It's morning on Absalom Station, where the Exo- Guardians faction leader, Zigvigix, asks you to meet at the faction’s warehouse headquarters in the Downlow that many Starfinders have affectionately nicknamed “the Nest.” Ever since it was cleared of hostile alien life-forms by neophyte Starfinders the Exo-Guardians have worked tirelessly to turn it into a training gym and engineering workshop. The site buzzes with activity when you arrive.
Past several holographic combat-simulation chambers and an open sparring area, resides an office made of portable prefabricated walls painted a dark maroon. Inside, the augmented shirren, Zigvigix, sits behind a small desk plays a vidgame involving matching different colored orbs. “Have you tried this game yet?” they ask a few moments later after they fail a level. “It’s called Congruenz, and it is most enjoyable! But that’s not why I called you here, Starfinders.” They switch the holodisplay to show the three-dimensional image of a desolate planet. “As has become evident in the past few months, the Starfinder Society lacks the means to protect itself should we encounter a large threat, such as the threats within the Scoured Stars.” Their antennae twitch. “Of course, we aren’t looking to start any fights, but we want the galaxy to know we are ready to finish them. As such, I believe that this planet, Elytrio, might have the resources to aid us."
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Hello everybody, Zoey enters the room with the energy that has earned her the nickname 'the space station's little sister', I am bright and sparkling Zoey. There are, of course, stubborn rumours that the nickname is just a publicity campaign by AbadarCorp entertainment. AbadarCorp entertainment denies those rumours.
Zoey's signature plucky blond hair sticks out of a thick orange winter coat, a somewhat odd fashion choice for a space station that is kept at a comfortable 293K at all times. The coat has a little tag that reads 'property of AbadarCorp entertainment'. She wears a pair of rainbow-colored sneakers of the Cosmos brand.
She waves happily to Zigvigix, one of her favourite members of the Starfinder leadership group (good music taste too!) and listens to the briefing with a concentrated look and the occasional Oooh, aaah reaction.
She fires off a quick message to her sister:
Momoring! Ziggy is sending us to Elytrio, isn't that where you were sent earlier? Sounds like a really cool planet from the name of it... talk to you soon! hug Zoey
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I am bright and sparkling Zoey.
A moment's pause, then: "Yes, you are." Twila-5 deadpans. "I am purple and matte Twila-5." It's true; everything she's wearing is dark, non-reflective, and various hues of violet. The left side of her head is clean-shaven, while the right side sports naturally wavy hair with ombre red-violet roots fading to deep indigo tips just past the shoulder. Her warm light brown skin is entirely covered (as far as can be seen) with indigo and violet tattoos in delicate scrollwork and flowers that highlight her pale violet glowing circuits.
"Which resources are you thinking of? ... You're sending us instead of a construction or mining crew. I take it there are roadblocks that we need to handle?"
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"Have you tried this game yet?” they ask a few moments later after they fail a level. “It’s called Congruenz, and it is most enjoyable!"
Zynn is not sure how to respond to Zigvigix as he considers the threat regarding the events of the scoured stars. He listens patiently to the Starfinder leader amazed that they spends their time vid-gaming and replies curtly, "I have not." In an effort to help the leader expand his horizons, the lashunta asks, "Have you ever meditated and tried to discover the order of the universe by looking within in an attempt to find personal revelation?"
Zynn recalls what information he has gathered about Elytrio.
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Zoey gets a quick message back
The team puts their heads and messages together with a LOT of information:
Elytrio is a planet in the Vast with two moons. The first time a Pact Worlds ship approached, the ship was nearly destroyed by an automated orbital-defense system. Later, a Starfinder team was sent to explore the planet and investigate a large energy signature that turned out to be an inhabited city named Arkeost. The Starfinders made peaceful contact with those that lived there: the descendants of survivors of a great nuclear war that ravaged the planet.
Elytrio’s inhabitants are a dimorphic race of beetle-like people known as ghibranis. The husk ghibranis have sturdier frames and climb with ease, while the membrane ghibranis are slenderer and have wings that let them fly. The husk ghibranis eke out an existence in the planet’s wastelands, while the membrane ghibranis live comfortably within a city protected by a force field, with robots providing for needs.
The Starfinders discovered that in the years after the war, the leaders of Arkeost enacted a plan to create a false deity named Mother Touloo to trick some of the survivors into leaving the city. Without this plan, Arkeost would not have been able to sustain its population for very long. The husk ghibranis are the descendants of those who left the city and still worship Mother Touloo to this day. The current membrane ghibranis had no knowledge of this shameful history, and the two groups aren’t hostile to one another. The Starfinder Society decided not to divulge this information to any of Elytrio’s inhabitants.
