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It’s finally here, the fourth Episodes of the Second Campaign of my Prequel Trilogy Star Wars game! Almost three years after the previous cliffhanger endings makes this a simulation closer to the films than I had originally planned but, hey, that’s drama for you! Three years is a long time of course, a gap necessitated by the need to create new story as off-line play became less and less. In that time, the player group has changed both in composition and attitude, and my idea of some plot points has altered as well. Hence there might be some slight discontinuities, which I ask you to suspend your disbeliefs for.

We are also using a new system! Veterans of my Matrix game have already tested out the base mechanic so they will be fine and in general it is not bad to get used to so we can get to the bottom of that pretty quickly once we need to.

More importantly, try and have fun whilst playing, and if new, follow the lead of the veteran players, they know what it is all about. Welcome back to everyone, and I hope it goes well!

This storyline is noted as a ‘Renegade’ one but it is as much as Jedi plotline as well, in much the same way that Renegades normally have their own big parts in the Jedi plotlines. It forms the very final end of the Battle Droid/Trade Federation/Techno Union plotline that has been going on since Xeth was looking for Battle Droids on Damagran with Shareth the Hutt. The mystery of the missing Battle Droids ended some time back giving way to the bigger mystery of the Federation/Union conspiracy. This story will take that plotline as far as we can go before we’ve done all we can with it- after all, we know the Conspiracy bears fruit in forming the armies of the Confederacy for the Clone Wars, so I cannot have you shutting down the whole thing. But there are still very important victories to be won in this episode which, there is no getting away from, is extremely action heavy, and although it is the culmination of a lot of back story, the story itself is actually pretty simple which makes it a great starting point for the new guys.

In the last episode, the Jedi and Renegades had been investigating the vicious attacks of the Cult of Charaeus, with their mysterious new weapon system. He Jedi were mostly interested in stopping the Cult whilst the Renegades were determined to find their suspected link with the Techno Union. As the Episode ended, the Jedi took care of events on Charaeus, only to find there was little left there other than evidence that Battle Droids had been used to take control of the Cult. But whilst Xeth and his Renegades got closer to the truth, they paid for it, as this new weapons system ambushed and defeated them all on an obscure world that no-one knows they have gone to…

Six months after the Battle of Lanzar

The Last Laugh swopped into an easy landing at the star port, perhaps a little more flashily than it needed to be. The ship had done a lot of ‘quiet’ work in its day, as its two man crew operated on certain ‘liberal’ theories of galactic economics. Now, for once looking quite shiny after being rebuilt from its exertions on Lanzar, it was smuggling just one person. One person away from the watchful eyes of Coruscant, past the patrols, avoiding all classes of Imperial vessel. Once you got far enough out, no-one looked for you any more. Rumour has it there was once an extensive system built far out for tracking ‘undesirable’ vessels, but if that had ever existed, it must have been smashed to pieces during the Clone Wars. And now they were here, outside the borders of the Empire. Safety.

“You know,” says Kyle, “this place doesn’t look so bad. A guy could make quite a life here.”

His giant insectoid companion Eerin clicked in a way that would have been unintelligible to many. The Empire would get here eventually.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” The ram of the Last Laugh was already lowered, and its guest was getting off. “You think the Nobog know about this place?” asked Kyle. Eerin shrugged, which was quite an interesting thing to watch. “Great,” said Kyle, resting his feet on the control console. “Always watching our backs. Nothing ever changes.”

Down below, the guest was met by an armed patrol of men led by a man in impressive military uniform.

“Marshall,” said the guest, bowing his head in respect.

“The men are just a precaution, in case you were followed,” said the Marshall. “It’s an honour. We’ve never been visited by a member of the Imperial Senate before.”

“It’s not in that capacity that I come today,” said the Senator. “And no-one is ever able to follow the ship I came in.”

“Of course. If you would care to come this way, we can talk business.”

“This ship is a light freighter, we can only carry some samples,” said the Senator, heading outside with the Marshall and his men. “Nor can we offer much money.”

“We only ask for expenses. We consider this a… wise investment.”

“You understand that the agents of the Empire will no doubt eventually trace this deal? You would make an enemy of the Empire.” The Marshall shrugged.

“We’re not within the Empire, which makes us its enemy anyway. Besides. Even today, they are long way away.”

“We are grateful. There are certain other planets like yours that do not have such a… forward-thinking view.”

“So might we have been, had it not been for everything that happened.”

“Ah yes…” said the Senator. He emerged from the high-rise hangar bar and was rewarded with a magnificent view of the industrial city- the buildings, the ships, the flying cars… and the great statues. "Even today their legacy holds.”

“Did you know any of them? You were a Senator at the time as well, were you not?”

“My son knew some of them,” said Galahad. “It is how we knew to come to this place. It all seems such a long time ago. Do forgive an ageing man his ways, Marshall, but I’ve never heard the full story, especially from your view. What actually did happen?”

