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The effects of the Data Scourge attacks are still felt across Absalom Stations and the Pact Worlds, and the First Seeker is constantly seeking solutions. After hearing a rumor of Scourge-resistant technology on a distant world seeking Pact Protectorate status, Ehu Hadif arranges for a team of Starfinders to accompany the delegation of Stewards and Xenowardens to review the world's petition. On the record, the Starfinders are concerned with evaluating the planet's ruins, but Ehu hopes they can learn about the mysterious technology supposedly being developed by the colonists. Missions are rarely so straightforward, however, and the PCs must contend with an overreaching church, their fellow diplomatic delegates, and dark secrets buried just beneath the surface of the colony's outwardly placid society. Will this world reach its ambition and become part of the Pact Worlds, and does it really have access to technology that could help combat the Data Scourge? Most importantly, will the assigned agents survive their "diplomatic mission?"
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The android Kat5e scans her palm-implated subdermal Starfinder insignia as she moves through the front doors of the lorespire complex. She wears her signature battered leather jacket over her tight fitting armour, and sports a fairly shiny Arc rifle slung over her shoulder. Tattoos cover her exposed skin. The android circuitry across her face and hands glows softly as she moves through the entryway and up to the reception desk. "Just back from Aballon, want to put my status back to active duty. Got any work for me?... Yeah, I'll wait."
She moves over to an empty chair and dumps herself in it, arms crossed and scowling. Her eyes dart back and forth across the various groups as they pass by her in the lobby - her exocortex feeding her constant data about each person. Not just people watching, people scanning.
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“Good morning, Starfinders!” expedition leader Bennock Gunstrel says from the viewscreen. His familiar smile is welcoming, and his graying hair is tied in its usual ponytail. “Here’s today’s update: Thanks to the vagaries of Drift travel to the vast, we’re running a little slower than our original projections. Still, we should reach our destination in the next week or so. I’m sure you know the mission documents front to back by now, but today’s a good day to review them one more time anyway. Also, I’m sending out team assignments as I speak. Please spend a little time this morning getting to know the agents you’ll be working with once we arrive; you’re going to be spending a lot of time together once we get planetside.”
“That’s all the announcements for today, Starfinders,” he concludes. “Have a great day, relax, and get yourselves ready for action. I, for one, can’t wait!”
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The furry mountain covered in sand-scoured armour and weapons (including a meaty axe) chomps his cigar and rubs behind an ear as he looks at the small chairs designed for humans "I'll stand I reckon", he looks back at the small chairs, clearly working out how much weight they could 'bear'. A small brand new looking medical bot carrying a medkit accompanies the giant bear, it wanders over to plug itself into the wall.
"Blinky Bluegum, friends call me 'Bamboozle'. Spend most of my time on Akiton. Archaeologist, prefer the great outdoors to a stuffy library, much more interested in negotiating the tough desert sands. There's a lot of history and hidden life on Akiton and I take various interested parties out in the sands for research projects - mostly people wanting to look at the many species of cacti, grasses and shrubs whose roots dig deep to find aquifers and sources of water and asses their viability for transplanting to other barren planets as a potential way to create organic water sources, as well as other scientists and adventure tourists wanting to look at some of the ancient wrecks, not much call to go find thasteron deposits anymore. Occasionally we get the Ysoki scrappers needing a guide as they hunt down a payday out in the wastelands"
He pulls a large thermos and a few cups from his pack and begins pouring.
"Anyhow, this flying around on a starship has been an interesting change from my usual work in the outback of Akiton. Still got red dust through everything, don't think it is ever coming back out" He takes a chug of strong black tea with heaps of sugar and a few odd leaves in it.
He pours out another cup and puts it down in front of Kat5e.
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Hef arrived on the ship and settled into his bunk room. His collection of items stayed unpacked though, only removing what is needed from day to day, always ready to go.
He steps into the galley and notices two of his group members sitting and chatting. He grabs a cup of coffee with a metal straw, pours a fair bit of cream in it and heads over to their table.
He is a tall, four armed, grey skinned, black eyed Kasatha. Dressed very simply in what appears to be station maintenance gear crafted for zero g maneuvering with a handaxe clipped to his waist. Criss-crossed across his back is a tactical spear and boring looking staff. Other than the weapons, he appears more suited for manual labor than an exploration group.
