
                "Unfortunately, it would take ages to get enough people on-board, and I'm not even sure if we could do it sneakily enough. ANd I have no experience in this.
                That's why we need broker."
                    Ask about broker, he clarifies...
                    Basically; its extremely likely he has a lot of dirt on many influential church figures. And given his tendency to fuck up the knights...
                    Plus it would take significantly longer to get all this dirt yourself. It would also be far more expensive and dangerous.
                    His presence will also rile up many pathers, causing them to act out on their own
                    You agree this is the best course of action.
                "I came across a lead a cycle ago, but never pursued it. Unfortunately, I'm not as mobile or resourceful as you - so you have to do it."

                Found a salvage record of some planet out in the fringe - has a ship with a IDENT similar or the same to a ship that was definitely used by broker
                    Was seen just before broker went missing. Never again. Logic; maybe he crashed? Go check out the ship, confirm the rumor
                    YOu go there... find the ship... but ITS A TRAP! Salvors duck out of the way just in time for a bomb to go off
                    But you were right - it is the ship. Unfortunately the logs are purged - but deep analysis reveals the last location the ship took off from
                        But they forgot to clear an engine's memory - the thrust patterns indicate it took off from a small village in asher
                        Unfortuntaely, further analysis reveals a shuttle left the ship bnefore it crashed. This isnt the place.
                        Or alternatively theres a trace away, bnut its way too obvious, and had to have been intentionally placed
                        A drone sent finds nothing but a massive crater. Clearly they want us to believe whoever was here died, or something
                    A hyperwave signal was sent just before the explosion - a fleet spawns, and people might be tipped off

                    Conclusion: This might be fucking risky. The bomb was intentionally rigged to explode. The ship intentionally crashed. It was no accident.

                (DO LATER) Should be able to return to the safehouse at every stage to ask for the guys thoughts...

                Go to this village
                    All the villagers are suspicious and close their doors as you walk by
                    You eventually come to the run-down salvage yards, presumably where its from
                    "I've got this part. Apparantly, it came from your shop. Do you know who bought it?"
                    "No." *Reaches under counter, you hear a pistol being gripped*
                    But just before it seems like its gonna blow up, someone knocks on the door. The come in - whisper in your ear - "follow me out" - window shops, then leaves
                    You follow him out

                    He takes you and your bodyguards to his house, gestures inside, you follow
                        Maybe make sure the door remains unlocked
                    "I might know a thing or two. Who're you after?"
                        "Broker."
                            He winces. "Don't SAY that name - they have ears everywhere! Including mine..."
                        "Just a friend."
                            "Bullshit. People don't come asking about wrecked ship parts in some luddic backwater - especially here, for nothing. You're here for broker, aren't you?"

                        Looks at an image - him, dresed up in knight livery. He looks prestigeous. Snaps back - a mottled fury in his eyes
                        "You're in luck. I can tell you how to find him - or at least, start. On one condition. I come with you, and make the kill myself."
                        ...seems he thinks you're here to kill him. Its unquestionable to him

                            "Sure." (Lie)
                            (You dont get a option to not lie)

                        "Who *are* you?"
                            "Someone he's gonna regret fucking with. And someone that knew a little too much."
                            (This guy is an ex-knight who worked with Broker to fuck over the knights until he was betrayed)

                        "What do you know?"
                            "I'll tell you after I've had a good meal - one of the many luxuries he's robbed from me." he growls, nearly knocking something over

                        Without much of a reaction, he nods, and walks out, directly towards your ship, ignoring your bodyguards's instructions to stop.
                        He boards, and (with your hurried permission) is quickly granted quarters.

                        THere, he eats one, two, three meals (which your crew watch enviously), before sitting back in his chair, and letting out a huff.
                            I really hope this wasn't a farce. This is our best lead.
                            And then he *breathes*

                    OR

                    Just when it gets hairy. You...
                    Quickly run up before she can react and PUNT her fucking skull
                    Quickly, you slam open the backroom door, breach-and-clearing, and find what you think is the sales ledger (Church rep hit)
                    You sprint out the backdoor and to your shuttle just as munisec shows up, weapons hot
                        This is notable because they fire on sight instead of shouting a warning or anything. Not typical for church munisec.

                    Discover the ledger is not reacted; the part's serial ID matches with one "Jereth Purse"
                    Jereth Purse is a wanted pather terrorist, known for lots of theft on Asher and one instance of unauthroized nanoforge production
                    Now resides on chalceledon, your intsec suggests
                    This guy was related to the construction and maintenance of a Broker-related ship. Go pay him a visit.

                Go to chalceledon
                    If you ask around in the bar, someone will firmly grip you and tell you to get fucked
                    The admin can be bribed for a location, however
                        Or intimidated with a strong fleet...

