With Glulgorg's Sail Barge now under their control, the group loots what little they can and heads for Anchorhead. The ship's engineer has offered to work for them, for a normal wage and a chance to get his droids the repairs they need. The rest of the servants on board are also looking for a better boss and the two pilots will stay on if the group keeps the barge. However, there is much debate back and forth over what to do with it, where to keep it and how to keep the whole thing a relative secret. It's not the kind of ship you just sail into town, unless you're a Hutt or other crimelord with a significant entourage.
With the rapidly forming storm catching up to them, the group decides to park the sail barge outside Anchorhead, near Tosche Station. With the scheduled plan to meet their rendezvous the next morning, they unload the speeder bikes and the speeder truck from the barge with the intent to travel on to Anchorhead. Kel would stay with the barge to make sure nothing happened to it, as he recovered from the apparent concussion he suffered.
The unnamed group unfortunately quickly ran out of more time to work or travel as the full eye of the storm hit! There was only time to park the speeders inside the walls of the facility in the hopes of protecting them further. On the sail barge itself, the vehicles would be fully exposed to the storm. And as Roona pointed out, they were rentals!
That completed, as you pile through the door into the dimly lit interior, you see that you were not the only ones forced into here by the storm. This is the venerable Tosche Station - a combination speeder repair shop and seedy dive where the local youth like to hang out. The lounge is crowded with several locals, including several humans, an Ishi Tib (amphibian with beak-like mouth and eyestalks), a Pacithhip (wrinkled grey humanoid with trunk and tusks), a Klatoonian (strongly built humanoids with prominent brows and visible teeth), an Aqualish (hulking, bald humanoid with oversized front teeth like a walrus), a Niko (scaly green coarse skin with horn and spikes) and a handful of Jawas.
As one of the humans shouts, "Close the door, ya blasted idgits!", the jawas scurry towards you jabbering excitedly and reaching for your gear. They especially seem excited about the bag that Xander carries which has the transmitter and comlink for their job. Ymira is not in the mood to deal with the irritating little creatures and opens her trench coat, fully displaying her weapons along with a serious scowl. Zavi also pats his shoulder slung rifle. The Jawas get the initial hint and retreat but keep their eyes on the group for another opportunity.
The next bit of trouble comes from Old Ezrim, who grills the team about their reasons to be there. He doesn't trust them and doesn't like outsiders. Especially with all those weapons. Just looking for trouble. Definitely shady characters, he decided. The group answers that they are here just like everyone else to get out of the storm. That seems to quiet the man for the moment.
Sauntering up to the bar, the group orders food and drink. It's been a bit since they had anything in their bellies. Looking around there are a number of people here and the place is packed. At one table sits a freighter pilot and his R-4 droid. He keeps watching the bartender, a bit too much perhaps. In a corner a large Aqualish sits glaring at anyone who looks his way. When Roona spends a bit of time sizing him up, the Aqualish grunts angrily in her direction and waves his flippered hand at her.
Maze introduces herself as the resident bartender and mechanic. When they ask for food, Maze excitedly asks them if they've heard of a Yatooni Boska drink. Roona wrinkles her snout. She heard of these in Mos Eisley. Ymira asks what's in the drink and Maze tells her that it's made from fermented Dewback sweat. Everyone quickly declines at that point. Blue Milk, also known as bantha milk, or maybe a Tatooine Sunset was a better choice.
While the group ate, the pacithhip approached the group, somewhat eagerly, asking if they were "friends of the T'Landa". The T'Landa Til were known to those who lived a while on Tatooine. They were large four-limbed monstrosities, distantly related to Hutts. They also dealt most commonly in spice and other illicit items. The group turned the elephantine individual down and he immediately clammed up and moved to another portion of the building.
The door suddenly slides open and a huge swirl of sand fills the room. Five dusty, hulking figures enter. Old Ezrim shouts, " Close the ...!" but abruptly steps as he, and everyone else, that these visitors are stormtroopers, the Empire's brutal thugs, armed with deadly blaster rifles.. The stormtroopers, outfitted in sandtrooper gear, look around at the assembled citizens. One of them states, "We're waiting in here until the storm passes. Everyone stay where you are and keep your hands where we can see them." The sandtroopers then take up positions around the room, where they can clearly see everyone in the lounge and each other.
