For some of you this is a day of great joy, others a moment of quiet resolve. For some, it’s just another job that you’ve taken. Regardless, all of you have demonstrated you have what it takes to become one of the first new generation of Starfinders since the Scattered Stars Incident. The Starfinder Society may have lost much in that tragic occasion, but you are a physical embodiment that not all hope is lost. The Starfinder Society will rebuild, regain its lost glory, seek out new knowledge and new beings, and defend those that cannot defend themselves.
You have all been summoned to meet with the Society’s compiled intelligence of Starfinder personalities, aptly named Guidance, as you begin one of your first sanctioned missions. Some of you may have already taken missions on the behalf of the Starfinder Society, but the First Seeker, Luwazi Elsebo, has decreed that the ceremony known as the Commencement holds special significance and has strongly encouraged all new Starfinder agents to complete it. This is why you find yourself waiting in a waiting room in the Lorespire Complex for the rest of your squad to arrive so that you may begin your meeting with Guidance.
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Izalia, an Andriod carrying an artillery laser at her back enters in to the Lorespire Complex, her eyes weary and narrowed. Her left arm, made entirely of metal and wiring makes a small squeaking noise as it rests on her waist. “Hello, my name is Izalia. Although on my planet my official name was I22-797. I hate formalities, so please, call me Izzy,” she said, a wry grin forming on the Soldiers lips. Izzy was excited to have recognition from the Guidance, to possibly go on a mission that would better the Galaxy, a dream of hers for many years.
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A confident-looking android struts into the room, whistling a tune to himself. "Hey! is this where we join that starfinder thing? I got an invitation to meet Guidance, I can't wait!" He has a slight tick of his head to the side. "I mean how many other machines do you know that eat important meatbags to gain all their knowledge?! I mean hi, my name is Flexer-5 but all you can call me Flexer-5. If I like you, maybe later you can call me Flex."
It is only a short wait, and a light pattern flashes for you to enter. The doors to the meeting chamber slide open, a green holographic image of a middle-aged human woman shimmers into view at the center of the room. “Greetings,” it says. “I am Guidance. Please use the cheek swabs in the open receptacle to provide a genetic sample for Starfinder Society identification purposes. If desired, you may place your hand on the glowing panel to receive a subdermal implant further marking you as a member of the Society.”
“It is our pleasure to officially welcome you into the Starfinder Society. Today is the commencement of your new role as a Starfinder field agent. It is our tradition, at the end of the graduation ceremony, for new graduates to present themselves to the heads of our most prominent factions and complete a task at those leaders’ behest. This allows the leaders of these groups to become familiar with all new Starfinder agents, and it provides a constant supply of agents for handling situations in our holdings on Absalom Station. While these tasks were formerly symbolic, the heavy loss of Starfinder agents in the Scoured Stars necessitates that these missions become something more. Please treat any tasks given with the gravity you would grant any other Starfinder assignment.” The holographic projection makes a show of pressing some illusory buttons, and each of you receive details of the factions, as well as faction heads you are to meet and where to find them.
The projection Guidance then casts a smile. ”Is there any other information you might require prior to your Commencement?”
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Izzy sneers at the mention of the swab and implant but tosses it around in her cheek anyways with her robotic arm, her other coming under the green light to receive the implant. Her face was already plastered on Wanted posters across the Galaxy, what more could her DNA in the system do that it hadn’t already done? Her eyes brush across the other members invited to become agents, sizing them up. “Sounds more like a talent show if you ask me, but I’ll do it for the sake of symbolism” she snorted, crossing her arms over her chest.
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A short, squat android dressed in a well-worn stationwear suit, with a projectile pistol at his belt, saunters into the room, and accepts the implant, before nodding to the others.
"I'm Rebus-2-Data-2, but most folks just call me R2D2."
He then nods gravely to Guidance.
"Traditions need to be continued; symbolism is important - without following the Rules, Society falls apart. If this is how things have always been done, I see no reason to abandon a winning formula."
Leaving Guidance, you head towards the first task you chose: To meet the leader of the Exo-Guardians
Garbage litters the ground around the district’s largest art park—a cement lot filled with undulating metal sculptures and covered in graffiti of grotesquely adorable creatures. The sounds of music and chatter drift over from the nearby clubs, chronically interrupted by the roar of the local gangsters’ engines. A heavily augmented host shirren is sitting on one of the park benches, eating a simple meal of cold grub-noodles and rice candy. Their antennae perk up at the tremor of approaching footsteps. “Welcome, new Starfinders! And congratulations!” the shirren’s voice telepathically projects. “My speech-name is Zigvigix, but feel free to call me Ziggy, if that would be easier for you. Have some rice candy to celebrate your graduation! Today is your big day!”
“When you are ready, I have two assignments I could use assistance with. The first is to help me secure a new headquarters on Absalom Station. I’ve been in talks with our station’s protectors, the Stewards, and they were kind enough to give us ownership of a warehouse here in Downlow for that purpose! The current owners no longer want it because a vicious alien took it over and kills anyone who goes inside. Once the alien is gone and the warehouse cargo has been returned to its owners, we can start installing desks and computers, so please go in and incinerate the creature!”
