Clone Wars Campaign: Recap # 31

This session sees the party land on Alderaan to interview a former companion (once a PC, now an NPC) who now resides in a mental health facility (I was proud of the name "Holistic Mindsick Facility"--sounded both futuristic and Alderaanian at the same time) in order to better track down the missing Tarn Tamarand. I managed to spring a "trap" aircab on them, which led to an exciting scene (the group is so wary almost to the point of paranoia, that I find it really hard to trick them) as they tried to get control before it crashed. This is also the last time Twitch is seen in game, though he's the subject of a later short story.

The group did a hilarious amount of shopping on Alderaan in order to get ready for the anomaly--my wife always says they like to visit "Star Wars Best Buy" because the sheer amount of purchases border on the ridiculous. It was around this time I decided I better keep strict track of encumbrance. The little scene with the Cestus Cybernetics contest was a fun way to incorporate a puzzle into the game--puzzles actually work well in gaming because they're a little different than standard combat and they can get everyone working together. The hard part is to make the puzzle seem like a normal part of the adventure and not just a random obstacle. I also had the contest sponsored by Cestus because I knew the corporation was in A'tel's background and I wanted that to come into play in a future story arc.

The approach to the quarantined planet Endregaad, with them sneaking their way down to the planet, was a bit of a let-down from what I had planned (either tense negotiation or a hair-raising chase) because I forgot that for Stealth checks, there has to be Cover or Concealment--and in empty space, there's not much of either. The city of Tel Bollin and most of what happened on Endregaad was taken from the Tempest Feud adventure (except for Doxen's stealing inoculation tags from the poor!--I don't think the designers expected players to be so cold-blooded!). I spent a hell of a lot of nights watching football and converting NPCs in that adventure from RCR into Saga stats. My favorite change was Yossa the Brick as a Gungan: "Meesa gonna crack your cranium!" was my attempt to partially rehabilitate the species after all the damage Jar-Jar did.

Update (July 22, 2012):  Added in previously secret information that Daal had tampered with Twitch's message to Arresta to erase the ruse that Tarn had been kidnapped, and Daal's forging of the credit chip he gave to A'tel to give to pay off his debt to Jocasta (sneaking Daal!).

SESSION # 31

At the outer edges of the known galaxy lies a swath of mineral-rich planets loosely ruled by the Corporate Sector Alliance. Although neutral in the war between the Republic and the Separatists, the Corporate Sector is faced with a dire threat: a virulent plague has swept the Tion Cluster, forcing a strict quarantine. Now, on a mostly barren planet well within the forbidden zone, Padawan Tarn Tamarand has reached a destination foretold in prophecy: the City of Sand.

After narrowly escaping a pirate trap by jumping into hyperspace, the temporary crew of a freighter owned by Poparra the Hutt search the ship for any further intruders and continue their journey.

[A.G. 300]

Arriving at Alderaan, they set the ship down in the capital city of Aldera before obtaining transport to take them to their ultimate destination: The Holistic Mindsick Facility in Crevasse City. A droid driven cab pulls out of line and approaches the group, offering the fastest and cheapest transport, which Arresta accepts. However, shortly after take-off, Daal and Arresta both notice a strange light blinking on the dashboard, as well as damage done to the side of the droid. As the ship begins a perilous climb, Daal thinks quickly and activates his droid jammer, successfully deactivating the droid – but causing the car to begin a freefall. Atel lunges for the wheel and Doxen tries to assist him, but the pull of gravity is too strong. Arresta slides into the front seat and reaches for the emergency brake. With the Princess slowing their descent, Daal is able to take over for Atel and get the vehicle under control. Seconds later, they see the cause of this near-disaster: the Rodian Twitch, formerly a member of Jocasta’s crew, waiting for them near the planned crash site and armed with a highly illegal disruptor. Daal steers the aircab on to Crevasse City, and it doesn’t appear that Twitch gives chase.

Daal manages to remove the tracker installed in the vehicle while Arresta deceives the cab company into allowing them to continue on to Crevasse City. Doxen develops a gambit to prevent Twitch from tracking them. Upon arrival in Crevasse City, they place the tracking device in another vehicle and send it off in another direction. Securing a new cab, the group makes its way to the mental health facility. When they arrive, they ask to see Ycram Notwal, a former travelling companion of Daal, Arresta and Tarn’s. Atel and Doxen decide to stand watch in the hallway while the others speak with Ycram.

