-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Star Wars - Tales from the Outer Rim
- Thread starter Jodo Kast
- Start date
Glad some of you folks are enjoying the story hour. While it does unfold rather slowly, I hope you will all find the pay off worth it when the action eventually heats up. So you know, I added a few sentences to the second paragraph in "Head Trip - Part I" that will help explain events to come, I believe. Thanks for tuning in!
HEAD TRIP - PART II
"Excuse me. We are investigating a theft. We think you have something that does not belong to you. If you are smart, you will turn it over, and no one will get hurt." The human woman stared fiercely at Bobbo. Her shoulders were back and her bearing haughty. She and her two companions, both human men, were each wearing miner's grey jumpsuits, but the creases were neat and precise, and their hair was short and worn in a military style. The suits bore the insignia of Outer Rim Oreworks.
"Hey, baby, ORO might own this stinking planet, but this shop belong to Bobbo!" The Toydarian rubbed his hands together, leering at the woman. "Besides, Bobbo have no idea what you talking about."
In the back of the shop, Jirair Gann, Dev Novo and Biqua listened intently. Everyone knew that Bobbo's dealings were often somewhat less than legitimate. But this ... this sounded serious. Suddenly, a metallic voice called out loudly. "Where am I? What is this place? You are not the master!" Jirair looked down at the head of the droid in his lap. It had somehow activated!
From the front, a man's voice said, "That sounds like our target!" Biqua pushed at Jirair and Dev, waving them out of the back of the shop. Jirair was still staring at the talking droid head. Dev grabbed him by the arm and the two raced through the junk in the shop and out the back door. When the three ORO agents burst through the curtain into the backroom they ran directly into Biqua, and all four hit the ground in a tangle of flailing limbs and junk parts.
Out back, Dev Novo mounted his speeder bike and it roared to life. Jirair looked from the droid's head to the shop and back. Dev's blue eyes flashed with excitement. "C'mon, Jirair, hop on!" Jirair climed on behind Dev, holding the droid's head cradled in one arm. The speeder tore off, flying down a narrow jungle trail.
"Duck!" yelled Dev above the hum of the repulsorlift engine.
"What?"
"Duck!" Dev leaned down far over the controls. Jirair barely saw the branch before it whacked him in the face, but he somehow managed to stay on the bike without losing his head or the droid's.
As they neared the end of the trail that opened up on the beach they saw something coming their way up ahead. It was a group of three swoops, piloted by two Quarren and an Aqualish. Dev and Jirair recognized them immediately ... thugs in the employ of the local crime lord, Choti the Squid.
Dev accelerated, and the swoops parted as the speeder bike whooshed past, narrowly squeezing between two of the larger swoops. The Aqualish, his four eyes wide in terror and anger, shook a fist at the two humans and cursed them, his pincer-like mouth tusks moving fiercely. But one of the Quarren had spotted something of interest. Clutched beneath the arms of one of the humans was the head of a droid. Could it be the droid they were looking for? He signaled with his hand and the three henchmen whipped their swoops around and accelerated in pursuit of the speederbike, their ion engines roaring through the jungle.
Dev and Jirair burst out of the jungle onto the broad, hard packed beach. Jirair yelled above the crashing surf, "We've got company!" Dev looked back over his shoulder to see the swoops in hot pursuit. He was the best repulsorlift pilot on Malabar, but his old speeder bike could never outrun the more powerful swoops. He turned sharply and headed down the beach, accelerating to top speed.
"You are in big trouble, you know! I belong to Riboga the Hutt, and I suggest you return me to the master immediately!" Jirair was so surprised to hear the droid speak again that he almost fell off the back of the speeder.
"Riboga the Hutt is dead," shouted Dev through gritted teeth. He looked back to see the swoops were gaining. "If this droid belonged to him, no wonder everybody's after it. They say Riboga stashed treasures all over this system. If the droid knows their locations, whoever gets that data will be extremely wealthy!"
Suddenly a blaster bolt exploded past their heads! A warning shot. But there would be no more warnings. These thugs meant business. "Take my blaster!" Dev yelled. Jirair grabbed the blaster, but it was difficult to hang on to both the weapon and the droid's head as Dev maneuvered side to side evasively. Jirair had never fired a blaster at someone before. His eyes squeezed almost shut, he reached back and triggered a blast. Not even close, but the swoops did scatter and lose a little ground.
