Star Wars (7ABY; M05, D13-D19): “ourland”
-
Morrigan, Ganen, and Sekar / [XP: 15]
Preston, Robert, and Orion all had prior plans.
Month 5; Day 13 (Continued)
After turning over their four prisoners (and Sabine Wren’s corpse), the PCs were notified that Imperial technicians would be searching the Ghost for any data pertaining to the Rebel Alliance or other contraband. They were promised, however, that the Empire intended to honor their salvage claim.
It had been a rather stressful day for everyone, and half of the crew wound up dispersing to parts unknown to decompress and perhaps take in some of the planet’s entertainment offerings. Similarly, Morrigan wanted to pay a visit to the Glow Dome; thus ticking off a third item on her “8 Watering Holes which Every Spacer Should Visit” list. Sekar, Ganen, and Jacinta all wound up going with her.
While the Chissters found the place rather enjoyable, Ganen didn’t find it much to his liking; and when he departed early, he took Jacinta (who found it rather overwhelming and bewildering) with him. After stopping for some food in a much more quiet setting, they returned to the ship.
Soon after Ganen and Jacinta departed, Sekar was approached by an attractive young woman with blonde hair (with neon colored streaks) and a skin-tight prismatic outfit. “You seem like a decent dancer”, the woman commented; “how are you at serving drinks? You left me in a bit of a bind after you hauled one of my best employees off to jail earlier today.”
In the awkward conversation which followed, Sekar stated that she was a bounty hunter and that she’d had no personal grudge against the woman in question. Asked if she was at the club to make another disruptive arrest, Sekar matter-of-factly replied that she was there because her sister wanted to check the place out. The woman seemed more-or-less satisfied with these answers, but also seemed as though she had some things to think about. Sekar decided not to drink too heavily; concerned that the club owner might actually be a Rebel sympathizer.
Back at the Seventh Moon after Jacinta went to bed, Hoke appeared to Ganen and asked how he was holding up. The two then had a pleasant little conversation about ethics and the Jedi.
“You know, there’s a myriad of reasons why the Jedi Order collapsed”, Hoke stated, “but I’m starting to think that one of the key reasons was that they viewed everything in terms of black or white. Today, I saw you take an unarmed young lady outside and shoot her dead; and though it goes against everything I was taught from a young age, I find myself hard pressed to say that you were wrong.”
Month 5; Day 14
By the next morning, half of the crew was still out and about somewhere; but Jacob Opter was up early checking out the Seventh Moon with the help of R4-X7. “Three things…”, he began when the PCs got up for breakfast.
“One, a stormtrooper came by this morning to say they’re done with the Ghost and it’s all yours. Two, your droid says you have a message waiting; I assume that he means on your holonet transceiver that he thinks I don’t know that you have. And three, your droid also says that he was running some log file cleanups and that he found something that he’s concerned about; something to do with the water filtration system.”
X7 showed the log entry in question to Morrigan, and she immediately understood why he was concerned. Late in the evening on M05-D04, the filtration unit had removed nearly a pint and a half of blood from the water system in a span of less than 10 minutes!
Morrigan informed the other PCs and then checked the same timeframe in the flight log. It would have occurred the evening after they recovered the stolen jade statue on Bespin, but nobody could recall anyone having come back seriously bleeding that evening.
But after a few minutes of pondering, Morrigan sudden remembered that it was also the night before Jacinta had shown up to breakfast showing signs of severe anemia. When confronted about it, the girl quickly and silently left the galley.
Asking the other PCs not to follow, Sekar left the galley and soon found Jacinta in one of the cargo bays; pressed into a corner and staring down at the floor. “Why did you hurt yourself?”, she firmly asked.
“I needed to bind my shame to something more tangible so that I’d never forget; even subconsciously”, the girl replied. “I replaced the stim pack that I used”, she then added as though that changed anything.
Sekar didn’t want to get upset with her, since getting upset with her was what had started all this to begin with. Instead, she actually commended the girl for her dedication; but she then firmly told her not to anything like it again, citing that she needed her at 100% combat readiness at all times.
The message on the holonet transceiver was from an unknown address; clearly the sender was someone whom the PCs had given their address to but not gotten one in return. They were each puzzled as they began to read, but it clicked into place about half-way through…
“We managed to hobble together our own holonet transceiver while we were on Raxus Prime doing some other needed work on our ship. I just wanted to let you know that we are all safe and we are all together. We’ve decided that we’re going to try to find Master Skywalker’s secret Praxium; please let us know if you learn anything about it. Thank you again for everything that you did for us.”
- Tillian Kup; Clan Raven
After breakfast, the PCs began the process of moving their personal belongings and other movable essentials from the Seventh Moon to the Ghost. But after only a short time at around 09:00, the ship was boarded by an Imperial army officer (and a handful of stormtroopers) who began rapid-fire questioning the PCs.
“You. You’re the crew of the Seventh Moon?”, he asked. “And this is the ship you seized from those rebel scum-bags? How fast is the faster of the two ships? In hyperspace?” After Morrigan answered each of the queries, the officer continued.
“You have four green flags associated with your registry; we’re giving you an opportunity to earn a fifth. We need you to take off immediately and make your way to the Eliad system in the south portion of the cluster. Once you’re there, contact the victory-class star destroyer Chariot for additional instructions. Countless lives are at stake; you’ve been pre-cleared for immediate departure.”
As R4-X7 began preflight on the Ghost, the PCs made one last dash back to the Seventh Moon. None of the other PCs had made it back yet, so they quickly explained to Opter that they’d been pressed into service.
“Look…”, Opter calmly replied, “in order to get some of your ‘special modification’ transferred to the Ghost, we’re going to need to take both ships somewhere with people who have the right expertise as well as morally-flexible contacts at the Bureau of Ships and Services, so let’s do this… Take the Ghost and go take care of whatever they need you to take care of, because they’re not going to let this go and they’re not going to take ‘no’ for an answer. I’ll wait with the 7th Moon until your friends get back and then we’ll all head straight to Tatooine. Head to Mos Eisley when you’re done; the Ghost is twice as fast so you’ll probably actually beat us there. Then we can get you squared away and we can all get back to doing what we do.”
Morrigan had never actually taken a ship with a standard rating motivator into hyperspace before, and she absolutely loved. But as they hours went by and she checked out the ship more thoroughly, she realized that it was very much in need of a full maintenance overhaul. It would wipe out their slush fund, but she 100% believed that it’d be worth every credit.
Meanwhile, Ganen seriously contemplated using Kanan’s lightsaber to test his recently-acquired Beskad to see if it was authentic. Ultimately he decided against it because; authentic or not, he really liked it and didn’t want to damage it.
Eliad
The PCs reached Eliad around 14:30 in the afternoon and were hailed by the Chariot. They were then put in touch with an agent of the Imperial Security Bureau (part of COMPNOR) named Abigra Ensvanc; an attractive woman in her early 30’s with a major case of resting bitch face. After commenting on how wonderful it was to see one of the most famous ships in the Rebellion’s history in the hands of ‘upstanding Imperial citizens’, she asked what the PCs knew about the planet below them (which was nothing).
“When Emperor Palpatine first ascended and began his disassembly of the corrupt Republic, he faced some backlash from a number of noble families throughout the Core Worlds and Colonies. They rightfully should have been executed for treason, but there were concerns that this might create a pantheon of martyrs for dissidents to rally around. So instead, the Emperor made them a merciful offer: they could keep their lives and all of their wealth if they would agree to permanent exile to the Outer Rim. Eliad was one of a number of planets where thousands of such nobles were relocated.”
