As the Rebellion against the Empire continued the Rebels need every ally they can get. Now in a remote area of space called the Elrood Sector, the Alliance has reached an agreement to trade the services of a scouting team for percentages of the metals and minerals recovered by the Radell Mining Corporation. Since the Rebellion is so desperately short of raw materials, this deal is very important to Alliance High Command.

Few details were given in the mission report that Commander Lyla received. The mission was in the report simple. The Gray Griffins, an Alliance scouting team loaned to Radell, have been captured by pirates and are being held for ransom. The Alabak's Gold must rescue the Griffins and secure any new worlds claimed for Radell Mining.

The Rebel contact with Radell is Jameth Todkal, an executive who works on the 28th floor of the Radell Mining Corporation's headquarters. The building is in the centre of the capital city of Elrooden.

There is a Rebel operative in Elrooden, Shondra Del. Lyla is supplied with an address 'Gwynn Dispatch' and an identification phrase 'we're former business partners from Keyorin'.

Rebel command have supplied Lyla with fake identicards for Rebel agents Klyn Cors, Lamar Danar, Rynn Culmar, Tera Inkari and herself.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:23, Mon 23 Dec 2019.

Lamar Danar waited at the docks for the Alabak's Gold to arrive. He was dressed as a typical low level engineer would be so he wouldn't stick out, with his case at his side containing his tools and computer. Hidden inside it was also his other tools of his trade though, including a blaster rifle with scope and a few explosives.

This short human male seemed to bear a perpetual scowl on his face, as if nothing was good in his life. He was waiting for the arrival of his new team as he had been dispatched from Leritor where he had been setting up a communications relay network. Luckily it was nearly finished and the other techs there could finish what was left to do. He jumped at the chance, as he was informed that there was a rumor that Moff Hiroff had been seen in this sector. Hopping on the first transport he could get he had arrived two days ago, and already secured a safe house. Now the rest of them needed to get here.

So here he was sitting on a bench eating a gorma meat sandwich waiting for the arrival of this new team. First he reviewed the contact procedure He knew them by sight as he had their pictures, but that could be faked so he would use the phrase-counter phrase- trade craft. He would approach and ask '"Do you know what time is the Shuttle to Coruscant?"' Their response would be '"I'm afraid I'm bound for Corillia." He would respond with '"Then be sure to give my regards to the Director."  As he reviewed this in his mind he sighed. it was sad that such clandestine procedures were necessary. Damn the Empire! He thought to himself.

He Wonder if they will get themselves killed like so many others have? He thought to him self. Still they seem to have survived a few missions. Though why they need a comms specialist all of a sudden is concerning. I'll have to ask about that. Might be important. Need to know if they have any shorthand codes, or safe phrases and the like emergency phrases and such... He began to think through the possible things that he would need to discuss with them after meeting them.

On the flight out from Isis, Lyla had studied the scant mission details closely and learned what little she could of the Eldrood Sector, the Elrood system, the planet Elrood, and the surprisingly named capital city Elrooden. She decided the long-ago Republic senator Elrood who'd funded the ancient colony must be either a really great guy, or a total egomaniac. Cynically, she leaned toward the latter.

She had good feelings about this mission. It wasn't quite the working holiday she'd had in mind, but it wasn't going up against the Empire and achieving the impossible again either. Once they rescued the Alliance scouting team, any further exploration they needed to do should be quiet and straightforward, not unlike Lyla's old trade really, with corporate resources. If there were no troubles, the mission was a success, and they maintained cover, that is.

So she spent the rest of her time getting into character. Fortunately, she wasn't unskilled at this; the Twi'lek had a natural knack of subterfuge, and before she'd been a Rebel soldier and a scruffy scout, she'd been a dancer, and before that a street-kid grifter. Now, she could be someone else for a while. Yet still she was a scout, a hunter, just adopting camouflage to pass unnoticed through this new clean, orderly, and corporate environment. But she didn't intend to be a mere secretary.

Eventually, slightly delayed by weather, the Alabak's Gold touched down in the Elrooden starport, and the ramp extended. Tap, tap, tap went her tall heels as she strutted down the ramp, followed by sleek stocking legs, a short skirt to show them, and a business jacket and blouse, unbuttoned for a bit of decolletage, all in midnight blue over her orange skin, with matching headband over the tops of her lekku, lifting them, separating them, and letting them sway like a pendulum in tune with her hips. The appearance was calculated to be professional, smart, and more than a little sexy. A bright orange Twi'lek wouldn't escape notice, but she could sure as hell distract.

Rynn opened up the ships comms as he set the ship down. "Thank for choosing to fly with us today, on behalf of the Rebel Alliance, have a great day."

Once he'd landed he unbuckled and set the safety protocols on the ship. Gathering his gear, he  made his way to the ramp to exit the spacecraft. When he saw his Commander he said. "Lyla's Lancers? The Neskroff Irregulars? " he asked, tossing out more  possible names. Ever since hearing the name The Gray Griffins he'd been unrelenting in suggesting names for their crew, suggesting that they should be 'making a name for themselves' and therefore need a name.

At the latest proposals, Lyla twitched a tail, something like raising an eyebrow in a human. 'You want to put us on everyone's radar?' she asked again incredulously. 'Then how about "The Dead Ducks"? Or "The Empire's Most Wanted"?'

Glancing around, she spied an engineer waiting by the docks, so she stopped talking like a Rebel. She needed to get rid of the guy before he snooped around and blew their cover. 'Thanks, but we don't need any repairs.' she said before he could say anything.

Tera shrugged "I was always partial to the Motley Mob" she winced "but I was brought up on Corellia... so there's that."

As his companions chatted about names, Klyn looked a bit around, trying to see the face from the picture they had gotten.

He supposed the man had  a description of the Gold too, so he shouldn't be that far.

Scowling even harder at this twillek girl's unprofessionalism Lamar simply said "Do you know what time is the Shuttle to Coruscant?"

He hoped the girl would not be so distracted as to miss her contact completely.

'How in the world should I know?' Lyla retorted, playing the imperious business-woman. Wait, wasn't that the code-phrase they were supposed to use? But the script was so unconvincing. And this was their new guy? She had to see how well he could adapt and talk his way out. 'Do I look like Elrood Starport Command?'

Lamar's eyes narrowed in suspicion. That sure as hell wasn't the return phrase and though they looked like his team the imps had been known to use substitutes and impostors before. He simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, my mistake for wanting to try and be civil to such a primitive anyway. Carry on then."

He then stood and began to exit with the intent to exit the area as quickly as he could. If the imps had compromised the mission then he wouldn't stick around any longer than necessary.

Klyn raised his eyes to the sky as he watched the exchange.

Their little team of independent scoundrels was really not used to stick with the rules of the  Rebellion's communication system.

"Indeed, and we have nothing to do on Coruscant, anyways, I'm afraid we are bound for Corellia."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:48, Sun 05 Jan 2020.

Lamar paused and turned slowly to look at Klyn. His eyes narrowed and he eyed them for several seconds before finally saying "Well then, give my regards to the Director." He looked around at the rest of the group, scowled, sighed and said "Come with me."

As he marches off  towards the safehouse, he thinks to himself. This is not a good sign. Right from the start they get the contact code wrong, and they seem to be taking this less than serious. This isn't going to be a good start to this mission at all.

Well, if that was his response, he couldn't be in the Alliance then. Lyla scowled and picked up her pace, striding away on clicking heels, just wanting to be gone. No matter how she dressed up, or how she dressed down, there was a human jerk waiting to knock her just for not being human.

But her pointed ears pricked to hear Klyn speak with the guy, them exchanging the other lines in this secret-squirrel nonsense. So, he was the contact after all. Cruk. She turned around and rejoin them. 'I'm the Director.' she informed him coolly.

Tera looked around, checking the area to see if anyone was watching "Lets go talk about transportation schedules somewhere else. Our ship might be for hire for the right price." she said just in case ears nearby were in the hire of the Empire.

Lamar winced as the Twi'lek girl claimed to be the Director. She obviously had no understanding of greater galactic political structure, to be claiming that title. No mere Twi'lek girl would claim to be the leader of the Corellia worlds if she did. Instead of correct her he merely shook his head and walked towards one of the mid-level apartment buildings in the industrial section of the city.
This message was last updated by the player at 22:41, Tue 07 Jan 2020.

As they walked to a less crowded place, Klyn let his mind wander a bit.

This mission was starting very well : they almost missed their contact on the first few minutes...

Speaking of which, the guy looked quite tense, understandably. But he hoped it was not always the case or he would have some trouble fitting with their group of misfits.

The Rebels, the 'Motley Mob' or whatever name took their fancy, followed Lamar to his apartment. The starport was on the outskirts and the journey included a few minutes by monorail. One of the few things they notice about Elrooden is how clean everything is, the starport, the monorail and even the rundown neighbourhood that Lamar led them to.

Off the street they would hope to be away from prying eyes and listening ears. For the five of the them the apartment was a fairly tight squeeze, but it wasn't too distinct a change from size of the living quarters onboard the Alabak's Gold.

As Lamar led them off through the not-so-mean streets of Elrooden, Lyla followed along in sullen silence, still annoyed over the Imperialist insult even if it was fake. So far, their new comms guy didn't seem up to snuff, if he couldn't recover from a missed cue.  That was a fine start to a mission, wasn't it? She wondered how Chu-Shkar was doing in his retraining.

