Luke seems a bit confounded by Angel's observation.  It shows he's not so sure she's right.  Before he can give too much thought to the question, he chuckles at the comment about his uncle and smirks at Biggs.

"I wouldn't exactly say I 'handle' Uncle Owen, but if by that you mean I've done well enough to still be breathing, I can accept that.  Sure, I guess I can see if they'd rather talk to me.  But nothing says whomever wants to jump in can't.  Not like I'm the boss of this group."

Luke heads for the off ramp and readies to exit once the ship lands.

"So the plan is just to keep them talking till they're close enough to punch and then we let 'em have it?"

He seriously doubts he can knock out someone with one punch.  But maybe he can rifle butt them good enough.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:31, Tue 16 Apr 2019.

Mits is starting to wonder if maybe it's this legendary Uncle Owen guy that's responsible for keeping Luke from going Darkside.  Either way, she gives Angel a huge smile for her praise to Luke.

"That being said, those who do sacrifice integrity for safety soon find that the hole they've dug themselves into isn't exactly safe."

To Biggs she gives a sheepish smile and answers, "It's a habit of mine to try and maximize the drama in order to keep from taking matters too lightly.  If the statue is super important, it's easier to resist the temptation to balance it on the tip of my nose."

Nevertheless, she skips over to the ramp after Luke like she's a schoolgirl on her way home.  Her robe floats off and follows along.  Underneath she's been wearing a long sleeve purple tunic since Angel likes purple.

At worst, Angel was being passive-aggressive to Luke about his remark to Mittens. At best, she was looking on the bright side while encouraging Luke to be good. Hard to say, but it possible she was doing all of the above at the same time.

Angel hops to her feet and pulls out the firearm she has handy before heading off to the ramp, but stays hidden to the side as she waits for the ambush to occur. Angel gives a nod to each as they exit. "Be careful out there..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:59, Tue 16 Apr 2019.

Janek gives Angel a wink as he passes her.

"We got this."

He then hurries to catch up with Luke.

"Don't worry, I'll jump in if things start to get out of control. But yep, just keep 'em talking and then take 'em out."

"And yeah, What's-Her-Face," he grins at Mittens, "Less nose-balancing is good. Although I would love to see these guys faces if you walked up balancing it on your nose!"

"You'll do great, kid," Biggs slaps Luke on the shoulder once more as he swings up his own slugthrower rifle, "Don't worry, we'll have your back."

"Hey, don't encourage her Tank!" he hisses after the others as they leave. He then climbs out after Angel.

"You ready?" he asks Angel as he crouches behind some of the rocks.

Fate of the Galaxy has to hang in the balance or she gets bored.  Yeah that sounds like her.  On the bright side, that probably means that a self-taught pilot who knows his way around a spanner will probably be A-OK in the eyes of Angel's parents so long as he's halfway sane.

...Thought the guy about to go talk to slavers he's told want him dead.

He won't refuse Mittens' offered disguise, though.

Luke shakes his head in a, "I can't believe I'm doing this" sorta way and gives a half-hearted thumbs-up to Biggs before exiting the ship, rifle in hand but pointed down.  He'll be sure to stand near anything he can use for cover when the plan falls apart.

"My friends call me Enigma," Luke calls out to the slavers in as boring a voice he can muster, hoping his low volume will encourage them to get closer, "I just bought this ship from a pair of young ladies.  But you're saying they stole it?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:25, Tue 16 Apr 2019.

Mits handed a makeshift bandana to each member of the team and puts one on herself before bounding down the ramp ahead of the group.

"Endless hours of practice is how I'm careful, Angel.  I've survived the crazy things I put myself through on a daily basis, so I've got pretty good chances with these guys.  No dark premonitions, either.  So I'm not expecting anyone to get so much as wounded... besides the slavers, that is."

After passing Tank, she spins around, trots backwards, and balances her lightsaber on her nose for a moment with an impish smile that shows in her eyes in spite of the bandanna hiding her nose and mouth.  "Me too.  Which is why its so tempting.  But I won't for Biggs' sake."

Her robe follows along, bobbing slightly to look like its "walking" but its not very convincing up close.  The sleeves terminate underneath a kerchief that's covering the cat statue.  Mits covered it because she wants the slavers think, maaybe this is the statue?  Maaybe they're trying to trick us with a fake?  They will have to get in close to confirm.