“One such family was the Rutherland family of Grandine. After sitting vacant for a quarter of a century, an order was recently issued to demolish their old palace. Twelve hours ago, workers accidentally set off a countdown on some sort of enormous ‘dirty bomb’ which had been constructed beneath the palace. If it goes off, it is estimated that it will cause catastrophic contamination of the land and sea for well over a 100 mile radius.”
“There isn’t enough time to manually disarm it, and computer experts on the scene believe any brute-force slicing attempt will trigger an immediate detonation. The only way that detonation can be stopped is by entering the correct passcode. Eight and a half hours ago, an officer and a squad of stormtroopers was sent down to the Rutherlands’ new palace on Eliad to retrieve the passcode, but there’s been no contact with them since. Apparently their palace is well guarded and they still retain an ungrateful attitude towards the Empire. The only hope now is that they might pause to listen to reason from someone independent. That’s why you’re here.”
“The device will detonate in just over an hour and a half. Fortunately, it will only take moments for us to relay the passcode via Holonet. Succeed, and you will be compensated; fail and there will be no repercussions… at least not for you.”
“The coordinates of the Rutherland estate are being transmitted to you now. According to records, the family at the time of their exile consisted only of Thane and Juda Rutherland and their daughter Alasia; who was less than a year old then. They took no living servants; only a number of droids. Local records indicate that they’ve additionally purchased an inordinate quantity of droid parts over the last thirteen years. No weapons, but exercise caution regardless; there could be a veritable army of droids waiting for you.”
As the PCs approached the coordinates which they were given, the sun was going down in that particular time zone. On the south-east side of a large lake, they spotted a white structure which was around 100’ tall and shaped somewhat like a spiral shell. Parked only a short distance from the south side of the palace was a Lambda class shuttle; which hailed the Ghost as it touched down next to it.
“This is Lambda shuttle QC-813; you guys the follow-up team?”, a nervous voice asked. “It’s been almost nine hours now”, the pilot continued after the PCs acknowledged, “still no sign of the officer or the eight stormtroopers that went in there. I’ve tried scanning for them, but something in the walls seems to be blocking the readings. I don’t know how well comms will hold up; but if you want to give us a frequency, we’ll listen.”
As the PCs (and Jacinta) approached what appeared to be the main entrance to the strange building, an iris around 15’ in diameter opened up to admit them. Inside was an ostentatiously-appointed entry foyer, but the PCs couldn’t see any exits to anywhere else inside. Like the outside; the room’s walls were curved, organic, and irregular without a single straight line or right angle.
On either side of the entryway was a large glass box, each containing what appeared to be a highly-detailed mannequin dressed in the finest noble regalia. Each case also bore a rectangular golden plate; one reading ‘Thane Rutherland (49BBY - 6BBY)’ and the other reading ‘Juda Rutherland (40BBY - 6BBY)’. That left only Alasia that they were aware of, and the PCs hesitantly called out her name.
Immediately, a hologram of a voluptuous blonde woman in her mid-20’s wearing a red dress flickered into focus before the PCs. It was so vivid and lifelike that the PCs might have thought she was real had she not materialized within their field of vision.
“And who do we have here, then”, she asked in a condescending tone. “You certainly don’t look like military. Did the Empire force you to come beg for the lives of the traitors on Grandine?”
When Ganen matter-of-factly answered in the affirmative; the woman smirked for a moment but then looked very serious. “Every last man, woman, and child on that planet should have fought to the death for their lieges”, she snarled. “Instead they just stood by while my birthright and the birthrights of every last one of their betters was taken away. Why should I care about any of them when none of them cared about me?”
Ganen made a short but heartfelt speech about this being her chance to show that she’s a better person, and it seemed to genuinely get through to her. “I’ll make you a deal”, she said after thinking for a few moments. “If you can prove to me that you understand what my life should have been, then I’ll give you what you came for. I made the same offer to the Imperials; they had no desire to understand me at all.”
As the hologram flickered and disappeared, a concealed iris similar to the one over the front entranced opened off to the left of the PCs.
“No cheating”, they heard Alasia’s voice echo from somewhere in the room, “or you’ll be punished”. Before going through the doorway, Ganen took a moment to look each of the others in the eye and admonish them to be respectful.
The first thing which the PCs noticed in the next chamber was about a dozen creepy droids which lookied more like animated mannequins. Unlike the entry hall, this room had more of a normal rectangular shape.
On the left, there were around ten of these droids all decked out in fancy noble finery. They all appeared to be gently pushing and peer around each other to see the other side of the room. Behind them, a screen on the wall gave the illusion of a long hallway with dozens and dozens more behind them.
The lighting on the right side of the room was lower and softer than it was in the entry hall, and the area looked like a bed chamber lavishly decorated with deep red curtains and tapestries. At the top of a small flight of carpeted steps were two more droids sitting on either side of a gold-plated cradle. They resembled the people in the cases in the entry hall, but looked at least a decade younger. Both were staring down lovingly at the cradle while the mother gently rocked it. A table at the bottom of the steps was laid out with all kinds of gems, jewelry, vases, and other expensive knick-knacks.
“I was born right after Emperor Palpatine came to power”, Alasia’s disembodied voice said in a narrative tone. “Everyone important was either lining up to kiss his behind or was too anxious about our uncertain future to even care that I had come to be.”
“This is how it should have been. Everyone who is anyone has come from all over the sector to pay homage to me. It’s wonderful; but it could be better.” The PCs waited; and after hearing nothing else for several moments, they realized that they were being forced to play some kind of crazy puzzle game.
None of the PCs had anything which they were willing to part with and which they guessed would be suitable, but Morrigan got another idea. In addition to the fine clothes, the noble mannequins were adorned with all manner of expensive jewelry. After collecting all that she could, she dashed back to the ship and hammered it all together into a decent-looking crown.
It took her over half an hour; put when she returned and placed it in the conspicuously empty spot on the table of offerings, a door opened up on the opposite side of the room from the one through which they’d entered. “Not half bad”, Alasia commented.
The walls in the next area were all painted to resemble being outdoors on a sunny day. To the right, there was a mock-up of a gazebo; and on the painting behind it, the PCs could see a seashore and a building which very much resembled the one which they were presently in (presumably the family’s original palace on Grandine).
In the gazebo was a long table seated with about 15 kids ranging from 4 to 8 years old. At the head of the table was a blonde girl in a red dress; around 4 years old. There were wrapped boxes on the table, open boxes tossed aside, and opened presents laid out on gazebo wall. The girl at the head of the table was excitedly shuffling through a box; though a few moments of observation revealed that it was just a repeated set of motions which shuffled around the packing paper inside without actually getting anywhere.
On the left side were half a dozen kids in the same age range, but they all had shabby clothes and dirty faces. They were clearly looking on with envy at the party and wanting to get closer, but a pair of armed men in white uniforms kept gently nudging them back with their feet and the butts of their rifles.
“Ah, my fourth birthday”, Alasia narrated. “Only the children around my age from the most prestigious families were invited. The guards are doing a lovely job of keeping the rabble away; but perhaps the guest list was a little too inclusive after all.”
