Episode II: The Gathering Storm IC Thread 3

[whoiam]

"Hey, you... Feldon? Jas? The young one." Zavi wasn't sure which of the beta humans was which... Still, she didn't need to have the names straight for this next part. Since it involved putting a hand on his shoulder in a concerned fashion. "You look worked up about something. Go on, tell us. If we're not at least honest about our work, this isn't going to be much of a partnership..."

Not that she needed him to answer, of course. The 'concerned' touch on the shoulder was just an excuse to Mind Probe him. She'd get an honest answer as to what he was so worked up about, whether or not he chose to give it to her.

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Usual Mind Probe approach, taking 10 for a 29 on the Gather Information check.

[Thundercracker]

Zoccom:
“Whoa whoa there,” Ray said, leveling his blaster again, “your side of the table is over there, ours is over here. Jas is fine, aren’t ya, Jas?”

“Yeah, I’m not worked up,” Jas replied.

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you keep the force power unless you want to ignore the warning and try to mind probe Jas anyway.

[whoiam]

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Wasn't aware we were on opposite sides of the table. Or that we'd gathered around it, for that matter.

"Oh, really? I'm usually better at reading people than that. Must be your 'rugged good looks' distracting me." Zavi can't - or won't - keep a straight face as she delivers that line. But she doesn't press the attempt at mind reading. So instead, she focuses on Ray.

"But you really shouldn't hide things from me. I'm sticking my neck out far enough being honest about our mission as-is. Conspiring - and so clumsily at that - right in front of us? Well, I really would prefer to start our working relationship on a better note than that. And let's leave it at that, shall we? We all know what sort of unprofitable unpleasantness I'm trying to avoid here.

So tell me: What is it you lot aren't saying?"

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Rather than leaving this one to chance, Zavi's breaking out the Mind Trick on the suggestion that Ray needs to come clean with her. And paying the Plot Point for, "If you are making a suggestion, you may spend a Force Point to improve the target's Attitude by one step, plus one additional step for every 5 points by which your Use the Force check exceeds the target's Will Defense." Taking 10, the check's a 29. And Mind Trick's back on it's one minute cooldown. I really should have picked it more than once :(

[Thundercracker]

Zoccom:

“Jenos asked us to stall you here,” Ray replied.
Jas’ eyes widened while Feldon startled and swiveled his blaster’s aim to Ray’s head.
“E Chu ta!” Feldon cursed.

[whoiam]

Zavi actually chuckles at that one. And here she'd been worried someone might have recognised her. "Does he know we're here now, or is this just a 'if they show up, stall for me' standing order? After all, he torched the last building we were in and had a squad of mercs shooting first at anyone looking to escape the flames... So if Jenos already knows we're here, now's a good time to be somewhere else. For all of us."

Zavi needs to keep them talking for a minute before she can Mind Trick the next member of the group, so the response to this one is entirely down to them. Thankfully Ray should still like her... and the others might just choose to put self-preservation ahead of their orders. Or confirm that Jenos doesn't know they've arrived, and that there's still stallin' time.

[Thundercracker]

Zoccom:
Ray looks like he's about to start talking again but Feldon smacks him in the back of the head.
"What is wrong with you?" he practically shouted at Ray in accented Basic.

"Lay your hand on me again and we're going to have a serious problem," Ray said, pointing his finger at the bigger man and shoving the pistol out of his face, "and point that thing somewhere else."
The two of them are about to start arguing with each other when the door slams open from behind you.

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initiative.

[whoiam]

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Zavi's Initiative: (1d20+19)[33]

[RandomLunatic]

Shyar just groaned. Some days weren't worth waking up for.

((Designating Felton as prime target
Init - (1d20+10)[16]))

[whoiam]

Zavi glances back behind her quickly... just one guy? Well, she had an answer for that one. And for Felton, too, since he seemed to be the most anti-them of the people in front of her. Just grab the guy behind, toss at Felton. Really, really hard. Simple!

