Eye of the Dragon
DreamLyrics Play-by-Post
Who's Online Now
1 members (Weez), 19 guests, and 19 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
ShoutChat
Comment Guidelines: Do post respectful and insightful comments. Don't flame, hate, spam.
Dice Roller
You will need to enable Javascript in order to view the Dice Roller.
Games Recruiting List










Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
#1001133 Fri 09/10/20 13:36 UTC
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
nem Offline OP
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
OP Offline
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
[For Mirror Team: 2BB-2, Amos, J.B., Jix]

GM

The foot of the mountains, the opposite side of the crest to the operating base and the other team. The elevated conveyex line protrudes from a tunnel in the rocky slope, running straight across the wide lagoon to the far end of the range. The old Imperial Railcrawler is sat on the tracks, idling, waiting to hook up to its carriages.

The light of the distant hot star casts dark shadows under the tracks and amongst the rocks.

Two 125-Z Treadspeeder Bikes are parked here, their pilots perched on the seats casually.

They look identical to First Order Stormtroopers except for the more padded, less armoured lower body armour.

Their white armour is grimy, scratched and seems yellow in GH-531's atmosphere.

One reads a datapad, shaking his head.

The other looks bored even in a helmet, complaining, "Can we go? Let's finish our sweep then I'll race you out to the hyperwave."

"I just don't get it!?" Says the one reading, sounding exasperated, "Someone must have said something somewhere."

Their voices crackle from their helmet vocoders. The other pilot walks over and snatches the datapad.

"Hey, give that back!"

"No. What's the point of being assigned roving patrol if we sit here all day?" The pilot says, stuffing the pad in his pannier.

"Doesn't it bother you?" Asks his comrade.

"No! I want to race."

"We're joining up with this Reborn Emperor and we don't even know how he was reborn. I was always told the Emperor got blown up on the Death Star and now he's back? How is that even possible?"

"Who cares? He's got like ten thousand planet-killing Star Destroyers under his command."

"Well did the Sith Eternal find a toe floating in space and grow him from that? I can't respect a leader who started life as a toe."

"Oh you are giving me a headache. Can we just put it down to space magic and move on?"

"Tell you what, if you give me my datapad back, I'll give you this can of Jawa Juice...."

Unbeknownst to the Treadspeeder pilots, they're being watched from the shadows by Mirror Team.

From medium range, the two Treadspeeders look like an attractive option for getting to the hardened Ghidrah bunker some 10 km away.

Each can carry two riders in tandem at over 100 km/h and by the sounds of it, these two are on roving patrol so aren't following an exact timetable.

Alternatively, from the sounds of industry above it sounds like the Railcrawler might be about to set off. The team could hitch a ride.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 76,218
Likes: 55
Wizop
Administrator
Offline
Wizop
Administrator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 76,218
Likes: 55
Jix

"Take out the riders? Bikes have more flexibility."

Jix is a soldier. Soldier take orders. But he can still offer a tactical opinion.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
Moderator
Offline
Moderator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
Jelly Bean

JB would make the case for the alternate option. Ultimately it would be Amos' call though.

"Even if they are roving and don't have standard check-ins, someone might call them," she offered. "The longer we can go without making contact, the the longer we hold the advantage of stealth. Once discovered- either group of us... then things get locked down, things get jammed up. We don't have that kind of time."

JB didn't mention the possibility of missing a shot. Why give breath to her own doubts, right? Besides, neither Amos nor Jix were likely to miss, so...

Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 173,430
Likes: 7
Babylon 5 Rules
Administrator
Offline
Babylon 5 Rules
Administrator
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 173,430
Likes: 7
Amos

Like any good commander he listened to his soldiers who had experience and had earned the respect due them by their actions.

"Stealth is more important than speed at this point. Lets see if we can get a lift from the Railcrawler but take out the bikers if they spot us." he whispered back to them over the comm unit and then, watching the bikers for when their attention is diverted, moves in the shadows for the Railcrawler.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 76,218
Likes: 55
Wizop
Administrator
Offline
Wizop
Administrator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 76,218
Likes: 55
Jix

He nods. His solution is often combat orientated but he can see the argument to try the stealthy approach first. Best if they don't all target the same one.

