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Sounds like a plan to me.

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Please do! And sorry, part of my city caught fire this week so it's been a bit of a nightmare in my job lately, power outages, communications disruption and so forth. I am around, just a bit busy!

Alright, let's get this moving again!

The sounds of combat fade from the area as the last shots fired bring down the Imperial Stormtroopers. It would be a ragged silence, if not for the sounds of the ships engines still idling, and the labored breathing of the few people still standing in the docking bay. Cardas continues her backwards crawl, her face ashen as she hears the casual discussion between the droid and the now revived Jedi over her fate. Not wishing to antagonize anyone further, she struggles onward, as far away from the pair as she can. The crowds that has dispersed after the stray blaster fire from Embeetoo have begun to reemerge, keen to see what the conclusion to the attempted capture of the criminals in the port was.

In the bay itself, Grrowv has finally managed to lug the hover trolley of blaster rifles onto the ship, with Solan helping her the last part of the way. The pair are exhausted, and collapse down just inside the main corridor of the ship. Chak is still subdued, not wanting to risk any attempt at escape with so many enemies and so few friends around. As Ramani hurries through the ship, taking a sharp turn and heading to the cockpit area, he almost runs right into a dithering protocol droid.

"Oh dear! Please excuse me, sentient being. I did not mean to be in your path of locomotion." It steps to the side as it says this, clearly upset by the potential harm is has caused the roguish Balosar. "And do forgive me for my part in the altercations earlier, I was ordered to fire at you all, you see. I am bound by a rigid code of programming, to obey any order given to me as absolute law. It is a rather awful life I lead, please do not ask me to cause harm to others, I do so detest it."

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Blast I only just saw this. Will adapt the post a bit. I didn't get a notification of edit from the post!

For a moment, Ramani contemplates simply shooting the droid. It might look harmless, but it had tried to shoot him and his business partners just a moment ago. And since Ramani is so used to relying on his antennapalps to read people, droids can be annoyingly hard to read sometimes. The moment passes. Ramani doesn’t shoot the droid. Mostly because it might be useful, and of course valuable. Only a little part of the reason for his rather pacifistic choice is based on the quite unreasonable thought he has that if the droid is programmed to lie and kill, it might just be better at killing than Ramani. No need to take the risk, no? If the droid is playing a game, Ramani will show him why it’s never a good move for an amateur to challenge a professional.

“Don’t worry about it, no bother at all,” he says in a cheerful voice. He keeps the gun in his hand, but does not point it towards the droid. “Of course nobody will blame you, you were just following orders, after all. Speaking of orders, would you be a dear and power up the engines and prep us for launch?”

The Balosar conman watches the droid carefully, trying to gauge its reactions to his order. If the frakking robot could speed up the process that was surely a good thing, and would work perfectly with his new plan. Speaking of the plan. Time to let the others in on it. At least the first part. No need to talk about how Chack would soon be taking a long walk out of a very small airlock. After being divested of his valuables, of course.

“Hey, guys,” he shouts down the corridor, hoping his friends are all on board. “We should take off. Who’s going to fly this tub?” As he speaks, he watches the droid carefully, but then he looks past the droid, out the window of the cockpit. “Eh, what is that battledroid out there doing? Do you know the guy that appears to be directing it? They seem to be headed to the ship now.”

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Sorry about the late reply. Since you edited an older post rather than creating a new post I didn't get any notification about the new GM post.

"That's our ride out of here Embeetoo. As much as you enjoy blaster fire I don't think we want to be around when reinforcements show up."

Torin made his way quickly across the bay and towards the extended gangplank of the ship.

"Looks like we've all booked passage!" Torin says to those still outside the ship.

With the combat done, Eya stops, breathing heavily, her gun lowering only slightly. She watches as the Jedi approaches. Stares, even, her gaze fixed on him. When he speaks, it breaks her out of her reviere.

"You're coming?" she says, but of course he is—why else would he be at a spaceport? "Good. We need you." She finally sets the gun's safety back on, letting it dangle from its strap as she starts up the ramp. She needs to find Ramani—she has a few things to say to him.

In all his years, short though they were and long as they felt, Crow had never found himself with shaky hands. Until now. The droid, the battle droid, had revived the wounded Jedi; and then they talked as friends would. It defied belief, along with a strict internal programming regimen that was still screaming at the Clone to aim at center mass, fire a short burst and repeat until such a time as they both stopped moving or functioning. With those same shaking hands, CR-0216 shouldered his rifle, slinging it across his back and then removing his helmet. The familiar heads up display and automatic glare reduction gone made the day seem all the more bright, and real.

