Hiding out, A visit to Mos Eisley, A new threat
Chapter I | Episode VII | 7/14/2016
Long Arm of the Hutt
All the cards are on the table as TEEMO’S rancor lays dead
in his own hangar. The RENEGADES have dismantled
TEEMO’S forces and are at the Hutt’s doors.
With the Hutt’s plan uncovered, the group now has their chance.
TEEMO has proposed negotiations.
Will the group confront the Hutt? With expensive bounties
on their heads, others lay in wait, watching the Hutt
anxiously. The Outer Rim will feel the repercussions
of the decision from both sides as deeper implications
and shadowy figures surround the outcome…
Hiding Out
As Rath slams down the communicator on the console, the group exhales a nervous sigh of relief. They have defeated the waves of enemies from Teemo, but now the Hutt expects them in his palace.
Knowing he has cracked worse, Rath tries his hand at slicing into the parked YT-2400 one more time while the group is hanging out in the warehouse. R5 jumps at a chance to help, connecting up to the ship’s exposed circuiting. Rath signals the droid that he is making his infiltration attempt. Despite the droid and the Chiss attacking the system in perfect unison, and with adequate tools, the system inexplicably holds them out once again. Completely bewildered by his rejection, Rath ponders his next move, as the group considers how they’ll approach the Hutt.
Various points are raise. Some of the crew suggest attacking the Hutt head on, ending his rule in a forceful way. Others suggest a more subtle approach utilizing subterfuge. The ultimate conclusion is to call up Duke Dimmock to discuss their options for non-violent approaches. There had been mention of utilizing Jabba to turn against Teemo, and the Geonosian would have the connections necessary to make that happen.
The group ventures forth from the hangar to find a communication terminal that can reach Geonosis, leaving through the now laser-cut hangar door. Once the communication has been opened the group finds themselves chatting with the Duke. After reporting on the state of affairs, and assuring the Duke that his shipment arrived as planned, the duke connects a certain Toydarian into the call. The duke introduces him as Anatta, an information broker famous for his reliability. The group instantly recognizes the Toydarian as the one from the Geonosian gun-running party. After explaining what they have, the Toydarian’s steeled expression lightens a little. He asks to meet the group the following day — it will take that long even on the next ship out of Geonosis. The two sides agree, and the Toydarian heads off to his transport.
As Twil and Rath disconnect the communicator, they look back to see Zanroy drawing his weapon, and aiming it point blank at a stormtrooper just behind the group. “Easy there!” shouts the assassin to the nervous looking stormtrooper, and demands that he drop his blaster rifle. The stormtrooper says nothing, but doesn’t comply. At this moment a blaster sound rings through the air, slamming into the stunned storm trooper. Twil rolls behind a pile of discarded fruit boxes, and rath dodges behind the warehouse to make a flank attack. The another blaster shot rings out from above, as a second stormtrooper on the roof of landing bay besh pops his head over for a shot at the unsuspecting crew. No doubt this group is out to grab the bounty on the renegades.
Zanroy, takes a second, more precise aim, and fires off a shot, dropping the stormtrooper in front of him. Twil takes a shot at the storm trooper on the roof, landing a direct hit on the soldier’s upper arm, nearly knocking him off. Behind the warehouse, Rath rounds the corner, but is stopped by a hard blaster bolt coming from above, knocking him back, but he remains his footing — a third trooper is sniping from the roof of the hangar.
Rath thinks fast, pulling his communicator and connecting with R5, who is back in the hangar with Idozzi. Knowing that the astromech has access to the gunnery and turret system on the YT-2400, Rath signals the droid to aim the turret at the roof, and fire off the turbolaser cannon in quick succession. The droid screams in sheer joy, bolting across the hangar, and in his excitement, slams into the console, missing his initial connection, but quickly reorienting to connect to the machine. Outside, Rath looks to the sky and sees an explosion of roofing debris and a bicycling stormtrooper silhouette flying into the plateau below as the turbolaser rips through the roof of the hangar/warehouse. Two down, one to go.
Back in front, the remaining trooper’s adrenaline is pumping and lines up a shot at the defenseless Zanroy below, connecting with the poor human’s head. A sickening crack reverberates from the ground as he falls unconscious, hitting his head on the hard desert floor below. Twil, seeing his friend fall unconscious, fires off a concentrated bolt at the trooper, landing a hit and sending the trooper backward and unconscious.
