DOD - Traitor's Gambit

[Darkstorm]

STAR WARS: DAWN OF DEFIANCE
Episode I
THE TRAITOR’S GAMBIT



It is a dark time for the galaxy.
The evil Galactic Empire has spread
from the Deep Core to the Outer Rim, and
everywhere the Empire’s tyrant grip can be felt…

Fleeing from the oppression
of the Emperor’s minions, agents
of Senator Bail Organa have fled to a
remote space station above Brentaal. Known
to be a vocal opponent of the Empire, Organa maybe
the last best hope of freedom in an increasing dark galaxy…

In the hopes of stopping these disinters
before they can reach the Senator, the Empire has
alerted its’ forces on Sel Zonn Station, where the struggle for
liberty rages on, and the first sparks of rebellion have begun to burn…

[Darkstorm]

Seemingly motionless among a sea of starships and satellites above the twinkling world of Brentaal, Sel Zonn Station grows larger in your view every second. A central pylon forms the bulk of the station’s mass, and three landing platforms leading to docking bays extend from the central section, equidistant from one another and jutting out into space. The dorsal side of the station features a disc-shaped secondary structure, on top of which blinking lights indicate the presence of a landing platform reserved for wealthy patrons.

Each of you has arrived in similar ways over the last few days and now find yourselves wandering the Promenade (on the upper the central pylon of the station). The Promenade is filled with the bustle of revelry and commerce. Spilling out of the gambling halls are the sounds of victory and the moans of defeat, while the music of local bands issues from the cantinas. Only a handful of citizens mill about in the main areas of the Promenade, a few gazing out the massive windows at the planet Brentaal hovering below. Businesspeople hawk their wares to the passersby, and a few Imperial Navy Troopers make their way down the main avenue of the Promenade on their usual patrol at a leisurely pace.

Security is normally tight on the Promenade with Brentaal Planetary Security Force members (and the occasional Imperial Navy Troopers) are on hand at all times to maintain the peace. But unlike most other similar stations in the system, the security forces don’t harass the non-Humans citizens and thus there is fairly wide mix of them seen throughout. This does not mean that if an alien starts trouble they will be ignored and in fact getting ‘noticed’ by security is a good way to end up arrested.

Drawn to Gundark's Cantina, either by fate or the rumors of a member of a local resistant group against the Empire, a human woman by the name of Maya. Rumors have it that she has been making subtle inquiries about those ‘dissatisfied’ with the present state of Imperial rule and that those interested might want to contact her here… at Gundark's. The cantina itself is a large circular room with a good sized bar in the central and numerous tables and seating spiraling out from there (maybe 7 tables that could hold up to 4 people and 6 booths that can hold six-seven people each. The bar could seat at least a dozen). The lighting is a bit dim and air is thick with smoke and exotic smells and sounds.

The cantina is staffed with two humans behind the bar and three waiters (one human and two rodians) working the floor and taking orders. No one is preforming right now and the stage is empty with the lights there dimmed. There are maybe a score of patrons laughing, drinking, cursing or just sitting and drinking within. Those looking for Maya find her at a booth on the back wall facing the main entrance.

Spoiler: OOC 1

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Go ahead and describe your character now. You have all made you way to the cantina and were either look for Maya or you have just arrive or you just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and are sitting at a table or booth fairly close by.

NOTE that weapons are not allowed on the Promenade BUT you can fairly easily at least conceal a pistol on your person (so long as you don't draw any undo attention to yourself. The guards are not checking). If you have a carbine or rifle, etc. its’ in a paid secured storage locker down in one of Starport docks (would take you about 5-10 minutes to go and retrieve it).

Those who paid attention while arriving here noticed that there were two pairs of Brentaal Planetary Security Force personal stationed at the two main entrances into the Promenade. There were at last a dozen emergency exits also without anyone watching over them but they were ‘locked’ and an alarm would sound if they were accessed. All other doors lead into various shops and cantinas. Maybe two dozen or so beings wandering the Promenade (which could hold several hundred if need be); either shopping or selling tourist-like items within the open-area like bazaar, heading to one of the many shops or cantinas, or just site seeing (looking out one of the many large view ports).

