[PBP Gameday VII] GM Red's The Scoured Stars Invasion Special (Inactive)

Game Master GM Red

Balancing time against the lives of the myriad trapped Starfinders, nominated First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo authorizes a dangerous mission to return to the fated region of space known as the Scoured Stars. The might of the resurgent Society is finally poised to breach the formerly impenetrable barrier surrounding the trinary system. The galaxy pauses to watch if a new generation of Starfinders can save those once lost. A mission of exploration and a mission of mercy, this return to the Scoured Stars will undoubtedly shape the future of the Starfinder Society.

This is the Starfinder Special set to begin August 13th, 2018 for PBP GameDay VII.

And so it begins!

First Seeker Elsebo Luwazi clears her throat and makes an announcement to all of the gathered Starfinders as they slowly trickle in. “Starfinders, we stand at the precipice of momentous history, and I want to thank you all for making it possible for us to be here today. The Starfinder Society has spent the last year recovering from the Scoured Stars incident, our greatest defeat in recent history. We are finally ready to return to the Scoured Stars, find out what happened to our missing colleagues and friends, and rescue any survivors we can find. Report to your stations and lend your assistance to our fleet by performing the final preparatory tasks. More instructions will come shortly.”

Table GM's. You are good to go on the introductions and preparation.

Faraeon stands from the seat he had claimed in the back of the Lorespire Complex's grand hall. He stretches and yawns loudly and turns to look around at the other agents gathered nearby. "Man, feels like we've been waiting forever for this big announcement. I was expecting more. Ah well, off to our stations then I guess." He turns and begins moving toward the exit.

A tall pink top hat blocks most of Faraeon's view, belonging to only one possible Starfinder agent. Ehdd rises from his seat as well, one just ahead of Faraeon of course, he looks back and broadcasts into his mind Ahh, hello Faraeon! Recovered yet from your latest Grav Run mishap? Those broken antennae must still be sensitive. Good luck with your mission.

And with that Ehdd tips his cap to the crowd, dressed in his finest pink tuxedo. "Its time to make history. The galaxy needs us agents!" He bellows to the room through his vocal modulator in his best John Wayne voice. He flips his arc pistol in the air and holsters it in his armor's leg holster. Or at least that was his plan until he almost drops it before moon walking out of the room before anyone can say a word.

Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

These guys are chirpy... The arrogant priest and over-friendly halfling highly recommends this group. I'll wait and see.

Speck is covered with rather nondescript brown fur. In fact, it can be rather patchy at places, but he makes no real attempt to hide whatever is exposed beyond his second skin armor. Exposed across his forehead and down his right eye is a cybernetic implant but what exactly it does is not immediately clear. Interesting, across his neck hangs a wood-carved holy symbol of Weydan.

"Good day to you all," he calls out in a friendly manner with a faint of a smirk across. "Name's Speck, Speck Zezener but no one calls me by my full name. So please don't start."

Despite his outward cynism, Speck feels some level of anxiety. I just underwent Commencemnt, and now we are heading there? Oh boy, what have I signed myself up for?

A female looking android enters the room. She moves with a languid grace, but it's clearly a ploy. Her active eyes and graceful nature tell the real story. Her smile is crooked, and doesn't seem altogether genuine. "I'm EV-34, but just call me Eevee."

After a long voyage through the Drift, the bulk of the Starfinder fleet has arrived at the outer reaches of the Scoured Stars system. Several immense carriers form the core of the fleet and contain docked transport ships, fighter craft, and scout vessels. Each of the stored ships contains armor, weapons, provisions, and other equipment. There is an almost palpable feeling of tension and excitement as hundreds of Starfinders aboard the central carriers prepare themselves for the mission. Ahead, a shimmering veil of golden energy conceals the three stars known to be within.

Venture-Captain Naiaj, a no-nonsense bleachling gnome, approaches with a datapad in hand. "Do you have all your gear? Are you ready? Good. Now let’s help our fleet get ready for the final journey into the Scoured Stars. But first, tell me your names and what special training you have so we can assign an appropriate task for you to assist with.”

