The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
Please vote in the Forum Structure Poll. Polling will close at 2PM EST on January 21, 2025.
IC Star Wars: Rebel Twilight - Back from the dead!
Heir
Ausitn, TXRegistered User regular
Ausitn, TXRegistered User regular
REBEL TWILIGHT
It is a dark time for the rebellion. Luke Skywalker, aspiring Jedi Knight, has gone missing since embarking on a daring mission to Bespin to save his friends. No one knows whether the Hero of Yavin is dead, or is even now being driven to the Dark Side by DARTH VADER.
Claiming to have received a vision from Skywalker, Princess Leia has disappeared, searching for someone to take up the mantle of the Jedi Knights. It is said that only the Jedi can restore peace and justice to the galaxy.
As the Alliance continues to be driven back to the outer-rim, teams of rebels have been sent into the core worlds in search of the missing princess and her friends. The success of her mission may be the only hope for the galaxy…
It is a dark time for the rebellion. Luke Skywalker, aspiring Jedi Knight, has gone missing since embarking on a daring mission to Bespin to save his friends. No one knows whether the Hero of Yavin is dead, or is even now being driven to the Dark Side by DARTH VADER.
Claiming to have received a vision from Skywalker, Princess Leia has disappeared, searching for someone to take up the mantle of the Jedi Knights. It is said that only the Jedi can restore peace and justice to the galaxy.
As the Alliance continues to be driven back to the outer-rim, teams of rebels have been sent into the core worlds in search of the missing princess and her friends. The success of her mission may be the only hope for the galaxy…
Opening Crawl
I'm getting really sick of being set up every time we think we've found a lead...
A blaster bolt slams into the wall directly next to the man's head, causing him to duck back down behind the cargo crate he had been hiding behind. Rydge Adonel was surprisingly calm and contemplative for being shot at. One could almost assume that mortal danger was an everyday occurrence for the four rebels currently trading fire with the Imperial authorities.
Rydge unconsciously scratched at his leg where the skin melded with the cybernetic leg. He'd lost the real one a couple months ago, yet it still bothered him to no end in stressful situations. "Doc, get over here!" Snapping out of his reverie, Hellion team's resident doctor crawled to the source of that voice, Kane Deacon. He'd been grazed by a shot, but it wasn't anything serious. "You're fine kid, quit you're whining. Call me if something gets blown off."
Kane was new to the team, but had quickly been adopted by the older members. He was naive almost to a fault (a point that the others regularly reminded him of). The kid grinned at Rydge as he ducked another blaster bolt. "Hey if you're going to sit there looking around wistfully, someone's gotta get you moving."
Rydge laughed at that. It was nice to see the young man coming into his own. The first few "situations" Kane had been in, the poor boy had been shaking so much he almost shot off his own foot. Now he was developing a bit of the reckless abandon that their leader, Jennsen Malreaux , had demonstrated.
Jennsen was further down the line of crates, trading fire with the stormtroopers who had them pinned down. She didn't seem to take much notice of the blaster bolts whizzing by her head, and nearly took one in the shoulder before Cado Ralter could pull her back down. She gave him a look that could have frozen ice for touching her, but Cado paid no attention to it. He was officially the ranking officer of the group, but usually let Jennsen run things. She was hot-headed, but the others looked up to her decisiveness.
She yelled over the noise of combat to him. "When we get out of this, I'm going to kill that karking Bothan! We paid good money for the codes to this place. Either they were faked, or he ratted us out as soon as we left!"
Cado grunted, and fired a shot at the nearest trooper as way of replying. "That's if we get out of this Jenn..."
"This," being an Imperial datacenter on the planet of Kuat. The bothan agent had supposedly sold them badge codes that would get them past security and into the computer's mainframe without any alarms being raised. Instead, the minute they tried to access the system, warning klaxons had gone off. Now they found themselves again facing bad odds...
Ok guys. Here we go. I need a few things from each of you in your posts coming up.
1. Initiative roll please
2. I left some things vague on purpose so each of you could kind of fill in the blanks. For example, why exactly were you trying to access the mainframe at an Imperial datacenter? You can also use this time to muse on the mission in general, how you feel about your teammates, etc etc.
3. You are all behind cover, so you get +5 to your Ref defense for this encounter
4. No map for this fight, as it should be a pretty routine battle for you guys. The troopers are lined up 4 abreast with the officer behind the middle two.
