Night time was fast approaching, Coruscant's lights slowly lighting up around the Jedi Temple as a small shuttle landed on the temple's landing pad. Kal Wennyn looked at his chrono and the instructions he'd received, re-reading the one line of text there. He was being summoned to one of the temple's conference chambers, and had 15 minutes to make his way there.

He quietly made his way to one of the turbolifts and entered when the doors hissed open, admitting him and a Claire, before the doors hissed shut again.

The lift stopped a few floors up to accept a few more individuals, padawans mostly, but among them was another that didn't done the Jedi Robes. This one was a blood carver, and it considered Claire and Kal with mild interest as the doors closed behind it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:04, Mon 03 Jan 2011.

Kal was dressed in a spotless and pressed working uniform of the Republic Navy, his lieutenant's insignia displayed on the collar. As always, the rest of his appearance was neat, in this case, dark hair trimmed and face clean-shaven. When he entered the turbolift, his smile faltered slightly.

He looked around at the others in the turbolift, and began to get a slight queasiness in his stomach.  He had been to many places in the galaxy, and seen some things that still gave him nightmares.  But nothing was more difficult to him than a silent ride up or down a turbolift.

Kal had always been a talkative sort of fellow, enjoying chats with folk of all sorts of species. Yet when the turbolift door closed, everyone seemed to abide by some sort of unwritten rule that polite denizens of the galaxy don't talk on turbolifts. He tried to calm himself through breathing exercises that he had learned in the military, but they were really no use.

Eventually, something inside of him broke, and he opened his mouth, "So...how is everyone doing this evening?" It was an awkward opening from a man who was usually anything but awkward in a social situation.

The humm of the turbolift accentuated the awkward silence that followed, thankfully interrupted when the lift came to a stop and the doors hissed open, revealing the Jedi Temple's lower levels.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:47, Wed 05 Jan 2011.

Kal exited and glanced around the corridor, noticing the two republic army personel standing watch in front of a door. 'Ahh... that must be the place,' he thought as he walked over towards the sentries. "I love the way the Republic Army stands guard, even here in the bowels of Jedi Temple," he said out loud.

Inside, turmoil roiled within Kel. How embarrassing it was to try to break the silence in a Turbolift, yet be completely ignored. His rejoinder concerning the Republic Army was meant to cover his embarrassment. Against normal sentients that would work. Around Jedi....not so much. But maybe these were only mediocre Jedi or ones that couldn't sense his embarrassment. At any rate, the security of a meeting room would be his temporary sanctuary.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:49, Wed 05 Jan 2011.

The seasoned bountyhunter simply stood still in response to Kal's attempt at making pleasantries.  She rolled her eye... just one because the other wasn't capable of such fine motor movements.  Fortunately for the other occupants of the turbolift who might be disturbed by the gesture, she wore the opaque sunshield of her Armored Flight Suit's helmet down so that no one could see anything except for a red glow shining from the right side of her face about where her right eye should be.  The only other movement she makes is equally small, but much more significant.  She flicked off the safety on her N'Gant-Zarvel 9118 Heavy Carbine.  Otherwise she didn't make any threatening gestures with the heavy carbine.  She kept it pointed casually down at the floor.  That would be the bountyhunter way of saying they don't like small talk.  The rest of her body-language remained casual; holding onto her Force Pike with one hand and leaning on it like a walking stick.

As the group moved towards the door and the sentries, both suddenly stood at attention, their combat boots resounding up and down the hallway, accompanied by the rattle their riffles made. "Sorry, sir," one of the sentries said as they noticed Kal's rank, "authorized personel only, sir. Unless you have instructions to the contrary, we can't allow you into the conference room."

"That's alright sergeant... Let them through," came a gruff voice from inside the room. To Kal's surprise the door wasn't closed; beyond was a team of military techs sweeping the room with various devices. Waiting patiently at the table for the team to finish was a woman whose back was turned towards you as well an officer in a general's uniform.

The sentry nodded to Kal as he stood out of the door's way, "You can go ahead, sir," he said appoligetically.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:31, Wed 05 Jan 2011.

Kal nodded at the sentry who had granted him access.  "Thank you, sergeant."

He walked into the room and paused a meter inside the door where he made his body rigid as he stood at attention.

"Lieutenant Wennyn reporting as ordered, General."

He would remain like this, unmoving and silent, until released by his superior officer.

Mi had remained silent on the lift just having nothing to say about anything that was being said.  He was a man of few words and chose to keep his opinions to himself most of the time.  His long dark brown coat covered most of his body, his light yellow face mostly concealed behind a wide brimmed hat. There were no weapons that could be seen, and the fluidity of his movements  spoke of a being that had been through the most intense training.

He proceeded to the door when the turbolift reached the level in question and continued on through should the sentries let him.  In truth he didn’t need to wait for them to let him pass but he chose to let them let him.

"At ease, lieutenant," the General said with a nod, "Sergeant, let the others come in," he adds as the techs finish scanning the room. With a nod to the General, the techs are dismissed and the doors close soundly behind you. "Come, sit. I am General Crix Madine," he says by way of introduction, "this is Jedi Master Leia Skywalker," he adds and Jedi Master Leia smiles softly at you, quieting whatever concerns you might have had.



This message was last edited by the GM at 01:22, Thu 06 Jan 2011.

At seeing Crix Madine, Kal's mind started to try to put the pieces together.  If the Commando General himself had requested Kal's involvement, then his previous intelligence gathering work must have been noticed by someone. Perhaps his unique skillset was required for something rather important if a Republic General and a Jedi Master were involved.

Upon being commanded to be at ease, Kal moved his left foot forty centimeters to the left and placed his hands behind his back, grabbing the left wrist with right hand. He looked at the general and then Leia. "Master Skywalker, General Madine." he said as a greeting. Normally a general would be given top billing, but he hoped that Crix wouldn't take offense at being put after the Jedi Master.

Once he is ordered to sit, Kal responded, "Aye, sir." before he walked toward the table. Kal recognized that there is a lady present and dutifully pulled out a chair for Claire, with a smile as he did so.

Once she had seated herself, Kal would take his own seat.

Once everyone is finally seated, General Madine seems satisfied and nods to the Jedi Master. Thumbing another switch on a strange device, he sets it in the center of the chamber where it begins to pulse sofly. "Now, that our conversation can occur in secrecy, let us begin," he says with a grin as he waves for Master Leia Skywalker to begin.

"Thank you, General. Everyone," she says with a smile. "As you might all know by now, my brother Luke disappeared from the temple roughly three years ago. What the Temple has kept out of the media all these years is that he left a dead Jedi Historian, before disappearing from the Temple with all his personal belongings as well as an ancient jedi artefact we found on Telos. After months spent fruitlessly searching for him, the Jedi Council had no choice but to inform the Senate of Luke's troubling disappearance. This sparked a series of heated debates, as many older Senators remember Palpatine and Dooku's respective betrayals. Needless to say that I spent a great deal of effort trying to assuage fears after rumors ignited of another Jedi-led coup.

"Roughly a year after my brother's disappearance, I started having troubling visions of him, swathed in shadows, and I now fear that he may have begun delving into the dark side. I am particularly concerned since the artefact he stole was in fact Sith holocron that we'd only just started to catalogue," she explained, a pained expression crossing her beautiful features.


Sensing that he should intercede, General Madine started filling in the details of the investigation at the onset of Master Skywalker's disappearance. "In sum, it revealed nothing. It's as if he left the galaxy. And then, just a few weeks ago, Republic Military Intelligence received a communique from an agent on a remote outer-rim world. The agent claimed he'd seen Luke Skywalker on the planet. Let me tell you, that we were quite surprised, and we don't hold much credence to the report, but investigate we must. This is where you come in," he said. "So far, any questions?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:41, Fri 07 Jan 2011.

Being at the Jedi Temple, Claire didn't see much harm in walking around with a "hot" blaster.  After all, Jedi shouldn't see much harm from a blaster.  They could sense the danger and be prepared to draw lightsaber and deflect any shots.  Concern for their inability to do so was furthest from Claire's mind.  But once she saw the guards, then she saw the merit on flicking the safety on her blaster back on.  They obviously would have different feelings about a "hot" blaster in the presence of the general they were there to protect.

Once inside, Kal did another thing that struck Claire as unwelcome.  At first it just seemed odd to pull a chair out and then not sit in it.  This resulted in few moments of them staring at each other and her not comprehending the gesture.  This lead to feelings of discomfort, which were not welcome.  Eventually this stare down come to an end when Claire decided that he's the officer and she's the expendable bountyhunter.  That means he pulls rank on her, and thus she should be the one to back down first.  In this case, backing down being taking the seat and thus putting herself in the weaker position should a fight break out.  Of course, she knew that this was a considered a polite gesture among Humans.  She had seen her father do it once for her mother... only once.  She slugged him.  To this day she still regards what Humans call "polite" behavior toward women as only an attempt to weaken them in social situations.  Her muscled tensed as she felt prepared to slug Kal for publicly belittling her.  But then she remembered she was in the presence of many more Humans who are too foolish to see things her way.

Once that uncomfortable situation was out of the way, she sat still and listened to what was much more comfortable to her: a mission briefing.  Usually the background on the mission given doesn't matter a whole lot to her task.  Claire never questions why anyone does the wrong thing that warrants a warrant.  It's always for doing one stupid thing or another.  In this case it's a Jedi Master who killed a historian and took something that didn't belong to him.  The only thing different about this than the usual bounty she'd take was the fact that it was a Jedi Master.

Once the general and Leia are done saying their fill and entertaining questions, one immediately comes to Claire's mind.  "Wait, if Luke murdered that historian a year ago and ran off, why are you only now doing something about it?  Have you been cutting him a break because... what?  He's your brother?  Or he's a Jedi Master?  That's not really a question.  I know Jedi Masters are always given the... How you say?  Reason of the doubt?  Even though they should be held to a higher standard and never given that second chance.  I'm just asking why you gave him so much time to get ahead of justice?  What, because you started having visions now?  Or was it just stupidity?  I tell you, you don't need Jedi visions to tell you someone has gone bad.  Killing a historian should have been your first and only clue.  What harm could a historian do to him?  Bore him to death?", Claire asks in too many words for the crux of her actual question.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:40, Fri 07 Jan 2011.

Kal had been pleased when Claire finally accepted her seat. He could sense extreme appreciation in the way she paused before accepting his chivalry. Despite her silence on the turbolift, Kal knew that deep down, Claire really liked him. He let that happy thought dance around inside his brain as he took his seat and listened to the Jedi woman and General Madine talk about a lost Jedi Master.

When questions were requested, Kal looked up from the datapad on which he was taking notes. Before he could ask any questions, Claire began to speak, and Kal smiled as he turned his face toward her.

Her questions were nothing if not probing, though she didn't seem to have much tact. Given her demeanor, that wasn't too much of a surprise. He avoided chuckling at the joke about the deceased only being able to bore people to death. He didn't think the others in the room would find much humor in that question. Since Claire had already asked several questions, Kal simply turned back toward Crix and Leia to get their thoughts on what Claire had to say.

Mi listened to everything before taking a chair himself.  He sighed shaking his head slightly. How common it was for bounty hunters to jump to conclusions.  There was no question in his mind that this woman was a bounty hunter or never enough for his mind to count her as one.

"My dear did you not hear them say that they did pursue him immediately?  I believe that the master said clearly they spend month fruitlessly searching for him."  His tone was condescending he did nothing to hide it.

It had bothered him that Master Luke Skywalker had killed a historian before his leaving.  It troubled him as historians were the keeper of knowledge and understanding. Such a treasure should not be slaughtered without good reason.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:33, Sat 08 Jan 2011.

"Quite so," Madine said nodding at Mi Truev, though Master Leia seemed unphased by the accusations. "No leaf was left unturned and absolutely no special arrangements were made for Former Master Skywalker. However, this particular mission must remain confidential. The Senate must rightfully be informed immediately if we do confirm that Skywalker has resurfaced, but not until we are absolutely certain, doing otherwise would unnecessarily incite conflict.

"Speaking of which," grumbled the General, "the Republic has paid many agents on many worlds. This particular informant is called Ulu Teem. He is a Gran… a merchant whose loyalties we purchased some time ago. He’s been our eyes and ears on many worlds, but after a recent dereliction of duty, has been relegated to Koshibal. Because of this ... unreliability, we've concerns with the authenticity of the report," the general explained. "We'd need you to go to Kosibal, contact Ulu Teem and see if you can either confirm or deny the intel, or even better, follow the leads and find Master Skywalker."
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:01, Sat 08 Jan 2011.

"If we find Master Skywalkwer, our orders are to monitor and detain if the opportunity arises?" The voice came from the main entrance of the room, where a new woman joined the group.  Beautiful with striking black hair and lighter colored eyes, she strode confidently into the room where the meeting was being held.  If it was not clear by her robes, the two lightsabers clipped to her waist were enough to identify her as a Jedi. "Sorry for my tardiness, I was held up in the lobby."

Once a part of the group, she looked around.  By her expression, she seemed rather confident about her appraisal of the situation - that she thought that detaining Luke Skywalker would be something they could do easily.  Then again, with four of them - one being her, of course - it was a possibility, especially if Luke was innocent.  "Well?"

Kal turned his head toward the interrupter of the meeting. It appeared that a Jedi would be joining them on this mission, which ought to increase substantially their chances of success.

Once the surprise of the newcomer's arrival had worn off, Kal flashed the lady a smile before turning back toward the general and Jedi Master for their answer. He added a question of his own.  "Do you have any further information about Ulu? Perhaps something that would make him more willing to answer our questions if he is initially resistant, or perhaps some way of demonstrating to him that we speak with the authority of Republic?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:11, Sat 08 Jan 2011.

Madine turned to face the latest arrival and arched his eyebrow at Jedi Master Leia who simply smiled disarmingly. "I suppose you are Mirax Bey then, the Order's representative on this mission," he grumbled, "please have a seat."

"For the moment your mission is to go to Kosibal, contact Ulu Teem and see if you can either confirm or deny the intel, or even better, follow the leads and find Skywalker's whereabouts. Once you find him, you should not engage him directly. You should notify us at the first opportunity once you do confirm the rumor; we will then close in to help bring him to justice," he added, before turning his attention on Lieutenant Wennyn.

"Which is why, for the time being, this mission must remain confidential and why Republic Military Intelligence wants a pair of eyes on site. This will be you, of course. Ulu Teem should be cooperative once you make it clear to him that you are from RMI, but I'm afraid you can only trust him so far... so be careful."

Kal scooted his chair over a tad to make room for Mirax to join them. For clarification, Kal repeated back to the general, "If I understand your orders, sir, we are to contact him and I'm to let him know that I'm RMI to gain what information we can. However, we are not to try to capture him, rather leaving that to a team that you are putting together. Knowledge of our mission should only be given to other sentients on a 'need-to-know' basis."

Kal switched from repeat-back mode to question mode. "Do we have any other assets on Koshibal we should be aware of sir? Also, being RMI you know I'm greedy for intelligence, knowing that it often saves lives - in this case ours. Any further information that can be provided about Ulu's tendencies, personality, associates, and the like could be useful to our mission."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:23, Sat 08 Jan 2011.

Mi sat in his chair observing everything that was happing in the room.  He looked over the new jedi that entered the room  his eyes settling on her pair of lightsabers for a moment.  He wondered for a moment what she considered herself in the ranks of the jedi.  He let the though pass from his mind almost as quickly as it had come, it was not his place to judge only to observe.  He had nothing to add to the mission briefing merely listening to the questions and answers.   He preferred gaining his own intelligencer rather then relying on that of others.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:16, Mon 10 Jan 2011.

Claire leans back in her chair.  She crosses her legs and laces her fingers together in a casual but thoughtful manner.  "Tried, you say?  Left no leaf unturned, you say?  Have you ever looked at a forest?  There is no end of leaves to turn.  The Galaxy is a forest.  If you didn't turn up anything before, it is because you didn't try hard enough.  Or perhaps you were only turning the leaves of a certain species of tree and ignoring all the others.  Surely in all your searching you must have come up with some other intel; something you didn't consider reliable because it came from an unconfirmed source?", she asks making it sound like a more legitimate question compared to her last one.

Mirax found herself taking an immediate dislike to the woman - Claire - as she spoke up.  By what she said, it was very clear she had never dealt with Republic Intelligence, or the Jedi before.  Or, if she had... she hadn't been paying attention.  "Yeesh, who hired her?" she said, rolling her eyes a bit.  "You've never dealt with Jedi before, have you?  The Republic Intelligence is among the best in the galaxy in this area.  However, even they are not well suited to hunting down Jedi.  And I'll remind you it is not just any Jedi we are trying to find - it is a Jedi Master, one of the best.  The best we could hope for is a planet.  Any more specific leads he could tell us now will have dried up by the time we get there."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:55, Mon 10 Jan 2011.

The general turned his attention to Kal, "Yes, exactly. You have a firm understanding of the situation and of the mission parameters. One thing I should underline is that we'd like you to send us updates whenever there are new developments. With respect to Koshibal, I'm afraid that we don't have any other resources out there. You'll be on your  own. As  to Ulu's psychological profile… let's just say that Ulu is a spice merchant and has been on the Republic Payroll since the end of the Clone Wars. He was responsible for three Hutt worlds, but his addiction to his own product has cost him much – and he’s been relegated to that backwater planet ever since."

The general seemed pleased by Kal's line of questioning, but Claire's obviously struck a nerve. "Madame, keep your anger for Skywalker himself, the Senate has given everyone enough of a good roasting about that since. We certainly don't need more of the same from you. What matters is that Skywalker has perhaps resurfaced and now's the time to swoop in and arrest him. Everything else is irrelevant," Madine said stiffly before nodding at Mirax.

"Indeed. She wasn't chosen for her diplomatic skills, that is certain," Madine said wrily, "however, as unfamiliar as she with diplomacy, she excells at Dosh Ball, and has significant experience with gladiatoral rings and teams, which might be worth the headache given that the hutts love bloodsports," he said.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:50, Mon 10 Jan 2011.

Kal quirked an eyebrow as he looked at Claire, even more attracted to her than when he had first met her. Dosh Ball? What an amazing woman!

He nodded to the general as Crix confirmed Kal's understanding, and once the general had finished, he responded, "A spice dealer, eh sir? Hm." Kal stroked his clean-shaven chin as his mind started to work on the spice dealer angle briefly. He then responded again to the general, "How do you plan to insert us onto Koshibal, sir? And when do we leave?"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:52, Tue 11 Jan 2011.

"I'm afraid that time is of the essence and that you will have to leave at the first opportunity. We have a lead, slim as it is, and we have to act quickly in order to follow the trail, if there is one to be followed. Plus, if you leave with the cover of darkness, it should keep you out of the limelight long enough to leave Coruscant incognito," the general explained.

"We’ve arranged passage for you on a cargo transport, The Black Comet. Its captain is a Duros called Pugwis who's worked for us before, and is a decent pilot who knows the outer rim. We’ve promised him an escort as well… which doubles as his payment. Well… you'll see what I mean. You can find him in his favorite hangout here on Coruscant… the Rodian's Kiss. Meet him this evening and make arrangements for departure. He's expecting you, but he won't be returning you home... Once you’ve finished in Koshibal, our agent Ulu can arrange transport for you."
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:17, Tue 11 Jan 2011.

Kal again glanced at his chrono. "Since it's already evening, sir, then we should be on our way, unless there is any more information you wish to provide. I'll also need to quickly change attire if you want me to leave incognito." Kal stood from his seat, prepared to be dismissed.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:47, Tue 11 Jan 2011.

Interesting... no planned return.  I could understand a lack of a date, but no ship or pilot?  It was almost as if they weren't expected to return.  This was a fairly defeatist way of looking at the situation, but she had to consider the reasoning for wanting them to leave at night as well.  Sure, they wanted to avoid media coverage, but a Jedi and three other select individuals would not draw attention to begin with.  Mirax knew better than to be suspicious of General Madine though - all she had heard of him told her he was a respectable man.  She didn't have to trust Republic Intelligence though.

So, Mirax settled on the suspicions that RI had given the mission a very low survivability rate, something to keep in mind. Perhaps they had already found Luke Skywalker, but had determined that he was beyond the point of redemption - that it wasn't worth the risk to send in their own operatives.  She kept her ideas silent, though Leia would likely be able to sense her suspicion through the Force.  It was difficult to hide.

Sensing that the meeting draws to a close, General Madine gets up: "Good fortune, everyone. I'll expect regular progress reports from Kal over the standard RMI coded holonet channels as things progress." At which point Master Leia simply smiles, and softly - but with a great deal of controlled emotion - admonishes the team to be mindful.

"I love my brother a great deal, and I wish for his return more than anything, but if he is now walking a dark path, he could be very dangerous. If you do encounter  Luke - please do NOT to engange him. Simply report the discovery immediately to General Madine." With a soft tear and a smile, she adds, "May the Force be with you."

Kal nodded at General Madine. "I will provide regular reports as the mission allows, sir." He then turned to the teary-eyed Leia. "We will not engage your brother, ma'am. As soon as we find him, General Madine will know."

With that, Kal stood at attention. He said goodbye with nothing more than "By your leave, general, Master Skywalker." before turning on his heel and heading for the door, and the gaping maw of the fearsome turbolift that waited beyond.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:29, Wed 12 Jan 2011.

"May the Force be with you, Master Skywalker," Mirax replied.  She had great respect for Leia, and knew that she would need the blessing more than she would on her mission.  Luke was her only family, after all.  Then, dipping her head in a light bow to her and the General, Mirax strode off behind Kal towards the turbolift.  She held her head high - this mission was to be her test for knighthood, or so she hoped.  If she was successful... then she would no longer be a padawan in the Order.

