Adolphus and Kraas track their weapons on the pirate. I forget how the rules work with this, but readying an action to fire if he attempts to raise the alarm or fire at us.
Adolphus says in a steely voice just loud enough to carry to the pirate, "Go back, tell them the room is empty." Intimidation? Hopefully two people with the drop on him is some kind of assistance and bonus... and my apologies for the delay. If I'm taking too long, don't hesitate to kick me.
You hear Acid's warble come through the console and the door to the bridge hisses open. You see what looks like a liquid shadow on the wall and assume that it must be Ser's blood on the wall near the turbolift. Ser is nowhere to be seen and you wonder if he's been taken hostage by the pirates as well.
As the door to the turbolift closes, you hear Boo on your comm, "I'm coming to meet you from Engineering. I just ran into the Imp that was guarding those two prisoners. Looks like we're gonna go for a little sandwich action."
You flex your hands and check the charge on your blaster. If the pirates are headed towards the front lounge where Adolphus and Lidian are at, this situation could lead to a potentially fatal crossfire. With your soldier already down, you hope the crossfire won't be fatal to you or yours.
Boo is waiting for you when the turbolift door opens with the Imperial and the two prisoners. The man and Twi'lek are no longer bound, but they are not armed either. Boo is wearing a perplexed look and says, "Acid just told me that we have a speeder bike on an intercept...no, a collision vector with us."
Adolphus:
Spoiler:
"Nice try, Commander," the smoke begins to clear a little bit and the figure that comes through the smoke is one of the pirates, but he is using Captain Holt as a shield. You mentally sigh a quick relief that neither you or Kraas decided to open fire.
As the smoke clears, more pirates step into the room. You and Kraas remain behind cover with your blasters drawn while Doc steps in front of Lidian. Aside from Captian Holt, two of the Duro's crewmembers are being held hostage and used as human shields as well. One of them is the human that Elkar introduced to you, the other is the creature that Kraas had described earlier as a 'shadow alien'. As interesting as the being is, you certainly do not have time to ponder on its physiology.
There are now 6 pirates in the lounge with you and the leader finally makes himself known, putting a face to the voice that's been taunting you over the intercom for that last few minutes. He is a tall, stocky human with his hair kept short, but stubble that hasn't been shaved in a day or two. His eyes take in the lounge and your position.
"You can clearly see that you are outnumbered and outgunned Commander. I have already commandeered the ship and only ask that you come quietly without causing any further problems. I will not hesitate to kill people, but this has already gone much further than it was supposed to and I'd really like to get back soon."
As you keep your blaster trained on the pirates that enter, you notice that Holt is conscious and once you made eye contact, he blinks twice quickly to let you know that he is not only awake, but cognizant.
Since the pirate didn't really raise an alarm or make any aggressive action toward you, I didn't activate your readied action. The readied action expires after that round so you can either take another readied action, or pick some other kind of fun for this powder keg of fun you've found yourself in.
Also, you don't have to worry about getting booted, even if it takes a while to get a response from someone, the game's no fun with less people. I'm a patient person and I only sent the email as a nudge. It figured that I'd get sick right after that and not be able to respond for a while myself, right? Either way, I'm hoping the climax of this scene is as good as I've been hoping it will be.
Adolphus responds slowly, trying to keep his voice level but loud. His eyes peer occasionally into the smoke behind the pirates. Looking for Kugal, and I think Elkar left me patched through to the Parascaptor.. "You've destroyed my shuttle, but I think there must be some misunderstanding about having commandeered the Sparrow. Have you sent someone to check to see if we're really heading for land, or is this all of your men? I wonder if you would be so bold if you weren't hiding behind my soldier." Innuendo (Sense Motive w/ Cha: +11, but secret check), synergy w/ Impress (+1)? Message to Holt: 'Are there more soldiers? On my signal, get away from him.' The message to the Parascaptor is pretty clear and won't need an innuendo check. I think any numerical advantage from the rules will be nullified by Tactical Advantage.
"I'm certainly not going to surrender to a stranger, or should I know you already?"
