Xanatos sits in a grimy, darkened room which appears to have once been a medbay. Long abandoned, it seems to have been recently converted into a storage room. Several lockers and canisters have been piled against the walls and the battered and scratched medical table is covered in rusted tools and broken droid parts.

The CEO of Off-World Mining Corporation is seated on the floor at the foot of the medical table, his hands cuffed behind him to one of the legs which bolts the table to the floor. His long hair is matted and dishevelled, and grime covers his extravagant robes.

The door to the room slides open, and Captain Lorth Needa of the Galactic Stratocracy is dragged in by a pair of weequay and shoved roughly to the floor beside Xanatos. He sports a nasty gash on the left side of his head and his uniform smells of ozone. One of his captors pulls out a pair of stun cuffs and secures the captain to the other leg of the medical table, saying something to his companion in Sriluurian as he does so. The pair laugh coarsely as they exit the room, slamming the door roughly behind them.

There is a moment of silence as Needa surveys Xanatos through the gloom, narrowing his eyes.

"So, I take it you are not the one responsible for my abduction?"

"And I take it the Stratocracy is not the one responsible for mine," Xanatos agrees, testing the strength of the medical table.

Needa follows suit, also bracing himself against the table support as he attempts to break free.

"You don't have some Jedi power that might help in getting us out of this predicament?" he queries with a wince as the cuffs jam tight against his gloved wrists.

OOC: Lorth Needa rolled 9 using 1d20+1. Escape Artist.

"I would point to the neural disruptor around my neck, but as you can see..." Xanatos says dryly with another tug at the table, "So no, I am not resorting to the normal human being way of getting out of stun-cuffs by choice."

OOC: Xanatos rolled 18 using 1d20+1. Strength.

Needa glances at the device on the other's neck, raising his eyebrows in comprehension. He then proceeds to time a tug of his own tug with Xanatos'.

OOC: Lorth Needa rolled 12 using 1d20. Strength.

The table gives a low groan as the combined force of the two men is enough to rip its legs free from the floor, contorting the table by just enough of an angle so as to allow the men to slip their cuffed hands from under the legs and free them from their position.

"Careful!" hisses Needa as he uses the back of his head to stop a broken hydrospanner from rolling off the edge of the table.

This being achieved, he rises stiffly and with some difficulty slips his cuffed hands about his feet so that they are in front of him. He pauses for a moment, listening for any sound of the guards outside, and after a moment, satisfied, he examines the table, scooping up an old hydrowrench as a weapon.

OOC: Lorth Needa rolled 20 using 1d20+8. Reflex.

Xanatos slips his own cuffed arms nimbly about his legs before raising them to fiddle with the disruptor about his neck. After a moment or two it gives a low beep and deactivates with a hiss.

"Much better," says the CEO, stretching his neck back and forth.

Needa gives a satisfied nod.

"I saw three guards in the corridor outside while they were escorting me in here," he informs Xanatos in a low voice, "A rodian and two weequay. If those two who dragged me in here decided to hang around then we are looking at five. Local ruffians by the look of them, but all armed with blasters."

"You do realise I am a simple, unarmed businessman, since Jedi powers are illegal these days, and that it is your job, as the soldier, to see to it that I am not harmed?" Xanatos points out, narrowing his eyes at the optimistic assumptions implicit in Needa's summary here.

"And if I had a squad of stormtroopers I would be more than happy to do so," Needa replies thinly, "As it is, I am cuffed and armed with a rusty hydrowrench. I would suggest that your sorcerer's powers might be more useful in a situation such as this. And they are not illegal," he adds after a moment, "Only regulated."

"A convenient distinction," Xanatos replies dryly, "Well, illegal or not, my 'sorcerous powers' are not going to stop any of those five thugs from shooting me in the chest, you do realise? Still, I suppose I can concede your point. In which case, if I will be doing the fighting, you can assist me to find a second..." Xanatos' gaze lingers on the rusty hydrowrench in Needa's hand, "...weapon. We will call it a weapon."

Needa follows his gaze to the would-be weapon, before offering it to Xanatos. Having done this, he selects the next least rusty tool from the table.

