To Solenopsi, Historia-7 gives a curt nod. "Highly preferred. I have a use for a skilled hacker, particularly one that can crack the security in Bluerise Towers. Only if this hacker is completely unwilling to see reason should you even consider elimination."
Historia-7 trains a long, searching stare on Kalkan. "Indeed. If it helps allay your conscience, the corporations that are victims of this theft are large unfeeling entities with suspicious ties to both Aballon and Eox."
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Ella unplugs her internal audio processors allowing her to listen to Historia-7. She nods at the faction leader. "Someone able to breech Bluerise Towers would be a huge asset to any mission. You were able to locate the source of the hack? Do you know anything else about the hacker? Was there any signature that has been previously seen?"
She looks down in her hand at the copy of the Strawberry Machine Cake album. "Oh! This is for you. Ziggy thought you would like this for your personal archives. I endorse the music personally." She gives a wide, but unnerving smile and holds out the data chip.
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The Vesk warrior looks back and forth between Kalkan and Historia-7. Her face expressionless for long moments, she starts to speak but stops when Ella hands over the album to the faction leader.
I have questions and problems similar to those of Kalkan in assisting a breaker of laws with possibly avoiding the punishment they have earned. But I also realize that it has been a very long time since my last meal. So if there is food to be found here, I will think over this possible mission here while I eat. Otherwise, I will go to my own supplies, eat, and rest until I am needed to guard or fight.
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Kalkan nods at this explanation, his stomach in knots. I suppose we did hide those refugees from the bank trying to repossess their life saving augmentations. The laws arent right all the time. He looks down at the floor. If it's for the greater good, and my new employers, I suppose I should trust them.
Historia-7 accepts the record from Ella with a long, unreadable stare. "Zigvigix did? Very well. I will submit this record to the archives." She immediately sets the album aside.
"While I do not know the identity of the hacker, the minimal trace left in their wake suggested an individual with many years of experience. As for the source of the hack: I have sent the coordinates I traced the hacker's signal to to your comms. These coordinates correspond to a location in the residential district known as Drifter's End, out on the Ring. A cheap place to live, though not very secure."
Sensing that the group is ready to go, Historia-7 offers "Be circumspect, but act quickly before the corporations find this hacker first." She then nods and turns her chair in implicit dismissal.
-------
The team heads out into the Ring via maglev tram, eventually disembarking and making their way into Drifter's End on foot. The co-ordinates provided by Historia are reasonably precise, and you weave your way through dilapidated alleyways and narrow streets without encountering any trouble.
The group approaches the location given in the coordinates and sees that they point to a narrow apartment that resembles a cement cube. While the structure itself is a perfect duplicate of the thousands of others stacked up next to, above, and below this one, it stands out like a sore thumb. In the front 'yard' (really out in the narrow alleyway) are a number of plastic barrels and boxes, all filled with dirt. And poking out of the dirt are vibrant green plants! Other boxes of nutrient broth, gardening tools, and wooden knicknacks can be seen sitting in the doorway and on the apartment's windowsill. Warm yellow lamps flood the area with a bright light that is clearly intended to benefit the plants. The battered plastic door to the apartment is half closed.
A young man is moving purposefully among the potted plants, using a plastic probe to pollinate them by hand. He is intent enough on his task that he doesn't even notice you approach.
Historia-7 gives the slightest frown "The corporations, simple-minded as they are, will likely attempt to punish the hacker. In the past, their hired agents have conducted hits on individuals that have crossed them. I suspect something very similar may happen here. As for the benefit, it should be clear. These corporations are hiding information that my faction needs to know. Information that may be relevant to our operations here on the Station."
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Kalkan follows behind the Formian, eyes darting down the street. A dangerous area, without assassins tracking him down. He speaks, intentionally out loud. "Hello. We know who you are. And about your business on the computer. They are coming for you. We can help. " He gestures to the team, showing their strength.
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After a meal and some thought Hasstaskin agrees to join in on the mission strictly to protect the group and any persons under the groups' protection.
Standing in back of the group, Haastaskin resumes her on guard mode, her head moving back and forth in a scanning motion. As agreed to before they arrived on site, she takes on the rear guard position in full armor and her light reaction cannon at the ready.
