Starfinder! The Society has dispatched arranged a a chartered transport vessel piloted by a curmudgeonly vesk named Thresker to take you out to a nameless and uninhabited shepherd moon orbiting Liavara in the Pact Worlds. Curiously, you haven't received any instructions apart from being told that you will be in charge of important geological work and will receive further directions upon arrival. Strapped into the seats next to you are several other experienced Starfinder agents.
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In the ship, an elven woman in a white toga, lies, lavishly not on a seat, but on a confortable couch.
White vapors floats around her, coming from a hooka installed on the couch and the little sip she takes from it.
The couch itself is well maintained, even if numerous cables, wires and circuits seem to come and go through it, as well as some vines that grows all around. Regularly, two mechanical arms sprout from the couch, making tea, opening cans for the elf.
In a half asleep voice, she says May the Dreams be kind to us, May the Stars guide us to our next journey.
I listen to the Stars, I look at the Voices and Here I am.
I'm Gil-Oloth, Dreamer of the Stars. I hope this mission will not be too tiring. I don't like when they are...
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A large hover suit with a shield slowly lowers to the ground a few meters away from the others. With a hiss of steam, the cockpit opens, and a green-haired halfling with a prosthetic right arm exits. He approaches the group and grumbles, "I shall go down in history as the man who dg a hole..."
He then appears to be distracted for a moment, and whispers to no one in particular, "I bet you would fit nicely under one."
"Anyway, I am called Kneepuncher, at least when I am in that getup," he continues, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at the powered armor. "I think we all know why they picked me for this job."
From a craggy, nameless moon in Liavara’s orbit, space stretches infinitely outward.
The shuttle kicks dust into the thin atmosphere as it lands under the guidance of its pilot, Thresker.
Outside rests a pile of metal poles, clips, wires, and geological equipment in front of a small, shabby tent. As if on cue, an icy wind cuts across the barren landscape, wresting a large booklet of papers out from under a tumbled mess of wires.
Thresker watches it flutter away on the lunar wind before turning to speak: “I imagine those were the instructions you need to collect.”
With a slight shrug, he reenters the shuttle and takes off, leaving you all alone on the desolate moon.
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Seeing the desolate landscape, Gil-Oloth activates her armor's protection, even if she seems to have none.
The couch moves the elf out of the shuttle and to the moon, opening the doors, unbuckling her with its mechanical arms.
Once outside, she says At least we can look at the Stars here.
Then the couch starts moving again to get next to the booklet of papers so it can grab them and presents them to the elf.
Gil-Oloth and Phil work together to recovery most of the scattered papers, but, curiously, they seem to consist solely of placeholder text--the nonsense words that infosphere designers use to demarcate where the real text should go!
Kneepuncher makes a careful survey of the area, but there's no sign of life, other structures, or really anything at all of interest on the barren rock.
Data heads into the tent. The jumbled poles, wire, clips, and geological equipment look to be intended to to construct a survey rig to take mineral deposits. But it looks quite complex (and unorganised) and would likely take hours and a large team to build.
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"I am sure at some point there will be someone else along to brief us. They are unlikely to bring us all here, just to throw papers at us"
Meglos however does NOT look surprised as he knows by now some of the upper echelon of the society are some of the most eccentric people in the galaxy
" Perhaps we should setup what rigs we can while we wait for clearer instructions"
Meglos starts going through the jumbled gear.
Kinbara accidentally snaps one of the survey poles and finds herself knee deep in wires as the distinctive humming of an approaching spacecraft echoes louder and louder across the emptiness of the rocky, barren moon. The craft lands nearby with an aggressive thud
Suddenly, the shuttle doors glide open to reveal First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo, who surveys the scene with a discerning gaze. She shakes her head in disapproval at Kinbara. A moment later, Celita, faction leader of the Dataphiles, emerges from the vessel.
“Greetings, Starfinders,” Celita begins as she hastily descends, “First Seeker Elsebo and I have selected you for a delicate and dangerous mission. You may well be wondering why we have transported you here on an odd, and-- she stares at Kinbara --luckily false, mission. The answer is that secrecy is of utmost importance to your true mission, and this is one of the few safe places for us to speak.”
“The very core of the Lorespire Complex has been compromised. Someone has hacked into Guidance, gaining surveillance throughout the building and spying our every move. After a great deal of research and observation, I have learned enough about this system-wide infection to formulate an antivirus.”
Celita pauses, giving Luwazi time to interject, “Celita has put together a datapad that contains a sophisticated virus purge for the infected systems. Unfortunately, the only way to administer the purge is to attach the datapad directly to Guidance’s servers.”
“Since the security systems are compromised, we can’t just walk into the server rooms without alerting whoever hacked the system. So, we need you to break into the Lorespire Complex using rarely used maintenance tunnels, allowing you to reach to the server rooms undetected. Almost certainly you will be met with resistance by our infiltrator. To minimize their knowledge of your mission, and thus contribute to its success, it’s vital that you maintain secrecy. You may have to confront other Starfinders who know nothing of your mission. Avoid lethal force at all costs, and tell no one of your mission, even other Starfinders. If messages of your whereabouts enter our communication systems, Guidance, and thus the infiltrator, could learn of your mission.”
