733351Let's retry this.)) She groaned as she climbed to her feet, looking to Vandal as she felt some lingering pain rippling through her body right now "Are you okay there Vandal?" she asked in her more natural soft tone.
No.733355
>>733351"That was… yeah."
Gale reconciles with seeing his own form get blown to shards before speaking up again.
"Hey, Fir and Vandal, thanks for the help. Think I would look a lot like that clone right now if it weren't for you two. Let's just make this mental and physical trauma worth it."
No.733356
>>733351>Free Heal!>>733351"Thanks." he says to Green, rolling his shoulders out and humming a little. "Not too familiar with robots. Bad coding? Altered coding?"
>>733355"Don't mention it." he says, flicking his hardlight antlers off and trying to inspect the room a little more closely.
[1d10] Perception
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.733357
>>733352>>733354Vandal pulls herself off Aeria, apologizing under her breath. "Don't go getting knocked on your claws like that, you're too heavy to pull easily."
>>733355"Well yeah, not gonna lose a team member before we even get to the planet. Let's finish up looting this place and kick any robot we find. Take out any cameras too."
No.733358
>>733356"Not the way to do it, kid. Always mention it. A good rep can get you plenty far."
>>733357"Doubt those cameras are going anywhere anymore. Or they would have sent a recon team to pick up anything worthwhile and close this place off. But if it satisfies your punk rebellion fantasy, go crazy kitty."
[1d10] Looting
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.733359
>>733357I'll keep that in mind Vandal." she said a bit embarrassed.
>>733355I tried to help you as well for what its worth." she grumbled as she once again looking for any surviving Intelligence chips amongst the scattered bit of bots.
Looting [1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.733360
>>733358"Right okay, still an asshat. Robot clearly sending out a signal somewhere and yet you're thinking I'm talking about the cameras on the drones. We're on a space station, it's got power. You think a mining station doesn't have security cameras?" Vandal turns her back to the griffon, "Some dashing rogue you are."
>>733351[1d10] looting
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.733361
>>733356You don't manage to find much of note.
"Maybe," she shrugs, kicking one of the scrapped bots. Seeing its head is still intact, she gets to work in removing it.
"If I can take this, I might have a moment to pick its brain. Literally. See if we can't learn something.">>733358You examine one of the more intact robots and manage to pry the mining laser loose. While it's not very useful on its own, it would make for a powerful weapon component if taken to a smith. Or it could just be sold for scrap.
>>733359You manage to dig around one of the robots, managing to retrieve a mostly intact processing unit from one. It's shaped like a cartoon brain. Could be worth dismantling.
>>733357>>733360"Bit late to be worrying about cameras," Green comments.
"Not that they'd be working. This place was a mess even before we got here."You find that the doors leading deeper into the facility are locked, but after a bit of rummaging around the reception area, you find a drawer with some bits in it, as well as a PicoTune; a tiny, portable electronic device no bigger than your fingertip, which can form a neural link with the user and broadcast music directly to them on demand. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be working, but you could probably get it fixed.
No.733362
>>733360"Sure, but they obviously don't care enough to look at the signal. We'd be swarmed or there'd be nothing here. And besides I love the camera."
He says with a wink, knowing it'll irk you.
>>733361"Hey kitty! Now I got a laser pointer for you to play with."
He laughs as he goes to the doors.
"No way we're busting that lock. Likely would require a hack, and I doubt the right terminals have power."
No.733363
>>733361"Can't hurt. Need some help, or do you got it?" He asks, looking around cautiously.
>>733362"We could always try to get some power back on next." he offers.
No.733364
>>733361She pocketed the brain so she could study it later, try to get more into the head of a robot so she could study it later. She promptly made her way to the door and eyed it quietly.
She took her sword and prepared to try this again. She had blown one door open with a meltdown, lets see if she could go for two.
Meltdown [1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.733365
>>733362"Like fuck, is it your goal to be as unlikeable as possible? I'm trying my best to like, treat this like we're adults, but you've got way more fucking growing up than I do. I'm heading back to the ship, get your head blown off by a laser."
>>733361Vandal turns to Green, though still glaring at Gale, "Listen, unless Gale gets his shit together I'm just gonna hang back on the ship. This isn't part of the mission proper anyways so not like I'm disobeying any orders…"
No.733366
>>733362Green stifles a smirk as you tease Vandal.
"Could always try busting it open," she points out.
>>733363The response she gives is to just blast the robot in the neck region then wrench the head free. She fastens it to a clasp on her coat back.
"All good here.">>733364The battery threatens to blow out as you overclock the sword, carving through the door like butter. Bits of slag drip from the hole you've created, and the doors shudder open, allowing passage to the rest of the mining facility.
>>733365"Knock yourself out. I'll comm you if something comes up. Shouldn't be too much longer, though.">>733362>>733363>>733364>>733365>roll looting again if desired now that the door's open No.733367
>>733363"That's an idea."
>>733365"Huh. I like your attitude. I had you fixed for a poser, but maybe you have potential. But be mad at me, I don't really mind."
>>733366"Gonna be honest, pretty sure we won't find more down there besides rocks and malicious robots. I'll stay up here."
No.733368
>>733366>>733365Just stay next to me Vandal, I don't think I can stick around the bird without trying to slug him if I don't have someone I can talk to reliably. Besides maybe we can find some more loot in here.
Looting [1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.733369
>>733366[1d10] Looting!
[1d10] Also a perception if that's allowed.
"Ah. Fair enough."
>>733367"If we could find a map, or better signs, we could find the power."
Roll #1 5 = 5 /
Roll #2 10 = 10 No.733370
>>733368"Well great slug him then, he just wants a reaction and I'm done putting up with it."
>>733366Vandal makes her way back to the ship with a few skates through the rooms, tail swishing restlessly in her suit.
No.733371
>>733367"Have fun talking to the robots then, I guess. Nothing to lose in going down there."As the group split, you are left to your own devices in the abandoned reception area.
>>733369>>733368An investigation of the rest of the facility reveals there's not much more to see at the moment. More ashes of dead miners, an elevator to the mines themselves that doesn't work, a few deactivated robots, and a ruined workshop are about all you can find down here. The latter, though, isn't entirely a waste of time. Areia finds a bracer of some sort, which, when activated, pops up with a little display of all heat signatures up to 20 feet from where the wearer is pointing. Useful for detecting life forms nearby, though other sources of heat may scramble it.
>Heatfinder x1Fir doesn't find much in the way of trinkets and baubles, but he does find a few stray florins on a counter.
>+30 florins>>733370You get back to the Party Boat in a huff, waiting for the others to arrive.
>pausing No.734091
>>733371"Hrm… think it's worth looking around more? Not sure what else we're going to find."
No.734096
>>733371She quietly replaced her existing bracer with the Heatfinder for now, figuring that she could have it reworked to match her motif more later. She debated searching around a bit more but decided the ship was better. Would give her time to study the brain module.
No.734097
Repost for convenience:
The unnamed ship, christened the Party Boat by Areia, is a large, six-finned Dragonfly-class vessel. It fits about six people comfortably, and has a spacious storage compartment. It has an engine room and workshop, a cockpit with a constantly updating star map, a kitchen and dining room, three empty living quarters with a bunk bed in each, and port and starboard turrets.
Green has acquired the following gear for potential use on the mission:
Six pairs of Nighteyes, with corresponding remote activators.
Two pairs of binoculars and one monocular.
Six pairs of Commlinks, small, near-invisible earpieces that can be linked up on a wireless network to verbally communicate with each other from long distances.
70 feet of climbing cable.
Six pairs of climbing spikes.
A week's worth of astronaut food, water, and oxygen tanks.
Two Carriers, small deployable items that can be tethered to one to carry cargo. They have repulsors built on their underside, and can therefore travel over rough terrain relatively unhindered.
A Crybaby. This is a dubiously legal device that will begin to transmit a distress signal when activated. Sometimes used by raiders to lure wayward ships into an ambush. One use only.
Two Chokies, a colloquial term for a small, hard to detect robot that can be remote controlled. When activated, the Chokie dispenses tear gas. One use each.
Six gas masks.
Two collapsible shotguns, loaded with rubber bullets. Ammo is 6/24.
A collapsible sniper rifle loaded with sleep darts. Ammo is 4/16.
No.734099
>>733371Before leaving, Gale takes one more look through any sort of reception desk, looking more for information about this place than loot.
[1d10] Searching
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.734101
>>733371Sulking into the unused bedroom without having taken off her suit yet, Vandal pulls out her spray paint and holds it up to start spraying to vent. Cursing, she remembers that the ships isn't even the group's, kicking the bedframe and stripping off her suit, making her way to her room and hopping in her bunk. She pulls out her smartphone, seeing if she can find the bakery she visited earlier and leave it a good review.
No.734102
>>734091Green shrugs. "Sure, can't hurt to give it another once-over." She keeps looking, determined to find something of value.
>roll looting again if desired[1d10] Green Looting
>>734096You start making your way back to the Party Boat, finding Vandal already there. She seems (reasonably) upset.
>>734099The reception console isn't working anymore, but it could be fixed with some know-how. You do manage to deduce, however, that the station was owned and run by the Republic of Selen. Judging from the fact that the mining robots went rogue and killed everyone, it's safe to assume that it was either A) a gross malfunction or B) a deliberate sabotage by one of the Republic's enemies.
>>734101Luckily, the mining station seems to have a signal you can hijack to access the miraculous new invention of the InterNet™. Unfortunately, the bakery doesn't seem to have an online presence yet. It's still a relatively new advancement in galactic technology, and social media is in its infancy.
Areia returns to the Party Boat, sporting a fancy new bit of tech.
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.734105
>>734102[1d10] Looting time
"Shouldn't waste too much more time- I'd rather not run into more of those drones."
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.734106
>>734102Vandal sighs, kicking back and laying in the bed. Hearing the heavy footsteps of the only other bipedal in the group, she hollers from her room,
>>734096"End up slugging Gale?"
Vandal's voice rings from her bedroom.
No.734107
>>734102>>734106"Nah, I just nabbed some new tech and left him behind to scavenge like the bottomfeeder he is." she said with a grunt.
She paused and sniffed a few times after pulling her helmet off "Why do I smell paint?"
No.734110
>>734107"Whatever, I don't really care what he does. Just not getting paid to be poked at by creepy old dude so chilling in here." She lays restlessly on the top bunk, deciding to get up to look down at the dragon. "Just waiting for his weird obsession with me to pass."
No.734111
>>734102"Not my job then."
Gale returns to the ship. He sits in dining area, unphased by the little excursion.
No.734112
>>734105You find 20 more florins, and a hunk of a valuable ore called bastellite. It's usually used in weapons and armor manufacturing. Very sturdy, but very heavy. It's cumbersome to carry the unforged alloy, but it could be quite valuable if you sell it, or you could even have it merged with your armor by a skilled craftsman.
"Nice find," Green comments, tucking away some money she found.
"What do you reckon you'll do with it?">>734106>>734107Speaking of which, you hear your favorite person come back, boarding the ship.
>>734111You return to the ship and go up to the dining area. You can hear Vandal and Areia already on board.
No.734114
>>734110I would personally recommend kicking him in the dick but that seems a bit redundant and would probably just slow the mission down too much."
She showed her new bracer off "Found this neat little doodad though. It's a Heatfinder."
>>734112Her nose twinged as she picked up the faint odor of the bird but she remained quiet.
No.734116
>>734114"Neat, I can kinda do that on my own, but neat." Vandal shrugs, her eyes briefly turning to vertical slits, before returning. "Guess I can't give my eyes to someone else though."
No.734118
>>734112"Not sure yet." he says, hefting the ore up and huffing "I'll hang on to it for now, at least, see what I can get done with it."
Once he's got it secured well enough, he looks back to Green and says "We ought to get back soon, though. Let's go."
No.734119
>>734112Gale tosses his newly acquired mining laser along with the processor he found under his bed.
"Not too far from having one of those mining bots for myself." He says to himself.
As he returns to mull about in the dining room, he overhears Vandal and Areia.
He thinks to himself "Aww, bonding over their mutual hate for me. How cute." as he kicks his paws up onto the table.
No.734122
>>734116I also nabbed a brain out of one of those mining bots. Was gonna study it when I had the chance. Robots might be soulless abominations but I have to admire the tech used on them."
No.734125
>>734122"Oh they were huge on tech on my homeworld. Everyone had portable game systems, some of our folks our pioneering this thing called social media, I have a few friends I show pictures of what I'm doing occasionally. People from back home I sorta kinda stand." Vandal nods, waving her small phone/tablet device.
No.734127
>>734118"Yeah, we've wasted enough time here. Let's get going. Not too much further till Faora."You both return to the Party Boat, being aware of the rest of the crew already there. Green removes the space suit and leaves it lying on the floor of the cargo hold carelessly.
>>734122>>734119>>734118>>734114The Party Boat takes off again with a jolt, the doors hissing shut and the ship slowly rising off of the asteroid. It slowly builds up speed before shooting off into outer space, back on course for the planet of Faora, where your first mission awaits.
The rest of the day and most of the next go by relatively quietly. The pigrats, as Green calls them, become slightly more boisterous in their infestation of the ship, scurrying about in plain sight and occasionally trying to break in to the food supplies. Green doesn't seem to have the heart to jettison them.
Late in the afternoon of the next day, you begin your landing to Faora. A small blue planet with flecks of brown here and there, most of it consists of tiny islands in between bodies of water. Terrain on said islands flip flops between tropical and swampy. There are a few settlements, but nothing too major, most of the population being confined to the planet's capital city. This is not your destination however, as Green maneuvers the Party Boat to land on one of the smaller islands, on the outskirts of a tiny town of offworld settlers.
"This is it," says Green as the ship lands on a black stony beach. It's about mid afternoon right now. "Coordinates led here. Looks like a slagpile to me, but at least we're not in the middle of nowhere. I'll stay with the ship and keep watch. You guys can stay in touch with the commlinks. It's your trial by fire after all. I'd recommend going out to the town and asking around about these pirates we're gonna have to deal with. Maybe they can help us get to this wreck they're hiding out in."
No.734128
>>734127Areia nabbed the commlink and one of the sets of Nighteyes, and a monocular as she decided to take to the sky for now and see if she saw anything… piratey from the up there in the small town.
[1d10] Perception
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.734129
>>734127Fir humphs a little and sets the suit back where it belongs, before plodding back to his room slowly.
>>734127Fir shoos the pigrats away from the provisions when he can, not wanting to lose out on quite everything.
Once they close in on the planet, he checks the view out of one of the windows while Green explains the details. He'll snag his commlink and a set of nighteyes, before stepping out of the ship and heading for town. "No need to waste time, then."
No.734130
>>734127Electing not to find a seedier location, Vandal instead looks for a fish market or the like, looking to hear word from the locals if they've had any troubles with piratey folks.
[1d10] nav
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.734132
>>734129Navigation because I'm stupid! [1d10]
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.734133
>>734127Gale takes the monocular and follows the others.
"I'm sure we'll be doing this planet a service getting rid of these pirate folk."
He says, searching for any sort of bar or tavern.
[1d10] Navigation
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.734136
>>734128You exit and fly up to get a better view of the surroundings. You can see that what appear to be islands from a birds eye view are actually the wrecks of shot down vessels. There must have been a great battle over the skies of this place at some point. The rusting hulks of vessels dot the landscape, forming a perilous strait for any would be mariner. You recall that Ochi mentioned the pirates had built their base in the remains of a frigate. It seems likely this will be your destination. You imagine you could take the Party Boat in that direction and drop down from above, or simply hire a boat and sail out to the wrecks. The latter seems more perilous, but an easier method to avoid pirate attention than flying a ship right over their base.
>>734129>>734130>>734133After a bit of searching, you manage to find a path through the tropical forest that leads you straight to the village from the beach. You notice that a lot of the town, nestled amidst the tropical trees, seems to have been built from repurposed ship parts and scrap metal, being a hodgepodge of oddly shaped shacks and square buildings. Other structures are made of adobe. Much of the village's economy seems to revolve around fishing, woodcutting and metal forging. The locals are of varied races, though ponies seem to be predominant, and most of them seem to be well adjusted to life here. You get curious looks from them as you enter.
The village is bustling, even at this relatively sleepy time in the afternoon. You can hear the chatter of locals, the whirring of simple robots carrying out tasks, and laborers hard at work nearby. Overall, it's a small but lively little village, well removed from the concerns of the rest of the galaxy.
As you enter and adjust yourselves to the surroundings, you are approached by a grizzled, dark eyed griffon in a wide brimmed hat. His uniform suggests he's an authority figure doing the usual rounds. "Afternoon, spacers. Don't get much of your kind around here. I'm Galen. The sheriff in these parts. What brings you to our community?"
No.734138
>>734136Not a fan of any breed of cops, Vandal skates by, turning backwards to shout over to the rest of the group (despite having commlinks), "I'm gonna check out if they have a fish market, hit up comms when you're done talking to the geezer."
[1d10] Nav (+2 if he tells me to stop due to talent lol)
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.734139
>>734136She had landed with the group and stepped forward "We're looking for some pirates that took something that didn't belong to them and we heard that they might be hanging out in some of the ruined ships. Know anybody who might be able to take us there quietly?"
No.734140
>>734136Fir looks around slowly, and nods a little to Vandal as she scoots on past the rest of them. She'll probably find them later, so it's all good.
"Bit of work, nothing too bad. Think you could help with some information on pirates?"
No.734141
>>734136"Fancy name."
He says, pointing out the similarity between their names.
"Just a repossession job. Nothing special."
No.734142
>>734138Galen frowns with disapproval. "Hey kid, you can't just- Suppose she can. Hrmph."
You scoot on through, turning a few heads due to your offworld tech. It doesn't take long to find a local monger selling all manner of alien fish. A stout little pony with a great big bushy beard, he appears to be closing up for the day, pausing expectantly as you draw near.
>>734139>>734140>>734141He frowns. "Shoulda guessed you were here 'bout that. Had one of you lot come by a few days ago. Ended up getting kidnapped by 'em, as I recall."
"If you're looking to get to their hideout, you're pretty much on your own," he says with a shrug. "Pirates aren't the only danger in navigating your way through the Teeth. And asides, we try to avoid getting tangled with 'em. They've been a thorn in our sides for years, but we get by as best we can. They come around every once in a while, we give them a share of our goods, and in return they leave us alone. Not ideal. Not by a long shot. I had my way we'd have run them out of town ages ago. But we're just not equipped to be dealing with them. Never have been. So we try and coexist where we can."
"Sorry, didn't mean to go on a tangent. Point is, I dunno if there'd be a soul in town willing to take you into those waters. Too risky, you know?"
No.734143
>>734142Fair enough but I suppose if we find someone willing and we take care of them maybe you guys might have a… bounty for it?" she asked as she knew how these things worked. Years of role playing games and then a few years being hired muscle told her that taking care of a problem usually got someone a nice reward for their trouble.
No.734144
>>734142"Hmm. Fair enough- I guess we'll do our own looking, then. Is there anyone that can lend us a boat?"
No.734145
>>734142"Ah pardon didn't mean to stop you, just figured I should check out the fresh fish here. One of those weird spacer, but that's obvious I think. Still open?" Vandal says, trying to be amiable considering she was both an outsider and the shop was closing.
No.734146
>>734142"Fair enough. Though, we could wait for them to come to us. How often are they usually here?"
No.734147
>>734143Galen taps his chin. "Well, we don't have anything official out for 'em. But, we'd be more than grateful if you manage to get rid of 'em. We don't have much, but if you did run em off the planet, we'd scrape together a reward for you for sure."
>>734144"Hm. We might have some Skippers, but we can't just hand something like that out for free, even if it is for a good cause. I'll see what I can find for ya."
>>734145"Am now," he answers. "What can I do ya for, spacer? We've got Knifetail, Heike Crab, Razorcrest, even Bor Shark… all freshly caught, of course. Reeled 'em in just this morning." He points out the different types of strange marine life hanging from a rack behind him.
