Seeing Celes take aim, Ali just had time to whisper  "Be...

00:13, Today: That Old Fossil, for the NPC Forcetrooper 1, rolled 1 (6 excluding the wild die) using 3 dice with the WEG Classic system ((4,1,{Wild}1)).
vs. Celes' 24; Dead.

00:14, Today: That Old Fossil, for the NPC Forcetrooper 2, rolled 6 using 3 dice with the WEG Classic system ((3,{Wild}2,1)).
vs. Celes' 31; Dead.

00:14, Today: That Old Fossil, for the NPC Forcetrooper 3, rolled 8 using 3 dice with the WEG Classic system ((2,{Wild}4,2)).
vs Celes' 31; Dead.

00:15, Today: That Old Fossil, for the NPC Forcetrooper 4, rolled 15 using 3 dice with the WEG Classic system ((2,2,{Wild}6(+5))).
vs Celes' 39; Dead.

00:16, Today: That Old Fossil, for the NPC Forcetrooper 5, rolled 4 using 3 dice with the WEG Classic system ((1,{Wild}2,1)).
vs Celes' 20; Dead.

Celes gets her Force Point back.  I don't want to make her mad. ;-)

"...careful and quick.  Oh, never mind."  Ali finished as the last Forcetrooper was also finished.  "I'm glad your on our side." She whistled in appreciation.  It was a quite sincere statement.   Even the most noble Force-Sensitives could sometimes forget the sheer power of a committed Rebel.

There was slight hiss over the commlinks that faded.  Thuraya figured it out by turning her head back and forth until she located the source.  "Thanks for jamming their commlinks, DeeJay.  I didn't know you could do that." "Neither did I."  DeeJay said in awe and apprehension.

Ali was judging the fallen.  "They fell like stormtroopers.  Their strength and armor was rather disappointing."  She frowned.  "But they will soon be realized as overdue and the next batch will not be so easy."

The vornskyrs did not seem to really mourn or even recognize the loss of their masters.  But upon seeing Ali, they growled and leapt for her.  Only their leashes, still attached to their dead Forcetroopers stopped this attack...

Greg shoulders his rifle and moves quickly to grab the leashes of the Vornskyrs, reigning them in.  He stakes them next to his position securely, so that they don't break free.  A slight, viciously pointed toothy grin on his face, his voice growls out.  "The Sixth will enjoy my new pets."  with that, he begins searching the dead, and moving them out of sight after recovering anything useful , like weapons.  "Good shooting Red."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:10, Sun 05 Feb 2017.

The old Doctor was prepared to taser or tranquilize the Troopers, determined to protect and keep from harm any of his fellow crewmates...and of course he was just as stunned as the Captain to see Celes take care of them so handily.  He scanned the fallen Force Troopers for any residual life signs.

"It is my sad duty to relate that these men are deceased; excellent shooting Ms Celes.  And indeed thanks to DeeJay for disabling their communications."

He nodded at the Captain's statement. "Your assessment is undoubtedly correct, Captain.  We should proceed quickly, while we are yet undiscovered."

Celes's arm barely moved between the five shots, just enough to shift aim from one head to another. When the bodies hit the ground, she stared in stony horror for that fraction of a second of uncertainty. Did any survive? Did the comms pick up the blaster fire? What about the Khara's sensors? Oh no, the Force wolves!

Grev Longtooth:

Greg shoulders his rifle and moves quickly to grab the leashes of the Vornskyrs, reigning them in.  He stakes them next to his position securely, so that they don't break free.  A slight, viciously pointed toothy grin on his face, his voice growls out.  "The Sixth will enjoy my new pets."  with that, he begins searching the dead, and moving them out of sight after recovering anything useful , like weapons.  "Good shooting Red."

Grev sprang into action and grabbed the vornskyrs' leashes. Well that last one was a surprise. Now they had hunting dogs of their own. That was one problem taken care of.

TwoOneBee:

"It is my sad duty to relate that these men are deceased; excellent shooting Ms Celes.  And indeed thanks to DeeJay for disabling their communications."

The bodies were corpses. The comms were jammed. Two more concerns down.



