TEXT: 31
  
  1
  Small Mercy
  Written by
  Richard August
  Edited by
  Thorin Tabor
  Saga Machine system by
  Thorin Tabor
  Cover by
  Wilson Saravia
  Published by
  Tab Creations LLC
  Layout by
  Thorin Tabor
  Art by
  Aleksandra Klepacka, BroMiguel, Evelina Valieva,  
  Jason Moser, Jeshields, NASA, Sade, Wilson Saravia
  Playtesting by
  Kat Davis, Carroll Emerson, Ben Goreham, Micah Hollis-Symynkywicz, 
  Matthew Kamm, Phllip Matthews, Jesse Pingenot, Brian Richburg,  
  Darin Strouts, Eric Wirtanen
  Tab Creations is
  Ben Goreham, Jesse Pingenot, Phillip Matthews, Thorin Tabor
  Tab Creations, Saga Machine and Shadows Over Sol are trademarks owned by Thorin Tabor and Tab Creations LLC. All rights reserved. 
  All other content is ©2015-2016 Tab Creations. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the 
  trademark or copyright concerned. This document is a work of fiction.
  
  2
  
  3
  Contained in this document is a 
  complete investigative horror scenario for 
  Shadows Over Sol. It should be enough 
  material to cover somewhere between one 
  and three evenings of play, depending on 
  the pacing provided by the GM and the 
  actions of the players.
  Over the course of this scenario, the 
  team will be pitted against corporate 
  conspiracies, 
  trigger-happy 
  merce-
  naries, crazed cultists and ultimately will 
  come face-to-face with a truly terrifying 
  biological horror.
  Synopsis
  This scenario begins when the player 
  characters are approached by Mr. Alessio 
  West, a representative of the Investor 
  Relations department of the corp Jensei-
  tech. He knows that shortly Jenseitech 
  troops are going to be sent to Fururi 
  Station, a derelict mining station in 
  the Belt, which Jenseitech has recently 
  purchased. Jenseitech plans to decommis-
  sion the station and recycle its materials 
  for use elsewhere.
  However, a group of squatters has 
  taken up residence on Fururi Station, and 
  despite multiple attempts from Jensitech 
  to get them to leave, they have thus far 
  rebuked all requests. If Jenseitech is to 
  follow through with their plan to decom-
  mission the station, they’re going to need 
  to remove the squatters by force.
  Unfortunately 
  for 
  the 
  Investor 
  Relations department, Jim Segall, the 
  scion of the powerful Segall family, which 
  is a major shareholder of Jenseitech, has 
  taken up with the squatters. The Investor 
  Relations department cannot afford for 
  him to be a casualty in an attempt to 
  remove the squatters by force. Thus they 
  are hiring the player characters.
  The team is asked to discretely extract 
  Jim Segall so that he can be safely returned 
  to his family. Jenseitech is also aware that 
  the squatters are part of some sort of cult, 
  and believe that Jim Segall may be held at 
  Fururi against his will.
  With this knowledge in hand, the 
  team can investigate any leads they have, 
  and then either take their ship or hire a 
  ship to bring them to Fururi Station.
  Upon arrival at the station, the PCs 
  discover that Jenseitech troops have 
  already arrived, under the direction of 
  Captain Garinath. These troops do not 
  report to the Investor Relations depart-
  ment, and plan to forcibly decommis-
  sion the station, regardless of what the 
  team has been hired to do. The players 
  will need to do some quick diplomacy. 
  This increases the pressure, and places the 
  adventure under a strict timeline.
  Upon investigating Fururi Station, the 
  team will quickly learn that the squatters 
  are part of the Harbingers of the Divine 
  Form cult, but unknown to Jenseitech, 
  Jim Segall has not been held against his 
  will. He is a full-fledged member of the 
  cult, and even has a wife and child there. 
  Furthermore, the cultists are desperate 
  and see themselves as simply defending 
  their home against Jenseitech. They may 
  try to use the team’s own shuttle in a 
  Introduction
  
  4
  kamikaze attack against Captain Garinath 
  and his warship.
  Investigation will further reveal that 
  Jim Segall is no longer on Fururi Station. 
  Some time ago the squatters were able to 
  repair the station’s sensors and detected a 
  heretofore unknown asteroid habitat, just 
  a couple days away by shuttle. Taking one 
  of the station’s shuttles, Jim Segall and two 
  other people went to investigate, hoping 
  that it was an old mining outpost in which 
  they might scavenge useful components. 
  None of them ever returned.
  If the team is to claim their payment 
  for the delivery of Jim Segall, they will 
  need to head to this unknown station and 
  follow up themselves.
  Arriving at the unknown station, the 
  team will find it eerily vacant. Further-
  more, they will quickly discover that it’s 
  not a mining outpost, as it first appeared. 
  Rather, it is a secret corp laboratory. Inside 
  this station they will encounter the walking 
  thing that is all that remains of Jim Segall. 
  Hopefully they can both gain proof of Jim 
  Segall’s fate and escape alive...
  Modes  
  of Horror
  Small Mercy is written in the Investi-
  gative Horror mode of horror in mind (see 
  the Shadows Over Sol core rulebook, page 
  164). Over the course of the adventure the 
  player characters will need to be prepared 
  to investigate corp dealings, trigger-happy 
  mercenaries, creepy cultists and in the end 
  they will come face-to-face with a terrible 
  biological monstrosity. This confrontation 
  should be terrifying.
  This adventure could work as a Survival 
  Horror scenario, but be prepared for the 
  very real possibility that the team will all 
  die when they confront Jim Segall at the 
  climax of the investigation. GMs running 
  a survival horror game, who want to leave 
  most of the party alive at the end of the 
  scenario, would be advised to give PCs an 
  easy escape route in this confrontation.
  Inversely, the adventure might work 
  as an action horror scenario, but the final 
  confrontation will be less terrifying as a 
  result, and the struggle when the cultists try 
  to hijack the team’s shuttle will be a breeze.
  Ready-Made 
  Heroes
  The nine player characters presented 
  in Shadows Over Sol: Ready-Made 
  Heroes are ideal for use with Small Mercy. 
  Simply print out the character sheets, give 
  them their listed “Investigative Horror” 
  loadouts, and they are good to go!
  Alex Pryce has past experience 
  dealing with corps. Albert Astro ought 
  to have some insight into the logistics of 
  the unknown station. Viveka Wadhwa 
  may have some knowledge regarding the 
  bioengineered horror found inside.
  
  5
  Other Adventures
  “Small Mercy” can be used alone or in conjunction with other published 
  Shadows Over Sol adventures. Below are some notes on how to combine this 
  adventure with others. 
   
  � Eviction Notice: As Eviction Notice assumes the Action Horror mode of 
  horror, it is best set after the events of Small Mercy. Perhaps the team picks up 
  new weapons and armaments as the reward for their job in this scenario. This 
  might also give them the reputation they need to get hired in Eviction Notice.
   
  � Ghost Ship: Found in the Shadows Over Sol core rulebook, the entire Ghost 
  Ship adventure could be set during the events of Small Mercy, taking place 
  after the team has been hired, but before they arrive on Fururi Station. Alter-
  nately, it might be set after they leave the unknown station and before they 
  claim their payment for the job.
   
