Time is running short as the nefarious Order of Dawning Fate turns their experimental doomsday weapon upon a defenseless metropolis in the Vast! With millions of lives in danger, it’s up to the Starfinder Society to navigate the streets of the crumbling city, locate and destroy the doomsday weapon, and save the city from destruction! Yet, fate is not on the Society’s side as Kebzec, a founder of the Order of Dawning Fate, oversees the weapon’s deployment and defenses. Will the Starfinders emerge victorious, or will they meet their end at the hands of the Order of Dawning Fate?
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Outside, and maybe you hear the noises coming from outside, you see another android literally showboating in her enercycle. Or maybe she's just practising for the next show. She eventually parks it though, and walks in, seeing you all (and being unaware yet of the telepathic request).
Good day everyone! I look forward to getting to know you. I don't think I've worked with any of you before. My name is Fussoa and I've rotated around the Pact Worlds.
Upon presumably getting an expected look from Delea though, she'll be able to read the room, communicating telepathically from that point on.
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An immaculately dressed elf sits in a comfortable chair in his well appointed office. Every strand of his hair rests almost too perfectly around a face that has impossibly high cheekbones and a strong jaw. The light gray glen check three piece suit he wears is custom tailored to his body. A crisp white sea island cotton shirt, navy knitted silk tie, white linen folded pocket handkerchief, dark gray socks and black derby shoes complete his outfit.
Cavaler Traleth, is no stranger to the spotlight. The ambassador from the elf nation of Sovyrian on the planet of Castrovel to Absalom Station is known by most.
His comm unit begins to vibrate, causing it to rattle on top of his desk. He picks it up and glances at the message.
"Report to the Lorespire Complex immediately."
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A brindled pahtra dressed in light armor wanders into the room, chatting furiously on their comlink in what appears to be an animated group chat.
"No, you add the cream AFTER you've taken the sauce off the heat. You don't want it to be boiling as you fold it into the sauce - that'll just ruin the texture, killing the subtle creamy flavors."
A few responses later, they look around where their wanderings have brought them & end their group call with a "Sorry - gotta go - Mission briefing. Maybe it's that briefing? Won't know until the VC spills the deets. NO SPOILERS! Hanging up now - b'bye."
"Sorry about that - family drama. Nessus always wants to give me advice just because she's read the mission briefs in the archives. I think that she's just trying to show off. Family, I'm Nikko 5th of 9. Does anyone know what's up with the mission?"
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Oh man. I'm in over my head. Twila-5 hasn't worked with any of these Starfinders before, but she's heard of some of them, and they're all way more experienced than her. I hope this means the higher ups are impressed, not that they made a mistake. She holds stock still, doing silent battle with impostor syndrome.
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The last to arrive hustles in just as the pahtra announces their name.
"Oh, uh, hi," the huge bug in armor says timidly. "I'm XHC-5. But most people just call me Shaq, like if you tried to pronounce the letters as a word. Sort of. I guess." He rubs one big claw across the back of his neck.
A closer look reveals that perhaps this isn't a "bug" after all. The plating edges around his mouth parts and eyes seem to be metallic and his voice is flatter than would be expected of a "normal" haan.
He goes around the room and offers to shake hands or bows or whatever the culturally appropriate gesture is, though he often just gets it wrong. He replies in the affirmative to Delea's request to use telepathy, Sure. That's what I have to use at work anyway. And it will be nice to do so with adults for a change.
When he gets to Twila, he notices she seems nervous. Don't worry. Just stay behind me. Being out front and breaking things is what I'm here for, he tells her privately by using his own telepathy. And it's good for working out my anger issues.
oday, we find our adventurers in the Archives’ Cortex, the working place of Celita, leader of the Dataphiles faction.
Celita is sitting in a command cradle and working via holographic console, though she quickly pauses her work, clears her screens, and turns to greet the group with a nod.
“Thank you for coming. As I’m sure you know, the Starfinder Society is at odds with a criminal organization we’ve recently identified as the Order of Dawning Fate. The Order is led by Zhaneni, a powerful precog, who is in turn aided by her six fellow founders. Over the past year we’ve confronted many of these founders, with only three still at large: Kebzec, an engineer and inventor, and Evethriel, a mystic who specializes in infiltration and subterfuge—plus Zhaneni herself, of course.
