/dot in!
Venture-Captain Arvin has invited you to a brunch at Qafe Qabarat, a quaint Castrovelian fusion eatery on Absalom Station, to discuss your next assignment.
As a server removes empty plates from the table, Venture-Captain Arvin speaks. “I do admit this brunch was to assuage my guilt about the assignment I’m giving you today, as you won’t be getting the chance for any such dining for a while.” He takes out a datapad and swipes the screen, sending out a file that contains basic information and images of a star system in the Vast labelled Mentras System.
“We’ve had some forays into this system in the past, and the Society established a research outpost on one of the asteroids to survey the system more thoroughly. The agents inside the outpost have been working tirelessly for well over a year now, and they deserve a break. But since we can’t leave the outpost unoccupied, we’ll need a skeleton crew to take over while the primary crew is gone. This is your assignment. Travel to Outpost 634 to relieve the crew and then remain there while the crew returns to Absalom Station to relax and spend some time with their families. Given how time in the Drift is nebulous, you’ll be at the outpost for anywhere from five to nine weeks"
“I know it’s hardly the most interesting of missions; the most I expect you’ll have to do is make sure the equipment stays maintained. The crew will brief you on the details of what you’ll need to do during your stay once you get there, but I don’t believe it will be anything particularly technical. The outpost is relatively self-sustaining, and your ship is loaded with enough supplies for months. When you return, you can dine at any restaurant on the station, my treat.”
|
At first Ysh'yaal was delighted to eat at Qafe Qabarat, but after hearing the mission from Venture-Captain Arvin, she is not in the same mood.
Boring, boring, boring ... I have not signed in the society for that!
She tries to remember something about the Mentras System that could be interesting while nevertheless smiling to Arvin.
Don't worry Venture-Captain, that's seem quite the fun to do that! Almost like holidays!
What can you tell us about what there doing there or the place there in?
"Excellent Murgatroyd, but perhaps also an opportunity to catch up on some personal projects or some quiet study time"
"Ysh'yaal, the team is made up of experts in their respective fields who have contributed much to the Society. Dr. Ordez, a geologist, is formally in charge of the outpost. Dr. Thrai is an archeologist who specializes in spacecraft development. Dr. Renou is a biologist studying any microbial samples or other lifeforms discovered in the system."
"The researchers are supported by an engineer named Bhennie Melford and a combat specialist named Vos Avino. In addition, there are two representatives from allied organizations currently observing the outpost. Resurgent Technologies sent Mr. Sonder, and Havar Maddu is representing the Xenowardens to guarantee the Society’s presence isn’t causing significant disruptions to the local ecosystem.”
***
Outpost 634 is on an asteroid roughly 30 miles in diameter in the outer edge of an asteroid belt in the Mentras System.
The Mentras system is the home of the mentrasi species. The Starfinder Society found evidence of their presence on Kukanou-2b, a moon orbiting the gas giant Kukanou.
**
Long before the Starfinder Society discovered Mentras, a natural disaster destroyed the entire mentrasi civilization. The residents of one mentrasi city attempted to survive by binding their souls to the moon but only succeeded in trapping their spirits, unable to return to life or move on. Members of the Starfinder Society freed their spirits, allowing them to finally find rest.
**
Mentrasi refugees fled long ago from the system that later became known to the Society as the Scoured Stars. The god of the Scoured Stars system, Kadrical, sent mentrasi survivors a beacon known as a Tear to summon them back. The mentrasi did not answer the call and instead sealed the Tear away, where former first seeker Jadnura eventually found it.
**
Mentrasi were not the only members of the Scoured Stars diaspora. Jinsuls belong to a militaristic theocracy that originated there as well; along with being enemies to the Society, they’ve attempted to track down other species from the Scoured Stars to force them to return.
|
A smiling, blonde-haired girl walks in and greets the room with an energetic Hello everybody! My name is Zoey, and I'm in charge of brightness!
We'll be spending some weeks on an asteroid station. Great! We can play games, and watch movies together...
Not having been introduced to any of the members of the group, she just hesitantly says Nice to meet you uncle... auntie... ?
The viewscreen shows a small building constructed of prefab structures built into the pockmarked surface of a large asteroid on the edge of the belt. The comms light up, and a recorded message plays: “You are approaching Starfinder Society Outpost 634—” that voice cuts off as another interrupts: “Please give us a ping, by Yaraesa, we are so bored.”
There are sounds of a scuffle, and then the original voice continues. “Please be aware that, according to Pact Worlds law, the Starfinder Society has first exploration rights to the Mentras System, as well as claims to any discoveries of note. Feel free to open a communication line if you have questions or require aid.”
After a few moments, the message begins to repeat. Suddenly, your ship’s computers blare a warning as they detect a surface-to-air weapon powering up at the outpost and locking onto the ship.
You realize that the type of weapon being readied is powerful but fairly inaccurate, with a limited range of fire that substantially decreases the closer the target is to the ground; the weapon’s primary purpose is to keep space debris from hitting the outpost.
