|
A lean Kasatha strides along with the group. He wears the hidden soldier armor traditional to his kind which reveals only his eyes through slits in the front. The symbol of the god Weydan is stamped distinctly on the chest. On his back he carries a hunting rifle and a tactical pike. Coiled on his hip is a taclash.
He doesn't speak, and that, combined with his appearance, gives him a very stoic vibe.
|
|
A young human girl of 15 or 16 years of age strides, practically skipping, through the halls of the Lorespire. Her bright green eyes shine with energy as she looks down at the datapad in her hand, grinning just a little at something she's reading there. She wears a poofy blouse and shorts in shades of pastel blue, and her long turquise hair is pinned up in an elaborate arrangement of loops and ribbons. More bows and ribbons in electric blue dot her clothing, trailing somewhat impractically behind her.
She's going at a fast enough speed without looking that she *clonks* into Serrarra's back when the lashunta pauses to speak to Hadir. She reels back, perhaps a little theatrically, and then turns an apologetic smile to her victim.
"Ah! Really super sorry there! I wasn't looking." She brightens as she looks carefully at the person she smacked into "Oh, you were in the summons mail. Serrarra right? Going to Historia-7?" Lynn clasps the lashunta's hand in one of her own "Me too! This is great, we can go together! I'm Lynn by the way." She gives Serrarra a sunny smile.
|
|
Serrarra nearly spills her drink as the young girl bumps into her. She recovers her poise quickly.
Yes, and yes. I do not recognize you though...
Oh, I see. I expected you by a different name, but I like this one.
She winks conspiratorially at Lynn.
Shall we walk together? We girls have to stick together.
Serrarra's past is purposefully left dark. It seems to you that while she puts on an air of poise and grace, her origins may have been a little more...sordid. Perhaps if you get to know her, she may open up to you.
|
An android with a light, androgynous appearance walks closer as they all approach the Lorespire Complex. He recognizes one of them, and concludes that it is likely that the other members of such an eclectic group all belong to the Starfinder Society. "Greetings, Serrarra. It will be... a relief to work with someone I know, in a situation that was referred to as an 'emergency'. I have not known Historia-7 to be prone to exaggeration. I assume you all have been summoned as well." He blinks slowly as he looks around at the android, the kasatha, and the young girl.
Or maybe not such a young girl. Her consciousness is very likely to be older than my own. Yuta refrains from commenting, but silently reminds himself to avoid making assumptions based on the first appearance of strangers.
He greets Hadir in kasatha, and continues in that language, "I wish you well. I have just returned from another mission, on which I was the only one who spoke kasatha. It proved useful, but I felt under-prepared, as the only experience I have is what I learned here on Absalom station to work with kasathan clients. If you have any criticisms to improve my use of the language, I would welcome them."
|
|
Hadir pauses at the sound of the collision and glances at the girl. Seeing that all is well he resumes his stride.
His shoulders startle when Yuta begins speaking to him in Kasatha, but whatever expression hides behind his facemask is invisible to the android as it looks at him and nods. "Of course." he replies in the same language.
|
|
Small time stuff so far though.
"Mmm hmm!" Lynn nods at Serrarra's comment that the two of them need to stick together. "I'm still a bit of newbie to Starfindering, but I know we can stay safe if we watch out for each other!" She gives the lashunta a thumbs up with her free hand.
At Yuta's appearance, Lynn waves and pulls Serrarra along to take a closer look at the newcomer. "A friend of yours Serrarra?" She taps the side of her cheek "OH! Right, you'd be Yuta-one-three-three right? Nice to meet you!" She sticks her free hand out to shake, still holding onto Serrarra with the other one.
"If its an emergency, we'll just have to work extra hard! But I've never seen a Starfinder that wasn't really good at what they do, so I think we'll be fine!" She grins "Especially if we need to do an emergency translation, of... kasatha, I'm guessing?"
She turns to peer at the exceptionally quiet Hadir, sending a tiny, silent wave in his direction as a greeting. She gives him a wink, and silently mouths All business huh? Nice to meet you.
|
[code]NICE TO MEET YOU. I AM DICEBOT 6250 DELUXE EDITION AKITON RED,[/code] [code]DICEBOT[/code] exclaims, with not a hint of red visible on his armor.
[code]LYNN, I LIKE YOUR SONG. I PLAY IT A LOT ON MY BUILT-IN AUDIO SYSTEM[/code] [code]DICEBOT[/code] tries to recreate the special dance in the vidsong, but the movements are very jarred.
|
|
Yuta nods, satisfied by the kasatha’s terse response. He then shakes Lynn’s outstretched hand, secretly pleased that she knows who he is. “You may call me Yuta. It is what most do.”
