Following the events of Equilibria Starfinder – 3, the Androids intend to sabotage the Broadcasting Center at the Space Station, before continuing their planned smuggling operation. They believe this sabotage is worth the risk and effort, and for this reason, I am setting up a Location Crafter for the mission, since they just managed to infiltrate it through some internal tunnel.

(🎲 Space Station Region Descriptors: Well-Armed, Damaged and in Crisis)

Scene 9

The Androids follow the tunnel for a while until they fall into a larger, spacious room. It looks like (🎲 Frighteningly|Poor) quite empty, with some open construction boxes, laid down tools, most of them apparently abandoned. Quite shocking, considering the outside appeared beautiful and exotic, likely these people want to give a pretty impression to the outside, while hiding their corruption inside.

The Androids spot (🎲 1d4: 1) guards, and look around to see if they found somewhere to hide quickly. (🎲 Perception DC14. Fluorine succeeds 17) Fluorine spots a small control pad that seems to be a hidden door, she presses it and finds a lateral room, with a terminal inside. They get in quickly and hide, closing the door automatically, (🎲 is the door silent? Exceptional No) but it makes quite some noise, which calls the guards’ attention.

The guard asks, “who’s there?” as he approaches the door and opens it, both Fluorine and Xenon unleash their melee attacks and knock the guard down. They quickly hide him inside the small side room.

Xenon proceeds to crack open the terminal, with the help of the guard’s fallen ID key (🎲 Computers +4. Success) and he learns (🎲 1d4: 3 about some interesting recently arrived cargo in one of the rooms → Object Track PP +2). They proceed.

Scene 10

(🎲 What is the Quartermaster doing? → Waste Kind). The Androids are trying to figure out what is he doing exactly (🎲 Sense Motive DC12 → 9 Fail) but cannot figure it out exactly, as he seems busy on a node. (🎲 Is he alone? No. Security Drones? No. Cameras? No. Guards 1d4: 2) Two guards roam around the connecting hallways and sometimes the room.

Xenon falls back through the side room they are in, to go back to the terminal and trigger a distraction alert somewhere else in the station. He hopes to distract mainly the guards. Fluorine stays alert closer to the Quartermaster while still remaining behind the electronic door.

(🎲 Computers test DC14: 17) Xenon manages to produce a decoy in the quartermaster computer, by showing a request of communication with him elsewhere. The quartermaster leaves the room (🎲 Do the guards follow him? Unlikely – Yes) and fortunately, the Guards kind of follow him for a while because of this fake alert.

Fluorine rushes into the Quartermaster’s computer as soon as it is safe, and quickly checks the node. It seems the quartermaster has been manipulating the human resource records to hide some missing “funds”. They also learn (🎲1d4: 1 Location Track PP +2) about the location of the central computers room they want to sabotage, although not exactly the way, they gather some leads, and quickly take the main electronic door to the next area.

Scene 11

Fluorine took a backup of the Quartermaster’s corruption machinations (added Wavia’s Quartermaster to NPCs list), just in case as a proof for something that they might need in the future, and following the information discovered in the terminal, they reach the main room, blocked by a big double door, white and electronic.

(🎲 Can they look inside? No) Since the big door appears with a big red light on the panel, indicating it’s restricted access, the Androids look quickly for an alternative, as they find an air duct on an elevated position in the hallway. Because of it’s elevated position, the androids will have to quickly work together to open it first and get inside. (🎲 is there anything at hand to stand on top of? Very Unlikely No).

Fluorine prepares herself to hold Xenon on her hands, she sits on her knees and Xenon prepares his tools to pick-lock open the air duct. (🎲 Strength DC10: 15 Success. 🎲 Engineering DC14: 9 Fail. Retry-2. 9 Fail) and despite the attempts, Xenon gives up and Fluorine also gives in, as they come down.

Scene 12

(🎲 is it possible to hack open the door? Yes) Despite being a more dangerous approach, Xenon thinks of cracking the data pad opener, which will be difficult. (🎲 Computers DC16. 26 Success!) The main door cracks open, as they see that inside, a (🎲 Threateningly|Powerful) roof turret identifies the door override and targets the Androids, in the middle of the room the head of operations working on what seems to be a damaged work station, is surprised. (🎲 Does the alarm trigger? Very Unlikely Exceptional No) Alarms not triggering since the override was neatly done by Xenon.

After a tough fight (Fluorine fell down but used two “Resolve” to stabilize and stay in the fight, the drone used a sticky grenade which got hold of her, getting entangled!), the Head of the Broadcasting gave up, and the Androids forced him to unlock the terminal for them, and then they tied him up and locked him inside one of the clothing lockers in the room, along the pieces of the broken drone.

Xenon proceeded to inject Trojans and altered recording files under the same name, so they would reproduce the “wrong” clips instead of the usual advertising, alongside corrupting existing backups. This would make it difficult to detect that the storage was sabotaged, at least until the recovery attempt.

They went back to the guard and intimidated him (🎲 Intimidate 12 vs 9 Success) to come with them (disarmed) to the exit and not tell anybody, or trigger any alarm, or else he would be a dead man. Acting as completely normal, the team of Androids exits the facilities from a safe backdoor (since they knew the way already),

To be continued… (And level up!)

JeansenVaars