The boy looks up from his work at the mental prod from Solenopsi and stares uncomprehendingly at your team for a good minute straight. He eyes your armor and weapons and it slowly dawns on him to be totally terrified. "S-S-starfinders? Y-you're not going to beat me up are you?" Once Kalkan interjects he looks even more bewildered. "B-b-business? C-computer? I-I-I- don't know anything about that? Who's coming? Is it ol' Mac? I thought auntie p-paid him off for this month!!!"
The poor guy is on the verge of outright panic.
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The fully armed and armored Vesk warrior looks down a the boy an shakes her head, taking one hand off her weapon and speaking with a calming voice. "Young human we are not here to harm you. We Starfinders are searchers and defenders. We rescue the young and slay monsters. I am Haastaskin a warrior of the Vesk people, what is your name?"
The badly spooked young man manages to stammer a couple of times loudly "Uhh.. you can't j-just b-barge in... uh.. Miss Ella. Haastakin. Uhhh..." Solenopsi's mention of helping only seems to confuse him further (he's clearly not the brightest hand-held pollinator in the shed).
As he raises his hands to feebly bar you from coming any closer, the door to the cement-block house opens and an old woman cloaked in a blue and white abaya shuffles out, squinting at you all. Her mouth pinches as she regards your group. "Now, I've been hearing a group out here harrassing my grandson. Something about Starfinders? More like Troublefinders if you ask me! What are you all here for?" She raises a ladle in one hand as if to defend herself with it.
At the mention of hacking corporations, the old woman looks startled. She furrows her brow "Hacking corps? Jubair? No, he's not one to do something like that. But this does sound serious. Maybe you all should come in and explain yourselves properly. I'll put on some tea." She enters into the house, holding the curtain aside to invite you in with her.
--------------
Once inside, the old woman seats you at a small plastic table (at least a few of you, the rest have to remain standing), and brings a metal pitcher and some mugs over. The house itself is cozy and cluttered. There are no signs of any computers anywhere. "So, the Starfinder Society? You're looking for a hacker at this address? Unfortunately, its just myself and my grandson living here. These days I'm just raising tomatoes and some other old-Golarion vegetables, so you're barking up the wrong tree." She pours a spicy smelling tea into the mugs at the table.
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Kalkan, a little irritated at the waste of time, can't say no to the old lady. "Ok, but just for a moment. " He then follows her inside.
Once inside, he presses the issue. "Ma'am, someone was hacking a major corporation through your internet. If it wasn't your son, it must be someone nearby framing you. " His expression darkens at this new twist.
Her brow furrows at Kalkan's assertion of someone hacking through her info-sphere address. "I can't imagine..." She cuts off, looking thoughtful for a moment "Well, it can't hurt to check, I suppose." and raises a hand up to touch something behind her ear. Her eyes defocus for a few moments. When they regain focus again, a worried expression has taken over her face. "Oh. Dear."
She clears her throat. "About that hacking... well, it seems that you have the culprit. You see, when I was much younger, I was quite the systems expert. Stole data from corps and individuals in equal measure. Whoever was willing to pay, and sometimes even if they weren't, if I found their cause admirable. I retired a few years back, once my brain started having certain problems."
"My doctors provided augmentations to stabilize the degeneration. But I can freely admit that they've had some side effects. Lapses in memory, consciousness. Sometimes when I wake up I find I have data I don't know the source of stored in my exocortex. I suspect I'm regressing while unconscious, continuing my old ways. Hacking again." For a moment she looks faintly pleased with the thought.
"I have some new corporate files, ones I'm fairly certain I didn't have a few days ago. I suppose that means it happened again. Ah... but this time." Her eyes go glassy for a moment "It seems I have some personal files from one Ilia Tamm. From what I can tell, she's the CEO of Arch Energy." She halts her exocortex access to look around the tiny cottage apartment anxiously. "Not good at all."
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Ella looks astonished. "You hacked Bluerise Towers in your sleep? And got personal files of the CEO without even knowing it?" She blinks several times. "Ma'am, what is your designation? Or I suspect you have a hacker handle?"
