Eli will move out of the way..just in case Aeryl has a gun. He moves to block the door.
Aeryl is holding a stunner on Thul.
Aeryl: "Hold still Thul; or you'll get a taste of this!"
Thul tenses, as if preparing for one final effort to break away from Fineline, then slumps, defeated.
Thul : You won't get out of this casino alive!
"Ok, now that that is settled...OWww!"
Eli rubs his head where Thul smashed it with his weapon.
"So what is going on here? Anyone?"
"I'm an undercover agent for the TCIB (Terran Commonwealth Intelligence Bureau) ," Aeryl explains. "I'm here to keep on eye on Syndicate Activities. Kamo was one of the facilitators for the operation that hi-jacked your vessel to Engarno. The failure of that job means that the Syndicate needs him removed."
"Bly, the man you rescued in the lave fields, is the man sent by the Syndicate to take Kamo down. I suspect that that accident was all carefully arranged; save for you saving Bly."
"Somehow my cover got blown, and this goon was sent to babysit me while Kamo and Bly have their showdown."
"Ah. So that's what was suspicious about him. Is it safe to talk with Thul still here?"
Anson waits for a response and a way of going about it before continuing on. "Bly actually left us something in our room. A sturdy case with a thumb-print lock in a bag. We don't know what's inside it but he also left us some credits to our room keys."
Anson rubs his neck, a sign of his nervousness in this situation. "Well, how would you recommend we proceed? You have that data-stick from Georg but your cover is blown and we've saved one of the Syndicate's men, though one that doesn't seem outright hostile at least. I doubt we can leave the casino easily either without the situation being resolved somehow."
Aeryl : "So its either hunker down, and hope to negotiate with whoever comes out on top; or grab a track or air-car, and try to get to the launch facility. I would like to see Bly's little 'gift' though."
"A group of casino thugs came to our room earlier to see about that gift. We managed to hide it, but it tells us they're at least suspicious of us. And they may have your room under observation. It would probably be best to move as a group. Shall we head to our room? And did you get anything from that data-stick?"
"Well, the Syndicate does have some very highly placed friends."
Aeryl turns to Thul.
"And what shall we do with you? "
Thul squirms uneasily on the couch.
"If it were up to me, I'll tell you what I'd do!", the former scout says while still rubbing the growing bump on the side of his head.
Aeryl raises the stunner.
Thul : "Wait, I can help you!"
Thul : " I have access codes for about 80% of this facility! "
Even as he speaks, there is a thin piping coming from his jacket.
"I'm being called; I have to take this, or they'll know something is up!"
"Just be careful what you say and how you say it, my friend or else you will be taking a hot lava bath outside!"
Aurora watches Thul carefully, to insure that his comm is all that is being pulled from his jacket.
Aeryl presses the firing stud of her stunner, and Thul spasms, and then slumps into the couch.
Aeryl : "Too much of a chance of him passing a coded warning to his bosses!"
"True, but they'll know we've caught on anyway when he doesn't answer. Should we rush to our room and get that case?"
"I'll go and get it...maybe head down to the main entrance, They might not act if too many witnesses. I'll meet you there."
Eli starts to head back to the room.
Aeryl goes quickly through the unconscious Thul's pockets, tossing his beeping phone aside.
So Boone slips out of the room; anyone going to follow?
Aurora checks Thul to be certain that he is disarmed, then smashes his phone. "I think that we should be going, now." She starts towards the door.
Boone will sneak back to their suite and retrieve the "package"...then meet the others downstairs (I hope!!)
A gaming room on the lower level is chosen as a rendezvous point, and you hurriedly slip away.
It didn't slip Dr. Feldspar's attention that Aeryl is carrying Thul's ident-card.
Anson politely waits for Aeryl to follow Dr. Feldspar out the door before following himself.
The gaming room chosen as the rendezvous features bank after bank of VR slot machines. Aeryl positions herself at a machine that has a good view of the entry-way, and begins to apathetically feed tokens into the machine.
Boone you get back to your room.
You note a cleaning bot is slowly ambling down the hall from the opposite direction, vacuum nozzles whistling, as they sweep across the floor.
Aurora takes a seat across from Aeryl, trying unsuccessfully to blend in.
Going to the hiding place, Eli gathers up the case. He looks it over, seeing if it is locked or trapped in any way.
Boone retrieves the case from the air-duct, and leaves the room.
Hmmm. They must take cleanliness really seriously in this place. The cleaning bot is still slowly making another pass outside the room
There's a steady flow of people, mostly sharply dressed, and a few in the uniforms of of hotel staff, coming in and out of the gaming room.
Anson takes a seat further away in the gaming room, still near Aeryl and Aurora but not so close that they'd be considered a group at first sight. He waits for Boone to arrive.
Eli looks at the cleaning robot curiously, and keeps his distance from it as he hurries away from the room.
"Weird little thing...hmmm"
Int the gaming room, a holographic display above the VR-slot consoles advises that due to a particularly heavy eruption; there will be some short-term disruption of shuttle service.
Boone, make a test against Recon.
Recon:
You are pretty sure you're being followed. There's two of them: keeping a professional distance between them.
Hearing about the shuttle service being stopped, Anson glances at Aeryl and Aurora out of the corner of his eye. Another confirmation of their troubles.
Realizing that he is being followed, Eli will try to loose his tail.
There is a surge of people into the gaming room: perhaps outbound passengers killing time while they wait for a shuttle?
Stealth:
On hearing about the shuttles, Aurora gets a worried look on her face. She chances a glance at Anson.
Boone, there's just no shaking them.
Hmmm, just past Fineline, loitering besides a bank of the ubiquitous VR-slot consoles, is a man that Dr. Feldspar is sure she has seen before.
Not for the first time, Eli wishes he had brought a weapon with hi to this 'resort'. He continues to lead the two 'tails' around the resort attempting to lose them in the crowds or by swiftly doubling back one them.
Stealth:
Boone: they plainly know that you see them, and they are making no pretense of trying to hide their presence, as they mark your every movement.
Dr. Feldspar: The man you thought looked familiar, he was in the lounge, earlier, talking with the Oligarchy envoy.
There is a murmur of excitement from the periphery of the room.
The gaming room: Feldspar and Fineline see a figure staggering along the wall, leaving a dark, smeared stain on the wall's gleaming surface.
Tired of trying to lose his tail, Eli leads them into a crowded area of the resort. Once there are plenty of people around, he turns and looks right at them, pointing as he says, loudly;
"What do you want? Why are you following me? Are you trying to kill me? Help!! Help!!! They have guns!!"
Aurora moves to assist the mystery figure, suspecting that the stain may be blood.
Boone: Your outburst appears to take them by surprise, as they stand, staring wide-eyed at you.
Feldspar: As you get closer, you do indeed see that the man is trailing blood along the wall.
Wounded man : "Stay back..."
Anson stands and walks nearby where Aurora and the figure are, not moving to obviously assist, but to provide some protection.
All around you people are stopping and staring, but making no move to intervene.