A green planet hung in the sky amid endless stars. On rapid approach was a starship, long and flat, with a saucer-shaped front end segmented into rectangular cargo compartments behind it, until the blocky engine pumped bright light into space. A pair of turreted blaster cannons fired out in all directions as three much smaller ships, starfighters, circled and stung at it like raptor-wasps. Two well-placed shots tore one of the fighters apart, leaving a streak of debris in the space where it had been. The deflector shields' thin barrier glowed and warbled, eventually giving out entirely. The starfighters fired on the ship's engine, bringing the vessel slowing to a stop, and then they backed off, returning to their larger cruiser, waiting patiently out of weapons range. The battle was over. From the distance, another vessel, this one shaped like a triangle with two prongs at the front approached. It was more than double the size of the freighter it latched onto, and painted in red and black, rather than the Imperial White a Customs corvette comes in.

"Captain Vangar! We've secured the freighter, but lost one of our fighters in the scuffle." A thick growl responded to the crewman, a sound like blood burbling up from a throat.

"They dared to shoot down onna my ships? These spineless worms need to be taught some respect." There was a moment of introspective breathing, of a heavy claw tapping against the plated scales on the side of the captain's reptilian face. Then he came to a decision. "Space everyone but the cargo crew. They get the honor of detaching the cargo for us. Then we'll let 'em go."

"Aye, sir!"

In a few short minutes, small shapes floated away from the Space Master freighter, the extraneous members of the crew. A few minutes more, and the cargo pods of the freighter were attached to the corvette. The larger ship detached. Both ships drifted apart. Vangar's mouth tilted upward in a toothy grin. The corvette's many blaster turrets glowed green with turbolaser fire, chewing the freighter into little chunks of hull. When it was over, the corvette turned away from the planet below and sped off into hyperspace, leaving just bodies, debris, and a pirate cruiser waiting for another victim.

---

Down on the planet, things have gone poorly. Officer Bryce Fines, with permission from Police Chief Dempsey, had freed Captain Jalmac's jailed crewmembers as a token of goodwill and a down payment on transit offworld. The three of them had gone to meet with the captain, only to find he'd sold his crew to the Fines family as slaves! They'd barely made it away from the hired muscle the family employed and into a nearby pub. Those thugs were still hot on their heels.

A bar on the left side of the room sat a few patrons, with a bar droid and a duros woman serving drinks. To the right were round booths for seating groups, a few with two or three people of various sorts in them. On the wide floor were a few sound tables, big enough to seat two or three, evidenced by the two at one table and three at another, leaving a couple more empty. At the far end was a stage with a band of three rodians playing a song involving a quiet melody and a steady chirping beat. A few eyes, including the organic bartender, turned to face the three who just barged in, while most of the patrons ignored them.

On the other side of the bar was one doorway, and another over near the stage. Near that back door was another non-human, carefully watching some display as she bobbed her head to the music. If the wires leading from her control panel were any indication, she was the band's sound person. She was also right in the way of the doorway behind her.

There were only a few seconds before the family's enforcers came in looking for them. Not long to decide what to do.

[Welcome to the game! Bryce, Bril, and Iaarkahr, you now have the situation as it's been displayed. If you have questions, let me have them. If not, let me know what you're planning and we'll go from there.]

"What was that!?" Bril said in between a pair of deep breaths as he tried to regain his composure from their narrow escape. His eyes darted around the pub looking for any way the trio could slip out unnoticed. Spotting the two doors, Bril's face scrunched up and he mentally weighed when door was more likely to keep him out of the slaver's hands. Before comming to a decision, Bril's rattled mind wandered to how ridiculous the situation was. Looking back Bril was somehow actually wishing he'd turned down Bryce's deal and stayed in his holding cell.

Wasting time on hindsight was only going to get him captured again so Bril turned to his two companions, "Getting trapped in a back room is a sure fire way to end up in a slave collar. Any ideas? This is your turf Fines!" The twi'lek did little to mask the fear and desperation in his voice.

OOC: Did we get our gear back? Bril doesn't want to blast his way out of here but it's nice to have a blaster as a last resort.

[You've got all your gear, though the situation with your weapons is up to Bryce. He can have given them back to you or be holding them still. Would be kinda funny to see him with a vibroaxe strapped to his back, honestly...]

"uughghhhgh uugggh uughguughhhghghghhhgh huurh aarrragghuuhw.  aaahnruh raaaaaahhgh wrrhw huuguughghg huuguughghg huuguughghg awwgggghhh raaaaaahhgh huuguughghg."  The burly wookiee comments as he surveys the room, considering at his options.  His demeanor clearly suggests he isn't fond of any of them.  "aarrragghuuhw huuguughghg uughguughhhghghghhhgh aaahnruh, aarrragghuuhw raaaaaahhgh aarrragghuuhw wrrhw raaaaaahhgh uughguughhhghghghhhgh uugggh uughguughhhghghghhhgh aaahnruh." he remarks, feeling for the haft of his vibro-axe, more to reassure himself it's still there.

<I don't like being trapped.  We need to find another way out of here, quickly.>

<They'll be here soon, we should find someplace less crowded to make a stand.>

I can modify this slightly if we don't have our weapons...

[Retcon time! Bryce is not present, you two have been separated from him during the escape! Further retcons may include adding people to the story of your escape and meeting up with them later. For now, we're going with the assumption that you have your weapons handy. Go ahead and take whatever action you deem necessary, but remember that you may not have time to leave before your pursuers arrive. That doesn't mean you can't try!]

Iaarkahr looked around and realized that during the chase he and Brilk had somehow gotten separated from the others.  There was no time to worry about them now, however, if they were to escape their own capture.  They were just too conspicuous to hide in a booth and play innocent so their options were either running or fighting.  He gestures towards the door on the other side of the bar and tilts his head, indicating that he thought that was their best escape option before he starts moving in that general direction.

Bril had been talking to someone that wasn't there. His mouth began moving trying to form some semblance of a plan but his mind was blank and no sound came out. Seeing his only remaining companion gesture toward the unblocked door and start moving, Bril stuttered, "W-wait! I think the o-other... Ah screw it, just don't leave me."

Even though the obstructed door struck him as a more likely escape route, Bril decided he'd rather be trapped with a wookie at his side than lost alone on Tarawa and began to hurry after Iaarkahr.

The pair headed for the door on the other side of the bar.

[Turn to page 24. Wait, wrong game format.]

A few more of the patrons looked their way, and the bartender leaned over the bar to shout at them, but didn't manage it before they disappeared through the doorway and wound up in what appeared to be a break room; a few chairs sat around a sturdy metal table, on which sat a disposable tray of food carrying half a blue sandwich. In one corner was a cheap and rather old holo-terminal, switched off at the moment, and the wall to the left had a door that probably led back toward the bar itself.

It's that door the duros woman comes through, carrying a spread-gun she raises toward the two, mostly the wookiee.

"Alright, that's enough of that. We don't serve drunks in here, so move on until you can behave yourselves."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Bril threw his hands up at the sight of the spread-gun and took a step sideways to put himself in between it and Iaarkahr, "We were just looking for the backdoor. Pazaak deck on the table, the wrong people have decided we're in a bit of trouble with them and they're right on our tail. Point us out the back and we'll be happy to leave before they've got the chance to turn your bar into a shooting gallery."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:45, Sun 28 Oct 2018.

[Now's a good time to get some dice going! Brilk'airn, you're going to make an opposed roll. I'll let you choose between Charm (for trying to nice-talk your way out of this) or Negotiate (for that whole "we get escape, you get no fights in your bar" offer).

