Deng spun as the droid fired at him, clumsily dodging the blast.  He immediately returned fire, hitting the droid dead center.  It wobbled and then fell to the ground with a heavy thunk.  Deng hobbled up the stairs.

     "Fate?  Where are you?" he shouted into his comlink.  Aliyah heard the roar of starship engines approaching outside the wall.

     "I'm approaching the South rampart now.  Staying low t-t-t-t-to avoid attention," replied the robotic voice as Deng joined Aliyah at the top of the steps.  He motioned to the next flight of stairs.

     "Let's go.  We'll need to get to the top," he insisted.

     As they moved up the stairs, Aliyah could now see over buildings to see the AT-AT.  The AT-AT that was slowly turning to face them.

Aliyah watched as Deng took care of the droid, grateful that her new friend hadn't been hurt any worse than he already was. Hearing the conversation over Deng's comlink, Ali was sure the one on the other end was a droid. A droid that Deng called Fate. Turning around again, Ali started climbing the stairs to the next level, glancing around as she did so. She was not liking the sight of that AT-AT walker nor the fact that it was turning to face them. "Deng, that AT-AT is turning this way. How fast can we get onto that ship of yours once we get to it?"

     Deng glanced to his right, spotting the AT-AT turning.  "Blast!  Get to the top!  GO!" he insisted, motioning to the highest level.  He was still struggling, and wasn't nearly as fast as she was.

     Once to the top of the double-long stairs, she looked out over the walls and saw the rolling orchards beyond the city.  They were burning.

     The roar of engines caught her attention, and a spacecraft flew in below her and next to the wall.

     

     "JUMP!  It's Destiny!" Deng insisted.  He was only halfway up the length of steps, and the AT-AT was now walking toward them.

Ali had made it to the top of the steps and watched as the ship flew in below her. Turning to look back, she saw that Deng wasn't up with her yet. She hesitated for a second, looking back and forth between the ship and Deng, but she knew she couldn't help him and might be more useful in the ship so she stepped onto the edge of the wall and jumped.

21:41, Today: Aliyah rolled 9 using 2 dice with the WEG Classic system.  Jump check. ou'll see two rolls for this from me, but I messed up the first roll by only rolling 1d6.

     With a heavy thump, Aliyah tumbled onto the top of the craft.  It swayed only slightly, hovering perfectly in position.  Above and behind her, she saw red blaster bolts fly overhead, a split second before hearing the rapport of the AT-AT's guns.  Sparks flew off the top of the rampart as well, and a roil of flames and smoke appeared where she had been standing.

     Deng did not follow. [Private to Aliyah: (The dice were not in his favor)
]
     The craft started to drift away, staying low behind the wall, but moving into the smoke rising above the orchards.  Aliyah heard a hatch open with a hiss and a clunk.  She saw light shining out of the round hole in the centerline, near the rear of the craft.

     They entered the smoke, and she couldn't see beyond the edge of the craft, and the smoke ached her lungs.

Aliyah coughed and hacked but slowly made her way to the hatch and dropped inside. Hopefully she'd be able to breathe easier inside. Moving out from under the hatch, Aliyah looked up anxiously as she hoped and waited for Deng to drop through it. "c'mon, c'mon Deng, move it! Please, come on we gotta go!" Aliyah muttered under her breath, waiting for her new friend.

     The hatch shut a few seconds after Aliyah had climbed inside.  She could feel the spacecraft moving.  She was in an aft engineering space.  There was a cooridor leading forward to a better lit area.

     She passed a couple of closed hatches as she moved through the hallway, coming into an open area with an acceleration couch, kitchenette and a few lockers.

     A door in the center of the far end of the space opened with a hiss, and a droid came out, following a track in the floor.



     "Greetings.  I am F8-1Z (eff-ate-won-zee), ship's pilot and medic.  Welcome aboard-d-d-d Destiny.  Are you injured?" it said in a familiar voice.

