March 2nd

While the rest of the party considers their options and prepares for their meeting tomorrow with their friendly local food magnate, Higaide and Advoc make their way in the direction of the warehouses.  They are fairly certain they remain unseen, right up until a Sclavi soldier wearing Sho Nobility colors stops them and insists they turn around.  Thankfully he is amicable and polite, and Advoc does a good job of pretending to be Higaide's Aspect, and the two make trails before doubling back for a quick look now that they believe they've narrowed the search down.  Higaide springs on the idea of trying to take the long way around, and this pays off as they approach from a different angle and spot several large vehicles that are ill-disguised amongst the streets in the warehouse district.  Each vehicle is larger then an average hoverskiff, clearly heavily armored and blocky in appearance, and seems to have multiple cannons attached to it.  Advoc's Engineering knowledge from Zeiss realizes he's heard of such things being experimentally constructed by Xelios Drive Yards in the Glenden Woods area, though he knows little else.

Advoc attempts to contact Zeiss telepathically and surprisingly succeeds. Now that he knows how big Zeiss' new cell is, he examines the armed vehicles to determine if one of them is big enough to contain his summoner. In a calm voice, he says :

"I just contacted Zeiss. Javan is not with him. As for this..."

He points to the armed vehicles.

"This looks like a convoy. They are probably going to move them out of town soon. The Sho authorities will probably interrogate him and put him on trial as fast as possible. They don't like to delay that kind of thing. The Aluvian government might step in, but it is doubtful considering the current political situation. Zeiss proposes two options : we either try to break him and Javan out today, as it is most likely the only occasion for us to do so, or we go to Kinzh'Lizakh, complete the deal that was previously arranged and use his influence to rescue our friends. Either way is risky. We are not equipped to deal with that kind of threat; and Kinzh'Lizakh might be a dead end. In any case, I should stay here to make sure that Zeiss doesn't get out of range. I might lose complete contact if they leave town."

OOC:

"The one reason you've gotten away with revealing yourself last time was you pretended to be my Aspect, and there's no way you can blend in or hide, the way you're shining like a lamp. Get and give as much information as you can right now, and let's meet back with those two. The only thing we gain by staying here right now, let alone intervene, is either get chased out or give them another two prisoners, and make it even harder to find some real way out of this mess."

Advoc burns 4 Action Points.

1: Kinzh'Lizakh, a local food magnate, has no where near the political clout to influence things on a Provincial level, let alone the entire Empire.  He might be capable of helping with contacts or resources though.
2: No.
3: You have nothing to base any speculation on.
4: That depends on who's behind it; it is possible this could advance her career though if she bankrolls military action against the Sho.
5: No, the PTC (like all other legitimate business) benefited from the Undermarket's existence.

"I won't..."

Advoc stops in mid-sentence.

"...Zeiss says that we should go. Let's regroup with the others."

OOC:

Advoc and Higaide take some notes on patrols (they seem to be utilizing a lot of troops to produce few holes in patterns), and it's hard to spot the odd vehicles in the alleyways and streets but you believe you see at least 4 distinct ones.

"We need to find that rapier before sunrise, let's hop to it."

ooc:

Advoc nods.

OOC: