SpaceTomato Stream from the Scavenger Hunter
The United Space Confederation, represented by Farrister, recently participated in a scavenger hunt hosted by SpaceTomato. Five teams competed in total, each tasked with solving riddles to find locations across Stanton — flying to discover items, solve challenges, and collect objects to bring back to the finish line. Each team was led by a content creator from the verse. For the USC, Farrister took the lead alongside Zan and me, EtowTheSaltyCat.
Throughout the event, a large team from The Garden Org managed the entire operation, present at every riddle location to hand out clues and organise mini-games.
The competing teams were: Team Grolo, Team Premo, Team Tom, Team Acuze, and Team Farrister (USC Scavengers).
The starting point was Bajini Point above ArcCorp, where all teams gathered in the lobby for final briefings from SpaceTomato. The rules required each team to fly a small multicrew ship, roughly the size of a Cutlass, as many riddle locations had limited landing space. This immediately posed a problem for the USC team — an RSI Hermes had been prepared in advance, so Farrister quickly swapped it out for a Crusader C1.
Shortly after the starting signal was given, everyone sprinted from the lobby into their respective hangars. All six riddles were released simultaneously, kicking off the hunt.
The Riddles:
Riddle 1: In microTech’s frozen veil, where blizzards howl, A hollow ghost lies wrecked and foul. No sails it bears, yet a reclaimer’s frame, Haunted by tails in the snow and flame. Seek the mountain’s shadow, cold and white— What sunken ship now claims the night?
Riddle 2: Ho, star-sailed scoundrels — heed this tale: Through blackened skies ye now must sail. Seek two fallen giants where cold winds creep, the swift Mercury and grand 600i sleep. Yet fortune hides in twisted steel, where sleeping buggies wait unreal. Their hearts and bones be torn away, Lost in heaps of rust and left astray. Dig through the scrap and restore what’s gone, then drive the wagon out and on.
Riddle 3: I slice through waves without a blade, three sails aloft, a classic trade. One mast I carry, fore and aft I’m rigged — What sailor’s craft is neatly jigged? Yet some who bear my name cut black gold too, through iron earth instead of ocean blue.
Riddle 4: I am no druid circle of old, But noodles and soup in asteroid cold. Near Grim HEX in the belt, I wait, A vending stone ring for those who shoot straight.
Riddle 5: McLaren’s downfall
Riddle 6: In the planet of eternal winter, the home of the MobiGlas, A secret grotto hides, beyond a hidden pass. To reach it you must find a sleigh, clad in iron, you will ride, from underneath the gateway to the stars, to where adventurers reside. Follow the tracks of the train that rides on air. At the fork, the “right” path you must follow if you dare. When the passage narrows and the snow grows high, Venture onward and claim your prize.
Riddle 1 was solved immediately — it clearly pointed to Ghost Hollow on microTech — so the USC team set course straight away while continuing to work through the remaining clues en route.
During the flight, nearly all the riddles were solved in quick succession. The team also noted that Riddle 5 was somewhat inaccurate, as the crashed Javelin on Daymar it alludes to was never actually Captain McLaren’s. Riddle 2 pointed to Whistler’s Crypt, Riddle 4 to Benny Henge, and Riddle 6 to the Christmas Cave beneath microTech. The toughest riddle was number 3, which remained unsolved until the team was nearly at microTech. It was far from obvious, but the mention of “black gold” eventually led the team to think of oil rigs — and with that, Cutter’s Rig was identified.
With all six riddles solved, a plan took shape: first, hit microTech for Ghost Hollow and the Christmas Cave; then head to Hurston for Cutter’s Rig; and finally swing by Crusader to wrap up the remaining three locations clustered around the gas giant.
Farrister handled the flying throughout, while Zan and I managed most of the legwork on the ground and researched routes between locations.
The team arrived first at Ghost Hollow on microTech — unfortunately, in the dead of night, making visibility extremely poor. Both Zan and I searched the area for several minutes without success. Even after Farrister joined them on the ground, nothing turned up.
We reboarded the ship to search further out, and it was only then that we noticed task instructions had already been posted in the team chat. The objective was to find a Ninetails helmet and hand it to an event team member. As it happened, Zan had spotted a helmet earlier, so the team flew back to Ghost Hollow, located the hidden event staffer, and completed the handover quickly before moving on to the Christmas Cave.
Finding the cave presented no real difficulty — the greater challenge was Farrister not crashing the ship on approach. Once inside, all that was needed was to pick up one of the Picos, and the team was on its way.
The next stop was Cutter’s Rig on Hurston. Landing was tricky, but Zan and I disembarked and found the event team member, who tasked us with mining minerals from the surrounding area and returning them. Farrister located deposits quickly, and the team retrieved two samples — a wise call, as one was lost during disembarkation on the return trip. The surviving mineral was handed over in exchange for a double hot dog, one of the items to be brought back to the finish line.
Next up was Daymar, with the first stop being the crashed Javelin. The approach nearly ended in disaster when Farrister forgot to decelerate, and the ship literally bounced off the moon’s surface. Knowing Farrister even did a Location Spotlight on that location, like many others, youd think he wouldn´t nearly crash us while getting there! We did recovered quickly, located the wreck, and received a new task: find a plant in the area and hand it to the event team member in exchange for an item.
The second location on Daymar was Whistler’s Crypt. We expected a standard run through the site, but were surprised to find an Ironclad parked there, loaded with vehicles inside.
The task: repair one of the vehicles using components found aboard the ship, then drive it out to receive an item. For reasons that remain unclear, we chose the vehicle farthest from the entrance — wedged behind dozens of others. Repairs proved challenging, but we quickly determined that all we really needed was a working power plant. Once installed, Farrister took the wheel, ploughed through several rival teams in the process, and forced the vehicle out through the entrance. Unconventional, perhaps — but undeniably effective, and the moment of chaos provided some of the event’s best laughs.
The final location was Benny Henge: a sort of Stonehenge constructed from vending machines on an asteroid. It took some searching, but sharp navigation got the team there quickly. A Polaris was parked nearby, and the task was straightforward — stand in the cargo bay and use a provided sniper rifle to hit two people running around the henge several hundred meters away.
Given that none of the team excelled at FPS combat, the job somehow fell to me. Against all odds, I landed three hits — admittedly using all five magazines in the process.
With that, the last location was complete. The team burned back to ArcCorp at full speed, with no idea how the other teams were faring.
As we approached one of the ArcCorp towers — where SpaceTomato’s Idris was stationed — not a single other ship was in sight. As it turned out, USC had finished first. Not only that, but the run clocked in at just 1 hour 38 minutes, reportedly a new record, and well ahead of the competition: Team Acuze arrived second at 2 hours 5 minutes, followed by Team Tom at 2 hours 8 minutes.
It was a genuine team effort. Whatever event discipline the USC has built up over time clearly paid off — every riddle solved, every task completed, every obstacle overcome efficiently and together. A proud moment for USC: first place and a new record. Here’s hoping that streak carries into future competitive events as it has so far.
A huge thank you to SpaceTomato and the entire event team for putting this together. It was a truly unique and memorable experience.
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