For the past year, the Starfinder Society has been searching for Ongie, a ysoki engineer on the run from the corporate overlords that have ruled her hometown for nearly a century. Known in Ongie’s hometown of Braerton as the Mongers, the Starfinder Society has recently come to suspect that the Mongers are the same group that they’ve been hunting all year—the mysterious Organization. If this is true, it’s likely that Braerton has an important role to play in Project Dawn, an ongoing plan enacted by the Organization that will result in the death of millions if they’re not stopped. Finding Ongie has become a matter of life and death.
Unfortunately, the Starfinders aren’t the only ones hot on Ongie’s trail. Organization assassins have been after Ongie since her escape from Braerton three years ago, and have finally cornered her on Vesk-7. If the Starfinders don’t act fast, Ongie and all the information she possesses will slip through their fingers.
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A ysoki wearing a hard hat and an orange velcro safety vest covered in removable pockets looks at their datapad.
"Project Dawn, That doesn't sound so bad"
He keeps reading out loud.
"an ongoing plan enacted by the Organization that will result in the death of millions if they’re not stopped."
He pauses and taps the datapad screen to make sure it working and reads it again.
"result in the death of millions, now that's a clear safety violation!
"The names Pockets, My mother calls me Pockets, station security calls me Pockets, my friends call me Pockets, you can call me Pockets too. I'm here to keep this mission safe, once we hear what we're supposed to do."
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Another drow, similar in face to the one already present as a brother or son, although they are not even relatives, also smiles. What we have: a fugitive engineer, assassins chasing him, another gang that is our competitors... This drow feels right at home. Like a fish in water. Like a parasite demon in the brain. He feels good.
He slaps Trober on the shoulder, knowing full well that he will shudder, according to all the traditions of their people politely greets Seldszar (but not as ingratiatingly as before, by the way) and greets Pockets.
The drow who introduced himself as Antethriss is muscular, athletic and wears tight black armor one size smaller so that the fabric emphasizes his broad shoulders, developed (but not excessive) biceps, triceps and forearms, narrow waist and so on.
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The drow speaks (and smiles).
"Antheriss, good to have you in this enterprise - a but different from our fetch and carry work for aspiring Seekers"
"Trober" he grees politely.
"Pockets" he also greets polietly.
A spider-like drone follows behind, the mechanical click-clack of the legs and feet slightly unsettling.
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"Looks like we got a bit of waiting to do, I'll pull up a Starship safety check list, we can see who's qualified in what area of a Starship."
Pockets pulls out his datapad and starts checking boxes for his training.
Engineering: +10
Science officer: Computers +8
Captain: Intimidate +7
Piloting: +6
Gunnery check: +3
"I can captain the ship but, won't make any friends doing so. I can Fly just fine, landings let me get back to you on that one. I've never missed with a ship's gun before, I got a perfect score, one shot one hit, now if I can keep that up on my second shot... Anyone want to bet on that?"
"Who's next? Just tell me your qualifications and I'll check the boxes"
It's a bit uncommon, but all of you have received an invite on AbadarCorp Mutter, the video calling app that is so common in the Pact World. The invite lists you as required, as well as a participant '@dealmaker'. Booked for a whole of 30 minutes, so somebody is short on time...
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Radaszam “the Dealmaker,” a vesk with emerald scales and knowing eyes, flickers into existence on the comm display. The faction leader sits at a desk in his private office, with a view of stars through a window behind his chair.
“I apologize for the remote connection,” says Radaszam, “but things are moving fast right now for the Society. We need your help for a crucial task.”
Radaszam folds his hands together and leans forward as he continues. “As you may know, the Society has had a thorn in its side lately, and we don’t even know the proper name for our foes. The Organization—that’s all we know it as—has been working against us for over a year now. We know too little about them and their motivations, which puts us at a sizable disadvantage. But we think we may have identified someone who can help change that.
“On Kortus IV, there’s a colony called Braerton that we’ve dealt with in the past. A ysoki inventor named Ongie used to live there a few years back. Up until recently, everyone thought she had died. As it turns out, Ongie actually fled Kortus IV and has been in hiding for years. The group she crossed that forced her to disappear is likely the Organization itself.”
Radaszam casts a glance over his shoulder and gestures at the stars. “It cost us a great deal, but we’ve tracked Ongie down to Vesk-7, a frigid world on the edge of the Veskarium’s Ghavaniska system. She’s hiding somewhere in a little colony called Forget. We need you to find Ongie and let her know that the Starfinder Society wants to talk with her. We can offer her protection and any other reasonable measure needed to secure her cooperation. What she knows could help us turn the tide against the Organization. But you have to act quickly—if we’ve found her, it’s a good bet that the Organization has as well.”
