Tuirk... whatever he is doing, he is pretty good at it. He gets completely tangled up in a mess of tripwire, but somehow manages to disable the explosive device and gets away completely unharmed.
The gallery is eerily still compared to the chaos in the lobby. The blacked-out display cases are like silent monoliths. An android in edgy but fashionable black attire steps out from behind one of the cases, a solar sword manifesting her hand. She's joined by others, creating a semicircle around the room.
“It seems you're lost, little pets. All the fun is happening in the lobby.” She looks off to the doors behind her, as if calculating something. “I suppose it doesn't matter too much if you die here or there. Still, it'd be a shame to ruin these artifacts. You Starfinders care about preserving history, right?” She points her sword at the display beside her. “Back to the lobby now, little pets. Or we start getting clumsy.”
---
Elian
Tuirk
Suresh
Ogilvy
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Omen
Thug
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As they travel, Elian draws his baton so he has both of his weapons ready in case they're needed. Still, he wishes they had time to catch their breath.
"An understandable error, madame," he says calmly as he moves closer, "but we're actually part of the event staff. We'd be happy to escort you back to the party, as you do seem lost yourself."
...
Elian then fires his laser pistol at her as he ducks behind a plant. Sword to a gun fight, and all that.
Elian and Tuirk focus their fire on the menacing woman. Elian ducks behind a plant and manages to catch Omen off-guard, while Tuirk manages a straight bullet, which pierces the woman's armor.
---
Elian
Tuirk
Suresh
Ogilvy
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Omen (16)
Thug
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|
Well, that escalated quickly…
Ogilvy moves forward and stops when he sees the thug behind the fashionably dressed villain. You didn’t come alone, you stylish thing. Maybe I can fix that for you…
He makes a series of sharp gestures with one hand and points toward the thug with the other. The fabric of reality rips open next to the thug, bathing them in a churning torrent of entropy that turns swaths of their body into sickly black goo.
Ogilvy tries to rattle the thug with black magic, though it doesn't seem to hold as much as he would like. Suresh's shot barely goes in the right direction.
The thug starts making good on his threat, and shoots a nearby display case, destroying the precious content inside. Omen herself envelops herself in a yellowish glow, moves to a display case and smashes it.
---
Elian
Tuirk
Suresh
Ogilvy
---
Omen (P 1): (16)
Thug (3)
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Ogilvy winces at the sound of the displays breaking and artifacts crashing to the floor.
“Everybody’s a critic… but you’re a special kind of stupid. You’re missing the point of these displays. Let me help you with that.”
Ogilvy smiles wickedly and chuckles. I’m really getting the hang of these combat jokes.
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"But--but you were doing that anyway! You can't threaten us with something you'll still do if we stop. You're just pushing us to make you stop, without doing anything to stop us! Honestly, the quality of--" ZAP "--criminal here really leaves something to be desired. Making lots of enemies, but no thought in it at all."
The thug groans in pain as Elian does his signature move, and when Ogilvy sneakily attacks the thug, the latter collapses in pain.
Suresh might need to adjust the sights on his pistol, but Tuirk shoots straight and causes a curse from Omen Just wait until I get my hands on you, you little space rat!
She rushes forward, and starts hacking at the goblin...
She's looking fairly weak at this point.
---
Elian
Tuirk
Suresh
Ogilvy
---
Omen (P 1): (19)
Thug (down)
---
Suresh manages to hit the vandal woman, then continues his vendetta with the ceiling. Elian then adds another one of his trick shots, and sets Omen on fire! She is engulfed in flame, and collapse in a heap on the ground.
With the robbery over, Ehu and Radaszam rejoin you. Ehu assures you, "All the guests survived. Emergency services have arrived and are taking care of any injuries, but by all accounts, the quick intervention of our Starfinders prevented any serious damage from occurring to any of the gala attendees and staff."
The museum itself is a different story. The assault and resulting combat caused significant damage to the structure of the museum, meaning it will need to close its doors while they repair the building and assess any damage done to the collections.
"What motive did they have?!" Ehu expresses suspicion of the motive behind the attack, noting that the robbers damaged more than they stole.
"Yes," Radaszam agrees, "the robbers were highly trained and experienced. Any damage done was intended—almost like they were trying to cause as much chaos as possible."
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Ogilvy brushes some ceiling tile dust off his armor and hides a wink toward Suresh. “True. Odd that they took their anger out on the display cases… and the ceiling, too.”
He turns to Ehu and Radaszam. “Do the staff know who the attackers were? The leader of this part of the group was highly trained and sss…” He catches himself before saying “stylish,” and thinks fast. “…certainly… competent. Does the museum have security footage we can check for clues to their motives?”
————
As Ogilvy discusses with Ehu and Radaszam, Omen regains some consciousness. "Don't you see? We won..."
"She won?" Ehu's face falls at this remark as he mutters, “A distraction?! For what?” With a heavy sigh, he says, "Starfinders. Accompany me, please. We need to do a final sweep of the museum."
