Station security thanks your for your cooperation and says that you are free to look over the bodies for anything that might help the Starfinder Society,”I’m sure they’ll want to hear about one of their own getting gunned down.”
Each of the gang members have flight suit stationwear, azimuth laser pistol with
battery (20 charges), club, credstick (150 credits).
When you search Kreels body you find little else other than his computer, which contains the name and description of each of you, as well as one additional name: Chiskisk, and an address.
You recognize the name as that of a high-ranking Starfinder on Absalom Station, and the address as that of the Lorespire Complex, the Starfinder Society’s headquarters on the station.
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"Alas, we hardly knew you. Still you were the nicest dwarf I've ever met. If you have anything message for those still in this world, I'm listening...the ears are not for show "
Justin will cast grave words, which has a 10% chance of having the corpse babble something useful and a 90% chance of oxidation freeway jitterbug
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As Justin speaks last words of his prayer the corpse of the dwarfs says, “eggs, bacon, batteries, 3 barrels of ale” before falling silent forever.
"Thoth, Set reminder. Add "batteries" to dwarven. funeral. arangements."
"Alas, we hardly knew you. Still you were the nicest dwarf I've ever met."
Replying to Justin, "Is he the only dwarf you've ever met?"
Listening to Kreel's last words, Handsome says, "Interesting. He just named the exact ingredients for Handsome Gob's Ye Olde Piratey omlette, serves four. What? Yes, that's right, three barrels of ale are required to prepare four servings. What?? The battery? That's for seasoning of course!"
After hearing the name on the computer, Handsome says, "Oh hey, I recognize that name! Chiskisk - that's a pretty high up there Starfinder head honcho. Not THE head but maybe about shoulder height up there. Or perhaps even ear lobe high. And that address is for Starfinder HQ! Perhaps we should go talk to Chiskisk?"
Handsome eyes the dead bodies and says, "After we've thoroughly looted... errr... investigated the gangers' corpses."
Handsome walks over to one of the corpses, picks up a laser pistol, and a baton.
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Replying to Justin, "Is he the only dwarf you've ever met?"
I work in engineering half the time so... he counts on his claws for a second "thirty seventh "
DR34-M12's cortex whirred with releaf as the remaining Level 21 Crew fled, ending the blaster battle. Taking stock of the situation, the android was pleased that the Starfinder group was, relatively, unharmed. Though she was worried that the group might be blamed for the loss of Kreel. As with Handsome, the arrival of Station Security caused some anxiety processes to run. Unlike Handsome, she attempted to draw little attention from them, quietly giving an unemotional, breathless statement.
"We are new Starfinder agents here to meet with our contact Kreel, the dead dwarf over there." The android make a point of showing her subdermal graft. "The two gangs converged and opened fire shortly after we arrived. Kreel was caught in the immediate crossfire. Telemetry data suggests he was dead before he hit the ground. The failure of Justin's healing mage mere seconds after injury supports this data. The two groups continued to trade shots and we engaged. The firefight was sustained and the two groups displayed clear agression against each other. However, we were able to secure a position and outflank the Downside Kings. Once cleared, we maneuvered towards the Level 21 Crew but they disengaged hostilities and fled shortly before your arrival."
DR34-M12 briefly paused to process. "Early processes suggest that this was a confrontation between two opposing gangs. Kreel was merely a bystander caught in the crossfire. Though I can not discount the posibility that that two different groups could have both been hired to kill Kreel."
After giving her report, the android walked over to her fellow Starfinders. Despite everything, her circuits positively glowed with excitement. The loss of Kreel was a setback, but so far this day had been everything she had ever dreamed. A new and interesting group of friends, an unexpected loss, and even a blaster battle! A barely contained giggle turned in to an excited laugh as she walked. "HAHAHA can you believe it!?" She happily exclaimed to the others. "I've never been in a blaster fight before! I knew being a Starfinder would be exciting."
Ford opted to request one of the laser pistols. If nothing else, they might make a good attachment to Can for future dangerous situations.
"We ought to report to Starfinder HQ and let them know what happened to Kreel, now that he's... out of the picture. Cam. Please calculate a route to the address listed on Mr. Kreel's personal computer and assign it Chiskisk. Also, if you would send a memo ahead requesting a meeting with Chiskisk." The little droid goes quiet for a moment, processing the commands and executing them before whistling happily and leading the way, Ford nodded for the others. "Better go report the results of our first mission, yeah?"
"Here ten seconds and we've already gotten a pathfinder muckity muck killed. You're going to need some of the goblins "comfort items" where we're being sent "
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"Who's this *we* you're talkin' about? *I* certainly didn't get him killed," Hi-C says as he points to himself, "you didn't do him in," he says pointing to Justin, "and none of the rest of us did, either," he says pointing to the Goblin with his two remaining hands.
