SAGA: In the Shadow of Titans (IC)

[Strawberries]

"The little rat" Layne mutters half to himself and half to the others, showing them the message.

"I probably could figure out where he is " He adds, thoughtfully. "Those things can be traced Easier to do it from up the Ops level, though"

I as a player am in no way shape or form suggesting that we really go for it. However, it's something Layne would have put forward, I think.

[Noedig]

"Ops is restricted and pulling a B&E job of that complexity off the cuff isn't really a possibility at this point. We'd spend more time in prep than we would simply waiting a day."

[MintyNinja]

Surrj refrained from speaking up when Layne explained that his contact, Reek, was meeting them tomorrow. That was partly the whole point of them coming out here now, to scope out the area ahead of time so that there was a less likely chance of being caught off guard tomorrow. They weren't even all prepared for the meet, Surrj just always had his bounty-collecting kit on him. "Look, we have a solid lead and a set time and place to meet them. Let's not get arrested doing something needlessly risky. Let's do another quick circuit, get a feel for the place, then head back to the ship to discuss our plan for tomorrow, okay?"

[Strawberries]

"Yes" Layne explains in a very fake patient tone "But there is something to be said for the element of surprise. Plus" He adds a bit smugly "If he's not making any business today but he is tomorrow, it means that somebody is going to get him the merchandise between now and then. If we catch the little rat today, we can be there when it happens."

[Noedig]

"Good plan. I'm going to head over to Personal briefly and see if I can't get a hold of some tools. If anyone needs anything, I'd be happy to pick it up. Keep me posted on the meet, yes?"

[MintyNinja]

"I have to agree, it's a good plan," Surrj said to Layne. It was a much quicker way to chase down this new supplier and the timing was kind of perfect. "Do you have any better ideas for tracking him down?"

[A'den]

Mithran sat back and scanned the crowd for anyone that was watching their group.

Perception[roll0]

[Strawberries]

Layne shrugs. "I'm a slicer, am I not? I work computers, not people." He gestures around "Lots of people to ask, though, if you're into that. If he works here, there's bound to be some lowlife scum that'll snitch on him for two credits and a pat on the back."

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Entertainment

Mithran doesn't notice anyone paying them any particular attention, but Layne _does_ notice the Nightingales lead singer/guitarist walking by. He makes eye contact, looking kind of desperate.

[MintyNinja]

"Believe it or not, but I'm not that well connected with the lowlifes of the area. I wouldn't know who to ask. You got any ideas?" Surrj asks Layne.

[Strawberries]

"Not really, but I need to take care of something else first" Layne raises two fingers in a gesture that means 'give me two seconds', then saunters over to where the lead singer is. "No joy, man, I might have something for you tomorrow, though." He starts without much preamble. Then a thought suddenly occurs to him. " Say, you may be able to help me here. Who's the go-to guy around this area when you need information?"

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Entertainment

The musician starts, but then relaxes, if just a notch.

"Oh, it's you," he breathed.

"Information?" he said, scratching his head, "what kind of information are you looking for?"
He's definitely showing the telltale signs of withdrawal, his eyes keep darting about and he fidgets nervously, fingers tapping against his thigh or running through his hair.

[Strawberries]

"Oh, you know, the guy" Layne shrugs. There's bound to be a guy. "The guy that knows where to find things and people?"

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Entertainment

The singer scratches his head.

"There's always BB Hobbes, but don't you work for... you know..." he said, making a gesture as if you should fill in the blank yourself.

[Strawberries]

Layne makes a gesture that can be parsed as meaning 'never you mind about that' "Right. And, this Hobbes would be who, and found where, exactly?"

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Entertainment

"He's a.. whaddya call it? Information broker," the singer replied, "the guy makes it his business to know stuff. Not cheap though, from what I hear. He's got an office on Shopping - personal, fronts as an antique dealer."

"What is it you're looking for, exactly?" he asked.

[Strawberries]

"Never mind about that. Thanks for the info, I'll keep you in the loop" Layne answers with a shrug, then makes his way back to his partners.

"So, find you somebody" he tosses carelessly at Surrj "BB Hobbes, on the shopping level, supposedly knows where to find...stuff. Now, as I said, that's not really my area of business. You wanna do something with that info?"

[MintyNinja]

Surrj takes note of the information and nods. "Alright, we can pay this Hobbes a visit. If he's got information, he's probably prepared for the goon tactic. Mithran, you wanna take point on this one? You seem more like the type to deal with an information type of guy." He looked over their surroundings again and began to lead them to the elevators. Once inside he looks around again as it moves to the correct floor. He follows anyone heading to BB Hobbes and lets the others take the lead.

OOC: Perception: [roll0] I'm trying to see if there's any surveillance in the elevators.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1

The elevator does have a small security dome, approximately six inches across. It is likely there is a camera inside the dome which can see the entire elevator.

There is no sign advertising BB Hobbes', but you do find an antique dealer on the hardware level. All sorts of wooden furniture, from tables, to chairs, to dressers and shelves cover the floor in the front of the shop. About ten feet in, the furniture ends and shelves line the rest of the shop all the way to the back. The walls are covered floor to ceiling in various wooden knick knacks, some of which you're not sure what their function is, or if they even have a function. Shelves line the floor, leaving narrow aisles to walk down. A large sign is prominently displayed in the front "once broken, considered sold."

Near the front of the shop, a rotund, greasy haired human sits by an archaic, analog cash register. He is currently typing something into a datapad.

[Noedig]

Mikael wiped sweat off of his brow as he finished loading his newly purchased gear onto the ship. He took out his commlink and dialed up Surrj and the others.

"Right then, all done with my shopping. How have things progressed on your end?"

[MintyNinja]

Surrj pauses outside the shop as he gets a message from Mikael. "Got word of possible contact. Shopping [See SPOILER] level. Antique shop. We're all here," Surrj replied as he supplied the scarred human with directions. He entered the store with the others and looked around. The wooden items reminded him of Kashyyk and the large Trandoshan couldn't help but think of them as frail. Flimsy. Plasteel furniture would trump wood any day, for him. Surrj turns his attention to the round man and asks, "Are you Hobbes? I've been told you're knowledgeable."

Singer said Shopping - Personal, but TC's listed us as on Hardware. I assume there's a small mistake, but either way Surrj will tell Mikael the correct level.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Antique shop

The greasy, fat man holds up a single sausage finger and finishes typing something into his datapad with the other, making you wait.

Finally he looks up at you.

"Maybe, depends who wants to know and what you want to know," he replied.

[MintyNinja]

"Just a man with questions about the recent reshuffling of spice dealers, who just so happens to have some extra credits," Surrj replied politely. This didn't seem to be a time for violence, and he might need the greasy man later.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Antique shop

The massive greaseball shifted his weight, wiping one hand down his shirt as he visually sized you up.

"Maybe I heard something about that," he said, "what do you want to know?"

[MintyNinja]

"Name and location of the supplier, for one," Surrj replied. He looked to the others with him expectantly. If they had anything to ask, now was the time.

[Noedig]

Mikael walked around the level until he found the appropriate shop. Rather than enter though, he looked for a quiet place across from the store to await the rest of the team. When it had been located, he made his way there and tried to be unobtrusive.

Looking for a secluded space across from the store that will allow me to watch who enters and leaves.

PErception [roll0]
Stealth [roll1]

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Hardware shopping

Mikael is able to find an out of the way nook across the concourse from the antique shop, next to a bar. There is a puddle of some kind of greenish-yellow liquid in the cranny, but he is able to avoid stepping in it. Pagar the Jawa walks by from right to left, apparently unaware of Mikael or the party inside the antique shop.

Inside the shop BB Hobbes shook his head.

"I deal with information in the system only, no dice," he said, diddling with his datapad with his free hand, without looking at the screen, "that new supplier's off world."

[MintyNinja]

Off-world? The dealer was getting his supply tonight, so the supplier's probably in orbit, Surrj thought to himself. He took a second to remember the contact's name and then asked, "Alright. What about a dealer named Reek? Think you can find his current location given his comlink communications?"

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, antique shop

"Maybe," BB replied, "five thousand credits."

The fat man deadpanned as he replied with the ridiculous sum. Apparently the lead singer was right, BB Hobbes was expensive.

[MintyNinja]

Surrj blinked once in surprise at the sum and then said, "I'm not going to insult you by asking if that's negotiable. And even though there's four of us in here, all armed, I'm not going to threaten violence. But I am going to say that 5,000 credits is a bit much for a 'maybe'. Give us a moment to discuss it and we'll get you an answer." He looked to his allies, and ushered them a few steps from the greasy Hobbes and asked in a whisper, "Thoughts?"

OOC: I can't hardly make a dent in that number. Looks like Mithran and Marren could each cover it, separately at that, but I don't know how up to date those sheets are. Either way, Party Interaction time!

[Qazarar]

"I am rather reluctant to part with that many credits merely on principle. Particularly if we can find another way to find these suppliers. If we cannot find another option, however, it may be a worthwhile investment."

[MintyNinja]

"I think we can just continue with the plan: interrogate the dealer tomorrow. If it doesn't pan out, then we'll consider the Hobbes Option," Surrj replied. He didn't have the credits to pay that fee, just as a favor for the Syndicate. Maybe if he turned in a bounty or two, but so far the best paying was Kleepo Torga, and Surrj hadn't a clue where to start looking for that Rodian.

[Qazarar]

"I suppose another option would be to convince him to meet with us earlier, for some vague but important reason. I could perhaps convince him of an appropriate cover story. Such a course could be risky if he knows better, however."

[MintyNinja]

"Well it beats meeting him on his own ground," Surrj said. "I think it's worth a shot. Best if you do the convincing and leave Layne out of it, in case we have to revert back to the first plan. We're done in here, yeah?" Barring anyone taking an immediate interest in antique furniture and knick-knacks, Surrj will thank Hobbes for his time and meet with the others back out on the street.

[Noedig]

Mikael watched as the others left the shop and allowed them to pass and gain some distance. When he felt comfortable that they weren't being followed, he emerged from his spot and closed the distance casually.

"So, how did it go?"

[MintyNinja]

"Hobbes is pricey, we'll only come back here if we have no choice," Surrj told the scarred human. "Marren suggested we convince Reek to meet us early, somehow, detain him and go in his place. Then we can take out the supplier with an invitation. Your thoughts?" Surrj lead the group of them down a few streets before asking, "Where should we hold up? The ship's a little out of the way and Lucky 7's probably isn't the best place to discuss this right now."

[Noedig]

"The ship is actually a wonderful place to...handle this business. It's private property, it's a controllable environment and it gives us home field advantage. Convincing this fellow to walk onto it of his own free will shouldn't be too hard. He's a dealer, yes? We tell him that Nale Marek is on the station with an axe to grind, and these rumblings in the drug trade have caught his attention. We can offer, through Layne or Marren, a means of low-key egress off the station and to a point of his choosing, pro-bono even, but he has to take our offer now. Tell him comm traffic is being monitored to keep him from blabbing to the supplier, and then we go to work on him in the privacy of our ship. Thoughts?"

[MintyNinja]

"That's actually a pretty good idea," Surrj admits. "I think Layne could make the contact and offer the dealer whatever it takes to get him aboard the ship. We can handle the rest from there. Marren, is the ship in good enough condition to make this believable?"

[Qazarar]

"I was working on modifying the ship for some of our future endeavors, so at the moment it wont be able to go anywhere, at least not for another day or two. However, I believe that I can at least make it look spaceworthy to the untrained eye. That shouldn't be too difficult."

[Noedig]

"I can assist you if needed. All of my kit is on the ship anyway, and I don't have the most honest looking face around."

