IC: E-i-E - Ardent Emancipation

[Felhammer]

The troopers nod in agreement. They retrieve their two comrades and haul them out of the Prison. The fiery red sunset sets the Stormtrooper's armor ablaze. As you watch the LA-AT maneuver around in front of the two squads, you can't help but feel this is the last time you will see Brains and Lurk alive...

[Mithric Gunn]

Sharka eyes open, and he looks at Keleaon, "He is in a cramped metal box. He seems oddly calm, dispassionate even. But he knows we're on our way now, and that there is a Sith after him as well. I can contact him every so often to gather his emotional state, so we hopefully know if he is in danger."

[Thundercracker]

Ice
"How are we supposed to find a worm in a place like this?" Ice asks, "it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. "

He blinks.

"And no bird jokes, dammit," he adds before pulling out a comlink.

"Red Dawn, request sensor scan of the prison, see if you can at least give us the dimensions of the facility so we know how much ground we have to cover," he says.

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I'm trying to get an idea of how tall/wide the prison is. If we know how high the ceilings are, we can estimate how many levels there are and how much floor space each level has. With that info, we'll know how much time we have to sweep each floor, and whether we should bypass the lower levels and hope he's up top.

[Major]

"As I noted to the people currently here while waiting, the elevator is most easily trapped. With all the intricate traps, setting a bomb to blow up an elevator shouldn't be too hard. I'd recommend we blow the elevator ourselves and take the elevator shaft." Kelaeon states.

[Noedig]

Jarik jogged up as Kel finished.

"I'm not opposed but there may be more of those droids on the inside waiting for 'prisoners' to try that. You wanna test the elevator first, see if it blows and then take the shaft? I'd love to never see those droids again. There is probably a control room for the lift nearby. Seems reasonable that there would be."

[Major]

"Problem is we have to worry about a trap that will activate when it sees us step aboard it." Kelaeon states. "I'd be surprised if the elevator was not trapped considering the crazy traps in the labyrinth."

[Iron Victory]

"I agree with Knight Kelaeon. We should try to set off any traps preemptively, and after the shuttle incident I’d rather not ride in a metal box dangling hundreds of feet over nothing. Additionally, it seems your troopers are suitably equipped for a climb up the shaft."

[Thundercracker]

Ice
"If I were designing the prison, I'd put the killer droids in the shaft, where nobody is supposed to be and where prisoners would try to hide. If we can figure out how the prison guards got around, we should have an easier time," Ice says, "assuming this prison even had guards."

"I'm guessing if there were guards, they'd use the elevator, so all we need to do is convince the elevator that we're guards," he says.

Ice eyes the spiral staircase leading to the elevator.

"Kel, can you do your danger sense thing, if I try to walk up these stairs?" he asks.

[Mithric Gunn]

Sharka says, I can help you with that. He closes his eyes, concentrating on the flow, as his form shimmers.

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UTF, search your feelings, if i walk up the stairs with Ice:
(1d20+17)[25]

[Felhammer]

You do not feel... Anything. It is as if you are reaching out into a void...

[Noedig]

"What's the call Bones? The stairs gonna come to life and prison rape us?"

[Major]

Kelaeon tries to reach out in the Force for a danger sense as was asked before speaking, "I don't doubt that the shaft will have traps. The problem isn't the original defenses either, but the person inside who is on their way to the doctor now, the one I'm pretty sure is our Givin friend." Kelaeon states, "It is much easier to fight off droids than it is to survive a metal box trapping us inside as it plummets to the ground and splatters all of us, as Sairen accurately understood."

Kelaeon sighs, "While jumping over the crates you did see the many levels and craziness of these traps right? And yet, there is no fear that stepping into that elevator it will simply plummet?"

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Search Feelings, UtF as well. Doubt it'll work based on the doctor's but he was asked.

UtF: (1d20+16)[33]

[Mithric Gunn]

"I sense... nothing. Very strange."

[Noedig]

"Huh. Well I guess we'll just have to keep a tight grip on the soap then, won't we."

[Mithric Gunn]

Sharka chuckles. "Yes, of course. We wouldn't want anything to bar our progress."

[Felhammer]

Kel senses the same void.

[Thundercracker]

Ice
"Alright, let's destroy one of the crates and use the planks to bang on the ground in front of us, to set off any motion detectors and pressure plates," Ice says.

The diminutive Mrlssi moves to one of the crates, looks up at it, then turns around.

"A little help, maybe?" he says.

[Iron Victory]

Sairen moves to Ice and draws a small cylindrical device, scanning the crates for traces of radiation. If clear, he snaps a short order at Titus in Cheunh, who moves to carefully pry apart the crates.

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He has a strength score of 20, but just in case a check is needed: (1d20+5)[6]

....let's hope a check isn't needed.

