"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?"