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@aclarkbr90 - the first encounter happened in one of the many alleys of this village, behind this building, the Garage. The Garage is located towards the south between broken horn storehouse and Dr. Teneb's. From what you know, there are Imperial troopers sweeping through the entirety of the resettlement camp. One of the access points to get out of the camp (usually) has been an exit to the northwest, but from what you recently learned from the Imperial commlink, there is a blockade set up there. The camp has been in chaos over the last few minutes, so it's hard to tell what all is going on. Also, there aren't any tunnels - the infrastructure for the camp is minimal at best.

@Kymrel - the buildings are indeed very tightly packed and you may be able to move building to building over the rooftops, but there are some main roads that you would still need to cross. One other consideration is that you may also be spotted by a TIE or some such.

"Hmm, I am not so stealthy," Todak mused, "but I may be able to rig some kind of distraction, perhaps blow up a fuel cell or two..."

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Ok, so apparently we can't McGuyver a landspeeder for reasons, but how do you feel about some explosives GM?

"Any transport we could steal would probably be to the Northeast of town, but going that way would likely get us picked up by patrols. We could sneak around past the Broken Horn and try to find a way out of town to the West. Then, we will have to make a break for the nearest transport. Todak, maybe you could rig up something to blast a way through the wall?"

Ella considers for a moment the best course of action. They could try to steal a transport, but that wouldn't be easy. "I don't think we should go for the transports. The Imperials will guard them well. We have a pair of rifles but no soldiers. They have endless amounts of troopers with armor and rifles. Sure, we could perhaps get past them and get a transport, and I'm sure Div'quorin here is a better driver than the bucketheads. But they have TIE-fighters in the air, there is no way we can outrun them. They will gun us down like rabid Slopeds from the air."

She lets that sink in for a moment before continuing. "I think we should try to sneak out on foot. I don't know much about this place, but I know a farmer called Hartol'dunn. He owns a farm not far off and occasionally gets prisoners assigned to help him with his animals. He was kind to me when I worked for him, perhaps if we can avoid the Imperials and get to his farm, he can help us evade capture and get off the planet. Perhaps Hartol'dunn has a speeder we could borrow."

The small Ugnaught nods his head solemnly. “ So it sounds as if you have made your choice. You are free to take whatever parts you can salvage from any of these vehicles. May the light shine on you all in your escape. I fear we have dark times ahead for us all. ”

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@Squirrelsan - I'm all for some homemade explosives! Are there already rules for this sort of thing in one of the books? If so, can you point me to them and I can give them a quick read? If not, I'll come up with something

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@Kymrel - Ella knows enough to be able to make it to Hartol's farm outside of the resettlement camp, though the trip there would take over a day by foot, and leave lots of time / exposure to potentially be rounded up by the Imperial forces patrolling the area. That said, it is possible if push comes to shove.

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@Aurin do you have Special Modifications? They have crafting rules for grenades, missiles and mines. Those seem reasonable. For a straight up powerful explosive I'd say probably the missile but a little easier to do and with some of the qualities removed (i.e. guided) and swap the range to engaged and the skill to mechanics. Somewhere between a missile and a mine in fact.

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@Aurin So what's the terrain like outside of the camp? If we fled on foot, would we just be fleeing through open ground, or is there some cover we could exploit?

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@Squirrelsan - yes, I have Special Modifications. I'll take a look tonight (I'm afb) but that seems reasonable for me in terms of scoping the project. Go ahead and roll and I'll catch up this evening.

@Tom Cruise - Torque is a lackluster industrial world located in the Gordian Reach. This continent, where Torque Capital City is located, is mostly rolling plains. As one approaches the City, the plains give way to major farming operations to support the capital's population. If you fled by foot, it will be mostly open ground. You would guess that the Imperials will be scouring the major speederways to and from the resettlement camps to look for escapees of all types. All in all, fleeing by foot is likely more dangerous, but not out of the realm of possibility.

What's the course of action here?