TWENTY THREE YEARS EARLIER

Rekiarius

Did you dream of death, Xeth? You’ve never been one to delve into the deep mysteries of the Force, which seemed a trivial issue to you compared to the very real distress of so many in the Galaxy around you. They needed your personal protection, and for the Force to make you strong and fast- that is what they needed. Your sleep is deep but for once not entirely dreamless; you see great wars, great heroes… and a forgotten jungle world with ancient temples, where a desperate group of fighters rise up to attack an enormous foe that threatens the whole world itself. Random dreams; you cannot discern their meaning.

To return to the real world means pain- but there you must go. The agonising pain comes from your leg.

Click-click

“Awake at last, Xeth?” says Cannes. “Just in time to see the show as well.”

Those veteran Renegades playing on from last time- you are each imprisoned inside a bacta tube. There is some sort of large worm/scorpion thing wrapped around Xeth’s severed leg. You do not have your weapons. The room you are in is large and black but there is a heck of a lot in it- a giant bank of monitors on the far side, which you can all see, built on the exact same model as the bank that was at the control room on Arminium. Blue-striped battle droids operate control consoles all around, and three other things of interest are here. Cirus Cannes himself, wearing a smart suit rather than the desert clothing you saw him in before. He is accompanied by a blue skinned alien you have not seen before. And finally hovering just by them with two slimline red eyes is the floating ‘object’ that attacked you on the side of the glacier. Small but lethal, vase shaped, wide on top, thin down the bottom, sleek and black, making the faint noise of a repulsorlift.

Repulsorlifts! You remember now. The parts that the Cult of Charaeus was stealing. The parts needed to complete a full droid army from the bits the Union ‘accidentally’ lost in this area, to power the STAPs and tanks. To turn a security force of infantry to a full invasion army. You came here, the forward base you knew the Chareans had to be using, to find out what they planned to do with it, but... what you found was too much for you. All you remember was being enveloped in snow…


---

Alzarius, the starport

They’ve cleared this place up now, Vlad. There was a bit of hassle here you understand, after you left. Xeth and the others were ‘forceful’ in getting the information they needed. But now they are gone, which is another gap in your knowledge. You pace up and down nervously.

Charaeus was a bust, the main cult army wasn’t there, this ‘Thrael’ wasn’t there, none of the answers were there. Marcus has stayed to bring the planet under the rule of law and see if any other evidence can be found. Comms facilities there were poor; communication with the Council difficult. You returned to Alzarius to inform the Council of the situation.

When you got here, you found Xeth had left. Asking around, you discovered that he was looking into some sort of smuggling ring that was going on, but people are hazy as to why. In any case, he was looking for a forward base- he determined the Cult cannot have attacked the starliner from Charaeus, they didn’t have the fuel range. He and his friends upped and left in all their ships and no-one has seen them since.

Ah! At last, your backup is here. Arriving now are the Jedi Jovan and Denzral, coming over from some recent diplomatic mission, and another Jedi who was on leave in this area- much like the missing Jedi from the starliner was. His name is Lance, and you think you have met him before. Certainly some of those nutty Jedi you were working with when you were protecting the Viceroy knew him.

You take a step forward on the arrivals lounge to greet them, when suddenly a loud noise comes to your right. One of the local security guys is heading over with an oddball mix of beings bearing lightsabres. Oh great.

“Look,” the security guy is saying, “I don’t know anything about no bug guy with a laser sword. Hey!” he calls to you, Vlad. “You the Jedi? Yeah. I’m passing this bunch of people onto you. Some friend of theirs is missing or something.” These new arrivals are the new player character Renegades…

Looks like this one is going to take some time to work out!

Now, at this point, in the time where the game is still gearing up, you need to tell me if you are going to use any of your predictive powers. There are two such powers you may have- ‘Dreams’ if you have Master Intuition, and ‘Foresight’ if you have Master Insight. Dreams is free to use, though you can make it more likely to work if you spend a Force point on it. Foresight always works, but always costs a Force point! Remember, these Force points have to last you for the entire story…

‘Dreams’ means you receive an unconscious set of images about events that are to come- obscure meanings and metaphors that you must decipher to find clues in.

‘Foresight’ is more direct and represents you actively navigating the future to find answers. Whilst the way you see the future may still be obscure, Foresight will definitely contain directly useful information somewhere, sometimes about very important things.

In a slight difference to previous games, whilst you must declare- and pay for- a use of such a power now, your vision may not come at the start of the game, but at some appropriate point…

You can only use one!

Let me know, and play on!

(Lance- will convert your character soon)

I'll use a free dream if I can. I don't want to spend a force point so early on

"Great, I figured we'd have to work with someone from the council" Sean sighs, lighting a cigarette-esque object. "Looking for a guy named Xeth, take it you've heard of him"

Xeth, upon seeing Cirus Cannes, strains against his restraints within the bacta, but gives in to the soothing sensation that bacta provides. He knows that it is currently futile to try anything at all. They are in the heart of the base that they had tried to locate, he is sure of that.

"I know what is going on, Cannes," Xeth snarls. "Do you really think the Republic won't find out that you're creating an army? It's too obvious that the Chareans are your henchmen, this time. I have friends that will find me."

(Sorry, Sean, we'll have to wait on others with you!)

