Starfinder: The Jade Regent Pt. 01

Goblin corpses.

They were sprawled on the ground in the middle of the town, scattered about in the dozens.

"Did someone beat us here?" Rakain asked, his scaled brow furrowing.

Ami gulped. "Maybe?" She whispered, looking at the village - which had tiny strands of smoke rising into the air.

Hana frowned and started forward. But she was stopped as Nora held up her arm. "Don't like it..." The mechanic mumbled. She brought her other arm up and glanced at her drone. "Scout ahead," she said before keying the camera display to appear on her arm rig. Her drone jumped down and skittered off at her command, vanishing into the dark almost immediately.

"I doubt that someone beat us here." Sam said quite plainly. "It would be unlikely for bounty hunters to beat us here, both by the shorter distance we had, the storm, and having a map of this maze." She explained. "Rather I would bet they ran afoul of local fauna."

"So.. that means we get to claim the reward for ourselves, right?" Hana said, smiling brightly. Sam smirked under the faceplate and nodded.

"Though generally, what kills them is more dangerous than them," she said as she waited on Nora's drone to return from scouting.

"True.. just trying to look on the bright side." Hana said, shrugging slightly.

"I just hope I don't have to say something like 'No, those blast points are too accurate for sand shirren," Nora muttered as she looked at the holographic display shimmering above her arm rig - showing the rough haze of metal fragments that made up the ground the ferret drone was scampering across. Ami leaned over Nora's shoulder, her eyes locked on the view. It crept forward, moving in swift, furtive motions. It came to one of the corpses - which was clutching a kludged together mess of a pistol. The goblin had four smoking holes blasted in it's chest, easily visible despite the grainy green night vision feed.

"That's laser fire..." Ami whispered. "Not exactly wild critters."

The drone kept moving forward, crawling over more goblins - others had been struck down by some kind of ferociously sharp blade. But as the drone started to check buildings, it found that several buildings still had goblins inside...living ones! Five of the buildings had three goblins cowering inside, each one hiding under a different piece of furniture, each of them whispering to one another in goblinese.

Ami gulped. "Anyone speak goblin?" she whispered.

"Oh that is the bright side!" Sam said, quite a bit more cheerful even though the video feed was showing the opposite of her prediction.. "Taking on numbers is always a risk, something that is one thing would likely be wounded and easier pickings now that the goblins have softened it up. Though, the laserfire does add a complication..."

Hana frowned slightly, "No. I speak a couple languages, but not goblinese.." She sighed, mildly annoyed.

"All the mainstream languages, no goblin," Rakain admitted. "I can make an attempt, though, if you want to see a comedy act."

Sam shook her head. "Languages aren't exactly my thing." She lifted her fist, as if to say 'punching things is.'

"Not me," Nora said while she watched the feed with a frown.

Hana, though, cocked her head. "Wait. I do recognize some of those words, I think." Her brow furrowed as the drone peeked into one of the fancier goblin homes. Though, that was fancy for a goblin. She nodded slowly. "Yeah. They're talking about bone-walkers. So, uh, maybe some Eoxian came here to take them out?"

Ami frowned. "Eoxians creep me out..." She muttered. Eox was a world of the undead. It was part of the Pact. One of the first world to join. But it was still...

Creepy.

"Higher bounty for them, if they're attacking villages?" Nora asked as she focused, getting her drone to snap small pictures. "Not seeing anything but hiding goblins so at least we're safe..."

Hana frowned, "Not sure people would be all that eager to reward us for helping out goblins.." She said with a sigh. "So.. do we want to try and talk to the goblins or what?"

Ami bit her lip. "Well, goblins eat babies..." she said, looking grim - remembering a popular story that had bounced around Spacebook recently, about a goblin hiding in a kids closet. The story had ended with the goblin dead...but also the kid's father and pet dog. And no, it hadn't been disproved as an urban legend by Scopes.

Rakain fingered the butt of his pistol. "Maybe try talking with a bit of insurance?"