Div shakes her head, staring out the window as she speaks. "Going by foot sounds just about as suicidal. Think those TIEs won't spot us fleeing across open ground? Least if we're in the speeder we've got a few inches of plating between them and us." Strolling back to the group, she thinks a moment before speaking up. "I'll go along with you on foot if you're insisting, got better odds in a group, but I think our best bet is to rig up some distractions to draw out as many troops as we can, slip in during the chaos, and make off with a transport. Might even be able to make it look like we're legitimate for a little while before they realise what's up. Think the armour on those two troopers we wasted is salvageable? Might be able to throw together a couple of disguises and sneak in that way."

Ella thinks for a moment. "Well, if we get out of the base unseen and can move in the darkness we might make it. But you may be right, if they are after us, we'll be in even worse shape than in a speeder. If we can rig up something that blows up and get the troopers out of our way I'll steal a speeder with you. But we don't have any time to waste. Where would we want to set of explosives, and how in the Galaxy are we going to find some here?"

Todak dug around in the spare parts he could find, looking for somehting to make a bang. There weren't any decent volatile fuels, or even some nice exploitable energy cells. The best he managed was to comress some vapourised alchahol, but it just made a pretty but ineffectual fireball. "I must apologise my friends, it seems I just can't find anything with sufficient yield to make a blast."

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No explosives for Todak

Craft Explosives : 3eD+2eA+2eP 1 failure

Div lets out a frustrated groan, cracking her knuckles one by one as she paces around the room. "Well, unless anyone else has any bright ideas for a distraction, I say we just go in. Not the best odds, but hey, if my track record is anything to go by, odds don't mean jack." Bringing up her liberated blaster rifle, she braces it against her shoulder, checking the sights and getting used to the heft. "The longer we wait the more likely it is they find us here and just light up the place. No sneaking out of that."

Ella thinks for a moment. "Well, without a diversion, getting to a speeder and getting out without getting noticed will be pretty much impossible." She pauses for a moment. "You guys know this place much better than me. Are there any power generators we could try to overload to create a small explosion? If that doesn't work, we could also try to gain access to the Imperial network, assuming we can find a terminal. We could use the access to fake a distress call, requesting backup from all units, at some point far from the speeders."

Tycho nods to Ella. "A distress call is a decent idea. Perhaps we can send a message to indicate that an Imperial Officer has been pinned down in the compound somewhere. Todak, can you send a message through the channel in the Trooper's helmet? They will still be monitoring the channel, even if they aren't using it anymore.You can set my com to the channel so its not obvious that we are using one from one of the downed troopers. If you make it garbled enough, it might stop any bombing raids for long enough for us to make it out."

Tycho thought back to the handful of times that he had engaged with Imperial bombers. "Either way, their payloads won't be that big, and Ties don't make the best surveillance vehicles. They will pull up after one or two strikes to make way for the ground forces. This isn't a full military assault, just the dismantling of a refugee camp. If we can call off a round of bombing, we might have enough time to make our way through the fences and off to Hartol's homestead."

Tycho stood and walked to the door, peering out carefully. "Div's right. We can't stay here any longer than we have to. No more than a minute or two longer. That's all we've got."

"We should prepare it, but not act until we are in position to take advantage," Ella replies. "Quickly now, everybody, gather up what you need and let's move. We've spent too long in here already."

She stands holding the rifle she took off the dead trooper, trying not to think about how she shot him. "Let's go everyone, quietly and calmly."

The harsh sounds of the Empire’s assault on Veerstown continue to grow louder. A nearby explosion rattles the flimsy buildings adjacent to the Garage, followed shortly by the panicked screams of multiple species coming from the dilapidated building facing the makeshift cantina. “It seems that the Imperials are encouraging evacuation with explosives,” Gruddik rasps. “It’s time to go. Good luck to you.” With that, the Ugnaught departs through to the back room, leaving the four sentients to themselves.

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Alright folks - decision time. Sounds like you are heading towards the Imperial checkpoint. Which way are you exiting the Garage? Through the front door (and towards the explosion / screams) or sneaking away through the back door?

@Squirrelsan - you can make a hard deception check (now or later) if you want to attempt a ruse to potentially draw some of the Imperial forces from the checkpoint.

