Star Wars Saga: The last, best Hope [AU] - IC

[Liliedhe]

Prologue - Sleepless Night

Somewhere in the Deep Core, T-327

In the shadow between an orphaned gas giant and a huge moon awash in volcanic activity drifts a strange fleet, made up of a huge wedge shaped ship marked by a broad red stripe running from stern to prow and over a dozen smaller smaller craft of varying ages. The Tython is the last of the so called "Jedi Cruisers" not dismantled or repainted in service of the Empire and it serves as the temporary headquarters for the Rebel Alliance while the leading members are conferring on the best course of action in light of the disquieting rumours and the shocking information brought in by a group of intrepid agents.

So, at the moment it is not unusual to stumble upon the Skywalker twins playing catch in the corridors, or tiny green Master Yoda meditating in front of a window. Still, the atmosphere is not one of playfulness, but one of apprehension.

For you, the agents who are responsible for this state of alert, it is an exiting time. It was nothing but a stroke of luck that brought you into this position, ordered to transport an imperial deserter to a different base, when an incoming call promised first rate imperial intelligence, but only if the woman Rathe would be there for the meet. Thinking of traps and tricks, but not willing to ignore the opportunity, you were ordered to make it to the meet. Since then, a pattern has settled in, and you have rendezvoused with the strange traitor three times, each time coming away with nothing but confusion and valuable information that so far saved several thousands of lives.

Still, nobody likes the situation, with the informer not meeting you in person but sending an emissary who always looked different, but was obviously the same person. The last time, his guise, that of a human male who looked like he had crawled from a grave, and who seemed hauntingly familiar to Rathe, you were given leads on the monstrous battlestation the Empire was supposedly building... It was important enough to recall you to the Tython and to make you give your report to the Rebel Leaders in person. Now, with the arrival of a new coded message and the schedule for a new meet, you have been given a new mission: Make a recording of the contact - even if it is only a proxy - and try to follow him wherever he goes afterwards.

Since this violates the terms, and since the new meeting place is in the ruins of Taris, and the thought of the battle station to be finished soon, it makes for restless feelings and a sleepless night aboard the old warship... Wandering the corridors, looking for solace or peace, for entertainment or relaxation, or using the last moments to tinker with your ship, strange encounters might wait for you...

Feel free to start, even if your characters aren't completely finished yet. This is intended as a little warm up so you can get used to situation and characters.
Cast of characters:
Rissa/Ascension (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=90962)
Rathe/Moral Wiz (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=91501)
Jena/The_Snark (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=90961)
Rowil Kensam/Reverent_One (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=111276)
DMfromtheAbyss/Zhent Rale (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=140906)
Mando Knight/Miré (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=140491)


OOC
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96096

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

"There is no Ignorance, there is knowledge."

Aboard the Liberty Light, there was no sound. But if someone looked in on the cargo bay, they'd see a rather odd sight. A young woman, with black hair and dark eyes, in well woven, and seemingly seldom worn light green civilian clothing sits on the floor,, her legs crossed and eyes closed.

Yet before them floats an olden parchment. Around the meditating rebel, a collection of hydro-spanners, power-wrenches and a host of small, mechanical tools float through the room. The young woman had just been using them for a spot of tinkering with the Light's Sublight Drives.

There is no Passion, there is Serenity

There is no Chaos; There is...

But that simple mantra throws her off. Images flash into her head, images that for all her skill, she can not banish from her mind. Not completely. Dark visions of her past, of what she had been, what she was now, and what she could have been. And of what she feared was going on right now.

One image at a time, one disharmony after another, building to a crescendo of emotion, a storm of the darkness. Death and flame flowed before her eyes. It is all Rathe can do to keep her mind clear.

No chaos... there is...

But the focus is lost. The sound of steel crashing on steel echoes through the Liberty Light as Rathe's tools crash down around her. She doesn't seem to notice though, her mind knowing only her failed peace.

Harmony.

The young Imperial sighs and, with one hand using a box for support, slowly gets to her feat.

Sigh. Another failure.

Quickly, methodically and with the motions of one who has learned to do a thing by route, Rathe quickly moves each tool into it's place, be that on her utility belt, or within the cargo hold.

Before too long, the only thing remaining out was the old, slightly crinkled text which she'd been reading from. She looks at it's handwritten lines, remorsefully, as a voice seemed to echo in her head.

The Jedi Code. One of the oldest, and best meditation aides in the galaxy.

And you still can't focus. Let alone now. You're nervous, jumpy, distracted. All this isn't helping you. Now's not the time for meditating.

I need to calm down in another way. And I think I know how to do it.

After returning the manuscript to it's crate, Rathe walks out of the Liberty Light, down the cargo ramp into the bustling docking bay. The ramp closes after her, and with a quick spring in her step, started walking briskly... in any direction, twisting through the corridors of the Tython, a smile on her face.

Let's see where the Force takes me.

It's either a meditation idea, or a slightly crazy impulse on Rathe's part. You decide.

If relivent UtF [roll0]

[Ascension]

Rissa

Rathe is hardly out the hangar before she encounters her friend Rissa headed in the other direction, her facial tentacles writhing with anxiety.

"I was just going to check on Baby... could you tell when you were in there if anyone's harmed her? If anyone so much as touched her I'll... well... My mother taught me how to deal with rapists."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

The young force user smiled, ever so slightly, at her friend's approach. Spinning round to face her with one fluid movment, she looked past Rissa through the door.

Don't think so. There were lots of people round one of the Y-wing flights, looked like a party, but I don't think anyone's been at Baby.

Still, I've been in the Light's interior. Haven't had that clear a look I'm afraid.

[Ascension]

Rissa

"Mind a bit of company on your walk?" Rissa asks, "Or is this one of those Force things? I could still go check on Baby..."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe smile widens, slightly

I'm trying to make it a force thing. Been trying to clear my head, relax, get my focus back before the meeting.

She shakes her head, though doesn't loose the smile

Not had much success thus far. How do the Jedi do it?

Your cal, Rissa. I don't think I'll be back in the hanger bay for a while though.

[Ascension]

"I don't know, in my experience the Jedi manage to achieve inner peace largely by dividing the universe into 'good' and 'evil,' 'ally' and 'enemy,' and then not thinking twice about hurting their 'evil enemies' or aiding their 'good allies,'" Rissa says, chuckling in the manner of a laughing Quarren, which sounds a bit like gargling. Her body language tells you that she's abandoned the idea of going to the hangar.

"I guarantee you they don't just see me as 'a friend who is a Quarren,' they see me as 'a friendly Quarren.' There's a distinction. See, I'm an exception to the Jedi's rule, and I'm only an exception due to my usefulness and my willingness to aid their cause at the moment. If they encountered me on the streets of Coruscant instead of on board a Rebel cruiser with a valuable starfighter only I'm allowed to pilot, they would default to an assumption of hostility. It's the way their minds operate. The dehumanization is how they manage to avoid feeling guilt about their attempts to play god."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe sighed, inwardly. She didn't walk off yet, and her smile doesn't disappear.

Hey, be fair, Rissa. That's not something limited to the Jedi. We all divide the universe to degrees. We all make assumptions, justified or not. It's just a question of what you assume, and your ability to see round the stereotype.

And there's more to achieving inner peace than that. It's not just overwhelming arrogance, or certianty if you prefer. Believe me on that one.

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

"Rissa, I can assure you that your prototype has been untouched," the inconspicuous droid chimes up, darting over from the group of astromech droids it had been working both on and with. "It is a thing of beauty and I would let none touch it. I wouldn't even touch it, myself, both out of respect for your wishes and because I know little of it's systems." It seems to be a bit on the fussy side today, having been pulling long shifts in the repair bay getting fighters, bombers, and other droids up to snuff. If I find the Alliance techs who are supposed to be caring for them, I'm gonna give them such an earful...you cannot defeat an Empire with substandard gear and shoddy repairs. QT hovers near it's two comrades, green photoreceptors seeming to dim and brighten at random, as if it were blinking erratically.

[Ascension]

"Thanks, Cutie!" Rissa replies, her tentacles twitching in a way those quite familiar with the Quarren might recognize as their equivalent of a smile.

[BooNL]

Reilo

As the three others had been talking, the doors to the hanger bay opened and closed while mechanics and droids went about their duty.

One of these mechanics was a fairly muscular khil. He was wearing a simple workman's overall, exposing his grayish-green arms. A tattoo was visible on the left, it simply said CRC in a large, ornate font. Reilo and his squad had these done while in the undercity. Brotherhood was the only way a unit of ten could stand up to a hundred thugs.

"I don't know where the Alliance got those weapon banks from, but they're shoddy construction. I had to rework the entire internal circuit of RS-3." His face was wrinkled, partly by approaching middle age, but mostly by worry. Reilo was a man who had lost everything twice, it was hard for him to trust again, but this team seemed genuine.

Having overheard Rissa and Rathe's discussion about Jedi, Reilo couldn't help but chime in. "Before the Alliance I only met a Jedi once. I remember he looked confident, regal even. He was talking to my commander about a case. The department had been working on the case for six months and nearly had it cracked. We had apprehended a suspect, but he was refusing to talk." Reilo thought back to those times, when he was still a rookie. His hullepi ruffled, which could be considered a chuckle.

"The commander could get so upset some times. He'd throw datapads at people, knock lamps over and bark orders to the other side of the office.
So anyway, the Jedi just sat there calmly while the commander was yelling at his face how we got the perpetrator but couldn't even arrest him. When he was finished, the Jedi got up and walked over to the detention block.

He said two words to the prisoner: "tell me". While to our amazement, the bastard went and confessed everything.

I'm still baffled by it all to this day."



RS-3 = Rogue Squadron Y-wing 3.

At least, I take it there's still a rogue squadron here.

[Ascension]

RS-3 = Rogue Squadron Y-wing 3.

At least, I take it there's still a rogue squadron here.



Rissa taught them everything they know. :smallbiggrin:

No, really. That's what my fulfilled Education Destiny is, training Rogue Squadron... or its equivalent... Lil never did say exactly.

"RS-3's acting up again? I told *insert pilot name here* to treat her gently!"

Rissa's tentacles assume a state of writhing annoyance.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe looks slightly nervous, as she always did when the group got together, but still she smiles at her friend's "anger".

Well, I'm off. The Force is calling me... away from the crossfire.

Then, with a slightly nervous laugh, she heads off down the corridor.

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

As she joggs away - looking only slightly frantic, probably - her feet draw her down the corridors, towards the modified crew quarters that now include a training area and a chamber for sparring. From that room she hears the low hum of a lightsaber...

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

On reflex before anything else, Rathe slows down, more cautious as she hears that all too well known hum.

Hmm... a sparring match might help. Even watching one might be a start. But they'll be Jedi. They won't exactly be... comfortable with the situation. It'll just be...