Once inside Lamar's apartment, Lyla took a disdainful look around (all the sterile cleanliness in this city was giving her the creeps) but stayed quiet for now, just in case Lamar thought there might be listening devices or something.

Tera watched her surroundings carefully. Something felt...odd about the city being so clean. The only places where she'd seen things this clean was aboard the ISS Contemptible. She raised her eyebrow as she entered the apartment, using the Force to feel for any disturbances in the nearby area.

As Lamar Entered the apartment he checked his tells looking for signs of disturbance. If anyone had entered the apartment the tells would have been moved. Little things like the toothpick he had wedged into the door jam in the hall door as he left the apartment. It would tell him if anyone entered the apartment through that door since he left, as it would fall out if the door was opened and it was down low where people would not be likely to see it.

There were many such tells. Things moved into just certain positions so that if drawers or door was were opened they would be moved and he would notice. All of it subtle. You could trigger every one and to the casual observer nothing would look out of place, but to his trained eye it would scream tossed room.

So when he approached he looked at the door and then followed into the room and examined the rooms of the apartment while remaining silent as he examined the room for signs any of his tells had been disturbed. For a professional crew could spot them as well, but it was nearly impossible to get them all.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 08:04, Sat 25 Jan 2020.

Rynn walked in and found an arm chair and plopped down, sitting with one leg draped over the arm of the chair. He watched their contact slowly walk through the room inspecting things here and there. "We safe to talk?" he asked, his suit's voice box amplifying his whisper of a voice.

A sweep of the apartment and Lamar was satisfied that they were safe to talk.

Nodding he turned to the lieutenant and asked, "This your first covert assignment where you had to meet an agent? Or at least follow contact protocols?"

This wasn't asked angrily, more in a curious fashion though the expression of slow burning anger seemed to be a permanent fixture to Lamar's face. The more the team watched him the more they realized it wasn't directed at them, but seemed to just be his natural state.

He didn't wait for the answer he just commented as if it was obvious. "You botched that up, almost blew it totally. I would have disappeared and you would have never seen me again. Lucky the other one there thought quickly and at least got most of the phrase right. I realized then that I was not dealing with a imperial ops team trying to infiltrate the op, but a bunch of amateurs. So I cut you some slack. fortunately I recognized you from the files I had on you."

Walking over to his wall he  moved  a horrible painting an pushed a rivet there was  a click and a floorboard popped up a few centimeters. going over to it he lifted it and reached inside after doing something for a few seconds, during which there was the tell tale click and whine of a plasma grenade disarming, he pulled out a data cylinder and holo-reader.

"Here is the info I received on the op. It's encoded, and you're the only one with the code so I don't know what's on it. I did know I was to scout the target, and have begun some preliminary work on that, but I only arrived here last week and it takes a while to setup a safe house and get surveillance established. He then handed her a second data cylinder. Here's what I have so far."

Inside the data cylinder is a holographic business card for Jameth Todkal, a Radell executive and a hologram message. When the hologram is activated by Lyla it played a hologram message. The hologram showed an image of an attractive but intense looking woman with brown hair.

"I'm Shondra Del, captain of the freighter Stars of Elrood. I'm your contact here in the sector. To keep it short, Elrood isn't a place where like us are welcome. Keep your affiliations quiet. When you've completed your mission for Radell, report to Gwynn Dispatch."
"If you run into trouble, forward a message to me, but be discrete. There's all kinds of nosy people in this part of space, if you catch me. Be careful because I don't have the people to come in and save you if you get into trouble. I've got my own missions, so I may not be in for a while."

Lyla sat herself against a table and waited, not altogether patiently, for Lamar to conduct his sweep and other paranoid precautions, as well as have his rant. She just grew more amused, as her haughty businesswoman act slipped. It wasn't until she had the data cylinder in hand and had played the hologram twice that she was satisfied and answered Lamar. 'Nah, I just wanted to see how well you'd recover when an entire mission turns to poodoo in front of you. You'd be surprised how often that happens.' she chuckled. 'But congratulations, you just barely scraped through like the rest of us. Welcome to the team!'

Lamar didn't believe her for a second about having planned the mistake, but he let her have her face saving and just nodded.

He did comment on one thing though. "You better get use to the kind of talk I gave you back at the spaceport though. While I was just using it as cover, it's common here. And get upset around an Imp and they will use it as an excuse to run you in for disturbing the peace or some other trumped up charge. You might have noticed how few non humans there are roaming around un-escorted on this planet? And when you go out watch their attitude. You'll notice they are scared, adopt that look. Even if it's just an act, you need to blend."

Again his voice wasn't matching his face. His look seemed kinda pissed, but his tone was more of a man giving a piece of friendly advice.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 20:43, Sat 01 Feb 2020.

And her attempted good mood went flat again, her head-tails drooping. Great. 'Thanks, I have grown up as a non-human female in a galaxy under Imperial rule for the last few decades, but I'll keep that in mind.' she said with pure sarcasm.

"I used to be an Imperial, so well, we're all well aware of the necessary precautions and such." she raised an eyebrow "You're as unaware of our potential as we are of yours. So keep faith in the following. They sent us here to help you and the organisation here. They wouldn't have done that if they thought we couldn't do it. We do have our own way of doing things, and it might not be the way you think it should be done. But we're still alive and countless imperials are not." she looked quizzically at Lamar "That should be enough. Like Lyla says, every plan ever devised turns to dust the first time something goes wrong. We've been adaptable and overcome it every time."

She glanced at Lyla "He is right about the nonhuman thing though. This planet seems to be under a heavy boot. I hate to even suggest this, but it might be convenient if you pretend to be umm a servant to one or other of us. They'll pay less attention to you then. Your decision. Obviously."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 23:26, Wed 05 Feb 2020.

Lyla grimaced, obviously not thrilled by the idea. On their first mission together, she pretended to be a bounty hunter. That was not so bad. But before, she'd had to play a dancer, a few times. Popular impression of twi'leks was as gangsters and dancers, and she'd wanted to get away from that, as a rugged scout, or as a fake business-woman. 'I did think about that, but figured that I had the rank, so I had to be in charge, in case I had to give an order without breaking cover. And, what the cruk, everyone loves a twi'lek girl, it'll fly... But alright, I'll play secretary.' she relented. 'Do you want to swap clothes?' she asked Tera.

Tera raised an eyebrow "And wear your raggedy clothing? I'll have you know I paid...tens of credits for my clothing. Now my shoes.... I paid a lot more for them." she smirked "I was raised in somewhat well off circumstances. I can play haughty or professional as desired, but no matter the persona I adopt, we'll all know you are in charge."

Disappointed, Lyla looked down at the midnight-blue business-suit-and-skirt combo she was wearing, with white blouse, stockings, and heels. 'I thought it looked good! I mean, sure, it's second-hand and taken in, and the best I could find at Neskroff Spaceport... But you got to admit, I looked fine, right?' she protested, laughing.

Tera giggled "I won't bring up that incident on Tattoine again, but I might mention that you drew a lot of attention then, and that was without a scrap of clothing. Clothing makes everything more interesting. You look 'fine' regardless of what your wearing." Tera looked around "So....what are we here to do first?"

The Radell Mining Corporation headquarters building is in the centre of Elrooden. The needle-shaped fifty storey tall building towers above the rest of the city. Surrounding the RMC building is a large public park. A three hundred metre long skywalk connects the RMC building to an elevated monorail station on the far side of the park.

The park is filled with people, RMC employees, students, and city residents. RMC security guards, dressed in tan and blue uniforms patrol the park. The same security guards are posted at the entrance to the RMC building, checking the identity cards of everyone entering.

'No one noticed me, I was too well camouflaged.' Lyla patiently insisted upon the party line. 'Besides. I'm plenty interesting without even a scrap.' she said in low voice with a grin for her friend.

She checked her mission notes. 'Alright, first thing we need to do...'

*

'...Is that.' She nodded up to the imposing RMC building. 'We need a meeting with Jameth Todkal on Floor 28. We can either take the ground entrance, or the skywalk entrance, but I guess the security would be the same either way. Let's just hope our fake illegal identicards are worth the few credits paid for them... So, escape routes, anyone?' Best get that sorted now, she figured.

"Three options I know of. The doors, if we don't trip any alarms. the roof if we can get some sort of dust-off. That's a good option if we have to if we do trip alarms, though that's where they will try and stop after closing the doors. And finally there is below. There are storm drains and sewer systems below, but... I don't exactly know what's down there. And what's rumored to be down there is bad. Rankor level bad. So if we have to go down there it could be anything." Lamar said quietly as they walked the park.

He was still dressed in his technician outfit, which seemed to blend in easily to the hundreds of others around the city. If he were to walk into a crowd it wouldn't take but seconds to disappear.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 18:22, Tue 18 Feb 2020.

Tera looked at the building "My vote would be for the sewers. Doors would be to slow to allow us to escape and if this planet is locked down as it appears to be the only thing to greet us on the roof will be some TIE fighters and the smoking wreckage of our escape ship. I mean...if you say the sewers are bad, they'll know it too...and that will make them slower in trying to catch up with us." Tera looked at Lyla "Right?"

