MISSION DETAILS ARE ON A NEED-TO-KNOW BASIS. AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.
You have all received the following message:
This is First Seeker Jadnura.
You have shown yourself to be an exemplary agent. As such, I have need of you for an urgent and highly classified mission. Do not speak of it to other agents, faction leaders, or even First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo. I need you to meet me at the attached coordinates, inside the Lorespire Complex. It’s under construction, but it is quite safe. The date and time have already been entered into your comm unit.
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A halfling girl, short even for her race, clomps towards the indicated coordinates in military boots at least two sizes too big for her. As she walks, she looks up at the halls and passageways of the Lorespire Complex, shaking her head in irritation, a move that causes her pristinely styled blonde curls to bounce around her shoulders.
She looks down at the comms device on her wrist, taps the cracked screen, and scowls at it. Nevertheless, it seems she's worked out where to go, because she picks up her pace and heads to the meeting spot.
Wobbling behind her is a giant, scruffy looking walking teddy bear that's almost as tall as she is. Its ratty-looking fur is patchy enough that you can clearly see the solid steel casing underneath, and its glowing red eyes are those of an unfeeling killer. It stares malevolently at the floor, walls, and any passing Starfinders.
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An ysoki lounges rather haphazardly across the chair in the briefing hall. Speck is covered with rather nondescript brown fur. In fact, it can be rather patchy at places, as if implants had been removed rather carelessly, but he makes no real attempt to hide the unbecoming patches. Exposed across his forehead and down around his right eye is a cybernetic implant but what exactly it does is not immediately clear. Another newer one is exposed at the back of his head. Interesting, across his neck hangs a wood-carved holy symbol of Weydan. Occasionally, you notice him unconsciously touching the symbol, as if still getting used to it.
Wonder what the secrecy is all about? His snout twitches in curiousity, even if he doesn't show it.
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Fionne spots the ysoki heading to the same direction as she is and she waves him down. "HEY SPECK!" What Fionne is lacking in height she makes up for in sheer volume. "HEY! YOU GET SUCKERED INTO SOME SECRET MISSION TOO? FIRST SEEKER'S GOT SOME EXPLAININ TO DO. I'VE GOT A BIG ASS PROJECT ON PAUSE FOR THIS."
She trots up and slaps the ysoki energetically on the back.
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A short distance down the hall, a middle aged human woman peels off from her spot leaning against the wall and moves to stand over the halfling and ysoki. "Seeing as this is a secret mission, you may want to keep your voices down about it," she snaps quietly, moving her lips as little as possible.
Resuming a normal voice, she extends and hand to both her fellow agents. "I'm Desha, by the way. Desha Doash. Should we...head to our meeting?" Her regimental armor shows the blue and gold motif of the Stewards, though the holo-display that would usually show her badge and unit number appears to be broken.
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A little late to the meeting, but hopefully not too late, Marcus comes trailing in behind the trio by sliding out from around a corner and hugging the wall as he moves. He appears to be a rather average fellow with his only distinguishing features the beard on his face and the hair grown out enough to touch at his shoulders. He has a confident walk and the slightly rigid posture of a man used to standing at attention.
He's wearing a pair of sunglasses, but they don't hide the fact he's giving Desha's armor the once over. He pulls away one flap of his workman's jacket to flash the Steward uniform undershirt along with his badge. On closer inspection his pants and boots are clearly from a set of BDUs, also Steward issue. "Your badge is busted. Probably for the best if we're running around keeping secrets."
He pauses for a moment and then sighs. "I really hope we're not doing anything I need to bury in the paperwork again... Marcus, by the by."
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Fionne looks up (way up) at the two newcomers and grins. "HEY YA'LL! DESHA AND MARCUS, NICE TO MEETCHA. FIONNE'S THE NAME." She draws herself up to her maximum height (not even 3') and puts her hands on her hips. "AND THERE AIN'T NO KEEPIN' SECRETS AMONG STARFINDERS RIGHT?" She pauses, takes in their Stewards bling, and adds "THOUGH I GUESS YOU STEWARDS TYPES HAVE GOT SOME DIFFERENT STANDARDS, HUH?"
