I'll let everyone else get one more in and I'll plan to advance to the landing pad on Sunday!

"If this comes back to bite us..." Lang mutters under his breath, but it doesn't stop him in running after the others. He knew that somewhere up above him sat a fat, bulbous Hutt, and the most important thing was making sure he got his chance to remind said Hutt why you don't toy with the lives of others. Or droids, he supposed. Droids had it rough enough already.

Sorry folks - the day got away from me. I'll post tomorrow am - sorry for the delay.

The loud screech of the cargo bay sliding doors reverberates in the workshop area, drowning out the shouts and footsteps of the oncoming guardsman running down the grand hallway. The doors give way to an exquisite view – sweeping sandy badlands as far as the eye can see. The smaller of Tatooine’s of twin suns, Tatoo II, is setting on the horizon, tinting the sands a ruddy hue. All of the Mos Shuuta township is built on one large plateau and Teemo’s palace is pitched at the edge of the bluff, leaving only a small lip exists between the palace and the long fall to the rocky surface below. Jutting out from the palace itself and cresting over the bluff is a narrow maxicrete slab used as a landing pad for Teemo’s visitors. A light laser cannon is stationed to the side of the landing pad.

Parked on the landing pad is an old, dented air speeder showing the wear and tear resulting from years of heavy use. The pale pink paint job which was probably at one a time a sign of a flashy ride is now flaked and scraped, uncovering the metal alloy underneath on spots all over the vehicle’s worn frame.

An alien head pops out from the driver's seat. The Dug peers about expectantly before breaking into a smile. " About time you all show up around here, " Trok shouts across the slab as his feet go back to work at whatever he is up to at the steering column. " I'll have this thing ready to go in no time flat. This junker may not be pretty, but it'll fly. Probably. If I can just manage to hot wire this thing... "

The shouts and sound of boots ring through the hallway behind you - the guards must have decided to take the long way around but as closing quickly.

"Get the door," Dro-Kar shouts at the droid. "I'll see what I can do with that cannon. Can't have them shooting us. Not sporting that way."

The bulky Nikto runs a few steps towards the laser cannon and quickly examines the weapon, looking for a way to temporarily disable it.

What sort of check would Dro-Kar need to figure out a way to disable the gun? Something that can be removed, wires that can be cut, barrel that can be bent, that sort of thing.

Also, was our plan to use the airspeeder to get out of Mos Shuuta entirely, or just to the landing pad where this ship we heard about is waiting for us to ... eh ... borrow it?

well since the ship isn't able to fly I think we need to procure the parts required first to fix the ship. So we take the speeder, disappear into Mos Shuuts, go get the part then get to the ship. Talk our way on, fix it then steal it. If there are other things that we could do in the town then perhaps do those too, but Teemo will be after us and probably has eyes all over the place.

Also is this door the same difficulty to "lock"

Dro-Kar - damaging the cannon will be a hard mechanics check or a formidable athletics or computers check.

HM-6T6 - yes, the same check to jam the controls on this side as well.

For those of you who have been in Mos Shuuta for any length of time would at least know a little bit of the layout of the city. Here's the map.

You are currently at Teemo's palace (lower left). As you all just learned from HM-6T6, there is a freighter in the bay at Landing Bay Aurek (upper right), but at Richard astutely pointed out, it's in need of some repairs before it can hit hyperspace, so you'll need to procure some parts.

As Dro-Kar gets to the gun he is reminded that he knows very little about large-scale weaponry. Although he's very familiar with blasters and small arms, this is something completely different. The Nikto tries to find some sort of mechanism that he could sabotage, but finds that this very simple but efficient weapon has been sealed pretty well, probably to keep it functioning despite the sand, dust and heat. Frustrated, he bangs his fists against it before realizing he's just wasting his time.

"I can't access the power supply or anything fragile here without tools. We'll just have to get out of here before they can shoot us up," Dro-Kar roars, clearly annoye. "Let's go people," he shouts as he runs to the speeder.

I'll try the Mechanics option.

Mechanics to sabotage gun : 1eA+1eP+3eD 0 successes

Well, wasn't much of a chance and at least I didn't generate any threats.