'...Right.' Lyla agreed slowly, just not liking it as an option either. 'It'd be like escaping Miser through the tunnels in the dark... Anyway, it shouldn't come to it. If our identicards fail us, it'd be at the entrance, and we'd have no choice but to go back out into the city, scatter, hide, and meet back at the safehouse... If they don't, once we're inside the building, we should be good. We only need an escape route if for some reason everything turns to poodoo with Todkal and we have to fight our way out... So, knowing our luck, we'll keep that in mind.'

The lobby bustled with activity as humans and aliens scurried about the marbled hall on urgent errands. Dozens of security guards oversaw the room, alert for trouble. Beyond the lobby was a great hallway, adorned with statues, holo-art, and elegant wall coverings. At the end of the hallway was large ornate turbolifts decorated with crystal. The tan and blue Radell Mining Corporation logo splashed everywhere, from tiled floor to the doorways... even on the gaudy waste containers.

A security guard greeted the group as they entered and asked their business.

'So, this is where all the credits go.' Lyla muttered as she looked around the lobby and beheld the opulent interior and heavy RMC branding. For a nomad Twi'lek, a poor street-kid, a roughing-it ranger, it was all a bit much.

She was about to answer the security guard when she remembered she was no longer in charge, and just playing a secretary. A sexy secretary, but still. She waited for Tera to do her thing.

That Lamar fellow had some nerve - and some guts too.

Klyn almost expected Lyla to shook him a bit, however right he might be.
He did lack a bit of tact.
After all, if he has read their files, he should have expected the unexpeted, that kind of was their signature.

"I could work on the door and the alarms, but it could take some time depending on the security, I'm not as good as Chu.

But knowing our luck, it will be the sewer even if we decided not to, so let's take the short route this time."

The building was indeed impressive and he looked a bit around before the guard arrived.
As the low class technician, he waited too before saying anything.

Lamar had already begun calling up the fake tech order that they were using to get into the building onto the datapad so Tera could present it to the guard when she spoke, but as she was the "leader" he simply handed the datapad to her with its information already called up for inspection. The information was a good  forgery, it wouldn't survive a deep level security check, but a simple check like a guard at the door was likely to do, it would easily pass. They hoped.

"Here you go boss." he said quietly.

Tera looked disinterested and almost bored as she took the datapad from Lamar and handed it to the guard. "There you are. Before you ask, I don't know the details. I'm here strictly to make sure the team does not shirk in their duty."

21:35, Today: Tera Inkari rolled 12 using 1d20+11.  deception. oh. fuuuuuuuudge.
Ummm...forcepoints?

The security guard checked the datapad. The guard cross referenced this on their own device and seemed satisfied with the information provided, however they did not direct the group to the turbolift. The guard pointed to a nearby booth "you will be required to leave your weapons. They will be stored for your retrieval on your exit" the guard then pointed to the turbolift "after depositing your weapons you may proceed to the turbolift, you will be requiring the 28th floor."

It wasn't ideal, but it was expected. They'd already left their big guns back in the Gold, after all. Lyla just hoped they wouldn't need their blasters at all while inside the RMC headquarters. Tails crossed. Shrugging, she walked into the booth and put her blaster pistol and one (but only one) of her knives in the locker, then made way for the next member of the team. So, 28th floor, Todkal's level. So far, so not wrecked yet.

Lamar walked over to the locker and calmly deposited his blaster pistol into the locker. confident that any emergencies could be handled by his surprises he had hidden in his bag. He then walked over to stand near, but not too near, the twi'lek girl.

Inside the turbolift was a courteous servant droid, SE4-T25. The droid was an absolute gentleman, he complimented Tera on her attire and offered Lamar a hand with his bag as he entered the lift.

The turbolift stopped on the 28th floor and when stepping out a short man wearing a stylish suit hastily approached from the third door on the right "welcome. My name is Jameth Todkal. I'm glad you could make it."

The business man was wiry and physically fit; premature greying of his hair hinted at the stress of his job, however he remained enthusiastic and animated "please follow me to a private room where we can discuss matters."

Jameth turned and led the group to a spartan conference room. A dark wooden tabled surrounded by a score of mauve chaired dominated the chamber. A window filled one wall, offering a splendid view of the park and city beyond. Jameth shut the door and gestured for everyone to take a seat. As he settled down he spoke fast and examining him it was clear that he was tired and red-eyed.

"As you already know, my company has entered into an agreement with your Rebel Alliance. This is due to the actions of a company called Imperial Mining Ltd. IML recently started a 'corporate war' against us. IML-sponsored agents have sabotaged our facilities, attacked scout ships and in the last two weeks, three separate facilities have been bombed. Security is tight here because we fully expect another bombing, possibly right here at our headquarters. IML has close contacts with Moff Andal, so our requests for an investigation into these incidents have been ignored."

"We've lost almost all of our scouting crews. Our agreement with the Alliance is simple; your scouts search for new mining worlds and we secretly deliver you ten percent of the refined metals."

"The first Alliance group working for us was an experienced team called Gray Griffins. They disappeared. You've been sent here to rescue them and secure Alluuvia, a new world they discovered. Before I bring in Parek, who can explain what happened in greater detail, I'll answer any questions you have."

"Do you know where Moff Andel is at this time?" Lamar asked. "His presence brings increased security, so it's important to know where he might be at any given moment and plan accordingly. Also there was word that there was another Moff seen in the area, have you any info on that?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:12, Sun 23 Feb 2020.

On the trip up, Lyla stayed quiet and reserved, trying not to act too far outside of her station, or her race, in the eyes of the Empire and their fascist, racist sympathisers. Even the droid ignored her, it seemed. It wasn't until she was in the conference room and Todkal was talking that she relaxed and could be more confident again.

'That's some pretty intense corporate rivalry there. Is that what you call a "hostile takeover"?' she deadpanned. 'I'm guessing Imperial Mining is owned by none other than the Empire... What measures have you taken against them?' She wouldn't be surprised if RMC had retaliated, it sounded like they'd be justified in it, but she was wary of these big-moneyed corporations and if she was walking into a corporate war, she wanted to know both sides. RMC might be no better than IM Ltd.

'Our intel was that the Gray Griffins have been captured by pirates and are being held for ransom. So, what do you know of these pirates? Are they connected to Imperial Mining or the Empire? What ransom demands have you received?' The pirate thing was odd; the Empire didn't need to operate through criminals when they could have their own thugs just arrest people on made-up charges and confiscate their property.

"Do you have any more information on Alluuvia? Are there any precautions we need to take? Any indigenous inhabitants?" Tera added "And since you think the world is worth mining what ores did you think are present on the world? Anything the empire might see as a strategic resource?"

"The Star Destroyer Brazen in currently in orbit, the Imperial presence is tighter than normal. The Empire is here to investigate recent piracy attacks. I'm not sure where Moff Andel is but the Star Destroyer is a new arrival here and may have brought others"

"IML, or Imperial Mining Ltd is a newly formed company, founded by retired Imperial naval personnel. Regrettably the growth of IML is rapid"

"Alluuvia is only recently discovered so nothing is known about the planet"

"You should meet Parek"

Jameth called in the Rebel. Parek, a short alien about a metre and a half tall, he is bald, with a low ridge of spines covering his head and tapering down his back. His skin is bronze and hardened, with three gill slits on each side of the neck.

The alien tells its story "the Griffins has successfully navigated the Drift by making several micro hyperspace jumps to locate Alluuvia and we performed a preliminary scouting survey. The world looked promising, initial scans showed high levels of valuable metals"

"However shortly after we left Alluuvia we were ambushed by a pirate band. Our ship Whisper was disabled by an ion cannon from several Skipray blastboats. A battered space barge closed and boarded the Whisper capturing everyone. During the battle I noticed a huge container ship fleeing into the Drift, I don't know what the pirates were using it for, its was too bulky and clumsy to be a war vessel. I was then pushed into a blastboat whilst the others were loaded onto the space barge. The blastboat jumped to here and gave me the ransom demand of 250,000 credits then ejected me in an escape pod."

"So the pirats are  a third party in your conflict? Did they attack IML too, hence the Star Destroyer ? Or is it all just for show and ILM hired or bribed them?"

"Any idea on how they knew where to find you?" he asked Parek.

Tera raised an eyebrow "A large container ship? Perhaps the pirates are already mining Alluuvia and not wishing anyone to interfere. The presence of so many blastboats...perhaps ILMs source of funding for rapid expansion? They may perhaps be hiding things from the Empire themselves. Do ILM have offices on this planet?"

She looked at Parek "250 thousand credits...that's got to be worth more than your ship. How could you afford it? Who paid it? It might be encouraging that the pirates can be negotiated with."

Lyla thought a while on what Jameth and Parek told them. So far, it seemed straightforward, but with so many parties involved, with and against them, it all had the potential to get dangerous complicated. And she'd rather work that out now. Something didn't fit right here. 'If the pirates or their allies are mining Alluuvia in secret, then it's strange that they'd let you go after seeing their operation, or at least that container ship.. To be honest, if would've been better for them to kill you all, and let RMC write your team and the world off as too dangerous. A ransom demand draws more attention to Alluuvia.' Lyla mused, trying not to remark too bluntly on Parek's fate. 'Or maybe they don't know you saw the container, or maybe they're greedy, desperate, or dumb, I don't know.' she shrugged away the issue, for now.

'You saw those pirates, right? Can you describe them? Races, names, equipment, uniform?' she probed Parek for more information. If they were Imperials undercover, they would all be of a type.