“Zhaneni augments her powers of precognition with a rare starmetal called finitrium. It was long believed to have no practical applications, but Zhaneni discovered a way to refine f initrium, supposedly unlocking its divinatory properties. We’re not sure how she’s using it exactly, but we do know that her supply is running out.
“Enter Project Dawn. This top secret project was enacted by Zhaneni for the express purpose of obtaining a stable supply of finitrium. Project Dawn includes everything from planetary surveys to the acquisition and conquest of f initrium sources. At some point in the past few years, Zhaneni found a new finitrium source located beneath a metropolis in the Vast. After determining the city was unconquerable by traditional means, Zhaneni commissioned the creation of a weapon that would make the city uninhabitable, driving out the citizens without harming her own forces or the f initrium beneath the city. This weapon induces deadly natural disasters—earthquakes, I suspect— that are controllable, both in intensity and area affected. This weapon is already complete and is going to be deployed in the immediate future. If we can’t find the weapon and shut it down, millions of people will die.
“The Dataphiles have been working for months to narrow down the potential targets, but time is running out. Starfinders are being dispatched to over a dozen cities throughout the Vast.” With a swipe of her hand, an image of an idyllic planet appears on Celita’s holographic display. “Your assigned city is Izdria, a metropolis on the planet Relthune. A few days ago, we received an encrypted message that claimed Izdria was the Order’s target. While it’s possible the sender is an ally, you should assume it’s a trap. I’m providing you with a copy of the message. When you arrive, you’ll be close enough to trace the message’s origin. Start your investigation there. Determine if Izdria is the Order’s target and, if it is, find and disable the disaster weapon. Expect heavy resistance.”
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Twila-5 gives XHC-5 a subtle nod. She's grateful for his discrete assurance, and makes a mental note to use his proper name. It's not that hard after all, and if he really didn't care about it he wouldn't have mentioned it at all.
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As the briefing begins, she gets her first clue as to why she was selected for this team. Ah. So *that's* what that weapon was for. Killing untold numbers of people just to get more performance enhancing drugs. <sigh> It's so stupid.
Before opening her mouth and making a fool of herself in front of the veterans, she accesses the data she has on the topics at hand.
She's too jittery to recall anything useful right now, so she sticks to basic lines of questioning: "What do we know about Izdria? Populace, style of government, infrastructure?"
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I've been involved with some of the missions in this war but not all. What do we know about Izdria and what do we know about the remaining Founders? Was very involved with discovery of Project Dawn. Definitely aware of their need for finitrium. Definitely wonder who alerted us to this planet.
(Idriza)
(Any known info on any remaining Founders that isn't Zhaneni)
Relthune is one of six loosely affiliated planets in a single-sun solar system. It’s a densely populated world of rolling hills, verdant forests, and pristine seas. It has several continents, breathable atmosphere, and standard gravity. Relthune’s primary defining feature is its plentiful ancient ruins, which have been meticulously tended and restored. Many of the planet’s settlements are built around these ruins, making each city an eclectic mix of ancient past and modern innovation. Relthune is known for its advancements in archaeology and architectural restoration, and for its historic and academic tourism. Izdria is one of Relthune’s most popular tourist destinations, prized for its picturesque mountainside views of the surrounding ocean, and its plentiful pre-Gap ruins, which comprise most of the city’s skyline. It’s a multicultural metropolis with a population of around 3.5 million people, so you won’t stand out.”
Celita also readily confirms what the group knows about the Organisation: The Order of Dawning Fate is a highly secretive, incredibly powerful criminal syndicate that we initially dubbed the Organization. They’re engaged in everything from legitimate business ventures, espionage, blackmail, and theft, to murder, military conquest, and the recent nuclear destruction of the planet Kortus IV. From what we can tell, the Order is a cult of personality that revolves around its leader, Zhaneni. Her subordinates believe not only that they’re meant to serve her, but that through her they’re achieving a grand destiny—for themselves and for the Order. As to what that grand destiny is, I don’t know. I doubt anyone beyond Zhaneni knows.”
“As for the message, three days ago, I received an encrypted message from an unknown sender. I cracked the encryption easily enough, discovering the message’s contents and the sender’s signature. The message read, ‘The Order’s target is Izdria. You’re running out of time.’ The sender’s signature was an apple.”
