Please dot in here...
Meow?
You have been summoned, along with a handful of others, to Venture-Captain Arvin's office in the Lorespire on Absalom Station, for an in-brief on your latest mission. The VC motions you to follow him into a nearby conference room and directs you to sit in the comfortable chairs there. Once everyone was seated, he dimmed the lights and called up a holographic representation of Eox.
VC Arvin wasted no time on pleasantries as he jumped right into the briefing. His calm demeanor erodes for a brief moment, replaced with the genuine excitement of sharing some piece of obscure lore. “When the bone sages of Eox launched the Magefire Assault in 7 ag, they ended up triggering an ancient doomsday weapon the sarcesians left in orbit over their home world. This dormant ordinance detonated with enough force to send part of a moon crashing into the planet, where it completely obliterated the Eoxian necropolis city of Muthal. The rock remains a geological anomaly, now called Blackmoon, and is one of the most fascinating excavation sites in the Pact Worlds. The potential combination of technological detritus and magical residue residing within and beneath Blackmoon represents a treasure trove of knowledge about Eox and its history. By calling in a few favors, and through some diplomatic back channels, the Society acquired the rights to excavate key sections of this munitionsmade mountain with backing from the bone sages about a year ago. The Society has agreed to share any magical discoveries—including any magical items—unearthed within the ruins of the lost necropolis of Muthal.”
“In exchange,” Arvin says, with an air of professorial summation, “the bone sages continue to allow us access to the region and broadcast any major discoveries in the Starfinder Chronicles. None of this is why you’re here—not exactly. You’re here because a few weeks ago, the Blackmoon excavation called for assistance. The excavation overseer, a kasatha borai named Taylehm, has reported that every time we try to expand the boundaries of the dig, several Society workers and even some of the mindless undead laborers have disappeared or turned up dead or destroyed. The Society needs you to go to Eox, investigate the dig site, find the cause of the disturbance, and restore the excavation to working order— without jeopardizing our partnership with the bone sages!” he ends emphatically.
“Now, do you have questions?”
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Ummm...I have a question. How were the workers killed? And is there air in the work site or will we be wearing Env suits?
The young woman in the grease-stained jumpsuit stands up to ask her questions, and her stealth drone winds its way around her legs, purring contentedly. It stops and meows at her.
Oh, right, Kitty. I guess that was two questions.
{Meow?}
No, I'm pretty sure...no, you're right. Three questions. Two and a half.
This answer seems to finally mollify the small robot.
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The Lashunta operative leans against the wall taking in the briefing.
Whereas the lashunta adjacent to him was covered in grease, Te's tan jumpsuit is spotless and pristine. He scooches 1 step away from Friye so that none of that grease gets near him.
When the VC tells him that none of that information is for them however, he grows slightly confused. He raises his hand to speak only to put it down again when the VC keeps talking. Once the briefing has concluded he raises his hand again, only to put it down again when the female lashunta next to him keeps talking. And talking.
Waiting to ensure no one else speaks up he notes he raises his hand again only to note that all of his questions are not answered. When everyone looks at him he lowers his hand and says instead, "Uhm. Investigate and restore. Sounds simple enough. Let's get to the important bits though, shall we?"
Rubbing his hands together he asks, "Type of ship are we have at our disposal Captain Arvin? Hmmm? Something in the line of cruisers I hope?"
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”Are we going to get a chance to interview with one of the Bone Sages? It would be a good chance to get some quotes. I’m sure it would...kill...the viewers.” - says the expressionless android with a straight face, fixing the mic attachment to her armor. She watches the debrief carefully, occasionally taking down notes. ”I haven’t been to the Blackmoon myself. Would you like me to bring back some souvenirs - captain?”
— Impex is a spacefearer who worships Cassandalee, so has a repository of knowledge about planets and moons. Looking for something interesting about where we going.
Blackmoon is a massive artificial mountain that fell from the asteroids surrounding Eox and destroyed the necropolis city of Muthal. It came to exist following the activation of the Thousand Moons—a sarcesian-made doomsday weapon that could hurl several of the asteroids orbiting Eox down to the surface.
