The hyperspace coordinates for the Dega System were communicated across the fleet of three starships and they all made the jump to hyperspace. The jump was approximately a five hour journey. Long enough for Lamar to place a detonite charge in the engine room of the barge and to set up a remote pilot on his personal computer. Lyla and Rynn had the pleasure of watching their prisoners whilst Klyn and Tera followed in the Alabak's Gold.

The Alabak's Gold computer searched its database for Dega and warned the crew that the planet was poisoned and that the use of breath masks were suggested. Dropping out hyperspace near the planet they saw a medium size world orbiting a red sun. The planet's surface was horribly scarred. The ship's scanners picked up another starship in orbit nearby.

Surprised that they'd actually gotten away with this – at least so far – Lyla spent the short jump journey watching the prisoners and helping Tera interrogate them, and, in her break, searching the barge for clues and evidence, from the loot of their past attacks to their gear to their stores and trash. Anything could give a hint about their operation, who they were, and, more importantly, who they were working for, whether a rival company or an Imperial agent.

OOC: Search 29, rolled a 20 (missed my +9 in the roller).

Feeling the Wayfarer drop out of hyperspace, Lyla hurried to the cockpit to see if the pirates had realised who they were yet. So far, so good. She checked the scans and database entry for the planet below: not much to read, even less to look at. 'Ugh, what a mess.' she described, with sadness in her voice, as the pollution and wreckage of Dega offended the ranger on a deeper level. 'Well, this boat has ten breath masks and I've got two more, so we should be good on that front. Where's the rest of our pirate pals?'

The cargo on the space barge was mostly empty except for rations and supplies, there just wasn’t much to find despite Lyla’s thorough search. The pirates had evidently not long ago left their hideout to begin their raiding. The pirates revealed that they part of pirate band known as the Scourge. The pirates used the super container ship that the Rebel’s had spotted as a mobile base. The pirates had hideouts in the Dega system and Korad System for storing good and resting when between raids.

Upon request the ship computer database had the following report for Dega.

Dega

Nearly a century ago, Dega was the chief supplier of ore for Radell Mining, but with the mine’s playing out in recent decades, Radell abandoned the planet. Today, Dega is a barren world that’s been destroyed by industrial mining. Rusting, abandoned equipment stands forlornly over the planet. The ecosystem is destroyed, and the only remaining native organism is a tough brown cord grass. The few reserves of water on the planet are poisoned with toxic chemicals. The wind carries a thick choking dust, which causes acute lung pain after a few hours of exposure. The ground below the surface is riddled with unstable mine shafts which stretch of kilometres. Dega is now used by criminals as a meeting place to transact illicit deals. A few organisations even have hideouts scattered about the planet.

Type: Poisoned terrestrial

Temperature: Temperate

Atmosphere: Type II (breath mask suggested)

Hydrosphere: Arid

Gravity: Standard

Terrain: Barren, mining pits and tunnels, scattered hills

Length of Day: 19 standard hours

Length of Year: 295 standard days

Starports: Landing fields

Population: Less than 10,000 (estimated)

Planet Function: Abandoned mining planet

Government: Anarchy, but owned by Radell Mining Corporation

Tech level: Industrial

After the interrogation, Tera relayed her information to the rest of the team. "Ok, so there are some complications. Three of the Gray griffins are still alive on Dega. All the rest of the information is subjective and couldn't be corroborated, with one exception, the leader of this band is Chalmer Trillili"

'Okay, good news on the Gray Griffins.' Lyla accepted, glad they were still alive and that the original mission was still on track. 'Did they say anything about how they made us drop out of hyperspace? Some kind of interdiction field?'

Meanwhile, she tried to look up the Scourge abd this Chalmer Trillili, to learn what kind of man or woman they were dealing with.


OOC: 16:55, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 29 using 1d20+10. knowledge: galactic lore.

There was little news found about The Scourge. What news there was indicated that they were a small band of pirates operating in the outlying and unpoliced regions of Elrood Sector. More interestingly mention of Chalmer Trillili was not on the holonet but on Alliance command database. Lyla learnt that Chalmer had been a member of the Rebel Alliance but was now a deserter.

Whilst the Rebels came closer to the atmosphere of the planet Dega a saucer-shaped ship perhaps fifty metres across crested the horizon and sped toward them. The ship’s brown hull was dotted with many viewports, all glowing softly against the backdrop of space. The comm indicate that there’s an incoming message.

“Greetings, unidentified ships. This is Iych-thae of the Ithorian shepherd ship Varnay. I would like to have a few words with you on the surface. You might want to bring a breath mask.”

Lamar was confused by this turn of events. "L.T. this isn't in the plan. What is this Ithorian connection?" He was having no real trouble piloting the freighter remotely, but landing it would be impossible. They hadn't intended to land so that wasn't an issue. But now...

Tera started scanning the planet for signs of life and potential hazards as she talked "Uh well we have 3 starships and they have one...so is there much risk involved in a meet? We can find out what they want and who they work for in one?"

11:48, Today: Tera Inkari rolled 21 using 1d20+11.  Gal Lore (life Sci).

"From what I know about Ithorian, they are a peacful specie. I don't think we risk an attack from them. Maybe they had trouble with the pirates too.

But I don't know why they want a meeting on the surface and not aboard one of the ship.

I just hope they don't think WE are the pirates, thanks to our newest acquisition..."

Both Klyn and Tera knew Ithorian's as a peaceful people, meditative and deep thinking. They remembered their crew member Oglo Obwatt who had been left of Neskroff when they became trapped onboard the Handree with the Imperials. It reminded Klyn that he should clean up the portside cargo bay, the Force knows what state it would be in after Oglo had installed a hydroponics system and being cultivating plant life onboard.

The Ithorian's voice buzzed over the comm "Come my friends, I'm a Pilgrim of the Mother Jungle. I wish to show you Dega".

Tera's scan of the planet showed scant signs of life, it was as if the planet were bare rock. The saucer-shaped starship was more promising, Tera could detect eleven life forms onboard.

'That's... unexpected.' Lyla said as she scrutinised the Ithorian vessel, not sure what to make of either their arrival, their request, or their purpose. She wished Oglo was here to explain and possibly interpret the Ithorian culture for them. Lyla raised her voice to address the team that had as many questions as she did. 'The risk is that we blow our cover as pirates to the Scourge and lose our advantage of surprise and infiltration. And the Ithorians should not be here for any reason, and that makes me suspicious. So we should be cautious.'

She was still trying to think of how to respond when the Ithorians contacted them a second time. Lyla had enough to hit the button to answer. 'Thanks, but I've seen enough of it from up here, and it's not much to look at... So, what's a Pilgrim of the Mother Jungle doing at a planet with no jungle?'

In reply to Lyla's questions the comm buzzed "It is our duty to educate the galaxy about its most precious resources, the natural beauty of untainted worlds.  Perhaps you are willing to join me and listen to my words." Iych-thae asked them.

"All that talk about nature and untainted worlds is very Oglo-like.

I suppose a devastated planet like Dega must be very painful to watch. They might be here to try to restore her, now that there is no mining activity anymore?

But I must admit I don't see why they would ask us to land to listen to them. We can do it very comfortably by com.
Perhaps they think seeing - and breathing - the disaster that is the planet would make us more susceptible to listen to their suggestions and demands for help?"

'Yeah, maybe,' Lyla agreed, still sounding uncertain, 'Or maybe it's to get us to land right in a trap... On a good day, if I was still a ranger, I'd be happy to study with some Ithorian ecologists. But I'm not still a ranger, and I haven't had a good day in a long time.' She couldn't shake feeling suspicious, and disappointed that she had to be suspicious of good folk across this Imperial-ruled, crime-ridden galaxy.

Clicking her tongue, she thumbed the button to respond to Iych-thae. 'That sounds lovely, Iych-thae. But Dega is far from untainted and far from beautiful. Could you tell us what you see in it?'


OOC: Does this actually sound like an Ithorian? With their four throats, two mouths, and stereo speech, and Lyla being familiar with Oglo, I figured this might be something apparent. Perception 11, rerolled to 11 (maybe not so apparent after all).

"I see a lesson about our responsibility to the galaxy. I only wish you to see the damage that Dega has endured under the stewardship of Radell Mining" the Ithorian replied. The voice of Iych-thae was very familiar and sounded much like the voice of Oglo.

"L.T. if we don't get to Dega soon, the pirates will get suspicious." Lamar whispered to Lyla. "We need to hurry."

'Please hold, Iych-thae.' Lyla responded after some thought, then closed the connection to the Varnay and opened another to the whole team. 'Alright, did you hear all that? It's inconvenient and odd, but they seem to check out and maybe they know something. So, should we go meet the Ithorian door-knockers, or tell them we don't want any?'


OOC: Putting it up to a vote.

"Look Ithorians are nice people and all, but... We. Don't. Have. Time." Lamar responded exasperatedly.

Tera thought she should add a comment "Not just that, but if they want to talk to us about radell mining, then we have to balance the needs of the rebellion against the ilthorians request. We should still probably talk to them."

"I agree, we could talk, but not at the moment. We have lives at stakes, and the planet won't mind a few hours or even days of wait.

But we could also take a bet and use the occasion to improve our status with a second 'captured ship'.

But I doubt the Ithorians would agree. "

'No, no matter how nicely we ask, and I don't fancy turning actual pirate. And Radell and Dega are definitely not a priority right.' Lyla agreed. They hadn't heard from Rynn yet, so she turned to the Ubese, 'Rynn, what do you think? Take the chance or give it a pass?'

"Any reason we can't do a flyby once we complete the mission?" Rynn asked over the comm channel. "I agree now isn't the time but still think we should hear them out eventually."

'Only that we might be high-tailsing it out of here as soon as the job is done, if not sooner.' Lyla offered to Runn. 'Alright, sounds like we're all for passing on them now and catching up after, so I'll give them the news.'

Turning back to the communications console, she reopened a connection to the Varnay. 'Hi, are you still there? Thanks for the offer, but we've got some urgent business to take care of first, so we'll give it a miss, sorry. But maybe we can catch up after it's done, if we're all still in the system?'

"I hope that one day we do get to talk and that you may learn the truth. Farewell my friends" Iych-thae replied to Lyla and let the Rebels go.

'Yeah, us too. See you around.' Lyla replied, then closed the connection. She turned back to her crewmates and link with those on the Gold. 'Alright, what's next? Have you found the beacon this barge is meant to be heading to?'

With the information about the pirate's homing beacon the Rebels were able to search for the signal. The ship's scanners located the signal at a crater in the southern hemisphere. Scanners picked up all sorts of metals and machinery running deep into the Dega's crust all around the fifty metre wide crater.

Lamar checked the computer readouts and nodded. "Yes I can have us follow the ball." He began taking both ships further into the system.

Flying closer and over the beacon signal the Rebels saw the crater. Scattered all around the crater was rusted, twisted mining rigs and processing machinery. The centre of the crater was a deep mine shaft going deep into the planet. The shaft was about fifty metres wide, any of the ships would fit in the mining shaft but flying down or up it again might take some skill.

Peering out the porthole, Lyla looked down into the crater, over the wrecked mining equipment and the ominous dark hole that it seemed they had no choice but to go into. 'Looks like the Scourge have occupied an old mine. Clever. Without knowing about the beacon, no one would find them. Dega must be riddled with shafts like this. We'll have to go down there, I don't see anyone landing a ship amongst that junk.' she considered.

Then she turned around and reported what she'd learned in her research before the Varnay had interrupted them. 'Chalmer Trillili is an ex-Rebel, one of our own. He's been up against the Empire too, so he'll be as cunning and scrappy as we are. So we've got to be careful.' She sighed, not liking the next bit, but knowing it had to be said, and done. 'And he's a deserter, now a traitor. He's turned on his brothers and sisters, turned on the people we're fighting for, and turned to the Empire. But he's still the Alliance's responsibility, and we've got to take him out.'

"Then I assume we are going in? If so I'll need Rynn to pilot this ship, as the remote will be tricky and I don't think even I could do both with such a dangerous maneuver." Lamar said with a sense of chagrin.

"I'm on it." Rynn said, popping up from his seat and heading toward the ship he'd be flying. "What's the plan when we get down there commander?" the ubese pilot asked over the comms so that the whole team could here.

The small fleet of Rebel ships flew down the mine shaft. The mine shaft went down for over five hundred metres below the planet's surface.

OOC Pilot checks for the three ships. Difficulty will depend on speed - let me which speed you will be flying at - slow/moderate/fast/all-out.

"I thought we were going to crash the pirate barge into the closest buildings and then go in guns blazing." Lamar said while looking intently at the computer screen. The maneuver was tricky, and piloting such a big ship by remote through the twisted metal and banking tunnel/shaft was taking his attention. Beads of sweat were popping out on his forehead from his concentration. And it was actually cool in the cockpit.

'Ah, let's keep that one in our back pocket.' Lyla told Lamar, leaning over the pilots' shoulders to watch their progress down the shaft. She might not be doing anything, but she felt almost as anxious about making it safely to the bottom without any bumps and scrapes along the way. 'Take it nice and steady, like we know what we're doing. We can pass off being slow, not getting scratched and crashing. And as for once we're down there... We play it by tail, recon and play pirate for as long as we can get away with it, and look out for the Gray Griffins and Chalmer Trillili.'
This message was last edited by the player at 09:43, Tue 30 Mar 2021.

"You got it L.T." Lamar said.
03:34, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 19 using 1d20+9.  pilot.
03:33, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 28 using 1d20+13.  Use computer.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:34, Sat 06 Feb 2021.

The space barge followed by the Wayfarer made it's slow progress down the mine shaft. All went without accident. At the bottom of the shaft was a natural cave. The only item present in the cave was a repulsor disk, three metres in diameter. There were six mine tunnels heading in various directions and a blast door in one wall.

Klyn followed precautiouly.

"I don't think they put their 'interdictor like' ship here, it looked too big.

So, I suppose we have to open the blast door?  Any idea?  Did the pirats give you more intel about it?"

Slowly the Alabak's Gold followed the others down the mine shaft. The cave was large enough to serve as a hangar for the three ships but the large pirate ship they saw earlier would not have been able to reach the hangar.

At last, they'd reached the bottom and touched down, safely and with no alarms raised. This was getting to be almost too easy, and Lyla had the proverbial bad feeling about this. Maybe she was too used to operating on the edge of catastrophe and stuffing defeat back into the jaws of victory. She looked carefully around the vast cavern, assessing the situation.

She pursed her lips and crossed her tails in a frown. 'A little. The container ship is their main mobile base. This is a hideout for resting and storing stolen goods until they find a buyer. Maybe that includes captives too. So, let's look around, try to find some intel at least. There might be no-one here, or a skeleton crew, or a big gang of off-duty pirates, so let's stay alert.'


