Spice, Guns, and Credits - Episode 1: Intro

Admiral Duck Sauce 2003-10-24 17:12:51
(Star Wars logo and theme blast onto the screen amid a starry backdrop)

(cue scrolling yellow introductory text)

The GALACTIC EMPIRE is in disarray. Without EMPEROR PALPATINE, killed aboard the second DEATH STAR, Imperial troops fight other Imperials in a bid for power while the battered REBEL ALLIANCE slowly liberates star system after star system. Crime lords, Moffs, and pirate kings alike swoop in to claim their own piece of the fragmenting Empire.

In the skies above RODIA, ARNAE MADDOCK and the crew of the GOLDEN WOMPRAT are about to complete their debt to GULGO THE HUTT...
Admiral Duck Sauce 2003-10-24 17:30:16
Readouts flash emergency red in the Womprat's cockpit as yet another barrage of laser fire strafes the nimble smuggler ship. There were 2 TIE fighters left of the original six, but they had already left their mark. Wayde's return fire from the turret catches nothing but void as the red blasts streak under and to the right of the spiraling TIEs.

The Womprat only had one engine left, and it was failing, the ungainly-looking ship drifting into Rodia's atmosphere. The hyperdrive motivator blew out when the TIEs first attacked; now the sublight engines finally follow suit, the Womprat surrendering to the gravitational pull of the jungle planet.

Wayde keeps the turrets firing as the ship begins its unplanned descent. This time his shots hit home, dusting one of the TIEs. The last Imperial fighter turns tail and runs, leaving the stricken ship to its fate.

"There's a fire in the cargo bay!" That was Reyes.

"Get it under control! If that tibanna gas we're carrying catches, landing'll be the least of our problems! Conroy! I need engine power and I need it NOW!" Arnae shouts into his comlink, trying desperately to keep his ship, his crew, and his life in one piece for a few minutes longer...
Gatac 2003-10-24 18:16:27
Amongst the choas and frantic crewmen, an Ithorian monk paces around, trying his best to calm down the confused and panicking people around him so that they can do their job.

Being on a ship that's diving for a planet's surface without power to any of it's drive systems is a strange experience.

And it's just another day in Erit's life.
CrazyIvan 2003-10-25 07:49:42
Aurelia pulls aside a deckplate, squirming into one of the access crawl spaces, toolkit in hand. If we'd just stop getting caught by the Imps...

She stopped, cursing as she hit her head against the metal of the space as the ship jostled, pulling apart one of the power control boxes. The poor thing had been fried in the latest attack, and she had very little else to fix it with. A good half of the ship's non-essential systems had been taken off the power circuits, and this was her last batch of replacement fuses. She cuts the flow of power to the useless circuit board, finding a workable...if somewhat non-optimal...replacement and sliding it in, shouting a quick "try them now!" before flipping on the circuit and closing the panel, sliding down the tube a safe distance, hoping her rather hasty repair did the trick.
CrazyIvan 2003-10-25 08:02:39
"Come on you crate," Arnae mutters. He reaches for the engine controls.

"Cross your fingers," he calls to his crew, and hits the engine restart switch.
CuteMotherFucker 2003-10-25 15:56:19
At the cargo bay, Mak is getting his hair singed by open flames and sweating like a pig from the immense heat. He still does his best to fight the fire using any means available.
Admiral Duck Sauce 2003-10-25 16:59:03
Wayde slides down the turret access ladder with another fire extinguisher, rushing into the cargo bay. Mak's there with a soaked blanket and Reyes is emptying the last of his extinguisher into the blaze.