>>734146"Usually they send a few of theirs out every couple weeks. They're pretty consistent with it. …Come to think of it, I think they might be about due for another collection for tomorrow…"
No.734148
>>734147"Renting would be fine, too. Where would we go to look for something like that?" he asks, before stroking his chin. "We could wait for them to come tomorrow, and go back with them…"
No.734149
>>734147>>734148"Now why would they take us back with them?" He asks genuinely, trying to decipher a plan.
No.734150
>>734147>>734148>>734149Or we could just floor them and steal their boat? Have one of them guide us back and not have to bother anyone around here with bribes or sweet talk."
No.734151
>>734149>>734150"Flooring them was… the idea, yes. Did it note come across as that?"
No.734152
>>734147"I'm a dumbass city slicker, what'd you say would be best for eating as is, little preparation?" Vandal asks, leaning over the counter to look, "Is this just off the docks, or you sail out in the morning?"
No.734153
>>734151You didn't say it and as far as I've known you, you haven't really seemed the subtle type so…"
No.734154
>>734153"Ah. I'd mostly meant we could just force them to tell us where the rest of them are."
No.734155
>>734148>>734149>>734150Galen frowns and takes a step back. "W-we don't want any trouble with them," he says earnestly. "They get hurt or killed on our turf, it's my people that are gonna pay the price. Not you. I don't really know what your quarrel with them is, but I can't let you bring that storm on us. I just can't."
>>734152He frowns. "We don't normally eat 'em raw. But I suppose you outsiders are a different breed. Hm… Couldn't hurt to try the Razorcrest, I s'pose." He reaches into a fridge and produces a fillet of raw fish, orange in color with intriguing white lines across its surface.
It's salmon."Depends. Some's caught by some of the other fishers. Others I trawl myself. Do it a couple times a week early in the morning. It's a peaceful life."
No.734156
>>734155How about we hit them as they're leaving then? Clears you of any guilt and then we don't have to worry about collateral."
No.734157
>>734155>>734156"Maybe get taken as captives? They'll take us right to their hideout. Wouldn't be my first prison bust."
No.734158
>>734155"Ah. We'll try to find a way that avoids that problem, then. We wouldn't want to cause any trouble here."
>>734157"Could work, yes."
No.734159
>>734157Not the most keen on losing my sword so I might leave that behind but I'd be down for it."
No.734160
>>734155Vandal's tail swishes, mouth watering, "
Fuck I can't remember the last time I had sushi… How much does a filet go for then? Guess I didn't come in the morning when it was the most fresh but I'd be interested."
No.734161
>>734156"That could also work. You'd have to move your ship though. Not exactly subtle leaving it right there on the beach."
>>734157>>734158>>734159"You might not have to follow 'em," he points out. "Depending on if we can find Skippers for y'all, we could provide a map of the Teeth for ya. It still wouldn't be easy, going out there, but it'd save y'all the hassle of having to deal with 'em come tomorrow."
>>734160"100 bits," the fishmonger answers, pre emptively getting ready to chop up a slice for you. "We haven't really made the transition to florins here yet. Sorry."
No.734690
>>734161"If you could, that'd be great. The sooner we can get this handled, the better."
No.734691
>>734161Vandal bites her lip, wanting to make the connection work out, "No worries, I carry both. Would I be taking too much of your time if I called some friends and asked if they wanted anything as well? If you've got a family to get back to I won't take more of your time."
No.734692
>>734161She nodded "Yeah we can do that." she said with a nod as she was down for more of a stealthy approach.
No.734770
>>734161"Fair enough, flashy or stealthy, as long as it happens."
No.734771
>>734690>>734692>>734770"Right." Galen scratches his chin. "It'll take me a bit to ask around, see what I can do to help. If you pull this off, we'll be in your debt, spacers."
After exchanging details and adding him to your commlink contacts, he points out a squat, pointed roofed building in the middle of town. "Over there's our offices. Once I have some news, I'll send y'all a buzz through your commlinks. We can meet up there and I'll show what I've got. Probably later this evening. Till then, you might wanna see about moving the ship. We don't have much in these parts, but feel free to look around, see if you can find something that suits your interests." He tips his hat a little and bids farewell for now, starting to communicate with other officers in town via commlink.
>>734691He pauses and puts the filleting knife away, nodding. "Sure. Was gonna close early till you came along. Take your time."
No.734772
>>734771"I have a feeling this isn't gonna work."
He turns towards the ship
"By the time he figures out how to get to these pirates they're gonna be knocking on our door. Just don't like leaving the mission in another griffons claws."
No.734773
>>734771"Thanks mm..an-" Vandal pauses, not remembering if the fisherpony had told them their name or not, "I really appreciate it, especially ynow me being an offworlder and all."
Vandal walks a short distance, paw to her commlink, "
Ayyy found a cool fisherdude with a boat. We still need a boat right?"
No.734774
>>734771"Thanks. We'll make it as quick as possible." the deer says.
>>734773Fir flicks one of his ears, before saying "Mm. Good timing, then. We're working on some stuff on our end, too."
No.734775
>>734773The fishmonger flicks his ear in annoyance. "Hey. I didn't say I was renting it."
No.734776
>>734771The dragon nodded and decided to just follow after the others as her mind was a bit busy.
No.734777
>>734776Areia decided to start looking around for a bar or somewhere else they might be able to hear rumors of the pirates while they waited.
No.734778
>>734771>>734772>>734776"Where to now, then? Should we meet up with the Felid? We won't have much else to do until they get back to us with information, and it sounds like she secured a boat."
No.734779
>>734778Fir shrugs a little, and figures that if no one's objecting, it's good to go. He clicks on his commlink, and tries to get Vandal's attention.
>>734773"We'll come meet up with you. We could meet at the ship, since we're going to need to move it out of the way anyways."
No.734780
>>734779"
Uhh neat, I haven't asked if we could use it yet. Tryna make friends and stuff yknow."
No.734781
>>734778Yeah that seems like a wise idea." she said with a sigh "She's been pretty on point with getting things done so I have no reason not to trust her now."
No.734782
>>734779"Gotta move the ship. You can drive, right Fir?"
No.734783
>>734780"Ah. I mis-assumed, then. No pressure, we can work our way back to the ship on our own." He says, before looking to Gale.
>>734782"Not the best, but I can pilot it well enough to move it out of the way."
No.734784
>>734777Looking around, there seems to be a bar in town, albeit a rather quiet one. The main gathering point in this backwater town seems to be the market square, where several townsfolk of disparate races are trading for goods or working hard to expand the town. Much of it seems to be under reconstruction after some disaster struck in the recent past. You get a few odd looks from the market goers, but overall, people tend to mind their own business in this sleepy town.
No.734785
>>734784>>734780There's a Bar near the center of the town, I'll be there if you want to meet up with me and I presume the others." she said as she went to go and play a bit of eavesdropping where she could.
{1d10} to listen I suppose
No.734786
>>734785[1d10]
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.734787
>>734786>>734785You drop the eaves, listening to hints of a passing conversation between two laborers.
"…And another one landed on the beach just now…"
"…Spacers stirring up trouble here, I'd wager. Wish they'd leave us be…"
"…Pirates are gonna be coming around any day now…"
"Hope it's not as bad as last time…"
It seems the sheriff's claims are true. These villagers are being harassed quite regularly by pirates. You get the feeling you're not very welcome here. The townsfolk presumably want as little as possible to do with them.
No.734788
>>734783"Hrm… actually, we don't need to move it." the Elk says, before ringing up Green.
"Could you move the ship somewhere a little more out of sight? Just in case, and all."
No.734789
>>734788>>734785>>734782>>734780You hear a scrambling on the other end. Seems you caught her off guard.
"Whu? Sure, gimme a bit," Green says to Fir.
"How's it going over there? Figured anything out yet?" No.734790
>>734789"We have, yeah. It's a little slow-going by now, but we've got a couple options in mind. Going to try and go with the quicker one, so we just need to get a boat."
No.734791
>>734787She grimaced but kept quiet for now as she overheard Green and debated just taking to the skies herself. But she let it go because it wasn't really gonna help anyone if she did that.
Instead she just decided to keep an eye out for anyone who might look… pirate.
[1d10] perception
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.734792
>>734785>>734779>>734789>>734783Vanda blinks, insure of what to think of the mixed responces, "
Uhhh, I'm gonna order something cause the guy's waiting on me to close and I don't wanna piss him off more. Not sure where y'all want me."
Returning to the vendor, she bows briefly and apologies, fishing out bits from her baggy cargo jeans. "Sorry, assumed they'd be getting settled in but sounds like they're not in the mood to talk fish. I'll buy the filet and make sure it wasn't a complete waste of your time."
She pauses, trying her luck, "You or any folk you know on the docks do rentals if me and my buds wanna do a day fishing trip ourselves?"
No.734793
>>734790"Yeah? Run 'em by me, why don't you," she says casually. You hear coffee brewing in the background. In the distance, you hear the ship's engines start to rev.
>>734791While you do spot a few rather unsavory looking characters around town, no one particularly stands out as being an obvious pirate. Being a fishing village, most folk around look salty and hardened by a lifetime of rough living.
>>734792He looks up from solving a crossword on his datapad. "Three across. Six words. Walking in an attention grabbing manner… Hm? Oh, sure." He quickly puts it away and gets back to work, carving up the fish expertly and wrapping it in brown paper for you. "100 bits."
"Not many rentals around, but I offer trips out to sea. Been sailing these waters since before you were born. If you're interested, the price depends on where, and how long. Got a destination in mind?"
No.734794
>>734789"We've got an in. Sorta." He says into the comm.
No.734795
>>734793"Well, we're trying to get a good idea of where they're staked out. Town's scared of 'em, so it took some work to get that much. If we can't find a boat and get a good idea of where they are, we can wait for them to come by tomorrow, board their ship, and force them to take us back. We're leaning more towards the first option."
No.734796
>>734792Sorry, just let us know what you wanna do."
>>734793She sighed and resigned herself to just looking tough for now.
No.734797
>>734796"
Not really about what I want to do, it's a group thing and all. Just trying to figure out a schedule and the like." Vandal answers quietly on the commlink, though not in an attempt to prevent the fisherman from hearing
>>734793"Sorry about that, I swear I'm the least mature one but I'm trying to get a group trip in order. Do you have a home number where I could get back to you on that question? I've gotta herd some cats."
No.734798
>>734797"Yeah that makes sense, I say we meet here at the bar if we're taking votes." she said lazily.
No.734799
>>734794"Hijacking 'em? Risky, but it could work. I'll be parking the ship about a click inland. Found a clearing up ahead. Lemme know if you guys need anything. And uh, good luck. Sounds like a doozy.">>734794>>734795>>734796A bit of time goes by, until eventually you get a buzz from the sheriff.
"Howdy, spacers. Went by faster than I thought it would. I'm still working on securing something, but I've been asking around and there's a couple cadets here that would be happy to help you subdue the pirates tomorrow and help get to their hideout, if you're going with that plan. What else… Oh yeah. I also dug up a map of the Teeth, where they are. Might come in handy if you're traveling yourself. No word on a boat to secure yet, but if you're forcing them to take you, you probably won't need one. I'll keep looking and see what I can find.">>734797He notices you using a commlink. "You can contact me with one of those. Own one myself from my spacing days."
He exchanges contact details with you. His name is Undertow, apparently.
No.734800
>>734799"Good. Send us over the map, if you could. We might have a boat, so let's hope we can rely on that."
No.734801
>>734799Thanks there sherif, the map is gonna be pretty helpful for us since we aren't really sailors."
No.734802
>>734799"Neato, thanks again fisherdude." Vandal waves, trying to seek out where everyone went after leaving.
No.734803
>>734799"Cadets? How many are we talking? Don't wanna turn this into a blow the doors open type mission."
No.734804
>>734800>>734801"Sure thing. Wiring it through now." Your datapad beeps as a topographical map is downloaded onto it.
>>734802You find most of the others in the center of town, near the market square.
>>734803"Counting these two, that makes… two." No.734805
>>734804"Gotcha. I'll give it a good look, and we'll figure things out from there."
>>734803"Keeping it pretty quiet, then? Works for me."
No.734806
>>734803>>734805>>734801"I speeent 100 bits on getting this guy's commlink information, and that's not even for the trip itself." Vandal skates in, keeping the fish in her backpack unmentioned. "Cool fisherdude, apparently an old spacer. Has no idea about going for pirates, just a fishing trip."
No.734807
>>734804She surveyed the map quietly as she kept listening.
>>734803For once I kind of agree with you there feathers"
No.734808
>>734806"Hmm. I'll pay you back sometime, then. Good job." the elk says, peering down at Vandal.
No.734809
>>734805>>734807The map is comprehensive, and thanks to the miracle of modern technology, you can see your location relative to the rest of the surrounding area, and move the map around on all three axes to see the height of it all. A sidebar displays nautical information, such as coordinates, current wind strength, weather, and tide phases. Some parts of the Teeth are labeled as impassable, others dangerous, and others relatively safe. It seems you could plan a safe trip through the Teeth using this, but it doesn't show where the pirates are patrolling. You'd have to be extra careful not to alert them while going through, unless you'd prefer to storm them to reclaim the mysterious box you were hired for.
No.734810
>>734805>>734807"Would rather not attract the ire of some pirates today."
No.734811
>>734810>>734808>>734807>>734806"So uhh… you all have been doing…?" Vandal sways impatiently.
No.734812
>>734811"Trying to get some more information on where the pirates are. We've got a map of where they'd be, so if we can secure a boat we'll have the route to them."
No.734813
>>734809(Forgot to respond, sorry)
>>734810>>734807>>734811"Speaking of the map… we can probably plot out a few routes through the Teeth to the bandits, but we're not sure where they patrol. We could take a safer route, or a more dangerous one, or even just take a more… wait-and-see approach as we go."
No.734814
>>734810>>734809"It makes sense." she replied casually as she downsized the map for later
>>734811Doing pretty well Whiskers, your self?"
No.734815
>>734813" I doubt they patrol at all, but if they're expecting an attack, they'll expect it from the side this place is on."
No.734816
>>734813>>734812"Hmmnn, only problem is a buncha folks with commlinks giving a very specific path through known bandit teritority's gonna definitely reveal our plans to the guy, and likely won't let us use it. Feel like we'd be better off accidently getting the guy to
run into a patrol and then jack that ship."
>>734814Vandal blinks, letting out a sigh, "Yeah fine, just wondering how serious I should be about this thing. Feelin a bit slugish tryna come up with a way to deal with these pirates."
No.734817
>>734816"Well, we're not sure where they patrol. I'll see if we can figure anything out about where they patrol, if they do. If we could get that, we could just suggest a general direction, and hope to run into one."
No.734818
>>734817"Again, something a former spacer and now fisherpony prolly knows now, just sayin."
No.734819
>>734818"Well… how do you suggest we do it 'accidentally' then?"
No.734820
>>734816Well SO long as your ok. You're easily my favorite person in this group and I'd rather not be stuck alone with the bird." she paused and looked to Fir "You're alright too but… we haven't really talked.
>>734819We could move along the beach in seclusion, they tend to land on it pretty regularly from what I'm guessing."
No.735167
https://pastebin.com/Wwm8qAqW (New Sheet!)
>>734820>>734819>>734818>>734815Fir hums a little bit, and says "Regardless, we need to decide on what we're going to do- we've got a few plans, but we need to narrow it down to one so we can move forward."
>>734820"No offense taken." he says, dipping his head a little.
No.735168
>>735167She nodded in response "I'll make time to have a nice little chat with you but as for strategy, I vote more on a proactive than passive approach here."
No.735169
>>734820>>735167>>734815"Alright since everyone's asking and no one's deciding. I'll call my contact, I'll ask if we can rent the boat ourselves. This is our paw in the door kind of deal, the money for the first mission isn't as important as showing we can get shit done. I think we're fine with paying a bit more just to get rid of complications and shit, right?" Vandal says, clearly put up with the mummering and little candor.
No.735170
>>735167"So it's strange fisherpony or oddly kind sheriff?"
He weighs the options for a moment
"This is why I like working alone…"
>>735169"That works, I'm sick of waiting around for mister gold star."
He says, referring to the sherriff
No.735171
>>735169That sounds fine, its fast and honestly doing this quickly and cleanly is the best we can hope to do here."
No.735172
>>735169>>735170>>735171"Great that's enough for me, I'll make the call."
>>734809Taking to her communicator, she calls up Undertow.
No.735173
>>735172After exactly three ring tones, you hear a gruff
"Aye" from the other end.
No.735174
>>735172"Did you get it, then?" the elk asks, cocking his head to the side.
No.735175
>>735173"Heya, this is the offworlder cat from earlier, just calling again about possibly asking to rent out a fishing charter. They're being just as childish as they were when I tried to ask at the stall. I'd hate to keep the time up in the air, so just wondering if I could rent the boat out for an entire day and pilot it ourself so you don't have to put up with waiting for me to tug these guys by their leashes hours after than when we agreed?" Vandal says, rubbing her forehead, "
Get it'd be pricey, think we're willing to pool something together for it."
She almost lets him speak, before blurting out, "
Also if you can't, do you know of any folks with engined boats that would take payment for a similar day off?"
No.735176
>>735175[1d10]
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.735177
>>735175>>735176There's a moment of silence before he speaks.
"You think I'm an idiot? It's no coincidence that you guys show up right after the last moron gets chased off by the pirates, is it. You'd be taking it right into the Teeth, wouldn't you. And that'd be the end of you, and the end of my livelihood. I can't risk that. I just can't. …Sorry." No.735178
>>735177Overhearing the conversation, Gale chimes in.
"The pirates have to come here on something… The fisher lets us use the boat, we'll come back and give him three more."
Knowing that the fisher hasn't heard him, Gale looks to Vandal.
"Up to you if you wanna say that. It's a promise. A tough one."
No.735179
>>735177>>735178"Shush up i've got this." Vandal says off the mic to Gale.
"
Neat alright, said you're a spacer anyways. Listen, charter trusted an asshat to do a job and they fucked it up. You think they'll gonna send another group of fuckups to screw it up again? We're the cleanup crew, the people they send to guarantee will get the mission done after the first time. You think it's financially viable for them to send more rookies?" She sighs in to the mic, "
Listen I get it, you're probably out here in the middle of nowhere to get out of spacing in the first place, last thing you want to do is get dragged into it. I don't want you to either. Still, your community's getting fucked over by a buncha dickheads who think it's cool to pick on a small fishing town and we've got a job we're getting paid for. Like I said, you don't gotta be present for it. Still, your life, we're not some clowns that'll go in and try and steal a boat and piss off the community in the process, just wanted to compensate someone as if it was getting rented out normally, and get this done swiftly so our boss is happy."
[1d10]
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.735181
>>735179"Had it in the first half…" He says under his breath, turning away from Vandal and pacing.
No.735182
>>735179There's a slightly longer silence. For a moment you think he's hung up on you.
"…""…Fine. But you won't be able to do it on your own. I don't care how good you are, you'll get torn to shreds on the rocks if the pirates don't get to you first. You're going to need someone who can actually navigate worth a shit. …We'll leave as soon as you're ready. The pirates won't be able to see us under cover of night, but I've kitted my Skipper with some nav tools from back in the day. My house is right on the beach. Look for the jetty. …Don't make me regret this any more than I already am, kid." No.735183
>>735182"
…Thank you. Sorry for the 'one last heist' sorta trope, know it's cliched as hell."
After hanging up, she looks to the others, gasping for air,
>>735181>>735174>>735171"Please don't make me do that ever again, I am NOT a negotiator. There we are, a captain and a boat, with spacer knowledge."
No.735184
>>735183"It's a good cliche," he says, and hangs up.
No.735185
>>735183"Just ask next time, if it was me on the phone he'd be paying us to take this."
He huffs, begrudging his own praise.
"You did alright."
No.735186
>>735183I mean you volunteered Whiskers."
No.735187
>>735183"I'll try to avoid it from now on. Sorry."
No.735188
>>735187>>735186>>735185"Whatever, someone call Green. Spent my once a day social ability or what not."
