The druid nods at Val approvingly. "5" punches a button on the nearest terminal to play the incoming message...
-Posted with Wayfinder
The druid nods at Val approvingly. "5" punches a button on the nearest terminal to play the incoming message...
-Posted with Wayfinder
A small holographic image of Teemo appears on the holoterminal. The Hutt shouts in rage, the tiny translator unit struggling to keep up.
"Insignificant worms! Do you think you can get away with this? Do you think I can't find you anywhere you run? The galaxy is not big enough to protect you from my bounty hunters!"
"You're the one that's gonna need protection. I hope to personally watch Jabba feed you to that thing they say he has."
Teemo stops shouting to stare at what must be your image on his holoterminal. Then he makes a gesture with his thick arm, and the connection is cut.
Why!? Why would he do that when we haven't even transmitted anything yet!?
Valkyr sighs again, and makes herself as comfortable as she can in the hold.
She stares at the guard's weapon, still clutched in one paw, and scowls.
He hasn't taken very good care of you has he? she croons to the blaster carbine
Never mind, I can fix you up as good as new!
She proceeds to strip down and clean the weapon using a nearby workbench.
May as well enjoy the time I have left after all!
Tok does his best to stretch out with his legs crossed and resting on a higher plane, his hands folded behind him. "Slug scared now."
"5" clicks his fingers together for a few moments as he ponders the situation...
SASSvTFF= S
Hutts tend to not believe non-Hutts. We may have overextended our hand...I would not risk taking this information before Jabba directly. Perhaps his information broker would be the best solution?
Rae grunts. "I trust the Hutts 'bout as far as I can throw 'em, anyway. Not going to see Jabba directly sounds like the best course of action." She frowns, thinking for a moment. "If he doesn't listen, maybe we just leak the information? Even if the Hutts don't believe it, they probably both have enemies that would jump at the wedge between Jabba and Teemo. Could be they get even more information out there."
With a frown, she jerks the ship's controls again. "Either way, we really need a destination and plan to get off this rock. At the very least we should change ships. So. Where am I setting this bird down?"
Valya chimes in over the Com
The twins have made their deliveries and it'll only be a matter of time before Teemo realises how we got on planet and in to his palace, I'm sure they'll want to get off this dustbowl as much as we do.
There is a crackle of static.
Let's hope they're still on planet otherwise we're left in the exact same situation we were in not that many days ago, fleeing Teemo's goons and trying to get off planet...
Valkyr patches the ship through to the twins
So uh... think you can get those engines humming and ready for lift off? We kind of need to hitch a ride if you've still got the space...
Before Val sends the message...
I agree. Rae should reach out to the twins and use her feminine wiles to convince the male to secret us back to our ship.
The droid's tone is neutral, making it unclear if any amount of humor is intended...
Noting that Val has spoken to them instead,
I hope that they are as equally interested in hearing from you Valkyr. I have noted that many species seem intimidated by you as they learn about your skill set. I hope the twins, upon hearing of our actions, will continue to see us as non-threatening to their persons...
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There is silence over the intercom as 5's words hang in the air, before Valkyr's voice murmurs from the speakers once more
...I am female. And in possession of these 'wiles'...
*beat*
...I just prefer the company of things with long barrels and power packs...
There is silence over the intercom as 5's words hang in the air, before Valkyr's voice murmurs from the speakers once more
...I am female. And in possession of these 'wiles'...
*beat*
...I just prefer the company of things with long barrels and power packs...
There is a buzz and crackle as the twins respond. Interference from the twin suns makes the connection a bit hazy.
"Sure. We can bzzzt ... you," Wex says, "where zzzz the pick up? Teemo has every bounty hunter on Tatooine out looking for you. zzz...you took a Grasshopper, I'd get under cover before they find that flying wreck."
There is a pause.
"Don't know what you did, but you pop...bzzzt ..irred up a hornet's nest."
"I prefer things with gears and functionality." Rae mutters, pulling on the ship's controls. As Wex's voice comes over the comm, telling them to get under cover, she grits her teeth. "Workin' on it." Considering for a second, she speaks again. "Pick us up in Eisley? Might be big enough to hide there. Less you got a better idea."
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The droid absorbs the commentary of his companions filing the information under "biologicals are strange". At Rae's suggestion "5" raises a finger in approval, I believe Mos Eisley is also the best chance we have of blending in. We might need to ditch the Grasshopper outside of the city and arrive by foot however?
"That you Rae?" Wex's hopeful voice comes back over the com. "Buy me a drink back on Geonosia and we'll call it even." You can almost hear his sister's eyes rolling from here.
If it's all the same I'll stay here in the cargo area rather than come through, if we're not going to be up here long I may as well just make ready in case there's a firefight when we open the gantry.
Val passes the time cleaning her newly acquired blaster carbine.
So it looks like we are wanting to land on the outskirts of Mos Eisley to attempt to make our way to the twins. Unless its possible for them to meet us not near a city...
Valkyr quickly hunts through the cargo hold looking for anything that might be useful, knowing the odds of finding a speeder bike or land speeder were slim.
"Deal." Rae replies quickly, thinking she'd probably have done worse for less.
'Is that a structure hidden in those rocks?'
