"I've never met any clones, really. But I'm guessing they aren't so different from other people" Shira said reassuringly.

"I could try cutting the door with a lightsaber... but part of it is melting. What do you think is behind it?" she asked nervously

A few steps closer to the blast doors revealed an uncomfortable heat.  A lightsaber blade might open the doors but what could move past them?

"Let's see if there is another way out?" Ali said.

OOC: Make a Search roll those who might look.  Playing the odds, one of you will make it before the NPCs roll.

The old droid's visual receptors dimmed and he turned his gaze towards the floor.

"I see.  Perhaps I will run a system diagnostic.  It appears my linguistics data may have been corrupted, as the definition I have for mercy does not seem to match with yours.  Thank you for alerting me to this malfunction; I shall correct the error immediately, and be ready to serve, should you require it Ms Thuraya, Ma'am."



"Scanning  for alternate exits, Captain..,"  TwoOneBee answered quietly.

03:47, Yesterday: TwoOneBee rolled 10 using 3 dice with the WEG Classic system with rolls of 2,3,{Wild}5.  TwoOneBee search roll 3D .
This message was last edited by the player at 21:56, Fri 27 Mar 2020.

Shira looks around for an escape, darting this way and that. She hopes she can find something soon; she tired in normal gravity and can't sustain this level of activity forever. "We'll find something!"


13:57, Today: Shira rolled 14 using 5 dice and +1 pips with the WEG Classic system.  Search.

At the kind old droid's words, Thuraya thought and hesitated, "TwoOneBee, I'm sor-"  But she didn't finish her sentence.

Her attention was stolen by Shira whose keen eyes located a metal grate in the wall near the floor.  It was the kind of shaft that might lead to many places, perhaps even trash compactors...

OOC:  This looks like the grid that covered the shaft that led from the detention center to the trash compactor on the first Death Star.  One good blaster bolt (no need for a roll) will oddly enough cause a hole big enough for a wookie to slip through.  How? I don't know but it worked for Leia and who I am to quibble... ;-)

The doctor wondered what Thuraya had been going to say, not that she hadn't already made her opinion quite clear.  It saddened him to think how very much she had changed in the brief time he'd known her.  The war was responsible for casualties of many kinds, he had observed.  The loss of innocence was undoubtedly one of the most tragic.

His focus, however, was soon overtaken by Shira's discovery of a possible way out. looked at the grate with more than a little trepidation.  His sensors had not been able to determine much about it, and that concerned him.  As he heard little Emessee toodle and bleep he glanced over at the tiny droid.

"No, I'm not at all certain about this, and NO I do not consider it an adventure.  With the destruction of this vessel imminent we do not have time to correct our errors, should we make any."

He turned to Shira, Celes, DeeJay and the Captain.  "Down the hatch, so to speak, I assume?"

Emessee played patriotic Imperial war songs in bad binary to try and inspire TwoOneBee.  Irony was a few carbon-scoring cards past the little droid's capacity.

Ali made what she would call a command decision.  That sounded so much better than a wild guess.  One blaster bolt inexplicably made a hole of the covering hatch.

"(sigh) I'm not sure what is at the bottom of that shaft.  So it may as well be a leader's 'fundament' finding out as well as anyone."

It was then that she caught Thuraya's slight cough and glance at Blissex's direction.  The old engineer's overfed and underexercised form seemed just a bit too much 'Blissex' to go through the sudden portal provided.

OOC: This answer will have a slight comic solution if others don't find a better one. :-)

"Look!" Shira pointed out the grate, embarrassingly proud of herself for finding it. "And Shira saves the day!" she said as she tossed her silver hair "Please, hold your applause"

She patted the mouse droid. "That's the spirit!"

She followed Thuraya's gaze, and once she understood, she took out her lightsaber. "I guess I can cut it wider? I'm lucky this thing doesn't need muscle power."

"Ms Shira, even if you do widen the aperture using your (rather dangerous looking) lightsaber, are the dimensions of the shaft itself wide enough to admit one of Mr Blissex's, ...um, slightly above average girth?"

They were running out of time, a decision needed to be made, but certainly they might take at least a moment to avert possible physical harm.  He scanned the shaft, uncertain if he would be able to get an accurate account of its measurements.

OOC: Let me know if I need to make another scan roll.

"Lightsabers are only dangerous if you don't know what you're doing" Shira said confidently, sidestepping the fact that she didn't really know what she was doing.