Spoiler: OOC 2

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Any character who did any homework before arriving on the station has gotten the basic Holonews info about the following…

Sel Zonn Station is one of over a dozen XQ2 Space Platforms in orbit around Brentaal. Manufactured by Bengel Shipbuilders, Sel Zonn Station is little more than a travel and cargo port, just like dozens others in orbit around the world. It is fairly busy with dozens of ships arriving and leaving every hour. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of other inhabited orbiting platforms spread throughout the Brentaal System, ranging from huge Shipyard manufacturing and repair facilities to individual dwelling satellites and old junk starships converted to living quarters.

The Empire has a presence here, as it does on all of the stations, but nothing noteworthy.

Brentaal IV, known more commonly as Brentaal, is the fourth planet in the Brentaal system of the Core Worlds' Bormea sector and one that occupied what was arguably the most valuable location in the entire galaxy: the intersection of the Hydian Way and the Perlemian Trade Route, two of the galaxy's major hyperlanes. Brentaal had two moons and is located in the Ringali Shell, a string of star systems along the Perlemian that were near the Ringali Nebula. An arid world with warm and temperate weather, Brentaal featured two large polar caps and an equator marked by deserts and steaming oceans; most of the planet's available land is dominated by warehouses, cargo holding facilities, commerce exchanges, and other trade-related structures. Brentaal's capital of Cormond and its Trade Hall are the seat of power on the planet, with the hundreds of Brentaal Houses—the influential families that ran the planet's trade guilds—represented the citizens in Brentaal's democratic government.

Brentaal’s human population immigrate here thousands of years ago and they are still the dominate species on the planet (88% with a total population of 65 billion sentient beings). Its major exports are trade goods and financial services, its major imports are trade goods and foodstuff.

Advertise goods and services available on Sel Zonn Station are located on the public Promenade…
*Gundark's Cantina, named for owner "Gundark" Saff, a popular meeting place for both indigenous and transient members of the station's population.
*Dayten’s Cantina another fairly large cantina on the Promenade but not as popular as Gundark’s.
*Brentaal Exotic Dinning Experience: the largest restaurant on the Promenade specializing in traditional foods and tastes from Brentaal itself (and has an unwritten ‘Humans Only” policy).
*The Credit Chip, Cecil Vane's casino, offered sabacc and pazaak games.
*Delgas Medical Supplies: A corporate medical practice and pharmaceutical supplier. The chief doctor in the practice is Byra Fenn.
*Mechanical Allies: a droid repair and manufacturing shop, run by San.

There are more but these are the important one.

[Shadowflick]

A man with a familiar face sits in the booth of the Gundark's Cantina, head against the table and several empty cups and bottles around him. Dark bags hang under his eyes and a tired groan escapes his mouth. Pressing his palms to the table, the man pushes himself up, revealing several tattoo's common to soldiers of the Republic...at least when it Was the Republic. He wipes a hand over his eyes, shaking himself awake.

"Hey...HEy!" the man shouts to a nearby serving droid, raising an emptied glass "Veteran's Special? Need another drink here Clanka." The man says with a slur, utterly unaware that he was sitting only a single booth away from Maya.

This is Warren. Spending his hard-earned credits on one of the few things that can bring him some spark of joy into his life

[Hazuki]

Hela has arrived at the cantina clad in a yellow dress, with a large collar and cut at both hips, along with pants and high boots - none of it fancy, but made from practical, thick materials that prevent has from standing out in a crowd of spacers. She's freshly showered, caffeinated, ready for her first meeting with real revolutionaries. But she's not stupid; she knows how to avoid suspicion, so she hangs around the bar for a little while before making her way over to Maya, leans against the booth with a sly smile and and a tilt of her head.

"I was about to call engineering and ask if there was a malfunction in the life support systems, but I'm starting to think that it was you who took my breath away. Can I buy you a drink?" she asks, hoping that her species will make it obvious that she's not happy with the Imperials around, or this could turn awkward very quickly.

