Jedi Search 3 - A Wild AT-ST Appears

The need to capture an AT-ST for themselves rather than simply blow it up made this so much harder than it needed to be

### Runtime

2:46:55

*A wild ATST hunt turns bad as buildings are destroyed and, false Stormtroopers are shot coldblooded as they run away and the lives of innocent stoners are at risk. Bota dresses up as a Toyota Corolla driving Imperial General that forces those under him to maintain his college-glory-year vehicle. Katira passes out. Tek disables the tracking chips on the kidnapped victims. Droo destroys an AT-ST. Tek and Droo fly the Red ....something .... over to a Twinkie shaped ship in hopes of capturing it. We find out the fake stormtroopers were working for someone whose identity they fear to disclose but they were trying to find the Ithorian youth that left his Grandpa slugface. Bota plays the hero and resuscitates everyone affected by the building fire that the "Stormtroopers" started and the Twinkie ship begins a self-destruct timer. Will our heroes ever find the Ithorian youth? They seem to be inching closer....*

## **Previously**

*Having destroyed the castle of the evil Lord Sithspawn, our heroes were introduced to the no longer dead Jedi Master Dask Ra'tava, whose spirit recently inhabited a clone of himself that was being created by Sithspawn. Unsure that he should exist at all any longer in the galaxy, Dask has proposed the creation of a secret Jedi Order dedicated to combatting Sithspawn and the aberrations that he is working to bring to the galaxy. The first step on the path to accomplishing this: finding some Jedi.*

*With this goal in mind, the team set course for Tatooine in hopes of finding the young Ithorian left there some time ago by Genos Ia'danian. Before they could look for the child though, the group first needed to stop in on the local cantina, cash in on Tek’s musical success, stumble upon a major slaving operation, challenge the moral fortitude of Katira, and… what were we here for again?*

## **Recap**

### **Lay of the Land**

Exiting from the back of the warehouse, Bota, Katira, and Tek see smoke rising in the distance as a Lambda-Class Shuttle flies away in the distance. A short distance ahead a cadre of stormtroopers are milling about, setting a perimeter but appearing mostly disinterested in the goings on in the town.

Droo begins evacuating the slaves from the warehouse into the *Red Shift* as Bota uses his jetpack to obtain a better vantage point of the situation. From the roof of a nearby building, Bota notes that the smoke is coming from a burning house nearby. Adjacent to the burning building are several more stormtroopers and an AT-ST standing guard.

> "*I have bad experiences with AT-STs guys…*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*Have you ever shot out of one?*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*I’ve been shot **in** one, and been shot **out of** one.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

The group moves back to the *Red Shift* in hopes of finding something that will be useful for the current situation. Finding a plethora of weapons, armor, droids, knick knacks, and other useless materials, they finally stumble upon several Imperial uniforms. Tek and Katira dress as Ensigns, and Bota dons a General’s uniform as Droo finishes loading the slaves.

Before heading out, Katira grabs the comlink from the slaver that the team captured last mission in hopes that she can find some connection to the Imperials outside. Not knowing who will be on the other side of the line when she activates the communicator, Katira impersonates Imperial Commander Bette Davis of Socorro Squadron. She states that they have captured the slaver, and are offering to sell the slaves back for 2.5 million credits. In response, a furious slaver speaking Barabel states that they will not be trifled with and are sending troops to take back their slaves.

Bota and Katira see the potential arrival of slaver soldiers as a positive outcome, hoping that they will engage in combat with the Imperials and take care of the entire mess for them. Tek, however, recognizes that there is a possibility that the slaves are all being tracked. As the Bota and Katira head toward the Imperials, Tek stays back on the *Red Shift* and begins to disable the tracking devices.

### **Wild AT-ST Hunt**

As Bota walks into sight of the stormtroopers, they come to an awkward attention and inquire why a General has suddenly arrived. Bota responds by requesting what unit the group is arriving from and why he wasn’t informed of any activity in his sector. The trooper nervously states that the group is reporting from a Victory II-Class Star Destroyer Raita nearby, and they were sent to investigate a disturbance in the area.

Sensing that the stormtroopers are attempting to con the pair, Katira steps forward and calls their bluff. Initially stating that they had no choice but to deploy to the location, the trooper becomes increasingly uncomfortable under Katira’s questioning.

> "*Do you have any idea who this man is?*"
> ― Katira gesturing to Bota
>
>

> "*Nobody does, sir.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

As Bota calls for the commanding officer of the operation to come forward, the stormtrooper finally breaks. Turning to the rest of the soldiers, he yells “Cover’s blown!”. Nearly all of the troopers turn and run, and the AT-ST turns and begins to move toward Bota and Katira.

Not thinking of the near impossibility of the idea, Katira and Bota immediately decide that they wouldn’t mind owning an AT-ST and launch into battle with the walker, hoping to think up some plan to steal it.

Katira quickly takes two shots at the walker. Failing to score a hit on either operator or cause any appreciable damage, she runs behind a nearby building. The AT-ST fires everything it has at Bota, but fails to score a single hit as the bounty hunter rushes under the walker and fires up at its undercarriage, damaging its servos and limiting its maneuverability. Bota then calls over to Tek and requests that he dispatch his scout droids to assist with surveillance. Tek sends out three droids, one to the hangar bay that the troopers are rushing toward, one to the burning building, and one to watch for reinforcements.

Bota and the AT-ST engage in another round of their little dance, with neither scoring a hit, as Katira rushes into the building adjacent to the pair. Running into a wall of smoke as she enters, Katira asks the two (very stoned) residents how to get to the roof. They gesture to a stairwell in the corner, just through a bead curtain. Once she makes her way up, Katira fires shots at several of the retreating troopers, managing to wound one. Unfortunately, she also sees that the AT-ST has moved a considerable distance away from her rooftop.

