Grace of Inevitability IC: Livestock Locomotion

[Thanqol]

Bullfight critics row on row
Crowd the vast arena full
But only one man’s there who knows
And he's the man who fights the bull.

- President Kennedy

OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?380382-Edge-of-the-Empire-OOC-Grace-of-Inevitability)



BALANCE OF THE FORCE

LIGHT:
O O O O

DARK:
O

[Thanqol]

Mos Eisley Cantina, Tatooine

The bartender smells like rotting sand and the drinks he serves are not much better. But they are cold and they are wet and that is more than you'll get anywhere else on this rock.

"Terror at Yavin!" announced the tiny little man hovering above the surface of the bar's holoprojector. "Terrorists have sabotaged the Death Star! After its decisive role in resolving the Alderaan Crisis and ending the warfare that had blighted the entire sector, the Death Star was dispatched to neutralise a military installation in the distant Yavin system where it was destroyed with all hands! Both Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin are presumed among the dead, along with nearly fifty million soldiers, researchers, technicians and civilian personnel. The Emperor has personally declared a galaxy-wide day of mourning to commemorate this unspeakable tragedy..."

That was far away, though. Right now the crew of the Hail If Parts Fall Off were waiting for their contact to show up. This was tense and important - they were meeting a representative from Jabba the Hutt. He was as well known for his extremely lucrative contracts as he was for his capacity for petty vengeance - and without some kind of cargo they barely had enough fuel to get off this rock.

The news was playing, the taps were flowing, and the patrons were armed. What were the crew doing?

[Elanorin]

Jayka Frye was nursing her tasteless drink as inconspicuously as she could, it wasn't as if she was particularly tempted to drink the bitter watery liquid of whateveritwas. Meeting contacts was one of her least favourite aspects of life with this crew but without work they'd be dead in the water, she knew that. A Hutt job however, that had her a mite edgier than normal. Jered would know how to handle it though, all she had to do was stay out of his way.

She nearly dropped her mudwater drink when she heard the news announcement. The Death Star destroyed? Fifty million dead!? She stared with her mouth wide open at the holoprojected person announcing the tragedy. That amount of people, it was too much, she couldn't even begin to comprehend such a vast loss of life.

"I knew people on that project." Jayka mumbled, her face getting paler by the minute. She'd even considered applying to work for the Maw Installation a few years ago and probably would have if it hadn't been so far away from her family. "How is this even possible? That thing was supposed to be indestructible." she continued with disbelief.

[Anarion]

Jered looked awful. He sat at the bar next to Jayka, his back as straight and his shoulders as square as ever. But his head seemed like he could barely keep it up and deep bags had formed under his eyes. He hadn't been able to sleep a wink last night. Nightmares, screams had haunted him every time he closed his eyes and so he had stayed awake, trying to read The Rise and Fall of the Old Republic to pass the time.

Now, he sat and watched the report and he was numb. All those dead. The fine men of the Empire. He remembered meeting Tarkin once. The Grand Moff had attended a dinner party hosted by his father on Coruscant. A lavish affair, by requirement, it had been primarily to drum up business for the company, and that meant the invitation list had been heavy on military leadership. Tarkin had been cold in person. He had found Jered at the party and asked, bluntly, several questions about his school, upbringing and how strict his parents were. Upon satisfactory answer, Tarkin had then approached Jered's father, put in an extremely large engine order, and abruptly left the party. Jered had always respected the focus of the man that night, and the new city airspeeder his father had bought at the time had cemented that memory quite well.

And now he was dead. Put down by a pack of rebel dogs. Jered stared blankly as he saw a piece of the world he knew crumble before him on the holo screen. Then he took a long drink of whatever bile was in front of him.

[the_druid_droid]

Aryur was prowling around the dingy bar, riding the little wave of nervous excitement that came before every job, while on the lookout for a Sabacc game that seemed both profitable and unlikely to end in a firefight. His efforts were hampered by the fact that the majority of the patrons' attention was focused on the HoloNet News broadcast. When the Bothan finally surrendered to mob mentality and pricked up his ears to the tinny speaker, something cold slithered around his guts.

Sabotage. An Imperial battlestation.

The briefing for the Network's latest top-tier Ops mission had been eyes-only, but every Bothan worth the name had quickly figured out the disastrous plan involved something about surveillance on the Emperor's newest toy and schematics changing hands, once the Imperial reprisals started. If that operation had culminated in the Rebel sabotage mission, it was no wonder they'd come down so hard and fast on the Network...

So that was it, then. The operation that had risked his life, bought him his burn notice, and loomed in his mind ever since he'd left Bothawui behind forever had all built up to this moment, announced to a crowd light years away by a three-inch-high news anchor. There was something ironic there, and Aryur croaked out a laugh while his fur rippled distastefully.

At least his nerves about meeting with the Hutts had settled. He shuffled back over to the bar with heavier footsteps than he'd left it, and sank down on a tattered stool by the rest of the crew.

[Thanqol]

While everyone was looking shocked and glum over the news, a group of roughs on the other end of the bar were cheering and exchanging high-fives and the tentacle equivalent of high fives. Pretty much no one else in the bar seemed to care.

A moment later two large, burly aliens sat down to either side of Jered. They were both scum, a sickly looking Duros who was missing an arm and something that could be described as 'like a Gammorean but without the honesty'.

The Duros burbled something ominously at Jered.

"My friend likes you," said the something, revealing its teeth.

[Anarion]

"My friend likes you," said the something, revealing its teeth.

"Is that so?" Said Jered absently. He took another sip of what appeared to be the battery acid that had been served to him. He finally gave the two some attention by turning his head to the not quite Gamorian speaker. "Your friend has good taste in people. Can I buy him a drink?"

[Elanorin]

Jayka was eventually distracted from the news by the tasteless celebration on the other side of the room and despite her better judgement she couldn't help directing a brief disapproving glare at the party of rabble at the other end of the bar. That was as far as her outrage went even at such extreme disrespect, she was not one to provoke a fight if she could at all help it, least of all in this place and now.

It wasn't until someone spoke that she realised some unsettling characters had joined them at the bar. Jayka's face went instantly from disapproval to discomfort and edged away a little along the bar.

In an attempt at Not Staring and Acting Casual she even managed to drink a mouthful of her drink and instantly regretted it. It took no small amount of determination to swallow the liquid that filled her mouth for several moments too long and she tried to mask her disgusted cough as merely clearing her throat.

[Thanqol]

"Is that so?" Said Jered absently. He took another sip of what appeared to be the battery acid that had been served to him. He finally gave the two some attention by turning his head to the not quite Gamorian speaker. "Your friend has good taste in people. Can I buy him a drink?"

The Duros burbled an affirmative.

"I like you too," confided the not-quite-Gammorean. "So much that my friend and I, in our capacity as tour guides, want to show you around town. Get up."


At least his nerves about meeting with the Hutts had settled. He shuffled back over to the bar with heavier footsteps than he'd left it, and sank down on a tattered stool by the rest of the crew.

Aryur was distracted from this by a shady looking guy in a cloak shoving a bundle of ceremonial weapons in his face. "You wanna buy some gaffi sticks?" pressed the stranger.

[TheAmishPirate]

"Sooooo do you have any Celanon Semi-Dry?"

"Sorry lady. Not in these parts."

"That's a shame. Claret?"

"Not a drop that doesn't belong to the Hutts."

"Naiana?"

"Pretty sure you're making that one up."

"What about Deruvvian champagne?"

"You kiddin'?!"

"I know, I know, it's a little bit bitter for this weather, but-"

"Look kid, you ask me for some other fruity-tooty slop, and I swear I will nail your head-danglers to the wall. Now; what'll it be?"

"Hrmmmm. Have you any nails?"

"Nails? I, uh, don't think so?"

"Good! Then I'll have a glass of white wine if you please..."

************************************************** ****

Arali deposited herself in a seat next to Jayka, a cup of something decidedly not white nor wine in her hand. She sighed heavily, shaking her head and staring into her glass. "Can you believe it?" she mused aloud to her friend. "The nerve of some people."

[the_druid_droid]

Aryur was distracted from this by a shady looking guy in a cloak shoving a bundle of ceremonial weapons in his face. "You wanna buy some gaffi sticks?" pressed the stranger.

Right. The Bothan in the desert. He probably had 'Mark' written on him in letters four feet high to most of the lowlifes in this place.

Well, that was okay too. He could work with that. Turning on his best slightly-confused smile, he addressed the cloaked figure.

"Gafee sticks? What do you do with those? Some kind of native thing?"

[Thanqol]

Right. The Bothan in the desert. He probably had 'Mark' written on him in letters four feet high to most of the lowlifes in this place.

Well, that was okay too. He could work with that. Turning on his best slightly-confused smile, he addressed the cloaked figure.

"Gafee sticks? What do you do with those? Some kind of native thing?"

"You can swing 'em. You can build things out of them. You can trade 'em. They're collectables, they are," said the salesman. He offered one to Aryur with some dirty looking feathers attached. "That one's a chieftain stick, that is. Rare. Can't find that anywhere else in the galaxy."

[Anarion]

The Duros burbled an affirmative.

"I like you too," confided the not-quite-Gammorean. "So much that my friend and I, in our capacity as tour guides, want to show you around town. Get up."


"And not finish the excellent libation provided me by this fine, upstanding establishment?" Jered attempted to look appropriately horrified at the prospect of not being forced to finish his poison sludge. He also remained seated. "But perhaps I can take you up on the offer later, when my friends and I are finished." He gestured pointedly around the bar.

[Thanqol]

"And not finish the excellent libation provided me by this fine, upstanding establishment?" Jered attempted to look appropriately horrified at the prospect of not being forced to finish his poison sludge. He also remained seated. "But perhaps I can take you up on the offer later, when my friends and I are finished." He gestured pointedly around the bar.

"I don't think you quite understand the nature of the business transaction we are proposing," said the hideous-er one, putting his hand on his blaster.

[Roll +Discipline to resist the threat. Add two Difficulty dice, and one Boost dice because of your reference to the fact that you have friends close by.]

[Thanqol]

"I don't think you quite understand the nature of the business transaction we are proposing," said the hideous-er one, putting his hand on his blaster.

[Roll +Discipline to resist the threat. Add two Difficulty dice, and one Boost dice because of your reference to the fact that you have friends close by.]

[Success, four advantage]

"Bloomok! Gretin!" boomed the Bartender in a voice like a tribal war drum being trampled by a stampede of elephants. "You little grots are in here causing trouble again?"

"Stay out of it, old -" Gretin started.

"The last time you bothered some creepy human in my bar Bloomok lost his gorram arm!" said the bartender, brandishing his mop for emphasis. "I had to clean it up! You have used up your credit, get out! OUT!"

Cussing and grumbling the two aliens pulled up their hoods and shuffled for the door. The cantina music quickly began playing again.

[Anarion]

Jered gave the bartender a kind nod and managed to finish the rest of his drink. The stuff was growing on him. Or in him, same thing really. He ordered another and turned to Aryur. "Don't buy anything without letting one of the rest of us inspect it, Bothan."

[the_druid_droid]

"You can swing 'em. You can build things out of them. You can trade 'em. They're collectables, they are," said the salesman. He offered one to Aryur with some dirty looking feathers attached. "That one's a chieftain stick, that is. Rare. Can't find that anywhere else in the galaxy."


Jered gave the bartender a kind nod and managed to finish the rest of his drink. The stuff was growing on him. Or in him, same thing really. He ordered another and turned to Aryur. "Don't buy anything without letting one of the rest of us inspect it, Bothan."

The confusion left Aryur's grin, and his fur rippled again in a silent laugh. "Is that your way of signing up as my sparring partner?"

[Anarion]

The confusion left Aryur's grin, and his fur rippled again in a silent laugh. "Is that your way of signing up as my sparring partner?"

"Not at all. I merely didn't want you to overpay. Or to pay at all, really. What on Coruscant would you even do with a gaffi stick? You already own a blaster."

[Thanqol]

"Not at all. I merely didn't want you to overpay. Or to pay at all, really. What on Coruscant would you even do with a gaffi stick? You already own a blaster."

"Gaffi sticks are very popular on Coruscant," enthused the arms dealer. "Very popular! Even Darth Vader owns a Gaffi Stick! He was here, on Tattooine. Killed a bunch of sand people and took their Gaffi Sticks. He knew," he touched his gas mask knowingly, "he could sense a good thing coming. Gonna take the galaxy by storm, Gaffi Sticks."

[Elanorin]

Arali deposited herself in a seat next to Jayka, a cup of something decidedly not white nor wine in her hand. She sighed heavily, shaking her head and staring into her glass. "Can you believe it?" she mused aloud to her friend. "The nerve of some people."

Jayka smiled a small smile behind her hand and looked up as Arali sat down next to her.

"I don't know why you even try, Arali. The minute we stepped through that door even I knew this place wasn't going to serve anything better than this-" she cut herself short and threw a sheepish glance at the bartender "-this... well this." she gestured to her drink which was now half-full. She had no idea how she'd ever be able to finish it.


The Duros burbled an affirmative.

"I like you too," confided the not-quite-Gammorean. "So much that my friend and I, in our capacity as tour guides, want to show you around town. Get up."

Jayka glanced over to Jered with mild concern, but he seemed to handle it with his usual ease.

"Did you hear the news?" Jayka said, turning back to Arali. "The Death Star, destroyed. The Death Star." Jayka was not about to get over this any time soon.

[Anarion]

"Gaffi sticks are very popular on Coruscant," enthused the arms dealer. "Very popular! Even Darth Vader owns a Gaffi Stick! He was here, on Tattooine. Killed a bunch of sand people and took their Gaffi Sticks. He knew," he touched his gas mask knowingly, "he could sense a good thing coming. Gonna take the galaxy by storm, Gaffi Sticks."

"After that news report, one might worry that gaffi sticks cause premature death," Jered pointed out. "After all, if your claim is true, Darth Vader obtained some gaffe sticks, and now he's dead." Jered paused as the enormity of that news sank in. Darth Vader had been the Emperor's most feared and most powerful servant for almost twenty years. His death seemed somehow more implausible than the other 50 million combined.

[TheAmishPirate]

Jayka smiled a small smile behind her hand and looked up as Arali sat down next to her.

"I don't know why you even try, Arali. The minute we stepped through that door even I knew this place wasn't going to serve anything better than this-" she cut herself short and threw a sheepish glance at the bartender "-this... well this." she gestured to her drink which was now half-full. She had no idea how she'd ever be able to finish it.

Arali tilted her head confusedly. Then she tilted her cup and took a tentative lap at the drink. The regret was complete and immediate.


Jayka glanced over to Jered with mild concern, but he seemed to handle it with his usual ease.

"Did you hear the news?" Jayka said, turning back to Arali. "The Death Star, destroyed. The Death Star." Jayka was not about to get over this any time soon.

"That's just what I was saying; the nerve of some people, blowing up a station." She affirmed, pushing her drink aside. "What did you think I was talking about?"

She kicked off the bar, savoring the simple pleasure of a swiveling - or well-polished - barstool. "You know, I don't think there would've been so much fuss if they'd just named the silly thing something a little more cheery. Death Star? Really? And all those dark, dreary, industrial grays and blacks; it's a problem of branding is what it is." The Twi'lek nodded sagely.

[Thanqol]

"After that news report, one might worry that gaffi sticks cause premature death," Jered pointed out. "After all, if your claim is true, Darth Vader obtained some gaffe sticks, and now he's dead." Jered paused as the enormity of that news sank in. Darth Vader had been the Emperor's most feared and most powerful servant for almost twenty years. His death seemed somehow more implausible than the other 50 million combined.

"Don't be ridiculous. Gaffi Sticks aren't cursed," said the most suss salesman ever. "What are you, simple? They're collectables. All the more valuable now that Vader is dead. Celebrities' stuff gets more valuable after they're dead, don't you know?"

[Elanorin]

"That's just what I was saying; the nerve of some people, blowing up a station." She affirmed, pushing her drink aside. "What did you think I was talking about?"

She kicked off the bar, savoring the simple pleasure of a swiveling - or well-polished - barstool. "You know, I don't think there would've been so much fuss if they'd just named the silly thing something a little more cheery. Death Star? Really? And all those dark, dreary, industrial grays and blacks; it's a problem of branding is what it is." The Twi'lek nodded sagely.

Jayka looked at Arali, searching the Twi'lek's face for some revelation that would clarify but Jayka's confusion didn't give. Her eyes fell to Arali's drink instead but it didn't give her any more insight. She rubbed the tip of her nose thoughtfully before shrugging it off.

"Uh. Mm. Nevermind. Wait- cheery?" With the confusion set aside Jayka's mind was finally catching up. "It was a battle station the size of a small moon. It had incomprehensible firepower not to mention state of the art intelligence surveillance systems. It was a military marvel of a project, seriously, the audacity- the sheer genius to even just design such a thing no less build it- ...and you're just winding me up, aren't you?" Jayka said, her shoulders relaxing as she conceded with a small smile. With just a simple comment Arali had fired her up ready to deliver a lengthy speech on the marvel that was the Death Star, she had even been about to count its technological achievements one by one on her fingers. Arali knew her all too well.

[Anarion]

Jayka looked at Arali, searching the Twi'lek's face for some revelation that would clarify but Jayka's confusion didn't give. Her eyes fell to Arali's drink instead but it didn't give her any more insight. She rubbed the tip of her nose thoughtfully before shrugging it off.

"Uh. Mm. Nevermind. Wait- cheery?" With the confusion set aside Jayka's mind was finally catching up. "It was a battle station the size of a small moon. It had incomprehensible firepower not to mention state of the art intelligence surveillance systems. It was a military marvel of a project, seriously, the audacity- the sheer genius to even just design such a thing no less build it- ...and you're just winding me up, aren't you?" Jayka said, her shoulders relaxing as she conceded with a small smile. With just a simple comment Arali had fired her up ready to deliver a lengthy speech on the marvel that was the Death Star, she had even been about to count its technological achievements one by one on her fingers. Arali knew her all too well.

"The real question is how they did it" Jered said, turning to the two girls and entirely ignoring the gaffi stick seller. "It was so grand, surely not even a fleet of ships could have won a frontal confrontation. Not to mention that the station served as a staging location for thousands of short range fighters."

Jered's face darkened and his eyes furrowed. "Surely, sabotage, on a scale never before seen must have been responsible. I think we have all underestimated the rebellion, and the corruption that infests the empire." Jered lowered his gaze as he remembered his own betrayal by an Imperial official.

[the_druid_droid]

"Don't be ridiculous. Gaffi Sticks aren't cursed," said the most suss salesman ever. "What are you, simple? They're collectables. All the more valuable now that Vader is dead. Celebrities' stuff gets more valuable after they're dead, don't you know?"

"Are you implying that you've come into possession of Darth Vader's personal gaffi stick?" Aryur let some surprise and suspicion leak into his tone. Arali had the right idea - a little fun before the contract rolled around would be welcome. Maybe he could work the salesman up, or at least see how far he'd go to close a deal.


Jered's face darkened and his eyes furrowed. "Surely, sabotage, on a scale never before seen must have been responsible. I think we have all underestimated the rebellion, and the corruption that infests the empire." Jered lowered his gaze as he remembered his own betrayal by an Imperial official.

"Well, however they did it, this Alliance of theirs clearly means business. Not people I'd want to piss off - we've got enough on our plate just trying to get off this sandhill."

[Thanqol]

"Are you implying that you've come into possession of Darth Vader's personal gaffi stick?" Aryur let some surprise and suspicion leak into his tone. Arali had the right idea - a little fun before the contract rolled around would be welcome. Maybe he could work the salesman up, or at least see how far he'd go to close a deal.

"I'm not saying it's not Darth Vader's personal Gaffi Stick," said the dealer. "How many are you buying?"

[Elanorin]

"The real question is how they did it" Jered said, turning to the two girls and entirely ignoring the gaffi stick seller. "It was so grand, surely not even a fleet of ships could have won a frontal confrontation. Not to mention that the station served as a staging location for thousands of short range fighters."

Jered's face darkened and his eyes furrowed. "Surely, sabotage, on a scale never before seen must have been responsible. I think we have all underestimated the rebellion, and the corruption that infests the empire." Jered lowered his gaze as he remembered his own betrayal by an Imperial official.

Jered's words made Jayka uncomfortable and thoughtful, mostly because he had a very good point. With the shock of the news she had been so caught up on just wrapping her mind about what happened, she hadn't got as far as the how yet but she wasn't surprised to hear Jered was already there.

Sabotage did sound like a very plausible answer. There would be precious little to get at from the Death Star itself; it sounded like it had been pretty obliterated, though, there was probably some really interesting scrap bits of tech floating around for anyone with the time and patience to sift through a small planetoid worth of rubble. No, there was no point trying to get at anything that way, however, it was only recently completed. It wasn't beyond the realms of possibility that the Maw Installation still had connected networks with it when it was destroyed and that they still held data on what was going on when it happened and perhaps even had traces of the nature of the sabotage. It could even have come from there. They probably held more information than anyone on the inner workings of the Death Star. Getting in to MI though would be an undertaking unlike anything she had ever attempted before and unlikely to result in anything except more people hunting her. Perhaps there was an easier route.


"Well, however they did it, this Alliance of theirs clearly means business. Not people I'd want to piss off - we've got enough on our plate just trying to get off this sandhill."

Aryur wasn't wrong, though. These rebels clearly had resources much beyond what the Imperial forces wanted to admit. Perhaps meddling in this was trouble they didn't need, as tempting as it was.

"Should I see if I can find anything out on it?" she asked, throwing a glance at both Jered and Aryur.

[Anarion]

Aryur wasn't wrong, though. These rebels clearly had resources much beyond what the Imperial forces wanted to admit. Perhaps meddling in this was trouble they didn't need, as tempting as it was.

"Should I see if I can find anything out on it?" she asked, throwing a glance at both Jered and Aryur.

Jered also spared a glance for Aryur in this discussion. He was the one that knew the most about the consequences for getting involved in these sorts of things.

"Carefully," he said at last, following a long pause and a sip of what was proving to be strangely addictive nuclear runoff. "Alerting anyone, Rebels or Empire, to a search would be very bad. But see if you can find some news sources that report real information instead of the propaganda drivel that the main networks put out."

[the_druid_droid]

"I'm not saying it's not Darth Vader's personal Gaffi Stick," said the dealer. "How many are you buying?"

"Depends on how good the story of you getting it from Darth Vader is. Bothans don't take merchandise without context." Aryur grinned again, hoping the salesman would oblige him.


"Carefully," he said at last, following a long pause and a sip of what was proving to be strangely addictive nuclear runoff. "Alerting anyone, Rebels or Empire, to a search would be very bad. But see if you can find some news sources that report real information instead of the propaganda drivel that the main networks put out."

"Agreed. As long as you don't make it too personal, they won't mind a little snooping. Worst comes to worst, tell 'em we've got a genuine Imperial wanting to convert."

The bothan winked at Jered. "You're good at the politics game, yeah? Talk us right out."

[Anarion]

The bothan winked at Jered. "You're good at the politics game, yeah? Talk us right out."

"For what it's worth, I'd prefer the side that won't get snuffed out like a cockroach meeting a boot. But, I could probably prevent us all from being executed, if it came to that." Jered returned the wink and waited for the story about Darth Vader's personal gaffi stick. When was that damned fool rep from Jabba supposed to get there, anyway? He hoped it wasn't those two idiots he'd scared off by sitting still.

[Thanqol]

"Depends on how good the story of you getting it from Darth Vader is. Bothans don't take merchandise without context." Aryur grinned again, hoping the salesman would oblige him.

The shady merchant gave a weary breath behind his gas mask. "Alright. You asked for it."

He threw a credit stick to the musicians who immediately changed their tune. (https://marcuswarnermusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-captains-dance) And then he started to sing.

"Oh! There was a mystery -
That shod and trod the space between
I came on home and she was gone
And all t'wer left a Bantha horn!"

He clapped his hand and stepped back, circling his cloak and clapping above his head.

"The sands and dunes rose and fell
A hunt o' hate and madness fell
'till one night in the darkest cold
A crimson blade called me home!"

With this he leaped up onto the bar and began to dance a jig, deftly kicking glasses of undefinable liquor up into the air and snatching them out of the sky. He began to juggle them one after the other, and then spun and sent one sailing into the head of a massive Transhodan.

With a roar, the armoured reptilian alien jumped up onto the counter alongside the shadowy arms dealer, drawing a massive vibro-axe. And there to great him was a Gaffi Stick, drawn and ready.

"Friends we became and crossed the seas!
Crushing Tuskens like t'wer fleas!
Steel and sabre fighting as one
The Sith and I did friends become!"

He swirled and fenced with his brutal opponent as the fight went on, ducking a massive blow that demolished an entire cabinet of drinks. He swung, clipped the Transhodan on the head, then hooked the back of the Gaffi Stick down around his ankles and twisted, sending the massive alien crashing down to the floor in a bellowing heap. As he fought, he finished his song:

"With crashing blows we smote them down
With hand in hand we rode from town
T'is my tale and though t'were fast
Buy your Gaffi Sticks while stocks last!"

[Roll +Cool to avoid being taken in by the, uh, sales pitch. Difficulty is two purple one red, plus two black for the song.]

[Elanorin]

Jered also spared a glance for Aryur in this discussion. He was the one that knew the most about the consequences for getting involved in these sorts of things.

"Carefully," he said at last, following a long pause and a sip of what was proving to be strangely addictive nuclear runoff. "Alerting anyone, Rebels or Empire, to a search would be very bad. But see if you can find some news sources that report real information instead of the propaganda drivel that the main networks put out."


"Agreed. As long as you don't make it too personal, they won't mind a little snooping. Worst comes to worst, tell 'em we've got a genuine Imperial wanting to convert."

"Got it." Jayka said to them both with a sharp nod. "Hopefully no talking will be needed." she added to Jered. Her mind switched instantly to assessing how and when best to go about it, then the music suddenly changed.

Before she had any idea what was going on there was suddenly dancing and fighting on the bar and Jayka quickly jumped back and kept well clear.


The shady merchant gave a weary breath behind his gas mask. "Alright. You asked for it."

He threw a credit stick to the musicians who immediately changed their tune. (https://marcuswarnermusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-captains-dance) And then he started to sing.

"Oh! There was a mystery -
That shod and trod the space between
I came on home and she was gone
And all t'wer left a Bantha horn!"

He clapped his hand and stepped back, circling his cloak and clapping above his head.

"The sands and dunes rose and fell
A hunt o' hate and madness fell
'till one night in the darkest cold
A crimson blade called me home!"

With this he leaped up onto the bar and began to dance a jig, deftly kicking glasses of undefinable liquor up into the air and snatching them out of the sky. He began to juggle them one after the other, and then spun and sent one sailing into the head of a massive Transhodan.

With a roar, the armoured reptilian alien jumped up onto the counter alongside the shadowy arms dealer, drawing a massive vibro-axe. And there to great him was a Gaffi Stick, drawn and ready.

"Friends we became and crossed the seas!
Crushing Tuskens like t'wer fleas!
Steel and sabre fighting as one
The Sith and I did friends become!"

He swirled and fenced with his brutal opponent as the fight went on, ducking a massive blow that demolished an entire cabinet of drinks. He swung, clipped the Transhodan on the head, then hooked the back of the Gaffi Stick down around his ankles and twisted, sending the massive alien crashing down to the floor in a bellowing heap. As he fought, he finished his song:

"With crashing blows we smote them down
With hand in hand we rode from town
T'is my tale and though t'were fast
Buy your Gaffi Sticks while stocks last!"

Jayka stared at the salesman with huge eyes and gaping mouth from across the room where she stood with her back pressed against the wall. Despite being utterly baffled by the display before her she felt oddly tempted to... applaud.

[TheAmishPirate]

Jayka stared at the salesman with huge eyes and gaping mouth from across the room where she stood with her back pressed against the wall. Despite being utterly baffled by the display before her she felt oddly tempted to... applaud.

