Star Wars - A New Hope Revisited


Campaign Journals

Scarab Sages

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Before I present my summary of our Star Wars RPG session last night, let me provide some backstory. My husband and several of our friends have been playing a Star Wars campaign about twice a month for a couple of years. This game is run using the Saga Edition d20 rules.

The campaign is set during the time period represented in the original movie trilogy, but with a major twist: Han Solo, Chewbacca and the Millenium Falcon arrived at the Mos Eiseley Cantina on Tatooine a little late, and missed out on the opportunity to give Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker a lift to Alderaan. Instead, the player-characters are the ones who took Obi-Wan and Luke to the Death Star to rescue Princess Leia, aboard their ship, the Sky River Venture. They did eventually meet Han Solo and befriend him, which has proved a bit of a problem, as he and one of the PCs have an attraction but the Jedi PC has been told by Master Yoda that it is her destiny to get Leia and Han together.

The player-characters in this campaign have since become members of the Rebel Alliance, just like Luke did in the original movie. Luke was unfortunately captured while they were aboard the Death Star, and they were unable to rescue him. Eventually the PCs helped to destroy the Death Star, instead of that role going to Luke. Luke has returned as a trained Jedi, but in this version of the story he may have had most of his Jedi training from a holocron containing the memories of Qui-Gon Jinn. Since he knows that Darth Vader is his father and has had indirect contact with Vader, the PCs took a long time to trust him. Meanwhile one of the PCs, Neranya Repp (played by my husband) has realized she is Force-sensitive and has become a Jedi herself, trained first by Obi-Wan Kenobi and later by Master Yoda.

Recently the PCs have come to realize that perhaps the Jedi weren't the nicest people and it wasn't a good idea for them to have become part of the Republic military. They also realized that the Rebel Alliance weren't always treating them with respect or appreciation for all they had done for the Rebel cause. They had become a bit disillusioned. The turning point came when their droid companion ARD, a former Sith droid who has been mind-wiped many times, was nearly destroyed by Darth Vader (who also severed Neri's hand during the same encounter).

After his Wookiee friend Lowarra installed ARD's back-up memory chip in a new body, ARD began to remember many amazing things about his past. He realized he had served the Sith during the Old Republic, 4,000 years prior to the current events of the campaign. He also knew that during that time period, the Jedi did not involve themselves in the political or military affairs of any government. They were an order of monastics, who only interacted with the rest of society in order to perform altruistic deeds.

After learning of this, the PCs Neri, Dash, Lowarra and ARD - who has been renamed ADX - decided that together they would reform the Jedi order in the image of its long-ago form. They also decided to reinstate the Jedi support group of non-Force users known as the Antarian Rangers. ADX had also told his friends that during the Old Republic, sentient droids were treated as full citizens, something he wished to see again and something his friends agreed with. As their first step in that direction, ADX was given the position of First Ranger in the Antarian Rangers. He, Dash and Lowarra would lead the Rangers while Neri and Luke Skywalker led the newly reformed Jedi Order.

The crew of the Sky River Venture had previously followed some clues that had led them to the private stash accumulated by one of the leaders of the Banking Clan, who died or disappeared during the Clone Wars. As a result the PCs had come into possession of a very large quantity of credits, a very powerful and well-equipped Trade Federation heavy cruiser which they renamed New Hope, a secret base, and 50,000 Trade Federation battle droids (the stupid 'Roger roger' droids from the prequel movies). They now had enough resources to run their own organizations without Alliance support. The group decided to separate themselves from the Rebel Alliance, though they would still work alongside the Rebels to perform actions such as freeing prisoners and providing food and medical supplies to groups being oppressed by the Empire.

Shortly after this decision was made and Neri announced the reformation of the Jedi Order, she was contacted by a reporter who wanted to interview her. Though everyone was concerned that this might be an Imperial ambush, they agreed to meet the reporter. When he arrived at the meeting location, he revealed that his true intention had been to ask Neri to train his daughter in the ways of the Jedi. Moments after this was revealed, Imperial forces attacked and the reporter was killed.

This is where I come in. I've been attending the game sessions with my husband for some time, occasionally helping the GM by running an NPC. A few times I expressed a bit of envy that my friends were involved in such an exciting game. So when the GM decided to introduce a padawan for my husband's character, he invited me to join the group and run the padawan as my character. He even allowed me to change the character's race and gender to suit my own preference, as the introduction of the padawan had happened at the end of the session and very little information about the character had been presented to the other players.

Last night was my first session of the game as an official player. It's going to be interesting playing a 14-year-old, first-level character when the rest of the group are 12th or 13th level. But I think it will be a lot of fun. I can't wait for our next session.

Scarab Sages

Star Wars - Episode #46: "Apprentice Ship"

Player-Characters:
Neranya 'Neri' Repp - female Corellian (human) noble and Jedi
Dashell 'Dash' Creel - female Corellian (human) pilot and computer expert
Lowarra - female Wookiee warrior and mechanic
ADX - sentient droid warrior and tactician
Taanar Ryl - female Togruta Jedi padawan

The starship New Hope, carrying Neri, the Antarian Rangers, and Princess Leia, had traveled to Verdanth to take supplies to besieged Bothans there and release prisoners from an Imperial detention facility. Han Solo and Chewbacca flew in aboard the Millenium Falcon to decoy Imperial TIE fighters and two customs corvettes. After the Imperial ships had been destroyed, teams traveled to the planet's surface to complete their mission, handily wiping out the battle droids that were guarding the detention center.

Taanar Ryl had only been with her new Jedi master Neranya Repp for a little over a month, and had never seen such massive destruction before. She was shocked when she felt the deaths of the crews aboard the two Imperial customs corvettes. She was awed by watching Neri and her friends eliminating the droids. Neri lifted a transport vehicle with her Force power and smashed it down atop several droids. She also used her lightsaber to deflect blaster fire. Lowarra and ADX were equally impressive, Lowarra blasting droids with her rocket launcher and ADX with his built-in blaster cannon and well-placed grenades. Lowarra even saved Taanar when she was targeted and the courageous Wookiee interposed to take the blast herself. Taanar was inspired to overcome her feelings of inadequacy to shoot at the droid that had tried to shoot her, but her skill with a blaster didn't equal her desire.

Though young Taanar was disturbed by the sight of Imperial guards who had resisted and been shot, her spirits were lifted when the Bothan prisoners were released and expressed their gratitude to her master and the Rangers. After the teams had freed the prisoners and Dash had accessed the computers to acquire some information they sought, they blew up the detention center on their way out.

Back aboard the New Hope, Neri received a communication from Luke Skywalker, who had gone to seek a Jedi who had survived the Jedi Purge, Kanan Jarrus. Skywalker reported that he had spoken to Hera Syndulla, leader of the Rebel Phoenix Squadron, who told him that Kanan Jarrus and his padawan Ezra Bridger had gone missing after Ezra was turned to the Dark Side by contact with a Sith holocron device.* (*Kanan Jarrus, Hera Syndulla, and Ezra Bridger are characters from the animated tv series Star Wars Rebels.)

Later the New Hope received news of an Imperial convoy transporting high-profile prisoners. Han Solo joined the Jedi and Ranger leaders to advise them that the star galleon carrying the prisoners would drop the transport pod and send it into hyperdrive at the first sign of danger. ADX devised a plan to use the New Hope to ambush the convoy and distract the galleon, while the Sky River Venture latched on to the transport pod and followed it when it went to hyperdrive. They decided to take some of the old Trade Federation combat droids they had acquired as back-up troops.

Although it required some expert piloting skill, Dash was easily able to shadow the transport pod and pursue it when it went to hyperdrive. By the time this happened, the New Hope had all but destroyed the star galleon despite its heavy shielding. The small contingent of guards aboard the transport pod was easily overpowered and the 24 prisoners aboard the pod were released.