OOC: Sorry, I got busy and kept forgetting this.

Is that repulsor disk meant to be an elevator up and down the shaft? Are there any other ships here?

An examination of the repulsor disk proved it would only be used for loading and unloading cargo as it had a flight ceiling of only one hundred metres. Whereas they were five metres metres from the surface of Dega.

The blast doors were thirty metres high and thirty metres wide. The others passages varied in height and width between ten to thirty metres. The stability of those tunnels were uncertain.

"L.T. We're not going to get to do our plan. If we cause an explosion we might very likely  get trapped in here. That is if we don't get killed along with them." Lamar said after noticing the area. "We need a new plan and fast!"

But Lyla paused, thinking it over for a few moments before shaking her head and tails. 'Uh-uh, nothing good comes from rushing.' she said, not that she was slacking off herself. 'Now, our core mission is rescuing the Gray Griffins, and this is a damn good place to keep them locked up: secure cells, no ship, no way to the surface. And the other pirates don't come here often. So I'd like to do recon while we have the chance. So let's gear up and get out!' Lyla rose and led the team to the airlock, grabbing her blaster rifle on the way.

Geared up the Rebels disembarked from their ships and approached the blast door. The blast door looked sturdy and had a secure operating panel that required a code to open.

Lamar pulled out the datacomp he was carrying and hooked it into the door's maintenance panel. "Don't suppose the code was gotten from our guests.." He muttered while checking to see if it had been in any of the logs he had decoded.

No one provided them with a code for the blast door. Lamar hooked up his datacomp, with his security kit he'd most likely be able to access the controls. How long it took would depend on his skill.

OOC Give us a Mechanics check if you want to try and bypass the security.

Klyn will do his best to help Lamar and speed up the process.

20:46, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 28 using 1d20+17.  mechanics help.

While banking on them being alone down here, Lyla wasn't about to rely on it. She readied her DC-17m ICWS blaster rifle and turned her back to the wall, watching the other passages and covering Klyn and Lamar while they worked to slice the blast door. She would've preferred to take one of the ordinary tunnels first, hoping to get lucky on easy intel that explain the rest, but she wasn't about to order them to give up now. Clearly something important and valuable was behind this blast door. 'They didn't think to share. And we didn't know what to ask for. I could go back and ask, but they'll just lie and stall for time.'

A little help from Klyn had the security lock overridden. The blast door swished open to reveal another tunnel. The tunnel was in better shape than the others and looked safer. The tunnel was dark but at the far end was a faint glow.

"Now, hoping that we didn't raise some kind of alarm the way we opened the door, we are up for some walk.

Boss, Wwe should ask for a speeder on our next stop at the base, it would have been useful." he added.

"The place doesn't look like it will fall on us, but I'm not sure how stealthy we can be while we get to the end. Any marching order advice ?"

This is clearly more Lyla's field of expertise.

'I figure that if there was an alarm, we would have triggered it when we brought a ship down. Anyway, no point worrying about it.' Lyla mused to Klyn, peering down the dark tunnel to check that the way was clear and nothing and no-one was rushing out them. 'And you know if we had a speeder, we'd lose it as soon as we needed it – whatever happened to our last speeder, anyway?' She shrugged. 'We'll steal the next one that's available, the way the Alliance gets all its gear.'

She'd already walked in, stepping carefully and stopping after a few paces to examine the ground. The hard cut-stone floor of a mine, but there ought to be enough dust to take a print. 'Fan out behind me. I'll look for tracks to see how much the pirates do use this place.'


OOC: Perception 16, rerolled to 28 – looking for tracks

The tunnel was well used and the air was much more palatable. The toxic and poisonous gases in that filled Degas's atmosphere were absent here, some kind of environmental controls were evident. Lyla's search found tracks that showed the tunnel was well used with plenty of people passing through but that no one had been near the blast door for a few days. The light ahead appeared to be artificial light.

'Well, they come here often enough to make a trail, but haven't been back in the last few days at least. See how the dust has settled back over these recent prints? No? Well, you get what I mean.' Lyla explained, pointing out some impressions in the stone dust that may or may not mean anything to the others. 'Us and those blast doors opening is the most disturbance here. Still, let's not get relaxed.' She rose, patted dust off her knee, and ventured onward to the light at the end of the tunnel.

The tunnel led them to another door. The tunnel here was lit by strip lighting and the door was regular sized about two metres wide. There was a control panel by the door but no security.

Lyla raised a hand to halt her group, then approached the door herself. Rather than touch the control panel, she first put her pointed ear to the door, trying to listen in. If someone was there, they've might've heard the ship land or the blast door open, she reckoned, and be ready to ambush them. Even if they hadn't, she might tell how many there were and what they were doing before she barged in on them.


OOC: Listening at the door: Perception 14, rerolled to 17

Taking it slow Lyla crept up the closed door and listened. The first thing she noticed was noise. Something was behind the door. Listening further Lyla could decipher the sounds of voices talking quietly and the sound of furniture being moved around.

Lyla backed away, fast. 'They're barricading, prepping for a fight.' she warned her team, her tone low but urgent. They'd stopped having it easy. Still, they did have the advantage, of a line of retreat if nothing else. And she didn't know if it was pirates or prisoners on the other side. If pirates, they wouldn't expect a fight from fellow pirates, right? Lyla wasn't about to bank on honour among thieves, a pirate's code, and all that.

She leaned closer to the door, yelling 'Oi! Surrender or suck it, your choice.'

Rynn took up the rear position, heavy blaster out and ready. He listened carefully for movement behind them, not wanting to get ambushed from behind, not knowing what was in front of them.

He glanced behind him when Lyla called that their were people present but turned back toward the way they came, listening hard in that direction.

"I've got our 6 Commander, but I'll be there if things pop off."



09:47, Today: Rynn Culmar rolled 23 using 1d20+13.  Perception .

Her threat made Lyla had to only wait a moment for a response "get lost moof milker, ya goin' to get fried if you come in here" they warned.

At the rear Rynn saw nothing else in the tunnel behind them.

Lyla twisted a tail at that attempted insult. 'I'm a what? Listen, moof milkers are good hard-working people who produce a valuable product, and you're a bunch of lazy ratbag pirates who're about to get fried like the rest of your mates if you don't come out with weapons down and hands up in the next twenty-eight seconds.' Because a round number sounded arbitrary, but an exact number sounded worryingly specific.


OOC: Persuasion, aced it. :)
10:45, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 24 using 1d20+4. persuasion.
If this counts as an encounter and Fringe Savant applies, I might get a temporary Force Point.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:51, Wed 24 Feb 2021.

Lamar had moved a little ways away and was setting himself into a sniper position. He moved slowly and cautiously trying to get a sight on these pirates.

21:18, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 15 using 1d20+9.  stealth.

Camouflage Tree: Improved Stealth -- You may chose to reroll any Stealth check
but the result of the reroll must be accepted even if it is worse.

21:19, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 16 using 1d20+9. second roll and one I end up taking.

The response to Lyla's threat was slower this time. After some hesitation they called back "what do you want?"

OOC Yes Lyla can gain a temporary FP for the remainder of this encounter.

'For this to end without a fight.' Lyla snapped back. 'We want the prisoners released and the piracy to stop. Which can you give us?'

Klyn had moved in a position opposite to Lamar, his weapon ready.

Apparently, things might not end in bloodshed, which in itself was unexpected for one of their mission. But he stayed ready.

"Uh oh yeah" the pirate called back "you can take the prisoners, come on through but leave us out of it"

Lamar had a bead on the doorway, but with it still closed there was nothing to shoot. He felt he was hidden as best he could be, but needed the door opened to acquire any actual targets.

"L.T. I need that door opened in order to get a shot, but I'm in position if we have to go that route." He whispered over the comms.

Well, that was... easy. And odd. They didn't sound like they pirates, or if they were, they didn't want to be. Lyla nodded to Lamar, then called 'Who are you, anyway?'

"The Scourge" the pirates replied "we're planning on staying alive, you try and trick us we will shoot you" they warned.

'Yeah, likewise!' Lyla shouted back, annoyed that they wouldn't trust her. So, they were just more ratbag pirates, not the Gray Griffins in amusing case of mutual mistaken identity they could all laugh about over drinks later, if they didn't tragically shoot each other first. Just pirates after all.

She whispered to the team, 'Alright, are you ready? How do we play this? Take them captive? I don't want them giving us trouble or stealing back our ships.'
This message was last edited by the player at 09:43, Tue 30 Mar 2021.

"I can drop at least one as soon as I can get a line of sight on them. But I am confused. How are they dropping people out of warp with this kind of lack of backbone. Something fishy is going  on here. Be ready for a double cross." Lamar whispered over the comms.

"That's why I'm watching our backsides." Rynn responded over the comms. "But I'll be there with you guys if things pop off in your direction. I'm all for taking captives Commander, I could have easily been one of these guys had things played out different."

"Yes, I'm with Lamar. There is something odd going on here.

Their attack was precise and efficient - despite their lack of preparation for any resisting party.  This looks like kids playing 'pirates'.

Prisoners will be good, but we should not hesitate to reduce the number if they indeed do anything funny."

'Yeah, and that boarding party came at us without fear of being shot to bits.' Lyla agreed, frowning. 'This is still too easy, and from our experience we should turn and leave now... Or maybe we really are just lucky for once and the pirates left the wet newbies behind. Alright, let's switch to stun to cover our bases, and be ready to drop if they do anything sus.'

As she said, she adjusted her blaster rifle and approached the door, in a low shooter's stance and half-covered behind the wall, her eye looking down the sight and finger squeezing the trigger.


OOC: Open door when everyone's ready.
Ready action to shoot pirates.

Ready action to shoot pirate's at first sign of aggression or if Lyla shoots/says to shoot.

The team was ready to face the pirates and Lyla hit the door control and with a swish the door revealed a large room. The wall to Lyla's left a series of door and another door was on the opposite wall.

Upturned furniture had been piled up to create barricades and other debris was scattered across the room as obstacles. Crouched before the barricades with heavy blaster pistols were six pirates. Life control systems were present in the room and none of the pirates were wearing breath mask.



OOC Roll for Initiative. No surprise round as all characters are aware. Initiative higher than 13 can act first.

CN             F  R  W    HP   Second Wind FP DP  Notes

Lyla           22 22 19   58/58  1/1  (+14) 8  5
Lamar          17 19 15   47/47  1/1  (+14) 7  4
Klyn           15 21 19   35/35  1/1  (+9)  5  2
Tera           19 20 21   67/67  1/1  (+17) 5  3
Rynn           16 18 15   30/30  1/1  (+10) 8  3

Pirate         16 17 14     0                     Cover +5 Ref
Pirate 1       16 17 14     0                     Cover +5 Ref
Pirate 2       16 17 14     0                     Cover +5 Ref
Pirate 3       16 17 14     0                     Cover +5 Ref
Pirate 4       16 17 14     0                     Cover +5 Ref
Pirate 5       16 17 14     0                     Cover +5 Ref


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
Pirates 13
Lyla
Rynn
Lamar
Klyn
Tera

As the door slid open, Lyla stepped in far enough to get line-of-sight on all the pirates while still keeping her shoulder and side behind the doorway. 'Alright, throw your weapons on the ground and your hands in the air!' she ordered, hoping the pirates proved to be as compliant as they'd sounded.


OOC: Initiative 16
Moving 1 square to the right, trying to stay in Cover
Ready attack against Pirate 5 if they turn aggressive

Klyn is a bit surprised by Lyla's entrance and ultimatum.

He hopes the pirates will comply, but as he has high doubt, he is ready to run and bring  her down to avoid possible shots.

11:58, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 25 using 1d20+5.  initiative.
Lamar waits for either an order to fire or a sign of imminent hostility before he will fire.

The move from Lyla was bold. The pirates were staying well out of sight behind upturned tables and other furniture, Lyla spotted six of them. From the mess around the room it was a common room and galley.

"Do what you need to do, we're keeping hold of our weapons" they seemed on edge perhaps cowards but not foolish enough to drop all their defences.

Mother goddess. First they give up and then they decide to be stubborn? But at least they were talking, and Lyla was inclined to keep them talking. 'Then what we need to do is stun you.' she told them firmly. 'Come out, and show us your chests or backs so we've got a clear safe shot.'

"Who are you anyway Imperials? the pirates questioned Lyla's demands "we ain't coming out and getting ourselves killed, you shoot and we'll shoot back. You get your guys and go, that's the deal. We ain't changing it."

Klyn had the feeling their commander was playing with fire.

There was no way those pirates would simply surrender. And if they are backed  into a corner too much, they might fight, in the end.

"Lyla, should we advance or stay back and cover you while a team cross the room and get the prisoners?"

'Does a Twi'lek gal in charge look like Imperials?' Lyla retorted, almost offended by the idea. 'And you should know, you work with 'em! No, we are the Rebel scum your daddies warned you about.' she declared defiantly.

She heard Klyn's questions, but right now didn't dare turn around to answer him properly, and could only wave a hand behind her to signal him to wait. Instead, she called back to the pirates, but tried to moderate her tone to be less aggressive, which the Twi'lek managed reasonably well. 'And the Alliance won't play you false. We just can't take the chance you'll shoot us in the back or call your pirate buddies. So, you can sit there holding your weapons while we do what we need to do, and wait for a rescue that won't be coming. Or you can surrender now, get good treatment in an Alliance court, and maybe even join up. You don't sound like you really want to be pirates anyway. But if we see you again on the wrong side of this, we won't waste time with talking and stunning.'

'Now, we're sending two out to get our people. Don't interfere.' She took a careful step out of cover, hoping to the goddess she wouldn't get shot for it. 'Klyn? You follow me. The rest can cover us.''

And if it was still safe, she went to the nearest door...


OOC: Persuasion 16, Temp Force Point 4, total 20

Move to the top, left-most door and look inside if possible.

The pirates remained behind cover, preferring the coward's way than a shoot out where it was clear some of them would die. Lyla activated the door control nearest to her and it swished open smoothly. Within the room the walls were lined with computer terminals, but it looked like only one was active and switched on.

After swiftly scanning the computer room, Lyla turned and covered the pirates with her rifle again while she told Klyn 'Check that, and if there's any comms equipment, wreck it.'

"On it"
Klyn crossed the room full of armed pirate with some apprehension and settled himself in front of the computer.
"Let's see what we can learn about this place and their work..."

Lamar kept a sharp eye on the pirates, searching for any signs of betrayal. Over the coms he said softly, "Let me know if you need help with those files."

The computer unit was online and Klyn soon had access. He found a recent communique.

