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A Diminutive cuttlefish, its skin a a pale, ethereal shade of blue with flecks of white scattered throughout it, floats into the room riding upon the back of an eyeless, multi-winged raven, greeting the party telepathically.
Greetings, everyone. My name is a bit hard for others to articulate, if you don't have hides that can change colour at will, but the approximation in the Common tongue would be Deep-Blue-With-White-Highlights, or Deep Blue for short. It is pleasure to meet each and every one of you!
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The door swings open seemingly of its own accord, and a vesk unlike any other strides into the room as if he owns it. He stands well over 2 meters tall but is significantly thinner and without a vesk's normal massive musculature. He nevertheless cuts an imposing figure, and whereas male vask are normally various shades of green, this one's coloration is so pale and almost bone gray as to appear unhealthy. Or dead.
In his black leather outfit and boots, he strides in elbows akimbo. He exudes an aura of superiority and self assurance as he greets those already assembled with a nod.
"I am Skorpahlich. Vesk..., but not. I do with my mind what those brutes do with their brawn," his voice drips with disdain at the mere mention of other vesk.
He pronounces it "Skor-PAAAH-lich", and some might notice the coincidence of a vesk with scales the color of death sharing a name with a type of ancient undead sorcerer.
He looks around the room and immediately moves to the caf dispenser, pours himself a cup and proceeds to add enough sweetener and cream to put a pahtra into a coma.
You're on a long trip, headed to the Veskarium aboard a civilian transport ship known as the Determined Stride. Your ultimate destination is Vesk-6.
Moments before you leave the Drift, you're in orbit. You spend some time looking out the window, but your moment of relaxation is interrupted. Exo-Guardian leader Ixthia summons you to the mess hall.
The Determined Stride shudders as the vessel leaves the Drift. Time and space waver lightly as reality reasserts itself. At the head of the small dining table, Ixthia cuts their food into tiny pieces and meticulously uses a fork to guide each piece to a different place along their arms. At each point, sets of five short feeding tendrils emerge to absorb the morsel.
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Kyra spends a bit of time meditating ... and hoping she doesn't run into that Vesk that chastised her for letting the Pathra get away.
They didn't understand ... mercy had to be shown
She then raises an eyebrow as Skorp makes his excuse for coffee before making a cup of tea for herself, as well as allowing a small pastry as an indulgence.
That ... is a lot of sweetener she comments flatly.
She is dressed in pre Gap fashions from her homeland and carries a scimitar at her side.
The meal is very salty and the squid is a little too rubbery, but the bass is nourishing and filling.
“Now,” begins Ixthia. “I believe some of you are familiar with the pop star Miiyu. In addition to her stage persona, she serves as one of the leaders of the Pulonis Liberation Front. She has requested the aid of several Starfinder agents for an important assignment. Your mission is to contact her on Vesk-6. Because the Pulonis Liberation Front has a hostile relationship with the planet’s Veskarium rulers, the Society has arranged a cover story for you. As far as the Veskarium is concerned, you’re here to undertake a scientific survey mission to the Shriek. Any questions?”
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I have met Miiyu and helped her escape the clutches of the Vesk. She was a pawn in someone else's plan and was going to be the .... erm ... patsy? fallguy? for their assassination plan. The Vesk authorities wanted us to turn her in, but I refused on moral and religious grounds. I suspect I will be personae-non-gratis there but I need to see this through.
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Herself from Vesk-3, Officer Swizzers knows the weight of Veskarium oppression. Indeed, her mate's death trying to "help" the Vesk is what caused her to leave Near Space and take up a position with the Stewards.
She looks solemn and determined as she says, despite Skorpahlich's presence, "Understood, Venture-Captain. We will maintain cover and liase with Miiyu. Are we authorised to assist the Pulonis Liberation Front in their activities?"
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Skorp listens to Ixthia's short brief while polishing off his first cup. He doesn't even react to Kyra's comment about how he takes his caf. It's how he likes it, and he doesn't care what others think anyway.
"I, too, helped Miiyu," he says with a nod to the cleric mystic from another time. "And it goes without saying that I will always be unwelcome in their empire."
He pauses to refill his mug, takes a sip, and continues as if he'd never yielded the floor. "Let me address the terra-beast in the room," he says making sure to have eye contact with Officer Swizzers. "I was not born nor raised in the Veskarium, and I owe them nothing, neither allegiance nor aid in anything they wish to accomplish."
He sips the caf, the only thing his mutated and deadened taste buds have ever found to have any flavor. With a look to Ixthia, he adds, "Except to the extent that their interests align with the Society's and the Stewards, of course. But otherwise, I will do all I can to aid Miiyu and the PLU against the brutes."