"Don't start panting in excitement yet, Te. You're bound for Eox on a chartered shuttle, convoying with a small group of trade ships and a couple of armed escorts."
"You aren't going to be interfacing with the Bone Sages directly on this mission, Impex, so practice your Zo! impersonation with someone else. This is purely a Starfinders internal matter for now, and that is how we will be treating it. The only thing I want you to bring back are answers."
"We've been on the Blackmoon site for several months now. It is size of a large hangar bay, a couple of hundred feet to a side. As for how the workers were killed, that will be one of your tasks. In her last message, Taylehm kept things brief - maybe too much so. I have a strong feeling that she knows more than she reported, but didn't want to present that information on a channel that could be monitored. You’ll need to find out what’s going on and help her ensure these disappearances don’t jeopardize our ongoing operations."
"All of you have tactical armor with the standard environmental protections, don't you? That should be sufficient to allow you to function on Eox. You probably know that the planet has no atmosphere to speak of, so you'll need to recharge your suits rebreathers every 24 hours or so."
"Any more questions?"
Gamuzal Light Spider, a rather short and pale-scaled representative of his reptilian species, steps forward from the darker corners of the venture captain's office. "Sounds like it could be some kind of security system, or maybe some lingering effect of that superweapon that created the site in the first place. We'll have to keep our eyes peeled for trapsss," he says in a hoarse hiss of a voice. "Have the Eoxians said anything about the nature of this doomsday device? Or have we found anything in our research so far?"
"The Thousand Moons trap is believed to be an ancient sarcesian weapon created prior to the Gap for the purpose of wiping out Eox’s major settlements. It only partially triggered when it brought a moonlet down on the old necropolis of Muthal. The sarcesians likely built the weapon as retribution for the destruction of their ancestral home planets of Damiar and Iovo. Both worlds were destroyed by a preemptive Eoxian attack in ages past, an event that created the modern Diaspora from the ruins of those planets and stripped Eox of its atmosphere.”
True to VC Arvin's word there was a shuttle waiting for you in Docking Bay 86. Climbing onboard, you found a relatively comfortable space to spend the next week or so. At the appointed time, the shuttle lifted out of the dock and rendezvoused with the convoy in the Armada, headed for Eox.
Six days into the trip, the shuttle pilot called to you that Eox was in sight. You could look out through the viewing ports and screens to see the charred husk of the planet. Grayish-brown wisps of clouds formed from dust and mineral deposits broke up the darker brown of the ruined planet. Multiple moonlets orbited the planet, but there were no signs of water anywhere.
The pilot called you forward to relay a message from your contact on the ground.
"Your groundside contact is a vesk named Berchta Deepdelver. She'll be meeting us at the minor Necropolis of Zinhew. She told me that they have been having some rough weather, so she might be a few hours late for the rendezvous. Looks like you'll have a couple of hours to explore if you want. Me, I'd just sit in the loading area and wait. There's a nice tapcafe called Xin's that serves a Barushi ale at the perfect temperature. Plus, it's climate controlled, unlike most of the rest of Eox. Man, this place is a dump. I hate this run. And I have to be here for three days to take some diplomats back to Absalom. That really sucks, you know? Still, I get paid to fly, even if it is just this party barge."
"Anyways, you'd better strap in for landing. We'll be dirtside in under an hour."
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It was just over 45 minutes when you felt the shuttle touch down, and a few minutes more when the pilot told you it was safe to exit the craft. "If you've never been to Eox before, let me remind you that this place is pure poison for most living things. Keep your armor's rebreathers charged up any time you get the chance. And check your seals often. It doesn't take much to die out there. And I'd feel kinda bad if any of my passengers didn't come back, you know? Oh, here's the communicator frequency that your contact will be calling on. Good luck out there!"
You stepped out into a docking bay very similar to that on Absalom Station. the primary difference was that almost everyone was suited up in full environmental gear or armor of some kind, with the helmets and face shields either up, or ready to be fastened quickly. The only exceptions were the undead, mostly acting as heavy labor, who obviously did not need to breathe, and a scattering of androids who did not seem to mind the atmosphere.
Looking at the signs and a local map, you discovered that the loading bay you were to meet Berchta in was about a 15 minute walk away. Looking at your chronos, that gave you just over 3 hours until she was supposed to be there.
