Star Wars (7ABY; M05, D05-D07): Bad Algae
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Garth, Morrigan, Sekar, Roger, and (Mon) / [XP: 8]
Deb was out on maternity leave, Smike had had a rough week, and Robert ran out of steam near the end.
Month 5; Day 05
Sekar wasn’t at breakfast the next morning, and Jacinta was looking very pale and sluggish. Morrigan was really worried about her, but she insisted that she was fine and refused to let Garth take a look at her.
When Sekar finally got up, she asked Jacinta to accompany her; then took her down into Port Town so that the two of them could randomly pick a fight with some low-lifes (mostly because Sekar needed to blow off some steam). Jacinta clearly wasn’t on her A-game, but Sekar made no issue of it.
Morrigan was even more concerned when Sekar brought the young girl back looking like she’d fallen down 1000 steps. Jacinta again refused medical attention, and Sekar backed her up.
Around that time, the PC’s finally got a reply back from Lita Flagg…
Multiple Alliance combat units in the southern Mid-Rim and Outer Rim have suffered outbreaks of debilitating-but-thankfully-non-lethal sickness. The cause was determined to be the ingestion of diluted quantities of some sort of natural toxin. A close analysis of food supplies revealed contaminated shipments which all originated from the same place…
Aqualis Base on the planet Baralou in the Varada Sector is, ostensibly, owned by the Aqualis Food Conglomerate; but in reality is an Alliance food production plant. This is known to all thirty-ish people who live and work there.
I really can’t advise you on how to proceed, but below you will find a contact frequency and code key; which should be adequate to convince them that you’re at least sympathetic to the Alliance.
This could be completely innocent; they might have just found a bad range of algae and the toxicity levels were too low to trip their sensors. Or, there could be an Imperial rat in the nest. Regardless, we need them to stop shipping out poisoned food bars; so time is of the essence.
Proceed as you see fit, report your findings to me, and when you’re done you can come meet me where we met originally and I’ll see to it that you’re compensated.
Month 5; Day 05 - Day 07
The PC’s departed Bespin and headed for the Varada Sector. By the morning of the 6th, Jacinta’s condition had clearly improved; so Morrigan and Garth decided not to force the issue of what had been wrong with her to being with (which, as best as Garth could guess, had been a serious case of anemia).
Month 5; Day 07
The PC’s reached the ocean world of Baralou around 16:00 in the afternoon and contacted Aqualis Base from orbit. As they made their approach after being invited to land, they could see a very large and intense storm just to the west of the base’s position.
Aqualis Base was a tall and thin structure with a broad landing pad at the very top and its lower third submerged below the waves. The nearby storm looked even more imposing now, but the person on the radio informed the PC’s that the base was equipped with repulsorlifts which could lift the entire station above the cloud layer in the event that conditions grew dangerous.
Two men were waiting on the platform when the PC’s disembarked. One (soon identified as station commander Fez Devvol) was a balding man in his 40’s who seemed at little apprehensive about the arrival of an unfamiliar ship (code or no code). The other (soon identified as security chief Hiram Coff) was in his late 30’s and had a broad mustache. Looking as sketchy as could be, Coff was clearly wound too tight and was very apprehensive about the PC’s arrival; and he kept an unsteady hand near the grip of the DH-17 strapped to his hip.
Both men relaxed a bit when Lita Flagg’s name was mentioned, but then became quite alarmed when they were informed that they’d been shipping out toxic ration bars. “I told you”, the PC’s could hear Coff mutter to Devvol. “It’s your ex-wife”. Devvol immediately snapped at Coff to shut up, then both men eagerly offered to cooperate and assist in any way they could.
Devvol took Garth, Roger, and Mon down to collect some algae samples for analysis. Everywhere they went, blue collar types kept asking ‘who are these guys’ and ‘what are these guys doing down here’; but Devvol just kept telling them not to worry about it and to get back to work. Garth took algae samples from the most recently-filled storage tank, some finished and wrapped food bars, and also some samples of the additives used in processing.
The additives were completely clean, but Garth discovered toxins in both the stored algae and the processed ration bars. The toxin was not in the algae itself, but in some other plant matter (which looked like some kind of greenish, finely-ground root) that was mixed in with it. The concentration was so minimal that a person could probably eat several bars without getting anything more than a slightly upset stomach. But if a soldier in the field was eating them three meals a day every day for weeks, it would be more than enough to make them quite ill. It would also explain why the toxicity wasn’t detected at any stage of collection or processing.
