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You have each received a mercenary contract from the Starfinder Society with a fairly typical non-disclosure agreement. You are to meet your contact, a woman named Luwazi Elsebo, at the Lorespire Complex.
When you get to the Lorespire Complex, you are directed to a lavish meeting space with several couches and a central table. There are a variety of snacks and refreshments on the sideboard.
---
A short hiss precedes the opening of an adjacent door. A woman with a determined look steps through the opening, holding a datapad in one hand as she sits down at the nearby table, takes a calm breath, and begins to speak, “Ah good, you made it. All of you come highly recommended. You have skills, and the Starfinder Society has credits.”
She pauses, looks over the group she has assembled, and continues, “How rude of me—introductions. I am Luwazi Elsebo, the elected First Seeker of the Starfinder Society, and I have an exceptionally fair sum of credits available in return for your specialized services. For this mission, each of you will represent the Starfinder Society, but hold no official title within our organization. As you can probably tell by the empty halls around us, I need to use mercenaries to act as temporary agents. If you agree to the terms, I would like to offer you all a job.[/b]"
“The Starfinder Society endured a staggering setback several months ago when our previous First Seeker led a mission into a region of space known as the Scoured Stars. We lost almost all our experienced field agents and assets in that endeavor. What the Starfinder Society really needs right now is something to entice outside interest and investment. In short, we need to make a major discovery."
When entering the room the cheerful Lashunta greets the others often attempting to learn their personal greetings.
"Hello everyone. My name is Raia Danviri. I take it we are all here to assist the Starfinder Society? What a fantastic way for us to meet others."
---
Raia stands up when their contact enters the room. She holds out her hand enthusiastically and also offers a smile.
"First Seeker, It is nice to finally meet you. Discovering new information and reaching out to others is an admirable goal but is their a reason for us not holding a title for this mission?" she queries with the First Seeker.
Looking over to Raia, Luwazi says "There are two reasons. The first is that you have not earned a title yet. After this mission, I would be happy to discuss a more permanent arrangement between yourselves and the society."
Pausing to let that sink in, she then adds "The second is that we expect having a little distance from the society may aid you in your task."
Luwazi pauses a moment, allowing her statement to sink in. Satisfied that she still has your interest, she continues.
"Prior to the Scoured Stars incident, the Society acquired exclusive rights to explore a rather unique moon. The inhabitants of the nearby planet call it and see it as a ‘false moon’ due to its visible metal components and underlying superstructure. There’s the potential that it’s nothing more than a mangled hunk of stellar debris on the remains of a moon, but there’s also the chance that the entire object could be one inconceivably large structure.”
Luwazi lets loose a devilish smile. "This is where you come in."
"I want you to go to Salvation’s End and explore the surface. First, you’ll need to make a quick trip to the moon of Varos, which orbits the nearby gas giant, Bretheda. There’s a high- level security complex on Varos that has a survivor from a rogue prospecting mission to Salvation’s End. I want you to question the prisoner, find out what you can about the so-called ‘false moon,’ and then make way to Salvation’s End. Once there, you will need to see if the moon is worthless, or something valuable enough for the Society to announce."
"Understood?”
The vesk remains standing throughout, further accentuating her towering height over the rest of the Starfinders.
"You have chosen well in bringing me in." Obozaya cast her glances at the rest of the team. Instinctively, she snorts, doubtful of their worth in battle. But she reminds herself that she has worked with non-Veskian crew who were effective in combat, even if their methods are not hers. She thus adds on, "Perhaps the rest as well. We will see."
Turning to the rest of the Starfinders, she speaks simply. "I am Obozaya," as if that is all they need to know.
She has little interest in further details, so long as they get paid, and more importantly, get public credit for whatever is encountered on this "moon". And of course, so long as there's battle involved. She is impatient to get going though. "Why not just head straight to Salvation's End? What useful information could a thief have?"
"What happened to their ship, for one." Luwazi answers.