They find Ycram sitting calmly in his room, staring at the ceiling. He keeps mentioning that “this place will be destroyed one day.” Arresta and Daal are able to confirm that Tarn has been to see Ycram – and that he received directions on how to find the inexplicable collection of strange phenomena known as the “anomaly.” Ycram says that Tarn had to go back in order to “return what he took, twice over.” He reminds them that “Tarn wasn’t supposed to go inside” during their initial encounter in the Ansion system. He shares the same directions with them, directing them to the “brightest star in the Indrexu Spiral.” Arresta and Daal ask Ycram if he wants to leave with them, and he happily assents, so long as they’re not headed for the anomaly. While Arresta inquires as to what it would take to sign Ycram out of the facility, Daal speaks to him with the door closed. He tries to convince Ycram not share the information he gave to them with any other people. Meanwhile, Doxen encounters a condescending xenobiologist in the hallway, who tries to get Doxen to come with him for study. Doxen refuses to speak to the man and the scientist eventually departs after Doxen threatens him with a knife.

Arresta returns with the bad news that they cannot sign Ycram out without direct supervision from clinic staff. She goes in to say good-bye to Ycram, but doesn't close the door behind her, allowing Atel to overhear part of their conversation. She tries one last time to get a straight answer from Ycram about why Tarn would feel so compelled to return to the anomaly, but is unsuccessful. Instead, Ycram points straight at her and tells her that it would be dangerous to take her child to the anomaly because the child “belongs to the boy”. Arresta scoffs to the others that this is clearly more proof that the old man has lost his mind and suggests that they depart without further delay.

Atel has other ideas. Drawing upon the Force, he mentally contacts Ycram and receives back images of himself slowly walking down a strange set of stairs in a desert landscape before being consumed by shadowy tendrils. Atel asks Ycram why it would be dangerous for Arresta to take her baby to the anomaly and gets back a sense that the child is destined for a momentous life both “terrible and magnificent.”

Having confirmed that Tarn has already left Alderaan, the group departs the facility and head towards the capital city where their ship is stationed. During the journey, they decide it’s important to find out how much of a headstart Tamarand has on them and direct the taxi driver to return them to the facility. After confirming that the young Jedi is several days ahead of them, the group leaves again and spends the remainder of the trip back to Aldera discussing conditions inside the anomaly. Arresta brings up Tarn’s strange lightsaber, which he claimed a strange voice led him to within the anomaly. The mysterious weapon was the only piece of electronic equipment that functioned without difficulty inside the anomaly, but it had the strange effect of removing itself from the memories of most of those who witnessed it in action. After discussing the fact that conventional electronic weapons were unusable inside, the group decides that more “archaic” equipment will be required. In Alderra, they seek out antique and other stores specializing in rare goods to find low-tech supplies like slug throwers, chemical lighters, and unguents.

With time to kill before take-off, Doxen purchases thick narcostix and Alderaanian ale before settling himself in front of the ship and questioning Atel about the nature of the “force” that he keeps talking about. Arresta receives a message droid and downloads the contents into her datapad. She agonizes over whether or not to listen to the message while the others take part in a Cestus Cybernetics promotion and win a free tech upgrade.

Daal decides that he would feel more comfortable with some additional equipment and asks the Princess to accompany him. During the ride to the shop, Arresta confesses that she is worried that she is making a mistake. She confides in the Duros that she had been convinced that Tarn had just been using her, but now she isn’t sure and she’s betting everything to find out. Daal offers this succinct opinion: “Princess, I don’t think that Tarn is the type who has it in him to use anybody.” Arresta tells Daal about the message she received and that she is afraid to listen to it before departing. She asks him to listen to it in case it contains needed intelligence, but instructs him “Not to let me hear it before we leave if you think it will change my mind about going.” Daal agrees to this strange request.

