Duplicity

A valet asked if they have papers and if they were staying permanently. Flea smiled at him warmly and said it was indeed a permanent stay. The guard rattled off a script and handed them papers. They were to be at the designated place in four hours.

The party looked around and saw well-kept vehicles. Houses were made of brick and corrugated steel. People are wandering around minding their own business. The road was a mix of dirt and stone and the air smelled of cigar and industrial smoke.

Sakiran asks what this place was. Jaxon told her that this was Bastion. Flea added that this was the place where Nyra wanted to meet them. They saw people hawking goods and sitting under cover selling junk. They then came to a red sign signalling a bathhouse. Sakiran bolted in, relieved, and the receptionist asked her for 2 rands. Sakiran turned to the party and asks what a rand is. Jaxon comped her and she was handed a key with 21 on it. The rest of the party also took baths and they walked out, having cleansed themselves.

The street had a lot of shuttered buildings. Jaxon was able to recall where they are, so he lead the party over to the Market Street. It smelled of a mix of smoke, fried food and incense. There were criers handing out samples and flyers, with people taking them and walking off.

Guards were spaced out every so often in groups of two. They looked relaxed and talking with locals. They saw a shop called Bigg Jane's Imports and another called Colton's Arms and Armour. The party walk into Colton's shop and he was a half elf dressed in cowboy gear. He greeted them with a howdy. Flea greeted him and placed a flamethrower on the counter to sell. He haggled up to 65 rands. He negotiated a deal on purchasing a shotgun. Flea asked where the normal clothes shop is. Colton tells him that Bigg Jane's has clothes.

Leoric went in to see Colton after him and they greeted each other with a howdy. Leoric told him he had supplies and blades. He asked what he reckoned. Colton directed him to Iron Heart or Tiny Jim's since he only dealt with guns and armour. Sakiran was greeted by a boy with a box full of cereal balls and a tray giving out free samples. She took one and he said it's five rands a box. She told him she doesn't have any money and he moved cheerfully on to the next person.

Inside Bigg Jane's, they saw it was garishly decorated in various shades of pinks and unclean drapes. Jane highlighted her assets with a tight corset and she was generously sized, with powdered makeup and overdone curls. Flea had a look around, allowing Pog to go over to her. She found his "child" endearing and gave him a sugar ball. She had potions, clothes, artifacts from the tribes. Jaxon and Sakiran enter and are assaulted by the scent. Sakiran saw the artifacts from the tribes. They were from Birlik, Khemisa and Sakti.

She beckons the pair over. Sakiran asked where she got the tribal things from. She said they came in about four years ago. There was someone who came in with a big sword and swagger. Sakiran asked if he gave his name, believing it to be Zairan. Jane confirmed that he did not.

Leoric went to Iron Heart's. It was a dimly lit workshop with racks of prosthetics, hot and stifling. There was a hulking figure and a slender one inside. Leoric asked who was in charge. The hulking one respondsed. Almost his entire body was augmented, with black skin that had been grafted on. Leoric said he has some machine parts. The hulking one inspected it and offer 50 rands for all of it. The hulking figure explained that it was part of the old machinery and that they get them all the time. Leoric pulled out the dimly lit power cell. The hulking figure lit up and agreed to sell it for 180. He said if he ever lost a limb to come back. He offered the power cell to the slim figure, Rahani, and they walked away and started talking. Leoric pivoted on his heel and walked back in again after realising he forgot something. He was talking with the slender woman, not really moving but wearing a black jumpsuit. He turned around again and acknowledges Leoric. He says he's in the market for optics. The hulking man produces a drawer of many optics, from 100 to 5000 rands. Leoric thanked him and headed back out.

Sakiran was handing papers to Jaxon and asking what each one says. Jaxon put his foot down and says Sakiran must learn to read Common after he is done. She decided to head to Tiny Jim's store. He was chasing four humans out of his store with a giant wrench. Sakiran asked if he needs protection and he said no. She asked how else she can make money. He ushered them in and asked if they want to kill someone. She asked what he did. Tiny Jim said that he stole from him. Sakiran agreed.