[MintyNinja]

"Alright, let's get over there," Surrj says as he leads the others to the elevators. Once at the ship he'll do what he can to help Marren and Mikael without getting in their ways. Afterwards he'll hang around inside the ship with his hybrid pistol out and set to stun, waiting for someone to call the dealer over.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1

Surrj and Marren work on the ship, trying to get it ship-shape by the time Reek arrives. When they think it's good enough, Layne pulled out his comlink and contacted Reek again.

"Hey, listen," Layne said, "I just heard some guy named Nale Marek is scoping for you, ever heard of him?"
"No, is he with the Hutts?" Reek asked.
"No, he's with GT controlled substances, apparently he knows where you are, and he's coming for right now, off the books," Layne said.
"You gotta get out of there, right now," he continued, urgency growing in his voice, "take the elevator up to docking bay 1. You should be safe there, and if things get ugly, we can always take my ship out, make a run for it."
"What about security?" Reek asked.

"This is off the records," Layne said, "security shouldn't be a problem, but you have to go now."

"Okay, okay, thanks for the warning, see you at the docking bay," Reek said.

I need to know what everyone's position is relative to the ship in the docking bay, and I need a mechanics check from Marren and an assist check from Surrj

[Noedig]

Mikael did his best to assist Marren in making the ship look space-worthy. With Surrj available to do heavy lifting, he was confident they would make a convincing facsimile.

Mechanics check to help Marren in making the ship look space worthy.

[roll0]

[Qazarar]

Marren gets his tools, and tries to get the ship appearing as unaltered as possible, and as spaceworthy seeming as he can manage, utilizing the assistance of both Surrj and Mikael.

Mechanics check
[roll0]

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking bay 1

Layne is hanging out by the entrance to docking bay 1 when he sees a cloaked figure walking quickly towards him, carrying a hand case and making good speed on the moving walkways. Before long, he can make out Reek's distinctive nose beneath the hood of the cloak. The slicer waved the Kubaz into the docking bay.

The doors slide open and reveal Marren, and the ship.

Reek makes some kind of low buzzing nose from his massive, cucumber snout, and speaks in a tinny, high pitched voice.
"Whoa, is that your ship? What's it called?" he asked.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking bay 1

"Uh, it's called the Nimble Duck," Layne said, then paused.
"It's a long story," he added.

"Who's he?" Reek asked, pointing to Marren.

"Pilot," Layne replied.
The Kubaz nodded then turned back to Layne.

"Thanks for the heads up," Reek said, "do you know what this guy's deal is?"

Layne shook his head and started walking, gesturing for Reek to follow.
"No, just that he's with narcotics," Layne replied, "I have a contact inside the GT, he picked up on it. I figured maybe I could get a little extra down the line, you know, as a return favour."

The two reached the lowered boarding ramp as they chatted.
"You wanna see her?" Layne asked with a small grin.

The Kubaz paused for a moment, then nodded.
"Sure, why not," he said.

Layne led the way up the boarding ramp and towards the passenger seats...

[MintyNinja]

A moment of hesitation crept through Surrj as he contemplated the plan. He wasn't accustomed to not fighting for the kill, and he was not nearly as effective with a blaster as he was with a blade. But this was the plan, and his team was relying on him to leave the target alive. As the duo passed by Surrj's hiding spot, the large Trandoshan stepped out into the hall and fired on the cloaked figure.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] Stun damage.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking bay 1

Layne nearly fumbles with his blaster pistol but manages to clear the holster, set it to stun, and fire at the Kubaz at point blank range.

attack: [roll0]
stun: [roll1]

Reek yells in surprise and panics, but he's vastly outnumbered and has nowhere to go, after a few stunbolts from the crew, the Kubaz goes down in a heap.

[Noedig]

Mikael had been standing by with a crowbar in the event the pistols did not bring the Kubaz down.

"Right chaps, how do we want to play this? Nicely or not so nicely?

[MintyNinja]

"Start with nicely," Surrj suggests. "It's hard to go back to nicely after not so nicely." He picks up the limp body of the Kubaz and brings him to the med bay. Surrj sets the creature on the bed and orders the med droid, "Do not help this person unless told to by one of your recognized masters, he is responsible for sickness and addiction."

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, YT-2400 med bay

The medical droid looked at Surrj and then said in a tinny voice: "Acknowledged."
It then went back into standby mode.

The Kubaz slowly comes to on the med bay, surrounded by the party. His eyes are covered by goggles, but you can hear the sharp intake of breath as he wakes up.

"you... You shot me!" he said, scrambling back against the wall to get away from Surrj. He glances around at the rest of the group.
"What are you going to do?" he asked, his cucumber nose quivering in what could only be fear.

[Noedig]

"A number of things. We're going to ask you some questions. You're going to answer them, truthfully. You're going to forget who we are, and what we asked you. Then you're going to go home. Or..."

Mikael paused and gave a small shrug and tapped the blaster on his hip. His face was still hidden by the breath mask. No need to ruin the surprise yet.

"Well I'd rather not get into the particulars. In either case, you're going to willingly come with us to the cargobay, where you will willingly sit in the chair we have provided for you. Unless you fancy being stunned into unconsciousness again. These fine gentlemen will direct you there. I have business to attend to, but before I go, let me be very clear; you do not want to see me ever again."

Mikael left the room and set about securing the ship; making sure the ramp was up and locked and that there were no unlocked or open hatches off of the ship. It would not do for Reek to escape. Then, he set up a chair in the cargo bay, and killed the lights except for one directly above it. When all this was finished, he went to his quarters on the ship and made sure all of the interrogation supplies were in order.

[MintyNinja]

Surrj will stand passively by the door as Mikael explains the Kubaz's options. He won't say anything else, not trusting his own skill with words, and instead let the frightened dealer's imagination run wild.

OOC: Just standing guard in case Reek makes a run for it and as a constant reminder that the nice talking people don't look as strong as the quiet Trandoshan in the background, meaning that if things get physical, they're going to be dealt with quickly.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 1

Reek nods, his large nose-thing quivering slightly.

Mikael is able to turn out all the lights but one, but it is high up on the cavernous ceiling of the docking bay, and the illumination diffuses about the hangar, creating dark shadows and a generally spooky atmosphere, dominated by the light spilling from the lowered boarding ramp until it is raised. The chair is set up, and the supplies are in place and Reek compliantly allows himself to be led to the chair. Now what?

Edit:
Layne checked the Kubaz for weapons and communication devices, and finds a comlink.

"Sorry Reek," Layne said, "trust me though, this is for your own good. There's going to be an ambush at the meeting, we didn't want you to get caught in the crossfire."

"You didn't have to _shoot_ me," Reek said.

"Couldn't take the risk you would tip them off," Layne said, "that shipment's gotta go through, I'm almost out."

"Tell us the time and place of the meet," Layne said.
Reek shook his head.
"I can't, they'll kill me," he said.
"_They'll_ kill you?" Layne asked, "don't you know who we are? Who do you think was running the smuggling operation before the Hutts moved in?"

Reek stared, uncomprehending for a moment, and then realization dawned.

"Oh... crap," he said.
"Crap is right," Layne said, "it's not all bad though, our bosses think you had no idea, so tell us the time and place of the meet, and we'll cut you in."

Reek stubbornly shook his head.
"You're lying, there's no way you work for the Syndicate!" he said.

"Suit yourself," Layne said calmly, making his way back to the ship. He wasn't able to get Reek to talk, but maybe one of the others would have better luck.

[MintyNinja]

Surrj watched patiently as Layne tried to pry the information politely from the dealer. He nodded to Layne in consolation as the human left the cargo bay, probably off to get someone less polite. As Surrj was alone with the Kubaz for a moment, he decided to give the interrogation a shot. He drew his vibro-ax from it's sheath, extended the handle, and in a single motion brought the top of the blade to rest on the plating of the cargo bay floor. He had his hands holding the handle in a relaxed position, giving off an air of skill and confidence. To the man sitting in the chair he says, "Listen closely because I don't like to repeat myself, the Hutts aren't going to save you from this situation. Either you tell us what we want to know and the Hutts never realize who said what, or you keep your one-sided loyalty and see what new and creative ways you can suffer agony. Tell me where and when you meet your supplier."

OOC: Taking 10 on Persuasion to Intimidate = 10 + 1 + 5 = 16
The 1 is my Persuasion Mod, the +5 is for the target to be helpless and at my mercy (Core, 71).

[Noedig]

Mikael noted Layne's failure as he stepped into the ship. Shrugging, he went back to his quarters and changed clothes. He put on his nice suit and glasses, keeping his breathmask off this time. Reek had never seen him without it, and hopefully it would give the desired effect. He finished dressing and collected the supplies, and carried them out into the bay, taking multiple trips not of necessity, but to show that there were many tools at his disposal.

He saw Surrj trying to flex on the Kubaz and shook his head as he carefully took off his jacket and hung it across a hook like projection off the ship.

"My friend, I do not believe words are going to persuade the dealer."

He pulled on his latex mechanics gloves, unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled his sleeves up.

"Yes, perhaps the time for gentle words has passed?"

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking bay 1

"Okay okay!" Reek said, "the meet is going to be in docking bay 24, at oh-six-hundred tomorrow morning."
A clear, viscous liquid starts oozing out of Reek's nose and onto his cloak.
"Just don't kill me, I'll... I'll run away, I swear," he said, "I never saw any of you!"

[MintyNinja]

Surrj doesn't turn as Mikael enters, but he grimaces internally. Torture was never his first choice, he instead preferred a clean kill. Just as he was about to relinquish the scene to the scarred human, however, the Kubaz broke down and spilled the goods. At the snot-nosed creatures pleas for his life, Surrj replied, "That will be decided after we deal with the shipment. Can't have you running your mouth off to those in Docking Bay 24. And if it just so happens to be the wrong place, then we know right where you are." He sheathed his weapon and left to find Layne and the others. "Docking Bay 24, 0600 in the morning. I'm thinking we could try and get in through Wizbam's secret path, or pose as the dealer ourselves. Remember, we need to take out everyone except the pilot. Maybe some explosives could be of assistance."

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking bay 1

Reek whimpered and nodded his understanding.

"Docking bay 24 is just down the hallway," Layne said.
"I have some detonite I bought from Pagar," he offered, "we could use that."

It is currently around midnight by galactic standard time, there are roughly six hours until the meet.

[Noedig]

"No. The ship has to be able to fly still, doesn't it? Detonite is stable, too stable to use offensively. The only reason we'd use it is to cripple the ship, or...perhaps we could vent the hangar. Blow a nice hole in the doors and everyone gets blown into space."

A grin widens on Mikael's face. It is not a pleasant sight. He glances off to his right.

"No, no on second thought lets not do that. It's about sending a message. We don't want it clean. To neat and none of that useful fear our employers are looking for will be produced. No, I think the hard way is the best way in this instance. We do need to anticipate heavy resistance. Load up for a serious party. Oh! I'll take that detonite though. Maybe we can rig a bit of a surprise for our meeting."

He glances back to Surrj and the others.

"We've got six hours. We should check to see if bays 23 or 25 are free. Little bit of shock and awe won't go amiss, yeah?"

[MintyNinja]

"Right, anyone in dire need of sleep should get it now. Mikael, we need the pilot to live in order to spread the message, other than that we want a complete clean up. Thinking remote detonated canisters that can be thrown around a battle field. Briefcases could work if you think we can pretend to be the buyer," Surrj said. He wouldn't ever go so far to say this group had a leader, but if he was the voice that spurred action then that's what he'd do. "Layne, do you think you could look into the camera system in the turbolift tunnels? If we can enter from below that would save us a headache."

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking bay 1

Layne shook his head sadly.

"It took Lusk Jornya's inside contact on Titan 2 to shut those down, remember? We could opt for a more low-tech solution though. One guy goes in with a mask and puts some mesh tape over the lens, or we all put masks on so nobody knows who we are when they review the security vids."

