The Dire GM's [SFS] #1-01: The Commencement (OutPost I) (Inactive)

Game Master CanisDirus

After a brief shuttle flight back to Absalom Station, you return to Starfinder HQ -

The Lorespire Complex, home and heart of the Starfinder Society, is a striking campus dedicated to knowledge. Communal labs and historical departments study the Archives’ massive collection of artifacts and texts, gathered by generations of agents from across the galaxy. A quick search of the directory indicates Historia-7 frequents the Archives’ Cortex, a computerized matrix containing digital records of the Starfinder Society’s most prominent discoveries.

The android you are looking for reclines on a raised chair and is plugged into the local infosphere when the doors open. The neural cables detach themselves from her neck as she swivels in her seat to address the new arrivals. “Greetings, Starfinders,” she says calmly. “I am Historia-7. If you are seeking a mission from me, please be aware that my request requires both discretion and speed. Do not accept it if you feel incapable of working within these parameters."

“I discovered someone recently hacked into Bluerise Tower’s computer systems and stole a large amount of sensitive data from the resident corporations. I wish to be privy to this information. I managed to trace the hacker’s location through many proxies and erased the trail so that station and corporate security should be delayed in their pursuit. This deception will not fool them for long, so you must move quickly to retrieve the data before they can recover it. I will leave you to decide what to do with the hacker afterward, but should it be feasible, I believe that person would be an asset to the Society.”

With the touch of a button, she sends an address to your comm units, and awaits any questions you may have, so long as they are brief.

Go incinerate the hacker, got it.

"Go hack the hacker, got it."

Kallus, looks at the others, surprised in their quick sentencing of the hacker. "I am usually one to agree with permanent silence, but not one to waste resources. If this hacker is indeed an asset, we should bring them in. They are usually worth more that way."

Go incinerate the hacker, got it.

Brob looks taken aback. "Really, we should go determine the situation before we move to incineration... Taking them alive would be preferable."

Hearing no questions, Historia shrugs and you exit the Lorespire Complex. The address is a ground-floor apartment in a complex called "Drifter's End" - a low-income apartment structure in a middle-income section of the station under the dome where there is grass and parks and an almost planetary atmosphere.

You arrive at Drifter's End, an apartment complex that resembles a cement cube. From across the street you see the specific address - a ground floor unit. Outside the front door of said unit are several tomato plants in plastic barrels sitting on an otherwise barren porch. Boxes of nutrient broth, gardening tools, and various cultural knickknacks clutter the floor. A teenage boy is hand-pollinating the plants.

Buster moves around the apartment complex, checking to see if there are any alternate exits or any places that the group could get ambushed from. Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 11

"It seems quiet here. A little TOO quiet."

Darkrunner follows Buster on his survey of the apartment complex perimeter. "Yes, I would prefer a back entrance while the rest of the group keeps attention to the front."

Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Perception, look for any exterior access to computers on the complex: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

Nobody seems to pay your group any mind (with Darkrunner's stealth, nobody really knows you're even really there). The address you have seems to only have one door on the ground level with a window in it currently covered by some sort of hand-knitted draperies, a side-window similarly cloaked.

"Either our hacker is a little old lady or is the grandchild of one. Shall we knock?" Waiting for the others to get into position should their quarry bolt, Kallus knocks on the front door..

"Its as secure as it's gonna get. Let's move in."

Before this, Buster will have prepared a Sticky Bomb grenade with his Bombard ability and has it resting safely in his cheekpouch.

The teenager standing on the porch sees you approaching and puts down the spray bottle of water he was using on the tomatoes. "Um, hi? Can I help you?"

Brob looks up at the teenager. "Heya. We're tracking down some information; it seems like there was a hacking attempt that went through this house. Clearly that's a mixup, but we're trying to get to the bottom of things."

The halfling beams a large smile.

Tyrone stands ready to attack at the first sign of trouble.

"Is there a parent inside? We only need some quick questions answered, perhaps you could go in and bring them out?"

