Dark Places

Emmett calls out of the ship to the Craadians, "Yeah, it's all here. Might wanna move back a touch, she can be a little feisty. And I'm still workin' on how to steer it..." he mutters on his way back inside.

He finds his seat at the front of the vessel and presses a few buttons that seemed to power the ship up last time. "Awright there, Adiutor, just like before, let's get cookin'. And when I say just like before, I mean let's arrive with all our parts still attached, no need to complicate things."

He calls back to the others. "Hold on, kids, we're gonna dig the spurs in, we got places to be!"

The ship slides out from the asteroid station known as Grantovius Complex, and into space. The assistant brings up a display showing that to get to the other Craadian complex, you need to basically fire your thrusters in a straight line, but that will somehow send you on a curving trajectory millions of miles to the other base. An impossible distance, and with no sense of acceleration or landmarks to just speed, you may be excused to think that it's entirely exaggerated.

Your box of parts, takes up a fair bit of space, but there is plenty of room for you to stretch out. It won't be comfortable, you could definitely use some chairs or beds for long voyages, or maybe a table. Rolling out a bedroll might help a little.

"A million? Like, an actual million? Nah, man, you're pullin' my leg!" Emmett taps the readout, thinking it might change if he hits it just right. "Fine, keep your lies, yah trickster."

He stands and moves to the open space in the cabin and stretches. "Y'all know any good card games? Or...Did anyone bring any cards? Hey, Adiutor!" Emmett cranes his head over the top of the chairs to see the assistant's screen. "What'd'ya got in this tub to do when we're not tryin' to escape from one place to another?"

The long slow flight through the void is terribly boring. You tell stories, stare off into space, take many naps, and grow more and more uncomfortable.

An indeterminate time later...

The ship's navigation wakes up Emmett, and informs him that you are approaching the target destination. A bright spec of white shines in the sunlight like a lone icy crystal in the endless star-backed black.

"I'm picking up an energy surge. A craft is hard decelerating, approaching the target location on a hard burn. I suspect this is an attack in progress."

The words from the auditor woke Turana out of her bedroll, specially the ones about an attack, alarmed she comes closer to Emmet "Attack!? on us or someone else? my mind is still so numb that i dont remember if we have any weapons system in the ship to defend ourselves!"

There are no weapon systems on board.

"I've determined that the attack is occurring within the hangar, would you like me to land, or simply await the victors of whatever conflict had ensued?"

Rising from his bedroll, Lyle peers out at the pinpoint of light in a futile attempt to read the situation in advance. "We should set up hammocks in here... this floor is so much harder than dirt."He wanted more than anything to jump right into the situation but... curiosity is best tempered with a modicum of caution. "The goods we were sent here to retrieve will likely be plundered if we wait this out... I don't like the idea of stepping into the middle of a fight blindly but... if we help the Craadians and also don't die- they'd be in our debt. As an aside, maybe we should think about getting some kind of weapons on our I-forget-her-name ship? Lets try and find a way to take the attackers by surprise, assuming they don't have an Adiutor of their own to warn them?"

D'Jazyt looks over the readouts and displays a moment. "I'm not sure, but the Craadians don't seem the type that are looking for conflict. So whoever is attacking is probably a raider. Yes. We should help them. "

Emmett winces as he bends his stiff back into the pilot's chair. He calls back to Jaz, "I never believed in coincidences. We're lookin' to find who attacked us and also deliverin' some whatsits for some folks, and HAPPEN to wander into a firefight? Nah, we're meant to be here."

He squints out the window trying to discern the good from bad. "Hey there, boss...man? Woman? Look, Adiutor, this ain't the time, but we might wanna have a talk. Anyways, you got any idea who the good'uns and bad'uns are? Think we might be able to knock a few flat as we come in? We might not have much for guns on this tub, but it's a pretty damned big tub..."

He glances back at Turana. "I hope you'll excuse my language, ma'am, I'm a touch caught up in the moment."

"I suggest we enter the docking bay to find out. This is a Craadian base. You know what the Craadians look like, and so I suggest anyone else is an invader."

"Did you just say "Ma'am"!? Im waay younger than you!! That's the kind of language you should watch out! Not the other one! ...Just kidding old man. haha, (Turana slightly pats Emmet's back) I say we do as aduitor suggests.. lets see what we can do with the weapons we have"

Emmett's face reddens. "Well, ma'am...I mean...Yeh see. Hm."

Nervously tapping his metallic fingers together with a quiet tink tink tink noise, he continues. "Well...Miss, it wouldn't be right otherwise. It's nothin' against you, o'course, it's just how I was taught to speak. You'll just have to indulge an old gentleman his mannerisms."

He clears his throat. "In any case, I think we should bring this tub in. If we get close enough to see which side is the one we wanna be on, maybe we can bring it down on top of some of the other side. Might be best to ready yourselves, though, it could get a touch scrappy."

"Adiutor, let's bring 'er in."

Lyle chuckles at the exchange between Emmett and Turana. He then readies himself for what he imagines would be a dramatic entrance.

"There goes my new coat of paint!"

The navigation system assists Emmett on his approach, but it will be a slow and fairly smooth entry. If you would like to try to come in with more shock and awe to cool down the firefight, Emmett will need to make a piloting roll, Difficulty 4.

Emmett will try to disrupt the battle if possible, if only to give themselves time to decide on which side to fight.

The craft slides into the hangar at high speed, the retro jets firing to keep you from exploding against the far wall. Your ship slams into the hangar floor hard in a shower of sparks flung against the battlers like water from a crashing wave. They scream and cry and you see that a number of insectoid people with 6 limbs (2 arms, 2 legs, and an unusual pair of something else between) carrying energy weapons of some variety.

At the back of the hangar, Craadians are crouched behind a stack of metal drums, and executing a slow retreat through a doorway, but the door is in the open and a few have taken wounds.

Your moves.

Roll Initiative (difficulty 3) if you want to attack, success (9+) means you can act immediately. The ships doorway can be opened, you can move a small distance, and shoot a ranged weapon. A Short distance will be required to engage them in melee combat.

Lyle pushes the fear he’s feeling into a quiet corner of his mind then steels himself to repel the many legged humanoids.