You guys are fast, and beat me to my first post here! I like it. By "special training," Naiaj wants to know what role you typically fill on a starship (which of the starship skills you're particularly skilled at). You may now slot your boons. Also, does anyone have the First Skirmish boon from SFS 1-13?

Faraeon steps forward and introduces himself to the venture-captain, not that he needs to, he's sure the gnome already knows his name. "Faraeon Star-Jumper, venture-captain! Aside from my pretty face and insane GravRun skills, I'm not a bad shot when I'm behind the controls of a coilgun or whatever else you might set us up with. I can work the engineering room too in a pinch."

I do not have the First Skirmish boon. I am, however, spending 1 Fame to gain the Improved Drift Engine boon from the Wayfinders faction boons.
Slotted boons
Ally:
Faction: Wayfinders Champion
Personal:
Promotional:
Social: Faction's Friend
Starship: Improved Drift Engine

Actually, Speck just came off another game. I'll have time to update his purchases and boons by tonight.

"Once again, my name is Speck. Just Speck." The excitement in being involved in something so massive is just barely seeping through, suppressing his usual cynical demeanour. Weydan, is this what you've led me to? Or just a waystop?

"Special training?" With a few quick taps on various exposed cybernetic implants on his head, he gestures to some knick knack lying around, and it floats gently into the air. "I do magic. As for other skills, thanks to the gifts of my parents, I have some talent with computers and all things cybernetics, and if necessary, mechanical devices as well. If need be, I can be rather handy with a gun."

Science Officer: +9
Engineering: +8
Gunery: +4
No 1-13.

Eevee somewhat light-heartedly pantomimes flying a ship. "Pilot."

Will slot boons once I get to my binder later today.

Here, you can mill about the ship and perform various tasks that will reward you with bonuses later on in the adventure. Here is a map of the starship.

"Quite the versatile group. Just what we need! Come now," Venture-Captain Naiaj takes you to the hangar bay. "All right, let’s get to work. See all these ships here? Work with the chief engineer to check the engines of these transports, fighters, and scout ships, and help her make any necessary adjustments."

The chief engineer, covered in oil, drops her wrench as she rolls out from under a small craft. "I just can't seem to get the boost module to calibrate. The bolts are stripped, and I can't figure out the exact positioning of the lattice crystal. Stupid thing..." She sighs.

Relevant Skills: Engineering, Piloting, or Profession (electrician or maintenance worker). You may aid one another.

____

Given the short time frame here (Overseer appears to moving us tomorrow!), I'm going to add a second task in.

Hearing of your skill with engineering, Radaszam, leader of the Acquisitives, waits for you in the cargo bay. "As you’ve probably surmised, things might get hairy once we’re in the Scoured Stars. Ain’t no glamor in this task, but it’s important—check these weapons, armor, medical supplies, and survival gear, and replace any faulty gear so we all might just make it back home alive!"

Relevant Skills: Engineering, Medicine, Perception, or Survival. You may aid one another.

GM, would you allow profession(lab tech) for the first?

Speck wanders over to the chief engineer. "Give it here, let me see what I can do." Speck dives into the machine, poking and twisting the lattice crystal one way or another. He starts to struggle a bit...
engineering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13 (another +4 if lab tech allowed)

---
Speck lets out a big sigh, but behind Radaszam's back of course. She does have quite a sharp tongue on her. "Sigh, more grunt work." He squats down among the piles and piles of gear, rather mechanically going through each of them.

engineering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Sigh...

"Alright, guys," Faraeon says, excitedly clapping his hands together, "Let's get to work on these ships. Let's see, Eevee, you wanna take a look at this thrust regulation system with me?" He moves toward the engines with his new android friend alongside him and pops open a compartment to check the system he had in mind.

@Eevee, I took a peek at your character sheet and it looks like you just edged me out in your piloting skills. I can auto-aid you though, since I have a +9 in that skill. Why don't you lead that roll and take the extra +2 from me aiding?
Just in case we get moved on before you get a chance to post though, I'll put my roll below.