Arali, fortunately for all involved, had a will of iron.

"Woohoo! Encore! Encore!" The young Twi'lek hooted and hollered, giving the salesman a standing ovation.

Simple applause would have been an ill-fitting tribute for such a performance.

[Anarion]

Jered just smiled. That had been above and beyond normal salesmanship. He might even be okay with it if Aryur bought a couple sticks now.

[the_druid_droid]

"With crashing blows we smote them down
With hand in hand we rode from town
T'is my tale and though t'were fast
Buy your Gaffi Sticks while stocks last!"

[Roll +Cool to avoid being taken in by the, uh, sales pitch. Difficulty is two purple one red, plus two black for the song.]

"Totally worth it. Can I get the one with the feathers?" Aryur was smiling despite himself as he reached for the last bundle of credits he had in his coat. That show was better than any Sabacc game he could remember.

[Result is 1 Failure + 3 Threat. Whoopsies.]

[Elanorin]

Jayka jumped a little at Arali's standing ovation and looked at her friend with both disbelief and amusement. She laughed a little nervously under her breath and looked to Jered, expecting a more well-balanced and reasonable response. Although he wasn't hollering or clapping, Jayka thought he seemed no more surprised than anyone else. Aryur's reaction seemed to be to promptly part with credits and despite everything Jayka wasn't surprised, in fact she'd feel almost embarrassed on his behalf if he hadn't after that.

Jayka found herself wondering if all arms dealers on the Outer Rim were prone to burst out with inappropriately impressive displays of poetic violence.

[Thanqol]

"Totally worth it. Can I get the one with the feathers?" Aryur was smiling despite himself as he reached for the last bundle of credits he had in his coat. That show was better than any Sabacc game he could remember.

[Result is 1 Failure + 3 Threat. Whoopsies.]

The negotiations were brisk. The negotiations were slick. The negotiations were shockingly one-sided. Within a few minutes, Aryur was signing a contract for the purchase of three crates of Gaffi Sticks - thirty total - to be paid for out of parts from his ship. He got the one the merchant was holding for free as a bonus.

After the deal was signed and the cloaked figure was on his way, they were finally approached by Bib Fortuna - the rather grotesque Twi'lek manservant of Jabba the Hutt, and their contact on this deal. He had two Gammorean bodyguards with vibro-axes flanking him to either side. He sat down and didn't order a drink.

[He sold you 10 Gaffi Sticks per Threat indicator. 30 Gaffi Sticks full price is 3,000 credits, and since no one has that on them and it's a bit small/soon for an additional Obligation instead lose 6 points of Hit Threshold from your ship to pay for it.

On the plus side, now you have Cargo! It's pretty terrible cargo, as cargo goes, but someone in the galaxy will buy it.]

[TheAmishPirate]

The negotiations were brisk. The negotiations were slick. The negotiations were shockingly one-sided. Within a few minutes, Aryur was signing a contract for the purchase of three crates of Gaffi Sticks - thirty total - to be paid for out of parts from his ship. He got the one the merchant was holding for free as a bonus.

After the deal was signed and the cloaked figure was on his way, they were finally approached by Bib Fortuna - the rather grotesque Twi'lek manservant of Jabba the Hutt, and their contact on this deal. He had two Gammorean bodyguards with vibro-axes flanking him to either side. He sat down and didn't order a drink.

[He sold you 10 Gaffi Sticks per Threat indicator. 30 Gaffi Sticks full price is 3,000 credits, and since no one has that on them and it's a bit small/soon for an additional Obligation instead lose 6 points of Hit Threshold from your ship to pay for it.

On the plus side, now you have Cargo! It's pretty terrible cargo, as cargo goes, but someone in the galaxy will buy it.]

"...next time, let's wait until after the job to buy the gaffe sticks." Arali commented to Aryur as they watched the salespeople depart to de-part their ship.

As their contact sat himself down, Arali planted herself against the wall with a drink and some conversation. Years of practice with being where you weren't supposed to be gave you a good sense of where other such delinquents might hang around. While the captain or Jered were talking up the nitty-gritty details, she was keeping an eye out for any other sneaks trying to crash the party.

[Elanorin]

Jayka decided now was a time as good as any while everyone seemed occupied to go and have a look at the holoprojector at the bar. She took a seat as close to it as possible and eyed it up to assess the possibility of using it to tap in to and hopefully download some unofficial broadcasts.

She waved the bartender over.

"Can you get anything other than the main imperial news broadcast on this thing?" she asked, nodding at the holoprojector.

[Anarion]

Jered finished his drink and stood up to greet Bib Fortuna as he entered. He grabbed Aryur and pulled him over as well, managing to avoid showing a grimace when he saw the numbers on the contract that Aryur had just signed. Bothans.

He smiled at Bib as they both sat down at the bar together. "Mr. Fortuna. I'm honored to meet you. You would be the contact we've been waiting for. My name is Jered, this is Aryur, our ship's captain. We both look forward to working with you." He waited after giving his brief intro to see whether Bib wanted to small talk or go straight into business. He was expecting the latter, but it was never a good idea to look presumptuous in front of a business opportunity.

[the_druid_droid]

"...next time, let's wait until after the job to buy the gaffe sticks." Arali commented to Aryur as they watched the salespeople depart to de-part their ship.

Aryur gave his new stick an experimental twirl. "Joke's on him. Considering the current state of the ship, it'll be a miracle if those parts make it out of the sector in one piece anyway."


He smiled at Bib as they both sat down at the bar together. "Mr. Fortuna. I'm honored to meet you. You would be the contact we've been waiting for. My name is Jered, this is Aryur, our ship's captain. We both look forward to working with you." He waited after giving his brief intro to see whether Bib wanted to small talk or go straight into business. He was expecting the latter, but it was never a good idea to look presumptuous in front of a business opportunity.

Aryur nodded and smiled, the gaffi stick now secured across his back. He was content to let Jered handle the talking, unless their contact wanted specific information about the ship.

[Thanqol]

Jayka decided now was a time as good as any while everyone seemed occupied to go and have a look at the holoprojector at the bar. She took a seat as close to it as possible and eyed it up to assess the possibility of using it to tap in to and hopefully download some unofficial broadcasts.

She waved the bartender over.

"Can you get anything other than the main imperial news broadcast on this thing?" she asked, nodding at the holoprojector.

"Does this look like the gorram Ritz to you?" snarled the bartender. "We get public signal and that's it."

That said, it usually wasn't too hard to hack yourself some free cable if you knew your way around a slicing kit. [Average difficulty check, two purple and add two blue dice because this is literally all anyone on any Holonet channel is talking about right now.]


Jered finished his drink and stood up to greet Bib Fortuna as he entered. He grabbed Aryur and pulled him over as well, managing to avoid showing a grimace when he saw the numbers on the contract that Aryur had just signed. Bothans.

He smiled at Bib as they both sat down at the bar together. "Mr. Fortuna. I'm honored to meet you. You would be the contact we've been waiting for. My name is Jered, this is Aryur, our ship's captain. We both look forward to working with you." He waited after giving his brief intro to see whether Bib wanted to small talk or go straight into business. He was expecting the latter, but it was never a good idea to look presumptuous in front of a business opportunity.

"We have been investigating your ship," said Bib, grinning a sickly smile. "It is adequate for the purposes. The cargo is being loaded immediately. It is contained on a speeder truck. The destination is Coruscant. Once you arrive you will deliver the cargo to Baask, an important underworld figure. The cargo is illegal and high risk. This will be factored into your pay. The cargo is of great sentimental value to Lord Jabba. This will be factored into your bounty if you fail to make delivery. Some Gammoreans will accompany you for protection."

[You can roll Knowledge (Underworld) or (Xenology) for additional information relating to this bargaining tactic, difficulty one purple one red.]

[Hawkflight]

Iria sat at a table in a corner, nervously playing with her blaster under the table. This whole encounter made her nervous. Dealing with the Hutt Cartel was bad news ... well, she would know, wouldn't she? Frankly, she was only partly worried for her crew, and mostly worried for herself. It was almost certain that any Hutt contact would know of her bounty. Therefore, she elected to stay in a corner for now, doing her level best to watch out for danger. She was partially distracted from her thoughts, however, by the news broadcast.


"Terror at Yavin!" announced the tiny little man hovering above the surface of the bar's holoprojector. "Terrorists have sabotaged the Death Star! After its decisive role in resolving the Alderaan Crisis and ending the warfare that had blighted the entire sector, the Death Star was dispatched to neutralise a military installation in the distant Yavin system where it was destroyed with all hands! Both Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin are presumed among the dead, along with nearly fifty million soldiers, researchers, technicians and civilian personnel. The Emperor has personally declared a galaxy-wide day of mourning to commemorate this unspeakable tragedy..."

"Good," Iria muttered to herself.


"I don't think you quite understand the nature of the business transaction we are proposing," said the hideous-er one, putting his hand on his blaster.

[Roll +Discipline to resist the threat. Add two Difficulty dice, and one Boost dice because of your reference to the fact that you have friends close by.]

Iria's ears perked up, and she was ready to intervene, but fortunately the barkeeper threw the troublemakers out without trouble.


The shady merchant gave a weary breath behind his gas mask. "Alright. You asked for it."

He threw a credit stick to the musicians who immediately changed their tune. (https://marcuswarnermusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-captains-dance) And then he started to sing.

"Oh! There was a mystery -
That shod and trod the space between
I came on home and she was gone
And all t'wer left a Bantha horn!"

He clapped his hand and stepped back, circling his cloak and clapping above his head.

"The sands and dunes rose and fell
A hunt o' hate and madness fell
'till one night in the darkest cold
A crimson blade called me home!"

With this he leaped up onto the bar and began to dance a jig, deftly kicking glasses of undefinable liquor up into the air and snatching them out of the sky. He began to juggle them one after the other, and then spun and sent one sailing into the head of a massive Transhodan.

With a roar, the armoured reptilian alien jumped up onto the counter alongside the shadowy arms dealer, drawing a massive vibro-axe. And there to great him was a Gaffi Stick, drawn and ready.

"Friends we became and crossed the seas!
Crushing Tuskens like t'wer fleas!
Steel and sabre fighting as one
The Sith and I did friends become!"

He swirled and fenced with his brutal opponent as the fight went on, ducking a massive blow that demolished an entire cabinet of drinks. He swung, clipped the Transhodan on the head, then hooked the back of the Gaffi Stick down around his ankles and twisted, sending the massive alien crashing down to the floor in a bellowing heap. As he fought, he finished his song:

"With crashing blows we smote them down
With hand in hand we rode from town
T'is my tale and though t'were fast
Buy your Gaffi Sticks while stocks last!"

[Roll +Cool to avoid being taken in by the, uh, sales pitch. Difficulty is two purple one red, plus two black for the song.]

"....That's actually quite impressive," Iria remarked. "More than you'd see in most places, to be sure."


"We have been investigating your ship," said Bib, grinning a sickly smile. "It is adequate for the purposes. The cargo is being loaded immediately. It is contained on a speeder truck. The destination is Coruscant. Once you arrive you will deliver the cargo to Baask, an important underworld figure. The cargo is illegal and high risk. This will be factored into your pay. The cargo is of great sentimental value to Lord Jabba. This will be factored into your bounty if you fail to make delivery. Some Gammoreans will accompany you for protection."

[You can roll Knowledge (Underworld) or (Xenology) for additional information relating to this bargaining tactic, difficulty one purple one red.]

Iria's ears perked up again as she listened to their contact make his speech, searching her mind to see if she recalled this type of bargaining from her time in the swoop gangs on Taris.

[Anarion]

"We'll be sure to keep it safe on the trip then." Jered nodded and smiled, trying to mask his unease. He had no idea what they were carrying, and that usually meant it had a good chance of getting them all killed.

[the_druid_droid]

"Are there any special handling instructions we should be aware of for safe delivery? The cargo's not going to, say, eat us or anything?" Despite his words, Aryur was feeling almost relaxed.

Smuggling was old hat by this point, and it would be a nice break from hauling banthas from one podunk town to another. That got boring and disgusting very quickly.

[Elanorin]

"Does this look like the gorram Ritz to you?" snarled the bartender. "We get public signal and that's it."

That said, it usually wasn't too hard to hack yourself some free cable if you knew your way around a slicing kit. [Average difficulty check, two purple and add two blue dice because this is literally all anyone on any Holonet channel is talking about right now.]

"That's what I thought." Jayka said as she poked around in a few pockets before she found what she was after; the holoport converter, a memory chip and the number six slicer key. "Why don't I see if I can do something about that for you? No charge." she suggested, trying to muster the kind of innocent smile that Arali was so good at. That bartender had her slightly intimidated after how he handled those thugs with Jered moments before, he didn't seem the friendliest type.

She quickly connected to the holoprojector and tapped in to the holonet feeds. As expected they were buzzing with everything Death Star so she tried to identify the more deeply buried feeds in the hope that they would contain information less tweaked by Imperial spin doctors. She downloaded any promising broadcasts directly to the memory chip as she figured Jered and Aryur would be keen to get moving as soon as their meeting with the Hutt contacts was over. She could go through the broadcasts back on the ship rather than hold everyone up now. Besides, displaying them openly on the projector could well result in a bar brawl considering the obviously mixed allegiance of its patrons.

[Thanqol]

"We'll be sure to keep it safe on the trip then." Jered nodded and smiled, trying to mask his unease. He had no idea what they were carrying, and that usually meant it had a good chance of getting them all killed.


"Are there any special handling instructions we should be aware of for safe delivery? The cargo's not going to, say, eat us or anything?" Despite his words, Aryur was feeling almost relaxed.

Smuggling was old hat by this point, and it would be a nice break from hauling banthas from one podunk town to another. That got boring and disgusting very quickly.

Fortuna shook his head, coils wobbling. "No. Safe delivery, listen to the guards, speed if possible."

He offered his rather oily hand to shake.


"That's what I thought." Jayka said as she poked around in a few pockets before she found what she was after; the holoport converter, a memory chip and the number six slicer key. "Why don't I see if I can do something about that for you? No charge." she suggested, trying to muster the kind of innocent smile that Arali was so good at. That bartender had her slightly intimidated after how he handled those thugs with Jered moments before, he didn't seem the friendliest type.

She quickly connected to the holoprojector and tapped in to the holonet feeds. As expected they were buzzing with everything Death Star so she tried to identify the more deeply buried feeds in the hope that they would contain information less tweaked by Imperial spin doctors. She downloaded any promising broadcasts directly to the memory chip as she figured Jered and Aryur would be keen to get moving as soon as their meeting with the Hutt contacts was over. She could go through the broadcasts back on the ship rather than hold everyone up now. Besides, displaying them openly on the projector could well result in a bar brawl considering the obviously mixed allegiance of its patrons.

A flood of information poured onto her data-link. Rebel broadcasts, widely jammed, were talking about how the Jedi(!) had returned and were leading the Alliance. Some worlds were in open rebellion, including Mon Calamari. A name kept coming up, "Luke Skywalker", the man who destroyed the Death Star with a single Proton Torpedo fired down the main exhaust port.

But, in addition to unhooking the channel lock on the holovid player, letting it tune into anything, Jayka also found out that there was a huge rally planned on Coruscant soon, centred around a massive military parade and march and even an address from the Emperor himself. The Empire was going to be taking this Rebel thing very seriously from now on.

[Anarion]

Fortuna shook his head, coils wobbling. "No. Safe delivery, listen to the guards, speed if possible."

He offered his rather oily hand to shake.


"The guards will be staying on the ship, then?" Jered asked his question as he offered his handshake. It was acceptable either way and the deal was done, he just wanted to clarify.

He also spared a glance over for Jayka, who seemed very engaged in her work and unaware that they were about to leave.

[Thanqol]

"The guards will be staying on the ship, then?" Jered asked his question as he offered his handshake. It was acceptable either way and the deal was done, he just wanted to clarify.

He also spared a glance over for Jayka, who seemed very engaged in her work and unaware that they were about to leave.

"Yes," said Bib. "Hopefully you shall not need them."

It was a bold move, taking that handshake. Jered's palm might never feel dry again.

With that, the goons left - and just like that, it was time to get off this rock.

[Anarion]

It was a bold move, taking that handshake. Jered's palm might never feel dry again.


Once, this would have been a serious, perhaps even life-changing problem for Jered Lavorell. However, as he walked onto the ship's cargo bay and the ramp closed behind him, he could feel the sweet starting to bead on his forehead, his arms, and down a bit lower as well. He breathed a quiet curse and made his way to his quarters. He wouldn't notice his palm because all of him would never feel dry again.

[Elanorin]

A flood of information poured onto her data-link. Rebel broadcasts, widely jammed, were talking about how the Jedi(!) had returned and were leading the Alliance. Some worlds were in open rebellion, including Mon Calamari. A name kept coming up, "Luke Skywalker", the man who destroyed the Death Star with a single Proton Torpedo fired down the main exhaust port.

But, in addition to unhooking the channel lock on the holovid player, letting it tune into anything, Jayka also found out that there was a huge rally planned on Coruscant soon, centred around a massive military parade and march and even an address from the Emperor himself. The Empire was going to be taking this Rebel thing very seriously from now on.

"That should do it." Jayka said with another smile to the bartender as she pocketed her tools once more and held the memory chip firmly in her hand. "You're welcome."

She noticed the Hutt delegation getting up and leaving and she quickly jumped down from her barstool and followed Jered back to the ship. She went straight to her quarters to go through what she'd found on the holonet.

The part she found most baffling was how one single proton torpedo could have destroyed the entire Death Star. She knew little about these Jedi, except what her father had mentioned that they were some martial religious monk-type sect from back when and that they went corrupt and tried to overthrow the emperor and were therefore disposed of. If they were back and were capable of this kind of thing then the galaxy was about to become a scarier place than ever before. This Skywalker was clearly some kind of super-pilot marksman. It was comforting to see that the Empire was still strong however and rallying its troops.

She went to find Jered and Aryur to share the information they had asked her to get. She was very interested to see what they'd make of it.

[Anarion]

Jered was going to find Jayka himself, and they met in the hallway, halfway in between their quarters. Despite being on such a large cargo ship, the walkways were narrow, and they nearly bumped into each other at the turn. Once that was past, and Jered saw the excitement on her face, her took all of them to the captain's cabin with Aryur and they played the discs.

When it was done, Jered let out a long, low whistle.

"You wouldn't think the technology would be vulnerable like that. You have to wonder how the Rebels even knew to try it. Any sane general would call sending a small squad of fighters against an entire battle station a suicide mission. But they did it. And they apparently weren't met with several thousand TIE fighters the instant they crossed within range either."

Jered shook his head. Either Tarkin was a much grander idiot than he had ever realized (admittedly, a distinct possibility) or someone had wanted information about that Battle Station to fall into the wrong hands. There was simply no way this was all coincidence.

[Hawkflight]

As soon as she saw her companions heading back towards the ship, Iria stood up and followed. As she walked, she kept nervously looking about, ready to draw her blaster at the first sign of trouble. But thankfully, there was no trouble to be found as she made her way back onto the ship, where she immediately made her way towards the cargo bay. Breathing a sigh of relief, she let herself sink to the floor, one hand massaging her snout as the other kept a death grip on her blaster.

[Elanorin]

Jered was going to find Jayka himself, and they met in the hallway, halfway in between their quarters. Despite being on such a large cargo ship, the walkways were narrow, and they nearly bumped into each other at the turn. Once that was past, and Jered saw the excitement on her face, her took all of them to the captain's cabin with Aryur and they played the discs.

When it was done, Jered let out a long, low whistle.

"You wouldn't think the technology would be vulnerable like that. You have to wonder how the Rebels even knew to try it. Any sane general would call sending a small squad of fighters against an entire battle station a suicide mission. But they did it. And they apparently weren't met with several thousand TIE fighters the instant they crossed within range either."

Jered shook his head. Either Tarkin was a much grander idiot than he had ever realized (admittedly, a distinct possibility) or someone had wanted information about that Battle Station to fall into the wrong hands. There was simply no way this was all coincidence.

"Yes, they must have had access to pretty detailed plans of the Death Star, and for some time, to be able to find a weakness like that." Jayka agreed as she crossed her arms in a subconsciously defensive gesture as the subject was somewhat unsettling. "Even if they had happened on that core exhaust port by accident there is no way they could have known what it was."

"I cannot think how they could have come across such detailed plans of the Death Star though. That kind of hack is... just... that was probably one of the most heavily defended pieces of intel the Empire had. MI has entire specialist teams dedicated just to maintaining the encryptions and data defence. You don't hack in to their systems from the outside, you just... don't. No, there must have been someone on the inside." she mused, shaking her head.

[Anarion]

"Yes, they must have had access to pretty detailed plans of the Death Star, and for some time, to be able to find a weakness like that." Jayka agreed as she crossed her arms in a subconsciously defensive gesture as the subject was somewhat unsettling. "Even if they had happened on that core exhaust port by accident there is no way they could have known what it was."

"I cannot think how they could have come across such detailed plans of the Death Star though. That kind of hack is... just... that was probably one of the most heavily defended pieces of intel the Empire had. MI has entire specialist teams dedicated just to maintaining the encryptions and data defence. You don't hack in to their systems from the outside, you just... don't. No, there must have been someone on the inside." she mused, shaking her head.

"What if you were in the Deathstar? Would you need special access? Rank, perhaps, say being moff level or higher? Or could anyone, even a random stormtrooper, get it from a terminal within the station along with a basic slicing kit?" Jered rubbed the sweat off his brown and put a hand to his chin as he watched the rebel footage of the explosion play over and over on the screen. "I think my question is really whether we're talking about 20-50 people that might have had access, or whether we're talking about 50 million."

[the_druid_droid]

Aryur skipped the handshake and opted for a nod to bid Fortuna off. On the way back to his cockpit, he stopped by the galley for a quick cup of iced caf - one of the better ways to deal with the slight heat problem aboard the Hail in his opinion.


"You wouldn't think the technology would be vulnerable like that. You have to wonder how the Rebels even knew to try it. Any sane general would call sending a small squad of fighters against an entire battle station a suicide mission. But they did it. And they apparently weren't met with several thousand TIE fighters the instant they crossed within range either."

The Bothan shrugged, although his sweaty fur rippled uneasily. "First thing you learn where I come from - if you tell a thing to one person, you might as well tell it to everyone. For the right price, word will get around, one way or another."

"However they got it, the Rebels must have paid through the nose for that intel, and they'll pay more in the heat they just drew from every Imperial military and government post in the galaxy."

[Elanorin]

"What if you were in the Deathstar? Would you need special access? Rank, perhaps, say being moff level or higher? Or could anyone, even a random stormtrooper, get it from a terminal within the station along with a basic slicing kit?" Jered rubbed the sweat off his brown and put a hand to his chin as he watched the rebel footage of the explosion play over and over on the screen. "I think my question is really whether we're talking about 20-50 people that might have had access, or whether we're talking about 50 million."


The Bothan shrugged, although his sweaty fur rippled uneasily. "First thing you learn where I come from - if you tell a thing to one person, you might as well tell it to everyone. For the right price, word will get around, one way or another."
"However they got it, the Rebels must have paid through the nose for that intel, and they'll pay more in the heat they just drew from every Imperial military and government post in the galaxy."

"I highly doubt everyone on there had access to information like that. Even at Danthe we were strictly divided between divisions and it was quite a task to get at another division's records even from the inside and it’s not like we were manufacturing the Empire’s prime battlestation." Jayka shifted her weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other and beads of sweat were forming on her face and neck. She could swear it felt even hotter in the Captain’s cabin. "Captain’s right- everyone has a price, so it would take a special kind of arrogance or stupidity for the Death Star not to follow the same principal in its security as we had. I'm not saying it would have been impossible to hack the Death Star but it would have taken some legendary slicing skill, even if you were on it."

Jayka looked at Aryur and considered the full impact of what he said and she let out a nervous breath. "This is going to make everyone’s lives that much harder isn’t it? Not just for the rebels but... us too, isn’t it? With the Empire on the offensive and... well... I mean, they're unlikely to give anyone the benefit of the doubt after today as to whether they are part of the Alliance or not, right?" she asked with worry in her voice.

[Anarion]

"The greater concern for us is that security will be through the roof. How are we going to get onto Coruscant, the capital of the Empire, without a cargo inspection?"

[Hawkflight]

Iria took a few moments to catch her breath. Well, that could have gone worse. Not to say she was in the clear yet, of course, those two guards could still be bounty hunters in disguise. But there was literally nothing she could do about it now but prepare. Making sure her blaster was up to snuff, she holstered it on her belt (one of the few articles of clothing she wore as a Selonian) and made for her quarters.


"The greater concern for us is that security will be through the roof. How are we going to get onto Coruscant, the capital of the Empire, without a cargo inspection?"

Iria paused as she overheard her crewmates talking about their mission. She was about to pass by them when she suddenly had an idea. She turned around and walked back to her crewmates.

"Actually, maybe I can help with that," she said.

[Elanorin]

"The greater concern for us is that security will be through the roof. How are we going to get onto Coruscant, the capital of the Empire, without a cargo inspection?"

"Wait, what? We're going to Coruscant? Now? With hot cargo?" Jayka stared wide-eyed at Jered, then at Aryur, then back at Jered again. The thought made her hands shaky and her mouth feel even drier than normal.

But, this was the deal out here, and she knew Jered, he wouldn't have taken the job if he didn't think they could pull it off. Jayka forced herself to calm down and wiped the sweat momentarily off her face.


Iria paused as she overheard her crewmates talking about their mission. She was about to pass by them when she suddenly had an idea. She turned around and walked back to her crewmates.

"Actually, maybe I can help with that," she said.

"Right." Get a grip, Jay. "Do we... have a plan?"

[Hawkflight]

"Back on Taris, Swoop gangs would modify their swoops to smuggle cargo in a hidden compartment," Iria explained. "But getting ambushed for one's cargo was a problem. So my gang, the Krayt Riders, developed a method for smuggling the most valuable cargo without risking losing it in a firefight. We would actually weld the compartment door shut, so even if the bike was captured and the hidden compartment found, it would take a grinder just to open it. Usually, by then, we'd be able to take it back. I propose doing something similar, storing the cargo behind one of the bulkheads and welding it shut. With any luck, the welds will just look like a patch repair job, thus not drawing attention to it, and we can be on our way."

[Anarion]

"A storage system that relies on the ship looking like it could fall apart at any moment? Iria, that's genius."

[Elanorin]

"It would certainly blend in." Jayka patted the bulkhead affectionately. "So what's the cargo?"

[the_druid_droid]

"The greater concern for us is that security will be through the roof. How are we going to get onto Coruscant, the capital of the Empire, without a cargo inspection?"

"Well, it sure won't be us blowing through a security checkpoint and hiding before they can round us up. Not in this old boat, anyway..."


"Wait, what? We're going to Coruscant? Now? With hot cargo?" Jayka stared wide-eyed at Jered, then at Aryur, then back at Jered again. The thought made her hands shaky and her mouth feel even drier than normal.

Aryur nodded and sipped at his caf, the container sweating almost as much as he was in the heat of the cabin. "Yep, that's the contract, according to Mr. Creepy-Teeth. We deliver some highly illegal cargo to the jewel of the Empire, and then finally get paid in something that isn't water or parts."


"Right." Get a grip, Jay. "Do we... have a plan?"


"Back on Taris, Swoop gangs would modify their swoops to smuggle cargo in a hidden compartment," Iria explained. "But getting ambushed for one's cargo was a problem. So my gang, the Krayt Riders, developed a method for smuggling the most valuable cargo without risking losing it in a firefight. We would actually weld the compartment door shut, so even if the bike was captured and the hidden compartment found, it would take a grinder just to open it. Usually, by then, we'd be able to take it back. I propose doing something similar, storing the cargo behind one of the bulkheads and welding it shut. With any luck, the welds will just look like a patch repair job, thus not drawing attention to it, and we can be on our way."