Oh, shut up. I need to do something.

Slowly, semi reluctantly, she puts a hand on the frame, and pokes her head around the door.

It's not listed as an item, so I'll ask directly. Can Rathe own a training saber?

[Liliedhe]

I would say that normal sabers can have a training setting... If that's not possible, then there would just be training sabers available where you can train.

She sees a young human in the middle of the floor, his lightsaber ignited in his hand, moving through a training sequence. He's alone, there are no others here at that time of the night. Concentrating on his meditation, he is not yet aware of Rathe peeking in.

[Moral Wiz]

Canonically, I think Training Lightsabers are different. They use a different crystal.

Rathe

Rathe is nervous at the sight of the Jedi

He hasn't noticed you. You could get away quite comfortably now, with out him noticing.

But I need to relax. And the simplest way to do that is a sparring match.

With a single motion, she swings round into the room. She speaks, her voice nervous.,

Hey.

She feels like she ought to say something, but her nerves at actually talking to a Jedi gets the better of her.

[Liliedhe]

The young man - in his mid twenties maybe - does not seem startled, he merely lowers his weapon, deactivates it and turns towards the intruder. She doesn't know his name, but she has seen him on the ship occasionally, quite clearly memorable not only for his quite unusual hairstyle - he ties his long blond hair into a ponytail - but also for an old scar on the left side of his face, where a blastershot took his ear.

"Hey." He looks Rathe over and frowns. "Are you new?"

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

New?

Rathe looks confused, but nods

I suppose so. I've not been around here that long.

She falls silent, still obviously ill at ease.

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

"You are the Imperial."

That was not a question. "I'm Irian. Jedi Knight as of this summer." The curiosity in his hazel eyes is barely disguised. He holds out his hand towards her.

"Nice to meet you."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe actually looks calmer at the statement. When people describe you as "the Imperial" you know where you stand at least. She actually smiled at the gesture, and took the offered hand.

Seconded, Inari.

Her handshake is cool, firm and as strong as she could manage. She looks the Jedi Knight in the eyes, her own curiosity evident as well.

So... what are you doing? It's an odd hour for training.

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

"I can't sleep. Combat meditation takes my mind off things." He shrugs, then walks over to his towel and dries off his face. "I suppose that's your problem, too... Everyone is edgy on this ship, and it shows."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Is it that obvious?

Rathe smiles, then nods.

Just been trying to meditate. Couldn't focus.

She looks around the room, then with a smile, walks over to a rack of training lightsabers.

Hey, how about a match? There's never anything quite like sparring for taking your mind off it's troubles.

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

"You sure?"

He looks her over. "I don't want to hurt you."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

The Imperial isn't offended. If anything, she's slightly amused.

If we use training sabers, there'll be no problem. And I'm not totally incompetent. I may not be your equal, but I have been trained.

Besides, I've been in far worse. I can stick a sparring match.

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

While that seems to catch his interest, he doesn't pry. His superiors seem to be ok with this woman, so he is willing to trust their judgement.

"All right. Training sabers are over there" - he points to a rack at the wall - "Choose whatever you like." He walks over to a bag in a corner and exchanges his own saber as well and waits in the middle of the training floor.

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

There is the briefest flash--only perceptible to someone with the most keen of reflexes--of annoyance passing through the droid. Can't stand it when they call me that. "The Alliance buys what it can afford. I'm none to thrilled about it, myself. Do you know how many motivators I've changed since we got back? Mind wipes needed by erratic R5 units? On top of that, I've noticed a disturbing influx of R4 units. No one outside of some backwater Outer Rim spaceport buys one of those junkheaps.

"If you need someone to run a flight test on your repairs, I just finished work on R2-F0. I want to see if his upgraded algorithms will allow for more advanced maneuvers. I've heard rumors about the Empire developing faster classes of TIEs, though there is no proof available at this time to corroborate the stories."

[BooNL]

Reilo

Reilo takes a step back and extends his arm a bit. "No thanks Cutie, you know I only repair the damn things. I've never liked space ships, prefer to have both feet on solid ground. But they need every mechanic they need, so here I am working on those hellish machines." He looks thoughtful. "Well, to be fair to the Alliance, most major production facilities are under Imperial control now. It's to be expected that purchases are more difficult. But R4 models? I hadn't seen one in years, till I stepped aboard this vessel."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Totally confident, the woman walks over, and examines the training sabers. Weighing each individually, and miming a few strokes with some, she soon settled on a light

With a flick, it ignigts, a bright deep blue. She flicks her wrist through a few fencing strokes, then deactivates it, satisfied. She slowly and calmly walks over to stand opposite Irian, across the room.

Even though she knows she's probably outmatched, she allows herself a smile

Ready when you are, Master Jedi

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

Taking up a stance Rathe recognizes as the starting position of Ataru, he readies his own blade, blue like hers. "Fine."

A cocky grin appears on his face, quite crooked because of the big scar on his left side. Then he moves, striking quickly and dancing out of the way again...

I honestly don't want to roll the dice for this combat now, so let's just describe. Irian isn't that good (Lv. 9 or so), though he probably could beat her, at least as long as she doesn't dual wield. Besides, they aren't really trying to kill each other (I hope^^), so this more like harmless fun and no need to get it deadly serious. Agreed?

[Moral Wiz]

Meh. He's got experience on her, but Rathe's got surprise. Dunno if he knows if she's a force user, but he sounds like he's going to underestimate her.

And she doesn't have to duel wield. She's more likely to try trickery here. Know your foe, after all. Anyone who tries Ataru first is screaming "overreaching".

Not deadly, but... well, Rathe doesn't like loosing. :smallamused: And as this is the first time she's fought a Jedi, she's going to at least try and give a good account of herself.

With a movement, Rathe slips into a passable imitation of Soresu, and ignites her blade once more with a smile, letting Irian set the pace... to start with.

Once attacked though, she shifts quickly to a "rough and ready" attempt at Makashi, jumping, dancing and slashing almost as quickly as the Jedi Knight. She's careful to avoid a single stance as much as possible though, jumping between whatever she thinks Irian isn't expecting. Soresu to Niman, Shien to Djem So. Sometimes feint with a stance for a few seconds, sometimes hold it for several strokes of the blade. She favors Makashi, though, as much as she tries to avoid it, using it to funnel the overly fast attacks from Irian's Ataru.

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

Nobody says she can't do that, but of course he knows she is a Force User^^.

He seems a bit surprised that she is so versatile and quick, but adjusts. His style is quite smooth, going here, going there, making the most of the free space here and what is quite quickly apparent is that he doesn't plan. She can't read him at all. He goes here, there, whereever, but no strategy seems recognisable. Finally, when they are both sweatsoaked and growing tired, he steps back and deactivates the blade.

"You are good. Where did you learn that?"

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

"From my old master. A man who wasn't forgiving of sloppy bladework"

Even through the sweat, she smiled. Her blade flickers off a moment after the Jedi's, though she seems somewhat more tired from the match than him. She ghasps for air somewhat, before talking.

You... weren't exactly bad yourself Irian. Hard to read, hard to predict... I can see how you made Jedi Knight. I'd hate to fight outside the sparring ring.

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

"Thank you."

He smiles and bows. "My master had her own priorities. She was very big on living in the moment, on not waiting for things. Don't get caught up in what ifs, trust in the living Force. It took me long enough to understand."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

"Heh. Mine too loved his philosophy. That's what makes Masters what they are. Understanding the higher mysteries. One thing, at least, they've all got in common, no?"

Smiling, she returned the training saber to it's rack.

"Still, good match, I think. Haven't had a fight like that in quite a while."

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

That perks his interest. "Who was your master?" He grabs a waterbottle from his gearbag and downs it, before slinging the towel up around his shoulders and walking over to Rathe.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe's smile fades a little. She knows that this is not going to be easy territory for conversation. Her eyes look pretty cold now as Irian approaches

A member of the Inquisitorius.

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

He doesn't really seem surprised. After all, how many potential ways are there for an Imperial to learn the ways of the Force? Instead he walks past her, towards the door, where he stops.

"Do you want a drink? I'm not going to bite you."

[Moral Wiz]

err.... I feel like I've been hogging the thread with this. A lot.

Rathe

Rathe seems slightly surprised at the absence of hostility on the name of the Inquisitorious. After all, they are a group dedicated to hunting Jedi. If anything, the lack of open hostility makes her tense up a little.

Still, she manages a small smile, and nods.

If you don't mind.

[Liliedhe]

So what?^^ It's not like everybody has to read it if they don't want to. :smallbiggrin:

@Rathe:

"Look, I doubt there's anybody on board who hasn't done things they are not proud of. You can't change the past. You can only change who you are now, and you are here."

He shrugs, and leads her out of the door. "That's enough for me."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rather at a loss for words again, Rathe follows Irian out of the training room

Thank you. I... appreciate that.

Silence

You know, you are a menace to conversation.

[Liliedhe]

Well, we should let the others catch up now^^, just go and get a drink.

The young Jedi leads her to the ship's mess where he gets her whatever beverage she prefers. They are not alone, sleeplessness seems quite prevalent aboard the Tython, and several pilots and crewmembers are hanging out here, playing cards or Dejarik.

A Gungan tries to manoeuver a loaded tray out through the doorway and looks like he's just half a step away from a catastrophe, before the door closes and cuts you off from the sight...

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Seated with a light drink, Rathe winces at the Gungan's flailing. She even steps up to help, but unfortunately, as she does so, the door slams. With a frown, Rathe retakes her seat, content to relax a little, and look around the room.

[Ascension]

"No thanks," Rissa responds to the droid, "I know I can trust your work. But I declare if Rogue Three has any more system malfunctions I'm going to make him tear the whole ship down to the frame and rebuild it himself. And then I'm going to do it again myself just to be sure he didn't screw it up."

If there's one thing Rissa never jokes about, it's starfighters.

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

"I really wish you wouldn't. It'll be more work for you than you want. If Rogue 3 is incompetent, wash him out. I would much rather this be settled without either party getting hurt; you should know that by now." QT seems to lose just a little bit of altitude as if his emotions were hurt. Whether or not this was actually the case, even it doesn't know for certain. "Is there anything else that needs be done? If not, where are you off to; I may join you."

[Ascension]

Rissa

"Where are you off to... that's an awfully metaphysical question for a droid, no offense intended. Where are we off to? What might this upcoming venture into espionage bring us? Half the crew's turned into insomniacs over that very question, it seems..."

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

There is no sound of a crash coming from the other side of the door, so the Gungan seems to have managed to escape catastrophe. Or it was just a silent crash.

@the guys in the hangar bay:

While you discuss the problems posed by reckless pilots and suboptimal resupply opportunities, a clattering noise interrupts you, followed by a quite colourful Huttese curse. It seems like you weren't the only ones tinkering with things at this hour...

