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Elena ponders for a moment on the best way to implicate Royce. After a brief simulation, she skitters up the side of Royce's locker and starts etching a message in the metal with her knife, in a rough script:
Your share is our share now, Royce! This partnership is over.
Then she blocks the locker in with crates and wipes the datapad clean of prints.
The flashbacks in this encounter serve two purposes. First, they give the PCs a chance to retroactively cover their tracks in ways that might not have occurred to the players in the heat of the moment; second, the players get to demonstrate how and why their characters are good at what they do.
The GM is the ultimate arbiter of what can be accomplished in a flashback, but players should be encouraged to come up with creative uses for their characters’ skills. If faced with a question about where to find their name on the passenger registry, for example, a PC could describe a scene from minutes earlier where they used Computers to edit the registry while waiting to be interviewed, or a scene from the previous evening in which they Intimidated a passenger into giving up their seat and took their place.
Flashback scenes should be short, consisting primarily of some roleplaying and a single skill check; these scenes should mainly focus on the PC who triggered the flashback, but other PCs can be present if appropriate. A flashback can’t rewrite the past in a way that breaks previously established continuity, and a PC who has already exhausted a limited resource (such as daily uses of an ability) can’t use it in a flashback without GM approval.
The grav-train glides to a stop with a low hum, and the darkness of the tunnel outside the windows is abruptly replaced by the bright interior lights of the Steepshore train terminal.
A pleasant robotic voice comes over a comm speaker mounted somewhere in the car. “Good afternoon, and welcome to Steepshore. The train will remain on brief lockdown while we perform a quick threat assessment and investigation. Please cooperate with station personnel so that everyone can be on their way as soon as possible. Thank you.”
A few minutes later, the door slides open to admit Police Inspector Deb Ungort. Deb is stern-faced and wears a battered brown duster. She briefly confers with the security guards, who provide a brief synopsis of the situation. She turns to the assembled passengers and expresses her intent to interview them one at a time in the lounge area. “Just a few questions,” she drawls, “and I’ll have y’all on your way in no time.”
Kevan is the first interviewee.
Deb looks Kevan over for a moment “Can I get your name, please? I would like to check the passenger registry to ensure nobody’s on board this train who shouldn’t be.”
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Flashback
You see Kevan holding the Dossier on the individual from the employee of Ulrikka Clanholdings, and finding the name of a Shobhad associate of said employee named Sanja of the Winterlands Clan.
He then uses computers to add the name of that Shobhad to the train passenger manifest and configure the Holoskin and Reconfigurable Clothing to make themselves appear to be Sanja in their standard business attire.
Good day officer? pardon me if my common is a little rusty (he will mutter under his breath in Akitonian, since he speaks it and it would be in character for a Shobhad.)
I am Sanja of the Winterlands Clan on Akiton. I am travelling on important business dealings for Ulrikka Clanholdings. Will we be delayed long?
"Sanja...Sanja...Sanja..." the Inspector mutters as they scroll through the long passenger list. "Ulrikka Clanholdings, there you are" they spend a moment looking at the particulars "This appears to check out"
***
Deb wanders over to Elena then looks around for a moment "VI, Where is your owner? Do you mind letting me check your bags? Got a report of a few items missing from cargo; just need to make sure you haven’t accidentally picked up anything that’s not yours.”
Anticipating trouble with the group's equipment, Elena had located a dusty set of luggage among the goods stored on the train. She piled the most incriminating items into the null-space chamber, then mixed the "watch" in with a veritable mound of clothes, food, and innocuous protective gear. Security through obscurity was a more reliable tactic than most biologicals believed.
----
Now, Elena simply trundles forwards dumbly with the massive suitcases atop her back, playing the role of simple porter-drone. Upon inquiry, she speaks in a stereotypically tinny voice "Submitting to authority in 3, 2, 1. Master is incoming shortly. Review bags at your discretion."
"Underpants, Zoomie-snacks, personal-protective equipment, swimming costumes, a copy of...'the Absalom Times' - crossword partially completed, some personal jewelry and effects" Deb speaks out loud whilst an assistant takes notes "Nothing particularly valuable in here, nice watch, but seems like things are mostly in order"
Deb moves off leaving the 'Porter-drone' (aka Lena) to pack up the baggage.