Piloting: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

----

Moving on to the cargo bay, Faraeon eyes up the weapons with glee. "Ah yeah! These look pretty sweet! Who wants some help with these? I got my kit with me, but I'm still pretty new with 'em."

I'll aid on this one as well, though I have to actually roll this one (I have a +6 in engineering).

Engineering (aid another): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17 Success! That's another +2 to whomever wants to lead that check. Or, if no one else wants to go with engineering, I guess that's my roll!

Suddenly, every screen aboard the Starfinder fleet switches to show nominated First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo standing next to a golden obelisk about two feet in height. Behind her, a large observatory window showcases the Godshield, a shimmering force field surrounding the Scoured Stars system. Luwazi Elsebo slowly lifts her eyes from the artifact and addresses the Society.

“Starfinders, this is the Tear, an ancient artifact some of our most skilled agents recovered during a recent mission. The Tear is our key back to the Scoured Stars—our key to liberating those who were lost a year ago. We are ready, so let’s not waste any more time.”

Luwazi Elsebo speaks a few words in an alien language and the artifact start humming softly. She then traces her finger along the artifact’s surface, and a set of glowing runes appear around the obelisk. The golden field surrounding the Scoured Stars starts twisting upon itself, and massive gashes appear as the force field starts tearing itself apart. As the final shreds of the shimmering field evaporate, Elsebo speaks: “It is time. Good luck, Starfinders. Fleet—activate Drift engines! Go!”

One by one, the ships of the fleet pierce the veil between the Material Plane and others, splashing through space like it was water, and then vanish into the swirling depths of the Drift.

*****

Whisked away through the Drift, the Starfinder Society fleet spreads across the three solar systems that form the Scoured Stars. The ships begin scanning the planets, asteroids, and other objects orbiting the three distinct stars. The fleet’s long-range sensors soon start picking up communication signals, energy signatures, and signs of life. After a quick analysis, the Society has identified a few locations where information on the lost Starfinders is most likely to be found. After nearly a year of waiting, the search for survivors can begin!

Table GM’s conclude your preparation phase and you are now set to start Part 1.

Doh! Too slow! Sorry. Can we count Faraeon as the lead then?

Ehdd slowly makes his way to the helm as the scene unfolds "Oh, seems I've missed a bit. That's where we're going? Well then lets get there already!" He looks around the room for the pilots and then at the unlabeled controls "Umm, you know what to do!"

Sorry, been ill the last couple days, and still working out the kinks. I think Ehdd is really only qualified to be the Captain.

With the boards down for half the day, and the fact that we only got 2 days to complete that part, I do feel a little irked. But let's press on - no real harm, just not as many bonuses as we could have achieved.

@Speck, Lab Tech makes sense to me, so I'll allow it.
@Eevee, yes, I'll count Faraeon as the lead roll.

Faraeon and Speck carefully align the boost module on the small craft, and it eventually snaps into place and whirrs to life. The engineer applauds the teamwork. "Thank you! I'd spent hours on that damn thing!"

Average success earned. Once during the adventure, you can flip the switch to add +4 to all Engineering or Piloting checks during starship combat.

____

Speck and Faraeon again tag-team the equipment, tinkering with the gear and arranging it in an organized way, then indexing it with a manifest so that it's all easily found. Radaszam thanks them, and offers two rewards.

Average success earned. Once during the adventure, each PC can requisition a weapon with an item level up to the PC’s level for the duration of one mission. You can also requisition a single consumable item with an item level equal to the PC’s level. These consumables cannot have permanent effects. The choices must be done prior to an encounter, not during.

____

Please have a look at Handout #2, which contains a list of planets you can recon. Any preference as to which one you'd like to check out first?

To clarify, during the starship combat, we can only get +4 to Engineering or Piloting, but not both? In that case, I would say go with Piloting, just for getting the initiative boost which pretty much makes or breaks space combat.

