No TIE Fighters, but then as Wayde soon finds out, no guns. At least none that are powered up and working - Reyes wasn't able to get the weaponry accessed before his slicing kit burned out.

Quote:

Quote: from Dieter on 10:51 pm on Nov. 18, 2003
"Nice work, Cap'n. I recommend we immediately jump to hyperspace and sort things out a safe distance from here. Oh...and mind the Tie-Fighters."

"Thanks, Wayde. Nice work, everyone."

Arnae runs a few numbers through the navcomp, then punches the hyperdrive. The ship slides into the blue tunnel with a lurch, then decelerrates a moment later into normal space.

"We're in a hopefully empty corner of the system now. First, we need to decide where we're going. If anyone's been thinking about any vacuum-brained get-rich-quick schemes, now's the time to try 'em. Second, we need a name for this crate. Reyes, what was it calling itself before we boosted it?"

Reyes looks down at his notes. "That would be the Dark Strider. Hm, not that bad of a name in itself," he says. "I vote we keep the old name, if my opinion matters."

"Sounds awful serious for a bucket that looks like a space slug. Heh, slug... How about the Slug Bucket? Dark Slug? Slug Strider? I mean, we gotta call it something other than the name of a ship matching its description that was recently stolen on Rodia."

"The 50 Foot Slug?"

Wayde shakes his head in protest.

"I'll be damned if I'm going to be flying around something called the The 50-ft Slug. I do have a reputation to protect..."

(Edited by Dieter at 11:11 am on Nov. 19, 2003)

"Think of it this way; when our enemies are debris scattered through space, they're far more humiliated than you are. It's like beating a man to death with your sock - yes, it sounds silly, but when you actually think of it, you come out as a total badass."

You can see the Bothan's grin despite the fur.

Quote:

Quote: from CuteMotherFucker on 11:18 am on Nov. 19, 2003
It's like beating a man to death with your sock - yes, it sounds silly, but when you actually think of it, you come out as a total badass."

"That's not as strange as it sounds until you're actually standing barefoot over a dead body with a bloody sock in your hand..." Wayde adds, killing any shred of levity in the starship.

"...We need a plan and we need it now. I'm sure the ship theft report has already been filed with the local Imperial authorities, which gives us less than a few hours before Sector Rangers are dispatched. And believe me, they'll put up a much bigger fight than a bunch of incompetent Gran crewmen. If we're going to get Gulgo's tibanna, we should head for Bespin. It's far enough away for our presence to go unnoticed and the gas will be cheaper there."

Aurelia comes up, looking fairly pleased.

"Looks like the drive systems are healthy, until we do something to ruin them. I'll see if I can wire up a bypass for the guns...no promises though."

"Guns would be nice. I hate just running from a fight. Before we head for a set location, I think we should probably see if this bucket has any sort of tracking device planted on it."

Just as she reaches the entry to their new ship, Jileeza is jumped by one of the former crew. Perhaps she had been overconfident after waylaying the former captain, as she's usually sharper than this. A few moments of rock-em-sock-em gets the goon off her, but before she can bring her blaster to bear, Wayde arrives and does the honors for her.

"Thank you, Wayde," she says, her voice low and silky-smooth. "Your timing is impeccable as always." At his invitation, she glides up the boarding ramp and onto the ship proper just as she hears the engines rumble to life.

As Wayde moves to the upper turret, Jileeza takes the belly. Unfortunately, there is no power to either, causing Jileeza to swear loudly. She returns to the bridge to join the others.

"I agree: Bespin. Far away, and fast.

"As for a name, Dark Strider is way too macho. And Slug? Eww. No thanks. Sounds too much like a Hutt ship, and I don't want to linked any closer them than necessary.

"How about something innocuous - less likely to attact attention. Hmm... Galactic Wanderer, Star Glider, or, for something a little spicier, Illicit Affair." She looks around at the others with a mischievous grin.

Aurelia chuckles. "I'm going to have to agree with her. Dark Strider sounds like we're over contemplating for something, and any name with Slug?...look, you don't have to crawl around in those cramped access plates, but I do. There will be no talk of giant crawling things while onboard this ship." she grins.

"I'm kind of fond of Illicit Affair....althought...Second Chance is always a popular one."

Jileeza smiles warmly over at Aurelia. "Second Chance works too. Innocuous, yet appropriate.

"I like the way you think," 'Za murmurs, eyeing the other woman appraisingly.

Quote:

Quote: from fanchergw on 12:24 pm on Nov. 20, 2003
Jileeza smiles warmly over at Aurelia. "Second Chance works too. Innocuous, yet appropriate.

"I like the way you think," 'Za murmurs, eyeing the other woman appraisingly.

"I suppose it's better than Last Chance. With that pressing matter settled, we should plot a heading for the Bespin system..."

(glancing over to Arnae)

"That is...if you're ready, Captain.", snapping off a salute.

You can take the man out of the military, but you can't take the military out of the man.

"Second Chance it is," Reyes says. "As soon as I get my kit fixed again, I'll change the ID tags. Until then, let's get moving. Sitting in a system with a stolen ship, the police after us, and no weapons isn't my idea of a good time."

Aurelia smiles at the Rodian for a moment and looks at Wayde.

"Don't forget to check for beacons. Now...if our fearless leader will promise not to blow out the entire electrical system in the jump, I'll get to trying to patch the weapons around the security system."

She nods to the rest of the crew, heads down the hall towards where she thinks the security system, and thus the way around it, are contained.

"I'll go help her out," Reyes says, and walks after her.

It takes several hours, but the faint hum of blaster chargers coming online is a relief to everyone. Aurelia, whether she admits it or not, was outclassed by the systems despite her experience with shipboard repairs. With Reyes' help she finally sidestepped the security and repaid him by easily jury-rigging his slicing kit back to a working state. Then, she helps him with the transponder tags over the next several hours. They think they've got it, although there's really no sure way to tell until they get scanned.

During the downtime, Wayde is conducting a closer inspection of the ship as only an ex-Imperial can and notes that one of the floor panels in the cargo bay is making a deeper, more resonant *clump* when his boot strides across it. With a creak, he lifts up the panel to see four long crates inside the ductwork. Thinking they might be a weapons cache of some kind, he opens one up and finds that it's full of spice - as are the other 3 crates. A major shipment of some kind.

Erit walks up to Wayde as he's inspecting the hidden cargo.

"Anywhere I can help... - ah. Spice. If I may make a suggestion - good spice will get us a lot of Tibanna at Bespin. Not many traders bother to transport it there."

He pauses.

"But with what I know of Hutts, we might want to invest in firearms instead."