I caught that you prefer the Thunderbolt, that good old Drake? I can send you the access code, though if you prefer the Azata or the Pegasus, I'll leave the choice up to you.
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"If we are headed to Vesk-7 are the Vesk aware we are coming or would that even be an issue? Do you know if there is much of a ysoki population on Vesk-7? When I"Pockets stops to correct himself, "If I was trying to hide I'd go someplace it's easy to blend in."
Pockets looks down at his datapad then back up.
"Is there anything on Vest-7 that needs inspecting, what's the main work occupation there?"
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Diplo -
Phy Sci - Take 20 = 36.
"Vesk 7? I suppose the veskarium is probably not a place organised crime has a tendency to want to set up shop"
"Send us the location and we will head there now, and yes, a Drake-class is my preference, this isn't a scientific mission and we are on an opposed mission - odds are good that our competitors are flying there too"
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Trober whimpers as Antethriss slaps him on the shoulder.
"Everything is digitized these days, can't we just have the records sent to me digitally."
"Safety training! Every time I get assigned to a field mission like this the armorer only issues me non lethal weapons. I can't help it that I tend to close my eyes when I shoot!!!"
Seldszar knows all about cold and hostile worlds.
Vesk-7 is an icy world on the edge of the Veskarium with an orbit that closely mirrors nearby Vesk-8. Its most prominent native inhabitants are kothamas, a sentient species of huge but peaceful meditative magical beasts.
The planet shares a moon with Vesk-8. Known as Traverse, the moon changes the planet it orbits whenever the two planets pass one another, which happens approximately once every 36 Pact Standard years.
Vesk-7 is home to the colony of Forget, which treats itself as an independent body despite technically being under the rule of the Veskarium. As authorities rarely intervene in Forget’s affairs, the community serves as a haven for those who wish to leave their old lives behind and begin anew.
Whenever Vesk-7 and Vesk-8 pass each other in orbit, magical portals between the two worlds flare to life, allowing easy travel between the planets without the use of spaceships. These portals are currently inactive
Seldszar also receives a message from a fellow starfinder:
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FROM: bamboozle@guidance.com
TO: seldszar.erelhei-cinlu29180@guidance.com
Oy ya mug!
I Heard you're going to look for Ongie. Got a couple of things you need to know is what I have.
We were dispatched to Kortus IV to investigate the fate of a colony ship. When we landed there, we found that the colony, known as Braerton, was apparently prosperous and self-sufficient. We found a bunch of lying scoundrels we later identified as the Mongers was secretly in control of Braerton. The Mongers seem to have a complete lockdown on information about Braerton and had agents actively hiding the colony from the Pact Worlds.
We also encountered this crazy old ysoki farmer called Roget. He was a bitter and ill-tempered one. He supposedly lost his daughter, Ongie, to a rock bear attack a few years ago. While most in Braerton believe Ongie to be dead, Roget gave us a note that Ongie had escaped Kortus IV.
Go find 'er, champ.
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"Good to" Pockets pauses and adjust his voice "Good to know Volitare. In case I get eaten by giant cat-like creatures again... or attacked by giant creatures flying overhead again... or blown up by a trap again... I got a few serums too if needed. Never can be too safe."
"Trober"Trober, Vesk-7 isn't that bad my family used to vacation there all the time when I was growing up, I was too young to remember much but I do remember it's full of hot springs should be just fine on your sinuses.
Pockets whisper to Volitare.
"Volitare do you have any tranquilizers for Trober? Hopefully, it won't come to that."
Radaszam is still on the comm link, ready to answer any questions. When non come, he offers: Ongie is an ysoki grease rat, quite gifted with gears and innovations. His facial expression seem to indicate he means that as a compliment.
She fled Braerton after crossing a group called the Mongers—we suspect this group has some connection to the Organization. Ongie stood up to the Mongers over the poor treatment of local miners, which brought the Mongers down on her head. She faked her death, fled Kortus IV, and has been on the run ever since. Ongie’s canny enough to have stayed off everyone’s radar for a few years, and she’s likely to be paranoid, too. You’ll need to convince her quickly that you’re there to help, or she’ll probably assume you’re assassins sent to silence her.
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Travelling to the Vesk system always takes about a week (Exactly days to be precise). On sixth day of travel, an alert flashes across a computer terminal, indicating that someone is attempting to make contact. Preliminary scans show no vessel within range, suggesting that the transmission originates from outside the Drift. The message itself, however, is nothing more than noise and gibberish.
