Assuming the PCs have survived their journey through the mines or the trek across the outer surface of the asteroid, they reach one of two structures on the S-4 base; the CONTROL ROOM or the TOWER.
S-4 Control Room
Entering from the elevator...
"After 30 seconds, the elevator comes to a gradual stop. The doors slowly slide open to a room that contains what looks like storage lockers along the left and right walls. There is a door on the far wall of the room and also one on the left wall."
Room 1 - The storage lockers contain mining tools such as picks and shovels; work coveralls, boots, gloves, filter masks, hard hats, flashlights, rope, a fire extinguisher, and a first aid kit. There's a 1m x 1.5m poster on one of the walls depicting a naked Yazirian female lying on a purple velvet couch and holding some sort of beverage. It reads 'Lola Tola' in the Yazirian language, although it's not certain if that is the name of the Yazirian female or the beverage that she is holding.
If the PCs previously triggered the TD-19 booby trap in ROOM 13 of the mines, the rogue miners will be alerted to the PCs presence. They are not certain exactly who the PCs are, but they will open fire on them all the same. If the PCs did not trigger the TD-19 booby trap in ROOM 13 of the mines, the rogue miners are not as yet alerted to the PCs presence.
Entering from the outside airlock...
"Your party finally arrives at the airlock to the control room structure. The door seems to be protected by a level 2 locking mechanism."
The PCs must use the DEACTIVATE ALARMS skill and then the OPEN LOCKS skill in order to enter the airlock. Whenever the airlock is pressurizing or depressurizing, the technician on duty in the control room is alerted.
"You enter a room containing what appears to be storage lockers on two walls. There is a door along the right wall that has a push button next to it, and another door to the left that has what seems to be an intercom panel next to it. There is a 1m x 1.5m poster on one of the walls depicting a naked Yaziran female lying on a purple velvet couch and holding some sort of beverage. It reads 'Lola Tola' in the Yazirian language, although it's not certain if that is the name of the Yazirian female or the beverage that she is holding."
The lockers hold mining tools such as picks and shovels; work coveralls, boots, gloves, filter masks, hard hats, flashlights, rope, a fire extinguisher, and a first aid kit.
Room 2 - This is a 8 meter long by 4 meter wide section with more storage lockers on both the left and right sides. The first PC through the door from room 1 into room 2 will be fired upon by a rogue miner with a laser rifle. It is set for maximum damage, and the miner has partial cover firing from around the corner. He will fire for 3 rounds, then retreat to ROOM 3. If the rogue miners are as yet unaware of the PCs presence (the PCs did not set off the booby trap in room 13 of the MINES and used the CONTROL ROOM elevator), the rogue miner in ROOM 2 is instead preoccupied checking equipment in one of the lockers when the PCs open the door from ROOM 1.
Rogue Miner (Human male) Stats: average NPC, Laser Rifle, SEU Backpack, Skeinsuit, Hepplewhite ID.Card
Room 3 - MEDLAB: The rogue miner from ROOM 2 joins another rogue miner and fires at the PCs using cover from the ROOM 3 doorway. If the PCs are as yet undetected (i.e. the rogue miner in ROOM 2 was surprised and subdued), the rogue miner in ROOM 3 is only guarding the room and will not fire on the PCs until they enter the room. The NPC will fire a couple of rounds then retreat through the other door in ROOM 3.
The Medlab is filled with various medical equipment and supplies. A player character with medical skills will receive a 20% bonus to any medical treatment skill he or she performs here. It appears as though someone with a very serious wound was treated here recently.
Room 4 - OPERATIONS (level 1): The rogue miner(s) from ROOM 3 (medlab) will retreat to ROOM 4 (operations) and join four other rogue miners there who are holding Hakfoost prisoner. The rogue miners will exit operations via the floor hatch. This leads to a long tunnel that exits at area 19 of the mines map. The NPCs will then move to the landing bay and leave the mining base (with Hakfoost) using the second shuttle parked in the landing bay.
The operations room itself is full of computers and monitoring equipment. There are two ladders on either side of the room that lead to the upper level of the control room.
OPERATIONS (level 2): The upper level has more control panels and equipment, including a damaged subspace radio. There are two large plastisteel windows on the sides near the ladders, and a maintenance robot located here. The robot has been reprogrammed by the rogue miners to attack anyone entering the upper level.
The subspace radio is at location 1, the panel for the station's radar system is at location 2, and the maintenance robot is standing guard at location 3.
Maintenance Robot: Level 1, STA: 100, Move: 30m/turn, Limbs: 2, Attack/Defense, Search & Destrot, Self Defense, Comlink, ATT: 40, #Attacks: 1, Damage: 1d10 (mop)
Room 5 - LIFE SUPPORT: This room contains the life support system for the S-4 Mining Station. It's maximum capacity is designed for 40 living creatures.
