[UW] Missing... [Allevard 2.3]

trevis

Allevard

The security officers take charge of your prisoner and one of them takes a report from you. What do you end up telling them and do you ask them to do anything special with the assassin?

Afterward you are walking through the crowds again, back to where you started. You see the second ambulance flyer still on the ground and medics packing up their gear. You haven't heard anything from Robynne.

What do you do?

Adam

I gave them the full rundown as I understand it... That I was discussing plans with Robynne and Terci when this gentleman tagged Terci with some kind of toxin, and fled the scene — I pursued, I caught him, he attacked me, I knocked him out, and here we are. I gave them my contact information, because I intend on pressing charges on behalf of TXR. Other than that, nothing special. They're officers of the peace — it's out of my hands.

I send a comm message out to Robynne.

Robynne — I caught the guy. He's in custody, and we'll be pressing charges. Where did you end up?

trevis

You see Terci’s bag on the ground near the bench where you left them.

Your comm pings.

Error. Your intended recipiant is not on the network. Please check the send code and try again.

Adam

At first, Terci's discarded bag only registers as unusual — but Robynne's comm being off the network sends a chill down my spine. I jog over to the bag, grab it, and double check Robynne's send code on my comm — just in the odd event Mr. Bézier decided to mess with my comms on a lark. I check it against the ship records, to make sure I'm not jumping to conclusions, then start looking for the nearest hospital — or maybe a sign of Terci.

trevis

It’s both her bags really, both her giant handbag and shopping bag she had in hand when she met up with you. The send code is good, it’s rotating with the ship’s clock as it’s supposed to.

“Know who that belongs to, Sai?”

The inquiry comes from a tall solid-looking young woman in a pale blue medic uniform. One of the ones packing in the gear.

“We were going to take it with, see.” She frowns, troubled. “It’s odd that the other ones didn’t take her belongings, with ‘em. Rooks, most like, but even so.”

Adam

I look over to the medic, and ponder all this a moment. "I do, yes. Did they say where they were headed?"

trevis

“They were flying before we hit dirt, Sai. Closest trauma is 5 minutes maybe, though they weren’t headed right direction for that. Could be needed somthing special, treatment wise.”

She looks you over.

“Can give you lift to the trauma if you like, it’s home base for us.”

Adam

That's troubling... Given the day we're having, I'm afraid going to the Trauma response will only put more distance between us — but since I'm already on the ground, and I really don't know where they were headed, that does seem like the best option. I send a message back to ship dispatch, in hopes that someone can help me locate Robynne and Terci... In the mean time, "Will they be able to point me in the right direction once I get there?"

trevis

“Aye, should, Sai.” the medic answers. “And I’ll check with dispatch too to see where they headed.

The ambulance is lifting off a few minutes later when Rajani comms you back.

“Last recorded position for their transponders or comms is in the Park, Captain. The signals went offline after that I’m afraid. Should we report it to the police?”

The medic, Shika, steps into the back from where she was calling into their dispatch system. Her expression is the one you imagine she wears when she has to tell some relative bad news.

Adam

Well shit... I should have known better than to run off and play hero. At least I caught the guy — if the police have him then we can subject him to questioning. "Let's do that. Terci was attacked by a man in the park, and may be in critical condition — I managed to catch him, and hand him off to the local authorities. Can you relay that information to them?"

By now the medic has returned to tell me what appears to be bad news... It's a good thing I've got a lot of experience in receiving it. I nod, and return to my comm call. "I think Mixter Archebelloch and miss Voxalter are in serious trouble... Can you connect me to the Duchess?"

trevis

“Yes, Sai. Give us a moment.”

When you look at her again, Shika speaks. “Dispatch says that bus wasn’t supposed to be there. We were assigned that call. They don’t know who they were, either. They had a ghosted transponder for a bus from across town.”

Rajani pipes back in.

“I’m putting you through, Sai. She took the call right away.” There is an undertone to the second statement.

“Captain? Have our plans changed?”

Adam

My knees bounce wildly with nervous energy, and disappointment spreads across my face when Shika fills me in. I bow my head graciously, and hold up a finger when the Duchess' call goes through. I'll admit I'm quite surprised that she took it on the spot — though maybe I shouldn't be.

"I'm afraid I'm not sure, Duchess... A pair of my crew were attacked and abducted in the park today — I managed to track and capture one assailant, but apparently he was working with a team. I was hoping I could get your assistance in locating them."

trevis

Shkia’s eyes go a little wide. Are you really talking to who she thinks your are talking to?

There is a pause.