[Ascension]

Rissa

The Quarren storms into the hangar when she hears the clatter.

"Okay, who was that? That had better not be anyone hurting any of my ships! Especially not Baby! The Incom Corporation pays me to test their equipment, not destroy it!"

[Liliedhe]

No... Her beautiful ship is undisturbed, as are the ships of the Rogue Squadron. As she storms through the hangar bay, she finds the source of the noise: A smaller, wedgeshaped starfighter, one of the old Clone Wars designs, painted in blue. Someone was tinkering with the engines of the antiquity and dropped a tool on the hood, scratching the paint. An R2 unit beeps softly and disapprovingly, while it retrieves the offending thing.

The unfortunate mechanic is still stuck halfway to the hips within the engine but he has stopped cursing. The paintjob on the ship, a blue luminscent figure, reminds Rissa of something...

[BooNL]

Reilo

Reilo runs into the hanger at high speed, but as he sees the mechanic he slows down. "Damn those rookie kung!" He takes a step forward "Mind what you're doing you koochu!"

He turns back to his companions. "I'm heading down to the cantina, I could use some relaxation. Looks like you could use a drink Rissa, feel like joining me?" He looks at the droid "You're welcome as well, QT."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

As her friend strides through the Hanger, Rathe takes a short of her drink, and smiles at Irian

If that poor guy'd been going the other way, it'd be the start of a joke probably. A Gungan, a Jedi and an ex-Inquisitor walk into a Cantina....

[Liliedhe]

@Reilo and Rissa:

The mechanic doesn't seem to be inclined to answer that reproach, he remains engrossed in the intricate workings of the engine. The R2 Unit on the other hand starts to beep frantically and if it wouldn't be a ridiculously human standard to put on a droid, you'd say he is chewing you out.

@Rathe:

"I think I've heard that one before..." He chuckles. "It's right there with 'How many Imperials do you need to change a glowrod?'"

[Ascension]

The Azure Angel? Hah! And I thought the Imperial Jedi would be the first to meet Anakin...

By the way, what is the R2 unit saying? Rissa knows Binary.

"Do you need a hand with your antiquated rustbucket?" Rissa asks, chuckling, "Or is your temperamental little droid here help enough?"

"Grinning" she adds, "By the way, I'm required by my contract to point out in situations like this that Incom Corporation products are designed for easy maintenance and reliability..."

[Moral Wiz]

Oh, I dunno. She was closest at the start of this. And I wanted a more amicable meeting than you seem about to get. :smallbiggrin:

Rathe

Heh. I'm afraid I never got told that one. Can't imagine why. Feel like sharing?

Rathe smiled a little more, and winked at her new Jedi friend, as she sipped her drink.

[Liliedhe]

Well, I thought it would fit Rissa better - both are pretty insane about their starfighters, aren't they?^^

@Rissa:

The R2 unit is clearly very outspoken about you minding your own effing business and showing the proper respect to your commanding officer...

As it seems clear that the disturbance is not going to go away, the mechanic pulls himself out of the ship and gracefully lands on the floor. "It's ok, Artoo. And no, I don't need help." General Skywalker looks you over with calm blue eyes, one of them marked by a faint, pale scar running from the middle of his forehead down to the cheek.

His mouth curls into a slightly ironic smile, as he calls the hydrospanner into back into his hand. "And I have told you I do not require the services of your company. So, can you just leave it be, please?"

@Rathe:

"I don't really remember the details, but it was 'three'. One to change it, one to check whether procedure is followed, and one to arrest the other two in case they violate it..."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Heh. Sounds about right.

Rathe laughs, warming more and more to Irian

Now this was something I didn't expect when I went over to the Rebellion. Having to learn a new set of jokes. Got any more?

[OldSchoolGamer7]

"Something tells me that we may want to let this 'odd couple' alone. They are both willful and headstrong; both qualities of effective leaders. That little R2 unit...it still amazes me. I have a lot of respect for it.

"That being said, it is my duty and my programming to make sure you don't need assistance, Master Skywalker. If not, I will step out and leave you to it." QT hovers a little higher than normal, watching the rest of the hangar for any other activity.

[Liliedhe]

"Thank you, QT, but I don't require assistence. Artoo and I are doing fine." He nods a greeting at the hovering droid, before turning back to his customized starfighter, hopping back onto the wing and disappearing into the engine again.

The little Astromech beeps a condescending 'told ya' at you, before he too resumes his work.

[Ascension]

Rissa is rather startled by the revelation. She recoils, tentacles quivering.

"Aah, right. This is your fighter... Sorry sir. Won't happen again, sir. Good luck. Have a good evening. I'll be going now."

Rissa hastily withdraws from the hangar. Meeting Reilo again at the exit, she lays a hand on the Khil's shoulder.

"I've changed my mind. That drink's starting to sound like a good idea. Let's go."

As they walk away, she glances back over her shoulder as if to make sure she isn't being followed.

[Liliedhe]

Nobody is following her.

In the Mess Hall you find - aside from some other unsleeping crewmembers - your personal Imperial deserter looking rather sweaty and disheveled, in animated discussion with a blond Jedi.

"I'll try to remember. Do you know the one of the two Clones who get lost on Endor? It was pretty popular when I was a Padawan, even though it's... not nice", he grins, a quite boyish grin despite him being certainly in his midtwenties.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe laughed, harmonic and loud. The result of elocution lessens long ago..

Drinking, dirty jokes... you sure you're a Jedi?

It was obviously said in jest. Rathe just kept smiling, and took another gulp

No, never got contact with other my fellows. Yet another bad point of working in the Inquisitorius. No social life.

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

QT falls into "step" behind the others after giving Skywalker a respectful bow. There are so many mannerisms that sentients express...I may never be able to catalogue, much less understand, them all. It doesn't make much sense for the General to still use such an out of date fighter. With his skills, he would be beyond deadly in the ship design that Rissa is testing. The droid shakes his head several times, trying to clear it's processors. Sometimes, it's best not to focus on these things, lest they overload the system.

[BooNL]

Reilo

Seeing the General emerge from under the ship, Reilo bows his head. "I'm... sorry General. I did not realize it was you." He remembers the colourful Huttese words he slung at the "rookie mechanic. "I won't happen again sir."

With that he joins the others in their search for the cantina.

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

"Being a Jedi doesn't mean you have to be uptight and leave your sense of humour at the temple gates. It's just that you mostly carry the weight of the world on your shoulders and the responsibility for a lot of lives. And everybody expects you to know the solution to everything and to have all of the answers."

His smile turns slightly ironic, and she suddenly sees how tired he is. Not physically, necessarily, but in spirit. For someone only in his twenties, his hazel eyes are old.

[Ascension]

Rissa elbows Reilo as they walk through the door.

"Hey, look, Rathe's found herself a man."

She wanders over to the Jedi couple's table with a crude facsimile of nonchalance.

"Oh, hey, Rathe! Didn't expect to find you here!"

Rissa leans over the table, bringing her tentacled face level with Irian's.

"And I certainly didn't expect you to have found a boyfriend on such short notice! What's his name?"

It was hard for me to avoid dirty Quarren jokes about Irian's hectocotylus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hectocotylus).

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

The Imperial seemed sympathetic at Irian's words, her own smile loosening, into a look of genuine pity at someone old before his time.

Yes. That's unfortunate, and a long term problem for the Order. It'...

Then a certain loud and "smiling" Quarren came to join them. Rathe blushed at her words, ever so slightly. That was.... not an interpretation of events that had occurred to her.

Wha...No!... err...

She looks over to Irian for guidance on this one, her former confident self evaporating swiftly.

[Liliedhe]

He looks up to the Quarren and frowns.

"My name is Irian Torson."

He doesn't bother to correct her misconception, but winks a little a the flustered Rathe.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Oh, no

Quickly, Rathe rallies, her face carefully neutral

Yes. Knight Torson and I just fought a pretty passable sparring match in the training room. He...

She seems on the verge of describing the match, but then the possibilities of this strike her, and she thinks better of it.

He offered me a drink after we were done. And much appreciated it was, Irian, thank you.

[Ascension]

"Good to meet you, Irian. I'm Rissa. Rissa Shelku," Rissa replies.

She straightens up, moving back out of your comfort zones.

"Well, I suppose I'll leave you two love birds alone..." she says, then she adds, with a wink in Rathe's direction, "...for now, at least. You'll have to tell me about that 'sparring match' later."

It appears that Quarren may have eyelids... I don't know. I'm mostly guessing.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

The poor young Imperial still looks embarrassed. Her blush deepens slightly, in spite of herself.

Friends like this....

She gave the winking Riss a piercing look, which said rather clearly I'm going to kill you later for this. and a somewhat more apologetic glance to Irian.

So... where were we?

[Liliedhe]

"Telling bad jokes, if I remember correctly..."

He smiles. "But I don't want to embarass you in the eyes of your friends."

[Moral Wiz]

Heh. Thanks, but I'm Ok

She hasn't quite managed to get rid of the blush. Rathe downs another glass, and puts her glass on the bartop

Still, I think I'd better be getting back to my ship. If only to turn in. I am on a mission tomorrow, after all. And there's only so much drinking Juma Juce can do to help me sleep, even in good company

She rises, only slightly unsteadily to her feet. Still, she smiled, and nods to her new found friend.

Nice to meet you, Irian.

[Liliedhe]

"Good night. Sleep well." He eyes her a moment, but when she seems quite capable of making her way to her quarters unassisted, he simply bows to her and let's her go, ordering himself another drink and staring off into space.

[Ascension]

"Hey, sorry Reilo," Rissa says to the only other sentient in the place with facial tentacles, "I hate to run so soon, but there's no way I'm letting her get away that easy."

Assuming Rathe doesn't actively run away, it shouldn't be too hard for Rissa to catch up with her friend.

"Hey, sorry about that. Didn't mean to break up your date. If you want me to, I'll leave you two alone next time I see you together."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe sighs at the Quarren, and quickens her pace slightly. Not much though. She's far from steady.

Rissa. I'm tiered. Please...

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

It's times like these I'm glad I'm a droid. The level of tension...best not to even worry about it. QT zips along behind it's compatriots, still anylizing the behavior exhibited. Maybe I should stop trying to figure them out. "Forgive me if this sounds like a stupid question, but why did you break them up in the first place if you are just going to turn around and apologize about it later?"

[Ascension]

Rissa turns and glares at the droid.

"I thought she could take a joke! I didn't break them up intentionally. I'd never do that to a friend!"

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Meh. Don't worry Riss. Wasn't really you anyway. Or... anything to break up.

She feels like she should say more, but her head... She just carries on in the direction of the Liberty Light, and a nice, warm bed.

