Star Wars: Spheres of the Force (GM Terrigan) (Inactive)

Game Master Syrus Terrigan

Reluctantly, Le, Hayden, and ThetaZero board the now heavily-laden sub, and Taell steers them out of the depot, making sure to seal the bay behind them. Back in his own element once more, the submariner issues another torrent of language, mostly pertaining to those few moments of the attack. How his fear got the better of him, how smooth his new friends were in the fight, how little the hazard pay compensates for mortal danger.

Little do they know . . . .

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Kreshell is still on the bridge checking Le's pre-plotted hyperspace jumps when Rhea's comm ping comes through. The discussion is brief: everything seems to be in order, the retrieval is still ongoing, and it appears that Zev has made a new "friend". Rhea quickly signs off after indicating that she is heading back to Spice Rush.

The Devaronian goes back to double-checking jump calculations and gives a sudden start when Zev's cabin suddenly opens. The young pilot emerges, wearing a pillowcase to preserve a minimum of modesty, and begins to gather up the discarded clothing. Behind him, the mechanic lounges against the hatchway, draped in the drab olive sheet that matches Zev's "informalwear". Both faces are plastered with satisfied, feces-feeding grins.

Kreshell looks at the two of them with his token grin and then shifts his gaze to the mechanic, "Am I to take this to mean that our ship is good to go? Or are you going to continue soon?"

As he makes his way back toward his cabin, Zev replies. Yeah, she's good to go. Uh . . . the ship, I mean. A hiss-thunk sounds as the door closes once more, and shortly Kreshell hears the padded scamper of bare feet rushing back toward one of the 'fresher units aft.

Rhea finally got back to the ship, stepping inside a few minutes after Kreshell got to hear someone else darting past. She held up a brightly-colored box as she did so. "I picked up some food if anyone's hungry." she said. Starships tended to have hefty reserves - for good reasons - but she felt it was always best to keep those as high as possible.

Rhea quickly stores her new acquisitions in the galley (We'll need to examine the particulars on that eventually, perhaps; or we may just do a significant reboot once we finish adding in the new blood. We'll see.) while Vadi and Kreshell continue to fill their time . . . somehow. Zev and his lady friend emerge from the 'fresher after an . . . extended stay, and soon the young Mandalorian is perusing the mechanic's many projects in her workbay.

As the expected time draws near, Stevral emerges from his office and approaches the boarding ramp of Spice Rush, calling out that Taell and the others will be arriving soon. The bureaucrat departs quickly and quietly, feeling that he has satisfied his obligations as a helpful host.

And within a few short minutes, a cascade of comm alerts rings through Spice Rush's corridors, comlinks chirruping incessantly. The "why" becomes clear in short order -- MedStar's main docking bay is under attack. As the remainder of the crew moves to assist Le, Hayden, and ThetaZero, Kresh is forced to call out to Zev as they rush across the landing pad. Interestingly, the pilot's "girlfriend" is just as swift in joining the group headed for the turbolift, a double-holster belt appearing in her hand as though from thin air.

The main lift doors open on a scene of rampant chaos. Collapsed figures in MedStar uniforms dot the blue-white expanse, and far fewer non-uniformed beings lay prone. Damaged lighting flickers irregularly, and two areas of the dock are only dimly lit by the faint sunlight glinting off the waters beyond the port gate. From within those darker zones, repeated, intense bursts of stun bolts careen into the scant cover upon which Hayden, Le, Taell, and a few other MedStar staff have seized. The inert form of ThetaZero rests behind the clustered defenders, the decking scarred from where his "feet" skidded as he was drug to relative safety; the droid's photoreceptors are dark, and his master somewhat clumsily wields the rifle he carried. Le is also loosing awkward blasts with a rifle, newly-acquired. None of the MedStar dockworkers are armed.

The arrival of the Spice Rush crew is welcomed gladly, as Zev makes terrific use of Kreshell's blaster to enable Rhea, Vadi, and Kresh to move behind a mass of plassteel canisters not far removed from their crewmates' shelter. The young man doesn't let his burst of luck cloud his judgment, however, and quickly slides into position beside a watchful Zargro.

It takes no time at all, though, for Ossifson and the blonde mechanic to prove a significant issue for the clustered attackers. In a seamless display of "fire-and-maneuver" tactics, the pair advance on one of the darkened corners of the dock, gradually silencing some of the blaster weapons trained on them as they go. Then, from one of the perimeter freight elevators behind that knot of resistance, a stocky crimson-skinned Twi'lek in MedStar fashion sprints into the midst of the concealed attackers. In seconds, fresh supporting fire begins to beat at the other knot of marauders.

It becomes clear that Stevral and his two employees expect the ragtag band to monopolize on the suppressing fire, and with a leapfrog approach and some weaponry changing hands, soon enough the Spice Rush crew goes toe-to-toe with a cluster of Quarren and Aqualish. The shifted odds, and suddenly absent escape route, force a change in tactics, though -- the hail of fire that rises to meet the team is no longer nonlethal. Zev Ronen's luck runs out -- a bolt burns through his abdomen, and he collapses immediately. Hayden shifts his approach to draw near to the Mando youth, and quickly ensures that the wound, while severe, is not immediately fatal. With Kreshell pointing out critical opportunities, Vadi muddling thoughts and deeds, and the trio of Le, Hayden, and Rhea inundating the remaining foe in a flurry of staff strikes and unarmed blows, the docking bay soon falls silent.

