You all are aboard the shuttle Okimoro on your way to Absalom Station.  Each of you, for your own reasons, is seeking to make contact with the StarFinder Society.  Your prelimenary requests put you each in touch with a dwarf named Duravor Kreel.  You have been told he will met you when you arrive.

     An attendant on the shuttle explains that they are stuck in a holding pattern awaiting for clearance to approach the stations and dock.  She asks for your patience and hopes the delay is not long.

     Other passengers murmur amongst themselves, only mildly annoyed at the delay.  Such is life around Absalom Station, the heart of the Pact Worlds.

OOC:

     You all can talk to each other now ... If you want.

Midge's pink eyes flickered from speaker to speaker as he listened to the announcement, bearing his long incisors flashing yellow as he expressed his annoyance at the delay. Mechanical hand twitched and he lifted his right hand and started tapping away on the computer wrapped around his wrist before looking up at the other passengers as thought trying to weigh them before typing some more.

Asher sighed as he leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed. He gazed out the window too his left into space, as he tapped his fingers on the staff of his doshko.

A young man in helmetless Golemforged plates, unmarked by any military or mercenary logo, sits quietly in the back of the shuttle, hand resting lightly on his knees.  He has passed the journey so far with the uncanny stillness of an android, but looks up attentively as the delay is explained.  "It is no trouble," he says, a sudden friendly smile flicking onto his face.  "Such delays occur in 28% of flights; 37% at our economy class.  Thank you."

Then he blinks, his smile disappearing just as fast, returning to a flat affect.  "I do hope I am not late for my meeting, however," he adds.

[Private to GM: Just a quick note, she is not, of course, wearing Golemforged plating, any more than, well, any of the rest of it; it's just, you know, cosplay armor made out of something like worbla.]

"That probability would be higher if we are scheduled to land in Docking Bay Four, as I suspect we might." The speaker was an android in female form with long blue hair, and turquoise lines over her pale skin. Her eyes, turquoise over black and slightly luminescent, turned to look at Laelyn. "It is by far the most inefficiently organized of them, and has been the source of many delays and personal frustration." Her voice was soft, neutral and matter-of-fact.

The android wore a long, high-collared black coat in a leather-like material over a ridged top that showed a bit of midriff. Various tools and pouches were tied to her belt, and her left hand was covered by a gauntlet, the back of which was covered in a touchpad display, though the screen was currently dark and safely under its semitransparent protective covering.

     The shuttle lurched slightly, indicating a very sudden acceleration considering the internal gravity and inertial dampeners designed to prevent such sensations.  The attendant reported that there had been a last moment change to speed along their docking, and they were making their way to Docking Bay 94.  As the ship approached one of the station's star-like arms, the attendant welcomed the passengers to Absalom Station, where the time was 11:42 a.m.

     The sound of docking clamps thrummed against the outer hull as the ship powered down and the boarding hatch opened.  The brightly lit docks of the station were abuzz with activity as travelers bustle every which way.  Brash starpilots, scurrying Ysoki, and eager colonists mingled with curious Kasatha mystics, asteroid miners, Vesk mercenaries and many, many more.  Other passengers left ahead of the four of you, meeting friends and loved ones on the main floor and quickly melted into the humming activity of the station.

     In the distance, ground crews tended to other docked ships, and dockworkers in load lifters handled freight and baggage.  The electrical discharges of the ships put the faint smell of ozone in the air, and the deck plates thrummed with activity.

     Straight ahead off the disembarking ramp, you all see a tall, lanky Dwarf with a bristly iron-gray beard and bushy eyebrows.  He's wearing patched and stained coveralls, looking much like any dockworker, but a badge on his chest identifies him as a member of the Starfinder Society.  He's scanning the crowd and checking a hand-held computer display.  When he spots you all, he raises his hand to wave and smiles.

[Private to Asher; Kairynn-412: You also notice two groups of armed individuals encroaching on the perimeter of the docking bay and taking up defensive positions.]

     Before you can reply, the air is suddenly filled with laser blasts criss-crossing in front and over the dwarf's head.  Bystanders scream and flee the area, diving for cover or running away.  The dwarf freezes, paralyzed with indecision in the middle of the firefight.

     Laser fire flies back and forth across the hangar as the assailants seem to be firing at each other.  However, one shot hits the dwarf and he collapses.  A shooter to the southwest takes a shot at Laelyn and hits him square (25 vs. 14 EAC) in the side (-5 SP).  [Private to Laelyn: 21:17, Today: Omni-Tent, for the NPC Gang Member, rolled 25 using 1d20+6 with a roll of 19. Shoot Laelyn. 21:20, Today: Omni-Tent, for the NPC Gang Member, rolled 5 using 1d4+1 ((4)).]

OOC:

SURPRISE ROUND

Laelyn and Midge are surprised and can only move this round.

Asher and Kairynn-412 can move and act this round.

There is plenty of cover nearby.

Do not roll initiative.  Just act and I will resolve actions logically.

