Skydock and a temple to Asmodeus

Skydock. It's a space station in orbit around Veres… well, not exactly in orbit: It's the counterweight for a space elevator. They don't see much use anymore: Modern antigravity and thrusters have rendered such things obsolete… but it's still the trade gateway for the planet. Of more immediate relevance, it has a church of Asmodeus… not that he's a real deity, ‘just’ the chief of devils per game lore… and that church holds the contract for the bounty on my passenger… who chose to manifest as a purple haired elven woman for some reason. I suppose it's a pretty significant departure from who he was.

Buffing my caster level over the trip helped: Suffer the Flesh, Create Magic Tattoo (three times), and Summon the Mishti get me up to twenty-one for buffs and nineteen constantly on my vancian side… and the “constantly” applies well enough to Fabricate Tech and related abilities… I get nineteenth level weapons, armor, and upgrades. Spheres casting doesn't take the buffs, but that's okay: I can deal with having ‘just’ nineteenth level gear for free and summoned allies that are effectively level nine while I'm level five

So when we disembark onto the station, I'm wearing armor that would cost over half a million if I'd had to pay for it, with three weapons that would be similarly costly: I look dangerous to anyone who recognizes the stuff. Which is good, as my charge isn't so well geared. He's going to have five million to spend shortly anyway. We take his old body in a box to the bounty office, a simple office space decorated with red pentagrams everywhere.

I take a moment to use my Mindlink Circlet to check in with ****, ‘Ah… is this…’

That itching in my head again, “It is a temple to the devil lord, who is not one of my siblings,” **** confirms, “I'm worshipped as The Devourerer, Zyphus, Pharasma, and others.”

‘Does that mean he can see here?’ That one makes me worried.

“Yes, but not as easily: He's not like us,” the real deity at my neck and call answers, “He has to actively ‘look’, and that has a cost associated for him. We're simply there.” **** considers a moment, and I hear paper rifling, “Also, he's not looking now.”

‘You have a report on where he's looking?’ I'm a little flabbergasted… but good at keeping a straight face.

“He's part of ‘everything’,” **** chuckles, “so yes, I can look up where he's looking right now, as well as all his contracts. He knows this, which is part of why they're so obfuscated.”

‘Does it help?’ I wonder.

“Nope,” **** cackles, “When I'm looking them up, there's always a summary with the salient points spelled out clearly, along with notes about which ones are unenforcable per Dad's rules… and NOT in the devil's hand. There's yet to be an instance where he was able to use anything not in the easy-to-read summary.”

Heh, but… ‘How is it that you're able to speak so freely of him?"

“He's not one of my siblings,” I can hear the shrug, somehow, “nor is he a mortal. He's not afforded the same protections, and literally every collection he makes must pass through my domian at least briefly.”

So we're not directly observed by big A, but cameras and such could apply later… and at any temple where one of the real set is worshipped, I will be. Good to know. ‘Thank you.’

“You're welcome,” **** answers, “Be seeing you….” his voice fades from my mind.

We claim the reward from a desk clerk, who is cordial enough but hands us a ton of paperwork to fill out (which I take the time to read entirely… I knew there was a reason I picked up Profession(Barrister) when the free skills from Spheres of Might talents pushed me well over the cap of useful Starfinder skills): It contains no clauses about souls, future acts, or similar: It's long, but just boils down to asserting that these are the mortal remains of the target and that I killed him. Which is true… from a certain point of view: Holograms aren't entirely mortal, it is his corpse, and I was the one that did the deed. Yeah, I could defend that well enough in court, although by using his real corpse, the idea is that it'll never come up. Their use of Discern Lies amuses me: I use a little Mythic power on **** of Will to ensure that the priest fails his own will save when my Reflective Hide turns the spell back on him. He doesn't even notice he handed me the ability to tell when he lies. Not that he does… although he does look a bit shifty. We walk out with ten million on a credstick, and immediately head for the bank to split it.

On the way out, we're ambushed: A half-reptile man (a human reptoid hybrid… he looks mostly like a human, but he has lizard skin), a Maraquoi (a blue-skinned humanoid woman with a prehensile tail who's walking around barefoot for some reason) and a sarcesian (a golden-skinned race that can go for an hour in a vacuum with no trouble). All are armed, armored, and look like they know we're carrying great gobs of cash based on how they're in the shadows of different alleyways and windows not knowing I can see their hiding spots clearly…which leaves me feeling just a little cocky.

So I let them ‘surprise’ me with their opening shots… which don't land. I then proceed to snipe them all: Two castings of Scorching Ray, two castings of a basic Destruction Sphere blast, and I spend enough Mythic power to get a full attack off with my Tempest Arc Rifle. It's far too many dice for me to just maximize them all (I can solve that next level), but I do ensure each one hits. Most of them critically hit, too, and all three are dead before they hit the ground. I may be a little heavy on the optimization, but when it's survival and not just entertainment, that's a good thing.

We loot the bodies, I let my charge take his pick of their gear (I grab the rest for recycling), and the world fades out….