Edged by the Empire

Episode 05 First Day on the Job

For International Tabletop Day today, Irfan a quick game of Edge of the Empire for Irfan. Then, Farid and Cikma came a-visiting and Farid joined the game.

Previously: Hondo Pash and his little sister Yuzy Pash had finally freed themselves of the crime lord Teemo the Hutt. With their newfound friend the armoured bounty hunter Giin Lawquane and two astromech droids R2-8B8 and R5-K2, they began to carve a life for themselves in the spacelanes of the Outer Rim Territories with their YT-1300 light freighter Lava Jaeger. The first stop in their quest for their first freight job: the planet Rodia.

The ship set down in Landing Bay 4 in the small town of Port Trammel on Rodia. (Music played: “Approaching Rodia” by Kevin Kiner from Star Wars: The Clone Wars for atmosphere. You can find the mp3 at his website.)

Hondo is met by 32-VEX, the starport authority droid who welcomed him to Port Trammel. Hondo had 375 credits. After port fees, he now had 345 credits.

32-VEX asked, “Are you here for business or pleasure?”

Looking at his wallet, he said, “Definitely business. I’m looking for a freight jobs with my ship.”

VEX informed him, “Although we’re a small settlement, we do have requirement for offworld shipping. Feel free to ask around. Have a nice day.”

After the droid left, Yuzy came running down with her walking staff, followed by Giin and R5-K2. The nine-year-old chirped, “Okay, Hondo. I’m off to go buy some food and provisions for the ship!”

Hondo was surprised. “Wait! We don’t have the money to spend!”

“Oh,” she grinned cheerfully. “I swiped 200 credits from Teemo’s palace before we left. We’ll be fine.”

Giin shrugged. “You want me to go with her, bothth?”

“Yes. Protect her. Please.”

“See you in three hours,” said Yuzy with a smile. And then R5, Giin and Yuzy was out the landing bay doorway.

Leaving R2 to mind the ship, Hondo went out to town alone. (His Streetwise roll results in no successes and 1 advantage.) His search led him to a cantina known as Spacer’s Cafe. A Trianii named Mr. Tibbles told him that there was no shipping required now. But if Hondo returned in four hours, there would be a shipment of shimmersilk for offworld delivery that would pay 2000 credits.

Hondo’s first job!

As he returned to Landing Bay 4, he realised that a black-and-yellow YT-1300 freighter was taking off and flying off into the distance. Someone had stolen the Lava Jaeger, his home and livelihood!

First thing he did was to use his comlink to contact R2. The astromech droid answered with a panicked screech and then contact was lost.

Then he tried calling up Giin and Yuzy but he could not make a connection. (With 1 Success on Mechanical) Hondo realised that the shopping party turned off their comlink so he could not disturb their shopping. This realisation made Hondo facepalm.

So he ran for the starport authority office. 32-VEX was there at his desk. Standing behind him was a female Twi’lek – a blue-skinned Rutian – with a blaster carbine and heavy armour. VEX chided him upon sight, “Why did the Lava Jaeger leave without authorisation?”

“That’s because my ship was stolen!”

“What? Oh, no! Since you’ve paid your berthing fees, we’ll help you get her back.” The droid gestured to the Twi’lek. “This is Gheed the Doombringer. It’s her first day of work as starport authority enforcer. She will accompany you to investigate the theft.” (This was when Farid joined the session – using Oskara’s folio from the Beginner Game – as Gheed the Doombringer. A Diabolical name if I’ve ever heard one.)

Hondo and Gheed returned to Landing Bay 4. They went to the bay office to access the security computer. The records had been scrambled, but Hondo (succeeding in a Computers roll) managed to pull a hologram of the perpetrator: it was a Rodian in a padded jacket.

Gheed was unable to identify the Rodian, and the landing bay office computer was not connected to the correct database. So they went out to the starport authority motor pool at the edge of town where an elderly Rodian officer named Kelko Kelkoson was minding the speeders and swoops. After the fellow port authority officers greeted each other, Gheed informed Kelkoson, “We have a situation. We need to take a couple of speeders out.”

“They’re yours. But why?”

Gheed brought out her palm holoprojector and displayed the thief. “A freighter was stolen by this person.”

“That’s Navik the Purple. He’s an infamous starship thief in these parts. Our last report on him was that he might be setting up a new base 40 klicks south, at Port Felucca. It used to be our sister town, but had been deserted on account of a catastrophe: a large sinkhole appeared some years ago and swallowed three quarters of the town.”