Spinning back to face forward and taking her lightsaber off her nose she whispers, "Hey Luke.  Lemme borrow those macrobinoculars so I can flip the safety switches on their blasters easier with my telekineepers."

Luke shrugs and hands 'em over.  He's got no use for them right now anyway.  Mits takes point and proceeds to surreptitiously flip the safetys to on.  Angel sharing her passion for blasters means Mits knows exactly where to find the switches at a glance.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:27, Tue 16 Apr 2019.

Angel comments to Mittens, "Good thought. While you're at it, suppose you could tie their shoelaces?" Juvenile, sure, but if it works...

Angel puts the bandana on even though she has no intention of getting out into the open. Crouching behind rocks with Biggs, she takes aim and nods with a focussed expression.

Angel nods at Janek with a smirk as he passes and assures her that the group has this.

When Luke calls himself Enigma, Angel inwardly LOVES it! Because of positioning, Biggs is the only one who gets to see Angel's impish smile as Luke announces that name.

The trio that approach them seem to consist of a rutian twi'lek, a zabrak and a weequay, all of whom the party recognise from the ship recording. The twi'lek and zabrak carry heavy blaster pistols, while the weequay cradles a heavy repeating blaster.

"You can cease with the pretences, Enigma," replies the twi'lek as they draw nearer, "We both know the ship isn't what you were really after. You have something of far more value. I'll offer you one-hundred-thousand credits for it. Take it or leave it."

Janek, doing his best to look burly and intimidating beside Luke, lets his jaw drop despite himself. He recovers himself a moment later, glancing at Luke and trying not to look too incredulous.

Biggs, who has his rifle trained on one of the weequay's unarmored legs, glances at Angel with just as much incredulity as Janek.

"Did he just say one-hundred-thousand?" he murmurs, "Maybe it really does contain schematics for a new targeting computer for TIE fighters. Or maybe he's bluffing..."

Luke can't help but react with his signature "give me a break" look.  Which is admittedly mostly hidden under his bandana.  What he's thinking is, "Yeah right.  There's no way that dumb statue is worth that much."  But to the villains it might look like he was thinking a much higher number and is rolling his eyes at their low-balling.

"You have that on you?" is his "I don't believe you," toned answer, figuring that they're just blowing hot air to get him off his guard.  It may have been Mittens' mystical mutterings that tipped off that these guys have no intention of paying, but that's kinda obvious even without her having said so.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:32, Thu 18 Apr 2019.

Mits nodded to Angel before winding up out of earshot to be at the front.  With the safety switches engaged, she proceeds to sabotage anything else she can get away with on these guys.  Such as tying shoelaces together.

With so much on her mind, the large amount of money offered by the villains only registers in the back of her mind.  But even if she were paying more attention to the negotiation, it probably wouldn't have changed the "I just can't wait to stab you guys' faces!" smile hidden under her bandana.  Which is a doubly strange look to have given that she has no visible weapon on her.

Meanwhile, the creepy cloaked decoy uncovers the top half of the cat statue.  Just enough to keep the villains focused on their prize instead of their shoelaces or Tank's gaping mouth (presumably hidden under his bandana.)  But not so much that it's 100% certain that this is the real thing.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:32, Thu 18 Apr 2019.

Angel whispers back to Biggs, "When you don't intend to give money, you can throw any imaginary number around*. On the other hand, by throwing a number that big... they have made it clear we have something precious. Now to see if they really do have that much money on them."

*The scene rewinds to little 9-year-old Angel eyeing a toy gun she wanted and offered to pay 10 credits to buy it from the bully who owned it. The bully, unsurprisingly, took the 10 credits and didn't give the gun to Angel. But his parents were then visited by Angel's parents who then proved those 10 creds were Angel's because she had written her name on them with a UV pen. The bully was forced to give both the 10 credits and the gun to Angel as punishment.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:13, Thu 18 Apr 2019.

Mittens' partial revealing of the statue has the desired effect, and instantly captures the attention of the trio of mercenaries. The weequay gives a low growl and takes an eager step forward (his boots do not have any laces to trip him up), but the twi'lek quickly puts out a hand to stop him.

"We have the credits on our ship," he replies to Luke evenly, "A couple of crates full of them. I'll even let you count them yourself if you don't believe me."

The zabrak gives a low guffaw at this comment.

Janek narrows his eyes as the weequay advances, taking a threatening step forward himself. Him and weequay proceed to engage in a staring contest, or, perhaps more accurately, a glaring contest.