Meanwhile, Coff took the Chissters down to the moon pool so that Morrigan could check the toxicity sensors on the aqua-pods which were used for harvesting. On their way down the lift; Coff (who still seemed very on-the-edge) confided in them that Zabeth Mestra (the station’s chief engineer and Devvol’s ex-wife) was a former Imperial who had defected to the Alliance. He was quite certain that she was behind what was going on, and he promised to do anything he could to help the PC’s find proof.
Morrigan verified that all of the sensors were working fine (as Garth had already ascertained, the concentration was simply too low to trigger them). To be on the safe side, she went ahead and cranked up the sensitivity a bit.
After the PC’s regrouped, one of them took Devvol aside and asked him what was up with Coff. “His last campaign on the front…”, he hesitantly began, “… went very badly. That’s why he’s out here on the edge of the galaxy babysitting a food processing operation. But he’s been here for two years, he’s more solid than he seems, and I trust him.”
The PC’s then went down into the station again to collect more samples. All of the storage tanks were checked; as were the aqua-harvesters which were just coming in ahead of the storm hitting. In all cases, more of the toxic plant particles were detected; indicating that the algae might have been poisoned before it was even harvested.
When the PC’s emerged from the Seventh Moon after their second round of analysis, they found four people waiting for them. Devvol and Coff were having a heated discussing with a stern-looking brunette woman whom the PC’s immediately (and correctly) guessed was Zabeth Mestra. Standing nearby and trying to stay out of it was a weasely-looking man later identified as Marko Weeks; the droid pool technician.
“I knew it!”, Mestra yelled when the PC’s informed them that the algae appeared to be poisoned at the source. “It’s the Krikthasi! I told you we shouldn’t be here!” The PC’s immediately asked who/what the Krikthasi was/were. “Oh, of course”, Mestra replied. “I suppose these two enormous idiots never bothered to mention that there are two sapient species on this planet…”
“The Krikthasi”, she explained, “are a sapient species of marine mollusk. They’re hostile, they’re aggressive, and they’re territorial; and because my ex-husband it so stupid, we’re harvesting right inside the territory of the largest tribe of them in this entire hemisphere!”
“It’s not the Krikthasi!”, Devvol snapped back. “We’ve been in this area for months and they haven’t come near us. And even if they were trying to drive us away; poisoning the algae would be way too passive, indirect, and far-thinking for them. They’d be chucking spears at the harvesters, not trying to make us sick.
“The other species is the Multopos”, Mestra continued when the PC’s asked. “While the Krikthasi are almost strictly aquatic, the Multopos are amphibious. They spend most of their time on land, but they need to lay their eggs and raise their young in the water. The problem is that their eggs and their young are also the Krikthasi’s favorite thing to eat. They dig canals on their islands which they can pretty easily defend; but when a big storm hits and the islands flood, the Krikthasi can overrun them.”
At this point, the PC’s decided that they needed to check out the algae beds where the base was currently harvesting from. In addition to their aqua-harvesters, the base also had a sizeable submersible; which Devvol was happy to loan to the PC’s.
Devvol also provided them with a map of the area which showed where the harvesters had most recently been and where they were going to be in the immediate future. The beds that they were harvesting from were around and among a cluster of three islands, two of which contained Multopos tribes. The aqua-pods which had just returned had been harvesting between a large island on the south-west side of the cluster and a smaller island to the north of it.
Morrigan opted to stay behind; revealing for the first time that she really didn’t like being under water. Only moments after the other PC’s departed, she was approached by Coff; who said in a hushed voice that he needed to show her something. After making sure that her stunner was accessible, she followed him down to his cabin.
Every square inch of the walls in Coff’s cabin was covered in photographs, technical schematics, and printouts of equations, big blocks of numbers, and portions of text which had no context. Hundreds of pins and strings connecting various elements in a mind-spinning web, and Morrigan no longer had the slightest doubt that Coff was completely out of his mind. This notion was only further reinforced by his rambling explanation of what it was all about.
In short; Coff believed that, after the destruction of Alderaan, Emperor Palpatine had come to the conclusion that control via such destructive coercion would ultimately be unsustainable. Therefore, he had conscripted the most brilliant minds in the galaxy to work on a new project: technology-based mass mind control!
