Star Wars - The F Troop Getting In Deep
GM: So, who remembers what happened last time?
Fakybe: An astromech who belonged to us, and a bunch of droids we brought into the system, hijacked a ship we owned, with the aid of a friend of ours, and we managed to enable their escape by opening fire on an Imperial pilot.
Fendri: Who was flying another of our ships.
GM: And you're going to claim complete innocence?
Fakybe: Naturally.
GM: After the grim interrogation and beatdown, the Imperials are still highly suspicious, and want to assign the Imperial pilot you shot up to accompany you as you try and track down the rogue droids. If looks could kill, or she had Force powers, you'd be dead.
Lt. Marelle the Pilot: You didn't even fire at their ship!
Fakybe: They were out of range.
Marelle: *growls*
Fakybe: I'd quite like to know what your lot were doing to all those droids, if they could hijack a freighter.
Marelle: I wasn't teaching them anything, I'm a test pilot!
Fakybe: Riiiiiiight
We 'follow' the droids to the pirate's system. After all we placed a mythical tracking beacon on the freighter since it was our salvage. And our original plan was that the droids would hold off on resupplying at the ex-pirate base until after we'd 'checked' it.
Fakybe: This would be a lot easier if we still had an astromech.
Fendri: Funny that.
We don't have any luck scanning the system for the droids (or anybody that might have pursued us here). We don't even have to fake our failure. But we double-check to keep up appearences, and find another ship already scanning the asteroids... and then the frigate full of Imperials emerges from hyperspace. Which might have something to do with the astromech and the hyperspace beacon we find in the cargo hold. Evidently the Imperials don't trust us as far as they can spit us. The droid R3-KT claims it was ordered to infiltrate the Deniable Plausibility by the Imperials, so they could track us. We act with appropriate suspicion, and contact the Imperial frigate to report the discovery - after all, it might be another rogue droid. They say they'll get back to us. Forvuk prepares to take a vibro-axe to the beacon.
Fakybe: We could also drift closer to that other ship, do a spacewalk, and attach the beacon to them.
Forvuk: *halts mid-swing* Cool! Let's do that.
The Frigate says their stock of droids is all accounted for, and decide to just broadcast a menacing order for all ships in the system to identify themselves. It turns out the mystery ship is that bounty hunter who was hunting down the Wookiee and the the rest of them. So the only way they could have found their way here is if they teamed up with the surviving pirates. Uh-oh. How to confuse things?
Fendri: We tell them we need to split up. If the droids went to Nulhutta, we get the others to go to Kessel.
Forvuk: Well, in that case we tell them 'If they're going somewhere that welcomes rogue droids, it must be Kessel or Nulhutta. How about you go to Nulhutta?' Then they get suspicious and say 'How about WE go to Kessel and YOU go to Nulhutta' and we say 'Well, if you insist'.
We all head back to Fomos for resupply.
GM: The frigate has to rendezvous with the big wedge-shaped star destroyer that's back in orbit.
Fakybe: I'd like to be a fly on the wall at THAT meeting.
Fakybe has a good poke around in the astromech's programming, after it BSODed at Forvuk's threats. It's been altered to only obey Imperial commands, can't be aggressive, but still has self-preservation protocols. Probably not a suicide bomber, them.
Fendri: Let's give him back his free will.
Fakybe: Droids shouldn't have free will.
Fendri: *gasps in shock*
Fakybe, after taking Fendri aside: As long as we talking IN FRONT OF THE IMPERIAL DROID, I'm not going to say anything that says we're in favour of droid independence.
GM: Good idea.
Fendri: We do need a replacement astromech.
Fakybe: Well, if the Imperials insist it isn't theirs, I suppose we can.
The authorities on Fomos are just as suspicious as the Imperials.
Fakybe: We only brought the droids here because they didn't need life support en route! And they were Trade Federation droids! They were junk!
Forvuk: You're not saying the Imperials were outsmarted by Trade Federation droids, are you?
Imperials: *glower*
GM: Either way, it's going to be next to impossible to get legitimate contract work from the authorities on Fomos, because they don't trust you anymore.
Fendri: So we go straight to the Hutts.
Fakybe: *headdesk*
Mogul has already set up his mansion with all the luxuries that befits a budding Hutt crimelord or Hollywood producer.
Mogul the Hutt: Hohoho, scum, what you do for me?