Celes nodded to her friends in appreciation of their appreciation, then holstered her blaster to let it cool. In the meantime, she approached one of the corpses and began to examine the equipment built into the armor. If she could figure out what that weapon built into the arm was, maybe she could make use of it herself.

"Disappointing for you and me. My guess is we'd be in trouble had Sundancer fought them. I was never taught to fight Jedi, and every bit of this but the jetpack is unfamiliar to me. They came prepared for him instead of us. Maybe we can turn the tables. May want to keep away from the wolves. Grev, can you calm them?"

[I'm normally not very Loot The Bodies, especially in Star Wars, but I do have an image to maintain, and a weapon built into Celes's armor does kinda fit that. :P Also I believe the visions told us we're being chased by a lightsaber lady, so we know vaguely what we're up against, was that right?]

Shira took a few wild shots with her sporting blaster during the ambush, although it didn't help much. "Wow, Captain Celes! That was amazing!" she said. "You're a one-woman army."
Shira moved over to Celes' side. She kept her gaze up, not looking at anything in particular; she didn't want to look at the Vorskyrs, because they frightened her a bit, and she was uncomfortable around bodies although she knew the necessity of the war. "A jetpack, I bet that would be pretty nice" she began. Ghostlings built their villages in trees, and Shira had no fear of heights; she found flying fascinating. It took her a moment to realize "Although the landing could be a bit of a problem for me. Maybe more than a bit."
"I guess we have two plans from here. Either we set up some positions and hunker down a bit to take on the next bunch of troopers, or we try to go on the offensive before they realize what has happened." she suggested.

If there was one thing to thank the Empire for, it might have been its sheer size; the Empire had to require consistency and obedience from its teeming ranks in order to function on a Galactic scale.  When Grev took the leashes of the vornskyr, the well-trained beasts accepted the placid human as a keeper if not master.  They ceased to threaten Ali but offered defensive growls.  Placid to the vornskyrs was a contrast to the turbulent aura of a Force-sensitive, so much like chittering prey.

The leashes were attached by a complex sequence of tiny switches and locks to the gauntlets of the ex-Forcetroopers.  Yet for all that, Grev was able to make slow and steady progress releasing them while the edgy vornskyrs watched the sensitive.  Thuraya understood and felt some sympathy for the predators.  To be on a living, Force-Sensitive planet must be like finding themselves in the belly of their own inexplicably-gigantic prey.

The final switch flipped and Grev held held the leashes freely, the two animals now getting close to him for reassurance.  "What was the point of such intricate locks, if they could be so easily disabled?" DeeJay asked, added a crowd's doubting murmur.  Ali thought, "But they would be tricky for a Jedi to manipulate at the speed of combat."

The Twi'lek concentrated, her lekku flexed slightly as their cognitive tissue was added to the brain's own.  This was not a great skill of Ali's at the best of times.  On the leashes, the wrong switches flicked and shuddered ineffectually before Ali slumped over slightly.  Her skills were so feeble that there was no real risk in a Force ripple alerting the real fight awaiting ahead of them.  Even then, she could tell the locks would at least slow down a true Jedi by a moment, perhaps all a full Sith needed.

TwoOneBee had expressed the cold condolences of a machine, although it showed he could feel compassion for the dead clones.  DeeJay understood.  They were the flesh-equivalent of droids, who could fault either for their programming.  At least they might feel a simple status report to be the highest of honors for such unsentimental souls.  If they had souls.  For TwoOneBee, his internal overlays had shown not the stats and diagrams to heal the troopers but the best way to disable them.

Realizing that Grev now had the vornskyrs to heel, at least temporarily, Celes tended to the trooper's armor.  She worked the now-expected complex locks to remove the armor of a trooper.  Underneath was the face some expected, Jango Fett.  Or at least it was one of his countless twin brothers, forever lessened by the deal of their older sibling he forged on Kamino.  The Forcetroopers weren't superhuman, it seemed, just a different variety of stormtrooper.

The gauntlet fit well enough and its melded weapon could now be tested.  A test fire away from any friends resulted in a shriek and a receeding ripple in the air that scored a nearby boulder.  "A sonic pulse." Thuraya said.  "How can a lightsaber deflect sound?"  "Exactly." Ali said in grim reply.

