As you sit down a half naked servor comes up to you and asked if you would like something to "enhance" your experience at the club?
She holds out a tray of various shot glasses, powder plates, lozenges and syrettes.
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Holy smekt, Alaska is fantastic!
On vacation to Alaska for a couple weeks.
You guys have any questions?
The dimly lit interior of the nightclub is filled with the press of sweaty bodies, a haze of narcotic smoke, and the pounding beat and ululating vocals of Bakarang music blaring from the main stage in the northeast corner of the room.
The bouncers backed up and opened the doors for Prince Celebryn and entourage, clearly not sure who you are, but unwilling to risk offending a major celebrity. Pounding dance music washes over you as you enter.
Max neatly cuts in front of several other vehicles to park directly in front of the nightclub.
You spend a day tracking down the most appropriate clothing your limited cash can accommodate, as well as the rental of a very used (but rakish) hoverbike. I have placed you on the map on the lower right.
You can just walk up to the entranceway, or you can take your rented hoverbike. How would you like to make your approach?
Sure! Come on down! The party is making plans to crash a mob nightclub.
Ruhk or Culture DC15: You know they wand people before they can enter the nightclub, checking for weapons. And there's only one entrance. Though... sometimes a bigwig or celebrity they just stand aside and hold the doors.
Culture DC15: The Fusion Queen... That sounded familiar somehow. Then you have it. It's an underworld Speakeasy, Dance Hall and Entertainment sim all in one. Its a place to go to if you have the money and want to indulge in things polite society would frown on. Naturally it's irresistible to the young and dumb and rich.
When you start the holo, a semitransparent cylindrical display appears over the table. Loud driving music thumps out of the speakers.
When you start the holo, a semitransparent cylindrical display appears over the table. Loud driving music thumps out of the speakers.
SOME TIME LATER… You wake up slowly, your head pounding from the hangover that makes you consider putting your head into a paper press just for some relief. Your tongue tastes like the the waste reclaimater of a Drift drive.
Spoiler: and a small pile of credsticks on the table in front of him, somewhat scattered now.
A full house, aces and eights. A holoprojector sits in the middle of the table. You don’t remember what happened between the start of negotiations and now.
You slug the green liquor down, and several seconds later you feel the effects as it puts a late hit on you, leaving you flushed and a little dizzy. Surely there is an illegal proportion of alcohol included in it.
Those of you who have darkvision are even more obscured than those with regular vision. You cannot see details of the other people in the room. Or even how big the room is.
Physical Science DC10: The vape cloud! There's something about the smoke/vape cloud that obscures darkvision.
When you go in, you see a deluxe game table with a shaded light aimed down on it, and the other people in the room in shadow.
When you come back to Mama Fats, the little halfling woman nods at you and opens a door to the back.
For the most part, the local people stonewall Ruhk, but aren't actually hostile. But with persistence, he is directed to a little bodega known as Momma Fats.
Ruhk is going down to the Level 21 to look for information, anyone going with him?
Max spends several hours getting more and more frustrated.
"I am a little at a loss of what we should no next." Rukh: You know you need to learn more about the gangs, but that might be dangerous to approach directly.
Perhaps, asking around the area where the gangs operate you can feel people out and find out more of the situation, people and places that might help you focus your lines of inquiry?
At least, its always worked for your favorite private detective shows.
"Do these charge up with wall power?? Guess I need spare batteries." Each of the rooms have power outlets suitable for recharging devices, batteries and power cells.
Max research over the day: He excitedly searches for any pictures and news of the Acreon or its crew as he walks using his laptop to search the infosphere.
Max discovers that the Acreon was constructed 85 years ago in the Castrovel United shipyards, then run as a light cargo/mining ship for the Czerka Megacorp until thirty years later a bad accident left it derelict in the diaspora. It was salvaged by the Hardscrabble Collective, fixed up and operated by them ever since. Max can find no data on current crew or Captain. The Collective aren't big on bureaucratic record keeping; at least not on this data hub. Trying to contact the Collective directly is impossible, as they don't live on the station proper, but out on the Absalom Station parking orbits assigned to their fleet. The Collective does have a business office on the station, but whenever you try to call them, all you get is the "Due to the ongoing business dispute with Astral Extractions, the Hardscrabble Collective is not accepting new clients at this time. We apologize for the inconvenience."
Sorry for the long silence, back now.
Then the figure folds up its displays, racks and tables into... apparently nothingness, bowed to you, and slid away backwards down the eastern tunnel into the Darklands.
Smiling as Novvi examined your offers and dickered, the shadowed figure stacked coins on the table and splits them between you. Each of you gains:
The hooded figure deftly turns a couple of the displays about, and now half of them feature small sized arms, armor and equipment. I fear I have been travelling the Darklands for my trade these last few months. I have not heard of a triplet of halfling women."
Questioning the hooded figure, you discover that her name is Novvi. She is a travelling Darklands merchant that comes by here every couple months to trade with the trogs that live here.
"Both, or either young being." the hooded figure said eagerly.
When Max (and anyone else) uses their computer skills to search the Station Infosphere... Searching for the Downside Kings (Computers DC10):
The information is thin in the general access areas, as they have less of a public presence due to their extralegal activities.
You find a solitary GNN news article about them: "The Downside Kings are a brutal street gang that controls several decks of Absalom Station’s lower levels, or “Downside,” through a combination of intimidation and violence. They are known to engage in a wide variety of illegal activities, from extortion, fraud, robbery, smuggling, and theft, to drug and arms trafficking, kidnapping, murder-for-hire, and trafficking in sentient species." Searching for the The Level 21 Crew (Computers DC10):
Like those of the Downside Kings, the Level 21 Crew’s illicit undertakings limit the gang’s public presence.
