(Star Wars d6) #41 - The Beast Has Center Stage

 The Current Crew of the Pretio

Ne'vets Aharo - an exotic animal broker, both legal and otherwise, majority owner in the Pretio.

Evus - Twi'lek free mercenary, Ne'vets' armed muscle with a keen eye and a tendency to shoot first.
Tarrie - Human pilot "under contract" to fly the Pretio, and drive the Piscopo.  Brother of potential terrorist, rebel  Latorna Savvn. His climbing skills are suspect, but his grenade skills make up for it.  Edging a dangerous lifestyle of drugs, booze, and loose women
Frokazza - Wookie co-pilot, mechanic, and unarmed muscle. Very distrustful, and that anxiety gives him skin issues.

Duk'k - Sipsk'ud Bounty Hunter, recently rescued by the crew.  Offering his services in order to get off this barely existing hunk of mud.  His warning shots are dead center mass kill shots. 

Missing the Mark

Upon surviving the first day of the 

Imperial Zoological Sympoiusm and Exhibition on Alderaan,

And presenting their own material via Interpretive Theatre Parody,

The crew of the Pretio had near front-row seats to 

Witness the fruits of their latest expidtion:

The public showing of (Thingviller's) Translucent Trapper.

But disaster has struck, as the creature has escaped its 

Cage and is now milling about the thousands in attendance. 

Can the crew capture the creature a second time

Or will this Symposium go down in flames?...

Kafla Thingviller had prepared a dramatic unveiling of his find, he just never expected an empty cage when  the surrounding curtains dropped.  A quick scan revealed the the Trapper up on the ceiling in the center of the arena.  It was 100 meters high, among the lights.  As it tried to do in the canyon, it spread its wings, and the light going through them produced a kaleidoscope of rainbows, descending into the audience.

The Trapper

An unknown number of attendees were mesmerized by the Trapper’s ability.  The others were a mixture of confusion and scientific curiosity.  Very few wisely ran to the exits. 

Duk’k was confused, and turned to Ne’vets, all the while pulling the holdout blaster. "Do we rescue people, do we recapture it, or do we flee with our lives?"

Ne'vets was trying to find equipment near the stage to rush to, but had enough time to casually answer, “We’re going to trap it and show them how good we are.  If we did it once, we can do it again.”

Tarrie, pulled out his blaster in one hand, and palmed a flash bang grenade in the other.

Evus was shocked, “Did security even check you guys????”

Tarrie ignored the Twi’lek and motioned to the Frokazza for the Woookie's spider-web immune skin cream.

Kafla finally snapped out of his disbelief, and immediately hailed a non-fleeing stage hand to help bring the creature down.  The stage hand did not seem cooperative at all.

Frokazza tossed the cream to Tarrie and headed for the sound engineers behind the floor seats in the arena.  

Duk’k scanned the scenario, the lights the Trapper was up on was actually over the far side floor seats, with plenty of scared and mesmerized attendees in danger. 

Ne’vets sought out Kafla’s scientific crew, in search of any tranquilizer guns, darts, and the appropriate drugs. The assistants were nearly underneath the stage, cowering in fear. 

A few more attendees fled, but an unhealthy number were old pros at Zoological Symposiums, and over the years, things like weren't rare occurances.  The regulars unaffected by the wings were more likely to pull out datapads and other devices to document the event, or at least make their own scientific notes. 

The Trapper's web-shooter shot down upon the crowd.  One missed the attendee, the second caused grievous injury to a woman, and a third impaled one of the attendees attempting to take pictures of the beast.   Things just got real, and only the foolhardy didn't look for the nearest exit. 

Knowing what succeeded before, Tarrie doffed his his goldenrod cable-knit sweat and began to lather up with the Wookie skin cream.  

Frokazza scared away the other techs at the sound and light board.  A quick flashbacks from a few random college classes he took around the galaxy, and his time as a fledgling faded away to him donning the wireless headphones and adjusting the boards, dimming the lights in particular. 

Even with the wing's effect subdued, those that had mesmerized could not fight against it.  In fact, they began to fight the others still milling about the arena.  

Kafla pulled out a small tranquilizer gun from his belt.   The dart stuck on the Trapper, but had no effect.  Duk'k finally managed to climb upon the stage, and  nodded to a relived Kafla.  He pointed up his blaster, set to stun, and fired another ineffective shot. Realizing that he was probably out of stun range, he proceed to fire repeatedly at the lights the creature was still hanging on. The barrage broke two the supports, forcing the lights to swing towards the stage, the Trapper plummeting onto the stage.

 It landed square on the stage, staring down Duk'k.

