Koi took a deep breath. She hadn't realized that she had been holding it.  The fear that she could lose her crew members had a tighter hold on her than she realized.  But Wix broke through her panic.

She closed her eyes and tried to recall every conversation they'd had since they landed. Surely there was a clue about where they'd gone.   After a minute, the answer bloomed in her thoughts..

It seemed so obvious, now, especially with what you already knew about them and how you met them.

They were all arrested and captured by The First Order. Whether it was because of something new they had done here, or for their previous infractions as rebels, who could say? The means and method was largely irrelevant now.

Koi gently taps her forehead against the bulkhead.  Why couldn't the Captain follow their own advice of "Do what you want, but don't get caught"?!

"Wix, if the First Order captured my crew-mates, where would they be?"   She asked with a touch of self-directed exasperation. "And how am I going to get them out of this mess?"

The idea of leaving them to the First Order was not even remotely entertained.  No crew members or friends left behind!

She adds, "Am I going to need to hire a space lawyer?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:41, Sun 04 Oct 2020.

Wix waved his hands, not understanding the questions being largely rhetorical

"To free friends, need friends! Take fight to them!"

Without another word, Wix starts to run away, heading down the ramp off the ship.

"Hey, wait up!"  Koi quickly closes up the ship and follows Wix.

She takes a surreptitious look over her shoulder to make sure they aren't being followed.

"Find friends! Find Friends!" He called out to himself, not stopping for you. In such a hurry, Wix lost focus on where he was going, and barrelled straight into a large wall.

Or, rather, through, the wall.

Wix returns, seemingly moving back through the same wall he had before, carrying what looked like a battered, ancient communications device of some kind.

"Wix watch..out?" Koi follows him, pausing to wave her hand through the wall. Or try to at least. "Huh.."

Hanging around Wix was like following a fast current, you needed to hang on tight and go with the flow. "So..who are you going to call?"   She asked uncertainly, as she examined the ancient communication device.  "It looks like something that ghost would have used..Or maybe a tricorder.."

"Talk-box" Wix responded as he meddled with the machine in his hands "First Order no interest in old things. Jawa talk secrets. We get help" After a few bangs, there's a very rough signal coming through. The chattering between Wix and the person on the other side was too rapid to be decipherable. After a while, Wix put it down as the communication died.

"Have plan! Friends coming to help! We lucky, drive First Order away! Need BIG generator!"

"Huh, how does it work?"  Koi peered at the ancient communication device, her hands itching with a desire to fix it.  Or at least tinker with it.

"A big generator?!" Koi was taken aback,"What kind of plan needs a big generator?  Just how many friends are coming?"  This certainly escalated quickly.  Was her friend king of the Jawa?
This message was last edited by the player at 01:47, Wed 07 Oct 2020.

"Emit signal through antenna, other machine recieve! They call back."

Wix points out into the dunes. "Sandcrawler Coming. Many Jawa. Many years scavenging to defend ourselves. Sand People! Empire First Order! Take fight to them! end fighting for good! Special thing need power! Find generator!"

Koi pauses for a minute.  She was expecting to break her captain out of a local jail.  Not start a war. "Are you sure about this Wix?  I really want to get my crew back, but I don't want your friends to get hurt either."

She ran her hand through her hair, her brow creased with worry.  What were the chances that her crewmates were in a local jail?  Some of the stories they told with sidelong glances and veiled references were..more than a little hair-raising.  And she thought she might be hearing some of the tamer ones.

Maybe Wix was right.  Maybe they would need a war to get them back. Am I ready to do that? Am I ready to kill people if I have to? Am I ready to get people killed?   She took a deep breath and searched her feelings.  After a moment, her heart answered a quiet, firm yes. I am not going to surrender my crewmates or friends to the First Order. I'm not going to stand by while they are marched off to be excuted. I wouldn't surrender Wix to that either.

Her mouth feels as dry as last autumn's leaves. "If you're sure, Wix..well, we could try to hook up the ship's generator.  And if that' not big enough, well the barrack's generator blew today. Some kind of magical accident. We could either steal the broken one and fix it. Or steal the replacement.  They'd need to bring in a replacement right quick."

Wix seemed to wander a little bit, before slowly walking back up the ramp to the ship and sitting down, his tiny legs dangling over the edge.

He let out a small sigh before speaking "Wix scared. Wix tired of hurting. Tired of bullies. What if plan won't work? What if fighting make more fighting? More Jawa hurt. killed. Because of Wix..."

Koi came over slowly, quietly and sat next to Wix.  "I'm worried about that too. We can do our best to spy out the situation beforehand. We can tell your friends as much as we know about the situation and let them decide for themselves." She pauses, "I don't know how bad it is here - I just flew in -- but even if people do get killed.  It's not your fault Wix.  The First Order are the bullies, not you. I'm guessing that others likely feel scared and bullied too.  If they want to take a stand with us; well they've seen the First Order and know what risks they're taking.  If they still want to fight, well I'm honored and I'll do my best to help."

Koi is quiet again for a long moment. She's not someone that speaks in haste - the contrast with the excitable Wix makes her deliberate way of speaking seem to stand out more. "I think my crewmates know The New Republic. Or they're a part of it. If you want, we'll talk to them about having you and your friends become allies and get some help from their group."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:54, Sun 11 Oct 2020.

"Wix told Republic no care before. " his voice was contemplative "before Empire. Maybe different now. Have to try. No see change, be change."