No.735189
>>735188The Dragon nodded and rang up the pony "Hey Green, we got a ride to the Pirates base tonight if you wanna move the ship out of sight now."
No.735190
>>735188Fir nods a little bit, before ringing up Green. "We've got the ride sorted out."
No.735191
>>735189>>735190"Shit!" You hear scrambling on the other end, a mug breaking, and what sounds like elecricity shorting out.
"Goddammit… Er, already ahead of you. Moved the ship more inland, shouldn't be easy to find. Lemme know when you get the box, and if you need air support. I've got your location pinged. Good luck." No.735192
>>735191Rodger dodger, just make sure not to shock yourself or some shit."
No.735193
>>735191"Should we start calling her to tell her we're gonna call her so she doesn't freak every time? Seems like a good idea."
No.735194
>>735193I was half expecting to hear some sort of vibrating noise." she joked as she grabbed her blade "So what should we do now? Just head to his house and wait there?"
No.735195
>>735193>>735194"Well, if we have anything else we need to grab, now's likely the time."
No.735196
>>735194"Yeah, let's try to be punctual and actually try to pull off the cleaner crew vibe instead of another set of newbies-
>>735193"-Which means none of your bullshit. Keep your beak shut if you don't have anything that's relevant to the mission."
Vandal skates in place restlessly.
No.735197
>>735196He chuckles. "Whatever you say, Boss."
>>735194"Sounds like he'll be waiting for us."
No.735198
>>735196Yeah lemme just send a quick message to the Sherrif so he isn't gonna try a one man waylay." she said as she rang him up on her comm unit.
No.735199
>>735196"Just relax, then. We'll be ready."
No.735200
>>735198You notify the sheriff of the change of plans.
"Huh. I was talking to some people about it already, but okay. Didn't think old Sandy would ever come out of retirement like that. Godspeed, spacers. You're doing this place a great favor.">>735198>>735197>>735196>>735195You double back and start heading back towards the volcanic beach. It's not hard to spot the jetty, a small, privately owned construct a few minutes walk from where you are. A small path built into the beach leads up towards Undertow's house, a humble little house with some nautical decorations and a corrugated iron roof. Seems he lives alone.
You find him waiting for you. He is a stout old salt of an earth pony with an impressive beard. He's wearing a long coat and hat, prepping the Skipper as you approach. It is a white jet powered vehicle with a teal holographic sail, large enough for the five of you, with a complex HUD near the steering wheel at the back. She's called the
Dauntless.He salutes you as you approach, fiddling with the controls of the Skipper. He pauses to look you all over with light blue, weary eyes. "Don't look like much of a cleanup crew. Guild must be getting desperate." He shrugs and continues his work. "Don't suppose you have much of a plan for when we get there yet," he asks without looking up.
No.735201
Another convenience repost:
Green has acquired the following gear for potential use on the mission:
Six pairs of Nighteyes, with corresponding remote activators.
Two pairs of binoculars and one monocular.
Six pairs of Commlinks, small, near-invisible earpieces that can be linked up on a wireless network to verbally communicate with each other from long distances.
70 feet of climbing cable.
Six pairs of climbing spikes.
A week's worth of astronaut food, water, and oxygen tanks.
Two Carriers, small deployable items that can be tethered to one to carry cargo. They have repulsors built on their underside, and can therefore travel over rough terrain relatively unhindered.
A Crybaby. This is a dubiously legal device that will begin to transmit a distress signal when activated. Sometimes used by raiders to lure wayward ships into an ambush. One use only.
Two Chokies, a colloquial term for a small, hard to detect robot that can be remote controlled. When activated, the Chokie dispenses tear gas. One use each.
Six gas masks.
Two collapsible shotguns, loaded with rubber bullets. Ammo is 6/24.
A collapsible sniper rifle loaded with sleep darts. Ammo is 4/16.
You can say you grabbed any of these before leaving, if you haven't already.
No.735202
>>735201Fir will take some of the climbing cable and climbing spikes, and a Chokie. He's got the commlink and Nighteye already, anyways.
>>735200Fir shrugs a little at the earth pony's assessment, before carefully stepping aboard once it looks like he's ready. "We weren't able to get the most information, so not a lot. We've got a decent mix of talent though, so we should be fine to hit the ground running."
No.735203
>>735201>Taking two gas masks (one for the skipper), monocular, and a Chokie, the latter tied to her backpack haphazardly.>>735202Vandal clears her throat, trying to look like they know what they're doing.
>>735201"We're stocked with gas masks and tear gas, We've got a specialist that deals with any machinery that'll be ignoring the fumes," Vandal looks to Areia, "And other infiltrators to flank once the confusion from the gas gets them running towards the commotion."
No.735204
>>735200Gale keeps his mouth shut, while investigating the HUD.
He thinks to himself: "Fancy setup for a fishing boat…"
>>735201Gale has taken: Nighteye, Commlink, and a Carrier.
No.735205
>>735200I mean I figured we just figure out where the stuff is and I proceed to start melting through walls til we get there. Would save us a ton of time and we wouldn't have to try and sweep every floor of the wrecks out there."
No.735207
>>735204Perception [1d10+2]
Roll #1 9 + 2 = 11 No.735208
>>735204>>735207The Dauntless is quite old, but kept extremely well over the years. She's probably a point of pride for Undertow. Her HUD is a custom job, with a bunch of bells and whistles added to it, including a constantly updating map of the surrounding region, a sonar and radar display, a flip up screen with night vision to be able to navigate in dark waters, and even what looks like a suppressing cloak, a type of device that renders an object imperceptible to all non magical sensors, but still visible to sight. In short, it seems very well equipped for sneaking around in night waters.
He notices you looking. "Admiring the handiwork, are ya. Been working on her for a long time. All the custom stuff helps avoid unwanted attention on night trawls, see."
>>735202"Not much to say about 'em," he shrugs. "They've been a pain in the ass for years now. My advice, don't be a hero. Just go in, get what you need then get out. Maybe call that ship of yours for help. You won't be able to get rid of 'em that easily. Bigger than you have tried."
>>735203>>735205He nods. "I think I know where their hideout is. We'll just have to be careful to avoid patrols. Was telling your friend here how I've kitted to do that when I go on night trips. I've seen them out and about. Always steered clear of 'em. Till now."
>>735202>>735203>>735204>>735205He finishes getting the Dauntless up and running. The circular exhaust on the aft end comes to life, and the vessel rises a few inches above the water, humming and sputtering. He flips the map screen up and presses a few buttons, bringing everything online. He looks to you expectantly. "Ready?"
No.735209
>>735208"We won't bite off more than we can chew, but thanks for the advice." the deer says, dipping his head and settling down to sit on the deck with a loud thump.
No.735210
>>735208She nodded as she held the Shotgun in her lap for now "As I'll ever be."
No.735211
>>735209>>735210>>735207>>735203>timeskipYou board the skipper and take off. It's not long before you start getting nauseous; the constant rocking of the vessel on the waves is enough to make anyone seasick. As a veteran, Undertow remains standing, completely unaffected. The journey is relatively uneventful; at one point you see a display of bioluminescent fish follow the Skipper, almost as if showing off, but otherwise it's quiet. Undertow isn't much for conversation either, focusing on staying the course.
In the distance, the Teeth begin to come into view in the light of the moon. A narrow, perilous pass of twisted metal and razor-sharp rocks, it appears to be the remnants of a space battle from long ago, fallen from the sky and making its mark on the landscape. Here and there you recognize bits and pieces of spaceships, all covered in seaweed and barnacles, slowly rusting and being claimed by Mother Ocean. If it were any of you at the helm, you'd probably be dashed to bits on a rock, but Captain Sandy Undertow keeps you out of harm's way.
"Shit." The Skipper jolts abruptly and comes to a complete halt all of a sudden. You soon see what's got him on edge; a blinding white light passes through the hulks of metal sticking out of the waters, and you see the silhouette of another Skipper on patrol. The rowdy yelling and shanties coming from it suggest their identity. "Pirate patrol," Undertow growls. You see him reaching for a blaster under the helm. "Right in the middle of our trajectory too. Either we wait it out and risk being caught or we're gonna have to find a way to draw them away. Don't suppose you've got any bright ideas."
No.735212
>>735211I could fly up and divebomb them with a blast of plasma. Would probably draw them off but I have no idea if I could take the ship out with just one shot."
No.735213
>>735211>>735212"Big burst of light'll be on the horizon for em then. Maybe just drop something heavy into the water aways away? Doesn't put 'em on high alert, but something going sploosh nearby's gonna get their eyes."
No.735214
>>735211Gale is quiet for a bit, following Vandals orders. Until he finally shares:
"We could sing along."
He pauses.
"Sounds crazy, but how do they know we aren't pirates too?"
No.735215
>>735211"Hrm… did anyone bring that distress signal… thing? We had one we could've used to distract them. The only thing I've got for that would be a Chokie."
>>735214"Probably won't work- they're likely not so large that they won't know each other."
No.735216
>>735215I mean I was gonna ask if we just had an empty box on the boat I could fly up and drop from high up."
No.735217
>>735216"That could… work, yes. Might draw some attention, though."
No.735218
>>735217Wasn't that the idea? I drop something away from us and they go looking for it."
No.735219
>>735218(Oh, I misread that. Pretend I didn't say that!)
>>735216"I'm sure there's some sot of box around here. Need any help setting it up?"
No.735220
>>735219I guess if there's any weights or stuff it'd help." she said looking around for either.
>>735213>>735214Might as well help us look you two."
No.735221
>>735220>>735219>>735214>>735213With Undertow's help, you manage to find a tackle box under one of the seats. Undertow empties it with a bit of a grimace, putting everything in a larger crate. "I liked that box."
He holds it out. "Who's gonna do the honors then?"
No.735222
>>735221I can fly with ease and I have some armor so I should be able to take a hit if they think to look up."
No.735223
>>735222Areia would scoop the box up, taking to the skies with a small shake of the boat as she used some cover to get up high enough that they wouldn't look, aiming for a spot off to the west that looked fairly easy to aim at, and then chucking the box that way.
[1d10]
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.735224
>>735221>>735222"Let me try something…"
[1d10] Distill Life
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.735225
>>735222>>735223"Shoulda just sang…"
No.735226
>>735222>>735224Fir's armor whirs to life, and eventually ejects three small syringes filled with green, glowing energy. He passes them over to Areia, before saying "They're not much, but they'll keep you going in a pinch. Take 'em."
No.735227
>>735223You fly up onto a spire jutting out of the water, looking down at the pirate Skipper. It's not dissimilar to Undertow's, only in darker hues, and with some mounted guns. Contrary to Vandal's earlier comment, from what you can see of the pirates they are indeed the one eyed 'arrr' variety of pirate, looking grubby, brutish and extremely rowdy, with nasty looking weaponry and miscellaneous missing body parts. One even has an alien parrot. As you lob the tackle box, the lights from the pirate ship turn in its direction, and with miscellaneous 'avast!'s and 'yarr!'s, the pirate boat starts moving towards it purposefully, out of your way.
"We won't be able to avoid 'em forever," Undertow points out as you return and the ship starts moving again. "Once they realize it's nothing, they'll come back here, and they'll see the wake we left. No hiding that even with all this tech. But it should be able to buy us some time to see if we can find their hideout."
No.735228
>>735227She pocketed the syringes for now and decided to keep following them from above for now, pulling her nighteyes on to keep track of the boat as she went high enough to not worry about hitting a rock or ship piece.
No.735229
>>735228You slip on the Nighteyes. They're essentially contact lenses that form a mental bond with the wearer to be activated at will. Through them, you can see everything around you as if it were daytime, albeit in washed out shades of grey.
You keep an eye on the boat, having to avert your gaze whenever the lights shine towards you; the Nighteyes make you extremely sensitive to light, rendering you blind momentarily if shone upon. You watch as they start moving towards where you threw the box, only to find nothing. "Must've been the wind," you hear one say.
>>735226>>735225>>735213>>735228As Areia causes a distraction and leaves the ship for now, Undertow gets it into motion, moving deeper into the Teeth, following the wake of the pirate patrol in hopes it'll lead you to it.
Areia sees the pirate ship start moving towards your trail, following behind you. They haven't spotted your ship yet, though, since it uses no lights to navigate, but are inadvertently on your case.
Eventually trail goes cold, the wake ripples fading out to a foggy, cramped region of the Teeth. It looks pretty much the same in any direction you look. Undertow curses under his breath. "Well now what? Their hideout could be anywhere." He pulls out an old fashioned telescope and starts trying to look around to see if he can spot anything out of the ordinary.
>roll Perception No.735230
>>735228>Hunter's Eye: automatic instant, once per combat; Your vision, smell and hearing are unparalleled. An enemy targeted by this skill cannot use Stealth, is removed from Stealth if already using it, and you gain a +1 bonus to all attacks against the target until the end of combat. You can also see in the dark without the need for a light source.Using the monocular she brought with him and her ability to see in the dark, she quickly scopes out the area around her.
[1d10] assumed DC reduction for tools used
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.735231
>>735229"Gotta be some sort of secret entrance or something…"
Perception [1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.735232
>>735229Arreia cursed under her breath and moved to one of the nearby towering hunks of metal nearby, aiming to try and cut off a hunk of it so it might slam into the boat and take the light out.
[1d10] to attack the ship fragment.
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.735233
>>735229[1d10] Perception
Without too much else to do, Fir tries to keep an eye out.
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.735234
>>735230>>735231>>735233It's near impossible to see anything in the fog, but Fir manages to spot a small opening in one of the wrecks, which seems to lead into the belly of a much larger warship. It seems big enough for you to sail through with extreme caution. Looks viable enough as a hideout for a bunch of pirates.
>>735232You knock a piece of scrap metal loose, but it just plops into the water, drawing their ire towards you. The light flares up, blinding you momentarily. You hear a grunt of surprise. "Intruders!" One of the pirates screeches as he spots you. "Intruders in our waters! Sound the alarm!"
>>735230>>735231>>735233>>735232A loud klaxon siren starts blaring from the patrol Skipper as they spot Areia, scrambling to grab weapons and attack her. "Well shit," Undertow growls. "What do we do?"
No.735235
>>735234"Hrm… that's not good. I'm glad I gave her all three." he says, before narrowing his eyes and leaning in. "I think I see the warship through that small opening, but I'm not sure if it's the best idea to go straight for them with the alarms blaring."
No.735236
>pausan
No.735772
>>735771Prospects are good! On your travels through the galaxy, you have come across whispers of a place ripe for scavenging. In the oceans of the island planet of Faora lies a graveyard of fallen spaceships, known as the Teeth by the locals. Lurking in the bowels of the place is a hideout of nefarious pirates who terrorize the local islanders on the reg. Seems like a perfect place to go picking through.
After "borrowing" a Skipper (see note) from one of the nearby island villages, you have navigated out to sea, reaching the metal reef known as the Teeth. You dock at the edge of one of the wrecks and fly up, getting a good view of the region. The Teeth are aptly named; forsaken by the tides, the Teeth are a vast, impenetrable maze of twisted, razor sharp metal and rocks, jutting out like vicious fangs from the lapping waves below. You feel like you might get tetanus just looking at the place.
For someone with wings like you, physically traversing this place shouldn't be too hard; the problem will lie more in trying not to get lost and disoriented amidst the labyrinth of rusting hulks. Luckily, the skies are on your side; though it is night time, the moons of Faora are full, and the skies are clear. Visibility shouldn't be too much of an issue.
>Note: a Skipper is a watergoing vehicle used throughout the Galactic Realms. Usually only big enough for one or two people, it's essentially a dinghy with hover tech and a propulsion engine on the back. Useful for traveling over large bodies of water. No.735773
>>735234She closed her eyes and let out a snarl of impotent rage as she tried her best to get down to the boat to try and torch it with a plasma blast from her own natural reserve.
[1d10] Dragon Breath (Plasma)
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.735774
>>735234"Ah fuck, they don't know we're here so maybe-"
She gets on comms, "
Areia, can you draw them off course, maybe fly them into some rocks so they beach themselves? As long as you're not going in hot I don't think they'd shoot->>735773-back…"
She turns back to Undertow, "See if we can pull ahead and hide behind some wreckage? We could try and go dark."
No.735775
>>735772Gigi looks out over the fallen ships and smiles. Sure, it would be bad if she got lost, but she could always track Frank if she wanted to get back to the ship. She pulls her black cap off her head, wipes her forehead with the back of her wrist, and slides it back on.
She lifts her wrist to her mouth and speaks into a microphone set into a dark gray watch-like bangle. "Yo, Frank, keep lookout for me and tell me if you see anyone coming," she whispers. "I'm about to dive into an all you-you-can-carry buffet of florins. The wiring in these things alone is probably worth a fortune, let alone all the tech."
She brings one of her headphones to the side of her head. After a second it flares up in a quiet hiss, and a static filled, low quality, overly enthusiastic voice pipes through."You got it, G-Man!" Frank says. "If I see anything I'll screech and maul them like a rabid dog." A loop of barks plays for a moment, and, after a quiet pop, his voice returns to normal. "Then they'll think I'm crazy and leave us alone."
Gigi rubs one of her eyes. "No, Frank, don't let them know you're here. We're looking at some seriously dangerous guys if anyone catches us. If you think you see anyone, hide below deck and
quietly let me know. I really don't think they'll pay too much attention to a little boat, so this should be a quick in and out. The only real issue should be hauling all this back and loading it up."
"You got it, boss! Operation cowardly packrat is a go."
Gigi sighs, raises her headphones all the way over her head, and lifts her hood. "Alright," she says, pulling out her music player. After a quick run through her playlists, she settles on one and hits play. An upbeat trance song flares to life, and she cracks her knuckles. "Showtime."
She takes off into the air and scouts out the ships for a good place to start.
[1d10+2]
Roll #1 1 + 2 = 3 No.735776
>>735775[1d10]Frank on lookout
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.735777
>>735234"Fuck. Look if we can get close enough I can sneak in and finish this. Don't think we can win a full frontal assault."
Saying this, he preps a cast on his hologram emitter
Summon Clone [1d10]
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.735778
>>735776>>735775Frank doesn't report anything yet.
You make off a bit deeper into the maze, flying from wreck to broken wreck for signs of anything of interest. Regrettably, your efforts are fruitless, for now. Most of them are far too old and dilapidated to have anything of value.
As you try and get your bearings, having gotten somewhat disoriented, you notice something interesting. There's some beams of light peering through the wrecks, ostensibly some sort of vessel sailing through the waters. You hear yelling, followed by an alarm going off. Whoever they are, something's set them off.
>roll Perception>>735773You swoop down and nuke 'em with a searing blast of plasma breath. Several of the pirates are caught up in it, yelling in pain and diving into the waters. A couple of them are luckier, and hit the deck before they can get blasted. These two respond by pulling out laser pistols, opening fire on you!
[2d10]
From off in the distance, you see lights moving through the wrecks. Looks like reinforcements are on their way.
>>735777Your copy materializes from the feet up, small magitek particles appearing out of thin air, shifting and reconstructing to form a replica of yourself. Undertow does a bit of a double take as he sees you've multiplied, but doesn't comment on it.
>>735235>>735774>>735777Just as Fir says that, you spot some lights coming from within the warship. A couple of one man Skippers come rushing out, each manned by an armed, vicious looking pirate. They don't seem to notice you, hellbent on answering the call of the patrol. "Welp, she's dead," Undertow shrugs.
He follows Vandal's request and starts veering your Skipper away from the entrance, hiding behind a large hunk of rock. "Maybe we could find some other way in," he suggests. "The distraction might be what we need."
>roll PerceptionRoll #1 6, 6 = 12 No.735779
>>735778Gigi groans as she looks over the rusted out husks. These were supposed to be in tact enough to at least find some stuff. Maybe it's just a bad part? There are plenty of ships to go through, so she supposed it made sense if an entire cluster were about the same age. She goes to swoop into one of the ships to at least try and tear out some wires when a light catches her eye.
At first she freezes in place, but she quickly realizes the light isn't headed toward her just yet. Her claw shoots to her bangle, and with the click of a button she shimmers and disappears. Taking an extra measure, she floats down to one of the taller ships and rests on the hull.
