Local Time Equivalent - 3 A.M.

The blissful silence and peace of sleep are rudely interrupted by the muffled sound of an explosion, followed by the not-so-subtle sounds of the penthouse's fire alarm.

Everyone should roll Perception checks to see if they are able to wake up and make sense of things quickly.

Aadun wakes up and shakes his head.  It only takes him a moment to get over the usual confusion of being woken up in the middle of the night.  He steps out of bed and pulls on his clothes before quickly grabbing his weapon and bag.  He will head out into the hallway once this is done.

OOC: You rolled 25 using 1d20+8 ((17)).

[Private to The Force: That's the plan anyway.  If I don't have time for some of that, I will edit the post.]

Some kind of explosion woke Kala up in the middle of the night, and she quickly tossed on some clothing, and grabbed her belt that had the blaster pistol on it, before heading outside, wondering what that loud explosion was.

22:59, Today: Kala Jorn rolled 15 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 6. Perception check.

In the darkness of night Narik’s skin shone but any light it generated failed to reach his grey eyes. At the sound of an explosion his eyes were cold. He sat up in his bed twisted his hips and bent his knees to get himself off his bed and into a low fighting stance. Although no danger presented itself the mystery of the unknown put him on guard.

”Curses, what’s happened” he spat the words out through gritted teeth as he rushed out of his room blasters in his hands.

16:57, Today: Narik rolled 23 using 1d20+08 with rolls of 15. Perception.

Enraptured in the world of restless dreams, Joron Sarrus tossed and turned well into the night. It was neither a person nor a conscious act of will that wrought salvation from that which plagued him... but the waves of discord that emanated throughout the penthouse suite. As though pressed from the very shock waves of the explosion, Sarrus' dark eyes snapped open with worry! With an ensuing surge of adrenaline to aid his journey, his fingers pressed firmly into the plush bed's mattress as his legs sprang and swung. As dark silk billowed in an artificial breeze, his hands then moved to claim the one item that could aid in his safety. Without so much as calling out questions of how, what or why, he raced toward his door to investigate what awaited him outside...

16:05, Today: Joron Sarrus rolled 22 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 13. Perception.

The common room of the suite is filled with smoke and the wall from Varis's suite has been blown inward, creating a field of debris, much of it burning. The fire-suppression system engages, spraying the entire room with a non-toxic fire-retardant foam. The same should be happening in the remains of Varis's rooms, but the system has been too damaged and it continues to burn uncontrollably.

"Oh no..." Joron murmured, the pangs of grief and misfortune shaking him. "Varis!" He called out, racing toward the blazing inferno as if to spy whether or not she was either deceased or in danger.

He knew, he knew what this was, or rather, what it might have been. It was a plan, all part of that man's sick little game of control and a means to weasel out of what had to be a fortuitous agreement. The only question was whether or not the Duchess was all right.

Over the roar of the flames it is difficult to make out the sound, but those in the common room can hear, just barely, "Help!" coming from beyond and below the window.

Returning his weapon into the confines of his robe, Joron releases a string of alien curses. Bad, this was bad and as of yet, no one else was in sight. Looking to his left and then to his right, the savvy young noble ran towards where he hoped the suite contained a fire extinguisher. If there was no way to get around the roaring flames... he would need to find another way.

Joron is able to get a fire extinguisher which can be used to spray the same foam that the suppression system uses. Getting into the remains of Varis's suite, though, with just this hand-held device will be difficult, to say the least.

Narik assessed the situation and couldn’t see any enemies in the smoke. Whatever had happened no-one had remained to take the blame. The soldier quickly holstered his blasters ”we need to get everyone out” he shouted to those you were emerging from their rooms ”we should be safe in the Lorelei” he suggested.

When he saw Joron attempting to control the blaze he joined the noble ”is she in there?” he asked.

Rushing across the suite, Joron attempts to bring order to a chaos as he released the first sprays of foam to clear a path inside. When Narik appeared, he only paid a modicum of attention to the man.

"Yeah. Not sure of the condition, sounds far away," he shouted over the blaze. "Go wake the armored princess, if I can't clear a bath through here she can at least put that armor of hers to use!"

"Aadun, see if you can check the fire supression system in the computer, see if there's any way to get it running." Kala said, as she looked into the room. She looked around the area, to see if she could find another one of the small fire supression systems.

