Star Wars D20 - Freelancer(IC)

[donteatdave]

Evayn looks up at Kaff. "Damn, you're probably right." He pauses for a while, then says "Well, what now? As soon as we land, I think a crew meeting's in order. Trill may not want to stay around now that JZ's gone, and we have to decide what to do with the ship. I'll check over some things in the flight, see what our options or obligations are. We may now be responsible for paying up to a Hutt, in which case we'd better find some more work. And if we can, I feel we owe it to JZ to find out who exactly wanted him dead and why." He's clearly angry over JZ's death, though he makes attempts not to show it. "As far as I'm concerned, he didn't deserve that kind of death."

As soon as the ship lands, Evayn asks everyone to meet up in the common area to talk. While waiting, he looks over some information regarding who exactly is responsible for the ship now, checking JZ's datapad as well as some legal notes in his own. He glances at the artifact case on the table and, curious, opens it to see what exactly got JZ killed.

Knowledge
Beaurocracy - (1d20+7)[24]
Business - (1d20+5)[11]

[Lord_Kimboat]

Kaff

Kaff comes to the common room and sits for the meeting. Once everyone is assembled he says, "Okay, I don't really know how these things go but I might as well start. I'm going to assume we're going to take over the Mule and run it ourselves? I'm happy to stay on but you guys do know that I haven't been mind bogglingly successful so far at security."

"Perhaps the first thing is we should get a . . . you know . . . agenda. That's the word I'm looking for. Set out the things we need to talk about. Things I can think of are - things we need to do and take stock of what we have. On what we need to do, first I suggest we agree to pay off the Hutts. We probably don't want them trying to kill us. Second, we still probably have this minor spidermouse problem, we might want to deal with that at some point. We also might want to hire some more crew at some point."

Kaff takes a breath and continues, "what we have are three blasters and the Captain's gun - it's big and impressive but illegal on a lot of places and might draw unwanted attention. We can sell some or all of them. We also have these artifacts although I don't know what to do with them. Finally, I know that Evayn found some work that might lead to some money."

[dauphinous]

Kera

Taking it easy, Kera flies smoothly and radioes in before setting the ship down lightly on a landing pad on the other side of the city. She sits in the cockpit for a few minutes, staring at the controls. That really just sucked. They probably didn't even kill him for a reason - just to not have to pay. Since they didn't seem to have much money on them, it had to have been their intention all along. I hope the bounty hunters caught them all.

She powers down the ship and takes the stairs down to sit, scowling, in one of the chairs. She pulls her legs up and wraps her arms around them, perching her chin on her knees. "Who is going to be the Captain here? Can't have a ship without a Captain."

[lawful_evil]

With the ship back on the ground, the crew gathered in the common area, and some strange smells coming from the galley, the crew settles in to make some decisions.

Evayn pulls out the artifact case and attempts to open it. The latches release easily, but the case seems to still be tightly sealed.

The three blasters that Kaff produces are clearly stock, mass produced by Blastech, blaster pistols. The Captains heavy blaster is quite unique with several modifications.

As Kaff mentioned Evayn has already scouted out several job oppertunities, but without a doubt more exist if someone is willing to spend the time locating new clients. In addition to the spidermice problem, the ship is in need of repair in quite a few places as well as having a serious need for some upgrades.

About 10 minutes after landing, Trill comes to the common room holding 5 plates. He sets them down in front of everyone and takes a seat with the fifth plate. The dishes contain very vibrant and colorful food. The main dish is composed of a bright red strips in a aqua blue sauce with some neon green plant stalks on the side. Trill nods at the food, smiles, and begins to eat.

[Santanya]

Daine

Daine enters the common area with the others about ten minutes after landing, sitting down next to Kera. He reaches out and squeezes her shoulder gently once as Trill brings the plates out. "Thank you," he says, nodding to Trill.

"Well, the ship is flight ready, but its not without its problems. The mice need to be taken care of soon I think," he says, looking to the others. "Just some traps or the like could take care of them. If we're going to keep this going though, once we have payment we do need to make some repairs still though." He takes one of the green plant stalks and dips it into the sauce, then bites into it. "I don't know about you all, but I'm just the engineer, keep me in supply of parts and I'll stay with the ship." He glances towards Kera. "Provided the pilot stays at least," he chuckles once looking back towards the food. "And with food like this, I'm sure that we would like to keep you around, if you wish to stay, Trill."

