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11:09, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Part 20 - Distress.

Posted by The ForceFor group 0
The Force
GM, 903 posts
These aren't the dice
rolls you're looking for.
Mon 4 Dec 2017
at 20:43
  • msg #268

Part 20 - Distress

"Yakusant, here we come." Jalt reports over the internal comms, and there is a jolt as the ship makes the jump to lightspeed.  Beyond the cockpit windows, the stars streak out into thin lines of light, before vanishing, to be replaced by random blobs of light, energy patterns glowing faintly in hyperspace...

"I'm going to interrogate the prisoner.  If our protocol droid has left him capable of speaking."  Kourene grins grimly, and sets off towards the medical bay, where UY-3PO is guarding the prisoner...
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1182 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Wed 6 Dec 2017
at 18:34
  • msg #269

Part 20 - Distress

Rhijans grimaced slightly.  "Pretty sure he can still talk.  You-Why seems pretty enthusiastic for interrogation, but he's also very efficient, in my experience...and he did have pretty clear instructions that the Imperial was to be left unharmed, as long as he behaved."  He made no comment about the options if their 'guest' had decided to push his luck...
Juragga
player, 541 posts
Wookiee Warrior
Bringing the Boom
Thu 7 Dec 2017
at 00:17
  • msg #270

Part 20 - Distress

With a Wookiee warble, Juragga offered to help... incentivize... the prisoner to speak if You-Why's abilities were insufficient.
The Force
GM, 904 posts
These aren't the dice
rolls you're looking for.
Mon 11 Dec 2017
at 21:37
  • msg #271

Part 20 - Distress

Juragga follows Kourene through to the medical bay, where they find the prisoner bound to one of the diagnostic couches.  You-Why hovers nearby, seemingly studying a case of medical instruments.  The tech eyes the droid with bulging eyes.  The protocol droid picks an item out of the case, and holds it up before his optical sensors.

And.  Then.  He.  Laughs.  A cold, mechanical laugh, with little of humour in it.

"Make him stop!" the tech pleads, turning his attention to Kourene, "I'll tell you anything, but make him stop!"

Still in the room with Rhijans, Haarmon, and the box, Shard turns as R2-O0 passes though.  "Wait Artoo.  Can you weld this closed, so it can't be opened again with the lock?"

The astromech unit whistles affirmatively.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:38, Mon 11 Dec 2017.
The Force
GM, 905 posts
These aren't the dice
rolls you're looking for.
Thu 21 Dec 2017
at 20:09
  • msg #272

Part 20 - Distress

The R2 unit waits for shard to remove her foot from the top of the box, then drags it away from the bulkhead.  He starts welding around the lid - all sides - before using welding torch to  burn the lock, filling the air with the stink of scorched and melted circuitry.

A self-satisfied whistle indicates a successful operation.  The holochron is sealed away, short of somebody, or something, taking the box apart.

Kourene looks at the prisoner, then at You-Why.  "What's been going on?"

The protocol droid carefully lays the instrument back in the case.  "Nothing has been going on, Sir.  Not yet."
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1184 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Fri 22 Dec 2017
at 07:12
  • msg #273

Part 20 - Distress

Rhijans gave a tight-lipped smirk as he listened outside the medical bay where their 'guest' had been under watch.  The implications of a protocol droid with a sadistic streak were concerning, yes...but, for now, Rhijans could appreciate the way the droid had subtly scared the Imperial into ready submission.

He glanced over at the holochron.  "Once those welds cool off, Juragga, you're probably the best one to hang onto that.  Nobody's lifting off you without a fight..."  He didn't figure it was likely that anyone would try to steal it...thus far, they were the only ones who knew where it was, to the best of his knowledge.  Shard wanted nothing to do with it, obviously...and Haarmon, while not as vehement in rejecting it, had followed her lead pretty readily.  But it didn't hurt to prepare for the unexpected...
Juragga
player, 542 posts
Wookiee Warrior
Bringing the Boom
Sat 23 Dec 2017
at 03:21
  • msg #274

Part 20 - Distress

Juragga woofed an affirmative, ready to take upon himself the task of being the holocron's guardian.
Colonel Kourene
NPC, 36 posts
Commander of
Defiance Base.
Thu 28 Dec 2017
at 19:05
  • msg #275

Part 20 - Distress

"Here's the thing." Kourene replies, "I'm not sure that you, being just s tech, would have any information that would make it worth my while ordering him to stop."