"Fine, I won't try to apprehend Skywalker if I see him.  But he's no fool.  He may figure out that we're following him.  In which case... well, I'm glad I have no particular attachment to any of my limbs.  I just hope The Republic provides good health insurance.", says Claire by way of confirmation of her instructions.

Once clear of the room, Kal headed to the turbolift and paused before he used the call button to request the next available lift. As he waited, he used his datapad to search for information on the Rodian's Kiss. As Mirax approached, he straightened and put the datapad in his left hand by his hip and extended his right to her in greeting. He smiled as he said, "Lieutenant Kal Wennyn, ma'am."

Mirax wasn't surprised at Kal's politeness.  She had already judged him to be a respectable man.  Arriving at the lifts, she shook his hand firmly, and returned the greeting, even though she had already been introduced by the General.  "Mirax Bey, Jedi Padawan... for now, anyway."

Kal nodded at the response, and his smile widened. "It is a great pleasure to meet a respected member of the Order, Jedi Bey. I take it that you are well on your way to knighthood, then?" Kal asked, presuming that was what her somewhat cryptic reference meant.

"That's the plan, yes.  If this mission goes well, it should be my ticket to knighthood." She glanced back at the other two members of their group, the thick-headed woman and the Blood Carver.  Despite their flaws, both would likely be useful in the coming mission.  "Oh, and since we're going to be working together, just call my Mirax."

Kal nodded. "When this mission goes well, I'll make certain that Master Skywalker knows that success was entirely your fault." Kal smiled at his own statement before asking, "So how long have you been with the Jedi Order, Mirax?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:54, Wed 12 Jan 2011.

Mirax noted his optimism.  Being a bit of a realist though, she didn't exactly share it.  It was Master Luke Skywalker they were dealing with... the success of their mission depended on this whole thing being some form of misunderstanding.  If he really didn't want to be found, they likely wouldn't find him - not on their terms anyway.

"Since I was young," she replied.  "Like most Jedi my age, really.  They say the younger you are when you start, the easier it is to train you.  You been with Intelligence for very long?"


[Private to GM: My bad.]
This message was last edited by the player at 20:54, Wed 12 Jan 2011.

Kal chuckled at her question about his own history. "It seems that we are somewhat kindred spirits, Mirax. Officially I have been RMI since I was fifteen or so.  However, I've been an unofficial part of it since birth. Both my parents are RMI and have been since the end of the Separatist movement. I learned much from them, and sought to join as soon as I was of age. There was little resistance by RMI, given my skillset, experience, and parentage."

He rubbed his chin and looked back to the room they had left as if he could see though the walls. "So what do you know about Leia Skywalker? Have you trained with her much?"

[Private to GM: In case you are wondering about the part that was removed, it follows here (Mirax had said Luke started training when he was older before editing it out):

Kal paused before he turned back to the question that still bounced around his mind, "Speaking of parentage, I didn't realize Luke Skywalker didn't start as a Jedi when he was young. I would have thought that given what happened with his father, the Order would have avoided again training someone who might have developed emotional attachments before becoming a Jedi. Perhaps everything I know about the Jedi is wrong, you will have to enlighten me during our long trip. I had thought that Anakin Skywalker having a child at all was forbidden. Or maybe it's just marriage. Are you allowed to reproduce as long as you don't get married?" Kal had a confused look on his face, but was glad that he would be able to straighten out his knowledge of the Order with a real, live Jedi who was going to be trapped on a ship with him in hyperspace for a nice, long trip to the Outer Rim.]
This message was last edited by the player at 21:19, Wed 12 Jan 2011.

Mirax held her tongue.  She and Kal were not as closely related in spirit as he thought, in her mind.  She did not share the grace of knowing her parents, nor could she say she as following in their footsteps - not for certain, anyway.  Not yet.

"When I was younger, yes.  Less so in recent years.  I believe she spends more time teaching the younger padawans." When addressing Leia in person, Mirax would always call her Master Skywalker, like she had her brother. But, that would only cause confusion in the current conversation.  "Leia... she is a woman more than worthy of the respect she gets.  You saw her back there - even you could tell how strong she is in spirit.  And as a Jedi... I needn't say more than she is her brother's sister, and her father's daughter.  If you understand me."  It shouldn't have been hard.  The Skywalker name was probably one of the most well known names in the galaxy at this point, though Mirax's perspective may have been skewed a bit, as she had a direct link to it through the Order.

Kal nodded. "Yes, even one that cannot peer into another with the Force, such as I, can see how strong she is. Though even one with such substantial mental fortitude cannot deny the familial ties that bind her spiritually to her brother. By your statement, the entire Skywalker clan seems as powerful as it is troubled. That the family exists at all is something of a rarity, is it not? My understanding is that Jedi are not allowed to marry. Though Anakin was, obviously, allowed to reproduce. Is there only a restriction amongst the Jedi on marital ties then, and not on mating?"

Mirax chuckled a bit at his question.  Logically, it made perfect sense - but when you said it out loud, it sounded quite funny. "That's an interesting question.  I've never been asked if I was allowed to have sex before..." She grinned.

"Your understanding is correct, but you are thinking too specific.  The Jedi are sworn to a vow of celibacy.  That kind of intimacy creates a dangerous connection, which most fear to lose.  Fear leads to anger, and anger to hate... the path to the Dark Side." Mirax spoke almost as if reciting for a textbook; there was notably little passion in her words while reciting the path to the dark side.  "So, obviously, Anakin Skywalker broke that rule.  As you may have heard, it didn't end too well for him.  I don't know the details, but as far as I understand, it did lead to the end of his life as a Jedi."

Kal pursed his lips in thought at her answer, which effectively hid the frown that wanted to make it's way onto his features. He shook his head and spoke distractedly, almost to himself, "_{What a pity....}"

He coughed lightly before resuming his normal volume, "Uh, I was referring to the Jedi in general, and the Skywalkers in particular, not necessarily to your specific situation.  Though I guess that you would subscribe to all the vows of the Order as well. I know that things ended up badly for Anakin in the end, but I thought leaving the order was his own choice and done due to philosophical differences that he had with them. What sort of censure did he receive from the council for breaking his vows of celibacy?"


20:52, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 31 using 1d20+16 with rolls of 15. Deception.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:53, Thu 13 Jan 2011.

"You're taking my words too literally," Mirax stated plainly, before going on to elaborate.  She seemed to pass over his little white lie without even acknowledging it.  "This is also my opinion of what happened, based on what little I know of the specifics.  He did indeed renounce his oath to the Order and leave of his own volition.  As for the other... I believe he kept it a secret from the Jedi.  Or at least, those that knew cared about him enough to keep it secret as well."

"However, when I say it led to the end of his life as a Jedi, I meant it played an instrumental part.  Consider the original incident that led to his loss of faith in the order: the execution of Palpatine.  Surely you can agree that such a being would be much too dangerous to be left alive.  Every Jedi is in agreement in this, even I.  Why, then, was Anakin the only one who felt it wrong?"  She paused, letting him consider the question.

"I think it had to do with his relationship with Padme.  He loved her, and Palpatine knew this.  Its likely that he used this to manipulate Anakin, maybe making him believe that he could lose Padme.  Obviously, the next step would be to make Anakin believe he had a way to save her..." Mirax trailed off.  It was logical, in her mind. "Of course, Anakin stayed his hand, meaning he was able to resist whatever plot Palpatine had in mind.  However, clearly the event stuck with him, and the result led to him losing faith in the Order, and eventually leaving."

[Private to GM: If any if that seems too unbelievable for Mirax to suppose, let me know.  But, I figure Palpatine's plot was pretty straightforward, so it shouldbe all right.  Its also an opinion of course.]

Kal narrowed his eyes. "Wait, he kept a secret from the Jedi? I didn't even know that was possible....or maybe he didn't. I understand that he was affected by it, but perhaps he wasn't censured because he was both powerful enough and a hero of the Republic that no one made an issue of it. I mean, if you were to break that vow, what would be done to you? A better question might be how would anyone find out..."

Mirax raised an eyebrow.  "I would think that RMI would at least know that even the Jedi are not completely infallible.  Plus, this is mere supposition on my part, though it makes sense.  Plus, as I said, its unlikely he was able to keep it a complete secret.  But, he was a very powerful and respected Jedi... its likely that those that did know simply kept quiet."  She paused in thought for a moment, pondering the next question.

"As far as I know, you simply get kicked out of the Order.  And, of course, your lightsaber is taken away from you."

Kal nodded. "But not if you're Anakin Skywalker, then people just keep quiet about the scandal. Does that bother you at all?"

Mirax shrugged.  She had reached the end of her opinion on the matter - she didn't have much more to add to it.  Rather, she didn't have much more she wanted to add to it. "Perhaps they thought that, because he had so much potential, and because he was the Chosen One and all, that he would be able to resist.  Anyway, I don't know all the details.  It would be wrong to cast judgment on the order based on supposition."

Kal matched her, shrug for shrug. "I'm not casting judgement, just trying to learn more about the Jedi order. I have nothing but the deepest respect for what you have and continue to do for the galaxy. I've never had the pleasure of working so closely with a Jedi before, so I'm quite curious." Once his shoulders had finished the familiar shrugging gesture, he struck out in a new direction. "Since you've been in the Order since you were very young, I presume you've met Luke Skywalker? What is your opinion of the man?"

"I'm surprised you don't already know as much as me.  Doesn't RMI have a database, probably full of info on the Jedi?" Mirax cast a quick glance back at the rest of their party, then to the turbolift, which certainly seemed to be taking its time.  She actually found herself smiling from his words though - it was nice to have someone genuinely interested and intelligent to talk to. "I have.  He is... well, as I knew him, he was the very model of a Jedi, really.  Very powerful and very wise... yet approachable, and he had a strange sense of humor you couldn't help but like.  He was very much a human being too, rather than what some people made him out to be with their tall tales."

Kal nodded at her question. "Of course. I could find out when he was born, what his favorite color is, what his favorite shirt is and whether he ever had any pets. I could also find out what Crix Madine thinks of him as well as what other RMI personnel have noted.  What I can't find in our database is what Mirax Bey thinks of him. Well, until now." Kal made a show of pulling out his datapad and punching in some notes.

"But seriously, database information is no replacement for first-hand accounts of a person. What does your gut tell you about what happened with him? Or what does the Force say? Or your woman's intuition?"

At that moment, the turbolift doors hissed open. Normally the lift would have left off a dozen Jedi Padawans and a few Masters, but as late in the day as they were, the turbolift lay empty.

Claire and Mi slipped past the conversing duo, entering the turbolift before it could strand them on the lower levels longer than necessary.

Mi stepped onto the waiting lift standing his hand holding the door open for the conversing pair.  He had said little since the moment that he had joined the group which was his way.  He said little heard much, and mostly went unseen and unknown to those he was observing.  He found the philosophical discussion that Kal and Mirax were having very interesting.  He had understood that the Jedi order believed that about love and strong emotion.  It surprised him as he knew what power there was in the desire to protect, however he also knew the danger there.  If you allow the desire to protect override the basic goodness that made it be there in the first place, that was where you were walking a dangerous line.  However as always these comment stayed with Mi himself not voicing them for the others.

"I'll have to remember to ask what it says about me in there," Mirax said, stepping into the lift third from last.  Once Kal had entered as well and the lift started moving, she answered his other question.  "I would need some time to meditate on the matter at hand if you want an answer regarding the Force.  However... I'm not sure what I think, really.  I want to believe that this is a mere misunderstanding, but the fact remains that a Jedi was killed, and a potentially dangerous artifact stolen.  That, and Master Skywalker hasn't exactly done very well to preserve his innocence..."

Kal listened to her response before he shook his head, and responded matter-of-factly, "Shockingly enough, the RMI database doesn't mention your stunning beauty. I can only presume that is because the text is older, so I'll be updating it to compensate for that oversight. I will be curious to find out what the Force tells you when you do get a chance to meditate."

Kal then followed her onto the turbolift and swept his gaze across the others. He addressed them with a smile, "I don't recall that we did proper introductions. You've probably gathered that I'm Lieutenant Kal Wennyn, attached to Republic Military Intelligence."

He offered his hand in greeting to each in turn, then looked down to his datapad. "The Rodian's Kiss is about an hour away by public airtram. We don't have much time to waste, but as I mentioned during the briefing, I need to change my attire before we head there. If any of you have anything you need to retrieve, we can meet at the airtram station, or if you would like to check out the view while I don more appropriate clothing, you're welcome to join me in my quarters."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:54, Thu 13 Jan 2011.

All the while Kal and Mirax were talking, Claire kept quiet even though she was at the edge of her tolerance.  But at the mention of "stunning beauty" Claire let out a sound of exasperation.  "Yeah, you just meet him in his quarters.  Get it over with.", she advised Mirax.  "I swear you Humans mate like its a handshake.  Don't worry about your Jedi censures.  It won't mean anything; the sex that is.  No obligations, no attachments.  You just do it real quick, and get that itch scratched.  Just please, stop your pre-coitus gab.  You're making my ears bleed. Just be sure to put up the 'Do not disturb' sign on the door."

Kal arched an eyebrow at Claire's rather long speech about the mating habits of the most populous species in the galaxy, then smirked and turned his gaze directly toward her, "Well, well, it looks like there is a green-eyed monster hidden within you after all. We'll have plenty of time to explore your jealousy in hyperspace, but for now we really haven't the time. The general has said that we need to move quickly, and I intend to do so. Like the Jedi, I have certain oaths that I hold dear, ones I took when I started my official service to the Republic. I would never let a woman, even one so attractive as you, come before my duty."

Kal's smirk turned into a smile as he continued to gaze at Claire. "Now, I still didn't catch your name. If you want to keep it that way, I'll just come up with some way to refer to you. In any case, I need to get changed and we all need to catch the airtram. If you want to stay together, I'd enjoy the company, and since it's quite easy to lose your way or find trouble in Glactic City, it would probably be for the best if we remain together. However, if you're worried that you'll be unable to stay out of trouble in my quarters or if you have something you need to retrieve from your own, then we can all try to meet at the tram station nearest the Senate Building."

Claire's sudden outburst shouldn't have been a surprise, Mirax thought.  It was already clear that the woman had some pretty strong opinions that differed from the rest of them.  She also seemed to like voicing them, which was evidenced by the fact she spoke out against Luke with his sister in the same room - something you only did if you had strong opinions and didn't care what others thought.  It was commendable in a way, she had to admit.

"I would like to point out though, that your choice of words is quite bad," Mirax pointed out.  "If we humans mated like it was a handshake, then you two would not be joining us in this lift.  After all, a handshake is little more than a respectful form of greeting." Mirax grinned a bit.  Opinions might vary on that, of course. "That being said, thanks for the offer, Kal, but I will meet you at the Tram station.  I know the city quite well, after all."

With that the group splits up and eventually converges near the Senate Building Plaza, some thirty minutes later. The closest public transportation platform is at the Senate's western entrance.

Coruscant is obviously a world that has grown upwards throughout its life. Although the planet-city’s lower levels are a place that would even make a Wookiee commando nervous, you happen to find yourself in a market plaza in one of the more respectable neighborhoods. The transparisteel dome over the plaza lets in bright moolight and shows off some of the city scape around the Senatorial district. Various species mile about, going about their business, and the smell of various foods and spices fill the air, even at this tardy hour. The beings in this area seem friendlier than most, but the most important thing was the crowd which would let you blend in quickly if there was trouble.

It also posed a problem in find the rest of the group.

You may describe what they did for the last 30 odd minutes, and their arrival at the Senate Plaza.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:13, Sat 15 Jan 2011.

Kal parted from the others outside the Jedi Temple and quickly walked in the opposite direction that would take him to his quarters. He then doubled back, before heading in the wrong direction three more times.

Force of Habit. If anyone were following him, he ought to either know or have lost them by now. He headed back to his military quarters where there were secured data jacks. Before putting on new clothes, he set his datapad to collect any information on Mirax Bey, Luke and Leia Skywalker, and the others he met (if they gave their names).  He also grabbed any information he could get on their destination system, Koshibal, and Pugwis.

He then set about quickly removing his clothing and putting on something more appropriate for going to a bar with independent traders, and sliding a hold-out blaster in a well-concealed place. He wore something that would let him blend in - something that would let him look like a crewmember of a cargo ship perhaps.

Once finished with that, he grabbed the equipment he thought he would need, his cred chip, and then snagged his datapad before leaving the quarters. He informed the officer of the watch that he would be on assignment indefinitely. The OOW knew better than to ask questions.

Kal then headed over to the Senate Building and walked up to the boarding platform for the air tram, as he looked around for his new associates. He also opened his ears, as the woman with the big blaster might get into an argument with someone for no good reason.

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #60):

[Private to Kal Wennyn:
Give me some rolls for the information you're getting. I figure, Gather info would do.]

PM:

[Private to GM: 19:58, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 14 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 3. Gather Info.


You fail to find any information on Mirax, the Jedi Temple's servers being hard to slice through than you'd expected. Information on Claire was plenty and so was Luke Skywalker (though both from public sources, and probably unreliable), the Blood Carver was also hard to pin down, without a name.


Luke Skywalker (Human):
Age: 34 years, 9 months
Mother: Padme Amidala (Deceased - 4.8 years ago) from Naboo, Occupation: Naboo Diplomat Core
Father: Anakin Skywalker (Deceased - 5 years ago), from Tattooine, Occupation: ex-Jedi.
Siblings: twin named Leia.

History:

- Admited to the Jedi Temple 28 years ago, against the father's express wishes.
- Knighted 15 years ago.
- Mother and Father deceased 5 years ago
- Goes missing 3 years ago, his quarters empty of all personal effects, the body of a slain Jedi librarian discovered in the archives, and an artefact now missing.
- 30,000 credit Bounty on Master Skywalked is so far unclaimed.


Claire de la Croix (Human):
Age: 34 years, 7 months
Mother: Jamila; Occupation Dosh Ball player, Owner of Dosh Ball team
Father: Pern de la Croix; Occupation: Artificial Intelligence; co-owner.
Siblings: None.
Planet of origin:  Trandosha

History:

- Initiated to Dosh Ball by her mother at an early age
- Carreer mainly as a Dosh Ball player
- Has recently taken up Bounty Hunting
- Psychosis: Rejects that she is human, and seeks to droidify herself, perhaps to
             gain her father's attention. He apparently prefers Droids to company
]
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:03, Sun 16 Jan 2011.

Mirax did not leave the temple immediately, for she had one quick stop to make.  She had already said farewell to her Master, who would remain so in name only now, since if things went well for her she would be a Knight herself after this mission.  No, the stop Mirax ad to make was one to her room - she couldn't go on a voyage without her traveling gear.

So, the Jedi headed deeper into the temple, towards her personal quarters.  They were like any other Padawan's; bare, with little more than a bed, workbench and chair, and a closet and chest of drawers.  A Jedi had little need for personal decoration, although as a Knight she would have a bigger room and more free reign with it.  Even s, the only thing she planned on even thinking about displaying was the second lightsaber she carried on her hip.

Retrieving her bag, which was already packed, Mirax first threw on her all-weather cloak.  This would make her look more anonymous.  It was a dull gray cloak, indistinguishable from the many, many others worn by travelers in the galaxy.  Then, she shouldered her bag, and headed out of the Jedi Temple towards the designated meeting point.

Upon arrival, Mirax knew meeting up might prove to be a little more problematic than previously expected.  She was good with faces though, and doubted that the Blood Carver and their Diplomat (Claire) would be that hard to find.  Kal was the only one she might have trouble recognizing, as he would likely dress more anonymously as well.  Still, she could spot his face and, if need be, use the Force to pick him out.

So, Mirax picked a spot in the main thoroughfare, and waited, watching the crowd for now.  The hood of the cloak was down, so if she didn't see her companions first, they might see her.

Finding each other didn't take as long as expected, and a brisk walk and a few credits later (10 each) sees the team lounging in the seats of an airtram car being whisked accross the planet...

Entering your car a few stops later is a clearly homeless human woman in rags, who smiles a toothless grin as she siddles down at the far end of the car. She clutches several duraplast bags that appear to be filled with random junk, and mumbles to herself, before leaning her head back against the railing, and begins to nap. A few stops later, a group of eight rowdy youths, mostly human, though a rodian and a quarren fill out the ranks, enter the car.

Kal gives the youths an appraising look, subtly searching for weapons or markings.

12:19, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 12 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 4. Perception.

After giving them a once over, he leaned close to Mirax and whispered in her ear "_{What do you sense from that group?}"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:21, Mon 17 Jan 2011.

Claire had to agree with Mirax Bey; she had used a poor analogy.  Sex is not like a handshake.  Sex is not respectful.  In the interests of being respectful, she wanted to kill the conversation before it got any deeper.  She hadn't wanted to drag it out into the light and turn it into a topic for continued conversation.  And so she made no further comment, preferring to let the resulting uncomfortable silence say all she wanted to say on the subject.  That is how she felt ever since Kal accused her of being jealous.  Those words cut deep, and naturally she recoiled from him as she would a recoil from a madman wielding a knife.  However, in those circumstances her combat training would then snap into play.  She would deliver a palm strike to the madman's chest to stun him and then grab his wrist to twist his arm and the knife out of harm's way.  Kal, unfortunately, was not so easily dealt with.  To disarm him of the weapon he wielded against her would require some very drastic surgery with a knife of her own.

Once at the foot of the Temple, Claire had nowhere in particular to go.  She didn't have a room to go to freshen up.  She didn't have any personal possessions beyond what she carried on her.  The life of a bountyhunter is to be constantly on the move.  No one stays on one planet for very long and one learns only to possess what they can carry.  Everything else was disposable.