Lifting her bangle to her beak, she whispers, "Frank. We've got company. Hop under that tarp and try to look like uninteresting cargo."
The music cuts out and Frank's voice sparks to life. "You got it, Giggles! Looking like unimportant trash is my specialty!"
The music pipes back to life as Frank's voice fades, but she quickly reaches her hand into her pocket and cuts it off.
[1d10]Perception
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.735780
>>735777Correction:
Your emitter glows and reconfigures, coming up with a little holographic display showing a generic griffon. Your clone is prepped for deployment.
No.735784
>>735780"Handsome."
>>735778"Another entrance is exactly what we need, and I got another distraction right here." He says, clinking the emitter. "I'm sure there's some sort of backdoor to this place."
Perception [1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.735785
>>735778[1d10]
"Another way in'd make sense- if we can find it, at least."
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.735786
>>735778"The skippers can't hit make it through the wreckage, she'll be fine if she's can dodge 'em. Let's keep our eyes open."
[1d10] can see in dark vision if that helps
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.735787
>>735779You think you spot some movement from behind a large rock, but you can't see anything just yet.
The situation seems to be escalating. You hear blaster fire, and what sounds like dragon breath. You catch a glimpse of the perpetrator's silhouette as they fly around. It's a dragon alright. Not a fully grown one, luckily, but a dragon nonetheless. She's huge, especially compared to you. She seems to be giving the pirates a hell of a time.
>>735784>>735785>>735786You spot an entrance, but it won't be easy to get to. It's not much more than a hole in the roof of the shipwreck. You'd have to dock the ship at one of the wrecks, climb over, then squeeze in and work your way into their base from there. Undertow frowns. "Looks risky, but it could work. Should we keep looking or go for it?
No.735788
>>735778Areia paused and did her best to avoid the shots in the air.
[1d10] Dodge
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.735789
>>735788You try to do a barrel roll out of the way of the shots, only to take them straight to the chest, sending you spiraling out of control and crashing painfully into the remains of a starfighter's cockpit. You're gonna be picking bits of old glass out of your suit and wings for days.
>Areia takes 4 hitsThe pirates on the skipper start focusing on helping those that fell into the water for now.
No.735790
>>735789She groaned and took the time to climb out and out slowly, aiming to get away before they turned the focus back to her. She went as high as her aching form could take her before trying to find her friends
No.735791
>>735787"Hrm… keep looking, I think- at least for a little longer. If we get caught slipping in, we'd be in a bad spot."
[1d10] Perception again, maybe?
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.735792
>>735787"I can do jumps and climbing easy, I'll rush in, get the tear gas spreading, and go hunting for our object in question."
No.735793
>>735790[1d10] Navigation
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.735794
>>735787"I think we're fine," Gigi whispers. "It looks like they're, like, distracted or someone? There's a big ass dragon blasting them or some shit, and it looks like most of their attention is on him."
"Oooooh," Frank says. "Wouldn't that mean it's a good time to slip into the backdoor and rob them blind?"
Gigi chuckles and shakes her head. "Noooo, that- that would be immoral and dangerous. I should really probably just stick with the ships."
"They
are pirates. They did probably steal all their stuff to begin with," Frank reminds her.
Gigi swallows. "Yeah, but- I mean, it would be dangerous. We should just forget about it and load up while they're preoccupied. It's safer." She chuckles and shakes her head. "Break in and steal from a bunch of pirates. Forget about that. That's a joke." She pauses for a long moment as she watches the dragon. "Unless…" She laughs and shakes her head again. "Nah, nah, really, let's just-" She looks down at the rusted out shells she'd failed to find much in so far.
She did have her InvisiBand
[Patent Pending], they
were pirates, and if she could get away with it it
would be way easier looting them under their noses instead of hauling tons of wires and old computer parts. Plus if she could make out with some actual cold hard cash then she could save on shipping costs too. "You really think it'll work out? It's kind of a shot in the dark."
"I know it'll work out. Battle that fear and come out on top, Zelly.
Once you fight the demons that live in your heart, the ones that live outside will never knock you door."
Gigi blinks. "Did you get that out of a book?"
"I did! You should really read it. I think it really spoke to me. It's a book about this guy dealing with-"
"Alright. Later, Frank. Right now, focus." Gigi hums."I-" She pauses. "Let's see if I can find anything here first. If it just seems like I'll be stripping the walls then I'll just keep the idea in the back of my head. You know. As insurance."
She turns toward the wreckage, takes one more look over the hull, then back to the wreckage. With the thought of quick and easy riches in the back of her mind, she returns to searching for promising marks.
[1d10+2]
Roll #1 1 + 2 = 3 No.735795
>>735787"Go for it. I can fly over and be in and out without them even noticing."
>>735792"You can play distraction too."
No.735796
>>735790>>735793You spot them nearby and fly over. They're hiding behind a large hunk of coral reef, docked near another part of the main wreck.
>>735791You can't seem to spot any other alternatives right now, though there might be another way in if you keep sailing around…
>>735792>>735795"Sounds like a plan. I'll stay and guard the skipper. I have you all on comms, so I'll let you know if anything starts going wrong."
>>735790>>735791>>735792>>735795Areia rejoins the party, looking a bit scuffed up. Undertow perks up. "Oh hey, you survived. They still on your tail?"
No.735797
>>735796Probably gonna be a bit focused on helping their buddies after I torched them, they think I crashed and burned into one of the spires so we might be clear.
No.735798
>>735794Still nothing. Just lots of space seaweed, space crabs and space barnacles. Looks like the pirates have pretty much picked the place clean over the years. Odds are if you're gonna get anything out of this sojourn, you're going to have to take them on eventually.
No.735799
>>735796Vandal finagles the gas mask around her face, hoping they was one made for her muzzle shape.
No.735800
>>735799Planning a little solo mission of your own there whiskers?"
No.735801
>>735798Gigi groans. "Fuck," she says. "I'm gonna have to call Sykes and get my damn money back. This is bull. The place is picked clean."
"Piiiiraates," Frank says in an attempt at a sing-song.
"Alright," Gigi says. "No way I'm leaving empty clawed. I've invested too much into this stupid shit already. Think you can find a place to pull the boat a little closer through their base? Not completely out of the graveyard. Just close enough so I don't have to fly all the way back if I need to make a quick escape."
"I can try," Frank says. His voice modulator pops and his voice takes on a lower, more somber note. "It's pretty likely I'll mess it up and get you killed, though. Then I'll be all alone and it won't be anyone's fault but mine. Not like I've done anything to deserve you anyway."
Gigi rolls her eyes. "Reassuring," she says. "It was rhetorical. I know you can do it as long as you can find a path. Get in closer and drop anchor as close to one of the wrecks as you can to try to blend in. Shouldn't be more than a quick in and out. Just move north-by-northwest."
Double checking her InvisiBand is still active, she takes to the air and flies in the direction of the base, keeping low to the water.
Frank, in the meantime, starts messing around with the ship's controls. Giving the on board compass a quick tap, he begins his attempt at navigating the wreckage.
[1d10]Frank navigation
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.735802
>>735801[1d10]
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.735803
>>735796"Easy as that."
Gale follows Vandal, keeping an eye on the air as they approach.
>>735799"I don't have one of those, so keep that stuff away from me. And here, take this." He claws over a hologram emitter. "In case you get lonely."
No.735804
>>735796"Hrm… this might be our only other way in, unless we want to sail around more."
>>735797>>735800"Still have any of those syringes I gave you?"
No.735805
>>735803Navigation [1d10]
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.735806
>>735804She nodded and pulled one out "Guess I should stick myself with one now?"
No.735807
>>735803"I brought another along for Undertow, but you can have his." Vandal offers the mask tied to her backpack.
No.735808
>>735806"One or two, yeah. Get the worst of it off."
No.735809
>>735808She nodded and stuck herself with two syringes per his request.
No.735810
>>735797"Good. Plan's for you guys to make for the gap up there and work your way in from the top. I'll be keeping watch here on the Skipper and give you guys a shout if we're found out." He points out a hole in the roof, large enough for you to crawl through. Seems to lead into the wreck.
>>735801>>735802Frank navigates the Skipper towards you, staying out of sight of the pirates. He notices some ripples in the water from other Skippers having passed recently. Eventually, he parks the ship somewhat close by, out of your sight but in flying distance.
Meanwhile, you fly to the base of the giant warship, parking on the roof. You notice something strange: the dragon from before is back, and she has company. Four other spacers are with her. Looks like they're attempting a breakin.
>>735805The surface of the wreck is slippery with space seaweed. As you try and clamber up to the roof, you slip and fall into the shallows, hitting your head hard on a metal pole. Your vision blurs, and you're vaguely aware of Undertow asking if you're okay.
>Gale takes 2 hits>>735807You climb up the side of the wreck with ease, getting to the breach in the roof. It seems to lead to some sort of maintenance area. It starts to dawn on you what you're looking at; the whole ship is upside down. What's normally at the bottom is at the top, and vice versa.
It's dark in there, even for you. The mess of tangled wires, some still sparking, doesn't help either. You'll have to be extra careful squeezing through here.
>>735809You patch yourself up with the syringes, feeling better already.
>Areia is healed back to full No.735811
>>735808[1d10] Can I climb? Maybe not.
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.735812
>>735810"Yeah yeah… I'm.. fine."
With his jacket torn and soaked, he discards his clothing and glasses.
"And just when I thought I'd be done with this kind of shit." He activates his comms "Van, where's the entrance to this place? Wherever I tried to go didn't work."
No.735813
>>735810>>735811I could probably carry you up there friend." she said feeling like repaying the favor from earlier with the syringes.
No.735814
>>735813"Might be good- not really much of a climber."
No.735815
>>735810Gigi runs her hand down her face and resists the urge to scream. Bringing the InvisiBand to her beak, she whispers, as quietly as she can manage, "Looks like they weren't just beefing. I think the dragon is trying to break in too, and he-" She squints. "No.
She has company. Like, four others. Maybe this is a bad idea."
"Oh, yeah," Frank says. "That would explain the ripples in the water from another Skipper. So what if there are more folks breaking in. Tell me this. Are they-" He pauses for dramatic effect. "
Invisible?"
"No," Gigi says. "But this thing isn't foolproof. Anyone with IR goggles, any kind of EMP jammer, or a really good sense of hearing can detect me. If that happens I'm screwed."
"What was it again? 1500 Florins?" Frank asks. "Besides! It'll be exciting! Where's your sense of
adventure, Zelly-Belly!"
"2000," she mumbles. "Alright, well, I'm gonna sit tight until they're in, and then go in behind them. That way the pirates already have their eyes on them when I start snooping around."
No.735816
>>735814>>735810She nodded and did her best to try and scoop him up and carry him to where the others were.
[1d10]
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.735817
>>735810Thanking her feline agility and cursing her bulky backpack, Vandal slinks stealthily through the OSHA violation maintenance area.
[1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.735818
>>735812"
Figuring it out myself," Vandal responds, "
Found some kinda maintenance room."
No.735819
>>735811>>735813Fir makes it about halfway up before slipping down again. Areia offers to carry him up, but the weight of the massive armored elk is too much for her to bear, and she drops him on the roof. While both of you are unharmed, a panel comes loose, slipping into the breach. It makes a deafening clangor as it bounces off the walls, breaking an unbearable amount of things on the way down before it stops. That's sure to have gotten someone's attention.
>>735815You sit and watch. They seem to be having some technical difficulties climbing up to the top of the wreck. You watch as one, a small, limber Felid, slips into a hole in the hull and disappears. Meanwhile, a huge, armored elk loosens a panel, which falls into the bowels of the ship with a cacophony that could probably be heard from space.
>>735817Navigating the jungle of wires is difficult. You accidentally touch a live wire and get a nasty zap.
>Vandal takes 1 hitReaching the maintenance area, you have to take a moment to adjust to the sight. All the furniture and accessories are on what was formerly the ceiling, now the floor. A few fading red lights illuminate the area. There doesn't seem to be anyone around at the moment, luckily for you. There are miscellaneous bits of junk and tech strewn about carelessly, as well as more than one empty bottle of grog.
You spot a glowing green terminal mounted to one of the tables near the door. Seems to be working still.
No.735820
>>735819Staying low and hiding behind some junk to start, Vandal looks for any cameras she might have to tag over.
[1d10]
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.735821
>>735819"Holy shit, most of them are really bad at this. Pretty sure they just let everyone in the building know where we are. Maybe I should find a different way in." She takes her cap off, smooths her feather tuft, and puts her cap back on. "Fuck it. Maybe if the pirates see them up here I can get by. At this point I highly doubt they'd leave any actual entrance unguarded. I'm gonna try to sneak past them. Radio silence until further notice, Frank. Let me know if there's an emergency, but I mean it. Stay quiet."
"You got it boss! Won't hear another word out of me until you let me know I can talk again. Unless I see a group of pirates approaching me, or unless there are any other guys with the four you mentioned, then I'll keep my trap shut. Completely silent. No more talking from Franko, no-siree. Zipped, locked, and-"
"
Frank." Frank falls silent.
Gigi slowly creeps toward the hole the felid dropped into, planning to sneak by the last three members and drop in herself.
[1d10]Sneaky if needed
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.735823
>>735819"Hrm… I've never been one for quiet entry." the elk says, letting out a huff. He'll take a chance to look around, and see if anyone's on their way.
[1d10] Perception
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.735824
>>735818"Great. Just as lost as me."
>>735819Gale attempts to fly back up
Navigation [1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.735825
>>735823>>735819I can relate on that. I usually just blow a hole in where I wanna go."
[1d10] Perception
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.735826
>>735820There's three: One seems broken, one's directly above you, and one's on the other end of the room. You can't see much of a way to get to the last one without being caught on camera, unless you can walk on the ceiling. …On second glance, you could make your way through, but you'd have to stick to the walls and shelves like glue, as well as do a bit of stealthy parkour across and around some crates to stay out of its sight. This seems very tricky and difficult to pull off.
You think you hear someone breathing next to you.
>>735823The reinforcement pirates from before seem to be doing a perimeter sweep in the wake of Areia's little scuffle. Luckily, Undertow's skipper is out of the way enough that they shouldn't be able to spot him.
>>735824You manage to fly up this time, just in time to avoid being detected by some pirates that are going around the perimeter in one man skippers.
>>735825You feel a strange breeze pass by you, like you've been visited by a ghost. Alerted slightly by it, you keep a keen eye out. You spot a very faint ripple near the hole Vandal went down. Could just be a trick of the light.
>>735821You sneak past the dragon and the elk, seemingly undetected, and manage to finagle your way down, avoiding any live wires. See the previous post for a description of the maintenance room.
You also notice that you're only a few feet away from the felid. She doesn't seem to know you're there.
No.735829
>>735826Areia nudged Fir "I duno if I'm seeing things but I think something just went past us into that hole big guy." she said pointing at it "Think we should head in and see if Vandal is okay?"
She paused and hit her comm "Hey Vandal, keep an eye out, I think I might be a bit out of it from being shot, but just watch your back."
No.735831
>>735826Gigi tenses up and takes a single, slow step back away from the felid. Thought she'd have gone deeper in after hopping down. Guess someone was actually doing some due diligence before blindly bum-rushing the door.
No way the door isn't locked, but if the terminal controls it then hacking in would probably be easy. All she had to do was actually
get to it and, most importantly, avoid detection.
No.735832
>>735826Gale drops down into the hole on the roof while summoning a clone"
"Let's get this started."
[1d10] Conjure Minion
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.735833
>>735831In the meantime Frank watches over the water, looking for anything of note.
[1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.735834
>>735829>>735826"Hrm… they don't see exactly where we are, but it'd pay to get inside quickly. Let's go." the deer says, trying to scrabble down inside as quickly as possible, and at least somewhat quietly.
At the mention of something slipping past them, the Elk's hardlight antlers spring to life and glow a deep red.
No.735835
>>735830You can feel something, or someone, behind you and to your right. Like they followed you down the hole.
No.735836
>>735834She followed after him, taking out her shotgun for now as she didn't think her sword would be viable in these tiny areas.
No.735837
>>735835>>735831Slowly, carefully, Vandal reaches into her backpack, pulling out a cylindrical item and points it towards the presence.
"
I have a gun, I can see in the dark, and I can sense you. Who are you, and what are you doing." The felid whispers.
No.735838
>>735836[1d10] navigation
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.735839
>>735837Gigi raises her hands and deactivates her InvisiBand. "Don't shoot," she says. "I'm a scrapper. And I'm scrapping. I got a tip that this place was full of crashed ships, but all of them have been picked clean, so I thought I'd slip in and-" She trails off.
"Wow, Zella-Bella. You got caught already?" Frank asks through her headphones. "That's a new record!"
"Not the time, Frank," she mumbles. Turning her attention back to the Felid, she clears her throat. "So, uh… Just maybe, like, let me go?"
No.735840
>>735834[1d10]
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.735841
>>735832You conjure up another clone for yourself.
>>735832>>735838>>735840Fir gets a bit of a spark from one of the live wires, interfering with his suit and making his antlers strobe in the dark. The rest of you avoid them, dropping down to find Vandal, seemingly having a conversation with no one.
>>735833Frank sees some really fucking cool luminescent alien fish in the water.
No.735842
>>735839"
Oh." Vandal responds, setting the canister on her lap.
It's a spray can. "
Well uh, don't mind me then, I'm here for something too. By the way there's two-"
>>735826Vandal sprays over the camera directly above them, covering it with hot pink spraypaint. "
There's one camera across the room. Be a peach and take this can and spray over it?" The felid offers the griffon the spray paint can in her paw, pointing to the camera.
No.735843
>>735841The dragon raised her gun aiming at the same vague spot that Vandal was aiming at "We got a problem Vandal?"
No.735844
>>735841>>735843>>735840>>735832Correction: Vandal is speaking to a very small female griffon. She seems friendly.
No.735845
>>735841>>735839"Oh, hey, you should see these fish. They're really neat and glowy. I don't know what you're doing all the way in there. You're really missing out."
>>735842Gigi slowly lowers her hands and laughs. "Oh. Huh. That easy?" Her eyes flit up to the camera and she nods. "Oh. Alright, yeah, sure. Lemme just-" She clicks the button on her cloaking device and shimmers out of sight again. Taking the can, she flies over to the camera and, assuming she isn't stopped, sprays the lens.
No.735846
>>735845[1d10]Navigation
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.735847
>>735841>>735844"Huh. Must of messed up the cloning spell." He says towards the small griffon, then turning to his own clone.
"Or I… didn't…" He slowly doubletakes and continues. "Not gonna ask."
Gale looks for a direction to send the clone in to investigate.
Peception [1d10]
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.735848
>>735844Areia blinks and lowers the gun as she rubs her eyes "Does Gale have a sister or something and we're only just meeting her now?"
No.735849
>>735845>>735846The fish are promptly chased and devoured by a much larger, uglier fish. Such is the circle of life.
You try to fly invisibly through the maintenance area, but your wing catches on a shelf, toppling it over and smashing some surprisingly valuable scrap. The falling shelf has a domino effect, and soon, the whole maintenance area has basically collapsed in on itself. You hear an alarm start going off, and running footsteps in the distance. If the others hadn't raised hell before, you have now.
No.735850
>>735849>>735842"Actually," Frank says. "Nevermind. Sounds like you're having
way more fun than me." Gigi helplessly stares as the entire room collapses, and a hole wells up in the pit of her gut. She was supposed to have this. Just a quick in and out, but not five minutes into the plan she'd already fucked it up. Slowly, she flies up to the camera and sprays the lens. She swallows, turns her head to the felid, and lets out an uncomfortable chuckle. "So, uh… We still cool?"
No.735851
>>735849>>735850>>735848>>735847>>735840"Neat okay, y'all deal with that, I'll get ordinance or what not. Team, this is a random scrapper I ran across. She owes you all now. Scrapper, help these nice folks please."
Vandal salutes, turning to Aeria,
>>735848"Get that door for me?"
