STARBOX: Episode One: Welcome to Brack Sector/Minos Cluster

[Monsieur Rose]

Zuul

Zuul looks around as Vale introduces him to Nino. He is quite obviously not accustomed to being brought to the forefront on decisions. "Hello. That soundss good.?" He looks to Vale for confirmation that he said what Vale was hoping for.

This leader stuff is hard work.

[Starbeard]

Vale pats Nino on the shoulder and gives Zuul his best impression of a patronizing "Kenobi nod," as his old Master used to call it. He isn't quite sure he's doing it right, this Jedi business is hard work too.

[max_vale]

OOC: LOL for both of you......if this was a game that gave Style Points for making the GM laugh (like HEX) you'd both be getting one! Keep up the good work.....this GM things is pretty hard work too....

[Rex]

Kit

Kit stands next to Zuul and tries to look mean.

[max_vale]

Aboard Outpost 1138; Minos Cluster

-Clark, Jackson and Cal:

Ereskin seems to be getting annoyed; "Do ya really think we'd be dumb enough to stage the meet TOO close to the 'secret' Impy prison rock? You'll be making the transfer at the edge of the system....now, do we have a deal or not?" His eyes are getting a bit red and he angrily cuts his glare from the Professor to Jackson to Tak Dornan and back again. The Gamorrean shuffles a bit closer as well, massive fists clenching....


-Vale, Zuul and Kit:

Nino's eyes have a flash of anger and pain in them when Vale mentions the Empire and he whispers fiercely, "NO...we will have NOTHING to do with the Empire...those butchers....", he seems to catch himself and closes his eyes and take a deep breath before talking at a calm and even tone again. "You have nothing to worry about from me or my....friends....when it comes to having ANY Imperial....attachments. Now, I'll gather my luggage and meet you in an hour at Docking Bay....where is your ship located again?" (Assuming Vale or Zuul tells him), he nods a good bye and goes to get his equipment to bring to the ship....


OOC: I'm going to assume the 'taking Nino on as a passenger to Adarlon' is a YES.....if somebody (Kipper and/or ybn or Solo) can make a yes/no call on the smuggling mission to Gesaril, I'll make another post and get you guys off this rock......literally....

[kipper]

"It still sounds fairly risky to me, and it's out of our way. We're going to pass on this one, not worth the credits." Clark says to Ereskin. In actual fact, Clark mainly went into this meeting to try to get information about the Gesaril system, and I don't think Ereskin can give us anything else.

OOC: Gesaril isn't anywhere near Adarlon, so we can't combine the two missions.

[ybn1197]

Jackson gives Ereskin a non-committal shrug, following Clark's lead.

[Starbeard]

"Welcome aboard, my boy!" says Vale. "You'd better get your things and contact your friends, I don't think we'll be staying here too long."

[max_vale]

Outpost 1138; Mestra System to Adarlon System, Minos Cluster


Ereskin and his friend exchange some angry words and hands grip tight on blasters, but eventually, the shady man calls his buddies off and the one time Rebel Agents/Free Traders go their separate ways without making any deals...

Soon, the Nova Kestrel is departing Outpost 1138 and setting course for the Adarlon System with 70 tons of goods in their cargo bays and a passenger named Nino Rikassian in their lounge who was very happy and eager to be heading back to Adarlon.....

The trip was a rather uneventful couple of days during which Nino sang some entertaining songs and all of the crew found him to be a kind-hearted, charming young man, though one who didn't talk much about his 'friends' he wanted them to pickup and take to 'a safe haven THEY will tell them about' once they got to Adarlon....

As they came out of hyperspace and set course to Adarlon, Nino told them to make for the city of Vahnyus and the setting up of a landing pattern and approach with Starport Control all went smoothly and professionally with no issues. As the light freighter entered the atmosphere and set down, they Rebel/Traders were impressed with the sight of the blended-into-nature city and the lovely climate...



Landing fees were quite reasonable and the Nova Kestrel was soon being refueled and taken care of very professionally. Nino turned to Vale and the others and asked, "Okay, I am going to see my friends and tell them about our arranged transportation. Do you want to come with me or just have me bring them back here? If the latter, I shouldn't be gone more than a couple of hours."