That being said, she then proceeded on to her one ritual she had when arriving on a planet.  She went to the nearest public information terminal and looked up local bounties.  Since it was planned that she was to go to a bar, it made sense for her to memorize some faces and see if she could recognize anyone in the bar on whom she could make a few extra Credits.  For a young bountyhunter like her, the small bounties were how she made her living.  Taking this contract on Luke Skywalker though would be how she could make it into the big leagues or die trying.

Mirax kept her voice low as well, and her eyes on the group of possible ruffians.  "Keep in mind any answer I give you may not be too precise," she noted, before concentrating on the group, drawing the Force in and around them.  The Force could be used for many things, and this time, she intended to use it to focus her perception of the group - to help her notice things her eyes would not pick up on.

20:04, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 16 using 1d20+15 with rolls of 1. Sense Surroundings (Ruffians).

DC 15, but rolled a 1 >.>
This message was last edited by the player at 01:06, Tue 18 Jan 2011.

The youth's intentions are made clear shortly after the tram departs. Taking advantage that no one could leave the car, the youth start to circle the easiest target on the car and quietly surround the homeless woman. "Hey gramma, need a hand with those bags?" one of them says as another holds out a knife close to her eye. The woman opens her eyes to see what the person was refering to, but instantly recoils when she notices the knife near her, squealing in fright. The youths laugh, "Nice one, Al..!" the quarren says.

While she often preferred not to get involved in public disturbances, since that was the job of the local authorities while Jedi were more involved in larger disputes.  This particular incident however, was one she could not ignore.  Eight thugs harassing an old homeless woman?  There was nothing lower than that.  Mirax cast a quick glance to the others - Kal in particular, since he was likely the only one to care - to let them know she intended to do something.

"Is that what passes for tough, nowadays?" she said, raising her voice enough that the hoodlums could hear her.  She was already training her senses on the one with the knife, prepared to slam him into the wall with the Force if he made another move to harm the old woman.  "Eight young men harassing an old woman?"

Kal nodded almost imperceptibly to Mirax to tell her that Kal had her back. Though Kal appeared unarmed himself he stood and walked next to Mirax offering an apparently genuine smile to the youths. "Gentlebeings, gentlebeings..." he addressed them calmly before lowering his voice and speaking to them in a conspiratorial manner, "I hate to see anyone get hurt, so I'll give you a tip. The woman you're messing with is a Jedi Master. She can't do anything to hurt you so long as you don't harm anyone. A little verbal harassment and you may get taught only a minor lesson, but push her any harder and she and her Padawan here..." Kal gestured toward Mirax (are her sabers openly displayed?) "...will have the freedom to cut you down where you stand." Kal ended with a friendly smile and an almost helpless looking shrug.

22:20, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 25 using 1d20+16 with rolls of 9. Deception.

To reinforce Kal's plan, Mirax lifted her left hand from her side, to rest it on her hip.  In that movement however, she drew back her cloak just enough to reveal one of her lightsabers, clipped just below her hand on her belt - now in full view of the ruffians.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:28, Tue 18 Jan 2011.

The ruffians held no interest to Claire since none of them were ones she recognized as people there was a bounty on.  And if there had been, it would have been so small as to not be worth the risk of injury by taking on the whole gang.  But Mirax proved she was willing to take on the whole gang, and for what?  To protect some homeless lady?  "That's just great.  Of all the Jedi in the Galaxy to get stuck with, I had to get stuck with one of those Jedi.  We're all going to die before we get even a glimpse of Luke.", she muttered under her breath.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:32, Fri 21 Jan 2011.

After the group had broken up Mi had merely headed to the station knowing that he would be waiting there awhile before the others showed up.  He kept the Nerf hide hat pulled low over his face hiding to the best of his ability his race and therefore keeping from unneeded worry.  Blood carvers were renown for their skill as assassins, and as that they were known best for not being seen.  He kept to himself barely even seeming to acknowledge his companions before slipping onto the same car as them.   When the ruffians started harassing the poor woman Mi moved around the car using the commotion of the other two to slip behind the group of ruffians unnoticed.

22:39, Today: Mi Truev rolled 17 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 7. Stealth.

The group of miscreants confusedly look from Kal and then at the lady, and then Mirax, and suddenly the youth with the dagger blanches and moves away. "Man... it was just a joke," he says looking panicked as he backed away. "C'mon Garr... tell them, it was just a harmless joke, I wasn't gona hurt her..."

Meanwhile, Mi decides to move to a more calculated vantage point, but two of them notice Mi's advance and obvious attempt at deception. They start drawing weapons. "BACK OFF! BUDDY," two of them shout in warning, the blood carver obviously setting them on edge.

The quarren's eyes narrow, "Tell your friend to back away, nice and easy... we don't want trouble," he says as he draws a blaster and aims it at the blood carver. "Guys, move on out of the way... let's go to the next car," he growls to his group.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:07, Fri 21 Jan 2011.

Kal nods to Mi. "He and the two Jedi won't harm you so long as you don't bring their wrath upon you. Any of you that want to get off the train in one piece would do well to remember that. Any that want to have limbs cut off by a lightsaber would do well to ignore my warning."

"It would be wise to refrain from trying any more... jokes on the next car as well.  We will know if you try anything," Mirax warned.  If they knew anything about a Jedi's abilities, they would know that this was the truth - and that she would more than likely chase them down.  A single car's distance wasn't very far to go, either.

The ruffians start filing out of the car towards the nearest exit, as the Quarren stares you down. You all get the impression that he's graving you to memory, before he himself files out in a huff.

Through it all, the peddler woman waits patiently and wide-eyed, until she gets a chance to rush towards, grasping your hands and clothes, thanking you profusely over and over. She starts to cackle when she gets to Mirax and Kal: "Haha... me a Jedi Master! Oh but that was quick thinking," she says grabbing Kal by the collar and kissing him on the forehead with callused lips, then turning to Mirax and holding her hands and giving her a huge toothless grin.

Kal smiled at the woman as she rushed over. He happily accepted her kiss, and when she was done, looked at her closely and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Are you alright, ma'am?" He had a look of concern on his face as he searched her eyes while awaiting a response.

"Addy be fine, now, aren't we? Oh yes, fine fine... wonderful, we think," she beamed. Then she snapped a finger, as if remembering something and she waddled over towards her bags and trinkets, shaking one thing and another, as she mumbled to her self. Eventually, the air tram slowed down, "A good deed made, a future deed saved..." she cackles, "Here, love... you have this! We finds everything... you use!" She reaches into one of her filthy duraplast bags and pulls out a battered datapad, cracked and chipped, thrusting it into Kal's hands. With a wave, she and her bags exit the tram and is gone.

Claire waited until the thugs and the old lady were gone before speaking.  What she had to say would not have been a good thing to say in front of either of them.  "You shouldn't have stopped those thugs when you did.  Crime prevention is not our purview.  They probably would have just robbed her and nothing worse if she were smart and didn't put up a fight.  But now you've embarrassed those thugs.  They're going to take it out on someone else.  You can't follow them all the time to stop them.  Next time they see that old lady and you're not around to protect her, they're going to do worse to her.  You can't be around to protect her all the time.", she points out as if she were a moralist.  "Kal and Mirax, you two are made for each other.  And you're going to die together.  Keep that stuff up and you're going to develop a reputation for yourselves: one that is going to tip off Master Skywalker that you are Jedi tailing him.  I'm only going to warn you once.  The places we're going if you don't want people to figure out what you are, you're going to have to change your behavior.  Sticking your chin and protecting people is odd behavior where we're going.  It may seem normal here on Coruscant but out beyond the Core Worlds, it is not."

Mirax had little to say to the old woman, merely accepting her thanks with a friendly smile.  She noted the datapad she had given to Kal, and made a note to ask him what it contained later.  She was about to just leave the encounter at that, but their bounty hunter friend had to speak up.  In truth, Mirax was surprised she hadn't spoken up sooner.

"You are just as much a coward as they are, then," Mirax replied, with a shrug.  "It would serve you well not to make assumptions, while you're at it.  I have spent plenty of time in the outer rim worlds - I know how the social system works there."   Mirax sighed, prepared to leave it at that when one more thought entered her mind. "I would also advise you to cut the 'slippery slope' crap.  One action does not determine a being's future actions.  You are no better at predicting the future than I am."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:59, Sun 23 Jan 2011.

"Coward?", retorts Claire in an angered tone as she raises her Forcepike into a fighting position.  "Cowardice has nothing to do with it!  I've taken in fugitives much more dangerous than them.  But I'm not law enforcement.  I don't get paid to prevent crimes.  If a bounty gets placed on their heads, then I would consider bringing them in.  But until then, there's no pay in being a good samaritan.

"As for predicting their future actions, you don't need Jedi powers to see what they're going to do next.  It just takes psychology.  You've cowed them, made them feel small, reminded them of how powerless they are compared to the Jedi.  Not everyone takes that meekly.  Those guys are toughs.  They have a low sense of self-worth to begin with.  They make themselves feel stronger by picking on those weaker than them.  And now they need to make themselves feel tougher twice as badly.  And they are going to do something more extreme than pushing around an old lady to boost their hurt egos.  Hopefully, they'll do something stupid to get themselves killed, but given their choice of victims... They are going to kill some other helpless old lady.

"This isn't about any slippery slope or such nonsense the Jedi teach you.  This is about the plain fact that you can't be everywhere at once.  You can't follow those thugs forever.  You may have warned them, but if you're not there looking over their shoulders, they're going to defy your warning just to spite you.  This is about letting the small crimes slide and saving your energy for the big crimes.  You can't go around picking a fight with every mugger.  What would have happened if those toughs had bigger balls or a bigger grudge with Jedi?  Pull out your lightsaber and start cutting willy nilly in a fight you provoked?  And what if they start shooting in these close quarters?  You going to deflect blaster bolts all over the place?  How many innocent bystanders could have been hurt?  A passenger train is no place to pick a fight.  If you want to take them down, you wait until they get off and follow them until they come to a place where there aren't so many densely packed bystanders.  Then you take them down."

Mirax chuckled; it wasn't at all surprising that Claire got riled up over the Coward comment.  And, sure enough, she went into a long winded speech as well.  She was, however, surprised that the bounty hunter went so far as to draw a weapon on her.  Not because Mirax was a Jedi... but because Claire had apparently been hired to do a mission with her, Kal, and the Blood Carver.

"That is just the difference between you and I.  I prefer to aid those I can, while you would simply stand by and watch.  You act only for profit, and I act to set an example.  Keep this in mind: if the whole galaxy were as selfish as you, the Republic would not exist." Mirax did not draw a lightsaber on Claire, as she had her Force Pike, though she did pointedly move her hand back to her hip, resting it by the hilt of her chosen saber.  "There is so much you do not know about the Force.  Suffice to say that there are many ways to incapacitate an enemy without physically harming them in any way.  I do believe that eliminates the need for, as you put it, 'cutting willy nilly'.  Do not make the mistake of assuming I would fight like you, if you wouldn't mind."

The Jedi remained silent for a moment, considering the situation.  "Now, either put away your weapon, or attack me.  I know which option I would prefer, but I am perfectly happy dealing with either."

Kal's attention was on the old woman and then the datapad in his hands (which he turned over a few times before pocketing) before he realized there were two angelic voices arguing behind him. He didn't hear what started it, but he was nearly certain they were fighting over him.

Until, that is, he actually listened to the words coming out of their mouths. The beginnings of a smile slithered away as it had never even been a consideration. He briefly considered stepping between them and placing a hand on each of their chests and pushing them a little further apart, but decided that might get his hand severed.

"Ladies, ladies, there's no need to fight about such philosophical differences. At least not while we're on a crowded airtram. We'll have days upon days of time in hyperspace to fight about it. You'll need the exercise, and I'll enjoy watching you both exercise. In any case, you've both got a point. Mirax, the mission has to be our top priority, we'll need to avoid jeopardizing our goal. Claire, to the extent that we can help others while still accomplishing our goal, we should. A pair of Jedi on an airtram on Coruscant isn't exactly out of the ordinary. Whether we actually helped anyone is open for debate, but perhaps those thugs will be picked up by Coruscant Security before they harm anyone further."

He looked back and forth between them. "Now, time is a wasting. Let's go meet our captain."

I presume we're at our stop, if so Kal will gesture to the open doors for the women to precede him.

Yes, you may consider for RP's sake that you've arrived at the correct station.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:36, Sun 23 Jan 2011.

Mirax seemed to ignore Kal's words, only moving her eyes off Claire once the doors of the tram opened.  She then shot Kal a quick glare, and flipped the front of her cloak back around to its original position, concealing her weapons.  With that, she brushed past him to step off the tram.  She kept her ears open should Claire have any final words - and her senses trained on her, should she chose to strike when Mirax had her back turned.  The Jedi didn't put it past the bounty hunter to pull such a low blow.

Kal smiled and winked at Mirax as she turned her attention to him. He trusted that his superiors had chosen all the members of this team well and that everyone would be filling a necessary role in the coming days. Generally RMI did its diligent research, so hopefully, once they had a chance to chat during their trip to the Outer Rim, everyone would start to become more comfortable with each other. Getting to that point, however, looked like it was going to test all his abilities.

Mi had calmly remained by the others of his party as they started to argue. As always he kept his opinions of the situation to himself.  He had no need to defend his point of view no matter if it agreed with one of the women of the other.  His point of view was correct and he was sure of that fact so there was no need to defend it.  He walked off the tram with Kal looking over his shoulder to see if the woman came to blows.  He had not seen either of them fight so there was no way to tell which was the better combatant.  However if either of them came to harm it would slow down their mission so he would do what he could to prevent that. "Ladies please, can we go?"

"Don't presume to lecture me about your Force.  I know all about your Force.  My mother had it.  Her father had it.  And I don't have it.  So I know how this Force works.  My mother showed me how.  And all I got for it was pain and disappointment.  So I am going to presume to tell you how it feels to not have the Force.  It's terrible.  To know there are others who have the power to kill you with a thought. It makes a person feel helpless.  To see someone wield a weapon that can cut this toothpick I hold in my hands in half?  It makes a person feel powerless.  So if you think people like Jedi, you presume wrong.  Less that half of those who like and respect you do so out of fear.  And if someone tells them that a Jedi has gone off the deep end?  They'll believe them.  The only difference between a good Jedi and a bad one is what they think they're trying to accomplish.  You think you're going to save a Jedi who has gone off the deep end.  I think I'm going to kill a Jedi who has gone off the deep end.  Both ways, it ends with a dead Jedi.  And that is how we are allies.", says Claire with palpable hatred flowing off of her.  And then the tram comes to another stop and the door slide open behind her.

"Come on.  We have the fact-finding part of our mission to complete.  Then we can continue on to part two; the part I signed on for.  To kill, I mean, bring a mad Jedi to justice.", she states.  And then without a care for how Mirax or anyone would respond to her statements, she turns and walks off the tram.  She then goes to the nearby information terminal to get walking directions to The Rodian's Kiss.

True to his word, Kal waited for both women to leave the tram before following them. Of course he followed their egress with his eyes first, stifling the urge to emit a low-pitched whistle at what he saw. He then walked past where Claire was working to pull up some information on a terminal. He stopped as he was about to walk by, "Sweetheart, if you're looking up directions, don't bother. I already pulled the information when I went to my quarters to change. It's this way."

Kal gestured toward where the information on his datapad suggested the Rodian's Kiss ought to be, and gave Claire a toothy grin.

The Rodian's Kiss... The smoky, dark, and loud watering hole is neither romantic, nor populated entirely by rodians, though more than a few are here. A domineering bar towers over half the establisment, surrounded by tiny tables that are mostly shoved together by large parties having a raucous time; while a handfull of dark booths on the far walls play host to romantic interludes, and shady negotiations. On large vidscreens, you see various events being viewed; shockboxing, dosh-ball, as well as pod-racing and many fans jostle and holler, credits freely changing hands in a complex network of betting.

Near the pod-racing vidscreens, a loud Dug is clutching a fair amount of credits and making a scene while others scowl in anger. Nearby, several Sabaac tables and chance-cube throwing pits are also seeing a fair amount of action. The dozen or so human and twi’lek waiters and waitresses struggle to take orders and serve drinks and strange food.

Kal took a moment to look around. Unfortunately he hadn't been able to dig up any information on their pilot when he searched the RMI database. There could be several reasons for that, not all of them bad. But it meant they would have to poke around and find him.  He turned to his travelling companions. "Let's split up and look for Pugwis individually." He first looked to Claire, "Sweetheart, you take the Dosh Ball and shockboxing crowds. Mirax, check out the podracing and gambling areas. Mi, wander around the shadier areas and find out what you can overhear. I'll head toward the bar and start asking questions."

With that, Kal wandered over toward the crowded bar area and started to try to make some friends, while slipping Pugwis into the conversation.

20:42, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 13 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 2. Gather Info.

Claire simply glowered at Kal as he told her that he already got directions to the Rodian's Kiss.  As she turned away from the information terminal, she replied to him, "Don't think this means I'm going to get in the habit of asking a man for directions."

Once at the Rodian's Kiss and she was looking at room full of Rodians, she turned up her nose at the situation.  Claire never did like the stink of Rodians even if she had great respect for their hunting customs.  A room full of them and it would be worse than sleeping on a bed of Nerf hides.  Thankfully, her armored flight suit maintained its atmospheric integrity.  She simply had to close the helmet seals and breath off the suit's oxygen supply for a while.  It would seem perfectly normal.  Lots of spacers did that sort of thing when they don't like the stink on a place.  It just makes it a little hard to have a drink.  Good thing Claire wasn't here for a drink.  "Sweetheart?  I swear you Humans have very odd ideas of what makes a term of endearment.  Are you to imply that my heart would taste sweet?  That sounds like a challenge to which I must reply, 'Not if I taste your heart first.'  You've got a lot to learn about how to speak to me.", replies Claire when Kal gives her her instructions on where to go.

Sending her off to search the sports betting pit was a good idea.  She could walk the walk and talk the talk when it came to sports fans.  She had lived all her life among them.  For a while Claire was even the subject of betting on the Doshian Battle Ball, or just plain Doshball, circuit.  But in the end, Claire had to compete against her own mother, and her mother would not throw a match to her own daughter.  Claire considered herself lucky she got out of the sport with her life.  She only survived the match because she knew how her mother played the game.  Claire hoped that when she died, she would be mostly in one piece to bury.  The way Claire's mothered played, she would have been lucky if some bits of flesh were found enough to bury.  Her mother used tactics that were questionably legal.  She gets away with it though because the rules to Doshball were written in ancient times before explosives and magnetic attachments.  Using limpet mines carries a high risk though.  One needs to have very precise timing to escape the blast.

She spent some time watching the sporting events on the screens mulling over experiences from her past.  It hurt to leave the sport she was raised to play.  But it was either wait until her mother retires or die by her mother's hand.  Time was on Claire's side.  As for her mother, it was only a matter of time before the Jedi sensed that the Doshball player known as Joan Jett in the tournement circuit was getting her edge from The Force.  Maybe they already knew, but it would take a real meddler like Mirax to put a stop to it.  Claire could wait.  Even still, she cracked a grin at the thought of introducing Mirax to her mother.

Using what she knew of these sports, Claire mixed in the gamblers.  She shared tips, giving people the impression that she was no slouch when it came to gambling on these dangerous sports.  Once she had established that she knew what she was talking about, then she started inquiring about the were abouts of Pugwis.  Naturally, she asked in terms of Pugwis owing her money on a bet.  Although it didn't take a fool to figure out that an armored individual carrying stunning weapons in a bar is actually a bountyhunter.

02:16, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 5 using 1d20+2. Gather Info
This message was last edited by the player at 10:47, Wed 26 Jan 2011.

Kal heads towards the bar and Claire heads for the sport pits, except for the Jedi and the blood carver, who look around instinctively taking in the scenes. After a brief nod, Mi and Mirax split up, the Jedi going to the gambling tables, and the blood carver going to check out the booths.

[Private to Kal Wennyn:  The bar is being run by, surprise, a Rodian but the people at the bar seem loath to socialize with you. Eventually the Rodian barkeep comes over to take your order. "What want?"]


[Private to Claire de la Croix: You quickly get disctracted by a match of dosh ball, and whatever inroads you do try to make are met with a cold shoulder. You do notice a duros loudly shouting at one of the pod racing screens though.]

[Private to Mirax Bey: Given that Pugwis is a Duros, you walk around the betting tables and start looking for some. As luck would have it. You notice a few Duros, in one of the corner tables.]

[Private to Mi Truev: Mi, the booths are clear of duros, though all of them are taken and the customers try to remain unnoticed.]

Upon leaving the train - ahead of the party - Mirax did hear Claire's final words for the 'argument'.  Considering the content, and the knowledge that one could not change how people thought, especially people like Claire, any further thoughts on the matter faded from the Jedi's mind - and with them went any inclination to trust the bounty hunter.  She had been doubtful at first, but within the short span of the train ride, Mirax had become firm in her decision that Claire could not be trusted - her final words had solidified that.

The walk to the Rodian's Kiss went quietly for Mirax, as she did not speak up.  She was glad for the suggestion to spit up, however, and the moment after it was made, she headed to her designated section of the establishment, soon after splitting up with the blood carver as well.  Considering the type of establishment, Mirax did not make her status as a Jedi easily known.  She kept her cloak about her, only pulling down the hood so that she did not compromise her peripheral vision.  Only if it became necessary, would she reveal her status.

