Smuggler's Sandbox [IC]

[thechosen2nd]

Smuggler's Sandbox

Opening Crawl (http://starwars.com/play/online-activities/crawl-creator/index.jsp?cs=ffbqjs35ag)
Opening scene:
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080712234746/es.starwars/images/1/16/Jedi_Temple_TFU.jpg


_______________________

The recycled air of the environmentally sealed boardwalk feels stale and uninviting, as you trudge behind a short, fat Rodian, ambling along in front of you towards a large, rust-encrusted hangar. Through the frosted windows of the walkway you can see the littered skyline of collapsing buildings, massive smoke stacks, and enormous junk heaps. Raxus Prime is certainly not known for it's beautiful cities.

The entire planet is virtually one big heap of scrap metal and junk. Littered with toxic lakes and streams of superheated runoff water from the copious industrial factories that litter the planet, Raxus Prime is known for two things: its endless mounds of useless junk, its enormous Imperial Starship construction facilities, circling the planet in low orbit and creating some of the most formidable capital ships the galaxy has ever seen.

However, Raxus Prime also has a bountiful market for inexpensive, used vehicle and starship parts and bodies. Not everything found in those junk heaps is unusable, and indeed, many industrious mechanics have made a fortune off lucky finds in the toxic wasteland of disposed objects beyond the environmentally sealed living habitats.

This, of course, is why you are here in the first place: Blot Greeboe, the middle-aged Rodian before you, is offering a fully functional 578-R Transport, at a very reasonable price. Blot has a harsh cough, presumably a result of his many forrays into the toxic environment of outside of the living areas. He hobbles along slowly with his back arched forward, a result of many long years working as a mechanic, fixing up the junkers he finds out in the wastelands. Still, he seems a jolly enough fellow as he leads you through the maze of airlocked chambers through the city towards the hangar where your ship sits.

You finally arrive at the end of a passageway, and Blot quickly enters in a code on the pannel next to a blast door, which opens up to reveal your new starship (http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081008155135/starwars/images/b/b6/578-R_Space_Transport.jpg).

"Well, there she is...*Hack hack cough cough*...Doesn't look like much, but she's faster than a stock YT-1300, an' just as maneuverable."

"Yep... found her two *cough cough*... two years back, just missing a few pieces, but I never could find her a catalytic converter... had to order one in from the core. Elsewise I could have given her up cheaper."

"So what do ya say? price is agreed, now you've seen it yourselves so ya know I ain't lyin'...*Hack cough cough cough*... have we got ourselves a deal?"

[Henry the 57th]

An older-looking Geonosian stares down he ship. In his right hand is a wooden cane, intricately carved with symbols from his homeworld. His wings periodically flutter and buzz, their rapid movement providing contrast to his otherwise almost still body. Behind him stands his escort, a slightly-worm but still functional OOM battle droid. In his left hand, he holds a datapad, and he examines it.

Vikkal looks up from his technical readouts. He says something to himself in the clicking Geonosian language, the looks back down again. He goes through the process several more times, looking back and forth from his diagrams to the actual ship before him, making small observations in his native tongue. It's hard for outsiders to tell, but his tone sounds pleased.

At last, Vikkal puts the datapad away and looks at Blot. With slight but noticeable effort, he switches to Basic. His voice is somewhat raspy and drawn out, but understandable. "I find this ship agreeable." he looks at his companions. "I think we should accept this bargain."

[ChaosLord29]

"It's not as though we haven't already spent the due amount of time haggling . . ." Zechs says aloud while thinking to himself, 'Or as though we have a lot of options if we want to step up from the small time jobs and relying on the ineptitude of others.'

The Chiss has his jumpsuit on, carrying his helmet under one arm, giving him the appearance of having just stepped off a starship of his own, all evidence to the contrary. Truly, they're in little position to bargain, if they even want to get off this pit of a planet in a timely fashion, but he strides towards the ship giving this side of it a thorough once over, trailing his hand along the rust dusted hull, telling himself that it's likely from the ever present iron oxide that litters the wind here on Raxus Prime.

"She won't be winning any beauty contests, that's for sure. But then, anyone who sees her is like to do their best to forget for fear of having the image as a blight on their memory." His cutting words are delivered with the aloof arrogance one might expect from a Falleen diplomat, about to cut negotiations off at the knees. "Not many of these vessels still flying though, and that makes her unique, which is not, to my mind, a most valuable trait."

