Act 3: Ashes of Power

[TheRealSife]

Armed with some knowledge of what to expect of their enemies numbers and of the apparent significance that their former contact placed on the coordinates, the Keleres make haste back to the shipyard and prepare to embark for the dark side of Herool's Truce. On the way Rayla bids them farewell, explaining that he must tend to his own people.

As the ship leaves the station The Span, the vibrant metropolis of unchanging twilight, fades from view behind them and the sky quickly darkens into night. The Keleres' ship is built to maintain a comfortable temperature even in the vacuum of space, so none of the team feel any change on that front. Yet, the ships sensor readouts speak of a shockingly quick drop from the mild climate of The Span to an arctic tundra that even the most hardy of species would have difficulty surviving for long. It is a good thing that the ship came outfitted with environmental suits, the Keleres will certainly need them.

Navigating to the coordinates is easy enough at first but soon a strange form of radiation begins to build up, displayed on the ships sensors. Whatever this radiation is, the Keleres seem to be heading right for the source of it. If they can't make some quick adjustments to the ships navigational systems it will soon begin to affect the ship's functions!

OOC

Everyone may roll Discipline or Cool to recover strain, remember to add your 2 blue boost dice if you ate a meal at the Hearth.

Then I will need someone to roll an average (2 purple difficulty dice) Mechanics (Intelligence) check to recalibrate the ships systems to compensate for the growing interference.

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by TheRealSife (see edit history)

[eltorin]

Intellect check for Jana:

Edit: no wonders here but it was worth a try :)

Edited September 20, 2023 by eltorin (see edit history)

[Malkavian Grin]

Wounds 0/11 | Strain 1/14

Karrik had seemed to become the de facto pilot for the Keleres, and found himself at the controls taking the ship toward the coordinates. He ate his meal from the Hearth as the group took off and left The Span behind. Eventually the ship's sensors started to go a little haywire. As he looked over the readings, Jana began to punch at the console to try and adjust for the growing radiation.

 

"Perhaps you should brace yourselves, as a precaution. This radiation is building quickly," he offered on the comms as he too tried to make adjustments from his seat.

 

OOC

Okay, that's a lot of good stuff during my recover. I only need to recover 1 strain, so does anyone else need any? If not / there's leftover, can we take any of that forward on this next roll?

Speaking of the next roll, I don't have Mechanics, so that's just my Intellect as Ability dice, right?

 

[Ipphli]

Cheliyxx watches as Karrik attempts to guide their ship towards their destination, despite the increasing interference of the strange radiation. He was feeling better after the fight in the streets, the meal and the chance to sit and rest doing wonders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[eltorin]

Jana

Jana is silently grateful that Karrik stepped in and saved her from the humiliation by taking over checking the internal systems as it clearly not her forte.

 

[TheRealSife]

Though none of the keleres on this mission are experts in mechanics they manage to keep the ship from catastrophically malfunctioning as they navigate to an area filled with immense jagged mountains of ice and deep valleys concealed in freezing mists. The ships sensors tell them that the radiation is coming from a build up of quantum-mass particles.

Soon enough the ship arrives at the designated coordinates and the ship hovers over one of those mysterious misty valleys that the team had passed by in their journey. Through the camera feeds some kind of structure is just barely visible.

OOC

Unfortunately that is a net failure on the mechanics check, so the keleres manage to keep the ship up and running but it still suffers from interference. The negative penalty from this and the bonus recieved from getting info from the scavegers guild cancel each other out though, so the net effect is that landing requires a Hard (3 purple difficulty dice) Pilot (Agility) test with no modifiers.

If anyone wants to they can make an average (2 purple difficuty) dice Astrocartography (Intellect) or Knowledge (Intellect) check to recall knowledge about quantum-mass particles.

 

[Malkavian Grin]

Wounds 0/11 | Strain 1/14

Managing to keep the ship from careening down into the misty depths, Karrik sat up just a little straighter on the approach to the destination. It felt good to lead, natural even. What felt less good was the build-up of particles in the engines that made for a bumpy ride. He tried to recall anything he might know about quantum-mass particles, though he was certainly no scholar.

