Electrocuted by T3-M8 the Imperial scout's body jerked and her eyes rolled in her head. He had already taken a thorough beating from the blasts from Lyla at the starport and then by both Klyn and T3-M8 in their minor scuffle on the Bridge. She recovered slowly. Whilst she regained her strength, her eyes were fuzzy. Meahonon let the two aliens talk to her, she didn't really have any choice in the matter. She was captured, tied to the chair and beaten up. The red-haired woman gave the smallest of nods "you still need to know what I was doing?" she asked, the corners of her lips tipped up into a faint smile "I plotted our course and then destroyed the controls so that you can't stop us. We'll be in Bespin soon and we'll be picked up by the Imperial Navy as soon as they detect the beacon from the Wanderer's black box" she conceded, then added with pride "I've been a member of the Imperial Survey Corps for a long time and never failed a mission not because I do what I am told but because I do what I want and I'm good at it".

Entirely convinced it was his own efforts that retrieved the key information T3-M8 offers nothing in return for the babbling of the organics, instead devoting his time to tracking down that black box's signal, which should lead back to the box itself in short order.

'You've already failed this mission, butterfingers.' Lyla returned, annoyed at Ishale, trying to break her morale. 'Your ship's a wreck in a wasteland, your crew's dead or heading that way, and you're bantha p'du tied to a chair. All because you flew straight into a Rebel base. That's some crukking poor astronavigation.'

'Oh, by the way, I looted your boots and holovids. Kinky.' she teased with a wink, letting her knew they'd searched their ship and suggesting they knew about the ISC crew than she'd like.

'We know none of you are engineers or technicians, so there's nothing you lot can do that our own engineer and droid can't undo. They've probably already fixed it... Now, what were your other goons up to?'

Rynn smiled when the droid gave the scout a shock. He'd seen a lot worse with the pirates he had been forced to work with before he'd killed them. He frowned and almost spoke up when Klyn reprimanded the little droid, he'd just given away an important bit of information.... that they wouldn't actually harm the woman. "Here's what it boils down to... we can stop the power to the hyperdrive, and most likely kill us all... which we will do instead of having the empire find the base. That would mean you'd fail, and die. So, either we can which what you did, or kill us all. That's pretty much where we are right now."

The exchanges with their prisoner were not going smoothly. Not very suprinsingly since they tried to many approach without coherence.

Klyn could see Lyla was annoyed by it.  From the very little the imperial said, he doubted Rynn's argument would changer her mind.

She did, however, remind them of something they had forgotten: they had the black box from their ship.

The location of said black box most certainly was in the hold, currently inaccessible.


Moving away a bit he checked a few things.
07:50, Today: Secret Roll: Klyn Cors rolled 10 using 1d20+9. mechanic (how to jam black box signal).

07:50, Today: Secret Roll: Klyn Cors rolled 21 using 1d20+9. knowledge tech (how to jam black box signal).

"They went to the Hold. I don't know what Tonth planned. I just had to sabotage the Command Console then I was going to join them" the scout glared at Klyn and T3-M8. If they had entered through the repulsorbeam like the others she probably would have gotten away too.

Meahonon then looked at the viewport and the streaking lines of hyperspace "if your precious engineers could stop us they would have by now" she deduced "kill me and they will punish you more when they capture you" she reasoned.

Scanning the starship T3-M8 was unable find any identifiable signals or signs of a black box. A little time in Engineering Maintenance or the Repair Shop and Klyn reckons that building a signal jammer is theoretically possible.

Tera held back, she didn't like that method of interrogation. It seemed more like something the Imperials would do. She motioned for the others to join her. "Time is ticking away everyone. We need to come up with a plan. We can't drop out of hyperspace without blowing ourselves up. We can't drop out of hyperspace without the crucial medicine being destroyed. We can't arrive at our destination without them sending a signal, so there are Imperial assets there, and not sending the signal will also have them chase us. We need to start trying to get it all fixed as soon as we can. So....what's most important here and where do we start? Pick something and lets get to it."

'Which hold?' Lyla asked, aware there was the belly hold and the forward hold, which had been opened to space for some reason. It was strange that the ISC team should choose to go somewhere they'd spaced — unless they were suited or it wasn't really spaced.

She joined Tera in discussion. 'We have to find and stop the Imperials. Everything else we can sort out at our leisure.'

"The Main Hold?  Odd choice for an airlock, but it works.", replies Nessquik to the captive's answer.

"The black box must be with them.  This ship is equipped with a Hyperspace Transmitter.  If the Black Box was connected directly to the transmitter, bypassing the communications console on the bridge, then theoretically their range will be unlimited.  All the more reason for us to shut down the main reactor.  Deny them power to that transmitter.", he tells the others.  "So we have two choices: either shut down the main reactor and maybe we all die.  Or we suit up in whatever spacesuits we can find and we go out there and fight them.  Maybe we'll nearly all die then.  But if we do..."