Communique #84B93L1
To: Chalmer Trillili
From: The Khuiumin

I commend you. It isn't easy to get a message to your band. With our recent arrival in the sector, your reputation has fallen on our ears at every turn. For this reason, I have a proposal for you.
The rumours you've heardabout us are true. Now you have a chance to join our ranks. We will have our revenge. Thos who stand beside us will be known across the galaxy. You can share in our glorious victory. We anxiously await a response.

End Communique

Hearing some familiar "you've got mail" noises, Lyla turned her heard just enough to see Klyn out of the corner of her eye, while keeping the pirates in the other. At least they didn't seem to mind them riffling through their systems. 'Whatcha found?' she asked, speaking softly so she wouldn't be overheard.


OOC: Has Lyla heard of this Khuiumin? Knowledge (galactic lore) 11. That's not promising.

Everyone knew that Khuiumin was a star system. Lyla wasn't sure what The Khuiumin was however.

Rynn hung back, just past the doorway into the room, continuing to watch their backs, but close enough that he could turn and fight those hold up in the room if things got loud in there.

He fidgeted with impatient energy. His body was ready for a fight that wasn't coming just yet and like an orbak in the starting box before a race would stamp at the ground in anticipation, so too was Rynn having a hard time being still.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:31, Tue 16 Mar 2021.

'Klyn?' Deciding the pirates weren't about to get a sudden attack of courage at this point, Lyla turned away to see what Klyn had found. She read the message, recognised the Khuiumin star system but nothing else, and groaned. 'More pirates is just what we don't need. Especially if they're getting buddy-buddy with each other. But this is a good opportunity for us. Here, let me...'

She hit Reply and wrote out a short and very direct response:

To: The Khuiumin
From: Chalmer Trillili

Cruk off.

End Communique

Then she hit Send, marked "The Khuiumin" as Spam, and then deleted the message and the reply from Trillili's account. 'There, maybe now they'll take care of each other and save us the bother. And now to take care of the others...' Lyla raised her blaster rifle, switched to auto-fire, and emptied a barrage of blaster bolts into the comms equipment, leaving it full of holes, cracking sparks, burning plastic, and melted metal.

'Come on, let's see what's behind door number two.' Lyla told Klyn and walked out, giving a "what did you think we were going to do?" look to the pirates behind their barricade, before checking the next door along.

The comms kit was destroyed by Lyla's assault but the pirates valuing their life more than some tech gear remained behind their barricades.

Lyla hit the button for the next door. The door swished open but revealed darkness. Inside the floor was carpeted and clean. Beside this nothing else could be seen.

Not having known ahead of time that Lyla was going to fire, Lamar tensed at the sudden burst of blaster fire. Seeing it wasn't coming from the pirates he could see, Lamar growled over the comms, "L.T. You good!"

'Yeah, we're good.' Lyla commed back, walking out the door and waving to the group to show it too. 'Just sabotaging some stuff. Takes me back to my street-rat days.'

She peered into the gloom of the next room. 'Nothing? So much wasted space in these bases. Okay, two down, two to go.' She glanced over her shoulder at the pirates again, then went to the third door, and then the fourth. Goddess, she hoped the Gray Griffins were here, but if they weren't then at least it hadn't been a total waste of time.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:43, Tue 30 Mar 2021.

The third door opened to reveal a store room. The room was filled with large, unlabelled metal boxes. The last door was locked.

The boxes might've held as much booty as Lyla's pants did, but they weren't a priority right now. She moved on, and as the door to the final room clicked in her hand, she turned and shouted to the increasingly pathetic pirates. 'Oi! Have you boys got a key to this door?'

"There are others ways to sabotage things... less quick, but very effective.
With the advantage of still being able to search and use it..."

commented Klyn.

He followed Lyla, still wary of a counter attack from the pirates.

"Let me see"

There were some grunted responses to Lyla's question before Klyn stepped up and hacked the lock.

The door opened to reveal a meandering corridor. The walls were natural flowstone and stalactites.

'Hey, what's down here?' Lyla demanded of the pirates, but didn't expect an answer to be forthcoming. 'Never mind... Okay, I'll check this out. Klyn, you watch the door. Lamar, maybe you join him. Don't want it closing behind me. I'll stay in contact on comms.' This was said quietly over comms, out of the pirates' earshot so they didn't get any ideas. Such as rushing the door and locking it behind them.

Then she ventured forward, ears pricked and eyes piercing the darkness, wondering if she'd finally find the Gray Griffins at the end.


OOC:
17:41, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 26 using 1d20+9. perception.

Hearing the plan, Rynn fell back from his position in the hallway they'd come down, to the open door into the larger room. This way he'd be able to train another gun on the pirates if things didn't go well, and still watch their backs for any new arrivals.


OOC Still in cover, that top corner of the door is where he is.

The pirates were covered and Lyla's route of retreat cleared so she explored the tunnel confidently. The tunnel was long and winding. Lyla had walked about one and fifty metres when she glimpsed the end of the tunnel fifty metres ahead. However Lyla was not unaccustomed to life in darkness and caves, she knew the caves Ryloth well, her eyesight was keen and she spotted something which gave her cause to pause rather than walk that last fifty metres. She saw some mechanism was on the floor before her.

While the Twi'lek's keen eyesight let her see well in limited light, it wasn't so great with small details and wouldn't work at all in total darkness. So as the tunnel got longer and dimmer, Lyla pulled out a glowrod and activated it, shining a light ahead of her, until it picked out an odd mechanical shape. 'I'm about one-fifty meters in, fifty from the end. I found some gadget on the floor. Checking it out.' she commed back to the team, then approached the device, focusing the glowrod on it and crouching to inspect it.


OOC: Oh yeah, Twi'leks get Low-Light Vision. Forgot I had that. Checking out the mechanism:
17:12, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 28 using 1d20+9. perception.

With the aid of the glowrod Lyla was able to carefully inspect the floor. The examination revealed a pressure plate on the floor. In the improved lighting it was easier to see but Lyla could not discern what it was connected to or what purpose it served. The pressure plate was as wide as the tunnel and about four metres long.

Hmm. Lyla set her glowrod down on the stone where it could illuminate the plate and not roll away, then backed off. On the comms, she reported 'There's some kind of pressure plate here, too big to go around or over. So I think, in the words of our favourite admiral, it's a trap. Klyn, I think this is a job for you now. I'm coming back.'

Lyla jogged back to the entrance of the tunnel to swap places with the engineer.

Lamar said to Klyn. "Go ahead, I'll cover everyone."

He then scanned the pirates looking for any sign of betrayal or deception.

Nodding, Klyn left his post and jogged to join with Lyla.

"They could have warned us, don't you think?  Maybe we should ask if there are other 'surprises' ahead... and that we do NOT like surprises?"


At the designated place he began to study the mechanism.

Passing Klyn on her way back down the tunnel, Lyla slowed and rolled her eyes at his comment. 'Those bantha brains wouldn't help us as if we were trying to plug an air-leak. Anyway, I'll try, again. Call if need back-up.'

Hurrying back to the entrance, Lyla took up a position beside Lamar and bellowed out to the huddled pirates. 'Oi! How about you do yourselves a favour and tell us what's down there? And we know about the pressure plate! What's it for?'

With the knowledge and knowhow Klyn was able to study the pressure plate and the mechanism.

The engineer was confident that whatever the mechanism operated was further along the tunnel which logic dictated that any controls must be on this side. Klyn could not spot them however.

"It's where we keep our prisoners" they goaded Lyla in response to her question.

Annoyed, Klyn went back to Lyla.

"I'm certain there is a device to arm and disarm the trap on our side of it : it's main objective is preventing people at the end of the tunnel to cross without being noticed.

But I can't find it.  Maybe you eyes would be better at it than mine."

Lyla scowled back at the pirates, but didn't get to spit back her retort as well before Klyn returned and made his report. She groaned in exasperation, secretly hoped the disarming device wasn't in the control console she'd just shot up, and finally answered 'Alright, I'll see what I can do.'

But first she looked back to pirates, calling out her subtle threat 'You know, it occurs to me that the more helpful you lot feel like being now will decide how helpful we feel like being later, when it comes time to send someone to go pick you up. Because Chalmer and his crew aren't coming back for you mooks, not after they already left you behind. So how long do you feel up to waiting, anyway? A day, a week, longer? ...Hey, where do keep your food and bunks anyway, I haven't seen any around here yet.'


OOC: Persuasion 13, force point 3, total 16, bah.

"There's a switch on the left wall" then one of the pirates laughed  "Chalmers not so far away" they replied to Lyla's threat.

'Yeah, laugh it up, but we're a lot closer.' Lyla warned them, annoyed at wasting her breath and time on these idiots. Maybe going in guns blazing would've been better after all? It would've saved time. But either way, they had an answer. Whether it was the correct one was still to be worked out. She turned back to Klyn, saying 'Don't worry about it, I missed it too. I'll go back for another look-see.'

With that, Lyla jogged back down the tunnel, this time scanning the left wall and running her fingers along it at switch height. 'This switch better be here, or...' she muttered sourly.


OOC: Perception 28, Low-Light Vision, let's find a switch!
21:15, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 28 using 1d20+9. perception.

There was a switch on the left wall of the tunnel. The switch was very well hidden and if Lyla had not known there was a switch there she would likely have given up looking but then she spotted it.

The switch was a small toggle with two settings up or down. It was in the down position.

'Finally.' Lyla breathed in relief. Briefly she considered this might be a trap too, or that the pirates had lied because they had reason to, but of course nothing else made sense and she wanted this to be over with. 'Up we go.' she said, and flicked the switch, and watched to see what the plate on the floor would do.

The switched clicked and deactivated the pressure plate on the floor.

Hoping she hadn't just actually activated the trap instead, Lyla shrugged and walked across it to the door at the end of the tunnel. All this fuss just to go down a corridor...

The pressure plate deactivated Lyla walked along the tunnel as it became narrower. At it's end it was barely three metres wide then it opened into a larger cavern. The cavern was roughly thirty metres diameter and one hundred metres high, the ceiling was encrusted with stalactites.

Suspended by four heavy cables sixty metres above the floor was a plasteel platform. There was three figures restrained by binders seated on the platform. To the right of the entrance to cave was portcullis blocking entrance to another cave.

After close tunnels and dull office spaces, stepping into a big cavern came as a surprise. Lyla looked around in awe, confused at the set-up until her eyes alighted on the prisoners on the suspended platform high above the ground. Simple, straightforward security, she figured: try to leave and die. 'At last! Hey, are you guys the Gray Griffins? We're Rebels, we've come to rescue you! Do you know how I can get you down?' she shouted up at them, and looked around the cavern for some controls, remembering how that last switch was so hard to find.

She updated her team over comms, 'I've found the Griffins. Working out how to free them now.'

At Lyla's call one of the three figures shuffled toward the edge of the platform and looked down. Lyla saw a Sullustan male, a human female and human male. All looked malnourished and very weak. The Sullustan struggled but they looked down to Lyla and nodded his head "help us" he groaned then lay still.

'Hang on, I'm working on it!' Lyla called up to them and hurried toward the portcullis to see what lay on the other side. She hoped for controls, and that telling people stuck hanging in the air to "hang on" wasn't in bad taste.


OOC: Perception 10, rerolled to 22

Behind the portcullis was a smaller cave. In the cave was tall dark skinned creature with four long saw-like claws with a head that appears you be all maw.

Without hesitation the creature ran forward at the sight of Lyla and crashed against the portcullis and gnashed it's many sharp incisor teeth. It's claws clashing again the bars.

Startled, Lyla jumped back in a flash and desperately scrambled back from the savage beast. Sure, there were thick metal bars between it and her, but sheer animal fight-or-flight reflexes were not too concerned with that right now. 'What the cruk?!' she swore, getting her wits and trying to get a good look at it to work out just what it was. Just from a safe, safe distance.


OOC: What the hell is that thing?!
19:19, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 23 using 1d20+10. knowledge: life sciences.

Despite the beast's fury it was well contained. Lyla recognised the creature as a dangerous Oskan blood eater. Lyla knew that they were very effective and persistent trackers. Captured and used for this purpose by law enforcement and Imperial.

An Oskan blood eater! What the cruk were these pirates doing with an Oskan blood eater?! Recovering her wits, Lyla picked herself up and backed away, figuring that was the best way to get the thing to calm down, namely, not presenting it with prey, with her blaster rifle trained on it the whole time. She could've stunned it or blasted it, but ultimately it was just a trapped animal, and the scout couldn't just kill it. 'These pirates have an Oskan blood eater caged back here, so, if I don't make it out, that's probably why and you should watch yourselves.' she warned the team over comms.

Far enough away, Lyla resumed her search of the cavern, looking for more switches on the walls and scanning the cavern ceiling for whatever machinery must raise and lower the prisoner platform. There had to be something, the pirates weren't using a sixty-metre step-ladder.

Lamar was familiar with Blood Eaters, having seen them in the wild when he was on Oskan. But he only knew two things. They were extremely dangerous, and some were rumored to be trainable. "L.T. Be very careful not to let that thing loose. I've heard they can be trained. If that's true then these jokers may be counting on you accidentally opening the cage and letting it free." After a few seconds pause, he added, "And that would be bad."

The three captives remained quiet and motionless as they rested on the floating platform. Lyla's search of the area revealed no switches or machinery for the platform. At the portcullis there was a wire which led back to the pressure plate in the tunnel.

...And stepping on the activated pressure plate would release the Oskan blood drinker, Lyla surmised, but she had no idea how the pirates persuaded it to go back in its cell when they wanted to go in. And she still had no idea how they winched the prisoners up and down. The whole set-up seemed absurd. It would be even more absurd to keep the controls for the platform in the cell with the Oskan blood drinker.

Sighing, she trooped back to just below the suspended platform and called loudly up to the pirates. 'Listen, you're going to have to tell me: how do I get you down? Without releasing the blood drinker?'

The small Sullustan weakly replied "they transported us up here."

Lyla had to think about that one for a bit, but then finally realised. 'Oh goddess! Do you mean a repulsor disk?!' she exclaimed, remembering the one back in the hangar and wondering why it had taken her so long.

'Rynn! Run back and get that repulsor disk we passed in the hangar. It's the only way to get out Gray Griffins down.' she commed back to the team, recalling that the Ubese should still be closest to the entrance.

With that finally in hand, Lyla added to the Sullustan 'We'll get you down in a jiffy, don't worry!'

Use to laying still in the brush waiting days for a perfect shot, Lamar was patient in his covering the pirates. He was sure he was still unseen and had his eyes watching them like a Skiirvan Blood hawk. Meanwhile, he had his ears listening for any sounds out of place particularly if anyone was sneaking up behind them.

Klyn is waiting at the door inside the corridor with the plate.

If there is no answer from Rynn, he will follow Lyra's command.

