Reroll

I see several white vans speeding to the site.  The cameras get a nice shot of them stopping, the drivers pausing, and just staring, open mouthed, for a bit before getting into the backs of their vans and getting to work.

Okay, so… I didn't really want to expose that just yet, but that reaction is SWEET.

I of course get on the comm with Ed and Betty, “Did you two make it out okay?”

“I did,” Ed starts, “But I'm going to need to rebuild my Companion Vessel and bond a new Wild Cohort.  We were all still inside when the bomb went off, and they got crushed.  Being incorporeal rocks, thanks for that Michelle. Err… Kenny.”  So that's my name now, huh?

Betty picks up, “Same here… so you didn't fare so well, huh Kenny?”

I shake my head, not that this is a video call, “No. They had a rather painfully effective teleportation trap waiting.”

Betty continues, “That explains why people are reacting to me. Mind picking us up? I just made my way to the surface.”

“Likewise,” Ed adds, “Walking through walls is nice, but incorporeal creatures need to stay adjacent to the exterior… which made getting out a bit of a blind maze.”

I give the appropriate orders to my pilot, “Sure.  I'll be down shortly. I'm sorry I didn't think of it sooner.” In a sense I did; I tried to set you both up with basically this build so you'd have your own Invisibility and ability to customize yourself on the fly… “Are your Alteration effects still running?”  Those were Instant. If they don't stick… I know of two people who have a problem.

“Yeah, I'm still flying quickly,” I breathe a sigh of relief when Ed responds, “So we won't need to replace those.”

That said… “we probably want to anyway; I've upgraded with the level up, and so can add another feature or two.”

“Yeah, sure,” Betty replies over the comm, “I'll let you mess with my body more.”

Phrasing, Betty, “Great, see you soon.”

Considering, I give a few orders, and make an announcement through the ship's external speakers as the weapons officer uses the turret guns to blow a hole in the road.

“This is a rescue operation. I am here to pick up survivors. I am aware that a live controller is required for the Guardians to function, but I cannot tell which Guardians go with which vans. If any Guardian interferes with this operation, I will simply blow up ALL of the vans.  You are very much outgunned. Stand down, and you all get to go home.  Anyone breaks ranks from that, and you all die.  Your move.”

I then start making and sending minions built specifically for burial rescues; I get two boosts from the Conjuration Sphere now, so I go with Earth Creature (so they can dig and find things underground) and Mount (so they can carry people while doing so), bringing their size up with Alteration so they can actually accept a rider.  I then send them down to start scouring for survivors.  It gets me another half dozen people… and a trove of equipment to check.

Sadly, it's never a good idea to assume nobody will be stupid. The Guardians do try to interfere… by rushing the ship.  The turret mounted Laser Net that I picked up for point defense has no issues picking off the vans, nor does the Light Torpedo Launcher, also turret mounted… and shipboard shields are GREAT at stopping incursions.  I don't fire the big gun on the front, as I don't want collateral damage… but the place looks like a war zone when I finally lift off.

Which is fitting, I suppose: It pretty much is one.

I engage the cloak as we leave… it's not like we left any survivors to see, but still.

I have some time… I probably ought to brief the freed slaves… after figuring out what exactly we're going to do with them.  I get on the shipwide, “This is your captain speaking; I'm sure you're all quite eager to find out ‘what happens next’, but we still have a few details to iron out now that we have a count of how many people we’re dealing with.  We will make another announcement once we have the options sorted out. In the meanwhile… please feel free to relax in the cabins, wash up, have a meal from the food synthesizers, or ask the ship about the entertainment archives, at your pleasure. There should be plenty of room to move about.  Please don't fight, and especially not with the crew: They keep the ship in the air, so even if you win a fight with them, you still lose when the ship crashes.”

I then get Ed and Betty on comms: “Meet me at the HAC?”

“Sure…” Ed gets back, “Where is that?”

