Session 13: A Deadly Game, Part IX

General Summary

Morning

Lem continues searching for the Vong camp (Thread 1.3.4: Unexpected Lifeform) in the ViGureni jungle. After hours of following the faintest trail, he spots two Yuuzhan Vong warriors standing guard in a clearing near a hilly structure. Unfortunately, the guards notice him as well, so he has no choice but to step out and introduce himself - in the Vong language. While taken aback, the Vong are true to their nature and attack the padawan. Lem emerges victorious, having sliced clean through one assailant and knocking the other out of commission. The fight is not without its costs, though. In addition to a couple of nasty wounds, Lem's lightsaber also seems to have developed some kind of malfunction, causing it to power off at inopportune times. Back on The Mynock's Wing, Lyshea expresses to Tomla how terrified she is after seeing the extent of the damage to the ship. She feels defeated and suggests turning herself over to the Tigers to protect her new friends. Tomla reassures her, but seeing Rin get drunk and passing out in the common area doesn't give her a lot of confidence. Hearing a clanging from the storage room reminds Tomla that they still have a prisoner who likely hasn't been attended to in some time. She opens the door and apologizes, as well as moves him to the other, cleaner storage room with clean clothes and food. She also allows him to use the refresher to clean himself up. However, when he hides from her, Tomla decides she is done messing around and sends Salty in to get him out. After a few minutes and a lot of angry beeping, everything quiets down. When Tomla opens the door, the captured Onyx Tiger bantha rushes Tomla, knocking her down. USing her Ithorian throats, she bellows loudly at him, momentarily disorienting him and waking Rin. Using the Force to tie him back up, she takes him back to storage before going back to help Salty, Rin, and Lyshea. Salty needs a few repairs, but it's nothing that she and Rin can't handle. No sooner have they all recovered from the little incident than the cockpit beeps - there's a planetary transmission incoming. Tomla answers, and all three of the freeze as they hear the familiar sound of a Devaronian voice - Vass Manduc himself is calling them. He mocks them about the damage his agents caused to the Mynock's Wing and warns them they if they don't hand Lyshea over, he will keep sending people to hunt them down until they are all dead. And if they even think of leaving the planet with her, his ships in orbit will blow them to space dust. Lyshea, terrified but committed to ending the danger that she has put the Jedi in, grabs the comm and tells Vass that she will return to him if he leaves the others alone. Tomla and Rin have little choice but to go along with her at this point, agreeing to meet Vass at the Onyx Tiger base in the Lower Coromons in an hour.

