So much for subtlety

"Girl!!! Run!!!" His hold out pistol flew into his hand with a smooth action of a gunslinger. He missed the weight of his heavy blaster, but this would have to do. The others were charging into the horde of storm troopers, but Orion chose to stand his ground occasionally shifting places to make him a harder target. He had learned there was a science to a firefight. To most it was a chaotic few seconds, but Orion understood that it was a gentle dance of cause and effect.

He watch his compatriots lay waste to the storm troopers, but his part in this play was to act as guardian angel to them. Any that seemed to be a unseen threat to them he would send a double shot into the antagonist allowing his team mates to continue.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:20, Tue 19 Jan 2016.

Shira did not like Imperial customs inspections. Even when the meant no harm, they were rarely gentle, and Shira could be hurt by too much jostling. Normally a convincing talker, Shira was only decoration to the Imperials so she hadn't spoken up. She was wearing a silver jumpsuit that matched her hair.

Her eyes went wide with fright once the fight started. There was little cover on the platform and Shira had neither her armor nor her grav-harness. Still, her friends were in trouble, and she wanted to help out. She dashed over towards Zekk.
Shira drew a small holdout blaster from her sleeve and pointed it at the lieutenant. As the only unarmored Imperial, he was the only one likely to be harmed by it. "Don't move!" she said to him in what was supposed to be an intimidating voice, but came out as a frightened squeak.

Zane stood there, head tilted, looking wholly uninterested in the situation at hand.  It felt like he'd been through this exact same situation countless times before.  He was just glad that the Storm Troopers had no reason to frisk him before hand.  Sure, the ship may have been legit at the moment, but he was carrying a few restricted items that he was pretty sure he didn't have the paperwork for.  The first, a hidden vibrodagger, probably would be overlooked.  The second though, a holdout pistol hidden along the length of his arm and connected to his hand by a track.  This one might create a bit of a problem if it was found.

Showing his disinterested to anyone paying attention, Zane yawned and scratched at the stubble on his cheek.  His eyes focusing past the trooper that was standing in front of him so he could see what was happening on the next pad.  Well they look like they're having a worse time of it than us.  Then the situation on the neighboring slip appeared that it was going to get out of hand.  Zane's straightened his posture as he got ready for a fight.  Hearing Orion yell acted as his signal to jump into action.

Straightening his right arm all the way, Zane activated the slider attachment for his gun.  In a moment the gun made a satisfying *thunk* against the end of the slider.  In no time at all his hands were wrapped around the grip of the pistol and the barrel was already aimed at the chest of the Stormtrooper directly ahead of him.  It won't hurt the guy, but hopefully it'll confuse him for long enough.  He thought as the gun made a a loud sound similar to a very small explosive going off.  A metal case ejected from the chamber as the bullet flew towards and slammed into the unsuspecting Stormtrooper's armor.  It didn't cause the soldier any harm, but he did lose balance long enough for Zane to slam into him with his shoulder.  This sent the already unbalanced trooper reeling back until the was no more floor under his feet.

Inspections were usually no place for droids.  Unless specifically requested, TwoOneBee maintained his distance from Imperial inspectors; he had no desire to be acquired by the Empire a second time.  It was therefore rather ironic that he should find himself summoned out of the STAR and onto the platform for inspection, a gleaming white Storm Trooper mask less than half a meter from him.  Judging from the Trooper's body language, he did not consider the droid a threat.  If he just kept silent, it was unlikely they'd waste any more time on him.

Suddenly things became complicated!  Almost before he could process it, the situation changed and a young girl needed their help.  TwoOneBee's memory core immediately resurrected images of his former Mistress...a young Ithorian named Lassna.  Memories were all that remained of her now, thanks to the Empire.  He had been helpless to aid his Mistress, to help her family, when the Imperials came.  The old physician wasn't helpless anymore.

"I am afraid this may hurt a little, I do apologize, but it is necessary I'm afraid,"  TwoOneBee stated simply as his optic sensors flared to life.  From the panel in his chest two metallic probes blasted outwards and stuck to the Trooper's armour.  The medical droid immediately sent several thousand volts through the micro filament wires attached to the probes and watched as the Trooper jerked awkwardly, before crumpling to the platform floor.