Sam shrugged. "The Eoxians may have a bounty on them but she should figure out exactly what is going on or went on. If at the least for how the bounty is to be paid out."

"Maybe just try talking for information?" Hana said, then shrugged, "If not.. well, we can head in and finish them off at least. If they're hostile."

Ami nodded. "Well, wait, does your drone have a mic?" she asked Nora. "If so, we could find the goblin with the biggest hat and ask him! W-Without...needing to get close..." She blushed.

"Nothing to transmit on his end, no," Nora said with a shake of her head, "Sorry."

Ami nodded, then squared her shoulders. "W-Well, then..." she said. "Lets go and knock on a door?"

"Gotcha, chief!" Hana giggled and saluted Ami playfully. Sam nodded and started to make the way down to the survivors. Rakain followed behind, still pawing at his gun. His face was stoic, but his tail lashed from side to side, showing his concern. Ami snorted and shook her head before following the others. As they walked together towards the village, Ami moved to try and take the lead. The others blocked her. Ami groaned. Striding into the center of the village, every member of the party became aware of how the buildings were...short.

The roofs came up to their chins. They could literally look down at the roofs by standing on their tip toes. However, once they stood there, a snarling voice called out from the largest, fanciest building - in squeaky, but understandable Common.

"Go 'way longshanks! We carve y'up! Carve y'up good! Leave you for the bone-walkers, yes! Go! Now!"

Hana put her hands on her hips, clearly not interested in playing around with goblins. "How about instead of that, you tell us about the bone-walkers and we won't bust down the door and make you tell us about it?" she said sternly.

There was a short pause. Then the goblin started to explain, terror clear in his squeaky voice. "W-We find treasure! In crash! Many golds and coins that shine so bright!" The goblin king sounded more and more frightened the more he spoke. "Find...weapons. Use the weapons! But then...then the deadcrew, the dead longshanks, they come! They come and they kill and kill and shoot and stab and slash, and I realize, I cleverest of goblin, I realize they want t-treasure we took, so I put it out and they take it, and they go to ship, and...we hide. Uh." There was a short pause. "H-Here!"

A loud ting sounded. A glinting metal disk flew from one of the windows, landing on the dusty street.

"L-Last coin! I not realize I keep! T-Take and go, bribe, yes?"

"...Last coin of their treasure?" Nora called out as she openly stepped back from the place the coin landed. Rakain looked at the others.

"Poor little gremlin's losing his mind with fear. I say we take it and go," he muttered. Hana held up her hand - indicating she wanted just a little more time.

"What ship did they go to?" she called out to the goblin.

Sam, meanwhile, approached the coin that was thrown out. She knelt down and picked it up.

"It east! It far east!" The goblin king suqeaked. "Not know...make or name. We goblin very smart, we not put words into symbols, so they get stole, not like you longshanks. We not know how to get words from symbols, hah!"

"I've never heard of anyone be quite so proud of not knowing how to read," Ami muttered.

As she spoke, Sam picked up the coin. It was sleek and silver, with a coiled, slender serpent of a dragon on one side, and a stylized symbol that she didn't recognize - it was all lines and curves and such.

But as she held it up, Ami gaped - looking at the coin, her face draining of color.

"Ami?" Rakain said, touching her shoulder. "What is it?'

"Fine, what does the ship look like?" Hana asked the goblin king, sounding mildly frustrated, her hands on her hips. Ami blinked, her hand shaking as she reached up, taking a hold of the necklace that she had worn her whole life.

"...is...green and old and battered, but...narrow. Like a knife!" The goblin said, sounding like he was nodding.

Ami's finger looped under the necklace she wore, then tugged it from udner her shirt, revealing that the small amulet that she wore...wasn't really an amulet.

It was a coin, punched through to make a space for the string. A coin with a coiling dragon and the exact same symbol on it.

"B-Bentha said it was the only thing I had on me..." she said, sounding stunned.

