The adventure begins at the Lorespire Complex on Absalom Station, the Starfinder Society’s primary base of operations, where the agents are scheduled to meet Venture-Captain Arvin. Arvin awaits their arrival in a comfortable meeting room. He beckons you inside, introduces himself politely, and asks you to be seated.
“Starfinders, thank you for coming,” Venture-Captain Arvin says. With a gesture, the lights dim, and a holographic image of the Pact Worlds system appears above the conference room table. “I’m sure you’ve heard of Aucturn, a planet that orbited our sun until last year, when it hatched, birthing a godling called the Newborn. Turns out the planet was an egg.” Arvin flicks his wrist and the hologram shifts. The furthest planet from the sun explodes, its debris scattering across the system, with most coming to rest at the ice field at the very fringes of the system—the Gelid Edge.
“It’s not every day a new god emerges, and certainly not in our own backyard, so we aim to learn as much as we can. To that end, I’m dispatching you to Dreamlink Labs, a laboratory in the Gelid Edge operated by a woman named Arta. Arta is a professor associated with Absalom Station’s premier magical academy, the Arcanamirium. She established Dreamlink Labs to study the remains of Aucturn, a material called aucturnite. She claims she’s made an important discovery, but that she needs our help to perform a follow-up investigation.”
“Your mission is twofold. First, I’d like to send a token of the Society’s support to Arta—a sample of Aucturn’s crust taken only hours before the Newborn hatched. Deliver this sample to Dreamlink Labs. Second, meet with Arta and see what she’s up to. If her research seems credible, I’ll work with her to plan next steps.”
Arvin waves his arm, causing the hologram to vanish. “I’ve got a starship prepped and awaiting you in the hangar. But first, do you have any questions?”
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A tall, 14 feet, slender figure is present. Zivar wears fairly plain freebooter armor, carries a pain glaive and a stellar cannon.
"This will be my first mission with the society, is there anything in particular, other than Explore, Report, Cooperate, that I need to know?
Do we know what kind of help Arta is expecting from us?
Also do you have any suggestions on how to determine how credible her research is?
Thank you, Venture-Captain."
Arvin acknowledges the two new Starfinders. "First, glad to have you all aboard. After the incident at Aucturn, we have a lot of new recruits, and we know every one of you will be a credit to the Society.
"As for your questions, that is what you are being sent to find out. We don't expect you to have expertise on every topic, but at least see if her findings pass the sniff test. She will also provide the details of the assistance she needs on site."
"Well, if there's no other questions, let's get you on your way." Venture-Captain Arvin gives them a foot-long glass canister that contains a greenish-gold material suspended in a murky liquid. Wisps of black fluid seep out from the edges. "This is the sample of Aucturn’s crust for Arta." He additionally gives each agent a medpatch.
In the Starfinder Society hangar, the team boards Zephyr Blue, a starship well-suited for speed and exploration. The journey to the Gelid Edge through the Drift takes days, though a Piloting check to Plot Course may speed that up.
Midway through the journey, the starship’s proximity sensors blare alerts as a large structure appears out of nowhere. The structure is visible out the starship’s viewport and on its scanners; it looks artificial and alien, of a style unlike any starship or space station the Starfinders have seen before.
Just as swiftly as it appeared, the structure vanishes into the Drift.
Whatever that mystery was will have to remain mysterious for now.
On the last day of the journey, the Starfinders receive a message over the comms.
“This is an automated emergency message from Dreamlink Laboratories. We require urgent assistance! Navigation information encoded. I repeat. This is an emergency message from Dreamlink Laboratories. We require assistance!”
The message’s metadata indicates it was sent 17 minutes ago across all available channels.
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When Midway through the journey, the starship’s proximity sensors begin to blare alerts midway through the journey, Gunther scans the large structure that suddenly appeared.
He attempts to ascertain the nature of its unnatural glow.
