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Lynn thinks for a moment about Chirrk's suggestion.
"Scalesheen means vesk or maybe shirren, but neither have hair." She taps her chin "We're looking for something rarer, which should actually help us. Trilly will stand out a lot!"
She taps a short code into her communicator and connects an audio link to Radaszam "Hey Rads! Lynn here. Trilly's base is under control but its not much to look at. We found empty bomb packages, five of them. It looks like they might be trying to blow up the Skyreach Room! I zetta hope not, but be careful over there!" Lynn clutches a hand to her chest and her voice wobbles with concern.
"Mobius is checking the assassin's computer right now! We'll keep you up to date with what we find." She puts the communicator in standby as she leans over Mobius' shoulder to see how the computer hacking is going.
"Any luck?"
Mobius 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.
[spoiler = DC 19 Perception (+2 for Lynn and Vixi)]
You have seen a staffer at the gala who matches this appearance working on the audiovisual setup for the event.
[/spoiler]
There's a firewall protecting a (now no longer) secure data module. The module contains a dile with a list of names, dates, and locations, cumulating with an alarming entry: “Luwazi Elsebo; Lorespire Complex, Skyreach Room, gala” and the present date.
Radaszam responds Copy that, let me know when you have new developments.
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Lynn triggers the communicator again to get back in contact with Radaszam "Rads, looks like we have an impersonator at the party! Trilly's computer shows they were looking up information about a 'Sanivvi Acheosi' and we found some equipment here that makes it look like they disguised themselves as her. All low tech stuff like hair styling... gosh they're old fashioned! Yeon Yeol says he saw someone that looked like this Sanivvi working on the AV equipment near the stage. Rads, I think these bombs might already be set up!"
While she's talking, Lynn points out a few shortcuts to accessing the rest of the files on the computer.
The ride back to the Lorespire complex takes about ten minutes ().
Sounds like a dangerous adversary Radaszam reponds over the commlink, Shapechanger, most likely. Tell me, how would you deal with this one?
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"Maybe... Rads, do you have a signal jammer to stop the bombs from going off? I bet Trilly will try to set them off from the infosphere or over comms. If we go around looking for them, he might just set them off early!" Lynn bites her lip. "If I was an assassin, what would I do...?"
"If Trilly doesn't get spooked, they'll probably stay in their Sanivvi identity, right? They probably want to be around for the fireworks when the bombs go off." She flashes a nervous grin "At least, that's how it always goes in the vids! We could have an announcement out for all the staff to come for an emergency meeting about setup for Luwazi's announcement. We keep an eye out of 'Sannivi'. If they come, we have an opportunity to look for the bombs. If they don't we have an excuse to look for Trilly instead!"
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"The ony flaw I see in your description, Lynn, is how will the assassin avoid getting injured? If it was a suicide bomber, then why go through the charade of a disguise? I think this bomber wants to go home at the end of this, so they will want to leave before triggering the explosives. So maybe we find a way to keep the shapeshifter in the room with us. Plus, if we expose it and the explosives, that would certainly be flashy and bring a positive spotlight on us. And Lynn and Vixi certainly know what good lighting does for your career!" Chirrk says matter-of-factly - although you can detect a hint of good-natured ribbing in the last comment!
Look, Radaszam says, we've got this under control, so let's try a daring gambit. I'll let my operatives stand by why you disarm the explosives and deal with this assassin. That way we show that we are more than capable of dealing with these kinds of threats.
Lynn receives an electronic message Dear Mr. Lynn, I enjoyed today's conversation very much. As further example of the analog versus the digital, did you know that most explosive devices nowadays are extremely resistant to kinetic damage? Any energy-based disruption is sure to set them off, but most modern explosives can simply be smashed to bits without any consequence.
A brief moment after, a delivery drone labelled 'AbadarCorp Prime' drops a package, which carries a simple note Use wisely, Naiaj. The box contains six Mk1 serums of healing.
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"Ooh, a challenge. What do you say, comrades? We need people to distract the assassin while others disarm the explosive. Once safe, we can then deal with the assassin and expose his plans."
Upon receiving the package, Mobius grabs one of the serums. Thank you Venture-Captain. This will prove to be very useful.
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To Chirrk's earlier comment, Lynn replied "I was thinking small bombs," she made a tiny hand motion to indicate their cute size "the kinds that could take out only part of the room while the assassin got to watch while safe."
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"U-Under Control!!?" Lynn gasps at Radaszam's cavalier attitude "I mean, we can do it, but poor Luwazi is risking her life out there!" Lynn glances at Mobius, Chirrk and the rest, hoping for some kind of confirmation that they're willing to take the risk. When Mobius takes this plan in stride she continues with "So some of us are distracting Trilly while others are disabling the bombs? I'll volunteer to distract."
Lynn's communicator beeps with an incoming message and she quickly scans it. She blushes at something she reads in there, and pouting, mentions "MISTER? Jeez, did I leave such a bad impression?" Once she gets over the slight, she says "Looks like Royo has some advice for us. Hmm, he's saying that these kinds of bombs can be stopped just by smashing them. Wow, isn't that really risky?"
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Vixi snags a serum as well, deciding not to comment about her fellow idol's boyish figure.
Vixi decides that in any split, she should probably track down the bomb, I've had to be my own tech crew in the bad old days enough to know a little something about disarming explosives. Good to know brute force is a backup though - it can be risky with bath-tub made pyrotechnics.
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"I may not know much about how to make explosives, but I am surely able to find and dismantle them. Or take out the assassin...but first things first. Honored Radaszam, will you instruct your enforcers to not let anyone in or out of the room until we complete this? Tell them it's for security reasons because of the big announcement...that should give 20 minutes or so. We should investigate all of the gear this imposter may have had access to, and quickly. I suggest we split up to be less obvious and to cover more ground."