Finally, your enemies are:
Imperial Officer : Ref 15, Fort 14, Will 18. 33/33hp
Stormtrooper (4) : Ref 16, Fort 12, Will 10. 10/10hp
Intiative Order so far:
Stormtroopers (4): 13
Officer: 4
For this first round, just roll initiative and type up whatever exposition you want based on what I asked for above. Once everyone has rolled, whoever has the highest can go ahead and start the actual fighting.
Have fun!
Heir on
0
Posts
"You know when it comes down to it, this is your fault," she said testily, looking at Cado from the corner of her eye. She pressed the power pack eject on her DT-12 and slotted in a new one as returning blasterfire zipped over their heads, struck the wall behind their ersatz trench and partially slagged the permacrete.
"MY fault?"
"Your fault. 'No Jenn, we don't need any grenades. This is a stealth mission. Easy in, easy out, like taking blue milk from a baby Hutt.'"
Deke grinned and Rydge just shook his head. "We need to blast our way through these bucketheads. Cado, lay down some suppressive fire. Deke, can you find a way to sneak around them? Rydge, uh... just keep an eye out for when I inevitably take a blasterbolt or six. I'm going to make myself known."
"Does that look like a four or a nine to you?"
"Doc, I can't see!"
Kane tries to duck under Rydge's arm but Rydge bobs with Kane and keeps the sheet in his line of sight.
"Four or nine?"
Kane glances down in exasperation and squints.
"It's a nine, doc! A nine! Now can I please shoot the bad guys?!"
"That's what I was afraid of...."
Rydge crams the sheet back in his pocket and unslings the carbine from his back.
"Hey, Jennsen , I've got good news and bad news."
Jennsen squeezes off a shot at the troopers and answers nonchalantly, "Good news? From you? This I gotta hear."
"Yeah, yeah. Good news is your buddy Sho'sar might not have sold us out, which would pretty much fly in the face of centuries of Bothan tradition."
"That's not really that great considering our situation, Rydge... and the bad news?"
"Bad news is Sho'sar's paw-writing stinks. And I may need glasses."
"You didn't.... did you... you DID!" Jennsen looks over dumbfounded.
"Yeah, I think I fat-fingered the security code. Sorry about that."
"How about this time, you tell me what you have in mind BEFORE you go running off?"
"You think I plan these things out?"
"Well, no," Cado admitted, shooting the trooper that was trying to sneak around and flank their position. "But a man can dream, can't he?"
With her usual decisiveness Jennsen rolled out from behind cover, startling both her squadmates and the enemy; the all too brief break in fire was the opportunity Jennsen needed to snap off an incredibly accurate shot that sent the brown-clad officer to one knee as Jennsen's roll carried her to another series of terminals that blocked oncoming fire.
Pew pew flat-footed pa pew (1d20+8=27, 4d6+2=23)
i extrapolated the initiative/flat-footed values based on the roll provided in the OP. either way i rolled so well it doesn't matter. rebel officer takes 23 damage and goes two steps down the track. (assuming his DT is well below 23 plus Dastardly Strike)
Glancing over his shoulder around the crate he sees her blaster-bolt strike the officer in the chest.
"Somewhere between the fifth and six right rib, extensive damage to lower lung and liver highly likely", he mentally notes.
Sagging to one-knee, the officer cries out in pain. With a rib injury like that the officer was going to find it excruciating to lift the blaster in his gloved right hand.
Taking advantage of Jennsen's unorthodox yet successful tactic, Rydge takes careful aim with his carbine and watches with grim satisfaction as the bolt strikes the officer and kills him instantly, probably evaporating the remainder of his lung.
Damage (3d8+1=18) plus Jennsen's 23 makes for 41 killing the officer
"Deke, get the one by the door!"
1 down, 3 to go
The withering fire laid down on Hellion group's leader was enough to give her pause. As she tried to roll out of the way of the barrage, one blaster bolt slams squarely into her shoulder and spins her around. Other than an audible oomph from her, the others could hardly tell that she was phased. Using the spinning motion's momentum, Jennsen rolls to a kneeling stance, pistol in hand and trained on her next target. A bead of sweat was working its way down her face.
Trooper B: Attacks Jennsen (1d20+4=15, 3d8=19) Miss!
Trooper C: Attacks Jennsen (1d20+4=23, 3d8=16) Hit!
HP Tally (Now with initiative order!):
Jennsen: 11/27 -1 Condition
Rydge: 35/35
Cado: 48/48
Trooper A : 10/10
Trooper B : 10/10
Trooper C : 10/10
Trooper D : 0/10
Kane: 39/39
Officer: 0/33
Horseshoe is up!
"Kid, wait!"