 

"Hold on to something, I'm going to try to take us in. That radiation farked up the engines a bit, though. Ship's not running as smooth as it should be," Karrik warned over comms. The Shikrai tried to be as careful as possible, double-checking vectors and angles as best he could as the ship went into the cold fog.

[TheRealSife]

As the ship descends towards the frigid surface a lucky gust of winds blows by, clearing out the obscuring mists. Much to the surprise of the keleres they are greeted not by a barren ice-scape but a fully intact, if ancient, landing pad. connected by walkway to the landing pad, set into a nearby mountain of smooth ice and jagged rock is a reinforced metal door that looks like it was built to survive a war sun bombardment.

With the way clear Karrik is able to safely touch down, though his worries are not at an end as he recalls that quantum-mass particles are known to interfere with most long range communication systems as well as FTL travel, if he had any hope of calling for reinforcements they quickly abandon him. What's more these particles are extremely rare, found only in obscure space anomalies or generated in laboratory settings. all things considered it seems likely someone or something is intentionally generating these emissions.

[Malkavian Grin]

Wounds 0/11 | Strain 1/14

"Well, that was fortuitous," Karrik said as he put the ship down on the landing pad. He didn't realize he'd been gripping the controls so hard until his hands started to hurt. Wringing them together to release the tension in his muscles, Karrik got up and walked to the common area of the ship.

 

"This is no random incident. I don't know much about the subject, but that interference was caused by quantum-mass particles. What I do know about them is they block long-range communications and make it dangerous to jump the ship. We are likely on our own here, whatever happens."

 

He looked at his companions to let it sink in. "Worse still, they are extremely rare. Since we are not near a space anomaly, and it's unlikely this is a lab producing them, someone is trying to cover their ass here and keep people away. It's a telltale sign that we've got the right place. Lock and load your weapons. We're not getting out of here without a fight."

[eltorin]

Jana

As they land, Jana checks her weapon and the immediate equipments.

"Well, this is not foreboding at all..I'm feeling like we're walking right into a trap, but we don't have a real choice at the moment. Nice piloting, Karrik, thak you for taking over, now we may have a fighting chance." As she finishes checking the gear, stands up and says: "Let's go take a look around, shall we?", and heads toward the door.

 

[TheRealSife]

As you step across the treacherous, frigid ground, you do not hear so much as feel the hum of energy emanating from deep within the facility before you. The entrance is a doorway of light in a place of shadow, the dim glow from lights set into the structure shining through the total darkness. The doors seem to be locked.

[eltorin]

Jana

"I don"t like this", says Jana. "We need to keep moving. Any ideas before I rip the door off it's hinges?", and sets off the safety on her carbine.

 

[Malkavian Grin]

Wounds 0/11 | Strain 1/14

Seeing the lights was both a boon and burden to Karrik. "The fact there are lights turned on indicates someone is inside, potentially expecting guests from this door. Let me have a look first; perhaps we can find a way past its lock," he said, walking close to the door. He looked it over to see how it was locked; if digital, he had little hope, but if mechanical he had a thought to try picking it. While not his forte, he did have agile fingers.

 

OOC

Is the lock physical? Would I be able to pick it open with Coordination?

 

[Malkavian Grin]

Wounds 0/11 | Strain 1/14

Slinging his bow back over his shoulder, Karrik knelt before the pad and used his knife to pull the front plate off. From there, he worked his fingers into the hole and found the lock mechanism. Twisting and turning, he tried to get the lock to open, knowing deep down that with enough time he could get it. Time, however, wasn't usually on his side...

 

OOC

Looks like an overall success, but I take... 2 Strain? Is that right?

 

[TheRealSife]

As Karrik works his magic, a sudden hiss of air sounds out and the doors smoothly retract into the surrounding walls. You had some inkling before, but now that you can see inside you are certain, this facility bears the design aesthetic of the ancient Lazax Empire.

Inside, dim lights much like those set into the door illuminate a narrow hallway leading down into the planet's depths.

OOC

No need to take strain, I will be holding onto the threat for now. That looks like 2 net threat.

2/10 threat until 'something' happens.