The trip through the museum galleries reveals that many of the rooms that contained notably valuable artifacts have been untouched. Ehu is almost ready to call the search off until he comes across Odesse's display of belongings from the Tabori Cluster. “This looks different,” he remarks.
Radaszam replies, “I'll find Odesse.”
You check notice that some of the belongings have been removed, while others were shifted over and rearranged to make it appear like the display remains complete.
You additionally notice that the glass of the display case has been expertly cut and resealed.
You discover a strand of bright purple hair in case—the only remaining piece of physical evidence that the thief left behind.
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"Well, they were certainly up to something," Elian agrees, "And her outfit! It implies she wanted to blend in with the party, but then she wasn't exactly subtle."
"Hey, look here. Someone has been tampering with this, but tried to cover it up. They shifted things so you wouldn't notice anything was missing, but it is. And look--they didn't smash the glass but they cut through it here and then sealed it again. They definitely didn't want us to immediately find this. Careful, don't touch that hair there--we want security to see that it was snagged.
"...who have we seen with purple hair?"
Excellent find[b/ Ehu responds as Elian finds the hair.
Meanwhile, Radaszam and Odesse arrive. Odesse looks frazzled and in shock.
She quickly points out that all artifacts related to the Ulumbian civilization are gone, and she shrugs in a mix of confusion and defeat. [b]“I don’t understand. Even in the Tabori Cluster, the Ulumbians are overlooked—ignored even! They didn’t leave behind any impressive architecture or sites, and no one’s ever discovered anything of notable financial value. They’re important to a select group of local academics, of course, but to robbers? Worthless. These items were everyday tools made from dull gray-green stone. A thief could fetch a better price foranything else in this museum. Why bother?”
“Why bother, indeed,” Ehu ruminates. “Thank you Odesse. Perhaps we should go look at the Security footage?”
Radaszam pauses, looking at Tuirk. "I noticed you talking to Odesse earlier. Did you notice anything strange about her exhibit?"
Meanwhile, Ehu leads the party towards the security room. With the help of Amyikesh, he pulls up the surveillance footage of Odesse’s display, scanning it for any hints as to what happened. The security terminal hums to life as Ehu scans through the footage from the last day. He sifts through footage of Odesse and the conservation staff setting up the display, noting a strange pained expression on their faces as they do so, along with footage of the drunken professor and the Starfinders’ subsequent intervention.
Everything seems to be in order until only a few minutes ago, when everyone was called into the lobby, and the mercenaries burst through the front door. A new figure enters the room, an elven janitor with bright purple hair. She waits in the room for a while and, as the sounds of chaos erupt over the security feed, carves her way into the display case with a laser-edged glass cutter. She rapidly pockets the Ulumbian belongings, shoving them into a seemingly bottomless garbage bag. She looks up to the camera and smirks, teleporting away.
“We were played,” Radaszam grunts. “It was all a distraction.”
Ehu clenches his fists. “It’s the Organization.”
"The so-called janitor's name is Evethriel. The Society killed her sister who was allied with Datch," Radaszam sighs. "Since then, she organized a prison break from the Adamantine Bastille, and has been working with a criminal group known to us only as the Organization. They've been a thorn in our side for a while."
Ehu paces. “The Organization must feel proud right now, smirking in whatever den they've hidden themselves. They must think they've won. That they've pulled off another successful mission against the Starfinder Society. They, my fellow Starfinders, have become overconfident.”
“Think of their actions tonight. A full cadre of soldiers and assassins sallied out against a museum. A place that houses knowledge not just for us, but for entire cultures. A place where the children of the future will come to learn about their ancestors and, hopefully, one day learn about us. They found a place with a noble purpose and tried to sully it with their own corruption. And who was it, my friends, that these soldiers marched out against? Academics. And yet they still lost. All the might of their money and their guns couldn't hold out against you, people who came here only to set up a display and bask in history. What hope could they have against a dedicated foe? How would they fare against a Society united against them?"
Ehu frowns. “Under my watch, and those before me, the Organization has festered. They've run rampant across the galaxy, harming civilians, executing unarmed prisoners, destroying priceless cultural heritage. They, my Starfinders, have killed our friends. No more." Ehu clenches his fist again.
“My time as First Seeker will soon come to an end. It would be easy to pass off this duty to my successor. To let them inherit this problem while I wipe my hands of it. But what kind of leader would I be if I did that? What kind of person would I be if I shrugged this burden off my own shoulders and onto someone else's? Certainly not someone who would be worth remembering in a place like this.”
Ehu straightens. “In this place of history, on the memories of those who have been irreparably damaged, I declare our future. No more shall the Organization run free, no more shall they harm our families and our peoples. To you, to our friends, and to our Society I make a vow: my last act as First Seeker will be the dismantling of this festering evil.”
“This year, the Organization—whoever they truly are—falls.”