Book 1: Incident at Absalom Station - Act 1: Absalom Gang War

Post by **ManWithDoor** » Fri Nov 29, 2019 5:31 am

Quig pulls up the replay, Scout's recording capabilities ending up quite advantageous. He pulls up the appropriate timepoints, angling the display to show everyone else the same thing. Without the adrenaline and fear, it plays like a holovid done by a particularly amateur director. No catch phrases, only one camera, and it didn't forward a character or plot narrative. Pathetic.

The replay isn't some sort of omnipresent or omniscient view, only what was seen by the Drone. But what is viewable is clear. The gangs very much were trying to hit each other, you were just in their line of fire. They ignored you are the other bystanders, spraying and praying and not particularly caring if those randos get hit. That changed quickly once the good Counselor decided to explode one of their heads. They didn't like that one bit.

Post by **Vardaen** » Mon Dec 02, 2019 6:46 pm

"Bad luck! Bad-bad luck for us." He pulls scout back and stows him in his backpack harness for now. It seems clear enough to Quig that the attack wasn't aimed at them, but was just bad timing on everyone's part.

"Now what?" His attention span is so short some times he doesn't really know what's next on the agenda for him or the company.

Hungry Xenomorph · Post by **Hungry Xenomorph** » Tue Dec 03, 2019 5:23 pm

Jalesh reviews the footage, annoyed at having to relive it, shaking his head he says "So what exactly are supposed to do with these gangs, by the looks of it they have enough disposable grunts to throw at anyone that comes at them to make it impossible to take them out."

KrowsNest · Post by **KrowsNest** » Tue Dec 03, 2019 9:45 pm

DREAMS looked over the footage with the others, rubbing his masked chin, "Fate can be such a trickster at times. Though, those who fire guns now are convicted of no crimes. At least, until they get caught. A dream like that is for naught."

Though he had no face, it was obvious that he would be grinning as if nothing was wrong. He leaned back in the seat, his fingers together as if a CEO listening to a measly employee pitch an idea. Who's side was this android even on?

"We could pass as a ghost just phasing, or burst the door open, guns a blazing. Though I would be outnumbered in our chatter, I'd prefer the latter."

Post by **ManWithDoor** » Tue Dec 10, 2019 5:03 am

The group is a bit at a loss. They aren't natives to Absalom Station, so they can't just call up their friends and family for the news on the block, or have allies and contacts to call upon. But they are resourceful individuals, each in their own individual way. They have relevant skills and personalities to hit the streets and dig up information.

First Quig pulls up the local network, looking for breaking news. The biggest story is still the corporate face-off between the Hardscrabble Collective and Astral Extractions over the derelict ship Acreon. Neither have a clear legal case over the other on salvage rights, so tensions are riding high as everyone awaits what these companies will do to best the competition.

Digging through the corporate propaganda and advertisements, Quig gets a good feel for these two organizations. Astral Extractions is a powerful mining conglomerate with business ties throughout the Pact Worlds. Their main operations were in the local system, but have recently begun sending scouts vessels into the Vast in search of new claims. Astral Extractions hired one of the Hardscrabble Collective's ships, the now infamous Acreon for one of these exploratory missions. On the other side, the Hardscrabble Collective is a clan of stubborn asteroid miners operating on scattered planetoids. It has no official base of operations, but use the Armada - the every-changing fleet of ships that orbit Absalom Station - as a central gathering place. They often hire out to larger corporate entities, to scout for new mining prospects in the Vast.

Jalesh and DREAMS, as much as communication between the two can be confused and irritating, are more effective at hitting the streets rather than punching away on a keyboard. They ask bartenders, barflies, stevedores, and other representatives of the common man for information. A free drink here, a boastful story there, they start to build up a picture of the underworld hereabouts.

Neither of the rival gangs could even be charitably called good. For the more brutal are definitely the Downside Kings. They control several decks of Absalom Station's lower levels, or "Downside", through a combination of intimidation and violence. They are known to engage in every low-level crime imaginable, but also rise to arms trafficking, kidnapping, murder-for-hire, and trafficking in sentient species. Their opponents for the day, 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, prostitution, racketeering, and smuggling.

Hungry Xenomorph · Post by **Hungry Xenomorph** » Wed Dec 11, 2019 1:17 pm

Jalesh stands up from his chair and twists his head in a circular motion, the joints in his neck cracking loudly, he looks at the android, "I think we should keep prodding the streets, get a lay of the land and try to root out more information on the gangs, I think Quig would be better at getting information from those Corps, he is very good behind that screen after all, any one else agrees?"

Post by **ManWithDoor** » Sat Dec 21, 2019 12:55 am

No one raises any obvious objections, so that seems to be the plan, at least for the start. As more information rises to the surface, collaboration and consultation will definitely cause consideration of different plans of action.

Jalesh hits the streets more than prods them, using his intimidating prowess to make sure that people think at least thrice before lying to him. The rough section of town they are in turns out to be a gold mine of intel, given that the locals interact with these ruffians day-in and day-out. Most have been hustled or robbed, while others have done illegal business with them on occasion. Others are actually friends with specific members of the gangs. Regardless of what good or bad they have done as a whole, they're still just people. They have friends or old classmates, grocers they buy from, people they have randomly met and started up a conversation with. Absalom Station is a large city floating in the void of space, not a continent or entire world. There are a surprising number of connections between people here.

