Qunatros inhaled sharply as he detected the presence. "We should not be here," he said aloud, standing and turning to Lyla. "I'm endangering the mission, I shouldn't have come. I can feel a presence aboard that base. And something tells me they can feel my presence." His expression, completely serious, and with concern in his eyes, turned to the base. "They will know we're here."

This time, Lyla scrutinised Quantros as he meditated, growing sceptical again. He wasn't telling her anything new, or different, or that she couldn't work out herself. She wasn't surprised, but she was disappointed. Maybe she'd wanted to see something magical, something wondrous. Maybe she still hadn't. She could've made a dozen snarky comments, but she didn't have the energy to keep arguing, nor could she be so cruel. 'We're not here to chase phantoms,' she reminded Quantros. 'We're looking for Bishop Karak. Or anything strange. Look with your eyes.' She tossed him a pair of diving goggles, then donned her own, dipping her head underwater again.


OOC: I wasn't sure if I should roll again, but clearly I shouldn't have: Perception 21, Survival (track) 20, Knowledge (life sciences) 12

Jason turns the vehicle around in steady circles as far away from the base as possible.

"Searching the entire ocean is going to take a long time.. Maybe we should come up with a new plan.. especially if enemies might be coming this way.."

Apart from the niggling presence that Quantros felt that still lingered at the base nothing else their saw was out of place or showed any indication of the Sedrian renegades.

Quantros knew of a way they might be able to track the renegades, but with the presence of the Force user on the station, he was going to need some convincing to suggest it. "We mustn't linger. There's nothing here to indicate where the Sedrian renegades have gone."

09:41, Today: Quantros Starbound rolled 13 using 1d20+3.  Deception .

At last, Lyla pulled her head out of the water again, pulling off her goggles. 'Yeah, you're right. This was worth a shot, but it's a long shot – very long.' she sighed, settling back into her seat. She might have called Qunatros out for failing to find Karak with the Force, but since she'd failed dismally as well, she wasn't about to get hypocritical. 'Let's get back to Fitsay.'

She lounged, drying her tails, one foot up on the side of the raft. What she wouldn't give to just lie in the sun for an hour. 'Alright, I'll bite – what did you sense on that base?' she quizzed Quantros, speaking hypothetically of course. 'If the priests are Force-users – and the priests of every faith have to use the Force – then Karak has to be too, as he's the ex-bishop. Maybe he's still stuck on the base? He can't have had much chance to leave before we sabotaged it, and we didn't see any Sedrians leaving.'
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 07:35, Wed 06 July 2016.

"Maybe he was onboard that transport that we saw leaving.. "

Whatever the case, Jason is plenty happy to obey and send the ship back to Fitsay. They might be able to think up a better plan there.

'What transport? There was a supply shuttle that came in.' Lyla wondered.

"But on that supply shuttle was a powerful Force user," Quantros interjected. "I felt their presence the moment the shuttle landed. If the Galactic Empire is anything like the Sith Empire, then their Force users are treated like royalty and high ranking commanders. I'm confident in my power to fight the one that's currently on that base, but I'd rather fight them on my terms. And since the only force users I can sense are Bron, Pek, Tera, and whatever the one on that base is, I feel confident saying I was wrong in my theory. Either that, or the renegade is on the shuttle."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:59, Wed 06 July 2016.

'If it was some... Imperial bigwig, then they wouldn't be riding in a supply shuttle. We saw it: it brought AT-AT parts, Seatrooper reinforcements. No Imperial toffs.' she pointed out. None of this added up, not least because half the evidence was invisible to her. 'Look, all this is uncorroborated and speculative. Yesterday, you thought Pek was a renegade Force user. So let's not worry about it until we know it's something to worry about. That AT-AT swimmer is the real threat.'

Lyla realised they should keep watch for that AT-AT, and keep an eye out for Karak, just in case. The only way to do that here was to look beneath the waves, so she once again donned her goggles and breather and poked her head underwater.