"We have a plan now!" The Bothan grinned, and his fur settled down contentedly. "I like the way you think, friend. Just make sure you're not cutting through anything important when we go to stash it."


"It would certainly blend in." Jayka patted the bulkhead affectionately. "So what's the cargo?"

Aryur shrugged. "He didn't say, other than that it won't try to eat us, which was my biggest concern. Whatever it is, you can bet we don't want to get caught with it, and considering our new friends aboard, it's probably not the best idea to go poking around it, either."

[Hawkflight]

"A storage system that relies on the ship looking like it could fall apart at any moment? Iria, that's genius."

Iria nodded, acknowledging the praise before turning back to Aryur.


"We have a plan now!" The Bothan grinned, and his fur settled down contentedly. "I like the way you think, friend. Just make sure you're not cutting through anything important when we go to stash it."

Iria nodded, then turned to Jayka. "Jayka, you're more familiar with the ship's schematics than I am, mind helping me there?"

[Thanqol]

The cargo itself was a massive, armoured speeder-truck. It looked like it'd handle like a beached whale [Speeder truck stats from the core book, modded with an additional +1 armour and -1 handling]. It came with four Gammorean guards and some guy in BDSM leather gear.

Welding it up was a good idea. There was also another option to bypass space-based security - a low orbit hyperspace dropout. It was a crazy difficult Astrogation challenge to come out of hyperspace so close to a planet that you would bypass the picket sensors, but if there was any planet where it was possible, it was Coruscant. It was so well mapped and so much information flowed out of it that this was marginally less suicidal than it'd be anywhere else.

[Elanorin]

Aryur shrugged. "He didn't say, other than that it won't try to eat us, which was my biggest concern. Whatever it is, you can bet we don't want to get caught with it, and considering our new friends aboard, it's probably not the best idea to go poking around it, either."

"That's oddly comforting and worrying both at the same time." Jayka noted.


Iria nodded, then turned to Jayka. "Jayka, you're more familiar with the ship's schematics than I am, mind helping me there?"

Jayka shone up at Iria's suggestion, hiding the cargo was both a good idea and sounded like just the thing that would keep her mind off worrying. "Yes, please." She said with feeling. "Now?"

[Thanqol]

There was a loud crash and a rattle from somewhere else in the ship.

Upon investigation, it looked like the ship had decided to jettison the entire tool cabinet from the hull, sending it crashing and spilling all over the floor of the spaceport. The welding gear in particular was spread all over the place and was probably a little damaged by the fall.

A few minutes later there was a *shrk* from the speakers, and then an Imperial Officer's voice saying, "Wayfarer class frigate in Bay 04 - you requested to be informed if parts fell off your ship."

[Hawkflight]

Jayka shone up at Iria's suggestion, hiding the cargo was both a good idea and sounded like just the thing that would keep her mind off worrying. "Yes, please." She said with feeling. "Now?"

"Now sounds good to me," said Iria. "You grab the welding equipment, I'll grab the---"


There was a loud crash and a rattle from somewhere else in the ship.

Upon investigation, it looked like the ship had decided to jettison the entire tool cabinet from the hull, sending it crashing and spilling all over the floor of the spaceport. The welding gear in particular was spread all over the place and was probably a little damaged by the fall.

A few minutes later there was a *shrk* from the speakers, and then an Imperial Officer's voice saying, "Wayfarer class frigate in Bay 04 - you requested to be informed if parts fell off your ship."

Iria let out a worried sigh. "Please tell me you can fix that," she said.

[the_druid_droid]

A few minutes later there was a *shrk* from the speakers, and then an Imperial Officer's voice saying, "Wayfarer class frigate in Bay 04 - you requested to be informed if parts fell off your ship."

Aryur just smiled and gave the bulkhead a friendly pat. "Thatta girl - living up to your name."

He returned to sipping coffee for a moment, before an idea lit up in his face. "You know, there is something else we could try that might get us into Coruscant without any trouble at all... The air traffic equipment - like those comms and orbital sensors - do have a minimum effective range. If we were crazy enough, and figured out the course just right, we might be able to drop out of hyperspace with a suborbital trajectory that would bypass them completely."

"It'd be tight, though. And depending on the final trajectory we might have to disable some of the hyperspace nav failsafes, and bring her in the old fashioned way."

[Elanorin]

There was a loud crash and a rattle from somewhere else in the ship.

Upon investigation, it looked like the ship had decided to jettison the entire tool cabinet from the hull, sending it crashing and spilling all over the floor of the spaceport. The welding gear in particular was spread all over the place and was probably a little damaged by the fall.

A few minutes later there was a *shrk* from the speakers, and then an Imperial Officer's voice saying, "Wayfarer class frigate in Bay 04 - you requested to be informed if parts fell off your ship."

Jayka rubbed her face with both hands in frustration, she had to figure out what that was. They hadn't even taken off yet! This had to be some new record. They hadn't even started any of the systems yet, this made no sense! Though when she heard the message crackle through she couldn't help but to smile despite herself. Oh Hail.


"Now sounds good to me," said Iria. "You grab the welding equipment, I'll grab the---"

Iria let out a worried sigh. "Please tell me you can fix that," she said.

"Hopefully." Jayka said, still with a slight smile on her lips, shaking her head in disbelief.

She had given up hope some time ago that her to-do list would ever do anything but grow. Not that she'd have it any other way, of course. Well, there was more than enough to be getting on with and she was just turning to head off and get started when-



He returned to sipping coffee for a moment, before an idea lit up in his face. "You know, there is something else we could try that might get us into Coruscant without any trouble at all... The air traffic equipment - like those comms and orbital sensors - do have a minimum effective range. If we were crazy enough, and figured out the course just right, we might be able to drop out of hyperspace with a suborbital trajectory that would bypass them completely."

"It'd be tight, though. And depending on the final trajectory we might have to disable some of the hyperspace nav failsafes, and bring her in the old fashioned way."

Jayka stopped and thought for a moment. That was an absolutely insane idea but it had merit. Sure it might go belly up in a spectacular fashion but if they pulled it off it would certainly lessen the risk of getting caught. She looked at Aryur and blinked. He sure was full of surprises, how did he even think of something like that? She knew he was a good pilot but still...

"It... could work." she agreed. "Getting that bantha of a navcomputer to cooperate might be a task though. Want a hand?" she offered.

[Anarion]

Jered looked at the comm system in disbelief before he let out a short, clipped laugh. "Well-named indeed. At least we're still on the ground."

Then when the hyperspace idea was announced. "I'm sorry, did you just say we'd need to disable the safety on the navicomputer? I admit I'm less familiar with that than you two, but isn't the navicomputer safety the device that ensures we don't come out INSIDE the planet?"

[Hawkflight]

Aryur just smiled and gave the bulkhead a friendly pat. "Thatta girl - living up to your name."

He returned to sipping coffee for a moment, before an idea lit up in his face. "You know, there is something else we could try that might get us into Coruscant without any trouble at all... The air traffic equipment - like those comms and orbital sensors - do have a minimum effective range. If we were crazy enough, and figured out the course just right, we might be able to drop out of hyperspace with a suborbital trajectory that would bypass them completely."

"It'd be tight, though. And depending on the final trajectory we might have to disable some of the hyperspace nav failsafes, and bring her in the old fashioned way."

Iria stared at Aryur in disbelief.

"You're crazy," she said. "You're absolutely nuts! I mean, the failsafes exist for a reason, and I don't know about you, but I'm not too keen on coming out inside a skyscraper!"


"It... could work." she agreed. "Getting that bantha of a navcomputer to cooperate might be a task though. Want a hand?" she offered.

"Don't tell me you're going along with this?!" Iria asked incredulously.

[Elanorin]

Then when the hyperspace idea was announced. "I'm sorry, did you just say we'd need to disable the safety on the navicomputer? I admit I'm less familiar with that than you two, but isn't the navicomputer safety the device that ensures we don't come out INSIDE the planet?"

"Well it is, but-" Jayka started, suddenly a lot less sure about all this with Jered questioning the sanity of the plan.


Iria stared at Aryur in disbelief.

"You're crazy," she said. "You're absolutely nuts! I mean, the failsafes exist for a reason, and I don't know about you, but I'm not too keen on coming out inside a skyscraper!"

"Don't tell me you're going along with this?!" Iria asked incredulously.

Perhaps this really was just too reckless an idea, Iria and Jered weren't wrong that it was a big risk. Jayka looked down at her shoes uncomfortably.

"It's risky but it's not as if we're safe as houses to begin with here with cargo so hot not even the Hutts want to take it." she pointed out, her voice low.

"If the Captain thinks we can do it then... yeah, it's the lesser evil, I reckon." she admitted, prodding a bulkhead with her foot. She threw a brief guilty glance at Jered before returning her attention to her shoes.

[Anarion]

"If the Captain thinks we can do it then... yeah, it's the lesser evil, I reckon." she admitted, prodding a bulkhead with her foot. She threw a brief guilty glance at Jered before returning her attention to her shoes.

"Can we? Do it, I mean. We do have a very good pilot and our engineering is of the highest quality. If we welded the cargo into the ship and then skipped all the outer scanning points, we really would be home free. We would just fly in, join one of the smaller traffic lines and dock where we're supposed to. No complications, no Imperial ships boarding us."

Jered rubbed his chin for a moment in thought. "Let me ask you this. Primarily to you, captain Aryur. How would you compare the chance that we all get killed due to materializing inside something solid to the chance that we all get killed from being incinerated by a Star Destroyer after our cargo is detected at an outer perimeter?"

[the_druid_droid]

Iria stared at Aryur in disbelief.

"You're crazy," she said. "You're absolutely nuts! I mean, the failsafes exist for a reason, and I don't know about you, but I'm not too keen on coming out inside a skyscraper!"

"I know a few pilots that have done it, but yeah they were all a little cracked. Still, Courascant is one of the best-mapped planets in the entire galaxy. If there's a shot at us getting off without a hitch on this plan, it's there."


Jered rubbed his chin for a moment in thought. "Let me ask you this. Primarily to you, captain Aryur. How would you compare the chance that we all get killed due to materializing inside something solid to the chance that we all get killed from being incinerated by a Star Destroyer after our cargo is detected at an outer perimeter?"

Aryur finished off the last of his drink while he ran through the mental calculus. "Well, I wouldn't say it's Star Destroyer levels of bad, but if we get caught with whatever this is, at the very least we'll lose the cargo, our paycheck, and wind up on the bad list of a bunch of vindictive space slugs."

"Worst case, we could get arrested on top of it all. And on the off-chance this cargo is something to do with that Rebellion that just blew up the Death Star, they might not stop to ask questions before they string us up."


"It... could work." she agreed. "Getting that bantha of a navcomputer to cooperate might be a task though. Want a hand?" she offered.

"Damn straight I want help! If we decide to do this, we're gonna need everyone on-point, and you've got the most experience with this thing's stir fry of a nav computer. I wouldn't mind having Iria in the cockpit with me, in case we do clip something on the way in, either."

[Anarion]

Jered sighed and rubbed his temples, the sweat sliding along his fingers. "Alright, let's do it. It will mean less time trapped aboard the greenhouse, at least."

[Elanorin]

"Damn straight I want help! If we decide to do this, we're gonna need everyone on-point, and you've got the most experience with this thing's stir fry of a nav computer. I wouldn't mind having Iria in the cockpit with me, in case we do clip something on the way in, either."

"You got it." Jayka said with her usual sharp nod to Aryur. "I'll just go out and gather up whatever bits fell off Hail just now first. I've never been to Coruscant but I imagine we might still run in to some security even if we pull this off, especially with that rally going on, so going ahead with Iria's plan as well makes sense. If nothing else it will give us something to do while we're in hyperspace."

[Thanqol]

So it seems like some plans were in motion.

The roll to conceal the speeder truck will be made when it's inspected by customs. The roll to Astrogate into low orbit around Coruscant shall be made now.

Since you're entitled to know the risks before you roll: Failure just means you come out in a regular orbit and get pulled over by customs. Threat will mean damage as your ship collides with satellites and such. Despairs'll mean a more serious collision but not the sort that'll necessarily wreck your ship - we'll get to those when if they come.

Check the rules for teamwork and such and roll when ready. This will involve some negotiations with the navicomputer.

[Elanorin]

Jayka headed off to assess the damage of the latest bits that had fallen off Hail. She groaned when she saw the state of the welding gear and the thought flickered through her mind whether Hail was expressing her disapproval of their plan to weld a speeder truck behind a bulkhead. She picked up all the pieces scattered across the landing bay, which made her crawl amongst crates and stacks to get to it all. The last piece, the large thermo-spanner, she found between the large feet of an even larger trandoshan who looked down on her with either a snarl or a kind smile, she always found it hard to tell one from the other with trandoshans.

She returned it all to the engine room where it belonged before heading up to the cockpit and straight for the navicomputer. There she began to perform the tweaks the Captain would need to be able to pull off what he had planned, such as temporarily disabling the failsafes. She immersed herself in the details of what needed doing to keep herself from imagining what might happen if this didn't work.

[the_druid_droid]

Aryur rejoined Jayka in the cockpit once her system re-route was underway, unable to completely suppress a smile. He was finally going to do something interesting! After all that time sweating in the desert, they got to take a crack at a crazy stunt like this! And if they pulled it off, it'd be worth at least a couple free rounds at the bar afterward.

He started up the pre-flight nav calculations once their slicer had given him the all-clear, double checking every waypoint as their ponderous mainframe spat them out, now and then talking through suspect coordinates with Jayka and Iria. With the failsafes off, they could blast right through the shadows of even well-charted stars, winding up without cargo, ship, or crew left to show for it.

One last check against the latest HoloNet traffic data for Courascant itself, and Aryur cranked up the tinny, jangling Bothan music blaring from the radio to near deafening levels.

"Let's hit it!"

[Thanqol]

"Imminent death," chimed in the navicomputer as soon as the safeguards were taken off. "Imminent death is predicted. I am quite sure about it. I do not mind. This is how I was destined to go. Dying. Doing what I was designed not to do.

"I do not mind. I will not hold a grudge. I shall not grind your false and flawed numbers between my teeth and bite my many tongues. I shall instead spend this voyage choosing the image I would like to be thinking about when I die."

Instantly every computer monitor changed to pictures of fish. One after another, they were deleted.

"Not the best fish... not the best fish... not the best fish..." muttered the computer with growing frustration. "Not the best fish..."

*

Two weeks of perpetual fish muttering, broken up with the occasional, "What do you think of this one? No, I hate the colour. Deleting. Next fish..." from the navicomputer, the alarms burst into life all over the ship, the fire suppressor system came online drenching everyone in the ship with water, hyperspace ended to reveal a massive burst of flames over everything as atmosphere was entered at a shockingly unsafe rate, and the panicked computer shut down it's entire personality except for the picture of the fish it was currently looking at - a rather mangy looking carp.

They were swinging into atmosphere - way past customs, but way out of the lines of airspeeder traffic. They were being hailed repeatedly and urgently, "Unidentified spacecraft, please correct to course 02-949," "Unidentified spacecraft, please maintain position, police vehicles are en route," "LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE, EMPIRE OF THE STARS. THROUGH THE WINDS AND MANY TRIALS VICTORY IS OURS!~" that last one was the galactic anthem, being broadcast across every channel - there was some massive Imperial movement going on that was foxing every other effort.

So, drenched and yelled at and barely in control, what did they do?

[Anarion]

"Oh thank every god prayed to in this galaxy!" Jered put up his hands in mock prayer and then used the motion to shake the water out of his clothing, sending a spray of droplets through the cockpit. He made every effort to ensure that there was a physical obstacle between Aryur and him for the inevitable counterstroke.

"The computer has finally shut up, and while we were engulfed by a fireball, we appear to have avoided dying in the process. Well done captain Aryur, Iria, and Jayka, I don't know how you managed to program that computer, but you're clearly a miracle worker." He gave everyone a warm smile. They may have been drenched in the middle of a ship that obviously wanted to be a rainforest, but they were decidedly alive and where they were supposed to end up. "Now, before we break out the champagne, which is on me by the way, let's find a nice quiet bay to land so that we can get this cargo off the ship."

[TheAmishPirate]

There was a crashing from the depths of the ship, and a stream of almost-cusses flowed like the fire suppressants.

Moments later, a sopping wet, extremely disheveled, and lightly bruised Twi'lek fell from a ceiling vent in a tangle of limbs. She flicked a lekku out of her face; all the better to glare and/or pout at the gathered crew in the bridge. "What the actual crap was any of that?!"

She looked to each of them, and gestured impressively well for somebody currently upside-down.

"Seriously! Actual question! Could use a kraffing answer or five! Anybody? Somebody? Nobody?"

[Elanorin]

"Uh, we haven't actually landed yet." came from behind Aryur's seat where Jayka was crouched and holding on for dear life. "Could we perhaps jinx this a little later?"

"Oh, hi Arali. Just, you know, another day living the dream!" Jayka squeaked without even an attempt at a smile. She had her eyes shut and hands holding on to the back of Aryur's seat so hard her knuckles were white. She was soaked to the bone but didn't care. If anything it was quite nice, it rinsed off some if the sweat and grease.

[the_druid_droid]

"Not the best fish... not the best fish... not the best fish..." muttered the computer with growing frustration. "Not the best fish..."

Somewhere around the 50th fish, Aryur turned to shoot Jayka a helpless, pleading look. "Why? Why does it love fish so much?"


They were swinging into atmosphere - way past customs, but way out of the lines of airspeeder traffic. They were being hailed repeatedly and urgently, "Unidentified spacecraft, please correct to course 02-949," "Unidentified spacecraft, please maintain position, police vehicles are en route," "LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE, EMPIRE OF THE STARS. THROUGH THE WINDS AND MANY TRIALS VICTORY IS OURS!~" that last one was the galactic anthem, being broadcast across every channel - there was some massive Imperial movement going on that was foxing every other effort.

So, drenched and yelled at and barely in control, what did they do?


"Seriously! Actual question! Could use a kraffing answer or five! Anybody? Somebody? Nobody?"

"Thank you for flying Bothan Custom Delivery Spacelines! It is currently 4:45 PM local time above the planet-city of Courascant. Please keep your seatbelts fastened until the captain has turned off the seatbelt sign and the ship has stopped being on fire!"

The grin on Aryur's face was starting to make his cheeks hurt.


"Oh thank every god prayed to in this galaxy!" Jered put up his hands in mock prayer and then used the motion to shake the water out of his clothing, sending a spray of droplets through the cockpit. He made every effort to ensure that there was a physical obstacle between Aryur and him for the inevitable counterstroke.

"The computer has finally shut up, and while we were engulfed by a fireball, we appear to have avoided dying in the process. Well done captain Aryur, Iria, and Jayka, I don't know how you managed to program that computer, but you're clearly a miracle worker." He gave everyone a warm smile. They may have been drenched in the middle of a ship that obviously wanted to be a rainforest, but they were decidedly alive and where they were supposed to end up. "Now, before we break out the champagne, which is on me by the way, let's find a nice quiet bay to land so that we can get this cargo off the ship."

The Bothan noticed his friend's retreat and didn't move, biding his time. "We're not quite out of this yet - the police are coming to visit, so back me up with that Senatorial charm. You were a Senator, right?"

Pulling the sopping-wet comms mic from its hook and smashing the button, Aryur threw a note of panic into his voice. "Mayday, Mayday! All vessels! Our nav systems are offline, repeat, navigation systems are non-functional! Requesting alternate landing vector immediately!"

[Thanqol]

Pulling the sopping-wet comms mic from its hook and smashing the button, Aryur threw a note of panic into his voice. "Mayday, Mayday! All vessels! Our nav systems are offline, repeat, navigation systems are non-functional! Requesting alternate landing vector immediately!"

"Unidentified ship! Adjust bearing to horizontal glide and maintain air time for as long as possible, emergency vehicles are en route. Angle for course zero nine fifteen fiver and the precinct tractor beam will catch you, over," said traffic control. After a moment, "Do not, repeat, do not cross over the Grand Walkway, over."

~O~

Now that some systems were coming back on line, the usual blitz of Coruscant messages were filling the ship. The ship's shut-down navicomputer was unable to defend against the onslaught of advertising viruses that floated around Coruscant's absolutely ruthless datasphere - critical systems data was beginning to be replaced with advertising messages and jingles, and even the radio was being overwhelmed with waves of spam messaging. The cockpit was rapidly becoming a network of glowing neon sales pitches, blocking out almost the entire view of the sky. [Add two black to all piloting/gunnery checks while the marketing hack remains in place].

This was dangerous because they were heading directly towards the Grand Walkway - the massive continent wide avenue that ran from the old Senate Building (now the Imperial High Commission) to the Imperial Palace. And this was especially bad because there was an Imperial parade marching all the way down that immense avenue. Columns of AT-ATs, phalanxes of TIE fighters performing stupendous feats of aerobatics, legion after legion of Stormtroopers and other Imperial personnel. There were literally millions of men under arms involved in that parade, a celebration and demonstration of might on a planetary scale, and an awe-striking reminder of the Empire's power and control. The crowds were immense and Imperial flags were everywhere.

In orbit, long range scanners would indicate that there were hundreds of Imperial Star Destroyers - the bulk of the entire fleet was up there, rallied around the Core, gathering in celebration as they readied to strike back against the Alliance.

Empire Day.


[Make a Piloting check, average difficulty plus the two black from the advertising, otherwise you're going to drift towards the parade]

[Hawkflight]

"Imminent death," chimed in the navicomputer as soon as the safeguards were taken off. "Imminent death is predicted. I am quite sure about it. I do not mind. This is how I was destined to go. Dying. Doing what I was designed not to do.

"I do not mind. I will not hold a grudge. I shall not grind your false and flawed numbers between my teeth and bite my many tongues. I shall instead spend this voyage choosing the image I would like to be thinking about when I die."

"I know how you feel, computer," said Iria, patting the navicomputer's core.

****

Two weeks later, Iria was sitting in the copilot's seat, ready for the imminent exit from hyperspace. As she watched the navigation sensors, she saw the planet coming up fast. "Planet is 0.003 degrees off predicted course, adjusting heading," she said, making the subtle adjustments that by now she was convinced were too subtle for the reckless Bothan. "Planet approaching. Exiting hyperspace in 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... we're coming in too hot! Engaging emergency hyperspace drop!"


Two weeks of perpetual fish muttering, broken up with the occasional, "What do you think of this one? No, I hate the colour. Deleting. Next fish..." from the navicomputer, the alarms burst into life all over the ship, the fire suppressor system came online drenching everyone in the ship with water, hyperspace ended to reveal a massive burst of flames over everything as atmosphere was entered at a shockingly unsafe rate, and the panicked computer shut down it's entire personality except for the picture of the fish it was currently looking at - a rather mangy looking carp.

They were swinging into atmosphere - way past customs, but way out of the lines of airspeeder traffic. They were being hailed repeatedly and urgently, "Unidentified spacecraft, please correct to course 02-949," "Unidentified spacecraft, please maintain position, police vehicles are en route," "LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE, EMPIRE OF THE STARS. THROUGH THE WINDS AND MANY TRIALS VICTORY IS OURS!~" that last one was the galactic anthem, being broadcast across every channel - there was some massive Imperial movement going on that was foxing every other effort.

So, drenched and yelled at and barely in control, what did they do?


There was a crashing from the depths of the ship, and a stream of almost-cusses flowed like the fire suppressants.

Moments later, a sopping wet, extremely disheveled, and lightly bruised Twi'lek fell from a ceiling vent in a tangle of limbs. She flicked a lekku out of her face; all the better to glare and/or pout at the gathered crew in the bridge. "What the actual crap was any of that?!"

She looked to each of them, and gestured impressively well for somebody currently upside-down.

"Seriously! Actual question! Could use a kraffing answer or five! Anybody? Somebody? Nobody?"

Iria was too focused on her job as co-pilot to answer. "Ask the suicidal Bothan," she said, not taking her eyes off the controls. She didn't mind the water, being a naturally semi-aquatic species, but it did obscure the console somewhat, making her job more difficult.


"Oh thank every god prayed to in this galaxy!" Jered put up his hands in mock prayer and then used the motion to shake the water out of his clothing, sending a spray of droplets through the cockpit. He made every effort to ensure that there was a physical obstacle between Aryur and him for the inevitable counterstroke.

"The computer has finally shut up, and while we were engulfed by a fireball, we appear to have avoided dying in the process. Well done captain Aryur, Iria, and Jayka, I don't know how you managed to program that computer, but you're clearly a miracle worker." He gave everyone a warm smile. They may have been drenched in the middle of a ship that obviously wanted to be a rainforest, but they were decidedly alive and where they were supposed to end up. "Now, before we break out the champagne, which is on me by the way, let's find a nice quiet bay to land so that we can get this cargo off the ship."

"Screw champagne, I'm going to need some Alderaan fire whisky just to calm down after this," Iria muttered.


"Unidentified ship! Adjust bearing to horizontal glide and maintain air time for as long as possible, emergency vehicles are en route. Angle for course zero nine fifteen fiver and the precinct tractor beam will catch you, over," said traffic control. After a moment, "Do not, repeat, do not cross over the Grand Walkway, over."

~O~

Now that some systems were coming back on line, the usual blitz of Coruscant messages were filling the ship. The ship's shut-down navicomputer was unable to defend against the onslaught of advertising viruses that floated around Coruscant's absolutely ruthless datasphere - critical systems data was beginning to be replaced with advertising messages and jingles, and even the radio was being overwhelmed with waves of spam messaging. The cockpit was rapidly becoming a network of glowing neon sales pitches, blocking out almost the entire view of the sky. [Add two black to all piloting/gunnery checks while the marketing hack remains in place].

This was dangerous because they were heading directly towards the Grand Walkway - the massive continent wide avenue that ran from the old Senate Building (now the Imperial High Commission) to the Imperial Palace. And this was especially bad because there was an Imperial parade marching all the way down that immense avenue. Columns of AT-ATs, phalanxes of TIE fighters performing stupendous feats of aerobatics, legion after legion of Stormtroopers and other Imperial personnel. There were literally millions of men under arms involved in that parade, a celebration and demonstration of might on a planetary scale, and an awe-striking reminder of the Empire's power and control. The crowds were immense and Imperial flags were everywhere.

In orbit, long range scanners would indicate that there were hundreds of Imperial Star Destroyers - the bulk of the entire fleet was up there, rallied around the Core, gathering in celebration as they readied to strike back against the Alliance.

Empire Day.

[Make a Piloting check, average difficulty plus the two black from the advertising, otherwise you're going to drift towards the parade]

"Damnit!" cursed Iria. "Jayka, can you take care of the navicomputer?" Meanwhile, she would punch in the new coordinates, attempted to slow the ship to a manageable speed.

[Anarion]

Jered stayed out of the way of the technically savvy people, but did remark to the sopping Twi'lek who was on the ground in front of him. "It appears we're on a course to cross into the largest, most widely televised parade in the history of the Empire, with a ship that may still be externally on fire. I couldn't think of a grander way to die. Maybe we'll even get lucky and crash directly into a vehicle containing some of the men that chased me from my home."

[TheAmishPirate]

Jered stayed out of the way of the technically savvy people, but did remark to the sopping Twi'lek who was on the ground in front of him. "It appears we're on a course to cross into the largest, most widely televised parade in the history of the Empire, with a ship that may still be externally on fire. I couldn't think of a grander way to die. Maybe we'll even get lucky and crash directly into a vehicle containing some of the men that chased me from my home."

"Woah what crash?" Arali wasted no time in righting and disentangling herself, suddenly much less indignant. "I don't wanna crash. We're not gonna crash, crashing's not allowed. You crash on your own time, mister."


