Starside

[Felandria]

[Pirate Ship]

"Do you think we'd need more of a crew for that...First Mate Felandria?" Chevin smiles, seeming tempted.

It's dangerous relying on the Nexus's weird time. What if Fel wound up double-late to her responsibilities?

"And do you have an adventure in need of our ship?"

I dunno, maybe we already have a crew?

Maybe that’s the adventure, filling out the crew?

[bc56]

Hephaestus Drydocks

"Sure did, an hour or two ago. He asked for work, so I sent him to pick up a salvage claim. Should've been a milk run, now that I think about it. He should've reported back by now." The dwarf strokes his beard, thinking.

[Recaiden]

[Dyson Sphere]

"No, the star looks healthy, and if it were the whole star, we'd probably have felt them by now too." Right? Probably. Yone doesn't actually know much about stars. Leaving the readouts behind, she crosses to the room's other exit.

[Pirate Ship]

"I have like, three or four people I could get, maybe. And how many pirates did we fight our way through? Although it doesn't seem to need our help to fly. But that's hardly an adventure, that's how an adventure starts." Chevin thinks a moment, and shakes hir head.

And, just in time, the ship pulls back into the station to let the rescued captives go free!
The grey alien gives a cheery wave before drifting off, the other two actually say 'goodbye' before vanishing with their shares of the treasure.

"Whatever else, we oughtta unload this treasure first. Wouldn't want to lose our first chest of gold, would we? Then we can find some fellow adventurers. Here, come help me with the controls." sure,the kaleidoscope could man the wheel on his own, but he was probably able to see what he was doing.

[Reinholdt]

[Dyson Sphere]

"Hmm... It depends on if the shielding is failing in some areas and not others." Reinholdt points out as they start heading down the other hall.

[Felandria]

[Dyson Sphere]

"No, the star looks healthy, and if it were the whole star, we'd probably have felt them by now too." Right? Probably. Yone doesn't actually know much about stars. Leaving the readouts behind, she crosses to the room's other exit.

[Pirate Ship]

"I have like, three or four people I could get, maybe. And how many pirates did we fight our way through? Although it doesn't seem to need our help to fly. But that's hardly an adventure, that's how an adventure starts." Chevin thinks a moment, and shakes hir head.

And, just in time, the ship pulls back into the station to let the rescued captives go free!
The grey alien gives a cheery wave before drifting off, the other two actually say 'goodbye' before vanishing with their shares of the treasure.

"Whatever else, we oughtta unload this treasure first. Wouldn't want to lose our first chest of gold, would we? Then we can find some fellow adventurers. Here, come help me with the controls." sure,the kaleidoscope could man the wheel on his own, but he was probably able to see what he was doing.

Sure thing.

Felandria, much like another child of a deity, takes the wheel.

Yeah, we wanna get this to the bank, as it were.

Also, we need to see what’s in that thing.

Maybe the best move is for you to open it and I get big and maybe if it’s a scary thing I can scare it back.

Or maybe.....

What if it’s another hostage?

[Recaiden]

"If it's another hostage why wasn't it in the prison block and, no, I just don't think it is. But that's a good plan." Chevin shakes hir head.

"But if it is, then we let them go."

((I think we can skip ahead to once they've landed and are ready to open the thing.))

[bc56]

Dyson Sphere

As the group heads through the other exit, those without spacesuits will begin to smell something. As they continue along the passage, it gets stronger and stronger, more recognizable as the smell of rotting flesh.

[Recaiden]

Yone's nose wrinkles. "More victims of that machine?" she hazards. That wouldn't be too bad.

[WarforgedTank]

Hephaestus Drydocks

"Sure did, an hour or two ago. He asked for work, so I sent him to pick up a salvage claim. Should've been a milk run, now that I think about it. He should've reported back by now." The dwarf strokes his beard, thinking.

Connor puts his hand on his chin.

"I've got a ship. Where was this salvage run's location?"

Connor takes out all of the legal documents he was given upon entering Starside, and shows them to the dwarf.