[Ascension]

"Oh, okay... I guess I'll... uh... just let you rest, then," Rissa replies.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Heh. Thanks Riss. Good night.

With that, and a weak smile, Rathe walked off for the hanger bay, once again.

[Liliedhe]

@Rathe:

She reaches the hangar bay and the Liberty Light unopposed...

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Stumbling a little now, Rathe somehow manages to get across the hanger, up the Light's docking ramp, and into the ship. Her home ground

She just stands there for a moment, focusing for a few seconds. Even now, things needed to be done.

She goes through the old rituals, locking the cargo bays, locking the docking ramp then setting the ship's alarm to trigger in her quarters if someone tries to get in.

Then, with a single last sprint, and a quick jerk, she crashes down on her bed, with a great sigh of relief

Nothing to worry about... right... now....

She's sound asleep in moments.

[Liliedhe]

Act I: Secrets of the Empire

Taris, T-325


24 hours later... Above Taris, Rathe's Liberty Light drops out of hyperspace. The planet lies underneath you, a scarred, broken ruin, testament to the evil of the Sith, who devastated it thousands of years ago. Some clusters of buildings still stand, others are molten planes of glass and rubble. Parts of Taris have been revitalized and are settled again, but they are on the other side of the planet, away from the meeting point your mysterious contact gave you. So far, you can't see any other ships or activities...

If you are lucky, your landing will be unopposed...

[Ascension]

"Cheerful place," Rissa remarks grimly as the devastation fills the Liberty Light's cockpit windows, "Let's get this over with."

She will attempt to bring the ship in for a landing, while keeping an eye out for trouble. As a precaution, she raises the craft's shields in advance.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Indeed

Rathe looks out from the co-pilot's seat, taking in the ruins, her face downcast, but set.

Any sign at all of Imperial activity? Or indeed, any activity in this area?

[Ascension]

"Well, everything looks dead, but I suppose a closer check is in order..."

Perception: [roll0]
Use Computer: [roll1]

"Okay, when's the last time you worked on the sensor computers? I'm not getting anything out of this crappy thing. Told you you should have traded this hunk of junk in for a YT-series model..."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe smiles

Never! The Light's an old friend. Anyway, the sensors are fine. You just don't know how to treat her right. Hold on

She brings up sensor controls herself, with a smile, and an occasional thump to the console. Before too long, a quite passiable (if slightly fuzzy) holo display is up.

I'll take sensors. You just worry about getting us down

[roll0] computer use

[roll1] perception... Edit; Woah. Slightly creepy... but useful. :smallbiggrin:

[Ascension]

"Right, I'm not treating it properly... I'm so sorry I'm more accustomed to equipment that actually works," Rissa teases.

"Seriously, though," she adds, "I know this piece of crap saved both our lives, but there's only so far you can run on sentimentality alone. And isn't attachment verboten for you people anyway?"

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

The "Jedi" sighed

Look Riss, I've told you before. Just because I use the Force and fight with a saber doesn't mean I'm a Jedi. They're the only ones who have that code..

She doesn't sound that harsh in her reprimand though, even by her normal standers She's smiling as she brings up the Liberty Light

And besides, there aren't many ships faster than the Light, with this amount of cargo space. Yeah, she needs maintenance, but so what? She's good enough for me.

[Ascension]

Rissa laughs.

"Methinks the Jedi doth protest too much," she replies, waving her tentacles at Rathe in a gesture not unlike sticking out her tongue.

"Anyway, unless you see anything, I guess it's safe to move in for a landing... Let's see what your mystery contact can do."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe nodded, curtly

Ok. Let's head downward, but keep an eye out. Any ATC in the area we need to inform, or are we just going to land.

Her prior light happiness seemed to have subsided at this point. She sighed as she rebooted the holo again.

I just wish I knew who the informer is. I can't even guess, unfortunately. The Emmisary's obviously a shapeshifter, but that last form... I felt like I knew it. Almost like I'd met him before.

You think they're loyal to us, whoever they are?

[Liliedhe]

There is no activity coming from the place where you are supposed to make the meet, but, the sensors pick up coded signals from an area 500km north of it, though there is nothing to see there. The code is Imperial, but you can't understand what it's saying.

The meeting place is a group of four skyscrapers, connected by partially broken walkways, one of them broken at the top and looking like the stump of a tooth. The landing platform you were directed to is a walkway in the middle of the buildings, that looks frightfully fragile, but should hold the Liberty. Theoretically.

[Moral Wiz]

Unknown Imperial codes, and a fragile landing place

Rathe sighs.

Riss, I'll leave you to take her down. I'll try and crack this transmission. Did the agreement specify we had to land on that?

She looks out the window, and shudders.

It's just screaming "Thermal Detonator" to me.

Personal Computer [roll0] to try and crack the code. If that's not viable, what is?

[Liliedhe]

You are supposed to land there and follow the walkway into the building. If you land somewhere else, you'd have to climb up inside of the skyscraper, and you just don't know what would wait for you there.

The code resists Rathe's efforts quite stubbornly.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

A slightly irritated Rathe hits the ship's internal comms.

Everyone, can you get in here? We've got an Imperial Code broadcasting 500 klicks north of our destination, and I can't crack it. Plus, I think you'll want to see our landing pad.

[Ascension]

"You worry too much," Rissa says with a dismissive chuckle, "The pad will hold up. For a little while, at least. And a little while should be all we need. If you're really nervous I can sit in the ship and keep the engines warm... although that would be an awful waste of my other talents."

[The_Snark]

Jena

"Looks exposed." Jena's voice announces her before anything else; she's standing in the entrance to the cabin, one hand resting on the doorframe above her to keep her steady for the descent.

"That'll make it hard to follow him," she goes on. "If he watches us arrive or leave, he'll be able to tell we landed more people than we take off with."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe looked up from her tampering as Jena entered, smiling at the new arrival.

Ah, Jena... Don't know any Imperial Codes, do you? I've pretty much tried all I can here, and I've got nothing.

As to following... well, you're the expert on stealth. Any ideas?

[The_Snark]

Jena

She shakes her head. "Sorry. The most I've ever had to do with codebreaking is getting ahold of the key."

"The first thing to do would be to determine whether or not he's observing us personally. If he is, I can leave the ship after you've started talking with him. If he's using electronic surveillance or has people watching the ship, it becomes more difficult. Have you done a scan of the buildings yet?" The Intelligence agent comes forward to better see out the windows, examining the buildings to see where she would station cameras or watchers, if she had been assigned to watch the landing pad.

Perception [roll0]

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe sighed, jumping over to the sensor computer from her personal terminal, which she'd been using to try and crack the code..

On it. But we need someone to get into this transmission. I'm not overly comfortable with invisible Imperial positions.

QT! We need you in here. I can't get my head round this damn code the Imperials are using

[roll0] computer use, sensors on the rendezvous point

[Ascension]

"Sometimes a coded transmission is just a coded transmission," Rissa says with a sigh, "it probably has nothing to do with the informant. Let's just go ahead and land already, okay? I cramp up in this cockpit after a while."

[Moral Wiz]

Probably. So we're probably not going to end up surrounded by Stormtroopers and shot.

Rathe sighed as the sensor holos came up

Call me paranoid, but I don't like the idea of a code going by unseen. Not when there's no obvious facility there, and no other imperial code broadcasting...

Oh, what the hell. Go ahead and land. But if that druid doesn't get in here ASAP...

[Liliedhe]

The sensors pick up some electronic signals from the four towers, remnants of the facilities former infrastructure. There are no transmissions coming from it, but a proximity alarm has been rigged to the entrance into the building. Whoever waits for you wants to know you are coming.

There are no people hiding there, though.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe sighs, even at the good news.

Well, no electronic security, bar an automated doorbell, to let him know we're coming.

Riss, that confirms it, I think. Take us down.

As they continue, the ex-imperial speaks up

Now, how're we going to play this? I probably have to show up, and if I did it alone, our friend will get suspicious. Jena, if these readings are right, you'll be clear to move out once we're talking. You want to take QT with you? Or do you want to go alone?

[Ascension]

"Aye, cap'n," Rissa replies when she receives the go-ahead, "Taking her in."

Barring further complications she will set the LL down easily on the precarious perch prepared for it to park on.

"Should I stay with the ship? Stealth is not my forte... flying out of sticky situations as fast as possible, however, is. It might be best for me to stand by for a hasty extraction, just in case."

[Moral Wiz]

Good idea. If this does go sour, we'll probably need a fast extraction.

Do we have bugging equipment? That could be useful, so Jena can know for sure when the emmisary's distracted.[/

[Liliedhe]

You were given a holo recording unit to make a recording of the meeting. That you could connect to the ship's computer so it transmits what you see.

[Moral Wiz]

Is that against the agreement though? If so, can the holorecorder be concealed at all easily?

As they descended, Rathe closed her eyes. She may have been nervous before, but here, when things were actually direct and important, her training gave her the focus she needed to concentrate. To feel the Force around her...

[roll0] Use the Force to Sense Force for any disturbances or Force Users in the area. 100 Km radius, I think.

[Liliedhe]

No Force Users within range. But you feel something... a twinge of a familiar presence in distress on this planet. Out of range, but not that far away.

Making a recording of the meeting is breaking the terms, yes. But, it would be easy to conceal the recorder within clothing - it is not big.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe's eyes snap open. She speaks, quickly.

Nothing unusual. At least, not within a hundred kilcks.

So... we head down, Relio and I head into the meet, with the Holo recorder concealed. Jena and perhaps QT get into position to tail him, once we start talking. We get what info we can, then head back to the Liberty. We'll then head over to the other side of the Planet, with some excuse or other, whilst you two trail our friend. Once your done, you contact us, and we'll pick you up. Ok?

[The_Snark]

Jena

"Unless the doorbell only goes off once, that's going to give my entrance away pretty quickly." Jena considers. "I'll enter with you, and stay by the doorway until the meeting starts to wrap up. I'm fairly sure he isn't watching the walkway, so it shouldn't blow the operation. QT should stay with the ship; he's mobile enough to have a shot at catching up if I lose him while leaving the building."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Hmm... Perhaps. But if we move the ship across planet, it'll take time to get QT into position. Might be best if he found somewhere nearby to hide, no?

[The_Snark]

Jena

Jena nods with a slight smile on her face, having taken that for a given. "Plenty of places for a droid to hole up around here."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Ok.

Rathe's silent at that. She closes her eyes again, though she doesn't stop talking.

You likely to need armed extraction? If we're going to blend in properly, we'll have to hang around whatever space port is up north. They'll become suspicious if no one exits the ship. And blending in will make it take time to get to you, even in the Liberty.

It'd be easier if you could avoid armed engagments.

