Cast of Characters (I-Con Squad):
Icond (INIS Squad Leader)
-Character Reactions (SOLO 2E p.36): Ignores Col. Janice Middleton.
Janice Mehlberg (Imperium Marine Colonel-Retired)
-Character Reactions (SOLO 2E p.36): Rival of Icond.
Chance Morgenstern (INIS Agent-Retired)
-Character Reactions (SOLO 2E p.36): Admires Dr. Slager.
Dr. Merrick Slager (Scholar/Team Doctor-Retired)
-Character Reactions (SOLO 2E p.36): Secretly hates Col. Janice.
Ritch Duhart (INIS Agent-Retired)
-Character Reactions (SOLO 2E p.36): Inseparable buddy of Chance.
…..............
Operation Grievance: Where Do We Go From Here
Resources from DriveThruRPG:
Cepheus Light [7th Edition]; SOLO 2E; One Page Solo Engine; SciFi Solo RPG Game Master Emulator
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System: Abin
Setting: Veiled Vices
The Mission: Chance Debriefing
Chance is brought back to Veiled Vices unharmed with only a few bruises to his ego. He enters the tavern and spots his compatriots at the back of the establishment. He also notices a group of Throttle Kings watching his every move. As he sits down, Chance goes into character and tells the group he wasn't able to cut a deal due to not being able to confirm if the medallion is a genuine artifact or a fake. The Icond Squad members detect Chance's is acting in character as an antiquities buyer. The group also recognizes they are being carefully monitored by the TKs. Chance orders a drink from a waiter and the group makes unrelated small talk with the hopes that the TKs will lose interest in their conversations. After about fifteen minutes, a large and older TK member gets up and approaches the group. "Hey, tough luck on your failed deal. That Sarosh is a piece of work, isn't he?" The TK member's tone and question takes the Icond Squad members a little by surprise. The undercover cop taps Icond's leg under the table, and Icond understands the unspoken warning to be careful with this particular TK. "Yeah, he sure is" was Chance's reply, thick with a tone of disgust and disdain. The TK member continues, "I have a proposition if you are interested." The group is taken back by the statement with Chance nodding his acceptance. "If you're interested in some other valuable antiquities, I can hook you up." The TKs offer to deal with the Icond Squad confirms their real identities are intact for the moment. Icond takes over the conversation from Chance. "We might be interested. Who are you?" "Call me Tiny." The group members all chuckle, including Tiny. The TK member’s demeanor is friendly, and the group believes it to be genuine.
Tiny grabs an unoccupied chair sitting nearby, and pulls it up to the group's table and makes himself at home. He fills them in on the details of some ancient artifacts he is seeking to unload. These artifacts are local to the Abin system and were acquired illegally from an archaeologist dig in a remote part of the planet. Artifacts of this kind are usually found only in museums, but a few corrupt archaeologists have been selling off their finds on the black market to private collectors. As the conversation progresses, the group discovers that the medallion they are looking for was found in a nearby archaeological dig site. The medallion was actually discovered by an honest archaeologist and was in fact given to a museum located in Dakala. A few months back, an unaffiliated thief had broken into the museum and stole the medallion. The Throttle Kings heard about the theft, and subsequently located the thief who was operating in TK territory. After a very short "negotiation," the thief gave up the medallion and his life to the TKs. From everything Tiny has told them, the group understood clearly that Tiny was directly involved. The Icond Squad also surmises that Tiny likely has ties to the gentlemen collector who Chance negotiated with at the abandoned warehouse.
Icond expresses his interest in dealing with Tiny, and they all agree to meet in the near future. Tiny stands up and says, "When you're ready to deal, let the barkeep know you want to meet with me. He'll let you know where you can find me. DO NOT go to Sarosh. In fact, don't say anything to that loser wannabe." The contempt for Sarosh in Tiny's voice was unmistakable.
The group lingers at the tavern for a short time, and realizes they are still being monitored closely by one of the TKs. Icond decides to wait for a debrief with Chance, and the group members decide to call it a night a few hours later. The undercover cop leaves ahead of the Icond Squad and returns to his undercover residence. The Icond Squad waits for about 45 minutes before returning to their residence. The group is tailed by a vehicle which is making no attempt to disguise its purpose of surveillance. Is it the TKs or someone else? Fortunately the group has already established an undercover residence in a nearby neighborhood where Abin agents are monitoring the entire block.
Icond and the group are able to debrief Chance at the undercover residence. Chance believes he may be able to locate the abandoned warehouse which he is sure is located at the Dakala Starport. The gentleman antiquities collector more than likely has ties to the warehouse. Chance is sure he is connected to a local Megacorp. A real possibility due to the gentleman's appearance, mannerism, and Chance's eight years of experience working with Megacorp types as an Imperial Agent on Khartago [Verge]. Purchasing the medallion is no longer an option. Stealing or destroying it appears to be the only viable option. Making a deal with Tiny is secondary, but now necessary in order to maintain cover. The group decides to investigate the gentleman antiquities dealer first.
Make A Plan: Fool Proof 6+/Safe [apply DMs based on successful Investigate Skill checks]
GM Notes:
Chance, Ritch, and Icond are successful with their skill checks, so a DM +3 for plan resolution. I used the OPSE tool to find out how long it takes the group to research the gentleman selling the medallion.
