Fwurg

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

Nathan had been to busy focusing on hiding their lifesigns to do much else.

"I'll try to keep us hidden, but that requires focus. I'll take middle position if you two can take point and rear. I won't be able to help looking out for trouble." Nathan whispered to Ariana and Nebesnogo.

Putting his lightsaber in his hand, keeping it inactive, he kept focussing on hiding their lifesignes as he prepared for boarding.

((Check: 10 = 6 Force Level + 3 Energy + 1 Life Energy Manipulation -- Hiding the group's lifesignes))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: @Nathan: the rank 1 use of Life Energy Manipulation can be used a number of times per day equal to the Rank the Jedi has in this power. In your case that means once a day. You already used it to cover the lifesigns of the group during the approach. Check denied.

@Ariana: Both checks approved.))

Ariana manually docked their small ship with the airlock. It wasn't the most elegant docking manoeuvre, but it was good enough to prevent collisions alarms from being raised. The digital control system of the airlock was no match for her skill, and soon the airlock opened with a hiss. So far, the Jedi's approach and entry of the vessel seems to be going undetected.

Inside the large vessel, the Jedi discovered that the airlock puts them in a small maintenance area immediately adjacent to a hydroponics bay. The area was mostly filled with garden implements, and two large air moisturisers. The moisturisers loudly hummed, lights blipping on and off on their control panels. On the wall next to the airlock the Jedi found a small map of the ship, or more accurately: and outline of the ship indicating the locations of other airlocks, with a rough outline of the different sections of the ship: Engineering, Plaza, Hydroponics, Calculation Arrays, Bridge.

The map created as many questions and mystery as it answered: Why the areas were noted down in galactic basic on a Hutt-design vessel? Where are the fighter bays? Why is there a plaza on a carrier? Nathan, with his military background, could at least tell that the Hydroponics area corresponds with logical locations for fighter bays. However, if this area was anything to go by, there might not be room for any fighters.

The large amount of plants effectively obscured the small maintenance area from sight, allowing the Jedi to get their bearings and determine their course of action...

((OOC: Due to the low posting frequency of Nebesnogo, I am declaring the following: if Nebesnogo does not post in the coming cycle, I will assume that he stays aboard the smaller ship so it isn't left unguarded, and so that the group can quickly depart of a hot extraction is needed. He will receive a smaller amount of if he remains inactive.))

[Ariana Danacia]

"Let's get to the bridge. We need to know who controls these vessels. They might not be enemies."

Ariana started to move towards the bridge of the ship, looking out for living creatures. Her rules of engagement were simple, stun any hostile armed individual with a few blaster shots and threaten any unarmed individual with her weapons and possibly force them to talk when the situation allowed it.

((Check: 13 = 8 Force Level + 4 Fitness + 1 Stealth -- Sneaking towards the bridge.))

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

Failing to hide their lifesigns Nathan followed Ariana.

Unfortunately, his sidearm had no stun setting. It was a weapon of war, meant to kill the enemy. Astrians didn't like to make weapons more complex than they needed to be. His training had similar pragmatism. You never quite knew when a stunned or unconscious enemy would get back up. A dead enemy would stay down.

He knew how to kill quick and quiet and he would if he had to. It was better not to be detected though, patrols not responding was a dead give away for trouble.

((Check: 13 = 6 Force Level + 4 Fitness + 3 Stealth -- Sneaking after Ariana))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: Checks approved!))

The pair of Jedi makes good time sneaking through the empty corridors of the ship. The corridor was designed as can be expected from a military vessel: simple and functional, without good places to take cover. They were already halfway there, and had not yet seen anyone -- usually military vessels are more busy.

As they walked past the umpteenth door, it suddenly opened. "Watering can... Watering can... I'll bring you to the gard-", a young human girl looked at the two Jedi her eyes wide open with surprise as she stopped singing. She was carrying a large yellow watering with both hands. Her abrupt stop made the water in the can slosh around a little.

As to why both Jedi had not felt the force warning them as it usually did when they snuck about and were about to be caught remained a mystery. They clearly felt her presence right now, combined with a slight feeling of fear.

((OOC: I know that you both declared actions that you might take when you encountered hostiles or unarmed individuals -- though I think the situation might call for a rethink of your action.

For context on how the Force behaves here, I would like to point you to a post by Mercury explaining this phenomenon in a different mission.))

[Ariana Danacia]

Since the girl was clearly aware of the two of them Ariana had no more reason to stay in the shadow for now. Hopefully this encounter could be dissolved without alarming the rest of the ship of their presence. Ariana lowered her weapon a bit in an effort to make the situation a bit less threatening.

Ariana started speaking on a very serious tone. "Hello little girl. Please don't scream or make any sudden movements or I will have to shoot you."

After completing the last sentence Ariana continued in a pleasant normal voice. "I am sorry to sneak up on you like this. Can you tell me who you are and who else are on this vessel besides us?"