[kipper]

"I'll come with you, if it won't scare them off." Clark offers.

[Rex]

Kit

"Grll.."

"I will stay at the ship."

[Monsieur Rose]

Zuul

"He will go as well. Thiss place is nice and warm." Zuul gathers his forcepike and carbine to go ashore.

[Starbeard]

Vale
"I will come too. I would like to meet these friends of yours for myself."

As they leave, Vale whispers to Kit, "Maybe we had better keep the ship commlink open, and the engines warm—just in case."

[ybn1197]

Jackson

Looking at Kit, Jackson pipes in. "I'll stay as well. I haven't had a chance to give the ole girl a once over in a long time. Want to go that just to be on the safe side."

[max_vale]

Adarlon System, Minos Cluster


Kit, Jackson and Cal stay at the ship while Zuul, Vale and Professor Clark travel with Nino to his 'friends' home. Nino hails a speeder taxi and pays the driver a a few credits and within 5 minutes or so, they pull up to a small home nestled amongst some trees overlooking the water and beaches down below. Nino buzzes the comms next to the door and a feminine voice asks who's there and Nino replies with his name and the door whooshes open....

The Rebels follow the young singer into a modest home and are soon introduced to his cousin, a pretty young woman with dark eyes, hair and skin and who is never far from a pocket-computer and an older man who has an empty sleeve on his right side where his arm has clearly been taken off not far below the shoulder and his left leg is also obviously a simple metal 'bone' and flat metal 'foot'. In addition his face is scarred, but he seems calm and serene, much like a doting Grandfather to Nino and the young woman, who is introduced to the Rebel/Traders as Avaris. The old man's name is Ellien Varkell, but he tells them, "Please, just call me Ell"....

Vale can IMMEDIATELY tell the old man is strong in the Force and from the smile and gleam in his eyes, Ell can tell the same about Vale. Nino starts to haltingly and awkwardly tell the Rebels that Ell and Avaris need passage to a 'refuge' somewhere in the 'Maelstrom', but is dancing around the WHY when Ell interrupts him and says with a smile; "It's okay Nino....I don't believe you need to keep ANYTHING from these fine young people.....we can trust a servant of the Force"; here he nods towards Vale; "-and his companions."

Clearing his throat, he speaks up; "Once...a long time ago, I was a young Jedi Apprentice...a Padawan we were called back then.....when the Old Republic fell apart during the Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire. My Master was cut down by Vader and his lackeys and I foolishly attempted to make them pay for that act. While I was successful against the lackeys, Vader all but killed me", here he nods to what was left of his arm and leg and his facial scar. "Our battle left me falling over the edge of a cliff and into a river with a powerful current. I drifted downstream and the Dark Lord left me to my fate..."

"Only I was found by some kind folks who still had respect for the Jedi and they healed me...well...as best they could anyway. Not able to do much, I drifted from place to place....falling into despair and for a long time I traded my connection with the Force for a connection with liquor. Somehow, I ended up out here.....on Adarlon....A kindly young man with a gift for singing and his cousin, a girl with a love of Computers, for some reason decided to take me in", here he smiles fondly at Nino and Avaris; "and for their sake, I got myself back to sobriety and told them what I knew of the Force and the old days."

"There is a LOT of respect for the Jedi and the Old Republic here on this world, but not much in the way of any real means or desire to fight for those old-fashioned ideals....This was a colony of Alderaan after all, a pacifist society.....but Avaris there has recently made contact on her machine with some Agents of the Rebellion and they have told her that there is a Safe-World of Rebels hidden in the Maelstrom Nebulae and we are welcome to go there to help out however we may. The problem of course....is how to do so as most ships cannot last long in the ion-charged Nebulae without becoming lost and hopelessly adrift. The answer is the liner.....the Kuari Princess".

"You see, once a Season, the great liner makes a cruise through a good section of the Galaxy, including a brief stop at Travnin, Capital World of this Sector, and has a brief lay over of a few days on the outskirts of the Maelstrom so that the Passengers can take in the breath-taking sight. Avaris has learned that an Agent of the Alliance, code-named 'Dagger' is on the ship and if we can be on it, we can get the coordinates for the Safe-World and when we are at the Edge, we can then take a smaller ship and travel to the Safe-World."