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At the mention of drinks, the mousy Ysoki, who had been ti this point following quietly and playing some sort of AR game only he can see shates his head in a gesture that dismisses the AR environment.
"Are we here? I would love a drink, and a look around" he looks at the others. "Oh, hi my name is Quig, Computer specialist." he waves meekly.
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"Might as well," Gamuzali says, "Though I might see if they have a turbolager on tap instead. I'm feeling in the mood for something a bit...darker today."
As he joins the others at Xin's, Gamuzali keeps chats with the barkeep briefly while he is pulling his drink. "So...have anyone from the Blackmoon dig around lately? We're headed that way, wanted to see what we might be in for."
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Impex looks around with her glazed over eyes. She manages a quick check of her gear, and double checks her rebreathers and seals on her armor - as she was surely instructed to do. "I will join you. I am curious as to why there is such an establishment here on the planet of the dead."
She takes out her microphone and clicks a button on the side of her helmet, presenting it to Gamuzali - "Are you sure you could beat one of these Eoixians in a drinking contest? I heard, after all, their tollerance is...out of...this world..."
The tapcafe has a surprisingly large selection on drinks, both on tap and in bulbs. It is filled with offworlders, most of whom seem to just be relishing the fact that they don't need their e-suits on in here. The barkeep fills their orders with professional ease, but does not seem to want conversation with Gamuzali, merely asking the Vesk is he wants anything else. Friye popped out for a few minutes to do some shopping, but was soon back with the group.
The time passes swiftly, and soon you head off to meet our contact on Eox.
At the designated loading bay, you see an all-terrain transport suitable for about ten people sitting off to one side. An imposing female vesk leans against it. Her clothing is utilitarian to the point of being scruffy, and is splattered with fresh mud. A small, six-armed drone scuttles out from under the vehicle, a large chunk of rock held in its spindly arms. The vesk looked at the rock, then tossed it onto the metallic floor, giving the drone a thumbs up.
When she sees you, she waves, and you hear on your communicators a smooth voice. "Heya. I'm guessing you're my Starfinder crew. Name's Berchta, and this here's Digger. Toss your stuff in the back and get on board. We have to latch the thing down tight or ride all the way back with your fish bowls on."
As you get closer, you can see that all of her beard horns, frill ridges, and teeth are the multi-colored hues of an oil spill on water. The artistic effect clashes so strongly with utilitarian nature of her clothing that is takes you by surprise.
The ride out to the excavation site is rough, and more than once the transport gets stuck in the mud of the washed out trail, "Sorry about this. There was a big storm that came through yesterday and washed out a lot of the roads and flat lands. Mostly it's a mix of alkaline wastes that condense around what little moisture remains in what they laughingly call an atmosphere here. Oh, you might want to plug your suits into the charger there int eh back and keep them topped off. I've been stuck out here more times than I care to count, and the 24-hour limitation of your standard e-suits and armor is a limit you don't want to push"
While it seems from orbit that the monochromatic bleakness of Eox’s surface was a simple trick of the eye, driving beyond the gates of Zinhew reveals the surface to be every bit as barren and lifeless as it appeared from high atmosphere. Up close, Eox’s ground looks less like gray dirt and more like desiccated skin peeling away from ancient, cadaverous flesh. A haphazard sprawl of berms and rock clusters push themselves up like broken bones and scabs, and shambling forms—humanoid and non-humanoid alike—move across the landscape in eerie half-shuffles and stilted gaits.
Above it all rises Blackmoon. True to its name, the gigantic hemisphere, itself a color between darkened ashen sand and volcano glass, looks less like a mountain and more like a heavenly body that collided with Eox and refused to let time or the elements break its shape.
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It isn't clear if Impex is enjoying the ride or not, she sits patiently, watching the sands of this dead planet roll past. She plugs her suit into the re-charger on Berchta's reminder. Her indifference to this situation is made apparent as she turns to their new ally and asks, "If the storm washed away the road - how do you know where you are going? Are you sure you're not leading us to a...dead...end?". Swiftly, she takes out her microphone from her side and presents it to Berchta. She manages a smile, if you would even call it one, which justaposes the rest of her expressionless features.