Switching gears, he assumes the role of Starfinder agent, and not angry abandoned lab test subject with an asteroid-sized chip on his shoulder. "What can you tell us of the Shriek, Captain, and do you know anything at all of what Miiyu wishes to discuss?"
There's a reason you lot were chosen for this mission, and you put your heads together to produce a LOT of information:
Vesk-6 is a planet that has borne the brunt of military conquest at the hands of the Veskarium. While it boasts a few large cities, most of the populace lives in settlements no larger than small towns. The population is predominantly pahtra. These indigenous pahtras typically refer to their planet by its pre-conquest name, Pulonis. Military occupation of the planet continues to this day. While the vesk maintain their position as the ruling class, the planet has become more multicultural with the passage of time.
Miiyu is one of several leaders of the Pulonis Liberation Front, an organization that aims to restore pahtra rule over the planet, and she has been working to eject the group’s more zealous and extremist members. Her actions of late have borne fruit, as more citizens of the planet have become sympathetic to the liberation cause. She hopes to use her pop star fame as a springboard for influencing positive cultural change. Her last album, Information High, sold extremely well across the Veskarium.
Outside of the urban areas on Vesk-6 are numerous uninhabited regions, a result of past military bombardment. The planet’s uninhabited regions include the irradiated Holy Lands, where great cities once stood. As a result of the planet’s strong magnetosphere, most technology common to the Pact Worlds doesn’t function. Many scientists theorize that the magnetosphere’s strength may be connected to the Shriek, a particularly brutal storm which rages perpetually and is thought to be partially magical in origin.
Several expelled members of the Pulonis Liberation Front have begun to form their own organizations. Rumors across the datasphere speculate that unknown backers who hope to destabilize relations between the pahtra and vesk are funding these extremist splinter groups. No one knows how many extremists remain in the PLF.
Ixthia rises from the table and reaches into a pouch. “These are for you.” They place a stack of small blue squares onto the table. Each square’s surface is etched with circuitry. “A gift from Celita. We found these in the vaults. Old tech, dating back to the Society’s early days. Attach them to your weapons and armor; they’ll counteract the planet’s electromagnetic interference. There should be enough for each of you, but they’re Starfinder tech, so don’t go showing them off.”
As the briefing wraps up, the cook comes out and asks you if you enjoyed the meal...
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Though he ate of the meal, Skorpahlich declines to answer the chef. He doesn't care to explain yet again that all food - except anything mixed with caf - tastes like the ashes of a funerary pyre thanks to the experiments conducted on him by the undead of the Corpse Fleet. Let the chef think him rude for not answering; he really doesn't care what she thinks of him anyway.
His teammates, on the other hand, do matter, as they have it in their power to ensure success and survival.
He takes one of the blue squares and attaches it to his armor but out of sight under his belt. After sticking another to his sidearm, he shows Kyra how to apply them to her gear. Finally he excuses himself and steps into the lav where he strips down and applies one more to a slot cut into the base of his neck just between his shoulder blades.
"Kyra, what is this "Old Numeria" you speak of?" he asks the android in an attempt to make {shudder} small talk while they compare notes about Vesk-6 and the PLU.
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Numeria is a country on Lost Golarion and it was there that a starship crashed in ancient times. It was also there that Merisial decided to transfer my consciousness into an android body, using a device she had discovered, so I would live as long as her.
She sighs sadly. I have no idea if my wife did manage to make it through the Gap
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Deep Blue is... moderately non-plussed.
I must admit, I am not entirely comfortable with helping someone overthrow the legitimate government of a society, even if it is a military one. On my own planet, rather than fighting when the Azlanti came to annex our world, we did not oppose them; we let them take it, and took them up on their offer of transport off-world.
Frankly, scattered around the universe, there is too much interesting stuff to collect, both in terms of information, as well as floral/faunal samples, to be overly concerned about the fate of one world, even if it is the one that birthed my kind.
He then hurries to add:
Of course, this is a job, so I will do it to the best of my ability. However, my sympathies decidedly do *not* lie with our quest-giver.
Curious. This looks like some of the objects found in Old Numeria. How do I use this?
"Not really use. Simply wear it clearly. It'll do the rest. Any other questions before you head out?"
"Well I'm glad SOME of you like good cooking." He makes a point of looking at everyone BUT Skorpahlich. "Here, take these. It might help." He hands you two mk 3 riot grenades, two ultra-capacity batteries, and two mk 3 serums of healing.
