Traders in Hutt Space (D6 Star Wars)

[snoopy13a]

Drozan City, Planet Drozan
Yilles Sector
Hutt Space
One year after the Battle of Yavin.

It is about 2 p.m. in a dingy cantina in the capital city of the planet Drozan. Drozan, like many worlds in Hutt Space, is a rough, brutal place. While technically part of the Galactic Empire, the Imperial sector governments have taken a hands-off approach, leaving local control to the various Hutt Crime Cartels.

Drozan City, therefore, is very much a Hutt world. The local police take a blind eye to organized criminal activity and small Imperial presence is limited to a few bureaucrats. The capital city is a nexus of illegal trade throughout Hutt Space and beyond. Surrounding the city are industrial and agricultural zones--worked by Hutt "indentured servants"--which supply products, both legal and illegal, for export. Oddly, the planet has a standard 24-hour light cycle and the weather outside is bright and beautiful--opposite of the actual state of Drozan.

The cantina itself is mostly empty. A few barflies sit at the bar where a grizzled Sullistan is slinging drinks. In a corner table, however, sits the crew of a Kazellis-class light freighter. These beings are celebrating the successful delivery of "legitimate goods" to a local Hutt magnate, Kabbo the Hutt. At the time of delivery, Kabbo's agent paid the crew a sum of 5,000 credits and mentioned that if they want another job from Kabbo then to stop by at the palace in a few hours (at around 5 p.m. or so).

Kabbo, of course, is not the only Hutt magnate on Drozan and a little probing may find other potential loads--both legal and illegal.

[galenbd]

Lashkel leans back in her chair sipping her Aitha. Only a little time for indulgence. I'll need to go hunt more profitable cargo soon.

Silent in the room, she watches the other celebrate their success, trying not to mimic their smiles and bare her fangs.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

The tall Weequay on the chair next to Lashkel tears into his Karkan ribenes with gusto. Pausing to wash down a mouthful, he doubtfully looks at his glass. "Almost empty ... must have a hole somewhere." Kal Rora shrugs and knocks down the rest. Then he fishes a few credits from a pocket and pushes them over the table towards the brown-haired boy.

"Fetch me another Flameout, 'kay? Rest should be enough for a Muja juice or somethin'. Go wild."

The Weequay nods over towards the bar, then returns his attention to his food.

[A'den]

Jake soaked up some of the juice from a Nerf sausage with a bit of the bar's attempt at Corellian Spiceloaf, the taste was all wrong but surprisingly being hungry made everything taste a bit better. He washed the bite of sausage down with a gulp of water. With his back to the wall at the table he had the rare chance to sit and observe the beings he had fallen in with.

Running spice. He shook his head for a moment his thoughts bubbling in his mind like the Weequay's drink for a moment wondering how the frell he had gone from freedom fighter to sitting in this runty womprat excuse for a bar. At least the crew didn't seem to be all scum, the Captain came off mercenary enough sure, and he got a cold feeling from the Weequay if he let his sense wander too much but anyone that ran the space lanes with a mother and son couldn't be all bad. He couldn't imagine a woman willingly let her offspring stay in the company of real scum.

Metal screeched as he scraped his plate clean with his fork and emptied the glass of water. Setting it down with a clink and a satisfied smirk. He had only had to look at the thing the Weequay called alcohol from the bar to decided his tastes were better off with something a little less buzz inducing. He sat back his eyes flicked toward the Sullustan at the bar and his hand settled across his stomach casually like he was lounging his chair but within easy reach of the hold-out blaster in his jacket.

"So Captain Lashkel I thought you mentioned something about looking for different types of revenue earlier?"


Perception: [roll0] : Spot anything unusual about the Sullustan.
@galenbd: Hope you don't mind me adlibing a bit to start a convesation?

[Tyeal]

The good doctor nursed a tall glass of Blackwater, and kept to himself for the most part. He got jabs from the rest of the crew about being the 'strong silent type' on the ship, and rarely spoke up at all. Since joining, he generally kept to his quarters doing research, or creating meds to aid others or themselves. Along with stimulants whenever he could get his hands on the right materials.

Oddly, Loran hadn't objected to smuggling spice after chasing out on their last deal. He felt that they were seemingly low-class enough that they wouldn't draw a great deal of attention to themselves. And he had a small part in talking to the Customs Officer, since he seemed to trust the group more when Loran introduced himself as a man of healing. Money was money in this part of the galaxy. Whether he actually agreed with the fact they had to smuggle illegal goods to make it or not.

He had seated himself next to Kal, not really giving him much attention while he ate, and simpy stared into the reflective black in his glass instead. The stiff, smooth drink was the closest thing to coffee he had found out here, with the added burn of liquor. It wasn't terrible.

[snoopy13a]

@Jake

The Sullustan looks to be the suspicious sort. But so far everyone has looked sketchy on this awful planet.

[galenbd]

Lashkel's tails lashes at A'den messing around in her business. She lets the tension pass, not needing take affront with beings she needs help from.

She takes another drink as she mulls over her reply.

"You were there when I got the next job offer. However, I want to keep myself open to other options. If we find something that makes us more than what we already know about, I'd be interested in branching out."

"I figure we'll eat good and then see what else we can find."

[Elbeyon]

Kira's plate edged up against her helmet on the table, of course her food wasn't a threat to its clean surface, but some of the others had hardier dishes than her. Breaded streak and a wide assortment of vegetable foods of questionable quality. Might strong with whatever the Sullistan fattened his food with, but tasty nonetheless. She took her fork haphazardly to the plate nearly alternating between the foodstuffs.

With the captain's reluctance to pony up right after the last job it seemed like she could be brewing a contrariety plan to the obvious hutt work. She might be waiting to buy in with a new client. Of course, hutt jobs usually don't pay badly, but just because the clients rich don't mean he pays as well as he should. They might be able to find something better while avoiding working too long for Kabbo. Hutts, work for them for a while and they start thinking they own you.

Washing down her throat with some blue space milk she joins in on the awkward conversation, fork in hand, with an upfront and honest confession, "I'm glad you're considering looking for another employer. Can't say that I'm partial to our current one. A few hours doesn't leave us with a lot of time to find a new one though. We'll have to manage a quick sell."

She sits back from the conversation, takes another bite, and moves away from it like there isn't much else to say. "Hey, Jake. How you holding up? Managing O.K. with your first job?"

[A'den]

Jake glanced away from the bar at Kira. He brought a small grin to his face that never touched his eyes, "I'm fine, thanks. You know what they say about Corellians and smuggling right?"

A flicker of pain pulsed in his chest. Faces briefly flashed in front of his eyes like a daydream, friends he'd never see again. His stomach squirmed for a moment and he thought he might loose the meal he just ate all over the table at the simple thought that he had not done everything in his power to save them. Maybe...

His bright white teeth flashed as he smiled broadly and joked with a short stutter "We take to it just like a babe to mudder's, er mother's, milk right?"

His bangs hung down in front of his eyes as he looked down at his plate, "I'm not much of a pilot but its nice not being tied down somewhere, and there are a lot of people out there that need a lot of different things. The Empire has made life pretty miserable for a lot of people I like to think I'm still helping those people."

The pause hung a moment then he said again as he looked up a bit of a gleam in his eyes, "So how did you come into this trade?"

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro sits next to his mother, a now empty and sauce stained plate and fork before him and an empty glass held carefully in his other hand as he eyes the bug that's landed on the table.

Careful...

Poised to strike, he holds the glass upside down over the insect, which appears oblivious to him while it rubs its legs over its wings. Lazaro soaks up every little detail of his prey, the scaly wings, the ridged blue exoskeleton, the big red compound eyes, the hairs on the legs twitching with every movement of the air...

Come on little buddy, come to the Z-man...

Wha-clink!

The small glass hits the table fruitlessly, the intended victim now buzzing away towards the dirt that catches the light filtering through the window. Lazaro releases his death grip on the cup and sinks back in his seat, a dejected look on his face. The shortstack kid's head barely sticks up above the table in his position, his legs dangling just above the floor as he kicks at the air in boredom. He'd never get why grown-ups seemed to love to just sit around and eat and talk about stupid stuff like money and work.

His eyes scan the room for anything that looks fun or interesting.

Perception 3D+1
[roll0]
Wild die
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Elbeyon]

Kira finished the small portion of meat she had left, let things set for a bit listening to Jake then finished off her drink. Bringing her meal to a close as the rest of it got washed down. She picked her helmet up off the table, checked it and wiped it down if needed. She started putting it on just as he finished, "I wish I could tell you that it was dodging pirates in a nebulae or some grander story. Believe me, I could tell you stories like that, but it isn't anything special. It was a simple case of bad luck, just like how most people in end up in my spot, most of the living ones anyway. It was a standard enough gig. I was paid to transport some ore from Themis. The rocks were known for being slightly unstable, but they were sealed up nice and snug in our employee's containers. We even checked them out ourselves, seemed like it was all safe. Half way through transporting the thing blew up kicking the ship's blastdoors through a good portion of her belly. There was no way to repair that. I still miss my girl. The Wanderer was a fine ship. Had her for over a decade. Course any transporter worth anything voided the warranty the day they got her. So with no ship and a deep hole in my pocket for paying the fees. I chased the Themians through two star systems before I had to give up. Floated around after that until a few months back when I met Lashkel and here I am."

With her helmet on quite a while ago she drops back in her chair with a smile and a look of curiosity about her, "That's boring and old news to most of us. With your skill set I'm sure you have a far more interesting story. Sure, Lashkel must have heard it from when she hired you on, but the rest of us would love to hear it I'm sure."

[Minstrel Wyrm]

Wha-clink!