She falls in next to them, beckoning Speck to follow along. "I'M CROSSIN' MY TOES THAT WE'RE GONNA GET TO TEST SOME NEW TECH. MAYBE A NEW STARSHIP CHASSIS? ZIGGY KNOWS THAT PEGASUS IS A HUNK OF JUNK, ANYWAY."
“I’m glad you could make it. I apologize for the secretive nature of this briefing.” Jadnura paces a mostly empty meeting room, with only a single table in front of a force-field shielded viewing port. He looks each assembled agent in the eye. “I want you to know that I hold the fine work of First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo in the highest regard, but if she knew I was assembling Starfinder Agents for missions, it would complicate the already difficult situation of having two First Seekers. What I ask of you is of paramount importance to the Society, you see I—how do I begin?” Jadnura looks out the vast open port at the stunning view of The Eye of Absalom Station. His hand dances across the
force field window before he continues.
“I have failed the Society. Over a year ago I discovered an artifact called a Tear on a small moon known as Kukanou-2b. It guided me to the Scoured Stars trinary star system. I dreamt of making impressive new discoveries, perhaps even some protected from the ravages of The Gap. In my excitement I had forgotten caution. For that, the Society lost so much.” He takes a deep breath, then exhales slowly. “Resources. Lives. So many of those under my command were trapped or killed behind the Godshield that enveloped the system.
“I need to make amends, that much is certain. But I also need to find out where I went wrong. What vital clue I must have missed. For that, I need you.” As he continues speaking, he looks at each Starfinder meaningfully. “You are the finest group of agents that I can assemble, each with an impressive service record. I need you to go to Kukanou-2b, where my folly began. Retrace my steps and find any clues to the Tear, the Scoured Stars, or anything else that can make sense of his catastrophe. If you find anything illuminating, return to me at once. Do you have any questions before you depart?”
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Desha watches the First Seeker, her First Seeker, as he paces in torment at the losses his leadership caused. She can tell the kasatha is deeply troubled, but what doesn't make sense to her at this moment is the covert nature of this mission. "First Seeker," she says tentatively, "If you were worried about the confusion that might be caused by assembling agents for this mission, why didn't you got to the new First Seeker? Ask for her cooperation in researching this matter? Her stated goals have always been to restore the Society. Surely this investigation would benefit the whole Society in a way that she could agree with as well."
As she listens to Jadnura's response, the former Steward watches the kasatha's body language, trying to get a good read on him and to see if there is something he might be holding back.
“We will present the information to her once we have something to
show for it. I also don’t want it to look as if I’m usurping her role.
I’m still trying to figure out what my role will be in the Society.”
“The destination star system has only two planets orbiting around a blue star. The first is almost entirely molten rock, the second is a gas giant with various moons. Kukanou-2b is one of those moons. It once had a liquid core but met some seismic catastrophe that rendered it lifeless. I found the Tear in a carved-out chamber near the surface, perhaps left there by smugglers or, as with the Tear Luwazi found, hidden away by the civilization it was intended for.”
This is clearly personal for Jadnura. Mentally, he seems... reasonable at least. His request makes sense, but clearly his motivations are driven by guilt.
"Dangerous fauna? None. The area that we explored through was completely abandoned. The moon does experience frequent seismic activity, but during our trip there was nothing more than a minor tremor. The atmosphere on the moon renders it incompatible with most life."
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"Is anyone else aware of this location? How easily accessible are the records on your trip?" Marcus pulls off his glasses and stuffs them inside his jacket now that he didn't feel a particular need to hide his face. Both because he didn't see this as anything truly cloak and dagger, and they made him feel a bit silly.
"I feel like all this subtlety is excessive. If we run into anyone else or if someone gets wind of our mission, how should we proceed?"
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Fionne takes a seat, putting her booted feet up. "HEY BIG-J, I KNOW YOU MESSED UP BIG TIME WITH THE SCOURED STARS, BUT YOU CAN'T KEEP BEATIN' YOURSELF UP LIKE THIS. LIVE AND LEARN AND ALL THAT. HELL, I MESS UP ON THE REGULAR! LULU TELL YOU ABOUT THE TIME I TOTALED A HOVER TRUCK?" From the twinkle in her eye, she's clearly not all that bent out of shape over that particular 'mess up'.
