STARBOX Episode Two: Game Chambers of Questal

[kipper]

Clark steps out and addresses the group of bikers out near the swoop bikes. "Why don't you come inside, drinks are on me!"

[ybn1197]

Jackson, about to open his mouth and cause a scene, closes it without a single word as he looks back at Clark engaging with the remainder of the ruffians, offering them drinks on his tab no less. Curious as to where he is going with this, Jackson follows his play and sits silently for the moment.

[Monsieur Rose]

Zuul

Likewise, he was just about to shut and bar the back door when Clark extends an olive branch. Maybe.

Zuul starts to blend in with the crowd, shrugs, and stays against the wall watching the gang respond.

[max_vale]

Shilley's Bar in Questal, the Capital City of planet Travnin, Capital World of the Minos Cluster Sector


The Swoop ganger who had rudely shoved past Jackson slammed a drink down, laughed with his buddy while pointing at Crodowski and loudly calling out; "What a WEAKLING", then hears Clark bellowing to his companions out back about 'drinks on him' and he staggers over towards him, making sure to bump shoulders against Jackson yet again....

"Hey old man, if'n you wanna buy anybody drinks, how's about me and this tasty piece right here", he says while grabbing Tyralle and yanking her over to him, ignoring her protests AND the large Barabel and Wookie nearby who had blended into the crowd....


Meanwhile, at the door, Clark calls out to the other 5 Swoop gangers, including the one wearing the Pendant necklace that he's offering to buy them drinks. Several of them start to eagerly get off their Swoops when the one wearing the pendant squints at the Professor suspiciously and calls out; "Nah fellas...this don't smell right. Who the hell buys US free drinks? I'm thinking this is a trap....undercover ISB workin' for the Moff maybe.....LET'S SPLIT!"

As his companions awkwardly turn and stumble trying to get back on their bikes; he revs his Swoop bike's engine and turns a hard 180 degrees and guns it out of there......leaving the Academic turned Rebel swearing and THEN hearing the nonsense of one of the Swoopers INSIDE the bar coming his way and drunkly groping poor Tyralle and spoiling for a fight....

Kit and Zuul are just leaning back against the wall, the Wookie closest to the door as the various gang members seem to totally ignore them....


OOC: So in essence, we've got 2 things going on here.....the one Swooper with the Pendant necklace is starting to drive/fly away with his buddies soon to follow (and 5 empty Swoops nearby).......and a possible bar-fight about to go down as well.....

Jackson is the best Swoop driver in the bunch by far (it's the Repulsorlift skill under MECH)...next best would be Kit......of course, Jackson is ALSO the one being called out inside the bar.....

[kipper]

Clark will attempt a flying leap to tackle the pendant-wearer and knock him off his bike. If this isn't possible, he will attempt to steal a swoop bike and give chase. If that isn't possible, he'll return to the bar to join the imminent brawl.

[Monsieur Rose]

Zuul

"Heh heh heh heh." The Barabel starts chuckling as the plan devolves into something he can get behind.

"He iss insulted you didn't even try to grab him. He likess it rough, like you." Zuul remarks as he steps out of the crowd to clock the handsy raider. "Hiss safe word is Bantha." Zuul smiles broadly as he delivers his devastating quip.

[Rex]

Kit

Kit, seeing everything go crazy steps away from the wall and tries to drop the nearest raider with a hard punch.

[ybn1197]

Jackson smiles and says under his breath, "I'm so glad they declined to dine." He walks up behind the ganger, placing his palm on the back of the man's head and forcing him face first violently down to the nearest tabletop. He then makes his way nonchalantly towards the door and intends to hope on one of the swoops and follow the remainder of the group.

[max_vale]

Shilley's Bar in Questal, the Capital City of planet Travnin, Capital World of the Minos Cluster Sector


Sudden chaos broke out in and behind Shilley's Bar as the Rebels-turned-Traders explode into action....

First Tyralle shows she's more than just a pretty face and decent voice as she does not slap but outright punches the handsy Swoop Ganger who grabbed her and twists out of his grip. He's tough though and just wipes the back of his hand across his split lip while staring daggers at her. "You're gonna pay for that you b-"; he's cut off as Zuul steps in and after dropping a funny line, the big Barable decks him into next week and leaves him on the floor, unconscious and with a broken jaw....

