After he has the librarian show him how to download the information onto his own comms, he bows low to her. "Thank you for this, madam. This seems to be dangerous information - please take care of yourself. I would hate for anything to happen because of your involvement." He then hurries off to find his comrades.
When he gets to Allison and EH-RK he pulls up the information. "I may have found a few leads for us - Astral Extractions seems to have ties with shady characters and tactics, all the way down to street gangs, possibly even one of the ones we were involved in." He fumbles a little bit trying to share the files until one of the other two intervenes.
The public face of Astral Extractions is that of an ethical and respectable corporation, but outside of the public eye, some say the company uses hired muscle—corporate mercenaries, strikebreakers, and even criminal elements—as proxies to intimidate and threaten those who stand in its way.
Astral Extractions DC20:
Following the arrival of the Acreon, Astral Extractions secretly hired a violent Absalom Station street gang called the Downside Kings to coerce the Hardscrabble Collective into abandoning its claims on the Acreon and the Drift Rock.
"The Hardscrabble Collective! They were in one of the files... somewhere.."
Manteca goes to find the file and manages to turn his comm unit off. He stares at it intently for a moment before looking up.
"Is it loading?"
I now calculate a ninety three point seven seven two probability rate that the Hardscrabble Collective was somehow involved in the death of the Dwarf Kreel. I also calculate an eighty nine point oh oh four three probability that the arrival of the ship Acreon triggered the attack. Eric sends to his allies via their personal comms.
Lolo puts the computer down, rubbing her eyes. "All I was able to find was that Kreel was pretty unattached here at Absalom Station. No family, only a few friends."
"Wow, someone likes the library as much as I do." Tannhäuser lets out as she hears Imani's computer while aimlessly wandering around the library, mostly due to option overload.
Soryn recounted all he had been hearing, "So there's a probable link between Duravor and this Hardscrabble Collective then.""
He shrugged, "I think our next step is clear. Let's go talk to this outfit. Anyone know how to get in touch with them?"
The search for the Acreon sends you to the current news that are trending on every network. The Acreon is a ship owned by a crew that belongs to the Harscrabble Collective. This crew and ship were hired by Astral Extractions to explore new mining grounds.
But a few days ago, the Acreon returned from that travel out of the rift. A large asteroid in tow and the crew missing. The news are about the
whereabouts and fate of its missing crew, and the nature of the mysterious "Drift Rock" the ship brought with it. Rumors and speculation are rampant: the Acreon’s crew witnessed something significant and were killed to keep it secret; the entire crew went mad and walked out the airlocks; the Drift Rock contains precious riches, from rare and valuable minerals to advanced technology, or even legendary treasures of lost Golarion, preserved before the planet disappeared. The other main topic of discussion is the disagreement between Astral Extractions and the Hardscrabble Collective, both of whom claim ownership of the Drift Rock and the right to examine the Acreon and determine the fate of its crew.
Boreal lounges against the shelves in the library, not paying much attention to the goings on. The activity previously on Imani's screen woke her from her stupor.
It keeps her interested until Allison swaps the screens at which point Boreal decides to see what she can find on the news about the events in the hanger bay earlier.
Boreal tries her luck at a holoscreen too but as it doesn't work as she wants - and there is no physical thing to punish for it - she decides to stand behind Allison and read the articles on her screen.
Manteca's 'bumbling nice guy' routine has managed to con one of the librarians into getting him paper copies, and he has them spread around a corner of the library, circling information and occasionally making excited clicking sounds and moving piles around.
"It seems to me that we speak with the Hardscrabble Collective first. They are the ones under attack for their discovery, and if we can offer aid and vengeance for their known sympathizer Kreel we can earn some sort of favor with them."
A most logical choice Shirren Manteca.
Do we know where we can meet with someone from the Hardcrabble Collective? If so, onward!
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With all the articles about the Acreon and a wider range of things that heppened on Absalom Station the last days Allison also finds a news feed about the incident at docking bay 94. In best gonzo journalism Vulpes News writes in big fat letters: FIRST THE UNDERGROUND - NEXT THE WHOLE STATION? A Vesk Ripper tearing apart natives of Absalom Station in bright daylight! Incident with five human gang members dead. The article continues to describes in gory detail what Boreal did to the guy with pictures. It also omits what gangs it were and that they shot themselves mostly. It insinuates that alien forces try to take over the lower levels of the station by fighting the local criminals. And that this is only the start of it and soon they will turn upon the righteous inhabitants of Absalom Station also on the upper levels. Then they decry the inactivity of the officials who didn't even care to imprison that vesk murderer. Which can only be a sign of their accomplice in that scheme to take over the station.