He steps back, taking in the ship as a whole, even going so far as to raise one hand as if examining some work of art prime for critique. "This ship has all the aesthetic appeal of a Gammorean Dung Beetle, and all that implies."

Zechs rounds on Blot and grinning says, "I have no objections, however. Partners?"

[OracleofSilence]

Zere glanced briefly at the ship and sighed "Well, I can't really object, ships don't come cheap. But seriously, that thing is ancient. Didn't that line get discontinued ages ago? I'm talking centuries here."

He walks closer, and examines its pitted, rusty hull minutely. "Yep, this'll probably bust a seam as soon as we hit space."

This is ridiculous I'm on a planet swarming with imperials, pirates, and scavengers, and this is the time I decide to crack wise about a broken down pile of trash. Zere adjusts to loose poncho he wore wearing over his more distinctive gear, grumbling to himself periodically as he examines the ship, but he relents and turns to the rodian.

"This is a bad idea. We'll take it." He walks back to his companions as he says so, and just focuses on making sure he keeps his mouth shut for the rest of the arrangements.

[thechosen2nd]

The Rodian grins kindly.

"Very well then! Here's the papers. *Cough cough cough* Fully registered in your names, now, all you've got to do is sign here, and here."

He hands over a simple data pad containing the ship's registration and operating license, pointing to the locations you need to sign.

"Now it's just a matter of payment. you have the 20,000 credits we agreed upon?"

We'll assume you've already compiled your earnings over the past few months or whatever onto a credit chip, totaling 20,000 credits.

[Henry the 57th]

Vikkal turns to address Zechs. "You are the captain. I think you should do the honors."

[OracleofSilence]

"Agreed. Our prospective captain should certainly handle these formalities." Zere seems more then a little relieved at the idea. After all, its not like my name is on the records or anything...

[ChaosLord29]

"Captain? But I'm . . . " Zechs pauses, thinks for a moment, surprised at how good the word sounds in his ears. Of course, he'd always dreamed of being a captain, back at the academy, and certainly this ship of there's needed a captain, and it had been his idea to go in on this venture together . . .

"Yes, of course. Mr. Blot," Zechs produces the credit chip with the agreed upon amount from one of the pockets of his jumpsuit, and holding it in his hand dangles it in front of the Rodian's face just a bit temptingly, "The ignition codes, if you please?"

[thechosen2nd]

The Rodian chuckles.

"Oh of course! Can't get far without those can you?"

He gives you the ignition codes, and holds out a hand to accept the credit chip.

[ChaosLord29]

"Very good." Zechs deposits the credit chip in Blot's hand with much aplomb before sweeping past him towards the junker of a ship. "She's not much more than a bucket, but she's our bucket now. I say we christen her as such, and in recognition of this, our new venture's birthplace, The Rusted Bucket." He sweeps his arms outwards in a grand gesture before rounding back on his companions and the recently enriched junk yard salesman.

"Vikkal, as Chief Engineer would you be so kind as as to bring the reactor online and run whatever diagnostics are necessary. Zere, as Chief Operations Officer I trust you'll make a full account of ships systems and their readiness."

[Henry the 57th]

"Of course. Give me just a moment and I'll have this wreck fired up." Vikkal starts walking towards the boarding ramp. "Don't just stand there, come!" he barks to the OOM in Geonosian. Brainless droid. he flutters his wings in irritation.

Making his way to the reactor control, Vikkal gives it a look over. "Not exactly what I'm used to," he mutters in Geonosian, "But that's hardly unexpected. This flying scrap pile is hundreds of years old, minimum. I hope this place has had an ample supply of spare parts." He runs his hands over the controls, trying to get a feel for them. "Not so bad."He activates the reactor carefully, handing his cane to the droid before he does so. He needs both hands for such a sensitive job. He doesn't need the distraction.

I have no idea if I need to make a Mechanics roll for this. If I do, here it is: [roll0]

[thechosen2nd]

Blot smiles as he accepts your credit chip, and checks to make sure it is of the correct value.

"Very good. I believe we are all set then. *cough cough cough.* If you ever find yourself in the area again and are looking for spare parts or a new ship, you of course have my comm frequency."

"Good luck, and have a nice trip."

Nah, I think turning the ship on is automatic. Everything appears to be in working order.

[OracleofSilence]

"Roger, lemme just get into this pile of rusts cockpit, and I'll get a diagnostic running. After that let's get off this rock as quick as possible. Something here is making me itch."