Now all three thugs were firing away, and blasts passed through the air all around the speeder bike. Realizing he was fighting for his life, Jirair looked back again and squeezed off another shot. The blast took one of the Quarren in the arm and he went flying off his swoop. The swoop kept going until the nose dipped down suddenly and it hit the beach, sending up a spray of sand and parts and pieces flying everywhere before exploding in a fiery blast. The lead Quarren whipped around the explosion, still in hot pursuit. The Aqualish ducked his head and flew right through the fireball, emerging on the other side unscathed.
"These guys just don't give up," yelled Jirair.
"Hang on," said Dev. He decelerated rapidly and whipped the speeder bike off the beach and back into the jungle, this time taking a path so narrow and unused that vines grabbed at the riders and threatened to pull them from the bike. The sun had set almost completely, and the jungle path was dark and forbidding. The swoops roared after them, tearing through the foliage. At least the trail was treacherous enough to force the thugs to holster their blasters and concentrate on flying.
Jirair continued firing the blaster pistol, but it was impossible to aim with any accuracy as Dev raced the speeder bike down the winding trail. Jirair looked forward just in time to see what appeared to be a dead end ... a stand of enormous palms rose up out of the trail directly ahead! Barely slowing down, Dev forced the speeder bike into a tight turn. The front forks barely missed a tree, and now the bike was hurtling down another path. Behind them the Aqualish tried the same turn, but his swoop was moving too fast. He crashed into a giant palm, sending fragments of swoop and Aqualish spinning through the jungle. The Quarren made the tight turn, however, and was now gaining on them rapidly.
Jirair reached back to squeeze off another blast, but the pistol was snared by a vine and ripped from his hand! The Quarren was close now, close enough that Jirair could see his mouth forming curses between his writhing head tentacles. The Quarren accelerated, pushing his swoop forward at near top speed, and suddenly jerked to the side, slamming into the speeder bike! Dev and Jirair howled in pain as their legs were crushed between the two repulsorlifts, but Dev managed to keep the speeder bike on the trail. The jungle foliage whipped at all of them as the trail narrowed even more. The Quarren began pulling up for another ramming maneuver.
Jirair raised the droid head high, and yelled back at the Quarren. "You want this? You can have it!"
"Oh my!" said the droid as Jirair hurled it through the air. The head struck the Quarren right in the face and he was thrown from the swoop. Dev slowed and the swoop sped riderless past the speeder bike, crashing off the trail and into the jungle ahead.
"Nice shot," said Dev. Jirair's heart was pounding. He had never known such excitement, and he found he was thoroughly enjoying it. Dev turned the speeder around, and as he passed at a slower speed Jirair leaned far over and plucked the droid head off the chest of the unconscious Quarren. They were safe for the moment, but the ORO agents were still after the droid's head, and they had no doubt earned the ire of Choti the Squid this evening.
To be continued ...
"Excuse me. We are investigating a theft. We think you have something that does not belong to you. If you are smart, you will turn it over, and no one will get hurt." The human woman stared fiercely at Bobbo. Her shoulders were back and her bearing haughty. She and her two companions, both human men, were each wearing miner's grey jumpsuits, but the creases were neat and precise, and their hair was short and worn in a military style. The suits bore the insignia of Outer Rim Oreworks.
"Hey, baby, ORO might own this stinking planet, but this shop belong to Bobbo!" The Toydarian rubbed his hands together, leering at the woman. "Besides, Bobbo have no idea what you talking about."
In the back of the shop, Jirair Gann, Dev Novo and Biqua listened intently. Everyone knew that Bobbo's dealings were often somewhat less than legitimate. But this ... this sounded serious. Suddenly, a metallic voice called out loudly. "Where am I? What is this place? You are not the master!" Jirair looked down at the head of the droid in his lap. It had somehow activated!
From the front, a man's voice said, "That sounds like our target!" Biqua pushed at Jirair and Dev, waving them out of the back of the shop. Jirair was still staring at the talking droid head. Dev grabbed him by the arm and the two raced through the junk in the shop and out the back door. When the three ORO agents burst through the curtain into the backroom they ran directly into Biqua, and all four hit the ground in a tangle of flailing limbs and junk parts.
Out back, Dev Novo mounted his speeder bike and it roared to life. Jirair looked from the droid's head to the shop and back. Dev's blue eyes flashed with excitement. "C'mon, Jirair, hop on!" Jirair climed on behind Dev, holding the droid's head cradled in one arm. The speeder tore off, flying down a narrow jungle trail.