Tiny Jim tells him that the guy tried to rob him last night. He drew a picture of a very long haired man and handed it to her. He said he'll pay 250 rands. Jaxon took issue with the fact that Sakiran so readily agreed to kill a man for stealing. Sakiran argued that it was a fair punishment and if it was in the tribes he would have been killed the first time. Tiny Jim said he would be there until midnight. If they killed him, they were to show him where the body is - if he just disappeared, no one will miss him.

They walked out and see humans looking shifty. One came over to them. He told the party that Tiny Jim is a psycho. They walk off. The closest alley was behind his shop. They tried to track his movements. Flea noticed tracks that trail off and followed them. They saw a dumpster that had been opened up with a roof. There was a man in there that matched the description. Sakiran asked if his name was Alan and if he had been stealing. He confirmed that he was as Flea put him to sleep. Leoric checks for an ID card, but he didn't have any. Sakiran noted that killing him would be doing him a favour because of his pitiful state. Jaxon and Leoric were horrified at the suggestion. After a discussion on the merits of killing him, Flea told Pog to kill. He stabbed viciously and starts eating the remains.

Flea whispered a few words and he took the form of the homeless man. He wandered back to Tiny Jim's. Tiny Jim looked up and greets him and asked what he wanted this time. Flea hovered his hand over something. He threw a bolt at him and accosted him for trying to steal again. Jaxon asked Flea how it went. Flea confirmed they had killed the right person. They led Tiny Jim to the body. He took something from the body and threw rands at them. Jaxon told Sakiran that this was not a good way to make money as Tiny Jim headed back to the shop.

Jaxon told the party that they need to look for Nyra. Sakiran remembered that they were told to head to a bar with a sign with a pig on it. They head down into it after some walking over to the canal. They saw in the middle a large arena, where someone with a harness was fighting a hologram. The bar was grimy with different taps of alcohol and the walls are corrugated steel. Sakiran was relieved to see the arena and wandered over to get a better look.

Flea asked the bartender for a redhead who wanted an Elvish bitter. The bartender banged on the door behind him. He told Flea to go into the back as Jaxon followed him. Sakiran saw someone put a vest on and get onto the arena. She turned to the person next to her and asked how to compete. She was told to put 5 rands into the pot and try. Leoric bet 50 rands on her. Sakiran picked up the weapon and donned the vest. Sakiran selected Very High difficulty as three holograms materialised. She won effortlessly.

Flea and Jaxon walked in and saw Nyra with a huge, hulking man with augmented arms. She greeted them warmly. Flea told him they took so long because they were taking care of the half-orc. Nyra laid down the ground rules. If anyone tells anyone, they would kill them. Jaxon looked over at Flea when she asked about explosives. Nyra told them they are going to storm the capital and kill everyone inside. She wanted to bring the central pillar down. She warned them that if they get caught, she could not help them. Nyra told them the password was changing to skull whiskey.

Nyra asked how much Jaxon and Flea know about their plans. She understood the half-elf joining them, but why was the human joining them? Jaxon looked down and said he just wound up there. He'd rather not get into how. Nyra leaned into him and showed her SMG. She asked what he is doing there, and did he really think they wouldn't recognise him as a noble?

Flea goaded him as Jaxon stammered. The massive figure folded his arms as he looks down on him. Nyra's hand drifted to her SMG. Jaxon said how he got kicked out wasn't important. Nyra told him that they can't trust him and he would always be part of the nobility. He never had to suffer or go hungry.

Jaxon recounted that he was arrested, and that was how he met Flea. Nyra brought out two chairs and rope. They forced Flea and Jaxon onto a chair each and tied them both up. Nyra said she wants to know as soon as those two showed up, they were exposed in the trade market. Flea said it was Jaxon. Nyra picked up a knife and held it up. She told them that they had killed someone who was key to the operation and sabotaged their entire work. Jaxon told her that she told them to come here. Nyra asked why they thought that was. She laughed and kicked Flea in the stomach. A man in a brown apron brandished a hot iron. He asked Flea where he is from. They were more concerned about Flea - thinking he is a Gratus spy.