I meant 'kick' in the sense of nudging me to post. Forcefully if necessary, but don't get rid of me! (Please? :) )
Captain Holt taps his foot quietly against the floor of the cabin twice and flicks his eyes towards Jeho. Both men are haggard and bruised, but Holt has gotten the message and Jeho gives you a quick thumbs up before rolling his head around to get a better look at the room.
"Me? No. Of course, with how many people's lives I'm sure you've been responsible for, I doubt you would know me even if you were supposed to. Of course, I never was one for small talk..."
The pirate leader begins to raise his blaster when his gaze suddenly goes behind you and he frowns, "What the hell is...?"
There is a small explosion behind you and you can hear the plasteel pieces from the viewport come raining down into the cabin. Air rushes past you as it is sucked out the new hole for a few seconds before the atmospheric regulators on the ship can compensate. In those few seconds, a figure in a red robe drops down through the hole.
While your brain is still trying to figure out where exactly this newcomer is from, he stands up and squares off. You cannot see under the hood, but you can tell this person is here for blood. Your suspicions are confirmed as a sword pops out of either sleeve of the robe.
Elkar:
Spoiler:
You come up to the lounge with the Imperial, the two prisoners, and Boo all in tow. You can hear Adolphus and the pirate having some sort of dialogue but cannot quite make it out.
Boo taps you on the shoulder and points into the lounge. You can see Lidian laying on a table and there seems to be a good amount of blood on the medical droid standing between her and the pirates and on the table itself.
Anger wells up inside of you. Granted, you were not exactly performing a completely LEGAL cargo run, but you certainly were not hurting anyone and you sure as hell did not deserve to get crashed into, hijacked, and now Lid's has had who knows what done to her.
Boo growls very quietly and brings his bowcaster up and points to himself, then the right and holds up one finger. Then he points to you, the right, and then two fingers. He looks at the Imperial he continues his counting procedure. The Imperial looks like he's about to object to taking orders from Boo, but changes his mind after looking from one to the other.
As you all draw a bead on your targets, there is an explosion inside the lounge. You almost scream at this point, "Oh come on!" but manage to bite your tongue at the last minute. The rush of air towards the new hole knocks everyone in the lounge a little off kilter before Acid is able to compensate for one more hole in a ship that is starting to resemble some stinkier cheeses you have never really enjoyed that much.
That's when the figure in the red robe drops through the hole. Acid comes through your comm, "Elkar, the speeder on the intercept course just killed power and is falling to the ground." That's when you realize the person in the lounge must have leapt from their speeder, through the hole, and onto your speeder. Five hundred or more meters in the air.
While still trying to decide how you feel about having what is obviously another complete psychopath on your ship, a sword pops out of either sleeve of his robe. You don't think he's here to talk everyone out of the violence.
Everyone at this point is close enough to being back together we can go back to posting without spoiler tags unless you have something specific you want to talk to me about.
Well, I guess a strategic ambush is out of the question. I'm pro-pirate slashing, so I'll follow Boo's lead, but the as soon as I shoot my targets I want to bead the leader or whomever (pirate-wise) is nearest Lid. She's the concern.
Rolls (no bracing or aiming attempt here, so I'll be taking my standard penalty)
Initiative: 11 + 6 (dex & class)= 17
Attack roll 1: 16+8 Dex & BAB -2 for recoil= 22
Attack roll 2: 14 +8 Dex & BAB -2 for recoil= 20
No idea on damage (I don't have that anymore, and I didn't put it up on the Groups page). If I can't take 2 shots, then I'll take a shot and duck behind the door.
Elkar aims and fires at a pirate, as well as takes a strong dislike to the new "passenger" on his ship.
Sorry about the delays all... been an interesting week. Thanks for advancing, as I didn't have anything else I needed to do up to this point :)
Adolphus stubbornly refuses to give up his drop on the pirate captain, the known adversary, "Now, Holt!" When his firing line clears, he fires twice. Not sure of the rules on that.. my rulebook is on a different computer. But I'll give two rolls, the first with an action dice:
13 + 6+1 + 4 + 1 = 25
12 + 4 + 1 = 17
Is there a bonus for essentially aiming at him for a round? For the stock?