  � Memories: Found in the Shadows Over Sol: Quick-Start, “Memories” is 
  written for very specific pregenerated characters. As such, it is difficult to 
  directly integrate with this adventure. Nevertheless, both adventures feature 
  Jenseitech bioengineering projects gone wrong. “Memories” might be used as 
  a flashback or side story, giving the players more insight into the machinations 
  of the corp.
  Long Term Plans
  This scenario sets in motion events that will be touched on in subsequent 
  Shadows Over Sol adventures. 
  GMs looking to use this scenario as a jumping-off point for a longer campaign 
  should ensure that players can survive their encounter with Jim Segall at the 
  climax of the adventure. This will likely be by providing ample opportunity to 
  escape, as Investigative Horror characters won’t likely be equipped to survive a 
  head-on confrontation without fatalities.
  Behind the scenes, the unknown station is a secret Jenseitech facility that 
  was researching the Kronos Protein, before the protein escaped containment 
  and infected the station. (For more on this, see the Fatal Frontier supplement.) 
  Jim Segall has been infected by this protein, and now the player characters have 
  unknowingly stumbled into the mix.
  More will be heard from Jenseitech, the Segal family and the cult in the future...
  
  6
  
  7
  This scenario begins with the players 
  somewhere near the Belt. 
  Perhaps they have recently finished 
  up a messy job and have taken some 
  time to recuperate on Caikuang Station, 
  attracted no doubt by the external 
  defenses, guaranteed to keep any irritated 
  former employers off their backs. Maybe 
  they are looking forward to relaxing 
  with the most attractive (or affordable) 
  company they can find. Perhaps they 
  have arrived broke, short-tempered and 
  anxious for work. 
  The specifics aren’t really important to 
  the scenario. What’s important is that the 
  players are reasonably nearby, are open to 
  doing odd jobs and are looking for work. 
  A reputation as being efficient, discrete and 
  just-violent-enough wouldn’t hurt them 
  either. That’s just the sort of team Jenseitech 
  Investor Relations is looking to hire.
  The Message
  As the players gather together, they 
  should receive a message on their hand 
  terminals. The message is brief, to the 
  point and drenched in Jenseitech imagery. 
  The Jenseitech logo appears on the screen, 
  with the Jenseitech motto down below: 
  “Changing Bodies, Changing Minds, 
  Changing Worlds...” A cool, crisp, 
  machine voice says:
  “Looking to hire a small group of 
  individuals to complete a sensitive task. 
  Informed that you may be suitable for 
  such employment. Terms are excellent. 
  Please indicate whether you would be 
  amenable to undertaking said work?”
  The Approach
  What if the Players Refuse?
  If the players don’t take the hook to meet with Jenseitech, the Investor 
  Relations department will make one more attempt to hire the PCs. The corp 
  will use a different approach this time, sending Alessio West to meet with the 
  team in-person to make his case. Not once will he mention Jenseitech until the 
  PCs have agreed to the work. Instead he will pitch the job as a “humanitarian 
  mission,” “saving poor Jim Segall so that his loving family can see him again.”
  If this secondary approach fails, and your players are not adverse to some 
  coercion, Jenseitech could also take an antagonistic approach: “After appraisal, 
  our servers have indicated that you are wanted for several crimes against the 
  corp, associated with previous employment you have undertaken.” Use previous 
  adventures and escapades the players have been involved in as leverage—you’ll be 
  amazed at how quickly they may fall into line!
  If the players still don’t bite, it may be time to talk with them about why 
  they’re not interested in the scenario, and about what sort of adventure they 
  would be interested in. Good luck!
  
  8
  Should the players answer yes, the 
  message will respond:
  “Excellent. Please meet with your 
  contact—Mr. Alessio West—at the 
  Glintorn Restaurant, located on the 
  Main Piazza in Traveler Sector.”
  Once the players have accepted the 
  request, they may want to equip them-
  selves for the meeting, depending on how 
  cautious they are. If they end up using 
  any weapons or gadgetry at the meeting, 
  things will have gone south very quickly, 
  but anything can happen…
  The Glintorn
  The Glintorn Restaurant is one of the 
  nicest places on the station, set in a large 
  dome through which the vista of the Sol 
  system is projected. The surroundings 
  are modeled after eighteenth century 
  Venice, with troughs filled with unnatu-
  rally blue water, walls designed to look 
  like elegantly dilapidated buildings 
  and tendrils of artful plant life winding 
  through open window-frames. 
  The restaurant itself is a hangout 
  of well-to-do members of the Former 
  subculture. Anyone familiar with the 
  subculture ought to be able to pick up 
  on this fact. The local AR tags point out 
  the conspicuously high cost of some of 
  the fixtures. The players should have no 
  doubt that whoever they are meeting 
  is relatively high-up in the Jenseitech 
  corporate structure.
  Mr. Alessio West
  Geneline Celebrity Deluxe, Subculture Former
  Str 5, Dex 5, Spd 6, End 5, Int 6, Per 6, Chr 8, Det 6
  Defense 8/17, DR 0, Shock 11, Wound 5, Wealth 9, Lifestyle 9
  Skills: Awareness 1, Bureaucrat 4, Comp-Ops 2, Conspiracy 2, Deception 3, 
  Empathy 3, Lib-Arts 2, Persuade 3, Socialize 3
  Light Pistol: +2 (�12M/�8M/�4M/�2M), Range 10, Shots 10
  Gear: AR Implant, Biomonitor, Hand Terminal, Personal Assistant, Workstation
  Mr. Alessio West is suave, collected and calm. No matter what happens, he will 
  remain so. He never shouts and is never obviously shaken or surprised. West will 
  never speak poorly of Jenseitech or anyone attached to it; he will always hedge his 
  bets, revealing only as much as he feels is necessary—the classic corp man. 
  He has dark hair and eyes, but abnormally pale skin. He does not blink often. For 
  a GM who likes to really take on a role, he or she might consider acting ever so 
  slightly robotic—as though Mr West has been upgraded, to show off Jenseitech’s 
  latest products. This is a corp after all, they never stop selling!
  Jenseitech
  For more on the biotech megacorp 
  Jenseitech, see page 55 of the Shadows 
  Over Sol core rulebook.
  
  9
  Meeting Mr. West
  The man they have arranged to meet, 
  Alessio West, is sitting quite casually at 
  a large, circular table. He is wearing 
  fashionable (but not too fashionable) 
  clothing, and is obviously also a part of 
  the Former subculture. 
  If threatened, West will retain his 
  cool. He will give his most ingratiating 
  smile, complement the player characters 
  on their gall and say that they are just 
  the sort of people he needs for this job. 
  If the players continue to make threats, 
  he will give a verbal warning once, and 
  if they still persist, he will trigger a silent 
  alarm, which will summon eight Jensei-
  tech goons. Meanwhile, Alessio will 
  make a calm retreat.
   
  � For the Jenseitech goons use the 
  Soldier stat block on page 213 of the 
  Shadows Over Sol core rulebook.
  Job Offer
  Alessio West is looking for a discreet 
  team of freelancers who are capable of 
  retrieving a man, using force or guile if 
  necessary. Ideally these will be people 
  with a trustworthy reputation and 
  enough distance from Jenseitech as to 
  provide plausible deniability if something 
  goes horribly wrong. As Mr. West makes 
  his job pitch to the player characters, he 
  will explain the following:
   
  � The job is to find, secure and return 
  with the scion of the Segall family: 
  Jim Segall. The Segalls are a very 
  wealthy family who hold a major 
  stake in Jenseitech.
   
  � Jim Segall is on Fururi Station—a 
  small and derelict mining facility 
  recently acquired by Jenseitech. The 
  corp intends to dismantle Fururi 
  Station to recycle materials for other 
  developments.
   