As for the planets, I suggest leave Planet of the Dinosaurs last or out altogether, as survival / life science is something we are not strong in. Since we have two "talky-talky" people, maybe start with The Third Kind? Also to get the starship combat over and done with. :)

I'd agree that we leave Planet of the Dinos for last and do The Thrid Kind first. I also think we could be pretty successful at the Starship Graveyard, so we should do that second (plus Faraeon loves low-grav planets!). We can do the other two investigation missions in whatever order.
1- Bastiar-7
2- Agillae-5
3/4- Bastiar-4/Callion-2
5- Agillae-2

Eevee nods. That works for me.

Ratatatat races through the door to the bridge and launches himself into the air landing in the pilot's chair.

"Theyneeda...headstart...Igotthe...controls!"

With practiced ease Ratatatat pushes the ship forward and easily catches up with the other fleet as they hit the Drift engines!

Whatchasaying?..Letmeknowwheretofly...andthenyoucan...watchthose...flatscre enpictures...Captain."

Third kind is fine

Ehdd hops up into his chair and glances at the list of destinations, nodding along with the others (he's a people's Captain of course) "Sounds like Bastiar-7 will be a good start. Kick this bucket in the bucket and get those engines moving Ratatat, I've gotta work on my 'how you doins' and my 'come here oftens' on the way."

After he's gotten himself a suitable butt groove in the chair he pulls out his roll of masking tape and sends Ratatat a personal brain message: When you got a minute you mind coming over and labeling these buttons again? Life would be easier if we stayed in the same ship..

"Hey there pretty lady.. How you doin'?"
"Come here often?"
"How'd you like to climb out of that wet suit and into a cold martini?"

A litany of odd phrases can be heard in a multitude of voices coming from the Captain's chair as the flight carries on.

That's right, Speck - either Piloting or Engineering. Piloting it is!

Hearing of your interest in Bastiar-7, Zigvigix, leader of the Exo-Guardians, approaches and gestures at a screen behind you. On the screen, several derelict ships can be seen drifting amid the ring system of an ice giant planet. "Look, look at that! So many ships. They all look pretty badly banged up, so we don’t expect to find any survivors here, but there must be a reason why they’re there. If you can find any intact data modules, we may be able to uncover what happened. Something destroyed those ships and we don’t know what it was, so choose a functional ship for yourselves that you think can handle any trouble you may find."

You may choose from the Pegasus or the Drake (or perhaps other, if there's a boon you have that I'm not familiar with!) I pasted in the ship stats on Slides 2 and 3.

Ratatat plops down in the pilot's chair of the newly upgraded craft and - likely before everyone is properly seatbelted in - throws the main thruster arm to maximum. The Drift engine fires at full bore with a deafening hum and the craft propels down an exit tube and into the Scoured Stars System.

It only takes about 1d2 ⇒ 1 hours before you arrive at Bastiar. The largest, brightest, and most massive of the three stars, Bastiar is a yellow dwarf star with eight planets—five terrestrial planets, a gas giant with more than three dozen moons, and two ice giants.

Your ship’s sensors confirm what Zigvigix showed you earlier—there are several Starfinder ships floating in the planet’s ring system.

This slide has our tactical map. You have to move your ship next to a derelict ship to investigate it for data modules with an Engineering check. The two white lines on the map represent ice rings, and the white circles are ice chunks, which are a hazard, requiring a Piloting check to avoid damage should you move through them. Derelict ships also cause this same effect if moved through. Past the dark blue line is a heavy gravity zone, also a hazard. A nasty one.

I usually prefer the drake for the heavier firepower and the stronger protection, but I'm fine with the Pegasus also since I'm not the one actually flying it. :)

As Ratatat brings the ship close enough to the derelict ships one by one, Speck grasps the two joysticks, taking fine control of the mechanical arms to slowly and carefully dig through each of them for their survival data modules.

Will roll a series of engieering checks, taking one of the +1 bonuses. Do we have other potential engineers? Enough space here in the engineering bay. :) Will leave the Ratatat to decide our course.