"But my dear Xeth, as I always told you, we are law abiding people. We are not in the Republic, so those laws do not apply. And we would not have harmed anyone, but you had to come looking for trouble, didn't you? As for the Cult- we cannot be held accountable for the actions of some of their Renegade members. We have tried to civilise them but it is difficult."

Click-click

"Matter, it does not," the diminutive Master Vera-Kin speaks, remaining the utmost calm. "You seek to wage war with your machines. Such unrest will not be let go by the Senate, whether in the Republic you are, or not."

"If the army was aimed at a Republican world you would be right," says Cannes. "We're not so foolish."

"Then where do you intend to strike?" Vera-Kin asks, trying to sense Cirus' mind.

Oh, almost forgot that Vera-Kin has Foresight! She will use that.

Xeth watches and listens, though he is distracted by the worm/scorpion-like thing that is wrapped around his severed leg. He prevents himself from recoiling in shock as he remembers feeling his leg become separated from his body and sees it now. He tries to sense if this thing is alive or sentient, and see if his leg i reattaching itself.

Is it possible for Vlad to find out the location of the planet Xeth and the renegades went to?

Vlad scans the incoming renegades, and smiles as he realizes they must be part of Xeth's renegade group.

"The name is Jedi Knight Vlad Shafran" said Vlad to the Renegades. "Yes. I know of a Xeth. May I mind asking you who you are?"

Lordy, if you knew that life would be much easier, Vlad!

-

"A strike implies destruction" says Cannes. "We are hoping really for a garrison force. To help 'encourage' industrial production on a planetary scale."

And indeed yes, Xeth, it seems to be re-growing your leg!

Then I guess we will have to use Jedi authority to demand the managers or security of the port to show us exactly where Xeth snooped around. If we stumble on the same clues as they did, we will be bound to find the planet they went to, I guess.

Jedi Knight Denzral Vassisk grinned at Jovan as he spotted Vlad Shafran, then gracefully walked through the spaceport over to the Jedi Knight currently talking to the newly arrived ex-Jedi, a greeting. He remained silent and stayed out of the way till Vlad would find the time to greet them, or until he felt compelled to introduce himself to Vlad by jumping in with a smile. (I don't have master Intuition so I don't think dreams are an option, )

Vlad- apparently all they did was expose a smuggling operation; apparently some people wrre smuggling technical parts in civilian liners, which provides a motive for the Cult attack you were investigating (you had not actually established a motive as to why they attacked that liner). But there appears to be no information there about planets at all; you cannot make sense of that hit.

Is there anyone who had made contact with Xeth at the time they were in the port? I would like all those people to be rounded up and we will have a talk with them.

(Dream for me)

Lance follows behind the Jedi named Denzral and Jovan as they make their way through the spaceport and to the other group. Once there he makes himself known right away, "Hello, my name is Lance Windu. If you would be so kind as to catch me up to speed. I've not had the time for a briefing."

Denzral turned to Lance, smiling. "I am, Denzral Vassisk, nice to meet you, Lance."

Originally posted by Spidervlad
Is there anyone who had made contact with Xeth at the time they were in the port? I would like all those people to be rounded up and we will have a talk with them.

(Dream for me)

You literally have all the information from that incident that there is to get.

And we still have no idea where they went?

That's pretty bad.

Yup, that's why you have been pacing up and down!

Having failed to find the Dark Thrael, you are extremely worried if Xeth has vanished.

You'd best bring these guys up to speed.

"Ah! The Jedi Knight reinforcement that has been sent by the Jedi Council." exclaimed Vlad as he turned around to see the three Jedi.

"I am Jedi Knight Vlad Shafran" said Vlad nodding in respect towards the three other Jedi, waiting for their introduction as well.

I just want everyone to be up to date and to introduce their characters into the RP before Vlad explains the situation to everywhere and any other actions are taken, although I find them quite limited as of right now.

Sure thing!

If you want me to fill any gaps, just say.

Lance looks around at the other Jedi, sizing them up as his gaze falls upon each of them. He knows that when things get rough, they will need to be cunning and be able to hold their own.

"Encourage how?" Xeth asks. "And why? Just so you can stimulate industry and create another market to sell to?"

"Our long term projections tell us that demand isn't going to be a probl;em. Supply, on the other hand..."

fas stands back a few meters, looking over the group. he wondered if any of them had any skills that might become useful during the search and rescue operation. he decided that being overly suspicious wouldnt be a problem as long as everyone changed out of their jedi robes into something more civilian. he thought that they would probably look like a group of offworlders on vacation with a verpine pilot, despite having different ships.

"Denzral Vassisk." He greeted with a smile. "Vlad Safran, I assume?"

Xeth shakes his head, disgusted with Cannes' obviously sinister intentions that will lead only to his personal gain.

"What is this?" he asks, indicating the strange thing on his leg.

"Indeed" nodded Vlad.

He turned to the renegades and then back to the Jedi.