Rae spots an area among the rocks just outside of Mos Eisley that looks big enough to put the Grasshopper in, but close enough to make it a short walk. She circles the ungainly craft and begins her landing run. Unfortunately, she misjudges the height of the rocks nearby, and bounces the wing off a rocky spire. The Grasshopper lurches to the left and spins into the landing with a crash.
Untangling yourselves from the wreck, you discover that you've landed in the middle of a small moisture farm hidden in the rocky cliffs above the spaceport. What's more, there's an abandoned speeder truck half buried in sand just outside the main structure.
That speeder truck might work? Rae want to take a look?
The droid hobbles away from the grasshopper wreckage warily, trying to get his servos and actuators to recalibrate from the jarring landing...
Tok emits a long, extended "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" During the crash.
Having remained stoically quiet as the ship smashes in to first rock then ground, Valkyr extricates herself from the piled contents of the cargo bay without a word.
She brings her weapon up and scans the farm, but finding no threats moves over to the speeder truck to take a look.
The farm is abandoned, and it looks like has been for some time. Almost everything of value has been looted from the buildings and equipment. The only winch and cable in evidence are attached to the speeder itself. It's going to take some work to get this unburied and moving again.
Glancing back towards the crashed ship, Valkyr sighs, then kicks the winch mechanism of the speeder truck until it releases its oil-hungry workings and the cable comes free. Grasping the hook with both hands, Valkyr takes step after step towards the crashed Grasshopper, before hooking the cable around a twisted landing strut.
She takes a swig from her canteen as she rests for a moment in the shadows of the ship, the relentless sun beating down like a hammer on the sand.
Returning to the speeder truck she wrenches the ratchet mechanism and begins pulling it back and forth, tightening the cable until it is taut and continuing to exert effort no no avail, the grip of the sand dunes proving monolithic for even her toned muscles.
She gives the mechanism a kick and goes back to sitting under the shadow of the ship.
Shame the battery in it has gone, maybe we can get the twins to fly out and pick us up?
she mentions, half to herself.
Rae crawls out of the wreckage coughing smoke and spitting sand. In between each she curses both the Grasshopper and the sandy, desolate planet. "Yeah." She mutters. "I'll take a look." Walking over, she sees Valkyr already opening things up, and shakes her head. "No sense making the twins a target, too. More than we have to, at least. This is our mess to clean up."
She grunts. "Shouldn't be too bad. Reckon you guys can start trying to dig it out?"
It will take some time, but Rae figures she can get the speeder going by scavenging from the Grasshopper, and a little work. Maybe four hours, tops.
"5" begins the process of working on digging out the speeder as Rae requested, confident the mechanic knows better than him what parts to salvage and use...
Valkyr watches as the others set to with trying to get the speeder de-duned, and gets to her feet, moving over to join 5 in digging out some of the vehicle to make the winch's job easier if Rae can fix it.
"So ...how we selling this dirt to Jabba?"
I'm not the expert here, but I'd start by going via his information broker
Valkyr keeps shoveling sand
We need to do it quick too, right now I imagine Teemo is desperately trying to cover up his dealings and spinning a story for uncle Jabba, it'll soon be his word against our 'fabricated evidence'. Speed is of the essence...
Once she has dug out the speeder as best she can, if no-one else has yet to do so Valkyr will send an encoded message to Jabba's information broker indicating that the group have sensitive information about Teemo that would be in Jabba's interests to purchase.
Anatta is glad to hear from you. A bit surprised perhaps, but glad. He listens intently to your proposal. "What exactly do you have, Valkyr?" He says with some caution. "Jabba does not suffer fools, but he does pay handsomely if there is reason."
"5" stands by to describe the nature of the information they have found and its formats (some was correspondence, other more "forensic" in nature I believe.) He can describe himself if preferred but if Anatta is happy to talk to Valkyr, he will feed it to her.
Tok looks around for some booze or light drugs.
Thank you for responding Anatta. I feel it best if our droid recounts to you the rough details of what we have, I assure you we are not foolish, and there is good reason for Jabba to want to know this and for us to send the proof we have!
Val gestures to 5 and the Comlink.
Anatta listens quietly as '5' relays the details: the battle droids, withholding Jabba's cut, everything. When '5' is done, the Toydarian lets a short squeak - the Toydarian version of the whistle.
"This is very serious. Very serious. Jabba will want to know right away. And he will pay handsomely...say 2500 credits? I should tell you that Teemo has already been in contact with Jabba. I do not know what was said, but word went out to find you...money was no object."
The infobroker pauses.
"Despite the fact that I could have retired on the money, I did not tell Jabba I knew where you were headed. I suspected that there was more to Teemo's operations, and so did Jabba. Now he will know. Anatta out."
It takes a few hours to get the speeder truck ready, but soon it is done. The machine is cobbled together, but it holds just long enough to rattle into the spaceport. The Vio twins are waiting for you at the main cantina.
Within the hour, you have lifted off from Tatooine in their Nova Courier. A short time after that, and you find yourself in the cockpit of the Krayt Fang. The communication alarm goes off. It's a coded message from Anatta. It consists of just a vid that you immediately recognize as coming from Mos Shuuta.
In the grainy image, you can see the gates of Teemo's palace. An armored transport pulls up, and a squad of heavily armed bounty hunters piles out and rushes into the palace. Minutes later, the same group is seen leaving the palace with Teemo, hands in electro-binders. They load him into the transport, and leave in a blast of dust and sand. Then the vid cuts out.