"The pirates attacked after we left Alluuvia. They may not know of the planet's exact location, but the coordinates are on the Whisper that's why the pirate believe the ship is worth the ransom" Parek shrugged and Jameth added the corporate spin "if IML can get locate Alluuvia and set up a mining rig it will be bad business for Radell."

"The pirates were in space suits, they were arrogant and had their weapons on stun. Difficult to tell in space suits, most looked human, I did see one with big black eyes, perhaps an Aqualish" Parek explained, then gave a suggestion "the pirate band must operate in the Drift, if you can find them you can rescue the Gray Griffins, the Whisper and the coordinates for Alluuvia."

Querying a band of marauding pirates' motives in, well, piracy, abduction, and ransom was not going to get them very far at this point. Parek's account was more or less holding, as far as she could tell. Lyla simply nodded at the information and moved on to the key part of it all. 'You said they gave you a ransom demand – what exactly did they say? And how are you meant to contact them to deliver. Did they give a time, location, communication details?'

"The ransom demand was two hundred and fifty thousand credits for the return of the Whisper and the crew. They said that they would make contact for where to credit the funds" just as Parek was explaining a loud piercing wail stopped the conversation.

The intercom and video screens came to life. A rough looking man smiled at the camera "good afternoon Radell Mining Corporation. My name is Adair Koryunt. You don't know me but I've a wonderful surprise in store for you. In twenty minutes or so, a concealed bomb will level this building. That should supply you an interesting couple of minutes unless you locate the bomb. Good luck!"

'Oh, what now?' Lyla demanded exasperatedly at sound of the siren, figuring this for the inevitable interruption where everything went wrong and their mission was blown. As it turned out, it was.

'Of course there is.' she sighed, though she couldn't actually have expected the bomb, she had known to expect the unexpected. 'Looks like IML are getting more competitive.' She looked to Jameth, advising if he hadn't already, 'You need to get all your rent-a-cops searching for this bomb, if you want to keep your building. And we need to evacuate.'

While he organised that, Lyla turned back to Parek. 'Did you see that guy during the attack?'

Lamar immediately began searching his memory for where would be the best place to locate such a bomb to actually level the building.

10:14, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 17 using 1d20+13.  Mechanics.

Panicked cried are heard from the hallway and Jameth called for Imperial authorities to send over a bomb squad but is told it will take at least forty minutes. Parek and Jameth then rushed off to organise the evacuation with the Radell security gaurds.

From the exterior the building is tall four sided pyramid. There are many levels general of offices, however for a bomb to level the entire structure Lamar is sure the bomb would need to be near the base of the pyramid.

There are computers in the meeting room which can be accessed easily to show the buildings floorplan.

Floorplan

'Forty minutes for a bomb squad?!' Lyla echoed in disbelief; 'Guess that proves whose side the Imperials on.' Seeing Lamar checking the computer and building plans, she asked the team urgently 'What's it going to be? Do we stop a bombing this time, or do we bug out? The clock is literally ticking.'

Hearing the panicky cries outside, she rushed to the door after to peer in the corridor, wondering if the rest of the staff had gotten the same message, or if something else was going.

Lamar stepped quickly to the nearest terminal, and barked out. "I need the schematics of this building now."  As the terminal was unlocked to show the schematics of the building, Lamar began to calculate where the best point to destroy the building would be.

A look outside the conference room confirmed that the message from the saboteur Adair Koryunt had spread to everyone.

Lamar examined the schematics, he deduced that the rear areas of the lower levels would both be accessible and a weak point.

"Have your security check here, here and here first, and fan out from there. If you find a bomb don't stop looking, as there may be more than one. If you don't have a bomb disposal unit on hand let me know where it is and I'll have a look. I'm EOD trained." He barked out at the director. His tone suggesting this was no time to argue. He then grabbed his tool kit and headed for the door. "I'll be on channel three."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:31, Sat 28 Mar 2020.

Klyn's impression on their new acquaintance grew a bit as he saw him working.

"We should separate to check the area faster.
I will take storage B." He checked his comlink for the correct channel and quickly ran after Lamar.

"Which room do you take?"



(no underground/foundation level?)

Slightly distracted as he answers, Lamar was curt in his response. "A, but I'll scan quickly the loading dock as I go through."

Already at the door, Lyla agreed with their plans 'Yeah, we better look too. Coz chances are it'll be in the place no-one looks.' In all her hard-won experience as a Rebel, she'd learned that the universe operated very heavily on the principles of bad luck, what could go wrong going wrong, and just basic spite. 'If you two are doing storage, I'll start with that restaurant. Easy to stash something strange in there.'

The computer does not have any floorplans for an underground level. All the Rebels rushed out of the conference room and planned there destinations. By this time the building's occupants were in a state of panic. Many of the workers crowded around the two turbolifts, the indicator lights showing the lifts going up and down one floor at a time. Behind the turbolifts were emergency stairs, this too looked busy as a crowd of people rushed to escape.

Time was running out and they needed to reach that ground level!

Waiting anxiously behind the rushing crowd, Lyla tapped her feet and twitched her tails impatiently. 'Damn it, come on! This'll take too long. Doesn't this place have an emergency evacuation plan?' Options, options. She could barge her way through, bluff she was with security, arguing and fighting all the way. She and her team might get through, but if the worst happened, many of these people would still be stuck here. She turned around, considering alternative exits. Two central elevators and a stairway servicing the whole building. What else? A pyramid with big sloping walls and windows 'I don't suppose we can knock out a window and slide down the pyramid slope outside?' she asked the others, especially Lamar, who seemed to know this stuff.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:09, Sun 05 Apr 2020.

Lamar examined the nearest external window, and calculated the height and slope. Trying to determine the likelihood of surviving or even being able to attempt the move Lyla asked about.

A quick look out of the window and Lamar estimated that they were about ninety metres from the ground level. A descent was possible, the slope created by the pyramid shape would prevent any climber from falling straight down but it was too steep to simply walk down the outside of the building. A careful crawling descent would probably take five or ten minutes. With syntherope or some other inventive solution they might be able to get down quicker.

'I've got liquid cable and a grappling hook, if it would help?' Lyla called to Lamar, from her place in the queue to where he was at the window.

"I've got one too, but it would only give us 30 meters of cable.  Not enough but it would gain us some time." added Klyn as he moved toward one of the windows and started pulling his cable.

"I don't suppose there are refiller outlets at the level?"

He quickly looked around, trying to see if they could use something else to increase the length of their line.

A quick rummage around the office and Klyn had scavenged enough materials to make an extra fifteen metres worth of rope-like material. That gave them forty five metres of rope, half the distance to the ground floor level.

OOC Going by the rules it will require 20 Climb skill checks. I will waive that for 2 rolls each. Roll DC 5 for the first half with rope, then DC10 for the last half. A failed roll and you get to attempt to catch yourself with a Climb check DC 15 for in the first half and DC 20 in the last half.

Falling in the first half will cause 20d6 falling damage, 15d6 falling damage in the bottom half. An attack against Fort 1d20+20 if unsuccessful halves this damage. A successful Acrobatics check can also reduce this further even to nil.

The descent will take 10 minutes, for every 5 points by which you exceed the DC will take 1 minute off the time.

You can't take 10 due to the panic and rush. May the Force be with you.

Lamar shook his head at the idiocy of the plan, but began breaking out the window making sure they cleared the bottom part, so nothing would cut the line. "If we are going to do this stupid stunt let's get it done." He muttered.

He then took point on the decent, figuring if anyone needed to get down there fast it was him. He was the only one who knew how to disarm bombs.

Unfortunately he does fine for the first half of the decent, but slips once the rope is gone.


12:32, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 6 using 1d20+3.  climb.
12:32, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 6 using 1d20+3.  climb.
12:32, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 12 using 1d20+3.  climb.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:51, Sun 05 Apr 2020.

"This must be among our top three most reckless and dangerous thing we did" said Klyn as he followed Lamar.

He did surprisingly well and, spotting Lamar's slip, tried to catch him.

22:15, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 17 using 1d20+3.  climb DC5.
22:15, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 23 using 1d20+3.  climb DC 15.

Maybe the Force will allow for an impromptu save thanks to the natural 20 on the second part?
finger crossed.

'I want to disagree, but I'm having a real hard time thinking of another reckless and dangerous thing right now.' Peering out the building's brand new exit, Lyla checked out the lashed-together cables dangling outside and the long slope down. It didn't look like much, but, like all the reckless and dangerous things they'd done, it would just have to do. 'I've got a bad feeling about this.'

Following them, the twi'lek scout crawled out the window and, gripping the cable tight and wrapping it around her fists, she climbed down, half walking down the windows in their improvised abseiling solution. She tried not to look down.


OOC:
15:11, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 10 using 1d20+4. Climb DC 5.
15:11, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 22 using 1d20+4. Climb DC 10.
Beat by 5 and 12, three minutes taken off time

The rope set up Klyn crashed through the plastisteel window and rappelled down the side of the Radell Mining Corporation building. The mechanic practically ran down the side of the almost vertical building, showing a skill at free running perhaps gained from being accustomed to zero gravity and his pilot honed fast reactions. By the time Klyn had on his feet on the ground Lyla was only halfway down the building, considering the dangerous feat she was doing well but after Klyn's display she was only ever going to be viewed as average. At a careful pace Lamar followed the pair of Rebels.