Biggs nods slowly in response to Angel, not taking his eye from the scope of his rifle.

"True. A number that big, even if an empty offer, indicates the statue is very valuable. When do you recommend we attack? No way the others are getting on board their ship."

Once again, it's probably for the best that Luke's gimme-a-break face is hidden under the bandana. Well we were warned that they think us morons, he's thinking, but this is pretty insulting.  'Oh we have the creds alright!  Just come into our obvious trap!'

"Deal," Luke answers, trying to sound all professional and stuff.  He's expecting that his best impersonation of a pro will convince these villains all the more that he's a newb they just conned.

"Lead the way.  We can make the exchange once we've seen the money."

Well here's hoping Biggs and the others know to stun these guys once we take the first step toward the ship.  Hey, Whats-her-Name?  You listening?  Can you use your mind powers to tell the others the plan?

Mits' heart stops when the weequay takes a step forward.  This is it!  Go time!

...nope.  Instead it's a glaring contest.  And then the big reveal!

Mits can hardly believe her ears!  Murphey's Law!  Of course they have the money in their ship!  Ugh!  And Luke's not demanding more!  I know it's a lot of money to be tempted by, but didn't Luke hear that if the purchase goes off without a hitch the villains will get away with the dangerous virus schematics statue thingy!?  Didn't we agree to ambushing them?!  Why haven't the blasters started blasting yet?!  Shut up, Darkside!  I'm not the least bit tempted by that huge sum of creds!  Nor am I overly eager for violence!  I'm precisely as eager for stunning villains as the situation warrants!  In any case, I guess it'll be obvious that its time to start shooting as soon as they trip over their shoelaces.

Completely unaware of Luke's thoughts, Mits gestures to the robed one to follow and begins to take a step forward to make it look like she's going along with the deal, ready to use telekinesis to kick sand into the faces of the badguys as soon as combat starts.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:42, Thu 02 May 2019.

Angel isn't sure if the sweat is because she has been out in the heat again or if it is because she is nervous, but that cannot get in the way of the objective right now.

Angel answers Biggs, still being quiet, "I'm on the twi'lek. You take the zabrak. On the count of three. One... two... three."

With that, Angel opens fire! Her aim is on the center of Kandon's mass; right in the belly! With stun setting, it matters more that you get a larger target so the stun can spread better and maybe even drop 'em. But while she knows stun isn't as reliable as an accurate kill shot, it is very much worth the reward of having interrogation as an option later. You can't hold a conversation with a corpse. But more importantly, Mittens is trusting Angel to go non-lethal.

His attention still focused firmly on Luke, Kandon is caught completely unawares by Angel's well aimed stun blast. It catches him squarely in the stomach, and with a garbled yelp he is thrown backwards in a complete somersault, landing face down in the sand. He does not rise.

Biggs' slugthrower rifle echoes through the dunes around them a moment later. Not having a stun setting, his aim is directed at the zabrak's shoulder so as to incapacitate the mercenary without too much risk of killing him. The slug flies through the air, but the zabrak has already flattened himself the moment the twi'lek fell, and the slug whistles over his head to smack harmlessly into the sand behind him.

Biggs curls his lip as he takes aim once more.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:41, Mon 24 June 2019.

"Get 'em!" the zabrak shouts, as he whips out a blaster from his prone position, launching off a hasty shot at Mittens.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:41, Mon 24 June 2019.

The weequay makes a lunge at Luke, only to find himself intercepted mid leap by the bulky form of Janek, who tackles him to the ground. The weequay lands a punch on Janek's ribs, drawing a grunt of pain from the man. Janek returns the attack with a punch of his own which catches the weequay squarely in the jaw. The weequay attempts to hurl a handful of sand at Janek's face, but the young man appears to be no stranger to dirty fighting and quickly covers his eyes before kneeing the weequay in the groin. The weequay gives a gasp of pain as Janek presses his face into the sand.

"You had enough yet?" Janek asks grimly as the weequay scrabbles vainly to loosen Janek's grip on him.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:48, Mon 24 June 2019.

Perfect!  Complete with people tripping over their shoelaces!  Luke gets a smug smile on his face that these "amateurs" just totally crushed a bunch of slavers!  There's a big part of Luke that's loving the trend of Janek the bodyguard taking down aggressors for him.  He raises his rifle then introduces the butt to the back of the weequay's head.  He then takes aim at the zabrak.

"Hey, buddy.  Slugthrowers don't have stun settings.  Surrender or die."