Your ship, now flagged as a fugitive of the Empire, drifts in an uninhabited star system. With only a few unremarkable planets and asteroid belts, no-one has bothered even to name it. After being logged with a number in the archives of astronomers, it was forgotten.

No-one patrols here. It is off every space lane known to sentients. Your sensors detect no contacts other than rocks & solar radiation.

This is the site that was chosen by your Rebel commanders for your rendezvous. With no access to the military-restricted Holonet, communication for Rebel agents is difficult.

At least you've had a chance to catch your breaths. A day and a half aboard a cramped starship is no-ones' idea of a good time. You talk over the events of your previous mission, and practice whatever skills you can in the meantime.

You may upgrade:
Astrogation, charm, coercion, deception, discipline, leadership, mechanics, negotiation, perception, piloting (space), resilience, skulduggery, stealth, vigilance, brawl, gunnery, melee, ranged (light).
If someone else in the crew has ranks in a Knowledge skill, they can train you until you have at most their own rank.

You have 15 experience points to spend.
Each of you gains 10 in Duty. I will update the chart.

It was good to get away from the blasted planet.  They had accomplished the basic objective, but it has cost them.  Their ship was flagged and their faces were likely known.  A lot had gone wrong, they had lost some folks along the way, that grated worst of all - those not truely dedicated should not have joined in the first place, he fumed.

As soon as the long jump into hyperspace had commenced, Dienton rushed to Caddy and, with her permission, used the ships med bay to treat her wounds.  She had suffered more than the rest, but was tough and soon recovered.  He would have words with the next rebellion quartermaster he met.  Sending them off without so much as a medkit - for shame!

During the journey, he spent his time working on his skill with a blaster and medicine.  He was the consumate contradiction - a soldier healer, didnt seem like a match made in heavin, but it has served him well so far.

He also tried to engage the others in conversation- it was hard to remember, but he had not trained with this group and knew only a little about them.  He had spent the most time with Forim, but the others were basically new to him.

Speaking to Onyx
"Your handy with that rifle, it was good to have you covering us." Dienton spun his small blaster on his finger and hostered it "I wish I had the size for a rifle, but alas, each time I took a shot with that slugthrower I found I knocked myself back three feet and would skid on my rear untill I hit a wall" he laughed "You big guys" he looked up at Onyx from his 3 foot tall frame "must hit your heads alot on doorways.  Where are you from anyway?"

Speaking to Ikki
"Where you from Ikki?  I was surprised when you drew that Axe during the fight, didnt peg you as an Axe Wielding force of nature, but . .  well you kind of were"  he grinned "Im too small to wield more than a knife, which tends to be more of a sword for me" he laughs at his joke "no real reach, but my blaster makes up for that." patts his holster "I need something with a bit more range though - Im gonna have a long talk with the next quartermaster we come accross."

Speaking to Caddy
"Hey Caddy, glad to see your up and about, im sorry I couldnt help you sooner."  he looked down at his feet a bit.  He was still coming to terms with his role.  His medical training often had to come second to his combat training "I hope we can stock up on proper medical supplies for next time."  He glanced around somewhat nervously, this was a female, sort-of.  She might even be good looking if she had more hair on her face, but well . . he was never that lucky.  He just never knew what to say to a female, no matter how ugly or the species "Uhh, so whats your sign?"  he laughes "Just kidding, where are you from?"  He liked her spirit though, and her willingness to lead, though one could question that ability based on her capture.

Speaking to Forim
"Hey buddy, glad we had you at the helm!  Ill never take a trained pilot for granted again!  Keep lining those shots up like last time and we could have taken a full battalion of fighters!" He grins widely "Though I'm glad we didnt try"  laughing he claps Forim on the back, well he tried, but swatted his rear by accident "Opps!  Sorry - I forget how tall you all are sometimes!"  So how'd you come to the rebellion anyway"  Genuine curiousity evident on his face.

Breathing a hugely deep sigh as the escape, she settles to being patched up by Dienton (who may realise that she isn't quiet human... An Arkanian offshoot may be a distant leap of logic to him!)    That done she focuses on congratulating and thanking her team mates on a job well done (and, of course, for the rescue!)

No (immediate) rest for the wicked, she then turns to those they rescued. Would they join the alliance?

She'd also take time daily to scan reports. Had the seeds she'd planted grown? Was there any conflict between the Huts and the Empire?