[Tigger]

As K7-B9 track-wheeled its way a few steps behind its owner, it dawned on it that this was not going to be its moment to shine. As it heard Hela starting to flirt with the contact, its annoyance at being dragged and forced to witness this suboptimal exchange of information grew even more.

For now it would restrain itself from making a comment. While K7-B9 did not doubt that its owner was just as stupid as its predecessors, its delusions of grandeur (the probability that a former holocaster would be able to make a dent in the mighty Galactic Empire was on friendly terms with zero) were likely to create situations in which K7-B9's abilities would be put to better use than they had been in the past...

So while K7-B9 might have said "Let's cut all that crap and go straight to what you're both here for, i.e. get killed/captured/tortured by Stormtroopers in record time", it would stay around and see if a worthy challenge would appear. It did not see itself succeeding at being silent for very long.

[zeone3000]

Zen walked through the Promenade with a sense of wonder. He had never been off-world for nearly two decades. As he gazed out the window, Brentaal seemed some small now. His stomach soon protested before he headed to the cantina. Luckily, what was left of his savings was plenty to get something to eat.

A young, auburn-haired human male walked through the entrance. He had old, blue lensed pilot goggles resting on his head, a field kit strapped to his back and a utility belt around his waist. His attire was a simple brown jacket and pants, with black gloves and boots.

He walked over to a table next to Maya and Warren's booths. He looked through the menu and when the waitress inevitably came to greet him, he smiled at them, "Hey, first time here, what do you recommend that's filling?"

[Darkstorm]

The ageing man, Gundark probably, brings Warren a Corellian Twister and says with a heavy accent "On the house. But after you should go home. Drunkness in the Promenade is an easy way to get under Imperial eye. Fast."

His tone is polite but has a fatherly assertiveness under it.

--------------------------

As Hela and K7 approached the young girl they quickly noticed that she was sweating pretty badly. And not just because she was nervous you notice because her left hand was clucking her right abdomen, mostly concealed by her flight jacket and beneath it you could see blood.

She smiles the best she can at you and answers "Sure. The view is pretty good from back here also. Join me and let's have a drink."


As the droid mentions Stormtroopers, the woman looks sternly at it.

--------------------------

"Baked Dru'um or fried Veg-meat" the Rodian girl says loud. In a lower voice, almost a whisper she adds "But I wouldn't recomend any of those. Go for the Toast, it's cheaper and made now."

She quickly regains her bored expression as if anything had passed.

Spoiler: OOC

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All of you please make a Perception roll

[Hazuki]

Hela quickly orders drinks for the pair of them, non-alcoholic, before returning to the table. As she's getting comfortable, she opens one of the pouches on her utility belt to discreetly offer the woman the contents of her medpac. She'd ask K7 to take a look, but she's never known the droid to be good with medicine.

"How's your day been?"

[zeone3000]

Zen chuckled, "What's life without a little risk? I'll take the baked Dru'um please." He shrugged as the waitress took his menu, "Or a trip to the bathroom..." He had a fairly strong stomach and trained to push his limits. He has also trained to keep his wits about him at all times. Something had caught his interest.

Perception:
(1d20+6)[23]

[Shadowflick]

Warren groans, waving a hand before he grabs the new drink "Oh? What are they gonna do? Shoot me in the back?" He scoffs, putting the glass to his lips and downing it in one shot, before slamming the cup back down. He shakes his head, wincing from the burn. "I could care less what a couple of these Stormtroopers think." he almosts hisses in disgust as he speaks of the new imperial soldier. "I fought. I did my service. Best they can do is let an old soldier drink." he points to one of his tattoos, a series of numbers 327rh Star Corps! That what I served on. Medic! If I get drunk, I'll just..do a little thing to make myself less drunk...yea, that's how it works. Did it..hugh..plenty." he says through slurred words.

[Tigger]

"How's your day been?"

"I'm gonna go with 'not great' considering she's bleeding out in front of us, but you know, maybe that's just a normal day when you're going after the most formidable army in the history of the Galaxy."

If ever there was a time for bluntness, K7-B9 thought it was now. Then again, it always thought it was now.