"I don't want your money. I just want to find my brother."

Brother was a relative term, of course. But the SPARTANs treated each other like family, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to find another SPARTAN that may be in trouble.

[Reinholdt]

[Dyson Sphere]

Reinholdt sniffs the air a few times.
"Ugh. Maybe. Seems a bit too intense for just one machine to have caused this though." Just a wild guess based on his time with the dead. "Hope you didn't want lunch today." Rein forges ahead towards the source of the stench.

[bc56]

Dyson Sphere

The passage soon opens up into a room. A number of bushes covered in blue flowers grow in this room. The smell is coming from the corpse of one of the giant insects you encountered earlier. A number of smaller insects are picking at its corpse.

Hephaestus Drydocks
"I understand that. My clan's important to me too." The dwarf types some things into a keypad, and a slot on the wall spits out a piece of paper. "Those are the coordinates. A ship crashed on a barren moon. Unknown manufacturer, probably alien. We have a deal with the government of that system, so we get to keep available salvage, as long as any survivors are properly taken care of, transported to an inhabitable planet not in that system."

[Recaiden]

This would normally be time to stop and smell the flowers, but they're probably overpowered by the rotting carcass over there.
"Lots of those things around, huh? Cadets, see if you can tell what killed it."

[Reinholdt]

[Dyson Sphere]

"Careful. I wouldn't be surprised if these flowers are the cause." They're too... bright. And blue. Blue is definitely a sign of danger.

Reinholdt will check the periphery of the room, giving the rotting corpse a large berth.

[WarforgedTank]

Dyson Sphere

The passage soon opens up into a room. A number of bushes covered in blue flowers grow in this room. The smell is coming from the corpse of one of the giant insects you encountered earlier. A number of smaller insects are picking at its corpse.

Hephaestus Drydocks
"I understand that. My clan's important to me too." The dwarf types some things into a keypad, and a slot on the wall spits out a piece of paper. "Those are the coordinates. A ship crashed on a barren moon. Unknown manufacturer, probably alien. We have a deal with the government of that system, so we get to keep available salvage, as long as any survivors are properly taken care of, transported to an inhabitable planet not in that system."

Connor takes the slip of paper from the slot in the wall. Almost before he can think it, a voice pops up in the back of his head.

~Coordinates downloaded. Will route Pelican to that location.~

Connor thanks the dwarf again, and says that if there is anything of value on the wreck, he'll bring it back to him, free of charge, in exchange for the information. Connor heads back out to the landing bays, and boards his ship.

"Time to bring a SPARTAN home."

[bc56]

Dyson Sphere

Cadet Hansen begins to investigate the dead bug. The smaller scavengers seem frightened by the large intruders and scurry to hide under the bushes as they approach. Reinholdt can't really walk around the room, most of it is taken up by the flower bushes. Looking around however, there doesn't appear to be anything dangerous here.

Hephaestus Drydocks -> Crashed Ship

Connor is easily able to fly to the wreck. A barren moon now has a large crater in it, because a spaceship has crashed into it. The ship appears mostly intact, and it is relatively large, dwarfing the Pelican by an order of magnitude. It is shaped vaguely like a squid, tentacular appendages reaching out from its prow, and a large drive section in the rear, covered in strange flanges and ridges, which looks like the squid's head. A second ship is hovering above it, a slightly smaller ship which is boxy and rectangular, and sports a set of massive grasping arms. Neither ship is moving right now. As the Pelican approaches, Connor receives two messages, one from each of the ships. "Attention approaching ship! This is the Hephaestus Scrapyards ship HS-2403. The salvage on this planet is the property of Hephaestus Scrapyards. Any attempt to take any piece of this salvage is piracy and is punishable by law." "Attention incoming ship. This is the Rveltrian ship Second Chance, on urgent business. Please tell the scavengers above to cease in their attempts to claim this vessel so that we can finish our repairs and go save the world. Thank you very much." The first message is clearly an automated message from the intact ship, whereas the second comes from the downed craft.