Zigvigix looks on, impressed already! “Our scans and contact with the surviving inhabitants have uncovered the presence of abandoned underground bunker at a ruined military base that we believe might hold a few stockpiles of unused weapons. We’d like you to head there, explore the facility to clear out any dangers within, and mark any weapons you find with these.” Zigvigix places a small stack of plastic disks on the desk. “Once you believe it is safe, the Society can send a larger vessel to pick up and transport any weapons you find. You will also be meeting a local contact on the ground to provide you with translations, if you need help.”
"Any questions?"
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"I have two questions for you, Zigvigix. First, is there anything we should do with regards to the gross inequity between the impoverished husk ghibranis and the entitled membrane ghibranis and the deception of this false Mother Touloo? It seems that somebody needs to hear the truth."
"Secondly, can you please explain the purpose of marking these weapons? Is this to be able to find them at a later time?"
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A dwarf, a middle-aged woman with graying hair and neatly-trimmed beard in a hoverchair which has a Starfinder Society sticker pasted over a mining conglomerate's logo, examines Ziggy's game until the briefing begins. "Hello, everyone," she says cheerfully, "my name is K.I.N.A.A. - though some of you already know that." You can see that she is missing most of her right leg, and that her body is muscular even compared to other dwarves. "I decided on a career change, and exploring pre-Gap ruins and fighting jinsul seemed safer than what I was doing before. Oh, and I guess I can serve as team medic if things don't go our way, but you all look highly competent, so I don't expect to have to do much."
Hearing Zoey's introduction, she adds, "I remember what it was like being in my 50s and enthusiastic like that. Now I'm just 'too old for this sh... stuff,' as they say."
She listens patiently to the briefing. "Underground work suits me fine. Anything we need to know about the ghibrani, other than don't talk to one about the other? Any known dangers at the site?"
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Fashionably late, a smiling Tiefling, clad in black heavy armor, bearing the holy symbol of Besmara enters the place. At her side a simple laser pistol and no other weapons. But you see that she has a toolbag with different used bits and part of computers and other electronic devices.
Howdy! I'm Ysh'yall, but you can call me Ysh' if you want.
She sits, puts her feet on the table and casually asks What's the mission?
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"Oh, and I guess I can serve as team medic if things don't go our way, but you all look highly competent, so I don't expect to have to do much."
"Hello, K.I.N.N.A.. It is an honor to meet you. Medics are hard to find. You would be most welcome on our team!"
"Howdy! I'm Ysh'yall, but you can call me Ysh' if you want. What's the mission?"
"Hello, Ysh'. I am Zynn Megavoom. Just before you arrived, Faction leader, Vigvigix was telling us that our mission is taking us to the planet Elytrio, where we will secure a military storage bunker, clear it out, and gather weapons that will aid in the upcoming fight against the enemy of the society. Is that the type of mission that you are willing to take on?"
"I've got some easy answers to Zynn's questions. The complexity of culture are on our minds, but will be approached by agents with much, much more experience and expertise on the matter. The marking of the weapons is also straight forward. The devices are locator disks and function similarly to homing beacons, putting out a faint signal that someone tuned to the right comm channel can easily find. They require no skill to activate, simply the press of a button."
"Information on the ground is very thin, I’m afraid. We’ve failed to penetrate the compound’s exterior to scan it for life. We know the base above it was a military one, so there might be automated defenses inside, but we don’t even know if the area is still receiving power. In short, expect anything! I think you've got the right of all we know.”
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Auntie Yshieie! Zoey shouts as she spots the tiefling among the group it's been forever, how have you been?
When Ysh'yaal asks about the mission, Zoey explains We're going to go a strange irradiated planet with an abandoned bunker that might hold some valuable weapons. There a tour guide too, so it'll be like a holiday!
Hi, purple and matte Twila! Zoey cheerfully greets the deadpan android, I think we make a good team together Zoey looks at the android, intrigues bythe many tattoos Ooh, that's looks really nice on you. Do these tattoos have a meaning? she asks with curiousity.
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"My predecessor, Twila-4, was obsessed with death and decay, and had tattoos all over her body to evoke that idiom. In many ways she is like a mother to me, in that there are some parts of her that I find myself emulating and others that I oppose. I find the aesthetic of being covered with tattoos to be both pleasing and useful, as it breaks up my profile when I am sneaking around. Unlike Twila-4, I prefer to focus on life rather than death, which my tattoos reflect accordingly." It's a bit awkward talking about her predecessor, but Twila-5 has witnessed others being similarly awkward when describing their parents' oddities. Perhaps this will facilitate a connection with Zoey and the rest of the group.
Once the conversation is back on target, she remarks: "I will get a radiation badge before we leave. There may still be pockets of radiation in the bunker's ruins, especially if some of the nuclear weapons are still there after all this time."
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"I will get a radiation badge before we leave. There may still be pockets of radiation in the bunker's ruins, especially if some of the nuclear weapons are still there after all this time."
