“To put it plainly, she simply needed a scapegoat to help her reach new levels of acclaim, and your organization was a suitable target. But that’s not the whole truth—at the time she made her decision, your Society’s relationship with Zo! media had led to Datch’s favorite vidcast show being taken off prime-time television, which in turn led to the show’s cancellation.” Dispassion pauses for a moment and then exhales, sounding slightly amused, slightly annoyed. “Yes, that’s exactly how petty she can be.”
"You don't know much about Datch, I can tell"
"It was good to test my skills one final time, and against the best that the Society has to offer"
“Datch, she is one of my students. One of the best assassins I’ve known, though not in the conventional sense.”
"At a young age, Datch’s family selected her for training under me. I have trained dozens of ysoki in the arts of merciless assassination. Among the group of students, Datch faltered in almost every physical trial, but she remained in my tough training regimen through not only perseverance, but because of her unique ability to play other trainees against one another to make herself look better"
"As the training reached its end, I assigned my initiates a seemingly impossible task: assassinate one of AbadarCorp’s most prestigious archdirectors. All of the trainees began preparing an arsenal of equipment and weapons to use in their effort—except for Datch. Datch meanwhile promptly sat down at a computer and began plodding around various Pact Worlds socialmedia spheres. While others began making assassination attempts, Datch continued to attend her social media accounts. After a month of failed assassination attempts, half of the trainees had failed in their mission to slay the well-protected archdirector. Unexpectedly, a sudden riot occurred on Verces when the targeted archdirector’s motorcade was re-directed into an area experiencing an ongoing energy crisis, resulting in the tragic death of the archdirector"
"Datch took full credit for the assassination, offering me proof of not only her involvement in fomenting unrest in the region for weeks and inciting the riot that ultimately led to the archdirector’s demise, but also of her repeated use of social media and other digital tools to undermine her fellow assassins’ efforts, giving her own plan time to succeed. Datch also managed to position herself to take on a role within AbadarCorp as a result of the unrest, joining the massive corporation as a community outreach subdirector. I was immensely proud of my unexpected victor, and I rewarded Datch by allowing her to select and train a host of similar “character assassins” for use throughout the Pact Worlds"
"Her plans are almost complete. Is there anything else you wish to know? You don't have much time"
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Benoit, looks up from his position lying on the ground. He hears all the words coming out of everyone's mouths, but he fails to comprehend anything. He takes a Dwarven healing potion out of a pouch on his utility belt and inserts it into the medical port on his armor before promptly passing out again.
“She moves in small ways to achieve great results. As you think she’s moved to destroy you, her true goal is to remove the current executive Archdirector for AbadarCorp. She plans on taking advantage of the ensuing chaos to subvert Abadar’s greatest institution to become a tool of Grandmother Rat.”
“Well, it’s time for you to leave. I already triggered a self-destruct sequence.” he then adds with obvious bitterness in his voice “I do not intend to be captured by your Society, so I’m not expecting to get out of here alive. Goodbye.”
You hear an obvious beeping sound that starts getting louder and louder. Shortly after, a female ysoki voice coming from unseen loudspeakers announces: “Self-destruction imminent. Please evacuate the facility. Proceed toward the exit.” Dispassion’s terrifying, maniacal laughter echoes throughout the base.
You grab the injured bodies of your comrades and start escaping as fast as you can towards the exit - arriving back to the 'Character Assassins' who are all still seated and staring at the grenade that they were informed would turn them into moosh if anyone moved. They all look at you expectantly as you pass through the room...
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Rawksim has a sour look on this face at Dispassion's final stroke. "Silent Strike was right about you. You lack honour." ...and then we book it!
Telepathically to the team: "I'm sure that these 'character assassins' have rap sheets as damning as Datch's, but being caught in your master's own self-destruction is no way to die. I'm sure the Stewards would be very interested in talking to them, at least. Agree?"
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Benoit, regains consciousness again as the self destruct announcement is being made. He pulls himself onto the riding saddle on TEC-9's back and lets it carry him back out the way the party came.
When they arrive back at the "character assassins" he picks up his smoke grenade and says, "Social media is the root of all evil in the universe. Adolescents all over the Pact Worlds have lower self esteem and lack social skills because of it. You're all going to answer for what you did. Now you're all coming with us. Move it!"
The Character Assassins readily capitulate and run willingly along - happier to take their chances with the Stewards than being incinerated on a lump of exploding space rock.
You make it back to the asteroid’s surface only to realize that fiery explosions are already rocking the asteroid heavily, and it will be consumed in a massive fireball before you can reach your starship. Datch’s character assassins screech in pleas for help - clearly thinking the end
is upon them. Suddenly, a starship emerges from behind the asteroid’s shadowy horizon, making a skillful landing just in front of the entrance. First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo greets you through your comms: “Get inside! Quick!”
Just in time, the ship with your party and the surviving character assassins inside escapes the explosion. Luwazi looks relieved that you have once again made it back alive despite terrifying odds.
"Thanks and congratulations for a successful mission" she gestures towards the Character Assassins "Who are these people, and what did we find out?"
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Huffing and puffing with exhaustion, Gremvest tries to articulate all that was recently learned. "Hi there, Luwazi. Where to start? We didn't found Datch, we found her mentor, who nearly killed all of us. He put up quite the fight, but waved the white flag after we really ganged up on em, and then he gave us some intel. Can't vouch for his honesty, but here's what he told us. According to this mentor guy, uh, 'Dispassion' was his name, supposedly, Datch's real target ain't even us Starfinders. We're like a sideshow. The real target is the head muchacho at AbadarCorp. Datch wants to take out that boss, hurt Abadar's big organization for her rat goddess. We Starfinders caught her attention because apparently Zo! has been talking about us and Zo! caused her favorite show losing a timeslot then getting shelved? Something like that. Oh, and we found all these interweb troll hackers. I dunno who was worse."
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Luwazi looks shocked at the revelations "The Starfinder Society will be bringing what evidence we have to the authorities to stand against Datch, but it will be our duty and responsibility to stop Datch from getting the requisite votes to oust AbadarCorp’s current executive archdirector. We're no 'sideshow', Datch will get more than a missed show to worry about!"
/The end!