Finding Coureuse
| "When you do find Scylla Coureuse, I expect her to be unwilling to cooperate. I have provided you with an encrypted message. It is an, ah, a personal appeal from myself to her. It should prove persuasive." | ||
"Finding Coureuse" is the second main mission in the Galatia Academy mission chain, taking place in parallel with the "Kallichore Archive" mission. The player has to locate former Academician Scylla Coureuse and bring her back to the Academy.
Acquisition
This mission and "Kallichore Archive" are preceded by the "Talk to Baird" mission, which is automatically given when talking to Alviss Sebestyen at the Galatia Academy once the "Extract 'Researcher'" mission is completed. No generic missions will be given until the player speaks with Anahita Baird.
A story point will be awarded after completing the dialogue with Baird and receiving both missions.
Walkthrough
Baird gives the player two options: the diplomatic method and the exploration method. Diplomacy is much faster, since it only requires going to a core system planet and clicking through some dialogue, rather than searching a fringe star system. The player can change their desired approach by speaking to Baird, but this can be done only once.
Diplomacy route
Travel to Fikenhild in the Westernesse Star System and select the appropriate option ("Shuttle to the surface to pursue the list of Coureuse associates") in the main dialog menu. The player will speak with three persons: Scylla's mother Adonya Coureuse, a childhood friend named Bione Lata, and local dissident Cavin Pharoh.
There are three ways to approach the questioning:
- Inquire about Scylla's friend Elissa Zal, receiving her comm ID from Pharoh
- Inquire about a League agent who is also looking for Scylla, receiving Agent Finlay Siyavong's comm ID from Lata
- Deliberately attract the attention of security authorities, prompting Siyavong to contact the player
It is possible to obtain both Zal and Siyavong's contact IDs, or to fail to get either, in which case Siyavong will contact the player. Both of them will direct the player to the Isirah Star System.
Exploration route
Travel to the specified star system and find three probes. These can be hidden in various locations, like in an asteroid belt, near a jump point, around a gas giant, or simply far from the star. Use of the Neutrino Detector is recommended.
One of the probes the player finds is empty, its contents having been stolen by a scavenger fleet within the system. Upon catching the scavenger, the player has three options to make them drop the probe:
- Offer a bribe (+1 independents reputation)
- Threaten violence (-1 independents reputation)
- Wait for them to find the probe core (triggers a Pather ambush fleet, can be intimidated with 1 SP 100% XP)
Picking up all three probes directs the player to the Isirah Star System.
Isirah system
On the way to Isirah, the player may be accosted by a mercenary fleet, whose commander demands the information on Coureuse's location. Refusing results in the other fleet simply leaving without a fight. Alternatively, the player can release the info for a small bribe, but this has no effect beyond attracting three Tri-Tachyon fleets to loiter about the system.
The player can travel to the League-held Laicaille Habitat to ask about Coureuse, but the local archon stonewalls the player. Evidence is needed to crack the archon and force them to talk, comprising any two of the following:
- Getting the Isirah directions from Siyavong in the previous diplomacy route will provide a (fake but usable) recording of communications between Coureuse and Pharoh.
- Hack the local comm relay to find evidence of Pather infiltration.
- "Ask the technicians what's going on" at the Laicaille bar, or have found the probes in the exploration route. Then examine Groombridge Habitat (abandoned station) to find a hypercommunication relay.
- Go to Kapetyn Starworks (the pirate station) and bribe (or choose "i'm one of you" option (cooperative reputation with pirates) the administrator (designated "boss") on the comm directory, for intel on a League intelligence operation on Laicaille Habitat.
Once the needed evidence is in hand, return to Laicalle Habitat and confront the archon. Then pick the main menu option to go to the safehouse to pick up Coureuse. Return to the Academy.
Reward
If the mission was completed before Kallichore Archive, you receive 100,000c after completing the mission. Otherwise, the reward is 65,000c. If both missions are completed before returning to the academy to finish them, the order in which they are finished is random and can be changed by saving the game before docking with the academy and reloading.
Aftermath
Two weeks after completing the mission, the archon of Laicaille Habitat will be removed from their post, replaced by a political appointee from Kazeron. Both persons will be on the comm directory to talk to.
Behind the scenes
The diplomacy route on Fikenhild was the first arc of the Academy story chain that writer David Baumgart wrote player-facing text for. In the original proposal, the player would do detective work by finding contradictions in the stories given by Adonya, Bione and Cavin to pressure one or more of them to reveal further details, opening contact leads to Elissa or to the cut character Danel Jawero (a rival of Scylla). Further such detective work with Danel and Elissa would enable the player to contact Finlay Siyavong. The characters were deliberately named in alphabetical order: Adonya, Bione, Cavin, Danel, Elissa, Finlay.[1]
References
| Galatia Academy missions | |
|---|---|
- Quests
- Galatia Academy