Clone Wars Campaign: Recap # 18

This was the final session in the big trial storyline and I had a lot of fun with the cross-examination of the witnesses and defendants. It was kinda fun to show how, without any ret-conning, each character could be easily tied to the Separatists. In order to determine the verdict, I had everyone individually roll a Persuasion check against a high DC that was modified based on how much evidence they were able to assemble and they all ended up being acquitted. The new character of Kravlex Mex was an alternate for the player who ran the character Marpa.

This was also the last session before a long summer break--Tarn's player left and never returned which was unfortunate because he was a great character in the storyline, Marpa and Natany's players went to Germany and came back for the next major story arc, while Arresta and Zero's players stuck around for a few one-shot sessions over the summer where their characters worked as Republic Intelligence operatives. I'm sure my sig-other will comment, but for me it'll suffice it to say that Arresta was quite thrown by Tarn's sincere protestations of love last session and his casual dismissal of her in this session!


CAPITAL OFFENCES


It has all come down to this: scant minutes remain before the beginning of the trial that could forever brand the accused as war criminals and potentially even result in their execution. However, all is not lost: diligent investigation has turned up several pieces of evidence that, if presented in the right way, could be just enough to win an acquittal. Across Coruscant, hundreds of thousands of beings watch the holofeeds to learn the fate of Tarn Tamarand, Arresta D'avilos, and Marpa Zalon.

Several weeks have passed quickly on Coruscant and the trial is almost ready to begin. The holonews report that Marpa Zalon hasn’t made a public appearance since the battle at the aquarium, but law enforcement doesn't seem to be alarmed, as his tracking signals continue to transmit normally. Arresta and Tarn continue their dalliance, which has now become the stuff of tabloid discussion. Zero and Natany have moved into Marpa’s workshop for the time being. By order of the Senate, the Holonet has been closed to non-military traffic, except for censored news broadcasts.

Tarn continues his training at the Jedi Temple, which now involves trying to use the Force to stop hurled projectiles before they hit him. After his kiss with Arresta streaks across the holosphere, he is summoned before the Jedi Council to explain himself. An obviously irked Council tells him to make a choice: the Jedi or Arresta. Tarn quickly states that becoming a Jedi is his first priority. The Council also explains that it is still investigating the claim that Jocasta is involved in recent events, but it has released Jedi Knight Creen from previous orders to remain planetside.

[AG 200]

Tarn, Arresta, Zero, Natany, and the barrister Doolb Snoil meet at the Judicial Center the morning before the trial is to commence. Marpa doesn’t show up to the trial, leading to a short recess for the judicials to follow his tracking signals and pick him up. However, it turns out that the signals have been falsified by modified droids and that Marpa is nowhere to be found. A visibly angry Rap-Seri tries to badger the accused and their investigators into revealing where Marpa is, but everyone claims ignorance. The trial re-commences, with Marpa to be tried in absentia.

Arresta gives a nice opening statement, but otherwise the first day does not go well for the accused. Greesh Leedo claims that Marpa was actually a Separatist member of the Techno-Union under a different name, rogue Gran Jedi Fallael Jorinth tells about Tarn’s stated interest in joining the Separatists on Bothawui, and Lt. Jaarza of the Mongui Palace Guard claims that Arresta is a separatist and shows a holovid of her stunning her “Republic loyalist” father.

[AG 201]

The second day sees testimony from a Bothawui hotel clerk and starport technician to establish that the accused were in the area on the day of the massacre, and pilot Maytoc Kolene tells about his being assaulted and shackled by the accused in the Ansion system. Later that day, Tarn tries to get in contact with Master Yoda but receives the brush-off. Rap-Seri storms into the defence conference room and bullies the accused and their investigators into following a lead about Marpa’s whereabouts. It seems that a xenophobic human-centric group called Purity First claims to have abducted Marpa and want 10,000,000 credits for his return. Rap-Seri says that the judicials don’t have the manpower to investigate an unconfirmed report, but that he wants Marpa back in the courtroom to be convicted and rot away in a Republic penal colony. He introduces everyone to Kravlex Mex, an Anx street fighter who had recently escaped from Purity First.

Kravlex leads the others to coordinates in Coruscant’s undercity, where a mazelike collection of tenements, maintenance tunnels, and condemned factories are inhabited only by squatters, gangs, and other unsavoury types. The group spends several minutes outside the entrance to the Purity First hideout talking strategy, but eventually sentries discover their presence and launch an attack using grenades and slugthrowers. The silver-robed and hooded racists are routed, with Zero brutally finishing off any survivors with point-blank shots to the head. The tunnels themselves prove treacherous. Natany and Arresta are hurt when the ceiling to one tunnel collapses, burying them in rubble until Tarn and Krevlax manage to dig them out. Natany and Zero then hang back while the others move forward to continue exploring. Tarn’s intuition through the Force alerts him that the body of a Duros they find has been booby-trapped, and it also helps him avoid an ambush. The remaining Purity First members put up a fight, but they are clearly outmatched by superior firepower and only one survives to be hospitalized. It becomes apparent that the group’s claims to have Marpa were a ruse to extort cash and attention. Krevlax escorts the prisoner and a rescued Neimodian to the hospital, while the other members of the group return to their homes. Arresta tries to get Tarn to talk about why he has suddenly become so cold and distant, but he claims to be too tired to talk.

[AG 202]

The last day of the prosecution’s case-in-chief sees testimony from a Bothan forensic investigator and a Metropol holovid expert, along with a last, surprise witness: a clearly troubled and disturbed Ycram, who claims that he and the others “were responsible for all of it.” The defence calls Ignatius D’avilos to the stand and elicits his testimony that the accused were quite helpful in getting his skyhook up and running. He also confirms that it appeared that a ship was falsely using the transponder signal of Delia’s Ultimatum. Jedi Padawan Lee testifies favorably about the accused’s actions on Ansion. That evening, Arresta confronts Tarn. Tarn seems to blow off their past several weeks together as a couple, and says that his “oath as a Jedi” prevents him from having relationships. Arresta is clearly angry and hurt and feels that Tarn has just been using her.

[AG 203]

The final day of the trial commences. Zero testifies about his and Natany’s discoveries in Bothawui, and he also gives a surprisingly cogent explanation of Marpa’s discovery that the holovid is a fake. Arresta takes the witness stand to explain what happened on Mongui and how the accused have remained loyal to the Republic through a variety of hardships. After closing arguments, the jury very quickly returns a verdict of Not Guilty. The accused have been exonerated, and their tracking devices are removed.

In the hallway outside the courtroom, Tarn, Zero, and Natany chat excitedly about the outcome and a promised lunch, but Arresta is distracted by a delivered message: an invitation to the wedding of Prince Char de Mingay of Corovia and . . . Princess Arresta D’avilos of Mongui.

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