Dawn of Flame Gameplay

The most forward one nods. "Thank you for doing this. Some people would try to sell a Dromada corpse on the black market, so it means a lot that you returned her to us. You are welcome to watch the ceremony if you so wish."

Zaxsha nods. So as not to be rude, the crew stay and watch quietly.

The body is taken and carefully prepared elsewhere. It's still an hour until it starts. It passes slowly as waiting for funeral usually does. They are called as Helena's body is placed on kindling. She is wearing a funeral gown. The community all seems to have something to say about her. Afterwords, everyone looks to the crew, expecting some words from them.

Voca scans her crewmates and swallows before stepping forwards. "We didn't spend very long with her, the job we took that first cemented us as a crew was just the one before, but... she was willing to put her life on the line for us. And she died helping us overcome odds that we wouldn't have been able to without her. Whether or not we knew Helena well, that doesn't matter: she saw us as someone worth protecting, so... I guess I'm glad that you all felt like we should be here for this. May you rest in peace, Helena," Voca blathers, a low, solemn hum of consciousness. "Thanks."

A few clap respectfully before a torch is put to the kindling. The body begins to burn and a bitter smell fills the air. "Thank you for your kind words. You may stay as long as you wish." One says.

"Um, sorry, but we should probably go... we do have business to get back to," Zaxsha says awkwardly.

Taking their leave after the funeral for their fallen crew member, the Photon Runner returns to Far Portal Station with all haste in response to a summons from Jori. As they arrive, the reason for the urgency is clear - the Portal itself is entirely missing from space, though the station is at least still where it should be.

A hail from Jori reaches the ship in space, "Finally, you're back! You'll be met by one of my scientists when you dock, she'll bring you up to date."

As soon as the crew docks and disembarks, two things meet them; first, an unshakeable sense of nameless dread, and next, a purple haired lashtuna walks up to the group, "Cera! You joined up with them? Never mind; that's not important right now.
So, for the rest of you, I am Dr. Taeress Suloro, and surely you've already felt the... chill... lingering in the air? Well, what you missed, was the Far Portal sinking into the sun, followed by a wave of, of terrifying danger, like standing naked in an airlock while it's opening. With these events following on the heels of the Breath of Embers being brought to the station, we're all convinced something very strange is going on.
We've prepared a report for the Deep Cultures Institute, and a few other science organizations in the Burning Archipelago. We're sending the data by comm, but we don't want to leave it just to that with what's been going down, which is why we need you to help us get the info there safely. Sound good?"

Cera waves. "Hi Taeress! Did you read the comic I lent you? Oh, but yeah more important. Sense of dread is right. Super right. Feels kind of awful around here. But damn if it isn't kind of exciting in some way. I'm absolutely in for this kind of adventure."

"Guh, yeah, the dread is palpable" Xera mutters, "What is this Burning Archipelago, anyway?"

Misha shudders visibly. "This feeling, is bad omen. I do not care for it."

"There will be trouble. There's always trouble," Zaxsha grumbles. "And you're asking us to get involved in it. What's in it for us?"

"Well, money, of course. Say, 450 credits?" Taeress offers.

"1,000 credits," Zaxsha counters the offer. "You are asking us to go into the sun. If anything goes wrong we could die from heat, or radiation, or gods only know what else."

"Fine. Six hundred." Zaxsha nods.

It's a scant few hours trip around the sun to approach Sunrise Station, a watchtower of sorts draped in Sarenite finery and symbols, standing amid some dark metal rings floating in the void a safe distance from the star itself. As they approach, the Photon Runner is hailed by a man in golden clothing fringed with blue, who nods in greeting and states, "Blessings of the Dawnflower be upon you, travelers. Please identify yourselves and state your business in the Burning Archipelago."

Zaxsha answers, "We're with Stationmaster Jori. We have some... reports and stuff to deliver."

"Hardly the sort of professionalism a courier or messenger should display. What is your true purpose? And why have you not identified yourself?" the man replies with a shake of his head.

Misha steps forward. "We are not traditional couriers," he grunts. "We are the crew of the Photon Runner. The stationmaster sent us with physical copy of data as redundancy. Is there problem with this?"

He now nods approvingly, "Yes, now there's an answer. Direct, concise, a little confrontational, but since it's also truthful, I suppose I can overlook that. Permission granted, you may enter the Archipelago." As he speaks, the outline of one of the rings in the space around the tower wavers as a tunnel links to it, granting passage into the sun, and the Photon Runner arrives in it's dock without further incident. When the crew lands, Taeress excuses herself to make a call to her DCI contact, returning with a somewhat pained look on her face. "Okay... I've confirmed we're to meet my contact at my apartment in Asanatown... We'll need to take the linecrawler between the bubbles to get there."

Voca nods, camcorder already out and reviewing all the sights to see. "That sounds like a great time!" she enthuses, before noting the look on her escort's face. "Are you worried about that?"

"Something will go wrong," Zaxsha mutters while preparing her weapons. "Something always goes wrong..."

Voca frowns, not even needing to understand emotions particularly well to get that affectation. Or at least, to interpret it in her own way. "Alright, sounds good! I'm sure they're pretty safe, right? After all, if this place is around us and we haven't died in an inferno yet, the linecrawlers can't be too much of a step downwards."