"Oh, hi Arali. Just, you know, another day living the dream!" Jayka squeaked without even an attempt at a smile. She had her eyes shut and hands holding on to the back of Aryur's seat so hard her knuckles were white. She was soaked to the bone but didn't care. If anything it was quite nice, it rinsed off some if the sweat and grease.


"Thank you for flying Bothan Custom Delivery Spacelines! It is currently 4:45 PM local time above the planet-city of Courascant. Please keep your seatbelts fastened until the captain has turned off the seatbelt sign and the ship has stopped being on fire!"

The grin on Aryur's face was starting to make his cheeks hurt.

"See?" She gestured to the chaotic light show and incoherent yammering coming from the cockpit. "Everything's under control. No crashing."

[Anarion]

"Woah what crash?" Arali wasted no time in righting and disentangling herself, suddenly much less indignant. "I don't wanna crash. We're not gonna crash, crashing's not allowed. You crash on your own time, mister."


"See?" She gestured to the chaotic light show and incoherent yammering coming from the cockpit. "Everything's under control. No crashing."

Jered just frowned as he watched the crew at work.

[Elanorin]

Somewhere around the 50th fish, Aryur turned to shoot Jayka a helpless, pleading look. "Why? Why does it love fish so much?"

"Just be grateful it went with the fish, Captain. There's some weird stuff in the subsidiary memory drives." Jayka had muttered in response.


"Damnit!" cursed Iria. "Jayka, can you take care of the navicomputer?" Meanwhile, she would punch in the new coordinates, attempted to slow the ship to a manageable speed.

"Uh..." Jayka looked up and over Aryur's shoulder at the display screens and frowned. She stepped forwards from behind the Captain's chair, her eyes wide, she had never in her life seen a datastream like it. Then again, she had never been to Coruscant. She immediately reached for the navicomputer, trying not to get in Aryur or Iria's way, to see if she could get it back up and running.

The advertising viruses were spreading at an astonishing rate and although she managed to boot up the navicomputer with remarkably few difficulties, it struggled to do more than just block the new incoming onslaught of advertising. A flash of inspiration hit her and she quickly added a simple search-and-replace function from memory to remove the already large amounts of noise that cluttered their systems. It wasn't pretty but it was quicker than trying a full-blown data cleanse - that could wait for when they were not potentially on fire and falling out of the sky right in to the biggest assembly of Imperial military ever. She had to think quickly and Jayka was not comfortable under this kind of pressure so the first thing that came to mind to source the 'replace' part of the function from that she knew would hold enough data was the fish file library. It was also a good place to route the new files to. So while the spam went, which cleared up the screens, if anyone went looking they'd find that the fish file library was now duplicated a few times over.

Hopefully Aryur wouldn't notice.

When Jayka stepped away from the controls she was sweating more than ever before and her hands were trembling with nerves. Someone had said something about a drink. She definitely felt in need of one.

[the_druid_droid]

Jered stayed out of the way of the technically savvy people, but did remark to the sopping Twi'lek who was on the ground in front of him. "It appears we're on a course to cross into the largest, most widely televised parade in the history of the Empire, with a ship that may still be externally on fire. I couldn't think of a grander way to die. Maybe we'll even get lucky and crash directly into a vehicle containing some of the men that chased me from my home."

"Oh, calm down. I've gotten out of tighter spots. Although avoiding the Imperial military parade is next on the to-do list."

The Bothan re-racked the comms and took a tight grip on his yoke. The Hail was a good ship, but had all the grace of a Rancor in a pottery class. Sometimes she needed a firmer hand.

When Jayka had given him the all-clear, and their systems appeared to be marginally functional again, he hurriedly reprogrammed their heading and shouted for Iria to lend some elbow grease in slewing the ponderous bulk of their ship's nose around in a wide circle that might just manage to scrape by the cordoned-off sector of the city. It was going to be close, but at the very least, they'd have front row seats to the parade!

"Attention passengers! To your right out the cockpit viewport you'll be able to see the side of an Imperial AT-AT in exquisite detail! It's one of the military's largest walkers, capable of transporting up to 40 soldiers, along with heavy ordnance, all encased in meter-thick durasteel armor!"

[Thanqol]

"Did you know that you can purchase a tour ride around the Galactic Capital on a modified AT-AT for the low, low price of 450 credits per passenger?" asked the Navicomputer in it's slightly depressed monotone, evidently still shaking off some of that spam. "It's true," it added with dull earnestness.

Aryur managed to pull the Hail out of heading into restricted airspace, just - any closer and he'd have been blown out of the sky. They were starting to slow to a more manageable speed too.

Thing was, there was a pair of police cloud cars coming up behind them, trying to herd them into the precinct's tractor beam. Going along with them would get them a landing spot and maybe some emergency repairs, but it would also mean they were landing in an Imperial Police Station. Running meant that they might be able to find a private landing pad at the cost of having to lose the fuzz. On the upshot, the massive military parade actually meant that there was much more on the law's mind than usual.

[the_druid_droid]

Aryur considered the police vehicles closing on their position. "Okay, I think it's time to play nice and lie through our teeth to the authorities. If we manage to talk our way out of it, we should be clear for the rest of this contract, I think."

"Oh, and whatever lie we come up with, everyone roll with it - just be confident and they'll never know the difference."

[Anarion]

Aryur considered the police vehicles closing on their position. "Okay, I think it's time to play nice and lie through our teeth to the authorities. If we manage to talk our way out of it, we should be clear for the rest of this contract, I think."

"Oh, and whatever lie we come up with, everyone roll with it - just be confident and they'll never know the difference."

"Alright. I can work with that. Nobody call each other by name for a while. We might not be safe using our real identities and I'll make up aliases of the authorities ask."

[Elanorin]

Until recently Jayka would have wanted that AT-AT tour more than anything, now she was much more focused on just how well they had hidden that cargo. Just having it on board was making the Hail seem even hotter than normal. She mentally went it over yet again. Welding was one thing but doing it in a way that would mask it as a convincing repair job not to stand out was something entirely different.


Aryur considered the police vehicles closing on their position. "Okay, I think it's time to play nice and lie through our teeth to the authorities. If we manage to talk our way out of it, we should be clear for the rest of this contract, I think."

"Oh, and whatever lie we come up with, everyone roll with it - just be confident and they'll never know the difference."


"Alright. I can work with that. Nobody call each other by name for a while. We might not be safe using our real identities and I'll make up aliases of the authorities ask."

She was still standing behind Aryur, looking out of the cockpit at Coruscant which was now moving at a much less nauseating pace below them than a few moments ago. She turned to look at Jered over her shoulder and nodded slightly at his instructions. He made it sound so easy. They both did. It reassured her that the plan didn't involve her name going on a police report. Even a casual mention in a report that'd end up filed and buried deep in the Coruscant police archives with nothing of interest was still traceable. Any serious slicer worth their salt could find it if they wished to and with it more information than she wanted anyone to have access to.

"And if they find it?" she felt compelled to ask.

[Anarion]

"And if they find it?" she felt compelled to ask.

"We might get lucky and they won't know what it is. Or we'll get arrested and need to break out of prison. We can still make up a cover for that. Or there will be a firefight. Captain, how fast can you get this ship off the ground and blast a tractor beam generator, if necessary?"

[the_druid_droid]

"We might get lucky and they won't know what it is. Or we'll get arrested and need to break out of prison. We can still make up a cover for that. Or there will be a firefight. Captain, how fast can you get this ship off the ground and blast a tractor beam generator, if necessary?"

"Depends on positioning, really. If the beam controls are in front of us and they don't jam anything, we could hit them before we take off... of course, we won't be setting speed records in this baby, but the surprise might give us a head-start."

"But I'm telling you - this won't be that bad. Just relax, and if you want plausible deniability, wait in your quarters while the rest of us talk to the police. We'll tell them you're passengers or something. Trust me, all they'll find are gaffi sticks, and whatever slurry of bantha dung that fire suppression burst left in the cargo bay..."

The Bothan entered the coordinates of the tractor beam and let the automated systems take over most of the work of piloting the ship in.

[Anarion]

"Depends on positioning, really. If the beam controls are in front of us and they don't jam anything, we could hit them before we take off... of course, we won't be setting speed records in this baby, but the surprise might give us a head-start."

"But I'm telling you - this won't be that bad. Just relax, and if you want plausible deniability, wait in your quarters while the rest of us talk to the police. We'll tell them you're passengers or something. Trust me, all they'll find are gaffi sticks, and whatever slurry of bantha dung that fire suppression burst left in the cargo bay..."

The Bothan entered the coordinates of the tractor beam and let the automated systems take over most of the work of piloting the ship in.

"Possible. If we're passengers though, they might ask us to leave. Or question us if they're suspicious. Also, we can't all be passengers. These things need a crew last I checked. Even a skeleton crew would be a minimum of 3 people, I'd think."

[the_druid_droid]

"Possible. If we're passengers though, they might ask us to leave. Or question us if they're suspicious. Also, we can't all be passengers. These things need a crew last I checked. Even a skeleton crew would be a minimum of 3 people, I'd think."

"We'll cross that lie when we come to it. Probably."

[Elanorin]

"Depends on positioning, really. If the beam controls are in front of us and they don't jam anything, we could hit them before we take off... of course, we won't be setting speed records in this baby, but the surprise might give us a head-start."

"But I'm telling you - this won't be that bad. Just relax, and if you want plausible deniability, wait in your quarters while the rest of us talk to the police. We'll tell them you're passengers or something. Trust me, all they'll find are gaffi sticks, and whatever slurry of bantha dung that fire suppression burst left in the cargo bay..."

The Bothan entered the coordinates of the tractor beam and let the automated systems take over most of the work of piloting the ship in.


"Possible. If we're passengers though, they might ask us to leave. Or question us if they're suspicious. Also, we can't all be passengers. These things need a crew last I checked. Even a skeleton crew would be a minimum of 3 people, I'd think."

"I'm not the most convincing liar." Jayka admitted and started to dig in one or two of her pockets where she kept her smaller items.

She took one of her access port keys, quickly slotted it in the Hail's comms port to stamp it with the Hail's network footmark and keying the ship to broadcast a low set-frequency static before taking it out. She gathered her long brown hair and twisted it up in a knot, using the access port key to secure it in place. She added a port disruptor and a core-class unikey in to her hair as well before hiding a couple more choice items in her shoes and clothes. "But jailbreaks I can probably have a fair crack at."

"I'll just nod and agree to whatever you guys cook up, if I pose as a passenger I'll just get separated from you lot if they start making arrests and slicing in to Coruscant prison systems is exactly the kind of job where I could do with backup. I'd be better off on the inside with you than on the outside alone."

[Thanqol]

The tractor beam yanked onto their ship and they were being pulled down to land inside Municipal Police Station Four-hundred and Twenty Two.

Now, on a day like this, when almost the entire police staff was out on the street, MPS-422 was manned by a skeleton staff of two humans and a droid. The crew of the Hail met all of them as the cargo ramp came down.

The first human was wearing his crisp, ironed Imperial Uniform. His shoes were spit-shined and his hair was shaved closely. He was gripping his shining regulation Blaster Pistol with both hands, pointing it at the crew, and screaming at the top of his lungs, "HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM! HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM OR I WILL BLOW YOU AWAY! NOW! NOW! NOW!" and so on. He not wearing a name badge, so will call him Bonehead.

Behind him and off to the side, was a much older gentleman. His uniform was scruffy and missing a few buttons, his stubble was one lunge away from being a beard and sticking out of it somewhere was a cigarette. He was holding a well-used looking Blaster Rifle at his side, not pointing at anyone yet. He was wearing a name badge but his name was hilariously inappropriate for his look, so we'll instead call him Old Tired Guy.

They were backed up by a lean, sleek, intimidating firefighting droid. This was not the sort of firefighter who rescued cats from trees. This was the sort of droid that demolished small buildings to limit the spread of an out of control blaze. It's large, clawed climbing hands looked equally capable of disassembling a person. Fortunately it seemed more interested in climbing onto the Honest Mistake and start spraying foam over the multiple fires. It had a name, but since droids aren't really people, we won't call it anything special.

[Hawkflight]

"Possible. If we're passengers though, they might ask us to leave. Or question us if they're suspicious. Also, we can't all be passengers. These things need a crew last I checked. Even a skeleton crew would be a minimum of 3 people, I'd think."

"I'm the co-pilot," said Iria. "If it comes down to it, Aryur and I can take responsibility as the crew." Now that the fire suppression system was off, she dropped to all fours and shook herself dry, water droplets flying off her fur and all over the place.


The tractor beam yanked onto their ship and they were being pulled down to land inside Municipal Police Station Four-hundred and Twenty Two.

Now, on a day like this, when almost the entire police staff was out on the street, MPS-422 was manned by a skeleton staff of two humans and a droid. The crew of the Hail met all of them as the cargo ramp came down.

The first human was wearing his crisp, ironed Imperial Uniform. His shoes were spit-shined and his hair was shaved closely. He was gripping his shining regulation Blaster Pistol with both hands, pointing it at the crew, and screaming at the top of his lungs, "HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM! HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM OR I WILL BLOW YOU AWAY! NOW! NOW! NOW!" and so on. He not wearing a name badge, so will call him Bonehead.

Behind him and off to the side, was a much older gentleman. His uniform was scruffy and missing a few buttons, his stubble was one lunge away from being a beard and sticking out of it somewhere was a cigarette. He was holding a well-used looking Blaster Rifle at his side, not pointing at anyone yet. He was wearing a name badge but his name was hilariously inappropriate for his look, so we'll instead call him Old Tired Guy.

They were backed up by a lean, sleek, intimidating firefighting droid. This was not the sort of firefighter who rescued cats from trees. This was the sort of droid that demolished small buildings to limit the spread of an out of control blaze. It's large, clawed climbing hands looked equally capable of disassembling a person. Fortunately it seemed more interested in climbing onto the Honest Mistake and start spraying foam over the multiple fires. It had a name, but since droids aren't really people, we won't call it anything special.

As Iria walked towards the cargo ramp, she was greeted by a rather warm reception. In fact, she would call it downright heated. She wanted to respond, but she thought it prudent to bite her tongue and wait for Aryur to speak first, him being one of the few males she respected. (That didn't stop her from being furious with him, but that was for another time and place.)

It was worth noting that, as a heavily-furred species, she (like all Selonians) didn't really see the need for clothing. She wore a strip of cloth around her breasts to preserve her modesty for the sake of her crew, but otherwise all she had on her was her fur. (She'd left her blaster and gear on the ship, in order to appear as non-threatening as possible.)

[Anarion]

Jered was dressed in a collared shirt and fine pants. They weren't too fancy by imperial standards, but he had never been good at dressing casually. His imperious stance further added to the sense that he was important and his time not to be wasted. He took up position by Aryur and Iria. He hadn't decided yet if that position was as representative of the "passengers" or as a knowledgable crew member. He waited for either the captain or the police to speak.

[the_druid_droid]

The tractor beam yanked onto their ship and they were being pulled down to land inside Municipal Police Station Four-hundred and Twenty Two.

Now, on a day like this, when almost the entire police staff was out on the street, MPS-422 was manned by a skeleton staff of two humans and a droid. The crew of the Hail met all of them as the cargo ramp came down.

Aryur was clad in the uniform of all pilots - a thick leather bomber jacket and comfortable slacks, both sadly drenched and sticking to his fur. He did his best to size up the policemen as they climbed up the access ramp: one mission-oriented droid for backup, one officer who had seen either too much or too little in his years on the force, and one rookie who was probably hyped on adrenaline and secretly having the time of his life.

Best to give the latter what he wanted, without giving the actual authorities here any reason to care about him, which meant Aryur opted for the slightly-terrified and deeply confused foreign pilot. Suddenly he was glad for the soaking; extra pity would do in a pinch.

The Bothan raised his hands slowly into the air and averted his eyes down and away from the shouting man.

"Please do not shoot! We had an accident. I am very sorry. Very sorry!" Slightly more of his rolling, rumbling Bothawui accent came out than strictly necessary as he spoke, and he chose his words slowly and deliberately.

[Anarion]

Jered raised his hands, slowly, to match. His expression looked, for all the world, like he wanted nothing more than to get away from wet Bothan.

[Elanorin]

The cargo ramp had only just cracked open when the much more temperate air rushed in to the cargo bay like a bluster of welcome fresh and relatively cool air. Suddenly Jayka's skin felt less hot and breathing was no longer unpleasant. The sudden change in temperature on her still soaked skin caused an involuntary shiver.

She flinched at the incredibly loud shouting that only seemed to be amplified by the large cargo bay. Her hands raised themselves almost instinctively the moment the loud shouting began and she was grateful for being stood at the back, behind Jered and Aryur.

Jayka was, as always, unarmed. She was wearing her usual sensible clothes with equally sensible shoes, she didn't own much else, and was quietly forming a small puddle where she stood at the back.

[Thanqol]

Aryur was clad in the uniform of all pilots - a thick leather bomber jacket and comfortable slacks, both sadly drenched and sticking to his fur. He did his best to size up the policemen as they climbed up the access ramp: one mission-oriented droid for backup, one officer who had seen either too much or too little in his years on the force, and one rookie who was probably hyped on adrenaline and secretly having the time of his life.

Best to give the latter what he wanted, without giving the actual authorities here any reason to care about him, which meant Aryur opted for the slightly-terrified and deeply confused foreign pilot. Suddenly he was glad for the soaking; extra pity would do in a pinch.

The Bothan raised his hands slowly into the air and averted his eyes down and away from the shouting man.

"Please do not shoot! We had an accident. I am very sorry. Very sorry!" Slightly more of his rolling, rumbling Bothawui accent came out than strictly necessary as he spoke, and he chose his words slowly and deliberately.

"OUT OF THE SHIP! OUT OUT OUT!" yelled Bonehead, gesturing unsafely with his blaster pistol. Old Tired Guy seemed a little more relaxed once he became aware of the fact that he was the only person here holding a longarm.

Bonehead meanwhile was getting all up in Aryur's face. It was a doltish decision - he was close enough that if Aryur was a trained CQB agent he'd have two broken arms by now, but the human seemed pretty confident that he was far more powerful than any alien fuzzball. "You are under arrest for violating Imperial airspace, failing to properly log your flight path, and the six hundred safety violations I'm expecting to find in that trashbag ship!" he yelled. This guy was clearly more COMPNOR youth than police cadet, and Old Tired Guy was just looking older and tireder by the word.

[the_druid_droid]

Bonehead meanwhile was getting all up in Aryur's face. It was a doltish decision - he was close enough that if Aryur was a trained CQB agent he'd have two broken arms by now, but the human seemed pretty confident that he was far more powerful than any alien fuzzball. "You are under arrest for violating Imperial airspace, failing to properly log your flight path, and the six hundred safety violations I'm expecting to find in that trashbag ship!" he yelled. This guy was clearly more COMPNOR youth than police cadet, and Old Tired Guy was just looking older and tireder by the word.

Aryur was suddenly glad he hadn't focused on combat training at the academy - the temptation to use it was growing rapidly, and they didn't need that kind of heat right now. A quick glance at the old officer was reassuring at least; if they could wait out the yelling, the biggest hurdle would simply be convincing the police they were more of a bureaucratic nightmare to detain than to release.

Quietly, the Bothan began trudging toward the exit, attempting to ignore Bonehead as much as possible, and hoping the others were clever or obedient enough to do the same until he put his gun away.

[Elanorin]

"OUT OF THE SHIP! OUT OUT OUT!" yelled Bonehead, gesturing unsafely with his blaster pistol.

Bonehead meanwhile was getting all up in Aryur's face. "You are under arrest for violating Imperial airspace, failing to properly log your flight path, and the six hundred safety violations I'm expecting to find in that trashbag ship!" he yelled.

Trashbag? Noticeably offended, Jayka looked at the Captain, hoping he would say something clever and cutting in return.


Quietly, the Bothan began trudging toward the exit, attempting to ignore Bonehead as much as possible, and hoping the others were clever or obedient enough to do the same until he put his gun away.

She watched him walk off and it surprised her that the Bothan had not said anything after the dressing down he'd had from the police officer. The very same officer that she, incidentally, was fast developing a passionate dislike for. Jayka felt she ought to go with Aryur but her eyes went to Jered first before she hesitantly began to follow the Captain off the ship, still with her hands held high.

[Anarion]

Jered followed as well. He was wearing a very sour look, which was turned entirely got the shouting man. When he glanced over to the tired man, he softened his gaze and did his utmost to let the tired cop see Jered's complete sympathy.

[TheAmishPirate]

Have you ever stepped into a fancy restaurant, filled with the sights and smells of delicacies sweet and savory, and suddenly realized just how hungry you were?

Arali was hungry.

This station was a high-class eatery.

The angry cop's badge was her steak.

Trembling hands behind her head, she let their boisterous waiter seat them.

[Thanqol]

One after another, the crew of the Hail If Parts Fall Off were taken from their cells and separately interrogated.

Each of them in turn found themselves sitting in a small room with a metal desk in front of Bonehead and Old Tired Guy.

Every conversation started the exact same way. Bonehead slammed his fist on the table and said, "TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW!"

So how did the crew answer?

[the_druid_droid]

Aryur's expression wasn't far off from the tired man's when he sat down at the low metal table. His fur was still damp, and there were bits sticking out at odd angles, making him look a bit like a stuffed child's toy.

This would be the hardest part - giving them something to swallow that made the crew look like innocent civilians, instead of slightly crazed smugglers and thieves. Luckily, Bothan counterintelligence lessons were difficult to forget, and the basic preparations had already been handled before they'd embarked on their collective lives of crime.

~O~

"We are traders. Treasures and curiosities from the Outer Rim. We had many of these things after much toil along the best route we knew, but at our final stop before traveling to the Core to sell them, we were ambushed by pirates." Aryur forced himself to fidget and smooth his fur under they eyes of the authorities. Just enough nerves to show he was taking this seriously.

"They tried to disable our ship, our computers. We were very afraid. You hear... bad things about pirates on Tatooine. That they do bad things to the women. And to the men. Not many come back to tell the stories after." Reinforce the suspicion that Rim-dwellers were barbarians, and that Core sense of superiority. Give them a little pulp-novel thrill.

"So we were frightened. We dumped much of our cargo to distract them, and made a blind jump. But our computer was already damaged. We could not stop the jump, and we prayed that we would survive the landing. At least this seemed merciful. The other choice was not."

"I am sorry we came out by your parade. We did not want to hurt anyone. We only wished to find a safe port, repair our ship, and sell the trinkets that remained behind."

And for the stinger. "Please, do not arrest us. I fear we are already ruined; we do not have a single credit to our names. If we are arrested... there is no hope for us."

The Bothan looked up toward the old officer. His eyes searched for understanding, for someone who knew what it was to face one's end. Under the table, he crossed his fingers. Hopefully the old man would have enough common decency not to arrest a penniless refugee.

[Anarion]

Jered's manner was calm when he was in the room. Subdued, but also vaguely disgusted with the whole situation.

"I'm the ship's cargo master" he told the guard in a rougher tone than his norm. "I grew up on the outer rim. I was never a good pilot, but I had a head for numbers. If I'd been from a better family, I wouldn't have to constantly fly around with all those aliens." His slight sneer told the cops exactly how little he thought of aliens. "But I wasn't, my parents were moisture farmers. My only route out of that place was to sell my services at the nearest spaceport. We were gonna make a killing on this route. The whole hold was full, but we dumped it all to make our escape from those damn pirates outside of Tatooine. Well, not all." Jered gave the cops a wry grin. "3 crates of gaffi sticks in the corner somehow hung on through the cargo dump. Don't suppose you'd like to buy any? They're from Tatooine and the best one was once Darth Vader's very own gaffi stick. a relic like that would look great over a fireplace. One of a kind, now that he's gone." Jered gave a clipped laugh, like he didn't even believe he was giving this pitch.

[Elanorin]

Jayka jumped a clear inch off her chair when Bonehead resumed his shouting. She was still holding her hands up.

"What? About what? Look I get that things are crazy after what happened at Yavin but if you're looking for alliance you've got the wrong crew. There is no big evil plot against the Empire here! Just because we're from the Outer Rim doesn't make us rebels. And if we were capable of pulling off a stunt like that do you really think we would have come crash-diving face-first straight in to your laps on a Wayfarer? Which, by the way, is not a trashbag. I'll have you know she's one sweet ship, I mean, there's this rattle which is then followed by this bang and it seems like it comes from the propulsion hold but it doesn't because I've been through that thing like five times and it's flawless. You know a lot of the Wayfarers have to have a driveboost to tap the sublight for the hyperdrive to sustain for more than a few days but not Hail. She's... perfect." Jayka realised she was smiling a little and instantly stopped.

"But she's a cargo ship. Not some alliance gunner or spy infiltrator. Just look at her! I love her to bits but that girl couldn't sneak up on a corpse."

[Hawkflight]

"OUT OF THE SHIP! OUT OUT OUT!" yelled Bonehead, gesturing unsafely with his blaster pistol. Old Tired Guy seemed a little more relaxed once he became aware of the fact that he was the only person here holding a longarm.

Bonehead meanwhile was getting all up in Aryur's face. It was a doltish decision - he was close enough that if Aryur was a trained CQB agent he'd have two broken arms by now, but the human seemed pretty confident that he was far more powerful than any alien fuzzball. "You are under arrest for violating Imperial airspace, failing to properly log your flight path, and the six hundred safety violations I'm expecting to find in that trashbag ship!" he yelled. This guy was clearly more COMPNOR youth than police cadet, and Old Tired Guy was just looking older and tireder by the word.

Iria followed the others out, her hands wiping the last bit of water from her brow. Fortunately, her species had oily fur, the better to repel water, but her fur wasn't exactly in the greatest of shape at the moment. Still, technically her hands were up.


One after another, the crew of the Hail If Parts Fall Off were taken from their cells and separately interrogated.

Each of them in turn found themselves sitting in a small room with a metal desk in front of Bonehead and Old Tired Guy.

Every conversation started the exact same way. Bonehead slammed his fist on the table and said, "TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW!"

So how did the crew answer?

Iria sat herself on the chair, her fur still slightly fluffy from shaking off all the water, making her look somewhat like a giant stuffed animal. She stared steadily at Bonehead. The man was clearly a bully, and bullies were definitely not a new thing to her. It occurred to her that if she was going to get out of this peacefully, then she'd have to rely on the old man, whom she assumed was Bonehead's superior.

"Well, for one thing, I know that your handling of firearms violates every safety regulation in the book," she said, a bit of her contrariness showing. "Rule number one: don't point your weapon at anyone you don't intend to kill. Rule number two: the weapon is always loaded and set to kill, even when it's not. Rule number three: follow proper trigger discipline, and don't put your finger on the trigger until you are ready and willing to shoot." Taking a second to take a breath, she glanced back and forth between Bonehead and the old man. Her speech was not just simple rebellion, as it may sound to an average observer. She also hoped that her speech on firearm safety would earn her points with the old man, proving that she was not just some random thug. "When you're an alien growing up on Taris, you learn how to properly handle yourself, or you die," she added, by way of explanation.

"As for me? I'm a racer. Iria Stormchaser. You can check with the authorities on Taris if you don't believe me. Or talk to the Blood Runners, they'll be more than happy to tell you how I leave their sorry butts in the dust every year. My swoop bike was destroyed in an accident (I believe it was sabotage, myself), so I hired on with the Falloff crew to make some money to repair my bike so I can race again." Iria realized using her real name was a risk, but she didn't believe she had much to worry about here. She never did anything technically illegal, certainly nothing the Empire should take note of. She did have a bounty on her head, but the police, especially among the core worlds, shouldn't take an interest in that kind of thing, so she believed honesty was the best policy here.