[MintyNinja]

"I like the idea, but I don't think it will work out. We'd need to find our way to Bay 24, which could take some time. A recon mission would be the best option, but in the intervening time, we don't know if the cameras will be noticed or not. It's too risky," Surrj said. "Any way to hack into a camera from the external side? If you had access to the machine itself?"

[Thundercracker]

"Yeah, that would work," Layne replied, "I could probably slice the camera itself, but the tricky part would be getting close without the camera spotting me."

[Noedig]

"We could cut the power, right?"

[MintyNinja]

"Well you did suggest mesh tape and masks," Surrj says with a grin. "We don't want an immediate response team coming down to see why the power's out on the camera, but if you're talking about the Docking Bay then I'm all ears. You could look at our own access panels to get an idea of what we're working with, they should be similar, yeah?"

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 1

"I should be able to get us in from below Bay 24, from Ore Processing," Layne said with a yawn, "I don't think the cameras will be an issue, though we might not want to come back the same way, in case someone comes to investigate."

"I'm going to get some rest now, and I'll get ready at 0500," he said, heading to the ship.

What does everyone do between now and the meeting? What's your plan?

[Qazarar]

"It seems that we have the makings of a plan. Until then, I will continue working on the ship. The sooner this is done, the better."

[MintyNinja]

"Okay, by the looks of things we're coming up under their feet. Kill all but the pilot, maiming's alright. Bring along the detonite if they try to fly off. Since this type of assault might cause issues with authority, we want to be out of there quickly. If no one else has any comments, I'm getting some sleep. Everyone be up and ready by 0500." Surrj walks over to his bunk and tries to get some shut eye while he can.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1

0500 rolls around and everyone wakes up, bleary eyed. Adrenaline soon starts pumping in anticipation though, driving off any vestiges of sleepiness. The Ore Processing level is hot from the furnaces, but there doesn't appear to be many people about, owing to the early hour. After dodging a few loader droids, you find the platform to Bay 24. Layne is able slice into the cameras' security and lock a static image onto them. You're actually ahead of schedule, sitting below Docking Bay 24 at 0530. You can choose to go up now or wait a bit.

[MintyNinja]

Surrj was up and ready by 0459, eager to get moving. He triple checked his gear while the others got ready and soon they were on their way. Half an hour later, they were below their target, ahead of schedule. Surrj looked back at the others, making sure everyone was paying attention, and then gestured for them to advance. They were going up to reap a harvest of carnage, and Surrj was eagerly leading the pack.

OOC: Not exactly clear on how we're going up. Is it the ore elevator?

[Thundercracker]

perception: [roll0]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 24

The docking bay looks much like every other docking bay in Titan 1, with a catwalk around the top of the bay, the large exit, the exit to space, and the large door leading to the moving walkways opposite. Both the door and the hangar blast doors are currently closed. Surrj is able to grab onto the hatch as it opened above him, hauling himself into the bay proper. The first thing he notices are two figures, a human with a blaster rifle and a gammorean hefting a heavy axe in two hands, walking towards him. Behind them, he can see a blocky, brown, light freighter of some kind, old, dried oil stains running down one side from a joint. A small crate lies in the center of the docking bay, with another two humans holding blaster rifles standing over it.

"Who are you, what are you doing here?" the human asked, not yet pointing his rifle at Surrj, but not sounding very friendly either.

[MintyNinja]

"...This isn't my hangar," Surrj says a bit loudly as he comes to his feet. His vibro-pistol-blade sat in its sheath at his hip, only partially obscured by his sleeveless long coat. The handle of his vibro-ax jutted out just over his right shoulder, ready to be drawn and activated at a moment's notice. The large Trandoshan took two steps away from the edge of the elevator and raised his hands while saying, "ID's in the pocket, if one of you two gentlemen want to be sure."

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, docking bay 24

The gammorean begins walking forward but the human pits a hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on," he said, eyeing surrj suspiciously, " slide your weapon over first."

The gammorean grunts and looks to Surrj.

[MintyNinja]

A wide, tooth-filled grin split Surrj's face as he reached behind his shoulder with one hand. "You want my weapon?" he said as he the handle extended and the blades of the ax jutted outwards. "Here you go!" Surrj charged forward, bringing the vibro-ax up with a sweeping cross slice.

Attacking Gm.

Charge to I-10
Attack: [roll0] Effective Reflex Defense is now 16
Damage: [roll1] + ION [roll2]
Target's DT is considered to be 5 less than normal; surpassing DT causes the target to drop two conditions.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking bay 24

The human and gammorrean were apparently ready for Surrj's attack, as the human fires off a blaster bolt as Surrj explodes into action, while the gammorean sends a harried upper handed swing as the Trandoshan gets within melee range. The others in the bay are immediately alerted to the commotion in the center. As the platform rises up to level with the rest of the bay, Mikael notices a pair of Weequays on the balcony, partially hidden by the safety panelling. Each is carrying a light repeating blaster.

readied actions:
blaster on Surrj: [roll0]
blaster damage: [roll1]
vibroaxe on Surrj: [roll2]
axe damage: [roll3]
Edit; Surrj takes 10 hps of damage.

Surrj bulls his way through the hurried attacks and smashes into the gammorean, blasting him powerfully in the chest and knocking the wind out of him. Miraculously, the pig-like creature is still standing, though it looks as if much of the fight has been taken out of him. The two humans by the crate lift it up off the ground.

initiative
NPC: [roll4]
Layne: [roll5]
Mikael: [roll6]
Marren: [roll7]
Surrj: [roll8]
All PCs go first.

[Noedig]

Mikael had hoped to get the drop on their foes, but unfortunately they'd seen through Surrj's ruse. He activated his jetpack and soared through the air, coming to a stop in a flanking position. He squeezed the trigger on his flamethrower and sent a cone of flame scorching across the hangar floor.

Activating jetpack as a swift action (routine maneuver, no check required). Using move to fly to square I15, and initiate an attack. 6 square diagonal cone, beginning at J14. That should hit the humans by the box, the Gamorean and the other human.

Attack [roll0] (Devastating attack and Penetrating attack apply)
Damage [roll1]

Targets take half damage if I fail to exceed their Ref.

[MintyNinja]

(Assuming this is now the first round of combat, it's my turn again?)

Surrj absorbs the hit the best he can and brings his vibro-ax up in a high arc for a mighty downward swing at the Gammorean.

Move and Swift used for Mighty Swing.
Standard to attack Gammorean.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage [roll1] + ION [roll2] Apply DT Shenanigans.

[Strawberries]

I'm assuming my weapon wasn't out, so no moving this turn for me.

Layne swears quietly under his breath, then unholsters his pistol and points it at the human not currently near Surrj: as much as he'd like to take away the immediate threat, it helps to have a line of sight when shooting.

Alright, shooting in L14

[roll]d20+4[roll] and damage [roll0]

EDIT. Gah. Rolling attack again OOC.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 24

Surrj brought his axe down on the gammorrean, ending the threat with a splatter of blood and a twitching corpse, while Mikael's flamethrower sputters slightly, hosing down the three humans and the crate but doing little more than singing their exposed flesh and scorching the exterior of the crate. Marren snapped off a shot from his blaster that tagged the human near Surrj in the arm, a flicker of flame from his clothing burning out and leaving a wisp of smoke, before moving away from Layne to present a less attractive target for the rifle wielding Weequays at the top of the catwalk.

The smell of ozone and cauterized flesh filled the air near Surrj, but the human was still on his feet, though screaming in pain and anger. He returned a shot at the duros who had injured him, but missed badly before moving towards the ramp, clearly trying to get away, staying near the two other humans who had picked up the crate and were walking as quickly as they could towards the open ramp.

The two weequays open fire on the two most obvious threats, one peppering Surrj with deadly blue blaster fire and the other taking aim at Mikael and his flamethrower, before moving away from the transport and towards the docking bay doors. The transport's engines begin to spin up in a pre-flight sequence.

Surrj take 7 from autofire, Mikael take 5.

[MintyNinja]

Surrj curves around the Gammo's corpse, mentally adding it to his Jagganath Points, and begins sprinting at the fleeing human, culminating in an overhand chop of the axe.

Move to K-12
Charge to K-16, Attacking Hu at K-17.

Attack: [roll0] vs Ref
Damage: [roll1] DT Shenanigans.

Current Reflex Defense is 16.

[Strawberries]

Layne ducks out of the way, takes aim at the weequay that seems to have appeared out of nowhere behind him (How did I not notice THAT?) and fires.

Does the control panel add cover? I'm going to try and duck behind it regardlessly, I think.

Move to I8, shoot B9.
Attack [roll0], damage [roll1]

[Noedig]

Mikael blasted over the ramp of the frieghter, attempting to block their foe's egress. It wasn't a great plan; he had no clue of who or what may have been waiting at the top of the ramp. But if they made it off the station, things would undoubtedly get ugly. And they wouldn't get paid, which was worse.

He sent a blast of flame over the heads of the humans carrying the crate, more with intention of scaring them than injuring them.

"Drop the karking crate or burn!"

Swift to activate jetpack, fly to K21. Shoot over (but still close) the heads of the humans carrying the crate in an attempt to make them drop it.

[Qazarar]

As the room grows more chaotic, Marren tries to stay focused on removing the immediate threats as quickly as possible, pausing for a moment to take aim before firing once more at the injured human near Surrj.

Two swifts to aim, and a standard to attack the human at K-17. Unless he's down already, in which case he attacks the one at L-18
Attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1]

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 24

Surrj strikes down his second foe, the human, blood spurting from the stump of an arm as he slumps to the ground screaming in agony, definitely out of the fight. Marren's shot goes just wide, while Layne is able to land a solid blaster bolt on one of the Weequays, hitting him on the edge of one hip and spinning him about. Mikael flies over the two humans, but rather than motivating them to drop the crate, it appears he merely motivates them to move it onto the ship as fast as possible. They're now in the cargo hold, with the trailing human still on the boarding ramp. From his vantage point at the bottom of the ramp, Mikael can see one of the three doors at the far end of the cargo hold is open, and there is some movement beyond, but he's not sure what it is. Some crates and tools lay scattered haphazardly about the cargo hold, making it difficult to see past from the bottom of the ramp.

One of the weequays, the one which Layne hit, decides he's had enough and moves towards the exit, while the other fires another flurry of blue repeating blaster bolts at Layne's exposed back before moving towards the entrance of the hold.

attack on Layne: [roll0]
dmg: [roll1] half round down if attack is 10 or better but misses Layne's reflex.

You guys are in serious danger of failing this mission. I would now like to introduce the han solo shot. Someone may choose to fire at the controls of the docking bay doors, the ones leading to the rest of the station, then roll 1d2. On a roll of 1 (and if you hit the panel, reflex 10), the doors open. On a roll of 2, the doors lock and cannot be opened. Either way, if the controls are hit, they are blown to pieces and will no longer function. Good luck.

[MintyNinja]

Surrj hesitates only half a second, considering whether this human will count towards his Jagganath Points or not, before moving toward the ship. It wasn't a charge, this was more of a predator's stalk. He came up beside Mikael and the enemy crewman, and without any hesitation Surrj brought his axe around in a furious arc.

Move to L-21
Attacking L-22
Attack: [roll0] + Force Point [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] + ION [roll3]

Damage Threshold shenanigans apply. But not Bantha Rush, not yet.

[Noedig]

Mikael moved further up the ramp, setting himself directly between the humans with the crate and the rest of the ship as best he was able. As he moved, he took his heavy blaster pistol from its holster, pointed directly at the lead humans head and squeezed the trigger.

"Wrong answer!"

