"What about the escape pods?" the captain interjects.  "Mercenaries wouldn't just leave them for us.  I guess we either need to eject them or make them look like they've been sabotaged somehow."
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:56, Fri 31 Dec 2010.

"Eject the majority, we'll rig a few to make them look damaged." he didn't add the obvious point that they may well be needed.

The engineer nods at Exilim's comment.  "I better get busy then."  The engineers voice seems a bit high in pitch, almost effeminate...  Just overly young, most likely.

The engineer moves quickly to the nearest escape pod and begins to work.  The thought is to eject all but what's needed for those still aboard and make those appear non-functional.  Stuck actuators the thought hits, perfect.  These old freighters wouldn't be in the best of shape and maintenance on them is down right notorious.  Quickly, the "sticky actuator" is wired to the control to disengage the thrusters.

Merreck turn around in his chair, waiting for now. He wondered if the mercenaries were as cool and fearless as they appeared. Flying an unarmed and slow ship, they were so helpless if the plan didn´t work flawlessly. This would have been a good time for praying if he believed in anything but luck.

The engineer ducked out and went to work.  After less than ten minutes, the engineer was back and gave a quick thumbs up to Xil, indicating the escape pods were ready.

With all in readiness, Tobias nodded to Xil to get things going.

"All right.  The civvies are packed in tight.  We're heading back, let's get out of here." Xil said on ship's comms so the pirates could undoubtedly hear.

Allowing a minute for the faux jailers to run to one of the other free ship, the other freighters detatched.  The decoy crew gathered around and watched as the other two freighters quickly fired up their engines and took off at maximum thrust in the direction of the starfighters.  All stood in silence as the enormity of their task weighed in on them.  They were the bait.  What if the pirates just blew the tanker away or ignored them completely.

Captain Tobias broke the silence, turning to Merreck and Xil.  "Based on our new speed, or lack thereof, I estimate we have less than twenty minutes before they reach us.  I imagine you have jobs for us all to do."



OOC:  Since the ship is essentially adrift, nobody needs to man a station meaning everyone on board is free to do whatever you need done.

"I'll help rig the 'explosives, if you want but I'm not good with explosives."

EIther after the rigging, or if they decline her assistance, Sheila will find the medbay, or what passes for it on the freighter and pull out medpaks.  SHe will also check her guns and powerpaks.

Merreck get down from his chair. "Explosives, right, follow me, Talon 3, I need to get some things together." Merrick gather one of his blaster power packs, as well as some spare wires and simple electronics, for the base explosive device, then get some smaller fuel cells to increase the blast yield beyond the power pack. When he had everything, he made his way to the

While walking, Merreck tries to make conversation with Talon 3. "So, Talons, hunh? Are you a big outfit? Do you do a lot of jobs like this? Guarding freighters, fighting off pirates?"

Xil shook his head, that Merreck really had a thing for wanting explosives. "Three, Four. All I want is something that will pass for a rigged hatch. I don't want anyone getting experimental trying to actually improvise an explosive. It would be preferable if you disabled them at the same time. Understood?" Xil said over the Talons comm.

"Captain Tobias, I want you two," indicating to Mika as well "to seal off any doorways/ hatches that will allow a work around to the bridge area. This will be our last fall back position." he paused and waited for acknowledgment and then continued "Before you head off though, I'd like your idea of a suitable bottle neck that will allow us to surprise the boarders. Needs to be away from their entry point of the cargo bay hatch."

Once he has the requested information he will take the rest of the crew and set up the ambush, planning fall back positions along the way.

In reply to Merreck Toluga (msg #50):

Sheila answered Xil.. "Heard and understood."

"You heard him, no trying to kill ourselves.  As for the group, No, not that big.  THis is my second mission with the group, my first as a part of it,  I'm the medic."

"Okay, something that looks dangerous, but isn´t. Good thing I have you nearby if it blows up on me, right? Okay, so you are new with the Talons? What did you do before and how did you end up with a mercenary outfit?" Merreck makes conversation while thinking about how to put it all together in a way that looks dangerous enough.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:08, Sun 02 Jan 2011.

Aryan, standing on, looks on silently as Merrick and Sheliawalk away to conduct the rigging of the explosives.  Aryan looks at the others.  "Wesa better prepare for the worst."  Aryan points at the two security guards.  "Yousea two...follow me."

The gungan, getting stock of all the weapons, inspects the airlocks.  "Isa wants a defensable position away from here, as ordered, but we need so wesa can bottleneck them before they come in.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:05, Fri 07 Jan 2011.

I've been asked a few questions about the ship outlay so I'm going to give you all my take on the ship.  That way we're all on the same page.  For this I'm using http://deckplans.00sf.com/CEC/Action6.html.  While it's an Action VI deckplan and not an Action IV it's the best I could find.

Important locations
Bridge:  Deck 7 Forward
Engineering Room: Deck 9 rear (though engines mostly accessed on Decks 6-8)


Possible Entry points
Airlocks: Deck 3 forward (1 port, 1 starboard).  I'm assuming the rectangular items on this deck are the airlocks.  This is the logical docking point for them.  Interestingly, from the way the ship layout is, you probably don't need to sabotage an airlock because they both open into the same room so it doesn't really matter which one they use!

