Zindra couldn't help but notice Captain Jalmac was a bigger person than her, with a better gun. She was beginning to seriously question the wisdom of having said anything. "Er… no, of course I wasn't" she said, smiling her most innocent smile. "Ship's look pretty good."
"But just so you know, the hyperdrive isn't calibrated correctly... I wouldn't want to go anywhere before that was fixed" Zindra lied. She looked around for somewhere to run if Jalmac makes a threatening move.

Bril felt his heart leap when the Silver Thorn came into view and then sink down deep into his chest when he noticed the makeshift barricade ahead of it. Their formation looked loose and Bril thought he might be able to shoot a gap between two of the speeders. It beat running down any of the officers. There was no way to know if they were dirty or just following orders.

"Hold on tight!"

Bril jammed the throttle full as he attempted to guide the stolen speeder to the Silver Thorn and trusting his old racing experience to keep the number of collisions along the way to a minimum.

[I like the way you think, Bril! Give me a Piloting - Planetary roll. You get a Blue Boost die for the cops absolutely not expecting this suicidal plan. I'm spending a Dark Side Destiny Point to increase the difficulty, so it's going to be 3 Red Challenge dice. The consequence of failure is going to be damage: to the speeder for Failure, to you for Despair. Good luck!

Destiny Pool: 4 Light, 3 Dark]

Alright it's been a while but I think I rolled correctly.

10:18, Today: Brilk'airn rolled 1 failure, 3 advantages, 1 despair using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1B 2A 2P 3C ((1(B), 3(A), 5(A), 7(P), 9(P), 3(C), 4(C), 12(C))).

"Eep!" Amaya said, "How can I help?"

The crew went flying toward their ship, with police warnings to stop having been utterly ignored! The officers, visibly shaken by Brilk's reckless tactic, lost their nerve and started to open fire on their stolen speeder. Blaster bolts scored the canopy and front of the vessel, until one blast managed to unseal the canopy! It broke off, leaving Brilk'airn without its protection; a few shots later, one of the bolts managed to find its way into the pilot, searing a hole in him!

All that in the span of just a couple of seconds that felt like an eternity to all involved. When it was over, the speeder was beyond the barricade (the officers having scattered before two of their own speeders were knocked about), smoking from the overworked and badly beaten engine. The crew had only seconds to recover and get moving, with the police picking themselves up off the ground as well.

[The Failure means the Speeder takes damage! That's 7 Wounds to the Speeder, which isn't enough to take a single point of Hull Trauma. (Vehicles operate at Planetary Scale, so each point is ten points of Personal Scale. It takes 10 Wounds to deal 1 Hull Trauma.)

The Despair means the Canopy opens and Bril takes damage! That's 7 Wounds to Bril, which can be reduced by your Soak value. Blasters are super dangerous.

Now everyone gets a round of action before they're under attack again, and there are way too many police here to fight off by yourselves.]

---

The Captain nodded suspiciously at Zindra, letting his hand leave the blaster at his side.

"Hyperdrive problems, huh? I guess we'll have to calibrate it once we're in the air." He stomped back over to his console and hit the boarding ramp controls. Then he turned back to Zindra with a smug smirk. <brown>"Looks like you're on the crew now. Congratulations. I'll have that blaster from you, Cindy." Once again, he lumbered toward her menacingly.

Outside the ship, the familiar sound of the boarding ramp hydraulics cycling up for use preceded its slow rising. There wasn't much time left to get in. Or out.

Iaar does his best to tumble safely out of the speeder after it crashes through the barricade.  He makes sure he has his axe securely in hand then looks around to make sure everyone is ok then, as he notices the boarding ramp start to climb up he shouts, "Get on board the ship!  Hurry, we don't have much time!"  Then makes his way towards the same while looking back to make sure everyone is following.

Bril had managed not to be thrown from the speeder despite the canopy popping open thanks to his chair's harness. Fumbling madly at the harness until it released him, Bril inhaled sharply as pain shot out from where a blaster bolt had grazed his arm as he pushed himself out of the cockpit and began dashing after Iaarkahr. "The Silver Thorn's about to take off! Why's it taking off!?"

"It's not a blaster. It's a slugthrower" Zindra says. "Thanks for the crew slot, but I think I'll quit." She scrambles backwards, looking for cover. She wasn't too frightened yet; a little excitement was a welcome change, as long as it didn't end up with her dead or kidnapped to some faraway planet.

The cruel captain jammed a button on the console with his fist.

"Alright, droid, initiate take-off!"

"Beginning pre-flight checkli--"

"NOW!"

"Skipping pre-flight checklist."

He turned from the console, blaster already in hand, and began to tromp after Zindra, each footfall shaking deckplates.

"Where do you think you're goin', kid? You're only making this worse for yourself!" The whole ship lurched to one side from the hurried take-off, and Jalmac caught himself on a bulkhead. "You're leaving home, greasemonkey. Think you can hide from me on my own ship?"