He pauses to draw his blaster out of its holster.  He points it at Meahonon's head and tells her, "Then I will have to break my promise not to execute you if you cooperate.  We will need everyone outside to combat your companions out on the hull.  We cannot afford to leave you tied up here unguarded.  I mean this as the highest compliment to your skill, but we can't afford to leave you alive and unguarded."

Tera stepped forward between the captive and Nessquik. "Don't be silly. I can sedate her for longer than the trip has left and we can put her in the brig following that, coded to something only T3 will know. Killing a prisoner is not something I'm willing to let you do."

"The choice is quite obvious: we need to get inside the hold." Said Klyn.

"They are most certainly expecting us since she didn't come back...
It's too bad we can't get a look inside.  Do we go now or do we wait a bit until I manage, I hope, a scrambler?

We also must think of a last resort solution if we are defeated.  Maybe some kind of timer that would force us out of hyperspace if none of us insert a password in the console?"

Tera was quicker than him when the Quarren decided unilaterally to execute the prisoner.

"She's right.  And she might be a lot more useful to the rebellion alive than dead."

"Why didn't you tell me before you were a doctor?", replies Ness to Tera.  "Just so you know, heavy sedation is dangerous.  Get the dosage wrong and you'll stop her heart.  But if that's a risk you're willing to live with?

"I'm just being concerned with her honor.  The Empire doesn't look favorably upon their people who allow themselves to be captured by the enemy.  She might have family.  If she dies, they collect insurance money.  If she's captured, the Empire might think she'll turn Rebel and her family will suffer.  That will make for another family the Rebellion will have to rescue and seclude on another far off planet.  They may not even appreciate our effort given her attitude.  Now if I have seen any hint that she has been having second thoughts about her Imperial masters, or if she possessed any valuable intelligence, then I would say she's worth the risks.  But I haven't, so I'd rather give her family some closure.  There's a mining settlement at Bespin.  They'd be certain to have a morgue.  We can leave the body there for the Empire to pick up.  Given she's a long-distance scout, getting the body back will be more closure than her family could ever hope for."

As he said it, Nessquik kept his eyes on the prisoner.  He knew there had to be a lot she wasn't telling because no one had thought to ask her.  Though her Human facial expressions were strange to him, Nessquik was smart enough to know that people's involuntary reactions to the things they hear are often the most honest.  He wanted to see some reason to keep this prisoner alive.  Good intentions weren't good enough reason for him.  She needed to be more beneficial than becoming just another mouth to feed in a Rebellion P.O.W. camp.  He wanted to see if she could be turned into a Rebel.

Nessquik rolled 21 using 1d20+1. Perception - Sense Motive.
Wohoo!  Finally I roll a 20 on something that isn't my NPCs attacking PCs!

This message was last edited by the player at 17:30, Mon 12 May 2014.

Despite her weakened state and being a captive Nessquik senses that Ishale Meahonon is still an extremely dangerous woman. He can tell that she is quite willing to kill anybody that might be a threat to her and relies upon herself and very few friends. She doesn't fit the bill for a Rebel or even a Rebel sympathiser. She clearly is very strong minded and gets what she wants. Working for the Empire and ISC lets her do just that.

Meahonon confirmed that it is the Forward Hold where she was to meet with the others. From Lyla's early investigation you know that the Forward Hold has one interior door which did not open. On the exterior there are two cargo doors which in planetary atmosphere can be entered by repulsorlift skiffs.

'Tera's a damn good doctor.' Lyla defended Tera hotly. She was confused by Nessquik's willingness to kill Meohonon but not to risk sedating her. 'And knocking her out is a fair bit safer than killing her, so... I'm for it. Let's knock her out, put her in the brig, and decide what to do with her later. The brig's right next to the forward hold, so we can keep a close eye on her while we're down there.' She wasn't willing to shoot anybody in cold blood herself, and just wanted to delay the question.

'Trust me, if she had close friends or family, then she wouldn't be in this job.' she added. The scout could certainly speak from experience. It was a lonely life, being out in the wilds for long stretches.

'So, are we agreed? We need to get into the hold and stop them, or at least see what they did and save the medicine. Klyn, T3-M8, can you remotely close the exterior doors, or raise the force-field? Otherwise, Ness, does this boat have spacesuits or even these vacuum masks?'

"Already tried it while I waited for you to get here.  No luck.  The damage is too extensive and they probably did something to secure access to commands related to that area for themselves.  Once inside, I'm quite positive it can be done.
But that's the tricky part.

There is already a force field in place, or we would all be little more than dust.

Also, we don't have sublight propulsion yet, so we better get there quickly or we won't be able to move the ship and get away once we arrive.  And I have a feeling we might want to move."

