You begin by boarding the Brass Clutch, a personal starship of Radaszam, the leader of the Acquisitives faction. The Brass Clutch is a former Veskarium military ship that the Obsidian Spiders, Radaszam’s mercenary company, has outfitted into a private transport vessel. As such, its corridors are sleek and pristine, its upholstery is outfitted with supple black leather, and the Spiders’ official sigil replaces any previously installed Veskarium regalia. Radaszam waits for you all to board the starship to address you.
|
Gidget walked down the docking ring and onto the ship proper.
She was bulky for a Ysoki and lacked the typical bulging cheeks that her species always seemed to have.
She wore Clearweave armor, and had a Combat Rifle slung over one shoulder and an industrial backpack slung over the other. Her fur was deep gray, with the exception of a white spot on her nose.
After passing through into the main hallway, she looked around for someone to greet her.
|
Having received the request from his Faction leader - forwarded to him from his harried receptionist - Zso strolled towards the Clutch with a swagger born of certainty in his skill. Powerfully built, the Lashunta was dressed in an impeccable suit straight from Castrovel's top designers a deep midnight blue that matched well with his long violet hair, expertly cut and tied back into loose ponytail and though he carried no obvious weapons a Dark red mote floated around his head. Zso was surrounded by his habitual gaggle of retainers - Agent, security and the most recent intern followed the Star and dealt with calls and emails, occasionally asking him to sign off.
For the most part, Zso was buried in his Comm unit upon his left wrist, constantly updating his personal media and replying to messages from fans - the personal touch he liked to maintain. Zso stopped just before he bumped into the Ysoki and gave them an appraising glance.
"Greetings Miss, Radazasm call you too huh?" he asks with a dazzling smile.
|
|
Zso paused momentarily as if stunned that they weren’t recognised. Some people, oh well. they lament as they keep their smile broad. ”I am Zso Sahaal - Starfinder and Actor. You lost? I’ve been on the Clutch a few times, want me to show you the briefing room?”
If accepted, Zso will begin to show Gidget around towards Radazasm’s briefing room.
|
|
A ysoki in a sharply tailored purple suit with a matching fedora walks onto the ship. He nods around, saying in a dignified voice. "Good evening, fellow Starfinders. I have been summoned by Radazasm for a briefing. I'm Gabbers McTalkington, but you may call me by the moniker "Gab," as I am known by many ..."
At that moment, his comm blinks. He raises a finger. "Just a moment, I'm afraid ..." He pivots slightly, his demeanor changing as his voice becomes more nasally and casual as he speaks into the comm unit. "Yeah, Howie, whattaya want? You able to line up the gig? No, I should be back by then. If not, we can push it back a bit. You know how these things go. Just keep 'em on the line, if ya know what I'm sayin'. You're beautiful, Howie baby. Let's do lunch when I get back on station."
He turns back to you, his demeanor returning to a dignified air - though whether it is gaining or losing a pretense is unclear. "Now, where is that briefing room?"
|
A lanky female android strolls in and quickly glances over the assembled Starfinders, taking a quick measure of their capabilities. Name's Deckard. We know what we're doing here yet? she doesn't seem to expect an answer, but immediately sits down and starts fiddling with her comm unit and datapad, mumbling to herself. If they send us out in a starship, best have a better crew than the last one almost got everyone killed...
He looks at you strangely. No misses for me, I ain't married yet.
Radaszam, the leader of the Acquisitives faction, parts his scaly lips to reveal an exceedingly sharp-toothed, uncharacteristically childlike grin of glee. Well glad to have you all here, and we are going to land on Daimalko. He makes gestures toward the empty office chairs in front of him. We get to see Collosi-these powerful creatures with tongues and teeth and gun turrets for heads, capable of destroying entire city blocks with one swipe of their horrific claws. This is going to be great!
The mercenary leader takes a deep breath, clearly calming the excitement that’s gotten the better of him. He closes his eyes, and when they reopen, the steely demeanor of a veteran Starfinder Society faction leader returns.
Yes, an exciting mission, but not a suicide mission I assure you. You will be seeking out a murderous Collosi, and retrieving relics inside its guts, but I assure you not without a plan. This risk is necessary to reclaim the Society's property and it's future.
He rubs his hand up against his neck and continues to explain.
Less than a week ago, three powerful and mysterious hybrid items were stolen straight from the Safe in Lorespire Complex, without anyone from the Society so much as noticing. These relics were more mysterious than any the Society has recently recovered. What’s more, if they fall into the wrong hands, they could pose a real threat.
Worse, the Society didn’t discover the theft until the Aspis Consortium contacted us with some troubling news. Their agents had intended to purchase the items from the mercenaries who stole them from us. They met the mercenaries on Daimalko for this purpose, but a tekenki—a tech colossus, one of the gun-headed ones—rolled up. It rampaged, killing and consuming everyone except a single Aspis survivor, including the mercenaries with the relics.
