Chapter 8.2 - Englene Station

We may not be able to change anyone's mind, but I'm mostly looking to either slow the momentum of the crowd, if not then I'll just draw attention.
All else fails, the crowd will be focused on us and not the others either way.
What is this? What do you all think you are doing?
Are you trying to make yourself the enemy? Attacking in icent workers because you disagree with their orders?
They will just be replaced and then you will be under scrutiny.

Discreetly leaving the Celestial Voyager, Mercer ran and suddenly stood on a stack of cargo crates, looking down at the growing crowd of white-robed zealots that had started to gather around. The Revelation Choir members shot him venomous looks, clutching their makeshift weapons, but Mercer’s voice cut through their chanting and fervor like a blade.

"What is this?" he demanded, letting his voice boom over the noise. "What do you all think you’re doing?"The zealots paused, momentarily thrown by the directness in his tone. Mercer took the chance to keep going, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed the mob.

"Are you trying to make yourselves the enemy here?" he continued, voice dripping with challenge. "Attacking innocent workers because you disagree with their orders? They’re just doing their jobs. They will just be replaced and then you will be under scrutiny. I bet half of them don’t even know what you’re so worked up about!"

A murmur rippled through the crowd, a mixture of hesitation and resentment. The zealots shifted uncomfortably, some glancing at each other, uncertain. Mercer could feel the tension.

Pushing his way through the crowd to the other side of docking bay twelve, Douklan winces as Mercer begins his speech from the airlock. "What is doing, trying to get them to think?" he mutters under his breath to himself. "We're trying to draw them away from the ship!" He's glad for the momentary distraction, though, as it helps get him through the crowd with less hassle. As he gets far enough away from the CeeVee, Douklan raises his voice. "Excuse me, make way! I've got to get to BAY FIVE to help with the investigation there! Yep, we've got lots of CLUES THERE about that missing ship..." He stops one of the white-robed zealots. "What was it called again? The HEAVEN'S VAULT? No, no, wait - it was Heaven something...Heaven's Beak? Heaven's Tail? Oh, no: Heaven's WING, that's it. I've got to get to the team that's investigating the HEAVEN'S WING in BAY FIVE!" He will continue yelling about "They'll find Heaven's Wing!" and "over in Bay Five!" as he runs away from the ship.

As he continues, this will alter to "We've got to STOP the INVESTIGATION into the HEAVEN'S WING in BAY FIVE! BLASPHEMY! SACRILEGE!" in the hopes of motivating people with conflicting impulses, but all in the same direction.

Corbin waits with Hank near the ramp from the CV. Once it appears the heads are turning toward Mercer and Douklan, he will start calmly walking toward the area where the workers are holed up.

If he makes it,

"Hey guys, I'm Corbin, the chief engineer on the Celestial Voyager, you're welcome aboard if you want shelter until this blows over."

Hank follows along behind Douklan, with Corbin, to facilitate getting them back to the CV.

As stated before, he has an armored vacc suit (like Corbin) a (to him) worthless stun baton, a concealed stun pistol, and a pair of recharge cells for the stun baton (and stun pistol).

The crowd shifted and churned with confusion as Douklan wove through them, calling out just loud enough for the zealots nearby to catch his words.
"Did he just say Bay Five?" muttered one of the white-robed zealots, frowning.

"Wait—an investigation?" another said, gripping her prayer beads a little tighter. "They’re investigating Heaven’s Wing?"

Douklan continued, ramping up his volume as he addressed the zealots around him.
The murmur spread, with pockets of zealots turning to each other in alarm.

"What kind of clues?" one of them asked, gripping Douklan’s arm, desperation clear on his face. "Are they… are they trying to disprove the prophecy?"

"Who knows what they’re up to in Bay Five?" Douklan shrugged, looking down the corridor that led in the opposite direction from the CeeVee. He fixed his gaze into the distance, his face set with exaggerated determination. "But that’s where I’m heading. Those so-called investigators think they’ve got the right to dig up our holy ship’s secrets? Hah! Not while I’m around!"

The words struck a nerve, and a ripple of outrage shot through the crowd.

"Blasphemy!" shouted a zealot at the back, raising a fist in the air. "They have no right to look into the Heaven’s Wing!"

"Bay Five!" a young zealot cried out, his eyes wild with the intensity of his belief. "They’re trying to deny the truth of Heaven’s Wing!"

The crowd was already moving, zealots pushing past one another in a mad rush toward Bay Five. The air filled with cries of "Blasphemy!" and "We won’t let them desecrate it!" Their shouts echoed through the dock, mixing with the clang of footsteps as more and more zealots joined the charge towards Bay Five.

---

One of the older priests—a wiry man with piercing gray eyes and a face lined by years of devotion—stopped dead in his tracks as the mob surged around him, his gaze zeroing in on Douklan and Mercer. His white robe was pristine, in stark contrast to the smoke and chaos around them, and he clutched a brass censer at his side, its soft incense tendrils winding up into the air.

"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice sharp and laced with suspicion. His eyes traveled from their armored suits to the stun batons they held. "You’re not one of us, not with that gear. Neither of you wear the robe of the faithful, yet here you are, right in the middle of Heaven’s business."

He looked back and forth between Douklan and Mercer, a glimmer of wariness creeping into his eyes, as though he were beginning to grasp that something wasn’t right.