Doing his best to stride, rather than wobble with uncertain legs, the veteran soldier moved towards his age old foe and the victim of his betrayal, willing every ounce of himself to stay calm, composed, confident. "Good afternoon, General... Err... Sir? Sorry, force of habit. Uhh... Not that kind of force, obviously, my apologies," he dithers helplessly, the words coming out in a rush of gruff grunting as he struggles to keep his eyes on the Kel-Dor while simultaneously watching the B2. "I imagine you would have a number of questions, and I will submit myself to your authority and will answer any inquiry with the truth."

Trailing off, Crow is not sure what he is trying to convey. He wants to apologize, because thousands of his brothers, thousands of him, killed so many Jedi. But this Jedi is still alive, even after the Clone had pulled the trigger. "And if you'll permit me, Gener... Sorry... May I ask how you have come into the company of a Bee-Two series Battle Droid? Specifically one with what appears to be medical capabilities?"

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Sorry, I'm playing catch up now! Hopefully Torin and Crow can address the elephant in the room before getting into an even smaller room...

Torin visibly relaxed and he clipped his lightsaber to his belt.

"General? Now that is a name I've not heard in a long time but I was only a commander..." realizing he was about to ramble on in his nervousness Torin interrupted himself.

"Why don't we continue this conversation as we board? The Empire will return in larger numbers."

Torin started his way up the gangplank as he spoke.

"I've only just met Embeetoo and he's still mostly a mystery to me but he's rather different for a B2 and we've come to an understanding. I'm pleased we seem to on the path to coming to our own understanding," Torin nodded. "My name is Torin. And yes I do have many questions for you. "

Torin paused giving the curious clone trooper a chance to introduce himself.

The droid, looking far more relaxed now that the prospect of disintegration had been lowered by at least forty-three point two-eight percent, immediately complies with Ramani's order and shuffles off down the corridor towards the cockpit. A moment later the whine of the idling engines becomes a low roar, as the reactor diverts more power to them. Over the ships intercom comes the droid's modulated voice, an older style and tone than most, with some cracking and almost feedback types of noise intermixed with the long winded words.

"While I understand my orders were not explicit in checking the sensors, it has always been part of my usual operating methods when preparing the Nova Courier for launch. Mister Balosar, I have reason to believe we should be exiting Docking Bay Fifty-Four, there appear to be more Imperial craft inbound to our location, of the same designation as the shuttle that had held station over the bay until recently. And in answer to your shouted question even though I was right beside you at the time, I have some small piloting ability, but I was never given full control of the ship by Master T'Vont as he did not trust a droid with the lives of organics. Do you, perhaps, feel differently on the matter?"

Ramani peers out the window of the cockpit, straining to see the people walking up the landing ramp and into the ship. "You got it, my friend, I am very pro-droid rights, for what that's worth," he lies to the droid, a bit uncertain why he's trying to play nice with a metal box of circuits with an AI computer. "Close us up and get us out of here."

The Balosar walks to the co-pilot's seat, activates the intercom and leans over a microphone, not bothering to sit down. "Guys, we have lots of friends in white coming for us. Our new droid friend here is getting us off the ground. You should probably get to the cockpit. We need to get out of here before they decide to send something well armed and nasty to shoot us up."

Only just managing to refrain from saluting, the Clone Trooper files away the information as Torin gives it to him and replies, "Very good, sir. My name is CR-0216, or Crow, if you've got a mind to call me by my nickname. If you say the droid is on the level, I'll believe you." Even as he says it, the old soldier can feel his right index finger twitching as if pulling a trigger. This is going to take some time to get used to... Bloody well hope we don't have another instance of that ingrained programming come up again. Stepping aside to allow the Kel-Dor aboard the freighter, Crow watches the clunking B2 warily, before following the Jedi inside the ship.

As he does, he hears the somewhat urgent voice of the man Eya referred to as "Ramani", the supposed "Agent of Vader", calling out from somewhere further into the rust bucket. It seemed the thing was in need of a pilot. Glancing down at the two exhausted forms of the wounded Togorian and her human partner, Crow knew it wasn't likely they'd be up to task. "If you will excuse me, ladies and gents, I think I'll go and see if this beast handles anything like an LaaT," the Clone says as he hurries off through the interior of the ship.

Arriving at the cockpit, he throws his bag, helmet and gun down inside the door. Ramani and an awkward looking droid are inside, the latter of which announcing the oncoming Lambdas and the former looking very ready to be going. Throwing himself into the pilot's station, Crow sees that the main power igniter is primed, the power flow from the reactor is nominal, and the ship is all but ready to move. "Well, it's a bit different from what I'm used to, but I'm sure I can get her in the air..." he says almost by way of prayer rather than confidence. "And sure as the Emperor wears robes I am not trusting my life to a bucket of bolts in the condition that thing is in." Looking over at the droid in question, CR-0216 snaps, "Oi, tin man, let everyone know we are taking off. And that we'll be moving quick. Best to get strapped in while you can. That goes for you too."

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And once I know the difficulty of this piloting check...

