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Mr. Scott walks over to Dex and turns him over, announcing with some urgency,Diz anyain ken anythin' abit tendin' a woonded cheil? Dex is hurt bad!
After he's satisfied that someone is tending to Captain Hawthorne. Mr Scott flops down on a crate himself and rest for a few minutes. Wheh! 'at battle pure took it it ay me!
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Gear winces as a few stray sparks leap from her. She moves over to Dex and kneels down next to him.
Flesh is always so damn tricky... if you all would just to move to artificial bodies this would be so much easier.
She swears and tries again.
Finally staunching the bleeding, she sits back with a sigh.
He won't die on us, but getting him up and fighting is beyond my skill... anybody got any medspikes on them?
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Volkzari rushes to Dex's side and anxiously watches Gear treat his wounds. She fidgets when the android prompts them for healing materials. "I... don't have any with me, I'm afraid." She starts venting a little to hide her anxiety. "Why in all Absalom did he just stand there, facing down two dangerous creatures with just a knife? He almost looked like a vesk just then!" Her tone makes it unclear whether that was a compliment or an insult.
She looks around the room to see if any more enemies are preparing to leap out at them, and then glances toward the door. "I could run out and buy something while you're all resting? she offers, sounding uncertain.
Among a bunch of discarded wrappers are a series of packaging for five industrial explosive devices. The explosives themselves are nowhere to be found.
The backpack contains an unremarkable set of clothing, a set of armor, a weapon seal, a hygiene kit including a vial of Dagret’s Scalesheen Oil and a jar of FLĒQ Texture Cream for Curly Hair, and a computer.
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Gear looks at the items and mulls over them.
Scalesheen.... you'd think that'd be for a vresk... but curly hair? A wig maybe? Who knows...
She sees the computer and lights up.
And who might you be my pretty...
She access the computer and grins wildly, connecting her rig to it.
Alright Old Man, let's crack this baby wide open!
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Volkzari frowns in confusion. "Scalesheen, yes, I know that brand too. Could the items be for two different people? Or else it must be a disguise. We were told we're dealing with someone who's hard to trace."
She approaches to search the belongings, but is disappointed to not find any healing items among them. Her eyes widen when she uncovers the packaging for explosives. "Could we be too late? If the assassin is already making a move on the First Seeker..."
She leans over to watch Gear messing with the computer, and offers a couple tips on speed-cracking. The situation might be more urgent than she had realized.
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Mr Scott speaks up. Let's finish searchin' thes place. an' 'en gang gie keptin Dex some medical attention. We waur given 1600 creds. Ah was talkin' abit pickin' up a hackin' kit, an' some cable afair we rushed doon haur. Let's gie Dex aw fixed up, grab some extra mk Ah healin' serums, Mr Scott pauses to kick the corpse of the flying Lizard, an' mebbe puckle grenades while we're at it!
Gear manages to get into the basic OS, and finds records of infosphere searches for a human woman named Sanivvi Acheosi, a tawny-skinned woman with wildly curly hair currently residing on Castrovel, and several pages of instructions and videos for styling curly hair.
You have seen a staffer at the gala who matches this appearance working on the audiovisual setup for the event.
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Volkzari looks over at the results that Gear has pulled up and gasps. "One of the staff at the gala looked like that. I saw her before we left. We need to get this information back to Radaszam right away."
She turns to Mr. Scott. "You're quite right, we need to get Dex up and on his feet again. Maybe some of the other purchases could wait until we're not quite so pressed for time?"
Radaszam's response it short and to the point Excellent work, return here as soon as you are back on your feet. Get the envoy back on his feet, but be quick about it, we've got an assassin on the loose!
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Mr. Scott upon hearing the VC's orders says, Reit! let's gie Dex oan his feit. We'll gonnae-no by an aid station an' pick up some healin' serums alang th' way. 'en coorie back tae th' event afair we're tae late. Ye heard th' Venture Captain's orders let's move fowk!
Mr. Scott put's Dex's right arm over his shoulder, 'Main 'en Volkzari, grab his other arm an' help me carry heem. Let' be goin'!
Later, Mr. Scott when they arrive at the aid station, Mr. Scott purchases 8 Mrk I healing serums feeding Dex 2 of them right away.
When, he realizes the serums are not that effective he feeds Dex another.
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"We did win, in a way." Volkzari quickly brings Dex up to speed with what they found in the room, namely the remains of explosives and the evidence about the assassin, and that Radaszam has been alerted to the threat. She hands him another healing serum and says, "Unfortunately, we don't have a week to sleep right now. Keep one of these with you, and next time maybe try not to charge into the middle of the threat, hm? As impressive as that display was." She chuckles slightly.