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Move Object! "UTF" - (1d20+19)[33] Grab the goon behind, toss at Felton. Hopefully not another 1. *crosses fingers*

[Hyperbolic sine]

As Gial tries to leave the room, he finds Py Ken is blocking the entrance.

“I’ll need my credits back before you go,” he said, motioning to the satchel, “you understand of course.”

"Haha. Of course, how careless of me." Gial said, handing the satchel over - but not before taking out Darnon's datapad. "But I'll still need this. You understand, of course."

"We really should not be working with a Jedi..." Kikari whispered once they were well out of earshot.

"I don't disagree...but I said what I had to say to get out of there. We'll decide what to share once we've found the pearl..."

[Thundercracker]

Zoccom:

The goon goes flying into Felton whose eyes widen in shock. Still, he does his best to brace himself but both of them look pretty bruised by the impact. A few more goons appear in the doorway and fire off a pair of blaster bolts at you both.

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atk Zavi: (1d20+7)[20]
Dmg: (3d8)[4]
Atk Shyar: (1d20+7)[24] flatflooted
Dmg: (3d8)[6]

Then the door behind you slams shut again.

Ray looks confused for a moment, but then ducks out one of the back doors (it looks like it leads to a storage area), and he’s quickly followed by Felton, who turns and fires a parting shot at Zavi before Jas also ducks through and slams the door shut.

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atk: (1d20+8)[10]
Dmg:(3d8)[14]

Gub the bouncer tries to open, then bangs on the storage door, then desperately flips the table over and cowers behind it (he doesn’t have a weapon). There’s currently one goon left in the room and three closed doors.

[Thundercracker]

Coruscant:
“Of course,” Py Ken said, handing over the datapad, “I will pursue official means of tracking down the murderer, and send for a coroner team to take care of the body. May the Force be with you.”

Where do you go now?

[RandomLunatic]

"Yow!" Shyar exclaimed as a blaster bolt singed her arm. She whirled around to meet her attacker, only to find a solid door. "Damnit!" she cried, while reaching out to engage the lock to keep the attackers out. Then she turned again, vaulting the table and descending on the lone armed enemy to vent all her anger.

((Move: Lock door
Standard: Charge goon.
Rapid Strike - (1d20+15)[19]
Damage - (2d10+11)[21]))

[Hyperbolic sine]

After fiddling with the datapad a bit, Gial sighed in defeat. "Yep, can't do anything from here. Up we go...at least we don't have to take the back entrance again." he said. If nothing happened along the way, he'd make his way to the hotel room on the surface.

[whoiam]

Shyar.... probably didn't need help. In fact, it was probably better for all involved if Zavi just let her vent.

Instead, she'd turn her attention to Gub, walking up to the upturned table, peering at him over the top of it, and trying to smile reassuringly. "Hey, Gub... don't worry, not gonna hurt you. Unless you attack me, anyway. Just wanna know... is there an exit through there?" Zavi gestures at the door the others had fled through, not the door back to the club's main floor.

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Taking 10 this time. 24 to persuade Gub to answer her honestly.

[Thundercracker]

Zoccom:

“Yeah, past the storage room,” Gub replied, holding his hands up in the air in surrender.

The knob of the door leading to the showroom rattles, followed by the sounds of multiple blasters, and panicked shouting from the showroom (probably the patrons and workers).

The last door in the room bangs open, courtesy of a heavy booted kick. Jenos is there, maniacal grin plastered on his face. He is wearing some kind of protective suit and a makeshift combination backpack and hose contraption. The hose is perhaps four inches in diameter, and trails behind him down a set of stairs shrouded in white fog, a few wisps of which drift down from the backpack and crawl along the floor.

He doesn’t even say anything, just starts laughing hysterically as he pulls a heavy looking trigger attached to the bottom of the hose.
“Wait wait wait!” the goon shouts, but he is too late.
A stream of white blasts out, blanketing the room.

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area attack missed reflex, take 23. (1d100)[57]

Instinctively you shield your eyes and duck behind whatever cover you can find. It’s so cold your body doesn’t even register the sensation at first, but your exposed skin feels like fire and you can already see icicles forming on your eyelashes. The goon is not so lucky, you see him fall forward and hit the fog covered ground with a sound like shattering glass.