"Duck!" yelled Dev above the hum of the repulsorlift engine.
"What?"
"Duck!" Dev leaned down far over the controls. Jirair barely saw the branch before it whacked him in the face, but he somehow managed to stay on the bike without losing his head or the droid's.
As they neared the end of the trail that opened up on the beach they saw something coming their way up ahead. It was a group of three swoops, piloted by two Quarren and an Aqualish. Dev and Jirair recognized them immediately ... thugs in the employ of the local crime lord, Choti the Squid.
Dev accelerated, and the swoops parted as the speeder bike whooshed past, narrowly squeezing between two of the larger swoops. The Aqualish, his four eyes wide in terror and anger, shook a fist at the two humans and cursed them, his pincer-like mouth tusks moving fiercely. But one of the Quarren had spotted something of interest. Clutched beneath the arms of one of the humans was the head of a droid. Could it be the droid they were looking for? He signaled with his hand and the three henchmen whipped their swoops around and accelerated in pursuit of the speederbike, their ion engines roaring through the jungle.
Dev and Jirair burst out of the jungle onto the broad, hard packed beach. Jirair yelled above the crashing surf, "We've got company!" Dev looked back over his shoulder to see the swoops in hot pursuit. He was the best repulsorlift pilot on Malabar, but his old speeder bike could never outrun the more powerful swoops. He turned sharply and headed down the beach, accelerating to top speed.
"You are in big trouble, you know! I belong to Riboga the Hutt, and I suggest you return me to the master immediately!" Jirair was so surprised to hear the droid speak again that he almost fell off the back of the speeder.
"Riboga the Hutt is dead," shouted Dev through gritted teeth. He looked back to see the swoops were gaining. "If this droid belonged to him, no wonder everybody's after it. They say Riboga stashed treasures all over this system. If the droid knows their locations, whoever gets that data will be extremely wealthy!"
Suddenly a blaster bolt exploded past their heads! A warning shot. But there would be no more warnings. These thugs meant business. "Take my blaster!" Dev yelled. Jirair grabbed the blaster, but it was difficult to hang on to both the weapon and the droid's head as Dev maneuvered side to side evasively. Jirair had never fired a blaster at someone before. His eyes squeezed almost shut, he reached back and triggered a blast. Not even close, but the swoops did scatter and lose a little ground.
Now all three thugs were firing away, and blasts passed through the air all around the speeder bike. Realizing he was fighting for his life, Jirair looked back again and squeezed off another shot. The blast took one of the Quarren in the arm and he went flying off his swoop. The swoop kept going until the nose dipped down suddenly and it hit the beach, sending up a spray of sand and parts and pieces flying everywhere before exploding in a fiery blast. The lead Quarren whipped around the explosion, still in hot pursuit. The Aqualish ducked his head and flew right through the fireball, emerging on the other side unscathed.
"These guys just don't give up," yelled Jirair.
"Hang on," said Dev. He decelerated rapidly and whipped the speeder bike off the beach and back into the jungle, this time taking a path so narrow and unused that vines grabbed at the riders and threatened to pull them from the bike. The sun had set almost completely, and the jungle path was dark and forbidding. The swoops roared after them, tearing through the foliage. At least the trail was treacherous enough to force the thugs to holster their blasters and concentrate on flying.
Jirair continued firing the blaster pistol, but it was impossible to aim with any accuracy as Dev raced the speeder bike down the winding trail. Jirair looked forward just in time to see what appeared to be a dead end ... a stand of enormous palms rose up out of the trail directly ahead! Barely slowing down, Dev forced the speeder bike into a tight turn. The front forks barely missed a tree, and now the bike was hurtling down another path. Behind them the Aqualish tried the same turn, but his swoop was moving too fast. He crashed into a giant palm, sending fragments of swoop and Aqualish spinning through the jungle. The Quarren made the tight turn, however, and was now gaining on them rapidly.
Jirair reached back to squeeze off another blast, but the pistol was snared by a vine and ripped from his hand! The Quarren was close now, close enough that Jirair could see his mouth forming curses between his writhing head tentacles. The Quarren accelerated, pushing his swoop forward at near top speed, and suddenly jerked to the side, slamming into the speeder bike! Dev and Jirair howled in pain as their legs were crushed between the two repulsorlifts, but Dev managed to keep the speeder bike on the trail. The jungle foliage whipped at all of them as the trail narrowed even more. The Quarren began pulling up for another ramming maneuver.
