Fwurg

[Ariana Danacia]

"Yes, no idea what it means."

Outside the ship Ariana responded: "Why not, it is the best lead we got and its not far from here. If we don't find anything we can always start our search there."

Ariana started moving towards the address that Master Leithor had provided.

[Shebi Ajava]

((OOC: I concur with what Elmer says. As an ST you are very good at creating awesome situations (such as the space-whales and the nervous captain), that works very well with players like us. Give a situation and a goal, and we'll figure it out!))

Ajava was glad that there wasn't some droid pilotting the ship, and did not really understand Trigiel's problem with Bob. Even though he did have a strange name. Then again, humans usually had strange names. She gladly let Trigiel do the flying, which allowed her to do some studying on the planet they were actually going to.


"Padawan Trigiel", Ajava immediately replied after his 'girls' remark. "You will address me and knight Danacia with a proper title. Do not let me hear you refer to me or another knight with 'you girls' again.", Ajava spoke with a well-practiced voice of authority.

Outside, the first thing she does is she check her comms link to the ship. If master Nishra sends an extra pilot with them there must be a good reason, as personell is expensive and the Jedi order routinely sends out Jedi without pilot. After the check was succesful, she joined the others.

"I agree. We have only two leads at the moment, and this one is clearly the simpler of the two."

She joins Ariana in walking to the provided address.

[Fecta Trigiel]

"Yes master, I'm sorry master."

Trigiel joined in walking to the address.

[Dragonmaster352]

The address was a luxurious hotel. Luckily Master Leithor had also provided a room number. Room 3.66.

In the hotel lobby was a reception desk. As well as some advertisement on the rooms. Like how all rooms where fully soundproofed.

As the three jedi entered the hotel, another disturbance in the Force. It seemed it came from both the receptionist as from somewhere above them.

Despite that nothing seemed suspicious or strange in the lobby. Nothing out of the ordinary. The three jedi would need to decide what their next step was.

[Shebi Ajava]

"I have a bad feeling about this", she says to her two companions. "Give me a moment."

Ajava, not used to feeling such a pressing direction from the Force, decides to take a moment to concentrate and see if she could get some clarity before moving on.

She closes her eyes for a moment and empties her mind with practiced efficiency. Trusting the force, she lets her thoughts follow the pull of the Force.

((Check: 15 = 10 Force Level + 5 Intuition -- Trying to get some idea about the persistent disturbances))

[Fecta Trigiel]

In the meantime, Trigiel decided that this was a good moment to check the escape routes. If their lead decided to make a run for it, for what kind of reason, it would be nice to know where to run to. So Trigiel looked for a plan of the building, and for the emergency exits.

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana believes it is best to wait for Ajava to sense the situation that they are currently in. She is strong with the force and has not been wrong about such things yet so far.

"I agree that something is wrong here. However I still believe we should simply go to the room and knock on the door."

Ariana patiently waits for Ajava to finish her assessment without moving further into the hotel yet.

[Fecta Trigiel]

Trigiel forgot to mention that he was not planning on leaving the room, since Ajava was probably not that long busy with meditating.

[Dragonmaster352]

((OOC: Ajava your check is approved.))

The disturbance from the receptionist was unclear, apart from the fact that something was wrong Ajava couldn't tell anything more detailed. However she could tell the other disturbance came from the third floor. A strong sense of agony and fear.

Trigiel found a floor plan right next to the reception. There where a number of possible exits, fire escapes, staircases, a few turbolifts and a balcony for several rooms. However the balconies would not be a viable means of escape for regular people.

The receptionist noticed the three jedi standing in the lobby. Her hand went to an earpiece. She spoke something into it.

Suddenly she turned pale. Trying to support herself on the reception desk, her hand went to her throat. Turning from pale to blue, her legs gave out from under her.

The sense of fear and agony was suddenly and abruptly cut off.

Meanwhile the receptionist reached her hand out towards Trigiel, a terrified, pleading look on her face.

[Shebi Ajava]

"Trigiel, Ariana, rush upstairs and get to the room!", Ajava shouts as she runs forward to the receptionist.