"What I'm guessing we gotta do, is figure out who did. Why? Because we're witnesses. Stewards ain't got time to solve a murder. They're here to prevent 'em. Let's go find this 'Chick' and get to the bottom of this. If it turns out Starfinders be gettin' hunted down, ain't no pay in the Worlds worth bein' one."
Handsome notes down which morgue Kreel's body will be sent off to, then says, "Well, I'm ready to meet this Chick's Kick person! Shall we?"
Locating the Starfinder Society is straightforward; CAM is able to route an optimal walking route to the listed address.
The Lorespire Complex, located in Absalom Station’s Ring sector, is a campus with multiple buildings and rooms, though its eponymous spire is what people most associate with the Starfinder Society’s headquarters.
As soon as you enter the main complex you are greeted by a receptionist who asks ”oh hello, potential recruits? You’ll need to head to sector 2 and fill out a 10-48b form before I can admit you to the campus.”
Justin turns on his subdermal graft print he's worked nearly half his life to earn, to follow in his family foot steps, proudly holds it up... to the kiosk.
"Someone hold me up over the counter so they can see this."
While grinning at Hi-C, Handsome stoops down and cups his hands in front of him, providing a place for Justin to step onto - essentially offering Justin a boost up.
"We're here to speak with Chiskisk? I'm afraid we've some bad news about Mr. Dorval Kreel." Ford stated, holding up his own subdermal graft to show the receptionist. "We've already passed the training. We were supposed to meet with Mr. Kreel on Dock 94 and receive our first assignment. Seems a couple rival gangs decided to air their frustrations with each other on the same dock... I'm sorry... we've come to return Mr. Kreel's computer and report his fate to someone he had as a contact on his personal comm unit."
Handsome breaks out of his 'give Justin a boost' pose, raises his hand so that the receptionist can just see it over the counter, then activates his implant as well.
"Yep, as my colleagues are saying, we're Starfinders here to speak with Choco Kiosk!"
Handsome then withdraws his hand and gets back into position, ready to give Justin a boost.
The Lorespire Complex was just as wondrous as the last time DR34-M12 saw it. She processed the spire in awe as the group approached. Handsome helping Justin on to the counter brought her attention back to the current situation. With a giggle at the small pair, DR34-M12 held up her dermal patch along with the rest of her crew.
Sighs, he's not going to give up on this...
Justin tries to hold onto the goblins ears and put his clawed foot into the goblins hands, standing up.
Standing on the goblins head "See? Full fledged members. Fifth time was the charm "
”ah yes I believe we got a memo from a ‘C4M’? I’ll inform Chiskisk of your arrival, they will be most pleased to hear your report.” the receptionist says as she types away for a moment. ”All right, your all cleared!” she says as she sends Cam the directions to Chiskisk’s office.
After several minutes you able to find the office; as you approach the doors slide open and inside you see the shirren seated behind a polished and unadorned plastic desk, Chiskisk wears understated business clothes and is nervously flexing their antennae from side to side—a shirren expression of perplexity. Chiskisk welcomes you, offers refreshments (filtered water and processed-protein wafers), and bids them sit down before introducing themself.
”please come in. Help yourself to some water or crackers if you need refreshment. Your memo indicated Kreel was gunned down? I am sorry that I cannot welcome you to Absalom Station under better circumstances. I assure you that such attacks are not a daily occurrence, though I realize that is likely small comfort to you. I am pleased that none of you were seriously hurt, but I grieve for Duravor’s death. He was a valued member of the Society, and a friend. May the Lady of Graves be kind in her judgment of his soul.” The shirren bows their head momentarily, then looks up, their compound eyes glittering.
“What puzzles me is the reason behind the attack.” Chiskisk taps a few commands into their computer. “According to the incident report just released by station security, two gangs were involved in the attack: the Downside Kings and the Level 21 Crew. Gang wars are not uncommon on the station, but they usually confine themselves to the more lawless sectors like the Puddles. It is rare for street gangs to battle openly in public areas like the docks. I cannot help but wonder whether all is as it seems. There must be a reason why those two gangs were at Docking Bay 94 at that time—the time of your arrival, coincidentally. But was it coincidence? Were you and Duravor just innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire, or might you and he have been specifically targeted? And if so, why?
“My understanding is that you are newly appointed Starfinders, and since you were witnesses to the attack, I would like to ask you to investigate the incident on behalf of the Society. Find out exactly what happened and why. It may simply be a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time—I have no doubt station security will rule it so—but if Duravor was murdered, I would like to find justice for my friend. At the same time, this will give you the opportunity to demonstrate your own skills and abilities and show the Society that you are worthy of the title ‘Starfinder.’ Good luck.”