When they return to the ship, Daal locks himself in his quarters and listens to the message. It’s from Twitch, who has left the Sun Runners in order to claim the extraordinarily large bounty placed on Arresta’s head by the Separatists. Twitch claims that he knew Arresta would be in Alderra thanks to Kronos’ help. Daal edits out a portion of the message where Twitch claims he has taken Tarn hostage and will kill him if Arresta doesn't turn herself over. After about an hour, an impatient Arresta knocks at Daal’s door and asks him whether she should listen to it. Relieved that the message is from neither her missing ex-lover nor her sure-to-be-livid husband, Arresta laughs and gives Daal a hug. “So there’s still a price on my head. I thought this was going to be something to worry about!”

[A.G. 301]

24 hours after arriving at Alderaan, the freighter lifts off and enters hyperspace. Trying to avoid another encounter with sabotage, the team sets Atel to guard the hyperdrive. While they travel, Doxen asks Arresta about Tarn’s force powers. The Princess smiles and tells him that Tarn’s abilities are real but “unpredictable”. She also takes advantage of the travelling time to speak with Daal regarding their newest Jedi companion. She tells him that although she doesn’t believe that Atel means them any harm, she is not convinced that rescuing Tarn is his top priority. Daal tells Arresta that he will keep that in mind.

Later during the long voyage, Daal approaches Atel and hands over a credit chip. He says that he wants trust and as a show of faith, is providing the Jedi with the credits that are owed to the pirate Jocasta. If they encounter her, Atel is free to hand over the credits. The Jedi Knight accepts this arrangement and the journey continues.  What Atel doesn't know is that the credit chip is a fake, forged by Daal during the journey to Alderaan.

Daal builds a silencer for Doxen’s new slug thrower rifle, but it takes several tries to get it right. Arresta suggests to Doxen that his unfriendly attitude doesn’t help matters. She shares with him that her intelligence sources have provided her with some background information on him and a being he’s looking for named Harno. Although Doxen initially reacts with hostility, when the Princess points out that if she received the information, it means he’s being watched – and she’s happy to share what she receives with him – Doxen shares that Harno is a bounty hunter who hunts rare species, including Doxen’s own.

[A.G. 308]

Eventually, the ship arrives in the destination system and information on their mission is unlocked. They are in the Tion Cluster, facing a blockade by a CSA dreadnaught around the mineral-wealthy but low-population planet Endregaad. Apparently, Poparra’s son Mika the Hutt was last seen in the city Tel Bollin accompanied by his Nikto bodyguards just before the deadly pandemic hit weeks ago. Atel intuits that asking the dreadnaught for permission to breach the quarantine and land on Endregaad is unlikely to work. Thus, the team chooses stealth and thanks to some skilful flying by Daal, they are able make it to the planet and set down near an isolated outpost, not far from the sole city on the planet. All team members take the precaution of inoculating themselves with the medical grade spice. Near the outpost’s cluster of deserted buildings, the group finds a local-area map, a dessicated corpse, and a damaged cargo-hauler that Daal manages to repair. Still, the afternoon desert heat is difficult to deal with and only the very-pregnant Arresta, having been chosen to use the group’s field kit, is unaffected.
 
At the outskirts of Tel Bollin, the team doesn’t have much luck. CSA checkpoints carefully monitor every entrance, and neither guile, nor bribery, nor stealth succeeds in gaining the team entrance. Only Doxen, with his tremendous ability to conceal himself, is able to slip in. After dark, he finds a shadowy, lightly-guarded area in between two checkpoints and the team enters the city. Doxen also obtains several badges by pick-pocketing locals—each badge indicates that the bearer is entitled to immunization against the plague. Hearing a desperate beggar search for his “lost” immunization tag, Arresta quickly returns the one that Doxen purloined for her.

The group heads straight for the Fallen Warrior cantina where they find a relatively small crowd, including a Nikto who just may be one of the bodyguards sent with Poparra’s son Mika. The drunken and ill Nikto is being tormented by several rowdy members of a Tel Bollin swoop gang. In spite of insults, the group manages to hold on to their tempers, allowing Doxen and Daal to strike up a conversation with the bikers while Arresta and Atel question the Nikto, whose name is Orgamon. Orgamon’s slurring speech is difficult to understand, but he claims that Mika is at a “dig site” about four days’ walk to the northeast.

