Ghent had the overwhelming sense that he’d seen the same pipes like three to four times, and sighed heavily. “I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary,” he said finally as he leaned against one of the walls.

Yes, you can add Life Science skill to the roll plus you get a Boon (roll 3 dice, drop lowest) for thinking of that.

02:35, Today: Taliesa Dieros rolled 10,11,5 using 2d6+2,2d6+2,2d6+2 ((4,4,4,5,1,2)).

After half an hour, Taliesa came up empty at finding anything suspicious. If necessary, she continues searching for another 30 minutes.

02:39, Today: Taliesa Dieros rolled 11,11,7 using 2d6+2,2d6+2,2d6+2 ((4,5,3,6,4,1)).

Still no luck.

Without any Engineering skill in Life Support systems, Viridian takes a different approach--he wracks his brain for some Medic knowledge that might indicate where the best place to put the gas would be: not too obvious but also someplace where it would be the most effective.

03:26, Today: Viridian Starfire rolled 13,13,14 using 2d6+6,2d6+6,2d6+6 ((2,5,4,3,5,3)). Recon check: Recon-3, Medic-2 (if GM allows it), INT-1.

So, possibly, if Rayjay doesn't find it first, Viridian might find a suspicious object at the end of a half hour of searching.

Collyn searched too. He didn't have too much luck though sadly.

04:57, Today: Collyn Ramburton rolled 11 using 2d6+4.  search.

04:57, Today: Collyn Ramburton rolled 10 using 2d6+4.  search.

04:57, Today: Collyn Ramburton rolled 9 using 2d6+4.  search.

Life Support - 2, Recon - 1, Medic - 1 or Int - 1

Using his memory to help narrow down the best possible spot to launch such a heinous attack on his beloved home, Rayjay is almost certain he knows of such a place.

8, 10, 9 Life Support, Recon, Int, Boon.

Rayjay almost finds something but his ADD diverts him down another pipe.

At the end of the half hour, Viridian spots an item that, if not outright suspicious, does seem out of place.

It's a wrap around cylinder placed at the base of one of the light blue pipes. Only about a foot high, it is three times the diameter of the pipe with a sealed top and, presumably, bottom. It is clearly large enough to hold more than one dispensing canister. There's clearly a hinge and a magnetically locked opening on the opposite side.

There does not appear to be any explosives attached to it, but there could still be some inside.

"I may have found it," Viridian comms everyone and directs them to where he is. Once they've joined him, he adds:

"I've never seen anything like this before. No medical application that I'm aware of. How about you, Rayjay? Some sort of Life Support module?"

"Doesn't look like it's booby-trapped, but then it wouldn't, would it?"

"This clearly wasn't thrown together on a whim. Although it does occur to me that it may have been intended for some other purpose and was than converted for here."

"We definitely need to remove it. If it belongs here, we can put it back."

"Anyone have any suggestions?"

Now that they had found something, Ghent sighed in relief that he wasn’t actually leaning on the wall that Viridian had found the canister. “Well, would you look at that…” he said as he bent down to examine the contraption.


18:26, Today: Ghent Bel-Andis rolled 11 using 2d6+3 ((2,6)). mec + int, what is that thing.?
This message was last edited by the player at 22:30, Fri 26 May 2023.

It looks like it holds 8 canisters and there's a mechanism that rotates each one into place at an appropriate time... presumably when one is empty, the next one is moved into position.

Based on other assessments, the effect of the gas inside would reach full impact in another two weeks.

Somewhere inside, a breach in the air pipe was made to feed in the gas. If you remove the device, you'd need to figure out some way to seal the hole. Otherwise, pressure would drop and set off an alarm.

Ghent frowned at the contraption, looking around for something that could possibly be used to plug the hole made by the device, when it dawned on him that he could probably leave the device and simply remove the canisters. “I think I have a solution, if anyone has anything that might be able to plug the hole, let me know, otherwise I’ll remove the canisters and leave the device,” he said as he set out to disarm the thing.

Collyn got on the other side and went to work helping with removing the cannisters.

