Out of the cantina, Shard breathes out a heavy sigh.  It used to be, she couldn't go in a place like that without ordering a drink.  Or five.  Now?  It's the noise that's killing her.  Rubbing away her small headache, she takes in Jalt's description of the Drogazi with a twisted smile and a raised eyebrow.  "Lovely."

Reaching up -- waaaay up -- she pats Juragga's shoulder.  "I figure we have to give you a hand next, big guy; we've been doing enough 'jobs'."

But upon arriving at Barsh's, the older woman slouches against the wall...outside, leaving that discussion to the others.  Instead, she toggles her comm.  "Okay, Haarmon.  We're outside, my ears aren't impoloding, and it's...safe.  Maybe.  What's up?"  A moment of reflection.  "And how's our passenger, the short one?"

Haarmon breathed a sigh of relief when Shard commed through. He had a horrid thought that Shard would take his deliberately calm tone as assurance that everything was fine and not get around to asking him what was what. And when was a good time to blurt out that there's an ambush when your teammates are walking around INSIDE the ambush?

So. Relief.

+Short one is killing it here with the wisdom and knowledge. But, uh, the thing is, we got the ship here all surrounded by some bad looking guys. Shorty here thinks that they're out to kill Jal as a sort of goodwill effort to get into Dargo's good books.+

A pause.

+So, yeah, when it's home time, you gotta come out swinging. And if you let me know when High Noon is, I can do some from back here too.+

Jalt stops in his tracks, and does a fair impression of considering the offer.  Then...

"For now, I have things to do, so I'd rather get my ship fixed up and get them done.  But I'll be back here soon enough with a delivery for Dargo, and when I am, I'll call in to see you if I get a chance."  Assuming the place is still standing after I come by...

Barse sighs, "All right then.  I have your parts here."  He gestures towards a stack of assorted crates and cartons.  "I can sell you a repulsorlift sled to carry them, if you want?  Or rent you one?"

+ Oh. +  There's a pause for consideration.  + Well, that can't be good.  Looks like we're going to need to fight our way out of here, assuming Rhijans doesn't just sneak around killing everyone. + Always a possibility, and in this case, likely justified.

Then again, as long as she has known him, Rhijans hasn't done any unjustified killing.

+ I'll be in touch, Haarmon -- you'll know when we're on our way back. + She grimaces; this is going to get ugly.  + Thanks.  Looking forward to hearing about your conversation with the child. +

A child who seems to not only communicate, but comprehend rather complex motives in a shifting situation.  Frightening, almost.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Shard heads into the shop.

There is a little haggling, but eventually Jalt manages to convince Barse to lend him a sled, free of charge, or face the prospect of finding somebody else he trusts to do his dirty work.  Somebody who probably wouldn't do it for the price of a small discount on ship parts.

Barse smiles, an reluctantly agrees to the loan.  "There's a sled in the back room, I'll fetch it out."

A few moments later he is back with a battered, but functional, repulsorlift sled.  "Leave it in front when you're finished with it."

Disgusted, Shard somehow keeps her irritation off her face.  They work for him for a discount, and he begrudges them the price of a rental sled?  Par for the course around here, she supposes; that's the kind of person that thrives in a Hutt's environment.  It's a pity they can't go back and support his rival....

"Thank you," she chimes in when the sled is handed off.  "We'll make sure to do that." After that, it's a matter of getting the sled loaded up, and off they go.  Which opens up the opportunity for discussion.

"Haarmon informs me we have trouble," she mutters to the group once they're moving at a good clip and far enough away from Barse. "Group of armed fellows hanging around the ship, less looking to board it and more with the idea of stopping people from boarding.  People like us."  She grimaces.  "I think we've picked up some enemies.  Either that, or a group who wants free passage and doesn't mind taking hostages to get it."

Loading the sled doesn't take long, and the walk outside takes even less time.  Once outside, it becomes apparent that Shard's warning is accurate.  There are a good half dozen people between the Bantha and the exit from Dargo's palace.  Another two can be seen loitering near the rear of the ship.

Four of the reception committee are Human, or reasonable facsimiles thereof, while the rest are assorted alien species (two Aqualish, a Klatooinian, and an Ortolan).  The Ortolan and one of the Humans are at the rear of the ship, and therefore somewhat further away from the group of Rebels.

One of the Humans near the front of the ship steps forward two paces, and just stops, one hand close to the Blaster at his hip.  His face cracks into a leering smile.  "This isn't your ship any more Jalt!"

---

Meanwhile, in orbit... (and all unknown to the Rebels):

The Captain of the star destroyer Terror stands before a four metre tall holoprojection, his head bowed...

The projection speaks.  "Captain Baraz, our agents on Yakusant have informed us that Nuq Clade were trying to smuggle something off-world, something that they placed an extremely high value on.  Furthermore, the information that was provided stated that they were trying to smuggle it to a known rebel sympathizer, which suggests that it was something of great value to the rebellion.  In all likelihood, trchnology recovered from a crashed Rebublic ship.  Is this correct?"