Once more aboard the New Hope, Neri took time to talk with Taanar and encourage her not to bottle up her grief over her father's death. If she didn't feel comfortable speaking to her master, she should seek out someone else such as Dash or Lowarra with whom to share her troubles.

At the end of the session Taanar reached 2nd level.

Scarab Sages

Episode 47: "A Walk in the Park"

Following the successful rescue of the prisoners from the Imperial star galleon Discord Anvil, the prisoners who were not members of the Rebel Alliance were released in small groups at various location to avoid any Imperial entanglements.

In the wake of their successful mission, the members of the New Jedi Order and the leaders of the Antarian Rangers traveled to the Rebel headquarters at Echo Base on Dagobah. This was Taanar Ryl's first visit to the steamy swamp planet. She landed with her master Niranya Repp aboard the Star River Venture, and they were greeted by Princess Leia and her protocol droid C3PO, who appeared to have a particular affection for First Ranger ADX.

Princess Leia called ADX away to have a private discussion, while the rest of the group split up to take care of their own affairs. Lowarra wanted to restock her supply of missiles and get in some time in the Rebel's pilot training module, while Dash had some maintenance done on the Star River Venture, and Neri showed Taanar around the base and told her about her time training there with Master Yoda - including his peculiar practice of riding around on Neri's back while she ran through the swamp. Taanar wondered if this was a normal part of Jedi training.

Neri also introduced her new padawan to her favorite meditation aid, her much-loved koogle tube (a device like a cross between a rain stick and a lava lamp). Neri swore by it as an aid to her meditation, but Taanar discovered that her shipmates had no love for the device and kept threatening to pitch it out the airlock. Taanar herself didn't find it very helpful or appealing.

After concluding his meeting with Princess Leia, ADX located his teammates to tell them that Leia had asked them to conduct an important mission on behalf of the Rebel Alliance. A high-profile intelligence resource known only as "Harvest Purple" needed to be retrieved from the planet Columex within Imperial territory. The instructions told them to leave a message on a social media holonet site looking for "swoop bike" enthusiasts. The code phrase to use to confirm the contact was "I saw the Queens of Fluxx play on Brental", to which the response was "You can dance the skippit to them."

Due to the heavy Imperial presence on Columex, it was decided that only a small team should make the contact. Neri, Lowarra, Dash, ADX, and Taanar took a YT-1210 class ship, the Mithrim Montes, which was one of the ships the team had acquired from the Banking Clan stash they had found. To pass through Imperial customs, they pretended to be an empty cargo ship looking for cargo. Everyone had to put away their weapons, as Columex was under Imperial weapons restrictions. Neri and Taanar hid their lightsabers in ADX's internal hidden compartment, along with a grenade Lowarra wanted to bring. Neri and Dash strapped on holdout blasters, much to Taanar's surprise. It turned out that the restrictions applied only to energy weapons; Lowarra's bowcaster didn't count.

After landing at the Flavian City spaceport, the group ran into some customs agents who questioned that they were bringing a proscripted species onto the planet - meaning Lowarra. Neri was able to convince the inspector that he didn't need to see her documentation by using her Jedi mind trick. The group then leased a large ground speeder and sought lodging at an inexpensive hotel near the spaceport. Once at the hotel, they observed that the major news story on the local holonet involved a woman named Mellie Limgu. Taanar didn't pay much attention to the reason the woman was attracting so much attention from the media.

Unfortunately there was a Biscuit Baron restaurant not far from the hotel, a favorite dining location of the whole group (with the exception of Taanar, who had never been to one before). Dash tried to no avail to talk her friends out of going to the restaurant and possibly drawing attention to themselves. Later she lamented having to be the responsible adult in the group. She reluctantly accompanied the others to the Biscuit Baron, where they all bought happy meals but were disappointed to find that the toys inside were no longer 'Adventures of Bleedo' figures but instead were 'Heroes of the Empire'. Everyone but Neri got stomrtrooper figures. Neri got a bantha.

While they were introducing Taanar to Biscuit Baron's enormous biscuits and lamenting that this location didn't have their favorite blue sauce, the group was interrupted by the arrival of some local constables, who wanted to know why ADX didn't have a restraining bolt, what Lowarra was doing there, and where Taanar's parents were. Neri managed to explain away all of these things by claiming that her droid didn't need a restraining bolt, that Lowarra was her hired bodyguard (which had been true in the past), and that she was Taanar's guardian. After this interruption muted their mood they returned to their rooms at 'The Flophouse'.

The following day, they drove their rented speeder to the Cerulean Gardens, where the contact had told them to seek a message on a specific park bench. Dash went to look for the message, while Neri and Taanar roamed the park pretending to be casual visitors. ADX and Lowarra remained in the speeder to avoid attracting too much attention. As Neri and Taanar sat down on a bench not far from the one Dash was heading for, Neri happened to notice that there were an unusually large number of droids about, some in the park and others in flyers overhead. The pair were approached twice by men trying to sell them spice. They began to wonder if perhaps local law enforcement were conducting a sting operation in the park.

Meanwhile, Dash found the message from the contact and left the token to show that she had picked it up, a bag of hazel sprouts. But a service droid told her that littering wasn't allowed, and she was forced to pick up the bag and take it to a waste receptacle, where she tried to make it obvious while at the same time blending in with other rubbish. Neri had warned her by commlink about the large number of droids in and around the park, so they decided to meet at the speeder and return to their hotel.

As they drove toward the hotel, Dash opened the message from "Harvest Purple" and found that it was instructions to meet the contact that night at a club called Club Syndrome, and wear a red jacket. Fortunately the swoop biker jacket Dash had acquired just after their arrival in Flavian City happened to be red.

On the way to the hotel they went through the Biscuit Baron drive-through and picked up more happy meals. This time Neri got an Emperor figure, but it sadly melted when Lowarra dropped it in a cup of soda after being told by Dash that such toys were reputed to be equipped with listening devices.

That evening they went to Club Syndrome as instructed. Dash went in alone, while the rest accompanied Neri as her entourage. Dash was soon approached by a woman who spoke the code phrase to her. This woman turned out to be Mellie Lemgu, wearing a brown wig to disguise her blond hair. Just after Lemgu made contact, two ISB agents appeared in the club, blocking the exit. Neri and Lowarra staged a distraction so Dash and Lemgu could leave, while the two women tried to deflect attention from Lemgu by kissing and pretending to be a couple. Lowarra feigned intoxication and Neri pretended to be angry with her, and the group left the club.

Dash and Lemgu took a lift to the roof garden, where they encountered some swoop bikers who began to flirt with them. While the two women chatted with the bikers, Lemgu purloined one biker's keys. Dash then used her holdout blaster to blast another, and the duo stole two swoop bikes and escaped the club. When the bikers tried to pursue them, the rest of the group in the speeder briefly blocked their way.

As they left the club behind and headed back to the Mithrim Montes, Mellie Lemgu announced, "Take me to the Wheel."

Scarab Sages

Episode 48: “A Trip to the Wheel”

The team hadn’t expected to be asked to take Melly Lemgoo anywhere other than back to Echo Base. They were surprised by her request to go to the Wheel, a large space station known for gambling and entertainment. When they questioned Melly, she told them that she wanted to go there to auction some information about Imperial naval deployments and convoys!

This didn’t sit well with the Venture team, but after they discussed it with her they realized that their mission had only been to extract her from Columex, not to take her anywhere specific. They also understood that Melly wasn’t cheating the Alliance by selling the information instead of giving it to the rebels – her agreement with them hadn’t been to give them everything she had acquired, and she wasn’t a member of the Rebel Alliance herself. Although the team members didn’t like it, she had every right to sell the intel to the highest bidder if she wanted to. Further discussion led them to conclude that they should try to acquire the funds to purchase the information themselves.

