Ulie hustles everyone to the other side of the port.  She's hired a transport shuttle and it's waiting.

As you cross the port, several people stop and stare at Calliope, Ergon, and Wisco.  Everyone has an expression like they've seen someone they know, but they can't quite place from where at the moment.  The three actors smile and wave, slipping into a 'for the fans' persona.

The shuttle is small and cramped. Everyone is bumping off someone else during the flight.  Thankfully, it's only twelve minutes long.

The first location is on the side of a nearby mountain.  There's a large shelf of rock, and the shuttle sets down on it.  As soon as the cargo bay doors open, the bitter wind fills the space, giving you all instant headaches as the temperature drops.

Ulie shouts orders and crew scurry to set up small breakwalls.  The director, Relen, calls over the cast and the camera guy and starts going over the scenes.  The crew starts setting up tents.  In short order, an area has been transformed into a small survey camp.

Ulie nods at you Nero.  "We need to film a couple of scenes and then Ergon is done for the day.  You can talk to him after."

She glances at you BB. Then at your guns.  And then shrugs, turning to you Ledo.  She nods to the southwest.

You had already seen it.  A small two man shuttle seems to have bird dogged you out here.  "Probably press.  I don't mind if they wanna land..." She points to the far side of the shelf.  "Over there and watch.  But I need them to kill their engine.  It's a pain filtering out engine noise on vid."

She looks at you Ledo with a 'well?' look.

The wonderful thing about boarding vacc suits is that with as cold as this planet was, it was straight up tropical compared to hard vacuum so Ledo was feeling just fine in his armor. The fact that it made him look intimidating as hell was an added perk. He came fully prepared with his laser rifle, PDL, and static blade all strapped to him which he hoped made anyone looking to start trouble realize how bad of an idea that was before they stepped out of line.

He gave a nod to Ullie and then sent out a comm signal to the incoming shuttle.

"Incoming shuttle this is film security. Please land at these coordinates and cut your engines. You can observe from there but filming is strictly prohibited and will be enforced both legally and physically if necessary."

Nero was grinning ear to ear. Soon. Very soon. Exclusive backset interview with an actual actor. One he had never heard from before but who cared. Actor! Professional Actor! On his stream. First terrorist attacks, then pirate attacks, now movie sets. Shit, his stream was getting hot!

On a whim he checked his messages. He had been sending regular updates to Ansley. He didn't want her to feel isolated while she was awaiting trial for...what was it...like thirty counts of terrorism?

2,315 unreceived messages

Maybe she just hadn't gotten time yet to check her mail. He fired off a quick update to her.

2,316 unreceived messages

Thanks for letting me know what gear Ledo has.

Since you brought it up, what about the ladies?  Silver, BB, and Teph?

I'm assuming Nero doesn't have anything other than his good looks.


The shuttle doesn't respond Ledo.  But after a moment, it moves and lands in the spot you mentioned.  It kills the engine, again as you asked.  But no one gets out.

---

Anyone who wishes may react to the below

The crew has hastily assembled what appears to be a camp set.  Ulie is muttering about time being credits over the group intercom.  Everyone ignores her, but no one is slouching.

After ten minutes, Relen and Gosh are both holding rather expensive cameras.  They are holding them out as Wisco and Ergan move onto the set.

There's a short scene.  Wisco's character seems to be some kind of guide or body guard.  Ergan seems to be some kind of rich kid character.  Wisco's character makes snide innuendos about Ergan, who just either ignores them or doesn't understand them.  Ergan is just excited to be here.

They have to shoot the scene eight times.  Relen isn't thrilled with how Ergan is handling the line "You just don't understand how important the details are in these situations."

Apparently it's some kind of important line.  Ergan frowns and chews the inside of his cheek.  He balls his hands into fists, but just nods at Relen.  Relen is finally happy after the twelth retake.

They shoot another scene.  Wisco and Ergan are arguing about where 'Lunessa' went.  You guess that's Calliope's character.  That scene goes much better.  They only shoot it four times.

