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, welcome to STAR WARS - Episode IVa - Another Hope (SWd6 2e)

11:35, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den.

Posted by The ForceFor group 0
Juragga
player, 658 posts
Wookiee Warrior
Bringing the Boom
Sat 1 Aug 2020
at 04:46
  • msg #108

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

"Mrrrrmmmmph," Juragga commented.  Plenty of guns, but not the best overlapping coverage... can put up a decent fight, though.
Vekkis Lund
NPC, 25 posts
My other ship's a
star destroyer.
Tue 4 Aug 2020
at 20:17
  • msg #109

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Lund glances at Juragga, "Yeah... another reason I dislike her.  Needs support in a serious fight.  Gambit only has a single turret, but a turret is flexible, and I can upgrade if I decide she needs more protection."

"Well... it is what it is.  Guess we'll just have to hope that if somebody picks a fight with us, they don't come from one of our undefended arcs.  There's a reason the Imperials give these shuttles a fighter escort if they're carrying anything important."
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1485 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Wed 5 Aug 2020
at 01:52
  • msg #110

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Rhijans gave an audible exhale that might have been an amused snort of some kind.  "If we need to rely on this thing's offensive capabilities, something has gone incredibly wrong."  Things could go wrong, yes...but it had never been part of the plan, as he envisioned it, to use the shuttle for more than a cover going in.  If they had to fight their way out, he'd envisioned stealing something that was made to fight, as opposed to a nominally-armed people-mover.
The Force
GM, 1144 posts
These aren't the dice
rolls you're looking for.
Sun 9 Aug 2020
at 21:31
  • msg #111

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

The flight is short, just a couple of hours.  A couple of hours on an Imperial shuttle, designed for military operations, and lacking entertainment facilities.

Shard and Haarmon spend the time on lightsabre training.  Judging by the lack of death, maiming, and damage to the ship, the activity seems to go well...

Kara Hedine passes the time trying to learn a few simple words of Wookiee, with particular emphasis on things that might come up during the mission.  Things like "stormtroopers", "Imperials", "it's a trap!", "run for the ship!", and "we're all going to die!"

Lund and Rhijans, meanwhile, discuss plans for landing, though it soon becomes clear that if they are intending to pass themselves off as a legitimate Imperial transport, any detailed plans will rely on knowing their landing instructions from Traffic Control, an they won't know those until they are on approach.  The conclusion is obvious...  The plan is simply, "Get instructions from Control, and follow them to the letter.  Land safely."

Towards the end of the journey, disguises are donned, as necessary.

Vekkis Lund, now looking every bit an Imperial pilot announces, "Two minutes to Ord Mantell.  I hope we're all ready."
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1487 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Tue 11 Aug 2020
at 03:06
  • msg #112

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Rhijans didn't bother climbing back into the copilot's seat after donning most of the stormtrooper armor.  He'd wait to put on the helmet until they were actually on the deck and ready to pop the main hatch...but the rest of the armor was cumbersome enough that trying to squeeze into the copilot chair seemed only slightly less daunting than the prospect of getting back out of it after they'd touched down.

"When all else fails, just act like you're supposed to be doing whatever you're doing.  The Empire likes to think they're efficient...but like all bureaucracies, half the time, nobody is sure what everyone else is supposed to be doing.  We're only likely to be questioned if someone on board thinks we don't know what we're doing."
Shard
player, 1515 posts
Most days, I'm tired.
...or drunk.
Fri 14 Aug 2020
at 00:11
  • msg #113

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

It fits a tad better now, Shard muses.

The uniform was a tad too tight last time.  It's not perfect now, but at least she feels somewhat more like a strict imperial officer who might be frightening to disobey.  A few adjustments, and it might actually feel comfortable.

Horrifying thought.

Buttoning up her coat over the white undershirt, she wanders back into the region of the cockpit in time to catch Rhijans' final words.  "Yeah...just like that last time," Shard muses. "Of course, I'm not likely to be picked as Ghea Nimadda on this run."  A sour expression flits across her features. "Hopefully."  She had to practically scrub herself raw in the shower to get the greasy feeling off her body.