All in all it blows into the horn of the Strong Absalom movement. A group that believes the Starstone belongs only to the refugee races of Golarion and that aliens should be either forbidden from using it as a waypoint or else taxed exorbitantly.
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Allison happily is working her three screens with all the activity and ADHD of a professional gamer. Her cursor is ever-moving with the ferocity of an epileptic meerkat and her fingers keep up an unceasing staccao of typing in a strange dialect that seems to use every symbol of both math and language.
"Hey dude," she kindly mutters as Boreal comes to look over her shoulder, her eyes never leaving her electronic work.
One of her three screens seems to be devoted to just several different games, one of which is text-based and another is an archaic thing called Zangband.
'Yet An0ther FAKE NEWS bit from the LIBERAL media that your stati0n MASTERS want you to believe! L@@K HERE for proof that all our lives are run by the galactic criminal Lord Borak the Despoiler!!!1!' she flames in the news' comments section.
Allison then links the post to Imani's pr0n site and chuckles softly.
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"Hey, ah, dude, I gotta check something. Um, I need you to scan these and check them for accuracy, okay? I'll be right back."
She hits her own Mute and brings up six different video clips that came up for a search of "Vesk mating rituals." She starts them playing, then she walks over to the terminal the Android is working on.
'I'm just curious. I mean, they're an entire race and I don't even know if...okay, I'm just testing a theory. I'll just get my data and...and, and, and that's it. Just data. I need data on reactions, right?' she thinks, trying to convince herself of...something?
"So, what did you find?" she asks Eric, casually-yet-purposefully putting a hand on his shoulder and looking at his terminal.
'Rule number 1 of how a person feels about you: Try and touch them. You'll know by how they react' her old lessons echo in her mind as she...gathers data.
EH-RK turns his head sharply as Wraith touches him Our investigation so far proves it highly likely that the Dwarf Kreel is involved with both the Hardscrabble Collective and the Megaconglomerate Astral Extractions. Evidence indicates this also involves the mining vessel Acreon and the rock it brought back. All process based indices are converging on an eighty three point seven seven two percent probability that these forces are the cause of the Dwarf Kreel's death. I highly advise a structured data gathering approach with both the Collective and Astral Extractions. Excuse me Human Allison Whiteangel, why is your hand still resting on my shoulder. Is your forearm strained? I could perform a basic scan...
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Wraith smiles inwardly at the 'bot's inquiry. 'Oh my this IS interesting. Well we can't very well stop now, can we?'
"Hm? Oh, no, that's just a human custom of maintaining physical contact with the person to whom we're talking. It's a sign that we're paying attention to them. I wouldn't very well put my arm on you and then have a conversation with someone else, would I?
"Now, if we look at the rock," she says, bringing the focus of the conversation back to the terminal,"they brought back, as it's shown over here," she says, pointing, and casually leaning over, her soft breasts just barley touching his arm, "would you say that this is the focus of the dispute? And if so, what would cause Astral to go to such lengths?" she says, still studiously studying the graphic that she already read about.
"Now, if we look at the rock,"[/b] she says, bringing the focus of the conversation back to the terminal,"they brought back, as it's shown over here," she says, pointing, and casually leaning over, her soft breasts just barley touching his arm, "would you say that this is the focus of the dispute? And if so, what would cause Astral to go to such lengths?" she says, still studiously studying the graphic that she already read about.
Soryn scoffed, "Money. What else do large corporation care about?"
He added, "Even back home where we respect life and nature, there are still companies that would raze natural habitats and plant a mono-crop just because it was the latest fad in some species diet."
He shook his head, "It's money. There's something valuable or thought to be valuable on that rock."
EH-RK agrees with Soryn and he turns toward the damasha Agreed Lashunta Soryn, there is a high probability that the Astral Extractions activities are directly linked to economic incentives.
It is highly advisable that we investigate the following One. Hardscabble Collective Two. Astral Extractions Three. Both Gangs, they should have "turf" so we could find a member.
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"Agreed," Allison deadpans, rising and checking her comm. 'Interesting. No reaction to elevated touch levels. Hmmmmm.'
"Sure, let's go pay the Hardscrabble a friendly social call. I'd do the Astral last. Gangs we can talk to usually for the cost of a few brews an' an arm-wrestling match. Getting info from a megacorp? That's gonna take time and money, lots of each."
'Mental note. The Lashunta is totally clueless about interrupting tender moments. Must compensate.'
Tannhäuser leans over to Allison as they set off "The next time he offers to scan you, agree."
The Kasatha nods to the human.