Force Cylinder Airlocks: Deck 2 forward (1 port and 1 starboard).  I'm assuming these are smaller, designed for cargo and personnel, not actually docking.

Main cargo ramp (Deck 1 rear).  The large blue rectangular object seems to me to be a freight elevator.  How else do you load the bulk of the cargo on board?  Highly unlikely they'd try to enter here as you'd have to decompress the ship!


Level Access
Now different level can be accessed by:
* Forward Elevator (blue circle): accesses Decks 1-8
* Aft Elevator (blue circle): accesses Decks 4-9
* Freight Elevator (blue rectangle): accesses Decks 1-5



Hope this helps.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:38, Mon 03 Jan 2011.

Mika fumbles in the tool kit and pulls out a small micro-wielder, ready to wield shut whatever hatches are indicated.  "Right, you point, I'll seal."

In reply to Merreck Toluga (msg #53):

"I flew Tie Fighters and I was very good at it.  It took me 5 words and less that 10 seconds to torpedo that career. I worked for a couple other groups, then  hired on as a guide for the last mission and was able to stay with them. "

She will help however she can.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:25, Wed 05 Jan 2011.

Exilim frowns momentarily after learning more about the layout of the freighter. mmm seems the main airlocks  open into the same place. Damn, that's no help to us he mutters to himself.

Having another look he turns to Mika "I want you to lock down all the lifts except the aft one. That's the way we are going to channel them to where we want.  Then we need to make sure that they can't get into any critical areas."

"Hey, Three, could you hold this thing for me? And don´t shake it." Merreck hand over the fuel cell to Sheila while he connect a few cables to a power pack. "So, you were a Tie Fighter pilot? I´m impressed, the Imperial Navy only accept the best! If it´s not too much to ask, why did they kick you out? I hope you don´t think I´m prying." He´s keeping track of the conversation even as he tinkers with the makeshift bomb.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:54, Wed 05 Jan 2011.

She shrugged, then did as she was told with the fuel cell.  "I got tired of having to work twice as hard as the guys and still having to sleep with the superior officers to get the postings or promotions.  Then I questioned an order and decided the better part of valor was jumping ship."

"Hunh? Didn´t know it was that hard for female pilots. What made you leave? That´s a big deal in the Navy, right?" He sounds concerned and slow down the tinkering.

Sheila eyes Merrick.  "What do you think happens to officers who question orders?  And yes, if you turn me in, you'll probably get a reward and if I get caught in a situation where they don't want to use me, I'm probably dead."

He tilts his head. "The Talons have all kinds, don´t they? Don´t worry about me, I won´t tell anyone, problem with authority, rubs me the wrong way." He give Three a mischievous smile and get back to tinkering.

A deserter, the Talons run a strange business.

The engineer nods at the instruction to disable all lifts save the aft one.  Not wanting to permanently disable them, though that would certainly be easiest, Mika opts to attempt to simulate a overload that's taken the other lifts offline.  In fact, while at it, Mika will try to modify a few things on the ship, fluctuating lighting, surges in the grav plates, a few hot gas leaks, trying to make it appear that the ship suffered an overload, affecting a fairly wide spread of systems.

The gungan, returning with his gear on him, looks at the guards and joins the others..  "Wesa need to keep decks 7 to 9 clear...the engineering and the bridge.  Deck 8 has easy access to both areas, so this would be a good staging area for any groups to come.  we need to hold here, givens our limited numbers."

Aryan looks at Captain Tobias.  "I suggest 3 teams.  one here in the bridge, With yourself, Merrick and the pilot.  The engineer, one of the guards and Xil in Engineering, Leaving myself, Shelia and a guard as backup and defence of deck 8"

"Given our numbers, we maysa be hard pressed, but if wesa can sends them where we want, we cans set up defensable positions here" Pointing in the hallway.

"Whens they open the doors, they'll be suprised...before they know what hit them, we'll have the advantage"

He looks at the captain. "If they hit the Bridge or engineering without hittings us, we can access them quickly as backup, as well as hit them on two flanks." The gungan smiles. "Risky, but itsa might work"

Tobias tried to picture the plan in his head, but tactics were not his strength, especially not on the ground.

"I defer to your judgement sir.  My crew is at your disposal, just remember they're not trained to handle firefights, they're civilian crew."

"Though I have to wonder, how do you plan to prevent the shuttle crew from learning of our attack and detatching?  If they suspect a trap surely they will detatch and destroy this ship?  I doubt pirates care if they kill other pirates."

The captain wondered if he was overstepping his bounds a bit; surely these mercanaries knew what they were doing.  They acted like they did.  Still, his primary concern still had to be his crew and his ship.

"Okay, almost finished, I can make it into an armed bomb, connect it to either door, or both, to blow when it moves, or I can sabotage the lines and break connections so it only looks like it will blow. How do you want it?" Merreck has a strange contraption before him, powerpack and fuesl lashed together, with several wires ready to connect.

In reply to Merreck Toluga (msg #67):

On the comm to Exilim.

"He's got it ready, it can be fixed to blow or just to look like it, which way do you want it for sure."