Not far into her search of the gambling tables, Mirax spied a group of Duros seated at one of the corner tables.  Remembering that their Captain - Pugwis - was a Duros, she headed in that direction, making sure she was easy to see lest anyone get the idea she was trying to sneak up on someone.  Once she had reached the table, she looked to each of them, quickly realizing she did not know what Pugwis looked like.

"I'm looking for a Duros named Pugwis," she announced.  Mirax spoke assertively, but not rudely.

Once at the bar, Kal considered what sorts of drink he would like on his last night on Coruscant for a while. "Johrian Whiskey. Double. On the rocks."

He waited for his drink to be provided before attempting to engage the barkeep in conversation. "Business seems to be good for you this evening. Is this place always so popular?"

Kal drank some of the blue-green alchohol and winced slightly as it burned a trail down his throat

In reply to Mirax Bey (msg #95):

The Duros look up from their cards and consider the stranger for a moment before returning to their cards. "You wana chat, you gamble," one of them grumbles. "Pots at 100 creds to start. Ya in?"

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #96):

The Rodian nods, "Business always good. Slower lately, but good. It'll be 8 creds for the drink, pal." He watches the crowd behind you, looking for the rest of the group that's obviously spreading out to recon the joint. "Your friends... they gona be trouble?" he says nodding towards Claire.

Kal used the barside terminal to debit his account to pay for the drink, tipping two credits on top of the 8 required. He looked over to where the Rodian was looking. "Her? No, I don't think so. So long as there's Dosh Ball to watch, I think she'll keep her hands and weapons to herself. She's actually a real sweetheart at her core."

Kal turned back to the Rodian. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know of a guy named Pugwis, would you? I think he frequents your establishment, and I've got a job for him."

Mirax looked to each person at the table, then shrugged.  "Fine, deal me in," she said, slipping a 100 credit chip onto the table.  Once she had taken a seat, and the game had started again, she spoke up once more. "So, Pugwis?"

In reply to Mirax Bey (msg #100):

One of the Duros deals you a bunch of sabaac cards, but ignores your question for now. "Janar... your turn to start the betting, or do you need some new cards?" the Duros said, his red eyes observing the other Duros intently. "Right," the other snorts. "I'm raising the pot 50 creds, keep your cards..."

"I'll take a card," the other grumbled, taking one. It peeked at the card before tossing the credits at the center, "raise ya another 50. That brings the pot to 450. You callin?" his red orbs fall on you suddenly as his hand drum on the table impatiently.

23:04, Today: Secret Roll: Power of the Darkside drew the 5 cards:


[Private to Mirax Bey: Your hand: AD, 9S, 7H, 5H, 2C  ]

[Private to GM:

Gambler A: KH, QH, JD, 6H, 5S, Deception 30, Perception 34
Gambler B: AC, QC, 9C, 5S, 3C, AD Perception 26, Deception 19
]
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:26, Fri 28 Jan 2011.

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #99):

The barkeep remains silent but waves his hand, making a circling pinching motion with his fingers, before moving on to serve another customer at the other end of the bar.

Mirax glanced at her cards, keeping them from being seen by the others.  She resolved that she was going to have to play a few hands before she was told anything, so... "Two cards," she said, slipping two towards the dealer.

[Private to GM: Drop the 9 and the 2.]

The Duros grunts, and slides over two cards, "So? In or out?"

[Private to Mirax Bey:

Your hand: AD, JH, 9S, 7H, 5H, 2D, 2C


Power of the Darkside, on behalf of Mirax Bey, drew the 2 cards: JH, 2D using a deck of 54 cards. 2 cards, drop 9 and 2.]

Mirax took a quick look at her two new cards.  She made no outward expression, but inwardly, she was scowling.  An Ace high... she couldn't even pull a bluff on that, since even a pair of twos would beat it.

"I'm out this hand," she announced, sliding her hand across.  There was aggressive, then just stupid.  Bluffing on that hand would have been the latter.

Kal puts some hard cred on the top of the bar, but keeps a finger on it. It was a subtle way of letting him know that if the information was good, he would be paid for it. If not, he wouldn't.

Claire spies two Duros having an argument over by the betting tables for Pod Racing.  She can't understand what they're arguing about, but she decides to take an educated stab in the dark.  If anything, it would get their attention.  So she saunters over to where they are and pretends to listen for a moment.  Then she pipes in by saying, "Sure the four-engine designs go faster but they're harder to control.  You've really got to look at the pilot before you lay money down on a four-engine racer.  Reflexes are important in a faster pod, but what people forget is the pilot has be quick-thinking technically.  Quad-power binders are really touchy.  Loose just one and the whole rig goes flying apart."

Mi let his eyes flick from side to side watching out for any sign of the Duros that they were looking for.  He noticed the looks and sighed shaking his head slightly wishing, not for the first time, that it wasn’t so obvious that he was a Blood Carver.  There was little that he could do about it that he didn’t already do.  Pulling the trench coat closer around him and his hat down low he walked into the darker recesses of the bar letting his sense absorb all that happened around him.   All the while trying to pull no more attention than any normal Blood Carver would.

22:29, Today: Mi Truev rolled 22 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 12. Stealth.
22:30, Today: Mi Truev rolled 8 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 2. perception.

The Duros that sat across Mirax snorted, "If you're looking for the Black Comet's Captain, you might want to ask that loud and obnoxious dug at the pod races," he answered the Jedi as the other Duros called, putting an end to the betting. "Looks like I win," he said before making the money disappear in a stack near him in one fluid practiced motion. "You sure you don't want to try your hand again?" he said, suddenly grinning as Kal was getting a similar answer from the barman. [Private to Kal Wennyn: how much did you put down?]

"Refleckshes! Now thatshh exactly wot I'm talking about..." said the Dug nearest Claire in a drunken slur. "These here... fellas... are jush mad that my clan's ish betters an are angry cause my clan's racer has won the last shhheven races on Malastaire..." he said waving at the screen with a bottle of ale. "HE'S BETTER than YOUR SODDEN RACER...!" He shouts at the screen which makes the other patrons a little more upset, but he waves them off with a low whining noise that could be taken as satisfaction.

[Private to Mi Truev: You're too busy trying to melt in the background to notice anything of worth, but that Dug Claire's with is drawing a lot of unwanted attention.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:32, Sun 30 Jan 2011.

Loud and obnoxious dug... Mirax found herself hard pressed to think of a dug that didn't fit that description. "Thanks for the info," she replied.  "I'd love to keep playing, but I have a schedule to keep, I'm afraid.  Enjoy your game, fellas."  With that, Mirax stood to leave.  Before she did though, she tossed another 100 credits into the center, as a bonus to whoever won the next hand.  Then she headed off to find the indicated Dug in the podrace section.

In reply to Mirax Bey (msg #110):

[Private to Mirax Bey: You see only one Dug at the pod races and it's the one currently slurring and making everyone uncomfortable, more so than Claire normally could. ;)]

[Private to GM: He had put another 10 credit chip on the bar.]

Kal's face momentarily showed confusion at the information he had received. Perhaps the Dug was Pugwis' co-pilot, as General Madine had stated that Pugwis is a Duros. Kal nodded amiably at the bar keep, and said quietly with a faint smile, "Thanks, you'll get this if you're right" before he walked over toward the indicated Dug.

As luck would have it, by the time Kal got to the Dug, two gorgeous women were flanking him as well. Kal smiled at Mirax and Claire before looking at the Dug. "So, what do we have here, ladies?" Kal asked, gesturing toward their loud and obnoxious friend.

Mi continued to keep to the darker recesses of the bar but moved to support his allies if they should need it.    His eyes kept flicking around the room looking for a response to the others approaching the Dug.  His hands clenched in the heavily padded gloves that he always wore, ready for anything that might happen.


15:11, Today: Mi Truev rolled 21 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 15. perception

[Private to Power of the Darkside: Do you want me to reroll the stealth check also since I'm still trying to be unnoticed?  or just keep using the one I made till I step out of the shadows?]

In reply to Mi Truev (msg #113):

[Private to Mi Truev: I'll keep using the same one until you decide to 'step out'. ]

"That's kind of a tough call.", Claire responded to the Dug's claims.  "A Duro would have the technical mind to handle a four-engine racer.  But a Dug has the reflexes and the gotta-win aggressive attitude.  I'd put money on the Dug, but only if he's in a fast, two-engine racer."

Turning to look back at the two Duros, she tells them a little lie, "That's just what I told Pugwis.  Now that guy owes me money on that bet."  She then watches the two Duros to see their reaction.  If one of them is Pugwis, she hopes he will tip his hand by denying that any such conversation and bet took place.

Mirax, rather than approach immediately as was her original plan, decided to stand back.  It seemed Claire, through sheer luck alone, had managed to find the right person to talk to before them.  Mirax waited with Kal, watching to see if the bounty hunter's gambit worked, and Pugwis stepped forward.

At the mention of Pugwis, the Dug's ears ferret up, "Fraid he's left the esshtablishmment, he did... but if you want yer credshh, hheee's not gona want to shheee you. Hheee's got a job, ya shee, an hhee's not shhtoping fer anything til the cargo getsh in hisssh posssessssion... heeeeeheeee..." The dug waves his mug around Claire's nose to emphasise his punctuation, or his point.

"You want to bet on the next rasshhe?" he finally asks as he turns his attention back at the screen, "bettings bout to shtart again... heeeheee... An my Clan nearly destroyed those bi-podzz... geeeee we're cleaning up..!! Haa!"

Kal smiled at the podrace loving Dug. "Funny you should mention a job, because he's taken a job from my boss, and we're supposed to be leaving with Pugwis quite soon. Can you show us where he's docked so that we can stop wasting valuable time?"

"Sssure you do, and ssso doshh the bounty-hunter chick who says that hhee owes her credzz," the Dug waves airily, his eyes peeled on the vid-screen. "Ahh.. shhhee now? Raashes about to shhtart, if ya wants extra credzzz, ya shhhould bet on Toorrin... number 53... he's in that beatle-bug quad... harrr."

Kal shrugged and kept his voice lowered. "Well, if you don't want to help Pugwis out, that's between you and him. I've enough friends around that I can find where the Black Comet is berthed anyway. Given the short amount of time before we're supposed to board, I think we'd better be on our way."

Unless the Dug has any information he wants to share, Kal is going to find a dark corner where he can put on his hands-free comlink, activate his pocket scrambler, and get someone in RMI working on locating the Black Comet for him. (He will subvocalize so no one around him knows who he's calling or what he's saying)

"Oh!! You must be the Republic agents we're taking with us to..." the inebriated dug suddenly exclaims as he puts two and two together, causing several heads turn in your direction.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:47, Mon 31 Jan 2011.

Kal laughed easily at the mention of 'Republic Agents' before putting an arm around the Dug. "Such a comedian! Yeah, we're apparently riding with you on the Black Comet. And we need to get moving soon, too. How far is it to the hangar?"

Mirax raised an eyebrow at the casual mention of their status as Republic Agents - not because of merely that, but because she had not been described as a Jedi.  Either that hadn't been mentioned, or he purposely left it out.  Either option was amusing, but regardless, what mattered was that they had found their man.  Now though, Mirax just let Kal do the talking - he seemed to have things under control.

"You hear that, Kal?  Even a drunken Dug can spot you out as a Republic Agent.  You must have that kind of look about you.  We'll need to change your looks.  Fortunately, I can help you out there.", says Claire.  When she's finished talking, she cracks her knuckles.  And by cracking her knuckles, she makes the implication that she doesn't intend to change his looks by gentle means.

Kal's jovial facade didn't falter, but he briefly wondered exactly what this nameless bounty hunter knew about his skill with disguises. He winked at Claire, and then fixed her with a meaningful look, smile never wavering, "I love you too, babydoll. What say we blow this joint, yeah? I think a couple of wagging tongues may have made this...general area...slightly more dangerous than it otherwise could have been."

Kal gestured for the exit, and tried to herd the group towards it so that they could get to Pugwis and the hanger quickly. And avoid any unfortunate entanglements.

The Dug grumbles as Kal waves towards the door. "Hey now... just one nanosecond... there's no rush, our flight permit has us leaving at 0900 standard hours tomorrow morning. Besides, I'm making a killing at these races. Sit, relax... get some fun time while you can... place some bets... have a few drinks..." he says as he waves over one of the serving girls.

Kal's normally well-controlled features betrayed some surprise at the Dug's suggested timing. He shook his head, "Negative, negative, we were instructed to leave under the cover of darkness tonight. And I'm pretty sure I can get your permitted exit window adjusted to an earlier time."  Kal took a look at the podracing screen and the inebriated Dug. "But I'm guessing you've already got some money riding on this race, so I think we can wait for one more to finish before we leave. Which racer are you wagering on, and what sort of odds are you getting?"

"Put the fists away, butch, he's cooperating," Mirax said to Claire, letting Kal deal with the Dug and the issue of waiting until the next day.  Crossing her arms, she made it appear that she was in a hurry, which was true.  It was her best input to the conversation, considering if she spoke up, she would only be repeating what Kal said.

Claire opens her fists.  Apparently, no one had gotten her sense of humor.  So she lights upon some other statement that perks her sense of humor.  If anyone, she had expected the Dug to appreciate her sense of humor.  "Blow this joint?  I'm sorry.  I hadn't expected this jig would require explosives, otherwise I would have brought some.  Besides, wagging tongues is hardly a reason, I think, to blow a place up.  Now if there was more danger than wagging tongues... Well then explosives would be an extreme option... To a different bounty hunter.  I usually take jobs where I have to bring the mark in alive, not in tiny smoldering pieces.", she replies to Kal.

The dug thanks you and tells you that he's betting on his clan member Toorrin... number 53 before turning to whisper in the serving girl's ear, giving her a few hundred credits in the process. She smiles and hurries off, "NEXT ROUND'S ON ME FELLAS!" The mood in the Rodian's Kiss lightens up considerably as ale flows to every table.

During the next annoying hour, the party witnesses an odd event. In the middle of a story, the Dug is interrupted by a very soft spoken Trandoshan who plies him with questions.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:33, Fri 04 Feb 2011.

The normally unflappable Kal is both peeved and nervous at the delay. He'd like to wring the Dug's neck, but instead smiled at him. "If you're betting on number 53 then I'll join you. I'll root with you for your...clansmember. Surely it will be invigorating." Kal smiled and plopped himself right down next the Dug and asked various question about the sentient he was now backing with his credits.

Mirax was not so open, nor was she so intent on keeping their schedule.  While she didn't join in the gambling, she did order herself a drink.  Despite the implications of her nature as a Jedi, Mirax was quite good at holding her liquor, partially due to how much she enjoyed it to begin with.  So, drink in hand, Mirax took a seat nearby, leaning back so she had a good view of the races.  She had often wondered what it would be like to fly a podracer... perhaps she would have to try it someday.  So enraptured with her drink and the races, Mirax did not notice the trandoshan.

Although Claire takes a professonal's interest in all sorts of sports betting, it isn't something she herself bets on.  Watching the sport and hedging your own bets is one thing.  Laying down Credits in a wager is quite another.  She has seen too many people bet their lives away... literally.  Too often she has been hired to collect on bets, and though enforcing for loan sharks and bookies is a disrespectful way for a bountyhunter to make a living, it does bring in the Creds when things are tight.

Though Claire's interest in Podracing is transitory at best.  She acts interested because the Dug is interested.  The sport had speed, and usually messy crashes.  But it lacked the intentional violence of Dosh Battle Ball; sometimes referred to as a "droid demolition derby".  That of course was an inadequate way to describe it.  How Claire wished for the good old days before droids were invented.  The stadium floors used to be drenched in blood.  But the fatality rate was a little too high for a sport that would be considered legal under Republic law.

The Transdoshan face is something Claire does notice.  To her it is nice to see a "familiar" face.  Having grown up on the Dosh homeworld, she feels out of place as evident by her misinterpretations of Kal's figures of speech.  So Claire listens intently to the Transdoshan welcoming any chance to hear her native Dosh spoken.

In reply to Claire de la Croix (msg #133):

[Private to Claire de la Croix: The Dosh asks the dug if he'd be willing to take another 1-ton "shipment" to Koshibal for "the buyer", but the dug vehemently refuses, claiming that it's too risky to work for "your boss" and that "Pugwis will never do that again." Despite much protests and pleading.] After what seems to be a small heated exchange, the dug waves off the Trandoshan, who pulls up a bar-stool, orders a strong drink, and sits there, looking dejected.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:54, Sun 06 Feb 2011.

"Drinkin' and gamblin' is fun and all, but we do have places to be," Mirax muttered over her drink.  She cast a glance towards Kal and the Dug - and his new friend for that matter. "Hey, how about we head off after that race, hmm?  If the Dug won't take us, we can always do it your way, Kal."

After listening to the Transdoshan speak with the Dug in Dosh Claire begins to feel a little sorry for the drunken lout.  She leans over to Kal and whispers to him, _{"I do believe our Dug friends are smugglers.  And by agreeing to take us, they just lost a lucrative run.  Their lives may now be at risk.  Transdoshans don't like taking no for an answer.  Anyhow, I think you ought to say something to him to lift his spirits."}

Kal let a slight smile crease his lips at Claire's words. He had faith that she would be significant asset on this mission, and her reading of the situation for him may be quite beneficial.  He nodded to her and responded to her quietly. _{"Thanks. I will do so at an opportune time. Might also be best if we ask him about it once we're on the ship."}

Kal smiled at the Dug and asked. "So when's this race start? I can't wait to see how much your racer wins by."

For the first time today, Claire flips up the sunshield on the helmet of her armored flight suit.  The sunshield is a silver-coated tinted sheet of plastic that flips down over the plaststeel faceplate of flight suits to protect the wearer from staring into the harmful glare of a sun.  It has also effectively concealed her face.  Though Kal or anyone would know what Claire looked like from reading her personal profile file created when she got her Republic bountyhunter's license, her appearance is something she has been trying to keep secretive.

Now with her face revealed, Kal gets a good glimpse of Claire's scarred face, and the cybernetic eye shining a dissettling red from the left side of her face.  Rather than speak out loud, she mouths the words to him, "Don't ask them.  Pretend we don't know."

With a smirk and subtle nod of his head, Kal affirms that he understood what Claire was getting at. His eyes lingered on hers for a few moments longer before returning to their drunken Dug friend.

The betting girl took Kal's money and gave him a voucher for the dug's clansman giving the Kal ample time to see the racers lurch forward as the signal goes off.

One of the racers, are Quarren, is determined to win at all cost, takes an obvious distracting pot shot at one of the other racers. The shouts from the crowd go up a picth as the other racer makes his own counter attack, this time however, the shot hits the Quarren's pod, causing it to spit out of controle and into one of the jagged rock barriers. A the wookie takes the lead.. missing the debree from the Quarren's pod by a comfortable margin, but a dug racer isn't far behind.

The vidcast goes for a shot from the stands, as another racer's pod is forced into the rocks down below, sparks fly in every direction, the crowd absolutely rivited. Other racers pass the troubled pilot by. The next few turns offer nice lava river jump, which none of the racers miss, though a good deal manage to swerve dangerously close to the chasm's gaping maw.

Everyone around the room looks on with baited breath as one of the pods seems to freefall towards the racing pods below. Up in the droid control stands, none of the racers seem to have noticed the incident until it was too late. The two leading pods suddenly veer to contour a strange ghost shape in their vizors...

What followed was spectacular to behold... both pods whose trajectories would have flattened the freefalling racer veered in seperate directions, the crowd barely having a chance to sigh in relief before the pods hit the sand. Was the pilot injured, in distress? No one knew for certain, but everyone was on the edge of their seats... all eyes were suddenly on the lead racer who was suddenly passes by pod 53. A flurry of blaster bolts hit the lead car as the pod passed, causing the leader to veer even more perilously towards one of the many jutting rocks. The pilot, knowing full well that he was about to lose the race, decided to seal the Dug's fate. Bursts of fire assault pod 53 and the dug goes off screaming into the sands...

The general screams and shouting from the crowd (and room) was deafening and the now absolutely estatic spectators were cheering wildly. Your dug friend however through his cup at the screen with a growl.

[Private to Kal Wennyn: How much did you bet?]

Kal got a chagrined look on his face, but then when the Dug started chucking things around, Kal followed suit, tossing a cup toward the screen that fell woefully short. He turned to the dug and took a deep breath. "Although I share in your financial pain, it wasn't my clan member that went into the stands. I hope he's alright." Kal looked around to the others and then back to the dug. "Well, looks like the race is done. Maybe we can share a drink aboard the ship, commiserate over our respective loss of credits and use your shipboard systems to check the holonet for news of his recovery or lack thereof. Shall we?" Kal gestured toward the door and stood to leave.

[Private to GM: I had stated a wager of 500 credits.]

The Dug reluctantly agrees but follows the group out of the Kiss and into the cool Coruscanti night air. As he navigates through the shipping district's streets, you find out that the Dug is named Veturba. He's also the Black Comet's co-pilot and chief engineer.

"The plan is to set out at 0900 and head straight for Koshibal - well, as straight as one can get," Veturba explains, a little more coherent now that the drinks and creds have stopped flowing. "Ya see, any direct hyperspace path to Koshibal is blocked by a large asteroid field, which takes so long to go around, that no freighter wants to do it. But Pugwis doen't have a problem with a two-tiered hyperspace jump, dropping out of light-speed and navigting through the asteroid belt manually, then re-entering hyperspace for the rest of the trip to Koshibal. It's going to be very dangerous - but since few are willing to make the tip, Pugwis can get excellent prices on his shipments…"

The Dug slows down, at a fork in the road and scrutinizes the darkness of one of the alleys, it's ears twitching and expression pensive. He hesitates for a moment and then waves it off on a shrug. "We're almost there," he adds before continuing on his way.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:16, Fri 11 Feb 2011.

