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Venture-Captain Arvin stands before
a hologram of a planet that appears to
have been ravaged by some disaster;
there is very little water and no obvious
greenery. “Greetings, Starfinders,” he says, without turning.
“You are looking at Elytrio, a newly charted planet in the Vast.
While you might dismiss it as a lifeless rock at first glance, it
still has mysteries to plumb. The starship that discovered it
was attacked by some kind of orbital defense system when it
got too close; the vessel didn’t have the firepower to respond,
so the crew made a prudent retreat. But we Starfinders don’t
let these sorts of things go.” He pauses before continuing. “I’d
like you to take a starship, travel to Elytrio, and discover all
you can about it. If you find any inhabitants on the planet, do
everything in your power to make peaceful contact with them.
If the place is deserted, try to locate information about who
might have built those defenses. Once you’ve got something
interesting, report back to me here at the Lorespire Complex.
Any questions?”
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A gnome dressed in formal but slightly flashy business wear listens carefully to the briefing, nodding in acknowledgement and then asking question in a calm, respectful tone, as if attending a business meeting. To me, it sounds like those in charge of the planet are discouraging visitors. Would our vessel have suceeded in procuring any useful information? Surface scans, or scans of the defense system?
Oh, I'm sorry. The House speaking here. They call me the House because I represent the House, the gnome clarifies without clarifying anything.
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"Which house, the House?" A shirren asks wryly. How could *anyone* give up their *personal identity* for the sake of their job? That's ridiculous!
She shakes her head, not waiting for The House to repsond. "Are there any other planets that may have life in that star system? What type of star or stars does it orbit? Do we have any data regarding whether or not the planet has an atmosphere? How big is it--as in, what gravitational pull should we expect?" Her questioning comes across in a tone and cadence that reminds one of a prideful person bustling to and fro on very important yet menial tasks.
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A young Ysoki wearing a hard hat and an orange reflective safety vest with dozens of removable velcro pockets and a big name stage saying "SAFETY INSPECTOR" takes notes on a datapad.
"Orbital defenses firing on ships for unknown reasons does sound like a safety concern. Was the ship that got fired on able to determine what type of weapon was fired at them?
Pockets looks around the room at the new team forming up.
" Looks like we are going to be working together. My friends call me pockets, the people in the spike call me pockets, you can call me pockets too. As you can tell by my name tag, I work as a safety inspector. Hopefully, with some preparations, this will be a safe mission."
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"Which house, the House?" A shirren asks wryly.
The house, yes. The gnome helpfully responds without being helpful.
" Looks like we are going to be working together. My friends call me pockets, the people in the spike call me pockets, you can call me pockets too. As you can tell by my name tag, I work as a safety inspector. Hopefully, with some preparations, this will be a safe mission."
Nice to meet you pockets, and let me assure that I am always 100 percent compliant with required policies! Any particular area of focus?
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"Nice to meet you as well. Glad to see someone so willfully compliant."Pockets replies with a smile to The House.
Mostly engineering, and computers, but also hazmat and food safety as well, really anything needed to get the job done I"m happy to inspect. I just finished a job inspecting a new spaceship design during a test flight. Other than some low levels of sanitation cleaner leaking, was a simple job."
"No idea why that cleaner was leaking. I'm sure this job will go as smoothly and safely as well. Knowing what main skill everyone brings to the team would help me make a safety checklist for the mission"
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"Ah, excellent. I prioritize sanitation and cleanliness, you prioritize safety," (here she indicates Pockets, then The House), "and you prioritize compliance. Yes. Excellent. Pleasure to work with you. I'm Anock." She comes across as a bit snobbish, and is completely oblivious to the fact that she's interrupted the briefing with something that should have been saved for later, if spoken at all.
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"Pirates? They'd have to be very successful pirates to put up planetary shields. A mercenary base perhaps?" a tall vesk mutters as he ponders the possibilities.
"Kuon Firecleaver. Mercenary for hire. If you need anyone shot or bashed I am your vesk! How big do you think the group in the asteriod is?" Kuon cheerfully asked.
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"Kuon Firecleaver. Mercenary for hire. If you need anyone shot or bashed I am your vesk! How big do you think the group in the asteriod is?" Kuon cheerfully asked.
Ah, a security consultant! The House exclaims, I'd be keen to see your credentials. What experience do you have bashing people?
House pauses for a moment Hold on. Who said we needed anyone bashed on Elytrio? he looks back at Arvin Peaceful contact, right? So bashing is deprioritized, for the moment.
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She shakes her head, not waiting for The House to repsond. "Are there any other planets that may have life in that star system? What type of star or stars does it orbit? Do we have any data regarding whether or not the planet has an atmosphere? How big is it--as in, what gravitational pull should we expect?" Her questioning comes across in a tone and cadence that reminds
one of a prideful person bustling to and fro on very important yet menial tasks.