"I think I should tell all of you what happened here, although the Jedi Council might have told my fellow Jedi some of it. Me and Master Marcus were sent to take down the Techno Pirates on Charaeus. We found nothing useful there however. It should also be noted that we first arrived on Alzarius, Xeth and his comrades also came along to investigate the destroyed liner. They were continuing their investigation when we left. When I came back here to contact the Jedi Council as Master Marcus stayed on Charaeus to maintain order there, Xeth dissapeared. I have received some information about what he was doing in the port, but none of it would point out to where he would go..."

"Wentar Reiua," Wentar says, bowing to the Jedi.

Wentar listens to Vlad's explanation. "Did Xeth find anything in his investigation?"

and here I am (since everyone seemed to post between 4 and 6 AM my time, I hope no one is annoyed at me not having posted yet ... I was actually reading the thread of the Jedi and not of the renegades :s)

gotta ask: the planet that is mentioned, Ca-something, isn't that the name of Jacen as Sith Lord in the Legacy series?

and to be sure: is it our mandate to stop the pirating of the clan or to investigate why they attacked that one freighter or should we find the superweapon and destroy it or is our mandate to find Xeth?
Or are we relatively free to do all of the above? I mean this as a Jedi, since "we should do exactly as the Council as instructed" (according to Obi-Wan in AOTC)...

Anyway, my character says hi too

That is actually a good question, what exactly is the Jedi Council specifying us to do? Are they worried about the smuggled weapons, or Xeth, or perhaps a little bit of both?

Basically the Council wants the threat from the Cult and its weapon neutralised- the Cult have been attacking Republican space, you shoudl make sure they don't continue. That said, your remit only counts if you find evidence of a continued threat to Republican space; having occupied Charaeus you may find out there is no longer any such threat you need to deal with.

The Renegades' purpose here is simpler- find Xeth- but as you Jedi pretty much need to find him as well to get answers to those questions (you hope!), your purposes coincide right now. What you hear Xeth was looking for makes sense, Vlad- there were no ships on Charaeus with a long range; they would indeed have needed a forward base inside the Republic to have launched many of the raids they did.

I cannot recall how much Xeth told Vlad of his own suspicions, so perhaps the Renegades and jedi should pool info so everyone knows where they stand?

And do you remember what The Dark Thrael is meant to be, Vlad, and all the stuff around that?

(I have not intentionally mentioned a planet from any EU source, no)

Xeth-

"Ah, you are lucky enough to be part of a test from our biological department. It should re-attach your limb quite smoothly. The conditions for this were ideal; a clean cut in an icy environment; the original limb was quite intact. You are impressed with my new machine perhaps?" He indicates towards the 'Thrael'.

Denzral smiled at Vlad. "The council indeed told us what they knew."

Xeth grudgingly admits to himself that he is rather pleased that they can reattach his leg, even if he would rather go without it than be one of their experiments.

"That... thing... is responsible for the death of a Jedi Knight."

"The Cult leaves no-one alive, what can I say? Unfortunate that she was there, of course, but it did give us more data to work with. The Battle Variant 50 is designed to learn more and more as it fights the likes of you."

"It is not the Cult's doing," Vera-Kin says. "That machine belongs to you, and we have proof of it."

"That I won't deny, we did build it. A very special project of mine. We built its initiual strategic programming based on data we received from Arminium. We are thankful, Xeth, for the data you provided us there. But no-one will ever be looking any more into it, nor will your so-called proof be any use to you dead."

"I knew Ryamore transmitted something from Arminium," Xeth says. "I am guessing that you are referring to how well Jedi Knights do against your droid armies, am I correct?"

"An interesting equstion; working out precisely what weight of droid would be needed to take on a force of Knights.

"Not an equation that works in all situations, though. A droid army is slow to deploy, difficult to move around. The BV-50 is but one machine, and easily re-deployed."

"So I've noticed," Xeth says. "In any case, we're not dead yet."

"Not exactly in a commanding position, are you? We'll be leaving soon, and no, you are not coming with us."

Its fun having nothing to do... Erm, Ush, how many xp points did we get on our prequal game? I'd like to buy a Force Power... or increase one of my skill ponts?

(Oh, you do not have nothing to do. You have to figure out where that forward base is! Because it is where I am and I cannot simply tell you how I found it! And xp will be handled in a separate thread when Ush deems appropriate.)

"Wasn't planning on it," Xeth says. "But you won't kill me."

It doesn't matter, because you haven't had time to spend them. I am waiting for the xp system to be finalised before finalising points.

To tide you guys over before you exchange info, I shall explain about the Dark Thrael.

The Cult of Charaeus are a religious techno-cult, and they believe they are slowly constructing their own machine God. Their legends say that there is an agent of that God known as the Dark Thrael, that is unstoppable, and punishes those unworthy. Vlad has reason to think the Thrael is this new weapon system.

But what Vlad also discovered on Charaeus is that the Thrael was recently brought to the Cult by a man described as having mechanical eyes. he also brought many battle droids, who helped purge the Cult of those who did not believe that the robot he brought was the Thrael.

Vlad is fairly sure that this man with mechanical eyes is Cirus Cannes, head of Special Projects of the Techno Union. If this is so, it means the Union has taken control of the Cult, though that may be difficult to prove.