Lil, you know what Rathe's going to try and do. She's going to spend a Force Point too.

[roll0] UtF

[The_Snark]

Jena

"Engagement usually means mission failure in my line of work. If I'm spotted and the odds aren't good, I'll go to ground until you arrive. If I succeed, no rush; if not, likely you'll be too late anyway."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe is silent at this. Her eyes closed..., her mind... elsewhere.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

After a few seconds, she mouths... something. Her lips barely twitching, and her face facing the window in anycase.

Then, Rathe's back to normal, opening her eyes, and spining round.

Thanks for that, Jena. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

"I may be a droid, but I should at least get a say in where I go..." There is a distinct twinge of annoyance in his speech pattern. "While I understand the necessity of keeping someone at the ship for garrison reasons, I heavily resent that you would all automatically assume that I should stay on the ship. It is true that I carry no weapon usually, but I know for a fact that there are at least a couple of heavy blasters in the cargo hold I could grab if needed. I am just as sneaky as any of you; possibly even more so. My thrusters are muffled and my skill is superior to most organics because, quite frankly, I need make no bodily noises like breathing or coughing.

"However, for the good of the group, I will stay behind if no one else desires to. I do so under protest, though. Do not assume that I'm your pet droid." Organics...they make me want to shut down permanently sometimes.

[Moral Wiz]

Err... QT, we had you down as helping to tail this guy, because of... well, all the reasons you suggest.. Not as staying behind. Sorry if you thought we were taking you for granted, but...

Rathe shrugs, then gestures to her terminal, now abandoned as she fiddles with the sensors.

And by the way, can you crack this coded transmission on there? You're as good with systems as I am, and I don't like the Imps transmitting stuff we don't know about..

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

"And I may have just flown off the handle. There have been anomalies in my programming that have been causing me to become a bit resentful lately. I do apologize." System Command: Run diagnostic on processor programs. Reduce speed by .0923.

"I will give it a shot, but I make no promises about cracking it. Their codes have become more and more complex of late." QT floats over to the console and connects to the system, searching for the pattern within the code.

My apologies for not seeing the game had started.
Use Computer: [roll0]

[Liliedhe]

The Droid manages to crack the code... The transmissions - aside from technical stuff - talk about an incoming inspection scheduled for the next day and some funding problems. It seems to be a research station and their shutdown is imminent if they can't justify what they do.

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

"Your fears seem to be unfounded. Unless this research station is directly connected to one of the Empire's major projects, I believe that we should be able to accomplish our task before the inspection fleet arrives. I know not how many ships they would send, but the increased security because of it will certainly cause us no end of problems getting out of the system." The droid slips away from the console and back against a bulkhead, resuming his usual "silent type" appearance.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe hears the tranmissions with a deadpan face.

Thanks QT. Lets get to the meet.

She's looking... cold. Professional. Or angry. Hard to tell with her.

[Ascension]

"Yes, you go on, get to your meet. We're already sitting on the pad, you know," Rissa reminds, "That's why you don't feel like you're moving. If you thought the Light's inertial compensators were that good, well, you don't know the Light as well as I do."

Though her voice remains jovial, she flashes a look of concern in Rathe's direction. She knows that determination in her friend's face, and she knows it means something's up. Likely something beyond the planned scope of the mission...

[Liliedhe]

Yes, the Liberty is indeed already sitting on the walkway, the entrance into the building a mere fifty meters ahead. It might once have been a door, but now it's just a gaping hole in the side of the building, with steel girders jutting from the ferrocrete above it like entrails of a monstrous beast... It is dark behind it.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

The Imperial doesn't even seem to notice Rissa's jab. She nods.

Right. Reilo?

Rathe bounds out of the cockpit, and down to the passenger ramp, ready to head off into the cavernous depths of this ruined tower.

[Ascension]

Once Rathe is out of the cockpit Rissa leans close to the Light's controls and whispers, "You know I'm just kidding, right, Libby? I really do like you."

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

With an eerie silence...you'd expect to at least hear servomotors...QT floats along and out of the ship, instantly scanning the surroundings for a place to begin observation. Let's see what happens. You'd think the Empire would have gotten wise and put their covert ops on these ruined planets; they're the only place that the Rebellion seems to have these kinds of important meetings...

Perception: [roll0] to see if I can find myself a cranny to hide out along the way.
Stealth: [roll1] if I can find a place to hide and you believe it's necessary.

Edit: I suppose my string of good rolls had to come to an end sometime; at least it won't be fatal.

[Liliedhe]

The floating droid does find a place behind a large chunk of ferrocrete that fell onto the walkway many years ago... He can keep the entrance in his field of vision that way and shouldn't be visible from the inside.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

The black clothed ex-Imperial starts walking, firmly and confidently, in the direction of the wall, and the meeting... and the informer.

Were we given instructions about the darkness?

[Liliedhe]

No, not at all. Just "land at these coordinates, and walk into the middle of the building".

As she draws closer to the hole, she sees a grey shimmer inside - it isn't completely dark, there have to be some other windows or openings further in...

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe doesn't stop to blink as she draws close to the doorway. She simply closes her eyes whilst in mid step, and continues onward.

[roll0] UtF check for sense surroundings, to... well, do what it says on the tin. Assuming it can work this way...

[Liliedhe]

That's exactly what it's for, AFAIR.

The large hall contains a lot of rubble, and thus a number of places that could be used for concealment, but there is nobody there. As she walks deeper into it, evading the debris and several holes in the floor, she reaches a round area that has been somewhat cleared. A fusion latern is standing on a square of concrete, with a hooded and cloaked figure beside it who makes no effort to hide.

"Hello, there."

The language is basic and the voice seems to be a human male, but she can't see the informer's face yet.

Well, blame Ascension, he got me hooked on the movie quotes.^^ They have absolutely NO significance here. Not all. No, seriously.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe doesn't open her eyes until the Informer is within a few feet. She's temporarily blinded by the fusion lantern, but recovers quickly.

Hello.

She sits opposite the Informer, with the fusion lantern between them. She tries her utmost to maintain a poker face, but it is a struggle for her. She decides to say nothing, and to let their "friend" begin the dialogue.

[The_Snark]

Jena

Should have brought infrared goggles. It's too late for that now, though, so Jena follows Rathe and Reilo into the gaping hole, squinting to accustom herself to the dimness. Her clothing is a drab grey, chosen to blend into the old, rain-washed concrete and durasteel of Taris; it blends well into the dark interior of the building.

She lets the other two get well ahead of her, following their footsteps at a slow pace and stopping well before she reaches the light cast by the lantern.

Stealth [roll0]

[Liliedhe]

There is no place to sit down here (unless you want to squat on the floor)

The contact moves the latern to the side, revealing a datapad. As the glow of the illumination shifts, she gets a glimpse of his face - a human with a graying beard and a C-shaped scar on his right cheek. He proceeds to move a datapad towards her, just like it was done on the previous meetings.

"This contains information on where back-up plans of the Battlestation could be obtained. You may check them, I will wait."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe, on the floor beside the informer, poker faces, activates the datapad, and starts sliding her fingers over it, accessing it's reserves of information

[roll0] Use Computer check, to access the info, and ID the source if possible. [roll1]Knowledge, Gal Lore on the information, to see if it's possible..

[Liliedhe]

It contains informations about several corporations involved in the construction, and access codes for a facility on Geonosis where the plans are supposed to be stored.

The contact just remains standing there and waits for her to examine the goods.

She can't narrow down where the source must come from, the information is too haphhazard - it almost seems like it is pieced together from bits and pieces gathered accidentally.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe laughs, in spite of herself, as the information comes up

They outsourced construction? And to Geonosis?

She becomes more serious after her initial light merriment dies down.

I assume you can't, or won't, tell us where this information came from. But I wouldn't put the Empire past a bit of deception. And there is a lot on the line here. How sure are you this is genuine?

Which corporations?

[Liliedhe]

Sienar Technologies, Baktoid Armor Workshop, LiMerge Power

"I am sure, my dear. I'm betting my life on it."

Despite the hood shadowing his features she has the short impression of a somewhat roguish smile crossing his face.

"And now, if you don't mind, I would ask you to leave this building again."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

As you wish

Rathe slowly gets up, but doesn't move away yet, though she half turns to go.

Err... It's not important, but I did have a question of my own, outside the bargin. It's not obligatory of course, but whilst you were here... Would you mind?

[Liliedhe]

"Sure. I can't promise I will answer, but you may ask."

The man moves a step back from the latern, so she can't read his features anymore.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

This place is supposed to be borderline Imperial. Token garrison, no real economic or strategic value. Might as well be one big desert.

Yet there's a research facility broadcasting in the area. A concealed one at that. On a world like this?

She stares into the shadow, after taking a step back herself, keeping opposite the informer.

We haven't been assigned to deal with it, but I'm curious. Know anything about it?

[Liliedhe]

She can see him visibly start. That was a question he obviously did not expect.

"I do not know anything of an installation here. There are many hidden bases on otherwise unremarkable planets...", he then says after a moment.

"And, please leave. Information about a new meeting will reach you through the usual channels."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe notes the surprise with a grim smile. She turns and walks... five steps away, before speaking behind her.

You know nothing of what they're doing there? Truly?

Direct lie. Oh, what fun! :D

[Liliedhe]

"If you are so interested, why don't you look for yourself?"

Suddenly, the voice is different, the cultured Coruscanti accent vanished. It sounds younger now, the voice from the last meeting...

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe is very, very still at that. Her voice when she spoke was... calm.

You're doing his voice wrong, you know. That's why I didn't work it out sooner.

Taunting bastard

She is silent at that. It would be so easy, so easy to pull her lightsaber out and turn it's red glow upon the Informer. Mission or no... To make this arrogant dog fee her pain, feel her anger. Anger that was ju...

No.

She wipes away a tear that had fallen whilst standing still. Her voice is barely level.

Another day, Master Shape-Shifter. I look forward to our next conversation

With that, she turned, and walked towards the unseen Liberty Light.

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

Typical cryptic organics. They try to hide their plans through thinly veiled mystic or nonsensical comments. Simple encoded documents would serve just as well. They think they're so clever. The droid doesn't move, waiting for a cue from one of the others if they still need it to follow the mystery man.

[Liliedhe]

QT sees Rathe emerge from the building, alone.

Inside, Jena can watch how the contact stays still for a moment, then extinguishes the lantern and moves towards the other side of the building, disappearing into a doorway.

[The_Snark]

Jena

She moves after the emissary, timing her steps with his so that not only will she match his pace, whatever noise she makes will hopefully be masked by his own footfalls. The extinguishing of the light was an irritant, but she'd been carefully looking slightly away from the light, so as not to completely lose her night vision; it still left dancing spots across her eyes, but they adjusted quickly.

