Aliyah woke to the sound of clattering pots and an upset yelp.  At first it sounded like Dolfy had fallen out of his cot again, but then she heard the clatter of armor.

     "Take this one back to the transport," an almost droid-like voice said.  "Search upstairs for more."

     "Let me go ..." Dolphy was yelling as his voice trailed off.  She heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs.

Aliyah's head whipped toward the dorm room door that she shared with two younger girls. She had no idea where those girls were at at the moment. She sat frozen on the cot masquerading as a bed that she sleeps in for a few seconds, trying to figure out who would be searching upstairs for more. And more of what?

Easing off her "bed," Ali crept to the window as quietly as she could, looking out of it. She'd used this window a few times to sneak out and run away from the group home, but the CorSec Authority usually ended up catching her and bringing her back. Hopefully she could reach the window and once again use it to escape this hellhole.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
20:21, Today: Aliyah rolled 8 (13 excluding the wild die) using 4 dice and 2 pips with the WEG Classic system (({Wild}1,1,5,6)).

---

This message was last edited by the player at 02:22, Mon 19 Dec 2016.

     Just as Aliyah made it to the window, the door burst open and a Stormtrooper looked inside.

[Private to Aliyah: 17:09, Today: Omni-Tent, for the Stormtrooper, rolled 9 using 2 dice with the WEG Classic system.  Search.]

     "Hey!  Freeze!" he shouted, raising his blaster, but he hesitated. He took just a moment to glance at the rifle's settings.

     She had to act fast!

Aliyah yanked open the window she'd been trying to get to and tried to jump through it. She knew the roof was just on the other side of it and that it slanted down towards the ground. If she made it, she'd have to be careful not to tumble off of the roof, that could get her hurt. But hopefully she'd be able to slow herself enough to stop just before she went over the edge.

[Private to Omni-Tent: 16:43, Today: Aliyah rolled 11 using 2 dice with the WEG Classic system ((1,{Wild}6(+4))).]

     Leaping from the window, Aliyah hit the opposite roof and splayed flat, which kept her from slipping.  The window closed suddenly behind her and with a quick glance she could see the stormtrooper struggling to get it back open.

     She heard blaster fire somewhere below and saw an AT-AT standing a few blocks away, likely near the edge of town.  The empire was clearly here in force, but what did they want in a small city like Hale Valla?  It was a depot for refugees and other unwanted souls.  People no one would miss.

     The glass shattered behind her as the stormtrooper started to knock it out with the butt of his rifle.

Ali struggled up to her feet again and hung from the edge of the roof below her. Letting go, she landed hard and felt her legs go out from under her. Yelping as she landed on her butt, she once again scrambles to her feet and darts off away from the AT-AT walker and hopefully the stormtrooper after her as well.

Trying hard not to give in to the panic building up in her, she searches for a good hiding spot to hopefully wait out the Imps who were here for whoever knows what reason. As she ran, she saw one of her old hiding spots on her right and grinned as she bolted towards it and scrambled into it as fast as she could.

Aliyah knew she couldn't stay here for long, as it was just a rundown shack that no one ever used anymore. It made a good hiding place though because the door was fused closed and the only way in was to crawl in through a tunnel that your average adult wouldn't be able to fit through. The tunnel led to a trapdoor in the floor and that trapdoor could be locked with a pad lock nearby.

[Private to Omni-Tent: 17:16, Today: Aliyah rolled 18 using 4 dice with the WEG Classic system ((6,{Wild}4,5,3)).]

     "I said freeze! By order of Moff Glennek!" the trooper shouted down at her in frustration before disappearing back into the window.

     All around her, troopers were kicking in doors and handcuffing people.  More than once she heard the stormtroopers talking about 'rebel scum.'  She saw a few shots fired, but they were blue lasers that only seemed to knock people unconscious.

     Crawling into her hideaway, she heard the heavy footfalls of a stormtrooper.  She froze and held her breath.

     "Which way did she go?" he asked.