Flea answered that he was abandoned at birth and raised by an elf who taught him to seduce and sing and dance. The torturer didn't believe him. He jams a hot iron into his leg and holds it there as Flea screamed. He turned to Jaxon and asks why he is trying to infiltrate. He says he isn't, as the torturer brought the hammer down on his knee. The torturer urged them to tell the truth and he could stop. Flea told him that he was raised in squalor and he joined. He blamed his son, Pog. Flea used words of terror on the interrogator. He backed away in fear. Flea summoned joyful Pog after pointing out that he was behind them. He decided to have Pog attack the massive man, trying to break free.

Meanwhile, Sakiran and Leoric are musing how long it took the pair. They decided to go and search for them and asked the bartender. The bartender asked what it's worth to her. She asked if she saw how well she fought and if she would have to use those skills to get information out of him. He pointed to the back and Sakiran and Leoric walk to the door. They saw the door was closed and locked. They heard Pog screeching. Sakiran broke the door down with Finisher. Flea and Jaxon were strapped to chairs. Flea cried for them to help him.

Leoric opened up with four shots hitting the large figure in the chest. He was severely wounded. Nyra opened fire on Flea with her SMG. Flea was seriously wounded by the attack. The hulking figure picked Flea up and launched him. The chair smashed and Flea was knocked unconscious. Sakiran entered rage and became bestial as she lost control, grabbing Finisher and slashing one of the guards with a massive cleave.

Jaxon casts a shield of faith on Sakiran and blessed her and Leoric. Flea coughed up blood. Jaxon tried to break free of his bindings and kept failing as combat raged around him. Sakiran charged towards Nyra and the guard attacked her, but she brushed it off as she jumps and slashes with her sword. Nyra has activated her own nanophage abilities and the blade meets resistance as the nanophage works to protect its host.

Flea had stopped moving.

Pog cries out in grief and rage as he pulled Nyra's hair and slashed her back. Leoric's shots both connect but they are deflected off of her skin. He fires again but she doesn't even register the damage. Nyra slashes Sakiran with her knife and it dug in, though encountered resistance. She turned to Jaxon and he fell unconscious as she tore the blade through him. Gar makes a pass at Sakiran and she feels it as his fist breaks something in her and it sends her staggering back.

Sakiran took a swing at Nyra, cleaving her in two and leaving her two halves on the floor.

Gar's lover dying sends him into animalistic rage as the augmetic arms split and broke into talons. He became hideously deformed and mutated. He charged into Sakiran and she dodgeds him. After a few more blows, he was very weak and barely standing.

Jaxon was stabilised, and is now breathing as if asleep.

Leoric unloaded his pistols into Gar once again. He finally killed him by shooting all of limbs clean off. His face exploded outward.

Sakiran's rage cooled off and she noticed Jaxon and Flea both unconscious. She cursed and ran to Flea. Pog places the sombrero on his head, waved bye bye forever and was torn through the rift. Sakiran tried to resuscitate him, though she fails. She kneeled over and prayed for him in Tasari.

Jaxon snapped awake, badly injured. He resisted the urge to drink the blood around him. Sakiran noticed he was awake. She told him that Flea is with Yutmaya.

They noticed that the music has stopped. Leoric peeked outside and saw troopers in black armour. He tried to saunter past. He was stopped by a Tiefling wearing a Gratus officer uniform. He had sweeping goat horns. He was pouring them all drinks and commiserated their loss. He said that his sacrifice was for a worthy cause, the safety of the city. Sakiran told him that she doesn't care about the city and lost a friend. The tiefling, with catlike eyes, told her that they can arrange a proper state burial. The tiefling tells them that they need to have a chat and do some things in return.

The tiefling said he understood why the party didn't like the Gratus, but they were trying to save the planet. Jaxon said you sent us to die, and you're sending us again now. The tiefling told him that the survival rate is 8.2%. The tiefling also informed him that other places refused to be civilised and help, like freedom means anything anymore. He offered them a way off this planet. He told them to think about it. He introduced himself as Pryce and gave them a communicator. Pryce offered to grant them police immunity and a place to live.

The party discussed the offer given to them. Sakiran asked Leoric for his opinion. He admitted he doesn't know. They agreed upon making the bar a home base. Sakiran fired up the training program to make herself feel better while Leoric and Jaxon sat at the bar and reflect upon their situation.