[donteatdave]

With everyone assembled, Evayn sits with the rest of the crew and occupies himself with eating while the others speak. He thanks Trill and compliments the meal, then looks up to the others. "I think Kaff's right in that we should make paying off the Hutts our first priority. We don't need them breathing down our necks. These spider mice things sound like an easy-enough problem, we'll just pick up some poison or traps or something next chance we get. Kaff, if I've got anything to say in the matter you're sticking around; neither Vicks nor the captain was your fault."

At Kera's question, Evayn answers (perhaps a bit too quickly), "I may be jumping the gun a bit here, but I nominate myself. You all have useful things to be doing on the ship at any given time--flying, fixing, or fighting--and while I can work sensors or comm, I've had some practice at organizing people before, and I've also been given the run-down on our finances and such."

"So, if it were up to me, we pay the Hutts, then get our repairs. We'll have to put some things off as long as the Mule can stay in the sky. Other than that, our first order of business is probably work."

He fiddles with the case as he's talking, then shoves it toward Daine. "This thing is packed in vacuum or something, it won't open. Do you think you can take a look at it, see what exactly we're carrying around here?"

[Lord_Kimboat]

Kaff

"Alright, I'm happy to stay." Kaff says as he takes a bit of the meal Trill prepared, and then immediately shovels more into his mouth, "hmmm, this is really good."

"As for being Captain, I suppose your the best option. Unless we go with Kera, who's a pilot. Aren't Captain's traditionally pilots? It doesn't really matter to me, I don't want the job. I'm more a follower than leader."

About the case, Kaff comments. "Yeah, it's sealed. Little Johnny told us that it needed to be that way or something, although that could have just been to keep us from looking inside. Maybe we should scan it or something?"

Concerning the blasters. "I'm thinking that we keep one of the standard ones, just as a backup and maybe for Daine here to use. I'm happy to teach him. As for the Captain's weapon, I suggest we hold on to that as well. It could be useful if we need something bigger later on." He looks sympathetically toward Trill. "Trill, would you like to hold onto it? It's the only thing we could really save of the Captain's."

[dauphinous]

Kera

Enjoying the food immensely, Kera smiles appreciatively at Trill. At the suggestion that she should be Captain, though, she lifts an eyebrow. "No, thanks. Evayn, Captain is all yours." She continues to eat as she listens.
"Guys, we have no idea what's in there. No idea. It could be anything. I don't think we should open it without some kind of clue what it might be. And I don't think we should hold onto it any longer than we have to. Someone apparently wants it. This hypotethical person might not care that he didn't get it, but I'm betting he'll be looking for us. Maybe he'll want to deal, and maybe he'll just want to take it." She pauses. "We should consider changing the ship's name."

[lawful_evil]

Trill sits and eats listening to the conversation and when Daine says he can stay, Trill has a look of relief on his face and he nods, but does not say anything. The conversation continues, but slowly the smell of a spring bouquet of flowers over takes the smell of the freshly cooked meal.

Once everyone has finished their meals, Trill takes the dishes away and starts to clean up. By the time he has finished cleaning up its about 11pm, 4 hours after the meet.

[Lord_Kimboat]

Kaff

Listening to Kera, Kaff says, "well that's a cheerful thought. Although changing the name is probably a bit serious. We could just get lost in the galaxy - maybe we should just take on a quick cargo and head somewhere else to make a few credits and lose any tail we might have."

[donteatdave]

"I agree with the idea of a name change, as well as maybe getting out of this little corner for a while," Evayn says. He looks a bit concerned, and says "We wanna make sure that the Hutts don't think we're skipping out though. Probably best to make a payment soon. As for a job, there was that blockade run. I bet we can squeeze a few more credits out of the guy who needed that done--if the shipment doesn't go, he's in bad shape." Excited at the prospect, he goes on: "Any qualms with taking on that job, then making a payment and changing the 'Mule's name and look once we get where we're going? That should shake anyone looking to follow us."

[dauphinous]

Kera

Kera nods to Evayn. "Sounds good to me." She shifts her gaze to Kaff. "And Kaff, I know a little about tinkering with blasters. Someday, when this droid is fixed up, I can put some effort into tweaking our blasters. Can't use them while they're in process, though, so I say we keep the ones we found, at least for now. Besides, blasters can jam and break just like anything else. Having extras around isn't a bad thing."