After Jadnura has a chance to explain what he wants the group to do, Fionne goes quiet for a moment as she thinks about the mission. "SO... CHECK OUT THE MOON YOU GOT THE TEAR AT? YOU'RE THINKIN' YOU MISSED SOMETHING AT THE MOON WHEN YOU WERE LAST THERE, HUH. WELL, I DON'T MIND TAKIN' A LOOK FOR YA, BUT WHAT EXACTLY DO YA WANT US TO LOOK FOR?"
"AND WHAT KINDA ATMOSPHERE WE TALKIN' ABOUT? POISON? ALL VACUUM? ICY COLD?"
She raises a finger and points it at Marcus. "THIS COOL GUY'S GOT THE RIGHT IDEA. YOU WANNA GIVE US THE RECORDS FROM YOUR TRIP? IF WE'RE GONNA RETRACE YOUR STEPS, WE'RE GONNA NEED TO KNOW WHAT KINDSA STEPS YOU WERE TAKIN'"
He sighs. "Should you run into anyone else, or if anyone gets wind of our mission, be forthcoming and honest. I feel that secrecy is best for the health of our organization, but not to the extent of propagating lies... I feel strongly that this is of the utmost importance, but pulling rank on the present First Seeker would damage the relationship we have. I can assure you though that full, honest, and clear reports will be filed as appropriate for a Starfinder mission, just as were filed for my prior visit. Those files have little information about the location itself, as the expedition was uneventful. The moon however..." He flips through files on his computer and pulls up the Starfinder Chronicle for the expedition. "Right... full of volcanic ash. Also incredibly hot on the surface, but cool underground, where the Tear was found."
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Desha nods her agreement as well, "Right. We'll get right on it, First-Seeker."
Before leaving Absalom Station, she makes her way to the Freemarkets and picks up some last minute supplies, including some clothes better suited to helping her deal with the extreme heat Jadnura mentioned might be an issue on the planet's surface.
Jadnura requisitions a Pegasus class starship for you trip. After a few final purchases, the crew departs for Kukanou-2b.
Four days into the trip, you intercept a mysterious signal in Near Space.
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Fionne gives 'Big-J' a lazy salute and hops to her feet. She's pretty happy to be on her way, but the lack of dangerous local fauna has put a bit of a damper on her enthusiasm. What little enthusiasm she has takes a further nosedive when she sees their ship.
"WHY'D YA DO THIS TO US, BIG-J?" The grumpiness in her voice is clear as day. "I THINK THE BIG GUY WANTS US TO DIE OUT THERE. THOSE JINSUL SHIPS TEAR PEGASUS CHASSIS SHIPS TO SHREDS IN HALF A NANOSECOND."
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Soon after takeoff, Fionne switches from her station attire to her battle gear. She dons a slim and small set of navy blue ceremonial armor, sculpted to flare out at the hips in the style that's currently popular on the Station, along with a pair of seven inch heels that she definitely has practice walking in. Inside her roomy helm, her hair is topped with a glittering diamond tiara.
While on the ship, her ratty looking teddy bear follows her around without fail. He carries a massive looking cannon, holding it on top of his head and stabilizing it with his paws.
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When the signal comes in from Near Space, Fionne heads over to the main console. "OOH, WHAT HAVE WE GOT HERE?"
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"To be fair. Those Jinsul ships tear Drake class ships apart just as easily, and this ship is better at running." He sniffed once and put his hands on his hips as they stood outside their ride. "If we run into a group of Jinsul ships I'd rather run anyways. And this ship is at least in one piece."
Marcus doesn't bother putting on any significant gear for their time in the drift, just storing his equipment in the bunks as he roams the ship in something at least moderately comfortable. He gives the heavily armed stuffed toy a wide berth for those four days.
When the signal comes in he stares at the screen listening for a long moment, then finally shrugs. "No idea what that is. I can't recognize anything except that it's weird to be getting in the middle of nowhere."
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Desha stares from the screen, then at Omen-Seeker, then back at the screen. "Seriously? This just sounds like gibberish to me! Ah, wait. Goblins. Well, that explains it. Anyway, I think you're probably right. It might be a distress signal, and I think the First-Seeker would agree that it's only right for us to make sure they're alright. Never know what kind of trouble goblins will get themselves into."