Ooo, I am so stoked reading your replies.  You are damn near writing this game by yourselves!  :-)
Which doesn't excuse me not getting to a reply.  Sorry it has taken so long.

It seems to be local tradition to put OOC comments in orange text.  And I think I like that more than my OOC endnote lists.

It was all going so well.  It would have ended up with a few minutes of fake groveling, then blue milk (for the Jedi, something harder for the rest, maybe) and then maybe Ali's latest Wookie opera slices aboard 'Star.  And then a noisy, for those that could hear, little girl and her magic box had to show up.

I love the idea of a growling, honking THX-boosted wookie chorus against a fine orchestal score.  Assume this is one of Ali's hobbies that she inflicts upon anyone to the limits of their patience, which can be only several seconds.

Zekk moved instinctively and the holocron stopped and spun in the air, otherwise motionless.  For a moment, almost all onlookers gasped at this not-quite miracle.  It was possible, at first blush, to believe that tiny internal grav generators were keeping the tiny cube from falling.  Enough observation and even the Force-blind mundanes would realize that the little box was being held up by something more powerful and transcendent than mere technology.

In the movies, it always seemed that the Jedi had to make some kind of hand motion to get their powers to work, whether affecting minds or moving objects.  I had thought that that was just an affectation of Jedi, with enough mind-affecting misdirection to make an onlooker not notice.  But, in The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon still had to move his hand slightly while altering the roll of the die 'chance-cube' (oh, hell, the die) even when it was shown that Watto's mind couldn't be affected by a Jedi and thus could have been noticed.

The above paragraph was a longcut to simply ask; do Jedi have to make those hand motions to use their Jedi powers?  Or can they just do it by thought alone.  I haven't found a canon answer so I leave to party choice.  I'm simply trying to find out if the Imperials have a chance to notice just who is holding up the holocron.  Given the Impie's feeble scores, it is probably a moot point.

In the chaos, Celes elegantly disabled the stormtrooper so perfectly it was almost as if the two had rehearsed it beforehand.  He fell out of his rifle strap, now her rifle strap as Celes had planned for such an action.

Stormtrooper #1 is disabled.   I figure just numbering them is the best solution.  Celes now has a weapon.  It is a simple action to 'draw' it to a firing position.

Thuk was merely a force to be reckoned with.  Inhumanly strong muscle with just as superhuman reflexes to guide them left several stormtroopers down and possibly glad of it.

As I understand it, then, Thuk has taken out four more stormtroopers (#2-#5) and taken a few blasters bolts without flinching (or at least being truly damaged).  Let me know if I am wrong.

Certainly it seemed Grev played 'toss the stormtrooper' better than the other troopers played 'catch the trooper'.  There were less troopers on the other platform as the poor wretches there did not pose any kind of physical threat the 'Star did.  In the hollow cleared by the flying' trooper, Grev landed handily.  The girl cried out "Wizard!"

Be forgiving, it could have been "Yippee!"
Twelve troopers is enough for this fight so Grev cleared out a lot on the other platform.  The sick and aged passengers are rouge enough to overwhelm the other few troopers and escape in their battered freighter.  Trooper #6 is out and down!

I'm stopping here for tonight and will pick this up tomorrow.  Great posts all... :-)

This message was last edited by the GM at 07:07, Sun 24 Jan 2016.

I favor hand gestures, more dramatic.

quote:

As I understand it, then, Thuk has taken out four more stormtroopers (#2-#5) and taken a few blasters bolts without flinching (or at least being truly damaged).  Let me know if I am wrong.

Correct. Taking out ST's is useful, don't get me wrong, but the main thing for Tuk atm is that the ST squad is ignoring the other PC's in favor of shooting at the monster in their face.

Thuk thinned, reflexes intended to mitigate High-G falls spreading him out until one flailing limb caught one of the remaining stormtroopers and he drew himself along it out of the grav eddy then proceeded to beat on the other troopers with his hapless captive.

The stormtrooper sergeant pushed the muzzle of his weapon vaguely towards the 'captain', helmet turned away as he watched Tuk mow through the rest of his squad. "Call it off! Call it off right now!"

