Slee's Ship Journal #2

dictated offsite

« Encrypted transmission 081078 begins »
One slither closer, Caslisse! Earlier today I was searching yet again through the docking records for some sign of Hosk's ship. You wouldn't believe the shape those records are in, the mountainous heaps of paperwork strewn through the office - I know this is a backwater planet, but didn't someone have a spare datapad lying around?! Thank my lucky scales that we'd spent so much time in the past pouring over old records - it really came in handy here. Still, it's taken me nearly a week to get far enough down the pile to find a manifest for a Black Skull ship that matched when Hosk was reportedly here. Finally though, success! Just as I shouted out in excitement, I felt an odd shiver pass through my scales and a turned to see a shadow flicker by the door. Well… probably just a clerk passing by and wondering what was so exciting about docking paperwork, I'm sure nothing to worry about.
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« Encrypted transmission 081079 begins »
…and two slithers back. As I left the offices, one of the mechanics helping fix up our ship came by - apparently the hyperdrive inhibitor (oh irony) and shield module are shot beyond repair. By the scales, can't anything go right with getting this ship working?! And apparently there aren't any legitimate sources for those parts left, thanks to the embargo. The idea of dealing with the black market on this world isn't my favorite… I figured maybe Pana Tanau might have some idea – surely the rebels have some connections?

Well, that idea didn't pan out - just a lot of “Don't really know them… I just turn a blind eye… let them do their thing…” et al from her. Guess we're back to asking quietly around town… what's it take to catch a break?!

I'm going to call it day and see if tomorrow is more fruitful.
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« Encrypted transmission 081080 begins »
MORTIFIED. Cured in part thanks to Jinx, perhaps… but this day won't be spoken of any further.
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« Encrypted transmission 081081 begins »
Felt much better after yesterday's… happenings… ran through my system, and decided to give it another try with convincing Pana Tanau to help with ship repairs. Quickly felt much LESS better after glancing up to the sky to see 3 Star Destroyers in the system! Keva, Jinx and myself high-tailed it to Tanau's office and asked her what she knew – not a lot it seemed, though she thought it probably had to do with the embargo. I'm not so sure… I have a feeling Grayson is trying to sniff us out and brought (a lot of) help.

I did my best to feign innocence as I asked her to let us know when the Imps landed, “so we don't go asking the wrong questions of the wrong people at the wrong time.” She then suggested skipping town for the time being (and heading towards Edgefield-on-Varanait, the only other place of significance on this world), promising to make sure our ship stayed safe (we'll see… but not much choice). This time she seemed a bit more open about giving us info; as Keva had the bright idea to ask if we could help her with any jobs on our way, she cautiously closed all the shades on her windows, reached under her desk, and pulled out a box.

“I don't want the Imps to find this, take it to Terpfen, the mayor of Edgefield… and you're better off not knowing what it is.”

That caused Keva's eyes to light up… this could be trouble. That's like telling a Rancor to just look at the corpse, not nibble! Still, a job is a job, and soon we found ourselves at the edge of town talking with Bobo the… well, “transportation specialist” is a bit kind, I'd say “opportunist” more than anything. More shrewd than I cared to haggle with, given how poorly that went last time I tried. I could tell Keva was eyeing the admittedly shiny-looking speeder Bobo was trying to push on us, but the price dulled the lust enough to find us renting a pack of Cracian Thumpers instead.

As we were paying for the beasts, I got that tinglly feeling on my scales again, as if being watched. A quick spin showed the same shadowy figure as in the offices earlier - but this time I caught a glimpse of a Black Skull tattoo and a comm held to his(?) face before the figure slipped back away into hiding. I told Keva what I saw… neither of us had a good feeling, but nonetheless we soon found ourselves riding out of town to escape the Imps.

We should have listened to our guts! A little while later we were relaxing and riding down the trail alongside some cliffs, when suddenly Jinx grunted a few seconds before a blazing pain seared along my left side. Blaster fire! And competent aim at that – all three of us took hits as we tried to spur the Thumpers to top speed. I tried to get a better look at our attackers, but between the pain and the dust flying and the sun in my eyes, it was futile – other than to see they had the high ground, and our only way out now was to flee! A heartbeat later another bolt flamed into my back – I couldn't take much more, or I was going to pass out on the beast's back! A quick glimpse showed Jinx was even worse off - he was slumped over in his saddle, weaving listlessly as Keva and I rode up beside him. Even through the pain I was able to be in awe over Keva's next move, somehow he leaned over in the saddle, grabbed Jinx's reigns and did some kind of flip over and back across to bring the beast under control! Thankfully by then we were pulling out of the ambush's range, with no sign of pursuit. I've just finished stimming myself as I dictate this… hopefully things can only go smoother from here. \\« Encrypted transmission 081081 ends »

