DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Hall of Fame - Latest Top 10 completed games CFH: A Call For Heroes CFH11s: Rescue and Retrieval

GM

The operating base. Liquid metal rain lashes the landing pad as the ionised dust storm skirts the mountain range.

The sky is violent, the landscape bathed in a yellow sodium-like light.

GH-531 may have been built by the Empire but it is now a First Order facility.

The Station Chief stands smartly despite the weather. Her cap and grey uniform are pristine beneath a transparent plastech rain poncho.

She also wears a respirator against the planet's toxic atmosphere and flanking her are two Jet Troopers, one either side.

The screech of TIE Fighters carries on the wind, and a shadow falls across them.

The heavily-armed Echelon assault shuttle touches down on the landing pad, its escort fighters peeling off.

The belly-ramp lowers with a hiss of gas and a squad of First Order Stormtroopers march out and cordon off the landing pad, their armour gleaming white.

Behind them come two TIE pilots in black flightsuits with red stripes on their helmets. Special Forces.

The most senior of the two pilots approaches the Station Chief. They salute each other and the Station Chief gets straight to business.

"Group Captain Talkar," she says, sounding vexed, "I feel this personal visit is unnecessary. As you were told over comms, all is well here."

Rain runs down Talkar's black helmet. The black lenses give nothing away but his posture is relaxed.

"With all due respect, I don't think Admiral Avaric cares about your feelings, Station Chief. We tracked a ship here through hyperspace. A ship that may be carrying Resistance operatives, possibly the Scavenger herself."

Behind her respirator, the Station Chief huffs derisively.

"Preposterous. This planet is located in the Unknown Regions, so-called for the reason it cannot be charted. How would the Resistance know where we are? The insurgent we caught didn't even know where here was."

Group Captain Talkar's hands move to rest on his belt.

"You have a Resistance prisoner here, at this base?" Question.

"Um, yes, but he's secure and under interrogation." The Station Chief answers awkwardly, adding, "His gear was swept for transmitters, not that such weak signals could penetrate through these storms. As I said, all is well."

Talkar nods to his co-pilot, who runs off to board the Echelon. Talkar says to the Station Chief, "If these operatives have a Jedi with them, you wouldn't know if all was well or not."

"Group Captain, if Jedi are as powerful as they say, a couple of TIE Special Forces won't stop them."

Talkar turns back to the assault shuttle. Its repulsorlift thrums as it kicks in.

"We won't." He says and inside the shuttle's dark interior two pairs of round red eyes power up.

"Droids!?" Wonders the Station Chief.

Talkar nods.

"We can't find the ship until the weather clears but a team will check on the hyperwave. And you had better take us to this prisoner."

GM

In basement of the garrison building, Bastian clips on the white flak vest over his red flightsuit, before picking up his helmet.

He's on his feet and in rude health considering his torture. First Order interrogator droids rely on applying constant pain. That will cause rapid physical deterioration in most Sentients, so the droids repair the damage they cause as they go.

With that pain eliminated, Bastian is bouncing back quickly but Smoke Team have now acquired a rescue mission.

Would you have done anything with the carnage in the interrogation room?

Will you give Bastian a weapon? There are two SE-44C unfired blaster pistols going spare.

And what the hell is a Resistance starfighter pilot doing here? Do you ask Bastian?

Sirra


“The final order shall have no dominion.”

She says, somewhat harshly to the memory of the dying man.

She looks over at Winta.

“A lengthy reunion may be touching and sweet, but I have a feeling that we do not want to linger too long here. Call it my gut, but trouble will likely come find us first unless we keep moving and bring trouble to others. I am still disturbed by those elite ties.”

Preach

He put away his Saber and recovered the pistols. It wouldn't do to leave them. Besides an escaped prisoner will be noticed sooner or later. He handed off one or both weapons to the pilot. Armed is better if it comes to that.

He nodded agreement to Sirra's wise words. They did need to keep moving.

He didn't interrupt their conversation but he was quite curious as to how the pilot got here.

Winta

She gave the prisoner a nod of acknowledgement.
"We can't stop to chat. we have things to do."

"But as it may impact our mission, why are _you_ here?"

As she asked the question, she reached out with the force to feel for any lies in the other's response.

GM

Bastian takes both blaster pistols, nodding gratefully to Preach and stuffing them into his vest.

When Winta asks him what he's doing on GH-531, he straightens up and salutes.