Kal followed the Dug on his way to the ship and nodded at his commentary, "Yes, I imagine he can get great prices for shipments there. Well, in the few situations that sentients actually want to send something to that particular planet anyway. In any case, I'm glad we're flying with a pair of experts."

"Hah! People want to send stuff there all the time... it's in Hutt space - and VERY out of the way. It's a haven for people who don't want to be found... and a great deal of profitable opportunies crop up there," you get a sense that the opportunities the Dug is alluding to aren't quite legal.

Claire watched the Podrace with only mild interest.  Podracing these days aren't what they used to be.  There never used to be blasters used in a Podrace.  The speed and hazards of the course were enough to make it a dangerous sport.  They didn't need to have people gunning for them.  But "Hutt Rules" seem to have spread in the past couple decades.  And "Hutt Rules" go "Whatever most amuses the Hutt is legal".  Hopefully, such freedom with the rules won't spread to her beloved Dosh Battle Ball.  There the rule since ancient times have only allowed close physical combat.  Projectiles, thrown, and dropped weapons have always been strictly against the rules.  To use a Blaster in Dosh Battle Ball?  Well if that ever became legal, Claire would turn assassin and go gunning for all the judges.

And so her mind turns toward the thought to going gunning for someone.  The Dug, Veturba, has turned down Transdoshians.  Knowing the race intimately as she does, Claire knows they don't like being said no to.  Putting herself in their clawed feet, she would rough up or kill Veturba to send a message to Pugwis that nobody says no to me.  Believing then that Veturba's life is now in danger, Claire begins to think of herself as his bodyguard, just one of four.  While the others may be foolish enough to walk side-by-side with Veturba where they could get blown up by a rocket or grenade attack, Claire hangs back and follows from a distance.  This way if they pick up another tail, she's there to deal with that extra tail.
21:17, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 12 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 5. Perception.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:18, Sun 13 Feb 2011.

Mirax stuck closer to the group.  She noted the conversation and what was said, but had little to add herself.  She cringed inwardly a bit at the mention of an Asteroid Belt.  Due to their nature, they were incredibly dangerous to navigate.  She had only been through one twice before, and both times were harrowing journeys.  She was not looking forward to that part, especially since she wouldn't be the one flying.

Mirax did note the Dug's hesitation, and took it as a sign of potential danger.  Unlike the others, she had a more effective means of discovering if this was true.  She reached out, and touched the Force, using it to sense her surroundings, and search for any sort of tail they may have picked up.

22:12, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 26 using 1d20+15 with rolls of 11. Sense Surroundings (Assuming DC 15) -> ignore cover and concealment for Perception checks
22:13, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 25 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 15. Perception check, search surroundings.

Kal nodded at Veturba's explanation. "I hadn't realized that routes there were in such high demand. I suppose we're lucky to have found you, then. So what role do you play in developing these opportunities? Or does your captain handle all those sorts of things?"

In reply to Mirax Bey (msg #146):

[Private to Mirax Bey: Your senses start screaming at you, you have seconds to react. Roll initiative, but give it to me in a PM. I'm giving a free action that you can RP.]

In reply to Claire de la Croix (msg #145):

[Private to Claire de la Croix: You notice nothing.]

All of a sudden, it was like being dropped into a nest of angry Rancors.  Her danger sense screaming at her, Mirax moved in a blur.  "Scatter!" she yelled fearing a grenade or rocket of some kind.  Regardless of what it was, being bunched up was bad.  As she yelled, she whirled her cloak off, and pulled one of her lightsabers from her belt.  In an instant, the green blade came to life in her hand, raised to defend against whatever threat they were presented with.

"Think of it this way," Vertuba started explaining as he continued down the street, "whatever you can do to sneak in several tons or whatever a hutt is willing to pay for, and shave two weeks..." he said, starting explaining why routes were in such a high demand, but Mirax suddenly lit her lightsaber, warning everyone of some impeding danger, just as a deadly bolt of liquid energy screamed past Claire and Mi, towards the surprised Dug in front of the group.

With bare nanoseconds to spare, the shot was deflected by the Jedi's expert reflexes and ricocheted off the duracrete wall. The Dug blinked, not quite understanding what had just happened in the liquor induced stupor that followed, and simply stared at the wall in wonder, mouth agape.



Initiative everyone


Initiative - Round 0

27 Mirax & Claire
24 Sniper & Vertuba
09 Kal
-- Mi Truev


This message was last edited by the GM at 02:58, Thu 17 Feb 2011.

Kal had the discipline of a soldier, even though he hadn't ever been a rank-and-file, gun toting member of the republic armed forces. He would have responded to a command like that without a thought from a superior officer, and he trusted the Jedi as much or more. Without hesitation, he pushed the Dug away from him, and then looked for some cover of his own.

The attack and the timing of it really came as no surprise to Claire.  She had been expecting this sort of thing ever since they left The Rodian's Kiss.  What did come as something of a surprise was the directionality of the attack.  Transdoshians prefer to send their message from a distance that's a bit more close up and personal.  But a sniper shows a different mind behind the attack.  The Transdoshians were just the first messengers.  This new message has a new messenger.  This shows a greater organization than just a group of Transdoshians.  And here Claire was hoping Transdoshians wouldn't demean themselves to being someone's thugs.  She prefer to see them stand up for themselves and be their own thugs.  Oh well, at least she made a good call by hanging back from the group.  She's at least closer to where the attacker is.

16:11, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 27 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 18. Initiative.

Initiative - Round 1

27 Mirax & Claire
24 Sniper & Vertuba
22 Mi Truev
19 Gangers
09 Kal




So far, the team was up against what appeared to be a lone sniper, but the Jedi scanned the darkness nervously[Private to Mirax Bey:  (you feel several presences around you, but something about half a dozen of them further behind you seem to be up to the thrill of a hunt)]. You're hard pressed in figuring out exactly where the shot came from, surrounded as you are by buildings and shadows.

Mirax and Claire may act.


This message was last edited by the GM at 02:47, Sun 20 Feb 2011.

Not sure if it applies, but I did make a roll for my talent 'Double Agent' (page 22 of Clone Wars). Result is a 17 (on a natural 1) so even if it applies, it probably fails, but I'm supposed to make that roll at the same time as initiative anytime we enter combat. It is a 17 (Deception) vs. opponent's will (if opponent is within LOS)
This message was last edited by the player at 03:54, Thu 17 Feb 2011.

Mirax was already on the move, not about to let their quarry get away - although it didn't seem like that was going to happen.  She bolted past Claire and the Blood Carver, back towards the sniper.  At the very least, she was placing herself between the sniper and his target, the Dug.  She hoped a Jedi would make a more enticing target, since she actually had the means to defend herself.  Trusting the others to keep their ward safe, Mirax spread out her senses again, to pierce the darkness and the other beings around, to search out her target.

Move full 6 squares in the direction of the shot - back the way we came.
Force: Sense Surroundings to ignore cover/concealment
22:51, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 35 using 1d20+15 with rolls of 20. UTF, Sense Surroundings.
Perception: 'Retry'; rather, look more closely for the sniper, now that we know he is there somewhere.
22:53, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 29 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 19. Perception.

Kal: [Private to Kal Wennyn: I'll let you use the double agent card. What I was looking for is to see if there was a distance limit to the LOS effect, which it doesn't seem to have. That said, since thugs are coming into play after, they weren't within LOS, and aren't affected.]

After a few tense heartbeats, Mirax searches the darkness and heights for the sniper. She gets a good sense of his direction and at what elevation he's at, but he's well hidden. Suddenly another shot goes off, and Mirax notices the window light-up a bright red as the bolt screams out of the nozzle.


[Private to Mirax Bey: 21:54, Today: Secret Roll: Power of the Darkside rolled 29 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 18. Sniper Shot #2.

You have to beat 29 to deflect that one this time.]

I'll Update with Results and Vertuba's move once this is settled.

PM

[Private to GM: 22:05, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 23 using 1d20+15 with rolls of 8. Deflect.

So, when the damage comes up, roll a Negate Energy (Force Check must beat damage; if so its negated, if not, I take half) for me.  Or I can do it if you want.]

In reply to Mirax Bey (msg #160):

[Private to Mirax Bey: 22:22, Today: Power of the Darkside rolled 21 using 3d8+5 with rolls of 8,5,3. Potential Dam. ]

PM

[Private to GM: 22:34, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 26 using 1d20+15 with rolls of 11. Negate Energy.  To Beat: 21.

Bam.  That's actually more badass than deflecting it, heh.]

Claire was confident that the Jedi could take care of one sniper.  Putting herself in the shoes of her attackers, she would send more than one sniper to take out a Dug, particularly when he's accompanied with four witnesses.  The sniper would just be to draw his guards away from him.  The real attack would come from much closer.

The shadows unnervered her.  There were too many and too close.  They would be the perfect place for attackers to lurk and wait for their chance to strike.  And so Claire stepped forward into the intersection of the two paths where she would have the best view.  She then activated the Infra-red Sensor in her cybernetic eye with which to get a good view of the heat signatures in the shadows.

Free Action: activate cybereye I.R. Scanner
Move Action: Move 1 square ahead
Standard Action: Search
17:12, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 26 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 19. Perception w/ I.R.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:45, Sat 19 Feb 2011.

Mirax's lightsaber swung, but the Jedi knew that the shot was far too precise for her to block effectively. Lightsaber at the ready, she side-stepped between the deadly bolt of energy and the dug, casually extending a hand outward.

The bolt screamed towards her, and with a great will of effort she caught the bolt with her outstretched hand and staggered more from the force of the blast than the actual damage she had felt as she quickly dissipated the energy. The sniper, it seemed, had been effectively neutralized. At least, for the time present.

Claire, meanwhile, scanned the darkness but little registered in the infrared spectrum. The alleys looked deserted, but something wasn't right as she looked down the western alley where a exhaust vent was venting out warm air into the Coruscanti night. She could tell that the heat was bleeding out of the building... then she saw it. The tell-tale sign of a cooler blooded creature, allowing the things to blend with the cooler duracrete walls and street. She couldn't be certain, but she was relatively certain that the reptilians she was thinking of never hunted alone. More were already upon them.

I'll allow everyone to do a perception check to beat their stealth checks at this point. No actions please, it's only to see if you're flat footed against them or not.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:08, Sat 19 Feb 2011.

10:42, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 12 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 4. Perception.

11:52, Today: Mi Truev rolled 22 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 16. perception

[Private to Power of the Darkside: 11:51, Today: Mi Truev rolled 21 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 11. Stealth,

The stealth had been maintained but since we are entering combat I thought I would roll again.  I understand if they already can see since I hadn't been posting saying that it was maintained, just let me know if the roll counts at this point or not if not I will reroll with my first action.]

Mi had been trying to stay in the shadows as much as he could. The blood carver turned towards the direction that Claire was scrutinizing and he noticed something that wasn't quite right.

Concentrating westward, Mi and Claire never heard the attackers come from the north, though Mirax felt the attack at the last minute and nimbly out of the way, Claire took a dagger to the side for her efforts[Private to Claire de la Croix:  (18HP worth of damage == 46/64hp)]. Taking advantage of the confusion, the hunters coming in from the west started running towards the group and would be soon upon the others.

[Private to Mirax Bey:
You know there are two more eastward. Very close (not on map because no one noticed them and they're still stealthy).]

Mi and Kal's Turn

Kal looked at their attackers smiled. He talked into his collar, "Okay, launch the ambush!" Saying it loud enough for those assaulting them to hear. He then waved his hands and gestured to a couple areas behind their backs.

Anyone looking closely would notice that Kal's right hand now held a small, palm-sized blaster in it. Apparently, he was armed the whole time...

He scans the attackers to see if any of them look particularly 'leaderish'.

Standard: Kal activates Walk the Line, causing all 4 enemies to take -2 to all defenses for a round.
Move: Draw hold-out blaster from somewhere on his anatomy and remind the ladies in the party that it's not the size of the blaster that matters.
Swift: Begin Disruptive talent, to be completed next round.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:36, Sun 20 Feb 2011.

Mi steps from the shadows launching a sudden strike at the attacker closest to him.  Drawing on the world around him he braces his attack driving even more force into the blow. Using his speed to land a second blow at nearly the same instant.

Standard: Attack, rapid strike, tele strike, attacker 2,
Move: move one square toward attack 2

11:32, Today: Mi Truev rolled 22 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 14. Attack
11:35, Today: Mi Truev rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  Force point damage.
11:34, Today: Mi Truev rolled 11 using 2d8+5 with rolls of 5,1. damage.
Total damage 17


[Private to Power of the Darkside: Just so you know if I do catch the guy I'm attacking Flat-footed I get a +1d to my attack so I need to roll 1d8 more. Also I relized that my TAB is off on melee attacks, Hammer blow lets you double your Str bonus to attacks when not holding any weapons and combat gloves don't count as weapons for this purpose.  So add 3 to the TAB on my sheet and the attack here making it 25]
This message was last edited by the player at 18:58, Sun 20 Feb 2011.

Mi jumps out of the shadows at the thugs coming in from the East, but just at the last minute the reptilian sniffs at the air and turns to face the blood carver. Though he doesn't manage to block quite quickly enough to deflect Mi's well aimed fist. [Private to Mi Truev:
Sorry, I rolled super well for the perception check, so no flat footed bonus.
 20:34, Today: Power of the Darkside rolled 21 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 19. Perception Thug 2]

Kal, mischief and misdirection on his mind, yollers something about an ambush, and the reptiles seem surprised and momentarily distracted.


Initiative - Round 2

27 Mirax & Claire
24 Sniper & Vertuba
22 Mi Truev
19 Gangers
09 Kal


Mirax and Claire's Turn
Map remains roughly the same. I had already attacked with the gangers, so now we're at normal initiative. Until the next surprise. :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:43, Thu 24 Feb 2011.

The sniper was temporarily forgotten, as Mirax turned to face two new opponents, who she would have assumed to have materialized out of thin air had she not spotted them with the Force the moment before their untimely arrival.  Her single lightsaber swept up into a wide guard position reminiscent of Makashi, while she worked on a different kind of attack.  Drawing the Force into her, she allowed it to collect before releasing it in a powerful telepathic blast, which would hopefully numb the minds of the two lizards facing her.

Standard: Thought Bomb
- Compare UTF check with all affected enemies' Will Defense.  For those it beats, they take 2d6 damage and lose their Swift action next turn.  Force Point increases damage by an additional 2d6
- affects enemies 3 and 4

23:06, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 19 using 1d20+15 with rolls of 4. UTF Thought Bomb.
23:06, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,3. Thought Bomb damage.

Claire knew the attack was coming, she was just a little too slow to react to it when it finally reared its head.  At least she had her trusty Force Pike held at the ready.  This was the sort of fight she lived for.

So she wasted no time playing her role as rear guard.  She turned to face the first Transdoshian who had come up from behind.  Since this wasn't a bounty she had to bring in alive, she showed no concern for their lives.  She flicked the switch on her Force Pike from the safe stun setting that she kept it on while walking civilized streets to its deadly setting.  Her hands thrummed with the vibrations shuddering down the shaft of the pike from the tip.  She then advanced and thrust the pike at the Transdoshian with deadly intent.

Swift: Change to Kill setting
Move: Step 1 square left
Standard: Attack

22:52, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 16 using 2d8+8 with rolls of 5,3. Damage.
22:51, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 18 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 11. Attack on 1

The two transdoshans scream as a force blast of mental energy assaults them. The one of the left, had seen a good opportunity as Claire decided to turn her back to face his other friends, but the dagger missed when the creature suddenly grabbed its head in pain. Their howls piercing the night and suddenly waking up Vertuba from his stupor who quickly hides from view.

In the distance the sniper's riffle remains silent as Claire swings visciously at the rear. The trandoshan meets her force pike with a grunt.

Mi's turn

Posting for Mi

In a blur of motion the blood carver slams into the enemy who howls in pain.


20:38, Today: Power of the Darkside, on behalf of Mi Truev, rolled 11 using 2d8+5 with rolls of 5,1. Dam.
20:38, Today: Power of the Darkside, on behalf of Mi Truev, rolled 24 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 16. Attack.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:43, Sat 19 Mar 2011.

The Trandoshans meet the heroes in a furious counter-attack. The Trandoshan in front of Claire growls as Claire over-extends her reach with the force pike, and the hunter moves in with deadly grace, slamming a fist in Claire neck as he follows through with her blow[Private to Claire de la Croix:  -20 hp]. Those attacking Mi and the Dug co-pilot hiss in frustration, but the one behind Mirax, unhappy with the force tricks the Jedi used previously, makes sure that the Jedi is repaid for her efforts. [Private to Mirax Bey: -16hp; -1condi]

At that moment, a fith Trandoshan appears behind Kal. Believing him to be part of their posse, he ignores Kal and moves towards the Dug.



Kal, you have a free AOO, and it's your turn.

OOC: Of course I haven't my books in front of me right now, but in the interest of keeping things moving...

Kal's small blaster flashes twice, aiming at the 5th attacker.

23:38, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 5 using 1d20-1 with rolls of 6. Attack (defensive).
23:35, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 10 using 3d4+2 with rolls of 1,4,3. Damage.
23:35, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 17 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 13. Aoo - fire blaster.

Aoo: Attack
Standard Action: Fight Defensively (+5 to reflex defense)
2 Swift Actions: Aim (for next round)

Kal's shots go off as Mirax jibes the weapon away from her, avoiding what could have been a nice gash in her arm. The hunter nearest Kal lets out a rasp of pain and surprise as the first shot hits it in the side.

End of Round 2
Round 3 starts with Claire's and Mirax's actions.

Initiative - Round 3

27 Mirax & Claire
24 Sniper & Vertuba
22 Mi Truev
19 Gangers
09 Kal

Her first attack had certainly affected both of them, but it was not particularly powerful.  She could remain on the defensive, sure... but Mirax figured it would be more effective if she focused her attacks on one at a time.  She could do much more damage to the attackers that way, rather than blanket effects with the hopes of turning them away.  So, Mirax focused her Force energy on the one in front of her, targeting his fragile mind with a veritable blade of the Force.  She even went so far as to push herself, as she wanted this particular enemy out of the fight so she could focus on the other.

Standard: Mind Shard at enemy 4
19:59, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 35 using 1d20+15 with rolls of 20. Mind Shard UTF.
Damage: 20:04, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 29 using 7d8 with rolls of 4,4,1,8,5,6,1. Mind Shard Damage (+Force Point).

In reply to Mirax Bey (msg #179):

In a shriek of pain, the trandoshan in front of Mirax grabs its head as its repilian eyes roll back into it's skull. It soon collapses into the street, twitching.

Claire's Left.

Claire had to respect someone who could slip a dagger past her defenses.  But she's been hit by worse from stronger.  Unperturbed by the pain, Claire stepped back and wound up for another trust of her Force Pike.  This time she had blood in her eyes.  She really went for the kill.

Standard Action: Go for the kill
Free Action: Second Wind to heal 16 Hit Points.

00:05, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 19 using 2d8+8 with rolls of 6,5. More Damage.
00:04, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 21 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 14. Another boring attack.

Claire went for the Trandoshan's soft spot, the gullet, with a lazy motion of her Force Pike. She'd fought enough of these lizards to know just how fragile that spot was. Her pike connected, and the hunter slid to it's knees and fell backwards into one of the street's scrap heaps.

Further back, Vertuba, surprised by the latest arrival, blasts several bolts of plasma in its direction. A few of them hit, and the hunter hisses in pain.


Mi's Turn

Mi stepped in toward the trandoshan that he was facing.  His thin but strong elbow slammed into the lizard's stomach; an instant before his balled fist found its place smashing in it's snout. Once again sending the force of the world behind the blow.


Standard: Attack, Rapid strike, Tele strike

17:29, Today: Mi Truev rolled 17 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 9. Attack
17:32, Today: Mi Truev rolled 14 using 2d8+5 with rolls of 6,3
17:33, Today: Mi Truev rolled 4 using 1d6 with rolls of 4 (Tele strike)

[Private to Power of the Darkside: Just making sure you know I'm not really moving just flare of writing there. Also if my memory serves that is the second force point I used so far correct me if I'm wrong.]

In reply to Mi Truev (msg #183):

With a snapping sound, the hunter's snout is forced up it's skull and into it's soft center. The death was instant and if it registered any pain, it was brief.


Gangers are next.

The two remaining gang members redouble their efforts. Too many of their kin just got slaughtered within the last few moments, that they weren't taking any chances. The first one raised it's vibro dagger, only to duck and thrust high. It would take Mirax one heck of a nice counter-attack to avoid the blade. [Private to Mirax Bey: Potential of 23 dam to avoid, and 23 to your block required.]

Kal's surprise attack meanwhile, had only angered the latest arrival. It ignored Vertuba, easily sidestepping the dug's attack, and moved in with deadly grace for Kal's jugular. [Private to Kal Wennyn: Nat 20, of course.. :P -- total dam is 36 (18*2) -- I'm assuming you're using a DP to avoid?]


20:28, Today: Power of the Darkside rolled 23,27 using d20+7,d20+7 with rolls of 16,20. Attacks from 3 & 5.
20:30, Today: Power of the Darkside rolled 23 using 3d6+8 with rolls of 5,6,4. 3 vs Mirax .

20:31, Today: Power of the Darkside rolled 1 using 1d2 with rolls of 1. 5 vs Kal (1), Vertuba (2)
20:32, Today: Power of the Darkside rolled 18 using 3d6+8 with rolls of 2,4,4. Dam vs Kal (crit X2).


Making it Kal's turn.

PM

[Private to GM: Failed the block.  Go figure, my streak ends in a 2.]

