Starfinder Little House In The Vast

[VLAD the Destroyer]

Skitter shakes the lashunta's hand.

"Thanks for the heads up. We'll be careful out there."

The Ysoki then climbs into the vehicle. He waits for the broker to be out of earshot.

"We might have a problem. The proprietor said some bandits have taken up residency in your ship. Couldn't give me an exact number but said those three that just drove by are some of them. Don't think their going to just give it up when you show them the pink slip."

 

[jmucchiello]

"You mean those ruffians who just went by?" Zyzzy asks. Checklist be damned, "Is everyone onboard?" Impatience is obvious in her voice. "They will presumably show us the safest, most direct route to the ship if we follow them."

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

OOC: Just to make sure we only saw one ship as we landed? We can assume that the bandits are in our ship and not some other abandoned ship?

 

[Kaodi]

OOC: Yes, they are in your ship. Sorry - you are correct, I forgot to consider the fact that you could not know there are no other abandoned ships.

 

[Kaodi]

Zyzzy revs up the buggy and once everyone has climbed on board she immediately backs up, shifts into forward, then gets moving following the same path out of town that the other vehicle had taken. The flattened dirt 'streets' of town with tufts of scruffy blue grass growing around the edges of buildings quickly transitions into wide open tracts of rough land, dotted with grasses and other plants gently swaying in the wind.

Following the tracks left by the bandits is not difficult, and as soon as you swing around a low outcropping of rock you have them back in your sights not too far off. Of course the flip side is that when the vesk looks back towards town he sees you too. He barks something at his two companions and the driver glances over his shoulder. It appears then that their buggy starts to speed up.

 

[jmucchiello]

Zyzzy allows them to get some distance. "We were spotted. I'm going to turn a random direction and then come back to this spot in a moment." And she does that. She turns 60 degrees to the right. Travels about 20 seconds, turns 60 degrees and goes 20 seconds and then turns 60 degrees again and goes 20 second. A minute later she is roughly where she started.

[ooc: And assuming they aren't just sitting there waiting to see what we are doing, she turns and follows the path they were on. I'm assuming there's enough scrub that being 1 minute behind them is enough to not be seen. If it isn't she will make a wider triangle.]

 

[JustinCase]

Sobec holds one big hand on top of his pack on his lap, shielding his eyes with the other hand from the sun - and, also, from the tiny orb of starlight that orbits around the solarian even while the buggy races across the streets - to look at the bandits. He takes particular note of the other vesk, insofar as he hasn't seen enough when they rushed by back at the broker.

When Zyzzy makes a sharp turn, and then another three, he grabs hold of the seat and the side of the buggy. "Careful, girl; we want to survive long enough to get there," he says cheerfully, obviously enjoying this minor jab at the android.

OOC: As a mercenary, do I recognize anything to mark the bandits as either other mercenaries or some threat Sobec has encountered before? And anything particular I can tell about the vesk? Also, sorry, I'll post my sheet in the RG soon; internet was out so couldn't do so before.

 

[jmucchiello]

"I must make these turns precisely so we end up where we started." Zyzzy says. "I should have said, 'hold on' first. Hold On."

 

[Kaodi]

OOC: The bandits do not appear to have any sort of regular markings to indicate association with a mercenary group or paramilitary outfit. There is nothing particular special about the vesk, though he seems to favour his size. As a vesk yourself you would be more finely attuned to when a vesk has one of those faces that begs for a fist to be planted in it. This guy definitely has that going on.

 

[CharlotteOz]

Tara takes the time to fine-tune the scope on her rifle and double-check all contacts and focusing lasers. "If there's bandits on the ship, I'm pretty sure we can get them out of there - assuming we aren't outnumbered. They don't typically have a lot of fire discipline - they just give it loads and hope they hit something."

 

[Kaodi]

As you maneuver around the dust storm that you had seen from the ship earlier picks up a bit, obscuring your vision a bit. Fortunately it does not appear strong enough to obscure the trail of the other vehicle, however. Less fortunately the sands of Pan do not taste any better than the sands of the Pact Worlds, as you can feel it on your tongue after speaking.

You continue you on for a while, passing through small valleys and around equally small hills. Then the dust abates, and you see a ship nearby. At least you think it is nearby as as you get closer the ship gets much, much bigger. The hull is a faded green as 'Viridian Horse' would lead you to expect, but the vessel must be over six hundred feet long with multiple decks and huge cargo bay doors along its underside. Zyzzy immediate recognizes the hull design as an ATech Merchant-class Freighter.

One of these cargo doors near the back appears to be open with a ramp possibly extended to the ground. You are still a bit far away to tell exactly, but it looks like there might be some movement there. Having gotten a look, you quickly duck your buggy behind a crest of sand and hope that no one has spotted you again in turn while you discuss your plan of approach. From the look of it the area leading right up to the ship is rather flat, which makes sense considering its size. But there is cover here and there you may be able to use to get closer.

 

[jmucchiello]

"That is a much larger ship than I would have thought my mentor would ever have been owner of," Zyzzy says aloud. "Perhaps we can circle around to the far side and see if we can use the landing gear as cover as we approach the access ramp." She turns to Tara and says, "I suspect neither of us will be buying the other out any time soon."

 

[CharlotteOz]

"I agree; far side's the most experience approach." She unslung her laser rifle and held it in a relaxed-but-ready position, flipping the safety off and waiting for the others to weigh in.

 

[JustinCase]

Sobec nods, his reptilian head making the motion seem artificial almost.

”I want to know how many bandits there are, and if there is more than one vesk I need to face,” he says with the absolute certainty that only he can face others of his race.

”Far side, Skitter?” he asks his friend.

 

[jmucchiello]

Zyzzy is looking to see if it is possible to approach the far side of the ship with the vehicle without being spotted.

Perception? [roll0]

 

[Kaodi]

It seems like it would be very unlikely that you could circle the ship with the vehicle without being detected. The terrain is rough, but it is not that rough, and even if you could evade the eyes of any sentries outside there is a chance that anyone sitting in the bridge might spot you. The two most obvious choices now seem either to proceed on foot to avoid detection, which carries with it the risk of being caught without your vehicle if things go loopy, or proceed with your vehicle and accept that they will see you coming.

 

[jmucchiello]

"I don't see any way to get around the ship without being spotted," Zyzzy says. "Maybe on foot we can cut that way and approach from behind the ramp." She says pointing toward the far side of the ship. "Who's good at sneaking?"

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

OOC: How close are we to the ship. My drone should be able to scout for us.

 

[Kaodi]

OOC: Far enough that you cannot say for sure whether there are people around, so maybe half a mile?

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

OOC: So I did not read the drone rules as carefully as I would have liked. I thought that I would be able to look through the eyes of the drone when I take full control. This doesn't seem to be the case. It looks like I need the camera mod to do this. Can I swap the mod for the camera mod? I understand if that is not possible. If not then what type of data can I get from the drone if I use it to scout ahead?

Skitter shades his eyes and looks towards the ship. He takes a quick estimate and thinks it should be in range of his rigs comms to Sparky.

"Guys Sparky could probably scout it out for us. He is rather stealthy and I've got about half a mile on my comms range to him. He should be able to get a count of the number of men down there."