The Weequay looks up from his plate at the sound of glass hitting the table. He watches Lazaro sink back in his chair for a moment, then growls with annoyance. "Hey! Kid!" He reaches out and pokes at the credits he had shoved over the table a while ago. "The flameout, remember?"

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro looks up.

"Hm? Oh, yeah!" Lazaro grabs the credits and slips out underneath the table, navigating a maze of legs before darting off towards the bar counter to grab the Sullustan's attentions. Sure, being called 'kid' always grates, but Kaz is cool. The whole crew is cool, but especially Kaz and Jake, with Kaz's blasters and gritty action-holo demeanor and Jake's stories about knights who fought with laser swords for an Old Republic. Maybe eventually they'd teach him to shoot, or Captain Lashkel could show him how to shockbox, or Loran could teach him to fix people, or his mom could teach him how she brought down all those bounties, or he could-

Woah, now, Z-man. Getting ahead of yourself. Ship always comes first.

Lazaro clambers up onto a barstool so he can see above the counter better and slides the coins onto the bar.

"Flameout and a...er...Fizzyglug? One of the red ones, please?"

[galenbd]

Squinting, Lashkel considers the kid as he walks to the bar. She turns to the doc. "Medical cargo can be profitable. When we're done here, why don't you take Kira and the kid and hunt around for something. We can double haul if our cargo is small. At the moment, we don't have a deadline, so you can take some time. However, recall the size of our stake. I'm looking for options, not commitments."

[snoopy13a]

@Lazaro

Unfortunately, the cantina is pretty dull. There are ten beings other than the crew and all are at the bar: six humans, two Twi'leks, a Rodian, and the Sullustan bartender. All are males so the risk of space-cooties in this cantina is slim. They look like a surly bunch.

There's a few used yusic-boards (think dartboards) in the corner and a kusteg table (similar to an earth pool table) in back. Those might be fun.

The bartender notices Lazaro and listens to the order. Fizzyglug? Gotta check on that! The Sullustan checks the fridge-unit and finds a Fizzyglug bottle in back. After mixing the flameout, the Sullustan hands the drinks to Lazaro and drawls, That'll be five credits.

[A'den]

Jake chuckled, his grandmother had never believed in luck, he replied to Kira "Well perhaps those things had to happen for all of us to be here today. Myself-"

He cut off and listened to the Captain talk about the potential for medical supplies, before he added, "I used to know a few contacts that were always hungry for meds or stims, I could try to dig up where they are now?"

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro slides a five credit piece towards the bartender and grabs the two remaining credits and the drinks.

"Thanks, mister," he says with a grin. He spins around in the stool and hops off, bringing the Flameout and the two leftover credits to Kal.

"Thanks," he pops the cap off of the fizzyglug and gives Kal a thumbs-up before heading over to yusic board and tossing a few darts around. A curious eye darts over to the Rodian every once in a while, though. Lazaro's heard stories about how they make great hunters and marksman, and they show up in an awful lot of action holos.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

Taking the Flameout and the credits, Kal nods to Lazaro and watches the boy wander off. Then, having finished his meal, he leans back and savours the Flameout. The Weequay grunts contently as the liquid burns his tongue and freezes his throat, then looks around the table.

"What are we goin' to do in the meantime, boss? You got other contacts for cargo jobs around here?"

Reaching into a pocket, he retrieves a stout carababba cigar and lights it. "Or anyone else of us?"

[galenbd]

Lashkel shook her head at Kal, "You already met the one I got. If I had someone more reliable, you can bet I'd already be talking to them. "

She turns to the doctor, "That sounds good. In the places we'll be going, any kind of tech can make you a target. We'll have to keep our comms off. We'll comm you when we're in the clear and see what you've uncovered."

She downs the rest of her Aitha and slides her empty plate back. "Let's wrap this up, I don't want to waste any more time on this dirtball than I have to."

[Minstrel Wyrm]

The large Weequay frowns. "ANY kind of tech? You're kiddin' me, boss. Not goin' anywhere without a blaster." Kal moves the cigar to the corner of his mouth. "Or three."

[galenbd]

Lashkel bares a fang at Kal, "Course not. I meant comms, datapads, droid. Blasters will still bring us notice, but likely keep off the riff-raff that can't get their own."

[Tyeal]

Loran nodded at the suggestion. "I"ll do that." he replied. His voice deep and baritone, slightly husky from the burning drink. When they landed, he had gotten a map of the city from an information terminal, and downloaded it into his datapad. So at least he had names and locations of major proprietors of medical goods. He could sweet talk a couple into giving up some info on who may need what, and go from there. Or buy their stuff at a lower price and sell it back to those in need at a mark-up.

Downing the rest of his drink with a sigh and stood up, walking over and gently grabbing Lazaro's shoulder, saying, "C'mon. You and Kira are comin' with me to find medical goods to barter with."

[A'den]

Jake frowned a moment he didn't very much think the risk of not being able to call for help was worth the possible slight bonus in avoiding attention but it wasn't his place to argue. While the Captain spoke he let his eyes slip close a moment and breathing even out and he opened his mind to the Force. If he got an impression from one of the others before they left he felt he could possibly sense if anything went wrong.

Its not wrong Grams just trying to help people... He though he could see the old bat looking at him crossly. A small bead of sweat slid down his cheek but he stood ready to walk with the other. He glanced at Kira for a second and his mind focused on taking a mental snapshot of her presense in the Force so it would be easier to sense her in the future after they split up.


Life Sense: [roll0] Basically establish the foundation of a link so it'll be easier to sense Kira with the other group later, using this power 'kept up'. So -1D on all my other rolls till then.

**EDIT**: Lol and he fails miserably.

Wild Dice:
[roll1]


Jake frowned he didn't sense anything new but he wasn't sure if what he thought worked or not. He gripped the hilt of his vibroblade tightly for a moment in frustration, "Okay Captain ready to go."

[Minstrel Wyrm]

Unfazed at the Cathar's reaction, Kal nods. "You bet they will."

He shoves his chair back and rises, making room for the good doctor to go and fetch Lazaro.



"Okay Captain ready to go."


Looking sideways at the young man in the drab olive jacket, Kal grins. "Nervous? Never fear, The Negotiator's here." He shoulders the heavy blaster rifle he had affectionately named thusly.

[A'den]

Jake laughed at Kal's remark, he caught a whiff of the weequay's breath and took a step back.

"Then I will endeavor to keep them from carving your back up in close." He grinned as he patted the vibroblade hilt, a slight strain still showed behind his eyes.

[TechnoScrabble]

"Medical?" Lazaro puts down the darts and chugs the rest of his fizzyglug, "Like, bacta and stuff this time, right? None of those pills that made people act all weird and sleepy?"

He pockets one of the darts when he's reasonably sure nobody's looking and follows Loran.

"Do you think we'll find any here? I mean, this planet doesn't really seem like it'd have much that a medical droid suit-eh could use. Maybe they have herbal reem-dies?" Lazaro tries to use words he's only ever read before, "I saw something on the holonet about mushrooms someone found on an Outer Rim planet that could cure fevers once...I think...Are those actually a thing?"

[Elbeyon]

Kira rises up from the table and puts down enough credits to pay for the family meal plus a small tip. Edging in any final words, she starts addressing questions and comments before they all split up, "Alright, let's get going. Dr. Loran. I'll follow your lead. Being a connected man in the know we can head straight for a manufacturer. If that doesn't pan out we can work the usually spots." She pushes in her chair, hoping Lazaro will do the same, but if not she'll make sure it's in before she leaves.

As if addressing another adult her voice doesn't change when she talks to her son, "Yes, medical stuff like bacta." A small endearing smile crosses her lips as she answers, but that's beneath her face mask were only a keen eye could catch it on her face muscles. Skipping a question or two, "The universe is a big place. Anything is possible, and I'm sure a mushroom like that exists somewhere. Let's look it up on the holonet when we get a chance, OK?"

She looks at the other group gathering and in a joking manner, "Hey, Kal. Look after the rookie. I don't want to have to find another one." Then a slight flux in her voice down to a lower pitch, but still in a lighthearted mood, "And Jake, you still owe me a story." and "Contact us after you get in touch with your friends. Finding a supplier won't help us any if we don't have a buyer." Ready to leave, she'll give her farewells when they depart.

OoC: Hey! That's my color Tyeal. :smalltongue:

[galenbd]

"Right!" spat Lashkel. "Let's got on with it as well." She tosses script down on the table for the food and drinks, then climbs up out of the chair.

She sauntered across the cantina and triggered the door controls. Her hand on her blaster she eyed the opening into the street carefully before stepping through and onto the street.

She strides slowly away giving time for her companions to catch up.

[A'den]

Jake smiled sheepishly at Kira's last comment and turned on the spot to follow the Captain out.

He didn't rush so much as move gracefully that he caught up to her swiftly. His shoulders were relaxed and his feet kept an even pace that he kept his balance centered around his hips. His left hand casually gripped the vibrosword sheath as he walked. It was an easy stance to fall into.

His eyes flicked back and forth as they exited the bar and soaked in details.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

A grin shows on the gunner's leathery face. "Don't worry, Kira. Rookies are a driit a dozen."

... Somehow it seems a lot easier to make out whether a grin is friendly or not on a human face.

Kal adds a few credit coins of his own to the collection on the table, leaves his chair where it is, and walks over to the door. There he waits for the rest of the crew before leaving the cantina.

[snoopy13a]

The crew exits the cantina onto the sidewalk on a main thoroughfare. Two broad sidewalks surround a four-lane road clogged with landspeeders (the Hutts of Drozan have banned civilian airspeeders--too many have crashed during high speed chases).