Zere quickly runs himself through the airlock, and walks through the small corridor to the 'bridge' such as it was, groaning anew as each archaic mechanism came into view. "Seriously, this was an awful idea.". He takes a seat in one of the cockpit chairs, smiles briefly as the displays flicker to life, and begins running through some basic preflight checklists, and familiarizing himself with the readouts and controls.

Once he satisfies himself that everything is as close to green as it will get, he heads back to the airlock and pops his head out, yelling "Zechs, get in here. By some miracle, everything appears to be working. We should probably lift off before something changes its mind."

[ChaosLord29]

Zechs shakes Blot's hand one last time before boarding, giving the ships interior a once over to acclimate himself before moving to the cockpit. "Communications are functioning?" He asks, not quite waiting for a response before he flips on the intercom. "How are you doing there in engineering Vikkal? If you get too cozy feel free to join us up here."

Then turning to Zere, "Well, considering we're now several thousand credits poorer but one ship richer, what's say we find something to balance the scales back towards solvency?" He says, already perusing through his datapad and a series of contacts from his customs days. "We can pool our network of resources here as well, make introductions to our mutual contacts, figure out which ones have the jobs that will not only pay, but also help us get more contacts." His mind is already seething with the possibilities, and he has to grip the datapad with both hands to keep himself from calling up six different comm frequencies at once on the Bucket's transceiver.

[Henry the 57th]

Vikkal enters the cockpit, cane in one hand and datapad in the other. His droid follows him, as ever. He is examining the screen in front of him. As he hears Zechs' voice, he looks up. "What?" he says. When all he gets are blank looks, he realizes he's inadvertently switched back to Geonosian again. With an effort, he switches to Basic.

His brain finally catches up to what he's heard. "Oh, right. I'll get right on it." He goes back to fiddling with his datapad. He begins to look through the local dataflows, seeing what there is to see.

Use Computer: [roll0]

[thechosen2nd]

Status Report

Date: Day 1, year 12 of the Galactic Empire

Location: Raxus Prime (Outer Rim)

http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/a/a0/RaxusPrime_tfu.jpg

Region: Outer Rim Territories
System: Raxus system
Grid coordinates: S-5 (http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/1/10/MainGalaxy.png)
Climate: Poisonous
Gravity: standard
Length of day: 22 standard hours
Length of year: 388 local days
Sapient Species: 40% human, 37% Jawa, 20% Rodian, 3% other
Primary terrain: Industrial metal junkscape
Government: Imperial governor
Capital: Central Station
Major Exports: Starships, starship components, industrial machinery, raw materials
Major Imports: Foodstuffs, high-tech goods
Crew health:
Zechs: 30/30
Zere: 34/34
Vikkal: 30/30
(Bob: 21/21)

Current credits: 310

Jobs posted:


A desperate looking Rodian posted a notice on the Holonet looking for a transport and capable crew to escort his boss (A fairly outspoken Sienar Fleet Systems official) to Mon Calamari.
A tall, seedy human has been subtly asking around about delivering some recycled starship parts to Nar Haaska... without the empire knowing.
A local Jawa clan is up in arms, claiming one of their members was kidnapped by Imperial agents after showing profound promise at repairing droids. They suspect he has been taken to an orbiting starship construction facility. The Imperial governor has denied these allegations, claiming no official record of the individual's existence have been found, and refuses to take further action. The clan is offering “a large reward” to anyone who can help them safely bring back their friend, by any means necessary.

[ChaosLord29]

"The Sienar Official's transport seems fairly straightforward, would get us off planet and to a more respectable system . . . but then maybe respectable isn't exactly what we're looking to do for the moment, since it usually involves more red tape. We're not likely to run into a lot of that on Nar Haaska, at least, not of the Imperial variety. As for the Jawas . . . Well, I'm happy to let the little pests twist in the wind, but if there's some profit to be made more than the other two, it couldn't hurt to take care of things subtly . . ." Zechs muses, going over the potential pros and cons of each job.

"Your assessment, Zere, Vikkal?"

[OracleofSilence]

"The Sienar job probably has the most inherent risk, and honestly strikes me as a possible trap. Also. while Mon Cal has some respectability, it's swarming with imperial ships. I don't see any motive, but I can't discount the possibility. I might be inclined to take the job from the Jawa's at least depending on the reward, and the Haaska job, well its no more risky then smuggling is wont to be anyway. I say we take it, at least unless the pay is crap."