As the crew of the battered frieghter overwhelms the last ofthe Stormtroopers, Grev reaches down and picks up one of their rifles, one foot pinning the unconscious trooper to the platform.  He took aim at the lieutenant.  "You heard the girl."  He roared over the commotion.  "Order your men to surrender."  The "Or you'll be a corpse." remained unsaid, but hung palpably over the lieutenants head like the Sword of Damaclese.  Sure, it wasn't his rifle, She was on-board ship and safely locked in her case in his quarters.  But Grev was pretty certain that the lieutent knew he could be eaily killed, and had all the backbone of a Ulverian slug.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:15, Mon 25 Jan 2016.

Having caught up with the other threads and most mail, I can now spend some little time on this IC thread.

Right now, the troopers are surprised by your actions and are not yet able to react as you might rightfully expect them to.  But, if there is any opposition after your first strike, they should strike back as best they can.

Nate snapped the nearest troopers neck. It was as simple and quick as that.  And there's no sequel now for Crewman Trooper 'What's my Name?!' #6.

Confused by the situation and the strange rush of power invoked by her will, the girl looked for an anchor in the chaos.  She found it in the voice of Orion.  Without any more thought she ran to the edge of her platform and hurled herself towards Orion on his platform.

00:54, Today: That Old Fossil rolled 10 using 3 dice with the WEG Classic system (({Wild}4,4,2)).

Her leap was well-placed.  She managed to land on the platform in front of Orion but between two observant but preoccupied stormtroopers.

Shira felt anything but intimidating as she drew her tiny holdout pistol and (to her mind) squeaked out her command to Snive.  It seemed to her that only the most sniveling, craven coward could possibly take her seriously.  Snive raised his hands before the slight girl but his eyes belied a feral cunning, staring at the combatants, ready to utilize any opportunity.

With skilled motions, Zane fired into the chest of one of the two stormtroopers flanking the girl.  The stormtrooper clutched at his chest and actually laughed in incredulity.  His armor had actually worked.  The fool had used a projectile weapon, not damaging him through his armor but merely pushing him back.  The trooper had one more quick laugh before he realized he had stepped back one more step than the platform had to give.

As he fell, the loyal stormtrooper kept firing all the way to the smogbank.  And being a loyal stormtrooper, he still missed all the way down...

Trooper #7 is now in Heaven (or in a Kenmore blister pack/filler EU novel).

The other trooper flanking the girl (technically now just besides her) simply ignored the babbling droid.  What was the machine going to do?  Kill him with kindness.  It was his last coherent thought before he started twitching.

Trooper #8 is down and out.

I will add your further actions and any viable trooper responses next time...

When Nate sees the girl leap over to Orion, he turns his attention to the Imperial officer in front of Shira. The ghostling does tend to get herself into more trouble than she's built for. He slides up behind the officer, and grabs his arm, twisting it into a position it wasn't made to reach. He looks at Shira and smiles slightly, "You know, kiddo, it's usually best in these situations not to take prisoners. You'll need to get used to pulling the trigger."

OOC: 08:20, Today: Nate Stryker rolled 7 using 3 dice and 2 pips with the WEG Classic system (({Wild}2,2,1)).

Orion knows that he has only  a split second to shield the girl. H does a quick combat roll propelling his body towards the girl as he gets near he twists his body allowing his mass to land on the girl covering her body, He is able to get one shot off at one of the storm troopers, but the other one fires his Blaster carbine catching Orion square in the chest. Luckily, for Orion the Officer had ordered the storm troopers to stun.

Orion feels most of the strength leave his body, but he is able to squeeze off one last shot that catches the second storm trooper square in the face. Orion was not as merciful as the officer. His Hold out was not set on stun.

Celes kept close to Nate and Shira, picking off stormtroopers on their own platform while Thuk covered the other crew's escape. Grev's own order to Snive was much louder than Shira's, and then Nate slipped up behind him and physically grabbed the Lieutenant.

"Cool it, Nate. She kills the officer, we have no one to order the rest to stand down. Good call, kid." With Snive well under control, Celes widened her attention to the rest of the scene. Where the hell was that girl? When Orion had yelled to run, she'd apparently taken that as a command to run to him rather than to her own ship. The bounty hunter caught sight of her, and Orion's protection, and his fall. She gave a quick nod to Nate and jerked her head toward the Fabled Star. "Leave him and the blasters outside, captain won't want the heat or the filth. Grev, with me!"

