20050913

8.6 (plus X).4788 Republic Reckoning

While Igashu and Quindo were quite pre-occupied with something which took place right before departure from the Praconis system, Tzin was able to get an updated traffic analysis from Igashu with regards to the likely locations of bases for the former sith vessel Rhelta. There were six possible systems, but two stood out. Each had a 25 or 30 % chance of being the correct location. The group eventually picked one site after a great deal of consultation with the force. The final decision, P2X1337, was made via a rock-paper-sabers game between Tzin and Christina.

During the week long flight, Tzin worked on the in-system astrogation check so that their ship could exit from hyperspace 9 AU distant from the primary and reach a gas giant located at 5AU. The plotted route allowed for a gravitational slingshot on to a rocky body at 1 AU if the gas giant and its moons didn't pan out. In-system course correction was via the release of cold nitrogen gas from a series of tanks that Tzin rigged up in the hold. He programmed the release dynamics to obfuscate the direction and duration of the course correction as well, and de-activated certain non-essential systems to further avoid detection.

On the week-long journey in-system, Tzin spent most of the time in front of the sensors, which were operating in passive mode. Heroic passive sensors analysis indicated there was a cleverly hidden beacon on the closest moon of the gas giant.

The ship approached the gas giant system in a stealthy manner, raising shields eventually to deal with the radiation but not undergoing powered flight until the last minute. Following some near-surface flying by Christine, the group reached the rift at the edge of a crater from which the beacon seemed to be coming.

The group broke in and found it to be a suply depot. Talking to the armsman droid in charge of the base, it was learned that the 'Force amplifier gadget' which had been used along with sith magics to brainwash the citizens of Toiir's world was present. It felt strongly darkside, although it seemed to be of fairly recent construction. The Rhelta, or a supply ship, was expected within a couple of days. Igashu and Quindo hid the ship elsewhere on 'Io' while the rest of us waited in the droid base.

After a heavy assault shuttle landed, Tzin Christine and Evika decided to smuggle themselves aboard in a box of parts which had been ordered up from storage along with many other items. With Tzin and Christine in hibernation trances and Evika wearing the force-deadening amulet, the group secreted themselves aboard first the assault shuttle and later the Rhelta. A cunningly rigged nav beacon tracking device was smuggled aboard. (A second tracking device was placed in an empty unlabelled cylender which was stored under the same ID number as the evil force amplifier).

After much climbing around in tubes, the trio learned that they were indeed aboard the Rhelta. The entire ship 'felt' evil.

After a wrong turn in the tubes on the way to the laundry to steal uniforms, we found ourselves near the officer's quarters. Tzin decided it would be a good idea to subdue some officers, as the electronics of the ship worked on a 'card key' system. Sneaking up and subduing two officers went smoothly at first, but after they woke up they tried to jump Evika, who was armed with lightsabers to hold them at bay. After subduing them with non-lethal measures, it was learned that two lieutenants we had disabled each had resurection parasites. After having used one, Evika fancies one of Tzin's stun-sabers for herself.