"I'll cover the furthest."

He waits for the signal to move and tries not to attract attention.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
Moderator
Offline
Moderator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
Jelly Bean

JB took this moment to drop her goggles into place to study the railcrawler, then follow the track to it's destination, and then study the infill point where the crawler would have to unload or drop it's carriages, or whatever it was going to do. There must also be a turn-around loop, or maybe the crawler engine could function in either direction, just back and forth, able to hitch from either side.

Whatever the case, JB wanted to get a feel for the best strategy in boarding the crawler... ride on top? Actually get inside? As she was doing this she spoke in a hushed whisper to her compatriots, "If we can ride it up inside the depot that clears the first hurdle of having to to get inside the complex. I'll let you know what I see."

((OOC- over to Neil for any further details on the railcrawler option)

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
nem Offline OP
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
OP Offline
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
[AJ, does 2BB-2 have any input? He's versatile enough that he could make either option work despite being a BB-unit.]

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
nem Offline OP
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
OP Offline
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
GM

It's a short, easy climb up to the elevated conveyex and hidden from view from the two Stormtroopers by the rocky terrain.

J.B. adjusts the zoom and image intensification on her classic Torjeka scanner goggles.

She's reminded just what perculiar vehicles old Imperial Railcrawlers are.

The locomotive is in two sections. The dorsal section clamps onto the tracks from above and is braced to the ventral section below. Both have a high speed, high traction belt drive.

The Empire used them on worlds where the dust, cold or other environmental conditions made repulsorlift unreliable.

That the First order are patrolling on Treadspeeders also suggests that repulsors don't thrive in GH-531's environment. The storms must deposit a lot of ionised dust on the ground.

Although the conveyex links the operating base to the Ghidrah bunker, the Railcrawler's depot is constructed in the tunnel that passes through the mountain.

Here J.B. can see two First Order engineers in their black overalls and salet helmets, hooking up the Railcrawler to several carriages from a siding.

A gantry-mounted loudhailer squawks to life.

"Railcrawler, departure for hyperwave in three minutes and counting."

The engineers finish with the carriages and jog back to the locomotive. It appears they're also the crew.

They board the dorsal section. From below, the team could jump onto the ventral section as it passes.

With the conveyex being so old and spanning a relatively short distance, the driver isn't likely to put the hammer down. More likely they'll accelerate slowly and maintain a steady, low speed.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
Moderator
Offline
Moderator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
Jelly Bean

"All aboard," she said softly. "Engineers are running it from the upper engine," she then reported. "Don't see any other crew. "All the cargo carriages are armored and sealed. Caboose will be a heavily armored turret. I think the best bet is to ride in on the lower engine."

She slipped goggles back up onto her lekku headdress.

"A couple minutes for us to get up and under it... then jump up onto the lower engine."

Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 173,430
Likes: 7
Babylon 5 Rules
Administrator
Offline
Babylon 5 Rules
Administrator
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 173,430
Likes: 7
Amos

He turned to their engineer/pilot and nodded at her words.

"You are the expert. We go with your plan JB."

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 27,597
AJ Offline
Moderator
Offline
Moderator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 27,597
2BB-2

The droid held his peace, trusting to his colleagues. this was Amos' decision to take, and the Droid was well positioned to back him either to the train or on the path not taken.

A quiet trill offered the possibility of remotely spiking the electronics on the bikes as they took the train, but that ran the risk of going loud too soon.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 76,218
Likes: 55
Wizop
Administrator
Offline
Wizop
Administrator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 76,218
Likes: 55
Jix

The mode of entry chosen and time running short to take it, Jix stows his weapon behind his back to leave his hands free for the manoeuvre. He mentally prepares himself.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
Moderator
Offline
Moderator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
Jelly Bean
https://i.imgur.com/5u4oxaT.jpg


The object was to get underneath the rail itslf, in it's shadwo. Onve the crawler started moving they would have to run along and jump into the lower engine. She hope it wasn't occupied. She didn't think so because the two engineers doing the hitching work had gotten into the upper engine. Perhaps they were short staffed and this place was remote and secret and the First Order had it's attention elsewhere right now, so most personnel were assigned to that 'elsewhere' purpose.

