Noventa - A Star Wars Story

Cal shrugged. "Unless you've got a few folks with good rifles, it might be a choice between that, and sitting back and gettin' picked off. What we want is for the fight to start at optimal range for us. If they've got range on us, we'll have to choose between falling back, and rushing out. Neither one sounds that good to me."

"You're welcome to whatever you can claim from the bodies," she said, glancing off to the side. The thought of it wasn't very... agreeable to her sense of honor but she wasn't a woman who'd turn down help because of a few moral liberties. "As for drawin' in those folk close, it'd be hard. Lettin' get close to the buildings before the fightin' starts will only endanger our position more than we'd want to."

"Well the credit numbers can be padded in other ways." Kai offered after a moment. "If we get through this, those mercenaries are likely to leave behind a good deal of supplies they no longer have a use for. Access to at least a portion of those might be nice. But as my friend said, we do know what you're asking for, and what we are agreeing to."

Turning back to Cal he nodded. "Yeah, and we might look into a few ways to obfuscate our presence as well. Would be nice to be able to get the jump on them."

Cal went on. "Given the range of what we're armed with..." He made a vague wave at his pistols. "Kor uses a vibro-axe, if you can believe it. Anyway, we should set up the barricades to limit fire to close range. Make sure we don't have to go out to them. That's sure disaster."

"Eh, we know we're doing a charity work compared to what we'd usually ask to get paid for such jobs," she said, giving a small wave to sweep away the thought that they were only doing this for the money.

Cal shrugged. "Don't think they'd start with a rapid attack. More likely a slow show of force, hope to scare the townsfolk into surrendering. Mercenaries usually do their best to get paid without fighting, except for the real crazies."

He pursed his lips. "Still, better to prepare for the worst. We can block off most of the roads, make'em come to us slow."

"No solid number on that miss," she said, chiming in again at the talk of payment. "Much less than you should be getting, but you'd be saving lives. We're a small town. Small folk. I can promise a few thousand credits myself, no tellin' how much more the others can contribute. Maybe a couple thousand more?"

Fey trusted Kai's experience in that regard more than her own.

She was just more interested in getting on to the talk about payment. "So, how much we talking here in terms of credits?" While she could sympathize a tiny bit, they wouldn't go risking their lives for free.

Looking between them, Chiwu was starting to get the impression that they might just be aiming to accept. From the direction of their talking.

[Thread: viewtopic.php?f=67&t=398]
[Feel free to continue here as you would, planning, accepting or not.]

"What if they come in by speeder." Kai asked thoughtfully.

"It's what I would do at the very least. A quick fly-by, followed by assault the weakest point in the defenses." He pondered it work a few moments. "Might even split my forces and have half assault the fortified position, so folks can't fall back."

Cal gave Yara a nod and a smile. "Nice job, Doc." He said. He stepped forward, looking down at the little map she'd improvised.

"Hmmm..." He scratched his chin. "If I were putting it together, would be good to catch them in a crossfire. Hit 'em hard, and then fall back to fortifications when they try to counterattack." He looked around at the others, Yara, Kai, and Fey, for input.

"It does," she said, looking over the map and putting in mind what building was what that Yara was piecing together. "Old fool always did have a love for his personal security should the worst happen. Think some of it's even reinforced a bit, could be a decent place to fall back to should things get outta hand an' all."

[Destiny Spent, Yara Suhr]

"It's quite a small town," Yara puts in, from where she'd been standing at the edge of the conversational sphere with arms crossed. She uncrosses them now and steps in toward the table, planting a hand to lean in over it. "General store, Ms. Chiwu's tavern, a few homes. One-fathier towns, they used to be called where I grew up." She plucks a few napkins from the caddy on the table and places them in the approximate configuration of the town's buildings. "Some of the structures looked like primarily organic materials, but I don't recall exactly... Ms. Chiwu, this one has a duracrete frame, doesn't it?"