The closest of the Swoop Ganger's buddies tries to rush Zuul, but a White Wookie intercepts him and clocks him hard enough to spin around and stagger backwards into the bar. He's still on his feet but wobbly and his eyes certainly don't seem to be seeing everything in crystal clear detail right about now....

Jackson Crodowski is neither a big, strong guy NOR a skilled fighter, but he has the element of surprise on his side as he gets behind yet another Swooper who was starting to get to his feet and he shoves the man hard into the bar's surface from behind.....landing a lucky blow that breaks the man's nose and leaves him half on/half off the bar unconscious. Jackson then moves quickly towards the back door where he hears various Swoop Engines revving up...

The last two Swoopers inside the bar move towards Zuul and Kit and they start to pull vibroblades out when a voice cuts through all the chaos with a piercing sharp tone. "THERE WILL BE NO WEAPONS USED IN THIS ESTABLISHMENT, IS THAT CLEAR?!!!!" yells out Shilley with a voice that would make any Drill Instructor anywhere in the Galaxy proud. Backing up her words are the pair of Heavy Blaster Pistols she has leveled at each Swooper's Head with an unwavering aim....and the Gangers quickly sheath their weapons and along with their dizzy companion, they square off against the two big aliens.....


Meanwhile, out back behind the bar, the pendant-wearer takes off on his Swoop and Professor Clark takes advantage of the indecision of the other swoops who had started to get off their bikes when he offered to buy them a drink and quickly moves to an abandoned Swoop Bike and jumps on, grabs the handle bars and engages the thrust.....

However, while Clark was a genius and a pretty damn good shot with both blasters and mounted weapons....he was decidedly NOT an accomplished driver of Repulsorcraft, and the shock of the quick acceleration took him by surprise. It was all he could do to both stay ON the vehicle AND to just barely avoid smashing into a building as he began to chase the pendant wearer. He could see the latter start to get further and further away as he was forced to slow down to avoid a crash and then he heard the yelling and the engines of the Swoops occupied by the four gangers behind him activate....

Jackson Crodowski emerged thru the back door of Shilley's to see Clark hop on an empty Swoop and almost smash into a wall as he took off after a gang member that had quickly vanished around a corner from his site. Jackson could see 4 more empty Swoop bikes nearby, along with 4 bikes coming to life with angry Swoopers bent on chasing down Clark.....

[ybn1197]

Jackson does a quick inventory of the 4 empty swoops and picks the one he thinks is in best condition AND fastest. He will then boost the power to the engine and head out after the pendant wearer.

[Rex]

Kit

Kit roars "GRLL..." then advances on the closes thug and swings at him, trying to knock him out.

[kipper]

Clark focuses on controlling the power of the bike, he has to catch this guy! OOC: Using a Force Point!

[Monsieur Rose]

Zuul

Zuul smiles and is about to pull a weapon of his own when Shilley sets the rules of engagement. His grin gets even wider and toothier.

He merely puts his hand up and beckons a raider with a set of nasty sharp claws. Zuul will engage with any raider foolish enough.

[max_vale]

Shilley's Bar/Streets of Questal, the Capital City of planet Travnin, Capital World of the Minos Cluster Sector


Inside the 'establishment' known as Shilley's Bar; a full blown brawl broke out to the loud joy of most of the patrons therein....

Three human male Swoop Gangers squared off against a large, strong, scaly Barabel male named Zuul and an albino female Wookie named Kit'katarra. Two of the humans, including one who was a bit wobbly on his feet rushed towards Zuul while the last engaged Kit....

Zuul, a broad smile splitting his reptilian face showing his scary rows of sharp teeth, dodged the clumsy punch of the wobbly human and returned it with a massive left hook that literally took his man off his feet for a moment before he crashed to the floor with a split lip and almost certainly a concussion that he'd become aware of when/if he regained consciousness. The other Swoop ganger stepped in and landed a kick to the big Barabel's side that caused a brief wince and bruise to start to form*.....causing Zuul to look at his bruise and then the man who caused it....