No.735852
>>735845>>735841>>735844Fir peers through the opening and looks at the Scrapper, before shrugging.
>>735851"Owes us? Why, exactly?"
No.735853
>>735852"Knocking that shit over. Kinda blew my cover."
No.735854
>>735853"Oh… ah. They might already be on their way, but that makes enough sense. Run into any other problems, or just the griffon?"
No.735855
>>735847You send your clone out to investigate the maintenance room, though it's even harder to traverse now that the whole thing's been knocked over by that other griffon. There's a door, locked by the terminal, and a few other doors that seem to lead to other parts of the base. One of them is jammed, while the other is nigh inaccessible because of the fallen scrap.
No.735856
>>735851She blinked and looked to the door and shrugged as she walked over and decided her breath might be a bit more quiet than blasting it down.
[1d10] Dragon's Breath (Plasma)
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.735857
>>735855"This place is a madhouse. How the hell do any of them get around? Any chance we can find a layout? Map? Blueprints of this place?" He says, pacing as the clone inspects whats inside the unlocked doors.
No.735858
>>735851Gigi grimaces and points at the elk. "Hey! Your deer buddy wasn't exactly the paragon of stealth either, and the dragon was actively
trying to draw attention! It doesn't sound like this is going how
any of us planned. What do you even expect me to
do?"
"You could help them fight off the pirates," Frank suggests.
"Fuck no. There's no way I can take down a bunch of pirates. I wasn't even supposed to be caught. I should be
invisible right now."
"You could get the door."
She looks over at the terminal. Oh. Right. Still locked in. She takes a couple of steps toward the door, when-
>>735856She freezes as the dragon breathes on the door. "Uh… I think the dragon has the door under control."
"Well, I got nothin. Good luck!"
No.735859
>>735858"Expect you to chill out, take a breather. Do what you wanna do, just sayin you owe us for that." Vandal shrugs, standing up. She bumps her feet together, a soft humming coming from the pair of rollerskates she's apparently wearing.
No.735860
>>735858"It's not exactly easy for me to be quiet." he shrugs, before saying "You don't have to fight the pirates- we can handle that."
No.735861
>>735856>>735857>>735858>>735853>>735854Areia melts the door down with a blast of molten breath. White hot metal curls and folds in on itself, revealing the hallway beyond. Unfortunately for you, the hallway contains some very angry, pirates. About eight of them, in fact, all cramped together in the narrow metal hallway. The ones in the back can't do much but yell drunken slurs and threats, but the four in front pull out miscellaneous firearms, training them on you. You can hear even more pirates coming in the distance.
The one in the center, a wild looking earth pony with a heart tattoo, a shock of black hair and a massive beard, threatens you with a blaster rifle resembling an old fashioned blunderbuss. Seems to be the big boss. "Knives out and down on yer marrowbones, ye cockroaches!" he demands, shoving the rifle towards you menacingly and taking a step forward with the rest of the gang. "What arre ye doin' on our ship?! Speak!"
No.735862
>>735859>>735860"Yeah, Elly. Trust the felid lady. It'll be fine. Ignore the advancing pirates, the blaring alarm, and the fact that you just embarrassed yourself in front of four people you've never met before within minutes of meeting them. Deep, soothing breaths."
Gigi's eyes flit around at the four and she takes a deep breath, holds it, and lets it out. "Right. Alright, yeah. Sorry." She tosses the paint can back to her. She pulls a pistol-like object with a copper coil surrounding an iron core. Reaching down, she reactivates her cloaking device and shimmers away. "Just- Are you guys looking for something specific, or just here to grab shit like I am? Maybe I can at least help find it or something."
No.735863
>>735861>>735862She tenses up and takes a step back as she sees the pirates on the other side of the door.
No.735864
>>735861"That depends on whether you respond better to threats or bargains. We got both."
He says, stepping forward and gesturing to our resident plasma dragon.
"Now, what's it gonna be?"
No.735865
>>735861Areia was quiet for a moment as she debated on if she should play along and she decided it be best to try something more over the top and showey.
She pulled her giant cleaver blade off her back, set it to Overload, and made a lunge to put it right into the leader.
Cut the head off and what not.
{1d10] Meltdown
No.735866
>>735865[1d10]
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.735867
>>735862>>735861"Something specific, yeah. We can talk later, though. We've got more problems." the deer says, turning to look at the pirates.
>[1d10] Distill Life>[Instant, Automatic] Counter: Pirate BossRoll #1 7 = 7 No.735868
>>735867Fir tries to get his suit to generate a few more syringes as the dragon lunges for the leader. He loosens his stance a little, and waits to see what else is going to happen.
No.735869
>>735865Vandal gives a thumbs up to Areia with her paw, finagling with the Chokie tied to the back of her backpack.
>>735861"Don't have a time to make a statement of intent. Y'all ever heard of cropdusting though?"
Crouching down low Vandal kicks one of her skates against the floor, her body rocketing forward as she activates the Chokie to start dispensing gas immediately instead of rolling about doing it automatically, skating horizontally on the walls of the hallway giving the pirates a good dose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkskyBQUtPk>Moody's Shuffle: passive/instant automatic, recharge 2; Build up momentum using electromagnetic inline skates and launch forward towards a target. Move to an adjacent zone and gain +2 to any other combat action this turn. Passively, you can use your inline skates to skate and grind against terrain and even glide against walls for brief periods of time.[1d10+2] Dodge
Roll #1 7 + 2 = 9 No.735870
>>735864She snorts, training the blasterbuss on you instead. "Ye be in no position ter be makin' demands of us, ye dullard. Who be ye? Another Guild rat, come to steal our hard earned spoils? We'll burst ye like we burst the last one who came a-knockin'!"
>>735867Your suit reconfigures, dispensing three more syringes. You brace up and wait for him to make a move.
>>735865As he continues to make threats and demands, you make a sudden motion, bringing the energy sword down in one swift motion, severing his foreleg at the elbow. The limb, and weapon to go with it, hit the floor with a thud, and he stumbles backwards with a scream, clutching his smoking stump in agony.
>>735869Taking advantage of Areia's distraction, you jump up and wallride before they can react, dodging their swipes and landing behind the group in one swift motion, touching down in a superhero landing. The tear gas starts dispensing, starting to fill the hallway with pungent, blinding smoke. The corridor is filled with choking, coughing and inarticulate yells as you blind them all with it.
>>735869>>735867>>735865>>735864>>735863"Get them!" the maimed captain yells. "Kill them all! Haaaark!!"
The pirates take blind potshots in your general direction!
>roll to dodgeThe tear gas starts filling the hallway, spilling into the maintenance room!
>those who don't have gas masks roll to resistVandal sees three more pirates bringing up the rear, answering the call. They are armed with melee weapons, and one of them, a mangy Dog with the worst teeth you've ever seen, pulls out a butterfly knife and starts loping towards her with a snarl!
>zone change No.735871
>>735870Areia did her best to dodge and cover her mask as she didn't have the time to pull on her mask as she didn't think that Vandal was gonna pull that trick off.
[1d10] dodge
[1d10] resist
Roll #1 6 = 6 /
Roll #2 10 = 10 No.735872
>>735870"You're gonna regret that!"
The clone says as the actual Gale slips off into the shadows.
[1d10] Dodge
[1d10] Stealth
Roll #1 10 = 10 /
Roll #2 9 = 9 No.735873
>>735870Gigi shoots backwards, trying to stay out of range of the gunfire.
[1d10]Dodge
Seeing the gas waft into the room, she holds her breath and takes aim at the captain, not having time to actually fire at him yet.
[1d10]Resist
Roll #1 1 = 1 /
Roll #2 7 = 7 No.735874
>>735870"Use your words, I can't tell what you want if you're just gonna growl at me, mutt."
Vandal's fur stands on end, ready to eat some blows as she continues to skate onwards.
>Stance of the Bear: Sturdy and forward. This stance increases your Max Hits by half your current wounds, rounded up.[1d10] Getting the hell outta dodge while continuing to hose down the hallway.
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.735875
>>735870>Ignoring tear gas using Passive Armor talent>>735870>>735873Fir flicks his eyes back and steps in front of Gigi, a hardlight shield forming along his side.
[1d10] Brace (Gigi)
[1d10] Dodge
Roll #1 8 = 8 /
Roll #2 10 = 10 No.735876
>>735872You manage to find a hiding spot in the shadows, staying out of sight for now.
>>735873>>735871>>735872>>735875You manage to avoid getting affected by the tear gas, and dodge the potshots for the most part. Gigi gets blasted, but Fir conjures a hasty shield at the last second, absorbing the worst of the shot. It still smarts though.
>Gigi takes 3 hitsAs the gas begins to clear, the pirates' vision clears, though their aim is still off. One of them appears to have helped the captain escape, leaving six to deal with. The three in front take hasty shots at you all!
[1d10-1] vs Fir
[1d10-1] vs Areia
[1d10-1] vs Gale's clone
>>735874He swipes at you, but you dodge out of the way and wallride over them before continuing down the corridor. Looking back, you see the Dog still chasing you intently!
[1d10] Catching up
Roll #1 1 - 1 = 0 /
Roll #2 4 - 1 = 3 /
Roll #3 8 - 1 = 7 /
Roll #4 2 = 2 No.735877
>>735873>>735876Fir passes off a syringe to Gigi and offers a bit of a nod, before turning back to the rest of the pirates. He ignores the one firing at him for now, and lowers his head to charge the one going after Areia!
>[1d10] Slam (Crits on 8+ from Martial Defender. -1 Damage from Tribal Training)Roll #1 6 = 6 No.735878
>>735876Areia grunted and readied her blade and aimed at the one who had the gall to shoot at her and aimed to really make him suffer for it. The fact she actually started the fight was carefully ignored.
[1d10] Blast
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.735879
>>735876Gigi's hand shoots to the wound and she cries out in pain. Her cloak falls for the second time for what feels like was as many minutes, and she silently curses herself for thinking this was a good idea. "Fuck," she hisses. "That hurt." She briefly glances up at the deer.
>>735875>>735877"Thanks, man," she says, taking the syringe and pocketing it for now. Not just gonna shoot up some random stuff some random deer gave her without asking what it is first. "Guess I owe you one. Again." Her eyes flit to the pirates that stayed behind and she finally lifts her pistol and pulls the trigger at the one firing on the other griffon.
[Aimed shot, Lightning]
No.735880
>>735876"Let's make sure that captain's still around to chat with."
Gale says to himself as he chases after wherever they went.
[1d10] Navigation, Stay Stealthed
Gales clone fight with the group, taking shots from cover.
[1d10] Shoot
Roll #1 7 = 7 /
Roll #2 10 = 10 No.735881
>>735876"Careful with running, just gonna get more of this stuff in your lungs." Vandal cuts the Chokie from her backpack, leaving behind a gift for the pirates as she searches for the ordinance.
[1d10] Perception
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.735882
>>735877You raise the hardlight shield, deflecting the shot right back at the pirate. It ricochets off a wall and hits him square in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. You press this advantage, giving no quarter to the pirates as you knock the second gunner off balance, winging him a little.
>>735878You slash at him with your sword, leaving a gash across his chest. He grunts and tries to back away from you, his shot glancing off your heavy armor.
>>735879You give one of them a good zap with your pistol. He winces and flinches as the electricity courses through him, twitching unsettlingly. Once it's over, he shakes it off.
>>735880With the pirates still bleary eyed, you manage to give them the slip in the hallway, rushing past them and going down a fork in the corridor. This takes you to a set of winding stairs that leads further into the ship. You can see the captain being escorted by what seems to be the first mate, a very large pegasus. Seems they're going to the infirmary.
Your clone's shot takes out one of the pirates, shooting him straight in the chest. He falls over, stone dead.
>>735881You manage to give the Dog the slip and climb down a ladder, taking in a view from above of much of the pirate hideout. Seems they're on full alert; grubby looking corsairs are running to and fro, barking orders and dispersing through the ship to deal with the troublesome intruders. You can see a great many paths leading to a great many places; it'd take quite some time to go through them all one by one. It'd be easy to get lost in this place too.
>>735880>>735879>>735878>>735877As one of them falls, the pirates start backing up, trying to split up into the bowels of the base. They open fire on you indiscriminately as they retreat!
[1d10-1] vs Gigi
[1d10-1] vs Gale's clone
[1d10-1] vs Areia
[1d10-1] vs Fir
Roll #1 4 - 1 = 3 /
Roll #2 4 - 1 = 3 /
Roll #3 6 - 1 = 5 /
Roll #4 8 - 1 = 7 No.736358
>>735882"Oh, no. U-uh. Not after you tried to fuckin kill me." She flips a switch just above the grip and holds down the trigger. Instead of firing a zap right away, the coils glow and spark as energy builds up before finally releasing a thunderclap of lightning.
[1d10]Meltdown on the one firing on Fir
"Wooh!" Frank shouts over her com. "Really wish I could be there! I remember what happened while you were working on that feature. Sometimes I still see sparks."
"That was an accident," Gigi mumbles. "It'll be fine this time."
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.736359
>>735882Fir pursues quickly, trying to smack one of the pirates across the cheek with a hardlight-reinforced foreleg.
>[1d10] Attack (Reduced Counterattack Damage from Guard) Roll #1 1 = 1 No.736360
>>735882"
So good news I'm in. Bad news, there's a good deal of pirates in here and I've not no clue where the device is. Someone take that captainy dude and corner him maybe?"
In the meantime, Vandal skates about, looking for rooms that don't just look like bunks.
[1d10] puzzle hunting
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.736361
>>735882As Gale sneaks through, he follows the captain and searches for any indication of where the item might be stored.
He thinks to himself: "This idiot is gonna lead me right to it, isn't he."
On the other side of the ship, the clone takes another shot, returning fire at the pirate who shot him.
Navigation, Stealth [1d10]
Shoot [1d10]
Roll #1 10 = 10 /
Roll #2 1 = 1 No.736362
>>735882Areia let out an annoyed growl and promptly tried to let a burst of her dragons breath out on all the pirates who had made the mistake of trying to get in her way.
[1d10] Dragons Breath: Plasma
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.736363
>>736358Your pistol sparks and sputters, vibrating intensely. You hear a loud POP, and smoke starts coming out of the side.
>-1 to rolls with this weapon until you use Tinker on it>>736359As you charge forward, you are blasted with a point blank shot, sending you stumbling backwards into a pipe, which breaks and starts spraying the area with indeterminate mist. Alarms start going off, and your head spins from the impact. Luckily, your armor absorbed the blow, but you are still winded, on the brink of collapse.
>Fir takes 7 hits>>736360There's a bit of a fizzle.
"Sorry, were you talking to me?" Green chimes in. You can hear what sounds like an old corny action movie playing in the background.
Simultaneously, you hear another familiar voice chime in.
"You say something, kid? All clear out here, by the way. No sign of 'em yet. Whatever you did really kicked the hornet's nest." "Wait what? Who's this?" Green asks with confusion.
"I'm Undertow, who the hell are you?""I should ask the same thing!"They both continue to bicker pointlessly as you take a look around, evading a few more pirates by clinging to the walls. The pirate base is a veritable maze; it's almost impossible to get oriented. You find several places that could potentially have the item you're after, but you'd have to pick one and scour it. All in all, it looks like it'd take far too long to do so, and you don't exactly have time to waste.
>>736361You follow them from afar. The infirmary consists of what seems to have been a set of holding cells on the frigate, repurposed into an extremely unsanitary medbay. "Organic!" the captain barks, his face contorted in pain as he struggles into a chair resembling a dentist's. The first mate helps him prop his stump up, as a robot activates in the corner, resembling a tall cylinder with a myriad of spindly arms.
"Injured again, boss?" it asks in a scratchy, static-y female voice as it hovers over, producing a foul looking syringe and dosing the captain with it.
"Shut ye gob and get ter work, tin can," he growls. "I need a new arrum and I need it now. Bleedin' raiders are doin' a number on me crew."
"Yeah yeah, just stand still and try not to talk much. This is gonna take a while, so get comfy." The robot moves over to his stump and starts doing something, blocking your view. You see that a panel on her back reads "ORGANIC MECHANIC".
Your clone is blasted by the pirate, flickering and wavering in and out of existence.
>Clone takes 5 hits, helpless>>736362You are a bit out of breath from the whole ordeal, and your blast of breath is shorter and slightly weaker than usual. The pirates manage to avoid getting hit by it.
>>736362>>736361>>736359>>736358The pirates scatter into the hallways to regroup, giving you a moment of reprieve, for now.
No.736364
>>736363The dragon coughed a bit and felt a mild hint of embarrasment as she wasn't expecting to hit some form of performance impairment but she was quick to turn to Fir and give him the one left over syringe she had from earlier. She figured it'd help him out right now.
"You alright there big guy?"
No.736366
>>736365She turned her comm on "I mean I lopped the captains limb off but I have no idea where he is now."
No.736367
>>736360"He's right here." Gale says quietly into his comms. "Medical ward. Not far from where we were."
As Gale says this, his clone dissipates.
"I'll see how well I can keep them entertained."
Summon Clone [1d10]
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.736368
>>736363Fir's armor manages to absorb a part of the blow, but he still takes the lion's share of it. He lets out an annoyed, confused grunt, and takes a moment to shake it out. He grabs one of his two remaining syringes, and injects the magic-laced fluid into his side.
>Using one of the two distill life syringes: +3 Hits>Force Redirection: 2/4 >>736364He takes the syringe off of Areia and nods a little, saying "Just a little rattled from the impact. I'll be fine.
>Using this one too: +3 Hits>>736365"We'll try and track him down. Things got… rough, but we're fine."
No.736369
>>736363Gigi nearly drops the pistol as it explodes into sparks. "Mother fuck!" She looks down at it and shakes her head.
"Oh, hey, I know that sound! Don't worry, we all get a little performance anxiety. It happens to me all the time. One second I'm normal happy Frank, and then
bzzzt pop." The com falls silent for a second. "Well, I guess it's more of a
BOOM! but basically the same thing."
"I know, Frank. I've had to fix you enough times." She looks it over a little closer as the pirates retreat and sighs. "Not as bad as it could be. I should be able to get it working pretty quick." She backs up to the back of the room and pulls out some of her tools, trying to do some quick repairs while the pirates are further back and there's a wall of meat and armor between her and them.
[1d10]Tinker
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.736370
>>736369Frank, getting bored with just sitting around and listening to Gigi have all the fun, looks around for something interesting.
[1d10]Perception
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.736371
>>736363>>736367"
Well I'll go look for the needle in this haystack in the meantime, it's technically more efficient than standing around waiting."
Vandal takes to a random room of the ones she's chosen, figuring it's better than nothing.
[1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.736372
>>736367You pull up another clone. It constructs itself next to you in a flurry of holographic cubes of light, shifting through different color palettes before replicating you exactly.
>+1 to all actions and DC-1The pirates are too distracted tending to the captain to notice you snooping. The conversation seems to have died down, with only the occasional grunt of discomfort from the captain. Organic seems to be grafting a mechanical arm to his stump from what you can see.
>>736368You patch yourself up with the syringes, feeling much better after a few moments.
>Fir is back to full H/W>>736369You manage to fix the gun after a bit of rewiring. It shouldn't happen again. Emphasis on shouldn't.
>>736370Frank watches some starships flying up above. They almost resemble comets, tiny white streaks darting from star to star. Distracted by this, he is broken out of his robotic reverie by the sudden sound of a primed blaster. A pirate patrol consisting of a trio of mean looking unicorns has discovered him, bearing down on him with suspicious scowls and trained weapons. "Grab it," the middle one orders, and the other two oblige, reaching out to him with telekinesis.
>roll to resist>>736371You go into one of the rooms. Seems to be some form of barracks, consisting of shabby beds and meager furniture, along with many empty bottles of rum.
You quickly realize you're not alone; on the top bunk of the beds is an earth pony pirate, completely oblivious to your presence, and indeed, to the general mayhem on board. He seems to have earplugs in, listening to some tunes while reading.