"Hey lady!", it said to Maya, "Would you like me to go around quietly and ask if someone knows how to repair your leakage problem? You're gonna stain the carpet with motor oil."

[Hazuki]

"I'm gonna go with 'not great' considering she's bleeding out in front of us, but you know, maybe that's just a normal day when you're going after the most formidable army in the history of the Galaxy."

If ever there was a time for bluntness, K7-B9 thought it was now. Then again, it always thought it was now.

"Hey lady!", it said to Maya, "Would you like me to go around quietly and ask if someone knows how to repair your leakage problem? You're gonna stain the carpet with motor oil."

"Droid, shut up," Hela orders it quietly. "People do things for reasons that may not be immediately obvious to your binary brain. Start to trust that other people know their business or you're going to find your way back to a scrap heap before you become a liability. Have I made myself clear?"

[Tigger]

"Droid, shut up," Hela orders it quietly. "People do things for reasons that may not be immediately obvious to your binary brain. Start to trust that other people know their business or you're going to find your way back to a scrap heap before you become a liability. Have I made myself clear?"

Being scolded for speaking its mind felt like old times to K7-B9, but the owner had a point. It had been headed to the scrap heap and would be there if not for Hela's father... This did seem like a last chance before the junkyard, so best to try and be more protocoly.

"Sure boss. Just trying to be useful boss. Not the best at reading situations. Would you like some information about anything? I would repair her but she's a bit fleshy for me. Otherwise I'll be quiet."

[samduke]

Cora wearing a flight suit and pants with her side arm holstered at her hip, having been on the station for a couple of days was enjoying a good meal and drink. Noticing the conversation with young girl, and a droid being scolded walks over to the group. Noticing the blood on the girls hand Might I be of assistance?

[Darkstorm]

As Cora and Hela gets settled and before any questions are asked, one of the rodian waitresses appears and asks anyone without a drink what they are having. After taking your orders she disappears as Maya says “Thanks for coming. I am in a bit of bind here and need your help.”


She clams up when the waitress returns with your drinks before continuing after she had left “Normally I would not be so forth coming with this, but well…” she then lifts her jacket and moves her hand a bit so that everyone can see the blast-burn shot wound on her right abdomen. The shot must have been fairly recent, as she has not done anything to treat it and it is bleeding (mostly a trickle right now but still open). One can’t walk around with a wound like that for too long before one falls down.

“I am going to have to trust you… I work for Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan, I’m on his security detail. Not only was I coming here to meet up with you today, I also here to pick up some important cargo that has been shipped here from the Deep Core. It is vital that I recover this cargo and I'm suppose too be meeting a contact by the name of 'Switch' in Deep Cargo Bay V14 in less than an hour from now to pick it up. But I was jumped by a group of COMPNOR agents on the way here. While I got away but one of them gave me this little wound as a going away present.”

After taking a quick drink of some sparkling water, she continues, “I am not sure if I completely gave them the slip and I don’t know how they were on to me in the first place, but I can’t make it to the meeting now. I have a room one floor up at the Gentle Rests Hotel where I have some first aid supplies. Help me up there and go meet up with this Switch, get the cargo and we will get it off the station. The Senator is a good and generous man and he will see that if you do this you will make a difference and be rewards."

Just as Zen received is boiling plate he notices two humans, dressed his causal clothing and wearing dark trench coats, step out of the door on the stage. One of them was talking quietly into a short ranged comlink. The other staring at the group of people at the booth just past you with his hand inside his trench coat... about where a concealed hostler might sit. The man glanced down at Zen and gave him a hard look.

At the same time, Warren notices a group of three Imperial Navy Troopers armed with blaster carbines (pointed at the floor but still at the ready)… Maya muttered a curse "I think they found me..."

"Hopefully I will still be alive" Maya says with a smile to Cora as she tries to bandage her. Cora notices that Maya will need better work to recover.

Before she can stand, one of the civilians dressed in causally and the trench coat gets off the stage and starts moving towards the table where the Maya is sitting. He has a draw holdout blaster pistol in his hand, but it is pointed at the ground. The other one draws a holdout blaster and casually crosses his arms while watching Dakk...

