It is cold. Cold, wet and dark. 0400 hours local is no time to be awake, but as the junior soldier in your squad you don’t have the luxury of picking when you pull sentry duty. At least the rain has stopped, for now.

For the fifth time you begin your patrol of the supply tent area, squelching your way between semi-rigid fabric walls and stacked pallets of unidentified stores. Muddy vehicle tracks left from daylight resupply operations cling to your boots as you cross them, building up layers of tacky clay with each meandering circuit you complete.

The supply depot your are patrolling buts up against the eastern perimeter of the forward base you were assigned to three weeks ago. You have seen some blaster fire, mostly on patrols with your squad or while protecting replenishment runs up to the front line proper.

The base perimeter is secured with sensors, doubled rows of spike wire, and the expected mines and tripwires, so you feel relatively sure no-one in black and white armour is going to pop out from behind a hover truck and start blasting, but you’ve been told to patrol the area, and so you are. Boredom and the cutting cold seem to be the most likely enemies you’ll face tonight and to pass the time, you conjure up memories of more pleasant places and weather….

(Out Of Character- Here we go! Any questions you have you can put at the start or the end of your post, just preface it with OOC like I have here so I know it's not meant to be part of the rp. For the moment, we are just setting the scene, but once we get into the rules I'll explain what is happening as it occurs in-game. Game on!)

Kanen hated this place. It was the polar opposite of home on Tatooine, a bright, hot desert where cold only plagued those out and about when the suns and the honest folk were gone from sight. Here, it was cold. Freezing. The standard Republic uniform could only do so much to keep the chill of the night at bay.

Sighing inwardly, Kanen daydreamed (or nightdreamed, rather) of the day when his grandfather gave the young man his old blaster, 500 credits and a beat up landspeeder and told the man to make himself a living. Even if Kanen hadn't strictly succeeded in selling, he was proud of the fact he had finally set off on his own and survived off of the money he had worked hard to earn. By no standards was he a good businessman, but he missed traveling around his home world. His hot, dry home world. Kanen let out a long breath and took up his patrol once more.


((OOC- Yes? Maybe? No? Hoping I did that right. Sorry it took me so long to reply, busy with a show that I'm working. Should be better now that it's the weekend.))

Your thoughts of Tattooine and times gone past bring a small warm smile to your face, if not actual warmth as you make your way through stacks of hard crates. Coming to the end of row which faces the eastern perimeter, you can almost hear your grandfather's voice in your ear telling you about....

...the wind changes direction suddenly and gusts, dumping what feels like a bucket of driving rain right in your face. You stop in your tracks, running a gloved hand over your face and shaking your head to clear your vision. As your head comes up, something catches your eye in the darkness out past the perimeter fence. Nothing substantial can be seen through the driving rain, but a chill not from the wet and cold seems to run down your spine.

You are about three meters from the end of your 'aisle', between stacks of crates about four to five metres high on both sides. Gaps between each stack run to your left and right, the nearest being half a meter or so behind you. The perimeter fence is about thirty meters past the end of your aisle, and beyond that is difficult to see. There are pools of light cast by pole-mounted spot lights at various points around the depot, but your current position has you inside shadows cast by the stacks to either side of you. The rain continues to gust and ebb, making vision difficult at best.

ACTIONS?



(OOC - To explain what is going on from the rules side of the game: I've assigned a number to how difficult it would be to notice something in the conditions you are in and rolled the number of six-sided dice indicated by your character sheet, in this case your Search skill (4D). That total was higher than the number I assigned, so your character notices something. It wasn't a lot higher, so Kanen doesn't have the full picture, just a feeling. Now it's up to you to choose a course of action based on that. Have look at the skills on your character sheet and see if you can apply any of them. Whatever you choose, put it under the ACTIONS prompt and I'll figure it out.

Don't stress about delays between posting, everyone here has a real life, and that always comes first. I check the board most days, but don't always have the time to post myself.)

Kanen tried to analyze the situation as quickly as he could in this damned rain. It could have been just a native creature, he thought, but it wasn't safe for him to assume so. The real question was whether or not that... shape had seen him. If he chose to think it hadn't, he could simply wait behind the crates and watch for an approach by whatever or whoever it was out there. If he thought it had... Well, if it had he'd either be dead or whatever or whoever it was would remain hidden, and in this rain there was little chance of discovering the imposing being. A tough choice.