Stealth [roll0]

Perception to follow the noise he makes, if needed: [roll1]

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe doesn't stop. Calmly, if anything even slightly quicker, she strides up the Liberty's docking ramp, and circles round and up into the cockpit. Rissa can see that she's looking... focused still

That's our side of things concluded. Shall we go now?

[Liliedhe]

By the time Jena reaches the doorway, too, she can hear their contact climbing down stairs - indeed, it opens into a stairway. It is just as old and rickety as the rest of the structure and she does not feel very comfortable with the thought of climbing down there...

Suddenly, the sound of the footsteps changes, becoming more metallic and sharp...

[The_Snark]

Jena

Alone in the dark, Jena grimaces faintly. But she didn't really have a choice; she could hardly call off the mission because she hadn't liked the look of one of the stairways, and her chances of reestablishing contact if she tried to find a way around were slim. The stairs had taken the emissary's weight; she'd have to trust that she was lighter than him.

Nonetheless, she takes the stairs carefully, feeling at the steps to make sure the next one isn't going to give beneath her; even if that didn't drop her all the way down, it would be loud enough to give her away instantly.

Rather than roll the same checks every post while she's tailing him, I'll let you roll Stealth (and Perception) checks when you think it's necessary to use a new one. In general, if she gets a result below 7 or so, Jena will use Improved Stealth to re-roll.

[Liliedhe]

Understood.

The contact leads her down through the decrepit building, sometimes jumping over gaps in the stairs, till he finally reaches the bottom of the building. She hears a door creak, and then an engine start.

[The_Snark]

Jena

She takes advantage of the engine's noise to hurry as much as she dares in the dark, trying to catch up before whatever vehicle he was using took off. Bad. She needed to at least know how he was leaving to have any hope of continuing.

Moving at a hustle at this point, meaning -5 to Stealth. Of course, she should have cover to offset that...

[Liliedhe]

She manages to reach the bottom of the stairwell in time to see a speeder bike disappear in the distance. It is heading north.

[The_Snark]

Jena

Damn. She'd been hoping for something she could stow away on, but landspeeder or spacecraft, it hadn't seemed likely a single person would use a craft that big.

Still, it wasn't the end. She raises her wrist comm to her mouth, tapping it on. "QT. Speeder headed north, follow." That was it. The transmission was coded and scrambled, and it was unlikely he had the equipment to detect comm signals on his speeder bike, but one thing that had been hammered into her was never to make more comm noise than necessary on a covert operation.

[Ascension]

"Okay!" Rissa eagerly replies, "Let's blow this joint!"

The Light lifts gracefully off the landing pad and takes to the skies.

"Where now, mon capitan?"

[Moral Wiz]

Liberty LightRathe is silent as the Liberty takes off. She just stares out of the view display. After they're in the air though, she speaks, though as much to herself as to Rissa.

That bastard was lieing about the facility

She looked over to Rissa now. Her face is set, and her eyes scream aloud with the anger she isn't quite admitting to.

When we landed, I sensed a disturbance in the force. I reached out, and saw an old friend of mine. A guy I haven't seen in years, who I could barely recognize. But still, a powerful user of the Force. One of the best I've ever seen, and I've seen powerful users, on both sides of the Force..

At this though, she started to slip. Not finish her sentences. She was clutching the edge of the chair tight, her voice filled with equal rageand pain.

He was... they were... experimenting on him somehow.

After that, the words just flow, one after the other, fast as a river

He was underground, ferrocrete, no windows. They had medical equipment, all around him, monitoring brain patterns, heartbeat, hell, I don't know everything they had there. He looked half dead. If it wasn't for the fact that his heart was beating, I'd say he was dead. He didn't seem able to feel anything, not even pain. He had scars round his head...

She quietens then. Slows too.

And that was the form our informant chose for his last meeting. The form of my half dead friend. Complete with scars. The bastard...

She's silent at that. An astute observer might notice her hand quivering slightly, or the tear she's bighting back.

She stays like that for a bit, then she speaks, her voice hard. Cold

Regardless, the Empire are doing something involving Force Sensitives in that place. That can't be good. And the emissary tried to conceal it. That just makes me more worried. Perhaps he knows something the Empire, or at least the Empire at large don't.

Either way, I think we need to take a closer look, don't you? Head to the point of origin for the base's transmission. Give it a flyby, let's see what we can see.

Rathe seems to find Jena's comm message hysterical. She can barely contain a kind of grim mirth.

North? The bastard's heading north?

She laughs at that. Long loud, and not a little frightening, before rationality took over.

Can you get to the open? You need extraction. QT can handle pursuit, but we've just got a new objective here, I think.

Sorry Riss. Can you turn around, and pick up our planet bound spy?

[The_Snark]

Jena

"Negative. Stay with the plan. Covert." Jena's reply is terse and maybe—although it is a lot to read into a short, comm-distorted message—a bit annoyed.

Headed for the Imp research facility, likely.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe sighs as she de-activates the connection

Fine. Riss, sorry, back to course one.

[Ascension]

"Look, I'm all for gate crashing the Imps' party if they're doing crazy stuff like that," Rissa says to Rathe, "But shouldn't we go back and get a bit more firepower before we barge in like that? It's bound to be well defended, right? I could grab Baby, shove a few proton torps up their collective noses..."

Despite her protests, she keeps heading towards the source of the transmissions. With the speed of the Liberty Light, it won't be long before the ship reaches its new destination.

[Moral Wiz]

I tried to get Jena. We don't have time! They're being inspected tomorrow. I wouldn't put it past Imperial Command to show up early, over something like this. And it's looking like our new friend is en-route. This could become impossible at any time, our window is narrow.


Liberty Light (bit I'm not making public) :smallwink:Rathe's silent for a moment, thinking, then speaks, her voice showing her irritation

It's a small, secret facility. And one on the verge of closure. It shouldn't have that large a guard. If we have surprise on our side, we might be able to storm the place before they get re-enforcements from the Imperial Garrison here. No?

[Liliedhe]

On the surface she sees nothing, just ruins. Once, it might have been a small complex, several boxshaped buildings stuck into each other, but now they are broken open like a giant fist smashed down on them. There is no discernable entrance into the complex, other than climbing in through the roof.

[Ascension]

"Fine by me. I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing... No, what we're doing. I know you're the un-Jedi, but don't count me out of this. I've got a blaster and I've got two fists, and I know how to use them."

Does the facility attempt to stop the Light's approach? I'm sure they've not got any AA Rissa can't handle. :smallamused:

[Liliedhe]

Since you are asking so nicely...

As the Liberty closes in on the facility, suddenly two missiles streak out of the debris and attempt to clip the ship's tail...

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Ascension]

"HANG ON!" Rissa shouts, jerking the Light into an evasive maneuver.

Vehicular Combat to negate one hit.
Liberty Light's size penalties and Dex taken into account.

Pilot: [roll0]

She dodges one missile easily, but the other makes contact, sending shudders through the whole vessel.

"IS ANYONE ON THE GUNS?" she yells, "Ohh, nevermind. I'll just take us in for a landing! They shouldn't be able to target us on the ground!"

She cuts the engines and the Light falls out of the sky.

Aww, don't look at me that way, it's a controlled fall!

Miscellaneous Pilot check if needed: [roll1]

[Moral Wiz]

At her friend's expression of solidarity, Rathe smiles, and permits herself a tear.

Thanks Riss. I...

Then she hears the sound of missiles. And wheels around quickly at her friend's antics.

Rissa! No! Keep us up...

But her cries are of no avail as the overzealous Quarren pilot sends them plummeting into the depths of Taris...

[Liliedhe]

[roll0]
[roll1]

Rissa drops the ship from the sky, trying to loose the remaining missile while diving into the canyons between the buildings...

[Ascension]

"Okay, sheesh, sorry, I just assumed you didn't want your rust bucket to remain a target!"

If I may assume that warning came in time to prevent her from actually cutting the engines?

She guns the engines instead, giving them all the power she can.

"More than one way to skin a fish! We'll just fly straight through as fast as we can!"

All out movement, increasing vehicle speed.

[roll0]

[Ascension]

"So here we are," Rissa says, "On the ground, against your wishes. So. Care to hike, or shall we go make ourselves a target again so you can fly over like you want to?"

She shrugs.

"You do have nice shields..."

[Ascension]

Okay, so here's the situation at present... I think. I used Vehicular Combat to dodge one missile while the other impacted, knocking our shields down to SR 40 but doing no more damage. Then I used a Full Stop action, thinking that it would allow me to land. Instead, this round the Light is undergoing a controlled fall and the missile that missed is coming back round to try to hit us again. I screwed up and I should have just kept flying. I tried to retcon my action to keep us flying, but Lil says I can't do that, so... I guess if we're still falling, though, I can restart the engines... Hang on.

"Wait, so you don't want to land and go in now? I thought that was sort of the point. What are we going to do, just fly around getting shot at until someone else saves your friend?"

Despite her complaints, Rissa restarts the engines in midair.

"Rapid acceleration coming at you, real fast!"

Increase vehicle speed as swift action, double move with the other two actions. Also, I'll try to evade whatever the pursuing missile's new attack is. After the second attack it should stop following us.

Vehicular Combat Evasion: [roll0]
Increase Vehicle Speed: [roll1]
The rest shouldn't require a check, but just in case you want another one: [roll2]

Does that clear up the problem?

[Liliedhe]

It does.

Rissa kicks the engines again, stopping the fall of the Liberty and getting her in flight again. The missile overshoots and hits a building.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

We need to know where to attack. Without that there's noting to do. We can't land at anything less than point blank, or they'll notify the garrison. We can't give them a chance to do that.

Hopefully, QT will be able to find their hanger bay for us. After all, that's where our friend's probably headed. But till then, there's nothing we can do.

Keep us steady on out of here. Hopefully, they'll think we're a civvie ship who got a bit too close. Let's check

She gets to the still open terminal, and brings up the already decrypted imperial frequency, setting it to the cabin's speakers, so Rissa could hear it as well.

Time to tune into Radio Imp. What're they saying? Anything about this?

[Liliedhe]

No. Transmissions have ceased entirely.

[Ascension]

"How do we even know they have a kriffing hangar? They might just land on the surface and climb down that hole. And how do you know the informant is going to that facility? He might have some hidey-hole of his own! You're making way too many assumptions! Let's just kick down the door! I'm sure you can clean out the place before the garrison shows up."

She pauses for a moment, then adds, "Oh, and by the way, a civvie pilot wouldn't fly as fast or as fancy as I just did, nor would his ship take a direct hit from a missile like that and barely shrug. They're bound to know something's up already."

[Liliedhe]

Thank you for providing the voice of reason, dear Rissa^^.

Your turn, for now.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe's silent at that, as the static of the dead Imperial comms filled the room. Then

You really think we can take 'em? Just us?

