The PCs met Complicating Factor, a security executive for Aspexx, who tells them that the terraforming seed for Mytene was a special one designed by Aspexx, with the intention of producing bioengineered life which would accumulate heavy metals, rare elements, and radioactive materials into forms collectable and farmable by people.
Orbital scans had shown areas of interest where it was likely this process had succeeded, though it was not yet clear what the nature of the life that had resulted would be.
The PCs conducted some slightly unwilling testing of new models of Aspexx security bots, which they summarily and efficiently dispatched, and were allowed to borrow (at their own risk) an Aspexx vehicle, given that Path was available to pilot it.
Factor was able to provide enough scan data to Ember that she could scan for the elements and radioisotope signatures they were being sent to look for.
On their way to the Aspexx garage on the outskirts of the city, the group passed through a market, where Eloquent Affinity, a representative of the Mytenean Ambassador to the Galactic Cooperation, Forever Depth, approached them and tried to persuade them to undertake the mission on behalf of the MIC instead, as the data and the unusual terraforming seed could be useful both industrially and politically to Mytene.
Unknown to the party, Dark Water, a junior Aspexx Security Executive has been tailing them, to check this kind of thing isn’t happening, and overhears much of the conversation.
An altercation between a Raktor cheese seller and a curse vendor was witnessed by Path and reported to the authorities.
The party left to follow Path’s Starfinder senses and Harmony’s maps towards the general location Aspexx had suggested. Along the route they ran into a fallen tree which seemed to have been knocked down by Mytenean devils (though it might have been a coincidence) and summarily dispatched the devils before shifting the tree.
They then encountered Mr Swinging Pick, a curmudgeonly miner who accused them of claim jumping. They helped defend him and his mining bots from Raktor attacks for long enough to persuade him that they weren’t here for his claim, and fixed up some of his robots and equipment, and were offered some information about the kinds of creatures they might face later in return.
They continued following the scanners until they started to find the kinds of creatures they were looking for - initially a group of apparent stalagmites, which Path asked Endeavour for any information on, finding some useful data. Carefully making their way around the various corals and mantis-like camouflaged insectoid creatures, they scanned the bodies of the motile creatures and confirmed these were their targets, before continuing to follow the scanners into a cave system.
On the way through the caves they encountered more corals, as well as some slightly glowing, apparently radioactive snails. Impulse was able to construct a box that was proof enough against the radiation to store samples to take back with them.
Deeper into the cave they encountered a group of much larger snails, being harassed by some mutated Raktors. After a hard fought encounter, they finally downed the protective parent snail, and were able to determine that these creatures had likely been eating plants, which fed off natural radiation sources in the area, and been concentrating valuable materials in their flesh and radioactive materials in their shells, which were lined with lead.
Both Harmony and Ember attempted to make a reflective shield using the reflective shells of some of the snails, with Harmony failing and suffering nasty radiation burns in the process, and Ember succeeding.
The party then found a chamber deeper in the caves which proved to be out of range of the ship heart, and in which there was a cache of mined and refined materials which had been abandoned along with some wrecked mining equipment. They were debating what to do about it when the mining equipment came alive and started to charge them. Path was able to snap a photograph before they had to leave or become decay chow.
The return journey was uneventful, and they returned the vehicle intact to the garage, and proceeded back to Aspexx. On the way they encountered Eloquent Affinity and Dark Water once more, and between some fast talking, subtle tradecraft, and slightly creative interpretations of their contracts, were able to provide Eloquent Affinity with more or less all of the data they had gathered, without Dark Water and Aspexx learning that they had done so.