Kit swung a mean strike at her burly and surprisingly quick foe and was annoyed that her man managed to MOSTLY block the strike, only getting a bit of a bruise on his forearm from her powerful strength. In return, he ducked in and landed a shot to her ribs that caused her to let out a brief growl of pain and anger**......she wondered if she should unsheathe her claws.....



Meanwhile, out back behind Shilley's Bar and spilling into the busy streets of Questal a Swoop chase began in earnest....

First, the Swoop Ganger wearing Nino's pendant took a hard turn and caused numerous pedestrians to dive out of the way in panic. Professor Clark, having NO real idea of what he was doing on the Swoop bike behind him, briefly closed his eyes, took a deep breath and somehow just instinctively managed to hit the accelerator AND turn at JUST the right moment to keep right behind his quarry. As he opened his eyes after making the turn he noticed a Traffic Droid stepping out at an intersection and calling out loudly for the Swoop Ganger and him to "STOP. YOU MUST STOP FOR THE INCOMING SAIL BARGE. I REPEAT, YOU MUST-"...and the poor Droid's voice was cut off as the Ganger smashed right into and thru the Droid, turning it into dozens of small pieces and bits scattered all over the road....

On Clark's right, a Swoop pulled even and the Academic was relieved to see that it was being driven by his companion Jackson Crodowski, who's previous experience on Swoops and Speeders allowed him to fairly easily jump on an unused Swoop, start it up and pull up beside his friend. The two only had time to share a quick grin before they both noticed a pair of issues they'd have to deal with immediately......

First, right in front of them and thru the Intersection was a massive Sail Barge with tons of people on its top deck and filling almost the entire roadway. There WAS a narrow area, perhaps a meter and a half to two meters wide on either side to successfully drive thru....otherwise, they'd impact with the massive vehicle and that would be the end of that. The ganger they were chasing broke for the narrow path on the right....

The other major problem was the blaster bolts that suddenly flashed disturbingly close past them from behind. Looking over their shoulders, they saw a trio of the Gangers following them on Swoops and with Blaster Pistols in their hands......



*Zuul had a Glancing Blow, he's at -2 (not -2D, just -2) for next round's action only.....

**Kit also had a Glancing Blow.....note, she also has the option to unsheathe her claws, which will add +2 to Damage if she hits....but also this turns her Brawling attacks potentially Lethal

[Rex]

Kit

Kit growls in anger and tries to drop him once again.

She refrains from unsheathing her claws for now.

[kipper]

OOC: I assume it's not possible to fly over the top of the Sail Barge rather than squeeze beside it? Either because swoop bikes cannot fly that high, or the barge is too tall to gain that much altitude quickly enough? Otherwise, that would be my preferred action if it's feasible.

Clark will dodge to the right, following Swoop Ganger. In his mind there is a nonzero chance that the shots from behind could miss him and hit the Ganger ahead instead!

[Monsieur Rose]

Zuul

Zuul reaches over to feel his ribs and winks at the man. Then he strikes back. Hard.

[ybn1197]

With Clark taking the right, Jackson takes the left side. Not willing to let the man with the pendant get away, he revs the engine higher to gain ground.

If a skill check is required, I will spend a force point. For dramatic effect, Jackson will lean to the right so that the bike uses the building on the left for its repulsors. If this barge is designed the same way as the one in RotJ then it flairs at the bottom and is thinner as it the side goes up to the top; this maneuver will give Jackson more room than if he was using the ground for its repulsors and he had to balance between the building and the flair of the barge.

[max_vale]

Shilley's Bar/Streets of Questal, the Capital City of planet Travnin, Capital World of the Minos Cluster Sector


Shilley's Bar:

The Brawl came to a brutally quick end to both the delight and dismay of most of the patrons....

The scrappy human facing off against Kit'katarra attempted to bob and weave and get in close enough to land another shot, but as he attempted to do so the white Wookie reached out and grabbing his arm and a grip on the chest of his shirt lifted him up off the ground with with one of her people's patented growl/roars smashed him straight down into the ground with enough force to both break his arm AND knock him unconscious at the same time...

Not to be outdone, her companion Zuul the Barabel, after giving his opponent a nasty smile, slammed a fist into his jaw with enough force to send him into the land of nod AND send a couple of teeth flying all over the bar. Zuul turned to Kit and the two shared a smile....humans...they were JUST SO MUCH FUN to smash around....