Ford as the receptionist sent them back, making a mental note to correct Cam's memo algorithm to sign them on his behalf. Entering into the office, Ford politely took a protein wafer and chewed on it as he listened carefully, nodding every so often. "Glad I wasn't the only one thinking that. I used to live in a sector similar to this this one. We knew about the gangs, but they never actually got into firefights like this one... not so brazenly, anyways..."
The prospect that the fight wasn't just coincidence had never occurred to Ford. Did Kreel have some kind of trouble with the underworld? "We'd be happy to look into the matter... Cam. Start crawling the sphere, isolate instances that mention 'Level 21 Gang' and 'Downside Kings'." Cam whistled and went silent, immediately conducting his task as Ford looked back to the Shirren.
"If you don't mind me asking, Chiskisk... did Kreel ever do something to irritate someone? I mean, he must've really ticked someone off to be targeted out in the open like this."
DR34-M12 munched on a few protein wafers before pocketing some more. "Early processes certainly can not discount the possibility of foul play. The two groups might have both been hired to kill Kreel. The chaos of the resulting confrontation between two opposed groups used to hide the act. As you said, station security is likely to declare it a matter of wrong place and time."
DR34-M12 processed for a moment, her circuits softly glowing at the excitement of being assigned an actual murder mystery. "My data on the two groups is insufficient. Do we have data on their known associates and clients? Any overlap could point us to a culprit." She stated, while creating a note that the person tasking the assignment was the culprit in 37.42% of mystery articles and stories she had previously processed.
"Something tells me criminal gangs don't usually keep all of their information on spacebook. The level 21 gang, they're actually on level 21 or did they come up with that name Ironically like a bunch of geezers?"
The shirren’s Antenna flit back and forth as each of you speak and then they respond, ”well I’m afraid I’m not exactly an expert on the current gang affairs of the station. You may want to do some old fashioned footwork and speak to some of the station citizens; they may be able to point you in a better direction.” the shirren then taps at her data pad for a few seconds and says, ”I’m transferring each of you 200 standard pact credits and the adress to the Moons of Sleep, it’s a nice little place that offers Starfinders a discount on rooms. Think of the creds as a signing bonus plus expenses for the investigation.” the shirren finishes as you all feel a buzz or hear a beep to your comm unit with a message indicating the funds had been transferred.
”Now, unless you have any other questions, you’d best get settled in and start your assignment.” they say as there antenna relax.
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"Mmmm...protein wafers! These things are usually made of cheap insect matter. But I can tell from the taste that these are made of medium quality insect matter! Yummy!" Handsome pops a few more into his mouth and, when he thinks no one is looking, a few into his coat pockets.
"As for Kreel, we'll get to the bottom of what happened. Any chance we can search his residence for more loot... errr... clues?"
”Unfortunately, Kreel didn’t have much of a home adress, he spent most of his time on surveying and mining missions.” Chiskisk says, adding, “and the protein is plant based if you must know. I get, for lack of a better word, ‘bugged out’ eating the insect kind, and the mammal and fowl ones fluctuate in price too much.”
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”please,” the shirren accepts the pretzel bite, ”you know they make these filled with a peanut based paste, absolutely divine.”
Handsome stops mid-bite and says with his mouth full, "Plant-based protein? Ugh..." Handsome swallows hard so as not to have to continue chewing it.
Despite having been happily eating away earlier, Handsome says, "Thank you for the wafers, but not a fan... I'll send you some tastier ones later. I know a guy!"
Handsome attempts to slip the wafers he had previously relocated to his pockets back onto the plate on Chiskisk's desk. Unfortunately, they're already a bit crumbly from having been in Handsome's pocket compared to the ones still on Chiskisk's desk.
"Well alrighty then! I'm ready to begin tracking these guys down!"
Once you leave Chiskisk’s office you can make diplomacy and/or culture checks to try to gather some information about Kreel, the Level 21 Crew, or the Downside Kings.
By far the biggest news, discussed endlessly on newsfeeds and in public conversation,
is the arrival of the derelict ship Acreon a few days ago, 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.
Duravor Kreel was a midranking member of the Starfinder Society. Most of his work focused on mineral prospecting, but he also took an interest in mentoring new and prospective members of the Society.
Both the diplomacy and culture check can be done on foot by asking around as usual or you can attempt a DC 10 computers check to check the sphere and take a 20 on the culture check.
Justin gets lost looking at his recording again
Handsome hits the streets and seeks out two sources that, in his experience, has consistently proven to be the most reliable.
The first is checking in with the local goblin tribes. The latest gossip about other tribes is always a welcome currency in trade as families use this information to seek out potential mates in upcoming cross-tribe gatherings/parties/BBQs. In exchange for the latest going-ons of Handsome's native Broken Rock tribe, a local Absalom goblin tribe tell Handsome all about the biggest news story of the moment - the derelict ship Acreon.
