[SW] The Slave Planet

After waiting for Gakomon to recover from his wounds (and doing a quick “milk run” to help pay for the repairs to the Twilight Jumper’s primary weapon) the group interrogates one of the pirates who attacked Galinda and Gakomon on the space station.  He is forced to tell them that his shipmates are heading for Rygellia, to participate in a major slave auction.

After a bit of planning, the PC’s go to Rygellia and bribe the local customs person into getting a ticket to the slave auction.  They also managed to find some uniforms similar to what the Rygellians wear, but unfortunately one of them is very small–only D.J. will be able to wear it.  The Ferret, Gib, and Addama put a new “program” into Peyton’s astromech droid to help it seize control of not their initial target, Storm Killer, but the pirates’ main ship The Counter Puncher.

 Gib, D.J. and the droid (“Landry”) disguise themselves as Rygellians and bluff their way aboard the ship claiming to be a random inspection.   They convince the skeleton crew that the ship is actually leaking radiation, and following a truly terrible Perception roll the pirates buy it hook, line, and sinker.  While aboard the ship, Gib overhears the pirates saying that the highlight of the auction is supposed to be a real Jedi, but D.J. misses the comment (the player wasn’t paying attention)  The other PC’s, disguised as service workers, then board the Puncher to “fix the problem.”  The pirates are then ambushed and the Counter Puncher takes off to rendevous with Galinda and Gak, who were still aboard the Twilight Jumper.  Finally, after leaving Rygellian space, Gib mentions the rumor about the Jedi, prompting a lengthy discussion about the practicality of heading back to Rygellia to rescue him or her.  Eventually Addama and Peyton head back with the Twilight Jumper, with D.J. having snuck aboard.

At the auction, Peyton uses the Force to contact the captive Jedi, Shaak Ti (who has the notable quality of being the first NPC of the campaign to have appeared in the movies).  Shaak Ti tells Peyton to be on her guard, because an Imperial task force in en route!  As the Clone Troopers storm the colloseum where the auction is being held, Peyton and her friends overcome Shaak Ti’s guards and manage to escape back to the Twilight Jumper in all the chaos.

Shaak Ti informs the PC’s that there is a fledgling rebellion in the works and asks them to meet with a contact of hers who can help them be a part of this.  Shaak Ti then spends some time with Peyton to help train her in the ways of the Force and then, citing the need for the Jedi to not travel together lest they be caught, commandeers the Twilight Jumper and leaves, promising to return.

[SW]A Yard of Opportunity

While aboard the Twilight Jumper, Addama tells his background story.  He was part of a crew of hijackers and pirates who nevertheless avoided unnecesary violence.  Unfortunately there was a mutiny on his ship led by a shipmate named Tharafax.  Tharafax and the crew had seized the ship of a Wookie big game hunter named Gakomon and intended to kill him.  Addama managed to get away in an escape pod with Gakomon and make their way onto the planet where they met the other PC’s.

While on board the pirate ship, Addama had heard about a place called “The Yard” where entrepeneurial individuals could make some quick cash if they were flexible in their morals.  The Yard is operated by a woman named Sarjutta-Ok-Topii, a former member of the Trade Federation and the Separatist movement.  Now she runs an outfit called Executive Results which ships parts and supplies and has a small mercenary wing.  After meeting a few of the other employees, Sarjutta offers the PC’s a job: recover a ship, the Storm Killer, which has been impounded by the authorities on a space station called “Zirtan’s Anchor.”

Before leaving, the crew picks up another member: a mysterious “librarian” named Galinda who is apparently stranded on the Yard.  Jager hires her to tutor his niece.

When the PC’s get to Zirtan’s Anchor, they check with the local authorities and discover that the ship hasn’t just been impounded, it’s been sold to a visiting businessman: a Captain Tharafax.  By pure coincidence, Tharafax and some of his crewmen have had a near run-in with Addama, Gak, and Galinda.

Jager argues with the authorities that Tharafax is himself a criminal, while the crew rounds up Gak to offer evidence.  Things don’t go their way, however, with several members of Tharafax’s crew jump Gak and Galinda.  Gak goes down quickly, but Galinda makes handy work of three of them with a vibroblade (Gak misses the entire scene, but is later given credit for the kills by Galinda).

Things unravel quickly as Tharafax flees in his ship, the Counter Puncher, while some of his crew attempt to leave in the Storm Killer.  Addama and Noc pursue in the Twilight Jumper, but quickly fall to the Storm Killer’s superior firepower.

The group has been dealt a hard blow.  Gak is seriously wounded but recovering.  The Jumper has lost is only weapon, and their goal has eluded their grasp.

[SW] The (not so) Great Casino Caper

Matthias, Peyton, DJ, and Noc scout out a possible casino for them to enact their scheme of raising enough credits to buy a ship with a little “help” from Peyton’s Jedi abilities.  The casino is a large but somewhat seedy, located in the back of an old warehouse.

Initially, the plan goes well, with Noc being able to run up almost seven thousand credits (with the odd bit of help).  All doesn’t go to plan, however, when Noc and Peyton are invited to visit Lido Kast, the owner of the casino.  Kast informs them that he is wise to their scheme; his security measures spotted Peyton’s lightsaber when she came in (Noc at this point had no idea she was a Jedi and thought he was just doing very well!)

