"I'm just finishing up your logs now."
"It is a grave matter, indeed, that the Corpse Fleet seems so intent on keeping you from following the Cult of the Devourer’s trail, even to the point of attempting to eliminate you,” Chiskisk begins, their antennae folded pensively, tossing down a screen showing the prisoner. “I presume that means they are now searching for this 'Stellar Degenerator' as well. The Corpse Fleet is not to be trifled with, and its schemes perpetually frustrate the Eoxians here on Absalom Station. The Eoxian delegation diligently reports the efforts their planet undertakes to curb the Corpse Fleet’s activities, but they never seem to make a dent in the threat. What's more the 'ambassador' you worked 'with' has been recalled."
“Given your run-ins with the Corpse Fleet of late, I have kept my antennae in the air. My contacts in the Eoxian embassy here on the station have worked with a bureaucrat and historian in Eox’s Ministry of Eternal Vigilance named Waneda Trux. She is posted in the city of Orphys and handles reports about Corpse Fleet activity on Eox. According to my contacts, Ms. Trux recently received some indications that the fleet’s agents are up to something—perhaps recruiting for a big mission or gathering resources. It’s unclear. But following any leads that Ms. Trux has gathered could very well reveal the Corpse Fleet’s plots for the Stellar Degenerator and, if we are lucky, the coordinates where the cultists from the Star-Eater’s Spine fled to."
“Waneda Trux’s office is located in a district of Orphys called the Splice. I have informed her that you may be arriving soon. I will not misrepresent Eox—it is a dead world, and it will not be comfortable, even for representatives of the Starfinder Society on official business. But Eox is a member of the Pact Worlds, so one can expect a certain amount of civilization.”
Chiskisk clears their throat with a metallic rasp and continues. “I am sure I do not need to remind you, but this mission is of the utmost priority. I think you need to meet Waneda Trux and find the location of this Stellar Degenerator. You must keep it out of the hands of the Corpse Fleet and the Cult of the Devourer. Everything could be at stake."
"Any questions?"
Booker grunts, processing the information. "Any idea why the Ambassador was recalled?" He keeps quiet on his suspicions for now.
"What can you tell us about this Ministry of Eternal Vigilance? Do you think we can trust this Waneda Trux? Is she Eoxian herself?"
"I wouldn't even fathom a guess on the ambassador. He had his fingers in a lot of pies as the halflings say."
To Gig, "“Waneda is a ghoul,” Chiskisk says, “but she was once human and a resident of Absalom Station. Her relatively recent transition to undeath makes her slightly more accommodating to the Starfinder Society than most Eoxians. Apparently, in life, Waneda was obsessed with Eoxian history and the cataclysm that prompted most of the planet’s population to turn to undeath. Waneda became intent on achieving immortality with the Eoxians’ help. She succeeded, but she spent all of her wealth on the processes and treatments required to achieve her transformation into a ghoul. Given her knowledge of Eoxian culture and history, she then sought work with the planet’s government. It was Ambassador Gevalarsk Nor himself who offered Waneda a position at the Ministry of Eternal Vigilance.”
“The Ministry of Eternal Vigilance is a bureaucratic branch of the Eoxian government—though a very small branch, to be honest. Eoxian law requires citizens to report all Corpse Fleet activity they witness or suspect. The ministry takes these reports and provides copies to interested parties as necessary—law enforcement agencies, the Eoxian embassy on Absalom Station, or the Stewards. In fact, Eox’s ambassadors and government officials make a dutiful show of regularly handing over all of the ministry’s reports to the Stewards. It’s very important that the Pact Worlds know that the Eoxians are making every possible effort to disavow and eliminate the Corpse Fleet. It’s a very thorough system designed to ease the fears of other Pact Worlds members and help Eox avoid blame for the Corpse Fleet’s actions."
"Of course, in practice, the system is not so smooth. The Eoxians file precious few reports about the Corpse Fleet, given the planet’s population. Some say there are a significant number of Corpse Fleet sympathizers among the residents of Eox’s Necropoleis as well as among the bone sages who rule the planet.”