The strike to Kal's neck catches him flush, staggering him momentarily, and causing blood to flow freely from the wound. He clasped his hand over it, trying to staunch the bleeding, while keeping his eyes on the enemy, ducking and weaving as he waited for the Trandoshan to make its next move.

Swift: Catch second wind (regain 14 hp)
Standard: Fight Defensively (But take no attacks, +10 to reflex defense)
Move: Begin to Recover

Mirax gasps as she fails to block the blade, and the cold knife punctures through her robes and into her side. The pain disorients her and is quickly followed by the hot feeling of blood trickling down her left side and to the ground.

[Private to Mirax Bey: so you're down to 35hp/58, -1 on the condition track]

Round 4 begins with Mirax and Claire; 1, 2, 4 are dead.

---

Initiative - Round 4

27 Mirax & Claire
24 Sniper & Vertuba
22 Mi Truev
19 Gangers
09 Kal



This message was last edited by the GM at 01:27, Wed 23 Mar 2011.

Still waiting on Claire and Mirax -- no rush, but will move on by the weekend.

Seeing three of the Transdoshians go down filled Claire with a feeling of triumphant satisfaction.  The Jedi were living up to their reputation.  So the last Transdoshian gangster ought to go down pretty easily to Mirax even though he appears to be gutting her pretty well at the moment.  But it isn't Claire's job to save the Jedi.  Right now her concern is more for their Dug companion.  He is the one who needs saving more than the Jedi.

And so Claire turns around.  She stays out of the reach of the last ganger putting Mirax between him and herself.  She moves to intercept the sniper from kind of behind.  Coming from his blind side, Claire shows no mercy in tickling his kidney with the tip of her pike.

Move Action: diagonally down and to the right 2 squares, and then right 2 squares
Standard Action: Attack Sniper

22:50, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 16 using 2d8+8 with rolls of 2,6. Damange on sniper.
22:50, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 22 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 15. Attack on sniper

Such was the problem with dealing with two opponents at once - she had taken one down, but in that moment, she had left an opening.  Thankfully, her Jedi training was more than enough to help her resist the pain of the attack and focus on returning her own.  She even went so far as to use the same type of attack on this one - to put him through the same painful end as his companion, as a bit of revenge for her own wound.

Standard: Mind Shard again, on number 3.
06:29, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 30 using 1d20+14 with rolls of 16. Mind Shard UTF.
06:30, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 26 using 5d8 with rolls of 4,8,8,1,5. Mind Shard Damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:31, Fri 25 Mar 2011.

The Trandoshan attacking call doubles over in pain, the force of Claire's force pike hitting squarely in what would be it's kidneys... or slightly higher than they would be on a human. The creature rasped, winded, and now flanked... Mirax's own fell to its knees, howling in pain, but otherwise faught to stay conscious, a dangerous gleam crossing its eyes.

Vertuba, seeing an opening, now that Claired had distracted the lizard in front of him, leveled his blaster and the trando grunted into the dust.


Mi's turn

Mi saw the Tandoshan go down and turned to look how the others were fairing.  He noticed how Mirax was fairing and decided that she could use some help, even if she seemed to be holding her own.   He crossed the intervening space in a flash using his momentum to add more strength into his attack.   He aimed to slam his knee up into the Trando's chin before bringing his elbow down on the top of his head.

Move action: Diagonally up and the right to close with the Trando #3
Standard: Attack, rapid stirke

04:33, Today: Mi Truev rolled 30 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 20. Attack.
04:40, Today: Mi Truev rolled 15 using 2d8+5 with rolls of 2,8. damage. (15x2=30 damage)

The last of the creatures falls to the ground, lifeless, and the cold Coruscanti wind picks up, cooling off the wet sheen of sweat from your brows. Trembling, Vertuba cast a nervous glance around him.


End of Combat.

Kal utters a string of curses, some under his breath, some not. His neck had been opened and the blood was slowly seeping through the fingers he had clasped over the wound. "Search the bodies quickly, then let's get out of here." Kal used the one hand not clasped over his neck to check for anything useful on the closest of their assailants while wincing in pain now and then.

As soon as her last opponent went down, Mirax extinguished her lightsaber and clipped it to her belt.  Then, she reached down to the utility belt itself, raising it higher on her waist and tightening it over the wound she had received, so that the pressure from the belt and the cloth of her robes would stem the bleeding.  With that done, she looked to Kal and the others - the former of whom seemed to have taken a hit of his own.

"Tend to yourself first, Kal," Mirax advised, crouching down on one knee before the two creatures that had assailed her.  She then quickly frisked them over, searching for anything that could be important, such as information on why they had attacked them, or who sent them.

The group finds:

1 Blaster Riffle; 1 paire Combat gloves; 3 vibroblades; 200 credits

Vertuba looks up from the last pair of pockets, as if recognizing the thug. "Ahh... err... well... this one might have been... ahhh... upset... because my clan kept winning at the races. Trandoshan's aren't known for losing gracefully," he ventured, obviously relieved that that was all they'd wanted. "Thanks... I'd have been mince meat if it weren't for you all."

Kal raised an eyebrow at the explanation. First he nodded to Mirax, applying pressure now with a second hand to try to halt the bleeding. He then turned to Claire, "Thanks for saving my hide, ma'am." he rasped, appreciation obvious on his face.

Kal's eyebrow again raised as he turned to Vertuba, "I thought your clan lost tonight? Why would they still be after you?"

"Probably for all the money I made them loose," Vertuba said as he waved in dismissal, "what reason would they possibly need?" He looked around at the shadows and fidgeted nervously, "Ship's not too far," he added, though he didn't dare leave until you were ready to.

After looking at the small puddles of his own blood that were on the ground near his feet, Kal nodded, "I've got no love of this particular spot. Let's go."

As Claire pulled a Vibroblade out of her side she pressed her other hand to the wound to slow the flow of bleeding.  First she looked down at the bodies so as not to focus on the pain.  Normally she would be searching them for IDs.  They could have had open bounties on them.  But right now Claire didn't have the leisure time to collect on those bounties.  She then distracted herself listening to the Dug's explaination of why this happened.  She watched the Dug fidget nervously after the danger had passed as he spun his tale about losing races.  Claire knew full well that Pod Racing wasn't a Transdoshian's favorite sport.

"There's no need for you to lie to us, Vertuba.  I overheard the whole conversation you had back at the Rodian's Kiss with your scaly friend.  The only race you made them lose was the race against the clock to get illicit goods to our destination.  I heard you turn him down.  I appreciate that.  They clearly did not.  I knew there would be retribution.  There's no fooling me, Nashtah Koth.  I warned the others to be prepared.  So now it looks like we've payed you back your favor; a favor regrettably we wouldn't have owed you if you weren't first doing us a favor.", she tells the Dug.

Vertuba's eyes narrowed at Claire, "You heard that then? Well, I wasn't doing you no favors, Pugwis would have killed me seeing as he doesn't want anything to do with Jabba's cargo anyway. Let's just hope we won't get any more surprises from them later on," he grumbled as the group finished searching through the corpses.

Let me know what you take (if anything) and I'll move us forward. No one finds any IDs or what not on the bodies to confirm or deny Claire's suspicions.

I think we'll grab it all and sort it out later.

"Even if there's more out there, I doubt they'll be so sure of themselves after seeing what we did to their last attempt," Mirax said, rejoining the group.  "But we shouldn't waste time getting back.  Lead on, Vertuba."

Mi hasn't let his guard down watching the dark alley ways with keen eyes to be sure that no one else is there.  He watched every moving shadow before pulling his coat tighter around him and his hat down and melding into one himself.   He started off ahead of the others moving in the shadows and scouting ahead of them not even bothering to let them know where he is if they can't tell.

14:59, Today: Mi Truev rolled 20 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 10. stealth.
14:59, Today: Mi Truev rolled 26 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 20. perception.

Claire leans on her pike for balance, holding it with one arm wrapped around its shaft.  With the other hand she gives the Vibroblade she has acquired from her body a few test swings.  She watches her hand as she listens to Vertuba give his real explanation for what happened.

"Doesn't surprise me at all that when it comes to smuggling, those 'Doshians would be working for someone else.  But Jabba?  I'm no criminal but even I've heard of him.  I know he's not the sort of person you say 'no' to.", replies Claire.  "Come on then, no time to waste.  Your pal, Pugwis, is no doubt going to have trouble as well.  If Jabba can't have the use of Pugwis's ship willingly, I'm willing to bet he'll have it forcefully.  What with the amount of muscle he can muster, what he sent after us was just to slow us down."

And with that Claire is on the move again at a hurried pace to catch up with Mi.

The rest of the trek goes off without another hitch, and you soon arrive to a hanger bay in which comes the sounds of a sonic wrench and the occasional welding crackle.

In the hanger is a horribly beat-up old Corellian YT-1300 that looks like it's being held together with several rolls of mesh tape (the junker template from SotG), is what you assume to be The Black Comet herself. Behind the Comet, sitting placidly not too far next it are two used V-Wing starfighters (from the Clone War days from the looks of them), probably the 'payment and escort' General Madine spoke of at the briefing.

The dug walks on cautiously and whistles before adding: "Captain, the cargo has arrived."

From somewhere in the nose section the welding stops and a tall duros crawls out of whatever access hatch he was busy working in. "They're early..! Wasn't expecting them before tomorrow morning given the launch permit..?" he said as he wiped his hands on a dirty rag which he slid in his back pocket. "And what in Kessel's backside happened to you lot?!" he asks when he notices the blood on Kal and Claire.

[Private to Mi Truev: Mi you don't seem to have been noticed.]

Mirax was still bleeding herself as well, although it was rather hard to see with her cloak drawn about her.  Plus, with her skill in the Force, she had been able to counteract the debilitating effects of such a wound on the way here - it throbbed still, but it was mending, and thus did not affect her mobility.

"Trouble on the road," Mirax replied simply. "We dealt with it.  That said... if you can speed up the departure time at all, that would be great.  Otherwise... it would be great to see the medical bay, or our quarters, as soon as possible, what with the bleeding and all."  It was a little rude, sure, but given the urgency of the situation, the Jedi doubted that would matter.

Use a Force Point with Equilibrium to remove the negative conditions.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:37, Mon 04 Apr 2011.

"Furries..!" Pugwis grumbles as he scratches his head, "we'll get you patched up right and smartly, because I need two of you to pilot those escorts," he said pointing towards the v-wings, Vertuba disappearing into the vessel.

"I've managed to get a pair of hyperdrive rings that are waiting fer us in orbit, so the fighters will be able to travel with the Comet through hyperspace. The hyperspace journey is gona be arduous, cause them fighters need to replentish life support every 15 hours... but you three don't seem to be in any state to do that tonight. Not to mention the permits," he added with a shrug.

A few heartbeats later, Vertuba comes back with a medical kit and several medpacs.

Kal shook his head at the captain's desire to wait. "Negative on the waiting, Captain. We were told that time is of the essence and that we should leave under the cover of darkness. If we need to heal in the seat of a starfighter, so be it." Kal hissed a breath through clenched teeth, but didn't see any reason why they should do something other than what the general ordered.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:10, Sat 02 Apr 2011.

"If healing in the starfighter is what's required, allow me to be one of those to do it.  No offense to you all, but this type of thing is what a Jedi is suited for," Mirax replied.  Plus, it helped that she had some skill in piloting, thanks again to her connection to the Force.

Actually, it wasn't the ordinary kind of trouble on the road we had.  It was the punishment we get for you keeping your head above the law, Pugwis.", Claire further explains for Kal in severe terms.  "At first it was just Jabba wanting the use of your ship.  He's not the type to likes to take no for an answer.  And now that we've put five of his enforcers in the morgue, the stakes have gone up a bit.  So sooner we can get ourselves and these ships patched up, the better.  Time's ticking before Jabba gets some more muscle to change your mind."

Being that Claire is wearing a Corellian style Armored Flight Suit, she might actually know how to use it, and the fighter it's supposed to be used inside.  The trouble being that she has a couple of punctures in her flight suit, so if she ever had to eject into space, it would be utterly useless.  So she goes looking for something to make repairs, not to the ship.  She has tools that would work on that.  She goes looking for a space suit patch kit to seal the holes in her own suit.  Those should be inside the freighter's space suit locker.  So that's the first place she beings her search.

Pugwis looks at Kal, raising an eyebrow at his hurry, but the arched eyebrow is joined by it's twin, followed by a drop in his jaw muscles at the mention of Jabba and cargo. He looks at Vertuba, and the dug nods emphatically and explains how he was accosted by a Trandoshan at the Kiss and how you were all marked later on as you made your way to the hangar.

"No time to waste then... I just hope you people have some contacts to smooth things over with Coruscant Flight Security. They're not going to like us leaving early with the permit we've got..." he said as he started bandaging those of you that were wounded. At least, those that he does see for Mi carefully made his way aboard the freighter unnoticed.

20:50, Today: Power of the Darkside rolled 23,28,29 using d20+17,d20+17,d20+17 with rolls of 6,11,12. Heal Claire, Kal and Mirax
20:52, Today: Power of the Darkside rolled 16,15,10 using d20+5,d20+5,d20+5 with rolls of 11,10,5. Vertuba assist: Claire: Kal: Mirax

Claire heals for (23-15 = 8+2 hp)
Kal heals for (28-15) = 13+2 hp)
Mirax heals for (29-15 = 14+2 hp)

Will let you all do one last bit of RP (ie: pilot checks for those of you jumping into the fighters or just plain rp for those that choose to board the commet) before we move on
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:01, Mon 04 Apr 2011.

Mirax nodded her thanks to the one who cleaned and bandaged her wound, saving her from having to deal with a messy wound for the next while.  Thanks to that, she would heal much quicker, especially with the help of the Force.

Looking to the fighters, Mirax realized she would not be able to enter a healing trance.  The cramped cockpit wouldn't help her healing much, meaning she would have to bargain on having a night once they reached their destination.  She would have preferred to ride out the trip in the Comet, but unless anyone spoke up about flying, Mirax would do her duty and fill the spot.  She wasn't the best pilot, but she was better than any rookie, and those not trained at all.

"Oi, Bounty Hunter!" Mirax called out, looking over to Claire with a hand on the V-Wing she had chosen.  "Sure you can handle that thing?  Its a bit different then flyin' a transport or a freighter."

Getting her wounds patched up is just the excuse Claire needed to get out of her Flight Suit.  After all, it's hard to dress a wound properly with armor plates in the way.  Once out of her suit it is apparent that she is much more Human than she likes to let on.  Though by no means is it a Human body that has been well cared for.  Her body is covered with scars, some fresh, some very old dating back to childhood.  It is apparent that she has lived a very rough life getting cut up at a very young age.  Proper medical treatment would have assured there would be no scars though it seems she forgoes good medical treatment.  Perhaps it's the cost, or perhaps she wants the scars?

While her wounds are getting patched up, she patches up her Flight Suit.  It won't hold an atmosphere with two holes in it.  And it will need to be repaired for the journey ahead.  The V-Wings will have to dock with the freighter to refresh their life support.  With her suit, she can stay out a little longer breathing her suit's oxygen supply.  That way the two V-Wings won't need to be docked at the same time.

"Bounty Hunter, am I now?  I have a professional name, you know.  I go by Nashtah Koth.", Claire replies to Mirax.  "And yeah, I was brought up to ride around on Repulsor Skates.  You know what those are?  Think of strapping on a couple of a tiny repulsor lifts to your feet and skating around on them at breakneck speeds.  It makes Podracing sound positively safe.  So yeah, those fighters control a lot different from what I'm best with.  But compared to what I'm best with they should be easy to keep from skidding off in the wrong direction.  Repairs, shields, astro-navigation... I didn't pick it all up at the same place but I picked it all up.  I might not be an Academy graduate, but I bet you I could pass all their exams."

Kal winces once or twice as he is patched up, but then returns his focus to the task at hand. "I can try to smooth things over with Flight Security." Kal offered, though he'd prefer not to have to do so for a variety of reasons.

"Mi, are you capable of flying the starfighters? If not, the rest of us can set up a rotation. Much as I appreciate you volunteering, ladies, you'll need to stretch your legs a bit. I can certainly plot a hyperspace course, though if there is any tricky navigation, I'd not be the best person to have in the cockpit of one of those...things." Kal gestured at the fighter as he finished what he was saying.

His question gone unanswered, Kal looks around for Mi and can't seem to find the Blood Carver anywhere. He probably missed the fact that Mi had sneaked into the vessel already. He shrugs and looks towards Mirax and Claire who are busy figuring things out with the antiquated star fighters under Pugwis' careful and watchful eye.

Within the Comet, Mi goes unnoticed by Vertuba who is busily prepping the engine for liftoff, and soon gets the thrusters online. Pugwis, suddenly tired of watching the girls argue, shakes his head as if about to say something before he decides that he's done with the two rookies. He turns his attention instead on a last bit of cargo on a repulsor lift which he adroitly pushes into the comet and out of view, grumbling something to the effect that he hoped the smooth talker could get them out of the port authority's black list...

Mi made his way onto the ship taking some time to look over things wondering how it was that it could even get off the ground let alone into space.  After awhile he had settled with his own mind that there was nothing of danger here and stopped working to remain unnoticed.  He stepped out on the gangway leaning back on one of the hydraulic struts.

He had heard Kal's question but had chosen at that moment not to answer it.  Now seemed as good a time as any, "Yes Kal I can fly one of them.  I travel from port to port as a way of life if I don't know how to fly I have been wasting a lot of time."  He smirks slightly the first expression that only but a keen observer would have seen on his face this whole time. "The Ladies do however seem set on the idea of flying so why not let them at least have first shift."

Once Claire is done patching up her Armored Flight Suit and dons it once more, she gets out her Tool Kit she keeps on her utility belt.  She continues talking to Mirex telling her, "My father was a techie.  He could fix anything.  He was particularly good with droids.  Not much good with people, but he could make a droid sing and dance.  If only that's what people wanted droids for.  During the Clone Wars he worked for the wrong side designing combat droids for special missions.  I remember when I was a little girl, his Separatist handlers delivered to him some captured Republic fighters.  They wanted him to design droids that could pilot them the same as a Clone.  I was too young to understand how underhanded the plan was.  All I wanted to do was play around inside the cockpits.  Most fun I ever had.  Only time in my life I ever went out and did something with my mom and my dad.  Normally my mom just used my dad for free droids for her line of work.  Only time I remember seeing them happy together.  In the cockpit of a fighter doing mock dogfights and teaching me how to fly... They seemed like different people.  Those two really missed their calling.  Or maybe they had a different life before I came along.  Don't you ever wonder what your parents were like before you were born?  No, I suppose not.  'The Jedi Order is Mother.  The Jedi Order is Father.'  That's part of the brainwashing they put into you, isn't it?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:09, Sat 09 Apr 2011.

"Well, to be fair to the Academy, practical experience always trumps simulated learning," Mirax replied, circling her ship in order to make sure it was all in working order. "I never knew my parents.  Youngest memory I have is of being brought to the Jedi Temple by an elder Knight.  And they don't brainwash us.  The Jedi Order is my family because I've never had anything else to call a family."  Mirax paused, and looked back at the Bounty Hunter.  "Of course I wonder who my parents were.  I wonder who they are now as well.  You can't always get what you want, after all." That didn't mean Mirax was going to stop searching, of course.  She always had an ear out for any clues that might pop up.  She only had one hint as to their identities, but that didn't dampen her resolve at all.

Kal shrugged at Mi's response. "Fine by me." He then headed toward the cockpit of the largest of the three ships in their little interstellar convoy.

Claire hops into the cockpit of one of the V-wings.  She flips the switch to power on the cockpit controls and systems.  She then starts pressing buttons and reading the readouts to do a pre-flight systems check.  If this fighter had any glitches in its systems that the ship's own diagnostics programming could detect, she wanted to know about it while she still had time to fine tune it.

She makes idle chat while she does the diagnostics on the ship saying, "Well you should go look into that.  Finding your birth parents would be a good exercise in detective work.  At least, that's what you should tell the Jedi Order if they find out what you're up to.  I can't see any harm in it, not at your age.  I mean, you're too old now to bond with your parents, not really.  But it would be nice, you know, for them, to let them know that you're alive and well.  Who knows?  They might be proud of you.  I mean, if it were me, I would do it.  It would be nice to know someone is proud of me.  Then again, if it were me, my parents wouldn't be proud of me.  They never did trust the Jedi.  But still... would be nice to have someone proud of me... because my parents certainly aren't.  I mean, you can imagine in my line of work, right?  But no, there was never any pleasing my mother.  However good I did, she expected better.  And if my father ever was proud of me, he never could express it."
22:23, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 28 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 19. Mechanics - Pre-flight Check.
22:22, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 20 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 11. Pilot.

She then hammers her fist on the back of the cockpit on the metal plate beside the head of her seat.  "Oi!  Wake up back there, luv!", she yells at no one who can be seen.  She then mutters to herself, "They better damn well have supplied Astromech Droids for these things.  It's going to be really hard to plot a Hyperdrive course without one, what with the Astromech being the ship's Nav Computer."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:35, Sun 10 Apr 2011.

Mirax did the same, hopping into her own V-wing to run a quick check on the electronics systems.  However, her visual appraisal on the exterior of the ship told her that there was unlikely to be any issues, considering the craft was in acceptable condition on the outside.  It was old, but not a junker.

"You think I haven't?"  Mirax laughed.  She saw no reason to lie about it - although she wasn't about to share any of her findings so far.  Those were a little too personal to divulge to just anyone, after all.  "It isn't all that easy sometimes, even for a Jedi.  Its a big galaxy out there, after all.  I mean, the Order knows I've been searching, so they obviously don't have a problem with it.  They have issues with marriage and such, not family.  So far, not even the Jedi Archives have turned up so much as a hint."

