Musashi sat in his command chair in the bridge of the Telicherry, his eyes glancing at multiple screens of information that painted a picture that made him frown. On one hand, the combat in orbit over Zirtisa was done with, dozens upon dozens of pirate ships now drifting hulks devoid of life, or stuck sitting in the void to be boarded and the survivors captured for trial or outright killed if they resist. The Starfinder Society had only lost two ships, smaller craft piloted by the overzealous and reckless. It was clearly a victory, but not one that could be celebrated because of the information coming from the planet itself.
The pirates and slavers knew of the destruction of their fleet, and the hundreds that had gone down to the surface knew they had no way off the planet. Yet instead of surrendering, they instead were now bunkering down, using their captives as shields while they prepared for a siege. There was even a few scattered reports of citizens of the planet drawing weapons on the Starfinder operatives that had first gone down to the planet, heavy collars on their necks, and glazed eyes glaring around as they attacked.
They were not only capturing people to enslave them, they were actively doing so on the planet itself and using those enslaved as shock troops.
He hated slavers.
With a sigh he swiped across the information screens, making them disappear and allowing him to gaze out the window of the bridge at the planet of Zirtisa, getting closer by amounts that could not be seen by a normal eye.
"Talcu, how did it go?" He then said without turning his gaze from the planet.
"Well, they both can use magic, ours I mean," Talcu said as he walked up beside the captains slightly raised platform. He didn't look at Musashi, an act that would need him to crane his neck, and instead looked out at the bridge window as he spoke. " A mystic of healing and a technomancer respectively."
"Rather lucky for us then,"
"Yes but . . . . . it will not be simple. Their cultures understanding of magic is, primitive to say the least. It will be very nearly a blank slate to start."
"I see. . . .what is on your mind?"
"They have been through a lot."
"We saved them from Grey's."
"No, I mean in their culture, before the greys caught them. To them, magic is a right of a certain lineage, and one of them was unable to use it properly for a long time. Finding out that magic is much more common than they thought has also affected them. I honestly believe we should have left them on Absolom and gotten them both a therapist."
"They made their choice, and we ours," Musashi said with a light sigh. "Nothing to do but lay in the beds we have made."
"I suppose. . . .what is the plan when we land?"
"Undecided until we have more information, but I only plan to have half of our usual ground teams out of the ship. I want you to stay here too, keep watch over them."
"I figured as much. I'll see what I can teach them on the observation deck once we land."
"Thank you. Teaching should keep them occupied while we deal with this dirty work."
"How bad is it down there?"
Musashi swiped a finger, bringing up a screen and pushing it front of Talcu.
Talcu merely looked at it for a moment before turning away in disgust, leaving the bridge.
"That was my thought too."