Big Trouble & Little Chadra -Snowflake and Rece (Closed)

[GM Nicha]

Rece, you receive a message straight from Captain Borintus at the highest CID security rating. You're ordered to proceed with total secrecy out to a specific waypoint in the Frozen Sea, and to pack for a trip.

Snowflake, Kazimieras Dubick the local Alpine Clan enforcer finds you and tells you to pack your things and meet him at the frozen lagoon in the Frozen Sea in a couple hours, and not to be late!

[Rece Charak]

Rece never doesn't pack for a trip, but this time he makes extra sure he has everything (and picks up some fire paste for good measure). Survival gear securely stowed in his pack and thermal cloak hood over his head it what is definitely an inconspicuous fashion, he slips out through the perimeter wall at the dawn shift change and heads out onto the sea.

Damn it's cold out here. He needs to stop getting sent to ice planets.

Frozen sea resilience

Net Successes: 0; Net Advantages: -2

[GM Nicha]

It is bitterly cold out on the Frozen Sea, even with the sun up and clear skies over head. There's nowhere to hide from the merciless winds for Rece as they chill the small soldier to the bone.

The location is several hours deep into the ice, but when he arrives he'll see an equally cold Captain Borintus standing in the lee of a battered speeder, warming his hands from a small stove that gives off a feeble heat.

"Agent Charak! Good to see you could make it. I asked if we could just meet somewhere warm, preferably with a bar, but orders are orders."
He gestures to a spot next to him.

"Come and get yourself warm, we're the first to arrive."

[Snowflake]

Packing things was usually a straightforward matter for Snowie. For a situation like this, the main decision was whether to take a tent or more things that might be used to hit other things.

Given where Kazimieras had asked him to go, it wasn't too hard to decide for the former. So it was less than half an hour after the clansmember's visit when the large Gigoran was seen making his way out from the wreck of the Concord Dawn and into the frigid wastes of the vast Obroan Frozen Sea, a thermal cloak over the signature spike-covered armor and the large modular backpack slung on his back, filled with survival equipment and a collapsed portable shelter.

Even though it would take a while to reach the lagoon, Snowie would probably arrive before the agreed upon time.

Maybe he could even 'chill' for a bit!

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OOC: With the following, I think the Resilience check should be down to easy without setbacks?
Adapted to the Cold (Racial): Remove ■ due to cold or snow-filled conditions.
Heating system (Armor): Reduce difficulty of Resilience checks due to cold by 1. Remove ■■ due to extreme cold.
Thermal cloak (Gear): Remove ■■ from checks about handling cold or heat.

Assuming that's correct, here goes:

D4 - Big Trouble & Little Chadra. Resilience vs Easy, no Setbacks when entering the Frozen Sea

Net Successes: 3; Net Advantages: 1

Advantage to... be comfy?

[Rece Charak]

Rece joins Borintus at the stove and burrows deeper into his own fur, teeth chattering. "Hey Cap. Well, if we got more coming, I won't make you give the briefing twice. So, who am I riding with? Your folks? Rangers? Peacekeepers? I think I heard something about a CorSec detective and a missing persons case."

Surely that was a comprehensive list of law enforcement personnel who could be about to show up.

[GM Nicha]

Snowflake, who probably wasn't on that list, shows up easily on time and clearly comfy despite the wind chill.

Borintus, nods at the Chadra-fan's question. "That case has gone cold for now, but I hear the detective isn't gonna let them stop her. But that's not why you're here today."
He waves a hand at the approaching Gigoran and gestures for him to come over.

"You'll be working with some local partners."

[Snowflake]

The Gigoran's face tilts sideways, clearly surprised as he arrives to find captain Borintus and Rece already 'chilling' in the meeting spot.

"Mister Charak, Captain!", is all he says with a smile and a deep nod, as his (rather slowly) tries to piece together how their being here might connect with his homeclan's plans.

Maybe they are planning to join the clan??, he thought, his eyes suddenly showing an excitement the others would probably have a hard time understanding.

[GM Nicha]

As the three of you rendezvous a snow drift near the camp stands and shakes apart to reveal Kazimieras Dubick and his hound Sven.



There's a great billow of steam as the two get out from under their thermal cloak before Kaz calmly folds and packs it away before strolling over to the stove to light up a cigarette.

"I thought you were never gonna get here, but Sven told me to be patient."
The hound barks happily before curling up below the stove.

Borintus takes a few moments to recover before muttering a terse "Well, good to see you to."

[Rece Charak]

Rece nods back. He never cared much for jurisdictional red tape anyway. And the group is shaping up nicely: leader, tech, and muscle, the textbook three-man CID team (even if the leader spends most of the mission in the speeder). He's eager to get into the swing of it, and from the look of it Snowflake clearly shares his sentiment.