"Um, alright," he says and shrugs his shoulders before running in the direction of the computer.  Playing with fire wasn't his thing anyway and maybe he'd find some clues.  So, he raced over to the door, hit the opening and ran down the stairs taking two at a time.  Once he got there, he quickly turned on the computer and checked to see if there was anything off about the "settings" of Varis' room and if there is anything he could do about the fire suppression.

[Private to The Force: You rolled 25 using 1d20+14 ((11)). - Use Computer check]

Kala searched for a bit, and found another one of the portable fire supression units. "I don't know how much time we have, and if Krysten is awake yet. We need to move quickly though." She said, as she holstered her pistol and picked it up. "You with me Joron, Narik?"

Krysten woke with a start at the explosion.  Precious moments were lost, however as she slipped into her armor.  Thankfully, the two pistols went on in a bare two seconds as her gun belt was snapped to her equipment belt with a simple quick-disconnect attachment.  As Kala was speaking she came out of the room, armed for war.  Seeing the flames, she crossed the space of the common area in less than five steps.

"Varis?" she asked, pointing towards the flames.  As soon as she got a nod, she sealed her armor and plunged into the flames, looking for Varis.

22:47, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 13 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 2. Perception (+9 skill, +2 Helmet Package).

With Joron attempting the best he could to prevent the fire from spreading Narik turned toward Krysten’s room. Signs of further danger were not obvious but it didn’t mean that the danger had gone ”be careful we don’t know if this was deliberate or not. There could be more explosions or even an intruder somewhere nearby” the soldier warned Kala and Joron as he rushed off to find Krysten.

Narik never reached the Mandalorian’s door before she stepped out fully armoured and plunged into the fire. Narik was left wondering if she actually slept in her armour.

Jets of foam sprayed and sprayed as Joron pressed further and further into the unruly inferno. Sometime, between the doorway and his present position, he had shielded his face with a bandanna likely reserved for his head. As Kala called out, he responded amicably, though the sound of fire cut his words just short. Krysten's efforts only renewed an unwavering zeal. Further, they had to press further and rescue the Duchess in distress before it was too late!

Krysten hears the faint sound of Varis's cry for help from beyond the remains of the window to her suite.

She also sees three airspeeders, one of them military grade, hovering about two hundred meters from the building. Her military training tells her that there are concussion missile launchers mounted beneath it, which would probably explain the explosion.

Moving to the edge of the blown out wall, Krysten looks for Varis as she primes an anti-vehicle rocket in her wrist rocket launcher.  Her chin moved forward and hit the plate that activated the comlink built into her helmet package and spoke as soon as it chirped that it was connected with at least one of the group's comlinks.

"Three airpseeders, one with a concussion launcher.  Still looking for Varis."



Move Action: Move across room
Standard Action: Perception Check
--13:04, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 25 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 14. Perception.
Swift Action: Activate Comlink to the rest of the group
This message was last edited by the player at 21:14, Fri 31 July 2009.

Narik believed the best defence was offence. If they was an armed airspeeder out there it needed to the brought down before he killed them all. Shame he didn’t have a missile launcher or even a grenade close to hand ”we’ve got to eliminate that speeder” he replied on his comlink.

Without the benefit of armour he couldn’t risk entering Varis’s room so Narik searched for any room which would give him an angle on the airspeeder hoping to try and shoot it down.

OOC Narik will move into a room adjacent to Varis’s and if possible shoot at the military airspeeder

The Olan Marquis's penthouse is too far up the building to have operable windows anywhere but the balcony, which is not on this side of the building. Narik will have to shoot out one of the windows or at least break it somehow to be able to get a shot at the airspeeder.

Krysten, meanwhile, finds that getting across the room is slow going, thanks to all the debris, which makes it difficult terrain. Thankfully, with the hangar and landing bay above this floor, the ceiling and floor have been heavily reinforced, which contained the blast, but also made it that much worse on this floor.

With frustration Narik could see the airspeeder but with the window blocking any attempt to open fire without attracting its attention he had a difficult decision to make. If he did nothing thing might get a lot worse. If whoever was trying to get at Varis saw she was being rescued they may well open fire again, injuring or killing Krysten too.

Narik threw his left arm across his face to shield himself as he aimed his blaster at the window ”let’s give them something to concentrate on” he chirped on the team comlink frequency, the soldier had experience with being under fire and it didn’t seem to faze him.

Kala nodded, though before she headed off, she strode into the room, and foamed as much of the fire as she could, she didn't know how much of the stuff was in there, but she would stop when it ran out.

Then, she was going to head to see if the ship was fine. If it was, perhaps taking off would get the attention of the speeders. She just hoped someone on board could use the weapons systems.