The sidewalks are moderately crowded. About 1/3 of the beings are humans with also noticeable numbers of Rodians, Trandoshians, and Twi'leks. There are also a few aliens that are not recognizable. Most of the beings have a resigned, depressed look on their faces (at least most of the humans, who knows what a depressed Trandoshian looks like). A few have a hard, aggressive edge about them and move in discreet groups. These beings openly carry weapons.

The beings in the former category don't make eye contact with your group and try to mind their own business. Many of small groups of aggressives take hard glances at your party but continue down the street. Apparently, the beings of Drozan see your party as predators and not prey.

[Tyeal]

(My bad. I'll go with somethin' else then)

When the small group stepped out onto the sidewalk, Loran seemed to tense up a bit at the many pairs of eyes glancing in their direction. Motioning with his hand, he led the expedition away from the rest of the crew and started going over the map he downloaded on his data pad to find the bigger stores in the area, and maybe follow up on a couple rumors he heard when they touched down and were waiting in dock for clearance to enter the city.


Knowledge roll for gathering more info, or identifying, rumored names. Or happening to overhear folks talking as they travel.
[5, 6, 3 = 14]
Wild Die:
[1]

[TechnoScrabble]

"Maybe if someone used it right it could get rid of other stuff, too," Lazaro continues, completely oblivious to if anyone is listening or not, "Find a herblo-an her-bolo-a plant science guy to grow them more effi-kiently and sell for a low price so everyone can get them, low market across a wide area, and BAM-"

Lazaro looks around at all the sad-looking people and the planet's depressing atmosphere weighs down a bit.

"-profit...like, y'know...crazy."

Crowds shouldn't be like this. Places with lots of people should feel alive...this place just feels...down.

"Jeez."

[A'den]

Jake looked up and down the street, "People don't deserve to live like this."

He glanced darkly at the other armed bands his knuckles popped on the hilt of his vibrosword. A sigh escaped him and he looked to the Captain,"Where to next?"

[galenbd]

Lashkel just grimaced, jaded to the plight of others too complacent to better themselves.

She looks off toward the warehouse district near the space port. "This way. We're looking for the Black Sun."

She leads her group off through the back streets, looking for sides of Black Sun activity.

Roll for Black Sun Operations 4D6+1[roll0]

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"Black Sun?" Kal almost does a double-take at that. "Would the Hutt kajidics even tolerate Black Sun that deep in Hutt space?"

The large gunner takes care to keep his voice low. Dealings with poaching crime syndicates on the Hutts' home turf could turn out very unhealthy for those catching their attention ...

[galenbd]

Lashkel shrugs, "Maybe not. If they're not here, we'll have to find another group to deal with. You got another suggestion?"

[Minstrel Wyrm]

The Weequay frowns thoughtfully. "Don't really have that kind of contacts or know-how ... maybe smaller groups or solo entrepreneurs?" He shrugs nonchalantly. "Y'know. Folks who bow to the Hutts or cooperate with 'em."

He barks a laugh. "Licensees."

[galenbd]

"Sounds like a good backup plan. Let's see what we can find.", replies Lashkel. Without further ado, she leads her small group into the warren of the warehouse sector.

Waiting on the result of my previous die roll.

[snoopy13a]

Lashkiel's group enters the warehouse sector. As it is still early afternoon, it still has an aura of safety. Not to mention that is one of the more heavily monitored areas--the Hutts don't like street gangs stealing from them.

Picking up on subtle gestures and clues, some of warehouse workers appear to have an edge about them. Particulary around Warehouse 72. Many of the workers bear scars and bulges in their jackets imply weapons. Further, you catch a glance of a Falleen, a species relatively common in the Black Sun and disliked among the Hutts.

The Falleen appears to be a supervisor of sorts. He might have a general idea of the nature of the business.

OOC: [Sorry about the delay]

[galenbd]

Lashkel glances aside to her two companions warily, then strolls up to the Falleen. "Greetings, I've got a hauler and am looking for cargo. Do you have anything we might transport?"

[Minstrel Wyrm]

Without a word, Kal Rora stays back and a little to the right of the captain. The big gunner keeps a wary eye on the surroundings, ready to grab a weapon, and listens only with half an ear to the conversation ...

[snoopy13a]

The Falleen is a bit surprised but recovers composure quickly. "The Cathar smuggler? You are not unknown to Us*. Yet, We know you have worked for the Hutts. Why should We trust you?"

*The Falleen is adding emphasis to these pronouns, a sort of "royal we."

[A'den]

Jake snorted but turned to the left and scanned around perfectly apt to be the thug for this conversation.

"Out one fire into the fryer." He muttered.

[galenbd]

Lashkel shrugs, "I've worked for a lot of beings, including Durga the Hutt. Surely he's known to you. I've delivered their cargo time and again. Trust wasn't a complaint on their side and I never complained about the money. You might not be able to purchase trust, but at least you can hire competence."

"If that doesn't work for you, we'll move on"

[snoopy13a]

For a few seconds the Fallen appears lost in thought. He then responds: "Fine, it's not my skin on the line. I have a special shipment for Drall. 5,000 credits, standard rules apply."

For Lashkiel:

Standard Black Sun courier rules is to pay the courier 5% of the value of the shipment. However, the courier is responsible for the cargo if lost or destroyed. So, the cargo itself is worth 100,000 credits. If the courier steals the cargo, then the Black Sun will place a death mark on him.

[OOC:] As you may know, Drall in is the Coreilla system. Jake obviously knows this, but the other two characters may not. It's an easy planetary systems or knowledge check for them.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

Drall, huh? Kal gives that only a short thought, his attention still focused on the area.



Knowledge [roll0]

Reserve Wild Rolls [roll1]

[A'den]

Jake quirked a smile, already heading close to home. His thoughts paused trying to remember the rest of his lessons.

Knowledge: [roll0]
Wild Die: [roll1]

[galenbd]

Lashkel thinks quickly about Drall and trouble she might find there. To cover, she asks, "What's the volume, weight and is it perishable?"

Knowledge Attribute [roll0] Here's in case I get a wild die [roll1]

[snoopy13a]

The Falleen answers,

"50 metric tons of non-perishable supplies. Some are flammable. And some are a bit hot--things that Corsec wouldn't approve of."

@Jake

[OOC:I suppose your character knows the information in the wookieepedia article on both the planet Drall and the species that calls it home.]

Loran & Co.

Rumors indicate that there's a medical clinic nearby that specializes in unorthodox treatments and questionable pharmacology. It's a short walk if you want to check it out.

[Tyeal]

Giving an assured nod to himself once he got a rough idea of a clinic he recalled hearing about, Loran pocketed his data pad and motioned for the others to follow and keep close to him. Since the clinic was close to the seedier part of the city. Feeling some trepidation upon seeing the entrance to the somewhat run-down place and the general grungy look of the are around them, he turned to the others and commented, "Just to be safe, keep eyes and ears open, and don't touch anything unless given explicit permission. Alright?"

[Elbeyon]

Feeling similar to Lazaro about the mood, she can't help but think about how truly helpless some of these people must be. A lone stranger, isn't going to fix this mess though. Mostly ignoring the beaten down rabble she keeps her eyes open for the other sharks looking to leave a mark more as a precaution then as an actually manifestation of worry.

Looking down at Lazaro she starts in on the conversation and once it's established she turns her attention back to the streets, "A botanist, a person that studies plants, might be able to grow them more effectively. And with the help of a herbalist, pharmacist, or properly educated person they might be able to find other uses for it. Unlikely uses at that. But, even if they make a good medicine, they provide a good yield, and they are easy to grow they might not be profitable. Selling stuff has a lot of moving parts and an otherwise good cargo might fail because the market isn't ready or is already oversaturated, too full." Trying to end the thought on a positive mark, she adds with a more chipper tone, "Or, they might strike it rich and be able to buy a fleet of freighters."

Once they arrive Kira is put off by the clinic's location and appearance. She thought they were looking for a better job. Giving a verbal jab, "Is this where you get the stuff you use to patch us up? Remind me to check and see if the needles are clean next time you're treating us." Her disappointment obviously showing in her words. Not ready to dismiss the place by appearance alone, "Well, we're already here. Hopefully it won't take long to check out."

[TechnoScrabble]

"A whole fleet..." Lazaro murmurs, thinking of the awesomeness that could lead to. A thousand roles fill his mind, trade company king, dashing smuggling ring kingpin, noble swashbuckling pirate king fighting off harsh Imperial governors, ruler of a small space empire (better than the current one, of course!), finding all of the laser sword knights from the stories and bringing them back...The thought quickly gets his mind off of the mess around him, though the sadness and dirt of the place still lingers in that one spot in the back of his head where a place's 'feelings' always seem to hang out.

"Maybe we could find someone to teach me about plants. Doctor Loran already knows about medicine, and you and the Captain know about business, and I'm gonna be the best shipwright ever, I could learn plants, too, and make some sort of special ship for them, or a ship made out of plants, or a-"

Woah, there, Z-man, getting ahead of yourself. Gotta be the best shipwright ever first. Ship always comes first.

"-a...a...That's all I got."

[Tyeal]

Loran was just as hesitant as the others to go in there, but if the owner of this place did have unorthodox practices and materials, they may be able to turn a profit from them. He stepped forward and the door slid open with a soft hiss, stepping into the well-lit, if a little grungy, building.

[A'den]

"Drall is a pretty easy run Captain, but Corsec and the Imps run high profile in the Corellian system. If Loran picks up any of those medical industrial parts we can make a pretty shiny turn around. Drall don't have much in the way of know how with technology but they make up for it utilizing everything else the galaxy makes. As long as we don't do anything dumb we should be able to be in and out before the Imps or Corsec catches on to us. Easy score. Plus pretty easy to shoot our way out of a fight with meter tall teddy bears."

