Orlam shrugs slightly. "I agree that we should not look to deceive, that is not my way in any case. I only suggest that we don't admit to our part in the battle as far as shooting down the Level 21 gangers unless asked specifically. Jabaxa may or may not hold us accountable for the deaths of his three men, whether an accident or not. And unfortunately, the Downside Kings did escape largely unharmed. I think I grazed one, but..." Again the awkward shrug. If the others have no objection, he retrieves one of the spare guns they took from the gang members and hands it over to Valius.
Mysterra jerks her head up and down twice, awkwardly nodding in agreement with the others. "Yes." she adds for clarification.
Mysterra follows behind the others as they head to the ringtrain ready to catch a lift for a few stops to the Freemarkets. She stands still and awkward on the ring train again, staring at nothing with a neutral expression.
Shopping, how exciting! I wonder how the shops have changed?
As we step off the ring train to the Freemarkets, Mysterra wanders around, having no idea what she's going to buy. She eyes some fancy computers of various kinds, but in the end she picks up a spare battery, and four mk I healing serums.
This mission is proving dangerous! I haven't needed healing serums in years. How exciting!
Navigating the streets to find the ringtrain station takes a little getting used to, but the group soon spies the platform looming high above the streets of Drifter's End. The trip this time is a little more relaxing as it is less crowded, and there are even a couple of seats available in the tube-shaped carriage.
The Freemarket's district is closer in resemblance to a planet-based bazaar than it is a city district, with entrepreneurs selling their wares out of cooperative storefronts, temporary street stalls, and vehicles. While station security and the priest-soldiers of AbadarCorp attempt to police the area and make sure that business stays relatively legal, it is said that the Freemarkets of Absalom Station is the place to buy and sell nearly anything.
Orlam looks into the possibility of selling the remaining azimuth class laser pistol, if he can get a good price for it. If so, he'll make the transaction and split the profit up with the others.
"So where do we find this Jabaxa? Over there?"
Valius looks over his new pistol, checking out the hardware and making sure that it was fully functional and there weren't any glaring flaws in its construction. A weapon was life or death, and having one blow up in your hand because you didn't charge it right or some other fault could get a person seriously hurt or killed. Just as his words could potentially fail him.
He wasn't so sure about being the face of this group. He was worried about screwing things up, about making the worst possible decisions. So he took a hand up to his chest, trying to see if he could feel underneath the breastplate the small idol hanging from his neck. Maybe he just had to keep faith in the Dawnflower to protect him. She had chosen him to be her solarion, so he had a purpose. He had to believe that.
Once the group was finished with shopping, he stretched out his limbs and nodded. "All right, let's get down to the Spike."
The action within the Freemarkets is a prime example of organised chaos, with hawkers calling out over the top of people bartering and sharing gossip and trade chat as the AbadarCorp priest-soldiers patrol in their gleaming ceremonial plate armour. There appears to be no set structure to where a given type of item can be bought or sold, making it difficult for a first-time visitor to the neighbourhood. It takes Xera and Mysterra the better part of an hour to navigate the streets and alleys to find vendors who have their goods in stock.
After the last piece of equipment is purchased and stowed into its owner's backpack, the group begin to make their way to one of the several stairwells serving as access points to the Spike - the colloquial name that is given to the hundreds of levels below the Ring's official districts. The Spike is filled with machines of both industry and support for the station as well as repurposed neighbourhoods for Absalom Station's poorest citizens.
The group descend through stairwells and access elevators to finally reach level 21. The streets here are crowded and noisy, with the ever-present thrum of vital station machinery vibrating the metal walls of the stores and tenements. The buildings reach two storeys above street-level, their rooves built just under the ceiling that separates level 21 from level 20. Unlike the artificial daylight halogens on the station's Ring, the levels of the Spike seem to have no such luxuries afforded to them. Instead, hanging between all of the buildings are lines of electrical lanterns, bathing the alley-streets below in amber-coloured light.