"Harmon." A flick of the wrist extends the murderstick in the tech's direction...deactivated, of course. "I can't be carrying this, but as a tech you have all kinds of tools.  Makes for good camouflage."  Her lips tighten in a nervous smile. "If things go bad, I'm hoping you'll toss it my way rather than wave it around...but if all else fails?"  She shrugs. "You at least know how to turn it on without impaling yourself."

With the cold, steely tube handed to her sometime student, the older woman pulls out a small hairband and begins drawing her long tresses back in a tail, more appropriate for an Imperial Officer.  At one time, they were a shining obsidian waterfall cascading down her back.  Now?  The obsidian has dulled, and ice threads its darkness.

Still long, though; far too long to be gathered into a bun.
Juragga
player, 662 posts
Wookiee Warrior
Bringing the Boom
Fri 14 Aug 2020
at 01:55
  • msg #114

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

As usual, Juragga adopted the slump-shouldered, defeated posture of a slave.

"GROoooowwwwwwfff," he commented.

It didn't need much translation.
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1491 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Fri 14 Aug 2020
at 03:16
  • msg #115

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Rhijans looked at the Wookiee.  He didn't understand the language...but the expression, even on a Wookiee, was pretty clear.  "Next time they send us in covert, like this, and the target is NOT an Imperial?  We'll set you up as some kind of crime boss."

It was a toss-up whether the words were meant as some kind of consolation...or as a threat of sorts.  After all, the thing about being nothing more than hired (or owned) help was that nobody considered you important enough to pay close attention to you...they were usually trying to either suck up to or browbeat whoever was 'the boss'...
The Force
GM, 1147 posts
These aren't the dice
rolls you're looking for.
Fri 14 Aug 2020
at 20:22
  • msg #116

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

The shuttle drops out of hyperspace, and an alarm starts chirping urgently.

Lund thumbs it off.  "Its good... just a proximity alert."  A low whistle as he looks up at the front viewport.  "And with good reason.  There's a lot of traffic out there."

He's right.  There are star destroyers, cruisers, transports... ships of all sizes and classifications.  And groups of TIEs  everywhere.  And in the midst of the swarm lies Ord Mantell...

Lund activates the comms system, "Shuttle Satazius requesting landing clearance."  The comms light goes off.  "Now we wait.  Looks like things might be busy."
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1492 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Sat 15 Aug 2020
at 02:22
  • msg #117

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Rhijans glanced out at the swarms of craft surrounding their destination.  "For this, busy is good. If they have enough traffic coming and going, nobody will even look at us twice."  There was quiet assurance in his voice...if he was at all disturbed by the number of ships in the area, it didn't show.
The Force
GM, 1148 posts
These aren't the dice
rolls you're looking for.
Sun 16 Aug 2020
at 20:36
  • msg #118

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Th response is faster, perhaps, than expected.  Less than a minute after the clearance request, a calm, efficient voice asks, "Satazius, confirm your identification code."

Lund taps out the code on the comms panel.

"Clearance granted.  Transmitting landing directions now."

Lund, watches the instructions running across the display panel, and swings the shuttle onto the correct vector for the first stage of the descent.  "Fifteen minutes until we hit the field." he announces.
Shard
player, 1517 posts
Most days, I'm tired.
...or drunk.
Mon 17 Aug 2020
at 15:02
  • msg #119

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

"Not such a bad thing," Shard notes.  With an effort, she calms herself to the point where she won't be dripping with sweat upon arrival.  "Business as usual tends to mean we're not triggering any warning flags."

A long, internal struggle follows the optimistic assessment; finally, the field is taken by Pessimism.

"Unless they're using the time to prepare a good welcome," the older woman sighs.
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1493 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Mon 17 Aug 2020
at 17:49
  • msg #120

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Rhijans gave Shard a look, then a tight-lipped grin that showed no teeth and somehow managed to look emotionlessly amused for just a moment.  "The Empire doesn't generally do quiet and subtle very well.  Not in this kind of operation, anyway.  If we were hitting a Destab center or an ISB compound, I might be concerned.  Something like this?  If they thought there was something amiss, they'd just blow us out of the sky and be quit with it...too much traffic to tie up the resources for a baited booby-trap for that long."  If he was at all unsure of the assessment, it didn't color his voice at all...it was another dispassionate assessment on a pragmatic level.