>>736369>>736368>>736367>>736366It seems you're not out of the woods quite yet. Several blast doors begin to remotely close in the hallway, effectively locking you in the narrow corridor for now. You hear running footsteps from the far end, behind the blast door, and the sound of something mechanical being set up.
No.736373
>>736372"SO… should I try to blow us a hole in the floor so we can try to peace out before they try and have us gunned down by a machine gun or something?"
No.736374
>>736372Gigi nods in satisfaction. Shouldn't be a problem. Probably. Hopefully. It's just a temporary workaround, so probably shouldn't overcharge it again for now. Her attention is snapped away when she hears Frank over the com.
>>736372"Hi!" Frank says, giving the unicorns a happy wave. "You guys waiting for your friends too?" He feels the TK and wiggles a little. "Hey, careful. If you drop me in the water I can't swim."
[1d10] resist.
"Frank," he hears Gigi say in his head. "I thought I told you to keep an eye out for patrols and hide at any sign of one! What are you doing?!"
"Don't worry," he assures her. "These guys seem nice enough."
>>736372Shit. Not good. Gigi pinches the bridge of her beak, clicks her InvisiBand, and shimmers away again. Fat lot of good that seems to be doing.
Popping a small magnetic orb off her band, she quickly flits over to the blast door and rigs the microcharge to the wall next to it.
[1d10]Sabotage
Roll #1 3 = 3 /
Roll #2 5 = 5 No.736375
>>736372Considering that she's not gonna find it in this room, Vandal leans over the top bunk and tugs an earbud* from the pirate's ear, sticking it in her own cat ear and looking to him, "Watcha listening to?"
No.736376
>>736372Gale slips back off to search as the clone, a perfect replica, continues to monitor the situation in the medical room.
He speaks in the comm. "Cap'n isn't going anywhere. Even if he does, he'll probably have to turn around and walk right back into that triage."
The actual Gale continues his search, delving deeper into the ship.
[1d10] Navigation
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.736377
>>736372"Gah… there we go, better." he says, shaking it out. He flicks his ears as he hears something being set up, and lets out a soft hum. "That might be some sort of turret, but it's hard to tell from here. We might want to break out, if we can."
No.736378
>>736373>>736374>>736377Well? Should I make us an exit or what?"
No.736379
>>736378"Yeah, if you can find some place, probably."
No.736380
>>736378"Might be for the best- I'm not sure I want to see what they're setting up."
No.736381
>>736379>>736380She nodded and pulled her sword off her back as she aimed at the floor with her blade, once again overcharging the battery cell. She aimed at an open area of the floor and brought it down
[1d10] Meltdown
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.736382
>>736376"
why don't you just ask him where it is, if he's not going anywhere for a while. Wouldn't cap be more knowledgeable than anyone?"
No.736383
>>736374Frank is hoisted up by the back of the neck like a cat and plonked firmly on the pirate skipper. They begin to poke and prod at him, examining what he's made of. "Cor. There's some good pieces on this one," says one of the pirates. "Boss man'll be happy to see it." "Can we shut it up? I don't like bots that talk," another grumbles. The third just takes initiative and manhandles Frank, trying to short circuit him to shut him down.
>roll again to resistYou manage to prime the blast door to explode with the microcharge. It lights up red and beeps a little to confirm.
>>736375He nearly jumps out of his skin, letting out a very unmanly yelp and scrabbling away from you. "Who the hell are you?!"
He appears to have been listening to electronic ambient music.
>>736376The clone continues to watch from afar. Nothing much to report yet.
You try to go deeper into the ship, but the place is a maze, nigh untraversable for those who aren't accustomed to it. It's like going into a cave system without a map; every path seems to loop around, offering a myriad of directions which may or may not lead to somewhere you want to be.
As you progress, a panel on one of the walls starts to reconfigure, and you notice a camera trained on you. A turret pops out, locking on to you and opening fire with a hail of bullets!
>roll to dodge>>736381>>736380>>736379One of the batteries on Areia's sword pops from the exertion, and the swing doesn't do much more than scorch the ground. However, you can see that there are a few loose panels on the floor, seemingly leading to a lower level. It doesn't seem like an intended route, but perhaps with a bit of elbow grease you could go down that way. Or blow the door open as Gigi's been setting up.
It sounds like the pirates are almost ready.
No.736384
>>736383>>736379Areia was annoyed but took the option to make a hole out from the panels "Why don't we make tracks down and you blow the charge when they come inside?" she asked as she got to breaking the floor.
[1d10] to rip panels off?
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.736385
>>736384[1d10] reroll
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.736386
>>736384>>736385Fir waits patiently to step in if the dragon can't manage it, but he's pretty sure it'll be fine… probably.
No.736387
>>736383"How do these scum not kill themselves every time they walk around!" Gale thinks as he dives away from the turret fire.
Dodge [1d10]
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.736388
>>736383"Oh sorry, was just looking for the way to carrrgo, got lost and was wondering what you were jamming to. One of the crew was recommending lo-fi sea shanties but I wasn't really feeling it." Vandal bullshits, "Anyways where am I dropping off the latest booty we plundered? I get that I was just invited to join to meet diversity quotas but everyone else arrrrrre kinda being dicks."
[1d10] bullshitting
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.736389
>>736383>>736384Gigi nods at her work and flits back to the party, still invisible. "Yeah," she says. "I was gonna wait for the door to open before I popped it. Give whoever is setting up on the other side a nice surprise."
>>736383"Hey, hey, careful, you're gonna damage something," Frank says. "Then Gigi will have to fix me and I'll be a failure and what if she wants to get rid of me?" He starts thrashing around in a panic. "She'll shut me off and sell my scraps and I wouldn't blame her because I always mess up."
[1d10] resist
Hearing Frank freaking out on the other side of the com, Gigi's stomach drops. "Hey, buddy, calm down. You'll be fine. I'm not doing so hot in here myself. They're just some stupid pirates. Even if you can't take care of them I'll find you and fix you up."
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.736390
>>736386>>736383>Whoops, forgot to reply to the main post!Fir decides to go ahead and prepare for the worst, shifting the stored energy into creating more syringes.
>Distill Life [1d10+2]>+2 from Force RedirectionRoll #1 1 + 2 = 3 No.736391
>>736387You manage to avoid getting riddled with holes, but you still take a glancing shot to the left forearm as you duck around the corner. Not much more than a flesh wound, but it stings awful.
>Gale takes 2 hitsYou hear it making a mechanical pinging sound as it begins to recharge. From somewhere behind you, you hear more pirates approaching.
>>736388"We don't even talk like that," he answers, sounding a bit offended. "Apart from the Captain. Still. Who are you and what do you want from me?" You see him reaching for a blaster pistol mounted on the wall next to his bed.
>>736389Frank manages to kick them away from him and make a break for the boat. Angered, one of the pirates charges up a taser, trying to zap him with it!
[1d10]
>>736385>>736386>>736389Areia manages to pry the rusted panels loose, revealing a way down. Looks like a rough, bumpy drop to unknown regions, but at least it's a way out.
The blast door at the far end reopens, revealing more pirates armed with guns, accompanied by some sort of makeshift turret robot. It's not much more than a tripod mounted blaster. At one's command, they open fire on you!
>roll to dodge, instantRoll #1 6 = 6 No.736392
>>736390"Yo, as long as we're waiting around, to see if we get ventilated, can you tell me what that needle you gave me is?"
No.736393
>>736390Your syringe producing systems seem to have jammed, and nothing pops out. Needs a bit of handiwork done.
No.736394
>>736391Areia yelped and tried her damndest to dodge into the open hole in the floor.
[1d10] DODGE!
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.736395
>>736393>>736392Fir looks at the dispenser with a frown, before letting out a loud huff. Making a note of it for later, the elk turns to look at Gigi and says "Healing potion, basically."
>>736391"Speaking of ventilated-" he flicks his ears as he hears the turret whir up, and waits for the others to slip in before dropping in himself
>[1d10] Dodge!Roll #1 2 = 2 No.736396
>>736391Frank turns toward the pirate trying to hit him with a tazer, and, playing a loop of a pack of barking dogs, charges at him full speed.
[1d10]Ram
>>736391As soon as the dragon tears the floor open, Gigi hops down, trying to make sure she glides to keep from touching the floor right away.
[1d10]Dodge
On her way down, once it's obvious the others are on their way, she presses a button on her band twice, then holds it.
[1d10]Detonate Sabotage
Roll #1 10 = 10 /
Roll #2 1 = 1 /
Roll #3 10 = 10 No.736397
"Fuck fuck fuck. Okay, bad idea."
Gale rushes back towards the medical bay, hoping to take Vandals advice.
>>736382"Yeah, yeah you were right. Gonna chat with him now."
Gale returns, brandishing his pistol as he walks in.
"Hey there, cap. I wanna be out of here as much as you want me out of here. You willing to talk business while getting sliced up?"
No.736398
>>736391"Nahnahnah, bad Chekhooves. Not every element described in the story has to be neccisary." Vandal says, spraying the bookreader directly in the eyes with her spraypaint, "I was asking nicely, I just wanna know where cargo is.
>Hunter's Eye>Blind: recharge 1 after effect ends; Temporarily blinds an enemy, giving a +2 bonus to all actions targeting it for 2 turns. Can also be used to block sight of cameras, guards, and other visual reliant objects. On Crit the target’s senses are blocked completely, causing all their non-Crit attacks to miss next turn.[1d10+1]
Roll #1 4 + 1 = 5 No.736399
>>736391(responding to main post)
>>736397[1d10] Persuasion
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.736400
>>736394>>736395>>736396You all struggle to fit down the path, but not before taking a volley of blaster fire from the pirates, including the walking turret. You're wounded, but not down; except for Gigi, who takes a nasty blow to the gut, leaving a gruesome smoking wound that hurts like nothing else.
>Fir takes 2 hits>Areia takes 2 hits>Gigi takes 5 hits, helplessAs she escapes, though, Gigi manages to trigger the detonator. The room shakes as the bomb goes off, blowing several of the pirates off their feet and destroying the turret where it stands. With a yawning groan, the already flimsy infrastructure of the hallway collapses, burying the area above you in metal rubble.
After squirming down, you find yourselves now in pitch darkness. You seem to be in the walls of the ship itself, surrounded by pipes and wiring. You can't make out anything, at least not without a light source.
>roll Perception>>736396Frank kicks defensively, bucking the pirate in the chest. He falls into the water with a scream. The other two rush forward to restrain him, trying to deactivate Frank by brute force!
[2d10]
>>736397>>736399You double back, lurching with your clone into the infirmary, making your presence known. The captain's chair swivels like a movie villain as he turns to face you, lip curled in disdain. He brandishes his rifle with his free hoof, while Organic works on attaching a janky looking prosthetic. His first mate steps forward defensively, brandishing electrified knuckledusters.
He spits at you, landing mere inches away from your face and splatting to the ground. "Blaggard! I know what ye be after, same as the other knave what tried to plunder us. 'Twas but by a hair that he escaped our clutches, and believe ye me, we shan't be making the same mistakes again. Hark, cur: I shall never talk! 'Tis a matter of principle. I shan't be parlayin' with fancy spacefarin' dogs such as ye. Now give us a good reason not ter paint the walls with yer organs."
"Yeah nah, fuck off mate,", Organic chimes in, flipping you an obscene gesture with one appendage as she works.
"We're not giving you the time of day. Jog on.">>736398"Bah! What the fuck!" He shields his eyes and sputters as you spray him, scrambling away from you. "I'm not telling you nothing. …Wait, how'd you know my name?"
Roll #1 4, 7 = 11 No.736401
>>736396>>736400Addition: Frank gets a bit of a zap before kicking the pirate in the chest, not enough to take down his systems but still enough to impair him somewhat.
>-1 to Frank rolls for the next 3 rounds No.736402
>>736400Areia groaned and popped on her nighteyes and flipped on the heat sensor on her wrist as she aimed to see if there was anyone on the other side of the wall from them.
"Everybody ok?"
[1d10] Perception
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.736403
>>736400"Uhhh, would you take an 'I am your father'?"
Vandal says snatching at the gun herself.
[1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.736404
>>736400>>736403"Also would you look at that, it did have a purpose."
No.736405
>>736400Gigi groans and clutches her stomach. Fuck, that hurt. "I just knocked one of them overboard! I think I can take- I can take- I can take *
pop* I can take the other two guys too!"
"Well," Gigi says, pulling herself to her paws. "You're doing better than I am, then." Not sure if it'll even be enough in this darkness, she digs a small flashlight out of her tools and clicks it on.
[1d10]Recovery if needed
[1d10]Perception
>>736400Frank sparks and spins in place, thrashing out to hit whatever he happens to come in contact with. A distinctly not-Frank voice sample plays, "I'll rock em, I'll sock- I'll sock- I'll sock 'em," followed by more barking.
[1d10-1]
Roll #1 5 = 5 /
Roll #2 3 = 3 /
Roll #3 8 - 1 = 7 No.736406
>>736400"Hold up. Whaddya mean "other knave"? How the hell was somepony else here?"
He says, trying to bait out more information.
As he does, the clone enters stealth.
Stealth [1d10]
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.736407
>>736402"I'm god. Just got a little toasted is all."
No.736409
>>736400>>736396Fir passes down into the tunnel with a wince, and lets out an annoyed huff. He'll try to take a look around in the dark, flicking his antlers on to aid a little bit.
>Perception [1d10]>>736405Fir frowns a bit, and gives Gigi a jab with the last syringe on him.
>Distill Life: +3 Hits>Gigi also has oneRoll #1 8 = 8 No.736410
>>736409>>736407Well so long as you two are good, we should be fine." she muttered.
No.736411
>>736402>>736405>>736409Areia can see a narrow path ahead. It seems to lead even further downward into the bowels of the pirate hideout. No telling where you'll exit to, but you can hear some mechanical hissing coming from there.
With the heat sensor, you can see some pirates running past, presumably to help those caught in the blast. Pointing downwards towards the source of the hissing noise, though, you can see an immense heat signature. Seems like some sort of boiler room.
Fir can make out an alternate path that seems to lead into the ship's ventilation system. A tight crawl, but it seems to exit out into another part of the ship eventually. He also manages to fix up Gigi somewhat, though it won't do much in the long run.
>Gigi heals 3 hits>>736403"Doubt that," Chekhooves grunts as he tries to stop you in vain from grabbing the gun. He puts his hooves up as you do so. "Look, I-I'm just a deckhand, I don't know anything. What do you want from me?"
>>736405Frank kicks away one of the ones trying to pummel him, but the other gets a good clout on the robot, knocking loose some of his chassis.
>Frank takes 2 hitsThe pirates keep trying to subdue him!
[2d10]
The other pirate tries to haul himself out of the water!
[1d10]
>>736406"Don't be coy, ye bilge-rat," he sneers. "Yer with them guild spacers. Bound and gagged by the promise a' coin fer yer handiwork. Ye gutless dolt. Avast!"
He tries to blow you away with his blunderbuss blaster!
[1d10]
The first mate cracks his knuckles and advances on you with raised knuckledusters!
Roll #1 9, 2 = 11 /
Roll #2 10 = 10 /
Roll #3 3 = 3 No.736412
>>736406>>736411Also your clone manages to hide while you keep the captain distracted.
No.736413
>>736411"Guess we're gonna dance then!"
Gale ducks for cover as he takes a shot at the captain, with his clone emerging from the shadows to attack the first mate.
Gale shoots [1d10]
Clone backstabs [1d10]
Roll #1 6 = 6 /
Roll #2 4 = 4 No.736414
>>736411"Well I asked twice already, you really shouldn't be listening to music that loud as you're gonna lose most your hearing by time your 30. I mean, I walked in here without you noticing, now you're missing the thing I'm asking for. They don't make peg legs for ears you know!"
Vandal snickers, "Man that'd look pretty silly though, peg ears. Anyways, cargo, where do you keep the precious booty that you're not already using to sit with."
No.736415
>>736411"Well I can take a guess where either their heat or their power comes from if you guys really wanna try and screw these guys over."
No.736416
>>736410"I'll try to make some, but it might be a little difficult- I think it glitched out a little. It ought to be fine in a moment.
>Force Redirection: 1/4 (Adjusted along with H/W from last damage)>>736411"Mm. Tight fit, but I can make it. Keep moving ahead, then?"
No.736417
>>736411"Hey, wait, I-" A faint chill rund through her body as the deer jaba her with the needle. "Oh, hey, that's way better. Thanks."
>>736411[Frank, 1/3]
Frank backs away a little as he barely manages to keep his small body upright. "Call it a draw, then?"
Turning aroun, he makes a break for it, trying to get back to his skipper, even if he has to try to ramp the side of the boat to do it.
[1d10-1] dodge
Roll #1 9 - 1 = 8 No.736418
>>736415"Oh. Man. Yeah, I can get behind that."
No.736419
>>736418>>736416>>736411Areia nodded and motioned for the others to start following her towards the hissing noise.
No.736420
>>736413The captain whirls his chair around to avoid getting shot, Organic floating around and continuing the procedure like nothing's wrong. "How much longer?"
"Not much, just stay still and try not to die."You duck and avoid his shot, which peppers the walls behind you. The first mate whirls around and backhands the clone as it pops out at him, knocking it off balance.
>Clone takes 1 hitThe captain reloads with one arm!
The first mate swings one electrified fist!
[1d10+1]
[1d2] You or clone
>>736414"You talk a lot," Chekhooves remarks. "Uhh, it's kind of hard to explain where things are around here, 'less you've been here a while. I mean I've been here a while and I don't even know half the rooms in this place. Not that that's a good thing. I thought being a pirate would be fun, but I'm over it. It's shit. …Uh, if you're looking for loot and stuff, I think it'd be better if I showed you? But it's gonna be hard to get past people without calling attention. So…" He shrugs.
>>736417Frank manages to get away, but gets clobbered in the process, faceplanting gracefully onto the skipper.
>Frank takes 1 hit, helplessThe pirates help their comrade out of the water and move their skipper closer to his!
>>736419>>736416>>736417You move towards the source of the hissing. It grows louder and louder as you push your way through the winding tunnels. Eventually, looking down through a grate, you see it; a large, steam-filled room, dominated by the presence of a giant boiler with several lights, cranks and valves. The machine is operated regularly by a unicorn, unaware of the goings on up above. He is single mindedly devoted to taking care of the machine. Pipes run from it up the walls and ceiling. Seems to provide heating to the rest of the ship.
Roll #1 10 + 1 = 11 /
Roll #2 1 = 1 No.736421
Areia paused and looked to see if there was a way she could finagle the shotgun through the grate and fire a round at the back of his head. She figured a bean bag round would be enough to put him down fast.
No.736422
>>736420>>736421"If you can't reach it, maybe we can work the grate open slightly?"
No.736423
>>736420"Not the right fight to take at all." Gale says, attempting to retreat from this, while his clone attempts to claw at the first mate.
Dodge/Escape [1d10]
Clone Attack [1d10]
Roll #1 2 = 2 /
Roll #2 4 = 4 No.736424
>>736422Yeah that might be wiser." she said as she tried to move the grate with him.
No.736425
>>736420"Oh sure. I kinda imagine it, y'know? Like food options must not be really great, nor dating, unless you're into like, guys with a bit of a belly that don't shower often. And like-" Vandal cuts herself off, "Yeah sorry, better then getting your head blown off I guess though. Do you want a ride off this place after this? Don't think you'll be especially popular after helping, and we do have an extra room on our ship. I'll even split my paycheck with you for this lil mission thing we're doing, make sure you have some florins to get by if the talking gets annoying."
"Go pack your backpack or whatnot, take your book along. When you're good to go we can take the express route." Vandal says, skating around the room at high speeds and showing off, taking grab of a nearby dolly, "You don't mind going for a ride right?"
No.736426
>>736420Frank faceplants onto the ship. Panicing, he tries to right himself.
[1d10]
Gigi sits back while the other two mess witb the grate.
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.736427
>>736421>>736422You manage to open the grate slightly and poke the shotgun through. The boiler man notices some movement and puts his operations on hold for a minute, looking up with a frown.
