Britton and his partner and best friend Kelko Wald, a Rodian with a knack for tracking, were following the tracks of a group of smugglers on their Kothlis Militia-issued Aratech 74-Z speeder bikes.  Their task was to find the smugglers' base of operations, arrest as many of the smugglers as possible and recover any stolen or illegal items.

The track had been easy so far, even at the speed the speeder bikes were moving, because most of the planet was a beach.  The soft sand lent easily to leaving footprints.  But now the pair were getting more inland towards a small jungle forest.

"<Hold up!>" Kelko called out in Rodian as he slowed down his speeder bike.  Kelko often communicated in Rodian on missions, so others would not be able to know what they were talking about.    "<I've lost the trail.  They might have figured out we were following them.  We'll have to continue on foot.>" He said, unstraddling his speeder bike.

Britton swore.

<How'd they cover their tracks in this stuff?>

"<Less sand up here in the jungle,>" Kelko replied slowly.  "<Just give me a second,>" he said as he studied the ground.  After a few seconds of searching, he added, "<Okay, give me 2 minutes.>"  He gave a frustrated Rodian sigh, as he really got down and looked around.  Finally, Kelko picked up the trail again and started heading off into the jungle.

"<It's funny,"> Kelko said.  "<Once I found the trail it was relatively easy to follow.>"  You entered a small clearing with 3 fallen trees bracketing it, and Kelko stopped.  <"Well that's odd,"> Kelko said, standing up.  "<I've lost the trail again.>"

Britton scouted out the ground himself, hoping to find the trail.

You sense the three smugglers you're tracking, surrounding you, each behind one of the fallen trees (see Game Map).  They have their guns drawn, and Kelko will not have time to react to any warning you give him.  (Though you could tackle him.)

"It's a trap!" Britton called, tackling Kelko to the ground.

The three smugglers fired at once, their laser blasts criss-crossing in the air where Britton's and Kelko's hearts had been.  In fact, with Britton and Kelko on the ground, two of the smugglers (S1 and S3) almost hit each other, the first one even hitting the third one's cover, almost burning a hole through the log.

"You idiots!" the other one called out.  "Why would you get in each other's crossfire?"  Then this smuggler, who seemed to be the leader, called out "Give it up.  We've got you surrounded."

Britton looked over at Kelko to see what he wanted to do.

"All right," Kelko said in Basic.  "We're surrendering.  I'm going to take out my blaster and put it on the ground."  Kelko took his blaster pistol carefully out of his holster and moved it slowly above his head while still staying on the ground.  He tossed the blaster a little away from himself...and just within Britton's reach.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:29, Wed 14 May 2014.

Britton dove for the blaster.

Before Britton could reach the blaster, the smuggler leader (S2 on the map) fired at Britton, burning his hand and the grass around it.    "Don't even think about it," the smuggler leader said.

Suddenly, Kelko flicked his wrist and one of the other smugglers screamed out in pain before firing back at Kelko in retribution.  But Kelko just dodged the shot.

Thinking that Britton was down and out, the other smuggler also fired at Kelko, clipping his shoulder from the back.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:39, Tue 13 May 2014.

Grateful he was ambidextrous, Britton grabbed the blaster with his other hand and fired at the smuggler who shot him.

Britton's shot went through the smuggler leader's shoulder joint, leaving a gaping wound and causing the leader to gasp.  He promptly fired back, but the shot went well over Britton's head.

Kelko got up and headed towards cover, catching a metal blur that flew back towards him as he made it to some bushes.

The smuggler that Kelko had hurt fired at him again, but apparently he thought Kelko was going to stand still because he fired where he was before he ran for cover.

The third smuggler fired at Britton who was still out in the open, but the shot went wide.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:34, Thu 15 May 2014.

Britton decided it might be best to head for cover so he attempted to roll for it.

Britton rolled to his feet and ran next to Kelko.