[Snowflake]

Snowie nods again, his smile now coupled with familiarity. Surely it was a meeting to introduce him to new clansfolk!

"Mister Dubick, good to see you! And Sven!" The hulking furry humanoid knees down and extends a hand to greet the 'cute' dog.

"So! What's the clan need?", he asks still kneeling down, his eyes on Dubick - although for a while there he turns to Rece, then to captain Borintus. Would a captain becoming a new member become some type of leader?

Or... maybe one of them was already a clansmember before and he didn't know?

[GM Nicha]

"These ever so important Republic folks need our help, Snowflake. Same as it ever was."
Kaz gestures to Borintus who just lets it roll off him, the captain merely nodding and fishing around in his pockets.

"Yes, Agent Charak, Mister uh, Snowflake. This assignment has vermilion level security...which for our non-military friends here means it cannot be discussed outside of the group and cannot be committed to the written word. Everything I'm about to tell you is beyond top secret, this mission will require complete discretion."

He looks between the two of you while Kaz just rolls his eyes.

[Rece Charak]

Rece cocks his head. "Vermillion? I thought that was a myth. Or a prank to see how well probies can remember a coffee order."

[Snowflake]

Snowie seems somewhat uncertain at first - whether due to the situation, the codes or something else is not very clear. But they do take the hint, the large face becoming serious, even if mostly to fit the expected mood.

"Right", he confirms, and says no more for now.

Rece's comment on coffee orders, probies and the complicated name of the code gets his mind wandering for a bit - a cuppa would be nice! - but he quickly shakes off the thoughts and gets back to a serious face.

[GM Nicha]

Borintus nods before holding out the holo projector he had found. It buzzes to life and starts projecting a life save image of a heavily armed wookie.



"This is Ja'cque Ecks'tandar, he's Ex-CID, and he was one of our best. Rece, I know you served with him briefly."
The image of Ja'cque slowly rotates above them as he continues.

"He brought down a number of the most heinous criminals in the Republic military, they still tell stories about the dent in the CID director's office that he made with a colone's head. But, about 6 months back it all went wrong. A fugitive he was tracking was released for want of evidence. That criminal then went on to kill his brother.

In response Ja'cque slaughtered him and his band, as well as several republic soldiers who intervened. He was being transported back to the Core aboard the Concord Dawn to be sentenced when the ship was swept up in the fighting. He disappeared after the crash. Completely gone, no trace of him. Until today."

[Rece Charak]

Rece lets out a low whistle. "Well, that explains why they couldn't find room for Corporal Fight Club in the brig." Which led to a prisoner transfer, which led to Rece pulling the short straw for paperwork duty on the Dawn, which led to... this. Funny how things happen sometimes.

"It's a tall order there, Cap. And I gotta ask, how solid's the evidence? I mean, guy had a temper and loved his brother. Wouldn't put the vigilante stuff past him. But bystanders? That's straight into the deep end. I don't want to walk into some kind of The Escapee situation blind."

[GM Nicha]

"Reports say he was in a near berserk rage. That being said, I wasn't there in person. You've met the man, if you think there's something more to it then you're free to follow that lead."

He looks over at Kazimieras who sighs and holds up a few grainy pictures of a lanky Rodia scowling,.

"This was my fellow Alpine Clan enforcer, Alexei 'The Nose'. He's our sentient in in Moorgrave, it's a little town just on the edge of the ice sea. I got a report this morning, some wookie took him apart."
He shrugs.
"Alexei was a pig and a thug, I don't mourn the loss. But you understand that our organisation also wants closure on this. That's why Snowflake will be accompanying you. That and the people of Moorgrave really hate the law. Having a local on hand will make your investigation much easier."

He waggles his hand.
"Dead or alive, your choice. If you can take a raging wookie down non-lethally then I'll buy you a drink and Snowflake some of my best berries."

[Snowflake]

A raging wookie didn't sound like a pretty thing to deal with.

Although... he'd been called a wookie a few times. Often not very lovingly, for some reason. But that, plus the whole thing with the runaway's brother having been killed made him feel some compassion...

But he had killed clansfolk. And apparently other good people who had nothing to do with the story.

The Gigoran's expression turned more and more serious. That "Jake" needed a good lesson, at the very least.

He looked at Kazimieras. Securing a raging wookie wouldn't be easy, the good brother was right.

But he sure wanted these berries!

"Ugh... 'took him apart' doesn't sound good.", he finally said, creasing his brow. "Do you know if this Jake guy had any beef with mr. Bignose, mr. Dubick?", the Gigoran added. "And... it'll be just mr. Charak and me going, then?"

[GM Nicha]

"Not sure, if there was something personal then he never mentioned it. But pretty much nobody who knew Alexei liked him."
Kazimieras is definitely not heartbroken over it.

