Main IC Thread - Act I - Rumors in the Distance

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Bri'tan
As Bri'tan gets situated in his chair, he notices that a second wave of fighters has entered the planet's atmosphere and would be on location in 3 or 4 minutes.

Eyes glancing over to his droid's readout, he sees Kage report that his transmission made it through and that another transmission was incoming. Without even waiting for the Bith to ask, Kage plays the incoming transmission over the ship's speakers:

"(loud static)...in, Greas...Nerf. This is ...tain Nihl. Requesting imm..(static) evac. Repeat. We have b (static)...... and need evac. (static)..copy? Over."

Shadow
Shadow distances himself a bit from the group and reaches the treeline first. Just as he crouches down behind a tree, he instinctively ducks back as a quartet of Trade Federation Bombers flies over head.

Daryn
Daryn hits play and hears Bri'tan's agitated voice warning him that Bombers are inbound. As the Bith recites the bearing and heading, Daryn is distracted slightly by Kron finally freeing his blaster and raising it over the table, preparing to fire at him. Daryn hears Bri'tan continue: "The Greased Nerf's position may be compromised!"

[Jedi Skyler]

Daryn looks pointedly at Kron. "Did you hear that?!?! He said that our ship's position may be compromised, and that bombers are inbound. We don't have any bombers; WE are not attacking! So...would you care to join forces and fight these bosh'tets off, or do you want to risk dying before they come and lay waste to this entire area?"

He readies himself to parry any bolts that Kron might fire his way.

[Guardian_A]

Grabbing hold of the control yoke, Bri'tan pulls back gently, lifting the Greased Nerf up out of its hiding place. "Kage, get me a location for that last transmission." As soon as the coordinates display, Bri'tan shoves the throttle forward. Hitting the comm switch to reply to the previous message, "Greased Nerf incoming. ETA," He glances at the chrono and quickly calculates the time to arival, "Hostiles on my heels." Ending the transmission, he turns his attention to flying the Greased Nerf.

[Flyboy2002]

"Boss, we have federation bombers overhead. We need to get out of here, stat." Shadow continues to scan for ground bases forces that might be impinging on there area. If he finds any he will take up aim but hold his fire temporarily.

[Orgaloth]

Dævon wrestled with the Trandoshan,

Time to take advantage of the situation.

"Freeze lizard."

Hoping the shock of the 'animal' talking will take the Trandoshan aback, Dævon then tries to get a grip on its throat with his teeth.
_________________
"I take orders from just one person: Me!"

"You know, sometimes I amaze even myself."
Du Cass' Dream

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Daevon
Daevon's trick has the desired effect. As the two try to overpower each other, Daevon says loud and clear: "Freeze Lizard." In surprise, the Trandoshan pulls his head back and pulls away slightly from what he thought was a pet of some kind. Deavon, feeling the grip of the Trandoshan relax slightly and seeing an opening, rolls to the side and goes for the throat. Deavon finds that the Trando's neck is too big to fit completely into his jaws, but he does have his front teeth firmly in place.

Realizing what just happened, the Trandoshan lets out a hiss and tenses up in preparation to wriggle it's neck free.

Shadow
In reply, Shadow hears Nihl's voice come back: "Roger that. Assuming my transmission went through, the shp should be here soon. Stand by."
Shadow continues his scan of the vicinity and does not locate any ground forces for the moment. Getting into better position, Shadow sets the case down by his knee and allows himself a second to ponder what exactly he might be carrying around.

Bri'tan
Bri'tan quickly engages the repulsors and lifts the Greased Nerf off the ground, brushing lightly against the back wall of the dilapidated old foundation as he does so. Kage beeps out what Bri'tan assumes was a sarcastic retort about his piloting skills.

Hanging about 10 feet in the air, Bri'tan rotates the ship around, facing it north. A second or two later, Kage sends the coordinates for Nihl's squad and Bri'tan fires the sublight engines.
(OOC - The coordinate mark the call as coming from 20 meters inside the tree line to the north.)


Daryn
Daryn watches as Kron considers his words. The Devaronian, apparently seeing the logic in that reasoning, relaxes his expression and begins lowering his blaster. Daryn exhales and begins a grin.
But then, Kron glances to his right and sees Lurk about ready to fire at the Trandoshan. In an instant, the Devaronian's emotions return to the anger and betrayal he was feeling before and swings his aim over to Lurk. Daryn sighs, knowing that he almost had things under control.

[Jedi Skyler]

Daryn hollers quickly, "Dammit, Lurk, STAND DOWN NOW!!!"

Moving a step towards Lurk, Daryn says, "If you don't stand down now, I'll cut you down myself!"

[Flyboy2002]

Shadow having cleared the ground in the near vicinity starts scanning the skies for other vessels inbound. He watches as the Greased Nerf starts climbing from its landing zone and turn slowly toward the forest. Content that the ship is on it way he radios to the squad. "Looks like our ride is on its way, recommend we regroup here at the treeline for extraction."

[Guardian_A]

Grunting as he accelerates, Bri'tan shoots a quick glance at Kage, "Kage, this might get a little rough. Hold on, and make sure to get the loading ramp open for our passangers by the time they reach the ship." Risking another look at the scanners to see how close the bombers are getting, he reaches for the comm again, "Pickup at (He rattles off the coordinates for just inside the treeline), ETA, . . " He makes a quick calculation before rattling off the time.