The smuggler leader seemed to catch a second wind and fired at Britton and Kelko again, but the shot didn't even hit their cover.

Kelko, slipping back into Rodese, said "<Man, I love this thing,>" as he held up the Rodian throwing razor his uncle had given him.  He took careful aim and slung it at the smuggler he had already injured with it.  The razor whizzed over the smuggler's head, not doing any damage, but keeping him on his toes, before it returned to Kelko's hand.  "<They are tricky to use though,>" Kelko admitted.

That smuggler moved slightly closer, making sure to return to cover before firing.  But his shot completely missed.  The last smuggler followed suit, moving closer, but still missing his target.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:08, Thu 15 May 2014.

Britton took careful aim (using an aim action which I don't remember how it works since I'm at work) at the captain who he'd already severely injured and fired.

Britton's shot glanced off the smuggler leader's torso, but didn't do much damage.  The smuggler leader recovered a bit, then fired right back, but woefully missed. 

Kelko aimed again at the closest smuggler, throwing his razor, but the blade slipped out of his hand and landed in the ground.  Fortunately it still hovered back when called.

The smuggler Kelko was trying to hit took the opportunity to shoot back, and he hit Kelko in his upper thigh, leaving a large flesh wound.  Kelko gripped at his leg, but otherwise remained calm.

The last smuggler moved closer again, firing at Britton after making it behind a bush.  But his shot on the move missed again.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:23, Mon 19 May 2014.

Britton aimed  at the smuggler behind the bushes.

Britton's shot punctured the smuggler's torso, eliciting a scream from him.

The smuggler leader took careful aim before firing at Britton, the shot nearly gutting Britton. 

Kelko caught a second wind and took another throw of his razor at the smuggler nearest him.  The razor sliced close to the smuggler's cover, but missed again.

The smuggler fired back, but missed Kelko entirely.

The smuggler that Britton had fired at returned fire, but instead hit his cover, taking a good chunk of wood out of the tree.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:22, Mon 19 May 2014.

Britton gritted his teeth so he didn't scream in agony.  He took a couple of calming breaths  then fired again at the smuggler behind the bushes but his aim was off because of his injury

Britton's shot missed and the smuggler leader fired right back at Kelko, hitting his calf, and taking a big chunk out of it.  Kelko bit off a Rodian curse, before trying again to hit the smuggler he'd been pinning down with his throwing razor.  But he fumbled the razor again, and it simply dropped to the ground in front of him.

The smuggler fired at Kelko but missed, and the other smuggler fired at Britton but missed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:22, Mon 19 May 2014.

Britton tried to spend a few moments to recover.  Then tried to fire again .

Britton's shot not only missed, but actually hit the bush he was using for cover.  Meanwhile the smuggler leader fired at Britton, but he missed wide.

Kelko recovered from his wound.  He actually got a successful throw out of his razor, but it failed to connect to its target.

That smuggler fired back at Kelko, but missed.  And the last smuggler that fired at Britton also missed. 

"<I wonder,>" Kelko said between shots, "<if it would be better for you to hand me back my blaster and get in melee with some of these guys.  Your swords are bigger than their knives.  And I just don't have the knack for this razor yet.>"
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:17, Tue 20 May 2014.

Britton continued his calming breaths then handed the gun to Kelko and unsheathed his swords.  And headed to the nearest smuggler.

OOC: Yes, as I said, I'd already figured out the war sword part because of our discussion in the "Access to SW Rebellion Britton" thread in Private Messages.  The questions about your stats that I still had are: Do you want the Combat Jumpsuit and War Swords to come from the Kothlis militia, or to be your starting gear?  If you want the Kothlis militia to supply, you'll still have to buy one of the War Swords by yourself, as they'll only supply you one.

Regarding your turn: I'm going to give you some extra actions here to hand the gun to Kelko and get out your swords (for dramatic reasons).  So yes, I will allow a standard action once you've reached the nearest smuggler.  Because it's only a standard action, you can only use 1 of your swords (which honestly is probably for the best, as you'll get a higher attack bonus).  The question is do you want to use 2 hands with 1 sword (to get 2 extra dmg)?