While the women were busy with the v-wings, Pugwis and Vertuba had been doing the final preparations. The cargo was carefully stowed, the engines were prepped and then rechecked. Eventually, Pugwis went up to Kal: "I heard from Vertuba that you might have connections in getting us off this rock ahead of schedule?"

Meanwhile outside, both fighters give a shudder and growl to life, and soon even the Comet's thrusters are online. Minutes later, the comet and her escorts are ready to blast off, Pugwis hoping that Kal can breeze through Coruscant's port authority.

Vertuba's voice goes over the comm channel, staticky but clear: "Alright, girls... get them fighters nice and close," he orders as the Black Comet slowly rises from the ground and expertly exits the hanger, rising through the Coruscanti night.

Not far behind, Claire manages to follow, just as smoothly, leaving Mirax to figure things out on her own. To her credit the Jedi manages to get the fighter off the ground and pushes a little more speed from her fighhter until she finally catches up with Claire and the Comet's six.

Vertuba's voice comes over the Comm again, "Coruscant Port Authority, launch permit Alpha - three - Bravo - Niner - Niner - Two - Fife; main vessel and two escorts waiting authorization to leave the planet's gravity well, over."

"Alpha - Tree - Bravo - Niner - Niner - Two - Fife; this is Coruscant Port Authority," came the controler's voice in response a few heartbeats later. "Please correct your heading by OH-Fife degrees, and remain at your current altitude, over."

Several minutes go by, and those of you in the Comet see the impatient Duros drumming his fingers on his pilot chair. His red eyes meet Kal's and they narrow slightly. The meaning was clear, 'get us off this rock.'
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:30, Mon 11 Apr 2011.

Kal smiled at the captain and took an empty seat in the cockpit. He pulled out the datapad he was carrying and set it down near where the communication interface is. He then settled the hands-free commlink onto his head, running a slender cable from his commlink to interface with the ship's comm system. He punched a few commands in to boost the encrypted signal from his comlink using the ship's communication systems. Once finished, he adjusted to the frequency he wanted and toggled the transmission on.  Those in the cabin could hear half the conversation as Kal leaned back comfortably in the cockpit seat he had chosen.

"Arriana! Glad to hear your voice. It's your favorite spook!" Pause. "Okay, your second-favorite." Pause. "Okay, maybe your favorite creep then." Pause. "Listen, I promise I'll take you out to a nice dinner when I'm back in town. Anyway, Arry, I need you to quietly adjust a departure clearance for us. Launch permit Alpha - Three - Bravo - Niner - Niner - Two - Fife. We need to break orbit now. Let me know when you're done."

[Private to GM: Basically, Kal is contacting RMI and getting someone to adjust the permit to allow for earlier departure. I would think that is child's play for someone at RMI, but let me know if it's not possible for some reason and I'll edit.]

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #227):

Give me a persuasion roll. I'll take it from there. :D

15 (includes use of a force point, btw)

As Kal chats up the female on the other side of the comm, Pugwis confirms the new heading and altitude.

"Coruscant Port Authority; this is Alpha - Tree - Bravo - Niner - Niner - Two - Fife," Pugwis responded, "correcting heading by "OH-Fife degrees, maintaining altitude over."

Perhaps Kal wasn't high on the girl's happy list, perhaps he was even blacklisted, but he did hold a rank, and though she wouldn't dare not help or obey a direct order, she did drag her feet about it for several minutes. Those of you in the Comet see the impatient Duros drumming his fingers on his pilot chair. His red eyes meet Kal's and they narrow slightly. The meaning was clear, 'this stunt of yours had better work.' The look is short lived however, and the Port Authority crackles an answer: "Alpha - Tree - Bravo - Niner - Niner - Two - Fife;  you are clear to leave, Coruscant Port Authority, out."

Not needing to be told twice, Pugwis gives the command to head for the stars... just as Kal gets a final missive from the girl. [Private to Kal Wennyn: "Don't jump into any uncharted stars...  you still owe me some credits."]

Shortly after the two v-wing escorts are docked with their hyperdrive rings, the Black Comet sends over a stream of astrogation data which flashes on your screens before finally ending and the nav computers synch with the Comet's chronometer. Minutes later, the hyperdrives engage, and the group leaves Coruscant behind.





Will let you all RP the next 3 days if you like before moving you all forward.

Sorry for the wait, it's been a rather busy week.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:34, Sun 17 Apr 2011.

Kal gave Pugwis a winsome smile as they waited and started to make small talk. "Have you ever noticed how long the memory of a woman lasts?" He asked, rhetorically. "I sometimes can't remember what I had for breakfast the previous day, but women seem to be able to recall with perfect clarity every word I've ever said to them." Kal sighed heavily, but once they received clearance, he grinned at Pugwis and gave him a look like there was never any doubt in his mind they would be cleared. He chuckled at the final note sent from Arriana and shook his head.

He then turned his attention to the comm system he was now sitting in front of. Once they hit hyperspace, Kal used it to attempt to communicate with the starfighters. "Comm check. Comm check. Ladies, how are you holding up?"

"Uncomfortably," came Mirax's reply.  All things considered, she was quite pleased with herself at having gotten the V-wing into the air so smoothly, since it was quite a bit more archaic than the ships she was used to piloting.  That said, it wasn't necessarily a smooth ride - the thing was ancient, and rode a little rough to begin with.  Then there was that other issue...

"The damn padding's worn down to nothing on this seat.  I'm basically sitting on a metal frame." She didn't need to add that, when she swapped out with one of the others, she would definitely need to rest her sore ass, which was only going to get worse over the next half of the day.

Kal responded to Mirax, "Sorry to hear that. Though since you took the first shift, I'll show my appreciation by massaging whatever ails you when we stop to recharge the life support."

Kal paused a little before he said, "So we've finally made it into hyperspace. Although I didn't want to discuss such things while we were on Coruscant, now seems like a fantastic time to talk about what everyone brings to our little team. Stealth, disguises, and incomparable charm are my most useful traits. I also know my way around computers and mechanical devices. What about the rest of you?"

Claire always felt comfortable in the cockpit of a fighter.  Sure, it was cramped.  It was a lot like being in a metal womb, and that is perhaps what Claire liked the most about it.  The days would be spent look at the black as streaks of light passed by.  There would be no voices except for those drifting in faintly on the subspace radio.  But what made it most like being in a metal womb was when you emerged from it into the light of a new world, Claire felt like a new person.  The time alone gave her time to contemplate her existence.  The time without human contact recharged what little desire she had for it.  But best of all she would be able to stretch out her legs and move again.

And then the radio check from Kal destroyed any hope Claire would have for peaceful reflection.  "How do you think I'm holding up?  I'm cramped inside a tin can.  I'm drinking water from a plastic storage bag so old I can taste the plastic decomposing.  And I'm eating concentrated food capsules.  Yum.  And what do you think happens when I have to go pee?  Ahhhhh.... Feels like dipping my feet in a warm bath.  It feels nice now but in three days I'm going to have diaper rash.  You going to powder my feet when I stop to recharge my life support?", Claire replies of her ship's Holonet Transmitter using a voice-only channel that the Black Comet can receive.

Kal winced inwardly at the description, as that was going to be his fate eventually. Not that he hadn't been inside a cramped cockpit before, but these seemed to lack most basic comforts.

"You make it sound so delightful. If you ever tire of bounty hunting, you should definitely go into sales. Tell you what, when I'm done massaging Mirax's sore parts, instead of powdering your feet, I'll powder your, erm, diaper area. That should provide more relief for you and far more enjoyment for me."

"Oh, you say that before you smell it, but the smell will change your mind.", replies Claire over the subspace radio.  "And if it doesn't, then you've got a pretty sick sense of enjoyment.  Why can't you enjoy smashing in the nose of a wrong-doer like any normal, sane person?"

Kal chuckled at Claire's response, "I'll leave the smashing of noses to my three new friends, thanks. I'm more the kind to either discover or plant damning evidence that will lead to their incarceration. Or execution, depending on what sort of wrong-doer we're talking about."

Kal paused, slightly annoyed that he still had no idea what the capabilities of his newfound allies entailed. Besides the obvious, of course. They all could obviously fight well. And all could pilot pretty well, too, likely better than Kal himself. But Kal was never one to be daunted by others ignoring his questions, he would continue to poke, prod, and probe until satisfied. "I'm not sure if any of the rest of you had the chance to get any information on where we're going. Koshibal apparently is a former Republic mining colony located in Hutt controlled space. It's obviously quite remote, and the mines dried up before the Clone Wars. Some strange core readings created phantom mineral signatures far beyond the meager veins of ore on the surface. The colony, as it was originally intended anyway, quickly died as the thousands who moved there seeking a new life were suddenly left without one. Nowadays, it seems, it's become a haven for those that don't want to be found. As we're about to find out, it's supposed to be pretty difficult to get to. With any luck, our target is there, though we'll have to move quickly once we land."  After a pause, Kal decided the women were probably both in a bad mood and needed some gentle prodding, "Any thoughts on the situation, ladies?" He then thought that Claire probably liked it rough rather than gentle, but he could test that theory some other time.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:59, Wed 20 Apr 2011.

The moment the conversation turned to... less savory subjects - before she could even get a good retort in for Kal's quip - Mirax simply turned down the volume on her comm, and went about making herself more comfortable.  She was fortunate that her Jedi robes were as long and thick as they were - it didn't take long for hr to get them bunched up beneath her to provide a bit of a cushion for her rear.  That, at least, would save her from a very unpleasant first few steps upon leaving the ship.

"We're gonna have to be on our guard the moment we touch down.  Incognito is the name of the game.  I know its a bit redundant to tell you both this, but I also don't think you really realize what we're up against here," Mirax replied, having turned the volume back up on her comm in time to hear the conversation turn back to more important matters.  "We have to watch our every move to make sure we don't unknowingly tip off Master Skywalker." She didn't say it, bu she would likely have the most difficult time in this regard - she was a Jedi, and strong in the Force at that.  She would have to mask her presence enough to keep it hidden from a Master.  Not easily done - even in a densely populated area.  "Because that's all it will take.  One tip, and he'll disappear.  That is, if he truly doesn't want to be found.  If he does... well, I don't know what to think in that case."

"You both are forgetting something.", Claire piped in.  "Vertuba mentioned that we're going to be taking a smuggler's route to get to Koshibal faster.  A very dangerous smuggler's route... the kind that passes through an asteroid field.  Before worrying about what to do on the ground, can we perhaps worry about getting through an asteroid field?"

Kal made sure to kill the audio feed shortly before Mirax said 'Master Skywalker' turning it back on a moment later. He responded, "Incognito is my middle name, so that shouldn't be a problem."

When Claire asked about the asteroids, Kal shrugged, not that those in the fighters could see it. "My guess is that the asteroid field is such that there's not a whole lot of planning that can be done for it. Actually, I take that back. I plan to be sitting here with our new friends while we're heading through the asteroid field. It seems like everyone else is quite capable of handling the fighters."

Kal then turned to Vertuba and said, "Vertuba, if you think there's anything we should know about the asteroid field before we get there, we seem to have plenty of time to talk about it."

"You have no idea, Kal.  Incognito works fine for a normal target, but we have many, many other ways of picking out pursuers from the crowd.  But, that's what I'm along for," Mirax replied, hoping the emphasis on 'we' would lend itself to the subject being Jedi.  She was a little embarrassed about having spoken the name of their target aloud mistakenly.  "As for that Asteroid Field... I agree with Kal.  Best planning we can do is to boost the particle shields and prepare for the worst, mentally.  However, it won't be any worse than a tense combat situation.  Just keep your wits about you."

Mi had tied his comlink into the ships com so that he could hear the entire conversation even though he was sitting back in one of the living compartments.  He smiled listening to the playful banter between his partners and couldn't stop a smile from crossing his face.  That was one thing that he missed since becoming a warden was the interaction that he could enjoy between others.  So long had he been alone that he didn't mind his own company and was perfectly fine with just his own thoughts, but being a blood carver did make him long for a clan ever since he had left his it was the one thing that he missed.

He said nothing just listening waiting for a break in the discussion  to answer Kal's question.  Not knowing this ship he would have little to offer those that knew it well and so wouldn't distract them by offering it.

The hyperspace journey is arduous and long for those of you in the v-wings. A few days go by (and 71 some hours of flight time in the fighters) go without incident. Well, the pilots might tell you differently, but otherwise the Comet and the starfighters are on their final stretch, the fighters more than ready to dock with the Black Comet to replenish life support one final time, and giving Claire and Mirax a much needed chance to stretch their legs / vent their frustrations over some hot meals and drinks after a much needed stint in the freshers.

The pilots eye their chronos and the minutes stretch out impossibly long before, finally, it's time to disengage. The stars field stops streaking and the three vessels find themselves a few hours away from the famous asteroid belt.

Inside, Pugwis interrupts the crew who are relaxing in the mess. "We've just arrived," he intones. "If you want a nice view before Koshibal ruins it all for you, I suggest you come to the cockpit for an eyeful," he says with a grin before turning back the way he came. Those that follow are greeted by the view outside the Comet, and to the disgruntled sounds of the pilots trying to dock with the Comet one final time.

Kal appeared to be getting nowhere in his quest to find out more about his new allies, though he did learn a few Trandoshan curse words from Claire at the end of one of her piloting shifts. He filed those away for future use.

When it was suggested that they check out the asteroid field, Kal complied, though he suspected they would just be looking at a bunch of floating rocks.

When he made his way to the cockpit, he thought to himself, wow, a bunch of floating rocks. I've seen hundreds of asteroid fields. And thousands of rocks on the surfaces of various planets. This asteroid field is about as interesting as the last hundred I've seen.

Then out loud he made a sound like someone who was looking upon a natural wonder for the first time, "Ooooo, they're beautiful, Vertuba. Now I know why you like this run so much. It would be hard to ever tire of such a gorgeous approach. If you ever run out of stuff to haul, you could make a killing by taking tourists out here." Kal tried hard to keep the sarcasm out of his voice and act amazed.

Rolled a 20 for Deception

"Seriously, you could."

Having taken a brief nap - a bit of meditation, actually - Mirax returned to the bridge after Vertuba's announcement, arriving just behind Kal.  Once there, she leaned forward, taking a look out the cockpit.  She too let out a low whistle.  It certainly was a sight to take in, even if she had already seen asteroid fields before.

"It is gorgeous," Mirax replied.  "And every single one of those little rocks is out to kill us.  Wonderful."

Claire steped up into the back of the Comet's cockpit.  She looked like she has just gotten out of the refresher with a towel wrapped tightly around her torso.  With another towel, she was drying her black hair.  Her cybernetic eye, to protect it from the water, is conspicuously out of its socket leaving a dark hole in her face lined with metal contacts.  Her Armored Flight Suit, however takes more time getting "refreshed", both to remove the smell and to refill its air supply.

Claire stared out with her one good eye at the asteroids.  She had no such whimsical impression, or even put on such airs in jest.  "They're just a bunch of floating rocks.  If you think that's beautiful, you've been struck about the head by too many rocks.", she remarked at Kal.

Kal turned around to see Claire, and let his eyes wander over her state of undress for a few heartbeats before returning his gaze to a more gentlemanly spot on her face. Her form appeared quite pleasing when not hidden under loose clothing or a bulky flight suit. A smile played across his lips before he responded, "Well, as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some things that I find beautiful, another man may not." Kal then shrugged, but didn't avert his gaze from Claire's face, "Of course, that simply makes those other men foolish simpletons."

"I see.", replies Claire in a skeptical tone.  "So unlike most men, you find beauty in what is otherwise dead, hard, lumpy, and bearing the scars of ancient impacts?  Then you might like this."

And with that she opens the towel to reveal a skin a greyish pale like the color of asteroids.  Her muscles are pronounced and not in a girlish way.  In fact, her musculature is so cut that most men would be envious.  What may pass for feminine lumps are not the shapely thing seen in adult holovids.  They're not even quite the same size as one appears to have had a piece of it cut out at the bottom.  And that is only the most unusual of her scars.  The rest of her body is marked with more pink blade scars than there is canals carved into the surface of Lok.  Add to that the crater-like scars left from blaster hits.  And finally she has fresh bandages on her two latest wounds that are going to heal into another two scars.  Claire seems to collect scars the way a gambler collects Pazaak cards.  At least the gambler plays with some of his cards.  Claire's collection is more a history of brutality and masochism.

Relishing the moment to make everyone feel very uncomfortable at looking at her body that makes it seem like she sleeps with vibroblades, she makes an effort to make people more uncomfortable by pointing out what they may least want to look at.  With her index finger, she points at her scarred breast and notes with some kind of perverse pleasure, "I made that one myself.  I was trying to cut the whole thing off, but the pain was too great and I had to stop.  Anyways, I dare you find beauty here.  But I figure for a man who sees beauty in asteroids, maybe you'd see it here.  I've got it all, except the dead part.  I'm still working on that."

"And once again, Claire misses the joke," Mirax replied, with only a casual glance back to their bounty hunter companion.  She was rather surprised that Claire went on to expose herself in such a manner, considering how tight-lipped she had seemed to be earlier on in their voyage.  Mirax didn't seem at all bothered by the extent of her scars though... it was actually about what she had been expecting from the Bounty Hunter.  What she was surprised by, was how adamant Claire was that no one could find her beautiful.  She was very black and white in her thinking, that was for sure.

"Claire, there are people out there in the Universe that find the Hutts attractive."  Mirax rolled her eyes and turned back towards the asteroid field.  "Sarcasm aside, there is a sort of perverse beauty in an asteroid field... the same way you can find beauty in an intense thunderstorm, a volcano, or a supernova for example.  Its a matter of perspective.  Nos, put your towel back on before Kal jumps you.  I don't think scars would bother him much."

Well, since Claire did open herself for him to look, Kal happily studied what he saw. He reached out and traced a finger along some of her scars, very gently, then looked into her still-human eye.

He furrowed his brow at Mirax's response and flashed a quick look at her, but then returned his gaze quickly to Claire. "No, scars don't bother me at all, nor do I find you anything like a Hutt. In fact I envy you every one your scars. Well, all but one, anyway. I've been in a few scrapes myself, but you'd never know it by looking at me. In my line of work, one is not allowed to keep one's scars. Either bacta, surgery, or...other means are used for removal so that we can blend in and not be noticed. I envy you your unique look," Kal now traced a finger around the empty metal eye socket, "for similar reasons. I also appreciate your strength," now he ran a finger along one of her well-defined biceps, "and assure you that I'm not alone amongst men who do. Much better than a woman who worries about hair styles, staying slim, and other vain pursuits. Your entire body is a testament to your individuality in a universe full of those who are not, and I hope that one day you realize how special that makes you. If Mi and Mirax take the next shift in the fighters, perhaps I can help you come to that understanding. If not, I look forward to hearing the stories behind every one of your scars," Kal now traced the one she had indicated on her breast, "and we'll start with that one. I think we might discover a lot if we talked about it."

Claire seemed comfortable with Kal touching her scars and biceps.  She has been worked on by enough barely trained medics and street-doctors to be comfortable with her body, particularly the parts of it associated with her combative nature.  But when his hand reaches close to her breast, she reflexive pulled away as one would pull away from someone wielding a knife.  Her arms swung up defensively as though she were expecting a beating.

But when no beating came, she looks Kal eye-to-eye and teld him, "I bet you would discover more about me talking about that one scar than nearly all the others combined.  For now, you'll just have to submit to fantasizing about talking about that one.  For all we know, one or both of us may soon become nothing more than dust floating through space to finally settle upon some of those asteroids.  And if that one of us should be me, remember that you are the only man to have touched my flesh without the intention to do harm or heal harm."

She then stooped down to pick up her towel.  As she did so, she said, "Now if we're all in agreement that I am prettier than a Hutt, and Kal would jump any Hutt that so much as called itself female... We have an asteroid field to navigate."

Kal wasn't surprised when she flinched from his touch, but slowly dropped his arm and returned his gaze to her face once she did, listening intently to what she had to say. He smiled thinly at her jest about female hutts, and let it slide. His smile then broadened, "Well, perhaps once we're clear of the asteroids, you'll let me touch your flesh again and you can tell me all about that one scar."

Kal looked around at the others not really caring about what they thought of the exchange, but recalling they all had a job to do. "Let's navigate some asteroids, eh?"

Mi had watched the exchange between his allies with the practiced eye of an observer.  He knew enough about human nature to understand where both Kal and Claire were coming from and couldn't help but smile at their banter.  He shook his head turning back to his data pad seeing if there was any connection to the holonet to check on messages from his fellow wardens about trouble that they might need help with or updates on anything that would affect their mission.

After a moment he looked up seeing them still waiting around he shook his head and looked over at Mirax Bey.  "Should we let these two be alone and decide to make the run through the field ourselves?"

Chuckling to herself, Mirax was already on her way out of the cockpit when Mi spoke up. "Sounds like a decent plan to me," she replied.  It was a bit of personal preference for why she wanted to be in a fighter for this.  It mainly had to do with the fact that she didn't fully trust their guides.  She preferred to be in control in instances like this, rather than holding on for dear life.  Plus, with her abilities in the Force, she had an extra asset on her side.

"See you all in space."  With that, Mirax was gone from the cockpit, heading out to where her fighter was docked.  She intended to take a moment to make herself comfortable this time, before undocking.  She had taken a shower in the refresher earlier, so she was as ready as she was going to be.

Claire kind of jumps when she heard Mi speak up from behind her.  She hadn't expected Mi to come up to the cockpit to check with the HoloNet Communicator.  In fact, Mi's very existence often slipped her mind.  He reminded her of an MSE Droid she once had.  After being stepped on a few times, it learned to hide from her, and went about its chores when no one was looking.