[Lord_Kimboat]

Kaff

"Alright, it all sounds good." Kaff comments, "so Evayn, you organize the cargo for us to run and we'll get off-world as soon as possible and then pay off the Hutts asap."

[lawful_evil]

Not hearing any objections Evayn says, "Fine, I'll contact the Gungan and see if he is still looking for transit."

Trill nods and yawns and says, "Everything is cleaned up. I'm going to try to sleep. Please wake me if you need anything." Trill then climbs up the bridge.

[dauphinous]

Kera

Kera nods to Trill as he goes. "If we're going to run a blockade..." She purses her lips and looks generally thoughtful for a few moments. "You know, I'm sure I can fly the ship through that, but that doesn't account for them shooting at us. The Mule isn't exactly a paragon of grace and speed. Maybe we should stock up on some parts and stuff for repairs in case this doesn't exactly go down as smoothly as we'd like."

[lawful_evil]

As Evayn heads out to make the call, he hears Kera's suggestion and responds, "It may be a good idea anyway, I don't know where we are dropping these droid off at. It may not be a place we can buy replacement parts." Pausing to think for a moment he says, "We might want to decide the setup and rules of engagement. Like.. are we going to shoot back? Who is going to be making the astrogate calculations? I know the basics, but I'm not an expert at all. We've got a droid to help, but we'll need him either plugged into the computer or up on the bridge helping. Does it talk yet? Can it understand our commands? Will it even help, or do we need to wait for the next jump?" Evayn shrugs his shoulders and heads out to the public commlink on the wall of the hangar bay just outside the ship.

[Lord_Kimboat]

Kaff

"Well I don't really know much about ships but I've at least had a bit of practice at firing the guns. It . . . it's something I can do." Kaff says as he remembers it was the last thing that the Captain talked to him about. A determined look formed on his unhelmeted features. He wasn't about to let one of the Captain's last acts be in vain.

[dauphinous]

Kera

Kera sits, leaning back casually in her chair, apparently unconcerned about anything Evayn suggested before walking away. "I can plot an Astrogation course before we even take off. I pick a point in space, and we just have to make it that far before kicking the hyderdrive engines in. We gotta get past the atmosphere, but that's it. No problem. As for shooting at things, I say we plan on not shooting at anything bigger than us. Waste of time and no reason to torque them off any more than we have to. Shoot at little stuff if they shoot first, but avoid doing it when we can. Ramming the little ships is more fun, anyway."

[Santanya]

Daine

Daine smirks at Kera, rolling his eyes. "I'll keep the shields up as long as I can then," he says, shaking his head towards Kera. "Shift them around and the like, hopefully that's enough." He chuckles leaning back. "Why do I think life just got a tad more interesting?"

[lawful_evil]

Evayn returns 5 minutes later a slight smile on his face. He says, "That old Gungan still needs our help. It turns out that he, and his cargo, are just three bays over. We can either walk over and meet him or move the ship over to his bay so that we can start loading while we discuss the details of the transaction."

He pauses and then decides to elaborate on the original meeting with the Gungan, "So, from what I remember of the original meeting, this guy claims to be legally transporting old style used battle droids from that trade federation war on Naboo. He said the droids had already been sold and that the Imperial cruiser destroyed the first half of the shipment."

Evayn continues and says, "He said he was worried that the buyer might hire bounty hunters or something if he didn't delivery something soon. I don't know how true that is, but we should be careful even when not in space."

[dauphinous]

Kera

As Evayn details the job, Kera's eyebrow goes up and up. "Does anyone else suddenly have a bad feeling about this?" Then she smirks. "Ah well. I guess it just means we should get moving." She stands up and gives the droid an almost sorrowful looks and a sigh. "I'll move the ship over." With that, she heads up to the bridge to get the ship moved to the other landing bay.

[Lord_Kimboat]

Kaff

As Kera goes to move the ship, Kaff sits, straps himself in and grabs on to whatever fixed objects he can find. Even though they are only moving three bays down, Kaff guesses that Kera won't be able to resist at least some aerobatics.

[lawful_evil]

Once the hatches are closed, Kera lifts the ship gently and sets her down three bay over. As can be seen from the window of the bridge, a tall cloaked figure can been seen with a datapad near 4 large cargo containers. The containers are painted dark grey and the only marking they bear is 'This side up.'