When the distress call arrives, the borai falls back on his Steward training. "If there is trouble, we need to answer!"
There is no response, though the message continues to repeat as you approach. You can dock at the station with ease.
clinging to the bottom of the station’s hull.
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Gunther continues to press the scanners.
"The station is structurally unharmed and both life support and artificial gravity are operational." He notes. "If it is not a malfunction or breach, then what could the problem be?"
"Ah!" The borai declares as he continues to scan. "It must be hostile boarders! I've spotted a small, bug-like black shuttle clinging to the bottom of the station’s hull."
He attempts to bring up an image of the shuttle to see if he or anyone else can identify it.
The Starfinders study the shuttle as best they can with sensors, but cannot determine its class or origin.
You can investigate it further by spacewalking to the shuttle or continue into the laboratory.
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"We are answering a distress call. Those we are here to help are more likely to be in the lab than aboard that ship." Gunther notes. "If they've already been taken into the vessel of some invader, chances are good that we're too late to be of much help. Besides, we are more likely to spook whoever is in that ship if we go walking out in the open instead of approaching through whatever cover the facility might provide."
The team enters the laboratory through the main dock.
Dreamlink Labs holds no signs of life, but many of turmoil. An automated warning plays on repeat, “A level one security alert has been triggered. For your safety, please proceed to the evacuation shuttles on the lowest level.” Judging by the damaged walls and blood-splattered floor, this warning came too late…
This airlock is closed and isolates the laboratory level of Dreamlink Labs from the rest of the station. Blood streaks the floor and acid burns scar the walls. You walk down a pristine hall and past a deactivated elevator before entering area this area, where it’s clear something bad has occurred.
The hallway has many passages on both sides, and there is a body further to the south.
Gunther sees that this corridor leads to a pair of double doors, one of which is partially opened. Red light spills from inside.
Down the corridor to the right is... more corridor.
Zivar peers through the door on the team's left.
This room is a mess—equipment is knocked over and smashed, cupboards emptied, materials scattered on the floor, and crates ripped open and rummaged through. It sounds like whatever did this is still in there, but Zivar can't see it without opening the door fully and revealing the Starfinders' location.
Inside the room, the corpses of two shirrens lay dead on the ground, improvised weapons close at hand.
A creature, about 6 feet long, which resembles a wingless, four-limbed mosquito, with a long, flexible, sharp-tipped proboscis is searching the room for something. With it ate two larger-than-normal insects.
Round 1 - bolded may go
Grepodak
Blue
Green
Indori
Red
Gunther
Zivar
Grepodak moves into the room and places a perfect shot into the green creature. His second shot is well off target, though.
The bugs team up to go after the vesk.
The blue one sinks its teeth deeply into Grepodak. It tries to latch on.
Grepodak can't shake it off.
The vesk falls under the combined assault, so the green creature circles to find a new target.
Round 1 - bolded may go
Grepodak (-19 HP, dying 1, grabbed,prone)
Blue
Green (-12 HP)
Indori
Red
Gunther
Zivar
Grepodak realizes he is proficient with his armor and blocks some of the damage from the blue insect.
The green one instead decides to attack a second time.
Indori moves forward and casts a spell at Blue.
The bit of rubble Indori hurled went just wide.
The red creature crosses the room and casts a spell at Zivar.
Round 1-2 - bolded may go
Grepodak (-19 HP, dying 1, grabbed,prone)
Blue
Green (-12 HP)
Indori
Red
Gunther
Zivar (Will save)
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I believe Zivar can Squeeze past to get into the room. 1 action
He will spend 2 actions doing a whirling swipe catching Red and Blue. Both are equidistant from the center of the burst, so Zivar will choose Blue as his primary target.
Basic Reflex Save DC 17
If either target successfully saves Zivar will use his reaction to Pin Down, forcing a Will Saving throw DC 17 or the enemy is suppressed until the start of his next turn. (targeting Blue if both enemies succeed).