The last of the group ducks through the door, out onto the hot dusty landing pad, 66 closes the door. With one heavy crunch the large Droid slams his reinforced fists down onto the panel of buttons. Sparks fly and the lights go out... "Another roadblock"

More door controls to punch : 4eA+1eB+3eD 1 success, 4 advantage

I'll add more to this once I figure out what to spend the Advantage on, either delaying them further or disconnecting the power to the Cannon are my suggestions.

"Givin' it your all there, huh?" Lang smiles at Six-Tee-Six as he smashes the control panel. "Seen worse ways of doin' it, though. And less effective!" Reaching the speeder after a short jog, the Mirialan vaults over the side and lands in the back seat. Craning forward, he offers a hand to the Dug, introducing himself, " Lang Shinqo, pleasure. I hope you can fly, 'cause I'm expecting a whole mess of violent types to come pouring outta the palace, pretty pronto. Also, you ain't happened across a hat in your travels, have ya?"

Is our medical droid friend ready to go yet?

Yep - 41-VEX will be disoriented until end of scene but can move along (with guidance).

Caizu slings an arm around the medical droid's shoulders. "C'mon, Vex," she says. "If I don't get to black out, neither do you." She guides the droid over to the speeder, clambers in, and then offers Vex a hand up.

"Right," she says when both she and the droid are situated. She leans back, wincing as her wound meets the seat. It's not too bad, though—the initial shock of the wound has passed, and now she's in that comfortable adrenaline-fueled place between the hit itself and the inevitable crash. "Last I heard, we have a freighter to fix and steal. Possibly not in that order. What's the plan?" She pauses, then adds, "I could try to talk my way in, when we get to there, but there aren't exactly a lot of Chiss around here. They might recognize me as" —she glances to the side, giving the scenery a sour look— "Teemo's supposed plaything."

"Not that I might not be able to do it, of course, but it'd be a little tricky. Especially since I don't have goggles programmed onto this thing anymore—that's about the bare minimum to play Pantoran." She taps the bracelet that has the controls for her holocostume. "Which reminds me..." She twists a dial, and holographic ripples engulf her body for a moment. When they subside, that wretched bikini has been replaced with a red minidress—still somewhat revealing, but on her terms. She grins and drapes one arm over the side of the speeder-car. "There. Much better."

Lang springs over the side of the open-air speeder and lands in the back seat. The seats are made of comfortable, albeit worn, synth-leather. Cream. Must have complemented the paint job, once, long ago. Situated in the middle seat is a mass of tangled gear. A suit of armor, a couple of blasters, holstered, and a pile of personal effects including a brown, wide-brimmed hat, weathered to the point of tattered atop of it all.

“ Quite the delicate touch on that one, huh? ” Trok’s snout breaks into a nervous grin as he addresses Lang, peering over the Mirialan’s shoulder at the bulky maintenance droid as he makes quick work of the control panel to the cargo bay. “ Lang, huh? You certainly are an ugly one. What on Malastare happened to you? From the look of that eye, it looks like you were trampled by a Zillo Beast. I’d hate to see the other guy. ” The Dug quickly changes subjects, refocusing his feet on the steering column of the speeder. “ Here, help me with this. We don’t have much time. Grab that spanner in the passenger seat there, and loosen that cable under here… ”

Lang - go ahead and make a hard mechanics check to hot wire the vehicle. The dug is assisting you, applying his 1 skill level to your roll. Additionally, add 2 bonus die for having the right tools for the job. If you're successful, you'll be able to take off this round. If not, you, or someone else, can try in the following round.

The sparks from the overload subside from 41-VEX and bring the commotion back down to a minimum. “ Thank you, Mistress Caizu. My sincerest apologies for the way that I may have acted. I don’t quite feel like myself. After a good oil soak, I am seventy-five point three one four percent certain that I will be fully refreshed. Pardon my arithmetic, I can give you the exact probability if you would prefer... ” The droid allows itself to be led down the landing pad.

Trok looks up from his work when Caizu reaches the vehicle with the medical droid in tow, double taking when he realizes what the Chiss is wearing. “ Wouldn’t have been my choice in outfit but that’s your call, ” the Dug says jokingly in reference to Caizu’s revealing garb.