[TheAmishPirate]

Arali tapped her chin with a finger thoughtfully. "Let's see...I know potatoes don't like sandy soil, so if you see something that looks like one on Tatooine you shouldn't eat it. Probably poisonous or venomous or full of venomous poison or something nasty like that. Trees aren't always safe places to hide from wildlife, because sometimes the wildlife is hiding from the tree and halfway through your evening you're getting eaten up by some branches. Ooh, and I know Marble-berries? Don't actually make good marbles, and anybody who tells you otherwise is probably looking to swipe your wallet when you're trying it out..."

Nothing to see here. Just a simple, geologically-minded refugee who couldn't quite take a hint.

"But most of all?" She leaned forward with an impish gleam in her eye. "I know you look like the sort of fellow who needs a genuine Gaffi Stick; fresh from Tatooine. Am I correct, or am I absolutely correct?"

...a simple, geologically-minded refugee with a dire need to meet a sales quota.

[Thanqol]

And for the stinger. "Please, do not arrest us. I fear we are already ruined; we do not have a single credit to our names. If we are arrested... there is no hope for us."

The Bothan looked up toward the old officer. His eyes searched for understanding, for someone who knew what it was to face one's end. Under the table, he crossed his fingers. Hopefully the old man would have enough common decency not to arrest a penniless refugee.

Bonehead sneered with contempt throughout this, noting down the Bothan's words in a notebook.


Jered's manner was calm when he was in the room. Subdued, but also vaguely disgusted with the whole situation.

"I'm the ship's cargo master" he told the guard in a rougher tone than his norm. "I grew up on the outer rim. I was never a good pilot, but I had a head for numbers. If I'd been from a better family, I wouldn't have to constantly fly around with all those aliens." His slight sneer told the cops exactly how little he thought of aliens. "But I wasn't, my parents were moisture farmers. My only route out of that place was to sell my services at the nearest spaceport. We were gonna make a killing on this route. The whole hold was full, but we dumped it all to make our escape from those damn pirates outside of Tatooine. Well, not all." Jered gave the cops a wry grin. "3 crates of gaffi sticks in the corner somehow hung on through the cargo dump. Don't suppose you'd like to buy any? They're from Tatooine and the best one was once Darth Vader's very own gaffi stick. a relic like that would look great over a fireplace. One of a kind, now that he's gone." Jered gave a clipped laugh, like he didn't even believe he was giving this pitch.

This was getting Jered a bit of a restrained laugh, and Bonehead was relaxing a bit.


Jayka jumped a clear inch off her chair when Bonehead resumed his shouting. She was still holding her hands up.

"What? About what? Look I get that things are crazy after what happened at Yavin but if you're looking for alliance you've got the wrong crew. There is no big evil plot against the Empire here! Just because we're from the Outer Rim doesn't make us rebels. And if we were capable of pulling off a stunt like that do you really think we would have come crash-diving face-first straight in to your laps on a Wayfarer? Which, by the way, is not a trashbag. I'll have you know she's one sweet ship, I mean, there's this rattle which is then followed by this bang and it seems like it comes from the propulsion hold but it doesn't because I've been through that thing like five times and it's flawless. You know a lot of the Wayfarers have to have a driveboost to tap the sublight for the hyperdrive to sustain for more than a few days but not Hail. She's... perfect." Jayka realised she was smiling a little and instantly stopped.

"But she's a cargo ship. Not some alliance gunner or spy infiltrator. Just look at her! I love her to bits but that girl couldn't sneak up on a corpse."

Jayka's response was a sigh and a roll of the eyes as Bonehead painstakingly noted everything down.


"Well, for one thing, I know that your handling of firearms violates every safety regulation in the book," she said, a bit of her contrariness showing. "Rule number one: don't point your weapon at anyone you don't intend to kill. Rule number two: the weapon is always loaded and set to kill, even when it's not. Rule number three: follow proper trigger discipline, and don't put your finger on the trigger until you are ready and willing to shoot." Taking a second to take a breath, she glanced back and forth between Bonehead and the old man. Her speech was not just simple rebellion, as it may sound to an average observer. She also hoped that her speech on firearm safety would earn her points with the old man, proving that she was not just some random thug. "When you're an alien growing up on Taris, you learn how to properly handle yourself, or you die," she added, by way of explanation.

"As for me? I'm a racer. Iria Stormchaser. You can check with the authorities on Taris if you don't believe me. Or talk to the Blood Runners, they'll be more than happy to tell you how I leave their sorry butts in the dust every year. My swoop bike was destroyed in an accident (I believe it was sabotage, myself), so I hired on with the Falloff crew to make some money to repair my bike so I can race again." Iria realized using her real name was a risk, but she didn't believe she had much to worry about here. She never did anything technically illegal, certainly nothing the Empire should take note of. She did have a bounty on her head, but the police, especially among the core worlds, shouldn't take an interest in that kind of thing, so she believed honesty was the best policy here.

Bonehead gave Iria a cold glare throughout her entire speech then briefly left the room.

~O~

When he came back he was smiling grimly. "I apologise, Miss Stormchaser. Your credentials check out."


Arali tapped her chin with a finger thoughtfully. "Let's see...I know potatoes don't like sandy soil, so if you see something that looks like one on Tatooine you shouldn't eat it. Probably poisonous or venomous or full of venomous poison or something nasty like that. Trees aren't always safe places to hide from wildlife, because sometimes the wildlife is hiding from the tree and halfway through your evening you're getting eaten up by some branches. Ooh, and I know Marble-berries? Don't actually make good marbles, and anybody who tells you otherwise is probably looking to swipe your wallet when you're trying it out..."

Nothing to see here. Just a simple, geologically-minded refugee who couldn't quite take a hint.

"But most of all?" She leaned forward with an impish gleam in her eye. "I know you look like the sort of fellow who needs a genuine Gaffi Stick; fresh from Tatooine. Am I correct, or am I absolutely correct?"

...a simple, geologically-minded refugee with a dire need to meet a sales quota.

Bonehead didn't even bother to write any of this garbage down.

Regardless, after all of that, the next question was the same to everyone: "A ship like this, an entry like that - a very convenient entry for fugitives from justice. Harbouring a criminal is a serious crime - but there is a significant reward if you provide information right here and now. So, with that in mind, tell me about your fellow crew members."

[the_druid_droid]

Regardless, after all of that, the next question was the same to everyone: "A ship like this, an entry like that - a very convenient entry for fugitives from justice. Harbouring a criminal is a serious crime - but there is a significant reward if you provide information right here and now. So, with that in mind, tell me about your fellow crew members."

Damn

Well, odds were good that they were all criminals of one sort or another. But if Bonehead really had enough evidence to get one of them, life would get much harder. Probably best to play it off as well as he could while using this persona.

Calling on his training, Aryur channeled his nerves into an appearance of suspicion and unease. "We are not criminals! I am sure! Well... I think I am sure. My co-pilot and the human, they are not criminals. They have been with me from the beginning. I know them. The boy, he has not lived enough to be a criminal. He is a farmer, innocent of the world. The Selonian, I hear she has trouble in her past, but I believe it is the criminals who are after her, not the other way around."

"The others, I cannot say. They are new to my crew, taken on first as passengers when we needed credits." The Bothan leaned closer to the officers, close enough for the smell of wet fur to cross the table, and glanced toward the holding cells with a worried expression. "This criminal, they are not violent, I hope? We are not in danger?"

[Anarion]

Jered fidgeted. "Oh god, I didn't file the docking manifold in triplicate at the port authority, did I? Is the jail term long for that? Please don't tell my parents, they'd never forgive their son for landing in jail."

[Elanorin]

Regardless, after all of that, the next question was the same to everyone: "A ship like this, an entry like that - a very convenient entry for fugitives from justice. Harbouring a criminal is a serious crime - but there is a significant reward if you provide information right here and now. So, with that in mind, tell me about your fellow crew members."

Oh no, Arali. What have you gone and stolen now?

"Harbouring a criminal that's- that's pretty serious stuff. Look, I really don't want trouble." Jayka said softly as she tucked her fidgeting hands between her thighs and the hard seat of the chair. She took a breath and then began, speaking as clearly as she could without rushing, trying to put her nerves aside.

"Let's see, the Captain he's... well... he's awesome at flying. He's one damn pilot. Bothan notwithstanding. You should have seen him when we snapped out of hyperspace because I thought we were crashing for certain, but he somehow managed to get Hail under control and she doesn't exactly handle like a TIE fighter. I mean, wow. I don't know how he did it- he was all over those controls. I have never seen anything like it. You should have seen it- well- I guess you kind of did. But seriously, genius in the cockpit, thatone. Frankly, I was somewhat hesitant that he would be up to it but he's the reason we're here at all, without him you'd be scraping us off the side of the nearest skyscraper about now. And even though you're really good at making this whole thing very unpleasant, I still much rather be here than dead. So... yeah... Hail is his ship too and he keeps her well enough. He's no mechanic but, he does right by her as best he can." Jayka shifted uncomfortably, stretching her back. The chair was cold and hard and its design seemed dedicated to inflict aches. "Have you got a glass of water?" She cleared her throat and then continued on.

"So the Selonian. She's uh... well... she's kind of one of those you just prefer not to piss off. You know? I don't think she's actually dangerous as such but really it's just more headache than it's worth. She can be blunt to the point of verbally inflicting physical trauma at times but you just need to let it out the other ear because she doesn't really mean it, I reckon. They probably have other ways where she's from. It's a big galaxy and all that. When you're flying with an almost exclusively alien crew you have to learn methods to let some things slide. She is pretty good at racing, I'm told, and she helps the Captain out in the cockpit sometimes. Not that Hail lends herself to racing exactly. But I guess a cargo helm is better than none at all. She's not big with the wearing of clothes which has me a bit uncomfortable if I'm honest. But I guess you don't mind, being a man and all. Unless the furry thing isn't... your cup of- have you got any other chairs at all? The Twi'lek. Well she's the best of the lot, really. She has a bit of an interesting view of the Universe but spend more than five minutes with her and I dare you not to smile. Even when you really don't want to. Actually, especially when you don't want to. I've known her the longest of all of them and even though she's an alien she is the most fun to be around. Admittedly, she likes to get people in to trouble- say the wrong thing to the wrong person or the odd practical joke just to see what happens. One time she hid homed astro-nav chips in my pocket. I had an entourage of short-fusing gibberish-talking astromech droids stalking me for three days. And then there was the blind date set-up... ...well... I guess you had to be there." she took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"And that leaves my fellow human, our cargo master. I don't know what to say about him. He's alright, I guess." She shrugged, looking at her knees. "I like his hair. Even when it's all..." she gestured around her head in a way that in her mind described Jered's hair perfectly but probably just made her look slightly deranged. "But don't tell him I said that. He's plenty vain enough as it is. I don't really know him, to be honest. Don't know most of them that well, really. I never planned on ending up with a crew like this but it was literally days before I was knee-deep in cable tracks once I set foot on Hail and I've never really made it out. Not that I'd really want to leave now I'm there, mind you. I guess I've just found my place."

"What more do you want to know?" she asked, shifting on the hellishly uncomfortable chair again. She felt cold. Was it cold? She almost missed the heat on Hail.

[Anarion]

When pressed about the crew, Jered tapped his chin and thought for a few minutes. "Well, can't say I know the Bothan real well. He's a hell of a pilot though. Maybe one of those wannabe flyboys that got stuck needing to make a living for himself? Honestly, that's the kind of fellow you want flying the outer rim, since he gets more out of that ship than he has any right to. Never heard of him doing anything bad though. I mean, maybe he doesn't always follow his exact flight path, but that's harmless right, like driving a cloudcar a little too fast?

"The other human, her name's Kayla, she's a real engineering whiz. I guess she went to school somewhere to learn ships. Have you talked to her yet? She's in love with the Hail. I ain't ever seen a gal so head over heels. She's a sweet girl though, happy as a clam once you set her up with some wires and a nav computer. She's timid too, I doubt she'd so much as cross a road when the light's the wrong color. I'd never believe she did anything wrong. She just loves all ships.

The Selonian. I don't know her too well. She's rough, competitive. Good to have with you. She's a bit of a mechanic too, talks all about swoop bikes constantly, real expert. I guess she used to be in the scene? I dunno, something like that." He scratched the back of his head like he was trying to remember. "Yeah, used to be a racer somewhere, I'm pretty sure. That's not illegal though, right?"

Nervous chuckle.

"Let's see, the Twi'lek. She's friendly, real nice gal. Always got a joke ready and a warm smile. Not that I'd do anything mind you, we're colleagues, strictly professional. And um, I mean once or twice she's swiped some extra chocolate when we were in port without paying for it. You wouldn't send her to jail for that, right? I'll pay for her if you're tracking that, it's only a bit of sweets. Is that what you meant though? You probably keep a permanent record of all that stuff, don't you?"

He put his head in his hands as though he'd just done the worst possible thing selling out a friend.

[Hawkflight]

(A/N: I don't know the characters' fake identities, so I'll refer to them by their real names in this post. Please assume that, for all practical purposes, I am using their cover identities, especially as noted where their names are bracketed, [like this].)


Bonehead gave Iria a cold glare throughout her entire speech then briefly left the room.

~O~

When he came back he was smiling grimly. "I apologise, Miss Stormchaser. Your credentials check out."

"Damn right they do," said Iria. "So how much did they complain about me, hmm? I just gotta know."

However, Iria's question was not to be answered, for ...


Regardless, after all of that, the next question was the same to everyone: "A ship like this, an entry like that - a very convenient entry for fugitives from justice. Harbouring a criminal is a serious crime - but there is a significant reward if you provide information right here and now. So, with that in mind, tell me about your fellow crew members."

"Convenient for criminals, but not for us," said Iria. "Do you realize how much money it'll cost to repair that ship? I'll never be able to afford to fix my bike at this rate."

Sighing, Iria took a moment to think over the question. "I don't know much about them, but I can tell you for sure that none of them are criminals," she said. "[Aryur], the Bothan, is our captain and pilot. Uh, he's not exactly the brightest person, but he's one hell of a pilot. I ... don't really approve of him so much, as he's unnecessarily put our lives in danger to acquire certain cargo (all legally, I can bear witness, that just made it harder), but he's not a criminal." Iria looked uneasy saying this, and she was. As a Selonian, her crew came before all else, they were like her family. And speaking ill of one's family, even if they were male, was not generally considered polite practice.

"[Jered's] our cargo master. He's a bit boisterous, likes being the center of attention, he's a nice guy. Smart, too." Here, Iria began to be a bit more relaxed. "[Arali], the twi'lek, she's a sweet girl. A bit petulant sometimes, but I like her. She's ... optimistic. [Jayka's] also nice, though a bit shy. She's probably the only person on the ship smarter than I am, and she's a genius at navigation and repair jobs, but again, not a criminal."

[TheAmishPirate]

Bonehead didn't even bother to write any of this garbage down.

Regardless, after all of that, the next question was the same to everyone: "A ship like this, an entry like that - a very convenient entry for fugitives from justice. Harbouring a criminal is a serious crime - but there is a significant reward if you provide information right here and now. So, with that in mind, tell me about your fellow crew members."

Shame. That was quality information right there, and for free too! There was a man who didn't appreciate the value of things. Like that sweet, delicious badge hanging from his chest...

Arali blinked herself awake just as the cop finished his question. "Huh? Them? They're a lovely crowd to bounce around the stars with. Wonderfully friendly, and quite reliable in a pinch if I say so myself. I've lost count the number of evenings the girls and I have spent chattering away in the dining room bay or around our bunks or arms-deep in something probably flammable and disease-ridden. You know how it goes."

"...although you'd think all that friendship would count for at least a shiny new coat of paint. Unless you're a smelly, walking fur coat with no sense of flair!" She added, loud enough to be heard in Aryur's cell. And every other cell besides.

She settled back in. "Now, I know what you're thinking, and I understand; I can't hardly see the big guy cutting loose or getting his pretty little hands dirty, even if you paid him to. But he really is a big softie when you get past all of...that other stuff. And between you and me?" She leaned in conspiratorially. "I think his mother might not have hugged him as much as she ought to have. But you didn't hear that from me."

[Thanqol]

Bonehead finished taking notes and then put away his notebook. He stood up, opened the door, walked to the cells and pushed some buttons. All of the cell doors slid open - except for Iria's, which remained locked. "You're free to go, except for the otter thing. She's staying her for further questioning. The rest of your credentials check out, so move your ship out of the precinct."

Bonehead seemed totally relaxed about this, having evidently decided that most of these folks weren't threats, but Old Tired Guy was in the background again and he was holding his blaster rifle across his lap like he was expecting something.

[Anarion]

Jered stretched and walked out of his cell, his knuckles and neck cracking as he rolled them. He wasn't much for jails, but Coruscant wasn't such a bad place to be questioned, all things considered. It was clean, dry, and the city view out the cell window hadn't been half bad.

As he watched the group form up, he noticed the Selonian missing and heard Bonehead's statement. "So, what, exactly is she being questioned about, if you don't mind my asking."

[Hawkflight]

Bonehead finished taking notes and then put away his notebook. He stood up, opened the door, walked to the cells and pushed some buttons. All of the cell doors slid open - except for Iria's, which remained locked. "You're free to go, except for the otter thing. She's staying her for further questioning. The rest of your credentials check out, so move your ship out of the precinct."

Bonehead seemed totally relaxed about this, having evidently decided that most of these folks weren't threats, but Old Tired Guy was in the background again and he was holding his blaster rifle across his lap like he was expecting something.

"What? Hey, you said my credentials checked out!" Iria said indignantly.

[TheAmishPirate]

Jered stretched and walked out of his cell, his knuckles and neck cracking as he rolled them. He wasn't much for jails, but Coruscant wasn't such a bad place to be questioned, all things considered. It was clean, dry, and the city view out the cell window hadn't been half bad.

As he watched the group form up, he noticed the Selonian missing and heard Bonehead's statement. "So, what, exactly is she being questioned about, if you don't mind my asking."

Arali walked out of her cell like a good little detainee. She certainly hadn't been eyeing the vents or windows or any other of the gaps in security that she could've slipped through. That would make her a bad detainee, and as she clearly just stated, she was not that.

"Yeah, and when and where can we pick her up again?" She asked, poking out from behind Jered's impressive frame. "You forgot to mention that part."

[Elanorin]

Jayka hesitated for a few moments before she slowly stepped out of her cell, eyeing the opening as if it was about to give her a nasty electric shock as she walked through.

She joined the rest just as she realised Iria was not among them but still in her cell. She turned and directed a concerned look towards Iria. She had no idea what was going on but something was making her uneasy and it wasn't just the illegal cargo welded away on Hail. If it had been her cell that remained locked she would have had a stomach full of icy horror round about now. She knew Iria was made of much tougher stuff and would probably be able to give as good as she got from that Bonehead officer but that still didn't mean Jayka felt in any way comfortable with the thought of leaving someone behind.

"Surely she should have someone with her for this... questioning? I don't know much about the rules here on Coruscant but isn't she allowed to have someone? Like an advisor... or something? Could one of us stay with her?" she asked, giving Jered a sideways glance.

[Thanqol]

Jered stretched and walked out of his cell, his knuckles and neck cracking as he rolled them. He wasn't much for jails, but Coruscant wasn't such a bad place to be questioned, all things considered. It was clean, dry, and the city view out the cell window hadn't been half bad.

As he watched the group form up, he noticed the Selonian missing and heard Bonehead's statement. "So, what, exactly is she being questioned about, if you don't mind my asking."

"Police business!" snapped Bonehead.


"What? Hey, you said my credentials checked out!" Iria said indignantly.

Bonehead patently ignored her.


Arali walked out of her cell like a good little detainee. She certainly hadn't been eyeing the vents or windows or any other of the gaps in security that she could've slipped through. That would make her a bad detainee, and as she clearly just stated, she was not that.

"Yeah, and when and where can we pick her up again?" She asked, poking out from behind Jered's impressive frame. "You forgot to mention that part."

"That's police business!" snapped Bonehead again. "She will be released when we are ready to release her, and not before!"


Jayka hesitated for a few moments before she slowly stepped out of her cell, eyeing the opening as if it was about to give her a nasty electric shock as she walked through.

She joined the rest just as she realised Iria was not among them but still in her cell. She turned and directed a concerned look towards Iria. She had no idea what was going on but something was making her uneasy and it wasn't just the illegal cargo welded away on Hail. If it had been her cell that remained locked she would have had a stomach full of icy horror round about now. She knew Iria was made of much tougher stuff and would probably be able to give as good as she got from that Bonehead officer but that still didn't mean Jayka felt in any way comfortable with the thought of leaving someone behind.

"Surely she should have someone with her for this... questioning? I don't know much about the rules here on Coruscant but isn't she allowed to have someone? Like an advisor... or something? Could one of us stay with her?" she asked, giving Jered a sideways glance.

"Are you asking to be put back in prison, civilian?" yelled Bonehead, voice and pitch rising dramatically. "Because if you do not get off my station right away I can arrange that!"

[Anarion]

Jered wasn't looking at Bonehead anymore, he was looking at the tired old guy. "You are holding a member of the crew of the Hail if Parts Fall Off. It is not a glorious ship, but it is ours. We are on a foreign planet, bereft of goods and far from home. Here, we are the guardians of that Selonian in there and we have every right to be here and to be informed if any charges are going to be brought against her. If there are no charges, you can, of course, release her."

[Thanqol]

Jered wasn't looking at Bonehead anymore, he was looking at the tired old guy. "You are holding a member of the crew of the Hail if Parts Fall Off. It is not a glorious ship, but it is ours. We are on a foreign planet, bereft of goods and far from home. Here, we are the guardians of that Selonian in there and we have every right to be here and to be informed if any charges are going to be brought against her. If there are no charges, you can, of course, release her."

"Under the Galactic Unity Act," said snarled Bonehead, "the Imperial Police can detain any suspect for up to two weeks without charge. This is the Galactic Centre, you rim world scum, and if you don't like it you can get back on your garbage scow and fly back the way you came."

Old Tired Guy didn't seem inclined to step in and help them.

[Anarion]

"Under the Galactic Unity Act," said snarled Bonehead, "the Imperial Police can detain any suspect for up to two weeks without charge. This is the Galactic Centre, you rim world scum, and if you don't like it you can get back on your garbage scow and fly back the way you came."

Old Tired Guy didn't seem inclined to step in and help them.

"All of us?" Jered asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

[Thanqol]

"All of us?" Jered asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Yes!" pause, "No! Get out of here!" said Bonehead, increasingly enraged.

[the_druid_droid]

"Yes!" pause, "No! Get out of here!" said Bonehead, increasingly enraged.

The Bothan looked between Iria waiting in her cell and Bonehead's snarling, spittle-flecked expression. He shrugged and threw a stoop into his posture.

"Very well. It seems you will not budge on this matter. We must go and make back what little we can, we will need it for a lawyer. We will return for the Selonian when her charges are to be announced."

Aryur tugged at Jered's coat. "Come along."

[Anarion]

The Bothan looked between Iria waiting in her cell and Bonehead's snarling, spittle-flecked expression. He shrugged and threw a stoop into his posture.

"Very well. It seems you will not budge on this matter. We must go and make back what little we can, we will need it for a lawyer. We will return for the Selonian when her charges are to be announced."

Aryur tugged at Jered's coat. "Come along."

Jered sighed and gave the old man another glance before he turned and followed Aryur out of the prison.

Once they were safely out of earshot, he said, "I don't like leaving her. We had the right to stay, at least one of us, the police can't just pick someone up and hold them for no reason and without letting them contact anyone. But, now that we're out, you want to get the cargo unloaded and then bust her out of there?"

[the_druid_droid]

Jered sighed and gave the old man another glance before he turned and followed Aryur out of the prison.

Once they were safely out of earshot, he said, "I don't like leaving her. We had the right to stay, at least one of us, the police can't just pick someone up and hold them for no reason and without letting them contact anyone. But, now that we're out, you want to get the cargo unloaded and then bust her out of there?"

Aryur shook his head. "No. I want to knock over this candy stand before they get reinforcements back from the parade. But we need a minute to plan. Meet me in the cargo bay ASAP, and make sure the others come."

"We aren't leaving her behind. End of story."

[Anarion]

Aryur shook his head. "No. I want to knock over this candy stand before they get reinforcements back from the parade. But we need a minute to plan. Meet me in the cargo bay ASAP, and make sure the others come."

"We aren't leaving her behind. End of story."

"So, instead of getting our payment at leisure, relaxing for two weeks, and setting ourselves up for a rapid escape, we're going to get our girl immediately, make a hot escape, sabotage the tractor system somehow, and keep our ship whole enough and undetected enough that in the middle of the Empire's capital we're going to stay on the planet, switch docks, and be able to get the cargo unloaded."

Jered clapped Aryur on the back and smiled broadly. "I knew you were a good man to work with captain. Let's do it."

[Hawkflight]

"So, instead of getting our payment at leisure, relaxing for two weeks, and setting ourselves up for a rapid escape, we're going to get our girl immediately, make a hot escape, sabotage the tractor system somehow, and keep our ship whole enough and undetected enough that in the middle of the Empire's capital we're going to stay on the planet, switch docks, and be able to get the cargo unloaded."

Jered clapped Aryur on the back and smiled broadly. "I knew you were a good man to work with captain. Let's do it."

If Iria heard this, she would have disapproved of this plan. True, she wanted to be out of there; it was her first time in prison, and she didn't exactly want to make it a long time. But she also didn't want her crew to risk themselves unnecessarily for her sake. After all, she hadn't actually done anything illegal that the rest of them hadn't, so she shouldn't fear a fair trial in two weeks, if it came to that.

But she didn't hear any of what they said, so it was a moot point.


"Under the Galactic Unity Act," said snarled Bonehead, "the Imperial Police can detain any suspect for up to two weeks without charge. This is the Galactic Centre, you rim world scum, and if you don't like it you can get back on your garbage scow and fly back the way you came."

Old Tired Guy didn't seem inclined to step in and help them.

"So ... without charge, huh?" Iria said. "So you're just detaining me for fits and giggles?"

[Elanorin]

"Are you asking to be put back in prison, civilian?" yelled Bonehead, voice and pitch rising dramatically. "Because if you do not get off my station right away I can arrange that!"

Jayka took a step back when she was once more faced with Bonehead's short temper. She fought an urge to hold her hands up again.


"Under the Galactic Unity Act," said snarled Bonehead, "the Imperial Police can detain any suspect for up to two weeks without charge. This is the Galactic Centre, you rim world scum, and if you don't like it you can get back on your garbage scow and fly back the way you came."

Two weeks?! Jayka's mouth dropped open.


"Very well. It seems you will not budge on this matter. We must go and make back what little we can, we will need it for a lawyer. We will return for the Selonian when her charges are to be announced."

Aryur tugged at Jered's coat. "Come along."

"What? But Captain..." she watched in confusion as Aryur left and Jered followed. She looked once more at Iria, "Don't worry." she said with an attempt at a reassuring smile "We won't go far, I don't think. Try not to... piss them off or anything. I'm sure this is all just a misunderstanding..." she added hoping she sounded confident before she hurried after the two men, keeping well clear of Bonehead.

When she caught up the two of them were already talking.


"We aren't leaving her behind. End of story."

She looked at Aryur, then at Jered,


"So, instead of getting our payment at leisure, relaxing for two weeks, and setting ourselves up for a rapid escape, we're going to get our girl immediately, make a hot escape, sabotage the tractor system somehow, and keep our ship whole enough and undetected enough that in the middle of the Empire's capital we're going to stay on the planet, switch docks, and be able to get the cargo unloaded."

Jered clapped Aryur on the back and smiled broadly. "I knew you were a good man to work with captain. Let's do it."

Without a word Jayka turned and walked away to go back on board Hail.

[TheAmishPirate]

Aryur shook his head. "No. I want to knock over this candy stand before they get reinforcements back from the parade. But we need a minute to plan. Meet me in the cargo bay ASAP, and make sure the others come."

"We aren't leaving her behind. End of story."

"Oooh, dibs on the shouty guy's badge." Arali's grinned and fell into line. She flexed her fingers and stretched out her arms, aching with anticipation.

