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A heavily armed and armoured male shirren arrives at the assigned meeting place, pausing to confirm the details on his comm unit one last time.
Clad in dark matte grey heavy armour, that while well-tended shows signs of heavy usage, the warrior carries a full-faced helm tucked neatly beneath an arm. A laden backpack hugs his shoulders, choice weapons and accessories adorning the straps, within easy reach.
A laser rifle hangs by its strap from his shoulder, while a pistol and a solid-looking hammer are holstered on the pack straps.
Letting the back pack slide from his shoulders, he lowers it to the ground, to rest by his feet as he takes a seat to patiently await the arrival of his team.
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A blue-grey android of indeterminate gender gven to elfish features meekly approaches laden with several utility packs - medical, computers, engineering and device disabling gear.
A simple belt knife and retractable truncheon are secured at the hip. An immaculate pilot's suit is also carried in a suit bag as if it is a prized posession.
Awkwardly the android avoids the assmebled's gaze by occupying itself flicking through the holopages of a social media device.
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You are summoned to the Lorespire Complex by Venture-Captain Arvin (picture).
The Lorespire Complex bustles with activity as the doors to Venture-Captain Arvin’s private office slide quickly. The lashunta man jots down some quick notes on his datapad, and then he glances up and motions to sit down. “Welcome, Starfinders. We have just finished compiling some intriguing news. The Society’s magical archive for divining potential new finds, the Communion Vaults, houses a perpetually sleeping Liavaran Dreamer named Whisperer of Solar Winds. The Dreamer rarely rouses from its torpor, but when it does, it spins interwoven dream stories that point us to promising finds. It awoke earlier this week and has given us an elegant story about a fractured sandstone tablet that could point the Society to a great treasure."
"Unfortunately, the three fragments of the tablet appear to be in very different locales based on the tales we’ve recorded. Luckily, each of these locations appears to be within the Pact Worlds. It’s your job to track each piece down and report back here so we can get everything pieced together and figure this dream out. Your first destination is the machine-driven world of Aballon. Based on the details of the first dreamspun tale, you’re likely to be looking for an android in a less-than-reputable city. We’re sending you via shuttle to Towershadow, where you’ll have to figure out for yourselves what awaits. Time is of the essence, as things can change quite quickly. Any questions before you depart?”
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A soot-stained, dirty-blonde female dwarf wearing a "KOG"-emblazoned black jacket clomp-clomps her way into the meeting room during the middle of the briefing. She sets an enercycle helmet onto the table, pulls up her sleeves (partially revealing tattoos of tough-looking dwarves and flames), and leans back in a chair while quietly listening and observing. She exudes an aura of vehicle exhaust, as though she had just taken a sonic shower from a tail pipe.
"'Less-than-reputable'? Don't s'pose you have their name at least. Lookin' for an Android on Aballon's like lookin' for slime on Aucturn."
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A very unkempt ysoki saunters in to the room. Not overly worried about being the last one or even late at all and missing part of briefing. His clothing and fur are covered in dirt, grease, and other such coatings. Contrasting the look is a rifle along his back that is in pristine condition. A quick looks shows that the rifle is not new and has some custom modifications. But is well maintained.
"I aint much for talkin'. So I hope one of you alls can do that. I can be handy around a tool shop as needed. Name's Flint. Rifleman."
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Venture-Captain Arvin looks at Skorkalazril with a glint in his eyes"Ah, Skorkalazril, but of course. It appears one of the two other locations is in the Diaspora on a Dwarven mining vessel. The final location appears to be on Verces in the possession of a less than reputable nightclub owner."
Arvin then turns to Angrid, "Angrid, I believe the androids name is, Lerecti, he seems to be hiding out on Aballon because of some trouble on Verces with the aforementioned night club owner.
Chk'tarlsh, I'm afraid that we don't know where the tablets will lead. If we did we wouldn't need to enlist your aid. he says with a sly smile.
And finally he turns to the assembled group, "I suppose you aren't all familiar with Aballon. Aballon is a planet known for its machines and robotic inhabitants. It’s very difficult for biological life to survive with nonexistent atmosphere and other dangerous environs. Thankfully, its primary inhabitants, a machine race known as the anacites, have built self-contained megaplex cities. One of these megaplex cities, known as Striving, houses your destination region of Towershadow. As there is artificial atmosphere within the megaplex, you shouldn’t need anything more than your armor and whatever tools you already have."
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Arvin nods in greeting, "Ah, Maxamas, thank you for joining us. I was afraid your invitation was lost."
"The order you complete the tasks is no matter, Sorkalazril. I would ask that yoy do gather all three sandstone tablets so that we have the most accurate information before attempting to discern the answer to the puzzle. If you wish to go to Verces or the Diaspora first, that is acceptable."
"Are there are further questions? Arvin asks as he scans the fully assembled group.
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Chk'tarlsh clicks his mandibles several times, antannae waving, at the mention of Verces.
His antannae abruptly halt their motion as Arvin replies to his question. "I didn't eksspect sso. Then we have no idea what we sseehk." He shrugs, "But we know where to sstart." He agrees with starting as the venture-captain suggested.
