Hmm's The Great Grav-Train Robbery (Inactive)

Game Master Hmm

"My bags? My bags? Oh I know what this is about - the second time someone is trying to rob me today"

★ --- ★ Earlier ★ --- ★

If I just stand here it will be obvious, this is a grav-train station, and whilst there are a lot of tourists, I need somewhere to lay low until it is time to board - the longer I'm in the open the more chances I have to get made if that joker Royce or his cronies are lurking about. Would be just my luck they try to pull the rug out from under this job.

That travel agency, looks good. A view of the platforms, as well as the main entrance, and plenty of brochure racks to conceal me

Really? You gotta be kidding, this travel agent wont take no for an answer - and what's with all the questions, do I look like I need a holiday? Then again, maybe I do.

Vesk 2 huh? Actually doesn't look too bad - those beaches look glorious, and check the size of that boat! Those condominiums are spectacular

"Say, this all looks amazing - do you mind if I take a bunch of these brochures? I'd like a fair number, I have a lot of relatives, I might have a family reunion there or a milestone birthday for my aunt or something..."

★ --- ★ Now ★ --- ★

"I say second time today because of this"

Aramesh fishes out a number of brochures from his bag and places them down on the table in front of the Inspector.

"Steepshore, Inspector, a hustling bustling port city where even the most pedestrian worker can amass a healthy pile of credits in their lifetime. Then what Inspector? Then what? Retirement up here in one of the boomtowns? Some superficially nice prefab accommodation that starts to fade and decay no sooner than the nice looking but ultimately cheap materials have been installed? Apartments that have a nice atrium with some tacky plants and artificial sunlight so that in your moments outside your tiny life-cube accommodation you can pretend you are somewhere nicer, somewhere, anywhere other than here in this saccharine prison you pretend you like because it has a cheap concierge and a free coffee machine in some kitsch common area full of people you don't know or can't stand?"

"Tell me, Inspector, once you are done spending a career diving through other peoples filth, do you think that the 'recycled water' - a funny term for a slurry of excrement, wastewater, and industrial by-products pumped through the cheapest filters money can by - pumping through your shower onto you, is going to clear the layers of baked-on grit and grime from your body, let alone your soul?"

"Vesk 2, Inspector, Vesk 2" Aramaesh stabs a finger onto the brochure "Those sands are golden in more ways than one. Retirement villas, leisure, tourism. And for the more adventurous seeking investment opportunities, Defrex farms. Not only can you retire in galaxy-leading post-career living, but you can also do it in a place where the light isn't artificial, where if you find your neighbor is a bit of a jackass you can simply ignore them because you have the space to do so - or are too busy cruising the ever calm seas on your time-share luxury yacht. You've got better things to do, Inspector, than sit there growing old and miserable, you need to start planning today for your freedom tomorrow"

Aramesh hands the Inspector a number of brochures.

"I say a second attempted robbery because those people on the train were trying to stiff me hard on the prices, I was already keen on providing them some insider tips on new developments being built, but then they asked for THREE free years membership in the CaptainsClub® AND they wanted a deeper discount on the already deeply discounted introductory pricing on the SailAbrations® yachting time-share program"

"Or can I take it this isn't another strong-arm attempt at bargaining, and that people haven't been blabbing commercial-in-confidence deals to you Inspector? That you haven't heard rumors of bargain pricing and aren't now seeking to exploit me?"

"Anyhow, now that we're clear your future looks pretty bleak, allow me to assist with your future move to Vesk 2...let the salt and sands scour away your worries."

Bluff
Convincing Liar + Expertise
Bluff 1d20 + 12 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 12 + (4) + 1 = 26
Bluff 1d20 + 12 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 12 + (4) + 1 = 18

Inspector Ungort dials up Arda and dutifully asks, 'Ma'am, can you verify that a Mr. Zim will be staying with you?"

"WHO ARE YA AND WHAT ARE YA DOING WITH MY LITTLE SNUGGLEUFFAGUS?!" Arda's raspy voice bellows out.

Ungort covers their ears against the unexpected yelling on her comm unit. "I'm inspector Ungort, and we have Zim in custody--"

"GET AWAY FROM HIM, YA HUSSY! NO ONE TAKES 'CUSTODY' OF MY LITTLE SNUGGLEUFFAGUS BUT ME!"

There follows nearly five minutes of Inspector Ungort trying in vain to explain the situation, before hanging up and looking at Zim with sympathy. "Humans," she says, shaking her head. "I wish you could merge with your soul mates the way shakalata do. I carry my mate with me wherever I go."

"Merge with your soulmate? Does that mean what I think it does?"

"YUP. All adult shakalatas are made from two juvenile shakalatas that merged, and they then take turns sharing the same body. No questions about where their mates are. They just know."

Meanwhile, Inspector Ungort's eyes glaze over as they listen to Aramesh's shifty sales pitch. "Yes, yes... Vesk-2 sounds lovely." She does pause though to glance wistfully through the brochure before handing it back to Aramesh. "No getting rich in Steepshore for me... I'm a civil servant the Syndicate barely toler--."

The interview is abruptly interrupted by a transmission on the inspector's personal comm. "You found what?" Ungort listens for a few minutes and then says, "He's still alive? Excellent. Yes, get a mechanic to cut him out of the storage unit."

Then the Inspector stands up and announces, "A suspect has been apprehended in cargo car 67C."

The VIP passengers cheer and Brom pours everyone drinks in celebration.

Inspector Ungort announces, "Passengers, you're free to go, but we may contact you with further questions later."