"I'm confident I can sedate her without causing any death, despite her injuries." Tera looked at the others "Without the medicine, this journey will have been wasted, so our first priority should be to save the medicine. After that we can figure out what to do."

'Force field? Great. Is there air and gravity too?' Lyla asked hopefully. If they could avoid a hyperspace-walk, they might have something here.

'And the Armoury. Can we access that?' she added, remembering the idea to get more, heavier weapons.

After her medication Meahonon fell into a deep sleep, one that would last at least another ten hours Tera reckoned. By then they would be out of Hyperspace. From what Klyn can get from the battered Command Console the Forward Hold is intact and has atmosphere and gravity, although when the Handree comes out of Hyperspace the hyperspace seals keeping the atmosphere in the Hold will shatter and all the medical supplies will be sucked out into space and lost forever.

Nessquik finds himself in a moral dilemma.  His first priority is the safety of the other Rebels, who he now considers to be "under his command".  He wants to do all he can to assure their safety.  That includes killing anyone who would try to kill them.  Their prisoner falls into that category.  He knows that if free from her bonds, she would do anything she can to kill the Rebels and succeed at her mission.  By her psyche and background profile, the ISB woman is no different than a Stormtrooper.  If she were a man, she would have qualified for an elite Stormtrooper unit.  Meahonon must die, in his opinion.  She'll forever by trying to escape the Prisoner of War camp.  She has no family to reunite with.  She'll serve the Empire to the death.  She represents everything that is evil about the Empire.

On the other hand, killing prisoners is the sort of move a die-hard Imperial would make.  He has tried to justify it to his companions by telling them they cannot afford to spare a man to guard her, she's dangerous, and she's an escape risk.  Basically any legitimate reason to execute a prisoner under the Articles of War.  But there's no talking sense into them.  Tera especially, being a doctor, is not someone he can convince to step off the moral high ground in favor practical wisdom.

So he lets Tera do what she will.  He knows it's a mistake.  He hopes it won't come to bite the Rebellion in the ass later on.  But he knows that risk is very high.  He has made his objections.  What happens after this won't be seen as his fault.

The prisoner has been helpful though, and it makes for a slight change to his plans.  He has already sent the droids to manually shut down the Main Reactor.  It's just a matter of time before they reach their destinations and get the task done.  Then the warning alarms will sound that the main reactor is shutting down.  But there are still the Auxillary Reactors that he hasn't ordered droids to shut down.  So they will be their savior.  "Okay, change of priorities.  If the medical supplies in the hold must be saved... T3, get the Power Distribution Controls repaired.  We'll shut down power to the transmitter array so those Imperials can't send their message.  Then we switch Containment Shields over to Auxillary Power.  And hopefully the Auxillary Reactors will generate enough power to also feed a hungry Hyperdrive."

Offering nothing more than an ascending series of beeps, often used by droids as a positive form of assent T3-M8 zips out of the bridge and turns in the direction of the power distribution controls in the engineering section.

"Transmitter array are already down, and with a distress signal from a black box, they don't need it anyways"  began Klyn.

He then stopped and looked at the quarren with a bit of worry.
" Why would we need the auxiliary power? I thought your foolish plan to cut the main reactor had been put in the trash. What did you do?

I don't care, whatever you did, you better stop it!"

"Can't.", replies the Quarren.  "The droids don't have Comlinks.  I checked.  They're already on their way to close off the fuel feeds to the Main Reactor.  So I suggest you quit arguing about the best coarse of action, and start making the repairs I told you to make."

"Lyla! Tera ! We must stop the droids !
T3, see if you can do anything to secure energy in case we fail, or we are stardust." said Klyn, and he rushed out of the bridge to get to the power generator.

Lyla still didn't understand exactly what was going on with the ship or what the problem was now, but she wasn't going to complain against Klyn's panic. 'We do? Aw, cruk.' she swore, exasperated, and hurried out with the engineer. Before they could clean up the Imperial's mess, it seemed they had to clean up their own. Next they'd be telling her it was a bad idea to apply a laser welder to an external airlock hatch...

The Imperial scout incapacitated the Rebels focused on their next steps. The warning light in the Forward Hold and the risk to the essential medical supplies occupied much of their plans but first they had to undo some of their previous workings.

All of them except T3-M8 rushed out of the Bridge and onto Deck 2, which was the quickest way to reach the Power Core at the rear of the ship they could search for the droids Nessquik had issued orders to. T3-M8 returned down the ramp he had ascended and down to the Power Distribution Control. The Control came to life on his command and bleeped happily to the droid in a friendly manner, accepting his new instructions and taking power away from the Transmitter, Turbolasers and Sublight Engines.

Outside the Bridge the Rebels ran passed the Officers' Quarters and Lounge. They boots rang loudly and echoed in the quiet starship.

OOC Perception checks everyone on Deck 2.