“It all adds up”, he told Morrigan. “For something like that, you’d have to start with simpler life-forms; like mollusks. Mestra and Devvol were both right; the Krikthasi are poisoning the algae but it’s not in their nature. This whole thing is a test; they’re being controlled! Mestra built this entire station from scratch. Every nut; every bolt; is hers. She’s not only proved that the concept works, but she tried to kill Alliance soldiers in the process. That’s the kind of thing that really gets the attention of the higher-ups in the Imperial military.”
Morrigan had no doubt that Coff was completely around the bend; but not wanting to set him off, she played along and asked him to explain the stuff on the walls in more detail. This was basically just to keep him talking until the other PC’s got back.
As the other PC’s passed along the west coast of the larger island, they saw a number of strange-looking tentacled creatures congregating near the shore. Recalling what Mestra had said and that there was a storm coming in, the PC’s guessed that they were probably Krikthasi waiting for the island to flood. Regardless, they made no move to bother the PC’s; so the PC’s let them be.
Only a short distance down the channel between the two island, the sea floor was suddenly covered in a carpet of vivid green algae. While Mon stayed aboard the sub to keep an eye on things; the other PC’s donned respirators, disembarked, and began collecting samples. They moved in a grid pattern which had been laid out by Garth, who wanted to see if the toxins were more concentrated in some areas than others.
The PC’s had only been out for 10 or 15 minutes when the submersible’s sensors suddenly picked up a very powerful ultrasonic ping emanating from the direction of Aqualis Base. “Verifying our position?”, Mon radioed back.
“Um… no?”, he heard Weeks reply. “I’ve got a fix on your transponder; why do you ask?” When Mon told him about the ultrasonic ping, Weeks cut him off before he could even finish his sentence. “Get your people back on board”, he firmly stated with panic in his voice, “and get back here now!”
Mon didn’t waste time asking why, nor did he waste time explaining why everyone else needed to get back on board. He didn’t even wait until the sub’s hydrolock fished cycling; as soon as everyone was inside, he hit the throttle.
About half-way back, the sub’s sonar picked up something huge closing on them from behind; and at the next bend in the seafloor canyon which they were following, the PC’s were able to glance back and see what it was. It looked and moved much like an eel, but was large enough to swallow the submersible without chewing. Its head was reminiscent of an angler fish, and its body appeared to be covered in chitinous plates.
Mon spotted a crevice in the canyon wall which was clearly too small for the sea monster to fit through; and though he wasn’t certain as to whether or not the sub would fit through either, he didn’t see much alternative other than to go for it. The stabilizers on both sides were badly damaged with a cringe-inducing scrape; but they made it through.
The retrieval clamps for the sub were already extended and open when the PC’s reached the base; and before the clamps could even reel the sub up into the moon pool, the moon pool ascended from the water into dry air. As the shutter on the moon pool started to close, the PC’s saw the creature breach the water and snap its jaws shut mere feet below the sub’s lower hull.
Morrigan, Coff, Devvol, Mestra, Weeks, and several other station personnel were all down in the moon pool by the time the PC’s disembarked from the submarine. Weeks explained to them that strong ultrasonic signals pissed off those creatures, which they called ‘leviathan eels’. For that reason, the ultrasonic frequencies had been locked out of their sonar control system. Only he, Devvol, Mestra, and Coff knew the code to override the lockout. One or more of those people had just attempted to assassinate the PC’s by siccing a sea monster on them!
Morrigan verified that Coff had been with her the entire time that the other PC’s were gone, and Weeks insisted that he would have had no reason to warn them to flee if he’d been trying to kill them. While this definitely shifted more suspicion onto the other two, the PC’s weren’t all 100% convinced that they were innocent.
Weeks further explained that the ping could have been sent from any of a number of control stations throughout the station, and he hesitantly admitted that he was at one of them when he was on the radio with Mon. Mestra said that she was checking on the weather sensor antenna in preparation for the coming storm and Devvol said that he was beginning preparations to flush and scour all of the algae storage tanks. None of the other station crew, however, could corroborate either claim.
For the moment, the PC’s decided to at least show some trust in Coff (though they kept their guard up) and had him lock Devvol and Mestra up together in the station’s tiny brig. Suspecting that Coff might have used a droid to send the ping, Morrigan had Weeks take she and Garth down to the droid pool. Mon stayed with Coff to keep an eye on the happy ex-couple while Sekar and Roger began searching their cabins.
