Intro: Strange, beautiful, deadly

With a bit of tweaking, Topher manages to redirect most of the power from the spare internal combustion generator to the thrusters, providing Ben with just enough thrust to pilot the Aurora like some ancient jet airplane as it glides through the atmosphere. It's not an easy task to bring the ship down safely and Ben quickly realizes that's largely related to the air itself being rather thin and not providing enough resistance. If the crew make it down in one piece, chances are they'll need some kind of respiratory device to leave the vessel.

A quick check from Colin informs him his laser pistol is still intact and mostly functional. Apparently the ship's hull and electronics took the brunt of the EMP blast, inadvertently providing a kind of shielding to the smaller circuits inside the firearm.

As the Aurora drops in altitude, Ben notices a wide, flat area laced with large, symmetrical patterns that he identifies as some sort of crop circles. Aiming for his landing spot of choice, he guides the ship into an emergency landing, warning everyone to hold tight. Since it lacks any sort of wheel-based landing gear, the Aurora struggles with the friction on its underbelly, but after several bumps, eventually stops. A quick check on whatever systems are still functional reveals the ship is mostly operational, although it lacks the power required to take off again unless repaired.

"Expertly handled" Captain Santoro tells Ben with a pat on the shoulder, the tone of his voice one of relief no matter how much the Captain tries to maintain composure. He then turns on the ship's internal comm system to address the rest of the crew. "Everyone report to the bridge immediately."

Once everyone is gathered, Captain Santoro lays out the plan. "I don't know why these idiots shot us down, but I'll get to the bottom of it. I'm gonna need a report on the ship's status and what's required to get it back running again. Once we know that, we reach out to the locals for assistance to perform any necessary repairs. Gonna need you to be cautious, as we're unaware of the planet's status. They might be oppressed by some tyrannical government and eager to assist us, but they might as well be equally xenophobic, so discretion is advised. Questions?"

"There's half a dozen vaccsuits on board. I see one's already been employed" the Captain muses, glancing at Alex. "You go ahead and take 'em, I'm staying with the ship to await your return. Anyone in need of healing, speak up."

"Our employers never mentioned anything about trade contracts. If we live to see them again, I have some uncomfortable questions to ask them. Killdare, Dan'lo and Alex, you three go out to find assistance. Don't know if there's a settlement nearby, but if we landed on crops, there has to be some sort of farm or caretaker's hut around. They'll guide you further, but be cautious how much you share about us. Ben, Colin, Topher, check the ship for damages, what you can repair and what you need brought back to you."

Topher, Ben and Colin take the time to run a full inspection of the ship. Most of its core functions appear to be operational somewhat, running on the backup internal combustion engine but it won't be more than a day or two before it runs out of fuel. This should keep the vessel's vital operations like cabin pressure and ventilation working, until they're not. The spike drive is seriously damaged and most of the circuitry is indeed fried, so it would take extensive repairs to replace the wiring and fix the engine before the Aurora can fly again, the kind that requires a dedicated spaceport.

Alex, Dan'lo and Killdare exit the craft to find themselves on a field full of tall plants resembling some crossbreed between wheat and corn. Vaccsuit tracker systems indicate a warm temperature outside with zero winds, which makes sense knowing now the atmosphere is mostly composed of a thin, inert gas. There is a sense of calmness about, a stark and somewhat unsettling contrast to just having been shot with missiles and crash landing, as if your arrival has disturbed the peace of this place. This feeling is further accentuated when sensors indicate life signs nearby. Following the display, the trio locates what seemed from afar to be just a big boulder, but from up close looks... like the interior of the boulder itself is hollow, since the readings indicate the life signs are inside it. If this is supposed to be the farmhouse overlooking the fields, it is expertly camouflaged as it blends into the natural scenery.