Jake spoke up when the Captain seemed slow on the uptake for knowledge about Drall. His tone was annoyed. He didn't like running spice, he didn't like the Falleen. The Black Sun hurt people, he could tell by the way people were in the streets between the Hutts and the Black Sun no one lived happily. The desire to do anything about it burned in him like embers in his gut.

Jake lowered his eyes so he didn't have to look at the Falleen's snakeface. He turned away from Kal and the Captain and took a few steps and breathed deeply. Exercising a Jedi breathing regimen for a moment getting his emotions back under control, he had to think logically. Killing these thugs wasn't going to improve the lives of the people here, his actions alone would not make a difference. The Empire was the problem, if the Jedi existed these thugs wouldn't be able to run business so freely. Priorities... He repeated the word in his head like a mantra and turned back to the others. His face a blank mask.

"Captain lets take cargo and get gone, I don't think we should leave the others alone for long."

[snoopy13a]

@ Loran & Co.

As the group enters the clinic, you see a balding, overweight human standing behind a counter. He's wearing a rather dirty lab coat and sports a scruffy goatee. Behind the counter is a door that presumably leads to a back room--perhaps for the rumored "unorthodox procedures." As you walk towards the counter, you notice two Wookiees lounging around by the entrance. Both carry bowcasters. By their demeanor, they appear to be security. The public area of the clinic is filled with rows of shelves containing drugs and medicines of various kinds.

The human appraises the group and exclaims: "Whatta ya want? Looking for some speed stims*? Maybe some deathsticks^? Perhaps looking for an upgrade or two? Or something else?"

*On speed stims (Loran knows the spoiler automatically; Kira needs a moderate knowledge roll; Lazaro needs a difficult knowledge roll) Speed stims are an illegal medicine that beings use to keep alert. It doesn't grant any bonuses but allows characters to go without sleep indefinitely. Of course, it is also highly addictive and has long-term health costs. They are highly illegal on most civilized worlds and thus can be smuggled and sold for a tidy profit.

^From the prequel movies. Lazaro needs a moderate knowledge roll to know what the man is talking about but the other two know automatically.


@ Lashkiel & Co.

The Falleen stands and waits to see if the group will accept his offer.

[galenbd]

Lashkel listened to Jake diatribe about Drall and their chances. The haul seemed reasonable and they could all use the pay. "I like the sound of it, but the price seems meager for the risk. We've another cargo lined up as well that might pay better. I can comm you in the morning if we want to commit to the run....unless you want to expand our take-away."

Bargain 3D [roll0]
wild die [roll1]

[snoopy13a]

The Falleen is not amused . . .

"I've no time to bargain . . . Cathar." he sneers. "There are other smugglers on Drozan. Take it or leave it."

[Elbeyon]

As they enter look around and the greetings are dispensed towards them Kira thinks to herself, Done checking it out. "I think we're in the wrong place." She makes her way over to the counter, leaning her arms against it as if bored and indifferent, "We were looking for someone that needed some medical goods transported. Bacta, med-packs, pain relief, replacement limbs, stuff like that. She motions while rotating her wrist as if the list continues to go on. "You know anyone in need of an empty cargo ship? We're a quick ship, poised to leave and we're looking for a cargo that matches." Don't try to sell me drugs. Don't try to get me to transport a cargo's worth of drugs. I'm not bringing back a drug job to the captain.

[snoopy13a]

The human thinks for a second. . .

"Let's see . . . Well, hmm . . . Alright, there's a factory here that produces the new serum to treat shaking fever*. It's the same formula that Corsucant Pharma sells in the Core. But see, Corsucant Pharma still has the patent for it, so only they can sell it there. And they mark it up real high.

Obviously, here in Hutt space, we don't care about stuff like patents, but there they do. I wager that if you buy some serum off of my contact that you can bring that stuff to the Core and sell for a nice profit while undercutting Corsucant Pharma."

*Generic deadly illness.

[Elbeyon]

Surprised by the turn of good fortune Kira rests her hand on the counter and her face focuses, "Woah, perhaps we're in the right place after all. That's quite the contact you have there. People call me Kira by the way.

Well, we are in a hurry. Relaying takes time. If me and your contact could communicate, directly. I'm sure you would get the finders fee you deserve once we start."

[galenbd]

Lashkel smiles, trying not to show her teeth. "I understand. Well we will comm you in the morning to discuss our commitment and arrange loading. Pleasure doing business with you."

She turns and leads her group back out of the Faleen's warehouse.

[A'den]

Jake turned and followed the Captain out satisfied the Captain had turned the job down though a troubling thought did strike him. If they think we'll rat the Black Sun to the Hutts things could get nasty. He covered the Captains back as they walked out keeping an eye on the scum working the warehouse and a hand near his blaster and the other hand near his blade.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

With even greater watchfulness than before, the big Weequay follows the feline smuggler out of the warehouse. Taking quick note of the areas covered by the young human, he takes care of the other side.

No idea how the Falleen's taken that. Better err on the side of caution and expect hostilities ...

Nevertheless, he remains outwardly unperturbed. Drawn and edgy blasters don't prepare for battle; if anything, they merely ensure it. Typical rookie's mistake. Could mean that our rookie's anything but. Good to know.

[snoopy13a]

@ Kira

The human says, "Here's his contact information [hands over comlink number as well as address]. Do you need anything else?"

@Lashkiel

A quick glance at the time notes that it is drawing near to the meeting with the Hutt's agent. If you leave right about now, you should make it to meeting just a little bit early.

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro

Lazaro ignores the adults for now, too interested in various things lying about the clinic. He picks up bottles to read the labels before putting them back, investigates half-unpacked products, and compares warning labels.

The most interesting thing has to be the wookiees, though. Lazaro stares at them, his head tilted curiously, and he tries to mimic their stance.

[galenbd]

"All right. We have one option. Shall we find out what the Hutt wants us to haul? Here's hoping it won't be something that will stink up the ship."

Lashkel turns her steps toward the Hutt meeting.

[Elbeyon]

She takes note of the data and enters the information into her comlink. Done with her business she picks herself up from her relaxed position and takes a proper walking stance. "No, I think that's it. Thanks for the information. We'll be in touch if it's necessary." She gives a half hearted, half raise wave of the wrist as a goodbye and turns to the others. With Lazaro busy, she decides to patiently wait it out. When his curiosity is slated enough that he takes notice of the nonexistent conversation she'll ask, "Are you ready to go? We need to go have a chat with a guy about some anti-disease serums. Something similar to bacta." She adds with a glimmer of cheer.

[A'den]

Jake didn't take his eyes away from watching the local color as he spoke, "I'd rather run illegal mods for blaster rifles than spice but we need the creds and being adrift somewhere because we ran out of fuel doesn't sound like a pleasant death. Let's go see what the Hutt has to offer."

[galenbd]

Lashkel smiled at Jake's comment, "Interesting preference between one death dealer and another. Both will kill you and both deaths will be ugly. I can't say as I have a preference, myself."

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"Nah. One of them's used to kill yourself, the other to kill others," Kal interjects. His mouth curves in a sardonic grin. "Personally, I prefer to do the latter. But as cargo? Don't care. I'm no one's nanny."

[A'den]

Jake shrugged, "Both get you hard time on Kessel if your lucky enough not to get the summary execution by Stormtrooper when they board your ship. But its easier to unload mods these days than spice and usually the people you sell mods too cause enough trouble to make a nice fancy distraction when you try to slip back out of system."

[TechnoScrabble]

"Anti-disease serums?" Lazaro turns from the wookiees to his mother, "Sounds cool. Can they put stuff back together like bacta, too, or do they just clear the bad stuff out?"

[snoopy13a]

Lashkiel & Co.

The three of you arrive at the palace compound Kabbo the Hutt. Unlike his infamous fellow-giant-worm, Jabba, Kabbo prefers to keep his commercial minions separate from the rest of his palace structure. So, at least, you probably won't have to worry about poor table manners at this meeting.

At the entrance of the palace's attached office building--a rather ugly, utilitarian structure joined with the gaudy and tacky Hutt Palace--are two Weequey guards. They give an approving nod to Kal as you enter. A quick turbo-lift ride takes the group to the fifth floor of the compound, where Kabbo's smuggling agent keeps his office.

The agent's assistant--a bored-looking, somewhat pretty, young human woman--waves you in to the appointment without much acknowledgement. As you enter the agent's office, you are greeted a middle-aged, heavy-set human man. He sports a full mustache and is wearing an open-necked button down shirt.

"Hmph, the Cathar smuggler. Just on time. I assume you are still interested in more work for Kabbo?"

[Minstrel Wyrm]

Taking point, Kal passes the Weequay guards with a nod in return. He stays in the lead until they reach the agent's office; when the young assistant waves them through, he grunts affirmatively, steps through the door and to the left. His eyes scan the office while he waits for Lashkel and Jake to enter. Leaving the talking to the boss, he remains at his chosen spot next to the door for now.

[galenbd]

Lashkel smiles without showing teeth, hoping the man won't be offended by it. Then she replies, "That's true. We're interested, but we're hoping it pays better than some of the other opportunities we've dredged up. The last run was modest and we're looking for a bigger score."

[Elbeyon]

"Hm. It most likely just helps fight off the illness. I can't see it being able to do much else." She moves past the wookiees on the way out and holds the door for Lazaro. "Sounds like a helpful drug."

Leaving the shop she starts to head into her new contacts direction, towards Drozan Pharma, and comlinks him up on the way, "Hey is this Ben? Lando Skiftsander told me that you were looking to ship some shaking fever medicine. We should meet up as soon as possible and exchange some numbers."