Clutching her rifle so tight her knuckles turn white, Div heads for the back door, glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone's following. "Sneaking out the back way's probably the safer move." The screaming makes her pause, hesitating for a moment and glancing towards the front door.

"Yes, let's go," Ella says. She thinks about how they might draw the maximum number of troops away from the vehicles. Not one of them would be good for faking the voice of a Stormtrooper. Perhaps a better way would be to fake a hostage situation. Pretend to have taken an officer hostage and ask for a shuttle or something in an area far away from the speeders. They will never send a shuttle, but will likely send troopers held in reserve to deal with a potential hostage situation. It might just give them enough time to escape.

"I have a plan for the diversion, but we need to get closer to the vehicles before we try our luck with that," she tells the others, as they leave the building.

I don't think it's very likely we can imitate troopers and ask for support. The people on the other end will always ask for identification, and we can't give any. I think a better way would be to fake a hostage situation in an area far from the speeders. Ella can do the talking with her decent Cunning and a rank in Deception, but having the others in the background shouting "yeah", "death to the Empire", "I say we kill him now" etc. might be worth a boost or two.

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That sounds like a pretty solid plan, I'm all for it.

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I'm out this weekend but come Monday we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming and I'll advance scenes. Stay tuned!

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Yes, Todak isn't actually awful at deception, mechanically speaking, but it's not really his thing and not something he would want to try himself.

For a split second, the grating whine of a TIE Fighter’s engines overhead drowns out all other sound. A mere few blocks away, explosions rock the area as bolts of green energy burst on impact. The ground heaves from the force of the impact, causing the flimsy buildings nearby the shudder.

Winding through the warren of alleyways between The Garage and the Imperial Checkpoint, the cadre moves carefully to avoid detection from the Imperial troopers laying siege to the resettlement camp. On two separate occasions over the last thirty minutes there was almost a confrontation with a patrol of Stormtroopers, but using stealth and local’s knowledge of the vicinity, the cadre was able to take cover and avoid altercation.

Before long, the small band reaches the trading post northeastern side of camp. This is a warehouse district of sorts, where the Broken Horn syndicate would move goods illegal in and out of the resettlement camp. The whole area seems ominously quiet. It must have been one of the first areas to be abandoned.

Just on the edge of the district, the prone forms of a pair of Stormtroopers can be seen crumpled up against one of the storehouse walls. Perhaps someone else is fighting the Imperials , Ella thinks to herself. Before anyone has time to react, a tough looking Weequay male with swoop goggles rounds the corner. He notices the group and kicks one of the troopers in response. “ This is our prize. Find your own score, ” he snarls. With that, he heads into the storehouse to the obvious sounds of looting within.

Div stares at the thuggish Weequay's goggles for a moment, unconsciously reaching up to touch her own. After thinking a moment, she turns to the group, keeping her voice low. "Think they've got transport? Doubt they could haul much without it. Might be our way out." Cautiously, she steps around the side of the building, keeping an eye out for any idling speeders. Her hands stay low, hovering near the slung blaster rifle.

“You check it out, I’m going to try to find out a little more,” Ella whispers, before approaching the Weequay, her blaster held by her side, but in the open. It’s a bold statement. It tells him she not some mug he can intimidate, but also that, like him, she’s been fighting Stormtroopers. And winning.

“Hey, big guy, wait up,” Ella says, moving cautiously towards the large, furry alien. “We’re not looking to loot anything, we just need to get out of here. Surely if we help each other, we can both benefit?” she says, smiling sweetly at him, using the same smile that always used to get her what she wanted from her father.

Could Ella try a Charm check to get the big fellar to ease up a little and share info? If so, what would the difficulty be?

"If we get get on the ship, there might not be any need to wait for 'em to come back," whispered Tycho. "Could take it for a little off-world joyride. I'm sure he will be able to find his own way off."

Tycho peered around the corner to see where the Weequay had come from, hoping to spot a ship or a speeder. No need to create an enemy, yet. But a little information might be useful leverage.