"We need you to seek out a pilot named Livewire, who is interred at the ‘Sauna’—a prison colony on the volcanic moon Varos. Contact this prisoner, as she is the only survivor of an expedition that trespassed on Salvation’s End. Once you establish contact, it’s a matter
of gathering intelligence. We doubt this information is cheap, so we authorized a spending account for you to encourage Livewire to talk. We need to know why her team’s illegal salvage on the moon failed."
"Once you get this information, we need you to travel to the false moon. Touch down, scout for hostiles, and look for any indications that it’s more than a moon with crashed starships piled atop it.”
Looking to Raia, she adds "The warden denied our requests to meet with Livewire. They indicated that our presence would rub salt in a fresh wound. As I said, having a little distance between you and the Starfinder Society may aid you in this task."
"So, whatever you do, do not let the warden or Livewire know that you are working for the Starfinder Society. I have set up a front to explain your meeting with Livewire: you are all investigators hired by an unnamed corporation looking to remain anonymous. You’re researching a rash of disappeared spacecraft that have gone missing when their flight path took them too close to Salvation’s End.”
Quig looks at the spread and begins to eat greedily from the table. It had been awhile for him to eat something aside form rations and REMs. The rat looks up at the others and waves his little paws as his drone rests on his back.
Mouth full he speaks."Hi peese oo mee ou" he says before swallowing a horrid amount of food."Names Quig. The little sleeping fellow on my back is Scout, we um...find things and bring them in"
He then begins to eat more, watching the door open.
--------
"Whoa, I forget how big you guys are. Vesks I mean. Like you are tall. As for moons? Why Varos, and this guy why is he in jail. Is it because he stuck his nose in were it belonged 'cause Ol' Uncle Nippers did that to some of those undead fellas' from Eox and let me tell you he came back a little crazier than usual. Wait sorry I forgot, you want us to do what now with a moon?" He said rambling like most of his people do. Unlike others, he was observing them as he spoke trying to get a feel for everyone.
There are a variety of appetizers on the sideboard, including a few from Atikon. Although not meant to serve as a full meal, Quig finds enough there to satisfy him. When the others aren't looking, he stuffs a whole plate of momos into his cheeks for later.
---
Looking over at Quig, Luwazi summarizes the plan. "Varos is the prison moon where Livewire is being held for trespass. Go there and try to find out from her what went wrong."
"After that, go to Salvation's End and investigate it."
Ispeh has been leaning against the wall. Watching. Listening. They never get the urge to announce themselves or divulge personal information. Hard to lay low when everyone sees you.
After some conversation with Luwazi Ispeh speaks up, "Get a little information. Break into whatever that rock is. Sounds clear to me. With the Warden already denying you access to Livewire we'll need an alibi, and this is some kitbashed looking group if you don't mind me saying." Their eyes scan across the very diverse room of mercenaries that lack a common look. "Pizza Delivery? Journalists?"
“Would that work better than Investigators?”
"As I said, I have set up a front: you are all investigators hired by an unnamed corporation looking to remain anonymous. You’re researching a rash of disappeared spacecraft that have gone missing when their flight path took them too close to Salvation’s End.”
Checking her datapad, she then says “Please follow me.”
As she leads you out of the meeting room and through the complex, she continues to brief you.
“I am somewhat surprised none of you has asked about the pay yet.”
“I’m able to provide a spending account of 2,500 credits for mission expenditures; this does not include expenses for personal use, but instead for dealing with Livewire and the other occupants at the Sauna to help in your mission. Upon completion of your greater mission to Salvation's End, you will each receive 3,000 credits. In addition, you have use of a brand-new Pegasus-class starship for the mission. If we end on agreeable terms, you can count on the Starfinder Society for more work in the near future.”
Pausing to look back at the group, she adds “Trust me when I say an ongoing partnership would be quite… lucrative, for both parties.”
It looks like she is leading you to an outer section of the station.
“As you may be aware, we're stretched thin on other fronts. It's no secret we recently lost a large contingent of agents and ships in the Scoured Stars incident, but don't worry; we are not without resources.”
The group arrives at a vast entry door, most likely to a private hanger bay.