OOC Ooooh.  Then, yes, I want them to buy the armour and the one sword.

IC Britton gripped his sword two-handed so he would create a smaller profile in this dense foliage, then swung at his target.

Britton sliced the smuggler across the chest, and the smuggler fainted from the loss of blood.

The smuggler leader fired a retaliating shot at Britton, but you heard him curse as he got his finger caught in the trigger.

Meanwhile Kelko fired at the smuggler near him.  The shot grazed the smuggler's head and he dropped to the ground.

"<Let's get this last guy.>" Kelko calls to you, making sure to use Rodese so the smuggler leader won't understand you.  "<I'll keep him pinned down while you sneak around behind him.>"

OOC: Note that I have updated the map again and changed the two smugglers text to red to indicate that they are out of the fight.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:17, Thu 22 May 2014.

OOC: I also need you to roll 3d4*250 to see how many credits you started with.  I will also say that the Kothlis militia will give you a holster for the sword they provided for you (you would have to be the other holster), a basic comlink, and binder cuffs.  Once you've rolled, you can see if there's anything else you want to buy besides the one war sword and the holster.

Britton ran  around the trees to keep cover .

OOC:
<Irish accent>Aye, you could do that, you could.</Irish accent>

However, if you move 2x speed, that's only 12 sq, which ends you just out of cover.  If you do want to move fast, an all-out movement actually lets you move 4x your speed.  But either way, then he'll know you're coming.  Which is fine, if you don't mind.

You could also try and be sneaky.  But that would require a Stealth check, you would only be able to move at 1x speed unless you wanted to take a -5 penalty to the check.  I'll leave it up to you.

OOC  Fine.  I rolled a 12 (roll) + 4 (FP) = 16 for Stealth.

Kelko tried to lay down cover fire to keep the smuggler leader distracted, but the rogue didn't keep his head down.  He nevertheless did not notice Britton sneaking around the trees towards him.

Having done such a good job stealthily making it thus far, Britton ruined it all by nearly tripping over himself the last stretch.

Kelko tried again to help with cover fire, but the smuggler leader just ignored it.  He saw Britton coming and got out his vibrodagger.  He was able to slash Britton on his arm  before Kelko fired upon him.  Unfortunately Kelko couldn't quite get his shot to connect.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:03, Tue 27 May 2014.

Incensed at being attacked hit as well as his own failure of being stealthy he struck out with his war sword.

Britton's swing cut the smuggler leader across the forehead, knocking him unconscious.

Still speaking in Rodese in case someone else was around, Kelko said "<Finally.  I'm going to see if these two guys are still alive.  Why don't you check him?>"

Though injured and weak, Britton searched thoroughly his fallen foe.

You find that the smuggler is still alive, just unconscious.  He has on his person his blaster pistol, a concealed holster, a vibrodagger, a datapad, 3 doses of ryll, and 325 credits.

"<These guys are still alive,>" Kelko reported.  "<I've gone ahead and cuffed them. Did you find anything on their leader that ties them to smuggling?  These guys have nothing.>"
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:07, Thu 05 June 2014.

"3 doses of Ryll,"  Britton said, stripping the guy of the rest of his equipment and cuffing him.

"<That works,>" Kelko agreed.  "<Make sure to note that in the log, along with the rest of his possessions.  When CSU shows up, they're going to want everything in order.  I'll go give them a call and then grab some medpacs from the speeder bikes.  Why don't you look around and see if you can find their base camp?>"

Britton took a couple of moments to recuperate before heading out to scout around.

OOC: Do you want to use a Force Point?

OOC *Sigh* Yes.  FP 6 (roll)

You found the base camp not far away.  It was quite large.  There was a storage shed with a broken down speeder bike; a hangar area with a cloakshape fighter; a warehouse, where you found several crates of military grade heavy blaster rifles and 10 kg of ryll; finally there was a prefab barracks with cots for the three smugglers.