  � This plan, however, is being delayed 
  by the presence of squatters on the 
  station, who have refused to leave, 
  despite repeated requests. These 
  squatters are thought to be religious 
  extremists, belonging to some sort of 
  fringe cult. Jenseitech believes that 
  they may be holding Jim Segall there 
  against his will.
   
  � The pay for the job is very good. Mr. 
  West will offer each player character 
  an Income 7 payment. If they success-
  fully negotiate—a Chr/persuade vs 
  Chr/persuade flip—West will still not 
  raise the payment, but he will throw in 
  a ride to Fururi Station if the players 
  do not have their own ship, or some 
  gear worth Cost 7 or less, should the 
  PCs require something specific. He 
  relies on the Jenseitech name to ensure 
  the players will trust in his ability to 
  pay. He is also insistent that payment 
  is made on delivery of Jim Segall.
  Answering Questions
  Almost certainly, the players will have 
  questions for their patron. Below are 
  answers to the most likely inquiries. Of 
  course, feel free to tweak these, change 
  them completely or come up with your 
  own responses, if you so desire. 
   
  � Regarding Jim Segall: “Our infor-
  mation tells us that Mr Segall may 
  not wish to remain on the Fururi 
  Station. This may be indication that 
  perhaps the unauthorized inhabitants 
  
  10
  are keeping him there under duress. 
  I believe that originally Mr Segall 
  visited the station in order to deliver 
  charity and relief to those living there. 
  Mr Segall is committed to helping 
  those without his wealth and privilege. 
  Indeed, as are all his family.”
   
  � Regarding the Squatters: “It is 
  believed that they are members of a 
  small religious movement. A cult, in 
  fact. The precise details of their belief 
  structure are not known to me at this 
  time. This is all I have to tell you on 
  this matter.”
   
  � Regarding Fururi Station: “I believe 
  it used to source some rare materials 
  and was at one stage very profitable. 
  The seams failed some time ago and 
  since then it has been abandoned. We 
  at Jenseitech only became involved 
  very recently, as we purchased it less 
  than a year ago. We plan to dismantle 
  the station and recycle its materials 
  for use in newer mining operations 
  elsewhere in the Belt. It is regrettable 
  that we have to move these squatters 
  on, but, unfortunately, this is the 
  nature of progress.”
   
  � Why Help Jim Segall: “We appre-
  ciate our investors very much and the 
  youngest Mr. Segall is a fine and decent 
  man. We have a corporate respon-
  sibility to help however, whenever 
  and wherever we can. People have a 
  confused idea of how corps work. We 
  never forget the individual, especially 
  when that individual is a major share-
  holder or their kin.”
  If the players probe much beyond 
  this, or ask any uncomfortable questions, 
  West will politely but firmly indicate 
  that the meeting is over and that he has 
  matters to attend to. He gives the players 
  a code which can be used to contact him 
  upon completion of the job.
  Investigations
  If the players decide to conduct some 
  investigations into Jenseitech, the Segall 
  family or Fururi Station, they should find 
  that most of what Alessio West told them 
  checks out, although not every source has 
  the Jenseitech spin on things.
  The Segall family are incontinently 
  wealthy, but beyond some murky business 
  practices in their past, are as legitimate as 
  anyone as rich as they are can hope to be. 
  Jim Segall is remembered as being 
  something of a staple of the dive bars and 
  brothels of Earth in his younger days, as well 
  as numerous stays in expensive off-world 
  rehab centers. Research into this will find 
  plenty of salacious news-cast stories, but 
  little else. Apparently, the last rehab took 
  and took hard. Segall cleaned up and disap-
  peared. He has barely been seen since. 
  As to what Jenseitech are doing with 
  Fururi, no one cares to speculate. There 
  is nothing to be found relating to a cult 
  or religious movement on the station, 
  whatsoever.
  
  11
  Making the Trip
  The trip to Fururi Station should be 
  fairly uneventful. Assuming the team 
  began the scenario at Caikuang Station, 
  it is a mere three months journey on 
  the average freighter, during which the 
  team will spend most of its time in stasis. 
  Along the way the ship may intercept 
  several strange audio broadcasts appar-
  ently emanating from the vicinity of 
  station. These should consist of static 
  bursts with obvious codewords being 
  barked in a panicked voice: “Epsilon, 
  Epsilon, Violation Twelve” and “Verdigris 
  Delta, Violation Twelve.” 
  These recordings will be awaiting 
  the team upon awakening. Any attempt 
  to trace the broadcasts results only in 
  the most general findings: They were 
  coming from, or near to, Fururi, but 
  have since stopped.
  The above suggestion is just one of the 
  ways this adventure can be made more 
  unsettling. If the players begin to become 
  complacent or too comfortable at any 
  point during this adventure, introduce 
  something strange and unexpected. It can 
  be as simple as giving them no warning of 
  when they are arriving at their location or 
  as complex as punctuating your descrip-
  tions with unnerving sound effects. This 
  is a horror story, after all. Emphasize that 
  the universe beyond the walls of their 
  ship is unfriendly and unsafe.
  No Ship? No Problem!
  Ships are expensive and difficult to get ahold of. If your players are not in 
  possession of one, there are a number of ways they can secure reliable transport 
  to Fururi Station.
  If the PCs managed to successfully negotiate with Mr. West, Jenseitech might 
  agree to pay for the charter of a ship for the duration of the mission, but will 
  refuse to pay for other expenses beyond this. “The corp is not usually so trusting 
  of contractors…”
  Perhaps the team is friendly with a freelance captain or similar person who—
  for a cut of the pay—might provide a (reasonably) reliable service. 
  Worst comes to worst, the player characters can charter a ship, though chances 
  are they’ll have to pay up front. This is likely to be a Cost 7 payment, although 
  crafty players might find a way to reduce it to a Cost 6, should they have other 
  goods or services to offer the captain.
  Regardless of whether Jenseitech pays to charter a ship or the PCs fork over 
  the credits themselves, on the next page are stats for the Satis—the nearest reliable 
  freighter—as well as its captain. The ship stats presented here use the vehicles 
  system found in the Shiny New Toys supplement.
  
  12
  Arrival
  Arriving at Fururi Station should be 
  sudden and unexpected. The players’ ship 
  simply arrives without waking them from 
  stasis until the very last minute. 
  Immediately upon waking, the ship 
  is confronted by another vessel, which is 
  much bigger and much better armored 
  than theirs. It bristles with weaponry and 
  is ready for battle. This should be played 
  up as shocking and a moment of crisis.
  This ship is the Littoral, a formidable 
  destroyer-class warship. It is under the 
  command one Captain Garinath. If the 
  players check their sensors, they should 
  discover quickly discover that the ship is 
  part of Jenseitech’s private fleet.
  Emphasize to the players that fighting 
  this ship is likely to be futile. Should they 
  insist on engaging the Littoral, the battle 
  is likely to be brutal and short.
  The Satis, Light Freighter
   
  � Handling -2, Defense 6/13, DR 2, Shock 14, Structure 7, Cruise 5
   
  � Components: Armor 2, Attach Point (with shuttle attached), Cargo Bay 9, 
  Comms Array, Freighter (Hull), Habitat  (10 people), Sensor Array, Smug-
  gler’s Hold, Stasis Pods (10 pods), Thorium Reactor (Small, Power)
   
  � Properties: Vehicle
   
  � Laser Comm: +5 (�15L/�10L/�5L/�2L), Range 10M (Improvised)
  The Satis is an aging freighter, dating back to World War IV. It’s obviously seen 
  better days, as its hull shows multiple scars and patches from past repairs, and 
  its reactor is an older style that most modern ships. Nevertheless, the Satis is in 
  reasonable shape for its age, and has a small, but competent crew.
  Anthea Kokinos, Captain of the Satis
  Geneline Spacer Standard, Subculture Ghostman
  Str 5, Dex 6, Spd 5, End 6, Int 6, Per 7, Chr 5, Det 5
  Defense 9/18, DR 0, Shock 10, Wound 5, Wealth 5, Lifestyle 5
  Skills: Awareness 2, Bureaucrat 2, Comp-Ops 2, Engineer 1, Guns 1, Mechanic 
  2, Melee 2, Ordnance 2, Persuasion 3, Socialize 2, Vehicles 3
  Light Pistol: +4 (�12M/�8M/�4M/�2M), Range 10, Shots 10
  Gear: AR Implant, Hand Terminal
  Anthea Kokinos has been the captain of the Satis for the last five years, having 
  taken over the position when the last captain retired. She is talkative and blunt, 
  with a crude sense of humor. She doubles as the ship’s pilot, and oversees a small 
  crew of three other people. She is willing to take passengers to Fururi, as it is not 
  too far out of the way on her route hauling goods between stations.
  