Originally posted by Bespin Bart
(Oh, you do not have nothing to do. You have to figure out where that forward base is! Because it is where I am and I cannot simply tell you how I found it! And xp will be handled in a separate thread when Ush deems appropriate.)

"Wasn't planning on it," Xeth says. "But you won't kill me."

"You think I cannot? You wpould prefer another go at the BV-50, perhaps? The tide has turned, Jedi. Your martial skills are no longer a trump card."

"Not quite what I had in mind," Xeth says. "How about a game of cards?"

"Like your Order, you think in old fashioned ways. Such ways get swept aside. My entire Union is about progress, you see.

"We should kill him now," says Cannes' blue-skinned companion. he draws a gun.

"Ah, no," says Cannes. "A gun is certain but suspicious. Eventiually some of Xeth's friends will likely come to this place looking for him, and dead bodies amongsat the trackless ice wastes would normally vanish but Jedi have this irritating habit of instinct. Finding the bodies having been shot will... encourage curioisity that he found something here."

"I know!" Xeth declares. "I was eaten by wildlife. I heard Rekiarius has some rather vicious indigenous lifeforms living beneath the ice."

"Who is he?" Vera-Kin asks, indicating the blue-skinned alien.

"Just an executive aid of mine.

"Oh, and whilst there is no wildlife, many would die in these ice wastelands, Xeth. Shot bodies are suspicious. Drowned bodies, though... ice slides here are common. An unfortunate accident. The Jedi would leave it there."

"Would they?" Xeth says. "Well, it seems this is the end, then. Goodbye, Cirus. I'll see you in hell."

"So you don't know where Xeth is now, why don't we investigate where he was. That destroyed liner, perhaps it will give us a clue to where he went?"

The liner is in dry dock; Vlad was there longer than Xeth, I think.

Now, which of you Renegades has a ship?

-

"You may be wondering, of course, about how we will hide this base you have so searched for?" says Cannes.

"I think I have an idea," Xeth says.

-

Wentar and Fas'hohk both have ships... but Fas'hohk has no way of flying his. Wentar is the best pilot of the Renegades, actually, with Kiu Dun and Xeth not far behind.

Ah, that old trick, eh?

-

"I feel you made a mistake there, Xeth," says Cannes. And at this point, the floor starts to slide away, revealing snow underneath; Cannes steps lightly to rebalance himself.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
The liner is in dry dock; Vlad was there longer than Xeth, I think.

Now, which of you Renegades has a ship?

-

"You may be wondering, of course, about how we will hide this base you have so searched for?" says Cannes.

I've got my ship The Freelancer.

and Denz has one too... or has that changed now?

Well, we need to do the same thing that Xeth tried to do, which is eliminate the choices for nearby planets that could be the base of the Cult/Techno Union. If it's possible for Vlad to get to a map of the nearby planets, he will do so, and start eliminating the choices right away with factors such as environment coverage so that the base could be unseen, and so it is still close enough and still somehow able to support life.

My ship is currently a light freighter that we arrived on Jovan. My fighter is either with it, or at the council.))

Denzral nodded. "Asteroid fields, moons, planets, darelict refinerarys. We should check them all out."

(Sorry I'm late.)

Kiu looks at the group, wondering how we're going to survive.

"Wentar will take his ship and I will pilot Fas'hohk's. Are we all in agreement?"

(Ush, is my droid, R4-K8, with me in any way? I could use it to pull up a star chart of the area.)

(Hey, Kiu, I believe you are with me! Trapped and talking to Cirus Cannes.)

Xeth observes as the floor slides away, revealing the snow beneath.

"What...?"

Indeed, Kiu, you are with Xeth!

"There is no base here, Xeth. That really would not b smart at all."

There is a vast rumbling all around you.

-

You could go check with him, Lance!

Alright, then we will use a star chart to identify the main candidate planet in which it is possible the cult could have a base in.

"It's a starship!" Vera-Kin shouts in amazement.

Lance looks to the other Jedi gathered around. He as he does so he comes to an idea.

"I have a droid in my ship, he can plug himself in to a kiosk and pull up all the information we need about this region." Lance pulls out a commlink and summons his droid to their location. "Our best bet would be to find the nearest planets that are able to sustain life. After that, we could split into teams to cover more ground, but for safety's sake I vote we stick together."

Denzral places a hand on the swivel head of R4-D7, his astromech. "Arfour can lend a hand."

The droid twittled a response, excitedly beeping and turning its photo receptor to face the group.

(I wonder if my droid should be a "girl" since I designated it as K8, aka Kate. mmm)

"Indeed... Before me and Master Marcus left the port the renegades where still trying to find the planet by eliminating them using different factors. We should do the same and perhaps we will find the planet that the renegades went onto"

"While we should start with life sustaining planets and moons, we can't rule out the possibility of a base on a large asteroid."

Vera's instincts serve her well.

"No base here, Xeth," says Cannes. "but under the ice, we hid the Trade Federation's battlefleet. I'm afraid our launch will leave... little left of tbis area. They'll find you deep beneath the water."