She blinks again several times. "Could I have those files? In exchange, we can help cover your tracks. If you have no interest in the data, then it's better if you don't have them in your possession."
The old woman blinks in surprise at the offers of help. "Oh, you'd be willing to help someone like me? That's very-" She narrows her eyes at the group of you. "The Society rarely does anything for free."
When Ella explains a possible exchange, she responds with "So you want the files in exchange? I certainly have no attachment to them. You're welcome to have them if you can help me out of this pickle. And as you say Miss, I'm much safer without them. Though, I've been on the wrong side of corps many times in my youth. Once you wrong them once, they come after you whether you have their data any more or not." She nods sagely. "They're vindictive like that."
She rummages through a closet and comes back out with a large travel backpack, well worn by the years. "So this isn't the first time I've been chased by a crazy corp, no sirree. It's not as simple as just going somewhere where you think you'd be safe and waiting it out. These people have a lot of money, and a lot of money buys a lot of eyes. What I need is to fake my death!"
"In the old days I would have just done it myself, but I don't have the skills of connections anymore. And since you youngsters have all so graciously offered, I'll leave it to you." Her tiny grin is a little cheeky. "The name is Ceren, by the way." She extends a hand to Ella "I hope you don't mind if I keep my handles confidential."
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Kalkan leans over Ella' s shoulder and tries to help her look.
Not being very helpful, he goes over to Ceren and pulls out a small black book. "Tell me, Ceren. Have you heard the good news? This little baby got me through a lot of hard times, even in battle with the Stewards. " He smiles fondly. "Heliax is a wonderful mistress. If you wish, I could find you a job with the church. Perhaps as a technical consultant. That should help your new identity. "
After that, he looks through gossip mags to find a new name for Ceren.
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Shaking her head in an expression of either disapproval or frustration, Haastaskin checks her weapon and silently turns to leave. "I am going back outside to secure our exit. When you finished with what you do here I expect you will be ready to move out. Join me then."
Once outside she looks for the human boy. While being careful to avoid the well tended plants she approaches him. "The older human woman inside said your name is Jubair. Is that right?"
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Twik watches carefully as Arnold tries to craft a new persona for Ceren.
"Perhaps you will permit me to try?"
Once finished he tries to convince some of his corporate contacts to provide Ceren with a new job somewhere.....out of town.
Once he has put that together, he then convinces said contacts that she is not the potential problem child that she might be.
Considering their progress so far, he turns to the others...
"We just need to make sure that Ceren is "dead"... How do we feel about our progress is that department?"
Ella leads the charge on the side of preparing a believable record of Ceren's death. With the aid of Arnold, and the not-so-much-aid from Kalkan, she manages to get into the poorly secured Absalom Station mortician's records and adds a new entry.
At the same time, Ceren pulls together a few essential items in a travel bag. She listens to Kalkan's suggestion and her mouth quirks into a grin "Hylax, you say? I can't say I've ever thought myself a faithful sort. But a technical consultant I can do. Even at my age I should be able to pretend to be that for a while!" She pats Kalkan on a claw "Now make sure its nice and thorough. I think I'll hide out in Jatembe Park until you're all done. They won't expect a hacker there, and I'll blend in with all the other doddering old ladies." She hauls the bulging bag over her shoulder and heads for the front door.
At the same time, Haastaskin starts to engage Jubair in conversation. The nervous young man can't quite meet the vesk's eyes, but responds to the question with "Uhh.. Yes. I have a l-lot of w-w-watering to do next. S-So if you don't mind." He clears his throat and tries to back away when Ceren busts out of the house in a rush.
The old lady calls out energetically "Oh, Jubair, we'll be going for a bit of a walk. I need someone to lean on." In response, Jubair drops the pollinator he'd been clutching, he shoots an apologetic glance at Haastaskin and jogs off to join his grandmother.
Solenopsi and Kalkan struggle to flesh out Ceren's new identity, but when Twik sweeps in with his corporate experience, he methodically works through the details. He prepares a disguise to change Ceren's appearance, negotiates with his corporate contacts to set her up with a role at one of the ministry consulting companies on Absalom Station (giving her more believable credentials for new role in Hylax's church). A few comms calls later and he smooths out any possible speedbumps around her age and temperament.