---

Brilk'airn, Amaya, and Iaarkahr managed to make it onto the boarding ramp before it closed, effectively dodging the few stun blasts that came from the police outside. That didn't seem to help too much when the sound of their captain's voice boomed through the corridors, and the familiar vibration of his angry stomps rattled the floor. Just as the boarding ramp locked into place, the trio was knocked right back down to the deck by a sharp jostle. The ship was being piloted, but if Bril was there and Jalmac was close by, who was flying?

[Alright! Now we get to make use of the deck plans I spent so long picking!

We're now on the middle deck. The trio are on the starboard side, on the closed boarding ramp. Zindra can be in the center ring or any of the cabins next to it, including the cargo holds, the cockpit corridor, or immediately up or down the ladder to one of the other decks. Jalmac himself has left the portside equipment bay, where he was using comms equipment and stuff. There are also now some droids running about, though none are explicitly combat droids (what with those being hella illegal and Captain Jalmac would never willingly break Imperial law, as that would be just awful, right?). But they can still potentially be a hindrance.

It's now the PCs' turn!]

Iaarkahr motions for quiet as the entry ramp closes behind them, "I don't think Zindra Jalmac is expecting us so we have the element of surprise for the moment.  Let's stick together while we find him and ask him a few questions." as he makes sure his vibro axe is conveniently accessible.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:55, Wed 15 Jan 2020.

"Agreed, Kahr, the captain has a lot to answer for." Bril's words were a lot braver than his actions. The Twi'lek did his best to silently skulk forward, looking for sings of Jalmac without straying too far from Iaarkahr's side.

Zindra scampered into one of the cargo holds and took cover behind some cargo pallets, trying to hide. She quietly drew her slugthrower pistol. If she had to use it, it would be anything but quiet.

Jalmac slowly stomped along the radial walkway to the nearest cargo hold door, glanced at the one beside it, and opened the one he'd initially approached.

"Hey, kid. Sorry if I startled ya before. I'm a bit of a grouch sometimes, but I ain't such a bad guy." The captain pulled his head from inside the cargo hold, shut the door, and started toward the next one. "Come on, let's talk this over."

[With the ship being as small as it is, he's going to find somebody in short order. The question is how will that go? I want Stealth rolls from each of you at 1D 1C from Jalmac's perception skills and 1S from the small size of the ship. Bril and Iaarkahr will be rolling with an extra 1S from talking, however quietly, because the ship is just that small and they're in the same room (essentially) as the captain.

So to recap: Zindra will be rolling at 1D 1C 1S while Brilk'airn and Iaarkahr will be rolling at 1D 1C 2S. If we still have Amaya, she'll be rolling the same as her two larger companions.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:48, Sun 26 Apr 2020.

Surprisingly, Iaarkahr was able to keep his voice down despite his frustration and anger with the situation.  He looked around but still wasn't sure where Jalmac went, but his stealth should help find him before he found them.

11:36, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 1 success, 1 advantage using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2A 1d 1s 1c.  stealth.
Will spend 1 advantage to give the next player 1B die

Bril crept along, sticking close to Iaarkakr. The situation was tense and Bril forced himself to take slow deep breaths in an attempt to stay calm.

12:43, Today: Brilk'airn rolled no successes, 1 threat using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 4A 1B 1D 1C 2S.  Stealth (+ Iaarkahr's Boost).

Zindra tried to keep quiet, holding one hand over her mouth and keeping the other on her slugthrower pistol.


01:19, Today: Zindra rolled 1 failure, 1 threat using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 3A 1D 1C 1S.  Stealth.

With hardly any space to move, let alone to hide, Jalmac stopped his own stomping and held himself still. Through the thrum of the engines, something caught his attention; the captain turned from the cargo bay hatch and slowly reached his hand up to a control panel on the wall, preparing to open the boarding ramp mid-flight!

A thump and annoyed-sounding beeps and blats in binary stopped him, turning his attention back to the cargo bay hatch that opened to an exasperated droid rolling out. Zindra had accidentally bumped into the utility droid as it went about its duties, and it had no idea she was trying to hide. With a wicked grin and two quick stomps, Captain Jalmac made his way into the cargo bay.

"I've got you now..."

[I'll give the group another round of things to do. Jalmac doesn't have a lot of actions he can take at the moment besides being menacing, and I prefer to let my players be more proactive anyway.

As for those Threats, Zindra and Bril each take 1 Strain as a result of the tension and stakes involved.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:14, Sat 16 May 2020.

Zindra smiled awkwardly. "Hiya, captain. I need to work on my hiding. And I hope you've got earplugs." She raised her slugthrower and fired. She wasn't really trying to hit Jalmac, just get him to step back out of the cargo bay. She also wanted to disorient him with the roar of the weapon; compared to the zap of a blaster, slugthrowers were shockingly loud, and most people weren't used to them.