***
"So" Deb approaches Barat “Can you prove your whereabouts over the last, oh, three , for me? Oh? Now let me just confirm that by pulling up the security camera feed on my datapad here.”
Barat Oza begins speaking--he's not a natural liar, but he practiced this line in his head so many times he almost believes it. "I have been in the cargo hold the entire time ensuring the Ulrikka Clandholdings merchandise was left undisturbed. Your security camera footage will surely affirm my presence there."
Chaos! Laser blasts, a helicopter, assailants rappelling through the roof. Suddenly the tunnel looms and the helicopter explodes in a glorious mass of destruction. But Barat Oza is no simple spectator--thinking quickly, he leaps into the air and smashes the cargo hold's lone security camera with a dazzling tentacle strike. The ensuing power surge wipes all accumulated footage the camera took during the entire trip.
Barat spins the tale, Deb listens closely for hints of a lie. After scanning her datapad for a few moments and trying to tab between drones she can see that one is glitchy "Hmm, hard to tell either way. Ulrikka as well? Right, I'll just make a note of that"
***
Lastly she approaches Aramesh “Do you mind telling me your business in Steepshore and where I can find you if I have any more questions?”
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Days before the heist, Aramesh figures he might need some kind of alias as a backup. In order to establish a viable story, Aramesh calls the hotel with the largest meeting facilities in Steepshore - the Starriot - and speaks with the events head.
"Hi there! My name is Barry Bigs Boomer but my friends call me Big Boom. I'm looking to organize a convention over there in Steepshore and naturally your fine establishment with top of the line meeting facilities came to my mind as the first venue of choice!
"It's a gaming convention that I'd like to call 'Outpost: Steepshore'!!! It'll be grand! We'll have gaming tables - roleplaying games, of course. And keynote speakers, workshops, social events, the works! Not only will your meeting rooms be booked out, but your hotel rooms, bars and restaurants will be chock full of convention attendees!
"I'll actually be coming to Steepshore for in a couple days time to check out various venues and I'd like to meet with you if possible. Shall we book a time to meet and reserve a room for me as well? I'll pay, nauturally!"
Using the holoskin and reconfigurable clothing to look like a fairly unremarkable human male in standard, casual clothing...
...Aramesh responds to Deb in a friendly manner, "Hi there officer! But of course! My name is Barry Bigs Boomer but you can call me Big Boom if ya like! I'm off to the Steepshore Starriot hotel! I'll be staying there as well as meeting with the events team about arranging a gaming convention. It'll be GREAT! Games galore! Role-playing, mind you - not casino type games. Discussions! Late night sessions! Socializing! Speakers!! Workshops! The works!! Would you like to hear more?? I can talk about my plans and ideas ALL DAY LONG!!!
"Say!! Would you like to attend as a guest speaker? As a police officer, you much have a limitless number of stories to tell! Your stories would be gold to all aspiring GMs and form the plot basis of their campaigns! That would be AWESOME! Yes?!?!? Come! Come! Let's have a drink right now to discuss!! FUN!!!"
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"Barry Bigs Boomer?" Deb speaks into a comm unit off to one side whilst security watches the place "Some sort of event at your establishment?....Oh he does? With your conference manager? Ok. Something about an outpost. Yes that sounds like what was described - thanks for your help"
"Thanks but no thanks Barry - I'll leave you to your card game. I'll know where to find you if..." the interview is abruptly interrupted by a transmission on the inspector’s personal comm, and after another brief one sided conversation with a guard on the other end of the comm Deb
turns to the crowd "A suspect has been apprehended in a cargo car - you are all free to go" - law enforcement (and some Ixo heavies) move towards the cargo car you know all too well.
You swagger away from the train in slow motion after framing a rival for your crime—you’re home free.
A mile outside of town, Arda’s enercopter waits at the predetermined spot to pick you all up and make off with the score. What happens next is up to
you. Turning in the artifact to Aramesh’s buyer probably means more than enough money for each of you to retire to a quiet life of better decisions. Or has this success only whetted your appetites for even riskier and more lucrative capers?
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After receiving the payday, Aramesh turns to the rest of the crew.
"Hey! I've got a line on another job. Twice the pay, half the difficulty! It'll be like taking candy..."
Aramesh stops mid-sentence as his gaze falls on Elena... "It'll be as easy as pie!
"Who's in???"