The fire almost reacts like a caged animal when Wayde pours on the other extinguisher, leaping to a nearby console, sparks blowing across the room and melting wiring.
---
Aurelia pulls aside a deckplate, squirming into one of the access crawl spaces...
---
Reyes's extinguisher finishes, and he darts out of the cargo bay for another one, or anything for that matter. Mak and Wayde's efforts seem to be in vain as the fire crawls closer to the tibanna gas containers.
---
Aurelia pulls apart one of the power control boxes...
---
Finally, the fire looks like it's getting back under control - Mak's got his tattered blanket working like a maniac and Wayde's just about cornered the blaze...
---
Aurelia cuts the flow of power to the useless circuit board, finding a workable...if somewhat non-optimal...replacement and sliding it in, shouting a quick "try them now!"
---
The fire's not done yet, though; a jet of flaming hydraulics shoots out, splashing the deck with a firey carpet! Mak moves to dive on the blaze, his blanket acting to smother the fire, but Stryker grabs the Bothan, shouting "It's on the tibanna! We gotta leave!"
---
Arnae Maddock slams the throttle down, and is rewarded with the whine of a protesting, damaged, but very much on ion engine. The Womprat banks and veers as he fights against the descent -

- Mak slams the "Blast Doors" switch on his way out of the cargo bay -

- Arnae's about to shout "All clear!" across the comlink when there's a *WHUMP* from the rear of the ship...

- Mak, Wayde, and Reyes (coming back with a fresh extinguisher) are thrown across the corridor as the tibanna goes up - the cargo bay ruptures and the air pressure sucks the fire out, along with the other canisters. The blast door holds for a second, then the entire housing rips away, the doors flying away and down into the Rodian jungle. Wayde, Mak, and Reyes grab onto hatches and ladders as the wind begins to buffet them, grabbing at their limbs and trying to separate them from their ship...

Despite this, the engines at least keep working...
CrazyIvan 2003-10-25 21:30:40
As soon as he's sure the Mynock isn't about to plummet like a rock the instant his attention dips, Arnae wipes the sweat off his brow, and then reaches for the intercom.

"That big 'WHUMP' was not the tibanna, right? Oh, and all clear, for all the good being alive's going to do us. Status?"
Gatac 2003-10-25 22:34:06
The intercom answers with a giant sucking sound and Erit's calm voice.

"As far as I can tell, it WAS the tibanna."
punkey 2003-10-26 21:59:54
"It definately was the tibanna. Could we find some place with an atmosphere before we get sucked into hard vacuum, please?" Reyes yells into the intercom over the roar of the remaining air in the ship.
Admiral Duck Sauce 2003-10-26 22:45:08
The Womprat dives lower into Rodia's soupy atmosphere as Wayde, Reyes, and Mak hang on for dear life. They're in a cloud bank for a disorienting second, then the dark clouds overhead are pouring rain and lightning down, obscuring the blue sky and sun from a moment before. Trailing smoke, Arnae starts looking for a soft landing spot in the jungle - it's gonna be rough.
Dieter 2003-10-27 15:36:08
Not surprisingly, this wasn't the first time in Wayde sordid career that he'd experienced this sort of firey re-entry. He holds on tight and prepares for a very bad landing.

This is going to hurt...
Admiral Duck Sauce 2003-10-27 16:48:01
On the jungle floor, a small group of Rodians watched the smuggler ship fall through the clouds.

"Ooota greebuwonga hootoo!" (Salvage rights! Get the bikes!)

"Grungu-toofooda!" (Wait - it's gonna land in Grungu's turf...)

"Yortooloo cheebwongoya-Grungu!" (We'll be quick! Grungu won't even know we were there!)

"Ooota goota..." (I've got a bad feeling about this...)

Speeder bikes scream to life and the Rodians dart through the underbrush, chasing the stricken starship.

---

The first bump on a bumpy landing is the worst. At least it's over quick. The Golden Womprat hits the jungle canopy a little south of a small lake, trees and branches shearing away with the force of the impact. With not much left to burn, the ship doesn't explode, instead opting to fragment away on the left side. As soon as they hit, the Womprat's out of the tree cover and Arnae, battered but with white knuckles on the controls, skips the Womprat one, two, three, four times across the lake, fishtailing the ship sideways and riding to the muddy shore on luck. The ship comes to rest, mired in the muck, halfway between the treeline and the murky lake.

