[SFS] GM Bigrin's Table 2 - It Rests Beneath (Inactive)

Game Master bigrin42

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

"Are we not all tiny suns trapped within earthly shells?" Azara comments.

He also moves closer, in fact, he moves close enough (though carefully) to reach out to the crystal with his telepathy.

Diplomacy(if called for): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19

Hef advises the group to hold up for a moment as he notices the increased heat from the sun. Whispering a quick prayer, he touches each starfinder and grants them a blessing. "This should protect us in case it gets hotter down closer to the sun."

Cast Life Bubble on each PC. 2 casts, 3 targets each cast, 3 day duration and should have done this a while back. No more 1st lvl spells remain.

He then follows the group down into the cavern.

Hadir goes along with Azara, wanting to join in the conversation.

does this remind anyone else of the first Star Trek movie?

The crystal doesn't respond to you, or your overtures.

From your comm units, Dr. Motressi spoke up.

"Our sensors have you stopped near the center of the network of caves. Did you find anything worthwhile down there?"

As you explained what you found, she got really excited and asked you to use your handheld geological survey scanners to send her more detailed data. After a few minutes processing the data, she came back on the line.

"Well, Big Mina is definitely not from around here. There are enough traces of cosmic particle decay that she must have spent a long time moving slowly through deep space. Our preliminary growth estimates suggest that was millions of years ago, and she must have been very small—maybe no larger than your fist. But it looks like Big Mina and my little one have something in common: a big appetite! This alien creature can consume anything: rock, water, organic material... it’ll take a while, hundreds or maybe thousands of years, but eventually Big Mina will consume the entire planet!"

Mora’s face appears on the computer screen. "I’m not sure if we should allow that to happen. Vabaimus has a rich ecosystem, and while there aren’t any sapient creatures here yet, it’s only a matter of time before these sloths, or something else, make that critical step. Can we sentence them, and every other species on the planet, to certain death? On the other hand, Mina is a unique life-form, and it doesn’t seem evil. It’s no more intelligent than a giant clam. Can we bring ourselves to murder it when it’s just doing what it’s evolved to do?"

"Starfinders, you’ve taken the lead in so many of our recent discoveries, I would really benefit from your perspective. What do you recommend?"

Any recommendations or questions?

Hef releases the breath he didn't even know he held, "Well, I don't know if I'm the right one to make this decision, but I do know that I don't have to be the one. Hundreds or thousands of years is plenty of time to study Big Mina before any decisions need to be made. Heck, that even allows time for an evacuation of the native species if necessary. I emphasize the word native because on a grand scheme of things Big Mina is native to the galaxy and so are these creatures. Just because she isn't from this world doesn't give her less right to life then they. Thus, I support the idea of patience and further study. Let this decision be made by more than five trigger happy explorers."

He continues, "But that said and while I wait for my allies to make their thoughts known, are there further locations you wish us to investigate down here?"

"While I don't like letting other people make decisions when I can, I have to agree with Hef. I lean on eliminating Big Mina from this world but that doesn't mean terminating it. For all we know, it may go through some lifecycle transformation and leave this planet on its own. Or it may be near the end of its lifecycle," Azara comments.

"That being said, we should monitor it closely and if it shows any sign of destroying the ecosystem here, it should be eliminated. Its right to damage this world is certainly smaller than the native creature's rights to live here. All the more if it truly is of as limited intelligence as you suggest."

"I see no reason to kill it now. If there are hundreds or thousands of years before it will consume the planet there is plenty of time for those wiser than us to deliberate. But if this was our only chance and we had to make a decision now, I would say we kill it. If it has no more sentience than a giant clam, then this is no different from killing a dangerous predator to protect a delicate ecosystem."

Sunshine scratches the fur on his head. ”Reminds me of my divorce. Just slightly less imminent death and destruction. Can we split the difference somehow? Give Mina and the sloths joint custody of the planet?”

While Twik contemplates the giant sun crystal and his companions theories and thoughts, his attention is interrupted by another noise....

Ah guys.... I hate to interrupt you all playing god but I don't think we are alone down here. There is something moving up ahead..... Something big.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21

Hadir draws his weapons in response to Twik's information.

OP-1 mentally prepares for action as it notices Hadir draw his weapons after Twigs warning.

From one of the other tunnel openings, you see a large creature, roughly the size of an adult human and looking like a cross between an insect and a shrimp. Its legs made the skittering noise that Twik had heard, and then there were more of them. Dozens of these creatures popped out of the tunnels in response to some signal. In fact, the only direction you did not see them in was back the way you had come.

What do you want to do? Fight them? Retreat? Self-destruct?

what does it look like they're doing. Hadir would like to just observe their behavior if possible

They are observing you at the moment.