Upon further and closer examination, Ghent determines that the canisters are on a rotating disc enclosed within the larger cylinder. When one canister is emptied, some mechanism rotates the next canister in place... probably air pressure.

The task is to bypass the lock so that the cylinder will open giving access to the canisters inside. The timeline suggests that there are two full canisters left, so, yes, pulling them out will stop their release into the atmosphere.

Disrupting the magnetic lock requires a Computer check, and with Collyn and Viridian assisting, Ghent is able to get the cylinder open. The internal mechanism appears to be just as he surmised--mostly mechanical. It's also a fairly simple system--the canisters are designed to just pop in or out.

No booby-traps are spotted and Ghent is able to pop out the two still-unused canisters with no problem. Each one is about 12 centimeters long and 2 centimeters in diameter. They are clearly high-pressure canisters.

Ghent grunts, removing the final canister. "Maybe we should get these analyzed when we have a minute..?" he asked, unsure what to do next. In the back of his mind, he wanted to know what was happening with the other group, and he half expected that they'd need help.

"Definitely, remember to keep ya' masks on till we get back out into public, want to limit our exposure as much as possible, especially wit' such a concentrated source." Rayjay recommended, double checking his own mask's seal as they remove the canister's from the disk.

In reply to Rayjaynul Brown (msg # 50):

Collyn holds out a bag to carry the cannisters in when they leave. They don't want them seen because they would be blamed for them. They needed disposed of, dropped from the floating palace. He made sure ha had a good seal on his mask, he was ready to get out of here. He hoped the others were successful too.

"Kind of seems anti-climactic, doesn't it?" Viridian comments.

"What you mean, Kemo Sabe?" he directs at Collyn. "As long as you are carrying those canisters, if we're caught, they'll think you did it."

"Anyway, the intent was always to get the contents analyzed to find out just what that stuff is and maybe who made it. I suspect it will take some time for the former and the latter will be either inconclusive or a complete red herring."

He studies the mechanism for a minute before adding, "I don't expect there to be a second one, but we should look just in case. I could see scattering eight canisters around this maze, each on a timer, but that would have taken time on site. This way, it's one and done."

"I suggest we take a different route out of the UnderLinth."

"This may have been a boring task, but as far as I'm concerned, it beats getting shot at."

"It's going to take the others a lot longer to find the King, though I'm a bit concerned that we haven't heard from them. I think the UnderLinth may be blocking our comms. Plus, there was that raging storm down on the planet. Why the hell the King would want to go fly in that completely escapes me! Maybe he has a death wish!"

Unless someone objects or has a different plan, Viridian will lead the group out of the Life Support section and then a different way, heading to the Bazaar.

Not surprisingly, there are no color-banded arrows or codes painted on the support girders that make up the UnderLinth superstructure which direct you to the Bazaar, but then the Bazaar has only been around for 20 years or so. Instead, the black band directs you to the Civilian Stardock.

Once at the right location, a built-in wall ladder leads upward to the basement distribution and delivery level. Crates and racks and shelving units clutter the space up to the point where even finding the elevator let alone getting to it is a small task.

With the population of the Floating Palace split into three shifts, the Bazaar is nearly always busy, and no one bats an eye when you step out of the elevator.

Reluctantly removing his mask in the elevator Rayjay urges the group back to the ship via the most direct method. "Should be just across the way." He said once more adapting his palacer accent.

Exiting the elevator practically in the middle of the Bazaar, Taliesa was prompted to do a bit of shopping. After all, they had time to kill, so to speak--the Vultan was still down on the planet.

A ceremonial dagger that one of the Nobles had reluctantly parted with caught her eye. Yes, it was outrageously expensive, but the curved design appealed to her. After purchasing that, she then bought a more practical knife.

She added a pair of rose-tinted sunglasses, an advanced multi-tool, three glow-sticks, a pack of 6 bungee cords, a (very dusty) forensics toolkit, and a small pocket flashlight to her collection. Part of the reason for her shopping was to blend in.

"That's the Civilian Stardock," she reminded Rayjay in case he was referring to the docking bay by the Bazaar. "The Vultan was docked at the Royal Docking Bay on the opposite side of the Floating Palace. If they rescue the King, that's where they'll dock."

