The Imperial Rangers IC Thread

[SirLamorake]

For the first time since Grey's death you board the Gauntlet. Once the affable master's personal ship, it now seems empty and lifeless without his presence. All of his possessions had been cleaned out by the time you arrive and handed out to whomever wanted them at his funeral. Stripped of the decades of trophies, souvenirs, art, and trash it became even more apparent of just how bad the Gauntlet's position truly was. There were a number of open panels he'd covered up with holoposters and the backup hyperdrive had been gutted for a secret cooler. It was surprising the old bird could still fly, much less make a jump.

Eventually you join the rest of his apprentices in the meeting room. A hologram of Master Grey was playing on loop. He looked much younger, having recorded it over twenty years ago. His beard was considerably bushier and only had a few streaks of distinguishing grey. "It's official. I've been chosen to lead the Imperial Rangers as their First Sword. Not a position that I asked for, but when you hear the call you answer. Given the nature of some philosophies that are joining us in this little endeavor, the Moff told me I needed to make arrangements just in case I mysteriously fall over dead." Grey's ambivalence served the Rangers well in keeping the Battalions from killing each other, but his luck had to run out sometime.

"First, and most importantly to me, I want whoever killed me caught and brought to justice. Make sure no one profits from my death. Moff Nimm will lead the investigation. She's got as much invested in the Rangers as anyone, if not more. The only people the Empire treats worse than their enemies are traitors." It had taken the Second Swords days of arguing before they decided who to impart with the investigation. Ultimately it fell to the old man's apprentices. "Once that business is done the method for choosing a new First Blade will be released. I've kept it secret for obvious reasons, but it will be one of the Second. If you're listening to this, good luck. You're gonna need it."

You sit down on the circular cracked couch alongside your fellow former apprentices. Each one has a face of sadness and stoicism in varying measure. With no discernible leads, your only real clue is motive. Which includes all of the Second Swords, every Outcast Officer aiming for Moff, and every criminal in the system. Every year both Vender and Grey took a shuttle down to Tovalrue on Outcast business. Really it was just to keep the Ascendancy placated. Chiss red tape has considerably slowed the investigation down and their official position is that it was an accident. Not surprising given the ever present navigation troubles.

It's slim and dealing with the Ascendancy is never easy, but you're only other options are to hunt down clues on Folex or Endronis Three.


You're currently in orbit over Seven and trying to decide the best course of action in how to find Grey's killer.

[Shadowflick]

Makayto looks left..and then right, getting a feel for the room and the people inside. Seeing the old first gray in his prime years was a bit of a change of pace. After all, she never had much a look at him when she was working Folex. She shakes her head, getting up and pating off some of the leftover dust from Folex

"Right, So I come all the way from Folex in some rinky dink shutttle ship, in the middle of my weekly game no less, to see a holotape I could hav ebeen sent. No Offense to Msiter Blade number one..but I had a real good hand. now, Imma say we head on down to Folex personally. If someone needs a bit of..underhanded buisness done, that tends to be a good place to start. I can see a couple of assasins there tryin to make it big, maybe planting a bomb or two? I dont really know. What I do know, is that we ought to start before the trail goes cold."

[jesterjeff]

Gareth leans forward, resting his hands on his knees. The old man, dead, murdered-no, assassinated.
He blows a breath out through clenched teeth.
Gareth had been on patrol deep in borderspace on patrol when the signal came in to bear witness. Tired, so tired, and so damned pissed.
"His place of death...that's an obvious place to start. Track his final movements planetside. If we can get the Ranger's techs to give us the chemical or mechanical make up of the bomb... we can track that further to various arms dealers or radical movements."

[RandomLunatic]

Tonov crisply saluted the hologram of Grey as his message ended, holding it until the recording started over. Somewhat to his surprise, he'd taken a liking to the old geezer. For a Jedi, he wasn't half-bad.

"I'm sorry his death ruined your idiot's array. Truly, these are trying times for all of us," he snarked at Makayto.

"We have no shortage of motive. That leaves means and opportunity. We should retrace the shuttle's path. The saboteur had to access it at some point.

"While we're here, we should talk to the more seer-ery of the battalions, like the Baran Do. Find out if they have any visions or insight for us." Tonov made a mental note to talk to his own Second. Just to make sure the assassin wasn't closer to home than he thought.

[Shadowflick]

Makayto rolls her eyes "I'll have you know, it was a flush" she says, snarking a bit back."

She nods though, to the two suggestions "Right then, look at some of them more mystical magical force guys who have hallucinations, and then check out the crime scene. Thats a good plan, yea"

[Toptomcat]

Jan is motionless, hunched down into the cushions of the couch, hands covering his face. To all appearances he's lost in grief- but then he speaks, and his sharp questioning displays his focus.

"We don't actually know that we're looking for a bomb, or sabotage. We know that the shuttle exploded- but lots of things explode. It could've been hit by a high-speed asteroid. It could've been shot down with a heavy turbolaser. Someone could've spilled Corellian whiskey on a running hyperdrive. It could be a bomb, or sabotage.

What we need is a good, high-resolution sensor feed of the moment of the shuttle's destruction from someone who was nearby."

The stocky man finally moves, sitting up to look intensely at his fellow apprentices.

"Fortunately, this happened in Tovalruan space, where navigation would be completely impossible if the local government weren't keeping careful track of the position, heading and mass of every coin-sized asteroid within a parsec. We need to go to the site of the 'accident', get everything we can- and then we need to grab the Ascendancy by the lapels and get the sensor feeds from the time of the incident. Maybe also talk to whatever investigation team was in charge of declaring it an accident, ask them exactly why they did that."