There was really no point in hiding anymore, was there?  Iaarkahr steps out from his hiding spot with a loud, very angry roar that almost matches Zindra's boomstick and moves into melee range with Jalmac and with a broad, sweeping arc attempts to vent some anger on their former captain.

16:50, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 2 successes using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2p 2A 2d ((1(P), 4(P), 8(A), 3(A), 5(D), 8(D))).  For a total of 9 damage pre-soak. [vibroax has qualities Pierce 2, Sunder, Vicious 3]

Seeing Iaarkahr step out and charge their former Captain, Bril briefly thought about following him but decided he was more likely to just get in the wookiee's way. Instead, Bril hurried to place himself between the Captain and The Thorn's cockpit, hopefully limiting Jalmac's options of retreating from Iaarkahr.

Zindra's shot took the captain by surprise, and immediately sent him back out of the cargo bay and straight into a roaring wookiee and his very eager ax! A quick backstep slammed Jalmac into the bulkhead, narrowly avoiding being cleaved in half! With a shocked expression quickly changing to a grimace, he fired a blast from his heavy blaster, then bolted around the center ring to reach the boarding ramp controls; a solid click and hiss later, the ramp was beginning to open, and air started being sucked out of the starship as it sped ever higher towards space. He kept the blaster aimed at where Iaarkahr would have to follow.

"I knew I couldn't trust the Fines to keep you away from my ship! Now stay back or you're gonna have a long drop!" It would seem he hadn't found Brilk'airn yet, who was in the opposite direction the captain was facing to target their furry crewmate.

For his part, Brilk'airn had spotted a droid in his seat. Some sort of basic piloting droid, from the looks of it, along with another of an even lesser model sitting as co-pilot.

[Zindra got successes to push the captain out and 2 Threat, which I'm using to give him some extra Boosts for dealing with Iaarkahr. Iaarkahr's attack deals a ton of Wound to the captain, but not enough to take him out.

And now I'm giving Brilk a chance to do something, with a few different options available. Time to get your action movie on!

As for the captain's attack on Iaarkahr:

14:11, Today: The Force, for the NPC Captain Jalmac, rolled 3 successes, 1 advantage using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1A 2P 2D 2B.  Shooting Iaarkahr.

That brings us to 10 damage and giving Iaar 1 Setback. Hoo boy, things went from 0 to 60 pretty fast here.]

Having circled around the opposite direction of Iaarkahr, Bril found himself behind the Captain as the duo traded blows. His fist instinct was to climb into the pilot seat and see what he could do from there but the way things were looking it'd likely just give Jalmac time to throw them all out the cargo door one at a time.

It was time for Bril to make a stand. In one smooth motion Bril pulled his pristine holdout blaster from it's holster hidden inside his jacket, leveled it at the small of Jalmac's back and fired. The twi'lek did his best to remain unnoticed until light and sound erupted from the barrel of his weapon.

13:23, Today: Brilk'airn rolled 2 successes using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 4A 1C 1S.  Ranged (Light).
This message was last edited by the player at 19:25, Sun 07 June 2020.

"All you've done is make me angry!" Iaarkahr bellows in a ferocious wookie roar as he takes careful aim and swings his vibro-axe at Jalmac with even greater fury.  Should this drop our captain, Iaarkahr will then move, if possible, to close the off-ramp.

13:24, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 3 successes, 3 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2a 2p 1d 1c 1s 1b ((4(A), 6(A), 3(P), 6(P), 2(D), 1(C), 2(S), 4(B))).

Total of 11 damage (7 base, 3 successes, 1 wounded wookie)
Pierce 2, Sunder, Vicious 3 for axe qualities.
2 advantage for a critical hit and one advantage to give the next player 1B
13:28, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 130 using 1d100+30 ((100)): gruesome injury 13:31, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 3 using 1d10 ((3)) => Brawn reduced by 1
Injury is 4d as well

This is going to hurt.

Iaarkahr faced down the double-barrels of the captain's blaster, when Jalmac's face suddenly shifted to surprise. Bril's shot pierced right through his back and belly, leaving him confused and with a decent-sized hole in him. The wookiee then proceeded to cut a gash across the man's chest, sending him tumbling down the still-opening boarding ramp, one last solid <i>thump<\i> sounding before he fell out of sight.

Iaarkahr quickly closed the boarding ramp before anything else went flying out of it.

Captain Jalmac was gone, the crew had recovered their ship, and the Fines were far behind them now. Things might be okay.

[Congratulations on completing the first episode of Edge of Rebellion! Everyone gets 15XP and a shared starship! It has several droids on it, because charging you bazillions of buckazoids for covering any shipboard gaps in skills or beingpower is silly. Be prepared for Episode 2, coming soon!]