"Roger Commander." Rynn said over the comms and started moving quickly to get the repulsor disk they'd passed and moving it to where Lyla was. As he got close to her and noticed the creature he recoiled a bit. "Oh... wow..." he looked from the creature to Lyla and back. "You want me to shoot it?"

Lyla had been waiting anxiously under the platform and looked with relief to Rynn as he arrived. As she got the repulsor disk ready and in position, eyeing the platform above, she glanced back to the Oskan blood drinker, her expression one of sadness. She'd already thought of it herself, several times, but she just couldn't bring herself to. 'Ah, no. Whatever it's been used for, whatever it looks like to us, however it was made, it's still just an animal, unfed and mistreated. I won't kill if I don't have to.' she explained, grimacing at the cruelty of keeping it locked up here as some kind of guardian monster. 'Hopefully, when all this is over, we can get Radell to get some handlers to capture it and take it to a zoo somewhere. I'm an optimist, I know.'

'But,' Lyla considered their weapons and the good probability of something going wrong just when they thought they had it free and easy, 'You take the lift up and get those guys down. I'll keep an eye on the blood drinker.' She patted her rifle and got it ready, indicating how she would do that.

Lowered from the platform by the repulsor disk the Gray Griffins were freed. They were malnourished and too weak to move but recovered a little in the rescue. Thet were Oro Otel, the Sullustan scout; Valera, the female human computer specialist; and Dunstan Karell, a human male pilot.

With no trouble coming from the blood drinker, Lyla turned to help the Gray Griffins off the disk the moment it was on the ground, with an arm around their backs and their hands in hers. It was terrible to see what poor condition they were in. 'There you go, carefully now.' she advised, then reached into her field kit for her condensing canteen and some rations. 'Here, drink and eat something, but slowly, and just a little, give your body time to catch up. We have to move soon.' With another eye on the blood drinker, she waited until they were ready to walk before ushering them toward the exit with Rynn.

"So... what's the plan now?" asked Klyn, once the prisoners were freed and nourished.

"Thankfully, they won't need to walk with the repulsor.  But once they are safe, what have you planned for this place?  And the possible, and very probable, riposte that will follow?  We don't know the place they went with the big ships and their fighters."

'Good idea. Everybody, back on the repulsorlift. We'll push you along.' Lyla instructed the ex-captives, then gently guided them out of the cavern, down the tunnel, and into the main area of the base. She gave a filthy look to the cowering pirates on their way through. 'Couldn't you mongrels at least take care of these people?' she accused hotly. 'Food, water, bathroom breaks, a place to sleep?'

Where they caught up with the others and conferred. 'We can check out those other tunnels, but I expect they're just disused mines. Otherwise, I think we're done here. Radell can send someone to pick up these twits later, maybe when they're as hungry and thirsty as these guys. We can toss our other prisoners out here as well.' Lyla proposed. 'We wrecked the comms equipment, so there won't be back-up or retaliation any time soon. We rescued the Gray Griffins, so that's the first half of our mission complete. Once they're better, they'll tell us what they know, and then we'll have an idea of what to do next.'

The Gray Griffins were transported to the Alabak's Gold and given a place to recover. Unfortunately at the same time the ship's sensors detected other starships approaching the shaft from above.

Back in the ship, Lyla groaned to see the other ships approaching on sensors. Predictably, their luck had just run out, right when they still needed it. 'Of course they choose now to show up, only an hour late. What'd they do, take the scenic route?' she complained, giving the others a chance to react to the news. 'At least this time we have four ships, which right now is two too many. Do we still have the shuttle and barge on remote control, with the charges in the engine rooms?' she asked her team, expecting they would see what she was proposing.

As the group finished up inside the base Lamar covered their exit. And was trailing the group so he could keep an eye on their six. Hearing the question he responded. "Yes, I could fly that pirate barge right into their biggest ship. But with the narrow passage, we run the risk of any crash blocking the exit."

He took a breath to continue. "There is also the fact we still don't know where the gravity well generator is."

'Yes, we do. It's on that container ship we saw.' Lyla concluded with certainty, looking to see if she could see it on screen. 'It's the only ship big enough and it clears the scene pretty quickly afterward. The pirates want to keep it safe... So we can't let them. We destroy that, and they won't be so eager to fight for a finished operation, they'll run with their loot and lives while they've still got them.' she predicted, somewhat optimistically, but she had the group down on Dega as an example. The barge boarders, at least, thought they'd had a shot.

The mine shaft up was narrow for flying starships but it was not the only way out of the hangar cave. From the bottom of the shaft were many tunnels through the planet's surface. Lamar's idea of blocking the entry shaft would not necessarily spell disaster if they would navigate the natural tunnels whilst possibly being pursued by enemies.

Closer now the ship's sensors identified the incoming ships as another two Skipray Blastboats.

"If we are sure about that container ship, then we need to ram it with the pirate cargo ship we captured. I can do that, and it should do enough damage if I hit it right." Lamar said.

"We need to hurry though or the opportunity passes."

As Lyla was learning, being cautious could just waste precious time and cost them their chance. So she clapped Lamar on the shoulder and told him hurriedly 'If you can do it reliably, then do it. We've only got one shot at this, so let's make it count, and make them suffer.'

Meanwhile, she considered their escape routes, few and terrible though they were: the known route and hazard of the pirates or the unknown route and unknown hazards of the tunnels? 'And how are we getting out? Up that shaft or through these tunnels? Is there any guarantee they lead back to the surface, or that we'll fit the whole way? I'm for the shaft, so we can cover the barge and have the crash as a distraction while we take out the blastboats.'

The two Skipray blastboats on the sensors were at the top of the mine shaft their heading indicated that they would enter down the mine shaft. There was no other ships detected on the sensors.

"I agree. There might be an exit by the tunnels, but we have no certainty, and it might be too small for our ships.

We should try to destroy those two ships if we manage to take them by surprise: they are faster than us and would quickly catch up."

'And it looks like they're deciding for us. Let's go!' Lyla yelled, jumping into the gunner's seat and firing up the laser cannons. She had to aim almost straight upwards to place the reticule on the blastboats, but she was quick and ready to shoot.


OOC: Initiative 20

Looking up the mine shaft there are two approaching Skipray blastboats. Flying up the shaft and between the ships to escape will take some expert piloting or sending their captured ship up the shaft to ram them would likely make escaping up the shaft an even tighter squeeze.

OOC As Lyla has started it everyone roll Initiative. The pirates rolled a 0 so anything better than that can act now.

Last time, Lyla had gone all-out on torpedo launchers because of the long range and the many blastboats to cover. This time, in the close confines of the shaft she didn't dare, and with the shorter distance, she didn't need to. 'Just like bulls'-eyeing womp rats in Beggar's Canon.' she observed with grim relish as she got her sights on the nearest blastboat and fired hot lasers into it.


OOC: Assuming I'm on the Wayfarer, using laser canon at the nearest blastboat.
Attack 21 and damage 40 (x2 included)
I don't know the range, but Lyla's Far Shot would reduce it be one category and Point Blank Shot would add +1 attack and +2 damage.

Klyn is, of course, on the Gold.

As they need the enemies taken down to flee, he will first focus on firing his own twin laser canon instead of trying impressive evasion measures. At least on this first round.

18:30, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 19 using 1d20+2.  init (11-9 due to the gold clumsiness^^).

Lamar is on the shuttle but has remote control piloting of the pirate vessel.
06:12, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 15 using 1d20+5.  initiative.
06:15, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 29 using 1d20+9.  pilot.
06:14, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 16 using 1d20+13.  use computer.

The powerful shields from the Skipray Blastboats deflected the blasts from Klyn and Lyla. However in the narrow mineshaft neither of the ships could do anything to evade the collision from the ramming space barge. Lamar sent the starship up the shaft on full throttle and the three ships collided. The mine shaft shook and debris began to fall down under the Wanderer and the Gold as the three ships spun around uncontrollably. The space barge was battered, the blastboat shields absorbed the much of the damage however something was wrong! The ships veered erratically and began to plunge downwards, crashing against the mineshaft as the fell. The collision might not have damaged the ships much but the crew and passengers had been knocked unconscious or killed in the crash.

The Rebels had eliminated the threat from the pirates but an exit through the mineshaft blocked by three unpiloted starships and an unstable mine had been made much more difficult if not impossible. Smaller tunnels were available if they didn't get crushed by debris or starship wreckage first!

'What? No! Cruk!' Lyla cried out as she watched a decent plan fall, once again, into chaos and ruin. As she had expected. She'd known their luck had been too good on Dega. 'Evasive manoeuvres! Raise dorsal shields! Do we have dorsal shields?' she commanded to both ships as the debris and crippled ships began to rain down around their tails.

As they recovered, she swiftly took stock. 'Looks like fate's decided for us. Anyone got a good feeling about any of these tunnels? Pick quickly. With any luck, the pirates will think we were on that barge and won't come looking for us in them for a while, and will try five wrong tunnels first.'


OOC: There were six mine tunnels. Short of picking at random, this sounds like something for a Force user.

Rynn strained against the controls of the spinning wayfarer, one near miss with the Gold was diverted, and after a few moments both ships managed to stabilize.

Rynn began doing a system diagnostic scan to make sure nothing had been damaged during the turbulence.

"Meaning we get the right tunnel first try Commander?" he asked, trying to keep the incredulousness out of his voice. "If we pick the tunnel right in one, drinks are on me at the next dive bar I can find."

In the moment Tera let her instincts guide her and picked a tunnel for the ships to escape being crushed. The tunnel was narrow, a tight fit for a freighter.

OOC If you trust Tera then make Pilot skill checks to fly into the tunnel. Otherwise state your alternative action...

"And here comes our bad luck again, I was wondering how things could have gone so smoothly..." grumbled Klyn as he did his best to move the Gold toward the possible exit.

He, of course, trust Terra... and not only because they don't really have the time to analyze others possibilities!

Thankfully, he knows the Gold well.

19:25, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 28 using 1d20+12.  pilot without size malus?

'Good enough for me!' Lyla shouted in agreement, but whether it was for Tera's choice of tunnel or for Rynn's offer of drinks at a dive bar she didn't have time to clarify. She spun the turret around to watch their aft as they shot through the narrow cave mouth, more wary of pursuing pirates that cave creatures right now.

Rynn let the Gold take point, and he pulled up the rear, trying to balance speed with precision in flying through the tunnel in hopes of mistake. It was an unfamiliar ship, and not being used to the shape of her, he was worried about scraping the sides of the tunnel.




14:22, Today: Rynn Culmar rolled 18 using 1d20+10.  Pilot Check without Starship Modifiers.

Ably Klyn flew the Gold into the tunnel and led the way, the Wayfarer followed as debris and starships crashed to the floor of the pirate hangar. Explosions shook the cave and some of the other tunnels collapsed.

The size of the tunnels varied as the starships flew onward and Rynn scraped the sides a few time. The shields of the Wayfarer were good enough to prevent any serious damage to the hull. Eventually after a few more near misses they escaped the tunnels and came the planet's surface.

When it became clear they weren't going to crash into a dead-end, get jammed in a tight tunnel, or get shot in the afts by pirates, Lyla breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thank the Goddess. And thanks, Tera... Now, on the one tail, Plan A is a bust and we don't have a B. But on the other, we're alive, free, and not flying into a pirate ambush. Now, speaking of, where are they?' she asked as she scanned the sensors to get an update on the situation. 'How're we looking? D'you think we can still surprise them and take out that grav well generator, or should we run for it while we can?'


OOC: Perception 23 - checking on the pirates

"Well, that was a close one. " acknowledged Klyn.

"And I don't know if it was pure luck or that Force thing, but I never expected us to get out of that maze so easily."


"Well, our ships are fine, no real damage sustained.
They, on the other hand, lost quite a big part of their firepower.  But I have no idea where to find them exactly.

We could go back to the tunnel and see if the Blastboats nav computer are still somehow working and extract the place of their hideout.

Or try our luck another time by flying in the area we saw them flee and rely on Tera's instinct to guide us before THEY find us.

Or maybe the crew we freed has some intel that would help us to narrow the area."

There was no sign of any pirates on the ships viewscreens or on the scanners anywhere nearby on the surface or in orbit. Klyn considered their intel, he knew that Lamar had scrutinised the navicomputer of the space barge before he had installed the remote control system.

'Well, we've completed Part A of the mission – rescuing the Gray Griffins. Part of me wants to try for Part B – ending the pirate threat – while we've got the chance. And I don't want us to be hit by that grav well generator again.'

By now, her sensor scan had ended, yielding up 'Nothing? On ground and in orbit. I doubt the pirates have left so soon after that. They must've gone down the shaft to investigate and rescue their mates. They probably expect to find us on board that barge.' It gave them an opportunity, and an idea. 'We could do what they tried to do to us: wait up top, ambush them as they come out, or just bomb them from here. And not make the same mistake again of fighting in the shaft itself.'

"Does the Gold have Bombs? I know this shuttle doesn't." Lamar asked.

'But it does have torpedo launchers,' Lyla informed Lamar, 'And I'm going to ask someone if we can keep them for the Gold. And besides, even if we hit the sides of that shaft, the rocks falling will do almost as good a job.'

"I'm not sure the tunnel we took to enter their base does still exist." Interjected Klyn.

"We should check the data Lamar gathered and cross it with what the prisoners told us and whatever the crew might have heard."

"We also need to keep an eye out for that freighter."

The rescued crew the Gray Griffins confirmed Parek's story. They had whilst scouting located a new world, Alluuvia. The coordinates for Alluuvia were stored in the navicomputer of their starship Whisper which had been taken by the pirates. They did not know where.

The hyperspace jump log history of the pirate space barge taken by Lamar had reported a series of mini jumps originating from the planet Korad. The navicomputer had been programmed for another series of mini jumps to the planet Dega, where they had found an underground pirate hangar.

The navicomputer calculated a jump to Korad would take twelve hours or a jump in the opposite direction to Elrood would take eight hours.

There was no other starships in orbit or at the mine shaft. The only ships their scanners had detected were the blastboats and they were now down the mineshaft buried under rocks.

Though only via scanner screen, Lyla peered in disappointment down the shaft at the rubble and wrecked ships below. 'I guess we'll never know if that plan would've worked, but at least we're in the clear.' she said, deciding to take the escape as a win.

'Okay, where to now?' she asked the group, before giving her own assessment. 'Returning to Elrood for intel and dropping off the Griffins is a delay of sixteen hours we can't afford. I reckon we should chase the pirates to Korad before they get new blastboats or other reinforcements. We might have a chance to take out that container ship, but it will hit us with that interdiction field again.' she warned. 'But we need the Alluuvia coordinates, we need the Whisper, so our only choice is Korad.'

"You're the L.T., L. T. It's your call."