Sympathizers to the Corpse Fleet's cause is not at all surprising to Janzi. He catches Booker's eye and gives a slight antenna twitch, but says nothing.
Booker grunts. "Remind me to not try any o' the bakeries near the embassy then." He jumps right into his next question. "They got atmosphere on Eox?"
"No, they don't."
"I suppose I should have some sympathy for these undead, but honestly, when I think of living forever, I'm wondering if quality should be considered over quantity?"
Gig browses the infosphere and comes away with a bit of knowledge....
Thousands of years ago, the native residents of Eox went to war with the neighboring planets Damiar and Iovo, then known as the Twins. Their most powerful weapon, capable of destroying planets, shattered the Twins into the asteroid belt now called the Diaspora, but also destroyed Eox's atmosphere and killed off much of its population. Eoxians used necromancy to survive, and today Eox is dominated by the undead and ruled by powerful necrovites. ox is run by the Bone Sages, a cabal of undead sorcerers who are renowned as savvy politicians throughout the Pact Worlds. Eox is the home world for most of the undead in the Pact Worlds system, and its government faces threats from Pharasmin insurgents and crusaders willing to break their law (which treats the Eoxian undead as Pact World citizens) to uphold Pharasma's higher law (which views the undead as abominations to be destroyed.)
A deserted ship named the Acreon arrived at Absalom Station from hyperspace, towing behind it a mysterious asteroid dubbed the Drift Rock. You came to Absalom Station to join the Starfinder Society but soon found yourselves caught up in a gang war instigated by two factions—the Hardscrabble Collective, the scrappy mining clan that owns the Acreon; and Astral Extractions, the large corporation that hired the ship. With both factions vying to claim the ship and the asteroid, the Starfinder Society hired you to investigate the death of one of its members caught in the gangs’ crossfire. After exploring some of Absalom Station and dealing with the gangs, you were then "hired" by Gevalarsk Nor, Eox’s ambassador to Absalom Station, who was serving as a mediator between the factions. Your job was to explore the Acreon and the Drift Rock and learn what happened to the crew. You took a shuttle to the quarantined Acreon, but one of the warring factions sent a ship to attack you, giving you a taste of starship combat. You found no trace of the deserted mining ship’s crew, but did find the ship infested with alien monsters and opportunistic scavengers. You continued your explorations on the Drift Rock, which was honeycombed with tunnels and rooms, and learned the final fate of the Acreon’s crew, while also dealing with an extraterrestrial monster that inhabited the asteroid. You eventually learned that the asteroid is incredibly ancient and that it is a fragment of some larger alien structure or artifact, perhaps a weapon, though its exact nature remained an enigma. You also discovered the Sunrise Maiden, a ship lost in hyperspace 75 years ago, which you claimed for yourselves. But as soon as you left the Drift Rock in your new starship, you came under attack from a mysterious ship!
Now in possession of the Sunrise Maiden, you battled your way off the Drift Rock, eventually finding out that the exiled Corpse Fleet of Eox was behind the attack. Eager for more information about the Drift Rock’s origins, you traveled to Castrovel, home of some of the best universities in the Pact Worlds. In Qabarat, one of Castrovel’s most powerful lashunta city-states and the planet’s primary spaceport, you navigated the politics of academia at the esteemed University of Xenoarchaeology and Xenoanthropology. Eventually, you uncovered an obscure pre-Gap reference to an ancient, forgotten, elven temple-city on Castrovel called the Temple of the Twelve, which had supposedly found evidence of an advanced extraterrestrial civilization long ago. In search of the Temple of the Twelve, you embarked on an overland journey through the teeming jungles of Castrovel’s western continent, facing some of the planet’s dangerous flora and fauna, as well as members of the Cult of the Devourer, who were likewise interested in the Drift Rock’s secrets. Upon reaching the abandoned and overgrown elven temple-city, you contended with Castrovelian Devourer cultists who had taken over much of the crumbling ruins. After exploring the ruins, you learned that the elves had discovered an almost unimaginably immense megastructure called the Gate of Twelve Suns, which relates in some way to the Drift Rock and, potentially, to an ancient alien superweapon. Unfortunately, the Cult of the Devourer is now also looking for the Gate of Twelve Suns, and though you defeated the cult’s agents on Castrovel, those cultists were receiving their orders from a secret asteroid base in the Diaspora....
