Kel began the day's activities by using his electro binoculars to scan the mesa from the side that had the climbing steps. Meanwhile, Xander used his recon remote to try and view the rest of the surrounding mesa. Kel saw a dark cave-like opening about halfway up the side of the mesa, near the climbing steps, but was unable to notice any activity at all around the area, except for the two banthas, casually munching on nearby scrub. Zavi kept covering fire available over Kel as he skirted the base of the mesa, moving long slowly to keep Kel in his sights at all times.
Xander sent his recon remote up to the entrance of the suspected cave, but with the twin suns of Tatooine rising, they caused a bright glare on the lens and nothing could easily be ascertained inside. Roona suggested that he fly the remote over the top and Xander was able to finally verify that the Y-Wing was in fact inside. A pile of crates, boxes, barrels and other junk as well as several tents could also be seen. Xander pulled the remote down before it could be detected.
Confident now that they found their target, the team proceeded up the steep mesa side, using the steps and handholds as they went. Roona utilized her climbing gear to scale a nearby area of the mesa, as she was the only one suitably equipped to do so. As the rest of the team scaled the steps, suddenly a blast rang out and clipped Zavi as he passed the un-inspected cave. He barely hung on to the handholds and dangled briefly from one furry paw. Unslinging his rifle and with a growl and an epithet, launched a frag grenade into the cave opening. It exploded fiercely, driving a raider out into the open, who was then shot down by Ymira, and the raider fell down the side of the mesa to his demise.
Clearly the rest of the occupants of the sunken mesa were aware of trouble after that explosion and Kel and Roona confirmed that as they were the first to reach the crest. Three more raiders could be seen gathering their gear and one was working his way up the scaffolding ramp to the top of the mesa. The resulting firefight was quick, but eventful. Kel lost his balance on the crumbling mesa lip and nearly fell into the sunken crater, catching himself and barely hanging on. Ymira was wounded, but the raiders soon fell to the superior firepower of the protagonists. Taking some time to recover, Ymira used a stimpack on herself and one on the Squib as well.
Now moving into the crater the team began to investigate, while Xander went to work on securing the data from the damaged ship's computer and sensors. Zavi became worried when he saw that the tents housed at least 2 raiders each which meant there were more people than they had fought so far based here. Ymira found one of those very "people".
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"Who are you? What are you doing here?" the angered and confused Twilek yelled.
"We're looking for our ship," Ymira offered, trying to defuse the situation.
"You came to the wrong place, greenie!" She fired her blaster and even in her drug-induced state managed to clip Ymira in the side. The Mirialan smuggler fired back but missed as her target dodged and rolled to the side. Finding herself out-matched in these close quarters, Ymira decided to duck out and dove out the tents doors, summersaulting and twisting into a new firing position.
The purple skinned Twilek threw open the tent and stepped out, her blaster pistol poised for a shot at her opponent. "I am Gida Luroon and I will be your death!" She shrieked while scanning for Ymira. Another nasty gunfight erupted and in moments, Gida had fallen, her pistol dropping from her hands and she collapsed into the sand.
Now the team had some time to inspect the area. Some random bits were found including a locked footlocker and maps and cargo manifests. The maps were the surrounding area and any communities, which was obviously the area that these raiders prowled. Xander's diagnostic check found that much of the ship was damaged, but the weapons were intact. The modified Y-Wing had a twin blaster cannon in the nose and proton torpedo launchers. Some other gear as well as several liters of water were found in the pile of scrap, garbage and containers.
After about an hour of searching and working on the ship, suddenly Roona fired off a shot at the mesa's rim. She yelled out a rough warning, indicating that they were under attack once more. For her trouble, the Rodian took a blaster shot in her shoulder that sent her for cover. Up on the mesa rim, the group could see a Trandoshan and several other raiders. The Trandoshan was apparently the raiders' leader. Kel exchanged some lively banter with the Trandoshan and he responded by threatening them all with death. "You're all going to die!"
