Game Night Tales from around the gaming table

 

Rise of the Insurgents is based on the Dawn of Defiance Campaign.  I found that I didn't like everything about it as written.  I've also got fewer Players than needed, so I'm using it as source material and background.

 

 

We had already started this game when the first Episode was published, however we had 2 of the main players leave the game -- they moved cities -- so this is a restart of that game with new players, but with the same storyline.

 

 

As this is a continuation of 2 older games, here is a breakdown of what had occurred before this restart. Since they were over 6 months ago, I can't remember exactly what went on, which is one of the reasons for this site, so here are my original notes. (Yet another reason for this site... Most DMs make crappy notes, and this is a fine example of that.)

 

• Team formed by Triba to help her gain good PR for her Family's political rise on Kestos Minor.

• Landed at Sel Zonn Station
• Rennik downloaded public Wanted list (Including 10 Zabrak relatives) as well as contract jobs.
• Faced off against Imperial Officer looking for their, unheard of, Imperial citizenry dockets (Passports)
• Erik and Rennik get arrested while Triba avoids this using her diplomatic mission card.  Hundreds of other Fringe and non-humans are also arrested in these raids.
• While being loaded up for transport to jail, Erik was able to save a Mon Cal in a way that looked like he attacked him, gaining him leniency later on by a Clone Trooper that witnessed it.
• The boys got a first hand taste of Imp hospitality and were beaten with shock-sticks.
• Triba researched and then talked her way into the Imp admin office to fast-track getting Imperial citizenry dockets for the team.
• The boys BSed their way out of getting put into a toxic holding tank (Rennik smelled the spent coolant) via Erik's Mon Cal move and Rennik's quick thinking and bad footwork.

• Triba managed to make a "Helpful" contact with Dorca, (which got the boys sprung in 3 days vs. two weeks.)

• Triba also manages to get Rennik an Imperial Captain's Accredited Licence.
• Team scours the ship (Ghtroc 720 "Shelly" freighter - SotG pg 88) and finds an obvious bug (Location 3) and the hidden kill switch/locator beacon (under Location 5). (both left in place for now)
• Triba and Erik purchased custom medical suite for ship to forward her PR campaign, meeting Ms. Fenn.  Triba again uses her noble status to gain a great deal on the medical suite.
• Erik and Rennik assemble it and Rennik also built in a one-man hide-hold.

• Rennik makes "down below" contacts and meets Sian Snuub who offers fix the ship and override the kill-switch/locator beacon (Will take at least a week).  Also gains a list of 21 planets that have gone dark and are no longer communicating.
• Triba visited Dorca and gained another list of 24 planets that the Imps think would be good for her PR campaign.  One of the dark planets was between 2 of Triba's planets

• Team goes to "Ceals" Restaurant to keep up their pro-Imp appearances and mollify those contacts.
• There they learn, from a proud Kar Delrumn, that many of the others taken in the raids, a week ago, died from complications from their stay in the holding tank.  They also find out that the boys are poisoned as well.  However, Kar provides them with a cure that they will need to take for a week.
• Rennik finds out that a "wanted" Zabrak cousin is hiding on the station and desperately needs to get off-station before someone collects the 500 credit bounty on him.

• The "Shelly" is docked in Freighter Bay 1, Dock 12.
• Triba and Erik meet up with Neahmahn Toth and Shay Dawn
• Ship was shot up by and damaged by Insurgent ship as it tried to flee the Empire.
• Team scours the ship (Ghtroc 720 "Shelly" freighter - SotG pg 88) and finds an obvious bug (Location 9) "perv cam" by the techs. (left in place but was later eaten by lizard).

• Triba found out that her family has move to the 12th in line. (Empire assassins eliminated the other families)
• Battle with squad of Stormtroopers.
• Made deal with Sian Snuub for the Stormtrooper weaponry for 3 holdouts and 2 heavy blasters, plus information.
• Toth was "mugged" and his security and blaster were stolen.

• Toth recovers in Bacta tank and is released.

 

 

 

Rennik had smuggled his Zabrak cousin on to the ship while the repairs were being done and needed to get him to a colony where he'd be safe from the Empire.

 

Things on the station were getting worse; there were more and more of the new Empire's troops there.  They were flexing their power and the non-humans on the station were next to invisible.  Rennik knew that they needed to get off sooner rather than later.  A thorough search of the ship might locate his cousin and then the entire ship and crew would be arrested for a second time.  He doubted that the Lady Drake would be able to pull them out of the fire again.

 

The new Imperial BOSS officer was demanding that all Captains come in person to obtain debarkation permission from the station.  He arrived at the BOSS offices to find that there were a myriad of forms to complete.  In fact, he found out about the forms as he was standing at the back of a long line of captains.  It seemed that everyone who could was petitioning to leave.

