You have received a mysterious communique requesting you to join several other Starfinders in the Lorespire Complex for a mission. This, in and of itself, is not the mysterious part. The Mysterious part is that the communique was signed by Guidance, the enigmatic AI that runs the Starfinder's day-to-day operations. While the AI TECHNICALLY has the authority to send agents out on missions, it is rare that Guidance chooses to do so.
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Entering the room is a black furred Pahtra. He's got a laser rifle hanging from one shoulder and a pike slung across his back.
He nods to the female human, while finding a seat with its back to the wall. "Hello, I am Tyrson. Do you know why the Guidance has summoned us?" he asks in Veskarium accented Common.
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A hulking, brightly hued vesk strides into the room. Tight fitting microcord armor reveals well-defined arm and leg muscles, but a short-sleeved brown robe emblazoned with orange spikes acroos the chest and on the shoulders can't hide a bit of a paunch. A hand is draped casually off the butt of a long-handled club with wickedly large spikes, the most brutally basic form of the traditional vesk doshko, that balances on his shoulder.
He looks down on the human, his face scaly and alienly inscrutable.
"Thenither. Maybe you've theen my video from Thalvation's End?"
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In walks a giant ant with vaguely humanoid features. At least, she has hands and a portion of her body is upright, though her arms and legs are spindly and her torso and abdomen are round and covered in a carapace.
That torso is a dark crimson color and the abdomen is even darker, almost black.
"I bid you greetings. I am 903 Ck-Chk-Ckt. You may call me '903' as your mouthparts are likely not properly designed to articulate my proper name easily." By the effort it takes her to speak, it is clear that her her mouthparts are not designed to articulate your shared language easily.
Uh-huh, that's it, stack the dasch trigger after the Corox etb, then let them take out the oppo walker and: win!. Duh! the newest entrant to the room mutters to himself as the door slides open for him. The short red-scaled ikeshti's eyes don't look up from a vid-game console literally bolted to his forearm until he plops down into a chair and logs off.
So, big day, big mission! Do we know where... the ikeshti's eyes widen as they land on Amy Mercury. Blinking, he continues a bit quieter. I mean, did Guidance send anyone else details as to where we're going to be going?
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A tall woman in what might be called a a lab coat, if lab coats could be blue and fur lined, strides into the room. She glances at everyone gathered already with snake pupil like eyes as a snake-like tail flicks behind her. "Dr. Seggas Yakan, DVM, DMD. You can call me Dr. Yakan, or Mistress Seggas if you're feeling forward."
The obviously fiendish woman moves further into the room, plans already formulating in her head as she goes. Woman wearing almost nothing, good for seeing dermal changes. A Pahtra, don't get to test on those often. Vesk in decent shape, nice to have hardier subjects as well. A Formian, dang I did get a lucky batch this time. And then even an Ikesthi! Now I can test that scale regrower and see if it works on more than just vesk, and make sure I fixed the feather problem.
She rounds on everyone in the room and with a wicked looking grin and a flick of her forked tongue exclaims. "And welcome to being my test subjects! *hack*" She stops mid-maniacal laughter as something seems to have lodged itself in her throat. A few good seconds of heavy coughing she straightens. "Dang pastry I was eating got lodged in my throat!"
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Amy jumps up and pats Seggis on the back. She was about to perform the Heimlich Maneuver when the pastry dislodges.
I hope you're alright now she says shyly, looking a bit intimidated by the tall Tiefling, (and the Vesk to be honest). Um DVM? DMD? I'm nowhere near my Doctorate yet She sighs at that. And ..... test subjects? What sort of tests?. She looks a bit nervous at that.
And... no ... Guidance just said to report here for a mission, post haste. Didn't get any further details though.
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Seggas gives Amy a smile, though it's hard to tell if it's genuine one or a one hiding wicked thoughts with how it curls at the edges. " Yesss, a Doctorate of *cough*Veterinary Medicine and a Doctorate of Medical *cough*Dentistry. I've gone to medical school! ... at least until they booted me for manically laughing one too many times mid-operation.