Back at the party, Radaszam greets the group and pats Dex on the back Back on your feet, are you? Good job down there, looks like we know what is up. We've got an assassin on the prowl, and explosives in the room, so let's not alarm the guests. We have a chance to save the day here, so let's grab it. What does a starfinder group like you think would be the best next move?
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Keptin if ye dornt min' me sayin', we shoods hae picked up a signal jammer afair we cam tae meit ye! th' assassin is likely nae suicidal therefair, a remote detonation makes most sense..lit me gang gie a body as a contingency an' aiblins a static arc pistol tae stin th' subject insteid ay killin' 'er..if it comes tae 'at! Mr. Scott has his hands on his hips sure he is correct in his thinking.
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"Uh...signal jammer...precisely my thoughts Mr. Scott. How long would that take? Meanwhile, the rest of us should be on the lookout for servers with or near a cart, or an unattended cart. Stay on comms and keep in contact. Remember, the assassin is a professional. No one needs to be a hero tonight, call for support." Yeah, those sounds like captain-y orders.
Dex starts to mingle through the crowd seeking any suspicious activities.
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"That could work. We should have someone search for the actual explosives as well. They may be already in place, either in this room or on the outside of one of the walls. Do you have anyone on your team already doing the search?
"If we're trying not to alarm the guests, and anyone asks what we're up to, hm..." She taps one of the horn spikes on her jaw with her claw. "We could say that a guest has misplaced an item of jewelry, and we're trying to find it. Only if someone asks though..." She trails off a little, not feeling very confident in her ability to tell a convincing lie.
Dex and Gear quite quickly come to the same conclusion: the assassin is not in the room, she must be hiding somewhere else. She is probably in a space that has a good view on the hall, which means the starfinders must be prudent in searching for explosives. ()
Radaszam says I see you have everything well under control. I'd suggest you look for the assassin, and try to discreetly disarm any bombs that you might find. Deal with the assassin if you find her, and don't alarm the guests.
Looking at Scotty, Radaszam says I think time is of the essence. There is not much remaining time until Luwasi's speech, and we should definitely not alarm the guests. It's risky, but we'll have to do without the jammer.
Gear receives a text message from Royo, <Greatly appreciated talking to you earlier. Regarding analog methods, did you know that most modern explosives are remarkably resistant to kinetic attacks? Any energy burst will set them off immediately, but a good bashing will usually destroy an explosive without doing any harm.>
---(Having a blast, round 1)---
Volk
Gear
Dex
Scott
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Gear grins.
Thank you Royo!
She shares the information to the rest of the team. The she sighs and looks at the others.
I think the best I can do is a distraction... good luck everyone!
Gear walks towards the center of the hall.
MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!
She climbs up onto boytoy and smiles.
ATTENTION PLEASE! BEFORE OUR MOST IMPORTANT GUEST ARRIVES, LET ME REGALE YOU ALL OF A TALE... THE TALE OF THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE US, WHO'S EXAMPLE SET FORTH FOR US ALL TO FOLLOW! BEFORE THEIR WHERE STARFINDERS.... THERE WHERE THE PATHFINDERS!
She keys up a projection of what's known of old golarian pre gap, launching into a loud, boisterous, and highly detailed speech about the precursor society, Old man dimming lights and adjusting her display as needed.
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Has to be able to see the hall, could be a number of things, including using a drone with video. Hmm...
Nothing for it now, the team needs a distraction. Okay, what do we remember about Eoxian history?
Well, not much. Looks like it might be time to improvise.
Dex approaches the ever-grinning undead at his table,"Zo! I've been thinking. I know you appreciate acts of physical prowess, but what about combat on a larger scale? Your dinner table here reminded me of a tactical map of a famous battle. Hand me that spoon." Dex goes on to recount a battle that a historian may not recognize. The captain involves more utensils and dinnerware to represent the growing armada. Some ships are represented with bread that gets ripped apart in to debris as they meet their doom. Dex engages the large table, eventually assigning roles of famous admirals and captains as the guests begin to move their own ships in the recreation.
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"All right, good to know, kinetic attacks." Volkzari takes quick inventory of her arsenal, then declares, "If it's bashing you want, then I'll do it the old-fashioned way. Claws it is!" She puts away her weaponry and flexes the body part in question.
She pauses for a few moments to appreciate the greatness of her teammates, and their sacrifice of taking it upon themselves to command attention from the entire room. To take full advantage of the opportunity, she attempts to innocuously search the outside walls of the room, away from where most of the guests are looking.
