Erryll slowly and carefully lifts and transports his patient into the house.
Furious at having lost his gauss pistol, Mort spins around, drawing his small snub pistol from its ankle holster and fires point-blank into Dev's chest. The small-caliber round is stopped by Dev's cloth armor, but it knocks him back and the pain is terrible.
DEX ORDER
Ben - 0 END, -1 DEX (B)
Chuck
Mort
Dev -5 END (1)
Zirelle
Galus - Dead
Erryll
Chuck brings the sights up and onto the soldier on the ground fighting Dev.
Once the laser lines up on the enemy, Chuck pulls the trigger.
Confident that the car will work for a getaway, Zirelle looks over to the professor, but she is gone... oh yeah, Chuck was yelling something about an autodoc. Good call. Hopefully she would be okay then.
She watches someone shoot Dev, and Dev fall backwards, and, furious, she gets into the car, puts it into gear, and guns it towards the man who shot Dev, intending vehicular homicide.
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It's hard to tell whether Chuck's high-caliber round or Zirelle's car is what kills the assailant, but it is certain that he is dead before he hits the ground!
COMBAT OVER!
Zirelle moves the car back to the parking place, gets out, and checks the man for any belongings which might give them a clue about who he works for.
Then she goes up to find the professor and the med bay to double-check that the doctor got it in working order and she is okay. She takes Dev up there as well if no one else has in the meantime.
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Dev, reeling from the gunshot wound, stumbled backwards from his foe. Luckily he was not in the car's path as it sped into the man, but his enemy was probably already dead from the bullet from Chuck's gun.
He tries to stand, but the sudden pain in his chest keeps him from standing completely upright. Zirelle was suddenly there lending him a hand and bring him back to the house.
"The professor...is she..??"
Zirelle responds to Dev:
I don't know yet... the doctor was taking her upstairs. Let's go check.
Hearing the fighting die down, Ben begins limping back towards the house.
Chuck turns back to autodoc as the car slams his last target.
"Shit! The thing is busted too." He curses as he holster his to pistol to exchange it for his mutli-tool.
"Erryll, up here! I'm gonna fix this autodoc. It's on the left down the hall!"
Chuck realigns the primary static ion charger and fixes the Autodoc.
An autodoc is a small self-contained diagnostic, pharmaceutical, and surgical system about the size of a low berth chamber or large coffin. Often found on spacecraft, it is capable of diagnosing and treating disease, infection, injuries and other medical conditions as efficiently as a qualified doctor (treat as Medic 3).
5+6+1+3= 15 !!!!!
Hope that works!
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Zirelle, you're not at all surprised to find no identification on either assailant. Their weapons are rather common, as are their clothes.
It turns out that one of the shooters (the one NOT run over by Zirelle) is still alive, though unconscious and bleeding out. Do you want to save him?
As Erryll sets to work with the autodoc on the professor. Chuck goes over to clean up the soldier's body and finds a pulse.
"By the stars! This fella is still alive! Doc, lemme know when you're done up there and we can get this sucker back on his feet for some pointed questions."
Chuck attempts basic first aid by applying pressure to the wounds.
How are we playing this? Informing the authorities or not? Or depends, based on whether the prof makes it?
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Ben is leaning against a wall and rubbing the back of his neck, "I could reach out to that officer that wanted to work with us."
It takes hours, but at last Erryll announces that Professor Ujinka will probably live, though she will be a long time recovering. He has removed the bullet and patched up her injury.
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"Put me in next doc." Ben says as he limps over.
I'm always wary of the authorities, but if you guys think it is best, I'm with you on contacting someone... we don't want to get blamed for the dead body, after all.
After saying her piece, she grabs some cleaning supplies from the kitchen and goes to clean up the car.
"Let's take a look at you Ben: get in there and let me close those wounds."
"Unless these guys were sent by the authorities, there's no reason not to reach out to that detective." Chuck says as he tends to the injured assailant.
"I think we should wait to let them know until after we can chat with this guy. I've got some pointed questions to ask this fella."
Chuck looks to Ben. "Damn Ben. You did jump out the window! Remind me to show you a better way to tuck and roll. And maybe some pushups." He says with a wink.
"I took these gymnastics classes back in the day...but apparently I was more interested in watching my teacher do the moves then learning..." Ben says as he gets into the device.
"Well at least you were not stupid enough to try and take an armed opponent down without any weapons of your own!! My shoulder is killing me!"
Dev then helps move the bodies from the yard but takes time to search them all thoroughly, removing any weapons or valuables.
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Professor Ujinka is stable, but weak and unconscious. When Erryll has finished healing her, he works on healing Ben and Dev.
Eventually, you work to get the house's power on. The lights return, and the house's security drones immediately rise up into the air and return to their patrols of the grounds.
Do you call the possibly paranoid Detective Odoy or do you call Pallod Norrim, the Public Order Commission representative?
Erryll's vote would be: BOTH.
With the caveat that this is still a property of the Duke's Estate, and that anything happening here will have the maximum possible official visibility. So while the vote is 'both' the first call should probably be to the weird detective, and then everyone should find any and all information about ancients which links the professor to the dead guy ... and then call the POC.
Zirelle comes back in after her task and starts searching the professor's house for information about the dig site and assistant that the professor mentioned, just in case she doesn't recover or in case the police want to confiscate everything... she wants to make sure they can get where they need to be.
Feeling much better after his turn with the auto Doc, Dev joins the others in discussing their next step.
"Erryll has a great plan. Let's use both groups to try and get our information. Call the detective and let's get his info, then the POC for a formal investigation."
"Sure, but we may want to keep the two groups separate. If the detective is right and people up on high are blocking him, they will just do it more if they find out he is working with us." Ben says as he stretches and enjoys feeling better after the poor landing.