This isn't a total loss, as our research indicates a silver lining. Since Tekenkis are technological constructs, you can retrieve the relics inside, because they don't have stomach acid. Yes, you get to travel into the belly of the beast and we can get a clue on who attacked the Lorespire Complex.
Radaszam’s beady eyes start to gleam and his throaty voice becomes louder and louder. After another deep breath, his steely composure returns.
Research of the plan on Aucturn shows it will work. I’ve already reached out to New Valor, our destination on Daimalko. Their guardians—think like mayors, but more protecting people from giant monsters— have assured me that our ship is welcome and our mission is sanctioned, as long as we don’t draw the colossus toward town. They’re used to off-worlders landing in New Valor looking for some extreme hunting action. They say we’re more responsible than most, so we won’t face any hostilities from the locals.
As serious as he’s been this entire time, Radaszam clenches his jaw and nods gravely.
I believe that you all have the best chance of pulling this heist off. It’s a daunting task we ask, I realize. Any questions before we do this?!
Upon being asked all those questions by Gidget he responds with Someone eager to learn more about the job, I like that.
That’s the dangerous thing,” Radaszam says. “We don’t yet know. The relics are identical, and each is the size and shape of a human femur. They’re covered in alien script that not even our best experts can identify, let alone decipher. The Society had been planning to seek experts from across the Pact Worlds when they were stolen—it’s possible that these pieces are powerfully dangerous. In any case, we need to get them back. And we need to find out who breached the Lorespire Complex so easily and stole them.
He is then excited to answer your last question, especially since he gets to hear himself talk. Radaszam sighs and begins to look uneasy for the first time during this briefing. Honestly? Not much. The Aspis wouldn’t reveal the identity of the mercenaries’ parent outfit, and they didn’t even known who hired the thieves in the first place. That’s one of the reasons this mission is so important. We need to know who stole from us and why, and we need to know who’s behind this entire plot in the first place.
He looks at you all, first Gidget then Raia and the others, A bunch of enthusiastic Starfinders, I like you.
|
|
Deckard looks at Gab inquisitively. Do you think it will chew us up on the way in? Does a colossus with a gun for a head actually have a mouth to use as an access point? Do you think it has any other normal orifices? As a construct, they probably don't serve the normal purposes that organics use them for. It's got a power core, and shouldn't eat food and eliminate waste in the same way.
|
|
Listening intently to the briefing, Zso just about manages to keep their jaw from dropping open. "Seriously, it isn't why it's how! This has happened far too often for the Society to be competent." they mutter thinking back to several tasks they had been assigned to that involved the reclamation of stolen artefacts. Shaking his head, Zso focuses back on the task.
"So these wardens or Mayors, anything we need to know about them? Best not to insult our hosts if we can avoid it."
He turns towards Gabbers, "unfortunately no, at least I'm positive you can't enter from the back." Radaszam averts his eyes for just a moment before answering. “Well,” he drawls. “That’s one of the… problems? Opportunities? Call it a proble-tunity. A tekenki doesn’t eat, because it’s technological. But they are well known to consume people and things, so there’s got to be a way to get inside, as well as a way to get out. We’re just going to have to sweet-talk the damais into telling us. They’ve spent generations researching and hunting colossi, so they’ll know."
He then turns towards R Deckard. "Hopefully the damais will know more about that."
He lets you talk among yourselves towards Zso That is why we have people like you into the Starfinder Society, more competent people like you can get the job done." He takes a breath, "and the wardens and Mayors there have no special traditions that I'm aware of, the same general rules and laws apply there as they do everywhere.
Starfinders are able to gather up all the info.
15+ Daimalko is a small planet in Near Space with gravity similar to that of Absalom Station and a normal atmosphere. The planet was once home to two highly advanced civilizations, but a cataclysm 200 years ago that its people call the Awakening saw its oceans almost entirely evaporate and enormous, murderous colossi emerge from beneath the planet’s surface, rampaging and almost immediately wiping out most of the population. Descendants of survivors, mostly members of the native grayskinned damai humanoids, now live underground or in small, closely guarded colonies on the surface. The colonies’ leaders, called guardians, use mystical orbs to track the colossi and steer them away from the population centers.
20+: The most prominent aboveground settlement on Daimalko is New Valor, whose population for generations has kept themselves safe through a combination of guidance from their mystical guardians, or leaders, and a proactive policy of hunting and chasing away or even killing nearby colossi. New Valor is particularly known for Project Valko and its fleet of colossi-hunting vehicles named accordingly. There are four valkos, which include bi- and tripedal mechs that employ the most advanced weaponry, tracking systems, and cloaking devices on the planet. The New Valorites are incredible protective of these vehicles, and only highly trained pilots are permitted to embark on colossus-hunting missions with them.