Afternoon

In the jungle, a badly injured Lem decides to enter the structure, determined to find the evidence he needs to prove the Vong invasion is real. Inside, everything is typical Vong bioengineered structures. The doors are living animals that must be coaxed into opening, the walls are a pale purple sinew that seems to absorb all sound, giving an eerie silence to his intrusion. Going down the first hallway he sees, he gets a door to open, revealing a Yuuzhan Vong fighting pit with more than a half dozen Vong warriors - all staring at the intruding Jedi. With only a moment's pause, all of them grab their weapons and rush toward Lem. Everything in his nature and his experience with the Vong tells him that he must stand his ground and fight. But when he calms himself and trusts in the Force, he knows that this is not a fight he can win. Running back the way he came, he pulls out his comlink and reaches out to Tomla and Rin. While taking flying thud bugs to the back and cutting more down with his lightsaber as he runs, he activates the tracking device that Rin gave him before and tosses it onto the Vong structure before taking off at full speed through the jungle, urging his friends to pick him up as quickly as possible. After it becomes apparent that his lungs will give out long before the Mynock's Wing arrives, Lem takes an opportunity to jump into some particularly high brush and hide. The warriors chasing him all run past at full speed, oblivious to Lem's deceit. However, one set of feet come to stop near his hiding spot. Peeking out, Lem sees that this is no Yuuzhan Vong warrior - it's a Shaper, a deadly Vong bioengineer and leader with all manner of terrifying biotech at his disposal. Calling out to Lem, the Shaper mocks his cowardice before reforming his amphistaff into a poisonous whip that shoots venom. Falling back into a defensive position, Lem tries to staff for time until his friends arrive, but in his condition he knows that he won't last long against such a fearsome opponent. After taking a major lash from the whip, he starts to run again. The Shaper chases, mocking him in the Vong tongue as he throws larger, modified thud bugs at the padawan. Finally, the ship arrives and Tomla spots Lem beneath the tropical trees. With Rin still recovering from his drinking binge, Tomla flies the ship, trying to get it as close the ground as possible without crashing it into the canopy. Grazing a branch, the ship loses its balance and has to rise up and then brought back down again. The Shaper, seeing the approaching ship, launches one last flying insect-weapon at Lem, which slams right into the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. He falls to the ground and as the Shaper goes in for the kill, Rin unloads the full fury of the Mynock's Wing's turret at him, forcing him to retreat back into the jungle. With Salty taking over piloting duties, Tomla runs back to the ship's ramp, lowering it enough to see Lem's body and float it up into the ship with her Force powers. In the heat of the moment, she tries to staballize his condition in a rush, seeing how badly injured he is, but loses concentration and accidentally causing one of his more severe wounds to open up. Refocusing and centering herself, she throws herself into the task at hand, staunching the bleeding and getting her friend into safe enough condition to survive the short flight to the hospital. Once there, Salty hovers the ship above the entrance to the building, allowing Tomla to put Lem on her shoulder and leap the 10 feet down to the ground, gracefully landing in front of stunned medical team. Lemmy remains in a bacta tank for 3 hours, recovering from his severe wounds. Tomla refuses to leave his side the entire time, knowing what happened to Hus Jot at this same facility (Thread 1.3.1: The Reluctant Smuggler), even while she is treated for her own extensive injuries. Rin, recovered enough to resume his piloting responsibilities, decides against landing back at The Dock given their unapproved departure after the bombing, and instead lands at The Destroyer. Lyshea comes up to the cockpit to talk to Rin, but they are interrupted by an incoming transmission. Vass Manduc is calling again - they are late for their rendez-vous. Lyshea apologizes for the delay and promises that they will be on their way shortly. With his friends still at the hospital, Rin isn't sure what to do. He tries to contact Master Konur, but he's not available. He then reaches into the Force to see Vass and his surroundings. All he can tell is that he is some sort of underground office, and that he is fearfully resolute in his purpose. Finally emerging from the bacta tank, the medical staff return his possessions, including half of a thud bug that must have fallen into his robes after he sliced through it with his lightsaber. Looking at it closely, it appears that it might actually be regrowing. Returning to the Mynock's Wing, the team is back together at last. The three padawans all agree that there is no way that they are handing Lyshea over to Vass, no matter what she says. Rin and Lem focus on a plan to get off of the planet without getting blown up by Onyx Tiger starfighters, but it's incredibly risky. With a stroke of inspiration, Rin calls Captain Jacob Jason and asks if the ISO can arrange an escort off planet to ensure their safety, and he is happy to comply. However, Lem doubts just how safe such an escort might be if the Tigers have operatives inside the ISO. Nevertheless, the plan is set in motion and they get ready to meet their escort in an hour. While formulating their plan, they receive yet another planetary transmission. This time it is the person droid assistant to Kritia Haccor, CEO of Incom Corporation. The droid explains that Ms. Haccor sincerely apologizes for not being available to meet with either Master Kyp Durron last week or Master Dal Konur this week during their visit. While she understands that her Vice President of Sales, Cidcreper, was able to meet with Master Durron, she would still like to make up for this out of respect for the long-standing relationship between Incom and the Jedi Order by inviting them to dinner that evening. With everything else going on, they all agree that a dinner party is not a priority and they decline her invitation. Lyshea, hearing the Jedi's plans to risk themselves yet again for her, takes Tomla aside and makes it clear that she feels like she is just as much a prisoner as the Onyx Tiger they have tied up in the back of the ship if she's not allowed to make her own decisions. This catches Tomla off guard and hurts her. The Ithorian apologizes and asks her what she proposes they do since they can't in good conscience just hand her over to a group of criminals that will almost certainly kill her. She says she has an idea that she would like to propose to the rest of the ground. As the two walk back toward Rin and Lem so that Lyshea can explain her plan, Vass calls again. He says he is still waiting and hopes that they will reconsider their doomed plan to let the ISO escort them off planet. They hang up on him, frustrated that their plan is sabotaged before it even begins. Lyshea addresses the group and expresses that she would like to play a more active role in their plans. She is not a Jedi, but she still thinks that she can be helpful, especially since she knows Fresia and Vass better than anyone else. She thinks that they should threaten Vass with exposing Cidcreper as his inside agent at Incom, bluffing that they have evidence that he's in Vass' pocket, unless he lets them go. She believes that Vass would be willing to lose a little face at letting Lyshea and the Jedi escape if it meant he could keep his most valuable insider in place at Incom. They agree that it seems like a feasible plan, but Rin and Lem still want to have an escape plan as a backup in case that doesn't work. It has something to do with faking the transponder code for the Mynock's Wing...