Once they had come to this decision, Dash sent the Alliance leadership a coded message disguised as a frivolous request for credits to purchase a yacht, to request that they release some of the funds they were holding on behalf of the New Jedi Order and the Antarian Rangers. Melly had already explained that the starting bid for her information would be 100,000 credits, so Dash’s message requested a million credits to help insure that the team could be the highest bidder.

During their trip to the Wheel, Neri made Taanar practice her skills with the Force by having her levitate small objects while doing a handstand. Neri threw small rubber balls around her to distract her during this training.

On arrival at the Wheel, the group learned that the Wheel had a strict no-weapons policy and would scan every visitor for illicit weaponry. Neri and Taanar hid their lightsabers in ADX’s secret shielded compartment. During the scan this caused an anomaly, but Neri was able to persuade the station representatives that this was a special customization of her droid’s equipment. She and her companions entered the Wheel in the guise of a Corellian noble traveling with her droid bodyguard, her personal pilot, her Togruta ward, and a Wookiee nanny for her ward. They were met by Melly Lemgoo and her friend Captain Raulmark Muridep, who extended an invitation to the invitation-only auction, which would take place in two days. After the arrangements had been made the group reserved a modest hotel suite.

Neri decided that the team needed more weapons, so she sought out a black market arms dealer. He warned them that they might be scanned again in the ‘high roller’ area of the station, but they decided to purchase several hold-out blasters anyway. Lowarra also bought a vibroblade and a stun baton.

The team received a response from the Rebel Alliance, but the leaders had decided to release only half the amount of credits that Dash had asked for. They could only hope that half a million credits would be enough to beat the other bidders.

Melly Lemgoo sent the group an invitation to the Main Ring entertainment center, where the auction would take place. As they entered the area, Neri and Lowarra both detected something off about the situation. There were Imperial agents present. Neri immediately drew her hold-out blaster, but the rest of the group other than Lowarra were taken by surprise. One of the agents raised a grenade launcher and fired a net at Lowarra. Lowarra avoided the net and fired back at her assailant. Then a stun grenade landed in the midst of the group, and ADX was hit by an ion grenade. Clearly the Imperials had known who was coming and prepared for them.

Lowarra moved toward the man who had tried to net her, and immediately was caught in an immobilizing trap. A second stun grenade fell into the group, stunning both Dash and Taanar. More ion grenades hit ADX, but fortunately his body was hardened against such effects.

Reeling from the effects of the stun grenades, Taanar took cover behind a piece of the décor. She watched in amazement as Neri used the Force to lift the still-immobilized Lowarra off the ground and use her sturdy body to try to bludgeon the man who had set up the trap. Unfortunately she missed him and slammed Lowarra into a wall, but the Wookiee was too tough to be bothered much by the experience. Lowarra broke free of the trap and she and Neri focused their attacks on the same target.

Another stun grenade flew at Neri, and she Force thrust the man who fired it off his perch on a walkway overhead. Taanar tried to shoot at him with her hold-out blaster but missed. Neri then attempted to make another Imperial agent flee in terror, but he resisted her and fired on her. Dash was busy exchanging blaster fire with a second man who had taken high ground. Neri managed to stun the man who had resisted her fear effect. One of the men tried to catch her in an electrified net, but she dodged it. ADX was hit several times and despite his hardened exterior took some damage. Another net was fired at Dash, who also avoided it.

Still hiding behind some of the furnishings, Taanar attempted to disarm a man who was heading toward her master with a blaster rifle, but her skill with the Force wasn’t strong enough to pull the rifle out of his hands. Meanwhile Lowarra had flown into a berserk rage and rushed some of the agents, a terrifying vision of flying hair and foaming lips. Inspired by her new friend’s fury, Taanar managed to hit the agent with a potted tree, and Dash then shot him. Lowarra sliced one man into three sections with her vibroblade. The last agent who was still on his feet faced ADX, but Neri disarmed him. Then Lowarra charged him and he ran, only to be brought down by ADX’s fist. Only the agent Lowarra had trisected was dead; all of the others were merely unconscious.

The Imperial agents were all taken prisoner and questioned. They revealed that they had recognized the Venture team on Columex and followed them to the Wheel. The team were just starting to realize how well-known they had become.

During the fight, Melly Lemgoo and her friend Captain Muridep had retreated into a separate room along with a group of security droids. When the fighting was over they emerged to find that the other auction participants had all fled. Muridep tried to bid on Melly’s information, but the team were able to outbid him and acquire intelligence on Imperial ship movements for the use of the Antarian Rangers.

Taanar Ryl is now 3rd level, and Lowarra has achieved 14th level.


Thank you for sharing these with us!

Scarab Sages

Episode 49: "Flight Test"

The information the team from the Sky River Venture had acquired from Melly Lemgoo covered Imperial shipping and naval movements for the next quarter. The accuracy of the information wouldn't last long, so the group decided to make several copies of it to get it to various audiences. They arranged to give one copy to the Rebel Alliance, which notified them that a courier would be sent to pick up the data card containing the intel. They planned to sell other copies of parts of the information to pirates and smugglers, to increase the amount of damage done to the Imperial forces while at the same time keeping attention away from the Alliance.

To get the information to their second audience, the team decided to visit their old friend Dexter Nex at Point Nadir on comet Resh. But as they set off for that destination, Neri received a coded message from Luke Skywalker: he had found former Jedi Kanan Jarrus on Ryloth, homeworld of the Twi'lek people. Luke's message also told Neri to come alone. Neri discussed this with her friends and was convinced by them that she should take her padawan Taanar with her. Taanar promised that if her master told her to stay on the ship, she would do so. Neri and Taanar departed for Ryloth aboard the Mithrim Montes, while the rest of the group took the Sky River Venture to Resh.

After Lowarra, ADX, and Dash arrived at Point Nadir, they were welcomed by Dex, who was delighted by the opportunity to get his hands on Melly Lemgoo's data. It turned out that he had actually been at the Wheel for the auction representing someone else, though he wouldn't say who. Inspired by a comment Taanar had made, Dash asked if Dex could get the intelligence to some people who would be willing to distribute their ill-gotten gains to planets or people being oppressed by the Empire. But Dex expressed doubt that he would be able to find any buyers with such altruistic motives.

When the discussion was over, Lowarra and Dash decided to go out for some Frangkth on a Stick, as Point Nadir didn't boast a Biscuit Baron franchise. When they returned to the docking bay where they had left the Sky River Venture, Lowarra and ADX noticed a Human and a Rodian lurking around the entrance, seemingly trying to stay out of sight. They approached the pair, and found that these were the couriers sent by the Alliance to pick up the data copy. The Human male's name was Glin Lokin, and his Rodian companion was Rydu. Lokin was disappointed to find that Neri wasn't present; he was excited to meet the group and especially eager to meet a real Jedi. Lokin also remarked that Dash bore a striking resemblance to his wife Jade, who was waiting at their ship, the Zephyr. He then invited the team to meet his wife, and they accepted. After the three companions met Jade Lokin, they agreed that she and Dasha Creel did look very alike. Further discussion with the Alliance couriers led the three Antarian Ranger commanders to encourage Glin, Jade, and Rydu to consider joining the Rangers. Lokin replied that he and his companions would discuss it. (The players of ADX, Dash, and Lowarra had previously been involved in another Star Wars campaign with the same GM. Their characters in that campaign were Glin Lokin, Jade, and Rydu.)

