Dawn of Flame Gameplay

Nikkost flinches away at the raised claw, but given the chance to explain himself, "Okay so, look, a while ago there was a massive wave of terror from the sun, just about had every telepath in the Archipelago reduced to a frightened wreck for hours; those hotheads have already been so paranoid for a while now too!

They're probably going nuts over this last one, and I've heard rumors of them enlisting the aid of mercenaries and rounding up 'Undesirables,' and that recently they've been buying up weapons like crazy — they've got something planned, and I need to get out of here!"

Voca sighs. ”So you just decided to swindle a group of six clearly armored tourists? Nice try. You can either come with us to the port authority conscious or unconscious, and I can’t promise you’ll be alive in the case of the latter. Your choice,” Voca deadpans, casting a glance towards Misha.

"Concious! Concious is good, please!" Nikkost replies immediately.

Once he's handed over to the port authority, Taeress leads the crew to one of the linecrawlers linking Dawnshore to the other bubbles of the Archipelago; catching the one to Asanatown is simple enough, but on arrival a tension borne of rising paranoia hangs in the air.

Zaxsha points out a large group of armed lashuntas and ifrits moving through the station. "Let's stay close to Dr. Suloro," she says. "We're probably safe as long as we're with a lashunta."

Taking note of the group, if only to avoid them, the crew follows Taeress from the station and towards her apartment.
They've not gotten far before all their communicators sound at once, with an alert coming over the local emergency channel. On the screen, a slender, handsome lashunta man wearing elegant dark armor sits in front of a flag bearing the silhouette of a lashunta head atop a yellow sun.
“Citizens of Asanatown,” he says, “I am Zeylan Trinipol, commander of the Sunrise Collective. I know many of you are still reeling from the recent psychic assault. You might be frightened or angry, and you’re right to be so. For too long, the lashuntas of the Burning Archipelago have suffered under the weight of an assault like this from unknown forces within the sun. Like you, I’ve lived with this invisible sword hovering over our heads, while our so-called leaders allow outsiders to invade and threaten our city. But no longer!

“As of today, the Sunrise Collective has taken the mantle of your protectors, working even now to secure our borders. Together with our allies in the Brass Dragons, we have assumed control of the city from our council of do-nothing politicians, bureaucrats, and sycophants. We’re putting new security procedures in place to protect our homes, our businesses, and our future. As part of these measures, travel to and from Asanatown has been canceled for the duration of the transition. Please comply with instructions from all Collective troops. Thank you for your patience as, together, we build a safer Asanatown.” The man flashes a dazzling smile, then winks out. A few nearby pedestrians express anger or shock, but an equal number cheer or otherwise express approval.

Cate looks between her crewmates. "Well that could be a problem," She says, stating the obvious. "But for now we should probably play along, at least until we do what we came here for."

Taeress seems stunned, "We... We should hurry to my apartment, I didn't know these crazies had gotten so influential since my last visit, but surely we'll be safe there for the moment, and we'll meet my contact anyway...!"
Her look changes to one of concern before she hides it and starts off down the street, "Quickly, before they decide to give us trouble!"

Zaxsha just nods and hurries along behind Taeress

The walk is quiet - among the group, at any rate. All along the way, Lashtunas argue with both outside races and other Lashtunas, and the occasional trio of Sunrise Collective soldiers and Brass Dragon mercenaries round up and evict "undesirables" from their homes, belongings thrown into the streets, protestors crying foul while less scrupulous individuals loot the items in front of their restrained owners; other protests around the bubble city are heard, most in the form of chanting, but some in the form of gunfire.

Taeress does her best to keep her eyes down and keep moving through all of it, though she flinches as the crew passes across the street from a trio of Kasathas being evicted, one a child crying for help.

The group elects to take Taeress's lead, keeping their heads down and away from the soldiers terrorizing the innocents of Asanatown. Within an hour, they arrive at her apartment, to find it empty. Before Taeress can comment, her communicator beeps, and she reads a message she received; her look shifts from concern to fear in moments, and when she finishes she turns to the crew "Nib- my contact has been taken to the police station Laubu! Please, please, you have to get her out of there, she's going to get herself killed!"

"Woah now, back up. The police station? Killed? What kind of situation are you expecting us to be walking in to, besides the most obvious part?" Cate asks, raising her hands in a calming gesture towards the Lashunta.

"You handled that ship just fine! And all I need you to do is break her out! Look, she and I are like, the only two people that might maybe be on your side here, and you can't really say that about anyone else here right now!" she pleads.

"A jailbreak? Sounds exciting!" Cera replies.

Cate raises one eyebrow suspiciously, and crosses her arms, but after a moment nods. "Fair enough. I'm down."

"So you'll do it then? Thank you, thank you!! Please, let me know as soon as you have her safe!"

Taeress gives the group directions to the station, about halfway across the bubble from her apartment, near the middle of town. It's a quiet walk, it seems most of the initial action has passed, though signs of protest can still be seen. Once the crew arrives, it's immediately apparent that fencing has been placed to force all traffic in and out of this area to go through the checkpoint, manned by Sunrise Collective soldiers that make a grand show of checking identification and allowing Lashtunas through, while admitting only those of other races that kiss up to the soldiers. It's not totally impossible to circumvent the checkpoint, however

Voca looks towards her colleagues, and after a brief conference it's decided that they should simply approach and let Voca do the talking. She does just that, with her colleagues in tow. "Fine job with the gate, boys. We're here to visit under The Captain's authority," she says with a curt nod towards the group of them.

The Lashtuna standing against the guardhouse takes a couple steps after Voca. "Oh yeah? What captain?" he asks, with a sneer of blatant disbelief.

Voca stares him dead in the eye and raises her eyebrows. "If you need to ask, then that means you weren't authorized. Stand aside before you do something you regret."

"Oh no, I've heard that one before. The only way you're getting in here is in handcuffs."

He wisely recoils beyond Misha's immediate reach, however.

Cate shakes her head. "Please excuse my companion, sometimes authority can go to her head. We're here under authority of Captain Haki, Captain of the station over in sector 8. We were sent to check on the status of one of your detainees, make sure their processing is progressing smoothly. Apparently the Captain has contacts who are concerned for this particular detainee," She says, the lies flowing from her lips easily, like any of the corporate lies she's felt inclined to sell over the years. "You're welcome to check in with our Captain at your leisure, but I'm afraid that we are on the clock and really must report back as soon as possible."

The guard sneers again, "Pull the other one, we already moved all our detainees. Well, 'cept one, but nobody cares about him anyway. Some half-coked-out lizardman egg jockey who got his whole brood killed, but he's locked up tight."

Since their attempts at bluffing didn't work, the group decides "fuck this" and a firefight ensues, with the Photon Runner crew eventually emerging victorious.

"Damn it. I bet they called for reinforcements," says Zaxsha. "If we're doing this, let's get in and out quickly... but is the person we're looking for even here? Taeress said 'she', but apparently the only person here is a 'he'. Is this a fool's errand?"

"Only one way to find out," Cate says, looking towards the door. "Misha, would you do the honors?"

"With pleasure," Misha nods. He hefts his heavy gun in both hands and strides up to the door, kicking it in with the full force of a 400+ pound bear.