Flight of the Resistance

[VLAD the Destroyer]

Garrett curses as the ground crumbles beneath him. He tucks and rolls into the fall instinctively. Once he comes to a rest he stands shakily and mentally checks himself out for injuries. Feeling nothing broken or hurt other than his pride he scans the hole for danger.

OOC: Breaking my fall: 2eA+2eD 2 successes, 2 threat

 

[GreenKarl]

Kospirian gets Arsinoë attention and quietly says "What do you think? We might be able to use them as decoys and give us a couple of extra seconds or draw the troopers to where we want them?"

He started moving towards them as silently as he could while he spoke...

 

[Quickleaf]

As Garrett gingerly rose to his feet, there was no real damage besides a few scrapes, bruises, and mud coating one of his pant legs and his palms. Only a few slivers of ambient light streamed in through the hole above him. Besides several foot-long cave crickets which scattered to the far edges of the small room, there was no sign of immediate danger. The hole he'd fallen through, however, was exceedingly slippery, only a few roots providing handholds to get back up.

The coral flagstones were cracked, uplifted in places, and overgrown with vines and moss. A narrow fissure led deeper into the temple complex, the curving archway bearing weathered pictograms depicting a man wrestling a serpent and a woman offering a vase to what appeared to be an ancient depiction of a protocol droid. At the top of the arch was a carving of a starfish. The passage beyond the arch grew increasingly dark but somewhere at the end was a pinpoint of natural light.

GM: Climbing back up the hole is a Difficulty 3 Athletics (Brawn) check.

 

[xynthoros]

It seemed like the first order troops were bringing in the big guns, this wasn't the worst situation that the little droid had ever been in, but it was getting close. They might have powerful sensors, but they wouldn't do much good if he could spoof their systems. He recalled a similar moment with Sarn, "Rex, if they think we are over there, they won't be looking over here. Do something about it."

He set to work splicing into their systems and trying to fidget with the sensor calibration, it would still see them, but it would report their location a little bit off giving them a slight edge in hiding and avoiding the first order troops.

OOC: Please ignore the boost dice if the Data Breaker doesn't apply in this situation. Splicing Sensor: 2eP+1eA+1eD+2eB 1 success, 4 advantage

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

Garrett looked up the hole not sure if he would be able to climb back out. He stepped carefully and examined the pictograms. This temple was ancient. He looked down the hallway at the pinpoint of light. That was his best way out but going it alone was immensely brash. Then he had an idea. He pulled his comm link from his pocket.

"Hopefully you guys can hear me. I found a passage into the temple. It pretty far underground and might mask our signal enough to get us closer to whoever they have. Plus they can't get that walker or the speeder bikes down here that should even thing some."

Garrett pulls a light from his toolkit and activates it. He shines it down the dark hallway. He would give the others a couple minutes then begin looking for another way out. As he waits he begins examining the rest of the room. Perhaps there is something he missed on his first look.

 

[Quickleaf]

Ascending the rock spire with practiced ease, Rico reached a vantage point above the rainforest canopy momentarily breathless. It was reminiscent of the sort of training Master Uvell put him through. From his position some 20 meters above the forest floor, he could make out a strange-looking walker with numerous antennae at the rear standing some 5 meters tall moving through the rainforest at a steady pace, wrapping around the western arm of the starfish temple. Then, intermittently visible speeding around the eastern arm were two stormtroopers riding heavy speeder bikes. A third group on foot descended into the overgrown temple complex – much of which was open-air – including two stormtroopers following closely behind another wearing a black shoulder pip who seemed to be in command. There may have been a few more just north of the temple, but from his vantage point Rico couldn't make out any details – too much foliage in the way.

Scanning the area, Rico could also make out several arboray trees that had fused together to create a sort of natural floating bridge that spanned all the way to the ruined ziggurat at the center where all the arms of the starfish temple met.

GM: Following the natural bridge of arboray branches is an easy Difficulty 1 Coordination (Agility) check, and your Advantages give you a free maneuver to get yourself into position, either descending the rock spire or following the natural bridge.

