Dienton looks a bit bewildered by the voice coming over the comms.  Why would anyone modify a cargo ship, HOPING, to catch some stowaways?  Who could understand the minds of big people.  He decided not to try and began scanning their immediate area.

No longer worried about finding traps, he knew they were there now, thanks Mr. Voiceover, but it seemed to him that this guy, with his particular brand of Crazy, must want to watch his victims.  He moves closer to Forim and Cassidy, whispering quietly "He must be able to see us.  We should look for cameras, motion sensors, other non standard equipment for tracking us."  He grins, as always he was optimistic, "these kinds of mods should be easier to spot, since their not standard.  Maybe we can hack in and give him some misdirection?"

OOC
Mechanics check to look for surveillance equipment?

Dienton decides to pit his knowledge of mechanics against the unseen trapmaker. Using all the logic and sneakiness he can muster, he peers at all the suspected locations for hidden devices he can think of.

Holorecorders in the light fixtures? None visible. Micro-cams in the bulkhead seams? Can't see any. Concealable visualizers behind folding panels?

This guy has his bases covered. Dienton is at a loss.

Disappointed that he couldnt find and evidence of the ships mods, Dienton first pulled out his comm and radioed to Onyx filling him in on the situation.  He hoped that he could perhaps do something from the outside to help them.  Maybe rig a few grenades on the door or check out the buildings.

Then speaking to his other compaions "I think we should continue towards the rear of the ship.  Carefully, checking for traps, but on a modular ship like this . . maybe we can release all the attached cargo pods?  That should open a hole and serve to delay the ship.  Who knows, maybe the cargos on board and we can just drop it off the ship.  Agreed?"

Bad news. I don't have a comm, so unless you yell threw the door I can't hear you.

Seeing that no one else joined him outside of the ship Onyx figured it was pointless to stand out here and wait for them to get back. He heads into the building hoping to find something or someone to allow him to get into the ship which should let him help out his team.

Skulduggery 3D to search for traps. Perception is 3D 1S. Other possibilities are at 4D.

The long, straight corridor running between the ships' fore and aft is worryingly clear. Dirty boot prints, sand, and tire tracks are the only sign of habitation.

You come to the doors that lead into the cargo pods. There are six. The first four are containers to the modular pods. The last two are the 'money' pods.

Dienton looked at his silent companions, hoping for some suggestions, but they appeared to be quasi-comatose.  Not wanting to wait for danger to find them, Dienton chose to move towards the first container.  He watched the walls, floor, and ceiling - looking for traps or other nefarious devices, but found nothing - perhaps it was all a hoax?  Like a fake security camera?

Once he got to the pod, he started looking for a way to detach it from the ship.  He wasn't familiar with this class of vessel, so wasn't sure if he could detach it from here, but he would if he saw a way.

OOC
Feeling alone in here
Attempted skulduggery - 2 threat, no net success or failure

Weve got the WRONG crew in here!  A medic and two pilots.  This can only end in tears!

Onyx approaches the farmhouse, a short sprint across the sands from the ship. He gets to the house and sees the door swinging wide. With no cover for miles, he ducks to the blind side of the door.

Coming out of the door is a kubaz, who takes a few steps into the desert sunlight. He looks straight ahead towards the ship and stares at it. He places his fist on his hip, which Onyx notes is adorned with a holstered slugthrower.

The kubaz stares at the ship, and turns when a voice shouts at him from inside. "Do you see anything?"

In a buzzing voice, he replies "[Language unknown: T, ettrch esslathou se set. Eenortbutntitio posa t papral iear te mo sonderame saeiwh.]"

"Then come back in and close the door! You're letting all the cool air out!"

Dienton examines the controls outside the module.

There are a couple of interesting controls on the pad outside the module. First is a security lock, currently open. Second is a control to activate the magnetic seal on the door. This is also currently inactive. Beside these controls is an intercom.

Looking across the hall and to the left, Dienton can see that the doors are all adorned with the same sort of controls.

While he is making these observations, the intercom switches on. A red light indicates that it is active, and the soft buzz of static can be heard. Whoever is on the other end says nothing, however.

With his powerful high-pitch hearing, Dienton can hear the sound of electronic current. Wherever this signal is being broadcast from, there is an electronic device nearby.

Onyz carefully crosses the compound towards the garage. It has narrow windows, but they are near the top of the building and cannot be seen through without a stepladder.

The garage has a human-scale door, currently hanging open a crack. It is dark inside. Sand is blowing in through the crack, accumulating on the floor.

Denton stares at the controls for a long moment, trying to decide how to proceed.  He attempts to pull the cover off the control panel and examines the components.

OOC
Mechanics check 1P3A
I want to know if the controls are local only or if the doors can be controlled from the bridge.

Dienton unscrews the panel and extracts it. The wires and LEDs are now plainly visible beneath the surface.

It seems quite likely that the modules can be released from the bridge, and the lock as well. Such things are common on vessels like this.

It's probable that the magnetic sealing is not something that can be controlled from the bridge, though. That's a common safety feature, to prevent anyone from accidentally opening the corridor to vaccuum while people are still in it.

Dienton looks at the control panels guts, confirming his suspicions that the controls are doubled up on the bridge, he begins to rewire the door.