« Encrypted transmission 081082 begins »
They didn't. We got to the town fine, granted… then Jinx and Keva wanted to try to open the box. Calmer heads (or head) prevailed thankfully, but our meeting with the Mon Calamari, Terpfen, didn't go that good either. 200 credits?! It cost us 40 each for those stupid beasts! And then Keva and I both had a reoccurrence of earlier… distress. I kept mine in check, but Keva vomited all over the mayor's shoes (how can such a small body contain so much?!), causing us to shortly be ushered out by Terpfen's guards. So much for that potential connection.

And then the doctor… dear gods, doctor Booli Bendo. I have never had such an unclean feeling crawl through my scales as when he examined me – clearly he had no idea of Sluissi biology! Instruments do NOT go there! I wasted no time leaving that den of horrors… I needed a good room to lie down in afterwards, so off to find a meal and hotel we went.

Not that we could afford a “good” hotel, so we settled for something, well, “price-appropriate”. “Mado Tammu”, run by a Rodian of the same name. I'm going to use another stim and get some sleep… I almost dare not utter “tomorrow must be a better day” again.
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« Encrypted transmission 081083 begins »
Finally a connection! And a bigger job than we'd bargained for, but unexpected help nonetheless. Sorry, sister – let me back up and explain.

We had another “special” for breakfast… thankfully less “quivery” than the last one, and surprisingly good. Figuring the hotel owner was as good a place to start as any, I asked carefully about any underground marketplaces – and it turned out his brother might be one to ask! Keva got an odd look in his eye when Mado mentioned his brother was by the comm tower – not sure what that was about, maybe just the thought of poking around some electronics? Anyhow, a quick trip there was vaguely helpful: “Good news, bad news – you don't look like you could affords the parts anyhow, but you don't have to buy! There's a warehouse in town owned by local pirates who haven't managed to fence their latest shipment – but they have a lot of protection so you might want to slip in at night.” Great, another heist.

Masters of subterfuge that we are, we decided to check out the place… in broad daylight. Keva's stealthiness doesn't work so well then, as one of the guards spotted him skulking about and got a very puzzled look. Hoping we hadn't blown our surprise, we regrouped and decided to ask around a bit more about negotiation possibilities, starting back with Mado's brother. “They already know you're asking about, makes them nervous!” Blast it! “They're easy to negotiate with though, nice people, according to my cousin!” I'm sure they are. After hearing that, Jinx got a strange determined look in his eye and headed right back to the warehouse – apparently we were going to negotiate right now! Or… not.

A few brazen lies about being there to “pick up the shipment”, we found ourselves inside waiting to speak to the foreman. Surrounded by four guards. And a hulking security droid. What could go wrong?

One more lie, this time spearheaded by me (spread the bantha poodoo around) - “We're here for the ship parts, must have been a paperwork slipup.” And the foreman bought it! As he started to turn to one of the guards to tell them to help us out, his comm flared up with an urgent voice on the other end. A choice! Focus my attention on the comm, or urge the guard along and leave with the parts right now? Well, you know me Caslisse – curiosity got the better of me, and I had a feeling there was more here going on than a simple band of pirates.

And there was – it was the mayor of the town, urging Rik (the foreman) to “close things up, the Imps are on their way, better get undercover! High Command needs those Imps to get out of the way so we can rendezvous with the parts at the Tantive IV.”

After he saw I'd been listening, Rik appeared quite nervous before I persuaded him we were on his side and could help (desperation can pay off!). Turns out he could spare us some parts, and after a quick negotiation we ended up with a hyperdrive inhibitor of our own, and a loaner shield module… provided we helped get those parts pass the blockage and to this “Tantive IV” once our own ship was fixed up. So now apparently we're working for the rebellion - finally!

Not ideal, but it's the closest to getting offworld we've been so far! So now we're heading through the wilderness once more, this time back to Middle Peak– Keva claims he heard it'd be a good place to hideout from the Imps marching on both town, though I've a feeling there's more to it than that. I guess we'll see when we arrive shortly.
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Mechanical results: given the amount of lying that has been going on lately, Slee has gained +1 Deception (15xp)