OOC: Keeping watch.

Quantros gave Lyla a skeptical look. "Because all the troops and officers were ordered to report to the hangar to offload a bunch of supplies and parts, giving us the opening we needed to destroy the base generators. Not because they were greeting someone of great import who demanded the respect of every one on base. Right..." Nevertheless, Quantros moved to the side, looking out towards the water for signs of the AT-AT. Hopefully, they could stay under the radar, and not draw the attention of the Force user. An afterthought occurred.

"For the record, I was right in that Pek is a Force user." Quantros looked back, but it seemed that Lyla had already stuck her head back underwater. Sighing, Quantros stuck the helmet to his wetsuit on, and dove his head underwater as well.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:32, Thu 07 July 2016.

"I was thinking perhaps he could be on board that AT-AT.. though that might not match what we heard.. It's a tough choice.."

He still thinks it would have been nice to steal one of the empire's fighters, but at least the gold can go underwater, and in this terrain, that's highly valuable. So it's good they're heading back to their ship and the city.

After a while, Lyla surfaced for breath and answered Quantros – comlinks functioned after all. 'Yeah, maybe, but you and Bron thought he was a Sith Lord or something.' Lyla pointed out, not unreasonably. 'So if you tell me there's a bad guy over there, I should expect Aayla Secura.' she named the most famous Jedi she could think of, but realised Quantros wouldn't get it. 'Twi'lek Jedi, carbon-man.'

'And they were called for AT-AT activation – a dangerous and complex all-hands-on-deck operation.'

She plunged back underwater, figuring an argument would go more smoothly if they gave each other delays in responding.

"Can you really blame Bron and I for expecting the worst?" Quantros came back, over the comlink. "The Jedi Order has been slaughtered, and anyone who would have helped us is either dead, or hidden away. The only Force users that aren't hiding are those strong in the Force but with no formal training, or those who are of the dark side and are hunting Jedi. In times like these, it's best to err on the side of caution. Especially since Whatever I'm sensing only made its presence Known after the ship landed. For all we know, I could be sensing the reborn form of Exar Kun." Quantros could understand the confusion generated by that statement. "Dark Lord of the Sith. Incredible duelist."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:37, Thu 07 July 2016.

'You erred, but not on the side of caution, mate.' Lyla laughed, amused but not mocking, more like ribbing a team-mate. 'Don't worry about it, we've all done something crazy at some point.'

"Like joining the rebellion"

Jason mutters when Lyla comments on them doing crazy stuff. He stays out of the discussion about everything else, mainly because he doesn't really have any idea what's going on.

The oceans across Sedrian were huge, in fact it was more like one vast ocean. Small islands and rocks cropped up to interrupt the sea that flowed around the planet and spread life over it.

One thing that was alien to this planet was the Empire and the technology they brought. The party of Rebels that stayed to watch over this threat saw little and time passed slowly as they talked and sometimes argued. They waited. Lyla's searches and the speeder-raft's sensor picked up no movement of the AT-AT Swimmer nor did Quantros sense any movement of the Force presence on the base.

As Lyla dipped her head in the water again to survey the waters a dark shadow shot out of the reeds and rocks. The creature was bigger than the speeder-raft, fleshy spikes ran down its back and shoulders. A powerful tail beat to propel it through the water toward them and the webbed skin on its feet did not hide its claws.

OOC Initiative checks everyone. Initiative greater than 22 can act before the creature.

Knowledge Galactic lore and/or Life sciences for any attempts to identify the creature.

Just as a note Quantros only detected the presence of a Force User on the Imperial Base after the shuttle landed as that was when he chose to search for a Force user. One may or may not have been there before that. I only point this out for clarity and to avoid any possible future confusion.

'Goddess!' Lyla swore, jerked her head back out of the water, tails whipping and spraying.