By way of tutorial for those not versed in the system, here's the way this works. Bril is going to take the higher of his Characteristic (Presence, in this case) or Skill (Charm or Negotiation, his choice), and that's how many Green Ability dice he gets in his pool. Then the lower of those two numbers will be how many of those dice are swapped out for Yellow Proficiency dice. To that, he's going to include two Purple Difficulty dice (the bartender's Presence). The bartender has no Cool skill, so neither of those dice get upgraded. There will be no Blue Boost or Black Setback dice for this roll.

Then that gets plugged into the Die Roller using the number of dice and the letter of the dice according to their proper name (Ability, Proficiency, Difficulty, Challenge, Boost, Setback). I'm gonna assume Bril wants to roll his 1 Charm instead of his 0 Negotiation, so it'd look like this:

2A, 1P, 2D

Then we'll take a look at the results and see how you did. :D]

Not too shabby!


05:10, Today: Brilk'airn rolled 1 success, 2 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2A 1P 2D.

[Success and two advantages! There are a number of uses you can give those, with the default being to remove 1 Strain each. Since neither of you has Strain right now, I'll let Iaarkahr have two Blue Boost dice to his next roll, or let Brilk'airn have one Blue Boost die to his next roll. And in the meantime...]

The woman gave the intruders a skeptical look, and was clearly going to speak before being interrupted by loudly tromping footfalls at the front door. They were audible even over the music and chatter, and from the next room over. Sounded like several large bipeds. The bartender backed out of the storage room and vanished back to the bar. The pair could hear what was going on, if a little muffled.

"What can I get you?" There was some snorting, obviously gamorreans, and then the duros's voice again.

"Yeah, they came in here. Ran out the back before I could stop them. If you hurry, you can still catch 'em." There was some more porcine chatter, then the tromping headed for the back of the bar. There was some shuffling, a muffled "Hey!" presumably from the sound operator who'd been sitting by that door, and then they were gone.

The bartender came in again, unarmed this time.

"Head out the front and try not to get yourselves killed, alright? And maybe don't wreck any bars."

Iaarkahr was about to get extremely irritated at the Duros who dared point a weapon at him, at least until he learned she was about to cover for them.  While he was never one to shirk from a fight, he was at least relieved to learn he wasn't about to trash a bar while defending himself from goons.  This time, at least.  They weren't free yet but it looked like they were one step closer.

"We should wait a few minutes and then head out the front door.  Probably our best chance at escape."  Iaarkahr comments towards Bril, "We aren't out of this just yet." as he keeps a tight grip on his vibro-axe.

Before...

The latest class of Jedi padawans stood before the Republic Senate for review.  From the sound of the thunderous applause, it seemed that they met with enthusiastic approval.

Chancellor Palpatine addressed the young students, "You are each one in a billion souls, never forgot how much of a gift you are to all of the others in this magnificent Galaxy."

Her Mistress had later told her that those words were to make Amaya realize what a tremendous responsibility she had.  But, sometimes when alone, those words had made Amaya feel special, perhaps even superior.

Now...

Amaya's jawa disguise had worked well enough.  She was not recognized by the pursuers and maybe not by her friends.  Spot seemed to just a hump on her back under the itchy robe.  Seeing Bril and Iaarkahr, she moved into the light and lowered her hood to reveal her glowing robotic eyes but otherwise human face...
This message was last edited by the player at 04:09, Tue 13 Nov 2018.

"Yeah, I think you're right, Kahr." Bril rubbed his forehead in thought as he spoke, his eyes fixed on the front entrance. It wasn't till Amaya approached the duo in her Jawa costume that Bril's attention was pulled away from the exit they'd be taking.

Sighing in relief, Bril grinned and said "Glad to see you got out too, Amaya. It got hairy back there, sorry we got separated."

Slipping a few credits out of his pocket, Bril found a gap at the bar and slapped the money down on the bar as a tip. Despite not ordering a drink the service here had been exceptional. Making his way back to his companions, Bril looked to Iaarkahr and spoke, "I'll follow you out when you think we've waited long enough, I trust you judgement more than mine in this kinda situation."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:56, Tue 13 Nov 2018.

Iaarkahr was happy to discover one more of their crew had escaped capture for the moment.  "Good to see you, Amaya!" he exclaims, "But we aren't out of this yet."

He then stalls for about five minutes in hopes that the Gamorreans had moved on sufficiently, then pokes his nose out the front door to assess the situation.

Amaya hugged them both, "It is good to see you both."  Spot the porvir simply allowed himself to be petted.

<b>OOC:  Just a quick post to get back on track.  Amaya will follow her friends instructions.</b>

The other patrons kept a wary eye on the group, as anyone would with such a disruption to the evening's plans, but otherwise didn't seem too ruffled. The band just kept on playing, though at least one of the members was casting frowns (such as rodians can frown) at the loud not-quite-patrons. The bartender, meanwhile, came back to the bar and scooped up the tip Brilk'airn had left with a practiced motion. Her red eyes focused on Amaya.

"Amaya, you know these troublemakers? Look, you three gotta get outta here. Those thugs were ready to break people, not to kill. That can't be good. I hear there's a starship in port right now fast enough to slip past the pirates. Maybe you can book passage with them."

From Iaar's glance, it looked like the coast was clear.

---

Not far off, a pair of gamorreans marched past a chipstore, grunting restlessly with each step. One glanced inside for a moment as he walked by, totally disinterested in a place meant purely for... reading.

When they were gone, Vol found that he'd been totally unnoticed. Now all he needed was to find the rest of his team.

"We know, we know." Bril sighed and looked at Iaarkahr for confirmation, "I suppose the ports as good a place."

It was clear the little welcome they'd had was overstayed and Bril began to head for the bar's entrance before abruptly stopping. Turning back to the bartender, Bril pointed back and forth with his hands and asked, "Which uh... which way is the port from here?" 

The bartender leaned forward on the bar and pointed to the front door, then started gesturing from there.

"Out this door, turn left. Head down the street and hang a left at Delta Avenue, then just follow the signs. It's a few miles up, but not too far. Oh, uh. And don't get caught leavin' this place or I'll be on the hook. Didn't, uh. Didn't think about that."

"Let's go!" Amaya said, taking a step to leave.  Humans could be impetuous, especially adolescent humans.  At the bartender's warning, she said, "Oh." and pulled the Jawa hood over head so that only the glowing eyes were visible.

OOC: Amaya is eager to get the team together but will take the advice of her elders like all teens (a bit grudgingly).

Iaarhkahr nodded at the bartender's advice except that Wookiees carrying giant axes tended to stand out.  Still, he was eager to put as much distance between himself and his pursuers as possible.  A confrontation was still possible before they were out of danger.

He stepped out the door and turned left, nodding to his friends, "Let's go."

"Left at Delta..." Bril muttered along to the bartender's directions to help commit them to memory, "Got it! Thanks again, if they spot us leaving I doubt they'd waste the chance on coming after you but if they do just tell'em you recognized us from their descriptions and kicked us out. Worse case scenario and we're asked about it and we'll tell them the same. It's the least we can, uh... Hey!"

Mid sentence, Bril realized that he other companion's had stepped out of the bar already and quickly scuttled out after them, "D-don't go with out me!"

Vol moved behind the Gamoreans, once thry'd cleared.  Conscidering they knew where the ship was, he headed that way.  As he got closer, he carefully blended in with the crowd and scanned the ship and the area around it seruptitiously.  He intended to avoid any ambushes, or turn them upon the would be ambushers.

Iaarkhar led Amaya and Brilk'airn away. Walking down the street got the wookiee several odd looks from passerby. It was some time before they came across anyone who actually took notice, but when they did, it was someone in a uniform they recognized. A pair of police officers stepping out of their speeder.

