LeanerMinds

Episode 27

Get a meal and have a chat, keeping things social as this is a Black Sun hangout. We decide to target Lind first and to start this evening. We form a plan. Lisana to charm accompanied by Cho and bodyguard Urrly. Zak, Reeva & Dane will be backup/rescue outside. Lisana & Reeva check out the area and notice the house is marked as belonging to the Red Thaelos. They run a spice drug, Bugsy spice, a pain number. Mark is current. The house is single room dwelling and team 1 approach. Reeva makes a perception check but fails. Team 1 knock the door. No response. Cho checks out back. Lisana knocks again and then goes opens the door. Lisana smells sweat, alcohol and spice. She remains on the threshold. A flickering blue light gives some illumination. Lisana turns on a torch. Mattress in middle of floor. Place is a mess. Lind is slumped in a chair. Human, male, 50s, unkempt. Has only one leg, a old wooden one is next to him. Lisana tells us. Urrly searches him. He accuses them of breaking in. Lisana says the door was open. Urrly stands in the doorway on guard. Lisana asks if he has eaten. He wants to know what they want. Lisana says she can maybe help him improve his situation. Says he doesn’t need it. Lisana says she is there for information. He says he won’t tell them about the gang. She says she wants to know about Treehees. Lind says he ran Treehees spice operation. Says he was left for dead and a creature chewed off his leg. He is happy to stick it to Treehees. He says Treehees used to have a place in the slums but moved to a swankier location. He provides some names of associates. And gives them the name of a bar for future meets.

The gang arrive. We are withdrawing rapidly. We reach the air speeder. They discuss whether to break in on the rhodian fence.

Late at night we investigate & find the fence has a legitimate front. It is on the way to the ship. We should bear in mind this is a nice area. Reeva uses force to check out the bedroom. No-one is in bed. Maybe he is out. Decide to come back in the morning.

We check out Monarch Overland Adventures. Reeva and Cho manage to hack into a list of Monarch terminals. There is one in Kenzo’s office, several in the warren and a number scattered about. All in buildings. We target one that offers possibilities. Get inside and start to hack. Can’t get in. She moves to one side to let Cho try, assisting where she can. Nope. That doesn’t work either. We head for a nearby hotel to get some rest. Most up for breakfast, Lisana preps a box for Reeva & we all head out to the fence. Team 1 go in. Dane watches back & Zak/Reeva front. Lisana engages the Rhodian in conversation, mentioning weapons and producing her disrupter as an example. He is now nervous. He panics and initiatives a droid attack on Lisana. Lisana dodges. Cho leaps for the Rhodian and threatens it with a lightsabre to call off the droid. He does.

R2 detects incoming police. Time to go. He is told they will be back. Police arrive as we leave. Dane stays behind to see what happens, calling a cab and planning to meet at the Noodle bar, the Early Bird. We scan the place on a drive by. Reeva & crew don’t spot anything.

Urrly, Reeva & Zak go in to get noodles and case the joint. Says Zan are operating out of a crater called Black Wind, fairly remote. Wants to be more involved but Lisana explains they are not ready yet and promises to be back in touch. Next dues from Red Thaelos due in a week. Cho remembers that Black Wind consortium was a destination on the Monarch net. The crater is steep, and the terrain is swampy jungle with its own ecosystem.

We try another Monarch terminal. And hurrah! Success. The back door is a form that is blank and gives error messages, clicking on those gets us in. Cho takes over to do the next step. It is impossible to make a booking through this system. Everything looks already fully booked. Cho gets in and finds files one of which supplies the exact location of the ex-separatist base where Treehees is supposed to be. Has about 30 personnel. There is an active system Admin, so the longer we stay, the more chance of discovery. We get out.

We plan our approach. Nexu to nearby crater. Hired speeders to jungle. Hoof the last section. Bikes 3 at 300 cr deposit and 3 days hire @50 cr a day = 1350 total cost. We get kitted out for staying in the swamp.