Kanen gave himself a slight shrug. He'd have a better chance at both living and destroying the enemy if he waited for the enemy to come to him. Daram parengur frengo- I overcome difficulty by patience. That was his the motto of his grandfather, meant for business, but it could be applied for many other fields and military was included in this number. Some might call it cowardly, but Kanen called it useful. Those that might protest to patience ended up on the list of casualties. He smiled the smallest of smiles as he crouched into a position behind a stack of crates where he could observe the fenceline. He'd nab anyone who dared to cross his fence.


((OOC- Now that I've finished my bit, I've realized I assumed that the fence was either a gate at this position or someone would try to hop the fence right here. Oops. Don't know what I'd do if it weren't one of those two (T_T). Also, I used a latin term that I just changed the names of slightly- from "Durum patientia frango" to what you see above. It amused me that I could use it, 'cause it's my own families motto, or so say my grandfather's family papers No, this grandpap is not inspired by mine.))

(OOC- Looking back at my post, I should have explained the perimeter in more detail. It is a fence, chainlink, around 2.5 metres high and topped with three vertically spaced strands of loose barbed wire angled outwards slightly. It is not electrified. Lightposts are set at the corners aimed outwards but do little to light up the center sections of the perimeter. By all means, ask any other questions to clarify anything you need to know.)


IC-
Deciding to wait in the shadows next to a crate of repulsor lift parts might not be the most typically heroic course of action, but certainly one that paid off in this case. Through the squalling rain, the vaguely seen movement slowly resolves itself into the shape of an Imperial Scout Trooper. The trooper is leopard-crawling slowly forward towards the perimeter fence. You note that the trooper has a small, tightly packed satchel slung over his shoulder.

The trooper doesn't appear to be scanning his surroundings too carefully, a far you can tell. He seems more intent on making careful forward progress. The trooper's equipment isn't remarkable otherwise; the typical kit you expect one to carry.

The rain continues to fall, harder than before if anything, and it seems you are unseen for the moment.


(OOC- Here we have had an opposed roll. The Trooper is trying to sneak in [2D =11] versus your search of the area which caught your interest [4D = 15]. Keep your questions coming, and the little things like the family motto are great, details which flesh out the character. Good job.)

((OOC- Sorry, two questions: one, is the trooper crawling directly towards my location? Two, is his weapon in his hand even while prone, or at his side? This'll help me decide what I would like to do. Thanks!))

(OOC-No problem at all. The trooper is to your slight right, at about one o'clock from your position and leopard crawling directly at the fence. His blaster pistol is holstered on his ankle. That is the only weapon you can see that he is carrying.)

((OOC- Thanks!))

Kanen's heart was beating fast, and yet he felt unexplainably calm. Nothing to lose? he asked himself bitterly, before shaking his head to rid himself of such thoughts. Now was not the time to question himself. Double checking that the safety of his weapon was off, Kanen abandoned his cover and brought his blaster up to point straight at the Imperial as he slowly approached the prone man.

"Surrender!!" Kanen commanded. "Hands where I can see them. Do as I say, and you'll live to see tomorrow."


Actions: Try to restrain trooper, retrieve blaster/search for any other weapons, reactionary blaster shot.


((OOC- Did I do that actions bit right? I've seen it around the club, and figured it might be suitable in this situation.))

OOC- Your actions description is good. We haven't reached the point of covering multiple actions yet (ie retrieve weapon plus search for weapons etc), but we will. For now I'd stick with one action at a time even if it does feel a bit awkward. Basically the more actions you do in one round the harder they all become. Reactionary actions are "free extras" for want of a better word, more like reflexive responses than conscious decisions.

And I think you can't find a better way of learning than to look at what the other players are doing, and see if it feels right for you. Learning by example.

I think I may have described the situation poorly for you, and if i have I apologise; that shouldn't happen. The Scout Trooper is on the far side of the perimeter fence, as in you are on the inside looking outwards, he is outside crawling in. If you want to change your actions based on that, then please do. If not, we'll push onwards.

OOC- Ai, crap. My apologies. Looking back on your description, it was blaringly clear. Let me try that again, but I once more have 2 questions before I do. One, do I have any way of communicating with the rest of the camp besides just shouting? Two, how possible would it be to stun the guy through the fence? Is that at all realistic? Thanks, and sorry about miscommunication on my part.