[Robert departed around this time.]
Checking out the droid pool, Morrigan quickly discovered that a number of exterior maintenance droids had been heavily modified. Their chassis had been reinforced, their sensors had been boosted, and their repair implements had been replaced with what appeared to be digging tools. Rather than ask Weeks about it, Morrigan just stunned him.
Additional searching turned up a stash of gemstones hidden at the bottom of a large parts cabinet. They weren’t valuable enough to fund a revolution or anything; but they were definitely enough to keep an individual living comfortably for the rest of their life. Later when he regained consciousness, Weeks would in fact confess that he’d been misappropriating repair droids to make him some side money by digging up gems.
A search of Mestra’s room turned up nothing of interest apart from some financial records which seemed to indicate that she’d been deliberately inflating the station’s operating costs. Shady, certainly; but nothing worth murdering for. The search of Devvol’s cabin, on the other hand, turned up something a lot more incriminating.
Taped to the underside of Devvol’s bunk, Sekar found a tray containing six identical long-barreled blaster pistols. A closer look by Morrigan eventually revealed that they’d been modified post-purchase for optimal underwater performance. The longer barrels enhanced their range (which water naturally diminished), and they had further been modified to make them water-tight and resistant to salt corrosion.
Roger immediately put forth the theory that this was why the Krikthasi hadn’t been bothering the station: Devvol had been arming them with blasters. Sekar then added that it was probably the Multopos who had been spreading the toxins; they wanted to drive the humans away because the humans had been helping their enemies kill them.
When the PC’s voiced this theory at the brig, Mestra immediately began screaming and beating the crap out of Devvol. The PC’s didn’t stop her.
After she was done, Devvol fessed up; adding that he’d actually been trading the blasters for gemstones. The Krikthasi’s lack of hostility towards them was just a secondary benefit; they wanted to keep the blasters coming in.
Coff let Mestra and Weeks out of the brig and asked the PC’s to tell everything to Lita Flagg when they went to collect their payment. She would contact the appropriate people to decide what to do; and in the mean time, Devvol would be kept locked up and the station would be moved out of Krikthasi territory.
Garth, Morrigan, Sekar, Roger, and (Mon) / [XP: 8]
Deb was out on maternity leave, Smike had had a rough week, and Robert ran out of steam near the end.
Month 5; Day 05
Sekar wasn’t at breakfast the next morning, and Jacinta was looking very pale and sluggish. Morrigan was really worried about her, but she insisted that she was fine and refused to let Garth take a look at her.
When Sekar finally got up, she asked Jacinta to accompany her; then took her down into Port Town so that the two of them could randomly pick a fight with some low-lifes (mostly because Sekar needed to blow off some steam). Jacinta clearly wasn’t on her A-game, but Sekar made no issue of it.
Morrigan was even more concerned when Sekar brought the young girl back looking like she’d fallen down 1000 steps. Jacinta again refused medical attention, and Sekar backed her up.
Around that time, the PC’s finally got a reply back from Lita Flagg…
Multiple Alliance combat units in the southern Mid-Rim and Outer Rim have suffered outbreaks of debilitating-but-thankfully-non-lethal sickness. The cause was determined to be the ingestion of diluted quantities of some sort of natural toxin. A close analysis of food supplies revealed contaminated shipments which all originated from the same place…
Aqualis Base on the planet Baralou in the Varada Sector is, ostensibly, owned by the Aqualis Food Conglomerate; but in reality is an Alliance food production plant. This is known to all thirty-ish people who live and work there.
I really can’t advise you on how to proceed, but below you will find a contact frequency and code key; which should be adequate to convince them that you’re at least sympathetic to the Alliance.
This could be completely innocent; they might have just found a bad range of algae and the toxicity levels were too low to trip their sensors. Or, there could be an Imperial rat in the nest. Regardless, we need them to stop shipping out poisoned food bars; so time is of the essence.
Proceed as you see fit, report your findings to me, and when you’re done you can come meet me where we met originally and I’ll see to it that you’re compensated.
Month 5; Day 05 - Day 07
The PC’s departed Bespin and headed for the Varada Sector. By the morning of the 6th, Jacinta’s condition had clearly improved; so Morrigan and Garth decided not to force the issue of what had been wrong with her to being with (which, as best as Garth could guess, had been a serious case of anemia).