"I've been out here from the beginning, about a year now. The dig itself is only about 8 months old, but there was a lot of setup and logistics to do. Been a long time on this s+*@hole of a planet, but you go where the leads take you? Besides, there's some pretty cool stuff we've been unearthing here. Stuff I haven't seen before."
"As for where I'm going, there's a transponder at the dig site. Even if the road was completely washed out, we could just go cross country. There's no major chasms in this area, so as long as we didn't beak an axle, we'd get there eventually. Be a really rough ride though."
Either the vesk missed the attempt at a joke, or ignored it completely.
"Well, there are always accidents on an excavation like this. But these are different. People just disappearing, or turning up mutilated. Got some of the workers talking about the ghosts of a dead planet, but my bet's feral undead. You know, those that got turned to zombies or whatever out away from the necropolises...necropoli...you know, the cities. Without a bone sage to guide them, they just roam the planet looking for living things to devour."
"Now, Taylehm, that's a great Super there. Only as harsh as she needs to be, and gets things done. Seen her pitch in to help get an excavator unstuck, too. Never afraid to get her hands dirty, that one. And pays for some offworld conveniences for the diggers out of her own bonus, too. Best boss I ever had. Too bad about the whole undead thing. That's rough."
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"Good, a leader who is willing to join the fray with her subordinates is always the best kind," Gamuzali says approvingly of Taylehm, "I look forward to meeting her myself!"
His tone drops, however, as he turns to his companions, "Any of you any good at figuring out how something was killed? I've known a few agents in my day that could tell you the age of a razor-cat on Vesk Prime by the size of the fang wounds left in a week old victim, but I never learned the skill myself."
Eventually, the transport stopped outside of a large camp complex of interconnected research and storage pods, mess areas, and sleeping quarters full of researchers, scientists, and the few laborers among the living. There was also a large barracks building, separate from the rest, for the undead laborers.
As you exit the vehicle, a tall kasatha woman with visibly grayed skin came out to meet you. Over the comms, she introduced herself as Taylehm, the head of the Blackmoon excavation.
"I'm sorry I could not come out to meet you in person, but I have my hands full trying to make sure that the Eoxians don't take a greater interest in the recent deaths and disappearances. I am sure that Berchta gave you as smooth a ride out here as anyone could have. She's quite the 'dirt boss'. I wish I could take more time to spend with you, but I am afraid I have another call scheduled with a bone sage consortium in ten minutes. Still, I can give you the rundown."
"The Society's survey site here, and the newer dig site, are two of a handful of similar sites scattered around the mountain. Though there's no hostility between them, the sites don't interact. It's like having tenure at a prestigious academic university. You're not open enemies with the other professors, but there is a limited amount of funding and everyone wants their share."
"I say that up front, because I don't believe the recent deaths and disappearances have been due to other research groups. In the last two weeks, we have lost six researchers and over a dozen undead workers. All of whom are either confirmed dead or destroyed, or missing. Of the living researchers, we only discovered two bodies, and they looked like they had been savaged by some sort of wildlife."
"Hey boss, don't forget about the damage to the excavators," Berchta interrupted. "That cost us at least a week, too."
"Yes, thank you, Berchta, but I hardly think a little damage to the equipment is of the same importance as the deaths and disappearance of people. Besides, I sent a security team out there yesterday. They haven't yet reported in, but that storm earlier may have interfered. I should think we will have more information on that soon enough. I am hoping this team of Starfinders will be both the investigators we need to ferret out answers, and serve as security of a sort while we get a handle on things. If there is an animal or a group of marauding undead out there, we are ill-equipped to handle it. We are mostly scientists and researchers here, not fighters."
"Anyways, I need to go handle this next call. Feel free to interview whoever you need, look at the bodies, or whatever it is you need to do to find out what is going on and handle it. Let Berchta know if you need anything."
Taylehm gave a formal half-bow and turned to leave, moving towards the administrative tents with a hurried step, already talking on her communicator to someone about finding the latest geo-psych surveys for the consortium.
Hissssss!