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'Vern nods at the logical sequence of Maxamas' words but gives Chk'tarlsh a look of bewilderment at the words "Then we have no idea what we seek'.
Holding up the suitbag she offers I can pilot the shuttle to Towerspire Aballon. Do you want to take the scenic or direct route?
She alters a generic holo badge to project the insignia of a popular local Aballon taxi company "Aballon First Planet Taxi Co." with the motto in subscript "Wait Less Become More".
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And with that you are off
You head to your provided shuttle, and Wyvern takes the wheel.
After a few days, the shuttle reaches a blasted wasteland of a planet that—despite its dark and barren appearance—quickly shows itself to be covered in glittering metal cities under the full brightness of the Pact World’s sun. The shuttle goes through a set of blast doors into a city built inside and around what was clearly once a massive silver tower.
What would you like to do?
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Angrid rolls her eyes at the 'short' comment and crosses her arms.
"Yeah, good luck peddlin' that logic to the Guild Elders. I don't care one way or another, but there's lots of us think the Quest for Sky really meant to find some sp'cific alien sky. Like a new homeworld. Me? I'm just lookin' to save up an' retire early."
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After boarding the shuttle, the shirren soldier formally introduces himself to his companions, speaking audibly, his mandibles waving. "Well meht, my friehndsh! I'm Chk'tarlsh." "Many prefer to call me Charles," he adds, telepathically.
"We'll have the chanshe to behkome better akquainted ash we journey the Ssilence Between," he says, speaking audibly once more.
During the journey, he passes the time tending to his equipment, willingly chatting to any of his companions who wish to do so, checking out the shuttles defences, and spending periods of times observing Wyvern's skill as a pilot, asking occasional questions, the answers to which he jots down as notes in his comm unit.
Arriving at Towershadow, Chk'tarlsh dons his backpack, essential field equipment and weapons, readying to disembark the shuttle. "We sseek an android with the dessignation Lerecti," the shirren muses, antennae twitching as he consults a readout on his comm unit.
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"Your people were from Golarion-That-Was, is that right?"
Angrid's brown eyes almost twinkle.
"Ya know – and this is the gods' honest truth – you're the first Vesk I've met that knew that. But, s'posedly, we're not just from there – we's made there. Stories say this Torag fella forged us in the very belly of Golarion. Even though they're both gone now, lot's us can't help but feel like we're missin' something. Fact is my parents're still all superstitious 'bout that sorta stuff. Even named me after Angradd, Torag's brother."
"Is not Absalom Station your home now, as it is for humans?"
"Not my home, no. First time I stepped on the Station was when I was recruited to be a Starfinder. I's born on one them Star Citadels. Been an asteroid miner most my life. But I reckon there's a bunch us in and around the Station, ayup. Mostly cuz that's where the trade is. Guilds and clans got some pretty strong grips there – I once did a stint for Ulrikka Clanholdings that paid mighty well – but I'm just an Axeflail."
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"This conversation is fascinating," Sorkalazril says to Angrid, "but we must hurry and find our quarry. Perhaps as we go you can tell Sorkalazril more of these Star Citadels."
Sorka doesn't seem to have met a dwarf before, though he does know something about them from studying history of the Pact Worlds.
Once in one the Aballonian cities, the vesk turns to seeking information about their contact.
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Wyvern attempts a different tact.
Places a personal ad in the local cyber-postboards. "Android new in town (athletic) seeking android of like mind for wild night of clubbing and electric dreams".
Wyvern then adds phishing click bait image of an attractive android as to tracking the location of replies to a geographical location. Then will attempt to cross reference hits with a holographic map.
Announcing to no one in particular: All is fair in love and identify fraud
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Angrid, Chk'tarlsh, and Sorkalazril take to the street interviewing people, looking for clues of an android with ties to Verces while Maxamas looks around trying to discover any details that he can. Eventually, their discussions lead them to a name, a convenience store in one an area of Towershadow with a less than stellar reputation, the name of the store is 'Bob's Bolts'
At the same time, Flint and Wyvern set to work on another way:
Flint looks at the local police blotters, as well as court documents on the local system. With his knowledge of lawyering, he knows that Aballon has a unique legal system. While most jurisdictions only handle crimes and other matters that happen within their given jurisdiction, he knows that Aballon, through its Machine Court, will conduct trials by request for any android, SRO, Anacite, or other constructed being that does not think they can get a fair trial where their origin is. The Machine Court will render impartial judgement, and protect the being from law enforcement in their original jurisdiction as long as they agree to whatever punishment is dolled out by the Aballonian authorities. He sees an entry in the Machine Court's database for one Lerecti scheduled to stand trial for the crime of murder on Verces. The trial is set for 2 weeks from today.
Wyvern attemps some deception through computers with his ad on the local infosphere. While he does not get a response from anyone matching the description of Lerecti, he does receive several interesting replies from several Androids looking to party down.
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When Chk'tarlsh gets the android's attention, Sokralazril uses the opportunity to move in. "Good day, Lerecti, Sorkalazril was hoping to find you here. Heard about the trouble you've been in, and perhaps we can help. We're representatives of a group interested in an artifact you've found, a tablet to be precise."