Geartopia : The Case of the Assassination Plot

[cityship]

||Attention, Attention. Would the following personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Please bring with you any weapons and tools you might need. Attention, Attention. would the following personnel please report to the Observation Deck:

Allenby Beardsley
Maridian Gladespring
Ellyn Vitner
Red Robin
Sam Winchester
Dean Winchester
Kanoe Zouichi

Attention, Attention, would the following personnel...||

Stacy's voiced called the entire crew, until all of them were gathered at the Obs Deck. Then, a dossier appeared on the screens, along with the image of a rotating planet.

Planet Designation: Geartopia
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Extensive flora and fauna.
Semi-Sentient Life: Yes.
Sentient Life: Homo Sapiens, Homo Animalia, Machina Erectus.
Water: 20.6% of the planet's surface.
Climate: Earth-like, Arid desert
Landscape: 70% Desert..
Air: Normoxic concentration.
Air Pressure: 101.3 kPa (kilopascals) = 14.7 psi (pounds per square inch)
Sky: Blue
Sun: A class G2V, yellow star.
Warnings: Wildlife, humanoids and plant-life can be hazardous.
Mission: Find out of town mayoress Nomalanga's suspicions of foul play are correct. Full shore leave will initiate once this is problem is resolved.

Once the entire team was ready, they were whisked of to the planet with little fanfare, their ship landing close to a town, where a woman...well not quite a woman, but a cross between a woman and a hyena dressed in a strange outfit, greeted them along with three other figures behind her. They had arrived near the end of the day, and the sun was beginning to set behind them, staining the sky a deep orange color.

She greeted them with a bow and a wave.

"I think you for coming 'ere just barely an 'our after I send out my distress signal." She mentioned for them to follow her, while the three other figures remained behind.

"I will make this quick, as we are short on time. My name is Nomalanga, and I'm mayoress of Utorian, 'ave been for the past five years. We have asked for a small team to aid us cause some of Snidley's damn dogs have been trying to upsurge the town from my grasp. "e's was the mayor before me, but was removed for having no 'onor. He still has control of some sections of the town due to loyalty and fear, and some townsmen still suspects I threw 'im out to get more power. Now 'e's trying to regain it all, but I have no proof except for a tip I was given by one of my own that says the attack's in two days and there's enough clues stuffed in the 'aunted cave to get the entire town behind me."

She pointed to a cavern on the far left, covered by the dunes of soil and desert sand.

" 'Alf the townsfolk believe the place to be filled with ghosts at night so no one enters unless they have to. But during the day we go in and get our supplies of underground water. The entire place is a maze. I wish I could 'ave send the distress beckon sooner, but we had problems with space pirates recently."

"There is also another problem...the tip also told me one of my own three is a spy. If you could also find out which one, we could end the terrible man's grasp on the town and myself. I am pretty sure they already suspect that I have doubts, but you may find clues inside the cavern. You can also speak to them and ask a few questions, but you should get into the cavern as soon as possible, as not to get too many ghosts attacking you. And there are also men-eating bears spotted inside. My people are strong, but our technology is nothing compared to yours. Once we have more time I can explain to you how I was able to contact you at all. But for now, I can supply you with guns and torches, if you don't have any."

She seemed like a truthful woman, even if her speech was strange and spoke of someone who had lived a harsh life, despite the clothing she wore.

"My three don't trust you at all, due to our stance with outsiders and our last distress signal falling into pirate ears. I understand if you refuse, but if you accept I will make it worth your while, and the rest of your comrades on your ship will be welcomed with open arms one justice and truth is brought to light. My people do not have much but we can offer clothing and animals from our lands in exchange for your services."

[And done! There is no posting order, feel free to all start you own threads to ask questions, or butt in each other's threads while they talk back and forth]

Comments

[cityship]

It tasted like a fruit that had been preserved in sugar. the fruit tasted like a cross between a kiwi, strawberry and an orange smoothie.

So basically exactly as she had said.

[chosenfamily]

Sam frowned. "Sugar?" Something in his mind. "Can I have the black vial?" he asked. "I'm not going to taste it. A whiff should tell me what I need to know."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Curse you Pixle

"Sure." Zouichi handed him the vial. "It smells like gunpowder, if that's what you're thinking."

[notadamnangel.livejournal.com]

Dean glanced over as his brother accepted the vial, "Sounds more like supplies then. Plus going by how they were tracking production, and this breeding program crap, makes it sound more like a factory. With Snidely as the big boss man. Not sure about Nomalanga now either." Using a kidnapped kid as leverage unfortunately didn't surprise him at all.

[cityship]

So then, they had many clues, some probably false. Now the question was how they would present the evidence to get the maximum of answers out of all of them.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"How about this?" Zouichi asked. "We can confront Nomalanga and her advisors in order of the strength of evidence we have against them. Because we have solid proof that Allard was involved, we go to him first, tell him that his child is safe, and try to get information out of him about the rest of Snidely's operation. It sounded like he stumbled upon it on his own, anyway. He may know who Snidely's confederate is."

"From then, we can separately press Taworri and Mekaisto with the pieces of incriminating evidence we have against them, bluffing if we have to to get as much information as we can out of them. We can then present what we have to Nomalanga. I believe isolating each of the possible suspects, combined with acting as if we're sure we know who the accomplice is, may act in our favor -- we'll essentially be exerting psychological pressure on those we interview just by getting them alone and away from the others, and those we haven't yet talked to will be wondering what we do know."

[battorch]

Tim nodded his agreement to Zouichi. That was the best way to handle a situation if you didn't have a perfectly clear solution in mind. And considering how much of this was circumstantial, without strong motive...

"Right. The saved child is a good play to make. What we've gathered and heard seems to implicate, fairly well, that Allard's hand was being forced. He will likely be the most free to talk, once we've proven his daughter is safe. He can provide his own testimony, of course, which may back what we have."

Tim made a thoughtful 'hm' before he continued. "Bluffing and playing the psychological angle will certainly be beneficial. There's a good team of us, of course, so we can split up to make sure those remaining don't try anything while we interrogate the others-- though any attempts to escape or otherwise will just back out case against them, regardless." He'd suggest a little intimidation, but he doubted that would work on the likes of, say, Taworri. "Mekaisto's hand seems to play into several angles, though any motivation she has is unclear."

Tim paused, and his expression shifted to one of frustration. Because he just realised something. "And we had an angle from the beginning. Allard dropped us a hint-- whether intentionally or otherwise-- while I was speaking with him. He said from the beginning that it was a kidnapping plot." Tim swore under his breath. Yes, he was angry about missing that. He probably just wrote it off as a slip at the time. "At least that means he'll likely give his cooperation."

[cityship]

With all these clues in mind it was, perhaps, time for them to go confront the entire group.