Chiming in on the com, Kaldo adds That's a great idea, Errin... But after we launch the escape pods, how are we going to get back inside the Fates Emissary? We cant crash the ship and board the Emissary at the same time
"Oh Kaldo, you underestimate me." Garrett says into the comms, looking at Rennah and Errin on board the ship. "If I can access their onboard computer, I should be able to establish a link between this and the Emissary. I can transfer all their data, and set the ship on a crash course with the blockade. Once they're close enough, I can jettison the escape pods with the Rodians inside. While they deal with that, we can sail through the gap they left and stay under the radar." Garrett looks at the crew of the captured ship, though, and frowns.
"There's just one problem; they'll tell the CSA everything when they capture the escape pods. They probably won't land on-world to look for us, but getting off the planet and getting past the blockade will be that much harder." He frowns and looks at Rennah, knowing she won't like it. "They're a liability alive, Rennah. Not only could they tell the CSA about us, they presumably still have a line of communication to Zonnos the Hutt, and I doubt he'll be reluctant to send men after us. He's done it once already." Looking around, Garrett's eyes focus on the airlock. "I... could vent the airlock, once you two are off the ship. It's not like I'm going to suffocate."
"I'm afraid I don't think that solution is acceptable. Sure they're scum, but we need to be better than that.
Stuff them all into 1 escape pod and launch it towards the planet first. Then have the ship eject the rest of them as it flies towards the blockade.
That way we get the distraction we want, and no unnecessary deaths."
"If there's a hull patch kit on this ship, we could always glue their mouths shut," Errin says. "Had to do that to a bounty once, a couple of Trandoshans that had acid-producing glands implanted in their cheeks. Kept spitting on the restraints and breaking free, so we used some of that vacuum-grade epoxy to seal their mouths -- mouth-to-mouth, one to the other, to make it harder to get at the seal. That epoxy is serious stuff unless you've got the right solvent."
The Captain frowns at the discussion taking place and protests, "You help us fix ship we attack blockade and draw off fighters! No need destroy ship, do this Bomo clan owe yous big favor!"
"Having a Clan owing us a favor might be to our advantage I'll admit."
Rennah reached out with the Force, to try and get a feel for whether the Rodian captain spoke the truth.
Errin is skeptical.
Attacking the blockade would be suicide. You'd die and your ship would be destroyed. If we jettison you in your escape pods, you live. So tell me, crew members who don't want to die, why's your captain so determined to get you killed?
The crew simply looks down or look at you blankly as it seems some do not even understand Basic.
The Captain does respond, "You eject in escape pod where we go? Get capture? End up in Cluster no way out. Better die fight with ship then stuck on asteroid or prison for CSI!"
"From what I can tell he's telling the truth.
Let's do it, let them go and fight the CSI to distract them.
We can't waste more time than needed on the repairs. The longer we stay, the greater the chance of someone else getting the coordinates."
Ok guys. Get on the ship and I'l start undocking
"... If you think that's wise," Garrett says, holding his rifle over one shoulder. "I'm going to go scan their on-board computer for anything useful, then we'll let them get back to patching up the ship. That sound good to you?" Garrett begins to walk away from the bridge without waiting for her answer, and settles down at the computer. "Let's just strip everything useful and get out of here, shall we?"
"Agreed. Let's get moving."
Rennah looks back at the crew and the caption.
"Best get to work boys. You're only going to have a couple of hours to work on those repairs, while he gets the information out of your computers."
With that, Rennah proceeds to follow the crew around, keeping a watchful eye out for treachery, and if needed, lending a hand in the hasty repairs that are likely to take place.
She then opens up a private channel to Errin on the comlink.
Once Garret reports that he's got everything, she heads back to the Emissary.
Errin remains skeptical that the Rodians will follow through, but will follow the lead of the others. She keeps watch on the alien crew as they work, then returns to Fate's Emissary when the time comes to run the blockade.
After a few hours the Rodian ship is ready to fly, whether it will be effective is another matter but that is their problem, after all, they agreed to do this.
