Colonial Upstarts II IC

[cybric]

Static cycles through the comm chatter as heart-pounding seconds pass. Then, at last, a voice. "Good to hear from you, DR-3177. This is convoy commander Brocker. Would your intel happen to know anything about these rebels? I don't recall any briefing of an insurgency on Sidarin in general or in..." the commander's voice pauses for a moment, "...Sidarin. Also, do we know who this high-value target is? Command hasn't informed us which of our prisoners are especially valuable, but if we may be attacked, it would be good to know who these insurgents are after."

The convoy continues its speedy pace. The ship's radar scanner is still silent... for now...

Roger commander. Details are still fuzzy and sporatic coming in from command you know how it is. To be honest sir I'm not sure Intellgience let anyone know about these rebels if they even knew they were here to begin with but...Permission to speak freely sir?

While Eldrith is talking with the commander he has set the autopilot on course with the convoy and is typing messages to Trill.

{get ty and haz to wip up forged imperial transfer documents for Tengu}

{how is your impression of a imperial officer?}

[PetrifiedWalnut]

There is a spell of silence from the Imperial commander. There is a spell of silence from Trill. It's hard to tell how much time has passed - could be minutes, maybe just a few seconds. Then "Our intel on this operation is coming from the ISB, DR-3177. You don't want them to think you might have feelings of disloyalty. This conversation is being recorded." Brocker's voice sounds stern. There is another pause. Then

{You expect me to impersonate an Imp officer? And no, docs take time.}

Right after that "If your speaking freely would help our mission, then go ahead."

*

Sitting in the back of the ship while Eldrith flies, Zo suddenly has an image of Tenga and three other prisoners, including a Weequay male and two Human men. Zo recognizes one of the Humans as Carcon, a pirate fence and, indeed, one of Tenga's adversaries. All four are stuncuffed and held to a metal bar in the center of a truck, with two troopers on either side of them. Tenga and Carcon are eyeing each-other with a look of both despair and amusement on their respective faces. The inside of the vehicle is clearly not an Imperial military vehicle, however.

At first, Zo doesn't have an idea of which car he is seeing, but then he realizes that there are more prisoners in the car ahead of the one he is seeing, and yet more prisoners in the car behind.

[cybric]

Eldrith realizes that he might be stepping firmly in a pile of bantha droppings with this conversation, he mutes the comm for a moment. He leans back shouting to the cargo hold "if anyone has any ideas of how to know which one of these cars Tengu is in I'm all ears."

He turns back to the console and hits "talk" on the comms.

N-n-no sir not at all sir! Thank you for your vigilence sir. I would say that the ISB and especially our VIP on board might not share all of thier information with us. Flushing out those disloyal to the empire like we've seen in the town could be a bonus to the primary mission sir.

The prisoner goes by the name Tengu it seems she's somekind of broker pettling to her fellow xeno filth. Command wants her delivery expedited and guaranteed priority. Once you have her car location sorted let us know and we will fly air support.

By the way sir, I saw that construction had already begun and they could very well be moving on to phase 3 ahead of schedule.

Spoiler: ooc

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btw Eldrith will be "insight" checking the heck out of this officer throughout the conversation to make sure Eldright doesn't feel like the imp is stringing him along

Also it's a flimpsy attempt but Eldrith is mentioning the construction and "phases" to try and get the imp to drop some kind of clue as to what that was all about. Kind of a "wait they weren't supposed to start contruction of the innocent bystanders slaying machine until phase 3" type deal.

[PetrifiedWalnut]

Spoiler: ooc

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Wrong thread!

[Ofmossandmoose]

The gand needles Zo in the ribs with his elbow in a "get a load of this guy" moment, while trying to stifle a series of chuckles at Edritch's Imperial impersonation. Is obvious he's having fun a stark contrast with the nervousness of his companions.

[cybric]

The gand needles Zo in the ribs with his elbow in a "get a load of this guy" moment, while trying to stifle a series of chuckles at Edritch's Imperial impersonation. Is obvious he's having fun a stark contrast with the nervousness of his companions.

