STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- City in the Clouds

"Someone is following us...and something about what that guard said bothers me..." Rianna says, following after him just as quickly. She's going to take a quick look behind her and see if she can spot who is follow them.

The guard and his cohort are still in step with Zaltus. Still want to say something?

In any case, you are being followed by... oh, just more Wing Guards! They are walking quickly to keep pace with Zaltus.

Ahh. No, then, I'll not say anything, but Rianna's going to keep an eye on these guards - she hasn't forgotten that Rand and Vash had contacts within the Wing Guard and she doubts the two that had been arrested earlier were all of them.

"Something about this feels...off," she says quietly to Zaltus.

Ah, yes, those two. Now that you think about it, it must have been difficult to make connections within the Wing Guard. Vash is all muscle and violence, while Rand (as far as you know) hasn't been seen around Cloud City except for the short time frame you get from the bar message and starport cameras.

"Oh?" Zaltus asks, continuing his fast pace.

"I don't know...it could be nothing," Rianna says, though she's still going to keep her senses open for anything out of the ordinary.

And yes, that is a good point...Vash is about as social as Rianna is, and Rand hasn't been seen around that she knows of. Unless one of his other lackeys has been here...

You find it likely that they would have turned up in the starport camera footage, like Vash and Rand. No, what bothers you is that they specifically found the Guards that would do what they wanted. Maybe not that far of a stretch; the Rocketeer was a generally hated thug and pain in the Guardsmen's collective asses. But still, of all the guards, they found the perfect ones.

-

Zaltus has no response for that and keeps walking.

That is...very true. For that, either they had to have had set things up far in advance, or had been in contact with someone who knew all of the guards very well...

Oh god. Either way that line of thinking goes, this is very bad. As is either possibility for the latter there...

Is Rianna still feeling uneasy, and is it getting worse?

And who knows all of the guards really well?

It is getting much, much worse...

Zaltus and his escorts are walking into a four-way junction of hallways, with a high glass dome overhead and a bizarre piece of Bespin carbon-sculpting art int he center of the room. The room dips down a little around the sculpture. Zaltus and his men (and you by association) are going around the side so that you can just carry on past it, straight ahead.

Your danger sense flares.

Zaltus would know them best...and he's spent the entire episode gaining her trust...

As soon as she senses danger, Rianna will draw and ignite her lightsaber, ducking into cover behind the sculpture and trying to figure out exactly where the danger is coming from.

Men are emerging from the corridors to the sides, armed with blaster rifles! They starting firing almost immediately, spraying lasers all over the area you are standing in.

"Get to cover!" Zaltus orders. He sprints ahead to the forward hallway, the two Guardsmen keeping up with him and tumbling into the hallway to avoid the lasers. Those that were trailing hang back and draw their pistols, pressing against the walls.

You may not be all that surprised now to see that the men with rifles are Wing Guardsmen. Fortunately, that weird sculpture provides cover from both sides, as you duck into it more than behind it. All six roll very poorly and the bolts explode all around you or ricochet off your blade and off into the room.

Could also be the Administrator, of course, as he has to sign off on anyone that applies to the Guard...still. Either way. BAD.

How many attackers total? Just the six?

So it seems! Three on either side.

Also, so you have an idea about the sculpture- I'm keeping it abstract, but it is roughly ball-shaped and hollow, with wispy curved bars of metal forming the shape.

Rianna is going to dive out of the sculpture then, moving the opposite direction from where Zaltus and his men dove into the hallway, slashing at a guard with her lightsaber.

Before you do that, I'd best get Combat Time going and find out what schticks you're favoring.

----

WING GUARD AMBUSH, Start of Turn 1

North Hallway

Zaltus (G14): 1/0 [MM EE GS] (2F)

Guards (G7) x2 (pistols)

East Hallway

Corrupt Guards (G6) x3 (carbines)

Center

Rianna (LS10): 3/15 [OGu RI CL] [FwGu PS] (2F) (sculpture)

West Hallway

Corrupt Guards (G6) x3 (carbines)

South Hallway

Guards (G7) x4 (pistols)

----

That's better!

So, schticks and which direction are you moving? From the sculpture you can go to any of the four directions. After that, you can move to adjacent locations.

Those look good, and West.

This turn can only really go to Rianna's advantage! Either she loses initiative and stays in the sculpture and wins it and gets her kills.

As it is, she comes flipping out of the sculpture and into the midst of the Guards in the West. She lands with her lightsaber having split a man open down his chest, then nimbly twists around and impales a second.

That must have broken the resolve of the remaining guard there, because he fluffs his shot entirely. Oops.

Those in the East have to shoot through the sculpture to get at you. One hits nothing but the sculpture, while a pair of bolts slip through and hit Rianna for 6 damage total.

----

WING GUARD AMBUSH, Start of Turn 2

North Hallway

Zaltus (G14): 1/0 [MM EE GS] (2F)

Guards (G7) x2 (pistols)

East Hallway

Corrupt Guards (G6) x3 (carbines)

Center

West Hallway

Rianna (LS10): 3/21 [OGu RI CL] [FwGu PS] (2F) (sculpture)

Corrupt Guards (G6) x1 (carbines)

South Hallway

Guards (G7) x4 (pistols)

----

Rianna senses overwhelming danger as Zaltus quick-draws his pistol and the others follow his example.

Oh god. Rianna's going to duck back into the sculpture and what cover she can get from inside there, forgoing an attack to activate Coordination.

That's assuming you get initiative.

Yeah. If not...same action, really, as I'll still get the Coordination defense and I don't really have anything better defensively speaking than what I've already got in.

You could tap Perfect Strike.