Mysterra nods once at him, jerking her head up and down awkwardly. "Yes. It is time."
Mysterra follows Valius, walking straight backed and stoic.
Orlam takes a look around, not liking the deep shadows granted by the electrical lanterns and the alley-streets. "Quaint." He murmurs, as he watches for any sort of ambush - whether planned or opportunistic by common street thugs. "We might have to ask around to find Mama Fatt's, unless we happen across it." The kasathas suggests.
Valius takes a look around, seeing if he can spot any landmarks to get them to Mama Fat's.
"...hmm. I should have asked for directions. Hey, anyone have a station map for Level 21? Mysty, Xera, Eye? Maybe use a little android know how to pull the information from the 'Sphere?" He asks them, before a thought occurs. "Uh. Not that I'm assuming you're all super hackers just because you're all, uh, androids. Didn't mean that." He awkwardly shifts to one side, looking worried that he's made a social error.
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"I have never had a talent with computers."
While shopping, Xera also picks up a pair of aviator-style sunglasses... because she is a pilot.
Mysterra taps away on the custom rig installed on her arm in an effort to locate directions to Mama Fatt's.
Mysterra accesses the infosphere to get an address for Mama Fatts, but the map is a complicated schematic of adjoining alley-streets and open corridors through apartment building lobbies, with no set landmarks on it. Despite this, and after a somewhat confusing walk, the group manages to find themselves standing in front of a small neighbourhood grocery store with a metal sign hanging above it with the words 'Mama Fatts' painted onto it.
The aisles of the store are very narrow, to the point where barely more than one person can walk down them at a time, and yet the place is crowded with shoppers perusing the selection of canned goods, dried grains and noodles, bags of spices, and jars of easily preserved raw ingredients. At the front of the store are two cash registers - one with a diminutive elderly halfling woman with grey hair in a messy bun, and the other with a tall lashunta woman with pale mauve skin who is chewing gum and looking incredibly uninterested in being there.
For some reason he had expected the place to be a bar or a restaurant of some kind, not a corner grocery. Though he didn't know much about these places either - shuttle life meant your groceries were almost always bought in bulk at a docking station. Still, if this was where Jabaxa wanted to meet him, he'd not make waves. He had his description and was expecting him, so he squeezed himself between rhe aisles tr hat gave him the most visibility to the store. He noted and picked up a box of Sun Flakes - A Burst Of Sunshine In Every Bite! His favorite cereal, and a pleasant t surprise to find. He He stepped in line headed towards the elderly half life g, happy with his find.
For some reason he had expected the place to be a bar or a restaurant of some kind, not a corner grocery. Though he didn't know much about these places either - shuttle life meant your groceries were almost always bought in bulk at a docking station. Still, if this was where Jabaxa wanted to meet him, he'd not make waves. He had his description and was expecting him, so he squeezed himself between the aisles that gave him the most visibility to the store. He noted and picked up a box of Sun Flakes - A Burst Of Sunshine In Every Bite! His favorite cereal, and a pleasant surprise to find. He stepped in line headed towards the elderly halfling, happy with his find.
Mysterra looks back and forth between the grocery store and her custom rig, double, triple and quadruple checking we're in the right place. "This is it."
Weird! I wonder if they have Brim-Bram Bites? I love those!
Mysterra files into the store after the others, awkwardly trying to squeeze in past the other shoppers without knocking them or the merchandise over.
"Pardon me. Pardon me. Pardon me." she says flatly every time she passes someone.
Whoah! Look at all this stuff! Vacuum-packed Cheezy-Balls! Canned kidney beans! A carrot! I love carrots! I once grew them on... Where was that again? Did I? Is that even-- Ooh! Brim-Bram Bites!
"Pardon me. Pardon me. Pardon me."
With a single fresh carrot in one hand and a box of Brim-Bram Bites in the other, Mysterra wanders the grocery.
With his usual forthright mentality, Loram moves toward the counter. He decides against bothering the lashunta, and instead asks the halfling, when she pauses for a moment between customers. "Excuse me, I am looking for Jabaxa."