Fakybe: Nice to see the Hutts are living up to their racial stereotypes.
Mogul's mojordomo: My master assumes you are going to Nulhutta to meet with your confederates.
Us: ...
GM: He's a Hutt - as far as they are concerned there are no innocent explanations.
Fakybe: I think we're going to have to take the Hutt job - it's not like we can get legal work anymore.
GM: Mogul wants you to do a simple favour for him on Nulhutta.
Fakybe: So, do we stop digging our hole when we reach subspace?
He wants us to find mercenaries to protect his illustrious presence.
GM: He wants you to acquire mercenaries, beer, and do a small favour. Knowing the Hutts, it'll be the last thing that gets you killed.
Of course, Forvuk wants to take advantage of the hiring, to find the people responsible for the death of his family.
Fakybe: Now hiring - mercenary/bodyguards. Special consideration for those with previous experience on Drelkh?
We also have to go see the famous opera-singing Hutt, Melba. Who is Mogul's mother.
Fakybe: So, did she eat her husband or what?
GM: Well, yes.
Forvuk: So, do we have to go find a new husband for her?
Fendri: WE ARE NOT PLAYING MATCHMAKERS TO HUTTS.
Fakybe: Yente the Hutt.
Actually, all we need to do is pick up a bundle of stuff from Mogul's old room.
Fakybe: How much you want to bet that Customs on Fomos will be waiting for us?
GM: Well, of course, you'll have just come back from Nulhutta.
Fakybe: That's not how this will work - Melba will have contacted Fomos to tell them what we're carrying. And then Mogul will bind us to his service by paying our bail.
There's still no sign of the droids and our ship either.
GM: What's your supposition?
Forvuk: They failed an astrogation check and flew into the sun?
Fendri: ... They flew off and joined the Rebellion, didn't they.
Another thing we could try - find out wherever M-PSR-E0 was staying when he was on Nulhutta, and see if he left any clues. After all, he was only planning to be on Fomos temporarily, before he got involved with our gang of idiots. We break in and convince his security computer to cough up an emergency contact. Maybe we'll be able to figure out what actually happened, who conned who, and all without the Hutts, Pirates, Bountyhunters, BOSS or the Imperials killing us in our beds.
Fakybe: An astromech who belonged to us, and a bunch of droids we brought into the system, hijacked a ship we owned, with the aid of a friend of ours, and we managed to enable their escape by opening fire on an Imperial pilot.
Fendri: Who was flying another of our ships.
GM: And you're going to claim complete innocence?
Fakybe: Naturally.
GM: After the grim interrogation and beatdown, the Imperials are still highly suspicious, and want to assign the Imperial pilot you shot up to accompany you as you try and track down the rogue droids. If looks could kill, or she had Force powers, you'd be dead.
Lt. Marelle the Pilot: You didn't even fire at their ship!
Fakybe: They were out of range.
Marelle: *growls*
Fakybe: I'd quite like to know what your lot were doing to all those droids, if they could hijack a freighter.
Marelle: I wasn't teaching them anything, I'm a test pilot!
Fakybe: Riiiiiiight
We 'follow' the droids to the pirate's system. After all we placed a mythical tracking beacon on the freighter since it was our salvage. And our original plan was that the droids would hold off on resupplying at the ex-pirate base until after we'd 'checked' it.
Fakybe: This would be a lot easier if we still had an astromech.
Fendri: Funny that.
We don't have any luck scanning the system for the droids (or anybody that might have pursued us here). We don't even have to fake our failure. But we double-check to keep up appearences, and find another ship already scanning the asteroids... and then the frigate full of Imperials emerges from hyperspace. Which might have something to do with the astromech and the hyperspace beacon we find in the cargo hold. Evidently the Imperials don't trust us as far as they can spit us. The droid R3-KT claims it was ordered to infiltrate the Deniable Plausibility by the Imperials, so they could track us. We act with appropriate suspicion, and contact the Imperial frigate to report the discovery - after all, it might be another rogue droid. They say they'll get back to us. Forvuk prepares to take a vibro-axe to the beacon.
Fakybe: We could also drift closer to that other ship, do a spacewalk, and attach the beacon to them.
Forvuk: *halts mid-swing* Cool! Let's do that.
