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#1 6/2/08 4:14 pm
1st adventure
From "Quill":
The voyage to the Verge started mainly uneventful. I built up contacts
on-board and kept abreast of current events. Nothing worth noting.
With less than 24 hours until Star-rise, people began to act. A
Voidcorp Agent was poisoned during dinner. Upon investigation, I
immediately identified the poison as Austrin. I was not informed of
other operatives on this vessel...Something doesn't match up.
Next morning, the only other Austrin on-board (a merchant) was taken
into custody by the guards. I did not have a chance to question him. It
has since been discovered that there is some sort of agent working in
Engineering, and that this is seemingly deeper than first impressions
would show.
This agent is now dead.
I have obtained some unwilling accomplices. There is a large human
(likely a courier) who seems to have information tucked away in a safe
location. He was to deliver that information to the Voidcorp Agent who
is now dead. The other is another of the engineers on-board. The courier
managed to persuade her into breaking into the agent's quarters in order
to obtain a device which was used to send a drivespace message. I
suspect Alcohol to be involved.
After Star-rise, the agent was to meet with a contact under an assumed
name. That contact will now be meeting with the courier. I don't expect
much to come from the initial meeting, but if the contact can be taken
away discretely and questioned, then I can get to the bottom of this. My
employer being framed isn't anything new to them, but I will get to the
bottom of this and report my findings. I must find out who is behind it
all, and more importantly, what the courier has tucked away. If that
information could be useful to the empire, then I must acquire it.
I must also get names for these people at some point.
-=The Believer is Happy; the Skeptic is Wise=-
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#2 6/2/08 4:15 pm
Re: 1st adventure
Imri 3 Jan 2501
Surprisingly, the last two days have been full of activity, enough to make up for the positively uninspired three weeks previous. So, I’m engaging in my weekly “get-my-ass-kicked-in-holo” ritual and suddenly, this VoidCorp starts choking. Her compatriots try the Heimlich to absolutely no avail, and then all the fragging veins in her face start turning black, oh-so-very-obviously poisoned! Needless to say, no one wanted anything she had! The creepy T’sa (get to him later) rushes over there like he’s some sort of medic but gets totally stiffarmed by one of the Voidcorps.
Mr. Flashy Red Tie, all Dick Tracy looking, comes over and sits at our table, trying to make small talk. I wouldn’t have remembered this except for what was to follow. Guards come and go and there’s a mass diaspora of restaurant patrons. I believe I proceed to get hammered, it was that kinda experience. The T’sa makes jovial conversation, not so creepy after all. I seem to remember needing to find Jeff for some reason and a drunken quest ensues. Somehow I end up in Engineering and there he is, but Mr. Flashy Red Tie, still all Dick Tracy, is walking calm and shadowed right behind him. I somehow get bustled out of there and the next thing I REALLY remember is my fragging alarm going off with a message to meet Mr. Flashy Red Tie at his room ASAP. Very strange, but not nearly the strangest thing to happen in the past 48 hours.
Meet Mr.FRT. Asks a bunch of seemingly-inane questions concerning Jeff and then, BAM, he drops the bomb: Jeff was bypassing the Comm Sys to send a message DURING star-fall, WTF?! Given all the pertinent information I foolishly agree to search Jeff’s room. I am so awesome, I hacked his door! Of course, this is an old ship, but whatever. I hacked his door! I’m not sure if it was amazing luck (on my part) or monumental stupidity (on his), but he LEFT THE COMM BYPASS IN HIS ROOM. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Even more stupid, I grab the thing and take it to work. I hole up in the bathroom and, once again, I am so awesome!!, I manage to decrypt one of the two files on this fragging awesome bypass (now in my permanent possession, ha!). Some jibberish about an operative taken out, data about to be collected from someone, false name, hotel info...total spy-shit! Very cool, but it got my adrenaline pumping for fragging sure! At lunch I meet Mr. FRT and have him walk me to Jeff’s room cuz I am uber-nervous about carting around Jeff-the-probable-spy’s comm-toy. I mean, this is serious shit!