"Excuse me! Sirs, could we talk to you for a second? Officer Ma'thuz sent us." In general, police weren't likely to be friendly toward the group of smugglers. On the other hand, they were now technically in the employ of the police (or rather of the bounty hunter, who was in the employ of Sector Ranger Ma'thuz, who had commandeered control of local police forces), so things were complicated.

Amaya fought her normal teenage human instinct to have an opinion on everything and to then express it.   The officers wished to talk to her adult friends and Amaya knew to stay silent.
Looking further down the busy street, she thought she saw a familiar face...

OOC:  It could be that Amaya recognizes Vol (and/or that Vol will recognize his friends) if that helps get the groups together.  But if that doesn't work for any reason, Amaya will realize she is mistaken next post.

"Oh? Good! Maybe you can tell us what happened back there. Bril puffed himself up as he got in the face of the officer who'd spoken, "Because to me it felt a lot like a bunch of crooked cops looking to make some quick credits by slipping the local slavers some offworlders no one would miss."

It wasn't that Bril couldn't believe Jalmac had sold them out. He didn't know the Captain well enough to have an opinion one way or the other before this. The twi'lek was just having trouble trusting anyone that didn't have their freedom at stake same as him. Mostly he just wanted to gauge the officers' reactions. Plus it was really easy to act tough with a wookie with a vibroaxe at your back.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:57, Tue 19 Feb 2019.

Iaarkahr wasn't 100% certain how to react to this turn of events but maybe the presence of officers would be enough to deter any would-be thugs from causing any further problems.  He crossed his arms in irritation, enough to give most beings pause, before turning to the officers, "What does Ma'thuz have to say to us?"

The officer took a breath and nodded, while his compatriot stayed beside the speeder, leaning into it to use the comlink.

"Yeah, looks like things went south. I guess the Fines have a longer reach than anyone guessed. The Ranger wants you to regroup with him back at the station, get a handle on how to proceed, maybe see if we can find out which officers are still loyal to the chief. Can't fit you all in the one speeder, though. Come on, we'll wait for backup and escort you to safety." He motioned for the three of them to follow him to the police speeder.

Down the street, the hooded figure of Vol had managed to get close enough to the gamorreans he was tailing to hear their comlink activate.

"...suspects spotted at Third and Delta, requesting backup..." The thugs looked at each other, then turned around to start heading back toward the intersection where a police speeder was parked. They were headed right for Vol.

Iaarkahr heads towards the speeder with the officers.  He still keeps a wary pose and one hand on his axe.  They weren't out of trouble just yet.

Taking a cue from Iaarkahr, Bril scuttled after the officers over to their speeders. Since his group was stuck waiting for backup, Bril began looking over the police vehicles and rattling off questions, "I've never seen speeders like these before! They've gotta be fast right? What's their top speed? How do they handle? What model are they? When is the second one getting here and more importantly, can I drive one?"

The officer leading the group back to the patrol speeder glanced up the street, his eyes widening on seeing the pair of gamorreans stomping their way.

"Should be getting here any second. Pirs, watch them." While his partner nodded to him, coming out from leaning into the cabin, the officer stepped forward, holding up a hand to the thugs. Another pair of police speeders rounded a corner a few blocks down that same direction.

"Hold it right there, I'm afraid you're going to have to turn around, this part of the sidewalk is unsafe at the mo--" A stun shot from his own partner took him square in the back, dropping him to the duracrete! Officer Pirs then turned his blaster on Brilk'airn, wide-eyed and shaky.

"Nobody move! Hands where I can see them, a-and no sudden movements." He looked to be the older of the two who'd stopped the crew, but he suddenly appeared much younger. "Now just make this easy on everyone. Get cuffed. Get in the speeders. We'll be on our way and no one has to get hurt." The thugs hadn't even slowed down, and the approaching speeder cars would arrive momentarily.

[Alright folks, you have arrived at a pretty volatile situation! Unfortunately I don't have much for Zindra just yet, but I'm working on that.]

Bril's hands shot into the air the second Pirs' blaster was aimed in his direction, "Woah, woah, woah! If I can't drive all you had to do was say so."

As the least dangerous member of the group, Bril was happy to try and keep the lion's share of the corrupt officer's attention and trust the rest of his crew to bail him out. Slowly lowering his hands, Bril turned his attention toward the speeder but his mouth never stopped moving, "Don't shoot! I'll get the cuffs, I'll get the cuffs. We both want the same thing, nobody hurt."

Somewhat shakily himself, Bril began digging around in the speeder, "Where, ah, where are the cuffs?"

"Whoa!" Amaya yelped.  "Please don't shoot me.  I'm too adorable to die."  Amaya began to help Bril 'look' for the manacles.

Iaarkahr, one hand still on his axe, asks Officer Pirs in a very irritated voice, "Why did you just shoot your partner?"  He will not be standing still while anyone attempts to put handcuffs on him.

He will not initiate any kind of violence, yet, but neither will he allow anyone to place restraints on him.

Pirs looked more and more nervous as the brutes approached, and he kept glancing towards them, backing away from the car when Bril went to go searching in it rather than shooting him immediately. Overwhelmed, he skipped responding to the others to answer the big guy.

"Because I had to. You can't fight the Fines. They win, and it isn't pretty if you're on the losing side. They're what I need now, they're keeping my family. Safe. They're, they're keeping my family safe. Please, just cooperate. You don't understand what's at stake." When the gamorreans got within earshot, Pirs addressed them loudly enough to be heard.

"It's alright, I've got it under control." The gamorreans didn't react to him at all. The other speeders approached, lights on. "We'll have them rounded up and sitting in a cell... soon, hey! I'm talking to you! We don't need your help anymore!" His nervous energy turned to panic as the thugs walked right past him, clubs in hand, one heading for Brilk'airn while the other confidently moved for Iaarkahr.

"You said we wouldn't hurt anybody!"

Vol had followed the Gamoreans checking on their bounty status through his link, and when the shots rang out he quickly moved to a flanking position and raised his own blaster rifle.  He took a moment to aim, then fired on the attacking officer.  Then spoke over the noise.  I am deputy Marshal Vol.  You will surrender."


06:10, Sun 28 Oct 2018: Brilk'airn rolled 1 success, 2 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2A 1P 2D.

In one way, this just got much simpler while in yet another way, it got somewhat more complicated.  Iaarkahr could deal with the Gamorreans but where the Gran's loyalties lay were, for the moment, unknown.  Right now, he's had enough.  He turns to glare at the officer first, "Stay where you are.  You will explain the situation after we've dealt with these Gamorreans."  He then activates his vibro-axe and proceeds to convince the Gammorean he just made a poor life choice....

12:28, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 5 successes, 1 advantage using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 3A.  coercion on Pirs. [Minus whatever results the difficulty dice produce]

12:30, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 3 successes, 2 advantages (becomes a critical hit) using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2A 2P 2D.  Attack Gamorrean.
12:38, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 88 using 1d100+30.  critical hit (with vicious 3).

10 damage to the Gamorrean (ignores 2 points of soak) and Compromised -- Increase difficulty of all skill checks by one until end of encounter.

"We?" Bril crinkled his nose at the thought of a fight but still pulled his holdout blaster from the side holster hidden under his jacket. Turning and leveling his weapon at the second gamorrean, Bril did his best to put up a calm and intimidating facade before saying, "One more step and we'll find out how many fresh blaster holes you need to sprout before you decide we're more trouble than we're worth."

Amaya tried to control her dread.  No one was going to win this point from the young padawan's point of view.  If she was a betting soul, her credits would have been on her friends eventually besting the gammoreans and crooked cops but only after pain, blood and especially unwanted attention.  And even the porcine gammoreans were life of a kind.  She had to try and do what she could to prevent irrevocable damage.