A Night at Tosche Station (Session 7)
Moderator: GM Fang
Re: A Night at Tosche Station (Session 7) <To Be Continued>
With the sandtroopers having arrived, the place became much more subdued. Most of the boisterous talk subsided and discussions took on the form of whispers and knowing glances. Roona noticed the Aqualish in the corner getting more irritated. He had tried to conceal himself somewhat, but a sandtrooper moved right next to him. Angered grunting was met by a stern reply by the trooper. The place was a powder keg that simply needed a match to light and set it off. The Pacithhip slid up to Zavi and Ymira and while not saying anything seemed a bit suspicious. A few terse looks sent him away once more as he shoved whatever was in his hand back into a belt pouch.
The moments stretched out and then suddenly, a muted speaker crackles to life. To the group's horror it is coming from Xander's bag and the group realizes that the sound it the commlink from the ship the are to meet! "Emergency! This is the Singing Savrip! I've been attacked by an Imperial customs ship and my stabilizers are out! I can't make the rendezvous! I don't know if I can even land this thing! I think I've made it near Anchorhead, but now I'm in the middle of a sandstorm and I can't see a -".
"I knew it," old Ezrim states gleefully, in the ensuing silence. "You are smugglers! Troopers arrest them!"
The sandtroopers demand the group's unconditional surrender. That doesn't go over well with Ymira or Zavi and they open fire. Roona warns Zavi not to fire a grenade with this many citizens present. "Big crowd! No Boom Boom!" But blaster fire does erupt. The sergeant takes several hits, but his heavy armor keeps him upright. Meanwhile, Roona manages to take one of the troopers out. The gun fight rages on and the Aqualish joins the fight. Zavi takes a glancing shot from a trooper, but Ymira and Roona both are felled, still having not fully recovered from the deadly fight on the sail barge. Fortunately they manage to fell troopers and Ymira and Roona are treated with stimpacks and quickly recover.
Hopefully, because of the storm the sandtroopers have not been able to report their position and this fracas can be chocked up to bad timing and circumstance. The last thing any of them need is an Imperial warrant on their heads. The lounge is much less crowded now as many of the patrons had run out to the mechanic shop or were seeking cover behind the walls of the compound. As everyone looks around, suddenly there is a loud WHUMP! The ground shakes slightly as something slams into the Tatooine landscape.
"Ship," Roona says simply. "Crash." Zavi gives Ymira a toothy smile but says nothing and she gives him a dirty look back."
Xander grabs on of the troopers helmets to see if it might enhance the view. The team heads out and can see a rising cloud of dark smoke in the sandstorm. It seems to be passing now and heading in a northwesterly direction. Assuming this was the Singing Savrip, the group jumps into the speeder truck and goes to investigate. Sure enough it looks like it is, or rather was, a YT-1000. But it crash landed nose first. It also looked like it had clipped an large outcropping as there was a gash in the side of the light freighter as well.
Examining the ship in it's awkward position took some time, but eventually the 10 crates were recovered intact and mostly none the worse for wear. The pilot, Hagt Baht, was dead and his navigator droid a complete loss. There was no other crew and the ship logs and records were also lost in the unfortunate crash. Zavi opened one of the large crates and found blaster rifles inside. There was enough here for a small army, five rifles to a crate.
Roona pointed out the slightly obvious dilemma that faced them now. They had the crates AND they still had the credit chip. 60,000 credits!
After a bit of time working back and forth among the various scenarios that presented themselves, the group decided to tell Tebora the truth in the hopes that it would bring them a bigger reward. Keeping the credits would not be enough to buy their own ship most likely, and a trip off Tatooine would just leave them in the same situation there were currently in, just somewhere else. Here they had a somewhat trusted financier that Xander had worked with for a time and he had offered to give them bigger jobs if this succeeded. And they had made a friendly (?) arrangement with Bargos the Hutt, despite the current indebtedness that Zavi and Ymira owed to him.
Xander reached out to Tebora by his commlink.