Kala rushes up the stairs to the hangar while Narik blasts out the windows in the room adjacent to Varis's and Krysten and Joron work on Varis's suite.

Kala finds that the hangar emergency lights are off and she meets one of the crewmen at the boarding ramp as he is coming down to find out what's happened.

Narik has no problems blasting out the window, although it takes a few shots of his weapon to do it, since they're blast resistant.

"Ahh. Good to see you. The penthouse is under attack by an unknown force." Kala said, as she nodded to the crewman. "I hope to use the Loralai to either get their attention, or drive them off. Tell me, do you have a knack for shooting the ship's weapons."

"I can fire them when necessary, but that's not going to make much difference. We can't get out of the hangar," the crewman tells her.

"Any time, Aadun!" Joron yelled over the fire, encouraging the sly Zabrak to find fortune amidst disaster. Though his tank of foam had done well to get him this far, the combination of smoke and fire was taking its toll. Faster, they needed to reach Varis faster! Using whatever was left in the extinguisher, the brash noble races to the window. Once there, he drops the bane of flame to the floor then pauses at the sight of the air speeders. While questions ran through his mind, now was no time for answers. It was time to rescue the damsel in distress! [private to GM: If Joron is within sight/capable of doing so, he reaches out to her.]

"Are we locked down, or is there Debris in the way?" Kala asked, as she looked around the hangar, trying to get a better idea on what the heck was going on.

Hangar
"I'm not sure. If there's debris, it's outside, where we can't see it. The security doors were closed."

Suite
Joron's movements are also slowed by the difficult terrain, but he makes it to the edge as well and looks out the window to see what the others already have. Varis is hanging from a hastily deployed cable below the windows of the floor beneath them. Her grappling hook is just out of arm's length, but securely wedged into the duracrete of the building. While the line isn't going anywhere, Varis does not have a utility belt or anything, just the grappling hook and liquid cable dispenser. When she loses her grip from exhaustion or the pain in her hands from holding onto the thin cable, that will be it.

At this point, Narik has a clear shot at the speeders.

Kala nodded, and switched her blaster to stun. "Is there a way to get outside and see what's keeping the door closed?" She asked, as she nodded to the crewmember.

Hangar
The crewman frowns. "Actually ma'am, I'm not sure. This whole side of the level is the hangar and the other side if off limits, so we haven't had a need."

"Well, we need to get this bird aloft, to buy our friends a little bit of time." Kala replied, as she scanned the room, looking for a way she could possibly see where she could go to observe what was preventing the ship from moving.

Having left his utility belt and subsequently his comlink in his room, the conversation taking place between the group goes unheard as he utters a frustrated breath. With eyes wide and downcast, Joron stares at the Duchess in need. Pain. Fatigue. Just how much longer would she last? Glancing over his shoulder, the noble screams. "Aadun, forget about that and get in here!" Unsure whether or not his voice has carried, he turns to the Mandalorian. "Do you have any liquid cable or rope handy?"

If not, the noble quickly adds for the Zabrak to bring some - from the utility belt in his room if needed.

Krysten let loose a wrist rocket at the military-grade speeder before yanking the grappling hook from its integrated coil in her armor and slammed it into the wall.  That done, she lifted one of her pistols from its holster and tossed it to Joron.

"Keep them busy!"

With that, she was over the edge, falling more than anything, trusting in her equipment and skill to get her to Varis before she fell to her death.

Over the comlink, she continued.

++Narik, send someone to the floor below us, same column of rooms.  Varis is hanging below the next floor down.++

[Private to Joron Sarrus: Krysten's pistol is a heavy blaster pistol, same power as a carbine or rifle.]
[Private to The Force:
21:02, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 9 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 5. Attack vs military speeder (+5 if at PB).
21:01, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 21 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 18. Climb. ]
This message was last edited by the player at 06:19, Mon 03 Aug 2009.

Catching the pistol, the noble wastes precious little time. Falling prone, he points the Mandalorian's pistol at the military grade speeder and aims solely for whom he perceives to be at the most dangerous target. [private to GM: 05:27, Today: Secret Roll: Joron Sarrus rolled 16 using 3d8 with rolls of 2,7,7. damage?.
05:26, Today: Joron Sarrus rolled 16 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 10. Attack.

Joron will fire at someone manning its weapon systems if present. If no such thing, then the driver. Unless said speeder is Imperial or the proper authorities, in which case Joron will fire at... someone else.]