As Valius stands at the counter waiting with his box of Sun Flakes for his turn in line to come up, Orlam strides directly to the halfling woman to the frustrated cries coming from the rest of those in line for the counters. The halfling glances up, her eyes as hard as steel. "Back of the line," she begins to say, before listening to the rest of the kasatha's words. "Oh, you're Valius," she states, her stern gaze softening a touch. "You'll still need to wait, but I'll get the message to him."
She takes a deep breath and yells louder than her diminutive frame would otherwise belie. "Shaila! Quit chewing gum and open your register!"
The disinterested lashunta turns her eyes over to the halfling. "Fine, but I better get paid for this," she says lazily, popping the gum out of her mouth and smearing it into a tissue before waving the first of the patrons in the halfling's line to her.
"You'll get paid if you decide to do any actual work around here," the halfling sneers before jumping down off of her stool and walking out the back of the room, mumbling curses under her breath. Shaila rolls her eyes and looks at Orlam. "Don't mind Mama," she says as she scans the items in front of her. "She's loud but harmless."
Making a scene was not part of the plan that Valius had intended for this meeting, especially with Mama mistaking Loram for himself. He waited until he got to the front of her line to speak up.
"Actually, I'm Valius," He spoke softly with a smile, putting his Sun Flakes on the register counter. "He's part of my group. I'm sorry about him barging in like that. I don't think it occurred to him that he shouldn't cut in line. Should I wait anywhere in particular for Jabaxa? Let him know that I didn't come alone, but he would prefer to just meet with me one on one, that's acceptable."
Unlike Orlam, Mysterra gets in the queue, waiting patiently in an orderly fashion.
Xera watches the scene from the store, through her new sunglasses.
The lashunta looks Valius up and down, shrugging as she scans the box of cereal through the register. "Wait anywhere you like - I'm sure the J-boss will find you soon enough. Keep your credits - Mama can afford it with the 21's keeping this place safe," she says with a smirk as she waves the next customer through.
Shortly after the commotion caused by Mama's departure, the halfling returns and offers a bow to Orlam. She opens her mouth to speak but is interrupted by the lashunta. "Hey, Mama - you'll wanna take the blonde kid and his friends with you to see J-boss," she says, jerking a thumb in Valius' direction. The halfling's cheeks go a deep shade of crimson as she glares daggers in Shaila's direction before turning back to Orlam. "This way," she says, the halfling's voice betraying her exasperation at the lashunta, who seems to be getting a kick out of riling the older woman. The halfling peers around the broadly built kasatha and hurriedly beckons Valius. "You as well, and the rest of your people. Come now, hurry up!"
Mama turns on her heels and scoots back into the aisles of the grocery store, weaving deftly through the crowded rows before stopping outside of the storeroom's door. "Jabaxa is in there - head past the back and you won't be able to miss him. Go! He doesn't like to be kept waiting."
The cramped storeroom on the other side of the door contains several pallets of stock for the store, and the dim bulb is barely sufficient to light the area. At the rear of the room is an opening to a further back room which is only visible because of a harsh yellow light coming from within.
Surprisingly spacious, the room contains a large circular table with several gambling chips stacked in the centre of it and playing cards scattered around as if a round of cards had been interrupted in the middle. Seated at the table is a grizzled ysoki male with one cybernetic eye glowing in a baleful red colour set in amongst several deep scars in his fur, and his natural eye is likewise a bloodshot red colour. He wears a purple half-cloak secured around his neck over top of a stationwear flight suit, and he has several shot glasses and a bottle of clear liquid in front of him. The lead gang member joins two others in a guarding position at the rear of the room.
"Come forward, friends," he says, his voice raspy but clear enough, "and take a seat at old Jabaxa's table. Can I interest you in a drink?" he asks, pouring the clear liquid into a shot glass and setting it in front of himself.
Mysterra opens her mouth to speak, looking at the unpaid for merchandise in her hands.