Coruscant:

You leave Py Ken on his comlink speaking with authorities to clean up the body, and backtrack to the small door with the elevator markings. A small gamorrean and a rodian are there, watching the entrance.

“250 credits to use the elevator,” the rodian said.

[whoiam]

Zavi's Force Shield activates quickly enough to shield her from the worst of it. Apart from the bits of her which had been touching the table, sadly. She had to quickly flinch back away from it, cursing her relatively short fur all the while. But there Jenos was - and he didn't seem to have brought any flunkies with him... well, there was only one appropriate reply, right?

She extends one hand towards him, and as she slowly closes her fingers, he can feel the force closing about his throat...

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Zavi's Force Gripping Jenos. Taking 10 for a 29, that gives 6d6 damage and restricts Jenos to a single Swift action a round if it beats his Fort defence. He'll still take half damage if he's tough enough to resist the full effects.

(6d6)[15]

[Hyperbolic sine]

Gial mentally sighed, as he realised Kikari might not be able to do her brainwashing trick on multiple people at once. "...Right. Here you go."

[RandomLunatic]

Shyar sat breathing hard, mind racing through her options, while damnable laughter rang in her ears. Suddenly the laughter cut off, and just like that all her thought focused on one point. Kill.

"C'MERE YA JAWA-TRADIN' BASTARD!" she screamed as she leaped over the table to attack.

((Two swifts to use Combat Trickery on Jenos: Deception - (1d20+17)[22]

Standard: Charge. I'm going to stand to the side of the door so I won't give Jenos cover against Zavi.
Rapid Strike - (1d20+15)[16]
Damage - (2d10+11)[21] plus HP - (1d10)[5] and -1 CT if trick worked.

Edit: Really? Now?))

[Thundercracker]

Coruscant:
“Pleasure doing business with you,” the toll collectors reply.
You take the elevator up to the surface and enter into the abandoned warehouse you were in before. You can easily make your way to a hotel or wherever else you’d like to go on the surface.

Zoccom:

Jenos is lifted off the ground by the power of the Force, his eyes bulging and one hand reaching for his neck to futilely try and relieve the pressure there.

Shyar almost slips on the slick iced over ground but recovers her balance at the last second to avoid sliding past Jenos and down the steps.

The goons blast the door open, and two of them see what’s going on and take shots at Wyn through the door.

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(1d20+5)[18]
(1d20+5)[9]
(3d8)[9]
(3d8)[14]

[whoiam]

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Oh, great, keep shooting Wyn! As if being dead wasn't punishment enough

Neither goon was quite accurate enough to hit Zavi with their salvo; Though Goon #1 was at least close enough to make her flinch as the shot narrowly missed the hand that was choking Jenos.

Hoping the floor had warmed up enough this wouldn't be torture, Zavi walked around to get behind Jenos. While continuing the Force Grip, so he couldn't do anything to stop her.

"Don't suppose you could do something to his goons for me, could you? Don't want them to knock Jenos out of my grip..."

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Both shots missed, so I don't need to make extra UTF checks for the damage. Zavi's using her move action to get behind Jenos, while as far away from him as possible - she's afraid of getting too close during a firefight for fear of a stray shot damaging the tank and spraying her with refrigerants.

(6d6)[22] Second round's damage.

[RandomLunatic]

Shyar, using one hand to steady herself on the doorframe, said, "Oh no, I want a piece of 'im too!"

((Two swifts for combat trickery. Deception - (1d20+16)[23]
Rapid Strike - (1d20+12)[18] + 6 for FP in OOC
Damage - (2d10+11)[19] plus HP - (1d10)[9] and -1 CT if trick worked.))

[Thundercracker]

Zavi keeps up the pressure and Shyar lands a few solid blows. Jenos looks about to pass out, lips turning blue and eyes rolling back in his head. He stubbornly keeps ahold of his makeshift weapon though.

More goons pile into the room, four in total. They aim at Zavi, firing carefully.

