Now that they know how to get in contact with Level 21, Nict, Yiris and Bratrizik travel to the lower decks of Absalom Station to Mama Fats, a small grocery store located on the 21st level of the Spike, the lower section of the station. Located in a depressed area, the store features two large armored windows, and a set of sliding doors. The store appears to be empty of consumers, and a halfling cashier stands on crates in an armored booth inside the store. While Nict goes inside, Yiris and Bratrizik stand guard outside.
Strolling through the shelves, Nict discovers the exotic foods section and finds some nectar balls, a real shirren delicacy. They are priced at three times the average cost and are slightly expired, but he is hungry for comfort food so he grabs a pack and walks to the checkout counter. He introduces himself to the cashier, who welcomes him to the neighborhood. She is Mama Fats, the owner of the store, and she's been running the store for over 54 years. She's seen a lot of change in the neighborhood, and she knows a lot of people.
Nict mentions that he was present at docking bay 94 when the dwarf Duravor Kreel was killed during a shootout between gang members of the Downside Kings and of Level 21. Mama Fats tells him that all sorts of people come by, so if he wants he can leave a message and she might pass it on if the right person comes in. Nict agrees. He gives her his contact information, and leaves a message for Level 21 with to discuss the Downside Kings and why Duravor Kreel was killed. The shirren then purchases the nectar balls and departs.
After the Gap - February 24, 317 @ 9:00
Nict receives a communication from Mama Fats telling him him to return to the store in an hour. He and his friends head back to Level 21. Standing outside the grocery store, Bratrizik spots three gang members inside the store, not so discretely guarding the place. While the Vesk stands outside and Yiris looks at the holomagazines, ready to respond, Nict heads to the checkout counter. Mama Fats seems happy to see him, and she tells him she just got a few bottles of "Honey Bubbles," a favorite shirren drink, in the second cooler.
Nict enters the second cooler, and finds a secret door ajar at the back of the cooler. On the shelf are three bottles of "Honey Bubbles." Inside the store room Nict meets Jabaxa, who introduces himself as the leader of the Level 21 street gang, and he's interested in hearing what the shirren has to say.
Eventually, Nict convinces Jabaxa to explain why Level 21 was on Dock 94 during the fatal shootout. He tells her about the gang's role in protecting the Hardscrabble Collective and their battle against the Downside Kings, who had been hired by Astral Extractions. They didn't know who Duravor was, but when the men saw the thugs from the Downside Kings take shots at the dwarf, they retaliated. Jabaxa apologizes that Nict and his friends were caught in the crossfire.
Armed with this information, Nict purchases a bottle of "Honey Bubbles," and rejoins his friends. Bratrizik voices out loud his concerns that Astral Extractions was behind the Downside Kings' involvement in Duravor Kreel. Mama Fats warns him that speaking theories out loud in the wrong quarters could get him killed.
Once cleared from the lower levels of Absalom Station, they head back to the Starfinder Society, where they report back to Chiskisk with the information they discovered about the death of Duravor Kreel. Chiskisk thanks them and offers them membership in the Starfinder Society. The three of them readily accept. Nict is awarded a membership card numbered 671,034, while Bratrizik and Yiris received the sequential numbers 35 and 36. Armed with their new cards, they return to Duravor's former apartment to rest.
After the Gap - February 25, 317 @ 7:00
After a resting cycle, the android Yiris enters the small kitchen and finds a black envelope with an Eoxian seal on the counter. In it is an invitation to the Eoxian embassy to meet with Ambassador Gevalarsk Nor, the Eox representative to the Pact Worlds. Yiris is very concerned. How did an Eoxian agent enter the apartment and leave a note without any of them noticing?
The three friends discuss whether they should go, and in the end they decide that the Eoxians' ability to sneak in their home puts them at risk if they choose to ignore the ambassador's summon. They dress nicely and they head out to the embassy.
Located in the Parkside neighborhood in the Eye of Absalom Station, a wealthy area, the friends are welcomed by a receptionist, who takes them to Nor's office. Nor greets them in a glacial voice. His elongated cranium clearly marks him as an Elebrian, a native of Eox. He was also clearly undead, as his his skeletal appearance shows no scrap of flesh, and an eerie light burns in his otherwise empty eye sockets. He welcomes them to the Eoxian Embassy, and he thanks them for taking the time to meet with him.
Equipped with these appropriate credentials from Nor, and agreeing to financial compensation, they accept the mission. Their first visit is to the Starfinder Society, where they inform Chiskisk of their new appointment, and where they secure new gear, including a bio scanner. Emerging from the Starfinder Society compound, they are met by a female Lashunta and a limousine. She introduces herself as Miloseash Joss, the Information Officer for Astral Extractions, who would like to invite them to the company's headquarters for a private meeting. They politely refuse, and they quickly disappear inside the station's lower levels.
The group's next stop is to Absalom Station Security. They confirm that they indeed have permission to board the Acreon and that they can retrieve the Eoxian diplomatic container. They secure more gear from the Security team, and they inform the security personnel that Astral Extractions attempted to influence their investigation.
Nict receives a videocall from Jabaxa. Guessing at the nature of the forthcoming conversation, the shirren refuses to take the call. After listening to the voicemail where Jabaxa asks Nict to contact Otal Serissi, the captain of the Hardscrabble Collective on his ship, the Dust Runner, to receive more information about the Acreon, the shirren texts the Ysoki back informing him that he will remain impartial in his inquiry, will not be contacting the captain, but that Ambassador Nor should be the one to receive this information.
Absalom Station Security provides them with an armed shuttle to travel to the Acreon. Parked a few hours away from the station in a quarantined sector of space, the Acreon and the chunk of stone it carries with it have been forbidden to anyone without proper authorization.
As they travel, their sensors pick up a ship on an intercept course. It is a necroglider, a ship most often associated with the Corpse Fleet. The two ship soon engage in combat and Captain Bratrizik and his crew manage to defeat the enemy ship, which crashes against the Drift Rock tethered to the Acreon.
Parking next to the Acreon, they get ready to enter the ghost ship...
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