> "*Wait, that AT-ST ran all the way over there?! I was supposed to jump on his head, that bastard!*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*I told you that was a bad idea. I said to go to the burning building or chase the stormtroopers.*"
> ― Bota
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>

> "*You didn’t say it was a bad idea! Look, when he comes back for you…*"
> ― Katira
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>

> "*He’s coming back for me right now! I’m trying to dodge!*"
> ― Bota
>
>

With the walker too far away to jump on top of, Katira instead fires at whatever stormtroopers are in range, knocking one unconscious. Her plan comes to utter ruin, however, when the AT-ST notices her blaster fire. Turning just slightly, the walker fires its entire salvo of weapons directly at the building that Katira is perched atop. Katira attempts to jump to the next building, but the floor collapses from under her feet as she attempts to jump and she is knocked unconscious in the rubble.

### **Obvious Solution**

Realizing that capturing the AT-ST might not be happening, Bota rushes toward Katira and comms over to Tek on the *Red Shift*, asking him to pilot the ship over and provide cover fire against the AT-ST. Seeing no immediate means of getting to Katira, Bota then runs into the burning building to see if he can find the  young Ithorian that the team came to Tatooine for in the first place.

Tek skillfully brings the *Red Shift* up from the docking bay, only running into the building a few time on the ascent, then heads toward the rest of the team. With Droo on weapons, the ship fires what was intended as a cover shot at the AT-ST, crippling the walker. Inside, the pilots immediately evacuate as all systems report that a self destruction is imminent.

> "*No! My AT-ST!*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*The thing that almost killed you.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*Technically, the **building** almost killed me.*"
> ― Katira
>
>

Inside the burning building, Bota finds a dead stormtrooper on the ground next to the body of an old, dying Ithorian. Unable to provide any medical assistance, Bota instead pulls the old man out of the wreckage. Asking him what happened as he lays the Ithorian safely on the ground, Bota rushes back to the burning building before he can find an answer. Once inside, he manages to find an access to the collapsed building next door and pulls Katira out of the rubble, bringing her to the same spot as the Ithorian.

Meanwhile, Tek pilots the *Red Shift* to the retreating stormtroopers just as their ship is preparing to launch. Both he and Droo open fire on the vessel repeatedly, disabling the controls and damaging its engines, then overloading the ships shields and destroying whatever weapons emplacements they can see. As laser fire pours into the ship, the stormtroopers can be seen running away into the streets of Mos Eisley.

As Bota lays Katira on the ground, he sees that the Ithorian has passed away in his absence - or he’s just fallen unconscious, Bota doesn’t know how to determine the difference. The only clue that is left behind is the word “Raita” written into the sand.

> "*I don’t really have a bunch of ability to give medical attention.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*No, you don’t… you’ll basically just have to lie her next to the unconscious Ithorian.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

In the Red Shift, Tek activates the ships loudspeakers and commands the stormtroopers to stand down. The troopers readily surrender, but when Tek begins to question them - specifically who they work for - they say that “he” will kill them if they say anything, then turn and flee. Tek begins to maneuver the *Red Shift* to intercept the troopers, but suddenly sees his sensors blaring alerts at him. Tek is forced to pull the *Red Shift* back toward its docking bay in order to avoid the explosion of the stormtrooper’s ship as it self destructs.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Our Heroes**

* Bota Zi
* Katira Eve
* Tek Krodak

### **Mentioned**

* Droo Vos
* Vash Taalweb
* Vash’s Ithorian protector/“grandpa" Momaw Nadon

## **Inventory**

* -aspirations of owning an AT-ST (Katira)

## **Notes**

* Bota briefly considered driving Luke’s Landspeeder to meet with the Imperials, but quickly thought better of an Imperial General arriving in what would essentially be a high schooler’s Toyota Corolla
* The stormtroopers were attempting to escape aboard a Corellian Star Shuttle aka Space Twinky

## **Quotations**

> "*Alright, in the Red Shift you have…*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*12 space suits. 15 medpacs. Toilet paper and water.*"
> ― Luke
>
>

> "*10 nerfs, already herded. 7 teeth of a Rancor.*"
> ― Ilya
>
>

> "*Some cargo netting, just in case I need to lash down any cargo.*"
> ― Luke
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> "*Cargo pants.*"
> ― Ilya
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>

> "*Cargo pants as well. To put on when I’m loading my cargo.*"
> ― Luke
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>

> "*If somebody asks where we’re from, what do we say?*"
> ― Bota
>
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> "*Socorro Squadron. It’s going to be our calling card to Sithspawn and Thrawn.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*A piece of the roof hits you, knocking you unconscious.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*But… are the space stoners okay?*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*You guys will have to… I mean, wait, you can’t tell. You’re knocked out.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*An 8 for climbing the rubble? So you try to climb up, but only get about 3 feet off the ground and can’t find anything else.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*Then can I try to go inside this burning building and see if the Ithorian kid is in there?*"
> ― Bota
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>

> "*Okay, so you immediately give up on Katira and instead run into the burning building.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*Genos left that kid with his grandfather?*"
> ― Katira
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>

> "*He left him with an old Ithorian. You guys made up the grandpa part.*"
> ― Jordan
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> "*I’ll head over to help Tek and just leave Katira here to wake up on her own.*"
> ― Bota
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>

> "*I hope she’s okay.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*A wandering pickpocket comes by and robs Katira.*"
> ― Bota
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>

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