"We only need to defeat the thugs outside," he says reasonably, "After that there should be plenty of blasters to go around."

"True," Xanatos allows as he gives the spanner an experimental swing, "Though not all of us consider taking five-to-two odds while cuffed an 'only'. Can you get the door open? Always assuming our erstwhile captors remembered to lock it in the first place..."

The question is answered as Needa approaches the door, which gives an unhealthy rumble and slides open automatically. The two weequay and the rodian that the Captain spoke of are all seated on the floor of the corridor outside, pazaak cards and credit chips scattered on the floor between them. There is no sign of the pair who escorted Needa to the room. The three guards glance up in surprise as the door opens, scrambling to rise and draw their blasters.

OOC: Lorth Needa rolled 17 using 1d20+1. Initiative.
Xanatos rolled 14 using 1d20+3. Initiative.
Thugs rolled 4 using 1d20. Initiative.

Needa hurries toward the rodian, attempting to swing his hydrowrench into the ruffian's head. The rodian manages to dodge out of the way as Needa stumbles forward, scattering cards and credits across the floor.

"I see my taxpayer credits are being put to good use training the Stratocratic Military Academy's finest," Xanatos says snidely as he stretches out both cuffed hands to make a choking gesture at the nearest weequay, who's blaster falls from his grasp as he clutches at his throat, gasping helplessly as he slumps forward to one knee.

OOC: Xanatos used Force Choke on Weequay Thug.
Weequay Thug rolled 6 using 1d20+4. Fortitude.
Xanatos dealt 11 points of wound damage to Weequay Thug.

The other weequay's eyes have widened at Xanatos as he quickly raises his blaster to fire a wild blast which strikes the corridor a few meters from the CEO. The rodian fires a blast at Needa who hastily ducks as he scrambles forward to scoop up the choking weequay's weapon.

"I'm a naval officer, not a death trooper," Needa shoots back through gritted teeth as he raises the blaster to fire a hasty blast which strikes the rodian in the shoulder, sending him staggering backwards with a cry.

OOC: Lorth Needa dealt 9 points of wound damage to Rodian Thug.

Xanatos makes an unimpressed noise, tightening his left hand into a fist, before releasing it to allow the choking weequay to collapse unconscious to the floor. He then turns his attention to the remaining weequay with a menacing glare.

"If you want to live then now is the time to be producing the activation chip for these stun-cuffs."

OOC: Xanatos rolled 18 using 1d20+11. Intimidate.

The weequay doesn't seem to understand basic, but he understands enough to know that he doesn't want to end up like his unconscious companion, and holds his fire, glancing at the rodian, though he keeps his weapon aimed in Xanatos' direction.

The rodian, gasping haggedly and clutching his injured shoulder, doesn't take much convincing.

"We no have activation chip," he wheezes in broken Basic, "Korga have it."

OOC: Thugs rolled 11 using 1d20+2. Resist Intimidate.

"Who is Korga?" Xanatos demands coldly.

"Korga is boss," the rodian continues to wheeze, jerking his blaster up the corridor, "He in control room."

"Where are we?" Needa adds, his blaster still trained on the rodian, "How do we get off this facility?"

The rodian glances at the weequay, then at the unconscious form of their third companion.

"We on Kessel," he says, "Old mining facility. We have hanger on Level Two down turbolift."

Needa frowns thoughtfully, glancing at Xanatos and then back to the rodian.

"Who do you work for? Who is behind our capture?"

OOC: Lorth Needa rolled 21 using 1d20+15. Sense Motive.

The Rodian shakes his head.

"Me not know. Only work for Korga. Maybe he know more."

Xanatos nods pensively.

"Unfortunate. It seems it is this 'Korga' we will need to seek out if we are to get any answers. Does that have a stun setting?" Xanatos adds with a nod in the direction of Needa's blaster.

Needa nods, flicking a switch on the side of the weapon before stunning the Rodian then weequay in swift succession, both of whom collapse heavily to the floor. He then crouches with a wince beside the Rodian, who's weapon he tosses to Xanatos before moving over to strip the energy cell from the remaining weequay's blaster.