The Ranger leaders had also told Dexter Nex that they wanted to purchase some fighters for the Rangers. He told them that they should travel to Junkfort Station, a civil spaceport orbiting the planet Junkfort, to contact someone who might be able to provide what they sought. Once they arrived at the station they found themselves missing Neri's presence, as her ability to persuade others far exceeded any of theirs and they had a little trouble getting through customs. They were to seek someone named Doghrim out at Hangar 88 or the Retired Duduk Cantina.

Meanwhile, the Mithrim Montes arrived on Ryloth without incident and easily cleared customs. But after their arrival, when Neri prepared to contact Luke Skywalker, she realized she had left the code to use to make contact with him back on the New Hope. Feeling embarrassed by her mistake, she used the Force to reach out to him. In return she received the cryptic response, "24." At first she thought this might be a radio frequency. Frequency 24 proved to be playing jazz music on Empire Free Radio, so Neri decided to go out in search of a cantina featuring a jazz band, ordering Taanar to remain aboard the ship and warning her to keep her lightsaber out of sight. As Neri told her padawan, "I don't care what the old Jedi said, your blaster is your friend."

As Neri headed out to look for a cantina fitting her criteria, she realized she was passing by docking bay 24 and decided to look inside. There she spotted Luke's Firespray-31 class ship and his companion droid, ARD-101. ARD-101 informed her that Luke was awaiting her at the Lost Sloppet cantina.

When Neri arrived at the cantina, she was almost immediately accosted by a Devaronian and his Herglic companion, who demanded to know what a Human was doing there. Neri had spotted Luke sitting in a far corner of the cantina, but he was the only Human present other than herself. Neri demanded, "What makes you think I'm Human?" and Force shoved the huge Herglic, disguising the shove as a martial arts maneuver. The Devaronian then drew a blaster. Neri negated the blaster energy, asking, "Do you still think I'm Human?" Then a familiar voice suggested, "You should be somewhere else," and Neri's harrassers both repeated, "We should be somewhere else" and left the cantina.

Luke explained that he had negotiated transport for them to a distant Twi'lek village that had been destroyed by Darth Vader several years earlier. That was where he believed Kanan Jarrus to be hiding. He had hired a Twi'lek guide to take them there. After Neri told him that she had brought Taanar along in the hope that her presence would help to convince Jarrus to join the New Jedi Order, the two of them went back to the Mithrim Montes to fetch her and their gear.

Their transport proved to be a dilapidated speeder, but their guide assured them it was reliable. The journey to the village took three days by speeder. The village was located in a densely forested area, and they had to leave the speeder and make the final portion of their journey on foot. Neri had already begun to sense the Dark Side resonance that Vader's presence had left on the area well before they left the speeder. They began to hear an eerie humming sound, which their guide explained came from charms set out to deter predators. Suddenly, a huge insectoid creature burst out of the forest onto the trail ahead.

At Junkfort Station, Dash, ADX, and Lowarra met with a shady Bith dealer in used spacecraft. The Bith at first tried to sell them some very old ships, until they finally convinced him they were serious about buying some genuine, effective fighters. Then he showed them some Y-wing fighters that appeared to be in good condition. They gave him a 20% deposit on the price of the Y-wings and took three ships out for a test flight.

Shortly after they left the station, they spotted six other ships approaching, including one YT-class vessel. It quickly became apparent that these were ship-jackers out to steal the fighters, as they realized that their communications were being jammed and they had only ship-to-ship contact. Each of the three Rangers took on two of the 'jackers ships in a dogfight. It was a fierce fight, but a quick one, as the Antarian Rangers outmatched their attackers. ADX was even provoked to anger, shouting, "You don't mess with the Antarian Rangers!" into his coms. In short order four of the 'jackers' ships had been destroyed, and the remaining two had fled. The Rangers returned to the station and were able to negotiate a deal to buy a full squadron of Y-wing fighters at a 6% discount.

Before their guide even had time to tell Neri, Luke, and Taanar that the insect-like monster was a lylek, the creature grabbed him with the pair of tentacles on its thorax and ripped him in half. It then emitted a roar so intimidating that Taanar fled in panic. She collided with her master as she ran, but that didn't distract Neri from using the Force to pick up a nearby huge boulder and hurl it at the lylek. Luke drew his lightsaber. The lylek snagged Luke with one tentacle and began to crush him. Neri pulled him free using the Force and drew him to her, and Luke righted himself to land on his feet.

Taanar overcame her terror and raced back to where her master and Luke Skywalker were fighting the lylek. As she arrived, Luke Force slammed the creature, knocking it over, but it immediately leaped back up onto its many legs and moved forward. Neri drew her lightsaber. Taanar mimicked what she had seen her master do and used the Force to hurl a heavy log at it, but its carapace was very tough and it took less harm from the blow than she had hoped. Then Luke Skywalker lunged forward and his lightsaber sliced off the beast’s head.

Taanar stepped up beside her master. “Master, I’m sorry. When it roared, I couldn’t do anything but run,” she said, head hanging low. From behind them a gruff, unfamiliar voice said, “When a lylek charges, you that’s the smart thing to do.” The three Jedi turned to see a bearded Human man standing there. By the scarring around his eyes it was apparent he was blind, but he seemed to have no difficulty identifying where they were. “Are you Kanan Jarrus?” Neri asked. “I’ve been called by that name,” the man replied.

Neri introduced herself, Luke, and Taanar, then explained that they had reformed the Jedi Order and wanted to talk to Jarrus about joining them. “Come to my camp,” he said. As they followed him to the Twi’lek village, observing that he seemed to have no difficulty navigating the forest, Neri asked how he could stand the oppressive aura of Dark Side energy that surrounded the place. “A few hours of meditation a day takes care of it,” Jarrus responded. “I suppose Yoda sent you.” Neri’s expression grew sad. “Master Yoda is dead,” she told him. “I was with him when he passed.”

Next session scheduled for August 13, 2016

Scarab Sages

Quen Pah wrote:
Thank you for sharing these with us!

Thank you. I'm glad someone is enjoying this.


I will also put in my thanks. It is awesome to see a group making an AU of Star Wars happen!

Scarab Sages

Episode 50: "The Battle of Kashyyyk" (part 1)

On Ryloth, Neri, Luke Skywalker, and Taanar followed Kanan Jarrus back to the abandoned Twi’lek village where he had been hiding. Taanar found his ability to face toward whoever he spoke to unnerving as his eyes were covered by a completely opaque mask.

After the small group reached the village, Kanan asked more details about them, and Neri introduced Taanar and Luke to him. When he heard Luke’s surname, he remarked that he had known Anakin Skywalker. Luke told him that Anakin was his father, and Neri explained that Anakin Skywalker was now better known as Darth Vader. Kanan shuddered when he heard this information.

Kanan expressed some doubt when he learned that Taanar was Neri’s padawan. He told them the story of how his own padawan, Ezra Bridger, had been tempted to the Dark Side of the Force by contact with former Sith Darth Maul and a Sith holocron. He asked Neri if she had a holocron to help with training, and she told him she possessed Master Yoda’s holocron. They reminisced for a short time about Yoda’s training methods, which helped to establish a friendlier relationship.

Kanan of course realized the reason that Neri and Luke had come seeking him. He wasn’t sure that reforming the Jedi Order was a wise plan. After discussing this with Neri and Luke, he then asked Taanar what she thought. In response she told him how her father had been among the colonists on Kiros who had been sold into slavery, and how the slaves had been rescued by Jedi. She believed that the Universe needed the Jedi Order. Neri told him that she believed the Force needed balance and the Jedi could provide that. And Luke stated that he believed Darth Vader still had good in him and could be redeemed. If Darth Vader could be redeemed, so could Ezra Bridger. At the conclusion of this discussion, Kanan Jarrus agreed to return with Neri, Taanar, and Luke, and join the New Jedi Order.