With a slight flourish, Luwazi opens the door. She crosses the threshold into a hub of activity.
Luwazi steps further into a large hangar bay containing a pristine ship with a stylized symbol of the Starfinder Society along its hull. Several engineers, laborers, and mechanics buzz about the hangar running diagnostics, polishing the vessel's unspoiled hull, and finishing the last touches for a maiden launch. Luwazi looks up to the ship with beaming pride.
“This ship would be yours to use for the duration of the mission.”
Looking expectantly at the group, she asks “So, are you going to accept my offer?”
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"Yeah, that works." Iseph follows as Luwazi leads them through the facility, taking note of the credit amounts promised.
Walking into the hanger and seeing the ship, Iseph lets out a long inpressed whistle. "Now that is a beautiful craft! I'm in. They're going to remove the Starfinder Symbol, right?" Before Luwazi answers, Iseph motions to one of the nearby engineers or workers. "Can I see that datapad?"
"What?" says the startled Ysoki as Iseph takes their data pad. Seeing Luwazi there, she gives Iseph a fierce look but doesn't demand his pad back immediately.
---
Iseph is quickly able to find the specifications on the ship.
She notices that the ship hasn't been christened yet.
Technical Specifications: Starfinder Society Pegasus Starship
Medium explorer
Speed 10; Maneuverability good (turn 1); Drift 1
AC 13; TL 14
HP 65; DT —; CT 13
Shields light 60 (forward 20, port 15, starboard 15, aft 10)
Weaponry:
Attack (Forward) light particle beam (3d6)
Attack (Port) laser net (2d6)
Attack (Starboard) light laser cannon (2d4)
Attack (Turret) light particle beam (3d6)
Ship's systems:
Power Core Pulse Red (175 PCU); Drift Engine Signal Basic;
Systems advanced medium-range sensors, crew quarters (good), mk 2 duonode computer, mk 3 armor, mk 4 defenses;
Expansion Bays cargo hold, escape pods, science lab, tech workshop
Modifiers +2 to any two checks per round, +4 Computers, +1 Piloting;
Complement 4–7
---
While Iseph is busy with the dock worker's data pad, Luwazi makes a few notes on her own.
Shortly after that, you see a crew starting to paint over the Starfinder emblem that was emblazoned on the ship.
"Oh! Our own ship for the mission. This does get better eve though I cannot say I have ever had the desire to visit a prison. I will think of it as an experience." she says with her usual enthusiasm. She tries to look over the androids shoulder to learn about their vessel.
"Excuse me, I didn't catch your name. That's okay we have this whole trip to talk...did that say it has an on board lab and workshop! Fantastic." and with that she starts to head towards the ship asking workers to point her to the lab.
Altronus enters the room, and introduces himself.
"Hello, I am Altronus Barasul Dovenayan of House Holdare. It is a pleasure to meet all of you."
He makes pleasantries with each of his teammates, and sits down to meditate.
As Luwazi enters Altronus stands and makes a slight bow to acknowledge her stature and rank. Then takes his seat for the meeting.
After the meeting. Altronus says, "Of course First Seeker, I accept and would gladly help you and the Starfinders."
Smiling, Luwazi calls to Raia "Wait a moment!" and waves her back to the group.
Once the group it together, she exclaims “Wonderful! I am so excited to conduct business with you.”
With a renewed energy, Luwazi reaches into the folds of her clothing, and pulls out an expensive vintage of champagne, and extends the bottle outward as she exclaims with a wide grin, “The ship is yours for the mission, it is only right you christen it!"
"[b]Tonight, we celebrate; tomorrow you sail off into the stars.”
---
You are allowed full access to the ship. You have today to make any preparations, tomorrow she expects you to leave for Varos.
Go ahead and discuss what you want to name your ship.
"Sure sounds like a fun time. Oo Can I help paint the ship, I have always loved Chartreuse! With awesome purple racing stripes!! As for Livewire, we can easily do that. Scout here is really persuasive. Once made Shobhad crap himself as Scout shot him in the back and I shot him in the feet. Was a great payday got me some sweet stuff? Oh and this chocolate cheesecake thing. I know what you are thinking cheese in the cake? Seriously it was good" Quig said as the others talked more about the ship until he heard workship.