[Private to Aliyah: 09:09, Today: Omni-Tent, for the NPC Stormtrooper, rolled 7 using 2 dice with the WEG Classic system.  Search.]

     "Who?" another stormtrooper replied.

     "The girl!"

     "Forget her.  We're looking for Rebels, not runaways."

     "Blast it," he shouted.  A few moments later, she heard them stalking away.

     The coast seemed clear for now.

     So the Empire was looking for Rebels?  Not surprising after what those terrorists had done to Alderaan.

     She could stay here for a while or venture back out and continue running.

Once Aliyah heard the stormtroopers stalk off, she quietly made her way back out of the tunnel to take a quick peek. Sighing to herself as she thought about what had transpired already, she felt a surge of guilt over Dolphy being taken especially if the troopers were here for rebels. Thinking over her options, she really wanted to shrug off the boys capture, but her conscience wasn't letting her.

Muttering dark things under her breath, she began to backtrack her way to the orphanage. Dolphy wasn't a friend or anything like that, but if it hadn't been for his shouting and carrying on Ali wouldn't have had time to get out of her window. As she approached the orphanage she began to move as stealthily as she could. She wasn't sure what she would do when she found Dolphy, but she'd deal with that when she got there.

[Private to GM: 19:05, Today: Aliyah rolled 24 using 4 dice and 2 pips with the WEG Classic system. ((2,3,6,{Wild}6(+5)) Sneaking up to the orphanage.]

     Stormtroopers had already cleared out most of the streets, so ducking through the alleyways back to the orphanage was easy.  Approaching the building, she saw her broken window above, and a busted door on the ground level.

     Slipping inside, she was suddenly startled by a bearded man in a blue jacket.  He pointed his blaster at her in shock, but quickly lifted it when he got a good look at her.

http://www.aradani.com/wp-cont...2012/01/smuggler.jpg

     "Blast it, Kid!  You nearly got yourself shot.  Are you ... Did you live here?  DO you know Dolphy?" he asked, lowering his blaster and glancing around nervously.

Aliyah let out a stifled yelp in surprise as she comes face to face with a man she'd never seen before, and his blaster pistol. Placing her hand on her chest, Ali swallows and takes a deep breath, trying to get her racing heart to slow down again. "Gah, don't do that! D-Dolphy? Yeah I know Dolphy. Some of those stormtroopers took him. They tried to get me but I went out the window when I heard Dolphy cry out."

     "They took him?  Mynock spit!  Did you see where they took him?" he asked intently.  But then his comlink bleeped.

     "We've been compromised.  I estimate three-point-t-t-t-t-two minutes before more stormtroopers arrive," said a mechanical voice.

     "Hell," the man said, snatching up the tiny receiver from his belt.  "I'm on my way ... Actually, take off now.  Meet me at the South rampart in three minutes."

     The grizzled man looked Aliyah over and smirked.  "I'm only gonna ask this once.  Wanna lift?" he said, already edging for the exit.

Aliyah was about to respond to the man, telling him that she didn't see where they took Dolphy but then his comlink beeped. She listened as he talked and waited patiently for him to finish his conversation.

Ali blinked in surprise for second as the man offered her a ride. She didn't know this guy from any other spacer but there was something inside her telling her she could trust him. "Sure, I'll take that lift. There's nothing for me on this blasted rock anyway." Making sure she had the only thing that mattered to her, her parents old blaster, she motioned for the man to lead on. "Name's Aliyah by the way, what's yours?"

     "I'm Deng, kid," he said, putting his back to the doorway and holding up his blaster.  He noticed her own blaster.  "Does that thing work?"

     He peeked out of the broken door, then took a deep breath.  "Stay close," he insisted, darting across the street and down an alley.

     Ali just caught sight of the AT-AT walker to their right as they moved across the street. It was much closer now!  Deng continued down the alley, stopping at every intersection to check for Stormtroopers.  The streets were surprisingly empty and quiet now.