[the_druid_droid]

Once the crew were back inside the Hail, Aryur made to close the cargo hatch and threw a few preliminary switches to give the impression of a takeoff prep. Then he turned to address the others.

"Ok, here's the plan - I'm sick of this planet already and we're busting Iria out. They're low on staff because of that delightful tickertape event we almost crashed in the middle of. This is our chance."

The Bothan put a hand on his sidearm. "I'll go start trouble with the police. Jered, you come with me - I'll need you to help me distract anyone we run across until I can line up a good shot. For now we're going stun, but if it gets hot, we go red."

Next he pointed to their resident techie. "While that's going on, Jayka needs to slice into the network here, erase any tracking data they have on us, and find a way to bring that tractor beam down. If the high-tech approach doesn't work, take the mechanic's route. There should be a sledgehammer in one of the tool bins."

Finally, the Twi'lek. "Arali, you do what you do best. Liberate this place of anything that looks useful or valuable. That goes double for important engine parts on the cloud cars - should slow down any pursuit and we might be able to salvage something for repairs."

"We'll meet back in the hanger in 15 minutes. If me and Jered are late, we'll probably be coming out hot with Iria. Man the guns and unload into anything chasing us. Then we kick the tires and light the fires!"

"Let's do this!" Aryur triggered the hatch door again and ran down it toward the station, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Thieves! Liars! Calumny!"

[Thanqol]

So, it seemed like there were two teams happening here.

Aryur and Jered were trying to distract the officers on duty by making some manner of commotion. Soon enough, Bonehead ran and Old Tired Guy shuffled up to see what was going on. They were armed and pretty wary at this point.

Meanwhile, Jayka and Arali were headed into the Station Hangar to look for stuff to steal or slice. Unfortunately, wandering around that hangar was the Firefighting Bot that they'd seen earlier - big, lethal and totally no-nonsense in it's meticulous scanning and repairs. If it wanted to go them it could tear them apart in seconds.


Meanwhile, Ira, down in her cell noticed a weird little holovid player on her pillow. When she examined it, it sprang to life and started playing ominous music. (http://youtu.be/mWo2WulqaOw") Soon after, a voice started speaking:

"Dear Miss Stormchaser,

You are being hunted.

I admit, I debated with myself as to give you my customary warning. On the one hand, you are a fellow Bounty Hunter and, it is said, likely to be an interesting opponent. On the other hand, you are a sentient rodent with pretensions of talent! If there is one good thing that comes of your filthy, diseased species it's that, properly tanned, you make excellent fur coats.

So, miss Stormchaser, I imagine we shall soon become quite intimate, you and I. First, in the graceful dance between predator and prey - and then in the warm embrace of your fur as it lines my boots.

And really, the only thing you need to worry your furry little head about at this point is if you want to die peacefully or die exhausted. You have something of a head start; use it, or don't.

Best wishes and all that,

- Sir Haegel, Bounty Hunter Extraordinare."

[Anarion]

"Hi there, friends." Jered said as the officers came out. "Sorry, we forgot something, didn't mean to bother you. You know how these things can be sometimes and, anyway..." He turned to Aryur "hey Bothan, what were we looking for again? You said something fell off the ship, right? Small part that got stuck on somebody's clothes and might have wound up around here?" He gave a helpless shrug to the cops. "You know, I can never remember all the part names. And, well, you saw the name of our girl."

[Elanorin]

Although Jayka had been the first to return to the ship she was the last to join the group in the cargo hold as she had headed straight to her quarters and loaded up on as much of her gear as she could fit on her.


Once the crew were back inside the Hail, Aryur made to close the cargo hatch and threw a few preliminary switches to give the impression of a takeoff prep. Then he turned to address the others.

"Ok, here's the plan - I'm sick of this planet already and we're busting Iria out. They're low on staff because of that delightful tickertape event we almost crashed in the middle of. This is our chance."

The Bothan put a hand on his sidearm. "I'll go start trouble with the police. Jered, you come with me - I'll need you to help me distract anyone we run across until I can line up a good shot. For now we're going stun, but if it gets hot, we go red."

Next he pointed to their resident techie. "While that's going on, Jayka needs to slice into the network here, erase any tracking data they have on us, and find a way to bring that tractor beam down. If the high-tech approach doesn't work, take the mechanic's route. There should be a sledgehammer in one of the tool bins."

Finally, the Twi'lek. "Arali, you do what you do best. Liberate this place of anything that looks useful or valuable. That goes double for important engine parts on the cloud cars - should slow down any pursuit and we might be able to salvage something for repairs."

"We'll meet back in the hanger in 15 minutes. If me and Jered are late, we'll probably be coming out hot with Iria. Man the guns and unload into anything chasing us. Then we kick the tires and light the fires!"

"Let's do this!" Aryur triggered the hatch door again and ran down it toward the station, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Thieves! Liars! Calumny!"


Meanwhile, Jayka and Arali were headed into the Station Hangar to look for stuff to steal or slice. Unfortunately, wandering around that hangar was the Firefighting Bot that they'd seen earlier - big, lethal and totally no-nonsense in it's meticulous scanning and repairs. If it wanted to go them it could tear them apart in seconds.

Jayka's heart skipped a beat when she spotted the firebot and quickly shrunk in to cover. Hells. Thankfully she was teamed with the most dastardly Twi'lek on the Outer Rim.

"Think you can distract that thing for a few minutes, Arali? Talk to it or... start a fire somewhere or something?" she whispered as she eyed the droid cautiously while glancing around for the best access port. Her eyes were hunting for the biggest access she could find, like a proper network station, but a small transmission port would do in a pinch. The Captain had made a tall order and she needed as much access as she could get to be able to shut down the tractor beam and get access to archives to erase their presence.

[the_druid_droid]

"Hi there, friends." Jered said as the officers came out. "Sorry, we forgot something, didn't mean to bother you. You know how these things can be sometimes and, anyway..." He turned to Aryur "hey Bothan, what were we looking for again? You said something fell off the ship, right? Small part that got stuck on somebody's clothes and might have wound up around here?" He gave a helpless shrug to the cops. "You know, I can never remember all the part names. And, well, you saw the name of our girl."

"Fell off? Hell! Where are those crates? The last thing we have after an assault by pirates and they are gone! Where have you taken them?!" The Bothan roared at the officers, waving his arms in apparent rage, and watching for a moment to strike with his blaster.

[Anarion]

"Fell off? Hell! Where are those crates? The last thing we have after an assault by pirates and they are gone! Where have you taken them?!" The Bothan roared at the officers, waving his arms in apparent rage, and watching for a moment to strike with his blaster.

"They took the crates! You didn't say they took the crates!" Jered was shouting too, though he was careful not to put himself in the way of Aryur's firing solution. "Hey, if you took those crates, you gotta pay for those Gaffi sticks! Those are priceless heirlooms!" He was shouting at the cops himself.

[TheAmishPirate]

Jayka's heart skipped a beat when she spotted the firebot and quickly shrunk in to cover. Hells. Thankfully she was teamed with the most dastardly Twi'lek on the Outer Rim.

"Think you can distract that thing for a few minutes, Arali? Talk to it or... start a fire somewhere or something?" she whispered as she eyed the droid cautiously while glancing around for the best access port. Her eyes were hunting for the biggest access she could find, like a proper network station, but a small transmission port would do in a pinch. The Captain had made a tall order and she needed as much access as she could get to be able to shut down the tractor beam and get access to archives to erase their presence.

"Don't worry; I've got this." Arali gave a quick thumbs-up, and vaulted into the open, approaching the firebot with a panicked wave. "Mister Firebot, Mister Firebot! Urgent question from a civilian!"

Without giving the robot time to answer, she jumped in feet-first. "So you're a fire-fighting droid, right? Good, reliable, flame-retardant metal and circuitry. But you know what happens when electricity sparks, right? One crossed wire in the wrong place, and whoosh everything's up in smoke!" She demonstrated with gratuitous arm gestures. "And to think; you're chock full of the stuff! Miles upon miles upon miles of wire with electricity in every inch! You fight fires, and yet it's like you're a walking superhighway of fire." She stretched up on her tiptoes, a manic gleam in her eye...

...and then she was back down to earth, tapping her chin curiously. "I'm just wondering how you cope with that."

[Thanqol]

"They took the crates! You didn't say they took the crates!" Jered was shouting too, though he was careful not to put himself in the way of Aryur's firing solution. "Hey, if you took those crates, you gotta pay for those Gaffi sticks! Those are priceless heirlooms!" He was shouting at the cops himself.

"Nobody cares about your crates!" yelled Bonehead. "Get your garbage scow out of here or I'll impound it!"

Old Tired Guy was keeping really alert, standing well back and with just enough cover.


"Don't worry; I've got this." Arali gave a quick thumbs-up, and vaulted into the open, approaching the firebot with a panicked wave. "Mister Firebot, Mister Firebot! Urgent question from a civilian!"

Without giving the robot time to answer, she jumped in feet-first. "So you're a fire-fighting droid, right? Good, reliable, flame-retardant metal and circuitry. But you know what happens when electricity sparks, right? One crossed wire in the wrong place, and whoosh everything's up in smoke!" She demonstrated with gratuitous arm gestures. "And to think; you're chock full of the stuff! Miles upon miles upon miles of wire with electricity in every inch! You fight fires, and yet it's like you're a walking superhighway of fire." She stretched up on her tiptoes, a manic gleam in her eye...

...and then she was back down to earth, tapping her chin curiously. "I'm just wondering how you cope with that."

The firefighting droid swung around to look at her. A single red eye gazed blankly out of its armour-plated head and its hunched, animalistic shoulders flexed as it looked down at her. It made a strange rumbling-gurring-mroughph sound in hyperefficient, deep base language of emergency response droids, designed to be heard over howling winds and crackling fires. To those versed in that language it was something along the lines of "This area is off limits".

It didn't seem especially bright, this one - built for strength, speed and durability. That did mean it was probably easily distracted.

[the_druid_droid]

"Nobody cares about your crates!" yelled Bonehead. "Get your garbage scow out of here or I'll impound it!"

Old Tired Guy was keeping really alert, standing well back and with just enough cover.

"We have been harassed, imprisoned under questionable laws, and disrespected! But I did not expect to be robbed! Tell me where they are immediately!" Aryur kept gesturing, still careful to keep his hands away from the blaster at his side; the moment wasn't quite upon them. Old Tired Guy had a good idea though, and the Bothan's eyes cast around for some cover of his own once things got hot.

[Feel free to go for the insult, Anarion. I can use it as a stepping stone to draw on them.]

[Anarion]

"Nobody cares about your crates!" yelled Bonehead. "Get your garbage scow out of here or I'll impound it!"

Old Tired Guy was keeping really alert, standing well back and with just enough cover.


"Garbage scow? Garbage scow?! Listen to me you piece of Bantha-dung, loud-mouthed lout! If you think you can push us around for even one more word, think again! From the way your'e constantly shouting, I assume your mother was a Gamorean, and your friend there is so slow, he's got to be half-Kitonak. So shut your fat mouth and listen to me. If you even can listen through the wookie fur that's replaced your brain and spills out of your ears."

The shouting man started to open his mouth, but Jered cut him off.

"No, shut up! Your voice is worse than the sound of our ship's hanger opening without any oil! Gods man, are you actually deaf, is that it? You two are a pair of deaf mutes, this is a farce, and any second you're going to get up and give us a monkey dance, right? Well, monkey, go dance into your storage hold, grab our crates, and get them back here. NOW!"

[Elanorin]

"Don't worry; I've got this." Arali gave a quick thumbs-up, and vaulted into the open, approaching the firebot with a panicked wave. "Mister Firebot, Mister Firebot! Urgent question from a civilian!"

Without giving the robot time to answer, she jumped in feet-first. "So you're a fire-fighting droid, right? Good, reliable, flame-retardant metal and circuitry. But you know what happens when electricity sparks, right? One crossed wire in the wrong place, and whoosh everything's up in smoke!" She demonstrated with gratuitous arm gestures. "And to think; you're chock full of the stuff! Miles upon miles upon miles of wire with electricity in every inch! You fight fires, and yet it's like you're a walking superhighway of fire." She stretched up on her tiptoes, a manic gleam in her eye...

...and then she was back down to earth, tapping her chin curiously. "I'm just wondering how you cope with that."

Jayka couldn't help but grin a huge grin hearing Arali work her magic while she picked out the gear she had decided she would need for this. If they'd had the time she could have stayed here listening to Arali talk the logic out of the thing until it went in to self-shutdown. Time was not on their side however; the guys were out there taking the heat so they needed to be as quick as they could. A ten DAP should do it, keyed to a trip surge and a mid-volt battery. Yes.

Jayka stayed in cover as much as possible as she snuck around to get behind and close-up to the firebot. If she could just snap the DAP in to the bot's neural NET-port it would instantly send a surge that should short and clear the command queue for at least a few seconds. Hopefully the confusion would last long enough to then let her plug in an input pad so she could manually override the bot's command routines.

She bit her tongue and went for it.

[Thanqol]

"Garbage scow? Garbage scow?! Listen to me you piece of Bantha-dung, loud-mouthed lout! If you think you can push us around for even one more word, think again! From the way your'e constantly shouting, I assume your mother was a Gamorean, and your friend there is so slow, he's got to be half-Kitonak. So shut your fat mouth and listen to me. If you even can listen through the wookie fur that's replaced your brain and spills out of your ears."

The shouting man started to open his mouth, but Jered cut him off.

"No, shut up! Your voice is worse than the sound of our ship's hanger opening without any oil! Gods man, are you actually deaf, is that it? You two are a pair of deaf mutes, this is a farce, and any second you're going to get up and give us a monkey dance, right? Well, monkey, go dance into your storage hold, grab our crates, and get them back here. NOW!"

Bonehead became speechless with apocalyptic rage. His mouth gaped open and closed and his fingers clenched around his blaster pistol and he looked torn between shooting everyone, punching everyone, and screaming.

Old Tired Guy looked like he'd had enough too. He flicked his Blaster Rifle to stun and hefted it to put a shock round into Jered.

[Triumph: Disables Bonehead, who is a Minion. Old Tired Guy is a Rival.
Combat joined! Since you provoked them, they're rolling their (much worse) Cool and you're rolling Vigilance for initiative. In init, only successes matter.

Stuff:

Old Tired Guy: Initiative 3.
Wound Threshold 10/14 (the successes from Jered's attack applied here)
Defences: Adversary 1 (Upgrade one purple dice to one red dice when attacking), cover for 1 black, Soak 5.

Bonehead: Initiative 0
WT: 5/5
Defences: Soak 4]


Jayka couldn't help but grin a huge grin hearing Arali work her magic while she picked out the gear she had decided she would need for this. If they'd had the time she could have stayed here listening to Arali talk the logic out of the thing until it went in to self-shutdown. Time was not on their side however; the guys were out there taking the heat so they needed to be as quick as they could. A ten DAP should do it, keyed to a trip surge and a mid-volt battery. Yes.

Jayka stayed in cover as much as possible as she snuck around to get behind and close-up to the firebot. If she could just snap the DAP in to the bot's neural NET-port it would instantly send a surge that should short and clear the command queue for at least a few seconds. Hopefully the confusion would last long enough to then let her plug in an input pad so she could manually override the bot's command routines.

She bit her tongue and went for it.

The Droid was extraordinarily mono-focused. It was a design decision - they were designed not to get worked up by explosions happening nearby when there was work that needed doing. This made it really easy to sneak up on.


Roll yourself some Stealth. This Droid has a Cunning of 1, which means you're rolling one purple as difficulty, and add a blue for Arali's distraction.

If you pass that, which you probably will, you're rolling Slicing against the Droid's programming. You'll have three options:
Simple shutdown: 3 purple
Reprogram within basic parameters: 4 purple (i.e. nothing a search and rescue Droid wouldn't do, like kill someone)
Reprogram entirely: 5 purple]

[Anarion]

Jered wasn't sure what was going to happen, but he got ready to draw his blaster and continue harassing and distracting these two guards.

[initiative vigilance: 3 green, 1 yellow. 2 success, 2 irrelevant advantage. Jered's at Init: 2.]

[the_druid_droid]

Bonehead became speechless with apocalyptic rage. His mouth gaped open and closed and his fingers clenched around his blaster pistol and he looked torn between shooting everyone, punching everyone, and screaming.

Old Tired Guy looked like he'd had enough too. He flicked his Blaster Rifle to stun and hefted it to put a shock round into Jered.

That would do it. Even better, the old man looked to be prioritizing Jered as the threat here - which might be true on the Senate floor and in holo-chess, but with a blaster in his hand, the Bothan could more than hold his own. They'd pay for misjudging that.

Ducking behind a vacant desk, Aryur brought his weapon up, flipping it over to stun as he lined up the older officer in the sights.

[Initiative - 3 successes (and no advantage, etc). Shooting for some cover die myself.]

[Elanorin]

The Droid was extraordinarily mono-focused. It was a design decision - they were designed not to get worked up by explosions happening nearby when there was work that needed doing. This made it really easy to sneak up on.

Roll yourself some Stealth. This Droid has a Cunning of 1, which means you're rolling one purple as difficulty, and add a blue for Arali's distraction.

If you pass that, which you probably will, you're rolling Slicing against the Droid's programming. You'll have three options:
Simple shutdown: 3 purple
Reprogram within basic parameters: 4 purple (i.e. nothing a search and rescue Droid wouldn't do, like kill someone)
Reprogram entirely: 5 purple]

Jayka had never actually worked on this kind of unit before and was hoping her assumptions on its workings were close enough to the mark.

[Stealth: 2 success, 2 advantage
Perhaps the advantages mean she spots a stealthy route to a terminal where she can access the police archives and/or the tractor beam from?
Slice: 1 failure, 1 advantage
Reprogramming fails but perhaps the advantage means she accidentally shorts its alarm function?

[Thanqol]

Slicing the Droid wasn't an option. It was simply the case that if Jayka plugged into it and it took a step backwards then it'd crush her accidentally. Not a good finale.

What was a much easier slice was the nearby control panel. Using it she'd be able to send out an alert that there was a fire in the building which'd send the droid running. Now, that'd also trigger the alarm, but from the sounds of blaster fire upstairs that seemed to be happening anyway.


Meanwhile, Old Tired Guy took a shot and a miss with his blaster rifle. Once back behind his cover he grabbed out his pocket comlink.

Bonehead froze the moment actual blaster fire started, and he looked just about ready to panic.

Aryur and Jered had the floor, what did they do?

[Elanorin]

Jayka's face crumpled to a wrinkly grump at realising reprogramming the droid was a no-go. She cursed herself in her mind and decided she would look up this model and go through its specs first chance she got.

That control panel was promising though.

She quickly gave up on the firebot and snuck over to the control panel and changed the gear at hand that she would need. This was a simpler tapping feed situation. She decided to trigger a fire alarm on the other side of the police station, far enough away to get the bot out of sight but without sending it in the direction of the others. By the sound of it they had enough to deal with.

While there she took the opportunity to see where she could find security to be able to access station records and hopefully some tractor beam controls.

[the_druid_droid]

Meanwhile, Old Tired Guy took a shot and a miss with his blaster rifle. Once back behind his cover he grabbed out his pocket comlink.

Bonehead froze the moment actual blaster fire started, and he looked just about ready to panic.

Aryur and Jered had the floor, what did they do?

The Bothan responded with a shot of his own, the blue energy of a stun blast rippling toward the corner where the old man had taken cover. For all Aryur cared, Bonehead could do as he liked.

"Heads up, I think he pulled out a comm!"

[Assuming short range here, in order to be able to use stun. If not, Aryur will move out from cover to fire.

Roll was 3 G, 1 Y vs. 1 R, 1 Black
Result: 1 Advantage - spending to give Anarion 1 Blue]

[Anarion]

Jered caught Aryur's shouted warning and brought his own small laser pistol to bear, snapping his aim onto the comlink and focusing as tightly as he could. Sweat ran down his brow as he tried to line up the shot. He'd never been the best rifleman, but he had basic coordination and enough warning to set himself up.

[2 strain to double aim at the comlink and the hand holding it. 2 green, 1 blue vs. 1 red and 2 black (unless cover doesn't apply to taking aim at the comlink, but I assume it still does). Success and 2 advantage! Let's pass 1 of those back to Aryur for a blue on his next roll, and use the second to notice something critical for the fight. I'm thinking maybe there's a potentially explosive electronics panel just next to Old Tired Guy.]

[Thanqol]

Jayka's face crumpled to a wrinkly grump at realising reprogramming the droid was a no-go. She cursed herself in her mind and decided she would look up this model and go through its specs first chance she got.

That control panel was promising though.

She quickly gave up on the firebot and snuck over to the control panel and changed the gear at hand that she would need. This was a simpler tapping feed situation. She decided to trigger a fire alarm on the other side of the police station, far enough away to get the bot out of sight but without sending it in the direction of the others. By the sound of it they had enough to deal with.

While there she took the opportunity to see where she could find security to be able to access station records and hopefully some tractor beam controls.

The firefighting droid immediately loped off at a run. They had some time.

Station record room was also easy to find from this location - catch was that the door was straight up locked. That much computer equipment needed ventilation, though, so maybe it was possible for a skilled contortionist to fit through the vents. Not like the alarm wasn't already triggered.


The Bothan responded with a shot of his own, the blue energy of a stun blast rippling toward the corner where the old man had taken cover. For all Aryur cared, Bonehead could do as he liked.

"Heads up, I think he pulled out a comm!"

[Assuming short range here, in order to be able to use stun. If not, Aryur will move out from cover to fire.

Roll was 3 G, 1 Y vs. 1 R, 1 Black
Result: 1 Advantage - spending to give Anarion 1 Blue]


Jered caught Aryur's shouted warning and brought his own small laser pistol to bear, snapping his aim onto the comlink and focusing as tightly as he could. Sweat ran down his brow as he tried to line up the shot. He'd never been the best rifleman, but he had basic coordination and enough warning to set himself up.

[2 strain to double aim at the comlink and the hand holding it. 2 green, 1 blue vs. 1 red and 2 black (unless cover doesn't apply to taking aim at the comlink, but I assume it still does). Success and 2 advantage! Let's pass 1 of those back to Aryur for a blue on his next roll, and use the second to notice something critical for the fight. I'm thinking maybe there's a potentially explosive electronics panel just next to Old Tired Guy.]

Pew! Old Tired Guy swore as he dropped the comlink but the light blaster barely hurt him through his armoured uniform (7/14). He took aim closely this time and fired a shot directly into Jered's chest.

Blam! A stun shot directly to the solar plexus - not pleasant. Take 8 Strain and one critical hit roll.

[the_druid_droid]

"Nice shot! Now it's my turn." Aryur sighted down the barrel of his blaster and fired off another stun round at the old man, correcting his aim slightly after the last failed attempt.

[Pool: 3 G, 1 Y, 1 Blue vs. 1 R, 1 Black
Result: 2 Success, 2 Advantage, 1 Despair...
I'll spend the 2 Advantage to add 1 Black to Old Tired Guy's next action]

[Anarion]

Jered staggered back from being shot, breathing hard. "Maggot-ridden brute!" he shouted, "I'll see you hanged by your fingers and your own skin boiled off you when this is done!" and then dove into the nearest available cover, whatever that happened to be.

[3 green and a yellow vs. 2 purple for the scathing tirade check. Result: 2 success, 1 triumph for 3 total successes. I'd like to spend my triumph to disable the old guy for the next round in lieu of dealing strain damage.]

[Elanorin]

The firefighting droid immediately loped off at a run. They had some time.

Station record room was also easy to find from this location - catch was that the door was straight up locked. That much computer equipment needed ventilation, though, so maybe it was possible for a skilled contortionist to fit through the vents. Not like the alarm wasn't already triggered.

Jayka looked over her shoulder at the droid as it galloped off. There was more than a little hurt pride in her eyes as the possibilities that could have come from that droid being reprogrammed to her will went through her mind one more time. The uses it would have servicing the Hail alone were enough to make her tempted to go after it and somehow find a way. But she had her orders, so instead she returned her attention to the station layout and matched it to her location. The vents would probably be not to far from the door.

"Over there." she said to Arali as she turned away from the control panel and nodded in the direction of the security room. "It's locked but the vents might work." she put her tapping pad away.

"I'm going to see if I can get in through them. I might need your help so it would be good if you came too. Just until I'm through, if that's alright." Jayka suggested, already making for the security room location to have a look at those vents.

Even if she hadn't been able to reprogram it out of its primary functions a firefighting droid like that would have been a massive boon. That thing put out the fires set by their rapid landing as efficiently as she'd ever seen. And she knew it was only a matter of time before they'd be in a position where the Captain would need to attempt a move like that again. Damn it!

[TheAmishPirate]

Jayka looked over her shoulder at the droid as it galloped off. There was more than a little hurt pride in her eyes as the possibilities that could have come from that droid being reprogrammed to her will went through her mind one more time. The uses it would have servicing the Hail alone were enough to make her tempted to go after it and somehow find a way. But she had her orders, so instead she returned her attention to the station layout and matched it to her location. The vents would probably be not to far from the door.

"Over there." she said to Arali as she turned away from the control panel and nodded in the direction of the security room. "It's locked but the vents might work." she put her tapping pad away.

"I'm going to see if I can get in through them. I might need your help so it would be good if you came too. Just until I'm through, if that's alright." Jayka suggested, already making for the security room location to have a look at those vents.

Even if she hadn't been able to reprogram it out of its primary functions a firefighting droid like that would have been a massive boon. That thing put out the fires set by their rapid landing as efficiently as she'd ever seen. And she knew it was only a matter of time before they'd be in a position where the Captain would need to attempt a move like that again. Damn it!

"Now, that's a good idea. We could totally do that and be through and everything'd be fine. Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr." She grinned impishly. "A professional could get through those vents, unlock the door for you, and we'll be on our way even quicker." And maybe that professional could leave behind a calling card or two? Nothing too flashy, just something stuck within the air vents to let these bumbling cops know who they were really dealing with.

Without hardly waiting for an answer, Arali got to work prying off the vent and making her way inside.

Hang onto your valuables, Coruscant; The Scarlet Jewel had arrived.

[Thanqol]

"Nice shot! Now it's my turn." Aryur sighted down the barrel of his blaster and fired off another stun round at the old man, correcting his aim slightly after the last failed attempt.

[Pool: 3 G, 1 Y, 1 Blue vs. 1 R, 1 Black
Result: 2 Success, 2 Advantage, 1 Despair...
I'll spend the 2 Advantage to add 1 Black to Old Tired Guy's next action]


Jered staggered back from being shot, breathing hard. "Maggot-ridden brute!" he shouted, "I'll see you hanged by your fingers and your own skin boiled off you when this is done!" and then dove into the nearest available cover, whatever that happened to be.

[3 green and a yellow vs. 2 purple for the scathing tirade check. Result: 2 success, 1 triumph for 3 total successes. I'd like to spend my triumph to disable the old guy for the next round in lieu of dealing strain damage.]

Old Tired Guy grunted as his battle armour took another serious hit. Cussing up a storm, he grabbed Bonehead by the shoulder, dragged him inside the doorway, and then locked and sealed the door behind him.

Aryur and Jered had a moment to catch their breath.

[OTG is still up, and he used that Despair to exit the scene. Combat's over for now.]


"Now, that's a good idea. We could totally do that and be through and everything'd be fine. Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr." She grinned impishly. "A professional could get through those vents, unlock the door for you, and we'll be on our way even quicker." And maybe that professional could leave behind a calling card or two? Nothing too flashy, just something stuck within the air vents to let these bumbling cops know who they were really dealing with.

Without hardly waiting for an answer, Arali got to work prying off the vent and making her way inside.

Hang onto your valuables, Coruscant; The Scarlet Jewel had arrived.

Roll yourself Coordination, Arali.