25+: Tekenkis are quadrupedal technological constructs with integrated plasma cannons and the capability of unleashing electromagnetic pulses that can devastate tech items, including weapons. However, they are only one type of colossus that roams Daimalko slavering for the blood of masses of humanoids. Others include biological kyokors and many more colossus subspecies yet to be properly identified. Tekenkis, like all known colossi, have the ability to sense clusters of 2,000 or more intelligent creatures gathered in a single settlement out to 5 miles. Colossi are believed to be highly intelligent as well as territorial, and two colossi crossing paths would certainly lead to an earth-shattering battle of beasts.
30+: When tekenkis prepare to fire their weapons during battle, the mechanical plating that covers their massive bodies like armor shifts, providing brief access to the beasts’ interior. These openings, however, are only large enough to accommodate creatures’ passage through the center of the beasts’ chests. Flying, jet packs, propulsion vehicles, or other methods of transportation would be necessary to breach the armor’s opening. What’s inside the bodies of tekenkis is entirely unknown.
Starfinders then boards the Brass Clutch and depart for New Valor on Daimalko.
Stepping out of the Brass Clutch reveals a bustling, haphazard scene. Just beyond the spaceport, rising all around are misshapen buildings made from chunks of iron, displaced bridge struts, and massive structural supports—blasted remnants of advanced architecture lashed together to form workable structures. Osmosis pipes snake toward flat rooftops, where lush gardens contrast with the dusty dirt pathways below. Gray-skinned humanoids, many wearing utilitarian jumpsuits, flit about, interspersed with all manner of peoples. In the distance to the north, toward the thick iron gates that separate the town from the wasteland beyond, stand four massive mechanical vehicles—bi- and tripedal robot-like units equipped with enormous guns and swords as appendages—that hulk above the skyline, seeming as if they gravely watch for threats from beyond the gates.
More specifically you land in New Valor’s starship port, called Point Embark, in a spot specifically reserved for the Brass Clutch in a docking bay along with three other nearby Daimalkan starships, all disabled and seeming as if they have been parked for a while.
One of the Gray-skinned humanoids comes up to you all as you get off the ship and starts speaking in the Daimalkan language. Though you can't understand what he/she is saying, you can tell it is some kind of greeting or warm welcome.
|
|
One of the Gray-skinned humanoids comes up to you all as you get off the ship and starts speaking in the Daimalkan language. Though you can't understand what he/she is saying, you can tell it is some kind of greeting or warm welcome.
R Deckard and Gabbers knows enough about these species to obviously know they would know common.
They look at Gidget all confused with a what did you say look.
The female damai responds back to R Deckard Oh, sorry about that, you don't speak our language. The name is Raluna Po and I'm the senior bioengineer with the Point Embark starport. I take great pride in my work. And I'm sorry but the guardians only carefully track colossi that roam within 50 miles of town. The colossi have a history of roaming the wasteland outside of New Valor. You want to go through the settlement’s historical data of colossus activity. The easiest way to do so, Raluna says, is to check in with the gnome historian named Vedasprig in the large building next to the valkos, called Command Central, on the northern end of town. I'm happy to be of assistance
You also see off in the distance a strong human male, heavily covered in tattoos and body modifications who also works here.
That's okay responding to Gidget
Then responds to Gabbers. Valkos is a vehicle. Oh, and I assumed Starfinders brought compasses with them. She then takes a look at her surroundings of the building for a minute, as she knows which direction the entrances, exits and docking bays face. Okay so if I face the docking bay I'm facing that direction and add a few degrees, so north is that way as she turns almost a full 90 degrees away from it.
|
|
Deckard abruptly turns away from Raluna and saunters over to talk to the human quickly before we leave the spaceport.
Hey, any chance you know something about where to find colossi or information about them? Lady over there says we should talk to some gnome in one of these buildings. That sound right or you have another suggestion? I don't know how to read these locals yet. If you've got good intel, I could make it worth your while.
The man looks over at R Deckard. Sorry there, I'm new here. I've finally became a resident after a couple of months of training and becoming an engineer. I'm not to found of those things, cause I could create a better monster if I tried. But...if you want the information I recommend you talk to the “brave directors of the valko projects,” and specifically a damai woman named Zulille, definitely my friend indeed and “one of the bosses in charge.” Also you seem like one smart girl too.
|
|
Deckard nods at the man's words. Thanks for the tip. Good luck with the new job.
As the group is walking toward Command Central, she notices Gab messing about with his comm unit. You need a hand with that?
Here, just turn this thing around and push that button. And you need to adjust the frequency, like so.
The Starfinders head toward the command center, which is huge, to use the computer and learn that the New Valorites keep careful tracking records of all colossi whose territory comes within 50 miles of New Valor. Because the tekenki they seek is known to roam 60 or more miles northwest from the settlement, the Daimalkans don’t have official records of it.
Of course the Starfinders bypass Zulille and Vedasrig along the way. And the Valkos seemed very interesting to check out as well.
The easiest way to do so, Raluna says, is to check in with the gnome historian named Vedasprig in the large building next to the valkos, called Command Central, on the northern end of town. I'm happy to be of assistance