[SFS 1-16] GM Cellion's Dreaming of the Future (Inactive)

Game Master Cellion

While Savoy helps Breq with the staff, Xenal keeps an eye on the guards, giving them a disarming smile while she makes sure they're not paying too much attention to her companions.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (5) + 4 + (6) = 15

As Savoy approaches and broaches his topic, he notes the two androids looking over their shoulders at Breq, and then at vesk guards. While Kosmos-14 stays as the lookout, Kosmos-13 responds to the lashunta with "You're working with the other one, right? She wanted us to come with her... out of here." The look in the android's eyes reveals just how appealing that thought is. She lowers her voice even further "But you don't understand. Bogdin OWNS us." She surreptitiously points at the blue glowing collar around her neck. "With one tap of the control he carries with him, he can freeze any of us in place. A second tap severs the spinal cord. I've seen it happen to the others."

"The central hub for the collars is on a computer in his office. If I could somehow get to it... maybe the collars could be deactivated." Kosmos-13's fingers twitch at the thought. "But it's impossible. The door's not only locked, but the collars give him our location. He'd know in no time."

---

Meanwhile, Breq quietly tries to deactivate the alarm on the fire escape. While she doesn't manage to deactivate it successfully, she also doesn't trip it. And to both her eye and Xenal's, none of the vesk guards have noticed anything yet.
Breq, you can certainly try to give it another try if you'd like, though you'd need another stealth check.

Breq frowns as her tools slip, not quite making the electrical connection she wanted. Her bubbly persona drops again as she swears beneath her breath. My, that does feel good. That little ysoki sure knew a thing or two. Taking a deep breath, she leans back into the panel, waiting for the right moment.

Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

Then she works to dismantle that darn alarm.

Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Blocking the vesk's view with her body (and maybe selling it as a "dance move") Breq manages to successfully disconnect the wiring connecting the door to its associated alarm system. She gives the door a little bump and finds that it yields easily enough.

While most of the vesk guards in the room are occupied with their own section of the crowd, the nearest vesk ocassionally sweeps his gaze over the fire exit as well. It'll take quick and stealthy movement to slip out through the fire escape without attracting attention, though distracting the vesk's attention some other way might be possible...

Xenal speaks quietly into her commlink. "Is there anyone who thinks they can distract the guards for the less stealthy and sneak out without similar aid? If not, one of us will need to stay behind while the others work." She eyes the guards speculatively, "I may be well suited to that task."

Finding a more private spot to respond to Xenal's question

"I might be able to cause a distraction. If we can just convince some of the people here to start a brawl because someone said something not nice about someone else his date it might get the attention of the guards and we can sneak past them"

"I have some training in the arts of stealth," Master Filament says into the comm link as a mote of light flashes around his head. "But, I am far better suited for a...'brawl', I believe is the word Savoy utilized."

In an effort to try and pattern this character off a fictional one, I ended up with one that isn't particularly good at much of anything. Plus, ysoki don't lend themselves to being good solarians. Definitely, will be doing a rebuild after this chronicle.

If you want to give a distraction a try, go for it! This quest section is a bit freeform in how you can approach it, so I've tried to be a bit more hands-off to allow you guys to explore. Let me know if you want any additional prompting/pushing from my end. I know sometimes PbPs can slow down if people become unsure what to do next.

Savoy wanders back through the throng of clubbers and "accidentally bumps in to one of the more though looking one and doctors a tale about one of the other patrons insulting the girl the though guy is with heckling both of them on in "oh, no you didn't" and "I can't believe you are letting him get away with saying that about your girl" and as soon as they are worked up enough to do anything about it Savoy makes his exit and hopes to sneak passed a distracted Vesk.

Bluff: 1d20 + 11 + 1d6 ⇒ (14) + 11 + (4) = 29

Stealth if needed: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Xenal gives a fearsome grin at Savoy's shenanigans, and waits for her moment to escape.

Breq, unsure of her social skills after the bad interaction with the androids, shakes her head and says over the com, "I'll scout ahead." She sneaks through the door.

Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

Master Filament surveys the scene, preparing to step in should a brawl ensure.

Antares stays near the fire doors, sending a quick communication to Weoren via the comm unit in her armor. The warrior can get in easily through the door she figures, especially if there's going to be a distraction coming soon...

Nice!

Savoy finds an easy enough mark, a verthani covered in tattoos from head to toe and sporting various muscle-related augmentations. The verthani leans down to listen to him, then looks with utter hatred in the direction Savoy points. "The fark did 'e say?" is all he manages to utter before he starts shoving his way through the crowd to get to his unfortunate victim. With a roar, the stacked verthani delivers a haymaker into a shirren wearing an electric blue wig, causing the crowd to scatter in all directions! The guard vesk spring into action, giving your group the cover you need to slip through the fire escape doors.

