Monday, June 1, 2015

Star Wars Interlude 2: A Night At The Opera

Star Wars Interlude 2: A Night At The Opera

Teyla, Minor Jedi, daughter of a moderately influential crime lord (Hanna)
21B-Em-Dee, medical droid, tasked to monitor Teyla by the crime lord (Allison)
Takata, Smuggler, owner of the Decade Pigeon (YT-1300) in debt to the crime lord (Erik)
TeeTee'ee, ship's engineer/tinkerer (Nadia)

Dawn broke with Takata huddled in a back alley doorway, having spent the night hiding from the Imperials while the rest of the crew was safe and comfortable back at the hotel. By the time Takata made her way back, avoiding security cams and checkpoints as best she could, everyone else was enjoying a light breakfast beside the pool. 21B-Em-Dee was lecturing Teyla on the proper etiquette in situations where the daughter of a crime boss meets a tall dark stranger.

Hint: it’s not to accept dinner or drinks from him!

(Teyla sips her mimosa and politely disagrees.)

Just then, a card is delivered by a protocol droid from Cass (Mr. Tall and Dark), inviting Teyla to the opera that evening. Knowing she’s stuck here for the week, she accepts over the strenuous objections of Em-Dee. However she also realizes that while she has an appropriate outfit, the rest of the crew is sadly lacking in appropriate evening wear, and TeeTee’ee is in desperate need of a makeover.

MONTAGE! (Cue makeover and shopping cut scenes.)

The prearranged skylimo arrives to take Teyla and her retinue to the flying opera house. Takata and TeeTee’ee check the car over for bugs and bombs. Not finding any, they still restrict their conversation to electric bunnies and comparative literature. The lobby area, where the retinue will wait, is a massive room with one wall entirely made of glass in order to allow for the best view from high above the planet.




Cass is waiting just inside the doors for Teyla, and he escorts her into the inner lobby for drinks, pointing out the gardens around the opera house. The lights dim, and everyone makes their way in. Cass, of course, has a box.

TeeTee’ee and Takata wait in the front lobby, getting drinks and chatting with other “private security” personnel stuck outside. TeeTee’ee also manages to hack into the opera house’s security communication channel, listening in for any trouble. Em-Dee found a convenient corner to wait in while her charge watches the show.

After the intermission, TeeTee’ee heard over the coms that there was a bus heading toward the opera house. She turned toward the giant glass wall in time for the bus to come crashing through. About two dozen combat droids emerge, firing on everyone in sight. In response, everyone took cover, and those who came armed returned fire. Takata found a convenient broom closet, while TeeTee’ee hid behind a half wall and realized that she was completely unarmed!!



Takata is a total badass and skillfully dispatches several combat droids from her position in the closet, aiming through a crack in the door.

The commotion in the lobby finally overcame the volume of the opera, and panic overtook the crowd. Teyla lept from the box, pushing through the crowd toward the sounds of blaster fire! Cass attempted to follow, but his leap from the box ended with him falling onto a group of panicked audience members, and being pulled away from the combat.

Between the opera security and the private security, the droids were quickly whittled down. Em-Dee even got in on the action, bashing apart a damaged and prone battle droid, wisely opting not to pick up a blaster. Teyla uses her Force ability to cause a floating chandelier to crash down on top of some droids, with aim so perfect that the droids emerge unscathed from the within the circular center of the chandelier.

Takata and TeeTee’ee managed to avoid being hit by the droids, and linked up with Teyla as she came into the lobby. The sounds of sirens speeding toward the opera house made the whole party nervous, and as Cass emerged from the theater, he suggested that Teyla might like some dinner. Cass gave them the keys, and said he’d be right behind them. Was he heading off to make reservations? Or something more nefarious? The group headed down the steps to the garage, and found the car just as Cass caught up with them bearing Teyla’s jacket, which he passed to her before taking the controls.

Halfway to dinner, Cass realized that he left his driver and the limo he had arrived in behind…

Cass flew the group to a nice restaurant, getting a prime table for him and Teyla, while TeeTee’ee and Takata ended up next to the kitchen. Em-Dee was consigned to the coat check, and spent the evening fending off the advances of the coat check droid. Dinner between Cass and Teyla was less strained, but the interrupted opera was never once mentioned, nor was the mutual interest in departing before the police arrived. As dinner wrapped up, Cass suggested a walk in the gardens before ending their evening but Teyla declined, gathering her group and leaving the restaurant. Standing on the sidewalk, they realized that they didn’t have their own transportation. Cass, following behind, offered them his skycar, saying he’d have his driver pick him up in the car he’d sent for them. They accepted his offer, and headed off.

But not for the hotel. Instead Teyla called on her family’s local lawyer, and went immediately to his office, the hour be damned. After a short wait, the lawyer arrived, smartly dressed in well cut business attire. Teyla told him of the evening’s excitement, and then asked for guns. The lawyer asked for some specifics, and then told her that she should get a delivery the next day.

True to his word, the boxes were delivered to her suite at the hotel, and everyone got to enjoy their new toys. Even Em-Dee got a stunner and a program update. On the local news it’s reported that a second skybus of droids attacked from the rear of the opera house and kidnapped several members of the audience! The news didn’t report who was taken...

Another invitation from Cass arrived, this time to walk a local park with him. Teyla accepted, but cut the evening short, in order to explore the warehouse the droid filled skybus came from.

Checking through the warehouse they discovered evidence of the 2 skybuses and a third larger vehicle. Asking around at a neighboring warehouse that was oddly well protected by armed guards revealed that the larger vehicle was a cargo ship, but that nothing was seen beyond the cargo ship and skybuses arriving and departing.

Who attacked the opera house?
What’s Cass’ motivation for hanging out around Teyla?
Where were the hostages taken?
When will the Decade Pigeon be fixed?
Why is the next expected session not until fall??
How will Teyla’s dad react to all of this going on?

Find out next time? We’ll see…

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comment Moderation is in place. Email notifications are spotty... might be a bit before this gets published. Sorry.