"'Sup bitch," the Sipsk'ud quipped.

Duk'k is not amused....

Ne'vets pushed aside some crates of scientific instruments, procuring two silver tranquilizer guns.  He fired both at the nearby creature.  One stuck in the creature's carapace, the other flew over than struck a Gungan, sitting in the stands, square in their chest.

People finally begin to panic.  Multiple small melees broke out around the arena.  The mesmerized folk were pulling others towards the stage, but few had any sizable success.

The Trapper lept at Duk'k, its attack causing nothing more than glancing blows, forcing Duk'k into a defensive posture.  Just then, the spotlight came on the creature and a salved-up Tarrie leapt onto the beast and began wrestling the it, in the amateur wrestling sense.  He had one leg pinned down and stretching to reach more.

Ne'vets simply shook his head in disgust of Kafla's scientists, and reached for more tranquilizer darts. 

The hordes controlled by the Trapper finally built some momentum to to push the other attendees toward the stage, one right at the scientists, and one at Frokazza and the sound booth.  

Kafla turned and fired his blaster, set to stun, stopping the crowd moving towards the scientists.  

Tarrie managed to lock two legs up. It was quick uncomfortable for both the Trapper and the pilot.

Duk'k stepped back and fired another stun blast at the creature.  Neither the monster nor Tarrie atop it.  were affected.....  He backed into Ne'vets, and needed to ask, "Does Tarrie always do that."

Ne'vets had a quick flashback, of a previously shirtless, but unlotioned Tarrie riding a Diluthian Drop Bear  

"Yep, it's better than dressing up as a cat," and he loaded the final two tranq vials into the guns. 

Both of Ne'vets' shots were surprsingly precise.  The lodged beyond the carapace, and with a struggling Tarrie straining to control the creature, it finally succumbed to the medication.

With the arrival of Alderaan Planetary Security (and campus police), the small riots in the arena were quickly resolved, as the mesmerized folks began to regain their senses.

The group quickly grilled Kafla over the escape.  The Trapper broke out of the cage meant for a creature twice its strength.  Foul play was afoot! 

Upon on-site interrogation, the scientists insisted the they were slowly bringing the creature back from all its medication, but Tarrie quickly questioned flushing the system, "The deeper the arachnid coma, the faster and stronger... they come back."

Ne'vets wasn't worried about Trapper biology, he had other goals.  He turned to Kafla,

"What do we get for catching this thing twice?"

"How about we worry about paying the lawyers," as Alderaan security forces finally descended upon them. 

Detained and in handcuffs, Kafla wondered aloud, "I think we're fine with capturing my Trapper.  I think it's just the guns.  Let's hope all the paperwork is in order."

*Overhead voice*  "Ne'vets paperwork was perfect."

The crews, both Ne'vets' and Kafla's new scientific hires, were sent to Alderaan City proper and interrogated.  All their weapons were detained, but the questioning was rather simple, given the gravity of the situation.  

One by one, everyone was released (albeit weapons held until the left the planet) into an underground parking garage. Upon leaving,, Ne'vets gave his business card to the precinct captain, "If any other creatures need capturing, give us a call."

Ne'vets caught up with Frokazza and Evus in the garage.  Tarrie came out a few moments later.  The shitless one had been given a robe to cover himself up, but it was loosely tied, and  his chest still glistened with Wookie skin cream.

"That was fun!"  Ne'vets said.  "Go team!"

Duk'k felt it was a good tine to ask, "Are your low-key events usually so high-key?"

"Riding with us, you'll never be bored."

Kafla was the last one to emerge onto the street, hands in your pants. 

"Thanks guys, I don't know what you guys did in there, but we got out with less than a slap on the wrist."

Ne'vets, for once, was confused and indifferent, "Uh, thanks, I dunno...."

Kafla continued, "Apparently we were hit for the Imperial Zoological Society  "Any Zoological Exhibition where a creature escapes and re-captured without killing anyone seems to be a great big positive."

Duk'k quickly requested clarification, "What about that dude who got hit by the Trapper's web spear thingy?  And that Gungan?"

"Maybe they didn't find the bodies?  Don't help the police!"

"You guys head back to your hotel. I need to wait for my lawyers. What did you say to them to get us released."

"Just that all our paperwork is in order...."

"That's very weird. Paperwork isn't going to release us on a few thousand counts of attempted murder, much less weapons charges."

Ne'vets and crew wandered back to their hotel and crashed. Day two appeared to be a rousing success as well. 

GM Notes:  Apparently there is a DJ that goes by the name of Wookie, making those pictures easier to find.

Next: #42: The Finger