"Right," he says once this task is completed, "Now is where we hope this Korga had his best men guarding us..."

"It never hurts to be optimistic," Xanatos agrees, catching the blaster and examining it to see how functional it is, before kneeling down to tie up the unconscious pair with some cable from their utility belts, "It would also be helpful to get access to some schematics of this facility."

"We'll have to find a terminal of some kind," Needa says as he begins to make his way cautiously up the corridor, blaster raised, "Do you happen to have any skill with slicing?"

"I'd say 'only with lightsabers' but I fear that being the simple, honest businessman that I am, my strength does not lie there either," Xanatos replies, pausing to scoop up the scattered credits before following.

"Very droll," Needa replies as they near a security door at the end of the corridor, "Well then this is where we hope our captors do not have a particularly sophisticated security system in place."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:53, Mon 30 Nov 2020.

Needa presses the activation control beside the door, and it slides open. The pair find themselves standing at the entrance of a small control room in which a white-skinned Twi’lek is seated, feet resting on the terminal in front of him as he watches a datapad from which the roars and commentary of some form of sport are emanating. He glances up in alarm as the door opens, dropping his datapad as he hastily attempts to rise and reach for the blaster pistol resting beside the terminal.

"You don't want to do that," says Needa firmly, raising his blaster as he advances, before tripping on the lip of the doorway and sent crashing to the floor.

OOC: Lorth Needa rolled 13 using 1d20+7. Intimidate.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:11, Tue 01 Dec 2020.

The Twi'lek, who had paused in reaching for his weapon, swiftly snatches it up, taking aim at the captain.

OOC: Fenran Tal'ran rolled 22 using 1d20+4. Resist Intimitate.
Lorth Needa rolled 14 using 1d20+1. Initative.
Fenran Tal'ran rolled 10 using 1d20+1. Initiative.
Xanatos rolled 8 using 1d20+3. Initiative.

Needa sends a stun blast at the Twi'lek as he falls, which the strikes the wall nowhere near his intended target and as he hits the floor the captain's blaster is knocked from his hands and sent clattering across the floor.

The Twi'lek hastily fires a blast at Needa, but he is no marksman and the captain is able to roll hastily out of the way of the blast.

With a sigh, Xanatos stretches out both arms, and makes a pinching gesture in the direction of the Twi'lek's throat.

"I would think carefully if I were you, my friend. So far as I am aware, you have no particular quarrel with us. Is preventing our escape really something you are willing to die for?"

OOC: Xanatos used Force Choke on Fenran Tal'ran.
Xanatos rolled 24 using 1d20+11. Intimidate.

The Twi'lek places one hand to his throat as his breathing becomes hagged. His gaze darts sharply to Xanatos, and he doesn't take long to see the logic of the CEO's argument. With a hasty motion he sends his blaster clattering to the floor.

"It really isn't," he agrees, "I don't even like this job, to be completely honest. If it wasn't for my cousin's husband I wouldn't even be-"

OOC: Fenran Tal'ran rolled 17 using 1d20. Will.
Fenran Tal'ran rolled 18 using 1d20+4. Resist Intimidate.

"I'm sure you wouldn't," Needa interrupts, wincing as he crawls over to retrieve his blaster before picking himself up to direct the weapon at the Twi'lek once more, "So perhaps if you could give us some schematics of this place and direct us to the way out, we can all be on our way?"

"Uh, right, yes, of course," says the Twi’lek quickly, seating himself once more with a wary glance at Xanatos, "Schematics."

"And no alerting your friends, now," Needa adds firmly, moving behind the Twi'lek to watch the terminal screen and press his blaster into the Twi'lek's back.

"'Friends' is such a familiar term," the Twi'lek replies with a hollow laugh.

"Indeed," says Xanatos who moves over to scoop up the discarded datapad, still streaming what on closer inspection appears to be a pod race. With a few quick swipes Xanatos cuts the stream and places it on the desk beside the Twi'lek.

"Download the schematics onto this."