Hana looked at the pair of coins. She blinked. "Huh." Then, slowly, she smiled. "So.. we're totally checking out that ship." She turned back to the goblin's house. "Go out, find some place civilized and tell them the gods spared you so you can go and live a proper life! No more killing or stealing, you earn your living now!"

"Well fuck me," Nora said bluntly, staring at the coin hanging from Ami's hand.

Sam recited a bit of poetry under her breath, about a kingdom without a princess, a throne without a queen. "Yes, we are checking out that ship. I don't think a 200 cred bounty per goblin matters much anymore, not with this. But still, take a photo confirming each of the dead."

Hana held up her ring, "Already done!"

Ami gulped and nodded. The group hurried from the village, moving into the darkness of the shipswamp and starting to pick their way eastwards. As they walked together, Ami remained silent, her hand on her chest. She bit her lip. Finally, she broke the silence. "M-Maybe we should go home..." she said, quietly, looking frightened as she walked forward, so distracted that she nearly walked off the walkway and into the dust.

Hana snickered slightly, reaching out to grab Ami to keep her from wandering off, "Kind of thinking this might lead to just that, dear..."

You want to go home now?" Rakain said. He reached across Ami's chest and took hold of the coin around her neck. His fingers brushed her neck. "What about this, though?

Ami shivered and blushed. "T-That's just it! I'm just Ami! Ami Woodwillow, not..." She gulped, looking down at the necklace, her cheeks. "I'm just...I don't know what to think of this. Mom...Bentha's been my Mom my whole life, I..." She trailed off.

Sam nodded. "I would say we at least look at into this. Once we know you can decide, and whatever we find out will not change who you were, are, or your past. You aren't going to be alone either." She patted Ami's back.

"Yeah. Learning something new about yourself does not undo anything you already know. It simply adds to who you are." Hana smiled slightly, putting her hand on Ami's lower back. Ami blushed. Meanwhile, Rakain kicked himself inwardly for being a bit confrontational. He was never as articulate as his female companions.

"What Sam and Hana said," he said.

Nora seemed more quiet, rubbing her chin and thinking to herself. She glanced up after stewing internally, coughing. "This is still rather rocking. I don't blame you being shaken Ami."

"Your mom will always be your mom, she is the one that raised you." Sam said with a simple surety in her voice.

Ami smiled, shyly. "You...you guys are really bad at this." She said, shaking her head as she turned and kissed Hana on the cheek, then Sam, then leaning up on her tip toes to kiss Rakain on the cheek. Well, side of the muzzle. She sighed. "But you're...right." SHe smiled at Nora, nodding slightly. Then she leaned forward and kissed Nora right on the nose, leaving the shy mechanic almost melting with embarrassment.

"Lets go."

As they started together, Nora's drone leading the way, the sun continued to dip. The sun vanished behind the horizon, bringing utter darkness to the swamp, save for the lighrts of their com-units. Those lights shone forward and then fell on a sleek wall of green metal and a yawning cargo bay. The ship, what little they could see of it, was elegantly built and sturdy.

And painted on the prow was a series of letters in common: Kaijitsu Star

"So...think this it?" Ami asked, quietly.

"Well, it fits the description." Sam remarked, her hands on her hips.

"Green, old, battered, narrow." Hana said casually nodding. "Not just to see if it's crammed with undead and treasure." She snickered.

"Hopefully more of the latter than the former," Rakain added.

Ami nodded. Together, they stepped forward, into the cargo hold. Ami's brow furrowed. "Hey..." she said, softly. "I see some red lights - maybe there's a computer that still works?" She pointed. Each of them could see the red lights that she had seen - glowing in the darkness. As they stood in the hold, the six red lights flipped around, suddenly, and a loud thump filled the air. Ami gasped and sprang backwards as the red lights grew larger.

Emerging from the shadows with deliberate steps and skin crawling speed came a massive, furred rust-spirder. Venom dripped from its fangs and a hideous hiss emerged from its body as the light from their com-units played across its form.

It hissed...

And leaped!

TO BE CONTINUED