Living on the Edge- Episode 5
When we last left our intrepid heroes they had succeeded in defeating a team of bounty hunters sent after them. With an annoying Imperial officer still taking up valuable space the crew sought out Lieutenant Thon of the Rebel Alliance. Though the message was cryptic, Thon agreed to meet with them in Anchorhead on Tatooine.
Eager to unload the captive, Captain Verci ordered them to head immediately to Tatooine. While programming the hyperspace route, the crews newly acquired droid 1D-J0 inquired if they would like to return to the ship. Curious, Ria asked for more information and received a set of coordinates on Melnea’s World. The only other bit they were able to learn from the droid was the name of its former master, Saara Tii.
Curious but more concerned with the Imperial, the crew continued on to Tatooine, filing these coordinates under the file “Secret Awesome Place.” During the journey, the Imperial captive, Niall Wran, fueled the mystery by offering to take the captain to a vast source of treasure in exchange for his freedom. Verci didn’t bite.
Taking the fews days of travel, Ria and Emiko got to work on upgrading her newly acquired weaponry with some sophisticated mods. Each tweak grew increasingly difficult but Emiko’s skills proved sufficient to tweak the guns out almost as much as Ria desired. Now outfitted with two death cannons, Ria is primed to find some more Imperials.
After arriving on Tatooine, narrowly avoiding a collision with a Arkanis Mining Guild freighter during their approach, the crew split up. Ria and Verci head to Anchorhead to meet with the Rebels, while Emiko and the rest get to work on installing their new Ion Cannon. The facilities in the starport prove adequate for the task but it does take several days to complete the installation.
In Anchorhead, Verci and Ria head into a dark warehouse and are forced to disarm themselves to the Rebels. Despite her love of the Rebellion, Ria does not like giving up her new guns, though Verci is more coolheaded (as per usual).
Lieutenant Thon is intrigued by the crews capture of an Imperial officer and their acquisition of a large stash of Imperial weapons and food. She once again attempts to recruit Ria, now turning the prospect to include Captain Verci and their entire crew. At first reluctant, Verci is swayed a little when Thon speaks to her desire to see the status of non-Human women raised.
In the end, the Rebels agree to take the Imperial off the crews hands and to purchase the guns and food from them. In addition, they offer a future reward for information about the Red Skull organization. The Rebels have been trying to get a proper understanding of the group for some time; in order to know if they are friend or foe.
After arranging a meeting, the pair return to the ship and help finish the installation of the ion cannon. During the last day of construction, Sam’mael notices a suspicious figure watching the hangar. Before he can learn more the figure vanishes. Deciding to be cautious, Emiko’s work is sped up.
Despite working faster Emiko is not quite finished when a group of seven armed security types arrive. Led by a man identifying himself as Ben Indtisi from the Arkanis Mining Guild, he needs to speak to the ship’s captain. Verci bravely introduces herself and Indtisi informs her he is here to reclaim property stolen from his employer. He will be impounding her ship and taking them all back to Cranan for trial.
Not liking the sound of this, Sam’mael bursts out of the ship with his big gun ready. Before the situation can turn to bloodshed, Verci informs Indtisi that they had no intention of stealing from the mining guild and that the man that did was merely a passenger. Not accepting that as absolution, Indtisi nevertheless offered Verci a compromise. He would take her to his ship to speak to his employer.
Uncomfortable with the idea of going with him alone, Verci refused and Indtisi left, telling her this was not over. Rushing to get the ion cannon working, the crew prepared to take off in order to meet with the Rebels.Before leaving, Ria checks in with the Imperial, where he once again offers to take her to a great treasure if she releases him.
Desperate to not get handed to the Rebels, Niall’s says he knows how to find the Reliance, a cruiser from the Clone War era that legend has it is full of a long lost treasure. Intrigued, Ria nevertheless doesn’t take the bait and covers the Imps mouth with more mesh tape, giving him a creepy “Enjoy the quiet.”
As expected though, as soon as they took off a ship was spotted following them.
Manning the operations station, Emiko noticed the ship, identified as the Monopoly, was an IR-3F System Patrol craft, made by her former employer Sienar Systems. Confident she can hack their systems, she begins to attempt to take control of their engines, successfully slowing the ships speed. With this advantage, Captain Verci orders them to turn and fight.
The first pass of fire proves to be a miss from both sides. But Ria, ever confident, begins to move the lumbering Pink Lady in ways that Wayfarer freighters were not meant to move. She and the pilot of the Monopoly fight for an advantage over each other. Moving such massive ships in an atmosphere proves difficult, both trading advantageous positions several times.
Sam’mael and Dr. Evie trade fire with their weaponry, attempting to disable the more powerful ship. Emiko’s repeated hacking attempts succeed in temporarily shutting down a few of the powerful turbo lasers, saving the Pink Lady from complete destruction.
In the final tally, Ria’s piloting gives Sam’meal a perfect bead that allows him to disable the patrol craft. As the mighty craft falls to the desert below, Dr. Evie gives it one more blast, just out of spite. But even that does not prove enough to bypass the ships tough hull and it crashes intact.
With their enemies down, Verci decides they can’t leave them behind to come for her and her crew again. Landing the ship nearby, the crew approach the downed patrolship. While debating how best to proceed, the nearby cargo bay door flies open, unleashing a wave of smoke from the interior.
Reacting instantly, Ria tosses a grenade into the new opening, unsure what is coming. The grenade detonates and a dead body falls to the desert floor. A moment later several groups of armed mining guild security forces charge out and begin shooting at the crew. They succeed in injuring Ria and Emiko.
But unlike during their encounter with the slavers, the crew has been practicing with their guns. Sam’mael drops four of the guards, while Ria takes down two and Evie and Emiko the rest. As the last guard drops, they hear the sound of a speeder start up and then disappear into the distance.
Boarding the ship, they learn that Ben Indtisi has escaped, leaving several injured crewmen behind. Verci and Dr. Evie promise to tend their wounds and deliver them to a medical facility.
Now our heroes find themselves in possession of a mostly intact IR-3F patrol ship. While the crash caused damage to many parts of the ship, the ship is actually in better shape than the Pink Lady.
What will they do with their newly acquired ship? How soon before the Mining Guild comes after them again? What is this mysterious Reliance the Imperial has spoken of? Can the crew learn more about the Red Skulls for the Rebels? Will they ever find the drugs they promised to acquire for their former employer Morani?
Find out next time….