"Hey, that was-" the Twi'lek breaks off as the nozzle of Needa's blaster presses slightly deeper into his back, "Uh, right," he finishes quickly as he begins to type hastily into the terminal. After a few moments he takes hold of the datapad and plugs it into the terminal. There is a moment's pause, then a beep as he retrieves the datapad once more.

"We are here, and the hangar is just there," he says helpfully as he offers the datapad back to Xanatos, tapping each location in sequence.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:38, Tue 01 Dec 2020.

"Excellent," Xanatos says, accepting the device and pausing to give it a cursory check. Satisfied, he nods.

"I suggest you make yourself scarce as well. I doubt your cousin's husband will be pleased to hear you've helped his boss' prisoners to escape."

OOC: Xanatos rolled 24 using 1d20+17. Sense Motive.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:42, Tue 01 Dec 2020.

"One more thing," Needa says as the Twi'lek begins to rise hopefully, "Where can we find Korga?"

"Trust me, you don't want to find Korga," the Twi'lek says darkly, "But if you really have a death wish, he's in the detention cell interrogating the prisoner."

"Prisoner?" Needa frowns.

"Yeah, the Stratocratic officer girl," the Twi'lek replies, "Came on the same ship as you. Korga thought she might have some intel he could make a few credits off. Pity. She's not half bad looking. I'll tell you, I don't usually go for human girls, but-"

"Where is the detention cell?" Needa interrupts curtly.

"Right. Just there," the Twi'lek taps the datapad in Xanatos' hands.

"We'll need to free this officer, whoever she is," Needa says grimly, "And hopefully we can be rid of these cuffs at the same time."

"True," Xanatos agrees, albeit with slightly less enthusiasm than Needa, "I assume you can be persuaded to pull up footage of the cells on that terminal there-- what is your name, by the way?-- so that we can get a better view of the situation before our bout of heroism?"

"Uh, sure. And the name's Fenran," says the Twi'lek, typing swiftly to bring up security footage of the room in which a bulky Klatooinian stands, flanked by a pair of Weequay. In front of him is a force cage, in which a blonde haired woman is contained. Even as they watch, Korga presses a button on the wall beside the cage and a series of electrical tendrils arc out to engulf the woman, who opens her mouth in a silent scream as she jolts about the cage. Fenran makes a face as he glances back at Needa and Xanatos.

"Told you he was nasty."

Needa frowns at the camera with a grim nod as he begins to move briskly to the door leading to the detention room.

"Juno Eclipse," he asserts for Xanatos' benefit as he walks, "One of my best pilots, if she is in any condition to fly by the time we reach her."

Xanatos' brow creases, looking concerned and slightly sickened.

"You were right. It seems we had best get there sooner rather than later, Needa," he says decisively, turning away from the terminal and striding after Needa. At the door, he pauses, hesitating, looking back at the Twi'lek.

"You wish to go home right now and watch the rest of that swoop match in your apartment, wherever that is. You also wish to rethink your life choices, especially that of following your cousin's husband's advice on employment opportunities," he says, waving his hand.

OOC: Xanatos used Affect Mind on Fenran Tal'run. (DC 25 Will).

The Twi'lek stares at Xanatos blankly for a moment, before raising a quizzical eyebrow. Then he shrugs.

"Sure, yeah, that sounds like a solid plan to me."

With that he opens a drawer, scoops out a handful of credits, grabs his blaster pistol and heads to the exit leading to the hangar.

"Good luck boys," he salutes. Then he is gone.

OOC: Fenran Tal'run rolled a natural 20 using 1d20. Will.

Needa has already reached the door leading to the detention room, and holds his blaster ready as he attempts to pick his way silently down the corridor.

OOC: Lorth Needa rolled 10 using 1d20+1. Hide.
Lorth Needa rolled 8 using 1d20+1. Move Silently.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:03, Tue 01 Dec 2020.

Xanatos seems to see the sense of gaining the element of surprise, as he, too, walks as quietly as he can following Needa, blaster readied.

OOC: Xanatos rolled 14. Hide.
Xanatos rolled 16. Move Silently.