Shira's thoughts of the jetpack were wise but it too was melded with the armor proper.  It would seem a long job removing the jetpack effectively.  But the armor did seem compatible with the young ghostling's frame if worn.  In any case, her question seemed to hone the group's attention.  "We have to go on the offensive.  No matter how dumb Imperials are, they do expect regular check-ins.  I would guess we have about ten more minutes."  She sighed, "And then, one way or another, we fight their masters."

OOC:  Sorry for the delay.  We are approaching the last encounter of the game.  Ember's sheer static helps shield the use of the Force from each side.  You can use ordinary tactics to sneak up near the ship.  I will let you know what you see there.  Your characters have about ten minutes of prep time.  It is enough time to get five characters in Forcetroopers armor if you wish (a noble Star Wars tradition).

The vornskyrs will let themselves be led by non-Force-sensitives but they won't necessarily attack on command.  They are very wary of the Jedi and padawans.

I have taken the liberty of hinting what TwoOneBee might be capable of if this suits.  Otherwise, TwoOneBee can dismiss the lethality calculations as a momentary glitch in his software.  If TwoOneBee rages, he might get extra dice and powers he can't currently imagine.  But who knows what the shock to such a gentle droid might be.

The Forcetroopers' weapons are a kind of sonic rifle what don't kill anyone more than a blaster does but they can't be deflected by a lightsaber.  The armor does enforce a 1D penalty on Dexterity actions but does offer 1D extra Strength protection.

Ask me questions, I'm sure I have forgotten something.

"All right, let's get moving then. The wise hunter does not give the initiative to his prey."

Celes took the time to strip one of the clone corpses of its Forcetrooper armor, this bizarre new configuration, and looked over the pieces and how they connected. It was just as different from stormtrooper armor on the inside as the outside, but nothing she couldn't figure out. Then, without preamble or modesty, she stripped from her own light armor and tossed it to the side. Underneath was her purple skinsuit, so she didn't see any problem. Then she started putting on the trooper gear, followed by strapping her pistol's holster to the thigh and the utility belt around her waist. Her stun gauntlets would have to wait with the rest of her personal armor for the group to return. Once all the pieces were in place and she figured out how it all worked (to keep from accidentally calling anyone on the comm or discharging the sonic blaster), she moved on to quickly help Shira into a set.

Once she helped the ghostling settle the helmet on, Celes took a step back and looked her over.

"Well. You're a little short for a stormtrooper, and my voice isn't like theirs. These won't work well as disguises, but it should keep you a little safer. The arm weapon is controlled here, comlink with your tongue. We don't have time for jetpack lessons, so just avoid that control there. 'Bee, stick close to Shira. Thuraya, stick close to the captain. Thuk, Grev, let's go hunting." It looked like the crew was ready to assault that miniature Star Destroyer. If her guesses were right, they'd just taken out about five troopers and only had maybe fifteen left. Plus a Sith. No pressure.

[And I'm ready. I'll copy the Forcetrooper's armor into my character sheet. I'm guessing the sonic weapon is the 4D damage of a normal blaster.]

The old doctor did experience some empathy for the Trooper clones.  It was just more evidence of the complete lack of respect the Empire had for life.  And yet he knew he could not allow himself to become like them.  He would keep his oath, he would not take a life, except in defense of another life.  Only if no other option was available to the droid, could he conceive of such an extreme action.  Still TwoOneBee was forced to admit that such a circumstance could very well be in his near future...

"Indeed Ms Celes, I shall remain at Ms Shira's side.  No harm shall come to her if there is any way I may prevent it."

He turned his optic receptors to Shira and blinked a warm amber to her.  He could already detect her elevated heart rate.  They were all anxious, but if they were to defend Ember and themselves what other option did they have?

"Thank you, Captain Celes." Shira took off her blast vest and boots, but left her jumpsuit on before she put on the armor. She was a good deal smaller than the previous user of the armor. "Sheesh, this gear is heavy. How do you stand this?" she complained. She shifted around experimentally and practiced orienting the sonic weapon. "I am the galaxy's shortest, slowest and silver-ist stormtrooper".
Shira hugged TwoOneBee. "We'll get through this okay. We have a whole planet rooting for us."