"I don't think we should contact anyone until we can chat with the Professor. I'm beginning to think we're a bit over our head here with hit squads and all that." Chuck says as he paces the room. He stops pacing and looks at the gunman. "But first, let's see what numb-nuts over here has to say."
He approaches the gunman.
"What's your name pal? And why'd you try to kill the Professor?"
Zirelle comes back in after her task and starts searching the professor's house for information about the dig site and assistant that the professor mentioned, just in case she doesn't recover or in case the police want to confiscate everything... she wants to make sure they can get where they need to be.
Zirelle, you’re able to determine that Professor Ujinka is quite careful with any information related to the Ancients. What little is here in her house is protected behind some serious TL 13 firewalls on her computer.
____________________________________________________________________
He approaches the gunman. "What's your name pal? And why'd you try to kill the Professor?"
The man looks at you and considers. ”Get me some water,” he says.
”Right,” he says, spitting a bit of blood onto the floor. ”You’re no civvies, but you’re no Imperials, either. I make you for mercs. Make a deal with me. I’ll tell you what you want to know and you let me walk.”
"Making a deal with the Devil never did anyone good. How about you start by thanking us that you're alive by telling us your name?" Chuck retorts. He then looks to the others for ideas.
Zirelle can tell that all the information is locked up tight, so she gives up. Hearing the man ask for water, she goes and gets him a glass, and helps him drink since he is tied up.
She says
We wouldn't be able to trust you not to try again to kill us and our friend. Maybe if you explain what you are doing here and why you are never, ever going to try this again, we can have some intelligent dialogue. Otherwise, we can just turn you over to the cops. I'm sure that will look good to your employers.
(persuasion/int)
"You can start by telling us who hired you and if you had anything to do with the death of my uncle!"
Ben watches for now and waits to see how intelligent the man actually is.
"Water first. Or no deal."
"My name is Galus Libre. There's a ghost in the Spinward Marches. Ven Yasha." Galus stops to see if you recognize the name, then continues.
"He doesn't exist. He's a bogey-man used to frighten children and dumb criminals. The stories'll tell you he's the man behind half the crime in the Sector. He kills anyone who crosses him or even gets close to learning his true identity. Whole crime families have just disappeared when they crossed him. That's the story at least. Like I said, he's a fairy tale."
"Except he isn't. I work for him. Or I did. I might survive if I take off now and don't stop running before I hit the other end of the Imperium."
"I've been working for Ven Yasha irregularly for fifteen years as a guard or enforcer. In all that time, I have never met Ven Yasha directly – I was always hired by Ven Yasha’s aide, Harlen."
”Harlen contacted Kinson and me several weeks ago and ordered us to keep an eye on some Traveller called Backett. We were to watch over him and make sure he was not being followed. On the night Backett was murdered, Kinson and I went with Harlen to the TAS Hostel, where we met Backett.”
” Backett and Harlen seemed to know each other quite well. They were real friendly. Kinson and I stood guard outside while Harlen talked with Backett. Dunno what they said.”
Then Hansen sends Kinson out to buy this drug called Tusal. It’s real common on Regina. Easy to score. I got no idea why – Harlen never used the stuff. Kinson knew a dealer by the name a’ Darrian Jak, and bought from him. I thought that was weird, but then it got weirder.”
”Like fifteen minutes later after Kinson gets back, Harlen shoots Backett and tells us to high-tail it, so we do. Just shot him. No sign of an argument, nothing. I know Harlen took two things from Backett’s room: some statuette and a data crystal.”
”Harlen had this thing, he called it ‘the gadget’. It just shut off electronics like a magic trick. No EMP, nothing. Don’t know where he got it. Harlen used it on this job, too. He’s gone now, though. I got no idea why they were sent to kill some old lady.”
”I don’t know where Harlen is. But I do know who does. So now are we gonna make a deal?”
Ben considers the guys story and his delivery.
So you did. Sorry I missed it.
You're not sure, but it seems like a lot of details to make up on the spot. So, maybe?
It does fit with what you know from the video.
Zirelle takes notes, and she is willing to let him go if the information is good, but she waits for the others to decide.
Anything you noticed about the statuette that would help us identify it if we come across it?
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"Looked like a droyne. Y'know, one of them little lizard guys with wings."
"Whatdya gunna do if we let you go? Because if we cross paths again, I promise we won't be talking at the end of it." Chuck says, mulling over the massive data dump.
Sally, can you be sure to note down all that? He thinks.
Of course, Chaz. Taking notes on the boogey man for you. This will make for a great bedtime story. Sally replies over the nuero-link.
"Where can we find this Harlen fella?
"Whatdya gunna do if we let you go? Because if we cross paths again, I promise we won't be talking at the end of it." Chuck says, mulling over the massive data dump.
"Like I said, I'm gonna run like hell. Ten sectors away ain't far enough. No matter how far I go, Ven Yasha will one day reach out and pluck my life away. But maybe I can buy a few years if I head far away from the Marches. Maybe the Hivers could use a good merc..."
Sally, can you be sure to note down all that? He thinks.
Of course, Chaz. Taking notes on the boogey man for you. This will make for a great bedtime story. Sally replies over the nuero-link.
"Where can we find this Harlen fella?
"So do we have a deal or not?"
At the mention of Droyne, Erryll looks up with renewed interest ...
"We had visiting Droyne on Darrian from time to time, interested in high tech in most cases. Fascinating to be honest."
"OK, we will let you live and run...so tell me who knows where we can find this Harlen fellow."
"There's a dandelion in Startown. Name of Exceedingly Discreet. He's my contact for Harlen. You go to Winter Shipping and ask about shipping '17 tons of flax'. That'll get you to him. You're on your own from there."