-

Both of your astromech droids report that they are picking up an unusual sub-space signal.

"Which is what I said, we should also look into abandoned factories, and any facilities suited to building hybrid droids." Denzral nodded to Lance.

"Where is the signal eminating from?"

"There seems to be a single... Lance or Denz, can you locate where the signal is coming from?"

*Denzral, not Denz... Denz can be used to think of him, and if you are a friend. Call him Denzral* "Arfour?"

"Kate, can you triangulate where this signal is coming from?"

Xeth simply gapes as he realizes that Vera-Kin is correct and Cirus Cannes confirms their fears.

"This won't be our lasting meeting, Cannes!" Xeth shouts. "You will answer for your crimes, one way or another, and I will be there to watch!"

Originally posted by Bespin Bart
"I think I have an idea," Xeth says.

-

Wentar and Fas'hohk both have ships... but Fas'hohk has no way of flying his. Wentar is the best pilot of the Renegades, actually, with Kiu Dun and Xeth not far behind.

yo ush, quick question, why is it that fas hokh cant in these guys terms, "fly a ship"?

(Alright jedireaper, although I'm not sure if it really matters
And Mado'Ade, I can only assume that you don't have anything in Pilot?
Vlad got a Pilot of 2 but no ship)

I have a pilot score of 2 aswell don't worry. And so what are you refering to Vlad regarding me?

g'night

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Indeed, Kiu, you are with Xeth!

"There is no base here, Xeth. That really would not b smart at all."

There is a vast rumbling all around you.

-

You could go check with him, Lance!
Haha nevermind. Disregard what I said.

Kiu takes a deep breath and balls up his fists, ready to lunge at Cannes. Kiu comes to his senses and loosens, but is still poised to take the opportunity if it arises.
"Do not believe for a moment we will die today. I will find you, and I will make you answer for your crimes".

(I think he means how we address Denzral, Jedireaper. Mando'ade, you have no points in the Piloting skill. You can fly your ship from place to place, but probably not do anything that requires skill in piloting. If all else fails, Vlad could pilot it for you! If it is a smaller ship, then you could ride with Wentar and use the turrets while Vlad starfights. Also, Denzral has his Jedi starfighter- likely an early prototype, they weren't made for a few more years- but that is a one-man ship. Just think about how you want to travel guys. It might actually be important as to who is piloting when starfighting occurs... Ush has hinted at that.)

(And welcome back, Kiu.)

While Lance waits for R4-K8 to triangulate the signal, "How many of our lot have got ships? I need to know the size of the ships and how well equipped they are in case we find ourselves in a tight spot. We're also need to know who is going with who. We need our best pilots flying, regardless if it's their ship or not. Those with the best skills at weaponry, you'll have to be at the turrets. Then again, we don't even know if we're going to have to leave this area, but it's best to be prepared."

Curse you employment! Wentar is of course gonna be flying The Free Flier, a small freighter with room for anyone who doesn't have a ship or just wants to fly with, apparently, the best pilot of the Renegades. =P
Is Wentar's ally with him? Come to think of it are Ally's always with you or do they just pop in to say hey every now and then?

Originally posted by Craft
Curse you employment! Wentar is of course gonna be flying The Free Flier, a small freighter with room for anyone who doesn't have a ship or just wants to fly with, apparently, the best pilot of the Renegades. =P
Is Wentar's ally with him? Come to think of it are Ally's always with you or do they just pop in to say hey every now and then?

You have to bring your Ally into play. And as Ush will say, using your Ally will make them unavailable in the near future.

Ah, no need to use him so soon then. Thanks.

Decided to make a short list of ships and pilots, just to see what we have at our disposal.
Ships:
Jedi Starfighter- Denzral's
The Freelancer - Lance's
The Free Flier - Wentar's
The Aldon - Fas'hohk's

Pilots:
Vlad
Denzral
Wentar
Sean
Lance(?)

Jedireaper wrote that he came in a freighter (possibly carrying his jedistarfighter); so I guess he would fly the freighter if we don't have enough room.

I aint a pilot and I aint good at shooting... so that would make me cargo.

"The future belongs to us, Jedi, not you!" says Cannes. "Confirm all insturctions!" he yells over the noise, and a bunch of numbers appear on the screens before him, which he takes in in a few moments, and the screens go dark.

Bu not before Xeth and Kiu, with their Observation skills, see the target hyperspace co-ordinates on one of the monitors...

Cannes and his aide step on a small lift that is set into one of the walls, which then starts to life them upwards out of your sight. The BV-50 hovers around just a little longer, as if staring at you, before floating up to join them.

Click-click

Then the walls recede upwards as well, taking the computer banks with them, and you are exposed to the elements, wtih just the metal underside of a spaceship above you...

-

The source of the signal is very difficult to find because it is not a communications transmission. Your drois report it is a sort of pulse wave being sent over the navigational frequencies that they use to help plan hyperpsace jumps- more a disruption to it, actually, but being done in a regular pattern that lays out a Star Wars version of Morse Code. The signal is directed at this planet and is only being picked up because you asked them to make that navigational overview.