Eevee doesn't have a strong vote on the ship either way.
She looks out the window in awe, but keeps her wits about her. Would T10 for 20 if allowed. If not:

Ehdd clasps his claws together as they approach the ships "Fabulous! I've Captain'd BOTH of these vessels!" One can only hope my 'notations' have remained. And I do hope no one has messed with my finely crafted butt divot in the lead chair...

"I'm pretty sure both of these will work fine, but since I'm familiar with either I'll let you all decide. Maybe Ratatat has a preference good buddy?" He says the last little bit with a long Southern drawl.

-----

As they start maneuvering the ship towards the relic ships Ehdd grips the edges of the chair, his face beading in sweat as he face lights up with flashes from his Captain's screen. He occasionally chews his fingernails as the numerous hazards outside come into view.. sometimes closer than he'd prefer. Come on boys, don't let Boss Hogg getcha! Man this one always makes me nervous!

Swirsz fires the thrusters forwards towards the first derelict, and Speck hits the sensors to analyze it. Luckily, the data modules on this ship are intact, and he downloads the contents. It appears this ship was destroyed from starship weapon damage, and the damage looks exactly like the ship had been attacked by another Starfinder ship.

The Drake continues forward and nearly collides with a heap of ice, but Eevee quickly banks left to avoid it.

Speck finds the next abandoned ship too ruined to retrieve any details.

The Drake continues safely past the second ice ring, illuminating the interior in a bright blue light, and Speck continues his scan. This derelict also contains data modules that he easily retrieves and uploads into the Drake's computers. It also looks like it was attacked by another Starfinder ship.

The next two derelicts are nothing more than heaps of scrap metal at this point, and the Drake is forced to move into another ice chunk... This time, Eevee banks too far to the left.
Avoid? > 50 is good: 1d100 ⇒ 99

... But Swirsz hops over and pulls the stick to its limit. The ship shudders violently, but damage is avoided.

Speck pulls up more data from another derelict, and - strangely - this ship also appears to have been damaged by a Starfinder ship!

Then the green lights on the communication panel of the flight deck illuminate. You're being hailed, but your scanners reveal no functional ships anywhere near the planet. Do you respond?

Ehdd's show finally ends as they are moving from relic to relic "Someone's really blasted some holes in these things... we should be a bit concerned.." As the 'talk' panel lights up.

Ehdd hits the button out of pure reaction and puts on his best John Wayne "Howdy there partner. What can we do ya for out here?"

The screen flips on, and a young, human woman with a brown ponytail is shown on the screen, lines of static running erratically across it. "This is Captain Katryn Mathius of the Starfinder ship Empyrean Eye. Who are you, and what is your mission here?!" She demands an answer, her tone filled with paranoia. "Your ship appears to be a Starfinder ship, but our sensors indicate you’re phased out of the Material Plane. What is this technology?"

Looking outside, you still see no sign of her ship.

Skill check time. She's demanding answers, and I need two either social rolls or other skill checks that might provide a plausible explanation for your ship's appearance. You can also ask her your own questions.

"Hello Captain Mathius! I am Captain Ehdd of the Starfinder ship The Drake. No need to get your ponytail all frizzy, we're here on a exploration/rescue mission to find the lost Starfinders... aka YOU!" He clicks his mandibles together in what can only be described as excited applause.

Take 10 on Diplomacy for a 20.

"As for why we can't see you and you can't see us well... that's some funky stuff that I ain't got a clue about! Let me get someone on the line that may be able to help ya?" He hits the ship-wide comm button "So umm, who may have a clue to what's going on out there maybe? And anyone hear of that ship or Captain name before?"

Sense Motive vs Captain, expertise: 1d20 + 5 + 1d6 ⇒ (15) + 5 + (5) = 25

Ratatat drags the others along as they head for the Drake.

"Moreguns...alwaysabetteridea...Icanflyanything...guessshecantoo..." he eyes Eevee and then turns his head. "Alrightlets..seewhat..youcando." he slides over the flight controls to Eevee.