Suddenly aware that she had exposed herself in such a way that people would take it the wrong way, she excused herself saying, "I should have packed more clothing.  Usually when I travel I book a private stateroom.  Sorry if I treat this ship like my own private quarters.  I better go check on my laundry now, then get back into the cockpit of my own fighter."  She then re-wrapped herself in her towel.

Kal shook his head, "No apology necessary, in fact I'm quite happy when you treat the ship like your private quarters." He called at the receding backs of the two women heading toward the fighters, "I'll be there in a minute to help you two get settled."

In the meantime, there had been something tugging at the back of Kal's mind. He scratched his neck for a moment while he thought then reached into a pocket and brought an old, chipped datapad. He smacked himself on the forehead, having forgotten to look at it previously. He turned it on to see what might be in it (or hoped that it turned on).

PM
[Private to Kal Wennyn:
The datapad has seen better days, and pressing the power switch doesn't do anything to coax it any further either. Perhaps its power source is faulty?]

Kal frowned at the datapad in his hands. It didn't seem to be able to power on. Might as well disect it and see if there were some other way to provide power. Perhaps a spare power pack, energy cell, or hardwiring it directly into the ship would work.

19:56, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 24 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 15. Mechanics.

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #260):

The cover slips off easily and Kal expertly removes the power cell and replaces with one from the ship's inventory when Vertuba's back was turned. The device emmits a tiny beep and humm as it powers up. A few moments later, Kal reads the screen.

[Private to Kal Wennyn: Please enter alpha-numeric passcode...]

"Humph." Kal grunted. They always had to be password protected, didn't they? Well, he had ways around that. Kal grabbed his own datapad and hooked it to the older one. He ran some decryption software that came standard on all RMI issue datapads (though he had made some special modifications of his own) to see if the code could be cracked.

10:24, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 26 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 17. Use Computer.

As Kal hacks away at his new mind teaser, the rest of you prepare for the crossing. Claire is already suited up, and going through the pre-flight inspection with her fighter. Before Kal knows it, Pugwis and Vertuba are done with their share of preperations, and announce that everyone man their stations.

[Private to Kal Wennyn: Your computer skills, you are quite certain, would make quick with any other datapad, but this one, you realise is special. More than that, the password seem to be anamorphous. Every try you make at it, the code seems to scramble itself even more. This is no ordinary pad, and whomever had it before definately wanted its secrets well hidden, almost paranoicaly so. Of course, there are no such thing as anamorphous codes,  but rather several layers of code. You make progress, but everytime you have one wrong it brings you back to the beginning.

Who knows how many layers this thing has? The only way to find out is to keep at it....]Resigned, Kal repockets the datapad and readies himself for what lies ahead.

The trek through the asteroid belt is slow and arduous, the fighters often having to resort to last minute evasion maneuvers and the Black Comet's crew to exclaim a few curses as the haul clangs and grates against some of the debree, though none of it quite severe enough to cause real worry. The crossing visibly ages our dear Mirax, whose knowledge of the Force is the only thing keeping her alive, whereas Claire, more suicidal than the lot of you, takes more and more chances as the crossing progresses, making her on the receiving end of several of Pugwis' outbursts.

Hours of carefull flying later... the Black Comet recieves an unexpected transmission! At the same time, a large transport appears from behind a large chunk of space rock, 4 light interceptors leaving it's bays and streaking their way toward the Black Comet. The voice over the transmission demands that Pugwis surrender Jabba's shipment, "or... we have no problem taking it from the breached hull of your ship!" Despite his denial of carrying anything for Jabba, the pirate insists that they "know" it's there!

The starfighters advance...

Kal looked at the insistent Pugwis, "If you don't have anything of Jabba's, why not just let some of them aboard and prove it to them?" Kal asked, not particularly liking the odds against them.

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #264):

"If I let hem board they'll steal whatever else we have or worse," Pugwis grumbled. "Besides, me and Vertuba have a few surprises up our sleeves, right Vert?" The co-pilot gives a nevous nod, though Pugwis doesn't seem to realise the Dug was visibly tensing.

Kal frowned at that response, they really could watch them as they searched and avoid any unpleasantness.  Unless...."There isn't actually anything on board Jabba would want, right Pugwis? Vertuba?"

Kal's gaze fell upon each in turn as he tried to discern the truth.

12:19, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 17 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 9. Perception.

There's never a Jedi around when you need one, he thought.

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #266):

Before Vertuba can answer, Pugwis answers that of course there isn't any cargo destined for Jaba. "First off, I've only had bad experiences with him, and I don't care much to do any more business with the slug... These guys must think that I'm still running for the hutt though..." [Private to Kal Wennyn: You cast a suspicious glance at Vertuba who been stalling at the bar... Maybe he was waiting to make contact, and the quick departure had upset his plans? You can't be certain, the Dug being extremely hard to read and quiet since you've left.]

Mirax saw the ship as it rounded the large asteroid, and already she was on edge.  She could not hear their transmission, but since the ship launched fighters, it could not be friendly.  Keying the comm, she drifted her fighter closer to the Black Comet.

"Uhh, guys?  Imminent bad day approaching," she said, though she knew they would have already seen it. "You guys have a brilliant plan you want to inform me of?"

Kal frowned at what he saw from Vertuba, then punched the transmit button, "We see it Escort Two. I don't think there's much choice but to terminate the approaching fighters. Good hunting, ladies." Kal turned his frown back to Pugwis and Vertuba, not particularly happy about the situation. He had become quite attached to both Claire and Mirax in their short time together and really disliked that they were put in such a dangerous situation. He quirked an eyebrow hoping they did have something up their sleeves besides just sending the fighters into bad odds.

"Terminate?  Now why would I want to do that?  I say any pirate who wants to steal what belongs to a Hutt is a pirate I like.", exclaims Claire in response over the comm channel.  "Dump your cargo holds, Pugwis.  Let them sort out if what they want is floating through space while we make a get away."  This desire to run rather than fight though doesn't stop her from powering up her V-wing's weapons.  As for the shields, they are already up to deflect the smaller rocks in the asteroid field.

"Kifes, yes, terminate," came Pugwis' voice over the comm, "we ain't dumping my cargo in here, even if I do have that hutt's cargo. I'll sort it out in the holds later..." Turning to Kal and Mi, "Either of you would probably be more than welcome in the gunnery well..."


Claire and Mirax, initiative / pilot checks in lieu of please.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:59, Tue 31 May 2011.

Kal looked briefly at Mi, then tilted his head in the direction of the gunnery well "I think you'll have more, er, luck with the guns than I would."

Kal slid on a headset and started to monitor communications, prepared to make some of his own. He used the ship's receiver and his datapad to determine frequencies currently in use by those flying toward them.

Once he figured that out, he planned to listen in and potentially provide his own suggestions for the enemy fighters.

OOC: Let me know at what point in the initiative order Kal can talk...

Edit: 14:11, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 13 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 4. Use Computer.

This message was last edited by the player at 19:12, Tue 31 May 2011.

Mi nods, and heads towards the back of the ship.

[Private to Kal Wennyn: The fighters aren't communicating by radio frequency... at least, not from any of the bands you've scanned as far as you can tell. There is some interference from the asteroid field though ...]
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:26, Wed 01 June 2011.

Using Claire and Mirax' previous Pilot checks to establish their initiative.

01:22, Sun 10 Apr: Claire de la Croix rolled 20 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 11. Pilot.
15:05, Sat 09 Apr: Mirax Bey rolled 24 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 17. Pilot Check.

Claire flicks on her shields, as Mirax goes around the asteroid debris, pushing her fighter as much as she can to get around it quicker. Meanwhile, the Comet follows Mirax's six, hoping to get the asteroids between it and the fighters, while slowly closing in on the enemy transport.

Kal and Mi may now act, the Comet went 4 squares up, see the coords in the initiative thread, will draw up a new map.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:53, Wed 01 June 2011.

Kal frowned at the ship's comm console and his datapad. The fighters must have some sort of comm that they're using. He continued to try to detect what that might be. He also tried to see if there was any information on the transport they were up against. Information was his lifeblood, and he felt that he had a shortage of information right now.

10:59, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 11 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 2. Use Computer.

Kal types a few more commands into his personal computer, while Mi settles himself into the gunnery well. Without any targets, he familiarizes himself with their configuration. Across the field, the Enemy Transport keeps its station.

End of Round 1, Round 2 starts with Mirax and Claire again.
Map has been updated.

[Private to Kal Wennyn: For some reason, you can't glean any more information at present]

Will post for Mirax / Claire... come Sunday given Kal's on holidays.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:00, Sat 04 June 2011.

Though she wasn't particularly thrilled about dogfighting in this aged fighter - in an asteroid field no less - Mirax pushed the throttle back to full as she rounded the small cluster of rocks.  If they were going to do this, it would have to be done quickly.  In a drawn out battle, the enemy had the advantage since htey outnumbered Mirax and Claire.

So, for now, she focused on getting within optimum range of her starfighter's blaster cannons.  Almost there...

Move to T3

Having studied the scans of the local asteroid field Claire suddenly comes up with a plan that may work better than charging straight in on a suicide run.  She saw a dense field of small asteroids next to a very large one, and knowing the Mirax is on the other side of the dense field where she can't provide supporting fire for Claire.  Knowing that the pirates were after the Comet there's just two good ways to reach it, and one of them has them passing between the dense field and the large asteroid.  Seeing the bottle neck, she decides to pull back on the throttle until she is starting to move in reverse.  Using the large asteroid for cover so the oncoming fighters can't get a missile lock on her still ship, she takes site on the bottle neck.  She knows her Light Laser Cannons are only really effective at short range.  What they lack in range and firepower, they make up for in rapid cycling.  And so she can fill a small area with large volly of shots that the oncoming fighters will have to pass through.  And all the shots that miss will go into the dense field blowing apart small asteroids that may rain debris into their aft shields.

15:59, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 25 using 1d20+7 (-2 size) with rolls of 20. PilotCheck to stop and reverse
:Swift Action: Full Stop & drift reverse to M10
16:36, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 19 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 18. AutoFire Attack
:Full Action: Autofire Attack on squares N,0-8,9
16:39, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 22 using 3d10+2 with rolls of 2,10,8. D Damage (x2)

This message was last edited by the player at 23:41, Sun 05 June 2011.

Claire: Just trying to understand what you're trying to do. Are you shooting at the asteroids now in the hopes of making debree slide into the bottle neck? Or are you prepping an attack for the first thing to cross your LOS?

Claire, let me know, but moving the story onward...

Claire shoots into the asteroid field, as Mirax and the enemy fighters roar closer. Some shots are fired at Mirax as two fothe enemies fighters close in on her. All the shots, so far, miss by a comfortable margin. The other two, clearly seeing Claire shooting at something, go off to intercept.

During that time, the Black Comet makes its way around the debris and the freighter remains at station.


End of round 2, top of the initiative with Mirax and Claire again.

Those of you aboard the Comet may take their actions, just moving things seeing I don't think anyone is around to act.

Mi moves quickly through the ship before pulling himself up into one of the gunner's turrets turning it on and preparing it for the battle to come.  He pulled on the comm headset as he waited for the lasers to warm before swinging it around toward the oncoming fighters.  "Turret up and ready."  He had no line of sight on anything, and didn't want to risk hitting one of the girls so just waited for the moment.

Seconds before as Claire held down the firing button on her stick, she took note that the only thing to pass through her gun sights were the rocks floating on the other side of the bottle neck.  She glanced down at her sensors and took note of one effect her attack had on her opponents.  It had made them cautious.  They're not about to charge headlong through where she had just indicated was her field of fire.

Now she was a sitting target.  Space is not two-dimensional like on a map displayed on her sensors.  Even the largest asteroid can be flown over or under.  Claire had to take the initiative or else her opponents would get the drop on her literally.  If she where them, she would fly over the asteroid and attack her from above.  So she did what came naturally to any pilot: hang tactics because there are none that work out well for you, and just start shooting.  So she turned the nose of her fighter downward and hit the accelerator.  She skimmed the surface of the asteroid to go underneath it and emerge from the underside where hopefully her enemies weren't expecting her to appear.

With her targets now in view, she gunned the accelerator to full throttle to do what the V-wing was designed to do: intercept.  She straightened her course and flew at one of the pirate fighters.  She held her fire, doing as her mother taught her, to fire only when she can see the pilot sitting in his cockpit.  Taking her shot at the last possible moment when they're at point blank range, she didn't wait to see the results.  If the results were good, she would be flying through a cloud of expanding ionized gasses.  If not them she'd be passing close enough to the other ship that the other pilot would hear the tearing screech of her ion engines rumble through his hull.  She then continued straight on toward their command vessel.

:Move Action: Move at half-speed through "rough" terrain to P10
01:14, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 17 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 12. Pilot to avoid collision
Straight course to make an attack run on fighter at U9.  End Movement at U10 thanks to Running Attack Feat.
01:15, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 14 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 6. Attack Run.
1:16, Today: Claire de la Croix rolled 11 using 3d10+2 with rolls of 3,5,1. Possible Damage.

This message was last edited by the player at 08:35, Wed 08 June 2011.

As the two fighters drew into range of her laser cannons, Mirax yawed right just a bit, bringing the lead fighter into her sights.  The very instant it was within effective range, she let loose a burst from her laser cannons, before yanking hard on the controls to swoop away from the two fighters, in order to avoid a collision.  With that in mind, she also did so to keep some distance between her and the enemy fighters - the last thing she wanted was to be drawn into a close range battle in this asteroid field.

Actions:

Attack fighter in V-04: 15:05, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 15 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 9. Attack enemy fighter.
Damage: 15:06, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 27 using 3d10+2 with rolls of 10,8,7. Damage. Total = 54 damage

Move to W-00

If that missed, throw in a Force Point roll because I don't want to lose out on that damage.

Claire: will allow it, though wasn't expecting to let anyone do so. ^_^ However, what I will not allow is two uses of the move action when you are also using a standard action to make an attack. Your final coordinate will be R-10, as I am closing my eyes to the difficult terrain that the two squares that are not fully being covered by the asteroid should actually be.

Claire's V-Wing cruises over the ancient asteroid, so close to its surface that she's reminded of the pod racing she's seen on several of the planets she'd gone to for Dosh Ball tournaments. It's almost like the two went hand in hand. Cruising through the crevices and occasionally jagged terrain, she eventually makes it over just before another asteroid closes the gape between her and freedom.

Weapons blazing, she takes the enemy fighter by surprise and the flash of her cannons visibly weakens the fighter's shields, but causes little damage to the craft itself.

Meanwhile, Mirax has more success as her fighter screams towards her enemy and peppers it with well aimed shots. The enemy fighter's shields suddenly buckle and the craft is heavily damaged, however, Mirax realises that the fighters are made a little tougher than expected.

[Private to Mirax Bey: There was no need for the extra FP]

Next, Enemy Fighters.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:32, Mon 13 June 2011.

The fighters nearest Mirax take pot shots are her before moving on towards the intended target, the Black Comet. The parting shots nearly graze her, but the Jedi ultimately comes out unscathed. Meanwhile the fighter that Claire had damaged stayed back a bit to take aim, while it's friend decided to attempt a dogfight with the Dosh Ball pro.

The fighter has her in its sights for mere seconds before she expertly twirls out of his grasp, causing it's friend to miss also.

During this time, the Black Comet finally makes it to the other side of the asteroid field and advances to meet the fighters head-on.



22:52, Today: Power of the Darkside rolled 10 using 1d20-2 with rolls of 12. S-10 Attempts to Dogfight Claire.
22:56, Today: Power of the Darkside, on behalf of Claire de la Croix, rolled 31 using 1d20+12 with rolls of 19. Counter Dogfight.


End of Round 3, Round 4 starts up with Claire and Mirax again. People in the Comet may also act.

OOC: Actually, there is a Standard Action called Attack Run on page 171 of the core rule book.  It reads: As a Standard Action, you can move up to your vehicle's speed (minimum 2 squares) in a straight line through unobstructed terrain directly toward your target, and then make an attack with a vehicle weapon at that target at the end of your movement.  You gain +2 bonus to your attack roll and take a -2 penalty to your vehicle's Reflex Defense until the start of your next turn.  In Starship Scale, you cannot make an attack run through squares occupied by enemies, but allies do not hinder your attack run.  So basically this is the Charge of Starship Scale Combat.  In addition for Claire because all Feats that do not apply only to Melee Combat will also apply to Starship Combat, she can ignore the '... at the end of your movement.' clause because of her Running Attack Feat.  Hmmm, can't go through occupied squares?  Well, I will have to change the description a little bit and recalculate where she would end her movement.  But basically she can duck under an obstruction with a Move Action.  Then keep on going to charge at the enemy, jinking briefly into their path to fire off a shot, jink away, and then keep on going.

Taking a Move Action -before- the Attack Run is to get around the obstruction so that there is no obstruction in the way.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:55, Sat 18 June 2011.

Kal continued to try to tap into the fighters' communications, widening his search to the more unlikely bands and methods.


09:46, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 26 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 17. Use Computer.

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #288):

[Private to Kal Wennyn: You detect an odd pitch comming from the freighter,  it's as if the fighters are actually being remote controled. They must be being piloted by droids, you realise.]

Kal punches the comm button, "Ladies, those are droid fighters out there. Possibly being remote-controlled."

After stopping the external comm, he turned to the pilot and co-pilot, "Any possibility of jamming the signal coming from the main vessel? I've got the frequency identified."

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #290):

"Well, I'll be a Gungan's uncle...! I haven't seen something like that since the clone wars..! It's worth a try," Pugwis exclaimed, "the comms station is right next to you. The dish should be ready."

Mirax, what are you up too?

Claire, the terrain was obstructed. Nice idea, but not this turn.

Looping back around, Mirax aimed her nose at the rear of the same fighter from before, the one that seemed to be leading the formation of two.  Pushing the throttle to full, she closed to short range, with the fighter's wingman - wing-droid according to Kal's transmission - just off her starboard wing, before she let loose with another blast of her laser cannons.

Move to T-04
Attack Run: advance to S-04 and attack with +2
14:58, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 12 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 5. Attack Run (+2, then -2 for short range).
15:00, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 12 using 3d10 with rolls of 10,1,1. Damage (if it hits). Total: 24

Again, if that's a miss, throw a FP roll.  Gotta use them up before leveling up, else I lose them all!

Claire, what are you up to?
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:10, Sun 19 June 2011.

Claire loses her turn, given that she's logged in but hasn't deigned to post or email me about why she hasn't actually posted on her turn.

Claire, momentarily blinded by the combined flashes of energy from the two vessels on her six, hesitates and is suddenly tossed violently as her fighter takes heavy damage from the droid fighters and is brought dangerously close to the debris field...

Meanwhile, on the other side of that very field, Mirax's weapons come to bare on one of the vessels. Hot bolts of energy streak across the void and hit the fighter in the engine section, its armor taking the bulk of the damage.

Judging by the ship's condition, one more good hit and that fighter's toast... but that doesn't stop either of them from closing in on the Comet to continue their assault. Laser fire goes streaming towards the comet but glances of its shields, giving Pugwis a nice open shot at the fighter that Mirax has worn out. The lasers intersect with the fighter, and it suddenly explodes into a small ball of fire and debris that rocks the Comet and its passengers.

The rest of you on the comet may now act.

Kal's fingers dance as he starts giving commands to the dish at the comms station. Hopefully he could jam the signal to the droid fighters and his two favorite ladies would be safe from them in a moment....

16:31, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 26 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 17. Use Computer.

The fighter nearest the Comet passes overhead and starts to loop back towards its target when its engines suddenly choke, leaving the fighter to float at an odd angle midway through its loop. Cheers go off in the Comet at Kal's quick thinking, but the enemy freighter is suddenly active. With the signal to their droid-craft lost, the enemy sees no reason to stick around, but there's a final signal from the vessel before it makes a jump out of the asteroid belt.

From the enemy fighters' cockpit, a faint red light starts blinking.

The one nearest the Comet explodes sending a shockwave that quickly cuts off all the cheering, a twin explosion on the other side of the debris field engulfs Claire's v-wing.

"Was that...?" mumbled Pugwis from the Comet's pilot seat. The Duros looked dumbfounded by what just happened. At first he was cheering at the unexpected victory, but someone had just sacrificed four droid craft in order to get to him, and they didn't even care if the craft came back?! "Vertuba, get in here and start scanning... That v-wing might still be salvageable..! Krifes..! Do they think credits grow on trees?!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:21, Mon 20 June 2011.

Mi had just been pulling together and drawing a bead on the nearest fighter when it's engines died setting it into a erratic drift course before it self-destructed.   His eyebrow raised for a moment before seeing the freighter disappear from his screens also.   "Interesting choice."  He was just slipping out of his harness when the other explosion registered on his screen.   He slipped down the ladder rushing to the cockpit his face dark,  "Who was it? And how bad?"

Kal stood up and started celebrating when the droid fighters went dead, even doing a little dance as celebrated. He thumbed his nose at the retreating main vessel and waved goodbye to it. His elation quickly turned to dumbfounded shock, however as the vessels all exploded. Some sort of self-destruct, obviously. Shock turned to horror moments later as he realized that Claire's vessel might have gotten caught in the blasts. He quickly found his way back to the Comm info.

"Escort One, Escort One do you copy? Escort One? You there?" Kal waited for a reply, holding his breath, something heavy seemingly lodged in his throat.

[Private to GM: FYI - if you want a replacement for Claire, I might be able to find one. Just let me know.]
This message was last edited by the player at 12:15, Mon 20 June 2011.