There wasn't far to run, but she moved full speed to crouch beside Orion and that girl. Her voice managed to get soft, or moreso than usual, as she pointed out Zekk.

"Hey, see that man there? He's very brave and can protect you. Go to him. We can get your friends safely away and meet up with them later. You'll be alright." Even as she spoke, Celes was getting one of Orion's arms around her shoulders to heft him up. She didn't actually ask Grev for help, but would take it if offered. Apparently she just wanted cover from the remaining troops.

[Not sure if I really need to roll to move Orion, but here goes anyway because I like rolling stuff. :P

11:12, Today: Celes Varik rolled 12 using 3 dice and 2 pips with the WEG Classic system.  Strength.

It strikes me I have no idea about strength benchmarks. How's a 12?]

Nate nods, and looks at Shira, "C'mon, kiddo, let's get moving. He "encourages" the officer to walk toward the 'Star, with the help of the arm in it's painfully unnatural position, "Now do as my friend said, and order your men to stand down, so things don't have to get messy, especially since either of my big friends over there would be happy to relieve you of these arms of yours.". Once at the landing ramp, Nate stands by, waiting until the rest of the group are either on board, or moving up the ramp, before putting him in a sleeper hold, and leaving him unconscious next to the ramp.

[OOC: 13:48, Today: Nate Stryker rolled 13 using 3 dice and 2 pips with the WEG Classic system ((5,1,{Wild}5)).
A 12 is an "moderate" roll, which is about 100Kg, so Grev's assistance would be much appreciated, though, she'd be easily able to carry him.
edit: I realize this post should take place after the actions of the rest of the team who hasn't posted for the current round. It just seemed to fit here, since Celes spoke to Nate directly just prior.]
This message was last edited by the player at 20:06, Mon 25 Jan 2016.

The holocron hovered in the air, suspended in place. It began to move toward Zekk in a straight line. He ran forward to close the distance. A blaster bolt made Zekk turn to see the stormtrooper line up his rifle for another shot.

The holocron was almost in reach. Zekk threw himself forward and caught the holocron. He crumpled to the ground.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:46, Tue 26 Jan 2016.

Shira was a touch surprised her intimidation attempt worked. "Thanks for helping!" she said gratefully to Nate. "I'm not very aggressive by nature."
She smiled when Celes complimented her. "I just did my best to think on my feet."
"Right!" she said when Nate told her to get moving. First, though, she paused to take a couple of shots to cover Zekk. They were unlikely to do much damage against armor, but maybe she could make the troopers take cover, and she wanted to help out.

Snive was unskilled in combat due to general cowardice and the idea that combat was the sole province of lowly stormtroopers and thus absolutely beneath him.  That and he was treed by Shira's toy pistol so restraining the officer was no trouble for Nate.

Through the shimmering blue haze of both the stun effect and the current neural confusion of his stunned optic nerve, Orion saw the trooper fall like a bad holoplay.  The girl leapt forward to catch Orion as he fell and shielded his head from further injury.  Her face was a study in hero worship in a medium of blue lightning and then all went black.  Celes was able to lift him fairly easily. Trooper #9 is now down.

Snive considered.  If he didn't order the troopers to surrender, he would be killed by the outlaws.  If he did order the troops to surrender, he would be hunted and killed by the Empire eventually.  Not brave by any means, the two terrifying alternatives seems to cancel each other out into a form of courage.  "Take me prisoner and guarantee my safety and I will order my men to surrender."  Snive said, loud enough to be heard by the crew but hopefully not other stormtroopers.

Zekk felt the holocron in his hand and now safe over the platform.  It was his consolation as the world went shimmering blue and then infinitely black.

Both Orion and Zekk are only stunned and will recover in but a few moments.  With Akiri and Shen out, I am reducing the number of stormtroopers to the last two that stunned Zekk.

To speed things up, the troopers will stand down if Snive orders them to.  Snive has no power to resist anything our heroes do to him but if he does surrender, it is treason and a very likely death sentence for him to remain here.