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Also I have evasion, which I believe means that I took no damage from that autofire attack two turns ago. I provoke any attacks of opportunity that the humans can muster if they have melee weapons.

[Strawberries]

Layne reflexively points his gun towards the retreating Weequay, then reconsiders. If any of the two of them get to the door, they'll all be in serious trouble. He drops his gun and reaches for another one of the weapons in his equipment, aiming and throwing with one quick motion.

I'm not completely sure if aiming to the left or right. Wherever the panel is, anyway.
If I remember correctly the action economy in SAGA:

Swift action: dropping gun
Move action: getting ion grenade
Standard action: Attack [roll0] and I think that's all you roll for ion grenades.

[Qazarar]

At the sight of the Weequay retreating, Marren swings around to face the door. If anyone other than the pilot gets away, their benefactor will be most displeased. In desperation, a hasty plan forms. Marren brings his rifle in line at lets loose a shot at the control panel of the door, in hopes of sealing shut the exit.

Attack [roll0]

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking bay 24

Surrj splits the human's head in two, his legs kicking a few times before falling still. Blood spatters the loading ramp. The other human, visibly horrified by his partner's untimely and gory demise, panics and runs around Michael and into the room beyond the cargo bay. The door closes behind him, but before it does, Mikael catches a glimpse of a duros wearing a grease stained white jumpsuit, and beyond, another door, probably leading to the cockpit.

Mikael gets attacks of opportunity if he qualifies for them, but I don't think he can with a flamethrower

Out in the cargo bay, Layne's toss is true, frying the circuitry of the docking bay doors an instant before Marren's blaster bolt destroys what's left of them. The weequay closest to the door is caught in the ion blast and, limbs twitching, tosses his weapon to the ground and throws his hands up in the air, surrendering. The other weequay sees all of his allies have now boarded the transport.

"Wait for me!" he shouts in a gravelly voice, and moves along the catwalk towards the transport, whose engines sound like they are almost finished spinning up.

[MintyNinja]

Surrj gauges the distance between the last of the enemies from the docking bay and the ramp to the transport, which the Trandoshan was standing on. With a wicked grin, he enters the ship while the ramp is down and goes about searching for the next victim of his ax. Seeing the one flee through the middle doors, Surrj approaches, ready to force an opening if need be.

Possible Attack should I come in range of an enemy:
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + ION [roll2]

[Noedig]

Mikael hesitated as Surrj leapt ahead. His flamethrower would likely do more harm than good in such tight confines. The ship had to remain spaceworthy if the pilot was to escape. He noticed the controls to the ramp. As long as it was down, the ship couldn't take off.

"Surrj! Handle the crew, I'm going to keep them grounded. Layne! Get the crate!"

He turned to the controls and set about trying to lock them in place.

Mechanics check to lock the ramp in a down position. If I need to roll something else I will.
Spending a force point to because I think this its necessary.

Mech [roll0] +
FP [roll1]

[Strawberries]

What, seriously? Layne quickly snatches his pistol back from the ground - it wouldn'd do to be completely unarmed - and starts moving towards the ship.

[Thundercracker]

Docking bay 24

Mikael is able to find a metal chain and jams it into the cargo bay door mechanism, keeping it from pulling up and closing. Marren moves towards the remaining Weequay and covers him with his pistol, to keep him from getting any ideas about picking up his weapon again and rejoining the fight.

Still in combat rounds, everybody post.

[MintyNinja]

The ramp was still down, but whether or not that would hamper the ship's escape, Surrj wasn't entirely sure. Standing just aside of the center doors, Surrj swings his vibro ax hard, trying to force an opening to the enemies on the other side.

Using Mighty Swing
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] +ION [roll2]

I think this is what I'm attacking, but I'm not sure:
Metal Door or Airlock (5cm): DR 10, HP 50, DT 30

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, docking bay 24

Surrj is able to hack down the makeshift door with a single swing, revealing a mess hall beyond with a few more doors leading to the sides of the transports. A duros in a workman's outfit is standing next to the door. He drops a welding torch he had been carrying.

"Wait don't!" he said, throwing up his hands, "I'm just the mechanic!"

In the cockpit beyond, he can see two humans punching buttons on the consoles.

everyone except surrj still to move.

[Strawberries]

Still clutching his gun, Layne runs towards the transport, trying to move in a zigzag pattern so as to present a more difficult target.

Double move, which should bring me right on the transport. I moved myself on the map.

[Noedig]

Mikael moved to one of the closed doors and attempted open it, his heavy blaster pistol at the ready in the event someone took a dim view of his actions.

Not sure what kind of action it would be to activate the door (if a panel is even available). Move to O29. Open door with other available actions. If a standard is still available, ready to shoot at whoever is on the other side with a heavy blaster pistol.

Potential Attack: [roll0]
Potential Damage: [roll1]

I fully expect their to be some beautiful woman on the otherside that I will invariably kill. Such as life I suppose. :smallsigh:

[Qazarar]

As the fight has moved to the ship, Marren follows suit, albeit backwards, so as to keep his blaster trained on the Weequay. He can't let his allies go unaided, but can't let the rest escape either.

Double move to J-16

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking bay 24

Mikael opens the door to find humming equipment inside, with numerous dials and a terminal showing a technical readout. Apparently this is the main reactor, or at least part of it. Another closed door leads into the room Surrj currently stands outside of.

Marren notices the Weequay he has covered inch slowly towards the ore platform control panel. He has left his weapon behind, but he looks like he doesn't want to be seen. The other weequay doesn't seem to be doing much of anything. He's just standing there looking at the cargo ramp of the transport.

Players move, still in combat rounds

[MintyNinja]

"Then you're disposable," Surrj growls at the mechanic. He swings his ax again, putting monumental force behind the blow.

Attacking Du with Mighty Swing.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] +ION [roll2]
DT Shenanigans apply, no Bantha Rush.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking bay 24

Mikael attempts to initiate an emergency shutdown of the ship's reactor.
"You know, you could set it to overload, bet that'd be a sight to see."

He mentally pushed the voice to the back of his mind and focused on flipping the correct switches and hitting the correct buttons.

mechanics [roll0]

Edit: Michael is able to swiftly shut down the ship's reactor, the engines reversed their whine and began to spin down to zero.

A muffled curse comes from the cockpit, followed by a thump, most likely as an object thrown in frustration hit the wall.

"We surrender!" a voice yelled, "just don't kill us!"

out of combat, RP as you see fit.

[MintyNinja]

Surrj strides forward into the cockpit, vibro ax still out and humming, and says, "On your feet. Weapons on the floor, and step out of the ship. Which one of you's the pilot?" He marches his two prisoners down the ramp as he talks and out into the open. "All those that wish to surrender come over here," he yells to the Weequays.

Pilot Check: Seeing if the ship can be flown by one person, at a glance.
[roll0]

[Strawberries]

As the situations seems to be well under control Layne leaves the crate be for the moment and instead choses to point his gun to one of the two Weequays, the one that's currently not being taking aim at by Marren.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking bay 24

As Layne shifts his attention to the Weequay on the balcony, the slicer can see he has hidden behind one of the partitions, but upon hearing the transport's engines spin down, he throws his weapon over the catwalk safety barrier and puts his hands in the air.

Inside the ship, one of the humans, a thin wiry one, raises his hand.

"I'm the pilot," he said.

The other human, barely out of his teens, but with well developed muscles, is one of the ones who was moving the crate. They both keep their hands in the air and try to avoid looking at the corpses of their former comrades. The handyman looks like he might throw up after looking and smelling at Surrj's gory handiwork. The two weequay come over as well. They all look fairly despondent. Finally, everyone is assembled near the center of the docking bay.

[MintyNinja]

While someone disarms and checks for comlinks, Surrj gestures to the group of prisoners and says, "My boss is a particular sort, the sort of person that likes answers. I, I don't really care much one way or the other. Ask your friends there on the ground. Ask the mechanic. I'm not a patient person. So let's not waste any more of my time: Who can tell me most about this operation? Where do you get your goods? Who hired you? Who gave you the guns? You get the picture? I want to know as much as you can tell me. Or else..." He spins his ax slightly in his hands and smiles widely.

OOC: Box them in. Marren between them and the Cargo Bay doors. Layne on the left, Mikael on the right. Surrj between them and the ramp.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 24

The hapless smugglers are disarmed and sat down on the ground in the docking bay.
When Surrj starts asking questions, the two Weequays, the duros, and the pilot all point to the singed human who was carrying the crate. He appears to be in his early thirties, with short brown hair and a medium build.

He sighs.

"We work for a small outfit, moving goods from Kessel and Chyrra to all over the galaxy," he said.
"Those two are hired mercenaries," he said, nodding to the Weequays, "and these two fly the ship."
He nodded towards the wiry human pilot and the duros.

"I'm not sure you know what you're getting yourselves into," he continued, "this spice belongs to the Hutts, so you take it at your own risk."

[MintyNinja]

Surrj listened intently and came to a decision. "Pilot, get on the ship," he says a moment before charging into the crowd. He swings his ax around with precise strikes, taking down as many of the targets while they sat still, sparing the pilot. Any that got away from him, Surrj trusted to be dispatched by his allies. It was gruesome, bloody work, and the scene afterwards looked reminiscent of a slaughterhouse.

OOC: I thought the Duros was already dead.
Either way, here's some Attack and Damage Rolls, if they help:
Atk: [roll0] Dam: [roll1] ION [roll2]
Atk: [roll3] Dam: [roll4] ION [roll5]
Atk: [roll6] Dam: [roll7] ION [roll8]
Atk: [roll9] Dam: [roll10] ION [roll11]

[Strawberries]

"What..." Layne is taken by surprise at the attack: his weapons shifts uncertainly between the prisoners and Surrj. Damn, they surrendered, that's not fair...

No help from Layne, I'm afraid

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking bay 24

The trandoshan ruthlessly sliced into the helpless prisoners, their pleas for mercy going unheeded as he brutally carried out his mission to the letter. When the slaughter is finished, you can hear the pilot vainly trying to spin up the transport's engines, but failing, due to the fact that his reactor core has been shut down.

Anyone can take 10 on mechanics and restart the reactor and unjam the ship's cargo bay door. The next move is up to you guys.

[MintyNinja]

As the last corpse finished twitching, Surrj finally realized that he was smiling wildly. He got his face under control as he wiped off his weapon and sheathed it. "Marren, get the bay door open again. Layne, fix up the transport's engines so the kid can get away. Mikael, collect up the weaponry and gear that could be useful to have. I'll carry the crate," Surrj says as he does his best to lift and carry the crate. "We'll head back to our bay and stow the weapons and crate for now. Then we contact the boss."

[Noedig]

Mikael ensured that the pilot boarded the ship, and then restarted the reactor once the boy was situated. Afterward, he removed the chain on the ramp and dragged the crate of spices away from the ship. He finished just as Surrj was finishing the job.

"Ah, wonderful. Glad to see we're following the contract to the letter."

He put a round through each head to ensure the contract was indeed followed, more as a formality than a necessity. Surrj was thorough. He glanced at Layne.

"No need to be squeamish, Layne. And please, do mind where you point your gun; it is loaded after all and a friendly fire incident would be a sour note on which to end this job."

He glanced about at the team.

"Right, so is anyone injured? We should probably leave sooner rather than later."

[MintyNinja]

Surrj looked over to Mikael and said, "Some scorch marks but we've got the droid for a reason." He faced the others and added, "Let's move, people." Once the way was clear, he'd start walking towards their own hangar bay, the crate held tight against his chest.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 24

All conversation is momentarily ended as the transport's engines spin up to full power and it rockets out of the docking bay. Once it passes beyond the force field, the sound abruptly ends, leaving a slight ringing in your ears as an eerie calm settles over the hangar as the glow from the transport's main thrusters fades into the distance.

