At some point in the recent past Zigvigix gave all of you an invitation to join them at a Strawberry Machine Cake concert. Some of you met Ziggy after your Commencement, others have met them here and there during your careers. In any case Ziggy thought of you when deciding on who they wanted to bring along. There is no Starfinder mission attached to this trip, it is simply a small vacation. Nope, no chance of any action here.
Th day of the concert you hop aboard Ziggy’s personal ship and head out to Songbird Station in the Diaspora.
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"Oh, hi! I'm Osuro! I can't believe Ziggy's taking us to the concert! This is going to be nova, won't it? Have you been listening to Star Sugar Heartlove? It is such an improvement over their earlier work."
The human woman looks familiar, but you aren't sure if she just has one of those faces, or if you've actually seen her somewhere before. She's reasonably attractive, but is obviously downplaying that right now, as she seems to be enjoying pretending she's a teenager again. She's squealing and discussing the tracks on Strawberry Machine Cake's latest album. While not completely age appropriate, it seems normal enough.
She starts talking about how the bass line on the current album is an improvement over their first album. When she goes to sing those bass lines for comparison, the sounds that come from her are an eerily accurate representation of the noises made by Strawberry Machine Cake's instruments, not remotely like the human voice you had just been hearing.
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A thoroughly glammed up halfling woman bounds into the room, hair bouncing wildly around her as she beams up at Osuro with a holo-enhanced smile, "Hiya Ziggy, glad to have another gig with you - and this one should just be fun!" She turns to the Osuro and the others, I'm Vixi Trixen, yes that Vixi Trixen, autographs after the briefing please."
As Osuro delves into the specifics of Strawberry Machine Cake's endeavors, Vixi smiles along gamely, but can't help inserting comments like "I mean, I can't imagine them getting a second album without improving on that, right?" or "Really? You think? Well hey, everyone's got an opinion, right?" or "I mean some bands really do go quite far mostly off of things like force fields and holo-tech. And there's really is the best!" or "Well we're supposed to collaborate on a track sometime. Our agents just haven't been able to line things up."
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The lashunta is very tense and business-like as always. He tries to shirk it, loosen up and fit in, but it doesn't really work. What do you expect of an out-of-work software and techno engineer? Thankfully, most don't realize this part (at first).
He watches Osuro enviously as she too easily discusses the music and replicates some of their sounds.
Oh yeah! Totally. They've got that one song... Um, I can't sing it like you do though, that's pretty good! Maybe they could use your help if one of them gets sick before the show.
He smiles sheepishly. When Vixi bounces into the room he's further intimidated by yet more social ease, widening the chasm from his lack thereof. He just tries to follow along as she displays her navigation of the related culture. He can barely get a word in.
Oh? You two know each other? And you know the Sugar... Heart-Shaped Box band...?
I'm Sefel, by the way. Good to meet the both you. He smiles more genuinely, direly hoping to move on from the unavoidable topic of the hour.
After the awkward silence he's created, he begins to look around the ship. Hey, are there drinks on this ship? Who wants a drink?
Why am I here? I do not care for this pop nonsense at all! What happened to the good 'ol industrial music I used to code into the night to...
He's really only here to network and get word on lucrative new missions, and because after his last career feel apart he has trouble leaving any stone unturned for work.
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"Hello, fellow Starfinders! Chivix and Gravy are happy to meet you all. Isn't this exciting? Chivix never once thought that Chivix would get to attend an S-M-C concert, and certainly not with Zigvigix! And Ziggy said there would be a dance floor. Chivix is a renowned laser rifle exotic dancer. Just ask anyone who was with Chivix on Brilliance when we influenced Envar Tam. What a glorious day that was!"
Chivix is a medium-height shirren (or perhaps a little shorter) with mottled gray-black skin that blends in rather nicely with his carbonskin armor. As he introduces himself, you can see the gray, putty-like plastiderm that houses his exo-cortex, apparently named Gravy. His left arm has a similar bulge.
During the trip out, Chivix cornered one of the stewards and began to ask him about the concert and venue, but apparently the man couldn't get a word in edgewise as Chivix continually talked about his enjoyment of their music and how he wished they could have had that music playing in the arena on Brilliance.
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A huge female vesk walks in. Her head swings around the room, taking in the gathered team. She seems to focus, concentrating very hard on following the rapid paced conversation. She then nods, "I like the music. It's pretty"
Phht! No real warriors...again! We should have ruled this place by now. Still, a ticket is a ticket. I am certainly NOT going to miss this.