Narik tried to keep as much out of sight as possible, he used the walls to give himself some cover. From his position Narik stretched his arm out to release a volley of blaster bolts at the greatest threat.

Upon hearing Krysten’s update Narik sent an urgent comlink message to the others and just in case they didn’t receive it he called out to anyone that might be able to hear him in the common room ”Varis is out of the fire but suspended a floor below. Aadun can you get down there?”.

[Private to GM:
08:12, Today: Narik rolled 19 using 4d6+2 with rolls of 4,3,5,5. Damage vs speeder.
08:11, Today: Narik rolled 21 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 14. Rapid Shot vs military speeder.
 ]

Krysten fires a rocket at the military airspeeder, missing the craft, even as she fires a cable and jumps down to assist Varis. About the time she's doing this, Narik and Joron both fire at the vehicle as well, both hitting, but doing minimal damage.

The airspeeder adjusts its angle of attack, rotating slightly in midair. As it does so, Narik and Joron can both see the next concussion missile cycle into place.

As Krysten manages to stop herself, barely avoiding a very long fall which would certainly have ended in death, the window just above Varis is blasted apart from the inside, revealing Aadun, who none of the others have seen for almost a minute. It would seem that the reason he wasn't responding to earlier requests is that he was already enroute to do something useful.

Hangar

In the hangar, Kala searches for an exit to the outside, and finds one in the form of a maintenance hatch, up a ladder and halfway down a catwalk about a third of the way up the side of the hangar. It looks like something used to access and perform maintenance on the roof of the hangar.

Not enough. The single blaster bolt was not enough to do anything. No men were wounded, nor were the vehicles severely damaged. Still, Krysten needed their attackers busy and Joron Sarrus would do just that. Taking aim at the vehicle, he fires a second time. [private to GM:

Actions:
2 Swift: Aim
Standard: Fire - roll of 11.

00:37, Today: Secret Roll: Joron Sarrus rolled 13 using 3d8 with rolls of 4,3,6. damage?.
00:37, Today: Joron Sarrus rolled 11 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 5. Attack.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:56, Tue 04 Aug 2009.

'Going up.'Kala thought, as she rushed over to the ladder, and began to scale it. She didn't know how much time she had, but she knew it wasn't going to be much.  She just hoped she could get the debris cleared and get the ship moving to lure off the attackers.

With the glass neatly dealt with, Aadun puts his blaster away and leans over the glass.  He attempts to grab a hold of Varis in order to pull her inside, but he barely misses her.  He growls a curse in his native tongue and prepares to try again.

[Private to The Force: OOC: You rolled 13 using 1d20+3 ((10)).]

Narik motion was frenetic as he kept himself on the move, ducking behind what cover he could find as he fired blaster bolts at the airspeeder. Without a more powerful weapon than a handgun he was hard pressed to do more than leave blaster burns on the exterior of the vehicle.

With Varis and Krysten both vulnerable the soldier worriedly spotted the speeder prime its launcher for another salvo. Something had to give. Narik rolled out from cover and blasted at the speeder again.

[Private to GM: OOC Narik will use a Destiny point to score a critical hit vs the speeder.

06:55, Today: Narik rolled 28 using 8d6+4 with rolls of 3,2,1,6,2,2,4,4. Destiny pt - Auto Critical vs Speeder.
]

Mentally cursing at the fact that she wasn't wearing her jetpack, Krysten reloaded her rocket launcher and let fly again.  The contrail was bright, even in the synthetic light of the cavern.  Taking a moment to look down, she noted the fact that Aadun was pulling Varis up.

++The Zabrak's helping Varis.++

[Private to The Force: 12:45, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 16 using 3d10+2 with rolls of 1,3,10. Possible Damage.
12:44, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 5 using 1d6 with rolls of 5. Force Point.
12:43, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 14 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 10. Attack vs Speeder w/ AV rocket.

As a side note, it'd be 16 instead of 15 if the speeder is at point blank range for the rocket.  Not sure if it is or not.]

Joron fires at the speeder again, but misses badly.

Narik's shot strikes true and scorches the speeder's hull.

Krysten's rocket hits as well, but seems to do minimal damage to the craft.

Aadun makes a grab for Varis to try to pull her inside, but misses. Varis, however, not liking her position any more than anyone else, makes a grab for Aadun and latches onto him. "Pull!"

The airspeeder launches a second missile, this time at the window from which Narik has been firing. The missile hits, and explodes, throwing Narik against the far wall of the room and scorching him. [Private to Narik: 22 points of damage. Area attack.]