Deke impulsively dropped his blaster rifle and leapt out of cover, and charged toward the stormtroopers to distract them from the wounded Jennsen. He drew the vibroblade concealed under his poncho, and the surprise left one of the troopers wide open. With a slash of the blade, the trooper fell to the ground.
A look of panic crossed Deke's face as the two remaining troopers leveled their rifles at him.
force point (1d6=1)- fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
HP Tally (Now with initiative order!):
Jennsen: 11/27 -1 Condition
Rydge: 35/35
Cado: 48/48
Trooper A : 10/10
Trooper B : 0/10
Trooper C : 0/10
Trooper D : 0/10
Kane: 39/39
Officer: 0/33
Horseshoe is up!
He hastily holstered the vibroblade, which fell silent.
"Is everyone okay?"
"Cado, when you get a spare cycle can you please explain standard close-quarters tactics to our rash friend and how close he came to being blasted by them AND us?"
Rydge calmly walks over to Jennsen crouched behind a data terminal and extends a hand to help her to her feet.
He nods toward the scorch mark on her shoulder, "If that made it through the armor, you're gonna let me look at it, right?"
Deke's shoulders fell. Rydge was probably right, as usual. He sighed and trudged back to the large durasteel cargo containers they'd been using for cover, and slung the rifle back over his shoulder.
"It's a good bet the Empire knows we're here. What do we do now?"
"How is she, doc?" Cado asked, a mixture of genuine concern and duty evident in his voice, "We dont want to hang around here any longer than we have to."
She stuck her finger in the new burn hole in the shoulder with a sigh. "I'm docking this out of your pay, Rydge. Let's let Deke enter the code this time since butterfingers here has trouble telling nines from fours."
"Here goes nothing..."
"The data I've found is fragmented. Looks like someone else is looking for the same thing as us and tried to cover their tracks...odd...I don't recognize the designation though..." Rebel intelligence had managed to figure out the designations for most of the higher ranking officials in the Empire. If Vader or one of the Inquisitors were doing a little digging, they'd know it was them. "Whoever this person is, he's got clearance levels equivalent to known Emperor's Hands...."
Jennsen puffed impatiently. "That's great kid. We can play 'Guess-That-Bad-Guy' later. Now what can you find about the Falcon's whereabouts?"
Typing faster, Deke finally hits paydirt. "Aha! The ship was spotted in the Correlian system. They were on a course for the capital planet. Let me see when they were last seen..."
Suddenly the screen goes blank. No matter what Deke tries, the computer is completely unresponsive. Just as suddenly, warning lights begin to flash and alarms begin to sound throughout the complex. Clearly, their scuffle with the authorities and subsequent computer access has not gone unnoticed. As the team scrambles to leave, Rydge notices a barely audible voice coming from the dead officer's side. Quickly rushing over, he finds a comlink in the dead man's hands. Putting it up to his ear, Rydge clearly picks out a voice.
"...come in. Alpha group, this is central command. Why aren't you at your post? We are sending reinforcements if you do not reply in the next standard minute. Repeat, this is central command. Come in Alpha group..."
"Gentlemen, it would seem we've worn out our welcome. Make for the extraction point."
Thumbing the commlink on, Rydge speaks quickly in a clipped military tone that is out of breath.
"CentComm, Alpha Group. Intruders are headed toward sector 7. We are in pursuit but have taken casualties. Request reinforcement. The Wookie is particularly dangerous."
"I hope you got enough info because that was the only shot we had."
He snaps his fingers and exclaims eagerly, "I betcha CorSec would be able to help us locate the Falcon on Corellia! I heard they know your cargo manifest and flight plan before you do."
Rydge raises an eyebrow, "You've been watching too many holo-vids. It's not quite that bad... or good, depending on your point of view. Anyway, they don't give out that kind of info to just anyone, you know. CorSec red tape is notorious. Still, there's always a chance we could locate a CorSec officer friendly to the Rebellion. But, that sort of flag waiving carries its own dangers. Of course..."
Jenn cuts Rydge off abruptly, "We get it, Rydge. It's risky and there's no guarantee of success, but it's the best idea we have."
"Agreed. Let's find a ticket off this rock," Cado says.
With that, Jennsen, Cado and Deke head toward their egress point at a light jog. Rydge sighs to himself and adjusts the pack on his back before bringing up the rear.
---
Thanks in part to Rydge's false information and Jennsen's knowledge of the surrounding back alleys, the Hellion's egress from the facility was without incident. Using boarding passes bought with cash several day before, they boarded a short-range shuttle to the Kuat Passenger Port.