Health      Position    SP/HP/RP
Asher:        P18        8/11/ 4
Kairynn-412:  R19        6/ 9/ 5
Laelyn:       N19        0/10/ 4
Midge:        U18        6/ 8/ 5

"Shit, Everyone Get to cover!" Asher yelled out looking at the three other figures near him as he dashed to cover behind crates to his left, gritting his teeth while clutching his Doshko tightly within his hands.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:55, Fri 06 Apr 2018.

The android dashed towards cover. "We have to reach the dwarf and bring him to safety!" she called, though that would be very dangerous while he lay in the middle of the crossfire.

Meanwhile, she was querying her memory banks, trying to see if she knew anything about the factions shooting each other. She considered Absalom Station her homeworld, after all, inasmuch as she had one. And it would be good to know if there were any 'good guys' in this exchange of fire...
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:55, Fri 06 Apr 2018.

Looking a bit startled at being shot, Laelyn, like the dwarf, falls gracelessly to the floor and lays still.

Midge started cursing, a long stream of curse words both impressive in length as in the depth to which he cursed, it was only attainable because he switched languages no less than six times to explain exactly what he thought of the Ambushers, their parentage or lack thereof and their very interesting facial features that resembled the sexual organs of various sentient species.

As he cursed up a storm his exocortex highlighted various threats, places he could take cover and finally selected a target as he moved towards the barrels in front of him. Perhaps a little more used to being under fire than the android charging towards the dwarf, and the android who collapsed on the floor Midge moved efficiently towards cover.

Heading straight to the barrel that was closest to the female Android's headlong rush towards the Dwarf he drew his Azimuth Laser Pistol, his one eye lighting up slightly as a targeting reticule formed in his line of sight around the ambusher on the right most side behind some large crates. Using his small size he tried to make himself as hard to hit as possible knowing he was flanked on the side the big bruiser had head.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:56, Fri 06 Apr 2018.

     The Human, female Android and Ysoki dashed for cover and readied their weapons as the male Android flumped unceremoniously to the ground after being shot.  [Private to Kairynn-412: You can tell the gangs are comprised of the Downside Kings and the Level 21 Crew.  They have always been at odds, but this isn't their normal territory.]

     The gang members popped up from their covered positions and fired across the docking bay.  The individuals on the left didn't do so well, all of their shots going wide or low and missing entirely.  The right side was better, with two of them hitting their marks.  The third gunman (6) fired at Midge, but his shot splayed against the barrel he crouched behind.

     The dwarf was still motionless.

OOC:

ROUND 1

Everyone can make a full action, a move action and a standard action, or two move actions.

Health      Position    SP/HP/RP
Asher:        L17        8/11/ 4
Kairynn-412:  S17        6/ 9/ 5
Laelyn:       N19        0/10/ 4
Midge:        T17        6/ 8/ 5
[Private to GM:
1                        12/14
2                         9/14
3                        14/14
4                        14/14
5                        14/14
6                        14/14]

Asher looked at the gang members in the crossfire, his eyes set on the three to the left side of the docking bay.

"One of us needs to go get to the dwarf, while the rest of us deal with these gang members!" Asher yelled as he pointed his Doshko to the left of the docking bay.

"I got the left" Asher said charging to the gang member hiding behind the barrels.

[Private to GM: (I would like to move to gang member of D18, and if possible I would like to make an attack if I am able too.]

Midge realized they need to focus their attacks on one side or the other if they were to prevail here. He turned as the big human yelled and rolled his pink eyes. Let the Dwarf bleed, he wasn't about to run out of cover in the middle of a firefight, no matter who was yelling.

Yes the Dwarf was his contact but he wasn't worth dying for, not a lot was. Focusing on the fire flashing around him his exocortex singled out the target slightly exposed behind the crates on the left hand side. There seemed to be two factions, might as well take out one and see if the other would back off.

Mechanical hand wrapping around his furry hand he raised his pistol just as Chesk had taught him and fired off a shot at one of the combatants.

OOC:
Move Action: Target 1 is selected by Combat Tracking
Attack Action: Hits EAC 13 for 2 damage

Laelyn lays still and quiet.

[Private to GM: For a moment, but since everyone does indeed seem pretty distracted, it's not long before she's pretty sure no one's looking, and she'll disappear.  Stealth rolled 23.

Her intention over the next couple turns actually is to get to the dwarf, but Midge has a point about it looking very open over there, so I have a couple of questions.  First, is there a.. high road she can get to?  Like, rafters?   Secondly, I'm not sure what's used for lighting in this century, but if there are lights that she can disable around the dwarf - whether shooting out bulbs or, if she can get up in the ceiling, probably just unplugging things?]

"The Downside Kings and Deck 21 Crew are longtime rivals, but this isn't their usual stomping grounds", says the android. "No good guys here." Her calm, even tone sounds odd in the middle of the furious firefight. As she speaks, she glances over to the dwarf, but right now, crossing all that open space, without benefit of cover, would be tantamount to suicide. She glanced back at the man who'd been hit - he lay where he'd fallen.


As she unhooked her laser rifle and took aim at one of the gangers on the left, she asked, "Human, is the injured near you all right?" Then she fired at the same man as Midge.



00:48, Today: Kairynn-412 rolled 18 using 1d20+2.  Attack on Target 1.
00:48, Today: Kairynn-412 rolled 5 using 1d8.  Laser Rifle damage.