Right.  This is my PERSONAL Starship. Of course they're not instantly familiar. No biggie… I send directions as I go.  For the walk (a few hundred feet), I admire my ship.  It's six hundred feet long, luxury appointed, and using the Colony Ship framework, so this Destroyer has some two hundred individual cabins, each of which is basically a high-tech luxury apartment, much like we were doing with the party ship (a Cruiser, the next size up).  It's armed, cloaked, and shielded, of course, plus has the Industry, Fuel Synthesizer, and a Holographic Amusement Center… if it weren't for the ‘no leaving play’ requirement, we could just park it in an asteroid belt around a distant star and be fine.  But running away isn't an option. So… here we are.

Betty and Ed beat me here, it seems, and are waiting outside the door.  I palm the lock, and it opens; we all step through into a very empty room, maybe thirty feet on a side, with the walls, floor, and ceiling in a faintly glowing grid.  The door closes behind us, and it's easy to see the grid covers the door as well.

“Ship, I'd like a nice meeting room.  Please simulate whatever Ed and Betty request while we're all in here.”

The grid seemingly vanishes, replaced by a plush carpet, drop tile office ceiling, table, chairs, and whiteboard along the walls.  I sit down… comfortable enough.  As I have the counts from the shipboard VI, I start, “So.  Forty-six people recovered, ballpark a hundred of ours dead, twenty or so of theirs.”

“I'm not sure they're ‘our people’,” Betty objects, “Until such time as they declare, I'd suggest treating them as neutrals.”

Ed nods, “Yeah… refugees, sure. They're absolutely getting targeted by the same folks we are, so I'm sure any actual pitch will get decent results… but we shouldn't count our chickens just yet.”

I chuckle, “Fair enough. Still: What do we want to do with them?”

Betty shrugs, “Make a pitch.  Join up, live aboard ship most of the time, and serve under us when we have a use for their talents… or let us know where on Earth they'd like us to drop them off, and we shuttle them down as it's convenient to do so.”

I shrug, “Between Mechanical Customization for seating, Elemental Purity for a flight speed, and Star-spawn body for spaceflight, Alteration lets me turn shadow minions into shuttles; Life Bubble from Starfinder adds life support trivially. We could have them all off of the ship in an hour, and all at their destinations before the end of the day, no problem.”

Ed nods, “Okay.  And how far do we want to trust them?”

Betty lets out a breath, “Most of these guys were the ones who ran, right?”

I nod, “Yeah. Six were in the collapse, but the other forty left immediately….”

Ed purses his lips, “Given that the Inquisition DID do the scorched earth thing, I can't say it was the wrong choice.”

Betty shrugs, “Hardly the right choice… it's hard to trust the ones that ran.”

I consider, “So don't. We have biometric locks on the main ship,” and mine, “for a reason: We can vent the atmosphere in sensitive areas and restrict everyone to residential areas,” which I've already done here. “Anyone forces a door and it won't end well for them.  And I can make sure any bad actors will be outnumbered and outgunned.”

Ed pauses, “Then why recruit at all?  Why not just dump them wherever to fend for themselves?”

Betty answers that, “Someone might have access to a useful effect we don't. Also, when we go properly public, having multiple witnesses to the atrocities will be very useful.”

I nod, “Also, there's the humanitarian angle: It's probably a bad idea to drop people off with no ID and no money in a world this hostile.”

Ed nods, “Okay.  We can do that. Main ship has more room… I imagine we'll want to upgrade to a larger chassis when we can… and I think I like the arger space: I'm going to try this out myself next level.  Mind sharing your build plans?”

I smile, and we spend several minutes going over exactly what all I included in my ship's build.  I then add, “Keep in mind, a ship this big NEEDS a crew. I can make my own easily enough, but you two… well.  May want to go with something smaller that is manageable by a single person, like a Transport."

Betty chuckles, “Mount, Heighten Spell, and Alter Summoned Monster will do fine: perfectly loyal minions, and completely disposable.”

Ed smiles, “Planar Ally over here, fed by components from Betty. My crew will be loyal enough, as long as I stay in Betty’s good graces.”

I consider: Not as good as custom-built minions, especially as they need renewal periodically… but likely good enough for gunners and basic crew; Ed and Betty can do the engineering or science tasks, “Cool. If we all do Large Colony ships, we'll have carriage for more people: That's good.  I'll go ahead and make the announcement once we're done here.”

Betty nods, “Sounds good.”

Ed nods, and adds, “So… the Resistance….”