Rainbow-colored lights dance around the glittering asteroid temple known as Songbird Station, one of the premier performing-arts centers in the Pact Worlds. Zigvigix nearly presses their eyes against the starship’s viewscreen as they watch the station come closer, their antennae vibrating with a visible excitement. “Look! There it is!” Zigvigix’s telepathic voice exclaims with a high-pitched psychic punctuation that resembles a mental squeal. “I’m so happy that all of you were able to come! I know this was short notice and that everyone has been so very busy lately.” The last remark seems sincerely directed toward the other occupant, the android Historia-7. After a long moment, Historia-7 nods in acknowledgment of Zigvigix’s words.
“When my friends were trapped in the Scoured Stars, all I had left were these tickets to remind me of what I and the Starfinder Society lost,” the shirren continues, clasping their hands together to keep them from shaking. “It means so much to me that those seats didn’t stay empty. I can’t think of a better memorial for my loyal comrades than to attend this concert with new friends and new Starfinders, to show everyone what the Society has gained!
“Wow! I hope that didn’t make everything awkward! Don’t worry, you haven’t replaced anyone!” Zigvigix reveals a set of palm-sized discs, which activate to create 3D images of a diverse group of Starfinder agents. “It’s the best I can do for them now, but we’ll all watch the concert together, just like we planned. Afterward, I’m going to take them to meet the band. Strawberry Machine Cake always sends holoavatars out to interview some of their fans after their concerts, and they post all of the most interesting pictures and stories on their band page! If I asked, I’m sure they’d offer a shout-out to my missing friends... and to the Starfinder Society as a whole, to let everyone know we’re still here!”
They look to the screen. “Oh, it looks like it’s our turn to dock. I should get back to the comm.”
Zigvigix then excuses themself to head to the pilot station. Historia-7 watches them go and after a few more seconds pass turns to you.
“Starfinders,” Historia-7 says, without preamble. “I understand most of you are here for the revelry of the concert, but I must confess that it was not my motive for joining you and Zigvigix. There is a person of interest on Songbird Station, a human man named Hira Lanzio, whom I believe to be connected to a conspiracy involving the Scoured Stars. Some of you helped me find his name." She glances at Chivix and Fixit before continuing, "I require a group of Starfinders to briefly detain Hira Lanzio so that I can conduct an interrogation on this matter. I hope that you might be amenable to helping me with this task. So long as this mission is carried out cleanly and with precision, I do not foresee this interfering with your presence at the actual concert. It would also be efficient if Zigvigix remains unaware of this secondary objective—there’s no reason to ruin their much-needed relaxation time. Do you have any questions?”
"This is a concert. Surely there will be weapons scanners and the like. How do you intend for Chivix and friends to progress without weapons or armor?"
"I suggest you find a way to get inside with your weapons. One of the reasons I chose the concert for this task is because Lanzio shouldn't be able to get his normal security detail inside, there is too much demand for tickets. But, he will likely have some sort of bodyguard."
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"Obo!" Vixi's face lights up in earnest delight as she rushes over to embrace her friend. "I haven't seen you since those drinks after our last mission. How are you?!"
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"Oh, would this work?" Vixi holds up a wireless hand-held mic that she had stashed in her kitbag. With a brief moment of concentration it reverts to the rather more lethal appearance of a Liquidator Disintegrator pistol.
"And of course, Obo's never really disarmed, right?"
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Sefel listens to the impromptu, discrete briefing and takes note and the distinct lack of important details.
Can you tell us more about this scoured conspiracy that Hira was involved with?Do you have a good location staked out for us to detain him?
He looks down at his cylindrical lens pistol. I have no idea how I'm concealing this from a scanner. I'm open to ideas.
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"Maybe if we try to pull off a roadie thing? No, that would mean sneaking backstage instead of walking in . . .. No. With no warning to prepare anything, the best I know I've got is taking the time to secret things about our persons to the best of our abilities. Maybe if Vixi and I work together, taking our time to get things hidden . . .."
Historia-7 checks over her shoulder to make sure Zigvigix is still out of earshot. "The security for this concert is going to be more concerned with rowdy fans than covert operations, at least the guards watching the doors will be. With a small amount of ingenuity I am confident you will be able to get your equipment inside. Once you are inside that may change but I have faith in you."
Can you tell us more about this scoured conspiracy that Hira was involved with?