Then, speaking to Dienton... he'd gain a deeper understanding of her skill with words. A diplomat, negotiator (and while she won't admit it a charmer and deceiver should the need arise.) He'd also gain an appreciation of her leadership skills, education and... age. Despite her confidence and skill, he can tell she is young and lacks worldly experience... maybe the source of the mistake she made. He'll also fi d her reluctant to talk about her home and will skillfully steer conversation away from the topic. "I'll make sure that we are properly stocked for our next mission."  Again, assuming some level of command.

Forim smiles at Dienton and says "Thanks on the compliment, you are pretty good behind a stick as well.  I can always show you a few pointers" he says with humour in his voice.  "I joined the rebellion right from flight school.  The fact that the Empire holds non-humans as sub standard citizens just irked me.  Most of my hatch  mates did not care overmuch, they just went to the outer rim, or took hauler jobs a step above slave labour." he shrugs "Guess I have just enough of a spark in me to want to do something about it.  Though I will admit, this was my first land mission and I could do better there."

"What about you?  Not very often that two cells meet up and depart together from a mission."

Forim spends most of his downtime around the ship fiddling with this or that.  He is happy to talk to any who wants to chat some, but tends not to impose himself on others in such cramped space.  He knows many beings not used to space flight can find it hard when crew mates are constantly yammering at them.

Speaking back to Dienton

Ikki grins as he listens to the little guy talk to him as he cleans up the haul of weapons they had liberated from the Stormtroopers "I'm from Naboo, but I left home a long time ago. It was a group of Wookies who taught me some moves." He answers sa he cleans out the barrel of his rifle "You're pretty handy with that pistol, Doc. Definitely saved my ass when I was pinned. Thanks for that." He turns his head to smile at Dienton. "If you want something with a little punch, we got lots of these Carbines from those Imps. Maybe grab a blade as well, you know....for a sword." He returns the joke before groaning in pain "Hey, Doc. Can you patch up my back? That sargent had it out for me...." Sorlock requests as he turns and shows where the blades had sliced his back and shoulder open.


Afterwards

Placing the weapons he took from the troopers on the table in the main living area "Right, we got six blaster carbines, a blaster pistol, and a pair of vibroblades from those Imps and I got a Slug pistol from the compound that we raided with Caddy. Take your pick, guys. Anyone against me taking a Carbine? and I'm keeping this Axe..." He gestures to each of the weapons, but defensely touches his axe as he says the last part. With this they were that little bit better armed.

Forim says "I got a slug rifle from our excursion, but I don't mind keeping it if no one wants it.  Ill take a Carbine."

With a chuckle he adds "You earned that axe"

The ship's instruments howls out an alarm. You rush to your stations, ready for action.

In the cockpit, the sensors alert you to a new proximity contact. A freighter has arrived in system.

Shortly after dropping out of lightspeed, the freighter begins broadcasting an Alliance code.

"Alliance code" Forim says for the benifits of those not in the cockpit as he punches a few buttons on his console and responds by sending his own codes.

After he waits a few moments for their communication people to verify the code he opens a channel "Funny meeting you here, out in the middle of no where"

To Forim
"Born and raised on Chad, but got a serious case of wanderlust as I was just finishing medical school.  Went on a walkabout and, completely by accident, fell in with a band of rebels escaping pursuit.  After a while, I joined wholeheartedly." he spread his arms wide "And here I am" he smiled

To The group
Dienton looked at the gear appreciatively.  He grabbed a carbine for himself, really it was the largest weapon he could wield, but it was better than the slugthrower he had attempted!  He grabbed up one of the vibroknives as well.  "Thanks for grabbing all this gear, hopefully we can get some exchange credits from the alliance for the rest of it"

To Dienton:
"And we are glad you are" he says with a smile poking him in the chest with his arms spread wide unable to defend himself.

To Group:
"The Alliance is short on supplies, so I doubt it.  My vote would be to just donate what we cant use."

Caddy will each to the cockpit when the proximity alarm sounds but won't interrupt Forim as he sends out the greeting.

The comm crackles.

"No coincidence about it. I'm here to meet 'Alpha Team.' I guess that's you."

The ship turned and flew into a clear area of space near your position.

"Come out of the asteroid belt and dock with us. And round up all your spare munitions."

Dienton opens his comm channel so he can hear whats going on with the arrived ship.  He hears the other pilot , he mutters under his breath "You should at least take me to dinner first, you jerk" - He grins in wry mirth.

