The team is currently aboard a Dreadnaught the Alliance recovered from an Old Republic decommisioning facility. The vessel requires far more crew than the Alliance can currently spare, so its facilities are only partly online. Crew and maintenance droids are always running around, fixing the various problems that pop up. Loud curses frequently ring out as electronics suddenly short out, or the hot water runs out, or a bulkhead slams closed without warning. It's anyone's guess which of the turbolaser batteries actually work, and no-one wants to depend on the shields to survive a bombardment.

General Rieekan uses this currently-unnamed capital ship as a mobile base. His opinion, voiced with a wry expression, is that at least the technical crew is getting plenty of on-the-job experience.

After you landed your ship in the hanger bay, your prisoner was taken to the brig for interrogation while the cargo hold was emptied. The ample munitions you retrieved put a sparkle in the eye of the quartermaster. The medical droid was brought away to the droid bay for assembly, after which it would be sent to the medical bay to begin work for the Rebel Alliance. Your team was given quarters and instructed to get some rest.

A few days later, your team is instructed to report to a briefing room on the third deck. It's easy to find, since very few of the decks are actually occupied at this time. The briefing room is more of an audience hall, a vast presentation room designed for hundreds of people. Your tiny team is clustered together near the platform. Rieekan stands behind a lecturn, in front of a holo display of Tatooine.

Rieeken is getting his notes together, allowing you a moment to speak to one another and introduce your new team member.

"Tatooine? Where in the black is that?" Victor asks the group. Tatooine being just a slow populated planet in the middle of no where in the outerrim. Mandalore, Victor's home planet, is also on the otherside of the galaxy.

Seku strides into the mission briefing with her swagger fully restored. Her disappointment at not having procured the warheads has faded in the wake of the rest of the Dreadnaught crew's pleasure at receiving the weapons and medical supplies. She has already taken advantage of one of their best acquisitions: the side of her face has been well tended to by the new medical droid.

The pirate-esque outfit that she wore on the raid has been swapped out for a fur-lined jacket and looser, more comfortable looking pants. The heat sometimes doesn't work right on the Dreadnaught and space is already a little cold for the Twi'lek's taste so she isn't taking any chances.

Seku takes a seat next to Victor. "Tatooine? Pretty close to Ryloth actually. I've never been there because, from what I hear, there is literally no reason to ever go there." She lowers her voice to whisper conspiratorially, but it is still a volume that the entire room can hear. "But I heard from one of our fighter jocks that the guy who blew up the Death Star was from there."

Into the briefing room walks a large, furry sentient that best resembled an overgrown weasel, dressed in a loose-fitting spacer vest and trousers. The tips of dark-golden fur catch the light from the hologram of the desert planet as he walks past. He briefly looks over the others in the room, though he makes no outward gesture toward them, good or bad. Finding a seat near the end of the front row, he sits down and waits for the meeting to start. His countenance is hard to read; whether he is shy or aloof or focused on the mission is hard to tell.

F3-3T sits processing the idea of returning to Hutt Space. He lets out a series of sighing beeps and protests. "ZAPZAPBINGDRNNNGBANGABOOT!![Language unknown: Essli Caore Atcepl Homi Ngur Omar Venandeau!!]". He finishes recording the briefing and uploading the latest of rebellion updates to his rusty innards.

The Selonian walks into a briefing room. The little astromech rolls near the wonderful specimen as he has not viewed one in person. He begins without controlling himself to begin holo-pict recording the beings naked furry feet.

The briefing continues.

Looking no worse for wear after a few hours of bacta, Jess strolls into the briefing room and takes a seat. "There's a crime lord on Tatooine, I can't recall his name but he used to trade with..." her voice trailed off, "anyway. Anytime there's a hutt involved it's usually bad news."

A man in an ensign's uniform comes in with  a rollong tray. It has two large caf pots and drinking mugs. He pushes it to the lecturn, pours a mug, and hands it up to Rieeken. The general accepts it with a nod.