"Not much, I’m
afraid. Initial scans were too brief to get too many details. Theother Starfinders did report trace amounts of radiation in the
atmosphere, so there is a distinct possibility the planet’s current
appearance is not entirely natural. We don't have much more on the system"
[b]
A young Ysoki wearing a hard hat and an orange reflective safety vest with dozens of removable velcro pockets and a big name stage saying "SAFETY INSPECTOR" takes notes on a datapad.
[b]"Orbital defenses firing on ships for unknown reasons does sound like a safety concern. Was the ship that got fired on able to determine what type of weapon was fired at them?
"Maybe the orbital drones were automated. We don't have a lot of info"
What exactly are we looking for? “I would start with any
signs of civilization: a city, or even the ruins of one. If the planet
is completely deserted, search for some king of interesting flora,
fauna, or mineral deposit. Those defenses have to have been put
there for a reason.”
What if we can’t make peaceful contact with the natives?
“Defend yourselves, of course, but let’s not start a
war here. Return to Absalom Station and we’ll
assess our options from there.”
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The House's regulations have been specifically designed to avoid acute compromises to biological integrity House says, clearly avoid words like 'wound', 'harm' or 'killed' I have done all of the necessary training to ensure any security compliance breaches lead to the best quality of life possible, he indicates being a medic without saying he is a medic.
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"If your armor is second hand might be a good time for an armored inspection. Let me have a look."
Pockets looks over Kuon's armor, pulling up a new checklist on his datapad, occasionally checking boxes as he inspects the armor from head to toe.
"Check, pass, check. Is that a blood stain or some thin you had for lunch? Check, pass. Looks acceptable to me. The environmental protections should be fine, just don't get any holes in it."
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As you depart your briefing a drone buzzes near you.
The drone projects a holoscreen with the image of a confused
looking ysoki child, whose head is quickly pushed out of the
screen by an older ysoki woman. “Fitch from the Wayfinders
here. Sorry about Kirkath popping on the screen; kids always
like the holoprojectors. Anyways, long and short, I hear you’ve
been assigned to explore Elytrio. First contact is important.
Need to make a good impression. Wayfinders specialize in this
sort of thing, so I wanted to offer some help! The drone has a
translation module strapped on its back. It’s not as reliable as
some magical solutions you might have, but if you’re in a pinch
for communicating, it might help!”
- - -
As you pass through the Drift you get a hail from a salvage
barge named Clutter Collector.
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"Back at the spike where I'm from I once found an Exothermic Desiccator was pretty beaten up, but other than missing a Meson Accelerator, it worked fine. I cleaned it up and was able to trade it for a Trajectory Oscillator! How long have you been in the drift? I imagine it can get only out here. Are you the only one aboard your ship?
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Kuon nods in reply to the nanocyte's message. The soldier inches his hands closer to the ship's weapon controls. "What sort of friend are you looking for in the drift?"
"Oh any friends!"
Well, a friend who has an overstock of miscellaneous surplus item, of course, House invents a description for clutter on the fly. Is there any particular category of goods you want to procure? He also asks.
The ysoki makes a sound like screws in a box being shaken. "Oh anything! I have a box of Vesk titan model 27 screws here! I just love them and jogan fruit jelly in the fridge! 50 jars and a box of wooden red chess pieces...and..."
She seems to drone on.
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"Here's my com unit number. Look me up if you're ever on Absalom Station. I can show you the best places to scrounge for scrap. We got a mission we need to get back to."
"Oh great Thanks!"
- --
You drop out of the Drift and approach Elytrio,
Suddenly your comms suddenly squawk to life, filled with a crackling robotic voice in an alien language. T
Simultaneously, a hemispheric vessel—an orbital drone
platform—comes into view from behind one of the planet’s moons.
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That's very friendly, the orbital defense system is kindly offering recycling services for the vessel we're on, which I suggest we decline if we do not want to overly rely on our excellent escape pods. The alternative the vessel offers is altering our destination. As it turns out, that is outside out mission parameters, the house summarizes the already short robotic message.
I believe we can expect a imminent power excursion from that platform over there, so it would be prudent to raise shields.
House then proceeds to open the comms: Attention alien vessel hovering over us in an obvious attack posture. This is The House, and I represent the House. House policy does not allow any modification to any vessel currently home to the House, it included. Any damage caused by... oh... House stops and closes comms again.
I think I'm talking to the answering machine.
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Pockets feeds the incoming message to our drones Tetrad translator trying to teach it the new language. Then sends a message back in common, trying to get more responses for the translator and also trying to slow down the defense drones attack. Pockets repeats the message in; ysoki, akitonian,vesk, vercite, and castrovelian.
"Please stand down. We have been sent to upgrade your computer system. Work order number 6700985-90707. If you have not received the work order, we will need to inspect your communication sensors as well. authorization authority central command."
"We're too far away for me to get a scan on it. Anock, can you get us in scan range? Kuon, are the weapons systems ready? The House, do you have any tricks up your sleeves to buy us sometime before the modification clause gets violated?"