STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Puppets

"It is done."

The triplet rhythm that has been battering away at your sanity suddenly ceases.

"Anyways, there was no correct answer to my question. Many men can use many reasons to explain what they do. But for me personally? Money is a strong motivator."

The metallic mask has thin slits for him to see out of, covered by polarized glass. There is a hose running out one side of the mask's jawline and into his robes.

When you step forward, he smoothly draws his pistol and aims it towards the window behind him.

"Goodbye, Jedi."

Pew! Pew! The red bolts strike the glass, creating a glowing spiderweb of cracks in the window before it finally shatters and exposes this room to the vacuum of space! The Puppet Master is sucked out, into the void, and vanishes below the window.

Oxygen levels decreasing and cabin depressurizing, Tanic! Jedi are strong, but even you cannot survive being thrown into space! The emergency blast covers are not activating.

Ah, crap. Is there an emergency button he can press to activate them? Like an emergency override? If so, he'll hit that with the Force.

It seems that the Puppet Master tampered with the emergency protocols, because the controls are not responding to normal use.

Back to the entrance, then!

Tanic dashes for the corridor.

Easier said than done. With the air in the cabin being sucked out the window, you are having to pull yourself up along the maintenance corridor to fight the suction.

That will be a Strength roll. Up for it?

Yep. Can I use Leaping to help propel myself? (I know it's not strictly the same).

BTW, are we using the new rules system or the old one?

Still using the old rules, for now.

Jumping would be releasing your grip on the maintenance corridor and the suction would likely pull you back.

As it is, Tanic rolls supremely on that Strength check! Enough to hoist himself farther into the maintenance corridor and slam a blast door shut behind him. The suction effect is gone and that room is sealed off. Whew, close one!

But the Puppet Master is gone.

Tanic tries to get on the comms to Kay,
"Master? I confronted the Puppet Master, but he has escaped - outside."

"What do you mean 'outside'?" Kay asks.

"He destroyed a window, allowed himself to be sucked out. I only just escaped - I think he had breathing apparatus," Tanic says, assuming that was what the hose was for.

Bingo! No way he could have survived otherwise.

Kay is unsure what to make of it. In any case, she reports that the workers of the gas processing station have come out of their zombie-like trance.

"Return to the control room, I'll meet you there."

Tanic heads back that way.

When you arrive, Kay is working at one of the few computer banks within the control center that weren't blasted apart during the fighting. Workers of the station stand about her, looking dazed.

"I am trying to use the station's sensors to pinpoint where our friend went," Kay says. "Could you try talking to the workers? I want to know who this guy is and how he did this..."

Tanic heads over to meet a couple of the workers. First he'll inquire as to how they feel - what they remember, etc.

The workers are mostly experiencing intense headaches. They describe it as having knives shoved into the skulls. Many are confused and unfocused, but one of the work leaders is willing to try discussing things with you.

"What exactly do you want to know?" he asks, holding his head and squinting.

"Do you remember what happened?" Tanic asks.

"I'm not sure, but I can try to recall it," he says, wincing.

Work shifts are taken up from Garel to the mining station by shuttle. This worker was on the last one that came in before the crisis started. The shuttles have a cargo area for new equipment to be brought aboard and carry easily a hundred or so workers.

"I recall seeing someone that didn't quite fit in... just a fleeting glance..." he says. "But I couldn't place him once I tried focusing on it. Like he was always just out of sight. Nobody else seemed to notice or care, so I forgot it."

Sounds like obfuscation...

"So, what was the last thing you remember?"

"I was busy operating one of the work stations when the station suddenly abandoned its orbital mining process. Alarms went off but then turned off. And... then I sort of blacked out, I guess. After the headache."

Tanic thinks for a moment, "How long had you been on the station when that happened? A day, or less?"