The Level 21 Crew is honestly known for their gang undertakings, including the thieving and smuggling and racketeering. But they have a reputation for taking care of those in their own territory, rather than constantly terrorizing them. You find that there are actually community events hosted by the Crew to bring commerce and people to Level 21, and you talk to neighbors that tolerate or straight-up (although tacitly) endorse their activities. You find splinter gangs or commercial collectives that have hired the Level 21 Crew to protect them, and the Crew always upheld the contract. Their grizzled ysoki leader, Jabaxa, is known to take his word seriously. After some generous drinks and repeated assurances that Jalesh isn't out to kill him, a drunk bar patron says that he heard directly from one of the Crew that their latest hiring out was for one of the corporations. He thinks it was the Hardscrabble Collective, but that doesn't make a whole ton of sense. After all, they're a multi-planetary commercial collective, with dozens if not hundreds of trade captains and miners to their name. What could a local gang do for them?

The Downside Kings on the other hand, live up to their public reputation for extortion, kidnapping, trafficking, and murder. Turnover among the Downside Kings' leadership is high, given the violent nature of their dealings. The locals in their territory are terrified of the Kings' leader - a barbarous human woman names Ferani Nadaz. The leadership seems lax in keeping their headquarters a secret, probably because anyone getting uppity ideas would soon find a bullet through their brain. The Downside Kings are known to use a nightclub called Fusion Queen as their HQ, and a front for their illegal activities.

Post by **Vardaen** » Tue Dec 24, 2019 3:15 pm

Quig sets to work on the digital end of things. He tackles the 'network', the computer collective on the station doing what we can to find public and private information on the gangs, on the local corps, including the Hardscrabble Collective once Jalesh mentions them. The Astral Extractions is also on his radar, he digs into them. While he's at it he doesn't forget to check into the Starfinders, any rogue operations, disgruntled workers, those sort of things. The news feeds are good places to start, then he drops into something they call the Black Holes a collection of dark web like sites that may or may not be accessible. Some where along the way he orders himself some pizza to be delivered, and finds himself playing a little video game before he returns to task....

KrowsNest · Post by **KrowsNest** » Tue Dec 24, 2019 5:13 pm

"Seek knowledge with the Hidden Truth! Eloritu accepts all, even those uncouth!"

DREAMS, in the same area as Quig, doesn't start by helping the rat-man. He actually starts by trying to sell copies of his religions bible to passerbys, talking about the amazement of his God, Eloritu. Of course, speaking in rhyme. Shockingly, he iss able to sell a few bibles to people actually interested in Eloritu now. Probably didn't help that he told a few of the rougher folk that the bible could hide guns inside it, only if they get read all the way through first!

After his little domination over the minds of new followers, DREAMS found himself drifting toward Quig's location, seeing the rat was playing video games. He sighs and holds up a finger, it opening up into a small hacking key, Tsk tsk, these video games are such a distraction. If you do not mind, DREAMS plugs the finger into a reader on the side, the reader accepting his key, I believe it is my turn to take action.

Post by **ManWithDoor** » Tue Dec 24, 2019 6:06 pm

Th bar you find yourselves in is a rough-and-tumble sort of place. Not a dreadful 'hive of scum and villainy' that might be found in the deeper depths of the Station, but more like a blue-collar working man's bar, with a number of tough looking customers. You notice that the furniture seems to either have been built to be sturdy, or has a number of patched breaks. Drunken brawls appear to be common, and the surroundings have paid a price over time.

The android breaks off from the group to begin extolling the virtues of Eloritu, the god of magic. Somewhat surprising for someone not technically a cleric, the technomancer is a devout evangelist for The Hidden Truth, explaining to all who will listen that technology may be a useful tool to understand the universe, but it is stagnated by the immutable laws of physics, and magic is the ultimate way of investigating and changing the universe. Some of the laborers down in the generators perk up at that thought, and take a copy out of curiosity. Some of the more obvious criminal types are interested in the gun-hiding aspect, although who knows? Perhaps they will receive some enlightenment in addition to hidden weapon compartments.

Despite their different approaches to the problem, both Quig and DREAMS also are successful in digging into the electronic networks of the Station with minute detail. The ysoki rolls in as an artist, following the flows of information systems, finding the holes where security is light, and subtly siphoning off that information into his own analytical database. DREAMS has a more direct route, brute-force hacking his desired targets, leaving chaotic tracking information, confusing any attempt to trace the intrusion back to its source. Regardless, they get the job done in record time.

Little else is added about the Hardscrabble Collective. Given their decentralized nature, information security isn't a high priority. Or even if it officially was, there is little ability to enforce such measures, so what is publicly known is what is privately happening. However, one piece of information holds your interest. Following the arrival of the Acreon, and Astral Extractions' subsequent 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 could be resolved.

Digging into the Starfinders themselves, they appear to have some excellent firewalls. Trying to get into the core servers is a task that would require some better hardware and closer access points than a dive bar can provide. However, they are a popular organization that have a great deal of published information that can be processed. The now-deceased Duravor Kreel was a midranking member of the Starfinder Society, widely associated with mineral prospecting, and mentoring new and prospective members. He wasn't just some bookish attache, but an active member of the community. His biography is as a native of the Diaspora, the diffuse asteroid belt between Verces and Eox. An outspoken champion of miners' rights, he fought large corporate interests that exploited people. A small section of public notification of possible Conflicts of Interest, you find that Kreel had personally invested money in the Hardscrabble Collective, routed through a cousin who was a member of the group. A later news story reveals that that cousin was later killed in a mining accident - the result of safety violations perpetrated by his contract employer - Astral Extractions.

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. Within the vaults of its servers, instructions are found following the arrival of the Acreon to secretly hire a violent Absalom Station street gang called the Downside Kings to 'coerce' the Hardscrabble Collective into abandoning its claims on the ship and the Drift Rock. Imbedded within those instructions are veiled but strong hints that the Downside Kings should kill any interfering parties, even Station officials or Starfinders, who might intervene in this matter.

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