Ergan moves off as Calliope moves on.  The crew moves in to set up a portastove.  Relen and Gosh are talkign about adding night filters.  They seem to be coordinating the tones that will be added so their cameras are adding the right amount of darkness. Apparently the next scene is supposed to happen at night.

Ergan moves over to the 'quiet' area.  It's inside one of the tents.  The cloth is sound absorbing.  As he heads over, he nods in your direction Nero.  You guess he's ready for tha interview if you want it.

Nero grins and follows him, typing up to his followers that he has something special happening in five minutes. Nero tries his best to come off as professional and all that but it is clear he has no idea what he is doing the second he starts streaming. Especially because he just starts without giving Ergan any warning.

"What's up my Nero-Knights? This is your boy Nero coming live at you from behind the scenes at a hot new movie set. With me is the hottest actor this side of the universe. You know him. You love him. Make some noise and cash in those credits for Ergan!"

He sweeps the camera over to where Ergan is sitting. No questions, no prompts, barely an introduction. Nero's classic style.

Ledo eyeballs the shuttle but doesn't like its mysterious nature. He pops up his rifle to check it out through the scope. After visually inspecting it he decides to really spook them.

"Fritz, I want you to run a full sensor sweep on that shuttle that landed. Make it loud so they know we have orbital cover."

He clicks the comm off and then almost immediately clicks it back on.

"Wait for them to stop filming. I mean do it between takes. We don't want them yelling that our sensor sweep is interfering with their lighting or sound or whatever."

Ergan looks a bit tired when he's not on camera, but the moment you turn it towards him Nero, he's all smooth smiles and suave demeanor.  He's a pro after all.

"Hey there all!"  He says, waving to your audience.  "Stoked to be here.  Thanks for making time for me.  We are freezing our kiesters off as you can see..."  He laughs and gestures to your coats. "But this is such a great project, it's worth some frostbite."

---

Surely can Captain Ledo!  But is it okay for me to do that to government boat?

It's got a planetary government call signal in it's registration code.

Ledo frowned at that news. What was a government boat doing watching over their filming.

"Who is it registered to? Is it a police shuttle or the governor's personal transport. Tax enforcement?"

There was a pause and Nero began to panic. He was supposed to be asking questions. That's right, this was an interview!

"Yeah, it is cold here. Very cold. Is this...uh...is this the coldest place you've ever filmed at?"

Luckily the camera wasn't pointed at him so nobody but Ergan could see him wince at the awkward question.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 8):

Ergan leans back his head, scratchign his chin, as he considers your question Nero.  "Hmmm.  Well.  I've done scenes out in the vacc.  So I guess that counts, right?  Ha ha.  Actually, when we filmed Vargar Pops, we had to film on Olstis II.  And that..."

And he goes into a long, rather funny story from his filming.  The two of you chat a bit and the interview seems to be winding down.

As you're signing off, you feel a pressure on your thigh.  Ergan's hand is resting there.  "Oh!  Sorry.  Thought that was the chair arm."

---

Hmmm.  From what I can tell it's just registered to the President of Commerce's office.  You want me to try to hack it?

Ledo thought about it and shrugged. What was the worst that could happen, right?

"If you think you can do it without being detected, go for it. We don't want to stir up any problems with the locals but I don't like how it's just...sitting there."

Nero is too busy to think things through on that one. He just smiles and nods and continues blasting news about his interview on set to every site he can think of to drive up more views for his latest content. A streamer's job is never done!

Okie dokie Captain artichokey!

After a few minutes Fritz pings you back Ledo

The skiff is registered to the local government's Commission of Exchange, President of Commerce's office.  The Commission issued the filming permits.  So I guess maybe they're here to check up on things?

I did peek inside.  Three people in the skiff.  Two women, one man.  I checked them against the Commission's personnel files and can't match them.

Maybe the Commission rents out it's skiffs?

---

The tent flap opens and Oscar, that crew member with the cybernetic legs, pokes his head in.