  13
  The Littoral’s Mission
  The Littoral has been sent by the 
  Jenseitech navy to forcibly decommis-
  sion Fururi Station. This is an act that has 
  not been coordinated with the Investor 
  Relations department, and one which 
  Mr. West has protested, but ultimately 
  over which he has little say.
  The Littoral was redirected to Fururi 
  Station from its previous course almost a 
  week after the player characters set out on 
  their own voyage to Fururi, and due to a 
  quirk of orbital mechanics, it arrived first. 
  At the time of the team’s arrival, 
  the Littoral has been outside of Fururi 
  Station almost twelve hours. The crew has 
  taken this time to survey the station and 
  prepare their ship for the forced removal 
  of the squatters.
  The Littoral, Jenseitech Destroyer
   
  � Handling 0, Defense 7/15, DR 10, Shock 23, Structure 9, Cruise 8
   
  � Components: Armor 10, Attach Point 2, Battle Pods (10 crew), Comms 
  Array, Control Room, Destroyer (Hull), Gauss Cannon, Habitat (5 people), 
  Missile Turret 2, Sensor Array, Thorium Reactor (Large, Power)
   
  � Properties: Mil, Vehicle
   
  � Gauss Cannon: +5 (�30M/�20M/�10M/�5M), Pierce 20, Range 50M, 
  Reload 5, Shots 1
   
  � Missiles: +5 (�24M/�16M/�8M/�4M), Range 100M
  The Littoral is a fairly standard Jenseitech destroyer, and one of several that has 
  recently been sent to the Belt in an effort by Jenseitech to project their corporate 
  power. The ship is of fairly recent manufacture, and has yet to develop the network 
  of scars that mark the hulls of older ships. The outer hull is painted jet black, 
  which makes it appear like a shadow moving against the stars.
  Captain Garinath
  Geneline Spacer Standard, Subculture Neoret
  Str 6, Dex 6, Spd 6, End 7, Int 6, Per 6, Chr 6, Det 5
  Defense 9/18, DR 5, Shock 17, Wound 6, Wealth 5, Lifestyle 6
  Skills: Athletics 3, Awareness 2, Bureaucrat 2, Comp-Ops 2, Engineer 1, Guns 3, 
  Mechanic 2, Melee 3, Ordnance 2,  Persuasion 3, Socialize 2, Vehicles 3
  Heavy Pistol: +6 (�15M/�10M/�5M/�2M), Autofire 2, Range 10, Shots 10
  Gear: AR Glasses, Hand Terminal, Tactical Suit (DR 5, Bulky 1)
  Garinath is short tempered and abrasive, probably as a result of twelve years of 
  fighting Jenseitech’s dirtier battles. He is a large man, heavily-muscled, and just 
  starting to fatten. Garinath is ruthless, and negotiating with him isn’t easy. He 
  peppers his speech with expletives and spits occasionally.
  
  14
  Captain Garinath plans to assault 
  the station within the next twenty-four 
  hours. His strategy will be to send in a 
  strike team to shut down and eject the 
  station’s thorium reactor core. From that 
  point forward, the station will be living 
  on borrowed time, as its life support shuts 
  down due to the lack of power. He then 
  plans to sit by and wait for the squatters 
  to either peacefully surrender or suffocate 
  as their air becomes increasingly stale. For 
  all his tough talk about “killing cultists 
  for the good of the system,” Garinath 
  would rather avoid a direct confrontation 
  and minimize fatalities.
  The plan is that once the squatters 
  surrender, they will be put into stasis and 
  then sold into contracts of indenture. The 
  money raised from these sales will go to 
  pay for the cost of their extraction.
  Hailing the Littoral
  If the players attempt to hail the 
  Jenseitech warship, a terse angry man—
  Captain Garinath—stares back from 
  the vid-screen. The Captain is in his 
  mid-40s, experienced and dangerous. He 
  has worked for Jenseitech for many years 
  and, and while he doesn’t understand 
  most of what the company does, he does 
  understand that they pay him very well. 
  He cannot be tempted to cross them and 
  he will react very badly to anyone who 
  suggests as much. 
   Even if the players show Garinath 
  their orders, or otherwise prove that they 
  are under contract with his employer, he 
  is dismissive. He replies:
  “My orders don’t come from Investor-
  fucking-Relations. Mine are from the top. 
  And I intend to follow them through, 
  which means Segall, or whoever this guy 
  is, will be dying with everyone else down 
  there. Savvy?”
  
  15
  Persuasion
  The players can persuade Garinath to 
  back down, but it should be touch and 
  go. Let the players roleplay this out rather 
  than resorting to a flip. If the players 
  insist on a flip, however, Chr/persuade 
  vs. Det is the likely action.
   Garinath might insist they agree to a 
  time limit of 12 hours, for instance. Or he 
  might insist—until the players talk him 
  down—that Jim Segall be brought directly 
  to him once the players have found him, 
  hinting that he just might take Segall for 
  himself and claim their pay as a bonus.
  Regardless of what the players say to 
  the Captain, Garinath will not leave the 
  vicinity of Fururi Station, nor will he wait 
  longer than a few days before making his 
  assault. He has a mission to carry out, 
  and he intends to do just that!
  What Garinath Knows
  If the players are smart, they might 
  quiz Garinath for some knowledge of the 
  squatters within the station, or for some 
  explanation of what is going on. If they 
  do so, Garinath is aware of the following:
   
  � “Damn straight there’s some crazy cult 
  down there! I’ve seen a lot of blood 
  spilled by people like these over the 
  years… I don’t know what they believe 
  and I don’t care. They’re dangerous! 
  They’re all dangerous! I’m doing this 
  whole damn system a solid.”
   
  � “Why am I attacking this place? 
  Because that’s my damn job. I do 
  what Jenseitech tells me, and if it 
  means bombarding some shit-hole 
  filled with nut-jobs, then guess what? 
  I’m even happier to obey.”
   
  � “Why would anyone tell me what 
  they’re doing with the station? Building 
  a research station? A holiday resort? I 
  don’t know! All I do know is, you better 
  get your boy soon, or both him and 
  you bunch of thieves are going to be 
  less than a dark smear on my starboard 
  monitor. Catch my drift?”
   
  � “Signals? Signals from where? From 
  near here? How in god’s name am I 
  meant to know which lunatic sent 
  you a gibberish message from down 
  there? Ask them yourself.”
   