OOC: Make a Use the Force check.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:43, Tue 10 June 2014.

OOC And an 11 (roll) + 5 (UtF) = 16

IC  Britton felt that tingling sensation again.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:43, Tue 10 June 2014.

You get the feeling that someone is around the corner.  Not someone malicious.  But someone who want; no, needs to talk to you.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:43, Tue 10 June 2014.

Britton had learned a long time ago to follow his instincts and rounded the corner to confront the person.

Around the corner, just outside the barracks, slumped against the wall was a female humanoid.  She had white fur covering her entire body, except for her face, ears, and hands.  Her hands ended in sharp claws, and her ears were pointed.  She looked haggard and was barely breathing.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:12, Wed 18 June 2014.

The female wasn't of any species you recognized.  You might have even said she was Bothan, if you didn't work with them so often.  She beckoned you closer, and when you leaned in, she rasped "In order to unite your family, you must restore the Jedi Order.  Find Kenobi on Tatooine."  Then she died.  Distantly, you could hear Kelko's footsteps approaching.

"Oooookay," Britton murmured to himself.  He then tried to lift the woman up and carry her back towards the sound of Kelko's footsteps.

As you tried to pick her up, her body disappeared, leaving only tattered robes.  A silver cylinder fell from her clothes to the ground.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:07, Thu 12 June 2014.

'This day just keeps getting weirder,' Britton thought, pick up the robe and cylinder then heading towards Kelko.

As Kelko heard you approaching he called out "<Hey Britton, CSU's on their way to collect all the evidence.  And I've got the medpacs; we should probably give each other first aid.  Did you find anything interesting?>". Kelko stopped suddenly when you came into his view.

"Yeah, but I'll tell you about it while you patch me up," Britton said.

Kelko opened the medpac and started treating Britton's injuries.

OOC: You gain back 5hp, so now you're at 13hp.

Britton explained how he'd found the woman in the robes and what she'd told him before disappearing into nothing.  He explained how the woman looked, hoping Kelko would recognize the species.

"Well, I'm afraid that species does not sound familiar to me," Kelko said, slipping back into Basic now that you knew no other baddies were around.  "I'm about as traveled and experienced as you when it comes to things like that," he continued as he gently daubed your wounds with a sterile cloth soaked in healing salve (OOC: he's not trained in any Knowledges either and failed his roll).  "But Tatooine, huh?  You know, it's about time we left Kothlis anyway.  We don't really fit in here, at least not on the militia.  Besides I've heard there are a lot of survivors of the Rodian Clan Wars on Tatooine.  Maybe one of them knows where my parents are."

In previous conversations with Kelko he had told you how his family had been swept up in those clan wars.  His uncle had given him the Rodian throwing razor he had just used against the smugglers before being killed in the clan wars.  Shortly after that his parents had him smuggled off of Rodia to live with distant relatives.  He had never found out what had happened to his parents.

"Well if we've got the coin it sounds like we're in for an adventure."  Britton felt good about this change of pace, if nothing else he'd have time to heal.

"There's only one problem.  There's no way Captain Ruk'fey will let us go easily.  We're his best men," Kelko pointed out.  "We should probably use the medical facilities to get all the way healed up before we talk to him."

"Or we could ask for medical leave," Britton countered.

"He's not going to give us medical leave to another planet," Kelko said incredulously.  "He would just send us to the militia infirmary like he always does."

"I'm just trying to throw out ideas," Britton responded.  "Maybe we could ask for personal time?  I'm not sure that even have that in a Militia.  Sometimes I wish I'd gone into retail."

"I'm all for coming up with ideas," Kelko replied.  "We're gonna need good ones when we actually go in there.  Remember when Ruk'fey's son asked for paternity leave, and Ruk'fey gave him a long weekend.  Yeah, our only way out of this is to straight up quit.  And if we do that, it's going to be a fight to get our last pay."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:59, Thu 19 June 2014.

