In our last episode, Logan and Cole were resting after clearing out a horde of space zombies, or Risen, which had infested one of the living decks.
Continuing on, the pair then entered one of the engineering decks and encountered something even more terrifying, a sickly aberration that’s made from the fused corpses of many risen, all pushed, twisted and mangled together into one huge many-armed, many mouthed entity called a Chimera.
Now, dazed and depleted, the two slump to the floor, hoping that their reconnaissance of this huge derelict starship is close to an end.
First thing I do is tend to my wounds. An alarming amount of blood has poured out of me, as is evidenced by the long dark streams that stain my flight suit, and as my adrenaline wears off, I start to feel very woozy.
Grabbing some of the medical supplies that we found in the med bay, I apply compresses and bandages over my injuries.
[Heal]
[Weak Hit: 1 + 2 + 0 = 3 vs 2 | 3]
[Take +3 Health]
[Lose -2 Momentum]
I’m no Kirsa, so it takes me a while, but I get it done. I’ll even say that I did a pretty good job, but I’m a little biased. At any rate, I stem the bleeding, and after a short rest , feel my strength returning.
Cole and I don’t even talk about what just happened, at least not yet. When we catch our breaths, we decide to try abc locate the ship’s cargo bay.
[Undertake an Expedition]
[Weak Hit: 4 + 2 + 0 = 6 vs 4 | 8]
[Lose -2 Momentum]
[Mark Progress: Explore “The Hand of Fate” Derelict :10 boxes]
We tell ourselves that this is the last place we’ll explore. Of all the places, this is one of the areas that Blackbird and his people will be most interested in finding. After dragging ourselves to the lower deck, with Devo still following along, we locate the cargo bay, and find it quite well stocked with crates. They’ll no doubt find years worth of supplies in here.
After notating the location on the map, Cole and I look through to see if we can’t find a few useful items for ourselves.
[Resupply]
[Miss: 5 + 2 + 0 = 7 vs 8 | 9]
However, we discover that almost nothing is labeled in such a way that we can understand. It’s all notated with bar codes, so we have absolutely no idea what’s in any of these crates, cases and boxes.
And they’re all locked, so we’d have to go to the trouble of breaking into a particular case just to see what’s inside.
The whole episode is demoralizing. We’re utterly exhausted, and don’t feel like going to the trouble to investigating case after case, so we pick a few from different sections and try our luck with just those and hope that we find something useful.
[Ask the Oracle: Yes]
[Take +2 Supply]
Fortunately, a ship like this is bound to have an overstock of useful items, and the few crates we open prove fruitful. We find some small machine parts, art supplies, data cards, radio beacons and a few things we don’t recognize. We take what we can carry and leave the rest for Blackbird.
[Progress Roll: Explore “The Hand of Fate” Derelict :Strong Hit = 10 vs 8 | 1]
Having been inside this ship for many many hours, we feel confident that we’ve given the ship a thorough reconnaissance, dealt with all the potential dangers present, and created a map that will show the Wandering Stars everything they’ll need to know for coming aboard and scavenging to their heart’s content.
As resourceful as I’ve seen them to be, I imagine that they’ll tear this ship apart obtaining a lifetime of supplies and materials to build, repair and expand however they wish.
I felt good about that. I helped make this possible for them with my promise, and that’s a good thing. That’s what it means to be Ironsworn. Now all that’s left to do is get the hell out of here and go find Blackbird.
[Mark Progress: Secure Derelict Ship :10 boxes]
[Progress Roll: Secure Derelict Ship :Strong Hit = 10 vs 5 | 2]
Artwork by GlennClovis
Leaving the cargo bay, we drop back down to the landing bay, where I am greeted by the most wonderful sight: Broken Sword sitting right there patiently on the dock, waiting to take me away from this huge, mysterious, and at times, terrifying starship.
Cole and I load up, bringing little Devo on board with us. Then I fire up the engines, take off, and lower the ship through the energy barrier and officially depart The Hand Of Fate, hopefully forever. I radio Blackbird, and we rendezvous a short ways from the derelict.
I let him know that we’re finished with our recon, and that I even have a map for him that will help with his own exploration of the ship. I transmit the map, and then we each fire up our e-drives and return to Wayward Landing, where we take a couple days of much needed rest.
While we’re there, Cole and I take time to fully discuss, digest and debrief our own experiences together aboard the ship and revel in our success getting out of there alive.
[Develop Your Relationship]
[Miss: 2 + 1 + 0 = 3 vs 10 | 5]
[Burn Momentum]
[Weak Hit: 2 + 1 + 0 = 6 vs 10 | 5]
[Take +2 Momentum]
Blackbird introduces us to more of his people, including his clan leader, Erim Shim, an old, haggard man who’s missing his left arm. His curiosity is readily apparent, and aside from the fact that we just helped provide his entire tribe with a near endless amount of supplies, he’s curious to hear all about the derelict and what we learned during our exploration.
Generally, Erim is wary of technology, although he’s fascinated by ancient artifacts. During our conversation, he mentions that one of the people in his tribe allegedly stumbled upon a location that’s clearly of ancient origins, and in a long-worded ramble, inquires if we would be interested in going to check it out and bring back any artifacts that we may find.
Respectfully, I tell Erim that we’ve had enough of ancient sites for the moment, but if a time comes in the future where we feel like exploring again, I will certainly consider his proposal. Right now, I have enough other tasks to attend to, but I’d be lying if I said that a quest of that type didn’t intrigue me.
Either way, Erim Shim bestows his gratitude upon us for helping to cultivate such a valuable resource for his clan. For better or worse, and largely through their own preference and practice, the Wayward Stars are often overlooked by the rest of the sector, (I would describe this as a positive attribute). They keep their heads down and don’t depend on others to influence their fate.
So, it’s a rare and special occurrence for them to have an outsider extend such an effort which will bring the entire clan great benefit, and they don’t take that gift lightly. Erim Shim acknowledges these deeds with great honor and speaks of the debt that he and his people now owe us. I graciously accept his gratitude and respectfully affirm that, perhaps one day, should I find myself in need, I will indeed call on the aid of him and his people.
Thinking back to the circumstances that brought us here, I can’t help but reflect on the nature of humanity and our ability to survive, and to help each other, that is, those of us who are not driven by greed, fear or power. It feels good to perform a notable deed for the Wayward Stars and see my efforts make a difference in their lives; it strengthens my sprint and inspires me to do more.
[Hearten]
[Strong Hit: 6 + 1 + 0 = 7 vs 4 | 2]
[Take +2 Spirit]
At the same time, we also did a good deed for our own community as well. I swore a vow to investigate the recent thefts against the merchants and traders on Kosha. We did just that, only it turned out much differently than we would have thought when we followed Blackbird out of the marketplace and ended up here. Life makes some funny turns sometimes.
Cole doesn’t seem quite as enthusiastic about purely altruistic endeavors, As a hardened soldier, he’s much more driven by the notion of fighting against a specific rival. In his case, that would be the Obsidian Accord, and I can tell that he’s eager to be done with this side trip, so that he can put his energies into working to further the agenda of his own people in the Crimson Alliance.
I have a similar desire. This has been a surprising and also rewarding adventure, but I have things I need to do, some of which do involve my alliance with my Crimson friends.
After spending a few restful and insightful days with Blackbird and his people, and studying the ingenious level of repurposing skills they exhibit, Cole and I head back to my ship and prepare for our return journey to Kosha with little Devo, my new found electronic companion.
STARFORGED ADVENTURES 
Leave a comment