Get to Jeff’s room, relaying the message on the bypass all the while. Door was a cinch since I had figured it out. I quickly dash in and replace the bypass in the box of junk. This is where the shit REALLY hits the fan. Someone clears their throat behind me. FUCK. There’s ol’ Jeffy, disgustingly calm, POINTING A FRAGGING LASER PISTOL AT MY FRAGGING HEAD! I try to talk my way out of it, I have no idea if he believed me or not, but says something to the effect of, “Well, I have to kill you anyway.” I am totally sure my heart is going to leap right out of my fragging chest and then the door opens, Mr. FRT to the rescue, and creepy T’sa just slides right in after him (where the hell he came from is still a fragging mystery). Struggle ensues and eventually the three of us knock him out and steal his weaponry (and I get his totally awesome comm bypass). To further my theory this is some total spy shit, the T’sa starts questioning him at laser-point.
It comes out that Mr. Flashy Red Tie was supposed to give some info in his nanocomp to the corp who was poisoned, to prevent this secret-agent-Jeff killed her ass, and set up some poor Austrin businessman to take the fall (very clever). Jeff was then supposed to grab the info from Mr.FRT (and then probably kill him, which would be a shame, he’s terribly charming…when he’s not all fucking scary with a gun in his hand) and take up residence in the Lagoon Hotel as Tony Stark once we made star-rise. T’sa dude, who gives off the law enforcement vibe, out and says we need to kill him. This is totally freaky, but seems like a good idea and I am still fragging pissed he was going to kill ME so I agreed (though I don’t think my consent was anywhere near necessary).
Mr. Flashy Red Tie is in complete agreement and totally without preamble the T’sa lasers Jeff right in the forehead!! Made me a little sick and totally freaked. Somehow in all of this the T’sa has taken some sort of leadership role, telling us when to meet and divvying up spoils. Unnerved, I rush to get back to something normal…work. I throw myself into all the stupid checks a junior-tech needs to make right before star-rise and then, bam, it’s done and I disembark. I’ve taken up lodging in the Lagoon Hotel. We’re supposed to meet in two hours. WHAT A DAY! I need some sleep but every time I close my eyes I see the smoking hole in Jeff’s head. Sleep-aid here I come.
-=The Believer is Happy; the Skeptic is Wise=-
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#3 6/2/08 4:16 pm
Re: 1st adventure
"John Spencer"
They trust me now. All well and good I suppose. Just as long as I get my money for this outrageous trip. We're talking with the money for a nice month-long vacation of doing nothing for nobody. Me, some drinks, a few women and a cruise liner. Man that sounds nice.
I've no idea what they put in my head. The money's too good for me to even care about it, as long as THIS job gets done. I don't even remember how I got back to my hotel room for that matter. The little data-pad that greeted me in the morning said that I was ready to go. Take the [so and so] independent travel agency to the Verge. My alias would be a one, poor, "John Spencer". Meet the contact at the second to last day of star-fall during the last star-fall of the entire trip. The Word, "buttercup".
They say talk to no one... I know the damn drill. If they're paying me THIS much money, the data's gotta be important. I'll need to watch my back.
This trip sure has been boring as hell. But boring is good. Finally, the day of marvelous rendezvous. I think the restaurant ought to be a good place. It'll be all too easy to be found and also be hidden in the crowd at the same time.
A cute little Voidcorp girl - too bad she's just a number; she and I could enjoy the Star-rise ceremony together!
"How's it going buttercup?" I ask in my usual flirtatious manner. Yep, she's just a number. The cold-shoulder like if I went ice-climbing with a Weren who was all in particular not so crazy about showing me affection that day. Fair enough, I suppose. I got the info I needed. Meet her at Room 118 at midnight.
I'll take another sip of my drink, to my health of course, and wait for the time to arrive. What the hell is this?! What's going on with her? Is she poisoned? Who did this to her? ... Why is that guy so particularly calm? Everyone else is kinda panicking except him. I gotta check this guy out. Dammit this better not interfere with me getting my money!