"Sorry ma'am. Lieutenant TC Bastian.

"After Starkiller Base, I was assigned to Task Force Andor by Admiral Ackbar, under Tsano Brana..."

Tsano Brana, mercenary commander and experienced pirate-hunter who had mostly worked as a contractor for the New Republic. Mirror Team didn't know she had joined the Resistance.

"Ackbar wanted us to locate the First Order's reserve force. Our mole told us that it was under the command of an old Imperial officer called Enric Pryde, sitting in low power cycle in the Unknown Regions, around where the Yashuvhu System was said to be."

Yashuvhu. A treasure planet. A fable. But it was said to be somewhere in this sector of space.

"The plan was to hit the reserve forces in dock but everything went wrong. Hyperspace out here is brutal. We didn't find the reserve, we ended up lost, busted up, making small test jumps to get anywhere. We couldn't even contact D'Qar.

"Brana finally called a halt at an ice field and sent us X-Wings to scout a route out.

"I found this place, got pegged by ground fire and well, it's been a laugh a minute until you guys showed up."

Bastian looks at your team. Winta's a well-known Resistance officer, but Sirra's in a commando thinsuit and Preach in armoured robes like some Jedi of legend.

"Exactly who are you guys? I'm guessing you ain't here to rescue me?"

Kylo Ren has joined up with the reserve forces after the Battle of Crait. Pryde is now the Allegiant General and overseeing the integration of First Order and Sith Eternal forces.

Task Force Andor had failed then but at least it isn't destroyed as previously thought.

Although Winta wasn't privvy to the details of Task Force Andor or its mission, she does know that Brana commanded a Free Virgillia-class corvette and flight of MG-100 StarFortress bombers. Could be useful in coming battles.

Winta

She walked across to retrieve the comlink she had cast away. Winta picked it up and turned the volume to 'low' before tucking it away near her ear.


"I can't tell you the bigger picture," she replied to Lt Bastian as she moved about the room. "But you are correct. We did not know you were here."

She checked the bodies for security code cylinders. pocketing any she found.

"Our ideal outcome is that this entire facility gets trashed and that we walk out unscathed. We are still at the reconnaissance phase: trying to find out exactly what we are up against."

Sirra

“I get people in places and out of places and break things.”

The voice had obvious ‘first order pedigree’, even old ‘empire pedigree’ if one judged on accent.

She too did a quick scan for anything useful.

GM

There's nothing else of use in the room. The dead First Order personnel are searched, their code cylinders and handheld comlinks retained.

Bastian smiles brightly in reply to Sirra and doesn't seem phased by her accent.

"Well I'm glad you broke me out. What do I call you guys?" He says, asking Sirra and Preach. He obviously knows Winta and recognised her.

All three of Smoke Team have a creepy feeling though, like danger is imminent. It's like smelling a gas leak or hearing a footstep behind. It's neither. It might even be the Force.

Bastian checks out. He's legit. But perhaps the situation on the base has changed. Have they been detected somehow?

Winta

"Ok," she said. "We have set the clock running now. At some point someone is going to try to contact these two - " she indicated the bodies " - and their lack of response will provoke something: investigation, higher alert levels, full deployment of the garrison - whatever."

"So, let's continue onwards."

She moved back out into the corridor to continue.

Preach

"I am known by the moniker of Preach," he offers.

He nodded in agreement. Trouble was definitely coming. A sprung prisoner will certainly add to whatever was beginning to boil. He hoped they could keep the pot from boiling over and scalding them prematurely.

Sirra:

“Call me Revenant. Any other identity I might have is irrelevant.”

She looks at the new addition.

“If you are any good with those blasters, take my left flank and cover the other side.”

GM

Moving quickly but cautiously out into the corridor, Smoke Team keep the angles covered as they assess their next move.

Winta and Bastian have blaster pistols, Sirra has her disruptor rifle. Winta and Preach also have lightsabers, Sirra vibro-daggers.

"I can work with that." Says Bastian to Preach and Sirra, aiming both blasters down the corridor in the direction of the shooting range.

The sound of blaster fire can still be heard. A good sign. Situation normal.

"What is 'onwards', Captain?" Bastian asks Winta, "If you can tell me what you're looking for, maybe I can help?"

Suddenly the sound of blaster fire ceases.

Winta

She noted the silence coming from the gun range. "I have a bad feeling about this ...." she said quietly.