"Thuk, get some binders on. We're going in with you and Bee as prisoners. Once we're made, you can drop the binders and do your thing. Grev will have to stay behind us with the dogs and come in as backup once things get hot. By then we should be in a pretty good position to cause some trouble. Primary targets will be the communications and security rooms, take control of the ship's internals and cut the troopers off from each other. I'll try to get the remaining forces to Sundancer's cave without a fight. It's far enough away that we should be finished here by the time they return."

Thuk nodded, shrinking a pair of limbs until they were small enough for the binders to fit around them, then balancing awkwardly on four limbs.

"Those troopers have a pretty high impression of themselves if they'd believe we captured Thuk" Shira said. She carefully made sure all her hair was hidden under her helmet; a silver-haired stormtrooper would give the situation away. "Tricking people is a skill of mine, but I don't know if I make a convincing soldier."

It was an easy task for 'Star's crew to don their former opponents' armor, at least for their eyes, arms, and legs.  Their minds kept working, though.  Mercifully, the armor came off the inner clothing of the troopers and slipped over the clothing of the victors.

The troopers unblinking eyes would never show concern again, but Ali closed their eyes telekinetically and the Force seemed to bless her marginal power in this regard with might have seemed mercy.  They were placed into a pile for a later funeral pyre.  If they survived, their opponents would get the regard of a funeral.  Should the Empire succeed, they might have just been recycled.

Thuraya, Ali and DeeJay all expressed gratitude for TwoOneBee's concern for the team's most frail member, two with smiles, one with a binary poem that only droids knew.  The physician would use his own chrome form to protect a 'patient'.  A doctor, indeed.

The Galaxy's shortest Forcetrooper stood gamely for inspection before toppling over backwards.  TwoOneBee caught her before the ground did.  But Shira noted no bruising.  The Empire hadn't skimped on this armor, bulky as it was.

The binders looked like bracelets on Thuk but it couldn't really be helped.  Thuraya teased, "Any bigger and you be in the Galactic Planetary Atlas."

Ali smiled but then nodded seriously and said, "No comments on our doubtless exceptional skills as thespians.  But we won't fool these folks for long at all  Make those few seconds count."

The team moved on except for Shira, who seemed not to be listening.  And then with a delicate grunt, she lurched forward, having been straining all of this time.

OOC:

It is odd to think of the troopers as people, even hopelessly deluded people, after forty years of Star Wars, isn't it?

To keep our PG rating, the armor came off clothes and went over clothes.  But any equipment bigger than a hold-out blaster can't fit under the armor without either more penalties or being detectable.  You might clip your personal equipment onto the troopers' belts as confiscated gear.

Shira can move in the armor without any further DEX penalty but anything requiring effort might require a STR check for her (easier than it seems as the armor was designed to be as egronomic as possible, given its function).

I will assume that you are using stealth and tactics to your character's full potential (which is considerable).  Only bad die rolls will hinder you.  The Empire's broken ship has no one guarding it from the outside.  This implies a lack of available troopers, which the Empire usually spreads like jam.

Sensing the Force is difficult given the background noise of Ember but this works in your favor as well.  The enemy has no chance of detecting you by the Force alone unless you actively use the Force.  As you are not detecting any Sith at this range, either they are not present or not using to Force to any real capacity.

As you approach the ship, there are a few closed airlocks and a big rent along one side of the vessel, which some very dim repair droids are working on.  These droids don't really have the capability of suspecting strangers unless the strangers are obviously violent.

Questions, just ask.  The PbP format works against us so I will give the most forgiving interpretation of your characters actions as you approach.

Celes turned to shoot a grin at Shira, hidden under the helmet, then nodded her appreciation of Thuk's disguise. Many disguises required a full costume change, such as the armors. Some simply required a single prop and attitude shift.

"Stormtroopers are among the most dangerous soldiers in the Galaxy, little one. These variants appear to be designed to hold their own against Jedi. I'd prefer not to see how well they could actually handle Thuk in a fair fight. So let's go make it unfair. March." She poked at Thuk to direct him toward the crashed Imperial vessel, already "in character". Though it was unlikely the others would consider this anything but necessary, the bounty hunter did admit to herself feeling a bit of fun in the whole thing. Of course, the others likely didn't know she'd ever heard of fun, but that just made it better.