When Lamar was less than halfway Lyla was grounded. During the second part of the descent when Lamar didn't have the rope to steady himself his grip loosened and he stumbled. He was around forty metres from the ground, a fall at that height was likely to be deadly!


OOC Klyn lands in 1 minute then Lyla at 2 minutes. Unless you state otherwise I assume you will be entering the building's ground level to investigate. Klyn stated he wanted to explore storage area B. What is Lyla's destination?

Lamar has some options.
1. Fall! This will take 2 minutes 30 seconds and take 15d6 damage. Successfull Acrobatics DC 15 will reduce this to 14d6 or DC25 will reduce to 13d6. Lamar might have enough HP to survive this, probability is about 50% chance he will be killed in the fall.

2. Climb down slowly. Use a Force Point and roll a 4. Lamar will successfully catch a hold of building and climb safely down in a total of 5 minutes.

3. Falling with style. Use a Destiny point to tumble and catch himself at the last moment. Fall and land on his feet, take no damage, total time 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

I will assume Tera and Rynn has taken the stairs and are fighting through the crowds.

I'll use a force point.

Safe and sure, Lyla climbed and then clambered down the building. She might not've been fastest down, but the only real way to win that race was by breaking a leg, or worse. No, getting down with no injuries and/or deaths was a win in her book. She glanced up to Lamar, to make sure he was right after his fumble, 'You alright, Lamar?'

Sliding the rest of the way, Lyla hit the ground running, barging back into the building entrance, then veered sharply left into the restaurant. She had no especially good reason for picking it, but also no time to consider anything else.


OOC: Start my search in the Restaurant.
15:13, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 26 using 1d20+9. perception.

As soon as his feet landed on the ground, Klyn smashed the nearest windows to get inside.

It was a pretty descent but Lamar reached the ground tired, late and sweaty. He was in one piece however and looking up at the impressive Radell Mining Corp Building it was an achievement to have accomplished the climb.

Inside the building Klyn went through the lobby, he encountered crowds of staff as they fled which hampered his movements but reached the storage area B. The room was a large warehouse. Rows and rows of stacked metal boxes labelled with Radell Mining Corp logo and inspection plates. During the panic of the bomb threat B1 worker droids continued to move the huge boxes about.

The crowds continued to flood out of the building at Lyla pushed her way in, the restaurant at the front of the building was easy to reach. The room was in a state of chaos. Meals had been abandoned and the floor was messy with dropped food and chairs were over turned, the crowds outside were noisy and the bomb alarm siren intermittently bleeped however Lyla could hear the sound of music from the restaurant music system. Droid servers and cleaner continued their instructions oblivious to the chaos outside. A server droid, a Radell Mining Corp logo on its chestplate approached Lyla and invited her to take a seat.

OOC Klyn make a Perception check and any other check relevant to your plans.

Klyn does his best to check the places he would have picked to hide an explosive device big enough to cause a collapse.


11:23, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 26 using 1d20+12.  knowledge physical sciences (weaknesses of building).

11:22, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 28 using 1d20+12.  knowledge technology.

11:21, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 25 using 1d20+10.  perception.

Lyla stared aghast at the droid and its polite request, incongruous under the shouts and sirens. She could hardly believe what she was seeing and hearing here. 'What? Can't you hear? There's a bomb in the building! You need to evacuate! Wait, do any of you know if anything strange has been brought into the building and hidden around here. Maybe small and, um, bomb-like?' she asked the waiter-droid frantically, even as she got down on her knees and tried to peer under all the tables and chairs. She was realising what was a desperately dicey plan this was – how could they find something meant to be concealed, in such a big building they knew nothing about, without any kind of detector, in only a few minutes?


OOC: Enlisting the droids, Persuasion 19.
20:49, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 19 using 1d20+4. persuasion.

Visibly shaking, whether from adrenaline or fear is hard to tell, Lamar finally makes it to the ground safely. Taking a second to breath and recover from the stress of nearly falling, he leans against the wall.

He then forces himself to head back into the building, and search for the bomb. He will shout "Bomb disposal! Coming through!" He says it with a tone of authority but strives to not show any fear. He then heads into the building through the opened window.

Getting to the first room he began scanning with both his eyes, and his datapad trying to find the bomb.

12:47, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 18 using 1d20+13.  Mechanics to figure out the best spot to plant a bomb.
12:45, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 26 using 1d20+7.  Perception.

The server droid nodded politely at Lyla's request "we are at your service, our programming dictates that we should keep you from harm. May I recommend that you evacuate the building?" the droid responded, unflappable in its politeness.

"I can report nothing irregular within the restaurant or lounge. There are ten B1 worker droids in the rear of the building, they will have records of the anything brought in or taken out."

Klyn assessed the storage area B. He counted four worker droids nearby, moving supplies around the area. The detonation of a bomb in this area would likely destroy the building although Klyn does not see anything suspiciously bomb like. He does however spot what looks like a discarded comlink on a nearby crate, what is odd about it is the lack of the now familiar Radell Mining Corporation logo anywhere on it.

Slower than the others Lamar re-entered the building, pushing and shouting to get passed the escaping workers. The lounge and restaurant appeared empty, except for Lyla who was seen talking to a droid. Lamar reasoned the most likely spot for a bomb would be at the rear of the building.

Heading as quickly as he could to the back he began looking for the most likely spots to place a bomb for maximum damage. He then began looking for the best places for someone to stash a bomb who didn't know what they were doing.

'No, I'm the one looking for the bomb. You should evacuate.' Lyla insisted, but she didn't have time to fight bad programming to save the droids; it just gave them greater need to find the bomb. She shook her head and tails in defeated, turned and strode out. If the droids would've leave the restaurant for a bomb, then they wouldn't leave for anything, and would surely have seen anything strange brought in.

On her comlink, she updated the team, saying 'Restaurant droids have seen nothing. They recommend asking B1 worker droids.'

Spying Lamar, she hurried after him, asking 'What size bomb are we looking for? That would help us know where to look.' She went through the Lounge and sticking her head inside each Conference Room as she passed until she made it to the rear storage rooms.


OOC: Perception 16, rerolled to 23

Slightly irritated from the sheeple in his way, Lamar snaped, "How should I know?" then he took a deep breath and seemed to calm a bit before continuing. "Depending on the amount of damage they want to do it could be a lot or none. This could be a hoax, but it might be a serious threat. If they have access to military grade explosives, and both know where to place them, and have access to the areas, then it could only need to be a few kilos to bring down the entire building. But that is less likely, as that would be easier to spot."

Forcing his way through the last of the panicked people he finally got to the area he was seeking and began looking for anything out of the ordinary. Then his heart dropped into his feet. "Did anyone think to check the Droids?"

Klyn quickly picks the comlink and try to hijack the possible communication between those using it. It might be a wild shot, but it could give them information on what they did. Or maybe even find some and make them talk.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:05, Thu 23 Apr 2020.

'The previous bombings weren't hoaxes, and we should act on the assumption this isn't either.' Lyla told Lamar. She was annoyed at his snap, but put it down to understandable stress at the imminent bombing. He seemed to be taking it much worse than her, but hey, for Lyla this was just another day of the week.

'Well. I asked the droids.' Lyla answered him dully, coming to the same worry. 'I assume they'd tell me.' She was becoming increasingly aware, more than she already painfully was, the bomb could be anywhere, be disguised as anything, and they had no way of finding it short of good luck they'd never had before.

'Anyway, you said the rear of the building, though I don't get how there is one in a symmetrical pyramid.'

Away from the main entrance there were less people, both at the conference rooms and in the storage area. Lamar and Lyla discussed the possible location of the bomb threat. They reached the storage area B. The room was a large warehouse. Rows and rows of stacked metal boxes labelled with Radell Mining Corp logo and inspection plates. B1 worker droids continued to move the huge boxes about. They found Klya examining a comlink.

Klyn had the comlink partially disassembled. Klyn traced that the comlink was the same one that had been used to send the video message which they had seen in the conference room. Whoever sent the message must have been here and tapped into the building intercom system to upload the message. Interestingly Klyn also identified that the comlink was connected to three others which were still somewhere in the building.

"Any luck?" he asked as the spotted them.

"Nothing much here, but I found this comlink. The source of the message.

No  info on where the bomb is... or maybe is not.

I found there are 3 others comlink connected to this one.  And strangely they are still in the building.

So either those comlink are left on the ground too and the people left - and maybe the comlinks are connected to bombs, or the bomb threat is an hoax and they are in fact looking for something inside the building while everyone is leaving.

Any idea on how to locate those?"

'None at all.' Lyla answered Klyn, hurrying up to see the comlink, frowning and rubbing her tail as she took in his report, and saw how much bigger the problem had got. This was a mess and they'd barely arrived. 'Yeah, maybe, but we still have to assume there's a bomb, we can't take the risk.' she declared, speaking fast because of the hard time-limit they were on. 'Whatever it is, why leave the comlink behind? Where'd you find it? This crate?' Once Klyn had indicated it, Lyla tried to open the crate and see what was inside. A bomb, she actually hoped...

"Let me see that!" Lamar said almost snatching the comlink violently out of Klyn's hand before realizing he should be more polite. "Uh... please." And gently taking it at an assent from Klyn.

He then hooked his own computer directly to the comlink and began to run a trace on it to try and locate the others that were connected to this comlink. He knew there was a small risk that the comlink could be infected with a tracer or worm program that might try and embed itself into his computer, but his computer had protections for such things, and he felt he could take such risks.