The signal takes you to the wreckage of two starships. It takes most of an afternoon... or at least what you'd call an afternoon on Absalom Station, but you're able to collect pieces of the wreckage that may help identify the warring factions. Little else remains, but this may provide good intel... and you all know how much Historia-7 loves good intel. After
Continuing on towards Kukanou-2B, you spend another fortnight in drift. Finally, you exit, finding yourselves in a small system around a blue dwarf star. Heading closer to the blue-and-green gas giant, you are able to locate the second moon... your destination.
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Fionne surprisingly starts nerding out when she sees all the wreckage from the two warring factions. Once the group retrieves some of the pieces, she works together with T-eddy to examine the burn marks and other damage to try to uncover what weapons were used by each side.
She's still engrossed 14 days later (though by this point she's deep into recreating small scale versions of the weapons used in the conflict - and testing them on the interior surfaces of the Pegasus), so she looks up at the viewscreen with the moon with surprise. "HEY! WE'RE HERE ALREADY. ANYONE ABLE TO WORK OUT WHAT'S GOIN' ON DOWN THERE?"
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"We should check out that settlement while we're here. Perhaps it may shed some light on the civilization the Tear was meant for. Also, I can protect up to 4 people with my life bubble magics. It should keep us alive and unharmed from the temperatures." When we're ready to depart, O-S bids the parties to be protected stand together. She'll need it for herself, but she can cast it multiple times if necessary.
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"Thanks, Omen," Desha tells the ysoki, "But I think my armor and this new enviro-suit I picked up should help stave off the heat. Use your spells to help the others."
Turning back to the computer scans Speck pulled up, Desha nods her agreement with the plan to explore the half-buried settlement. "We should make sure to hit the same points as the First-Seeker, though, so we can double check all the spots he visited when he was here and do further investigations. Officer Cole, did Jadnura give you a report of his last trip here?"
Following Jadnura's report, you find the landing site that he and his shipmates landed at before... and it's a good thing you've got the report to guide you. Ash in the air reduces visibility to 50 ft, so the descent has to be done blindly, but thankfully the landing zone is flat and trivial to navigate.
The plain rocky walls are occasionally highlighted by black mold that emits a pungent musty odor. The remnants of a camp indicate the former presence of sentient life, including a portable self-pitching tent. A single set of humanoid foot prints stand out starkly against the undisturbed dust and ash. They appear to lead into a set of caves nearby, which match the description of the cave Jadnura described in his report. Unfortunately at this point, details are scarce.
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Fionne seals up her armor and takes her tactical energy converter from T-eddy and straps it to the brace on her back. The weapon's muzzle extends over her head and the handle goes down to her ankles, but she somehow seems comfortable with the huge additional weight. With the size of her cannon, its suddenly clear why she needs the heels. If she didn't have them, the gun would drag on the ground behind her.
She speaks loudly over suit comms, forcing most of you to adjust the volume down to something reasonable. "NICE TRACKS. THEY LOOK AN AWFUL LOT LIKE THEY WERE LEFT BY SOMEONE WHO KNEW WHERE THEY WERE GOING. PURPOSEFUL STRIDE, THAT KINDA THING. NOT THE KINDA TRACKS A STARFINDER EXPLORATORY CREW WOULD LEAVE." She steps outside and crouches next to the tracks. "ANYONE ELSE THINKIN' THIS MIGHT BE SOMEONE WHO CAME AFTER BIG J WAS DONE?"
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On the ship Cole looks at Desha in confusion for a long moment, then snaps back to the moment and pats himself down while muttering to himself about knowing he had something before finally producing the report they use to make their landing. "Oh yeah, had it this whole time... entirely intentionally."
Cole's steward suit is a rather utilitarian, standard issue affair save for its little personal touches of where scuffs, scrapes, and a blaster singe or two have refused to buff out. This was clearly his work gear.
He followed Fionne after pausing to do just as you would assume... access his comms to turn down the volume on her channel alone before he lost an eardrum. With that finished he'd come up beside her and lean over one of her shoulders to stare down at the dirt as well. "Which means what I was worried about, someone else is aware of the records and accessed them. I'm less interested in if someone else came, and more about how recently."
