SCAVENGER HUNT: Episode One: Elusive Prey

[max_vale]

It's been approximately three and a half months since our band of Rebel Agents managed to bring much needed fuel from Planet Thakis to save part of the stranded Alliance Fleet after the battle of Hoth....and they've been buys over that time....

Cal Tak Dornan took his ship, The Nova Kestrel, to a certain 'ship-wright' he knew out in the Outer Rim and he and several of his companions pooled the money they made from the gift of Thakisian jewelry to make some modifications to the Ghtroc freighter; including adding a Med Bay; installing a holo-game table in the lounge and mounting a powerful Heavy Laser Turret on the top of the ship....

Vale took to training his new student, Kitkatarra in the ways of the Force and the female Wookie was taking her 'first steps into a larger world'. With the money from the Thakisians, the young Jedi Student was able to acquire some rare crystals, which he gave to the albino female Wookie, and which Kit successfully used to create her very own lightsaber!

Zuul and Professor Clark used some of their wealth to gain some more firepower for the group; ensuring that if the party ever failed to complete a mission, it would NOT be due to a lack of something to shoot with!

Jackson Crodowski decided to purchase a Speeder Bike....it took him back to his long ago days of racing similar vehicles, and he stored it in the reliable old freighters' cargo bay....

It wasn't much longer after that however, that the Rebel band's much deserved 'rest and relaxation' time came to an end. An urgent summons by a Case Officer Makallister had them boarding the Nova Kestrel and making a quick hyperjump to rendezvous with the unarmed Alliance Transport Starbird out in the middle of nowhere in a desolate, life-less system....

After docking, a hurried briefing was given, which explained that a transmission* was picked up from an Alliance Intel Agent on the Dankayo Base indicating that Imperial Forces had attacked the base and while the Rebel personnel had managed to evacuate successfully, part of the base's computer records had NOT been destroyed and were now in the hands of Imperials onboard a ship known as the Elusive.

Makallister had a stolen Transponder code installed on the Nova Kestrel; which would cause anyone scanning the ship to have it read as an Imperial registered Freighter known as the Bonderium. He also had a single Proton Torpedo Tube with a 4 Torpedo Magazine installed in the cockpit from a wrecked Y-Wing fighter to give the ship a bit of extra 'punch'. His plan was simple; they were to jump to the Dankayo system, get close to the Elusive; and hit it hard before it could escape and take any data to an ISB base for analysis....

The Rebel band agreed to the mission; and they quickly uncoupled from the Alliance Transport; put in the coordinates for Dankayo, and pulled back the levers to cause their ship to jump into hyperspace.....


Dankayo system, far orbit of planet Dankayo 7, location of (former) Alliance Base

The Nova Kestrel reverts to normal space and Cal smoothly and swiftly moves the ship towards Dankayo 7 while Jackson, in the co-pilot station raises the Shields and takes a gander at the Sensors and Scanners read-out. Professor Clark wasted no time in moving to the gun-well for the newly installed Heavy Laser Cannon Turret while Zuul, Kit and Vale were all strapped into their seats in the lounge near the new holo-game table....

Jackson sees the contact and out loud calls out; "There she is, the Elusive.....she's a Gozanti class Imperial Armored Transport; about 70 meters long....crew of about 50; usually carries a squad of Stormtroopers on-board; has a Twin Medium laser Turret on the rear Ventral and a Dorsal Heavy Laser turret, and yep....she's got a Flight of 4 TIE on racks under the 'wings'"......



Cal moved the Ghtroc freighter closer, moving from Long to Medium Range as Professor Clark swung the Turret around to point directly at the bigger ship with its thick hull as he concentrated on filling his sights with the Imperial ship. Cal spoke up over the ship-wide comms, "Remember, she's dumped her garbage, so she's probably ready to jump to lightspeed any minute now....let's get close and make this shot COUNT."

Jackson suddenly realized the Imperial ship was hailing them and he took the message as the range fell from Medium to Short...."Greetings freighter Bonderium; this is the Imperial Armored Transport Elusive. Could you please state your purpose in being here in the Dankayo System?".....



*Please see the Opening Credits and Adventure Script thread for the transmissions from the doomed Rebel Agent.....also for how the old-school module introduces itself.....basically, just check out that thread too please!



OOC: Okay, Cal is in the Pilot's seat, Jackson in the Co-Pilot's seat and Clark on the gunwell for the Heavy Laser Turret in the Cargo Bay. I put the other 3 PCs in the lounge, but feel free to change that if desired....there's two more seats in the cockpit.

Cal and/or Jackson can operate the Flight Controls, the Shields, Systems Operations (i.e. Communications and Sensors) and the Twin Light Laser Cannon mounted directly above the cockpit (only a +1 to Fire Control and 4D+1 damage, but still) and the Proton Torpedoe Tube (+2 Fire Control and each one can do 9D damage but has a hard time hitting fast-moving/small ships.....right now, the Elusive is moving pretty dag-on slowly.....keep in mind you have PRECISELY 4 torps)...

Clark on the Heavy laser cannon turret has a Fire Control of +1D, meaning his Gunnery Skill of 4D is increased to 5D when using this weapon.