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Shaq nods at Calaver's comment regarding Datch. That's what he'd been thinking, too, but all this info about some secret cult trying to blow up planets was a lot for him to take in.
"So, we find the source of the message first - maybe Datch, maybe a trap, maybe both knowing her." The big android taps his hands across his body checking pockets and weapons. "Then we find a super-weapon that makes earthquakes and destroy it. I'm guessing we don't have any intel on the weapon itself, like the size?"
But that would be his only question, and either way, he's as ready as ever to be getting out and and away. (It doesn't hurt that he lost his last job - again - so the Starfinder pay will certainly be appreciated.)
“Yes, it could be Datch. Last year the Order of Dawning Fate orchestrated a prison break within the Adamantine Bastille, which served as a cover for them to assassinate several inmates and free the criminal Datch. As you may know, Datch is a character assassin and covert influencer who worships Lau Shu Po and uses an apple as her calling card. She’s skilled at leveraging the masses to unknowingly do her bidding. A few years ago, Datch launched a smear campaign against the Starfinder Society and attempted to seize control of AbadarCorp. Though her actions led to numerous deaths, she is not a trained combatant.” Celita leans back in her chair and sighs. “Datch is not our ally. However, I’m not convinced she’s the Order’s ally, either. It’s possible she’s working for them willingly, perhaps swayed by Zhaneni’s silver tongue and a promising future, but it’s also possible that Datch wasn’t freed by the Order, but abducted, and has simply moved from one prison to another. There remains the possibility that the apple is unrelated to Datch, or else a purposeful misdirection by the Order, with Datch’s rescue from the Bastille serving as a red herring. You’re experienced agents, and I trust you to discern the truth.”
“We know the weapon is mimicing a natural occurence, so for it to be effective, it needs to be located within the city limits—somewhere centrally located. In addition, something like that requires a significant amount of power to function, so you can expect it to be hooked up to the city’s power grid. It will probably be hidden inside a building that the Order is occupying, as near to ground level as possible.”
“I recommend you act with discretion. We don’t know that this city is the Order’s target. If it’s not, you’ll cause unnecessary panic that is likely to result in loss of life. For transport, you can pick any of the usual styles of vessel we have. We currently have the Hurricane available, which has a Pegasus layout, the Thunderbolt, a Drake and the Preference, an Azata.
[b]Let's not waste any time here Celita says as she hands the group the coordinates of Relthune and a copy of the encrypted message.
The voyage to Relthune takes a few weeks of Drift travel, but passes without incident. Dropping out of the Drift near Relthune, the ship can make its descent to the city of Izdria.
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Shaq spends most of the trip either exercising in the cargo bay or chilling and listening to music in peace. It's always a welcome change of pace to go on these Starfinder missions and get away from the school kids, so he tends to savor it like a very long weekend. But he's not antisocial, so he'll happily hang out in the mess and chat with his teammates.
When they arrive at Relthune, he makes his way into an appropriately sized gunner's pod. If he's learned anything from being a Starfinder, it's that when you're not expecting trouble, that's the time to expect it.
With a scan of the surface, Twila finds frequent tectonic activity in the city and surrounding region. When she fine-tunes on it, she determines that the quakes are frequent, have been going on for weeks, and are steadily building in intensity.
As the Hurricane descends, there are several alert and emergency broadcasts, sent directly and displayed on billboards Warning, earthquake hazard.
The space leads to a plaza that once must have been quite picturesque, paved with colorful mosaic tiles which are now marred by jagged cracks, and surrounded by recently toppled stone archways.
Beyond, the city’s skyline is a mixture of sleek skyscrapers and ancient monuments. Images on the plaza’s vid screens show several collapsed buildings and ruins, and numerous quake warnings, noting that within the past week the quakes around the city have gotten increasingly stronger and all citizens should evacuate the city as quickly as possible.
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Dang. It's already started. Twila-5 takes in all the evidence of earthquakes. "Unless this area has a long-standing history of earthquakes, I get the feeling we've hit the jackpot." And we need to hurry or we'll die with everyone here. While some team members search for local info, Twila-5 tries to track down the encrypted signal.