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Loving the interplay here, everyone. Good to see you really developing the character of your characters! I have really started to feel the way everyone is now, with the fast talking Ramani's external wit counterpointed by his internal desire to get the hell away from danger; Eya's serious demeanor and drive to do the right thing in bad situations; Crow being relaxed under fire but his rigid military persona coming to the fore as soon as he is in that kind of situation; Embee's frustration at the conflict in his programming and Torin's calm aura punctuated by his knowledge he isn't living in a Jedi era any more, and the old rules don't apply the same way.

Right - let's get you the heck out of there. Crow, please make a piloting check against TWO PURPLE and one BLACK as you are not familiar with the ship as such.

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Ok - so I have Skilled Jockey 1, which removes that Setback. And here we go...

To fly a Nova Courier...: 2eP+1eA+2eD 4 successes


Holy yes. YES. I was so worried we'd never get airborne.

With a roar, the engines flare from idle to full power and the Nova Courier rumbles, shakes and to the more experienced spacers aboard, rattles in a way that presents cause for concern. Everyone is aboard, strapping in to different seats around the vessel and preparing themselves for the unknown flying abilities of the aging Clone Trooper. In the cockpit, Crow, Ramani and the awkward droid have the best view in the house to the large ship rising into the air, hovering above Docking Bay 54 and sending billowing clouds of dust out from the ground beneath.

The unconscious or dead figures below get moved by the force of the engines, sliding along the bay to gently hit walls and pillars. Bhurrk watches with a hand shielding his eyes, hissing angrily at his failure to retrieve his master and employer. Still huddled on the ground, Agent Cardas whimpers in pain as she holds herself upright enough to watch the ship depart, hatred clear on her face even through the agony of her wounds.

Slumped in her seat near the box of E-11s, Grrowv tends gingerly to her wounds while Solan does his best to stop the bleeding from one particularly bad gash. Chak T'Vont glares at them as he wriggles in his bonds, desperate to seek an opportunity to escape and take revenge on the men and women, and droid, who stole his ship. The keening of the engines reaches full volume and the ship lurches before launching off, smoothly, into the sky, just as three triangular white ships appear at the edge of the city.

With no specific course plotted, it is up to the now gathered group to decide their next move...

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And with that, we end PART ONE - STARS BLAZE BRIGHTLY. Everyone take a moment to collect and gather yourselves after a brutal firefight and an unlikely alliance of strangers and friends. The next "session" will run for as long as you're happy to go for, as it will be a character development arc where you can get to one another outside of the dangerous zone you were just in.

But, do remember - The Empire knows of you; some more intimately than others. The ship you are on is a criminal's personal vessel, and said criminal is aboard and angry. You have two badly wounded smugglers and a strange droid with you as well.

You have to think of a plan, a destination, a way to survive. Look inward, both towards your characters as they are now and as they were before meeting by the powers of fate and chance. Again, take your time, I will chime in with things for the NPCs but would love to see you all get to know one another before we start PART TWO - SUPER NOVA COURIER.

That’s it. The plan is coming together. Just like he knew it would. And the morons even managed to get the crate of rifles on board as well. Which, as far as Ramani is concerned, is just a bonus. The real prize is clearly the ship and whatever cargo that Chack-fellow has managed to load on board.

The Balosar is just about to stand up to check on the cargo hold when he notices the triangular shapes over the edge of the city. Time to get out of here. Better make sure this strange clone knows what’s what, he thinks as he holsters his pistol.

“This is going to be juuuust fine,” Ramani croons to the strange clone trooper, who luckily seems to know something about piloting a starship. His voice is calm, almost cheerful, as he continues. No need to alarm the pilot. “See those two, no, make that three Imperial ships heading our way? Well, go the opposite direction and punch it. It’ll be fine, they can’t catch us. This tub should be able to outrun them with our head start. We just have to get out of here before some Imperial overseer gets a bright idea and launches some fighters. What we have to do now is break orbit and make the jump to hyperspace. Doesn’t matter where to, just somewhere that isn’t here and isn’t infested with Imperials that want to turn us into molten slag.”

Ramani watches the clone carefully as he takes off. “The name is Ramani, by the way. I’d shake your hand, but I recon you have more important things to use those hands for right about now.”

Sitting as he is in the co-pilot’s seat he examines the controls in front of him. This isn’t his first time making a quick getaway, and one thing he learned early was to make sure to maximize his chances of getting out of tough spots alive. He looks quickly at the sensors, and seeing no other vessels on an attack vector he powers up the deflector shields and then angles them towards the incoming Imperial ships. “There, that should do it, shields are up and angled, but they won’t hold long if they get within weapons range.”

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Ramani is attempting to use (Improved) Inspiring Rhetoric in the cockpit to help Crow settle down a little before he has to plot a course through hyperspace with the Imperials on our tails.