Eevee smiles and winks while the others competently handle the situation. Eevee thinks about the name Empyrean Eye...

Does she know anything? As an Ace Pilot it might be Theme Knowledge.
Culture: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

They haven't given me much here, Eevee, but I'll tell you what I can.

Eevee had heard of the starship Empyrean Eye while on Absalom Station, and can confirm it's indeed a Starfinder ship. Little else is known about it.

"O-oh. You're here to help me, huh?" Captain Mathius backs down for a moment when Ehdd lays on his charm. "These ships were all already destroyed when we got here, so I figured I might be next. But that still doesn't answer my question! What is that alien tech you're using? Trying to trick me and catch me off guard?"

Ehdd senses Captain Mathius knows more than she is letting on.

For the sake of posting while the posting is good Ehdd will try to calm the woman down with a white lie.

"Our tech? Gotta say I'm not tech junky here Captain, maybe the boys back home put a little something special on the ship to protect us a bit better?" He quickly tries to change the subject to get her to reveal a bit more and maybe settle down some. Bluff + Expertise: 1d20 + 8 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + 8 + (1) = 15

"All destroyed? That's not good. Looks like our kinda weaponry that blew some holes in 'em... did you get an idea of what happened?" He continues with his John Wayne voice, looking around at the rest of the crew for any help on the 'tech' question.

Hearing Ehdd struggle helplessly to make a positive impression on Mathius, Faraeon punches in a command to call up the vid comms down in the gunnery. His face appears in a side-by-side view with his Captain's, and he lays on the charm, "Heya there, Cap'n Mathius! No one's trying to pull any tricks here. You can trust me on that, I know a good trick when I see one and this ain't it. We just showed up and found a buncha ships that look like they got shot up by another Starfinder ship. You said they were like this when you got here, right? How long you been out here?"

If you'd allow it, GM, I'd like to use my profession (video personality) to put on a show of good faith for Mathius in place of a diplomacy roll. Gotta know how to work the cameras, right? Otherwise, I can try something else.

Prof (Video Personality): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

As the captain replies to their attempts at diplomacy, Faraeon tries to pick up on her intentions here.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

There are times that Speck's loves to speak, and there are times he knows he's got to shut his gap. Seeing a delicate situation here, he opts for the former, leaving diplomatics to those more smooth talkers in the party. But when the other captain doesn't seem to be returning positive vibes, he finally can't hold his mouth shut any longer.

"Look, lady. Speck, the ship's technician here. All of this would go over your head, so just suffice that we rigged a transflux diode to the deflection shield capacitor, and cross-wired the dead load joist to power and shear off the seismic overload gable. Amongst many other modifications, all for, as my captain says, to protect us ship a li'l bit better."

"Come on, don't you wanna go home?"

engineering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

"Put on something a little special?! How vague!" The Captain balks, not liking Ehdd's subtle lie. However, Speck's explanation seems much more plausible in that Captain Mathius doesn't understand the trivialities of shield capacitance, and she simmers down. "Sounds pretty serious. I wish they'd given me the same protection. I've been here a few weeks... I think. We were conducting a scientific mission looking for rare minerals on First Seeker Jadnura’s orders when the force field appeared. After all of that, we’re just trying to survive."

She sits back in her chair as she gazes outside. "A few Starfinder ships attacked us, unprovoked. Honestly. Many Starfinder ships tried to reach Bastiar-2, a barren - but relatively safe planet - to establish an outpost for survivors."

When Speck mentions going home, the Captain lowers her head. "I'm afraid I'm beyond the possibility of ever going home. This is a ghost ship. I'm not... really here."

It's true. As far as you see, the area around the Drake is cluttered with only ice and abandoned or destroyed ships. No sign of an actual vessel.

"If you've already downloaded the data, then that's all you'll need for the Society to know what happened here, and investigate why we were attacked by our own."

You've passed the needed skill checks here (only failing one), avoided the starship combat, and got what you need for Zigvigix. That's a table success! Shall we continue to Agillae-5?

