Radio Silence

Characters Present

• Nola Zur (Roger P.)
• Theta Omicron (Tony N.)
• Rael Shala (Chris H.)
• Kyle (Matt L.)

The team is gathered at Ranger HQ when a call comes in from Director Faso of the CorpSec JSOC on Nigita. CorpSec has lost contact with an agricultural research station. This station, Agri447, is responsible for collecting some of Nigita's native fauna, mostly herbivores, to see if they can be developed into staple livestock for the Erzantos Amalgamated Corp. (CorpSec's equivalent of Kraft Foods.)

The base went out of communication just before the lockdown. While CorpSec is ready to write it off as the small staff (less than 40) succumbing to the infection, they'd like to be sure, and recover the data and animals if possible. They have committed most of their operations teams to securing the hub and their larger mining outposts and don't have teams to spare to fly out with a transport speeder, supplies, PPE, and go investigate.

Sola, Sabbath, FR3-ND0, Theta, and Lexro head out to the base, a cool 300km from The Hub. Immediately upon closing with the facility, it is clear the base has been attacked. The main science building doors have been obliterated by heavy weapons, the comm array is scorched from an attack and there are signs of combat all over the compound. But no bodies.

Examining the base, security footage, and evidence leads the team to conclude that a heavy troop transport, possibly an Imperial K79 breached the compound and Pentastar Stormtroopers seized the facility, incapacitated, and kidnapped the researchers, steal the data, and the livestock. The team recovers gear to track the animal transponders down.

The signals lead them to an overgrown and hidden Imperial Facility in the edge of a cliff, a standard deep-cover "Foothold" base. Largely hidden from sensors by the mineral content of the hill, the team sees an Imperial Tank leave the facility heading back towards the Agri Base and the now active comm array.

Sola instructs her Droid Co-Pilot, X5, to bring her Crucis Starfighter to the site to deal with the tank while the team infiltrates the base.

The team makes their way to the door and slices the blast shields. Once inside, they surprise the defenders in the hangar and quickly overpower them.

They descend through the facility and deal with the remaining defenders in the operations center. It is in the ops center that they uncover the firghtening purpose of the stolen scientists, data, and animals. They also uncover a complication in dealing with the Human Xenophobes of Pentastar.

Each of the officers and stormtroopers appears to have received a surgical implant of the material from the meteors causing the Mavros Contagion. However, where the natural contagion is a fractal growth, these implants are purposely designed circuit paths. The officers and technicians did not even bother to wear sealed suits in dealing with the toxins. The team is led to believe that this horrifying process, first uncovered on Velayna, who was experimented on by Pentastar, renders the recipient immune to the infection.

However, this is overshadowed when the livestock and scientists are found. It appears that the herd animals, in a pen facility at the bottom of the base, are adapting to being humanoid. Some walk on hind legs, some have made makeshift tools and utensils, others follow activities in their field of vision intelligently, while all are obviously infected with the Mavros Contagion and several meteor samples are in the pens. Closer examination reveals they all bear surgical scars for some sort of brain surgery. In the base morgue, they uncover the scientists, who appear to have been vivisected, removing their brains and a large portion of their spines.

While the bulk of the team retreats to contact CorpSec, Sola slices data from the remaining computers for transfer to the vigil. She then attempts to recover samples from the stormtroopers only to be frustrated with the self-replicating material. Lastly, she euthanizes and sterilizes the containment pens, destroying the creatures.

The team returns to the hub with CorpSec's data and they are paid handsomely for the recovery. CorpSec dispatches maintenance droids to recover anything else and close up the station until a new team can be assigned.

The team shares their findings with others returning from missions on planet, including the Ranger Physician, Dr. Nutori. Tia returns and shares findings from Velayna's tests that Kestra performed when she was recovered. The Dr. compares the findings, and examines the force users in Cryo on base. He confirms the theories that the material is a superconductor and was accelerated, not retarded by the cold.

He also seconds the hypothesis that the lesions have some sort of transmission function either in blocking or receiving, as they are the only surface evidence of the intensive chemical changes that happen within the body.

The team resolves to contact as many of their allies as they can, all while being stuck on planet.

Adventure Capsule

A Mavros Contagion Story Even Mission. Game Date: 16.Grek.35 ABY
Date: 8/23/2020
XP Earned: 10xp
Credits Earned: 1250cr
Gamemaster: Bill M.

Duty Rewards (Choose)

• Harmonium: --
• Independents: 20
• Republic Remnant: --
• Scum & Villainy: --

Casualties & Injuries

• None Reported.

Notes

• Contagion Resource: Specimens and research increase the survivability of the plague by one step (Event Finale Impact)