After a long visit to the militia infirmary (where you got fully healed...all your HP back!), you found yourself in the office of Captain Oktrem Ruk'fey, trying to convince him to let you quit the militia.

OOC: Get ready for your first (but definitely not last) Skill Challenge!
Here's how I'm going to run this Skill Challenge (it's my first one too):
1. You and Kelko will each take a turn each round, though not necessarily in the same order every round.  That is, if one of you has 2 good points to make and they go together, you could have your turn at the end of one round and the beginning of another.
2. You tell me what you want to do and I'll let you know what skill check you need to make to accomplish that (if you need examples, let me know).
3. I am not going to tell you how many successes you need to succeed on the Skill Challenge, and I will not tell you whether or not each individual check succeeds or fails (though you will probably be able to tell if you fail a check), but I will tell you when it is over and whether or not you succeeded or failed (though that part should be obvious).

So, what do you want to try first?

OOC Knowledge check about the Capt.  12.

There is nothing in particular that you can remember about the captain that will help you in this situation.  Do you still want to say something?  (What you say can't negatively affect your turn now, it can only positively affect it.)

"Captain, how long has it been since we've taken time off?"

"You've never taken time off," Captain Ruk'fey admitted.  "Except to recover from injuries, which it looks like you've done.  There's no other kind of time off in my militia," he finished firmly.

"You're exactly right," Kelko spoke up, hoping to play to the Bothan's ego.  "That's why we're asking to quit."

"Quit?" Capt. Ruk'fey asked, stunned.  "That's ridiculous."

"No one in the militia likes the fact that we're here," Kelko pointed out.


"Well, that's true," Capt. Ruk'fey woefully admitted.  "And yet, much as I hate to admit it, you are two of my best soldiers.  I'm afraid I can't let you go."

OOC: Your turn again.  And just in case it's not clear, despite what Capt. Ruk'fey just said, he's still persuadable.

OOC Rolled a 14

IC  "You can't keep us here and if everyone wants us gone what better way to show your appreciation than simply letting us leave with the pay we've earned?"

"It's true you could leave, but I think I'd be better able to persuade you to stay by not giving you your last pay than by giving it to you," Capt. Ruk'fey countered.  "But I'm still not convinced I shouldn't do more to keep you from leaving."


"Remember when I tried to sign up?" Kelko asked.  "You didn't even want me, now you're trying to keep me from leaving?"

"As I said, I did not yet appreciate your skills." Capt. Ruk'fey replied.


OOC: Britton's turn.  And remember just because Britton doesn't know he can use the Force, doesn't mean he can't use the Force.

OOC Britton attempted to Search his Feelings to see if he could think of anything to use: 16 + 5 = 21

You get the sense that Capt. Ruk'fey has come to depend on the two of you; to even like you.  But if you try to get special treatment, you will offend his sense of pride and fairness.  Also, he feels that if he loses you two, the level of competency in his militia drops.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:47, Thu 06 Nov 2014.

"We're not trying to ask for a favour," Britton said.  "We're just asking for the recompense for the services we've provided.  That's fair, isn't it?"

OOC: Make a Persuasion check.

OOC Aw, yeah!  Natural 20!

"I agree you boys have made your point for being able to leave, but I think you're missing my point that I'm trying to persuade you to stay--I need your expertise.  And the best way I can think of to convince you to stay is to take back the equipment we supplied you and with hold your last pay."  Captain Ruk'fey almost pounded his fists on his desks, but restrained himself from doing so.  "I'm within my authority to do that.  And I'm hoping you won't like losing those things and so will stay to keep them."

You could tell that Kelko was trying to gauge the captain before he next spoke.
"It seems like it's our skills you want more than us in particular."  Kelko pointed out.  "What if we left you our field journals with all our field notes in them?"  Kelko asked.  "We'll even give you our personal comlink frequencies in case you have any questions."