  � “I thought their sensors were down; 
  that’s what I’ve been told. You are still 
  going, aren’t you?”
  Whether the players draw this infor-
  mation out of Garinath or whether 
  to simply drop this into his normal 
  conversation is up to the GM. After any 
  confrontation is resolved, the players 
  can head for the station. If they try to 
  make contact with the station, no one 
  will answer over comms.
  
  16
  
  17
  Once Garinath lets the players pass, 
  they should head toward the station 
  and prepare for docking their shuttle. 
  The docking takes place automatically, 
  without any difficulty. The characters 
  are expected and, when they disembark, 
  they are greeted by four inhabitants of 
  the station, each floating in the station’s 
  microgravity.
  Greeting Party
  All four members of the greeting party 
  are disheveled, exhausted and faintly seedy. 
  They have the look of refugees, knowing 
  that they aren’t going to be able to stop in 
  one place for long, but desperate for some 
  good news. They will jabber questions at 
  the players almost immediately: “What 
  does that ship want to do?” “Why are we 
  being forced out?” “What is going on?” 
  But after a minute or two of this, they will 
  calm down and begin to act in a slightly 
  more rational manner.
  Rational is of course a relative term 
  and, while these shouldn’t be sack-cloth-
  and-ashes crazy-eyed cultists, these are 
  people fanatically devoted to a number of 
  strange ideas. Try and keep this apparent. 
  If the players ask how the station knew 
  they were coming, given that the sensors 
  are apparently down, have the leader of 
  the group, Corpustin, explain that the 
  ethereal body of the universe connects 
  all things and that they felt the ripples of 
  the team’s coming. (The truth is that the 
  station’s sensors are secretly operational, 
  and they detected the incoming shuttle.)
  Fururi Station
  Fururi Station
  For more on the derelict Fururi 
  Station, see page 88 of the Shadows 
  Over Sol core rulebook.
  Guns Blazing
  It’s possible that, rather than asking questions, the team will go in guns 
  blazing, shooting down any cultists they encounter. This approach will signifi-
  cantly change many of the encounters in this chapter.
  If the players opt for the guns blazing approach, play up the sinister nature of 
  the cultists. Make sure the team sees some of the more creepy scenes described 
  in the following sections. 
  For their part, the cultists won’t just roll over and surrender. To make up for 
  their lack of firepower, the cult will fall back on their superior knowledge of the 
  station. They’ll use darkened corridors to try to set ambushes, then leap out, 
  attempting to wrestle the team’s weapons away from them. They’ll set traps, seal 
  doors and try to lead the team away from their shuttle. Then, they’ll try to seize 
  the shuttle, much as described in the following sections.
   
  � Stats for the cultists and Corpustin can be found on page 23.
  
  18
  Corpustin
  Corpustin is a young man—or at 
  least looks young—somewhere between 
  20 and 25. He speaks with a dreamy, 
  forgetful air, as though his words aren’t 
  necessarily his own but things he is 
  being told by an invisible intelligence. 
  Whether this is the act of a charlatan, or 
  the Corpustin truly believes himself to 
  be in contact with some other force, is 
  left to the GM’s discretion.
   
  � For a stat block for Corpustin, see 
  page 23.
  Asking About 
  Jim Segall
  If the players immediately begin to 
  ask about Jim Segall, Corpustin does 
  not answer. Instead, he smiles, nods and 
  ushers the players along a run-down, 
  musty series of corridors, pushing his way 
  off the walls as he floats away in micro-
  gravity. The place smells of unwashed 
  bodies and off-food. Try to strike a 
  balance between sinister and sad. 
  The cultists on Fururi are not likely 
  to hurt the players, but a feeling of claus-
  trophobia pervades the station. Every-
  thing is beginning to come apart. Severed 
  cables spark in empty control rooms. 
  Fururi was clearly impressive a long time 
  ago. Several of the corridors open up into 
  large chambers, once living and beautiful, 
  but now mildewed and desolate. Other 
  things a GM might mention in his 
  description of the base are:
   
  � The base is in microgravity. Objects 
  drift frustratingly just out of reach. 
  Emphasize the disorientation which 
  the players feel—the fact that the 
  things they are seeing might look very 
  different if they could just find the 
  right angle to inspect them from… 
  but then they are gone, as they pass 
  on to a new corridor.
   
  � Terminals, reams of paper and cloth 
  are all inscribed with strange, helical 
  patterns. On a successful Per/bio-sci-10 
  flip, astute players can identify these as 
  representations of DNA.
   
  � Glimpses of what might be a labora-
  tory: turning centrifuges, racks of test 
  tubes and other, less typical examples 
  of scientific equipment.
   
  � Deposits of smashed glass, steel 
  and what might be organic matter 
  collecting in corners. Nothing too 
  hideous or suspicious, but it should 
  be strange, nevertheless.
   
  � Singing voices, intoning a sequence of 
  unintelligible words in binary code.
   
  � Footprints scrawled in chalk on the 
  station’s walls. The footprints are 
  humanoid but svelte, with longer, 
  shapely toes that have clearly been 
  drawn. The footprints are studiously 
  avoided by Corpustin and his associ-
  ates, who never touch them.
  Harbingers of  
  the Divine Form
  For more on the Harbingers of the 
  Divine Form cult, see page 66 of the 
  Shadows Over Sol core rulebook.
  
  19
  Cult Chambers
  Corpustin leads the players onwards, 
  deeper into Fururi until they reach the 
  cult chamber: the center of a congrega-
  tion of the Harbingers of the Divine 
  Form. This is the largest single room on 
  the station and clearly functioned as some 
  sort of common room in the days when 
  the station was fully operational. 
  Now, it has something of a Brazilian 
  favela feel to it. Iron sheets, wrenched 
  from wall panels somewhere, have been 
  used to sketch strange images and devo-
  tional litanies. Ritualistic paraphernalia 
  bobs in the corners of the room: syringes 
  filled with plasma, perhaps, or odd 
  masks depicting semi-human features. 
  All in all, about twenty people are in 
  the Cult chamber currently, although 
  on a successful Per/investigate-10 flip a 
  player notices that there is evidence of 
  about twice that number inhabiting the 
  room regularly.
  Questioning the Cult
  Bidding the players explore and 
  discuss what they will with his followers, 
  Corpustin and his bodyguards excuse 
  themselves, leaving the players in a room 
  chiefly filled with the elderly and infirm, 
  along with a few semi-feral children. The 
  GM should take care to spread informa-
  tion around among the various NPCs 
  the players can encounter. Without 
  exception, these people should be weary, 
  malnourished and evasive. When talking 
  about Jim Segall they should all speak 
  deferentially; he was a true believer in the 
  Divine Form and well-liked here.
  What the players can find out in this 
  location follows:
   
  � “Sure, Jim Segall did live here, but 
  hasn’t been seen for over a month. No 
  one is sure where he is.”
   
  � “Oh yeah, he got married: to Alethy. 
  Sweet girl. Believer like Jim. They had 
  a kid, Gudrun. They’re still around 
  here somewhere.” (The player char-
  acters might be shown an AR image 
  of Alethy here. She is an attractive, 
  though emaciated, young woman 
  with mousy blonde hair.)
   
  � “What? Hold him here? We didn’t 
  need to! Jim loved it here. He was 
  Corpustin’s right hand man. No one 
  judged him here or expected things of 
  him, or tried to make do things which 
  weren’t in his nature because they 
  were profitable.”
   