While the Jedi were on Ryloth, Echo Base had to be evacuated when the Imperial ship movement intelligence the team had acquired from Melly Lemgoo indicated that Imperial forces were converging on Dagobah. The Rebel forces got away just in time.

Once the Jedi reunited with their friends in the Antarian Rangers and their Alliance allies, they began to plan their next move: to liberate Kashyyyk, homeworld of the Wookiees. They had previously be able to free a number of Wookiee prisoners from the Empire, but the planet was still under an Imperial blockade and many Wookiees had been enslaved and were being forced to participate in the deforestation of their world. But as ADX reviewed the forces the Rangers had available to them, he predicted that an attack using only the Rangers and Jedi had a 50% chance of success, which was not as favorable a prediction as he desired. Princess Leia came to the rescue by offering the aide of the Rebel Alliance’s Phoenix Squadron, led by Captain Hera Syndulla and Admiral Sato.

Planning for the assault progressed swiftly from that point. The Jedi and Rangers would escort freed captives to the transport ships, while Phoenix Squadron carried out the attack on the Imperial forces at the orbital Avatar Base and on the surface of Kashyyyk. Dash would be providing air support aboard the Venture. Lowarra’s friend Chewbacca was eager to join the ground assault, as he didn’t know what had become of his family left behind on the planet. His comrade Han Solo was determined to accompany him. Han even agreed to allow Princess Leia to pilot his beloved Millenium Falcon so he could be at Chewie’s side. The verbal sparring that occurred between Han and Leia while he talked her (unnecessarily) through the ship’s controls worried Neri, who had been told by Master Yoda that it was imperative the two of them become a couple. But she didn’t intervene. She did, however, accidentally stumble upon Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus in an embrace.

During the final preparations for the assault, Neri and Dash, who had grown up together, had a moment to step back and look at what was happening in amazement. “When did we become the grown-ups?” Dash asked Neri, to which Neri replied, “I’ve got a kid now!”

As Phoenix Squadron prepared to head out to lead the assault, the Jedi and Rangers were introduced to the rest of her team aboard her personal ship, the Ghost, including her Mandalorian comrade Sabine Wren and Lasat Garazeb “Zeb” Orellios. Neri expressed admiration for the personal decoration Sabine had added to her armor, and for Zeb’s reputation as a warrior. Following the introductions, Hera asked Kanan Jarrus to join her on the Ghost and he agreed. In a quiet moment before they left, Neri apologized for interrupting their private interlude, and Kanan explained that he had finally taken the opportunity to talk with Hera about something he’d needed to say for a long time. Neri also asked him why he hadn’t sought prosthetic replacements for his damaged eyes, and he indicated he would give it some thought.

The assault force set out with Ghost leading Phoenix Squadron, and Luke Skywalker’s ship the Wamp Rat leading the Z-95 Headhunter squad of fighters. Lowarra and ADX were with a drop team aboard the Venture, accompanied by Neri and Taanar. The assault force also included the Lowarra’s Honor, manned by Wookiee resistance fighters, and four droid landing ships taken from the Banking Clan units that the Rangers had acquired from San Hill’s private stash. Picking up the droids had led to the first time Luke Skywalker was shown the secret hiding place and its supplies, but to maintain secrecy, he wasn’t given the entry codes.

During the journey to Kashyyyk, Neri and Taanar meditated. Taanar was anxious about firing the Venture’s cannons, as that type of weapon wasn’t part of her training, and even Neri was concerned that her artillery skills were inadequate. It was Kanan Jarrus who offered them some advice on how best to use the guns. As the assault force closed in on their destination, Neri gave the Rangers a pep talk, telling them, “Kashyyyk is a planet of proud warriors that has long been oppressed by the Empire. Today they will have their freedom!” The Rangers responded with resounding cheers.

Aboard the Venture, Dash used navigation codes given to her by the Wookiee navigators’ guild to make a close hyperspace entry to the planet. She was anxious about coming in so close, and was a bit surprised when Luke Skywalker advised her to “Use the Force,” as she was not Force sensitive. But Luke told her that the Force surrounded everything, and that she should trust in it and herself. The Venture and the Wraith squadron of Ranger fighters emerged from hyperspace so near to the Avatar Base that the base didn’t have time to react. Princess Leia expressed some anxiety about Han Solo’s safety on the planet, and Dash, who had long been friends with Solo, reassured her that he could take care of himself.

While Phoenix Squadron and the New Hope put the the Avatar Base out of commission, the Sky River Venture carried Lowarra, ADX, Chewbacca, and Han Solo to the drop zone near the main Imperial installation on the planet’s surface. The plan was for them to land in the branches of the huge trees that covered the planet’s surface, but ADX missed his aim and fell to the ground. He was immediately attacked by a huge spider-like creature, which grappled him and began to wrap him in sticky, tough webbing. As the team were trying to maintain a low profile, he couldn’t use his blaster against the beast, and his vibroblade proved minimally effective. Lowarra and Chewbacca quickly came to his aid with their bowcasters, slaying the creature, which they both considered a tasty delicacy. Even Han agreed that it didn’t taste too bad. Lowarra was exhilarated to be back on her homeworld.

As the ground assault team approached the Imperial installation, they could see explosions overhead as Avatar Base was disabled. Han and Chewie slipped up to the shield generators and planted explosives to take out the generators. Lowarra fired a missile at the base’s heavy turret gun. ADX began taking out the Stormtroopers who were outside the base structures. With the destruction of Avatar Base, alarms began to sound, but the forces those alarms mustered weren’t enough to withstand the guerilla team. Lowarra took control of a tank, and with ADX riding dramatically on top, rammed it into the base’s largest building to breach the wall.

As ADX and Lowarra abandoned the tank and entered the building, Ranger forces already inside reported that some of the Imperial troops had barricaded themselves in the control center. Lowarra and the others immediately headed for the control room. By this time Neri and Taanar had joined them, and some of the Rangers were busy moving freed Wookiee prisoners to the transports. As the command group approached the control room, they heard a voice shouting, “You rebel scum will never get away with this!” They arrived to find that an Imperial officer had taken a juvenile Wookiee hostage and was holding a blaster to his head. Chewbacca was shocked to see that the hostage was his own son, Lumpawaroo. Even more distressing was the realization that his father Attichitcuk, who was already wounded, was also behind the barricade.

At the sight of his family members in danger, Chewbacca flew into a rage and rushed the barricade. Lowarra raced after him. The Imperial office responded by shooting Chewbacca’s son, who slumped to the ground. Taanar, horrified that anyone would shoot a child, used the Force to shove the officer into a control console. Neri scrambled past the barrier and ran to Chewbacca’s son, using her ability to channel her own life force to heal him. Chewbacca meanwhile sliced off the officer’s head. Neri was able to save his son’s life, but sadly she was too late to save his father. Attichitcuk was dead.

As the Rangers mopped up the troops inside the base, those outside heard an ominous sound of pistons and heavy bipedal footsteps approaching. At the same time Dash, who had been flying reconnaissance over the area, sent a “We’ve got company!” warning to her friends as she watched a massive AT-AT lumber toward them.

Campaign notes:
Each of the higher-level characters other than Taanar Ryl had a Destiny assigned by the GM. Neri's Destiny was to get Han Solo and Princess Leia together, which proved challenging when they seemed to actively dislike each other. Han also seemed to be attracted to Dash, though she was only interested in him as a friend.
The characters of Chewie's father and son are taken from the 1978 'Star Wars Christmas Special', which called them Lumpy and Itchy, though they've since been given more setting-appropriate names. I took the spelling from Wookieepedia.