Hangar

Meanwhile, upstairs in the hangar, Kala is shoving open a door and poking her head outside onto a maintenance catwalk.

Now that it has come down to this, Aadun began to realize that he hadn't thought this completely through.  The whole time he was off trying to rescue Varis, it hadn’t occurred to him that he would have to physically pull her into the building.  He reacted on instinct and now as he felt her hands grab a hold of him after his own failed attempt to grab her, he wondered if he had the ability to do it.  “Alright,” he responds to her command and grits his teeth.  He always put his best efforts into blasters, so he mentally cursed himself now for doing so at the detriment of his physical abilities.  Either way, he attempts to pull her into the building, hoping that he could manage to pull off some sort of miracle.

[Private to The Force: Aadun uses 1 Force Point:
You rolled 5 using 1d6 ((5)).

Attempt to pull her into the building:
You rolled 13 using 1d20+5 ((8)).]

Eyes widen at the potential dismay as Joron Sarrus watches the speeder's missile launcher take action. Gritting his teeth, he prepares for the worst but feels a certain sense of relief and horror wash over him as it veers off in another direction. Narrowing his eyes, the noble squeezes the trigger and sends a brilliant bolt of energy veering towards his foes!
[private to GM:
Actions -
Swift x2 - AIM
Standard - attack

22:57, Today: Joron Sarrus rolled 12 using 3d8 with rolls of 7,1,4. damage.
22:52, Today: Joron Sarrus rolled 23 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 17. Attack.]

Kala scanned the catwalk, for potential threats, and hoped she didn't find any. She needed to get the doors open, so she could get the ship aloft, and hopefully drive the speeders off, then sort through the mess of who could have done this to the group, and more importantly, who told them where they were.

Krysten loads another rocket, but she's out of anti-vehicle rockets.  Now, she must make do with anti-personnel, and those are decidedly less lethal against armor.

++Narik's down!  Joron, go, I've got this.  Help Narik.++


Move Action: Reload rocket launcher
Standard Action: Use Destiny Point used to score automatic critical
Swift Action: None

Despite the barrage the airspeeder had received from everyone Narik knew it hadn’t been enough. As he continued to fire he stared down the barrel of the vehicles missile launcher. In the moment the missile fired Narik’s eyes widened and he knew he was in trouble. The time between the rocket being launched and the room Narik occupied being demolished was barely seconds but it gave Narik enough time to wish he was elsewhere.

After being thrown up in the air and slammed against the wall Narik had to breathe hard to regain his composure. He staggered as he tried stand and lungs stung as he inhaled the scorched air.

OOC Narik will use 3 swift actions to move back up the condition track

Aadun's efforts are nearly in vain, except that Varis is just barely able to assist him in his efforts by leveraging and shifting her own weight about enough to enable him to pull her up into the building. Aid another.

Narik, stunned, shakes it off and recovers his bearings.

Krysten's next rocket hits the military speeder. Coupled with Joron's hit, this causes the vehicle to begin trailing wisps of smoke.

The two escort speeders have had time to gauge the situation by this time and their occupants have opened windows and begin firing at the building and the combatants. The aim of all four is decidedly poor, however.

Hangar

Kala runs around the clear catwalk and is able to get a view of the doors. There appears to be no debris or any obstacle which would prevent the hangar doors from being opened.

Without his comlink on hand, Krysten's message goes unheard. Now pinned down by enemy fire and ignorant to whether the soldier is alive or dead, Joron remains huddled to the floor, firing at the enemy. However, whether or not he takes out an enemy speeder or one of it's crew remains to be seen...
[private to GM:
Swift x 2: Aim
Standard: Fire. Rolled a 9, not bothering with damage.]

Narik was able to shake off the after effects of the blast due to his experience and training. His face was covered in soot and his clothes singed but he remained focused. Using what cover he could find in the battered room Narik began to shoot at the airspeeder again. If they didn’t knock it out of the sky soon they’d be little left of this floor of the hotel but rubble.

OOC Narik will fire at the speeder again
20:58, Today: Narik rolled 19 using 4d6+2 with rolls of 2,4,6,5. Damage vs speeder.
20:58, Today: Narik rolled 10 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 3. Rapid shot vs military speeder.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:04, Wed 05 Aug 2009.

"Mandalore, guide my shot," whispered Krysten as she reloaded her wrist launcher once more.  That said, she extended her right arm, sighted down the side of the launcher and bent her wrist.  The rocket shot through the air, directly towards the military speeder, now smoking and showing some signs of damage.