D6 LA--mostly fluff Knowledge Warfare to describe the town layout to them in tactical terms, Hard??: 4eA+3eD 3 successes

"Can tell from the look of you, but then that just means what I'm saying about folk not from around here doesn't apply to you, Mr. Arcton," she said with casual charm. "Far as I know, Wesley doesn't have anything from anyone he took with him. Might be they're not the same person or something else is goin' on here. As for your layout, you can come on by when we're done here Mr. Arcton. We don't quite have anything like a drawn up map and I'm afraid anything detailed you want ain't gonna be comin' from me."

Cal sighed. "If you can't tell from the way I talk, ma'am, I'm from here too. Grew up in this very building, back when it was a ranch, if you can remember back that far. Worked for the sheriff for a few years, too."

He shrugged. "Might be worth putting the question to him. If there's something he took, maybe they can take that and go away. A man's life isn't worth whatever it is. But I'm guessing they're not gonna go without us at least bloodying their nose a bit."

"So." He nodded to Chiwu. "I want a layout of your town, especially any buildings that don't catch fire easy. When they show up, we can ask 'em to leave nicely. Once." His lips pressed together. It sounded like it would be trouble. But, well, she was right. The community needed to stick together.

"Look," she said, correcting her posture in the chair some. "I can't speak for what these people huntin' Wesley want. Seems to me they want to make an example of him in some way because of unfriendly terms of parting. Truth of it is, Wesley earned himself the time out and he took it when he felt there was no other option. Wesley is a good man who just wants to retire. That much I can assure you. As for this woman you say you met, tried to hire you," she shrugged with her full body. "Not much I can reckon on that point. Might it be that Wesley himself would better have answers for you but it won't be somethin' we can arrange till this business is over. Not above those Chiss to hit someone when they are vulnerable and we ain't gonna be givin' up Wesley like that."

"I know what you folk must think of all this, but you've gotta understand the bond we have out here. Folk 'round these parts don't let one another down. We stand together, and we ain't gettin' chased off and runnin' from a fight. They want to come, so they'll come and we'll be there all the same. No tellin' we'll need you in the end, but we're not fighters as I've said before and it'll do us mighty good to have you on our side should the worse come to it and they choose to bring down the whole town just to get to Wesley."

"Chances are the same they don't though. Might just send that Bounty Hunter back runnin' to come after Wesley all his lonesome."

"Something like that." Kai replied thoughtfully. "Took something and left in the middle of a job, or something like that. The Lady on the Galletea told us that it cost her quite a bit, and as rich as she looked that might be in the magnitude of hundreds of thousands credits." Or something else, Kai wasn't completely sure on that front. "Though she also said she wanted him alive." This didn't exactly sound like that.

Well, there was no point in pushing the matter more as the woman either didn't know or didn't want to tell them.

"Maybe it's just my hunch, darling," she said while looking at Kai, "but it seems to me there might be a connection between this Wesley and that job-offer we turned down, non? Didn't he steal something, though?"

"I'm not sure who you're listenin' to but I said the answer clear as day. Wesley wants out, he worked for them and he wants out but these folk don't want to let him leave. Not much more to it than that," she said, laying her hand out in front of herself. Looking right back at Cefey. "As for your other question, I don't have much of an answer for that dear. All Wesley said is they were some big time Senator back in the day."

"Money."

"People from the core with money don't tend to have much of a worry when it comes to getting what they want when the little people like us are in the way. 'specially folk that've known that kinda power all their life."

"Not sure where you been livin' the past long while, but you seen what the Empire come and did to any place that got in it's way. Sorry to say, but some folk are just like that. Empire wasn't much of a surprise to us out here. Though you're sayin' you have some idea, so I'd like to hear what you're thinkin' if you think you know these folk any better than I do."

After considering for a moment, Cal selected bourbon. He poured a glass, setting it down for Chiwu. "Anyone else want anything?" He looked to the ladies first, of course.

He glanced over to Fey, then back to Chiwu. "The more we know now, the better." He said, smiling gently. "Only way we get through this is if we know everything. And only way it's fair, too."