The three Imperial Navy Troopers start moving into the cantina (and the heroes all notice an audible drop off in chatter from the other patrons and staff) "Nobody move!" the civilian man shouts as she does so. "You are all under arrest on suspension of crimes against the Empire" He is looking at everyone at the table but for some reason as he is raising his pistol it appears he points it around the room!

[Darkstorm]

Spoiler: How the situation is

Show

Red is Maya
Blue are PCs - Your initial is you
Green - Navy troopers
Black - Imperial agents

You can react. Before any kind of attack please roll initiative

[Hazuki]

Hela rises from her seat when the situation, such as it is, becomes clear. She's not the bravest, not the boldest, and far from the kind of person most trusted by any lackey of the Empire. But someone needs her help, to escape if nothing else, and she's going to try her best to make sure that happens. If she seems like less of a threat for it...all the better.

"Pfft...I knew you'd get me someday," Hela says, grabbing her drink with one hand and slurring like someone who's very much drunk but is trying to hide it. In grabbing her drink, she loses her balance and stumbles against "Yeah, that's right...I's the one who did it, and I'd do it again, too!" She stumbles a little further, dragging K7 with her to draw the Imperial eyes away from Maya. "Stupid Emperor...if he didn't want ***** drawn on his posters he'd look less like a set of Wookiee nuts!" She cackles at her own joke and takes another sip of her drink that is definitely not alcoholic, but the Imperials don't know that. "Come on then, take me's in if you want...least you're not gonna get those folks headed tothe spaceport with the bom- Uhh. Ignore that. Nobody heard nothin', right?"

Spoiler: Deception

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Basically, trying to convince them that Hela is an ego-inflated, but drunk, minor vandal and that there's a legit threat at the spaceport that should really have their attention.

(1d20+13)[14]

[Darkstorm]

The agent looks at the Devaronian and smiles "Maya isn't alien scum! A traitor she might be but she is Human. I shot her myself."

"Now you will come with me! Breathing or not. Gundark would prefer if we didn't destroy his cantina."


The other Imperial Agent touches his ear and speaks into a hidden comlink "Gundark's Cantina. Some more guests"

[Shadowflick]

Warren growls, leaning back against his chair as he looks up at the two agents, knocking one of his shot glasses over. He seems..a bit more sober then he did a few minutes ago, now that there seems to be danger afoot. Must be that clone genetics "Hey!" he shouts to get there attention..but finds that there's already another drunk looking patron trying to take care of the situation. He sighs "Put that gun down before you accidentally shoot someone. Waving it around like that ain't making you look intimidating, it's showing your scared someone might tackle you from behind."

He looks over to the booth that Maya was sitting in..and notices her wound. "Huh, you need five men to drag in one injured girl? What, she drop one of you already? The new generation of troopers must really be...lacking."

[zeone3000]

Zen couldn't help but take Warren's words as a hint. He spun off his seat in a reverse roundhouse, aimed for the informant's head. He was calling for back up and things already didn't look good, "Not exactly a tackle..."

Spoiler: Mechaics

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Attack & Damage at Agent 2
(1d20+7)[16]
(1d6+4)[5]

And unless I don't say so, always assume I'm using Teras Kasi Training to lower their DT by 5.

[Tigger]

Well this was going south in a hurry. As the astromech standind in the way, it seemed self-evident that, while no one was going to shoot intentionally at the machine programmed not to harm anyone, K7-B9 was in a prime position to catch friendly, unfriendly or indifferent fire. So it thought about hiding in the corner, and wait to see how things turn out.

Except, taking a sober look at the situation, it realized that the Imperial Agents prevailing would be bad for it. First it would be thoroughly probed by Interrogation Droids to see if it had any valuable information, then it would be reduced to scrap metal just to be on the safe side as the authorities would want to make sure nothing was hidden inside its machinery.

