SotB XLI: Bottles and Bones

*Almost two years after an archaeological expedition including Erdogan's mother goes missing, Erdo detects a distress signal from the planet. Calling in a favor, he assembles a team to investigate.*

## Agents

### Session 1

* Aiden Sann
* Derra Asbra
* (Erdogan Cael)
* Eve
* Hack
* Makren Duvel
* Shorbecca

### Session 2

*Session 2 Recording*

* Alro Hi'kot
* Chim Chim
* Gristle
* N1-M3
* R0C-K4
* Tortie Salk

## Mission Report

*Summary by Ben*

After the disappearance of Saber and Rogesh, Erdogan has gone into a fit of activity. He goes to N1-M3 and requests use of the Sunflare to find the source of a distress signal from an archaeological site, headed by Erdo’s mother, that disappeared two years ago. The Broker approves, and Erdo rounds of a group of agents to investigate this new signal, which comes in the wake of reports that an Imperial rescue team found nothing on the planet - no trace of the old expedition. On the way to the source of the signal, the agents question Erdo, requesting some information about his mother and the research she may have been involved with. She appeared to be in acceptable standing with the Empire, and the only possible conflict could have come from a fellow researcher named Gallus who felt as if her research might have undermined his.

In preparation, Tortie and N1-M3 put together some credentials for the purpose of passing off as an approved film crew making a documentary on the planet. Alro surveys the planet for more information, and finds that it is sometimes subject to spikes of radiation from the nearby unstable star. Lately, the activity has been more severe, but it shouldn’t be bad enough to warrant cancelling the mission. In the planet’s atmosphere, there are intense storms over a large region, including the location of the old archaeological site. Alro performs a scan to lock onto the distress beacon’s source and finds that it isn’t coming from the archaeologists’ camp, but from the site itself; There’s also a second signal, much newer than the other one, but Imperial in origin. After some discussion, the agents decide to head straight to the Imperial signal in order to at least identify any potential threats before investigating the archaeological site.

Chim brings the ship down through the clouds, and the Sunflare picks up a crashed Imperial patrol craft on the surface. Scanning for lifeforms, N1-M3 picks up roughly six humanoid signatures around the crash site, as well as a group of mammals that have turned and are heading toward the Sunflare itself. The Sunflare is hailed by the captain of the downed craft, and Tortie responds, displaying their forged credentials while explaining their presence. The captain accepts the story and requests some medical and mechanical assistance. In the meantime, Erdo goes to scout out the archaeological site.

The crew approaches the Imperial wreck to meet the captain, who explains that he and his crew had been investigating the other distress signal when their ship went down. Alro and N1-M3 go to help get their computers online, using the opportunity to check through some of their data. They find that the ship had made trips to the planet every six months for at least the last year and a half. Chim goes out to survey some of the wildlife while Gristle tends to the wounds of a few of the Imperial crewmen. When the group convenes again, the herd of animals approaches. They appear to be large goat-like creatures, stampeding away from something. Everyone loads into or onto the ships to get out of the way of the animals, but Chim stays out on Gotham to keep tabs on them. Alro, Gristle, Tortie and N1-M3 had gone on top of the Imperial craft to do some ‘filming’, and as the goat creatures stampede past, they begin to rapidly climb the ship. N1-M3 is knocked off while the other agents manage to hang on, and the animals’ pursuers bound into view. One of the predators snaps at Gristle in passing, and Chim fires off a shot to warn it away. After a few moments, the creatures all pass and N1-M3 performs some repairs with Alro’s assistance.

With the potential threat investigated, the agents then move on to catch up with Erdo at the archaeological site. During the flight, they spot rocks floating in small groups around some large statues spread across the landscape. Tortie picks up a deep vibration in the air, and N1-M3 tries to scan for the source of the suspicious anomalies. He concludes that it must be the result of the Force, and the group moves on toward the signal’s source, which leads them to a strange, warping waterfall. Gristle contacts Erdo via his comlink, and Erdo responds, saying that he’s already gone inside. Gristle asks him to wait, but he says that he needs to keep going. The group unloads from the ship and heads toward the waterfall, which Alro notices may be the result of sonic vibrations. As they get close, however, several creatures leap out from behind the sheet of water. One of them leaps toward Chim on Gotham’s back and delivers a deep bite wound. R0C moves in to help Chim while Gotham claws back, defending its master. Gristle pulls the cortosis gauntlets from his bag and puts them on while he intercepts one of the large felines, grabbing ahold of it and knocking it off balance. Alro, in the meantime, has taken one of the camera batteries from her pack and fashioned a makeshift flashbang from it. One of the cats lashes out, striking Gristle badly with its spines, and Alro throws the jury rigged grenade into the fray, warning everyone to shield themselves. The resulting bang disorients the beasts, opening up an opportunity for R0C to eviscerate one while Gotham grapples with another before eventually ripping its throat out. Tortie scrambles back as one leaps for him, but Gristle holds on to keep it from striking. R0C then moves to dispatch that one, clearing the threat for the moment. N1 begins scanning for nearby devices while Gristle inspects the bodies of the creatures. They don’t appear cybernetically enhanced, but they do hold signs of having been recently woken up from storage in carbonite.

The agents head in through the tunnel behind the waterfall, the walls of which are lined with markings similar to that of musical notation. There are even spots almost similar to buttons on the walls, but they can’t be operated by hand. Further in, there are a series of doors, and Chim does his best to track where Erdo may have gone. Eventually, they’re brought to an intersection with a circular desk in the center with a green-skinned humanoid woman sitting behind it, operating a console. The agents make contact, and she questions their presence while claiming that she’s a part of the research team - the very same one that Erdo’s mother had been a part of. When asked the date, she gives a date from roughly two years ago, suggesting that she, too, may have been stored cryogenically or in carbonite until recently. She expresses confusion, but seems genuine, and says that the facility seems to have been used for the storage of many things, but also that her companions had been stolen away seemingly at the same time under mysterious circumstances. N1-M3 and Alro move to the consoles to help her decipher some of the data and find a list akin to a set of research data, essentially an inventory on various objects, plants and animals from different planets. The two then run a check for activity related to what may have happened two years ago and are given logs of door activity from that timeframe. Using that data, they narrow down a series of rooms that might hold some of the other researchers. Alro and N1 stay at the console while the others head to the suggested rooms. The first one has a series of creepy demonic statues inside, and as R0C enters to investigate, the door begins to close behind him. He wedges himself into the doorway to stop it and calls in to Alro to get her to stop the door. Alro can’t stop the door completely, but her scans of the computer system give her the sense that the facility’s recent activity is tied to the surge in radiation from the nearby star, and that the power is beginning to lapse again. Some of the doors are already beginning to lock down, and the facility may close completely within the next ten minutes or so. Just then, they receive a call from Erdo, who claims that he knows his mother is no longer at the facility. With time running out, they agree to meet outside. On the way out, R0C checks another of the rooms and finds a large serpent-like creature inside which turns to look at him. Just as it moves to grab at R0C, Alro shuts the door. In the next room, there appear to be several objects suspended in a shimmering gel or glass-like substance. Moving on, they finally find another member of the archaeological crew, a distant relative of Makren, and convince him to leave with them. However, at the same time, they hear the telltale voices of stormtroopers down one of the corridors. They’re soon confronted and lean on their cover story to see them through, collecting up their stray agents and regrouping at the Sunflare while avoiding any further attention or suspicion.