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: I'm giving Nathan two extra days to react -- if he does within that time, I'll post quickly after that and we continue on the normal posting schedule.))

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

((OOC: Sorry for the late reply, see http://www.fwurg.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=23317#p23317 for reasons.))

This made no sense, why would smugglers take children? This was just one of the thoughts that raced through Nathan's mind. Possible reasons popped into his head.

That was not the first thing that moved him to action though. Children were damn near holy to Astrians, Nathan was no exception. It took all his willpower not to threaten Ariana to tear off her head if she dared to shoot at the little girl, when she threatened her.

Nathan opted for a gentler approach. Stepping between Ariana and the girl, he crouched down to get to eye level with the girl.

"Hello, sweetheart. Don't pay attention to the mean old lady. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. I promise you that." Nathan said to the girl in a friendly tone. "I'm Nathan, can you tell me your name?" Nathan tried to be as non-threatening as he could, letting his position protect the girl in case Ariana tried something incredibly stupid.

This wasn't a ruse or a trick, Nathan would die before he would let any harm come to a child in his presence. Even if that meant he'd have to go against his fellow jedi.

[Storyteller (Brend)]

The girl, who seemed to be roughly 8 years old, takes a step back in silence as she looks at the two Jedi with large eyes. Now that they have a moment, the two jedi feel that this young girl has a strong force signature.

"Are you thieves?", she finally asked them.

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana was surprised that the girl was so calm. She wonders if this girl is already in training to become a operative. Ariana is not sure how to react at this moment since the bad cop routine clearly does not make her talk... Ariana considers telling the girl that they are Jedi to see how she would react to that. This could give them information about this ship but could also make her freak out and ruin the opportunity to surprise the rest of the ship. For the moment she decides to stay silent.

Ariana took a step back and looked at Nathan, expecting him to answer her question.

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

"Don't worry, we're not here to steal anything from you or anyone else." Nathan told the girl, it wasn't a lie but it wasn't the whole truth either. He didn't know what kind of security this ship had. If they had special operatives on board this could be a problem. The presence of the young girl could be an indication of both. Taking the lack of security they had encountered into consideration, Nathan made a judgement call.

"Could you take us to the captain of this ship, little girl? It's important we talk to him." It was Nathan's hope they would be able to settle this matter peacefully. The fact they hadn't harmed anyone on the ship would probably work in their favour.

[Storyteller (Brend)]

The girl looked at Nathan with a confused expression.

The yellow watering can landed on the ground with a thump as she let it fall to the ground. The girl turns around and starts running away from the two Jedi, back into the corridor.

[Ariana Danacia]

For a split second Ariana considered shooting the girl with her blaster pistol to stun her. She did say not to move... However Nathan said that nobody would harm the girl and this was not the time for another argument with Nathan. Ariana decided to do it his way for a change.

"Following it is." Ariana said when she started to run after the girl. She kept her blaster pistol at the ready to shoot at surprises. Ariana considered drawing her lightsaber as well but decided not to do it to maintain the element of surprise on the fact that they were Jedi.

Ariana was still uncomfortable with the situation since they had no idea of who they were dealing with yet.

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

Nathan shot after the girl. He wasn't sure if the girl was running for help or guiding them to the guy in charge. he hoped the latter but if it was the former...

He chose to wait and see, well run and see as he was still chasing the girl.

((OOC: Just in case a speed check is required:))
((Check: 13 = 6 Force Level + 4 Fitness + 2 Athletics + 1 Force Speed -- chasing the girl))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: @Nathan: your check is approved.))

The two jedi chase the girl into the corridor. The little girl is fast, but the two grown Jedi are faster and can keep up with the girl with a little effort. The way she runs through the corridors make it clear that she knows this place well.

In a matter of seconds the Jedi's chase comes to an end when the girl suddenly makes a ninety-degree turn in the middle of a hallway and runs into one of the rooms. As the Jedi skid on the hallway floor to make make the turn and rush after her they are suddenly confronted with an unexpected situation:

Inside the room they see eight children of varying ages, and the room itself is clearly recognizable as a classroom. Currently there are small potted plants on the desks of the pupils. Of course, instead of working on them, they are looking at the doorway where the little girl just ran through. The little girl is running straight at the human woman standing on the other side of the class next to an enlarged holoprojection of a neatly dissected plant.

"Help! Miss Tsuba", the girl shouts, "They have guns!"

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana stopped and quickly holstered her gun. Ariana took a step back and whispered to Nathan. "Are you kidding me, more kids... Nathan ?!"

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

"Right, 'cause one kid on board still made this likely to be regular smugglers." Nathan replied, sarcasm oozing from his voice. "Seriously what did you think was gonna happen when you pointed that gun at a kid?"

Nathan already concluded this was a classroom, seemingly in the middle of a biology lesson. He stayed calm and looked at the human woman.

