F3-3T beeps out at the muscle of the team to follow him closely as they head toward the outskirts of town and the "Bald Bantha", a nefarious run-down barracks turned hourly hotel in the worse part of town. Luckily this should keep them out of Imperial contact but most likely in the heart of Hutt territory if not worse.

The astromech finds in his internal mapping system that on foot this could take too long for them to take advantage of the jump of the contact and that they may have to pay for a hover taxi. F3-3T beeps out commands via Seku's message, "Dracmo. Seku and Jess wish for us to secure lodgings at an establishment know as the Bald Bantha, for the next meeting with our contact. I do not believe they will allow a droid to do business with them or a taxi service to get there as soon as possible. You may have to hail a service for us as well as pay for the room....".

The droid beeps out a bit later. ".... And this is in no way an invitation of mine for us to become intimate on any level other than in our mission." F3-3T didn't want the aquatic mammal to get his hopes up and lead the Selonian on in any fashion. Strictly business, F3-3T had been known to break hearts before at least that is what his corrupted memory banks processed as he pushed on into the dust and dirt.

Jess listened to the conversation in her ear and without missing a beat smiled encouragingly at Boho. "I know a place, if I can only remember how to get there." She giggled. "Do you know the city well?"

About an hour later...

The team has acquired two rooms at a local motel known for discretion and insects. They have to put down a deposit for any water used in their rooms before the deal is made.

The Rebels and Boho Shayed are in one of the rooms. You are reasonably confident that you were not followed here. In the centre of the room, a small table is barely big enough for a sheet of flimsiplast. It is serving as the meeting table, and currently holds a map.

The map is hand-drawn, with care. "This is my farm. It's about twenty-five kilometers north-west of Anchorhead, just on the edge of the Jundland Wastes. Read the list I've prepared and you'll see what all the buildings are."

Boho places a list on the bed for you to see. The labelled points are explained here.

 1. Main House
 2. Servant's Quarters
 3. Garage
 4. Hermetic Facility
 5. Solar Power Facility (2)
 6. Pre-fabricated building
 7. Storage

"I also wanted to bring to your attention a few assets I have available to me. My own speeder is here in Mos Eisley. My skyhopper is in Anchorhead, at a friends' lot. I have had to spend most of my available capital, but I have about 2 000 credits for expenses. I have a few... well, they're not friends exactly, but the people and moisture farmers around Anchorhead stick together. I don't think anyone is happy about having Jabba's thugs around."

Boho folds his arms, staring at his map.

Group 4 Map updated

Drac takes a moment from his pacing and checking windows/doorways to scan the map. He points to the cliffs to the West and the high mesas dotting the landscape. "These highlands could be good for scouting, get enemy numbers and patrol times/routes. Or picking off easy targets." He glances at the human sharpshooter and briefly grins at his fellow weapons expert.

F3-3T is still highly paranoid about the entire operation and has been monitoring the area for signs of illegal activity, being followed or watched or Imperial tracks of any kind.

So far nothing has turned up, he has been accosted by the local vagrants and now being alone outside the hotel room is beginning to fear for his operational status, as he has just begun enjoying his sentient life he does not wish it to be cut short on this Outer-Rim wasteland with no hope of redeeming himself to the Rebellion. Having no real street smarts of any kind, not this is truly possible for an astromech save on orbital mining colonies and space stations he is hopelessly lost and recognizes the fact that he must stick close to the team or be terminated quickly.

Beeping out a blessing to the Maker of Makers he whistles his way back inside the hotel room, hoping as well the team does not blast him mistaking him for the enemy. F3-3T enters the room as they scan the map. Giving a toot that "All is clear."

When in fact F3-3T actually knows nothing of what is happening outside save it is very loud disturbing and filled with moans of either pleasure, or torture. Possibly a mixture of both. He is terrified and his motor servers are rattling and his tiny fans are whirling a cough or two of spacer grit and dust.


14:44, Today: F3-3T rolled 2 failures using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2A 1D 1C 1S.  Streetwise Mos Eisley. (Establish) Street Cred Test. .

Feeling more confident now that they aren't in public any longer and that they weren't followed, Seku is leaning over the map as Boho goes over the features. She gestures at the fenced areas. "What's inside the fences? Also is there any chance that your sky-hopper is armed? If not, it might be useful for recon of the area, but I wouldn't put me behind the stick. It also sounds like we ought to chat up some of the locals, but I think we ought to establish a cover story first. It'll be harder to deny affiliation if we ride into town with you on your airspeeder."