"You'll need to convince me that you do before I say anything to him."


"Right.  Right... "  The tech ponders for a moment.  Then... "They don't tell me everything, I'm just a tech.  I get ignored a lot.  I've been in rooms where  senior officers have been discussing a new weapon... "

"Yes, we know about that.  It's been destroyed."

"No, I mean yes.  It was destroyed, but that was basically just a prototype.  Proof of concept.  They started work on an improved version before the first was even finished."

Another pause, before he continues, "And Os,  I was on a ship that picked up supplies of Agrocite at Os earlier this year.  It's stored in an underwater facility there."
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1186 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Thu 28 Dec 2017
at 19:50
  • msg #276

Part 20 - Distress

Rhijans spoke up from outside the medbay, moving in as he spoke.  "Do you actually know where this storage facility is?  That's a lot of planet to search for something underwater..."  Agrocite could make an attractive target...either to steal for the Alliance, or to destroy and deny the Imperials use of it.

"And just where is this other weapon being built?"  Hearing a rumor of such targets was one thing...having solid, actionable intel on them was another, altogether.
The Force
GM, 910 posts
These aren't the dice
rolls you're looking for.
Mon 1 Jan 2018
at 20:59
  • msg #277

Part 20 - Distress

Kourene bangs his hand down on the table, "Osmur!  The construction project at Osmur that was sabotaged.*"

"Yes, Osmur.  But if it's been sabotaged then it won't be there any longer.  The project will have been moved, or abandoned.  I know nothing more about it."  The tech looks dismayed.  Whether it is because one of his bargaining chips has been rendered null and void, or because he's shocked to hear that the Imperial weapon project has been sabotaged, isn't entirely clear.  But...

"Os, however... that I can help with, I think.  The ship I was in landed on the northern hemisphere, on a floating city at the eastern end of an island chain.  One of the bridge crew mentioned that the location had been chosen because of a deep trench in the ocean floor nearby."


* link to a message in this game
Shard
player, 1263 posts
Most days, I'm tired.
...or drunk.
Tue 2 Jan 2018
at 13:34
  • msg #278

Part 20 - Distress

"Void.  They're still working on the superweapon?"  Shard struggles not to groan; of course it wouldn't be that easy.  "If they've moved, abandoned Osmur, it's still possible the underwater facility might have some kind of information or somesuch.".

Pacing back and forth, the older woman thinks furiously. "Which means someone needs to go back," she muses. "Which likely means us.  Under stealth, this time."  Her smile is strained.  "I don't think me posing as Ghea Nimadda is going to work twice."
Haarmon Dak
player, 697 posts
Are you talking to me?
Tue 2 Jan 2018
at 15:06
  • msg #279

Part 20 - Distress

Haarmon groaned internally. He liked it most when things came at him one at a time. But that didn't seem to be the way things worked out here.

"So we, uh, do the thing with the sun at Os? Or do that now and then head over?"
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1188 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Wed 3 Jan 2018
at 04:31
  • msg #280

Part 20 - Distress

Rhijans wasn't in any doubt about priorities.  "Get rid of the box now...as remotely as practical, don't take it with us anywhere there might be a strong Imperial presence."  It was as much as he was willing to say in front of an Imperial prisoner, even if chances of the man getting word out were highly remote.  If he did, all the Empire had to go on was that they had a box, of some kind, that they didn't want the Empire to have.  It was a long leap from that to 'some kind of recorded Sith sentience looking for an apprentice'.

"After that, I think we can worry about the agrocite.  Judging by the look on his face when Osmur was mentioned, I suspect he hasn't really stayed up to date on events there, so we'd be back to almost no useful intel, whatsoever.  We know they're still working on it...somewhere.  May not even be in this sector, anymore, since the Moff has demonstrated his inability to protect such an important project from infiltrators and saboteurs."  There was a twinkle in his eye as he spoke, that would only be noticed by someone watching him closely (and familiar with his mannerisms)...but his tone of voice was as dry and matter-of-fact as if he was discussing a maintenance list for a common transport.