The containers will just barely fit within the cargo bay and rest on 4 heavy duty 'self-loading' cargo loaders. Suddenly the dark sky lights up as lightning arcs across the sky. A storm cloud grows nearer and the threat of rain more intense. The wind picks up and swirls dust and dirt in the landing bay.

[dauphinous]

Kera

Half sliding down the stairs, Kera grins when she sees Kaff. "What? Like that much of a flight is worth the effort." She chuckles. Gotta keep you on your toes, Kaff. It's no fun if you're expecting it. "Weather's turning nasty. We should get this done as fast as we can and blow this planet." She continues on her way to head down throught he cargo bay. If no one else gets there first, she'll open the doors, but she lets Evayn talk to the tall cloaked figure. As soon as he says it's a go, she'll help get the cargo loaded.

[donteatdave]

Evayn waits until he feels the ship touch down, then makes his way quickly to the bay doors. Spotting the cloaked figure he can only assume is the Gungan he spoke to, he approaches him purposefully.

"Our pilot wants to get moving pretty quickly, so let's get this taken care of," he says. He holds out his datapad. "Why don't you go ahead and upload our delivery coordinates, and then let's talk some business. What's the going rate on blockade running these days?" he asks with a grin.

[Santanya]

Daine

Daine chuckles softly, shaking his head towards Kaff as they touch down. He moves down to the cargo bay to help with loading the cargo if needed. He frowns slightly at the large containers and shakes his head, and even more when lightning cracks across the sky. "Well that's omninous," he remarks as he stands by the bay door.

[lawful_evil]

The cloaked figure watches the Evayn approach and after he speaks, the figure pauses a few seconds and then with a sudden move throws back his hood and stands up straight and shakes out his ears. Smiling at his good fortune, he gurgles his throat clear and says, "Of coursa, meesa being sorry. Letsa get going." He reaches over with his left hand and taps out a set of coordinates onto Evayn datapad.

Once loaded, the datapad reveals the destination, "The Zibal System". As the old gungan limps over to the ship, "Thisa being your fine ship? Nothing like the classics." As he climbs the loading ramp he reaches over and give the side of the door a shake with his right hand and mutter, "Yesasir, a fine ship. Meesa thinking, this ship can hold the 84 tons, yes? I'za can be paying you only 38 credits per ton. Yousa knowing I'm in a hurry, soz, I can be paying you an extra 500 if'n yousa can be getting my there in..." He pauses and checks his datapad before continuing, "Twenty Four and point 2 hours."

The old toothless Gungan smiles and says, "Wellza, weesa having a deal? Cansa meesa start loading the ship?". He taps a button on his own data pad. The cargo containers light up and start hovering a tenth of a meter off the ground. The nearest one starts moving slowly towards the ship. The Gungan smiles again and raises an eyebrow.

[donteatdave]

Evayn smiles amiably, thanking the Gungan for his compliments on the ship. I wouldn't go so far as 'fine.' Servicable? Decent? Functional? Sure, but probably not fine, he thinks.

After the Gungan's proposal, Evayn says "Well, it's a rough situation. Blockade, possible bounty hunters, and now rough weather. Tell you what, make it 41 per ton, and you've got a deal. A fast trip like that will burn through our fuel, not to mention the increased chance of a problem in hyperspace." He smiles and sticks out a hand, willing the client to go for it.

Diplomacy - (1d20+10)[12]

[dauphinous]

Kera

Listening to Gungans always makes her head hurt, and the thought of a bonus that was really all on her to earn or lose wasn't helping. Dammit. Stupid smashed up droid. If we just had time to fix it up first. Hell. We'll be really damn lucky if I can plot a course good enough to get us that bonus. She nods to Evayn if he looks, with a cocky grin.

[Lord_Kimboat]

Kaff

After Kera's standard landing, Kaff unstraps himself, shrugs and replies to her comment, "I've learned it doesn't pay to take chances."

Replacing his helmet and grabbing his rifle, Kaff heads down to the cargo area and does his 'standard intimidating guard' routine.

(Intimidate if needed (1d20+2)[14])

After the deal is finalized, Kaff immediately assists in the loading of the cargo, making sure that there is suitable access to the rear weapons pod where he plans on sitting once they take off.