17:09, Today: Lamar Danar rolled 30 using 1d20+13.  use computer.

The B1 worker droids continued to unload a speeder truck of boxes. The huge boxes were all labelled with metal inspection plates with the Radell Mining Corps logo.

Lamar had a look at the comlink, as he tampered with it the speaker crackled to life "you won't find the bomb that way" the voice of Adair Koryunt taunted them.

Whilst Lamar was busy Klyn and Lyla saw another B1 worker droid enter storage area B from storage area A. The peculiar thing about the droid was that it moved around with the other droids but it never put down the box it was carrying.

OOC: What did Lyla find in the crate she opened?

'Come on, at least tell us if we're warm or cold!' Lyla tried to shout back at Koryunt, but it wasn't a lot of use. He wasn't going to be lot of help, was he? 'What if you just destroy that comlink?' she suggested to Lamar.

Looking off to the side, she spied the worker droid turn around without putting down its crate. It could be a simple error, but they didn't have time to let the droids work it out. She hurried after the B1, ordering 'Oi! Put down that crate and show me what's inside!'

"Help yourself" said Klyn as his finding was ripped from his hands. He had done what he could with it, but maybe Lamar could find something useful.

He then noticed the droid and Lyla's injunction.

He readied himself in case the droid had been programmed with a 'you're found' routine.

The crate which Klyn had found the commlink had the familiar RMC logo. There was a push button to release the crate fastening, with a click and swoosh the lid flipped open. Inside were neatly stacked ingots of a yellow coloured metal, small blue crystalline deposits lined the edges of the crate.

Then Lyla shouted an order at the B1 worker droid. Unlike the polite and attempted helpfulness of the restaurant droids the worker droid did not acknowledge the command and carried on as if Lyla had not spoken.

Lyla wished she had an ion blaster right now. For that matter, she wished she had an actual blaster, which was still left with front-door security, and especially her blaster rifle, left back on the Gold. But what she had, was harsh language and a concealed knife. She left that concealed and went for more harsh language. 'I said put that down. Why aren't you responding or doing your duties?' Suddenly Lyla lunged for the crate and tried to knock it out of the droid's hands, hoping speed and surprise would beat superior strength...

Does any of the two elements ring a bell for Klyn?

While Lyla distracted the droid, Klyn went behind it to try and shut it down.

Aurodium, Klyn identified the metal. The metal can be used in datapacks but is often also used in luxury items such as jewellery or due to its value as currency in some parts of galaxy.

The worker droid was built for strength, its structure was solid and was unforgiving as Lyla moved to grapple the crate from its grasp. Success was not measured in one action however as distracted by Lyla the droid paid little heed to Klyn who tore off a control panel. The mechanic inspected the crisscrossing wires and selecting a yellow wire pulled it loose.

A judder passed through the droid and small sparks of electricity emitted from the control panel then the droid stood unmoving.

'Ow.' Lyla decided of her sore hands, having come off second-best in a game of grab with a worker droid. After flexing and shaking them, she tried to jimmy open the crate whilst the droid still held it. 'Thanks, Klyn. Now let's see what's so unputdownable...'

Rynn reached the floor, breathing heavy. He leaned for a moment against the wall to catch his breath. "Stairs...*gasp* were a bad choice." the ubese gasped out, the voice modulator on his body suit making the sounds even stranger over the Comlink. "En-route to your position Commander."

"It's nothing" replied Klyn.

But he stopped her as she was about to try to open the crate.

"If it's the bomb, they might have trapped the opening too."

So he checked for any hint of tempering.

Examination of the crate showed that it was locked with a security mechanism on it. Otherwise the box had no signs of tampering or traps.

Tera utterly regretted following Rynn, panting hard and wishing she'd learned to use the Force better so she could just jump from the top floor and not have to worry about the landing...but she was a long way off from that...yet.

"Uh...I'm here too. Like behind Rynn....umm if the droid isn't behaving could it be the bomb?"

'Could be, or the box it was carrying.' Lyla returned to Tera whilst casting her eyes over the crate, and giving up trying to force it after Klyn's waring.. 'Now, do we dare cracking it open to find out?' With no blaster to hand, she went looking for a prybar or similar to focus the lock.

While working on the security mechanism Klyn commented
"Maybe there are some traces of tampering in the droid's system."

Frustrated at the inability to find anything in the comlink, Lamar hurled the comlink against the wall in anger. He cursed in frustration and turned towards the others shaking his head. "We need to get that droid."

The lock mechanism was simple and Klyn clicked the crate open. A curse was heard from Lamar and he flung the comlink at the wall. It had also been frustrating for Tera and Rynn as they had been forced to push against the crowds to escape the tower and reached the ground level. Then they found the others in the storage area.

Klyn looked inside the crate, there were several charges of detonite attached to a timer fuse. The timer fuse was attached to a blaster power pack. A single wire ran from the bomb to the timer, another wire linked the timer to the power pack.

The timer had one minute remaining. The screen on the timer was getting dimmer as each second counted down. The screen also had a power level indicator, the indicator showed that the power pack was almost drained.

Klyn's eyes opened wide as he saw the content of the box... and the timer!

"Move away !"

There was little time to think so he quickly thought about the possibilities.

Would the bomb explode if he cut the wire? maybe the timer was a lure and it was supposed to explode when the power was out...

Maybe he could attach another power cell then cut the wire between the timer and the bomb...
This message was last edited by the player at 11:38, Sat 23 May 2020.

'Cruk!' Lyla swore as the bomb was revealed. But in a way, she was kind of relieved. 'Well, at least we found our bomb.' she deadpanned. She was not a bomb-defusal expert, not a demolitionist, not a mechanic, yet she stayed, to support and help Klyn and see if she could maybe offer an out-of-the-box idea. 'Can we drain the power pack all the way? No power, no timer, no bomb, right?'

Lamar being a demolitions trained soldier, stepped forward to take a look at the device and began to trace the wires with his eyes. "Ok power supply, leading to the timer which leads to the detonator, but where does this wire lead too, hmm?" He starts to mumble to himself as he evaluates the device to figure out the best way to disarm it. While simultaneously pulling his kit out to begin the process.

Is this Perception? Computer Use, or Mechanics? 

No expert in bomb disposal Lyla offered tips but didn't really understand what she was looking at. Both Klyn and Lamar studied the simple design. Klyn's was quick to assess the bomb and understood its working. The bomb would explode when the power supply to the timer ran out. As a theory Klyn's idea to attach another power cell would give them more time, on a practical level it would mean getting close to the bomb and slicing off wires whilst simultaneously attaching or clipping on new wires.

There was not time to do anything but gain some more time.
Getting a power cell from his utilitary belt, Klyn turned to Lamar.

"You are better suited to do it, tell me if I can help."

He was good with technology, but had not training with bombs.
He could do things, but needed directions.

"If it gets down to it, let me know where to put the bomb so it can explode without causing large loss of life or the building." Tera said, standing nearby. "I can put it there without anyone needing to carry it."

"I've traced the circuit, We should be able to disarm it, but it will take time. Time we don't have." Lamar said after scanning it.

"I don't think there is room for a motion trigger, so we should be able to get it out of here, just depends on where we want it to go off. Any suggestions?" He asked.

"Is there an Imperial guardpost nearby? It might muddy the relationship between the Imps and the rival mining company?" Tera suggested

'I don't suppose we can stick it in some super-strong vault that would contain the blast?' Lyla asked quickly, looking around the storage area, but gave up the idea, shaking head and tails. 'Too unreliable. What about the park outside? Open space, no structures to damage, only trees and windows to destroy?'

Unless I'm wrong we had 1 min on the timer?

"If you need time, then there isn't any other way" said Klyn as the numbers get close to 0

So he implements his plan with a quick move and his expertise of working under pressure.

Rynn stood with the group, looking from person to person waiting for someone to come up with an idea on how to handle this.

"We have run out of time for good ideas, at this point, someone needs to just make a call. I say cut the wire from the bomb to the timer... if that sways you at all." he looked around and shrugged. "If I'm wrong I'll take full responsibility."

'If you're wrong, we'll be too dead to blame you.' Lyla retorted in black humour as she watched Klyn and Lamar work and the timer tick down to doom. How did they always end up in these situations? 'No, it's commander's call. Do it.' she ordered them, praying to the goddess it would work and she wouldn't soon be going to her arms.

It was frantic. The timer on the bomb continued to tick down as everyone threw suggestions into the air. Even the building intercom system interjected with the familiar voice of Adair Koryunt "you don't have time to argue" the saboteur ended the message with laughter.

Then against all odds Klyn sliced the wires, the counter on the timer flickered for a moment. Then scrambling against time Klyn reattached the wires to a new power pack. For a dreadful moment the screen went blank, then reset itself to blinking 59:59. As everyone exhaled and began to breathe easily again the timer remained at 59:59.

OOC Klyn mark off a power pack on your character sheet.

"Fuck me! Don't do that again please. I'm going to need to change..." Lamar said as Klyn jumped in with his plan surprising him.

Seeing it had worked though, he did in fact begin disarming the bomb completely so it couldn't be triggered remotely, or go off accidentally. Under his breath he complained about mechanics who scare the piss out of people by grabbing live explosives and futzing with them.

When asked what he was saying he says "Nothing." Gruffly.

"Well...  it worked better than I expected." commented Klyn.
He then let a long sigh of relief.