"That would go a long way to helping the rest of the soldiers," Captain Ruk'fey admitted.  "But I think it might be better if you stayed here and trained them in person," he countered.

"Or we could hand pick replacements," Britton ventured.

"That's an intriguing idea," Captain Ruk'fey mused.  "From where would you pick them?"

"The ranks," Britton suggested, scratching his cheek.  "Connections.  The holonet."

OOC: Make a Persuasion check.

OOC Rolled a 14 again.

Captain Ruk'fey nodded his maned head slowly.  "I suppose that will work.  I want them picked and ready before you leave."


"I think we can manage that," Kelko confirmed.  "And we may as well keep all of our equipment," he added.

"No I'm afraid I'm going to have to take that back," the captain countered.  "And now that we've established your succession plan, we still need to come to terms about this last pay of yours."

"Well we are working to let you make a smooth transition as possible so I don't see why we can call it even by giving us our pay and you keeping your equipment."

OOC: Make another Persuasion check.  And consider if you want to use a FP on that roll.

OOC 6 (roll) + 6 (FP roll) = 12

"Very well," Captain Ruk'fey conceded.  "It's a deal.  Now I want those replacements ASAP."

OOC: Congratulation!  You just completed your first Skill Challenge.  And you only had 1 failure, which was Kelko's.  So I'm afraid you will have to leave your binder cuffs, your combat jumpsuit, your second war sword, and your second sword holster on Kothlis, since they were all given to you by the Kothlis militia.

Would you like to narrate the part where you hand pick your replacements, or shall I?

OOC I'll let you.  I trust your humour.

It took a few days to comb through the militia personnel's dossiers and find people who had skills close to yours and the ability to learn quickly, but finally you were able to find two.  You verbally ran them through a couple of scenarios to see how they would react in each situation.  At first they were just a little off, but after a few additional days of coaching they seemed to be catching on to your tactics.  You handed over your field journals to them and wished them luck.

Soon you were back in Captain Ruk'fey's office, handing in your militia equipment.  "I'm afraid I'll also have to take away your military licenses, but I don't believe any of your personal equipment is restricted to that level, so it shouldn't matter.  And thank you boys for getting your replacements up to speed.  As much as it pains me to admit it, I hate to see you go; and should you ever change your minds, you're welcome back.  Here's your promised pay."  He handed you each a credit chip for 700 credits.  (OOC: You now have 2625 credits.)  He shook your hands and then showed you out.

OOC: I updated your Ref Def and possessions on your Character Sheet.

Do you want to do anything else before catching a transport to Tatooine?

"Thank you, sir," Britton said, shaking the Captain's hand.  "It's been an honour."

You walked up to the ticketing booth at the space port.  The ticketing agent was a young female Bothan.  "Welcome gentlebeings," she greeted with a friendly smile.  "Where are we headed today?"

"Tatooine," Kelko replied.

"Very well," the agent looked to her screen and keyed in some information.  "Your in luck, we have a shuttle leaving for the city of Bestine on Tatooine in just a few hours.  The trip is 12 hours long, and I have a few options for your accommodations."  She flipped her screen around to show you your options:
Double stateroom: 1400 credits
Private stateroom (2): 750 credits each
Double standard room: 700 credits
Private standard room (2): 500 credits each
Bunk (2): 200 credits each

"Which option would you prefer?"

"Bunk sounds good to me, how about you buddy?"

"Personally, I'm tired of sleeping in a bunk; we've been doing it the whole time we've been in the militia.  I'd like a little comfort, but I wouldn't mind sharing a room.  How about the double standard?  It's only 150 more each."  Kelko asked back.

"Alright," Britton conceded.  "Double standard.  It would be nice to sleep in a decent bed."

"Very well gentlebeings, here are your tickets," she said after taking your credits.  "Enjoy your trip."

OOC: The adventure will continue in "Trip to Tatooine"...