She was, and it was, wasn't it? Lyla had never expected to be lieutenant, let alone a leader. Yet here she was, sticking around and doing it. But she would always canvass the team for their ideas and thoughts first. She pointed to Korad. 'Alright. Make it so.'

The hyperspace coordinates for Korad were programmed into the ship's navicomputer and they began the jump. The hyperspace trip was a short one, twelve hours, enough time to rest and sleep.

When the tripped ended the ships slipped back into realspace. Ahead through the viewports was their destination Korad, a tan world with a circling grey ring.

As the ships flew closer to the planet it became obvious that the ring was not comprised of asteroids and dust, rather the ring was made up of hundreds of starship wrecks, ranging from tiny snub fighters to battered container ships hundreds of metres long. All stripped, carbon-scored and falling apart. Unidentified twisted hunks of metal tumbled between the ship wrecks.

During the hyperspace jump, Lyla spent her time taking a well-earned nap and shower, doing what research she could into the world of Korad, and trying to make sure the Gray Griffins were recuperating well while also sharing any more information they had.

Just before the ship slid back into realspace, Lyla returned to the cockpit, almost surprise. 'What, no ambush?' She gazed out the viewport, taking in the wrecks, hundreds of time. 'Well, looks like someone got ambushed... Okay, power down engines, let us drift on a random vector for a bit. Maybe we'll be mistaken for some stray wrecks.' She tried to recall what she knew of Korad that might explain this.


OOC: 16:02, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 14 using 1d20+10.  knowledge: galactic lore.

The Gray Griffin were still weak and had little to share with their fellow Rebels besides their gratitude.

There was not much that Lyla could recall about Korad. The planet was an insignificant stop along the Elroo-Derilyn Trade Route. The planet's only function was as a salvage yard. The perfect place to dump unwanted material or to find rare starship components. Lyla knew that a landing pad was at the north pole and the rest of the planet was a dry, dusty and toxin planet.

'Ah, yeah, the planet's an enormous salvage yard.' Lyla recalled, 'I didn't realise how big though... People dump old ships and junk here, break them up for parts or recycle. When they can be bothered being environmentally friendly, anyway.' the scout concluded bitterly, not getting why people had to trash a yet another perfectly good planet. 'The surface is mostly a toxic desert and dump. We'll find a landing pad near the north pole.'

'But it seems it's also a pirate hang-out, and it's probably where they got their ships. So, let's see if there's any live ships around here.' She got on the sensors and scanned for active ships in the vicinity, particularly those belonging to their pirate pals.


OOC: 10:34, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 26 using 1d20+9. perception.

Rynn powered down most of the ships operations settling into an orbit with the rest of the debris while he moved from the pilot's chair to the navigators and powered up the sensors, and started to sweep the planet and the surrounding debris, looking for anything that could indicate life. "Doing a sweep now Commander."

"Let's hope none of our ships will join the fray.  I suppose those Ithorians we crossed would hate the place too.

They would need a big enough place if the barge or the interdictor ship are hiding here."

He added, doing his own scans to help the search.
18:44, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 24 using 1d20+10.  perception.

Powered down the two starships drifted in orbit around the planet. Ship sensors picked up readings of activity at the north pole.

Closer to home the sensors detected two incoming ships, small craft which the Rebels recognised as Verpine asteroid hoppers.

'Verpine now?' Lyla exclaimed, not expecting them to show up here too. 'Secret pirate bases don't seem to be very secret. Alright, they know we're here, so we might as well hear why. Let's hope they know our friends from Shantipole.' Lyla activated the communications system and tried to contact the two asteroid hoppers. 'Hello, Verpine asteroid hoppers. How about you tell us who you are before you come any closer?'

The two patrol ships received Lyla's hail and opened a comms channel whilst they paused their flight.

A reply came in a high pitched and fast voice "you have unrightfully entered the domain of Highest Exalted Ruler of Korad. State you business?" closer examination of the Verpine hoppers shown them to have been modified. They had onboard astromech droids and laser cannons!

'Huh? On this actual dump? ...This guy must be new, it didn't come up in my research.' Lyla said with a confused and apologetic look to her teammates. Recovering her wits, she hit reply and responded 'Our apologies to Highest Exalted Ruler. We came looking for some ships, of course. Is Korad still open for business?' She kept it vague, for now; they didn't need to know the ships they were looking for were still powered and crewed and flying around attacking other ships. She also kept out her snark, because anyone who called themselves Highest Exalted Ruler had an ego to match.

"Sure the Highest Exalted Ruler is open to bargain. We can escort you to the landing pad" the voice on the comm was squeaky and fast "refusal to comply or leave will be deemed as trespass" the high pitched voice warned.

"Commander, why is it that beings are rarely happy to see us?" Rynn
 playfully whined through the a private line on the com channel from the Wayfarer. "We are only ever out here trying to make the galaxy a better place, but it seems that everyone is always miffed when they meet us."



"We landing or are are going to bolt?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:26, Thu 03 June 2021.

'They are always miffed, Rynn, because the galaxy's not a better place,' Lyla returned to Rynn over comms. 'Not yet, anyway. So we put on our smiles and our blasters and try to make friends best we can. Now, we came all this way, we might as well meet the Highest Exalted Whatever and find out what we can about the pirates while we're here.'

She switched channels and replied to the fighters. 'I'm glad to hear the Highest Exalted Ruler is so gracious. Because we really want to comply and to leave as quickly and eagerly as possible. So, lead the way.'

She closed the channel and continued to the Wayfarer and Gold. 'Get ready to "comply", but at a good safe distance. And scan those ships. Make it look like we're here shopping.'

The asteroid hoppers led the two Rebel ships to the north pole landing pad and ordered them to set down. The two hoppers landed and the pilots stepped out. They were about a metre tall and covered in fur, one had white fur the other blue. Their faces were made of a short muzzle and large tufted ears. Both wore breath masks.

The informed the Rebels that Highest Exalted Ruler Slythor would be due to arrive in several minutes and warned them that they should use breath masks.

The landing pad was amidst piles of debris and scrap metal. Ships, landspeeders, droids and outdated machinery formed artificial hills and mountains, dominating the scenery.

Lyla was able to identify the pilots as Squibs from the planet Skor II. A typical Squib was cheerful and eager to haggle, in fact complicated bargaining was an art forms for the small furry aliens.

Lamar sighed at the reception but didn't comment. He had no particular like or dislike of alien species and treated them as he did everyone, with mild annoyance. After he helped land the shuttle, he sent over the comms, "Did you need me to join you L.T.? Or can I stay here to work on figuring out that data we downloaded? I'd like to go over it again and see if there is anything we missed."

After confirming things with the welcoming committee, and making sure to thank them and the Highest Exalted Ruler too, Lyla closed communications with the escort and reopened the private line to the Gold. 'Squibs. That's not an insult, that's their name. They're usually cheerful, but this Slythor might be, well, less cheerful. And we can expect to haggle, for whatever we're looking for... And we'll need breath masks again. These pirates like their dump worlds.'

She rose and retrieving her rifle and equipment when Lamar made his suggestion. 'It's "commander", by the way. They keep promoting me as a punishment. But if you'd like to, sure, go ahead. It's not like you'll be missing much out there, and I would like the engines to be kept warm in case we're, ah, required to leave the domain of his Highest Exalted in a hurry.'

"My apologies Commander. Very well, I'll be here. I'll leave the comms open so you can let me listen in, just in case something goes wrong." Lamar begins futzing with the comms settings and then pulls out his datapad to begin going over the data.

With that Lamar will begin setting up an open comms channel so he can hear what goes down. This also allows him to join in on any discussions if needed.

Outside the Alabak's Gold a stiff wind whistled eerily through the wrecks and kicked up brownish-red dust.

The whine of a repulsorlift engine came from the south followed by the sight of an AT-AT walker head poking over the hull of a Corellian corvette. The rest of the battered walker's body effortlessly crested the debris; instead of legs four repulsor engines floated the massive bulk of the vehicle through the air. The crude vehicle set down on the landing pad.

A side blast door slid open to reveal a muscular Gamorrean. His thick armour made from the hide of some reptilian creature and his right hand brandished a wicked vibroglaive. With a toothy smile he motioned the Rebels to board.

'I can't decide if that's more – or less – safe than the standard design.' Lyla remarked in bemusement as she watched the AT-AT walker flyer bumble into the scene and bump down onto the pad.

As they were invited it by the Gamorrean guard, Lyla turned to her fellow. 'Looks like this is our ride. Alright, come on. Let's see how the Highest Exalted can help us.' Adjusting her own rifle, for the comfort if nothing else, Lyla strode ahead and into the AT-AT.

"Oh no..." Rynn said to himself, not on the comms, while he put the ship into standby mode, and as added security programed it to only be unlocked by his bracer computer. "We need breathmasks... whatever will we do." he said from inside his skinsuit, his voice only amplified with the help of a voice amplifier. Once the ship was secured and the parking brake on, he made his way outside.

Rynn looked at the wind he couldn't feel through his suit whipping up dust clouds as Lyla spoke."What exactly are we looking for? So that we are all on the same page." he asked before they got too near to the outsiders.

'Don't know.' Lyla said succinctly through her own breath mask as she strode on. 'More intel on these pirates: what they do here, where their other bases are, what they're up to, how we can track them down. We'll know it when we see it, like usual. This Highest Exalted Slythor isn't what we expected here, so we play it by tail and try to get back on the trail again.'

The Gamorrean pointed to seats when the Rebels entered the modified AT-AT. He spoke in barely recognisable Basic, which was impressive for a Gamorrean. He slurred out the following Rules of Audience;

"Address Slythor as Highest Exalted Ruler
Only speak when asked a direct question
Never touch the Highest Exalted Ruler
Do not lie to the Highest Exalted Ruler"

He then pointed to Lyla's rifle and any visible other weapons "store weapons in closet" he commanded as he unlocked a closet and opened it for the Rebels to lock away their weapons.

Unseen, Lyla rolled her eyes at this list of instructions. Goddess, one would think this Slythor was the Emperor for the way his goons carried on and bigged him up. Then again, she'd have as much contempt for Palpatine if ever she got in his presence and a blaster pointed at him. 'Don't worry, I have no interest in touching the Highest Exalted Ruler.' she agreed, and sighed and stored her rifle, regretting bringing it along and begrudging having to part with it. She kept her concealed knife, at least.

She turned back to the Gamorrean. 'May we be listened to by the Highest Exalted Ruler now?'

Their guard was not observant enough to spot Lyla's hidden knife and nodded to her request. The Rebels were led through the entrance chamber to a large adjoining chamber. One entire wall was a transparisteel window, the floor was bodrite tiles and light panels illuminated the room.

Several plush sofas lined the walls. Prominently displayed in the room was Slythor's throne, a captain's chair from a Victory classed Star Destroyer. The chamber was opulently decorated with cheap statuettes, tapestries and gaudy knickknacks.

On the throne was Slythor, his fur was reddish-blue, he had huge blue eyes and large ears. He was well groomed with expensive clothes.

"Who are you?" the Squib began their negotiations.

So, this was the Highest Exalted Ruler Slythor. He didn't look so Exalted, not as king of a rubbish dump surrounded by cheap gimcrackery. But it was his rubbish dump, and his thugs with weapons. But, rather than answer, she leaned across to the Gamorrean, whispering 'Is that a direct question? Or a rhetorical question? Like, who are we, really? I mean, he looks like a philosopher king, you didn't prepare us...' she went on, until forced, one way or another, to answer the direct question. 'Greetings, Highest Exalted Ruler, we are agents of Radell Mining Corporation, on Elrood. I'm Lyla, this is Rynn...' she began introductions. She went with their cover story, which was basically the truth anyway, when they had an RMC ship outside they couldn't exactly hide. She was following the Highest Exalted Ruler's rules, neither lying nor speaking out of turn, and not volunteering anything she wasn't asked for either.

Rynn was lucky to not have to hide the incredulous look on his face. This self appointed king of the area? This was the best he could scrounge up?

Rynn bowed slightly at the waist toward the king when his name was mentioned by his Commander. It felt stupid, but apparently they were playing along for now.

He didn't say anything because he hadn't been spoken too, and so he just waited.

The Highest Exalted Ruler of Korad did not seem a cheerful sort and at sight of Lyla's whispering he shook his head and signaled with one word "Gar" to which the Gamorrean swiped its vibroglaive menacingly to cut Lyla's insubordination off. When Lyla offered a more respectful introduction the Squib calmed down "so Lyla of Radell Mining Corporation what do you want from Korad?" he asked.

'Ships.' Lyla said simply, as it seemed obvious really. She wondered how this Slythor got any business done if this was how he treated all potential customers. 'We came looking for some, and noticed a few in orbit. You don't mind if we check them out, do you?'

"As you see Lyla there are plenty of ships. What does Radell Corps needs with a few junk ships?" the squib demanded.

'Oh, you know: specific parts for someone's favourite luxury model, certain applications in surveying, ore haulers you don't mind getting all dirty...' Lyla listed off, sounding casual before looking more inquisitively at Slythor. 'Sorry, Korad is open for business, isn't it? Those ships outside can't just be there for show. Or are you in some kind of stocktake and restructuring phase after taking over the shop?'

The Highest Exalted Ruler was pleased with the question "yes this is my empire. Anyone that wants something comes to me, anyone that wants to discard an item comes to me. This is all mine" he babbled on about his empire, his wealth and his accomplishments.

"I like that you want to get straight to business, you speak on behalf of Radell corp and have the authority to agree a deal?" he stood up from his throne "let us talk business in the treasure room" he invited everyone to follow him through to another room.

Lyla twitched a tail at all Slythor's boasting. Empire? Either he was a complete egomaniac or he was indulging in some live-action roleplay. But until she knew which she just had to play along.

'Well, within reason, if it's what we came here for and we like what we see. And we've got to give the old landing strut a kick first, you know?' she agreed, non-committally. She had no intention of buying a new ship, even on RMC's account. At some point, somehow, she would have to extricate herself from this ruse and get to the read business. 'You have treasure? I mean, you have a treasure room? Sure, I'd love to see this treasure.' Shrugging to the others, she followed Slythor to his alleged treasure room.

As Lamar listened in to the conversation through the comms, he was busy studying the logs they had downloaded. Though he had gone through them already, he was going over them again, this time looking at them with fresh eyes and the knowledge of the past several days. Knowing about the connection to this planet, there might be something he had missed before. and looking at it again might help find out more.

As the so-called Emperor made his boasts, Lamar was glad he was muted, since he couldn't help laughing loudly.

The treasure chamber was littered with junk, debris and odd items such as spare droid and machine parts, archaic weapons, cultural treasures, weird trinkets and bizarre collectibles.

"So where shall we begin, what do you have to trade?" Slythor asked.

Lamar's check of the records made it clear that the pirates were having regular business with Slythor.