"Once we're rid of the box, however, we should probably deliver our extra personnel...it won't do us much good to be dragging an Imperial along with us, and our other guest shouldn't be placed in the forefront of contact with the enemy."  Again, the cagey reluctance to let any actual solid information about Kourene's identity slip...he honestly couldn't recall, for certain, if anyone had given away the fact that their extra crewman was the commanding officer for the Alliance forces in the area...but he wasn't going to say anything to directly confirm it.
Colonel Kourene
NPC, 37 posts
Commander of
Defiance Base.
Mon 8 Jan 2018
at 20:07
  • msg #281

Part 20 - Distress

"Right.  We hide the box as planned, by putting it in a close orbit around the sun at Traposooine.  Just as we discussed."  Kourene is clearly making sure that the tech doesn't know what they intend to do with the box, or where they plan to do it.

"Once we're sure we can collect it again when we're done at Os, we can head over there and see what we can discover about this agrocite storage facility.  Maybe take it out of the picture somehow."

He shrugs, "Or make it inconvenient to use."  Then his face breaks into a smile.  "Though it occurs to me that we're aboard a freighter.  I'm sure we can liberate enough agrocite to make the visit to Os very worthwhile."
Shard
player, 1265 posts
Most days, I'm tired.
...or drunk.
Tue 9 Jan 2018
at 13:47
  • msg #282

Part 20 - Distress

"Works for me," Shard murmurs.  Not that she's giving the orders - it's up to the colonel, really.  If he wants to go with the two birds, she's not going to argue...and does think it a fine idea, to boot.

"All right."  Marching over to the tech, she eyes him dubiously.  "You're going to live.  And we won't hand you over to You-Why.  Consider yourself a very lucky man; don't try anything foolish, and you get to stay lucky."

Turning back to the others, she spreads her hands helplessly.  "We're short the kind of setup we'd normally have going into this kind of thing - no prep for equipment, etc.  I guess we'll make do with what we have.  Anyone have a reason to wait, or shall we get started?"

Her lips purse as she considers their new 'guest'. "With the box."
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1189 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Tue 9 Jan 2018
at 18:26
  • msg #283

Part 20 - Distress

"One thing at a time..." Rhijans offered.  "We can deal with the box now, no need for additional set-up.  Let's get that out of the way and then assess what we need to do for the rest."  He hadn't nodded...but he noted and appreciated Kourene's subtle misdirection.  Odds were good the tech could find a way to report back to the Empire, somehow...but all he had to report about the holocron was some mysterious reference to a box, which would be hypothetically left in near orbit around a star...except it was the wrong star, and it would be IN the star, for however long it took for the fusion reaction within the stellar mass to sunder the atomic bonds to held the whole thing together.  But if the Empire decided they wanted to investigate, near-orbit of any star left an awful lot of space to search for something as small as a box.

And if an Imperial task force suddenly turned up at THAT star, the Alliance would know there was a leak.  Yes, Rhijans decided...Kourene had thought that one out well.  "We should be there soon, unless we stop and redirect somewhere en route.  He's a little tricky that way..."  He jerked his head in the general direction of the cockpit.
Colonel Kourene
NPC, 38 posts
Commander of
Defiance Base.
Thu 11 Jan 2018
at 21:35
  • msg #284

Part 20 - Distress

"I think I know what we can do with our talkative friend here." Kourene says, smiling.

"We take his uniform and dress him in whatever else we can find, then drop him off somewhere where the Empire isn't popular, so he needs to keep a low profile if he wants to live."

"Now I know he'll probably find a way to get in contact with the Empire again eventually, but I'm hoping that by the time he does any intel he has will be out of date.  Warning them about Os will be of limited value, for example, if we've already hit Os half a year before he managed to escape."


The Colonel looks around the room.