---

Meanwhile, Corbin, Hank, and Erin moved with purpose, slipping away from the CeeVee’s ramp just as the attention of the zealots turned fully on Mercer and Douklan. The din of chanting and shouts faded slightly as they entered the maze of machinery and storage crates, the air thick with the smell of burnt wiring and heated metal. Erin clutched the med-kit close to her, her gaze alert, scanning for any sign of movement.

Corbin led the way, his eyes sharp as they flitted through the shadows. As they rounded a stack of heavy equipment, he spotted the huddled group of Stellar Express workers, most of them crouched behind a line of overturned crates. Their faces were tight with fear, and one of them—a man in his thirties with grease-stained overalls—had blood seeping from a gash on his forehead. The group looked up in alarm as Corbin, Hank, and Erin emerged from the shadows.
The injured worker looked up at him, his face pale but grateful. Erin knelt beside him immediately, opening her med-kit and pulling out a sterile cloth and a small vial of TL4 antiseptic. "Hold still," she said gently, her fingers already working to stop the bleeding.

The other workers exchanged glances, their fear beginning to fade, replaced by a glimmer of hope. One of them, a young woman with wide eyes, whispered, "Are… are you here to rescue us?"

Mercer is going to put on a "I want to understand what you mean" routine, but talk the guy in circles, asking him what he means and what he,s looking for and why he thinks what he does and acting confused as to the man's suspicion.

"I guess so, " Corbin smiles and offers a hand toward the huddle of workers, "let's get moving before they decide to come back."

The priest’s initial suspicion faltered as Mercer put on his most earnest, slightly bewildered expression, his head tilted just so, as though trying to grasp the priest’s deeper meaning.

"I really want to understand what you’re getting at here," Mercer began, his tone almost pleading. "You’re saying the robes…they’re essential? But then, I’m wondering—what’s it really mean to wear them? Like, on a spiritual level?"

The priest’s eyes narrowed slightly, but Mercer kept going, his face a portrait of wide-eyed curiosity.

"And you’re looking for…who exactly?" Mercer pressed, leaning forward just enough to appear fully engaged. "Because you mentioned Heaven’s business, right? But how can we understand if we don’t know what that business really is?" He shook his head, as if in awe, then quickly backpedaled, "I mean, you clearly understand it! But for, you know, advanced followers like us…isn’t there sometimes a need for… armor?"

The priest’s mouth opened, then shut, his suspicion shifting to puzzlement. He furrowed his brow, staring hard at Mercer. "Armor? Are you… suggesting that the devout would need to wear armor in this situation?" He seemed genuinely thrown by this question, as if the concept had never crossed his mind.

Mercer blinked slowly, feigning dawning comprehension. "Oh! So it’s not only the novices who have to wear the robes?" He glanced down at his armor as if seeing it for the first time. "I thought maybe the robes were more of a… symbolic thing, you know? Like, something you grow out of once you reach… enlightenment?"

The priest blinked, visibly grappling with the idea, his fingers loosening their hold on the censer. "No—no, the robes are not something one grows out of. They are—" he paused, as if Mercer’s words had somehow introduced a thread of doubt. "They are… symbols of devotion. But…well…" He trailed off, clearly thrown off balance.

Mercer took the opportunity to lean in, voice soft and reverent. "So… maybe you’re saying the true test isn’t what we wear but our… understanding?"

The priest’s frown deepened as he struggled to reconcile Mercer’s words. "Well… perhaps," he said slowly, looking down as if suddenly doubting himself.

The young woman’s gaze flickered between Corbin, Hank and Erin, her eyes brightening with sudden determination. She accepted Corbin’s hand and pulled herself up, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face.

"I’m Alaya Chen, senior manager for Stellar Express," she said, her voice carrying a mix of relief and urgency. "I was supposed to meet your captain on the Celestial Voyager. We were finalizing some… sensitive details about this retrieval mission when everything erupted."

She glanced over her shoulder at the burning wreckage and chanting crowd, her face tightening in resolve. "We’ve been hiding here for nearly half an hour. Thank you for coming. I don’t know how much longer we’d have lasted if you hadn’t shown up."

Turning to Corbin, she nodded firmly. "All right, chief engineer—lead the way. If we can get to the Voyager, I’ll make sure Stellar Express knows what you did here today. But be warned: this isn’t over. Some of those zealots are part of the station’s security. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re trying to get through the maintenance doors as we speak."

A faint tremor ran through her voice as she added, "Let’s move. I’d rather get us out of here before we find out just how far they’re willing to go."

Hank says, "We are here to get you to safety. We can do proper introductions later. We have to go now. The deception is faultering. We have little time."

As they start out he says, "Who can us a stun stick well?" Assuming someone volunteers, he hands the his stun stick. "Good, because I suck." This all happens as they are moving.

"We've got to stop their blasphemy!" Douklan continues jogging along with the crowd, but is letting the more zealous/faster robed believers pull ahead.

Mercer will thank the man for everything he said, You gave me a lot to think about.

I was thinking kind of a mix. We'd initially stick to the shadows until we get a feel for where everyone is. Anytime we think we are out of view, we'd run where we could. Once we get close enough, we just dash for the end. Unless Corbin has a better idea.

"Wait! Where are you going?" - he answers and follows you

Mercer will keep this conversation spinning to nowhere if it keeps this guy, and everyone watching, occupied.
You gave me a lot to think about, so I was going somewhere to think. Is there somewhere I should be going?
Can I Aid their sneak, being a distraction?

Here is Hank's attempt at Sneak. I assume it is Dex based.

... and he demonstrates he has no idea of how to Sneak.