The party puts on a good front so far, but the gangers seem unsure. Is anyone else going to try and assist?
Outnumbered and clearly outmatched, the gangers look to each other, before running into the tree cover to avoid drawing your fire. Ceren remarks nonchalantly, ”Looks like you got here just in time.” The ex-hacker seems unperturbed by the gangers’ appearance, confident that your work at falsifying her death should throw off future investigations into her whereabouts. It only takes a few provide Ceren with the information pertaining to her new identity, at which point the wizened hacker beams the files you were looking for before she departs to find Jubair and go into hiding.
Historia-7 contacts you remotely shortly after the you defeat the gangers and provide Ceren with the information about her new life. ”Thanks for your help, I only had to fix some of your work”—a true compliment from the Dataphiles leader. A rudimentary courier robot then arrives and presents you with a gift box containing a standard datajack and 200 credits. Historia-7 indicates that the datajack is a token of thanks from the Dataphiles. There is also a frostbite-class zero rifle. The rifle is an old—albeit out-of place— acquisition of Ceren’s that Jubair found while cleaning out the family house. Historia-7 gives a final message “I entrust both items to you for the remainder of your Commencement” before signing off.
The Acquisitives’ leader, Radaszam “The Dealmaker”, manages the deployment of the Acquisitives and his personal mercenary outfit, the Obsidian Spiders. He keeps a public-facing office for this purpose in the Nyori Palisades, a luxurious neighborhood located in Absalom Station’s transparent central dome.
The plain white doors of the office slide open to reveal a stark, dimly lit room. The chamber is bleak and expressionless in its emptiness—no vanities line its smooth black walls, and no signs of use mar its smooth black furniture. The only occupants of the suite are a bug-eyed tadpole wriggling in a glowing blue aquarium and a reptilian vesk seated behind an onyx desk. The vesk gestures to a number of chairs in front of him, his features sharply illuminated by the light of his desk’s green holoscreen.
“The new graduates,” he greets, in a low and pleasant voice. “Good day. I am Radaszam, though since you are here, I should hope you already knew. I trust you are aware of our Society’s traditions, so I will cut to the point. I have a minor situation that needs resolution. One of our members, a human named Laboni, had a rather public altercation with a junk scavenger from the Spike. You might be more familiar with the scavenger than I, actually; he is a ysoki who fancifully calls himself Ratrod. I am told he runs a popular racing competition that has, hmm, several hundreds of thousands of viewers on the station’s infosphere. For some reason, Laboni felt the need to tell him that any ‘real’ mechanic could easily beat the garbage that Ratrod and his associates slap together. Now that Ratrod has issued an infosphere-wide demand that she race him and prove it, Laboni doubts she can back that claim up.”
“Embarrassing, isn’t it? Not really the sort of troublemaker that suits our Society. Perhaps she would be better suited to the bottom of a trash compactor... Well, we cannot afford to throw her out, not after so many Starfinders were lost in the Scoured Stars. Besides, we can’t let people think we are so weak that we can’t control our own members, or that we cannot stand up to a scrapyard junker. No, I would like you to assist Laboni in winning this race. Show our detractors that even the least of our Society is not someone to be trifled with.”
He taps a few buttons and provides directions to the race’s location in Botscrap and then hands you all badges marking you as Laboni’s official pit crew. He adds with a note of finality, “Do not delay, as you need as much time as you can to help with the race.”
Ratrod’s racing circuit is a hollowed-out section of a mountain of spare parts in Botscrap, the track specifically sanctioned by the ysoki-dominated Salvage Union that controls most of the yards. When you arrive at the competitors’ entrance, a small robot informs you of the basic rules of the race: Racers and their pit crews are to build and improve their vehicles from the available scrap around the racetrack. Vehicles built at previous junkraces can return. Racers can fire upon other competitors during the race, but firing into the audience is grounds for immediate disqualification; racer weapons must be nonlethal and may affect only opponents’ vehicles.
Laboni is easy to find in the crowd due to her paisley clothes and bright white lab coat. She is in her late teens and sheepish about the whole debacle—in truth, she was merely aping the opinions of her seniors in the field and got carried away. She smiles shyly at you. ”I’m incredibly grateful for your for showing up to support me, even when I said it, I knew I couldn’t win the race on my own. I just… grrr. That Ratrod gets under my skin, the way he talks down about everyone else! I’ll apologize to him… after we’ve won and saved face. For the Society, of course.”
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Ever the stoic soldier Izzy nods towards Radaszam, accepting their mission, excited to help the human female beat this awful 'Ratrod' fellow.