"Sorry it took so long, General," apologizes the aide. "I had to boil the water a pot at a time." He looks to you, offering mugs.

General Rieeken sips the caf, grimaces, and swallows. He clears his throat and begins speaking.

" Tatooine is a desert world the far reaches of the outer rim. Very small permanent population, no exports to speak of. The Empire maintains only a token presence there. That's very convenient for people looking to avoid official attention. Like us, and criminal kingpins like Jabba the Hutt. Tatooine is his main base of operations. Mostly, he uses it as a destination for Smugglers hauling illegal Cargoes and needing a place to lay low. He bribes the Imperials to keep their noses out of his business, and most of the locals have learned to stay out of his way.

" something's come up though. Recently, Jabba the Hutt has begun a local operation, and Rebel command has decided to intervene."

Jess sat up. "Oh my. Jess felt her pulse quicken, she swallowed a newly formed lump in her throat.  "Intervene how? General?"

Drac momentarily raises his palm vertically, politely refusing the caf. His beady eyes continue focussed on the General, not flinching at the mention of the Hutts, either from bravado or naivety.

Seku appears to be firmly of one mind with F3 and Jess in their opinions on the Hutts. She nods her head vigorously to Jess's statement. When the drinks are offered, she gratefully accepts a mug of caf, sniffs it, and makes a face. Under her breath she whispers: "I guess we should have stolen all the caf off of that corporate freighter after all. That at least smelled good." She takes a reluctant drink as the general begins his briefing.

I wish we could have figured out how to convince the Empire just to eave a token force on Ryloth. Still, between the Empire and a Hutt? I might take the Empire, at least with them you'll always see them coming." She looks a little worried about what the general is about to propose.

After filming the new members feet for a few seconds a warning bing goes off like a re-heater timer as the General briefs the team on Hutt space. It takes awhile for F3-3T to process that Dracmother is known as a Selonian.

Whomever built F3-3T installed a wary program that kept a careful eye on the sentient aquatic otter people spawned by Queens. Racist or not F3-3T does not trust or understand why Dracomother is or has broken into the briefing room without being detained.

"BRRRZTGONKOBRRRZTSEEBUBONGO"[Language unknown: Ic t nipe no illichvirill sehoon ck hisastthi ut, sangro n som omers il he ntioei ma een n?]"

F3-3T wheels away from the furry otter man and extends a slightly charged appendage, trying not to upset the general.

Rieekan changes the holo image to a brown-skinned human male wearing a desert headwrap and a surly expression.

"This is Boho Shayed. He owns a... " Rieekan pauses to consult his notes, "'moisture farm' outside the town of Anchorhead. He was recently offered the choice between a fire sale price for his land, or being fed to the local wildlife. He accepted the money, but he started grumbling about it. One of our people on the planet heard his story and send word to us.

"Boho wants Jabba's thugs off his land, and is willing to help us help him. For our part, we see it as an opportunity to win some friends on the planet, gather some Intel, and maybe seize some resources while we're at it."
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:48, Sat 02 Feb 2019.

Seku gives F3 and confused look, then looks over at the stranger in the room. Knowing F3, she's reasonably certain this is just another eccentricity. She leans over to the droid and whispers. "F3, I don't think he's a spy or the general wouldn't be giving the briefing. I think he's going to be joining the team."

Raising her hand, she addresses the general. "Do we have a plan for dealing with the thugs who show up after we deal with the first group of thugs? Hutts tend to have a lot of thugs. Do we have leeway to negotiate with Jabba?"

"Why does a crime lord want a pile of sand on outer rim planet that is one giant pile of sand? Either there's something there or someone else wants it and Jabba wants to sell it or use it as a bargaining chip." Jess reasoned aloud. "I think finding out what is there is an important thing and if we can make off with it before he can get it, so much the better."

“I agree with Jess. We should go to Anchorhead and quietly ask around. See if anyone is feeling chatty." Victor days, taking a sip of the caf. Grateful for the hot liquid. He has definitely had worse caf.