It takes an hour for the customs agent, a jovial young vesk woman, to complete her checks of the “research group’s” paperwork, but she eventually confirms everything is in order and waves you through. The streets of the starport are bustling, lined with shops and eateries. Many pahtra citizens, along with numerous other species, hurry back and forth. The entire port has a busy and cosmopolitan feel to it, though armored vesk peacekeepers are evident everywhere.
you first task is finding Miiyu.
Fortune favors the eagle-eyed. You spy a few posters advertising Miiyu’s appearance at Square 3 (a communal area of the port) due to take place shortly....
The crowd is dense in Square 3, surrounding a temporary stage with several large placards displaying a lively image of a colorfully dressed pahtra against a star-filled rainbow backdrop. Standing in the center of the stage, the same pahtra holds a microphone and belts out a lively song. Her music reaches a crescendo, at which point holoprojectors shower the audience with an aurora of glittering starlight. The pahtra singer finishes and, taking a bow while the audience cheers, responds, “Thank you! That was Wanna be an Angel, and it’ll be on the upcoming album.”
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Officer Swizzers watches the performance dispassionately. It seems she's not much of a music lover. She says to the others: "Perhaps we can speak with Miiyu backstage by speaking with her security detail."
The skittermander looks around for a member of the singer's retinue and approaches. Pointing to the Steward insignia displayed by her holographic sashimono, she says "My name is Officer Swizzers of the Stewards, currently assigned as liason to the Starfinder Society. We'd like to have a brief word with Miiyu. Don't worry, she's not in any trouble."
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The pale vesk in black leather draws more than his fair share of stares from the pahtras in the crowd, especially in the company of a Steward skittermander and a stellifara riding a raven. Like the Officer, Skorp is also not much of a fan of this type of music, though anyone presuming to guess based on his dress would be wrong, too.
"Please let her know that we've met her before," he adds to the bodyguard with an imperious wave of his clawed hand to indicate himself and Kyra IO.
The party pushes their way forward, the more skilled making way for the others. Once there you can actually make eye contact. Miiyu smiles politely at Alpha who lines up for an autograph first and hands him a piece of paper displaying her signature. The queue is too frantic for Miiyu to exchange more than a few quick pleasantries before she is hurried on her way.
Upon investigating the paper, you notice that Miiyu’s autograph is written on the back of a leaflet advertising a new hotel. She has written a number next to her name: 7A.
The hotel is a rustic down-and-out affair on the edge of town—certainly not the type commonly associated with pop idols. The wooden front door is loose, and a mound of dust nestles in the corner of the main room. A stairway leads to the upper floors. From outside the door marked 7A, an argument is audible. “Starfinders?” echoes a voice from inside the room. “Really? You honestly think we need their help?”
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Skorpahlich stands back and away from the door, a small silvery rod in his hand. He knows that upon opening the door, it would be best for the inhabitants to see the skittermander, android or fey at their first glance, and not a "vesk."
Ready for whatever happens, Kyra knocks on the door, interrupting the conversation, "Come!" It's a heavy pahtra voice.
Not waiting, the party enters. Inside, Miiyu is engaged in a heated
argument with another pahtra whom you recognize as the bodyguard you met earlier. He stands close to Miiyu, shouting angrily, clearly uncaring that you hear what he's saying. “We don’t need help!” he argues. “And we certainly don’t need the help of those imperialist lapdogs.” He points at you for emphasis.
“The Starfinder Society is a neutral party,” Miiyu retorts. “Their position with the Veskarium is well..."
Miiyu ushers you further into the room. As she does, Vokuvi looks over each of you derisively, scowling. “Excuse me,” he snarls to Miiyu, “I’ve got to go and get some air. It suddenly smells like wet dog in here.” With that, he shoves his way past youand storms from the room.
Taking a deep sigh, Miiyu regains her composure. “Don’t mind him,” she says. “Vokuvi’s not the most trusting of sorts and hasn’t yet seen the benefit your organization can offer. You’re risking a lot by coming here, so please don’t think we don’t appreciate it. Let me introduce the rest of the inner circle of the PLF.” She motions to the others in the room, introducing each in turn, "Eshga, Renvir, and Alfey.".
Alfey brews everyone a cup of hot tea while Miiyu gestures for you to sit.
“Okay,” announces Miiyu, “the reason we called the Society for aid is quite simple: one of our contacts has discovered a large bunker and passed the intel onto us. From what we’ve gathered, we know it’s a secure military bunker located somewhere in the Holy Lands. This isn’t just a chance to grab some equipment. A site like this would make a perfect home base for the resistance. That’s our objective. It's straight forward, but I'm sure you have questions.”