New Day

[tomcat]

Sam had waited until the final details were done with the Trandoshan, and then he excused himself from Kara and Britton, leaving them to find their own way back to the ship. He followed the electronic trail of the squelch until he found the battered snooper droid waiting for him in a maintenance sub-corridor.

The CZ-series dorid saw Sam and immediately moved a few steps towards him, speaking as it did. "I'm looking for info on Varta the Hutt - activities, associates, areas of operation. Especially anything related to Bakura. Who runs his operations there? And there can be no trace on this. Keep to datanets as much as you can. Other droids, ship computers, docking logs - whatever you can pull without asking too many questions of sentients. Wipe your feet as you go. I'd rather see careful than fast. Here is a burst frequency you can reach me on when you have found something. I'll find you. No transmissions."

Sam realized his fellow droid was repeating its orders that had been given by him the day before. It then continued to speak, re-counting the information that it was able to find. "I have reviewed all relevant data that I could find on Varta the Hutt. The last known location of Varta's kajidic is on the world of Teth, and its activities extend into all criminal lines including drugs... primarily deathsticks. Word is that Varta ran into complications with stick dealings when the Hutt crossed over Bando Gora areas of operation. Unknown reasons point Varta to Bakura. Associates that are known are few and some just rumors: Puk a Rodian gangster drug-dealer; a small group of discharged clones have taken employ; and rumor is out there of a renegade force-user... some say it is a fallen jedi. Concentrated communications and rumors lean Varta towards establishing illegal trade out of Bakura - two senatorial deaths in current headlines, though only one seems to be drug-related. Both are being investigated by the Empire."

The snooper droid fell silent.

[watanabe]

Kara thought for a while, she had allocated 3,000 of her credits for the deathsticks, and figured another 2000 credits she would keep.  She pulled out the 20,000 credits in hard cash and put them into her pocket.  Walking to the Captain's area of the ship, she knocked on the door.

"Caden, we need to talk." she said as she knocked on the door.

Once Caden opened the door, Kara pulled out the 20,000 credits and showed it to the Caden.  "I'd like to cut a deal.  I buy my bunk on this ship with these credits, I continue to work on maintaining the ship and as an extra gun to go along on all the jobs.  I'm giving these credits to help make these payments you need for the upgrades to the ship, as an attempt to show you my faith and willingness to stick with you and your crew."

[sdrotar]

Caden looked at Kara with surprise and a bit of suspicion. It was a lot of money, and despite her odd disappearances, she was good to have around. Caden wanted to accept the offer. Badly.

"You're a good fit here, Kara, and I appreciate the offer. I have one condition: You have to level with me," he said gently. "Where did you get this kind of cash? Why are you so hard to keep track of? Look, we're not shining beacons of morality here; I get that. But I have my limits. You've got to play straight with me... starting now."

He spoke as gently as he could. He genuinely liked her, and he knew that they all needed her. He was a discreet man, and he wasn't one to throw stones. But this was still his ship - all he had in the galaxy - and he needed to know that the people on board her were ones he could count on.

He waited for Kara to respond, hoping that she'd finally open up to him.

[watanabe]

Kara looked around shiftily, she had been on the run for years, moving from one job to the next, and usually there was no questions about what she did, just a notice that it was time for her to move on.  She tried to compose herself.

"The money... the money... okay its true, I'm not the most upstanding of characters.  The money came from me selling spice, I disappeared yesterday because I was looking to sell what I had and get some deathsticks at the same time.  I know what I did isn't correct, but it's how I've been getting by.  I may be good with mechanics, but I also have problems with drinking, gambling... and spice."  Kara looked down at the floor, she was pretty sure this was going to be the end of her ride with this crew.

[donimator]

The snooper droid fell silent.

Sam processed for a moment - 'Some names, some rumours. A few suspicions confirmed. But little else to bother having this droid dig further.'

"Thank you for your service 22. Please return to your master and let him know I have seen the results of a day's service and don't require anything further. He may proceed with the prepaid service. Oh, and 22..." Sam pulled out his Confederate credit chip and removed all access protections from it before placing it in the droid's hand, "Give this to him and tell him it is with my compliments for the quality of service he provided." ...Yep. He never did like those IG series droids.

Sam returned to the ship and updated only Caden on the findings of the droid. They were all in this together, but it was likely Caden's neck that would be the first to be stretched.

[BrianM]

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.

Caden is definitely the better choice for this roll (+10 vs. Brim's +2). Brim will contribute the amount for the bribe to the cause from his personal funds.

[sdrotar]

Persuade Test (DC 25): Roll(1d20)+10:6,+10 Total:16

Crud - that roll cost us an extra 4,000. Sorry about that.

[BrianM]

  No biggie, except Brim can't afford the extra . He'll chip in the 12,000 for the base cost.

After completing the transaction to obtain the new documentation for the Aegis, Brim sighed when he saw what was left of his dwindling 'emergency' fund. Oh well, it seemed he had a more permanent place to live for now, though. What else would he need the cash for?

