audio; un: alenko

[majorbiotic]

[Kaidan clears his throat before he starts]

Ah, hi. Kaidan Alenko. I've spoken with some of you already. So I just went on a history tour recently and learned some interesting things that might help us with our mission.

I thought, at first, that the orb might have influenced this place's art or technology in some way. Strangely enough, they didn't mention it at all during the tour. What they did tell me was that this place used to be a mining city, mostly focusing on precious metals. The most famous of the mines, called Miniera Ruvida, uncovered this round object that resembled a diamond, but it was of an unknown material.

Here's where it gets really good for us: that same mine later shut down, and the Lionetta family built their main headquarters on top of it. I was thinking if people would be willing to investigate the area to see if we can find any old mining shafts, it would work as a great way to sneak in to take the orb. Or we can use it as a distraction while another team sneaks in. Either way, we should definitely look into it.

Comments

audio, un: majimagoro

[hikae]

Good find. We're not 'zactly allowed to the main HQ yet, but with the right excuse, some snoopin' could happen.

[majorbiotic]

You were assigned the Lionetta family, I take it. Have you at least gotten to see the headquarters? Any idea of how big it is? Maybe there are shafts that are far enough away that we won't be seen if we use them.

[hikae]

Not yet. They have two, one for the newbies and one for the big shots. But I'm working on something that might just give us a bit of scoop inside.

Call it a hunch, but if my boss built a headquarter over set of forgotten tunnels, he would leave at least one of them operating for business. Rest would be made of death traps, tho.

[majorbiotic]

All right. Good luck, and keep us updated.

It would make sense. But if there was a way for us to find one of the unused tunnels and make it safe to travel through, we'd have the element of surprise.

[hikae]

Hmmm. If there was a party made for Lionetta's executives- whatchya think my girls could get a lil' nosy about? I bet the bastards are pros at bein' tightlipped, so askin' directly about the tunnels might not lend much, but every scrap could help.

text | un: shen.qingqiu

[peerlesscucumber]

Fascinating. This round object has entrenched itself in history... Perhaps between searching family and local libraries, and looking into further museums with maps or plans on exhibit or in possession, we can find further useful information. If not strictly ways in by linked tunnels, ways to mislead or distract.

Mines, to my understanding, may also contain dangerous air, even if they're structurally stable.

[majorbiotic]

I was thinking that the object was the orb, and hoping anyone who was on the last mission could confirm that. Seems logical: the object was discovered in the same mine that the Lionetta family built their headquarters over, and we already know they have the orb. And since none of the other families have their headquarters built on or near old mines, I'd say the discovery of the orb would be a good motivation for Lionetta to be where it is.

That's true. Anyone who investigates down there should be careful. I still feel like it's our best lead into getting close to the headquarters.

[peerlesscucumber]

To even stay there in case the discovery were ever duplicatable as well. Keep things guarded, keep things close.

One presumes there would be safety systems even there, but anything adjacent to the main shaft, potentially less so. Finding maps or word on those other mining shafts and how they link or if any can be made to, safely. I do agree it's a way forward, with coordinated effort.

[majorbiotic]

Makes sense. They told me that the mine was shut down after an accident involving the owner and his wife. I don't know if that's useful for our purpose in any way, but it's something to keep in mind.

Right, exactly. I didn't think to ask the guide but maybe someone else can when they go on the tour? The mines were such a big part of the city's history. And the libraries are a good place to search for more information. Maybe our teammates assigned to Lionetta can look into it? They're the ones most likely to find something, though the other two might as well look through their libraries as much as they can, too.

[peerlesscucumber]

Investigating that accident could be telling to past actions taken between families, if it's not as simple as it appears. Or indicate if the mine itself still is functional.

It's possible this one or another can ask if we find the same tour. There are smaller exhibits I've seen in passing that deal with city history. When out on assignments, I can see about fitting in time for those place as well.

It's a sound suggestion about teammates on Lionetta investigating those libraries, and others in their territory. We can look toward the ones in ours.

text, un: silent

[callada]

That matches well with what I've learned. There were two other mines of note, too: Miniera Lucenta and Miniera Tenebra, and their owners ended up incredibly wealthy. I'm thinking each family might have spun off of those mining operations.

