Star Wars: Prologue

"Simple machines are one of my specialties." The grappling hook was quickly launched through the cavern ceiling and Lirc climbed up.

"Hey, kid! Get up here," Lirc shouted as he lowered himself back through the opening. "It'll fit us big folks, but the kid'll be able to move around it easily. How does he feel about being a scout? I mean, as long as he turns tail at the first sign of trouble he should be able to get back safe and give us messages of hope or impending doom. Any objections?"

"I'm not scared," Sade says. "But I need a weapon--or at least a power cell. My hold-out blaster is out of shots, and all I have left are my two knives. I'll also need a glow rod or something."

"Here kid, take this," says Ka'den, handing him the k-23. "I've got plenty of power for this one. I want it back though, so don't break it."

"Sure thing," Sade says, accepting the blaster and winking. He then shimmies up the cable into the tunnel.

About fifteen minutes later, Sade returns. "The tunnel goes more or less straight for some ways," he says. "Then it opens up into a huge cavern that's dimly illuminated by some kind of glowing lake. I didn't go into the cavern but came straight back; I didn't see any signs of any kind of life--unless there's something alive in the water."

"I'll lead the party through the tunnel. The kid's endangered himself enough already and I know I can handle any potential beasties." With that, Lirc climbed up the grappler and headed into the darkness.

Sade handed Ka'den back his gun and moved up into the tunnel after Lirc.

And through the small tunnel they all went...

OOC: "Except our fearless leader Rich, as he has a bad back." Good old Monty Python. :-P

OOC: Sorry for leaving this so long. Stupid wisdom teeth.

So, in short, you proceed through the tunnel, find a strange artifact which Yiisha takes, then travel through a magical Force portal which takes you magically to the Mid Rim world of Naboo. Yiisha takes the next shuttle to Csilla (which happen to depart from Naboo frequently?).

What dost thou deau?

OOC 2: Sorry for the painful deus ex machina. I had better things planned but was feeling painfully uninspired at the moment and you guys have been pressing me to get back to the known galaxy for a while now.

Upon reaching Naboo, Ka'den instantly establishes contact with an old friend, using an encrypted code.

"Sorry I couldn't wait for you at the cantina, ner vod. I had other rancor to vaporize."
"Good to hear you've got work...don't suppose the game's still on, is it?"
"Actually, it is."
"Need an extra blaster or two? Kilei'le and Odest are with me, and we're meeting Cassus and Ranah on Rhaxus Prime. Could make the hunt interesting."
Ka'den pauses. The mention of Rhaxus Prime brings a flood of memories back. The last time he saw that dark blue armor going off into battle, and the first and only time he saw the bloody, mangled corpse of his father return without it.
"Ka'den? ....Vod?"
"I'm here. Don't worry about meeting me just yet. I'm not sure it would be worth your while. Stick around the system though...you never know what might happen."
"Over and out, big brother," says Canderous, and the link closes.

After refitting his kit and stocking up on ammo and rockets again to replenish what he used on that rock of a planet--an expensive endeavor, and not easy to manage on "peaceful" Naboo--Ka'den tracks down Yiisha.

"You know all those rockets I used cost money. A lot of it, too," he says, approaching her in the crowded spaceport with his helmet on. "I'm also inclined to charge you extra for wasting my time--because if you're headed back to Csilla, that means that whatever you hired us for in the first place is no longer important. In other words, you led me halfway across the galaxy only to kill a few dozen crazed force-users--actually, I should almost thank you for that--and a giant snake, all for nothing. So either we finish this job, you pay me for lost time and expenses, or me and my aliit will spend as long as it takes to extract it from you the hard way. So...what will it be?"

OOC: Sorry for the big post--a lot to cover though. :-P
OOC 2: How does everyone feel about conceivably introducing Ka'den's "posse" at any point in gameplay? At first they were just going to be for story purposes, but I kind of like the "dues ex machina" potential (not that we needed any more) of 5 new battle-ready Mandos in an assault ship, ready to appear relatively quickly. :-P They would of course be used sparingly, and probably controlled by the GM.

On another note, "Out Of Character 2: Ad-Libbing" would make a great movie title, don't you guys think?

OOC: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Infinity_Gate (explanation of deus ex machina?)
OOC 2: Where on Naboo? It has some effect on my character's actions and disposition.
OOC 3: A Mando swat team would be pretty sick to have in a jam, but I've got no idea what's going on, cuz Yiisha leaving means we don't really have a reason for being as a group...