(Bri'tan figures the edge of the treeline will be mostly younger trees, therefore they shouldnt offer too much resistance to a ship the size of the Nerf. Besides, he figures he can fly faster than any of them can run, . . . and he wants to get out of here in a hurry.)

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Daryn and Daevon
Surprised at Daryn's sudden and commanding outburst, everyone pauses. Lurk snaps his head around and casts a questioning glance at the jedi. Kron looks back at Daryn also, with perhaps a newfound respect for him. Daevon and the Trandoshan both freeze as well.

For a moment, nobody moves. All eyes are temporarily fixed on Medallea as everyone considers their next move.

Then suddenly, the silence is broken as an explosion is heard outside in the street near by - a big and powerful explosion. That is followed quickly by another, even closer blast. Daryn watches as Kron's eyes go wide as he says in surprise: "They're bombing us!?"

The two jedi have a second, maybe two before the next bomb hits.

Shadow
Nihl responds to Shadow's suggestion: "You heard him boys, form up on Shadow's position for evac. Keep eyes open for hostiles."
In a the next few seconds, the other members of the team all arrive and take up positions within a few meters of Shadow.

Shadow glances up and sees the Greased Nerf making a bee-line in their direction.

Nihl, listening to the receiver in his helmet nods his head and then says to the team: "He's going to put her down just behind our position. Hold here until it lands. Then i'll cover the rest of you while you get up the ramp."

Bri'tan
Kage beeps something in reply about space travel with Bri'tan always being 'a little rough.' For the moment, Bri'tan chooses to ignore the comment.
Hands gripped tight on the controls, Bri'tan pushes the Nerf forward, quickly covering the ground between him and his passengers.

Quickly glancing down, he notices the first wave of bombers directly over Daryn's last-known position.

Coming in hard and fast, Bri'tan is nearly to the landing zone.

[Jedi Skyler]

Daryn goes into command mode, having seen his Master take charge countless times before. "Everyone, out. NOW! Scramble to keep from presenting a target, but stay within sight. Our pilot is probably inbound to pick us up as we speak; I'll try and contact him as we go." He begins to match actions to words by moving towards the door. "If I get word from the ship, I'll holler. Be ready to get picked up on the fly; this is obviously now a hot zone!"

To help allay Kron's fears or suspicions, he adds, "Kron, you have my word: this is NOT my doing. We will see you safely out of here. If we can't meet with your ship and get you aboard, we'll get you to a safe port as soon as we can. That goes for your men as well. For now, will you trust me?"

[Flyboy2002]

Shadow is pleasantly surprised to see the ship moving in there direction and to hear Nihl's positive comm with the ship. A second later he begins hearing the blasts from the town after the 30 seconds or so it takes for the sound to reach them, though it is now pretty muffled. As soon as the ship sets down and the trees and debris have cleared slightly he drags Needles onboard, and continues to the upper gun turret, not pleased with the way the airborne battle is moving. He will strap in and power them up as soon as he can and begin searching for targets. "This stuff is never easy," he sighs to himself.

[Guardian_A]

Waiting until the last possible moment, Bri'tan pulls back on the control stick. Focused on the task of landing the Greased Nerf, he barely takes notice of the ship's rapid deceleration as he lands the bulky ship.

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Daryn and Daevon
As Daryn begins barking commands, everyone's fight or flight instincts kick in. Daevon moves quickly for the door and the Trandoshan heads for the back of the bar. Daryn himself begins moving quickly to the door.

Daryn turns to offer his reassurances to Kron and ask for the Devaronian's trust. After a quick moment's thought, Kron nods his head in an affirmative, but instead of charging after Daryn, he suddenly remembers his injured comrade back in the booth and runs back to help him out.

At this moment, a bomb lands outside but near the front of the cantina. Along with the deafening affect of the bomb, the explosion also sends the front doors, shattered glass and other debris blowing in toward the two jedi. Half a second later, another bomb crashes through the roof of the cantina, exploding in the kitchen area toward the back of the building.
(OOC - I am assuming you both will want to dodge. If you have something different in mind, let me know.)

Shadow
Shadow watches in awe as the Nerf comes in low and fast and somehow manages to kill enough speed to set the ship down while rotating on it's axis 180 degress so that the ship can face back in the direction it came.

Moments later, he was flying up the ramp, on his way to the gunwell. As he begins buckling in, he wonders if the guns are going to work right this time. That thought is quickly chased away as the ship begings to raise up again.

Bri'tan
The Bith grins to himself as he pulls off quite a challenging landing. (see above) As soon as the ship lands, Kage has the ramp descending. Seconds later, Bri'tan can hear booted feet storming up the ramp.

While he waits for the signal that all are on board, Bri'tan glances at the readout in front of him and sees the wave of bombers pulling up and angling away from the village. He is also alarmed to see that the squadron of inbound fighters have gone off his scope.

After what feels like 6 more really long seconds, Captain Nihl comes running into the cockpit: "We're all here pilot. Any word from Commander Medallea?"

[Guardian_A]

Bri'tan risks a glance back at Nihl as he throws the throttle forward, "He's not with you? Then where is he?!?" He pulls back on the controll stick harder than necessary in an attempt to gain some altitude, and hopefully a little maneuvering room if he needs it.