The door to the detention room is open, and the weequay standing by the door seems much more interested in what is going on inside the room than in the corridor he is supposed to be watching. He does glance around as Needa's boot taps once a fraction too loud on the metallic floor, but he spares only a cursory glance and does not notice the pair pressed against the wall.

OOC: Weequay Thug rolled 2. Spot.
Weequay Thug rolled 10. Listen.

As the pair draw closer, they are able to make out a coarse voice speaking.

"I'm startin' to lose my karkin' patience. Now you tell me what I want to know or I'll fry every cell in your body!"

They hear nothing in response but what they take to be a defiant silence, accompanied by the sound of hagged breathing.

"Fine," continues the course voice after a few moments, "then we keep doing this the hard way."

Needa quickly steps forward, switching his blaster to lethal as he fires a couple of blasts at the thug by the door, who gives a startled yelp as one blast strikes him in the arm, fumbling for his blaster.

OOC: Lorth Needa dealt 7 wound points to Weequay Thug.

Unfortunately for the thug, he doesn't get the chance to reach it, since Xanatos (who clearly does not believe in fair duels) shoots him in the chest.

"You have a choice, Korga," Xanatos says coolly, stepping over the Weequay's corpse as he levels the blaster at the Klatooinian. "Surrender or die."

"Watch out!" Needa calls as another Weequay darts out from an alcove to their left, blaster in hand. The Weequay raises his blaster but Needa is faster, blasting the thug squarely in the chest as with a cry he collapses heavily to the ground.

OOC: Lorth Needa dealt 18 wound points to Weequay Thug.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:17, Wed 10 Jan.

"Poor choice," Xanatos says grimly as Korga uses the distraction to whip out his own blaster as he darts behind the desk. Xanatos sends two blaster bolts flying past his shoulder, but unfortunately for the mining CEO, deskwork has not made him a particularly good marksman, and both his shots fly wide.

Upon reaching the cover of the desk, Korga darts up to fire back at Xanatos, who narrowly ducks away from the blast which singes the hair near his right ear.

OOC: Korga Gorzak dealt 13 vitality points to Xanatos.

Needa takes cover beside the door, sending a pair of blasts at the Klatooinian who hastily ducks back down beside the desk.

OOC: Lorth Needa dealt 16 vitality points to Korga Gorzak.

Taking advantage of Needa's cover, Xanatos darts forward to the desk, peering around it to blast the distracted Klatooinian point blank. The Klatooinian attempts to flinch out of the way, but the blast catches him in the shoulder, punching through his durasteel pauldron.

OOC: Xanatos dealt 16 vitality points to Korga Gorzak.
Xanatos dealt 1 wound point to Korga Gorzak.

With a savage snarl Korga fires back at Xanatos, who hastily ducks back around the desk as the blast whizzes past where his head was moments earlier.

OOC: Korga Gorzak dealt 11 vitality points to Xanatos.

Needa fires again at the Klatooinian, who has risen to chase after Xanatos, striking him squarely in the stomach. Korga gives a cry of pain and rage, gasping for breath, but this is still not enough to stop the enraged mercenary, who continues to stagger forward.

OOC: Lorth Needa dealt 10 wound points to Korga Gorzak.

"Klatooinians," Xanatos mutters, scrambling backwards as he blasts the Klatoonian in the shoulder and this still is not enough to drop the hulking mercenary.

OOC: Xanatos dealt 4 wound points to Korga Gorzak.

Korga fires back at Xanatos, but by this time he is decidedly sluggish, and his blast strikes the floor a meter or so to the left of the CEO.

"Mm-hmm," Needa agrees tersely as he fires yet another blast into Korga's chest and the mercenary at last succumbs to his wounds, slumping to his knees with a garbled growl, before crashing heavily to the ground.

OOC: Lorth Needa dealt 7 wound points to Korga Gorzak.

Xanatos moves over to Korga's body, setting his blaster to stun as he fires a couple of blasts into the unconscious mercenary for good measure.

Needa makes his way quickly over to Juno, deactivating the containment field.

"Are you all right, Lieutenant?" he asks grimly, frowning.