Treasure room? More like a second-hand store, and not a great one at that. Still, there were some things here for the right collector, probably, somewhere in the Galaxy. Trying to look interested, and actually getting kind of curious, Lyla browsed the so-called treasures, looking for something she recognised. 'A corporation like RMC doesn't really do trade. They buy with credits or exchange of services. But we might have some cargo we could interest you in.' she answered the Highest Exalted Ruler casually, before she stopped and pointed at some trinkets. 'Sorry, is any of this for sale? Where do you get it anyway?'


OOC: Are there any Twi'lek treasures, or should I just make something up from Wookieepedia? Do any of the archaic weapons look functional and accessible? Can I easily grab something?

"Credits are too simple and straightforward. Let's make this interesting" the Squib picked a bottle of Utozz from a collection and rubbed his hands on it "what have you got onboard you ship to trade?" around the room the Rebels spotted a agromech droid an R4 model, a black powder pistol with a bantha horn handle, an ammo bandolier converted to hold beverage bottles the same size as the Utozz bottle that Slythor was rubbing, spare parts for a moisture vaporator, a datapad, a tooth from a large carnivorous predator and plenty more.

"A lifetime of deals and trades" he answered Lyla.

OOC Yes this is an ideal moment to pick up something quirky or an item you'd really like. What state of repair or disrepair it is will vary with item.

OOC sorry for my diseapearance, buzy end of year.
If I understand correctly, Klyn is still on the Gold a bit further away, waiting for the situation to goes boum as usual?

OOC Klyn can have followed the others, no one has to stay with the ships.

Lyla looked over the R4 droid with passing interest; it wasn't T3-M8 (where'd it go, anyway?) but they sure could do with an astromech to help out. But it wasn't really something she could claim, with no credits to spare and other, more pressing business to take care of. The black powder pistol was promising, but not guaranteed to be loaded and workable. Instead, her eyes and fingers alighted on a small totem with branches and dangling links, each piece ornately carved. She examined with it care and appreciation, reading a history. 'A kalikori with story-chains. Some Twi'lek family will want this back.' she observed, trying to sound detached and not suspicious. A lifetime of deals and trades? Or the booty of pirate raids that wasn't worth the effort of fencing? She indicated one of the links, one marked with wavy designs. 'This link shows a family member was an honoured water keeper.'

She detached one of the links, revealing a small tube. Lyla blew through it, first producing a soft ululation and a lot of dust. 'This one's a siren whistle. Someone was a musician.' She put it to her lips and played a haunting Twi'lek tune that echoed around the chamber, calling to mind the endless desert winds of Ryloth.

'I'm afraid we don't have much on hand to trade right now.' Lyla conceded, lowering the whistle. 'On our way here, pirates jumped us and stole our cargo. You haven't had any trouble with them around here, have you?'


OOC:
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Kalikori
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Twi%27lek_story-chain
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Siren_whistle

The droid was a beat up R4 model, designed to work on farm machinery and vehicles. It had been modified over time and it chirped and whistled when Lyla appraised it.

"Ah the Scourge. Unfortunate for you" Slythor "they're no trouble here" the Squib grinned "you like" he pointed to the siren whistle "there's always something to trade, make me an offer" he encouraged Lyla.

Rynn leaned against the wall near the door they came through with his thumbs hooked on his belt. He let the commander do all the talking, as this was her operation. He half listened to the conversation, instead taking in all of the junk, and looking for anything he could use as a improvised weapon if need be. While he waited he tried to access the Wayfayer's exterior and interior cameras with this bracer computer just to make sure no one was snooping around their ships.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:14, Fri 18 June 2021.

'Eh, it's really only got sentimental value.' Lyla said dismissively, then named a low starting price that wouldn't be too offensive to either Slythor or her fellow Twi'leks. 'Ten credits? For the whole kalikori.' From her research, she knew the Squib desperately wanted to haggle but their custom dictated she should be the one to make the first move. She'd strung him out long enough, she might as well start the game and keep him distracted while she got what she really wanted.

'So, the Scourge – is that what they're called? Do you know much about them?' She didn't miss the ambiguity in Slythor's reply: either they did not come here or they did and were no trouble to him. And she knew they came here.

There was an abundance of machinery pieces which Rynn could grab hold of and use as a bashing weapon should battle ensure.

"Credits! How unexciting. But it is a start. I accept your now. Perhaps now we make things more interesting. Offer me something else to trade" the squib encouraged Lyla.

"The Scourge yes. A band of pirates led by Chalmer Trillili. Many beings have deals with the Highest Exalted Ruler of Korad".

This was a treasure trove for someone like Klyn.

So while the rest of the team is busy negotiating, he is busy scavenging, the noise of moved furniture and metallic chocs only interrupted from time to time by a few exclamations.

"Oh, this could be useful.  THAT is a true treasure.

By the stars ! I have been looking for this everywhere..."

OOC; using his class feat 'scavenger' ^^

There was plenty of junk for Klyn to examine and search through. It would be possible for Klyn to build almost anything from it.

Klyn's enthusiasm for the treasure did not go unnoticed and Slythor pointed this out to Lyla "your companions can tell treasure from scrap. Perhaps they know what goods you have for trade"

The Squib then addressed Klyn "come away from that. Now tell me what you have to trade" he encouraged Klyn.

The Rebels had their own personal belongings as well as the gear on board their two starships which included ten medpacs, twelve power packs, four blaster rifles, flare pistol, two weeks emergency ration packs, six space suits, tool kit, ten comlinks, ten breath masks, six charges of detonite, three remote fuses, a hydroponics system and cultivated plant life, a Bacta tank and a speeder raft.

OOC Yes Klyn would be able to scavenge a lot of parts here and be able build almost anything.

Offer me something else? Lyla had been expecting to haggle, not this gimme-something-more routine. And it was made doubly hard by her having no real interest in doing business, only in dragging this out until she got some useful information and could leave. She wasn't going to give away something until she knew Slythor knew something worth paying for.

Before she could answer, she heard Klyn making some excited noises and rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, we take a lot of scrap.' she told Slythor, before peeling away and approaching Klyn. She hissed – knowing full well she was still in earshot of the large-eared Squib – 'Mate, you can't look too eager to buy. A master trader like him will take us a for a mark. Play it cool and hard to get, okay?'

She turned back to Slythor. 'He'll find what we need, then we'll make an offer... So, you must've made some pretty good deals with a group like the Scourge?' she asked him, trying to sound like she was trying not to sound too impressed. Slythor's ego was on display for all to see – if she could play on it, maybe something would slip.

Lamar sends a ping to Klyn's communicator, indicating he wants to speak.

Klyn nodded dutifully at Lyla's remark, hoping his little misstep would at least work to keep the man interested.

He then proceeded to move a little away, as if feeling ashamed for the remonstrance and, when he is certain no one would listen, called Lamar

Once he got ahold of Klyn he commed over, "Klyn, I've uncovered some things in the data we recovered. The Pirates used a landing pad on the northern polar region, and they did so frequently. Indications are that someone was dealing heavily with them, but no indication of who. Also while there is no direct evidence that these people knew of them being pirates, I'd bet they did know."

Pausing he waited for a response.

"Acknoledged. I will see how to give that information to Lyla.  Don't know yet how to do so without alerting them yet."

He moved back to the main discussion.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your talk, but I need a few words with my boss, if only to tell her the pieces I really want.  And since she's already a bit angry about me telling too much, I suppose you won't mind if I try to stay quieter about it? Our of earshot?"

Glancing from Klyn to Slythor, Lyla told the latter with a disarming smile 'We'll just be a tick.' and took the former by the shoulder and led him away with her to a far, quiet corner. This had to be something important.

'What is it? Something good? Coz I'm kind of lost how to get info out of this guy.'
This message was last edited by the player at 06:46, Tue 06 July 2021.

The Highest Exalted ruler had the grace to permit Lyla a moment to confer in private with Klyn.

In a quiet tone, Klyn conveyed the information he got from Lamar.
"He found traces of our pirates on the northern region. They apparently are used to land there. It would be doubtful 'the Highest Exalted' is unaware of it.

They probably work together, which means we might be greater danger than we feared.

Here is a lists of a few things we could use, in case questions are asked.
And we could trade some bacta, even if it empties part of our reserve.
Or I could make a few things for them, mabye..."


And a few good items he had spotted, in case questions were asked.

Lyla nodded, unsurprised; it was just what she'd expected. 'He boasted as much; this just confirms the extent. Alright, tell Lamar thanks. And I'll see what I can do with this...' She scanned over the list with a frown, knowing that asking for all this would mean paying for all this, when she wanted to do neither.

Afterward, Lyla marched back to Slythor. She was done schutta-footing around on this. 'Okay, sorry about that, your Highest Exalted, but I think we're ready to start some serious window-shopping now. Here are some of the gadgets and supplies we're looking for...' Lyla read out Klyn's list of gadgets and supplies, stumbling a bit over some of the more technical terms, before building up to '...and a gravity well projector, a restock of crash foam, oh, and a vibro-probe— actually, never mind, that's not for the company.'

The return of Lyla and her offer to bargain immediately had Slythor in a good mood. The Squib positively glowed and started pulling up items as Lyla listed them "yes, yes" he muttered. When the some of items were gathered in front of him he rubbed his paws "now we discuss conditions and terms" his face changed when Lyla mentioned a gravity well projector "no, no" he shook his head "haven't got one I'm afraid. You're too late, traded it in not too long ago"

"What items or services or deals are you offering in trade?"

But Lyla stopped there, seizing onto the important part in all that. So, Slythor supplied the Scourge with their most vital tech. 'Wait, you actually had a gravity well projector?' she asked, feigning amazement. 'It must've been quite a deal to get that, and you must have traded it for something good, right?' she went on, trying to coax the story out of him and play onthe Squib's obvious ego.

"Yes" Slythor bragged "a very big deal indeed. An arrangement has been made which will be very profitable. The Scourge will be in indebted to me for a long time."

Lyla eyed Slythor for a long while as she tried to make sure she had his meaning right. Indebted. He didn't mean "grateful". He was a Squib and he meant business. Maybe now she had him. 'I'm sorry, your Highest Exaltedness, do you mean the Scourge still owe you for the gravity well generator? And you expected these pirates to pay you back?'

"The pirates have paid me well and will continue to do so. I will profit long time" he nodded to Lyla "my empire here will grow and continue to grow" the small but ambitious crime boss boasted.

He was optimistic, she gave him that. Lyla figured it was time to turn that around. 'Is that so? Huh... It's just we have some very valuable information about your business partners you might want to hear.' she laid out the bait and hook, and then tugged it in, 'But if you're so confident, then maybe you don't need it then... So, what's the use-by date on this crash foam?'

"Yes I accept your offer of trade" the crime boss grinned at Lyla "so you take the crash foam, it is good quality, you also take droid" the Squib pushed the beat up agromech droid toward Lyla "what information do you have which is equal in value?"

Remembering something about bewaring Squibs bearing gifts, Lyla shook her hand at it. 'We didn't ask for a droid. But there is something more you might be able to provide us with. We're looking for some ships. It's why we came here, in fact.' Then she showed the hook, what she was really wanted: 'A space barge, container ship, and a couple of Skipray blastboats. Know where we might them?'

"Hmm, you seem well informed about the Scourge" the Squib laid his paw on the droid's head "take the droid, I've tried B11 at every possible job, its useless" he then turned back to Lyla and scruntised the Twi'lek "last time they were here the pirates brought a ship here, the Whisper a ship registered with Radell corp, is that right?" he added slyly.

Klyn is impressed by the way Lyla lead the conversation exactly where she meant without any exchange of threats.

They might get out of here alive, after all...

Lamar began looking for any info in the journals on the Whisper and other Radell corp ships.
Over the comms, to Klyn, he says "Looking up that info now..."

14:19, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 17 using 1d20+1.  gather info.
14:19, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 30 using 1d20+13.  use computer.
For whichever skill roll is needed...

OOC: The Whisper was the hijacked ship we were told about in the briefing.

It seemed very unlikely for a Squib to give something for nothing. Nothing for something was more their style. And Slythor was not making it appealing. So Lyla regarded the droid dubiously. 'No offence to B11 there, but if it's useless, why would we want it? ' Was it cursed or something? 'Is it? We were wondering where the Whisper got to. You don't happen to know where it is now, do you?'

"Yes I know the location of the Whisper" the Highest Exalted Ruler of Korad nodded "so we shall add that to your trade, yes?" the squib nudged the useless droid to get out of the way "what is your offer?"

Lamar found the Whisper on record, it was a Nova-drive #3-Z light freighter, the starship was assigned to the Gray Griffins.

Lamar began looking at what the entries say regarding the Whisper. "That was the Grey Griffons #3-Z light freighter. If he knows about it we could use any info. Also whatever droid they have, get it. Droids don't usually resist their owners. That's an unusual droid. We can download any info it might be carrying, and I can sweep its programming for bugs or traps." He sent over the comms to Klyn.

Klyn knew Lyla was trying to undermine the other side of the bargain, but he really wanted to have that droid.

After some work to remove the various spying tools most certainly included, it might be very useful.

And Lamar, evidently, shared his point of view.

He 'clicked' a few times to confirm he had received the information but stayed silent for the moment, not willing to disturb the exchange and Lyla's position.

'Yeah, sure.' Lyla accepted, inwardly a lot more pleased than she let on. With the Whisper, they'd have a new lead on the pirates and be able to complete the Gray Griffins quest. She glanced over the shoulder at Klyn, trying to gauge his interest in the rest of the components. 'So, the location of the Whisper, that junker droid, the crash foam, laser cannon focusing crystal, glider-sail patch kit, hyperdrive motivator...' She read all Klyn's wish-list, piece by piece, 'And the kalikori with story-chains and siren whistle, for, what did we say, ten credits and the inside knowledge on the Scourge, plus, oh, we'll throw in a couple of battery packs. Deal?' Yeah, she was going to out-haggle a Squib.

"A deal" Slythor replied to Lyla. The Exalted Highest Ruler of Korad allowed the Rebels to load their gains and returned their weapons "a hopper will lead you to the Whisper's location. The ship is mine. You may not take any items from it" he warned "now tell me your secret knowledge" he urged Lyla to spill the beans.

Wait, what? That worked?! Lyla couldn't believe the Squib had accepted so quickly; she knew she was offering too low and she'd been prepared to haggle, confuse, and outright deceive to try get just the information and for the lowest price possible. It was too easy, something was off, she was sure; she had a bad feeling about this. But, Slythor was happy with that and they got what they needed, then, well, she wasn't going to argue, she was going to take it and run. So, she had the team collect and load all their purchases, certain that at least some of it was junk. And it felt good to have a rifle again, now that negotiations might turn aggressive again.