"WORKSHOP! Yes please, is it fully stocked and does it have all the necessary tools? Also for a party will it be catered? First though TO THE WORKSHOP!" he accents the end with his little mousey digit pointing straight into the air.
"Name a starfinder ship? I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind of responsibility, whatever designation you wish to give it Ms. Elsebo will work fine."
"Bah, what folly. What need for a name. It is just the ship." Obozaya is pleased with the offered sum, slightly above the market rate and without the need to bargain. She is thus eager to be on her way.
Iseph tilts the datapad so Raia can read it too, "Pretty top of the line. I've never taken a ship out of it's maiden hanger before, this is going to be a fun experiment!"
As Raia heads off, Iseph hands the datapad back to the employee, "Thanks, and great work." Then she turns to the rest, "'Chartreuse'? Not a bad name at all. I believe the custom is to smash the bottle on the hull as a sign of good luck. Who wants the honors?"
Dressed in a sharply accented D-Suit, Navasi comes into the hangar bay fashionably late, having talked her way in separately from the rest of the group. She's got a travel mug of caffeine-booster in one hand and her dark shades cover her eyes as she looks over the ship letting out a soft whistle with a lopsided grin on her face.
"Not bad. Not too bad at all. Name's Navasi. Sorry for being a bit late. My gig last night ran a bit later into the morning than I wanted so I needed to sleep it off but it's allll good now folks!"
Hearing the tail end of the ship name discussion, she sips her drink and looks to Luwazi. "It's still gonna be your ship after the mission right? If we named it something patriotic and Starfinder-y would that be worth something to ya?"
"Patriotic?" Luwazi asks, somewhat puzzled. "Well, maybe?"
"Chartreuse works for me."
Putting her datapad under her arm, she starts ticking off points on her fingers. "It is distinctive and will cause people to remember the name. I can't think of any cultures where the color has a bad connotation. In a first contact situation, it doesn't give away information nor set a hostile tone. It is a simple but specific concept, so assuming the race isn't blind to that part of the spectrum you could just show them the color."
"The name seems fine to me."
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"To the Chartreuse!" Iseph then boards the ship after the initial festivity and spends the rest of their time before the mission in the flight and computer systems. They configure personal preferences like alarm tones, changing the background to an Android Abolitionist Front image, and setting up as much voice control as the ship is capable of.
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"Chat roose? What kind of a name is that?" Obozaya exclaims, but forgets about it promptly after, as she really doesn't care about a name for the ship.
She does grab the bottle of champagne from Iseph. "What?! Smash a perfectly good bottle? What's wrong with you people?" She quickly uncorks the bottle and guzzles down its entire contents in a couple of gulps before anyone else gets strange ideas about alcohol and ships.
"I helped! nice"the ysoki said as he began looking at the ship. It was a good ship with a vast array of weaponry with room to improve on.
"So are we painting it too match? Cause that now might be a little confusing. With said bottle is not empty or will it have some liquid inside. Cause I don't mind smashing it over the ship!" Quig says delighted by the whole experience.
"And the name is a color, Like Magenta or Perriwinkle" Quig says looking at the ship now with his whiskers twitching. where would he sleep, and what sort of food and toys were on the inside.
Navasi blinks a few times behind her shades at the reactions of Iseph, Obozaya, and Quig thinking to herself "well there goes the extra credits I was hoping to squeeze out of this...ah well...to the Chartreuse!"
Following the others on board she quickly finds her way to the bridge. She does give all the stations a once over but finds her fingertips lingering on the leather of the captain's chair...
Altronus heads to the bridge with Navasi, and finds his way to a gunnery position. "I'll be happy to take one of these positions, I'm sure someone else is more skilled for piloting and the other duties than myself."
"Oh I just really want to look at the lab but we are a team! I can help with the engineering!" Raia adds when Altronus talks about positions.
