Simple Tricks II

Simple Tricks and Nonsense
Episode II
January 9, 2016

The Crawl

The Lambda Heist

The Crew of the Painted S'kytri carefully moves into position behind the remote Scout Trooper Training base on the ion-storm wracked moon of Moorja. Their current job, to steal the Lambda-class shuttle that is currently dropping down through the atmosphere to bring new trainees and supplies to the base. 

The Imperial base on Moorja

The Crew studies the erratic patrol behavior of the sentry droids and attempts to make a stealthy approach toward the main power generator. About halfway down the hill, one of the droids spots them and opens fire. Sirens blare and lights flash throughout the compound. A guard on the tower maneuvers to see what is going on and opens fire.

Dexen moves along the ridge, trying to draw fire and flank the sentry droid, Rook and Alita head for the vehicle shed, hoping to snag a speeder bike or two for support while Varko and Lofchiir head directly toward the droid and power generator. The gruff medic Adin and tech Xetsu remain behind the ridge line for backup and sensor and comm jamming.

The droid is quickly taken out and Dexen joins Varko and Lofchiir, hoping to take out the power generator in hopes that, once spotted, the Imperials cannot call for reinforcements. The carefully planned assault quickly turns into a chaotic free for all with blaster fire everywhere, exploding access panels, rappelling, climbing, jumping and more blaster fire.

Varko, Lofchiif and Dex head over the base toward the ship itself as a squad of troopers come around the corner after them. Using her ascension gun, Alita moves up to the top of the guard tower and neutralizes the guards there, taking up a sniping position. Rook heads into the maintenance garage, intimidates some techs and then steals a speeder bike.

Dex and Lofchiir tangle with some more troopers and do their best to avoid the blast cannon mounted underneath the nose of the shuttle while Varko attempts to unlock and open the loading ramp before the shuttle takes off again. Someone, an officer no doubt, begins taking shots at them from the command center but Alita uses her high vantage point to send a shot right into the gun port. Rook then zooms out of the garage and begins doing high speed laps around the yard, scattering the remaining scout troopers. 

The loading ramp is finally opened and the pilots are "convinced" to abandon ship as Rook wildly pilots the speeder bike right up the ramp and makes a crash landing in the passenger compartment. Dex hops in the pilots seat, swoops past the guard tower to pick up Alita then hops over to the nearby ridge to grab Xetsu and Adin.

They waste no more time getting out of there before any TIE reinforcements can make it to the area. With minimal effort, they manage to escape the system and deliver the stolen ship to Shellar. He pays them and tells them their ship is ready to go. They depart and head back to the Kira Station.

Session Pictures

The planning phase

Lofchiir and Varko engage the probe droid

The reserve troops

Alita approaches the guard tower

The troops and guards aren't quite sure whats going on over on the other side of the base

Varko takes cover while Dex leaps over the covered corridor

Varko is ready to spring into action

Engaging the shuttle guards

Alita takes the high ground

Rook inspects the speeder bikes and scares off a tech

Ben watches Dex and Lofchiir as they take out the troops

Session Notes

This was the first "real" mission for the crew of the Painted S'kytri and it was a blast! Unfortunately we were one player short, but everyone was still able to have a lot of fun. We started the session with the crew already in position on the ridge near the Imperial base, observing the sentry droid's seemingly erratic patrol sweeps but then we back-tracked a bit and I allowed everyone to make some equipment purchases that had happened during some downtime before the mission actually started. Once things got going, as usual, the plan they had carefully concocted went right out the window and everyone began running around and shooting things! But hey, this is Star Wars and that feels right!

Actually, they stuck to the plan fairly well (while running around shooting things!) and everyone seemed to have a specific job that they were able to accomplish. Each character was important and each of them had their moment to shine, either with a skill they were really good with or with a skill they were not proficient at all with. All in all, the Force was the the crew of the Painted S'kytri and their mission was successful!