[Private to Aliyah: Roll a straight Perception check and a Sneak check]

Aliyah cursed herself for flashing the blaster around where others could see it. "No, it doesn't work. I don't know enough about blasters to tell you why it doesn't though." Aliyah stayed close to Deng, like he'd said to, trusting him to get her where they were headed even though she had just met him a few minutes ago.

Staying right on Deng's heels, Ali frowned as she noted the AT-AT being a lot closer than when she had made her run to the shack.

[Private to GM: 11:24, Today: Aliyah rolled 18 using 4 dice and 2 pips with the WEG Classic system. Sneaking Around.
11:24, Today: Aliyah rolled 14 using 3 dice and 2 pips with the WEG Classic system. Perception Check.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:50, Mon 02 Jan 2017.

     Deng was leading them south, away from the main spaceport and toward a perimeter wall that surrounded the city.  They dodged a couple of two-man stormtrooper patrols and were making very good time.

     As they crossed a wide road, Aliyah caught sight of a floating black droid a couple of blocks away.  It didn't seem to notice them.

http://img.lum.dolimg.com/v1/i...-Droid_e2677e29.jpeg

     However, there might be more of them.

Ali hadn't been in this section of town for a long time. Normally she stuck to a small square of blocks around the orphanage. Not out of any loyalty or anything, but more out of familiarity with the area. She has ventured further than that a few times, but the unknown wasn't something she was comfortable with on her own. Which is why Ali was not only watching Deng but also the surrounding area they were passing through. Spotting the droid, Aliyah frowned and pointed it out to Deng. "Deng, look over there, what kind of droid is that?"

     The droid spun around rapidly as soon as she spoke.  It's red camera eye looked right at them and it immediately started floating closer.

     "Blast it!  Recon Probe!" Deng spat, drawing his blaster and grabbing Aliyah's arm to pull her into a nearby alley.

     She could see the rampart just two blocks away.  Deng stopped and spun around, leveling his blaster at the entrance to the alley.  Just as the droid came around the corner, he fired and it exploded in a hail of shrapnel and sparks.  He shouted in pain and nearly fell over.  She saw a chunk of metal lodged in his leg.

     "Just keep running! Get to the wall!" he shouted, limping after her.

Aliyah stifled a yelp of surprise as Deng grabbed her arm and pulled her into the alleyway. Watching as he blasted the droid, Ali gasped lightly as she saw Deng get hit by shrapnel. She wasn't sure what was going on and why they were destroying droids, but once he told her to run, she didn't question it. Sprinting ahead, Aliyah ran for the wall, grateful it was only two blocks away. She was a natural sprinter, but that also meant running long distances was not her thing.

Once she was at the wall, she looked for stairs or a ladder, something to use to get up on it. At least she figured that was the plan anyway, otherwise why run to the wall at all?

     A set of stairs went up to her right, leading to a the first of the wall's three levels.  Running up, she reached the first level and saw another set of stairs a little further down, along with various doors ever 20 or 30 yards.  She saw a second similar level above, and then the top of the wall.  A guard tower was visible about 200 yards away atop the curved wall.  It looked empty.

     Behind her, Deng had just made it to the bottom of the stairs, but was clearly struggling with his damaged leg.  He paused to catch his breath, and she saw another floating droid come around a corner behind him.  It noticed him and started floating closer, a blaster muzzle popping out of it's frame.

Aliyah berates herself for not having spotted the stairs sooner, blaming it on the stress of the situation and temporary blindness. However she made her way up the stairs and was going to continue onto the next level when she looked back to check on Deng. She wished she knew first aid or something to help her new friend, but unfortunately she didn't and had to hope his friend on the other end of his comlink would be able to help him.

Ali was about to ask him if he was alright when she spotted another of those droids that Deng had shot earlier coming up behind him. It looked like it had a blaster attachment and was about to fire on her new friend. "Deng! Behind you!" Not for the first time in her life did Aliyah wish that her parents old blaster worked. Her new friend was already hurt, she didn't want to see him get shot as well. But besides her shouted warning, there was very little the unarmed teenager could do about it.

     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.