MISSION BRIEFS: EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED

  • Suggested Era: Any, but Strange New Worlds, is best.
  • Spotlight Characters: Science officers
  • Directives: Confirm health and welfare of survey mission, collect any new data.

SYNOPSIS

The ship receives a mission to survey a possible Class M moon of a gas giant around star SSC-1092, a dull F-class star. There are records that a civilian research mission was sent out forty years earlier, but they never returned. Investigate, look for new life, and catalogue.

OPENING LOG ENTRY

Science officer’s log: We have been dispatched to SSC-1092 to investigate long-range scans suggesting a Class M moon around the third planet. My research into the records show that this system has rolled up before as a prospective interest for Starfleet forthy years ago, but no action had been taken. Twenty years ago, a civilian research mission set out to investigate this world, but was never heard from again. We don’t even know if the vessel — S.S. Starview — even reached their destination.

MAJOR BEATS

1) Do the Science Thing

On arriving at SSC-1092, the captain can turn their operations over to the science officer with a “Let’s do the science thing”. Control+Command, Diff 1 to organize the different science departments to look for and collate data. Control+Conn, Diff 2 for the helm or tactical officer to start launching probes to the various major worlds — four gas giants and a solitary captured terrestrial on a highly eccentric orbit at 480from the ecliptic and on a sharp, long period hyperbolic orbit. There’s a wealth of data to collect, even though the system has ben remotely surveyed for decades.

Their primary target is SSC-1092c/4, the fourth moon of the third planet. Insight+Science, Diff 0 to glean that SSC-1092c, the gas giant their target orbits, is slightly larger than Jupiter and has a powerful magnetic and gravitational field that keeps it’s inner five moons warm. Momentum generated by extra successes can tell them that c/4 is barely Class M, but there’s a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere with 11.2 bars of pressure at the surface, .8g surface gravity, and a hydrosphere of 54%. The moon has it’s own strong magnetic field that is fed by massive, power flux tubes coming from the planet’s N/S poles — strong enough transporters aren’t a safe option. There’s heavy cloud cover, so surface visuals aren’t happening, however, there are indications of plant life from the spectroscopic surveys of the air, which is breathable. Temperatures are cool, but within safe for most humanoids (comfortable for Andorians).

With a Insight+Security or Conn, DIff 3, hampered by the strong magnetic field, they will pick up power and heat sources on the ground! the signature doesn’t look like a major area of habitation — perhaps a ship? A momentum spend will reveal that it looks like a structure made of tritanium, with a subterranean portion underneath.

The crew can beam down but the magnetic field makes it difficult: Control or Daring+Conn, Diff 3 to get down safely. They could fly down in a shuttlecraft with a Control or Daring, Diff 2, the weather’s not bad, but interference on their sensors and communications with leave them a disadvantage.

2) A Strange New World

The interference from the magnetic field of the moon is the main danger. If they go down in a shuttle, a failed test will require another Daring+Conn, Diff 3 to avoid a static discharge into the hull that will hit with a Intensity 2. Once on the ground, Reason+Science or Conn, Diff 1 to remember to discharge any static the hull has picked up before exiting the craft, or the first person to make contact with the surface and the ship will create a circuit to ground and hit them with an Intensity 3 shock.

They are now on the surface of the wind-ridden, rocky world. There’s a lot of plant life around, mostly rhizomatic plants that grow low and wide, as well as fungi. There are strange jellyfish-like polyps with gossamer wings sprouting from the heads moving in the air currents. The clouds are thick and they can smell the sulphur of volcanic activity. The signal came from an old Y-Type freighter. It looks to have landed properly and all the cargo pods are intact..

Insight+ Science, Diff 2: The plant life is mildly reactive to their movement and touch. A scan of them shows their replication is not DNA, but a polysaccharide chains with amyloid fibril-catalyst to cause replication. There are analogues to grass and squat, mushroom-like trees — they’re using massive mycelial networks to absorb nutrients. Momentum spend to learn they should avoid touching them with bare hands; they secrete an acid to break down polymers into monomers. Insight+Science or Security, Diff 2: to notice that the plastic of their boot soles is being dissolved, but very slowly. They’re in no danger soon, but they should clean up afterward.

3) Starview

The team finds the ship is poor repair. There are vines and mushrooms growing all over the landing legs, sprouting here and there on the hull. ONly one of their two long-range shuttlecraft Starview launched is here. The access ramp to the airlock is down and the outer door open. A scan will show the life support and main power are still online, although the warp drive is shut down.