The moments stretched out and then suddenly, a muted speaker crackles to life. To the group's horror it is coming from Xander's bag and the group realizes that the sound it the commlink from the ship the are to meet! "Emergency! This is the Singing Savrip! I've been attacked by an Imperial customs ship and my stabilizers are out! I can't make the rendezvous! I don't know if I can even land this thing! I think I've made it near Anchorhead, but now I'm in the middle of a sandstorm and I can't see a -".
"I knew it," old Ezrim states gleefully, in the ensuing silence. "You are smugglers! Troopers arrest them!"
The sandtroopers demand the group's unconditional surrender. That doesn't go over well with Ymira or Zavi and they open fire. Roona warns Zavi not to fire a grenade with this many citizens present. "Big crowd! No Boom Boom!" But blaster fire does erupt. The sergeant takes several hits, but his heavy armor keeps him upright. Meanwhile, Roona manages to take one of the troopers out. The gun fight rages on and the Aqualish joins the fight. Zavi takes a glancing shot from a trooper, but Ymira and Roona both are felled, still having not fully recovered from the deadly fight on the sail barge. Fortunately they manage to fell troopers and Ymira and Roona are treated with stimpacks and quickly recover.
Hopefully, because of the storm the sandtroopers have not been able to report their position and this fracas can be chocked up to bad timing and circumstance. The last thing any of them need is an Imperial warrant on their heads. The lounge is much less crowded now as many of the patrons had run out to the mechanic shop or were seeking cover behind the walls of the compound. As everyone looks around, suddenly there is a loud WHUMP! The ground shakes slightly as something slams into the Tatooine landscape.
"Ship," Roona says simply. "Crash." Zavi gives Ymira a toothy smile but says nothing and she gives him a dirty look back."
Xander grabs on of the troopers helmets to see if it might enhance the view. The team heads out and can see a rising cloud of dark smoke in the sandstorm. It seems to be passing now and heading in a northwesterly direction. Assuming this was the Singing Savrip, the group jumps into the speeder truck and goes to investigate. Sure enough it looks like it is, or rather was, a YT-1000. But it crash landed nose first. It also looked like it had clipped an large outcropping as there was a gash in the side of the light freighter as well.
Examining the ship in it's awkward position took some time, but eventually the 10 crates were recovered intact and mostly none the worse for wear. The pilot, Hagt Baht, was dead and his navigator droid a complete loss. There was no other crew and the ship logs and records were also lost in the unfortunate crash. Zavi opened one of the large crates and found blaster rifles inside. There was enough here for a small army, five rifles to a crate.
Roona pointed out the slightly obvious dilemma that faced them now. They had the crates AND they still had the credit chip. 60,000 credits!
After a bit of time working back and forth among the various scenarios that presented themselves, the group decided to tell Tebora the truth in the hopes that it would bring them a bigger reward. Keeping the credits would not be enough to buy their own ship most likely, and a trip off Tatooine would just leave them in the same situation there were currently in, just somewhere else. Here they had a somewhat trusted financier that Xander had worked with for a time and he had offered to give them bigger jobs if this succeeded. And they had made a friendly (?) arrangement with Bargos the Hutt, despite the current indebtedness that Zavi and Ymira owed to him.
Xander reached out to Tebora by his commlink.
Re: A Night at Tosche Station (Session 7) <To Be Continued>
With the smuggler's cargo in hand and an unused credit chip worth 60,000 units in hand, due to the smuggler's crash, Xander contacted Tebora, the group's principal. The Muun answered the commlink after a few moments. He was concerned there was an issue due to the early communication.
The goods transfer was not supposed to take place until tomorrow. Xander explained that while there was in fact an issue, the had the cargo in hand. Further, he explained that Bakt crashed due to Imperial customs ship engaging him and he escaped into the storm and the deadly Tatooine desert. The smuggler Bakt was dead.
Tebora was pleased. This smuggler was not one he used often but he was available and open to running dangerous missions. Muun's were well known financial wizards. Tebora must be grinning ear to ear to learn he managed to acquire the weapons for little expense. He congratulated the group on their resourcefulness and informed them that their payment would be made when they delivered to the warehouse in Mos Espa.
