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As the group boards their ship...
Venture-Captain Naiaj’s face appears on a communication screen, her
features even paler and more somber than usual. She pauses for a moment before speaking.
“A group of elite jinsul starships ambushed one of our scout flights near the starship graveyard orbiting Agillae-5. None of our agents responded to my summons. I assume they’re all dead. The jinsuls have left, but we need to know where they’re going next or we’ll be cleaning up another massacre. Check the remains of our ships for anything that might tip us off about their next target.”
Recalling information about the ship:
This ship is the Parting Glance, a veteran Starfinder vessel captained by a highly ranked flight leader nammed Jessyn.
Scanning the ship:
There are no signs of life aboard the ship.
Closer inspections of the ship also show it appears to be offline, likely with no life-support systems currently on. You will likely be on environmental protections for some time but the good news is docking your ship into the wreckage should be easy enough through a breach in the center of the ship.
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Once on the ship the group confirms that power is currently out resulting in a zero-gravity situation, darkness and no life support. Luckily the power core is next to where the group entered the ship, it is heavily damaged so may be able to bring at least some systems back online with the help of those skilled in Engineering.
With a bit of work the core sparks a few times and whirs quietly, the gravity on the ship becomes artificial low gravity and the dark gives way to dim illumination as emergency lights blink into existence. Computers begin booting up in the ship.
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Movement in zero gravity (also referred to as zero-g) is not the same as flight. Controlled movement is difficult without some form of propulsion, and creatures without something to push off from often find themselves floating aimlessly. A creature in a zero-gravity environment can’t take move actions to move its speed, crawl, or take a guarded step. If a creature is adjacent to or in the same square as an object (including a wall, floor, or ceiling) or another creature one size category smaller than itself or larger, it can take a move action to push off that object or creature, moving at half its land speed in a direction of its choosing (as appropriate); if that object or creature is movable, it begins moving in the opposite direction at that same speed.
Moving in Zero-G:
A creature that moves in a given direction continues to move in that direction at the same speed at the beginning of its turn each round (without taking any action); it must move the full distance unless it is able to change its motion by latching on to an object or creature, pushing off in a new direction, or creating thrust of some kind (all of which are considered move actions). If a creature runs into a solid object during its movement, it must succeed at a DC 20 Acrobatics or Athletics check to safely stop its movement; failure means that creature gains the off-kilter condition (see page 276). If a creature runs into another creature during its movement, both creatures must each attempt a DC 20 Acrobatics or Athletics check to avoid gaining the off-kilter condition. A creature anchored to a solid object (such as by the boot clamps available with most armor) receives a +4 bonus to this check. An off-kilter creature in a zerogravity environment can steady itself as a move action that requires a surface to grab on to or some method of propulsion; alternatively, that creature can throw a single item weighing at least 4 bulk (for Medium creatures; 2 bulk for Small creatures) to reorient itself and remove the offkilter condition.
If provided with sufficient handholds, a creature with a climb speed can move along a wall at full speed, as can any creature that succeeds at a DC 20 Acrobatics or Athletics check. Creatures that fly via methods that require an atmosphere, such as wings or turbofans, can’t use their fly speeds in a vacuum; once they reenter an atmosphere, they can recover and get their bearings within 1d4 rounds, after which they can fly normally. Magical flight and methods of flight that provide their own thrust, such as jump jets (see page 206), are not affected. A character in a zero-gravity environment can lift and carry 10 times her normal amount.
Weapons:
Thrown weapons have their range increments multiplied by 10 in zero-g. In addition, all ranged weapons no longer have a maximum number of range increments—their wielders simply continue to accrue penalties the farther away the target is.
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Roddy gives a low whistle as the scans of the ship come in. "Damn! That's the Parting Glance. Its flight leader, Jessyn, was no joke. These jinsul mean business if they can take this ship out. Best keep an eye on the Void, yah?"
He suits up, locking his helmet in place and firing up environmentals. "Let's see what we can find out. I'll take the lead."
This isn't his first dead ship. It's never a pretty sight, but at least he has some experience moving around in zero-G.
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Whiskey Bot slips a spare battery into one of the door receptacles and it weakly lights up, the door sliding to the side.
