Grexi Takka and Jumper had managed to decrypt the next level of the datachip (from the first session, Takka's gift to the team), and they hand Sprend the coordinates to what may be an extant hangar from the Great Galactic War. “It is referred to as Launch 7; there were several hangar bays hidden in the regions around Bin Prime during the Sith occupation, and these hangars were connected to the catacombs and were used in covert operations by the ancient Balmorran Resistance fighters. Ki-adi-mundi, the guide on this chip, apparently found the coordinates during the Clone Wars but was unable to track its location precisely.”

Swift adds, “Balmorra has a long history of fighting our battles on our own, but the Alliance is trying to help - if we can secure a hangar bay, Compatriot will send supplies to get it running. This would have extreme strategic value - we're only a few motions away from a complete lockdown in Bin Prime.”

Sprend volunteers to start scouting himself, looking forward to a refreshing time in the wilderness.

You have a setback on physical checks for several weeks due to the last session. What supplies will you take along? You know it may take 3-10 days, though you are only 15 minutes outside of Bin Prime by starship (a couple hours on speeder, half a day on foot), NNW.

Sprend spends the next day gathering supplies, and visits with Swift a bit, describing his plans and asking for advice in packing. Swift sincerely replies, “Sprend, I think you could probably survive with nothing but the clothes on your back, but yes, you never know when something unexpected might happen. Maybe just a glow rod of some sort? I imagine it's dark inside an ancient hangar.”

They chat a bit more, and Sprend gets plenty of rest before heading out the next morning.

---

After getting dropped off as far as a swoop can bring him, Sprend continues on foot. The terrain is extremely rugged, with forests, sheer cliff walls, small canyons and small but rushing mountain streams. The first day is spent setting up some basic surveying markers to be more precise.

The darkness closes in, and Sprend hears all the night noises of the forest. He drifts into the serenity of nature, and the violence and terror of the past few days disappear in the natural rhythms of the forest. Familiar stars shine above the canopy, casting a silver glow on through the limbs.

In the peace and quiet Sprends calls up memories of the years before the Empire, when he would sneak into the forests of his home wold, late at night, and explore the vast new world that was nothing like when it was awake.

The first night goes well, only a few animals even come near, and nothing dangerous. The next day he continues deeper into the mountainous region, climbing on fallen trees across jagged chasms and rushing water.

On the third day, as Sprend is checking on his coordinates up in a tree (to get a proper signal), he hears an unusual sound behind him. Roll Xenology, average. Result: 1.3

Sprend turns around, cautiously.

He recognizes the short, hooting call of the Varactyl, and remembers that they spook at quick movements. He turns slowly from his perch in the tree above, and sees a gorgeous female, with blue-green plumage. With the 3 advantage: two boost to checks to try to tame her because: Sprend recalls that they actually love the sound of singing. If he could croon a gentle lullaby, that would make her easier to tame. And food helps, of course. That would be a Survival check, difficulty is average (these are very tameable). Result: 3.2

So with his foreknowledge of the Varactyl, Sprend breaks out into an old duro lullaby, one that catches the attention of the gorgeous female creature, spying some berries on a nearby branch he grabbed hold of a hand full, carefully dropping them down to the creature below, slowly feeding the enchanting beast. The duro's voice is not a singing voice like the Baron's, but the Varactyl responds favorably.

Good. With 3 success, 2 advantage, this animal will now follow you around, though if you try to ride her at this point (and without proper tack/gear) the checks would be upgraded. For two advantages:

Sprend notices that she is slightly malnourished, and as long as he keeps feeding her, she'll stick around.

As for the search, it continues well, though still slowly. As the pair gains elevation, the trees grow taller and more dense. On the 15th, the skies suddenly start to darken, and the telltale signs of a storm are seen - thunderheads gather in the distance, a sudden drop in temperature, and the wind changes.

Sprend looks for a cave that could support the two; if no cave is visible then he will start cutting branches off the trees and start fashioning a lean-to. Average Perception with 2 setback for worsening storm conditions. Result: 1.2

Sprend finds a cave and the two make their way to it hoping to find solace in its shelter. He found it quickly, and he has some time to gather up food and wood for a small fire. He harvests some emergency rations just in case, and the Varactyl seems to also notice the incoming storm and helps sniff out some food she prefers.

It is early evening when the storm hits in earnest, and the two are snug a few meters inside the cave, with a cheery fire crackling. The Varactyl stretches out, enjoying the warmth, and curls herself up against the toughened duro. Her skin is leathery with some rough patches, and her beak is very hard as noses into his side.

Through the mouth of the cave Sprend sees the pounding rain and flying debris from trees whipping in the gale. As he studies the entrance, it dawns on him that the rock almost looks hewn - it is far more regular than a natural cave would be (two advantage).

