2.0 - Lure of the Lost

Dagger rushes up the ramp of the Kirtan Strider headed towards the cockpit, as he passes from the cargo hold area of the ship, he sees two stormtroopers standing guard at a door and hears a muffled "..elp! (mumble mumble) in here! (mumble) bite (mumble)." The guards both turn towards the door, distracted. Unfortunately for Mal, he’s right -- something is in there. It’s a small handful of furry, rodent-like creatures curiously related to the blismal of Ilum. As Ilum is largely a fable, it’s not unsurprising that knowledge of the blismal is also not something commonly shared in the galaxy. They were comfortable with Mal’s presence, because he wasn’t getting in the way. But when he starts agitating, his cries and further disheveling of the closet cause them all to start screeching horrifically.

The stormtroopers appear, to Dagger, to be slightly dazed but largely unaffected. And both of them turn distractedly towards the door. They brandish their vibro-knives in the direction of the door, concerned that whatever is in there, making that racket, is about to get out. Imaginations run wild, thanks to Mal’s cries for help.

Dagger is able, therefore to close the distance and his lightsaber swings out. Alas, Dagger’s quick thinking is not quite enough to enable a clean hit and he manages to just nick one of the two troopers. Both now completely aware of his presence.

Mal is surprisingly able to resist the cacophonous wailing of the rats inside the closet with him. It’s like a fire alarm screaming overhead, except it’s all around… and times four. With the stormtrooper distracted again -- this time by the twi’lek with a lightsaber -- he opens the closet door with a quick snap into the wounded trooper, knocking him out with the door (and it’s likely the door isn’t going to shut normally until it’s repaired). A single stormtrooper remains standing inside the Kirtan Strider.

Wounded, and more than a little unhappy, Urik stands up and reaches out to the force. The lightsaber returns to his hand and ignites as he stands defensively against the onslaught of the one-armed stormtrooper. As he does this, Heyop, Csillag and Kaveri take shots at the trooper to aid their wounded friend.

In the hail of blaster fire that ensues, Urik escapes without any harm. The trooper is hit a couple times -- by Heyop and Kaveri -- and although the trooper still stands, he stumbles a bit under the attack.

Insider the Strider the last remaining trooper takes a swipe at the crazy man with the lightsaber. He slides in and connects with Dagger, giving him a vicious wound.

With a distinctive beep-ditty-beep, beep-ditty-boop, the probe droid returns from his mission, ascertaining the scope of the battle, it begins to take some pot-shots at Heyop with its blaster pistol. Luckily for the soldier, he shoulder-rolled into some cover for his shot at the one-armed trooper and bits and pieces of Phemis’ rock formations cascade around him as the droid’s aim is slightly off center.

Despite having taken some hits, the stormtrooper presses the attack against Urik. Vibrosword and saber dance in a flash as the two of them face off and trade blows and parries. The one-armed trooper manages to get in under Urik’s guard and lands another hit -- unbalancing him.

Csillag hears the unmistakable tromping of stormtrooper boots behind her and notices with a backwards glance that a pair of stormtroopers are arriving to reinforce their colleagues. She’s able to spot them just as they enter medium range.

ETA: modified final damage.

As Mal steps out of the closet, surveying his work on the knocked out trooper, Dagger wounds the other trooper. Unbalanced, the trooper is an easy target for Dagger's follow-up body check where he crashes into the closet, as four small rat-like creatures come streaming out of the closet -- heading for the open bay. With a crunch, the closet door shuts, and locks, again. Though opening it may take some doing, as it's taken a bit of a beating thanks to Mal and the unconscious trooper at his feet.

Urik manages to hold his own against the one-armed stormtrooper, getting in some really nice attacks with the lightsaber, but the trooper is ahead of him at every moment. Nonetheless, Urik feels confident in his showing -- it's only a matter of time, he feels, before he'll best the one-armed man.

Heyop lines up a shot during the ensuing melee and lands another hit on the one-armed stormtrooper, who falls to the ground with a groan. In the ensuing blaster fire, however, a few stray shots hit the Kirtan Strider around its gun mount. There appear to be an unhealthy amount of sparks coming from the gimbals.

Kaveri considers her options. Shoot the troopers or shoot the probe droid. She decides the blaster carbines that the troopers carry is a bigger threat and she aims her blaster rifle and begins to unleash several shots in their direction.Several blaster bolts pepper the area around the troopers and they dive behind cover -- cowering under the onslaught. They remain behind cover rather than risk getting hit by shots that are uncannily accurate -- but nonetheless miss. Kaveri says, "We should get to the ship! There might be more of these goons coming and we don't want to be here for the welcoming party if they reinforce with strength!"

The probe droid considers its options and takes another shot at Heyop who remains behind cover, considering his use of a weapon to be the most dangerous to its continued functioning. The shots from its embedded blaster pistol continue to go wide, however, frustrating the droid significantly enough to cause some feedback loop in its logic circuits.