F3-3T's newest electronic virus "fixation" had over-ridden and was deleting his "love" for the medical droid he was previously trying to woo and seek unknown favors for the freed slave dancing Tw'lek that was in charge of the team. He would even go so far to risk permanent shut-down for the return of Seku's hand in union.

In some parts of Wild Space he had overheard strange rumors of spacers married to custom gene symbiotic cyborgs and fully operational human replicants of unknown races of far out colors and civil hierarchies bizarre. If the rumors of "force" using wizards was mathematically in the Sabbac cards, why not a full house of heart break for an astromech and lekku headed woman?

F3-3T digested the strange mission General Rieekan proposed, throwing himself all in with the stakes he put out a dangerous cover for the team on the table. "BRZTBINGDINGGIMMEBLINGBLING?[Language unknown: I n ereiouort e ingounsheons pr canc Evarwhhi Heiv. Sabut melar ilncev thuousone Werlindaysaning, outhatons peithe any intresour u isatin RIEVBE e ev werintyin whplhi. A mi iou ng esesle el pa Rita Ncewerhou butpr encst, rea ng a adacsa thuonetedher i Unutme dinmenhoutinhat? Esast k U Ilher ecresaat artes icelpa stion hich evno whis oreti dinearset resrat'trales?]"

The question hung in the air like bad gas from a Bantha in a hot tent on Jakku. F3-3T was no protocol droid, but the General had no real plan on as of yet. F3-3T had very little on the Hutt Clan other than some random locations in the Outer-Rim whose Cantina's happy hour menus the Clan enjoyed as "4 STAR" where stored in F3-3T along with appropriate hyper-lane routes to said establishments.

15:31, Today: F3-3T rolled 1 success, 3 threats using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2A 4D.  Convince General Rieekan of Ruse.

15:30, Today: F3-3T rolled no successes, 2 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 4A 2D.  Formulate Hutt Ruse.

General Rieekan brings up a map of Tatooine in the region the mission will be taking place. He uses a laser pointer to indicate Anchorhead.



https://assets.rbl.ms/18578101/980x.jpg

"Anchorhead is a small settlement composed mostly of permanent residents. Landing a spaceship there will attract a lot of attention. Instead, you'll be arriving in Mos Eisley spaceport, here to the north. It's much larger, and another freighter's movement won't attract any attention.

"Once you've made planetfall, you'll meet with Boho Shayed. He will be providing transport to the mission area and current information. There are Rebel sympathizers in the region, but Boho only knows his handler and we need to keep his knowledge limited. He's not a Rebel yet, and we can't give him any sensitive intel. We'll try to find a way for them to get you some support.

"Boho grew up on his farm and has been living in the region his entire life. He'll be your source for maps and intel.

"Now, as much as this situation is pulling your respective heartstrings, you're probably wondering why the Rebel Alliance is involving itself in the troubles of one farmer on a backwater planet who isn't even being hurt by the Empire directly. Aside from public relations, here's why:

"The Hutt's people have been bringing in off-planet cargoes to that farm. Jabba is up to something, something more than just taking control of one moisture farm. Jabba is a big contributor to the Empire for credits and black-market products already, and if he's got some major project going it will benefit them."

Rieekan changes the display so that it shows mission objectives:

Primary Objective:
 Sabotage: Destroy Jabba the Hutt's operation at the Shayed moisture farm.

Secondary Objectives:
 Combat Victory: Defeat Jabba's enforcer.
 Counter-Intelligence: Plant false trail against Rebel involvement.
 Intelligence: Determine what the operation is
 Personnel: Avoid injuries requiring downtime
 Political Support: Keep the majority of the farm's infrastructure intact.
 Recruiting: Capture a High-Value Target for interrogation.
 Resource Acquisition: Confiscate any readily-usable materials.
 Support: Accomplish as many objectives as possible.

Rieekan uses his laser-pointer to indicate the primary objective.