The note of the greeting struck him as slightly off, however - so he moved to the ventral turret and got comfy, just in case.

Ikki grins at his Duros comrade, one of the only original cell members he had left and spun his axe around and chuckled back at Forim "Good answer!" .  As the alarm went off as Forim alerted them that it was Alliance code, He was half way to climbing down into the turret once again.

Ikki chukcled at Dienton "Better in our hands than the Empire, We'll donate or sell what we can, but I'd like to keep a spare..."

Ikki rolled his eyes at the Chadra-Fan and bumped him with his knee gently, "Or at least say please...." He jokes along with the Solider Medic.

"Hold tight.  Setting course for your port docking hatch." then adds after a pause "Prepare to be boarded!" with a chuckle.

Forim double checks all the ships readings, then starts flipping switches.  He eases the ship off the asteroid they had docked with and out of the belt itself.

As they approach the ship, he flicks another switch telling the computer to get a reading on the vessel they are about to dock with.  Size, Lifeforms, Weapons compliment.  That kinda thing.

18:25, Today: Forim Luk rolled 1 success, 1 threat using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 3A 1d.  Rolling Computers.
Sensors
This message was last edited by the player at 23:51, Thu 11 Aug 2016.

Would they talk like that? Caddy wasn't sure if it was just the other pilot being relaxed in speech of if he was hiding something....

[00:48, Today: Caddanra 'Caddy' Manitu rolled no successes, 1 threat using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 3a 3d.  Perception .]
This message was last edited by the player at 23:50, Thu 11 Aug 2016.

The ship is a modified Class 720 freighter. It has an extra laser turret and a radiation output large enough to suggest upgraded engines.

They seem to be carrying some extra mass, suggesting at least a partial cargo.

Onboard you detect four lifeforms.

Caddy has a hard time sensing the truth of the captain's words. Without nonverbal signals and with only a few words to go on, her perception is limited.

You dock with the ship with a flexible plasteel tube. A few of you go across while the rest stay on action stations.

The ship's airlock pops open and you face the owner. He is a male twi'lek wearing a bright red shirt. He has a blaster sheathed on his hip. Beside him is an ugnaut, carrying a bag.

"Alpha Team, right? I'm Har'Kress. I'm a... Freelance shipper. I was hired by some friends of yours to deliver a message."

Har'Kress reaches into the bag held by his subordinate and pulls out a datapad. He hands it to you.

Forim is standing at the entry way, his new blaster in a makeshift holster on his own hip.  He smiles and says "Nice to meet you Mr Freelance Shipper.  I am Alpha one, This is Alpha two, and so on"  He takes the datapad and reads it quickly to see if it confirms what the man said.

He pulls out his own datapad to decrypt it using the key provided to them at the start of the mission.  That should validate the man as coming from his superiors.

The datapad the smuggler provides you is sealed using an Alliance code. You open it and find your next briefing.

Alpha Team,
The Empire has begun an unprecedented military buildup. All sectors are on high alert, and they're on full war production.

They're planning on hunting us down. We need to stay ahead of them. For that, we need intelligence.

Make your way to the Bright Jewel system. Begin recon of Ord Mantell. There's patrols in the area, so don't approach the planet. Use long-range sensors and avoid contact.

Optimal target is a bulk freighter with minimal escort leaving the planet. Locate a suitable target. Then intercept and capture it.

Your primary objective is to download the ship's navicomputer data. We need to know where it's been and where it's going. (Intelligence)

Secondary objectives:
 - Misinformation on the objective. Take steps to prevent the Empire from determining the purpose of the attack. (Counter-Intel)
 - Determine if any crew would be useful sources of information. Detain them as prisoners of war. (Personnel)
 - The Alliance always needs more materiel. Locate any useful cargo and secure it aboard your ship. (Resource Acquisition)
 - Destroy any escort craft and prevent your own ship from being damaged. (Space Superiority)

Facilitate as many of these as possible. (Support)

Following this mission, report to the outpost on planet Taul. Approach codes are provided in attached file.

May the Force be with you.

-- General Rieekan

Har'kess cranes his neck, trying to see what is written on the datapad, but you keep it away fairly easily. He gives up.

"I was told that you might have some extra supplies. The market for guns is hot right now. I can take them off your hands in exchange for credits." He buffs his clawlike fingernails. "Of course, service out here in the wilderness incurs a convenience charge."