"That said, we don't know for sure what Alliance Intel managed to slip into the fake orders...so be ready for anything."
Juragga
player, 663 posts
Wookiee Warrior
Bringing the Boom
Mon 17 Aug 2020
at 17:52
  • msg #121

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Juragga frowned and uttered a Wookiee warble.  The obligatory, I have a bad feeling about this...
The Force
GM, 1150 posts
These aren't the dice
rolls you're looking for.
Wed 19 Aug 2020
at 21:38
  • msg #122

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Kara Hedine looks at Juragga curiously, "What does... something about the weather... have to do with anything?  Or was it a rotten tree?"  Apparently she needs more lessons in Wookiee...

Vekkis Lund spares Juragga a grin.  "A bad feeling is usually part of the plan for Alliance operations."  Then he leans forward, peering through the viewport.

"Uh oh... that's one of those Super star destroyers."  The ship in question hangs amid a group of more usual star destroyers, dwarfing them.

"I'm starting to get a bad feeling too."

Nonetheless, he holds the ship on its appointed course, doing everything within his power to not alert the sizeable military presence in the system.

After what seems like an interminable length of time, with no less than three groups of TIEs passing by very closely, but not taking any apparent interest, the shuttle enters the upper atmosphere, with a thin whispering of wind across the hull.

Below the port spreads across a hundred kilometres or more of the planet's surface, with structures stretching kilometres into the air, warning beacons flashing to warn approaching vessels of the navigation hazard.

And finally, the shuttle touches down on a docking platform attached to the side of a tower, and a hundred metres above ground level...

Lund points at the viewport.  "They're building a star destroyer over there, by the looks of it.  If we get a chance when we leave, I wouldn't mind putting a crimp in that project."
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1494 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Thu 20 Aug 2020
at 03:06
  • msg #123

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Rhijans nodded.  "The plan, such as it is, involves us creating what chaos we can to obfuscate our departure.  If you can find a way to mess with that project that doesn't involve direct action on our part, I'm all for it...but we're hoping to not end up trying to shoot our way out of here, if at all possible, for pretty obvious reasons."

He settled the stormtrooper helmet over his head, his voice taking on the tinny resonance of the helmet's mic system.  "We'll see what kind of opportunities present themselves."
The Force
GM, 1151 posts
These aren't the dice
rolls you're looking for.
Mon 24 Aug 2020
at 20:02
  • msg #124

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Rain patters, briefly, against the screen, causing Lund to comment, "I put her down as close to the tower as I could.  It'll just be a short dash across the platform to get to shelter.  Or cover."

Karra Hedine frowns at the view, "It might be harder than I expected to find Najdo.  I never realised how big the port would be."

Lund groans, "I was hoping you'd know where he is."
Juragga
player, 664 posts
Wookiee Warrior
Bringing the Boom
Mon 24 Aug 2020
at 21:08
  • msg #125

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Juragga gave Hedine a pained look.  "RuhhhRRRAAAgggh," he commented.  I'm not even drunk yet, I can't be that hard to understand. 
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1495 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Tue 25 Aug 2020
at 06:02
  • msg #126

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Rhijans shrugged, the motion barely visible in the armor.  "We just need a few minutes at a computer terminal, I should think.  Personnel assignments shouldn't be THAT restricted...unless he's working on some high-security program here.  But even if we can find out what department he's working in, we should be able to bluff our way in there.Getting out again could be trickier... he told himself, but didn't say anything aloud about it.  There was always a way.  You just had to look hard enough...or be willing to do something so recklessly suicidal that the Empire never thought to prepare against it.  But there was always a way.
Shard
player, 1518 posts
Most days, I'm tired.
...or drunk.
Tue 25 Aug 2020
at 14:19
  • msg #127

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Super star destroyer...don't know where their target is...the headache is already building.  Shard isn't too sanguine about taking a chance on putting a 'crimp' in the construction of yet another Star Destroyer; unless they can blow the whole thing up, it's just a slow-down on a single ship of a navy that already dwarfs the rebellion.  That's a lot of danger for very little payoff, and the point here is to get in, get the tech who can save You-Why, and get out again.

THeir companion is counting on them.