Month 5; Day 07
The PC’s reached the ocean world of Baralou around 16:00 in the afternoon and contacted Aqualis Base from orbit. As they made their approach after being invited to land, they could see a very large and intense storm just to the west of the base’s position.
Aqualis Base was a tall and thin structure with a broad landing pad at the very top and its lower third submerged below the waves. The nearby storm looked even more imposing now, but the person on the radio informed the PC’s that the base was equipped with repulsorlifts which could lift the entire station above the cloud layer in the event that conditions grew dangerous.
Two men were waiting on the platform when the PC’s disembarked. One (soon identified as station commander Fez Devvol) was a balding man in his 40’s who seemed at little apprehensive about the arrival of an unfamiliar ship (code or no code). The other (soon identified as security chief Hiram Coff) was in his late 30’s and had a broad mustache. Looking as sketchy as could be, Coff was clearly wound too tight and was very apprehensive about the PC’s arrival; and he kept an unsteady hand near the grip of the DH-17 strapped to his hip.
Both men relaxed a bit when Lita Flagg’s name was mentioned, but then became quite alarmed when they were informed that they’d been shipping out toxic ration bars. “I told you”, the PC’s could hear Coff mutter to Devvol. “It’s your ex-wife”. Devvol immediately snapped at Coff to shut up, then both men eagerly offered to cooperate and assist in any way they could.
Devvol took Garth, Roger, and Mon down to collect some algae samples for analysis. Everywhere they went, blue collar types kept asking ‘who are these guys’ and ‘what are these guys doing down here’; but Devvol just kept telling them not to worry about it and to get back to work. Garth took algae samples from the most recently-filled storage tank, some finished and wrapped food bars, and also some samples of the additives used in processing.
The additives were completely clean, but Garth discovered toxins in both the stored algae and the processed ration bars. The toxin was not in the algae itself, but in some other plant matter (which looked like some kind of greenish, finely-ground root) that was mixed in with it. The concentration was so minimal that a person could probably eat several bars without getting anything more than a slightly upset stomach. But if a soldier in the field was eating them three meals a day every day for weeks, it would be more than enough to make them quite ill. It would also explain why the toxicity wasn’t detected at any stage of collection or processing.
Meanwhile, Coff took the Chissters down to the moon pool so that Morrigan could check the toxicity sensors on the aqua-pods which were used for harvesting. On their way down the lift; Coff (who still seemed very on-the-edge) confided in them that Zabeth Mestra (the station’s chief engineer and Devvol’s ex-wife) was a former Imperial who had defected to the Alliance. He was quite certain that she was behind what was going on, and he promised to do anything he could to help the PC’s find proof.
Morrigan verified that all of the sensors were working fine (as Garth had already ascertained, the concentration was simply too low to trigger them). To be on the safe side, she went ahead and cranked up the sensitivity a bit.
After the PC’s regrouped, one of them took Devvol aside and asked him what was up with Coff. “His last campaign on the front…”, he hesitantly began, “… went very badly. That’s why he’s out here on the edge of the galaxy babysitting a food processing operation. But he’s been here for two years, he’s more solid than he seems, and I trust him.”
The PC’s then went down into the station again to collect more samples. All of the storage tanks were checked; as were the aqua-harvesters which were just coming in ahead of the storm hitting. In all cases, more of the toxic plant particles were detected; indicating that the algae might have been poisoned before it was even harvested.
When the PC’s emerged from the Seventh Moon after their second round of analysis, they found four people waiting for them. Devvol and Coff were having a heated discussing with a stern-looking brunette woman whom the PC’s immediately (and correctly) guessed was Zabeth Mestra. Standing nearby and trying to stay out of it was a weasely-looking man later identified as Marko Weeks; the droid pool technician.
“I knew it!”, Mestra yelled when the PC’s informed them that the algae appeared to be poisoned at the source. “It’s the Krikthasi! I told you we shouldn’t be here!” The PC’s immediately asked who/what the Krikthasi was/were. “Oh, of course”, Mestra replied. “I suppose these two enormous idiots never bothered to mention that there are two sapient species on this planet…”
“The Krikthasi”, she explained, “are a sapient species of marine mollusk. They’re hostile, they’re aggressive, and they’re territorial; and because my ex-husband it so stupid, we’re harvesting right inside the territory of the largest tribe of them in this entire hemisphere!”