This hulking space station at the edge of the Kuat system was the main transfer point for passengers entering and exiting the system.
The port consisted of 4 immense domes linked to a central dome. Each dome had an vast array of docking arms and bays which could accommodate ships of any size, even Star Destroyers. The Kuat Dome, where the Hellion's shuttle was docking, serviced flights for Kuat proper. The Core Dome handled traffic for core worlds and the Outbound Dome catered to rimward travelers. The Military Dome transited Imperials to and from various unclassified installations (provided you had the correct paperwork). A highspeed repulsor lift system quickly ferried passengers about the station though passage from one dome to another involved a customs check.
As the Hellions disembarked the shuttle, they were immediately caught up in a crush of beings rushing to their connecting flights. They split into pairs according to their prearranged plan with Cado and Deke heading toward one customs checkpoint and Jennsen and Rydge to another. Personal weapons and sidearms were allowed with proper registration. Indeed that was the only way a majority of the free traders would ever step foot on the station. Hellion's heavier weapons, however, were questionable and had been broken down with pieces distributed between the entire group.
The line for customs was immense but moved briskly with an efficiency born of necessity. At peak times the port serviced over 2 billion visitors per day. A young male Kuat customs official finally waved Cado and Deke forward.
Kuat Passenger Port
Cado and Deke have clearly heard the spiel before, and provide their documents. Two guards being to rummage through their bags. One tenses when he comes across several cylinders and power packs that could easily be parts of a heavy blaster pistol. Looking suspiciously at both, then focusing on the nervous Deke, he leans in. "Care to explain what these are son?" The other guard has suddenly become more alert, one hand casually moving to rest on the holster of his blaster, the other holding a comlink, clearly ready to call for reinforcements.
or sleight of hand if Deke can't actually pull off such a move and is faking the modifications
or a deception check if the guard doesn't go for it and goes on Deke's word
you can add roll: 1d20 12 to the appropriate modifier
After finishing up, Cado and Deke meet with the rest of their team. Jennsen gave the young man a bit of a glare, he'd been careless with hiding the parts and had nearly blown their cover. If Deke had been apprehended, there would have been very little the rest of Hellion team could have done for him. Their leader bit her tongue though. He had been careless, but he was getting better. Besides, she was trying to show that she wasn't always hot-headed.
As they made their way through the crowds, none of them noticed the arrival of the Bothan who had started walking abreast with them. To any casual observer (or even not-so-casual), the natural flow of the crowd had caused him to slowly meander to the side of Deke. As the boy looked around, he finally caught the Bothan in his peripheral view. He gasped as he realized their handler, Sho'sar, had caught up to them. "Uh boss..." Jennsen glared at the boy as she looked over. "Deke...I'm trying my best not to yell at you. Just leave me be..." Her voice cut off as she spotted their handler. Raising an eyebrow, she nodded. "You like doing that don't you?"
Sho'sar never stopped looking ahead, and his mouth moved very slightly, but the group could hear him quite clearly. "Someone needs to teach the cub how to not be so obvious when going through customs. Would be a shame for him to spend the rest of his life on Kessel..." Before Deke could offer a retort, he continued. "I've received word from CentCom. We need to talk. Meet me at the usual location in 3 standard hours. Don't be late this time." As he started to meander away from the group, he risked a smirk and a slight glance at Rydge. "Oh and next time, pay a little more attention to what you're typing..."
With that, the Bothan was gone, lost in the sea of people. Deke was the first to speak after his departure. "How did he...?"
"He's a Bothan kid," Rydge interjected with a smile. "It's his job to know."
using Deke's improved stealth talent to reroll that
Stealth: 1d20+13 24
Rydge realizes he could lose sight of Deke and hurries off after him. He squeezes his way between two quarreling Rodians and offers a hurried apology over his shoulder.
Turning to apologize gave Rydge a natural looking opportunity to scan the crowd for the agent's Deke suspected.
Hellion group split into pairs as they walked. Rydge was pushing his way through some Rodians, and Jennsen assumed Deke was ahead of him somewhere. Cado walked alongside her since his attempt at blending in with the crowd had failed. As they moved from point to point along their predetermined path, Jennsen caught Rydge's eye momentarily. It was subtle, but he was indicating that he'd spotted a tail. Barely nodding, the pairs altered their paths. Stopping at random vendor stands, backtracking behind small buildings, entering random businesses and slipping out the back....