"Hey Ergan!  They need-"

He stops midsentence and studies the two of you and then nods his head behind him. "They need you for a retake."

Ergan frowns, but only for a moment.  He then stands, giving you a grin Nero.  "Sorry.  Duty calls."

He slips past Oscar and out of the tent.  Oscar gives you a look. "You okay bud?"

Nero gives a shrug.

"Yeah couldn't be better. Do you want to do an interview? Is that why you're here?"

Nero hadn't actually paid attention about who was who on the cast and crew so he was kind of shotgunning questions at anyone he could get on camera.

Ledo had a hunch.

"Can you check them against warrants and arrest records? Maybe it's not rented but stolen. Or strong armed."

In reply to Nerotes Madigan (msg # 14):

Oscar laughs.  "Dude, I just mostly lift stuff.  Well, I do Calliope's hair too.  But that's more cos the androids really suck at it."

He glances out the tent flap and then comes inside. He lowers his voice as he speaks to you Nero.  "But...uh.  You're not recording right now, right?  Cos...if you're the kinda reporter that pays for info...maybe we might interview.  Off camera.  Dig?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:31, Wed 23 June 2021.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 15):

Sure thing Captain Ledo!  Lemme see...

No.  Doesn't look like it.  Oh.  Well isn't that funny.  Facial recognition software got a match on one of the women.  There was a news vid about the Duchess of Mora.  She was attending some wedding.  That woman was in her security detail.

So at least that one woman can't be a criminal.  She works for the Duchess of Mora.

Nero looked at the camera and then set it down, slowly nodding his head. This was all happening too fast for him.

Ledo swore under his breath when he heard that the Duchess' people were watching them. He didn't even know if that was a good thing or a bad thing at this point. Probably bad. Probably very very bad. Still there was nothing he could do.

In reply to Nerotes Madigan (msg # 18):

Oscar checks to make sure the camera is off, and then once more leans back to check outside the tent flap.

He then moves closer and whispers, "They're shooting a second movie.  But Yulie?  The producer?  She doesn't know about it.  They're gonna drop it at an indie festival.  And it's a bomb of a story."  He grins and waggles his eyebrows.  "Want the deets?  Let's see those credits."

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 19):

Filming continues on to a new scene.  The shuttle doesn't make much of a move.  It just sits there, watching.

During a break, Yulie walks over to you Ledo.  "We're gonna have to do a few retakes.  This will put us behind a couple of hours. I doubt we'll be able to get much accomplished at the second site today.  So I'm gonna call it after we do the retakes.  We'll have to adjust our schedule.  Tomorrow will be second exterior site.  And then day after, we'll do the town shoots.

"Any problems with that?"

Nero just nodded. He fiddled with his phone to send 1,000 credits to Oscar. That was a good bribe, right?

Ledo nodded and then glanced at the other shuttle.

"Do me a favor. It's probably nothing but don't tell anyone we are canceling. Act like we are going to be heading to the second shoot. We'll tell everyone once we're in the shuttle. I want to see if anyone heads that way anyway. I like to know who else is using your shooting schedule to keep an eye on us."

In reply to Nerotes Madigan (msg # 22):

Oscar gets the notification on his personal comm.  He checks it, looks back at you Nero, and smiles.  "Did I mention this was a really, reeeeeaalllly big bomb of a story?"

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 23):

Yulie raises an eyebrow and shrugs.  "Sure.  You think we got some kinda creepy stalker or somethin'?"  She glances towards the government shuttle and then shrugs again.  "Security's your detail.  So we'll do what you say.  We should wrap up here in a few more hours."

Just to keep us on the same timeline, go ahead and answer Nero's post please.  Hold up on Ledo until after I respond to Nero's.  THanks

Nero held up his phone with a shake.

"Hey, I'll pay what's fair. I'm not forking out big credits until I know it's something that is worth the price."