[Strawberries]

Layne hesitates for a second, then lowers his gun and proceeds to do as Surrj ordered. Orders were orders, but it doesn't mean he needs to like the whole issue. Come on, don't tell me we couldn't have found another way around that. There's really no point in arguing about that now, he thinks, and at least the mission was successful. He follows Surrj, albeit uneasily.

[Noedig]

"So, before we waltz out of here, I feel compelled to ask a question. Are there cameras in this hangar? I confess I didn't really think to check beforehand, but it seems prudent to determine the answer. Everything we've just done could've been recorded, and there could very well be a host of very annoyed security guards on the other side of the door. Thoughts?"

[MintyNinja]

OOC: I don't understand why Mikael thinks anyone else would know. He could just look himself.

Surrj stops and blinks at the scarred human and then makes a show of looking around for cameras.

Perception: [roll0]

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 24

Surrj does see a pair of security cameras, one underneath the catwalk and one in the corner above the right side of the hangar door, each covering the other's blind spot. Upon closer inspection, however, it appears both have been disabled. Apparently, the smugglers did not want a recording of their transactions.

A very lucky break, as it were.

As Mikael finishes hotwiring the damaged door controls and is about to test opening it, there is a faint *tap tap* from the other side of the door, as if someone is knocking and trying to be discreet about it.

[Noedig]

Mikael blinked.

"Who is it?"

The words were out of his mouth before his brain had fully processed the situation and he cursed himself for the childhood habit of politeness.

[Strawberries]

Layne swallows a curse, and readies his gun again, prepared to train it on whoever should step through the doorway.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 24

The docking bay door opened to reveal a stocky looking human with close cut hair and brown skin, wearing a typical blue spacer's outfit, with an empty holster at his hip. He instantly noticed Layne's drawn pistol and eyed it warily. Nothing is said for a moment, and then he spoke.

"I got the credits; are we going to do this or what?" he asked.

Then he noticed the pile of bodies in the middle of the docking bay, and took an uncertain step back.

If you guys are confused OOC by this guy showing up, let me know.

[Noedig]

"Ah. The buyer. Put your gun away sir, he's who we're expecting."

Mikael gestured vaguely behind the team.

"Never mind all that mess; idiots who thought they could take this from us without paying. But you've got the credits, we've got the spice. Come inside, close the door and we'll get away from any prying eyes, eh?"

Rolling with this little hiccup.

Deception: [roll0]

[MintyNinja]

All Surrj could do in the space of a knock and an entrance was keep gripping the crate and nod his head along with Mikael's lie. As far as the buyer knew, he was just another brute along the ride for the heavy lifting.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 24

The stocky man shifted his gaze from Layne to Mikael to Marren uncertainly, then sneered with bravado and stepped boldly into the docking bay.

"All ten thousand, right here," he said, waving a credit stick around, "you don't mind if I inspect the goods first, do you?"

[Noedig]

A 'grin' twitched across Mikael's face as the buyer stepped through the door.
"Savvy buyer. Glad to see we're not dealing with an idiot."

He shut the door and then waved Surrj over to his right, speaking to the buyer as they walked.

"If you would please follow my scaly friend with the crate, we can get down to business. There. Set the crate down here, if you please."

Perception on the crate whilst we walk, though I imagine having held it Surrj could more easily tell. Is it locked? Are there security devices of any kind on it? Or is it just an average crate?

Take 10.

[MintyNinja]

Surrj followed Mikael's gesture and set the crate down where indicated. He opened the lid for the buyer, getting a look inside for himself.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 24

The solidly built spice dealer's eyes light up greedily when he sees the contents of the crate. Ten clear plastic bags, perhaps weighing a kilogram each, containing various types of spice.

"You don't mind if I uhh... sample the merchandise first," he asked, eyes not leaving the spice.
"Not that I don't trust you," he added quickly, "but this is a major purchase and I want to know I'm buying quality goods."

He licked his lips nervously.

Noedig, pick a number between one and ten for how many bags this guy's money should purchase, and also make a roll as your character, whatever skill or ability you think is appropriate for negotiating/figuring this out, however you can justify it (I do need to see the justification though, as that will have an effect). If you roll well, your character will modify your player's choice and get closer to the correct number. As for chemistry, I imagine it's more geared towards how well things burn, not how pure a substance is, so I don't think that will help you in this case. If anyone wants to help Mikael (such as Layne, who actually has a little experience with the street value of some of the spice), you'll need to roll deception to do it without alerting the buyer something is up.

[Noedig]

"Normally I would tell you no. But..."

Mikael glanced around and looked at Layne.

"I don't see any reason why not. Mr. White? Help sort the man out." He turned back to the buyer and spoke. Mr. White is one of our quality control specialists. He helps to ensure that every ounce meets rigid specifications. Customer satisfaction is incredibly important in this business. Such a delicate balance has to be maintained or you risk damaging your profit margins irreparably. Now, just a taste, mind you. We're running a business, not a charity."

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 24

The spice distributor pulls out a combat knife from a sheath on his hip and stabs it into one of the bags, producing a small amount of powdered spice on the tip of the blade. Carefully, he dabs it onto his tongue and closes his eyes.

"Mmm," he said, eyes still closed, "good stuff. Okay, let's deal."

He replaces the knife and produces his credstick again, looking to you expectantly.

[Strawberries]

"Well then, first quality merchandise, as you can see. The colour alone should have been able to tell you" Layne says, sliding into a professional mode. It's not that difficult, all he has to do is picking back up the posh accent from when he was in school. People believe what you say more if you are educated. "Five bags, two thousand a kilo, with goods of THIS quality is practically a bargain."

I think I'll make two rolls

Deception: [roll0] to appear who he is pretending he is and Persuasion [roll1] to convince him of the deal. Now watch me fail miserably.

EDIT: hey! :smallsmile:

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 24

Something in the back of Layne's head tells him five bags is too high, and he revises his offer down to three bags. After a little bit of haggling, the stocky man agrees to the terms.

"Alright, you got yourself a deal," he said, "pleasure doing business with you."
He grins, showing off a few gold capped teeth.

He hands over the credstick, grabs three of the bags, including the one already punctured, and makes his way out of the docking bay. The door hisses shut behind him.

The crew is left in the docking bay the seven remaining bags of spice, the bodies, and pools of quickly coagulating blood.

[MintyNinja]

"Alright, that was close. Let's collect up the gear from those boys over there and head back to the ship," Surrj suggests. He didn't want to get caught with the remaining bags but waiting around here would have him caught with the bodies. He could not abide being arrested, it would wipe away all the Jagganath Points he had earned over the years. He picks up the crate and waits for the others to be ready before they leave the scene behind.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1

The group makes its way back to docking bay 1, where their ship sits waiting. Even with the early hour, there are several sentients roaming the long tube which connects all the docking bays to each other. The faint hum of the moving walkways provides a background noise, and the party blends in with the miners, traders, and smugglers all going about their business.

Finally, the doors hiss shut behind you, and you deposit the crate with the spice and cache of weapons inside, onto the floor of Docking Bay 1.

[MintyNinja]

"Okay, I don't know how the rest of you are doing, but I'm gonna take some personal time in the Med bay," Surrj says with a grin. He had more than a couple new scorch marks and the day was still young. Day's about to begin and I've already killed seven people... How many of them were fighting back? Would they really count to the Scorekeeper? Am I becoming a beast? The introspective thoughts kept the large Trandoshan preoccupied as he sought out the medical droid. He didn't even think about calling Kayla, it wasn't his place. This was Layne's mission, let him call.

[Noedig]

Mikael was silent on the journey back. When they had boarded the ship he tossed aside his breathmask in disgust.

"Such a missed oppertunity. If I'd been faster on the draw, we could have had the money and the spice."

He looked at the credstick ruefully then shifted his gaze to Layne.

"Will you be calling Kayla, or should I?"

[Strawberries]

Layne scowls. "We made the deal and it was a fair one" he grumbles. He's not really in the business of killing people in cold blood - or at least that's what he thought until quite recently. A liar, thief and drug addict, that's all things he's quite comfortable being, but the concept of murder makes him balk.

"I will call her" he replies, tersely, grabbing his comm and selecting Kayla's contact.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Kayla's apartment #11-38

(Rissy Qorbin)

Kayla commed to summon you about forty minutes ago. It took that long make a trip to the fresher, get dressed, and make your way to her place. You're not sure why she wanted to see you so early, but she's the one you're taking orders from, so you made sure to be five minutes early. The hallway is deserted, and Kayla answered the door with a heavy blaster pistol in one hand. The apartment is a well furnished apartment with a holo projector near a pair of leather couches opposite a kitchen with steely grey appliances and granite countertops. Carpeting near the holoprojector is plush, and there are a few paintings on the walls. A pair of bedrooms stand on either side, one near the kitchen and one near the holoprojector & couches. A large grey wookie sits on a chair in the rear of the room, giving him a view of the entire room. Kayla set the heavy blaster pistol on the countertop as she moved to the kitchen.

After a little bit of small talk, and a polite acceptance of some kind of snack chips on your part, the Zeltron gets down to business.
"Obviously you're not here on vacation," she said, "you're here because your boss owed some favors to my boss. The job's pretty simple: you're to establish a relationship and provide escort for a new spice supplier to the system. The meeting will be on Coruscant. Your job is to head to Coruscant, meet with the contact, negotiate a favorable price for the goods, and escort the contact's spice runners back to Titan 1. The crew you are about to meet will be your transport and muscle if anything goes wrong."

"Any questions?" she asked.

Almost on cue, her comlink beeped.

"Hold that thought," Kayla said with a smile.

Titan 1, Docking bay 1

Kayla picked up Layne's com call almost immediately.
"You're prompt. How did it go?" she asked, "any surprises?"

[Felhammer]

Rissy

The tall, athletically built woman walked the corridors of the station alone. Her thoughts drifted back to the last time she saw Sarkin... Her hand drifting up to the necklace he gave her... Bastard. I will make him pay for this. Eventually she arrived at Kayla's apartment. It was well furnished and pleasant, as she expected it to be. The wookiee was a bit of a surprise but, in retrospect, body guards are necessary in these dangers times... Still, a wookiee seemed a bit overkill... She became cognoscente of the necklace once more and sighed. He's probably in the same situation I am. Rissy watched Kayla move with grace from the door to the kitchen. The two chatted aimlessly, some would even say pointlessly, for a time before getting down to brass tacks. The mission seemed simple enough. She had negotiated deals like this for Sarkin many times before. Qorbin prized loyalty and efficiency above all else when it came to a crew of companions; the typical cadre of nerf herders the Syndicate normally utilized were the opposite. She did not like the idea of joining up with some group of no name space rats that were stricken with a devil-may-care attitude.

When Kayla asked if there were any questions, Rissy was about to speak up but was quickly silenced by the call.

[Strawberries]

"Nothing that's not being taken care of" he answers back, with just the slightest hint of arrogance. "Pilot's gone, trouble's been neutralised, and we've got you some merchandise as well"

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1

"Excellent," Kayla replied to Layne, "the job's not done yet. Bring the merchandise down to my apartment; go around Customs, obviously. Anything else you found on the runners is yours to keep."

"There's someone here you should meet," Kayla added, before muting the comlink.

"Sorry, did you have a question?" Kayla asked Rissy.

[Felhammer]

RISSY

Rissy smiles cordially and asks, "Does this contact have a history with the Syndicate? The last time I had dealings with a "merchant" like this the negotiations were quite... Aggressive. I just want to know how much ammo I need to pack."

[Noedig]

"Right, so one final little hurdle: how do we get the spice from here, to there? Do we know any other smugglers aside from the strange little Jawa?"

[Thundercracker]

titan 1

Kayla shook her head.

