You each receive a message request for a video conference from Radaszam “the Dealmaker” of the Acquisitives faction. The intro informs you that you can take the call wherever you desire, although the request indicates that Radaszam would prefer a private location.
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.”
"Any questions?"
Since agents are notorious for being on the 'Sphere during meetings, there's a chance you've been looking up some information.
There's a chance you already know a little something about Vesk-7.
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A new connection enters the call, but the image is just black. A deep grumbly voice, partway through a sentence, says, "..into the lobby, yeah, but it's just black? And now I can't hear anything! This is worse than the Data Scourge was, how in the hells do yo - Oh!" A large insectile face framed by two large scythe-mandibles comes into view, entirely too close to the camera and out of focus. "Oh I see Radaszam! And someone else! HELLO RADASZAM, THIS IS JUPITUS, I GOT YOUR MESSAGE, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
Once (digitally) settled, Jupitus would listen to the briefing, but at no point would he be able to put himself on mute. There's probably a bird chirping behind him, and you can hear his breath through his spiracles from the still-too-closely-held comm unit throughout.
Jupitus scoffs at mention of The Orgnization, but is otherwise quiet. "DO WE HAVE ANY LEADS ON WHERE TO FIND THIS 'ONGIE' OR HOW TO START LOOKING? Professor, do you know anything about Vesk-7?" you can hear Jupitus ask someone off-screen, before he shout-talks back into the comm, "RADASZAM, I AM ASKING THE PROFESSOR ABOUT VESK-7, HE IS VERY LEARNÈD ABOUT THESE THINGS."
Zynn spends a bit of time poking around the Infosphere. He gets a LOT of information.
The off screen professor leans in enough to have his voice heard. It's quite the run down.
"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 36Pact 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."
Radaszam seems impressed, "Any questions for ME?"
"Leads? No. None. She’s a ysoki grease rat, quite gifted with gears and innovations. 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. Even when you do find her, 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.”
"Mmmmm ask around when you get there."
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"Wow, that sure does sound like one heck o' an adventure on Braerton!"
The humanoid frog hadn't said much to that point, spending most of the call fiddling with a strange rifle with a distinctively home-made look to it. Finally setting it aside, he says "Any of y'all good at talkin' t' folks when they're feelin' a bit jumpy?"
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Turning to the others during the zoom call, Zynn introduces himself through the chat window.
"Zynn Megavoom at your service. I look forward to working with all of you."
Turning to the venture captain, Megavoom unmutes himself and asks,"We can see that Ongie definitely has a common enemy, mainly the organization. However, does she have any relationship with the Starfinders? I mean will this be a tough sell to get her to help us out?"
"We have a compelling sales pitch. It shouldn't be too hard. Give her the full rundown. We propose to bring Ongie to Absalom Station and put her under our protection. She’ll have the full security of the Lorespire Complex to keep her safe. Beyond that, you’re free to negotiate on the Society’s behalf. We can give her credits, resources, information—you can meet any reasonable request she puts forward. We’ve operated without reliable intel about the Organization for far too long, and the information Ongie’s gathered is of primary importance. Sweeten the deal however you need to, so long as you convince her to come of her own free will."
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"Yes, sounds like truly a wild time in that Braerton. Only sick, twisted, minds could have devised something so cruel! Horrible, devious, sapients, indeed!"
Jupitus waves when Skiratrisk joins the call, and says in Shirren, "Oh, hello Skiratrisk! Hylax smiles, when friends become re-acquainted!" he says with infectious cheer. Returning to Common, he adds, "and to those I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting - it is my privilege and sacred duty to make your acquaintance! I am Jupitus, priest of Hylax, working with Zigvigix and the Society to help those in need." He probably doesn't have a good angle on his comm unit so you're looking at mostly thorax or something, but you can see Jupitus is using his central vestigial arms to make the appropriate Hylaxian motions and benedictions of friend-making.
"It sounds like this Ongie could use our aid! I have a friend in the hangar bay that can provide me with a Gorgon for transport to the Ghavaniska system. I'll send rendezvous coordinates shortly."
"You may want it." the venture-captain presciently advises...
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Answering Gorf, Jupitus says, "I love making new friends, but ... I admit smaller mammals often find me a bit, ah, intimidating. The elders of my Order say adventuring with the Starfinders should help me work on my 'marketable skills' in this regard." The effect is a bit lessened over a video call, but it's hard not to notice that Jupitus is a twelve foot tall slab of muscled tank-beetle.