After resting through the night Sprend fashions a rudimentary torch from the remaining fire supplies and starts to explore into the not-so-natural cave.

He heads to the back cave wall; pulling away the vines and thick moss, he discovers a rotten wood door, large enough to drive a speeder through. He kicks it down easily, and the torch flame sputters as a draft flows through the now-open tunnel.

The walls are straight and dry, and his footsteps echo along the even ground as he travels along, the Varactyl feet pattering beside him, occasionally hooting. The tunnel looks undisturbed, with ancient spiderwebs billowing slightly in the draft.

The tunnel descends steadily for about 15 minutes until he arrives at the threshold of the entrance to a massive cavern. The torchlight disappears into the darkness beyond.

Sprend steps past the threshold, and he feels a cool breeze coming from the left. Roll an easy Perception check, upgraded once, 1 setback for darkness (the torch mitigates one setback, but it is still creating dancing shadows with the draft). Result: 2.0.

This is clearly the hangar. The tunnel Sprend came through must have been a side exit, big enough to accommodate a quick escape via speeder. Sprend urges on the varacyl, and they walk towards the left, the light from the torch sputtering wildly with shifting air movements, reflecting off old coils of fuel lines, shards from an ancient cockpit, but unfortunately no actual ships or vehicles.

After a few minutes of careful walking they arrive near what must be the massive hangar door - it is closed, but he sees the complex mechanisms to lift a slab door wide and tall enough to allow the passage of a corvette, 50-60 meters across.

Sprend manages to find the source of the draft and catches a dim glow of light - high up and to the right of the hangar door. An average athletics check with 2 setbacks will allow you to climb the broken rock stairs to a third level walkway and what seems to be an outline of a doorway. It must be facing east and the rising sun. Result: 1 failure, 2 threat.

Sprend carefully looks over the broken staircase and figures it's worth the risk; better to survey now than wait for someone to catch up! Reaching out to steady himself, he starts the sketchy climb up.

The ascent is more difficult than it first appeared; halfway up it becomes apparent that there has been a minor rockfall in the upper level, and there are loose rocks that should be cleared. In the flickering light Sprend slips on a loose rock, pebbles showering down below, and he badly bruises his knee (mechanically counting as an Easy crit) - he feels a bit dizzy from the overexertion, but carries on and reaches the top.

As he reaches the doorway at the top, Sprend can feel the wind gusting through the cracks around the thick door - it has shifted over the centuries, and light is also able to bounce its way through, at least at this time of day.

The varactyl, curious about something beyond the door, pushes and scrabbles against it, knocking the old thing down as the rusty hinges shriek. Sunlight pours in and Sprend is left staring into the rising sun, half-blinded.

He steps out onto a wide stone ledge, and not far along the varactyl is greedily eating eggs from a nest of some avian - 50' up a nearly vertical cliff wall - she is an excellent climber! The view is marvelous - the hangar is situated at the end of a canyon, very deep, long, and just wide enough for a CR-90 to pass through. Well-chosen, and well-hidden. The level Sprend is currently on appears to be a second level to the hangar bay - it looks suitable for fighters or small freighters.

There are sheer cliff walls on either side of this canyon, and on both sides massive trees spread limbs out over the edge, completely blocking out visibility from above. It would even be sheltered from infrared scanning - it looks like the hangar is buried beneath 80-100 meters of solid granite. The exterior of the hangar door looks similar to the cliffside, though there are clearly man-made supports along each side, the massive stone block courses around 3m high each. They house the mechanisms to lift the hangar door.

Wrapping some leaves he used as a bandage around his knee, Sprend sets up his long-range comm and calls back to the Reactor Core.

Marv answers. “Hey Sprend, it's been a few days! Find anything yet, or were y'distracted by the game out there?”

Sprend smiles, looking at his new creature that had just rejoined him after her morning feast. “Yeah, you could say that I've been a little preoccupied, but let the boys know that I've found it. There's enough room in here to house a complete base of operations for a small contingent; I think it may near survive low orbital bombardment, if it's detectible at all! Great minds went into setting this up… it's seen whole eras of time take it's toll and there's much work to be done here, but it's going to be grand. Let them know that I'll be a while, but I'm sure we'll find a way back.” The connection ends as Sprend abruptly hangs up and walks eagerly over to the Varactyl, stroking the plumage that adorns her neck.

Marv, left alone on the other end, is a bit puzzled at the abrupt cut off, but Sprend did say he was fine. Marv sends word to the rest of the crew promptly, using the coordinates the duro had provided.

Sprend spent the rest of the day training his new beast, trying out different names here and there, focusing on response more then anything at the moment, not wanting to put to much onto his knee.