Amaya focused her mind on the gammorean that was either closest or damaged most.  It would concentrate her feeble abilities.   She called upon the Force and sent...

OOC:  Amaya is using her single die of Force rating to gather Light and/or Dark Side Points to use with her Basic Influence skill.  She is not skilled enough to make a verbal suggestion but merely basic emotions.

23:52, Today: Amaya Moondancer rolled no successes, 1 dark force point using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1F ((1(F))).

If I have rolled this correctly, Amaya has gained one Dark Side Point which is technically good as negative emotions can only be fueled by Dark Side Points.  In order to spend the Dark Side Point for fear, Amaya will have to change one of her Light Side Destiny Points to a Dark Side Destiny Point and take some extra Strain.  This is if I understand the rules correctly.

So I ask the GM and the players (given my newbie rules understanding), should Amaya spend that Dark Side Point?  Remember that the Force is like ripples in a pond, who knows what other Force-Sensitive may be sensing nearby.

Vol's blast rang out up and down the street, causing immediate screams as dozens of people got their heads down and ran for some sort of cover! Speeders immediately began to either stop or zooooom off away from the incident! The approaching pair of police speeders swerved to a stop a few dozen meters behind Vol, a total of four officers stepping out to use the doors as cover while aiming pistols at him. They yelled some clear but very shaky orders to drop his weapon or be fired upon, and kept glancing at the situation unfolding beyond Vol with definite concern.

Pirs hit the duracrete beside Bril, a smoking hole leaving him in no position to take orders from anyone.

With all the commotion, Iaarkahr brought down his humming weapon in a stroke that cleaved clean through the pig-man's side. The gamorrean squealed in pain and fury, bringing up his club to strike back one-handed while clutching the wound with his other hand.

The second thug, meanwhile, didn't hesitate for a second at Bril's threat. It seemed the sight of a blaster pointed straight at him didn't warrant anything but a shift in the way he held his club, like he was actually going to use it for more than show.

Amaya had only seconds to focus, like her master taught her...

[Looks like it's a fight!

Vol did a good job determining range based on my shabby explanations, Medium Range was absolutely right. That means he also got a solid hit with one success. His blaster rifle deals 9 damage + successes, so that's 10 damage. The poor cop didn't stand a chance. He's way dead. Super dead-duper dead. Also, Vol is left with 2 advantage to use as he pleases. I might recommend either providing a "holy crap" bonus to one of the team or else some sort of "get-out-of-being-pumped-full-of-tibanna-gas-free card" idea to deal with those police officers you just murdered a cop in front of.

Iaarkahr, your Coercion attempt fails, even with that magnificent 5 successes. Mainly because the target is dead, and that doesn't really work out so well. Fortunately, you only rolled 1 advantage, so I don't feel too guilty about saying that roll can't have transpired, so you can't keep it. On the other hand, you absolutely can keep that attack on the gamorrean. He is looking very not okay, but also very pissed off. I'll make his attack roll once I find out what's happening with the other guy.

The other guy is about to test out his club on Brilk'airn's body. Bril has an opportunity to shoot him with his teeny tiny wee little baby blaster (it is really not going to intimidate a gamorrean, sorry, especially not in the hands of a twi'lek), and Amaya has an opportunity to use magic woo powers. Let's talk about that.

Amaya does have Influence, but doesn't have the first Control upgrade which would let you fill targets with emotions. As such, your Force point result's alignment won't really affect what you can do with the power: each point simply lets you apply 1 strain to the target's mind. You do need to flip one Light Side point to Dark Side and take 1 strain to use that Dark Side Point, however. Would you like to do that?

Destiny Pool: 3 Light, 4 Dark

Pirs - Dead
Gamorrean 1 - 7/14 Wounds
Gamorrean 2 - 0/14 Wounds]

Ignoring the ineffective swipe the Gammorrean took at him, the Wookiee brings down his massive axe on his assailant again in an attempt to finish him and move to protect his pilot and the curious girl with the bionic eyes.  He was quite successfully intimidating Pirs when he rudely dropped to the ground, dead.  Answers and an escape from their situation would have to be found elsewhere.

20:44, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 2 successes, 1 advantage using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2A 2P 2D.  Attack Gammorean. <dealing 6 damage, after soak, and one point short of dropping him, drat!>

Iaarkahr's immediate focus was on the Gamorreans assaulting the group.  The situation between Vol and the officers would have to wait for the moment.

OOC: Ah, I misunderstood the Influence power but that would well be within the character of a young girl eager to prove herself.  A single point of Strain isn't worth tickling the Dark Side so Amaya will not use her Force results.

I will try and make Amaya more effective next round. :-)

Amaya stretches out with her feelings, trying to calm her mind in the midst of the tense situation. Then the terrified police officer pointing a blaster at her friends is killed before her very eyes, a massive slab of muscle and malice gets into a fight with her companion, police bring weapons against her friend, and the poor pilot is left with nothing but his charm and a palm-sized blaster against a very large thug. Emotions have quickly become a swirl, all the noise is pulled away, and the girl can see as clearly as though she still had her eyes. A single imprint of the moment stands before her, with darkness creeping into her vision. Instinct at once tells her to fight and to fight it. In the blink of an eye, Amaya gets to make a choice: lash out, or control herself.

The world comes crashing back into motion and out Amaya's lungs as she rejects the call of the Force. Or something like it.

[Amaya has chosen not to call on the Dark Side of the Force!]

Iaarkhar manages to evade the gamorrean's initial awkward swing, striking with his own weapon and seeing it deflected by a surprisingly quick parry from his enemy's massive club. A shoulder-check puts the wookiee off balance long enough to take a solid hit across the arm, sending him spinning away! The force of the impact doesn't help the gamorrean much when Iaarkhar simply lets his axe slip out in the middle of his swing, turning the momentum from the gamorrean's attack into a sweep that pulls the lumbering hulk's legs out from under him, giving Iaarkhar an opportunity to end the threat.

[Gamorrean 1's attack against Iaarkahr!

22:20, Today: The Force rolled 2 successes using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1A 3P 3D.  Gamorrean 1 attack.

Iaarkhar takes 8 damage, not counting soak! That's a lotta damage.

With that, Iaarkhar's response attack deals enough to bring the gamorrean up to his wound threshold. That doesn't take him out, but that advantage will give you the leverage you need to decide this fight. Now what you do with him is up to you.

Brilk'airn and Vol, you've got chances to act here. Vol, you still have Advantage to spend however you feel is most appropriate.

There is one Gamorrean left, about to engage with Bril. There are four police officers left, their attention split between Vol right in front of them and the fight going on with the rest of you.]

"Called my bluff!" Bril said, adding a quick shrug before slipping his holdout blaster back under his jacket, "That or you just don't speak Basic."

Fighting was never Bril's strong suit and the burly Gamorrean seemed like a poor choice for a learning opportunity. Instead Bril, turned and slipped himself into the pilot's seat of the now owner-less police speeder. Before Bril's butt even hit the seat, his eyes were already scanning the control console for any familiar looking buttons or switches that would let him get the machine up and running. With the arrival of the other police speeders, getting out on foot didn't seem like a viable option.

OOC: Would it be a piloting roll to get the speeder running or like skullduggery if I'm trying without keys?

Edit:
10:41, Today: Brilk'airn rolled 2 successes, 4 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2A 2P.  Piloting (Planetary).
This message was last edited by the player at 17:42, Sun 17 Feb 2019.

Vol briefly shouts at the officers.  "Aresst that Gamorean!"  Then fires a shot at the Gamorean.

21:36, Today: Vol Miepen rolled 2 successes, 2 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1A 2P.  Heavy Ranged.