Jumping over the receptionist's desk, Ajava grabs the receptionist by the waist with one arm, and strokes her other hand over the woman's neck. Using the force she prevents the woman from choking, and tries to open up the receptionist's airways again.

((Check: 18 = 10 Force Level + 6 Energy + 2 Life Energy Manipulation -- Use 'Force Unchoke' on the receptionist. (Use 1 of 2 for today)))

((OOC: Question: Is the earpiece in her ear visible? In your post you say 'Her hand went to an earpiece.' But I'm not sure whether this is IC information.))

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana quickly ran up the stairs to the third floor. She looked around for a second, searching for signs that would lead her to room 66.

When she located the room she activated her lightsabers and continued to run towards it. At the door she did not hesitate and charged into it to break through it.

((Check: 13 = 8 Force Level + 4 Strength + 1 Force Speed -- Rushing towards the room and charge through the door.))

[Fecta Trigiel]

Not wanting to take the slow elevators or curvy staircases, Trigiel rushed outside and jumped on a balcony, from there, he jumped up to the next balcony above him, using the force to direct his path. He let the force guide him towards the balcony of the chamber on the 3th floor he had to be. There he rushed into the room.

If this was not the room, Trigiel rushed to the hallway, took a second to see which way had to go and rushed towards the room he had to be in.

((Check: 15 = 7 Force level + 5 Fitness + 2 Force Jump + 1 Athletics -- For jumping towards the 3th floor using the balconies.))
((Check: 11 = 7 Force level + 4 Intuition -- For determining which balcony Trigiel needs to have.))

[Dragonmaster352]

((OOC: Trigiel: checks approved
Ariana: check approved
Ajava: Since you are actively trying to counter someone I ran an opposed check. While 18 is a good high value, your opponent's check was higher. There for your check failed. This does tell Ajava something about her opponent, namely that he/she is very strong with the Force.

As for the earpiece, you can see part of it (it's not very big). But mostly I assumed it wouldn't be that hard to deduce it from the receptionist's behaviour, you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure that out.))

Despite Ajava's efforts to save the receptionist, she could feel the receptionist slip away. For a moment her efforts seemed to have an effect, but ultimately the woman died.

Meanwhile Ariana burst through the doors of a luxurious suite. She was immediately hit by the stench of singed flesh. A moment later Trigiel jumped onto the balcony and enter the room through opened balcony doors.

The scene inside the suite was gruesome. In the centre of the suite stood a chair with a decapitated body tied to it. A head lay a little to the side of the body. On the other side of the chair lay another body. Scorched and contorted in pain. Both bodies had large, deep burn lines along their arms and legs. They had been undoubtedly tortured severely.

Upon closer examination both Ariana and Trigiel recognised the head from a picture of the report of the last mission about Irina Hightower. It was one of the fake Unity police officers. The other body did resemble the other fake officer, but was to maimed to say for sure.

The lack of blood and the distinct singeing around where the head was severed from the body left little doubt. This man was decapitated by a lightsaber. It was also one of the few things that could have caused the burns on both bodies.

[Fecta Trigiel]

((OOC: How is Ariana faster? Not only am I confident that jumping upwards is faster than taking stairs, my check was also higher, indicating more success))

"By the force, what happened here? Oh wait, that is actually quite obvious." Trigiel said once he saw the gruesome scene.

"Master, I check outside, would you check the closet and under the bed? The culprit can't be far away."
Without further hesitation, Trigiel ran back towards the balcony, to look for a suspicious escaping figure. He made several scenarios in his head in which he determined what jumps and route he would take to escape and looked extra carefully along the escape paths.

((Check: 13 = 7 Force Level + 5 Vision + 1 Force Vision -- Looking for the culprit, sensitive optics (infra red, ultra violet, night sight zoom function)))

[Shebi Ajava]

Ajava is unclear on her course of action. She gently puts the receptionist back in her chair and takes the earpiece from her.

Realizing that usually receptionists don't wear earpieces she decides to check a little better to determine if this woman is, in fact, a receptionist.