  � “He and Corpustin were talking about 
  something not long before he disap-
  peared, but Corpustin sees things 
  more clearly than the rest of us. He 
  has greater knowledge of the Divine 
  Form. He knows where it will come 
  from when we are shown the truth, 
  the creature we all wish to serve and 
  one day, become…”
  The GM may have the Cultists confide 
  other details of Jim Segall’s life onboard 
  Fururi, his relationship with his wife and 
  child, or with Corpustin. However, no 
  matter how hard they press, the players 
  can glean nothing about where Segall 
  is now. It is up to the GM whether the 
  Cultists 
  are 
  deliberately 
  concealing 
  something or whether Corpustin has 
  truly left them ignorant.
  
  20
  Exploring 
  the Station
  As they leave the cultist chamber, the 
  players should find themselves suddenly 
  alone. No longer are they being guided. 
  A quick Int-10 flip should determine 
  whether or not they can remember the 
  route back to their ship. If not, the GM 
  might like to pick an item or flip a card 
  on the “Random Sighting” table below, 
  as the players glimpse something strange, 
  pitiful or horrifying, as they wind their 
  way through the filthy corridors.
  Return to 
  the Shuttle
  When the players approach the 
  port where their shuttle is docked, a 
  successful Per/awareness-10 flip reveals 
  that something is going on beyond the 
  door. The players should hear plenty of 
  activity, shifting of weight and quiet, 
  but penetrative whispers. 
  Whether the players choose to burst 
  through the doors at this point, or conduct 
  a more subtle investigation, the point is 
  moot. Within the hangar, six cultists, under 
  the guidance of Corpustin are loading an 
  explosive on to the players’  shuttle. 
  Confronting 
  the Cultists
  What happens next is up to the 
  players. If they choose to start shooting 
  immediately, the cultists will scatter 
  Suit
  Random Sighting
  Spades
  More strange footprints and handprints, this time covering the ceiling 
  and walls of an otherwise empty chamber.
  Hearts
  A series of strange machines and implements, resembling updated 
  versions of mediaeval torture devices—a rack, for instance, but shining 
  white and polished.
  Diamonds
  Test tubes within which sinister, pitiable homunculi float. These are 
  failed genetic experiments. 
  Clubs
  Scraps of skin, suspended from the wall by a fine wire. Examination of 
  the skin reveals it to be not quite human…
  Joker
  A mottled, hideous corpse. Dozens of feeding tubes protrude from its 
  flesh, where biological material has been pumped in, attempting to 
  convert it into an avatar of the Divine Form. Examination of the corpse 
  reveals a sign around its neck with the words: “YAMINE. BROTHER 
  AND MARTYR. GAVE HIS LIFE FOR THE REVELATION OF 
  THE DIVINE FORM.”
  
  21
  and take cover, before trying to engage 
  them in hand-to-hand combat using 
  anything heavy and blunt they can get 
  their hands on.
  If the players try and negotiate, 
  most of the cultists are receptive and 
  will at least stop what they are doing to 
  talk with the players. 
  The cultists’ intent is to destroy 
  the Jenseitech destroyer, the Littoral. 
  Knowing that the players have exchanged 
  communications with Captain Garinath 
  and his ship. (At this point, the pretense 
  that the Fururi’s sensors are down drops 
  away.) The plan is to use this fact to have 
  Garinath let the players’ craft on board. 
  Then the bomb will be detonated.
  The players can use any means at their 
  disposal to halt this plan. They might 
  promise to intercede on the cultists’ 
  behalf, should they tell them where Jim 
  Segall is. They might lie, offering to 
  sacrifice their ship for the information 
  or attempt to take Corpustin hostage. 
  Any approach is possible, subject to 
  the GM’s judgement. Here are a few 
  possible actions:
   
  � Pretending to negotiate with the 
  cultists while stalling for time or 
  getting into an advantageous position 
  requires a successful Chr/deception vs. 
  Per/empathy action. If successful, the 
  players can get surprise on the cultists.
   
  � Taking 
  Corpustin 
  hostage 
  will 
  require first grappling and subduing 
  the cultist. For this use the combat 
  system. Once Corpustin has been 
  subdued, using him as leverage 
  against the remaining cultists requires 
  a successful Chr/persuade vs. Det flip.
   
  � Quietly 
  sabotaging 
  the 
  cultists’ 
  explosives while distracting them 
  will require that one team member 
  provides a distraction, while another 
  subtly works the sabotage. The distrac-
  tion could be any number of actions, 
  but an Int/deception vs. Per flip is a 
  good bet. Performing the sabotage 
  requires a successful Int/thievery vs. 
  Per flip.
  As soon as the players make it plain 
  that they have no intention of allowing 
  their shuttle to be used as a kamikaze 
  Trojan horse, Corpustin will urge his 
  men to attack.
  There are six cultists, plus Corpustin. 
  His cultists will fight for him, irrespective 
  of their chances of survival. However, 
  despite his power over his people, 
  Corpustin is not a monster. Once half his 
  cultists have been badly injured or killed, 
  he will order a halt and surrender.
  Aftermath
  Once the fighting has ended and 
  the players have reclaimed their shuttle, 
  they can force Corpustin into telling 
  them where Jim Segall is. Alternatively, 
  Corpustin might volunteer this informa-
  tion, if he reached a deal with the PCs.
   
  � Segall is not on the station. He went 
  to visit a recently detected asteroid 
  habitat near Fururi Station. 
   
  � The sensors on the station were success-
  fully repaired a month ago, although 
  this fact has been concealed to try and 
  ensure that, whatever happened, the 
  cultists had the element of surprise 
  when Jenseitech came for them.
  
  22
   
  � Shortly after the sensors were restored 
  to working order, Corpustin and 
  Segall intercepted an unusual signal 
  from a small, hitherto unnoticed 
  mining station.
   
  � Knowing that they might have to 
  fight to retain their place on Fururi, 
  Corpustin and Segall agreed that Segall 
  should travel to the site with the aim 
  of finding any resources or technology 
  which might be repurposed.
   
  � Segall has not been in contact since 
  he left, over a month ago. Knowing 
  that he came from wealthy parentage, 
  however, Corpustin assumed that 
  he had either defected or else been 
  captured by Jenseitech’s hired goons.
  Corpustin will offer this knowledge, 
  and the coordinates of the outpost to 
  which Segall was heading, in return for the 
  players leaving him and his companions in 
  peace. If they cannot secure the station 
  against attack, Corpustin says that he 
  and his people will likely die here, further 
  Martyrs to the cause of the Divine Form.
  Failure!
  If, by some horrifying fluke of the 
  cards, the players find themselves in 
  danger of losing their confrontation 
  with the cult, the GM shouldn’t worry 
  too much. Corpustin won’t have the 
  player characters killed. He doesn’t wish 
  them any harm, he’s just in a desperate 
  situation and trying to save his people. 
  If the players are all struck down 
  or surrender, cultists will tend to any 
  potentially life-threatening wounds, 
  lug the PCs away from the port 
  and incarcerate them in an old brig 
  somewhere in the station. Once 
  the cultists have enacted their plan 
  to bomb the Littoral, they will be 
  released. Alternatively, the PCs can 
  enact a plan to escape from their 
  confinement.
  