[Alright, adding 2 Difficulty and 1 Setback to Brilk'airn's roll to get that speeder speeding. The Setback is because you have a large angry gangster looking to see if your headtails have any kneecaps to break. (He is not a smart man.)

14:06, Today: The Force rolled no successes, 3 threats using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2D 1S.  Difficulty on Bril's Piloting roll.

You succeed with 1 Advantage left over! Heck of a roll.

Now for Vol's shot, adding 2D for range.

14:08, Today: The Force rolled no successes, 3 threats using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2D.  Vol's shot.

You succeed with 2 Successes and 1 Threat. After Soak, that comes to 6 Wounds!]

Bril's quick dive into the police speeder gives him just a split second to figure out what the ridiculous array of new switches are for and get the thing moving. The gamorrean reaches out a meaty hand to grab the considerably smaller twi'lek, only to have it slapped away by the speeder zipping off and away!

The gamorrean growled as he followed the speeder with his eyes, only to let out a squeal of pain when a blaster bolt ripped into his shoulder! Eyes ablaze with fury turned on Vol.

The second shot caused two of the officers to open fire immediately, while one turned her attention to the now-charging gamorrean, threatening him to stop immediately. Naturally, no one was listening. The final officer started calling in the stolen speeder, eyes wide and clearly not having been trained for this level of chaos.

[And two of the officers let loose on Vol!

14:18, Today: The Force rolled 1 success using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1A 1P 1D.  Two officers attack Vol!

With one success, that comes to 7 damage before Soak!

Amaya, Iarrkhar, you're still able to act this round. After you two I'll move on to Round 3.]

Bril's foot found the throttle and the speeder lurched forward as much to his surprise as anyone else. A surprised yelp found it's way out of Bril's mouth before turning into a shout to his crew mates, "Amaya, Kahr! Let's get outta here!" That was all the attention he had to spare while he wrestled for control of the speeder.

OOC: Since it's not the next round yet I figured I'd just put up a little bit of flavor to go with the mention that the advantage on my Piloting roll gives whomever rolls next a boost die.

The massive Wookie takes one last swing on the Gamorrean before hopping on the soon-to-be-departing speeder.  Angling his vibro-ax in such a way that his momentum hopefully carries through to jumping on the speeder (hope everyone is hanging on tight in there!), he swings at the Gamorrean... and missed.  Irritated with himself yet left with no time for another go. he heaves his mighty bulk onto the speeder before it speeds away.

15:46, Today: Iaarkahr rolled no successes, 5 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2A 2P 1B 2D with rolls of 6(A), 8(A), 10(P), 3(P), 5(B), 5(D), 8(D).  swing at the Gamorrean.

If I understand the situation correctly, there is a cop's blaster pistol near Amaya that has outlived its owner.  If so, Amaya will try to reclaim it.

[GM EDIT: Adding in further explanations from the OOC chat.]


This message was last edited by the GM at 23:45, Wed 27 Mar 2019.

Amaya takes the moment available to her and dives for the dead officer's blaster, quickly taking aim at the furious gamorrean!

VWEE!

The stun blast hits him dead on, sending convulsions through his arms and legs for a moment. Rather than falling unconscious, the brute gets control of himself again and turns to look down at the cyborg who just blasted him. He snorts a breath out through his nose and begins taking steps towards her...

Meanwhile, the blast gets the attention of the officers attempting to keep their attention on Vol, and suddenly the decision of how to handle this volatile situation gets ever harder on them.

[Alright, your GM is using the Force (GM fiat, a powerful ally it is) to spend Amaya's Advantages! 2 are being spent to give Iaarkahr a Boost to his next action, as the distracted gamorrean is going to be a much easier target (assuming Brilk'airn moves the speeder close enough for melee!). 2 are beign spent to give Vol a Boost to whatever he wants to do involving not being shot to death by a wall of cops. And that's all four Advantage!]

At the spaceport, Landing Pad 2 suddenly sees a rush of activity. A speeder truck roars to a stop in the cargo loading zone, and a tall, well-worn human practically jumps out with a scowl. Captain Jalmac of the Silver Thorn runs to open the back, allowing a series of repulsorlift drones to carry a brief series of crates toward the ship. That done, he visibly calms down, taking a breath and watching the small convoy slowly head for his ship. He walks over to the aft and looks around.

"Hey! Zandra! Or whoever. I need this ship in the void ten minutes ago! How fast can you cut the maintenance and let me outta here?"

Zindra's been having some alone time with the Thorn, checking over hyperdrives and sublight engines as part of routine maintenance, and in no rush as the ship hasn't fully refueled yet anyway. The captain's returned a few hours early, and none of this is usual spaceport procedure. The rest of the crew definitely hasn't returned, though.

[I decided to add in the Zindra side, both to give her something while everyone else gets scenery, and to add some insight for the players as to what's going on.

We're in the next round now, and I'm letting the PCs act before the NPCs do, unless anyone volunteers to act later.]

Bril pulled hard on the controls to keep the stolen speeder level and stable as Iaarkahr's bulk hit the front end. With the wookie's form covering much of speeder's wind screen, Bril pulled himself up and half out the pilot's side door window into an almost standing position to keep him view as unobstructed as possible. His feet still rested lightly on the pedals with one arm staying in the cabin, hand firmly gripping the control yoke as the other arm rested atop the lowered window, propping his body up.

"Hang on tight, Kahr! We're getting Amaya."

That was all the warning Bril gave before coaxing the stolen speeder back around towards the showdown between his crew mate and the gamorrean. From the position he was in, Bril didn't have the finest control of the speeder but he did his best to maneuver it into a position that put the hunk of metal in between Amaya and her assailant. As he flew Bril made sure the speeder was pointed more towards the gamorrean than Amaya, just in case he'd misjudged the distance between them.

OOC: Another Piloting roll I'm guessing?
This message was last edited by the player at 02:49, Fri 29 Mar 2019.

Amaya blinked for a moment, then she gently prompted the Gammorean as if he was an actor who had simply forgotten his lines.  "Um, you are supposed to fall down now."

She fired again, just to remind him...

OOC:  23:40, Today: Amaya Moondancer rolled 3 successes, 1 advantage using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2A ((4(A), 7(A))).

This time, a scared Amaya will put what she can into this shot at Porky...
This message was last edited by the player at 04:42, Fri 29 Mar 2019.

[No need for another Piloting roll this time, though I'd have asked if it looked like you were trying to hit the gamorrean. This'll give Iaar a shot with his pork-chopper, and I'll say Amaya's action comes before your movement so she doesn't shoot you by mistake. :P

Speaking of...

21:54, Today: The Force rolled 2 failures using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1D.  Amaya shot difficulty.

2 failures brings Amaya's end result to 1 success, 1 advantage! This means 7 strain, and a boost to the next acting character's roll. (He technically doesn't take strain because he's an NPC, but I won't let this kind of damage kill him.)

Gamorrean 1 - 14/14 Wounds
Gamorrean 2 - 2/14 Wounds]

Iaarkahr, immensely enjoying his escapades, will attempt to stabilize himself (if necessary) on the landspeeder before positioning himself to take a lateral, baseball-like swing at the wounded Gamorrean.  It was a tricky attack, positioning himself as he was on the speeding landspeeder but he managed but he still succeeded, taking out the Gamorrean in the process.  His next trick will be to try and grab his companion and get everyone out of the trouble they were in.  "Hold on, Amaya, I'm going to try and rescue you from this situation!"

00:05, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 2 successes, 5 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1P 3A.  Athletics check (with no difficulty).
00:05, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 1 success using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2A 2P 2D.  attack wounded Gamorrean. [9 damage before soak]
Let me know what I have to roll to attempt to grab Amaya on our way by.