Shilley called out as several of the more amped up patrons looked to keep the Brawl going; "ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH FREE ENTERTAINMENT FOR TODAY! I'm not getting shut down by the Snowmen TWICE In one week.....again...."

There were lots of murmurs of annoyance, but nobody wanted to go against her, so in a moment, things were back to their usual level of squalor and quiet drunken contentment....

Tyralle smiled at Zuul and Kit and said, "Thanks...oh! We should go after your friends, right? I've got a Speeder out back, c'mon!", and with that the lovely human female led them to an old, but roomy Speeder and they started following the trail of destruction and Police Speeder sirens......

They soon came to a Massive Sail Barge with a trio of Swoops (one in pieces) right next to it and a Police Speeder with Constables getting out of it and holding Blasters at a trio fo Gangers with their hands up. Not seeing any of their friends, Tyralle quietly took a right turn and then turned up a parallel street to follow the trail of the pendant. As they came up to the next intersection they saw the familiar sight of Professor Clark.....only now he was walking and holding his shoulder with his free hand and covered in something that was sticky and smelled delicious.....


Streets of Questal:

The Swoop Ganger with the pendant made a move and just barely squeaked through the path to the right of the Sail Barge with Professor Clark Jones following him while Jackson Crodowski made a move to go to the left of the Sail Barge....

The Academic turned Rebel turned Free-Trader was determined to stay on the trail of the Swoop Ganger and for a long moment, he thought he had....but then he brushed the side of the wall with the Swoop's right side....then the very tail end of the Sail Barge with the left side of the Swoop and in a sickening moment of clarity, he realized he had lost control of the vehicle at a ridiculously high speed and he was DEFINITELY going to crash.....

As the out of control Swoop cleared the back of the Sail-Barge....losing bits and pieces of its body on both sides, Clark attempt to wrench it to a sideways screeching stop as he saw people lining the sides of the street on the side of the street and he was a on bee-line towards them. He succeeded, but at the cost of sending himself flying off the Swoop at an impressively far distance from where the wreckage of the bike stopped. By a minor miracle he landed on top of a table selling some manager of thick, soft, gooey desserts and while the table broke and the food splattered all over him and everyone within a 3 meter radius....he was able to walk away from the site with not much more than a bruised shoulder*......

The Swoop Gangers following the pair of Rebels-turned-Traders desperately hit the brakes and one of them smashed full force into the side of the Sail Barge and his bike fell to pieces as he fell to the ground hard and broke half a dozen bones. The other two bikes hit each other and got locked up with the drivers snarling insults at each other as they came to a stop and attempted to break apart. Before they could do so, they saw two speeders pull up....one with the sirens of the Questal Police while the other nonchalantly turned down a parallel street with a lovely brunette woman driving and a large Barabel and White Wookie in the passenger seats.....

The Swoop Ganger wearing the pendant looked back over his shoulder after he cleared the Sail Barge and as he saw the fate of the man following him (i.e. Clark) he smiled even as he took a hard right turn and then as his face returned forward he suddenly noticed with a jaw-dropping moment of shock that ANOTHER rider had pulled up even to him on his left!

Jackson Crodowski pulled a move he hadn't done for at LEAST 10 years as he gunned the Swoop's engine and lifted up and turned almost 90 degrees to get the repulsers to push AGAINST the left wall and leave him room to clear the Sail Barge, causing all those on the Deck to gasp and ooh and ahhh in astonishment*. He wasn't sure, but he THOUGHT he heard wild cheering and applause as he settled back down 'on the ground' on the opposite side. He saw poor Clark wipe-out and land in some kind of cake or pie or something and noticed the ganger was taking a turn and looking back at Clark and not noticing him. He took advantage of that to pull up next to the man on his Left Side and he HIGHLY enjoyed the look of shock as he suddenly noticed him right next to him on the left.....



OOC: Okay, Clark is Wounded (-1D to all actions until Treated); Jackson is about 2 meters from the surprised Swoop Ganger and Kit and Zuul are in a Speeder with Tyralle and Clark is about 5 meters away....

[Rex]

Kit

Kit will treat Clark with a MedPak once they are together.