His traditional face covering slightly muffles his words, ”I am Hef Sadir. May I sit?”
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Staar is a very small lashunta woman, with a sickly visage. Her eyes are glowing red motes of fiery-red light which smolder and produce thin trails of white smoke. If you ever come close to her, you are pretty sure you can hear voices whispering from inside her head, though her mummified skin might distract you from noticing it...
She stands to the side, her obvious necrograft addiction making casual conversation a bit too uncomfortable.
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Updated Starfinder Society Dossier photo of Kat5e
Kat accepts the dark tea with a nod. "I've been to Akiton, once. Back when I first started with the Society. Cleaned sand out of my actuators for months after too. And don't get me started on thasteron. Tell me, did you act mostly as a guide or were you in the business of protecting your clientele too?"
She nods again at Hef. "Have a seat." As she sweeps her eyes over to the kasatha, her Exocortex picks up and feeds her data on the lashunta woman in the corner by herself. Cool, necrographs she thinks to herself and gives the girl a knowing nod.
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Blinky pours out some more tea for the new arrivals almost reflexively as he continues chatting to Kat5e, "Mostly guiding, and keeping people as comfortable as possible in the inhospitable terrain" he hands out the tea with a smile, emphasising the point "of course when some nasties manage to pop up seeking a fresh meal - or victims - I keep my tourists and myself alive by whichever means necessary. Sometimes being a large creature swinging an axe can be very advantageous"
"As much as I love being a guide and helping people survive off the land, it was just a handy way to subsidise my love of archaeology and being able to visit these remote locations - it can be really expensive!"
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The distinctive tik-tik-tik of a clawed creature walking on a metal floor can be heard in the corridor outside before an unusual looking creature enters the meeting room. A member of the reclusive species known as embri, the creature is about four-feet-tall with mollusk-like physiology. A stern-looking metal mask covers its face. But the tone of its voice is surprisingly gentle. "This one greets these ones. This one's role is to speak for the fallen. This one will learn, remember, and retell should any of these ones fall."
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Alarms blare and warning lights flash as the ship makes a sudden, sickening lurch to one side. The artificial gravity cuts out just long enough to scatter unprepared Starfinders and their belongings into the air before slamming them down onto the deck. The swirling colors of the Drift have vanished from the viewports, replaced by the star-studded void of normal space. An unfamiliar planet looms, growing larger with each moment as the ship races toward impact!
Starfinders scramble to battle stations, rushing to regain control of the ship and assess the situation. “Captain!” one of the bridge officers shouts over the din, “We’re losing altitude quickly!”
“Engineering!” the captain calls into the intercom. “Get those thrusters online, now!”
“Working on it, Captain!” a voice crackles from the speaker. “Feedback from the Drift engine did a number on our systems. Axial controls should be coming back online now, but we’re still working to reboot the main thrusters!”
The whole ship rattles as it begins an uncontrolled descent into the atmosphere. “Pilot, use whatever power you have to flatten our descent!” the captain shouts. “We may not be able to prevent a landing, but with a little luck, we may be able to walk away from it!” Over the next few tense minutes, the flight crew work heroically to make the captain’s words prophetic. The ship quickly loses altitude, skipping hard off a hilltop before skidding to a violent stop through an alien forest.
Starfinders all over the ship pick themselves up and slowly make their way onto the surface of the unknown world. Communits reveal the rest of the fleet is in similar straits, landed on the planet or in the process of doing so under various degrees of control. Bennock Gunstrel calls everyone’s comm units. “Starfinders! If you can hear me, rendezvous at the coordinates I’m sending you. We have a lot of folks who need help and need all available agents immediately!”
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Blinky stares at the wreckage "Again!? Not the first Starfinder vessel I have been in when it spudded into a planet with gusto"
Blinky turns and starts rattling off his thoughts with the calm patter of one who has been through all this before:
"Right, first crash-landing we had on Iski involved a stupidly long three-week walk back to anything resembling civilised, and the weather was trying to kill us the whole time - food and shelter are probably the big ticket items, but luckily I have a bit of that to spare"
"Are our scanning systems still online so we can tell what planet we are on? Did the Science officer manage to scan the surface so we can get a map?"