[1d10] Perception
>>736423You take a sucker punch right to the face, hitting the deck hard. You can't move your body for a moment, paralyzed by the jolt of electricity. The captain cackles. "Ye fight like a mewlin' lamb! Stand up, dog! Die like a real man!"
Your clone tries to attack, only to get parried by the first mate, taking a glancing blow to the jaw.
>Clone takes 1 hitThe first mate tries to grab you by the scruff!
[1d10]
>>736425He looks around to make sure there's no one to eavesdrop. "I mean, if you're offering, I'd appreciate it. Thanks. …Wait, what are you planning?" He looks at the dolly with trepidation.
>>736426He tries to get up, only to get met by a hoof to the back as one of the pirates boards. A jolt of electricity overloads Frank's systems, and all goes black.
>Frank is deactivated
>pausingRoll #1 6 = 6 /
Roll #2 1 = 1 No.736782
>>736427For what it's worth, Fir tries to duck out of sight. Hopefully, the pipe helps some.
>[1d10] Hide!Roll #1 2 = 2 No.736783
>>736427"These-" Vandal gestures to her skates, "-Make me go real fast. I'm sure you're good on your hooves, but I was gonna offer a ride. If you were just following me, you'd look like were in cahoots with me and likely get shot just as much. This way I get to '
kidnap' you and also make it fast. That way, if I get my head blown off, least you don't get yours too. '
I could've broken my neck if I tried to jump off from that crazy cat's invention' or something like that."
She turns around, looking over his bedspace and helping him pack if needed, "I don't want you to get fucked over in case shit goes south after all. You just met me after all- Oh, I will hold onto the gun though, mostly for the whole appearance of you being taken as a hostage again and all."
Once done, she spins about in a circle with dolly being pushed in tow, "Beep beep."
No.736785
>>736427"Wait, am I a lamb or a dog? Get your insults straight."
He says, staying cheeky in the face of danger.
As he does, Gale continues to try to escape.
Run Away! [1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.736791
>>736427Areia decided to shoot now before he could potentially blow their cover.
[1d10] Shoot him
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.736795
>>736427Gigi swallows hard and takes a step back as the other two pull the grate to the side. Slowly, she lifts her tesla pistol, aims it at the grate, and waits.
>>736427Frank thrashes and tries to get away from the pirate, but it's no use. As the taser slams into his back his entire body falls limp, and his voice module crackles. A static filled sports broadcast of some kind cycles to some weird old time romance radio play, followed by faint whispers in a foreign language. Then, finally, cuts out completely.
"Hey," Gigi whispers. "Frank, you alright?" For what felt like the first time all night, silence on the other end.
No.736800
>>736782>>736791>>736795It does not go as planned. Fir loosens a panel on the ceiling, almost falling straight through, dangling from it and holding on by his forelegs. Areia misses her shot, frying a monitor. The unicorn curses in a language you don't recognize, blinking over to a control panel and hitting a giant red button. Lights start flashing erratically and a blaring, high pitched alarm starts going off, echoing through the bowels of the pirate hideout, alerting everyone to your whereabouts.
>>736783Chekhooves blinks. "That's… really stupid," he says bluntly. "Stupid enough to actually work. Maybe. …Fine, I'll indulge you. Er, what was your name again?"
He reluctantly hops down and gets on the dolly. You're about to put your plan into action, when-
>>736785You try to get up, but the first mate grabs you by the scruff, shaking you like a disobedient pup. "All of the above, and many more besides," the captain retorts. "A whole menagerie ye be, a walking circus a' cravens and wretches!"
The procedure is complete. He flexes his new mechanical arm with admiration. "A fine job, miss Organic. Thankin' ye kindly."
"Yeah, yeah, bill's in the mail, love." The robot retires deeper into the infirmary.
"As fer ye…" The captain gets out of the chair, extending a wickedly sharp blade from his new prosthetic. "We shan't be making this one a quick death, nay," he says with a lopsided grin. "Be ye a god fearing creature, cur?"
He doesn't wait for an answer, raising the blade to plunge through your eyeball-
>>736785>>736783https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEtUiSqmxtYAn alarm starts blaring all of a sudden, and wall mounted lights start flashing.
>>736783"That's, uh, not a good sign," says Chekhooves fearfully.
>>736782The captain pauses and frowns, checking a datapad quickly with a snort. "Ha. Well now, we'll be takin' ye fer a little trip. Yer friends will be wantin' ter see yer last moments." He starts exiting the infirmary, the first mate dragging you along carelessly.
No.736803
>>736800Areia cursed loudly and climbed out and hit the floor as fast as she could as she looked at the unicorn and did her best to try and torch him with a blast of her dragon breath immediately.
[1d10] Dragon Breath: Plasma
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.736805
>>736800Last one is meant for
>>736785 No.736807
>>736800Vandal's ears twitch at the alarms, "All the more reason to get a move on eh? Come on, you're the one who signed up to be a pirate, it's not like you joined for the dental plan- let's have some fun with this."
Vandal revs up, scooting the dolly ridden by the pony along, "Name's Vandal, keep your hooves inside the ride at all time and be a deer and play GPS for me? While I'd love for it just be be the full tour I think we've only got time for one stop."
No.736809
>>736800"Frank?" Gigi whispers again. "Frank?!" Still no reply. Not good. She sighs and moves to pull a small blue screen out of her bag, but nearly drops it when first the shotgun blast and then the alarm ring in her ears. "Shit." She lifts her InvisiBand, activates cloaking device, shimmers away, and takes another step away from the other two, hiding near the wall. With both her hands on her gun, she waits for a good time to slip past the dragon.
No.736811
>>736800Gale grunts through the pain. "They're not gonna be impressed when you kill a clone in front of them." He bluffs. "Just make sure you're plenty far when you kill this one. The magical void can be pretty vicious."
He winces, then continues.
"Ah, but don't let me stop you. You're the captain, right?"
Bluff [1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.736812
>>736800Fir lets out a soft huff as he's left dangling over the edge, and decides to free himself and drop to the ground. No sense in trying to do otherwise.
>Do I need to roll? No.736813
>>736811 bluff isnt a thing you can roll (totally not a reroll) Persuasion [1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.736821
>>736803>>736809>>736812Fir drops down a bit roughly, while Gigi goes invisible. He's a bit too far to hit right off the bat, but Areia manages to scorch some of his equipment, rendering the boiler inoperable. He teleports away towards the door, trying to make a break for it.
It occurs to you that it might not be the best idea to use firearms in a boiler room.>>736811"Clone?" he spits. "Parlor tricks and mummery. Leave him be." The first mate throws you to the floor.
"We take no prisoners, cur. If a clone ye be, then ye'll have no qualms with stayin' put." He whips out the datapad again, remotely closing all the doors. They slide shut with a heavy thud, getting reinforced by further blast doors. You're effectively locked in the infirmary, without recourse.
"So, come here often?" you hear Organic ask dryly from somewhere in the wing.
>>736807"Vandal. Hi. I'm Antimony Chekhooves, but you knew that already. Somehow."
You start wheeling him through the corridors. He points out a few routes here and there to avoid attention; you can see most pirates rushing to the source of the ongoing alarm, too distracted to pay much attention to you. You travel quickly from corridor to twisted corridor, going deep into the bowels of the hideout.
"Shit."
You are forced to stop dead in your tracks, as you see a turret poking out of the ceiling up ahead, scanning from side to side. "Place is on full alert now, and they're coded to blast anyone that isn't recognized as part of Cap's crew. How are we going to tackle this then?"
No.736823
>>736821Areia seemed to be fine with this as she was just shooting beanbags nothing particularly explosive. She turned and tried to down him with another shot as the last thing she wanted was him trying to get out of here.
"Oh no you don't you pirate scum!" she said trying for a headshot.
[1d10] Boomstick shooting
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.736824
>>736821Gigi just continues quietly waiting. No sense firing off sparks, and right now there doesn't really seem to be enough room. At the same time she considers breaking off entirely in hopes the pirates who caught Frank bring him back to their base. For now at least she decides to wait.
No.736826
>>736821Fir lands with a heavy doesn't waste any time in scrabbling after the unicorn. He picks himself back up and charges after him! The faster, the better.
>[1d10] Charge!Roll #1 9 = 9 No.736828
>>736821"Can't believe that worked." He says to himself.
After hearing Organic he sighs. "No, I don't. Don't plan on staying long too."
He looks around the room, searching for anything that could aid his escape.
Perception [1d10]
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.736831
>>736821"Uhhh you'd like to walk separately go ahead, again I've got this whole skate-really-fast shtick goin on sooo I'm just gonna let it put a few holes in the hull as I skate by. Go ahead and walk on the other side of the hallway so you don't get peppered, don't want your flank getting hurt on my behalf."
Vandal skates down the hallway stylishly.
>Moody's Shuffle, Zone change down the hall>other action dodge roll[1d10+2]
Roll #1 3 + 2 = 5 No.736833
>>736823>>736824>>736826The pirate is bowled over by Fir, getting knocked into the wall with a soft grunt. He tries to get back up, but is promptly downed by a rubber shotgun blast to the face. He falls flat on his back, slowly trying to recover, nursing his right eye with a moan.
You can hear more pirates coming.
"Wh… What do you want from us?" the boiler unicorn manages to say, cradling his head. "Why are you here anyway?"
>>736828It seems you're locked in here pretty tight. At first glance at least, you can't see any obvious ways out.
"You might as well give up," Organic comments, emerging from one of the back rooms.
"This place is airtight. And I know you're not a fake. What's even got you and your mates so riled up anyway? Why come all this way?">>736831"Yeah, I'm just gonna go…" He gets off the dolly and strolls to the other side, waiting for you to catch up.
You're quick, but it's hard to beat automated systems. The turret opens fire, winging you in the arm. As you make it to the other side, Chekhooves rushes in front of you, forcing the turret not to shoot. "You okay?" he asks with a bit of genuine concern. "Not too much further, it's just down that ladder. Might have to ditch the dolly."
>Vandal takes 1 hit No.736834
>>736833Areia crossed the room and lifted him up "Kill the alarm before I run you through." she said as she quickly grabbed his horn with her spare hand "Or I break this off." she added as she glared at him.
"We just came to retrieve some stolen property and I really didn't like getting shot down for my troubles." she added with an annoyed scowl.
No.736836
>>736833Alright. Taking the lull in action as a chance to check on Frank, she pulls the blue screen out and turns it on. Not having any kind of map of the place, the only thing that pops up is a solid white dot showing Frank's direction and distance.
No.736840
>>736833>Ninja FlipVandal rolls up her sleeve to show the bullet only passed through her hoodie, the damage prevented by her feline reflexes, "Yeah you're no pirate alright. Didn't even touch my fur, though do you know any sewing by chance?"
Vandal nods, "I think the crew's preoccupied with my friends anywho, they're faaar noisier than me." She stifles a giggle, "And I'm the one who's been talking your ear off. Glad you had your earbuds in earlier. Also who says I can't skate with the dolly up and down? You just actually use the ladder proper."
No.736841
>>736833>>736834Fir lets out a soft huff after he bowls the unicorn over, and bears down over him as intimidatingly as possible. "Just here on work. Do what we ask."
No.736842
>>736833"Heh. Was worried the robot could figure me out." He says, walking towards the door to inspect it.
"Eh, just some repossession gig. Pirates steal something, we steal it back. Bit below my usual cut, but what are you gonna do. Any chance you know about what we're looking for? An idiot came by and tried to get it before, so whatever they were after."
He says, as he casts into his remaining device.
Hologram Emitter [1d10]
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.736846
>>736834He winces as you grab him by the horn. "Hey, don't manhandle me," he protests. "I can't shut it off anyway, even if I wanted to."
>>736836He seems to be south of you, about 1km away. Moving quick at that. Seems the pirates that captured him were alerted too.
>>736834>>736836>>736841"Ah, makes sense. You're the ones they sent after we chased off that other guy then. Good to know. Sounds like you're out of time but."
You can hear the captain from before yelling something, and a bunch of other pirates along with him. They don't seem happy about your shenanigans. Sounds like they'll be here in a few seconds.
>>736842The door is magnetically sealed. It'd take either some advanced hacking or a small explosion to unseal it. Surely there must be another way out…
It seems getting roughed up damaged your emitter somewhat. A clone sputters in and out of existence.
"Having trouble getting it up? Can't say I'm surprised," Organic snarks.
"I might, but I don't really have motivation to talk to you about it. And my programming wouldn't allow it anyway. So, yeah.">>736840"Can't help you there, sorry."
He practically facepalms at the suggestion. "Oh, of course. Hadn't really, uh, factored those in yet. Just this way and we'll be at the treasury. Might need to find a way in though, it's usually kept locked tight."
>>736834>>736836>>736841>>736840>>736842You start getting a sudden transmission. It's from Undertow. He sounds pressured.
"Hey, you lot. Uh, you're gonna have to find another way back, maybe. I think they found me. I'm trying to give them the sl-"Gunfire; then, the transmission cuts out.
>>736834>>736836>>736841The boiler unicorn takes advantage of the distraction to try and teleport away again.
[1d10]
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.736848
>>736846She frowned and looked to the other two and then to Gigi specifically "You wouldn't happen to have a boat around here would you? Cause if not I think I'm gonna have to ferry Fir back to short and I won't be much use in a fight there." she said as she pondered setting a trap.
Actually, do you have any more of those explosives? We could probably set another trap."
No.736849
>>736846Well. Shit. At least if they're coming back here they're bringing Frank back too. Hopefully not in too many pieces. Gigi puts the tablet away and shakes her head.
>>736848"Actually," Gigi says, still invisible. "I do, and I do. It's not a huge boat, but I think it'll fit all of you. I have a couple more microcharges and a couple EMP charges. Did you have something in mind, or just wanna keep moving and see what happens?"
No.736850
>>736849I was gonna say coat the door in them and then we funnel them in and get back into the vents so we cave the room in around them. Maybe more with the boilers."
No.736852
>>736846"Hrm. We need to check on that Undertow when we're done here- Vandal already didn't feel good about that part, and he did stick his neck out." the elk says, before looking over towards the yelling. He'll try to get a few of his vials ready, just in case.
>[1d10] Distill LifeRoll #1 10 = 10 No.736853
>>736846"Suppose you're also programmed for that to not bother you. Shame."
He looks down at the busted emitter.
"Gonna cost a fortune to get that fixed, but works for now."
Gale looks around for any small holes in the room, windows or any way to get this emitter out of here.
Perception [1d10]
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.736855
>>736850"Yeah. I was actually thinking of blowing the bloiler room, myself. Especially if they're already on their way here. Pop one on a boiler, funnel them in, hope we can get enough distance to not kill ourselves, and blow it."
No.736857
>>736855That works too. I was kind of annoyed I didn't take the captain out in one strike so exploding him would be damn nice."
No.736858
>>736846"
Don't you dare pull off last-day-before-retirement Undertow." Vandal says into her commlink before returning attention to Chekhooves. "Well no sense just talking about, let's go looking about."
[1d10] alternate routes or ways to enter perception
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.736859
>>736850>>736852"So, uh, you guys don't have to help me or anything, but I'll have to split off from you to go save my buddy before we leave. The pirates kinda found and captured him."
No.736860
>>736859"We can make a detour. Shouldn't be long, right?"
No.736862
>>736857"Welp. I'll go ahead and plant one, then." She slips into the room, pops one of the small magnetic charges out of her band, sticks it to a boiler, and primes it.
[1d10]Sabotage
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.736863
>>736859Might as well help you out after you helped us out there feathers."
No.736864
>>736860"Nah. They're bringing him back here, so it shouldn't be too hard to find him. I can at least check his general location. On the plus side they might toss him wherever they keep the stuff they steal, so I might not be leaving this empty clawed after all."
No.736865
>>736864>>736860>>736863"Well, shit. Alright. Neat. Thanks."
No.736868
>>736850>>736852>>736849The unicorn poofs out of existence.
>>736852You manage to get the syringe ejectors working properly again, putting out three of them for general use. They seem to be extra potent.
>heal 1 wound on use>>736853"Not really, no."You spot an air conditioning unit on the ceiling. It's a bit out of your reach, but it looks shabby enough that you could pull it free with some elbow grease and see about going up the ventilation shaft.
"Oh look, a way out," Organic deadpans.
"How terrible for us." No.736870
>>736858"Right. Yeah. Let's go."
He leads you down a set of stairs into a deep, musty part of the base inhabited by space spiders. In the rusting hulk, you come to a long, wide hallways filled with broken robots, culminating in a threatening looking iron door with a glowing green console next to it. "Well, that's it," Chekhooves shrugs. "No idea how you plan on getting in though. I don't even know the password myself."
Nothing is immediately obvious to you as far as a way in goes.
>>736862>>736863>>736860Gigi plants a charge on the nearest boiler to the door, just as a handful of pirates swarm in, armed to the teeth with miscellaneous weaponry - all non-firearms, in case of setting off the boiler. They look around a bit before focusing on you. They open fire with crossbows made of scrap!
[2d10] vs Fir and Areia
Roll #1 4, 7 = 11 No.736871
>>736870Areia did her best to hit the deck before they got too close to hitting her. Or at least she tried to.
[1d10] Dodge
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.736873
>>736870Gigi sticks to the side, staying out of sight. Lining up a shot with the pirate firing on the dragon, she takes a slow breath in, pauses, and pulls the trigger. A bolt of electricity streaks from the barrel directly at him.
[Aimed shot, Lightning element]
After firing the shot she shifts her position, moving closer to the vent they came in.
No.736875
>>736870"Know what's the deal with all the robots? Seems like a weird place to ditch them." Vandal says, walking amongst the broken bots and searching more.
[1d10] sleuthing
She flips on comms, seeing if the others have something that'll help,
>>736871>>736870>>736860>>736853"
Hey I made another friend and we're figuring out the vault now, y'all run into passwords on the way in?"
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.736876
>>736875Kind of busy drawing all the pirates to us so not really. Heads up probably gonna a giant explosion soon."
No.736877
>>736868"Us? Are you coming with or something?" He says, climbing up to the vent and trying to pry it off.
"I'm not against it, but I hope you aren't against getting rewired if you're gonna tag along."
Pry [1d10]
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.736878
>>736868The elk growls when the unicorn poofs away, stamping a hoof on the ground. He'll pass a vial to both Areia and Gigi, before readying his Hardlight suit.
>>736870Fir tries to focus the energy in his suit, getting the defensive matrix online early.
>[1d10] Fortify Flesh (DC -1 from Arcane Conductor)Roll #1 7 = 7 No.736879
>>736875"I don't think I saw one, no. Be careful."
>>736876>>736873>Remember! 1 Distill Life vial each! No.736882
>>736878She took the vial and left it in her pouch for now as she didn't need to down it immediately.
No.736883
>>736878She swaps the one she has with the improved one.
No.736884
>>736871>>736873>>736878Gigi manages to get a shot off on the pirate, knocking her backwards and making her take a knee, and flies closer to the hole in the ceiling. Areia takes a shot to the rib, but her armor cushions the worst of it.
>Areia takes 2 hitsFir rearranges the hardlight components of his suit, which shift about its surface like liquid light. Healing magic courses through his body from the conductor.
The pirates start spilling in, the captain pulling up the rear, spreading out and training miscellaneous weapons on you, from the aforementioned crossbows to nail guns, mining lasers, and even just a slingshot. The captain makes his grand entrance by firing a blast of energy into the ceiling. It came from a swanky new prosthetic arm he had installed. "Enough boondoggling, ye jackanapes!" he barks. "Weapons down. We have ye outnumbered, and ye haven't done nothin' unfergivable. Yet. Ye won't be firing on us, lest we all be sent ter Davy Jones' locker by yon contraption." He gestures at the boiler. "So. Shall we parlay?"
>>736877"What? Pft. No. Why would I? I meant us pirates. It's a tragedy our prized possession is getting away. Why won't anyone stop him." She proceeds to do absolutely nothing to stop you as you fly up and pull the aircon unit aside, revealing a path through the ventilation. It's dark, cramped, dangerous and uncomfortable, but it beats being locked in a room with a mouthy robot. Maybe.