His insistence on keeping the Whisper and its contents was unacceptable, but if she protested now, she risked losing it completely. She'd just have to run with it and disappoint him later. 'Fair enough, we just need to examine it, you know.' she agreed, but then was reluctant. 'Uh uh, secrets have a rapid depreciation rate once they're shared. I'm sure you don't want to lose value so soon.' She glanced toward the Gamorrean bodyguard as she said it, as if to suggest the risk of a leak. 'We'll contact you when we're at the Whisper, okay?'

"Yes you may examine the Whisper" Slythor agreed "here are the co-ordinates of its location" the Squib accepted Lyla's bargain, he lounged on his throne as he watched the Rebels return to their ship.

Trying not to appear too surprised, Lyla accepted the coordinates and transmitted them to Lamar to check. Once he seemed satisfied, she made a Twi'leki bow to Slythor. 'Well, thank you very much, your Highest Exaltedness. It was great doing business with you. We'll put in a good word with RMC; maybe they'll pick you as a preferred business. Now, we've got to get to work. Farewell!'

Turning away, she beckoned to B11. 'Come on, little mate, you're with us now. We'll be like family.' Who knows, maybe with a little work and repair, it would be nice to have new droid around.

With the rest of the party, Lyla led them out of AT-AT body and back to the Alabak's Gold. 'You go on ahead and get familiar with the ship, Bee.' she told the agromech, while she fell back to confer quietly with Klyn. 'Give that droid a complete check-up. Slythor was too eager to get rid of it and accepted too little, too fast. But one benefit is that droid would've heard everything in that treasure room, and Slythor would've brought all his guests there – including Chalmer and the Scourge.'

Receiving the instructions to investigate the coordinates, Lamar begins checking both the nav computer and the library computer on any data they have on the area.

09:12, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 33 using 1d20+13.  use computer. (NAT 20 baby!)

Lamar checked out the coordinates. The Whisper was orbiting the planet in the circling ring of space junk.

The beat up droid R4-B11 chirped as it followed Lyla's orders and boarded the Alabak's Gold.

Two asteroid hopper circled overhead and communicated that they would escort the Rebels to the wreck of the Whisper.

Klyn nodded, still wondering how it could have gone so smoothly.
"It looks more and more like a trap..."

Before allowing the new droid to do or see anything, he turned it off and began inspecting it thoroughly.

The droid had been extensively modified. It had three wheeled legs, a video sensor, one fine manipulator arm, heavy duty arc welder, video display screen, portable nav storage unit, and an acoustic signaller.

Delivering the coordinates to Lyla he walked over afterward to the droid. Crouching down he began hooking up a datapad to the astromechs core processor. The trap might be in the programming, and he wanted to check the code.

"Let's see what's going on in that brain of yours." He mumbled as he hooked up the computer.

12:12, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 29 using 1d20+13.  use computer.

'Yep. As the old saying goes, I've got a bad feeling about this.' Lyla replied as they boarded the Alabak's Gold.

While Lamar confirmed the coordinates and Klyn examined the agromech, Lyla stowing the cargo securely. As she did, she gave each piece as cursory check for a hidden bomb, bug, or other bit of sabotage, though she reasoned Slythor wouldn't have had much to set up any too well concealed. She put the kalikori in her room to research later, if she ever found the time to be bored. Maybe one day she'd find the Twi'lek it belonged to, and reunite one clan where she could not bring back her own.

She was back and putting away a canister of crash foam when Lamar handed her a datapad. She looked at it, and asked 'What does this mean? Oh, the Whisper's in orbit? At least we don't have to go far.'

She glanced across to where Lamar and Klyn examined B11. 'See if it's got any recordings of conversations. But be gentle, it looks like it comes from a broken home.'


OOC: Perception 13, rerolled to 19

The droid's coding was obtuse and difficult to decipher. Lamar was surprised to find R4-B11 was a rare specimen and truly independent which made any analysis mostly futile.

Lyla found no trace of any bugs on any of the cargo and they found no recordings on B11.

Realizing that B11 was independent, Lamar sent a message to it. I realize you are worried about what I'm attempting, but we need to know we can trust you. If you will not resist me I can verify your trustworthiness, and then you can have a home with us. What do you say?

I will also promise that I won't alter any of your programming.

The droid remained belligerent, it whirred and bleeped angrily before it calmed down enough for Lamar to examine it further. Lamar found the droid was cranky and had been reprogrammed many times. Its original programming had been for repairs on machinery, from starships to farm machines. B11's quick temper often resulted in it taking things apart but never putting them back together. This had resulted its later programming for various roles such as valet, pilot, guard and entertainment unit. Over the course of this programming modifications had also been made to B11 and within its portable nav storage unit where the coordinates for Dega and Korad. There was also a hidden compartment with a hold out blaster.

"That was nicely handled in there commander."  The ubese said when they were back aboard. "I would have cruked it up something awful if I had been the one to verbally tussle with a self appointed king... but that's why they pay you the big bucks I guess."

Keeping his word he didn't try reprogramming B-11. And looking at what was on the files he copied them. "Thank you B-11. You're going to find we're all a bit unusual in this crew. If you give us a chance, you might find a home. I'm going to copy some data, but only copy, not delete, or change in any way. If you want we can give you some maintenance? Klyn here is a pretty fair mechanic, and you look like you could use some maintenance."

'Pay? Big bucks? Ha!' Lyla guffawed, shyly deflecting the praise. 'Nah, just too much experience talking my way out of trouble. To be honest, I'm still not sure I haven't just crukked it up. Slythor's playing something, I'm sure of it.' she noted, crossing her arms and watching B11 open up to Lamar.

'What have you got there?' she asked, coming over to join them. 'How's it doing?'

The droid chriped and whistled absentmindedly but had no great need for repairs to its primary circuits.

Their squib escorts commed the ships "are you ready for lift off?"

'Just stowing our goods now, thanks.' Lyla replied, but only after a wince of realisation. The escorts were going to follow them, of course. That would make making off with the Whisper tricky. She just hoped she'd have bad enough news to give Slythor something more to worry about.

"L.T. The little guy has been abused for so long he doesn't trust people. But I was able to convince him that we wouldn't try and reprogram him nor erase his memory. I also verified he's not bugged or set to betray us. And has records of traveling to both Dega and Korad."

Packing up his computer he patted the little astromech on the head. "Don't worry buddy we'll show you what it's like to be part of a real crew."

Turning to Lyla he said, "Looks like our escorts will be with us for a while, but once we know where it is we can come back to get the ship. Unless there is an opportunity to ditch the escorts."

Lyla frowned, rubbing her chin; the news was good, but concerning. 'Dega and Korad? Both the pirate hideouts. Hmm... Alright, take us to the Whisper, nice and casual. The ship's already a write-off, getting it back is a bonus. As long as we can get the data off and scrub it of evidence, we're good for the mission.'

She squatted down in front of the agromech, and with a rag tried to wipe some of the grime off its casing. 'Hi, B11. Welcome to the crew. I'm Lyla, that's Lamar, Klyn, and Rynn. You're part of the team now, okay? You will have to help out, but we'll never kick you around or use you as a trash-can or anything like that, okay? First thing you can help us out with is this: do you know anything about the pirates called the Scourge, or Chalmer Trilili? What did you do on Dega and Korad anyway?'

The droid knew nothing of the Scourge or Chalmer Trilili, it complained that its duties had always been tiresome and boring.

The flight up to orbit was quick. The Whisper when they saw it was unfortunately in no state to fly. There was a gaping hole in the hull and four mynocks were attached to the hull soaking up the stellar rays.

"I suggest shooting the mynocks with small arms so that we don't collect them onto our hull." Lamar suggested. "I can hit them from a couple of hundred meters with my rifle, and small arms won't damage the ship." He added patting his case.

"Either way, we'll need to board it. I'll have to be one of the borders to access the computers and get any info they might have." He concluded.

The hole in the hull was disappointing – not to mention disturbing, and Lyla had to wonder how the Gray Griffins survived – but Lyla adjusted her plans and tried to look on the bright side. 'At least we don't have to worry about recovering the Whisper now.' she remarked. She agreed with Lamar's suggestion, replying 'Good idea; I'll join you with my rifle. Slythor can't complain about some free pest control either. And it'll be good cover for anything else we need to do.'

'B11, you can join us. It should be fun.' she said to the agromech; it might not be an astromech, but should have enough repair skills to help them. And besides, she wasn't about to leave the droid to its own devices. 'Let's suit up.'

"Good call LT." Lamar headed to the airlock where the EVA suits were kept. He took along his rifle in its carrying case. The bulk of the suit's gloves would have interfered with the assembly, so he first assembled the rifle.  Once that was finished he suited up.

"LT, remember that blasters do have some recoil, and in zero-g, that will move your entire body if you're not braced." He said conversationally. "Plant your feet behind your line of fire, and lean slightly into the shot. It won't be much recoil, but if you don't brace you could go flying off into space."

Similarly, Lyla prepped her DC-17m ICWS blaster rifle for vacuum operation and single-shot fire with the long-range scope. She missed the ease and practicality, and just plain old familiarity of her DC-15a, but she couldn't deny its power and flexibility. She listened to Lamar give her his tips. In truth, she knew that, she'd attended Alliance training too and was an expert marksman. But she also didn't have much experience in EVA combat and a reminder never hurt. 'Gotcha. What's our range to the Whisper?' she asked as she started adjusting the scope. After that, she started hauling on her flight-suit before heading to the airlock.

Lamar thought about the range. "I don't think we want to get too close or the mynocks will fly to our hull and then we have to hunt them down. Maybe 50 meters or more would be safe. Any closer and they might detect the ship's emissions. Of course that's a guess, since I'm not a biologist."

Correctly Lamar kept a safe distance away. The mynocks were known to be attracted to power sources and could in large numbers put a strain on a ship's power generation.

Their ships orbited Korad within the ring of debris then those preparing to board the Whisper donned their spacesuits.

'How far can mynocks sense? I can't recall off the top of my tails, but I'm good for up to two hundred and twenty-odd metres.' Lyla replied, indicating her rifle and scope. Her tone was light and casual, but her distance made her one of the top-rated marksmen in the Rebel Alliance. 'But, given the relative motions of the ships, zero-G throwing off orientation, and space lighting, I'd rather get closer, so yeah, maybe fifty to ninety metres.' She contacted Klyn to take the ship to within that range.

With flight suit checked and secured, Lyla cycled the airlock and stepped out with Lamar, making sure to tether her suit to the hull and magnetised her boots. With that, she clomped out onto the hull, and drew her rifle, careful to keep it strapped around her body. Looking around the area and finding the Whisper, she peered down the scope and looked for the mynocks. With no atmospheric diffusion of light, illumination was bright and the shadows deep, and mynocks fairly well camouflaged against a hull, so she looked for organic textures. 'There you are.' she murmured, laid cross-hairs and laser-sight on the back of a mynock, and fired.


OOC: Perception 29, rolled a 20

Aim to ignore Cover, Point Blank Shot +1/+1
Attack 28 (corrected to include Klyn's mod), damage 16

On the hull and through her rifle scope Lyla counted four mynocks. She also saw that the gaping hole in the Whisper was at least three metres wide. On target she shot one of the mynocks, the creature flapped it's wings in agitation and detached from the Whisper fleeing into the ring of debris that orbited the planet. The incident resulted in the other three mynocks Lyla had spotted likewise fleeing to avoid the aggressive attack by her.

As the mynocks took off and scattered, Lyla quickly tracked them and caught one in her cross-hairs again. She fired, another blaster beam lancing into space, but they moved too much in the sharp light for her to be confident of her hit. Getting rid of the mynocks had been easier than she'd expected, but she'd rather make sure they didn't get brave and come back before they were done with the Whisper.


OOC: Shoot another mynock, PBS +1/+1: attack 18, damage 7

Lamar had taken a few moments to aim when Lyla's first shot spooked the mynocks. Cursing quietly he traversed his aim to hit one of the moving mynocks but missed as the creature turned as he fired.

10:14, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 9 using 1d20+7.  ranged. (point blank not sure if this applies, careful shot, and precise shot if it applies.)

The Mynocks fled under the assault from Lamar and Lyla. The creatures were cowardly, not interesting in fighting for any power remaining in the Whisper,  there was plenty of other junk they could latch on to.

She scanned the area, but couldn't see any more mynocks. 'Looks like that'll do.' Lyla decided, lowering her rifle and tromping back to the airlock. Once she and Lamar were inside, she contacted the cockpit, saying 'Alright, take us closer to the Whisper... If you've got all you need, Lamar, we might as well stay suited, but I'd rather take shelter inside the airlock in case of debris.'

Lamar didn't like missing a shot and was a little miffed at the miss, so just nodded and stepped back into the airlock. Once there he commed back to the cockpit, "We're ready to go over when you are." His voice was cool and tight betraying his anger.

Hearing Lamar's tone of voice over the comms, Lyla set her suit comlink to a private channel and turned toward him. A delicate spacewalk was definitely not the time for a bad mood. 'You alright, mate?' she asked casually, her own voice light and easy, not wanting to imply there was a problem.

"Yes." He said in a clipped fashion. "I just hate missing a shot. If I miss here where it doesn't matter what happens when it really counts?"

Not wanting to make a response that might put more pressure on the man than he seemed to put on himself, Lyla simply shrugged her suit and said 'Then you miss. You can't get all the shots, and sometimes you can't get any. That's life. Just make sure you're there to get the next one, because that's the one that counts.'

Lamar nods curtly as he's still mad at himself for missing, but Lyla is correct.

The Mynocks showed no sign of returning and the derelict Whisper continued on its orbit around the junk planet.

Observing the mynocks continued retreat, Lamar nods curtly. "Well, I think we can go over safely now. I'll keep an eye out, but mynocks are both lazy and skittish. Not likely to return while there is movement."

With that he began breaking down his rifle for storage. Deciding that if he needed to kill more of the mynocks his blaster pistol would do the job well enough.

OOC: I presume it's okay for us to move across? I wondered if I should roll something,
17:51, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 5 using 1d20+4.  jump.
And now think maybe I shouldn't have.

'Alright.' Lyla slung her rifle around her back and double-checked that she was still tethered to the Gold via liquid cable. She really couldn't afford any error here. Judging her range and angle, she then leaped off the hull and drifted across the void, until she neared the other ship. Too fast. She made a rather undignified slam into the Whisper's hull and bounced and skidded across it, until she finally managed to grab hold of a handy strut and arrest her momentum. Once she secured herself, she commed back 'I'm okay!'
This message was last edited by the player at 09:55, Thu 12 Aug 2021.

