New Day

[tomcat]

The new day came and the crew and passengers of the Aegis awoke, all feeling well-rested and ready to begin the next part of their adventure. Again they gathered in the lounge and some quiet conversation was made over cups of caf and breakfast.

The day was planned... Brim and Caden would be off first thing to find a means of re-registering the vessel. Sam, Britton and Kara would make their way to a parts dealer to purchase a sensor jammer that the droid had prepared for. The ship's computer was ready with all the connections in place to tie the jammer in. Sam had also re-organized a small portion of the lower hold where the new system would be welded into place. They were also to either hire a team of painters, or at least procure the materials for the Aegis to get a new look. Though the ship was Caden's, and the Bestinian was willing to fund a good portion of the Aegis' needs, still he had requested that all of the passengers chip in what they could to make these things happen.

And so they went off on their ways.



Going to keep the party together on one thread for this part, as I don't think it is going to be very much longer until the Aegis will be lifting off from Cloud City. I could be wrong, maybe you guys wanna stay a while longer... if so let me know via RP'ing.

But anyway, I still wanna get some more RP'ing from everyone about the upgrades and a few more things that are about to happen... 

[sdrotar]

"Okay," Caden said to Brim, stretching as they walked down the landing platform, "you're into hunting, right, so how about you rustle us up some idea where we can find someone to illegally make my ship... legal? Again."

Inwardly, he sighed. What had he gotten himself into this time? But the die was cast - the Aegis could no longer be the Aegis... unless he wanted it to be a target. So for the time being, nothing else mattered but getting this done, shady though it may be.

He only hoped they could get it done quickly, and without too many... entanglements.

[Jingo]

Kaida wondered if she had heard Caden right as he was leaving. Make the ship legal, illegally? They hadn't talked much the night before over dinner, but she gathered the crew was running from something. What did that mean for her, she wondered? Were they wanted more than she herself was? And what had they done? Something truly illegal? Whereas Kaida's sin was merely existing as a figurehead.

She knew she and her family were already wanted by the Empire. Though how much effort the Empire was currently putting into finding her, she wasn't sure. She sighed, and investigated the various rooms of the Aegis again. So, this was to be her home? But for how long?

She sank into a chair by a computer console, and wondered if she should log onto the nets. She put her hands behind her head and leaned back in the chair staring at the screen. Maybe this time she would get lucky and find some sort of lead in one of her accounts. Something that pointed to a location of a family member. Her family... her mind wandered.

Her father and mother had been captured, or worse, she supposed. She frowned, letting the memory wash over her again. When the fighting had reached it's peak, when Imperial Walkers were blasting holes in the palace walls, when rubble was falling around her and she heard the screams of the living and wounded, when blaster bolts flew about her--- then in those last few minutes, she had felt truly alive and strangely free. She hated to admit it. She herself had given orders to some of the troops who were defending the palace grounds, helping to set ambushes in the very hallways, before she was eventually countermanded by Karick, her older brother who was ten years her senior, and hustled off into a hidden shuttle and taken off planet. Karick. He was always so protective of her. She remembered him fondly for a moment then grimaced. All of them had taken separate shuttles in their escape to minimize the chance of capture or death and to maximize the survival of at least one member of the royal family. But Karick's had been shot down running the blockade. Had he crash landed back on their planet? Was he dead? Wounded? The "royal family", she muttered and shook her head. What did that mean now? Now that there was nothing to govern?

One by one her protectors had been killed, slaughtered in the line of duty by heartless, money-grabbing bounty hunters in the Empire's hire. It had been weeks since then, and she hadn't heard anything from anyone. She had always been running, ever running, until finally she arrived her on Bespin using public transport of all things.

She had been following her family's emergency protocol ever since the Empire took over, but so far she hadn't received any information from anyone. Had they all been captured or imprisoned or killed for daring to stand up to the Empire? For daring to fight for democracy?

Even if there were no messages, even if she were the last one of her family, she had a duty to her planet and especially to those freedom-loving citizens who so desperately fought and sought for freedom against the hated oppression of the Empire.