Room 6 - POWER GENERATOR: This room houses the main power generator for the mining base.
Room 7 - STORE ROOM: 10 miners are being held here. They are of various races; 3 Humans, 1 Ifshcnit, 2 Yazirians, 2 Vrusk, and 2 Dralasites. They are at minimal STA due to wounds, hunger, and thirst. If they are questioned about the rogue miners, the prisoners will say that several armed miners took control of the mining base about a month ago, killed some of the miners, and took the rest prisoner. They will not know if there are other miners being held elsewhere. They remember seeing a Yazirian with an eye-patch being beaten by the rogue miners while yelling something about him helping them with their experiment. The prisoners believe that there are seven rogue miners total, and that their leader is a Human named Falco Starhammer. They will also speak of a ghost inhabiting the mines. They say that this ghost killed several miners in the past few months.
If the PCs think to check the mining station's computer data base regarding Falco Starhammer, they will learn that he was recently hired by Hepplewhite to work in the mines when he applied for the job on board Dead Man's Wharf.
Falco Starhammer:
Human male, 35 years of age, 1.9 meters tall, 80 kg in weight
Skills: demolitions, operating heavy equipment, repairing heavy equipment, piloting, engineering, robotic design, robotic programing, and robotic repair.
Personal I.D. Card # T-729C-200566711-B5
There is no home planet of origin nor family listed.
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The Tower: First Level
Entering from the elevator... (Room 1)
"After 30 seconds, the elevator slows to a gradual stop. The doors open to a room with a red light flashing once every 3 seconds. The room is completely dark for the 3 seconds between flashes. You immediately notice a foul odor that smells like formaldehyde. There are storage lockers along two walls, a ladder in one corner that leads to a hatch in the ceiling, what looks like an airlock door along another wall, and another door along one wall. There are tiny shards of broken glass floating everywhere in the room."
Entering from the outside airlock... (Room 1)
"The outer airlock hatch is unlocked and the system seems to be functioning normally. The compression cycle in the airlock takes about 30 seconds to complete, and the inner hatch seems to be functioning normally. As the inner hatch opens, you can see a room that has a red light flashing every 3 seconds. Between flashes, the room is completely dark also for 3 seconds. There are storage lockers along two of the walls, a ladder in one corner that leads up to a hatch in the ceiling, what appears to be an elevator door along another wall, and another door along one wall. There are tiny shards of broken glass floating everywhere in the room."
If the PCs remove their spacesuit helmets or open the helmet's face plate, they can smell the strong odor of formaldehyde. The red flashing light is the result of an automated warning system; main power has been cut to the tower, and it is now running on emergency battery power. The floating shards of glass are from smashed glass containers of formaldehyde.
Room 2: (Cold Storage) The door to this room has a small control panel next to it that any PC passing an LOG check will identify as a temperature gauge and setting. The readout indicates that although the power to Room 2 is cut, the temperature of the room is at just above freezing. If the PCs enter, read the following:
"The door opens to a dark cold room. The light switch on the outside of the door doesn't work. It's difficult to see anything in the room due to the presence of a cold mist, but it appears as though there are several shelves along the walls and what seems like dead bodies piled in one corner."
The items on the shelves are perishable food items. A player character with medical skills will be able to determine that the dead bodies have bruising around their wrists and legs, although the prcause of death is determined without an examination in a medlab. If the PCs count the dead, there are a total of 17 bodies varying in race. As main power has been previously cut to the tower by the rogue miners, the emergency backup battery system does not have enough power to maintain the cold storage unit in ROOM 2. Everything in that room will become unfrozen by the time the PCs reach the top of the tower. The dead bodies will then reanimate and attack anyone they see in the tower complex. If the PCs decide to examine one of the dead bodies and move it to the medlab in the CONTROL ROOM to do so, the body will soon reanimate, attacking anyone it sees.
Room 3: (Lavatory) This is a large lavatory designed for zero G enviroments. There is nothing unusual here.
Room 4: (Showers) This is a zero G version of a large showering room. There is nothing unusual here.
Room 5: (Storage) This storage room contains surplus blankets and bedding.
Room 6: (Dormitory) This is where miners would sleep in the zero G enviroment; standing up against the walls. Some of the 'beds' are unmade, but there is nothing else that is out of place.
Room 7: (Galley) There are food and beverage dispensers along one wall, and a few tables with chairs in the middle of the room. The chairs have waist straps in order to keep the occupants "seated" while eating in the zero G enviroment. Other than half eaten meals and a few floating drinking cups, nothing seems out of the ordinary here.