“Of course, Captain. I will deploy Kali and some of my security personnel to help immediately, and make sure local authorities make this a priority. Do you have any other suggestions? Is this related to our previous incident?”

This with constitute a debt to the Soyinka family/Mayaran government, Allevard.

Adam

OOC: That's what I thought. I'm good with that!

I try not to pay any mind to Shika for the moment, instead giving my full attention to the call. "Thank you, Duchess — I'm in your debt. A proper questioning of the assailant I captured, and an analysis of his brainbox may have some telling details. Beyond that, there was an ambulance with a ghosted transponder that may have more information — presuming it can be tracked." I pause when she asks if this is related to the attack on the Thousand Blessings... "I sincerely hope not, but I suppose it would be premature to rule it out entirely — anything else would certainly be coincidental."

trevis

"Indeed. I think we must assume some connection until proven otherwise. I have no idea to what extent we've been infiltrated."

"Very well, Captain. I'm giving you special access as my personal agent. If anyone should question you, have them run the confirmation. I'll have one of my best tech analysts go with Kali and her team. You'll have information within the hour. And Captain..." Her voice softens a little. "Be careful."

Adam

I smile at the thought of Soyinka breaking character for me — and try not to soften my voice, for fear of our medic friend starting up a rumor mill. "Of course, Duchess — and thank you again. I'll be in touch as soon as possible."

trevis

The call disconnects.

"I guess this is uh... higher level than I thought." Shika says a wry twist to her mouth.

Her partner comes over the speaker. "Touchdown in a minute, sweetheart."

Shika rolls her eyes. "Not your sweetheart, Gos." She says loudly in response. "Jerk" She says in a low voice, then looks at you again.

"Figure you can talk to dispatch and they can tell you anything we have that might help." She pauses a moment. "You told, um... Her Grace, that two of your crew went gone, yeah? You promised to one of them?"

Adam

I take a moment to regain composure, and process what needs to be done before Shika interjects to lighten the mood. I smirk, and nod — "me too." I sit back up, and return to the moment when she starts asking about Robynne and Terci. I have to process what she means by "promised", then I notice the confetti and glitter stuck to my jacket... Oops. "Oh. Uh, I suppose I am, technically... It was a bit of cultural ignorance on both our parts, I'm afraid — we just thought we were dancing, and partaking in the festivities. Unless my crewmate is harboring feelings unbeknownst to me, I presume the wedding has already been called off."

I chuckle nervously, "thanks for your help, by the way — I'd probably still be at the festival, confused if not for your assistance." I send a ping to Robynne's comm, just in case...

If you can see this — we're coming.

trevis

Shika smiles, slightly flushed, and shrugs, looking a bit relieved, perhaps.

"Glad to help, what I can, Sai." She says. "But I think you've seen plenty, right? You're a TXR ship captain. You'd have figured it out."

You're pretty sure you didn't say who you worked for. And you know there isn't a field office on this planet. Shika fiddles her hands a bit.

"Always wanted to go to space. You seen a lot?"

You can feel the shift as the craft begins descent.

Adam

That's... Curious. I suppose I look surprised when she pins the company I work for cold. "Lots. How did you know I'm a TXR captain?"

trevis

Shika shrugs

"Cultural ignorance." She smirks. " Offworld accent, core systems if I'm any judge. You sound just like Gabriel Caro on Love and Honor." Her color deepens a bit with the admission that she follows slightly trashy melodrama. She smiles "Kind of look like xir too."

Do you?

She continues. "News about a week ago was that the Duchess going to be coming here on a TXR prototype ship. Angelique Tessalt's new design, they said. And you just talked to Her Grace, and she called you Captain. What are the odds?"

"I'm... kind of a space nerd. I love Tessalt's work. Unfortunately this" She taps a machine attached to the wall. "is probably the closest I'll get to a real Tessalt. It's a nice design but it's no starship."

You feel the ambulance land. Shika stands.

Adam

Wow. I... Uh... Hmm. I suppose I do sort of look like xir — if not for the beard. "There's no shame in that. Trashy melodramas are pretty much the only entertainment signal that makes it into the outer reaches — settlers love it, for some reason. I did so many runs out there in my early days that I think I could recite the entirety of the first 3 seasons of Love and Honor by heart."

I smile as we touch down, "Aren't you a clever one? I suppose there's no hiding it then... You've figured me out. As you may have noticed, I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment unfortunately — but I would consider it a tragedy if someone as keen as yourself would go their entire life without the opportunity to step foot on an original Tessalt. If you'll give me your number, I'll guarantee you a personal tour of The Thousand Blessings before we leave the system."

trevis

Shika's eyes widen and she grins, excited like a kid on the Emperor's birthday.