"What do the rest of you think?"
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1190 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Thu 11 Jan 2018
at 23:33
  • msg #285

Part 20 - Distress

Rhijans shrugged.  "A lot less resource-intensive than what I had in mind.  My only concern is whether him re-establishing contact potentially compromises any of us...if he's in another sector, it will be that much harder for him to relay any useful intel."  He thought for a moment, then added, "If we get access to records, and flag his personal file as a deserter, that would be really good incentive for him to just settle in with the populace and not try to reconnect with the Empire...and it would taint the credibility of anything he told them, should he manage to not get shot before he could pass word along."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:40, Fri 12 Jan 2018.
Haarmon Dak
player, 698 posts
Are you talking to me?
Fri 12 Jan 2018
at 03:46
  • msg #286

Part 20 - Distress

Haarmon shrugs. The easy money was icing the guy. But since he was pretty sure he didn't have the ovaries for that kind of operation, he didn't feel like he merited a vote.

"Drop him somewhere with no communications and lots of hot, single farmer's daughters. Or sons. Maybe by the time finds a big enough phone he'll be married or whatever."

A pause. Sour face.

"As for the other, low orbit ain't good enough for it. But you guys do what you gotta do."
Shard
player, 1266 posts
Most days, I'm tired.
...or drunk.
Mon 15 Jan 2018
at 13:45
  • msg #287

Part 20 - Distress

"I'm good with that plan, myself." Shard shrugs. "If I know anything about people, it's that this guy will probably have forgot most of the specifics of this business by the time he gets picked up.  He might be able to give them some out-of-date and very general information, but that's information we've already left behind on a few worlds."  Osmur, for example.

She grins. "Haarmon's idea has merit.  Maybe he'll grow disenchanted with the idea of going back to the Empire if he has some encouragement.  You know a world full of hot, single farmer's daughters, Haarmon?"
Colonel Kourene
NPC, 39 posts
Commander of
Defiance Base.
Mon 15 Jan 2018
at 22:08
  • msg #288

Part 20 - Distress

Kourene ponders briefly.  "That could work too.  I'm sure our pilot knows a few places like that."  Then he raises his voice, "You're not allowed to hurt this prisoner.  Is that clear?  Just watch him, and report anything he has to say to one of us."

You-Why turns to view the man.  "I suppose so." he says, sulkily.

"In the meantime, we have work to do.  Preparations."  He starts to walk out of the medical bay.
Juragga
player, 545 posts
Wookiee Warrior
Bringing the Boom
Mon 15 Jan 2018
at 23:58
  • msg #289

Part 20 - Distress

Juragga warbled uncertainly, but stood ready to follow whatever he was asked to do.  He would back Haarmon, Shard and Rhijans... no matter what.
Haarmon Dak
player, 699 posts
Are you talking to me?
Tue 16 Jan 2018
at 01:18
  • msg #290

Part 20 - Distress

Haarmon's mouth twitched up in a smile. "Jalt? That so? You know planets full of hot young impressionable rural types?"

A pause. Little wider smile.

"Maybe, uh, you know, we should, like, find someplace to set down for some R&R. You know. NBD. Or maybe just to refuel."
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1191 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Wed 17 Jan 2018
at 08:20
  • msg #291

Part 20 - Distress

Rhijans snorted, barely audibly.  "Maybe later.  We've got business to attend to...a box to get rid of and some ore to hijack.  If we survive all of that, maybe Jalt can take you for some R&R."  Any sting in his words were potentially tempered when he gave a tight-lipped grin that barely showed any teeth...shocking white contrasted against his gray skin...and added, "You've definitely earned it."  He moved to follow Kourene.
Shard
player, 1267 posts
Most days, I'm tired.
...or drunk.
Wed 17 Jan 2018
at 13:13
  • msg #292

Part 20 - Distress

"Don't worry, You-Why," Shard consoles the Droid. "Just think of the psychological torment you've already visited on this man."  The Droid has begun to concern her, though she isn't showing it.  One might argue faulty programming, but it's possible the Droid is simply...evil?  Psychopathic?

Disturbing.

But she wants to keep You-Why happy - he has been a valuable member of the team, and she appreciates it - and he hasn't hurt anyone.  Yet.

"Thanks, Juragga," she murmurs, passing him on the way out. "Haarmon..." Pause at the door, and she glances back with a cocked eyebrow.  "You're going to need to take a break from your studies for that particular R&R, because I'll leave the bucolic beauties to you."

"Really looking forward to dropping that box," she mutters, heading out after Rhijans.
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