Matthias and DJ realize that their partners are in trouble, and Matthias drops a smoke grenade in the casino, while DJ rushes the office where the other two are kept.

Inside the office, things aren’t doing well.  Noc is being pummeled by one of Kast’s goons while two others overwhelm Peyton and seriously injure her.  DJ and her uncle burst in and make short work of them, however.

Around this time, two other people in the casino, a cyborg pirate named Addama and a Wookie big game hunter named Gakomon have concluded they are witnessing the armed robbery of the premises.  Not to be outdone by (other) criminals, the two begin raiding the gaming tables of loose winnings and then head for the back office themselves.

In the office proper Matthias grabs the unconscious Peyton and leads DJ out the secret exit Matthias used to flee the combat.  Gib Noc, however, is determined to find the safe of the casino’s owner.  Concerned that the police are on the way, Matthias grabs the winnings and tells Noc to meet him at the starship dealership later or else.

While Noc tries to locate the safe, Addama and Gak enter the office and quickly stun Noc before he can make trouble.  Then they try to open the safe (Noc had actually uncovered it) but fail before the police arrive.  Grabbing an unconscious Noc, they also escape through the secret passage.

In a cab heading for the starship, Matthias realizes that Noc has held out on the winnings–he’s several thousand short.  Noc, meanwhile, is being questioned by Addama and Gak, who realize that Noc and his associates may help them also flee the planet.  They meet up with the original group and together work out (after a lot of posturing) a rough partnership and purchase the Twilight Jumper.  They quickly flee the planet (there appears to be an Imperial cruise en route) and Addama quickly sets a course for an out-of-the-way pirate sanctuary.

While in flight, Addama states that the Jumper’s condition seems very shaky, despite Ferret’s assertions to the contrary…

GM’s Note:

All participants receive seven Character Points.

Star Wars: the Darkness Between the Stars

Payton was a young padawan who was running a simple errand for her master when Anakin Skywalker and his Clone Troopers assaulted the Jedi Temple on Coruscant (as depicted in Revenge of the Sith).  Terrified and alone, she managed to remain hidden from the authorities for several months, even arranging transport for herself off Coruscant and to Cerulia, a resort planet that can cater to those wanting something a little beyond the law.

In a crowded marketplace on Cerulia Payton saw Drun Cairnwick, a merchant who occasionally supplied goods to the temple on Coruscant.  Payton took a chance and approached him to ask for help.  Cairnwick was glad to see her alive, and told her that he had heard rumors that there was a rebellion fermenting in the Senate.  Unfortunately, he did not know where any other Jedi could be found, but did know a man who possessed expertise in locating people–a bounty hunter named Matthias Jager.

Jager had his own problems however.  His sister and her husband had recently died in an airspeeder accident, leaving behind their daughter.  Jager was the girl’s only family, and now the bounty hunter was having to travel with a pre-teenager.  Jager agreed to meet with Payton in a crowded spaceport bar, and after hearing her story agreed to help her on one condition: Payton would help him control his niece while in the field.

This is a good plan, because at the moment “The Kid” had been off at the restroom and while returned saw several local police officers entering the bar in search of someone.  The Kid assumed that it was the person to whom her uncle was speaking and, in an attempt to throw them off, approached the police with an offer to lead them to their quarry–for a price.

The police were not amused by this offer, and were discussing beating it out of the Kid when Matthias noticed what was going on.  Thinking fast, he drew his blaster and shot a low-level hoodlum in the back (Matthias had spotted him earlier).  The distraction allowed the Kid to free herself, and Matthias successfully hauled the criminal out of the place.

Back at his hotel room, Jager informed the small-time con artist Gib Noc that he “owed him” for getting him out of the bar without being caught.  After being threatened for a bit more Noc agreed to help Jager and his accomplices off planet.  First, Noc said, they would need a ship.  To get that, they needed someone who knew ships, and Noc knew just who to ask: a Sullustan techie named “the Ferret.”

Ferret was only too happy to help out an old friend (he figured there was money to be made if Noc was involved), so they went to “Fizzi’s Slightly Used Spaceships,” a seedy dealership where someone could buy a ship, no questions asked.  The cheapest one of the lot was a Ghtroc Freighter called the Twilight Jumper, which sold for a measley 10,000 credits.  Ferret swore (after blowing his Starship Repair roll) that the ship was in fine shape.

But how to pay for it?  A loan shark?  Possibly too risky, and they’d have to find a way to pay him back.  Jager had an idea that Payton could use her fledgling Jedi powers to help Noc win the money at a casino.  Payton reluctantly agreed, and they began to make plans to win 9,000 credits without being caught…

GM’s Note:

After a lof of consideration, I decided to try out a new RPG, just to see what it might be like.  I decided to go with one of my all-time favorites, the old West End Games Star Wars RPG.  Rather than try to start off with all eight-to-ten players, I decided to go with a few and then build up from there.  Frankie’s player is Ferret, Willow’s player is Payton, Ransook’s player is Jager, Violet’s is the Kid, and Hanthel’s is Gib Noc.

It’s a very different style from the “kill them and take their stuff” D&D campaign we’ve been doing for years.  There was only blaster bolt fired, and that was from Jager’s gun into Noc’s back.  Instead there was a lot of in-character talking, innovation, and willingness to make this their story.  All told, a good start.

Now, what to do with the casino?