At this point, he reaches down to a small leather sack and opens it and shows it to Clark, Zuul and Vale; "Here is how we can pay for this trip and tickets on the Kuari Princess"; the sack holds a quartet of Rizanith Gemstones....each easily could go for 5,000 credits. "We'll give two of them to you for taking us to Travnin and booking passage on the Princess.....each of us should be able to get a ticket for 1,000 credits....and if you would like to join us on the ship".....his eyes go dim for a second and his voice trails off before his attention returns to the here and now..."yes....I think the Force is telling me that you SHOULD be on the Princess with us.....you can have the rest of the Gemstones after we arrive on the Safe World. Do you agree?"

Vale gets a STRONG sense from the Force that they should accept the offer....though he ALSO gets the feeling that some danger may be coming their way as a result of following this path the Force is laying out.....


Meanwhile, back on the Nova Kestrel; Jackson, Cal and Kit are able to fix a few bugs and annoying minor bits of damage the ship has taken over the course of its eventful life.....

[kipper]

Clark believes that Vale can sense if Ell is telling the truth, but he is less sure about Nino and particularly Avaris ... is it possible that one or both of them could be imperial spies? Certainly the location of a rebel safe-world would be invaluable for the empire, and worth planting sleepers on Adarlon. It's an outside chance, but one which he cannot totally discount from his mind. He keeps his thoughts to himself, but vows to keep a close eye on the two of them.

Clark barely glances at the gemstones. Other than having the means to book passage on the Kuari Princess, their value is irrelevant. Clark's motivation is to help the rebels, not monetary.

[Rex]

Kit

Kit helps out wherever needed but makes sure the medical bay is ready just in case.

[Monsieur Rose]

Zuul

Zuul looks from Vale to Ell and back. Something is going on between them. Maybe some sparks? A big grin crosses his face as he sees the gemstones.

He turns his wide grin to Clark as if to say: Do it. Do it.

[Starbeard]

(Sorry! I thought I had already responded a while ago )

Vale

Vale is taken aback at finding a true, real life member of the old Jedi Order, even if he was just a padawan. He takes an eager step toward Ell and asks, "My master was a Vanurli named Ixivaan, did you know him? He trained me after my father was abducted by the Empire for being too strong in the Force."

The young Jedi accepts the offer without even hesitating, though he does not seem personally interested in the money. He tells the others, "I think we can trust these people, and their payment will help our cause greatly." He looks back at Ell and adds, "I think that's where they'd like the money go, anyway."

[max_vale]

Adarlon System to Travnin System; Minos Cluster


Ell tells Vale that regretfully, while he had HEARD of Ixivaan the Vanurli Jedi Master, he did NOT know him. Soon, the deal was made and shortly thereafter, the trio along with the rest of the Rebel Band had all met back up at the Nova Kestrel, and soon they were on thier way to Travnin, the Capital World of the Sector....

Travnin is a temperate, mostly forest moon that orbits a large silver gas-giant; and the Space Docks crawling with Imperial ships certainly make the Rebels-turned-Traders nervous, but nothing untoward happens. They are able to make arrangements at the Space Station for tickets on the Kuari Princess, along with a docking berth in the large vessel's hangar bay for the Nova Kestrel all while being surrounded by numerous spacers, Imperial bureaucrats, obvious ISB Agents and other excited Space Liner guests. They overheard more than a few conversations, some excited, some appalled about the gladiatorial combats going on at Moff Bandor's 'Game Chambers' on the planet's surface; but had little time to learn much more about them before they got their tickets and were on their way....

Landing their Freighter in the massive Mon Calamari Cruiser's Hangar Bay, they were soon left to make arrangements amongst themselves* before going to the turbo lift that connected the Hangar Bay to the main 'Lido' Deck where their state rooms were located....


*Okay, passage for everyone has been made and 4 two-person Stateooms have been purchased, with Ell, Nino and Avaris planning on using one Stateroom (an exception made for them due to Ell's Age and Condition) and the other 3 rooms (split amongst you all however you like) for you 6; and let me know where you would like to go and see and I'll provide some general info as you make choices.....