Jirair raised the droid head high, and yelled back at the Quarren. "You want this? You can have it!"
"Oh my!" said the droid as Jirair hurled it through the air. The head struck the Quarren right in the face and he was thrown from the swoop. Dev slowed and the swoop sped riderless past the speeder bike, crashing off the trail and into the jungle ahead.
"Nice shot," said Dev. Jirair's heart was pounding. He had never known such excitement, and he found he was thoroughly enjoying it. Dev turned the speeder around, and as he passed at a slower speed Jirair leaned far over and plucked the droid head off the chest of the unconscious Quarren. They were safe for the moment, but the ORO agents were still after the droid's head, and they had no doubt earned the ire of Choti the Squid this evening.
To be continued ...
Last edited:
cthuluftaghn
First Post
Outstanding! This is still a character lead-in to the upcoming campaign, right? It's already turning into a very intriguing story.
"Impressive.... MOST impressive!"
"Impressive.... MOST impressive!"
Thanks for the kind words, DM Cthulu and Horatio. Actually, the Prelude featuring Baydo, Tevy and Jodo Kast was character lead-in. "Head Trip" chronicles the first actual adventure session, introducing the PC Jirair Gann. I tried a new approach with this that other GMs out there might find interesting. Part of the beauty of Star Wars: Episode IV is that each of the characters had personalities and backstories that were established before they all came together. For example, we know that Han Solo and his Millenium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs and Obi-Wan Kenobi fought in the Clone Wars. These details made the characters, and the world around them, real and vibrant. Only Luke Skywalker was relatively inexperienced. But in the Star Wars RPG, it is implied that the game begins with a party of 1st level characters, all of whom are less experienced than Luke (he was a Fringer 2 at the beginning of Episode IV)! The players have to work to establish their characters and discover their personalities, while also learning how to act as a team with the other players. I didn't like this model for Star Wars. So here is what I decided to do about it.cthuluftaghn said:
I'm actually gaming through the first few levels with each of the players individually. To move things along to the point where the whole party comes together, I'm not gaming die roll by die roll. Rather, I'm using game mechanics for some of the highlights, but I'm mostly just shooting the breeze with the individual players about their background. It's sort of an interactive storytelling experience where we feed off of each other. It has worked well so far. During Head Trip, Jirair Gann is an inexperienced, naive fringer who has never been off Malabar. By the time he meets the other characters, he will be a confident free trader, skilled in piloting space transports and even better at jury rigging repairs in a pinch. The player and I have been talking/gaming through the backstory that leads to this point and it has been a BLAST!
One real advantage of this method is that by the time all of us sit down around the game table, my campaign will already be full of NPC personalities such as Choti the Squid, Jodo Kast, Dev Novo, Bobbo, Biqua, and Outer Rim Oreworks ... and those are just the characters from Jirair's background! Cthuluftaghn (DM of a GREAT Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil campaign in which I play the self-righteous, evil-smiting fighter/cleric Gann Tolar ... check out his Story Hour) is one of my players. We have not yet created his character, but I suspect it will be a ton of fun. All of the characters are on a web, being drawn inevitably to the center where they will meet in the first full game session. By then, they will have their personas down and have no trouble playing their respective roles.
Okay, I've rambled on, and this really isn't Story Hour type material. I'll let you folks know how this method works out, although you should be able to gauge its success based on future installments of this Story Hour.
Last edited:
HEAD TRIP - PART III
It was apparent that neither Jirair Gann nor his friend Dev Novo could safely remain on Malabar. They could not lay low forever. Outer Rim Oreworks owned the planet, and even now their agents were scouring Ganlo and the other nearby islands for the droid's head. Even if the friends turned over the head, they were certain that Choti the Squid would want revenge for his slain henchmen. Dev Novo had his ticket offworld - in a matter of days he was leaving for the Imperial Navy Flight Academy. Jirair needed a different solution. And so it was that they came to the Tailfin Cantina, just two nights after the head first fell into their hands.
Jirair had clandestinely contacted his friend, the Mon Calamari Biqua, who informed Jirair that he and Bobbo had completed the repairs to the Rim Runner's hyperdrive. He also told Jirair that the Rodian captain Baydo could be found most times in the Tailfin, sipping the local liquor distilled from various native jungle fruits and keeping to himself. There was no love lost between Baydo and the local crime boss, Choti the Squid, and Biqua was certain that the Rodian would be leaving soon now that the repairs to the Rim Runner were finished.