"Yes, Lady Nimadda.  But we... "

"Not only did you not capture this item, but you failed to establish exactly what it was, and to capture any surviving members of Nuq Clade for interrogation.  Can you explain this?"

"Lady Nimadda, the agents were members of a Clade that holds a long-standing grudge against Nuq Clade.  They used this situation as an opportunity to continue their feud, and do as much damage to their old enemies as... "

"And they will be dealt with.  For the moment, however, we are discussing your failure."

Baraz pulls at the collar of his tunic nervously, and clear his throat, "Lady Nimadda, I... I can assure that I will not let you down again."

"That is correct.  For now, cease your operations at Yakusant, and meet me at Chesprela, where we will continue our discussion, in person, in the presence of Moff Kivost."

"Yes Lady Nimadda."
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:20, Sun 02 June 2019.

"What?" Jalt shakes his head and walks forward, hands outstretched to the sides, and empty, "Look, maybe we can talk this over and reach a reasonable agreement?  I can't do any work for Dargo without the Bantha."

"Dargo doesn't need you to work for him.  He'll soon have your ship, and he has a few people who can pilot it for him."

"Yeah... " Jalt keeps walking, hands still in clear sight.  "Maybe we can make a deal of our own?  I got a heap of credits from my last run.  You could tell Dargo that we fought our way out." a smile, and Jalt's right hand lashes out, balling into a fist that smashes into the thug's face.  He goes down, stunned...

"It wouldn't be a lie."

Hooting in glee, Juragga roused himself from his torpor and lashed out with a furry fist.  He was thrilled to have objects upon which to vent his rage.

10:52, Today: Juragga rolled 21 using 6 dice with the WEG Classic system with rolls of 2,1,6,{Wild}5,4,3.  brawling.

This isn't going to go well, Shard realizes as Jalt and the 'spokesman' speak.  They're not here to steal the ship; they're here to take possession of it after Jalt dies.  It's a small distinction, but an important one: there will be no talking them out of their plans.

Dargo wants Jalt dead.

Which means they're going to need to fight.  Which means...her team is in grave danger, with these numbers and in the open, despite Haarmon being ready in the ship.  Fingers trembling slightly, she grips cold, dead metal and waits, struggling to compose herself.  Something is going to snap in the talks, and soon.

It does.

Jalt puts his man down, and Juragga explodes like an enormous bomb, seeming to uncoil as he lunges to strike another of their would-be assailants with a fist.  Shard wishes she had that choice, but blasters are going to come out any second.  Contained lightning erupts from the rod she draws from within her robe; all she can do is try not to kill anyone.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:30, Mon 03 June 2019.

Rhijans had mentally been prepared for things to go sideways from the moment Shard had passed on Haarmon's message.  As soon as Jalt took his swing, Rhijans had his blaster out, circling away from the group, forcing the opposing group to scatter its focus, as he snapped off a pair of shots at the Human and Ortolan near the Bantha's tail-end.  He moved with an eye toward utilizing the landing struts of other ships as some kind of cover...that, or any sort of piled crates...

The waiting was the worst part. Now that everyone knew what was up, and he (Haarmon) had decided that there was nothing to be gained by starting the party early, all there was to do was wait.

You know there's going to shooting soon? Hurting people? Causing pain? On purpose? Maybe even killing? How you feeling about that? Can you shut off your Magic Baby Powers so you don't have to know about it? Can I help you in any way?

Now that he knew that, somehow, ethics were enforced by the very fabric of the cosmos, he was a lot more concerned for his own actions, concerned for the ways that his own choices reverberated out into the universe and what came back as a result.

That, and he didn't want the baby to be sad.

The fight escalates quickly, as Juragga uses his full Wookiee strength to send one of the Humans flying backwards into one of the Bantha's landing struts.  He slumps to the ferrocrete, still breathing, but raggedly.

Other attackers start to move forwards.  And stop dead as Shard activates her lightsaber.  The two Aqualish look at each other, do something that might be a shrug, and start to back away.

Looking for cover, Rhijans ducks behind a nearby cargo crate.

OOC: Currently only four attackers (two Humans, plus the Klatooinian and the Ortolan) seem still interested in fighting.

Well, that settled it, then.

Haarmon pushed the button to pop out the underbelly laser and went to town.

OOC: What's the roll on that?

There is a faint whine, barely audible over the sound of Shard's lightsaber, and a hatch opens under the Bantha's cockpit.  A light repeating blaster drops out and starts firing.

Sadly, Haarmon's skill with the weapon's targeting system is less than stellar, and he fails to hit any of Dargo's people...

Slightly less sadly, he also fails to hit any of his own team...

And definitely not sadly at all, trapped between a lightsaber and a weapon controlled by somebody they hadn't even suspected was still aboard the ship, Dargo's thugs decide that discretion is the better part of valour, and blind panic is the better part of discretion.