"Good thinking, Twila-5. I will do the same as well. I suspect we are going to meeting many obstacles as we try to enter an old military compound, radiation not being the least of our worries."
"Zigvigix, I am wondering, do the ghibranis give us permission to enter into this old base and take these weapons, or is this being doing on the stealth?"
"Oh this is not a clandestine mission. One the locals who met our representatives earlier has agreed to accompany you on this mission. She is a bright and eager woman named Klarima, who might be interested in joining the Society one day. Please do keep her safe.”
The journey to Elytrio through the Drift takes . The trip through the swirling purple clouds is quiet until about the halfway point in the journey...
You come across a battered freighter limping through the Drift at suboptimal speeds. The ship identifies itself as the Numinous Canticle and indicates that it holds "...a group of two dozen refugees. We recently fled a moon-based mining and trade hub in the Vast." The base was made up Pact Worlds citizens and the refugee ship seeks to return after the colony was annexed by forces belonging to the Azlanti Star Empire.
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When the call of distress comes in, Zynn turns to his companions, "We need to help them. I'm not a great engineer, but I can offer assistance if one of you wants to try and see what is wrong."
With agreement from the others, Zynn replies on the comm,"Numinous Canticle, this is the Starfinder vessel, Pegasus. We are happy to offer assistance. Standby and we will be over shortly."
Ysh'yaal and Zynn have no problem helping the ship. During the repairs they get a bit more of the story. The Azlanti arrived shortly after a mysterious starship crashed elsewhere on the moon. The citizens offer their only information about the incident, a transmission written in a language they don't understand and don't have a translator for.
“We’ve secured the King Xeros and are effecting repairs.”
You're already on a mission, so you log the information for later and continue on. After another 8 days you arrive. A few hours after they exit the Drift, you approach Elytrio and can see, even from orbit, that the world isn’t much more than a massive wasteland, with nary an ocean to be seen. There is a moment of turbulence as the starship enters the atmosphere, but it passes quickly, and you land at the coordinates provided to them by Zigvigix, which are within sight of the ruined military base.
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Just before the your ship receives clearance to depart Absalom Station, a burly young human mail in iridescent heavy armor, hauling a heavy pack emerges from the airlock and bounds across the bare spacedock floor toward your ship. The bay rings with the impact of heavily shod feet on the steel plating of the floor.
After cycling through the ship's 'lock, he emerges, breathing heavily. He's dark-haired with a pair of thick eyebrows that almost form a continuous line. He drops his pack and leans against the bulkhead, smiling around each breath.
"Better late than never. VC Ziggy would've had my head if I'd missed this gig, but you don't get a fitting with Hatori Hanza easily, and you don't rush the master. I had to run all the way up from deck 21."
A few seconds later he's regained some composure and introduces himself calmly. "Burn Kenyon. I'll be making sure you all get home safe."
He reserves a special smile and elbow nudge for Twila and KINAA. "You're on the quick turn too? Good to be working with you again so soon."
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Burn spends much of the cruise working out, endlessly assembling, cleaning and reassembling his gear, and sparring with anyone who wishes to. He's most often quite, but slips comfortably into conversation with anyone who starts one. Except on the subject of equipment -- in that domain he is something of a bull terrier. He wants to know what you have and why you chose it.
Burn's in favor of helping and he goes with anyone who travels to the other ship. Once there he helps with basic engineering tasks while keeping a sharp eye on the other ship's crew.
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"Well, we have made it to Elytrio safely! Have any of you encountered the Ghibrani before? I have never been here before, but I hope we can keep the peace with all of them."
"Never met one. Ziggy sent me the old mission report. Seems like if we just deal with who's in front of us and don't spread tales, we shouldn't have any trouble."
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"Me neither. But I have met very different life forms before and managed to avoid giving serious offense. Burn has the right idea. We should keep our mouths shut about topics that could cause strife between the peoples. I am glad that the issue will be dealt with by more experienced people."
Once she's off the ship, she checks to ensure that her radiation badge is properly functioning and looks around for a sign of Klarima.
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It's a bit awkward talking about her predecessor, but Twila-5 has witnessed others being similarly awkward when describing their parents' oddities. Perhaps this will facilitate a connection with Zoey and the rest of the group.
It's really great that you be like your predecessor like that! Zoey reacts. My parents died when I was young, I only remember playing with toy spaceships and some of the songs she used to sing for me... she was very nice! Zoey explains, managing to make even the heaviest topics sound cheerful.
Ready for a Z-Mission.
Yes, ma'am! Zoey salutes Yshie, beaming with a bright smile Z sounds really cool! Go team Z!
A transmission written in a language they don't understand and don't have a translator for.
I've never seen that language before... it's definitely not Vesk...
We should keep our mouths shut about topics that could cause strife between the peoples.
