Endregaard - Night 3 - To the Crash Site
The Imperials decide to race through the forest in the dead of night to reach their destination.
Through the woods flashes of something can be seen. The speed of the transport though does not allow whatever is out there to catch up!
By midnight the forest is left behind for rocky semi-mountainous terrain. With the amount of nooks and crannies that exist in this landscape it would appear that the ship could have simply plunged into a ravine making quite difficult to see from the air. Luckily, the group has a homing beacon and that beacon indicates the group is getting closer.
Endregaard - Day 4 - The Prize
As the sun begins to rise the beacon indicates that the ship is quite close by! Once Garrett passes along that realization the group sees a handful of Nikto standing on top of a small cliff. They train blaster rifles upon your transport!
"You want me to ask them to stand down, or would you rather we just sit back here outside their effective range and pick them off until we can investigate the ship?" he says to no one in particular, not reaching for his rifle just yet. Instead, he leans back in the speeder and looks to the others, folding his hands behind his head. "They're witnesses, which is troublesome, but they're also likely the Hutt's crew which means they probably won't squeal on us. Of course, they might decide to try and turn on us for a profit... they do work for Hutts, after all. They could have valuable information, too." He looks at the others, letting them make the decision; his rifle sits comfortably in his lap, but he doesn't necessarily seem keen on picking them off.
Errin fingers her own blaster carbine, but decides diplomacy might be the better opening gambit.
"Give 'em a chance to talk, no sense stirring up something worse before we know the lay of the land," she says. "Kaldo, take us out of blaster range, then let's see if we can get one of them to accept a comm connection."
She glances between Gunnar, Rennah and Garrett.
"Someone other than me ought to do the talking.
"Diplomacy isn't exactly my strong suit... Aggressive negotiations are more my thing. But yeah, I agree. Talking is the order of the day here."
Nodding to the others, Garrett sets the rifle to the side and stands up, raising his hands above his head to show he's unarmed before attempting to communicate through body language that he's going to try and communicate with them over comms. Assuming they understand, he scans for their frequency on his integrated commlink and waits, hoping they pick up. If they do, his voice is easy-going and measured, trying to keep the peace.
"We're not here to cause you trouble," Garrett says, sighing. "You all were crew on the Hutt's ship, correct? We were sent by another Hutt to retrieve the lost cargo; that's all we want, nothing more." He pauses for a second, thinking. "It might not be the comfiest ride, but we could potentially get you all off-world, too. Sound like a deal?"
Endregaard - Day 4 - The Prize
The Nikto wave back and raise a comm. After your initial comm, they comm back, "His Majesty Mika the Hutt is onsite. Perhaps a greater reward would await you if you come to his rescue than to try and retrieve whatever cargo you believe to be located here! If room permts we too should wish to come". The Nikto seems excited to see you and in no way angry.
"He's onsite? We... I think our employer had assumed that after breaking the blockade and landing on a plague-infested planet, all the of the crew were likely dead or dying; we weren't given any orders about what to do if we ran into survivors." He looks to the others for a moment, letting them know he's going to make a judgment call, then activates the comms again. "Still, clearly our employer was incorrect and you've survived the crash. We have other business to deal with here--we need to purge our information from the CSA files and sort out the issue with their mines--but we can provide transport for the lot of you. We don't have enough passenger space for all of you onboard, but I'm assuming you'd rather have to spend some time in the cargo hold than stay here?"
With a blank expression on his face, Garett shrugs at Gunnar. "You're not the only one," he says simply.
"Yeah ... I think we've been promised the same reward in return for a different objective," Errin says. "I say we keep playing it out, see if we can't recover the prodigal Hutt and his cargo, then maybe work out something extra that makes everyone happy. Or all of us, at least."
"We're unlikely to make everyone happy, but it's worth it if we can. Just keeping said coordinates away from the Sith Empire would be in all our interests."
"The Force, or common interests. I prefer to put my faith in logic, but I will be the first to concede that the Force is a very useful tool."
Endregaard - Day 4 - The Prize
The Nikto comm back, "It is up to the Great Mika whether we stay or go. I do not think the Master would wish to leave the spice here unattended after the work we have gone through to recover it all... Please come in and speak with our Master, we have no wish to fire upon you. Our guard is up for the gangs who seem intent on taking what is ours".
Rennah takes a breath to steady herself, and opens herself to the Force, trying to get a feel for the apparent friendliness of the Nikto, not exactly a species known for being friendly.
"I wonder how much of this spice they're sitting on?" Errin muses. "Hopefully there's room for it in our ship ... And remind, why didn't we bring our ship?"
Kaldo looks at Rennah You getting anything?
Shutting off the comms for a moment, he notices Rennah doing her normal routine when reaching out through the Force. "What do you think, should we head in there? They sound sincere enough to me, but you're the one who can feel their thoughts..."
Endregaard - Day 4 - The Prize
Rennah, you sense they are being honest, if not altogether forthright...
"Welp... Considering our mission is to recover the spice held in this inoperable spaceship, I guess we ought to turn around and retrieve the fully functional starship we own that can actually transport the spice that we have now located but have no way of transporting in this unarmed and less powerful speeder we inexplicably decided to drive out here into potentially hostile territory," Errin says. "That make sense to everyone else? I suppose some of us could stay here to stand guard, but splitting the party seems even more foolish than the situation we find ourselves in presently."
"I'd rather make sure everything is in order before getting it. While they seem honest, there's something not quite right. And I'd really rather not show our escape route till the last moment."