“But I’ve just gotten the engines open!” Zindra complained childishly. Getting to look at new technology was the second best part of her job, after getting to meet people from far-off worlds more interesting than Tarawa. She sighed and turned to face Captain Jalmac. “I’ll have to close up the engines before you can leave. And we’re stilling refueling the ship, we’ll have to cut that.”
Zindra looked up at Jalmac. “You did pay for the maintenance that’s been done, right?” Trying to leave without paying would explain his sudden hurry. There were a few explanations she could think of for Jalmac’s actions, some quite exciting, but all trouble.
Zindra checked one of the tools on her belt; she'd need those soon. “Do you know how to fly the Silver Thorn, sir?” she asked curiously. She was sure he had a pilot when he arrived. Where was Brilk?

It all happened so fast. The police speeder engine spun up to a high pitched whine and sped the pair straight into danger. Iaarkahr's weapon reached out to clip the startled gamorrean, who took a small leap backwards in time to keep his body mostly closed. Amaya managed to grab onto the speeder's hood as it passed. Vol leveled his rifle and fired a bright blast of highly-charged energy right at one of the police speeders being used as a barrier, slagging the engine. A hail of police fire came down on him, searing holes in the dark cloak as it fluttered to the ground.

Then, just like that, Iaarkahr was reaching down to pull Amaya into the speeder, and Vol was nowhere to be seen. At least he'd gotten the attention of the now-bruised and singed police officers.

---

The captain was looking more and more exasperated the longer the girl talked, and the more questions she asked. He looked for all the world like he was ready to snap at her when her last question took him aback.

"What? Can I fly her? Now you listen here, kid. I've been flying since I was half your age! I just prefer to keep myself busy with more important matters, that's all. Business deals, inventory checks, holovids. The boring parts of piloting's what these droids are for. Now you just worry about getting my baby up in the sky quick as quick gets, or next time I'll find someone else to handle her." He turned from Zindra to start marching onto the ship. Meanwhile, the cargo droids had loaded the crates (apparently of more droids) onto the ship's loading lift, which slowly started easing them up into the cargo hold.

"So much for our ranger friend!" Bril shouted over the chaos, "What now?"

The twi'lek pilot wasn't waiting for an answer though. The second Amaya had climbed onto the speeder, Bril began maneuvering the stolen speeder in the straightest line he could find away from the gun fire. As he attempted to flee, Bril kept his head on a swivel in search of Delta Avenue. His goal was to make sure he could find the spaceport if worst came to worst and the only option they were left with was a mad dash off world.

"Yipee!" Amaya cried out at being saved.  It seemed right.

"All right, all right, I believe you. I’m sure you are a great pilot, one of best.” Zindra said soothingly. That’ll teach me to worry about customers. She didn’t want to lose her job and have to go back to the farm, that would bore her to tears. Still, things did seem odd to her. She took off her hat and ran a hand through her blonde hair.  “Right, I’ll get the ship ready, I have experience with fast turnarounds. You can count on me” Once Jalmac had marched onboard, Zindra pulled out her comlink and called her boss. “Hey, boss, Captain Jalmac wants to get the Silver Thorn ready to go, we’ll need to shut down the fuel lines. And, uh…” she lowered her voice as she moved around towards the fuel lines. “…he did pay, right?”

Iaarkahr would next attempt to place Amaya in one of the speeder seats so she was no longer in danger of falling off and then find a seat himself.  Once there, he would help Bril navigate the streets, "I agree, We should head back to the ship.  I suspect we're going to want to make a quick exit off-planet once word of this spreads.  Is everyone all right?"

Amaya tried to answer in wookie but it sounded like a jawa gargling.  So she simply said, "Yep, ready to go from this place."

With nothing left here but trouble, Bril got the police speeder powered up and throttled away from the scene with a high whine from the engine! The police had too much on their hands already to follow them immediately, but odds were that wasn't going to stop more from tracking them down. The speeder needed to be ditched fast, and the crew needed to get back to their ship. The only place to really go was going to be the spaceport.

---

Zindra, meanwhile, was just finishing up the last of the work outside the ship, and needed to head into the hyperdrive room to secure the last few power couplings. While making her way through tight corridors, made extra exciting by trying to scoot past the slow-moving cargo droids bringing in boxed droids themselves, she managed to catch the captain's voice in some kind of heated argument over a comlink.

"--don't care, what happens to them now is your problem, not mine. We've both got businesses to run, alright? So lemme do my job and make sure you do yours, everybody wins. Heh. Hey, it's not like you're gonna kill 'em, right? They'll be fine sooner or later."

Iaarkahr relaxes, as much as is possible, while fleeing the scene.  There was little to do at the moment except wait but soon, very soon, there would be answers.

No matter how he had to get them....

Zindra had been enjoying herself, but froze on hearing the voices. He said kill, right? That wasn't my imagination? Well, specifically he said not kill, but that still implied something unpleasant. She listened carefully trying to catch any more information and tensed for action. She's grateful she hadn't lost the habit of wearing a sidearm, even though a mechanic seldom needs it.

"Let's hope we can meet up with the others soon." Amaya said.  "We are stronger together than apart."  It was a teenager's nature to occasionally state the redundant and obvious.

"Yeah, I agree, Amaya."

Bril's knuckles were white as he gripped the speeder's controls. After a little bit of searching he found the switch that controlled the siren and flipped it off. The more he could lower their profile the better. Doing his best to merge and bled into the traffic headed for the spaceport, "What do you think, Kahr? Do we try to make our case to the cops and hope the section chief isn't in on it or do we just try to get back to the spaceport and get out of here?"

Iaar nods at both Amaya and Brilk'airn, "We should leave this planet as soon as possible.  The officers at the station may also be corrupt and I want as little trouble as possible from this.  That ship had better be ready to leave when we get there."  He growls, with a little extra irritation added to the last sentence.

The crew in the stolen police speeder flew down the streets, streaking past other drivers as they went. The internal comlink squawked some explanation from dispatch about the stolen police speeder's location, before suddenly cutting to silence. It wasn't going to be long before more company arrived. Brilk'airn navigated their way toward the spaceport. The sooner they got offworld, the better.

---

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Delaron system, Captain Vangar. Don't worry, everything's in my more than capable hands. Come on, a child could handle this. I'll see your credits when I get back."

When the captain's call ended, he struck open another comlink channel, this time to Zindra.

"Hey, kid! How's my engine... looking?" It seemed he could hear his own voice coming from Zindra's comlink in the hallway. She could hear his seat squeak as he rose up out of it, and his heavy footsteps approached the door with purpose.

Zindra backs up and grips her holstered slugthrower with one hand. "It's looking fine!" she calls out. "But I'm going to have to ask you what happened to Brilk and the pervious crew of this ship!" Part of her was thrilled at finally having some serious excitement. A larger part of her was seriously frightened.

"If the ships not ready we might as well be flying straight to prison but I'd rather bet on the crew at the spaceport than the cops." Bril agreed. The Twi'lek couldn't think of a better option so he continued the speeder's course to the spaceport. Relaxing his grip on the controls, Bril settled into a more comfortable rhythm. Bril's nerves were stating to calm now that he wasn't worried about having an untold number of blasters firing at his vehicle. He needed to take what time he had to prepare himself for whatever they were speeding into.

Captain Jalmac stepped out of the cockpit and peered around the corner down at the engineer, his eyes narrowed in suspicion and mouth twisted in planning. One hand rested on the hatchway's frame, while the other rested on his hip, thumb hooked into his belt. It put his hand right next to the unlatched holster of his blaster.