"Jabba can recruit more muscle at any street corner on Nar Shaddaa, so just taking out the people occupying the farm probably won't be enough to destroy this operation. Instead, try to make it expensive to rebuilt. Take out expensive machinery, rare materials, or specialist experts. If the price is high enough, the Hutt will give the entire project up as a loss. We just have to hope you'll be able to do enough damage to unbalance that account.

"That's where this objective comes in," adds Rieekan as he highlights 'Combat Victory.' "Losing tough muscle is bad for his reputation. If Jabba loses an expensive mercenary, the next one will raise their price."

Rieekan highlights the counter-intelligence objective.

"Jabba the Hutt has a criminal enterprise that spans the Outer Rim. He has many enemies, and we want him to think that it was one of them who hit him instead of us. Ideally he would blame the Empire, but we don't think we can set up a convincing case for that. Instead, we've got another option."

Rieekan creates a second holoprojection off to the side. It is a grainy two-dimensional image of a Klatoonian male, lying dead on a junk pile.

"Meet Jopos. He was a bounty hunter working for Kaltho the Hutt, before he tried to capture one of our spies. He's posthumously joined the Rebel Alliance, and he's going with you to Tatooine. Bring him to the farm and leave him somewhere so that Jabba's men will find him after you're gone. If you can avoid leaving other traces, they might trace him back to Kaltho. Kaltho knows that Jopos didn't go missing anywhere near Tatooine, but if you can make it look convincing, Jabba's suspicions may be deflected.

"Jopos' body is on ice in one of the cargo crates being shipped to Tatooine as part of your ship's cover. Literally, on ice. You're shipping ice and refrigeration units. Make sure to bring it along on the mission, and don't let anyone see it until you're ready to plant it."

Rieekan closes that image and indicates 'Political Support.'

"No matter what happens, Boho will probably not be able to pick up where he left off. We don't know if he has accepted that yet, though, and we want him to be motivated to help. If you have to burn the farm to the sand to accomplish the mission, do it. But don't tell Boho you're going to destroy his life's work before he's helped you."

Rieekan indicates the 'Resource Acquisition' sub-objective.

"We don't know what they're doing there, but odds are there'll be something you can seize. Aim for something you can get back to the ship without attracting attention."

Rieekan changes the holo back to the region map and highlights Mos Eisley. "We'll be sending a crew on the ship that doesn't have a reputation as Rebels. They'll be the public face while you accomplish your mission. Once they've touched down, they will take seven Standard days to sell their cargo and get a new one. Any less will seem rushed, and any more will look too lengthy. They're going to be keeping their heads down, so don't expect any help from them on this mission."

Rieekan deactivates his laser pointer and steps out from behind the lecturn. He leans against it, looking you over with a frank, no-nonsense expression. Apparently he was a soldier for the Old Republic before being one in the Alliance. He, like Princess Leia, is a survivor of Alderaan. A soldier from a pacifist planet, currently playing the role of a lecturer on an ancient warship...

"Any questions?" he says, in his no-nonsense baritone.

"More of a comment General Rieekan." She looked around at her compatriots. "I can think of at least two Hutts that we can blame this on, Bulppa or Giltak. They both have a bounty on me and if Jabba can do away with one or both of them, so much the better."

Rieekan raises an eyebrow. "Do you have the corpse of one of their thugs in your duffel?"

"No, but I'm sure I can think of a way to implicate one or both of them."

Rieekan spreads his hands. "I didn't really think you wanted to bring a half-frozen corpse across the desert anyway. Make sure to tell Jopos that his services are no required."

"Let's bring Jopos along for the ride as a backup. We can always leave him on the ship and take him with us back for debriefing." He says turning to Jess. He had been listening intently on the mission briefing. This was right up his alley.

F3-3T lets out a long whistle, "Whooooot." It does seem like a large order and a big mission on a little farm. He processors are going ballistic trying to calculate stratagems.