He drew out his semi-auto pistol and a flashlight to check the immediate area just as a precaution.
Both Marcus and Fionne agree... the tracks are very recent. Much more recent than Jadnura's expedition... and likely in the last day or so.
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Speck looks around miserably at the ashes. "Why can't any Starfinder missions be at a white sandy beach with calm crashing waves? Sigh." He touches his symbol hanging over his neck, probably for strength before going in further to examine the walls.
"Eh, doesn't look good fellow. See the cracks there? No dust settling on them. Recent seismic activity. And when there's one, you can be sure there'll be another that follows. And another. Sigh."
Following the footprints in a bit further reveals a couple old crates, likely a staging location for Jadnura's expedition. As you approach, you can feel the start of a mild tremor. The first thought that comes to mind is seismic activity, but this clearly feels a bit different. The walls chatter, but your footing feels solid... and the sound is not that of the rumbling of rock but... a sigh? Thankfully, Speck has been keeping an eye on the unstable stonework and quickly glances back at the cracks in the walls, just in time to see the stonework form the shape of a fist with pale green light... You're under attack!
Speck turns around to warn the party, and is able to avoid an utter tactical disaster, although is own footing is less sure and it takes a few extra moments for him to take a combat stance.
Round 1:
Marcus
Desha
Fionne
Omen-Seeker
Bad Rocks
Speck
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Desha studies the creatures as they emerge from the walls themselves! "Close up ranks," she calls to the crew, "Don't let them flank you apart from the group!" She reaches over her shoulder and brushes aside the edge of the deep blue cape hung over her left shoulder to find the handle of her new rifle. She settles the weapon against her shoulder, peers down the sights, and fires on the creature approaching the crew.
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Omen-Seeker fires a quick round at the approaching glowing rock pile, but it deflects off of it's rocky hide with no effect.
At first glance it seems as though the creatures approaching are Earth Elementals, but the pale light isn't usual for them. The strange moaning sounds get louder as they approach... and suddenly Desha puts 2 and 2 together to get... 4.00000001! They are HAUNTED earth elementals!
Like normal earth elementals, they are resistant to physical assault, and completely impervious to electricity. The fact that they are haunted however likely means that positive energy effects would be super effective against them. At the very least, Desha's sonic weaponry seems to be effective against the creatures as the shot results in a few cracks opening up on it's exterior.
Round 1:
Marcus
Desha
Fionne
Omen-Seeker
Red Haunted Elemental (-7)
Blue Haunted Elemental
Speck
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Fionne draws her energy converter off her back. "HAUNTED ROCK PILES? BIG-J DIDN'T MENTION THESE GUYS." She shrugs, pulls a lever and flicks a series of switches on the boxy device. The weapon begins charging up. With the weapon propped against the ground, she rummages through her pack and pulls out a device that appears to be little more than duct tape and salvaged antennae from the space battle earlier. She slots the improvised device into a port on her weapon.
She levels the weapon at the blue elemental. "WELL, LETS SEE IF THEY LIKE EATING ICE! HAHAHAHA!"
She pulls the trigger and an area around the elemental becomes icy cold. The humid, CO2-rich air condensing into a freezing mist before collapsing to carpet the ground. Fionne clicks her tongue in irritation. "WOW, THAT'S WAY MORE BORING THAN I THOUGHT. NEVER BORROWING ONE OF THESE AGAIN."
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"Why, precisely, am I the one standing right in front of this thing?" How do you even haunt an elemental in the first place? The ground not far in front of him crystallizes, and he turns to peer over his shoulder at Fionna, opens his mouth to say something about her choice of weaponry and the 'fun' factor... then just snaps his mouth shut and thinks before speaking. "That gun doesn't dig into anything. It's not boring at all. But do it again, it work."
Desha's words have him dropping his pistol in frustration to swap out for his wave modulator. He points it at the blue elemental and lets off a flaming shot.
T-eddy turns ominously towards the blue haunted earth elemental. His mouth opens with a whirr, exposing a cone-shaped cannon barrel. He braces himself against the ground and then sends out a sonic blast that pummels the still-reeling elemental!