Lamar couldn't help but smile at her failure. It reminded him that everyone messed up. Trying to keep his smile from being seen Lamar jumped across as well. Though he did better, Zero-G work was not his strong suit and he also didn't land gracefully. Zero-G work was a learned skill, and experts spent hundreds of hours practicing it just to be competent. Lamar landed like a set of Adelvian Tubers but didn't go spinning off into the void.

08:56, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 8 using 1d20+3.  jump.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 22:36, Thu 12 Aug 2021.

The gaping hole in the hull of the Whisper was not wide or big enough to make it an easy target for Lyla leap through space. She crashed into the spacecraft. She clung to the side whilst Lamar made his own clumsy attempt. The two Rebels found the spaceship dark and battered. The odd flickering of lights or sparks indicated some weak power remained but most systems appeared to be offline.

Klyn had noticed the less than perfect jump and used to comms to make sure they had landed safely, without hurting themselves.

"Klyn to the explorers, everything fine in there?"

Meanwhile, he keeps a close watch of the surrounding, in case there was a change of plan coming their way.

"We won't be winning any awards for gracefulness, but we made it. Looks like we're going to need a backup power supply. There is some but it's mostly dead. Can you prepare one in case we need it?" Lamar commed back, as he turned on his suit's lamp to help navigate the ship's interior.

Once inside the Whisper the light freighter was vaguely similar to other ships. There was a cockpit, engine room, weapons, crew quarters and cargo hold.

With both bum and pride bruised, not that she had an over-abundance of either, Lyla recovered her orientation and clambered across the hull to the nearest working airlock. Sure, the hole was right there, but she wouldn't risk tearing her suit on the jagged metal.

Once inside, Lyla shone a glowrod around, wary of more mynocks inside that might not have noticed the shows at their fellows outside. But it seemed to be safe and clear. She looked back to Lamar to confirm he'd made it in safely, and joined in the communication 'Maybe send B11 across with the gear – we'll see if it remembers any astromeching. Anyway, while you do that, I'll explore the ship and see if the Gray Griffins or the Scourge left any evidence we might want to clean up.'

"Roger that. I will prep him for the transfer"

He left the cockpit in search of the droid.

"So, little guy, first mission on the team.

They need your skill inside the wreckage"

While explaining what's expected of him, he rummaged into the spare parts to find a suitable power source.

Once all is ready, he will guide B11 toward the airlock and make sure he launches himself correctly.

The droid was prepared and sent over to join the crew on the Whisper. When Lyla, Lamar and B11 were ready they would need to decide where to begin their search of the Whisper.

Standing safely in the Whisper's airlock, Lyla caught B11 in her outstretched arms, wrapping them tight around his barrel-like body, before she was hurled backward into the ship. In zero-gravity, the droid might be weightless, but it still had a lot of momentum. 'Oof. There's a probably a better way of doing that, but we did it. You alright? We take a few bumps and scrapes in this job.' she asked, setting the droid down and checking for fresh damage, but it seemed fine. Once again, her butt had cushioned the impact.

'Okay, you two get to work, while I search the ship. I'll start with crew quarters, then cargo hold. They're the most likely to still have stuff inside. That's if his Highest Exaltedness hasn't ransacked the place yet.'

Lyla trooped off to begin her search, regretting that space the flight suit helmet really cut down her ability to see and hear, not to mention cramped her tails.


OOC: Perception 19

The three entered the wreckage. The starship although in one piece was in no condition to fly. The hyperdrive was destroyed and the life support was beyond repair. The weapon systems were offline.

The crew quarters were empty . The cargo hold was messy but Lyla spotted a cracked open Fyrnock egg. Lyla knew Fyrnocks as silicon-based lifeforms that often travelled on Mynocks like parasites, able to detach themselves from their hosts to lay eggs.

OOC: What do fyrnocks do? Are they dangerous to us?
21:25, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 21 using 1d20+10. knowledge: life sciences.

From what Lyla knew the Fyrnock would live as parasites on the Mynock. Detaching to lay their eggs when they grew too large to remain on the Mynock. The young, recently hatched Fyrnock would be no larger than fist size but the mother might be much larger and might be protective of its nesting area.

Rolling the shell over with the toe of her boot, Lyla grimaced to see it was empty and still fresh. She activated her comlink to warn the others. 'We're not in the clear yet, boys. The mynocks brought over a fyrnock, kind of a parasite's parasite. There'll be a hatchling, about fist-sized, and a mother, could be much bigger. Both purple, spiky, and aggressive as frack. Keep an eye out. Anyway, I'm in the cargo hold. I haven't found anything yet, I'll go to the engine room next.'

Thereafter, searching much much more carefully, Lyla continued her exploration of the cargo hold, while trying not to aggravate a mother fyrnock, until she was satisfied nothing of interest remained. Afterward, she moved to the engine room.


OOC: Searching
10:41, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 24 using 1d20+9.  perception.

Lamar had B11 come with him as he made his way to the power supply for the ship. "We need enough power Bill to get the computer up and running. Can you do that for me? It will help us get the information we need."

Lamar had decided the best way for the little droid to feel a part of the crew would be to give him a name. B 11  Bill just made sense. It implied that the droid was a person and could be relied upon. It "humanized" the droid, making it more relatable.

At Lyla's warning about the frynocks, Lamar slowed and checked for any sign of danger. "Keep alert Bill, we don't want to be surprised if these frynocks get aggressive. Wouldn't want you getting damaged. Or myself for that manned."

07:03, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 22 using 1d20+7.  perception.

"I will move the Gold a little farther. I don't want any of those nasty things to 'jump' on it.  Call me if you need me to get in transfer range again."


Once it is done (not far, less than 50 meters) he will run a sensor check on the hull, just to be on the safe side.

The engine room was empty so Lamar and droid Bill went to work doing what they could to return some power to the broken starship. Energised the ship's computer in the cockpit powered up.

Lyla in the cargo hold went carefully. She soon spotted more open egg sacs, counting a total of seven of them in the hold. To Lyla's knowledge a single Fyrnock would deposit up to a dozen eggs at a time.

Eyes searching and accustomed to dark places Lyla spotted the mother Fyrnock and her young before she disturbed it. The silicon based parasite was as spiked and wicked looking as she thought it would look like. Not aggravating it meant that she couldn't search the cargo hold fully.

As Lamar worked with B-11 to get the ship up and running, he made sure to treat the little droid as a person. This was different than he treated most people, and anyone seeing it would notice. It was almost as if he was more relaxed around the droid.

After getting the power back up he and "Bill" moved into the cockpit to get the computers up and running. Navacomputer, and logs being the first things he looked for. Then he would try and get anything else he could to find out where the ship had been and what it had been through.

"Bill, we're going to have to download any logs and navigation data we can find. Your memory banks up to the task?" He asked the little droid. his datapad already displaying the translation matrix for understanding the droid. No one could actually understand the beeps and whistles of an astromech droid without a translator. The nuances were just too complex and quick for any humanoid. Protocol droids and translator software in a computer were the only way to do so.

FYI that last statement is true. Even a Jedi can't understand untranslated binary speak by a droid. though certain things can be interpreted, Affirmative, negative, sorrow, displeasure etc...

Thanking the Goddess for her good fortune, Lyla backed away from the mother fyrnock and its hatchlings, being careful not to make any universally recognised aggressive gestures like staring, sudden movements, or looking big. But she also didn't turn her back to them, in case she found one pouncing on her tails.

After retreating from the cargo hold, Lyla remembered to breath and reply on their comms. 'Correction: seven hatchlings, and mama. I found the nest in the cargo hold. Any one of them could tear our suits open, so I'm not taking any chances. I'm passing on a full search. But stay alert. With power back on, they might get curious... Moving to the engine room now.'

As promised, she made her way to the engine room, arriving there just after Lamar and B11 had left. She made a quick search for any personal effects or notes left behind, anything that identify this as a Rebel ship, but given the all of nothing found so far she supposed the pirates had already cleaned it out. In any case, once she was done in the engine room, she moved onto the weapons room.


OOC:
15:51, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 21 using 1d20+9. perception.

It was indeed as if she were blessed that Lyla escaped any confrontation with the Fyrnock mother and her brood when their claws could prove extremely dangerous in space.

In the engine room was clear of any clue or anything of worth. Lyla found that the ship had two gun turrets. A dual laser cannon and a single laser cannon. Both were currently off line but with some power now restored an attempt could be made to switch one of them online.

In the cockpit Lamar and Bill restarted the navicomputer. It was slow to get going and some systems refused to start up, the ship was wrecked. Some adjustments of the power supply and the navicomputer became more stable but they had limited time. Working fast Lamar's expertise was enough to glean the astrogation coordinates for Alluuvia before it went back into shutdown.

Lyla briefly checked the laser cannons, but didn't expect to have to defend this wreck, so she left them alone and continued on to the cockpit. She continued her search there, working around Lamar and B11 where she could. 'How's it going?' she asked after a while, sounding concerned as it sounded like something was failing fast.


OOC: Perception 16, rerolled to 14

His voice sounded a little annoyed at her interruption as he responded. "Busy, Got a very limited time to pull the data!"

Working fast his fingers flying in well-practiced keystrokes, he quickly manipulated the data into a download. His face scrunched in concentration, he was totally absorbed in the work.

In the cockpit Lamar coaxed the navicomputer into life and before it shutdown he managed to retrieve the coordinates for Alluuvia. To travel to the coordinates would mean travelling through the Drift.

Sighing at the limited data he could retrieve he says. "If we have the time I could pull the memory core for later analysis, though it would require more sophisticated equipment than I have here. Probably back at the base. Do you want me to do so?" He does hold up the datapad and adds, "And I have good news and bad. The good news is that we have the coordinates to Alluuvia. The bad is our course goes through the Drift."

'Then we take the bad with the good.' Lyla accepted with equanimity, having long go learned they would never have everything, nor even most things, go all their way. 'And pull the memory core. We have time, and even if you can't analyse it, I'd rather not leave it here for someone else to find and extract the data.'

The memory core was shutdown and removal was a mechanical action. Lamar was capable of the action but it would take some time.

"Hey, Bill!" Lamar called to B-11. "Wanna help me pull this tub's memory core?" He enjoyed working with the little droid and was sure the guy could help immensely.

Heading back to the core to begin work, he knew this would be a long bothersome task, but ultimately not difficult in the technical sense. It would be a lot of getting into tight places, disconnecting things in a specific order, and making sure the core was powered down. He arrived at the core and took the panel off getting down to work.

While Lamar worked with B11, or Bill as it now seemed to be named, Lyla remained close and watched out for the fyrnocks. While they were nesting down in the cargo hold and safely away from the cockpit, she was aware that now power was back on, they might get curious and come looking for food. 'You don't need to go down to the cargo hold, do you?' she clarified with Lamar.


OOC: Keeping lookout, Perception 15 reroll to 25

At the engine room Lamar completed his task and retrieved the powered down memory core. An eye on the cargo hold Lyla got to see the infant Fyrnocks but none left the hold.

"Got it! We're good to go!" Lamar exclaimed over the comms. He then stood and deposited the core into a carrying case he had with him. "Bill! You are a treasure and I enjoy working with you. Let's get out of here!" He then packed everything up and prepared to leave.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:53, Thu 23 Sept 2021.

'That it?' Lyla queried as she came back to the cockpit after checking up on the fyrnocks. This had all gone surprisingly well, which naturally had her rather worried. She was starting to expected the unexpected. 'Alright, let's head back to the Gold... Klyn, how's it looking out there? The Highest Exalted Ruler's people aren't getting sus are they?' she commed back to the Alabak's Gold as she began the slow walk back to the airlock before the slow space-walk back.

The space jump back to the Gold goes without a hitch.

The Rebels boarded their ships and were ready to depart when their sensors detected six nearby energy readings as modified asteroid hoppers that had been lurking in the ring of space junk powered up their engines and weapon systems.

OOC Actions?

Wondering what the hoppers were about, Lyla peered at the sensors until she remembered: 'Oh, right, Slythor wants to be paid. Okay, fire up those engines and plot a course the cruk out of here. The Exalted Highest Ruler might not like what I've got to give him.'

She got on the communications system and transmitted to the hoppers and Slythor. 'Okay, Exalted Highest Ruler, you can stand down those hoppers. We've learned what we wanted to know. Are you ready to learn what you wanted to know?'

Powering the weapon system seemed a bit too much for Klyn, so he raised the shields, just in case...
And began to work on an escape trajectory.

"Where do you want us to jump? Our new friend can't help us if he doesn't know where to go."

Through the comm Lyla received a curt reply"Deal's change. Highest Exalted Ruler Skythor demands you give him your ship" the pilot ordered as the hoppers moved into attack positions.

While that wasn't welcome news, it didn't alter Lyla's plans or position a jot. They still had to get the cruk out of here without really paying anything to his Highest Exalted Ruler. She made a frantic "get the cruk out of here" motion to Klyn while she answered 'Aha. You know, I gotta say, Slythor – you are a terrible businessman.' she remarked dryly, glad to get that off her tails. And to skip the damn title. Then she got to the rest of it. 'Alright, well, do you still want to hear our valuable information? You ready? Okay. We destroyed the Scourge hideout and a bunch of their ships. They're out of business and won't be paying you back for that gravity well generator. In fact, Chalmer might come looking here, and he won't be happy to hear how generous you were to us. And, if not him, it'll be Radell, or the Imperials, or the pirate fleet that Chalmer just insulted. So, unless you pack up and run now, your business is going down the black hole. Just a little friendly advice.' Then she added, as if an afterthought, 'And you will be paying out your hopper crews, won't you? Maybe danger money for pirate fighting?'


OOC: The goal is to make Slythor and/or the hopper pilots lose their nerve and give up on us while they have more serious things to worry about.
11:05, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 23 using 1d20+9. deception.

Lamar belted himself into the copilot seat and prepped the ship for a fast exit. "It will take a few for us to get to light speed. We're gonna have to fight at least for a little while."

The six hoppers were armed and ready to pursue the Rebels. However Lyla's announcement was enough to delay them and for the ships to fly into the ring of debris orbiting Korad. Navigating the debris was tricky but prevented any further pursuit before they could make the jump to hyperspace...

OOC Where you jumping to?

"L.T. We need a destination!" Lamar said urgently.

'Ha! That gave 'em something to think about.' Lyla cheered as she saw the hoppers seem to hesitate and let them get away unscathed. To Lamar, she answered swiftly 'The Alluuvia coordinates, where else? And right through the Drift, if we must. That's where this ends.'

"As you wish, boss!" acknowledged Klyn, still trying not to be hit by the many debris.

"Little one, that's your job!" he added for the droid.

"Hang on everyone. This could be a bumpy ride."

As the copilot, Lamar will assist with both navigation and piloting. Providing any bonuses that entail to Klyn and Bill.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:42, Mon 01 Nov 2021.

Continued in... Alluuvia