Forim smiles and shuts the datapad off for later review with the crew.  "That we do Mr Freelancer!  Right this way.  Please come take a look and let us know what you can offer for them."

He leads them to the table where the extra weapons are laying and says "Here are our extra supplies.  The stormtroopers were so kind in letting us have their equipment for the inconvenience they caused us."

The merchant's ugnaut crew collect your extra supplies. Har'Kress himself frowns over the E-11 blaster carbines.

"You got these from some backwater garrison, right? They must not have gotten the new upgrades yet. That's convenient. Okay, I'll take them."

He orders his crew to collect your chosen purchases from his hold. Then he makes up the change in grimy credit bills.

Interesting.  Caddy remains close so that she's able to read the orders along with Forim, maybe a little surprised that he'd take 'control' in matters of negotiation but allowing him to do so - space was, after all, his forte.   She did however step in to ensure that she negotiated for items she felt were important to her and the group and even twisted the 'Freelancer's' arm when it game to the stim packs that he'd denied Dienton at first, getting a full 10 for the group... before spotting something rather... special.  "I'll have that too."  She points out the sabre hilt hiding in a corner of a pile of offered items.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:40, Sun 14 Aug 2016.

Onyx would have liked to keep to himself for the duration of the trip, but tight quarters meant that wasn't an option when someone came looking to talk. Dienton approached him, and Onyx wasn't exactly annoyed. After they had fought together on Tatooine he had respect for the little guy. Then Dienton got a little too personal for Onyx's liking. Asking about the past. Onyx shared that he was from Coruscant, more than he usually would, but no questioning form Dienton would get him to reveal anything more.

Other than that Onyx was able to stay to himself. He was offered some medical help for his now minor injuries, but he declined preferring to heal up in a more natural way without the help of bacta. As the crew begins making the pile of plunder, Onyx adds a blaster pistol to the pile and 457 credits to the team's bank. With that out of the way, he returns to his quarters enjoying the privacy and the short break from the nonstop action.

When they arrived at the meeting spot Onyx prepared himself for a fight. As they negotiated he stood off to the side rifle in hand observing the freelancer. Making sure nothing tricky was going on. The deal seemed to be going well, so Onyx put his rifle back around his back. Seeing Caddy working for some extra gear Onyx lets her know that he would like an extra reload for his rifle. With that done he waits anticipation starting to build for their next mission.

Having spent the majority of his Credits on the MedKit, Dienton retreated towards the main cabin so they could discuss their new mission.

An extra reload?  That shouldn't be a problem... and after further negotiation with the 'Freelancer' she hands Onyx what he needed.

"So tell me, how's you come by the hilt?"

[22:31, Today: Caddanra 'Caddy' Manitu rolled 1 success, 4 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1d 1a 2p.  Extra Reload.]

"Oh, that? It's a family heirloom," Har'Kress lies cheerfully. "Great-Grandfather Lor'Kress, may he rest in peace, used it. That's why the family colour is green. So, you want it? Shame to part with it, but we have to look to the future."

"Oh really?" She was no fool and while she'd have loved to know the history of the hilt, now wasn't the time to confront the Freelancer. "One last thing... we are looking for a freighter.   Any chance you know where we could procure one?"

"Nope. Not in the ship-dealing business. The way I hear it, everything with an intact hull is being snapped up by contractors."

He glances at the ugnauts, hauling stuff back & forth and squabbling with one another. He swats one on the shoulders irritably.

"Are we almost done here? The sooner I'm off, the sooner I can start making a profit. And the sooner you can get back to your..." he waves his hand dismissively. "... Freedom fighting."

Ikki double checks the amount of credits he got before placing them in his utility belt. Looking over to Har'Kress after his jab "There's credits in freedom too, y'know." Sorlock simply states before making his way away to go to his bed to start thinking of a way to throw the Empire off their trail. Pirates and Raideres were always a good excuse but to make it seem legit would be the hard part.

After completing the last of the transactions, the trader says a meaningful 'goodbye.' Your ships disconnect, and you part ways.

Soon, the trader flits into hyperspace. You make sure that they are gone before you set your own course, to minimize the chance of them noticing your trajectory.

Then it's time to leave. Forim brings the ship into open space. You strap into your seats. You punch up a course to your next destination. Then, with the pull of a lever, the stars turn into starlines.