He watches DICEBOT trying to execute a dance move, and then steps in to demonstrate, having watched the vidsong in question approximately 37 times in the last week. “No no no, it goes like this.”
He pulls off a passable impression of the dance, and feels a lightening of his spirits as he is momentarily distracted from the urgent nature of their summons.
|
|
Lynn seems taken aback by the outpouring of support "Wow, ohmigosh, thank you all so much!" She bobs up and down with nervous excitement "I've never had a chance to go on a mission with fans before. It's a lot of pressure, but I'll do my best!" She pumps her fist.
Lynn clasps Serrarra's hand in both of hers for a moment, "Thanks for being my fan! And yes! I've been working on another song. Maybe I'll get a chance to perform it live today? I hope so!"
She hops on over to DICEBOT, grabbing a hold of his hand "Nice to meet you too! Can I call you DICEY?" She grins hopefully "Hmmm. Deluxe Edition Akiton Red... Oh, actually maybe we could call you DEAR? That's really cute!" She giggles.
When Yuta does a pretty good rendition of one of the dances in her songs, Lynn gives him a round of boisterous applause. "That was great!" She hops on over to him, holding his hands in both of hers and looking up into his eyes "Thank you for being my fan too Yuta! It means a lot to me!"
With the rounds done, she skips back over to Serrarra and clasps her hand once again.
|
|
"DICEY it is!" Lynn takes DICEBOT's cryptic statements about labeling in stride. "And if we find any batteries in need of repair, you can help us then too!"
She looks up and down the hall the group's been travelling through to get to the Archives. "Looks like we're still one short. Think they're already ahead of us? I sure hope they don't miss the briefing. Historia gets snappy."
|
The efficient hum of machinery fills the Archive’s Cortex.
Projected images and text flit across multiple screens positioned around a raised swivel chair occupied by Historia-7, leader of the Dataphiles. Historia-7 swipes a finger to clear the feed and speaks without preamble.
“My sources indicate that you are the most efficient and capable team the Starfinder Society currently has for my mission. I sincerely hope you do not prove this claim erroneous.
I recently detected a discrepancy in the Society’s data logs. As you may be aware, my primary objective has been decoding information regarding the Scoured Stars incident. Before the incident, my predecessor, Historia-6, and other Society members extensively investigated several corporations as well as the Scoured Stars system. Much of their knowledge was lost to us. A recent ally, a skilled hacker named Ceren, uncovered multiple data links from what remains of my predecessor’s research leading back to a corporation known as the Arch-Energy Consortium. When I compared these findings to our records, I found no mention of this corporation, and all data related to Arch Energy Consortium was somehow deleted from our records. My worst-case scenario is being realized: our data has been tampered with.”
Historia-7 unhooks the neural cables from her neck and massages the attachment sites. “I require additional information about this corporation. ArchEnergy’s CEO, Ilia Tamm, has enough security resources and paranoia at her disposal to make a direct infiltration inadvisable. The weak link in this proverbial firewall is her son, Envar Tamm.
His proclivities make him very suggestible, and I hypothesize that resourceful individuals could convince him to provide the information I seek.
“Envar routinely attends gladiatorial fights on Arch Energy’s corporate space station, Brilliance. It will take you some time to reach Brilliance from here. During your journey, I want you to create false identities. Meanwhile, I’ll make sure that you’re entered into one of these gladiatorial matches as contestants. From there, you’ll need to get Envar to grant you access to his mother’s computer records. Acquire any data related to the corporation’s board of directors. Above all, this mission demands subtlety, as Envar has quite the media presence.”
"I advice you to choose your spacecraft for the mission carefully to avoid discovery"
"I urge you to make any preparations as quickly as possible. Do you have any questions?"
|
|
He is chief procurement officer of the Arch Energy Consortium, a corporation that manufactures and distributes solar batteries.
Envar is a minor celebrity who relies on his money and connections rather than actual talent to remain in the spotlight. He dislikes being bored and seeks the company of exotic or famous individuals.
clearance and a matching salary, his mother employs a host of assistants to limit his influence on the corporation—and her bank account. On Brilliance, however, Envar usually travels unsupervised. Ilia Tamm and her public-relations team try to cover up Envar’s addiction to transdimensional pesh, but leaked videos of Envar’s drug-fueled antics occasionally slip through the cracks. One of the more popular videos depicts Envar nearly crashing a solar yacht in an attempt to impress the shirren icon Magisterial Chef Ghornak Ryzcech during his visit to Brilliance.
|
|
Yuta quickly grasps the gravity of the situation: someone tampering with the Starfinder Society's own data archives is an emergency indeed. Pleased to hear that Ceren is still alive and well, he listens attentively to their mission directive.