"Sorry, but there was no time to explain - or to flee if I failed.

Now what?"  he asked to Lyla.

As Klyn worked to defuse the bomb, Lyla watched, tensed and chilled, not daring to move or talk or even breathe for fear it would disturb him or the circuitry. It felt like her very heart had stopped beating as it waited anxiously to see whether it would beat in the next instant or not.

But then, at last, the timer had halted, and it was over. As the tension passed, Lyla drooped, drawing breath again, only now becoming aware of her pounding heart. Once again, they'd survived after all. She breathed heavily. 'Good work. Now... Keep searching, I don't want a surprise second bomb like we feared. Investigate the components, see if they can give us a clue. And cut off that idiot.' she declared, pointing to the intercom. 'And I'll go tell Jameth he can call off the evacuation, if it's still going on.'

"NO! Don't stop the evacuation until we are sure it's clear. If there is a second bomb we want as many clear as possible." Lamar said as he began checking for further explosives.

Rynn moved to the intercom to silence the antagonizing voice.




16:16, Today: Rynn Culmar rolled 13 using 1d20+9.  Use Computer.

'Alright, won't call off the evacuation.' Lyla agreed, 'I'll just give a sitrep and see how it's going.' With that, she hurried off to find the executive. At this point, she wondered if her cover as a secretary was well-and-truly blown by the bomb search.

The bomb was deactivated and plans were afoot to take back control of the situation as blaster bolts fired over the Rebels heads from the direction of the other storage area.

In the corridor were four human beings, all in simple nondescript clothes. All held blaster pistols, three of them firing into the storage area. None of the three were recognisable, the fourth man with his back to them was running to flee out of the rear exit.

Bomb battle

Bomb battle

OOC Roll Initiative. Higher than 24 and you can act before the mercenaries shoot again.


CN        F  R  W    HP   Second Wind FP DP  Notes

Lyla      22 22 19   58/58  1/1  (+14) 8  5
Lamar     17 19 15   47/47  1/1  (+14) 7  4
Klyn      15 21 19   35/35  1/1  (+9)  7  2
Tera      19 20 21   67/67  1/1  (+17) 5  3
Rynn      16 18 15   30/30  1/1  (+10) 8  3


Adair     21 22 20     0
Merc 1    14 17 12     0
Merc 2    14 17 12     0
Merc 3    14 17 12     0


CN = Character Name
F = Fortitude
R = Reflex
W = Will
HP = Hit Points (Max/Current) or for GM controlled characters hits taken
Second Wind = Second Winds (Max/Current) (+Value)
FP = Force Points
DP = Destiny Points
Loc = Location on map
Notes = Notes
Posting order
Mercenaries 24
Adair 9

This message was last edited by the GM at 11:08, Sat 27 June 2020.

Spotting the strangers come in, Lyla stopped and turned, lifted a hand in greeting, and then ducked for dear life. 'Hey! We defused the bomb!' she shouted back, raising her hands over her tails to show these trigger-happy security guards they were not terrorists. But then she realised they were in plain clothes, and were not security guards, and with blasters, they were not workers or visitors either. These were the terrorists. Strange they were hanging around inside the building they were trying to blow up, but she didn't have time to ask them. 'Stop them!'

Running across the room, taking cover around the corner from the mercs, Lyla slid up her miniskirt, revealing a knife sheath tucked into the garter holding the stockings up her shapely orange thigh. She slid it free, and really wished she something more than a blade right now. Like a trusty blaster rifle and a hundred metres' distance.


OOC: Initiative 25
15:58, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 25 using 1d20+6. initiative.
Move 6 squares to the left, Move to draw knife

Lamar is surprised by the sudden shots and though he reacts quickly it isn't before more blaster bolts come flying towards him and the rest of the group. He dives for cover and begins searching through his tool bag.

Initiative 19

Klyn was still focused on the bomb and failed to see the men until Lyla's attempt at diplomacy.  He knew he was a terrible fighter, especially without a blaster but quickly picked his snap baton from his utility belt and expanded it while he moved to hide behind the shelves on the NE.

"Someone get the boss!"

14:07, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 12 using 1d20+11 ((1)).

If Rynn had hair had on the back of his neck, it would have stood up as the blaster's went off. He had been extremely uncomfortable not being armed, and feeling helpless. This attack was exactly what he'd been worried about. He turned and looked at the door panel that led to the corridor the shooters were in, trying to figure out if he'd be able to lock them out on this side.



08:28, Today: Rynn Culmar rolled 22 using 1d20+5.  Initiative .

The attack surprised the rebels. However they were all fast to react. Lyla and Klyn quickly armed themselves in preparation for a fight. Lamar dived for cover and began assembly of some device. Rynn examined the door panels and surmised that he could simply lock the enemy out with the push of a button.

Three saboteurs ducked for cover and whatever they were doing was out of sight.

OOC Next round

From behind Lamar's cover the rest of the team can hear the familiar sounds of a weapon being assembled.

Waiting her moment and then seizing it, Lyla dashed out of cover and slashed at the nearest mercenary with her knife in her outstretched hand. And she kept going, diving back into cover beside the crates, trying to keep that corner between her and as many mercs as she could. 'Don't you know to never bring a blaster to a knife-fight?' she yelled back at them. Cruk! This was bad. How did things get worse after a bomb about to blow up in her face and drop a building on her?


OOC: Running Attack! Move up 6 squares
Attack 18 23, damage 5 @ Mercenary 1
This message was last edited by the player at 06:39, Sun 28 June 2020.

Klyn followed Lyla's charge but he was a little behind so he had to move before being able to try to hit.

double move to get, if possible, between the crate and the wall just above the position of the upper man on the map before they moved.

Faster than their adversaries Lyla rushed in, her head-tails swishing. She struck with her knife. The blade cut into the mercenary who when saw he was being abandoned by his companions turned and ran.

Closer to the fleeing bad guys Klyn and Lyla saw them leaving the building via the loading bay.

OOC Lamar was talented with his weapon assembly. It will take him a round to complete.

Lyla gets an attack of opportunity at Merc 1.

Adair and the other Mercs are running. Merc 1 has made a double move.


CN        F  R  W    HP   Second Wind FP DP  Notes

Lyla      22 22 19   58/58  1/1  (+14) 8  5
Lamar     17 19 15   47/47  1/1  (+14) 7  4
Klyn      15 21 19   35/35  1/1  (+9)  7  2
Tera      19 20 21   67/67  1/1  (+17) 5  3
Rynn      16 18 15   30/30  1/1  (+10) 8  3


Adair     21 22 20     0
Merc 1    14 17 12     5
Merc 2    14 17 12     0
Merc 3    14 17 12     0


CN = Character Name
F = Fortitude
R = Reflex
W = Will
HP = Hit Points (Max/Current) or for GM controlled characters hits taken
Second Wind = Second Winds (Max/Current) (+Value)
FP = Force Points
DP = Destiny Points
Loc = Location on map
Notes = Notes
Posting order
Lyla 25
Mercenaries 24
Rynn 22
Lamar 19
Klyn 12
Adair 9

As the mercenary turned away, Lyla reacted, trying to stab something, anything. She didn't mind them leaving, but she wanted some kind of evidence of who and what they were, and a prisoner or a body definitely counted.


OOC: I forgot to include my +5 attack earlier, it was 23.
Attack of Opportunity: attack 15, damage 6

There was little chance of getting the other fleeing merc, so Klyn rushed to the last one, trying to stun him for interrogation.

charge? not sure it is possible + stun mode on the snap batton.
08:57, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 23,8 using d20+4,2d4+3.  stun baton (half damage).

Rynn moved to help Klyn in controlling the remaining opponent, working on stripping the mercenary of his weapon.


OOC: What should I roll? or feel free to roll for me.

The chase continued as Adair and two of his mercenaries fled the storage area and leapt onto a repulsor cart. Adair glanced back then raced away at top speed. The skywalk and pathways were busy with civilians but Adair paid little heed to them as the cart skimmed dangerously close to them.

Slowed by Lyla the last mercenary was clubbed by Klyn. Then running as fast as he could Rynn barrelled onto until with a leap he crashed into the merc. The pair tumbled until Rynn got the upper hand and had him held firm. From the building Lamar fired a shot but it went wide and served only as a warning to the fleeing saboteurs.

OOC Rynn successfully grabbed the Merc. The Merc will be able to break free but it will use their standard action, so it back to the Rebels for actions.


CN        F  R  W    HP   Second Wind FP DP  Notes

Lyla      22 22 19   58/58  1/1  (+14) 8  5
Lamar     17 19 15   47/47  1/1  (+14) 7  4
Klyn      15 21 19   35/35  1/1  (+9)  7  2  Baton set on stun
Tera      19 20 21   67/67  1/1  (+17) 5  3
Rynn      16 18 15   30/30  1/1  (+10) 8  3  Grab hold on Merc 1


Adair     21 22 20     0
Merc 1    14 17 12     9                     Grabbed
Merc 2    14 17 12     0
Merc 3    14 17 12     0


CN = Character Name
F = Fortitude
R = Reflex
W = Will
HP = Hit Points (Max/Current) or for GM controlled characters hits taken
Second Wind = Second Winds (Max/Current) (+Value)
FP = Force Points
DP = Destiny Points
Loc = Location on map
Notes = Notes
Posting order
Lyla 25
Mercenaries 24
Rynn 22
Lamar 19
Klyn 12
Adair 9

Looking up from the downed merc, Lyla hissed a curse as she saw Adair and his henchmen escaping on a repulsor cart. They were moving much too fast for them to pursue on foot, and moving much too dangerously through the crowd to risk it if they could. 'Adair's gotten away, but at least we've got the consolation prize.' she decided. While Rynn grappled the mercenary, Lyla looked for and dived to grab the merc's weapon.