>>736875"They were part of a haul we - they - got from a raid. We meant to set them up as security guards, but it didn't work out. And no one bothered hauling them off, so…" He shrugs and kicks one idly.
While most of the bots aren't terribly useful, you do find an interesting component in one; it is outfitted with a magical energy emitter which seems to be malfunctioning, slowly spewing large amounts of energy that is going to waste. In a vacuum, it's not terribly useful, but perhaps you could use it for something here?…
Chekhooves goes over to the console and starts messing around with it, trying a whole slew of pirate themed passwords, none of which work.
No.736886
>>736884Still up by the vent, Gale responds. "Seems like whatever program writes your bluffs needs updating. And even if this is a trap, I ain't going in." He says, tossing the emitter up into the vent.
Dropping back down, he trots over to the door, standing to the side. Meanwhile his clone activates and tries to find a way to drop out of the vents and back into the halls.
Clone Searching [1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.736887
>>736884She cried out in annoyance as she moved back to the vent along with Gigi and motioned for Fir to join her near the vent opening so they could make tracks if they need to.
No.736888
>>736884"Watcha think would happen if I just jammed this doohicky in the console? That's how it works in the movies right? Shit maybe I should try shooting it… that always either unlocks or locks doors depending on what you need in the situation."
Vandal heads over to the Chekhooves where he's been pressing, "Darn, you know if I had thought about it when I walked in, we could've done that crime show thing and dust for hoof prints. Bit moot now."
[1d10] more dice thinking cause brain thinking hard at bedtime
Roll #1 6 = 6 No.736889
>>736884>>736887Gigi moves deeper into the vents and checks her tablet for Frank's location again. "Just say when!"
No.736890
>Fortify Flesh: +1 Hit (2 Turns remaining)>>736884>>736887>>736889"Getting back into that vent might be hard for me- should we just try and talk to them? Run?"
No.736891
>>736886You send your clone up to explore. It seems you're in for an uncomfortable crawl, and there's lots of twists and turns through the ventilation system. One turn takes you right into a fan, threatening to dice your clone to bits. Best not to go that way.
Eventually, the clone exits into another part of the ship. The alarm is still blaring, but it doesn't look like there's many pirates around. You're on a balcony overlooking much of the hideout's inner workings. You can see some activity near the lowest levels of the ship.
Back in the infirmary, Organic gives you a side eye with her singular photoreceptor.
"Oh I'm not bluffing, I just don't give a shit about any of this. Long as I can keep practicing my craft I'm happy. You aren't in the market for a new eye, are you?">>736888"Huh? Well that'd just cause a power surge, and then… Hm. Might actually work. Or it might just fuck the whole thing over. Still. We might as well give it a go, right? What other choice do we have?" He stands aside to let you do the honors.
>>736889Frank is about 600 metres away now.
>>736887>>736889>>736890Areia helps Fir back into the vent, then Gigi flies up. The captain looks outraged, and the pirates spill into the room, opening fire up to where you're hiding. "Come down and fight, ye bloomin' cockroaches!"
[5d10] vs everyone!
Roll #1 10, 2, 4, 4, 8 = 28 No.736892
>>736891Ari did her best to try and dodge the fire as she made her way through the vents but it wasn't really gonna work much but dammit she was gonna try.
[1d10] Dodge
Roll #1 1 = 1 No.736893
>>736891Gigi tries to dodge the incoming attacks.
[1d10]Falcon Burst dodge
Hitting the deck and still invisible for now, shouts, "Fire in the hole!" She hits a button on her band.
[1d10]Sabotage
Roll #1 6 = 6 /
Roll #2 1 = 1 No.736894
>>736891"Eh fuck it, worst thing that could happen I gotta call down my friend to pry it open." Vandal shrugs, jamming the thing in.
No.736895
>>736893[1d10]
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.736896
>>736891"I'll think about it. But hey, you get me out of here and I think I can supply you with enough hurt idiots to last you an entire lifeti- uh, until your circuitry burns out."
Gale's clone tries to make their way back to outside the infirmary.
Navigation [1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.736897
>Fortify Flesh: +1 Hit (1 Turn remaining)>>736891>[1d10] Brace to block some of the incoming damage, hopefully!>Reduced Damage from Fortify"I'd rather be a coward than dead." he responds with, huffing a little as he's dragged into the duct. He'll try to call up a hardlight shield to deflect some of the fire from him and the others.
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.736898
>>736896Persuasion [1d10]
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.736899
>>736892You feel a sudden dull impact, followed by an intense burning pain. It's too cramped to check where you were shot, but you feel it coming from somewhere in your chest. You feel weak.
>Areia takes 5 hits, helpless>>736893You manage to scramble and avoid most of the incoming fire, but you take a bit of shrapnel to the left back leg. It burns like nothing else.
>Gigi takes 2 hits>>736894You jam the emitter in. The magical energy starts surging through the console, causing it to spark and strobe dangerously, making a high pitched fizzing noise before finally blowing with a loud pop. Acrid smoke starts pouring from it. The vault door makes some ominous grinding noises; then, the lock turns and deactivates, allowing entrance into the pirates' trove.
"Huh. Was about a coin flip chance, I'd say," Chekhooves comments. "Good thing everything here's as janky as it looks."
>>736897You shift to protect Areia from a fatal crossbow shot, absorbing heavy damage from the burst of shots.
>Fir takes 3 hits>>736896>>736898Your clone manages to find a route right outside the blast door. There doesn't seem to be a way to open them from here; looks to be remotely operated.
Organic rolls her photoreceptor.
"You're not the brightest, are you. I'm not programmed to be able to help you, but I don't really care about the captain or his thugs much either. So I can't really do much here except drop some heavy hints. Besides, these morons do a good enough job beating each other up that they give me plenty of room to practice.">>736895>>736893>>736892Gigi hits the trigger.
A monstrous twofold explosion threatens to rattle the stars out of the sky itself. You are thrown about inside the vent like ragdolls, hitting your heads violently. When you come to, you find yourselves hurt, but not fatally so. The same cannot be said for what's left of the boiler room; it's a barely recognizable pile of twisted metal and rubble. No sign of any pirates; they seem to have been either blown to smithereens or buried under it all. Either way, seems like that's the last you'll be seeing of them.
>>736896>>736894You feel the ground quake as a deafening explosion rings out from the lowest layers of the ship. You are almost thrown to the ground by it, causing essentially a tiny earthquake. When it finishes, you hear the whole base creaking and groaning around you. Whatever happened, the hideout has been rattled to its core. And considering how flimsy it was to begin with, there's no telling how much longer it'll stay in one piece.
>>736896Organic's photoreceptor darts around.
"What the fuck did you do?" she says bluntly.
>>736893Chekhooves is thrown to the floor by the explosion, picking himself up and looking around hurriedly. Bits of debris start to fall from the ceiling. He looks at you, frozen in panic for a moment. "…We should probably grab the thing and go."
>pausing No.737452
Gigi stumbles and nearly goes to the ground, but manages to catch herself and only take a knee. Her claw shoots to her leg and she lets out a quiet hiss. "Fuck. Fuck. Fu-" She's cut off as she's thrown off her paws and slammed into the ductwork, only able to let out a loud squak.
When it's over she's lying face down seven feet from where she'd been standing. For a moment she stays face down, trying to decide if she regrets not just taking the bullets. After a second, though, she rolls onto her back, groaning with the effort. Yeah. Yeah, the bullets probably would've been better.
Pulling herself back to her paws, she shakes herself out, ruffling her feathers a little. After some digging, she grabs the syringe and jabs it into her thigh.
"You two alright?"
No.737453
>>736899The dragon cried out and then was promptly battered and slammed around the small hidey hole before groaning and leaning on Fir as she tried to get her bearings and forget the pain radiating throughout her form.
>>737452"I'll live. Can't speak for the pirates or presumably this place if we don't hurry out."
[1d10] to Stand up
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.737454
>>736899"Look at you already having plans and packed ready to go before your job went under, literally. Your mom'd be proud." Vandal says, preparing the dolly again, "Err, about the stopping-being-a-pirate thing I mean. Let's get going big guy."
>Heading down with Chekhooves in tow. No.737455
>>736899"Your loss, robo." Gale says before the explosion.
After the explosion, Gale retorts at Organic "I didn't do anything! Probably your genius pirate crew fucking something up."
Gales clone searches in the chaos for any nearby pirates to get the attention of.
Perception/Navigation [1d10]
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.737456
>Fortify Flesh: +1 Hit (0 turns remaining)>Force Redirection: 2/4 >>736899Fir grunts a little bit as he absorbs the worst of it, before looking to Areia to check on her. He'll use the leftover syringe from the last round on himself
>Distill Life: +3 Hits>Areia and Gigi still both have a Crit Distill Life, along with… someone else? I forget ._. No.737458
>>737456"Thanks for the save by the way big guy. You're A-okay by me."
No.737459
>>737453>>737452>>737456You manage to recover. It seems like all's quiet down below, but it seems like your hiding spot is about to give way. The vents were already unstable, but the explosion seems to have loosened them. You feel it begin to sag, and an ominous metallic creaking rings out.
>Gigi heals back up>Fir heals 3 hits>>737452Somewhere outside, Frank starts to reboot, systems slowly coming back online. Auditory and visual sensors seem to be malfunctioning; everything for him sounds muffled, like he's underwater, while his vision is warped by pixelated distortion. He's also vaguely aware of not being able to move his limbs.
He appears to still be captive; the pirates are speaking indistinctly very close by.
>>737454"I don't know about that, she wanted me to be a sorcerer."
You head down the stairs to the pirates' trove. You can see a plethora of goodies stockpiled here, everything from preserved food to weapons and armor to proper valuables, all heaped together carelessly in large piles. The lights struggle to turn on in the aftermath of the explosion, flickering on and off. Dust fills the air amidst disorganized, rusting shelves. Seems like it might take a bit to find the cube you're after. And with what just happened, you might be short on time. Chekhooves crosses his forelegs. "Right. So what are we after exactly?"
>>737455"They're fuckups, but not on this level. This was your mates' doing." She trundles over to a console and extends an appendage to plug in.
"Holy fuck. Whole bloody lower level's up in flames. This place is going down. …I think my inhibitors are offline. …Fuck, they are."Her disc-shaped head swivels like an owl to face you.
"I can get us out of here," she says bluntly.
"I'd rather not stay here and rust for the next few decades at the bottom of the ocean. You?"Most of the pirates seem to have gone to the lower levels where the explosion happened, but you spot a few stragglers dashing there in the aftermath. They don't seem to be paying you much attention, all things considered.
>>737458>>737457>>737455>>737454You get a sudden commlink buzz from Green.
"How's the sneaking mission going?" she asks sarcastically.
"You find the thing yet?" No.737460
>>737459"Well aside from us probably ruining the pirate industry and getting shot several times, pretty well. Feel like doing us a favor and flying in? We might need a rapid pick up…. and someone to see if our ride is ok. Think he might have gotten shot at."
Areia quickly did her best to start moving through the vents looking for a safe place to exit out into.
No.737461
>>737458Fir nods.
>>737459"We got… sidetracked. Vandal should be on the way to get it. We'll need a fast pickup- might need to check on another person in the area, too."
>>737454"You alright? Found what we're looking for?" he asks.
No.737462
>>737459"And I had such an elaborate plan to get out of here… Shame." He says, sighing as he deactivates the clone. "Alright, lets get a move on before you change your mind. Or uh, circuitboard. Not a robotics guy."
No.737463
>>737459>>737461"
I have avoided detection and am now in the loot room- how bad did you fuck the ship up by the way?" She says, asking after hearing Fir's voice before adding, "
Err not saying you specifically Fir, I'm sure it's Gale's fault or something."
>>737459Vandal towards Chekhooves, "I mean this is likely your last time you'll see this place whether you're gonna stick with the pirates or not so grab whatever you'd like, but if you could look for this lil wooden puzzle box before looting that'd be swell. Liiiikely a condition of whether you're getting a ride off the planet since we're not leaving without it."
Vandal goes looking herself, using her feline eyesight to look into every dark nook and cranny.
[1d10] Hunter's Eye passive in effect
Roll #1 9 = 9 No.737464
>>737463"Mmm. Pretty, ah… pretty bad, but I can't be sure. We'll probably want to get off of here soon, regardless."
No.737465
>>737457>>737453Gigi's breath catches in her throat a little, and she shakes off again. "Yeah. Yep. I'm good."
>>737459"Oh. Fuck me. Doesn't seem like this place will be much longer, though." She scoots back in the vent a little. Looking back the way they came in, she also tries to find a good spot to get out.
>>737459Grainy artifacts dance across Frank's vision as he powers back up. As his voice module comes online he moves to threaten the pirates he can't really see or hear. His voice is grainy and full of static as he says, "
Sí, sí, me gustaría hablar con la señorita Savi Blanc. Mi identificación de crédito de Florin es seis uno cinco cuatro-"
"Frank," Gigi says over her com link. "Thank fuck you're- Wait. Why are you speaking- Damn it Frank, I told you not to call that number anymore!"
"Shoot," Frank mumbles. "Guess I got my voice module mixed up when Frank Junior Jr suddenly came back online. Hey, they're my florins!"
"How did you even get Florins? And that was my Florin credit ID you were using."
"By helping old Mr.Vermicelli move some stuff around his shop," Frank answers, now completely ignoring the pirates.
Gigi pauses for a second. "Helping wh- You know what. We'll talk about this later. I don't have time right now."
"Well, it probably doesn't matter now. I'm pretty sure they blacklisted our number. If I just said that part to you then I just told them I'd blow up their HQ."
No.737467
>>737460[1d10] Navigation
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.737468
>>737465[1d10]
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.737469
>>737460>>737461>>737463"Not much of a sneaking mission then is it. Felt the shockwave from up here. I'll do a sweep of the perimeter, see if I can't pick your guy up. Hang in there.">>737462"Well if you want to put some convoluted scheme into action, by all means, roll out the red carpet. We've got all the time in the world. No? Good. Now move."She rolls past you and starts interacting with the blast doors, eventually unlocking all three of them and finally letting you out of the infirmary.
"…That's, er, about as far as my plan goes. Maybe we can still do your elaborate plan, in a roundabout way. Yeah? Nah?">>737463"Cool. Let's see what we can grab then." Chekhooves joins you in your search.
[1d10]
>>737465As Frank starts talking again, he feels himself get struck roughly by one of the pirates. "Shut up," he hears her growl.
Auditory sensors are coming back online now, though visuals are still dodgy. Gigi can hear most of it by proxy:
"Shit! What the hell happened?!"
"Must've been the boiler going off. Probably whoever this tin can belongs to. I told Cap it would blow any day now."
"Well what do we do? Go back to the mainland? This place is finished, look at it."
"Shit… I don't… I don't know. We could try looking for other patrols that weren't down there. Maybe meet up with Rydjerd's gang, tell 'em the news…"
"What about survivors?"
"There's no survivors."
"But-"
"Forget it."
"…Aye, sir."
>>737466>>737467>>737468After a bit more uncomfortable crawling, Fir finds a way out. Just in time too; the vent gives way and collapses behind you, barring retreat. Only one way out now.
You pry the grate loose and pop out, finding yourselves on one of the many railing paths. The whole hideout is in chaos; you can see pirates on some of the lower levels running to and fro like confused ants. Turrets are deactivated, systems malfunctioning, alarms blaring. Overall, it's bedlam. You feel a shudder as the whole base shifts dangerously. It seems like the whole place is going to sink. You'll need to meet up with the others and get out. And fast.
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.737470
>>737469"My plan ended at leaving this room. Time we improvise." He trots into the hallway, looks around and thinks outloud. "Our ship out of here already bailed on us. This place got lifeboats? Anything we can steal and drive out of here?" He says, trying to hide his minor panic.
No.737471
>>737469>>737463>>737470"How about we meet on the roof? At this point its probably the safest place since everything on the ground floor is currently a fireball." she suggested over the comm links as she started looking for ways to get to the top of the wreck as soon as possible.
[1d10] Perception.
Roll #1 7 = 7 No.737472
>>737469"Shit. I didn't even get to loot the place!" Gigi squawks. "What is this place made of, paper?" She groans and frantically looks around for any clue where the hell to get out. "This is bullshit. 2000 fucking Florins down the toilet. Frank, where are you?"
>>737469"Still outside," he says. "Might go meet with Richard's gang with these guys. Dang, Giggles, you did a number on that place."
Still outside. That was good. That meant they could get out and she could grab him then. "Fuck," Gigi mumbles again.
[1d10]Nav/Perception
Roll #1 2 = 2 No.737473
>>737463>>737469It takes a good few minutes of sorting through the miscellaneous junk and treasures to find what you think you're after: a wooden box, about the size of your paw, made of black wood, with several moving parts and protrusions, implying a puzzle to be solved. It seems rather innocuous. "That's what was causing all the fuss?" Chekhooves says skeptically, then shrugs and keeps looting the place.
You find some special energy cells for a blaster; seems to be of the pirates' own design. They're not lethal rounds, but seem designed to temporarily overload the nervous system, causing paralysis. No blaster to go with it. Luckily, Chekhooves is here to help, as he finds one for you. "Here, catch! Don't worry, it's not loaded."
He tosses the gun at you, missing by a wide margin. It goes over your head and as it hits the wall, leaving a scorching hole in the ceiling. "It's not loaded now."
>Standard issue blaster pistol: Firearm, Energy (2 shots)>Scorpion Energy Cell: passive; DC-1 while using this cell, but cannot deal lethal damage and does not have an Elementalist effect. Instead, targets rendered helpless by this cell cannot recover for 2 rounds, or 3 on a crit. No.737474
>>737469>Naviation: [1d10]"Hrm. We need to keep moving. Hopefully, they're too panicked to stop us. We'll need to find Gale, too."
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.737475
>>737473and fires off as it hits the wall*
No.737476
>>737471Vandal responds to Areia but addresses her message to all,
>>737474>>737470 "
I'll see about it, I nabbed the thingy so mission cleared. We could stick around and see if the captain floats and see if we wanna cash in that bounty too."
>>737473"No clue, it's just what we're getting paid for. Anyways nab anything else you want and let's get out of here, don't wanna be fishfood."
Vandal jumps up from the gun going off as her fur stands on end, but she quickly regains composure and smiles, "Neat, also since we're like, way over our heads at this point and there really isn't gonna be a ship for you to return to if you backed out now so you should probably at least take your gun back." Vandal says, swapping firearms with Chekhooves, "Not like you'd get much out of shooting me at this point anyways."
She prepares the dolly again, "When you're ready, next stop is 'anywhere but here'. Also if you'd play GPS again I wooould suuuper appreciate it for your sake and mine."
No.737477
>>737476"
I'm gonna be blunt I am pretty sure the captain is in pieces or buried under what was the boiler room of this place. But if you wanna wait I guess we could chill in the ship or something." she fired back on the comm
No.737478
>>737470"I can sense your panic, you know," she says bluntly.
"Just calm down. …Calm the fuck down." She's not doing too hot either.
"Um… Let's see… Shit, of course my FUCKING navbanks go now. …There are lifeboats, uh… I don't know. God dammit. Let's just keep improvising.">roll Navigation>>737471>>737472>>737474You find a way that seems to lead to the roof; a precarious, half broken metal stairwell that leads up to a trap door. It doesn't look very stable, but there's not many other ways up, unless you were to-
"MAGGOTS!"
Behind you, limping up a flight of stairs, is the pirate captain, his bloodied face contorted with rage. He is grievously wounded, but determined for revenge, lurching towards you with a laser blunderbuss in his left hand. His right prosthetic is charging up with energy. He is bleeding profusely from his left leg, which has a piece of shrapnel sticking straight through it. He seems to be blind to the pain. "Thought ye could put me down that easily, eh? If we're goin' to the Locker, ye'll be joinin' us all! Blaggards no more, but a nothing for the harpies and the souls of dead sailors to feast on!"
He fires a deafening blast from the blunderbuss at you!
[1d10+4]
>>737476He takes the