"And yes, the Republic here wants to keep this whole mission small and under wraps."
Borintus seizes that opportunity to snatch the conversation back.

"Because this is very politically sensitive. An escape Republic war criminal running around killing Obroans? It's the last thing we need right now. Which is why it has to be done all quietly. You two won't have any support in the field."

[Snowflake]

Snowie didn't remember much about Bignose himself - except for the nose, of course, which was hard to forget. But Kaz's words did remind him that people often looked cross-eyed at the guy when he was last in Moorgrave. Was that one year ago? Two? Hard to tell.

The captain's addition was met with a raised eyebrow. It sounded a slight bit like a threat, in a way. The whole situation sounded complicated. But brother Kaz and the clan had agreed to do things this way, so that was that.

And Obroans needed protecting. Snowflake protects family.

He finally nodded again to the captain and the clanner, then at Rece - which the Gigoran's body language clearly indicated he was seeing as the mission's lead.

"We should probably get started then, mister Charak. It will probably take us a while to reach Moorgrave on foot"

[GM Nicha]

Borintus salutes Rece and then offers Snowflake his hand. "Good luck out there to the both of you. Be safe, but catch this guy."
Then he and Kaz get into the battered speeder (Sven jumping up onto Kaz's lap) and it slowly starts to pull away...

It was indeed quite a long and quite a good walk as you loop along the edge of the frozen sea, staying well clear of any traffic. Although it was probably not as long or as cold for Snowflake.

Eventually Moorgrave in site. It's smaller than Kandra's Run and a little meaner, clearly not as prosperous. Even from the look of the place you'd guess they usually take kindly to strangers. It's going to be a real challenge to find the information you need!

That being said, Snowflake recognises a familiar family run burger restaurant on the edge of town that he'd discussed with a certain mando earlier...

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You will find Ja'cque's location eventually, but the time he has to prepare (and how soon he is warned of pursuit) depends on the Moorgrave investigation. Players alternate taking 'investigate' actions which generate investigation points. Investigation Points may be spent for advantages going into the next scene. A success on the check and every two subsequent successes awards an investigation point. A triumph adds an additional point.

No action can be performed twice by the same PC. Advantage and Disadvantage are turned into boost and setback for that character’s next roll at a rate of 2 to 1.

Every two investigate actions and every despair rolled adds a chance for Ja'cque to gain a bonus in the next scene, which include improved gear, traps or improved cover for the resourceful wookie. When the PCs have finished rolling the GM's will roll the following a number of times equal to his chances ⬟ ⬟ ◆◆ against ◆◆◆. Every success and every two additional successes will grant Ja'cque a defence point. Ja'cque doesn't buy individually, he gets all of these wonderful buffs!

Each player may roll up to 3 times.

Investigation Point Costs

2 Investigation points the PCs can choose to start at long or medium range to Ja'cque, instead of long range.

2 Investigation points a friendly elderly lady provides you both with a warm home cooked meal, increase your max wound threshold by 2 for the upcoming scene.

3 investigation points you'll be on hot on his heels, Ja'cque will have one less trap to activate.

3 investigation points you're actively fighting as you reach the sawmill. Ja'cque has one less trap to activate.

4 Investigation points you discover he's lurking in an abandoned sawmill and have time to organise night vision gear to negate the darkness within.

6 investigation points you'll even have a chance to take a swing or shot at Ja'cque as you catch it outside the sawmill. Make an attack roll against a target with two defence and upgrade the difficulty twice (ranged attacks count as long range). ■ ■ ⬟⬟

Defence Points

1 Defence point. Ja'cque has procured an energy axe
2 Defence points. Ja'cque will ambush his first target, netting him 3 boost dice to the attack.
3 Defence points. Ja'cque has procured some basic laminate armour.
4 Defence points. Ja'cque has way too much time to prepare, he has access to 2 additional traps.

Investigate Actions

Make basic small talk like normal people. Charm or deception at average with one difficult upgrade. ⬟ ◆

Help out around the town, prove you're a good sort. Athletics or mechanics at hard with one upgrade ⬟◆ ◆

Don't rise to the taunts of the locals. Naturally as out-of-towners and investigators a few of the locals are going to try to rub you wrong. If you can remain calm then cooler heads might prevail. Discipline at average with two difficulty upgrades. ⬟⬟

Just straight up surveillance. People talk, and they'll probably talk a bit more easily if they don't know you're nearby. Stealth or skulduggery at hard with one difficulty upgrade. ⬟◆ ◆

Keeping your eyes open for clues. Nobody as big and hairy as a wookie can leave absolutely no trace...right? Perception or vigilance at hard. ◆ ◆ ◆

Eat burgers with Krannor and reminisce about the good times. (Snowflake only). Average difficulty resilience check. ◆ ◆