Tunnel Scum and the Cyberdudes

The crew get recruited for a job by Rajani and Piani runs into some trouble in the Vinayan slums

Detailed Summary
The date is January 2, 3201. Mr. Sicarian had just defeated Titan in a duel and then left the party after rejoining the Pfotenhauer Society as their military leader. The crew are now on Cabral trying to find a replacement for their newly vacant position.

Odette Rainier
Piani Pic can't believe what Odette Rainier has just told her. First that she had been seeing Pi for the past couple of days and that she made the right decision to leave Pi with the crew. And then she went on to say that Pi is beyond Piani's capabilities. Not being able to take it anymore, Piani flips out and tells Odette that the only reason as to why Pi is there is because Piani unbroke them and that the only reason as to why Pi is able to walk is because Piani made them a body. Piani then asks Odette who she thinks she is to tell her what is best for Pi. Odette responds that it would be best to leave Pi in Piani's care but that it may also be dangerous because the Perimeter Agency is looking to destroy them. [Agent Meyer on Elouahabu was the only known member of the Perimeter Agency that the crew has come in contact with so far.] Odette goes on to say that the Perimeter Agency has the tools and equipment necessary to track down the Swan Song and that their goal is to eliminate any unbroken AI in the sector. Piani ends the conversation by saying that she knew the risks when she unbroke Pi and that she doesn't need a lecture because the crew is ready for any risk that may befall them.

It takes the crew 13 days to travel from the Forrughi System, past Asa, and into the Geaxi System. While refueling on Asa, the crew spends an extra day to shop and fill up on supplies. Wilbur Higgins III restocks his grenade count by purchasing a hefty 40 grenades. Erik Fretheim attempts to find meta-focal grenades but is unable to do so as they are TL5 and Asa is only TL4.

Alpharius
Vinaya is the home of ~1 million people. It is most famously known for having a black market containing anything one desires. Vinaya also has the closest resemblance to Earth throughout the whole sector due to it's agriculture, climate, and wildlife. The crew arrive in-system and head to a nearby recruitment center. They step into a waiting room and inside is a single man sitting on a bench. This man has cybernetic implants everywhere. He has an artificial glowing blue eye, prosthetic tubing running through his throat [that makes it so you can see any liquids going down it], and a hologram projector which creates both a blue mohawk on the top of his head as well as a red beard coming off his jaw. The 6'3", 235 pound man stands up and introduces himself in a deep, glacial voice as Alpharius. Erik then introduces himself and in a completely different, extremely high-pitched voice, Alpharius tells Erik that it is nice to meet him. The room goes silent and Alpharius looks a little surprised as to what just happened. He then explains to the crew [in a western accent] that he's had a lot of recent modifications and that he apologizes for his voice. Piani asks what he is good at and Alpharius responds that he is skilled with projectile weaponry and that he has flown many different kinds of aircraft. Higgins asks if he has any issues with Blue Fever or if he has some kind of duel to the death planned for the future and Alpharius tells Higgins that he does not. Alpharius then says that he is from Andoni and asks the crew if they have heard of what recently happened to the planet. Higgins says yes and then quickly changes the subject, asking if he can call Alpharius, Alphie. Alpharius tells Higgs that he can call him whatever he wants.

Rajani
The crew arrives at the building where they had scheduled a meeting with Rajani Van Dorne. They go up to the third floor and notice everyone is wearing fancy clothing and expensive jewelry. A very nice-looking Rajani stands up and begins to walk towards the crew. Every eye in the room is looking at her. She is wearing a beautiful green Saree and has a gold chain that starts from her nose and goes up into her very exquisite hair-style. She shakes Higgins' hand and says that it is nice to see him. Higgins looks around and says to Rajani that she has been moving up in the world. Rajani and the crew then sit down at a table and Higgins begins the conversation by introducing Alpharius. Alpharius extends out his hand and when Rajani doesn't take it, he calls her a bitch, realizes that he said that out loud, and then temporarily retires himself to the restroom. Used to Higgins' shit, Rajani ignores the whole situation and mentions that she has been doing quite well for herself now that she is in her new position and that she would like to repay the crew by offering them a job. She explains that the Madari Syndicate has been having problems with the Purity Initiative as of late and that she was able to intercept a transmission about one of their inner-circle members planning on going to Onintza. She then tells the crew that she wants them to pretend that they are there to pick up this person when they are in fact going to bring them back to Rajani on Vinaya. She explains that he is scheduled to be picked up in two weeks and that they will receive 30,000 credits as well as any traveling expenses for doing the mission for her. Higgins tells Rajani that they will need to overhaul the Swan Song to make it look like a transport vessel made to pick up a reputable person and Rajani agrees to pay for any expenses for the overhaul.