Zavi, Xander and Roona take the truck and speeder bikes back to Mos Espa. It's a two day trip that is mostly uneventful. The group spots a tribe of Sand People moving on Banthas, but gives them a wide berth. In the second day one of the giant Jawa Sandcrawlers parked on a dune. Not wanting to deal with the pesky critters, they speed on past. Roona did raise the question of how the scout troopers on the bikes knew almost exactly where to find them. It was peculiar and worrisome.
Meanwhile, Kel and Ymira collected the reward for rescuing Momaw Nadon. They returned the speeder bikes that were loaned to them and the group at Anchorhead let them know that they were welcome any time and if they were looking for work in the future that there might be some coming out of the area.
The group had decided to take the Sail Barge to Mos Eisley. There was no one in this area who could afford such a vehicle and none who would need something so ostentatious. This was a land of moisture farmers, workers and militia. Travelling on to Mos Eisley, the group dropped off the servants that had worked for Glulgorg. Without the sail barge they didn't seem to need servants or an engineer. While Ymira was hoping for a big payoff, they were offered a firm 20,000 credits. The buyer would not budge off that number indicating the amount of work that the barge required. One engine module was completely offline and the other two needed recalibrating. It needed a serious cleaning and paint job and that din't begin to address the huge hole in the side, or the amount of sand that needed to be removed from th lower deck!
Grudgingly, they accepted and the two took a transport to Mos Espa to meet with the rest of the group. It had been decided that a porton of the sale would be used to pay off Roona's debt to Teemo the Hutt since it was within the price they had received. Roona was quite taken aback by the gesture. She had either been turned on by previous groups or forced to turn on them or make a quick escape when things turned bad. Those few that she had some sense of loyalty to and received loyalty from had either disappeared or were killed for the most part. Roona hugged each of her teammates, a tear running down her cheek. "Friends good," she said in her halting Basic.
The still unnamed group (hint, hint) received their payment from Tebora. He also had a special offer for them. He would use a portion of the money they saved on the last mission to sponsor a ship for the group. The Muun felt that between his previous dealings with Xander and the smuggling mission, plus their successful mission for Bargos, that they were ready for bigger things. And he could always use another smuggling team. The blaster rifles would soon have a customer.
A GHTroc 720 was offered to the group. Tebora would put up a portion of the price and an unnamed entity would put up the rest. They didn't owe Tebora anything, just the ability to do missions for him. The other entity would have the other half of the ship price. Everyone agreed. As Roona commented, without a ship they just keep doing what they've been doing, running back and forth across Tatooine. Zavi liked the idea of bigger scores. The deal accepted, the ship would be delivered in a week or so. This meant the group had some time on their own to kill and took rooms in Mos Espa, since they didn't want to stay in Bargos' mansion. Roona took some time to visit a Bacta tank to recover from the injuries she took during the fight with the Sand Troopers.
Ironically, after 3 days, they received a message from C3-P9. The personal droid of none other that Bargos the Hutt himself!
-----------------------------------
Everyone present gained 5 XP from the mission. Also did not realize that when Roona and Ymira went to 0 health they also took critical wounds.
Unused XP-
Kel 20 (◆◆critical wound)
Xander 5
Zavi 0
Roona 5
Ymira 5 (◆ critical wound)
Group spoils
15,545 credits (+ 1000 selling pistols, +20,000 selling barge, +500 for rescuing Momaw, +347 credits on sail barge, -9000 Roona's debt to Teemo, -730 transport and several days living expenses, -50 for storage of below gear)
The group also has 500 credits each from Tebora's transfer mission.
Gear: quick sale value in ()
2x Blaster Rifle (450 ea)
1x Holdout Blaster (100 ea)
2x Laser Pistol (200 ea)
1x Heavy Blaster Pistol (300 ea)
1x Stun grenades (45 ea)
Tool Kit (175)
Glow Rod (5)
Brass knuckles (10)
The goods transfer was not supposed to take place until tomorrow. Xander explained that while there was in fact an issue, the had the cargo in hand. Further, he explained that Bakt crashed due to Imperial customs ship engaging him and he escaped into the storm and the deadly Tatooine desert. The smuggler Bakt was dead.