As she added a couple of tchotchkes to the pile, she did her best to observe the other customers at the Bazaar. Did they seem to be any more agitated or paranoid than 'normal'?

Then she spotted Rachando about the same time as he saw them.

Collyn removed his mask when he got off of the elevator too. He decided to blend in by being with Taliesa for a bit. He made small talk but nothing worth noting.

Not being from Drinax, Viridian wasn't wearing a filter mask as he didn't feel it was needed. Also, if all of them had been wearing masks, it would have looked strange... as well as suspicious.

He, too, joined Taliesa for a bit of shopping. He made only three purchases--a small practical non-metallic pocket knife (Pirate Rule #9), a King Oleb bobble-head dressed in a fancier-than-real Hawk Warrior uniform, and a 12" gold-and-red stuffed vultan toy. The last two, of course, were because his quarters had the spartan look of an itinerant traveler... which seemed to be coming to an end these days.

He was only mildly surprised to see Rachando heading in their direction. Once he'd delivered his warning and they'd fixed his ship, there was nothing to keep him from returning to the Palace on a similar vector. And he would have docked at the Civilian Stardock right next to the Bazaar.

"I wonder what he wants now?" Viridian mused out loud.

"The whole Palace is going to hell in a handbasket!" Rachando says without preamble when he reaches the group.

"And I don't even know what that means!"

"The King might be dead, Prince Harrick has gone to Asim, and no one can find Princess Rao! I'm not sure who that leaves in command! Lord Wrax? Oh, don't get me started! You'd think the admiral of the Star Guard would be more gung ho about fighting, but he sides with Harrick on 'peaceful negotiations'. That only works when you carry a big stick!"

"You all know I'm not one to listen to gossip let alone repeat it, but the rumor I just heard was saying Prince Harrick has kidnapped Princess Rao! Isn't that absurd? Why would he even do that?"

Having delivered his angst-laden message (again), he now turns to business.

"Excellent choice, Taliesa," he compliments her purchase of the ceremonial dagger. "It belonged to the Chief Lord High Justice of Farnsworth. Upon his death three years ago, his wife, First Sun Lady Nirvana of Farnsworth, felt it was important to feed her seven children than to keep the dagger hanging on the wall. After all, you can't eat the dagger. I made her a generous offer and she--reluctantly, I'll admit--accepted it."

"A soft spot for soft toys, Viridian? Half the time I can't keep them in stock, and the other half, they just sit and collect dust. Figuratively speaking, of course--Noshabkeming forbid that any real dust settles anywhere in the Palace!"

"With the return of your ship, I'm hoping to unload the rest of these. Thinking of changing the next batch to a plush starship."

"Rumor Harrick kidnapped Rao, oh that is bad. I have a bad feeling we'll be going to Asim to rescue her if that is true! I'm sure the king will be very upset!"

As purchases are finalized, you notice that a few of the other customers are getting a bit agitated, get involved in a heated discussion and then hurry away from the Bazaar.

A minute later, Rachando approaches you again.

"I can't believe it's happening! The coup is underway! Or is that 'coups'?" Rachando informs you. "I don't know how many exactly, but several factions have made a move... taking over some area as a base. The most significant one is the Prince Harrick faction... and he's not even here!"

"We need to do something! Well, you five need to! I'm not important; nobody cares which faction I support. As soon as someone realizes you support the Princess, they'll make a move on you... try to use you as leverage."

"I think there are a lot of people still on the fence. You could try and sway them over to your side. Get enough of them to still support the King and the other factions will collapse."

"My two credits. Or you could just wait it out and see who wins. Probably what I'd do. Of course, if your faction doesn't win, you could lose that fancy ship of yours. Everybody knows Admiral Wrax wants it for his Star Guard flagship."

He cautiously looks around to see if anybody is close enough to have overheard him... or otherwise paying attention to them. He spots no one that would fit into those categories, but there are several people still shopping... for a dress, gourmet cheese platter and an Aslan bobble-head.

Since none of you are wearing Vultan uniforms (they would have been way too conspicuous for your clandestine mission), the average Noble citizen isn't likely to know or recognize you.