Buckets On

 
Zyrtec (that's probably not his name, but I'll figure that out later) wants to have a meeting in his brig cell with Iwa. She wants me to be bucket on, recording, playing bodyguard.
All he wants to say is "thank you for giving me a second chance"?? Bulllllllllllllllshit!
 
Also he says he knows nothing about Wookiees.
But he understands everything Iwa says to him.
He's a liar.
 
So I said to quit doing first date stuff. It's time to put out. Talk about the grandson.
 
He's been unable to get to the Wookiee he saw -- and at one point it comes out that there are 2 Wookiees down on the mining moon, both under heavy guard.
Chakarr says that he's pasting the translation as subtitles directly into Zyrtec's artificial eyes.

Of course! It's what the Mistress would want for proper communication!

— Chakarr

 
Iwa does not know if she can trust what Zyrtec has to say. So we're going to have the Aw'akeen lady Zadra check up on the communication logs from the transport ship, and once Rushlight is done with his next 4 surgeries, we're gonna give him some Red Bull and then have him voodoo Zyrtec.
 
Meanwhile, Greelo is looking up the mentioned bounties (to see if they match the story) and getting the basic layout of this kind of mining station from the manufacturer and so forth. Good research for our upcoming work.
 
Sooooooo here we are at the Loval....
 
A lot of the consoles have been taken apart already and rigged up to Aw'akeen tablets and stuff. We hear some activity up near the cockpit. There's a guy up here with a double frontal cowlick of fiery orange red hair.
According to communications records, the Loval has been mostly ferrying supplies until fairly recently. Also there is something out there that is a "Dreadnought class" vehicle, which then heads in-system. The Quartermaster from the Bloodsmith Raiders is a Mirialan, muscular, has cybernetic enhancements, and is pressuring Zyrtec to get enhancements done. She mentions that he's doing a good job, she's put in a good word with "Bol Spar" who is considering letting him take the next load to "The Plex". There's also a recording getting a message from an unknown ship (us!) with a Wookiee warning him to get out, he's about to be attacked.
So all in all, Zyrtec or Zantac or whatever-dude, he checks out in all the ways we can get corroboration. I wouldn't let him loose and give him a multitool, you know, but I think Iwa is doing the right thing in taking this guy's intel.
 
We're going to take the Loval, Rushlight and I, and we're going to be slightly dumb salvagers (maybe pirates?) who have wound up with this ship that has a local destination in the system and NO HYPERDRIVE and whatever the contract was, it's obviously vacant now and we'd like to pick it up! This should lead to a lot of distraction and stalling while, aboard Vader, Greelo and Iwa and Chakarr and some of the Aw'akeen commandos sneak down onto the forest and into the air shafts for the mine tunnels.
Rushlight is fabulous. And feeling very pretty in a minimalist tabard dress and perfect makeup and some of the shaman stuff as anklets.
So we two girls land and are met by some Bloodsmith Raiders whom we promptly horrify with our answers to, basically, every question. And our answers are:
 

1. That's classified.


2. We prefer to be discreet.


3. We want to be paid in jewels. Not credits, because people can look at our credits without our permission.


4. And a hyperdrive. We need a hyperdrive. It's missing!


5. We are looking for a contract that heads out of system.

The answers, more and more, are "I did not want to know THAT either!" and "Uhhm...?" which is GREAT for our stalling purposes.
Finally they send us into the Mining dome to wait out of the sun while they bring the Loval down to the repair bay for a hyperdrive and some fixing up.
 

---

 
Some time goes by and we are chilling in the Mining area. I can see the beskar aran safe waiting for the ship to be repaired and the deal to be sealed.
Suddenly! The nine shafts downward all start to glow! Rushlight's fur starts to stand on end! The lights are flickering!
I put on my helmet, grab Rushlight by her hand, and run to jump on top of the safe. Mandalorian iron will reject the energy. It will keep us from forming a grounding circuit. We have to stand back to back, elbows locked together, because there is not much room but we're going to be okay---
 

spoke too soon! The floor is cracking! The dome is cracking!

Rushlight tells me to hold on tight and throws out the sand. There is a dome of sand around us and the safe, slowing down the fall.
But the Bloodsmiths are grabbing non-Bloodsmith people and yanking them toward the other ships, hurrying. These are the people we're here to save, right?! Rushlight's sand tries to surround all these rescuable people while I shoot the Bloodsmiths on stun.
 
There are TOO MANY people to save, Rushlight says. He's not going to get them all!
 
So I shout a command for the ones who are NOT falling to grab hold of the ones who ARE. We'll do an Iron Man maneuver!
 
When the shaking stops, the Mining dome isn't stable but it'll do for now. The shafts are still glowing. We tell the rescuees that that way ((point)) is "out" and THAT way ((point)) leads to the armory, if you know what I mean! And these people do choose one direction or another.
Outside, there are sparkly crystalline furred wolf things. What the...?
 
I think our stalling phase is, you know, blown.
We can't open this safe so we need a repulsorlift cart to put the safe on. Because it's kind of heavy.
 
But! Team Comms are back on!
So Rushlight is going to go help Vader. I am organizing those rescuees who went for the armory. I need a repulsorlift cart! The rescuees tell me that Akchiir and Carmen were taken away a couple of days ago, which means my princess is in another castle.