"As for tests, don't worry, none of them will hurt, for you, and they are safe... mostly. I've been digging into gene splicing recently. Using retroviruses spliced with specifically selected and catered strands of ribonucleic acid to...." She natters on like this for a bit, going deeply technical as she does.
A few minutes later, she folds up the projector screen and collapses the projector and pointer device she used to present what might ahve been the driest power point in existance and looks around the room. "Sssso, Guidance called us here. Any sign of the AI?"
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903 watches Seggas enter and dominate the room. Her compound eyes shine and reflect the light as she tilts her head from side to side and up and down with quick, short movements as she attends to the presentation.
Although, partway through, she leans over to Thenither. "Is this correct behavior?" she asks the vesk.
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"Who can tell? These thcientistth are a funny lot." The vesk stares at the formian. "You look like a warrior. Your armor ith good, I will buy thomething like it when I can, but your weapon ith puny. You thould buy one of thethe." He shakes his doshko. "Learning a real weapon like thith ith the firth thtep to worthipping the great god Damoritothh."
A cluster of sleek black computers rests against the far wall of the meeting room. The Starfinder Society emblem at the center of the server cluster shines and begins projecting a stream of holographic light. The light takes the form of humanoid figure bereft of any definition, standing at the end of the meeting table closest to the servers.
“Greetings, I am Guidance. I have a new assignment for you. Please observe.” The projection gestures a flicking hand to its side, and a stream of data detailing an outpost made of interconnected circular chambers scrolls beside it. “One of the Pact Worlds’ most prestigious organizations recently discovered a dataset detailing the location of an outpost abandoned over two hundred years ago. The organization has requested that the Starfinder Society dispatch a team of agents to secure the site, along with any remaining equipment or data. Your team will travel to this outpost and retrieve as much information about it as possible. You should also salvage any relevant equipment, which the Society will take as part of its payment. If you have questions, now is the time to present them.”
”The Desnans founded this particular outpost. Recently recovered records from the church show that the outpost was placed there as a sort of waypoint. The plan was to eventually make a spaceport for travelers journeying to the nearby star. Apparently it is a site of some small religious significance to the Desnens. However , the church lost contact with the site partway through construction. Unfortunately, this happened during a church reorganization, so the records of the settlement were lost until recently.
“The planet is deceptive. It’s appearance is that of lovely grasslands, but the atmosphere is thicker than most of you are used to. Not fatally so, but I would suggest using your environmental protections for the duration of your outing in the planet.”
”The planet, its designate is P-0n3, is only .667 planetary units in diameter, but thanks to an unusually dense core it has gravity comparable to here on Absolom Station.
“Relatively few know about this planet, so I find the idea of competing explorers unlikely. As for dangers: Desnan records are. . . spotty at best. Also, we do not know what caused the first expedition to lose contact with the Desnans, but that was two centuries ago so it may not be an issue. Remember the Starfinder operating procedure! If you find intelligent life, do your best to befriend them. We do not want to be known as interplanetary thugs.”
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Amy looks relieved Phew ... for a while I thought I might have to hire a hover chair. And Desnians. My sort of people She is actually wearing a necklace with the symbol of Desna hanging from it.
She then checks the infosphere for information on P-0n3
Sorry for cutting you off 903 she then says. I ... was concerned about my safety
Amy finds a very small listing for the planet as possibly habitable, spotted through telescopes. No information at all about any expeditions there.
Test subject huh? 's cool. Like getting quick twist reflexes on the fingers like a slag shrimp or what? Dax asks Seaggas, the youth's interest in her talk of upgrades overpowering his fear of everything else about her. But s the descriptions begins to get a lot more technical than 'superpowers' his eyes begin to glaze over.
When the projection pops into the room, his hands immediately twist his console back into position as Dax works to records Guidance's data dump. Two-hundred year old equipment? Who's so interested in that old junk? I've got a scale-brush with more processing power than those mainframes would have.