Hey guys! Just a heads up, I've been talking with Adam and since you have all just met my character I'm going to be getting into the game! Please be patient w/ my rustiness with the rules and all that, but I'm excited to play! Miss you all, and I'm looking forward to this.
-J
Also part of the reason for the slight delay. Trying to get Jeremy in with my computer currently down and I have 3 tests (one a final) and 2 meetings with chefs for my next block and trying to lock down extern site this week (and it's a short week!), so bear with me for just a bit longer guys.
A moment of silence hangs over the room for a moment longer as all eyes are turned to the mysterious newcomer. A couple of heartbeats pass before complete chaos erupts in The Darting Sparrow's lounge. Elkar and Boo had managed to sneak up behind the pirates and they now found themselves in a deadly crossfire.
Elkar's blaster spit crimson bolts that manages to down one of the pirates and one well-placed shot from the Wookiee's bowcaster puts another down on his knees. Even through the cacophony of blaster bolts, the Wookiee's roar is enough to chill everyone's blood and Adolphus quietly hopes that the Wookiee is indeed on his side.
On the other end of the crossfire, Adolphus and Kraas open up with their own weapons. Adolphus had the pirate leader dead in his sights and pulled the trigger back, swearing as his second shot wide and the leader takes cover behind one of his other men. Kraas fires into the melee, but his shot goes wide as he himself ducks under some returning fire.
The pirate that confiscated Holt's repeating blaster brings it up to his shoulder and lets loose with a barrage of bolts that he sprays across the lounge. Adolphus and Kraas both duck under the barrage and manage to avoid getting tagged with the large weapon. While the two of them were able to move out of the way, the medical droid reaches across his patient to shield her from the onslaught, only to take a bolt directly to his head and sprawls out on the deck.
As the pirate continues to bring the blaster across, Holt grabs the wrist of the pirate holding him and twists. The pirate cries out in pain and his blaster drops to the deck. Continuing the motion, Holt pulls the man around in between himself and the repeating blaster. The pirate shield goes limp in Holt's arms as two bolts land squarely in his back.
Jeho slams the back of his head into the pirate's nose that's holding him. As soon as the pirate loses his grip, Jeho drops to the ground and snatches the blaster that Holt liberated from his captor. Rolling onto his back, he squeezes off a single shot that silences another pirate as he falls to the ground.
Moving quickly and fluidly through the deadly web of blaster bolts, the stranger advances to the pirate leader and one of his blades disappears into the leader's chest. A little blood collects at the corner of the leader's mouth and his eyes glass over. As the leader drops to the floor, he clutches the stranger's robe and pulls it to the ground. With blood dripping from his blade, the stranger stands back to his full height, dressed in a full suit of body armor.
After seeing the massacre of their leader and most of the other pirates, the two that are left lower their weapons and take a step back, one of them wounded from Boochacca's shot. Jeho and Holt go back to back, Jeho keeping his blaster on the pirates with Holt picking up a pistol and leveling it square on the stranger's back. The lounge stinks of ozone and the walls are covered in small fires and scorch marks from the firefight as silence once again takes hold over the room.
For anyone interested, I've posted a picture that Jeremy supplied me of his character over on the Crafty Works group under the Characters page. I realize that the climactic battle only involved one round of combat, but I hope that it was worth the wait. Small bout of roleplaying while we deal with the aftermath and then we'll move the story along to the next chapter.
Adam: Just so I'm on the same page here, Reesla is after a Tarkin other than Patrick's character right? So my next step is to evaluate the situation, realize I was given faulty intel, and then try to take advantage of where I am. Perhaps try to get in with Patrick and use him as a stepping stone to my ultimate goal of avenging my master by killing his killer?
When you post a spoiler, be sure to write who it's for first. Anyone who's wondering, that spoiler up above is for me and I really hope none of you read it.
Remy:
Spoiler:
Check your email for the full rundown of what you saw go down here
Adolphus looks a bit frantic as he tracks from the leader, to the now-surrendering underlings, back to the body-armor enshrouded whirlwind of death that suddenly appeared in the room.