:smallsigh:

Kira will change her heading if Ben tells her a different location. If he doesn't want to do business today then she obvious won't head to Drozan Pharma.

[snoopy13a]

Lashkel & Co.

"I have a good-paying job for you. Easy too. Kabbo has arranged to purchase some spice from Jabba the Hutt. Glitterstem, to be exact. All you need to do is pick it up from his palace on Tatooine and bring it back here.

The credits are all arranged and we'll pay you 7,500 credits for the trouble."

Kira & Co.

"Hmm, I have a good supply of that. Stop by the office and we'll talk business."

Kira & Co. walk the short distance towards Drozen Pharma. The receptionist directs them to Ben Antilles' office. As the trio enter the room, they are greeting by an elderly human male. He is balding with a small fringe of white hair.

"I understand you're looking to buy some medicine. I'll cut to the chase because I'm a busy man. We have 1000 units of the serum for sale at 10 credits per unit."

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro nods as he passes through the doorway.

"Any help is good help. Not everyone needs bacta, right? Why pay for surgery when you need a bandaid?"

[A'den]

"And hard time on Kessel if we're caught." Jake murmured more to himself than anyone in the office.

[galenbd]

"Glitterstim, hunh?" Lashkel replies, "Pick up doesn't pay for getting there. I'd rather not haul a deadleg carrying only credits....Actually, are we bringing payment, or do we need a marker from Kabbo? I'd be really upset if we ran all the way there and Jabba won't release the cargo."

[Elbeyon]

Drozen Pharma____________________________________________ ___

On the way to the receptionist Kira tries to keep up with her son's curious disposition, He, "No, not everyone needs bacta. It might be a fantastic drug, but it doesn't fix everything. Surgery or not, it's always best to weigh the options and see if bacta is the right answer. Since when have you been so interested in medicine? Is the good doctor's trade rubbing off on you?."

Ben Antilles' office____________________________________________

"I like that, a person that knows what they want, a professional. Well, I won't waste your time or mine on trying to negotiate a fixed price. I'll crunch the numbers and if it's a profitable affair we might just have a deal. A thousand units of medicine isn't going to fill my cargo hold though. The people we're selling to might have a desire for more. We could arrange a second deal, they buy some goods from you and we transport them. Interested? That is of course if you have the supplies."

[snoopy13a]

@Lashkel

The human shrugs his shoulders, "Jabba will take the payment from our account with him. We've been doing business with him for a long time. You're not going to be carrying any credits. If you take the job, we'll give you authorization to make the pickup.

If you can't find cargo for Tattooine, that's your problem. I'm not your shipping agent."

@Kira

Ben thinks, "Well a thousand is all I have available for sale offworld right now. If you can set up regular customers then perhaps we can discuss further sales. But I'm not going to order more serum from the pharma factories here and tie up funds with inventory just yet."

[Elbeyon]

"We'd be able to transport more than just shaking fever serum. Another deal or two and a lot of your current stock could turn to profit and fast. Well, if you come up with some more, other products you need to get offworld, let me know."

If it looks like he does not have other stock or there isn't much else to take place in this interaction Kira will say farewell and head to a place with HoloNet access. She needs to do some research about shaking fever drugs. :smallbiggrin:

[A'den]

Jake paused as the Cathar and Hutt agent dickered and walked around the room waiting for a lull in the conversation. He wasn't sure what the Captain was planning but if she turned down the Hutt deal after turning down the Blacksun deal he wondered how they would leave the planet alive. Petty tyrants did not take kindly to independent traders wasting their time and if they enjoyed the protection of neither criminal syndicate they would be dodging heavy handed thugs the whole trip back to the ship.

"Perhaps we had better just take the job Captain." Jake spoke quietly when he paused next to the Cathar he dropped his voice a few octaves lower. Only for the Cathar's sensitive ears. "Best to take to deal lest he hears about where we've been running around."

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro shrugs.
"The ship's gotta come first, but once I learn everything about starships, I need to learn about something else, right? Might as well get a head start with medicine."

Lazaro sticks his hands in his pockets as he takes long strides to keep up with the adults' longer legs.

"'Sides, it's profitable and helpful. And Doctor Loran's got all sorts of books about medicine just lying around, doesn't hurt if I borrow one every once in a while when I'm bored, right?"

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"If you can't find cargo for Tattooine, that's your problem. I'm not your shipping agent."


The large Weequay keeps a straight face, apparently content with standing guard. Heh. He got the boss there. He chuckles inwardly. Hope she won't claw his face off for that.

[galenbd]

Lashkel hisses in a breath, but doesn't quite bare her teeth at the puny human. "I'd like to make this pickup for you. I hope you won't mind if we take a little time to find an outbound cargo before we accept this delivery. Can we confirm this with you tomorrow?"

[snoopy13a]

The human replies, "Fair enough. Give me an answer by noon. Can't afford to wait any longer."

@ Kira

There's a holonet cafe just down the block (used by smugglers and traders for just that very reason). Access costs 10 credits for an hour's worth.

If you pay 10 credits:

A quick check reveals that the base cost of the fever serum on "civilized worlds" (i.e., worlds that enforce intellectual property laws) is around 60 credits per vial. Of course, there's still the problem of finding a buyer willing to flout the law to purchase illegal generic drugs and these black market would almost certainly want a discount from the 60 credit legal price.

On "uncivilized worlds" (i.e., worlds in Hutt Space and the Outer Rim) you figure that you can probably get around a 10 credit markup per vial on minor worlds (i.e., plants without pharma factories). The larger worlds likely have illegal pharma factories which would make transportation unprofitable. Common sense tells you that unloading lots of serum could be an issue because of a possible lack of demand. You don't find any news of a shaking fever epidemic at the moment.

[Elbeyon]

As they exited the pharma, she paused briefly to make a couple shorthand notes in her datapad. And, walking off Kira kept her casual pace which was about the same pace as Lazaro, but slower than the doctors. "How reasonable. Yes, it's important that you always keep learning. There are many people, like a lot of the lost people around us, that have stopped moving, learning, and have began to stagnant. It's a scary habit to develop. I think you'd be pretty good at that sort of thing though."

"Just make sure you ask the good doctor if you can borrow his books. I'm sure he won't mind and he might need them so let him know they are going to be missing."

Kira walked into the holonet cafe taking note of the normal robbery. Despite the possible stares, she made her way over to the counter and put down ten credits for a computer and handed Lazaro twenty. "A bit of your pay for the previous jobs. It's your money so feel free to use it however you want."

Kira will spend her time looking up the drugs and Drozen Pharma. She doesn't believe that for a minute that Drozen, a drug company, only has one drug on hand. She has all the intentions of poking around the business some to see try and see what else they might be selling. As time goes by she gives a couple glances at her comlink, even more so as the window before the meet with their hopefully formal employer approaches and passes. Still, the boss told her not to contact the other group and that's what she was doing. She'll give them a while longer.

She'll buy another hour if she needs to. Which given that she's going to be waiting for two hours(?) I guess that adds up to about twenty.

[galenbd]

Lashkel nods, recognizing the dismissal, "Will do. Com'on fellas, we've gotta go find a cargo bound for Tantooine."

She turns and strolls out of the office bound for the street.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"All right, boss." Kal Rora nods. He takes point again until they leave the office building and are back on the streets.

"Any plans where to look yet? Or put our ears to the ground in a few spacers' bars?" The Weequay turns his green eyes on the Cathar smuggler walking next to him.

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro grips the credits tightly, beaming.
"Sweet! Thanks, mom!"

Within moments he's sat himself down and payed for one hour and is playing some sort of starfighter simulator game, his eyes locked to the screen as he dodges virtual asteroids and digital death-beams and rapidly taps away at various keys.

[snoopy13a]

@ Kira

Quick research of Drozan Pharma reveals that they make various minor generic drugs. Items such as cough syrup, fever reducers/painkillers, allergy medicine, antibiotics, etc. Essentially, they make the drugs to treat ordinary aliments. The shaking fever serum seem to be the only drug they produce that is an illegal generic. You also find that the shaking fever serum's patent is held by a Corsucanti pharma company (so your original contact wasn't lying about that).

Again, you find that these basic drugs aren't produced on the smaller worlds so an honest trader may be able to make a profit transporting them.

[A'den]

Jake turned and followed the Cathar out.

[galenbd]

Once everyone is back out on the street, Lashkel walks away from the slums. Once in the clear, she pulls out her comlink and triggers the group's private channel, "Kira, you listening?"

[Elbeyon]

Enjoying the nostalgia, memories of longer days filled with research and inquiry to find the most profitable cargo. She breaks her focus from the data screen in front of her and takes a second to glance around the seedy cafe then at Lazaro's screen as her thoughts wander.

As the well watched comlink goes off Kira reaches over and brings it to her mouth, "Yeah, I'm here. Glad to hear from you. What's the situation?"

[galenbd]

Lashkel replies, "We're clear and heading for the ship. We've had some success, but need to discuss it. Your group through?"

[Elbeyon]

Glad for the safety confirmation she tucks whatever worry she had away. And, bites her lip as the captain asks about their progress. "Success? We haven't had much of that. We'll see you soon." She presses a couple buttons and the screen goes back to it's default. Getting ready to leave, she pushes in her chair still on the comlink. "The boss might have a job. Let's head home."

Kira will head off towards the ship and enter it if possible. Signaling her approach as she makes her way inside.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"Let's hotfoot it back, then. Not fun enough around here to dawdle." The ship's gunner nods towards the spaceport and strides off, his long legs eating the distance easily. Nevertheless, he keeps his guard up and a hand near his weapon.