Characters Present:

Dexen Halcyon, the cocky pilot from Ord Mantell played by +Daniel Ernst
Jetha "Rook" Rue'kri, the greedy Corellian smuggler played by +Carol Coburn
Varko Prumen, the selfless Mol Calamari scoundrel played by +Ben Lipe
Lofchirr, the charismatic, ex-pirate Wookie played by Don K
Xetsu'ae, the grizzled veteran Twi'lek former slave turned mechanic played by +Jodi H
Alita, the eagle eyed Socorran scout played by +JeCorey Holder

and +Jason Woollard as the GM

Simple Tricks I

Simple Tricks and Nonsense
Episode I
December 12, 2015

The Crawl

Of All the Hyperlanes...

"... that's what he would always say when he got mad at me for overheating the sub-light motivators on the 'Star' or dropping to repulsors too early in a landing sequence," Dexen Halcyon reflected happily. The table burst out with laughter as his friends agreed and shared stories of all the times the old Captain had said the same thing to them. Glasses were raised and another toast to honor Minas Largo was shouted toward the ceiling of the Starshine Cantina, located on level 86 of the Kira Station.

The Crew of the Painted S'kytri enjoys a drink at the Starshine Cantina

Yego Daab, the Weequay server set another tray of full drinks on their table and screwed his face up in as much of a smile as one of his species could. "Largo was a good man," he said gruffly, his Basic thickly accented but easily understandable. "We're gonna miss that old boat around here. This round is from Gleeko," he says, half turning and nodding past the balcony rail toward the tall Rodian standing behind the bar on the lower level. Gleeko, hearing shouts of thanks from the upper level, looks up, waves his hand and nods through the haze of the cantina. Yego shrugs, "He says you'll have to pay for the next round, though. Sorry."

Looking down at Gleeko at the bar below

The group gathered around the table was a strange lot. Dexen Halcyon, a cocky young Human pilot from Ord Mantell sat next to Xetsu'ae, a brown skinned Twi'lek who always spoke about himself in third person. Beside them was Varko Prumen, an aging Mon Calamari scoundrel who spent much of his life fighting the Empire, either as part of the Rebellion or the New Republic. Lofchiir was next, the tall, furry Wookie ex-pirate who seemed to have a way with words, even if you couldn't understand him. Rook rounded out the group, a Corellian smuggler approaching middle age with a tendency to never give out her real name. Another of their group, Alita, a young and fiery scout from the desert world of Socorro, remained on their ship, the Painted S'kytri, taking the death of the Captain harder than the others.

Freeze, this is a stick up... no, just some patrons having a quiet drink

After the free round of drinks had been consumed, Xetsu volunteered to head downstairs to get "just one more round" and check with Gleeko on the possibility of any new jobs. Gleeko was always finding jobs for the Painted S'kytri and its crew, which made sense, since he held the note on the ship. The more work he threw at them, the faster he would get paid off for helping the late Captain buy the ship in the first place.

The main floor and balcony of the Starshine Cantina

A nervous looking stranger stood at the end of the bar as Xetsu approached. "Hey friend, I hear you and your crew sometimes take passengers," the shifty Human says. "I'm looking for a ride off this floating scrap heap." As Xetsu begins to invite him upstairs to talk to the rest of the crew, the doors to the cantina burst open and several armed Humans charge in. "New Republic Security Forces! Everyone stand down, Brahle Logris, you are under arrest!" Everyone in the place freezes, except for the man talking to Xetsu. He grabs Xetsu and draws a gun, pointing it at the three men in the doorway.

Varko inserts himself in the middle of a tense situation

Yego dives for cover when the shooting starts

Before anyone can even think about what is going on, a chaos erupts. People start yelling and screaming, patrons begin ducking behind tables and hiding in dining alcoves. Gleeko, from behind the bar announces he is calling station security and Yego, throws his tray of drinks and dives for cover.  Up above, the rest of the crew sees Xetsu in trouble, grabbed by a stranger holding a blaster and the voices of several other beings directly below them. Springing into action, Varko leaps over the railing, and lands on the ground, directly between his companion and the armed Humans in the doorway. As he draws his blasters, the shooting starts. Xetsu quickly evades the grasp of the man holding him and swings Nickel Valeor, his oversized hydro-spanner at him. Lofchiir leaps to the nearest support pillar and clambers down to the main floor while Dexen tries to relive his glory days as a Grav-Ball star and dives from the balcony, across the room and tackles one of the newcomers in a perfect blocking hit, knocking him unconscious to the ground. The supposed New Republic Security Forces in the doorway open fire on everyone. Rook decides to play it safe and cover her friends from the balcony.