"I'm fine," Juno pants, teeth gritted as she staggers out of the containment field to lean against the wall, still trembling. "I didn't tell him anything."

Xanatos appears to have discovered the activation chip for their cuffs on Korga, deactivating own cuffs before extending the device for Needa to do the same.

"Of course, Lieutenant," Needa nods to Juno approvingly as he accepts the device from Xanatos and uncuffs his own hands, rubbing his chafed wrists as he glances about. "All right, we have a way off this facility, but we need to leave before more of these ruffians become aware of our escape."

Juno moves over to pick up Korga's blaster.

"What's your plan with him?" she asks as Xanatos places his cuffs on the Klatooinian. "The galaxy would be better off without him."

"Possibly so," Xanatos allows. "But that will be a question for Kessel's planetary authorities to decide, not us."

Rising, Xanatos glances at Juno.

"In the meantime, how bad are those injuries? I'm not a licensed medic, but I have seen my fair share of workplace accidents. Do you object to my attempting to heal them?"

Juno ignores her bruised and scratched skin, as well as a gash on her shoulder.

"I'm fine."

Needa sends her a disapproving look, before turning to Xanatos.

"If you can patch up Lieutenant Eclipse, then please do so," he says firmly.

Xanatos looks between them. It's clear that while he is inclined to side with Needa as to whether Juno is or is not fine, he is also unwilling to heal someone who does not want to receive treatment.

"The choice is yours, Lieutenant," Xanatos says to Juno. "You may sit if you wish me to heal you, or you may keep going if you prefer not. I doubt you will collapse immediately without treatment, but you will be more useful if more thugs find us if you will accept treatment. That is merely my own opinion, though; I will respect your decision."
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:51, Wed 10 Jan.

Juno sends him a long-suffering look, but at a firm nod from Needa she sighs.

"Fine. Work your magic."

Xanatos sits cross-legged and makes a gesture indicating Juno should do the same.

Juno gives Needa a look which clearly says 'is he for real?', but at another curt nod from the captain she reluctantly plonks herself on the floor beside Xanatos, looking at him expectantly.

"Opposite," Xanatos says patiently, his concentration on a blue orb of light that is slowly forming between his hands.

Juno sighs, sliding herself around so that she is facing the CEO, as behind them, Needa moves over to the door to keep watch.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:55, Wed 10 Jan.

She is rewarded moments later by a cool, soothing sensation that feels like bacta gel has been spread over all her wounds as, brow furrowed in concentration, Xanatos sends the orb of light towards her chest. For a moment the blue light surrounds Juno before it slowly dissipates.

OOC: Xanatos healed 5 vitality points to Juno Eclipse.
Xanatos healed 8 wound points to Juno Eclipse.

Juno stares in disbelief as she raises her arms, which now display not even the slightest bit of bruising, and then at her shoulder which no longer bears even a scratch.

"How did you do that?" she exclaims in amazement as she deftly pulls herself to her feet.

Even Needa looks impressed, raising his eyebrows at Juno's fully healed state.

"The Force," Xanatos says simply, rising and brushing the carbon dust off his robes.

Juno continues to glance at her shoulder for a moment longer, before moving over to scoop up and don her singed, black lieutenant's jacket from the canister beside the desk.

"Looks clear," Needa informs them from the doorway. "Let's go."

OOC: Lorth Needa rolled 7. Hide.
Lorth Needa rolled 18. Move Silently.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:10, Wed 10 Jan.

"Do you know who was behind the attack on our ship?" Juno directs at Needa in a low voice as she begins to pick her way stealthily out into the corridor after him, blaster held at the ready.

OOC: Juno Eclipse rolled 12. Hide.
Juno Eclipse rolled 17. Move Silently.

"I'm afraid not," Needa murmurs in response. "All we know at this point is that Korga was in charge of the operation here. But I doubt he had the means and skill to pull off something like this on his own."

"He must have an office or communications centre of some kind around here," Juno replies as they re-enter Fenran's control room. "Perhaps we can find a record of someone contacting him?"

Needa considers this, frowning.