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"I don't know that I'd call it a jackpot. Certainly not so for the folks that lived here," Shaq observes morosely as he surveys the scene. "I hope all the kids got out okay." In spite of being sick of their attitude most of the time, he does care about his students. When they're not being immature little snots that is.
He's not much help with finding out anything of interest, and instead just shadows Twila and watches over her shoulder.
It's quite clear to Delea that Izdria is an ancient city that’s endured since long before the Gap, with subsequent generations building upon the ruins of those that came before. Today, Izdria is a fusion of carefully
preserved ancient architecture and modern amenities. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, with numerous attractions, museums, and historical sites, as well as impressive views of the surrounding sea.
Relthune is known for its advancements in archaeology and architectural restoration, and for its historic and academic tourism. Izdria is one of Relthune’s most popular tourist destinations, but it’s also a research hub. Izdria University is the planet’s premiere destination for anyone who wants to study archeology or architecture.
Twila notices an old RelWIN poster, and finds that RelWIN stands for the Relthune World Information Network, one of the planet’s most popular news, media, and infosphere networks. Last year, RelWIN’s Izdrian office closed due to lapsed payments and the building was seized, sparking speculation about the network’s financial well-being. RelWIN’s CEO claims the closure was due to an accounting error and the subsequent property seizure was falsely executed. The case is pending trial, which has left Izdria’s RelWIN office abandoned— save for the rare city inspector or maintenance crew—for nearly a year.
Cavaler finds the story of Izdria University. Thirty years ago, Izdria University constructed a new campus outside the city. The old campus—nearly a dozen small buildings spread throughout the city’s center—was closed, and the buildings have since served as storage spaces, off-site student housing, tourist attractions, and sites for academic conferences. A few years ago, these buildings were purchased by a real estate company who promised to develop several of the lots into large tourist resort hotels capable of also hosting scientific conferences. Construction is currently ongoing.
Twila-5 starts working on the encrypted message. While this is a difficult task that should normally takes well over an hour, the encryption is stripped in a matter of minutes - almost as if the encryption was intended to lead the receivers to its source.
The streets are utter chaos. Only a few steps away from the main plaza, a troupe of soldiers can be seen, trying to help evacuees Stand.. eh.. back. Please? The lot seems utterly unprepared for the task they're facing.
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"Hm. The old campus construction site would be a perfect hiding spot for the weapon. Or any other major construction site near the city, for that matter."
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Out in the street, Twila-5 catches herself sighing at the wishy-washy soldiers. "New recruits, eh?" Following Cavaler's lead, Twila-5 demonstrates a more effective way to get the crowds to comply.
Well, she thinks she does, anyway.
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"In a situation like this, Twila-5, subtly is not the most prudent course of action."
Cavaler begins to bark orders followed by dire threats about what will happen if they aren't followed. Even with everyone panicking there is no mistaking his voice as the anacite voice amplifier attached to his throat magnifies his words to a booming level that echos against the surrounding buildings.
Cavaler, Twila-5 and Shaq straightens up the troops and give them a crash course in crowd control. One block further down, priests of Weydan have opened the doors of their large temple to shelter and care for the injured during the quakes, but a fresh fissure creeping under the building’s side makes it clear that the building is unstable and at risk of collapse.
Fussoa warns the priests of the unstable building, as Cavaler points out fissures and cracks in the load-bearing walls. With expedience, the priests evacuate the building before it collapses.
As the group moves closer to the RelWIN building, there's a dodgy looking geezer, who is approaching a group of people Hey, want to get out quick? I can get you expedited evacuation, if you just pay me 500 credits!
Shaq notices the fake 'official tour agent' badge, which is enough for Cavaler to call out the scammer. Meekly, the grifter runs off, not willing to risk his hide in a confrontation.
Moving on, RelWIN is a five-story building with a stylish facade of glass and classically carved limestone. A large holosign over the building’s door is off, though a smaller logo of polished bronze at ground level still proudly identifies the building as “RelWIN.” A multicopter helipad is on the roof.
As the group approaches the front door, there's a loud mechanical click emerging from it, the tell-tale sound of a lock disengaging.
It looks like these locks can be opened both directly and remotely. Also, the building’s surveillance cameras are currently on.