"Engineering, Ooo sounds fun. Lets tinker with some stuff!!" Quig says smiling and ringing his hands together as he looks about the ship. After a minute he pulls off Scout and lets the drone buzz to life while he goes with the group.
"Maybe we can get us some parts, make a few of little monitor bots and droid maids!As for the ship whats its OP and does it have an AI? If so I hope it's not named Hal. Never liked that name, a Droid I had to procure was called Hal, damn thing was obsessed with some human named Dave and killed the rest of his crew. Was a damn shame. Still would be nice to have something bigger than Scout here." He says as he looks about the cabin with a slight shrug.He was more interested in the workshop than any of the other gewgaws.
Your group explores the ship and joins in the celebration with the bay crew and Luwazi Elsebo. You also have time to do any last minute shopping before leaving.
The next morning, you depart Absalom station. Luwazi is there to see you off. She suggests you use standard space travel rather than the drift engines. "There is no need to enter the Drift for such a short trip. It is safer to avoid any unnecessary encounters."
---
Arriving at the moon, you find the prison floating safely above the extremely hot surface of the moon. Even at this elevation, the heat radiating off the moon is enough that they need cooling systems on the prison just to keep it livable.
When you arrive in orbit, the prison hails you. They request your identities and reason for entering their space.
"Not a problem, Elsebo. We'll be in touch." Iseph cracks their knuckles and waits for the sign to taken them out of the hanger and punch it. Once they are out of the Armada, Iseph gives the craft a few combat maneuvers to test it out... and maybe a little for show. Then the rest of the flight is smooth handling.
As they enter orbit and start getting hails, Iseph gives Navasi a nod through one of the five "rear-view mirrors" they had planted on their station's monitors with adhesive.
Navasi grins and gives a thumb's up to Iseph during the maneuvers, clearly enjoying the ride. When the prison makes contact, Navasi opens communications on the same frequency.
"This is The Chartreuse. We're handling an investigation for some...let's call them corporate backers...and have reason to believe that some of your stations current residents might have information that can assist us. We request permission to dock and come aboard to discuss the matter."
There is a small delay, then you are told "Please hold position."
About three minutes later a different voice comes on the communicator. "Hello. This is Warden. I understand that you are investigators."
"Could you please tell me what you will be investigating?"
QUig mans his station overlooking the various systems and exactly what strengths and levels they are at. It is a bit boring, so he doodles away on pad ideas for various devices and mods he can buy make after this mission when they arrive at the station his nose twitches and his ears move about ready for action as only a Ysoki can.
"We're looking into spacecraft that have gone missing in a certain region of the Vast. An area one of your residents has been to.” she responds.
Warden replies “Please land on pad 3. An escort will be there to bring you to my office so that we can discuss this in person.”
“I apologize but you will need to leave all armaments and contraband on your ship. Contraband here includes such things as food, toiletries, recordings of entertainment vid streams or other items that prisoners may be tempted by.”
“You are allowed to bring credsticks into the complex, as the facility always accepts “donations.” ”
You are sent flight instructions for landing on Pad 3. When you get there, you find something that looks like a floating lily pad hovering in the air. You can see a multitude of tentacles on the underside waving. They appear to be part of the antigravity and stabilization system keeping the pad in place.
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"Touched down, engines.. powered off." Iseph spins in their chair. "Always accepts donations, sounds like they could smell our allowance from orbit." the android scoffs before heading to their room to store some items.
"Oh the lab and workshop are wonderful" Raia mentions to Quig as they work in the engineering section. As they near the station she listens over their alibi and smiles.
"Investigations are just another chance to learn information. I can't wait to get onto the station...let me go put up my stuff and I will meet everyone outside." she says with a smile.
Good thing some weapons can't be stripped away.
Altronus stows his weapons, and any other restricted items, and prepares to disembark to the prison.
"I know right, I love the systems here, so much potential to upgrade."
As the guy pipes in with his demands he sighs and pulls out his food."Sorry I guess I have to eat you know? Wait does Scout have to stay too..Cause that's not cool. It'll hurt his feelings! Monsters" He says looking towards his hovering ally and friend. Scout was almost a pet to him.