[Shadowflick]

Makayto nods her head, listening to the other aprentices opinions and suggestions. She holds her hands out dramatically, and then gives an agreeable shrug "ALright, Alright, I see your points. I think I got the idea for the best way to go then" She hops atop the couch, her boots on the cushions "We'se go straight to the crime scene then, we all seem to agree thats a good place to start. we scan around, see what we can find, discover anything importatnmt. Then, we head on over to the acendency. Now, you se, I think we could just turn our coms to get in contact with some of the more forcey sort of guys we got around here. Bando-whatever or something. If they got anything important to tell use, they can send a message while we investigate"

[RandomLunatic]

The assassin glanced over as Jan made his presence known. In his estimation, the odds of the shuttle carrying the two most important people in the Randoan system just spontaneously exploding on a regularly scheduled flight both had made before sat somewhere around "snowball's chance on Tatooine." "Until I see very compelling evidence to the contrary, I'm treating this as murder. I suggest you do the same."

He turned his attention back to Makayto. "The Baran Do," Tonov corrected. "Do not confuse them with my people. We are way easier on the eyes." Seeing the future was not generally associated with his tradition. Unless you counted "malice aforethought". "And the Luke Sene, the Aing-Tii, the Keetal, and the Embers of Vahl, for starters.

"You or Gareth should be the one to reach out the first two. Your battalions tend to get along better. I can handle the others.

"After that, I think going to Tovalrue as soon as possible to see what can be gleaned before evidence is degraded further and the blueies bury everything in paperwork, should be top priority. Except..." he trailed off, glancing around the room. Missing panels. Wires hanging from the ceiling in the corner. "Would this ship even survive the trip?"

[Shadowflick]

Makayto waves her hand "Yea thats what I said, The Bendorn Right?" She...she isnt getting it. She nods her head as Tonov speaks "Imma stop you right there...cause I am not gonna rember any of those names in like, T-minus 10 days. But! I like the plan."

She smiles, moving around the..rapidly decaying ship "Hey...it Aint thaaaat bad..oh, that still sparking huh...right, okay, it might be a bit of a fixer upper...I say we pool some money together and get the old bird fixed up"

[RandomLunatic]

"Maybe Gareth should be the one to handle the calls then," said Tonov.

[jesterjeff]

"I'm certain I can get us where we need to be. In the rough or in the void, I can always find my way."

[SirLamorake]

You send a message to the Baran Do and in the meantime decide to head to Tovalrue.


Mysterious and enigmatic, the Baran Do rarely directly engage with anyone. They favor sending mysterious messages, solving clues, and collecting data over direct conflict. Unfortunately, only the First and Second Blades have the authority to demand their help. Select who should send the message and their appropriate response. You can discuss in the OC thread or someone can just make the attempt. You may take 10.
Whomever makes it could attempt a Deception, Gather Information, or Persuasion check. The better the check, the more clear and concise their response will be.


You make your way to Tovalrue and as always the planet is stunning to behold. Whatever geological wonder that destroys sensors also causes hundreds of satellites to be in constant multi-arced orbit around the planet. Not unlike electrons flying around a nucleus, they formed a seemingly impossible barrier. Colored overlays from the Gauntlet's tracking system showed the flying rocks to be streaks of red and yellow, creating a brilliant light show. Albeit an insanely dangerous and nearly impossible to navigate light show.

As you approach the planet you're hailed by a nearby Chiss remote satellite. With communication to the planet impossible from all the interference, the message was clearly prerecorded and designed to play the instant the Gauntlet approached.

The image of a blue skinned woman appeared on the screen. Her eyes were the constant bright red of the Chiss, but her hair fell nearly to the back and she wore somewhat mismatched body armor. "It took a lot for me to get this message to you Rangers and I don't have much time, so sorry if it's brief. Had to record over the Ascendancy and it needed to be exact to the millisecond. We know who killed your leader and we'll tell you, but we need your help first. We're prisoners on this planet and only you can free us. Along with this message is a designated safe passage through the field. Follow it and we'll contact you with more information once you get planet side. I'm sorry, bu..."

With the sudden cutout you're not sure if the vid had to end or if someone interrupted it. Regardless, you don't have many options. The next Chiss transport is a full solar month away from leaving Tovalrue and it's nearly impossible to contact them otherwise. Following the path is no doubt very dangerous and could very well be a trap, but any information or potential allies probably won't last the month if they're getting so desperate.

[Shadowflick]

Makayto took this chance to relax. I mean, sure, she was pretty good, but if someone offering? Ha! Own private choffuer.

But, the break was interrupted. by A sudden message. Makayto watched with some piqued interest, a row raised to the Chiss pleading for rescue. She didnt work Tovalure much at all, she always had an impression it was pretty safe. Those Chiss being all smart and the like. but this? bad sign.

"Right. I...think we'se outta do something about that? Be all, hero like? I should also take teh wheel if we'se going in the astroid field"

[RandomLunatic]

"It does seem a little convenient," Tonov observed. "But if it's a setup to get rid of the investigators, at least it's a step in the right direction. I suggest we proceed with caution."

[Toptomcat]

Jan rocks back on his heels and gives a low whistle.

"All right, that's certainly interesting. I didn't think there was room for whole factions' worth of political prisoners in the setup the Ascendancy had going. Thought they were too much in lockstep. That's the image they like to present to outsiders, at least.

Let's set a course- but keep an eye out, Maka. The easiest way for this to be a trap is for the nav data to lead us into a nice, dense place in the asteroid field for us to be ambushed, or simply ripped apart by the debris."

That said, he sits at the Gauntlet's sensor console and starts looking for threats as Makayto pilots. It's demanding work and not his forte, but he does his best.

Computer Use: [roll0]