"I can get you past ORO, but it will cost you extra, kid. I could smell trouble as soon as you two walked in this joint. I prefer to avoid that kind of trouble." Baydo sat in a corner booth, his boots propped up on the table and a wooden cup of booze in hand. His other hand was beneath the table, and Jirair was positive it was not far from his blaster.
"Look, I don't have many credits. But I do know how to repair starships. And that hunk of junk you're flying looks like it could use someone who knows their way around a hydrospanner." As Jirair negotiated with the gruff Rodian, Dev kept a lookout on the door.
"She may not look like much but she's got it where it counts, kid." Baydo took a swig of booze as he sized up the human. "Say, what's in the sack?"
Jirair winced, hoping the droid's head would not start talking. No matter how many times he deactivated the blasted thing, it kept coming back online. "Um, nothing. Just some tools."
"Tell you what, kid. Meet me at the Rim Runner in the morning with 2,000 credits. Think you can come up with that?" Jirair nodded slowly. "Good. That will get you offworld, but it won't get you far. And bring your tools. I'm giving you a bargain, so I'll expect you to put in some work. Deal?"
"Sure. Sure!" Jirair smiled and stuck out his hand to shake on the deal. Baydo just looked at the hand and scowled at the young man. "Uh, see you in the morning, then!"
Jirair and Dev left the table, scanning outside the door carefully, and rather obviously, before exiting the Tailfin. "In the morning," said Baydo ominously. "If you're still alive."
Jirair and Dev stepped out into the humid night air and made their way out back of the Tailfin, where Dev had hidden the speeder bike. Dev groaned as he rounded the corner, and Jirair soon saw why. Leaning casually against the speeder was a familiar figure ... the Quarren thug whom Jirair had knocked cold with the droid's head. He had a light repeating blaster trained on the friends. If he decided to use it, they would have no chance of dodging the deadly barrage of blaster fire that would issue from the gun.
"<We meet again,>" snarled the Quarren, a snide grin barely visible between his head tentacles. "<I believe you have something I want.>"
Jirair looked at Dev, and Dev shrugged back. Neither of them understood Quarrenese, but the message was obvious and it didn't seem like they had much of a choice. Sighing, Jirair reached into the sack and retrieved the L80's head.
He was just about to toss it to the Quarren when twin blasts erupted past them, lighting up the night, both slamming into the Quarren and throwing him to the ground. He lay there smoldering.
"I've wanted to do that ever since I first laid eyes on the scumbag." Jirair and Dev turned to see the Rodian smuggler Baydo walking towards them, a blaster in either hand. "He and another one of the Squid's cronies fragged my partner Tevy. Now we're square."
"I'm glad it's you," said Dev. "Figured it would be ORO guys, or worse."
The Rodian walked a little closer and smiled a rueful little smile. He trained his blasters on the friends, one on each. "Sorry kids. This is the way it has to be. I've got every bounty hunter this side of the Corellian Run breathing down my neck, and if what I've heard about that head is true, it should just about satisfy my debt to Choti. So be good lads and hand it over."
Jirair's disappointment was written all over his face. He had admired the Rodian and his way of life, plying the spaceways and surviving on grit, wits and a healthy dose of good luck. Now he realized that Baydo was no better than the rest of the scum of the galaxy, just looking out for himself. Jirair turned the L80 head over in his hands. Maybe it was for the best. The head had brought him nothing but trouble. He tossed the head through the air. The Rodian spun one of his blasters around a finger, holstered it smoothly, and caught the droid's head in his free hand, never taking those big black eyes off of Jirair and Dev.
"Don't feel bad, guys. You sure gave Choti's goons a run for their money. But you can't win them all." The Rodian turned to walk away.
"Just once would be nice," mumbled Jirair. Suddenly another blaster bolt lit up the night. This one came from the jungle and struck Baydo, spinning him around. He crashed to the ground, still clutching the droid's head. Outlined against the treeline Jirair could make out the silhouette of an armored man marching toward the fallen Rodian. But before he could get there, more blaster fire erupted in the night, this time directed at the armored figure!