At the end of the session when the AT-AT arrived, the GM, who loves props, took a proportionately-sized AT-AT model out of a storage tote and set it on the table. He had purchased it at a wargaming convention a month or two earlier, and had managed to keep it hidden from one of the players who was also attending the convention!

Scarab Sages

Episode 50: "The Battle of Kashyyyk" (part 2)

Lowarra had been about to climb into the captured tank, but when the AT-AT arrived she fired a rocket at it instead. ADX commanded his squad of battle droids to focus their attacks on the AT-AT instead of the two walkers that were approaching from the opposite direction. Overhead, Dash was engaged in a dogfight with four TIE fighters that had arrived at the same time.

Neri shouted to Taanar to get the released Wookiee prisoners to their transport. She then ran toward one of the two walkers, while Luke Skywalker and ARD-101 moved to head off the second walker. Princess Leia also ran toward the walkers. Dash managed to get off a shot at the AT-AT while avoiding the TIE fighters, but the AT-AT proved harder to hit than expected.

A squadron of stormtroopers arrived, coming in behind the walkers and from the side where Taanar was trying to get the Wookiees to take cover among the trees. Unfortunately for Taanar, the former prisoners began to move in the opposite direction from where their transport waited beyond the walkers. None of the Wookiees were armed, so Taanar moved toward the stormtroopers and sent one of them flying with a Force shove, slamming him against a tree.

Meanwhile, Neri took out a grappling line and tossed it onto the first walker, then climbed up on top of the vehicle and began slicing her way inside with her lightsaber. The second walker began firing on Lowarra, who had just sent another rocket at the AT-AT. The tank Lowarra had taken exploded when hit by one of the walkers, causing all of the weakened Wookiees to fall, though Taanar kept her feet. Lowarra meanwhile took out her own grappling line and shot it at the AT-AT, using it to ascend to the head-like command module. Han Solo and Chewbacca were helping to cover the escaping Wookiees while Chewie carried his injured son, and the AT-AT began to fire on them. When the tank exploded Han was hit by shrapnel and now Chewie was carrying both his son and his friend.

Dash swooped over the AT-AT a second time and fired a missile toward it, but once again her attack failed to find its target. At the same time ADX hurled a thermal detonator at the troopers who were coming in behind the walkers, which demonstrated that these troopers were better trained and armored than many of the troops the Rangers had encountered previously.

Princess Leia had climbed onto a slightly elevated structure and was shouting orders to the Rebel troops assisting in the Wookiee rescue. She shouted at Lowarra to get down from the AT-AT, but Lowarra paid her no mind. Instead the mighty Wookiee warrior opened the hatch, burst into her battle rage, and leaped inside the vehicle. In the meantime a group of troopers dropped out of the belly of the vehicle on speeder bikes.

The Imperial forces fired anti-aircraft missiles at the Venture, but Dash dodged the projectiles. Neri had gained access to the walker and now used her Force power to grab the pilot and send him hurtling out of the vehicle. Luke and ARD-101 had jointly sliced off both legs of the second walker and it collapsed. Inside the AT-AT, Lowarra incapacitated the commanding officer and the pilot. Near Luke’s position several more speeders arrived, but these carried not troopers but Inquisitors!

At the same time that the Inquisitors arrived, Neri’s heart sank when she heard the familiar voice of her long-time nemesis, the Emperor’s Hand. ADX began firing on the Hand. The Hand used the Force to knock Neri off the walker, and Neri landed badly, falling prone. In response, she used her ability to cut the Hand off from some of her Force abilities, which had worked successfully in the past and succeeded again this time much to the Hand’s frustration.

Han had recovered slightly, and he and Chewbacca now managed to acquire speeders of their own after placing Chewbacca’s son and the other freed Wookiees in a vehicle. Taanar used the Force to stun another trooper, then headed the vehicle off in the right direction to reach the transport ship. Han’s speeder crashed when the AT-AT moved into its path. The dead or unconscious pilot had fallen forward onto the controls after Lowarra attacked him, and the AT-AT was still ponderously moving forward toward the two walkers.

The Emperor’s Hand used the Force to lift the walker Luke had dropped and throw it at Neri and ADX. Neri grabbed the walker with her own Force power and pulled it out of the Hand’s grip. The remaining walker was still on its feet and manned, and Dash fired on it as the Venture made another pass overhead. Luke and ARD-101 were engaged with the Inquisitors and had begun to push them back, but suddenly the Inquisitors turned the tide and began to advance toward Luke. The Hand attempted to snatch away Neri’s lightsaber, which had been her favorite tactic in the past but this time she failed. Dash fired on the second walker again and it exploded. The AT-AT continued to advance without a conscious pilot at the controls.

Neri attempted to stun the Emperor’s Hand, then moved to help Luke against the Inquisitors. One of the Inquisitors used a Dark Side power against Luke, and he suddenly lost his nerve and fled. Neri used her ability to inspire confidence in others to stop his headlong flight and bring him back. Then one of the Inquisitors grabbed Neri and began to Force choke her. From her vantage above, Dash saw this and fired on the Inquisitor. Then she destroyed the last remaining TIE fighter.

A cluster of stormtroopers on cables descended from the AT-AT. Still aboard the AT-AT, Lowarra took out all the troopers still on board, then dropped down to tackle those who had left the vehicle. Taanar, who had remained to help after sending the Wookiees toward their transport, put on a burst of speed and rushed to Neri, who had fallen unconscious. The Inquisitor attempted an attack or Force power directed at her but it failed to affect her.

Suddenly the AT-AT exploded! It had been set to self-destruct after Lowarra boarded. It toppled over on its side, falling toward where Princess Leia and Lowarra currently stood. Lowarra dodged out of the way of the plummeting vehicle. When the Emperor’s Hand directed an attack at ADX, Lowarra charged her and ADX fired on her, knocking her unconscious. Dash brought the Venture down in boarding range over where Neri lay and fired on the Inquisitor to keep him at bay. Taanar scrambled aboard the Venture, followed by ARD carrying Neri, Lowarra, Luke and ARD-101, and finally Han and Chewbacca.

As the Venture zoomed away to get medical aid for Neri, Han Solo asked, “Where’s Princess Leia?” The rest of the group realized to their horror that the last time they had seen her, the princess has been standing where the fallen AT-AT had landed. They had been too preoccupied by their concern for Neri to check on her.

As the Inquisitor surveyed the scene of the battle, one of the remaining stormtroopers called out, “One of the rebels is still alive!” and pointed to a figure lying beneath a portion of the collapsed AT-AT. The Inquisitor smiled. “Bring her to me.”

Scarab Sages

Episode 51: "A Princess Lost"

As the New Jedi Order and the Antarian Rangers arrived on the Wookiee resistance colony of Muaagra, they were greeted by swarms of cheering Wookiees shouting Lowarra's name. Lowarra quickly gathered her comrades and encouraged her people to chant their names as well. Then their friend Han Solo, who had come with them to Muaagra to help his friend Chewbacca reunite his mate with their son, looked around and realized that there was someone missing from the celebration. Where was Princess Leia? C3PO also wanted to know where his mistress was. As the group members realized that she wasn't with them and no one knew where she had gone, it also dawned on them that she had last been seen standing in a location that would have been crushed beneath the AT-AT when it fell. Luke Skywalker searched his feelings and told the others that he was certain she was still alive, as he would have known had she died.

With a heavy heart, Neri reported Princess Leia's status to Mon Mothma and explained Luke's certainty that Leia still lived, which Mon Mothma accepted without question. Han Solo immediately planned to reach out to some of his smuggler contacts for information, and Luke intended to seek out other sources. The Jedi and Rangers were ready to start searching for her at once. They decided that Point Nadir would be their rendezvous location and they would leave messages with Dexter Vex there.