Checking with the station, Quig finds that the drone is allowed to accompany him.
You can affix a small arm or another one-handed ranged weapon on your drone, allowing it to wield that weapon and attack with it. This weapon cannot be disarmed. Mounting a longarm, a heavy weapon, or another two-handed ranged weapon requires two weapon mounts.
There is similar text for the other types of weapons mods.
Why I believe this matters here:
The weapon is a part of the drone. Prisoners can't take the weapon off the drone and use it.
Once docked, an organic bridge connects the pad to the structure itself.
Checking at the air lock, you find the temperature outside over 140 degrees! It would be best to seal your environmental systems before exiting the ship, but you think you could survive the short jaunt to The Sauna. It is evident that any prolonged exposure outside the prison is foolhardy.
A flotilla of four barathus— floating, iridescent masses of flesh with draping tentacle appendages—are waiting inside the structure. They gesture in what you assume is a greeting and indicate you should come with them. They wordlessly lead you to the nearby Warden's office.
The halls and rooms of the Sauna are entirely organic, comprised mostly of fleshy blue walls replete with pulsating green veins. Tunnels take odd angles, sometimes sloping up or down, which is a nuisance to humanoid creatures but not an impediment to the floating barathus.
The lead escort touches a panel and a doorway irises open to an office.
Inside the office you can see several hard, plastic chairs await arranged in a semicircle around a matching table.
Opposite the table floats an almost comical creature that looks like a dozen of the barathu guards mashed together into a floating mass of iridescent flesh and tentacles.
As you enter, you all 'hear' a telepathic voice in your heads.
"Greetings, investigators! Please, take a seat." It gestures towards the chairs.
"I have prepared some refreshments for you. You can release the seals on your suits, the air is perfectly safe here."
You can see several trays of a grey mush and glasses of an opaque, milky substance.
OH! I have never met a Combined-Barathu in person!
"Thank you so much..." she pauses not sure how to address their combined entity, "...warden? I-I apologize if you go by a different name or names this is a first for me!"
Nervously she disengages her suits protections and begins eating refreshments.
It doesn't help that the grey mush is as bland and unappetizing as it looks.
"What! No weapons?" Obozaya fumes over the restriction, but seeing little choice in the matter (other than staying in the ship and no way she's going to do that and miss out the action), she starts pulling out her weapons one by one (a flamethrower here, a rifle there, etc) and lays them carefully away. Glancing at her fists, she harrumphs. "Well, there will have to do."
---
Not one to easily trust people (or floating bags), Obozaya, however, have worked with barathus before and sees the warden simply wishing to be hospitable as part of their custom. She releases the catch on her suit, grabs the gray mush to stuff them down her throat. "Eat up! It's rude to just stare. And be thankful!"
To hide your reaction, please make a Bluff check.
Having breathed barathus' atmosphere and tasted barathus "cuisine" before, Obozaya steels her stomach, tongue and brain for the upcoming experience. Even then, her stomach growls a violent protest but she manages to let it show on her face, even putting on a smile. (But who has seen a veskian smile to verify?)
A moment after releasing the environmental controls of her suit and stuffing some grey "refreshments" into her mouth...the smell hits Raia. She struggles to keep composure as her senses are assaulted.
Altronus deactivates his armor environment seals, bows to the warden, and takes a seat. "Thank you for your hospitality Warden." He takes a glass of the liquid, places it in front of him, but concerned about accidentally revealing his mouth, has no plans to drink in front of anyone.
If you want to hide your reaction, you could attempt a Bluff check.
Warden sees Altronus hesitate and you all hear in your minds his voice. “Oh! Please forgive me! You are a Kasathan, how insensitive of me. On moment.”
The tentacles reach down and tap on the desk.
A short time later, a barathu comes in and looks around. It then comes over and offers Altronus a yellow tube with blue veins in it. It then leaves again.
Warden beams at you “There, that proboscis should work for you.”
As Quig looks around at the others he takes off the suit. He sees them all trying the liquid.