“My second assignment...” Zigvigix twitches their tooth barbs for a moment and then holds out a credstick. “Please buy the brand-new Strawberry Machine Cake album, Star Sugar Heartlove!!!, which is out today, and give it to Historia-7 when you see her. She is the head of the Dataphiles, so you should meet her today! I wish to do it myself, but I... I have trouble standing for long periods of time. Thank you very much!”
Zigvigix's head tendrils flick together a moment. "I believe the creature is a feather stalker, a predator far more unpleasant than its name implies. As far as the Stewards have been able to piece together, a two-bit crime lord illegally imported the creature, and the beast promptly ate him.” Helpfully he adds, ”I can provide holorecordings of the incident taken off the station’s security cameras."
The footage provided isn't taken from a great angle to witness the murder (it seems more intended to catch people breaking in then monitoring warehouse status), but you do clearly see a a large black-and-white creature made up of long feathery appendages and little else emerge from hiding at the periphery of the camera's vantage. A human male at the door in the video reacts in shock but can do little to avoid his fate as the creature flings a large, feathery harpoon from one of its appendages, which skewers the man. The creature then wraps several tendrils around him, and drags him out of camera range.
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“Thank you Ziggy,” Izalia said, giving the host shirren a small half-bow. She grabs the credstick from the creature, taking it upon herself to keep it safe so that they might buy the album for the head of the Dataphiles. “This creature, does he have any known weaknesses?” she asked Ziggy, wondering if he had such information since it seemed a big of an enigma. The sight of feathery black and white creature made her skin crawl and metal arm cool if she was being honest.
Ziggy isn't able to offer much more about the creature, but Zak is able to step in. He knows that the Feather Stalker is a adaptable creature, but and he is able to help determine that it appears to have resistance to electricity (2), and that its harpoons look particularly adapted to be flung. It can probably fire two in a blink of an eye!
Deciding to deal with the Feather Stalker, you approach the warehouse district. After a bit of conferring, Station security allows you through the force barrier set up around the perimeter of the warehouse you were sent to investigate.. There you find that the doors to the warehouse appear to have been forced open and clearly no longer lock. The warehouse ceiling is 30 feet high, and a catwalk runs 15 feet above the floor.
The crates and vehicle are approximately 5 feet tall, while the cylindrical containers and the crate-filled scaffolding are 10 feet tall. Climbing the crates and scaffolding requires an Athletics check . A pit in the warehouse floor is 10 feet deep. The scattered junk on the floor creates an area of difficult terrain and the lights on the catwalk are not bright enough to illuminate the area, leaving the warehouse in dim light.
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Flexer-5 steps forward as well, in heavy armor with laser pistol drawn.
Maybe we can give this thing an easier target that hurts less
He casts holographic image about 20 feet in front of himself near the center of the room, creating a humanoid looking figure similar to the image of the victim from the video.
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With her artillery laser drawn, knees slightly bent, Izzy approaches the warehouse. Slowly, with cautionary steps. She knows she is a more skilled range type fighter, so she hangs somewhat back from the party. Izzy was a soldier through and through, and tended to agree that a higher point often provided a good view and the upper hand at a battle occurring below."Perhaps I'll investigate above," she said with a nod, the red dot of her laser bobbing in response.
As you search the crates, you discover a couple of flashlights and a flare that had apparently been left behind by their previous owners. Other than that, though, nothing of apparent value remains. Slowly you enter the center of the warehouse, which seems completely still. That is, until Flexer-5 creates a hologram ahead of the party.
Suddenly, from the crates on the scaffolding, a strange creature you recognize form the vids as the Feather Stalker errupts, firing one of it's strange feathered harpoons at the hologram! You aren't sure if it knows that it was only a hologram, but the creature definitely appears hostile to your presence.
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Flexer-5 hopes to keep distracting the lethal beast and sends his hologram moving to the base of the vehicle in front of the platform. Then he sets in in motion scrambling frantically as the holographic image climbs on top facing directly at the stalker.
Flexer-5 himself takes a short step to take partial cover.
Out of the flurry of shots, only R2 manages to land a hit on the creature, which emits a low cry of pain.
Despite the obvious close target, the Feather Stalker seems to have the feral cunning of a predator and ignores the holographic projection after having shot at it once already. It instead chooses to shoot at the the "real" Flexer!
Two sharpened harpoons embed into the crate he is hiding behind with a loud "Thu-thunk" and explosion of splinters (though there's still plenty of crate left.)
The feathered stalker shrieks out in pain as several of the shots hit... (although most were less successful.)
Rotating slightly towards the vesk that injured it so horribly, the thing launches another volley... with just about as much effect. If it was truly sentient, it probably would be re-evaluating its life choices about right now. As it is, it still appears ready to defend its territory, despite the grievous wounds it has suffered.