The once the dust clears, the group reconvenes inside of the hangar, dragging the unconscious body of Zanroy inside. R5 ‘waves’ to the returning group, moving the turret of the Yt-2400 up and down, anxious and ready to fire any other shots as needed. Next, 41-Vex quickly jumps to attention as he senses the injuries of his newly acquired organic crew. Calling upon his deep medical programming, the droid is able to work wonders, reviving the unconscious zanroy, and refreshing Rath, and Twil. The crew begins to understand the value in having a medical droid.
Healing from the sting of blaster wounds, the crew reaffirms their need to hide or get out of town. Teemo and half of the outer rim is looking for them, hoping to redeem the bounty reward on their heads. Rath slowly sneaks outside of the hangar, looking for someone who could sell them something useful to get out of sight….or out of town. It doesn’t take long of walking through this wretched, backwater port to find someone willing to sell less than common goods. A Tusken Raider stops the Chiss, anxious to offer him a look at his goods. His bargaining, however, is stern and difficult. Rath loops back to recruit the help of a certain, charismatic Zeltron.
Happy to oblige, the Zeltron sizes up the stern-looking sand person, and successfully talks his prices down. Rath picks up a few disguise kits, and a specialty slicer, one that has the potential to fry any system it attaches to, and only has a single use. Happy with their purchase, Twil and Rath return to the hangar to try out their new device.
Desperate to get back into his beloved ship, the Zeltron asks Rath to use the experimental slicing device to attempt to enter the parked YT-2400, despite the risks it poses to the electrical system. Once again calling upon the slicing support provided by R5, Rath gently connects the buzzing circuit board to the security panel, and powers up the device. Jumping through security protocols with dangerous speed, the Rath is able to successfully navigate the security gates and traps embedded in the system. With one final key press, a hydraulic hiss and a loud *click* indicate that the Chiss has successfully cracked the system!
Jumping with elation, and seeing what Zanroy swears are tears in the Zeltron’s eyes, Twil rushes into the ship to find it clean and pristine. Even the hot tub is just as he left it! Ordering everyone aboard, the Zeltron begins to power on all the systems of the expensive freighter. His excitement is cut short by the low fuel and power warnings blaring from the navicomputer display. Calling on Rath and R5, he’s able to squeeze just a few power reserves out of the system, which the crew will need if they expect to take the ship anywhere. To his disappointment, he is unable to power up the hot tub just yet…
With their newfound ship, the crew decides it’s best that they get out of town. They decide to try their luck by visiting Mos Eisley, one of the largest trade centers on Tatooine, and the home of Jabba the Hutt, who might just be willing to hear out information from Anatta, the information broker…
Twil knows that if he takes off from Mos Shuuta at a normal height, the port’s anti-aircraft guns will surely take down the ship without nearly any effort at all. Gently lifting the nimble, but large freighter, he deftly navigates it just over the roofline of the port town, staying below targeting angles of the guns, blasting the busy locals on the streets below with the advanced thrusters, throwing them dozens of feet away from the powerful engines.
A Visit to Mos Eisley
The YT-2400 leaves Mos Shuuta, gliding low over the Tatooine desert as the crew takes a minute to take in the view of the multi-colored sunset of the dual suns. The dark red and orange sunset slowly descends into a dark night as they speed through the vast barren terrain.
After just a few short hours, Captain Twil is able to skilfully lay the ship down, just 10 miles out of town. The dancing glint and flicker of the night lights is a wide slit, spanning across the horizon. The crew has decided it’s too risky to land in town as a group of runaways with bounties on their heads. The consensus is to trek into town to find supplies and fuel for the now empty ship. Zanroy and Idozzi decide to stay with the ship to allow Zanroy to recover from his head wound, and to make sure no stray Jawas attempt to scrap their new ship.
Twil and Rath make the 10 mile trek into town, just after sunrise. The cool morning air, dissolves into the hot, dry heat of the tatooine suns as the day breaks. Making it into town just after the morning markets have begun their daily madness, the two rush to the nearest restaurant looking for food with beads of sweat dripping and rolling down their faces. They eat the most refreshing meals they’ve had in a while, devouring every crumb, and last drop. They also order an extra portion for both Zanroy and Idozzi to take back to the ship.