"Oh, oh. Glad to hear we're ready to take off. Well, little lady, the crew was needed elsewhere, so I swapped them out for some helpful droids. Now I'm thinking it was a good call, picking up an astromech while I was at it, since they tend not to ask questions that might get them hurt. You weren't planning to do anything with that little peashooter, by any chance, were you? That'd be a big problem for everyone."

---

Brilk'airn and Amaya were getting comm chatter from the police, giving the ID number of the speeder, their location and direction, and... then suddenly nothing but static. They'd moved channels to keep the thieves in the dark, which couldn't be good. It wasn't long before they'd reached the spaceport, with their very own Silver Thorn sitting on its docking pad! Unfortunately, three police speeders were already there, waiting with lights flashing and the six officers with their blasters drawn, aiming up at the stolen police speeder once it came into sight. They'd made themselves into a loose barricade between the crew and their ship.

For the moment, Iaarkahr held on tight to the edge of the speeder.  Their ship was just ahead but first they had to deal with the barricade of cruisers.

There was little he could do at the moment but things were bound to get real exciting, one way or another.

OOC: short post while we get things back up and running

Zindra couldn't help but notice Captain Jalmac was a bigger person than her, with a better gun. She was beginning to seriously question the wisdom of having said anything. "Er… no, of course I wasn't" she said, smiling her most innocent smile. "Ship's look pretty good."
"But just so you know, the hyperdrive isn't calibrated correctly... I wouldn't want to go anywhere before that was fixed" Zindra lied. She looked around for somewhere to run if Jalmac makes a threatening move.

Bril felt his heart leap when the Silver Thorn came into view and then sink down deep into his chest when he noticed the makeshift barricade ahead of it. Their formation looked loose and Bril thought he might be able to shoot a gap between two of the speeders. It beat running down any of the officers. There was no way to know if they were dirty or just following orders.

"Hold on tight!"

Bril jammed the throttle full as he attempted to guide the stolen speeder to the Silver Thorn and trusting his old racing experience to keep the number of collisions along the way to a minimum.

[I like the way you think, Bril! Give me a Piloting - Planetary roll. You get a Blue Boost die for the cops absolutely not expecting this suicidal plan. I'm spending a Dark Side Destiny Point to increase the difficulty, so it's going to be 3 Red Challenge dice. The consequence of failure is going to be damage: to the speeder for Failure, to you for Despair. Good luck!

Destiny Pool: 4 Light, 3 Dark]

Alright it's been a while but I think I rolled correctly.

10:18, Today: Brilk'airn rolled 1 failure, 3 advantages, 1 despair using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1B 2A 2P 3C ((1(B), 3(A), 5(A), 7(P), 9(P), 3(C), 4(C), 12(C))).

"Eep!" Amaya said, "How can I help?"

The crew went flying toward their ship, with police warnings to stop having been utterly ignored! The officers, visibly shaken by Brilk's reckless tactic, lost their nerve and started to open fire on their stolen speeder. Blaster bolts scored the canopy and front of the vessel, until one blast managed to unseal the canopy! It broke off, leaving Brilk'airn without its protection; a few shots later, one of the bolts managed to find its way into the pilot, searing a hole in him!

All that in the span of just a couple of seconds that felt like an eternity to all involved. When it was over, the speeder was beyond the barricade (the officers having scattered before two of their own speeders were knocked about), smoking from the overworked and badly beaten engine. The crew had only seconds to recover and get moving, with the police picking themselves up off the ground as well.

[The Failure means the Speeder takes damage! That's 7 Wounds to the Speeder, which isn't enough to take a single point of Hull Trauma. (Vehicles operate at Planetary Scale, so each point is ten points of Personal Scale. It takes 10 Wounds to deal 1 Hull Trauma.)

The Despair means the Canopy opens and Bril takes damage! That's 7 Wounds to Bril, which can be reduced by your Soak value. Blasters are super dangerous.

Now everyone gets a round of action before they're under attack again, and there are way too many police here to fight off by yourselves.]

---

The Captain nodded suspiciously at Zindra, letting his hand leave the blaster at his side.

"Hyperdrive problems, huh? I guess we'll have to calibrate it once we're in the air." He stomped back over to his console and hit the boarding ramp controls. Then he turned back to Zindra with a smug smirk. <brown>"Looks like you're on the crew now. Congratulations. I'll have that blaster from you, Cindy." Once again, he lumbered toward her menacingly.

Outside the ship, the familiar sound of the boarding ramp hydraulics cycling up for use preceded its slow rising. There wasn't much time left to get in. Or out.

Iaar does his best to tumble safely out of the speeder after it crashes through the barricade.  He makes sure he has his axe securely in hand then looks around to make sure everyone is ok then, as he notices the boarding ramp start to climb up he shouts, "Get on board the ship!  Hurry, we don't have much time!"  Then makes his way towards the same while looking back to make sure everyone is following.

Bril had managed not to be thrown from the speeder despite the canopy popping open thanks to his chair's harness. Fumbling madly at the harness until it released him, Bril inhaled sharply as pain shot out from where a blaster bolt had grazed his arm as he pushed himself out of the cockpit and began dashing after Iaarkahr. "The Silver Thorn's about to take off! Why's it taking off!?"

"It's not a blaster. It's a slugthrower" Zindra says. "Thanks for the crew slot, but I think I'll quit." She scrambles backwards, looking for cover. She wasn't too frightened yet; a little excitement was a welcome change, as long as it didn't end up with her dead or kidnapped to some faraway planet.

The cruel captain jammed a button on the console with his fist.

"Alright, droid, initiate take-off!"

"Beginning pre-flight checkli--"

"NOW!"

"Skipping pre-flight checklist."

He turned from the console, blaster already in hand, and began to tromp after Zindra, each footfall shaking deckplates.

"Where do you think you're goin', kid? You're only making this worse for yourself!" The whole ship lurched to one side from the hurried take-off, and Jalmac caught himself on a bulkhead. "You're leaving home, greasemonkey. Think you can hide from me on my own ship?"

---

Brilk'airn, Amaya, and Iaarkahr managed to make it onto the boarding ramp before it closed, effectively dodging the few stun blasts that came from the police outside. That didn't seem to help too much when the sound of their captain's voice boomed through the corridors, and the familiar vibration of his angry stomps rattled the floor. Just as the boarding ramp locked into place, the trio was knocked right back down to the deck by a sharp jostle. The ship was being piloted, but if Bril was there and Jalmac was close by, who was flying?

[Alright! Now we get to make use of the deck plans I spent so long picking!

We're now on the middle deck. The trio are on the starboard side, on the closed boarding ramp. Zindra can be in the center ring or any of the cabins next to it, including the cargo holds, the cockpit corridor, or immediately up or down the ladder to one of the other decks. Jalmac himself has left the portside equipment bay, where he was using comms equipment and stuff. There are also now some droids running about, though none are explicitly combat droids (what with those being hella illegal and Captain Jalmac would never willingly break Imperial law, as that would be just awful, right?). But they can still potentially be a hindrance.

It's now the PCs' turn!]

Iaarkahr motions for quiet as the entry ramp closes behind them, "I don't think Zindra Jalmac is expecting us so we have the element of surprise for the moment.  Let's stick together while we find him and ask him a few questions." as he makes sure his vibro axe is conveniently accessible.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:55, Wed 15 Jan 2020.

"Agreed, Kahr, the captain has a lot to answer for." Bril's words were a lot braver than his actions. The Twi'lek did his best to silently skulk forward, looking for sings of Jalmac without straying too far from Iaarkahr's side.

Zindra scampered into one of the cargo holds and took cover behind some cargo pallets, trying to hide. She quietly drew her slugthrower pistol. If she had to use it, it would be anything but quiet.

Jalmac slowly stomped along the radial walkway to the nearest cargo hold door, glanced at the one beside it, and opened the one he'd initially approached.