It may have taken longer to get to their location, but by the time the team reassembled, their tail had been lost. Rydge had a serious look on his face as he approached the other. "Looked like two of them working in tandem. I couldn't get a good look at them, but there was something...wrong...about them...primal." Jennsen exchanged worried looks with Cado. Though neither admitted it, they too had felt some kind of uneasy feeling about the pursuers. Deke attributed the feeling to when he first saw a corpse of an animal as a small boy. The smell was bad, but there was an aura around it that was way worse. Something about this reminded him of that memory.
Shaking off the uneasy feelings, the group entered the holocafe that served as their current location for syncing up with their handler. They found Sho'sar sitting in a corner booth that was secluded enough for their purposes. As they sat, the red-haired Bothan wordlessly slapped an envelope on the table. He waited as Jennsen read the small piece of flimsiplast inside, then passed it to the other team members.
It was a communication from CentCom, directly from General Carlist Rieekan himself. In it was the general status reports from all the other groups searching for the Falcon. "Why would the General bother sending us status reports?" Deke asked obliviously. Jennsen and the others had grim looks on their face, but Rydge was the one to finally respond. "Look again kid. Notice anything about the dates?"
Deke looked at the report again. As he went down the dates, he noticed that slowly but surely, the number or reports dwindled. First all 10 teams were reporting. Then a week later, 9. After 3 months, only 3 groups were reporting in. The general's signature on the report was meant to express the seriousness of the situation.
Sho'sar finally spoke up. "We don't know what has happened to the other groups. What we do know is that several of them reported being followed or fighting off small groups of assassins before finally going missing. We also know that someone in the Empire is desperately searching for the princess too. We don't know who, and we aren't sure if they're acting with the blessings of the Emperor."
The group exchanged worried looks. Sho'sa picked up on it instantly. "Oh Kark. Let me guess, you were tailed..."
It was kind of a loaded question. One might potentially be admitting to a lot of illicit activity if one had ever been to Myrkr, and the group decided to take it as rhetorical.
"Well... when I was stowing away from Tanaab it's one of the places I ended up. I was there two days, met some game hunters there. They took me out to hunt Vonskr. But you don't really hunt Vonskr. They hunt you, in a pack, and you have to spot their ambush point and hit them before they attack.
"There's this feeling that comes over you. You can feel them there... your body goes cold and you start to shiver. We never saw one when we went out that day. But they saw us. We couldn't pick up their pattern so we had to lose them and trail out of the forest. They followed us all the way to the edge. I know they did."
"So what are you saying, Deke?"
"If there was such a thing as a Vonskr shaped like a human... that's what was tailing us. I think there's two of them. They're probably tracking us right now. We need to get out of here without leaving a trail, we have to be patient... and we have to be careful."
"Agreed. Let's see what's leaving in the near future."
He inserts a cred into the nearest terminal and begins to bring up ship departures for destinations along the Corellian Trade Spine.
Deke rolled his eyes. "You know that's not what I'm saying."
"You're getting spooked kid. Something's been taking out other cells so we keep our eyes open, but we don't turn tail and run. Just gets you shot in the back. And if this group of 'mystery assassins' has the same objectives we do, then maybe we should... pool our information."
Rydge and Cado exchanged a glance, Rydge raising his eyebrow in a gesture that was becoming an hourly occurrence. "What are you suggesting?"
"I'm saying that maybe if you chase a Nexu you should be careful about it turning around and tearing you apart." Jenn shrugged and leaned back, making a point to set her DT-12 on the table. It was a formidable looking weapon, very utilitarian in looks and obviously designed for non-human hands for the express purposes of shooting sentient beings. She looked to each of her friends in turn and then at Sho'sar.
"How soon can you get word out there that we've got a lead on the Falcon?"
Cado sat silently for a moment before continuing.
"Deke, what additional procedures do you recommend to lose this tail of ours, assuming our primary objectives are to get off this planet and to Corellia?"
As Deke began listing the additional security measures, Cado had a thought. Something Deke had said. Something not sitting right.
"...and if we stay off commercial-"
"Wait. What did you say about the Vonskr?"
"Which part? The cold shivers or..."
"No. How do you hunt them?"
"Oh," replied Deke, casually going over the story again. "You don't hunt Vonskr. They hunt you, with their whole pack. The only way to survive is to spot their ambush point and..."
His eyes widened as his voice trailed off. "You don't think..."
"I'm not sure."
The silence in the group was palpable. After a moment, Cado broke the silence.
"We don't have a choice. All we can do is move on the intel we have."
"I never said collaborate." She patted her weapon again for emphasis.