Tebora was pleased. This smuggler was not one he used often but he was available and open to running dangerous missions. Muun's were well known financial wizards. Tebora must be grinning ear to ear to learn he managed to acquire the weapons for little expense. He congratulated the group on their resourcefulness and informed them that their payment would be made when they delivered to the warehouse in Mos Espa.
Zavi, Xander and Roona take the truck and speeder bikes back to Mos Espa. It's a two day trip that is mostly uneventful. The group spots a tribe of Sand People moving on Banthas, but gives them a wide berth. In the second day one of the giant Jawa Sandcrawlers parked on a dune. Not wanting to deal with the pesky critters, they speed on past. Roona did raise the question of how the scout troopers on the bikes knew almost exactly where to find them. It was peculiar and worrisome.
Meanwhile, Kel and Ymira collected the reward for rescuing Momaw Nadon. They returned the speeder bikes that were loaned to them and the group at Anchorhead let them know that they were welcome any time and if they were looking for work in the future that there might be some coming out of the area.
The group had decided to take the Sail Barge to Mos Eisley. There was no one in this area who could afford such a vehicle and none who would need something so ostentatious. This was a land of moisture farmers, workers and militia. Travelling on to Mos Eisley, the group dropped off the servants that had worked for Glulgorg. Without the sail barge they didn't seem to need servants or an engineer. While Ymira was hoping for a big payoff, they were offered a firm 20,000 credits. The buyer would not budge off that number indicating the amount of work that the barge required. One engine module was completely offline and the other two needed recalibrating. It needed a serious cleaning and paint job and that din't begin to address the huge hole in the side, or the amount of sand that needed to be removed from th lower deck!
Grudgingly, they accepted and the two took a transport to Mos Espa to meet with the rest of the group. It had been decided that a porton of the sale would be used to pay off Roona's debt to Teemo the Hutt since it was within the price they had received. Roona was quite taken aback by the gesture. She had either been turned on by previous groups or forced to turn on them or make a quick escape when things turned bad. Those few that she had some sense of loyalty to and received loyalty from had either disappeared or were killed for the most part. Roona hugged each of her teammates, a tear running down her cheek. "Friends good," she said in her halting Basic.
The still unnamed group (hint, hint) received their payment from Tebora. He also had a special offer for them. He would use a portion of the money they saved on the last mission to sponsor a ship for the group. The Muun felt that between his previous dealings with Xander and the smuggling mission, plus their successful mission for Bargos, that they were ready for bigger things. And he could always use another smuggling team. The blaster rifles would soon have a customer.
A GHTroc 720 was offered to the group. Tebora would put up a portion of the price and an unnamed entity would put up the rest. They didn't owe Tebora anything, just the ability to do missions for him. The other entity would have the other half of the ship price. Everyone agreed. As Roona commented, without a ship they just keep doing what they've been doing, running back and forth across Tatooine. Zavi liked the idea of bigger scores. The deal accepted, the ship would be delivered in a week or so. This meant the group had some time on their own to kill and took rooms in Mos Espa, since they didn't want to stay in Bargos' mansion. Roona took some time to visit a Bacta tank to recover from the injuries she took during the fight with the Sand Troopers.
Ironically, after 3 days, they received a message from C3-P9. The personal droid of none other that Bargos the Hutt himself!
-----------------------------------
Everyone present gained 5 XP from the mission. Also did not realize that when Roona and Ymira went to 0 health they also took critical wounds.
Unused XP-
Kel 20 (◆◆critical wound)
Xander 5
Zavi 0
Roona 5
Ymira 5 (◆ critical wound)
Group spoils
15,545 credits (+ 1000 selling pistols, +20,000 selling barge, +500 for rescuing Momaw, +347 credits on sail barge, -9000 Roona's debt to Teemo, -730 transport and several days living expenses, -50 for storage of below gear)
The group also has 500 credits each from Tebora's transfer mission.
Gear: quick sale value in ()
2x Blaster Rifle (450 ea)
1x Holdout Blaster (100 ea)
2x Laser Pistol (200 ea)
1x Heavy Blaster Pistol (300 ea)
1x Stun grenades (45 ea)
Tool Kit (175)
Glow Rod (5)
Brass knuckles (10)