[Felhammer]

As Titus heaves the crate above his head, it proves unexpectedly dense. The droid's joints buckle under the pressure and the box topples down on top of him, knocking him to the ground. The crate's hatch bursts off in the fall, revealing a shimmering golden stature of Darth Krayt stabbing his lightsaber through the a helpless man whose face is full of fear and doubt. As you gawk at the solid gold statue, you realize the fear-stricken man is in fact Emperor Fel.

EDIT:

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Titus takes 1 point of shame damage.

[Mithric Gunn]

"Any way we could take this with us? It would be quite rich to melt it down to help fund the war against Krayt."

[Iron Victory]

Titus clambers out of the heap, "I am programmed for protection, etiquette, and assassination. I am not a labour droid..." He continues at his task.

[Thundercracker]

Ice
"Trust me, if the Emperor is up to what I think he is, getting Doctor Ee will help the war effort a lot more than a bunch of melted down gold," Ice replies, "besides, trying to carry enough to make a difference will just slow us down."

The Mrlssi fluffs his feathers up slightly.

"Of course, if you think you can carry some for yourself and not fall behind, then by all means, have at it," he adds with a chirp.

[Philistine]

"Right. Let's consider what we know," Graff breaks in, irritation evident in his tone and in the resurgence of the clipped Bastion accent. "One. This place is trapped like a Hutt's harem, as keenly demonstrated during the Blind Plunge Into The Labyrinth stage of the adventure. This suggests that doing the obvious thing at any juncture is likely to have lethal consequences. Taking the first lift we see, for example, would be the obvious thing to do. Two. This place is a working prison facility - and that means the operators must have had ways to get around safely, we just need to discover them. That's not going to be blowing up the lift and climbing the elevator shaft - Ice is right about that being a prime spot for anti-intruder countermeasures. We have another, non-lift-related option right there," he says, pointing to the unmarked hallway. "That's probably also our best bet to find something like a control room… or any kind of active computer terminal at all. Maybe we can get a floorplan, or even a manifest showing where the objective is." He switches to a private link before going on, "Three. Knight Kelaeon, I don't know why you're so fixated on someone who was last seen spatter-painting a bulkhead with the contents of his skull - someone who, judging by the available evidence, was trying to aid our mission to the Wheel before he was gunned down by Sith troops. I also don't care. You need to get over it, now, because whoever or whatever is down there is using your paranoia against you like a goad. You're allowing yourself to be herded like a bantha, and it's going to get us all killed. Pull yourself together and soldier, soldier."

[Major]

"I'll note that 'ally' of ours knew our entire mission, lured us to the same people that would end up being a danger to us, and enjoyed hanging out speaking with ancient sith statutes. Regardless of if it is indeed the target from the Wheel, the point still stands that we do have someone moving towards our objective. I'm not saying we have to rush to our death, but I am saying we are on a timer and running off exploring and having tea parties aboard pretty ships will not get us to that objective any faster. Nor will dying." Kelaeon replies, "Next, if these traps were set by the prison staff, then you would be correct that there is a way to get around. But we aren't sure about that. Everybody here seems to be dead or zombies and that doesn't seem something prison personal would be apt to do and seems more likely the psychotic presence heading to the doctor that wants to 'play games'."

[Thundercracker]

Ice
"Nothing's changed. We know Krayt's coming for Dr Ee, we know we need to find him before he gets here," Ice says, "problem is, we don't know where the doctor is, we don't have a map, or a way of speaking to him."

"Now there's someone in the prison moving towards the doctor. If this character knows where the target is and we don't, and the guy is moving to the target right now, why don't we just follow the guy right to the target?" Ice asks, "it'd be better than searching around blindly."

[Thundercracker]

Ice
"Wait a sec," Ice says.

The Mrlssi, with some difficulty, unslings his pack and retrieves the box Torin the Ithorian had given him on the last mission.

"What are the chances our doctor is in this box?" he asks.

Edit: "I mean, wouldn't it be ironic if we're already carrying the target with us, and the spy planted the information that he was here, and Krayt was coming to get him, just to get us here so they could trap us and retrieve what they missed on the Wheel?" he adds.

[Major]

"Seems a rather silly possibility, but you are the one with the box." Kelaeon says with a shrug. "Only one way to find out."

[Thundercracker]

Ice
"Yeah...," Ice replies, "let me try something."

Big danger when I was about to open the box before, so can't do that..." he thought.

"I'm with Graff, by the way, I can see the prison staff complaining about having to walk up and down the stairs all the time," he adds.

Ice sits down and begins tapping on the box.. twice, then thrice, then five times, then seven times, then eleven, then he waits, holding the box and listening...

If there is no response:
"Okay, next time you contact Dr Ee, if he comes up with the number 13 as a response, he's in the box," Ice says.

[Mithric Gunn]

Sharka tries to sense inside the box, checking for life.

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(1d20+17)[18]

[Felhammer]

Sharka tries to sense life within the box but his energies are wasted, for the box blocks the force.