ORO operatives were flooding into the clearing, unleashing a volley of blasts at the armored man. One found its mark, leaving a blast mark on his red and black armor. The armored man appeared unaffected, however, and returned fire with deadly accuracy. Each time he fired his weapon, an ORO agent fell. Jirair and Dev hit the ground. Caught in the crossfire, they could do nothing but watch the scene unfold. A well-placed shot from the armored man sent the blaster of the last remaining ORO operative flying out of her hand and through the air. The armored man then sprinted to the remaining agent, holstering his blaster and drawing a large weapon off his back as he closed upon his prey. The weapon resembled a staff with two heavy blades at each end. It hummed with energy as the armored man expertly cut through the air with it, whirling it about impressively. The ORO operative never had a chance ... the blade sliced through the thick night air and her neck with equal ease. Her head rolled to a stop about a meter from Dev's face, her features frozen in an expression of terror.
The armored man glanced at Dev and Jirair, and, apparently perceiving no threat from them, turned his attention back to the Rodian ... who was no longer there! The man slung his double-bladed weapon back over his shoulder and onto his back and stalked off into the night.
"C'mon," said Dev, leaping to his feet.
"Where to?" asked Jirair.
"We've got to get to that thieving Rodian before that bounty hunter does!"
"And then what?"
Dev grinned as he revved up the repulsorlift engine on his speeder bike. "Do I have to think of everything, Jirair?" Jirair grabbed the blaster rifle off the still-smoldering Quarren and jumped on the back of the speeder just as the bike leaped away toward the beach.
Next: The pulse-pounding conclusion to Head Trip ...
It was apparent that neither Jirair Gann nor his friend Dev Novo could safely remain on Malabar. They could not lay low forever. Outer Rim Oreworks owned the planet, and even now their agents were scouring Ganlo and the other nearby islands for the droid's head. Even if the friends turned over the head, they were certain that Choti the Squid would want revenge for his slain henchmen. Dev Novo had his ticket offworld - in a matter of days he was leaving for the Imperial Navy Flight Academy. Jirair needed a different solution. And so it was that they came to the Tailfin Cantina, just two nights after the head first fell into their hands.
Jirair had clandestinely contacted his friend, the Mon Calamari Biqua, who informed Jirair that he and Bobbo had completed the repairs to the Rim Runner's hyperdrive. He also told Jirair that the Rodian captain Baydo could be found most times in the Tailfin, sipping the local liquor distilled from various native jungle fruits and keeping to himself. There was no love lost between Baydo and the local crime boss, Choti the Squid, and Biqua was certain that the Rodian would be leaving soon now that the repairs to the Rim Runner were finished.
"I can get you past ORO, but it will cost you extra, kid. I could smell trouble as soon as you two walked in this joint. I prefer to avoid that kind of trouble." Baydo sat in a corner booth, his boots propped up on the table and a wooden cup of booze in hand. His other hand was beneath the table, and Jirair was positive it was not far from his blaster.
"Look, I don't have many credits. But I do know how to repair starships. And that hunk of junk you're flying looks like it could use someone who knows their way around a hydrospanner." As Jirair negotiated with the gruff Rodian, Dev kept a lookout on the door.
"She may not look like much but she's got it where it counts, kid." Baydo took a swig of booze as he sized up the human. "Say, what's in the sack?"
Jirair winced, hoping the droid's head would not start talking. No matter how many times he deactivated the blasted thing, it kept coming back online. "Um, nothing. Just some tools."
"Tell you what, kid. Meet me at the Rim Runner in the morning with 2,000 credits. Think you can come up with that?" Jirair nodded slowly. "Good. That will get you offworld, but it won't get you far. And bring your tools. I'm giving you a bargain, so I'll expect you to put in some work. Deal?"
"Sure. Sure!" Jirair smiled and stuck out his hand to shake on the deal. Baydo just looked at the hand and scowled at the young man. "Uh, see you in the morning, then!"
Jirair and Dev left the table, scanning outside the door carefully, and rather obviously, before exiting the Tailfin. "In the morning," said Baydo ominously. "If you're still alive."
Jirair and Dev stepped out into the humid night air and made their way out back of the Tailfin, where Dev had hidden the speeder bike. Dev groaned as he rounded the corner, and Jirair soon saw why. Leaning casually against the speeder was a familiar figure ... the Quarren thug whom Jirair had knocked cold with the droid's head. He had a light repeating blaster trained on the friends. If he decided to use it, they would have no chance of dodging the deadly barrage of blaster fire that would issue from the gun.