He fights to breathe steadily. After seeing no threatening movement - or any movement to explain - he takes a hand off the weapon to speak directly into his comms: "Parascaptor, we will be unable to come to you. I will keep you advised. Captain Roshuir, please keep me informed of any additional vehicles approaching our position."
Apparently now composed, Adolphus decides his weapon isn't necessary and lowers it. He opens his mouth as if to speak to the man in body armor, and thinks better of it. He walks quickly over to where Doc and Lidian are to ascertain their situation and speaks to Elkar, "Is this man another of your gratifyingly capable - yet still bewilderingly diverse - crew?"
The armored figure wipes his blades clean and retracts them into place. He slowly turns towards the man with the blaster pointed at him and in his calmest of voices says, "There is no need for that friend. I obviously mean you no harm."
Turning to the Imperial Officer, confident that the jittery man with the blaster pistol will lower his weapon, he continues, "These scum have been preying on the weak and wounded here for some time. I appreciate the opportunity that your misfortune has provided me to clean house, although I'm a bit surprised to find an Imperial Officer aboard a ship such as this. Ser, will you be bringing the remaining pirate scum to Imperial justice?"
Over the comm to Acid
"Acid, stop the descent, softly, and set a course for town. We've got deliveries to make, namely pirates and whatever survived the crash."
Turning to Tarkin
"Commander, I have no clue who this is."
Turning towards the dervish of death, keeping the blaster in hand, but not threatening with it.
"Who are you and what in the heck is going on here? I have to say thank you for the assistance, as we would have surely been lost without your help. I have to ask, however, how do you know Ser?"
Eyeing the stranger warily, Elkar is going to check Lidian for any injuries, and to make sure she's still breathing after that firefight
Yeah, I'd have to say just to disregard Elkar's last sentence there since it was a result of the typo. And yes, there is a member of the crew named Ser.
Adolphus's comm crackles as a voice comes over, "Affirmative, Commander. Sensors show you should have clear skies back into town. We will await further orders."
Holt circles around the armor-clad individual not taking his eyes off of him or relaxing his stance. He stands next to and slightly in between the stranger and Adolphus. Not enough that Adolphus will need to look over Holt's large shoulders to do any talking, but plainly stating that Adolphus is under his protection.
Adolphus takes a quick check of Lidian and is relieved to find a strong, healthy pulse. Doc's stitches were done quickly, but with a precision that was only one of the reasons why Adolphus kept the physician around. He groans slightly as he leans down to help Doc get back up on his feet.
"A-a-apologies, sir. I seem to have taken a rather n-n-n-nasty injury to my headp-p-plate. Preliminary diagnostics have not returned any damage other than minor v-v-vocabulator trauma." The droid's normally droll monotone voice seems slightly off and you almost have to suppress a laugh at the way his eyes flicker make it look like he's blinking during the stutter.
Kraas picks himself up and brushes his uniform off. He seems rather flustered by the intense combat and not completely sure what to do with himself now that it's over. Kugal similarly prods the two prisoners that Adolphus originally brought onto the ship to move over into the corner that Jeho has herded the two pirate prisoners into.
Boochacca ejects the cartridge from his bowcaster and looks around the room and the way the pirates cut through the door. He turns to Elkar and says something you're guessing wasn't, "A job well done, I'm going to go eat cake," and he storms off back towards the back of the ship.
Elkar:
Spoiler:
"I'm gonna go figure out how long we'll need to stay in dry dock to get her vacuum proofed. It's gonna cost a good chunk of credits I'd venture we don't have right now.
Doc's got his stutter back, yay! This time, it wasn't because he's been reprogrammed for firearms... yet.
Elkar seems mildly relieved that his angry wookie has left the room, and begins to speak, somewhat uncertainly at first, but confidence rises as he speaks, and he places his blaster into its holster after the second gesture.
"Commander, I thank you for assisting with Lidian, but we have another matter to resolve. Unfortunately, due to the damages sustained in the crash, my ship is no longer spaceworthy. Is there, by chance, a way to assist us in repairing our ship? I mean, Gesturing towards Tarkin it's not like we helped save you, Gesturing towards the prisoners traveled with dangerous criminal prisoners of the Empire, and delivered you to safety as best we could. All I ask is to assist in patching the gashes, we will make do with the rest. If the medical treatment for Lidian is all we gather from this, that is just as well as I couldn't bear to let one of my crew die on me, let alone Lidian."