The PCs spent several minutes scrutinizing the children at the table; looking for children who didn’t seem rich enough, girls who might have been wearing the same clothing as Alasia, and so forth. Eventually, they noticed that; while all of the others had their attention riveted on young Alasia, one boy was periodically looking over at a red-haired girl seated next to him and smiling.
When the PCs removed the girl from the table and callously tossed her past the guards towards the poor children, the next door opened up. “The boy should have probably been ejected too”, Alasia said, “but that’s good enough.”
The next chamber was very small and looked like a crypt. In it were two caskets; one labeled ‘Thane Rutherland (49BBY - 11BBY)’ and the other ‘Juda Rutherland (40BBY - 11BBY)’. “Oh, dear”, Alasia’s voice said. “Some twist of fate has taken my parents before their time. But every dark cloud has a silver lining…”
The next door opened without any action from the PCs, and beyond was an elegant ballroom with music playing. Directly in front of the PCs were 200 droids in 100 pairs; dancing in an elaborate pattern in perfect unison. They were in a sort of 10x10 grid, and their pattern was filling most of the space. Every few measures the men would throw their partners into a twirl, and the women would momentarily spin like tops with their arms outstretched; so fast that they were practically blurs. As they spun, they also moved; passing each other and changing partners. Sometimes they’d switch horizontally (from the PCs perspective) and sometimes vertically.
Standing right by the door through which they entered was a stately man in his late 50’s or early 60’s. On the other side of the dancers, there was a flight of red-carpeted stairs up to an ornate throne chair. Sitting in the chair was a girl around 8 year old wearing a red dress and a tiara. Behind the chair is a doorway.
“My coronation day; how wonderful”, Alasia declared above the music. “I’m only 8, unfortunately; so even though I’m duchess, actual rulership will legally be held by my late father’s chief advisor; who now stands watch at the doorway. But enough about that; did you need to come see me about something? It would be rude to just walk through the dance floor; not to mention dangerous.”
The PC were initially a bit puzzled by this one; but as Ganen and Morrigan began to discuss it, Sekar walked up behind the regent and snapped his neck. As he hit the floor, the music went silent and the dancers suddenly stopped.
“Um…”, Alasia’s voice came across the speakers after an awkward pause. “That… Ok, the solution which I had in mind was that you needed to wave to me instead of asking the regent, thereby acknowledging that I was in charge and not him. But… Well I certainly didn’t expect you to do that, but I must say that I like how you think.” The door behind the throne opened, and the PCs continued on.
The next chamber resembled a finely-appointed sitting room. To the right; Alasia, now in early teens, was sitting in a chair surrounded by a semi-circle of men ranging from their early teens to their early 20’s. All of the men were handsome and clearly rich, though they varied on those qualities from one to the other. To the left, there was a glass table with a single red rose.
“I’m only 12 now”, Alasia narrated, “but because I bloomed at such a young age, I’m already the most sought-after girl in the Colonies. So many rich and handsome princes vying for my hand; but whom should I chose?”
Ganen more-or-less deferred to the ladies on this one, and both Sekar and Jacinta essentially deferred to Morrigan. Figuring that Alasia had enough money and prestige, she focused more on attractiveness; ultimately choosing a ruggedly handsome young man who bore a bit of resemblance to Thane Rutherland. Sekar placed the rose in that man’s hand; and after he presented it to Alasia, she smiled and the door to the next area opened.
The next chamber was another banquet hall; this one set up for a wedding reception. There were only ten robots in the room, but screens on the walls gave the impression of a much larger gathering. Alasia in a while dress (the first time she was depicted not wearing red) and her husband sat up at the head table while eight nobles, in pairs, quietly chatted.
“I’m 16 now”, Alasia said, “and this is my wedding reception. Everything seems right in the world… unless there’s a traitor in the midst.” The PCs moved among the four pairs of droids, finding that each pair was just repeating the same two lines back and forth at each other….
- 1A: “I would say the Duchess and Duke have just enjoyed the most magnificent wedding in all the galaxy.”
- 1B: “No doubt, even Empress Teta’s green eyes would have become greener with envy.”
- 2A: “Can you even imagine how much that magnificent wedding gown must have cost?”
- 2B: “I can’t, though I can say it was worth every least credit.”
- 3A: “Such magnificent people, the Duke and Duchess; their children will be the envy of every living parent.”
- 3B: “And a few dead ones too, I would imagine.”
- 4A: “As the Duchess has made it clear that she has no desire to be the next representative in the Republic Senate, whom do you think she and the Duke will support?”
- 4B: “Oh, that’s a very good question indeed.”
As the PCs discussed this one, Ganen made sure that they were discussing it loud enough for Alasia to hear them. At this point, he figured, they’d made a good enough impression that she’d be likely to give them a mulligan on one or two wrong answers; especially if the reasoning behind their choices was sound.
The PCs also asked aloud whether the ‘Empress Teta’ to whom [1B] was referring was the current ruler of the Galactic Empire or the ruler of the earliest recorded interstellar society. “There’s a current Empress Teta?”, Alasia asked; perplexed. The PCs then went on to explain that Palpatine had been dead for three years, which Alasia was apparently completely unaware of. Regardless, she made them continue with the game.
Ganen punched out [3B]; thinking that she was making a morbid joke about Alasia’s dead parents. Alasia replied that they she was speaking of jealous dead people in general; but as he’d been hoping, she allowed them to make another selection. Their second guess was [2A] for commenting on her gown and not her.
“Oh, for heave’s sake”, Alasia cut in in exasperation. “[3A] was the only one who said ‘Duke and Duchess’ and not ‘Duchess and Duke’. But… I can’t fault your logic.” The next door proceeded to open.
The final droid chamber was nearly identical to the first, but Alasia’s parents had been replaced by herself and her husband. “I’m 20 now, and have just given birth to the most wonderful baby girl imaginable. She’s perfect, and she needs a perfect name…”
As Ganen and Sekar started to ponder, Morrigan just casually said “Alasia, obviously”. The next door opened.
The chambers which the PCs had been following had been creating an upward spiral pattern along the exterior of the palace, but the final door opened to the right; towards the interior. Beyond was a large, dome-shaped room with plain white walls; and around the edge stood twenty identical holograms of Alasia. As the PCs stepped into the room, four more copies appeared behind them; completing the circle.
“You’ve done well”, they all said in unison as they began to walk in a big circle around the PCs. “I think you truly understand what was taken from me. But do you really understand me? The real me? Can you even find the real me?”
Ganen had been a good sport up to this point, but time was running out and so was his patience. Pulling his blaster carbine, he walked right up to the nearest hologram; aggressively pointing the barrel right at her head. He then started around the room, doing the same to each one; and a little under half-way around, they all involuntarily flinched just a touch.
“Ok, you got me”, Alasia said with a sigh as the false images all vanished. “It’s ‘ourland’; all lower case; all one word; ‘our’ as in ‘belonging to us’ not as in ‘sixty minutes’.”
Before departing, the PCs took a moment to speak with Alasia about Empress Teta; emphasizing that she was far less malevolent than Palpatine and that perhaps she might reevaluate the disposition of she and the other Eliad exiles. “I suppose I should release my hostages, then”, she replied.
The PCs radioed the passcode (relaying it exactly as Alasia had relayed it to them) to the Chariot the moment they got back to their ship. Just before they lifted off, they saw an officer exit the palace followed by eight stormtroopers.
By the time they reached orbit, they were informed that the passcode had been entered and the countdown had indeed been halted. In addition to the green flag which they’d been promised, they were given 5000 credits and a full tank of fuel.