"Does this ship have escape pods? Those usually have food and shelter - tentage at least"
"Oh, and grab any batteries - we don't know how long we are staying or how far we are going, so if our powerplant is online make sure they are full"
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"Starfinders, there is a lot to do. Pick a job and get to it."
There are at least four obvious tasks that need to be handled immediately. (1) There is a freighter that is still in the sky, and in trouble. Help landing that would be good. (2) Scouting the nearby terrain for useful things would be helpful. (3) A ship that landed in a swamp needs help. And (4) Investigating a non Starfinder ship that has also crashed in the area.
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As the ship sirens kick off, Hef wastes no time and blasts the team with a protective spell.
Life Bubble on everyone, lasts six days.
He rides out the crash strapped into a safety seat, then checks on nearby starfinders. His opinion is then given as to where they should go, ”We protect our allies first, we should help the ship land then head to the swamp.”
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"That was a hell of a ride." Kat mutters as she crawls from the wreckage. She runs a quick analysis, and agrees with Hef. "We stand to save more lives by helping that ship come down in one piece. If we have time we should try to investigate the unidentified shop too. It could be hostile, and give us clues as to what happened here."
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“Starfinders, I’m glad you made it! One of our freighters is still in orbit, drifting without power and losing altitude quickly. Their engineer was injured in the lurch out of the Drift, and no one else can get power restored,”
Bennock says, pointing at one of the few intact shuttles parked nearby. “Hop in that thing and go see if you can help get the ship landed safely. Getting the crew evacuated is your first priority, but the ship is full of the sorts of supplies that are essential if we’re going to be stuck here for any length of time. If you can bring it down intact, we’ll all be better off. I just sent you their coordinates, so get moving!”
You quickly board the shuttle and head on up. You easily spot the light freighter, Leaving a Trail. Its edges are beginning to glow as it enters the upper atmosphere...
Round 1
Task: The approach
You need to get close to Leave a Trail.
Piloting - only one person can do this.
Computers/perception - to help spot an attachment point/navigate to the ship.
You may choose to aid-another rather than lead checking, but that will count as your action.
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The team spots a hatch and quickly manourvers closer to it. Of course getting through the airlock is another matter entirely...
Round 2
Task: The airlock
You need to open an airlock to get inside.
There are a few skills you can use here. Everyone can try one check.
Once you have three successes hold off, as you can jump ahead to the next "round"
Skills
Engineering (DC16) or
Physical Science/Sleight of Hand (DC20)
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Between Staar Kat5e and Blinky the team quickly get the door opened. You have arrived at the lower decks. Now it is just a matter of finding your way to Enginering.
Round 3: Lower decks
Survival (DC16), Perception (DC20), or Culture (DC24) to find your way to engineering.
Again three success and you are there
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The group works its way through the depths of Leaving a Trail led ably by Blinky. Soon you arrive at Engineering
Round 4: Engineering[b]
Here you are facing with the challenge of rebooting the the critical systems to restore power to the ship.
[b]Skills: Computers or Engineering (DC16) or Athletics/acrobatics (to reach those... hard to reach areas) (DC20)
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Round 5: Corridors
With the engines restarted, it is time to search through the corridors for a route to the bridge, and maybe help any injured starfinders you meet along the way.
Skills: Acrobatics (DC15) to maneuver around the wreckage, Perception/Survival (DC20) to find the way, or Medicine (DC24) to help injured folk you come across.
Hef/Speaker get two tries.
Round 6: The bridge
Here folk are panicked and all over the place. Somebody need to bring order to this mess.
Skills: Diplomacy/intimidate(DC16), to get the crew to their stations
Computers (DC24) To find some helpful records, or Piloting (DC24) to help actually land the ship.
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Staar and Hef head you quickly to the bridge. Hef once again takes the lead, slipping intp the pilots seat with a natural flow.
Staar has a hard time making herself heard over the bustle in the bridge.
[
Round 6/7: The bridge
Here folk are panicked and all over the place. Somebody need to bring order to this mess.
Skills: Diplomacy/intimidate(DC16), to get the crew to their stations
Computers (DC24) To find some helpful records, or Piloting (DC24) to help actually land the ship.
Status:
Staar and Hef have already acted in round 6. However you have a couple of rounds up your sleeves so you can try again if you wish.
Speaker and Kat can try again as their R5 actions were not necessary.
Blinky has three rounds of actions