Deciding it's best not to keep this 'J-boss' waiting, she follows Mama with her carrot and box of Brim-bram Bites in hand.
"Pardon me. Pardon me. Pardon me." she remarks flatly as she passes by people in the aisles.
At his command, Mysterra sits in a chair at the table, back straight, posture perfect, gaze fixed in front of her.
"No. I am not in need of refreshment." Mysterra replies. She holds her carrot and box of Brim-bram Bites in her lap.
Eye watches the shenanigans critically. As they are led away he makes his way to the back room quietly. He nods at the offer for a drink but waits until he sees Jabaxa drink his before downing it. While the ysoki pours he takes a look at his surroundings.
Valius assesses the room and its occupants briefly, considering his play here now that they were all together. So far he'd taken to being the spokesperson for the party, and he figured that he'd keep within the party line of thought. Getting in touch with the Hardscrabble Collective was important for them all.
"I'm fine on the drink, sir," Valius states as he takes a respectful tone towards his elder, even if they were a ysoki. He sits down and folds his hands in his lap for the moment, putting on his best disarming smile. "It occurs to me I may have forgotten to say that I wasn't coming alone. My apologies for that oversight, but Society members have to stick together. Plus, seeing as what happened to Duravor, it's best to have people ready to watch your back at your side."
He sits up straighter, steepling his hands up against his chin in thought before continuing to speak. "We know that Duravor was being watched by a...protection detail by your men, that you were hired out by the Hardscrabble Collective and that the incident today was the fault of the Downside Kings. It's a messy business when corps run a proxy war on Absalom Station. We don't just want to bring the Kings down for taking one of our own, we want their leash holders as well. The key to a victory like that seems to lie in the Acheon out currently stranded in a quagmire about who legally has the rights to investigate it."
Valius places his hands on the table slowly, leaning forward. "Here's what I'm asking, sir. You've been in contact with the Hardscabble Collective, or at least one of their representatives - Otal, I believe. We're firewalled from any contact right now thanks to their legal team suspending all communications, but I think that you have the right back channels to get us talking to them. So now I have to ask, what do you need done for that to happen?"
Xera keeps her eyes on the Ysoki but says nothing.
Orlam plays along with the mistaken identity, satisfied that the group as a whole will be meeting with this mysterious Jabaxa. The kasathas will accept the drink if offered, but will not interrupt Valius, instead listening to the glib human speak with the one-eyed ysoki. He keeps a watchful eye out, not entirely trusting the situation. When Valius finishes, the soldier offers a few words as well. "As you can likely see, we are capable of handling ourselves, and we've had word that you aren't on good terms with the Downside Kings yourselves."
vs DC 10 to grant +2 to Valius' Diplomacy check
Jabaxa smirks and finishes pouring the clear liquid into the vessels - one for each of the Starfinders before him and another for himself. He slides them across the table and taking his shot glass in hand, raising it in a toast. "Salut," he says before putting the glass to his thin lips and tilting his head back, downing the contents in a single gulp.
The bathtub moonshine in the glasses is harsh across the palate and leaves a cooling sensation as breath passes over one's tongue after drinking it.
Placing the shot glass back onto the table in front of him, Jabaxa listens to Valius' words. "I'm not sure who this Duravor friend of yours was, or why he may have been targetted by the Downside Kings, but I know for certain that my men did not kill him and that they have not returned from that detail. We were hired to protect the Collective's people and their interests on the station from interference and intimidation, and were told only where to be to oppose the Kings."
Jabaxa leans back, kicking his feet up onto a nearby chair casually. "As for contacting them - I'm afraid that even I cannot coax them from their hiding holes. We were contracted to protect from all interference, even from supposedly friendly parties external to their conflict, and my crew and I do not renege on a contract that we have undertaken."
The grizzled ysoki stares down at the empty shot glass in front of him for a moment, before looking back at Valius and his companions. "However, I do feel that if the Downside Kings can be convinced to cease their assault on the Collective's assets, then maybe Otal and his people will have some breathing room available to them and may come up for air. I suspect also that if you're looking to take down the 'leash holders' then the Kings will know who they are."