OOC
Same for mechanics 1P3A
I want to lock and seal the door, then disable the physical connection to the bridge.  I assume theres no way to release the pod from here?

Dienton locks the door and activates the magnetic seal. He cuts the remote connection, making it impossible to control the pod without working at this panel.

Dienton is pretty sure he can do the same thing with all the panels now, if he wants to.

Having secured the first pod behind him, Dienton whispered to his comatose seeming companions to stand watch.  He then moved towards each door in turn, sealing and disableing the bridge controls as he went.  He kept to nooks and shadows, trying to avoid letting their captor know his exact position.


OOC
Stealth-4A
I wont seal the "money pods" . . . if i make it that far, but will investigate them.

Just to confirm, i cant release the pods from the ship?

Dienton notes that the pods are not designed to be released from here. It might be possible to spoof the commands from the engineering section, at the rear of the ship.

As Dienton creeps forward, the PA crackles again. "What are you doing down there? Messing with the cargo pods. Are you here to loot?" The voice giggles. "I'm being sporting, you know."

Not here to play games, Dienton remains silent as he moves down the corridor. The less the man on the PA knows about what he's doing the better. He locks, seals, and disables each door as he passes it.

Arriving at the last two pods, the money pods, as it were,  Dienton pauses to investigate.  Not knowing the exact nature of the cargo, Dienton was a afraid of damaging it.  He again opens the panels and disables remote control over the doors.  Then, he opens the starboard pod and looks inside to determine the contents.

OOC
Continue stealth movement, 4A

The Force, on behalf of Dienton, rolled 4 successes, 3 threats using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 4A 3D.  Stealth.

Moving carefully to avoid possible camera positions, Dienton stalks along the corridor. The tension ramps up, and he feels his pulmonary organ pulsing faster. His tiny hands shake with tension.

Imposing 1 setback on your next rolled action!

Dienton pops the door's controls and peers inside. The pod contains a number of plasteel transport crates.

Glancing across the hall, Dienton tries to get some useful information out of the other pod.

That one seems to be largely empty, except for a... cage?

Yes, a cage. Seven feet high, five feet square. Horizontal and vertical bars.

A cage?  For the first time today, Dienton's perpepual grin falters.  This likely meant slaves, he could hardly believe that the practice continued in the galaxy.

First things first he thought.  He quietly slipped inside the starboard pod that he had opened.  Going to the neareat plasteel crate he silently worked to open it and identify its contents.

Dienton enters the pod and glances around. He is about to start going at the crates when he sees something moving.

Tucked into the corners to his left & right are odd piles of metallic pipes. They rumble and unfold of their own accord. They rise into bipedal form. They are droids. The droids resemble skeletal humans, with barely any bulk to their skinny limbs. Their beaklike heads lock onto him as they raise weapons towards him.

Anyone who know anything about history or droids recognizes the B1 Battle Droid.

Dienton can roll Vigilance or Cool for initiative as he prefers. Everyone else on the ship must roll Cool.

In reply to The Force (msg # 55):

Onyx steps through the door trying his best to remain unseen.

Today: Onyx rolled 2 successes, 2 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2a 1p 1b.  Stealth.

If I have any boosts can I use them to have cover in the room?

OOC

Initiative 0,3

Dienton sees the antiquated droids come to life as he enters the pod.  He immediatly backpeddles and takes cover at the door jam.

Drawing his blaster he takes aim at the nearest droid, hoping for a good hit to end the confrontation quickly. Using his knowledge of warfare and his mechanical training he targets the droids at the weakest point.

OOC
Assume short range?
1 boost for aim, maybe another for my mechanics knowledge? and 1 setback for them for my cover.
Ranged Light- 1P3A,1 or 2 Boost

Dienton, rolled 2 successes, 2 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1P 3A 1B 2D.  Dienton ranged.

Dienton blasts one droid. It collapses, squealing in protest as its internal diagnosics register nulls where its torso should be.

The other aims a crude blaster carbine at him. The bolts spray wildly, but one finds its mark. Dienton's sensitive ears ring from the high-pitched whine of the bolts almost as much as the burn from the impact!

The B-1 has the correct range & angle oriented into its oculars now. The next shot will surely strike home.

B-1 Battle Droid rolled 1 success, 2 threats using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1A 1P 2D 1S.  Ranged attack.

8 damage Gross.

Adding 1B to its next attack.

A slight squeek escaped Dientons lips as he glances as the smouldering hole in his shoulder.  He pulls a stim pack free of his belt and quickly uses it to correct the damage.

Pushing himself beyond his normal limits, he again aims at the, soon to be, scrap heap ajd fires another volley.

OOC
5 net damage last round
Manuever - 1 stim, full heath
x2 Manuever - 2 strain - aim for 1 boost

Dienton rolled 2 successes, 1 advantage with a dice pool of 1P 3A 1B 2D.  Ranged Light at battle droid.

7 damage.  Can i recover those two strain between the three advantages from this and last round?

The other battledroid has its head blown off and collapses limply into a pile of junk parts.

Dienton remains upright, recovering himself and feeling the painful itch of bacta across his injury.

The room is filled with a dozen plasteel shipping boxes. They are about a meter-and-a-half long, a meter tall, and a meter wide.