For simplicity's sake, I'll assume everyone sans Weoren goes through the doors.

You enter into an elegant corridor, letting the fire escape doors quietly shut behind you. As you look from north to south, you see a number of doors along the hallway. The two closest ones (directly opposite the fire escape) are marked with small placards that read Staff only. Do not enter. These two doors also have an electronic keypad serving as a further layer of security.

To the south, you can see a larger room that houses a bunch of large shipping containers and some vesk-sized grey ovoids sitting upright.

"Staff only? Alright..." Breq kneels down and begins working on the keypad. Her bubbly party-girl voice has dropped completely, back to the monotone voice many androids are known for. Finally, we're somewhere private. Running that code was exhausting.

Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Weoren continues to wait outside the club for the first sign of trouble. He thinks there's always trouble

Master Filament investigates the contents of the crates and the ovoid objects. Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

While Breq starts opening up the keypad panel, Master Filament takes a look at the crates and ovoids. Master Filament finds the crates are filled with packages labeled with various strange and exotic names 'Lifebloom', 'Maid's Mind Milk', 'Steven's Starshot', and so on. He finds that each of the grey ovoids have a transparent aluminum panel on the front, through which the ysoki sees androids trapped inside. Each ovoid pod contains a single unconscious android, fitted with a blue-blinking collar.

Before he has time to investigate much more, Breq finishes up with the security panel and the office door slides open with a quiet hiss.

---

This office contains several small workstations, a desk, and a well-stocked bar. Two doors lie on the western wall, with one clearly a leftover relic from a previous renovation. Paintings of various creatures, augmented in grotesque ways, line the walls. A door on the eastern wall is blocked by an open and empty ovoid storage pod. Two doors frame the northern wall.

"Brew, your skills are needed. I have located a number of androids trapped within these containers. " Master Filament urges.

Xenal's eyes burn with fury,but she forces herself to wait for Breq. Her own hastier solution could easily prove harmful.

Breq immediately abandons the office. Some things are more important than the mission. These beings don't have the ability to refuse my help. She rushes to the pods and gets to work, trying to open them.

Computers: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

The pods appear to be built for vacuum integrity and deep-space transportation. They lack any visible seams or means of opening them from the outside. Breq peers into the interior through the transparent aluminum view-window and sees that they actually have controls on the inside, potentially allowing the occupants to open up the pod themselves. But with the androids inside unconscious and under the control of the collars, that looks to be unlikely to happen.

Antares peers into the crates, another fairly rare emotion playing across her features. Anger. She tries to send a telepathic message to the one she's viewing currently as she speaks.

"Perhaps we can find a way to disengage the power flowing into those collars. That would free all of the androids, perhaps including 'waking' the ones in these pods." The technomancer suggests.

If she gets through to the android's mind, she will ask if it knows how to power down the collars, as well as telling it that they are trying to help.

Cast Telepathic Message on the one we're looking at, trying to see if it will receive and if so, whether it can help us find what we need in order to free them.

"Back to the collars. Of course. " Breq spits the sentence out angrily, shaking her head. "How can the law help these people, when Varos is so uncivilized? "

She sighs and walks back to the office. This is why the Pact Worlds needs stronger sanctions on members with underperforming laws. She goes to the first door, listens briefly, then opens it.

Antares' telepathic message takes hold on the android inside the pod, but her questions are answered by indistinct mental murmurings rather than real thoughts. It seems the unconscious android is unable to wake up.

Breq opens the north-western door out of the office and finds a small meeting room, sporting a table littered with crumbs and soiled plastic mugs.

Map updated.

Breq quickly searches the room for the safe. Seeing none, she moves to the next door and opens it.

Savoy quietly follows after Breq - knowing the danger in having a single party member to far away from the rest of team.

Master Filament follows Breq and Savoy into the room. Then, he scans it over for anything eye catching, perhaps something that looks like a safe or a control device. Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Antares looks at the rear door to see if can be opened, allowing Weoren to join them. If it doesn't seem trapped or alarmed, she will communicate with the Nuar and advise him to come to the back, where she will let him inside.

Perception check: 1d20 ⇒ 17

Breq finds the north-eastern door of the office (I've moved Breq's token in front of it) to be an ordinary looking affair. But when she tries the door's handle, it doesn't budge even a fraction of a millimeter. In fact, after attempting a couple of surreptitious knocks, its becomes clear that this particular door is made of a heavy, dense material. She checks it over, but finds no may of accessing or unlocking it. No keypads, no card scanners, no optical readers, nothing that she can leverage her engineering or hacking skills to bypass. It seems it needs to be opened in a different way.