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The group finished raiding the encampment, loading what they could onto the speeder truck. A significant credit haul was achieved between Yarroq's personal treasure, Renci's payment and the contents of the footlocker. Hoping to possibly be able to use this location as a hideout of their own one day, the group sped off to Mos Entha, where Renci was dropped off at the local spaceport. Along the way another discussion of the feelings toward the Empire came about. Renci was suitably thankful to the group for helping her through her predicament, despite the loss of her ship. Still she had the data which she had scanned which was what was most important to her.
As she's about to leave, Renci slips her pack over one shoulder and turns to say her goodbyes. "Look, you handled yourselves pretty well over the past few days. I must admit, I wasn’t entirely honest with you. I do work as an explorer, but I’m not really scouting for mineral deposits or any of that. Rather, I’m usually scouting for information on what the Empire is getting up to out here on the galactic fringe, though I also occasionally scout for competent help for some friends of mine who are always looking for new blood. It's pretty worrying why the Empire has a research station in such a remote portion of the galaxy. I think this is going to be big trouble, if you ask me."
"Hopefully more people come to realize just how rotten the Empire really is. If you’re interested in opposing the Empire, I can put in a good word and put you in contact with some people who can point you in the right direction to do some damage. So, what do you say?"
(Feel free to respond or not as each character sees fit. Roona wrinkles her snout and says, "Good pay? Work do good.")
The team continues on to Mos Espa and to the warehouse that was indicated by Tebora. The warehouse is owned by a merchant trader named Vek Ral'lya. Vek is a Bothan who is known to buy and sell stolen goods. Ral'lya's warehouse is a simple pourstone structure, two stories in height. It has a broad double door one meter off the ground in the front, where a hover truck can be docked for loading and unloading. A side door at ground level serves as the staff entrance. Each of these is securely sealed with an alphanumeric keypad. The code given to Xander works on the double door.
Inside the warehouse, the loading dock is a raised platform made of the same duracrete as the rest of the floor. A ramp leads down from it to the main section, which is filled with industrial shelving units four meters in height. A pair of B1-series labor droids provide the heavy lifting. Off to one side are a series of lockers which must be where the team's information and equipment can be found. Sure enough, all is as expected and there is a satchel inside with a landing beacon, a commlink set to a specific frequency to make contact and a digital credit chip.
Xander checks the landing beacon and finds it seems to operating normally and triggers the commlink. After a few moments, a return message is received. The smuggler contact identifies himself as Hagk Baht. He will be reaching Tatooine in three days time aboard the freighter, Singing Savrip. The rendezvous point is scheduled to be outside Anchorhead as Hagk wants to avoid any Imperial inspections. He will radio in as he approaches and the team will set up the landing beacon in the vicinity of Tosche Station, outside Anchorhead, as this is rather isolated and unlikely to draw much attention. "Just make sure you have my money," Hagk says. Xander responds in the affirmative and the group heads to a cantina in a better part of town than Qexi's to discuss their logistical plans.
Both Kel and Roona point out that they have now seen Madon Ani's security thugs, the ones fought in Qexi's that were after Renci, watching them and following at a distance, but not seeming to take any other action. Roona noticed them when you first came into Mos Espa and Kel saw others as you were leaving the warehouse.
(What's the plan to get the speeder truck and bikes to Anchorhead area? Crossing the Dune Sea at such a distance will take a full day and less than a half if there are no delays or distractions.)
Each "hero" receives 10 XPs as well as their personal reward from Renci. The rest is assumed to go to a communal stash, but that can be further decided by the group. It might make sense to have more survival gear.
Unused XP-
Kel 10 (◆◆critical wound)
Xander 10
Zavi 0
Roona 0
Ymira 10
500 Credits each
Group spoils
3571 credits (2500 from Yarroq, 1000 from footlocker, -100 for food supplies)
Gear: quick sale value in ()
2x Blaster Rifle (450 ea)
7x Laser Pistol (200 ea)
2x Heavy Blaster Pistol (300 ea)
1x Stun grenades (45 ea)
Tool Kit (175)
Glow Rod (5)
Scanner Goggles - used to see in the dark (85)
Brass knuckles (10)