The inner hatch isn’t locked; they can get in without issue. Almost immediately, they will meet a slim, stoner type — Morrison — who will welcome them. They didn’t call for Starfleet; this is an independent colony. What are they doing here? He will insist, but in a friendly, calm manner that they don’t need any help…still they should talk to the boss.

If they ask about their mission, Morrison will tell them Starview landed 21 years ago and started their survey of the moon. They quickly realized the potential of this place. Those that didn’t want to stay left in the long-range shuttles a few years later. They should have been able to get back to Earth or Vulcan without issue. He will note that its unfortunate they didn’t get home, but he doesn’t seem emotional about it. Insight+Medical or Command, Diff 2: Morrison seems perfectly normal, but he’s definitely not showing signs of empathy.

There’s more of the crew here in the science module, four more of them. In addition to Morrison, who is the pilot for the ship, there’s Hailey, their biochemist; there’s Fitch, botanist; Welborn, another from the flight crew, Chu, the quartermaster; and Denton, the engineer. All of them seem pretty content, if a bit inebriated.

They’ve been doing their work for decades, and to fund themselves and keep supplies they can make here coming in, they’ve been trading with the Orions. They produce a bunch of medicinal materials from the local life, but what they were really known for was “the soup” — a hallucinogen that they produced for the Orions and other markets. It’s a calming psychotropic that has excellent results in treating anxiety, traumatic stress, and other mental diseases. Tweak the mix and it’s a beautiful ride. The security officer, if present, can test Reason+Security, Diff 2 to know “the soup” is a popular drug with some species out there, but can have serious side effects and can be deadly.

They will dispute that the soup is dangerous. The side effects that some worry about are fungal infections, but that’s part of why it works. The trick with everything here is to neutralize the amyloid; if you don’t they can wreak havoc on your nervous system. Some of the folks out there tinker with the soup and try to replicate or modify it; that’s what causes issues. They certainly don’t want to hurt anyone. Insight+Command or Medicine, Diff 3 — success tells them they aren’t completely truthful.

Chu will mention that the soup really puts you in touch with the universal mycelial network. It’s not really mushrooms, of course; it’s allegory for the energy patterns that connect the universe. There were a couple of guys that came through here a few years back — she’s not sure of when — but they had this idea about using these networks to create a drive system that you could use to run along these energy potentials faster than warp drive. What was the guy’s name… Stametz? The problem was the sheer number of possibilities made navigation nearly impossible beyond a few AUs.

While they don’t seem dangerous, they’re wrong somehow. If they try to take a tricorder reading, they react by asking them not to. If the crew insists, the crew of Starview may get hostile. The issue is simple: none of these people are people, anymore. Their DNA has been rewritten by the amyloid fibrils and they are…local fungi pretending to be people.

If the characters can chart their way, diplomatically, they will find out from these replicas of the Starview’s crew that over time, the soup and other material the colonists ate infected them with bits of the life forms here. Many died, a few fled in the shuttle. Once the planetary network realized that the crew were sentient, and that the local flora had killed them, they attempted to reconstitute them. they were only successful with the ones that hadn’t died. It also gave the life of this moon access to some of their memories, knowledge, and personalities.

If the crew pose a danger to the collective of life on the moon, they will respond with a subtle release of spores to try and control the characters. They must test against a Control+Command, vs. an opposed test with the creatures or be open to suggestion. These replicas will suggest that they report the planet’s flora hostile to colonization, that the original survey team had died, and that they should move on. If a character fails, they suffer an Injury at Intensity 3. They will have to make a second test at the end of the scene, if they have not received medical treatment, or have the fungi start to slowly replace their body until they are eventually, a perfect replica. Only the sharply different physiology of the Andorians (or Bolians) will be immune the effects.

Any violence will make the Starview replicas believe they have no choice but to act in their defense. The whole of the ecosphere is connected, and fed by the heady magnetic field of the planet. If need be, they can reach out and… tweak the moon’s magnetosphere. They would not wish to, but they could destroy the characters’ ship with a thought.

If it comes to this, they will attack with a Control 10+Security 4, Diff 2, and the effect of Plasma Discharges is like Plasma Torpedoes: Short (only if they are in orbit), Damage 7, Persistent. After the first hit, the ship can attempt to do evasive maneuvers, but if it doesn’t leave orbit, they will continue to be attacked until the characters can convince the aliens to stop.

CONCLUSION

If the crew can find a diplomatic solution, they should be able to get their people back from the surface. If not, they may have to stage a desperate rescue attempt with a disadvantage for the Moon’s Magnetic Field and Sentient Biosphere.

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