Zak relates the bones of a conversation he had with Reina where they realise their original feelings were genuine. And that the grey hooded man had intervened in both their heads to ensure they didn’t get together. Not sure we understand the motivation or exactly why Lisana was targeted much later but they obviously have very long terms.

We land the ship in the crater & bike over to the Black Wind. We decide to bike down the steep sides, Reeva, Dane & Urrly each pilot and get to the bottom safely. Camo on the bikes and then we head out on foot. It is quite dark because of the foliage. Damp and hot. Not great conditions for a hike.

Dane gives guidance on the route. We set out. Reeva fails her perception roll. Zak & Dane front, Reeva & Lisana, Cho & Urrly bringing up the rear. Crossing a stretch of water we come under fire. Urrly, Reeva and Dane are targeted but the shots go wide. More shorts are incoming. Reeva is hit. Zak legs it for the bank and takes a snap shot. Then Dane does the same. Cho drags the one behind us out of his tree and into others. Reeva gets shot at again. Misses but a light flash goes off, blinding Urrly, Cho, Reeva and Lisana. Urrly opens on auto fire and hits an enemy. Lisana submerges and swims after Dane. Reeva wades after her father. Opens fire but misses. #3 fires at Cho but misses.

Round 2 - #1 shoots at Uurly. He is hit but soaks the damage. However he drops his weapon. Zak goes next and shoots at #1, after taking cover and using true aim. Reeva also fires at #1 and hits! Urrly goes next. Takes another weapon. Shoots #3 using autofire and true aim. He hits for 10 but no advantages for autofire. #2 disappears from view.. Cho uses force powers to disarm #3, dropping his weapon in the swamp. Dane fires at #1.

Round 3 – Reeva fires at #2 and hits for 10. He falls. Reeva & Zak heads to #1, Dane to #2. He seems to be a clone platoon leader. He’s in his 60s. Dogtags are 1st platoon. #2 is a medic. Over their comms is a query ‘is anyone out there?’ They are carrying modern weapons. Likely they have a nearby base. We might track them there.

Episode 28

We are listening to comms from a helmet Dane found from the team that hit us. We know now there are others out there. They seem to have been Clone Troopers. Reeva tries to find Treehees using the Force and realises that he is not on the planet, in fact far far away.

Dane starts to search for tracks so maybe they can lead us to their base. Disturbs an odious plant but picks up a trail which leads to a partially hidden track leading out of the crater.

Zak & Cho go ahead to recce whilst the rest provide spotter and rifle support from below. They climb and about 1/3 of the way up take a good look around. They spot a concealed cave entrance and relay via comms. Cho goes in for a recce whilst the rest of us climb up. There is a trip wire which Cho senses just before it triggers. Cho throws herself forward out of the main blast radius. Zak, at the entrance, gets peppered with small debris. Everyone else speeds up their climb not knowing what has happened just that something has.

Lisana slips, is about to fall but Reeva catches her, stopping her fall. Once secured, Reeva rushes ahead, calling on comms “What’s going on?” Nothing. Zak’s ears are ringing and a lump of rock drops on his head. Cho is also suffering from deafness. Two pistols are thrown at her feet. Her light sabre is now activated but she cannot see anyone. She calls for them to show themselves. Two clone troopers do so, hands up in surrender. They look 70s. Very uncertain of themselves. Weary resignation. Zak appears, light sabre active. The Clone troopers speak but neither Cho nor Zak can hear them. But Zak’s hearing clears (Advantages). They surrender and ask not to be killed. Zak comments they started it. They explain they were cast aside after the war and eventually found this place, intending to live out their retirement. Zak asks about the Zann. They say they didn’t join them but accepted a job to secure the area. Zak says if they are forthcoming with info, he will spare them. They talk about the Zann base. Landing area, comms, space to house about 20 personnel, came here about 5/6 years ago. Clone troopers want to gather their dead and be at peace. They want to die fighting ideally. Zak says that there may be an opportunity to do that as he intends to invade the Zann base. But first they want to bury their dead and close this haven permanently. They elucidate on codes and call signs for the Zann. Zak wants to feed the Zann success news on the Troopers taking us out. We set about helping them with their dead and Urrly trying to persuade them to join to the Rebellion. He fails. Lisana is nominated to convince the Zann that the patrol had success against us. She does so with flying colours. Rafe & Jayk are the two remaining troopers.