He spends 2 days working on a name but when he gets one it sticks and it's like the bond between them is complete, the training goes great after several long drawn out days. Sacha - a perfect name for her.

Sprend also starts to map out the catacombs beneath the hangar bay, wandering the labyrinth beneath the city. The catacombs go fairly straight from the hangar until they reach Bin Prime. He finds the connection between the med bay and the Reactor Core easily (it's like travelling those puzzle mazes backwards).

Swift buys tack for Sprend, and he asks him if they can track down another mount for him, too - perhaps a male for a breeding pair; he wants to come along and see if his growing Force abilities can help tame the more violent and vicious male.

So just to manage expectations - anyone can ride beasts, kind of like flying ships, but the Beastrider has specific talents that will help him become better than others - I'm imagining that since our team is a bit remote from the Alliance, we don't have the resources at this point to get a lot of expensive vehicles to fill up our hangar! Maybe Sprend's source of income can become selling trained mounts or something, though it's a bit of a long-term process. Swift won't be good at training, but his Force Influence can at least help calm a beast down enough for Sprend to capture it or harness it.

Sprend gladly takes Swift along to attempt another wrangle of a beast figuring that these fine creatures may even keep up with a swoop. It wouldn't hurt having something different to do, and the two can head out right away. Once tracks are found it will take Sprend half the time to track down his target.

Swift and Sprend head out from the hangar on the afternoon of the 18th. Is there a specific spot Sprend wants to start searching, or just start examining everything?

They work well together - a combined check with Swift's Cunning and Sprend's Survival skill = 1 green 2 yellow, vs an average difficulty and a boost for having already found a varactyl in the area. I would toss a setback in for the rocky nature of the ground, but Sprend eliminates that with talents. Basic success = find tracks in 3 hours, additional successes will reduce the base by 10% each. This is just to find tracks. Result: 4.1 with a Triumph!

Swift and Sprend make a good team, after 2 hours and a bit Sprend finds tracks near where he found his Varactyl and is convinced he found a set that look like they may be already familiar to each other.

It's still light outside when they begin tracking in earnest, and the two slip through the rocky forest. Sprend encourages the female to start singing, she's looking a little excited as she wants to be reunited with her mate.

Another Survival roll, combined as before, this one is going to be opposed vs the varactyl's stealth, so 5 purple. He is healthy and in his prime, the rocks again providing a setback (cancelled by you - BTW, just remembered - your talents cancel setbacks from all sources, so while using survival or tracking, you can remove that setback from your illness). Because you've been around his mate for the last few days, her smell lingers on you, that's going to add a boost. Another boost for the singing. Result: 1.2 and a Triumph.

Sprend makes a motion to stop Swift, getting down low as a male Varactyl looms out of the bush, chirping at his mate. To the duo's pleasant surprise Sasha responds back and stays at their side. After a few moments of back to back chatter the male comes closer, curious about what is going on. Sprend pulls out some food that worked earlier on Sasha and hands it to Swift whispering, “Feed him.”

As Swift reaches out his hand the large Varactyl moves in closer and cautiously starts to eat. He is a brilliant red with golden highlights, with a hint of clever intelligence burning in his eyes. Swift cautiously strokes the animal's side and whispers, “Garnet. A luxurious name for a luxurious creature.” After some time Sprend has the harness on the male and leashes him to Sasha, the two return successfully with two beasts instead of one.

Would you agree with the idea that the triumph here may be the realization that the female is in heat and that's why this is working out in our favour? ~TL

Great idea; based on reptiles and birds, I'm just going to say she'll have a clutch of eggs (roll 4 d4 to see how many. Result=8) and they can hatch in roughly one month - there is a reference on wookieepedia that says they breed quickly. So 35:3:18 = baby varactyls. It will take them a while to mature, though.

Swift is absolutely amazed at how expertly Sprend handles the varactyl, and follows his lead closely. He had anticipated using his Force Influence, but was quite happy to tame him “naturally” - it was refreshing to not have to worry about being too overbearing. At the end of the day, back at the hangar and after a good late meal, Swift claps Sprend on the back. “That was excellent - great work! The Force was strong with us tonight, and it looks like we may have a new source of income - I know there is a market in Bin Prime for trained mounts. And it sure is nice to get out of the city - I needed the fresh air after being stuck inside for over a week.”

He talks with Sprend for a while, around a small fire since most of the power is not yet hooked up, reminiscing about days long gone, telling a few trappers' tales of varactyls stealing food from traps or about the loyalty of trained ones.

On the 19th, the basic retrofit of the hangar is finished with help from Marv and Jumper, with a special area for stabling and training their new mounts. The future looks bright.