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

And so you cooly walk out of the station, the artifact snug in Aramesh's watch. A mile outside of town, Arda's enercopter waits at the predetermined spot to pick you up. "Get in, my little snuggleuffagi," she rasps. "Ya ready to book outta here? I sure am!"

"What happens next?"

"That's up to them. Turning in the artifact to Aramesh's buyer probably means more than enough money for each of them to retire to a quiet life of better decisions."

"Maybe on Vesk-2, whose tourism agency has been the best sponsor that Mu's Fight Club could want! Vesk-2, where the Beach Living is EASY!"

"The Fight Club would also like to thank our other sponsors now, including Worlanisi Whimsy, the coolest cocktail, Jim's Jams and the STORAWATCH for all your subtle storage needs!"

"Mu here. Want us to make more Heist Mu-vies? Let us know at Mu's Fight Club!"

While the credits are rolling, I'd like you to close out with one post-credits scene each. What do you do with the money? Do you retire? Or has this whetted your appetite for even more insane heists?

Somewhere in the oceans of Varturan, aboard the ship Justice Reef. Soft music fills the ship as it drifts through the ocean currents.

“So what did we catch today?” Barat asks as he comes aboard after his swim.

“Hope you like shrimp, boss. We got a lot of it! The chef is already preparing a pot of jambalaya.”

The brenneris crew just laughs at the idea of their boss ever objecting to seafood.

Kevan plugs one last ethernet cable into the back of the sixty-fourth tower, then slides it back into its slot and steps back, dusting his hands on his pants as he does. A smile rests on his snout as he surveys the windowless, but well-ventilated basement room. A comfortable chair sits next to a standing desk with an integrated holographic projector built in and a convenient cable for a datajack outlet. Around the edges of the room, each computer tower sits in its own water-cooled wall slot with a neat tray of cables tucked into a sliding drawer above. Each was connected to its neighbors through Kevan’s encrypted local area network, allowing them to share processing power or be partitioned as needed for the bear’s work. And all this top-of-the-line stuff (plus the house and the remodel to add the secret entrance to the basement through the back of the pantry) had only used up about half his pay from the heist. That left a quarter for solid investments to keep him living comfortably for the rest of his life, and the other quarter for… not-so-solid investments, one could say, that would wreck havoc on any manual or AI-assisted stock trading the Sindicate might get up to in the future. Or for buying wrenches to throw into anything else the organization might be involved in.

Kevan takes a deep breath, sits down in the chair, and reaches forward to type in the boot-up sequence…

From a random sightseeing passenger on the grave train. Postcard from vesk2, La Isla Bonita Vilj, on the Viljo Sea.

I know you all thought I was crazy to sell the house and business over some overheard conversation on a grave train and move to Vesk2. Everything they said was true, except for the great deals on yacht timeshares. Come visit whenever you can, the waters are great any time of year.

Been following the game to help learn how to play by post, looks like you all had lots of fun!

Aramesh points out of the condominiums window down to a worksite next to a strip of golden sand then turns back to the audience of 'smart casual' dressed business types "These golden sands represent an untapped abundance of wealth not seen since a bunch of explorers discovered thasteron deposits on Akiton, but unlike thasteron, comfortable retirement will never go out of style"

"This resort will be the first of many spread across Vesk 2, and we will value add with the CaptainsClub® that will allow residents and guests to make use of a range of recreational facilities, and our SailAbrations® program for time-share boating. We've got a few celebrities flying in for the launch, we're getting Big Jim to to turn over the first soil on our new golf course and all - special episode of Jims Jams being shot - and the guy is due to retire soon from the Starfinder Society, now they aren't bothering flagging Starfinders of Note anymore it isn't like he's going to be a Venture-Captain any time soon, so we can see about making him the Captain of the CaptainsClub®"

One of the execs pipes up "So who is our market exactly? Have we got our segmentation analysis through the marketing guys yet?"

Aramesh smiles "We have the expected segment in mind here, moderately successful professional couples, but we also have a segment of former business associates of mine - and others who might be referred to as 'colourful identities'. You see, in my former line of work, retirement was a bit of a problem and you always had to look over your shoulder, but not here on Vesk 2. Something about no one in their right mind flying into the Veskarium with a mind to committing crimes or looking to settle old scores"

"This is paradise, and we're going to make a killing."

Maybe it’s true that this hole extends all the way to Hell …

When Lena first learnt of ‘The Pit’ and the treasure rumored to exist at its bottom, she became obsessed.

Originally a natural sinkhole occurring on the surface of a desert moon orbiting Deepwater II, it had twice been extended by separate mining companies that had both gone bankrupt without finding a sniff of the rich siccatite deposits remote sensors indicated where trapped within the strata.

But with Lena involved, this time it would be different.

The greatest obstacle had been securing an interview with the entity who could grant her request. After several dozen con-creatures and middle folk had their palms, paws and tentacles greased, Lena was introduced to the Ixo Syndicate deputy undermanager responsible for the prison-labor activity being conducted in the Pit. After ether-netting a credit sum that would ensure the woman’s children’s grandchildren would never have to work again, Lena was granted the documentation required to access the site.

Now, three agonizing months later the final stage of her journey was ending inside a lightless elevator-cage slowing to a halt at the bottom of a kilometres deep shaft, during the prison-miners’ mid-shift meal break.

Clambering up walls and over tables, the drone shone her util-light into the dirty faces of dozens of exhausted prisoners queuing for a meagre lunch, before she found the right one.

Leading the confused, malnourished rag-pile by her slender wrist back to the elevator plat, Lena silenced the angry overseer by thrusting a legal electron-free permapad into the Nuar’s face.

“I bear a Full Pardon for Prisoner #MN 149 000. Now I humbly request you allow me to take my partner, Catarina Jurado home.”