"False identities, this should be interesting. I have heard of this Razor - she recruits people from the gladatorial games, so if we do well we should be prepared to be approached. I suspect we will need to remain flexible, to respond to the situation as it develops."
|
|
Well, this should be interesting. I haven't done an undercover infiltration since...she giggles to herself at a private joke...well, for a long time.
I have some skill with makeup, so I think I can help anyone who wants a physical disguise. I shall have to think of my false identity. So many options!
|
|
Lynn hums quietly to herself. "Sounds interesting. Though..." Her face takes on a thoughtful cast "I've seen one of Envar's vids on the Station infosphere before. The guy is zetta out of control. He was all drugged up on something and almost crashed a solar yacht just for fun. Are we SURE that his mom would give him access to anything?"
"And a gladiator match is a little... ummm." Lynn pulls at her outfit. "Maybe DICEY and Hadir would play that part well, but the rest of us wouldn't be too convincing. If our goal is to get him to want to be friends with us, there's probably another way. Maybe..."
Lynn smiles apologetically at Hadir "Even if I've made a few songs, I'm no celebrity! Or at least not a big one. And if we want to keep this under wraps, I don't think I'll be able to show up as Lynn anyway." She seems a little bummed out by the thought.
|
|
A tall towering vesk enters the room. "For the Glory of Veskarium!" he announces and then wrinkles his nose at the smell coming from each you. He is a towering vesk and gives you a low guttural hiss when his eyes fall upon you. You watch as a black mote orbits his head.
"I am Sovokolok-Asnari. I can taste each of your fear. I will see how worthy you are. There are worlds still out there that must prove their worth that is why I have come. I will be the First Walker of these worlds to see what value they hold for Veskarium and the Society."
Hearing them mention of gladiator games, "It seems you will need me then. I do not see most of you that look the part of worthy combatants in a field of battle. Give me more details. the ship we choose should have the best array of firepower. This will send fear into the souls of any that would think to challenge us!"
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lynn hops over to nudge Sovokolok in the side with an elbow "You're awful late there, Sovokol, Sovok, So-" She taps her cheek with a finger as she looks the imposing vesk up and down. "Your name is really tricky to pronounce. How about I just call you Sovo? Or no, even better, Sophie!" She shines a mischievous grin up at the vesk.
Turning back to Serrarra, she comments "If you're good with disguises, I think I have a great idea! If we're going to take up fake identities to enter this gladiator thing, we should really make it as flashy as possible to get Envar's attention. While I'm not much of a fighter, I can put on a show for sure. And make the rest of you look even better!"
"Serra, do you think you could make me look like Rei Lightwalker, from the Stellar Strife vid series? I'm sure you'd be able to pull off a good Princess Leah from the original trilogy! And Yuta a dashing Khan Swolo. Oooh, and DICEY could be Z2-PU! Oh my gosh, a whole theme team would be bound to make a splash!" She claps her hands in excitement, seemingly totally forgetting that they're still in front of Historia-7.
|
|
As you take your leave to go prepare for what lies ahead Historia-7 reminds you to obscure your identities before reaching Brilliance.
"And don't forget to send me a file with your new identifies ahead of time so I can enter the correct aliases for the gladiatorial fight. It would be awkward if I enter Bob into a fight and Babbet shows up on Brilliance"
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Serrarra sets out to create an online identity of a death cult leader, captured alive after causing the death of over 200 followers on a remote, uncharted planet. "Sister Skullcrusher" was given the choice of death by firing squad, death by spacing, or death by combat, and chose "combat".
Now, it's a simple matter to create backdated stories in the tabloids leading up to "Sister Skullcrusher" (whose real name is a boring "Sarah Millstone") being captured amidst the bloody bodies of her cult by a passing Vesk cruiser. Yes, I like it...
Serrarra purchases a Disguise Tool Kit.
|
|
Lynn stares worriedly at DICEBOT's impressions of the characters and says "Umm, maybe we could go for a comedy angle? Hmm."
On the other hand, Serrarra totally ignoring her suggestion and request totally throws her off. "Not interested Serra? I- I thought it'd be..." Her voice gets quiet as she begins to sulk "...fun."
She shakes her head, building back steam in an instant "Well, nevermind! Even if we're not a whole theme team, I can still bring Rei to life!"
"Historia, put me in as Rei Lightwalker. I'll handle seeding in some background for an adventurous cosplayer on the Infosphere."