Turning to Bastian, she replied, "Well, the immediate plan was to grab some uniforms and blend in..."
She shrugged.
"But I suspect that that plan is going to be toast - what with an escaped prisoner loose in the facility."

"Ok - our absolute 'must do' is to trash the comms, and for that we were going to take out the power supply in the shield generator. Our secondary objective is to get some inertial compensator arrays from the hanger, or we are not getting back off this rock."

"I think that we back out of here and try for the shield generator. Thoughts? Comments?" she asked the others in the team.

GM

Bastian may not be Force sensitive but he looks like he gets the same bad feeling.

"Well I can tell you that the turbolaser turret works. I came in over the ridge and boom, X-Wing down. It'd mess up that shield generator if you can over-ride the controls."

The XX-10 turbolaser turret is attached to the garrison building (the building the team are in currently), and one of the reasons it was chosen as the first target.

Spare parts for starships will most likely be found in the hangar next to the landing pad. At least with Bastian tagging along identifying arrays for inertial compensators should be easier.

Winta

"I don't suppose you had a chance to get your bearings when you were lead here?" she asked Bastian.

"Whilst I would like to get to that turbolaser, I really don't fancy our chances of going through the whole garrison to get there ..."

GM

Bastian beams a white smile. A bold gesture considering their predicament.

"You bet I was looking out for it when they dragged me in here, ma'am.

"The turret access is on this level and as you can see, not so busy down here."

In fact, from what Smoke Team have seen so far they might suspect this ground level isn't being used at all. With no natural light and low ceilings, the First Order garrison must have restricted their refurbishments to the upper levels of the building. Who can blame them?

"Want me to lead the way?" Bastian asks.

Preach

He wasn't the mind mover that Winta was, but he watched the man to determine if he could tell if it were a fabrication or not? He was willing to go with the man if nothing else they would learn something, which was the point of being here. The longer they stayed alive and avoided detection the better off they were, but at some point, things would have to change.

“You can lead the way side by side with me.”

Says Sirra, looking to Winta for confirmation.

“This is my speciality after all.”

GM

Preach lays his mind against the Force, feeling its natural vibrations and searching for a path to Bastian's mind.

Bastian has impressively tight control over his emotions but that's to be expected from a starfighter pilot, one that Poe Dameron trusted as a wingman.

Bastian's excitement and eagerness are obvious, as is his desire to protect Winta, Preach and Sirra. It's a feeling that Preach might be familiar with from the Resistance; a sort of selfless kindred.

Assuming Winta's in agreement, the pilot nods to Sirra, letting her take point, him one step behind.

"No problem, Revenant. I got your back."

With his senses extended, Preach gets the sudden feeling that someone... no several... no quite a number are coming this way from the shooting range.

Winta

With a slight nod, she replied to Sirra, "Lead on."

She took position at the rear of the group: her eyes and the force keeping a watch for danger.

Preach

He frowns and offers quickly. "There are several coming from the direction of the shooting range. We must go now. Soon our surprise will be over."

Winta

She nodded at Preach's comment.
"I think we now need speed more than stealth," she told the others.

GM

Sirra leads with a Nexu-like gait, Bastian directing in a low voice.

Behind are Preach and Winta.

Soon they're pressed against the wall either side of the entrance to a security corridor.

The corridor is maybe 10 metres long with heptagonal cross-section, shiny black walls and amber floor lights. A Stormtrooper could only stand up straight in the very centre of the corridor and there is no cover.

At the far end Smoke Team can see a more open, circular room and the corners of two gunnery control stations therein. But the team have no angle on the technicians sat at the stations. The room must be the bottom level of the turbolaser turret.

The corridor itself is designed to allow one gunnery technician with a light repeating blaster pistol to hold against attack, and there are emergency blast doors (currently retracted) either end.

If Smoke Team are caught halfway along the corridor they'll be like gorgs in a barrel.

They don't have much time though, they're expecting the alarm to be raised any minute. But do they risk rushing the technicians (have to be single file at full sprint) or try sneaking up behind them?

[ooc - not quite sure of the description - are the two gunnery stations facing into the corridor, one on each side? Or does the corridor lead to the back of the gunnery stations that are protecting the way into the turret from the outside?
Does the corridor lead to an open area - visible from the corridor - that any (inattentive) technicians might meet to converse?]