OOC: Move and pick up Merc 1's blaster pistol if dropped. Otherwise, attempt disarm, attack 21.
18:00, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 21 using 1d20+5.  disarm melee attack.

Klyn continued his work to stun the guard, not knowing how long Rynn would be able to hold him.
14:27, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 16,10 using d20+4,2d4+3.  stun baton bonus because grappled?

Lamar who had finished assembling his blaster fired at the fleeing men though he couldn't see if he hit one as the man ducked around the corner as he fired. "Sithspawn!" he cursed. as he began to chase after them intending to take them down.

11:46, Wed 08 July: Lamar Danar rolled 12 using 1d20+6.  attack blaster rifle.
Let me know if I need to roll damage though I doubt it.

Rynn continued to fight with the Mercenary, trying to force his body into Kyln's stun baton to take the fight out of him. As it was, Rynn wasn't a grappler, he was more a hide behind boxes and shoot you in the back kind of fighter, so he didn't know how long his suprise tackle against the merc would distract him.



16:43, Today: Rynn Culmar rolled 9 using 1d20.  Hold Merc .

The Rebels were pragmatic about chasing the saboteurs through the busy streets of Elrooden. They had one of them and that was enough for the team. Lamar fired off a blast from his rifle as the bad guys vanished into the city block. Lyla made a grab for the blaster pistol off the subdued the bomber.

The situation slowly began to calm down once the office workers realised that the bomb threat had been averted. Wary and suspicious glances were made toward the stranger group that were armed with blasters and holding down an unconscious man. It wasn't long before an pair of Elrooden security officers approached with blaster drawn, their moved through the crowd and directing their weapons toward Lamar and Lyla they called out "this is Elrooden security lay down your weapons" the pair of security officers kept their distance but they could be overheard requesting back up on their comlinks.

'It's about bloody time you got here!' Lyla declared loudly, trying to seize the initiative and the authority over this pair. She didn't drop the blaster she'd just picked up, because as well as a hero she was a Rebel, and wasn't sure if they'd have to fight their way out past this lot too. That didn't mean she'd raise it on them either; she kept it hanging in her hand by her side, almost forgotten. 'We defused the bomb and even caught one of the bombers for you. You're welcome, by the way. Now you need to organise a pursuit of the pair that got away in the repulsor cart, that way!' She pointed out of the door and down the street.


OOC: Because of course I'd roll low. Or would Deception be better?
15:36, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 8 using 1d20+4. persuasion.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:24, Wed 12 Aug 2020.

Klyn put his folded stun rod back in his belt.

So much for flying under the radar... Let's hope our 'hero' status will prevent to much inquiries on our identities... Maybe our contact could smooth things up.

But it would go against the secrecy of the meeting...

Still, he noticed Lyla's strategy and tried to help.

"Yep, aren't you happy someone made it possible you didn't have to justify to your boss how you let terrorist move inside the building to kill hundreds and cause millions of damages under your watch?"


14:28, Today: Klyn Cors rolled 5,2 using d20+2,d6.  persuasion (or deception, both are as low^^) use FORCE POINT.  6/7

hum... ok... probably just made things worst... sorry ^^

As soon as the bombers had made their escape Lamar ducked back behind cover and began disassembling his rifle again, by the time the security force arrived it didn't look anything like a blaster. All they saw was him putting away some components into his tool kit. He stayed silent and let Lyla handle the security forces.

Rynn still squirmed trying to keep the bomber still, not wanting to release him until the security personnel had the man secured. He wasn't going to chime in to further muddy the water with their explanation over what had occurred.

The two security officers were wary of anyone holding a blaster pistol so didn't let down their guard. The Rebels heard mumbled chit chat on the officer's comlinks as they watched over them. They kept their distance and Rynn was force to maintain his position of holding down the captured bomber. The tense stalemate continued until more officers arrived on the centre then emboldened they were able to take the prisoner into custody whilst keeping blasters trained on Lyla, whilst she continued to hold onto the pistol.

Surrounded by security officer the command was given again "put down your weapons" it seemed like things were going to get worse but then Jameth arrived. The short man dressed in a stylish suit immediately started to placate the officers and defuse the situation. Jameth explained who they were and that they were employees of Radell Mining Corporation. The officers requested everyone return to the building and questioned them, Jameth was able to answer most of the questions and the interrogation was fortunately short.

When the officers had left the building Jameth was joined by Parek and they worked swiftly to pass on a datapad with the approximate heading to Alluuvia. Jameth urged them to follow the route and find the pirates. To aid them he gave Lyla an identichip which she can use at customs when returning to Elrood, as it will identify her as an employee of Radell Mining, however he reminded her to keep things legal if she had to use the identichip. Lastly Parek offered that if they need a ship they could take the Wayfarer. The Wayfarer was a modified Sienar Fleet Systems Mu-2 Long Range Shuttle.

Wayfarer

As the stand-off dragged on, Lyla stood her ground, appearing to be waiting impatiently but privately worrying she'd picked the wrong play. But whatever happened, she could not let her team be captured and interrogated too, lest they be found out as Rebels. Finally pressed again, she about to make her choice, when she was last saved by the boss, and tossed the blaster into the bomb-crate, Thank the goddess.

*

She was thanking the goddess again when the security officers left and they had their plan. 'What do you think?' she asked the others, opening the briefing to questions and ideas. 'I don't like leaving the Gold, but it might be getting too well known. The Wayfarer's unfamiliar, but it's a convincing disguise against these pirates.'

Thankfully the situation defused quickly.


Klyn was definitively not happy to leave the Gold behind. After all, they had just got it back.

"I will need to inspect the shuttle first. To see how bad it would be when we have to fight the pirates.  And don't tell me we probably won't, because - if this mission goes as the others did - we will."

As Lyla discussed the merits of taking the Wayfarer Parek interjected "please remember that the Wayfarer remains the property of the Radell Mining on loan to your team, you will be responsible for any damages" the business man tried to remain sincere however the profit line was still a concern for him.

"One more point in favor of keeping the Gold, then."

So that they could inspect the space ship Wayfarer Jameth led them to a repulsorlift car and gave them a lift to the Radell Mining Corporation hangars. The Shuttle has two long, folding stabilizers, with a short fin on top. The shuttle was well used and battered.

OOC see picture in link above

"Why not take both?" Lamar suggested. "We take the Wayfinder and have one person follow behind at a distance with the... Gold was it? That gives us an out if something goes wrong. It also prevents us from all being taken in an ambush or trap."

'Oh, yeah, that's a given.' Lyla had agreed to Klyn.

She was in less agreement about who was responsible for the Wayfarer, however, since she and her team-mates really, really could not afford it. 'Don't worry, I'm sure the Rebel Alliance will reimburse you.' she assured Parek. Because of course a ragtag rebel fleet desperate for resources and in constant danger of being torn apart and scattered always paid its bills in full and on time – maybe after the restoration of the Republic. 'And think of it this way: if you lose this one ship, and don't lose any more ships, crews, and cargoes, then you're doing well and can start making credits again.'

At Lamar's proposal, Lyla mused on it, tugging a tail thoughtfully. 'Hmm. It's a good idea. It gives us back-up or a chance of rescue if this goes south. Or, if the pirates do capture the Wayfarer, the Gold can track us back to their base. Maybe we could have a covert signal on the Wayfarer to help us lay a trail?'

"Hum... yes, it could work...

But both require a big crew to be really effective.
And if someone has to stay on the Gold, that would be me."

When the Rebels had chosen their method of transport Jameth left them with the final words "keep it legal" then the business man return to the Radell Mining Corp building. The hyperspace coordinators provided by Parek would send them in the Drift.

OOC Let me know what your plans are regarding the starships and the mission.

'I'd rather not leave you alone on the Gold, in case you need back-up on something. We could split up, three and two, but that might make our numbers too small.' Lyla mused. She wished Chu-Shkar was still with them; Lamar was still an unknown quantity. Frack, even Quantros could be useful.

She changed tack to keep the conversation moving. 'Alright, do we need to buy any supplies or gear for this? Maybe Radell can give us a cargo they don't mind losing so we can pose as traders. Or even a tracking device for the ship.'

"Are we still sticking with the whole 'going in unarmed'" he said before glancing at Lamar "well, mostly unarmed or can we grab our full kit?"

'Unarmed was only for the RMC building,' Lyla answered Rynn, adding wryly 'And after that experience, I'm never going without a good blaster by my side ever again. We'll go with our full kit, don't worry about that.'

"In that case, what would be the groups you decide on?"

Lamar grinned slightly at the glance his way. He never went anywhere totally unarmed, he always had something.

Lyla thought a moment before proposing to Klyn 'You and Tera following on the Gold, the rest of the us on the Wayfarer. How does that sound?'

Lamar waited until she looked his way and wordlessly nodded his agreement.

"Agreed."
He turned to Tera and addded
"Let's get you a quick run on how to operate the Gold while I do the piloting."