Museum Ship
A ship floats behind the dark side of the Nexus' moon. It is shaped vaguely like a squid, tentacular appendages reaching out from its prow, and a large drive section in the rear, covered in strange flanges and ridges, which looks like the squid's head. The ship seems to be almost inactive, only the main engines, bridge, and a few scattered rooms and hallways have power. The excess power left over is being diverted to the ship's shields. Someon is cearly inside, however. Any sensor which detects humanoid lifeforms will pick up a single occupant in the bridge. An automated radio broadcast is playing. "This is the Reveltrian Museum Ship Mausoleum 1. Keep clear, dangerous cargo on board." A second broadcast is being sent over the first, informing anyone that the ship is not as dangerous as the computer claims it is, and that he'd just like to talk to someone.

[Recaiden]

Yone heads to one of the flower bushes and prods it with her gun.

"There weren't flowers like this by the other, were there?" Possibilities rush through her head, but they just don't know enough yet.

[Reinholdt]

[Dyson Sphere]

Rein shakes his head. "I don't remember. I just saw the giant insects and noped my way back down." His hope that those insects would be limited to that one area has long been dashed.

The cat will float up again, to get an aerial view.

[bc56]

Dyson Sphere

As Yone approaches the bushes, the stench of death increases. She might notice bones and fragments of insect carapace poking out from beneath them. Regardless, as she grows closer, it becomes increasingly obvious that the flowers are growing out of the corpse of a large animal, far more decayed than the dead insect in the center of the room

Flying above, Reinholdt doesn't see anything which would be unusual.

[Recaiden]

[Dyson Sphere]

"Looks like the flowers only grow on carrion. This is a graveyard."
But there's no evidence that they kill people yet.

Is there any other way out of the room besides the one they entered by?

[Museum Ship]

The reasonable thing to think is that this second message comes from one of the dangers of the ship.

A response comes only after hours have passed, if no one else visits or responds to interrupt the message. A distortion where for a moment something obscures the stars before being edited out of awareness, memory, and records. A weight on the edge of one's mind that slowly resolves into intrusive words.
Talk? Where? Let us in.
Very comprehensive sensors, like the kind the Museum Ship would certainly have powered down, might pick out the other vessel. Well, it's a creature, really, an elephantine crab-blimp drifting through the void.

[bc56]

Museum Ship

"Who are you? Where are you?" The message is returned by the sole occupant of the ship. Ellrin wants to talk to someone, but he's not sure how trustworthy this voice is.

[Recaiden]

[Museum Ship]

Overabundant vowels jangle and run over each other. Multiple expressions of identity overlap and tangle and annul. But the telepathic voice grows rapidly clearer. Distance being closed, probably.
-may call me. We approach the stern of your vessel from the horizon of the moon.
Psionic force pokes lightly at the Mausoleum 1, testing it for barriers and dangers.

[bc56]

Museum Ship

The Mausoleum 1 is heavily defended, its shields reinforced by the power which would normally go to thousands of empty rooms. Its hull is thick and durable, and it has magical defenses in place which prevent scrying the contents of its interior. At the same time, the ship scans the incoming speaker, using a varied sensor suite, including a magical device which is capable of detecting evil. "What is your species, do you come in peace?"

[Recaiden]

The speaker is not here. The voice is relayed through the approaching vessel from the surface of the planet.
'Species' is a misplaced concept. Your ship advertises danger; we are prepared to defend ourselves, but we do not intend you harm.
The arriving vessel lowers its cloaking. The whole thing is alive, and it moves through telekinesis. A sleek black carapace is interrupted by slowly waving tentacles. It has two claws, one long trunk, and six antennae. Within its pouches are further life signs, both humanoid and otherwise. It is, I imagine, much smaller than the Mausoleum. Only the size of a house.

Are they evil?
Well, it's true that they have no treacherous intent.
Do they have wicked designs? Well, maybe. People are going to get hurt. But it's all for the greater good. You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.
Have they committed harmful acts? Well, yes. They are soldiers. But then, they were only following orders. Okay, there are two entities aboard who are almost certainly evil. Heartless killing machines whose sadistic tendencies are only barely kept in check by their commander. But they're useful soldiers, Ellrin! And most of entities are solidly neutral!