Walking through the madness of the morning streets, the pair make their way to what seems to be a reasonably sized business dealing with ship repair. They encounter an unattractive, but helpful human female and explain their plight. She passes the pair onto a connected garage where they can find her brother tinkering on other ships and dealing with the nitty gritty. Twil explains that they’re looking for a special fuel delivery to their ship which has ‘broken down’ just out of town. As he hears their plight, the boy’s father, a 7-foot tall human male, a monster of man, enters the room after the story piques his interest. He introduces himself as Tyron, the owner of this family-run business, and instantly takes a liking to the pair. While not completely sure why he likes them so much, the pair is happy to take any help they can get.
Tryon not only offers to refuel the ship, he offers to PAY the renegades should they relieve him of a shipment of Hutt bath salts which are due to be delivered to Teemo the Hutt. He offers 1,000 credits and packaged rations for their effort, which the pair are happy to help with. Tyron orders his son to load up the cargo hauler, a type of long, land-train that hovers slowly over the ground, and is capable of moving massive loads of cargo.
The pair thank Tyron for his business and watch as the son, Junior, pulls out of the shop with 3 massive flatbed cars of cargo, ready to head out into the desert. The pair hop on, and head back to the ship, enduring an uneventful, if not a hot and awkward journey.
Eventually, they arrive at the ship, and they unload the cargo, Junior completely confused as to why a spaceship of this caliber is parked out in the desert. The two parties say their goodbyes, and Twil and Rath board the now fueled ship, and fire up the engines, while handing over the food packs to Zanroy and Idozzi.
After some logistics in getting the ship fired back up, and venting the horrific smell of the Hutt bath salts, the crew discusses their next moves. They decide to try and contact Anatta, now that it’s late in the day, and they’ve yet to make contact with the Toydarian. However, to their surprise, every attempt to connect with the information broker fails. Calling upon Dimmock to see what the problem is, the Geonosian answers the communication with annoyance, as though he’s in the middle of a business deal. He responds with a sharp hiss that he doesn’t keep tabs on the Toydarian, and the last he heard, Anatta had made it safely to Teemo’s Mos Shuuta. With a less than cordial ‘goodbye’ the Geonosian disconnects, leaving the crew to wonder how to find the information broker. With a lack of alternatives, the crew decides to head back to Mos Shuuta, to find out what could have happened.
Dawn in Mos Shuuta
Once again opting for a landing outside of town so as to avoid both the laser cannons and the ire of the spaceport control (not to mention overseer Brynn), Twil gently sets down the ship just outside of the city’s defense perimeter.
The crew discusses that if they are to find Anatta, it’s best they aren’t seen unless they want to be. They choose to send the two sneakiest members of the ship, Zanroy and Rath, to scout ahead in Mos Shuuta since they would have the best odds of remaining incognito. This also leaves Twil and Idozzi to enjoy the comforts of the YT-2400.
Setting off towards the city, the pair’s hearts drop as they approach and note that the electrogate has been activated. Why on earth would this deserted port need an active gate? Rath gets to work on the control panel connected to the gate in an attempt to disable it while Zanroy takes watch for any guards or patrols. Rath successfully disables the entire forward powergrid to the city, which also overloads a transformer down the block, causing it to explode into a shower of sparks.
The two head to the where they both began this adventure, the town cantina. Inside they find but one lonely patron, and a groggy barkeep. Questioning the gruff old man gets them no immediate answers. Rath decides to see if credits will loosen his tongue, and slides 100 credits across the bar. With a revised attitude the barkeep pockets the credit stick and begins to talk about the Toydarian who had visited bar yesterday. By all accounts, this was Anatta the information broker. Unfortunately, the barkeep has no further information on where he might be, or how to find him. The pair thanks the man for his time, and heads out into the early morning Mos Shuuta streets.
The next stop is landing bay Besh. Would it be possible that the Toydarian stayed the night in his ship? Having snuck through the tunnels of one Mos Shuuta landing bay, the pair is pleased to find out that the ventilation system here is the same, and find the route into the bottom of the bay both discrete and easily accessible. Zanroy stands watch outside of the ventilation system. Before he has the chance to do any analysis of the situation, he is hit with gut wrenching headache. A small seed drilling sharp shoots of pain from the center of his head, while simultaneously pushing uniformly inwards. He inexplicably doubles over in pain.
