"This is the Droid We're Looking For?" Pt. 1

*The heroes in this story and the players that created them are described in my previous post "The Comrades"

       This is what I said to the group as I pushed play on my phone and let the Star Wars Theme play to the room. It was our first time meeting to play Star Wars d20 Revised edition. The guys had just put some finishing touches on their characters and were eager to get down to it. 

       "It is a time of desperation for the Empire. It has been a couple of months since they suffered a defeat at the Battle of Yavin against the Rebellion forces. The Empire has starting occupying worlds that were left untouched and tightened their grip on the ones already occupied. The rumors of the rising Rebellion and a destroyed space station have spread through the galaxy.

       On the desert planet Tatooine, that saw an increase in Empire activity, we find six heroes that have nothing to do with the Civil War. These heroes are in Empire custody at Mos Eisley, each for different crimes or disruptions. Little do they know, the Empire has a plan for them..."

       We find our heroes in restrained to chairs in an Imperial office in Mos Eisley. All were moved here from a jail cell down the hall and none are sure what is happening or who the other ones in the room are (with the exception of Seruca Valt and EV-36 since they are companions). Soon a door opens from the other side of a desk and in walks an Officer. The man introduces himself as Captain Farkel. "We have gathered you all here because it seems you are very skilled individuals and you might be of use to our needs. We have a job offer for all of you." He continues to explain the job. All they need to do is pick up a droid, an R4 unit, from a local droid shop and deliver to Docking Bay 17 to be transported off planet. "A very simple job" Farkel assures them. "If it is such a simple job..." interjects the Ishi Tib, "then why do you need us?"  Farkel looks through his files and says "Mr. Silf, we are understaffed and very busy here in Mos Eisley. I don't have the man power or the time to complete this errand. Now, this job does not come without rewards. Upon completion you will each be given 1,000 credits, your records will be wiped clean and each of you will be granted passage on an Imperial transport to the Core World of your choosing." There seems to be a satisfied silence in the room. "I assume you all agree to take on the job then?" asks Farkel. "You bet I do!" says "Blast" Ripkin and the rest agreed also. They all went through the release process and received their possessions that were confiscated.

       Soon the adventurers found themselves on the crowded streets of Mos Eisley. The first step of the job was to go to the Tuskan Cantina to find out where to find the droid shop. They have to give the password to the owner Dolfe and he will give them the information. Blast started trying to get directions from strangers on the street, but his gruffness just made people hurry past him. Seruca decided to charm some information from a fellow Twi'lek that was selling wares from a stand on the street. "Excuse me, sir," She said seductively "could you tell me how to get to the Tuskan Cantina?". The man looked over and you can tell he was eyeing her up and down. "I would be happy to, but you wouldn't want to go there! I think you would prefer my friend's cantina, the Krayt Place!" he said. Seruca could tell this guy was a little too interested so she decided to bluff through this. "Well, I'm supposed to be meeting a friend at the Tuskan Cantina and she'd be upset if I didn't make it, but maybe you would like to meet us there after you're done working?" This worked and Seruca went back to her companions knowing the way to go.