Dash suggested that Han accompany the Jedi/Ranger group, but he declined. He also wanted Chewie to remain on Muaagra with his family, who were grieving the loss of his mate's father, but Chewie was torn between his desire to be with his family and his concern that Han would be in greater danger without him. Lowarra had a chat with Chewie and encouraged him to go with Han. Neri then approached Chewie's mate Malla and asked her if she would be willing to let him go. It was Malla who told Chewie that he should go with Han. Chewbacca then picked up Han and half-carried him aboard the Millenium Falcon, with Han complaining all the way that Chewie's fur would clog the environmental system.

Neri found it difficult to choose between meeting with the Rebel Alliance and going directly to Point Nadir. To help her decide, she retreated to her quarters aboard the New Hope and searched her feelings for the right decision. She found that both options were equally likely to lead to success. She also discovered that she couldn't sense Leia, but it was as though something was blocking her from finding Leia's signature within the Force. The only reason she could find for this was that Leia was in the clutches of either Darth Vader or the Emperor, or perhaps both.

After communicating this to her friends, Neri decided that they should split up. She and Taanar would meet with the Alliance to give a report on the action at Kashyykk and return C3PO, while Lowarra, ADX, and Dash would take the Sky River Venture to Point Nadir to talk to Dexter. ADX was concerned that the princess might be in the hands of Vader or the Emperor, worrying that this could be part of a trap and that the Jedi and Rangers couldn't out-think someone as experienced as either Palpatine or his pet Sith Lord. Lowarra gave Neri a huge embrace, and even hugged Taanar before they parted, while Dash warned Neri not to get herself killed as Dash still owed her. Neri and Taanar then took the Mithrim Montes to meet the Rebel leaders. Just before they departed they had a brief meeting with Kanan Jarrus, who had reunited with Hera Syndulla and had decided to go with her and Phoenix Squadron. Neri was glad that he had decided to stop isolating himself.

When Neri and Taanar arrived at the Alliance headquarters, they were greeted by an honor guard and escorted immediately to meet with Mon Mothma and General Hutsell. In the past Hutsell had been antagonistic toward the Venture crew, but now he agreed with Neri when she expressed the opinion that the Alliance should publicize their success on Kashyykk. Mon Mothma revealed that there had been no public announcement from the Imperials about Leia's capture, nor any news about what had happened on Kashyykk. She worried that if he Rebels spoke about the action there, the Empire would then reveal the news about Leia, which would be a huge blow to Alliance morale. Neri argued that this was war and Leia was a soldier, and that sometimes soldiers are captured or killed in warfare. Mon Mothma concurred that this was what Princess Leia would want, but was still uncomfortable with letting the rebel troops know that Leia was missing.

In the meantime, the Venture arrived safely at Point Nadir and the three companions let their friend Dexter Vex know about their mission. He had no information about secret Imperial detention centers where Leia might be held, but he told them who might know: bounty hunters. And who but the best of the bounty hunters would be the most likely to know? The three friends knew that this would mean making contact with their nemesis Boba Fett and risking that he might try to claim the bounty for capturing them, but they decided to take the risk. They went to the Bounty Post to leave a message for Fett.

At the Bounty Post, Lowarra learned that the bounty for her had been increased to 25,000 credits, while the bounty on Neri was still only at 20,000. The bounty for ADX's former identity, ARD, had been removed, as he was believed destroyed. Perhaps this would be an advantage for the group, as they assumed that Boba Fett wouldn't know about ADX or Taanar Ryl. The message they had left told Fett to meet them where he had last encountered them, which was outside of Jabba the Hutt's palace near Mos Eisley on Tatooine. They let Neri know what they had arranged, and she and Taanar flew to meet them at Point Nadir before the whole group traveled to Mos Eisley.

Once the Venture had taken a docking bay at Mos Eisley, ADX and Taanar went out to do some reconnaissance. Almost immediately ADX was attacked by some Jawas firing ion bolts. The Jawas tried to grab Taanar, but she pulled free. Though she asked that ADX try not to kill the Jawas, he fired his heavy blaster rifle at one Jawa, killing the little scavenger and leaving its burning corpse on the ground. This didn't seem to deter the rest of the Jawas, so Taanar used the Force to stun one of them, which had more effect. The surviving Jawas fled. After ADX and Taanar returned to the Venture, Taanar discovered a message chip in her pocket that hadn't been there before. When played, the chip told them to meet at the Cantina two hours after sundown.

The group arrived at the Cantina at the appointed time, and Neri bribed the proprietor to allow ADX to accompany them inside. He pointed them to a table in the corner, where they found Boba Fett waiting for them. ADX and Taanar hung back while the others negotiated with the bounty hunter, though it now seemed likely that Fett knew more about the newest members of the group than they had expected. Neri asked Fett for information on secret Imperial detention centers. In exchange she offered the iridium chip she carried, which had the potential to give him nearly unlimited funds. Dash tried to persuade Fett to help the Rebel Alliance and then retire on the proceeds from the chip, but the bounty hunter wasn't interested. He didn't want to choose sides, nor did he have any interest in giving up his current occupation. He also not only knew about ADX and Taanar - he knew that the New Jedi Order had acquired the Banking Guild head's secret contingency funds. The group overlooked this disturbing revelation to focus on finding out where Princess Leia was being held. Fett told them that he didn't have that information himself, as he didn't know where she was, but he did know someone who could probably tell them: an architect who had designed several secret detention facilities for the Empire. The architect's name was Golas Aram, a Senitene who had since retired to a compound near the city of Kai Pompos on Irudiru. Fett warned that Golas Aram didn't like visitors and they would probably "have to beat the information out of him."

When their negotiations had concluded with Fett agreeing to ignore the bounties on the group and not report his meeting with them to any Imperial contacts, Fett placed a remote detonation trigger on the table. He explained that it would help them to disarm the explosives that had been placed around the docking bay where the Venture was housed.


Would it be possible for us to see your character builds?

Scarab Sages

Quen Pah wrote:
Would it be possible for us to see your character builds?

Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I sometimes forget to check on these campaign journals when I don't have reason to update them. The holidays and illnesses have prevented us from having any Star Wars sessions for quite a while.

I could only provide the character build for Taanar Ryl, as she's my character. The other characters belong to the rest of the group, who aren't even aware that I'm posting this campaign journal here. I know for a fact it would be very difficult to post the build of our Jedi, Neranya Repp, because she's played by my husband and his character sheet looks like hen scratches. I don't know how he reads it. LOL

Scarab Sages

Episode 52: "A Princess Found”

As the members of the Antarian Rangers and New Jedi Order surveyed Golas Aram’s compound on Irudiru, they observed that he had top-notch security measures in place. The compound was surrounded by laser fences and disguised laser turrets, which enclosed a rock garden and a stone structure. Despite the clear message indicating that Aram didn’t want visitors, the group decided to attempt to contact him. Their attempts were unsuccessful. Aram didn’t respond.

Finally they decided to park their speeder in the landing area nearby. As they exited the speeder, a voice speaking Batchi told them to go away. Neri introduced herself courteously, but the entrance to the compound remained closed. Neri then offered to pay a significant sum for the information they sought. Just as she did this she spotted a vehicle powering up, and the laser fence activated. The group members sprang back into their speeder to pursue the departing vehicle.