Eevee smiles warmly at the party, though she frowns at the thought of the fallen Starfinders. "Come one everyone, let's get on to Agillae-5, wouldn't want those deaths to be in vain."

Faraeon settles back in his seat and sighs as tensions finally break and the crew is able to go on its way. "Yeah, let's get moving. I wish we could've done something to help Mathias, though." He sits quietly for a moment, then rallies. "Alright! Agillae-5 here we come!"

As the Drake sets course to Agillae-5, the familiar face of Historia-7 appears on your screen. Plugged into a nearby communication station, Historia-7’s eyes blink rapidly as she collates data from many teams across the Starfinder fleet. She snaps out of her technological trance and fully opens her eyes.

"Greetings, Starfinders. I have assigned your team to a mission on Agillae-5. Our scans indicate that many Starfinder starships from the previous expedition crash-landed on the same spot on the planet, forming an enormous concentration of wreckage that spreads out for miles on the otherwise barren planet. Investigate the ships, locate any survivors, and retrieve any useful data from the ships. We don’t know what caused so many ships to crash-land on the planet, so exercise caution during the investigation."

As the Drake comes within orbit of Agillae - an orange dwarf star with five planets - Swirsz Ratatat activates the lander module and the ship begins to descend.

As it does, you receive a communication request, and a recording plays with a man's gruff voice.

"There are gravitational anomalies on this planet, sure to cause you to crash. Turn back at once!"

Ehdd's voice trails off as he learns the Captain is merely a ghost, beyond hope to save. "I am truly sorry Captain. I hope you find peace. We will pass this info on to the fleet." He quickly buries his face in the glowing screen of his data pad once more. A claw twirling in the air and pointing to Ratatat to fire up the engines towards the next location.

Once the engines cut out and the last sappy line delivered, Ehdd rises from his chair for a stretch, looking out across the solar system they've pulled into. "Huh. Is it me or do they all look pretty much the same?" He hits the button labeled 'coffee' and a hologram of a coffee cup materializes and stabilizes, steam rising.

With a fresh brew in hand they ship starts to descend, the tranquility quickly broken up with the alert.

Sense Motive, Expertise: 1d20 + 5 + 1d6 ⇒ (9) + 5 + (1) = 15
Culture: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

He looks up to his crew "Is that true? What do the sensor things say?"

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
Culture: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

"I don't know what the hell is going on, but I know that voice. It's Venture-Captain Whiskan, a senior Starfinder who was lost during the original Scoured Stars incident. Anyone else know what's up?"

"Whatsorta...missiondidthey...sendusto?..Alltheseforgotten...peopleleftwith onlytheirvoices...lonelywaytoexist..." he turns to the Captain who even in the face of imminent danger is lounging in his comfy chair "Talksomesense...intothatvoice...Imgoingtotake...theDrakedown"

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Culture: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

"That's strange, Whiskan's message seems pretty familiar in tone, like he was talking to someone he knew well."

"Maybe its a recording..." Ehdd waits to hear from some of the more computer savvy members of the group, asking Ratatat to hold up until then on the decent.

Last check we haven't passed is Computers...

computers: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26

"Hold it, something strange about the message." Speck goes silent briefly as he punches away at his keypad. "Yeah, there it is. The metadata of the message says this message originated 9 months ago."

"Hmm, that gravity anomaly could explain all the crashes on the planet. And um possible time delay for the message to get out the planet? Time dilation, anyone?"

"Yeah, seems like time is messed up all over the place in this system," Faraeon replies seriously. Speck, can you sense any kind of gravity well that would give us a safe way down to the planet's surface?"

As the ship continues its descent, and Speck considers the strange message and its meaning, a warning tone rings out on board. The sensors indicate a gravitational anomaly, and the ship starts gently shaking.

I'm tracking all of these successful skill checks, by the way, as they will have implications later on!

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

"That's not.... The shaking is.... our ship is doing this,not something from the outside!"