"They've always been on the periphery," she replied, "that's why part of the job is to build a relationship."

She paused.

"Try to avoid any shooting if you can," she added with a smirk.

[Noedig]

Mikael recalled Wizbam's bypass almost as soon as his words had left his mouth. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"I know, I know. I'm forgetting Wizbam. Let's go chaps. Surrj, if you'd man the crate?"

He pocketed the credstick and snatched up his breathmask, slipping it on as they moved through the bypass to Wizbam's shop. He kept a an eye on the people on the streets as they moved through the station to Kayla's apartment, not wishing to be followed. Eventually they all arrived and he knocked on the door, which opened to reveal Kayla.

"Hello! So good to see you again. We brought you a present. Well, two presents actually."

He wasn't sure why, but he was genuinely happy to see the Zeltron again.

[MintyNinja]

After a quarter hour of opening, cleaning, and re-cauterizing his wounds, the Medical Droid allowed Surrj to get off the surgery table and return to work. He easily carried the crate as he followed the others through Wizbam's shop and the early morning crowds. When at last they reached Kayla's apartment, Surrj set the crate on the floor and spared a glowering look to the Wookiee in the corner. Only after that did he notice the women in the room, "Morning."

OOC: I'm taking the time to get patched up. My effectiveness to the party is pretty limited to my combat abilities and going anywhere wounded is just an unnecessary risk. Seeing as Mikael is the only other character with a STR over 8, I am willing to carry things for the party.

[Felhammer]

RISSY

The short haired, lithe woman allowed her eyes to graze over the Trandoshan's hulking frame. She looked directly into his reptilian eyes and smiled, "Well met, handsome." Rissy followed the greeting up with a playful wink.

[Noedig]

Mikael inclined his head to the woman.

"Ah, a friend of yours, Surrj? Good morning, miss. I am Mr. Flint, and unlike my reptilian compatriot, I am not so handsome. Hence the mask."

He chuckled and put out a gloved hand, suddenly glad that he changed into his business attire, rather than his more utilitarian garb.

[Felhammer]

RISSY

The woman merely glanced at Mikael, nodding as she did so. Her gaze returned to that of the Trandoshan, "I am called Rissy Qorbin. I am many things to many people. To you, I will be a negotiator, which is a job I am stunningly good at. I work for the Syndicate, although..." Her hand glides up to her necklace. She rolls the delicate silver chain a few times between her index finger and her thumb, "I usually work for a man named Jouren Sarkin. You have probably not heard of him." Rissy breaks her gaze with Surrj and looks back to her new employer, "I have been assigned to help Miss Kayla on a fairly delicate and important business opportunity." The noble turns her head back to the party but settles her eyes upon the Trandoshan once more, "I am told we will be working with one another."

[MintyNinja]

Surrj refocused his attention from the furball in the corner to the new woman who was talking. A charmer, he thought to himself. Useful, as long as you don't fall for her game. Probably hiding an ambitious streak, name-dropping like that. Seems on good terms with Kayla, though not familiar enough to drop the 'miss'. Overall, probable non-combatant. Just like Kali was... He breaks from his analysis as she mentions the work and asks Kayla, "New assignment? Lucky 7's back in business?"

[Noedig]

Mikael meandered the apartment, making his way slowly to the kitchen. He glanced back when Surrj mentioned the Lucky 7.

"Force, I hope so. Such a wonderful bar. Speaking of, do you mind if I get something to drink, Kayla? Rough morning and all that."

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Kayla's apartment #11-38

Kayla smiled at Mikael and ushered the party into the room, locking the door behind you as you enter.

The grey wookie in the back of the room pointedly ignores Surrj, even going so far as to feign a yawn. He doesn't break eye contact, however.

"Lucky 7's is not back in business yet," Kayla replied, "which is why we're meeting here. I'm hoping the next time we meet, it'll be back in our usual VIP room."
"Help yourself, Mikael," she added.

Mikael is able to find several assorted bottles of liquor of various kinds in the fridge. In fact, it seems there's much more alcoholic drinks than actual food, not that that's a bad thing.

"Right, to business," Kayla said, producing a handheld holo-projector and placing it on the kitchen counter. The mamillian face of a Bothan appeared, and rotated slowly.

"This is Tereez Caer'bun," Kayla said, "he's a fairly senior member of the Kessel Spice Cartel. With our old spice suppliers having switch allegiances to the Hutts, to their detriment-"
She smirked.
"-we need their spice to keep raking in the credits from this system," she said.
"A meeting has been arranged between Ms. Qorbin and Mr. Caer'bun, on Coruscant," she said, "your job, rather her job, is to build a relationship with him, convince him that we're profitable enough to sell to, then escort his spice runners back here to Titan 1 with a fresh shipment of spice. Your job is to get her there in one piece, and escort the runners and their goods back here."

"Speaking of which," Kayla said, seeming to remember something.
She walked over to the crate and opened it, pulling out the weapons one by one and setting them on the countertop next to the mini-holoprojector. There is now a small armory beginning to take shape in the kitchen. She frowned as she pulled out the last blaster pistol and examined the spice at the bottom of the crate.

"Is this all there was?" she asked.

[Noedig]

"Ah, no, actually. We were on our way out when the buyer showed. We had to improvise a sale to maintain our cover. Wasn't sure if he was expendable or who he worked for or otherwise we would've just shot him and been done with it."

He fished out the cred-stick and offered it to Kayla.

"The money."

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Kayla's apartment #11-38

Kayla scanned the credstick through a reader.

"How many bags were there originally?" she asked, her tone neutral.

[Noedig]

"Ten. I'm assuming they're a kilo each. We sold three for ten thousand, the profits of which you are currently holding. Buyer was a greasy spacer type, brown skin, cropped hair, a few gold teeth, stocky build. He was obviously also a user, the way he was looking at the product."

[Felhammer]

RISSY

Rissy remained fairly quiet, preferring to study the face of the man she would be negotiating with. "Joy, a Bothan. I loathe Bothans. Always duplicitous... Always the master spies... Always the kind of people that betray you when you least expect it." She would have to bring her A-game to this table. There is no way she could be lax, like she was on that deal back on Dantooine. Vacation was over. She needed to prove herself to this Kayla. Her eyes transitioned from the holoprojector to her new crewmates, "Most of them are scum. Perfect fodder for the Syndicate. The Trandoshan, Surrj, was by far the most interesting. So beefy, so brave... Definitely the kind of muscle she would need on this kind of mission. Rissy was never one for direct combat, as she had been trained to be an officer in the Imperial Navy. She had been honed into a weapon of leadership and action, not a groundpounder. No, she was dainty by comparison to soldiers like Surrj. She needed men like him by her side to ensure no one, not this Tereez Caer'bun, not Kayla and definitely not that bastard Sarkin ever took advantage of her again.

[MintyNinja]

"Getting off station seems like a good idea, especially after the mess we left," Surrj agrees. "Do we know anything about this man's connection to the Bothan Spynet? Senior member of a Spice Cartel must come across a lot of useful secrets, especially based out of Coruscant. I don't think it's just a coincidence, and I've had a couple run ins with the Spynet before." Surrj kept his mouth shut when Mikael explained the need opportunity to sell off the spice. It seemed like a decent idea to Surrj, at the time, but there was no point in earning the Zeltron's ire.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Kayla's apartment #11-38

Kayla sniffed at Mikael's description.
"Yeah, he's one of the new distributors, I'll have someone find him and speak with him about the new arrangements," she said, "we'll have to reign in his expectations, three bags for 10k is a bit of a bargain, but not outrageous."

The zeltron considered the credstick for a moment, then passed it back to Mikael.

"There's more where this came from, if this trip to Coruscant works out well," she said.

"As for whether Tereez is hooked into the Bothan Spynet," Kayla said, turning to Surrj, "well, he's a Bothan, so it's entirely possible, and he's meeting us on Coruscant... once again, entirely possible, but if you're asking whether we know for sure?"
She shrugged her slender shoulders.
"Your guess is as good as mine," she said.

[MintyNinja]

"Alright, then we'll run under the assumption that what he knows the Spynet knows. Bringing his runners onto Titan 1 may be beneficial to him from a purely informational standpoint, especially if we're to do business with them. He might be willing to accept otherwise inconvenient terms in order to preserve that relationship, but I'll leave that to your expertise," Surrj says to Rissy. His own thoughts were milling around a particular Bothan that he'd crossed paths with a few times before. If the Spynet were really infiltrating the Syndicate through a Spice Cartel then Surrj would have to be on the lookout for the man that had twice failed to kill him.

[Noedig]

Mikael poured himself a splash of whiskey in a glass and down it in one go. His lack of lips made it difficult to sip, and this being someone's home, he didn't want to chance making a mess. He took the credstick back and pocketed it as he listened to the brief.

"Interesting. Lots of upheaval in the drug trade recently. Do you think the Hutts will be after a deal with him as well? They have to know he's there."

[Felhammer]

RISSY

Rissy's eyebrows raises as she listens to the Trandoshan, "I like where your head is at, Surrj. Indeed, hopefully we can leverage his desires into a profitable deal for the Syndicate. Still, my motto is 'never let your guard down', so let us not walk blindly into this deal with unverified theories swimming in our heads."

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Kayla's Apartment

"Yes, it's possible the Hutts or a rival supplier might try something," Kayla said, "that's why you're going, to protect the meet and ensure the deal gets done. Hopefully this job will be a cakewalk, Sith knows we deserve a break after everything that's happened in the past month."

The Zeltron produced a datapad. On it are a trio of comlink codes.

"You'll need to make contact with the Bothan after you land on Coruscant next week," she said, "any other questions?"

[MintyNinja]

"Not about this," Surrj says as he takes the datapad. He transfers the codes to his own and files them away under aliases. "You want us off station immediately?"

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Kayla's apartment

Kayla shook her head.

"You're supposed to make contact within the next eight days. What you do in the mean time is up to you," Kayla replied.

"If there's any question, Rissy has final say on what goes in this mission. If everything works out... well, I don't want you to get your hopes up," Kayla said, glancing back and forth between Surrj, Mikael, and Rissy.

[Noedig]

"Prudent, given the chaotic nature of our craft."

[MintyNinja]

"This gives us time to finish the upgrades, at least," Surrj adds. He could probably take some downtime to get working on the bounties. Ask around, see who knows what. Probably best to bring one of the others along, though.

[Felhammer]

RISSY

The trip to Coruscant should not take that long. We can afford a day or two interlude between your previous mission and this new one." Rissy looks down at the table, then back up at Surrj, "I would like to become acquainted with the ship. I hear it is quite the impressive craft. Would you like to be the one to show me around? Especially the cockpit. I must admit, I am accustomed to more stately crafts but I have been dying to give one of these powerfully built smuggler ships a go. I hear they are quite... Exciting.

[MintyNinja]

"Marren's the expert. Never met a better pilot myself, and the way he works with that ship you'd think he owned it," Surrj replies to Rissy, giving her a blank look. She wasn't the most subtle of charmers, but maybe Surrj had missed more innuendos than he noticed. It would be damn foolish of him to get to close to the newcomer, especially with the persistent methods she seemed to employ. Surrj didn't know her from the next person, he only had Kayla's word that she was with the Syndicate and Kayla could be fooled. "If that's all... Mikael, would you share the wealth there? And Layne, I want to talk to you about a Slice Job."

[Noedig]

"In a moment. Kayla, we may have a bit of a loose end to tie off in regards to our last job. We had to interrogate one of the locals. Kubaz named Reek. He's still in our custody. I didn't feel it would be wise to make a decision without first trying to ascertain if he was at all valuable to you or our employer."

[Felhammer]

RISSY

The human raises an eyebrow, "Kubaz are shady by their very nature. What did this Reek do to earn your ire, Mikael?"