“It’s not the Krikthasi!”, Devvol snapped back. “We’ve been in this area for months and they haven’t come near us. And even if they were trying to drive us away; poisoning the algae would be way too passive, indirect, and far-thinking for them. They’d be chucking spears at the harvesters, not trying to make us sick.
“The other species is the Multopos”, Mestra continued when the PC’s asked. “While the Krikthasi are almost strictly aquatic, the Multopos are amphibious. They spend most of their time on land, but they need to lay their eggs and raise their young in the water. The problem is that their eggs and their young are also the Krikthasi’s favorite thing to eat. They dig canals on their islands which they can pretty easily defend; but when a big storm hits and the islands flood, the Krikthasi can overrun them.”
At this point, the PC’s decided that they needed to check out the algae beds where the base was currently harvesting from. In addition to their aqua-harvesters, the base also had a sizeable submersible; which Devvol was happy to loan to the PC’s.
Devvol also provided them with a map of the area which showed where the harvesters had most recently been and where they were going to be in the immediate future. The beds that they were harvesting from were around and among a cluster of three islands, two of which contained Multopos tribes. The aqua-pods which had just returned had been harvesting between a large island on the south-west side of the cluster and a smaller island to the north of it.
Morrigan opted to stay behind; revealing for the first time that she really didn’t like being under water. Only moments after the other PC’s departed, she was approached by Coff; who said in a hushed voice that he needed to show her something. After making sure that her stunner was accessible, she followed him down to his cabin.
Every square inch of the walls in Coff’s cabin was covered in photographs, technical schematics, and printouts of equations, big blocks of numbers, and portions of text which had no context. Hundreds of pins and strings connecting various elements in a mind-spinning web, and Morrigan no longer had the slightest doubt that Coff was completely out of his mind. This notion was only further reinforced by his rambling explanation of what it was all about.
In short; Coff believed that, after the destruction of Alderaan, Emperor Palpatine had come to the conclusion that control via such destructive coercion would ultimately be unsustainable. Therefore, he had conscripted the most brilliant minds in the galaxy to work on a new project: technology-based mass mind control!
“It all adds up”, he told Morrigan. “For something like that, you’d have to start with simpler life-forms; like mollusks. Mestra and Devvol were both right; the Krikthasi are poisoning the algae but it’s not in their nature. This whole thing is a test; they’re being controlled! Mestra built this entire station from scratch. Every nut; every bolt; is hers. She’s not only proved that the concept works, but she tried to kill Alliance soldiers in the process. That’s the kind of thing that really gets the attention of the higher-ups in the Imperial military.”
Morrigan had no doubt that Coff was completely around the bend; but not wanting to set him off, she played along and asked him to explain the stuff on the walls in more detail. This was basically just to keep him talking until the other PC’s got back.
As the other PC’s passed along the west coast of the larger island, they saw a number of strange-looking tentacled creatures congregating near the shore. Recalling what Mestra had said and that there was a storm coming in, the PC’s guessed that they were probably Krikthasi waiting for the island to flood. Regardless, they made no move to bother the PC’s; so the PC’s let them be.
Only a short distance down the channel between the two island, the sea floor was suddenly covered in a carpet of vivid green algae. While Mon stayed aboard the sub to keep an eye on things; the other PC’s donned respirators, disembarked, and began collecting samples. They moved in a grid pattern which had been laid out by Garth, who wanted to see if the toxins were more concentrated in some areas than others.
The PC’s had only been out for 10 or 15 minutes when the submersible’s sensors suddenly picked up a very powerful ultrasonic ping emanating from the direction of Aqualis Base. “Verifying our position?”, Mon radioed back.
“Um… no?”, he heard Weeks reply. “I’ve got a fix on your transponder; why do you ask?” When Mon told him about the ultrasonic ping, Weeks cut him off before he could even finish his sentence. “Get your people back on board”, he firmly stated with panic in his voice, “and get back here now!”
Mon didn’t waste time asking why, nor did he waste time explaining why everyone else needed to get back on board. He didn’t even wait until the sub’s hydrolock fished cycling; as soon as everyone was inside, he hit the throttle.