[bc56]

Museum Ship

Having detected mostly Neutrality aboard the incoming ship, Ellrin relaxes. "My apologies for the recording. I have everything under control here. He pauses. "Perhaps your leader and one or two of your crew would care to transport over? I could provide a light meal, or perhaps a brief tour of the museum."

[Recaiden]

If you lower the shields, we will send over one visitor, with one of their guards. The offer of supplies is unnecessary. What is contained in the museum? The visitor drifts nearby, waiting for a response.

[bc56]

Museum Ship

How does Ellrin know they'll only send two? He is pretty sure he and the computer can take two, but maybe not more. "That is acceptable. The museum houses military curiosities. I like to boast that it's the best armed museum in the Galaxy." It's a very circumspect way to say doomsday devices, but he doesn't want opportunists to think they could steal some. He flickers the shields long enough to allow the party to transfer over.

[Reinholdt]

[Dyson Sphere]

"Yeah? But why'd they all die here? That killer robot? What's the corpse telling you cadet?" Reinholdt asks Hansen.

[bc56]

Dyson Sphere

"Well, you're never gonna believe this," the cadet says, "but it was asphyxiation. There's something plugging up the insect's spiracles." It doesn't make sense to him either.

There is an exit on the far side of the room.

[WarforgedTank]

Hephaestus Drydocks -> Crashed Ship

Connor is easily able to fly to the wreck. A barren moon now has a large crater in it, because a spaceship has crashed into it. The ship appears mostly intact, and it is relatively large, dwarfing the Pelican by an order of magnitude. It is shaped vaguely like a squid, tentacular appendages reaching out from its prow, and a large drive section in the rear, covered in strange flanges and ridges, which looks like the squid's head. A second ship is hovering above it, a slightly smaller ship which is boxy and rectangular, and sports a set of massive grasping arms. Neither ship is moving right now. As the Pelican approaches, Connor receives two messages, one from each of the ships. "Attention approaching ship! This is the Hephaestus Scrapyards ship HS-2403. The salvage on this planet is the property of Hephaestus Scrapyards. Any attempt to take any piece of this salvage is piracy and is punishable by law." "Attention incoming ship. This is the Rveltrian ship Second Chance, on urgent business. Please tell the scavengers above to cease in their attempts to claim this vessel so that we can finish our repairs and go save the world. Thank you very much." The first message is clearly an automated message from the intact ship, whereas the second comes from the downed craft.

Museum Ship
A ship floats behind the dark side of the Nexus' moon. It is shaped vaguely like a squid, tentacular appendages reaching out from its prow, and a large drive section in the rear, covered in strange flanges and ridges, which looks like the squid's head. The ship seems to be almost inactive, only the main engines, bridge, and a few scattered rooms and hallways have power. The excess power left over is being diverted to the ship's shields. Someon is cearly inside, however. Any sensor which detects humanoid lifeforms will pick up a single occupant in the bridge. An automated radio broadcast is playing. "This is the Reveltrian Museum Ship Mausoleum 1. Keep clear, dangerous cargo on board." A second broadcast is being sent over the first, informing anyone that the ship is not as dangerous as the computer claims it is, and that he'd just like to talk to someone.

Connor reaches down, flipping on the comms for his ship.

"Hephaestus ship, this is SPARTAN-064. I have been sent to retrieve a fellow soldier from your point of origin. Please acknowledge. Museum ship, state your business on all channels so that this ship has no reason to doubt your intention."

Connor keys up the audio inside of his helmet, signaling his AI.

"Prepare all weapons, but do not activate until enemy weapons have been armed."

"Acknowledged, sir."

[bc56]

Crashed Ship

"Acknowledged." The other ship takes a bit longer to reply. "Look, it's a long story, and it involves time travel. Do you have a video communicator? It'd be much easier if we could discuss this face to face."