She looked ahead at the limited runway of ground.

"Like catching the hyper-link on Nar Shadaa, a people mover system that was always in motion that you stepped on or off when you wanted. Okay, this was probably going to be a little faster, sure... but you match the speed and jump across onto it... easy, right?"

Was it easy? Probably not, but they could do this.

"Let's go, we need to get ready, when it moves we move... before the doors close and the ground slopes off... Jix first, then Amos.


Babay was fast and could sling himself to the railcrawler, so JB didn't have to worry about him. But she offered anyway, "You got this, little friend?"

"I'm last," she stated. She could probably jump the farthest. Back on Jakku she had shown her acrobatic jumping talents. She also wanted to be prepared to Force Push any of them that needed a little extra help.

As soon as they were in place, it all came down to timing after that.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
nem Offline OP
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
OP Offline
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
GM

Red-lit interior of the Railcrawler. Faces hidden behind tinted visors, the First Order engineers stand, staring out of a slit-like horizontal viewport. The drive-belt mechanism shares the cab with them.

One engineer pushes a lever forwards slowly.

Groaning, the belt starts to move.

"Engine timing synchronised. Leaving station now." Reports the other engineer.

Outside, the conveyex pulls away from the sidings and emerges from the tunnel into the yellow light of day.

Travelling at around 10 km/h, it's slow enough for Mirror Team to jump and grab onto from either side of the tracks. Each carriage has ladders built into the front and rear corners.

2BB-2 and Amos are at the front of the first carriage, the droid using his liquid-propelled grapnel harpoon to cling on. Looking back along the carriage they see at the rear, Jix and J.B. looking forward.

So far so good. Wind speed increases, becoming a roar as the Railcrawler accelerates to about 100 km/h.

Meleenium rain streaks along the grey metal sides as the sky ahead darkens, yellow lightning visible behind the mountaintops.

Another noise heard above the wind and whirring of the conveyex. Not thunder but the distinctive scream of Twin Ion Engines.

Swooping down from the clouds comes a small craft, a TIE Echelon, an assault shuttle built along the familiar TIE Fighter lines. Sail-like solar collectors either side of the fuselage.

It's escorted by two TIE/sf Fighters with their red flashes.

The ships scream passed at high speed, heading to the operating base in the opposite direction.

Mirror Team can communicate with each via their comlinks.

The conveyex line is now passing over a glassy lagoon, its surface prickled by rain. The journey should take 5 minutes or so. It would have taken over an hour on foot.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
Moderator
Offline
Moderator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
JB

The Twi'lek looked to Amos. Any of them could make the comm call to the other team. The other team certainly needed to know that they should be expecting company. But, it was Amos' command. She was hesitant to use any comms, especially at a comm base but this seemed important.

"I can try to reach Winta or Preach through the Force," she offered. "Let them know..."




((similar to when Luke reached out to Leia when he was injured and hanging from an antenna array underneath Cloud City on Bespin- Telepathy))

Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 173,430
Likes: 7
Babylon 5 Rules
Administrator
Offline
Babylon 5 Rules
Administrator
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 173,430
Likes: 7
Amos

His eyes followed the ships, a pensive look in his eyes as he mets JB and nods, hearing her over the comm.

"Try it, but we call in 30 seconds if you can't make contact."

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
nem Offline OP
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
OP Offline
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
[Excellent, I like it. smile Thinking like Jedi.]

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
Moderator
Offline
Moderator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
JB

Jelly Bean didn't reply via the comm, but she nodded so that Amos would see her reply from one carriage to the next. She turned to Jix and took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Not my best skill," she said.

Maz had trained her in this, and Leia had reinforced some of the lessons in her no nonsense, practical fashion in the times the leader of the Resistance and she met. "I got it though..."