Dexen performs a flying tackle while Lofchiir climbs down the wall

The Crew finds itself in a gunfight with some well armed and armored individuals claiming to be agents of the New Republic, though the Kira Station is not formally a part of the new galactic government and any agents of theirs would have no official jurisdiction out here anyway. Varko trades blaster bolts with the men in the doorway as Lofchiir tries to talk some sense into them. Unfortunately they don't speak Shriiwook and he has to resort to more visceral methods. He grabs one of them around the neck and begins choking him when the other one raises his blaster rifle and fires at the Wookie. Lofchiir raises the body of the grappled man up and uses him as a shield from the volley of deadly blaster bolts. The man goes limp in his hairy hands and the other backs off, retreating around the corner and into the corridor outside the cantina.

The stranger tries to escape while the Crew deals with the NRSF

Meanwhile, back in side, the stranger who seems to be at the center of this all has tried making an escape. Xetsu, Varko, Dexen and Rook all pursue him as he runs and shoots his way into the back room of the bar. Xetsu has to bypass the lock but in a few moments, they have caught up to the fleeing man. He makes a stand at the rear exit of the place and goes down in a blaze of glory.

Chasing the stranger into the back room

Gleeko quickly runs to the back and tries to get an idea of what happened. He tells the Crew that he will try to smooth things over with the station security chief, a Defel names Klaar. He quickly erases the security camera and makes sure anyone around knows the "story."

When Klaar, a nightmare of living shadow, arrives, Gleeko does all the talking and with just minimal fuss, the situation is over. There was no knowledge of any New Republic agents working on the station and it all appeared to be some sort of elaborate hoax or attempted kidnapping or bounty retrieval. The security forces remove the unconscious and dead men and Klaar tells the Crew that he is watching them and that they should try to keep out of trouble while on the station from here on out.

The crew, who had taken the id from the stranger do some research with a local underworld contact, Daks Lisser who tells them that the data on the strangers identchip is false and that running the name the "NRSF" agent used turns up some information that he was wanted by the New Republic for an attempted assassination attempt on Gandalla in the nearby Boeus Sector.

The Crew then headed back to meet with Gleeko who told them that he had a good job that could get them off the station quickly, make them a few bucks and cover their next payment for him on the ship. The Rodian bartender then put them in contact with a shady Human 2nd-hand ship dealer who needed an Imperial-class Lambda Shuttle and knew exactly where to get one.

The only catch... it was shuttling scout troopers and supplies to a nearby moon, Moorja.

Session Notes

This was our first proper Star Wars Session and it was GOOD. Everyone had a lot of fun and it really, to me at least, felt like Star Wars! There was shooting, dodging, witty comments, cinematic dives, tackles, jumps, climbs and all sorts of other fun space-opera stuff! I'm really looking forward to seeing how this one plays out! I've got a lot of adventure ideas, but this one is going to be mostly space/ sandbox. Can't wait for Episode II!

Characters Present:

Dexen Halcyon, the cocky pilot from Ord Mantell played by +Daniel Ernst
Jetha "Rook" Rue'kri, the greedy Corellian smuggler played by +Carol Coburn
Varko Prumen, the selfless Mol Calamari scoundrel played by +Ben Lipe
Lofchiir, the charismatic, ex-pirate Wookie played by Don K
Xetsu'ae, the grizzled veteran Twi'lek former slave turned mechanic played by +Jodi H
Alita, the eagle eyed Socorran scout played by +JeCorey Holder

and +Jason Woollard as the GM