[roll0]Tactics on the question

[Ascension]

"You're almost a Jedi, right? I heard in the War that they could take out whole Separatist armies. It only took one of them to shut down the Quarren Isolation League. Some Nautolan guy. I heard the guy was so sick in the head he went into battle with this big happy smile on his face."

Rissa shudders at the thought.

For the record, I like Kit Fisto. I can just see how some things might be misconstrued by his enemies...

[Liliedhe]

Well, she can't figure that out. She knows nothing about the base, or how many personell they have. Or whatever. No figuring out the chances in Dejarik without a view of the board...

But, she is very clear on the fact that the Imperials will not let them get away. They have to shoot them down, using whatever is at their disposal.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe looks silent for a moment.

Yeah. The Jedi were good at that. But I wasn't trained as a Jedi.

Then, she grins at her friend, before taking her co-pilot seat A Manic grin, somewhat

I was trained to be far more dangerous. Let's go!

[Ascension]

"Hang on to your hats, folks! This might be a rough landing!"

Rissa will try to bring the ship in for a landing fairly close to the base. If they get shot at again she will allow the missile to hit, then she'll have Rathe cut the shields and she'll try to bring the Light down in a way that makes it look like it's being shot down.

If they're not shot at, she'll just make a normal landing.

A few pilot checks, if it's even possible to do this...
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

A deception check, if such is needed to make the ship appear to be shot down...
[roll4]
Or maybe it's a persuasion check...
[roll5]

If it does require a persuasion or deception check, and I roll less than ten on the required check, I'll use Competitive Drive to roll again and take the better score.

[Liliedhe]

As Rissa brings the ship towards the ground, once again two missiles streak out of the hidden launchers to track the Liberty.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

Yes, Deception would be a good idea, though your roll is sufficient to make it work.

[Ascension]

One missile is so far off course even Rissa can't make it hit ((Seriously, a 9?)), but the other one hits the Light dead on.

"Okay, Rathe, shut down those shields!" Rissa shouts as she tries to make the Light look like it's going out of control. She flies behind a ruined building with the Light "shaking apart" and sets the ship down on the ground behind its cover.

"Get Reilo on the guns! Have him shoot something, make an explosion of some sort! Make it look like we've been hurt bad!"

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe nods, her hands flowing over the shield controls.

Reilo! Shoot something!

[roll0] Use Computer, if needed

[Liliedhe]

The Liberty goes down in a convincing spiral, landing hard... Rathe shuts off the shields and turns the ship into a sitting Naboo duck...

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

The ex-imperial grips the console hard, and sighs as her poor ship finally touches the ground

Ok. That was... unique.

Still, now we've got cover, shall I turn the shields back on? It might be as well to make sure the Imps can't take the Liberty out in a single hit.

[Ascension]

"They might also pick up the energy signature. I'd shut everything down, play dead. We want them to think they've already won, that we're no threat. That way they won't send out all that many to investigate the 'wreckage', and they won't be well armed. They'll be easy pickings for the three of us. If you're really worried about your ship we could leave Reilo here to guard it while we try to infiltrate the base..."

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

QT had begun to track the speeder, but turned some as the acrobatics took place. "I hope you folks are all right, over there? Do you need me to return to the ship or head in the direction of the speeder? This entire situation is way too dicy for my tastes and I believe we should find a place to lay low for a bit and recollect our bearings. I'm sure that you will likely agree that this was a setup. Do we want to get back at them or what?" Even during the conversation, it still speeds off in the speeder's direction, blasting through the scrub as fast as his jets will let it to keep a low profile.

[Moral Wiz]

A short time earlier

Follow that speeder, and don't lose it for anything

Rathe's voice is harsh before it cuts off quickly.

I don't think QT would see the acrobatics, given that they happened 500 KM north of where he started, and we headed there in a spaceship at, apparently, full throttle. But he'll probably have seen us at some point, doing something, so I'll let it stand.

[Moral Wiz]

At the base

Reilo, would you?

Rathe sighs, as she gets up. Though she smiles as she pulls out her saber, if a tad grimly. She turns round and heads over to the passenger docking ramp.

So... How do we want to play this? Just head over there, weapons out, and kill everything in our way?

[Ascension]

Rissa follows Rathe to the ramp.

"Well, I'm guessing 'lost tourists' and 'traveling saleswomen' wouldn't go over too well... and given their little display with the missiles, it seems they're shooting first and asking questions later, so..."

She pulls out her blaster pistol.

"I say we fight fire with fire."

She gives Rathe a tentacular "grin."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe laughed, bitter but long and clear

Riss, I couldn't agree more.

She flicked on her lightsaber as the ramp descended, it's blood red glow illuminating the now darkened Liberty.

Let's show these bastards the error of their ways.

[Ascension]

I'm guessing we'll need to wait on Lil before we stray too far afield...

Rissa lets the lady with the melee weapon lead the way as they disembark from the ship. She keeps her own pistol at the ready.

[Liliedhe]

@QT:

He follows the speeder up north. Whether their mark knows that he's followed or is oblivious to it, he isn't sure. He makes not try to evade or loose him, buthe is carefully keeping out of sight from anywhere else, sneaking through narrow streets and driving through the ruins. At one point, he sees the Liberty streak overhead, straight to the North.

I'm going to the conclusion of the chase. That will take QT beyond the point where Rathe and Rissa are already, but since they are likely to catch up very soon anyway...

Several hundred kilometers to the north, the speeder dives once again into a ruined building, but this time he doesn't come out again. Instead, after a short time, QT hears a ship engine start up...

@Jena:

She sees nothing of the enfolding drama, being stuck at the foot of the meeting sight...

@Rathe, Rissa:

Fine, leave Reilo back there.^^ I'm a hair's breadth from kicking BooNL out of the game anyway.

As the two women leave the ship, they hear something approaching...

Stealth Checks if you want to hide, please.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe doesn't break step heading forward.

No mercy. Not now, at least. Deception, perhaps, but not stealth

Probably foolish, but Rathe is angry. Oh yeah. Rathe's either about to slaughter the Stormies, or bluff them in order to get into melee range, then will slaughter them.

Oh, and could she pass as an inquisitor, given the circs? Red saber, "Acolyte" Rissa here :smalltongue:, knows most of the right stuff, just been shot at by the bone-head base squadren who didn't even bother to give a warning... :smallwink: ID's a problem, but could it fool for the short term? (possibly with the use of a small piece of paper, and a mind trick on the stormtrooper checking) :smallwink:

Cover story? Investigating a potential meeting of Rebel forces with suspected Imperial Traitors. :smallamused:

[Liliedhe]

Sure, try it. It wouldn't hold up very long, but it could work short term. If it's clever, that's an other question^^.

[Moral Wiz]

Well, I'm asking that. :smallwink: In your opinion, will it at least work for us to get the better of this squad? Is there any real flaw in this that I haven't considerd? (possibly due to Imperial Opperating Proceadure, like Rathe should have been briefed on secret sights like this?)

Oh, and I think I can convince them without lieing once. :smallamused:

[Liliedhe]

Sure, it would certainly let you get the squad off guard, and maybe even get you into the base. But, there they WOULD check back with the Inquisitorius and that would put you into hot water...

[Moral Wiz]

Good enough for me.

[Ascension]

"Here they come... do you want to do the talking, or shall I?"

Rissa "smiles" again.

"I know it's hard to believe, you not having seen me in my natural environment, the fish-eat-fish world of modern business, but I can sweet-talk my way past corporate executives when necessary. Imps aren't all that much scarier."

[Moral Wiz]

Feel free.

Rathe stands still for a moment

What's our story? I can pull off an Inquisitor if you'll be my acolyte, who does most of the talking. They ask for ID, I pull a mind trick on the one asking, whilst showing him some paper.

[Liliedhe]

Two ground transporters appear between the ruins and start to close in on the Liberty and the two women. Both are rather old and battered, but armed with laser cannons. Each of them carries 5 stormtroopers. They halt in a safe distance and train their weapons on you...

"Put down your weapons and surrender. You will be taken in custody. Resistance is futile!"

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe sighed. She looked daggers at the lead trooper on the transport closest to her.

What did you think you were doing, you idiots?

She walks over, barring any further threats, which cause her to sigh, and stop. She de-activates her lightsaber, but doesn't look any less threatening. Her body language screams danger.

Inquisitor Jaquline Kar'Nathra. I am here on assignment from the Inquisitorius, persuing a group of dangerous Rebel spies. And you just shot down my ship.

Don't have my sheet right now, so can't roll deception. but is there anything Rathe can smash the second transport into with MO?

[Liliedhe]

All character sheets are linked in the first post. And there are plenty of walls around.

[Moral Wiz]

Ok[roll0] Deception. EDIT; Not bad.

And... If I hit one of them with the other (as they're both parked, and thus can't make grapple checks...)... I damage all the stormies, correct? :smallamused: What size are the transports?

[Liliedhe]

They are huge. And they are still hovering, not grounded.

The commander seems somewhat hesistant as Rathe makes her claim. "Who sent you here? We'll check back with the base."

[Moral Wiz]

What's their grapple mod? And the name of the Local space port (made a knowledge, gal lore check earlier?

Rathe scoffed. Arrogence was expected of an Inquisitor. They were amoungst the best, after all

I wasn't sent here. Hell, I didn't know there was a base here. I was persuing a small, elite Rebel group, who seemed to be on Taris to make some kind of deal with the local criminal element.

They had... better armament than we'd expected. We'd banked on the Rebs being unlikely to die easy, but their partners in crime had anti-ship weaponry. Unfortunatly we weren't prepared to deal with that, so we retreated for civilization to try and get re-enforcments from the Garrison.

When someone decided they'd save the rebs a job....

You want more deception checks? And do the INQ even opperate on a Hirachy?

[Liliedhe]

I would say they at least have a mission control^^, who knows where given people are supposed to be.

The local spaceport is Taris Commercial Spaceport.
And I don't think I'm obliged to tell you the mods a given target has on anything.

The soldier hesistates. "So, how badly damaged is your ship, Madam? Do you require assistence for repairs?" He signals one of the troopers on the other transport.

[Moral Wiz]

I know. It's called "begging". :smalltongue: I need a lot to get out of this one. Or at least, something.

Assume I spend a destiny point to auto-win the grapple, and slam the transports together with move object. Will all the Stormies be hit?

And a military tactics question. How large a percentage of your force would you send to capture an unknown risk target? (Like, say, the ship?) Assuming they don't have a massive force, where a squad would be disposable...

[roll0] Knowledge, tectics.

[Liliedhe]

You might hit them all, but there's no guarantee. And you wouldn't send more then half your force... But how little? No idea.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe looks a little haughty

Thank you, but no. I prefer to make repairs myself. And given the current level of competence you are displaying...