Gear and Dex do their utmost best to make a fool out of themselves, but somehow it seems to be quite effective in drawing everyone's attention. Zo! in particular reacts quite favourably, and it's almost as if he's catching onto what the starfinders are trying to do. Splendid! he says, this is not something we see everyday, such a faithful enactment of events past. And trust me, I have seen a few!
Making good use of the distraction, Volkzari and Scotty start their search, but a first pass doesn't reveal much.
That reminds me Zo! taes over from Dex and Gear, freeing them to do other tasks, of another tales I have heard. It was a feat of immense bravery, you see, on the dark rocks of Apostae...
You all know about Apostae, right? That great band Astrowerk had a song about it...
---(Having a blast, round 2)---
0 Explosives found
0 Explosives disarmed
Assassin not found
Zo! is creating a distraction (round 1)
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Volk
Gear
Dex
Scott
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Gear decides to bank on Zo's attention seeking and help out...
After all, she's got three sets of eyes to work with!
Okay boys, let's do this!
Gear moves about the room, scanning quickly and looking through and looking...
While Old man uses cameras, both those in security and those open to access from the infosphere on people's personal comms to look around.
Boytoy follows behind gear as she dashes about looking on gear's orders to help her cover more ground.
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When she finds nothing along the wall, Volkzari turns her attention to the area around the stage. She listens to Zo! and his impressive distraction techniques with one ear and focuses the rest on tracking down those undiscovered explosives.
Splitting her attention turns out to be a bad idea. She starts wondering if there's something else she could do to narrow down the search.
Dex and Gear start uncovering explosives at an almost alarming rate, finding three of the small canisters taped under the podium.
Zo! keeps up his effort, and even starts to sing the Astrowerk song:
Apostae is a planet
It's very very old
Apostae is a planet
It's very very cold
Aposate is a planet
Some distance from the sun
Apostae is a planet
It's not a well-known one
---(Having a blast, round 3)---
3/5 Explosives found
0 Explosives disarmed
Assassin not found
Zo! is creating a distraction (round 2)
---
Volk
Gear
Dex
Scott
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Volkzari moves along, still scanning the walls and other flat surfaces, then branching out to peek under the little round standing tables that are set up here and there for people to mingle around.
The singing is just so distracting though! Volkzari resolves to have another watch of the final season of The Necromancer after this mission is over.
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Mr. Scott is looking frantically for the bombs now.
He's trying to remain covert while doing it.
Pardon me, having a nice time at the party...ah yes well that Zo...you know, how he gets! You wouldn't have happened to have scene a peculiar com unit I misplaced earlier? Looks more like a canister than the normal hand held units....no? oh well maybe I dropped it under the catering table..Heavens knows I spent enough time over there this evening *har*!...if you'll excuse me..
Dex tries his hand on disabling a bomb, but comes within an inch of setting it off. Careful there, captain!
Gear and Boytoy each manage to cut the wires effectively, and two of the explosives are rendered inert.
Volkzari is distracted by Zo!'s singing, but Scotty keeps a straight mind and find another explosive under the podium.
Meanwhile, Zo! keeps up his entertainment. Ykris detaches from his host and the insectoid skitters skitters up to the bomb that Scott found, starting to disarm it.
---(Having a blast, round 4)---
4/5 Explosives found
2/4 Found explosives disarmed
Assassin not found
Zo! is creating a distraction (round 3)
Ykris is disarming a bomb.
---
Volk
Gear
Dex
Scott
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Mr. Scott starts looking around for vantage points that might be appropriate to set off a bomb from. *whisper* where ye be hidin' lass? When I find ye' gonna paddle er bottom fer causin' such a fuss... Mr. Scott is looking at any balcony, over-hang, window, vent ducts, or any other place up-high...that could serve as a good vantage point for a would-be bomber to view the room.
Volkzari locates the last explosive, and Scott starts looking for the assassin. She's not in the hall, but maybe she is in a backroom.
---(Having a blast, round 4)---
5/5 Explosives found
2/4 Found explosives disarmed
Assassin not found
Zo! is creating a distraction (round 3)
Ykris is disarming a bomb.
---
Volk
Gear
Dex
Scott
Boytoy comes awfully close to detonating one of the bombs, but gear manages to disable a device. There's only one bomb left.
Dex moves with Scott into the side room, and finds a set of stairs there that leads to some kind of A/V room, which would potentially give a good overview of the main hall.
Zo! keeps distracting the crowd, but he seems to reaching a crescendo - he won't be able to keep up much longer.
---(Having a blast, round 4)---
5/5 Explosives found
4/5 Found explosives disarmed
Assassin not found
Zo! is creating a distraction (round 4)
---
Volk
Gear
Dex
Scott