Session 3 - The Ruins Report

Upon entering and starting to explore the ruins, the party decided to split up. Willy and Trinity decided to explore the basement area of the facility while Spark, Strik, Bramballow, and Vis'pah decided to investigate the upstairs for clues on where to locate the items they came for.   Upstairs, the group rummaged through the offices and employee belongings and discovered the title of the business on some old records, "Mumford's Wish and Fish". The same reports, presumably from a company executive, also detailed the dealings of the company. In these reports, the party discovered evidence of illicit dealings with high value customers, where private "gifts" were exchanged for favor with the company and as alternative compensation for some of the commissions from the business. They learned from the reports that the items received in these transactions were contained in the sub-level of the facility in a locked storage container. They also discovered a floorplan and navigation key for navigating and identifying the various storage containers on the sub-level. No manifest of items in the storage container was located, so its contents are still an unknown.   Below, Willy and Trinity were trying to figure out the navigation key for the storage units, which were all labeled with an alpha-numeric sign, indicating which container was which. They did not locate any of the nearby floorplans to help navigate the sub-level, so they began just exploring to see what they could find, eventually encountering a huge bay door that lead to what appeared to be the loading and vehicle staging area. They made note of it and continued to investigate the containers, opening a couple, but not finding anything particularly of use. Just spare ship parts.   As Willy and Trinity were rummaging around the sub-level, the party upstairs went down to meet them with the new information they had acquired. After making contact, they navigate to the special container, where they are met with an intricate electronic locking system that Spark identifies as a double-helix twin encoded lock, requiring electricity, a double confirmation from two parties, and finally an intricate electronic key which completes the unlocking of the mechanism. The party attempted to break into the container unsuccessfully, barely even scratching its exterior. Dissatisfied they couldn't blast their way into it, the party continued into the large receiving and vehicle room, where they were met with dozens of abandoned vehicles and containers.   Upon investigating the area, the party identified that the plant's water filtration systems were in this part of the sub-level, and they were able to carefully remove the in tact water filters from the units to meet their quota. Along with all the other scraps they'd gathered along the way, they ultimately had what they came for, but decided to push on into the facility and explore more. While the rest of the party was on the sub-level, Bramballow, Strik, and Vis'Pah all ascended to the manufacturing floor using the massive elevator fixated in the center of the sub-level. They were met with an eerie red glow illuminating a large, unfinished vessel deep in the facility.   Vis'Pah and Bramballow decided to make their way toward the light whilst Strik awaited the arrival of the rest of the party. Once joined back up, the party continued off into the operating room hallway, where all the equipment which remotely ran the manufacturing floor was located. The hallway was lined the whole length with panes of glass peering out onto the manufacturing floor. As the party was slowly proceding down the hallway, a glint of light caught what looked like something moving. As the party got closer, they were able to make out that it appeared to be a little robot, bumping into the wall occasionally before becoming stationary again. As the party got a little closer, its behavior suddenly changed slightly, and it backed away from the crate and began slowly meandering down the hall. Once about fifty feet from it, its stance suddenly seemed aggressive, and a bright flashing light accompanied by a piercing siren began to emanate from the little machine. At the same moment, a dart whizzed past Spark's head and pierced partially into the concrete factory wall by the door. Combat ensued.   After the party quickly dispatched the first machine, they could hear the faint clanking of more metallic footsteps sauntering toward them. Before long, another handful of small robots of similar composition to the first rounded the corner into the room from the other end of the hallway, only faintly illuminated by the light coming in from outside. The party did combat with them as well, with Willy discovering that they were very vulnerable to lightning damage and dispatching several of them. After the party finished their confrontation with the robots, they exited the hallway to see Vis'Pah and Bramballow stationary, now much closer to the vessel with the glowing light. Trinity chose to stay back and provide overwatch on the party as they pushed on to the ship. As the other party members entered the outer radius of the light eminating from the ship, they, too, would become still. What, per chance, could be happening?