The teenager seems to warm up a bit to Brob's friendly manner. "Oh, well, I wouldn't know anything about that. Gran doesn't like computers much. Even though I'm learning about them in high school, I don't really have any here..." He seems a little intimidated by the floating presence of the barathu, but then is shaken out of it by Darkrunner's question. "Um, sure...Gran? People here!" he calls out after opening the front door a bit.

After a moment or two, a wizened old woman in a blue-and white abaya comes to the door, her eyes looking over the lot of you. "Come inside, Jubair." And then, after the teenager is behind her, "what can we do for you?"

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Kallus, missing the teenager from before, knows something is off, but he can't quite place it. He simply keeps an eye out as the others talk to the older woman and her grandchild. Then he decides he needs to know more, so he presses his mind into the woman's...

Detect Thoughts

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (5) + 4 + (5) = 14

Something seems odd here, but Brob doesn't quite place it.

Buster looks around the room, ready to reach for his assault hammer at the first sign of trouble.

Enclosed space...never know who or what can jump out at you.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 12

Does anything stand out about any of the visible tech....?

computers: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17

Nope.

Brob looks to the others, who seem as clueless as he is. Shrugging, he returns to face the woman, smiling wide. "Pardon for the intrusion Ma'am, but we are here conducting some rather serious business. I'm not sure how much we should say out in the open, but we are tracing some hacking activity that has lead us here."

D-474 scans the area for any technological anamolies.

Computers: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Darkrunner, it turns out that I set the DC slightly too high. Go ahead and open the spoiler I put a few posts above!

The old woman considers Brob's words for a moment, then nods. "Perhaps you'd better come in, than. Would you like some tea?"

She goes inside the apartment to the kitchen, allowing all of you entry, if you wish.

Brob walks in, expecting some illusive hacker den, but instead finds a normal kitchen. "Tea would be lovely. And perhaps an explanation?"

"Explanations are best over a nice cup of tea and some battenburg, hm?" She motions to the table while she and her grandson start preparing tea.

(More coming in the morning - for now, I need to crash in bed)

Darkrunner continues to survey details in the apartment as they sit down at the table she indicated.

culture: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

As soon as she steps away to work on the tea with her grandson, Darkrunner whispers very softly to his teammates.

stealth, whisper to teammates: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

"One of her eyes is an implant. She was scanning us, likely to pull down data on us. Also, it looks like everything in this apartment is pretty nice, high-end stuff. It's specifically made to look less so, but don't be fooled. Needless to say, don't rush to drink the tea without scanning it..."

Tyrone floats into the apartment, "Now that we are inside, I suggest you get to explaining what is going on here. There was a hack traced to this location.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Kallus keeps his hand on his sword as the woman serves tea. "It is interesting to note that on your retirement you can afford shirren craftsmanship." He runs his other hand over a bookcase. "And this piece of work, Ysoki, I believe. Very nice. Very expensive. As my friend said, we traced some activity here and since scans show only you two here, our choices have been narrowed down. Let's talk."

Intimidate: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

The old lady, who introduces herself to you as Ceren, brings you all tea and joins you around the table as Jubair sets down light cakes and jam.

"It would seem, young Starfinders, that I have quite a few files from Bluerise Tower's computer systems, but I'm not quite sure when I got them." Her grandson almost does a spit-take with his tea at the revelation while she continues speaking. "Further, someone from the Lorespire complex recent scrubbed infosphere traces that lead here, and then sent my address to the personal comm units the six of you are carrying." She sips her tea, amazingly calm even in the face of Kallus' threatening tone.

"You see, in my youth, I was an Operative - one of the best, really. I was a decent sniper, but hacking was my specialty. But, age is the great equalizer - and as I got older, I started having problems focusing. I hired the best doctors money could buy...degenerative brain disease, they told me. Fortunately, my implants were good enough that as long as I retired from active field work, they'd keep me in my right mind far longer than someone without them...but I still sometimes have lapses in memory. I must have slipped into a 'younger' mindset, performed the hack into Bluerise, then simply forgot about it."

Her grandson again almost spits out his tea. "Grandma...you were a spy?! ...That's so cool!"

