OOC Note:  The stormtrooper prisoner is not in the tunnel, he's in the warehouse near the tunnel.  Remote would assume he's in the tunnel as that's where he was when you subdued him and nobody told her he'd been moved.  Just thought I'd clarify in case you were confused about that.

"I will comply with these instructions, but I suggest you make this quick because the Imperial Intelligence might be listening to the comms of the squad I was leading and if all communications cease, they might send more troops to investigate. Also, the trooper is not in the tunnel but in the warehouse."

The more he talked with 'Remote', the more concerned Arin felt himself. If the Imperials were ruthless, so was she. So far, she had suggested, he should kill his last remaining trooper. It made Arin wonder, what he was getting himself in to, but if he disappeared without a trace, the Imperials might think, he was abducted. Better to look like incompetent than a traitor. And their own fault putting a pilot in charge of an assault team. The thought made Arin grin a little behind the white face of his helmet.

"Then staying away from the tunnel will be particularly easy for you," Remote replies in the same calm tone.  "Thank you for your cooperation.  If you wish your last trooper to cease being a threat I suggest you think of a way of convincing him you've been captured or killed."  Her tone doesn't suggest annoyance at his refusal to slay the man.

"Heis blindfolded so whoever is going to extract me can use that to play him in to believing, I have been captured."

"Fair enough.  Then that is between you and Alpha."

"I'll be here when he is available."

"Troop Leader, can you confirm whether your troop speeder has tracing equipment that your command might track it with?"

"I have absolutely no information about that. All I know, I wasn't really given much of a briefing about the mission and as far as I am concerned, I wouldn't put it past the Imperial Intelligence to slip a tracker on the speeder, just in case."

"Understood, Troop Leader."

Arin beckoned Raana over and removed his helmet. He lowered his voice to a whisper when speaking to her, to keep the remaining stormtrooper from hearing his voice. "I'm asking you to do me a favor. When you leave, speak about taking the stormtrooper leader - that is, me - with you as an insurance against the Imperials. It won't change things for you as you are already marked by the Imperials as rebel dissidents most probably. I'm asking you to do this so I can get away from the Imperials myself. I do not wish to serve anyone, who is conspiring to murder unarmed civilians. If you do this, I will be in your debt, and if you need help, you can just track me down. The name is Arin Branden."

Raana stares at the trooper then nods.  "As you wish.  Good luck.  We need to go."

She gathers up her fellow aliens and heads into the tunnel, talking loudly about their 'stormtrooper prisoner'.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:13, Sun 15 July 2012.

As Arin watches the aliens head for the tunnel, his commlink crackles to life.  His helmet display shows it's Imperial Command.

An authoritative voice says.  "Trooper TJ-8157.  Operation AM114 is fifteen minutes overdue.  Sit-rep over."




OOC:  TJ-9157 is Arin's temporary stormtrooper designation.

Arin opens the line to the rebels. "The imperials are inquiring about the state of the mission as it is already 15 minutes overdue. The refugees have left the warehouse, leaving me with the last stormtrooper and I fear, the Imperials might send a team to investigate, if I do not reply. However, the refugees planted an idea of abducting me in to the mind of that last stormtrooper, so all we need is to evac me and stun him again, so it should look like I was really abducted."

"Troop leader, Alpha, am heading your way to evac you. Plan noted with your remaining trooper. If you can put off the imperials questioning for a little bit we'll have you out of there."



OOC:  On your tacpad you can see your two stormtroopers signals are returning to your location.  You'd estimate they'll take about 10 minutes to get there.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:41, Sun 15 July 2012.

"Affirmative, Alpha. I'll cook something up."

Arin switched to the Imperial comm. "Command, this is TJ-8157. Resistance at the warehouse proved more severe than estimated. We are doing final sweep on the compound and the mission should be over with all hostiles terminated in approximately 20 minutes."

Arin hoped his explanation was bought by the Command - otherwise they'd send in reinforcements and that he could not have.

The comm was dead for a few moments then resumed.

"TJ-8157 squawk clearance code and update sitrep.  Your mission was to engage terrorists, clear and sanitise.  Reinforcements are now being scrambled."