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Answering Gorf, Jupitus says, "I love making new friends, but ... I admit smaller mammals often find me a bit, ah, intimidating. The elders of my Order say adventuring with the Starfinders should help me work on my 'marketable skills' in this regard." The effect is a bit lessened over a video call, but it's hard not to notice that Jupitus is a twelve foot tall slab of muscled tank-beetle.
”Well, glad I ain’t a mammal then, huh?” Gorf says with a grin. Now with a chance to get a better look at him, you may notice the rusty chainmail poking out from beneath the collar of his d-suit, and the strange mixture of modern and primitive tools in the bandolier slung across his chest.
"Nice to see you again, Gorf! That was a wild time at the concert, huh?"
”Same t’you, Skiratrisk. Here’s hopin’ we don’t hafta end up on stage this time, huh?”
Travel to Vesk-7 takes days via the Drift.
The trip is largely boring outside of some good meals and games. On the 11th day, that changes. 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.
The short message says simply: “They’ve located her. Hurry.” The message is unsigned and gives no indication of its origin point.
You additionally determine that the communication doesn’t come from the Starfinder Society, nor does it originate from Vesk-7. You also discover a digital signature hidden in the transmission that depicts... an apple.
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”Well, glad I ain’t a mammal then, huh?” Gorf says with a grin.
Jupitus replies with his own smile. "Ha, amen to that! Every day, I am grateful to not be a small mammal. Could you imagine! ...uh, no offense meant, of course, Zynn."
Over the course of the journey to the Veskarium, everyone would find Jupitus generally amiable and eager, and much less awkward than over a video call. Where appropriate, he uses his knowledge of Castrovelian and Shirren to speak with Zynn and Skiratrisk, and while he's never met a grippli before, he'd be delighted to learn about Grippli culture, society, and language from Gorf.
Also on board our loaned Gorgon is a surly urog who Jupitus introduces as "The Professor," who mostly keeps to themselves. "The Professor has a prickly shell, but knows many strange and interesting facts. They mostly just get upset when asked about matters outside of their scientific endeavours, so I try to give them all the space they need. One day, though, I will break through that shell, and we will have tea, and we will be friends," Jupitus says with a far-away look in his eyes, before snapping back to finish, "...but until then, they prefer to be left alone - unless you're discussing hyperfine transitions of hydrogen or somesuch."
The Professor would help to examine the mysterious signal, though.
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"Ha, amen to that! Every day, I am grateful to not be a small mammal. Could you imagine! ...uh, no offense meant, of course, Zynn."
"No offense taken. I mean I presume it is only small mammals like squirrels and squox, and the like who are intimidated. Do they fear that you will eat them?"
Zynn makes his acquaintance with the professor and then later confides in Jupitus, "I am impressed with the vast knowledge that the professor was sharing with me, but he really does seem the fish out of water when it comes to basic social etiquette and communication skills. Good luck with sharing that cup of tea with him. Maybe I will ask him if he wants to help me examine that mysterious signal. I'm sure he could show me a thing or two about computers."
Zynn gracious accepts any help the professor can offer and spends some time with with the the computers to try and figure out something about the signal.
"I think the message says, "They’ve located her. Hurry.” This sounds like a time sensitive issue. Would any of you care to try and make further sense out of this message?"
You can't go any faster so you just wait it out. After you exit the Drift, you arrive on Vesk-7 within one hour. Locating Forget via scans is a simple matter, and the community has landing pads just outside its limits. After checking in with the dock authorities, you are free to enter the colony.
Forget is a colony of approximately 12,000 citizens, many of whom keep to themselves. Humans, androids, and pahtra comprise three-quarters of the population. Although Forget rests in the warmest region of Vesk-7, it remains frigid, with frequent blustering snow squalls and icicles hanging off the eaves of every building.
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Jupitus would have agreed with Zynn. "Yes, The Professor is not, what you would call, a 'people person.' But they're working on it. Or, I am, at least. In any case, their scientific knowledge is a boon, even if it comes with a side helping of scorn," he says, with good nature.