OOC: Knowledge (life sciences) 15, Knowledge (galactic lore) 14
Initiative 15

Quantros took out his lightsaber, getting on guard as he observed the great beast emerge from the water. "What in blazes is that monstrosity?!"

OOC: 00:36, Today: Quantros Starbound rolled 22 using 1d20+8.  Initiative .

Worried more about imperials and tie fighters, Jason is completely oblivious to the monster approaching.


12:24, Today: Jason Starflare rolled 9 using 1d20+8.  Initiative!

The water creature was huge. Seawater sprayed across the deck of the speeder-raft as the creatures thrashed its fleshy spikes and its claws raked into the vehicle. Its tail beat the water into white foam and its jaw opened to grasp its prey. By the smallest of margins Quantros's reactions were fast enough to challenge the beast before it attacked.

A seasoned traveller and student of zoology Lyla recognised the creature as some variant of a Narglatch. She knew the Narglatch were solitary hunters and would on other planets stalk prey close to the shore's edge and drag them into the water to drown.

OOC Quantros can act first and then the Narglatch.

CN           F  R  W    HP   Second Wind FP DP Loc  Notes
Quantros     13 14 16   37/37  1/1  (+10) 7  2
Lyla         20 20 17   50/50  1/1  (+14) 7  4
Jason        17 19 13   40/40  1/1  (+15) 6  2

Narglatch    17 14 11   0

CN = Character Name
F = Fortitude
R = Reflex
W = Will
HP = Hit Points (Max/Current) or for GM controlled characters hits taken
Second Wind = Second Winds (Max/Current) (+Value)
FP = Force Points
DP = Destiny Points
Loc = Location on map
Notes = Notes

Posting order
Quantros 22
Narglatch 22
Lyla 15
Jason 9

Quantros' lightsaber ignited, and with a swift swipe, he struck out at the creature's claw that held the speeder. A deep, burning gash formed in its flesh.

OOC: 18:09, Today: Quantros Starbound rolled 22 using 1d20+3.  Attack.
18:10, Today: Quantros Starbound rolled 11 using 2d8+2.

Lightning quick Quantros ignited his lightsaber and slashed at the creature. The lightsaber sizzled as it cut into the creatures wet flesh. Cauterising the wound as it made cut so little blood was split but the creature snarled in fury. The Narglatch teeth and claws reached out to encompass the ancient warrior. The bulk of the water creature towering over the smaller human.

OOC Quantros has been hit by a grapple attack. Quantros needs to make an opposed grapple or become pinned. The Narglatch's grapple check is 35.

Everyone else is now up


CN           F  R  W    HP   Second Wind FP DP Loc  Notes
Quantros     13 14 16   37/37  1/1  (+10) 7  2
Lyla         20 20 17   50/50  1/1  (+14) 7  4
Jason        17 19 13   40/40  1/1  (+15) 6  2

Narglatch    17 14 11    11

CN = Character Name
F = Fortitude
R = Reflex
W = Will
HP = Hit Points (Max/Current) or for GM controlled characters hits taken
Second Wind = Second Winds (Max/Current) (+Value)
FP = Force Points
DP = Destiny Points
Loc = Location on map
Notes = Notes

Posting order
Quantros 22
Narglatch 22
Lyla 15
Jason 9
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 17:55, Tue 19 July 2016.

'Damn it!' Lyla swore, snatching up her blaster rifle. She fired over the narglatch's head, deciding it was a warning shot, and not a total miss in her haste.

'Hold on, it'll drag you under!'


OOC:
Shoot at the narglatch
Precise Shot: no penalty, no risk of hitting Quantros
Point Blank Shot: +1, +1
Attack 8, rolled a 1.

Jason glances back while piloting the vehicle, but he isn't sure how to assist, he could possibly take a shot, but with the monster trying to grab Quantros, it seems like a bad idea to fire into that, but perhaps he can offer some assistance to Lyla.


Tried to do 'aid another' on lyla, but failed even that :(