I await an intro from Reesla, so Elkar can use his name.
"I hope we can be of some use to you, Elkar. It's the least we can do. We're going to need passage to my ship at the very least, and I think the fewer people involved the better."
Aldophus turns towards Reesla and studies him for a few moments before saying, "Attacking an Imperial officer is an offense we like to take into our own hands. You can be sure we shall deal with them appropriately. What is your name? And how is it that you came to our aid?"
Straightening to his full height the armored man faces the Imperial officer, "Sir my name is Reesla, and it was a pleasure to be of assistance. I've been living here in relative solitude amongst the creatures of this jungle for a few years now. The few times I've ventured into town to buy supplies I heard the whispers about these scum, and when I saw your ships get hit I hoped it would be an opportunity to help the folks who have been so kind to me here with their pirate problem. It seems I was right."
Turning to face Elkar he continues, "Gentleman I fear I don't know much about ships, my talents lay in... other areas. But if there is anything I can do to help get your ships back in flying order I would gladly contribute my time and my hands."
"Well, Reesla, it seems that your timing worked out wonderfully. If you are in need of a way off of the planet, let me know. Your... skill with a blade could come in handy in a number of ways. If you are ever looking for good, honest work, I'd be glad to have you on my ship. We're fairly diverse as is, and I'm always looking for someone with a skill not currently possessed on ship."
Foghorn:
Spoiler:
Is the delivery of goods to this planet? This makes a difference in what I say to Adolphus.
Do I believe what Reesa is saying about how he got involved? Sense Motive-ly?
Adolphus seems a bit dismayed at Elkar's recruiting process, but accepts the soldier's presence. "I hope you can tell us about these talents in a bit more detail. For now, I'm grateful. Shall we move to a room without a breach in the hole?
"Holt, Kugal: Take the prisoners back to the quarters and secure them. Remain there. Kraas, contact Technitian Reneaz on the Parascaptor to see if she can help out Elkar's men.
Reesa, how much do you know about these pirates? Do they have allies around here? And, shall we move to a room without a hole?"
That post didn't come together quite right Paizo ate it the first time and I didn't re-read it. Pretend A. only mentions the hole once, and the questions for Reesa are not immediately on the tail of ordering his men around. He's purposefully not ordering him. ... and lastly, Kraas was supposed to be ordered in a way that he would be occupied being the technician's hands and eyes on the Sparrow, not just sending one message.
Holt grabs his repeating blaster off the ground and slings it over his shoulder. The two troopers quickly bind the pirates' hands with some zipties and escort them along with their original prisoners back down the corridor towards their makeshift holding cells.
Jeho moves over to check on Lidian. She stands slowly and with assistance from her crewmate. She smiles weakly, "If you gentlemen will excuse me, I think the doctor has ordered some bed rest for me." Jeho starts to loop her arm over his shoulders, but she just loops her arm through his and leans heavily on him. The two of them leave the lounge and head for Lidian's quarters.
Kraas steps off to the side as he starts relaying information back to the Parascaptor. The Sparrow's hull groans loudly as the ship begins the journey towards the spaceport. She's not flying fast, but you hope that the ship's still got enough pieces to make it back.
Adolphus:
Spoiler:
You believe the armored man to be sincere with his story, but you also strongly feel like he gave you the bare minimum of information as to why he was out there. While he could be being honest, he certainly wasn't open.
Also, you notice that the lounge is now occupied only by yourself, Doc, Kraas, Elkar, and Reesla. The "shadow alien" seems to have disappeared.
Elkar:
Spoiler:
The goods in your cargo hold are going to this planet.
Nodding as Lidian and Jeho head towards Lid's quarters, Elkar addresses Adolphos. He steadies himself as the hull groans, feeling the wrong-ness of the vibrations.