At the AI's explanation, the ikeshti rolls his eyes. Of course, religious stuff. Why go with what's new when you can choose something a butterfly wrote forever ago.
He notes that Amy in sharp contrast seems more interested in the site due to its Desna link. Mentally biting his tongue, Dax offers Well, I guess if a God - sorry, Goddess - took a liking to it, it should still be in good shape then, right?
Guidance turns to Dax. "May I remind you, Junior Starfinder, that many of our missions are archaeological in nature? The Desnans wish to know what happened to their colony and we do as well. If the danger is passed, the Desnens may even be able to set up the Starport they once planned. In addition to this archaeological discovery, the Desnans are paying us to find out what happened to their lost colony, the recovery of technology and artifacts from the site is just a portion of the payment we'll receive."
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Seggas gives a smile at the enthusiasm that the Iksthi displays over the idea of genetic manipulations. "I've got some codes worked into the viruses that keep them from being permanent *cough* cause they might not work*cough. You'll have to pay if you want those!"
Seggas then sits down for the first time, folding her legs into the chair and lifting her tail out of the way when Guidance makes their prescience known. She watches the figure for a time, trying to make out what kind of humanoid they are presenting as presently, but not quite able to make out the details. "So go visit this Desnen outpost and see what we can find there? Sounds readily done enough, and would give people plenty of time to perform experiments " Realizing that they are still in front of Guidance, Seggas takes her seat again and gives a small cough as if to hide the beginnings of her evil laugh. "Uhh, I wonder if there are any medical discoveries waiting for us there. Certainly the technology will be out of date, but there are many other things we could find and learn from an abandoned place as well. Least of which, why it was abandoned."
"As far as ships go, as long as it can fly and defend itself in a fight, I'm okay with whatever."
But the Pegasus has superior computational power and better sensors Amy argued back. And that's much more useful for exploring the unknown.
Higher CPU's worth its wait in starmetal. Dax agrees. And don't want some stray 'firepower' smashing up the temple. Because its important and stuff.
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"Colony gets stronger as it gets bigger," she comments about setting up diplomatic connections with any races they might encounter.
Seggas gives a small sigh of contentment at the idea. "Yessss, having a larger colony is better! So many people to experiment on. So much potential for genetic variation that could lead to creative solutions to century old problems...."
She paused for a bit. Although, I've never actually flown a real Drake before
Seggas pops out of her reverie for a moment with these words. "Never flown on a real drake either, but I've heard unless you have a strong bond, and are really light, it's pretty likely you'll end up falling off one instead of flying on it. Drakes are finicky beasts to say the least, probably comes from the distant relations with dragons."
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"I'll give you the sensors are nicer on a Pegasus, but the Drake's got the best computer of the pair. All the better to target your quarry." argues Tyrson.
At Seggas' interjection, Tyrson turns and tilts his head. "What in the name of Damoritosh are you talking about?"
"Whatever it ith, it hath nothing to do with Damoritothh."
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That can't be right Amy retorts as she pulls up the specs of both ships on her datapad for a side by side comparison.
The tri-node should be on ........ she pauses, looking really surprised at what she saw .... the Drake. I do so humbly apologise my dear sir. she continues blushing and looking rather sheepish while staring at the floor in embarrassment. I ... could have sworn it was the other way round.
She paused for a bit then quietly added Of course it's not the size of your node but the software within it
You make for a Pegasus style ship and take off the next day (you can buy stuff if you want.) After days, you arrive in the system. You approach the planet where the data says that the outpost should be. However, sensors are going wild.
As you are looking for a place to land, you detect a creature flying up from the planet's surface. It looks like a giant shark!
two appendages, and a narrowed tail, and they typically feed on
energy—their favorite meal being the power cores of starships.