Celes switched on the comlink when they approached.

"This thing working again? Finally. Open up. We've got prisoners and news."

Concerned, the doctor does his best to assist Shira, keeping close in case he is needed.  The armour was undoubtedly heavy, but if there is one thing TwoOneBee knows about the Ghostling girl its that her determination allows her to do truly extraordinary things, so he has no doubt she will manage the armour as long as the disguise is useful.

He was grateful for Thuraya, the Captain, and Deejay's praise, even if he did not consider himself worthy of it.  Protecting and healing were his prime directives and he could not conceive of any other response.  Organics were so very fragile, in comparison to droids after all; they tended to need a great deal of protecting.

"Be assured," he remarked.  "I would eagerly do the same for any member of this crew, should the need arise."

As they approach the ship, he prepares to assume the guise of a quiet, obedient droid, the way the Empire prefers them.  He keeps his gaze straight forward as Celes takes the lead, but keeps his sensors oriented on her, and the rest of his companions, so that he will know immediately if they require his assistance.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:24, Wed 08 Mar 2017.

Grev had split off to a concealed flanking position, the vonskyrs firmly under his control.  He watched the others as they approached the ship, his large rifle held in one hand and ready to be brought to his shoulder.  Someday the Vornskyrs would be better trained and he could trust them to obey his commands, but that day was not today.  So he held their leashes securely in his other hand and waited.

Ali smirked about how well Celes was getting into character as a Forcetrooper.  The small cadre of infiltrators moved to the wrecked hangar of the ruined Stiletto.  In space, there would be only the glow of a force field between air and space.  But broken, the hanger doors had been closed.  The repair drones moved around the newcomers to continue their work.  There was only their task and the obstacles in between in their limited little universe.  Grev took a secure position in some underbrush, which seemed to coil around him to aid in camoflague.  On a subconscious level, it seemed Ember was warming to Its new rash of friends.  The vornskyrs were quiescent as well, even Grev's gentle guidance were perhaps more consideration than the brutes had known before.

At Celes's confident announcement over the commlinks, the plan was set in motion.   The hangar doors shuddered and screeched open and stayed that way.  Until repaired, each use of the door was one more chance of further failure.

What was revealed inside was a collection of cargo space and very efficient Imperial vehicles designed for use in the many places this craft might go.  The crew inside was attempting to repair what damage their had been to ship and equipment and seemed to be mostly done.

But the scene was secondary to the beings within.  There was a mix of crew, Forcetroopers and assorted droids attempting to repair the damage.  This odd combination of ill-suited 'technicians' was a clue to how much this ship must have suffered when brought down by Ember.  But there were two very formidable figures that occupied the attention of the newcomers.

One was naked, truly so, for even flesh was removed.  Only the brain, floating in a transparent sphere, supported by an arachinoid cybernetic frame, showed that the core of this machine had once breathed, eaten, and perhaps loved like other living things.

"A B'omarr Monk." Ali said, forgetting her cover in shock.  But such an utterance would be forgiven from just about anyone at such a rare being, let alone a Force-Sensitive one.

"Hello, again, my little fugitives.  My ascetic friend, Octal Chrome, might say it was good to finally meet you 'in the flesh', as it were."  The Princess was there, an insectile humanoid, her aura was familiar to some, if not her face.

OOC:

Let me set the scene for this final battle.  Rather than spend a thousand tedious words describing this picture, I will assume that your characters know the situation better than I could describe to my players.  I will be quite understanding in your use of cover and surprise and the like.

The hangar has some exits inside and lots of heavy and mobile objects to use and be smashed by.  The hangar is opened enough that Grev has a clear shot into almost any part of it (and vice versa once he breaks cover).  You have not yet necessarily seen all of the opponents against you.  I will use Sundancer to cover the opponents that don't appeal to you.  For example, if you don't like the other Forcetroopers as an opponent, Sundancer will occupy himself with those.  Otherwise, he can fight Octal Chrome and/or the Princess if you wish.  This is a cafeteria combat.