"Pleasure is mine Laboni, I will help with whatever I can, I'm not half bad at building or piloting things, this won't be that hard, right?" she said bowing half ways, her metal arm crossing over her chest.
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"Yes! I love junkraces! We're on it!" Flexer-5, the junkomancer, excitedly agrees to the task as well.
When they meet with Laboni, Flexer isn't so concerned about the specifics of HOW they got here. "Don't worry kid, we'll fix this junk up for you and win this thing. That disease ridden sack of rat guts won't stand a chance! (Rats are one of the fleshies with the most disease right?)"
Laboni has constructed a basic Junkracer with the following statistics:
~~~~~
Speed: 40ft / Top Speed: 400ft
EAC: 10 / KAC: 12
Ship Modifiers: Piloting +2, Attack -3
Passengers: 1
Weapon: Energy Weapon (A hit vehicle takes a -4 to its next Piloting check)
~~~~~
Each character may take FOUR actions before the race begins. Laboni informs you that she will be working on something special to improve your team's overall chances of victory during that time. You may each go off on your own, or combine your efforts with the Aid Another action (feel free to coordinate in the Discussion tab).
Option 1: Improve Your Junkracer
You can make a Computers, Engineering, Perception, or Physical Science check to find, repair, create, or fine-tune parts to improve your vehicle. Improvements that you can create are as follows:
- Increase base speed
- Increase piloting modifier
- Increase attack modifier
- Increase EAC
- Increase KAC
- Install an extra Energy Weapon (inflicts a -4 Piloting penalty to whomever it hits for one round)
- Install an extra Kinetic Weapon (inflicts a -4 Piloting penalty to whomever it hits for one round)
- Increase "damage" dealt by one of your weapons (from a -4 to a -6)
Option 2: Socialize
You can try to socialize with the other five pilots taking part in this junkrace. Laboni tells you that some might also dislike Ratrod and could be recruited to help against him, or might have useful information. Depending on which one you approach, this might involve Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Culture, or Sense Motive checks.
Option 3: Sabotage
You can try to sabotage another racer's vehicle. To do this, you would need to make a Stealth check followed by an Engineering check. If successful at both, you could decrease a vehicle's speed by 10ft (100ft max) or impose a -4 to either piloting or weapons checks.
Option 4: Investigating the Enemy
You can take an action to scout out one of your opponents and their skills as a pilot/gunner using Sense Motive or one of your opponents' vehicles and its statistics using Engineering.
Special: Each of you can make either a Sense Motive or Engineering check for free *once* during your "first round" action for this mission (unless you are choosing Option 3).
~~~~~
Basic descriptions of Laboni's competition for this race -
Ratrod, a male ysoki with mottled gray-and-white fur. He has a showman’s personality to match his icon status. People in the Spike consider him something of a hero to the ysoki-dominated Scrap Union.
Lemgem, a blue-haired female gnome covered in all manner of piercings, tattoos, and augmentations.
Nyizin, a female ryphorian (triaxian) bearing many scars wearing a racing suit that is augmented with pieces of dragon bone. She seems to have a "thousand yard stare" that unnerves others.
Orsis, stoic, dark-haired male damaya lashunta who looks unfairly good in a black and gold racing suit.
Velocity, a beautiful android with silver hair and skin. They have self-modified to have both masculine and feminine attributes, and have decorated their clothing, eyelids, and lips with bright, colorful patterns.
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"Well, we've got our work cut out for us don't we," Izzy said with a gruff snort "Perhaps maybe some...tinkering with other racers? Maybe we can slow this Ratrod down a bit."
1 Sabatoge Ratrod Speed:
2 Improve piloting:
3 Improve EAC:
4 Increase Damage:
"Well, looks like I'm not on the top of my game," she says, wiping her oil covered hands on her pants.
Domak meets with the competition and hobnobs a bit.
Ratrod is a ysoki with mottled gray-and-white fur. He has a showman’s personality to match his icon status. People in the Spike consider him something of a hero to the ysoki-dominated Scrap Union that seems brash and a complete trashtalker.
Lemgem is a blue-haired gnome covered in piercings, tattoos, and augmentations. A short conversation reveals she is obsessed with continual alterations to herself and her racer, to the point where her vehicle modifications skirt the bounds of common sense.
Still bearing the scars of the fight that killed her dragonkin partner, Nyizin is a racer with an obvious death wish. Unstable black-market mods made of dragon bone and elemental energies fill Nyizin’s vehicle. So long as she is alive, she intends to win in honor of her fallen companion.