And indeed, Fas, you don't actually have the Pilot skill- but we can blow your xp you got from the prequel story on getting Pilot at 1, ans I am fairly sure you got enough to do that. Phew!

Your welcome with me anytime Jovan.

"A pulse? Okay." Denzral patted R4's head. "Good work."

Wentar wants to decipher what the Morse Code says, if he can.

Well, the message sender claims to be the Astromech droid about the vessel Nexu's Grin.

Wait... that's Xeth's ship!

"Is it a distess signal? Dammit, wheres a protocal droid when you need one?"

Can we get the droids to send messages back the same way? If so can we ask it to send it's whereabouts to Wentar or Fas's ships?

ok, my ships setup is quite opposite of most ships. the droid is the pilot and navigator while fas is the technician. it has 2 turrets on either side that can be controlled by fas or the droid. the turrets are swiveling. also, i'm wondering why i was never given the choice to pick the ability to fly.

A droid will never fly a ship as well as a proper pilot.

And because Freelancers are not natural pilots; they normally bum around the Galaxy on transports.

The earlier mentioned idea on triangulation is the best way to locate the signal- means heading into space and tracking it from different points, though.

Wentar is up for the triangulation method if everyone else is. For now I'ma going to bed. Night all.

well, that may be so but my ship is angled more towards defensive power.

Denzral shakes his head. "The ship may be listlessly floating in space for all we know. Perhaps we can find ourselves a general direction first. Jovan and I will check the planetary records of the ships leaving the system, perhaps it contains the directions in which the ships jumped, I will also need a record or the type of ship the Renegades or Xeth was using." Denzral spoke out, thinking on the fly.

They don't keep those sorts of records, unfortunately (as in the dirction it went).

As for what kind of ship Xeth has... umm... care to remind us, BB?

Well it was worth a look... never mind. I'll sit here quietly.

if the droid can send morse code-ish, why can't it just send in a same way where it is? It must have some sort of idea how it got there...
even if it takes long, Xeth has been missing for so long that a few extra hours wouldn't hurt... hours we would lose already by randomly checking planets and space.

The Nexu's Grin is a very heavily modified Geonosian bomber. The base structure is a bulkier version of the needle-shaped Geonosian starfighter, but more has been added to it to give it more space and an extra turret. It is a Small Freighter (which somehow carried an entire team of Jedi, but that's another story.)

-

Xeth watches in amazement as the Trade Federation vessel shakes itself free of the ice and rises into the fiercely cold atmosphere of Rekiarius.

"We need to get out of here," Xeth says to his companions.

Is there any way out of these bacta tanks, Ush?

The droid is transmitting in a way not desgined for standard communication; its buffer space to actually give information is tiny. Identifying itself is all it has.

So, Jedi and Renegades are off to lock down the signal?

-

Wellm you are fairly sure the massive ice quake will breach them, Xeth... not exacly helpful, I know.

All that is left around here are a few discarded bits and bobs from the ships.

Yup, we'll track down the signal, go rescue Xeth and his companions from imminant death and then head home to party it up like it's the end of Return of the Jedi

Woooo!

Well, let's not waste time and cut a long story short there. A few hours later you have a triangulation which only has one system within it- Rekiarius.

"Rekiarius, here we come." He grinned. "Nice Arfour, good work, and you Kate."

Thinking quickly, Xeth notices the scrap and junk left behind from the take-off of the Trade Federation vessels. Using his connection to the Force, he concentrates and pulls something toward the bacta tank. He hopes to at least crack the tank encasing him.

Do you have Lifting?

That I do not have. Xeth will settle for objects that would fit in his hand, anything to crack the glass.

Vera-Kin has Lifting!

Vera-Kin looks towards Xeth as she senses him reaching out in the Force to pull an object towards himself. She knows that Xeth's control of the Force is not so finely tuned as to pull off what he seems to be trying to do, so instead she uses her own powers to pull something toward her tank and break it.

Well, they won;t come with enoug power to break the glas, Xeth, it's pretty thick.

Do you have MASTER Lifting?

No. Will that prevent Vera-Kin from breaking the glass?

Oooh, tricky... it is very thick indeed and there are not any huge objects around.

But one of those packing cases has your lightsabres in...

-

The rest of you- time to get going there!

Oh! The ultimate tool.

Vera-Kin will yank the packing case toward their bacta tanks to ease the speed with which her companions can retrieve their lightsabers. Once she is satisfied with that, she calls out to her own lightsaber and pulls it towards her tank. She uses her mind to position it so that it is facing her tank, then, with a gesture, activates the teal blade so that it pierces the thick glass.

I call shotgun in whatever ship we're taking Let's go save us some renegades!

Xeth will do the same, summoning it and turning it on outside the tank.

This is going to be a tricky oine Vera because the lightsabres are inside a closed metal case and, not wanting to put him down, but Xeth is useless with anything larger than a handheld object...

All around you, you can see metal spheres rising up and out of the ice, into the air. Dozens of them.

If Vera-Kin can open the case, then, she will do so with her powers. Otherwise, she will be pulling the case so that it smashes against her tank and opens.