So yeah, better to do its best to prevent that. Which still did not change the fact that it could not do much. But it could do some, and so said to Hela, as if it had no clue of what was happening: "You look a bit sick boss. I'll go and ask the bartender for a glass of water." And then, going on its merry way towards the bar, and seeing that a man in the corner was getting ready to attack one or the other agent, it ran into the agent that was blocking the way and, speaking at its highest volume, went into its best impression of "I'm a droid and I don't understand what is happening at all".

"Excuse me, my owner is feeling sick and I need to go get a glass of water."

Spoiler: What does a droid do when a droid can't harm?

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I'm just trying to distract the agent into not noticing the fact that it is about to get kicked in the face by gently bumping into him as if I was trying to get to the main area.

[samduke]

as a Swift Action Cora, drawing the weapon, aiming it at the man that claimed he shot the girl.

[Darkstorm]

The agent doesn't even look at the droid. continues to trail Maya in his sight.

Spoiler

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Warren's turn

[Shadowflick]

Warren shakes his head, starting to stand up from his booth. He sighs "Right, Right, See I'm a little drunk, and when I'm drunk, I tend to make bad decisions. SO I'm gonna say it again. Put your guns down and talk this through like normal people. One girl isn't worth fie men, especially when there already injured! Besides, your using lehtal force in a public place instead of stun? Is this your first arrest?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Warren's just talking for now! TUrn

[Darkstorm]

As Warren teases the imperials, everything happens fast. Too fast!

Zen tackles the informant near him and Cora opens fire.

The shot leaves the gun and the super heated plasma shot passes near Zen' head and embeds itself in the smug imperial human skull, blasting it to bits.

There is blood, and the other costumers start backing and hidding.

Maya says loud enough to be heard above the ruckus “Please, help me there are credits in it for you, just help me!”

She kneels behind the table, trying to get some cover.

The remaining agent screams to his comlink "Send Backup", as he hides behind a column and fires at Cora.

Spoiler: OOC

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Maya:
Swift: Drop to the ground
Fight defensively

Informant:
Move: 1down, 1 right
Standard: fire at Cora att: (1d20+2)[6] dam: (3d4+1)[9]
free: Speak

[Darkstorm]

The shot goes astray leaving a scorch mark in the wall near Cora.

Spoiler

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Hela's turn

[Hazuki]

Hela hastily places her glass down on the nearest table as her ruse is seen through. Perhaps all her time not spent around drunks has come to work against her.

"How many people do you think are going to die because of your bootlicking today, Imperial scum?" she asks, as she draws her pistol and ducks behind a nearby table, her glare focusing on one of the Navy members in particular.

Spoiler: Actions

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Move action draw pistol, 5ft South (Behind table), Standard Action to use Revolutionary Rhetoric on whichever of the Navy folks is most uninjured. Persuasion vs their Will Defense. If I succeed, they can only take a Move and Swift actions.

(1d20+13)[24]

[Darkstorm]

One of the troopers looks abashed by Hela's words. he moves his weapon but he doesn't shoot.

The other two, enter the room as if they have a point to prove. The blaster carbines spraying shots trying to make holes in the assembled crowd.

Spoiler: OOC

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Trooper 3
Moves back

Trooper 1
Move
Swift: change to autofire
Standard: att Hela and Warren: (1d20-3)[1] dam (3d8)[12]

Trooper 2
Move
Swift: change to autofire
Standard: att Maya, RT and Cora: (1d20-3)[12] dam (3d8)[12]

[Darkstorm]

The first trooper shots graze Warren and Hela, but they don't connect. Maybe someday he could be a good stormtrooper - but not today.

The second naval trooper has more luck. Most of the shots miss but both Cora and the droid get singed by a the blasts.

Maya under the table has more luck, at least more than she was.

The informant screams "She has to be taken alive. Boss' orders!"

Spoiler: OOC

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Cora and RT lose 6 hp.

Droid time.

[samduke]

On Cora's Action
Dragging the girl with her 1 south to the table as part of the move action flipping the table on its side to serve as a shield.
aiming around the side of the table, flipping the switch on her pistol to autofire (swift action) targeting the area where the green 1 and black 1 are located.

Spoiler: shooting

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Attack (1d20+4)[14] takes no pen at short range
Damage (3d8)[20]