The speeder’s repulsorlift wheezes with the added weight of the two droids getting into the vehicle. The old speeder sputters, the gravity generator trying to compensate for the sheer load of HM-6T6. After a few short moments, the system is able to do so, righting the speeder to an even keel. Shortly thereafter, Dro-Kar reaches the escapees at a short jog. “ Looks like we’ve got everyone… and then some, ” Trok starts, “ now where are we headed? That droid’s handy work won’t hold Teemo’s goons forever, so we need to get out of here in a hurry… ”

I'm flipping a destiny point (new pool - 1 LS, 4 DS) to allow the baddies to get into the area next round.

As if the Dug was prescient, the doors to the cargo bay come slightly open. Two guards, utilizing tools from the workshop, managed to pry the large doors open wide enough to fit a human-sized sentient through the gap if one were to squeeze. A second pair of guards can be seen behind the two workers, blaster rifles held at the ready.

All of your gear is located in the back of the speeder (if that wasn't clear).

"Sorry," Lang replies, clearly distracted, "I just need a moment." With a hand that's almost shaking, the Mirialan reaches out and touches the worn hat. He grasps it, picking it up with a slow and gentle gesture bordering on reverent. Placing it on his head, he runs his fingertips around the brim, adjusting it ever so slightly against the harsh sun beating down on the landing pad. After a moment, Lang looks up and smiles; a genuine look of joy visible on his face. " Now, where were we? Something about me being ugly and you wanting me to grab a hydrospanner? Dangerous game, but I like it."

Standing into a half-crouch, the Marshal reaches over the passenger seat and picks up the tool, before hopping over the back of the seat to sit in it. "She's a bit different from a swoop, but I can see what you're diggin' at, Dug." Ducking down and reaching under the column, Lang finds the part Trok is referring to. Pulling the housing away, Lang locks the spanner against part of the frame and twists, loosening the cable and allowing him to pull it out slightly from the column.

"That's step one, I'm guessin' you've got a mind to take care of step two?" The noise of the doors being wrenched open startles him enough that he jolts and bumps his head on the dashboard. "Either that or tell me what to do, right quick now!"

Dro-Kar runs as fast as he can to the speeder, looking back to see Teemo's thugs breaching the door. He jumps into the speeder and looks around wildly. He stops momentarily when he sees Lang. "Nice hat," he growls, before digging in the pack he had given his Dug friend and pulling out his prized blaster pistol. He kneels in the back seat of the speeder, pistol in hand, ready to give covering fire.

"Why aren't we moving? They are coming through that door now!"

Are we going to the shop for spare parts? I assume we have to be rather quick about this whole thing since we'll have thugs in hot pursuit and we are all (well, almost all) pretty beat up, to say the least.

just stand behind 66, the mechanised tactical cover that he is will Soak most of the rough stuff.

With some quick work between Lang and Trok, the speeder jolts to life as the Mirialan connects the final wires underneath the drive column. “ Hold on to your seats… ” Trok warns without looking back to check if the rest of his companions are situated within the vehicle before he slams his hand on the accelerator pedal below. The speeder responds to the Dug’s command, engine roaring as the craft begins to lift off to an appropriate height.

Palace guards pour through the breach out onto the landing pad. Several take aim with blaster rifles and fire errantly while two others run to man the mounted turret. The air crackles with energy as the light laser cannon fires, causing the small hairs on the back of your neck to stand on edge. The shot ranges wide left – missing the hull of the speeder by less than a meter. “ Alright, let’s get out of here. We may not be so lucky next time! ” Trok hunches over the steering wheel as he concentrates, the knuckles on his feet turning a lighter hue of orange as he grips the wheel in determination. Within moments, the speeder is out of combat range, providing a much needed respite from the evening’s events.

*****

Even at dusk, the heat from the planets twin suns is oppressive. The open-top vehicle does little to deflect the concentrated rays from beating down upon the escapees. Within minutes the sweltering heat has forced the cadre to sweat through their garments.

The short flight provides a sweeping view of Mos Shuuta, a small city that is little more than a series of hovels perched on a tall, rocky bluff, with nothing but endless sand in every direction around it. Even the best maintained speeders may not provide enough range to reach Anchorhead, let alone Mos Eisley. For one to truly escape Teemo’s reach, it will be through the Mos Shuuta spaceport.