Celita interjects, “We have delayed you long enough. Take this datapad and return to Absalom Station. If you need supplies, get them from locations away from the Lorespire Complex. Then, make your way with all haste to the tunnels. The safety of the Starfinder Society depends upon you.”
Luwazi nods in agreement with Gil-Oloth's remark. "We didn't bring you here because you're master thieves. You've gotten this far in the Society because you get the job done, one way or another, and we know we can trust you. So be smart, be careful, and don't do anything to draw unnecessary attention to yourselves. Most importantly, be ready for anything. Celita, do you want to tell them about their target in more detail?"
The android speaks: "The tunnels beneath the complex are ancient and mazelike, but we have acquired some physical blueprints thanks to Forum member Royo’s meticulous research; he has quite the knack for finding physical schematics. According to these blueprints, Waste Chute II, a unused pneumatic tube for waste disposal, can transport you into the waste storage and recycling rooms. From there, you need to access Waste Chute IV, which passes the Perplexity training grounds and leads up into the cells of the Adamantine Prison--a holding site in the Lorespire Complex. Once there, you’ll need to find your way into the maintenance tunnels beneath the cells and access a maintenance-drone station. The tunnels connecting the maintenance stations should come out close to a secondary server linked directly to Guidance. Find Guidance’s hologram terminal on the server, and attach the datapad into it.”
Luwazi checks her chronometer. "We need to get going," she says to Celita. "Any last questions?" she asks, looking in your direction.
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Meglos will turn to the assorted group
" Is everyone here capable of incapacitating our fellow Starfinder agents if .. more likely when we encounter them? Speak up now so we can at least deal with that issue. I know there are not that many spells that can knock an opponent out so we will have to careful with that too "
" If we are unlikely to be stealthy then we will need to strike hard and fast"
Seeing no further questions, Luwazi and Celita nod at each other and board their shuttle and depart. A small shuttle that they towed in has been left for you to use on your mission.
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"Well we should make sure we go nowhere near the lorespire itself. If there is a way in under we just use that. THat means if you have any stuff at the Lorespire you need, you probably shouldnt go an retrieve it. We dont know who we can trust beyond our superiors at this point. We find the access point on the map and dont try for a second location. If you need a way to see in the dark thats probably best. Lights appearing in odd locations could set off alarms"
Thanks to the wondrous Starstone, the journey back to Absalom Station takes only a single day. Landing in a civilian terminal far from the Lorespire Complex, the Starfinders make their way unobtrusively to a back alley of Absalom Station about half an hour away from their organisation's headquarters. A sewer access panel marked on the blueprints provided by Luwazi Elsebo and Celita reveals a ladder that leads down over 50’ into maintenance tunnels which wind deeper and deeper beneath the station. If it wasn't for the physical maps provided by Royo, the place would be a true maze.
After roughly 20 minutes of walking, you reach the pneumatic tube you’re looking for: marked “Waste Chute II”, the tube has obviously not seen use in decades, and the hatch is rusted shut.
The group make a plan of how to proceed through the tunnels, and Gil-Oloth confirms there are no traps or alarms (magical or mundane) on the waste chute hatch.
Kneepuncher tries to pull the hatch open, while Meglos decides some leverage and a little physics should do the trick--but although the rusty sides of the hatch strain, they don't come free from the wall!
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Gil-Oloth starts giggling in her couch when her comrades doesn't seem to be able to open the hatch.
With a bored voice she says I need to do everything by myself here.
She draws some tools from somewhere in her couch and put them in the mechanical hands of the couch.
The couch gets gloser, and under the elf supervision, works on the hatch.
Gil-Oloth's amazing mechanical couch gets the perfect grip on the hatch cover and, with a loud wrenching sound, manages to twist it free! On the other side is a wide tunnel. You can feel the whoosh of air being drawn into it--it must be a pneumatic tube!
The pneumatic tube whisks you at great speed and finally drops you from the ceiling of a chamber onto a massive pile of garbage almost 20’ high!
The putrescent smell of garbage fills the air of this large room despite countless filtration systems.
Four large chutes hang from the ceiling, each sealed shut with a metallic hatch. Beneath each of the four chutes stand enormous mounds of garbage, each dozens of feet high. The piles gradually descend, creating a small valley in the center of the room between the trash mounds.
The only source of light in this vast room is a large crucible to the west, filled with molten plasma that illuminates the room with red light.
On a metal cable descending 10’ from the ceiling is a 10-foot-wide circular polymer magnet similar to that you’ve seen in junkyards.
According to your maps, you need to access the computer panel on the southern wall to electronically open Waste Chute IV and climb a ladder that will drop down.
Initiative (Round 1)
Kneepuncher
Special
Meglos
Gil-Oloth
Z Data Z
Phil
Special
Bold should go!
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"Z, you're the tech expert within reach, so hop on board."
Kneepuncher does not wait for an answer before lifting the android, hovering to the indicated space and dropping him in one of the non-trashy squares nearby (ideally west).
Kneepuncher lifts up Z Data Z and flies the android off the trash pile.
Initiative (Round 1)
Kneepuncher
Special
Meglos
Gil-Oloth
Z Data Z
Phil
Special
Bold should go!