First, "ZingZingGagaGink?[Language unknown: La u meon str ureos foes-onen le? Ioro ardectomeoneour heiv Ad p earentingome fi ll niisar stwailhe?]. The astromech has a deep respect and fear for Hutt muscle versus his own poorly constructed chassis. This is a battle he must some how win.

On another note he has a small acquisition list beginning with, the possibility of com-tapping devices? F3-3T also is in the camp that carrying a corpse around would actually represent some leverage as odd is may seem and make-shift foodstuff on this backwater rock. One vote for carrying around a dead guy.

Rieekan looked blank at first. His aide handed him a datapad, which he scanned for a moment. He looked up at F3-3T after reading the translation of his Droidspeak.

"We don't know who Jabba's on-site enforcer is. His policy in the past has been to have someone tough enough to intimidate the locals and keep the rest of the thugs in line. One thing we are sure of is that they won't be hard to identify. The enforcer will be throwing their weight around, making sure everyone knows who they will have to deal with if they make trouble.

"The enforcer might not be the one who is actually making the decisions. Jabba will need someone smart enough to keep the operation running smoothly. One of Jabba's lieutenants, someone cunning and underhanded enough to earn his respect, will be on-site as well. Taking them out is not one of your objectives, but if they get in your way you might have to."

Rieekan reads the datapad again. You can see him mouth 'rocket launcher?' but he doesn't respond to it. Possibly he has assumed it is a translation error.

Seku taps her chin in thought as she considers the mission objectives. "We should assume that someone will escape when we raid the farm and that word might get back to Jabba from the survivor. I think we should come up with a cover story of who we are." She looks at Jess. "The Bulppa or Giltak angle is a good one, but we probably shouldn't be openly working for another Hutt or people will see through the ruse. If we leave some subtle clues that might let someone in Mos Eisley, Anchorhead, or the farm think we're working for either of them, that will hopefully be the rumor that makes it back to Jabba."

She eyes Victor next. "Based on the fight on the ship, it seems like we might have an edge if you posted up in a sniper's nest to give us cover when we raid the farm. Do you have a way to take people down quietly before the shooting starts?"

Turning to look down at F3, she smirks. "If we can get our hands on one, the rocket launcher might not be a bad idea, but I think your best bet might be causing more chaos with any droids or machines they're using at the farm. Once the shooting starts, a bunch of droids running around might offset their numbers advantage."

Finally, she looks over at the newcomer. "What are you good at? Might be important to our strategy."

In reply to The Force (msg # 24):

From the quietest corner of the room comes a bold burst of speech. "Throwing weight around will make him an easy target to topple, sir." The sudden comment in slightly stilted Basic might catch one off guard, as the Selonian was so still and silent that others may have forgotten he was in the room. While terse, Drac voice betrays both a steady confidence and a deep respect for the CO.

After hearing Seku's inquiry, he turns to the Twi'lek, whose calm and thoughtful assessment clearly bespeaks leadership. "I'm fair strong, ma'am, and good with heavy munitions. I can help with the thugs or the demo."

"I can only take them out quietly if they are alone. If some one was listening, they might hear something in the distance." he replied to Seku. "I've got nothing more silent than my gun. But I do have this thing." he says pulling out a small recon remote. "Might be useful to scout the area.".

F3-3T felt less than a man around the furred brute and Viktor, even Jess was quite mannish and could be a threat to his machismo plan. Either way he would have the Tw'lek or if that failed he could fall back to plan B and the medical droid. But still without propelled high density explosives he needed a new angle and felt the team was lacking an edge in the mission.

"ZonkDingDongDwink?FrinkZaapaa?----"[Language unknown: Ure wima k siilpr les atsi Ioutou manndeame ivthniou, butnt i ate venereund essingdin. Aievonec En n atierathiwas u pre wasousort ughreayin prstilme i ilsaai io thaourday utain. P thuresvor tewhe wheri urtahi ei whwindss onehatoun u m o seofut stpro Anyeenlat.