She meets him with an authoritative stare, then sighs, and brakes it.

The Hand isn't stocked for that sort of thing though. She hasn't taken major damage, but if your base has the equipment, I'd appreciate it's use. A few spare parts, nothing more. I don't fancy explaining why the extra fast ship I ended up requisitioning is in anything less than top condition for when it has to help out against the Rebs again

Hell, I might even be persuaded to be slightly less severe in my report on all this.

[Liliedhe]

"We've notified the base. If you just give us a list of the parts you need, we would be honored to supply them."

The lead trooper commands one of the transports to go back to the base, so they can pick up whatever the "Inquisitor" needs... But, he doesn't seem to trust Rathe completely, because the other vehicle remains present and on alert...

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Well, so much for deception.

Rathe closed her eyes as the commander gave the order to the second transport. A slight smile played across her face...

[roll0]UTF. Move object, to crash the commander's transport into the other, with all the force she can muster. Will spend force and destiny point on this, as appropriate, to confirm individual rolls.

As I expected, a low roll. I'll start spending points in the OOC then.

[Liliedhe]

Rathe steps forward and raises her hand... and the one transport is raised up and flung through the air to hit the other one...

Stormtroopers scream...

Both vehicles come away from the collision battered, but the same can't be said of the Troopers, several of whom have been crushed. The others prepare to open fire, though.

There are four troopers left. Initiative please.

[roll0]

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Initiative [roll0]

Rathe, with a motion, and that same little smile, ignites her lightsaber again. She seems... almost calmed by it's red glow.

Yes, it breaks initiative, but it's a swift action, and Rathe will beet them at this point.

Plus, it's cool. In an evil way. :sabine:

[Ascension]

"Great Knowledge Bank of Dac!" Rissa exclaims, "You just threw that... Holy..."

She recoils slightly in newfound awe of her friend.

*She is a Jedi! She must be!*

Initiative: [roll0]

[Liliedhe]

Well, ladies, you got yourself four stormtroopers at your disposal. Try not to disappoint me^^.

With the Stormtroopers still shaken, it's the heroes who go first...

[Ascension]

Rissa turns to the closest stormie.

"Hey! You guys picked on a friend of a friend of mine, and that's just not fittin' nor proper! You deserve what you're about to get!"

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

If he's within 20 squares she'll have an additional +1 on attack and damage.

"And what you're about to get is hot plasma death!"

[Liliedhe]

I apologize for not getting a map up, but I don't think we'll need one^^. This should be over quickly. Or not. Since the dice are still imperial, it seems.

Rissa's shot goes wide...

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe's smile fades now, as the combat begins

You could crush them with the transport. Easy, quick and as painful as they...

No. They deserve a chance for surrender, now they know the odds.

With a thought the transport falls to the ground. Rathe smiles at her friend's words and shot, her voice quiet and more mild than she felt

Now, now Riss. We've got to be polite.

Then, with a wink, Rathe seems to bring up a wall of blue force around herself. Saber in hand, she starts to slowly walk towards the Imperials.

Surrender, answer a few questions, and we won't kill you.

Can't remember how Force Shield looks... Once I get my book back, I'll change the effect.

So[roll0]UtF on Force Shield
[roll1]Persuasion

[Liliedhe]

The men do not seem to be willing to heed that advise - two of them manning the large guns of their sleds seems to convince them that they can take you down.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

So, let's see if they hit and what - if necessary - Rathe can block...

EDIT: Seems like the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy is still going strong. Your turn.

[Moral Wiz]

+1 reflex defense due to having lightsaber defense, and saber in hand. (Yes, I did mean to have LS defense active, just forgot to note it. I mean, why wouldn't you?) Rathe's even with that, and massively beats all the others.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Well, I made the offer

Rathe continues walking forward, Lightsaber in hand, slowly and grimly. One of the blaster shots needed to be parried, but nothing more. She seems totally in control of the situation as she advances

Is she now in Melee range, with a move action?

[Liliedhe]

No, if you run, you can close in within a turn, but it's to far for a walk^^.

[Moral Wiz]

Still walking then. Need a standard action to maintain the shield. In lack of a tank, this is the next best thing for Rissa. No way they're not going to attack Rathe after her killing all their comrades like that. :smallwink:

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

This post fits in once the group catches up...


Sithspit! QT switches to its comm and signals the Luck. "Target has entered a complex at my location, then, I extrapolate, boarded a vessel headed out from the same location. Plot an intercept course if you wish to follow it. I can meet you midair if need be. Come back with a plan and hurry if you don't want to lose their ship."

[Ascension]

"No, no, no!" Rissa reprimands, "I'm the one dishing out hot plasma death, not you! Now you just stay still and take what's coming to you!"

Att: [roll0]
Dam: [roll1]

Again, if stormie is at point blank range, +1 to both.

[Liliedhe]

Hey, you don't have to do the 'atrocious luck in the first fight' thing every time, you know.^^

Rissa once again misses, while Rathe continues to close in on the enemy. Meanwhile, they insist on continuing to waste their plasma, although the two using their rifles switch to autofire now...

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Liliedhe]

Look at the OOC. That's for such questions^^. And the answer is there, too.

[Ascension]

Apparently the forum roller has decided I do need to do this every time...

"Damn pistol must be out of alignment..." Rissa grumbles, but she doesn't have time to work on it now. Instead she simply fires again. Maybe she'll hit something eventually.

Att: [roll0]
Dam: [roll1]
Once more, +1 to both at point blank.

[Liliedhe]

Rissa misses once again.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe smiles as the frenzy of shots from the Imperials fail to find their mark. Those few that come close are either simply parried by her lightsaber, or absorbed effortlessly through her shield. She draws closer to the attacking troopers, never breaking her slow walking pace. Her voice is deadpan.

Your weapons are useless. Surrender.

Same. Maintain Shield and LsDef, move action towards the stormies... Am I in hand to hand range yet?

[Liliedhe]

Next round.

Now, the guys efforts become frantic... Autofire for all^^.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

EDIT: Sorry, mistake. Attack Bonus is zero on the last two, but it changes nothing.

[Ascension]

"JUST HIT THEM ALREADY!" Rissa screams at her pistol. Her frustration aids her aim?

Att: [roll0]+[roll1] (Force Point)
Dam: [roll2]
+1 to both at point blank.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Rathe continues on her slow walk, almost on top of her quarry, smiling but slightly at Riss' exclamation. The few rounds from the Imperials that make contact with her get absorbed effortlessly by her shield, even the cannon rounds can not penetrate.

Last chance . Surrender.

[roll0] persuasion, to intimidate them into standing down.

[Liliedhe]

Rissa finally manages to hit, and one of the Stormtroopers drops dead. Rathe's unflinching assault finally gets through to them and they gun the engines and try to rush off...

[Ascension]

"You're not getting away that easy!" Rissa shouts, hustling towards the vehicle with only one remaining trooper and firing at him.

Move, fire.
Att: [roll0]
Dam: [roll1]
Range modifiers may affect the attack roll, depending on how far the vehicles managed to get.

[Liliedhe]

She shoots him clear off the transport which spins out of control and touches a wall...

Since it wasn't fast yet, it just shudders to a stop.

[Ascension]

"HAH! Bagged us a transport!" Rissa crows.

[Moral Wiz]

No

Rathe, seemingly ignoring the actions of the now fleeing Stormtroopers, continued walking forward exactly as she had been before. Though now she closes her eyes again. Her blue field flickered away, as she held out her hand, lightsaber and all...

Telekenetic Combat, moving to a space where it threatens the Pilot, and making an attack

[roll0]UtF check.

[roll1] attack[roll2] damage

Will spend force points as needed. It also threatens the other stormie, if he provokes an AoO. As he'll be the only remaining guy....

[Liliedhe]

She drops the driver, prompting the other one to grab for the controls, thus provoking an Attack of Opportunity from Rathe...

And she hits him, too. With both men dead the second transport also crashes, somewhat more forcefully. It doesn't explode, but is quite damaged.

Well, that's that.^^ Rathe, enjoy your new Dark Side Point - killing 6 guys with the Force in anger certainly deserves that. And it wasn't selfdefense, as they were retreating.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe's smile fades as her saber flashes through the air at the second desperate trooper.

Not right. But it has to be done.

As they both crash, she sighs. Her saber drops on the ground, where the transport once stood.

She's silent for a few seconds, just standing there, eyes closed

Meditating, through force focus, to regain use of all her powers

I'll leave the DSP there for now. After this, Rathe'll be spending some serious time in meditation and introspection. It'll make more sense to remove it then.

And the 6 were self defence. These two weren't, but Rathe wasn't perticularly angry.

I accept the DSP, but wish to make the distinction. :smallamused:

[Ascension]

"Hey, let's take this transport," Rissa jerks her thumb in the direction of the one whose crew she killed, the less damaged one, "and go pay the base itself a visit. I think I got the kinks worked out of my blaster, so we should be fine."

[Liliedhe]

At this point, your comlinks transmit QT's alert that your contact is starting a ship...

[Ascension]

"Crap! Do we try to catch him, or do we go on to save your friend?" Rissa asks, "Your call, Rathe."

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe looked up. She didn't seem too happy at the victory. She walks over, briskly

How bad is..

Rathe's expression doesn't improve much at QT's words

QT, there's no way we can peruse him in the Liberty. He's seen it before. He'd sight it easily once we left atmo. And we're not supposed to reveal ourselves as following him. Are you equipped to take a holo-pic of the ship?

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

"I believe I am. Once it takes off, I'll grab a couple shots, then maintain this location in case you wish to visit this base or whatever it is that he ran into. If you decide to return to the fleet, I will return to the ship with all speed once I have the holos and my propulsion has had a chance to cool."

System Command: Search for recording device.
Device found.
System Command: Put all non-essential systems on standby.
Done.
System Command: Shut down flight systems to cool.
User override required.
Authorization: AL-382I9GT
Accepted. Shutting down propulsion.

With a bit of grace, QT lands on a little tripod that deployed from the base of the torso. As the systems began to cool, it waited patiently for the ship to take off. As it soared away, he snapped about five holos of it and stored them in the memory.

[Moral Wiz]

Rathe

Not that simple. We now have an additional objective. One that will make returning to the fleet more complex. Yet it is an important one, and one that we must complete.

Head to our position, north of yours, I think, as soon as possible after you get a holo. I'll explain once you're here. We shouldn't be that hard to find. Where are you?

[OldSchoolGamer7]

QT-86

"Unsure. I was just following the speeder without worrying about where I was going. Let me see if I can get a fix on your comm and give you a relative position."

Not sure if I can do this, but I'm going to roll Use Computer: [roll0] to see how much information I can get about my position relative to them.

Edit: Crap.