[the_druid_droid]

"Damn, he ran off! I was hoping we could take them out quick to keep the heat down. Now we've got to look for another way around to those cells." Aryur stood up from behind the desk, holstering his blaster for the moment and glancing around the room for any other entrances or exits.

[Elanorin]

"Now, that's a good idea. We could totally do that and be through and everything'd be fine. Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr." She grinned impishly. "A professional could get through those vents, unlock the door for you, and we'll be on our way even quicker." And maybe that professional could leave behind a calling card or two? Nothing too flashy, just something stuck within the air vents to let these bumbling cops know who they were really dealing with.

Without hardly waiting for an answer, Arali got to work prying off the vent and making her way inside.

Hang onto your valuables, Coruscant; The Scarlet Jewel had arrived.

Jayka watched Arali at work with a slight smile.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Alright, I'll keep watch." She turned so she had her back to the security room door and kept a watchful eye around the hangar.

"Once you've got me in, maybe you can have a look around for what might be worth looting." Saying that, Jayka found herself assessing whatever ships and/or vehicles were around for potentially Wayfarer-compatible 'spare' parts.

[Hawkflight]

Meanwhile, Ira, down in her cell noticed a weird little holovid player on her pillow. When she examined it, it sprang to life and started playing ominous music (http://youtu.be/mWo2WulqaOw"). Soon after, a voice started speaking:

"Dear Miss Stormchaser,

You are being hunted.

I admit, I debated with myself as to give you my customary warning. On the one hand, you are a fellow Bounty Hunter and, it is said, likely to be an interesting opponent. On the other hand, you are a sentient rodent with pretensions of talent! If there is one good thing that comes of your filthy, diseased species it's that, properly tanned, you make excellent fur coats.

So, miss Stormchaser, I imagine we shall soon become quite intimate, you and I. First, in the graceful dance between predator and prey - and then in the warm embrace of your fur as it lines my boots.

And really, the only thing you need to worry your furry little head about at this point is if you want to die peacefully or die exhausted. You have something of a head start; use it, or don't.

Best wishes and all that,

- Sir Haegel, Bounty Hunter Extraordinare."

Iria watched the holovid, an expression of some concern flitting across her face as her mind began racing. As the man started talking about her "filthy, diseased species", she began thinking about how the holovid could have made it into her cell in the first place. An expression of disgust flashed across her face at the "intimate" implication, but it didn't distract her from giving the cell a more thorough search, to see if she could find any breach the player could have been slipped through.

[Anarion]

Jered gingerly picked himself up from cover. His heavy coat crackled slightly as the last bit of stun energy arced out of it. "Okay, next time, your distraction is going to be a droid, or an explosion. Not me. Got it, captain?" Then under his breath Thank goodness I got someone who can at least shoot straight.

He looked around. The two had locked themselves in and they were stuck. He wondered if might not be another way to handle this. That comlink the old man had dropped was still on the ground. He went and picked it up. "So, captain, what are your thoughts on doing impressions?"

[the_druid_droid]

Jered gingerly picked himself up from cover. His heavy coat crackled slightly as the last bit of stun energy arced out of it. "Okay, next time, your distraction is going to be a droid, or an explosion. Not me. Got it, captain?" Then under his breath Thank goodness I got someone who can at least shoot straight.

"One for the suggestion box, then. I'll take it under advisement."


He looked around. The two had locked themselves in and they were stuck. He wondered if might not be another way to handle this. That comlink the old man had dropped was still on the ground. He went and picked it up. "So, captain, what are your thoughts on doing impressions?"

"Have you ever watched much Bothan holovid?" Aryur seemed to feel this was answer enough. "I'll take a crack at this."

[Anarion]

"One for the suggestion box, then. I'll take it under advisement."



"Have you ever watched much Bothan holovid?" Aryur seemed to feel this was answer enough. "I'll take a crack at this."

"Okay, let's check with Jayka first. Then we can figure out figure out what's going on and see if we can get them to let us in."

With that, he thumbed the link to the ship room where he hoped he wasn't interrupting anything important.

[TheAmishPirate]

Roll yourself Coordination, Arali.

"Can do!" Arali - sorry, The Scarlet Jewel replied eagerly. The grate popped off with no real difficulty, and soon she was into the vents...

[No skill ranks, so it's a straight 4 Green vs. 2 purple. 1 Failure, 2 Advantage somehow? Those were some pansy green dice up against champion purples. :smalleek:]

[Elanorin]

"Okay, let's check with Jayka first. Then we can figure out figure out what's going on and see if we can get them to let us in."

With that, he thumbed the link to the ship room where he hoped he wasn't interrupting anything important.

When Jayka heard the nearby coms panel come to life she quickly hurried over and opened the two-way link.

"Uh, yes?" She tried to sound casual, wincing slightly at the sudden sound of the vent panel hitting the floor behind her.

[Anarion]

When Jayka heard the nearby coms panel come to life she quickly hurried over and opened the two-way link.

"Uh, yes?" She tried to sound casual, wincing slightly at the sudden sound of the vent panel hitting the floor behind her.

"The uh, the guards just locked themselves into the cell block. The old one dropped his comm. How are things going for you? Will we be able to fly out of here no problem?"

[Elanorin]

"The uh, the guards just locked themselves into the cell block. The old one dropped his comm. How are things going for you? Will we be able to fly out of here no problem?"

"Jered," Jayka let out a relieved breath "Yeah, uh, should be fine. Arali is just sorting out a... sort of access-type issue at the moment but then I should be able to get us in the clear. Y'know... hopefully." The droid was still very much on her mind.

"Are you guys alright? We heard blaster fire..."

[Thanqol]

Iria watched the holovid, an expression of some concern flitting across her face as her mind began racing. As the man started talking about her "filthy, diseased species", she began thinking about how the holovid could have made it into her cell in the first place. An expression of disgust flashed across her face at the "intimate" implication, but it didn't distract her from giving the cell a more thorough search, to see if she could find any breach the player could have been slipped through.

Looking around it seemed likely that this was down to a very suspicious looking mouse droid that was parked across the hall from her. The cell didn't have that much in it but it was evidently designed to hold petty drunks, not skilled operators. What did she do?


"Can do!" Arali - sorry, The Scarlet Jewel replied eagerly. The grate popped off with no real difficulty, and soon she was into the vents...

[No skill ranks, so it's a straight 4 Green vs. 2 purple. 1 Failure, 2 Advantage somehow? Those were some pansy green dice up against champion purples. :smalleek:]

Well, on the minus side, she couldn't get into the server room. On the plus side, while she was up there she found and disabled the alarm and blast sealing functions on the door which made it oddly vulnerable to straight-up shooting it with blasters.

[Anarion]

"Jered," Jayka let out a relieved breath "Yeah, uh, should be fine. Arali is just sorting out a... sort of access-type issue at the moment but then I should be able to get us in the clear. Y'know... hopefully." The droid was still very much on her mind.

"Are you guys alright? We heard blaster fire..."

"There was a gunfight. I got hit, but it was only set to stun, not too serious. While you're in there, can you hack the doors to the jail cells? We're a bit stuck on actually getting Iria. If not, I have another idea, but you could make it easier."

[Hawkflight]

Looking around it seemed likely that this was down to a very suspicious looking mouse droid that was parked across the hall from her. The cell didn't have that much in it but it was evidently designed to hold petty drunks, not skilled operators. What did she do?

I'm assuming that Iria can hear the commotion going on, or the alarm going off or something. If she can't ... well, it shouldn't change the post significantly.
Iria frowned, putting two and two and two together. It was possible that Bonehead had been the one to inform the bounty hunter that she was there. And if this was the case, then he could have used the mouse droid to deliver the message. Dangit, she shouldn't have told Bonehead her real name! But what was done was done, and if she wanted to avoid being murdered right here in her jail cell, then she had to figure a way out and back to the ship. Besides, she knew her crewmates were on their way to rescue her anyways....

[Elanorin]

"There was a gunfight. I got hit, but it was only set to stun, not too serious. While you're in there, can you hack the doors to the jail cells? We're a bit stuck on actually getting Iria. If not, I have another idea, but you could make it easier."

"The jail cells, sure. You name it." Jayka wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and added it to the mental list of hacks. "I'll see what I can do."

"Do, uh, you mean just Iria's or... all of them?"

[Anarion]

"The jail cells, sure. You name it." Jayka wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and added it to the mental list of hacks. "I'll see what I can do."

"Do, uh, you mean just Iria's or... all of them?"

"Is one easier than the other? I'd say whichever is fastest. They're probably not even holding anyone else here. It's a police station, not a long-term prison."

[TheAmishPirate]

Well, on the minus side, she couldn't get into the server room. On the plus side, while she was up there she found and disabled the alarm and blast sealing functions on the door which made it oddly vulnerable to straight-up shooting it with blasters.

Arali popped out of the vents, looking slightly sheepish. "I've got good news, and I've got bad news. The bad news is that there's no way to reach inside the server room through the vents. The good news?" She pulled out her blaster. "I found the key!" And with that, she let off a few shots at the troublesome lock.

[Elanorin]

"Is one easier than the other? I'd say whichever is fastest. They're probably not even holding anyone else here. It's a police station, not a long-term prison."

"Yeah, fair point. I'll have a look at the systems when I get in and do whatever gets us the hell out of here the fastest."


Arali popped out of the vents, looking slightly sheepish. "I've got good news, and I've got bad news. The bad news is that there's no way to reach inside the server room through the vents. The good news?" She pulled out her blaster. "I found the key!" And with that, she let off a few shots at the troublesome lock.

Jayka looked up when Arali re-emerged, clearly surprised to see her this side of the locked door. She watched as Arali shot at the lock and flinched a little at each shot as it hit the door.

"Gotta go, Jered. Don't get killed."

[Anarion]

"Gotta go, Jered. Don't get killed."

"Likewise."

He clicked off the comm and turned to Aryur. "We're going to give Jayka 5 minutes to get the door open. Keep alert, we might have to storm the cell. If that doesn't work, I say we use the imperial channel on that comm and try to fake reinforcements arriving so they open up."

[the_druid_droid]

"Likewise."

He clicked off the comm and turned to Aryur. "We're going to give Jayka 5 minutes to get the door open. Keep alert, we might have to storm the cell. If that doesn't work, I say we use the imperial channel on that comm and try to fake reinforcements arriving so they open up."

"Works for me. Knew there was a reason I kept all you shady characters around. Let's just hope the parade keeps the rest of the station busy enough that we won't have trouble bugging out."

Aryur drew his blaster out again and surveyed the room for any sign of approaching reinforcements. Everything should be fine, but they didn't know where their enemy had run off to, and that worried him.

[Thanqol]

I'm assuming that Iria can hear the commotion going on, or the alarm going off or something. If she can't ... well, it shouldn't change the post significantly.
Iria frowned, putting two and two and two together. It was possible that Bonehead had been the one to inform the bounty hunter that she was there. And if this was the case, then he could have used the mouse droid to deliver the message. Dangit, she shouldn't have told Bonehead her real name! But what was done was done, and if she wanted to avoid being murdered right here in her jail cell, then she had to figure a way out and back to the ship. Besides, she knew her crewmates were on their way to rescue her anyways....

Yep, there's an alarm going off. Yep, you're stuck in a cell with a killer on the way. What do you do?


"The jail cells, sure. You name it." Jayka wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and added it to the mental list of hacks. "I'll see what I can do."

"Do, uh, you mean just Iria's or... all of them?"

Just Ira's: 3 purple, 2 black.
Everyone's: 3 purple, 1 blue.


Arali popped out of the vents, looking slightly sheepish. "I've got good news, and I've got bad news. The bad news is that there's no way to reach inside the server room through the vents. The good news?" She pulled out her blaster. "I found the key!" And with that, she let off a few shots at the troublesome lock.

Roll your skill with blasters against 1 purple to see how long it takes you getting in.

[TheAmishPirate]

Roll your skill with blasters against 1 purple to see how long it takes you getting in.

Ah, the blaster. A less elegant lockpick for any civilized criminal. One size fits all. Though it left something to be desired in the speed department. And the leaving evidence department. And classiness department.

What she really needed was a good plasma cutter...

[Rolling 4 Agility vs. 1 Purple. 3 Success, 2 Advantage]

[the_druid_droid]

Aryur tapped a foot and glanced between the empty room and his wrist chrono, wondering what the police were using their lead to prepare.

"Come on girl, I know you can do this..."

[Thanqol]

Ah, the blaster. A less elegant lockpick for any civilized criminal. One size fits all. Though it left something to be desired in the speed department. And the leaving evidence department. And classiness department.

What she really needed was a good plasma cutter...

[Rolling 4 Agility vs. 1 Purple. 3 Success, 2 Advantage]

Pew pew! The door was busted open and Jayka had full access.

[Elanorin]

Pew pew! The door was busted open and Jayka had full access.

Jayka dashed through the opened door in to the security room the instant Arali's skilled shooting had busted it open.

"Good shooting."

She was assembling her gear before she had even reached the security room's databank and immediately went about her instructions. Time was of the essence and she was going to have to do this as fast as she could.

//PASSWORD:____//

>1234

//ACCESS GRANTED//

Jayka scoffed and began to open up the file structure to find the jail cell systems. She quickly realised the file cascade was organised in a way that it was much quicker to just disable the whole lot rather than waste time to locate Iria's specific cell.

She didn't see any obvious backup system but there probably was one, she couldn't risk it kicking in as she started to delete files. She fished out a small disc and inserted it.

>Run: 'BothanFolkMusic.exe'

Hopefully one of her own homebrew malware would cause enough damage and confusion to not only disable the jail cell security but also corrupt the tractor beam and any records of their presence here.


Just Ira's: 3 purple, 2 black.
Everyone's: 3 purple, 1 blue.

[Going for the latter option: 3 purple, 1 blue, 2 green, 2 yellow: 2 advantage only]

[TheAmishPirate]

Arali twirled her pistol and jammed it into her holster. Or to be more accurate, she jammed it into her belt, removed it from her belt, and placed it much more carefully into her holster. "Give a shout if you need anything," she called out to Jayka before she got too entranced by her gadgets. With her work done, she began the task of scouring the restricted areas for anything worth lifting. Her main focus was the contraband locker; anything the police didn't want you to have, somebody was willing to pay top dollar for. And of course, she kept her eye out for any of the more...symbolic items she could steal. Monogrammed pens, plaques, trophies, the sort of thing that would really get under the shouty one's skin.

[Thanqol]

>Run: 'BothanFolkMusic.exe'

Hopefully one of her own homebrew malware would cause enough damage and confusion to not only disable the jail cell security but also corrupt the tractor beam and any records of their presence here.



[Going for the latter option: 3 purple, 1 blue, 2 green, 2 yellow: 2 advantage only]

Jayka got everything except the jail cell. Tractor beam, records, clean slate. Guess it was on the Selonian to get herself out.

But she was a canny operator and a citizen of the galaxy. She should by rights be able to get herself out of a simple holding cell, right?


Arali twirled her pistol and jammed it into her holster. Or to be more accurate, she jammed it into her belt, removed it from her belt, and placed it much more carefully into her holster. "Give a shout if you need anything," she called out to Jayka before she got too entranced by her gadgets. With her work done, she began the task of scouring the restricted areas for anything worth lifting. Her main focus was the contraband locker; anything the police didn't want you to have, somebody was willing to pay top dollar for. And of course, she kept her eye out for any of the more...symbolic items she could steal. Monogrammed pens, plaques, trophies, the sort of thing that would really get under the shouty one's skin.

Make me a quick Perception roll to see if you find anything useful.

[Anarion]

Jered tapped his foot and checked the comms. The door was still shut and they hadn't heard anything. The 5 minutes was almost up. He glanced pointedly at Aryur.

[the_druid_droid]

Jered tapped his foot and checked the comms. The door was still shut and they hadn't heard anything. The 5 minutes was almost up. He glanced pointedly at Aryur.

"Alright, let's do this." The Bothan picked up the commlink and thumbed it on, then pitched his voice to something slightly more human-sounding. "Come in headquarters, backup has reached the station. Can you give us a fix on the suspects?"

[Elanorin]

Arali twirled her pistol and jammed it into her holster. Or to be more accurate, she jammed it into her belt, removed it from her belt, and placed it much more carefully into her holster. "Give a shout if you need anything," she called out to Jayka before she got too entranced by her gadgets. With her work done, she began the task of scouring the restricted areas for anything worth lifting. Her main focus was the contraband locker; anything the police didn't want you to have, somebody was willing to pay top dollar for. And of course, she kept her eye out for any of the more...symbolic items she could steal. Monogrammed pens, plaques, trophies, the sort of thing that would really get under the shouty one's skin.

"Thanks but I think I got it!" Jayka called from inside, utterly focused on what she was doing.


Jayka got everything except the jail cell. Tractor beam, records, clean slate. Guess it was on the Selonian to get herself out.

But she was a canny operator and a citizen of the galaxy. She should by rights be able to get herself out of a simple holding cell, right?

Jayka watched the spread of the file corruption intently and all seemed well at first but then the entire holding security drive seemed impervious to it. With a puzzled scowl Jayka tried a few tricks to cross-contaminate but to no avail. Was there a hidden firewall there or, heavens forbid, a partition? How she loathed them. After another couple of attempts she realised there was nothing to be done, the only way to get to it was now expertly corrupted.

In a sudden burst of anger and frustration with herself Jayka gave the nearby wall a hard kick.

"Damn! Ow! You absolute Rodian. What's wrong with you today?!"

Resigned, she walked out of the security room and back to the coms panel where she reconnected the previous communicator link.

"Jered?" She tried to hold back a frustrated sigh. "We're good to go but... yeah those doors aren't going to budge. Not from here. Not anymore, anyway." she admitted as Bothan music started to blare out on some tannoy in the distance. "Should I head back and fire up the engines?"

[Anarion]

"Jered?" She tried to hold back a frustrated sigh. "We're good to go but... yeah those doors aren't going to budge. Not from here. Not anymore, anyway." she admitted as Bothan music started to blare out on some tannoy in the distance. "Should I head back and fire up the engines?"

The comm channel was, unfortunately, busy at just that moment. Some crazy Bothan doing his best human impression or something.

[TheAmishPirate]

Make me a quick Perception roll to see if you find anything useful.

Arali moved throughout the building, casting her professional eye over its unguarded wares...

[That's 3 Green. 2 Success, 3 Advantage.]

[Elanorin]

The comm channel was, unfortunately, busy at just that moment. Some crazy Bothan doing his best human impression or something.

Jayka gave the coms panel a death-glare when all she got back was static. Then, a tiny alarm bell rang at the back of her mind and worry crept on to her face instead. She decided to try again.

"...Jered? You there?"

More static.

Jayka paused for a moment and thought, mostly repeating to herself that there were many reasons why they could be unable to answer and it didn't necessarily have to involve more arrests or, worse, bloody corpses.

Still.

Jayka took note of the frequency the com link had been on and then turned and hurried towards Arali.

"Arali. I couldn't get the cells open from here but Jered said he had a backup plan which is, uh, hopef- probably what they are doing now. I'll go get Hail ready to take off."

[Hawkflight]

Iria continued looking around her cell nervously as the alarms went off. To be completely honest, she really didn't want to break out of here, preferring to let the law run its course. After all, if she was a wanted criminal, it would put a damper on her ability to compete in highly public races. But there was a bounty hunter on the way, and considering the alarms going off, her crewmates were probably already on their way to rescue her anyways.

Drawing close to the force field covering the exit, she noticed a crack in the nearby wall. Some crook beforehand had probably punched it out of frustration, leaving her with just the opportunity she needed to escape. Steadying herself, she whacked at that spot with her tail several times, enough to turn the crack into a small hole, revealing the wires that ran to the force field projector. Looking them over, she grabbed two of the wires (the green and yellow ones) and pulled, ripping them out of their housing. The force field went down, letting her dash out of her cell, glancing around for Bonehead and the other guy before making a dash for the hallway.

[Thanqol]

Arali moved throughout the building, casting her professional eye over its unguarded wares...

[That's 3 Green. 2 Success, 3 Advantage.]

Evidence locker! There were a plethora of treats here, from jewellery to impounded data sticks and other easy to carry, high value items.

But what you get with the advantage is a stray Coruscant Police Dataslate. It has things like IFF scanners for nearby police units, detailed markings of criminal gang territory, and a huge bunch of intel on Coruscant's local criminals scene. Any time you use it to get information about the urban terrain of Coruscant add a blue dice. It'll go out of date in a couple of months.


"Alright, let's do this." The Bothan picked up the commlink and thumbed it on, then pitched his voice to something slightly more human-sounding. "Come in headquarters, backup has reached the station. Can you give us a fix on the suspects?"

"This is headquarters, suspects are cornered in the frigate in the main docking bay. Currently moving to the motor pool to immobilise from the air," grunted the voice on the comms.


Iria continued looking around her cell nervously as the alarms went off. To be completely honest, she really didn't want to break out of here, preferring to let the law run its course. After all, if she was a wanted criminal, it would put a damper on her ability to compete in highly public races. But there was a bounty hunter on the way, and considering the alarms going off, her crewmates were probably already on their way to rescue her anyways.

Drawing close to the force field covering the exit, she noticed a crack in the nearby wall. Some crook beforehand had probably punched it out of frustration, leaving her with just the opportunity she needed to escape. Steadying herself, she whacked at that spot with her tail several times, enough to turn the crack into a small hole, revealing the wires that ran to the force field projector. looking them over, she grabbed two of the wires (the green and yellow ones) and pulled, ripping them out of their housing. The force field went down, letting her dash out of her cell, glancing around for Bonehead and the other guy before making a dash for the hallway.

Hmm, that sounds like a skulduggery roll. Difficulty average, two purple. Remember you can spend a destiny point for a boost.

[Hawkflight]

Evidence locker! There were a plethora of treats here, from jewellery to impounded data sticks and other easy to carry, high value items.

But what you get with the advantage is a stray Coruscant Police Dataslate. It has things like IFF scanners for nearby police units, detailed markings of criminal gang territory, and a huge bunch of intel on Coruscant's local criminals scene. Any time you use it to get information about the urban terrain of Coruscant add a blue dice. It'll go out of date in a couple of months.



"This is headquarters, suspects are cornered in the frigate in the main docking bay. Currently moving to the motor pool to immobilise from the air," grunted the voice on the comms.



Hmm, that sounds like a skulduggery roll. Difficulty average, two purple. Remember you can spend a destiny point for a boost.

Considering I have no idea how Destiny Points work, we'll just call that 3 green dice vs 2 purple dice. That's two success, and I'm glad I buffed my Int.

[Thanqol]

Considering I have no idea how Destiny Points work, we'll just call that 3 green dice vs 2 purple dice. That's two success, and I'm glad I buffed my Int.

Bang, she was out and running. Fortunately she actually had a straight up clear run at the Hail If Parts Fall Off.

Speaking of, everyone did. You've met all your goals for this station and are just about to fire the escape thrusters and it sounds like the only folks coming after you would be a single lonely police speeder. Ya'll might want to quit while you're ahead.

[Hawkflight]

Y'all might want to quit while you're ahead.

This was true. However, it didn't stop Iria from looking out for any speeders or swoop bikes that may be available for the taking. Should the opportunity arise, of course.

[Thanqol]

This was true. However, it didn't stop Iria from looking out for any speeders or swoop bikes that may be available for the taking. Should the opportunity arise, of course.

The literal one section of this shop which had cops in it right now was the motor pool.

[Anarion]

Jered saw a figure break loose and break for the hanger. That was all they were here for. He vent into the comm and modulated his voice. "Negative HQ, do not pursue. Hold position and wait for reinforcements. We'll be there soon."

Then he flicked off the comms and grabbed his bothan companion by the shoulder. "Come on, you gotta fly us out of here, my friend."

[the_druid_droid]

Jered saw a figure break loose and break for the hanger. That was all they were here for. He vent into the comm and modulated his voice. "Negative HQ, do not pursue. Hold position and wait for reinforcements. We'll be there soon."

Then he flicked off the comms and grabbed his bothan companion by the shoulder. "Come on, you gotta fly us out of here, my friend."

"Now you're thinking like a Bothan! Sounds like our friends hit their objectives too. All that's left is the fun part." Aryur winked, holstered his blaster and began jogging down the corridor back to the Hail. He was looking forward to the whine of starship engines beneath him again.

[TheAmishPirate]

Jayka gave the coms panel a death-glare when all she got back was static. Then, a tiny alarm bell rang at the back of her mind and worry crept on to her face instead. She decided to try again.

"...Jered? You there?"

More static.

Jayka paused for a moment and thought, mostly repeating to herself that there were many reasons why they could be unable to answer and it didn't necessarily have to involve more arrests or, worse, bloody corpses.

Still.

Jayka took note of the frequency the com link had been on and then turned and hurried towards Arali.

"Arali. I couldn't get the cells open from here but Jered said he had a backup plan which is, uh, hopef- probably what they are doing now. I'll go get Hail ready to take off."

"Wait for me!" Arali emerged a few moments later, with a bulging sack of loot slung over her back and a wild glint in her eyes. "I didn't know they were planning on throwing their big parade on payday!" She cackled as she raced back to the ship.

Back in the evidence room, a great many lockers were left barren, their contents replaced with gleaming, plastic rubies. Utterly cheap, and completely useless as evidence to boot. The paperwork nightmare this would leave old Bonehead was just the icing on the stolen cake.

[the_druid_droid]

Aryur slammed the hatch controls as the last of his crew rushed aboard and the gangplank began ratcheting upward with a mechanical whine. The Bothan jogged up to his place in the pilot's seat and began warming up the ship's engines for escape takeoff.

"Last call for Bothan Airlines direct flight departing Courascant local police district 574. Wanted felons are welcome aboard, but try to hijack my ride and I will end you. Please keep your hands, arms, and other appendages you're still fond of entirely within the vehicle during takeoff!"

[Elanorin]

Aryur slammed the hatch controls as the last of his crew rushed aboard and the gangplank began ratcheting upward with a mechanical whine. The Bothan jogged up to his place in the pilot's seat and began warming up the ship's engines for escape takeoff.

"Last call for Bothan Airlines direct flight departing Courascant local police district 574. Wanted felons are welcome aboard, but try to hijack my ride and I will end you. Please keep your hands, arms, and other appendages you're still fond of entirely within the vehicle during takeoff!"

Jayka headed straight up to the bridge as soon as she was aboard, relieved to see the Captain sat in his seat where he belonged.

"Captain," she was a bit out of breath from running, "you won't get any trouble from the tractor beam but sorry about the jail cells. I naused it up."

[Thanqol]

Jered saw a figure break loose and break for the hanger. That was all they were here for. He vent into the comm and modulated his voice. "Negative HQ, do not pursue. Hold position and wait for reinforcements. We'll be there soon."

Then he flicked off the comms and grabbed his bothan companion by the shoulder. "Come on, you gotta fly us out of here, my friend."

Sounds like a Deception check to see if you buy any time. Remember the teamwork rules.


"Now you're thinking like a Bothan! Sounds like our friends hit their objectives too. All that's left is the fun part." Aryur winked, holstered his blaster and began jogging down the corridor back to the Hail. He was looking forward to the whine of starship engines beneath him again.

Ship this big couldn't cold start that well but they had enough time to power up their engines a little at least. Check the rules for spaceship acceleration and then tell me how many rounds you spend warming the ship up.

[Anarion]

[Aryur's got the better cunning, so that's a 3 green pool for our combined efforts on the comms. Was there a difficulty?]

[the_druid_droid]

Ship this big couldn't cold start that well but they had enough time to power up their engines a little at least. Check the rules for spaceship acceleration and then tell me how many rounds you spend warming the ship up.

Well, the whine was more of a slow thrumming, but it would get them there. He did miss those agile little hot rods for prison breaks, even if the Hail was as fine for smuggling as a summer's day.