"We don't know how many more guards he has wandering around this place, or how far away his friends might be. We are better off getting out of this facility as swiftly as possible, at which point we can try to look for answers."

"And by which point any chance of getting information from this facility will be gone," Juno argues. "I say it's worth the risk to see if we can find some clues here before we leave."

Needa doesn't look convinced, but turns to Xanatos.

"What do you think?"

"I am a simple businessman, not a soldier," Xanatos points out. "Obviously while answers are important, they are not as important as the profits I am losing daily in lost business opportunities by being trapped here. I will yield to your judgement however, since I am a dutiful citizen."

Needa nods.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but my decision stands. We will make our way to the hanger and leave as swiftly as we can. I promise you we shall investigate thoroughly once we are out of this mess."

Juno gives an unimpressed frown, but her voice, when she speaks, is curt and dutiful.

"Yes, Captain."

They continue to follow the schematics on the datapad provided to them by Fenran, Needa leading the way.

"This way," he says, taking them down a corridor to the left, then down a ramp to their right. At length they come to a control room which overlooks the hangar.

A Rodian and another Klatooinian are seated at a terminal beyond which a transparisteel window looks out over the hanger one level below. Even as they watch, a battered A-wing fighter lifts into the air, piloted by a familiar white-skinned Twi’lek, and accelerates out of the hanger and into the asteroid beyond.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 03:19, Wed 10 Jan.

"Set weapons to stun," Needa murmurs to Juno as the pair pick their way up the corridor to the pair seated at the terminals.

They are halfway to the thugs when the Rodian suddenly notices Needa out of the corner of his eye and gives a startled cry, reaching for his weapon. The Klatooinian also glances around, before reaching for the alarm switch located on the desk beside him. A well placed stun blast from Juno strikes him squarely in the head before he can reach it, sending him thudding heavily off his chair and onto the floor. A stun blast from Needa catches the Rodian before he can raise his blaster, and he slumps sideways into his chair and then to the ground.

OOC: Juno Eclipse stunned Klatooinian Thug.
Lorth Needa stunned Rodian Thug.

"Excellent work," Needa compliments Juno as he moves over to the turbolift nearby, typing in the override code provided by Fenran. "Well, what do you know?" he remarks as the lift gives a pleasant beep and the door slides open.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:32, Wed 10 Jan.

Juno has moved over to the transperisteel viewport to examine the half dozen ships parked below.

"That U-wing looks in nice shape," Juno says appraisingly as she jogs over to the turbolift after Needa. "Let's just hope its interior is as nice as its exterior."

OOC: Juno Eclipse rolled 31. Profession (pilot).

Xanatos hangs back near the terminal.

"Perhaps just one check of the facility to be sure there are no other prisoners before we leave? Purely for my peace of mind?" he suggests.

Needa frowns, but after a moment he nods.

"Very well," he says after a moment. "But let's make this quick."

Needa moves back over to peer over Xanatos' shoulder as the CEO slips into the terminal beside which the unconcious Rodian is slumped.

"Does this thing have access to the camera system?"

"One would normally be able to do so in a mining facility; it's common enough for droids to have behavioral issues that most places are equipped with manual overrides to the master database. It will just depend if this facility predates those safety standards..."

The terminal does indeed appear to have access to the main database, and after a bit of typing, Xanatos is successful in bringing up the camera system menu.

OOC: Xanatos rolled 21. Computer Use.

"All right," says Needa approvingly. "We have the crew quarters, the medbay, the cargo bay. My guess is any prisoners will be in one of those locations if there are any."

None of these locations, or several more Xanatos examines, indicate any sign of additional prisoners on the facility. Upon checking for a comm log, Xanatos discovers that the last recorded message was over a year ago, and was by one Cantus Vell, a foreman of Pogga's Mines, detailing the closure of the mine due to unprofitability. The comm system seems to have been stripped for parts following the closure, and was never reinstalled by Korga's team.

"Well I suppose that clarifies that. However Korga is communicating with his allies, it isn't through this facility. No further prisoners either, from what I can see. Still several thugs left though. We had best be on the move."