Tracking the Cult of the Devourer from Castrovel, you traveled to the scattered worldlets of the Diaspora to investigate the cult’s secret asteroid base. Upon locating the base, however, you discovered that the cult had abandoned it. You find no details about why the cult left the base or where they might have gone, but you did find evidence that the Corpse Fleet had also visited the base, along with indications that the Corpse Fleet may have stolen and deleted files from the base’s computer systems.
With new evidence of the Corpse Fleet’s involvement, the party travels to Eox....
A day in, you get a rather welcome transmission from Chiskisk, "The Starfinder Society has procured the payment you were promised, though the expectation is that you will continue the search for the cult, I have had 2,500 credits transferred to each of your respective bank accounts."
In addition, Chiskisk promises a similar reward if your mission on Eox is successful!
The journey takes days. During that time you take stock of everything which has come before.
Eox is a dead world, with no seas or oceans, and what’s left of its thin atmosphere is toxic, radioactive, both, or worse. As you approach the planet, you are contacted by Eoxian Space Defense officials on the ancient orbital defense platform called the Sentinel, who request identification and destination....
Booker comms a reply. Sunrise Maiden, explorer class vessel, complement 6 and a droid. Requesting permission to dock at Orphys.
Permission granted.
Once you pass through customs and immigration under the watchful eye sockets of undead officials, you are free to enter the city. Your contact, Waneda Trux, can be found at the Ministry of Eternal Vigilance in a sector of Orphys called the Splice.
Orphys is one of Eox’s great necropolises, but the Splice is one of the city’s most unappealing districts. Largely industrial and utilitarian, the Splice is home to several necrograft factories, which lay the unpleasant reality of this technology’s fabrication bare. These factories are large, dirty, and unsightly. Most of the fusion of undead flesh and technology required to create necrografts takes place inside the factories, but other rather morbid processes also happen on these facilities’ open air grounds. This includes the cultivation of massive amounts of vat-grown, genetically synthesized living flesh as well as the transportation of this unpleasant crop via flesh elevators up into the factories.
Beyond the necrograft factories, the Splice is also home to rows of slum-like abodes where some of Orphys’s poorest and politically disfavored citizens live, including those few living species who have agreed to work for the Eoxians—often in the nearby necrograft factories—in exchange for the gift of undeath once their mortal forms have weakened. Of course, where there’s a population, there are also businesses to serve the residents, and the Splice is no different. However, local law enforcement rarely turns its attention toward the hardscrabble district, so many of the Splice’s business proprietors are shady, even by Eoxian standards. Visitors are uncommon in the Splice, and amenities for the living are scarce enough to be nearly nonexistent.
"Like the trash slums on Akiton, but grosser," Booker comments, looking around. "Did Chiskisk give us directions?"
The Ministry of Eternal Vigilance sits on Carpalspur Street, nestled between necrograft factories and shops. Compared with other government buildings elsewhere in Orphys, the ministry is remote, run down, and politically ignored for the most part.
Hack-It picks over the armor, not finding anything better for him. When he finds the forcefield module he says, "Yoink."
He repeats the sound for the glove of storing and the datapad, the latter he considers for parts.
"I gotta admit, it's weird coming to Eox this way. I'm more used to keeping a low profile. This 'above board' work has its perks."
A wide, two-story building of black and rust-dappled gray stands out from the other dilapidated structures on this densely packed block. A holographic banner above the sliding double entryway displays the words “Ministry of Eternal Vigilance” in Common and Eoxian. A smaller sign on the front doors declares that the office is open for at least 12 hours every Pact Standard day, even if the stench from the nearby necrograft factory and the building’s lack of windows and architectural accouterments are less than inviting.