Hondo and Gheed rode south on a Mobquet Flare-S swoop each. Hondo muttered, “We’d better get the Lava Jaeger back before Yuzy and Giin finish shopping, which would be in just under two hours.”

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the disaster zone that was Port Felucca. A large hole in the swamp half a klick wide had opened up in the ground destroying three quarters of the town. Although it seemed abandoned and Hondo’s hand scanner was unable to read any life forms, they dismounted away from the town and crept toward the hole on foot. Because they did not have any climbing gear with them, Hondo pulled down vines from some trees and managed to make 50 metre of rope from them.

In the deserted town – the section that still stood – they encountered a guard: an IG-86 assassin droid armed with a blaster pistol. They tried sneaking past it but Hondo slipped. The droid spun and attempted to acquire a target. (Thankfully Hondo rolled a higher Cool and gained initiative.) Hondo squeezed a trigger and let a blaster bolt loose. But it missed. Before the droid could fire, Gheed – whom the droid did not see – took aim from around a corner and fired her carbine – destroying it.

Hondo thanked Gheed. They both proceeded to the edge of the gaping maw. They saw two large rivers from the surrounding swampland feed into the hole. The water disappeared down the cliff into the darkness below.

Hondo climbed down toward what appears to be a fern-covered landing right outside a cave on the wall below. But the vine rope was five metres short. He jumped down (and failed his Athletics check) and slipped down onto the surface hard. (He lost 2 hit points from 14.) There would be bruising on his ribs. Even more unfortunate was the loud bump when he hit the landing right outside the hangar. (Failed his Stealth check.)

There was the Lava Jaeger in a well-lit medium-sized hangar carved into the cliff. Around the freighter were a Klatooinian, a Weequay, a Red Nikto and a Gamorrean. There were also two black Flare-S swoops and a beaten up T-16 Skyhopper parked by the walls. The Nikto – upon noticing Hondo – yelled, “An intruder! That old IG-86 was a bad investment!” They charged for Hondo, who dove for cover behind the hangar threshold. Gheed dropped down behind Hondo, unseen by the thugs. Hondo told her, “I’ll draw them away. You take the ship when they leave.”

Hondo drew his DL-17 and fired at the charging thugs, felling the Nikto. He then made for the swoop which was closer to him, but as he broke cover and sprinted (failing another Athletics check) he slipped, allowing the Weequay an opportunity to shoot. Fortunately for Hondo, the bolt missed him.

He leapt onto a swoop, started the engine and rode out of the hangar. The Weequay chased him in the other swoop. A moment later, the Klatooinian and the Gamorrean was also in pursuit with a Skyhopper. The hangar now empty, Gheed vaulted for the Lava Jaeger. She saw R2-8B8 knocked out, rushed for the cockpit and found the ship controls locked. She thought she was unable to break the lock, but (upon a successful Computers check) broke it anyway. The flight computer flashed to life.

Gheed raised ship, gunned the repulsorlifts and flew out of the hangar, and out of the large hole in the ground into the cloudy skies. At first she thought of landing and using the ship turrets to blast the ship thieves out of the skies, but they were too far away. So she increased her throttle to catch up.

Meanwhile, Hondo was being chased by the Flare-S and the Skyhopper. No one saw the YT-1300 approaching fast from the back. Gheed locked the turret forward, acquired target and fired a burst. (Successful Gunnery check!) The Skyhopper exploded into a cloud of fiery debris. The final thug, the Weequay on the swoop almost relieved himself (failing a Cool check), pulled away from the chase and fled away!

Hondo and Gheed returned to Landing Bay 4 at Port Trammel with an hour to spare before Yuzy’s return. Hondo reactivated R2-8B8, introduced him to Gheed and brought him up to speed. She was pleased with her first day on the job and bade Hondo farewell. She had been ordered by 32-VEX to lead a team of enforcers to raid the thieves’ hangar at Port Felucca.

Yuzy, R5-K2 and Giin returned with armfuls of provisions and gear, unaware of the ordeal Hondo and R2 had just underwent.

It was then that Hondo himself began his first day on the job as a freighter captain: to send a shipment of shimmersilk to the crystal cities of Christophsis for Mr. Tibbles.

The adventure continues.