Ceren sips her tea calmly for a moment as she ponders the situation. "I can only conclude that if you found me, others will soon too, and they won't be recently promoted Starfinders whose personnel files are easy to find through a simple facial-recognition hack while you're standing on my porch," she says with a kind smile. "So, I have a proposition for you - I will give you the data, but you have to do something for me. First, I want you to place Jubair under Society protection..."

Another spit-take. "I can be a Starfinder?! ...That's *so* cool!!"

"...and second, I want you to help me fake my death, then build me a new identity. No jobs that are dangerous or degrading, mind you. Do these for me, and I'll take care of getting myself and Jubair's affairs in order. We can meet Jatembe Park at this little secluded bridge I know near the southern end in a few hours to do the exchange. So...do we have a deal?"

"Fake someone's death, huh? I'm usually in the business of making death, not faking it. Eh, might as well give it shot. It's yer head if we fail, right?" Buster chuckles ominously.
"Seriously, though...I'm not really sure I got the skill set for a job like this. You guys'll" he says, pointing at Darkrunner and Captain Brob, "probably need to carry me on this one, so just tell me how I can help and I'll do my best."

Darkrunner notices Buster gesturing to him and Brob. "Well, to be honest I think we'll simply have to return to the society and make this request. I'm not sure I have the resources to fabricate a fully working identity for all the pact worlds and I cannot speak for the society providing general security for a particular individual. That is, unless he desires to just join the society."

Kallus is not surprised by the revelation, but is at the request. He ponders it for a moment. "The problem with taking the request back home is that there will be a trail. If she is trying to go underground, the less who know, the better. I might know some people good at making such things happen. It's... common in my line of work. I will make some inquiries. In the meantime, our mandate is to either bring her back or end her. This can work in our favor. We can use a hacker contact. We set her up with an infosphere journalist identity and no one will question her snooping around very closely." He looks around at the apartment. "I'm sure Buster has something delightfully useful for setting fires in that bag of tricks."

Pro (Bounty Hunter), Do I Know a Guy?: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

"Well, sure if we're going to go with the whole fake yer death thing, I could rig things up to make it look like there was an electrical fire here. The grid in this neighborhood is kinda old; and little old ladies like you are known to hoard stuff...like old batteries and cleaning supplies. I could probably work something up."

Buster begins working on making it look like a fire naturally went off in the apartment. Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Tyrone thinks about how to find a body. "I do not really have the skills for this sort of thing."

"Hmm, yes, I see the problem, Kallus. Let's see, do I know of other ways of esablishing identity..."

culture, forge identities in pact world society: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14 Darkrunner is trying to recall if he's familiar with systems where this can be made to happen, and if he would have access to them to do the hacking/computers checks.

"If we tell the society that we did in fact end her, then they would likely grant the request for security for her son."

GM notes:

1 - Can I assume that your mentions about faking versus actually killing her are between you in quiet and not in front of the woman and her grandson?

2 - You don't have to make skill checks until you make a decision on whether or not to accept her proposal, but if you make rolls, I'll let you keep those results if they are relevant (some of you happened upon the correct skills to use for parts of this).

Well, I don't think we mentioned actually killing her, just that we're talking around our mission parameters and what it means to fake it and report back to the society. We sound *fairly* agreed on constructing the new identity and helping her out. Do any others object to this or can we call it a decision?

I think we're all on board with helping her out.

I was mainly referring to the "our mandate is to either bring her back or end her" line ;)

Ceren is glad that you're agreeable, and she takes Jubair to his room to give him a crash course on "disappearing" for the first time. She gives you coordinates and a time to meet a few hours from now.

~~~~~

Death Certificate:
In order to fool any pursuers, Ceren needs to be declared dead. You can fake her body by obtaining a cadaver and using a Disguise or Medicine check to alter the corpse to match Ceren’s records. Shady coroners can provide fresh corpses for this purpose with a bribe, though you can come up with other solutions, too. Alternatively, a Computers check can hack the medical system and change Ceren’s records to match an unidentified corpse. Using either route, a a Bluff check would help convince morticians that you are grieving relatives or friends to falsely identify an unclaimed body as Ceren’s.

Alternatively, you can simply bribe a mortician to file a fake death report. If one of you happens to have Profession ranks in funerary, medical, or security fields, you can file a false report on your own with a related check.

(DCs purposefully hidden both above and below. Good RP can and will earn bonuses!) :)

New Identity:
Ceren needs a new identity if she wants to survive her false death. You can help set up a solid new alias for Ceren with a successful Bluff, Culture, or Disguise check. You can use a successful Diplomacy check to pose as a personal assistant and provide Ceren with allies and contacts in her new life. A successful Profession check in any field can pull strings to get Ceren a new job, though she refuses degrading or dangerous employment. If you have the Computers skill, you can attempt a check after all efforts to set up a background have been completed to forge Ceren new identification records. You will need several successful checks to create a solid legal persona for Ceren.