       After some walking the group arrived at their destination. Silf decided to walk in as the rest of the group decided what to do. He went in and took a spot at the counter and waited for service. Shortly after the Farghul, Robin People danced through the cantina and sat a couple of seats away from Silf. Seruca and EV found a table in the corner and sat down while Blast and Zamriel, the Miraluka, stood among the crowd. Dolfe, the owner and server, made his way towards Silf and the two began making small talk. During their conversation, Silf dropped the password "the Dewback rides at dawn" and Dolfe gave him a knowing look. He walked away for a minute and made his way bcam. He slide a small datapad to Silf and went about his business. The datapad gave the Ishi Tib the information they needed. It instructed him to go to Jub's Droids and tell him "I need a restraining bolt removed" to let him know they were the ones to pick up the droid. Silf looked up and noticed a cloaked man talking to Dolfe across the bar and Dolfe semed to be looking back towards Silf. The cloaked man moved back to a table in the corner and the server made his way back to Silf. "That man in the corner was asking about you. I told him I didn't know anything. Just thought you should know." Silf thanked Dolfe, paid his tab thinking now was a good time to leave and headed for the door. Zamriel and Blast saw their crabby companion leaving and noticed that a cloaked man hurriedly followed behind. Sensing trouble Blast tried to follow silently behind, but Blast, being named Blast, was not used to doing things quietly, so he stumbled and knocked over a table with drinks. The cantina went quit and Blast looked up to find three Rodians standing and staring at him. They started yelling angrily and making gestures at him, but the only one in the group that spoke Rodese was Silf and he was outside. Zamriel stepped up and decide to use the power of Friendship (literally a force power called Friendship) to dissolve the situation. He succeeded in calming the Rodians but they were still upset about their drinks, so Blast was forced to buy them new ones. Once the gang regrouped Silf informed them that he heard the commotion inside and when he turned to look he saw the cloaked man, but the man took off into the crowd and disappeared. Silf filled the group in on the fact that the man was asking about him then led the group to their next destination.
       The adventurers found Jub's Droids in a dead end corner surrounded by seemingly empty buildings. They approached the store, only to find the door locked and the windows barred shut. Silf knocked on the door and it opened slightly revealing a man looking out. "I'm sorry but the store is closed. Please come back tomorrow." the man said in a shaking voice. "I think you can help me;" said Silf "I need a restraining bolt removed." The door opened and the man beckoned them in. "I'm Jub. You're here to pick up the droid, right? Well, I do have it, but there is a problem." he said. "What problem is that?" asked Blast. "The problem is that all my droids have gone crazy! They started attacking me this morning after I opened the shop. One shot me in the leg," and Jub showed his bandaged thigh. "I think someone sabotaged my droids!" he added. "What makes you think it's sabotage?" asked Seruca. "When I came in this morning I found one of my front windows broken open. There was no sign of robbery or anything so I just thought it was some of the neighborhood kids that might have broken it. Also, all my droids wouldn't be going crazy unless someone did something. If you want your droid you'll have to go downstairs and find it. You'll have to disable the droids, but please don't destroy them completely. I will also pay you for your help." The group considered for a moment. "What sort of droids are down there?" Silf asked. "Well there are normal service droids, protocol droids and some other common ones that shouldn't be too much of a problem." then he hesitated "But I do have a couple of Droideka Battledroids down there. They're a project I'm working on and some of their systems aren't fully functional, but they are still dangerous. They are in the very last room, so avoid them if you can." With that they were off through the trap door leading down to the basement. "I'm going to stay behind. Give them a hand EV." Seruca said. "Yes Mistress." EV responded as they went downstairs.

       The basement was fairly big. It was a hallway with three doors, one to the right, one to the left and one straight ahead. "Let's try the right." Zamriel said. So the group went in and found a few droids. Silf pulled out his recon droid and set it to attack mode then the group made short work of the droids but didn't find the R4 they were looking for. They headed on to the next room hoping they wouldn't have to go to the last room, but it was pretty much the same as the first and still no R4. Finally they went into the last room. There were two Droideka Battledroids. One was missing two legs and the other was missing one. They were other droids in the room too. One of the battledroids shot first, but his gun overloaded and blew up, damaging the droid. The battle went on as the heroes managed to take out the extra droids in the room. The second battledroid fired on the group and Silf fell to the ground unconscious from a shot. Eventually the group won but Zamriel took a lot of damage and Silf needed some treatment. After searching the droids they found a signal scrambler that was causing the droids to malfunction. In the corner they found the R4 droid they were looking for and brought it upstairs since it was deactivated. As the group helped Silf recover, Jub activated the R4. Silf showed Jub the signal scrambler, but Jub had no idea where it came from. He paid the group (except Silf since he refused payment, but Jub gave him some armor plating for his recon droid) and thanked them for their help. So, with Silf healed and after Zamriel meditated, the heroes left the shop. 

       They stepped out into the street only to find the cloaked man standing there with a group of men with blasters aimed at the group...