In any case, the troopers can be easily dealt with and Snive has no power to resist.  Once the troopers are neutralized, combat is over and you have a few moments to decide what to do next.  It is no stretch to conclude that the Empire is scrambing all forces to you and you had best be leaving.

Send me your feedback and let me know your questions.

Grev leaps acros the platforms again, the "borrowed" rifle still aimd at Snive.  He closes the distance, his massive form towering over the Lieutenant.  "You will give us the codes to access the security system.  We will erase the recordings of these ships.  Then, you will stay here, after convincing your remaining troopers to create a joint cover story.  And we will leave, with NO pursuit.  And you will owe us a Debt for your life.  Or... I kill every Imperial representative here.  Choose now!"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:48, Thu 28 Jan 2016.

After she called Grev to come cover her while she got Orion, Celes looked over in time to see him closing in on Nate, Shira, and Snive.

"Guess not." The moment she'd told the girl to run to Zekk, she saw him hit square in the chest by a stun bolt and crumple. For a few seconds, she was completely speechless.

"Nevermind, kid. Stick with me. It'll be fine." And she hefted Orion toward the 'Star's boarding ramp.

"Somebody grab the 'captain'! Hands are full."

Nate passes commander Sniv off to Grev's keeping, and heads over to help Zekk, mumbling to himself, "This is just not going as well as it could. Space-blinded nerf-herders ought to know better." With that, he hefts the unconscious man over his shoulders, and carries him to the ship.

[OOC: 15:44, Today: Nate Stryker rolled 15 using 3 dice and 2 pips with the WEG Classic system ((6,{Wild}2,5)).]

Zane began his walk back to the ship.  The chaos and confusion of the storm troopers left him feeling comfortable with the though that nothing bad would happen to him.  "I could use a drink after that bit of excitement."  he said in a gravelly voice.  In his mind the situation was already well in hand.  The Bounty hunters were carrying the pair of stunned.  The kid that started all of this seemed to be in tow with Celes.  Snive and Grev were being highly demanding both offering solutions that were equally highly unrealistic.  And Shira appeared happy with herself, most likely because she captured Snive.

Zane walked close enough to say the following without need to raise his voice.  "Lieutenant, here's a compromise.  How about we make you look like a hero?  If I shoot you with my slug-thrower, then you'll look like you put up a valiant fight.  We capture you even more than you're already captured.  And before leaving, we kick you off the ship's ramp as we leave, allowing you to look like you've made a daring escape.  Afterwards your superiors probably wouldn't execute you for treason and we'll be out of your hair."  Not only was this con probably a bit of a long shot... After all, it's not exactly easy to get someone to agree to let a hostile stranger to shoot them.  Granted, it was all a lie, since Zane really didn't feel like wasting another bullet...  But he probably would enjoy kicking an Imperial off a ship.

OOC: 20:42, Today: Zane Konig rolled 15 using 4 dice and 2 pips with the WEG Classic system.  Conning Snive.

Seeing everyone making for the ship, TwoOneBee made his way over to help Zekk, seeing him incapacitated.  He quickly scammed his vital signs to confirm the extent of his injuries, then helped Nate bring him to p the Star's ramp.

"You are going to be perfectly fine in approximately twelve point five stars standard minutes, Mr Zekk sir," the droid said reassuringly.  "Mr Nate sir, if I may assist you, it will be more efficient and time does seem to be rather important just now."

As carefully as he can he helps Nate to get the 'Captain' aboard ship.  The old physician is more than a little relieved to be away from the fighting.  He wasn't designed for that sort of thing.  He was a medic, after all, not an assault droid!

"Was anyone else hurt during this unfortunate altercation?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:12, Fri 29 Jan 2016.

Momentarily confused about exactly what to do with their very first moment of action, the two remaining stormtroopers hesitated.  It was enough for Ali.  She crouched down and reached for one of several dropped trooper rifles.  Hefting it off the ground, she fired at one of the two remaining troopers.

00:10, Today: That Old Fossil rolled 5 using 1 dice with the WEG Classic system (({Wild}5)).  Ali hits and does 00:11, Today: That Old Fossil rolled 13 using 5 dice with the WEG Classic system ((1,1,5,2,{Wild}4)) against trooper's soak of 00:13, Today: That Old Fossil rolled 8 using 3 dice with the WEG Classic system (({Wild}2,2,4)).  The trooper is stunned...barely.