We need to find out more about the base, so we need to get closer and see what we can find out. We decide to get some rest and puts our plans in place first.

We approach the base. Couple of blast doors at swamp level. Another couple above leading into a hangar. There are defensive points to either side of the doors. Laser turrets flank a platform above this. Look out areas seem to have internal dull lighting. Somebody is home.

We go stealthy to observe for 24 hours. Success & advantages but also a despair. Seem to be 20-30 people. About 5-6 ships coming and going. No other exits/entrances. Maybe console on landing panel. No other surveillance visible. No other defences /weapon systems. No blind spots. No obvious comms apart from a dish.

Need more info on larger network to find CX71. Stealth initially but then will resort to stun if needed. We go at 2. Zak intends to use his hoist to climb up to the platform with Reeva. Cho intends to jump using the force. Zak with Reeva’s help gets the grapple in place and the two get up to the platform with ease. Reeva heads for the comms, Zak to cover the door. Cho makes her jump.

Reeva tries to splice into the panel, quite a bit of security here. She makes it. Gets his ID, no schedule but roughly every 3-4 months and currently his ship Radiant Eclipse is on ORD MANTELL. We withdraw, having got what we needed. Make our way back to the ship, taking the two old clone troopers with us. They just want a purpose, some dignity.

Cho with Zak & Lisana go to meet Carid. Says Ilyo Vandin could be a good source of info on Ord Mantell. Caris says Ilyo owes him.

We set off and eventually arrive at Ord Mantell. We get directed to docking bay 11. Reeva tries to find Treehees again but Reina interrupts, concerned she is broadcasting her presence. Zak suggests she talks to Cho. They do and Reeva asks questions to try to understand better. Reeva also learns about the grey man and goes off to talk to Reina about him. Reina explains and tell her mum about their encounter with him.

Docked, we are approached by a yellow-eyed security droid looking for hire. We get references. JR12 is hired and goes on patrol outside the ship.

Reeva gets in touch with Dag Rakshash, asks about ships like Treehees consular class, if there are any around. He says he’ll let her know. However, her instincts tell her that he is unlikely to find it.

Session 28

We decide to go find out about Ilyo. We know he is into gambling. Carid has supplied contact details. Ord Mantell is a mix of many species, quite a few Falleen. Security is quite tight but mostly private via the Bounty Hunter Guild.

We head into Worldport. Air quality is not great because of industries. We arrive at a gated community, high walls (30’) & guards. We get the passes which allow us to carry personal weapons. It lasts for 6 hours. We are searched and electronic security scanned. The area is clean, air filtered, much nicer. The numbers of people have reduced considerably and are generally quite well off. After several checks, we arrive at the estate. Very nice, gardens, aquariums, columned villa and we are met by two guards. Passes required yet again. Taken to an office. Ilyo arrives, grey skinned and green eyes. He asks if we are Carid’s associates. Zak says yes and offers a hand. Lisana then takes the lead asking about Treehees, a Falleen. Sounds like Ilyo knows him. He asks how we do. Lisana turns it back on him, asking how he knows him. He suggests that Treehees may represent trouble and that Carid’s favour may not extend that far. Lisana tries to find out more. Treehees involved with smaller crime syndicates but may well target larger concerns such as the Black Sun. Clashes with them would be bad for business. Ilyo is concerned about supplying information and risking his own position. He wants us to do a job for him to prove ourselves. He tells of a small club that is troublesome, gambling and sex, but he has heard they are providing unsavoury activities behind the scenes. He wants it closed ideally quietly. Treehees might also be showing an interest in it. The club, Crazy Queen, is run by criminal gang, Flutterplunes. Dangerous four-legged scavengers. Frax Artis is in charge. He provides directions. Herglic Folly is the district. He wants a message sent to everyone but not with his name attached.