Once below the landing pad, Rath analyzes the situation, but initially finds nothing out of the ordinary. Only a couple members of the custodial staff lazily cleaning up landing equipment. As he turns to leave, he hears the noise of footsteps. A lot of footsteps. Looking through some maintenance grating into the landing bay, the Chiss notes that at least 4 patrols of stormtroopers have entered the bay, and begin questioning the maintenance crew. They seem particularly aggressive and aren’t happy with the answers they’re receiving. It strikes Rath as odd that there would be such an increase in troopers patrolling the port. He also notes the strange painting and markings on the trooper’s armor. These do not seem to have the same mannerisms as other Empire minions.
As he turns to leave, he notices a robed figure enter the hangar with authority. Outside, Zanroy’s head pulses and throbs with intense, immobilizing pain. The robed figure seems to instruct the troopers, who stand at complete attention to the figure’s orders. Rath decides he’s seen enough, he’s not finding Anatta here. He heads outside to the writing Zanroy, and helps pick him up, suggesting they head to the cantina and contact Twil and Idozzi back at the ship. Something is wrong in Mos Shuuta, and it doesn’t feel like it’s Teemo, and those stormtroopers are not Empire.
They sneak back to the cantina, noting the still oddly empty streets, with few vendors out and about. They duo cautiously enter the cantina, noting that the figure from earlier is no longer present, and only a few other regular scummy outer rim patrons have shuffled in. Despite the run down conditions, they elect to wait a few hours in the bar in case Anatta shows up.
A New Threat
Time in the cantina passes, the duo biding their time patiently. After a short period of time, a band of nearly a dozen of the non-stormtroopers enter the bar, and begin tearing the place to pieces — seemingly searching for something. As a group approaches the bartender, they aim their blaster rifles point blank, and fire off countless rounds into his head. A brutal and gratuitous murder. To Rath and Zanroy, their instinctive nature nearly forces them to the floor of the cantina. They crawl across the floor to the stage as they observe the systematic execution of the remaining bar patrons. The stiff troopers coat their armor in the blood of their victims with reckless abandon.
Successfully finding the far end of the cantina, they’re able to duck into the backstage area, and firmly lock the doors, anxiously hoping the troopers won’t notice them or check. Through some miraculous intervention or just dumb luck, they eventually hear the blaster bolts stop, and the shuffle of footsteps out the front door of the cantina.
It takes not time for Rath to pull up comms to the YT-2400 demanding an emergency pick up at the front of town. Something about this situation is very, very wrong, and they need to get out. Twil, Idozzi, R5, and Vex jump to attention, firing up every system on the freighter, and rush the start up sequence.
Outside, the town has devolved into burning anarchy. Dozens upon dozens of uniquely marked up mercenaries dressed up as stormtroopers are looting the city. They are looking for something, but what exactly isn’t obvious. With the streets clogged with these brutal warriors, the only chance the Chiss and Human have of escaping is by making a mad dash through the dewback stables, lobbing a thermal detonator down the alleyway as they burst into a full sprint.
Back at the ship, Twil has the ship hovering and ready to go when he hears the frantic panting over Rath over the comms, is he running? All he needs to hear are the words, “PUNCH IT!” and the YT-2400 is already screaming across the sands towards town.
As Rath and Chiss are running through the stables, they hear the deep thrumming echo of the powerful thermal detonator explosion thrown seconds before — wiping out two entire squadrons of troopers, and drawing blaster fire and attention of the other patrols to the source of the explosion, with flying bodies, dust, and debris.
Over the horizon, the silhouette of Captain Twil’s ship is ferociously eating up the desert with blurring speed, as he approaches the electrogate entrance with a barrier of wind and sound with the force of a tsunami nearly knocking the other two crew members off their feet. The sudden arrival of this ship has drawn the attention of the entire port, consisting of at least 40 mercenary troopers. Just as they are prepared to fire, the robed figure from earlier emerges from the sea of white armored troops, and reaches out his hands with cold rigidity, contorting its fingers as though it were grabbing the ship.