She pauses to think then lays out her plan. "Alright, here's my idea: we hitch our own ride into Anchorhead and let slip that we're working for a hutt other than Jabba. It can be either Bulppa, Giltak, or Kaltho." Here she looks at Jess for input. "We make a big show of throwing our weight around and use that as an excuse to talk to some of Boho's acquaintances to see what kind of help they're willing to offer. At the same time, we scope out the farm to get a lay of the land and try to figure out what they're up to. We'll decide on our next move once we have more information, hopefully some allies, and there's been enough time for word to get back to Jabba's cronies that a rival hutt has sent people to scope out his operation."

"The fences are around my solar collectors. There's a few dozen in each of those fields. The north one powers my home, that's this part right here, while the south one powers the hermetic facility. That's where my water becomes medical supplies. The fences are electrified, but it's just to keep varmints out of the solar fields."

"The skyhopper doesn't have any weapons on it. I just use it to get to Mos Eisley. I took the landspeeder here this time because I thought I might have to bring someone back with me, and the 'hopper doesn't have any passenger seats."

"The thugs at the farm go into Anchorhead sometimes. I don't know what they're there for, or how they'll react to talk about other Hutts. I don't know anything about gangsters."
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:42, Wed 13 Feb 2019.

Standing near the temperature moderator and enjoying its cool breeze, Jess spoke up. "I'd rather not involve any Hutt name dropping. Hutts expend other species without a second thought, we'd become fodder in a gang war that we created. I think drawing one or two of Jabba's minions out and either interrogating them, or getting them so drunk and pliable that they will spill their reasons for being there might involve a lot less bloodshed. Once we know what we're looking for, we might have a better chance of grabbing it and getting out before they know it's gone."

Boho's landspeeder is a SoroSuub V-35 Courier, not terribly roomy but protected against the wind and sand. At this point you are willing to put 'air conditioning' beside 'hyperdrive' on a list of great inventions across the galaxy.

Boho pilots his vehicle across the dunes, sticking to established routes and keeping his speed low. It is a few hours before you get to Anchorhead, although the day is still bright.

The speeder crests a rise and you can see Anchorhead. It is a small community of buildings ringed by tall, thin fences. These fences manage to block the worst of the wind, and possibly provide some protection in the event of a raid. There are only a few dozen buildings along the main street. From here it looks like there were two archetectural styles that make up the buildings. Along the main concourse, the buildings were square, made of white material that has borne up pretty well against the wind. These buildings tend to be two stories tall, and are clustered together. All around them are dun-covered buildings, nearly blending into the sand. These ones are quite different in shape, being round and sloping and rarely above a single story. You get the impression that they must have sublevels too.

"There's Anchorhead," Boho says as he brings the landspeeder to a stop on the hill. "Did you want me to just drive in, or was there some other way you wanted to approach?"

Along the way, Drac asks Boho about the airspeeder: "Are those common around here? Anything that would make it obvious its yours and not just another random hopper?"

Jess looked over at Boho from the passenger seat. "Where do Jabba's thugs congregate when the go to town? We could start by listening on anything they've got to say and cozy up to them, ply them with drinks and if necessary, pluck one of them up for a more detailed discussion."

Boho waves his hand dismissively. "Not uncommon, no. A few people have them for short hops or scouting. Some people have kids that like to use them for joyriding. What's-his-name... Luke. Lars' kid. He used to flit around the canyons all the time. He set off my perimeter sensors once, and Lars made him apologize. Haven't seen him around in awhile, since they died. I hope he's alright."

"There's a cantina in Anchorhead where Jabba's thugs like to be when they're not working, and I expect we could find some at the holotheatre during a show. Beyond that, they usually have a few people at the docking bay. We might run into them anywhere; it's not a big town."

"We need to catch them off-guard and ready to brag about their activities, to perhaps, impress someone." She gave her compatriots a penetrating look.

Drac nods at Jess, briefly flexing his arms subconsciously. "If one is alone, I can help ensure... what's the word... cooperation." His straight face shows no enthusiasm, his tone only expressing assurance in results.

F3-3T takes awhile to understand what the furry aquatic mammal is speaking about, co-operating was the last thing on his circuit board. Then it struck him, violence. Of course the astromech was in on this priming his mini blow torch giving a maniac series of beeps to let everyone know he was in on the torture/beating if needed.\

The tiny droid spent the speeder ride in sleep mode while his circuits processed possible uses of saline by the Empire beyond medical supplies. Either that or it looked like the Empire was getting ready to prime its own violence and needed enough bags of saline to piece back together blasted soldiers.