"There's no reason to panic miss. We won't hurt you or your students, I give you my word as a jedi. Though I understand my associate's actions don't really make that claim believable.

Miss Tsuba, was it? My name is Nathan. Would you be so kind as to call the captain of this ship here? Or whoever is in charge?"

Nathan stepped out of the door opening, freeing the way out.

"The children are free to go, by the way. Like I said we have no intention of hurting anyone."

[Storyteller (Brend)]

The woman eyed Nathan and Ariana with a calculating expression.

"Jorn, Setiha, Misa, make sure that everyone gets to the plaza safely.", she seemed to instruct the oldest three of the children, as they quickly grabbed the hands of the younger ones. As the children ran out of the room, fear on their faces, the teacher made sure to stay in between the children and the Jedi. For someone that just had two people, one of which had carried a blaster, charge into her classroom the teacher is seemingly calm.

While the children run away as fast as they could, the teacher stepped back into the classroom.

"I think it is better if you two do not stay in the hallway.", she said as she stepped back, her voice shaking slightly.

"I will call the captain for you...", she mumbled, more to herself than to the two, as she grabbed a sleek silver communications device from her desk. She taps a few places on the surface of the device and held it to her ear. The device generates a short beep sound before she starts talking.

"Captain, this is miss Tsuba from the educational centre. There are two armed people here that wanted me to call whoever is in charge.", she remained silent for a moment. "No. They let the children go, all nine are running to the plaza.", short silence, "I am the only hostage right now.", another short silence, "I will."

The teacher extends her arm to Nathan to hand him the device. "The captain wants to talk to you."

"This is captain Aleixo Kindalin.", came a clear voice from all speakers in the room even before the device was handed over. "I understand you are holding one of my people hostage. What do you want?"

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

Nathan took the device from the woman and spoke into it.

"First of all, captain, I would like to correct you on one thing. Miss Tsuba is not a hostage, as we will not harm her for any reason. However I don't trust you, at least not yet. I need some kind of insurance you won't vent the atmosphere in this room. That is where miss Tsuba comes in. If we wanted hostages we would have kept the children here. I would happily let you switch places with her. That way you know she's safe, I have an indication I can trust you and we can discuss the reason why my associate and I are here."

Nathan paused a moment.

"What do you say, captain? Miss Tsuba is scared, despite her praiseworthy effort to put on a brave face. We can discuss this in a civilized manner, can't we?"

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana became more confused while the captain and Nathan talked with each other. She whispered to Nathan in a soft voice. "Where are we and how did this end up in a hostage situation... Apparently these guys are used to dealing with thugs or are thugs themselves... Maybe we should just ask them about the business we actually came for?"

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

"A classroom by the looks of it." Nathan whispered back to Ariana. "Keep in mind we're armed intruders from their point of view. And we're here with an unarmed civilian. They could just be refugees, but we better proceed with caution. Just in case."

[Storyteller (Brend)]

"You speak of a lack of trust... I am afraid that your actions so far have not shown the level of civility that is necessary for a discussion. Not only have you failed to introduce yourself, you have broken onto our ship, made your way to a classroom and are currently holding one of my citizens hostage. Your claim that she is not a hostage does not change this situation."

As the captain speaks, the Jedi's enhanced hearing could hear footsteps of military boots and the patter of metal droid feet outside in the hallway. But the sound stopped before anyone came into view.

"If miss Tsuba is not a hostage, as you say, then throw all your weapons into the hallway. You will still have the insurance that I will not vent the room, but I am more at ease that you can not hurt her. I will give you two minutes to consider this course of action."

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana drops her blaster on the ground.

Ariana faces the woman. She starts to talk in a soft voice. "I am sorry miss. We are Jedi from the Union on a official mission."

Ariana lifted her cloak off one of her lightsabers for a few seconds to show it to the woman.

"We are not here to hurt you... Can you answer a simple question? Who owns these ships? We might have ended up in the wrong location based off bad intelligence, if you could clarify this we could leave right away in peace."

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

"Yes, and the moment we step into the hallway the men and droids you positioned there will shoot us. Captain, before you try anything stupid allow me to fill you in on who exactly you are dealing with. Because we are not a band of thugs or pirates or whatever you believe we are. We are Jedi from the Union. We boarded your ship under the impression you were smugglers we were sent to detain. Imagine our surprise when we ran into a small child. A few, understandable, misunderstandings led to the current situation."

Nathan decided to take a risk.

"Captain, if you tell the men and droids you positioned to stand down, we will let Miss Tsuba go and allow your men to escort us to you. I believe this is reasonable. We'll even surrender our weapons, except our lightsabers, to you."

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: @Nathan: For the record; the door was open when you arrived here, and is still open (none of you ever closed it). Hence my earlier statement " But the sound stopped before anyone came into view."

I plan on posting around 23:00; I hope you can make it to update before then. (Addendum: if you didn't update, I'll retroupdate an earlier post to make it close automatically -- that'll also work.)))