  23
  Corpustin
  Geneline Budget Upgrade, Subculture Serv
  Str 5, Dex 6, Spd 5, End 5, Int 6, Per 4, Chr 7, Det 7
  Defense 7/15, DR 0, Shock 12, Wound 5, Wealth 2, Lifestyle 3
  Skills: Awareness 1, Comp-Ops 1, Conspiracy 4, Deception 3, Empathy 4, Guns 
  2, Lib-Arts 1, Mechanic 3, Melee 3, Persuade 4, Vehicles 1
  Knife: +6 (�15M/�10M/�5M/�2M), Thrown
  Gear: Rope
  Corpustin believes that the Littoral is here to do nothing less than commit small-
  scale genocide, exterminating him and his people. He sees the cult as a persecuted 
  religious minority, that wishes to do nothing more than live in peace and work to 
  ascend humanity to its terrifying ultimate form. He had sincerely hoped that the 
  player characters would see the cult’s dire straits and good intentions, then side 
  with them against Jenseitech. Unfortunately, Corpustin is too crazed to release 
  just how creepy the cult’s activities appear to outsiders.
  Harbinger Cultists
  Geneline Various, Subculture Serv
  Str 5, Dex 6, Spd 5, End 5, Int 4, Per 4, Chr 4, Det 7
  Defense 7/15, DR 0, Shock 12, Wound 5, Wealth 2, Lifestyle 3
  Skills: Awareness 1, Comp-Ops 1, Conspiracy 3, Guns 2, Lib-Arts 1, Mechanic 1, 
  Melee 2
  Improvised Junk: +3 (�15M/�10M/�5M/�2M), Improvised
  Gear: Station debris
  The Harbinger cultists are starving, scared, a little bit crazed and in their own 
  eyes, fighting for their very survival. They don’t even have real weapons, instead 
  attacking the team with loose metal rebar, corroding circuit boards and discarded 
  scrap. They should be sort of pitiable, but still a threat if left unchecked.
  
  24
  
  25
  After the players have learned that 
  Jim Segall went to explore a heretofore 
  unknown station and never returned, 
  they are likely going to want to head 
  to that station themselves in order to 
  uncover evidence of Jim’s fate. If the 
  players are inclined to not do this, it may 
  be good to remind them that if they wish 
  to get paid, they will need more evidence 
  than they currently have.
  The team might even be able to 
  convince the cultists to send someone 
  along with them to the station to help out. 
  They will not be able to convince anyone 
  from the Littoral. If they try, they’ll simply 
  get the response “that’s not our job.”
  A Traveling 
  Interlude
  The journey to the unknown station 
  should take between one and two 
  days—one in a proper space ship or 
  two if taking a shuttle. The GM might 
  like to encourage the players to discuss 
  the information they have managed to 
  assemble at this point, and what they 
  expect to be at the outpost ahead. 
  Scanning the net for information on 
  the outpost is something of a bust. There 
  are a few veiled references which a partic-
  ularly skilled hacker might be able to find 
  with a successful Int/comp-ops-14 flip: a 
  designation of the site as a “location of 
  extreme corporate interest,” or similar, 
  but no other information is available.
  The Outpost
  The unknown station is drilled into the 
  side of one of the many asteroids making 
  up the Main Belt. This provides material 
  for construction, provides shielding from 
  the radiation in space and makes the base 
  difficult to detect. To anyone observing 
  from a distance, it would appear little 
  different from the thousands of other 
  objects littering the Belt.
  As the players approach the asteroid, 
  their sensors will pick up a shuttle 
  attached to a port on the side of the 
  asteroid. A second, and open, shuttle 
  port is nearby. This shuttle is the vehicle 
  Jim Segall and his two cultist compan-
  ions took to go explore the station. It 
  remains here, untouched. The other 
  port can be used by the team to dock 
  with the asteroid.
  As the team approaches closer, the 
  station increasingly appears deserted. 
  Their shuttle detects no active sensors, 
  tracking their movements. Neither is 
  there any attempt to hail the shuttle. 
  No automated system requests entry 
  protocols or identity. The team can access 
  the open port only by overriding the 
  outpost’s system and forcing their way in.
   
  � A successful Int/mechanic-10 flip 
  will physically override the port, 
  opening it for the team to enter. 
  Failure will still open the port, but 
  it will malfunction, preventing the 
  team from locking it again.
   
  � Alternatively, an Int/program-12 
  flip can be made to override the 
  Unknown Station
  
  26
  port’s software, opening the airlock 
  for the team. Failure will still open 
  the port, but it will set off an alarm. 
  This alarm won’t truly have any 
  negative repercussions, but it should 
  make the players nervous.
  Once the port has been opened, the 
  players can safely enter the station.
  Entering the Tunnels
  A light on the port will indicate that 
  the interior of the station has full atmo-
  spheric pressure and breathable air. Player 
  characters can choose whether to enter 
  wearing a vac suit, or whether to discard 
  any such suits in the airlock.
  The station itself is a standard, albeit 
  hidden, asteroid habitat. It consists of 
  a series of tunnels drilled into the rock. 
  These tunnels are in microgravity, and 
  handholds are liberally placed along their 
  length, so that residents can control them-
  selves as they float through the corridors.
  As soon as the players enter 
  the tunnels, they should sense the 
  wrongness of the place. Assuming they 
  aren’t in sealed vac suits, an unwhole-
  some smell saturates everything—sweet, 
  sickly, rotten. Everything appears still 
  and vacant. Here and there pockets of 
  brown goo dot the walls and floors of 
  the station, with twisting patterns that 
  are reminiscent of spirals or shells.
  The GM should aim to build tension, 
  as the players float down tunnels toward 
  the final hideous revelation of the 
  scenario. Tunnels jut off at odd angles, 
  sometimes scattering in all directions. The 
  zero-gravity of the place makes exploring 
  the station even more confusing. Up and 
  down begin to blur. The entire structure 
  inside is something of a labyrinth. Still, 
  despite its abandonment, its obvious the 
  station is the result of the expenditure of 
  a great deal of money.
  Exploring  
  the Outpost
  As the players begin to explore the 
  abandoned outpost, they may come 
  across the following:
   
  � Start with faint traces of a sticky red 
  substance—barely discernible at first, 
  but becoming more and more obvious, 
  until finally a sequence of bloody 
  handprints are smeared across a wall. 
   
  � Have the lights flicker and die, leaving 
  the players to fall back upon flashlights 
  until the outpost’s lighting suddenly 
  flares back up to reveal the eviscerated 
  corpse of a man and a woman, both 
  torn apart, mouths in a screaming 
  rictus, viscera strewn across the floor. 
   
  � Have the station-wide communica-
  tions systems suddenly broadcast a 
  stertorous, rasping series of breaths.
  The GM should feel entirely free 
  to improvise here—devising their own 
  tunnel system, depending on how their 
  players react. If they are nervous, checking 
  around every corner, draw out the tension. 
  If they are gung-ho and careless, have 
  them run straight into events without any 
  fanfare and suffer accordingly. 
  
  27
  The Testing Facility
  Eventually the players should reach 
  what are obviously biological testing 
  facilities at the heart of the station. Beds 
  with straps line the walls, two isolation 
  rooms with broken window-walls are 
  in the back and various instruments of 
  experimental biology are bolted to tables.
  A gray-brown substance coats the 
  room, sloughing off the walls like clumps 
  of dead skin, drifting slowly through the 
  air. At various points within the room, 
  human remains can be found. A splayed 
  abdomen is affixed to the farthest wall; 
  when the players enter, its ribs split open 
  like angel’s wings. A heart suspended by 
  gore from the spine continues to beat. 
  A dozen human arms rise from the 
  floor, fingers twitching and spasming, as 
  though beckoning the team to put them 
  out of their misery. 
  As the players press deeper into the 
  chamber, they should find, encased in 
  thick, semi-translucent slime, the body 
  of a young woman. This is the remains of 
  one of the two cultists who traveled with 
  Jim Segall to raid the unknown station. 
  She is preserved in an apparent state of 
  agony, although there is no obvious sign 
  of external trauma. Should the team 
  attempt to remove her from the slime, 
  she immediately expires in a fit of rapid 
  full-body twitching.
  
