Stellar Tether

The Stellar Tether

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The Stellar Tether
Map of The Stellar Tether
Planet	Tarkus
System	[Redacted]

Summary

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The Stellar Tether is the first major adventure in Trials in Tainted Space's main storyline. Located on Tarkus's eastern-most border, near where the two halves of the planet are bolted together, Captain Steele arrives to find a U.G.C. Peacekeeper team assembled outside of a small control station next to the rift. Approaching the squad's leader, Steele learns that the Stellar Tether station has been taken over by a group of space pirates who are now threatening to blow the tethers if their demands are not met. If the tethers are destroyed, so too is Tarkus. The Peacekeepers recruit Steele to infiltrate the tether station, defeat the pirates, and disarm the bomb before it's too late!

Recommended Level: 5+

Areas and Encounters

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The first part of the dungeon is a linear corridor through the tether station at the edge of the rift. There, Steele encounters Tam, a crazed kaithrit tech specialist who has rigged the station's waiting room full of heavily armed turrets and set her mechanical companion Tam-wolf to guard it.

Once Tam-Tam's group is dealt with, Steele can proceed through the station and optionally fuck Tam. At this point, Steele is also informed that there is now a 4-hour deadline before the bomb detonates. An elevator lift leads down to the center of the planet, where a second station is located. The first fight here is against a group of heavy rocket turrets guarding the station; Tech Specialists and Smugglers can both circumvent the turrets and destroy them from behind. Otherwise, the turrets can be fought through with brute force, though they do heavy damage.

Past the elevator platform is a circular walkway around the central station chamber. In the central chamber is Kaska Beamfury, the second in command of the Tarasque, who guards the bomb itself. Once she is defeated, Steele can take her detonator (one of two), and attempt to disarm the bomb if they also possess the second detonator.

The second detonator is found in the northern-most part of the station, on the person of Captain Khorgan, the leader of the pirate band who fights Steele in a mech suit. She will drop a detonator, and Steele can retrieve a chunk of Plat190, which is very useful for acquiring the Tarkus data probe and advancing the main story.

Notable Items and Rewards

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• Tam-wolf, looted from Tam after her fight. He can be equipped as an accessory, and replaces a Tech Specialist's normal drone.
  • There is also a badly-damaged variant of the Tam-Wolf.
• Platinum 190 shard. Found near Captain Khorgan after her fight.

Bad End

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Tam-tam, Captain Khorgan, and Kaska all have unique Bad Ends in which they enslave Steele and use him/her in various ways as either a mate or, in Tam's case, a plaything. Steele can also potentially be killed by the rocket pods, by Kaska if her lust is not raised, or by remaining in the station for longer than the deadline allows, causing the planet to be destroyed with Steele in it.

Resolution

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During the course of the dungeon, it is revealed that the bomb is a mere distraction. Rather than terrorism, the pirates are interested in a vein of Plat190 they have discovered in the core of Tarkus, and are busy mining it while Tam and the bomb both keep the Peacekeepers and locals away. The Stellar Tether can be resolved in two very different ways:

• Steele defeats the pirates and disarms the bomb. Steele must complete a game of Lights Out to disable the bomb, and can only attempt it once both detonators are in Steele's possession. In this case, the pirates are swiftly arrested by the Peacekeepers, and Steele is able to resume his/her adventures. (It's been hinted several times that capturing the pirates will allow Steele to visit them once the Galactic Prison is added.)

• Steele leaves the dungeon before the detonation, and either watches the pirates fly away with their prize -- the Platinum 190 -- or if Steele possess one of the detonators, the pirates are unable to diffuse the bomb, and Tarkus is destroyed. Assuming Steele is either in Novahome or off planet by the time the detonation happens, Steele will no longer be able to explore the surface of Tarkus, but Novahome and the citizens thereof survive (with the fate of Aurora dependent on actions taken during Anno's Ghost Deck mission).

Either way, once resolved, Steele must return to Tarkus and confront Jack or Jill Steele, who has discovered that Shekka has the dataprobe. Steele can use the Plat190 acquired from Captain Khorgan to instantly buy the probe, or else get involved in a very costly bidding war with Steele's rival. The probe, if bought, can either be sold to Steele Tech, or given free of charge to Shekka.