Master Filament's inspection of the office room reveals little more than the previous description, except that he also notices that one of the paintings in the room is set a little bit too far off the wall. Upon further examination, he discovers the painting is on a hinge and secured in place by a metal latch. He unlatches it, swings the painting aside, and reveals a simple control panel with a keyboard interface.

A small green screen on the control panel shows a blinking status indicator and the line "All Systems Functional - Please Enter Credentials for Access"

---

While the party is discovering these things about the office room, Antares finds that the rear door to the building has been welded shut, presumably for security reasons.

Breq smirks. "I've always got credentials." She gets to work on hacking the safe. Good thing this nation has very few laws...

Computers: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Xenal unlimbers her pike, watching for anyone creeping up behind them, though she really only serves as a sentry against the very obvious.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Breq smirks. "I've always got credentials."

"Often, have I warned my students about the dangers of overconfidence." Master Filament notes.

The ysoki keeps an eye out while Breq gets to work on the safe.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Breq finds the system more advanced than she expected. Her first attempt ends in a light buzz and "invalid credentials" being displayed on the tiny screen. Master Filament and Xenal don't spot any staff passing by, though it might be only a matter of time until someone shows up...

To not hold things up too long, you have two more attempts before something happens. The DC is 16, see the spoiler below if you succeed.

Antares approaches the datapad behind Breq. "Let me see if I can get this one." She suggests, then tries to hack into it if the android has no objection.

Computers Check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Hmm... If I can, I'd like to use my faction pin to give me a +2 boost to that roll? It's a Wayfinder faction pin, but I think that gives me a +2 to any check, and bonuses to Life Science/Survival. That'll give me 16. Or Breq could 'Aid Another' and I could save the pin bonus for later, if needed. Either way, I think Antares can get to that 16.

Just in case it would matter

"You need a hand with that?"

Assist on computers: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Savoy does some fancy hacking

No need to burn the pin. Antares and Savoy together manage to break through the security on the control console and gain access to the menu within.

Feel free to open the spoiler above to see what options are now available to you!

Breq nods in thanks to the other hackers. "These options are excellent. Let's open the safe now and fetch our treasure. Then, I have an excellent idea on how to create an escape distraction..."

She lays out her plan, which involves turning on the fog and strobes, then releasing the slaves.

With a beep from the console, the north-eastern door begins to clank and grind as massive internal metal locks are retracted. The whole process takes half a minute. With a hefty tug, you pull the door of the safe room open, revealing a surprisingly ordinary looking storage room.

Your eyes scan the shelves, decked out with seemingly worthless knickknacks and unusual looking art, and finally spot the tablet fragment you came here for! Now all that's left is to get out.

Antares nods at Breq's idea. "That plan is logical, and should provide us with enough confusion in the main room to make our escape. And also will provide the androids a chance to escape their captors."

Savoy nods

"Let's do this thing"

Stealth check in case it's needed to escape during the confusion we plan to unleash: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Xenal pockets the fragment and cracks her knuckles. Hopefully this won't come to a fight, but her heart won't be broken if some slaver skulls are.

Just to make things clear: You guys are turning on the fog and strobe lights from the control panel, then deactivating the control collars, then attempting to leave? The order in which you do things may or may not be relevant :>

Seems like the most logical order to do things to me ..I might be wrong, but that's how I would do it.

Yepp. That gives a round or two for confusion to break out before we leave the fire exit door and try to cross through the party.

OK! With two confirmations, we'll go with that.

Each of the menu items takes a few seconds to confirm and activate, leaving you with enough time to inform the other members of the group what you'll be trying. When you deactivate the control collars, the control panel's screen turns red and seems to become unresponsive.

Your group rushes back out into the main dance floor to see that half the club-goers are looking at a massive cloud of opaque fog to the south and the other half are bent over, clutching at eyes or heads, dazed by something that must have recently happened. As you take in the scene, you see a heavily augmented verthani approach from the western entrance, flanked by two vesk bodyguards.

The verthani raises a hand and the pounding music in the club abruptly stops. He fixes beady black eyes on your team and calls out "Found you, you damned thieves! You'll regret crossing Karelite Bogdin!!!" He points at you, head turning towards the vesk at his side. "Kill them!"

A few pieces of important info for this fight:

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Master Filament approaches the thugs in the crowd. Double move; photon 1

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Caught up in the confusion Savoy is slow to react to what is going on

Breq walks through the crowd, one hand on her head to feign illness and the other on her sheathed blade.

Double move.

Deciding that if the leader is taken down quickly, perhaps the vesk bodyguards will lose their nerve, Antares manipulates the energy of the room around here, fashioning, three bolts of pure energy that she sends streaking toward the verthani.

Magic Missile Damage: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (4, 1, 4) + 3 = 12

Cast Magic Missile as a full round action.