How difficult could a crystal lightsaber be?  Shira activated the strange device and the blade leapt backward causing everyone to jump back slightly.  Mercifully, there were no limbs in the way and the situation was soon righted.  "What a strange artifact to have chosen both ends to seem the same." Thuraya mused.

Once fixed, Shira was easily able to widen the shaft.  They only had to wait a few moment while the red-hot metal cooled.

~Well,~ Ali said via lekku, which was received by DeeJay, who then relayed it to TwoOneBee and Emessee (who understood most of the words). ~that beats my stunning him and essentially kicking him down the shaft.~

"Larger-than-average?!" Blissex said.  "Well, obviously that is a technical term for big-boned."  Normally, few would correct a medical droid on medical matter but Blissex oversized pride was bruised as his oversized form would have been.  And programmers had long ago learned the half of medicine was tactful and taciturn replies.

Soon enough, the shaft was cool enough to be slid down.  And the rebels hoped that whatever else was at the end of this shaft wasn't a 'wonderful smell' to be discovered...

OOC: Shira's solution was excellent and didn't occur to me.  Later on, DeeJay will translate her binary 'static' to Shira (out of Blissex's hearing).

The shaft eventually led the team into a small and deserted supply room.  A quick search found  plenty of blaster pistol ammo (from this point on you do not have to keep track of ammo expenditures), nine glow rods, three coils of syntherope (15 meters on each coil), two grappling hooks, food and water, and eight medpacs.

There was also another computer terminal.  Getting to be old hands at this and, after waiting for Emessee to interface with the terminal (bonk), the crew were able to read the latest dispatch.


This message was last edited by the GM at 00:39, Tue 14 Apr 2020.

"A command shuttle?!" Blissex said, "I believe that is our way out."

Shira let out a high-pitched scream when the lightsaber activated from what she thought was the wrong side; she was both relieved and slightly embarrassed not to be hurt. "It's a battle cry" she claimed unconvincingly.

Shira laughed as she slid down, enjoying herself, although she checked herself for bruises after landing. She reloaded her blaster and started sorting through the gear. "A command shuttle sounds like a nice way to escape. Although two squads of troops? I don't suppose we have any explosives or anything?"

This message was last edited by the player at 05:32, Fri 24 Apr 2020.

"Ms Shira is correct.  I am not enthusiastic about facing Storm Troopers again. Perhaps there might be a way to distract them, or divert their attention from the shuttle long enough for us to get on board?"

TwoOneBee tried not to seem anxious, but the slight rise in the tone of his voice was more than a glitch in his vocal modulator.

"Um...perhaps we might convince them we are a maintenance crew doing a final inspection of the shuttle?  Of course, if they have any reason to suspect we are being untruthful we likely will not survive long enough to regret it, but if we do not find a way off this ship VERY SOON we will not survive either.  I am afraid droids are not particularly good at deception though; its contrary to our most basic programming, so I am not sure how much help DeeJay, Emessee and I may be."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:13, Thu 23 Apr 2020.

The crystal saber had seemed in the right orientation when activated, Shira thought.  But at least it activated at the precise millisecond where it was clear enough that the blade would only slice through empty air.

Blissex thought for a bit. "Oh, I don't think droids are ineffectual..."  He trailed off as inspiration hit, "..but others might."  He smiled at the realization.  Droids were often so overlooked, they may as well have had cloaking devices.  "Besides, I think we will travel in a droid's way."

The old engineer pointed out deck plans now called up on the monitor, the Droid access tunnels were highlighted.  Emessee whistled with unexpected comprehension, this was familiar ground...

OOC:  I may have implied Shira was clumsy with her new lightsaber.  That was not my intention.  The lightsaber seems spooky.  But it might have done some real damage.  A mystery for later, perhaps...

Celes had been falling behind after the incident with the bridge, now burdened with both her patched up injury and also the question of whether Thuraya's coping mechanisms were beneficial or not. Even if they were certainly helping the crew, Celes didn't like the idea of one of these kids growing up to become her. She'd have to think about things more, but this wasn't the right time for it.

---

The last to come down the chute, Celes did her usual check of Shira for bruises afterward, before getting moving again until the crew found the supply room. She stocked up on power packs, a coil of syntherope, and a moment to try and control her pain by controlling her breathing.

The info from the terminal was almost as alarming as the prior alert about the ship being a trap for the Rebel assault. She nodded and made her way to the others.

"Thuraya and I can make a distraction. One overloaded power pack and that mind toss thing she does can have the troopers looking wherever we want them to."

"Trickery's a good idea, but I don't think they'd be running inspections at a time like this." Shira said.