The sight inside the bridge is grim. Six corpses—three humans, a shirren, a ysoki, and a korasha lashunta identifiable as Captain Jessyn—float in the bridge, their bodies and faces mangled by decompression following the destruction of their ship and environmental controls. Otherwise the room remains dark and the ship's main computer lacks power. With more engineering savvy or another spare battery, the group could likely get it on just long enough to gather some information.
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The android and SRO nearly crack past the defenses but trigger a countermeasure at the end. It sends a pulse of energy across the bridge but it also appears to unlock the admin account.
The logs show the last operation of the Parting Glance was to send a transmission of data on Jinsul movements and numbers to a nearby communication tower on Bastiar-8. Unfortunately, it appears the Jinsul who attacked the ship earlier also retrieved this log...and are likely headed that way now.
The apparent purpose of the pulse is clear when the corpse of Jessyn lurches into spasms and moves on the group. Her body is covered in ragged wounds and a gaping mouth where gases quickly escaped her body in the void of space. As it comes to life those in the group that breathe feel their lungs collapsing under the gaze of the creature.
As if by some supernatural force, the captain floats to the ground under some form of gravity then moves on Roddy. As it draws closer...Roddy and WhiskeyBot both feel the pull of it's personal gravity.
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The creature formerly known as Jessyn wails as the laser begins to burn away at clothes and flesh.
While the fire continues to spread across the creature, it turns away from the downed vanguard and swings at Whiskeybot.
Even with the cover of the computer screen, the arms of Jessyn smash against WB8k with a loud clang.
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Fitch links into each of your comm devices as he sounds a bit frantic. ”Starfinder hackers have recovered navigation routes for supply lines from a jinsul data center on Agillae-4. Using this information, we have identified vulnerable courier routes in the space surrounding Bastiar-6. The First Seekers need some skilled starship crews to choke the jinsuls’ resource pipelines.”
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First Seeker Luwazi sends a call across the fleet. ”A jinsul captive revealed that we have a traitor in our midst! A double-agent has been feeding sensitive information to the jinsul data center on Agillae-4. We need Starfinders adept at hunting fugitives to track this turncoat down and stop them from leaking any other valuable data.”
The Starfinder fleet shifts overhead to close in on Agillae-2 to scout as much as possible while the Jinsul fleet begins to close back in on Agillae-4.
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Roddy gets slammed hard in the chest, but the blow seems to slow slightly as it enters a radius around him, as if the kinetic energy is getting siphoned off the creature's limb. It still hurts like hell when it connects to him, though. He manages to catch his breath for a moment before bearing down on the creature again with the weird, dark energy around his fist.
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As if in unison, Roddy sends a punch at the creature jaw sending energy pulsing away as knives and missiles crash into the creature. It tears away at the rest of the withering flesh as it screams one last time...Jessyn's soul hopefully escaping beyond the mortal prison.
While the creature slowed you down, you are able to gather the information from the computer to help assist the Starfinders in protecting key assests but before you can start on another task the phase of the plan changes.
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The crew quickly departs for the planet Agillae-4 after another team relays the information about a possible mole assisting the Jinsul. When they reach near-orbit a message comes through the comm channels.
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Celita glares at a holographic image of a bat-like, winged humanoid, its scalp sprouting dozens of small mushroom caps.
“This traitor is Tsimtsara, a nelentu from the Kreiholm Freehold that has been selling our secrets to the jinsuls. I do not know why she would betray us, but her treachery has cost dozens of Starfinders their lives and continues to put others in danger. Our Kreiholm allies shared the last-known destination coordinates of Tsimtsara’s starship, which indicate that she is hiding somewhere on Agillae-4. Track down the traitor and stop them.”
Utilizing a stolen Jinsul shuttle, Celita helps the group land on the dilapidated shuttle station. Trash and debris is scattered across the ground but perhaps the group can find something to lead them further in.
First Seeker Jadnura begins to command the fleet. ”Our salvagers managed to extract enemy strike coordinates from some of our felled starships orbiting Agillae-5. It appears the jinsuls’ plan to topple our long-range scanning towers on Bastiar-8’s fourth moon, which feed us all our information about their fleet movements in that system. We need stalwart warriors to stop the attackers so our data can keep coming in.”
The Starfinder fleet sends their ships over to help protect Agillae-2 while the Jinsul Fleet begins to shift towards Bastiar-8