Cant progress. Offline trouble perhaps?

Hi there, I'm gonna sound like a scrublord but I need help. I've been playing Starbound offline since my laptop just flat out refuses to recognize any internet access even with a wireless adapter. So I've been hopping on with Steam's offline mode. I've been stuck trying to finish off Big Ape so i took some time to sorta grind everything up and upgrade to better gear and an excellent sword. I finally beat him! I can progress to get the artifact! Yes! Dialogue! And then... Nothing. I can't interact with the characters, I cant interact with the artifact, nothing. Okay, that's cool, no biggie. Lemme just restart. I go back in and I'm right at the beginning, so I casually and quietly log off and sit to ponder my decisions in life. Tl;dr, I haven't tried to beat Big Ape again because I wanna know if I can even progress in story mode offline or not.