The bodies were being stored at an impromptu morgue, originally intended as a cryogenic storage facility for Blackmoon artifacts. The medical facility was nearby, and the three researchers also serving as medics were there. Kopos was an android, Rayburn a human, and Whipstitch a ysoki. Kopos introduced the group and explained that since most of the heavy manual labor of the site was done by undead laborers, there really wasn't a call for a full-time medical staff, as would be needed in most digs.
"I'm not really trained as a coroner, but I have the most experience here, so I did the initial autopsy. All I really ruled out was an accident. The bodies definitely showed signs of mauling on them, not inconsistent with attacks from the roving bands of feral undead that roam the countryside. But, if you'd like to see the bodies yourselves, be my guest."
The staff removed the bodies from storage and brought them into the medical bay where the lighting was better. Both bodies are humanoid, one a human male and the other a female korasha lashunta. The bodies were savaged, with multiple lacerations, compound fractures, and deep gashes in the abdomens. Extremities look to have been gnawed on, and the skin of the faces bears signs of tearing.
"Yes, the damage was so bad that if they hadn't had their communicators on them, we likely wouldn't have been able to tell who they were. Well, you know, if this was a bigger town, and not a 20-person archaeological dig."
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"Mind if I have a look?"
Moving from the back of the group, Te slowly makes his way up to the bodies for a closer examination. Though flying may be his preferred skill to enact, the fact is that he's been trained in a variety of different disciplines. He takes his time and slowly looks over each of the three bodies for any signs that things that the temporary coroner may have missed.
Te examined the bodies carefully, noting the different types of wounds. While the trauma was significant, and appeared to be done by wildlife, he did note that both of the bodies had a deep slash across the throat that was mostly hidden by the raked and torn flesh around them. It wasn't until he looked into the injuries and found a smooth cut on the larynx of the human, and a slice into the vertebra at the back of the neck on the lashunta that he started having suspicions. That in mind, he went back over the "torn" flesh and found several spots where it looked like pliers had been used to tear the skin, and had slipped, leaving behind telltale ridges. His conclusion was that the victims were killed by intelligent adversaries using manufactured tools, who then tried to cover up the actual cause of death.
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Having finished his examination, Te looks around at the coroner still in the room. Unsure if the man is involved in this, he determines privacy is in order. He asks, "Do you mind if we have a moment alone?" Assuming the man leaves (if not, he'll escort the group into the hallway to explain), Te explains his findings and his conclusion to the group.
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"Yes, checking the site of their deaths could be helpful," Gamuzali says, "Though I don't think Taylehm was necessarily right to ignore the damage to the excavators. If these deaths were committed by an intelligent creature using tools of some sort, that might indicate there's more reason to investigate the damaged equipment."
The non-undead at the facility were primarily engaged in managing the undead laborers, handling the skilled equipment needs, and acting as intelligent troubleshooters. There were about half as many living workers as unliving laborers. For the most part, they spent three shifts in the living facilities, at indoor research stations, and out at the dig sites.
With Berchta as your beck and call, and Taylehm's instructions to be helpful, everyone is, for the most part, eager to answer any questions you may have.
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Breaking away from the group for a moment, Gamuzali approaches some of the crew working out on the diggers. He strides up and begins looking over the machines. He lets out a low whistle and turns to the mechanics, "She's a beauty, huh? Too bad the crew over on Dig Site Zeta has the new AbCorp GyroDigger EX. They're almost certainly gonna hit the most important sites ahead of us with those things, huh? Especially with these things being a bit banged up from those attacks."
The crew members stopped what they were doing and smiled at Gamuzali through their helmets. "Hah! It doesn't matter what equipment they have. There's plenty of good stuff for all. I mean, think about it. There's something like two million cubic kilometers of Blackmoon, plus anything left of the Necropolis. It's more about the location than minor efficiency improvements. And the new dig site has lots of potential. I can't wait for security to finish vetting the place so we can get out there. The automated excavators are fine, but it takes a skilled researcher to really know what to do with them, you know? Sennox left a few days ago for a sweep, and he's not back yet, but that's likely because of the storms."
"No, man," the other worker said. "Didn't you hear? Sennox's team was what got killed yesterday. Berchta said no one was going out there again until these guys find whatever's doing the killing and stop it."