One of the Humans throws himself flat, diving for the ground directly below the blaster.  The other makes a dash for the Bantha's landing gear, hoping to find some cover behind the strut.  The Klatooinian and the Ortolan, meanwhile, just make a run for it, heading away from the ship in two very different directions.

Rhijans risked a glance around the cargo boxes he'd sheltered behind, and seeing the numbers have shifted decidedly in their favor, he comes out from his barricade, blaster up and firing at the human who tried hiding behind the landing gear, taking advantage of the man's fixation with the repeating blaster from the ship to get an angle on him.

Frustrated, tense, her nerves jangling, Shard struggles to find the balancing point...and fails, slipping toward its darker end.  But to her astonishment, the group of thugs decides discretion is the best choice, and breaks into retreating and fleeing individuals.  Was it Juragga's attack?  Surely they must have seen a Wookie before!

Or maybe, that darker part of her mind whispers with acid wisdom, they've seen a lightsaber in use.  Recently.

Whatever.  "I'm not looking a gift Bantha in the mouth," she mutters, then raises her voice.  "Let's move!" Rhijans is opening fire on one of the men; Shard draws her blaster with her free hand, aiming it in the general direction of the ones trying to hide behind the struts.

She holds her fire, as yet.

OOC - Going to head toward the ramp, while aiming at the pair who are hiding.

All in all, missing everyone was a great idea. Putting some fear into the mercs AND not taking a life where Ms.Senstivity Training could see him?

Not bad at all.

So good, in fact, that he started deliberately aiming the gun away from anyone and just shooting crates or the ground. Whatever he could do to keep everyone's head down.

Rhijans takes down the man behind the strut, easily enough, dropping him to the ground with a smoking hole in his head.  The one who had dived for safety in what he had clearly hoped was the turret's blind spot starts crawling away, having possibly realise that he is still in danger from anybody on the ground...

Shard keeps her blaster trained on the crawling man, while her lightsaber still manages to look menacing, even though she isn't actually doing much with the activated weapon, beyond sweeping it through a small arc and causing the blade to howl and crackle.

She gets to the ramp and finds it closed, and locked...

The small drop turret is still firing in a manner that one might almost think was completely random.  A crate about twenty metres away from the ship explodes, scattering burning plastic components across the ferrocrete.

Jalt draws his blaster and moves across to block the path of the crawling man, who stops and yells, "Don't shoot me!" before interlacing his fingers behind his head and just laying very, very, very still... well, unless you count the sobbing...
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:36, Sun 16 June 2019.

Rhijans walked over and settled one foot squarely on the man's back, pinning him down.  "You have one chance to live," he said in an icy tone.  "Tell us who put you up to attacking us."  He had his suspicions...

The thug squirms under Rhijans' boot, and eventually screams out, "He'll kill me if I tell you!"

Jalt crouches down and leans closer, with a grin at Rhijans.  "My friend will kill you if you don't tell us, and he's a lot closer than whoever you're afraid of." he says, his tone dead calm.

That stops the screaming, and the man twists his head round until he can manage to look at Rhijans out of the corner of one eye.  Most of what he sees is the muzzle of a blaster...

He wails, and bites at his lip.  Then he simply closes his eyes and whispers,"Barsh.  It was Barsh.  He figured that if he got Dargo Jalt's ship then his position would be safe for a good long time."

Rhijans nodded slightly.  "Yeah, I actually kinda expected that.  He was way too agreeable when we declined the second job for him.  I kinda wish I'd just shot him..."

He looked up at Jalt.  "He was trying to steal your ship, so it's your call..." he said, indicating with his blaster that 'he' was the guy under Rhijans' foot.

For his part, Juragga was content to loom menacingly.

"People kill for a credit, here," Shard states from the top of the ramp.  "There's a thousand out there just like this one.  Probably best not to take it personally.  Barsh, on the other hand..."  Hiring people to kill her people?  "Not a stupid move on his part, this idea.  Stupid was underestimating us, and that's going to come back to haunt him."  Going after the group, that's personal.  But they can deal with Barsh when they return, one way or the other.

Comlink gets flicked. ++ Haarmon, colonel, door's locked and Jalt's busy.  You want to open up for us? ++

The lightsaber, she flicks it off; best not to be waving it around at this point, though it got her a surprising amount of respect; in her experience, the usual first reaction in a place like this is laughter.  "Nimadda?" she wonders aloud.  Perhaps the Imperial 'primed the pump', so to speak.

Jalt shrugs, "I bet they've all killed their share of victims.  That would be why they were picked to take the Bantha - known to be able to stand up for themselves."  Out of site of the prone man he winks at Rhijans, and shakes his head no, "Kill him.  We'll leave his corpse here as a warn..."

"No!  Listen!  I can help you."  More frantic whispering.  "How would you like to get revenge on Barsh?  I know how you can do it."

"What do you think?  Do we have time to deal with Barsh, or should we just go with my plan?"  Jalt is finding it hard to keep a grin off his face.