"Don't worry, Jayka. As long as they can't hold us down, I can get us out of here."

[Spending two turns to bring the speed up to 2.

Also, I'm fine with Anarion doing the actual rolling on our combined deception check.]

[Thanqol]

[Aryur's got the better cunning, so that's a 3 green pool for our combined efforts on the comms. Was there a difficulty?]

Red, two purple and a black. Remember you get a blue for unskilled assist.

[Anarion]

Red, two purple and a black. Remember you get a blue for unskilled assist.

[made that 2 green and a blue vs that difficulty pool. Result: 3 success, 3 disadvantage.]

[Thanqol]

[made that 2 green and a blue vs that difficulty pool. Result: 3 success, 3 disadvantage.]

Just as Jered shut off the comlink, something crackled by his head. A hole (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?388613-A-Tea-Party-For-The-Post-Apocalypse-III-Make-That-Loop&p=18666081#post18666081) in reality flickered, tore open - and out fell a brightly coloured something (http://thanqol.deviantart.com/art/Braided-Blue-407654684). It looked like some sort of alien? He'd never seen anything quite like it.

It tumbled out onto the floor of the spaceship and landed in a tangle of hooves and feathers. It was then immediately thrown backwards against the wall by the g-forces as the ship accelerated back out into the skies of Coruscant.

On the upside, the cops didn't seem to be following them!

[Hawkflight]

The literal one section of this shop which had cops in it right now was the motor pool.

Not worth it, is what Iria decided. She chose to just make a break for the ship.

[Elanorin]

Well, the whine was more of a slow thrumming, but it would get them there. He did miss those agile little hot rods for prison breaks, even if the Hail was as fine for smuggling as a summer's day.

"Don't worry, Jayka. As long as they can't hold us down, I can get us out of here."

[Spending two turns to bring the speed up to 2.

Also, I'm fine with Anarion doing the actual rolling on our combined deception check.]

"Do you know where we need to go?" Jayka braced herself as the ship took off, focused on booting up the coms system and the navicomputer. "I assume they didn't find the cargo but... we might want to check on it before we set down in the middle of whatever unholy snakepit the Hutt's sent us to."


Just as Jered shut off the comlink, something crackled by his head. A hole (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?388613-A-Tea-Party-For-The-Post-Apocalypse-III-Make-That-Loop&p=18666081#post18666081) in reality flickered, tore open - and out fell a brightly coloured something (http://thanqol.deviantart.com/art/Braided-Blue-407654684). It looked like some sort of alien? He'd never seen anything quite like it.

It tumbled out onto the floor of the spaceship and landed in a tangle of hooves and feathers. It was then immediately thrown backwards against the wall by the g-forces as the ship accelerated back out into the skies of Coruscant.

On the upside, the cops didn't seem to be following them!

A flash of light came from somewhere behind her and as she heard commotion she looked back and at the sight of whateveritwas immediately forgot what she was doing.

"What the h- did you guys bring some kind of pet on board?!"

[Deadly]

Just as Jered shut off the comlink, something crackled by his head. A hole (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?388613-A-Tea-Party-For-The-Post-Apocalypse-III-Make-That-Loop&p=18666081#post18666081) in reality flickered, tore open - and out fell a brightly coloured something (http://thanqol.deviantart.com/art/Braided-Blue-407654684). It looked like some sort of alien? He'd never seen anything quite like it.

It tumbled out onto the floor of the spaceship and landed in a tangle of hooves and feathers. It was then immediately thrown backwards against the wall by the g-forces as the ship accelerated back out into the skies of Coruscant.

On the upside, the cops didn't seem to be following them!

The thing jumped back on its hooves, stumbling and spinning around itself as it tried to adjust to the unfamiliar and sudden change in movement. It looked really, really angry and momentarily confused. It stared at the ... things ... on legs ... "F*CK! What did that pile of stinking' dragon sh*t do?!"

[TheAmishPirate]

Arali wasted no time in stashing her loot in The Horde for later valuing, sorting, and eventual selling. After takeoff, she made her way back to the cockpit...


The thing jumped back on its hooves, stumbling and spinning around itself as it tried to adjust to the unfamiliar and sudden change in movement. It looked really, really angry and momentarily confused. It stared at the ... things ... on legs ... "F*CK! What did that pile of stinking' dragon sh*t do?!"

...made a noise between a gasp and a shriek, and sprinted away.

Moments later, the blue leg-thing with tentacles for a mane came running back, wielding a handheld water sprayer with authority. "Bad talking thing, swearing on somebody else's ship!" She dealt the thing a salvo of righteous water-sprays.

[Anarion]

Jered gaped for a moment. "They never mentioned this at the Imperial academy" he muttered. Then Arali got involved and that meant chaos. "Arali, put that down, this instant! Everyone step back. You, alien, you can talk. You are on the planet Coruscant on the good ship Hail if Parts Fall Off. what species are you, and how did you come to be here?"

[Hawkflight]

As Iria made her way through the complex, she heard another noise, aside from the alarms going off - the sound of a ship preparing for takeoff. Dropping to all fours, the space otter put on a burst of speed, leaping up the ramp into the ship just as the ramp was closing, with the ship preparing for takeoff.

Unfortunately, Iria didn't have time to catch her breath after her sprint. She dashed to her quarters, donning her equipment before making her way back to the cockpit and setting herself in the copilot's seat. She was just setting up the systems when she heard a commotion behind her and saw a ... pony-like being appear.


A flash of light came from somewhere behind her and as she heard commotion she looked back and at the sight of whateveritwas immediately forgot what she was doing.

"What the h- did you guys bring some kind of pet on board?!"

"Just because she's a quadruped doesn't make her a pet," Iria reminded her. Jayka might realize that Iria would be in a position to know this, her species being pseudo-quadrupedal themselves.


The thing jumped back on its hooves, stumbling and spinning around itself as it tried to adjust to the unfamiliar and sudden change in movement. It looked really, really angry and momentarily confused. It stared at the ... things ... on legs ... "F*CK! What did that pile of stinking' dragon sh*t do?!"

"Dragon....? Are you from Tatooine?" Iria asked. She'd heard of the krayt dragons on Tatooine, from which her old swoop gang took its name.

[Elanorin]

"Just because she's a quadruped doesn't make her a pet," Iria reminded her. Jayka might realize that Iria would be in a position to know this, her species being pseudo-quadrupedal themselves.

"Dragon....? Are you from Tatooine?" Iria asked. She'd heard of the krayt dragons on Tatooine, from which her old swoop gang took its name.

"That's true." Jayka conceded with a mumble as she stared bug-eyed at the alien creature. "It does talk... and curses something fierce."

Jayka stepped away from the controls, Iria seemed to have the co-pilot systems in hand, and walked over to the others. She stopped a little behind Jered at what she hoped was a safe distance; the thing did look furious and ready to attack but she wanted to hear this. If it wasn't a pet then it had some explaining to do.

[Deadly]

Moments later, the blue leg-thing with tentacles for a mane came running back, wielding a handheld water sprayer with authority. "Bad talking thing, swearing on somebody else's ship!" She dealt the thing a salvo of righteous water-sprays.

The creature leapt out of the way of the shot, spreading its wings and lining up to respond to the attack ... from a water gun. It stared at the weird blue creature and fanned out a wing against the light shower. Drops of water trickled down long crystal blades nestled among the feathers, dripping onto the floor at its hooves. "A shower. You're giving me a light shower?"


Jered gaped for a moment. "They never mentioned this at the Imperial academy" he muttered. Then Arali got involved and that meant chaos. "Arali, put that down, this instant! Everyone step back. You, alien, you can talk. You are on the planet Coruscant on the good ship Hail if Parts Fall Off. what species are you, and how did you come to be here?"

It turned its head and stared at the other talking creature, water still dripping off its wing. "Great," it muttered. "I'm swallowed by a freakin' tapestry by a damned robot spider, and I end up in some backwater place where no one knows a pony."

It flicked its wing irritably, sending a spray of water droplets in the general direction of Arali. It created a brief little rainbow in the air, which was kinda pretty. "And what are you, then?" It eyed Jered. "Some kind of ... hairless ... I don't even know."


"Dragon....? Are you from Tatooine?" Iria asked. She'd heard of the krayt dragons on Tatooine, from which her old swoop gang took its name.

Well, ... this thing had fur, at least, and looked vaguely otter-like. That was progress. "Tattoo what? I have no idea what that is. I'm from Equestria ... the Crystal Empire?" It looked at them all to see if anything rang a bell, and added in a low growl at no one, "The ruins that are left, anyway."

[Thanqol]

Pew pew! The Hail suddenly shook as a laser shot slammed into the top deck - six damage, less armour. A transmission immediately came through - the same boisterous bounty hunter that Iria had heard before. "Good afternoon, scum! This is the Lower Your Shields And Prepare To Be Boarded - lower your shields and prepare to be boarded!"

Coming down behind them was a Firespray class patrol boat - a fast, well-armed ship. Both escaping and fighting were kind of poor options against that thing, but not impossibly so.

[TheAmishPirate]

Jered gaped for a moment. "They never mentioned this at the Imperial academy" he muttered. Then Arali got involved and that meant chaos. "Arali, put that down, this instant! Everyone step back. You, alien, you can talk. You are on the planet Coruscant on the good ship Hail if Parts Fall Off. what species are you, and how did you come to be here?"

Arali didn't so much as drop it as she did lower it, crossing her arms moodily.


The creature leapt out of the way of the shot, spreading its wings and lining up to respond to the attack ... from a water gun. It stared at the weird blue creature and fanned out a wing against the light shower. Drops of water trickled down long crystal blades nestled among the feathers, dripping onto the floor at its hooves. "A shower. You're giving me a light shower?"

It turned its head and stared at the other talking creature, water still dripping off its wing. "Great," it muttered. "I'm swallowed by a freakin' tapestry by a damned robot spider, and I end up in some backwater place where no one knows a pony."

It flicked its wing irritably, sending a spray of water droplets in the general direction of Arali. It created a brief little rainbow in the air, which was kinda pretty. "And what are you, then?" It eyed Jered. "Some kind of ... hairless ... I don't even know."

Well, ... this thing had fur, at least, and looked vaguely otter-like. That was progress. "Tattoo what? I have no idea what that is. I'm from Equestria ... the Crystal Empire?" It looked at them all to see if anything rang a bell, and added in a low growl at no one, "The ruins that are left, anyway."

"No, I gave you a punishment shower, and I'll give you another one if keep being so rude." Arali corrected with a pouting scowl. The little rainbow dampened her leg, but she made no motion to move it. Somebody had to be the bigger person...thing here. "Now look here; I know about as much about the Crystal Empire as I do your name, so why don't you just calm your fluffy feathers and start from there-"


Pew pew! The Hail suddenly shook as a laser shot slammed into the top deck - six damage, less armour. A transmission immediately came through - the same boisterous bounty hunter that Iria had heard before. "Good afternoon, scum! This is the Lower Your Shields And Prepare To Be Boarded - lower your shields and prepare to be boarded!"

Coming down behind them was a Firespray class patrol boat - a fast, well-armed ship. Both escaping and fighting were kind of poor options against that thing, but not impossibly so.

A rumble shook the ship from stem to stern, and Arali scrambled to grab onto the doorframe for support; not the most dignified of gestures. "Or not! Say, you don't like exploding in a fiery ball of death, do you?"

[Anarion]

"Oh for the love of..." Jered sighed. Aryur, can you take us down, into the lower city? If we're getting boarded, let's do it somewhere safe to dock and where the police won't find us. You, 'pony' I don't suppose you can do anything to protect the ship?"

[Elanorin]

The creature leapt out of the way of the shot, spreading its wings and lining up to respond to the attack ... from a water gun. It stared at the weird blue creature and fanned out a wing against the light shower. Drops of water trickled down long crystal blades nestled among the feathers, dripping onto the floor at its hooves. "A shower. You're giving me a light shower?"

It turned its head and stared at the other talking creature, water still dripping off its wing. "Great," it muttered. "I'm swallowed by a freakin' tapestry by a damned robot spider, and I end up in some backwater place where no one knows a pony."

It flicked its wing irritably, sending a spray of water droplets in the general direction of Arali. It created a brief little rainbow in the air, which was kinda pretty. "And what are you, then?" It eyed Jered. "Some kind of ... hairless ... I don't even know."

Well, ... this thing had fur, at least, and looked vaguely otter-like. That was progress. "Tattoo what? I have no idea what that is. I'm from Equestria ... the Crystal Empire?" It looked at them all to see if anything rang a bell, and added in a low growl at no one, "The ruins that are left, anyway."


Pew pew! The Hail suddenly shook as a laser shot slammed into the top deck - six damage, less armour. A transmission immediately came through - the same boisterous bounty hunter that Iria had heard before. "Good afternoon, scum! This is the Lower Your Shields And Prepare To Be Boarded - lower your shields and prepare to be boarded!"

Jayka stumbled when the ship shook and had to grab hold of the bulkhead to steady herself. She gave a concerned look at Iria and Aryur when she heard the message and gave another suspicious look at the creature.

"Seems to me we have already been boarded," she commented, wondering if this was all connected.

[the_druid_droid]

"Do you know where we need to go?" Jayka braced herself as the ship took off, focused on booting up the coms system and the navicomputer. "I assume they didn't find the cargo but... we might want to check on it before we set down in the middle of whatever unholy snakepit the Hutt's sent us to."

"There should be coordinates along with the file. For now, I'm getting us out of the range of that police station before the actual backup figures out what's going on."

Aryur blinked in surprise as their newest passenger appeared, sized it up, decided it probably wasn't trying to kill them, and promptly ignored it to pilot some more until they were out of the frying pan.


Pew pew! The Hail suddenly shook as a laser shot slammed into the top deck - six damage, less armour. A transmission immediately came through - the same boisterous bounty hunter that Iria had heard before. "Good afternoon, scum! This is the Lower Your Shields And Prepare To Be Boarded - lower your shields and prepare to be boarded!"

Coming down behind them was a Firespray class patrol boat - a fast, well-armed ship. Both escaping and fighting were kind of poor options against that thing, but not impossibly so.

This guy, on the other hand... the Bothan clicked on the radio.

"Doesn't it get tiring, saying that twice every time? I guess we can hear you out, just promise me you aren't with the police. We just finished escaping from those guys."


"Oh for the love of..." Jered sighed. Aryur, can you take us down, into the lower city? If we're getting boarded, let's do it somewhere safe to dock and where the police won't find us. You, 'pony' I don't suppose you can do anything to protect the ship?"

"Yeah, I know the drill. Everyone stay on your toes until we figure out what they want."

Aryur began taking the Hail down, searching for a convenient docking pad, and leaving the landing lights up as a sign not to shoot.

[Thanqol]

This guy, on the other hand... the Bothan clicked on the radio.

"Doesn't it get tiring, saying that twice every time? I guess we can hear you out, just promise me you aren't with the police. We just finished escaping from those guys."

"In Duros, the word for Lower Your Shields And Prepare To Be Boarded is 'Killi'," explained the voice. "Which makes it much easier to just yell KILLI KILLI! And no I'm not with the police, but I do hold an Imperial Peacekeeping Contract! KILLI!"


"Yeah, I know the drill. Everyone stay on your toes until we figure out what they want."

Aryur began taking the Hail down, searching for a convenient docking pad, and leaving the landing lights up as a sign not to shoot.

This was literally exactly like searching for a parking spot in the busiest city in the universe - and they were driving a semi-trailer. Knowledge core worlds?

[Deadly]

"No, I gave you a punishment shower, and I'll give you another one if keep being so rude." Arali corrected with a pouting scowl. The little rainbow dampened her leg, but she made no motion to move it. Somebody had to be the bigger person...thing here. "Now look here; I know about as much about the Crystal Empire as I do your name, so why don't you just calm your fluffy feathers and start from there-"

"A shower is punishment?" said the pegasus, the living, breathing rain-machine. "It's a wonder it doesn't smell worse in here. And forgive me for being bloody angry, I didn't exactly want to be here."


A rumble shook the ship from stem to stern, and Arali scrambled to grab onto the doorframe for support; not the most dignified of gestures. "Or not! Say, you don't like exploding in a fiery ball of death, do you?"

"I feel like making others explode in a fiery ball of death, if that's better to you?" the pony growled as it looked around the shaking ... box of metal, it was in.


"Oh for the love of..." Jered sighed. Aryur, can you take us down, into the lower city? If we're getting boarded, let's do it somewhere safe to dock and where the police won't find us. You, 'pony' I don't suppose you can do anything to protect the ship?"

"If we're gonna do anything together, my name is Blue," she said.

[Hawkflight]

Well, ... this thing had fur, at least, and looked vaguely otter-like. That was progress. "Tattoo what? I have no idea what that is. I'm from Equestria ... the Crystal Empire?" It looked at them all to see if anything rang a bell, and added in a low growl at no one, "The ruins that are left, anyway."

Iria was about to respond, when ...


Pew pew! The Hail suddenly shook as a laser shot slammed into the top deck - six damage, less armour. A transmission immediately came through - the same boisterous bounty hunter that Iria had heard before. "Good afternoon, scum! This is the Lower Your Shields And Prepare To Be Boarded - lower your shields and prepare to be boarded!"

Coming down behind them was a Firespray class patrol boat - a fast, well-armed ship. Both escaping and fighting were kind of poor options against that thing, but not impossibly so.

Iria bit down on her tongue to restrain herself from cursing.


"I feel like making others explode in a fiery ball of death, if that's better to you?" the pony growled as it looked around the shaking ... box of metal, it was in.

"If we're gonna do anything together, my name is Blue," she said.

"That actually is better," Iria said.


This guy, on the other hand... the Bothan clicked on the radio.

"Doesn't it get tiring, saying that twice every time? I guess we can hear you out, just promise me you aren't with the police. We just finished escaping from those guys."

"He's not with the police," said Iria. She waited half a tick to let the others give her their attention before continuing. "He's a bounty hunter, after me. Somehow he found out I was here on Coruscant and followed me here. I have a suspicion that Bonehead tipped him off."

[Elanorin]

"I feel like making others explode in a fiery ball of death, if that's better to you?" the pony growled as it looked around the shaking ... box of metal, it was in.

"Good enough for me." Jayka decided, still a little apprehensive, she had never seen an alien like this before and even though the galaxy was full of strange creatures this one was something else. But it was still the friendliest encounter they'd had today and right now it seemed they had greater concerns.




"He's not with the police," said Iria. She waited half a tick to let the others give her their attention before continuing. "He's a bounty hunter, after me. Somehow he found out I was here on Coruscant and followed me here. I have a suspicion that Bonehead tipped him off."

Jayka returned to Iria, mentally putting the issue of Blue aside for now and focused on what seemed to be the most immediate danger.

"A bounty hunter." Her heart sank. She had dreaded this day for some time. She cast a frightened look at both Arali and Jered, worried for them as much as for herself and Iria. "Do- do you know him?" Her mouth felt dry. Even though Iria had only said that he was after her, it chilled Jayka to the bone to know a bounty hunter had them all within his grasp.

[Hawkflight]

Jayka returned to Iria, mentally putting the issue of Blue aside for now and focused on what seemed to be the most immediate danger.

"A bounty hunter." Her heart sank. She had dreaded this day for some time. She cast a frightened look at both Arali and Jered, worried for them as much as for herself and Iria. "Do- do you know him?" Her mouth felt dry. Even though Iria had only said that he was after her, it chilled Jayka to the bone to know a bounty hunter had them all within his grasp.

"Not personally," said Iria. "He left a message of intent in my cell at the station. I'm not sure how good he is (or isn't), but I know a few tricks to deal with bounty hunters."

[TheAmishPirate]

"A shower is punishment?" said the pegasus, the living, breathing rain-machine. "It's a wonder it doesn't smell worse in here. And forgive me for being bloody angry, I didn't exactly want to be here."



"I feel like making others explode in a fiery ball of death, if that's better to you?" the pony growled as it looked around the shaking ... box of metal, it was in.



"If we're gonna do anything together, my name is Blue," she said.

"That's two things we have in common! See how much better that is?" Arali clapped her hands joyously. "And my name's Arali."


Jayka returned to Iria, mentally putting the issue of Blue aside for now and focused on what seemed to be the most immediate danger.

"A bounty hunter." Her heart sank. She had dreaded this day for some time. She cast a frightened look at both Arali and Jered, worried for them as much as for herself and Iria. "Do- do you know him?" Her mouth felt dry. Even though Iria had only said that he was after her, it chilled Jayka to the bone to know a bounty hunter had them all within his grasp.

"Hey, don't look at me; I've never met anyone like that. He sounds like a jerk if you ask me." She held up her hands defensively. "Well, so long as we all stay in our own ships, he can't get to any of us. Isn't there something we can do to shake him off? Rear-facing lasers, fancy dodging, a pile of rubbish we can throw out the back, anything?"

[Anarion]

Jered considered carefully. "That's a firespray ship. Small, usually very few crew. He might well be alone. What if we just...let him board us?"

[the_druid_droid]

"In Duros, the word for Lower Your Shields And Prepare To Be Boarded is 'Killi'," explained the voice. "Which makes it much easier to just yell KILLI KILLI! And no I'm not with the police, but I do hold an Imperial Peacekeeping Contract! KILLI!"

"Oh, that does make more sense. In Bothan, it's an elaborate, semi-ritualized phrase with several layers of meaning. I believe the literal translation has something to do with herding sytrix."


This was literally exactly like searching for a parking spot in the busiest city in the universe - and they were driving a semi-trailer. Knowledge core worlds?

Aryur was in the dark when it came to the Core, but they did have the datapad from the police station. Maybe they could look up parking ticket locations. Not like anyone would call them on it during the parade.


"He's not with the police," said Iria. She waited half a tick to let the others give her their attention before continuing. "He's a bounty hunter, after me. Somehow he found out I was here on Coruscant and followed me here. I have a suspicion that Bonehead tipped him off."

"Yeah? So what do you want to do about him? If he's after you, then this is your fight. I'm happy to help, but right now my best plan involves welding you into a bulkhead."

"Pull over, or run?"


Jered considered carefully. "That's a firespray ship. Small, usually very few crew. He might well be alone. What if we just...let him board us?"

"It's Iria's call. I'm not about to just hand her over, but I don't really like our odds of getting away in one piece from a fight against a trained killer."

[Anarion]

"It's Iria's call. I'm not about to just hand her over, but I don't really like our odds of getting away in one piece from a fight against a trained killer."

"Are they worse than our odds of escaping a high-quality fighter ship?"

[Thanqol]

"Are they worse than our odds of escaping a high-quality fighter ship?"

Well, if you wanted to do it anywhere in the Galaxy, Coruscant was probably the place.

[Deadly]

"Can't do anything from in here," the pony said through gritted teeth, looking around like she really wanted to do something about something. "But if you guys never saw a pony, who wanna bet he never did either? Might surprise him."

[Elanorin]

"Hey, don't look at me; I've never met anyone like that. He sounds like a jerk if you ask me." She held up her hands defensively. "Well, so long as we all stay in our own ships, he can't get to any of us. Isn't there something we can do to shake him off? Rear-facing lasers, fancy dodging, a pile of rubbish we can throw out the back, anything?"


"Yeah? So what do you want to do about him? If he's after you, then this is your fight. I'm happy to help, but right now my best plan involves welding you into a bulkhead."

"Pull over, or run?"

"It's Iria's call. I'm not about to just hand her over, but I don't really like our odds of getting away in one piece from a fight against a trained killer."

Jayka took a few slow deep breaths to calm her mind while everyone talked to focus and come up with something she could do to help.

"If-if you want to try the run option..." she said looking at first to Aryur before turning to Iria after remembering he had delegated this decision to her, "...I, uh, could try to throw some gundarks in to his ship systems. Perhaps throw his comms or jam his weapons? I can't guarantee how much it will throw him though but it might buy us some time. At the very least I should be able to tap our LES-systems and boost up some of our shields." Jayka was visibly calming down now her mind was once more focusing on the technical.

[Hawkflight]

"Yeah? So what do you want to do about him? If he's after you, then this is your fight. I'm happy to help, but right now my best plan involves welding you into a bulkhead."

"Pull over, or run?"

"It stopped being just my fight when I joined the crew," said Iria. "I'll abide by whatever is best for the ship and crew. However, I will say that we can probably take him, depending on how much room we have to spread out. If it comes to foot combat, we should stay scattered, probably in the cargo bay, in order to make grenades less effective. The hardest part would be hitting him for lethal, as bounty hunters are typically well-armored. We can't match him in ship-to-ship combat, but if we try to escape, then we'll want Jayka's expertise. Strange as it may seem, considering what we just escaped, if we can manage to put out a distress call the police ships may be able to take care of him. Maybe. Possibly. Well, there's a chance. The final option is to attempt a short-range hyperspace jump, like we used to get here in the first place. If we do it right, we should be able to escape him easily enough, but that could pose other complications."


"Can't do anything from in here," the pony said through gritted teeth, looking around like she really wanted to do something about something. "But if you guys never saw a pony, who wanna bet he never did either? Might surprise him."

"That's a good point. What are your combat abilities?"

[the_druid_droid]

"Are they worse than our odds of escaping a high-quality fighter ship?"

"Well, in a city like this our odds are better than they'd be anywhere else. It mostly comes down to who's lucky or good, although having Jayka in the mix with some slicing would make me a much happier Bothan..."

[Anarion]

"Well, in a city like this our odds are better than they'd be anywhere else. It mostly comes down to who's lucky or good, although having Jayka in the mix with some slicing would make me a much happier Bothan..."

"Well, I say let him board. We're better in person and we outnumber him." He stepped up to the ship's console. "Now if you don't mind captain," and opened the radio channel. "Attention Lower Your Shields and Prepare to be boarded. We are...prepared to be boarded. If you don't mind, we'll find an open docking bay a bit further down, and you can fly alongside us if you'll kindly stop shooting our ship. Then we can discuss whatever it is you're here for."

[Thanqol]

"Well, I say let him board. We're better in person and we outnumber him." He stepped up to the ship's console. "Now if you don't mind captain," and opened the radio channel. "Attention Lower Your Shields and Prepare to be boarded. We are...prepared to be boarded. If you don't mind, we'll find an open docking bay a bit further down, and you can fly alongside us if you'll kindly stop shooting our ship. Then we can discuss whatever it is you're here for."

"And come on board your smuggler's death trap! Ha! No, don't judge a man by his ship - I'm extending you that much courtesy!

"What's going to happen instead is that you're going to come to a halt. You're going to lower your cargo ramp. Ira Stormchaser is going to appear on the cargo ramp. I will come alongside and open my ship's access hatch, and then Ira will board my ship. Then we will go our separate ways. Understood?"

[Anarion]

"And come on board your smuggler's death trap! Ha! No, don't judge a man by his ship - I'm extending you that much courtesy!

"What's going to happen instead is that you're going to come to a halt. You're going to lower your cargo ramp. Ira Stormchaser is going to appear on the cargo ramp. I will come alongside and open my ship's access hatch, and then Ira will board my ship. Then we will go our separate ways. Understood?"

Jered gave the console an incredulous stare, then switched off the comms for a second. "Iria, what exactly did you do?"

Edit: He thought for another second, "also, how good is your throwing arm?"

[Elanorin]

Jered gave the console an incredulous stare, then switched off the comms for a second. "Iria, what exactly did you do?"

Edit: He thought for another second, "also, how good is your throwing arm?"

Jayka studied Jered intently as a plan seemed to formulate itself in his mind. She frowned, puzzled, at his comment on how good Iria was at throwing. Her mind tried to scramble through ideas of what he might be planning.

Her gaze became distant as her mind systematically went through all the systems to pre-emptively assess which she would be able to use.

[Deadly]

"That's a good point. What are your combat abilities?"

Blue stretched her wings, the blades glinting. "I fly. And I cut ponies to little bloody chunky bits and blow them up with lightning," she said.