The Rodian turned to Caden with an amused look on his face. "So Caden, does this now mean I have purchased a place among your crew? I think First Officer Brim has a nice ring to it."

[tomcat]

Poor Caden! He gives a guy a ride to Bakura at the behest of an old friend, and the next thing you know he is having to sell interests in his ship! 

Oh well, it seems a good partnership!

Remember though, Star Wars PC's have Force Points to use on tests - like CODA Courage points. Spending one of those might save you guys $2K

[watanabe]

  12,000 for first officer? the 20,000 I'm offering should make me Admiral! 

[Jingo]

12,000 for first officer? the 20,000 I'm offering should make me Admiral! 

I think that means Kaida's 700 buys her the job of permanent toilet bowl cleaner.  Anyway, too bad she didn't follow along, she can be quite persuasive sometimes, but she was too new to the group and didn't know what was going on. So, until something of note happens, Kaida will generally try to help out with anything needed, but she does feel a little out of place. She is trained in treating injuries however and so will take stock of medical kits on board and suggests that there should be an on-board stash of at least two per crew member. Med kits can be a real life saver in between encounters. It goes without saying that she'll check the nets daily if possible for news in general and more importantly for news of her family.

[sdrotar]

No biggie, except Brim can't afford the extra . He'll chip in the 12,000 for the base cost.

After completing the transaction to obtain the new documentation for the Aegis, Brim sighed when he saw what was left of his dwindling 'emergency' fund. Oh well, it seemed he had a more permanent place to live for now, though. What else would he need the cash for?

The Rodian turned to Caden with an amused look on his face. "So Caden, does this now mean I have purchased a place among your crew? I think First Officer Brim has a nice ring to it."

Caden rolled his eyes and held the likable Rodian at arms' length.
"Now hold on a minute... without my ship, you'd either be on some backwater rock or in more than a few pieces at the hands of that lightsaber-wielding... guy," he said with a chuckle.

"We'll... uh... talk about it," he said as they kept walking. "If we live long enough."

[tomcat]

Okay, if I could get confirmations from everyone before I make the changes on character sheets -

Sam - did you remove the credit chip and its value from your character sheet already? What was the value of the chip so I know? The total cost for the snooper droid's service is 1,800 - from your last post, am I right to assume you are telling the IG to stick it? 

Kara - did you add the credits to your PC sheet? If so, did you deduct them when you gave the credits to Caden? The credit offer was 20,000.

Caden - did you accept Kara's offer? Did you add the credits to your sheet and then take away anything for the purchases? Total credits needed for the costs follow:

The jammer suite will cost 17,500 credits
Ship's paint job will cost 3,500 credits
New ship documents will cost 16,000 credits

TOTAL = 37,000 credits and you guys will be ALL new! 

Here is what I show as available assets with all PC's:

Kaida- 245 credits (after giving Caden 500)
Kara- 5,130 credits (after giving Caden 20,000)
Caden- 31,675 credits (includes the funds above)
Brim- 13,875 (he has offered to contribute 12,000 towards the cost of the ship expenses)
Sam- 650 credits (assuming credit stick was given to snooper droid and not included here)
Britton- 3,865 credits

The PC's definitely have the needed credits to achieve the new anonymity - and I am assuming so In the narrative below. Let me know if something is not right...



The Aegis looked, if not new, at least like a different ship to Caden. Her once yellow-orange color was now a mixture of the original with patterns of red, as if to make her look camoflaged. She might match the type of vessel that had been airing on the news across the holonet (more like a wanted poster posted by the Empire), but she certainly no longer resembled that ship. Caden also had the new papers for himself and his ship, and although they would not match the licensure to the IFF transmission code given off by his hyperdrive, still they would be able to disappear in most backwater ports throughout the galaxy.

Sam had finished with the jammer suite and the device was functioning properly and speaking with the Aegis' computer core. So all was in order for the companions to take back to the stars when they decided on the course. The cargo area of the Aegis had been reduced by the new hardware addition, but still there was an opportunity for them to make money. Caden had shipment itineraries for multiple routes and cargoes, but that choice needed to be made as well.

The Bestinian sat on the flight deck enjoying a morning cup of caf as he watched the sun rise over Cloud City. Down the ship's main passage, he heard his shipmates beginning to awaken. It was time to make their next move.

[watanabe]

  I don't know if Caden took my credits yet, and I never marked down getting my full 25,000.  I'll make sure to make note of that.

[ZehnWaters]

Britton stumbled out of his bunk, his hair tousled and his eyes bleary.  He stumbled up the corridor to the 'fresher and cleaned up.  Once he was properly cleaned and dressed he headed up to the cockpit but stopped at the medbay where he saw Kaida scurrying about checking the medical equipment.

As per your earlier post, Jingo.  I hope I'm not treading on your toes here.

"Everything looking on the up and up?" Britton asked, leaning against the doorway.