Spoiler: rolls

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insight (cool): 2eP+1eA+2eD 0 successes, 3 advantage

deception: 2eP+1eA+2eC 3 successes

Omg I lucked out so hard with those challenge dice

[PetrifiedWalnut]

Eldrith isn't sure if Brocker is stringing him along, but there is a pause before the answer comes. "I checked our orders, DR-3177. I am not sure which sub-operation your commander is part of that you specifically need... Tengu? We have a Tenga. I look forward to when Compnor has all of the name spellings standardized. The convoy's orders are to bring all of our prisoners in, though. If your CO objects later, tell them I was acting under my orders." After that, there are a few more seconds, and then "ISB says one of their partner agencies is expecting some trouble. They will rendezvous with us when that trouble is expected. Be ready."

As Eldrith hears this, he can see the gun turret on the front car reorienting itself to face forward, away from Eldrith's ship.

[Ofmossandmoose]

Zooo... Zo howz boutzwe-e-e dooz-zum-m figuringz zabout howz wez gonna-getz mizzez herez friendz outz 'ith outz-zum dieingz anyz?

Yijz starts rambling out a bunch of daring but ridiculous possibilities till he almost by accident and free association starts to make sense. Almost like a sculptor,he widdled away all the non sense till a hard firmed bit of truth remained.

The plan went a bit like this.. Get their smuggler friends to load up a speeder with explosives and put a durabrick on the peddle and crash it either into the lead ship or so the explosion traps it with debris.

In the confusion drop zo and yijz into the closest transport (and flip a Destiny point to have quick flash gel or better yet a fusion cutter), get in And take over the ship. Ed cons the lead into believing we will shepard the other ships to safety. We won't we will hijack those as well or break the prisoners out... Or lead them into another trap.

[Rattigan]

Zo continues to focus on Tenga, reaching out with the Force. His mind's eye is drawn to her, and he comes back out of his trance to catch the tail end of Yijz's enthusiastic brainstorming as they sit in the passenger compartment a little away from the cockpit, away from prying Imperial ears.

"Hrrm. Jumping on and cutting through sounds good. Not sure where we'll get the speeder, let alone the duracrete brick!"

He lets out a low bass chuckle at his own joke, then sends a quick text message on his commlink to make his allies aware including those in the cockpit.

(Middle vehicle location of target. Am sure of it.)

He then turns to Yijz with a grin, hefting his shield and vibroknucklers.

"You feelin' revved up and ready to go Yijz?"

[PetrifiedWalnut]

Spoiler: ooc

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destiny point flipped as per Yijz finding a fusion cutter

Zo's concerns are well-founded: Hazabar and Tigozan's warehouse is 50km away, now, and there are no speeders aboard the ship. There are cabinets and the like, but none of them are big enough to contain speeders. The cabinets contain various mechanical tools, a half-empty bottle of Arlonian with Rodian fingerprints on it, and, behind them, a fusion torch, at least enough for Yijz to get into one of these trucks.

Eldrith receives Zo's brief text message. A few seconds later, he gets two more messages.

(The controls to the guns are on your right. You can select which target using the target finder)

(I think you should trust Zo's hunch)

[cybric]

Eldrith reads the message about the fire controls. He had been leaning on them pretty much the whole time and with a start takes his arm away from the trigger

Eldrith then steels himself and leans over his shoulder

Alright, everyone ready cause I'm going in hot

[PetrifiedWalnut]

Eldrith hits the switch to activate the weapon system. A display pops up on the HUD that tries to identify targets identified by the ship's computer and range systems. Eldrith can clearly see the five cars, but can also see the lighting fixtures on the sides of the road as they drive along. A manual targeting joystick also lights up, if he wants to aim the guns manually.

[cybric]

Hey Yijz, YIJZ! Eldrith snaps his figures nervously. The Gand was as drunkenly relaxed as ever and while. He had heard giggles coming from behind him while he was working which could only have been made through a respirator like the Gand wore.

I need you up here. I found the fire controls for this thing. We need to knock out the lead car since it has the cannon on it. Once that is out we can break into Tenga's car. I need that first shot to count bud. Think you can work some magic?

While the Gand is moving towards the cabin Eldrith does a quick run through of the ships weapon system to see what their armed with.

[Skeeso, do you have any nice surprises on the ship? I need to know about the ships armorments]

[Ofmossandmoose]

Whatza onez you-wantz goz boom?

He eagerly approaches the fiery controls pointing his stubby fingers at the convey.

[cybric]

Whatza onez you-wantz goz boom?

He eagerly approaches the fiery controls pointing his stubby fingers at the convey.

Eldrith gives Yijz a long stare and a blink.

The first one, the one with the big cannon if it's not too much of a bother

[Ofmossandmoose]

Ayez Ayez cap'nz!