[Private to The Force: 13:21, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 23 using 3d8+2 with rolls of 8,5,8. Damage vs Speeder.
13:21, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 19 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 15. Attack vs Speeder. ]

"There's nothing blocking the door." Kala shouted from her perch, before she began to make her way down to the floor again. "Can we get the doors open, or is there something keeping them locked?"

Aadun pulled as hard as he could, but could tell that it still wasn't quite enough.  Luckily, even though she had been holding on for a long time, Varis maneuvered herself into a better position and allowed him to get her into the room.

He takes his shirt off and offers it to her since she seemed to be just wearing a nightgown.  "Here, take this.  We should get away from the windows."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:03, Thu 06 Aug 2009.

"Yes, let's do that. Thank you," Varis says, putting the shirt on over her revealing nightwear.

Krysten, Narik, and Joron all continue to fire at the military speeder, and while Joron's shot misses, both Krysten and Narik score hits once again. The airspeeder has cycled up one last parting shot, which it fires at the window which Aadun and Varis have just passed through, then turns to leave the area, streaming smoke even heavier.

The passengers in the other two speeders provide a distraction as their aim seems to have improved slightly, with one shot hitting Krysten, and another glancing off of Joron.

The parting missile explodes against the window, flinging debris, Varis, and Aadun from the window and the blast wave outside of the building sends Krysten reeling.

[Private to Krysten Tyner: 4 points of damage from the blaster. Barely worth mentioning, but it was a hit. The missile is the bigger deal. You were in the blast radius for 16 points of damage.]
[Private to Joron Sarrus: 3 points of damage. Hardly noteworthy except as a hit.]
[Private to Aadun Ogden: 16 points of damage.]
Hangar
"The doors have to be opened from the command center of the hotel. We can't open them and they're still telling us they can't."

"Well, if they can't, either someone is paying them not to, or there's been some kind of sabotage. Can any of the weapon systems be brought to bear on the doors?" Kala asked, as she looked over at the hangar doors. Hopefully, the ship had enough punch to get through.

Well, Aadun didn't have to move himself away from the window since the blast did that just fine on its own.  He didn't even have much protection against the debris and once he's landed he doesn't move at first.  After he gets his bearings, he sits up and rubs his head.  "Varis, are you okay?" he asks her.  He stands up and offers to help her if she needs it.

Unless she's hurt, he's ready to run out of the room once she's ready.

Narik was relieved the see the airspeeder defeated but the battle was not over. Blaster bolts from the other speeders zapped past his head to scorch the already fire damaged walls. The fire-fight reminded Narik of the times he had been involved in ground skirmishes previously, although during the Clone Wars his opponents had usually been droids. The times since the end of the Clone Wars he didn’t want to think about, upon reflection he suspected often that the Imperial Navy targets were not military in nature but often political or maybe even innocent victims.

The soldier had to shake his head to clear his thoughts; the blast from the rocket had obviously rattled his brain. He had to keep his mind focused; else he’d lose his head. Narik continued to make use of the cover offered by his surroundings and blasted at one of passengers in one of the remaining speeders.

OOC 16:32, Today: Narik rolled 10 using 3d6+2 with rolls of 1,5,2. Blaster damage.
16:31, Today: Narik rolled 27 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 18. Blaster vs gunman passenger.

Anger fermented and boiled over as the sudden sting of pain struck his shoulder. Glaring and gritting his teeth, Joron Sarrus narrowed his eyes darkly at the remaining speeders. His robe, once so pristine, had become soiled by this loathsome evening. The luscious silk was covered in soot and now... now it possessed a small blaster burn. Squeezing the trigger, he sent an attack of his own veering toward the remaining men.
[private to GM: Same actions as always. Rolled 11 to hit. I miss.]

Aadun helps Varis to her feet and they both run out of the exposed room quickly as they can.

Joron's next shot at the speeders goes wide, while Narik shoots one of the gunmen, who falls backwards into the passenger compartment. At that point, both speeders quickly back away.

Hangar
"Ma'am, they're still refusing us entry and the doors are magnetically sealed. If we fire at them, the shots will rebound and who knows where they'll hit."

Krysten levels her blaster at the second gunman passenger, but her foot slipped as she depressed the firing stud, and the shot went wide.  Cursing, she replanted her feet and began sighting in on him again.