[TechnoScrabble]

"Alright, lemme just finish this-aw, crud," Lazaro's intense focus on his game is brought to an end as another player blasts his Z-95 to pieces. With a sigh, he logs off and pulls himself out of the chair to follow his mother.
"Bet that guy's never even been inside a real starship."

[A'den]

Jake relaxed his guard a bit on the way back the average lull in activity was sopophoric almost. He would of assumed interacting with the Black Sun and gallivanting into the lair of a Hutt Agent involved more flashy catchphrases and swinging sabers. Stormtroopers at least should burst in one the scene once. He kicked a pebble without looking where it went and followed Kal.

Feeling pretty paranoid for having it initiated it in the first place he let go of the slight knot of senses in his head and released his aether sense of Kira. He felt tired but not having to maintain the focus in his he felt more himself.

Seeing the ship again would be good, he didn't like being far from his bolt hole if the Imps showed up.

Releasing 'hold' on Life Sense thus returning my roles to normal rather than the -1D penalty.

[galenbd]

Satisfied with her reply, he leads his group back toward the ship, keeping a sharp eye out for antagonists.

[snoopy13a]

By chance the two groups arrive at the spaceport at the same time and joins up for the short walk to the ship's hanger.

At the hanger, the heroes are greeted by some unwanted "guests." There are four of them, all humans, and they are armed for rancor. Two are carrying blaster rifles and one is fondling some sort of nasty-looking edged weapon. The most garishly dressed draws his blaster and exclaims, "We spotted you entering Kabbo's office after you met with the boss. The Black Sun has little patience for Hutt spies!"

[The four enemies are about 10 meters away from the players and are standing a bit off to the side from your ship (so if you miss them, you won't hit the ship). Kira has the highest initiative at 4D6).]

Bad guys initiative (first die wild)
[roll0]

Provisional wild
[roll1]

[TechnoScrabble]

Initiative (first die is wild)
[roll0]v
Extra die in case of wild die explosion [roll1]

Lazaro's eyes widen and he thinks quickly, tucking behind the nearest object in the hopes of hiding himself. Whether or not they see him there, he will try to sneak from there to a different bit of cover in order to stay safe.

Sneak, first die is (as always) wild
[roll2]

exploding die insurance [roll3]

[A'den]

[roll0]
+ 9 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=311353) = 16 Total

Jake whirled toward the challenging voice and makes to draw his vibroblade.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

A wicked smile slowly spreads over the large Weequay's face. "Fun," he growls deeply, swinging around his heavy blaster rifle. A bolt of furious scarlet lances out at a broken-nosed thug who's just bringing his own blaster rifle to bear.



Two actions:

First is to fire a shot at the thug (whom I for the sake of recognition value imputed a broken nose to :smallbiggrin:).

Second will be to throw myself behind a freight crate as cover. (There probably are some crates around the docking bay, aren't there?) But our foes are getting to act before I can take that second action, right? So I'll describe it in the next post.


Last die is savage. (That was standard anyway if not specifically defined in a post, correct?) And I'll make a prophylactic damage roll, to save time.


Easy Blaster roll [roll0]

Reserve Wild Rolls [roll1], [roll2], [roll3], [roll4], [roll5]


Blaster Rifle damage [roll6]

Reserve Wild Rolls [roll7], [roll8], [roll9], [roll10], [roll11]

[A'den]

Jake drew his vibroblade and charged straight into the mass of thugs whipping his blade in a vicious horizontal cut at the first thug in his way. The thrum of the vibroblade whirred like a mad sawm of hornets.


Close and engage in Melee.
Melee Combat: Vibroblade:
Skill Expert [roll0]
Wild Die: [roll1][roll2][roll3][roll4]
Weapon Damage [roll5]
Wild Die: [roll6][roll7][roll8][roll9]

[galenbd]

Poo doo! Lashkel curses to herself as she sprints for cover of the nearby ship maintenance droid. She draws her blaster as she squats down and fires off a poorly-placed shot at the human holding the blaster rifle.

[snoopy13a]

The hanger erupts in a surge of sudden violence.

Party actions

The big Weequay is the first act and promptly blasts a Thug. The thug falls to the ground and does not stir.

Jake and the sword-carrying-goon charge at each other. The goon is too late, however, to match a vicious upswing. Jake slices through the goon's torso and the goon collapses in a heap.

Seeing danger, Lazaro dives for cover behind some crates.

Lashkiel fires, and misses, but manages to reach cover behind a maintenance droid.

Kira crouches down and prepares to fire.

The doc does not react.

Goons' round

The leader of the goons spins his heavy blaster pistol with a flourish and fires. The doc falls to the ground.

The other goon with the blaster rifle takes aim at the big Weequay. Kal sees the action out of the corner of his eye and safely dives to cover.


Initiative for next round

Players [roll0]

Goons [roll1]

[Minstrel Wyrm]

Behind the freight crate where he has taken cover, Kal Rora's eyes narrow when he sees the doc falling. "You don't shoot at medical personnel, wakamancha koochoo," he snarls. Raising The Negotiator in a fluid move over the crate, he fires another scarlet bolt at the group of Black Sun thugs, aimed at the pistol-twirling leader.


One action:

Kal fires a vengeful shot at the thugs' leader from behind his cover.


Easy Blaster roll [roll0]

Reserve Wild Rolls [roll1]


Blaster Rifle damage [roll2]

Reserve Wild Rolls [roll3]

[A'den]

Jake pivoted on his lead foot as the body of the tattooed thug crumpled and folded over in half at the torso the vibrio blade hardly even paused going through the thug's spine. He followed through on his charge and got behind the cluster of bandits his sword whipped in a backswing aimed at the neckline of the Mohawked scum standing next to him with the blaster rifle.


Move past bandits and backswing with the vibroblade.
Expert Melee Combat Vibroblade: [roll0]
Wild Dice: [roll1]

On Hit: [roll2] + 2
Wild Dice [roll3]

[TechnoScrabble]

Sweating heavily behind the crates, Lazaro looks around for anything useful. He flinches every time a blaster goes off or a vibro-blade shrieks as it swings.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he pulls the pilfered dart from his pocket and peers around the corner of the crate to toss it at the goon with the heavy blaster pistol, hoping to hit him in the face.

First die is wild
[roll0]
exploding die insurance [roll1][roll2]

[galenbd]

Having missed the first time, Lashkel takes the time to focus on her target. She squeezes off a blaster bolt without moving out of cover.

[roll0]

[snoopy13a]

Players

The thug raises his blaster rifle to try and block Jake's strike. The thug manages to deflect a slash to the torso. Unfortunately, the thug's parry is merely partial. Jake manages to keep the blade's momentum, and hits the thug in the head with the flat end of the blade.

The thug falls to the ground, twitching.

The leader gloats and yells, "One scum down, more to go!!!." His glee comes to an end when Kal and Lashkiel concentrate fire on him. Two brutal blaster bolts cut him down. Kira had a shot lined up, but held her fire once she saw the leader fall.

The dart slips out of Lazaro's hand, flies sideways, and somehow hits Kal. No damage is done, except perhaps to the big Weequay's pride.



A quick check of the downed friends and foes shows that:

1) The melee thug is dead
2) Doc Loran is dead
3) The leader is fading fast
4) The thug Kal dropped in round 1 is fading fast
5) The thug Jake struck in round 2 is unconscious but seems stable

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro flinches when his dart misses, the embarrassment from that adding to the fear from the mess going on around him a knot starts to form in his gut, and it firmly twists itself into a boy scout grade double-square when he sees the Doc's prone form.

"Doc?" he calls out hesitantly, then with panic creeping into his voice, "DOC!"

This wasn't right. This couldn't be right! Loran wasn't answering, wasn't giving the sly wink that belied some master plan, wasn't even moving. He couldn't be dead, he was one of the crew, one of the heroes! Heroes don't die, they never die! They can't! They have to save the day, by blaster or blade or bacta or-

Calm down. He's faking it, it was set on stun and he's faking it so they won't see him coming. He's smart like that!

And then the leader falls, and the coast seems clear. Lazaro rushes over to Loran, shaking the corpse's shoulders and failing to hold back bitter tears.

"Come on, Doc, get up! Doc, I hit Kal with a dart, he needs a band-aid! Doctor Loran!" Lazaro searches the Doc for a medkit, flailing uselessly as he lacks the training needed to treat a living patient, much less a blasted corpse.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

A few moments after Lazaro, the gunner of the Beggar's Fortune reaches the downed doctor. "A bad time to take a nap, doc," he mutters, going down on one knee and quickly checking the fallen human for life signs. Alas, it doesn't take an expert to realize that Doctor Loran Peragon is beyond any help ...

The scowl on Kal's face deepens, and he stands up again. Disregarding the weeping boy for now, he slings the heavy blaster rifle over his shoulder again and moves over to the Black Sun thugs with long strides. Hunkering down next to the leader, he takes a look at the man's wounds. "Not so fast, Garish Jacket," the Weequay growls and starts to render first aid.


Trying to stabilize and wake the thugs' leader. Kal doesn't care for his long-term survival, he only wants him awake, and alive long enough for some ... small talk.


Moderate First Aid [roll0]

Reserve Wild Rolls [roll1]


Hm. Moderate ranges from 11-15, right? Does this suffice in this case?

[snoopy13a]

@Kal

The leader is mortally wounded, so a difficult roll is needed. And even if successful, he'll only go to incapacitated. The difficulty number is 18 if you want use character points. Or you can just transfer the roll to the incapacitated thug if you want a question an underling.