The Captain speaks with Garrett before he heads back to the Fate's Emissary, "CSI have Dreadnaught and several fighter. We approach, but not too close or else Dreadnaught blast us and distraction no work, and then veer off when fighters chase us we make small hyperspace jump. Then maybe best time you try to run blockade.
Bomu Clan honor agreement. You remember this next time we meet".
Errin: "That is what I had in mind, so just keep an eye out for a merchant once we land."
Once back aboard the Emissary Rennah strapped herself in to the cockpit seat.
Engaging the onboard communications, she spoke into the mic.
"Strap yourselves in folks. This might be a bumpy ride.... Please enjoy the onboard entertainment. Drinks will be served after crashlanding."
She looked over at Kaldo and gave him a wink.
"You've got this, let's get down there, and get the mission underway."
Leaning over, she directed her attention to the sensors and shield controls, in case any information or actions had to be taken to help out Kaldo.
"I'm still not sure I trust them to distract the blockade," Garrett says over the intercom. "Not that they won't do it, but that they won't just get obliterated and leave us with a bunch of pissed off CSA ships on our ass." The droid leans back and reclines in the chair within the gunnery well, ready for a fight if it comes to that. "Still, it's nice to know I was right; there's more to what's going on than Popara told us. Another Hutt is hiring mercenaries to keep people away... and considering the path we took, the only ones who would have taken it were agents of other Hutts. That doesn't bode well, if you ask me."
Kaldo un docks from the ship, then begins to head toward the blockade.
"Trust them or not doesn't come in to it. We just need them to provide the distracting. Even if the CSA comes after us, after blowing them out of the sky, we still have a headstart. With luck, they won't even notice us."
"It's the 'with luck' part that worries me, Rennah. They're planning to strafe that blockade and then jump out of there... that's not a big hole or a lot of time to get through it. The Emissary can outclass their fighters no problem if it comes to a fight, but if we're spotted it's going to make it that much harder to get off-planet." Garrett frowns, scratching his head while he thinks. "There's not much we can do about it now, and it's probably our best bet... but I still don't like it; too many moving pieces."
The Bomu Clan races out from the asteroid belt at attack speed. It cuts its engines and makes a sharp turn out of the range of the guns of the Dreadnaughts firing its ion weapon and missing the ship badly.
The Rodian ship heads away from the sector in which you make your approach slower than its initial race towards the ship. This gives the Dreadnaught time to launch four IRD Starfighters which race in pursuit of the Rodian ship.
The Rodian's fire an ion blast which miraculously catches one of the starfghters in its wake.
It seems the best time to go so Kaldo launches forward from his position within the belt hurtling towards the surface of the planet.
Kaldo's trajectory is perfect with Rennah's assistance the Rodian ship's diversion allows the Fate's Emissary to reach the atmosphere undetected.
The wide table land of Endregaard spreads out before you in a panorama of reds and browns. Cathedral like spires jut thousands of meters into the air, and dark strings of dried-up riverbeds thread among the buttes, undercutting them in massive, shallow caverns. The land is dotted with dark green vegetation adapted to barren terrain. High cumulus clouds bunch together like banthas along the horizon. No cities or settlements are visible, at least on the horizon.
"One of those shallow caverns should do the trick, out in the wilderness. Perhaps if we can find a place with a homestead or something, we can get transportation in. Unless you prefer walking of course."
"Maybe we ought to try something a little closer to civilization. I don't mind walking into town -- it's the walk back I'm worried about. If we need to bug out in a hurry, I don't want to be left facing a cross-country trek to get back to the ship."
"The closer we are, the more likely it is that someone will notice the... peculiar nature of the Emissary, and either steal it or get us impounded for illegal weapon ownership. Now, I could talk our way out of that, but it's not something I'd relish doing; perhaps somewhere a little less concerned with legality would be a better stop. kaldo, do you know of any trading posts nearby? They might make a good landing point."
While still piloting, Kaldo attempts to learn what he can about the planet.