The ministry’s ground floor contains a large waiting room with rows of rusty and, in some cases, lopsided hover chairs. A tall, boxy machine in a corner dispenses numbered tokens. Beside the machine, projected in a hologram on the wall, are instructions for reporting Corpse Fleet activity to the ministry. A wide front desk with a teller-like window faces the lobby at one end, with a holographic numerical display. Behind the front desk, stairs lead to the second floor, though they are roped off with industrial-grade silver tape labeled “No Public Access.”
There are only two "people" present: a shabby human man sitting in the lobby, and a female ghoul sitting behind the front desk, absently entering information from an enormous stack of papers into a computer terminal sitting on the desk. The human man is Shan Goulding (N male human), a worker in a nearby nec
Standing outside and staring at the ugly facade of the Ministry, a reminder floats into Booker's head. "Oh, right. Almost forgot. Here ya go."
He hands each of the others a credstick containing 5232 credits. "Sold a bunch o' crap back on Station."
"C'mon. It's not gonna get prettier starin' at it." He leads the way inside.
The muzak continues while the party, the other man, and the ghoul all sit around. The ghoul at least, seems to be typing something.
Occasionally the holographic display goes on the fritz.
The waiting music continues as the room stays silent with the party neither taking a number nor talking to anyone...
Gah, Muzak'd Strawberry Machine Cake, Janzi says. Nothing's sacred. He fetches a numbered token from the dispensary — Uh...number 616...? — and wanders over to the hologram, but appears to lose interest the third time it loops through.
The man waiting curses, and gets up and grabs a number, thinking that he didn't need one since he was the only one here.
A minute later, the ghoul speaks up, "Number 616. Come up. 616."
As the group steps up the man curses again.
The ghoul looks bored to death. "Yes? How can I help you?"
"Here to see Waneda. She should know we're comin' per comm from Chiskisk," Booker responds.
“Ah. The Starfinders. The bug sent you, huh? You know the stuff people report to me is mostly garbage, right? Petty, stupid complaints about the neighbors or outright lies about rivals and enemies, and none of ’em have nothing to do with the Corpse Fleet."
“Still, once in a thousand moons, we actually get a legitimate lead or two. When that happens, I forward the reports to the government, who passes them on to the authorities and the Pact Council and all the Pact Worlds, or so I’m told. This time, I’m giving ’em to you too. You want to use ’em to go after the Corpse Fleet, be my guest. Literally, since I was instructed to set aside a room upstairs for you. It’s yours for as long as you’re here, as an office and as a bedroom, since you lot still need sleep, I guess. But don’t rush your business on my behalf; I just love strangers—especially living ones I can’t eat—staying in my office, particularly when my boss is pretty much forcing me to play host.” Waneda smiles disagreeably, revealing sharp, scraggly teeth and a long, curling tongue.
Booker lights a cigarette and waits for Waneda to continue. When she does not, he inquires, "And? What's the lead?"
“I’ve got two reports that came in during the last week,” Waneda explains. “They’re the only ones with any merit at all recently, to be honest with you. The authorities might get to investigating ’em soon, but I’m willing to bet your business is more urgent.”
She grants you access to copies of two files:
Booker chuckles. "You could say so."
He scans the reports between puffs. "Looks like we've got some interviews to do. You got a copy of that photo. Or tha badge?"
Gig looks at the reports and tries not to look too wide eyed and he casually asks questions. "So, Ms, Waneda, do see see many incidents of vats of flesh disappearing? What do you think the Corpse fleet would use the flesh for?"
"“No. That’s for the authorities to worry about. I’m not a cop and I don’t make cases against the Corpse Fleet. As far as I know, the citizens who made the reports should still have any evidence mentioned in their reports. I have NO idea what the flesh is for. You should
probably look into both of these as soon as you can. The flesh brewer works at Fleshworn Fabrications. He said to ask for him at the factory’s back gates, which are right across the street from the ministry. That delightful stench you smell is from the flesh vats in the factory yard. I suppose you don’t like it much but it just makes me hungry. The retired trooper lives down the way. She’s retired, so she should be available whenever—what else is she going to do? If there’s anything else, I guess you can ask me.”
Hack-It chuckles. "A bit turned around, Dunk? Don't worry, we got you."