Orsis is a stoic, dark-haired lashunta who looks unfairly good in black and gold. Domak manages to befriend the lashunta, who refuses to ally with you, but offers up some pointers on driving a racer
Altronus is able to determine the basic stats of Ratrod's Racer:
Speed 55 ft., full 550 ft.
EAC 12; KAC 14
Attack energy weapon (–4 to Piloting)
Modifiers +2 Piloting, –3 attack
After your hard work, you've significantly improved Laboni's racer!
Speed: 65ft / Top Speed: 650ft
EAC: 10 / KAC: 14
Ship Modifiers: Piloting +2, Attack -1
Passengers: 1
Energy Weapon (A hit vehicle takes a -4 to its next Piloting check)
Kinetic Weapon (A hit vehicle takes a -4 to its next Piloting check)
One of the weapons can be improved to a -6 Izalia please choose.
Laboni looks over the racer excitedly. "Oh, I just know we can do it! And I've made a modification of my own! I'm more of a mechanic than a pilot, so I devised remote controls so that you all can run the racer controls and guns!"
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Domak will befriend Lemgem.
Can I confer the +2 bonus from Orsis to another character?
Our best pilot is Zak at +9. But I have a +2 bonus allowing Domak to equal that +9. If I can give the bonus to Orsis, he'll be at +11.
Assuming we are all proficient with the racer weapons and that there's one person per gun, I suggest Izalia (+3 ranged) and R2-D2 (+4 ranged). Our last gunner is either Zak (+3 ranged) or Domak (+2 ranged), depending on whether or not that piloting bonus is transferable.
Hopefully not too pushy, but I also suggest we take two shots at the leader and one at second place. If we're in the lead, take one shot at each of our closest competitors instead.
Since Domak befriends Lemgem, she let's you into a secret. "Watch out for Ratrod! He has a prototype energy converter that will turn energy hits into an extra boost of speed!" She also agrees to help you win the race... as long as she comes in second, she's happy.
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Assuming the additional weapon is another kinetic weapon, this is what I have.
Zak- Pilot at +13 including his skill, the racer's bonus, and the Lemgem bonus
Domak- Energy Gun at +1 total including the racer's penalty
Izalia- Kinetic Gun at +2 total including the racer's penalty
R2-D2- Kinetic Gun at +3 total including the racer's penalty
Here are the retconned stats:
Speed: 60ft / Top Speed: 600ft
EAC: 10 / KAC: 14
Ship Modifiers: Piloting +2, Attack -1
Passengers: 1
Energy Weapon (A hit vehicle takes a -4 to its next Piloting check)
Kinetic Weapon (A hit vehicle takes a -6 to its next Piloting check)
Kinetic Weapon (A hit vehicle takes a -4 to its next Piloting check)
When you guys are set, start your rolls (10 apiece.)
Round 1:
Even with sharp shooting from R2 and Domak, Ratrod maintains control, but has little luck in firing back. There is some other random fire, but little impact. Nyizin's racer roars off the start like a dragon, Laboni's racer pulls ahead with a slightly ahead of the rest of the pack, though Lemgem careens into some junk and is in the back of the pack.
Round 2:
Let the pummeling commence! Nyizin is pounded from shots from all angles, and spins out, making no progress. Laboni moves to the lead, with Ratrod a racer-length behind. Lemgem continues to run into junk and falls further behind.
Round 3:
Zak grips the controls tightly as you gain the ire of ALL the competition. Miraculously you maintain control and keep zooming ahead! Ratrod sputters out a bit, allowing Orsiris to gain on you. Velocity and Lemgem trail even further back, over 1000 feet behind you.
Round 4:
More fire goes your way as the various competition tries to take you down a peg. Zak can't keep tight this time, and veers into some junk, but maintains the lead, Orsiris and Ratrod hot on your exhaust.
Round 5:
The crowd goes wild! Several of the racers are on the home stretch, mere seconds from the finish! You take several SOLID hits, but maintain control. Velocity, clearly not going to win, just takes potshots at the competition, one of which hits Ratrod who completely spins out! Orsiris and Nyizin are right behind you, the later using their mods to rev their engines in a draconic roar!
Round 6: Final Round!
Hit after hit careens into your racer, but you have just enough to cross the finish line! Nyizin roars into second half a length behind you, with Orsiris taking third not long after that. Ratrod is clearly seething as he takes an ignominous fourth, barely beating out Lemgem. Velocity takes dead last.