Huh, this green haired sociable looking girl must be with him and this group. I'll chat it up with her and maybe keep this group here until I can find out something about him. A medic team and some guards are coming in! Now's my chance. I get them to their feet, but I can't find anything on his person. Damn.
He's leaving with everyone else. But he seems to be in a bit more of a hurry. He heads past his other buddies he was leaving with. I'll follow him to see what he does.
The engine room! Gah, there's a security guy out front. But I have an idea... "Thanks Sal!" As I pat him on the upper arm and head inside. That was easier than it should have been. A few close encounters with other engineers, but no one asks about me. He's back in a corner with a panel open. I'll stay here until he's done. So he IS the guy that poisoned her! Blasted! I need to wait this out before I make a jump on him. I'd certainly appear to be assaulting an innocent by the other engineers around here. He closed up the panel and left. Maybe I can find something in there. Nope, just a bunch of damn wires. Where did he go off to?
Great! He caught me! But here's that girl ..Imri was her name? Is she drunk?! Hot damn! But dammit, now's not the time for flirting... Sal wasn't too impressed with that guy being upset. That's good. He isn’t pressing charges or for us to be detained. Close-call!
Jeffrey is his name? I gotta talk to Imri about him and his little device he had. She's too inebriated to talk to right now. The morning ought to be good as long as Jeffrey forgets about me.
The morning's here, I had her arrive at my hotel. Not the greatest idea of mine, they could be working together. But she seemed sincerely confused about the restaurant event. I ask her about Jeffrey, she has no idea. She agrees to go search his room only after I wave my credstick about. Hopefully she'll find something. We agree to meet somewhere and see if she found anything.
We meet on her lunch break. She tells me she did find something! Seems like a communication device. I have no idea how to use it, so she'll keep it. Jeffrey's staying at room 320. It'd be a good idea to put it back, hopefully keeping Jeff ignorant of our discovery. She tells me the message as we walk to his room. She, with apparent knowledge of this sort of thing, pops open the door panel and rewires the thing on the spot! A few seconds and the door opens. I'll wait out here to keep an eye out. The door automatically shuts when she enters. After a few moments, she doesn't return. I lean to the door and I think I hear what sounds like, "Well, I have to kill you anyway." I immediately open the door and there, low and behold, is Jeffrey, pointing a pistol at the spunky Imri! He spins around to see who I am and I take that moment to duck back behind the wall. These few moments were a blur, but I tried to step it, but slipped on something on the ground - probably something from that panel Imri opened. I look over at Jeff and Imri is trying to wrestle the pistol out of his hands. A sudden shot from a stutter pistol flies through the room and hits Jeff! It's that T'sa I kind of remember meeting back at the restaurant. I go grab Jeff and throw him to the ground. The pistol is out of his hands finally.
He couldn't answer our questions. Either truly ignorant or selflessly devoted to his cause. The nameless T'sa interrogates Jeff with the questions I would have, then makes sure that he won't be telling anybody else anything. The T’sa had his suspicions about me, but I think HE was the more suspicious character here! But I wasn’t going to argue - he was the one holding the weapon pointed at me. I convince him otherwise and clear things up. We dispose of the body, tell each other where to meet after we star-rise. We split up and go our separate ways. I wonder how that Imri is handling this and if I'll ever see that T'sa again.
So, Lagoon Hotel, I'm now your Mr. Tony Stark, and my contact, and any possible way of getting my ever-loving money is gone. Maybe I can find out about Jeff's contact and get HIS money instead! Gah! Why couldn't this mission have gone according to plan! What the hell am I going to do with this crap in my head now? Maybe I could go see a street doc about this partition and having it removed (and hope they didn't implant a cortex bomb with it). Wow, the last 24 hours sure was a blur! At least we're meeting at a nice hotel...
-=The Believer is Happy; the Skeptic is Wise=-
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