Seeing as there is still daylight, implying that the brewer is likely still at work, Hack-It says, "Let's start with a visit to Fleshworn Fabrications. I don't think it's our best lead, but it should be our first."
The party steps outside and orients themselves. Talk of technology and what someone would do with a vat of flesh only highlights where you are. Directly to your left is GENTLESAGE’S NECROGRAFTS & SUNDRIES. To your right is
Across the street, though, is your destination. Tall metal walls behind a chainlink fence and wide, looming security gates mark this as some sort of industrial facility. Inside the gates is a massive metal-and-concrete platform resting at the bottom of an enormous elevator shaft. The edges of circular pools or vats containing some strange undulating substance are barely visible behind the fence, sunk deeply in the ground. A sign that reads, “Attention visitors: Call for agent,” hangs above an intercom on one side of the gates.
Booker glances at the gate, assessing whether it should be considered the 'back gate' specified.
"Alright, let's go check out Fleshworn Fabrications, but if they try and take my flesh, you guys better have my back."
Sorry, the shop is called "BONESMITH’S BOUTIQUE" (Map is accurate.)
The gate has an intercom next to it, so you could just ask.
Booker walks over and taps the comm. "Er... Hello... Lookin' for one Voxel Darksend. Said to find 'em here."
A booming voice answers the call on the intercom, “Finally! It’s about time the Ministry sent somebody! You have no idea how much I’ve needed you to tell my bosses that I didn’t steal or lose the missing flesh. Well? What are you waiting for? Get in here!”
He buzzes you in.
Voxel is fairly coarse and abrupt, but you think that's just his personality, "I don't care much about bureaucracy or the political arrangements between Eox, and the Corpse Fleet. I'm just glad you cops are here. I just need proof that it was stolen and it's not my fault!"
Booker can also be direct and to the point. "Show us the vat."
Janzi nods as Booker asks to be shown the vat. Just the facts, please, if you don't mind, he says. I'm sure, once we get to the bottom of this, you'll be exonerated. And if not, I'm equally sure we can find some remuneration to allow us to say that you'll be exonerated.
Voxel brings you right over. "Haven't touched it. Won't touch it. I'm sure you're happy about that too. Haven't contaminated the tank. I watch the vids and know that cops get mad when you do. Oh, check this out." He pulls up a picture on his datapad. It's of a badge of some variety. The badge is clearly in the empty vat. "I'd let you get in to check for evidence, but the controlling computer's been on the fritz for a few weeks. You'd like get incinerated if you climbed in."
"Look you cops can do whatever you want if it keeps me from getting blamed. Lemme know what you need."
Janzi gives Hack-It a mental message. See what you can do with that controlling computer.
He then leads Voxel away from the vat for a bit. We have these forms you'll need to fill out, and some follow-up questions, then a few more forms, and then...
"YES! I'm happy to fill out exonerating paperwork. Have at the computer too."
Looks like you can fix the controller either physically or via computer
Booker checks the areas for prints, of both boot and finger, though he does not expect to find much.
"Let me see what I can do with the controller. It doesn't look too hard to fix. It reminds me of the Zephyr 2000 that Thurl used to stab knives into into at the end of his finale. I used to fixed those up every show."
Booker doesn't find any leads, but Gig has no problems fixing the controlling computer. Voxel is extremely appreciative, and indicates that you can search the vat without fearing for your lives now.
Janzi somehow has a passel of forms tucked tidily away in his satchel and has produced them with a flourish. Now sign here...and there...don't mind that title, it's been revised but somehow they missed that this time around. Yes. Good. Now, if you'll be so kind as to initial here...and there...
As his companions' inspection of the computer and the vat continue, Janzi takes the forms back triumphantly. Okay! So once we're done investigating, these will be sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, queried, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters. You're good, though — you've shown full cooperation and I'm sure we can find that you're in no way responsible for this mishap.
He seems quite appreciative of Janzi's paperwork. "You know, you guys did me a solid. I'll tell you what. I use these to clean the vats sometimes, but you should have them." He hands Janzi a trio of frag grenades III.