Enicpl o prpliv wh caac trcksi? Ai nc resardill waan riin aliese evpeme thpro di m nobe wheur inncng, hi Res intch tedeauwilset camohi na di il itpo u eissec arfi ngdi ekseil conencshesti ll day maarha ekone k ev? Hilldi int ekilrillac leevul Tisi hafoit olpe berearll ntrea miter menpredin k icaardionyinnti cachle larvirugh on werat. Evate la atevut sseewiro adnetopr hotetr ichestres'virone iletenro me iv wasaus. Day ientpl dinthunti m to larsheter ast ur evehourea bleoutble ourio ca ND an.]

The droid scans the room for additional ideas, once dirtside one mistake could cause quite the "dust up", he chuckled to himself and the formulated sarcasm application he rarely put to any use. He was speaking to a General he couldn't look completely incompetent.

General Rieekan leans down as his aide beckons him. The ensign whispers something into his ear. He nods. He straightens up, turns off the holoprojector, and collects his datapad.

"If there are no further questions, I have something else to get to. I'll leave you with this: Keep some wriggle room in your plan, at least until you have the intel that your local contact can give you. The more knowledge you have, the better."

When you're ready to leave the briefing, make a post in-character about leaving the room.

F3-3T extends his armature unit and gives the finest salute he can think of, adjusting his leg units to stand 10 centimeters higher and snaps the salute crisply back into his chassis. "BangoBangoMezOozBeepWeeeeOOooh![Private to group Droidspeak: Aye Aye General. May the Force Be With You.]".

With that the astromech saunter rolls out of the room with great bravado.

In reply to The Force (msg # 29):

Rising to his full height, the Selonian likewise salutes the General with a brisk, "Sir, yes, sir."

After the General leaves the briefing room, Drac's posture relaxes just enough to be noticeable. He walks calmly to Seku and assumes the "at-ease" stance of one awaiting dismissal. "Unless you need something, ma'am, I'll prepare my gear for departure."

"Hutts." Jess groaned. "I have a bad feeling about this." Standing, she adjusted her blaster, making ready to leave.

Seku looks deeply uncomfortable and possibly offended at being called ma'am; a reaction that may be somewhat surprising considering the monikers that F3 often uses to refer to her. "I'm not... nevermind. It'll be good to have someone else for when things get tough. Hopefully we can avoid me getting shot so much this time." She rotates her shoulder as she remembers her first blaster wound from the last mission.

Seku's salute to the general is not nearly as crisp as Drac's or as enthusiastic as F3's. It is more lackadaisical bordering on deliberately irreverent. As the general takes his leave, she nods at Victor's droid and F3. "Yeah, like the general said. We should gather as much info as possible before we make a move. I just want to establish a good cover identity while we're in Mos Eisley. Outsiders tend to stick out in backwaters like that. Though if there's a Hutt nearby there may be more through traffic than usual." She shrugs and begins to make her way towards the exit.

Shooting a wink at Jess, she grins and pats the other woman on the shoulder as she passes. "Nah, I'm not saying it will be easy, but we've got this one." Her face becomes serious and in a low voice she adds: "We'll find a way to play it that doesn't require you revisiting your past too much."

F3-3T rolls away quickly B-Lining it straight toward an old pre-clone war sedan speeder with huge tail-fins and an sleek low profile, beat up but a classic. Hoping to use the chaos of the fire-fight and thug death as a distraction and his advantage.

The astromech does not see anyone in it and proceeds to prepare to steal it first by lifting his optic unit up to get a better look at the inside, which he believed to be empty. By the time he can re-act he realizes the Jawas four of them are already hard at work hot-wiring the speeder. "Whoooooop" Declares F3-3T hoping they didm't recognize him as the droid they were looking for. Quickly beginning to run away for the third time today…


14:46, Today: F3-3T rolled 1 failure, 4 threats using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1a 1p 3d 1s ((6(A), 2(P), 7(D), 7(D), 3(D), 6(S))).  Used a setback but could be an advantage from the distractions? Probably not….