The Imperial ship has VERY thick armor and decent weaponry.....and 4 TIEs (all of which are mounted to the bottom of the ship right now)

[kipper]

OOC: Does Clark have access to the Coms? He's got the best "Con" skill at 4D. Otherwise Jackson will need to do the talking. Any ideas for a good story? Maybe we fried some essential component and need to get a replacement part from the Elusive? Or is there any advantage to getting closer, we're already at Short range, should we just open fire? If so, we'd ideally like to target their hyperdrive first so they can't bug out. But with their armour we'd likely only get one shot and it would have to count.

[Rex]

Kit

Kit straps herself in and readies to ride out combat.

[kipper]

OOC: Confirmed by Max that Clark cannot talk to the Elusive. Also, we are currently in optimal range to attack.

Clark studies the Elusive. He tries to spot any Hyperdrive components, and then carefully takes time to line up a shot.

[Monsieur Rose]

Zuul

"Grimtaash to third ring 5." Zuul commands his Dejarik piece across the board, seemingly unconcerned about the delicate diplomatic situation unfolding outside.

[Starbeard]

Vale Starcloud

Vale tenses a little at the thought of being caught so early in their little ruse. He stretches out with his feelings and tries to touch the minds of the crew aboard the Elusive's bridge.

OOC: attempting to use Empathy. Do they seem suspicious of us yet?

[ybn1197]

OOC: Does Clark have access to the Coms? He's got the best "Con" skill at 4D. Otherwise Jackson will need to do the talking. Any ideas for a good story? Maybe we fried some essential component and need to get a replacement part from the Elusive? Or is there any advantage to getting closer, we're already at Short range, should we just open fire? If so, we'd ideally like to target their hyperdrive first so they can't bug out. But with their armour we'd likely only get one shot and it would have to count.

Jackson has access to the Comms and his Con is 3D+1. I suggest we come up with a story in order to get closer. We need to make our only shot count.

[Solo4114]

Cal will fire the laser cannons at the ship's engines.

[max_vale]

Dankayo system, far orbit of planet Dankayo 7, location of (former) Alliance Base


Events in the remote Dankayo systems suddenly burst into a state of chaos as the Alliance Freighter Nova Kestrel; broadcasting a fake ship's ID that listed it as an Imperial vessel named Bonderium, bored in close to the Armored Transport Elusive and weapons were powered up and aimed at the engines of the Empire's vessel....

Vale Starcloud reached out with the Force and could sense that the emotional state of the several dozen people aboard the Imperial ship were suddenly pulsating with fear, suspicion and anger as the battle commenced......

Next to Vale, her attention half focused on the holographic game of Dejarik she was playing against Zuul and half focused on the events going on outside the ship; Kitkatarra felt the tremor in the Force as her her mentor closed his eyes and stretched out with his feelings, reading the feelings of the crew on the Imperial ship....

In the cockpit and thought he headphones Professor Clark was wearing in his seat on the Heavy Laser Turret in the gun well, a message from the Imperial ship that had just finished dumping its load of garbage, came in right before the Rebels opened fire...."Ah, Bonderium, it would appear that your weapons are powered and coming unlocked and aiming in our general direction.....would you mind locking that down, please?....Do you copy Bonderium?....

A moment later, the good Professor opened the ball by cutting lose a blast from the Heavy Laser Turret that slammed into the rear engine compartment of the Elusive, leaving a deep, half-melted through scar in the heavy armor and Clark felt a moment of solid joy at landing a good hit....

In the cockpit, Cal at the pilot's station cut lose a blast with the Twin Light Lasers and though he solidly hit the rear section as well, his weapons did little more than leave carbon-scoring on the thick armored hull causing Tak Dornan to curse in annoyance at the strength of the Imperial ship's armor....

Seated next to Cal, Jackson stared at his screen in total concentration before finally mashing the button on the recently added weapon control stick that fired the Proton Torpedoes. A yellowish-orange missile flashed out from the bottom of the cockpit section, just below where Crodowski and Cal were sitting, and the weapon streaked across space to slam into the Armored Transport with enough force to cause it to move a bit in space and for brief plasma fires to break out from the damaged section....

Jackson called out in glee; "Direct hit! Their primary hyperdrive is definitely going to be out for awhile, though they still have the slow backups, so we're not out of the-"; he was interrupted by the Nova Kestrel's proximity alarm klaxon suddenly screaming into life as a third vessel suddenly flashed into existence, right between the Alliance and Imperial ship and missed both by the equivalent of centimeters.....

The ship was like nothing anyone on the Rebel ship had ever seen; a long tapering needle-like craft...perhaps 45 meters long and perhaps a tenth that wide, bright silver and glowing a multitude of different colored lights that seemed to emanate from completely random positions up and down the length of the vessel's hull.....



The strange ship set a course directly for the trail of garbage in the Elusive's wake, and the Imperial craft used the break in the action to fire up its back-up hyperdrive* and vanish from the systems; leading to a bunch of outraged curses and disbelief from the team of Rebel Intel Agents....