IC: "Infernal watery worlds" Lirc muttered as the group realized where they were. As he saw Yiisha preparing to leave, he was happy to see her go - she had put them in a difficult situation for no apparent reason, and they hadn't even received any compensation. Overhearing Ka'den confronting the wench, Lirc joined in. "We deserve compensation before you get to leave! Our group did as we were told. And we saved your life."

OOC 4: Dave, that sounds like a Monty Python movie title. Is it already in the works?

OOC: I completely forgot to mention your pay. Yiisha paid you each 20,000 credits (or the equivalent thereof in your currency of choice). You are in Theed. As for the Mando death squad, I'm okay with it as long as it remains subject to GM direction. Dei ex machina are all well and good, but they can turn game wrecking pretty quickly.

"I have already transferred the money to you," Yiisha says. "Best of luck to you on your new ventures."

"Well, best of luck to you, Yiisha." As soon as Yiisha left, Lirc followed up, "I'd gotten to the point where I'm okay with parting ways with our employer. Just as long as I got my payment so I could get my next meal." The group wandered for a bit, restocking supplies. Lirc purchased some spare parts to build himself a sniper rifle in tusken tradition. After that, they went to purchase food. While the kid was off by himself choosing his dinner, Lirc confided in Seethray and Kaden: "I really hate cities."

20,000 credits more than compensated for the weapons and ammo expended, but Ka'den still felt cheated for not being able to achieve the objective--or even know what that objective was.

With some of the surplus, Ka'den went back to visit some of his old black market contacts, and purchased a few "extras". Then he made his way into the city center and found a HoloNews screen and watched to see what was happening in the Wars. He watched clips of space battles, land assaults--he watched soldiers dying, tried not to think about it. Then he heard something that caught his attention very strongly.

"-*...an entire battalion of GAR commandos were sent into the Outer Rim today, to combat the rising threat from Separatist insurgents on those worlds. Among that battalion are members of the 20th Commando company, which has recently returned from a successful search-and-destroy campaign across Republic worlds Bothawui, Ralltiir, and Corulag. The result of...*-"

Ka'den ceases to pay attention to the holoview flashing in front of him. His old company...they're still in action. He wonders how many of them are still alive. Opening the long-range link to Canderous, he leaves a message: "Ad'ika...how badly do you want to visit the Outer Rim?"

Later in the day, he finds Lirc, Se'ethor, and the kid, and joins them in finding food.

"I don't think they're that bad," he says in response to Lirc's admission, "but I don't much care for Naboo. Let's get off this stuck-up planet."

Naboo is a whole new experience for Sade. He actually found it uncanny and quaint to be able to see both the tops and bottoms of buildings at once, and the ornate architecture was like nothing he'd seen before.

As difficult as the prospect was, he finally found a place to buy power cells for his hold-out blasters and also picked up a sporting blaster and a high-tech slicing computer. He then joined the other three.

"Finally back in civilization!" he said. "Well, relatively speaking."

[OOC: Do you guys want to roleplay your characters some more, or do I need to get some divine intervention to get another adventure going?]

OOC: I don't mind making it up as I go, RPing it for a while, I was just waiting to see how everyone else is going to play it. If nobody else posts soon, I'll make the first move.

OOC:

"Well, if no one else has any ideas, I say we look for a transport large enough to carry four. Preferably one that doesn't have good security codes, is unattended, and out of sight. If you take my meaning..." Ka'den gets up from the table and begins walking towards the docking bay areas.

OOC: Let's get this party started?

OOC: If you don't mind holding off a couple of days, I've got some idea of how to get this moving again.

While the rest of the group has been convening and decfiding to follow Kaden's plan, Lirc had been busy. He had finished putting together his sniper rifle and had begun constructing some tusken style grenades (in a dark corner of the cantina, of course. Nevertheless, cantina security found him suspicious and began closing in, weapons drawn. Quickly he grabbed all of his new toys and ran for it. As he rushed into a mass of people, he put on a mask to loose the guards. When it seemed that the guards were thoroughly confused, Lirc rejoined his comrades.

"We need to get out of this metropolitan nightmare Now!" Lirc spoke with urgency, seeing a character talking to the guards and pointing at him. "I think they they believe me to be a terrorist." The explained that they were already leaving; Lirc was relieved. Noticing the twiliek, Lirc spoke up: "Kaden, Seethor, Kid, would you guys rather make some money with another employer or travel on our own?"