As the pursuit began, the Millenium Falcon unexpectedly arrived to block the fleeing vehicle’s path. Neri approached what they presumed to be Golas Arum’s ship and rapped on the cockpit with the hilt of her lightsaber. When Arum still refused to come out, Neri cut her way in. Arum, who turned out to be occupying a hoverchair, revealed that he was afraid to talk. Neri told him who the team sought, and finally her persuasiveness won him over. Arum told her that Princess Leia was probably being held at Ashmead’s Lock - an alien spacecraft that had crashed long ago in the Blighted Lands of Kashyyk and had been converted into an Imperial prison facility. Chewbacca was very distressed when he heard this, as most Wookiees had spent their childhoods being told of the terrors of the Blighted Lands. Lowarra tried to soothe his fears.

Arum told Neri that he would give her the access codes to enter Ashmead’s Lock, and then produced a holdout blaster and fired at her! Neri used her Force power to negate the energy of the shot. The group then returned to Golas Arum’s compound, taking Arum with them as his own ship was too damaged to fly. A fire had started in a hangar bay and ADX extinguished it.

After leaving Arum, the group planned their strategy for accessing the prison ship on Kashyyk. Han Solo and Chewbacca would use the Millenium Falcon to distract the Imperial troops stationed on the planet so that the Sky River Venture could land.

When the Venture arrived in the Blighted Lands, they found it a very desolate and silent place. Abandoned watchtowers loomed over the barren wasteland. Lowarra told her friends that this part of Kashyyk had been barren for more than a thousand years, ever since the spacecraft crashed there. The team walked from the Venture’s landing site to the ship known as Ashmead’s Lock. They had no difficulty entering the mysterious alien vessel. Inside they found the remains of several droids that had been destroyed by what appeared to be lightsaber damage. Then more droids arrived, welcoming the new arrivals to the “processing unit.” ADX fired on them immediately. One of the droids grabbed Neri but was unable to maintain its grasp on the Jedi. She used the Force to send it hurtling away from her. Dash began firing on the droids also, but discovered that her blaster’s charge had been drained. Taanar used the Force to thrust another droid into a door on the far side of the chamber. A third droid grappled ADX. Then a gas began to fill the area, causing all of the humanoids to weaken.

From behind the droids, a lightsaber suddenly flared as Luke Skywalker appeared, shattering one droid with his blade. Neri dispatched another droid and Taanar smashed a third against the wall. Lowarra flew into a rage. ADX blasted the droid Taanar had knocked back, and Lowarra sent the last remaining droid back to its manufacturer in pieces. But now the group members found that they couldn’t open the door to exit the chamber. They were startled when a red lightsaber blade penetrated it from the opposite side, and Luke’s comrade ARD-101 emerged, calling out to Luke that Princess Leia was no longer in the prison facility.

There were several organic beings following ARD. These were the other prisoners of Ashmead’s Lock, who had been released by the droid. But Princess Leia had been moved to another location just before her would-be rescuers had arrived.

As the disappointed group headed back to their ships, they saw TIE fighters arriving to stop their escape. Stormtroopers with jetpacks also appeared. The rest of the group went to hold off the Imperial troops while Luke got the freed prisoners to safety. Lowarra brought down a TIE fighter with a rocket. Neri caused another pilot to crash his ship out of terror. Taanar was wounded when she couldn’t find cover. The Millenium Falcon then arrived to pursue the TIE fighters. Once the Wamp Rat was away with its cargo of former prisoners, the others saw star destroyers arriving and quickly made their escape.

After the rest of the group rendezvoused with the Millenium Falcon, they were met by the rest of the Antarian Rangers. They avoided the TIE fighters patrolling Kashyyk and left the planet again. After they reached open space, they received a coded transmission from the Rebel Alliance: they were needed for a vital mission.

Scarab Sages

Episode 53: "Many Bothans Have Died"

The Venture, Millenium Falcon, and Wamp Rat all rendezvoused with the Rebel fleet, where their crews were taken to a briefing room to meet with Mon Mothma and most of the Rebel high command. There, Mon Mothma told them about the second Death Star under construction near Endor’s forest moon. Suddenly Neri heard Luke whisper, “Leia’s on the forest moon.”

Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar went on to explain that they wanted the Jedi and Rangers to disable the shield generator on the forest moon, which would otherwise prevent any attack on the incomplete Death Star. Meanwhile a fleet of Rebel fighters would fly into the Death Star’s partially-open structure to destroy it. It was agreed that Dash and Chewbacca would join the fighters in the attack on the Death Star while the remainder of the companions would land on the forest moon to attack the shield generator, using a stolen Imperial shuttle disguised as a cargo ship to get past the Imperial defenses.

As the team headed for the forest moon prepared to board their shuttle, Neri was surprised when Princess Leia’s protocol droid C3PO suddenly approached her and asked to be allowed to join the mission. After a moment of consideration, Neri agreed, much to ADX’s annoyance, as C3PO had developed a strange attraction to the hardened battle droid. While this took place, Lowarra promised Chewbacca that she would look after Han Solo, who was going with the team to the moon. Han seemed especially concerned about Princess Leia's safety. It began to appear that Neri’s long struggle to follow Yoda’s direction and bring Han and Leia together was finally working.

Luke’s mood was subdued as the team gathered. He had told Neri and the others that Leia was probably with the Emperor himself, as Rebel intelligence indicated the Emperor was present at Endor. Neri then tried to use the Force to give some non-verbal encouragement. She noticed with surprise and amusement that C3PO had brought an overstuffed pack, including an assortment of thermal detonators, which delighted Lowarra. Neri then gave a short speech to the Rangers: “We did it before, we can do it again. May the Force be with you.”

As Dash and Chewie prepared to head off to the Millenium Falcon, Dash gave Han a hug and told him, “I’ll buy you a drink when we get back.” Han replied, “If you blow up the Death Star I’ll buy you two drinks!” Lowarra gave Dash a big hug, and ADX exhorted her, “Maintain your biological integrity.”

As the strike team approached the unfinished Death Star, they observed the largest star destroyer they had ever seen in orbit nearby. Neri, Luke and Taanar all felt something trying to scan them through the Force, but it passed.

They made their way past the Imperial defenses without difficulty and landed on the forest moon of Endor. Shortly after they left their shuttle to head toward the shield generator they encountered a stormtrooper who took them by surprise. Lowarra dealt with him, but an instant later they discovered that he had a companion, who fled on a speeder bike. Neri and Lowarra jumped on the bike left by the trooper Lowarra had eliminated and set off on a high-speed pursuit to prevent the second trooper from giving their presence away. It didn’t take long for the two old friends to get rid of the second trooper, but more troopers arrived.

As the speeder bikes raced through the trees, Lowarra leaped from Neri’s bike to one of the other speeders and clung on. Neri caused one trooper’s blaster to fly out of his hands. A trooper tried to sideswipe Neri with his bike. Lowarra lost her grip on the speeder bike and fell off. Neri jumped off her bike and attacked the troopers with her lightsaber. One trooper dodged her, but she then shot him with her blaster and his bike crashed.

While Neri and Lowarra battled the stormtroopers in the forest, the rest of the strike team continued on toward the shield generator. Their journey was impeded when ADX was suddenly caught in a net trap. Another trap engulfed everyone else but Taanar. Taanar hid in the brush and watched as a group of small, furry beings wielding spears emerged from the forest to claim their prisoners. The indigenous natives seemed especially interested in C3PO and ADX, but failed to observe Taanar. A moment later she received a telepathic message from Neri: “I’m okay.” Taanar quickly sent back, “Everyone captured but me.”

Lowarra had been stunned by her fall from the bike, but she recovered and she and Neri began walking toward each other to meet. Lowarra was fired upon by a bow-wielding small furry being, which seemed not to care that the Wookiee looked like a larger version of itself. Neri was also accosted by one of the natives. She tried offering it some food, which it didn’t like, but despite that she was able to establish a somewhat friendly rapport with the creature.

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