OOC:  You made an excellent bluff roll, natural 18, unfortunately the dice roller liked the controller too.  Given bluff is not a skill you have ranks in you would have been lucky to win this roll!

One problem is that twenty minutes was a bit unbelievable.  If you are 'finishing your sweep' of a single warehouse you should have needed five minutes tops, possibly as little as two!  The whole mission was supposed to take less than 10!

Better think quick or you might have extra guests to the party!

Arin cursed in his mind. "Command, clearance code Alpha-one-nine-three Black. There is a tunnel leading out of the warehouse. I have troopers clearing it up. No need for reinforcements at this time. How copy?"

Swapping to Rebel comms, he warned his evac team. "Alpha, we have a problem. The Imperial C&C did not buy my explanation. I'll try to stall them, but can not promise it'll stop them from sending reinforcements. How do we proceed?"

"Talon Leader, can you provide a likely ETA of the reinforcements' arrival?"  She sounds as calm as always.

"Code Verified.  This mission is already fifteen minutes over time.  Neutralise the threat and sanitise the site.  You have five minutes.  You will have some explaining to do at debrief.  Get it done.  Out."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:07, Mon 16 July 2012.

"Command, affirmative. I'll make sure, we'll get out of here in five minutes."

Arin closed the Imperial line microphone and sighed. That had been a close call. He swapped to the rebel comms.

"I have been informed by the Imperial Command, my team has five minutes to finish the mission and be on our way back. Can you arrange a pick up before that timeframe expires?"

"Whilst Alpha would have a better idea of their time frame for arrival, Troop Leader, I - rather predictably - have a suggestion for securing a little more time.  If Imperial Command has given you five minutes then perhaps it would be salient to contact them after four, state your mission is complete and that you are returning to base with a realistic ETA; you'd be best placed to know how long it would take you to travel from the warehouse to your base.  That will extend the time frame to four minutes plus your ETA, yes?"

"Yes, I will do that. Alpha, keep to the speed limits and do not attract attention. If you have any way of telling whether there is a tracker onboard the speeder, I suggest you check for it or we're going to face a very short ride before were gunned down by a TIE."

Arin looked around. He would need a contingency plan. He looked around him for anything useful. The dead alien who had taken down two stormtroopers probably had useful gear. Another thing was getting the armor's transponder changed and that would be accomplished by swapping the helmet at an opportune moment for someone already dead - the armor provided much needed anonymity as no-one but the Imperials would probably going to approach a stormtrooper, if they saw him. In a tight spot, he could ditch the armor, but he'd need something to disguise himself with, if he did that.

A thought of destroying the warehouse and all the evidence in it did cross Arin's mind, but he'd need to get the tied up stormtrooper out of harms way before blowing the place up. There was bound to be something flammable in the building and a grenade would probably set the place ablaze.

Four minutes after the last Imperial comm, Arin opened the Imperial frequency again. "Command, this it TJ-8157. Mission accomplished, gathering troops to rally point - we are returning to base, ETA 20 minutes."Come on, fall for it, will you.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:34, Mon 16 July 2012.

"Understood.  Out." came back the voice from Imperial Command.

A quick search of the dead alien revealed no items of any note.  A vibrodagger was sheathed on his hip and he was clasping an E-11 blaster rifle which was clearly from one of the troopers.  Either this alien had discarded his gear, or he'd taken on three trained stormtroopers with nothing but a blade. . .and won!

His searching is interrupted as he does one of his frequent glances at his tacpad.  The speeder was about to pull up outside.

OOC:  There are plenty of stormtrooper helmets to choose from.  Six upstairs and two down the tunnel.  There's two more in the speeder coming back to you.

Just a note, if you plan to take your helmet off to meet the Talons, might want to change your portrait picture, no need if you leave your helmet on.

This message was last edited by the GM at 10:11, Wed 18 July 2012.

Arin picked up the vibrodagger with its sheath and the least damaged helmet. He was going to swap the helmet upon leaving the compound. Now there was not much more to be done but wait.

Arin didn't need to check his tacpad to know the speeder had pulled up outside, he could hear it.  He could see an unfamiliar man behind the wheel.  Nobody sat beside him but there could be untold number of people in the back.  Still, he'd gambled on these guys and it was time to see if his hand was a winner or a bust.