As soon as the group is ready, the solarian will wander causally into the room and go to the camera and lighting equipment nearest the stage, looking for signs of tampering or explosives!
Solid plan Radaszam responds to Chirrk. If you move to disarm the explosives, you may want to use stealth so that the assassin does not notice we're working on it.
The party is still ongoing, as if nothing is amiss.
The assassin is not in this room. There are several side door that lead to back areas.
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Lynn takes a quick look around for "Sanivvi", but rather than go for a more thorough search she makes her way to the staff room. After a brief discussion to let anyone manning the PA system know she's under specific instructions from Radaszam, she takes the PA microphone and sends out an announcement. She uses her Vocal Modulator to adjust her voice to sound like anyone but herself "Apologies for the interruption beloved guests! Staff and Stage Crew, please assemble outside the kitchens in five minutes for one final briefing prior to Luwazi's announcement." She clears her throat. "Thank you!"
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Mobius whispers to Vixi and the rest of the 'explosives unit'. "That's our cue. Let's look for those explosives."
Let's just hope the assassin is distracted.
"Alright M.I.C.H., we're about to disarm some explosives and I don't think my laser rifle won't be helpful in this situation. Download whatever you can about disarming bombs and update me A.S.A.P."
Lynn is quite succesful as drawing some attention to her, while nobody seems to have spotted Sanivvi yet. Vixi does manage to uncover some explosives under the podium.
---
Lynn
Chirrk
Vixi
Mobius
Bixbie
Hyeon
---
Hyeon Yeon Yeol looks around and concludes that Sanivvi is definitely not in the ballroom, while many other of the staff are.
Zo! catches on to what Lynn is trying to do, and suddenly draws a large amount of attention by pointing out Starfinders in the room and introducing their exploits.
From the far corner of Vixi's eye, she sees the parasite Ykris detach from his host and skitter up to the explosive, seemingly starting to work on disarming it.
-- (round 2) --
Distraction in effect (Zo!, round 1)
Sanivvi not found
1 Explosive found (under podium) - not disabled (Ykris working on it)
---
Lynn
Chirrk
Vixi
Mobius
Hyeon
---
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Lynn claps happily when Zo! starts to distract the party goers and as soon as the attention is off of her, she quietly slips away. With so little time, rather than going directly to search with the others, she finds a spot with a good vantage point of the whole Skyreach Room and brainstorms where bombs would need to be placed to maximize damage and most endanger anyone giving an announcement.
If she works something out, she contacts Mobius over comms and suggests a spot for him to focus his attention on.
Vixi and Mobius search while Zo! runs his distraction, but it is Hyong that finally locates one, at the corner of the podium. Lynn tries to imagine what the most effective spot for an explosive device is, and point this out to Vixi, who promptly uncovers another one.
No sign of the assassin so far.
Ykris, meanwhile, manages to disable the first esplosive, and skitters back to his host.
-- (round 3) --
Distraction in effect (Zo!, round 2)
Sanivvi not found
3/5 Explosives found (under podium)
1/5 Explosive disabled
---
Lynn
Chirrk
Vixi
Mobius
Hyeon
---
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Lynn continues to survey the room for additional likely bomb locations. With Vixi and Chirrk working on disarming individual bombs, she passes her findings on to Yeon Yeol.
Over comms she whispers "See that railing to your right? Wait no, your left. Ummm. Wait... which one was it again? Jeez. Sorry Yeon, I'm not much help here, am I?" Her voice wobbles with embarrassment.
Vixi works on disabling another explosive, making that number two. Mobius and Lynn search, but seem to be looking in all the wrong places.
-- (round 3) --
Distraction in effect (Zo!, round 2)
Sanivvi not found
3/5 Explosives found (under podium)
2/5 Explosive disabled
---
Lynn
Chirrk
Vixi
Mobius
Hyeon
---
Chirrk takes two stabs at the defenseless explosive, but the container is rock-hard. Chirrk nearly chip his knife in the first blow, and the second seems to make a small crack.
-- (round 3) --
Distraction in effect (Zo!, round 2)
Sanivvi not found
3/5 Explosives found (under podium)
of which:
2/5 Explosive disabled
1 Explosive damaged (1)
---
Lynn
Chirrk
Vixi
Mobius
Hyeon
---
Yeon Yeol does a splendid job location another explosive. Judging by the count of the explosive wrapper, there should be one more to find.
Zo! keeps up his showmanship, and all eyes are on him. Two centuries of show hosting surely show their effect.
-- (round 4) --
Distraction in effect (Zo!, round 3)
Sanivvi not found
4/5 Explosives found (under podium)
of which:
2/5 Explosive disabled
1 Explosive damaged (1)
1 Undamaged
---
Lynn
Chirrk
Vixi
Mobius
Hyeon
---
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Having gleaned maybe all she can from studying the architecture of the room, Lynn makes her way back down to floor level and briefly regroups with her team. She whispers into her comms "Still no Sanivvi anywhere! She's either hiding out somewhere or she left already. Anyone want to try to track her down? Even if we get all the you-know-whats, we still need to get a hold of her."
Lynn heads to the damaged explosive and quickly disconnects a couple of the wires before Chirrk goes in for another stab.
She grins and winks at the kasatha "Stole it from you! Good luck finding your own."
While Chirrk is still standing near the chipped explosive, Lynn quickly moves in and cuts the green wire (not the red one). Vixi also manages to defuse a bomb, separating the detonator for the high-impact plastic explosive. Only one more bomb to find...
-- (round 4) --
Distraction in effect (Zo!, round 3)
Sanivvi not found
4/5 Explosives found (under podium)
of which:
4/5 Explosive disabled
---
Lynn
Chirrk
Vixi
Mobius
Hyeon
---