                    But when you go to the location... oh shit.
                    Where sensors showed heat signatures are instead space heaters. You take one step out -
                    BODYGUARDS GRAB YOU AND THROW YOU IN! PULSEFIRE RAINS DOWN ON THE SHUTTLE FROM ALL SIDES!
                    The shuttle only barely manages to take off, firing flares and recieving ECM support to evade an incoming missile
                    Get an option to drop a bomb here - for no reason other than FUCK THESE GUYS

                    Go back to the admin, who looks terrified to see you
                    Reiterate your threat, but this time with vigor
                    Eventually, he just gives you a comms key
                    Gets the FUCK out of there
                    No admin for a few days - then a new guy a few days later
                        "The last one just disappeared."
                        In-lore, this guy realized he was fucked. You survived his trap and are certainly cokming for him if you dont tell him the location
                        But once people figure out he talked... he'll be hunted
                        So he goes into hiding
                    Again, the narrator reiterates - this whole thing. Is. So sketchy.

                Call jereth over comms
                    Finish later; TLDR idea is you have to hold him long enough for your comms officer to trace the signal
                    And after that, you can interrogate him for info

                    The commlink hangs for an unusal amount of time
                        Tactical: "It's unlikely they'll talk, especialyl since we don't know where they are"
                        "Pather comms are generally spotty and badly protected. I might be able to track them"
                        "Hold them on the line - I'll perform a trace"
                    , before it clicks on
                    The man careens into the screen, panting, breathing heavily - then he notices you
                        Was far away, sprinted to silence the pinging
                    Inbetween gasps, he stammers - "You know not to call this ID - wait - who are you?"
                    Visibly spooked - hand is nearing the comms-disconnect. Its likely he wont accept any further calls

                    Have to come up with something to bullshit him with...
                    He looks scared, spooked
                    "-listen. You've been compromised. You need a new COMMSID and to exfil ASAP."
                    He freezes, his body tensing further. He stares at you a moment - then-
                    "-I-I don't know who you are." he just says, reaching the the button-
                    "Someone found $global.shipPlanetName, and somehow, they found your name in the wreckage. They've already been to Asher - I don't know how long til they find you."
                    "They've been asking around everywhere, it's a miracle *I* found you first. Saddle up, you're moving out before the day ends."
                    He freezes. Time stills for thirty seconds. Tactical gives you a so-so gesture - you need more time
                    Slowly, though, he withdraws his hand from the disconnect button, turning to stare through a wall... then snaps his head back, eyes as big as dinner plates
                    "Who *are* you?"
                        "Doesn't matter. I'm just here to keep you safe."
                        "A friend of our mutual friend."
                        "A brother in Ludd."

                    "...okay. Okay." he picks up a nearby narco-stick, taking a deep breath, and sighing, his anxiety reducing and being replaced with a narcotic twitch
                    "...I'll need some help first. I was running an operation down here, and I'll need someone to help me move my equipment.
                    not related to our 'friend' (airquotes), but personal and operational support was part of the deal."
                    He pauses.
                    "Where do you have in mind?"
                        "We'll figure it out once we get you onboard."
                        "Baetis."
                            Negative reaction, but with some pressing, he relents
                        "Just somewhere else on Chalceledon."
                    "...alright. Send your shuttles. I'll be waiting." Reaches for the disconnect...
                    Tactical shakes his head, staring at the screen...
                    "WAIT! Where *are* you?"
                    He stops. Shock wells in his eyes. "...you don't know? Wait... are you..."
                    ...
                    "You'll never find them, you know. I'm not the only part of this - there's many, many more pieces. And, besides..."
                    Tactical waves you down, giving you a thumbs up
                    "I can just hit this button right here and give you nothing. You don't even know where I am" He puts pressure on the button...
                        "'Look up.'" (Cut the link) (DO I WANT THIS)
                        ...
                            Send the marines

                    And down go the marines!
                    Within minutes, the marines descend onto a small chalceledonian city. Shock & awe operation - we know eaxctly where he is...
                    So we just break into the building, extract him, and run the fuck away. Resistance is minimal
                        Should clariy. Hes a member of the misdirection part of the operation; he was responsible for that ship idea
                        Of course. He knows a lot, too
                        But what *does* he know...?

                        So what hes done for this...
                        Is hes made the ship idea. He had the ship planted.

                        AND WHAT IS IMPORTANT!
                        He lets it slip that he was responsible for bugging many comm relays with a thing that monitors for any mention of broker
                        This also includes. The planet he hides out on.

                        Youll never find it though, haha, even with the planet youll still never know the corodinates.
                        Even I dont know them all. (Gives you his set of coordinates)

                    He is then delivered to your brig, heaviled bruised, a bit out of it
                    Not very responsive until your doctor gives him a stim-shot

                    If you fail?
                        Send a HUGE marine raid to search strongholds

                    Search 4 comm relays (THIS IS NOT LISTED - it just says do it til you get enough info)
                        Ambushed on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th
                            The 2nd activates a anti-tamper mechanism that alerts nearby patrols instead of a fleet
                        The 4th fucking explodes (Like voidsun?)