About half-way back, the sub’s sonar picked up something huge closing on them from behind; and at the next bend in the seafloor canyon which they were following, the PC’s were able to glance back and see what it was. It looked and moved much like an eel, but was large enough to swallow the submersible without chewing. Its head was reminiscent of an angler fish, and its body appeared to be covered in chitinous plates.
Mon spotted a crevice in the canyon wall which was clearly too small for the sea monster to fit through; and though he wasn’t certain as to whether or not the sub would fit through either, he didn’t see much alternative other than to go for it. The stabilizers on both sides were badly damaged with a cringe-inducing scrape; but they made it through.
The retrieval clamps for the sub were already extended and open when the PC’s reached the base; and before the clamps could even reel the sub up into the moon pool, the moon pool ascended from the water into dry air. As the shutter on the moon pool started to close, the PC’s saw the creature breach the water and snap its jaws shut mere feet below the sub’s lower hull.
Morrigan, Coff, Devvol, Mestra, Weeks, and several other station personnel were all down in the moon pool by the time the PC’s disembarked from the submarine. Weeks explained to them that strong ultrasonic signals pissed off those creatures, which they called ‘leviathan eels’. For that reason, the ultrasonic frequencies had been locked out of their sonar control system. Only he, Devvol, Mestra, and Coff knew the code to override the lockout. One or more of those people had just attempted to assassinate the PC’s by siccing a sea monster on them!
Morrigan verified that Coff had been with her the entire time that the other PC’s were gone, and Weeks insisted that he would have had no reason to warn them to flee if he’d been trying to kill them. While this definitely shifted more suspicion onto the other two, the PC’s weren’t all 100% convinced that they were innocent.
Weeks further explained that the ping could have been sent from any of a number of control stations throughout the station, and he hesitantly admitted that he was at one of them when he was on the radio with Mon. Mestra said that she was checking on the weather sensor antenna in preparation for the coming storm and Devvol said that he was beginning preparations to flush and scour all of the algae storage tanks. None of the other station crew, however, could corroborate either claim.
For the moment, the PC’s decided to at least show some trust in Coff (though they kept their guard up) and had him lock Devvol and Mestra up together in the station’s tiny brig. Suspecting that Coff might have used a droid to send the ping, Morrigan had Weeks take she and Garth down to the droid pool. Mon stayed with Coff to keep an eye on the happy ex-couple while Sekar and Roger began searching their cabins.
[Robert departed around this time.]
Checking out the droid pool, Morrigan quickly discovered that a number of exterior maintenance droids had been heavily modified. Their chassis had been reinforced, their sensors had been boosted, and their repair implements had been replaced with what appeared to be digging tools. Rather than ask Weeks about it, Morrigan just stunned him.
Additional searching turned up a stash of gemstones hidden at the bottom of a large parts cabinet. They weren’t valuable enough to fund a revolution or anything; but they were definitely enough to keep an individual living comfortably for the rest of their life. Later when he regained consciousness, Weeks would in fact confess that he’d been misappropriating repair droids to make him some side money by digging up gems.
A search of Mestra’s room turned up nothing of interest apart from some financial records which seemed to indicate that she’d been deliberately inflating the station’s operating costs. Shady, certainly; but nothing worth murdering for. The search of Devvol’s cabin, on the other hand, turned up something a lot more incriminating.
Taped to the underside of Devvol’s bunk, Sekar found a tray containing six identical long-barreled blaster pistols. A closer look by Morrigan eventually revealed that they’d been modified post-purchase for optimal underwater performance. The longer barrels enhanced their range (which water naturally diminished), and they had further been modified to make them water-tight and resistant to salt corrosion.
Roger immediately put forth the theory that this was why the Krikthasi hadn’t been bothering the station: Devvol had been arming them with blasters. Sekar then added that it was probably the Multopos who had been spreading the toxins; they wanted to drive the humans away because the humans had been helping their enemies kill them.
When the PC’s voiced this theory at the brig, Mestra immediately began screaming and beating the crap out of Devvol. The PC’s didn’t stop her.
After she was done, Devvol fessed up; adding that he’d actually been trading the blasters for gemstones. The Krikthasi’s lack of hostility towards them was just a secondary benefit; they wanted to keep the blasters coming in.
Coff let Mestra and Weeks out of the brig and asked the PC’s to tell everything to Lita Flagg when they went to collect their payment. She would contact the appropriate people to decide what to do; and in the mean time, Devvol would be kept locked up and the station would be moved out of Krikthasi territory.