Leadership check to use (Improved) Inspiring Rhetoric: 2eA+2eP+2eD 1 success, 1 threat

So, a success, but one threat. Crow recovers 1 strain and gets 1 boost die to all checks for 2 rounds. I’ve written the dialogue above with the very limited success in mind. It’s just barely inspiring, as it should be, given the dice roll!

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Also - and sorry this took me so long - you all get 15 experience.

I repeat - 15 EXPERIENCE.

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Oh and sorry, Ramani, the ships are Lambdas, coming in from the nearby Imperial Military Base. Star Destroyers wouldn't appear over Worlport that close (well, not for a criminal outbreak - that's a little too much). Apologies if that messes up your post!

No worries, I've made a little edit. I was just thinking how we should have killed that ISB-lady if she has the pull to get not one, not two, but three ISDs to try to head us off!

Eya arrives at the cockpit right as the ships drop out of hyperspace. Her eyes widen. "Frak," she says. "I knew I should have shot that woman again. Thought she'd bleed out on her own." She eyes Ramani, but discards her plans for the moment. No time to set him straight right now. "Fighters are a potential problem. I'll take the gunnery seat." She then does so, that look of predatory focus creeping back.

@The Shy Ion - Glad I'm not the only one who misunderstood! Our GM has clarified, those are Lambdas, not ISDs...

Yep, I fixed it too. That is what I get for going off emails, especially when a couple of the emails seem to have gotten lost in hyperspace. Like the clarifying ones.

As the doors behind him closed, Embeetoo took one last glare at the bleeding agent writhing in pain and fury, once again trying to force himself to give her 12 matching punctures through that fleshy chassis of her’s but to no avail. Why didn’t the scarred one just execute her? With that last glimpse snuffed out by the cold durasteel doors the battle droid finally relents, curses a bit in binary for only two to hear, and follows the stemmy and his new Master deeper into the belly of their beast.

Suddenly however the droid inadvertently catches sight of blood. The slow one’s blood. He could already feel the surge of his programming coming full swing yet again which meant only one thing: he had to play nurse. He spoke in a gritting, reluctant voice to Torin even as he slowly marched toward the smuggler and his feline friend, “Apologies Master. It seems you were not the worst for wear after all”.

The chipping bot clanked into a seat right next to the gashed gun-runner, currently oblivious to the threat ahead, instead noticing the tinge of shock and pain in the human’s eyes. “Togorian Female. Be sure to hold your slow partner here in place. You’ll get your turn soon enough”. As he drew out a can of disinfectant from his back compartment Embee swiveled his head and sensors in direct eye(ish) contact, “Also, you owe the ‘Crippled Kinrath’ 17.5 credits”. So much for ‘always paying her tab before leaving planet’.

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I’m going to assume this is an easy difficulty Medicine Check, are there any other factors that might add some setbacks or prove me wrong Wayward?

@waywardgm, this was the easiest xp expenditure ever. With 15+15 xp (from earlier) I spent 25 on Dedication to increase Ramani's Cunning to 4. The remaining 5 xp are being saved for a rainy day.

"It looks like you have things in hand, Embeetoo" Torin nodded approvingly. "I'm going to go talk to the pilot and see about our destination..."

Torin made his way to the cockpit and settled into a seat at the comms controls.

"Perhaps we should find a place to hide outside the system so we can discuss what we want to do...I'm Torin, by the way." Torin introduced himself to Ramani. "Crow, where do you suggest?"

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I don't remember what kind of ship this is, I'm assuming the cockpit can fit 3 and has a comm "station"...

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Your ship is the YKL-37R Nova Courier <-- Click this for deck plan. The cockpit can fit four, based on the images I've seen.

Embeetoo - go for a Difficulty Two Medicine Check (2 Purple) as they are just under half wound thresholds.

Solan:

Laughing through the pain of his wounds, the Corellian Smuggler also used the sound to hide his fear of the looming battle droid. "So, you're actually a medical unit, huh? I'll happily pay those credits, and all the rest I owe, if you'd patch my good buddy Grrowv up first. I don't think she's capable of holding herself up, let alone me down." In response, the Torogian utters a single, rolling growl of anger. Solan quickly adds, "Unless she has a mind to, of course!"

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Strange droid in the cockpit:

"It appears the Lambda Shuttles are not intending on pursuit, new masters and mistress," the droid intones with a quavering voice, "According to sensors, they are holding position above the port. Based on previous evidence, they may be dropping more troops off to secure the area."

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Chak T'Vont:

Struggling against the bindings around his wrist, the seething Devaronian shuffles slowly along the wall, away from the injured smugglers and their new droid doctor. If I can just reach the storage compartment...

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Embee can roll a Vigilance check against three purple to see if his visual sensors pick up the horned alien moving slowly away.