~~~~~

Ceren cannot assist you with this, as she is getting her and Jubair's affairs in order. Each of you can make one roll towards the two parts to this task, either attempting a check or aiding another.

Buster's engineering roll could be used for setting up a fire as an explanation for cause-of-death.
Kallus's profession roll could be used for setting up future contacts (not as a bounty hunter herself though, but rather as a secretary/office-worker type).
Darkrunner's culture roll could be used for setting up a new alias.

Because you made rolls before knowing the mechanics, you can choose to roll something else if you'd like, however. Just let me know!

Kallus will keep his roll for getting Ceren a new identity.. He is also a jerk and not opposed to telling someone they have a death sentence on their head. He did not say they were going to kill her, only that their mission included it as a successful goal.

Kallus nods at Darkrunner. "You are probably correct. I will contact some of my associates to get Ceren setup in another life that someone isn't using. We just need a corpse to sell this and most of my clientele tend to keep their trophies. Ideas?"

”Yes, if I can take a good talker to get me into the morgue and select an unclaimed body, I can hack her records to indicate that body and then we can report her as missing as part of our mission work, based on her son’s testimony. Who doesn’t sweat when they lie?” He looks around expectantly at his teammates as he asks.

Buster will continue his plan on rigging up her apartment to look like there was a fire started by a power surge, allowing him to utilize his engineering skills.

Buster will help out someone if they try to use Bluff, Diplomacy, or Disguise to set up an alias, as those are skills he can use untrained.
Aid Another: 1d20 ⇒ 17

Tyrone will attempt a medicine check to alter a corpse to match Ceren's records once one is obtained Medicine: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Buster's rolls have been made, to set up "covering fire" (literally) and to help the social aspects of setting up a forged identity. All rolls made!

Tyrone starts plans to alter a cadaver once one is obtained. Can still roll for helping set up a new ID.

Kallus utilizes his contacts to help with a new ID. Can still roll to help with the death-faking.

Darkrunner-42 works on gathering cultural information towards the creation of a new ID. Can still roll to help with the death-faking.

Currently waiting for:

Computers: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

D-474 works on hacking medical records to make the death legitimate.

"Hmmm. Faking someone's death is a bit out of my league, but I can maybe help out while someone else tries to hack the records. I'm sure our efforts will be legendary fit for a song!"
Computer, Aid Other: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

He pauses for a moment then amends, "Actually, you know what? Maybe we should leave off writing a song that immediately gives away key details of what we're doing and ends up putting people right back on her trail."

As for setting up a new identity, Brob seems more in his comfort zone. "Setting up a new identity? Now that's easy. I'm sure I could help you out learning the ropes as your 'assistant' can get you in with some local professionals."
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (16) + 7 + (2) = 25

The halfling beams, befriends, and flatters all sorts of contacts new and old to help the woman adjust to her "witness protection" lifestyle.

Seeing that the identity and record fabrication is proceeding nicely, Darkrunner sits down to forge documents that match.

Computers, forge identity documents: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

Only one big part of the process really remains... a "stand in" (as it were) for Ceren.

"I'm gonna check with some shady characters I know. People in my line of work tend to make a lot of corpses and there could always be somebody lookin' to get rid a one."

Profession:Mercenary: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

"I might be able to help convince some of Buster's friends to give up a corpse. I am sure more than a few have prices on their heads."

Aid Another, Pro (Bounty Hunter): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17