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro sniffles, snot running from his nose to mix with the tears, and moves to grab the fallen leader's blaster pistol.

"Kal," he chokes a little, leveling the weapon at the unconscious man's head, "Kal, move please."

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"Wha― Gimme that karked thing!" Kal deftly fishes the blaster out of Lazaro's hands. "Jake!" he snaps at the young man standing not too far from them, "Get the kid and his mom into the ship. NOW!" The tone of voice of the usually laid-back gunner seems unexpectedly used to command, leaving preciously little room for objections.

With that, the Weequay returns his attention to the mortally wounded thug.


Snoopy, I think you misunderstood me there - I wasn't trying to actually heal him (i.e., reduce his Wound Level), only to stabilize him. That should keep him at his Wound Level, but keep him from bleeding to death. (It's described where combat injury determination is found, not under Healing/Medpac use.) Well, and wake him from unconsciousness, I hope, even if he won't be able to act on his own.

:smallsmile:

[snoopy13a]

@Kal

Ok. I see the stabilization rule. He's stabilized for an hour and I figure you can force him awake (plenty of people are. He won't be able to move (which won't bother you, of course).


Rummaging through the medpack, the big Weequay finds bandages to temporary stop the leader's bleeding and forcibly injects the thug with adrenaline. The thug opens his eyes and mutters, "Wha . . ."

[A'den]

Jake paused a moment looking at the down thug, the sense of urgency and threat fade in the Force as the rest mopped it up. His breathing evened out but a thin film of sweat covered his forehead. He thumbed the switch on his vibroblade and the sinister hum was silenced he knelt down and wiped the blood on the unconscious thug's shirt.

"Jake!"

Jake snapped out of his revelry and slid the blade home holding the scabbard at the base. He bent of Lazaro and scooped him up, "He's one with the Force Laazaro don't mourn him."]

He briefly stretched out with the Force to confirm that Doc's etheral spirit had joined the Force.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

When the thug in the garish jacket opens his eyes again, he finds a rough, leathery Weequay face above him. Narrowed, deep-set green eyes bore into his as a deep, gravely voice greets him. "Ask me whether I'm an angel, and I'll smash your teeth in. Got that?"

Shoving the thug's blaster he had taken from Lazaro under his belt, his eyes still holding the thug's gaze, Kal motions for the others to come over.

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro is easily disarmed and picked up, his heart not really in killing the goon. He doesn't know how to react to what all just happened. He'd seen people die in holos, and even in real life (it is, after all, a dangerous galaxy), but never anyone he'd actually known. And there was no way he could kill someone himself, even if Kal and Jake and the Captain and sometimes even Mom or the Jedi from the stories did it. Especially not someone on the ground.

He just clings to Jake and tries to hide from the bodies, as if the eyes of the dead were judging him.

[A'den]

Jake held the boy and walked towards Kira keep the boy's line of sight out of the way of whatever Kal was about to do. His gut feeling told him it would be nothing Lazaro needed to witness ever.


"Kira best we get the ship prepped for take off." He moves to hand the boy over to her.

[galenbd]

Lashkel snarls as the last thug goes down. Kal starts working on trying to save one of the thugs. Maybe they'll bear witness back to the Falleen.

Jake hustles the woman and her distraught son back to the ship, but starts telling them to warm up the ship. Well, we have a cargo to pick up, but we might have to dead leg it there to get it.

Grumbling, Lashkel stomps over to the doc and looks down at him. "Too brief. But we won't leave you here."

She looks around the landing bay to insure there are no other threats, then muscles his body up over her shoulders and trudges for the ramp.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

When it becomes clear that none of the others seems interested in having a talk with their former attackers, Kal grunts and shrugs. "All right, seems that my more diplomatic pals are leaving this to me. Your lucky day, Murglak." He gives the Black Sun gangster the scowl that comes so naturally to Weequay faces.

"Let's hear it. Is your boss really so stupid as to send us confirmation that he's Black Sun, after so deftly avoiding any mention of his allegiance when we talked to him? Or was that the idea of you and your boys here? Trying to gather brownie points, are you?"

[snoopy13a]

"If by 'confirmation,' ya mean space your ugly butt then yea! And we'd had done it too. You guys cheated and brought extras. No matter, boss will kill ya anyway!"

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"Broggle me, the words were too long," Kal mutters exasperatedly. Then he raises his voice again. "Okay, let's use simple happy language words here, extra for you. We not knew you were Black Sun. Your boss, he not say. Then you come here, shout 'WE BE BLACK SUN!' Now: Your boss tell you to do that, or you think of it yourselves, Stoopa?"

[A'den]

Jake got Lazaro and Kira herded aboard the ship then went about seeing what he could do to help the Captain get the ship ready for take off. He wasn't much of a pilot or a crewman but he had hands and could push buttons when told.

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro helps with starting up the ship, taking a quiet solace in the familiar comfort of the freighter's maintenance shafts and engine room and cockpit.

[galenbd]

Lashkel lay the doc in...his...medbay. He stood a moment considering the human before stepping away. He slides into the pilot's seat moments later and starts warming up the engines.

[snoopy13a]

"Eh, don't matter anyway. Yeah the boss wanted you dead. Said you guys wuz Hutt spies." [he moans in pains] "Boss said, 'Let 'em know, before they die, that Black Sun is doing the killing.' A message ya see"

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"Yeah, well done. Message received, and before our deaths, too." Kal's grin is nothing if not sardonic. The large Weequay gets up and looks down at the thug, two burnt and bloody holes in his garish jacket. "Count yourself lucky, pal, those two chest wounds won't be your death."

When the wounded man starts to relax, Kal continues. "A shame about that belly wound, though. Real nasty and slow way to die. If only a doctor were around ... but someone went and shot him." The Weequay shrugs, draws his heavy BlasTech DT-57 from the holster, and fires a blaster bolt into the thug's abdomen.

Paying no attention to the man's agonized groans, he then checks the other thugs, putting another bolt between the eyes of anyone still alive. When that's taken care of, he boards the Beggar's Fortune and closes the ramp behind him.

[A'den]

Jake paused in the act of going over the supplies stowed in the ship's inventory when he felt a quick whip through the Force of the last thug dying. He paused in the act and returned to the boarding ramp as Kal was coming up.

"Find out anything?"

[Minstrel Wyrm]

Answering Jake's question with a shrug, Kal hits the ramp's control panel. "Not much," he growls. "That Falleen koochoo thought we were Hutt spies, sent his muscle to silence us. For good. Lacks the subtelty to make it long in Hutt space, I guess." He barks a humourless laugh. "Hope our boss learns to be more careful with rivalling gangsters from now on. Else we won't make it long, either."

[A'den]

Jake frowned, he had killed two men because they had wanted to shop options on jobs, his brow furrowed. "Not much to be done about it, hoe the Black Sun doesn't put bounties out because we made them look bad."

He fiddled with his blade hilt, "Nice shooting, we should make a space trail and get out of here."

He hit the toggle on the ramp control station.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

Kal reaches for Jake's arm. "Whoa, ramp's already closing. Don't confuse it." He eyes the young human. "You okay, rookie? Thoughts a bit jumbled after that fight? Don't tell me it was your first experience with lethal combat." The leathery-faced gunner crosses his arms and leans against the bulkhead, holding Jake's gaze.

[A'den]

Jake paused mid action and looked down at the Weequay's hand. A small predatory smile twitched at the corner of his lips those his eyes seemed weary.

"Not the first time, not far from it though. I was just raised to be better. My- I-... that is we seem to live in a galaxy that consistently challenges the values we hope to live by. I am more alarmed by the fact I acted as soon as the threat presented itself instead of stopping to examine it."

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"Heh. Idealism. Believe me, kid - in this galaxy, you either get over it, or killed by it." The Weequay's face seems guarded, betraying no emotion. "And don't be too alarmed. Stopping to mull when you're attacked? Fatal mistake. Train your instincts, learn to trust them, then act upon them - a lot faster, a lot less fatal."

Kal quirks a leathery eye-ridge. "Less fatal for those who rely on you, too."

[A'den]

Jake nodded with the sentiment though his eyes seemed sad. He opened his mouth to say something but as if thinking better closed it and stood up straight.

"We should probably check to see if the Captain is ready to fly, won't take long for the Black Sun to realize their thugs didn't come back."

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"Sure." Kal nods and heads to the cockpit, his long legs quickly covering the short way. "All aboard, captain. Ready for takeoff."

[galenbd]

Kal comes up to let him know everyone's aboard. Lashkel nods and replies,
"Right. Let's wrap it up. Can you take the top gun, just in case?"

She hits the ship's intercom, "Lazaro, Are the engines prepped for takeoff and hyperspace?"

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"No place like home," Kal replies to Lashkel's request, baring his teeth in a quick grin. He leaves the cockpit, crosses the lounge, and clambers up the ladder of the gun well.

Reaching the turret, he hauls himself into the gunner's seat, buckles in and dons his headset. "Kal here. Checking and charging dorsal cannons now." Keying for the controls, he runs the cannons through a few test-traverses. Servos responding smoothly, tracking accurately ... looks good. Glancing at the targeting scope, he then leans back contently.

"Ready for action, captain!"

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro scrambles over to the intercom and presses the call button.
"Nice and warm, Captain. Everything seems good on the pre-im-nary, I'm just about done with final."


Repair check to make sure those goons didn't sabotage anything. First die is wild.
[roll0]

[galenbd]

"Right-o" Lashkel replies and shuts of the internal comm. She comms out to the docking agent that gave them a berth and confirms the docking bill has been paid.

After that, she broadcasts to Starport control a request for departure.

[snoopy13a]

Lazaro does a quick search of the ship and finds everything in order.