Ali shakes her head in response to the droid, sniffling a bit as she realizes Deng didn't make it. "No, I'm not injured. You must be who Deng called Fate. I'm Aliyah. What's our destination?" Dusting herself off, Aliyah took a seat on the acceleration couch watching the droid.

     "Welcome aboard Miss Aliyah.  As per p-p-p-prescribed protocol, I am moving away from Hale Valla to rendezvous with ... with ..." Fate started to say, but was starting to stammer.  He paused and blinked.

     "I'm sorry, Miss.  But I'm afraid you're not cleared to know our destination.  It won't be far.  We w-w-w-won't even be leaving Corellia.  Perhaps you should just sit tight until we arrive," he said, moving back along his track toward the cockpit.  He went through the door and it closed behind him, leaving her alone once more.

     Nothing in the kitchenette was locked, and there were plenty of spacer rations available.  Neither the cockpit nor other doors would open for her.

     About five minutes later, she felt the ship settle and land with a bit of a shudder.  Fate then came back out of the cockpit.

     "I'm afraid ... Our contact is no longer available, and I'm afraid I'm n-n-n-not authorized to leave Corellia unless our ... Captain Deng's mission has been complete."  It was the most worried she had ever seen a droid behave.

     "Please help me, Miss Aliyah.  You're my only hope."

Aliyah wasn't happy and was about to protest not being allowed to know their destination but the droid returned to the cockpit before she could gather her wits enough to voice her feelings. Letting out a growl of frustration, she started going through the kitchenette for something to eat, hoping for other than rations. Searching the place thoroughly, she was disappointed not to find any other type of food around.

After her search and as she's just about to open one of the space rations, the droid reappears saying their contact was gone and they couldn't leave Corellia without Deng's mission being completed. Growling again as all she wanted to do was get off this blasted rock, Ali turns to the droid and lets out an exasperated sigh. "What was Deng's mission and what do I need to do to complete it? Once I do complete it you'll be able to get me off this blasted rock then?"

     "Captain Deng was sent here to investigate a crashed passenger freighter called the Thrush.  The passenger was carrying some vital information and cargo.  We need to ascertain the fate of the crew," he explained nervously.

     "I am sorry for the inconvenience Miss Aliyah.  But this mission is of vital importance to the Rebellion ... Oops," he said, covering his mouth.

"The Thrush? I think I may have heard of that before. Just rumors and stuff ya know? Okay, so I find this freighter and passenger, get the info and get back here so we can leave this planet? Any information on the passenger or what the information is stored on? Flimsy? A data cube?"

Aliyah's face splits into a big grin and she starts to lightly bounce in her seat as she contains a squeal at hearing Deng was working for the Rebellion. "That is so cool! I've always wanted to meet Rebels! For some reason I've always felt that I could help them somehow. Are we heading to them once I've gotten the information?"

08:00, Today: Aliyah rolled 10 using 2 dice and 2 pips with the WEG Classic system.  Knowledge Check. Checking to see if I remember where the Thrush is or any information about it.

[Private to GM: Again, sorry its been so long, but being able to RP should help me take my mind off things.]

     Aliyah had heard about a passenger vessel crashing in the mountains to the north a few days prior, but heavy storms were said to have prevented any search and rescue.  After that if fell off the Holonet, just another lost spacecraft.

     Fate seemed to perk up slightly when Aliyah expressed so much interest in the Rebel cause.  "We're not sure how the information is currently stored.  The courier was a Sullustan named Eyar Jaan.  I've located the wreck, but it is on a mountainside and I cannot land near it.  You will need to hike up to it," he added.

Ali was really not liking this mission already. She wasn't against hiking or exercise or anything like that. She just wanted off Corellia so badly she could almost taste it. And this mission was only serving to keep her here.

"Alright Fate, get me as close to the Thrush as you can. I'll retrieve your data and we can leave. Hopefully this will go quick and without too much hassle."

     "Aye, aye, Captain," Fate said, returning to the cockpit but leaving the door open this time.  The ship lifted off, and she could see they were on the far side of the burned orchards, near the foothills.  There were many columns of smoke in the distance and she thought she saw shuttles moving up into the atmosphere.