Not a bad landing for half a ship with one engine.

A quick scan of what readouts are still operational shows that:
1. The generator's shot. The Womprat, even if the hull was intact, couldn't get back into space. It's got maybe an hour of power left as it is.
2. There's a settlement/city not too far from the crash site. It WAS where Arnae was aiming, but the ship was too damaged. Maybe half a day's walk through the jungle.
3. There's quite a number of power sources showing up on the scope from multiple directions. The landing attracted a fair share of attention.
fanchergw 2003-10-27 17:01:43
Looking down for a moment, Jileeza checks her chronometer. "Late. Damn that Wayde! Can't that idiot ever keep a #$@*#& schedule?!" Gulgo's gonna have their butts if they're late.

Jileeza returns to scanning the sky from the spaceport where Wayde was supposed to meet her. Suddenly, she spots the telltale streaks of TIE fighter blasts high in the sky. Flame blossoms on a speck, which instinct tells 'Za must be the Golden Womprat. Oh, no... not again...

'Za watches for a few moments, tracking the descent of her partner's ship. Then, grabbing all the firefighting and emergency gear that she can quickly get her hands on, she jumps in the speeder she arrived at and takes off. Moving fast, she does her best to watch the descent through the trees and estimate the crash site as she goes. As she gets closer, it becomes apparent that she's not the only one interested in this particular crash. Reaching down, 'Za flicks the safety off her blaster and prepares for a little of what makes this life exciting.
Dieter 2003-10-27 17:02:52
*cough*

"Any landing you walk away from..."

Wayde unburies himself from beneath the pile of blow transducers, assorted tools, and charred bits of deckplating. He makes his way towards the cockpit to see if his captain had survived the crash.

Relieved to find that he's still alive, Wayde's military training for operations in a hot LZ kicks in.

Triage any wounded.
Post a watch around the dropship.
Salvage anything worth keeping.
Move towards friendly territory.


(Edited by Dieter at 11:04 am on Oct. 27, 2003)
Admiral Duck Sauce 2003-10-27 17:23:28
Being Star Wars, nobody's hurt aside from bruises. Being a smuggler's ship, Arnae's got blasters for anyone who doesn't already have them, or an extra for those who do. Comlink checks are successful, and Erit's already got the meager medical supplies in hand.

Five speeder bikes, painted a dark green and carrying camouflage poncho-wearing Rodians, burst through the trees across the lake. Three of them dart across the water, leaving a misting spray behind them. The other two follow the lake's edge around to the right. They're obviously not coming to help - they start firing inaccurate but startling shots almost as soon as they're spotted.
Dieter 2003-10-27 17:26:15
Sonuva...

Wayde makes for cover, dropping prone and firing back at the lead speeder.
fanchergw 2003-10-27 18:36:32
Drawing closer, Jileeza can hear blaster fire in the distance ahead. Won't be long now. Soon, she should be able to make out individual targets. Hopefully, Wayde and his friends will still be alive when she gets there. At least the blaster fire indicates that they survived the landing.
punkey 2003-10-27 19:08:28
"Every damn time..." Reyes says, then runs for cover behind a tree. He braces himself against it, rests the blaster on his forearm for stability, and fires at the attackers.
Admiral Duck Sauce 2003-10-27 20:34:04
Reyes and Wayde's shots both strike incoming speeders, but don't do more than rattle the bikes. Wayde's target wobbles a bit, trailing sparks, but it's over open water and there's nothing to run into.

A landspeeder crashes through the trees on the far side of the lake - it's Jileeza, firing a blaster pistol out the window while veering around, trying to flank the bikers. She sets a tree ablaze as the shots whip past her target.

One of the lake-skimming bikers pulls his bike into a hard drift, trying to keep 'Za busy until his compatriots are done with the Womprat's defenders. The bikers' return fire, however, is less than professional. Reyes' tree soaks up a few bolts, but the rest go wide, burning craters into nearby trees and marring the hullplates of the crashed freighter.