Month 5; Day 15 through Day 18
The PCs departed Eliad around 16:00; only then realizing that they hadn’t moved any groceries over from the Seventh Moon before they’d departed Adarlon. There was some autochef goop in the pantry; but it had long since expired; so they had to make do with dry rations.
Despite being in pretty bad need of an overhaul, the Ghost gave Morrigan zero problems during their 28 hour flight out to the Arkanis Sector. They reached Tatooine around 20:00 on D15; and as Opter had predicted, the Seventh Moon hadn’t yet arrived.
The PCs were able to put down in spacious Bay 87; and noticing that Bay 86 just across the street was also free, they went ahead and reserved it so that they wouldn’t have far to move things between ships. As soon as they touched down, Morrigan got to work on the overhaul; which she guessed would take around three days.
The Seventh Moon caught up around 09:00 the next morning, and the PCs were able to resume moving things between ships. The smuggling compartment, secondary transponder, and holonet transceiver were all no-brainers; those needed to be installed on the Ghost. After some discussion of the pros and cons, it was decided to put both the auxiliary fuel cells and the high-output ion turbine on the Phantom instead.
With regard to the transponder, Opter agreed pick up the tab on all the shenanigans with BOSS; and he hired Het and Jek Nkik, the same Jawas who’d installed in on the Seventh Moon to being with, to do the work. After all was said and done, the PCs had exactly what they’d had previously…
The Ghost was now the property of ‘Seven Lunatics Freight Hauling’, which the PCs were all listed as contractors in the employ of. They had the same sliced BOSS datapad and two clean alternate ID’s; and even though technically associated with the ship and not the crew, Opter somehow even managed to get all five of the PCs’ green flags transferred.
Month 5; Day 19
In the late afternoon of D19, a very pleased-with-herself Morrigan was putting the last few pieces of the Ghost back together. Turning their attention to ‘what next’, Sekar and Ganen recalled that Badger had wanted them to check out something on Obana before instead sending them to Bespin to do a job for his peer Armor Omada. Obana was only half an hour away and they had nothing else lined up, so they put a call through to Badger.
“Hey, guys; excellent timing!”, Badger greeted. “I’m leaving in less than an hour, so I’m really glad you caught me. So I heard from Armor and he says that you guys are great and that his mystery client was very happy with his burnt memory module, so good job on that. And now Opter tells me you guys are the proud new owners of the Ghost?” He mentioned that Opter had been lauding his ownership of the Seventh Moon over him, but stressed that he held zero ill will towards the PCs. “After our trade”, he asserted, “that ship was yours to fly, sell, swap, or melt down as you pleased.”
“But anyway; now that you’re done with that and if you have nothing else lined up, I’d like to get back to what I talked to you about a month and a half ago: Obana, the lovely planet where I first met you guys.”
“So to recap for the less informationally inclined, Obana first rose to prominence during the Clone Wars selling armor-grade plastoid to the Republic. After the war ended, the Empire picked up their contracts; but the planet actually became very alien-friendly, and rumor has it they even assisted the Rebellion from time to time.”
“But despite being so agreeable to the Alliance and its ideals; after the battle of Endor, Rebel hardliners decided that they didn’t want the planet selling plastoid to the Empire anymore. And when they refused to stop, since it’s what their entire economy was based on, their refineries were all destroyed and their oil wells were set on fire.”
“There were major budget cuts to military and police spending and the Obana Defense Patrol had their fancy and high-maintenance combat pods mothballed; but other than that, they tried to act like nothing was wrong and quickly started running out of money. At the beginning of the third month of this year, the president was about to give a big announcement about something; and everyone assumed that sweeping austerity measures were coming. But she never got a chance to make her speech, because the Hutts sacked the capital that very day… looking for me.”
“Now here’s where it gets strange. Despite their financial crunch and a very destructive invasion; less than two months later, everything in the capital city of Xandar had bounced back good as new. Both of the shield generators were replaced, all of the damage was repaired, there were no cuts to anything, and everything is the city is business as usual. They even gave the ODP their fancy combat pods back and rebranded them “the Nova Corps”.
“And if that’s not suspicious enough, there’s more. From what I’m hearing; the government, citing ‘safety concerns’, is heavily restricting people from going into and out of Xandar. Most of the passenger ports on the mainland outside of the capital have been shut down; and even in the commercial ports in those areas, off-world crews are being told that they can’t leave unless they take a shuttle straight to Xandar. Something is going on out there that the government doesn’t want outsiders to know about.”
“So what’s my interest in this? Well, this is my sector, and I like to know what’s going on in it. Something fishy is happening on that planet, and I want to know as much as possible about what it is.”
“I’ll set up a drop delivery for you; big load of thermal grease or something like that; you can pick it up real quick over in Mos Entha. You’ll be landing at a starport near Xandar but not in it. They’ll tell you not to leave the port, but I have it on good authority that their security is pretty lax.”
“What is not lax is security in Xandar; so watch yourselves if your investigation takes you into the capital. They’re letting people get away with sidearms, but not so much with longarms and military armor. But outside the capital, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Now you guys can run this any way you like, but there’s one person I suggest you talk to and I suggest you talk to her soon. She’s a Falleen woman named ‘Kissis Meenrax’; used to be a big name in the Black Sun Syndicate. When the syndicate was crushed by the Empire after the Empress took power, she moved her operation out here. I don’t know the full scope of her business but I know that she’s running at least one illegal pit fighting arena.”
“She’s actually one of the people I spoke to on my last trip to Obana; Ganen, you might actually remember her. I got kind of an iffy vibe off of her and we haven’t spoken since; but she did at one point say that she’d die before she submitted to the Hutt cartels, and I believe her. Anyway; she lives outside of the city and she keeps her ear to the ground, so I highly recommend trying to talk to her. We hit it off ok, so feel free to use my name if you think it’ll get her talking. Her base of operations is an abandoned gym; it should still be listed in local directories as the ‘Norid Sports Center’.”
“And when you’re done with all that and you’ve found out all you think you’re going to find out, I need you to please do two more things for me… One; while you’re still on Obana, you normal people who don’t live in your armor, please buy yourselves some decent formalwear if you don’t already have any. Doesn’t have to be super pricy, just presentable. You other guys, get some armor polish or… whatever it is you do to look nice.”
“Then, two; I want you to meet me on Scarif; I’m throwing a little party and you’re all invited. So meet me there, I’ll pay you for checking out Obana, and I’ll introduce you to a few people. And if you’ve got nothing else lined up, I’m sure one of us can find something for you to do.”
“So just head to Scarif when you’re done; if it’s not in the Ghost’s nava-computer, it’s half an hour up the Manda Merchant Route from Molavar; if you hit Ukio, you overshot it. Head right for the shield aperture; and when you’re contacted, identify yourselves and transmit the security code which I’m transmitting to you right now.”
Sekar didn’t recognize the name Scarif at all, but Ganen was certain that he’d heard of it; and a few minutes after ending their call to Badger, he finally remembered. It was once the location of a top-secret data vault for projects which the Emperor wanted to hide both from insurgent elements and the Imperial Senate.
More significantly, Scarif was where the Rebel Alliance had won its first major victory against the Galactic Empire; and it was during that battle that the Rebels had stolen the technical readout which they utilized to destroy the first Death Star. Ganen knew nothing else about the place, but couldn’t imaging anyone wanting to throw a formal party there.