Jelly Bean closed her eyes, instinctively her hand stretched out as she slowly turned in place. She felt the Firce and embraced it. In a way, it was like a glove you never take off, always there, but so much a part of you that it becomes the essence of the 'white noise' of your life. It was like slowly stepping through a veil or stepping deeper and deeper into a pool of water. Yes, that metaphor was not lost on Jelly Bean. Born on an arid planet, stepping into water took some time for her to adapt to, and that was how those early lessons felt to the Twi'lek. This was the first time she tried to do this outside of the safe training environment.

She reached out with her mind. Preach was probably going to be her best chance. She had a recently connected with him in the Force as he guided her in the final assembly of her lightsaber just hours ago. Yes, Preach would be the best choice for her to get her message through. And so she slowed her breathing and focused on that Connection...

Master Preach...

Whether he was truly a Jedi Master or not, he carried himself with a calm presence and deep abiding wisdom. To the young early 20's Twi'lek he epitomized everything that she had been taught about the Masters of Old by Maz.

She focused on the an image, a moving sequences of memory, the one she saw when she heard the the twin ion engines, and knew what that meant. She looked out the plate windows of the carriage, into the sky and saw the two fighter and the Echelon shuttle pass over head. her eyes tacked them, looking back toward the main base where her friends were infiltrating. She wasn't strong enough to send much more than a few words, but it was the image she visual she wanted to convey the most

Master Preach... Incoming Danger.

She hoped Preach would feel his mind and know that he understood her.



((OOC- I will only post in our thread for now unless/until Neil tells me to do otherwise. GMs call as to how this is presented to Preach, or perhaps Winta picks it up as well.))

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
nem Offline OP
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
OP Offline
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
GM

With the wind tossing about her lekku, the Twi'lek concentrates, her eyes closed behind her goggles.

It feels like it takes an age but it's only seconds as suddenly she feels another presence, Preach, and her message is shared. It's an odd sensation, like the difference between saying something aloud and seeing someone react to it. An interaction. An interaction between the minds of two organisms at a distance. Using the Force.

It's not like a comlink. Preach doesn't come back with Incoming danger. Roger that Mirror Team, confirming that he's received and understood the message but J.B. can be confident he got the gist of it at least.

[
2BB-2: Ph Stress 1<9 +1 Resist, Me Stress 1<9 +1 Resist, So Stress 0<9 +0 Resist;
Amos: Ph Stress 1<9 +1 Resist, Me Stress 0<9 +0 Resist, So Stress 0<9 +0 Resist;
J.B.: Ph Stress 1<9 +1 Resist, Me Stress 1<9 +1 Resist, So Stress 0<9 +0 Resist;
Jix: Ph Stress 1<9 +1 Resist, Me Stress 2<9 +1 Resist, So Stress 0<9 +0 Resist;
Preach: Ph Stress 1<9 +1 Resist, Me Stress 2<9 +1 Resist, So Stress 0<9 +0 Resist;
Sirra: Ph Stress 1<9 +1 Resist, Me Stress 3<9 +1 Resist, So Stress 0<9 +0 Resist;
Winta: Ph Stress 1<9 +1 Resist, Me Stress 2<9 +1 Resist, So Stress 0<9 +0 Resist;

=UNSTRUCTURED TIME=
J.B.. "Telepathic message to Preach" Social--Def2. G+GG (*Force Awakened, Preach assisting vs Difficulty without stress)...
...=G(2,3,6). YES! Success 1

=KEY=
G Green dice (aka positive dice)
P Purple dice (aka negative dice)
* Green or purple feature
† Trauma
² Worth two green or purple dice
³ Worth three green or purple dice

]


Last edited by nemarsde; Sun 25/10/20 17:56 UTC.
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 76,218
Likes: 55
Wizop
Administrator
Offline
Wizop
Administrator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 76,218
Likes: 55
Jix

He is relieved to have made that jump. But then what is the worst that could have happened? He could have died. Whereas that didn't mean a lot to Jix, maybe some peace, it might have made a whole lot of difference to her team, her adopted hive. So he is content it worked out well.

He nods to JB, having followed the comms.