                    Finally, you find the data
                        TODO flesh this out im rushing to establish a questline

                    Its this planet
                        Pather fleet is orbitting and they cahse you down
                        IDEALLY this is unsurveyed desert, arid, or irradiated world
                            But we can settle for anything else. IT JUST HAS TO BE UNSURVEYED AND NOT A GAS GIANT.
                            Or maybe it can be surveyed, you just note that on your last survey you never saw anything

                    You realize that scanners show nothing, a survey shows nothing... its not here
                    So you interrogate the guy in your brig and, under interrogation techniques, he cracks
                        "HES HERE! JUST HIDDEN! YOU NEED TO KNOW THE LOCATION!"

                        He only knows a third of the coordinates
                        Need to find two other major players - x, and y

                        One on Baetis, one on another church planet (Tarteressus?)

                        TODO this kinda kills the momentum... maybe we do this before the planet

                    Baetis guy actually hails you when you land - offers to give up his coordinates as long as you give him safe
                    passage to some independent world and give him some special thing (AI cores?)
                        Or you can just raid a buncha safehouses for him
                        Taking a risk... make it clear the safehouse raid is the safer option

                    Second guy is actually a knight now
                        Supposedly in deep cover, but isnt(?)
                        Gives it up voluntarily
                        ...maybe sends a knights of ludd fleet to kill you so they can interrogate you and get the code for themselves...?
                            This makes a lot of sense. This sohuld ONLY happen once youre done with all 3 codes

                    Maybe a third guy whos a red herring and ends up with you in a trap again

                    I do think there should be a bunch of red herrings in this quest
                    Someone visiting you in the bar and luring you to a trap?
                    A strategically placed derelict in front of you?
                    Someone who hails you randomly?

                    OR

                        The prisoner gives you coordinates for each of them
                        But youre ambushed by a few pathers on your way down - honestly a pretty good ambush
                        But then one of them guns down the others

                        And some guy reveals himself - a weak link in the safety net broker set up
                        "I have a grudge against broker. I know where these two guys are - let me help you, as long as I get the killshot on the bastard"
                            You silently ntoe hes a useful idiot. You will probably have to shoot him

                        Could never track down the planet - but since youre after the coordinates
                            Knows youre the guy thats been poking around

                            Basically, youre the first person with notable power to poke around - besides the knights, whom he hates and would never work with(?)

                        Basically, this guy is one of the three ppl that know broker's coordinates
                        The other two evacuated when they heard you were coming, and he was assigned to ambush and kill you
                        But he has slowly built more and more resentment towards broker
                        Why?
                            Idea 1: Broker promised something, or he believed he was close to broker, then broker just fucked off
                            Idea 2: Above, but hes also a bit of a crackhead psycho
                            Maybe hes always smiling haha happy happy and just creepy that way

                        Basically, you will go there, and with your help, you will do a marine raid to find the guys and clear out their defenders
                            This is why he needs your help
                        And then, with your interrogation techniques, they *will* spill it
                            Again, this is why youre needed

                    OR
                        The prisoner just gives you the coordinates for the safehouse they're likely hiding in after hearing of you

                        Just do a marine raid, here

                    Once you have broker you have the option of dropping off your prisoner at any world
                        Pather, indie... different results
                        Maybe add it before, but grey it out because its a bad idea to drop off your only in to this world

                Regardless of how you get here, once you have the planet and the coordinates, you land on a sandy waste, nothing to be seen
                Its very fucking careful. Guns from orbit. Boots on the ground. Gunships in the air, like

                But theres nothing. Except...
                    Yeah so broker wants noone on his planet

                A depth scan reveals a small chamber under the sand, buried
                Your crew quickly get to work
                Despite your worries, there doesnt appear to be anything besides the vigil fleet
                    Maybe not even a vigil. Maybe its genuinely disconnected
                Then, the bunker opens
                You opt to come yourself because you want to meet this broker

                You creep in, behind your guards... but then a door shuts ahead - then behind - and then, you are tackled
                    SP option to overpower him
                        All this does is get you on equal footing

                    In either case, it progresses into you both standing, staring at eachother
                    Its broker.

                    Silence.

                    "I'm here for your help."
                    "The church has long been corrupt. We both know this."
                    "I don't know why you stopped. But we can finish the job, together."
                    He just stands there, even after
                    And then, eventually, he gingerly walks over to a PDA. Looking at you - taking a picture - then looking something up...
                    It takes a few minutes. The plasma torch of your marines get closer.
                    Then. He looks up. You can see, just from a corner... a database. With your name on it.