Hef puts his hand up and his voice crackles into the comms, "We wanted to avoid fights, right? We tried to avoid fighting the cresteaters up above until they charged us. So, only fight if attacked? Also, are we looking at a first contact scenario?"

He quickly dials up the basecamp and describes the creatures, asking if they have any guesses as to their purpose here.

Seems like we will most likely just retreat, here. But I am curious to hear what basecamp says.

Slowly backing away towards the way we came in OP-1 waits for the responds of the base camp to Hef's questions to basecamp.

"Kind of hard to tell from just the description. Maybe guardians of some sort? Or a cleaning crew? Or just insects that took over the tunnels? I really have no idea."

With no definitive answers, you retreat, keeping an eye out behind you as well as in front. You made your way back to the vertical shaft and rigged up shields using some of the cocoon pieces and backpacks. The trip up the cable was easy enough with the grapplers, and the shields helped protect you from the spray nozzles. It only took an hour or so before you were back topside.

After the long tromp in the heat and dark, The air of the planet felt cool and crisp on your faces when you emerged and removed your helmets. You loaded back up on the vehicles and headed back to the base.

Dr. Mora Motressi met you with a big smile on her face. "Well done, Starfinders! I can't tell you how excited we are to have this new data on Big Mina. Now come the hard decisions. After some months of data we should be able to estimate the growth rate of this thing, and maybe determine how long we have until we really need to make a decision. No matter what we ultimately decide, I have plans to save this little guy and his people. Like you say, I don't think the decision is time critical just yet."

---------------------

The next day you bid farewell to the research team and get back aboard your transport for the ride home. A few days later you report in to Fitch with what you had seen and learned ont he journey. She promised to take care of getting the kasatha's body returned to the Idari, and to let you know what came of it.

"It sounds as if you did the best you could in a really difficult situation. I didn't realize this was going to be a first contact scenario when I sent you in, though a giant crystalline life form certainly doesn't fit anyone's idea of what was going to happen. You did a good job though. If any of you have private thoughts you want to share with me about what to do with this 'Big Mina', then feel free to drop me a text or comm message. Otherwise, I'll keep the lot of you in mind the next time I have a mission involving new life forms and exploration."

Congratulations, you did it! Feel free to drop your suggestion of what to do about Big Mina in the OOC channel or a PM. I'll try and get the chronicles out tomorrow or the next day.

Sunshine shrugs to the doctor. "Seems like narrowly not dying fighting critters inside other critters in increasingly part of the job. If there's a way to split the difference between the big critter and the rest of the ecosystem, that seems best to me. But if you want to euthanize Mina for the benefit of these sloth folk, no skin off my nose."

"That about sums up my opinion as well! Nicely put!

Hef doesn't disagree with his allies, though he supports any harm coming to big Mina as an absolute last resort. "She has as much right to life as they do, but in medicine we destroy parasites and infections to save the host. This would probably be similar, though it appears with those shrimps and the birds she might even be supporting her own ecosystem. If there were a way to remove her without harming her or to find a way to slow her growth so she could live on the planet without destroying it, that would be an ideal solution."

Thanks for running the game, that was enjoyable. Starfinder is continuing to do a good job at presenting difficult ethical decisions to the players, I'm enjoying it.

Azara nods in agreement with the rest. "It may be impossible with the resources at hand, but after some study, perhaps we can find an uninhabited planet for it to exist on. Do we even know if it breaths? Perhaps it can exist someplace where no life is developing. That's especially interesting if, as Hef says, it is developing its own ecosystem around itself."

Great game and, as Hef said, another in a chain of classic sci-fi where the answer isn't about gunning everything down but making big, hard decisions.

we should have tried to communicate with the creatures. First Contact fail. Oh well.

so my take is that Big Mina should probably be killed to save the planet. But if she's supporting this whole other ecosystem... That's a different question. Do they need Big Mina alive in order to survive? If so, let nature takes its course, I suppose. Otherwise we're back to taking out Big Mina and letting the other creatures survive. I wonder, GM, how much nuance does the scenario reporting allow for?

we should have tried to communicate with the creatures. First Contact fail. Oh well.

so my take is that Big Mina should probably be killed to save the planet. But if she's supporting this whole other ecosystem... That's a different question. Do they need Big Mina alive in order to survive? If so, let nature takes its course, I suppose. Otherwise we're back to taking out Big Mina and letting the other creatures survive. I wonder, GM, how much nuance does the scenario reporting allow for?

I felt bad because I read about Crest Eaters after we encountered them and found out they understand (but don't speak) Kasathan. If my character had a way of knowing that, he definitely would have wanted to try to negotiate with them. It feels like the shrimp men were really just there to protect the brain if we attacked.

I was half expecting the shrimp men to attack the brain as if they had been sent as a reaction from the planet against the invading monster, like antibodies against a virus. That would have been pretty cool. I'm very intrigued as to what their purpose was but I expect Azara nailed it.