Almost in constant motion Narik ducked and dived as he fought to avoid being hit whilst scoring hits against his enemies. His movements resulted in the soldier peering from behind the broken window of the room to see the tails of the two speeders as they fled. Narik was content to let them escape; it would make things less dangerous at least for the time being and send a clear message to their masters.

Narik remained crouched by the window his gun held in his hand resting on his knee as he spoke clearly into his comlink. ”Our visitors are leaving, we should regroup and considering moving our base of operations before they return with reinforcements” he suggested calmly.

As Narik's message came though, Kala sighed a little. "They've sealed the hangar doors up here, so, I might have to be a little persuasive with those who control them..." She said into the commlink. She turned to the crew members. "Is there some kind of console I can reach them with? I want to talk to them."

The news from Kala was far from good ”so we have effectively been cornered” the soldier muttered a curse ”all the more reason to relocate, anyone checked out the option of walking out of here or is that route blocked too?” he asked, whoever was after them was determined to bring their enterprise and most probably their lives to an end. It was something Narik wanted to avoid.

Narik holstered his blaster and returning to his room quickly packed up his belonging into his bag. Bag slung over his shoulders he returned to the common room ready to make a get away.

Once fleeing the room, unless Varis has other ideas, Aadun will begin to make his way back to their suite so that he could touch bases with the others.  "Do you know what's going on?" he asked her as he walked.  "Did anybody cause any problems I'm not aware of?  Or could one of the people we've spoken with have decided that we're not worth the trouble?"

Besieged by an indignant gaze, Joron Sarrus watches angrily as the speeders depart. Without wasting a final frustrating attempt to shoot at them, the soot covered noble stands from the debris and dusts his once pristine robe again and again. With a cough and a hack, he turns from the ledge and begins hopping over the charred remains of Varis' room.

Hangar

"Yes, ma'am. You can speak with them using the ship's communication gear or there's an intercom over by the security console."

Suite

"I'd be willing to bet they were trying to kill me. And there's a pretty good chance Jaerad hired them. I'd love to know that for certain, though," Varis tells Aadun on the way back upstairs.

Once there, she asks everyone, "All right, what do we know? What can we surmise? And what shall we do now? I'm listening to suggestions and options here."

Aadun entered the room behind Varis with a rather annoyed look on his face.  He was shirtless, with cuts, bruises and dried blood from where he had been hit while he was in the room.  Once inside, he listens to her questioning for a moment before he shrugs his shoulders.  If Jaerad had initiated the hit on Varis, he was sure now that he wouldn't get any recognition or credits for keeping her safe.  Truly a waste, but not much he could do about that now.

"All I know is what I saw on the security cameras and learned when I checked the computer systems.  The suppression heads, which were suppose to put out the fire were physically damaged, probably when the air speeders attacked.  I saw Varis' location and the air speeders on the security feeds.  I can try and pull those again to see if I can get a look at the people who were in the speeders, but otherwise that is all I know."

With his bag on his back Narik stood ready to go ”whoever is after us won’t just go away we shouldn’t stay here” he stated to the group. Aadun’s information was worth investigating if they had the time ”can you burn a copy of the security feeds so we can take a closer look at it later?” he asked urgently.

”So who with me on getting out of here before they try again at killing us?”

"I agree that we can't stay. We can't leave just yet, either, though. The ship, leaving, would be too noticeable to traffic control and if they investigate, we'll have Imperials crawling down our necks in no time at all.

"I think that Aadun should go downstairs and wipe all traces of us out of their system while Joron, Narik, and Krysten go talk to the security offices and find out who has been bribed. They've got sensors. Someone down there knew this was about to happen. Don't take 'No' for an answer. Keep moving up the hierarchy until you find someone who is actually willing to work with you. Because someone will be. They have to be. The hotel's reputation as a safe-haven is at stake if their security is compromised.

"Kala can tighten batten down the hatches upstairs and then we need to get every trace of physical evidence we can out of this room and into the smuggling compartments on the ship, which will have to stay up there.

"Anyone have any better ideas? Now's the time to voice them."

"I'll do what I can," he says and shrugs his shoulders.  "I'll get whatever I can off of the computer as far as the people who attacked us and then I'll erase all of our data."  Aadun didn't really have an opinion as far as what they did other than that.  As long as the credits were good, he'd follow them wherever they were planning on going.

He walks into his room, grabs another shirt and puts it on.  Then, he walks over to the doorway and heads downstairs.

[Private to The Force: OOC: Including two computer rolls. One for the security feed and I want to save that onto one of my blank datacards.  The other is for erasing our presence.