[Noedig]

Mikael ran a hand across his burned face. He shrugged and poured himself another splash of whiskey.

"Nothing. Barely an acquaintance. We needed information. He had it. We got it out of him. And now he's a loose end. Nothing personal at all, just business."

He sipped his drink absently, some of it spilling from his mouth. He chuckled and wiped his mouth his sleeve.

"Whoops, sorry about that. Amazing how much we take lips for granted, eh? Long story. Anyway, as we all know loose ends are not exactly conducive to productivity in our line of work. Would I rather he not be a loose end? Certainly. Is that the case. No."

[Thundercracker]

Kayla's apartment

"A Kubaz?" Kayla said, biting her cheek in thought, "one of the distributors? I think I remember him. Put him in contact with Layne, if I recall."

"Did he know the new suppliers were with the Hutts?" she asked.

[Noedig]

"I believe he did. His exact words I believe were 'they'll kill me,' when we asked him nicely to roll on who had the shipment. Hutts were mentioned and he made no denial. Now he also knows we do work for the Syndicate."

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Kayla's apartment #11-38

Kayla nodded.

"I don't think he even knew he was working for us in the first place. Do what you want with him, but he doesn't work for us anymore," she said, "if he's smart, he'll run, if he's stupid, he'll run to the Hutts, but either way, he's not our problem anymore."

[Noedig]

"Right, glad we've cleared that up. I'll handle it when we get back. Then breakfast, I think."

[Strawberries]

Layne doesn't comment on Mikael's words. Instead, he appears mildly interested to Surrj's mention of a job for him. "Sure" He says, confidently "What is it about? "

[Felhammer]

RISSY

The human woman looks over to Mikael and says, "Breakfast sounds good."

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 1

Michael made his way back to Wizbam's, then up the secret elevator to Docking Bay 1. Reek was still there, tied to the chair, in the dimly lit hangar. Even in the darkness, Michael can clearly see the ship's massive bulk parked to one side.

[MintyNinja]

Surrj pulls Layne over to a corner of the kitchen and quietly says, "There's a bounty on a Rodian named Kleepo Torga. If we've got a bit of off time, I'd like your help in tracking him down. I used to work with a slicer that could find her targets through the holonet. If you want to help with this I can cut you in on the bounty."

[Noedig]

Mikael walked up behind Reek and tipped the chair over back wards. He took his breathmask off and put his face within inches of Reek's.

"Gooood morninggggggg Reek! And how are you this fine day? A little tired? Probably in need of a good piss? Well?"

[Strawberries]

Layne smiles widely - now jobs like THIS, he has no problem doing. "Piece of cake" he says, confidently "Why don't you meet me in half an hour, and I'll see what I have for you?"

Half an hour later, he's sat in a bar in the Shopping level, his computer opened up in front of him. He makes a little gesture to Surrj when he sees him approach and turns the computer towards him. On the screen there's a passenger's manifesto for a personal transport. "Here you are" he says, conversationally "Last time your guy was on the station, he was leaving on this ship towards Nar Shadda. After that, who knows." He shrugs "He may have got himself fake ID there."

[MintyNinja]

After leaving Kayla's apartment Surrj wandered around the personal shopping district for a bit while waiting for his meeting with Layne. Torga was a good bounty alive, 5,000 cr, but also a worthy adversary should it come to a deadly fight. But that would bring the bounty down to 1,000 cr. The conundrum kept the large Trandoshan distracted until his meeting.

As he heard the news Surrj said, "A creature like him in Nar Shadaa, to many places to hide and blend in. it would be overly dangerous to go rushing after such a bounty in possibly hostile territory. Not to mention thst he knows the tricks of the trade just as well, if not better, than I do. We'll let him suck up to the Hutts for now, but we won't forget that a prize hides on that moon."

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 1

Reek blubbers a bit as Michael takes his mask off and speaks to him.

"W-What are you going to do?" he asked.

[Felhammer]

RISSY

Watching the other members of her team depart for parts unknown, Rissy decides to also leave. She stands outside Kayla's room and pulls up the schematics of the Station. She weighs her options between going to breakfast, going gambling or buying a much needed outfit. Her skintight black suit was great for combat and general use, especially in slummier areas, but it was perhaps less suited to negotiations. Better to be prepared for a fancy meeting place than risk being made the fool by walking around in a very informal looking body suit. Still, she had time as her new shipmates would likely spend a day or two here resolving their personal vendettas, getting drunk and being louts (as all scummy people were known to be, on occasion). The gambling halls were quite alluring but practicality and necessity before frivolity. Rissy made her way to the elevator and clicked the button to take her to the shopping level.

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, shopping (personal)
(rissy)

The doors open to a clamour of sight and sound as hawkers proclaim their wares, and blinking lights attract your attention to the various shops. A promenade stretches ahead of you and turns to the right about a hundred and fifty meters away, but though it was carved out of the asteroid in what would have made a broad walkway, the empty space has been clogged by stall vendors selling various knickknacks. Gadgets and trinkets beep and trundle about. Sentients of all shapes and sizes mill around, doing their various shopping. You see likely smugglers, mercenaries, miners, suppliers, and others, too numerous to be categorized. Along the walls, a walkway spans the entire perimeter of the level, with several escalators facilitating transport between the upper and lower levels, allowing for two levels of shops along the walls. You note there are several clothing shops, along with shops selling pretty much anything else you might want to buy.

[Felhammer]

Rissy

Rustic markets are always great for finding unique items... At least that's what my father used to say when he took me on excursions to the countryside. She listened to the merchants try to hawk their wares. She smiles as different vendors try to get her attention by being annoying, while others try vague compliments, while still others try the tried and true rude approach. Rissy looks around, feigning interest in many baubles and bits but purchases nothing. She heads upstairs to the second floor and tries to find a clothing vendor who sells expensive fabrics and clothing, preferably ones that are in vogue on Coruscant or Corellia. She settles on a shop run by an Toydarian. His fat, bulbous belly was a sight to behold. She found him... Exotic. Something out of the ordinary. Unique. She let her hand glide across the edge of a interesting looking cloak. It was made of an exotic material that seemed rare and alluring. She was drawn to its intricate, almost organic pattern of lavender ridges, which were raised up above a soft plum-colored velvet. "How much for this cloak?" Her tone was even but betrayed her interest. A calculated gambit. Risky, as it could drive the price up but she wagered the Toydarian was an experienced negotiator and would see through any heavy handed disinterested tone she used. Better to let slip a hint than to give the whole game away.

I was thinking something like this:

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070930190928/starwars/images/c/c8/TatooineCloak.jpg

[Noedig]

Mikael clicked his teeth in annoyance and shifted his squat to put a knee on Reek's chest and grind downward.

"Well that was not so polite of you, now was it? Here I try to make civil conversation with you and you immediately jump to business. Very well, if that's how you want it."

He scratched his chin absently and continued applying pressure with his knee.

"Titan is a rather unfriendly place for you now. You should leave. We don't care where you go, but I would personally advise you stay away from the GT and the Hutts. Treachery is not looked well upon in the Syndicate. If you do find shelter with the Hutts, we'll come for you. Believe me, you do not want to see me a third time. How does that sound?"

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1, Docking Bay 1
The Kubaz nodded vigorously.

"Okay, okay," Reek said, "I'll go, you'll never see me again, I swear."

He keeps nodding, as if you needed more convincing.

Titan 1, Shopping (personal)

The toydarian looked you up and down, wings flapping as he hovered between the aisles.

"Ah, you have excellent taste," he said, "this one is made from silkworms from Corellia, hand woven, very fine."
He rubbed his chin with a thumb and forefinger.

"For you, I give a special price, 140 credits," he said.

roll persuasion if you want to haggle.

[Noedig]

Mikael tipped the chair back up to its proper position and unbound Reek. He took the Kubaz by his shoulders before he left.

"I mean it, Reek. I will teach you what it means to suffer if you force my hand. Now go; I return your life to you."

[Felhammer]

RISSY

The human shakes her head, "Silk worms you say? Interesting." She paws the cloak a few more times then retorts, "But I do not have that kind of money." She flutters her eyelashes a few times, "Will 100 credits do?"

Persuasion: [roll0]

[MintyNinja]

With his Bounty hunting meeting concluded, Surrj leaves Layne to his own freedoms. The large Trandoshan made his way to the elevators and then to the Entertainment district. He walked by Lucky 7's without slowing, but just attempting to get an idea how the place was doing since the raid. While he was in the area, he walked by Champ's as well. News of the distribution problems could arrive at any moment and maybe there would be a sign that showed the Hutts anger or nervousness, like a set of guards or a new camera outside. In both cases, Surrj wasn't planning on stopping and soon he found himself in the back corner of a small, out of the way bar eating a leg of some delicious beast.

Perception Checks:
Lucky 7's [roll0]
Champ's [roll1]

Surrj would sit in such a way to see anyone entering the bar, paying attention if he happened to recognize them from his walk or either of the two locations he checked on: Perception [roll2]

[Thundercracker]

Titan 1
(Mikael)
Reek scrambled to his feet and stumbled over his own feet in his haste to get to the docking bay door. He runs through without looking back, leaving you alone in the docking bay.

(Rissy)
After about thirty minutes of haggling and enduring stories about his starving children, you're able to convince the toydarian to meet your price of 100 credits. He looks none too pleased, but not displeased enough to walk away from the sale.
"Okay, now you go," he said, "if I keep selling to you, maybe I end up out of business."

He waves dismissively with one hand and turns his back to attend to another customer.

(Surrj)
Oddly enough, both Lucky 7's and Champ's look like they're open for business, though perhaps with slightly fewer patrons than there were previously. It does look like there might be some extra security at Champ's, in the form of several somewhat large and bulky patrons, but you're not sure if they really are security or if it's just the fact that you're looking for extra security. At any rate, at least the meat is filling, if not overly flavorful.

[MintyNinja]

As he finished the meal without interruption, Surrj took that as a good sign. No one seemed to be following or noticing him too much as of yet. That could change though, especially if more reports of a 'Trandoshan with an Ax' are made, he thought to himself. An alternative weapon would probably be a good idea, other than the the Handheld Hybrid Marren put together for me... He paid his bill and left the establishment while thinking on the subject. Eventually he came to a decision and wound his way back down to the Personal Shopping deck. Weaving through crowds and past shops and stalls, he found a weapons dealer that looked to have a good stock of powered melee weapons. After only a few minutes of perusal, Surrj picked out a Power Hammer. It was a bit heavier than his vibro ax, but the gravity well promised serious damage when used right. The large Trandoshan also picked up a harness that would hold the weapon across his lower back, beneath his long coat. It was technically a concealed sheath, but Surrj didn't plan to use it as such. Stealth had never been his style, but the weight distribution of this harness was optimal compared to a hip-side sheath. Once the licensing was dealt with and Surrj had spent nearly his entire proceeds of the drug money, he made his way back to the ship with the intention of catching a short nap.

Spending:
20 cr on Breakfast
50 cr on Concealed Holster (Core 140)
1,500 cr on Power Hammer (Force Unleashed 96-7)
150 cr on Licensing (Restricted = 10%)

Total of 1,720 cr.

[Noedig]

Mikael sent a message to the rest of the team as Reek scurried away.

"My business is handled. Anyone for breakfast?"

[Qazarar]

Marren stops his work on the ship when he receives Mikael's message. He knows he won't need much more time to finish the modifications to the ship, and some food would not go amiss. He sends a response to Mikael. After all, why not?

[Felhammer]

RISSY

The human woman smiles inwardly, "What a silly little Toydarian. Foolish too, this cloak easily would have cost double what I paid for it, if I bought it from more... Reputable vendors. She made note of the Toydarian's name and location, she would come back here to buy more clothes after the next mission.