F3-3T continued to work on the physical science mystery which was not his strong suit. Trig felt more real than the workings on finicky physical compounds and their constant slurry of liquids and juices....

10:43, Today: F3-3T rolled 1 success, 1 advantage using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 4A 3D ((1(A), 1(A), 7(A), 7(A), 6(D), 1(D), 2(D))). Uses for Saline by Empire. NaCI Mystery???

"Well, in that case I'll drop you off down the street from the Cantina." Boho drives the landspeeder into town.

Anchorhead is made up mostly of humans. There are a few other humanoid species, but all of them have the look of desert-dwellers hard-bitten by the climate. You see a fair number of jawas, the diminuative robed humanoids, running about. The locals keep an eye on them, but mostly ignore them.

Boho drops the team off on a street parallel to the main street. He points to an alleyway. "Easy to get to the main road from there. I'll be in the Droid shop. You have my comm signal, right?" He confirms.

Boho drives his speeder off. Now that he is alone, he is not likely to attract any attention. As a resident of the area in his own speeder, Boho will not turn any heads. The ecletic band of Rebels might, however. Jess and Victor are humans, but are not dressed like locals. Seku's tattooed lekku might stand out as well. Selonians aren't common outside the Corell system, and no-one off their home planet has ever seen a male selonian. The only 'normal' one is F3-3T; R-series droids are a common sight.

F3-3T ponders the uses of sterile saline. It is useful for a variety of medical purposes, and required during nearly every surgery. Depending on the concentration of sodium chloride, it can be used on a variety of sentient species. It's hard to think of a less dangerous compound, or one that is easier to obtain; hoarding sterile saline is like hoarding hand sanitizer.

"Could you hand me my case please?" Jess waited for it to be passed up. For several moments she touched up her hair then her makeup, it was showtime. Jess frowned, she had the right colours for clothes but not quite the exact match of the robes they favoured here. She noted they didn't tuck their slacks into their boots, she pulled her own pair free, and pulled the cuffs down to the ankles. They didn't wear veils to make the air easier to breath, the veil became a scarf. Drawing up the hood of her brown robe against the suns, she stepped out of the speeder. "Let's find out who's who around here," she murmured to the others. "And unless any of your are musicians we'd better split up because we are not a band."
She started up the street.  "Let's see who's at the cantina."

On the trip, Seku pushes back against Jess' aversion to involving the Hutts. "I think starting a gang war sounds like the ideal outcome. We just need to get off planet before it heats up. Interrogating a goon or two is a good idea though." She eyes Drac as he alludes to his preferred method of interrogation. "We need to make sure whoever it is goes missing in a way that has a reasonable explanation. I think Jess can take care of that using her approach."

Seku steps out of the speeder after Jess. As the other woman begins to head to the cantina, Seku turns to Victor and Drac. "Why don't you two keep an eye on the exits. While Jess chats up the goons and tries to lure one away, F3 and I will see if we can get a lead on some place private that we can hole up. We'll give Jess a few minutes lead."

14:42, Today: The Force rolled 2 successes, 2 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 3a 1b 1c 1d 1b.  streetwise re: finding a place to hole up.
Seku Streetwise + F3-3T helping

A short way down the street, Seku and F3-3T find an office building. It is two stories tall, but the upper floor seems unoccupied. The windows are boarded up with some kind of wood-resemblant plastic slats. It is dark inside, but the slats are wide enough apart that you can see out into the street. From here, Seku can see across the street and two doors down to the cantina's front door, while being hidden from sight. F3-3T is too short to see through the window, unless he extends his periscope or balances on the tips of his runners.

Drac and Victor are currently on the street out in front of the cantina. There is an alley that runs back behind it which they have not yet looked into.

Jess approaches the cantina from the front. The long days of the planet mean that certain social expectations, such as drinking alcohol after sunset, have to be relaxed a bit. Still, it seems somewhat odd to hear such a raucous atmosphere with such bright sunlight blazing down.

The cantina itself is aboveground, unlike Chalman's in Mos Eisley. The building is constructed of the sturdy white material. There are two wide windows of brightly-coloured glassteel. They are translucent and cannot be seen through, except for a narrow band near the top. Jess can just barely see inside if she stands on her toes. From here, she can see a few human males standing around the room. They are laughing, talking, and drinking.

F3-3T is puttering around the unoccupied building, cursing the Maker of Makers for sending them to this blight of a planet orbiting a vacuum of Hutt mass. He believes the odds of dying from exposure have taken over at 3:1 and dying by Hutt enforcers has fallen to 72:1.