"Really? I was just hoping for, you know, a drink, since you're not engaged and all. But that would be, just... amazing!"

She holds her hand out to transfer the comm code to you. It's sideways, like you would when shaking hands, except instead of gripping the hand, your hands stay flat, fingers just over the pulse point of the wrist, triggering the data transfer.

"Now let's see what we can find out."

She leads you off the ambulance. Her partner says something to her, gives you a dark look. She just shoves his shoulder.

She leads you from the landing pad, crowded with several emergency vehicles, into the building and after some twists and turns you find yourself in the dispatch center. The room is ringed in consoles, not unlike a larger ship, with a larger holo display in the center table console.

She moves to one of the half-dozen operators, a young man with a medium-dark complexion and piercing black eyes and after a few minutes of discussion, introduces you.

Tejas, as she calls him, leads you over to the larger holo table and after a few moments of punching keys the holo display, showing the whole city at first, zooms into the park and shows a glowing line in the air recording the trajectory in and out of the suspect vehicle.

"After it takes off the transponder goes offline, but it was headed south when contact was lost." He finishes.

Adam

I smile back, caught up in her enthusiasm, "drinks can be arranged after the tour." Part of me is curious to check out her profile. See who this woman is... Finding Robynne and Terci takes priority though — every second I waste will make it harder to find them.

I follow her down the hall and into the central dispatch room. I listen to Tejas' recap of the situation, and send the information back to ship dispatch so they can coordinate with the Duchess' people, and bring Rajani into a call. "Can we get access to satellite imagery of the area? It'd be nice to have eyes on them if we can get it..."

trevis

Shika looks at Tejas.

Tejas nods and he punches some buttons. The satellite imagery comes up, the trajectories superimposed, the satellite timestamps matching the trajectories. "It's not the high end feeds, of course, that stuff is classified."

Once the transponder goes offline the ambulance still gets lost in the mass of traffic.

Rajani suggests using your new access to access the high-end planetary security imagery as well as signals recording. Once Tejas has that punched in you find that that ambulance is still lost after the transponder drops out.

Ater about another fifteen minutes of analysis with the four of you pouring through imagery and signals traffic, Rajani speaks up.

"Captain, we do have one unaccounted low-level signal roughly on that trajectory. It looks like a maintenance signal for an intubator."

"Those are TXR manufacture. Tessalt, remember?" Shika says. "Like the one I showed you earlier."

Adam

Damn it... I need to think. This is a lot of information to keep straight. I tap Tejas on the shoulder, "Do you have a free terminal? I'd like to remote into my system on the ship and run some analysis of the raw data — I've got some astrometric algorithms for tracking moving bodies that might prove useful here. Rajani, can you put that data in the shared space for me?"

trevis

They get you set up and Rajani transfers the data to the share as you asked. I'm going to say that between their access and support from Kali's team you have two data points to spend how you choose.

It's not really a question of if you find Robynne at this point, but when. This is data analysis so you'll roll Expertise

Adam

OOC: Let's spend 1 data point now. Rolling+Expertise+1dp
(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 5, 3. Total: 11)

trevis

With the team and you especially working on data analysis it becomes clear very quickly The TXR intubator signal is aboard your missing ambulance and it was activated deliberately, it gives you the path. The ambulance went to the facilites of a relatively new company in the Mayaran system, Imani Biomedical.

Just as you've pinned that down Rajani routes Kali through to you.


"Captain." She says with a stiff formality but it's hard for her to keep the hostility out of her eyes. "We have partial information on location, but I hear you've already discovered it. We did also get force disposition. These people have 19 combatants, Void Waster operatives. There are also a small number of doctors and technicians."

Adam

It's been a long time since I've sat down and ground through a bunch of data manually like that... I was pleasantly surprised to see my code hadn't rotted across the many system upgrades from my old scout ship to the brand-spanking-new Thousand Blessings. I sit back in my chair, and flick open the comm to Kali when it comes in. I don't honestly care what she feels about me — I'm caught up in finding my crewmates.

"Ninteen people," I repeat, scratching my chin. The Thousand Blessing crew is combat trained, in that they carry weapons in the event of a boarding; but breaching and clearing a defended compound is not something written into their contracts, and I don't want to throw any of their lives away aimlessly. "Thank you, Kali..." I need another favor — but mobilizing a task force while we still have time and the element of surprise? That's the job of a diplomat.

I open up a private comm to Rajani, "Can you get me a direct line to her Imperial Highness?"

trevis

Allevard.

Rajani pings you back a few moments later with the line. Please go here

trevis

-- End Scene--