A trading post sounds good. I don't know of any nearby however. Perhaps, we could spot some.Kaldo looks outside the window, looking for any trading posts nearby
Rennah grins to herself at Kaldo looking out of the viewports.
"You know, if we couldn't see them from higher up, we're unlikely to see them from down here. That said though, an outpost is my second choice, so why not try to call up a map of the planet or something? Perhaps we got lucky and got some out of the data from the pirates.
Or even better, how about we ask that damned droid that the Hutt forced on us?
H3-P0! GET UP HERE!"
The Droid responds to Rennah, "Yes, how can I be of service Rennah Mars?"
He considers the request asked of him, "Certainly an astromech would be better suited for your purposes as I..." The Droid sees the glare given to him by Rennah it seems as if he is programmed to respond to facial recognition or he has somehow learned it as he responds, "Ah no astromech is present on board is there. Very well I shall do my best".
The Droid returns within the hour. "There are several outposts around the capital Tel Bollin. I believe any one may suit your purpose. Three have enough vegetation that you may hide this vessel within and walk to the settlement with an hour. From there a transport should bring you to the capital city within a few hours at the most".
"Thank you very much Heap.
Kaldo, does that sound good to you? Can you take us there?"
"I suggest we land away from the Trading Post; less prying eyes means less people we need to shoot for trying to hijack our ship." Garrett heads towards the cockpit, meeting with Rennah and Kaldo in person. "Still, it's a good plan. Once we're in the capital, I should be able to get access to a computer system capable of getting some information on Mika's whereabouts; if there is any, anyway."
"So, are we all agreed? Land just a little while outside a Trading Post, head in, grab transportation to the capital and see what we can find there?"
"Sounds like a plan to me," Errin says, prepping her gear once again for deployment.
Sounds good. Grinning, Kaldo begins to pilot towards the nearest Trading Post, making sure to land a bit outside the post, in a place with a lot of vegetation.
As you step off of Fate's Emissary, you find the air here seems fine though it is a bit warm and dry planet side. After a brisk walk you find yourselves at the edge of the Outpost which consists of 5 buildings. You see nor hear anything but the wind.
You see several corpses gathered around the back of a small apartment. Someone tried to burn the bodies but was unable to destroy them in their entirety.
Looking into the buildings you see little of value left. It seems this place was evacuated and has been for an indeterminate amount of time.
You force open a garage looking for a transport. Unfortunately, the only transport available will only seat two people. It appears that every other vehicle has been taken or disabled.
At the center of town is a holonet console from which you can find a map to nearby Tel Bollin. About a half-day's journey by local transport or two days on foot.
"Great. A two-seater. So, we split up, or are we going to walk, and use this for emergency transportation?"
Rennah sticks her head into the apartment, before having a look at the corpses.
"Hello? Anyone home?"
I hope the innoculation works in case the corpses or the inhabitant has the plague.Only one way to find out I suppose.
Emergency use would be the best Seeing the dead corpses, Kaldo zones out for a few seconds, but zones back in.
"Keep out of sight if you can - I heard one of those interceptors flying around, although it didn't sound like it was headed this way," Errin says.
After poking around a bit, she directs everyone's attention to a holonet console near the center of town. There's a map showing the nearby city of Tel Bollin, which looks to be about a half-day's journey by local transport or two days on foot.
"I don't want to waste the time walking. We can either all pile onto the transport, with two of us standing on the running boards, or I could try fixing one of these others that has been disabled."
I could help
"How long do you think it'd take you to fix up one of the wrecks? If it's too long, I'd rather use the running boards. But to be honest, that isn't a perfect solution in case we have to... err... "evacuate at speed", which given we're dealing with a mission from a hutt, seems very likely."
Reaching down, Rennah reaches out with the Force, trying to get an idea if there's anyone living nearby.
I'll look around for any spare parts that might help.
With that, Kaldo begins to look for any spare parts lying around the city, or any broken down vehicles that can be harvested for parts