Seldszar figures out the transmission: it's a holographic encryption, quite clever. All it takes is the right transducer to decrypt it. After about an hour's tinkering, it becomes clear that all you really have to do is put a wine glass on the speaker, and the sounds is compressed to something understandable. High tech with lo-fi solution!
Once a suitable wine glass is found, the message plays back to simply say: “They’ve located her. Hurry.”
The holographic message has another effect: the holograms of an apple appears, hovering just over the wine glass. Seldszar can't quite determine the origin of the message, but manages to rule out a Starfinder origin, and also eliminates a broadcast stemming from Vesk-7.
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The Thunderbolt drop out of the Drift, and it take another hour to zone in on Vesk-7. Locating Forget via scans is a simple matter even with the poor scanners on the Drake, and the landing pad is just outside the community limits.
The docking authorities make little fuss. Around here, the population mostly seems to comprise of humans, pathras and androids, and orbital scans seem to indicate a community of about 12000.
Forget is supposed to be in the warmest region of Vesk-7, but the place is still hellishly cold, with frequent blustering snow squalls and icicles hanging off the eaves of every building.
Volitare asks around, inhabitants and animals alike. The raxalite finds a local mechanic. Yeah, an ysoki, right? There was someone looking to get some parts to repair a laser grid. I remember her well, it's been a while since I've spoken to somone with so much mechanical knowledge.
Volitare then finds a fellow raxalite xenodruid. While exchanging tips on how to stay warm, the druid tells his full story. I came to Forget the druid says cheerfully, As part of my research. I'm doing some surveillance on the kothamas on an ice plain north of the colony. When I was out there, I saw a small humanoid figure dressed in heavy winter gear observing the same group from afar. The figure disappeared before I xenodruid could get any closer, though.
Finally, the trail leads Volitare to a restaurant called Kaiju Kitchen (). A server says We had this strange ysoki customer who ordered takeout and didn’t remove her scarf or goggles while waiting. She held a very quiet conversation with a skittermander who entered the restaurant with her.
The server tries to remember I don't quite know what they were talking about. All I heard was 'Ridgerock' 'Ridgerock'. They mentioned that a couple of times.
Pockets and Seldszar have a look at the local technology. Most ofForget’s buildings are patched into a central grid consisting ofburied power lines that can’t get blown down due to harsh winds. Anyone seeking to live outside the city long-term would have to patch themselves into the grid, purchase a well-made generator, or locate an established structure that was deliberately built to be self-reliant.
Trober only learns that the local popular hit is 'Lousy Day' by the blue collar grassroots trio 'What Were They Called Again':
I saw it when I rose this morning
It's gonna be a lousy day
I knew I should have kept on snoring
Can't wait until it goes away
A black pahtra crossed me
It was the thirteenth, a fifthday
He said, do not gamble
You'll lose either way
And what did I find
When I rolled the dice?
A mad vesk
with snake eyes
Trober's day keeps on getting better and better as Volitare figures out that Ridgerock originally served as a prison in the early days of Vesk settlement of the planet. As a high-security facility, its location in a frozen waste served as an escape deterrent, as those who got outside its walls would have to contend with the brutal cold.
The rising cost of maintaining the prison eventually made prohibitive to house prisoners, and Ridgerock was eventually emptied and decommissioned. Following the founding of Forget, the Vesk repurposed Ridgerock into a military training facility. However, as the limited resources made it difficult to maintain a sizable official presence in the area, the Veskarium closed Ridgerock for a second time
What remains of Ridgerock lies approximately a mile and a half north of Forget.
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Throughout the day while gathering information pockets always stays close to the cover of the building. When crossing open spaces depending on the distance Pockets either walks swiftly or runs to the next place of cover.
Pockets gets nervous hearing Ridgerock is a mile and a half away that's a long way to travel without cover to hide in. Lots of Pockets relatives have died crossing shorter open spaces.
"If we want to inspect this Ridgerock place might be best if we find a vehicle, one with a heater that might help with Torbor's sinuses."
Pockets tries to determine just how much cover there is or not in the direction headed to Ridgerock.
Radaszam was so kind to have has requisitioned environmental clothing suited for cold climates for the group, which have been placed in each of the bunks aboard the Drake.
Trekking a mile and a half to the north is normally not that difficult, but the heavy sleet and snow that sets in when the group departs makes the trek difficult.
Most of the squat, gray complex known as Ridgerock has surrendered to the frigid elements around it. Snow drifts pile high around the building, but one entrance remains mostly clear and unobstructed. The sliding metal door shows signs of tarnish but otherwise is in remarkable repair considering the building’s age. A keypad sits in an indented section of the wall.