Given all three are probably tied to mines and all three ended up wealthy and powerful, I'm not sure how the Lionettas are even using the orb. Might just be locked away in a safe somewhere for now.

audio; un: alenko

[majorbiotic]

[He's sticking with audio because it's a lot easier to just talk than try to focus his mind and not let his thoughts go wild like they normally would]

From what I understood in the tour, the entire city benefited from the mines, not just the three families. But you're right that the three mines can be connected to the three families.

And you raise a good point: how is the Lionetta family using the orb? That's something those assigned to Lionetta can hopefully look into for us.

rip my html whoops

[callada]

I've been trying, but it's harder than you might think. We have a lot of intel accessible here from within the Lionetta lower HQ, but all mentions of anything even resembling the orb are missing. The higher ranking officers all conduct their business in the building over the mine, and it's heavily guarded.

[majorbiotic]

Why would they hide intel about the orb from their own people? There's something off about that.

[callada]

I'd say it strikes me as completely logical. Every agency has secrets kept to their top members, especially when it comes to something powerful or coveted. And given what we saw with the last orb, where it was able to affect the outcome of an entire kingdom, they qualify as powerful and coveted.

So it's not as easy as asking. I'm trying to work out how best to get at the information from the people angle, but if a group of the rest of you wants to opt for finding a secret entrance through the mines, we might gain more ground. Better than pinning all our hopes on one angle.

Text | Un: Major Tom

[spacedisaster]

Ey, Kaidan. Better only use thought-to-text to communicate with the other orbers. Many, if not all, rooms of the Featherstones mansion have bugs and I imagine it's the same for the other families.

But good find, man, the mines can be really useful. I imagine they're also a mess and a perfect place to get lost and die if they're old and abandoned. We should need to find some more information about the mines - maps or someone who knows them well - if we want to use them as a escape route. Besides, there's always the risk of cave-in and toxic fumes.

[majorbiotic]

I didn't think about that.

There may be maps in the museums; I didn't think to ask, and the tour guide didn't point any out. It could be that this is a dead-end lead and all the entrances are caved in. We should determine that first.

[spacedisaster]

S'okay, not everybody is as paranoid as me, I guess. That's why I thought it couldn't hurt to mention it.

It there are, maybe we need to go to the museum and take some pictures. We won't know more until we investigate or talk to the guide. If we do it right, it won't raise too many suspicions.

[majorbiotic]

Probably a healthy thing to be with the mafia.

Right. Feel free to lead in with what I learned. “My friend was here and said you had a lot of history on the mines”, something like that. Someone else just told me there were two other mines: Tenebra and Lucenta. They might be worth digging into.

[spacedisaster]

Yeah. Before I was a Guardian of the Galaxy I was part of a space pirate group called the Ravagers. Not by choice, exactly. But I learned a few things.

I might take a look between jobs, they had been keeping me fairly busy with all the body-guarding. As for going into the mines, my retractable helmet filters air and it's designed to keep me alive in space. I'm sure it can handle whatever down there.

[calmness]

This is very helpful information.

I know of a few interested in the history of the city and planning on visiting museums, seeing if we can find blue prints of the city and information on mine shafts can be where we focus.

[majorbiotic]

Please let us know if you find anything of interest.

audio; un: lanxichen

[calmness]

I have shared some of the information in a separate network post, so we can gather resources about everything learned... but we have been successful in finding maps and the existence of a potential entrance to the mine upon with the Lionetta built their upper Headquarters.

audio; un: mafioso

[essenceofdeadlybeasts]

Not bad. Not the first place people would look for information on this type of business. Heh.

[Admittedly, not even himself probably. His own family back home didn't exactly make the newspapers unless there was some death involved and blame to be pointed.]

Now if the people in Lionetta can just figure out how to get into that main headquarters and do some recon for the rest of us. Or, well, really I'm not above sneaking around in someone else's territory to get this done. Either way. It's a good piece of information to work with.

[majorbiotic]

That's actually why I chose to take the tour. It was fascinating even without the useful information, but I'm glad it turned out to help our mission.

That's what I'm hoping. A few others said they're going to look into some maps.