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A couple of hours of hard work later, you have both a reasonable fake death, and a solid (if a bit unusual) new identity to work with.
Just as you finish putting the finishing touches on Ceren's new identity, your communicators buzz with an incoming call. Jubair's breathless voice calls out through the speaker "Gramma needs h-help! I, I think they found us. We're hiding in the park right now. Near a bridge on the port quarter. T-Th-They've got guns!" You hear him scrambling around for a moment breathlessly and then the line goes dead.
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Your group heads straight to Jatembe park, following Jubair's vague instructions as well as you can. As you approach the bridge, two figures come into sight crossing it. Jubair holds Ceren's hand and supports her as she struggles to jog across the bridge and away to safety. Behind the two of them, a trio of what look to be gang members hustle towards the bridge.
One of the gang members calls out "You can't run for us, you old woman! Make this easy and come out with your hands up, nice and slow so we don't have to shoot ya." and raises a gun of some kind to point at her. The other two gangers also raise their guns threateningly.
|||Round 1|||
Kalkan
Twik
Haastaskin
Ella
Solenopsi
Arnold
Red Ganger
Blue Ganger
Yellow Ganger
Bold are up.
Seeing Kalkan and Solenopsi step up, the thug in the lead calls out "Damn! She's got some hired help!" and then raises his voice to address you all "She's not worth your time, you bugs! This is between her and our boss. You all just skip on out of here, a'ight?"
Solenopsi's nonlethal shot connects with the yellow thug, sending spasms of electricity through their body. Meanwhile Arnold and Kalkan fire 'warning shots' into the dirt near the thug's feet.
When the thug tries to convince you all to leave, Arnold tries to be intimidating in response and Ella tries for a tricky ploy with ghost sound.
Her claim that the authorities are arriving seems to elicit skepticism from the goons, though one of the three repeatedly looks over his shoulder to try to spot if the police really ARE showing up.
Jubair and Ceren hurry forward and fall prone to avoid being hit by stray weapons fire.
The three goons advance, switching from chasing after Ceren to dealing with the group of you. Or at least... two of them advance. The third one keeps looking nervously in the direction of the sirens and eventually calls out. "Shouldn't we go boss? This's all above board right? S!~~s not gonna get us in trouble, right?" He looks nervous, backs up a bit, and doesn't take any other actions this round.
The leader of the group (yellow), angrily calls out "Damn it, we'll take them out before the police get here. IF they get here. FIRE!!!" The two of them fire pulsecaster pistols at Solenopsi! One of the two pulses of electricity is deflected by the formian's armor, but the other one sends energy through her body!
|||Round 2|||
Kalkan
Twik
Haastaskin
Ella
Solenopsi (7/9 SP)
Arnold
Red Ganger
Blue Ganger (spooked)
Yellow Ganger (4 damage)
Bold are up.
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"In all the universe there are not so many less foul things than those who would fire weapons on unarmed elders and younglings. You shame your ancestors by doing this. I will gift your species with your end." announces Haastaskin as she steps up besides Ella and fires her light reaction cannon at Red
Arnold and Twik gang up on the leader of the three goons. Arnold lands a quick shot of his pistol, while Twik makes up for lost time by quickly tricking his foe and firing twice. Two accurate shots connect and drop the gang leader to the ground. "Agh! Jax!" The blue-marked goon shouts out as he sees his leader fall. "You'll pay for that!" It seems the loss has cleared up his course of action.
Kalkan fires at the red goon, his laser rifle discharging right into the fellow's gut. As his clothes light on fire he screams at the top of his lungs "POLICE! WE'RE BEING ATTACKED! HELP!"
Additional fire from Ella and Haastaskin flies well wide of the goons. Solenopsi's stinger stabs lightly into the wood of the bridge before the formian pulls it free.
With a crazed shout, the blue goon advances towards the group and fires his pulsecaster pistol at Solenopsi, landing a pulse! Meanwhile the red goon jumps off the bridge and into the water to extinguish himself
|||Round 3|||
Kalkan
Twik
Haastaskin
Ella
Solenopsi (5/9 SP)
Arnold
Red Ganger (11 damage)
Blue Ganger
Bold are up.