In the midst of it all, the sub laden with high-grade kolto bobs untouched -- not even a blaster burn to mar its unremarkable hull.

As the cleanup effort begins, a squad of Selkath peace officers hustles onto the scene, detaining the thugs and taking statements from the groggy MedStar employees. The law enforcement team examines the security holofeed and confirms no wrongdoing on the part of any company staff nor the visiting merchants, and after taking readings on the personal weapons of the Spice Rush six, they depart to their headquarters with fully 20 amphibious sentients in custody.

Zev is quickly immersed in kolto in the company medbay, his injury grievous enough that moving him back aboard the ship is out of the question -- Spice Rush simply does not support the treatment regimen he needs for a full, speedy recovery. His new paramour offers to help pay for his care until he is able to operate on his own, and even her ulterior motives don't diminish the good of the deed. (She likes 'em young, Stevral quips. The younger, the better.)

With the use of a repulsorsled, ThetaZero's recumbent form is loaded onto the ship, and then the efforts turn toward transferring the kolto shipment to the freighter. Even with the scheduling hiccup posed by pitched battle at a jobsite, Le calculates that the team has only lost two hours' time off of his projections -- if all goes smoothly at the Kothlis rendezvous, timing will be of no concern at all . . . . Finalizing the deal on Nar Shaddaa, however, may not prove so simple . . . .

After filling a loaned footlocker with the belongings in Zev's cabin (and thoroughly cleansing the bed linens and other features), Rhea entrusts the young man's effects to his steely-eyed pistol-slinging mechanic friend, and then settles into the pilot's chair for what may prove to be a career-defining first time.

Repulsors fire, and the ion engines engage, and Spice Rush once more burns through atmosphere toward the unclear future.

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Okay. We're going to have a brief pause here just so our regulars can have a bit of in-character reflection and speculation. Next story advancement should come within 36 hours.

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Kreshell Zargro maneuvers charmingly up to Zev's paramour, his fancy cane announcing his presence. "These are his things," he says to her with his suave smile on his face. "I have also added a little gift as I don't abandon my crew. Should anyone come looking, don't hesitate to call." And, with that Kresh winks and walks back onto Spice Rush. I left my personal comm code hidden in Zev's things.

********

Kreshell walks into the pilot cockpit and plants the cane onto the deck. With the Clack! he uses as an introduction, he begins as he sits in the copilot seat. "My dear Rhea, you are an enigma," he says with an eyebrow raise, "What were you doing on Nar Shadda?"

A smile twitched across Rhea's face as Kreshell inquired about her activities. "I was meeting some people." she said mildly, reaching out to pat the control panel in front of her. "Do you know how few people know how the major parts of starships work? I mean, really know it, enough to duplicate the technology from total scratch? It's not very high. Most spacers know how to do basic repairs to technology while they're in-flight, especially the stuff known to fail on a regular basis, but anything significant needs a visit to a compatible dock. The same goes for a lot of other technologies, too. Weapons, communicators, terraforming, shielding, building construction... there are countless races out there, many with their own unique approaches. I don't know of a single person who truly understands even a fraction of the technology that galactic civilization relies on."

"So... I talk to people. I learn what inspires them, how things perform, and when I can, I like to get samples so I can understand their technology better. Just imagine the kinds of things you could do if you figure out how to take all the best parts of different species' technology and bring them together into a unified whole. It's exciting, don't you think?"

Kreshell leans back, moving a hand to massage his chin. "Profitable to say the least..." he muses for several moments. After those moments he levels a devious grin, "So, who do you work with to get this done?...Such a big undertaking would require some sizable resources. Your get-up says that you don't work alone in this endeavor. If you did you'd have a much more...Zev-like look to you."

"Nyahahahahaha~ well, looks are part of it, see?" Rhea said, gesturing down to her finery - which was, admittedly, much better than what most people wore. She looked like she'd fit in better at a great casino than scuffling around space stations. "A lot of people rely on their first impressions - and it's true across most species, too. If they think you're wealthy, they're much more willing to talk business with you. It helps that a lot of the technology I'm looking for isn't what anyone would consider special. I mean, it's not like I'm trying to uncover national secrets or anything. The best stuff is often found in common gear, even some broken and old tech. The real trick is figuring out how and where to use it once you have it. It's really not as hard or money-intensive as I make it look, but a girl has to keep up appearances."

"Fair enough," Kresh says as he gets up and leaves the cockpit, heading to his own.

Somewhat uncharacteristically, Vadi passes time in her bunk, meditating cross-legged. Since she realized her connection to the Force, she had grown increasingly reliant on it, something she felt ambivalent about. It was a wonderful feeling and a wonderful tool, but in her previous life she had learned that anything could be lost at a moment's notice.
Still, the fight had been exhilarating. She hadn't needed to fire a single shot, turning the foes one against another, and the feeling of power she had felt was unlike anything else.

Not now. I am not yet strong enough. But soon I will return to Nar Shaddaa as myself, rather than under a fake name, and set things straight with the Exchange. I will be strong and powerful, I will win and break the chains of my past. The Force shall set me free.