Do you have Precision?

(Could be all day asking these...)

They just left the light sabers there? Quiet weird...

Anyways, I think the Renegades and Jedi are set.

Vlad chuckles as the final destination is set. "Well, time to rescue the renegades. They sure will be happy when we get there"

Who's flying in what? This could be a major part because we might have to battle some fighters when we get there... So we need the most skilled pilots piloting the ships.

We are supposed to appeared to have drowned, Vlad. It makes sense that our lightsabers are with us.

And hah! They just keep coming, don't they, Ush?

No, Vera does not have Precision. Something to aspire for?

Indeed- highly suspicious if their sabres are not there! But Cannes has pretty confident they would not be able to etrive them from there, which just goes to show.

Of course, he might be right. Lacking Precision, you are going to have to do the latter, Vera, and smash the box- and this will be a slow process as Lifting ain't fast...

---


And you others come out of hyperspace around the long-abandoned ice world Rekiarius!

All seems clear so far, so don't worry about any fights.

"So good so far" sais Vlad as they come out of hyperspace.

Anything that Vlad could feel in the force?

And if they drowned, it would be pretty much impossible for anyone to retrieve the light sabers anyway, no?

It is better than nothing!

Unless the top of the bacta tank is open and Vera-Kin can drop the case into the tank (which would short out our lightsabers, I'm sure).

Lance gets a shudder as soon as they come out of hyperspace, his mind drifts back the the iceworld Hoth and seeing his master cut down by the Dark Jedi Galder.

No, the tanks are sealed, Vera.

And as Cannes said, Jedi have an irritating habit of finding things by instinct, so that would include the sabres.

Lift... lift... lift.... drop! Smash!

Gah, still intact.


Nothing felt in the force, no..

But you cxan get a reading on Xeth's ship!

Can Vera-Kin sense the direction in which the lightsabers are facing? She has an idea about activating her lightsaber within the box to cut through the box AND the glass, but she doesn't want to destroy other lightsabers.

It is hard to tell absolutely accurately, and there are a lot of difficulties with that- trying to co-ordinate the box and the sabre, because just puncturing the glass won't help you... you really need the sabres freed.

The sphere above you is the last to take off- and it is moving uop now. Luckily it is not jet propelled so there is no flame or anything, but the downforce will be VERY strong...

Vera-Kin will keep attempting to smash the box open, then!

Second time... no good... third time... no good...

A massive wind storm washes over the area. Many other objects are swept away, glaciers crash down, and the ice cracks...

Can Vera use the ice to break the glass?

Does the case even look as if it is being damaged by the drops?

For a large enough cie chunk she needs Master Lifting, else its too slow to break it- remember Lifting is slow...

You think it is, Vera- but hard to tell now through the ice storm!

anyway, shotgun has been called so I call cargo again! Worthless piece of Jedi that I am, I'm already using up the oxygen and can't provide anything useful in the place... besides the idea that I'll probably decapitate myself while trying to hit a laserbolt or something.

Vera will keep trying!

"Kate, give me a lock on Xeth's ship." Lance tells his astromech, he speaks into his ship-to-ship comm, "I'm getting the location of the Nexu's Grin, follow me. We can attempt to board it, there may be clues."

The ice of this world is extremely unstable. Xeth's ship is in one of the few solid areas where you can land without the ice giving way; even so, you will have to be very careful when putting downn!

There are ice quakes in the general vicinity also, it seems.

--

Fourth drop... nothing!

Your tank starts to give way, Vera, lurching at a rightward angle.

Xeth's one is sinking, only Kiu;'s is still upright!

The ship has gone now, the roar has subsided, but the ice has achieved a critical point from which it will not stop!

(Question: Will we be able to get a read on these ships leaving the area, or did we arrive right after they made the jump?)

Vera-Kin looks towards the others as she observes her own tank is beginning to sink.

"I apologize, but we can fix your weapons later!" Vera-Kin says. "More important, our lives are!"

Vera-Kin will activate her lightsaber inside the case, hoping to bust it open by melting it with the heat of her Jedi weapon.

Originally posted by Phucked Up
(Question: Will we be able to get a read on these ships leaving the area, or did we arrive right after they made the jump?)

Well, it does so happen that any droids of yours are picking up some evidence of recent very heavy hyperspace displacement... which answers that. Too late.

-

It activates and sticks out of the side of the case, Vera... achieving little else! It will take a while to melt, and this cold atmosphere won't help... nor will the loads of ice falling on it!

"Ok, so we've found the ship. Any sign of life?" Sean says, leaning back in the cockpit with his feet up on the dash. No respect for your ships has this renegade.

Can Vera-Kin manipulate her lightsaber to spin around and cut off an end of the case?

She has Saber Throw, if it is necessary.

No life, no, just the R3 unit.

-

Precision needed for fine control like that, Vera...

Footprints in the snow? Any indication of where they've gone.

"Guess we're going to have to send one of the R4 units in to communicate with the R3." Lance suggests.

(Is the solid ground big enough for all of our ships? I'm thinking to be on the safe side, we send one ship with an R4 until we have further information.)