Her mouth pulling into a thin line, she issued the command that connected her to the nets and logged into her message account and scanned the vid screen for any new messages.

Not sure how computers/internet work in starwars world, so if this isn't appropriate let me know.

[BrianM]

Brim turned to Caden as they made their way into the city, "Well, there's bound to be someone who will overlook inconsistencies in a ship's registration application for a few extra credits. I have sufficient cash to hopefully get what we need."

Brim began his scouting career onboard a vessel that likely had some additional identifications available. Would he have any knowledge of how they obtained these?

[watanabe]

   Just curious, how much did Kara net in total from her little side "deal".

[tomcat]

You asked for 5%, which would have been an estimated 20,000... he gave you 25,000.

[donimator]

Sam told Brit and Kara about the droid-run underbelly he found the previous day and was sure almost anything could be procured from it. "Some of the droids are autonomous down there, but you never can tell which ones are working for others. Sentients might be marked down there, though. I could investigate alone if you have uncovered some other...markets for the the wares we desire." Sam ran a quick scan again through the map and database he has pieced together for Cloud City, but calculated a low probability of the type of establishment he was looking for being officially recorded. 

[sdrotar]

Brim turned to Caden as they made their way into the city, "Well, there's bound to be someone who will overlook inconsistencies in a ship's registration application for a few extra credits. I have sufficient cash to hopefully get what we need."

"If it's as simple as bribing someone, we'll be lucky. Let's hope."
Caden paused for a moment as they walked.
"Of course, we have to find the right person to bribe first. I doubt that'd be at the official reg bureau, but maybe we can get in touch with someone who works there that wouldn't mind processing our... application through the back door."

[watanabe]

Kara woke up and checked to make sure the credits were still stashed in her bunk.  She breathed out and then decided to take 3,000 credits with her, and left the rest of the amount hidden under her bunk.  She got dressed quickly and ran to the refresher, and splashed cold water on her face.  It had been a while since she had taken a hit, and she was running low on her supply.  She came out of the bathroom almost in a job, grabbed a piece of fruit, and went to join Sam and Brit, but as she did so she stopped next to Caden.

"Captain, we need to speak when I get back." she whispered into his ear, and then ran down the ramp to catch up with Sam and Brit, just as Sam was saying something about autonomous droids.  Kara looked at the two of them, and thought for a moment.

"I might have a potential contact, I'm going to try and track them down.  I'm wondering if you can transmit your coordinates to my comlink if you find anything, and then we can join up."  Kara was looking around trying to find a way to take off.

OOC:

If she can, Kara will take off and go meet the contact she made yesterday, to see if she can buy some deathsticks.

[ZehnWaters]

   Sorry, I'm going to be out of town for the rest of the week.  Just got a chance to be online today.

[BrianM]

Brim was quiet for a few moments as he and Caden walked together.

"I just had another thought, Caden. Sometimes, on the hunt when you are trying to conceal yourself, the best place to hide is in the open because your adversary is least likely to look there. I think that someone on the run would try to sell their vessel and obtain a different one.

If we had an alternate identity for you, you could sell your ship to yourself in the guise of this new captain. We could register the sale legitimately. That way, if the Imperials locate the ship they will see that it has been sold and will assume that we are travelling using different means now.

I think this would be very simple. We just present the ships papers for a routine change of ownership."

[sdrotar]

"That's an idea," Caden admitted. People traveled under aliases in the Outer Rim all the time. But...
"Still," he said," there are a lot of freighters that look like the Aegis. Thousands. A new name, registration and paint job and we'd just be a face in the crowd. We'd never merit a second glance."

"It's a good option, though - and maybe an easier one. Let's consider it if we can't pull this off."

[ZehnWaters]

"Nice, Brim," Britton replied, smirking.  He was glad there were people in the group who could do the thinking; all he could do was fight.

[tomcat]

Hey guys, not sure how much of the minutia that you want me to RP out. I am thinking the new paper's for the Aegis and for Caden might just be easier to do via a couple rolls and a bit of narrative... same with the jamming suite to be installed. Still, there are a few things that we need to roleplay out on Cloud City, so I am going to move our story along to those parts.