One Station Public Relations judicial response to a subpoena (unpublished) had an overview of them: "The Level 21 Crew are a street gang that claims (unsurprisingly) Level 21 of Absalom Station’s seedy lower decks as its territory. Their known criminal endeavors include theft, fencing stolen goods, gambling, sex work, racketeering, and smuggling. "They are most famous for their widespread and daring graffiti." The Hardscrabble Collective (Computers DC10):
The Hardscrabble Collective is a clan of stubborn asteroid miners that operates primarily among the scattered planetoids of the Diaspora. It has no offices or base of operations, but the clan members usually view the Armada—the ever-changing fleet of ships that orbit Absalom Station—as a central gathering place. Collective crews hire their ships out to a wide variety of business concerns, including Astral Extractions, which recently employed the Collective ship Acreon to scout for new mining prospects in the Vast. The Hardscrabble Collective (Computers DC15):
While the Hardscrabble Collective calls itself a clan, it is more of a cooperative business enterprise, a coalition of dozens of ships’ crews who have banded together for mutual benefit and safety. While some of the Collective’s members are related, most of them are individuals from a dozen different races: humans, dwarves, androids, ysoki, and more. Nevertheless, the Hardscrabble Collective is as tightly knit as many families, and members fiercely look after one another’s welfare. The Hardscrabble Collective (Computers DC20):
Following the arrival of the Acreon and Astral Extractions’ claim on the ship and the Drift Rock, the Hardscrabble Collective contracted with an Absalom Station street gang called the Level 21 Crew to protect its members and its interests on the station until the dispute can be resolved. Astral Extractions (Computers DC10):
Astral Extractions is a powerful mining conglomerate with business ties throughout the Pact Worlds. Most of the company’s operations are centered in the Diaspora and the rocky moons of the outer planets, but it has also begun sending scout vessels into the Vast in search of new claims. The company recently hired one of the Hardscrabble Collective’s ships, the Acreon, for one of these exploratory missions. Astral Extractions (Computers DC15):
The public face of Astral Extractions is that of an ethical and respectable corporation, but outside of the public eye, some say the company uses hired muscle—corporate mercenaries, strikebreakers, and even criminal elements—as proxies to intimidate and threaten those who stand in its way. Astral Extractions (Computers DC20): Following the arrival of the Acreon, Astral Extractions secretly hired a violent Absalom Station street gang called the Downside Kings to coerce the Hardscrabble Collective into abandoning its claims on the Acreon and the Drift Rock.
Flipping through the tridee looking at news, entertainment and sports, you come across an effusive talking head, showing the laser shootout at the shuttlebay. An overhead security camera focused in on Valtri as she throws the lever that foamed the area as the talking head proclaimed this "Unknown woman" a hero for stopping the killing. There is also a vigorous commentary scrolling to its right speculating, sometimes very rudely, wondering who she was and where is she now? But that was just a side story compared to the biggest news story currently by far, discussed endlessly on newsfeeds and in public conversation, is the arrival of the derelict ship Acreon a few days ago, the whereabouts and fate of its missing crew, and the nature of the mysterious "Drift Rock" the ship brought with it.
Less sensational, but more important to the business of Absalom Station is the disagreement between Astral Extractions and the Hardscrabble Collective, both of whom claim ownership of hte Drift Rock and the right to examine the Acreon and determine the fate of its crew.
Gurlak is waiting for you out front, and is able to convey you to the Moons of Sleep along with your luggage.
He does a web search on both gangs to see how active they were on social platforms. Quick search results for "Downside Kings" is pretty thin. Other than that they seem to be referenced as being somewhere Downside (Absalom Station lower decks), there is no result. Quick search results for "Level 21 Crew" is barely more than that. Other than they claim Level 21 and are infamous for graffiti, there is no result.
Max, you were healed by the medical response guys at the Shuttle bay.
The lift takes you very high in the spire.
Shirren language:
The name on the doorway says "Councillor Chiskisk" The office space is cluttered with cases and cabinets with datablocks, paper documents, mysterious devices and artefacts, but is well ordered and clean. Behind a polished and unadorned plastic desk, a Shirren wearing understated business clothing rose and gestured to you to take various seats of appropriate sizes.
In a deceptively short amount of time, you enter the Ring sector of Absalom Station, and then after that you arrive at the Lorespire Complex.
Gurlak smoothly piloted the limousine down the concourse and into an access way into an exclusive vehicular tubeway.
Gurlak helps you with your luggage into the trunk as the rest board the vehicle.
With barely concealed contempt, the detective thanks you for your cooperation before your personal property and luggage is shoved at you and you are unceremoniously hustled out of the taped off incident scene.
"...We will pay for a proper send off, but we are going to need his personal property." The on-scene Inspector glares coldly at Max. "This is a mass homicide incident. That will have to wait until the investigation is complete." He said. "As an officer of the Starfinder Society, he is covered by Death Benefits anyway."He paused, his interest in you sharpening. "What is your interest in his property anyway?"
The security troopers approach and detain everyone in the area. They take your weapons and question everyone as the emergency medics attend to any wounded. It takes hours, but Security matches your statements, the bystander statements and camera feeds, and conclude you all acted in self defense.
At this point station security show up, sirens blaring. They shout for everyone in the foam to not move with their hands up and eyes shut.
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