"If the Hardscrable collective are miners for hire, they will advertise somewhere. Someone check for ads?"
Lolo brings up Kreel's computer once again, and takes a few moments to do a botsearch of Hardscrabble Collective holdings and offices at Absalom Station.
Doing a cross search between the contacts in Kreel's computer and public information listing the same contact ids you find three ships that are currently in the orbit of Absalom Station. The number called the most in the last few days is Otal Serissi who resides on his ship the Dust Runner, out in the Armada.
"Holy Karl!" Lolo says, dropping the computer back into her pack. "Otal Serissi resides on the Dust Runner, up in the Armada. He's Hardscrabble Collective!"
"It should be simple enough to charter a shuttle to his ship, would it not?," asks Manteca. "It seems to be a logical starting point - and a fortuitous break in the case. Should we report our findings and plans to a Starfinder superior in order to procure funds for shuttle rental? And um..." He bashfully hangs his head. "...if we're speaking with hard people like strikebreakers and street gangs, I would like some sort of armament. I have a syringe needler that a friend gave me as a gag gift, but I'm not very good with it - I'd prefer a laser or firearm so as not to waste medicinal objects on a wall or a crate due to a lack of expertise. Do you think the Starfinders have some sort of armory one can loan from?"
"You can borrow this." Boreal says pulling the light reaction cannon off her back, "But you will need to buy the rounds." Boreal says holding the weapon out to him, "We should probably call him before we go knock on his door, we have his contact."
"You can borrow this." Boreal says pulling the light reaction cannon off her back, "But you will need to buy the rounds." Boreal says holding the weapon out to him, "We should probably call him before we go knock on his door, we have his contact."
Manteca stands perplexed for a moment, unsure of how to respond. "I was hoping for something... erm. Smaller?"
He takes the blaster from Allison. "I tried to take one from the scene! But then the police collected the evidence..." He trails off, tilting his head curiously at Allision.
"Suit yourself." Boreal says slinging the weapon onto her back once more, before turning to Wraith, "Wraith, Daughter of None of Your Business, sister of Not Your Concern, did you salvage any credsticks from the incident in the docking bay?"
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Wraith laughs openly and loudly at Boreal, assuming he's being funny, and, it is rather funny, when he says it.
"Ha! Just Wraith is fine, please. And I tagged 750 total creds. You want your share now? Keep in mind, it's dirty money. Do you...think you can live with that?" she asks with a smile.
"Use it in health, chummer," she says to Dr. Imani. "At least you tried."
Her eyes slide over, like a turret tracking a target, wondering if the tattle-tale Lashunta is going to come over for a cut of the gains he videoed her taking. If he does...they shall have words.
"To the victor go the spoils." Boreal says repeating lessons she was taught growing up. "I don't need my full share, 90 credits to resupply. Rounds for this are expensive." she says patting the cannon where it hangs out past her side.
"Dudeman? I am not familiar with that phrase. You called me dude before as well..." Boreal says nodding in thanks for the transfer.
Seeing credits being distributed, the lashunta inquired, "So we get to keep these?"
He added, "Did the security not require them for their investigation?"
"Credsticks are anonymous, they would not have helped the investigation at all." Boreal says in reply to Soryn.
"They could have gone to the deceased's families... or into the guards' pockets. Who can say?"
There is a high likelihood, based on current reporting on the Absolom net that any credsticks found would have not been entered into evidence correctly. EH-RK says
The lashunta shrugged, "This is not what would have been done in my village but I'm a long ways from home now and who knows how crazy expensive stuff is here."
He extended his hand, "I guess I'll take whatever share you deem is mine then."
As you call the contact ID from Kreels device a red-skinned human appears on the screen "Kreel?" he asks and looks suspicious at the face that is not Kreel.
"My name is Boreal Typhon, Daughter of Zerukesh "Hornbreaker" Typhon, Daughter of Tarsonis "Jaeger" Typhon." She says speaking to the device, "Kreel has passed. We believe he was murdered for his involvement with your organisation. We would like to meet with you to gather information."
"That was Kreel? F@&#... You're THAT vesk? You were there?" Otal Serissi asks and on confirmation replies "I'll send a shuttle to the station to collect you. We can meet here on my ship. Wait a minute."
You hear some talking and arguing in the background while watching the ceiling of a ship. Then he reappears on the screen. "The shuttle will be at Docking Bay 42 in 12 minutes. Make haste, blocking the bay costs."
"It takes some getting used to, we use a communal system amongst ourselves on the Idari." Tannhäuser says to Soryn.
"Thank you," the Kasatha says over the Vesk's shoulder to Otal.