It wasn't pretty but it got the job done.  The stun bolt caught the trooper in an extremity but the stun effect was conducted through all of the falling trooper.  Ali smiled.  The effort seemed to impress the young girl.  She also grabbed a rifle and fallen at the remaining trooper.

00:18, Today: That Old Fossil, for the NPC Mysterious Girl, rolled 7 using 1 dice with the WEG Classic system (({Wild}6(+1))) for 00:21, Today: That Old Fossil, for the NPC Mysterious Girl, rolled 8 (15 excluding the wild die) using 5 dice with the WEG Classic system ((2,3,{Wild}1,6,3)). against 00:22, Today: That Old Fossil rolled 7 using 3 dice with the WEG Classic system ((4,{Wild}2,1)).  The trooper is stunned (as in the damage result, not unconscious).

The very last trooper shrugged off the blue ripple but stood dazed, it would take him a few precious seconds to recover.  Snive had glumly noticed his even more reduced bargining power.  While many voices were directed at him, it was the sheer mountain of Grev that kept his attention.  "There..there are no recordings."  Snive said, too frightened to even try and spin that fact in the Rebel's favor.

The Rebels were just one shaky trooper from at least a momentary victory...

I had really hoped the girl would take out the last trooper but it should be a very easy action for any other character.  At which point, the actual combat will be over.  Snive will want to be left behind, babbling that you don't need to injure him.  He believes he can come up with a cover story with no troopers (now) to contradict him.  Either way, he is powerless to stop you leaving with him, leaving him behind (intact or convincingly damaged).

After that, you have a few minutes of game time to wrap up some loose ends without penalty.  The girl will say goodbye to her fellow passengers on the ferry.  They will be happy to see her go with you as they can't protect and, frankly, she is a danger to them.  With all of the Empire after y'all, the ferry has a good chance to escape into hyperspace in a different direction.  Zekk will wake up in a few minutes when the player sees fit.  Let me know your questions and feedback.

Thuk smashed the last trooper unconscious and headed for the ship. Imperial forces were coming.

With the last trooper well and truly...Thukked, the combat portion of this encounter comes to an end.  You all have enough time to get what you wish aboard 'Star.  Snive is in no position to disagree and, short of actually being injured or killed, will do as he is told.  Time on a Rebel prison planet may be preferable to explaining this debacle to his superiors.

The shuddering platform will not fail for several minutes and won't hit anyone on the ground.  It was meant to make combat more exciting but serves no real purpose now.

The more Force-sensitive among you have a uneasy feeling as if you are all being watched, or at least searched for.

Tactical training and (for some) years of experience tell the crew that they only have a small amount of picket TIEs to contend with before entering hyperspace.  With Instinctive Astrogation at your command, escaping should be easy.  But you don't want to be delayed enough for the Star Destroyer to get to you.

Shira gasped with shock when zekk was hit
She hurried over to the girl to help her to the ship. "Hello, good to meet you. Are you all right?" she said gently, trying to keep the girl calm. "That was a nice shot."
She sighed with relief when TwoOneBee said Zeek would be okay. "I'm okay." she answered TwoOneBee when he asked if anyone was hurt. "Surprisingly fine!" she chirped. She had to treasure this, it wasn't often she didn't get even a little bump or bruise in the excitement
The usually graceful Shira was a little bit clumsy in her boots, since they interfered with the ghostling walking posture.

While the rest of the crew preps the Fabled Star for emergency lift off, TwoOneBee takes a few moments to check on Orion Pax.  A quick survey of his vital signs brings the old Doctor some relief.

"You were merely stunned, Mr Orion sir.  Your elevated heart rate and blood pressure should return to normal levels within five standard minutes.  Feelings of disorientation should also subside shortly"
  He assured him gently.

He was pleased to hear Shira was unharmed; he did worry about the Ghostling and he scanned her from head to boots just to be sure.  "You are indeed within your normal healthy parameters," the droid reported with his usual delight.

He scanned everyone else as well.  They were undoubtedly used to him fussing over them by now.

"How is our new passenger doing?" he asked making his way to the young girl.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:45, Sun 31 Jan 2016.