But she'll bring that up later, if need be; right now, her biggest concern is that Super Star Destroyer.  "I've only heard of a couple of people who might have access to that kind of ship," she mutters as they prepare. "Haarmon; you're up for the computer work, naturally, but word of caution: right now isn't the time to be testing the stuff you've been training in."  Her grimace speaks volumes. "Some people are sensitive enough to pick that kind of thing up.  People like Ghea Nimadda."

And worse.

She grins at Juragga.  "Maybe it's your accent; South Shore is always pretty distinctive."
Juragga
player, 665 posts
Wookiee Warrior
Bringing the Boom
Tue 25 Aug 2020
at 15:51
  • msg #128

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

Juragga was frowning during the whole discussion of Star Destroyers, and even winced at the mention of Nimadda.  But at Shard's last comment he raised a brow in surprise.

"Growwwf? Ruuuurgggh!"

You can tell that?  I'm impressed!

The Force
GM, 1152 posts
These aren't the dice
rolls you're looking for.
Wed 26 Aug 2020
at 20:16
  • msg #129

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

"If it comes down to it," Lund volunteers, "you could probably connect to the yard's network from here and get the information you need."

"But that might give the Imperials access to the ship's computer, at which point they would probably realise we aren't who we say we are, so I'd prefer to leave that as a last resort."

He shrugs, "At least in a place like this there should be plenty of terminals about, so it shouldn't be a problem, especially not for a resourceful group like this.  The good news is, this is a busy port, so they probably see some strange stuff, and a group like this shouldn't draw too much attention, even with a Wookiee tagging along."

"Just keep moving, and try to look like you're too busy to stop and answer trivial questions."

Outside the shuttle a shaft of bluish sunlight, shining through a break in the fast moving clouds, sweeps across the jumbled arrays of structures and parked ships.  On another platform, some distance away, tiny figures in gleaming white armour can be seen standing guard around what looks to be a work team unloading cargo from a transport ship...

"Oh good, stormtroopers... at least we know we're in the right place." Vekkis Lund quips, with a wry smile...
Rhijans Thanus
player, 1496 posts
Just let me do my job and
nobody else gets hurt.
Thu 27 Aug 2020
at 05:09
  • msg #130

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

"I thought the Star Destroyers had already cleared that one up," Rhijans replied...and if it was difficult to tell whether he was making a joke when he was in his normal attire, it was downright impossible with the inscrutable exterior that the stormtrooper armor presented.

"No time for sight-seeing.  We have important business to attend to."  He started off...even if he hadn't had previous experience with Imperial installations, the steady flow of people getting off shuttles and transports and heading indoors served as a pretty clear indicator of the fastest path into the building...
The Force
GM, 1153 posts
These aren't the dice
rolls you're looking for.
Sun 30 Aug 2020
at 20:03
  • msg #131

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

From the ramp, the entrance to the tower is clearly visible, and easy to spot, surrounded by red lamps and standing open.  Just inside a security checkpoint is visible, manned by two Imperial officers, and protected by at least four stormtroopers.

The officers look bored, or maybe they're trying for "stern and busy"...

They barely glance at the shuttle, even when the hatch opens.
Shard
player, 1519 posts
Most days, I'm tired.
...or drunk.
Mon 31 Aug 2020
at 01:31
  • msg #132

Part 24 - One flew over the mynock den

"Aha.  Let's try to keep the jokes to a minimum," Shard mutters.  "For one thing, I'm pretty sure joking is against Imperial regulations.  For another, I could go into hysterical laughter." A ghost of a smile touches her lips.  "Not likely with the caliber of the humor, but everyone gets lucky once."

Her gaze flicks toward the tower and its security entrance.  "Nice of them to keep it well-lit," she muses.  "So this is the part we just walk in, spit out our orders, and keep on going?  Hopefully without any random searches or the like?"

Rhijans seems to think so; with a mental shrug and a tightening of her breath, Shard begans her own march in that direction.  All the while, she's focusing herself on finding that inner balance between acid and alkaline, between fire and frost.  Get yourself calm, Shard.  You're of no good to anyone if you're almost sick from the tension.

Which...had happened once.  Being fair, she'd also been more than tipsy.
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