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Story Narrative:
The group discusses their options over breakfast. Icond believes an investigation of the abandoned warehouse will probably not yield much, and it will take time to find out which building, and then time to conduct an investigation at the site. It could also draw unwanted attention if the warehouse is being watched and the group is spotted snooping around. Ritch suggests doing a little research on the computer to see what Megacorps are located on Abin, especially facilities located near the starport. Chance suspects the gentleman seller is a high-level official with a Megacorp. If not, then surely he's a wealthy local businessperson or nobility. Icond and the rest of the group think it shouldn't be too difficult to find out the identities of the wealthy citizens in Dakala, so the group opens up their computer devices and gets cracking.
After about two hours of extensive computer searches, Ritch spots a person of interest. He shows a screenshot of an individual to Chance, and Chance affirms the identity of the person pictured on the device screen. His name is Enki Zen, the CEO of Zollo Biotech-SLM (Subsector Level Megacorp). Zollo Biotech maintains a state of the art manufacturing and export facility which is located in the Dakala Starport complex. Zollo Biotech is a pharmaceutical company specializing in Anagathic and Medicinal Metabolic Accelerator drugs. Chance continued the research, and he was able to identify several residential properties of Enki Zen in various locations on Abin.
Icond makes contact with Abin officials and briefs them on what they have discovered. He asks if they have any additional information about Enki Zen that may be beneficial, including any known residential preferences. Abin officials send some additional information to Icond. It turns out that Abin officials have been watching Enki Zen closely over the last year. While there is no evidence of illegal activities, Abin officials suspect Enki may be involved in the rare antiquities black market. Enki's love for antiquities is well known, but unfortunately Abin officials never suspected that Enki Zen could be involved in the theft of the medallion. His wealth, power, and status on Abin gave officials the sense that Enki Zen was beyond reproach. The Icond Squad's report has them rethinking their original assessment of him. The powerful CEO's remote country estate is where his most prized pieces are located, and this estate is located on a remote continent on the other side of the planet. The group decides it's time to take a trip, but the first course of action is to gather intelligence and formulate a plan.
GM Notes:
I will utilize SOLO, OPSE, and the Solo RPG GME tools to flesh out the details surrounding Enki Zen's country estate.
Story Narrative:
The group conducts research and discovers several details. A small continent is located on the other side of the planet. Called Ecroya, this small continent is controlled by a collective of Megacorps under the name of Triad. The Triad government is an oligarchy ruled by a council made up of members of the three respective Megacorps that operate on Abin. Each Megacorp has one board member that makes up the ruling council. The Triad Leadership Trio manages Ecroya as a Megacorp entity. The actual effort required to govern is minimal since citizenship on the continent is reserved for only employees of each Megacorp. The estates located on the continent are populated by Megacorp elites like CEOs, CFOs, and major shareholders. A single small city (Antalas) is located on Ecroya where low-level Megacorp employees provide manpower and services that cater to the elites who live on the various estates scattered across Ecroya. Crime is almost non-existent on the continent, except within the city of Antalas. Even that is minimal when compared to the rest of Abin.
Information about Enki's estate is fairly easy to access. Defeating its security systems will not be easy. The residence on the small estate sits on a sizable piece of acreage with armed security as well as the latest in video, biotech, and robot security. There is a tree-lined main road that leads to the front of the residence, and two small service roads that exit out the back. All access roads are gated and monitored. A 5 meter high stone wall extends around the residence enclosing about 2 acres of the 50 acre estate. The remaining 48 acres is surrounded by an electronic fence with sensors that alerts central security when compromised. Frequent animal crossings have caused security to be a little lax with the numerous e-fence breach alerts. These false alarms have made security personnel a bit complacent lately.
The 5 meter high stone wall surrounding the residence has cameras and sensors interlaced along its entire length, so it is impossible to avoid detection without a way to defeat the sensors. Any loss of power or sensor failure triggers a silent alarm. These alerts will also trigger a security team (humanoid/robotoid) with swift response times. Emergency generators are designed to instantly switch on when power from the main supply source is down or cut. These emergency generators are equipped with high-tech passive power sensors that will detect any loss of emergency power generation capability. Any sabotage of the main power supply and/or emergency generators will trigger the activation of security robotoids programmed to seek and destroy any intruders who are not carrying e-Identification sensors on their persons.
Any entrance into the 2 acre compound will require programmed e-ID sensor devices specifically keyed for Enki's estate. These will be extremely difficult to acquire, but not impossible. The group will need to obtain at least low-level Megacorp employees credentials in order to even set foot on Ecroya. Access to the estates will require higher credential security passes to even leave the city of Antalas and get access to the roads that lead to the wealthy estates outside of the city.
The Icond Squad is qualified to act as an infiltration team that will penetrate Enki's estate and recover the medallion. Abin Security Services can get them all of the equipment and supplies needed to breach the estate's security and make entrance into the residence. The only thing working against them all is time. Does Enki Zen still possess the medallion?
GM Notes:
I decided to make some checks using my solo gaming tools to see if the medallion is in fact being kept at Enki Zen's country estate. It turns out that something unexpected has developed. More on that next time!
Up Next: An unexpected twist!
***AI images generated through https://perchance.org/generators