If this is not what you want to do - meaning, if you like rp'ing out the day-to-day stuff, let me know and I will go back to our current pace.

Another day on Cloud City passed.

Brim and Caden maneuvered through the streets and taverns that surrounded many of the upper landing platforms. Caden was savvy, but Brim seemed to have a nose for where they needed to go. Their initial stops had been in local bars that were frequented by the multitude of rogues, captains, and pirates that found the Bespin system an out of the way place to hide for a while. The three companions asked the questions necessary to those that looked like the right people, and sometimes a palm needed crossed with a few credits, but slowly their task began to payoff.

By day's end, when the city's night life were beginning to make their way out, Brim found himself and his friends in front of ship's captain who had a good contact with the local BoSS registry office. The bureaucrat was one who liked a drink or two, especially of the finer wines and liquors. He was also one to enjoy fine food, women, and other baubles that someone might put in front of him. The captain said that the man would willingly re-dress a ship... for the right price.

A shrug was all Caden received when he asked what the right price might be, "It all depends on his mood at the time. Still... it is worth looking into if you need to disappear, or want to become less visible to this new Empire." The ship captain took a beverage napkin from a stack that lay in front of him and he scrawled out a name of a bar and a man. Brim looked at it and remembered it from the listing on the city directories. "Tomorrow he'll be there," grinned the captain. "Call him by that name and he'll know why you are there."

Caden looked at the name and grimaced - Trader.

Kara, Sam and Britton had had an easier time of things. Kara had led her companions back to the Trandoshan parts dealer she had met the day before, who was able to obtain for them a re-manufactured jammer suite. The dealer saw to it that the jammer would be delivered to their landing pad, and then went on to try and sell his installation services. To this, Sam quickly declined, but left the rest of the haggling to his friends. The droid stood quietly waiting when suddenly a burst signal came through  to him - the one that he had given to his hired snooper droid.

Kaida enjoyed the quiet security of the Aegis, as the day passed. Still, boredom began to set in.

The computer monitor displayed no answers from her family, and though she tried to fill her time with other things, her eyes kept coming back to the empty screen. It was beginning to seem hopeless.

The quiet of the ship was interrupted as a series of voices began to clammer outside. The noblewoman walked down to the Aegis' first deck and then down the landing ramp to the outside sun. Around the ship, a crew of labor droids were moving about - some set down large drums and then tapped them with long hoses that ran to three of their fellows. These fellow droids were in the process of locking large-nozzle sprayer like devices to their arm appendages.

A mechanical voice spoke, "Madam. You may wish to re-enter the ship or leave the pad for at least the next 120 minutes. The size of the ship should require that amount of time to apply its new coat of paint." Kaida noticed two other sprayer equipped droids begin to mount the Aegis' upper hull and then to spray it with a crimson-colored paint. The mechanical accuracy was impressive as the droids painted intricately, not needing to cover areas that would not get painted.

With a shrug, Kaida re-entered the Aegis and then pushed the button that lifted the landing ramp. The fumes of the paint became heavy on the air, and were none to safe for breathing. After all, the stuff could handle an environmental re-entry. Who knew what it could do to a persons lungs?

The post that follows will list the rolls needed with DC's. Also will be listed the total cost of the services and parts purchased.

[tomcat]

Okay here is what I need from the PC's:

Brim and Caden (whoever has the better talent) need to give me a Persuade test DC 25 (indifferent) to get the bureacrat to get new documents for Caden and the Aegis. The cost will be 12,000 credits for the documents plus an additional 2,000 for each +5 bonus to the Persuade roll the characters want to buy. Costs are based on standard 1,200 x 10.

The jammer suite will cost 17,500 credits (25,000 base minus 7,500 for being a re-man).

Ship's paint job will cost 3,500 credits

Some of these things can be bought with trade of service or goods, or loans can be taken (which will require me doing some interest calculations).

Finally, we are going on day four which means dock fees are up to 100, but could be more if you want stores re-supplied.