It may seem as though your opposition is being incredibly lax and arrogant in letting you approach so (apparently) undiscovered.  This is partly because in the Star Wars mythos, Imperial forces seem quite naive and gullible.  This is partly a conceit of the swashbuckling genre and that the Empire depends on procedure and obedience rather than questioning and savvy.  This keeps trillions in line even if there are some spectacular fails of this system.  That and your opponents ARE incredibly arrogant.

There is a slight look of concentration on the Princess' countenance.  It could be a fair assumption she is using her Forces senses to, among other things, sense danger.  The same thing might have been noticed on Octal Chrome, if he could have expressions.  A Sith with Danger Sense up, would not be surprised by much of anything and be able to defend against it in most any case.

The Princess recognizes the prisoner by face, aspect, and deduction but she doesn't seem to suspect the guards of any malice.

For whatever reason, you can assume to have about a minute of action of a paragraph of conversation before any combat might break out (besides being really obvious about your true motives).   Is this because the other guys are that clueless or are they playing you?

This is another way of saying, ask me questions (I know I've missed something).  And, don't worry, we have the time to get things right. :-)

Celes wasn't sure just how much their plan was really working, but decided to continue regardless. Here went nothing.

"Sir. Our squad split up tracking the rest of them. Before comms went out, they said there was a cave to the east. We request additional reinforcements to round up the others." If she could get them to send troops on a wild nuna hunt, fighting the Sith woman would be much simpler.

Shira wasn't well traveled, and so didn't recognize the significance of the monk. She suppressed the urge to comment on the gross brain in a jar; she was playing an elite soldier, not a slightly squeamish ghostling teen.
The doors looked like the were having a rough time. If the interior doors could be sabotaged, they could prevent reinforcements. She quickly looked over the vehicles, looking for anything that might be useful in a fight.

Filtered to neutrality through the Forcetrooper's helmet, Celes' voice seem to snap the Princess out of her triumph.  "Bah! We have no more reinforcements to give you.  I will accompany what Forcetroopers can be spared to this cave. Chrome will attend to the prisoners."  She looked at the damaged armor of the false guards.  "But some of the few troopers we have left are not so damaged.  I will swap them as you see fit."

The Princess actually deferred to the Forcetrooper 'Captain' not from authority but from the belief that a Forcetrooper would simply be as forthright as possible.  "I will send the sled with you."  The questions that word asked were quickly answered as the Princess spoke to a commbutton on her collar.  A door opened on the far side of the hangar.  What emerged was a scout version of a Forcetrooper on a speeder bike.  Several tiny creatures writhed and scuttled about on the custom frame of the vehicle.

Across the Force, there was sudden silence and darkness.  Ysalrmiri.  The Princess had trained the pilot well, the 'trooper was doing well to keep that Ysalrmiri just out of range.

It was impossible to see disgust and revulsion on the reflection of her helmet on the globe of Chrome.  And certainly the wrinkled brain didn't show any change but the cyber-arachanoid turned to regard Shira quietly.  But there was no other visible response and the Princess was otherwise occupied.  She said to Celes, "Swap your personnel as needed and we will go."

OOC: Celes can swap out any to all of the PCs for other Forcetroopers, allowing her to decide who leaves the ship with the Princess (if any) and who stays aboard with the 'prisoners' and Chrome.

Ask me questions.  I know I have missed something...

As quietly as he was able, the medical droid bio-scanned the Force troopers and their leaders.  Neither the Princess' species, nor Chrome's were familiar to him, and this peaked his programmed curiosity.  He remained silent while he searched his data archive for any information on the two unknown aliens.  If he could discover any inherent weakness in any of their anatomical structures or psychological profiles that could be exploited he would make sure to inform the crew at the earliest opportunity.

Celes gave the Princess a sharp nod and an affirmative, then turned to her "injured" squad to address them.

"You've seen enough action today. Secure the prisoner. This won't take long. The rest of you, come with us." After that she returned her attention to the Sith. "Ready to go on your order." Going alone with a contingent of troopers and their apparently-magic leader would not have been her first choice under other circumstances, but she needed her team to have the best shot possible at taking that ship. Besides, she still had backup outside. Hopefully Grev would notice which armor had the scorch mark. This plan definitely could have been better thought out...