Eventually, Arresta, Daal and Atel leave with Orgamon while Doxen stays behind to watch the reaction of the bikers. He sees that his allies are being followed and is able to warn them. They manage to avoid detection and head to Mika’s warehouse. Unfortunately, it has been ransacked. Still, Daal is able to hack into the proprietary computer network and obtain direct coordinates for the dig site in Temple Valley while also confirming through cargo manifests that the same valley is where the head of 8P-MD-4 was originally found.

[A.G. 309]

As dawn approaches, the team decides to get out of the city. Daal and Doxen leave separately and make it outside without incident. However, Atel and Arresta stumble past a CSA checkpoint and are immediately ordered to surrender. Atel and Arresta go on the offensive, wounding two of the guards before stealing a landspeeder. Fleeing the city, Arresta takes the controls and manages to fly elusively through the waning darkness, keeping them hidden from any pursuers. Eventually, everyone rendezvous at the cargo-hauler before making their way back to the freighter. Atel manages to refresh himself through a Jedi trance, but the others are clearly getting exhausted.

The desert heat is in full force when Daal brings the ship in low over the coordinates he found in the warehouse. From the air, he sees the long trail of debris from a crashed transport, the hint of ruined buildings poking up from the desert below, and a deep, kilometres-long trench that is perfectly concave. After landing on a plateau overlooking the ruins and concealing their ship yet again, the group heads down into Temple Valley in the stolen CSA landspeeder. Daal is dropped off at the crash site and, after ensuring his safety, the remaining group members head for the outskirts of the ruins about an hour away.

At the edge of the ruins, Doxen searches diligently but is unable to find any trace of specific tracks. However, Atel senses that a powerful cauldron of exotic dark energy lies somewhere towards the centre of the ruins. They head on foot in that direction. After two hours’ march through the desert heat, Arresta spots a Jedi starfighter abandoned in the ruins; and just paces away, Doxen uncovers stone steps leading downward into utter darkness. Arresta looks in the cockpit of the sand-covered starfighter and finds a transmission that Tarn left for whoever found his ship: “Don’t follow me in. This will be my last transmission.” Arresta makes it clear to the others that her plans to enter the ruins haven’t changed.

Back at the crash site, Daal has found Mika the Hutt alive and (mostly) well. According to the Hutt, his transport crashed soon after lifting off from the dig site because the pilot was suddenly overcome with a strange disease. Only Mika and three of his Nikto bodyguards survived, so he sent Orgamon on the long trek back to Tel Bollin to find help. Daal explains that he and the others are a rescue party sent by Poparra, and then proceeds to spin an unusual tale to explain why their departure will be delayed. In the same spirit, Mika warns Daal to stay away from the remains of his crashed ship for a fear of a radiation leak.

As they’re talking, one of the Nikto suddenly starts shouting warnings, because several swoops have appeared on the ridge overlooking the crash site. The Duros comlinks his allies for reinforcements, but they realize they’re much too far away to be of any help. Half of the bikers open fire with slugthrower rifles, while the others race in to attack. When they get closer, Daal recognizes the bikers from the Fallen Warrior and realizes they have kidnapped Orgamon. The swoop gang’s leader, a muscular Gungan, shouts “Meesa gonna crack your cranium!” and the battle is on. Mika manages to sidle into the wreckage, but some of the bikers follow after killing one of his bodyguards. Meanwhile, outside, Daal begins throwing frag and stun grenades left and right, rocking the crash site with deadly explosions. The bikers were obviously not expecting such heavy resistance, and are shredded by the shrapnel. The group’s Gungan leader, Yossa the Brick, manages to land one bone-jarring blow on Daal with his atlatl, but in the face of Daal’s grenades and Mika’s blaster, decides to make a run for it—but not before ransacking one of the ship’s crates for vials of what looks like spice.

Knowing that Daal is under attack but helpless to join the battle, the others remain in the center of the ruins trying to decide whether to proceed down the stone steps. As the afternoon shadows lengthen, Arresta seems to have made up her mind. Looking down the stairs into the darkness, she places one hand on her swollen belly and whispers “Okay baby, let’s go find your daddy.”

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