We decide to go for a recce. Lisana and Dane to check inside club, Zak & Cho to watch exterior, Reina, Urrly & Reeva go to try to find info on the place & those that run it. The first four head for the club. Smog, seedy, lurid. Two bouncers on the front of the club, usual for the area. They have handheld scanners. Lisana & Dane head in, dressed well. Zak & Cho watch outside, very alert. They see a drunk in an alley to the left, two armed guards emerge from the shadows and send him packing. There is a fence part way down the alley. They look military. A vehicle passes overhead, highlighting guards on the roof with rifles. Around the back there are loading bay doors, secure wire fencing, more guards, 4 and a gate to the exterior. A van arrives, goes in, and starts to unload general supplies. Lot of security for a club but they are not ultra-alert.

Inside there is a foyer area with bar, tickets, back office etc and double doors leading further in that require tickets. This is like a theatre building, about 30’ high. Lisana & Dane look around to suss out security and other areas of interest. There are drugs available here. Dane heightens his attention on Lisana to prevent a slip into old ways. They go into a shadowed area and find a table. Hard to see. Lisana with Dane in support manages to resist the desire to take drugs. There are about 200 people in the room sitting at tables. There are a few private boxes. Up the stairs are more VIP boxes, but these are guarded. Lisana manages to blag her way into a small office with a view to booking some elite boxes. They use the opportunity to find out what they can from observing. Also try to find out what ‘services’ are on offer. Beastiality for 10-20 people, using exotic creatures, they talk details & costs. Quotes 15000. They bargain. Dane asks to see one of the rooms. He asks for a deposit and to pencil in a booking. They reiterate that there are other options & clubs to look at first. The boxes have substantial doors and probably soundproofing. Dane asks how they would summon security if things got out of hand. They thank him, tip and leave.

We find a bar. Reeva asks around. But people are not vey forthcoming, keeping a distance from it. She has thoughts of can they take out the power, operating in the dark might allow access to back office & unsavoury areas for further info. Arson can take out a building. Can they plant ‘evidence’ to point to Xan or another rival gang? Cho favours a main assault approach.

We get together and talk it over to get a plan together:
• Cho & Zak head for roof & go in from top down
• Reeva & Reina follow onto opposite roof for surveillance & taking out guards, also covering front of building
• Urrly to drive in a truck to block rear exit, pretending to make delivery, Clone troopers in truck
• Lisana & Dane to go back into office & start assault on manager

Round 1 - Zak and Cho take out the two on the roof. Lisana & Dane are on open comms to us and head for the manager in his office. Get him talking and then pulls out a disrupter pistol and shoots him but misses as he moves quickly. He slips though and Dane vibro knifes him dead. Dane & Lisana take stock. Urrly enters at the back and opens fire, along with the clone troopers, taking out the guards . The two guards in the alley react. Reeva opens fire, kills one and knocks the others communicator out.

Round 2 - Zak & Cho head down looking for more enemy. Cho light sabre’s the lift controls. They head right looking for the head honcho. Then suddenly all the doors on this level open. (Dane) They now have access to a luxurious penthouse. It is occupied by Treehees, some other compatriots and serving staff. Lisana & Dane cut the panic alarm cable. Look at computer for access. Dane hits several keys and succeeds in turning off all of the lights in the bar area. Other effects to follow. Lisana goes to work on the ticket staff. Then the lights go out. Urrly throws a stun grenade in the back doors. It goes off with a BANG!! The backstage maintenance area is obliterated. The staff are blown to the ground stunned. Urrly heads left and down, aiming to meet up with Lisana and Dane. He finds the entertainers and suggests they leave, firing a few shots over their head to encourage. Reeva is lining up to take out the other guard in the alley. She takes him out.

Round 3 – Zak & Cho are surprised but then so are they. Cho goes first.