Mysterra looks down at the drink before her, curious if this Jabaxa might be hard of hearing. She doesn't move to drink it.
She listens, carrot and box in hand, to the conversation, looking both completely serious, and completely ridiculous.
Orlam drains his shot glass, appreciating the taste though not particularly savoring the alcoholic beverage. In some instances, sharing a drink is a custom among soldiers and the kasathas has had his share of drinks over the course of his young life. But alcohol is not something he seeks out - like others he knows. Setting the glass back down on the table, Orlam speaks. "I would think that the Kings would be... reluctant to speak with us, given our goal of looking into Duravor's death. Do you know of anyone in their gang that might be willing to assist us? Especially if we can... shake up their leadership a bit, maybe to their benefit? And perhaps your own, as well?"
Seeing that Jabaxa drinks the liquid, Xera takes her glass and mimics Jabaxa, quaffing the shot in the same manner.
"Yes, ah... good," she coughs.
"...and were told only where to be to oppose the Kings."
"Wait a moment. Does that mean that you were informed in advance where and when the attempt on Duravor was going to happen? How did they get this information?"
"And does that mean that Duravor didn't know your people were protecting him?"
Jabaxa shakes his head and shrugs. ”We were told to be at the docking bay and to expect trouble because, and I quote, ‘the stubborn old fool refuses to lay low’. I suspect he did not know we were protecting him. If he had, events would have ended very differently,” he says, his one-eyed gaze hardening.
Pouring another measure of the moonshine into his shot glass, the ysoki turns to Orlam. ”There is not a member of the Kings that I wouldn’t sooner shoot than talk to,” Jabaxa says, eliciting a chuckle from the guards behind him, ”let alone ask for help, I’m afraid. They understand only two languages - intimidation and violence - thanks in no small part to their current leader, Ferani Nadaz. Most of the other gangs on the station know not to cause too much in the way of strife, lest we all end up with station security breathing down our necks. Ferani and her Kings, on the other hand, not so much.”
Orlam nods solemnly. That information jibes with what they knew from the note they found from Otal. Duravor's dwarven pride had been his undoing in the end, but the kasathas couldn't bring himself to criticize another's sense of honor, even should it end in death. The choice belonged to Duravor ultimately, and to him alone.
"It sounds as though Absalom station could do without Ferani and her Kings. And they have much to answer for on a personal level besides. What are their numbers in terms of those that can fight? And do you know where they might be found specifically? Details of their base and their defenses might assist us greatly, if we decide to take it upon ourselves to take action against them."
"What are the odds that your people and the other gangs on the station would be willing to make an alliance against the Downside Kings?" Xera asks Jabaxa. "It sounds like the Downsiders don't play well with others and may have a lot of enemies."
Jabaxa leans back in his chair again, his thin lips pursed in thought at Orlam's question. "I've not been there myself - none of my crew who are still breathing has - but I know that the Downside Kings use an all-day club on level 48 called the Fusion Queen as a front for their not-so-savoury activities. I'm not sure of their fighting numbers, to be honest, but given that the club is a popular one amongst tourists and residents both, I'd imagine that they would try to keep at least somewhat inconspicuous while doing business there."
Turning his good eye to Xera, Jabaxa shrugs. "You're right in saying they don't play well with others, but I doubt anyone other than us hates the Kings enough to want to risk drawing attention from station security in order to deal with them. I know from personal experience that I wouldn't shed a tear if Ferani found herself on the wrong side of an airlock, or stranded on some gods-forsaken prison rock in the Diaspora. But I don't know how deep of a thorn they are in the backsides of any other gang on the station.
"Plus, I don't think I need to tell you what would happen if it became a common idea that we couldn't deal with the problem ourselves," the ysoki says, giving a wry smile, "but let's just say I can hear the sound of space vultures circling just at the thought of it."