((Check: 15 = 10 Force Level + 4 Vision + 1 Force Vision -- check equipment and identification of dead woman))

[Ariana Danacia]

((OOC: I guess force speed actually makes you faster :D))

"I guess we need to find out who is behind this, sooner than later." Ariana looked around the room looking for clues that gave them an idea who was behind this. She searched the closet and checked in and around the bed.

[Dragonmaster352]

((OOC: Ariana was faster than Trigiel because I said so. No reason to argue about things that don't matter.
Checks: approved))

Inspecting the receptionist's body Ajava could only conclude this woman was really a receptionist. Thorough as she was, Ajava also examined the earpiece. She couldn't determine the manufacturer, however she did find a few symbols on it. Though she couldn't read them, she recognised them as being Mandalorian.

Ariana scrutinized the room for clues. All she found was that the room was recently cleaned. Except for the trash bin. Though it was nearly empty it held an empty medicine strip. Checking the labelling on the underside of the strip, she used her medical skills to determine it was an anti-nausea drug often taken by pregnant human women.

Trigiel looked for possible escape routes and noticed a flowerpot had been knocked over. Soil had spilled out of the pot. There where at least two different footprints in it, possibly even a third. Some additional dirt was on the balcony railing, probably left by someone pushing off for a jump.

Suddenly the three jedi sensed something again. The approach of a person strongly connected to the Force. It had a tainted feel to it, suggesting that it was someone connected to the dark side. It came from a street at the front of the hotel. Because of where they were, Ajava and Trigiel could see where it was coming from. It was a human male, who suddenly froze. He looked straight at Ajava for a moment. Then he looked up, seeing Trigiel stand on the balcony. A second later he turned around and started running. Shooting away like a blaster bolt from a rifle. If the Jedi wanted to follow him they would have to do so immediately.

A moment after the man started running, Trigiel saw three figures in black cloaks jumping from 2 stories directly above him and going after the man. While he could see them Trigiel couldn't sense any of them. During their jump down, one of the cloaked figures activated a red lightsaber and threw it in the direction of the running man.

[Shebi Ajava]

((OOC: I don't think Trigiel intended to argue, he simply asked out of curiosity. I acknowledge the authority of the ST to declare 'because I said so'. Though keep in mind that when the players understand why the ST decides to do things the way they do, both the players and the ST benefits from this -- making for more satisfying and fun roleplay.))

The moment the man starts running Ajava bolts after him without delay, earpiece still in hand. 'If he runs after seeing me, he'll have something interesting to say. At the least why he started running.', she thinks to herself as she pushes herself to go faster.

As she is still unaware of the 3 jumping men, she goes all out after the running man. If any obstacles appear in her way she will simply run along the wall of the building to get past them.

((Check: 17 = 10 Force Level + 4 Fitness + 2 Athletics + 1 Force Speed -- Sprint to catch up with the runner))

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana bagged the evidence when she found it in the trash can. "I found an empty medicine strip of anti-nausea medicine that is often taken by pregnant human women. " At the moment she sensed the disturbance she reacted directly. Ariana shouted towards Trigiel "What is it?! " After which she moved towards the balcony to check what was happening. She did not want to lose their target again by being to late...

[Fecta Trigiel]

When Trigiel sees the man, he immediately jumps the 3 stores down. "Suspect dead-ahead" he said to the others over his holo-com. On his jump down, he notices the three cloaked figures. "We've got company, lightsaber kind."

The cyborg padawan makes use of the force to safely land. He tries to use the force to push the red lightsaber away, but his main focus is on landing. On the ground, he immediately starts running after the guys.

((Check: 11 = 7 Force Level + 3 Energy + 1 Telekinesis -- To push the lightsaber away.))
((Check: 13 = 7 Force Level + 5 Fitness + 1 Athletics -- For setting in the chase.))
((OOC: Uses Force Jump 2 to safely land.))