In reply to Nerotes Madigan (msg # 26):

Oscar frowns, and then waggles his mouth, thinking things over.  He finally says, "It's about Hallie Madigan.  You heard a' her?  We not only got vid of what actually happened to her.  We got proof showing who ordered it.  It's gonna be a bomb when it drops at the festival.

"That worth about 10K?"

Nero was not an actor and was not used to masking his emotions so he could only hope that the look of confusion on his face didn't reveal what he had known. His follow up questions however...

"Wait, you're going to show it at the festival? Why?"

In reply to Nerotes Madigan (msg # 28):

Oscar grins, rubbing the tips of his pointer and middle finger against the ball of his thumb.

"About those credits..?"

Nero's face sours and he pulls his phone closer to his body.

"Hang on, you haven't told me anything yet. Hallie got murdered and you have video proof. That isn't news. Tell me why they're going to show this at the festival and then we can talk."

In reply to Nerotes Madigan (msg # 30):

Oscar considers and then says, "I'll tell you this much.  It's who's going to be at the festival that's the thing.  You want more, cough up the credits."

Nero frowned and then nodded, transferring the credits over. His curiosity far outstripped his understanding of how valuable money actually is so he was more concerned about being seen as a fool rather than losing the credits.

"Alright there. But you had better tell me everything."

In reply to Nerotes Madigan (msg # 32):

Oscar grins once his comm confirms the transfer.  Checking the flap once more, he leans closer.

"Okay.  Here's the skinny.

"Our director, Relen, used to work for a security company dealing with camera installation.  He was debugging a system at a noble's estate when he found copies of some files someone had tried to erase but did a crap job on.

"He downloaded them and cleaned them up.  And found some intersting results.

"He asks around and gets the background on two pieces of footage he found.

"First, Hallie Madigan...that socialite?..She was doing the boppers with Count Mayerston.

"But then for some reason, one night, ol' County boy snaps and chases Hallie out into the hallway and breaks her neck.  He apparently got a robotic arm.

"Anyhoo.  Turns out Count Mayerston is a card carryin' member of those Sang Real fuckers.  You heard of them right?

"So the other footage Relen has shows a meeting between Mayerston, another Sang Real big wig, and...get this...some of the ambassadors from the Zhadoni Consulate.  Relen was able to use an AI to rebuild some of the conversation based on the movements of the people's mouths that was visbile.

"The Zhodanis and the Sang Real are in bed together.  And Hallie found out an' was gonna tip off the Imperioum."

He checks the flap one last time and then turns back to you, leaning closer.

"The festival Relen wants to premier this at?  It's gonna be attended by the Zhodani ambassadors.  He's hopin' to score a big publicity jump by creating a controversy during the festival."

Nero's eyes grow a little wide but political intrigue doesn't exactly sell with his key demographic of tweenagers. Still he figured it was something the captain would be interested in. Maybe he could use this information to get some free space miles on his trip as his bank account was starting to look pretty dry. Good thing Nero was heading back home to get it topped off again.

"Uhhh. sure man. I guess that's interesting. To the right people. Thanks for the heads up. Wait...if you know about this who else does?"

Nero was trying really hard to stay interested and was hoping there would be something that would make it a bit more exciting.

Of course it is Nero who gets all this information dumped on him :D

In reply to Nerotes Madigan (msg # 34):

"Hmm?  Well everyone workin' on the secret movie.

"Me of course.  And all the rest of the crew.  Calliope, Wisco, and Ergon are all acting in it.  Only one who don't know is Ulie.  So keep it on the down low from her."

I thought it was kind of funny too.

Anything else Nero wants to ask about?

Nero raised an eyebrow at that.

"Do you have anything interesting on Calliope? Is she seeing anyone? Bringing a date to the show?"

In reply to Nerotes Madigan (msg # 36):

Oscar considers the question.  Then shakes his head.  "Not like she and I really talk all that much.  She's not stuck up or nothin'.  But...she just kinda has a way of keeping you at arm's lenght, ya know?

"I hadn't heard anything about her having a date."