The strange ship seemed to have a plethora of tractor beams, which it was using to grab various bits of garbage that had been dumped from the Elusive, and not long after it had a small cloud of garbage surrounding it, the klaxon alarm went off yet AGAIN and a second alien vessel popped into the system, though this time not particularly close to the Rebels, but at short range from the first alien vessel. This new vessel was radically different from the first vessel....a large, squat, flattened disc of a ship, twice the size of the first vessel and one which seemed to be brimming with outdated mass-driver cannons and chemical rockets, both of which it began to utilize against the first ship....

The silver, needle-like ship proved it was quicker and MUCH more agile than the second vessel as it dodged and danced out of the line of fire; sometimes using its tractor beams to push the collected garbage into the path of a shot or rocket that otherwise would have hit it; and quickly opening up the range from the circular vessel, which soon enough stopped it barrage of shots and collected the remaining bits of garbage. Shortly after that, the squat disc of a ship jumped back into hyperspace, vanishing as quickly as it had arrived and the Rebels, shocked and confused watching all of this...suddenly noticed a message coming across the clear, apparently from a message drone that had been dropped by the Elusive.....

"Super secret Agent Dono to Momma-ship....Hope you enjoying plenty big treasure-dump, plenty good stuff left on Empire ship, you bet. Have place-numbers for next Empire ship emergency stop. Sending in super-est, secret-est Squib code...."; the rest of the message is completely indecipherable to any of the Rebel Agents listening in. A moment later, the needle ship moves cautiously closer to them and a channel is opened....

"Alien strangers....identify selves or face quick obliteration by awesome-est Squib weapons of power you've never seen, you BET!"


*Backup Hyperdrives are MUCH slower and shorter-ranged than standard Hyperdrives, meaning the Imperial ship will take much longer to reach the ISB base.

OOC: Also, the level of control of tractor beams on BOTH ships, but especially the long, narrow one that is STILL in the system is above and beyond anything Cal, Jackson or Clark have ever seen or heard of....

[Starbeard]

Vale makes to voice a comment, but settles for raising his eyebrow across to his wookiee student instead.

He moves to the bridge and says, "Tell them we mean them no harm. Have we received those coded coordinates?"

[kipper]

Clark, being unable to respond to the aliens in his present position, instead speaks to his fellow Rebels:

"Yeah, someone get to work on those coded co-ordinates, it's our only hope of following the Elusive!"

He remains in the gunner turret, in case the situation with these new aliens takes a turn for the worse.

[Rex]

Kit

Waits and tries to meditate.

[ybn1197]

Jackson takes a moment to pick up his jaw from the floor and immediately gets on the comm. "Ummm... Squib vessel. We mean you no harm. Pleas resend coordinates. The message seems to have been corrupted." He then looks at the others in the cockpit and shrugs, not knowing what else to make of the strange events that just passed.

[Solo4114]

Cal

"Don't look at me. I didn't understand anything they said either. Think we should power down our weapons, just to make it clear we mean them no harm?"

[max_vale]

Dankayo system, far orbit of planet Dankayo 7, location of (former) Alliance Base


The band of Rebels stood in stunned confusion for a long few moments over recent events as they tried to decipher, exactly WHAT had just happened....

Apparently, two different factions had jumped into the system....engaged in a fight over the trash left behind by the damaged Imperial Transport Eluisive; inadvertently allowing that same Imperial ship to flee on its backup hyperdrive; then one of the factions had grabbed some trash and left he system as well, leaving the 'Squib' faction's ship behind; who apparently had an agent on the Imperial ship who broadcast its hyperspace coordinates in some kind of code; and remained in the system facing off against the Alliance ship Nova Kestrel......

While the Rebels had indeed received the whole message and the first part of it was easily read; the coded portion revealing the coordinates was in some kind of random language or sequence that NONE of the Rebels could understand in the slightest. Jackson Crodowski sent the 'Squibs' a message over the comms while Professor Clark kept the Heavy Laser Turret trained on the strange, needle-like vessel. The Squibs were quick to respond.....

"If you alien dealers with abridged decks wish to come aboard the super-mighty Momma-ship Thrifty to attempt to bargain for the place-numbers of the Empire ship with the magnificous Chieftain-of-all-Junkyards; you may do so by powering down your weapons and docking with our top-part hatch.......well, whaddya say limited brainy aliens? Ready to deal?"

[Solo4114]

Cal

"If they really know where that Imperial ship took off to, I say we deal with 'em. I'm inclined to power down our weapons."

Assuming everyone agrees, Cal will power down the weapons under his control.

[Starbeard]

Vale
"They seem harmless enough. We need that information, and if they're willing to trade for it then we should hear them out."

Vale will once again stretch out with his Sense Emotions to see how the squibs are feeling about our presence.

[Rex]

Kit

Grrl...

"I will go, Wookies tend to scare people a bit."

[kipper]

Clark powers down the turret, and enters the cockpit. "Let's make a deal. Prepare for docking."

[ybn1197]

Sounds good to me, Jackson says. Doesn't seem like we have too much of an option if we want to find out where that ship jumped to.