  28
  The Fate of 
  Jim Segall
  Around thus time, have each of the 
  players make a Per/awareness-10 flip. On 
  a success, the character gets the feeling 
  that she is being stalked. The hairs on 
  the back of her neck bristle. Something 
  is behind them, moving quickly and 
  quietly through the thick slime which has 
  immured the entire chamber.
  Confrontation
  The player characters will eminently 
  encounter what remains of Jim Segall. It 
  will emerge and attack the team as soon 
  as they have examined the corpse of the 
  young cultist. Make this fight as hard and 
  as tense as possible. Have the lights fail 
  again. Explain to the players how Segall 
  shrieks as he attacks, rending at the char-
  acters with hideously deformed hands, 
  which have sprouted claws from raw, 
  suppurating flesh. His head has half-split 
  apart, revealing skull and brain matter. 
  Segall will be unrelenting and brutal. He 
  will kill without hesitation and use any 
  and all advantages he can find. 
  Unless this mission is intended to be 
  the start of a lengthy campaign, the GM 
  shouldn’t be afraid to kill players here. 
  This is the climax of a horror scenario, 
  and it should be horrible.
  Fight or Flight! 
  The fight won’t end until either Segall is 
  dead or the player characters flee for their 
  lives. Victorious PCs might want to bring 
  back Segall’s body as evidence. Less victo-
  rious ones may have to fall back on getting a 
  sample of Segall’s DNA and running away. 
  Regardless, Mr. West won’t accept that the 
  PCs have accomplished their job unless 
  they bring back some sort of evidence.
  Jim Segall
  Str 15, Dex 9, Spd 9, End 15, Int 4, Per 7, Chr 2, Det 8
  Defense 12/25, DR 5, Shock 28, Wound 15
  Skills: Athletics 2, Awareness 3, Empathy 1, Guns 2, Melee 4, Stealth 2
  Claws: +8 (�45M/�30M/�15M/�7M)
  Projectile Vomit: +6 (�45L/�30L/�15L/�7L), Area 3
  Backslash: If a melee attack by Jim Segall misses, as a reaction he may spend 
  another AP to make an immediate attack against the same target.
  Radio Jamming: Jim Segall blocks radio signals within 100 m.
  Enhanced Actions: Jim Segall gains 4 AP per round.
  This ooze-covered lumbering monstrosity is all that remains of Jim Segall. 
  Hideously deformed hands have sprouted wicked-looking claws. The jaw hangs 
  slack, with a constant stream of brown drool slowly coming out. Strange swirl 
  patterns have crystalized over his skin, and his veins have darkened, becoming 
  ribbed and almost machine-like. He moves with an almost superhuman speed.
  
  29
  This accomplished, the team can then 
  flee this ruin. A generous GM might let 
  them find a few pieces of semi-valuable 
  technology, but much of it has been 
  destroyed or rendered useless. The best 
  the scrappers can hope for is enough tech 
  to amount to a single Income 7 payment.
  Behind the Scenes: Timeline
  Much of this adventure is concerned with tracking down the whereabouts 
  of Jim Segall. To keep things consistent during the team’s investigation, here is a 
  timeline of Jim Segall’s activities, as well as a few other events that are important 
  to the adventure. All dates given are relative to the beginning of the scenario.
   
  � 2 years before: Jim Segall has a falling out with his family and heads to the 
  Belt in an act of youthful rebellion.
   
  � 18 months before: Jim meets Alethy, who is already a cult member, falls in 
  love and joins up with the Harbingers of the Divine Form.
   
  � 14 months before: A group of Harbingers, including Jim Segall, travel to 
  Fururi Station and set up residence there.
   
  � 6 months before: The Segall family traces Jim to the Harbinger community 
  that moved to Fururi Station.
   
  � 5 months before: Alethy gives birth to Jim’s child.
   
  � 3 months before: Jenseitech purchases Fururi Station for cheap and plans to 
  decommission the site.
   
  � 1 week before: The squatters reject Jenseitech’s demands to leave the station. 
  Jenseitech plans to forcibly remove the squatters. Investor Relations becomes 
  aware of the situation with Jim Segall.
   
  � Beginning of Scenario: The team is hired, and their ship sets out from 
  Caikuang Station (or elsewhere).
   
  � 1 week after: The Littoral is diverted from its course in the Belt and sent to 
  Fururi Station.
   
  � 1 month after: The Harbingers on Fururi get the station’s sensors online and 
  discover the unknown station.
   
  � 5 weeks after: Jim leads a scouting party to search the unknown station for 
  useful scrap. The scouting party dies on the station.
   
  � 3 months after: The Littoral arrives at Fururi Station, begins observation and 
  begins planning.
   
  � 3 months, 1 day after: The team arrives at Fururi Station.
  
  30
  
  31
  As the players head away from the scene 
  of slaughter, their ship or shuttle sensors 
  should pick up readings of the Littoral’s 
  assault on Fururi Station. This means 
  that Fururi isn’t a safe place to return to. 
  Even if the PCs do decide to return there, 
  remember it takes a day or two to get back 
  to the station. By the time they would 
  arrive, the fighting will be over, with the 
  cultists having surrendered and been forced 
  into stasis pods on the Littoral.
  Most likely the players will want to 
  return to their station of origin and claim 
  payment for the job. Assuming they have 
  proof of Jim Segall’s death, this will be 
  a straightforward affair. If the team is 
  lacking in proof, however, they may find 
  claiming the reward to be more difficult.
  Meeting Mr. West
  After arriving back at their station 
  of origin, the team can arrange to meet 
  with Mr. Alessio West and claim their 
  payment. West is at his suavest here—
  friendly and ingratiating. He won’t part 
  with a single microcredit, however, 
  unless the team has some proof 
  regarding the fate of Jim Segall. Here’s 
  how the meeting is like to to proceed:
   
  � He thanks the players for retrieving 
  evidence of Segall’s death. “It will be, I 
  think it I fair to say, some comfort to his 
  poor parents. Jenseitech owes them the 
  assurance of their son’s peaceful end.”
   
  � He offers them payment. “Clearly, 
  Mr. Segall was not safely secured and 
  retrieved. Through, I’m sure, at no 
  fault of your own. I can offer you the 
  promised sum to secure your discre-
  tion and, perhaps, future service. It 
  must be said, however, that any breach 
  of Jenseitech’s privacy on this matter 
  will be dealt with quickly and severely.”
   
  � He confides few details on the unknown 
  station: “I am unaware of the nature of 
  the outpost Mr. Segall discovered. I assure 
  you, however, that Jenseitech has already 
  taken action to secure the facility.”
  To Be Continued….?
  Although the scenario concludes 
  at this point, there are several potential 
  avenues for the players to follow which 
  might open up new adventures or lead 
  into a broader campaign.
   
  � What happened to Jim Segall in that 
  base? Could the Segall family, wanting 
  to know the real truth of what happened 
  to their child, approach the players to 
  carry out a deeper investigation?
   
  � What could Alessio West employ 
  the team to do next? How deep is 
  the team willing to be in Jenseitech’s 
  pocket before they see something so 
  horrifying that no amount of credits 
  can erase the memory?
   
  � What was Corpustin’s cult actually doing 
  on Fururi Station? What measures will 
  they devise to prevent their removal, and 
  will the players help or hinder them?
  The Sol system is filled with horror, 
  darkness and adventure; just make sure 
  you are brave or foolish enough to face it 
  when it emerges from the shadows!
  Aftermath
  
  30
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Shadows Over Sol/Small Mercy.pdf