He spits on both hands and rubs them, takes the gunnery controls then squints then removes his hands and shakes his head slowly.

No-o-o... Zomethingz mizzinglyz... Oh yez... Nowzi-r-r-readyz!

He takes a swig of whiskey and blazes away with the guns.

Ahahahaaaaa yaaaahz! Frellz Frackz yeaaaaaz feelzingzy alivez realz goodz nowz!

[Ofmossandmoose]

Didzi hitz daz bugger-r-r-r!?

He finally lets his finger off the trigger.

[cybric]

Ayez Ayez cap'nz!

He spits on both hands and rubs them, takes the gunnery controls then squints then removes his hands and shakes his head slowly.

No-o-o... Zomethingz mizzinglyz... Oh yez... Nowzi-r-r-readyz!

He takes a swig of whiskey and blazes away with the guns.

Ahahahaaaaa yaaaahz! Frellz Frackz yeaaaaaz feelzingzy alivez realz goodz nowz!

Is there something that I can do for yo...oh wait Yijz is that such a...WAIT WHAT WHAT WHAT! Well alright we're in it. THE TRUCK WITH THE TRUCK HIT THE TRUCK WITH THE GUN!

Didzi hitz daz bugger-r-r-r!?

He finally lets his finger off the trigger.

Eldrith looks over at the bug. "I would hope so but should we have a look just to make sure?"

[Ofmossandmoose]

Yijz is rolling around in his seat trying to hold back laughter.

He looks up and says, before finally succumbing to a belly laugh, ....whyd-idz calzz himza bug-r-r, I'ma bugger-r-rzzz! Hzhzhaahahzzz! Uhz gandz bez dabuggerz to youz hahazzzhazhaha!!.... Ohz... Yaz... Ithinkz i got itz ... Yez i thinkz maubez i 'itz it-t-t?!

[PetrifiedWalnut]

Sitting dejectedly in the troop convoy, stuncuffed to the prison bar in these Corellian Engineering trucks, Cort and Nodoa's reveries are broken by the sound of blaster fire, and not just small arms. The few other prisoners, including a Twilek woman and a Human man who have been half-glaring, half-smirking at each-other since before the convoy even got moving look up. The words "(Could it be?)" cross the Twilek woman's lips.

[Shadowflick]

Nodoa's Crimsion eye's flicker to the wall of the armored truck, the sound of Heavy guns slamming around the Convoy High Caliber then. A very High Likely hood for heavy Casualties. Perhaps they will be de-limed...disarmed, Oh! I make myself chuckle! Most Importantly...fresh test subjects She thinks to herself. She smirks, thinking this will be a very good time to hopefully escape. She looks to the door to the cockpit...hoping to see if the driver's seem distracted

[cybric]

Trying to buy as much time as possible and soe as much confusion as possible Eldrith radios the imps.

Misfire misfire. Priority comms! We have traitors onboard repeat we have been boarded and are repelling.

Eldrith then accelerates in front of the lead truck intending to accelorate and swing back around for another from the trucks flank. As Eldrith flies by the front truck he tries to fly low enough that the shuttle thrusters will be right in front of the truck when they blast into acceleration.

[PetrifiedWalnut]

Spoiler: ooc

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In the future, please do not engage in OOC suggestions like that. I'm letting it slide this time because Yijz could be talking to Eldrith without Brocker's knowledge. Just say 'no' to metagaming!

Spoiler: adjudications

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4 failure, 2 threat on the deception roll (wow)
2 failure, 2 threat on the piloting check

Commander Brocker is not fooled. He is also not amused.
Your triumphs allow you to avoid a round of fire, however.
Your ship has aft guns, but they need to be manned manually (Skeeso told you about them earlier). Yijz can take a maneuver to the back of the ship to reach them.

2 damage applied to ship's hull.

There is a sudden loud clank as Eldrith scrapes the bottom of the ship against the turret of the lead car, but the car manages to keep driving. Hopefully Eldrith didn't cause too much damage to the ship, but that was awfully loud and jolting - Zo and Chips are thrown off balance as the ship lurches with the collision.

The turret of the lead car swivels back, then urgently tries to swivel forward. There is silence from the other end of the comm channel. Then Eldrith notices that someone is trying to override his computer hack, so far, unsuccessfully.