"Agreed," Xanatos nods, looking not displeased to see a rival corporation's unprofitability, logging out of the terminal and following Needa in the direction of the U-wing.

Juno sidles over in the lift as the pair enter and it descends with a rumble. The lift seems to take forever to descend the single level to the hanger, eventually coming to a halt. Needa is just starting to give the door a concerned look when it finally decides to open, revealing the hanger stretching out before them.

They also find themselves face to face with a trio of Weequay who were clearly waiting for the lift. The three are midway through laughing coarsely about some shared joke, but their laughter dies abruptly as they see their former prisoners standing before them.

Xanatos is the first to react, and waves his hand in a graceful gesture.

"We are new recruits, and you want to give us the passcodes to the U-wing and continue on to wherever you were going."

OOC: Xanatos used Affect Mind on Weequay Thugs.

The trio of Weequay instantly relax.

"You are new recruits," the leader of the Weequay repeats in a dull voice. "Here is the U-wing passkey. We're going to the crew quarters now. C'mon boys."

OOC: Weequay Thugs rolled 6. Will Save.

"Well," says Juno in bemusement, examining the passkey as the trio disappear into the lift behind them, "that will save us some hotwiring."

"Excellent work," agrees Needa as they hurry over to the U-wing.

"Thank you," Xanatos preens, following.

Juno reaches the U-wing, sliding the passkey into the door of the sleek starship and lowering the boarding ramp. She gives a low whistle as she glances around the pristine and polished interior.

"Nice ride," she states, heading into the cockpit over to the pilot's seat to ignite the engine, "Now, let's see if this ship's systems are as good as its appearance."

"Too late to change our minds if it isn't," Needa says curtly as an alarm siren begins to wail in the hanger outside. "It appears someone has stumbled across our little trail of unconscious beings up there."

Even as he speaks, a reinforced durasteel airlock begins to descend over the magnetic shield which seals the hanger exit.

"An ominous sight," Xanatos observes redundantly. "Are we going to be able to get through that?"

"We're about to find out," Juno replies evenly, swiftly flicking a number of switches as the boarding ramp closes and the U-wing lifts into the air. Then, with a burst of speed and a sharp dip she skillfully directs the ship through the narrowing gap, centimeters to spare on either side.

OOC: Juno Eclipse rolled 34. Pilot.

Needa, narrowly catches hold of the chair before him, gritting his teeth as the ship accelerates through the opening. He breathes a sigh of relief as they accelerate into the asteroid field and away from the facility, managing to pull himself into one of the seats.

"Impressive," Xanatos compliments Juno.

Needa nods, rising tentatively as they their speed of acceleration slows once they have put some distance between themselves and the facility.

"I shall examine the navigation computer. Let's see if we have the coordinates of some helpful systems in here."

"Anything will be more helpful than here," Juno points out.

"True," Needa allows.

"Well, since it seems like when it comes to piloting you two more than have things under control, I shall meditate," Xanatos informs the pair, also rising to move down the corridor.

Needa sends him a quizzical glance, but makes no move to stop him as the CEO disappears down the corridor.

"This is a very nice ship," Juno remarks to Needa as she directs the U-wing gracefully through the asteroid around them, making for open space beyond.

"It's not bad," Needa allows. "They might have spent a little more in investing in a decent nav computer though. It is taking forever to load up."

Juno doesn't respond, continuing to weave through the rocky field.

"Finally," says Needa at length. "All right, let's see here, our options are... Nar Shaddaa... or Nar Shaddaa."

"I vote Nar Shaddaa," Juno responds dryly as she passes through the last of the asteroid field.

"I suppose it was too much to hope for something with Stratocratic affiliations," Needa sighs as he punches in the coordinates.

"At least we should be able to get lost there," Juno shrugs. "Would have been worse if it was a space station or another abandoned facility somewhere."

"I suppose there is that," Needa allows with a shrug. "All right, coordinates set."

"All right," says Juno, "here goes nothing."

The ship's turbines glow bright blue for a moment, and then with a flash they are gone.

OOC: End of Chapter I...