[Dragonmaster352]

((OOC:

• Trigiel telekinesis check: failed The reason is because you state that you aren't paying a lot of attention to the action and the target and trajectory of the thrown lightsaber isn't obvious. This is partially my fault because accurately describing the complete scene would take an extremely long post. I will try to do better for next time. To compensate I have given you an alternative route in the chase that makes use of your Force Jump 2 which give you a nice score of 15 and is approved
• Ajava check: approved
• Ariana: You state you don't want to lose your target and that you move to the balcony. But after that there is nothing. No initiating the chase or other action. I believe my previous post was clear enough that you needed to initiate the chase. I'll ask if this was clear enough for all players. If you did want to start the chase, you could have posted after Trigiel. However, seeing as you didn't, you have now fallen behind quite a bit. I'll give you one chance to catch up, by making a very good post where you do that. I expect some high quality roleplaying, with detailed descriptions, in your next post for you to succeed in catching up.

))

The guy was fast, Force Speed fast. But Ajava was already catching up to him. The lightsaber zoomed overhead and arced back upward, heading for a large billboard hanging from a building. The lightsaber sliced through the rods holding up the billboard and it started to fall down. It should have been a very effective way to block the runner. Should have been.

The runner didn't even slow down, instead he jumped up. He landed on the, still falling, billboard, using it as a boost to jump even higher. Finally landing on a rooftop, all in the blink of an eye. If there had been any doubt this man was a Force user, this had certainly cleared that out. While Ajava couldn't follow him to the rooftops from her current position, she wasn't out of the chase yet. She could still follow him from the ground, though catching him would be problematic by herself.

Trigiel, seeing the man jump to the roof, could tell he wasn't fast enough to catch up. Then he thought of one of the escape routes he had spotted from the balcony. It was a route along the roofs. It was full of holes and gaps but that wouldn't be a problem for him. Barely having landed he jumped up to a roof. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop Trigiel managed to close the gap substantially. Continuing to take the fastest route would allow him to stay on the runner. Catching him, however, would be difficult on his own.

The robed trio chased the runner more directly. The runners jump trick created a wide gap between them, Trigiel and Ajava being much closer. It seemed their objective had changed for the three Jedi could now clearly sense the trio's connection to the darkside of the Force.

Ariana, still standing on the balcony, would need to push herself if she wanted to catch up.

((OOC: Sorry for the late post, I had exams. The Halo: Master Chief Collection coming out didn't help either. Please post an OOC note with your next post to indicate if it was clear to you that you needed to start chasing the runner from my previous post.

To come back to the point of Ariana being faster then Trigiel. It wasn't important who was first so I went with what I believed flowed better. That being: Ariana being first and smelling burnt flesh. It's a writing thing.))

[Shebi Ajava]

((OOC: Clarification request to make sure my post is going to make sense: From your text I assume that Ajava is ahead of the three dark mooks. Is this correct, or is she still behind them?))

[Ariana Danacia]

((OOC: I know I am late, this is because I was still in the room and react on what Trigiel tells me. If I miss round 1 of combat, so be it.))

On my way! I am right behind you Trigiel.

Ariana ran to the railing of the balcony and jumped onto it in a swift movement. Instead of stopping she jumped straight down into a roll spreading her wings and flying towards the three lightsaber wielders. She had no trouble with the rooftops since her wings and aerial maneuverability provided her with a clear path. Ariana pursued the trio. She was ready to activate her lightsabers but waited with activating them untill she had caught up with the rest.

((Check: 15 = 8 Force Level + 4 Fitness + 2 Flight + 1 Force Speed -- Chasing the trio of lightsaber wielders through the air.))

[Dragonmaster352]

((OOC: Ajava: Correct you are between the trio and the runner. Note: they are higher up than you on the rooftops.

Ariana: I'm well aware of where you were and the reason you reacted slower. However, you could have made a second post after Trigiel. The 1 post/week is a minimum not a maximum. I want you to realise that had you been on your own, or the others hadn't started the chase, this mission could very well have failed. There is already a large gap between you and the trio, one that even your flying ability and use of Force Speed will have difficulty to close. You're going to have to give me more then this if you expect not to lose the trio in my next post, which is Wednesday 19th in the evening. That could cause he others serious problems. So please, redo your post for this week.))

[Ariana Danacia]

((OOC: I don't intend to change my post, if you say I am going to lose them, so be it. I can still communicate with the rest and join them later or do other thing in parallel.))