Morrigan, Ganen, and Sekar / [XP: 15]
Preston, Robert, and Orion all had prior plans.
Month 5; Day 13 (Continued)
After turning over their four prisoners (and Sabine Wren’s corpse), the PCs were notified that Imperial technicians would be searching the Ghost for any data pertaining to the Rebel Alliance or other contraband. They were promised, however, that the Empire intended to honor their salvage claim.
It had been a rather stressful day for everyone, and half of the crew wound up dispersing to parts unknown to decompress and perhaps take in some of the planet’s entertainment offerings. Similarly, Morrigan wanted to pay a visit to the Glow Dome; thus ticking off a third item on her “8 Watering Holes which Every Spacer Should Visit” list. Sekar, Ganen, and Jacinta all wound up going with her.
While the Chissters found the place rather enjoyable, Ganen didn’t find it much to his liking; and when he departed early, he took Jacinta (who found it rather overwhelming and bewildering) with him. After stopping for some food in a much more quiet setting, they returned to the ship.
Soon after Ganen and Jacinta departed, Sekar was approached by an attractive young woman with blonde hair (with neon colored streaks) and a skin-tight prismatic outfit. “You seem like a decent dancer”, the woman commented; “how are you at serving drinks? You left me in a bit of a bind after you hauled one of my best employees off to jail earlier today.”
In the awkward conversation which followed, Sekar stated that she was a bounty hunter and that she’d had no personal grudge against the woman in question. Asked if she was at the club to make another disruptive arrest, Sekar matter-of-factly replied that she was there because her sister wanted to check the place out. The woman seemed more-or-less satisfied with these answers, but also seemed as though she had some things to think about. Sekar decided not to drink too heavily; concerned that the club owner might actually be a Rebel sympathizer.
Back at the Seventh Moon after Jacinta went to bed, Hoke appeared to Ganen and asked how he was holding up. The two then had a pleasant little conversation about ethics and the Jedi.
“You know, there’s a myriad of reasons why the Jedi Order collapsed”, Hoke stated, “but I’m starting to think that one of the key reasons was that they viewed everything in terms of black or white. Today, I saw you take an unarmed young lady outside and shoot her dead; and though it goes against everything I was taught from a young age, I find myself hard pressed to say that you were wrong.”
Month 5; Day 14
By the next morning, half of the crew was still out and about somewhere; but Jacob Opter was up early checking out the Seventh Moon with the help of R4-X7. “Three things…”, he began when the PCs got up for breakfast.
“One, a stormtrooper came by this morning to say they’re done with the Ghost and it’s all yours. Two, your droid says you have a message waiting; I assume that he means on your holonet transceiver that he thinks I don’t know that you have. And three, your droid also says that he was running some log file cleanups and that he found something that he’s concerned about; something to do with the water filtration system.”
X7 showed the log entry in question to Morrigan, and she immediately understood why he was concerned. Late in the evening on M05-D04, the filtration unit had removed nearly a pint and a half of blood from the water system in a span of less than 10 minutes!
Morrigan informed the other PCs and then checked the same timeframe in the flight log. It would have occurred the evening after they recovered the stolen jade statue on Bespin, but nobody could recall anyone having come back seriously bleeding that evening.
But after a few minutes of pondering, Morrigan sudden remembered that it was also the night before Jacinta had shown up to breakfast showing signs of severe anemia. When confronted about it, the girl quickly and silently left the galley.
Asking the other PCs not to follow, Sekar left the galley and soon found Jacinta in one of the cargo bays; pressed into a corner and staring down at the floor. “Why did you hurt yourself?”, she firmly asked.
“I needed to bind my shame to something more tangible so that I’d never forget; even subconsciously”, the girl replied. “I replaced the stim pack that I used”, she then added as though that changed anything.
Sekar didn’t want to get upset with her, since getting upset with her was what had started all this to begin with. Instead, she actually commended the girl for her dedication; but she then firmly told her not to anything like it again, citing that she needed her at 100% combat readiness at all times.
The message on the holonet transceiver was from an unknown address; clearly the sender was someone whom the PCs had given their address to but not gotten one in return. They were each puzzled as they began to read, but it clicked into place about half-way through…
“We managed to hobble together our own holonet transceiver while we were on Raxus Prime doing some other needed work on our ship. I just wanted to let you know that we are all safe and we are all together. We’ve decided that we’re going to try to find Master Skywalker’s secret Praxium; please let us know if you learn anything about it. Thank you again for everything that you did for us.”
- Tillian Kup; Clan Raven
After breakfast, the PCs began the process of moving their personal belongings and other movable essentials from the Seventh Moon to the Ghost. But after only a short time at around 09:00, the ship was boarded by an Imperial army officer (and a handful of stormtroopers) who began rapid-fire questioning the PCs.
“You. You’re the crew of the Seventh Moon?”, he asked. “And this is the ship you seized from those rebel scum-bags? How fast is the faster of the two ships? In hyperspace?” After Morrigan answered each of the queries, the officer continued.
“You have four green flags associated with your registry; we’re giving you an opportunity to earn a fifth. We need you to take off immediately and make your way to the Eliad system in the south portion of the cluster. Once you’re there, contact the victory-class star destroyer Chariot for additional instructions. Countless lives are at stake; you’ve been pre-cleared for immediate departure.”
As R4-X7 began preflight on the Ghost, the PCs made one last dash back to the Seventh Moon. None of the other PCs had made it back yet, so they quickly explained to Opter that they’d been pressed into service.
“Look…”, Opter calmly replied, “in order to get some of your ‘special modification’ transferred to the Ghost, we’re going to need to take both ships somewhere with people who have the right expertise as well as morally-flexible contacts at the Bureau of Ships and Services, so let’s do this… Take the Ghost and go take care of whatever they need you to take care of, because they’re not going to let this go and they’re not going to take ‘no’ for an answer. I’ll wait with the 7th Moon until your friends get back and then we’ll all head straight to Tatooine. Head to Mos Eisley when you’re done; the Ghost is twice as fast so you’ll probably actually beat us there. Then we can get you squared away and we can all get back to doing what we do.”
Morrigan had never actually taken a ship with a standard rating motivator into hyperspace before, and she absolutely loved. But as they hours went by and she checked out the ship more thoroughly, she realized that it was very much in need of a full maintenance overhaul. It would wipe out their slush fund, but she 100% believed that it’d be worth every credit.
Meanwhile, Ganen seriously contemplated using Kanan’s lightsaber to test his recently-acquired Beskad to see if it was authentic. Ultimately he decided against it because; authentic or not, he really liked it and didn’t want to damage it.
Eliad
The PCs reached Eliad around 14:30 in the afternoon and were hailed by the Chariot. They were then put in touch with an agent of the Imperial Security Bureau (part of COMPNOR) named Abigra Ensvanc; an attractive woman in her early 30’s with a major case of resting bitch face. After commenting on how wonderful it was to see one of the most famous ships in the Rebellion’s history in the hands of ‘upstanding Imperial citizens’, she asked what the PCs knew about the planet below them (which was nothing).
“When Emperor Palpatine first ascended and began his disassembly of the corrupt Republic, he faced some backlash from a number of noble families throughout the Core Worlds and Colonies. They rightfully should have been executed for treason, but there were concerns that this might create a pantheon of martyrs for dissidents to rally around. So instead, the Emperor made them a merciful offer: they could keep their lives and all of their wealth if they would agree to permanent exile to the Outer Rim. Eliad was one of a number of planets where thousands of such nobles were relocated.”