The Frigate says their stock of droids is all accounted for, and decide to just broadcast a menacing order for all ships in the system to identify themselves. It turns out the mystery ship is that bounty hunter who was hunting down the Wookiee and the the rest of them. So the only way they could have found their way here is if they teamed up with the surviving pirates. Uh-oh. How to confuse things?
Fendri: We tell them we need to split up. If the droids went to Nulhutta, we get the others to go to Kessel.
Forvuk: Well, in that case we tell them 'If they're going somewhere that welcomes rogue droids, it must be Kessel or Nulhutta. How about you go to Nulhutta?' Then they get suspicious and say 'How about WE go to Kessel and YOU go to Nulhutta' and we say 'Well, if you insist'.
We all head back to Fomos for resupply.
GM: The frigate has to rendezvous with the big wedge-shaped star destroyer that's back in orbit.
Fakybe: I'd like to be a fly on the wall at THAT meeting.
Fakybe has a good poke around in the astromech's programming, after it BSODed at Forvuk's threats. It's been altered to only obey Imperial commands, can't be aggressive, but still has self-preservation protocols. Probably not a suicide bomber, them.
Fendri: Let's give him back his free will.
Fakybe: Droids shouldn't have free will.
Fendri: *gasps in shock*
Fakybe, after taking Fendri aside: As long as we talking IN FRONT OF THE IMPERIAL DROID, I'm not going to say anything that says we're in favour of droid independence.
GM: Good idea.
Fendri: We do need a replacement astromech.
Fakybe: Well, if the Imperials insist it isn't theirs, I suppose we can.
The authorities on Fomos are just as suspicious as the Imperials.
Fakybe: We only brought the droids here because they didn't need life support en route! And they were Trade Federation droids! They were junk!
Forvuk: You're not saying the Imperials were outsmarted by Trade Federation droids, are you?
Imperials: *glower*
GM: Either way, it's going to be next to impossible to get legitimate contract work from the authorities on Fomos, because they don't trust you anymore.
Fendri: So we go straight to the Hutts.
Fakybe: *headdesk*
Mogul has already set up his mansion with all the luxuries that befits a budding Hutt crimelord or Hollywood producer.
Mogul the Hutt: Hohoho, scum, what you do for me?
Fakybe: Nice to see the Hutts are living up to their racial stereotypes.
Mogul's mojordomo: My master assumes you are going to Nulhutta to meet with your confederates.
Us: ...
GM: He's a Hutt - as far as they are concerned there are no innocent explanations.
Fakybe: I think we're going to have to take the Hutt job - it's not like we can get legal work anymore.
GM: Mogul wants you to do a simple favour for him on Nulhutta.
Fakybe: So, do we stop digging our hole when we reach subspace?
He wants us to find mercenaries to protect his illustrious presence.
GM: He wants you to acquire mercenaries, beer, and do a small favour. Knowing the Hutts, it'll be the last thing that gets you killed.
Of course, Forvuk wants to take advantage of the hiring, to find the people responsible for the death of his family.
Fakybe: Now hiring - mercenary/bodyguards. Special consideration for those with previous experience on Drelkh?
We also have to go see the famous opera-singing Hutt, Melba. Who is Mogul's mother.
Fakybe: So, did she eat her husband or what?
GM: Well, yes.
Forvuk: So, do we have to go find a new husband for her?
Fendri: WE ARE NOT PLAYING MATCHMAKERS TO HUTTS.
Fakybe: Yente the Hutt.
Actually, all we need to do is pick up a bundle of stuff from Mogul's old room.
Fakybe: How much you want to bet that Customs on Fomos will be waiting for us?
GM: Well, of course, you'll have just come back from Nulhutta.
Fakybe: That's not how this will work - Melba will have contacted Fomos to tell them what we're carrying. And then Mogul will bind us to his service by paying our bail.
There's still no sign of the droids and our ship either.
GM: What's your supposition?
Forvuk: They failed an astrogation check and flew into the sun?
Fendri: ... They flew off and joined the Rebellion, didn't they.
Another thing we could try - find out wherever M-PSR-E0 was staying when he was on Nulhutta, and see if he left any clues. After all, he was only planning to be on Fomos temporarily, before he got involved with our gang of idiots. We break in and convince his security computer to cough up an emergency contact. Maybe we'll be able to figure out what actually happened, who conned who, and all without the Hutts, Pirates, Bountyhunters, BOSS or the Imperials killing us in our beds.