"Droid access tunnels?" Shira asked as she rooted through the gear. "Clever, but can we fit? All of us, I mean?"

She giggled for a moment. "Explosions aren't usually stealthy, but it should work in this case."

INTERIOR: SUBJUGATOR BRIDGE. Framed against a sea of stars, Kolaff peers anxiously out the giant viewport At his right, the female Imperial official scowls impatiently.

“They’re coming,” the captain says, “I can feel them drawing closer.”

“The Rebel fleet does not concern me,” snaps the official. “Only Walex Blissex interests me.”

“Blissex and his Rebel cohorts are dead. I am sorry for the inconvenience this will cause you, but even now my stormtroopers search the lower levels for their bodies.”

The official smiles coldly. “You fool. They are not dead. They simply escaped your foolish trap. You are a pathetic commander who must rely on wild schemes and inane plottings to make up for your lack of military competence.”

Without turning to face her, Kolaff calmly replies, “Assuming that you have done what I asked of you and done it correctly, you will soon see what military competence is. As for Blissex and the others, if they have survived I will have them back in custody before time expires.”

“I hope so, captain,” her answer drips poisonously from her scarlet lips, “for your sake.”
Cut to...
INTERIOR: SUBJUGATOR DROID ACCESS CORRIDOR.

Whatever the heroes expected of the maintenance corridors, the reality turned out to be cramped tunnels not built for the living.  But there was no opposition leading to a net gain in travelling speed.   The few droids they did see went out of their way to be unnoticed and retreating.

"They are abandoning their posts."  DeeJay said.  Her perfectly modulated tone was not judgemental but sympathetic and pitying.  The poor beings simply wanted to continue as fiercely as any living thing.

OOC:  Any common droid can eventually be found and likely commanded.

"Ms Shira, droid access tunnels are typically designed to accommodate various different types of droids, and as such are usually of spacious design.  They should be quite comfortable..."

Ten minutes into the tunnels:

"These are the most cramped, hazardous, uncomfortable access-ways ever designed!  How anyone could consider these wormholes serviceable is beyond me!  See?  DeeJay is correct; even the astromech droids have the good sense to leave."

Shira tries carefully to keep from bumping her head, which could be serious for her. "Can we use some of these droids to create a diversion for us?"

While the others nattered on in their strange indecipherable babble, Emessee was having the time of a droid's existence.  There were so many convolutions and 'sudden' walls (bonk) that the adventure was never-ending.

DeeJay sent a binary signal telling the little droid not to wander off.  Alone, that would not be sufficient but it might slow down the necessary picking up to a less frequent interval.

Her binary call was echoed back to DeeJay's surprise.  It didn't seem to be one of her usual audible embellishments.  A droid separated itself from the mass of other fleeing automatons and becoming distinct.

"Hello."  The voice was feminine, the droid was a 3PO model, "Thank the Maker to find fellow sentients at a time like this."  "I am T-3POs, fluent in over four million forms of communication with Imperial codes being my speciality.  The presence of a 'classic' model of fellow 3PO droid..."  T-3PO motioned graciously to DeeJay, who eyes simply glowed more slightly with consternation, "only shows the now-fufilled promise of our line."

"Perhaps I can help you in your quest to leave this ship...?" T-3PO said, prompting.  Being a higher-level droid, she was more flexible in her programming...

Shira looked over the 3PO unit. "I think you can, friend droid. How convincing are you?"

Advanced droid that he was, TwoOneBee was indeed very pleased to see a more sophisticated droid, like T-3PO, rather than more of the MSE-1 units.  He wasn't at all sure if the protocol specialist could assist them, but any help was certainly welcome considering how desperate their situation had become.  However, it would not be above a droid to betray them to her Imperial Masters, which would be the end of their 'quest to leave' and quite possibly their lives.  And yet, his logic circuits reminded him, you may well have to trust someone, if you have any chance al all of escaping.  If nothing else, a sincere offer of assistance would most certainly increase their odds of success.

In the end, the old doctor's prime directive: ensure the safety of all organics within your charge' won out over his sense of caution.

"Greetings T-3PO, I am TwoOneBee, surgical expert.  We would very much welcome your assistance of course.  You are an expert in Imperial codes?  Do you know the security code that will allow us to safely leave this vessel without attracting attention from the ship's ops?  Perhaps there is a specific code for 'assistance required' that would allow us to distract the command shuttle guards long enough for us to gain entry?"

He was at least hopeful that one of these questions would be met with a positive response.