Chapter 3c: Follow the Vines

After Order 66, few Jedi dare to venture outside the shadows—rumors of the dark and terrible Darth Vader haunting even their waking moments. Yet, some Jedi find this life of fear unbearable. The Empire is always watching, and Vader himself is eager to confront any Jedi that might bring him closer to the whereabouts of his betrayer, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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Muskrat
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Chapter 3c: Follow the Vines

Post by Muskrat » Fri Apr 02, 2021 7:26 pm

Shoshannah cautiously makes her way back to the vulture drones, still trying to use the Force to repel the reeskas until they are safely airborne.

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Othniel
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Chapter 3c: Follow the Vines

Post by Othniel » Mon Apr 05, 2021 2:25 am

Instinctively recoiling from the pull of the darkness, Janos stands and follows Shoshannah, hoping that they've taken enough of a sample.

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Chapter 3c: Follow the Vines

Post by Shurijo » Mon Apr 05, 2021 10:14 pm

The Jedi pair quickly mount the Vulture droids and hang on. Shoshannah instructs the droids, "Return." And the pair quickly elevate above the plants as Shoshannah's hold on them dissipates. each of the nearby Reeska plant's three "heads" angrily clap their "mouths." Their teeth appear as hard as any animals teeth and just one of their mouths could swallow a swamp rat whole.

No carnivorous plant combat this time :(

A few minutes later, the Vulture droids land safely at Jaybo's landing platform. When they arrive they see Hedala in conversation with the B1 Battle Droid. Nearby, they spot Jaybo resting comfortably in a hammock while being fanned and feed fruit by other B1 Battle Droids. When the Vulture droids set down, Jaybo rolls out of his hammock and walks over to them.

"That was a lot faster than those other two who came here last year." He says as they dismount. "Did you get what you're looking for?" He asks.

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Chapter 3c: Follow the Vines

Post by Muskrat » Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:57 pm

"I think so," says Shoshannah. "I hope so." She turns her attention to Jaybo. "We can load up your goods whenever you're ready to go."

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Chapter 3c: Follow the Vines

Post by Shurijo » Mon Apr 12, 2021 1:15 pm

Jaybo smiles at Shoshannah's comments and then waves his hand towards the ship. "That's great. I've been waiting for you to unlock your ship. I tried to get a start on loading them, but your security system is better than any ship I've seen on Iego."

Janos looks at Shoshannah and says, "I'll open the cargo door." He then departs to unlock the ship and assist with loading of the goods.

Hedala and her B1 Battle Droid walks over to join Shoshannah and Janos. "Did you get what you were looking for?" she asks. Hedala, Shoshannah, and the B1 Battle Droid follow after Janos and watch as Jaybo's droids move his goods into the cargo hold of their ship under supervision of Janos. The lift droids move three large crates into the back of the ship.

Once the loading is complete, Jaybo tells Janos, "Deliver to bay 2C on Junkport Station. I'm trusting you with this. This is my ticket off this rock. With this order, I'll be able to get my own ship and some place nice like Naboo or Alderaan."

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Chapter 3c: Follow the Vines

Post by Muskrat » Mon Apr 12, 2021 5:30 pm

Has Othniel dropped out of the game?
Shoshannah nods and says, "We'll deliver your goods. Are there any potential complications we should anticipate? Can you tell us who should be taking your goods, so we can avoid anyone trying to defraud us?"

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Chapter 3c: Follow the Vines

Post by Shurijo » Mon Apr 12, 2021 6:11 pm

In chat/discord, he said he had IRL issues preventing him from frequently posting. He's here, but just slow due to IRL events.

Jaybo shakes his head. "Nah," the young boy says. "Payment will be sent to me after deliver. The cargo is just scrap metal until the buyer gets the activation codes."

Soon the cargo is loaded and Hedala is waving good bye to R0-GR, the B1 Battle Droid. Janos hasn't flown the ship with this much cargo before, but he gets used to the extra weight during liftoff and once they exit the Iego's atmosphere the cargo weight isn't noticeable.

As he enters the astrogation coordinates into the navcom, Janos states "We'll arrive at Junkfort Station in a few hours. I was on an operation there when the clones turned. It was under Separatist rule then, so there weren't any troopers stationed there. I'm not sure what it'll be like when we arrive. Before the war, it was a well known smuggler's destination and then the Separatists seized it."

"Let's see what we have in the hold." He says as he departs the cockpit and heads into the cargo area.

Pressing a button to open one of the three containers, the doors swing open revealing.... three B2-series super battle droids. With three containers, that could be at least nine B2 super battle droids (assuming its the same cargo in the other two containers).

Sighing, Janos turns to look at Shoshannah. "I'm not sure what'll be worse... the Empire finding us with these droids or finding out we're Jedi."

Unnoticed until now, Hedala's stands in awe with her mouth agape. The youngling says, "Those are the biggest droids I've ever seen. I hope they are friendly like R0-GR."

Image

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Chapter 3c: Follow the Vines

Post by Muskrat » Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:16 pm

Shoshannah said, "Well, they're not normally programmed to be friendly, but neither is the droid you made friends with back at Jaybo's place. So he might have reprogrammed these. But we're going to leave them switched off. Our job is just to deliver them." She did, however, have qualms about who they might be delivering such dangerous cargo to. She looks over at Janos and says, "When we land, I'd like to poke into who we're delivering these to. I'd like to honor our agreement with Jaybo--but not if we're delivering these to assassins or the like."

She turns her attention back to Hedala. "So what did you talk to .. was it R0-GR? ... about?" She asks in a friendly, curious way, but she also wants to check to make sure the young girl didn't accidentally let anything important slip.

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Chapter 3c: Follow the Vines

Post by Shurijo » Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:44 pm

Janos closes the containers and makes sure to lock down the cargo hold just in case. He returns to the cockpit to rest for a few hours as they enter hyperspace.

Meanwhile, Shoshannah and Hedala talk about the B1 Battle Droid named R0-GR. "He was funny. He said Jaybo wiped his memory when he was repurposed and that he used to be a battle droid."

* * * *

Several hours later, the ship exits hyperspace in view of Junkfort Station. Shoshannah returns to the cockpit to hear Janos responding to the hanger bay command and given clearance to land in bay 4. The ship safely lands in the assigned bay.

As he lowers the ramp, Janos says, "I can take care of the deal if you'd rather keep an eye on Hedala or wander around the station."
Jumped a head a bit.

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Chapter 3c: Follow the Vines

Post by Muskrat » Wed Apr 14, 2021 8:31 pm

"Considering what we're delivering," says Shoshannah, "we should probably both be in on it in case something goes wrong. But we should look into getting a protocol or nurse droid or something like that to watch Hedala when we're dealing with things like this. Maybe we can find one on this station for cheap."

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