 

[Quickleaf]

Try as he might, Rex found the stormtroopers quickly adjusting the frequencies the walker's sensors were operating on. Each time Rex forced a scattering of phantom images onto the sensors, the stormtrooper technician compensated for the spoofing efficiently; whoever was manning the walker's sensor array was well versed in counter-jamming techniques. But Rex still had access to the sensor systems...

GM: Though Rex failed, you can choose 2 Advantages, such as... Create enough static and spoofing to reduce the reliable range of the walker's sensors from Medium to Short (which is still several kilometers, let's say ~5 km). Make the sensors self-scan the walker to gain full technical specs on the walker. Perceive through the walker's sensors to pick up the location of any other vessels within ~5 km. Add a Boost to an ally's Perception or Stealth check, since you know what the enemies sensors are picking up and can communicate that to support last minute maneuvering. Spend 2 Advantages to create a Setback on any Computers checks made by the walker crew to detect you and your friends.

 

[xynthoros]

His attempts were thwarted, they had a decent technician of their own on the other end. He would do what he could, he might not be able to jam their comms with his splicing techniques, but he could sure make it more difficult for the walker crew to detect him and his friends. He wasn't sure how far out the walker was, but if he could reduce the range on its sensors he might delay its ability to provide useful input. Having information on the nature of the beast would be a boon as well, perhaps giving him access to the information he needed to enact a plan that was developing in his subprocesses. He could also give them a giant metaphorical middle finger by flipping on his comms jammer once they were in closer range, let's watch him try flipping through the channels whenever they are all jammed. Grant it, he couldn't really do much more until they were much closer, but at least they would have difficulty with their comms once they were in the immediate vicinity of the Rex and his companions.

Meanwhile Garret seemed content down in their hole, there were a lot of things the droid could do, and would be willing to do. Being lowered down into the hole was one of them, falling down into the hole was not. His comms jammer would also be effecting the commlink Garret was using as well, but as long as they came up with their plan before he needed to activate it, it should still be fine.

He notified those around him of the current situation, "First order troops inbound on speeders and some type of unidientified walker, perhaps AT-ST. Others approaching on foot, walker and speeders have long range scanners that will reveal our location, however foot troops have no such scanners and are receiving such information from vehicles. I will soon be jamming communications in our immediate vicinity, should limit their capability to communicate and receive sensor transmissions."

He then proceeded to add a slight blurb both audible and over his comms, "Additionally, the first order is making use of an amateur technician who would still be capable of intercepting our comms, please do not reveal excessive information about our possible location over the airwaves."

OOC: Choosing to reduce their reliable range from medium to short, and to get full tech specs of walker. Additionally once comm jammer comes online, it starts as an average computers check to make comms function at the edge of the range, and gets more difficult as they get closer.

 

[xynthoros]

The schematics came back and he analyzed them... there was a saying that Sarn used to use for situations like these, but he never did so in front of women. Rex wasn't sure if Arsinoe could understand him, but he would still respect Sarn's tradition. "Clarification, AT-FRC inbound, possesses advanced sensors, forward firing blaster, forward firing grenade launcher, and sound dampening camouflage system. Will be difficult to see and hear, R3 unit calculates very low probability of survival if encountered. However, that is not to say it is an impossibility, the left servo is in need of maintenance and may be possibly used to our advantage. If disabled, R3 unit can repair and possibly pilot once returned to function. It would be gambling, but I have seen worse odds still come out favorably."

 

[Quickleaf]

Light casting deep shadows along the uneven rock walls smeared with dripping mud and overgrown with arboray roots, Garrett noticed the reflective eyes of the cave crickets recede into the cracks and crevasses. No one had entered this small circular chamber in quite some time. It measured maybe 3 or 4 meters in diameter. An aura of quiet encircled the space, making the sounds of the rain forest above hard to hear; even hearing his companions was challenging unless they used loud voices or comms.

As Garrett shined the light up higher, following the trail of dangling vines and ruined stone he'd slid down, he noted three levels of pictograms going up the wall. The vines obscured much of them, but some form of labyrinth pictogram was clearly visible in the middle of the obscured upper and lower pictograms.