[MintyNinja]

Surrj responds to the message as he makes his way to the hangar bay. "Just ate; gonna catch up on the missed sleep from this morning. Lucky 7's is open, by the way."

OOC: I will be AFK all Saturday.

[Thundercracker]

Unnamed YT-2400

Before long, you're able to wrap up your affairs on Titan 1 and make your way to Docking Bay 1. One by one, the crew boards the ship, and almost before everyone is settled, Marren is backing it out of the hangar bay. You clear the point defenses of the massive asteroid space station, the triumvirate peace-keeping victory class star destroyer fading into the distance.

It's a few minutes before the navicomputer returns the calculations for the jump to light speed, and then you all feel the sudden acceleration as the stars stretch into lines, and you blast off towards the seat of power of the galactic triumvirate: the Jedi Order, The Fel Empire, and the Galactic Alliance.

Feel free to RP on the journey, which will take [roll0] days.

[Felhammer]

RISSY

The human lass smiles once she sees the star streak past her indicating the craft as moved to lightspeed. "You have a nice ship here. Has it seen much combat? How well does it fare against the latest fighters the Triumvirate is producing?"

[Qazarar]

Marren turns to respond. "The ship has seen a fair few fights. I also can't say that I've piloted any of the most recent models, so I can't give a perfect comparison, but I believe that I could outfly almost any fighter pilot, no matter what ship they fly."

[Noedig]

Mikael wandered into the cockpit, dressed down to a much more functional grease-monkey's uniform. The jumpsuit was unzipped to the waist, and he wore little more than a simple short sleeved shirt. Both are covered with various forms of grease. He smirked at Marren and spoke to Rissy. He took off his gloves and shoved them into a pocket, his burned hand and arms bare, and his face uncovered by the usual breathmask.

"Normally I would chide at a pilot's bravado. Not him though. Marren's damned good."

[MintyNinja]

Surrj entered the cockpit just behind Mikael, still armed, but relaxed. "I'd second that, if it needed to be said. I'll also admit that I've been orbiting the Outer Rim for quite some time and that I haven't been to Coruscant before. Anyone know how current events are around there? Who's the major players and who's running what, that sorta thing?" He leaned up against a storage compartment away from any of the controls as he adds, "Also, we could be on the lookout for our Fircal Hermit. If I were on the run... well it's easier to hide a stick in a forest than a desert."

[Thundercracker]

Coruscant

Feel free to continue any RP you like along the journey in spoilers

Three days later, the ship reverts to realspace, the swirling eddies of hyperspace fading into starlines, and then into the familiar backdrop of outer space. Ahead, you see the planet which has served as the capitol of the galaxy for most of the last ten thousand years, Coruscant. It's currently a crescent, light from the sun illuminating only 25% of the surface from your position, but lights and ship traffic clearly light up the night sky on the dark side. You pass by a platform, and even from hundreds of kilometers away, you can see it is a massive mirror mounted in space to redirect sunlight onto the planet's surface. Streams of ships of all shapes and sizes are ascending from and descending to the surface through designated controlled entry points in the planetary shield. Marren easily slips into the stream and it's another 90 minutes before you're through the checkpoint and on your way down to the massive urban landscape.

Skyscrapers and transport hubs bustle with activity, and traffic streams in all directions, on multiple levels, even at this time of night. There are numerous docking platforms the group could take advantage of, and they're all charging the same rate: 200 credits to dock, then 20 credits an hour or 200 credits a day.

[Felhammer]

RISSY

in response to Surjj's question, "I do not know much of what goes on in the core worlds. I prefer the outer-rim, honestly."

"I love the sight of Coruscant." She pats Marren on the shoulder, "Just make sure you park in a spot that will let us get off world with ease. The last thing we want is some fighter bombing our little ship while you're maneuvering it out of a garage." She pauses for a moment, then flashes a wide grin, "On second thought, maybe we should park in a garage, that way you would have a chance to test your skills."

[MintyNinja]

Journeying Cockpit:
"Well all I really know is that the Galactic Triumvirate are running the show. No idea how the underside is faring, but we'd best look law-abiding while we're here," Surrj replies. All three of the major factions in the Triumvirate seemed to be law enforcing one way or another, so the advice was sound without going into detail as to why. As for the the criminal elements, he'd have to hope they weren't entrenched in a shadow war at the moment and that business could flow peacefully.

Arrival:
"If the prices are the same, park where you want," Surrj says as he connects a wire from the ship's console to his datapad. After a moment a small ding announces the transfer of funds from Surrj's also connected cred stick to the ship's on board cred stick. "There's 200 cr as my share of the fees. Thinking we pay for three days and then decide from there," he says as he detaches the cords. "I'm going to hop on the swoop bike and wait for us to touch down. If anyone needs their gear hauled, speak up now."

OOC:
-200 cr
Surrj will be in the Loading Bay, on his swoop bike ready to haul gear or a single passenger.
Fully armed, as always. By the way, there are two frag grenades in the storage boxes on the swoop, if at any point a passenger needs to use them.

[Felhammer]

RISSY

"At least those Sith are finally gone. Goodness knows they were bad for business... Unless you were an arms merchant."

The human woman dons her new cloak, which conveniently hides her hip holster. "I too am ready to go."

[Noedig]

"Lot of money in that market. I'm interested to see if there's an in for us once things heat up betweeen the Muridon and the Kalatar. Guns, supplies, ammunition, explosives. War-profiteering is good business. Dangerous, but good."

[Thundercracker]

Coruscant

Guided by the ship's sensors, Marren brings the light transport down to one of the numerous docking platforms. The air outside is slightly humid, and chilly this high up off the surface. The night sky is lit up by the lights of the city, and a faint buzzing of speeders, transports, advertisements, and construction equipment drifts up from the city below and down from the air above.

A terminal sits at the end of the platform, at which you pay your deposit of 200 credits. Full payment upon departure is required for release of the magnetic locks which grip the transport's struts. Though you are surrounded by skyscrapers all around, in the distance you can see the spires of the Jedi Temple, rebuilt after the war.

[Noedig]

Mikael glanced at the temple as he slipped on his breathmask.

"I wonder how many times they've had to rebuild it?"

[MintyNinja]

"Probably not enough. Anyone that chooses to hold knowledge and power to themselves will likely have enemies for millennium," Surrj says as he eases the Swoop out of the ship. His orange goggles cover his eyes and his long coat billows a bit in the air as he holds the bike steady by the others. "Where to first?"

[Noedig]

"That's Ms. Qorbin's call I should think. She's our reason for being here, so she's in charge of the itinerary as long as she's planetside."

[Felhammer]

RISSY

The woman eyes the temple, "I agree with Surrj, the Jedi are fools. Let us not linger on the follies of philosopher monks." She glances over to the Trandoshan, "We should head some where scummy, see if we can get any intel on our prospective buyer."

[Thundercracker]

Coruscant

Coruscant is like many large urbanized planets. The upper levels are mostly dignitaries, fine dining and other upscale establishments. The lower down you go, the seedier the cityscape becomes, and the dirtier the air becomes. It's possible your contact might want to avoid notice in a dirtier area of the planet, but it's also possible he's got a lot of credits and has rented a penthouse suite at a luxury hotel and resort. You have three contact numbers at which to open communications.

Galactic lore DC 15
Coruscant has a large undercity, with populations in the millions, below the lowest platforms of the upper world cityscape. A criminal organization might have hideouts in the undercity, but you know they must also have a presence in the upper city in order to have influence on politicians.

Galactic lore DC 20
The Coruscant undercity is not just home to those who wish to remain hidden, but it also has its own ecosystem, complete with atmospheric phenomenon, and strange, dangerous creatures which prey on the abundant meat available in the lower levels of the skyscrapers and among the historic ruins.

[MintyNinja]

"We should get out of here before we start drawing attention. Hail a transport to a lower section and I'll follow on the Swoop bike. We can start making calls on the way or once we find somewhere to put up for the duration of our trip," Surrj says to the others.

[Noedig]

"Right. I'll stick with Ms. Qorbin."

[Thundercracker]

Coruscant

Hailing a cab is a simple matter. A red closed top air speeder diverts from the flow of vehicles above and comes to a rest on the platform next to your ship. The door lifts open like a hawk's wing, revealing space for up to six. The taxi speeder is manned by a pilot droid, its outer shell casing painted to look like a chauffeur's uniform, complete with a hat made of some kind of synthetic material. In fact, on closer inspection, the droid appears to be welded to the pilot's seat.

"State your destination," it says in a tinny voice.

[Noedig]

"Lead the way Ms. Qorbin."

[Felhammer]

RISSY

The noble sighed as she entered the cab with the droid. She hated droids. They lacked that je ne se quois that made interacting with flesh and blood people interesting, unique and enjoyable. Droids were nothing more than tools with voices. She doubly hated the fact that their cab was being driven by one, since droids were less easily manipulated and coerced if the need arose. Still, perhaps it was better that the driver was not a biological being - they ask unnecessary questions and now was the time to be discrete. "My name is Leia Koldan, I am here on vacation with my friends. What is your designation?"

Deception: [roll0]

[Thundercracker]

Coruscant

"I am CTS-17792," the droid replied.
"The Coruscant Taxi Service also provides sightseeing tours for reasonable prices, complete with voice over in hundreds of languages and dialects," CTS continued, "can I interest you in a package?"

[MintyNinja]

Seeing the others pile into the cab, Surrj pulls the Swoop bike around behind it and prepares to follow the others. Instead of hauling gear, now I've got the escape pod, so to say, he thinks to himself. If anything were to go chaotic, he'd need to help get his crew out of a bad situation.

[Felhammer]

RISSY

Rissy smiles, "Very good, CTS-17792. I believe my friends and I are a bit tired from our long journey. Please take us to a nice budget oriented three star hotel."

[Thundercracker]

Coruscant

The group piled into the taxi and the speeder whisked away, descending down and weaving effortlessly through speeding traffic. It pulls over next to a landing platform only a few meters above the ground. You know it can't actually be the ground though, so it must be some kind of large platform.

"Twelve credits," the droid says.

(assuming you pay)
The hotel is called the Motel 68, and sits just a few meters above foot traffic on the third floor. The landing platform is quickly vacated by the taxi to make room for another, which drops off a single passenger, a tired looking human of middle-age pulling a wheeled travel suitcase. He ignores you and enters the motel. The façade of the building is grey and the paint is peeling in places; it appears to have not been maintained in some time. The lights on the hotel sign are working fine though, and the interior is well lit, if not plush. The floor is uncarpeted, but a young woman sits behind a reception counter wearing a smart looking uniform. The tired looking human takes his key from her and moves to the elevator. The concierge is currently unmanned. Should the party approach reception, the woman informs you that rooms are 180 credits each per night.

[Felhammer]

Rissy

The human woman thank the droid, although she did not know why (not like they have feelings). Rissy was quite displeased with the hotel the droid had taken them to. Clearly this was not a three star establishment. She had been in spice dens that were better furnished than this place. She caught sight of the suspicious looking older gentleman. She motioned for her allies to huddle up, "I have a hunch... One of you buy a room." She then dashes off to the man, "Hold the lift, friend!"

[MintyNinja]

As Rissy dashes off after the business man, Surrj approaches the counter and presents his credstick, "Two rooms, and is there somewhere I can secure my Swoop?" After he retrieves the keys he returns to the others and explains, "Two rooms. More space for the lot of us. Decide now who has to share with who, it doesn't matter all that much to me. We'll head up and let Rissy know via comlink."

OOC: -360 cr. I'm footing the bill for our first night, apparently. Tell me one of you covered the Ship's overnight fee, I only got the docking expenses.

[Thundercracker]

New IC thread:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?369318-In-the-Shadow-of-Titans-(IC)-2&p=18026257#post18026257