"You'll be fine."

And he means it. He has a confidence in her and her abilities. So he primes his weapon and readies himself to keep a closer watch whilst JB is busy, remembering that they are aiming for a covert entry. So head low, compound eyes watchful.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
Moderator
Offline
Moderator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24,648
Likes: 10
Jelly Bean

The Twi'lek blinked a couple times as she gathered herself after her mental efforts. It was a little disorienting to her. With a glance forward to the first carriage she offered a gesture and a nod to Amos to let him know that she got the message through to the other team.

Then she smiled and nodded at Jix. She reached out to touch the exodekeltal carapace of one of Jix's arms. "You are a good friend."

Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 173,430
Likes: 7
Babylon 5 Rules
Administrator
Offline
Babylon 5 Rules
Administrator
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 173,430
Likes: 7
Amos

She got back a smile and nod from the team leader as he sighed in relief and turned his attention back to their destination and the need for them to keep covert as long as possible.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 27,597
AJ Offline
Moderator
Offline
Moderator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 27,597
2BB-2

The droid was still, held in place by his grapple, but he was far from inactive, keeping sensors live for any enemy activity, or just an awareness of who was communicating with whom. The TIE pilots, the would-be racers, either fortification, anything he could glean that might and their progress was what diligence required he seek.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 76,218
Likes: 55
Wizop
Administrator
Offline
Wizop
Administrator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 76,218
Likes: 55
Jix

"You are part of my.. team."

Being part of a hive.. or now a team.. it is part of the ethos to support all the other members as the whole is then stronger. This is common sense.

However the touch is welcome. He misses the touch of many minds but in their absence a physical touch helps. And many seem reluctance to touch him. Likey because his physical state is very different to those to have flesh bodies.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
nem Offline OP
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
OP Offline
Wobbly Headed
Administrator
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 13,051
Likes: 9
GM

The Railcrawler speeds along the elevated line. The yellow light dances off of the lagoon.

For a minute or so there's nothing to do but sight-see. Take a ride on a conveyex. See the liquid metal lagoons of the yellow planet.

If tourists do ever come here they probably won't be asked to cling to the outside of their conveyex.

2BB-2's sensors pick it up first, then Jix's Verpine antenna too. An invisible change. High levels of pulsing hyperwave radiation.

Of course, this is why the operating base is separated from Ghidrah by distance and a mountain range.

Prolonged exposure to such radiation, over even a few days, could result in a bad case of bloodburn. A good thing that the team are in a hurry then.

The Railcrawler starts to throttle down, slowing under the air resistance.

Ahead, the team can see the Ghidrah bunker built into the mountainside. Much larger now. Reinforced plascrete, durasteel doors and shutters, all severely weather-worn. It looks like the Railcrawler will pull into a terminus inside the bunker.

No sign of exterior guards or automated defences.

The hyperwave repeater towers above the bunker. A superstructure of calibrated rings, fixed to the spike running through the middle of them. It must have incredible range and wouldn't look out of place atop a skyscraper in Coruscant.

GH-531 is definitely not Coruscant.

Decision time. Will the team ride all the way into the bunker or jump off before entry?

Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  nem 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Newest Members
Talon475, Randal Trimmer, Kimf, Yvon, Xiang Chin
177 Registered Users
Today's Birthdays
There are no members with birthdays on this day.
Member Spotlight
Vryx
Vryx
Pittsburgh
Posts: 1,347
Joined: December 2020
Forum Statistics
Forums103
Topics2,816
Posts139,454
Members177
Most Online296
Jan 19th, 2020
March
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
†Restricted forums can only be accessed by DreamLyrics members of the age of 18 years or older. Access which is granted by the Behind Closed Doors Procedure.
™DreamLyrics Play-by-Post. DreamLyrics Play-by-Post does not own copyright on DreamLyrics texts or graphics, except trademarked DreamLyrics logos and logotypes. The works contained in DreamLyrics are copyrighted (automatically, under the Berne Convention) by the original authors and may be available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence. (See Copyrights for details.)
Privacy Policy
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5