A crowd swarms Laboni, cheering for her! She takes her win with good grace, making a point to go to each of the competitors and shaking their head. She goes to Ratrod last, saying "That was a tight race out there! You almost had me at one point. I... want to apologize for what I said before. You're a great racer." The words are loud enough that it's picked up by some of the sports caster, and Ratrod takes her apology (though his pride still clearly is hurting.)
In the aftermath of the racce, Laboni is offered a regular spot on the circuit... though she makes sure she dusts up her piloting skills first so as not to embarass the Society.
Radaszam contacts you, exasperated and vaguely amused at the result. "I wasn't expecting such a good showing, but I'm pleasantly suprised. The Salvage Union has offered valuable contracts to the Starfinder Society, and they even threw in an extra set of Carbon Skin armor you can pick up on your way out. Excellent work."
The Wayfinders’ transitory nature precludes them from having a single stationary headquarters on Absalom Station. Instead, the Wayfinders operate out of the Master of Stars, an enormous starship that is part of the Armada orbiting Absalom Station. The Master of Stars is currently undergoing extensive repairs, obsessively overseen by the Wayfinders’ leader Fitch.
A Society shuttle takes you out to the orbiting ship. The station’s Armada can be seen from the shuttle’s view screen as it takes off, gleaming figures standing out against the emptiness of space. The Master of Stars immediately stands out from the rest, as layers and layers of scaffolding obscure its hull. Tiny lights flicker among the metal beams as distant figures weld plates and heat shields to the ship’s exterior. The shuttle smoothly glides closer until it reaches the starship’s docking bay, slipping through the magic field that keeps the hold pressurized with breathable atmosphere. As the shuttle doors open, a small drone flies in and pops up a holoscreen, displaying a harried-looking ratfolk.
“Finally, fresh meat!” the ysoki exclaims over the screen, sounding pleased. “Name’s Fitch—pleasantries over, time to get to work. I had some trouble earlier with the lights flickering on the ship, and now both the lights and computers have suddenly gone out on E-Deck. No idea what’s causing it, but you work this job long enough and—” Fitch’s attention flicks to something offscreen, and she shouts “Kirkath! The welding torch is not a toy! You wanna go in the toddler’s pen with the other kids?” She snorts dismissively before continuing,
“Sorry, some of these little ones would cut off their own heads if I let them. Anyway, it could be some lunkhead screwed up the wiring, but that’s a pretty big system failure for a simple electrical short. I’d prefer to send in some people with combat training to scout it out, just in case someone or something is sabotaging the ship. If it’s nothing, great, get the power back on if you can. If there’s something suspicious, use your comm units to report in to me. I’ll give you the access codes, so— Selicha! If you touch that panel I will staple you to the hull!” The screen on the drone cuts out, then flashes to display the ship’s schematics and the passwords for the computers on E-Deck.
The Master of Stars is the largest starship in the Society’s arsenal. Even before the events of the Scoured Stars, it was the pride of the fleet. Years of neglect required an extensive retrofit during the events of the Scoured Stars incident, inadvertently saving the flagship. The repairs are still ongoing, hampered by the lack of any senior Starfinders familiar with the ship’s myriad and esoteric systems.
E-Deck is a heavily underused section of the Master of Stars, consisting of various primary access corridors and adjoining chambers. Most side rooms are crew quarters or communal living spaces—far less important locations due to the recent shortage in personnel. The Wayfinders recently started using some of these chambers to store nonthreatening alien objects.
The E-Deck is in total darkness when you arrive, making the first order of business to restore power to the lights and the cameras prior to entering the area. Anyone who succeeds at a Computers or Engineering check can reroute power into the local systems; otherwise can attempt a Diplomacy check to convince Fitch to send down a mechanic.
Zak is successfully able to jury-rig the system to functionality!
With the computer systems restored, you are able to see the E-Deck on a security feed. Scattered barrels and boxes line the lowered floor of this storage chamber. A thick bulkhead to the port side leads farther onto the deck, while a similar bulkhead to the aft connects to an
arterial hallway that runs the length of the deck. More pressing, however, you note that there are two small human children that appear to be frantically banging on a door panel that isn’t responding. It should only take a minute to get to where they appear to be.
When you arrive at the Storage Chamber, things appear as you saw them on the feed, though the door hatch appears to have been fried from the inside and slams open when you approach. Luckily that’s all that happened: a brief look at the door reveals it could have been almost dangerous if a different set of wires were crossed. The room initially appears empty, but the perceptive note that the children appear to be hiding behind some of the large barrels in the room.