[cybric]

Eldrith clicks his teeth together with the impact with the truck. He had pushed is luck with his flying ability and while it had

Yijz get to those back guns! I don't need to whole truck taken out but I need that cannon disabled! I didn't steal this girl just to lose her now.

The impact also knocks lose Eldriths spider medical droid which he had tucked in his coat. The droid deploys and climbs up on Eldriths shoulder "Gah! Dot what are you doing out?! Not now not now I'm trying to fly here."

[Shadowflick]

Nodoa is almost flung off her seat as the Ship slams into the convoy. She has to plant her feet down hard to keep herself steady "Whoever these pilots may be, they seem to not know how to drive there ship"

[Ofmossandmoose]

Yijz slides out of the seat and drives for the aft guns.

Ayez Ayez cap'nz! Hazzha gotcha-nowzyz!

He lines up a shot and blasts away.

[Idares]

The Mandalorian raises his head from the bars, his fists now clenching in the mag-cuffs. He looks up at the roof then at the Chiss and her comments. After a few seconds he calls to the guards: "Oi! Troopa! You could at least offer us a clean execution rather than a pitiful death in a car accident!"

It was clear the Imperials were under attack, and whoever it might be attacking them, be if for loot or rescue, the other side was the lesser evil at worst. So he might as well offer some assistance by distracting the Imps.

[PetrifiedWalnut]

Spoiler: OOC

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Yeowch - you're rolling awful and they're rolling fantastic

Imps roll 4 success, 1 threat, for 9 damage per gun (two guns). The shuttle has four armor and one shields, so takes eight damage

Armored car is at 6/20; Eldrith's ship is at 10/25

The guns swivel around, and pound the shuttle from the rear, knocking Yijz out of his chair and further rocking Zo and Chips inside of the cargo bay. Now-empty crates that had yesterday held computer equipment fall out of the upper cabinets, and one of the cabinet doors becomes unbolted. Still, it remains aloft.

"Forward guns! You've got more firepower!" gasps Skeeso through Eldrith's comlink.

*

Spoiler: OOC

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Was Cort wearing his Mandalorian armor when he was caught?

"Quiet, you, or I might just honor your request," growles a soldier standing next to Cort.

Spoiler: OOC

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I will let you spend a destiny point to find a weakness in your cuffs and break free when the soldier isn't looking...

[PetrifiedWalnut]

Nodoa looks around her cuffs, pulling and pushing on them back and forth, examining the lock. Would a piece of cloth help pick them, or a loop of hair? Hard to say.

Before long, the soldier who threatened Cort notices what Nodoa is doing and, already agitated by Cort's half-request, comes over to Nodoa, thrusting the barrel of his blaster rifle at her to give her a painful knock and discourage her from trying to figure out the stuncuffs' lock. The moment he thrusts his blaster rifle, however, the blaster fire exchange between Yijz and Commander Brocker's gunner causes the driver of the prison car to swerve a bit, throwing the trooper assaulting Nodoa off balance. The man trips over her,, his blaster rifle skittering across the floor to the other side of the truck. The other soldiers scramble to recover the weapon.

Nodoa wasn't able to identify a weakness, but for a moment, at least, the troopers are distracted - and angry.

[cybric]

As the ship rocks from the cannon impact Eldrith curses to himself "stupid stupid stupid" that damage was going to come out his pocket. His first idea was to boast away and preserve the ship. He needed to keep this thing sellable if he was going to pay off Granst. However Eldrith was able to control his impulse and think. His ship was getting pounded from cannon fire and his computer was flashing a warning at him that a counter hack was inprocess.

Gord!!!!! Eldrith yanks to flight stick with growing frustration and adjusts the thrusters so that the ship lifts up, over, and behind the lead car presenting its stronger hull and weapons to the tender and weak back of the transport.

ZO. GET OUT THERE AND DO SOMETHING! THROW A GRENADE, BLAST OUT A WINDOW, BUT DO SOMETHING I STOLE THIS THING FAIR AND SQUARE AND I'M NOT LOOSING IT FOR TENGA! YIJZ GET UP HERE AND BLAST THIS THING TO HELL AND BACK! and with that eldrith slams a fist down to open the cargo bay door. His voice is shacky with anxiety and frustration.

Lastely Eldrith looks at his computer "I HEAR YOU I HEAR BY ALL THE STARS!" He takes a dataspike and plugs it into a data port hoping to brute force beat down the counter hack.

Spoiler: ooc

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haha sometimes Eldrith makes me chucke with how anxious and greedy he can be