That said he voices his string of concerns more politely with Seku Bondara in hopes the team can move beyond squatting and get itself closer to its goals of destroying Jabba or at least crippling his Empire. "Seku it seems without a specific cover for operation for we will not last up under Hutt scrutiny. Truth tends to be the best cover or at least half truths, we could all try to acquire jobs around Anchorhead or even around the farm. It would give us a legitimate reason to be here. We could most likely work at the Cantina? Well not myself but the group or simply as hired hands? There has to be something we could all do to earn enough to live by or at least starve more slowly???".

F3-3T's beeps and whirls fade off into the fading twin stars the astromech keeps in view making up astrogation routes off their binary spinning just to keep the rust off his circuits.

Seku keeps an eye on the front of the cantina. Before she responds to F3, she hit the comms and updates the rest of the team. "F3 and I found a place that we can use for the time being: abandoned office building down the street. It looks like there's an alley behind the cantina if someone wants to check that out. Jess, we'll give you a couple minutes to settle in, then come in after you. Just start clicking your comm if you need help."

That done, she turns to F3. "You know, that's not a bad idea, but I think you've got it backwards. You're the most likely to go unnoticed. If we could get you hired on at the farm, you could give us intel from the inside." She continues watching Jess through the boards as she talks. "I could pretend to sell you to Jabba's goons for drinking money. What do you think?"

F3-3T calculates the chances the Hutt's would suspect him are slim to none. Although he replies it would be imperative the Hutt splicers did not mind wipe him or he would be quite useless to the cause and may even be reprogrammed to destroy the group, although those chances were less than .002 percent. Still.

He explains he would need to be sold to someone aligned with the Hutt that may need the intel he had and that a mind wipe would restore him to quite useless default settings of a simple astrolabe with runners. Maybe he could figure out how to repair himself a dangerous technical operation akin to preforming brain surgery on oneself, so that he could not be over-ridden to lose his memory. Especially of Seku he mentioned, that would be heart circuit splicing/breaking.

He was up to task if the rest of the team was onboard. The idea of infiltrating was seductive in its dangerous allure and that Seku asked him to do it. "If you think you can all manage without me Seku. I will do my damndest to come through for yo- us, zerk bong. I mean the uprising against the Emp-. You know what I mean."

With that F3-3T rolled into the growing din of the Tatooine night.

Jess figured the one way to get the rest of the town to forget about her companions was to have them all focused on her. Tucking her blouse into her slacks that it became taut and tossing her hair so that it was full to the point of distraction, she pushed in the cantina's door and strutted towards the barman. Smiling like the tender was the most interesting person she had ever met, she leaned on the bar and said hello in a voice so sultry that the heat in the room rose a few degrees.

14:16, Today: Jess (Jessica) Swanhill rolled 5 successes, 1 advantage using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 3a 1 p 1d.  charm .
This message was last edited by the player at 19:27, Sat 16 Feb 2019.

Jess walks in and the conversation largely dies. Very few of the locals want to enter the cantina while the thugs are here, so they are used to having the place to themselves. The bartender, a human male, watches Jess approach. He has a sort of hunted look on his face, and flushed when she greeted him. He murmured something that might be a greeting, then poured her a glass of water. He turned and busied himself with the taps, as if he could not bear to look at her any further.

Jess got a look at the gang members in the bar. There were five human males, between 18 and 30 Standard years if she was any judge. They wore clothing covered in decorative patches and randomly reinforced with pieces of ceramic armour, such as a shoulder plate or pair of gauntlets. Each was armed with a slugthrower pistol and a vibroblade.

Jess also saw someone else that wasn't visible through the window. He was seated against the wall closest to the door, concealed by the coloured window from outside. He dark green scales and a wide, reptillian mouth that looked like it was permanently snarling. Had he stood up from his seated position, he would probably have towered over her by a foot or more. Instead he sat on a bench at the wall, a large mug of beer in his claw and a lidded pitcher on the table. He watched Jess at the bar without moving, except to take another drink from his mug.

1D Xenology. Rolled for you: you don't know what he is.

Jess enjoyed the cool beverage, the heat of the place and the outdoors made it all that more refreshing. She controlled her breathing, like holding a note, or stirring up her courage before a performance-especially in the places she'd been forced to work.
Her eyes glittered as she examined the other occupants of the cantina. It seemed to her that Jabba had hired a swoop gang to intimidate the locals, the other one, either wasn't one of them or was their superior and didn't enjoy their company.
"Hello boys, how's the water?" She asked in a voice that husky and lowered an octave.