On the flight over, Lynn will dye her hair Rei's brown, tie it up into a braid, and use her disguise kit to assemble a reasonable approximation of her outfit and makeup in the show.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sovokolok-Asnari eyes the android named Line-04 with disdain at the mockery of his name.
"I do not see the humour in your contempt for that which I have earned to be named. Your...culture is one that I fail to understand. There is no commonality among you. Yet your existence still thrives somehow. I will need to study you longer. But I do not answer by anything other than my bloodname."
Turning to the lashunta how has given herself the name Sister Skullcrusher. "I do not need a new identity. I cannot be anything but what I am now. Name me First Walker. Warrior of Veskarium. Eater of the weak. Champion of the Pits. Create this in your files. If you need evidence I can rip the head of an enemy off and you can attach it to my file?" Sovokolok-Asnari says this with all seriousness and waits for Serrena to respond if he should scour the streets looking anyone willing to challenge him.
|
|
Yuta considers Lynn's proposal. "I am honored that you would consider me for the role of Mr. Swolo, but I doubt that I could carry off a convincing 'dashing' if my life depended on it, and it very well might. I would be more comfortable to maintain an android persona, in any case. This physique would be difficult to conceal."
Yuta sits down at a computer and struggles to come up with an alternate identity. He searches his memories for a word or a name that would evoke death and victory without actually sounding too aggressive. Finally he settles on... "Requiem, that is what I will call myself. An unknown android who came from the Diaspora and wants to make a name for himself."
Inspiration begins to flow as he continues to doctor the identification documents, and he begins drafting a story about a murdered friend named Paradox, as a believable motivation for why he left home.
He turns toward the vesk, who does not seem to have grasped the request for subtlety on this mission. "Would you at least accept an alternate name, for the sake of remaining undercover? A mysterious vesk who has just as much pride and honor and accomplishments in battle as yourself."
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Let's see, DICEB...I mean, "CHOPDROID". I think you were an experimental cooking accessory which gained sentience and destroyed your creator and his entire kitchen staff, then served them as sushi. You escaped and crave the challenge of battle, since cooking is too easy.
Sound good? Or would you prefer something a little less...bloody?
Serrarra's fingers dance over the keyboard as she creates the elaborate backstory, pausing for DICEBOT's feedback before committing.
|
|
Lynn does a terrible job of hiding a laugh at some of the names being offered. "D-Damoro the Deathdealer!" *snerk* "Nice one Sovo."
Doing her best to suppress her giggles, she waves her hands apologetically "Sorry, sorry, I actually like them! But we're going to be very dramatic sounding out there. It's definitely going to get eyes on us!" She pulls out her datapad and starts tapping away. "So Hadir, how about another dramatic name for you? Lets see... what about"
"Nadir, the Unyielding?"
"Shadowflare Starbinder?"
"Soulforge the Implacable?"
"Leon, the Radiant Dawn?"
She giggles"Or you could pick one for yourself? What'll you have, mister? I've put up a quick social media profile of a noble warrior kasatha protecting orphans on Akiton, just need a name to plug in."
|
|
Traveling from Absalom Station to Brilliance takes days of Drift travel and you arrive after a uneventful trip.
Upon arrival and debarking a female korasha lashunta customs officer records your (new) names and images on her computer.
"Sister Skullcrusher you say? That's a brutal name for someone. You guys are here for the gladitorial fights I take it?"
She checks something on her notepad
"Ah, I see. You are entered into a match and that match is set to begin almost immediately. Cutting it close are we? You'd better hurry"
She motions some guards over who quickly shepherd you to the location of the impending fight.
Arena guards direct you to the southern entrance of the arena. They explain that you are set to fight an alien creature imported at Envar’s request. You have a few minutes to prepare for the fight before the guards usher them into the arena.
|
|
The ceiling of the auditorium is made of artificial transparent sapphire, providing a stunning view of space. Tiered stands rise to provide seating, and six suspended holoscreens provide close-up views of the action. Two heavy metal doors to the north and south allow the contestants entrance to the arena floor. Four 30-foot-tall metal pillars rest in the center of the arena.
The nearby sun blazes against a backdrop of inky space through the transparent ceiling of the arena. The glare obscures the faces of the roaring crowd crammed into bleachers towering above the floor. Overhead, six suspended holoscreens loop images of the arena. Metal pillars rise like jagged teeth from the bloodstained arena floor, and an announcer’s voice booms, “Are you ready for some carnage?” The crowd echoes the refrain as the silver metal door to the east grinds open.
A team of two male korasha lashuntas and a female vesk armed with stun guns guides a harnessed and chained creature through the metal door at the north end of the arena. The group latches the harness clips onto either side of the door before hastily retreating holding up a remote control device of some sort.