                    ...and then he nods. A quick, solemn nod. But... then the display switches to the face of a knight.
                    Jouriles Panathea.

                    He drops the TriPad, walking close. Visor to face. A second of dread. Then, he slowly, meticulously, makes the spacer sign for
                    "Disassemble". Then "Hostile fleet". You catch a wink of condensation on the visor.

                        "...you want me to kill this man?" (Wrong)
                        "...you want to kill this man?" (Right)
                        "...disassemble... his fleet?" (Wrong)

                    With your correct answer, you can hear a small, satisfied breath. Then, a nod.
                    He stares at you for a moment longer. Uncomfortably close. You feel his hand reach down, gripping yours, tightly...
                    Then, he turns on a dime, opens a false wall, closes it, and leaves.
                    Your marines bust in a moment later. You stand them down, but choose not to tell them his direction.
                    Then, a moment later, a phantom emerges from the dust, phases, and is not seen again.

                    -you realize a moment later, you were never told where this guy is or who they are. Your officers are similarly clueless.
                    You just assume broker will approach you when he needs you.

                    END

                    Maybe extend this a bit.

                OR
                    You send your marines first, bnut they are easily overpowered and disarmed and disposed of by many, many traps
                    Doors shut, firebombs ignite, and quickly your marines retreat with their losses
                    Your chief tries to communicate, saying they only want to talk
                    Suddenly, a grenade flies out of the front, ejected from somewhere deep iunside, but instead of exploding,
                    It displays a holographic message:
                        "Send me your leader, alone"

                    You can leave and come back later here

                    If you go in alone...
                    The instant you enter, the bunker doors close and communications with the outside cease
                    Autoturrets deploy and stare at you
                    You dont draw your own because one is staring at your gun hand
                    But they just stare at you
                    The dusty, sand-caked interior, dunes on the floor, taper off into a brutalist interior

                    In general, the interior of the bunker is brutalist industrial and efficient at the front
                    Small holes, illusion generators, so many defensive measures
                    But the at a certain point, once you turn a corner, you see it opens up into a large living space
                    To the right, a sizable library though a small doorway. To the left, a hangar, with a hidden tunnel for a shuttle going into the earth
                    In front, a couch, a radio, a kitchen, and further ahead, a bedroom. It is almost luxuriously ascetic.
                    And on a second look, you seem him, the cloaked figure, a high-powered pistol aimed at your head... slowly lowering it.
                        Though the autoturrets are still there
                        If you try to engage him in conversation, he reminds you he cant via an X on his lips-area

                    Go up, resume the other conversation with the dossier and him asking for your help
                    But maybe some pleasantries at first?

                Anyway, after this, if you return to the militants theyll say a bunch of public figures have had a change of heart
                And theres a big shakeup in the underworld
                Everything is in place here

                THROUGHOUT THIS ENTIRE QUESTLINE I REALLY WANT TO COMMUNICATE THE SEMI-LEGENDARY STATUS OF BROKER
                How... not sure

                Kind of want to involve the militants more...
                    Just go back to them occasionally, theyll have feedback and maybe even give you leads?
                        Maybe at some point you HVAE to go back and theyll tell you somethin
                    Maybe not needed anymore with the 2nd part of this arc




IDEA
GET A LUDDIC PATHER WHO HAS HISTORY DOING THIS KINDA CELEBRITY MANIPULATION OR KNOWS PEOPLE
DELEGAET TO THEM!! THIS MAKES THIS A LOT EASIER TO DESIGN!!!!

The challenge then becomes to FIND them. And when you find them, get them on your side
    Unless they want to wreak havoc in the church
    Maybe theyre retired and have set up a net of people who protect them from people like you?
        I fucking love this idea

    They just have so much dirt on so many people its unreal

INTRODUCING: BROKER
    Mute luddic pather
    No known name. No known gender. Just a fucking cryptid

    Six or so cycles ago, was a force to be reckoned with within the luddic church
        Major terrorist. Not on the same level as cotton, but enough to worry the knights
        One of his biggest MOs was the destruction of the knights. Through him, many patrols were ambushed, many sleeper cells esatablished
            The biggest thing was the blackmail and the manipulation
        But then they just vanished one day.
        Rumors say they disappeared somewhere out in the outskirts of the sector

    They rarely communicated with many people. And their muteness made it hard for them
    They were successful through extreme wit intelligence and brutality

    They now lives a life of isolation and meditation out in the outskirts of some sandy desert planet

    Lesser-known fact: Part of the reason they fought so hard to destroy the knights was a grudge against a Jouriles Panathea
        A bit of a sadistic knight. Not very well liked amongst the knights. Is still operating
        Allegedly killed broker's family pretty brutally when broker was a child?? Like, immolated them??