Wix slowly rose to his feet and patted you gently as he did. "Thank you. We go now. Hopefully, ship no sink in sand. Not enough shovels."

Koi rises in a smooth graceful way as she's thinking of something else.  Before teh Empire? Just how old is Wix? He mentioned a family, but does he have kids or grandkids? She follows him out to..where ever they are going to meet his friends. But she tries to keep her eyes open for anything that might suggest that they are being followed.

Koi isn't sure what he wants to do about the generator he needs.  It seems like that part of Wix's plan was lost under the leaves of his worry.  At least for now. I guess we'll cross that stream when we get to it.

The Jawa scurried around the various compartments of the ship, searching for something. After a few moments without either sound or success, the Jawa turns to you with his arms outstretched

"need cable! BIG cable! run out from ship power! Power droids with!"

"Hang on a second Wix, your friends aren't even here yet." Koi admonishes him gently as he appears to oscillate between maudlin and frantic. "Why don't you tell me more about these droids while I look for a suitable cable?"



OOC: Okay, I'm getting a little confused. Are they still in the hanger where Koi's ship is?  It seemed like Wix was running around, running through holo-walls and wandering around. Where did we go?

The Jawa points away. From the hallways of the ship, it's impossible to be sure if he's necessarily pointing the correct direction or not.

"We meet them. No let Sandcrawler into city. Dangerous for heavy ship."

The Jawa begins moving about the ship again in his search "Wix find shovel too."

"Alright, just hang on and let me look. If you're moving things around, we need to put them back before we go.  It can be dangerous to have unstowed gear when flying -- especially in atmosphere." She reminds him gently. It's a little nerve wracking to have him wandering around the ship. Like most spacers, she quickly became a tidy person.

After several minutes of methodically looking through the ship's store of back up equipment, she holds up a thick cord. "Will this do?  There should be a shovel with the camping equipment."

"We can take the speeder out of the city."

OOC: Thanks for the summary.  Did not realize that Wix used a force power on the wall

Search: 15:55, Today: Koi Sundar rolled 20 using 1d20+6 ((14)).
.

"Wix confused" Wix extends his arms out to mimic a plane "You say we use ship generator. No fly there? Take speeder, no need shovel."

Koi pauses and tries to arrange her thoughts. "If I take the ship out of the city.  We're probably going to be noticed. Even if the hanger isn't being watched, it's likely unusual for people to fly out into the sands. Heck, I was followed even taking the speeder out there. So if we take the ship out there, we might not be able to land it in the hanger again without being surrounded by stormtroopers.  Which it's a big commitment. And I'm not clear how to get the droids into the city without having them be killed right out."

She frowns, "also, the ship will probably be tracked to your big sand ship. It may mean that your friends are more forced into action.  Which didn't seem as fair to them. If we can sneak the robots into the city and power them up here, it will be harder to figure out where your friends are out in the sands.  I thought it might keep them safer."

She wasn't sure if it made any sense.  It was more a hunter's instinct to keep predators far from one's den than a trained soldier's perspective.  "Honestly Wix, I'm not a soldier, I'm just going by what feels right.  I think my ghost friend is a soldier though.  I could try to ask her..Maybe she'd have a better idea."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:02, Sun 18 Oct 2020.

Wix nods in agreement "Good plan. Smart lady. No need shovel than, but still need other things." He seems still and silent for a moment "Droids still need power. Jawa no have word for special droid, but it go whooshy whooshy" As he made circular motions with his two small hands.

Koi looked confused by the 'wooshy wooshy' droids.  Where they cleaning droids? "I'm sure I'll understand when I seem them."

She paused, "Do you mind if I try to talk to the Ms. Ghost? I'm hoping that my ideas are smart, but she seems like she has some good ideas too."

With Wix hopefully quiet for a few minutes, Koi sat down in the mess area and closed her eyes.  She let her thoughts quiet, and not worry or think -- but just exist.  After a centering moment, she tried to reach out to the velvety darkness behind her eyes and recall the presence she felt before. "Ma'am..can you help us?"

OOC: ouch..7..for use the force. Can I take 10 on this?

OOC: You can't make that call after you already rolled, but since you weren't sure, I'll make that exception this time.

As you focus, the sounds around you seem to fade away, until seeming nothing remains except a single tone. Hard to describe, and yet immediately familiar. In this moment, you begin to recognize that this has been with you always. Your entire life, you've thought you could sense something beyond the constant current of noise in life. The noise begins to take more solid form, turning into a voice.

"I will do what I can to guide and protect you, and the one you travel with. As a Jedi Knight, it is my duty, and my honor, even as I have passed on and become One with the Force."

Something compelled you to open your eyes, and as you, stands the ghost of the Jedi Knight from before
This message was last edited by the player at 22:17, Sat 24 Oct 2020.

"Oh.."  Koi murmured in wonder. "I'm really glad. My friends have been captured by the First Order.  And Wix's people are also sore oppressed. He offered to help me free my friends with some robots and ask his people for help.  But I'm not sure what the best way to do it. Neither of us are soldiers or generals or nights. I can take the ship out to power up his robots, but I'm not sure how to get them back in the city sneakily. I know we'll have to fight my friend free, but I..want to make sure I don't take fool risks with the lives of these good people." She looks pained, "And I don't want to make things worse for them. Even if they're already bad. Can you help us figure out a plan?"

OOC: Thanks, I will keep that in mind. I've really had about 3 spare neurons all week..yay Management review.