Ending The War, It Begins [SWSE]

[Disciple of Sakura]

As the ship shuddered out of hyperspace, Dakine did her best to calm her jittery innards and regain control of the situation. One look out the nearest window and she could tell that there was a lot of hardware accumulated here. Like most padawans, she had been taught to trust the Force over her own senses, and, though she couldn't see clearly enough with her own eyes, she knew that the Force could always be relied upon for watching her back. She let her mind slip out of focus, perceiving without knowing...

{+15 Use the Force for perception, as I also have Force Perception... That's a 24...}  

[Anatarei Crimsonthrone]

Perception @ 22+: You notice (or sense) several batteries of vulture droids situated in defense positions on a cluster of satellites near the planet as you approach, though they don't seem to be in attack mode presently. They may make it difficult to escape after the mission, unless you're in a better ship than this one or somehow override their command protocols.

Technology: Knives's computer read-outs and technical know-how tell her that the dual-halo defense system is not commonly used, but it frequently provides command transmission back-ups for droids, as well as forcefield projections, tractor beams, and a battery of defensive missile systems. The planet is heavily defended.

Use Computer: Your computer read-outs also pick up a heavily encrypted command transmission hailing from a large factory complex near the northern pole of the planetoid. The factory complex appears to still be operational, unlike most of the smaller factories on the surface. There's some general droid-based chatter over the network, but it appears that they are, presently at least, reading your ship as a friendly craft.  

[Emerald the Crow]

Knives brought up a spectrum map of the planet over the display, and directed it to highlight and expand on the northern pole. "That base there seems to be a good target - it's the most expansive, and seems to actively be operating at the moment. The others I'm reading don't seem to be nearly as important.

"I might also suggest that we see about finding a better ship on our way out - the defensive halo looks like it could vape us in a heartbeat if we aren't lucky."  

[Lord of the Vine]

"Dee-fence-ive Hay-low?" Tiberius chimed in after grunting himself awake from slumber. Space travel exhausted the old hound. "Let me git a good lookit'er..."

[Mechanics check to see if I can make heads or tails of what this thing is
EDIT: 3. Well, that was a s**t roll. Good thing I have a +14 to mechanics. That makes it a 17 overall.]  

[Disciple of Sakura]

"I for one do not like the look of those Vulture-droids out there. They're not actively moving around right now, but the last thing a heap like this needs is a swarm of droids flying all over it." Dakine looked out the window at the deadly little droids, hoping that this didn't get ugly until after the mission was a success.  

[jennibert]

"It's all right. As long as we can fly something decent to fly, I can get us out of here," said Cole easily. "For now though, we'll just fly casual and hope they don't notice us."  

[Anatarei Crimsonthrone]

Dion Necurat

"Dee-fence-ive Hay-low?" Tiberius chimed in after grunting himself awake from slumber. Space travel exhausted the old hound. "Let me git a good lookit'er..."

[Mechanics check to see if I can make heads or tails of what this thing is
EDIT: 3. Well, that was a s**t roll. Good thing I have a +14 to mechanics. That makes it a 17 overall.]

{From what you know of defensive halos, they are high maintenance space stations locked into a central orbit much like a planet's rings. They're primarily used for small planetary outposts due to the requisite complement of staff to both build and maintain them - despite their superior defensive capabilities, one set up for Coruscant would take milliions of staff and be ridiculously expensive, so even the Republic's capital doesn't field one. They're typically loaded to the brim with missiles, blasters, and battle droids or fighters for skirmishes, and are capable of generating force fields to protect a planet from orbital bombardment. The fact that this planetoid has two of them means that it must be very high priority.}  

[Emerald the Crow]

"'Fly casual,' huh?" Knives chuckles. Looking over her shoulder at DKFT, she turned back. "I'm not sure droids do 'casual,' Cole."  

[jennibert]

"Sure they do," Cole responds cheerfully. "They just call it something that has a lot more words. Isn't that so, DFKT?" He offers the droid a grin, though he wonders if it even has a sense of humor....  

[Lord of the Vine]

Anatarei Crimsonthrone

Dion Necurat

"Dee-fence-ive Hay-low?" Tiberius chimed in after grunting himself awake from slumber. Space travel exhausted the old hound. "Let me git a good lookit'er..."

[Mechanics check to see if I can make heads or tails of what this thing is
EDIT: 3. Well, that was a s**t roll. Good thing I have a +14 to mechanics. That makes it a 17 overall.]

{From what you know of defensive halos, they are high maintenance space stations locked into a central orbit much like a planet's rings. They're primarily used for small planetary outposts due to the requisite complement of staff to both build and maintain them - despite their superior defensive capabilities, one set up for Coruscant would take milliions of staff and be ridiculously expensive, so even the Republic's capital doesn't field one. They're typically loaded to the brim with missiles, blasters, and battle droids or fighters for skirmishes, and are capable of generating force fields to protect a planet from orbital bombardment. The fact that this planetoid has two of them means that it must be very high priority.}

[Alright...can I tell if the grid is active or where it would be possible to disable the halo?]  

[Anatarei Crimsonthrone]

Dion Necurat

[Alright...can I tell if the grid is active or where it would be possible to disable the halo?]

{It is fully functional, but you can't determine exactly where either unit's weak points would be. You do realize, however, that something like this, assuming it had been running, should have been much easier to detect than the commander intimated the planetoid had been, which means it either wasn't running before... or something was masking it...}

Cole effortlessly flies his ship "casually" through the early defensive perimeter security, some chimes and beeps from the computer indicating to those near the forward console that the ship was sending command codes to the drones automatically, allowing you safe passage for the moment. The display that Knives provides gives you a good idea of where you might be able to land. Readings indicate that the best landing platform will still require passage across an open courtyard to the facility's entryway, but it is located next to two large fuel containers, which could provide for some decent preliminary or last minute sabotage.  

[Lord of the Vine]

[Fair enough.]

"Hmm...looks like leavin's gonna be a bit haireh, what with that hay-low there," Tiberius said. "We oughta make a note teh take care of that when we can."  

[Dallas Moonrain]

"Before we get going too far, we should probably have some sort of plan," says Ayan-Dar, peering out the window. "It would be better if once we land we don't go tearing off in 6 separate directions." He pauses for a moment, and then with a sigh turns to Knives. "Perhaps one of your screens will tell us where the best place to head might be?"

{Ayan-Dar also uses his force perception again as the ship approaches the planet, hoping to detect what might be on the surface. +15}  

[Disciple of Sakura]

Surveying the landing site, Dakine turned towards her fellows. "I would recommend placing triggered charges on the fuel tanks - they could be useful as a diversion while we escape, or as a finale for our assault. Perhaps Knives can hack into the system once we land and get a decent reading of the layout, determine the best possible locations for disrupting the assembly and even locate the presumed droid stockpile. And if there's any ships that are habitable by living creatures on this rock, I'd certainly like to get there and claim one of them, as we'll be definitely wanting something else to leave in. Ayan-Dar and I can provide forward point, while Cole and DFKT-1dr bring up the rear. We'll keep the demolitions expert and hacker in the center, unless you'd rather be on a fringe? I'm not sure of your general combat capabilities, but I get the impression that it's not your particular specialty..."  

[jennibert]

"If we want sneaky in the front, I might be a better choice," puts in Cole. "I'm quick as a snake and sure-footed as a goat, and I can slide in and out of things without anyone noticing. Not that y'all can't possibly do the same," he allows. "Wish we'd had a bit more time to get to know each others' abilities before heading out. But I'm good at point."