You rolled 26 using 1d20+14 ((12)).
You rolled 19 using 1d20+14 ((5)).]

With his arms folded Narik listened to Varis. He had plenty of questions and ideas too, but he realised at that moment Varis was maybe not the best person to speak to about them. Had the attack been against them all or was it no coincidence that it had been Varis’s room that had been hit first? For the time being it seemed they would be tied together although the thought that it was possible their own employer Jaerad had orchestrated the hit provided the soldier a dilemma. Was his loyalty to Jaerad or the group of people he was with now? For the sake of getting on with something it was best to assume it wasn’t Jaerad. If Jaerad was after Varis then the rest of them were going to be expendable.

At the chance to be on the move even if it wasn’t to escape Narik was eager. He nodded to Varis then exited to find the security office with the others. Maybe if they discovered who had been involved in the attack they might find a lead to who was behind it all.

Kala nodded to the flight crew and sighed a little bit. She didn't know what was going on downstairs, hopefully everyone was okay. She pulled out her personal comm-link and set it to Aadun's channel.

"Aadun. Come in. What's happening?"

Having dropped into the room where Aadun had retrieved Varis, Krysten left her line where it was.  She would retrieve the grappling hook after making sure that Varis and Aadun made it back safely to the suite.  Before that, however, was putting out any flames that decided to hang around on her armor.

When Varis mentioned everyone in the security detail going to the security officer, she shook her head and spoke up.  The fact that her armor was scorched in multiple places and dinged in even more from shrapnel only added more punctuation to her statement.

"I'll stay here.  I'm not going to have our entire 'delegation' without some sort of combat capability.  I understand you're willing to put yourself in danger, and I respect that, but I was hired on to make sure you and the rest of the delegation stay alive.  If they decide to send a ground team," she locked a rocket into her wrist launcher with a loud click, "you'll need the extra firepower."

[Private to The Force: Using my Second Wind to recover 12 HP (Con Score is greater than 25% of my HP)]

Varis nods her head in agreement. "That's fine. While I don't think they'd be so foolish, it's a possibility.

"So, if no one else has any objections or better suggestions, we'd better get moving on this. The sooner we talk to security and find out what happened, the sooner we can locate other options for our new base of operations."

While Aadun was working with the computer, he heard Kala's voice come over his commlink.  He pauses for a moment, takes it out and responds:

"Varis is safe and the speeders are gone.  I'm doing some computer work right now."

"Krysten," Joron said, tossing the Mandalorian her blaster with a look of thanks. "I agree with Varis. We can't stay but we can't leave either. And there's no telling how long before the eyes above send someone to investigate this little party. Or do you think the Imperials will shrug off a luxury hotel being attacked?" Pausing, the noble slid his arms behind the back of his head and looked to the ceiling. "I guess that would depend on bribes..."

For a brief moment, a calculating stare met with the Duchess' form. Her. The entire attack had been about getting her and even now, that made the fragile moorings within his mind alight with wonder. Was it a move by a rival corporation or that fool of a man? Flicking a lose strand of hair from his face, he nods to at her suggestions.

Nodding at Krysten's wish to stay and guard Varis, Joron gave a simple smile to the old soldier. "I think Narik and I will be positively delighted to speak with security." And after what they just went through, it could be certain either of them had more than just a little pent up anger or frustration to work out.

Krysten chooses to stay with Varis in the suite, so they immediately get to work sorting any personal items from the debris while the crewmen lug things back and forth to the ship.

Joron and Narik head down to the security office to have a chat with the security personnel and perhaps get some clues.

Aadun gets to work immediately wiping their tracks electronically and Kala battens down the hatches on the ship before being called down to the suite to assist.

Narik kept his composure as he made his way to speak with the security personnel. The reaction they got from whoever was there would hopefully give some insight into how the attack got through their sensors. As their own security detail was only one floor below Narik opted to take the stairs instead of the turbolift so he could quickly review their version of events before they confronted the hotel's own security.

The ex-soldier requested a a report from the crew to what had happened then took the turbolift to the ground floor. Exiting the turbolift Narik approached the security desk and firmly gripped the counter and with eyes levelled with the person there he made his request ”there’s been a breach of security on penthouse level” he said watching to see how the statement was received.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:14, Thu 20 Aug 2009.

Kala nodded to the crew, and began to put the ship on lockdown, so it would at least be a little harder to get inside, and get operational. When she was done, she headed to the main suite, and looked around for Varis.