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Just before liftoff, Amy, still wearing the battle bikini, hopped into the pilot's seat and buckled herself in, She then said "STAR MERMAID POWER - MAKE-UP". which resulted in a flash of light around her. When that cleared, she was sitting there wearing a dark blue mermaid tail and matching top, which matched her hair colour. In answer to her crewmate's stares she said blushed and mumbled "Don't need my legs to fly ... besides, it's more comfortable this way".
When the Pegasus was in auto-pilot in the Drift, she spent most of the time in her cabin, or in the zero-gee gym, practising her dance moves. ((If the Pegasus had a water filled chamber or a swimminng pool - she's also be in them too))
So, when the Pegasus dropped out of Drift and into range of P-0n3, there was a mermaid at the helm. ((unless there was strong objections from the Captain - or anyone else))
((Just in case you need it in a hurry - here's my piloting initiative roll: ))
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At Seggas' interjection, Tyrson turns and tilts his head. "What in the name of Damoritosh are you talking about?"
Seggas tilts her head, "You know, drakes, the beasts that that ship series was named after. Smaller, less intelligent cousins of true dragons. I think they have wings for arms only, but I could be wrong on that. I know there's a variety of radiation drakes that crop up around kaiju."
She paused for a bit then quietly added Of course it's not the size of your node but the software within it
Seggas pauses, "I thought it was having a node or not that mattered. Hmm, I'll have to add that to my notes to investigate then."
Seggas eagerly loads a few extra large boxes, a couple of which may or may not be trembling of their own accord, onto the ship before take off. She takes over the science lab immediately and bans everyone else from it, holing up in it for most of the trip. Walking by the qurantine taped doors, there is the occasional sound of manic laughter coming from within and what sounds like might be a monologue or two being practiced.
She does occasionally come out of the lab to bring a vial or test tube to someone, insist they drink it and then stay to watch the results, occasionally nothing seems to happen but on more than a few occasions changes happen in the victim test subject, though none of the changes last for more than an hour or so at best. She manages to accomplish a few things including turning Amy's exposed skin blue but making her feel chilled the entire time, growing the spikes on Thenthier's head but making them itch like crazy, making Tyrson's teeth able to retract like his claws but only reflexively when chewing, and even giving 903 a small opening in his throat that can clamp down on a straw but unable to provide any suction to draw liquid through it. Her crowning achievement is increasing Dax's reaction speed by 33%, though he does seem to develop an uncontrollable twitch in his hands.
When the call for the proximity to the planet comes, Seggas clomps onto the bridge with a set of cloven hooves instead of her normal feet. "We're here? Dang, I nearly got this serum I was going to try on Tyrson ready! Oh well. Oh what's that shark-like thing? Just a second..."
Seggas pulls up the ship's databanks and pulls up a holographic text book for... veterinary medicine? She flips open the cover and to the section on space capable creatures...
Ah, right a Besmaran Whelp. This one looks like a Orange Sharp-Tooth variant. Likes to feed on electricity, starship power cores in particular... Seems the most common medical complaint from owners is the whelp can easily get an intestinal cholic from the bones of crews they eat. Poor things."
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Amy had a solution for the chillness from the blue skin. She found a large container, filled it with warm water and completely immersed herself until the whole thing wore off, while reading from a waterproof datapad. She didn't emerge for air for at least 60 odd minutes - it may have been 90.
Gill implants she replied to Seggas's question. And maybe you want to see what I can do in space .......... or maybe not. as she looked embarrassed instead
After Seggas identified the creature, Amy, who was in merform, replied,
Well ... whatever it is .... it's bearing down on us like a hungry shark, presumably to devour our power core. Evasive maneuvers Captain?
Round 1 Starship combat:
Engineering phase
Helm/Science Phase
Party's Inititive 27
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903 is not sure she likes the extra hole in her body, but it doesn't seem to be detrimental and the whole reason she left her colony was to experience new things, so...
As the space shark approaches, she hurries to an access panel and tugs on some wires inside, attempting to adjust the ship's sensors.