“Ever since the events of the Scoured Stars, I have researched several information anomalies that I believe to be connected to a conspiracy surrounding the event. Specifically, an unknown person or organization withheld crucial data involving the Scoured Stars and later destroyed information related to the event. The Dataphiles were fortuitous enough to gain access to restricted documents from several corporations that confirmed my suspicions. The Starfinder Society was able to infiltrate one such organization and retrieve further information. As I suspected, the company is a front, existing solely to offer a pretense for secretive meetings of unknown purpose. My conclusion is that the people attending these meetings are part of a conspiracy, and their conspiracy has somehow involved tampering not only with the Starfinder database but possibly with our operations. The data provided to me has allowed me to identify only one attendee of these meetings: Hira Lanzio."
Do you have a good location staked out for us to detain him?
"I do not. There is a high chance of Mr. Lanzio being in a private suite however. In any case it will be up to you to find somewhere to detain him. Once you do contact me with your comm units. If you are unable to capture him learn what information you can about his activities and about any other members that are involved in his secretive meetings. If possible, search for any evidence you can find of a connection to the Scoured Stars incident."
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I see. Then it might be that our Hira is quite important in this group. We should be prepared for him to be dangerous, and he may not give up information easily. Further, our interrogation will likely set off serious alarm bells within that group, so we're going to have to get some really get stuff out of this meeting.
Sefel thinks some more, his hand on his chin.
I wonder if some of us should attempt some more subtle espionage of him before the interrogation. It could supplement our findings or possibly provide us with good questioning angles. It's too bad we didn't prep earlier, and potentially secure jobs as servers in this private suite.
Historia-7 shares a picture she has found of Hira "We don't know much else about him unfortunately."
She turns to Sefel, "If you find an opportunity for espionage by all means do so. This would indeed be easier if you had time to set up a better sting operation but I only recently learned Mr. Lanzio would be here and we can't allow this opportunity to pass us by."
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"Well, I guess a picture really would cover most of that." Vixi replies with a grin. "Do you expect that Hira's going to have any hard copies of supporting information with him? Or should Osuro just swipe his datapad if we don't think a capture's in the stars?"
She turns to her merry band, "Hey, anyone have a stunner? Might come in awful handy"
As you finish talking with Historia-7 Ziggy docks the ship. You all disembark together and head towards the concert waiting area.
A sea of pink and red fills the theater lobby of Songbird Station as fans of all shapes and sizes loudly cheer and wave handmade signs above their heads. Bright-pink spotlights illuminate the gigantic posters of the band members that plaster the walls, and upbeat music blasts from speakers on the ceiling.
Ziggy sings along to the music with their telepathic voice. Once you reach the back of the crowd Ziggy addresses you, "There's still plenty of time before the show starts. You should go mingle. Have a little fun!"
The crowd here in front of the building is very thick. It will be a while before people are allowed into the building.
Historia-7 chimes in, "Yes, mingle. You will enjoy talking to these interesting people."
Vixi makes her way through the crowd asking about Hira Lanzio. No one has heard of him. She does hear a few helpful things.
"There's some kind of business executive type person over there. She might know where the rich people hang out. Hey did anyone ever tell you that you look like Vixi Trixen?"
"I passed by a station official that way. You should probably ask him."
"Why would I know where sone random dude is? There's a bunch of skittermanders here somewhere. I bet they'd 'help' you find your friend."
You are roughly in the middle of the crowd. The first person points to your left, the second to the right.
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Osuro moves into the crowd, watching for the target, but also looking for any women who might be social climbers . . ..
Settling on whomever looks like the best bet, she'll work her way to them, not directly, calling out to strangers and waving as she goes. "Hey! You look like you might have an eye out on whose here . . .. You seen Hiro? Hiro Lanzio? I hear he's looking for new company. You never know . . .."
Osuro does work to maintain line of sight to at least one other person in the group. More likely Archaius or Chivix than Vixi.
Sefel is given several shrugs in response to his questioning.
Osuro is pointed towards the same people as Vixi, "I only have eyes for Bone. She's dreamy."
No new information for Chivix either.
"I bet one of the station officials can probably point you to the VIPs. I think there's one over there."
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Sefel, seeing that Osuro and Vixi seem more effective in this situation, tries to pull back his wandering and stick somewhat close to them.
As he rejoins them more closely he tries to send out a missive to the rest of the party via his lashunta short-range telepathy.
I suspect these two will get us where we need to go, and then the rest of us should be ready to act once we locate VIP.