“One such family was the Rutherland family of Grandine. After sitting vacant for a quarter of a century, an order was recently issued to demolish their old palace. Twelve hours ago, workers accidentally set off a countdown on some sort of enormous ‘dirty bomb’ which had been constructed beneath the palace. If it goes off, it is estimated that it will cause catastrophic contamination of the land and sea for well over a 100 mile radius.”
“There isn’t enough time to manually disarm it, and computer experts on the scene believe any brute-force slicing attempt will trigger an immediate detonation. The only way that detonation can be stopped is by entering the correct passcode. Eight and a half hours ago, an officer and a squad of stormtroopers was sent down to the Rutherlands’ new palace on Eliad to retrieve the passcode, but there’s been no contact with them since. Apparently their palace is well guarded and they still retain an ungrateful attitude towards the Empire. The only hope now is that they might pause to listen to reason from someone independent. That’s why you’re here.”
“The device will detonate in just over an hour and a half. Fortunately, it will only take moments for us to relay the passcode via Holonet. Succeed, and you will be compensated; fail and there will be no repercussions… at least not for you.”
“The coordinates of the Rutherland estate are being transmitted to you now. According to records, the family at the time of their exile consisted only of Thane and Juda Rutherland and their daughter Alasia; who was less than a year old then. They took no living servants; only a number of droids. Local records indicate that they’ve additionally purchased an inordinate quantity of droid parts over the last thirteen years. No weapons, but exercise caution regardless; there could be a veritable army of droids waiting for you.”
As the PCs approached the coordinates which they were given, the sun was going down in that particular time zone. On the south-east side of a large lake, they spotted a white structure which was around 100’ tall and shaped somewhat like a spiral shell. Parked only a short distance from the south side of the palace was a Lambda class shuttle; which hailed the Ghost as it touched down next to it.
“This is Lambda shuttle QC-813; you guys the follow-up team?”, a nervous voice asked. “It’s been almost nine hours now”, the pilot continued after the PCs acknowledged, “still no sign of the officer or the eight stormtroopers that went in there. I’ve tried scanning for them, but something in the walls seems to be blocking the readings. I don’t know how well comms will hold up; but if you want to give us a frequency, we’ll listen.”
As the PCs (and Jacinta) approached what appeared to be the main entrance to the strange building, an iris around 15’ in diameter opened up to admit them. Inside was an ostentatiously-appointed entry foyer, but the PCs couldn’t see any exits to anywhere else inside. Like the outside; the room’s walls were curved, organic, and irregular without a single straight line or right angle.
On either side of the entryway was a large glass box, each containing what appeared to be a highly-detailed mannequin dressed in the finest noble regalia. Each case also bore a rectangular golden plate; one reading ‘Thane Rutherland (49BBY - 6BBY)’ and the other reading ‘Juda Rutherland (40BBY - 6BBY)’. That left only Alasia that they were aware of, and the PCs hesitantly called out her name.
Immediately, a hologram of a voluptuous blonde woman in her mid-20’s wearing a red dress flickered into focus before the PCs. It was so vivid and lifelike that the PCs might have thought she was real had she not materialized within their field of vision.
“And who do we have here, then”, she asked in a condescending tone. “You certainly don’t look like military. Did the Empire force you to come beg for the lives of the traitors on Grandine?”
When Ganen matter-of-factly answered in the affirmative; the woman smirked for a moment but then looked very serious. “Every last man, woman, and child on that planet should have fought to the death for their lieges”, she snarled. “Instead they just stood by while my birthright and the birthrights of every last one of their betters was taken away. Why should I care about any of them when none of them cared about me?”
Ganen made a short but heartfelt speech about this being her chance to show that she’s a better person, and it seemed to genuinely get through to her. “I’ll make you a deal”, she said after thinking for a few moments. “If you can prove to me that you understand what my life should have been, then I’ll give you what you came for. I made the same offer to the Imperials; they had no desire to understand me at all.”
As the hologram flickered and disappeared, a concealed iris similar to the one over the front entranced opened off to the left of the PCs.
“No cheating”, they heard Alasia’s voice echo from somewhere in the room, “or you’ll be punished”. Before going through the doorway, Ganen took a moment to look each of the others in the eye and admonish them to be respectful.
The first thing which the PCs noticed in the next chamber was about a dozen creepy droids which lookied more like animated mannequins. Unlike the entry hall, this room had more of a normal rectangular shape.
On the left, there were around ten of these droids all decked out in fancy noble finery. They all appeared to be gently pushing and peer around each other to see the other side of the room. Behind them, a screen on the wall gave the illusion of a long hallway with dozens and dozens more behind them.
The lighting on the right side of the room was lower and softer than it was in the entry hall, and the area looked like a bed chamber lavishly decorated with deep red curtains and tapestries. At the top of a small flight of carpeted steps were two more droids sitting on either side of a gold-plated cradle. They resembled the people in the cases in the entry hall, but looked at least a decade younger. Both were staring down lovingly at the cradle while the mother gently rocked it. A table at the bottom of the steps was laid out with all kinds of gems, jewelry, vases, and other expensive knick-knacks.
“I was born right after Emperor Palpatine came to power”, Alasia’s disembodied voice said in a narrative tone. “Everyone important was either lining up to kiss his behind or was too anxious about our uncertain future to even care that I had come to be.”
“This is how it should have been. Everyone who is anyone has come from all over the sector to pay homage to me. It’s wonderful; but it could be better.” The PCs waited; and after hearing nothing else for several moments, they realized that they were being forced to play some kind of crazy puzzle game.
None of the PCs had anything which they were willing to part with and which they guessed would be suitable, but Morrigan got another idea. In addition to the fine clothes, the noble mannequins were adorned with all manner of expensive jewelry. After collecting all that she could, she dashed back to the ship and hammered it all together into a decent-looking crown.
It took her over half an hour; put when she returned and placed it in the conspicuously empty spot on the table of offerings, a door opened up on the opposite side of the room from the one through which they’d entered. “Not half bad”, Alasia commented.
The walls in the next area were all painted to resemble being outdoors on a sunny day. To the right, there was a mock-up of a gazebo; and on the painting behind it, the PCs could see a seashore and a building which very much resembled the one which they were presently in (presumably the family’s original palace on Grandine).
In the gazebo was a long table seated with about 15 kids ranging from 4 to 8 years old. At the head of the table was a blonde girl in a red dress; around 4 years old. There were wrapped boxes on the table, open boxes tossed aside, and opened presents laid out on gazebo wall. The girl at the head of the table was excitedly shuffling through a box; though a few moments of observation revealed that it was just a repeated set of motions which shuffled around the packing paper inside without actually getting anywhere.
On the left side were half a dozen kids in the same age range, but they all had shabby clothes and dirty faces. They were clearly looking on with envy at the party and wanting to get closer, but a pair of armed men in white uniforms kept gently nudging them back with their feet and the butts of their rifles.
“Ah, my fourth birthday”, Alasia narrated. “Only the children around my age from the most prestigious families were invited. The guards are doing a lovely job of keeping the rabble away; but perhaps the guest list was a little too inclusive after all.”
The PCs spent several minutes scrutinizing the children at the table; looking for children who didn’t seem rich enough, girls who might have been wearing the same clothing as Alasia, and so forth. Eventually, they noticed that; while all of the others had their attention riveted on young Alasia, one boy was periodically looking over at a red-haired girl seated next to him and smiling.