 

Damn it! He'd need the Lady to work her magic again and cut through all this red tape.  That's when he saw Wolf walking up the line behind him, offering to help fill in the forms for a ride off the station.  Rennik, not wanting to lose an opportunity, waved him over.  After a brief discussion of skills and desired drop off planets, he struck a deal with Wolf, on the condition that his bureaucratic skills got them off this station.

 

Wolf's skills at unravelling red tape succeeded and Rennik got his permission, after he delivered the BOSS officer a bottle of 30 year-old Corellian Golden.  A quick trip back to the ship and they'd be able to leave, but another problem reared its head -- Wolf didn't have the new Imperial Dockets needed to get into the hanger bay.

 

Lady Drake would be needed after all.  Leaving Wolf at Gundark’s Cantina, Rennik had a quick talk with her and left her with him while he returned to the BOSS office to pay for their clearance off this hell hole.

 

Two hours later they were all aboard and taxiing out of the station.  The Imperials only did a cursory scan -- the ship was after all, an Imperial Noble's.

 

Once underway, Rennik’s cousin made his presence known and told of his urgent need to get to Alderaan, as he had vital information on the new Empire.  Since Erik and Triba were still busy readying the medical bay for their first stop, Rennik decided that he'd alter course and head for a similarly named planet that was just beyond Alderaan.

 

As they came out of hyperspace, they almost splattered into an Imperial Destroyer; only due to the quick reaction of Wolf and the exceptional piloting of Rennik did they survive.

 

The Imperials had a different conclusion -- terrorist or smugglers, either way scum to be arrested -- and as Rennik was just clearing them, they slammed a tractor beam on them and drew them into the main hanger bay.

 

Once again having a Noble on board helped to smoothed things over, but even then the Imperials ejected their ship before anyone could get back to the cockpit and the ship wound up hitting the atmosphere at a poor angle.  Rennik was able to land the ship where his cousin needed, but the ship took severe damage -- the landing struts were crushed and the port engine actually broke off.

 

During the commotion, his cousin slipped away into the lands surrounding the Royal Palace.  Rennik and Wolf met privately with the famous Bail Organa -- it seems that this was who his cousin had needed to see.  After a brief talk Bail nodded to himself, he would trust these two.  He asked them to retrieve one Admiral Gilder Varth from a secret Imperial prison on the planet Felucia.  They discussed how to leave the others behind without sending up flags.  They also needed a ship to get them there.  Senator Bail to the rescue; he would supply them with a ship and have their ship fixed -- he would ensure that it took as long as needed for them to get back.

 

That night they boarded the Banshee and met Captain Okeefe.  In transit they received more intel on their target and the prison.  Bail's network had very little information on the planet -- due to it being so remote and unpopulated -- and next to nothing, except the coordinates, on the prison.  The one thing that they had in their favour was that there were very few troops.

 

But again, luck was not with them.  As they exited hyperspace the ship lurched and bucked as Captain Okeefe shouted for everyone to grab a hold of something.  The Imperials had a Star Destroyer in orbit and to avoid detection she dove her ship into the atmosphere, so that anyone scanning would only read a falling asteroid.  She managed to pull out of her suicidal dive, but at the cost of damage to her ship.  A hair-raising hurdle over the vast fungal forest ended in a crash landing on nice soft swampy ground.  Okeefe was quick to get out and look over her ship -- there was only some minor damage -- as a side benefit, the splashdown had covered the ship in a thick layer of muck and grime.  Okeefe was sure that it would keep the ship hidden and insulated from scans.  She would stay here and fix the ship, while the boys completed their mission.

 

They were about 2 to 3 days walk from the prison, but depending on the terrain that might double or triple.  Okeefe raided her escape shuttles for pre-pack food stores and water filter canteens for them to take on their journey and also a locator device to get them to and from the prison.

 

Rennik and Wolf set out immediately, wanting to keep their time on planet to a minimum.

 

It was a difficult trip; there were many dangers in the forest of giant mushrooms.  Sinkholes, acid pools, plant-life that would harpoon them if they got to close and the worst were the large mushrooms that actually exploded into fireballs when touched.  Wolf experienced one of these firsthand; luckily he was covered in slimy mud at the time.

 

After more than 7 hours humping it through the jungle, they found the first clear water that they could use to refill their canteens.  Since they were both scouts they knew enough to be wary of such places.  First one, then the other slowly made their way out into the water.  It felt good to get the slime off and drink their fill.

 

The attack came as they left the pond.  It was a fierce battle -- they were outnumbered 2 to 1.  With their modern weapons they were winning, until one of the creatures hit Rennik with some kind of Force attack.  Wolf not wanting that to happen to him, flipped his blaster to kill and took aim.

 

The fighting was stopped when one Vazus Mandrake, an old human who seemed to be able to talk to the creatures, called out to stop the fighting.

 

They learned that the creatures were actually the native Felucians.  Vazus warned them of the dangers of being out after the sun went down and offered to shelter them until morning at a nearby village.