Private Eye throws his drink back with no apparent foul effect, sometimes it's nice having an actual iron stomach. He puts the glass back on the table and says, "We scratch your back to scratch our own eh? If we help get rid of your pain in the neck we can get some answers finally, am I on the right track? I suppose if that's how it's got to be."
Valius is actually glad others are taking up asking questions, giving him a little room to absorb everything that was being said by the people in the room and consider what the next course of action would be. It seemed that they had really only one choice to get the Hardscrabble Collective to come out of their shell, and that was to eliminate the immediate threat. That they were all criminals helped to soothe in some way the terror that he might have to kill someone, even in self defense.
He reaches out and grabs his shot, shooting it down in one solid gulp and taking a moment to feel the burn of the liquid down his throat. He lets out a sigh before meeting the ysoki's gaze from across the table. "We'll deal with Ferani. She had one of our own killed, and we'll see that she gets what is coming to her. I'll leave you my comm code for contact. Should the Collective break their communication quarantine with you, I'd like to be aware and I'd like you to mention that the Society wants to talk."
This conversation is moving too fast. I can't keep up. And the slang is so confusing!
Did we just agree to murder a gang for some criminals?
Yes, I believe we did. Well, that's not something I've done since my last trip to the Diaspora over a... Wait... When was that again? Hmmm... Date unknown. It's getting harder and harder to keep track.
What is it they used to say...? Bam? No... Damn? Yes.
Damn!
Orlam isn't keen on risking the wrath of station security, but the kasathas doesn't see that they have much choice in the matter. The soldier assuages his guilt with the knowledge that these are bad men they are agreeing to kill - though he silently vows that he will not hurt any security soldiers that might show up when the trouble starts. They will have to move fast. Perhaps they can even intimidate the Kings into backing off without bloodshed - though Orlam is doubtful of that. Maybe if they take the leaders down quickly...
"We will do this then, I think we are all in agreement." Orlam glances around at the others. "Know that we will try and do this without too much bloodshed, perhaps if we can take down Ferani and her lieutenants quickly, her men will back down. Then you will use your contacts with the Collective to let them know the threat has been... dealt with and that we are looking to speak with them? So long as they know it is the Starfinders that have assisted them directly, there is no need for others to find out, so your reputation should remain solid."
Jabaxa looks at Eye and tilts his head to the side slightly and shrugging. "Do I benefit from this proposal? Of course - I get payback for the deaths of three of my men without inciting a full-blown gang war in the Spike. What's not to like?
"But to me, that's more the garnish than the full meal, which is that my client - the people who you all are so eager to make contact with - have their aggressors dealt with. Hopefully, they will not need our protection for long afterwards," he says, reaching for his shot glass again. "And that you can hopefully get whatever answers you're seeking."
The ysoki nods at Valius' offer and Orlam's request. "Of course - leave your comm codes with Mama, out the front. Petite old halfling woman with a gaze like a laser cannon. I believe you've already met her. I'll pass your message through to the Hardscrabble Collective, and if they choose to poke their heads out of their foxholes, I will let you know," he says, leaning forward and holding out a gloved hand to shake.
Orlam glances at the others to see if there anyone is having second thoughts, then extends one hand. "Deal."
Heading back out to the store with the others, he leaves his own comm code with Mama (in addition to Valius, just in case) and then departs after finishing with the halfling woman.
"How should we approach this club? As visitors, I would think, though our weapons might be too conspicuous. Perhaps some of us could pose as wealthy or important people and the rest as bodyguards?"
After leaving the meeting, Mysterra gets back in line, clearly intending to pay for her carrot and Brin Bram Bites. When she pays, she leaves her comm code with Mama.
As soon as she leaves the store she takes a big bite of her carrot.
Mmm! Divine!
After an unnatural amount of chewing she swallows, and asks Orlam, "Is Level 48 not a rough neighbourhood? I suspect our weapons will be of little interest."
"I am not a vid-star." Mystrra says seriously, pointing out the obvious.