Alarms and klaxons blare inside of the cockpit as the ship is somehow being grabbed and contorted by some invisible force emitted from the mysterious robed figure. Twil shouts over the comms to R5 to divert power to help the ship break free from this steely grasp. R5 and Idozzi jump on the laser cannon turrets, and begin firing off sharp blasts towards the figure. Pulling one hand away, the figure reaches out towards the laser blasts, and seemingly grabs the capsules of pure energy out of the air. The crew watches in horror as the laser blasts dissipate into nothingness upon connecting with the figure’s outstretched, trembling hand.
Zanroy stumbles from another wave of head-crushing pressure, as Rath aids him. Twil finds that the steely grip upon the ship has loosened just slightly, and he brings the freighter down low enough for Rath and Zanroy to board the now descending cargo ramp.
Continued blasts see the figure release the hand that seemed to be controlling the ship, elevating it to an “L” shaped elbow and clenched fist, an indication for the troops to unleash a volley of lasers on the ship. Lighting up the sky in a flurry of red blaster bolts, the dozens of mercenaries begin to shoot into the ship’s shields. The ship’s shield seems to hold, but it can’t maintain the shield for an extended volley. The hooded figure seems to turn its entire attention to holding back the pressure and energy of the laser cannons.
At this point the figure drops to one knee indicating signs that it can’t keep this up for long. Underneath the ship, a large thud reverberates through the cargo hold as both Rath and Zanroy successfully make the leap to the cargo ramp. Shouting over the ship’s engines and wind, Rath screams to close up the cargo ramp, as Zanroy’s consciousness dips into blackness.
An enraged Twil slams the throttle forward, chasing after the hooded figure while drawing the curtain of blaster bolts toward the ship as it moves. Alarms blast through the ship that shields are depleted to 50%, but still holding as the captain moves just feet above the rooftops of Mos Shuuta, scorching rooftops and launching any mercenaries skyward who are caught unaware in the thruster path. With incredible precision and intent, Twil begins to unload the entire, stench-filled cargo hold of rancid and acidic Hutt bath salts onto the unsuspecting troopers below. They scream in horror and squirm in agony as the noxious salts eat through their armors and skin, the captain effective crop dusting the entire city as he accelerates.
Twil gently pulls back and forth on the various controls, nimbly maneuvering just above the streets of Mos Shuuta as the now retreating figure attempts to escape through the streets of the city. At one point, the figure reaches out with cold, inhuman force towards a trooper battalion which inexplicably collapses instantly. At this point the figure has stopped attempting to face the ship head on, and is avoiding the lasers blasts, which are being blocked by the tops of buildings and architecture. The figure dips into an alleyway, causing the ship to pull back and rotate 180 degrees to maintain a line of sight, but it’s simply not made to turn quickly at low altitudes. The figure ducks into a network of dark alleyways, making it impossible to pursue the mysterious figure as it disappears into blackness.
As the ship’s defense system alerts the crew to the depleting shields, the crew realizes it’s time to leave before there is serious damage done to the ship. As the ship prepares to leave, the crew spots another wave of mercenaries building an ion cannon to fire on Teemo’s palace, but not before nearly 20 troopers seem to be dragging the Hutt himself out in the square. Knowing this may be their only chance to take out the Hutt, Idozzi focuses her turret on the front of the palaces and unleashes a flurry of lasers into the crowd of soldiers and the Hutt himself. A giant pillar of dust explodes skyward as the lasers connect with their target, sending bodies and debris in every direction.
With anarchy reigning, and their job complete, Twil shouts over the comms to hold on to something tight. 41-Vex drags the limp body of Zanroy to a safe location as Twil pulls back on the throttle, punching the engine for all it has leaving an explosion of fiery afterburner to scorching the palace and waves of troopers remaining.
As the crew comes to terms with what they just witnessed, they received a panicked call from their Bothan friend, Ota. In a panicked rush of words, Ota asks if they were on Mos Shuuta when the mercenaries hit. Confirming that they were, Ota frantically explains what he knows of the mercenaries, “I don’t know much about who they are, what they want, or where they came from, but I know that both the Empire and Rebels don’t claim them or want anything to do with them. You seem to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. We need to talk.”
As the YT-2400 breaks atmosphere, faint, distorting waves of flames and smoke can be seen floating up from Mos Shuuta on the horizon…