The scene fades into drones working on the outside of the ship. Even just a couple hours in, the ship looks to be a lot less like a piece of shit cargo ship, and a lot more like a respectable passenger ship. Higgins walks up to the man overseeing the overhaul of the ship [Johansson], and says that he'd like to put his face on the side of the ship. Unsure of what to do, Johansson takes multiple photos of Higgins and then says that he will do his best to get that taken care of.

Piani's Cybernetic Eye
Attempting to get someone to take a closer look at her cybernetic eye, Piani resorts to going down to the shady part of Vinaya. There is steam coming out of pipes and metal planks everywhere. Piani walks by multiple people who have various limbs cut off that are replaced with crappy cybernetics and many shops close as she passes by them. Finally Piani turns the corner and spots the place where she had been sent to. She however feels uneasy about three shady figures standing near the entryway to the building. Piani uses 'Omen' to determine if she will be under physical or mental duress within the next couple of minutes and Adam tells her that she should have used Omen a long time ago. Piani immediately turns around and starts running out of there as fast as she can. The three men pull blades and give chase.

In a high-speed montage, Piani is seen running back the way she came. Going through steam tunnels, jumping over junkies, ducking underneath metal gang-planks as the three men behind her attempt to catch her... Eventually, Piani is able to lose the three men as she runs all the way back to the Swan Song. Piani is furious that she was set up and so after catching her breath, she goes into everyone's rooms and convinces/orders them to follow her back to where she had originally saw the three men. Higgins begins to argue but Piani tells him to shut up, and that she is the captain for the next hour, before storming out of his room. Alpharius asks Higgins if he should do as Piani says and Higgins tells him that he guesses so because she's the captain now. Alpharius' beard and hair projection turn into the bottom and top of a skull as he leaves to follow Piani.

The crew walk through the same sets of streets until they eventually find themselves back at the spot where Piani had originally seen the three shady men, except instead of three people being there, there are now six. The leader of the enemies spots the crew and with his iron teeth and crackling green blade, he charges the party with his goons close at foot.

Battle
With the six enemies still huddled together, Higgins attempts to throw a grenade into the middle of the bunch to deal massive damage. Unfortunately, his grenade bounces off of a piece of metal in the ceiling and explodes in the middle of the party. Piani was able to use 'Terminal Reflection' to back up just in time from the grenade hitting her and Alpharius has such dense cyber-ware that he is uninjured from the grenade blast. Higgins and Erik both take damage from the grenade but not enough to severely injure either of them.

As the enemy rushes towards the party, Alpharius uses his knife and slashes at the enemy leader. Seeing this, one of the other enemies pulls out his gun and shoots Alpharius in the side. While still engaged in melee combat with the enemy leader, Alpharius pulls out a stored-away gun in his chest cavity and fires two bullets in the chest and one in the head of the man who had just shot at him. While Alpharius is doing his actions, one of the enemy goons ends up slashing Higgins with his knife. In retaliation, Higgins attempts to shoot the man but he is too close in proximity to get anything more than a graze. Erik uses his psychic abilities to quickly bring his spike thrower from his side into his hands as he fires at the nearest enemy causing his guts to impale on the opposite wall. Piani then uses her laser rifle to deal with the man who was engaged with Higgs. Seeing his party members die in battle, the last enemy disengages from the fight and runs towards an exit. Not wanting the man to escape, Erik uses his telekinetic powers to float a grenade over to him and pull the pin causing the grenade to explode and the man to get knocked down to the ground. Alpharius then does a Terminator-walk over to the still partially-alive man. The man drops his gun and starts rapidly talking in an unknown language but before any other actions take place, Piani aims down-sight and shoots the man in the head. Satisfied, Piani then walks over to the door that she had previously come down here for and gives it a knock.

Crew Status

 * Alpharius recruited

Ship Status

 * Hull Integrity:

Criminal Activities

 * New Crime:

Business

 * Credits Acquired:
 * Credits Spent:
 * Jobs In Progress:
 * Jobs Completed:
 * Debt Increased:
 * Debt Paid Off On Swan Song:
 * Current Debt On Swan Song: