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E1: "Everything Burns"


Dave ST

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Legacies: Episode 1

EVERYTHING BURNS

“Rebellions are built on hope.”

Darkness plagues the galaxy.  After their defeat on Exegol the REBELLION lies scattered throughout the galaxy, demoralized and without leadership.

IANMAR, the last rebel courier has discovered that the EMPIRE has plans for a new super weapon that will bring the entire galaxy in line.  After learning that he needs to get in contact with a spy to learn more, his ship was damaged during his escape from Corellia sending his hyperspace jump off course.

DAR’KRIN last of the JENSAARAI barely escaped the EMPIRE after they launched an attack upon the enclave spire, he called home.  Now, lost and alone in the galaxy he seeks the SAARAI-KAAR for wisdom, guidance and to complete his training.

Betrayed and hiding as much from her past as she is her own sins, TISA JEDUN hides in the shadows of Nar Shaddaa from the EMPIRE she once served.  Forsaken and surrounded by enemies at every turn she knows she has to keep moving, to flee the Smuggler’s Moon before she is recognized…

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The brightest light casts the deepest shadows, as the old saying goes, and Nar Shaddaa with its brilliantly lit neon lights and holo-adverts kept every block lit up for miles in every direction.  The Vertical City, as most called it, was nothing more than a planet-wide city, like Coruscant, save that all the scum and villainy was free to wander instead of being forced to remain in the undercity levels below the ‘civilized’ districts.

Every vice from spice to dice was available on the Smuggler’s Moon and the Hutts did nothing but profit from it.  If someone needed something illegal in every other system of the galaxy… Narsh was the place to find it and then disappear afterwards.

[Ianmar] “It’s been a week!” Ianmar eyed the tall, and surprisingly fit, woman up and down as he demanded some explanation.  Her coveralls were unzipped and tied around her waist.  The tank top she wore was blotched with grease, as was her skin which seemed to cover in a camouflage pattern that would help her blend with the piles of junk and debris all around her.  “When will it be ready?”

“When it’s ready,” she replied with a shrug.  “ARCs are not easy to get parts for, not all the way out here.  I’m doing what I can and that’s all I can do.”

The rebel facilitator sighed and composed himself.  “Okay, yeah, fine.  Sorry.  So, what’re my options?”

“Well, if you’re a hurry, I’d recommend chartering passage off world.  If not, sit back, enjoy the sights and take in all Narsh has to offer.  Gambling, entertainment, women,” she looked him up and down, then smirked sarcastically.  “Men.  Not judging.”  She wiped her hands on a rag tucked in her belt.  “Look, I like you.  You seem decent, which is more than I can for most of my clientele, so I’ll tell you what… go a few blocks down to the hotel there and talk to Yim, rodian, can’t miss her.  She’ll hook you up on a discount for a room while you wait.  Least I can do, tell her Tala sent you.”

 

[Dar’Krin] “Whelp… dis is as far as I go,” Hondo exclaimed as he smacked Dar’Krin on the back.  They weren’t even out of the star port and the old weequay didn’t seem too eager to go any further, despite how jovial he might have seemed.  “You… you, go and do whatever it is your types do, yeah?  I will see what I learn about Merkis and his adopted daughter with an arg'garok to grind.  Shame you can not stay!  I could use a hard worker like you for my crew.”

“I appreciate your offer,” Dar’Krin lowered his head humbly.  “But I thank you for getting me this far.”

“Yes, yes, I know.”  Hondo waved off the pleasantries.  “I may be a disreputable pirate, but Hando Ohnaka always honors his favors.”  His tone got low as he took Dar’Krin hand and the familiar sound of credits ‘tinking’ together was heard.  Once again Dar’Krin didn’t need the Force to see the compassion in the old weequay’s soul.  “And uh, you take this, okay boy?  It’s uh… it’s only a loan, yeah?  I expect it all back, with interest.”  He cleared his throat as his men watched the credits hit the nagai’s palm.

“Now,” he continued on.  “Go find Yim.  Rodian.  Can’t miss her.  She runs a hostel not far from here, lay low there, try to find passage off-world.  You’re smart, a hard worker, shouldn’t be a problem for you.  Smart is the key though, boy.  You do not survive Nar Shaddaa by being stupid, trust me.  When I see you again, I will tell you stories of mine and Merkis’s adventures.”  He shrugged and chuckled.  “Some might even be true.”

Spoiler

Dar'Krin recieved 1,200 credits from Hondo.

 

[Tisa] Another freighter captain had stood her up.  As the drink burned her innards, the ex-Imperial officer surveyed the landscape of the cantina through the smoky air and tangy scent of spice and death sticks.  She was eager to leave the Y’Toub system, she’d already been here too long.

From her corner booth she saw a few more bounty hunters approaching the kiosk on the wall, they swiped their guild credentials and began sifting past various holos of those who had prices on their heads.  ‘Tisa Jedun, 10,000cr’ displayed prominently in a flickering blue-glow and with a relieved sigh, the hunter swiped past her, uninterested and seemingly looking for larger bounties to hunt.

This meet was a bust and she decided it was time to finish her drink as swiftly as possible and be on her way before she drew any unwanted attention.  With a tug at her hood, she finished her drink and made her way for the door.  The neon lights reflecting off the streets outside the cantina were enough to blind her as she squinted and stepped out into polluted evening air.

As the door to her room slid shut later she leaned her blaster rifle against the wall near her bed and dropped her every day carry items on the small table in the middle of the cramped room she’d been tucked away in.  She looked at the holo she had of Captain Nibis, the aqualish captain who was supposed to meet with her tonight to get her off world.  Her face was aglow with the dim blueish light it cast upon her attractive features until she clicked it off and tossed it in the corner with equal parts disgust and frustration.  She was never going to leave Nar Shaddaa.  If there was one thing she learned during her time with the Empire it was that everything burns, especially hope.

Below, in the shadows across the street, three men watched as the soft blue light in one of the rooms suddenly flickered out…

Spoiler

It may go without saying, but you are all staying at the same hotel, run by Yim.  Rodian.  Can't miss her.

As it stands, all of you need a means of getting off world, but if it were that easy, we'd not have a story to tell.  Ianmar is essentially trapped until the parts for his ARC come in.  Dar'Krin literally has no idea where he is going (save for a planet name) or how he is going to get there and Tisa is trying to book passage but keeps ending up with dead beat captains.

Your next post is all about you.  Take some time to let your character 'enjoy' Nar Shaddaa in your next post.  There won't be anything eventful happening until your PCs have had time to see a few of the sights.  Take in some gambling, see a show, go on a date, make some contacts.

This is your opportunity to write and get in tune with your character.

If you need help with anything, let me know in the Discord.

 

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Nar Shaddaa was...

Well, frankly it was near-overwhelming.  A far cry from the austere, monastic quiet and remoteness of the Spire.  Before that, on his homeworld, the cities had been high-tech, certainly, but with an aesthetic utilitarianism to their construction, sweeping and graceful and yet understated.  Nagai were not a materialistic, consumer-based culture - which is not to say they didn't have trade or money, simply that they lacked the raucous mercantile displays that greeted Dar'Krin's gaze everywhere he looked.  It was...

Tawdry, he thought to himself, the lurid pink light of a sign  reflecting from the silver of his eyes as ten foot tall scantily dressed humanoid females shaking various parts of themselves to lure customers into a cantina gyrated in holographic display above the doorway.  Despite his disdain, there was something eerily hypnotic about the way the dancers moved, and the young Nagai found himself staring for a few moments before pulling his eyes away, tugging the hood of his dark grey cloak down a little and continuing down the boulevard.

He wasn't completely naive to the ways of the galaxy, however.  Time spent on Hando's ship with the old pirate's thoroughly disreputable crew had taught him caution, and as he made his way through the noisy, crowded and somewhat fragrant streets he made sure to tuck his credit pouch inside his electromesh armor and keep his hands close to the hilts of his blades, his gaze always moving as he looked, not just for something that might be a hostel run by a Rodian, but scavengers of this urban jungle who might see him as a deceptively easy mark.

A little conversation in a melodious Nagai voice had elicited directions from a grizzled old food stall vendor, helped along by Dar'Krin's purchase of some mysterious meat pastry for a couple of credits.  The pastry was, if anything, overpriced, the young warrior decided as he headed towards Yim's hostel, tossing the thing away after only two bites, the second of which he'd spat out.

A soft chime sounded as he stepped across the threshold of Yim's hostel, and a creak from behind the reception desk heralded the appearance of a purple-skinned Rodian face rising up over the counter.  The multi-faceted eyes turned this way and that as the Rodian studied him for a second before speaking.

"Alquono deg apprefaron-"  it started, then paused at the blank look on Dar'Krin's face and, making a sound that might be a sigh, tapped a small metallic box that was suspended under it's jaw.  "Thank you for gracing my humble establishment." a synthetic female voice said as the Rodian started again, spreading her sucker-tipped hands.  "I am Yim."

"I am called Shiv."  Dar'Krin said after a moment's pause, giving the nickname that Hando and his band had hung on him in reference to the Nagai's knives - and his quickness with them.  "I heard you have rooms for travellers?"

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Yim had proven to be as good as Tala's word. She'd given him a room, and indeed, a fair discount on it as well. So Nar Shaddaa wasn't completely devoid of compassion and fairness, Ianmar reflected. That was heartening to know, disheartening as everything else he saw was. Traveling through the streets of Nar Shaddaa, you could see all the hedonism and grime on display.

Grime, and not even the moral or figurative kind. Because even in the better-looking places Ianmar explored, you could see the patches. Discolored rust on a beaming gambling den's rear walls. The clothing of a pair of Togruta streetwalkers who tried to approach Ianmar. He turned them down politely, but got good looks on the women, and honestly, he was much noticing the breasts as the faintly threadbare nature of their low-cut tops - in a way that probably wasn't intentional. The clunky way in which a maintenance droid trundled down a walkway, indicating it itself was long in need of the same services (to Deezle's vocal displeasure).

And that summed up Nar Shaddaa in a particular way: not just the crime, the unfettered vice, but the lack of care. Even the Empire didn't display this kind of selfish neglect, but that suited the Hutts perfectly. They swallowed money and lives in their maws and fat folds, and didn't bother to spend it on anything they didn't absolutely need to, and the attitude trickled downward across the planet.

Ignoring everything else while the galaxy suffered and burned. Ianmar almost wanted to see the Smuggler's Moon burn under one of Palpatine's orbital tantrums. 

Unfortunately, Ianmar remembered well how the Rebel Alliance and the Resistance had made the occasional use of the underworld types here, when the situation called for it. It was, like it or not, even more so something Ianmar needed to have the preparation to handle with the Resistance torn up as it was. So that's what Deezle and he spent their day doing.

Traveling. Watching. Listening. Putting down a few credits for food and drink at cantinas that didn't look like they'd give him food poisoning. Chatting with the staff. Finally, with the darkness spreading, he returned to Yim's hostel, through well-lit streets.

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The accommodations were a fry cry from what Tisa was used to. She had grown up in comfort and wanted for very little, attended to by servants constantly. Though now, for the first time, she wondered if they were just slightly better treated slaves? Her shoulders slumped at the thought. So many beliefs she had held were no either shattered or, at best, called into question now that she had finally accepted the truth about the Empire. Her paradigm that she thought was so strong, that she believed with all her heart, was held together with idealism. When properly nurtured and reinforced, idealism could be stronger than beskar. But when constantly pushed, tested and bent to make exceptions and excuses, small fractures appear which only grow with time leading to its eventual failure, unless careful attention was taken to mend it, and the Empire was not renown as nurturing.

The same was true about leading soldiers, she thought. She was the firm voice of authority for her men preferring to lead through inspiration rather than intimidation. She did not demand respect like so many of her peers did, but rather commanded it with her words and actions, leading from the front rather than commanding in the rear. She had continually earned the respect, trust and loyalty of those under her command, and she figured it was likely a good part of why she was not dead. 

Tisa shook her head, trying to shake loose the thoughts for now. It was painful to think about and her inner nature as a zeltron was predisposed to avoid such negative thoughts and emotions. She still had work to do though, and the Empire had taught her discipline, and even modesty, at least has much as a zeltron could. 

The black sheathed zeltron slumped down in the chair at the small table in room. Wear from years, if not decades, of use had turned the chairs proposed offer of comfort into such an illusion that it may as well have had holographic cushions. In a way it was wonderful symbolism for Nar Shadda; pretty displays and a thin veneer of hospitality smeared over the hard reality of the place. As it was, she could easily afford a better room, but a better room meant more attention wanted and un-wanted, and she was trying to lay low.

Reaching over the table she picked up her holdout blaster. It was tiny, fitting into the palm of her hand, and looked more like a child's toy that a weapon, but she knew that despite its almost toy-like appearance that it could get the job done, especially at close range. Slowly she slipped a finger through the trigger guard and looked at the weapon tiny in her hand as she thought about her situation. Was this her life now? Constantly on the run from one grimy planet to the next, constantly looking over her shoulder, unable to ever go home again. 

Slamming the small blaster on the table, she pushed herself to her feet and mentally chastised herself. Now was not a time for self-pity, as if there ever were such a time she thought. She had to focus on her objective and find a way off this planet. Seeing the price on her head in the cantina just a short time ago only reaffirmed that.

With a resigned sigh Tisa collected her things from the table, checking the small blaster out of habit, and slid each object back into their various pockets in and under her poncho. She walked to the small mirror in the room and checked her lines, making sure nobe of the concealed items were obvious before taking a moment to fix her hair. Looking good certainly did not hurt when trying to book passage, or negotiating price. She leaned closer to the mirror, meeting her own gaze, looking into her eyes for... something. She was not sure what it was exactly, but it wasn't there anymore, at least not that she could see.

Her gaze drifted down and she took a deep breath, blinking away some tears she could feel trying to form. She exhaled and shook it off. Grabbing her rifle from the corner she slung it over a shoulder under her poncho and then stepped out of her room, securing the door behind her, for what it was worth. She made her way down the narrow hall and past a new arrival checking in and stepped outside.

Tisa pulled her hood up, mostly in an attempt at anonymity, but also to protect from the faint drizzle that was falling, causing the streets to light up with blurry, multi-colored hues of the bright holo-signage flanking it for as far as the eye could see, each one offering different diversions and delights of mind, palate and flesh. It was all so over-the-top gaudy to her that she imagined the only one could live here for anything length would be to numb the senses from the various, unrelenting onslaughts.

"If I am going to be here much longer, getting a little numb might do me some good." she thought aloud in a soft mutter. 

Giving her hood another tug, she walked down the street, going a different direction from where she had come before, her experience in law enforcement reminding her to not settle into a pattern and to take side streets and double back to look for anybody following her. 

+----------------+----------------+

"You got any pickled rankweed?" the pink-skinned beauty asked as she looked over the various jars, tubs and bins of the multitude of plants and herbs that hung off of and surrounded the small kiosk.

"Dasso? So ta-nee waja wos-ka." the proprietor, some species that was un-familiar to Tisa who was sitting on a stool, responded in a language she did not know or even reconize.

"Basic?" she asked with a semi-frustrated sigh.

The shopkeep slapped a smallish, disk shaped droid with two small arms that hovered beside him, knocking it halfway to the ground before the replusors brought it back up to eye level.

*Bzzzzt* "Really? I get f-fe-few inquiries about t-th-tha-that." the semi-functional droid, apparently cobbled together from spare parts, translated with a stutter.

"If you do have some, then I'll take whatever you got. Whole leaves too, if you got'em." she told him, consciously trying to to speak less properly, dropping a very small stack of credits on the counter.

The proprietor pointed to a synthleather pouch behind the counter at the other side of the kiosk, which the droid zippered over to fetch with its tiny, metallic arms.

"Keep the change." Tisa said as she grabbed the pouch and slipped it under her poncho.

"Saan pichalay." the alien responded.

"Uh yeah. You too." she said over her shoulder as she stepped back out into the night.

+----------------+----------------+

Tisa's shapely form, sheathed in black, slipped into the small, open booth. It was one of a handful that lined a side room, reducing the noise and smells from the rest of the cantina at least somewhat and meaning a few less people, while still giving a decent view into the cantina proper. She pulled out the pouch and opened it, inspecting the contents, and picked out a few errant bits from among the shredded plant and withdrew one of the handful of whole leaves and sprinkled some of the shreds only the leave before rolling it up. She brought the small bundle to her lips and gave the exposed edge of the leaf a lick as she heard a voice, causing her to look toward it.

"I could watch you lick that all night." said the human male who was standing, with some effort, at her booth.

"Are you a ship captain?" she asked.

"Huh? No. Wh-"

"Then shove off, laser brain." she groaned and slipped the small bundle between her lips without even looking at the human anymore.

"Hey! I thought you zel-" was all the retort he managed before he was cut off by a slap on his shoulder.

"Ya know Lok, that askavarian girl was eyeing you earlier. I think she is about to settle up, so you better go seal the deal before she's gone." said a rather lithe mirialan male.

"Oh. Okay! Thanks." the human said and then walked off with a bit of s stumble. Tisa watched him for a moment and then glanced up to the mirialan.

"Thanks." she said out of the corner of mouth as she began to check her pockets. Finally realizing the small, but vital item she had forgotten to purchase she closed her eyes and slammed the back of her head into the back of the booth. A flash of warth near her face caused her eyes to flash open, spotting the small, open flame emanating from the tiny metal cylinder in the mirialan's hand. "Thanks again." she said with a near sigh and leaned forward, igniting the end of her cigarette. She took a small drag and exhaled a small puff of fragrant, intoxicating blue smoke.

"Forget about it." the mirialan said , flashing what was best described as a roguish smile. He extinguished the flame and sat the firestick down on the table, letting it stand on its end. "And don't mind Lok. He's just had a bit too much." he explained, looking in the direction the other man had walked away, which was met with a bit of a shrug from the pink skinned woman. "I'm Eion by the way." he added.

"Tisa." she replied, slipping the smoldering cigarette from her mouth between to fingers and letting out a long, wisp of blue smoke.

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Earlier that evening…

Two thugs dragged an abused aqualish through the dimly lit common area that was, up until a few moments ago, alive with music and loud chatter.  The mirth and merriment seemed on hold as the aqualish’s body was cast down onto the hard duracrete floor where upon the alien coughed up a thick globule of blood and mucus from his collapsed lung.

“Ah,” a deep baritone echoed through the smoky chamber and through the light an enormous figure slithered like the main attraction of a show parting holo curtains.  Pibsomo the Hutt stopped just short of the glob of blood and looked down at the broken ship captain.  Like most hutts, Pibsomo was massive and wide.  Unlike most hutts, it was all muscle and he cut an odd but imposing figure of powerful features combined with his slug-like biology.  His body was riddled with scars, some slight cuts while others were appeared to have been gaping wounds more than a meter in length.  Ancient huttese tribal art was tattooed into dense, dung brown flesh.  “Captain Nibis.  So glad you could join us this evening.”

“S-Somo,” Nibis coughed, wheezing in pain as he tried to stand.  A look from the hutt, accompanied by a nod, encouraged the two thugs who dragged him in to lift him back up off the floor so he could face the hutt eye-to-eye.  “I-I was gonna tell you!  I swear!  I h-had to be sure, you know?”

One of the thugs stepped forward and dropped three bounty pucks into the massive hutt’s palm.  Easily the giant hand swallowed all three and with a twitch of his thumb one of the pucks lit to life, then a second, finally the third.  The third one seemed to cause Pibsomo to raise a brow and glare intently at the aqualish.  ‘Dar’Krin: 15,000 credits.  Tisa Jedun: 10,000 credits.  Ianmar Thul: 35,000’

“Nibis, Nibis,” Pibsomo clicked his tongue while shaking his head in disappointment.  He mockingly sounded concerned.  “You are no bounty hunter.  My boys told me you know where these bounties are.  Were you trying to cut me out of sixty thousand?  My boys handle bounties.  We have a system, you know this.”

“No!  Of course not!”  Nibis tried to protest but only conjured a disdainful look from the giant slug.  “I-I didn’t have all the intel, Somo, I swear!  The woman, Tisa, she approached me for transport off planet and that was when I recognized her from the bounty kiosk so… I followed her.  She went to Yim’s boarding house and lo and behold that human guy came walking in, so I kept to the alley and staked the place out and sure enough that nagai fella showed up a day or so after.  Yim got all kinds of people there with bounties, Somo, mostly a few thousand a head, but those big ones I took the pucks for so I could bring them to you and the professionals.  I swear it!”

A long, tense silence took hold of the normally festively loud chamber.  Somo glared at the aqualish captain, he stroked his chin and then finally raised his arm and waved his hand forward, summoning one of his retainers to bring something forward.  A loud groan of anguish soon rose over the sound of a shock stick arcing its charge into the spine of the boy the hutt had summoned.

“Boy,” the hutt demanded as the young man staggered forward, still trying to rub the small of his back from where the servant had prodded him forward.  The crime boss gestured to Nibis.  “Tell me: does he speak the truth?”

“He is motivated by greed,” the young man stammered, shying away from the giant slug out of fear that his answer might earn him another shock.  “But he’s being honest.  He… he is just fearful… fearful you’ll take his ship… at the eastern spaceport… bay seventeen.”

“Heheheh,” Pibsomo’s laughter filled the room, his gaze finally falling on the captain.  “Nibis, Nibis… you have the fastest ship of all my smugglers.  Thank the boy here that you will be keeping it.”  The hutt turned to the boy and a couple of his men.  “Go and collect the human, take the boy with you to tack him down if he runs.”

“What about the other two?” A weequay henchman asked.

“Worry about them later,” Pibsomo boomed as he slithered away towards his ‘throne’ at the far back of the room.  “The woman can’t go anywhere.”

“And the nagai?”

“If you’re tired of living,” the hutt chuckled.  “Sure.  Just make sure that human gets to me first.  Go.”  Somo slithered off giving one last wave towards Nibis.  “And someone clean him up.”

 

Now…

The Tidal locked moon left the Vertical City in perpetual night.  As Tisa entered the club the rain began to fall, leaving the streets slick with the sheen of rainbow water saturated by oils and street filth.  Dar’Krin silently listened to the rain as it tapped against the closed shutters of his room.  He calmly meditated, reaching out with his senses to listen to the singular voice of the Force as it pertained to whole of life that was Nar Shaddaa.  Ianmar rested comfortably on his bed.  Yim’s wasn’t the poshest of places, but thankfully the sweet old rodian woman kept it as clean as she was able and welcoming.  Curiously he played with the kyber crystals he’d been given on Corellia.  He rolled all three of them through his fingers like a gambler might do with a pazaak card, in a display of honed desterity.

“I don’t get it Deez,” he sighed.  “Just old rocks, and they cause so much troub-“ Deezle ‘wooed’ softly as Ianmar stopped midsentence as one of the crystals began to shimmer until it glowed softly, bathing the rebel in a soft white light with a thin border of soft blue.  “Woah.”  A second crystal did the same, save that its glow was chaotic and pulsing, mingling between flickering blueish white and thick, inky red.  “Now what do you suppose that is?”

“No,” one of Somo’s thugs spoke into his commlink from the darkened shadows of the alleyway.  “The woman left, but we’ve seen both the human and the nagai.  We’re in position to collect him on your word, Somo.”

“Go.”  Came the words of Somo through the commlink.

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Dar’Krin heard the words of his master echo in his mind.  Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit idle, we learn by doing.  The memory forced a slight smile to the somber nagai’s expression.  He then winced as his thoughts became cloudy and murky, like white noise in his mind.

Fear.  Anxiety.  Pain.  Malice.

The feelings pressed against the walls of his mind, making his eyes hurt and temples throb.  His opened abruptly as a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.  A Force-user was close.

“Are you sure you won’t reconsider?”  Eion asked again as they stood on a corner not far from Yim’s.  She didn’t ask for an escort, but he insisted.  His smile was charming and his features handsome, but Tisa knew he probably worked for some shady underworld trader or vigo.  His umbrella covered them both, the thin particle shields spread across the eight-wedge pattern above them sizzled the rain as it fell.  “My pad is not far, but certainly in a better neighborhood.

Over Eion’s shoulder, Tisa saw three men entering Yim’s, two humans and what she suspected was a third, but the dirty, patched cloak kept their features hidden.  She wouldn’t have thought much of it until one of them paused briefly before entering and slid back the charging bolt on his blaster rifle.

Spoiler

Captured!  No worries if the following scene doesn’t end well for the heroes.  Capture has been worked into the plot, so if it happens, we’ll play it out.

Or not… this is also a consideration.  If the heroes avoid Somo’s bounty hunters, that’s okay too.  Like choose your own adventure, it’s already been taken into account.

Chances are Ianmar is in for a surprise… for now, do what you feel you need to and if we need to break to an initiative roll, we will.

 

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The bitter taste of dark emotions washed around and then away as Dar'Krin stood, taking three deep breaths to cleanse his own emotions of the outside influence.  A Force user, tainted with malice and... pain, hopelessness.  Could that be one of the Inquisition, the Empire's Jedi hunters?  The Nagai frowned.  No, it didn't feel like he would expect such a powerful, trained presence in the Force to feel.  Stars, but if it had been a trained Jedi hunter he doubted he would even be able to 'hear' them coming.  Not so this person, whoever they were.  They were suffering, and that pain made them as noisy as a bantha tapdancing on drum sand, a pejorative his master used to employ when teaching the young Nagai how to still his mind.

Whatever the Force user's purpose here, sitting still in his room was not likely to either get Dar'Krin answers or to keep him safer.  Action breeds courage and confidence, he reminded himself, and so quickly slipped on his electromesh vest before strapping on his weapon belt.  Pausing one last time to don the hooded dark cloak, the young Jensaarai padded silently from his room into the corridor beyond, senses alert for trouble even as he stuck to the shadows.

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It was a complete mystery, Ianmar thought, fascinated. Why did now, of all times, the kyber crystals happen to light up, much less in two different colors? "What would cause them to do this?" He asked out loud, both for thinking and to allow Deezle to follow along. "Something in the surrounding environment must have changed, maybe?" But it couldn't have been the urban environment, it wasn't that different from Corellia.

"No idea what, Deezle. Like I said, they're just old rocks, even if they charge Imperial superweapons and-" His fingers clenched tightly around the crystals as his mind caught up to his words. "Lightsabers." The treasured weapons of Force-users, be they Jedi, Sith, or the other smaller sects still dotting the galaxy here and there.

While the Rebel Alliance and Resistance made a habit of declaring 'May the Force be with us,' it wasn't something Ianmar knew much about. Sure, he'd been familiar with General Organa, knew the Force was real, that there was the Light side, the Dark side, which side the Jedi were on, which side Palpatine and the Sith were on, knew the feats they could perform... But no more than a layperson's understanding at best.

Did the lights mean two Force-users were nearby, two of them? Deezle whistled, and Ianmar stood up, shoving away the crystals and making sure his blaster was on hand. A feeling in his gut said this could be very possible, as he exited the room, Deezle following him. If they were Sith, Ianmar needed to run fast. But if they were friendly, then perhaps the Force was indeed with him and Deezle.

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Tisa paused as she took the briefest of moments to consider her situation. Three bounty hunters working together to collect the price on her head was serious. She could take Eion up on his avoid and just avoid the bounty hunters, giving them the slip for now, but that would likely just delay things.

'Be the hammer, not the anvil.' The words of her instructor at the Academy sang in Tisa's head. It taking the initiative now, when the bounty hunters were not expecting it and while she had the advantage would be better than waiting for them to find her later, on their terms.

"Thanks for the offer, but I have something to take care of." Tisa said to her unsolicited escort as she slung the blaster rifle from her shoulder, unfolded the stock, set it to stun and charged the weapon.

"Whoa!  Hey. No problem as long as it's not me you are 'taking care of' with that thing." Eion offered, raising his hands slightly as he took a step back.

The beautiful zeltron shot him a smirk and then jogged across to the opposite building, keeping her blaster rifle low. Once the man in the patchwork cloak disappeared into the doorway she brought the weapon up, bracing it to her shoulder and moved toward the doorway as she was taught.  And as much as she did not particularly want to start a firefight in the hotel, Yim had been a decent hostess after all, catching them in the hall or stairwell with no cover would be ideal.

Tisa stopped beside the doorway, her back resting against the wall for a moment as she took a breath, readied herself, and turned, leaning into the doorway enough to aim down the hall and squeeze the trigger of her blaster rifle, working her way down the hallway from the closest target to the furthest.


 

Spoiler

Tisa is taking 2 extra actions for a total of 3 blaster rifle shots at 3D each. She will start with the closest target (assuming it to the guy in the patchwork cloak) and work her way back, using as many attacks as needed to put a target down before moving to the next.

Short Range (Easy TN 6-10) for the Blaster Rifle is 3-30m

Last roll is the Wild Die

Attack #1
[5, 3] Result: 8 + [1] Result: 1 = 9 to hit (rolled a 1 on the Wild though)
Damage: [6, 5, 3, 3, 1] Result: 18 (Stun setting)

Attack #2
[6, 5] Result: 11 + [4] Result: 4 = 15 to hit
Damage [6, 5, 5, 4, 3] Result: 23 (Stun setting)

Attack #3
[6, 1] Result: 7 + [4] Result: 4 = 11 to hit
Damage: [6, 6, 5, 5, 3] Result: 25 (Stun setting)

 

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The three hunters were in the foyer and on their way to the second floor when the ringed stun blasts came at them.  Walking single file helped their situation some, but not much, well, it helped everyone except the last guy in line.

The tail end, the weequay, noticed Tisa a split-second before she squeezed the trigger and sent a stun ring in his direction.  The ring hit dead center and his body convulsed for a second before he fell to the floor, unconscious.  The ragged cloaked figure didn’t fare any better, although he managed to turn just in time to see his attacker and almost dodged the stun bolt, but it caught him in the shoulder and he, too, fell to the ground.

The hunter running point fared the best, as the second hunter was falling, he grabbed him and used him as a shield, letting his ally take a second bolt.  He returned fire as he let his ally’s body fall to the ground, but Tisa was safely behind the cover of the doorway and the bolts dissipated against the duracrete wall.

Blasters set to stun rang out in the hallways of Yim’s Hostel and Dar saw the hunter take cover at the top of the stairs and hunker down for protection against whomever on the first floor was attacking him.  Ianmar withdrew his blaster from its holster at the first sign of trouble, entering the hallway as the stranger Nagai tensed in the hallways in preparation to defend himself, if necessary.

Spoiler

There is only one hunter left, he has taken cover in the entryway to the second floor.  He is ½ (+11 TN) covered to Tisa and ¼ (+4 TN) covered to Ianmar and Dar (unless they close for melee).

Tisa’s cover is currently providing her +12 to her opponent’s difficulty to hit her.

Stun bolts cannot degrade the protection provided cover but their damage can be degraded by the protection cover provides.

Enemies got a 13 for initiative.

Since you are not a cohesive unit, yet each of you roll initiative separately and act in order.  Sort the posting order in the Discord, please.

 

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Tisa did not want to admit it, but this was the most alive she had felt in quite a while. The risk, the danger and the thrill of success was exhilarating, almost as good as sex. Well, maybe not almost as good, but it was still up there. She felt a little more of the cool blaster rifle casing against her cheek as she could not help but smile faintly from behind her scope. Her time on Nar Shadda has been boring and frustrating so this was an almost welcome break in the monotony.  

Her proactive assault had almost worked perfectly, removing two out of three from the fight. It wasn't bad work thus far, though the last one was now dug in like a Rylothian sand flea. She had to be patient and catch him the next time he peeked around his cover to take a shot or hit what little of him he left exposed.

Though it might be possible to get him to leave cover willingly, she thought.

"Tell you what, come out with your hands up and I promise you'll receive fair treatment." Tisa called down the hall in an almost melodic voice while looking down the scope of her weapon to zero in on the bounty hunter. "But if you shoot up Yim's place, and I have to come in there and get you..." she threatened in a firm, dark tone. 

 

Spoiler

Tisa will be Aiming at the bounty hunter for the round to get a bonus next round.

 

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Well, this wasn't exactly what Ianmar expected, when he got a view of the situation. There was the pointed-eared male humanoid (Ianmar didn't recognize the species) tensely facing outward towards the foyer, the hunter already there and taking cover, and finally, the pink Zeltron woman. Ianmar had seen her a couple times, coming in and out of a room at the end of the hallway.

He hadn't been expecting... whatever this was...

Spoiler

Taking cover and Dodge!

Gabe Roll: [1][6, 2, 2] Result: 11

Blargh. The failure here puts it down to a 4.

 

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Dar'Krin only hesitated a moment as the blue light from the stun blasts reflected off the ferrocrete walls.  He wasn't sure who was in the right in this firefight - or even if there was a right side to start with - but the longer it went on the greater chance there was of a stray blaster bolt hitting a bystander, like the human male who stood gaping a few metres away.  The best course of action was to stop the fight, then sort out who was who.

That said, he wasn't about to glide up behind the nearest combatant and put his knife through their vitals.  These weren't stormtroopers - it wasn't obvious who the aggressor was here.  So he opted instead to draw his blade and moved up behind the roughly dressed man facing away from him.

It should have gone off without a hitch.  The bounty hunter was unaware of the danger at his back, and Dar'Krin was skilled at close-fighting.  One arm snaked around the man's shoulders, designed to pull him off balance and backwards so that Dar could place the tip of his tehk'la to the thug's throat.  Unfortunately, the burly human's reflexive jerk and twist as he realised his peril ruined the maneuver, and the man's eyes widened as he half-turned and realised he was face-to-face with one of his targets, the Nagai.

Spoiler

Brawling roll to grapple, Diff V. Easy +10.  Stun damage result will mean he's grappled.

GD Bannon Roll: [2][6, 5, 4, 4, 3] Result: 24

24 on the Grapple roll.

Damage roll:
GD Bannon Roll: [1][4, 2] Result: 7

Enemy Str roll:
GD Bannon Roll: [5][6, 4] Result: 15

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

The bounty hunter reflexively shook off the attack, it wasn't until he saw had attempted to subdue him that fear washed over his features.  This was wrong, this was all wrong.  Had they been tipped off?  Did the boss have a mole in his crew?  How did could they have such a precise counterattack planned like this?

Outlaw style the hunter panicked and fired off a shot from the hip.  The blast caught Shiv square in the chest but the capacitors in his electromesh armor did their thing and dissipated the stun blast before it could overload his synapse and cause him to faint.  The pale, long-eared warrior still took a couple steps back from the impact, leaving him looking grimmer, and now certainly more aggravated than he had been before being shot in the chest.

The bounty hunter braced himself for a fight.  The hall was blocked by the intimidating human further down, expectantly waiting for his opportunity to step in.  The nagi must work for him, he thought, as Ian just stood near his doorway, non-chalauntly, and whomever had circled around behind them and blocked off the door… yeah, these guys were professionals.  The boss wasn’t going to be happy one bit.

Spoiler

Bounty Hunter hit, rolled 11 damage.  Shiv’s armor absorbed 18, so no damage.

He is standing now, so his bonus to cover is reduced by ½ for Tisa (she’s on the first floor shooting up at him).  Ian is still affected by ¼ cover, because he’d have to avoid hitting Shiv on accident as the nagai and bounty hunter are technically in melee.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Her target being grappled, even if he managed to avoid the attempt, was unexpected. Tisa had no idea who this slender person was, but the stun ring to their chest from the bounty hunter's blaster made it pretty clear that they were not on good terms. The lanky male was still standing though, and was at least forcing the bounty hunter to divide his attention, giving her the best opening for a shot that she was likely to get.

'Frak it. Enemy of my enemy...' Tisa thought to herself as she squeezed the trigger once more and sent another glowing stun ring down the hall, illuminating the walls for an instant as it passed.

 

Spoiler

Tisa will take just 1 action and shoot at the bounty hunter with 5D Blaster + 2D (aiming (+1D) w/ blaster rifle scope (+1D)).

Attack Roll: [2]+[6, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4] Result: 34
Damage Roll: [6, 6, 6, 4, 3] Result: 25 damage (Stun setting)

 

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