"My last assignments saw my friends and I taking an 'unscheduled portage' through the Darkside of Verces - very chilly. Not much fun. But, it did motivate me to purchase a thermal regulator, which seems like it will come in handy, today! So, who's laughing now, Verces! Ha!" Jupitus says as he buttons up his armour seals and activates said thermal regulator, before leaving the Gorgon. "Don't forget to turn on your environmental seals, Team! I don't suppose anyone is capable of casting Life Bubble? No? Well, stay warm! Does anyone need a hat, or a scarf?"
On the ground, Jupitus would set about assisting Zynn hitting the pavement and asking around.
The party spends the better part of working. In the end, you come away with a fair bit of information.
A local mechanic remembers speaking with someone looking to acquire some parts to repair a laser grid. The mechanic remembers her because she impressed him with her mechanical knowledge.
A xenodruid who came to Forget as part of her research on Vesk-7 was doing some surveillance on the kothamas on an ice plain north of the colony. She saw a small humanoid figure dressed in heavy winter gear observing the same group from afar, but the figure disappeared before the xenodruid could get any closer.
A server at a restaurant called Kaiju Kitchen had a 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. After some thought, the server recalls hearing the word “Ridgerock”* mentioned a few times during the conversation.
As much as Skiratrisk enjoys the wilderness, she fails to find any tracks.
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"Well, stay warm! Does anyone need a hat, or a scarf?"
"I do have environmental protections, but a scarf may be very useful incase all of my batteries get drained in the cold weather. Do you actually know how to knit?"
"Ridgerock? . . . Ridgerock? Where have I heard that name before???"
Zynn, who is normally very bad at the local trivia night, thinks he might recall something.
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Over the course of the journey to the Veskarium, everyone would find Jupitus generally amiable and eager, and much less awkward than over a video call. Where appropriate, he uses his knowledge of Castrovelian and Shirren to speak with Zynn and Skiratrisk, and while he's never met a grippli before, he'd be delighted to learn about Grippli culture, society, and language from Gorf.
Gorf doesn't seem to know much about modern grippli culture. He gladly joins in conversation with Jupitus and Zynn, however, glad for a chance to practice his accented but passable Castrovelian.
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"Brrrr!" Gorf says, turnin up the warming function on his d-suit. "This like that time ol' Zarta sent me up to the Crown o' the World! I tol' her then and I'll say it now, it's too dang cold for a swamp frog!"
Not being much for talking with strangers, Gorf focuses on fine tuning equipment to help in navigation on this frigid world.
Skiratrisk returns just as Zynn is sharing what he knows:
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. The Veskarium made one further attempt to utilize Ridgerock for something practical, by transforming the isolated site into a military surplus storage facility. The advancement of technology eventually rendered the surplus obsolete, and much of the equipment once kept in the facility was simply abandoned rather than removed.
The best part is that it's only a couple clicks North of Forget!
Gorf chimes in with some additional information.
Most of Forget’s buildings are patched into a central grid consisting of buried 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. A pair of abandoned structures near Forget drew power from outside the central grid. A power plant east of the colony was decommissioned prior to the current grid being established, but it was obliterated by a major earthquake a few years ago. To the north, the now-defunct Ridgerock Prison had its own set of backup generators to make sure that an outage in the central grid didn’t give prisoners a chance to escape.
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"So, prison is abandoned and turned into military base, base is abandoned and turned into military stockpile, stockpile is abandoned and...there's just a pile of obsolescent Veskarium military gear there? And a self-contained power grid. Seems the perfect place to check for our wayward ysoki. Everyone ready for a wintry hike? And, knowing the Veskarium, an oh I don't know, Expired Munitions Golem or something?"
"This site clearly has abandonment issues. Let's make our way there and see if anything or anyone is left."
As described, what remains of Ridgerock lies approximately a mile and a half north of Forget. During the short journey to Ridgerock, heavy sleet and snow begins falling, slowing your progress slightly, though not enough to prevent you from reaching the site within the hour following your departure from the colony. You will need to activate your environmental protections (or use the equipment the Society provides) to avoid harm.
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.
the door is jammed....
Mooooost of the party helps to open the door. Dim lighting originating from panels in the walls casts the interior of Ridgerock in a dull yellow glow. Comfortable interior heating fights off the bitter cold from outside, and small, dirty puddles from melted snow pool on the ground. Around the corner, a long, wide hall is lined with hooks and racks, holding all manner of coats, boots, outdoor gear, and tools.
Amid the tools, Zynn discovers a laser drill, two batteries, and a fire extinguisher.