“ What was the starship component that you said that we’ll need? ” 41-Vex addresses the larger droid, HM-6T6. “ A hypermatter reactor ignitor? What does that do? I’m afraid my programming in technical sciences leaves the nuances of starship operations and engineering far outside my realm of expertise. Fortunately for us, Vorn still seems to be open for business. ” The dented speeder slows to a hover as it reaches its destination. The junk shop is immediately obvious by the scrapyard adjoining the low pourstone building.

“ Alright, I’ll stay here, ” Trok starts, “ I’ll keep the engine running in case we need to make a quick getaway. We’ve built a good head start by stealing Teemo’s ride, but his goons will start scouring the city for us, I’m sure. If I know anything about Hutt temperament, I don’t think Teemo is going to take our little escape too kindly. I wouldn’t want to be you if he catches us, ” he says, motioning a toe towards Caizu, “ Or any of the rest of you, for that matter. ”

I didn't hear from everyone but thought it best to keep the action moving. I also took the liberty to move the scene forward; if you'd rather engage in combat from the landing pad, I can easily edit my post and we can do that too.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday if we don't chat before! Oh, and definitely go see Rogue One. What an amazing flick. Made me even more excited to play EotE

OMG K-2SO! Amazing. If I was actually good at writing that is the perfect personality for HM-6T6, almost exactly what I had in mind and was simply unable to transfer to paper. I really really enjoyed that movie, so much so I could record a 4 hr discussion on exactly why it was so great. Second viewing in the next few days. So in light of my enjoyment of K I'm going to attempt to use him as inspiration for 66 going forward

"I'll go in and find the correct reactor, there are 943 different models and only 14 can be made to work in this particular Starship. Honestly Vex most of them have..." 66 begins going through an extensive and boring description of the differences and changes that had been made over the years to these particular hyper material reactors, until someone tells him now is not the time and to shut up.

"Oh, right, I don't need to know how to fix the ship, that's the Droids problem" 66 lifts itself up out of the speeder and begins purposefully clomping across the dusty street toward the entry.

Caizu laughs and waves a hand, as if there was nothing to worry about. "Things weren't exactly going my way before the escape, either." She swings herself out of the speeder and follows HM-6T6. "When we get in, let me do the talking. I've got an idea." She grins, and this time it's actually sincere. "And it hopefully doesn't involve any shooting. Just a bit of fast-talk."

In his deadpan tone that he always uses 66 responds "Miss, the likelihood of being involved in gun related violence is elevated 284 percent if you carry a gun yourself... perhaps leave it behind if you don't want to use it."

Caizu pauses just out of the door's detection radius. She replies, equally deadpan, "In case you haven't noticed, I don't carry a gun." She shakes her head and steps up to the doorway.

"That was some mighty fine flyin', friend," Lang whistles in appreciation of Trok's skill. "Thought for sure we'd be tagged before we made it a hunnerd feet. I do believe I owe you a drink for that." The swift exit had been narrow, to be sure, and the Mirialan had kept one hand clapped to his hat to stop it blowing away, while the other was firmly holding the door railing of the speeder.

The short jaunt back towards town was uneventful, and the Marshal had passed the time swapping stories of narrow escapes with Trok the Dug. Good sort of man, that Trok. Pulling up to the junkyard, the pilot's quip towards Caizu makes Lang grin in spite of himself. Though he doubted it would be enough to elicit anything from Dro-Kar, imperturbable as the large man was. Hopping out of the speeder, he reaches back into the small stockpile of gear and drags out a serviceable blaster pistol. Testing the weight, balance and sights, the Mirialan is pleased enough with the result.

Unconsciously he twirls it on his finger to holster it, just as Six-Tee-Six commented about percentages and gun violence or some such nonsense. Striding over to the droid and the girl, Lang tugs the edge of his hat down to her, actually able to complete the gesture this time. "Well, I don't know about you, but two-hunnerd eighty-four sounds like a good number to me. But perhaps I'll carry, just to be safe?" he asks with a small smile while holding the edge of his long coat back to show the weapon.

Stepping forward to open the door to Vorn's shop, he gestures towards the pair, "After you."

I don't remember if we established what exactly was in the speeder in terms of gear, so let me know if I need to edit!