When the PCs removed the girl from the table and callously tossed her past the guards towards the poor children, the next door opened up. “The boy should have probably been ejected too”, Alasia said, “but that’s good enough.”
The next chamber was very small and looked like a crypt. In it were two caskets; one labeled ‘Thane Rutherland (49BBY - 11BBY)’ and the other ‘Juda Rutherland (40BBY - 11BBY)’. “Oh, dear”, Alasia’s voice said. “Some twist of fate has taken my parents before their time. But every dark cloud has a silver lining…”
The next door opened without any action from the PCs, and beyond was an elegant ballroom with music playing. Directly in front of the PCs were 200 droids in 100 pairs; dancing in an elaborate pattern in perfect unison. They were in a sort of 10x10 grid, and their pattern was filling most of the space. Every few measures the men would throw their partners into a twirl, and the women would momentarily spin like tops with their arms outstretched; so fast that they were practically blurs. As they spun, they also moved; passing each other and changing partners. Sometimes they’d switch horizontally (from the PCs perspective) and sometimes vertically.
Standing right by the door through which they entered was a stately man in his late 50’s or early 60’s. On the other side of the dancers, there was a flight of red-carpeted stairs up to an ornate throne chair. Sitting in the chair was a girl around 8 year old wearing a red dress and a tiara. Behind the chair is a doorway.
“My coronation day; how wonderful”, Alasia declared above the music. “I’m only 8, unfortunately; so even though I’m duchess, actual rulership will legally be held by my late father’s chief advisor; who now stands watch at the doorway. But enough about that; did you need to come see me about something? It would be rude to just walk through the dance floor; not to mention dangerous.”
The PC were initially a bit puzzled by this one; but as Ganen and Morrigan began to discuss it, Sekar walked up behind the regent and snapped his neck. As he hit the floor, the music went silent and the dancers suddenly stopped.
“Um…”, Alasia’s voice came across the speakers after an awkward pause. “That… Ok, the solution which I had in mind was that you needed to wave to me instead of asking the regent, thereby acknowledging that I was in charge and not him. But… Well I certainly didn’t expect you to do that, but I must say that I like how you think.” The door behind the throne opened, and the PCs continued on.
The next chamber resembled a finely-appointed sitting room. To the right; Alasia, now in early teens, was sitting in a chair surrounded by a semi-circle of men ranging from their early teens to their early 20’s. All of the men were handsome and clearly rich, though they varied on those qualities from one to the other. To the left, there was a glass table with a single red rose.
“I’m only 12 now”, Alasia narrated, “but because I bloomed at such a young age, I’m already the most sought-after girl in the Colonies. So many rich and handsome princes vying for my hand; but whom should I chose?”
Ganen more-or-less deferred to the ladies on this one, and both Sekar and Jacinta essentially deferred to Morrigan. Figuring that Alasia had enough money and prestige, she focused more on attractiveness; ultimately choosing a ruggedly handsome young man who bore a bit of resemblance to Thane Rutherland. Sekar placed the rose in that man’s hand; and after he presented it to Alasia, she smiled and the door to the next area opened.
The next chamber was another banquet hall; this one set up for a wedding reception. There were only ten robots in the room, but screens on the walls gave the impression of a much larger gathering. Alasia in a while dress (the first time she was depicted not wearing red) and her husband sat up at the head table while eight nobles, in pairs, quietly chatted.
“I’m 16 now”, Alasia said, “and this is my wedding reception. Everything seems right in the world… unless there’s a traitor in the midst.” The PCs moved among the four pairs of droids, finding that each pair was just repeating the same two lines back and forth at each other….
- 1A: “I would say the Duchess and Duke have just enjoyed the most magnificent wedding in all the galaxy.”
- 1B: “No doubt, even Empress Teta’s green eyes would have become greener with envy.”
- 2A: “Can you even imagine how much that magnificent wedding gown must have cost?”
- 2B: “I can’t, though I can say it was worth every least credit.”
- 3A: “Such magnificent people, the Duke and Duchess; their children will be the envy of every living parent.”
- 3B: “And a few dead ones too, I would imagine.”
- 4A: “As the Duchess has made it clear that she has no desire to be the next representative in the Republic Senate, whom do you think she and the Duke will support?”
- 4B: “Oh, that’s a very good question indeed.”
As the PCs discussed this one, Ganen made sure that they were discussing it loud enough for Alasia to hear them. At this point, he figured, they’d made a good enough impression that she’d be likely to give them a mulligan on one or two wrong answers; especially if the reasoning behind their choices was sound.
The PCs also asked aloud whether the ‘Empress Teta’ to whom [1B] was referring was the current ruler of the Galactic Empire or the ruler of the earliest recorded interstellar society. “There’s a current Empress Teta?”, Alasia asked; perplexed. The PCs then went on to explain that Palpatine had been dead for three years, which Alasia was apparently completely unaware of. Regardless, she made them continue with the game.
Ganen punched out [3B]; thinking that she was making a morbid joke about Alasia’s dead parents. Alasia replied that they she was speaking of jealous dead people in general; but as he’d been hoping, she allowed them to make another selection. Their second guess was [2A] for commenting on her gown and not her.
“Oh, for heave’s sake”, Alasia cut in in exasperation. “[3A] was the only one who said ‘Duke and Duchess’ and not ‘Duchess and Duke’. But… I can’t fault your logic.” The next door proceeded to open.
The final droid chamber was nearly identical to the first, but Alasia’s parents had been replaced by herself and her husband. “I’m 20 now, and have just given birth to the most wonderful baby girl imaginable. She’s perfect, and she needs a perfect name…”
As Ganen and Sekar started to ponder, Morrigan just casually said “Alasia, obviously”. The next door opened.
The chambers which the PCs had been following had been creating an upward spiral pattern along the exterior of the palace, but the final door opened to the right; towards the interior. Beyond was a large, dome-shaped room with plain white walls; and around the edge stood twenty identical holograms of Alasia. As the PCs stepped into the room, four more copies appeared behind them; completing the circle.
“You’ve done well”, they all said in unison as they began to walk in a big circle around the PCs. “I think you truly understand what was taken from me. But do you really understand me? The real me? Can you even find the real me?”
Ganen had been a good sport up to this point, but time was running out and so was his patience. Pulling his blaster carbine, he walked right up to the nearest hologram; aggressively pointing the barrel right at her head. He then started around the room, doing the same to each one; and a little under half-way around, they all involuntarily flinched just a touch.
“Ok, you got me”, Alasia said with a sigh as the false images all vanished. “It’s ‘ourland’; all lower case; all one word; ‘our’ as in ‘belonging to us’ not as in ‘sixty minutes’.”
Before departing, the PCs took a moment to speak with Alasia about Empress Teta; emphasizing that she was far less malevolent than Palpatine and that perhaps she might reevaluate the disposition of she and the other Eliad exiles. “I suppose I should release my hostages, then”, she replied.
The PCs radioed the passcode (relaying it exactly as Alasia had relayed it to them) to the Chariot the moment they got back to their ship. Just before they lifted off, they saw an officer exit the palace followed by eight stormtroopers.
By the time they reached orbit, they were informed that the passcode had been entered and the countdown had indeed been halted. In addition to the green flag which they’d been promised, they were given 5000 credits and a full tank of fuel.