You all scramble for your stations!
|
|
The recorded message reminds Zoey of an oldie, and she breaks out in a song to encourage the pilot:
I must let you know
A sign for you, a signal for you
No reaction shows
A sign for you, am I coming through?
Are you reading me clearly,
Seeing me clearly?
Over, over, over, over!
Wink you a signal
Blow you a signal
Copy, copy, co-copy!
Lima and Oskar
Viktor and what now?
Can't you send me an Echo?
Zoey looks around and realises no one else is stepping up to take control and dives for the stick. Zoey gets the ship down between bursts of incoming fire and does so without any damage to the ship, landing just outside the squat base as the docking bay has not opened. You spend a few minutes trying to hail the base to no avail before realising you will need to suit up, walk over, and manually open the docking bay.
|
|
Zoey sits down behind the steering wheel, taking 'don't be gentle with the rental' to a whole new level. hey, I know how this works, I saw it in a music video once! Singing merrily, she seems to be able to avoid the incoming fire, though whether that is a result of skill or luck is anybody's guess.
At least she's keeping her hands on the controls.
Go go! Space Ship!
Rocket to another world!
Four three two one!
Ground control
We're good to go!
Ah - yeah - ah - yeah
We power up!
Destination:
to another world!
Hold on guys! she screeches as she plops down the shuttle on the landing pad. She flips some switches overhead (one of them is clearly labelled 'air conditioning') and taps a light. It doesn't blink, so Zoey hops out of the chair and follows Murgatroyd. Time to suit up!
|
|
Ysh'yaal is well builded smiling women tiefling with a pink complexion, auburn hair and beautiful horns. On her armor you can see the symbol of Besmara on her right shoulder and some marking, clearly affiliated to the Free Captains of the Diaspora, on her left.
She bears no weapon, but a lot of scrap, bits of computer parts, or old machineries...
Howdy! Pleasure to make your acquaintance Zoe!
Ysh'yaal seems to be some sort of nerd as she's often working on the ship's computers.
Ysh'yaal helps Zoe navigates.
You trek over to the base.
A humming, bright blue force field seals in the outpost’s artificial atmosphere while allowing creatures and objects to pass through harmlessly. Inside, the walls are rough, natural rock while the floors are smooth-cut stone. Much of the structure is built directly into the asteroid, with technological additions where necessary.
Two rails traversing back and forth from the starship landing site serve as docking stations for transport platforms. One such platform sits powered down at the end of the eastern tracks. The southern wall houses two computer workstations, and a large metal door to the west leads further into the outpost.
The air inside the force field is breathable but stale. The outpost’s power is still functioning, and this room is brightly lit.
|
|
After activating her suit environmental protection, Ysh'yaal steps up.
I agree, this silence is strange and the fact no one was able to direct our ship here is even stranger.
May be they all died of boriness?
After a last smile, she gets to the control panel to take a look at it and trying to figure out the last time someone used it.
|
|
"I would have expaected them to shut off the guns for our approach. No answer? Did they head back home already?"
Yeah, that's pretty sloppy. I hope it's not one of those hidden camera gags... Zoey says, making a smiley face and 'v' sign in some random direction.
Seeing Ysh'yaal move to the panel, the randomly-capable icon moves to assist
Zoey chimes in as you all inspect the panel.
She notices that it appears to have been haphazardly taken apart and put back together. After satisfying herself that it isn't trapped, she gets it repaired.
The computers do not seem to want to reveal any secrets...Ysh finds them rather troublesome.
With access to the computer you find you can move the transport back and forth along the tracks at about jogging speed, and turn the lights in the room on or off. You also find you can access automated logs that record all significant passages through the force field, which reveal that no one has left or entered the outpost in over four weeks. This log’s last recorded movement shows a large group of creatures entering, followed by a small number leaving a few hours later—though the logs don’t track specific numbers
With nothing else to be found, you head to the control panel and open the door.
The primary objects of note in this circular room are two huge metal trays piled with mineral samples. At each workstation, it appears someone was in the process of cataloguing and dividing up the rocks into smaller samples for further study. A tiny conveyor belt travels through this room, vanishing into the wall near an airlock door. More rocks sit on a platform next to the conveyor belt. One station is labelled MA-053-07, and the other is labelled MA-053-08.
You notice evidence of gunfire on the western wall of this room.
DC 16 Physical Science check to recall knowledge for more info!
An airlock to the south is the main exit from this room.
There appear to be a smattering of shots around the place.
|
|
Good catch Mur! Clearly something's wrong here. Lets continue.
Ysh'yaal concentrates and all the bits and part she is wearing transformed into a strange scrap blade!
She looks at the shots pointed out by Murgatroyd-01, trying to understand what happened here.
The she moves to the door, and tries to open it once all her comrades are in the room.
Ysh can tell there was some well-placed shooting in this room - Lasers from one side, and bullets from the other. Someone has done a good job of cleaning up though.
Examining the samples (MA-053-07 & MA-053-07)
You identify that they contain platinum deposits
You notice that some of the metallic pieces are likely starship fragments rather than asteroid rock.
All that remains then is the airlock.