[Henry the 57th]

"The least risky job strikes me as smuggling the starsip parts to Nar Haaska. We are only likely to face serious risk of Imperial detection on our way out, and even then the consequences are likely to be less severe than those of the other two jobs. As to the Jawas, I can believe their story - if the rumors hold true, the same has happened to many of my own people. However, a rescue mission against the Empire is not something I believe we should undertake at the time." Vikkal's wings quiver a little as his pragmatism suppresses his urge to hurt the Empire. It doesn't make him happy. "Though locating the victim would not likely prove terribly difficult - there aren't many Jawas in Imperial bases - getting him out would be both difficult and risky. The punishment for breaking and entering and "conspiring to abduct Imperial personnel" would be quite severe, and we haven't the funds to bribe our way out. I suggest against accepting it. I also suggest against escorting the official to Mon Calamari for similar reasons. His subordinate's apparent desperation and that he needs to leave in such a hurry implies he expects pursuit. Again, this would be very hazardous for us. We being both poor and entirely nonhuman, any run-in with Imperial justice at this stage will end badly for us. I suggest we limit ourselves to less hazardous tasks while our operation is still in its infancy, lest it be... how does it go again?" Vikkal wracks his brains briefly, trying to recall the slang he's heard from more mammalian species. "Ah, strangled in the crib."

[ChaosLord29]

"All valid concerns, but I think you are both looking at what we stand to lose rather than what we have to gain . . ." Zechs says, his tone considerate, "I say we contact the Rodian about transporting this Sienar Fleets official. Seems the most likely to have the deepest pockets, and if we play on his desperation, he might be that mug willing to dig into them. Or who knows, they may take one look at the The Bucket and choose more accommodating transport."

He begins inputting the comm frequency to ring the Rodian Contact on the ship's communications system, utilizing audio only, but pauses before finalizing the command. "I don't think I'm the kind of 'captain' who can just decide what we're going to do unilaterally, but if you're willing to trust me on this one, I'll be obliged to trust you both all the more for the next job."

[OracleofSilence]

"Alright, why not. Lets just get this over with. I would prefer we met the guy first, but I suppose Holonet will need to do. " Zere starts heading out of the cockpit "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to make sure my quarters are worth living in, or would you prefer I fly?

[Henry the 57th]

Vikkal is deep in thought for a time, stroking his chin and fluttering his wings. Eventually, he looks up again and says, "Agreed. We will go to Mon Calamari then. Go ahead and contact him, captain, lest someone else beat us to it."

He too begins leaving the room. "I need to find somewhere in this bucket to hang from. I still cannot understand how you mammalians ca rest lying flat like that. Give me a good creche any day. And," he adds after moment, "Be as certain as I can that this thing won't fall apart the moment we enter hyperspace."

[OracleofSilence]

After stowing his few belongings in the first cabin he comes across, Zere heads back to the bridge, takes a seat in the copilot a chair, and starts a more serious rundown of the ships capabilities And it's no doubt numerous failings.

"So, Zechs, how should we split things up around here? I mean Vikkal can fix us up alright, but who flies? I mean, I can fly just fine, but you seemed interested, and who am I to say no?" He keeps a steady flow of checks going until contact is made with the potential client.

[thechosen2nd]

The Rodian answers back quickly on the comm frequency you found on the holonet. He looks quite relieved that someone has expressed interest, so it appears you are the first.

"Ah good, you have a ship and a crew then? I'll be needing transport to Mon Calamari for two passengers, as the ad says. The sooner you could depart the better. There is an important meeting my boss must attend in a few days, and he would like to arrive as soon as possible to make any necessary preparations. May I ask what grade your hyper-drive is? I'm afraid any higher than 3 simply won't do at all. We really are in a bit of a rush."

[OracleofSilence]

Zere leans back from his console as the call comes through, motioning over to Zechs "Boss, you have this?"

[ChaosLord29]

Zechs puts his hand to the mic for a moment and nods to Zere, "No problem, you get us in the air and I'll open negotiations. Once I'm done, I'll take over the helm and you can coordinate those systems checks with Vikkal."

Then, turning back to the communications relay, "Of course, we'd love to be of service, and can meet the demands of whatever timetable you put in front of us. No other cargo correct? Just personal belongings?" He pauses for a moment, "That saves on labor for us, but you can imagine means a certain amount of opportunity cost lost, even for a charter voyage like this one."

[thechosen2nd]

"No, no cargo, just personal effects. I do understand what that means for your costs, and I am aware that requesting services at such short notice usually warrants an elevated price. As such, I'm prepared to offer you 4,000 credits, which I believe is quite reasonable, all circumstances accounted for. Half up front, and half upon safe arrival."