     The ship stayed low, angling toward the snow-capped mountain range to the south.

     "It looks like I can land about 100 yards away from the wreck.  You can find some climbing gear and other supplies in the cargo hold."  The back door opened for her as well.  There were various lockers and crates with a grapple gun, cable charges, a sporting blaster, ammo packs and boots.

[Private to Aliyah: Let me know what else you might like, and I'll make a random roll to see if it is available.]

Ali grinned to herself at being called captain before getting up and heading for the cargo hold. Looking over the supplies on offer, she nodded approvingly to herself, gathering the supplies into a bag. She tucked the blaster into her waistband at the small of her back, and put the boots on. They fit better than what she had been wearing already so she figured she'd just leave them on after she got back.

"Let me know when we've landed Fate! And bring me a commlink so we can stay in contact!" Ali yelled up to the cockpit, hoping the droid heard her.

     "Coming in now, Aliyah," Fate said a few moments before the ship shuddered and settled.  She could tell they were on a slight incline.  The droid then followed a set of tracks to a set of lockers near the cockpit and pulled out a comlink for her.  He offered it over.

     "Please k-k-k-keep the line open so I can monitor you.  I'm sorry I can't go with you or get any closer.  The wreckage is to the Northwest over some craggy rocks, so p-p-p-please be careful."

In reply to Omni-Tent (msg # 37):

After taking the comlink from Fate with a smile, Aliyah made sure she had everything she assumed she'd need and exited the ship. Closing the ship behind her, she started off to the Northwest like Fate had said. Thankfully, it wasn't that far away and she could get their in a reasonable time.

     The rocky path was shrouded in a foggy mist.  The rocks were a little slippery, but nothing her nimble body and new boots couldn't handle.  Coming over a few crags, she saw a ship materialize like a ghost.  However, it wasn't wrecked.  It may have landed a little hard on a slight incline like Fate, but it seemed perfectly serviceable.  The boarding ramp was up and the lights were all dark.

Topping the crags and spotting the ship, Aliyah was instantly on alert. This is not how things were supposed to be. Pulling out the commlink Fate had given her, she activated it and said, "Fate? I've reached the ship...I think. It's hard to tell cause this ship hasn't crashed, it landed a little hard maybe, but it did land. I'm going to try and sneak closer and see if I can find out if anyone is inside it." Done with her message, Aliyah did just as she'd told the droid she would, and proceeded to try and sneak up to the ship.

[Private to GM: 21:04, Today: Aliyah rolled 23 using 4 dice and 2 pips with the WEG Classic system (({Wild}6(+3),4,2,6)).]

     "I'm sorry, Miss Aliyah.  I was t-t-t-told that it crashed and these are the c-c-c-coordinates I was given.  Maybe its the wrong ship?  P-p-p-please be careful," Fate insisted.

     Being small and wearing new boots, Aliyah was able to approach very quietly and stealthily.  She got right up to the hull where she could see a few laser blasts, but again not enough to cause serious damage to the ship.

Once Aliyah was next to the ship, she started to search for a way to get inside. She knew there had to be a hatch of some sort, if only she could just find it.

OOC: 12:28, Today: Aliyah rolled 9 using 3 dice and 2 pips with the WEG Classic system ((1,{Wild}2,4)).

     Aliyah checked the underside of the ship and found an access panel for lowering the boarding ramp.  Opening the panel, she saw the ship still had reserve power, but she would need to hotwire the mechanism to force the ramp open (Mechanical).

Aliyah felt all around the access panel, but couldn't seem to figure out how to open it. No matter what she tried at the moment, it wouldn't open.

OOC: 20:16, Today: Aliyah rolled 1 (6 excluding the wild die) using 3 dice with the WEG Classic system.  Mechanical Roll.

     "Is there a p-p-p-problem, Miss Aliyah?" Fate asked when he heard her struggling a bit over the comlink.

     Best she could tell, the access panel was jammed.  She now noticed that the hull was pretty battered and dented.  It looked like this ship had been through an asteroid field.