TwoOneBee searched and examined all of the Forcetroopers and remaining personnel he could.  It was surprisingly easy, his scanning capacity seemed particularly responsive today.  The 'so-called' Princess allowed the examination.  It still didn't always occur to the Emperor's minions that a droid could be duplicitous.  While the Princess probably wasn't that dim, she probably felt the simple machine wouldn't risk her wrath at his disobedience taken out on his 'owners'.  In any case, it certainly helped get a better picture of the situation.

Practically all aboard, except for the Sith who had their own methods of healing, was wounded.  Liberal application of medpacs had brought the crew back from a worse state but now the medpacs were spent.  This crew was barely holding together and unskilled personnel were filling in absented crew slots.  This would make the inevitable battle easier.

The groups separated, one leaving the vessel, the others repairing the ship and guarding the prisoners.  Onboard, Chrome spoke, the mechnical voice didn't even have the personality of a droid.  "As our capabilities return, you will eventually be interrogated.  Freely talking now should make the process much less ...unpleasant."

Outside the ship, the Princess and the sled with Scouttrooper and Ysalamiri followed her soldiers.  Good misdirection and Grev's natural stealth meant that he was able to follow at a distance seemingly unnoticed.

The plan seemed to be working but sooner or later the trap would have to be sprung...

OOC:
Onboard the ship, the survivors are too busy working on the ship to guard the supposedly manacled prisoners.  Only Octal Chrome is watching.  It is impossible to gauge any body language or inflection from the otherwise still arachnoid form.  Beyond the words above, Chrome seems unreactive unless the prisoners obviously try to escape.

The Princess and her Scout trooper are following our remaining heroes, seemingly utterly convinced.  Past a certain point, the Princess will become suspicious simply out of the amount of time being spent.  Your PCs know this and are likely ready to strike.  I will assume you can guide the dupes into favorable terrain, there is plenty of variety and your characters have planned this.  It is a 1D equivalent action for either the Princess or the Scout trooper to alert the ship via their commlink.  Jamming her signal ahead of time can be done.  But it will only give you about a minute before the Princess realizes she isn't getting constant updates from the repair crew over the commlink.

Grev and the Vornskyrs can follow along at long distance without having to make a roll.  Anything more than that may be (literally) dicey.  The vornskyrs are calm because Grev is calm and seems to be the Alpha but chaos may change that.

Against normal opponents, any sudden attack would gain you surprise.  Against these two, surprise may be impossible but I will give you a bonus towards Initiative.  Against the Princess, your characters may be anywhere from next to her to within distant sight (not that far in the jungle).  She would immediately become suspicious if everyone tried to get behind her.

Questions, just ask...
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:54, Tue 18 Apr 2017.

At the mere suggestion of TwoOneBee 'medicating' those of the crew in need, Chrome spoke.  Or at least words emitting from his (her, it?) speaker grille, "Acceptable."  Chrome spoke to a fairly mobile Forcetrooper, "Get what medicines this droid requests from our stores".

Finally, the party reached the stone monument, the lightsaber grid was just past the archway they were standing under.  The gaps between the stones seemed so innoculous.  Only the 'Star's crew knew better from hard-won experience.  The Princess stared at the grid for a moment, then spoke to her Forcetroopers in general. "Advance."


OOC:
1. Not expecting trouble from a mere droid, the Forcetrooper will generally follow TwoOneBee's suggestions unless their is a compelling reason not to (and Forcetroopers, like Stormtroopers, don't question too much when they think a situation is under control).  As TwoOneBee hints, the Forcetrooper will either go and return using the droid's list, or TwoOneBee might accompany him.

2. Typically, some troopers stay in front of their superiors.  This tradition is usually maintained up even when the troopers aren't really needed (such as when they are 'protecting' Lord Vader).  Up to now, it hasn't been a problem.  All PCs remember the odd pattern of stones to be walked to avoid the grid.  But it's not a straight line and very conspicuous.  The Princess will likely then be suspicious.

3. Questions, just ask...