The second source of information Handsome seeks out are local, neighborhood barbershops. Barbershop proprietors and their customers are notorious for talking about everything and everyone - true or false. In this case, Handsome heads out to shops popular with dwarves, of which there are surprisingly many until one realizes that dwarves actually take great pride in their long hair and beards. After a half dozen visits and the sharing of some rum, Handsome picks up on information regarding Kreel.
Handsome then hops onto the local infosphere and does a bit of digging to verify the information he gathered on the streets. Satisfied that he's eliminated some of the false information gathered, Handsome rejoins the party and says...
"Okay, it seems like the biggest buzz on the station lately has to do with this derelict ship called the Acreon and the two companies fighting over it - Astral Extractions and the Hardscrabble Collective."
"I also learned a bit more about Kreel. It turns out that, like me, he's from the Diaspora! Kreel championed miners rights against big corps that step all over the little guy, corps like Astral Extractions. Also, Kreel has personally invested in Hardscrabble Collective, so I assume the Collective is not a big corp that steps all over the little guy."
"So, aside from the two gangs, we may also want to investigate these two companies... What do you guys think?"
"Yeah. The big hype is about the Acreon and the 'Drift Rock', as they're calling it." Ford replied, folding his arms over his chest as he thought. "It's all about image and how you present yourself. The Collective could be just as much trouble as AE, but it's hard to tell exactly what without a quick history. Actions speak louder than words, after all."
Ford paced a bit while he thought. A dead dwarven miner advocate, a corporate dispute, and a pair of rival gangs... "...I wonder... okay, hear me out, I gotta walk this through... so Astral and Hardscrabble are in a dispute over the ship and the Drift Rock... Kreel is an advocate for the Hardscrabble, but gets shot in a gang war... that's a windfall for Astral right there. Do you think... these companies would hire these gangs to send a message?"
"...Cam, video playback. Isolate all footage of Mr. Kreel, pull up most recent footage, last 10 seconds. Playback." Cam's little camera eye lights up and shines a holographic display of Kreel's final moments. It'd be shaky... but he had an idea. "So, we have two gangs, the Level 21 Crew and the Downside Kings. Level 21 to the left, Kings to the right. Let's assume for a moment these two disputes are related, making Kreel our key connection. If we can see which side the blast that killed Kreel came from... we'll have a lead!"
Handsome pats Hi-C on the back and says, "Don't you worry about scrabble or vocabulary or..... or thinking, for that matter, big guy. You just keep walking in front of us in the direction we tell you to go and you won't have to get anywhere near a scrabble board, deal?"
You can now also investigate both gangs and mining companies. Don’t forget you can use the infosphere to take a 20 on a check.
Astral Extractions is a powerful mining conglomerate
with business ties throughout the Pact Worlds. Most of the company’s operations are centered in the Diaspora and the rocky moons of the outer planets, but it has also begun sending scout vessels into the Vast in search of new claims. The company recently hired one of the Hardscrabble Collective’s ships, the Acreon, for one of these exploratory missions.
asteroid miners that operates primarily among the scattered planetoids of the Diaspora. It has no offices or base of operations, but the clan members usually view the Armada—the ever-changing fleet of ships that orbit Absalom Station—as a central gathering place. Collective crews hire their ships out to a wide variety of business concerns, including Astral Extractions, which recently employed the Collective ship Acreon to scout for new mining prospects in the Vast.
controls several decks of Absalom Station’s lower levels, or “Downside,” through a combination of intimidation and violence. They are known to engage in a wide variety of illegal activities, from extortion, fraud, robbery, smuggling, and theft, to drug and arms trafficking, kidnapping, murder-for- hire, and trafficking in sentient species.
(unsurprisingly) Level 21 of Absalom Station’s seedy lower decks as its territory. Their known criminal endeavors include theft, fencing stolen goods, gambling, prostitution, racketeering, and smuggling.
At this point you are free to continue research, head to a location, or settle in to the station.
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Astral extractions Culture
Hardscrabble collective
"We deal with the hardscrabble collective all the time. They sometimes have sample batches that Auntie Fitch is willing to incorporate into the hull, even IF its slightly irregular. And makes the ships AI grumble. Anyway, they're less AN organization and more a loose collection of organizations. Businesswise they're only loosely affiliated , each captains their own operation, but socially they're a very tight knit family. On the plus side They're NOT going to be happy one of their own got gunned down. On the other hand you could contact 5 ships and NONE of them could have any idea what's going on here because they're not involved "
He ahems. " I was in an airvent before one of the meetings. You do NOT serve dwarven Borst at a business meeting and then have the air circulators go down. One of them mentioned something about hiring "21 guys" for security because of the drift rock thing. I thought that was an oddly specific number of security personnel to hire.. but it seems like they weren't expecting Astral extractions to play fair. Such a lack of faith in the court system. "