Month 5; Day 15 through Day 18
The PCs departed Eliad around 16:00; only then realizing that they hadn’t moved any groceries over from the Seventh Moon before they’d departed Adarlon. There was some autochef goop in the pantry; but it had long since expired; so they had to make do with dry rations.
Despite being in pretty bad need of an overhaul, the Ghost gave Morrigan zero problems during their 28 hour flight out to the Arkanis Sector. They reached Tatooine around 20:00 on D15; and as Opter had predicted, the Seventh Moon hadn’t yet arrived.
The PCs were able to put down in spacious Bay 87; and noticing that Bay 86 just across the street was also free, they went ahead and reserved it so that they wouldn’t have far to move things between ships. As soon as they touched down, Morrigan got to work on the overhaul; which she guessed would take around three days.
The Seventh Moon caught up around 09:00 the next morning, and the PCs were able to resume moving things between ships. The smuggling compartment, secondary transponder, and holonet transceiver were all no-brainers; those needed to be installed on the Ghost. After some discussion of the pros and cons, it was decided to put both the auxiliary fuel cells and the high-output ion turbine on the Phantom instead.
With regard to the transponder, Opter agreed pick up the tab on all the shenanigans with BOSS; and he hired Het and Jek Nkik, the same Jawas who’d installed in on the Seventh Moon to being with, to do the work. After all was said and done, the PCs had exactly what they’d had previously…
The Ghost was now the property of ‘Seven Lunatics Freight Hauling’, which the PCs were all listed as contractors in the employ of. They had the same sliced BOSS datapad and two clean alternate ID’s; and even though technically associated with the ship and not the crew, Opter somehow even managed to get all five of the PCs’ green flags transferred.
Month 5; Day 19
In the late afternoon of D19, a very pleased-with-herself Morrigan was putting the last few pieces of the Ghost back together. Turning their attention to ‘what next’, Sekar and Ganen recalled that Badger had wanted them to check out something on Obana before instead sending them to Bespin to do a job for his peer Armor Omada. Obana was only half an hour away and they had nothing else lined up, so they put a call through to Badger.
“Hey, guys; excellent timing!”, Badger greeted. “I’m leaving in less than an hour, so I’m really glad you caught me. So I heard from Armor and he says that you guys are great and that his mystery client was very happy with his burnt memory module, so good job on that. And now Opter tells me you guys are the proud new owners of the Ghost?” He mentioned that Opter had been lauding his ownership of the Seventh Moon over him, but stressed that he held zero ill will towards the PCs. “After our trade”, he asserted, “that ship was yours to fly, sell, swap, or melt down as you pleased.”
“But anyway; now that you’re done with that and if you have nothing else lined up, I’d like to get back to what I talked to you about a month and a half ago: Obana, the lovely planet where I first met you guys.”
“So to recap for the less informationally inclined, Obana first rose to prominence during the Clone Wars selling armor-grade plastoid to the Republic. After the war ended, the Empire picked up their contracts; but the planet actually became very alien-friendly, and rumor has it they even assisted the Rebellion from time to time.”
“But despite being so agreeable to the Alliance and its ideals; after the battle of Endor, Rebel hardliners decided that they didn’t want the planet selling plastoid to the Empire anymore. And when they refused to stop, since it’s what their entire economy was based on, their refineries were all destroyed and their oil wells were set on fire.”
“There were major budget cuts to military and police spending and the Obana Defense Patrol had their fancy and high-maintenance combat pods mothballed; but other than that, they tried to act like nothing was wrong and quickly started running out of money. At the beginning of the third month of this year, the president was about to give a big announcement about something; and everyone assumed that sweeping austerity measures were coming. But she never got a chance to make her speech, because the Hutts sacked the capital that very day… looking for me.”
“Now here’s where it gets strange. Despite their financial crunch and a very destructive invasion; less than two months later, everything in the capital city of Xandar had bounced back good as new. Both of the shield generators were replaced, all of the damage was repaired, there were no cuts to anything, and everything is the city is business as usual. They even gave the ODP their fancy combat pods back and rebranded them “the Nova Corps”.
“And if that’s not suspicious enough, there’s more. From what I’m hearing; the government, citing ‘safety concerns’, is heavily restricting people from going into and out of Xandar. Most of the passenger ports on the mainland outside of the capital have been shut down; and even in the commercial ports in those areas, off-world crews are being told that they can’t leave unless they take a shuttle straight to Xandar. Something is going on out there that the government doesn’t want outsiders to know about.”
“So what’s my interest in this? Well, this is my sector, and I like to know what’s going on in it. Something fishy is happening on that planet, and I want to know as much as possible about what it is.”
“I’ll set up a drop delivery for you; big load of thermal grease or something like that; you can pick it up real quick over in Mos Entha. You’ll be landing at a starport near Xandar but not in it. They’ll tell you not to leave the port, but I have it on good authority that their security is pretty lax.”
“What is not lax is security in Xandar; so watch yourselves if your investigation takes you into the capital. They’re letting people get away with sidearms, but not so much with longarms and military armor. But outside the capital, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Now you guys can run this any way you like, but there’s one person I suggest you talk to and I suggest you talk to her soon. She’s a Falleen woman named ‘Kissis Meenrax’; used to be a big name in the Black Sun Syndicate. When the syndicate was crushed by the Empire after the Empress took power, she moved her operation out here. I don’t know the full scope of her business but I know that she’s running at least one illegal pit fighting arena.”
“She’s actually one of the people I spoke to on my last trip to Obana; Ganen, you might actually remember her. I got kind of an iffy vibe off of her and we haven’t spoken since; but she did at one point say that she’d die before she submitted to the Hutt cartels, and I believe her. Anyway; she lives outside of the city and she keeps her ear to the ground, so I highly recommend trying to talk to her. We hit it off ok, so feel free to use my name if you think it’ll get her talking. Her base of operations is an abandoned gym; it should still be listed in local directories as the ‘Norid Sports Center’.”
“And when you’re done with all that and you’ve found out all you think you’re going to find out, I need you to please do two more things for me… One; while you’re still on Obana, you normal people who don’t live in your armor, please buy yourselves some decent formalwear if you don’t already have any. Doesn’t have to be super pricy, just presentable. You other guys, get some armor polish or… whatever it is you do to look nice.”
“Then, two; I want you to meet me on Scarif; I’m throwing a little party and you’re all invited. So meet me there, I’ll pay you for checking out Obana, and I’ll introduce you to a few people. And if you’ve got nothing else lined up, I’m sure one of us can find something for you to do.”
“So just head to Scarif when you’re done; if it’s not in the Ghost’s nava-computer, it’s half an hour up the Manda Merchant Route from Molavar; if you hit Ukio, you overshot it. Head right for the shield aperture; and when you’re contacted, identify yourselves and transmit the security code which I’m transmitting to you right now.”
Sekar didn’t recognize the name Scarif at all, but Ganen was certain that he’d heard of it; and a few minutes after ending their call to Badger, he finally remembered. It was once the location of a top-secret data vault for projects which the Emperor wanted to hide both from insurgent elements and the Imperial Senate.
More significantly, Scarif was where the Rebel Alliance had won its first major victory against the Galactic Empire; and it was during that battle that the Rebels had stolen the technical readout which they utilized to destroy the first Death Star. Ganen knew nothing else about the place, but couldn’t imaging anyone wanting to throw a formal party there.