"Hey, kid. Sorry if I startled ya before. I'm a bit of a grouch sometimes, but I ain't such a bad guy." The captain pulled his head from inside the cargo hold, shut the door, and started toward the next one. "Come on, let's talk this over."

[With the ship being as small as it is, he's going to find somebody in short order. The question is how will that go? I want Stealth rolls from each of you at 1D 1C from Jalmac's perception skills and 1S from the small size of the ship. Bril and Iaarkahr will be rolling with an extra 1S from talking, however quietly, because the ship is just that small and they're in the same room (essentially) as the captain.

So to recap: Zindra will be rolling at 1D 1C 1S while Brilk'airn and Iaarkahr will be rolling at 1D 1C 2S. If we still have Amaya, she'll be rolling the same as her two larger companions.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:48, Sun 26 Apr 2020.

Surprisingly, Iaarkahr was able to keep his voice down despite his frustration and anger with the situation.  He looked around but still wasn't sure where Jalmac went, but his stealth should help find him before he found them.

11:36, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 1 success, 1 advantage using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2A 1d 1s 1c.  stealth.
Will spend 1 advantage to give the next player 1B die

Bril crept along, sticking close to Iaarkakr. The situation was tense and Bril forced himself to take slow deep breaths in an attempt to stay calm.

12:43, Today: Brilk'airn rolled no successes, 1 threat using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 4A 1B 1D 1C 2S.  Stealth (+ Iaarkahr's Boost).

Zindra tried to keep quiet, holding one hand over her mouth and keeping the other on her slugthrower pistol.


01:19, Today: Zindra rolled 1 failure, 1 threat using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 3A 1D 1C 1S.  Stealth.

With hardly any space to move, let alone to hide, Jalmac stopped his own stomping and held himself still. Through the thrum of the engines, something caught his attention; the captain turned from the cargo bay hatch and slowly reached his hand up to a control panel on the wall, preparing to open the boarding ramp mid-flight!

A thump and annoyed-sounding beeps and blats in binary stopped him, turning his attention back to the cargo bay hatch that opened to an exasperated droid rolling out. Zindra had accidentally bumped into the utility droid as it went about its duties, and it had no idea she was trying to hide. With a wicked grin and two quick stomps, Captain Jalmac made his way into the cargo bay.

"I've got you now..."

[I'll give the group another round of things to do. Jalmac doesn't have a lot of actions he can take at the moment besides being menacing, and I prefer to let my players be more proactive anyway.

As for those Threats, Zindra and Bril each take 1 Strain as a result of the tension and stakes involved.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:14, Sat 16 May 2020.

Zindra smiled awkwardly. "Hiya, captain. I need to work on my hiding. And I hope you've got earplugs." She raised her slugthrower and fired. She wasn't really trying to hit Jalmac, just get him to step back out of the cargo bay. She also wanted to disorient him with the roar of the weapon; compared to the zap of a blaster, slugthrowers were shockingly loud, and most people weren't used to them.

There was really no point in hiding anymore, was there?  Iaarkahr steps out from his hiding spot with a loud, very angry roar that almost matches Zindra's boomstick and moves into melee range with Jalmac and with a broad, sweeping arc attempts to vent some anger on their former captain.

16:50, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 2 successes using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2p 2A 2d ((1(P), 4(P), 8(A), 3(A), 5(D), 8(D))).  For a total of 9 damage pre-soak. [vibroax has qualities Pierce 2, Sunder, Vicious 3]

Seeing Iaarkahr step out and charge their former Captain, Bril briefly thought about following him but decided he was more likely to just get in the wookiee's way. Instead, Bril hurried to place himself between the Captain and The Thorn's cockpit, hopefully limiting Jalmac's options of retreating from Iaarkahr.

Zindra's shot took the captain by surprise, and immediately sent him back out of the cargo bay and straight into a roaring wookiee and his very eager ax! A quick backstep slammed Jalmac into the bulkhead, narrowly avoiding being cleaved in half! With a shocked expression quickly changing to a grimace, he fired a blast from his heavy blaster, then bolted around the center ring to reach the boarding ramp controls; a solid click and hiss later, the ramp was beginning to open, and air started being sucked out of the starship as it sped ever higher towards space. He kept the blaster aimed at where Iaarkahr would have to follow.

"I knew I couldn't trust the Fines to keep you away from my ship! Now stay back or you're gonna have a long drop!" It would seem he hadn't found Brilk'airn yet, who was in the opposite direction the captain was facing to target their furry crewmate.

For his part, Brilk'airn had spotted a droid in his seat. Some sort of basic piloting droid, from the looks of it, along with another of an even lesser model sitting as co-pilot.

[Zindra got successes to push the captain out and 2 Threat, which I'm using to give him some extra Boosts for dealing with Iaarkahr. Iaarkahr's attack deals a ton of Wound to the captain, but not enough to take him out.

And now I'm giving Brilk a chance to do something, with a few different options available. Time to get your action movie on!

As for the captain's attack on Iaarkahr:

14:11, Today: The Force, for the NPC Captain Jalmac, rolled 3 successes, 1 advantage using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1A 2P 2D 2B.  Shooting Iaarkahr.

That brings us to 10 damage and giving Iaar 1 Setback. Hoo boy, things went from 0 to 60 pretty fast here.]

Having circled around the opposite direction of Iaarkahr, Bril found himself behind the Captain as the duo traded blows. His fist instinct was to climb into the pilot seat and see what he could do from there but the way things were looking it'd likely just give Jalmac time to throw them all out the cargo door one at a time.

It was time for Bril to make a stand. In one smooth motion Bril pulled his pristine holdout blaster from it's holster hidden inside his jacket, leveled it at the small of Jalmac's back and fired. The twi'lek did his best to remain unnoticed until light and sound erupted from the barrel of his weapon.

13:23, Today: Brilk'airn rolled 2 successes using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 4A 1C 1S.  Ranged (Light).
This message was last edited by the player at 19:25, Sun 07 June 2020.

"All you've done is make me angry!" Iaarkahr bellows in a ferocious wookie roar as he takes careful aim and swings his vibro-axe at Jalmac with even greater fury.  Should this drop our captain, Iaarkahr will then move, if possible, to close the off-ramp.

13:24, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 3 successes, 3 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2a 2p 1d 1c 1s 1b ((4(A), 6(A), 3(P), 6(P), 2(D), 1(C), 2(S), 4(B))).

Total of 11 damage (7 base, 3 successes, 1 wounded wookie)
Pierce 2, Sunder, Vicious 3 for axe qualities.
2 advantage for a critical hit and one advantage to give the next player 1B
13:28, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 130 using 1d100+30 ((100)): gruesome injury 13:31, Today: Iaarkahr rolled 3 using 1d10 ((3)) => Brawn reduced by 1
Injury is 4d as well

This is going to hurt.

Iaarkahr faced down the double-barrels of the captain's blaster, when Jalmac's face suddenly shifted to surprise. Bril's shot pierced right through his back and belly, leaving him confused and with a decent-sized hole in him. The wookiee then proceeded to cut a gash across the man's chest, sending him tumbling down the still-opening boarding ramp, one last solid <i>thump<\i> sounding before he fell out of sight.

Iaarkahr quickly closed the boarding ramp before anything else went flying out of it.

Captain Jalmac was gone, the crew had recovered their ship, and the Fines were far behind them now. Things might be okay.

[Congratulations on completing the first episode of Edge of Rebellion! Everyone gets 15XP and a shared starship! It has several droids on it, because charging you bazillions of buckazoids for covering any shipboard gaps in skills or beingpower is silly. Be prepared for Episode 2, coming soon!]