"Oh, let's just see what they want." Garrett gets back on comms, talking to the Nikto again. "We're coming in, we'll talk with your boss and see what can be done here. Hopefully we can get the lot of you, and your spice, off-world without any trouble." Once he says that, he just shrugs at the others. "We can pick up the Emissary later, as much as I'd rather have it now. It might have been a better idea to stay low and out-of-sight anyway, considering the CSA are after us now. Once we've dealt with what needs doing we'll pick up the ship and get everything squared away. Sound good with you two?"
Sounds good. Would we be able to transport the spice using the speeder, though? Is there enough room?
"Otherwise we can always do more trips. Come on, let's move. i lonbg to put this dirtball behind us."
With that, Rennah steps out from behind cover, hands spread to show no weapons and walks up to the Nikto.
Garrett follows along as well, his rifle slung across his back and out of his hands.
Endregaard - Day 4 - The Prize
The transport arrives at the crash site. Somehow, the ship managed to find one of the few overhanging cliffs in this desolate part of the planet large enough for it not to be seen from the sky. Small chunks of metallic debris litter the ground but are organized into piles. The bulk of the starship rests intact lodged into and under the outcropping.
Perhaps the most curious sight is that of a cargo skiff to the rocks! At the foot of which is raised a makeshift tent, a large makeshift tent. In the shade of the tent you see the form of a young Hutt.
The Nikto from the rocks come down to greet you. There are ten Nikto here in all.
As you close on the Hutt's position you see his greenish flesh is a little cracked and chapped from the dry weather, and misters have been set up around the tent in a futile attempt to keep the Hutt moist.
Mika addresses the group in Basic, "Greetings brave souls. Who are you that you would come out so far from civilization for cargo".
"How in the blazes does a spaceship crash-land under an outcropping?" Errins says, using the private band on the group's commlinks. "They'd have had to do it on purpose, don't you think, Kaldo?"
Suspicious, the bounty hunter examines the wreck -- and surrounding wreckage -- to try to get an idea of how the ship crashed, and whether it's actually as non-functional as it appears.
Hmmm... Looks like you're right Erin. And, what are the chances it would land in a spot that can not be seen from the sky? Of course, they could have moved the ship, somehow, but I doubt that.
He turns back towards the group. But then again, I doubt a Hutt will consent to living under these conditions. I mean, look at his skin. Doesn't look that bad to the rest of us, but must be hell for the hutt. He probably wouldn't do it unless there was no other way, so he might not faked the crash
"The repulsors might not have been damaged. They run independently of the sub-light engine. It'd also explain why it's not a crash as such and how they could walk away from it. We'll just have to keep on our toes."
Endregaard - Day 4 - The Prize
The ship is not going to take off without some serious repairs.
As Errin and Kaldo take a closer look at the wreckage the Nikto look to the rest of the group expecting them to reply to Mika.
Mika himself awaits your reply...
"The kind of people who were hired to do so," Garrett says, without much inflection. "Another Hutt, Vago, hired us to retrieve some cargo that was on your ship that you were carrying for him. I'm not sure if he thought someone else was coming to rescue you or just assumed you were dead after the crash, but we weren't given any sort of recommendations as to what to do if we found you. I assume if he'd wanted you dead he would have told us, so at the moment I suppose we're also here as a rescue team." Garrett pauses, wondering if he was a bit presumptuous with that statement, but sighs and then keeps talking. "I trust you know the cargo our employer was looking for us to retrieve? If I recall, he said your father wasn't aware you were carrying it. We're prepared to transport you off-world as long as we finish what we came here to do. We're looking to gain access to something Popara has, so I figure rescuing you can't help but sweeten the deal."
Errin arches an eyebrow within her enclosed helmet, whispering into her commlink.
<<Full disclosure, huh? That's certainly an interesting approach to take with a Hutt. Might want to take a step back, in case all that honesty makes its brain explode.>>
Rennah activates her throar commlink and whispers.
"We can always ask if he's got a problem with being rescued. After all, we don't HAVE to take passengers. I know that's a lie, but they don't."
As she walks forward, Rennah deliberately makes herself as large a target as possible, ready to draw and ignite her lightsaber at a moments notice.
Endregaard - Day 4 - The Prize
Mika chuckles and replies in Basic, "Vago eh? Fascinating. No doubt my father has sent other agents here to look for me but you are the first to arrive.
What Vago told you is, somewhat accurate. Accuracy does not matter though does it? What matters is that the spice has been recovered and I am still well.
I..."
The sounds of swoop bikes, many many swoop bikes can be heard closing in on your position.
The Nikto shout, "Exalted one. The swoop gangs return and in greater numbers!"
Rennah quickly ducks behind cover, grabs her blaster in one hand and her lightsaber in the other.
<<Kaldo, either pull that transport into cover or get in it and get ready to dance with these gangers. Everybody else, check your ammo and get ready to fire.>>
With that, Errin activates her jet pack and flies up to an elevated shooting position on the crashed ship, somewhere with cover and clear lines of sight. Laying down, she gets ready to start taking aimed shots at the swoop gangers as they enter range.
With aim, each shot from her double-barreled blaster carbine gains +2 to hit, reduce range one category, ignore cover, +1 dmg die, and the target moves extra step down condition track
Garrett climbs up farther along the crashed ship from Errin, taking enough distance that an explosion couldn't easily hit them both. Once he gets up onto the top of the ship, he zeroes in his sights and readies to fire on the swoop gangs. "<<Aim for the fuel tanks,>>" Garrett says over the comms, waiting for the chance to fire. "<<That'll take them out faster than shooting them down one by one.>>"
Kaldo smiles, and gets in the transport. He removes all unnecessary baggage, and begins to pilot the transport towards the swoop gangers.