The concept of 'keeping mouth shut' is a bit strange to Zoey, but she's also not that into politics anyway. The two groups are coexisting peacefully, right? So everything will be fine!
When the ship lands, she ties the laces on her rainbow colored sneakers, and says Are you ready, Cosmos?
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My mama said you're an alien
You were born on a planet
Red and far away
Out there you were the very best
The real champion at
Spreading joy all day
Then some evil guy came
And he wiped out your mind
But I know you remembered your song
(nanana!)
Soon the whole planet will know
So eat your radishes now
You have to become very strong
A-A-A An Alien
A-A-A An Alien
---Mina Strawberry (273-305AG)
Your contact is Klarima: A young, energetic membrane ghibrani, Klarima is very excited to be working with the Society again. She is a quick study and has picked up Common as a language, making your lives much easier.
After the initial introductions, she adds, "I must apologize that I will be mostly useless in a fight, but I am more than willing to lend my limited spellcasting ability to you."
"I am positive that you are eager to get started, so let us go!"
She takes you into the ruins of Egoret Base, less than a mile from the landing site. As you travel, the clouds above darken ominously, which provides a brief respite from the merciless sun.
Past the barest remnants of a stone wall with a missing gate, several bombed-out shells of buildings ring a central open space paved with crumbling tarmac. Heaps of rusted metal that might have once been vehicles dot the area, and the occasional gust of wind stirs up clouds of grit. A quick search of the area reveals that anything of interest in the base’s aboveground buildings has either been scavenged by husk tribes or rotted away into nothingness. It'll take a bit to find your way down.
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"Hello Klarima, I am Zynn Megavoom of the Starfinder Society. It is nice to meet you. We hope that we will not have to get into a fight, but with the dangers of an old military bunker, we should best be prepared for anything. Lead us onward."
Zynn looks for ways to get to the military base through the rubble and grit.
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Seeing Burnham rush in, K.I.N.A.A. taps her forehead. "My most important gear is right here," she comments before looking down at the hoverchair and the converted mining pick. "Though I suppose it never hurts to have other reliable tools."
To Klarima's apology, she responds warmly, "I know the feeling. My patron has not granted me many of his secrets. Not surprising, since I have only known him for a short time . The last time I was in the field, I don't think I did much of use other than telling people when to push a button." She pauses. "Granted, it was a very important button."
Once in the tunnels, she feels right at home.
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Seeing Burnham rush in, K.I.N.A.A. taps her forehead. "My most important gear is right here," she comments before looking down at the hoverchair and the converted mining pick. "Though I suppose it never hurts to have other reliable tools."
"That's right!" Burn smiles in remembrance.
To Klarima's apology, she responds warmly, "I know the feeling. My patron has not granted me many of his secrets. Not surprising, since I have only known him for a short time . The last time I was in the field, I don't think I did much of use other than telling people when to push a button." She pauses. "Granted, it was a very important button." ...
"Don't sell yourself short, K. All three of you pitched in to haul my bacon out of the fire. Wouldn't be standing here without you."
She takes you into the ruins of Egoret Base, less than a mile from the landing site. As you travel, the clouds above darken ominously, which provides a brief respite from the merciless sun.
Past the barest remnants of a stone wall with a missing gate, several bombed-out shells of buildings ring a central open space paved with crumbling tarmac. Heaps of rusted metal that might have once been vehicles dot the area, and the occasional gust of wind stirs up clouds of grit. A quick search of the area reveals that anything of interest in the base’s aboveground buildings has either been scavenged by husk tribes or rotted away into nothingness. It'll take a bit to find your way down.
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Twila-5's expression doesn't change as she listens to Burn and K.I.N.A.A.'s conversation, but she does clap each one on the shoulder as she adds: "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, my friends. And as we have a larger team this time, our sum has increased."
She joins the search for an entrance.
It doesn't take long to find a way down, but it's covered in rubble. Before you can clear the rubble from the hatch and open it, the wind suddenly kicks up, bringing with it a storm dangerous flora.
Klarima shouts, "soarnettle squall! It'll slice us to pieces! Quick we've got to get in there!” Indeed, it's on you before you know it. The wind is whipping razor sharp thorns at you.
It's going to take a fair bit of work to clear it.
ROUND 1:
Successes: 0/8
Burnham: Go
K.I.N.A.A.: Go
Twila-5: Go
Ysh: Go
Zoey: Go
Zynn: Go
FAIL
K.I.N.A.A. directs the teams efforts as Zynn, Ysh'yaal, Burnham, and Twila-5 heave stones out of the way! Zoey helps a little bit. In a moment the door is clear.
Desna weeps! It's LOCKED!
Burnham (SP: 22/27)
K.I.N.A.A. (SP: 11/21)
Twila-5 (SP: 19/24)
Ysh (SP:14/24)
Zoey (SP: 19/24)
Zynn (SP: 22/27)
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Klarima (HP: 11/21)