"Commander Tarkin, I would very much like to help you get you and your men off of my ship and onto yours, but, unfortunately, we are a cargo ship as well as a prison ship at this time. We have some goods that are in the hold that are due for delivery. I would very much like to maintain what little reputation I can and deliver them on-time, even if they are damaged from the crash. Is there a place that I can help get you to in order to facilitate your arrival on the Parascaptor? I'm sure that you are much more adept at getting places than depending on my damaged ship to begin with.
I certainly would appreciate any help you would provide to get the ship into serviceable order, and I'm certainly willing to help you get back to your ship, but we do have paying customers who are waiting for their shipment."
Turning back to Reesla, and ignoring Adolphos' dismay entirely.
"How about it? I see you aren't one for civilization and all, but our ship is certainly not civilized at all, at the moment."
Foghorn:
Spoiler:
I would like to avoid what the shipment is with Tarkin if possible, bluff or diplomacy as necessary to avoid/deflect what the goods are, let alone who the clients are. Also, does the central computer of the ship hold the data for the delivery, or does Acid? If it's on the CPU, then I'll have Acid download it and remove it from the ship's logs ASAP.
Reesla:
Spoiler:
OOC is there a remote chance Reesla would join Elkar's crew?
"Elkar, I'm intrigued by your offer of employment. I feel as if today's events may be the `verse's way of telling me that my time of solitude and grief need come to an end. I have spent too long in a state of mourning and inaction. I must take care of first things first however. The remaining pirates that the good Commander has in custody are my foremost concern. I owe the locals a debt for their kindness and I feel I need to see these scum to justice before I can depart. If your offer still stands after that, I will gladly discuss details with you then."
Turning back to the Commander.
"Commander, now that you have these pirates in custody is there anything I can do to make sure they receive their due from the swift hand justice?"
"I agree, Reesla, that we should help the Commander with the problem of arriving back on the Parascaptor. However, I do have deliveries to make in the meantime. Perhaps you could assist the Commander with obtaining the work order, and I could make my delivery, then we could repair the ship and return Commander Tarkin to his ship. Does that work for everyone?
"Thank you, Elkar. Your generosity will not be forgotten! Nor yours, Reesla." He appears aware how dangerously understaffed he is at the moment, "Please let me know if I can be of any assistance in getting to the spaceport. If not, I think I should keep an eye on our prisoners."
Wasn't sure how to move things forward, so was slow to post, but Adam apparently has plans!
"Certainly, Commander, we are happy to help. Jeho, make sure that they have what little we have to assist him with that task."
Turning back to the comm:
"Acid, I'll need a hand landing the ship once we get there, be ready once we have coordinates for the landing."
Foghorn:
Spoiler:
Sending Jeho is an attempt to make sure they don't try to hack any systems. Elkar certainly isn't going to take any more unneccessary risks if he can help it.
As the Darting Sparrow slowly makes it's way back to the spaceport of Bedsdale. The hull continues to groan and Adolphus calls in an emergency landing vector that puts the wounded vessel directly into dry dock.
Adolphus and the other Imperials gather their fugitives and escort them off the ship. Elkar, Jeho, and Reesla all meet them at the bottom of the ramp and Elkar is just beginning to wish Adolphus the best of luck when a new silence comes over the group.
The city's emergency siren had begun to wail. As Elkar began reciting curses in his native tongue, Adolphus's commlink beeped and a gravely voice came through, "Commander, this is Parascaptor. Bedsdale Port Authority has just rescinded our landing clearance and issued a city-wide quarantine. Unfortunately, our communications relay suffered a brief glitch and we never got that message so we should be planet-side in 15 minutes.
"Until we receive orders from you, the ship will remained sealed and we shouldn't have to worry about the quarantine. I've contacted Governer Garris and he's en route to your location to further brief you on the situation.
"Our sensors registered a large explosion in the industrial complex near the edge of Bedsdale. It was the facility you inspected before heading back for the ship. Not entirely sure why an explosion there would call for a city-wide quarantine, Commander."
The human prisoner that Adolphus had been transporting speaks up as the comm goes quiet, "I told you something was happening there, Tarkin. Even if you're not willing to listen to me, maybe your new friends here are."
"Commander, with all due respect, please allow him to explain himself, as I'd certainly like to expedite any way we can get our delivery made as well as get you to your ship."