The starport control gives Lashkiel the all-clear to go.

[A'den]

Jake seats himself in the jumpseat in the cockpit largely keeping out of everyone's way. He keep's an eye on what the Captain and Kira are doing trying to learn some of the process behind ship operation.

Knowledge [roll0] - Learn the proper sequence to get the ship ready for take off.
Wild Dice: [roll1]

[galenbd]

Laskel eyes Jake nearby as he fires up the impulse engines. She vectors up seven degrees and climbs a thousand feet.

Turning to Jake, she asks, "You want to try flying a bit. Now that we're off the ground, we're not in a big rush."

[Minstrel Wyrm]

Watching the so far uneventful start from the dorsal gun turret, Kal starts to casually wonder whether it might be fun to blast the Falleen's warehouse from the sky. Heh. Bet that was why the captain sent me to the upper cannons ... pity.

[A'den]

Jake gives the Captain a look like you been in the spice? "I don't know maybe somewhere gravity isn't waiting to pull us back down if I screw up?"

[galenbd]

"All right. You can be the pilot while I plot the course for Tantooine."

With that, Lashkel opens the engines up and heads off planet.

[galenbd]

Once they broach the atmosphere, Lashkel sets a course away from normal traffic lanes. After they are in the clear, she nods to Jake, "All right, the controls are yours. Try to move slow to start."

[A'den]

"Frak me..." Jake muttered and took the controls attempting to keep the craft on its same trajectory and speed.

"Where'd you learn to fly Captain?"

[galenbd]

Lashkel smiles to herself, "Outrunning Hell Hounds on board swoops. Back then, we didn't have any controls, it was all about balance. If you fell off, you got eaten. Having a tail helps."

[Minstrel Wyrm]

Taken a bit by surprise by the sudden changes in the starship's movements, Kal activates his headset comm again. "Drowned your sorrows in jet juice, captain?" he asks with a chuckle. "Scanners are clear - any trouble down there?"

[galenbd]

Lashkel triggers the comm, "Nah. Jake's hamfisted with the controls. Standby for light speed."

[A'den]

"Ugh.." Jake was glad to turn the controls back over to the Captain his knuckles were white and his hands shook. "Still not sure if I'm cut out for that. Give me some solid ground any day of the week."

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"Ah." Kal's chuckle carries clearly over the intercom. "If the ground attracts you that much, we better keep you away from the pilot's console, rookie!"

Preparing to leave the gun turret as soon as the starship has made the jump to lightspeed, he confirms, "Standing by for lightspeed."

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro crawls into the maintenance shaft that he'd claimed as his own, and curls up in a small pile of pilfered linens and pillows stashed in a back corner with a book for most of the trip, small bugs and animals he probably shouldn't have grabbed keeping him company from inside their enclosures.

[galenbd]

All right, It's time for Astrogation. The D6 Holocron lists the Kazellis as having a x2 hyperdrive.

I'm not sure the difficulty for the Tantooine run, nor do I know how many Astrogation rolls I will need. Let's start with the first roll anyway.

[roll0]

[snoopy13a]

Lashkiel plots in a course for Tantooine. According to the ship's computer, travel time will be two days.

[You can rp the jump to light speed if you wish. If, as a group, you want to fast-forward transit then just make of note in the OOC thread]

[Minstrel Wyrm]

When the stars seem to streak past the Beggar's Fortune and the starship is swallowed by the mottled chaos of hyperspace, the ship's gunner powers down the cannons, unbuckles from the seat, and climbs down to the lounge area.

Looking around, Kal scratches his head for a moment. Then he sighs - though it sounds more like an annoyed grunt - and walks through the corridor to Lazaro's usual bolt hole. He hesitates again when he reaches the maintenance shaft, then repeats the annoyed grunt and knocks on the wall above the shaft opening.

"Hey, kid. You in there?" he growls.

[galenbd]

Once the jump to hyperspace is started, Lashkel turns to Jake, "The ship's computer had some old tutorials installed for orientation to this ship when it was new. Some of them included flight simulations. I think they just did that to help fighter jocks recognize the ship isn't as maneuverable as they're used to. Do you want me to dredge those up for you to fiddle with?"

[A'den]

"Yeah sure, anything is better than sitting around waiting in this dren." Jake responds gesturing to the mottled void of hyperspace.

[TechnoScrabble]

"Yeah?" Lazaro replies, putting down his book, "Is the ion drive leaking again?"

He crawls through the shaft and sticks his head out the entryway, his eyes still a little bleary but covered by his mess of hair.

"I've got more tape and extra linings around here somewhere..."

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"Yeah, no, forget about the tape. Not here for the engines." Kal gives the ten-year-old boy a probing look. "How're you holding up, kid? That your first fight? Or just the first time you saw a pal die?" The gunner's deep, gravelly voice doesn't sound very warm or tender, but his eyes are serious.

"May not look like it, but I've been there, too. Talking helps. So ... talk."

[TechnoScrabble]

Lazaro looks away, as if staring at the dust piling up in an unswept corner will help him escape the question.

"S'not like I've never seen a fight or anything...Mom and the Captain kill people sometimes, right? But, I mean, those were bad people they shot. Good guys aren't supposed to die."

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"Starship battles don't count, kid. Up close and personal, that's where you see death." The Weequay falls silent for a moment. Then he settles down on the floor next to the maintenance shaft entry, stretching his long legs across the corridor, and fishes out a cigar. Lighting it carefully purchases him a little more time to think.

"Good guys ... bad guys ... looks easy in the holos, doesn't it?" He glances at the boyish face under the messed-up hair. "Eh, let's cut the philosophical kark. Won't help much now." He thoughtfully blows some smoke down the corridor.

"Good or bad? Damn abstract. Friends, not so much. Doc was a friend. That's what's tearing you up." Kal grunts. "And will, for some time. Pain's there, can't take it out. Has to heal, like a wound, y'know?" The Weequay's green eyes look into the boy's hazel ones.

[TechnoScrabble]

"Yeah, 'cept I can pour bacta on a wound," Lazaro shrugs and sits quietly for a moment.

"Uh...what's 'abstract'?"

[Minstrel Wyrm]

"Heh!" Kal snorts in wry amusement. "Never say no to bacta, true enough. Might be there's something similar for wounded minds, but hell if I know."

He scratches his head. "Abstract ... something you can't touch, I'd say. Nah, maybe 'idea-like' is better? Aw hell, I'm no dictionary." The gunner growls under his breath while searching for a better explanation.

"Look, it's like this. Some say Corellian-made engines are better, others say Duros-made engines are. Don't matter more than a, a speck of ash," he demonstratively flicks his cigar, "in a supernova when it's your engines that just gave up the ghost."

[TechnoScrabble]

"I...I think I get it..." Lazaro nods.

"Doesn't make it right, though...I mean, you guys are just like the heroes in the holos. The heroes don't die. Ever. Not like that. Max Plasteel could take a dozen before he even stumbled!"

[Minstrel Wyrm]

For a moment, the Weequay gunner is quiet. Then he growls, or sighs - or maybe both at the same time. "What's a hero, kid? Who decides who is, and who's not?"

[TechnoScrabble]

"Easy. Hero's the good guy," Lazaro says.

He hesitates for a moment, thinking, then speaks again.
"But it's not so simple, is it? Maybe people think we're the bad guys 'cause sometimes our cargo's not something they like. Or...it's...er, abstract. But I don't...I don't really think good and evil are all abstract, right? I mean, a good guy helps people, even bad people sometimes, because it's right. So that makes him a hero, right? No matter what anyone says?"

[snoopy13a]

Space travel is strange. Bursts of high stress and action coupled with long stretches of waiting around. After two days in the relative boredom of hyperspace transit, the Beggar's Fortune enters the Tantooine system and the ship finally emerges back into real space.

Tantooine is a smuggler's kind of world. It has a token Imperial force that has little interest in shipping--customs and inspections are non-existent. In addition, the Hutts are well represented by the infamous Jabba. It is a dangerous world of smugglers, fences, middlemen, and bounty hunters.

Jabba's representative who you are to meet to arrange the spice pickup is in Mos Eisley spaceport--a hive of scum and villainy.

[Minstrel Wyrm]

Two Days before ...



"... a good guy helps people, even bad people sometimes, because it's right. So that makes him a hero, right? No matter what anyone says?"


The Weequay takes a slow drag, then lowers his cigar. "Heroes ... you picked the worst person aboard for a talk about heroes, kid." He barks a mirthless laugh. "But I'm a mean old man, and a cynic at that. Better talk to Jake or someone about heroes." Getting to his feet, he motions towards the portside stern area. "Go and do a thorough check of the deflector shield generators first, though. Two days to Tatooine, and we want them at peak efficiency there, 'kay?"

With that, Kal walks off, only leaving an aroma of carababba tabac and a quickly fading spot of warmth on the metal wall behind.




* * * * *


Now ...


Once again settled into the gunner's seat, the laser cannons powered up and combat-ready, Kal activates his headset. "Dorsal turret armed and hungry. ETA for realspace?" Long lines of light collapse into brilliant dots in the blackness of realspace, forestalling the captain's answer. The tracking cannons are accompanied by the hum of powerful servo motors when the gunner starts to scan the area for trouble.

[galenbd]

Lashkel is back in the pilot's seat well before the ship comes out of hyperspace. As soon as the ship exits and the stars slow down, she is at the controls. Once she determines they will not be running into anything immediately, she triggers a passive scan of the system, listening on all frequencies.

[A'den]

Two days of sims had give Jake some confidence sitting the copilot next to the Captain. "Running a scan now captain."

Technical: [roll0]
Wild Die: [roll1]