"<We meet again,>" snarled the Quarren, a snide grin barely visible between his head tentacles. "<I believe you have something I want.>"
Jirair looked at Dev, and Dev shrugged back. Neither of them understood Quarrenese, but the message was obvious and it didn't seem like they had much of a choice. Sighing, Jirair reached into the sack and retrieved the L80's head.
He was just about to toss it to the Quarren when twin blasts erupted past them, lighting up the night, both slamming into the Quarren and throwing him to the ground. He lay there smoldering.
"I've wanted to do that ever since I first laid eyes on the scumbag." Jirair and Dev turned to see the Rodian smuggler Baydo walking towards them, a blaster in either hand. "He and another one of the Squid's cronies fragged my partner Tevy. Now we're square."
"I'm glad it's you," said Dev. "Figured it would be ORO guys, or worse."
The Rodian walked a little closer and smiled a rueful little smile. He trained his blasters on the friends, one on each. "Sorry kids. This is the way it has to be. I've got every bounty hunter this side of the Corellian Run breathing down my neck, and if what I've heard about that head is true, it should just about satisfy my debt to Choti. So be good lads and hand it over."
Jirair's disappointment was written all over his face. He had admired the Rodian and his way of life, plying the spaceways and surviving on grit, wits and a healthy dose of good luck. Now he realized that Baydo was no better than the rest of the scum of the galaxy, just looking out for himself. Jirair turned the L80 head over in his hands. Maybe it was for the best. The head had brought him nothing but trouble. He tossed the head through the air. The Rodian spun one of his blasters around a finger, holstered it smoothly, and caught the droid's head in his free hand, never taking those big black eyes off of Jirair and Dev.
"Don't feel bad, guys. You sure gave Choti's goons a run for their money. But you can't win them all." The Rodian turned to walk away.
"Just once would be nice," mumbled Jirair. Suddenly another blaster bolt lit up the night. This one came from the jungle and struck Baydo, spinning him around. He crashed to the ground, still clutching the droid's head. Outlined against the treeline Jirair could make out the silhouette of an armored man marching toward the fallen Rodian. But before he could get there, more blaster fire erupted in the night, this time directed at the armored figure!
ORO operatives were flooding into the clearing, unleashing a volley of blasts at the armored man. One found its mark, leaving a blast mark on his red and black armor. The armored man appeared unaffected, however, and returned fire with deadly accuracy. Each time he fired his weapon, an ORO agent fell. Jirair and Dev hit the ground. Caught in the crossfire, they could do nothing but watch the scene unfold. A well-placed shot from the armored man sent the blaster of the last remaining ORO operative flying out of her hand and through the air. The armored man then sprinted to the remaining agent, holstering his blaster and drawing a large weapon off his back as he closed upon his prey. The weapon resembled a staff with two heavy blades at each end. It hummed with energy as the armored man expertly cut through the air with it, whirling it about impressively. The ORO operative never had a chance ... the blade sliced through the thick night air and her neck with equal ease. Her head rolled to a stop about a meter from Dev's face, her features frozen in an expression of terror.
The armored man glanced at Dev and Jirair, and, apparently perceiving no threat from them, turned his attention back to the Rodian ... who was no longer there! The man slung his double-bladed weapon back over his shoulder and onto his back and stalked off into the night.
"C'mon," said Dev, leaping to his feet.
"Where to?" asked Jirair.
"We've got to get to that thieving Rodian before that bounty hunter does!"
"And then what?"
Dev grinned as he revved up the repulsorlift engine on his speeder bike. "Do I have to think of everything, Jirair?" Jirair grabbed the blaster rifle off the still-smoldering Quarren and jumped on the back of the speeder just as the bike leaped away toward the beach.
Next: The pulse-pounding conclusion to Head Trip ...
Last edited:
cthuluftaghn
First Post
I hope everything is alright!
I'm going to invoke my bragging rights.... I get to play in this one!!!
I'm about ready to start thinking about character creation, I think. I look forward to an epic e-mail mini solo adventure.
I'm going to invoke my bragging rights.... I get to play in this one!!!
I'm about ready to start thinking about character creation, I think. I look forward to an epic e-mail mini solo adventure.
Everything is fine, thanks for asking. My little "emergency" was actually no big deal ... just got called away in the middle of posting Head Trip - Part III. I've gone back and edited the post so that it is now complete. Only one more installment of Head Trip to go before the Story Hour takes a new direction, following another character.cthuluftaghn said:
Can't wait to start working with you on it. Start sending those e-mails and let me know what you have in mind so far!
Last edited:
Similar Threads