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Assist: (1d20+5)[7]
Attack:(1d20+5)[7]
Assist:(1d20+5)[24]
Attack: (1d20+5)[16]
Damage dice:
(3d8)[4]
(3d8)[20]
Jenos delay until after the goons.

[/spoiler]

[whoiam]

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Why do they hate Wyn's corpse so, TC? Whhhyyyyyyy?

Zavi backs off a touch further, heading towards the doorway Jenos originally emerged from - apparently hoping to find cover from the hail of blaster fire. But another near-miss as she moves back seems to have shaken her concentration...

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Don't need to roll vs their attacks, as they still didn't hit Zavi - even with the aid, the attack rolls were 9 and 18, and Zavi's Ref defence is 19. So just the regular UTF check to keep on chokin' Jenos: (1d20+19)[24]
Damage is at least (4d6)[19], and increases by (2d6)[7] if she scores 25 or higher. Halved (and he gets his actions back) if she can't beat his fort defence.

[Thundercracker]

Jenos manages to kick off the wall and into Zavi. It isn’t enough to do any damage, but it’s just enough to get out of her line of sight, and let him drop to the ground. He quickly stumbles and slides down the stairs.

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aoo for Shyar, if you breathe on him he goes down by otherwise he’s going to take his standard to attack.

[RandomLunatic]

"Oh no ya don't," Shyar said, grabbing Jenos from behind. "I ain't through wit' ya yet!"

((Attack - (1d20+14)[30]
Damage - (1d10+11)[16]))

[RandomLunatic]

((That's definitely a hit, so I assume he's down.))

Shyar swept Jenos' legs out from under him and tackled him to the ground, pummeling the gang leader until he stopped struggling.

She was about to add some more when a blaster bolt flashed past her ear, bringing her to the present. Quickly tugging the hood of her thinsuit up to cover her nose and mouth, she grabbed the nozzle from Jenos' hands whirled around to face the office, rising to a kneel. "You need to chill out," she said, her accent suddenly switching to one not normally seen outside of villains in B-holos. Holding the weapon at full arm's length from her body, Shyar triggered it.

((Swift: Recover, 1/3.
Move: Pick up hose.
Standard: Shoot. I'm assuming non-proficiency.
Attack - (1d20+3)[9] +6 FP
Whatever the damage is, Shyar adds +5 before multiplication.))

[Hyperbolic sine]

After making his way back to the hotel, Gial retrieved Anfopor's contact number from the commlink and started to run a trace on it.

Spoiler: OOC

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Not sure how many rolls it will take, so here are a few:
(1d20+22)[27]
(1d20+22)[32]
(1d20+22)[33]
(1d20+22)[37]
(1d20+22)[34]

[Thundercracker]

Zoccom:
Jenos’ head is slammed against the wall. He goes down and Shyar stops him from sliding down the steps. She picked up the cryogun contraption and attempted to pull the firing lever, but it’s frozen in the closed position. There is a brief moment of silence where everyone is apparently expecting something to happen, followed by the goons taking cover in and around the room, two overturn the fridge one ducks by the open doorframe, the last stands in the open doorway leading to the showroom. The two who aren’t hiding behind the fridge take shots at Shyar before ducking behind cover.

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attack: (1d20+5)[15]
Attack: (1d20+5)[22]
Damage: (6d8)[8][7][7][8][3][6](39)
You now know Jenos’ ice gun has a 25% chance of misfire. You can still try again this round if you wish.

[Thundercracker]

After making his way back to the hotel, Gial retrieved Anfopor's contact number from the commlink and started to run a trace on it.

Spoiler: OOC

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Not sure how many rolls it will take, so here are a few:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

You find that Anfopor’s comlink has additional security measures somehow. Running a trace without access to the Coruscant comlink mainframes will be extremely difficult. You’re not able to sufficiently gain access remotely to do so.”, but you’re not sure if authorities have been alerted to your slicing attempts.

You think perhaps you could write a program to help you in the tracing attempt, but it would take time. Alternatively you could always ask someone who has authority to get you access to the tracing programs you need, as you’re almost certain Coruscant has the ability to triangulate comlink locations.